back to indexBerean Community Church Wednesday Night Bible Study 5/11/2022
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Let's take a couple minutes to prepare your heart for worship. 00:05:02.020 |
Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this opportunity 00:05:05.020 |
we have tonight to gather to study your word, 00:05:12.020 |
God, I pray that tonight as we do study the word, 00:05:22.020 |
and apply the word to our lives that we might grow 00:05:27.020 |
in being able to glorify you in whatever we do, God. 00:05:32.020 |
God, just help us to praise you during this time of worship. 00:05:37.020 |
Help us all to just be reflecting on the lyrics 00:06:19.020 |
♪ Mine was the sin that drove the bitterness ♪ 00:14:03.020 |
If I could have your attention just for a couple administrative notes. 00:14:07.020 |
The first is we've got just about three weeks left, 00:14:11.020 |
and thank you for all of you who have been volunteering 00:14:16.020 |
but with the last three weeks, we still do need more volunteers. 00:14:20.020 |
So if you look at your old emails, you'll see that link. 00:14:23.020 |
Please go ahead and sign up for one of the slots that are available. 00:14:34.020 |
we do have safety training and also instructional for you. 00:14:39.020 |
We do need the help for the last three weeks, 00:14:41.020 |
both for parking and for the babysitting, okay? 00:14:44.020 |
Secondly, that very far last row and then the two tables in the back, 00:14:52.020 |
Tonight, please note that we're going to be putting back 00:14:59.020 |
So for those of you guys who are removing your tables in the back, 00:15:02.020 |
put away the white tables and the brown chairs, 00:15:08.020 |
Tables and brown chairs away, and then just leave the white chairs, okay? 00:15:13.020 |
And then lastly, unfortunately--well, thankfully, 00:15:19.020 |
but you can't drink it because we've got to, like, 00:15:22.020 |
let the filter run and all that kind of stuff. 00:15:24.020 |
So if you do need water, you're going to need to go over to the other side. 00:15:27.020 |
Please do not open it up and just start drinking it, 00:15:40.020 |
Let's read this passage together, and then we'll pray and we'll get started. 00:16:00.020 |
1 Peter 4, 7 to 11 reads, "The end of all things is near. 00:16:06.020 |
Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 00:16:12.020 |
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, 00:16:19.020 |
Be hospitable to one another without complaint, 00:16:25.020 |
employed in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 00:16:31.020 |
Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God, 00:16:35.020 |
whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies. 00:16:41.020 |
So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, 00:16:46.020 |
to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. 00:16:52.020 |
So as we do every week, you guys are going to spend the bulk of the time 00:16:58.020 |
just discussing your observations from these five verses, from verses 7 through 11. 00:17:06.020 |
This is actually probably one of the most important passages in all of our 1 Peter study. 00:17:13.020 |
And so it's not as theologically like dense in the sense of there are things that are difficult to understand, 00:17:19.020 |
but do pause and reflect deeply on these five verses. 00:17:26.020 |
And then question number three, but at the end of all of that, 00:17:30.020 |
I'm assuming you're going to have a little bit more time because there aren't as many like confusing points. 00:17:36.020 |
Okay, but what are the gifts specifically highlighted in verses 10 to 11? 00:17:42.020 |
And are spiritual gifts more of a responsibility or a privilege? 00:17:49.020 |
And then you want to talk about what is the purpose of spiritual gifts. 00:17:54.020 |
And if you have time, you can even discuss, you know, how you're being faithful with yours. 00:18:00.020 |
Okay, so let me pray for us and then we'll get back together at 820 to do a wrap up. 00:18:12.020 |
Lord, we pray for your help to discern just the truths that are in your word tonight. 00:18:27.020 |
I pray, Father God, that we would all leave here really believing that there is judgment, 00:18:37.020 |
really believing that there are many souls that are hell bound. 00:18:44.020 |
Help us, Lord God, to be a people who are not just theologically astute, 00:18:52.020 |
but really understand the heartbeat of Christ. 00:18:57.020 |
And without a correct understanding of your word, Lord, we can err in many different ways. 00:19:04.020 |
But Lord, if we understand doctrine and do not apply it humbly, passionately, and lovingly in our lives, 00:19:13.020 |
Lord, we also err and our hearts can get hardened. 00:19:18.020 |
So we pray that you would feed us tonight so that we would be a people of prayer, 00:19:25.020 |
that we would be a people who are watchful and hopeful and thankful as we pray. 00:19:31.020 |
And Lord, would you have your way in this church for your glory, for your might, for your honor. 00:19:42.020 |
And we pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:18:01.020 |
All right. If I can gather your attentions back up here real quick. 01:18:12.020 |
Okay. So if you look at this little outline, I'm going to just run through that like I usually do. 01:18:21.020 |
Therefores are important. Usually why? Because it tips you off as to like what's significant, right? 01:18:28.020 |
This was a phrase that was said, and here's the expected application. 01:18:34.020 |
Now, one thing I want to caution you about tonight, we've been into some very heavy and weighty theological points over the last few weeks, right? 01:18:48.020 |
There's judgment. There's condemnation coming. Yes? And we studied that. 01:19:01.020 |
If it didn't cause you to pray more, you studied it incorrectly. 01:19:08.020 |
That's why today's passage is very important. 01:19:14.020 |
Do you believe that there's a hell and that people that you love are going there? 01:19:18.020 |
Because we talked about death. We talked about judgment. We talked about how Christians need to fear. 01:19:27.020 |
But if we studied this, we read like a bunch of notes on it, and we had a good time studying this thing, 01:19:34.020 |
and then at home, like, "Doo-doo-doo, what's on Netflix?" 01:19:40.020 |
Like, "Whatever I'm farming on my phone game, the time is up." 01:19:44.020 |
How are the Dodgers doing? They're doing pretty good. 01:19:49.020 |
But in all seriousness, this therefore is huge. 01:19:54.020 |
Because what we covered from chapters two and three especially, because chapter one, a lot of it's about Christians and the blessings that we'll enjoy. 01:20:04.020 |
But chapters two and three at length discuss a lot of the things that await the non-Christian. 01:20:16.020 |
Okay? So this is why we can't just treat this as an academic exercise. 01:20:22.020 |
Because if all the stuff that we covered in the last three weeks doesn't lead you to pray more, 01:20:29.020 |
you studied this all wrong, and you are on the road to becoming a legalistic, spiritual know-it-all that has very little fruit. 01:20:37.020 |
Because a person who is abiding in Christ will not but pray when you study this. 01:20:53.020 |
Therefore, A, B, C, and D, above all, while you're praying, do this. 01:21:00.020 |
Okay? And I put the keep fervent in your love, I put it a step farther. 01:21:05.020 |
And the other ones, so there's two main verbs, and that's the sound in judgment and sober in spirit. 01:21:13.020 |
And the word spirit is added there, it's not even in the original text. 01:21:16.020 |
Okay? So another important word is as each one has received. 01:21:22.020 |
I feel that that's actually pretty significant, so I just highlighted it. 01:21:26.020 |
Because one, all things are coming to an end. 01:21:31.020 |
Therefore, pray, love, and use your spiritual gifts. 01:21:38.020 |
And then when I see as each one has received, two things come to mind. 01:21:46.020 |
So I am not entitled to boast about this. That's the first truth. 01:21:51.020 |
The second truth is, it suggests in the wording that everybody has received a gift. 01:21:57.020 |
Right? So there are no like Christian, like complete, like spiritual losers. 01:22:04.020 |
I believe in Christ, but I'm not gifted in any way. 01:22:07.020 |
Okay? False humility is actually, like insecurity and inferiority complex is broken pride. 01:22:17.020 |
Okay? So it's just a matter of what is that gift. 01:22:20.020 |
So all the red stuff are things that I believe are significant words to help me in understanding this. 01:22:26.020 |
The underlying parts are just the qualities, dare I say fruits of the person living in the will of God. 01:22:34.020 |
The yellow is actually very important because those are the Christian applications. 01:22:38.020 |
These are the things that we need to work hard at. 01:22:41.020 |
We really need to work hard at being sound in our thinking/judgment and being sober. 01:22:52.020 |
And so when I look at this, I look at like, here's a conclusion that I want to make. 01:23:00.020 |
If you're in here addicted to anything, I'm assuming you're not praying. 01:23:12.020 |
If you are a Netflix addict, if all you can talk about is the next Marvel movie or the next K-drama or all you do with your free time is play video games, you are not praying is my assumption. 01:23:30.020 |
So the way this grammar is formed, there's almost a mutual exclusivity of in sobriety and prayer. 01:23:39.020 |
But prayer is so important to the understanding of this passage because people are going to hell. 01:23:51.020 |
And even in chapter 3, we learn that what's the goal of a good marriage? 01:24:02.020 |
Why? So that what? Your prayers aren't hindered. 01:24:08.020 |
Theologically, every single person in this room will say that prayer is important. 01:24:14.020 |
But my assumption in our culture is that we have very few prayerful people because everyone is unsound and not sober. 01:24:30.020 |
And that's the passage that we're looking at. 01:24:33.020 |
And it's so important not to get just lost in all the details of the last, like who are those in prison, right? 01:24:40.020 |
All of those details are not unimportant, but if you don't understand through this passage that we need to pray, you've missed the whole point. 01:24:49.020 |
And you guys know, you know, 15 minutes before services, first and second service, we have a time to pray. 01:24:59.020 |
But 10 minutes into the service, most people are still not here for both services. 01:25:04.020 |
And those same people, I'm sure, will show up to a movie 15 minutes early so they don't miss the previews. 01:25:12.020 |
But when it comes to prayer, oh, it's not unimportant. Actions speak louder than words. 01:25:17.020 |
And so my, this is not like a condemnation, but it really is, do we really believe the stuff that's in 1 Peter 2 and 3? 01:25:25.020 |
Are we motivated to pray more or are we so distracted that we will preach that prayer is important but we pray very little? 01:25:32.020 |
And again, if we miss the importance of prayer in this passage, we've studied this all wrong. 01:25:42.020 |
So this passage isn't as complicated to understand, but this is super important. 01:25:50.020 |
And because it's not super complicated to try to discern and understand, we won't stress about it much. 01:25:56.020 |
And then we become a prayerless religious people. 01:26:01.020 |
And that's kind of the danger in some ways of a more Bible church because we emphasize teaching so much. 01:26:07.020 |
So we are so focused on the teaching that we're so focused on the nitty-gritty of all the verses that it doesn't lead to the appropriate application, which is to pray. 01:26:16.020 |
And prayer is what we tap into to use our spiritual gifts in a way that glorifies God. 01:26:25.020 |
A gifted person, a talented person who is walking fleshly will want glory for himself. 01:26:36.020 |
So there are important things going on here, and I'm just going to do a quick wrap-up. 01:26:41.020 |
And I'm just summarizing this in a three take-home truth thing. 01:26:50.020 |
First, from this passage we understand that the end being near should not bring panic and anxiety, but watchfulness and worship. 01:26:59.020 |
The second is focus the remaining time not on the lust of the flesh, but to love, to serve, and to give glory to God. 01:27:10.020 |
And the third thing that I glean from these five verses is that spiritual gifts are to be used to point others to Christ, not to draw attention to ourselves. 01:27:23.020 |
So for the first one, the end being near should not bring panic and anxiety, but watchfulness and worship. 01:27:31.020 |
So when the end of anything approaches, priorities get shifted. 01:27:38.020 |
So let's say the end of high school approaches. 01:27:41.020 |
There's a lot of stuff that seniors start to do. 01:27:44.020 |
They're trying to get as much -- they're trying to enjoy and experience different things before they have to go into the real world of college. 01:27:56.020 |
When you're finishing up your college career, you're going to amp up meeting people that you care about. 01:28:04.020 |
You're going to amp up taking advantage of senior banquets and stuff like that. 01:28:09.020 |
So when the end of anything approaches, priorities get shifted. 01:28:13.020 |
So Becky and I, we've moved out of a country expecting not to fully come back to live there three times. 01:28:23.020 |
So when we left China for Korea, the end was near. 01:28:30.020 |
And of course we had to take care of like closing all our accounts, making sure all the utilities are paid off, selling all our furniture, giving stuff away. 01:28:51.020 |
I had to wrap up stuff with the HR department. 01:28:53.020 |
But the most important aspect of us preparing to leave is the relationships that we had. 01:28:59.020 |
So in the same sense, you have stuff to do while the end is near. 01:29:06.020 |
There are logistical things you need to take care of. 01:29:18.020 |
And you are not going to prioritize the saving of souls if your mind and heart are filled with the world. 01:29:26.020 |
And the more your mind and heart are filled with the world, you're not going to want the end to come. 01:29:32.020 |
It's kind of like an engaged woman not wanting her wedding day to come. 01:29:42.020 |
So the first take home truth is the end being near, yes, you need to do logistical things in your life, but you need to watch and value your time. 01:29:53.020 |
And the priority is the people that you love. 01:30:03.020 |
Focus the remaining time not on the lust of the flesh, but to love, to serve, and to give glory to God. 01:30:10.020 |
So your primary application in your life is a collective one. 01:30:19.020 |
Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 01:30:24.020 |
And engage in the process of teaching everybody to observe everything that He has commanded. 01:30:30.020 |
That's the obsession that every Christian needs to have. 01:30:35.020 |
So we are living in a generation and in a culture where entertainment is huge, and we are almost entitled to it. 01:30:43.020 |
But we've spent enough time formerly having the work, working out the desires of the Gentiles, right? 01:30:54.020 |
Third, spiritual gifts are to be used to point others to Christ, not to draw attention to ourselves. 01:31:02.020 |
We're supposed to prioritize the building up of His church. 01:31:05.020 |
We're supposed to prioritize the loving of His people. 01:31:14.020 |
Every single one of you is gifted to build up the church. 01:31:25.020 |
It's any talent or ability which is empowered by the Holy Spirit and able to be used in the ministry of the church. 01:31:41.020 |
So you are gifted uniquely with at least one natural talent or ability which, when empowered by the Holy Spirit, you can use to the building up of the ministry of His church. 01:31:57.020 |
And if you're curious, there are a few lists that are mentioned in the New Testament. 01:32:07.020 |
Our first Peter only has like two of them, really, generally speaking, right? 01:32:14.020 |
And you might be wondering, well, is that like church leadership gifts and then laypeople gifts? 01:32:19.020 |
Or is that just kind of like prophetic, being an oracle of God, like teaching gifts? 01:32:24.020 |
Is it something to be used any time I open my mouth? 01:32:28.020 |
Because a lot of times the stuff out of my mouth is not very pleasant or uplifting. 01:32:30.020 |
So you guys might be wondering what these are. 01:32:33.020 |
I'm not going to go into them per se, but I'm going to give you a list from these passages. 01:32:42.020 |
Romans 12, 6 through 8 talk about the gift of prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and mercy. 01:32:55.020 |
And I would assume logistics for some of you guys who are more like I like spreadsheets and stuff. 01:33:01.020 |
My guess would be that's possibly like leading, administering. 01:33:06.020 |
First Corinthians 7, 7 is a gift that many people do not desire to have for the building up of the church. 01:33:13.020 |
But logically thinking, if you don't get married or if you don't have a child and you are married, 01:33:21.020 |
you actually have a lot more time to build this church. 01:33:30.020 |
But are you as an unmarried person who is accruing some degree of wealth, 01:33:36.020 |
using all your wealth and your time to indulge the flesh, take good Instagram photos, 01:33:44.020 |
garner all memories, or are you using them for the building up of the church? 01:33:51.020 |
And again, in and of themselves, doing like vacations and stuff are not sinful. 01:34:00.020 |
But the gift of celibacy is in some ways a gift of time and resource. 01:34:05.020 |
First Corinthians 12, wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, 01:34:15.020 |
I'm not going to get into like, "Oh, are we like a, like, what do we think about like certain apostolic gifts?" 01:34:24.020 |
But these are, they're in there as in the lists. 01:34:29.020 |
They're also considered gifts, apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral teaching. 01:34:35.020 |
And then we look at the last list in 1 Peter 4, speaking and serving. 01:34:40.020 |
So I'm not going to have you, each of us go around and be like, "What's your gift? 01:34:48.020 |
But just know that you are naturally equipped to build the church in the way that only you can. 01:34:56.020 |
So you don't need to be jealous of what that person is gifted in. 01:35:00.020 |
Or you don't need to feel like, "Oh, that person is, we have the same gift, 01:35:05.020 |
but that person has like the A+ quality of that gift and I have like a C-." 01:35:14.020 |
Whether you are super gifted or just like, just kind of gifted, 01:35:26.020 |
But the purpose of the gifts is never to garner attention for you. 01:35:35.020 |
And here's a challenge if you are really gifted. 01:35:38.020 |
You might start wanting to use those gifts, not for the glory of God, 01:35:50.020 |
Do you see, do you guys understand the danger? 01:35:55.020 |
If you are a gifted person and you're not sound in your thinking, 01:36:02.020 |
and you are indulging in every luxury that this world affords, 01:36:07.020 |
and you come to church, you're going to want to still use gifts 01:36:13.020 |
for the building up of your fame and your renown. 01:36:17.020 |
And we're living in a culture where that's almost encouraged. 01:36:22.020 |
Even guys in ministry, many of them have a desire to be a celebrity pastor. 01:36:35.020 |
And they garner audiences without turning people from their sins. 01:36:44.020 |
And they're tickling people's ears and saying, "Peace, peace!" 01:36:49.020 |
But they're drawing a crowd because they're saying things that itching ears want to hear, 01:36:58.020 |
And the more charismatic and the more gifted the speaker, 01:37:01.020 |
the more applause he can get, and the more he can rob God of his glory. 01:37:05.020 |
This is why being sound in spirit, or sound in judgment, and sober in spirit, 01:37:20.020 |
So, the end of all things being near, I'm going to wrap up with this. 01:37:27.020 |
I would say my, like right when I got diagnosed with cancer, 01:37:44.020 |
My tumor was six centimeters, and my wife, as all wives do, she Googles stuff. 01:37:48.020 |
And then they're like, "Six centimeters? Usually that's like stage four, 01:37:51.020 |
and when you hear stage four cancer, you're like, "Oh, he's going to die!" 01:37:54.020 |
And so this is before I had an appointment with a doctor. 01:37:56.020 |
But my wife and I, because she's freaking out on me, 01:38:02.020 |
We started having a really honest conversation. 01:38:05.020 |
Because in my head, I'm like, "Okay, wow. My kids are five at the time, and I'm going to die. 01:38:12.020 |
If I die, I only have a few months before I'm kind of useless, 01:38:16.020 |
because I'm just trying to recover. What am I going to do with my life?" 01:38:20.020 |
And the funny thing was, I actually said something to the effect of, 01:38:24.020 |
"Becky, you know, this coming year, if it's really hard, you need to, like, 01:38:28.020 |
you just need to support me, don't nag me on stuff." 01:38:30.020 |
Like, I started, like, having, like, marriage counseling with my wife, like just... 01:38:35.020 |
And she's like, "Okay, but if you only have a year left, 01:38:39.020 |
like, these are the areas where I don't trust you. These are the areas that you need to go." 01:38:48.020 |
Because six years in Korea, where I'm traveling a hundred days of the year, 01:38:52.020 |
and I'm leaving my wife without a really community, 01:38:54.020 |
with two one-year-old babies, by herself in a small apartment, 01:39:04.020 |
caused us to be super honest and zero defensive. 01:39:09.020 |
She was like, "Blah, blah, blah. This is what I don't like about you. 01:39:11.020 |
This is what, like, I lose trust in you, blah, blah, blah." 01:39:15.020 |
And then, "This is what I don't like about you, blah, blah, blah." 01:39:18.020 |
And then at the end, it was like, "Oh, we love each other so much." 01:39:25.020 |
Because if the end is near, priorities get shifted. 01:39:29.020 |
What's important comes to the forefront when I'm thinking, 01:39:41.020 |
I came out of it just completely okay, after about 15 months. 01:39:48.020 |
She got diagnosed with breast cancer that went into her spine, 01:39:58.020 |
Now, she got sick, so I'm trying to figure out 01:40:01.020 |
all that I can do to go out there to see her one last time. 01:40:08.020 |
But I'm just trying to figure out, "How am I going to get there?" 01:40:12.020 |
We're out after three-week quarantine in Korea. 01:40:14.020 |
And then she's my stepmom, so there isn't paperwork that will document, 01:40:20.020 |
And then cancer treatment in Korea is inpatient. 01:40:22.020 |
So I can't even--I might go there, waste a month, and not see her 01:40:28.020 |
and every day that she has left, just to pray with her. 01:40:37.020 |
And to tell her, "Hey, you know, when you die, 01:40:43.020 |
"But, man, you're going to have no care in the world. 01:40:52.020 |
even if it cost me, like, a delay in my surgery, 01:40:54.020 |
because time was important, because end was near, 01:41:02.020 |
And that's how you and I are supposed to live. 01:41:05.020 |
When we understand that judgment is coming on this world, 01:41:12.020 |
and He judges everyone's work impartially, 1 Peter 1:17, right? 01:41:16.020 |
He is ready to judge the living and the dead, 1 Peter 4, 5. 01:41:34.020 |
And that changes what's important in ministry real fast. 01:41:41.020 |
It sobers me up real quick when I understand judgment is coming. 01:41:45.020 |
And the things that I am entertained by loses its appeal, 01:41:50.020 |
and I start to pray because the weight is heavy. 01:41:54.020 |
So all the stuff that we covered in the last few weeks 01:41:56.020 |
should be very heavy for the purpose of prayer. 01:42:03.020 |
This is a danger for our church and our culture. 01:42:06.020 |
We could be experts at 1 Peter and become prayerless, 01:42:15.020 |
and have the form of godliness, and we deny its power. 01:42:24.020 |
Therefore be sound in judgment and sober in spirit. 01:42:36.020 |
So at your job, in your home, number your days, 01:42:46.020 |
That's the application we need to take from this passage. 01:42:50.020 |
And in the process, speak to one another in psalms, hymns, 01:42:55.020 |
and spiritual songs as if you're speaking the oracles of God 01:42:59.020 |
to encourage one another so that we're not hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 01:43:04.020 |
So we're sharpening one another as iron sharpens iron, 01:43:07.020 |
so we can always remind ourselves that the day of the Lord is approaching. 01:43:13.020 |
How can I pray for people that are lost in your life? 01:43:16.020 |
Who are the non-Christians in your life that I can join with you in prayer? 01:43:24.020 |
And that's what we better get out of 1 Peter for. 01:43:41.020 |
of abiding in Christ and bearing fruit for his kingdom. 01:43:50.020 |
It's eight verses, but they're shorter verses. 01:43:56.020 |
Question number five, what are the purposes of suffering in the life of the Christian? 01:44:02.020 |
And it seems like we've been stuck on the suffering stuff a lot, 01:44:16.020 |
And I want you guys to share with your group, question number one, 01:44:21.020 |
what kind of changes, if any, would there be in your life 01:44:29.020 |
I'm sure there are people that come to mind that you would forgive 01:44:32.020 |
or you would seek reconciliation with real fast 01:44:46.020 |
If it wouldn't change, that means, one, you're really walking faithfully in the Lord, 01:44:52.020 |
Second question is, how are you doing in the areas of love, hospitality, 01:44:58.020 |
And if you want to share about what you are gifted in, by all means, do that. 01:45:11.020 |
Lord, I pray that you would help us not to forget 01:45:17.020 |
what a great privilege it is to have access to the throne of grace. 01:45:24.020 |
not just because we're scared people are going to go to hell, 01:45:28.020 |
but help us to be prayerful because we just delight so much 01:45:36.020 |
Help us to know what it feels like, really, to taste heaven. 01:45:43.020 |
We know that eternal life has already started. 01:45:46.020 |
Our access to the knowledge of God is already ours. 01:45:51.020 |
So I pray that you would help us to fall in love with our prayer closets. 01:45:56.020 |
Help us to fall in love with the posture of prayer. 01:45:59.020 |
Help us to pray powerfully, effectively, Lord, 01:46:06.020 |
We pray for your help in our discussion, that we would be honest, vulnerable, 01:46:10.020 |
and that you really receive the glory tonight.