Amen dear sister. And it was necessary that peter revealed this love. It was very painful for peter when he had to suffer three strong rebukes.

Another lesson Christ had to give, relating especially to Peter. Peter’s denial of his Lord had been in shameful contrast to his former professions of loyalty. He had dishonored Christ, and had incurred the distrust of his brethren. They thought he would not be allowed to take his former position among them, and he himself felt that he had forfeited his trust. Before being called to take up again his apostolic work, he must before them all give evidence of his repentance. Without this, his sin, though repented of, might have destroyed his influence as a minister of Christ. The Saviour gave him opportunity to regain the confidence of his brethren, and, so far as possible, to remove the reproach he had brought upon the gospel.


Here is given a lesson for all Christ’s followers. The gospel makes no compromise with evil. It cannot excuse sin. Secret sins are to be confessed in secret to God; but, for open sin, open confession is required. The reproach of the disciple’s sin is cast upon Christ. It causes Satan to triumph, and wavering souls to stumble. By giving proof of repentance, the disciple, so far as lies in his power, is to remove this reproach. { DA 811.2}

Excellent promises Richard!  God is so good to us!

(N)  2 Samuel 22:25
Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.

We are nearing the end of this world as we know it today. Jesus answers His disciples question as to when will the end come? He answers and tells us  we will not know the day nor the hour, but we can know when the  end is near (Matt. 24).

The most important question to ask and answer is "what must I do to be saved?"  The answer is often said to be many things such as "say the sinner's prayer." Or, "just believe."  Or, "accept Jesus as Savior."  Or, "keep His commandments."  Or, "love the Lord our God."  But, these don't get to the real answer.  There is something that comes before these. Something has to be done for these things to happen.

God is drawing all to Him. But, we need to understand this. How can we know He is drawing us, and how do we respond? Jesus tells us that we must "eat His flesh and  drink His blood." What does this mean? And He said "I am the Manna which came down from heaven." What does this mean?  In order to love God supremely we need to know Him. If we need to trust Him with all  we have and all we are, then how can this be? We cannot trust someone in this manner if we do not know them intimately. How can this be? How can we know anyone to this degree? We must spend time with them. Jesus meant that if we want physical health, we eat bread, but if we want spiritual health, we must feed upon Him, for He indeed is the Manna which came down from heaven that we might know Him.

God has promised that we can be changed into His image. How? 2 Cor. 3:18 tells us what we must do. The answer is always the same, we must know Him, we must spend time with Him, we must read His Word, for His Word is a revelation of His character.  The mind is like plastic in that it can be changed. It is an intellectual and spiritual truth that by beholding we become changed. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18. Yes, by beholding His glory which is His character we will be transformed into His image (character).

God promised this early in our history. Adam and Eve sinned and had no hope of anything but death until they heard God telling Satan: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." Gen. 3:15. God gave Adam a second chance, and therefore for us. When we come into the world we are at enmity with God and aligned with Satan. The promise in Gen. 3:15 is to give us enmity towards Satan and sin, and align us with God.

Our work here is to point our friends to this important truth, that we must die to self daily and the way this happens is to behold Jesus. It is that simple. But, it is not simple to do. Satan does all he can to  deceive us and to distract us from spending a thoughtful hour each day beholding the loveliness of Jesus. May God bless you in your studies with us! Let us hasten the soon coming of Jesus.

Amen! Another precious promise!! Like never before, as God prepares us for His second coming, we notice we are being afflicted much, like clockwork.  God has promised He will not allow us  to be afflicted beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13).  Thus, let us glory in our afflictions, for they work for our good and God's glory (Rom. 5:3-5). Peter tells us "think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."