Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Pr. C.A. Murray, Jill Morikone, Molly Steenson, Pr. Tom Ferguson
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP000014A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:13 And to be diligent to present yourself approved to God 00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:20 Join us now 00:21 for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:24 Our study today is "Feed my Sheep, 00:27 First and Second Peter. 00:32 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn 00:34 and we want to welcome you to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:38 This day we're going to be studying lesson number 2 00:41 from the second quarter of the Adult Bible Study Guide 00:46 which is titled Feed My Sheep. 00:49 This is on the first and second Epistles of Peter. 00:53 We want to encourage you to get your Bible 00:56 and if you have your quarterly get that. 00:58 If you don't have your quarterly, 01:00 you can go to 01:01 absg.adventist.org, 01:07 that's absg, Adult Bible Study Guide.Adventist.org 01:13 and download the lesson 01:14 so that you can follow along with us. 01:16 Well, let me just introduce our panel. 01:18 You know, it's so exciting for us to get together. 01:21 And we work together 01:23 but we don't always get to study the Bible together 01:26 and I enjoy so much what each person on this panel 01:29 has to contribute to our lessons week by week. 01:34 So next to me we have Pastor CA Murray. 01:36 And, CA, you are the Manager, 01:39 General Manager of the Proclaim channel, 01:41 so glad to have you here. 01:42 Good to be with you. 01:44 Then we have Pastor Tom Ferguson who is, 01:47 as CA would say, 01:48 he superintends the Marion District. 01:51 You have a number of churches 01:52 and, Tom, we're so thankful that you have joined us, 01:56 and we're really enjoying your insight. 01:58 Then we have Mollie Sue Steenson 02:01 who is a very dear friend, 02:03 and she is our President, 02:06 well, wait a minute, I gave you a promotion. 02:07 I just got a promotion. 02:10 Vice President and General Manager of 3ABN. 02:13 And next to her Jill Morikone 02:15 who is the assistant to our President, Danny Shelton. 02:19 So what we'd like to do is start with prayer 02:21 and I'm gonna ask you, Tom, 02:23 would you please start with prayer? 02:24 Sure. 02:26 Dear Heavenly Father, 02:27 we thank You for the privilege of studying Your Word together. 02:29 We invite Your Holy Spirit to give us understanding 02:32 and as we study the life of Peter 02:34 and we look through the epistles here today, 02:37 Lord, we just invite everyone that is listening to 02:41 and watching this broadcast to be fed by You. 02:45 Speak through us, anoint this time 02:49 we pray with Your Spirit in Jesus' name. 02:51 Amen. Amen. 02:53 Well, why don't we just say, we're on lesson 2, 02:56 An Inheritance Incorruptible. 02:58 And let's say our memory text together, 03:02 and we'll just all repeat this. 03:04 This is 1 Peter 1:22 03:07 and the version that has been taken 03:09 for the Sabbath School Quarterly is from the NIV, 03:14 so our memory text is, 03:16 "Now that you have purified yourselves 03:19 by obeying the truth 03:21 so that you have sincere love for each other, 03:25 love one another deeply from the heart." 03:29 Amen and Amen. 03:31 1 Peter is one of the, what, 03:34 well, actually 1 and 2 Peter are considered 03:37 one of the general epistles, 03:39 that means they were written to the church, 03:42 the group of believers, and Peter wrote, 03:45 he tells us in 1 Peter 5:13 03:47 that he wrote this from Babylon. 03:51 You know Babylon, we believe, 03:55 he was using this as a code word for Rome 03:58 because tradition tells us that Peter spent 04:02 his last few years of his life in Rome. 04:05 Whereas there is no evidence 04:07 that he was ever actually in the city of Babylon. 04:10 But the whole epistle of 1 Peter 04:14 is about persecution, 04:17 persecution from without 04:19 and when we think of this it was either written, 04:22 either right before, 04:25 shortly before or during the early stages 04:28 of when Nero was persecuting the Christians, 04:32 so that persecution started in Rome, 04:36 spread to Asia Minor. 04:38 But what 1 Peter does is 04:40 he covers in his letter to the churches, 04:44 he covers salvation, submission, and suffering. 04:48 He wants to encourage the believers 04:53 to have more faith and to have joy even under persecution 04:58 if they're suffering for Christ. 05:01 So one thing that we'll see in 1 Peter 05:05 is that he really does, 05:07 by the influence of the Holy Spirit, 05:10 he's telling people that we need to lead 05:13 distinctive life styles. 05:15 You know we're only temporary residents in a foreign land 05:18 because he's pointing out that heaven is our home. 05:21 So, in this week's study as we look at this epistle, 05:25 an epistle just means that it's a letter. 05:28 Why does someone normally write a letter to someone else? 05:33 They have a message they want to convey 05:36 and often when we see the apostles, 05:38 like Peter or Paul when they're writing 05:41 to a church or a group of churches, 05:45 quite often they're addressing a specific issue 05:48 that the church either needs to correct 05:50 or be encouraged upon. 05:52 So when we study the Bible, 05:53 there is three questions that we should, 05:56 if at all possible try to find out 05:58 before we really get deep into the book 06:01 and that is who, number 1, is the intended audience? 06:06 What was the topic, the precise reason for writing, 06:12 and was there a particular issue 06:14 that the author wanted to address? 06:16 These things are good to know as much as possible, 06:18 if we can because it helps us put it in a proper framework. 06:23 But the most important thing, 06:25 of course, even though knowing 06:27 the historical context is important, 06:29 the most important thing is for us to see what message, 06:33 under the influence of the Holy Spirit, 06:35 each one of these epistles has a message to us. 06:40 So for Sunday, I have one scripture to cover. 06:43 So let's look at it real quickly. 06:45 We're gonna read 1 Peter 1:1 06:47 and see what we can learn that from this 06:50 that gives us a little bit of context of the whole epistle. 06:54 So 1 Peter 1:1 says, 06:56 "Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ 06:58 to the pilgrims of the dispersion 06:59 in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 07:02 Asia and Bithynia," first of all, 07:06 Peter is one of the 12 disciples 07:08 whom Jesus hand selected 07:10 and he was a member of the inner circle, 07:12 he was really close to Jesus, He, James and John. 07:16 So what we're seeing here, 07:18 Peter assumed leadership in the early church 07:22 but he's clearly identifying himself 07:24 as the author of this book. 07:27 He is also basically establishing 07:31 his credentials and his calling. 07:33 He said, I'm an apostle called by Christ 07:35 and he's got a divine authority with which to speak. 07:40 Now when he says to the pilgrims, 07:43 you know, we think of the strangers 07:44 and the sojourners, words like that, 07:46 typically applied to the Jewish people, doesn't it? 07:50 He's talking that word pilgrim, or sojourner, or traveler, 07:53 he's saying that word temporary residents 07:57 in a hostile world really that has, 08:00 where we have no real rights here 08:02 because our rights are in heaven, 08:04 this whole lesson is about an inheritance incorruptible. 08:10 So he's saying to the pilgrims of the dispersion. 08:13 That word just simply means that they were scattered 08:16 and we know that God's people 08:18 if they were scattered outside of their homeland, 08:20 who do we think of again? 08:22 We're thinking of the Jews, right? 08:24 But they're in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. 08:28 These are Roman provinces that are now modern Turkey. 08:33 But now we're gonna see as we get into Peter 08:37 that there's times like in the beginning 08:39 it sounds like he's speaking 08:41 to an exclusively Jewish audience, 08:44 but then he's gonna say some things 08:45 that make it really impossible to believe 08:49 that he would ever write that to a Jew 08:52 and we see in specific we see 08:56 that he talks about the futile ways 08:58 inherited from your ancestors. 09:00 He talks about we've spent enough time 09:03 of the past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles, 09:06 when we walked in lewdness 09:07 and lust, drunkenness revelries, 09:09 drinking parties and abominable idolatries, 09:13 now it sounds like he's talking to Gentiles, doesn't it? 09:16 Well, here's what most scholars believe. 09:22 Most of the leaders 09:23 and the members of the early church or Jewish 09:26 and it is true that they were scattered 09:28 throughout the Roman world. 09:30 But the dispersion did not stop the advancement of the gospel 09:34 and that it helped to fuel the advancement of the gospel. 09:38 So, many Gentile believers came into the church. 09:42 So with all likelihood Peter is writing to both Jews 09:46 and to Gentiles in this. 09:49 When we think about the persecution, 09:52 they were persecuted by three primary entities. 09:55 First, the Romans, the Jews themselves, 09:58 and then their own family members. 10:00 The Romans looked at the Christians 10:02 as a sect of Judaism. 10:04 And that was a legal religion in Rome. 10:06 But they said, okay, you're legal 10:08 as long as you obey the laws, 10:11 but the Christians refused to worship the... 10:18 What's the word I'm looking for. 10:19 They refused to worship the emperors 10:21 who I'm trying to think of as god, 10:23 they refused to worship the pagan temples 10:25 and these pagan temples 10:26 were money making businesses for Rome. 10:31 So anywhere that the Christians moved in, the Roman temples, 10:35 when Christianity started setting in, 10:37 then the Roman temples suffered. 10:39 So they were being persecuted by the Romans, 10:43 but then they were persecuted by the Jews as well 10:46 because Jews didn't like being associated 10:48 with the Christians legally. 10:50 They didn't like this at all and we see all throughout Acts 10:53 which is the book about 10:55 the first 30 years of the history of the church, 10:58 we see throughout Acts 10:59 how some Jews actually put physical harm on Christians, 11:05 they turned them out of town, 11:07 they turned the officials against them. 11:10 But then the Christians also, many of these converts, 11:14 especially the Gentile converts, 11:16 they suffered from their families persecution 11:19 because in the Roman law, 11:21 the head of the household had full authority over the family, 11:27 and if the head of the household 11:29 did not turn Christian, 11:31 if one of the members of the household, 11:33 or a slave of the household was Christian, 11:35 then they could beat them, they could send them away 11:37 and they had no legal rights whatsoever. 11:40 So when we think about this epistle, 11:44 to me what I learned or what renewed in me 11:48 is that Peter was an apostle, 11:51 it says, to the Jews 11:53 but he also ministered to the Gentiles. 11:57 What's crucial for us isn't so much the audience 12:02 that Peter is addressing, 12:03 what's crucial for us is to realize 12:06 when we're persecuted for our faith, 12:09 it's gonna do one of two things. 12:11 It's either going to stimulate our spiritual growth 12:15 or it's going to foster bitterness in our hearts. 12:18 And our response is what determines 12:23 when we're persecuted or when we suffer, 12:26 our response is what to that persecution and suffering 12:30 is what determines the result. 12:32 So that's just a little bit of background for Sunday's lesson, 12:38 and now I'm going to pass it to brother CA Murray. 12:40 Thank you, well said. 12:42 I think among the things that we need to remember, 12:46 and, Shelley, you touched on it so well, 12:48 that the church originally was a Jewish community. 12:52 But as the diaspora set in 12:54 and their natural bend towards evangelism 12:57 once you came to know Jesus, 12:59 the church also took in a large number of Gentile individuals 13:04 and you rightly said, Peter's audience included both 13:08 and that is why to take a parallel issue, 13:11 Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, he wrote to Hebrew Christians 13:14 because a lot of the Hebrew Christians were thinking, 13:17 you know, maybe we ought to just go back into Judaism. 13:19 Maybe we ought to just go back, 13:21 Judaism is a religio licita, it's recognized. 13:25 This new religion is religio illicita 13:28 and we're getting in trouble. 13:30 So Paul wrote to let them know that Christ is 13:34 and I use modern language, the real deal. 13:37 Stay with Jesus, He will get you home, 13:39 He is the real deal. 13:40 Well, Peter is spanning that also. 13:43 Jewish audience, non-Jewish audience 13:46 and I think it's important to remember that 13:48 because of some of the language he uses. 13:50 My topic for the day is Elect. 13:54 He uses that language 13:56 when speaking to both audiences. 13:57 So he's not singling out the Jewish people 14:00 as a particular group that have any advantage. 14:04 Once you're in Christ, 14:06 you're equal, you know, you're elect. 14:09 I don't know if there's any doctrine 14:10 that has split Christianity a little bit more 14:12 than this idea of election and predestination. 14:16 There are ongoing debates 14:17 to this day of election and predestination. 14:21 But elect simply means to choose. 14:25 When God chooses us, we still must select Him. 14:31 There is election and selection. 14:33 God elects, we select. 14:35 Everything that has to do with salvation 14:37 deals with relationship with God. 14:40 God does not superimpose salvation on anyone. 14:44 He opens the door to salvation. 14:46 He has made a way of salvation but then you must select God. 14:51 What is predestined is that if you do certain things, 14:57 certain things are gonna happen 14:59 and I've got a bunch of texts that sort of speak to that. 15:02 And then we'll come back 15:04 and do a couple more things in Peter. 15:05 But in Acts 16:31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 15:08 you're going to be saved." 15:10 That's guaranteed. That's guaranteed by Christ. 15:14 Mark 16:16, believe and baptize, 15:17 you're gonna be saved. 15:18 You know, that's predestined. 15:22 That if you believe and are baptized, 15:25 God will see to it that you get saved. 15:28 Romans 10:9, "Confess with your mouth, 15:32 believe with your heart, you're gonna be saved." 15:35 Amen. That's predetermined. 15:39 Romans 10:13, "Call on His name you're gonna be saved." 15:45 So there is a part that we have to play 15:47 in response to what God has done. 15:50 And if we respond in a positive way 15:54 and hold on to that relationship, 15:56 it has been predetermined you're going to be saved. 16:01 There's no way to get around it. 16:04 The lesson, I'm gonna stick kind of closer 16:06 because the lesson makes some good points, 16:07 I do want to bring out. 16:11 1 Timothy 2:4, it is His desire that we be saved. 16:16 I was saying to someone else the other day, 16:21 God's not trying to keep you out, 16:22 He's trying to get you in. 16:24 Amen. 16:25 And if He can, He's gonna get you in. 16:27 If you'll just work with Him, He's gonna get you in. 16:28 Not trying to find reasons to keep you out, 16:31 He's trying to find reasons to get you in. 16:32 And Peter of all people knew that, 16:35 He's not trying to keep me out, He's trying to get me in. 16:38 And those lessons are woven throughout his gospels, 16:43 his works, they're there. 16:46 We look at 2 Peter 3:9, God is not slack, 16:50 He's not slow concerning His promises 16:54 as some people look at slackness 16:56 or sloppiness or slowness, 16:58 but He's long-suffering 17:00 and Peter knew about a long-suffering God. 17:03 Because He's not willing that any should perish. 17:07 And so the thing that you can bite down on, 17:13 hold on to, is that God wants you in the Kingdom, 17:16 He wants you to be in the Kingdom. 17:19 And He's long-suffering so... 17:22 You know, the truth is some days you feel like 17:26 you can carry the weight of the world, 17:28 you get up and you feel strong in the Lord, you know. 17:31 Some days you feel like 17:32 you are carrying the weight of the world. 17:34 I've had those days, like it's just on you, you know. 17:38 I tell... 17:39 When I used to counsel people who are married, 17:41 some days you feel very married, you get up, 17:44 you look at her, and she looks at you, you feel married, 17:46 you know, you just feel really married. 17:48 Some days you don't feel so married. 17:52 You know, you have days, 17:54 you know, you live with a person 10, 20, 30, 17:55 you have good days 17:57 and you have some days when you don't feel so married. 17:59 On the days when you feel very married, you're married. 18:03 Amen. 18:05 On the days when you don't feel married, guess what? 18:08 You're still married. You're still married. 18:10 So in your Christian experience, 18:11 you're gonna have strong days, 18:13 you're gonna have days when you don't feel so strong. 18:16 But God has chosen you and you have selected Him. 18:21 So on the good days you're in Christ, 18:24 and on the bad days you don't need to question 18:27 because Christ is still there for you. 18:29 You're still in Jesus, you're still equipped. 18:30 You're having rough times, stuff is getting in the way, 18:33 but you're still a child of God. 18:35 And Peter of all people knew that, 18:38 particularly after his experience 18:43 in the book of Acts 18:45 that he knew who Christ was and where Christ was 18:51 and that Christ was with him, 18:53 so when he had those little slips, 18:56 he can write in his gospel. 18:59 God is not slack concerning His promises to me. 19:02 The promises are not, in the kingdom of God, 19:06 it's not about feeling, it's about the promises of God. 19:10 So when you feel them, well, praise the Lord, 19:12 but even when you don't feel them, 19:13 the promises are true. 19:15 And Peter had that in his heart. 19:19 I want to read this last line before my time gets over, 19:21 and I like this. 19:22 "This foreknowledge in no way forced their choice anymore 19:29 than a mother knowing beforehand 19:31 that her child will choose chocolate cake 19:34 instead of green beans." 19:35 'Cause you know your child, 19:37 you know what he's gonna choose, 19:38 you know what he's gonna take, and God knows us, He knows us. 19:42 Her foreknowledge of the choice force the child to make, 19:46 so because she knew what was gonna happen 19:48 and she didn't force the child, 19:49 she knows her child, and God knows us, 19:51 so He's not gonna force you into salvation 19:54 but He knows what your choices are, 19:55 He's understood you, He's watched you, 19:57 He's made you, He's kept His eye on you, 20:00 He knows kind of where you're going 20:02 and what you're gonna do. 20:04 So do not think that there's some secret 20:07 inside something that God selects pastor 20:10 and does not select Mollie 20:11 and selects Jill and does not select Shelley, 20:13 He wants all of you to be saved 20:16 and He's sitting there waiting and watching 20:18 and working for you to select Him. 20:21 And once you select His election, 20:25 you're gonna be saved 20:26 as long as you abide in Him and stay with Him. 20:31 So what kind of assurance 20:32 the lesson has does this give us? 20:34 It gives me the assurance that as long as I stay with Jesus, 20:38 it's all gonna be good. 20:39 Amen. 20:40 And the end is gonna be salvation. 20:42 There's gonna be rough times, good times, bad times, 20:44 some times things are gonna go just like I want them to go. 20:46 Sometimes they're not gonna go like I want them to go at all, 20:48 but God is with them all and it will all work for good 20:51 as long as we hold on 20:53 to the unchanging hand of Jesus Christ 20:54 and He will see us home. 20:59 And, you know, you just made that comment, 21:01 it will all work for good 21:02 that reminds me of Romans 8:28 and 29 21:04 because to me that's what predestination is about. 21:07 It says that, "He works all things together for good 21:09 for those who love Him 21:11 and are called according to His purpose," 21:13 and then verse 29, Romans 8:29 says, 21:16 "For those He knew, 21:18 He predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus." 21:24 So our destiny, 21:26 God has predestined us to be like Jesus. 21:28 Yeah, that's what He wants, our sanctification, 21:30 and that's Peter 2 by the way. 21:31 Amen. 21:33 So you're saying then that we're all elected. 21:35 It falls on us now to do the selecting. 21:38 You there you go. Precisely. 21:40 Very good. Pastor? 21:41 I was just thinking, 21:43 many are called, few are chosen 21:44 and that so much involves Jesus' calling humanity 21:49 but at the same time we must respond. 21:51 Yes. We must say yes. 21:54 Yes, and I also as you were speaking, 21:56 I was thinking about how God is in the redemptive process 21:59 trying to redeem that which was lost through sin. 22:03 He gave everything for that to happen. 22:06 He gave His son, gave His life 22:08 and what you're looking at here as we go throughout this lesson 22:13 is the fact that there has been success. 22:16 The kingdom of heaven has now been planted on this earth 22:20 on enemy territory, 22:22 He has taken the keys back and as the church 22:25 is growing, you know, you think of the dispersion, 22:27 you're also looking at, yes, there's heavy persecution 22:30 but if you hang on to Jesus in faith, 22:32 He'll bring you places that you otherwise wouldn't have gone 22:34 if it hadn't been for that person. 22:36 That's right. Amen. 22:37 And now I'm gonna start with what I had prepared. 22:38 Okay. 22:40 You got me going, that was good. 22:43 You know, I wanted to, 22:44 we're gonna be looking at 1 Peter 1, 22:46 but it has already been touched on the setting. 22:50 But one of the things that stood out to me 22:52 was the very fact that we're dealing with Asia Minor, 22:55 we're dealing with the majority as I concluded 22:58 not being Jews but being Gentiles. 23:01 And then you think about Peter and his history, 23:04 what a growth process he had to go through 23:07 because when he wrote this, 23:09 he was writing it as a pastoral letter to people 23:11 that never knew Jesus personally. 23:15 Now none of us have walked with Jesus where He walked, 23:19 so to us this is common place 23:21 but when I think of the apostles, 23:24 the sent ones, actually getting toward the end of their lives, 23:29 John on the island of Patmos writing his gospel, 23:32 thinking that this is the next generation, 23:34 he's trying to address them. 23:36 Peter as he's writing his epistle, 23:37 he's nearing the end of his life 23:39 and he's actually ministering to the very ones 23:42 that he otherwise would not have been caught 23:44 with before Christ was in his life. 23:48 But he's writing this pastoral letter, 23:49 he's writing counsel to those that are servants 23:54 or those to submit to government. 23:56 He's writing counsel to wives, to husbands, 23:58 to elders and even young members of the church. 24:02 And as you look at verse 3 in 1 Peter 1... 24:09 We see here that one of the things 24:12 if you find through from verse 3 24:15 all the way through verse 12 24:17 is you'll see the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 24:21 In our previous quarter we were studying the Holy Spirit 24:24 and how He wasn't just on the forefront as much 24:27 but you see clear evidence of the Holy Spirit 24:29 is part of this whole experience 24:32 for the New Testament Church. 24:34 And so he starts off with, "Blessed be God, 24:37 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 24:39 who according to His abundant mercy 24:41 has begotten us again to a living hope 24:44 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 24:48 You know, there's no hope for any Christian, 24:50 Jew or Gentile in their background beyond Christ. 24:54 He is the blessed hope. 24:56 The fact that He has power over the grave is something that, 24:59 can you imagine all of the pagan gods 25:02 that the Gentiles would have worshipped 25:04 were not like Jesus. 25:06 Jesus was the one that actually had victory over the grave, 25:09 so one of the themes that you see 25:12 Peter is writing here is that we have hope 25:15 because Jesus had victory over the grave. 25:18 That means we have victory over the grave. 25:20 All of us are going through various trials 25:22 and as we age, those trials are changing, 25:25 and some of them we didn't know were coming, 25:28 we didn't expect them, 25:30 and, but the blessed hope for this church at this time 25:33 that Peter's writing to, 25:35 those churches throughout Asia Minor 25:37 applies to us today to this very day. 25:40 And a theme that I see here, if you look at verse 4, 25:45 there is an inheritance that God has reserved for you. 25:51 Now I think it was mentioned before 25:53 that this is something you can look at in a plural way, 25:55 it's for all of us. 25:57 But I also like to think of it as in a personal way 25:59 as I'm reading this verse 26:01 that God has prepared and reserved 26:03 something special in heaven for me personally. 26:06 And when He went to that cross, He thought of me. 26:10 And I'm kept by the power of God through faith. 26:13 Hallelujah. Amen. 26:16 And, you know, one of the things... 26:17 Remember, who are we reading? 26:19 This is Peter. Yes. 26:20 Is one of the things he had to learn 26:22 that I see consistently throughout the New Testament 26:25 is that he needed to be kept 26:26 by the power of God through faith. 26:29 He failed over and over and over again, 26:31 now here he is in a pastoral way, 26:34 sharing with new converts and those maybe not so new, 26:37 the very same thing that he had to learn himself. 26:41 So you see that theme, it's very important to him. 26:44 As you go through in verse 6 and onward, 26:47 it talks about the various trials 26:50 that people are going through. 26:51 You know, the New Testament church, 26:53 one thing about having the Holy Spirit poured out 26:54 which oftentimes we want to see 26:56 in a corporate way brings on persecution 27:00 because the enemy hates 27:03 when God's church is on the move. 27:06 And can you imagine being Peter having to grow in faith, 27:12 having churches throughout Asia Minor, 27:14 watching them go through persecution 27:16 because they followed your lead 27:18 and watching them struggle 27:19 with the same things you struggled with. 27:21 That's good. 27:22 So what they needed was an encourager. 27:25 I think all of us need an encourager. 27:29 Someone that mentors, 27:30 someone that maybe he's been where they are 27:33 and can help them through it. 27:36 The other thing he points out here 27:37 is that they have a faith that is amazing to him, 27:40 look at verse 8, "Whom having not seen, Jesus, 27:44 you love him," because he saw Jesus 27:48 and many others that were in the early Christian church 27:50 had seen Jesus and they could refer to that. 27:53 And, but this is a group that had never seen Jesus 27:56 and they believed. 27:58 Do you know what a miracle that is? 28:00 To have not only days but years, 28:04 decades go by where God is in control of your life, 28:07 leading you on a path. 28:09 That is a miracle of God 28:11 and it's an act of faith to be on that journey with Him. 28:15 So he's encouraging them that, 28:18 you know, even though you have these trials 28:21 and you love Jesus even though you haven't seen Him, 28:25 and verse 9, he says, 28:27 "Receiving the end of your faith, 28:30 the salvation of your souls." 28:32 So because of this, God is going to save you 28:36 and, of course, we know that third part of salvation 28:40 that redemptive process is the glorifying 28:42 in 1 Corinthians 15. 28:44 And, Pastor, that end there is not the terminus 28:46 but the goal of your faith. 28:47 Yes. Yes. 28:49 That's right. That's right. 28:52 And also I like the way he gets into, 28:55 if you go down to verse 10, 28:58 you will find that this salvation 29:01 is what the prophets have enquired and searched carefully 29:05 and prophesied of the grace that would come to you. 29:09 So they were called, these prophets of old, 29:13 to speak to a generation and it was this generation 29:18 and he wanted to encourage them. 29:20 You know it always makes me scratch my head 29:23 when Christians, well-meaning Christians 29:25 say that the Old Testament is irrelevant. 29:29 And now we are a New Testament Christian. 29:31 Well, if you think about it, 29:33 this whole church in the New Testament 29:36 that's all they had, was the Old Testament. 29:39 And it was those Old Testament prophets that encouraged them 29:44 and Peter wanted to make sure that they knew 29:47 that those writings were for that generation 29:50 and for every generation that followed. 29:55 And also in verse 12, 29:57 to them it was revealed that not to themselves 30:00 but to us they were ministering. 30:04 The things which now have been reported to you 30:07 through those who have preached the gospel to you 30:09 by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, 30:12 things which angels desired to look into. 30:16 And I look at that and I think, wow, 30:18 the plan of salvation is something 30:20 that angels longed to look into. 30:25 You know, I often think of what is the most difficult thing 30:27 that God that can speak things into existence, 30:29 what was the most difficult thing for Him to do? 30:31 It's the conversion of a soul. 30:35 It is something that angels long to look into. 30:39 We sing our unique song on our unique journey 30:43 and this is something that unfallen beings 30:46 are blessed in seeing things about God 30:49 that they otherwise would not have seen. 30:52 Watching His patience with us, 30:54 watching the fact that He took Peter from what he was, 30:57 written off by church leadership 30:59 to now here he is, 31:01 a church leader encouraging others in the faith. 31:03 Very, very good. 31:05 Thank you so much. 31:06 Mollie, would you like to? 31:09 I pick up right where you left off. 31:12 Now what you've just so eloquently done, 31:17 and so beautifully, and meaningfully, 31:19 it's kind of given us some of the heavenly inheritance 31:23 that we're going to receive. 31:25 And so in 1 Peter 1, 31:28 we're gonna look at 13 through 21. 31:32 Peter shares the attributes 31:37 that we are to have living the life of salvation. 31:42 So 1 Peter 1:13 starts out with therefore. 31:47 Now anytime there's a therefore, 31:50 what are you supposed to do? 31:52 Look back. 31:53 Look and see what it's there for. 31:54 So therefore, therefore what, therefore 31:57 because of this heavenly inheritance, 32:00 and I kind of put it in a capsule 32:02 using 1 Peter 1:8 and 9. 32:05 "Though now you do not see Him 32:07 yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible 32:12 and full of glory receiving the end of your faith 32:15 the salvation of your souls." 32:17 Therefore because of the salvation of our souls 32:21 of all this that we have in this heavenly inheritance, 32:27 he uses two little words. 32:30 He says gird up, gird up. 32:33 We're going to finish that but gird up. 32:36 Now this girding up, 32:38 that's to prepare oneself for a fight 32:41 or for some difficult task. 32:44 In this culture both men and women 32:46 wore long flowing robes. 32:49 For the men when they were relaxed 32:52 or in a resting condition, the robes flowed. 32:56 But when it was time to go to work or to go into battle, 32:59 those flowing robes would've been a real, 33:02 it would have inhibited them, it would have deterred them 33:06 from accomplishing what they needed to accomplish 33:08 so they girded up. 33:11 They took a belt girded up their robes 33:14 so they wouldn't be hindered. 33:15 And now what are you to gird up? 33:17 Therefore, it says, gird up what? 33:20 The loins of your mind. 33:23 Gird up the loins of your mind. 33:25 As a response to salvation 33:27 that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ, 33:29 we must protect our minds. 33:32 We must prepare this mind 33:34 that we have to further the cause of Christ 33:38 and so you gird up the loins of your mind. 33:42 We have to make sure that our minds are protected. 33:47 Did you know there's a scripture in Proverbs 33:50 that says "Guard your heart with all diligence, 33:53 and above all that you guard," why? 33:56 For out of it flow the issues of life. 33:59 So how do you guard your mind? 34:02 You guard what goes in your eyes, 34:04 what goes in your ears, 34:05 the two ways that things get into your mind. 34:08 So you guard your mind above all that you guard, 34:11 you guard yourself and why would that be? 34:15 Because what is what you behold you become 34:19 and, Shelley, you and I use this quite often, 34:23 it's about your mind. 34:26 Watch your thoughts, 34:28 first and foremost, watch your thoughts, why? 34:31 Those thoughts become words. 34:35 Watch your words 34:36 because those words become actions. 34:40 Watch your actions 34:41 because your actions become habits. 34:44 Watch your habits because they become character. 34:49 Watch your character, 34:51 for your character determines your destiny. 34:54 What is your destiny? 34:56 It's your eternity. 34:57 And so where did it all begin? 35:00 It began in the mind, that's where it begins. 35:03 So this is gird up the loins of your mind, 35:05 the reproductiveness of your mind, 35:08 gird it up, protect it. 35:11 And the girding up process, it prepared you to work 35:15 and it prepared you to do battle. 35:18 How many of you know we're in a battle? 35:20 Amen. 35:21 The scripture says Ephesians 6:12, 35:23 "For we wrestle not with flesh and blood." 35:26 So, Shelley, no matter what should happen between us, 35:32 it's not flesh and blood. 35:33 It doesn't matter what men or women do to us. 35:36 If you realize this isn't a physical battle, 35:39 we wrestle not with flesh and blood, 35:41 but bless God we wrestle. 35:44 We wrestle with principalities, with powers, 35:47 with the rulers of darkness of this world, 35:49 with spiritual wickedness in high places. 35:52 That is what we're wrestling, 35:53 and those are classifications of demonic forces. 35:57 They come against us. 35:58 So we're in this battle 36:00 and the battle, it begins in the mind. 36:03 So it says to gird up our mind, 36:06 so how do your gird up your mind? 36:08 Take every thought captive. 36:09 Take every thought captive, Shelley says. 36:12 You also fill your mind... 36:14 Remember, you become what you behold? 36:17 You spend time in God's Word, 36:19 you feast on God's Word and allow the Word. 36:23 Well, let me just read Romans 12:2, 36:27 "And do not be conformed to this world, the physical, 36:31 but be ye transformed" how? 36:34 "By the renewing of your mind." 36:35 What do you renew your mind on? 36:37 God's Word. 36:39 The Word of God is quick and powerful, 36:40 it's a living force and as you gird up your mind, 36:45 you study God's Word, 36:46 you allow this Word to become a living reality in your life, 36:49 then you can prove what is that good and acceptable 36:53 and perfect will of God. 36:55 Now Peter goes on after he tells us 36:57 to gird up the loins of our mind. 37:00 He says be sober, be sober. 37:03 Now when you think of sober, what do you normally think of? 37:07 Don't be inebriated. 37:09 Has to do with alcohol and which is good counsel, 37:14 be sober, but in this case, 37:16 I believe it means show self-control. 37:19 You know, allow yourself to be conducted by God's Word 37:24 and not to be quick to, as we were talking about, 37:28 Peter quick to pow-pow quick to spout off. 37:31 Be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace 37:36 that is to be brought to you 37:37 at the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 37:40 And I believe it was you, 37:41 and I think I've heard it from each of us, 37:44 our only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. 37:47 There is no hope anywhere else but in the Lord Jesus Christ. 37:53 So as a consequence of our salvation, our actions, 37:59 the way we conduct ourself has got to change. 38:03 We got transformed out of the kingdom of darkness 38:07 into the kingdom of God's dear Son, 38:09 everything changed, who we serve changed. 38:13 The kingdom we're now associated with changed. 38:16 What is expected of us has changed. 38:20 Now we were children of darkness, 38:24 now we're children of light. 38:25 The scripture says, "Beloved, now are you the sons of God." 38:28 It's not gonna happen later in the sweet by and by, 38:32 it's already happened. 38:34 You are right now a child of the living God. 38:37 And the scripture tells us, verse 14, Peter continues, 38:41 "As obedient children" what kind of children? 38:44 "Obedient children not conforming yourselves 38:48 to the former lusts as in your ignorance 38:51 but as He who called you..." 38:53 Oh, no, here it is, you can teach about love and peace 38:58 and joy and happiness 39:00 and people just rejoice with you. 39:02 But you start talking about holiness 39:04 and they get uncomfortable. 39:05 But here is what the scripture says, 39:08 "But as He who called you is holy..." 39:11 This does not sound like a suggestion. 39:14 "You also be holy in your conduct. 39:17 Not just part of your conduct but in all your conduct 39:22 because it is written be holy, for I am holy." 39:26 And I do want to stop there for just a minute. 39:30 When we speak of holiness, 39:33 does that mean that you never make a mistake? 39:35 No. 39:36 You know, it just means you are striving, excuse me. 39:41 You are striving to be obedient men and women of God, 39:45 obedient children of God. 39:47 And at most every teaching, 39:48 Jill, you're in my Sabbath School class for years, 39:52 every lesson is gonna have 1 John 1:9 in it. 39:56 Oh, thank God for 1 John 1:9. 39:59 We are to be holy, for He is holy, 40:01 and we get our lives in alignment with God's Word 40:06 and then, oh, my goodness you won't believe 40:08 what she did to me 40:10 and what popped right out of my mouth, 40:11 1 John 1:9, 40:12 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful 40:15 and just to forgive us of our sins 40:17 and then cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 40:20 When you're cleansed from all unrighteousness, 40:22 what does that make you? 40:23 There's no unrighteousness. 40:24 Oh, honey, there you are. 40:26 You're back in that position with God 40:28 where He says that we are to be. 40:31 "And if you call on the Father, 40:33 who without partiality judges according to each one's work, 40:36 conduct yourselves throughout the time 40:39 of your stay here in fear and that isn't scared. 40:42 Fear is just an awesome reverence of Almighty God. 40:46 And now I've got to finish this up. 40:49 Knowing that you were redeemed, 40:51 we were redeemed, we're redeemed! 40:53 Amen. 40:54 Hallelujah. We've been bought back. 40:56 We didn't pay the price, someone else paid the price 41:01 but it wasn't a cheap price. 41:02 It was the blood of the precious Savior. 41:07 Our Lord and Savior, His blood is what redeemed us. 41:11 It's not free. 41:13 It was a precious price. 41:14 And I wanted to read this. 41:16 This is the Desire of Ages, page 25. 41:19 This is what we get. 41:20 "Christ was treated as we deserve 41:24 that we might be treated as He deserves." 41:27 Listen to this, "He was condemned for your sins 41:31 in which He had no share that we might be justified 41:34 by His righteousness in which we had no share. 41:38 He suffered the death which was ours 41:42 that we might receive the life which was His. 41:46 With His stripes we are healed." 41:48 Praise God. Attributes of a Christian. 41:52 Amen. 41:53 That's powerful. 41:55 Praise the Lord for what He wants to do, 41:56 what He has done and what He wants to do 41:58 in each one of our hearts and lives. 42:00 We continue on, verse 22. 42:03 I like how the lesson does this 42:04 because it just takes it verse by verse 42:06 and we get to go through all of 1 Peter 1 in this lesson here. 42:11 So rich. It is, isn't it, Shelley? 42:13 So rich. So we are in verse 22. 42:16 Since, remember, Mollie, 42:18 your section started with therefore 42:20 and we went back to what Pastor Tom did. 42:22 Mine starts with since you have 42:25 purified your souls in obeying the truth. 42:28 So Peter is saying the purification process 42:31 is already underway. 42:33 I'm not talking to you as a brand new baby Christian, 42:35 you're already in that purification process. 42:40 That you have the blessed hope 42:42 and you're in the process of trials, 42:44 verse 7 talks about the trying of our faith 42:48 is made perfect in the midst of the fiery trials. 42:51 So they have, they're in persecution, 42:53 the church is suffering and in the midst of that 42:56 God is growing His character in their lives. 43:01 It's being developed. 43:02 Since you've purified your souls 43:05 in obeying the truth, 43:06 that word purified means, 43:07 to purify, to cleanse from defilement 43:10 and it refers back to that word you said, 43:13 that holy word that sometimes 43:15 we might struggle with it a bit, 43:17 "Be ye holy as I am holy," 43:19 he's referring back to that verse there. 43:23 And the beautiful thing is that it's never our holiness. 43:28 It's never our righteousness. 43:31 It's when I open up my heart and say, Lord Jesus I want you. 43:36 I want to be emptied of myself and filled with Jesus. 43:40 I want to be transformed into Your image, 43:44 into Your likeness and He transforms us. 43:46 I love what you said, Mollie, 43:48 by opening up and studying the Word of God. 43:50 You know, at 3ABN, Mollie has 'Mollyisms' 43:53 as what we call them, Mollyisms, 43:56 and you always say what we feed, grows, 43:59 and what we starve, dies. 44:00 So as we are in this process of purifying our souls 44:04 through this obedience to the truth, 44:06 feed your mind on the Word of God. 44:09 What we listen to, what we watch on TV 44:13 the things, the friends we associate with 44:15 has an impact on our walk with God, 44:18 on that transforming process. 44:20 If I keep my mind in the garbage, 44:22 in the gutter, that's what I become. 44:25 But if I, with open face beholding as in a glass, 44:29 2 Corinthians 3:18, 44:30 the glory of the Lord, what happens? 44:33 We're changed into His image from glory to glory. 44:36 So seeing we are purified yourselves 44:39 in obeying the truth through the spirit 44:41 in sincere love of the brethren. 44:43 Now that word for brethren is Philadelphia. 44:47 Now in the Bible we have different words for love. 44:53 We have Phileo which would mean brotherly affection or love. 44:59 We have Eros which would be a romantic type of love. 45:03 Then we have agape 45:06 and this word agape is in this verse. 45:08 So he says, you are in the process of purification, 45:11 you are living with your brothers and sisters. 45:15 They're called to worship together, 45:17 to serve together, to minister together 45:19 they're brothers and sisters in the church. 45:22 Then it says, "Love," there's that word agape. 45:25 "Love one another fervently with a pure heart." 45:29 Now agape love usually costs something. 45:34 It costs the person who has the love, 45:37 who's extending it to someone else. 45:39 Agape love seeks the highest good in someone else. 45:45 John 13, turn with me to John 13:35. 45:51 John 13:35, 34, 45:56 "He says a new commandment 45:57 I give to you that you love one another 45:59 as I have loved you." 46:00 And then 35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, 46:06 if you have love for one another." 46:10 That love, that agape love 46:12 that seeks the good of someone else 46:14 is kind of a litmus test, as it were. 46:17 If I am in Jesus, if I'm walking and following Him, 46:20 I will have and turn that love for my brothers and sisters. 46:24 So what my mind always goes to 46:26 is how am I supposed to love my brothers and sisters? 46:30 How's that possible? 46:32 It's easier sometimes. 46:35 It's easier to love someone who's at a distance from you. 46:39 Would you agree? 46:41 Someone you kind of talk to 46:42 or just don't have much interaction, 46:45 but when you're close with someone, 46:47 a roommate in college, a spouse, 46:50 work in the same office, what happens? 46:53 Your personality and the other person's personality 46:56 could have some rub, 46:57 that's what happens in the church. 46:59 And yet, God calls us to love each other. 47:03 So how do I love my brothers and sisters? 47:06 In my own experience, 47:08 there's been three steps or three keys 47:11 to experiencing God's love and to love someone else. 47:14 The first one is Ask. 47:16 Ask God for His love. 47:19 We can't conjure up agape love. 47:21 I can't make it happen in myself, 47:24 I just go to God and say, 47:26 "I need help right now loving Mollie" which I don't. 47:31 I'm not, this person's bothering me 47:34 and I need help right now. 47:36 1 John 4:19, "We love because He first loved us." 47:40 We're not the originator of love, 47:42 God is the author of love. 47:44 He began it and He wants to extend His love to us. 47:47 So we just ask God for His love. 47:49 Number two, accept His love by faith. 47:54 You talked earlier, Pastor CA, 47:55 that the Christian walk is not... 47:58 And I don't remember if it was this lesson 47:59 or a previous lesson, 48:01 the Christian walk is not based on feeling. 48:04 It's based on faith. 48:05 Accept His love by faith. 48:08 We don't love other people by feeling, 48:11 although sometimes feelings are there 48:13 and it's nice when the feelings are there. 48:15 But we love other people based on God has commanded us 48:18 to love our brothers and sisters 48:20 and all of His commands are inherent 48:22 with in it a promise. 48:24 So He gives us the promise as well. 48:27 1 Corinthians 13, 48:28 the chapter is not based on the feelings of love, 48:32 it's based on principles of love. 48:34 Love is kind, that's a thing, that's a principle. 48:38 Love is patient, that's an action. 48:41 Love does not boast or exalt itself. 48:44 So the feelings are nice 48:46 and God does bring the feelings. 48:48 But first of all, we ask Him for His love, 48:50 we accept His love by faith 48:51 and then we actively reach out in loving ways. 48:56 I remember, this was years ago, 48:58 I was walking into a room and a woman had her back to me. 49:02 And when I walked into the room, 49:03 I was gonna go over and say, how are you, 49:05 like just say hey to her and all of a sudden I realized 49:07 she is talking about me to a whole group of people. 49:12 Just belittling, cutting, 49:15 and I thought they weren't true, 49:16 and they probably were true but anyways, 49:17 you know how your self rises up. 49:20 And I remember, I turned around 49:23 and I ran out to the car 49:24 and I just sat there and I cried. 49:27 And I said, God why is she saying these things? 49:31 And then I thought, I'll do the thing all Christians do 49:34 and I won't gossip about her to someone else. 49:37 I'm going to just take it to Jesus 49:39 and Jesus can help me love this woman. 49:41 Well, you know what happened? 49:43 The bitterness in my heart for this woman was still there 49:47 but I didn't know it. 49:48 I thought I'm being a good Christian, 49:50 and I'm walking in what I'm supposed to walk in. 49:53 Months went by 49:55 and I was working on memorizing certain scriptures, 49:57 Hebrews 12, "Follow peace with all men and holiness 50:00 without which no one shall see God." 50:02 And then it says, "Looking diligently 50:05 lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. 50:08 And thereby many people be defiled." 50:11 And as soon as I read that God said, 50:13 "Jill, if you hold on to this, it's going to affect your life, 50:17 your walk with Me, your salvation, your marriage, 50:22 your ministry, give it to Me." 50:25 And so I said, "God, I can't 50:26 but I will ask You for Your love for this woman." 50:30 Then I'm choosing to accept Your love by faith 50:32 but I don't feel it, 50:34 but the Christian walk is not based on how we feel. 50:37 And then the way I chose number three 50:39 is actively reach out in loving ways. 50:40 So the way I chose to reach out in love was to pray for her. 50:44 God, I ask that You would bless her, in her home, 50:46 in her marriage, in her ministry. 50:48 Bring souls into the kingdom 50:50 as a result of what she's doing. 50:51 And I felt fake 50:53 because I didn't want those things. 50:55 But then, day one, nothing happened. 50:58 Day two, three, four, few days later guess what happened? 51:01 I was praying the same prayer, by faith, 51:04 because that's what God wanted me to do, 51:06 and all of a sudden I felt the weight off my back. 51:10 And I loved her. 51:12 Only God can give us agape love for someone else. 51:17 Amen. 51:18 So Peter says, "You've purified your souls in obeying the truth 51:22 through the Spirit in sincere love for the brethren, 51:26 love one another fervently with a pure heart." 51:32 You know, that's so beautiful. 51:33 I've enjoyed so much what each one of you had to say 51:36 but can you imagine, just think, 51:39 all this came from the first chapter of 1 Peter. 51:45 When you think about how many truths 51:47 he introduced like the character of a triune God 51:50 and speaking of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, 51:54 the provision of Jesus as our Savior 51:58 that we are elected in Christ 52:00 for obedience and sanctification, 52:02 that we can rejoice in the death 52:05 and resurrection through His death and resurrection, 52:08 through which we have this promise 52:11 of an incorruptible inheritance in heaven. 52:15 He talked about responding in a godly way to suffering, 52:19 how the Holy Spirit worked through the prophets 52:21 to outline the days 52:23 in which Peter and his readers lived and same for us. 52:26 And how Christians should live 52:28 holy lives filled with obedience, 52:31 but not only obedience to the truth 52:34 but in communities that are characterized 52:37 by this agape love. 52:39 All of that is in this first chapter. 52:42 It's so amazing. 52:44 We have just a couple of minutes, 52:46 why don't each one of you just share something 52:49 that God spoke to you about today. 52:53 You know, Peter was part of a nascent church, 52:57 a church that was building itself 52:59 from the ground up 53:00 under the power of the Holy Spirit. 53:02 And any institution that is going to survive, 53:05 particularly in a hostile environment, 53:07 that the church was coming 53:09 into had to have these principles in place. 53:11 We've got to love one another, 53:12 we just can't say I love God, I love God, I love God. 53:14 What about the person next to you? 53:16 What about the person on the side of you? 53:17 What about those who don't have? 53:19 We're gonna have to get that God's love spread throughout 53:23 our community if we're going to stand, 53:26 and I see those elements in Peter's writings. 53:32 If we're gonna make it, 53:33 if we're gonna do what Christ wants us to do, 53:34 we have to do it together 53:36 and God's love is gonna have to be shared. 53:37 Amen. 53:39 I see this as spiritual maturity 53:41 in order to be able to love the way 53:44 God has called us to love. 53:45 And when you were speaking, 53:47 I was just thinking about Philippians 2:13, 53:50 'cause 12 tells us to work out our salvation 53:53 with fear and trembling, but I love verse 13, 53:55 "For it is God who works in you 53:57 both to will and to do for His good pleasure." 54:00 'Cause none of us knows where we're trying to go 54:04 when it comes to being holy. 54:05 We have the Word, we have the influence of others, 54:08 God is working through our lives 54:09 but we desperately need Him to guide 54:13 and be the change agent. 54:16 And we have to remember too 54:18 that when Peter writes that in the next epistle, 54:22 he says that God has given us everything 54:25 that we need for a godly life. 54:27 You know, He's given us His exceedingly 54:29 great and precious promises so that through them 54:32 we can become partakers of His divine nature. 54:35 So holiness just simply means, or sanctification are synonyms, 54:39 they mean to be separated from sin. 54:41 And I think that this divine love 54:43 that you're talking about though, 54:45 it's when God pours love into our hearts. 54:47 Divine love is what separates you from sin 54:50 when you think about it. 54:52 So that's good. 54:53 And, Mollie, you're about to burst down there. 54:55 Well, just received so much from each one of you 54:59 and I love these scriptures that, 55:02 Jill, that you shared, 55:03 and that was beautiful what you shared about 55:05 how only God can really put that agape love in our hearts. 55:11 How important the Word is. 55:14 We've been born again not of corruptible seed 55:19 but of incorruptible, which is what? 55:21 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 55:25 That is by the Word of the Living God, 55:28 the Lord Jesus Christ. 55:29 Look how it says, all flesh is as grass 55:32 and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. 55:35 The grass withers and its flower falls away 55:39 but the Word of the Lord does what? 55:41 It endures forever and as we take this Word 55:45 and we, going back to girding up our minds, 55:49 we take this Word, 55:50 that is something that will be in us forever, that Word. 55:55 What is the only thing we can take into the presence of God 55:58 is our character. 55:59 What has our character got to be based on? 56:01 It's got to be based on this Word 56:03 that is going to endure forever. 56:05 In the scripture that says, 56:07 "Forever O God Thy Word is established in the heavens." 56:11 The word established is set there as a guard, 56:14 as a garrison that Word will always be there to protect us. 56:19 Amen. 56:20 Jill? Amen. 56:21 The Word of God changes us, 56:23 it transforms us and I love that. 56:25 I want to go back to loving other people. 56:28 Actively reaching out in love 56:30 and I just want to appeal that you at home, 56:32 make a list of maybe people that you don't love. 56:35 And then take each one, 56:37 person by person to God 56:39 and maybe at the head of that list might be yourself. 56:42 You know sometimes we may not struggle with other people 56:46 but we say how could God love me, 56:48 how could God forgive me? 56:49 He died for you. 56:51 He wants to come into your life 56:53 and to create in you a new the image of Jesus. 56:57 Yes, well, thank you all so much 57:00 'cause this has been so rich, 57:01 I enjoyed listening to that. 57:03 For those of you at home, 57:04 we hope that you'll be joining us for our next study 57:07 which is "A Royal Priesthood" 57:09 and this is from the quarterly "Feed My Sheep" 57:12 and you can go online to absg, 57:16 which stands for Adult Bible Study Guide. 57:19 absg.Adventist.org 57:24 and download those lessons 57:26 and join us next time. 57:27 We're so thankful for this opportunity 57:30 to study together, to share 57:34 and I always am so blessed 57:35 by the many different perspectives. 57:37 I always get more out of the lesson 57:39 when we all get together 57:40 than when we're just doing it on our own. 57:42 Well, for those of you at home, our prayer for you 57:46 is that the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 57:49 the love of the Father, 57:51 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 57:53 will be with you always, 57:55 and join us next time 57:57 as we delve deep into the writings of Peter 58:01 and learn how God can transform our lives. |
Revised 2024-05-30