The Bible tells us 00:00:01.33\00:00:02.66 Hello and we want to welcome you to the 3ABN Sabbath School 00:00:32.39\00:00:36.00 Panel. My name is Jill Morikone and so glad that you have tuned 00:00:36.03\00:00:39.63 in today. As we study the Word of God, as we open up the 00:00:39.67\00:00:43.84 Quarterly for this quarter is Feed My Sheep. We're discussing 00:00:43.87\00:00:48.34 the epistles of 1st and 2nd Peter. And I've been so blessed 00:00:48.38\00:00:53.01 by the study as we continue through and we're glad that you 00:00:53.05\00:00:56.35 are joining us as well. I want to introduce our panel to you 00:00:56.38\00:00:59.85 and then we'll give the way where you can access 00:00:59.89\00:01:02.59 the quarterly for yourself and you can download it and follow 00:01:02.62\00:01:05.99 along with us. But first our panel. To my left is Sr. Shelley 00:01:06.03\00:01:09.26 Quinn, and then Pr. Tom Ferguson of the Marion District 00:01:09.30\00:01:13.67 Pr. John Lomacang our own pastor here and Molly Steenson 00:01:13.70\00:01:18.14 And it's a joy and a privilege to open up God's Word 00:01:18.17\00:01:21.78 with each one of you. They're anointed men and women of God 00:01:21.81\00:01:25.45 who know the Word of God but not only that, they choose to 00:01:25.48\00:01:29.35 walk in practice what they have studied and that is the most 00:01:29.38\00:01:33.12 important thing and to me that's the best thing that could ever 00:01:33.15\00:01:35.69 be said about someone. Is that they live, they practice what 00:01:35.72\00:01:39.19 they preach. The Bible Study Guide, we want to give you the 00:01:39.23\00:01:42.76 way that you can access that. Go to absg.adventist.org 00:01:42.80\00:01:49.14 That stands for Adult Bible Study Guide. adventist.org 00:01:49.17\00:01:55.21 and you can download the lesson, follow along. We are on lesson 00:01:55.24\00:01:58.38 number 6. We're looking at Suffering For Christ 00:01:58.41\00:02:03.02 1 Peter deals with a lot of persecution. The early Christian 00:02:03.05\00:02:07.39 Church was under persecution. And we'll be looking at how are 00:02:07.42\00:02:11.19 we supposed to endure hardship and trial and how do we suffer 00:02:11.23\00:02:16.30 for Christ. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll read 00:02:16.33\00:02:20.54 our memory text together. And Shelley would you open up in 00:02:20.57\00:02:23.44 prayer for us? One again Father we come before you in the name 00:02:23.51\00:02:27.18 of Jesus thanking You for Your gifts of Your Son, Your Holy 00:02:27.21\00:02:31.61 Spirit and Your Word. And we thank you for this privilege 00:02:31.65\00:02:34.92 and honor that we have to get into Your Word, delve deep into 00:02:34.95\00:02:38.95 Your Word and share with our brothers and sisters. Father we 00:02:38.99\00:02:42.36 ask in the name of Jesus that You would send Your Holy Spirit 00:02:42.39\00:02:45.56 to be our teacher. Please anoint us as we speak, just let Him 00:02:45.59\00:02:50.57 flow through us but we also pray that You will give each one of 00:02:50.63\00:02:54.30 us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say and help us to put 00:02:54.34\00:02:58.74 Your Word into practice. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. 00:02:58.77\00:03:02.64 Our memory text if you want to join with us is 1 Peter 2: 21 00:03:02.68\00:03:07.62 and our custom is we would say it together on the panel 00:03:07.65\00:03:10.49 but I wanna invite you at home why don't you say it along with 00:03:10.52\00:03:13.76 us here as part of our 3ABN family? So we're in 1 Peter 2 00:03:13.79\00:03:18.09 verse 21 and we're reading out of the New King James Version 00:03:18.13\00:03:22.60 For to this you were called because Christ also suffered 00:03:22.63\00:03:27.90 for us leaving us an example that you should follow His steps 00:03:27.94\00:03:35.18 You know our culture today has kind of an interesting approach 00:03:35.21\00:03:39.45 to suffering. We don't like it. We wanna get rid of it. We avoid 00:03:39.48\00:03:44.55 it. We take pills for either a headache or a cold, we wanna 00:03:44.59\00:03:48.52 take a pill to relieve the head ache or to get rid of the 00:03:48.56\00:03:51.33 symptoms of a cold. We want to relieve other people of their 00:03:51.36\00:03:55.90 suffering and what they're going through. We wanna be 00:03:55.93\00:03:59.53 pain free, mature, perfect, feel great at all times. That's our 00:03:59.57\00:04:04.91 instant society or instant culture. My husband Greg likes 00:04:04.94\00:04:08.44 to exercise and he always says when I get the weights out 00:04:08.48\00:04:12.91 which I don't do as much as I should, and start to exercise 00:04:12.95\00:04:15.62 then I'll say but I don't wanna do it honey I'm gonna hurt 00:04:15.65\00:04:18.49 And he says, Oh don't you love that. I love the feeling of 00:04:18.52\00:04:22.52 muscles hurting. I do not love that. I just don't relish that 00:04:22.56\00:04:26.33 there's nothing I like about it except the benefit. Down the 00:04:26.36\00:04:29.40 road you're gonna reap the benefit of that. We say we want 00:04:29.43\00:04:34.77 to avoid suffering at all cost, especially in our modern society 00:04:34.80\00:04:39.61 and world. In the first century, Sunday's lesson is persecution 00:04:39.64\00:04:44.11 of the early Christians and in the first century after Christ 00:04:44.18\00:04:47.48 we see they experienced much suffering. Nero was the Roman 00:04:47.55\00:04:53.89 Emperor. He came to power at the age of 17 in AD 54 and he was a 00:04:53.92\00:04:59.59 young man who was, we could say, cruel. Very cruel. Harsh 00:04:59.63\00:05:04.30 He killed his step brother because he thought he was in 00:05:04.33\00:05:07.87 line for the throne. He arranged the murder of his mom. He 00:05:07.90\00:05:13.07 arranged the murder of his first wife and then his second wife 00:05:13.11\00:05:17.38 died too and there's discussion about what happened there 00:05:17.41\00:05:20.05 But he was a cruel tyrant. He only ruled for 13 years, He died 00:05:20.08\00:05:27.89 in AD 68 at the age of 30. But just before that time, in AD 64 00:05:27.92\00:05:32.89 a great fire broke out in the city of Rome and people 00:05:32.93\00:05:36.40 attributed it to Nero. Now whether he started the fire 00:05:36.43\00:05:39.20 or not I don't know but people said Nero did this and so he 00:05:39.23\00:05:44.61 started this rumor that the Christians had started the fire. 00:05:44.64\00:05:49.54 And then after that time they started persecution, systematic 00:05:49.58\00:05:55.65 persecution of the Christians and we're studying here in 00:05:55.68\00:05:58.65 1 Peter and of course we know Peter was killed and Paul was 00:05:58.69\00:06:01.49 also killed under this serious persecution that was taking 00:06:01.52\00:06:05.43 place in Rome at that time. They told the Christians to 00:06:05.46\00:06:09.93 offer incense to statues of other gods, to pray to other 00:06:09.96\00:06:13.94 gods and if they refused they would be persecuted. 00:06:13.97\00:06:17.81 Sometimes they covered them with the hides of animals and 00:06:17.84\00:06:20.08 and then attacked them. They made human torches 00:06:20.11\00:06:26.58 for light at night so that I want a street light 00:06:26.61\00:06:33.62 they set somebody on fire. That is just horrible. 00:06:33.66\00:06:36.93 The persecution that these early Christian believers lived under 00:06:36.96\00:06:41.26 and we're going to look this week at how Christ suffered 00:06:41.30\00:06:45.97 and how we are to endure suffering. How does the concept 00:06:46.00\00:06:51.01 of judgment help those of us enduring persecution and why 00:06:51.07\00:06:55.38 is there suffering at all. But on Sunday, specifically, we're 00:06:55.41\00:06:59.11 looking at how were the Christians to respond during 00:06:59.15\00:07:01.78 that time. We're gonna look at a couple of Scriptures. 00:07:01.82\00:07:04.82 So let's turn back to 1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7 00:07:04.85\00:07:08.56 we covered this a few weeks ago 00:07:08.59\00:07:13.16 In this you greatly rejoice Now I just wanna stop there 00:07:13.19\00:07:18.70 you greatly rejoice, even now for a little while need be 00:07:19.53\00:07:24.21 you have been grieved by various trials. So they're in the midst 00:07:24.27\00:07:28.04 of this trial and Peter is saying, in this you can 00:07:28.08\00:07:32.68 greatly rejoice. In the Greek it means exult, full of joy 00:07:32.71\00:07:38.59 or being so happy that you jump in exultation. Now I'm thinking 00:07:38.62\00:07:44.39 how am I going to be so excited about that? Why do we rejoice? 00:07:44.43\00:07:49.60 The previous verse, what does it say? Because we're kept by the 00:07:49.63\00:07:54.27 power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed 00:07:54.30\00:07:59.37 in the last time. We rejoice because we have an inheritance 00:07:59.41\00:08:02.11 incorruptible. We rejoice because we have salvation 00:08:02.14\00:08:05.58 by grace through Christ Jesus. We rejoice because we have 00:08:05.61\00:08:10.45 assurance of salvation and even in the midst of this pain 00:08:10.49\00:08:13.76 this world is not all there is. This world is not my home, I'm 00:08:13.79\00:08:17.16 just a passing through. We can look forward to that inheritance 00:08:17.19\00:08:21.43 incorruptible. And how are we to respond during the trial? 00:08:21.46\00:08:24.70 Look at verse 7. That the genuineness of your faith 00:08:24.73\00:08:29.60 being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is 00:08:29.64\00:08:34.81 tested by fire maybe found to praise, honor and glory at the 00:08:34.84\00:08:39.88 revelation of Jesus Christ. Wow! Trials test our faith. 00:08:39.91\00:08:47.06 Trials make us like Jesus. 00:08:47.09\00:08:52.36 I don't think they are an entrance exam or an obstacle 00:08:52.39\00:08:54.96 course God tries to create. I don't think God's saying, well 00:08:55.00\00:08:58.30 I'm going to, Jill's gonna follow me now. We're gonna 00:08:58.33\00:09:02.37 cause some trials to come in your life. I think the pain 00:09:02.40\00:09:06.71 the suffering in this world comes as result of sin. We know 00:09:06.74\00:09:10.31 John 10:10, Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus said 00:09:10.35\00:09:14.48 I have come that you would have life and have it more abundantly 00:09:14.55\00:09:17.92 So the trials and sufferings we go through are a result of 00:09:17.95\00:09:22.09 living in this world of sin but in the midst of that God says 00:09:22.12\00:09:25.63 I can purify you, I can use the painful, fiery trial. I can use 00:09:25.66\00:09:33.27 that experience to grow in you my character. Amen. To reveal 00:09:33.30\00:09:39.27 in you my character. You think about, it talks about more 00:09:39.31\00:09:43.18 precious than gold that perishes and you think about when they 00:09:43.21\00:09:46.05 refine metals, precious metals, and it has to get hot 00:09:46.08\00:09:51.12 and it's in the furnace. They're trying to get off all those 00:09:51.19\00:09:55.56 impurities, the dross. And you know how they say, the 00:09:55.59\00:09:59.56 what's the word, the silversmith goldsmith I'm not sure of the 00:10:00.70\00:10:04.63 word. So when they're working there and they see their image 00:10:04.67\00:10:10.44 their reflection, reflected then you know it's ready 00:10:10.47\00:10:15.34 Ooph! When we're in the hand of the potter, as it were, 00:10:15.38\00:10:20.45 remember Jeremiah was told, go down to the potter's house 00:10:20.48\00:10:23.45 and see. And he watched it being formed and then it was 00:10:23.49\00:10:27.62 marred, remember. And then he started new and he watched that 00:10:27.66\00:10:31.86 formed. And then God speaking through Jeremiah, O house of 00:10:31.89\00:10:36.10 Israel cannot I do with you as the potter? So I think, as last 00:10:36.13\00:10:40.87 day Christians we're looking at persecution of the early 00:10:40.90\00:10:42.94 Christians, but as last day Christians in a special way 00:10:42.97\00:10:46.71 God wants to do with us as He did with the potter. God wants 00:10:46.74\00:10:50.51 to refine us as that gold, precious, in the fire because 00:10:50.58\00:10:56.08 He wants to character of Jesus to be revealed, to be reflected 00:10:56.12\00:11:01.26 One more verse we'll look at and then jump over to Shelley 00:11:01.29\00:11:04.43 We're going to go to the end of 1 Peter 5, the last chapter 00:11:04.49\00:11:09.76 But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal 00:11:15.87\00:11:19.57 glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while. We all 00:11:19.61\00:11:25.21 go through suffering, we all go through trial, we all go through 00:11:25.25\00:11:27.75 persecution. After you've suffered a while, perfect 00:11:27.78\00:11:31.62 establish, strengthen, and settle you. He wants to do that 00:11:31.65\00:11:38.06 work in us. Establish means to lay the foundation of 00:11:38.09\00:11:40.73 you think initially He wants to lay that foundation, strengthen 00:11:40.76\00:11:45.20 us. To make us fast, establish us, confirm us in the faith 00:11:45.23\00:11:49.77 and then to perfect, to complete the work which He began. 00:11:49.80\00:11:54.51 Philippians 2:13, let's turn there real fast 00:11:54.58\00:11:58.05 I know I said that was the last Scripture. I think we got 00:11:58.08\00:12:00.45 time for one more. Phil 2:13 Cause as we're in this refining 00:12:00.48\00:12:07.72 process, God is the one who does the work, never us. 00:12:07.79\00:12:11.56 It is God who works in you, both to will and to do 00:12:14.20\00:12:19.23 of His good pleasure. And the Greek will is to wish 00:12:19.27\00:12:23.67 the desire. And the do is the action, the power. So God 00:12:23.71\00:12:28.28 gives me the desire to follow Him. You know sometimes you 00:12:28.31\00:12:31.08 wake up in the morning and you think, Do I really wanna go to 00:12:31.15\00:12:34.75 work? Right? Do I really wanna do xyz, do I do my laundry today 00:12:34.82\00:12:40.89 Do I feel like doing what I'm, you know, wake up when I'm 00:12:40.96\00:12:44.23 supposed to do today? God gives us the desire to follow Him 00:12:44.26\00:12:48.90 because without Him we wake up and those lusts of the flesh 00:12:48.93\00:12:53.13 clamor. The old man of sin comes up and God wants to give 00:12:53.17\00:12:57.77 us the desire to follow Him. And not only does He plant 00:12:57.81\00:13:02.01 within us the desire to follow Him, He gives us the power 00:13:02.04\00:13:05.58 to work it out. It's not that ok, I wanna follow you God but 00:13:05.61\00:13:10.32 I'm tripping and stumbling and I can't do it. He works 00:13:10.35\00:13:14.06 in us and through us. Philippians 1:6, being confident 00:13:14.09\00:13:18.56 of this very thing that He who began a good work in you 00:13:18.59\00:13:21.66 will perfect it, will carry it forward to completion. 00:13:21.70\00:13:25.70 So Shelley you have, we're looking at how Christ suffered 00:13:25.73\00:13:29.27 Yes, that Scripture that you just read in 1 Peter 4, let me 00:13:29.30\00:13:33.68 read that again because it just reminded me where he says 00:13:33.71\00:13:38.01 May the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory 00:13:38.05\00:13:41.42 by Christ Jesus, 1 Peter 5, excuse me 5 and verse 10 00:13:41.48\00:13:46.22 after you've suffered a while perfect, establish, strengthen 00:13:46.25\00:13:49.46 and settle you. See once again I keep seeing this is something 00:13:49.49\00:13:52.63 I hadn't really noticed before how much Peter and Paul write 00:13:52.66\00:13:57.00 alike because it reminds me of 1 Thessalonians also chapter 5 00:13:57.03\00:14:02.54 where Paul says, now may the God of peace Himself sanctify 00:14:02.57\00:14:06.47 you completely, it's God who's doing this work and he says 00:14:06.51\00:14:09.94 may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless 00:14:09.98\00:14:13.78 at the coming of our Lord and Jesus Christ and then he says 00:14:13.82\00:14:17.29 in verse 24, He who calls you is faithful who will also do it 00:14:17.32\00:14:23.69 That's right. So it's all about us saying Lord we yield 00:14:23.73\00:14:28.23 and submit to you, work in us to do Your will. I also wanted to 00:14:28.26\00:14:33.54 point one other before I get to mine, when you were talking 00:14:33.57\00:14:36.34 about going through these trials and you know somebody's out 00:14:36.37\00:14:40.58 there saying, I don't know if I want the genuineness of my faith 00:14:40.61\00:14:44.11 to be proven like gold because it's so difficult when you're in 00:14:44.18\00:14:48.05 the midst of a trial. It's easy to talk about faith when you're 00:14:48.08\00:14:51.02 not in the midst of a trial. But you're in the midst of it 00:14:51.05\00:14:53.66 it's just phew! But let me read to you from Isaiah 43 and this 00:14:53.69\00:15:00.50 is the Lord speaking, it says Now thus says the Lord who 00:15:00.53\00:15:04.13 created you, who formed you, Fear not for I have redeemed 00:15:04.17\00:15:08.47 you, I have called you by name you're mine. When you go 00:15:08.50\00:15:12.84 through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers 00:15:12.87\00:15:15.48 they shall not overflow, when you walk through the fire 00:15:15.51\00:15:19.68 you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. 00:15:19.71\00:15:24.55 So I just want to give you at home, if you're going through 00:15:24.62\00:15:26.99 a fiery trial right now, know that just as the Lord was in 00:15:27.02\00:15:31.16 the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, He's in the 00:15:31.19\00:15:34.73 fire with you and you just keep your eyes focused on Him 00:15:34.73\00:15:38.37 trusting in Him. He'll give you that perfect peace and He'll 00:15:38.40\00:15:41.24 bring you out on the other side not smelling like smoke 00:15:41.27\00:15:43.77 So, okay. My day is Monday I better get with it huh 00:15:43.81\00:15:49.04 Let's go to, we're supposed to read 1 Peter 3:13-22. It's what 00:15:49.74\00:15:56.75 Monday is all about. 1 Peter 3: 13-22. I'm just going to go 00:15:56.79\00:16:03.32 through this briefly then. And Peter writes, And who is he 00:16:03.36\00:16:08.50 who will harm you if you become followers of what is good, but 00:16:08.53\00:16:12.67 even if your suffer for righteousness sake, you are 00:16:12.70\00:16:16.17 blessed. Here he is echoing Jesus' words in Matthew 5:10 00:16:16.20\00:16:20.24 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness 00:16:20.28\00:16:23.14 Then he goes on in chapter 3:13, do not be afraid of their threat 00:16:23.18\00:16:30.22 nor be troubled but sanctify the Lord in your heart, revere 00:16:30.25\00:16:36.06 Christ as Lord of your life. Set Him apart, honor Him as holy 00:16:36.09\00:16:40.33 because when your focus in on Christ, as Isaiah 26:3 says 00:16:40.36\00:16:46.27 it says, the Lord says, if we will keep our eyes focused on 00:16:47.17\00:16:50.77 Him, trusting in Him, He will give us perfect peace. When your 00:16:50.81\00:16:54.18 focus is on Christ, you can count on the fact that He will 00:16:54.21\00:16:58.68 calm the fears that you have from others opposing you 00:16:58.71\00:17:03.05 Then he goes on, we're still in verse 15. Always be ready to 00:17:03.08\00:17:08.26 give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope 00:17:08.29\00:17:12.56 that is in you. And that defense should be one that's pleasant 00:17:12.59\00:17:17.73 it's not an argument. When some body sees you and they see how 00:17:17.77\00:17:21.64 you're responding to your trial and they're saying, what's 00:17:21.70\00:17:25.31 going on, I want what you've got. You tell them why. And he 00:17:25.37\00:17:29.08 says, and do this with meekness and fear with humility and 00:17:29.11\00:17:33.95 reverence. Verse 16, he says having a good conscience that 00:17:33.98\00:17:39.42 when they defame you as evil doers, those who revile your 00:17:39.45\00:17:43.12 good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. So he's saying, don't 00:17:43.16\00:17:47.30 give others an excuse or reason to point an accusing finger 00:17:47.30\00:17:52.80 at you, keep your conscience clear before God and then 00:17:52.83\00:17:56.94 the blamelessness of your life will bring glory to God because 00:17:56.97\00:18:01.78 they, your accusers will be put to shame. So verse 17, for it is 00:18:01.81\00:18:08.12 better if it is the will of God to suffer for good rather than 00:18:08.18\00:18:14.16 for doing evil. For Christ, he goes on in verse 18, says 00:18:14.19\00:18:18.99 for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the 00:18:19.03\00:18:22.76 unjust that he might bring us to God. Being put to death 00:18:22.80\00:18:27.10 in the flesh but made alive in the example. So here Peter is 00:18:27.14\00:18:32.04 citing Christ's example of suffering for righteousness 00:18:32.07\00:18:37.11 sake and He was innocent, righteous, He died for us 00:18:37.15\00:18:40.98 He suffered for us who are guilty and unrighteous sinners 00:18:41.02\00:18:45.22 But His suffering brought about the only means of salvation 00:18:45.25\00:18:50.93 and He died in our place so that those who believe in Him 00:18:50.96\00:18:55.46 could have hope of eternal life. And I just have to say this 00:18:55.50\00:18:59.63 I can't get past it. When it says in verse 18 that He 00:18:59.67\00:19:03.41 suffered once for sins. It reminds me of Romans 6:10 00:19:03.44\00:19:07.08 where Paul says the death that He died, He died to sin once 00:19:07.11\00:19:12.41 for all but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Amen 00:19:12.45\00:19:16.52 You know, to me, these Scriptures, how can anyone 00:19:16.55\00:19:19.42 believe in trans-substantiation? You know when you think about 00:19:19.45\00:19:24.33 the Catholic system is teaching that the priest actually takes 00:19:24.36\00:19:29.76 the Eucharist and turns it into the blood and body of Jesus 00:19:29.80\00:19:33.50 Christ at every communion service. That flies in the face 00:19:33.54\00:19:38.74 of Scripture because He only died once and the Bible is very 00:19:38.81\00:19:43.68 clear about that. Once for all. Now, verse 19, I'm going to go 00:19:43.71\00:19:48.72 ahead and expound on this if I have a moment. It says, by 00:19:48.75\00:19:53.59 whom also, let's see, let me pick it up. He said He was made 00:19:53.62\00:19:58.16 alive by the Spirit and then by whom also, by the Spirit, He 00:19:58.23\00:20:01.50 went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were 00:20:01.56\00:20:04.73 disobedience when once the divine long suffering waited 00:20:04.77\00:20:08.14 in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which 00:20:08.20\00:20:11.27 a few, that is 8 souls, were saved through water. By the 00:20:11.31\00:20:15.84 Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, He preached to the spirits in 00:20:15.88\00:20:19.91 prison. Some people teach that this is proof of a hell. But 00:20:19.95\00:20:25.15 what he's saying here is before Christ's incarnation, He spoke 00:20:25.19\00:20:30.89 through Noah to the ante- diluvian people. The people 00:20:30.93\00:20:34.46 that lived before the flood. Noah built the ark 120 years 00:20:34.56\00:20:37.80 it took him to build and the whole time he was a preacher of 00:20:37.83\00:20:40.97 righteousness. And so the whole time the Holy Spirit, He is 00:20:41.00\00:20:46.17 speaking through Noah. Christ is speaking through His Spirit 00:20:46.21\00:20:49.91 through Noah to bring these people to repentance. And when 00:20:49.94\00:20:56.35 he talks about the spirits in prison, he's talking about the 00:20:56.38\00:20:59.62 spiritual state of disobedience and now these people were long 00:20:59.65\00:21:04.63 dead awaiting the resurrection of condemnation for those 00:21:04.69\00:21:09.03 during God's final judgment. So then he says in verse 21, 00:21:09.06\00:21:12.43 there's also an antitype which now saves us. Baptism. 00:21:12.47\00:21:18.14 That's confusing. People think that baptism saves us, but it 00:21:18.91\00:21:22.11 says not the removal of the filth of the flesh but the 00:21:22.14\00:21:24.71 answer of a good conscience towards God and so Noah and 00:21:24.78\00:21:27.85 his family were brought through the flood on the ark. The flood 00:21:27.88\00:21:32.49 was a type of a new beginning. And that, it typified a changed 00:21:32.52\00:21:36.99 life and Christ is our ark, He brings us through to a new 00:21:37.03\00:21:40.96 beginning. It's clear that Peter understood baptism doesn't save 00:21:40.96\00:21:44.60 us, because then he goes on and says it's not that it's washing 00:21:44.67\00:21:49.47 away your filth. It's not the ceremony that washes away 00:21:49.50\00:21:52.97 the filth of our sin. Only the blood of Jesus can wash away 00:21:53.01\00:21:56.41 the filth of our sin. It's His death and resurrection 00:21:56.44\00:22:00.12 But baptism is, if the flood were a type, baptism is the 00:22:00.15\00:22:06.32 anti-type. It's symbolic of the inward experience of our changed 00:22:06.35\00:22:11.39 life that we've already experienced. It's evidence of 00:22:11.46\00:22:14.83 our faith in Christ's death and resurrection. And it corresponds 00:22:14.93\00:22:18.50 to the flood in that it's symbolic, a preparation 00:22:18.57\00:22:21.87 of separation from our past, and our new beginning 00:22:21.94\00:22:25.71 So then he goes on, verse 21, he says through the resurrection 00:22:25.74\00:22:29.51 of Jesus Christ this is how we were saved who have gone into 00:22:29.54\00:22:33.08 heaven and is at the right hand of God and angels and 00:22:33.11\00:22:37.65 authorities and powers were made subject to Him. 00:22:37.69\00:22:40.42 So God vindicates the righteous. Christians are to do good even 00:22:40.46\00:22:46.26 when we're faced with hostility and our sinless Lord suffered 00:22:46.29\00:22:51.03 we should see that living a lifestyle that pleases God 00:22:52.40\00:22:55.54 count this as a privilege. He suffered at the hands of 00:22:55.57\00:22:59.37 unbelievers. But it was His suffering, death, resurrection 00:22:59.41\00:23:03.24 and exaltation that gave us the foundation. And I just wanna 00:23:03.28\00:23:07.48 read one more Scripture real quickly. Hebrews 4:15-16 00:23:07.52\00:23:12.19 I love this Scripture. For we do not have a High Priest who 00:23:12.22\00:23:15.59 cannot sympathize with our weakness but was in all points 00:23:15.66\00:23:18.96 tempted as we are, yet without sin. You know whatever you're 00:23:19.03\00:23:23.33 going through, Jesus understands Whatever your trial, whatever 00:23:23.37\00:23:26.27 your temptation, you've got a High Priest in heaven who 00:23:26.30\00:23:29.70 understands, and then it says, let us therefore, because 00:23:29.74\00:23:35.14 Christ understands everything about us we can come boldly 00:23:35.18\00:23:39.75 before the throne of grace so we may obtain mercy and grace 00:23:39.78\00:23:43.62 in, asking Him for help in our time of need. Hallelujah! 00:23:43.65\00:23:49.49 Thank God for the work of Jesus 00:23:49.52\00:23:51.79 You know there's a point on, just before Pr. Tom comes in 00:23:51.83\00:23:54.40 where you talked about the spirits in prison. The very text 00:23:54.46\00:23:57.60 that supports that is Genesis 6:3. My Spirit will not always 00:23:57.63\00:24:02.50 strive with man. And that's you know the Spirit of God 00:24:02.54\00:24:06.21 the same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead 00:24:06.24\00:24:09.04 the same Spirit that was referred to there is the Spirit 00:24:09.08\00:24:12.21 that was striving with the hearts of men in the days of 00:24:12.25\00:24:14.72 Noah. And then God finally withdrew His Spirit after that 00:24:14.75\00:24:18.19 striving was done and so it wasn't a sermon in the grave 00:24:18.25\00:24:23.93 because it's appointed unto us once to die after that the 00:24:23.96\00:24:28.13 judgment. Right. absolutely. Pr. Tom. Yeah I just wanted to 00:24:28.16\00:24:31.80 say when you mentioned about the Eucharist, the thing that 00:24:31.83\00:24:34.04 disturbs me the most about that which a lot of people that 00:24:34.07\00:24:37.27 practice that, we don't realize this, every time they come 00:24:38.24\00:24:41.01 and celebrate the Eucharist they're killing God again 00:24:41.04\00:24:43.88 that's what, yeah isn't that amazing. Crucifying Him afresh 00:24:43.91\00:24:46.92 Yeah and that really...anyway I just wanted to talk a little 00:24:46.95\00:24:52.25 bit about the fiery trial and you know often times 00:24:52.32\00:24:57.99 I, Christians can sometimes, we're talking about people that 00:24:58.66\00:25:02.06 are actually in the fiery trials for Christ. But often times 00:25:02.10\00:25:05.50 Christians think that they're in a fiery trial and that which 00:25:05.53\00:25:09.17 is common to man is what they're experiencing. Matthew 5:45 00:25:09.20\00:25:13.91 talks about the sun and the moon excuse me, the sun and the rain 00:25:13.94\00:25:17.98 on the just and the unjust. And when people are experiencing 00:25:18.01\00:25:23.22 some trials it's really common to man, I think about the Lord 00:25:24.45\00:25:28.99 is trying to reach all of humanity. You think about 00:25:29.02\00:25:33.23 antediluvians, how long they lived, you realize that the age 00:25:33.26\00:25:36.83 has been shortened so much and it really has kept sin in check 00:25:36.87\00:25:40.20 we're all very young and yet we're all decaying. 00:25:40.24\00:25:43.97 And when I think about that, this is God's way of trying to 00:25:44.01\00:25:47.34 reach humanity and He's doing it in a corporate sense. 00:25:47.38\00:25:50.48 And then there are those that respond to the Spirit, and once 00:25:50.51\00:25:54.38 they respond to the Spirit, there are special attacks 00:25:54.42\00:25:57.15 on them. Because what I, yes you know it was interesting 00:25:57.19\00:26:01.62 because just yesterday when just before we recorded there was 00:26:01.66\00:26:04.93 one of the panels that was out. And someone had mentioned that 00:26:04.96\00:26:08.50 this is another Satanic attack and my knee jerk reaction was 00:26:08.53\00:26:12.63 Well I was thinking it was a mechanical problem, those things 00:26:12.67\00:26:15.84 happen to the just and the unjust. You know it's raining 00:26:15.87\00:26:18.31 today, it was sunny yesterday, but the reality is I was told 00:26:18.34\00:26:22.41 that just last night the entire central control went down 00:26:22.48\00:26:26.45 because of a power outage and I was realizing, wait a minute 00:26:26.48\00:26:30.95 what is being done there is a fiery trial that the enemy is 00:26:31.89\00:26:40.53 always waging war against the church, against God's work 00:26:40.56\00:26:44.47 Also when you think about it 2 Timothy 3:12, I'm not gonna 00:26:45.57\00:26:50.37 turn there but he references that all who desire to live 00:26:50.41\00:26:53.48 godly will suffer persecution. It is part and parcel for what 00:26:53.51\00:26:59.78 we are going to go through. Years ago, many years ago 00:26:59.81\00:27:02.88 I forgot the name of the one who preached this, but I'm 00:27:02.92\00:27:05.62 sure others have heard this analogy but we're like that 00:27:05.69\00:27:08.29 lump of coal and the enemy is constantly wanting to attack 00:27:08.32\00:27:14.10 nothing happens to us that hasn't gone through God first. 00:27:14.13\00:27:17.57 No matter what the trial is, our perception of what God would 00:27:17.60\00:27:21.40 allow might be different than what He does but that trial 00:27:21.44\00:27:24.47 has been permitted and God's purpose is to refine us, to give 00:27:24.51\00:27:28.64 us, to allow us to have another cut and the enemy is trying to 00:27:28.68\00:27:33.05 devour us. And as this is going on throughout our lives, 00:27:33.08\00:27:38.95 eventually God has produced a precious jewel. We are His 00:27:38.99\00:27:42.72 precious jewel. The fiery trials produce those precious jewels 00:27:42.76\00:27:47.00 that are in God's kingdom. So also in John 15:18, the world 00:27:47.03\00:27:52.40 hates Christ and the world hates His church. That's right. It's 00:27:52.43\00:27:56.81 something that we have to acknowledge that that is indeed 00:27:56.84\00:27:59.34 the case, that will always be the case. The call to Christ's 00:27:59.37\00:28:02.24 It is a call to a refiner's fire And you know we talked already 00:28:07.75\00:28:12.55 about that first generation church and as Jill was sharing 00:28:12.59\00:28:16.32 what they did to the Christians in Nero's reign, I want us to 00:28:16.36\00:28:19.83 turn to Revelation chapter 12 00:28:19.86\00:28:21.56 Revelation 12 and we're gonna look at verses 13 and onward 00:28:24.93\00:28:31.27 The persecuted church 00:28:32.47\00:28:35.01 You know this is something where a lot of Bible students 00:28:36.44\00:28:39.75 are gonna be aware of this but I wanna comment on this in a 00:28:39.78\00:28:41.85 slightly different way. Verse 13 It says, now when the dragon 00:28:41.88\00:28:47.36 saw that he had been cast to the earth he persecuted the 00:28:47.39\00:28:50.36 woman who gave birth to the male child. You know what really 00:28:50.39\00:28:54.30 happened is that the cross, the character of God had been 00:28:54.36\00:28:56.93 fully revealed and the character of His enemy had been fully 00:28:56.97\00:28:59.10 revealed and his influence in heaven was no longer there 00:28:59.17\00:29:03.07 he was now not a temptation for the 2/3rds of the angels 00:29:03.10\00:29:07.48 that had not fallen and for all the unfallen beings. His focus 00:29:07.51\00:29:11.88 now he had lost his influence there is right here on this 00:29:11.91\00:29:15.25 earth. So in other words he's cast to the earth and all 00:29:15.28\00:29:19.49 he wants to do is persecute the woman and that's why we see 00:29:19.52\00:29:22.09 the tremendous attack, you think of, the woman being the 00:29:22.12\00:29:26.70 symbol for the church, that's right, the prophetic symbol 00:29:26.73\00:29:33.44 the bloody church, as you go through the phases. But verse 14 00:29:33.47\00:29:40.18 says, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle 00:29:40.21\00:29:42.98 that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where 00:29:43.01\00:29:45.65 she's nursed for a time, times and half a time from the 00:29:45.68\00:29:48.08 presence of the serpent. So God protected those that were in 00:29:48.12\00:29:53.02 Christ from the presence of that serpent that was seeking 00:29:53.05\00:29:57.89 to devour her because his influence is now on this earth 00:29:57.93\00:30:00.86 alone. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a 00:30:00.90\00:30:04.40 flood. So there was an onslaught the crusades, after the woman 00:30:04.43\00:30:09.20 after the church that he might cause her to be carried away 00:30:09.24\00:30:11.54 by the flood. None of us that I'm aware of at this table, have 00:30:11.57\00:30:15.01 been told you'll lose your life if you profess Christ. We've had 00:30:15.04\00:30:19.75 persecution but can you imagine living through that time 00:30:19.78\00:30:22.88 that day and age and the strong faith that those martyrs had 00:30:22.92\00:30:26.52 You know there are places where men, women and children were 00:30:26.55\00:30:30.43 cast off a cliff that were in hiding and finally they were 00:30:30.46\00:30:34.46 caught up with. There are those that, if you read Foxe's book 00:30:34.46\00:30:39.03 of Martyrs, it's a heavy book, the persecution that went on 00:30:39.10\00:30:42.47 it'll bring you to tears. It'll also make you wonder how much 00:30:42.50\00:30:45.97 faith do I really have? And so this is the type of trial 00:30:46.04\00:30:51.71 fiery trial that the enemy will do. If he can't deceive us 00:30:51.78\00:30:55.48 he will persecute and just like the 3 Hebrews that were 00:30:55.55\00:30:59.22 in the fiery furnace, they could have, like they said, 00:30:59.25\00:31:02.79 God can do all these things but if not we'll serve Him 00:31:02.82\00:31:06.63 anyway. I imagine how much strength the martyrs had 00:31:06.66\00:31:10.67 found as a result of reading these promises in Scripture. 00:31:10.70\00:31:14.84 And as we continue, 00:31:15.87\00:31:20.21 verse 15, the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a 00:31:21.41\00:31:25.38 flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried 00:31:25.41\00:31:28.58 away by the flood, but the earth helped the woman. Here's where 00:31:28.65\00:31:32.35 this country comes on the scene And the earth opened its mouth 00:31:32.42\00:31:36.62 swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his 00:31:36.66\00:31:39.06 mouth. We have the birth of the Bible Society, we have the 00:31:39.09\00:31:44.53 Bible becoming the best seller and the dragon was enraged 00:31:44.57\00:31:48.24 of her offspring who keep the commandments of God 00:31:48.27\00:31:54.71 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It's very interesting 00:31:54.74\00:31:58.05 cause when you go back to Isaiah chapter 8 you realize 00:31:58.08\00:32:00.48 that these, the disciples of Jesus, these are the two 00:32:00.52\00:32:02.85 identifying marks. The disciples of God are the same all the way 00:32:02.88\00:32:06.82 through and that's where, well anyone is a Christian that 00:32:06.86\00:32:10.26 where God is in their hearts and lives has a mark on their 00:32:12.66\00:32:15.60 back and the enemy has assigned someone to you today. 00:32:15.63\00:32:20.57 I think about, especially, where is his malice aimed? 00:32:23.77\00:32:31.61 Those that are to carry the message around the world 00:32:32.18\00:32:36.72 the three angels messages around the world are especially the 00:32:36.75\00:32:41.86 target because most of Christianity is still in the 00:32:41.89\00:32:46.23 holy place and there is a message that needs to be 00:32:46.26\00:32:51.10 proclaimed around the world. So when you say they're still in 00:32:51.13\00:32:53.77 the holy place you're referencing the sanctuary 00:32:53.80\00:32:56.20 referencing the sanctuary, the ministry of Christ as our 00:32:56.24\00:33:00.38 intercessor or High Priest but there is a time of judgment that 00:33:00.41\00:33:04.58 is taking place and the world needs to hear the gospel for 00:33:04.61\00:33:08.72 this hour. But you look through from the beginning, from the 00:33:08.75\00:33:13.92 time he saw he was defeated all the way through to today 00:33:13.96\00:33:16.59 there were martyrs, all the sent ones, the apostles were martyred 00:33:16.62\00:33:20.96 except for John. Foxe's Book of Martyrs as I mentioned and then 00:33:20.96\00:33:23.80 those crusades and now the Advent movement. You know there 00:33:23.83\00:33:28.70 are people that are being persecuted just for mentioning 00:33:28.74\00:33:32.71 the name of Jesus, in parts of the world they're either 00:33:32.77\00:33:35.88 imprisoned they've been separated from their families 00:33:35.94\00:33:38.08 and they all have different denominational backgrounds 00:33:38.11\00:33:42.08 but yet they're uplifting Christ and as a result they're paying 00:33:42.12\00:33:45.09 the price for it. I wanna share a little, what we have here 00:33:45.12\00:33:50.93 out of, wow I'm running short on time, Acts of the Apostles 00:33:50.96\00:33:54.86 page 576, it's in your lesson. According to Ellen White, says 00:33:54.93\00:33:59.73 So it will be with all who live godly in Christ Jesus. 00:33:59.77\00:34:03.10 Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the 00:34:03.14\00:34:06.68 Spirit of Christ. The character of persecution changes with 00:34:06.71\00:34:10.75 the times, but the principle, the spirit that underlines it 00:34:10.78\00:34:14.28 is the same that has slain the chosen of the Lord ever since 00:34:14.32\00:34:18.39 the days of Abel. I wanna close with this one other text 00:34:18.42\00:34:22.96 I wanna go to a promise. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 54 00:34:23.02\00:34:27.30 And verse 17 00:34:35.17\00:34:39.04 This is something for all Christians to hang on to 00:34:39.07\00:34:41.94 It says in Isaiah 54:17, no weapon formed against you shall 00:34:41.98\00:34:46.51 prosper. And every tongue that rises against you in judgment 00:34:46.55\00:34:50.19 you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the 00:34:50.22\00:34:53.46 Lord, and I love this last line, and their righteousness 00:34:53.49\00:34:56.36 is from me says the Lord. 00:34:56.39\00:35:00.86 One of Wally's favorite Scriptures. Is it? 00:35:01.76\00:35:04.60 I love that Scripture. I'm done. 00:35:04.63\00:35:11.11 That's powerful. Thank you Pr. Tom. The work, I love 00:35:11.14\00:35:14.41 going through Revelation and seeing fulfillment of prophecy 00:35:14.44\00:35:17.88 as we go down to the end time into God's last day church 00:35:17.91\00:35:21.08 and seeing what God wants to do even in the midst of that 00:35:21.12\00:35:24.99 persecution how He wants to make us like Jesus. Amen. 00:35:25.02\00:35:28.39 And He will, at the end, in the judgment He's gonna even 00:35:28.42\00:35:31.43 all of that. Pr. John. Wow. You know the judgment, this is 00:35:31.46\00:35:34.36 a powerful topic here. I'm just blown away, I'm in a pop 00:35:34.40\00:35:38.77 I'm in a popcorn, no, cotton candy machine. I'm being spun 00:35:38.80\00:35:43.17 in every direction with all these topics and thoughts come 00:35:43.20\00:35:45.81 to my mind about the judgment. But I wanna walk through it 00:35:45.84\00:35:47.94 in a kind of methodical way. First of all, the judgment is 00:35:47.98\00:35:52.35 going to happen. But with that in mind, if someone knew that 00:35:52.38\00:35:58.99 one day their lives will come in review. Nothing they could've 00:35:59.02\00:36:02.96 nothing they've ever done could ever be kept secret but they're 00:36:03.02\00:36:06.46 given an opportunity to purge their record so that when the 00:36:06.49\00:36:11.40 investigation is done nothing appears. Who wouldn't take 00:36:11.43\00:36:14.80 advantage of that? Right. I mean when we, one of the reasons 00:36:14.84\00:36:19.21 why the word judgment frightens people is because we have 00:36:19.24\00:36:22.71 gotten, somewhere along the way, we've gotten the idea that we're 00:36:22.78\00:36:26.15 the ones cleaning ourselves up. That's a misconception. We don't 00:36:26.18\00:36:30.32 clean ourselves up. If we confess our sins He is faithful 00:36:30.35\00:36:33.42 and just to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness 00:36:33.46\00:36:36.16 He's the one that does the cleansing immediately but He 00:36:36.19\00:36:39.73 also doesn't just do the cleansing and I'm gonna walk 00:36:39.76\00:36:42.00 you through the process because if it's only cleansing, when 00:36:42.03\00:36:44.50 something is washed that filth goes somewhere and we know 00:36:44.53\00:36:49.64 that the sins were transferred until the day of judgment 00:36:49.70\00:36:53.14 the day of atonement when we were brought at one with God 00:36:53.17\00:36:56.61 And so first of all there would be no need for a judgment 00:36:56.64\00:37:00.88 unless first there was a controversy. 00:37:01.92\00:37:04.89 When people, let's put the court scene together, when people 00:37:05.62\00:37:07.99 enter into a dispute there's a controversy. You say one thing 00:37:08.02\00:37:12.53 he says another, ok. There's a controversy. 00:37:12.56\00:37:15.43 There's a controversy between Christ and Satan. Somebody's 00:37:15.46\00:37:18.93 accusing us of something Jesus wants to vindicate us from 00:37:18.97\00:37:25.17 the accuser of our brethren. He has been doing that ever 00:37:25.21\00:37:29.58 since the Garden of Eden and, by the way, if our lives were 00:37:29.64\00:37:33.82 placed on complete display before the universe, the 00:37:33.85\00:37:37.12 unfallen worlds without the curtain of Jesus 00:37:37.15\00:37:41.39 None of us could be saved, I mean none of us. If there was 00:37:41.42\00:37:44.96 no way to cleanse our lives none of us will be saved. 00:37:44.99\00:37:47.86 That's the accusation. So when you go from the accusation 00:37:47.93\00:37:51.87 ok let's just look at this. In 2 Corinthians 5:10, we must 00:37:52.30\00:37:56.57 all appear before the judgment seat so this accusation can 00:37:56.60\00:37:59.44 be carried out. The plaintiff, the defendant. We stand before 00:37:59.47\00:38:04.68 the judgment seat. And how many of us must appear? All. We must 00:38:04.71\00:38:08.72 all appear before the judgment seat. Satan knows that. 00:38:08.75\00:38:12.35 So he's saying to us, I can't wait Jill till you appear 00:38:12.39\00:38:17.86 before the judgment seat. But I'm gonna show you how that's 00:38:17.89\00:38:20.96 not a fearful thing when Jesus is our advocate. If anyone sins 00:38:21.00\00:38:24.53 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 00:38:24.57\00:38:26.80 righteous. So now we say, while they're appearing what happens? 00:38:26.84\00:38:31.41 God will bring every work into judgment with every secret 00:38:33.51\00:38:38.01 thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. That would 00:38:38.05\00:38:40.68 make your teeth shake, if you did not know Jesus as your 00:38:40.72\00:38:44.02 Savior. So you have the controversy of the discovery 00:38:44.05\00:38:48.66 now at the investigation and then so you have the 00:38:48.69\00:38:51.43 presentation of evidence and the devil says as Martin Luther 00:38:51.46\00:38:54.63 had the dream. Here it is, in that dream that Martin Luther 00:38:54.66\00:38:57.83 conveyed later on he's terrified him until in the dream he saw 00:38:57.87\00:39:01.17 a hand that he knew not where it came from but over every sin 00:39:01.20\00:39:04.21 was stamped the word "Pardoned" Pardoned, Pardoned. 00:39:04.24\00:39:07.44 And look at Acts 3:19, I want us to see that. That's important 00:39:07.48\00:39:11.18 I walked through but I want you to see some Scriptures in 00:39:11.21\00:39:13.11 connection with this I mentioned them, Revelation 12:10, the 00:39:13.18\00:39:16.15 accuser, 2 Corinthians 5:10, we must all appear, nobody is left 00:39:16.18\00:39:20.42 out; Ecclesiastes 12:14, every thing is going to be revealed 00:39:20.46\00:39:24.06 and then Acts 3:19. Look at Acts 3:19 00:39:24.09\00:39:28.43 Here it is, Molly Sue why don't you read that for us? 00:39:30.83\00:39:34.50 Alright. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins 00:39:34.54\00:39:38.27 may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come 00:39:38.31\00:39:42.18 from the presence of the Lord. That your sins may be what? 00:39:42.21\00:39:44.98 Blotted out. Not cleansed but blotted out. 00:39:45.01\00:39:48.65 There's a difference altogether. Blotting out, what happened to 00:39:48.68\00:39:52.89 it? If the devil one day is gonna stand, thank you Jesus 00:39:52.92\00:39:56.46 The devil is gonna one day stand with locked jaw 00:39:58.79\00:40:04.37 The accuser. Locked jaw. What do you say now? 00:40:06.70\00:40:11.57 I can't find their sin. Thank you Jesus. I'm havin a moment 00:40:12.37\00:40:16.85 I can't find their sin. 00:40:17.68\00:40:20.68 Cause He blotted it out. If He didn't blot it out, you would 00:40:23.08\00:40:26.05 have seen that I was correct. And Jesus stands there 00:40:26.09\00:40:29.16 This is my son, this is my daughter. That's why I blotted 00:40:29.82\00:40:32.53 their sins out. He is our propitiation. I tell you, this 00:40:32.59\00:40:37.20 moves me when I think about it. That this, go to Daniel 7:22 00:40:37.23\00:40:43.30 The devil just wants the evidence to remain. 00:40:43.34\00:40:46.27 But Jesus doesn't want it. He doesn't want the evidence to 00:40:46.71\00:40:51.01 remain, He wants His children to remain. Daniel 7:22 00:40:51.05\00:40:55.85 Read verses 21 and 22 Jill. I was watching and the same horn 00:40:56.79\00:41:01.06 was making war against the saints and prevailing against 00:41:01.09\00:41:03.99 them until the Ancient, wait wait. Start with the first word 00:41:04.03\00:41:07.20 emphasize the first word in verse 22. UNTIL, thank you 00:41:07.23\00:41:10.50 Until the Ancient of Days came. And a judgment was made in 00:41:10.53\00:41:15.40 favor of the saints of the Most High and the time came for the 00:41:15.44\00:41:18.97 saints to possess the kingdom. Don't you like that? He was 00:41:19.01\00:41:22.44 accusing them, he was making war against, he was prevailing 00:41:22.51\00:41:25.51 against us. Do you not see every day in our lives at one 00:41:25.55\00:41:29.85 point or another the enemy prevails against? UNTIL 00:41:29.88\00:41:33.42 the Ancient of Days says it's my turn. The Ancient of Days 00:41:33.46\00:41:36.59 says it's my turn. And He comes and judgment is made in favor 00:41:36.62\00:41:42.50 Oh Hallelujah, that's the best. Thank you Jesus. 00:41:42.53\00:41:44.50 See the judgment used to be a terrifying, when I was growin up 00:41:44.53\00:41:48.47 and I heard judgment sermons in Black churches in New York 00:41:48.50\00:41:51.14 gonna go to hell for the things you've done, God is waiting 00:41:51.17\00:41:55.31 some of you are hidin, God sees that. I mean it terrifies you 00:41:55.34\00:41:59.25 rather than preaching the mercy and the forgiving power of 00:41:59.28\00:42:03.62 Jesus we put so much emphasis, sometimes I say to people 00:42:03.65\00:42:07.72 the Lord hasn't called us, I don't even like the phrase 00:42:07.76\00:42:10.93 the devil's advocate. I don't even like that phrase 00:42:10.96\00:42:13.70 You know people say, let me play the devil's advocate 00:42:13.73\00:42:15.40 We don't need to play the devil's advocate. Jesus is our 00:42:15.43\00:42:19.20 advocate, why would we want to be his? We don't even need to 00:42:19.27\00:42:22.57 play that side. So you get to the place where now 00:42:22.64\00:42:24.57 when the investigation, when the evidence is presented 00:42:24.61\00:42:27.28 the verdict is the judgment was made in favor of the saints 00:42:27.31\00:42:31.71 It is powerful. So let's look at some of the reasons why 00:42:34.48\00:42:37.25 I don't fear the judgment. 1 John 4 verse 17 00:42:37.29\00:42:42.12 You know when you live in the daily presence of God and you 00:42:42.16\00:42:45.09 understand that to walk in the light of the glory of God's 00:42:45.13\00:42:48.00 righteousness, you see if it were not for His righteousness 00:42:48.03\00:42:51.23 this term judgment would be a terrifying thing. It would be 00:42:51.27\00:42:55.20 terrifying. I've been to court before you know, speeding 00:42:55.24\00:42:57.97 ticket or parked in the wrong spot. When my mother came out 00:42:58.01\00:43:02.04 of the hospital, I had to prove it to the judge. When the judge 00:43:02.08\00:43:05.11 said to me, if you can prove to me that your mother came 00:43:05.15\00:43:08.52 out of the hospital yesterday and you parked in the wrong 00:43:08.55\00:43:11.05 spot because you were trying to get her close to the pharmacy 00:43:11.09\00:43:13.89 as you said then I'll drop the ticket. Man I ran out of the 00:43:13.92\00:43:16.46 court so fast Molly because I knew I was telling the truth 00:43:16.49\00:43:19.33 Got that ticket, she said take it to the clerk and case is 00:43:19.76\00:43:22.13 dismissed. When you know that you have an advocate then 00:43:22.16\00:43:27.10 it's a powerful thing. 1 John 4:17, Pr. Tom would you 00:43:27.14\00:43:30.57 read that for us? The verse before that also. 00:43:30.61\00:43:33.51 Verse 16 and 17. And we have known and believed the love 00:43:33.54\00:43:37.58 that God has for us, God is love. And he who abides in love 00:43:37.61\00:43:42.25 abides in God and God in him. Love has been perfected among us 00:43:42.28\00:43:46.25 in this that we may have boldness in the day of judgment 00:43:46.29\00:43:49.72 because as He is so are we in this world. Amen 00:43:49.76\00:43:53.96 Why? There is no fear in love but perfect love casts our fear 00:43:54.00\00:43:59.33 because fear involves torment but he who fears has not been 00:43:59.40\00:44:03.54 made perfect in love and we love Him because He first 00:44:03.57\00:44:08.21 loved us. Isn't that a Hallelujah? Amen. 00:44:08.24\00:44:11.25 So when the judge, we may have boldness in the day of judgment 00:44:11.28\00:44:14.55 who's gonna be at the bar next? Could I go next? I mean nobody 00:44:14.58\00:44:19.75 is gonna run to the judgment bar except Jesus is your advocate 00:44:19.79\00:44:23.76 You run to the judgment bar because you know that's the 00:44:23.79\00:44:26.70 mercy of God is in favor of the saints. But those who have not 00:44:26.73\00:44:30.03 been covered in Jesus is this punitive judgment which is 00:44:30.07\00:44:33.10 Revelation 20:15 which is the lake of fire, second death 00:44:33.13\00:44:36.07 that's the punitive judgment. But for the saints of God 00:44:36.10\00:44:38.61 the judgments of God are redemptive. For the sinner who 00:44:38.64\00:44:42.01 has not accepted Christ, the Bible says in John 3:18 00:44:42.04\00:44:45.05 He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not 00:44:45.08\00:44:50.15 believe is condemned already because he has not believed 00:44:50.19\00:44:53.42 in the name of the only begotten Son of God 00:44:53.46\00:44:56.73 So if you don't believe, God is not coming to condemn you 00:44:56.79\00:45:00.36 you're already condemned. He's coming to free the condemned 00:45:00.40\00:45:02.96 He hasn't sent His Son to condemn the world, John 3:17 00:45:03.00\00:45:06.23 but that the world through Him might be saved. 00:45:06.30\00:45:07.67 Very quick story because I transition to Molly 00:45:07.70\00:45:10.41 I read this story many years ago, about 20 years ago at least 00:45:10.44\00:45:13.24 as a young pastor about the Roman court where when the 00:45:13.27\00:45:16.64 sinner could not be proven by the jury, his guilt or innocence 00:45:16.71\00:45:20.78 they brought a basket that was covered by a leather sheath 00:45:20.82\00:45:23.55 and in it were a white stone and a black stone 00:45:23.59\00:45:26.96 and they said, since we could not come up with a verdict 00:45:28.02\00:45:31.46 from the jury you gotta decide your own fate. Death or life 00:45:31.49\00:45:34.46 in whatever stone you pull out will determine your fate 00:45:34.46\00:45:37.70 a white stone or, so now you're gonna die or you're gonna be 00:45:38.53\00:45:41.17 saved. That's stressful. Can you imagine the stress? 00:45:41.20\00:45:43.77 And you decided. 00:45:43.81\00:45:45.14 But he went to, if any man sins he has an advocate. So Jesus 00:45:46.11\00:45:50.51 in the story now, when you understand that verse 00:45:50.55\00:45:52.15 when you understand the context why the bible is put there 00:45:52.18\00:45:54.42 when Jesus says I will give you a white stone. The lawyer steps 00:45:54.45\00:45:57.22 up and says, wait Tom, wait Tom. Here, here's a white stone 00:45:57.25\00:46:02.62 Just put your hand in the bag and act like you're looking 00:46:02.66\00:46:04.96 for one but you already got the stone that's gonna vindicate you 00:46:04.99\00:46:08.30 How can you stand before, so you go, the stone is already 00:46:08.33\00:46:11.57 there and you come out. He says you don't have to choose 00:46:11.60\00:46:14.80 your fate, I will give you a white stone and a new name 00:46:14.84\00:46:19.31 on it. Anonymity, you'll no longer be known as the person 00:46:19.34\00:46:23.95 you used to be. So the judgment is not fearful, the judgment 00:46:23.98\00:46:27.45 when Jesus is your Savior Molly the judgment is something we 00:46:27.48\00:46:31.02 look forward to, to end the scourge of sin. Amen. 00:46:31.05\00:46:34.79 Molly. Preach it brother. 00:46:34.82\00:46:36.26 Now I have the opportunity to talk about faith amid trials 00:46:36.29\00:46:41.43 That's Thursday's lesson. Faith amid trials. How many of you 00:46:41.46\00:46:44.67 have been through trials? Oh. Going through trials. We have 00:46:44.70\00:46:49.34 to go through, we are, if we're in this world we are going to 00:46:49.37\00:46:54.08 suffer from tribulation. It's just gonna happen. 00:46:54.11\00:46:56.44 We're gonna go through trials. Well this is looking at faith 00:46:56.48\00:47:00.32 in the midst of those trials. Now we know as has been so 00:47:00.38\00:47:04.15 clearly explained, so well explained that when Peter 00:47:04.19\00:47:08.26 is writing, he's writing to people who are suffering 00:47:08.29\00:47:13.63 for their faith and Jill you so beautifully explained 00:47:13.66\00:47:17.37 all that Nero was doing and what a horrible situation they 00:47:17.40\00:47:23.30 found themselves in. And you know Peter's words were written 00:47:23.34\00:47:27.98 to bring comfort to a people that were hurting and that were 00:47:28.01\00:47:32.38 suffering. Now I'll speak to us here on this panel, we've gone 00:47:32.41\00:47:39.45 through trials. Maybe we've gone through difficult trials 00:47:39.49\00:47:42.66 but we know nothing of the suffering of these people 00:47:42.69\00:47:46.59 that suffered. But there are people in the world today 00:47:46.63\00:47:50.23 and this has been alluded to on a couple of occasions 00:47:50.27\00:47:52.90 where they're being persecuted for their faith in the Lord 00:47:52.93\00:47:58.11 Jesus Christ and they're suffering even unto death 00:47:58.14\00:48:03.58 And you know these very same words that Peter wrote all 00:48:03.61\00:48:08.65 those years ago are still bringing so much comfort 00:48:08.68\00:48:12.99 to the heart of all that are suffering for their faith 00:48:13.05\00:48:17.46 Now faith in the midst of a trial and I was thinking about 00:48:17.49\00:48:21.90 this, we who have never really had to suffer. I call it Ivory 00:48:23.83\00:48:31.31 Tower Living. Everything is going well for you. You've 00:48:31.34\00:48:36.31 never really been through a trial and you say all of these 00:48:36.34\00:48:41.18 statements like, I would never do this or I would never do that 00:48:41.22\00:48:45.15 or, there's a Scripture Proverbs 24:10. It says, If you faint in 00:48:45.19\00:48:52.53 the day of adversity your faith is small. And I remember 00:48:52.56\00:48:57.83 reading that Scripture and I had written by it in my 00:48:57.87\00:49:01.60 Amplified Bible, and I think it was in April of 1986 00:49:01.64\00:49:07.78 I will never faint in the day of adversity because I am 00:49:07.81\00:49:12.25 strong in the Lord, in the power of His might. Now get this 00:49:12.28\00:49:15.32 I've never been through trials to speak of, so on this side 00:49:15.35\00:49:21.12 of the trial I was making these faith statements 00:49:21.16\00:49:26.39 God's not very interested in what you do on this side of 00:49:26.46\00:49:29.90 the trial. You know what God is interested in? What you're 00:49:29.93\00:49:33.70 gonna do in the midst of the trial. And let me tell you 00:49:33.77\00:49:37.17 something and we're gonna go to Job. Ah Job's a good one 00:49:37.24\00:49:41.18 to look at for someone that kept his faith in the midst 00:49:41.21\00:49:45.58 of a trial. We're gonna see if you hold your faith, if you 00:49:45.61\00:49:50.82 hold on to God in the midst of a trial what the end result 00:49:50.85\00:49:55.19 will be. Now I can remember going through a trial maybe 00:49:55.22\00:49:58.29 the hardest trial of my life and on this side of that trial 00:49:58.33\00:50:02.76 I can say, Oh thank God that I went through the trial, that I 00:50:02.80\00:50:06.84 made it through the trial because things in a trial 00:50:06.87\00:50:10.51 things are gonna be, it's that furnace of affliction. You know 00:50:10.54\00:50:14.44 I believe it's Isaiah 48:10 that says, God says, I tested 00:50:14.48\00:50:20.12 you in the furnace of affliction and as Jill I believe it was 00:50:20.15\00:50:24.55 talking about that fire that burns off the dross. Well on 00:50:24.59\00:50:28.32 this side, see back in 1986 I was making all the right faith 00:50:28.36\00:50:34.20 statements but I had never been through a trial 00:50:34.20\00:50:36.87 well now that I've been through a few trials in my life I can 00:50:36.93\00:50:41.50 more accurately say God is faithful, He'll never leave you 00:50:41.54\00:50:45.74 He will never forsake you. He'll be with you no matter 00:50:45.77\00:50:48.91 what your circumstance or situation and it's not just 00:50:48.94\00:50:52.55 theory to me I know from experience how much better 00:50:52.58\00:50:57.25 to know from experience than from theory. So, 00:50:57.29\00:51:01.96 the question is why the suffering? Have you ever 00:51:01.99\00:51:05.49 heard that question? I'm sure you pastors have heard it many 00:51:05.53\00:51:09.23 times. If God is so great why all this suffering in this world 00:51:09.26\00:51:15.27 And Job is one of the first books in the Bible and it was 00:51:16.27\00:51:21.61 written and you know what the key theme of Job is? 00:51:21.64\00:51:24.68 Suffering. Poor Job wasn't guilty of anything. 00:51:24.71\00:51:31.89 We can't find where Job was guilty. Even God said about 00:51:31.92\00:51:37.36 him, have you considered, now this is in Job 1 verses 6-8 00:51:37.39\00:51:43.90 God said, now let me set that situation up for you. Satan 00:51:43.93\00:51:49.84 came into the portals of heaven and God asks Satan, 00:51:49.87\00:51:56.61 Where have you been? What you been doing? He said, well I've 00:51:57.45\00:51:59.95 been going to and fro on the earth. And God said to Satan 00:52:00.05\00:52:03.82 Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him 00:52:03.89\00:52:10.39 on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears 00:52:10.43\00:52:14.76 God and shuns evil. Wouldn't you love for God to say that 00:52:14.83\00:52:18.83 about you? Well now what happens right after God says this? 00:52:18.87\00:52:25.24 It is as though all hell is unleashed against Job. 00:52:25.27\00:52:31.95 So did Job suffer because he was an evil man? 00:52:31.98\00:52:36.62 No. Why did he suffer? Because he was a good man. 00:52:36.65\00:52:40.19 So the question is why the suffering? 00:52:40.22\00:52:44.79 Now I'll ask another question. Where does most suffering 00:52:44.83\00:52:48.66 come from? And I'll give you the Scriptures. You don't have 00:52:48.70\00:52:52.67 to turn to them. 1 Peter 5:8 Most of you can quote this 00:52:52.70\00:52:57.61 Scripture. It says be sober, be vigilant because your adversary 00:52:57.64\00:53:03.65 the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he 00:53:03.71\00:53:09.78 may devour. Now who was in heaven that God said, have you 00:53:09.82\00:53:15.72 considered my servant Job? Now we see here in 1 Peter 00:53:15.76\00:53:20.83 that it's the devil that goes about like a roaring lion 00:53:20.86\00:53:24.43 seeking whom he may devour. So my question is, where does 00:53:24.47\00:53:28.30 most suffering come from? Not saying all suffering but most 00:53:28.34\00:53:31.54 suffering and you know the most interesting thing I find about 00:53:31.57\00:53:35.58 the book of Job, you know where his friends came and they 00:53:35.61\00:53:39.75 questioned this and they questioned that. They questioned 00:53:39.78\00:53:42.18 his motives and they questioned his sincerity and they 00:53:42.22\00:53:45.32 questioned whether or not he was evil. Not one time did 00:53:45.35\00:53:49.79 any, in all of that discourse, ever bring up or even mention 00:53:49.82\00:53:55.00 the fact that you know we've got an enemy. Satan may have 00:53:55.03\00:53:58.63 been doing this. Now we, in the book of Job, we kinda have 00:53:58.67\00:54:03.00 this, we see what's going on and of course Job didn't but 00:54:03.04\00:54:07.81 who do we know to be the one to cause all of Job's suffering 00:54:07.84\00:54:12.01 made it very clear that it was Satan. Revelation 12:9 00:54:12.05\00:54:16.69 I'm gonna give you two Scriptures in Revelation 00:54:16.72\00:54:18.85 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called 00:54:18.89\00:54:22.99 devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast 00:54:23.02\00:54:27.93 to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. 00:54:27.96\00:54:30.43 Revelation 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you 00:54:30.47\00:54:37.37 are about to suffer. Indeed the devil is about to throw 00:54:37.41\00:54:41.08 some of you into prison, that you may be tested and you will 00:54:41.11\00:54:45.11 have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful unto death and I will 00:54:45.15\00:54:50.25 give you the crown of life. So the question is, where does 00:54:50.29\00:54:55.22 most suffering come from? Can we say it comes from the enemy 00:54:55.26\00:54:58.33 of our soul, that it comes from Satan? Now I wanted to, how to 00:54:58.36\00:55:02.96 differentiate between suffering and chastening and pruning. 00:55:03.00\00:55:07.97 Do you know there's a difference Hebrews 12:6 says, whom the 00:55:08.00\00:55:13.74 Lord loveth He chasteneth. Now whom he chastens, why does He 00:55:13.78\00:55:20.58 chasten you because He loves you as His own child. 00:55:20.62\00:55:24.52 So chastening, we go through the chastening of the Lord 00:55:24.55\00:55:28.36 The pruning of the Lord - why do we go through pruning? 00:55:28.39\00:55:31.73 What is pruning? If you produce fruit, what's He gonna do? 00:55:31.76\00:55:36.06 He's gonna prune you so you'll produce more. If you don't 00:55:36.10\00:55:39.33 produce fruit what's He gonna do? He's gonna prune you. 00:55:39.37\00:55:42.10 You're pruned if you do, you're pruned if you don't. 00:55:42.14\00:55:44.51 We're gonna get pruned. And the chastening, because the Lord 00:55:44.54\00:55:48.78 loves us but this suffering that the enemy causes 00:55:48.81\00:55:52.91 we have to have faith in the midst of that because that 00:55:52.95\00:55:57.32 is, that furnace of affliction where God tests us and He tries 00:55:57.35\00:56:02.86 us. Let me end with this one thought and it's 1 Peter 4:19 00:56:02.89\00:56:07.86 Let's end with that Scripture. Therefore let those who suffer 00:56:07.86\00:56:13.37 according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in 00:56:13.40\00:56:16.67 doing good as to a faithful creator. And let me tell you 00:56:16.74\00:56:20.81 this about Job. What was the end result of our brother Job 00:56:20.84\00:56:26.01 who suffered because he was a good man not because he was 00:56:26.05\00:56:30.22 an evil man. Now the Lord, this is Job 42 verses 12 and 13 00:56:30.25\00:56:34.99 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his 00:56:35.02\00:56:38.66 beginning. And then in verse 16 and 17, he lived longer 00:56:38.69\00:56:45.00 and he died old and full of days. So the end result of 00:56:45.03\00:56:50.64 holding your faith in the midst of your trials is God is gonna 00:56:50.71\00:56:54.61 bless you coming in and going out and exceedingly more 00:56:54.64\00:56:57.88 than you had before. Amen. Thank you so much Molly 00:56:57.91\00:57:01.38 Pr. John, Pr. Tom, and Shelley. Just such a blessing, my own 00:57:01.42\00:57:05.49 heart and soul's been ministered to. I think of Romans 15:4 00:57:05.52\00:57:08.79 whatever things were written aforetime, were written for 00:57:08.82\00:57:11.79 our learning. That we through patience and comfort 00:57:11.83\00:57:16.30 of the Scriptures might have hope. You might be in the midst 00:57:16.33\00:57:20.14 of a fiery trial. You might be going through pruning or 00:57:20.17\00:57:23.44 chastening or even suffering right now. Know that the 00:57:23.51\00:57:27.28 Lord Jesus loves you. Isaiah 41:10, He says fear not 00:57:27.31\00:57:31.65 I have redeemed you. He says, let me pick it up here, 00:57:31.68\00:57:36.42 Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you 00:57:36.45\00:57:41.32 I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand 00:57:41.36\00:57:46.43 God wants to give you strength. He wants to give you power 00:57:46.46\00:57:50.83 He wants to give you peace and grace in the midst of your trial 00:57:50.87\00:57:56.40 We want to invite you to join us again next week as we 00:57:56.44\00:58:00.24 discuss Servant Leadership. Know that we love you 00:58:00.31\00:58:03.58 and that we pray for you. We'll see you next time. 00:58:03.61\00:58:06.28