Participants: Jill Morikone (Host), Molly Steenson, Pr. Tom Ferguson, Shelley Quinn, Pr John Lomacang,
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP000018S
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00:01 The Bible tells us
00:32 Hello and we want to welcome you to the 3ABN Sabbath School 00:36 Panel. My name is Jill Morikone and so glad that you have tuned 00:39 in today. As we study the Word of God, as we open up the 00:43 Quarterly for this quarter is Feed My Sheep. We're discussing 00:48 the epistles of 1st and 2nd Peter. And I've been so blessed 00:53 by the study as we continue through and we're glad that you 00:56 are joining us as well. I want to introduce our panel to you 00:59 and then we'll give the way where you can access 01:02 the quarterly for yourself and you can download it and follow 01:06 along with us. But first our panel. To my left is Sr. Shelley 01:09 Quinn, and then Pr. Tom Ferguson of the Marion District 01:13 Pr. John Lomacang our own pastor here and Molly Steenson 01:18 And it's a joy and a privilege to open up God's Word 01:21 with each one of you. They're anointed men and women of God 01:25 who know the Word of God but not only that, they choose to 01:29 walk in practice what they have studied and that is the most 01:33 important thing and to me that's the best thing that could ever 01:35 be said about someone. Is that they live, they practice what 01:39 they preach. The Bible Study Guide, we want to give you the 01:42 way that you can access that. Go to absg.adventist.org 01:49 That stands for Adult Bible Study Guide. adventist.org 01:55 and you can download the lesson, follow along. We are on lesson 01:58 number 6. We're looking at Suffering For Christ 02:03 1 Peter deals with a lot of persecution. The early Christian 02:07 Church was under persecution. And we'll be looking at how are 02:11 we supposed to endure hardship and trial and how do we suffer 02:16 for Christ. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll read 02:20 our memory text together. And Shelley would you open up in 02:23 prayer for us? One again Father we come before you in the name 02:27 of Jesus thanking You for Your gifts of Your Son, Your Holy 02:31 Spirit and Your Word. And we thank you for this privilege 02:34 and honor that we have to get into Your Word, delve deep into 02:38 Your Word and share with our brothers and sisters. Father we 02:42 ask in the name of Jesus that You would send Your Holy Spirit 02:45 to be our teacher. Please anoint us as we speak, just let Him 02:50 flow through us but we also pray that You will give each one of 02:54 us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say and help us to put 02:58 Your Word into practice. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. 03:02 Our memory text if you want to join with us is 1 Peter 2: 21 03:07 and our custom is we would say it together on the panel 03:10 but I wanna invite you at home why don't you say it along with 03:13 us here as part of our 3ABN family? So we're in 1 Peter 2 03:18 verse 21 and we're reading out of the New King James Version 03:22 For to this you were called because Christ also suffered 03:27 for us leaving us an example that you should follow His steps 03:35 You know our culture today has kind of an interesting approach 03:39 to suffering. We don't like it. We wanna get rid of it. We avoid 03:44 it. We take pills for either a headache or a cold, we wanna 03:48 take a pill to relieve the head ache or to get rid of the 03:51 symptoms of a cold. We want to relieve other people of their 03:55 suffering and what they're going through. We wanna be 03:59 pain free, mature, perfect, feel great at all times. That's our 04:04 instant society or instant culture. My husband Greg likes 04:08 to exercise and he always says when I get the weights out 04:12 which I don't do as much as I should, and start to exercise 04:15 then I'll say but I don't wanna do it honey I'm gonna hurt 04:18 And he says, Oh don't you love that. I love the feeling of 04:22 muscles hurting. I do not love that. I just don't relish that 04:26 there's nothing I like about it except the benefit. Down the 04:29 road you're gonna reap the benefit of that. We say we want 04:34 to avoid suffering at all cost, especially in our modern society 04:39 and world. In the first century, Sunday's lesson is persecution 04:44 of the early Christians and in the first century after Christ 04:47 we see they experienced much suffering. Nero was the Roman 04:53 Emperor. He came to power at the age of 17 in AD 54 and he was a 04:59 young man who was, we could say, cruel. Very cruel. Harsh 05:04 He killed his step brother because he thought he was in 05:07 line for the throne. He arranged the murder of his mom. He 05:13 arranged the murder of his first wife and then his second wife 05:17 died too and there's discussion about what happened there 05:20 But he was a cruel tyrant. He only ruled for 13 years, He died 05:27 in AD 68 at the age of 30. But just before that time, in AD 64 05:32 a great fire broke out in the city of Rome and people 05:36 attributed it to Nero. Now whether he started the fire 05:39 or not I don't know but people said Nero did this and so he 05:44 started this rumor that the Christians had started the fire. 05:49 And then after that time they started persecution, systematic 05:55 persecution of the Christians and we're studying here in 05:58 1 Peter and of course we know Peter was killed and Paul was 06:01 also killed under this serious persecution that was taking 06:05 place in Rome at that time. They told the Christians to 06:09 offer incense to statues of other gods, to pray to other 06:13 gods and if they refused they would be persecuted. 06:17 Sometimes they covered them with the hides of animals and 06:20 and then attacked them. They made human torches 06:26 for light at night so that I want a street light 06:33 they set somebody on fire. That is just horrible. 06:36 The persecution that these early Christian believers lived under 06:41 and we're going to look this week at how Christ suffered 06:46 and how we are to endure suffering. How does the concept 06:51 of judgment help those of us enduring persecution and why 06:55 is there suffering at all. But on Sunday, specifically, we're 06:59 looking at how were the Christians to respond during 07:01 that time. We're gonna look at a couple of Scriptures. 07:04 So let's turn back to 1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7 07:08 we covered this a few weeks ago 07:13 In this you greatly rejoice Now I just wanna stop there 07:19 you greatly rejoice, even now for a little while need be 07:24 you have been grieved by various trials. So they're in the midst 07:28 of this trial and Peter is saying, in this you can 07:32 greatly rejoice. In the Greek it means exult, full of joy 07:38 or being so happy that you jump in exultation. Now I'm thinking 07:44 how am I going to be so excited about that? Why do we rejoice? 07:49 The previous verse, what does it say? Because we're kept by the 07:54 power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed 07:59 in the last time. We rejoice because we have an inheritance 08:02 incorruptible. We rejoice because we have salvation 08:05 by grace through Christ Jesus. We rejoice because we have 08:10 assurance of salvation and even in the midst of this pain 08:13 this world is not all there is. This world is not my home, I'm 08:17 just a passing through. We can look forward to that inheritance 08:21 incorruptible. And how are we to respond during the trial? 08:24 Look at verse 7. That the genuineness of your faith 08:29 being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is 08:34 tested by fire maybe found to praise, honor and glory at the 08:39 revelation of Jesus Christ. Wow! Trials test our faith. 08:47 Trials make us like Jesus. 08:52 I don't think they are an entrance exam or an obstacle 08:55 course God tries to create. I don't think God's saying, well 08:58 I'm going to, Jill's gonna follow me now. We're gonna 09:02 cause some trials to come in your life. I think the pain 09:06 the suffering in this world comes as result of sin. We know 09:10 John 10:10, Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus said 09:14 I have come that you would have life and have it more abundantly 09:17 So the trials and sufferings we go through are a result of 09:22 living in this world of sin but in the midst of that God says 09:25 I can purify you, I can use the painful, fiery trial. I can use 09:33 that experience to grow in you my character. Amen. To reveal 09:39 in you my character. You think about, it talks about more 09:43 precious than gold that perishes and you think about when they 09:46 refine metals, precious metals, and it has to get hot 09:51 and it's in the furnace. They're trying to get off all those 09:55 impurities, the dross. And you know how they say, the 10:00 what's the word, the silversmith goldsmith I'm not sure of the 10:04 word. So when they're working there and they see their image 10:10 their reflection, reflected then you know it's ready 10:15 Ooph! When we're in the hand of the potter, as it were, 10:20 remember Jeremiah was told, go down to the potter's house 10:23 and see. And he watched it being formed and then it was 10:27 marred, remember. And then he started new and he watched that 10:31 formed. And then God speaking through Jeremiah, O house of 10:36 Israel cannot I do with you as the potter? So I think, as last 10:40 day Christians we're looking at persecution of the early 10:42 Christians, but as last day Christians in a special way 10:46 God wants to do with us as He did with the potter. God wants 10:50 to refine us as that gold, precious, in the fire because 10:56 He wants to character of Jesus to be revealed, to be reflected 11:01 One more verse we'll look at and then jump over to Shelley 11:04 We're going to go to the end of 1 Peter 5, the last chapter 11:15 But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal 11:19 glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while. We all 11:25 go through suffering, we all go through trial, we all go through 11:27 persecution. After you've suffered a while, perfect 11:31 establish, strengthen, and settle you. He wants to do that 11:38 work in us. Establish means to lay the foundation of 11:40 you think initially He wants to lay that foundation, strengthen 11:45 us. To make us fast, establish us, confirm us in the faith 11:49 and then to perfect, to complete the work which He began. 11:54 Philippians 2:13, let's turn there real fast 11:58 I know I said that was the last Scripture. I think we got 12:00 time for one more. Phil 2:13 Cause as we're in this refining 12:07 process, God is the one who does the work, never us. 12:14 It is God who works in you, both to will and to do 12:19 of His good pleasure. And the Greek will is to wish 12:23 the desire. And the do is the action, the power. So God 12:28 gives me the desire to follow Him. You know sometimes you 12:31 wake up in the morning and you think, Do I really wanna go to 12:34 work? Right? Do I really wanna do xyz, do I do my laundry today 12:40 Do I feel like doing what I'm, you know, wake up when I'm 12:44 supposed to do today? God gives us the desire to follow Him 12:48 because without Him we wake up and those lusts of the flesh 12:53 clamor. The old man of sin comes up and God wants to give 12:57 us the desire to follow Him. And not only does He plant 13:02 within us the desire to follow Him, He gives us the power 13:05 to work it out. It's not that ok, I wanna follow you God but 13:10 I'm tripping and stumbling and I can't do it. He works 13:14 in us and through us. Philippians 1:6, being confident 13:18 of this very thing that He who began a good work in you 13:21 will perfect it, will carry it forward to completion. 13:25 So Shelley you have, we're looking at how Christ suffered 13:29 Yes, that Scripture that you just read in 1 Peter 4, let me 13:33 read that again because it just reminded me where he says 13:38 May the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory 13:41 by Christ Jesus, 1 Peter 5, excuse me 5 and verse 10 13:46 after you've suffered a while perfect, establish, strengthen 13:49 and settle you. See once again I keep seeing this is something 13:52 I hadn't really noticed before how much Peter and Paul write 13:57 alike because it reminds me of 1 Thessalonians also chapter 5 14:02 where Paul says, now may the God of peace Himself sanctify 14:06 you completely, it's God who's doing this work and he says 14:09 may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless 14:13 at the coming of our Lord and Jesus Christ and then he says 14:17 in verse 24, He who calls you is faithful who will also do it 14:23 That's right. So it's all about us saying Lord we yield 14:28 and submit to you, work in us to do Your will. I also wanted to 14:33 point one other before I get to mine, when you were talking 14:36 about going through these trials and you know somebody's out 14:40 there saying, I don't know if I want the genuineness of my faith 14:44 to be proven like gold because it's so difficult when you're in 14:48 the midst of a trial. It's easy to talk about faith when you're 14:51 not in the midst of a trial. But you're in the midst of it 14:53 it's just phew! But let me read to you from Isaiah 43 and this 15:00 is the Lord speaking, it says Now thus says the Lord who 15:04 created you, who formed you, Fear not for I have redeemed 15:08 you, I have called you by name you're mine. When you go 15:12 through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers 15:15 they shall not overflow, when you walk through the fire 15:19 you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. 15:24 So I just want to give you at home, if you're going through 15:27 a fiery trial right now, know that just as the Lord was in 15:31 the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, He's in the 15:34 fire with you and you just keep your eyes focused on Him 15:38 trusting in Him. He'll give you that perfect peace and He'll 15:41 bring you out on the other side not smelling like smoke 15:43 So, okay. My day is Monday I better get with it huh 15:49 Let's go to, we're supposed to read 1 Peter 3:13-22. It's what 15:56 Monday is all about. 1 Peter 3: 13-22. I'm just going to go 16:03 through this briefly then. And Peter writes, And who is he 16:08 who will harm you if you become followers of what is good, but 16:12 even if your suffer for righteousness sake, you are 16:16 blessed. Here he is echoing Jesus' words in Matthew 5:10 16:20 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness 16:23 Then he goes on in chapter 3:13, do not be afraid of their threat 16:30 nor be troubled but sanctify the Lord in your heart, revere 16:36 Christ as Lord of your life. Set Him apart, honor Him as holy 16:40 because when your focus in on Christ, as Isaiah 26:3 says 16:47 it says, the Lord says, if we will keep our eyes focused on 16:50 Him, trusting in Him, He will give us perfect peace. When your 16:54 focus is on Christ, you can count on the fact that He will 16:58 calm the fears that you have from others opposing you 17:03 Then he goes on, we're still in verse 15. Always be ready to 17:08 give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope 17:12 that is in you. And that defense should be one that's pleasant 17:17 it's not an argument. When some body sees you and they see how 17:21 you're responding to your trial and they're saying, what's 17:25 going on, I want what you've got. You tell them why. And he 17:29 says, and do this with meekness and fear with humility and 17:33 reverence. Verse 16, he says having a good conscience that 17:39 when they defame you as evil doers, those who revile your 17:43 good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. So he's saying, don't 17:47 give others an excuse or reason to point an accusing finger 17:52 at you, keep your conscience clear before God and then 17:56 the blamelessness of your life will bring glory to God because 18:01 they, your accusers will be put to shame. So verse 17, for it is 18:08 better if it is the will of God to suffer for good rather than 18:14 for doing evil. For Christ, he goes on in verse 18, says 18:19 for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the 18:22 unjust that he might bring us to God. Being put to death 18:27 in the flesh but made alive in the example. So here Peter is 18:32 citing Christ's example of suffering for righteousness 18:37 sake and He was innocent, righteous, He died for us 18:41 He suffered for us who are guilty and unrighteous sinners 18:45 But His suffering brought about the only means of salvation 18:50 and He died in our place so that those who believe in Him 18:55 could have hope of eternal life. And I just have to say this 18:59 I can't get past it. When it says in verse 18 that He 19:03 suffered once for sins. It reminds me of Romans 6:10 19:07 where Paul says the death that He died, He died to sin once 19:12 for all but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Amen 19:16 You know, to me, these Scriptures, how can anyone 19:19 believe in trans-substantiation? You know when you think about 19:24 the Catholic system is teaching that the priest actually takes 19:29 the Eucharist and turns it into the blood and body of Jesus 19:33 Christ at every communion service. That flies in the face 19:38 of Scripture because He only died once and the Bible is very 19:43 clear about that. Once for all. Now, verse 19, I'm going to go 19:48 ahead and expound on this if I have a moment. It says, by 19:53 whom also, let's see, let me pick it up. He said He was made 19:58 alive by the Spirit and then by whom also, by the Spirit, He 20:01 went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were 20:04 disobedience when once the divine long suffering waited 20:08 in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which 20:11 a few, that is 8 souls, were saved through water. By the 20:15 Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, He preached to the spirits in 20:19 prison. Some people teach that this is proof of a hell. But 20:25 what he's saying here is before Christ's incarnation, He spoke 20:30 through Noah to the ante- diluvian people. The people 20:34 that lived before the flood. Noah built the ark 120 years 20:37 it took him to build and the whole time he was a preacher of 20:41 righteousness. And so the whole time the Holy Spirit, He is 20:46 speaking through Noah. Christ is speaking through His Spirit 20:49 through Noah to bring these people to repentance. And when 20:56 he talks about the spirits in prison, he's talking about the 20:59 spiritual state of disobedience and now these people were long 21:04 dead awaiting the resurrection of condemnation for those 21:09 during God's final judgment. So then he says in verse 21, 21:12 there's also an antitype which now saves us. Baptism. 21:18 That's confusing. People think that baptism saves us, but it 21:22 says not the removal of the filth of the flesh but the 21:24 answer of a good conscience towards God and so Noah and 21:27 his family were brought through the flood on the ark. The flood 21:32 was a type of a new beginning. And that, it typified a changed 21:37 life and Christ is our ark, He brings us through to a new 21:40 beginning. It's clear that Peter understood baptism doesn't save 21:44 us, because then he goes on and says it's not that it's washing 21:49 away your filth. It's not the ceremony that washes away 21:53 the filth of our sin. Only the blood of Jesus can wash away 21:56 the filth of our sin. It's His death and resurrection 22:00 But baptism is, if the flood were a type, baptism is the 22:06 anti-type. It's symbolic of the inward experience of our changed 22:11 life that we've already experienced. It's evidence of 22:14 our faith in Christ's death and resurrection. And it corresponds 22:18 to the flood in that it's symbolic, a preparation 22:21 of separation from our past, and our new beginning 22:25 So then he goes on, verse 21, he says through the resurrection 22:29 of Jesus Christ this is how we were saved who have gone into 22:33 heaven and is at the right hand of God and angels and 22:37 authorities and powers were made subject to Him. 22:40 So God vindicates the righteous. Christians are to do good even 22:46 when we're faced with hostility and our sinless Lord suffered 22:52 we should see that living a lifestyle that pleases God 22:55 count this as a privilege. He suffered at the hands of 22:59 unbelievers. But it was His suffering, death, resurrection 23:03 and exaltation that gave us the foundation. And I just wanna 23:07 read one more Scripture real quickly. Hebrews 4:15-16 23:12 I love this Scripture. For we do not have a High Priest who 23:15 cannot sympathize with our weakness but was in all points 23:19 tempted as we are, yet without sin. You know whatever you're 23:23 going through, Jesus understands Whatever your trial, whatever 23:26 your temptation, you've got a High Priest in heaven who 23:29 understands, and then it says, let us therefore, because 23:35 Christ understands everything about us we can come boldly 23:39 before the throne of grace so we may obtain mercy and grace 23:43 in, asking Him for help in our time of need. Hallelujah! 23:49 Thank God for the work of Jesus 23:51 You know there's a point on, just before Pr. Tom comes in 23:54 where you talked about the spirits in prison. The very text 23:57 that supports that is Genesis 6:3. My Spirit will not always 24:02 strive with man. And that's you know the Spirit of God 24:06 the same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead 24:09 the same Spirit that was referred to there is the Spirit 24:12 that was striving with the hearts of men in the days of 24:14 Noah. And then God finally withdrew His Spirit after that 24:18 striving was done and so it wasn't a sermon in the grave 24:23 because it's appointed unto us once to die after that the 24:28 judgment. Right. absolutely. Pr. Tom. Yeah I just wanted to 24:31 say when you mentioned about the Eucharist, the thing that 24:34 disturbs me the most about that which a lot of people that 24:38 practice that, we don't realize this, every time they come 24:41 and celebrate the Eucharist they're killing God again 24:43 that's what, yeah isn't that amazing. Crucifying Him afresh 24:46 Yeah and that really...anyway I just wanted to talk a little 24:52 bit about the fiery trial and you know often times 24:58 I, Christians can sometimes, we're talking about people that 25:02 are actually in the fiery trials for Christ. But often times 25:05 Christians think that they're in a fiery trial and that which 25:09 is common to man is what they're experiencing. Matthew 5:45 25:13 talks about the sun and the moon excuse me, the sun and the rain 25:18 on the just and the unjust. And when people are experiencing 25:24 some trials it's really common to man, I think about the Lord 25:29 is trying to reach all of humanity. You think about 25:33 antediluvians, how long they lived, you realize that the age 25:36 has been shortened so much and it really has kept sin in check 25:40 we're all very young and yet we're all decaying. 25:44 And when I think about that, this is God's way of trying to 25:47 reach humanity and He's doing it in a corporate sense. 25:50 And then there are those that respond to the Spirit, and once 25:54 they respond to the Spirit, there are special attacks 25:57 on them. Because what I, yes you know it was interesting 26:01 because just yesterday when just before we recorded there was 26:04 one of the panels that was out. And someone had mentioned that 26:08 this is another Satanic attack and my knee jerk reaction was 26:12 Well I was thinking it was a mechanical problem, those things 26:15 happen to the just and the unjust. You know it's raining 26:18 today, it was sunny yesterday, but the reality is I was told 26:22 that just last night the entire central control went down 26:26 because of a power outage and I was realizing, wait a minute 26:31 what is being done there is a fiery trial that the enemy is 26:40 always waging war against the church, against God's work 26:45 Also when you think about it 2 Timothy 3:12, I'm not gonna 26:50 turn there but he references that all who desire to live 26:53 godly will suffer persecution. It is part and parcel for what 26:59 we are going to go through. Years ago, many years ago 27:02 I forgot the name of the one who preached this, but I'm 27:05 sure others have heard this analogy but we're like that 27:08 lump of coal and the enemy is constantly wanting to attack 27:14 nothing happens to us that hasn't gone through God first. 27:17 No matter what the trial is, our perception of what God would 27:21 allow might be different than what He does but that trial 27:24 has been permitted and God's purpose is to refine us, to give 27:28 us, to allow us to have another cut and the enemy is trying to 27:33 devour us. And as this is going on throughout our lives, 27:38 eventually God has produced a precious jewel. We are His 27:42 precious jewel. The fiery trials produce those precious jewels 27:47 that are in God's kingdom. So also in John 15:18, the world 27:52 hates Christ and the world hates His church. That's right. It's 27:56 something that we have to acknowledge that that is indeed 27:59 the case, that will always be the case. The call to Christ's 28:07 It is a call to a refiner's fire And you know we talked already 28:12 about that first generation church and as Jill was sharing 28:16 what they did to the Christians in Nero's reign, I want us to 28:19 turn to Revelation chapter 12 28:24 Revelation 12 and we're gonna look at verses 13 and onward 28:32 The persecuted church 28:36 You know this is something where a lot of Bible students 28:39 are gonna be aware of this but I wanna comment on this in a 28:41 slightly different way. Verse 13 It says, now when the dragon 28:47 saw that he had been cast to the earth he persecuted the 28:50 woman who gave birth to the male child. You know what really 28:54 happened is that the cross, the character of God had been 28:56 fully revealed and the character of His enemy had been fully 28:59 revealed and his influence in heaven was no longer there 29:03 he was now not a temptation for the 2/3rds of the angels 29:07 that had not fallen and for all the unfallen beings. His focus 29:11 now he had lost his influence there is right here on this 29:15 earth. So in other words he's cast to the earth and all 29:19 he wants to do is persecute the woman and that's why we see 29:22 the tremendous attack, you think of, the woman being the 29:26 symbol for the church, that's right, the prophetic symbol 29:33 the bloody church, as you go through the phases. But verse 14 29:40 says, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle 29:43 that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where 29:45 she's nursed for a time, times and half a time from the 29:48 presence of the serpent. So God protected those that were in 29:53 Christ from the presence of that serpent that was seeking 29:57 to devour her because his influence is now on this earth 30:00 alone. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a 30:04 flood. So there was an onslaught the crusades, after the woman 30:09 after the church that he might cause her to be carried away 30:11 by the flood. None of us that I'm aware of at this table, have 30:15 been told you'll lose your life if you profess Christ. We've had 30:19 persecution but can you imagine living through that time 30:22 that day and age and the strong faith that those martyrs had 30:26 You know there are places where men, women and children were 30:30 cast off a cliff that were in hiding and finally they were 30:34 caught up with. There are those that, if you read Foxe's book 30:39 of Martyrs, it's a heavy book, the persecution that went on 30:42 it'll bring you to tears. It'll also make you wonder how much 30:46 faith do I really have? And so this is the type of trial 30:51 fiery trial that the enemy will do. If he can't deceive us 30:55 he will persecute and just like the 3 Hebrews that were 30:59 in the fiery furnace, they could have, like they said, 31:02 God can do all these things but if not we'll serve Him 31:06 anyway. I imagine how much strength the martyrs had 31:10 found as a result of reading these promises in Scripture. 31:15 And as we continue, 31:21 verse 15, the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a 31:25 flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried 31:28 away by the flood, but the earth helped the woman. Here's where 31:32 this country comes on the scene And the earth opened its mouth 31:36 swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his 31:39 mouth. We have the birth of the Bible Society, we have the 31:44 Bible becoming the best seller and the dragon was enraged 31:48 of her offspring who keep the commandments of God 31:54 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It's very interesting 31:58 cause when you go back to Isaiah chapter 8 you realize 32:00 that these, the disciples of Jesus, these are the two 32:02 identifying marks. The disciples of God are the same all the way 32:06 through and that's where, well anyone is a Christian that 32:12 where God is in their hearts and lives has a mark on their 32:15 back and the enemy has assigned someone to you today. 32:23 I think about, especially, where is his malice aimed? 32:32 Those that are to carry the message around the world 32:36 the three angels messages around the world are especially the 32:41 target because most of Christianity is still in the 32:46 holy place and there is a message that needs to be 32:51 proclaimed around the world. So when you say they're still in 32:53 the holy place you're referencing the sanctuary 32:56 referencing the sanctuary, the ministry of Christ as our 33:00 intercessor or High Priest but there is a time of judgment that 33:04 is taking place and the world needs to hear the gospel for 33:08 this hour. But you look through from the beginning, from the 33:13 time he saw he was defeated all the way through to today 33:16 there were martyrs, all the sent ones, the apostles were martyred 33:20 except for John. Foxe's Book of Martyrs as I mentioned and then 33:23 those crusades and now the Advent movement. You know there 33:28 are people that are being persecuted just for mentioning 33:32 the name of Jesus, in parts of the world they're either 33:35 imprisoned they've been separated from their families 33:38 and they all have different denominational backgrounds 33:42 but yet they're uplifting Christ and as a result they're paying 33:45 the price for it. I wanna share a little, what we have here 33:50 out of, wow I'm running short on time, Acts of the Apostles 33:54 page 576, it's in your lesson. According to Ellen White, says 33:59 So it will be with all who live godly in Christ Jesus. 34:03 Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the 34:06 Spirit of Christ. The character of persecution changes with 34:10 the times, but the principle, the spirit that underlines it 34:14 is the same that has slain the chosen of the Lord ever since 34:18 the days of Abel. I wanna close with this one other text 34:23 I wanna go to a promise. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 54 34:35 And verse 17 34:39 This is something for all Christians to hang on to 34:41 It says in Isaiah 54:17, no weapon formed against you shall 34:46 prosper. And every tongue that rises against you in judgment 34:50 you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the 34:53 Lord, and I love this last line, and their righteousness 34:56 is from me says the Lord. 35:01 One of Wally's favorite Scriptures. Is it? 35:04 I love that Scripture. I'm done. 35:11 That's powerful. Thank you Pr. Tom. The work, I love 35:14 going through Revelation and seeing fulfillment of prophecy 35:17 as we go down to the end time into God's last day church 35:21 and seeing what God wants to do even in the midst of that 35:25 persecution how He wants to make us like Jesus. Amen. 35:28 And He will, at the end, in the judgment He's gonna even 35:31 all of that. Pr. John. Wow. You know the judgment, this is 35:34 a powerful topic here. I'm just blown away, I'm in a pop 35:38 I'm in a popcorn, no, cotton candy machine. I'm being spun 35:43 in every direction with all these topics and thoughts come 35:45 to my mind about the judgment. But I wanna walk through it 35:47 in a kind of methodical way. First of all, the judgment is 35:52 going to happen. But with that in mind, if someone knew that 35:59 one day their lives will come in review. Nothing they could've 36:03 nothing they've ever done could ever be kept secret but they're 36:06 given an opportunity to purge their record so that when the 36:11 investigation is done nothing appears. Who wouldn't take 36:14 advantage of that? Right. I mean when we, one of the reasons 36:19 why the word judgment frightens people is because we have 36:22 gotten, somewhere along the way, we've gotten the idea that we're 36:26 the ones cleaning ourselves up. That's a misconception. We don't 36:30 clean ourselves up. If we confess our sins He is faithful 36:33 and just to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 36:36 He's the one that does the cleansing immediately but He 36:39 also doesn't just do the cleansing and I'm gonna walk 36:42 you through the process because if it's only cleansing, when 36:44 something is washed that filth goes somewhere and we know 36:49 that the sins were transferred until the day of judgment 36:53 the day of atonement when we were brought at one with God 36:56 And so first of all there would be no need for a judgment 37:01 unless first there was a controversy. 37:05 When people, let's put the court scene together, when people 37:08 enter into a dispute there's a controversy. You say one thing 37:12 he says another, ok. There's a controversy. 37:15 There's a controversy between Christ and Satan. Somebody's 37:18 accusing us of something Jesus wants to vindicate us from 37:25 the accuser of our brethren. He has been doing that ever 37:29 since the Garden of Eden and, by the way, if our lives were 37:33 placed on complete display before the universe, the 37:37 unfallen worlds without the curtain of Jesus 37:41 None of us could be saved, I mean none of us. If there was 37:44 no way to cleanse our lives none of us will be saved. 37:47 That's the accusation. So when you go from the accusation 37:52 ok let's just look at this. In 2 Corinthians 5:10, we must 37:56 all appear before the judgment seat so this accusation can 37:59 be carried out. The plaintiff, the defendant. We stand before 38:04 the judgment seat. And how many of us must appear? All. We must 38:08 all appear before the judgment seat. Satan knows that. 38:12 So he's saying to us, I can't wait Jill till you appear 38:17 before the judgment seat. But I'm gonna show you how that's 38:21 not a fearful thing when Jesus is our advocate. If anyone sins 38:24 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 38:26 righteous. So now we say, while they're appearing what happens? 38:33 God will bring every work into judgment with every secret 38:38 thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. That would 38:40 make your teeth shake, if you did not know Jesus as your 38:44 Savior. So you have the controversy of the discovery 38:48 now at the investigation and then so you have the 38:51 presentation of evidence and the devil says as Martin Luther 38:54 had the dream. Here it is, in that dream that Martin Luther 38:57 conveyed later on he's terrified him until in the dream he saw 39:01 a hand that he knew not where it came from but over every sin 39:04 was stamped the word "Pardoned" Pardoned, Pardoned. 39:07 And look at Acts 3:19, I want us to see that. That's important 39:11 I walked through but I want you to see some Scriptures in 39:13 connection with this I mentioned them, Revelation 12:10, the 39:16 accuser, 2 Corinthians 5:10, we must all appear, nobody is left 39:20 out; Ecclesiastes 12:14, every thing is going to be revealed 39:24 and then Acts 3:19. Look at Acts 3:19 39:30 Here it is, Molly Sue why don't you read that for us? 39:34 Alright. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins 39:38 may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come 39:42 from the presence of the Lord. That your sins may be what? 39:45 Blotted out. Not cleansed but blotted out. 39:48 There's a difference altogether. Blotting out, what happened to 39:52 it? If the devil one day is gonna stand, thank you Jesus 39:58 The devil is gonna one day stand with locked jaw 40:06 The accuser. Locked jaw. What do you say now? 40:12 I can't find their sin. Thank you Jesus. I'm havin a moment 40:17 I can't find their sin. 40:23 Cause He blotted it out. If He didn't blot it out, you would 40:26 have seen that I was correct. And Jesus stands there 40:29 This is my son, this is my daughter. That's why I blotted 40:32 their sins out. He is our propitiation. I tell you, this 40:37 moves me when I think about it. That this, go to Daniel 7:22 40:43 The devil just wants the evidence to remain. 40:46 But Jesus doesn't want it. He doesn't want the evidence to 40:51 remain, He wants His children to remain. Daniel 7:22 40:56 Read verses 21 and 22 Jill. I was watching and the same horn 41:01 was making war against the saints and prevailing against 41:04 them until the Ancient, wait wait. Start with the first word 41:07 emphasize the first word in verse 22. UNTIL, thank you 41:10 Until the Ancient of Days came. And a judgment was made in 41:15 favor of the saints of the Most High and the time came for the 41:19 saints to possess the kingdom. Don't you like that? He was 41:22 accusing them, he was making war against, he was prevailing 41:25 against us. Do you not see every day in our lives at one 41:29 point or another the enemy prevails against? UNTIL 41:33 the Ancient of Days says it's my turn. The Ancient of Days 41:36 says it's my turn. And He comes and judgment is made in favor 41:42 Oh Hallelujah, that's the best. Thank you Jesus. 41:44 See the judgment used to be a terrifying, when I was growin up 41:48 and I heard judgment sermons in Black churches in New York 41:51 gonna go to hell for the things you've done, God is waiting 41:55 some of you are hidin, God sees that. I mean it terrifies you 41:59 rather than preaching the mercy and the forgiving power of 42:03 Jesus we put so much emphasis, sometimes I say to people 42:07 the Lord hasn't called us, I don't even like the phrase 42:10 the devil's advocate. I don't even like that phrase 42:13 You know people say, let me play the devil's advocate 42:15 We don't need to play the devil's advocate. Jesus is our 42:19 advocate, why would we want to be his? We don't even need to 42:22 play that side. So you get to the place where now 42:24 when the investigation, when the evidence is presented 42:27 the verdict is the judgment was made in favor of the saints 42:34 It is powerful. So let's look at some of the reasons why 42:37 I don't fear the judgment. 1 John 4 verse 17 42:42 You know when you live in the daily presence of God and you 42:45 understand that to walk in the light of the glory of God's 42:48 righteousness, you see if it were not for His righteousness 42:51 this term judgment would be a terrifying thing. It would be 42:55 terrifying. I've been to court before you know, speeding 42:58 ticket or parked in the wrong spot. When my mother came out 43:02 of the hospital, I had to prove it to the judge. When the judge 43:05 said to me, if you can prove to me that your mother came 43:08 out of the hospital yesterday and you parked in the wrong 43:11 spot because you were trying to get her close to the pharmacy 43:13 as you said then I'll drop the ticket. Man I ran out of the 43:16 court so fast Molly because I knew I was telling the truth 43:19 Got that ticket, she said take it to the clerk and case is 43:22 dismissed. When you know that you have an advocate then 43:27 it's a powerful thing. 1 John 4:17, Pr. Tom would you 43:30 read that for us? The verse before that also. 43:33 Verse 16 and 17. And we have known and believed the love 43:37 that God has for us, God is love. And he who abides in love 43:42 abides in God and God in him. Love has been perfected among us 43:46 in this that we may have boldness in the day of judgment 43:49 because as He is so are we in this world. Amen 43:54 Why? There is no fear in love but perfect love casts our fear 43:59 because fear involves torment but he who fears has not been 44:03 made perfect in love and we love Him because He first 44:08 loved us. Isn't that a Hallelujah? Amen. 44:11 So when the judge, we may have boldness in the day of judgment 44:14 who's gonna be at the bar next? Could I go next? I mean nobody 44:19 is gonna run to the judgment bar except Jesus is your advocate 44:23 You run to the judgment bar because you know that's the 44:26 mercy of God is in favor of the saints. But those who have not 44:30 been covered in Jesus is this punitive judgment which is 44:33 Revelation 20:15 which is the lake of fire, second death 44:36 that's the punitive judgment. But for the saints of God 44:38 the judgments of God are redemptive. For the sinner who 44:42 has not accepted Christ, the Bible says in John 3:18 44:45 He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not 44:50 believe is condemned already because he has not believed 44:53 in the name of the only begotten Son of God 44:56 So if you don't believe, God is not coming to condemn you 45:00 you're already condemned. He's coming to free the condemned 45:03 He hasn't sent His Son to condemn the world, John 3:17 45:06 but that the world through Him might be saved. 45:07 Very quick story because I transition to Molly 45:10 I read this story many years ago, about 20 years ago at least 45:13 as a young pastor about the Roman court where when the 45:16 sinner could not be proven by the jury, his guilt or innocence 45:20 they brought a basket that was covered by a leather sheath 45:23 and in it were a white stone and a black stone 45:28 and they said, since we could not come up with a verdict 45:31 from the jury you gotta decide your own fate. Death or life 45:34 in whatever stone you pull out will determine your fate 45:38 a white stone or, so now you're gonna die or you're gonna be 45:41 saved. That's stressful. Can you imagine the stress? 45:43 And you decided. 45:46 But he went to, if any man sins he has an advocate. So Jesus 45:50 in the story now, when you understand that verse 45:52 when you understand the context why the bible is put there 45:54 when Jesus says I will give you a white stone. The lawyer steps 45:57 up and says, wait Tom, wait Tom. Here, here's a white stone 46:02 Just put your hand in the bag and act like you're looking 46:04 for one but you already got the stone that's gonna vindicate you 46:08 How can you stand before, so you go, the stone is already 46:11 there and you come out. He says you don't have to choose 46:14 your fate, I will give you a white stone and a new name 46:19 on it. Anonymity, you'll no longer be known as the person 46:23 you used to be. So the judgment is not fearful, the judgment 46:27 when Jesus is your Savior Molly the judgment is something we 46:31 look forward to, to end the scourge of sin. Amen. 46:34 Molly. Preach it brother. 46:36 Now I have the opportunity to talk about faith amid trials 46:41 That's Thursday's lesson. Faith amid trials. How many of you 46:44 have been through trials? Oh. Going through trials. We have 46:49 to go through, we are, if we're in this world we are going to 46:54 suffer from tribulation. It's just gonna happen. 46:56 We're gonna go through trials. Well this is looking at faith 47:00 in the midst of those trials. Now we know as has been so 47:04 clearly explained, so well explained that when Peter 47:08 is writing, he's writing to people who are suffering 47:13 for their faith and Jill you so beautifully explained 47:17 all that Nero was doing and what a horrible situation they 47:23 found themselves in. And you know Peter's words were written 47:28 to bring comfort to a people that were hurting and that were 47:32 suffering. Now I'll speak to us here on this panel, we've gone 47:39 through trials. Maybe we've gone through difficult trials 47:42 but we know nothing of the suffering of these people 47:46 that suffered. But there are people in the world today 47:50 and this has been alluded to on a couple of occasions 47:52 where they're being persecuted for their faith in the Lord 47:58 Jesus Christ and they're suffering even unto death 48:03 And you know these very same words that Peter wrote all 48:08 those years ago are still bringing so much comfort 48:13 to the heart of all that are suffering for their faith 48:17 Now faith in the midst of a trial and I was thinking about 48:23 this, we who have never really had to suffer. I call it Ivory 48:31 Tower Living. Everything is going well for you. You've 48:36 never really been through a trial and you say all of these 48:41 statements like, I would never do this or I would never do that 48:45 or, there's a Scripture Proverbs 24:10. It says, If you faint in 48:52 the day of adversity your faith is small. And I remember 48:57 reading that Scripture and I had written by it in my 49:01 Amplified Bible, and I think it was in April of 1986 49:07 I will never faint in the day of adversity because I am 49:12 strong in the Lord, in the power of His might. Now get this 49:15 I've never been through trials to speak of, so on this side 49:21 of the trial I was making these faith statements 49:26 God's not very interested in what you do on this side of 49:29 the trial. You know what God is interested in? What you're 49:33 gonna do in the midst of the trial. And let me tell you 49:37 something and we're gonna go to Job. Ah Job's a good one 49:41 to look at for someone that kept his faith in the midst 49:45 of a trial. We're gonna see if you hold your faith, if you 49:50 hold on to God in the midst of a trial what the end result 49:55 will be. Now I can remember going through a trial maybe 49:58 the hardest trial of my life and on this side of that trial 50:02 I can say, Oh thank God that I went through the trial, that I 50:06 made it through the trial because things in a trial 50:10 things are gonna be, it's that furnace of affliction. You know 50:14 I believe it's Isaiah 48:10 that says, God says, I tested 50:20 you in the furnace of affliction and as Jill I believe it was 50:24 talking about that fire that burns off the dross. Well on 50:28 this side, see back in 1986 I was making all the right faith 50:34 statements but I had never been through a trial 50:36 well now that I've been through a few trials in my life I can 50:41 more accurately say God is faithful, He'll never leave you 50:45 He will never forsake you. He'll be with you no matter 50:48 what your circumstance or situation and it's not just 50:52 theory to me I know from experience how much better 50:57 to know from experience than from theory. So, 51:01 the question is why the suffering? Have you ever 51:05 heard that question? I'm sure you pastors have heard it many 51:09 times. If God is so great why all this suffering in this world 51:16 And Job is one of the first books in the Bible and it was 51:21 written and you know what the key theme of Job is? 51:24 Suffering. Poor Job wasn't guilty of anything. 51:31 We can't find where Job was guilty. Even God said about 51:37 him, have you considered, now this is in Job 1 verses 6-8 51:43 God said, now let me set that situation up for you. Satan 51:49 came into the portals of heaven and God asks Satan, 51:57 Where have you been? What you been doing? He said, well I've 52:00 been going to and fro on the earth. And God said to Satan 52:03 Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him 52:10 on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears 52:14 God and shuns evil. Wouldn't you love for God to say that 52:18 about you? Well now what happens right after God says this? 52:25 It is as though all hell is unleashed against Job. 52:31 So did Job suffer because he was an evil man? 52:36 No. Why did he suffer? Because he was a good man. 52:40 So the question is why the suffering? 52:44 Now I'll ask another question. Where does most suffering 52:48 come from? And I'll give you the Scriptures. You don't have 52:52 to turn to them. 1 Peter 5:8 Most of you can quote this 52:57 Scripture. It says be sober, be vigilant because your adversary 53:03 the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he 53:09 may devour. Now who was in heaven that God said, have you 53:15 considered my servant Job? Now we see here in 1 Peter 53:20 that it's the devil that goes about like a roaring lion 53:24 seeking whom he may devour. So my question is, where does 53:28 most suffering come from? Not saying all suffering but most 53:31 suffering and you know the most interesting thing I find about 53:35 the book of Job, you know where his friends came and they 53:39 questioned this and they questioned that. They questioned 53:42 his motives and they questioned his sincerity and they 53:45 questioned whether or not he was evil. Not one time did 53:49 any, in all of that discourse, ever bring up or even mention 53:55 the fact that you know we've got an enemy. Satan may have 53:58 been doing this. Now we, in the book of Job, we kinda have 54:03 this, we see what's going on and of course Job didn't but 54:07 who do we know to be the one to cause all of Job's suffering 54:12 made it very clear that it was Satan. Revelation 12:9 54:16 I'm gonna give you two Scriptures in Revelation 54:18 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called 54:23 devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast 54:27 to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. 54:30 Revelation 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you 54:37 are about to suffer. Indeed the devil is about to throw 54:41 some of you into prison, that you may be tested and you will 54:45 have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful unto death and I will 54:50 give you the crown of life. So the question is, where does 54:55 most suffering come from? Can we say it comes from the enemy 54:58 of our soul, that it comes from Satan? Now I wanted to, how to 55:03 differentiate between suffering and chastening and pruning. 55:08 Do you know there's a difference Hebrews 12:6 says, whom the 55:13 Lord loveth He chasteneth. Now whom he chastens, why does He 55:20 chasten you because He loves you as His own child. 55:24 So chastening, we go through the chastening of the Lord 55:28 The pruning of the Lord - why do we go through pruning? 55:31 What is pruning? If you produce fruit, what's He gonna do? 55:36 He's gonna prune you so you'll produce more. If you don't 55:39 produce fruit what's He gonna do? He's gonna prune you. 55:42 You're pruned if you do, you're pruned if you don't. 55:44 We're gonna get pruned. And the chastening, because the Lord 55:48 loves us but this suffering that the enemy causes 55:52 we have to have faith in the midst of that because that 55:57 is, that furnace of affliction where God tests us and He tries 56:02 us. Let me end with this one thought and it's 1 Peter 4:19 56:07 Let's end with that Scripture. Therefore let those who suffer 56:13 according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in 56:16 doing good as to a faithful creator. And let me tell you 56:20 this about Job. What was the end result of our brother Job 56:26 who suffered because he was a good man not because he was 56:30 an evil man. Now the Lord, this is Job 42 verses 12 and 13 56:35 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his 56:38 beginning. And then in verse 16 and 17, he lived longer 56:45 and he died old and full of days. So the end result of 56:50 holding your faith in the midst of your trials is God is gonna 56:54 bless you coming in and going out and exceedingly more 56:57 than you had before. Amen. Thank you so much Molly 57:01 Pr. John, Pr. Tom, and Shelley. Just such a blessing, my own 57:05 heart and soul's been ministered to. I think of Romans 15:4 57:08 whatever things were written aforetime, were written for 57:11 our learning. That we through patience and comfort 57:16 of the Scriptures might have hope. You might be in the midst 57:20 of a fiery trial. You might be going through pruning or 57:23 chastening or even suffering right now. Know that the 57:27 Lord Jesus loves you. Isaiah 41:10, He says fear not 57:31 I have redeemed you. He says, let me pick it up here, 57:36 Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you 57:41 I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand 57:46 God wants to give you strength. He wants to give you power 57:50 He wants to give you peace and grace in the midst of your trial 57:56 We want to invite you to join us again next week as we 58:00 discuss Servant Leadership. Know that we love you 58:03 and that we pray for you. We'll see you next time. |
Revised 2024-06-03