Grasp the Bible

Each week this summer, we will take one point from a Psalm Pastor Mark preached as part of his Psalmology series and unpack that point a little more.

This week, we are in Psalm 14.

Catch the video version of this podcast on Spring Baptist Church's YouTube channel found here.

Pastor Mark's sermon on Psalm 14 can be found here.

Each week this summer, we will take one point from a Psalm Pastor Mark preached as part of his Psalmology series and unpack that point a little more.

This week, we are in Psalm 3.

Catch the video version of this podcast on Spring Baptist Church's YouTube channel found here.

Pastor Mark's sermon on Psalm 3 can be found here.

Each week this summer, we will take one point from a Psalm Pastor Mark preached as part of his Psalmology series and unpack that point a little more.

This week, we are in Psalm 1.

Catch the video version of this podcast on Spring Baptist Church's YouTube channel found here.

Pastor Mark's sermon on Psalm 1 can be found here.

Today, we look back over 1 Peter and touch on some of the most important aspects of the book.

Welcome to episode 109 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we conclude our study in the Book of 1 Peter, covering chapter 5.  The series is called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering.”  Today, we will cover: 

• The role model (v. 1) 
• The responsibilities (vv. 2-3) 
• The reward (v. 4) 
• Live as servants (vv. 5-7) 
• Live as a soldier (vv. 8-9) 
• Live as a sufferer (vv. 10-11) 
• The final greeting (vv. 12-14) 

Key takeaways: 

• The Church belongs to God; pastors are given the privilege and responsibility of shepherding it. 
• As God’s shepherds and leaders, they are to oversee the church and superintend it. 
• Those who serve as pastors are not to serve under compulsion but with a whole-hearted desire, which is God’s will for them. 
• Pastors are not to use their positions of authority as an opportunity to oppress those under them. 
• As shepherds, pastors serve under the authority of the Chief Shepherd, doing his will rather than theirs. 
• Persecution is the roar by which Satan tries to intimidate believers in the hope that they will capitulate at the prospect of suffering. 
• Peter wrote the letter to exhort believers and to testify to God’s grace. The grace of God consists of what God has done for believers in Christ. 

Quotable: 

• The sufferings of this life will seem as if they lasted a little while when compared to the eternal glory that endures forever. 

Application: 

• Since God resists the proud and pours his grace upon the humble, believers should humble themselves. By humbling themselves, they will experience God’s grace, for God bestows his favor on those who acknowledge their need of Him. 
• Worry is a form of pride because when believers are filled with anxiety, they are convinced that they must solve all the problems in their lives in their own strength. The only god they trust in is themselves. When believers throw their worries upon God, they express their trust in His mighty hand, acknowledging that He is Lord and Sovereign over all of life. 
• Believers triumph over the devil as they continue to trust God, believing that He truly cares for them and will sustain them until the end. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

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Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provide 

Welcome to episode 108 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we begin our study in the Book of 1 Peter, covering chapter 4:12-19.  The series is called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering.”  Today, we will cover: 

• Glory and suffering (vv. 12-16) 
• Suffering and God’s judgment (vv. 17-19) 

Key takeaways: 

• An advance warning of suffering helps the readers to be prepared for suffering, so that their faith is not threatened when difficulties arise. 
• Suffering is to be expected because its purpose is to test us. 
• Those who are insulted as Christians are actually blessed. They may be insulted by human beings, but they are blessed by God Himself. 
• If even those who are going to be saved are purified and judged by suffering, then the outcome or result of those who reject the gospel will surely be a greater punishment. 

Quotable: 

• All unbelief leads to disobedience.   

Application: 

• If we are astonished when suffering occurs, we may feel overwhelmed, concluding that God does not love us. 
• How believers respond to suffering is an indication of whether they truly belong to God at all. 
• If believers act like busybodies, we could be considered to be pests who deserve ostracism and mistreatment.  We should not behave in a way that gives others justifiable reasons to treat us in an unworthy manner. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provide 

Welcome to episode 107 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we begin our study in the Book of 1 Peter, covering chapter 4:1-11.  The series is called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering.”  Today, we will cover: 

• The Triumph – Suffering causes sin to lose its power (vv. 1-3) 
• The Testimony – Unbelievers are surprised at the change (vv. 4-6) 
• The Tenderness – Suffering should develop our love for other believers (vv. 7-9) 
• The Talents – We should faithfully employ all of our God-given spiritual gifts (vv. 10-11) 

Key takeaways: 

• Everyone who suffers for Jesus first resolved, somewhere along the line, to cease from sinning. After all, the suffering they experience is a result of leaving off with sin. 
• Pagans are surprised that believers do not participate in what they consider to be normal cultural activities; in response they criticize, defame, and revile believers and thereby also the God they worship. 
• Peter reminded believers of the final judgment of all, assuring them that their perseverance in the faith matters and that those who practice evil will be assessed and condemned on the final day. 
• The coming judgment will not only bring sinners into account but will also reverse the judgments of men. 

Quotable: 

• Christians forgive faults in others because they know the forgiving grace of God in their own lives. 

Application: 

• Believers are to arm themselves with the intention to suffer.  Like soldiers preparing for battle, believers should prepare themselves for suffering. 
• In the Western world we take for granted the segregation of private and public spheres, but public festivals, in which the gods were venerated, were considered a civic duty in the Greco-Roman world.  Those in Peter’s day who did not fit in with the mores of society would be discriminated against in daily life and that they would be the object of abuse. 
• In light of the arrival of the end. Peter exhorted his readers, however, to pursue virtues that are a normal part of New Testament advice. 
• Believers should think sensibly as they contemplate the brevity of life in this world. 
• Spiritual gifts are given to serve and to help others, to strengthen others in the faith. They are bestowed for ministry, not to enhance self-esteem. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Welcome to episode 106 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we begin our study in the Book of 1 Peter, covering chapter 3:18-22.  The series is called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering.”  Today, we will cover:

·      The Christ – His Death (v. 18)

·      The Christ – His Journey to the Spirit World (vv. 19-20)

·      The Christ – His Resurrection (v. 21)

·      The Christ – His Ascension and Exaltation (v. 22)

Key takeaways:

·      Suffering is not a sign of divine displeasure. Precisely the opposite. Those who suffer for the Christ will be glorified as he was.

·      Christ, by means of the Holy Spirit, went and proclaimed victory over the imprisoned spirits (the fallen angels of Gen. 6:1-4).

·      Noah’s ‘salvation’ was brought about by the same act of judgment that destroyed the wicked.… The way God rescues the righteous is by destroying their enemies.  

·      Just as the chaotic waters of the flood were the agent of destruction, so too the waters of baptism are waters of destruction. Believers survive the death-dealing baptismal waters because they are baptized with Christ. They are rescued from death through his resurrection.

·      Christ died for believers, the righteous for the unrighteous, and hence believers enter into God’s presence on the basis of God’s grace alone.

Quotable:

·      Believers have no need to fear that suffering is the last word, for they share the same destiny as their Lord, whose suffering has secured victory over all hostile powers.

Application:

·      If God preserved Noah when he stood in opposition to the whole world, He will also save his people, even though they are now being persecuted.

·      Just as Noah was delivered through the stormy waters of the flood, believers have been saved through the stormy waters of baptism by virtue of Christ’s triumph over death.

·      The resurrection and ascension of Christ gives us a certain hope that our own victory has been secured.

·      Peter wants to encourage us by saying, “Take heart, you too shall one day win!”

Connect with us:

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org

Facebook:  

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus)

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus)

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider.

Welcome to episode 105 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we begin our study in the Book of 1 Peter, covering chapter 3:8-17.  The series is called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering.”  Today, we will cover: 

• Responsibilities of all believers (v. 8-17) 

Key takeaways: 

• The Christian life is not one of passivity for Peter.  A life of goodness does not simply happen as believers meditate quietly in their rooms. Believers must make a conscious effort to turn from evil.  They must devote themselves to what is good. 
• Peter was not promising that believers would escape rejection and harm in this world.  Instead, Peter assured believers that nothing can ultimately harm them if they continue to walk in God’s paths, that the pain inflicted on them now is only temporary, and that they will be vindicated by God on the last day. 
• Suffering is an indication of God’s blessing.  Since believers are blessed by God when they suffer, they should not fear what unbelievers can do to them.  Fear of human beings, even of those who persecute, is forbidden. Since no one can ultimately harm believers and since even their suffering is a sign of God’s blessing, then it follows that they should not fear what others can do to them. 
• Peter assumed that believers have solid intellectual grounds for believing the gospel.  Every believer should grasp the essentials of the faith and should have the ability to explain to others why they think the Christian faith is true. 
• The opposition Christians receive must be for good behavior, not their shortcomings.  In other words, when we suffer for doing wrong, we deserve it.  When we suffer when doing God’s will, He will reward it. 

Quotable: 

• Living a godly life does not earn salvation but is evidence of it. Peter insisted that a transformed life is necessary to obtain eternal inheritance. 

Application: 

• Peter exhorts his readers to exhibit the following within the church:  Harmony, sympathy, brotherly love, compassion, and humility. 
• Those who inflict evil or hurl insults at believers should not be repaid in kind, as tempting as it might be to strike back.  Instead of insulting others or responding in kind, believers are called on to bless others. 
• Setting apart Christ as Lord in the heart is not merely a private reality but will be evident to all when believers suffer for their faith. The inner and outer life are inseparable, for what happens within will inevitably be displayed to all, especially when one suffers. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider. 

Welcome to episode 104 of Grasp the Bible.  In this episode, we begin our study in the Book of 1 Peter, covering chapter 2:18-3:7.  The series is called “Hope in the Midst of Suffering.”  Today, we will cover: 

• Slaves submit to masters – to receive a reward (vv. 18-20) 
• Slaves submit to masters – to imitate Christ (vv. 21-25) 
• Responsibilities of wives (3:1-6) 
• Responsibilities of husbands (v. 7) 

Key takeaways: 

• The New Testament nowhere commends slavery as a social structure. 
• Slaves who endure unjust suffering because of their relationship with God will be rewarded by God. 
• Suffering is not a detour by which believers receive the inheritance to which they were called. It is God’s appointed means for receiving the inheritance. 
• Believers triumph over evil because they trust that God will vindicate them and judge their enemies, putting everything right in the end. 
• In the household code, Peter concentrated on those in the relationship who have less power. 
• The New Testament was countercultural in promoting the equality of women. 

Quotable: 

• Differences in role or function do not cancel out equality.  Those who argue that a different function implies inequality betray a secular worldview that identifies worth with stature and the exercise of authority. 

Application: 

• If Jesus as the servant of the Lord did not sin or use guile, despite suffering intensely as the righteous one, then believers should follow his example and refrain from sinning or using deceit when they are mistreated as Christ’s disciples. 
• Husbands do not have the responsibility to ensure that wives submit to them. 
• The primary influence on husbands will not be the speech of wives but their godly behavior.   
• The good conduct of wives should stem from their relationship with God. Wives do not submit in order to satisfy a husband’s vanity or to promote his reputation. Neither do they submit to show how godly they are, nor to avoid conflict, nor to impress the neighbors, nor to manipulate their husbands, and not even because she thinks he is wise. She submits because of her relationship with and trust in God. 
• God does not bless with his favor those who are in positions of authority and abuse those who are under them by mistreating them. 

Connect with us: 

Web site:  https://springbaptist.org 

Facebook:   

https://www.facebook.com/SBCKleinCampus (Klein Campus) 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringBaptist (Spring Campus) 

Need us to pray for you?  Submit your prayer request to https://springbaptist.org/prayer/ 

If you haven’t already done so, please leave us a rating and review in your podcast provider.