CONTENTS About the Straight to the Heart Series 9 Introduction: The Gospel Triumphs in the End 11 Part One: Living Hope (1 Peter) God's Doorman (1:1) 16 Triangulation (1:2) 21 Alive and Kicking (1:3-12) 25 Going to Our Heads (1:13-2:3) 29 Partway Through the Story (2:3-12) 33 Fishing Lessons (2:9-12) 37 Victims and Victors (2:11-3:7) 41 How to Lose Friends and Influence People (3:1-7) 46 The Christian's Secret Weapon (3:7) 51 Obscure and Clear (3:8-22) 55 One Rock is Enough (3:15-16) 59 The Story of Your Life (4:1-6) 63 Sober Up (4:7-11) 67 No Surprises (4:12-19) 71 I Am a Christian (4:16) 75 The Old and the Young (5:1-7) 79 The Devil in Disguise (5:8-14) 83 Part Two: Precious Faith (2 Peter) A New Enemy (1:1-2) 88 God Has a Body (1:3-4) 92 Return on Investment (1:5-11) 96 Ancient Treasure (1:12-21) 100 The First Wrong Step (1:19-21) 104 Ignorance (2:1-12) 109 Toxic Returns (2:13-22) 113 Remember the Story (3:1-9) 118 Does God Get What God Wants? (3:9) 122 After Earth (3:10-13) 126 Final Warning (3:14-18) 130 PART THREE: Holy Faith (Jude) Me Too (1-2) 136 Spot the Difference (3-4) 140 The Language of the Jews (5-16) 145 Giving and Grabbing (5-19) 149 Inwards, Outwards, Upwards (20-25) 153 PART FOUR: True Knowledge (1 John) The Man Who Was There (1:1-4) 158 The Fixer (1:2-4) 162 Signs of Life (1:5-2:28) 166 What John Saw (1:5-2:6) 170 The Whole World (2:1-2) 174 The Miracle Maker (2:3-11) 178 The World is Not Enough (2:12-17) 182 Christ and Antichrist (2:18-28) 186 Repeat Symptoms (2:29-4:6) 191 Perfect (2:29-3:10) 195 How to Fight the Plague (3:8) 199 The Orbit of the Son (3:11-24) 203 No Match (4:1-6) 207 He Lives in You (4:7-5:12) 211 God is Love (4:7-21) 215 Louder Than Words (5:1-5) 219 Water and Blood (5:6-12) 224 Do Ya? (5:13-15) 228 No Nonsense (5:16-21) 232 PART Five: True Love (2 John and 3 John) The Love Doctor (2 John 1-3) 238 Taken (2 John 4-11) 242 Backward (2 John 9-13) 246 Name Your Fuel (3 John 1-13) 250 Prosperity (3 John 2) 254 Spoiling the View (3 John 9-13) 258 Conclusion: The Gospel Triumphs in the End 262.