O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker (Psalm 95:6)

Today’s Hymn

Words: Words: Augustus M. Toplady, 1774.

FOUNTAIN OF NEVER CEASING GRACE
Click here for tune.
Fountain of never ceasing grace,
Thy saints’ exhaustless theme,
Great object of immortal praise,
Essentially supreme;
We bless Thee for the glorious fruits
Thine incarnation gives;
The righteousness which grace imputes,
And faith alone receives.

Whom heaven’s angelic host adores,
Was slaughtered for our sin;
The guilt, O Lord was wholly ours,
The punishment was Thine:
Our God in the flesh, to set us free,
Was manifested here;
And meekly bare our sins, that we
His righteousness might wear.

Imputatively guilty then
Our substitute was made,
That we the blessings might obtain
For which His blood was shed:
Himself He offered on the cross,
Our sorrows to remove;
And all He suffered was for us,
And all He did was love.

In Him we have a righteousness,
By God Himself approved;
Our rock, our sure foundation this,
Which never can be moved.
Our ransom by His death He paid,
For all His people giv’n,
The law He perfectly obeyed,
That they might enter Heav’n.

As all, when Adam sinned alone,
In his transgression died,
So by the righteousness of One,
Are sinners justified,
We to Thy merit, gracious Lord,
With humblest joy submit,
Again to Paradise restored,
In Thee alone complete.

Our souls His watchful love retrieves,
Nor lets them go astray,
His righteousness to us He gives,
And takes our sins away:
We claim salvation in His right,
Adopted and forgiv’n,
His merit is our robe of light,
His death the gate of Heav’n.

Thought Provoker

Were you read the children’s story of Little Red Riding Hood while growing up? One of the main characters was the Big Bad Wolf. Perhaps just his name conjures up a picture in your mind of the furry beast with his sharp teeth, all dressed up to look like Little Red’s grandmother. I can still hear Little Red exclaiming, Grandma, what big teeth you have! Here out West we are battling the wolf. The native wolves were slowly made extinct by ranchers and hunters who tried to protect their herds and wildlife from the vicious attacks of this predator. A pack of wolves can quickly take down and devour sheep, calves, deer, and other wildlife. The government has spent millions of dollars to bring more wolves from Canada into Yellowstone National Park. The wolf population has rapidly increased, bringing new devastation to the surrounding wildlife. God has designed the wolf to be a vicious killer. A pack of wolves will grab a small sheep by the neck and begin to rip and tear away its flesh until they have devoured all that’s there to eat. Is it any wonder that our Lord used the wolf as an illustration of false teachers that would enter His church? False teachers love to go after the sheep (God’s people). Their false doctrine has the effect of ripping apart and scattering the sheep of God’s flock. What makes them even more dangerous is that they dress up like sheep. Every church is in danger of false teachers entering in and making victims of God’s people. In today’s passage, Peter is going to give a practical description so that you can know a wolf that is disguised like a sheep.

Dad’s Study

Read together 2 Peter 2:1-11 and see how many characteristics of a false teacher you can find.

1. Teach damnable heresy (v. 1a). The subject matter of false teachers will result in the spiritual ruin of those who listen. In other words, their teaching will take you away from the Gospel of grace and bring to you a Gospel that, if followed, can bring eternal ruin to your soul! Some will even deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Teach immorality (v. 2). Their teaching leads to pernicious ways, i.e. ways that are indecent, immoral, or lascivious. False teachers never lead the listener to holiness. False teachers have led their followers into bigamy, adultery, fornication, materialistic greed, and many other acts that violate the moral law of God! The result of which causes the Word of God to be blasphemed.

3. Motive of Greed (v. 3). The primary motive of false teachers is money. They make merchandise out of the Christian faith. Behind every false teacher you will find a money trail that leads to the pocketbook of God’s people. You will find false teachers with their endless pleas for money and the constant selling of products.

4. Destruction of False Teachers (3b). The judgment of false teachers has already been determined by God. The judgment of false teachers does not sleep, for God will bring swift and eternal destruction. Peter makes the point by reminding us that God has punished unrighteousness in the past, and He will faithfully punish it in the future. He illustrates this point by showing how God punished the fallen angels (v. 4); the flood on the ungodly in Noah’s day (v. 5); and Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 6).

5. Character of False Teachers (v. 10-11). False teachers are driven by presumption and self- will. They don’t care about their followers. They don’t care that they are taking others down the pathway of spiritual ruin. All they care about is themselves. They want their own way at any cost. This can be seen by the teacher of the Heaven’s Gate cult a few years ago. Not only did he wrongly take his own life, but he made sure the lives of his disciples were taken too!

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

False teachers, like wolves, are not extinct! They might look like sheep, but deep down inside they are brute beasts (v. 13). Know well the characteristic of false teachers so that when they come to you dressed up like sheep you might say, what damnable heresies you bring! What immorality you foster! What greed you possess! What self-centered pride you have.

May God grace you to be good Bereans who are inoculated from error by the Word of truth!

Catechism

Question 53

Q. What is required in the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honour, and performing the duties belonging to every one in their various positions and relationships as superiors (Ephesians 5:21, 22; 6:1, 5; Romans 13:1), inferiors (Ephesians 6:9), or equals (Romans 12:10).

Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle (Psalm 28:1-2).

Today’s Hymn

Words: J. Wilbur Chapman, 1910.

JESUS! WHAT A FRIEND FOR SINNERS
Click here for tune.

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Refrain
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

Refrain

Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!
While the billows over me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

Refrain

Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night overtakes me,
He, my Pilot, hears my cry.

Refrain

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
[or Jesus! I do now adore Him,]
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

Refrain

Thought Provoker

The Daily Doorstep Devotional goes out to many different families from many different cultures in many different countries around the world. As I write I try to keep in mind that examples that are familiar with one culture may not be familiar to those from another country or culture. In other words, I realize that there are many things that I do not have in common with my brothers and sisters around the world. Many times I wonder, what are my brothers and sisters in these other countries and cultures like? How are we different and how are we alike? I have often thought also about my brothers and sisters of another time, those who have gone before me, and those who will come after me. Am I anything at all like the saints of old? Peter tells us today that we are all alike in at least one way

Dad’s Study

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:1). All who are in Christ have at least one thing in common, the same kind of faith! There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Eph 4:4-6). There is only one, true, saving faith that unites us to Christ. It comes from the righteous heavenly Father, by His grace and power. It is a faith in which He has granted to us all things pertaining to life godliness, and eternal life (Verse 3). Another thing that He has provided to us for life and godliness is His precious promises. Peter writes, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Pet 1:4). Why has He graced us so? It is so we can be conformed to the divine nature. Peter gives us a list of Christian graces in our life that are the evidence of this conformity having taken place in us. As a family, discuss what each of these virtues means and how they are to be put into practice.

1. Diligence, verse 5
2. Faith, verse 5
3. Moral Excellence, verse 5
4. Knowledge, verse 5
5. Self-Control, verse 6
6. Perseverance, verse 6
7. Godliness, verse 6
8. Brotherly kindness, verse 7
9. Love, verse 7

Verses 8, 10-11 tell us that the diligent practice of these graces makes us useful and fruitful in the knowledge of Christ. The practice of these graces in service to Christ is one evidence of our salvation and being conformed to the image of Christ. It encourages us in being certain about His choosing and calling us as His children. It also gives us reason to hope that our entrance into His heavenly kingdom has been abundantly supplied to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Verse 9 tells us that the absence of these graces from our life should be a warning or “red flag,” that if we lack these graces we are blind and that our salvation may not be sure, and our hope of heaven may be in vain. If this is the case, we should diligently and prayerfully examine our own hearts, seeking His grace that leads to faith and repentance.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Fathers, encourage each in your family to hold up this list of Christian graces as a mirror, in which each is to examine his own heart.

Catechism

Question 52

Q. Which is the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.