God Is With Me

As we all know we are very close to the date when this great nation will be celebrating “Thanks Giving”. It is a day when all of us will unite in our homes with our families and friends, to share an opulent and delicious feast, and although we have yet to reach this date, we will be holding our own small celebration after the service is concluded and will share a very delicious lunch. I really do not want to provide too many details about his tradition today, but I do want all of us to be very cognizant of the fact that it is a day to thank God for all of the blessings that He has poured and continues to pour over His people. This is the real meaning of this date, but unfortunately that will not share or experiment the blessings of God. Let me explain myself a little better.

If you will remember, last week I said that the Lord always provides us an opportunity to preach His word. The Lord will provide us the opportunities so hat we can preach the truth of God to all of those that do not know Him, and to those that have perhaps strayed from the path. This means that when we minister His word, sooner or later we will hear: “I am good, and God is always with me”. And this answer can and often times does come from the mouths of those that are not living or even attempting to lead a holy life. Therefore, today we will be exploring a very delicate theme. I say that it is a very delicate theme because it is one that will force us to examine ourselves. Something that I also mentioned last week is that we needed to look closely in the mirror to ensure that we were not deceiving ourselves. I said this because there is a large number of people that think that even though they are leading a life of sin, God is always at their side. But I regret to inform you that this way of thinking is completely erroneous, and it is one that causes many to stray from the true path, leading them to reject the salvation that Christ died on the cross to give us. Why do I say this? I say this because the truth of the matter is that God live in sin. But regardless of this great truth, many continue to believe that regardless of their actions, God guides them and blesses them at all times. But, what does the Word of God have to say about all of this?

2 Peter 2:12-21 - But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 17These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 18For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

As I always say, to obtain a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary to conduct a brief history review. According to the historians this letter was written by the apostle a little before his death between 64 and 66 a.C., and it was written with two specific purposes. The first purpose and the basic theme that is found throughout this letter is the contrast between the knowledge and practice of the truth verses falsehood. Therefore this epistle was written with the purpose of exposing the dangerous and seductive works of the false teachers and to forewarn the believers to prevent them from being dragged once again away from God’s presence. This is something that is very well reflected in 2 Peter 3:17 when we read “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked”. The second purpose was to exhort believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that is very well reflected in 2 Peter 3:18 when we read “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen”. Keeping these brief details in mind, let’s now continue with our study today.