Thought for October 24, 2023

•  1648: Peace of Westphalia ends the 30 Years War resulting in equal rights for Protestants and Catholics
• 1818: Felix Mendelssohn performs his first public concert--age 9
• 1861: First transcontinental telegraph--San Francisco to Washington
• 1861: West Virginia secedes from Virginia
• 1901: First woman goes over Niagara Falls in a barrel
• 1929: Black Thursday begins stock market crash
• 1931: Al Capone sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion
• 1939: Nylon stockings go on sale
• 1948: Camera attached to a V-2 rocket makes first pictures of earth from outer space
• 2008: Bloody Friday as stock market loses 10%
• Born: Antoine van Leeuwenhoek [first to observe bacteria and protozoa], Sarah Hale [Mary Had a Little Lamb], Melvin Purvis [FBI], YA Title, The Big Booper, F Murray Abraham, Kevin Kline, Ian Baker Finch, Drake, Charlie White [Olympic and World Champion ice dancer]
• Died: Jane Seymour [Henry VIII], Tycho Brahe [astronomer], Ann Judson [early missionary], Daniel Webster, Louis Renault, Jackie Robinson, Raul Julia, Rosa Parks, Maureen O'Hara, Fats Domino

Thought:

Reading 1 Peter 3:18-22 this morning. I would like to skip over these verses, but I have placed some marks here so I will try and grasp some truth for today. 

• Good news: Jesus the righteous One, the just One, the One without sin, died for the unjust. He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. I could stop here and just think about this amazing grace, this unthinkable mercy, this debt that I could never pay. The innocent and pure atoning for the dirty and sinful Larry. Perhaps we should just spend today in thanksgiving and praise. 
• Good news: Jesus death settled the accounts once and for all. How unbelievable. His sacrifice is alone sufficient to satisfy the debt of everyone who has ever lived and will ever live. Think about that. What worth must He place on the scales of justice before God to balance all our sin. So we say worthy is the Lamb who was slain. 
• Christ was put to death in the flesh, but alive in the Spirit. This is a picture of us--we die to self so that Christ lives in us.
• Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us. In His victory, all things have been placed under His dominion. Consider that for just a moment. The One who created all things and reigns in heaven is today interceding for you before the Father. How He must love us! As David said, "what is man that He is mindful of us?" Yet, He died for us and now reigns. 
• Now the part I wanted to skip over--verses 19-20. Martin Luther said that he wasn't sure what Peter meant in these verses. I am certainly not sure. Who were these spirits? When did Christ proclaim to them? What did He proclaim? Many scholars debate these issues. Some ideas:
• The spirits are those that ignored Noah's preparation for the flood. Christ when He descended after the crucifixion proclaimed His victory to them.
• The spirits are evil angels mentioned in 1 Peter 3:22; 2 Peter 2:4-5 or Jude 6. Jesus ascension and authority over these angels allowed Him to proclaim His victory. 
• The spirits were people in the time of Noah that a pre-incarnation Jesus preached to but who rejected His preaching. 
• I don't know if any of those explanations are accurate. What I do know is this. Peter is talking in this chapter about people suffering for righteousness sake, slandered by an unbelieving opposition. Here he reminds us that Noah took mocking and rejection and laughing and scorn for 100 years, but he was vindicated by the flood and his salvation in the ark. We may be ridiculed, slandered, mocked, but when Jesus returns, we will be vindicated. So back to the earlier verses--do not fear or be intimidated. Do not be troubled. Hold on to Jesus as Lord. Be ready to give an account. Keep a clean conscience. The day of His coming is near!

Blessings

Larry