MAY 5

2 Corinthians 1:1
Memorise 2 Peter 3:15-16
“…Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you”

Nowadays, we can communicate with our friends easily – phone calls, emails, WhatsApp and even through Skype! But in New Testament days, it was much tougher, for writing and sending letters was much more laborious and expensive! So you can understand how important the epistles were, when so much time and expense was spent for them – for the sake of the believers. They only had the Old Testament for their Scriptures at that time (no Acts, Revelation, and of course no epistles except those that they received!). They desperately needed authoritative biblical teaching! So the Apostles wrote the epistles to them to address certain issues in the churches, to correct false teachings, rebuke sin, and encourage the believers. Indeed in studying them, we can learn so much about God’s will.

But there’s one problem – when we read these epistles, it’s just like overhearing a phone conversation – we can hear only one side of the conversation, but we don’t quite know the context of the conversation. So, if we want to understand the epistles, we have to learn the background, and that means some hard work! The book of Acts is a very useful companion when studying the epistles, for it provides the historical backdrop of much of what went on in the various churches which were the recipients of these letters.

A few years ago, our church had just completed a series on 2 Corinthians. I must confess that before I studied this book, I had great difficulty in understanding this epistle, and even had great reluctance in reading it. But after studying the book itself, with much assistance from the sermons and Bible commentaries, I started to appreciate the great apostle Paul, especially his great love for the Christians in Corinth – even though they had caused him much grief, he continued to love them and tried his best to teach them. Another good and perhaps simpler epistle to read could be Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, which is also called “the epistle of joy”. There are wonderful lessons and memory verses in this small epistle. Or what about James? To me, he is like an experienced battle-scarred pastor with many stories to tell – and a “straight-talker” to boot. See how he began his epistle: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations”. Makes you want to see what more he has to say right?

Thought: Is there any important significance in the different greetings that are included at the beginning of each epistle?
Prayer: The word of God is indeed a “pearl of great price” – pray that I will be willing to pay the price (in diligent study).