back to indexBerean Community Church Wednesday Bible Study 12/14/2022
00:00:00.000 |
and be convicted and then always God I pray that your word would bear its fruit 00:00:04.360 |
in our lives we thank you for this evening it's in Christ's name amen 00:09:15.080 |
Amen. Before we break up into our groups, I want to highlight a couple 00:09:32.880 |
announcements wise. One, please remember that it really is helpful for us if you 00:09:39.920 |
re-sign up for the Bible study through the the link that's going to be on our 00:09:44.920 |
link tree and our Facebook and the app. So make sure you do that early so that 00:09:48.880 |
we can coordinate our groups and put people into the appropriate places. Also, 00:09:55.000 |
we've been mentioning that we need a accurate headcount for our fellowship 00:09:59.280 |
lunch on January 1st, okay? Various volunteers are already purchasing 00:10:05.160 |
supplies, getting the plan set for that lunch, but we just need people to give us 00:10:09.880 |
a early heads up and headcount. So please make sure also the link to sign up for 00:10:14.640 |
that is again on the app and on the Facebook, so make sure to do that, okay? 00:10:18.240 |
And then finally, we've been mentioning that we have extras of the Christmas 00:10:23.920 |
invitation cards and today I'm gonna put a box of it by the entrance. Please make 00:10:28.280 |
sure that you're carefully thinking through friends and family that you want 00:10:32.200 |
to evangelize to and then if you're gonna invite them out to church that day 00:10:36.360 |
we will have our church's outreach team will have free Bibles, resources, people, 00:10:42.000 |
our team members will be available for questions and follow-up too. So they're 00:10:48.080 |
gonna be situated out in the courtyard and you could always bring them to that 00:10:51.240 |
just to welcome them and give them resources, okay? Alright, so we're gonna go 00:10:55.400 |
into our time of discussion and then later we'll be back for our final wrap-up. 00:50:01.480 |
Again, if you didn't finish, I'll give you more time at the end. 00:50:06.480 |
Hopefully you'll have more time at the end to finish your dinner. 00:50:38.480 |
We're just kind of wrapping up and hopefully you'll be able to digest and remember a lot of this stuff. 00:50:45.480 |
So that two months afterwards when you say, what's 2 Peter's theme, right, that you'll be able to recollect. 00:50:53.480 |
If somebody asks you a question like, what's the text that I should go to that has some doctrines of the end times? 00:50:59.480 |
Or somebody asks you, why is it taking so long for Christ to come? 00:51:08.480 |
Or if somebody said, what's the motivation for sanctification? 00:51:14.480 |
Like, what are some qualities that we should be working toward? 00:51:25.480 |
Or somebody asked you, what are some qualities of the false prophets that we should be watching out for? 00:51:34.480 |
So that what you're learning is not just something that you just file away, but that this is like in your conversations or you're talking to young Christians or maybe you're evangelizing and you're trying to find a text to go to that you'll be able to open it up to that text. 00:51:50.480 |
So you should just kind of like, oh, I did it and then, you know, like not a notch on your belt that you did it. 00:51:57.480 |
So years later, you can recollect and say, I did it. 00:52:00.480 |
But then when I asked you what it's about that you're not going to, you're going to forget. 00:52:03.480 |
So hopefully everything that you review and you learn, you can kind of file it away, at least in broad sense. 00:52:10.480 |
Even if you have to go back and look at the text, at least you know where to go to. 00:52:17.480 |
Imagine if you had the Bible filed away like that in your head. 00:52:22.480 |
Imagine if you went through 15 books of the Bible and somebody asked you about, you know, like, can you lose your salvation? 00:52:37.480 |
So if you did this for like four or five years and you had, you know, 15 texts that you went through. 00:52:42.480 |
Yeah, I mean, large portions of biblical doctrines are going to be in your head filed away so that you don't always have to run to ask somebody like, where is this? 00:52:53.480 |
You know, so today as we review again, my goal is not to go back and I know you guys already talked about. 00:53:00.480 |
I'm just kind of give you some encouragement. 00:53:02.480 |
And then I want to give you enough time because I want you to hear from other people. 00:53:08.480 |
You hear enough from me on Sunday and then on Wednesday. 00:53:11.480 |
So we asked a few of the small group leaders to kind of, you know, if there's some things that you are encouraged by to come and share. 00:53:19.480 |
Okay, so that you can hear for them and find encouragement. 00:53:22.480 |
Okay, so I'm not going to go into too much of the details on my part. 00:53:25.480 |
Just again, why do we do inductive Bible study? 00:53:29.480 |
This is where we get our name and all of this is going to be review. 00:53:32.480 |
It says that there were the Bereans were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica. 00:53:42.480 |
If you remember, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 00:53:51.480 |
There's so many opinions about everything in our culture, especially because we live in a post-Christian culture. 00:53:57.480 |
There's so many denominations, so many churches, so many ministry philosophies, how to do this, how to do that. 00:54:03.480 |
We need to get in the habit of making people prove through scripture. 00:54:10.480 |
Because if you go to 10 different churches, you may hear 10 different thoughts. 00:54:16.480 |
So you have to get in the habit of saying, where did you get that from the Bible? 00:54:20.480 |
Right. You might be talking with your friend. Your friend says this and that is a well, where did you get that from the Bible? 00:54:28.480 |
But making sure that what we know are not simply our prejudice is not just opinions of our culture, that it's actually coming from careful study of the word of God. 00:54:40.480 |
So this is why we chose our name. We want to be Bereans because we want to we want everything that we do to be founded upon the word of God. 00:54:48.480 |
Okay. So this is why we do the Bible study again. 00:54:52.480 |
And so this is I looked over this last time, remember, and I'm going to keep saying this until you're so sick and tired of me saying this. 00:55:01.480 |
We're going to do this again. He's like, yes, we're going to keep doing it until it just comes out of your mouth in conversation without knowing. 00:55:10.480 |
Right. So that, you know, like already like, hey, wait, that exegesis isn't good. 00:55:16.480 |
Right. It's like, is that is that it sounds right. But where's the Bible? 00:55:21.480 |
Right. So in order the way that we come to truth has to come from exegesis first. 00:55:29.480 |
Right. Because this is where we're dissecting the word of God. This is where we're questioning. 00:55:33.480 |
This is where we're diving into the context. And as I think mentioned last week where, you know, somebody would have a very clear, systematic way of explaining something. 00:55:44.480 |
But then when you actually go to the text, that's not what the text says. 00:55:48.480 |
It seems to say that superficially, but when you actually jump into the context, that's not what it says. 00:55:53.480 |
Almost all back theology comes like that. Right. 00:55:57.480 |
They have a very nice package and it looks great until you actually study the Bible. 00:56:03.480 |
Right. So that's what exegesis is. So biblical study must start from exegesis. 00:56:09.480 |
Now, I can just tell you this is what justification, this is what sanctification, this is what false prophets. 00:56:14.480 |
And I can tell you that. But at the end of it, you have in your mind, you say, I know what false prophets are. 00:56:21.480 |
I know what the church should be. I know what preaching should look like. But it's coming from what I'm telling you. 00:56:27.480 |
Right. It's not based upon what you're seeing in Scripture. It's based upon what I'm telling you, because you happen to be at this church. 00:56:34.480 |
You end up just regurgitating what I say. So if you're in a habit of saying, Pastor Peter said this, our church believes this. 00:56:40.480 |
It has no authority. Right. The only way that what you say is going to have authority is if you can connect that to Scripture. 00:56:47.480 |
Right. You can't say, well, this is my opinion from my experience. Yeah, that's your experience versus his experience. 00:56:53.480 |
Your opinion versus that person's opinion. And we have a lot of those. So it has to be exegesis. 00:56:59.480 |
So this is why we do inductive Bible study. If you do enough exegesis, you have systematic theology. 00:57:05.480 |
Right. If you did a study on, let's say, false prophet, is Second Peter the only place where false prophets are talked about? 00:57:12.480 |
No, they're talked about everywhere. Is First Peter, Second Peter, Chapter one, the only place where we talk about sanctification? 00:57:19.480 |
No. All over the Bible. So that's why systematic theology is the accumulated knowledge of what the Bible says on sanctification. 00:57:28.480 |
That's systematic theology. Right. So we don't want to start here. We want to start with exegesis and let exegesis determine systematic theology. 00:57:37.480 |
But what happens a lot in a post-Christian culture is you've determined systematic theology. Right. 00:57:44.480 |
What is the church supposed to look like? Well, where does that come from? What does a mature Christian look like? 00:57:50.480 |
Where does that come from? Does that come from a careful understanding of the Word of God? 00:57:55.480 |
Or have you already determined what a mature Christian is? And so therefore we have to do whatever it is to get there. Right. 00:58:02.480 |
So we have to make sure that everything that we know is coming from exegesis, which is going to determine our systematic theology. 00:58:10.480 |
You can't say I'm a Baptist and then go look for texts that support your Baptist doctrine. 00:58:18.480 |
You can't say I'm a Presbyterian and then go look for passages that support that. Right. 00:58:22.480 |
Make sure you're a Baptist because that's what the Bible seems to say. If you're a Presbyterian, make sure that's what the Bible seems to point to. 00:58:29.480 |
OK. Historical theology simply is in the last 2000 years. How did we get here? 00:58:34.480 |
What did the church father say? Church father doesn't mean that they're correct. 00:58:38.480 |
But just like anything else, it would be beneficial to know how this was debated. 00:58:44.480 |
Everything that we're thinking at some point in history, somebody questioned that. Right. 00:58:50.480 |
So it doesn't mean it's right. You can't say this is what we ought to believe because the church fathers believed it in the third century or the fifth century, 00:58:58.480 |
where they were also dead wrong at one point. Right. That's why we had the Protestant Reformation. 00:59:03.480 |
So historical theology is simply so that we can confirm that this theology, this thinking that we have, isn't just coming out of the blue. 00:59:13.480 |
This is something that we've agreed through history, but in and of itself does not have authority. Right. 00:59:20.480 |
Because you can quote the church fathers of the first century, but if you start to quote the church fathers beginning the fourth, fifth, sixth century, 00:59:27.480 |
you know, you're going to be basically quoting Catholic theology. Right. 00:59:31.480 |
Philosophical theology is basically where most people struggle with. Why is homosexuality wrong? 00:59:37.480 |
I can't. Why? If they're born that way, why is it wrong? So the Bible probably does not say that. 00:59:43.480 |
You reinterpret the Bible based upon your standard of what you think is right and wrong. 00:59:49.480 |
What's fair? Not fair. What's good and not good? We've already determined that. 00:59:53.480 |
So we're going to go back to the scripture to make it fit into my philosophical theology. 00:59:58.480 |
Philosophical theology is basically my understanding of what the Bible says. 01:00:02.480 |
So first, what does the Bible say is exegesis? Right. 01:00:08.480 |
What does the Bible say on this particular subject of the whole Bible? That's systematic theology. 01:00:14.480 |
What does the Bible say? What did the church fathers say? Right. 01:00:17.480 |
Church leaders say throughout history. That's historical theology. 01:00:21.480 |
Philosophical theology is just making sense of what we determined to be true. 01:00:27.480 |
How do we explain that so that it's easier to understand? How do we understand Trinity? 01:00:33.480 |
Right. Well, exegesis says, right, exegesis, systematic theology, historical theology, 01:00:40.480 |
basically says we have three, one God for three personalities. Right. 01:00:47.480 |
And that's what the Bible says. So we don't change that because it's hard to understand. 01:00:52.480 |
That's what the Bible says. So how do we understand that? Right. One times one times one equals one. 01:00:58.480 |
Right. We're not using plus. We're using multiplication. Right. 01:01:03.480 |
So there's reflections of that in creation, but it's hard to understand. 01:01:08.480 |
But we don't change the Bible because it's hard for us to understand. OK. 01:01:12.480 |
You don't embrace certain theology because it makes more sense to me. 01:01:16.480 |
We embrace certain theology because that's what the Bible says. Right. 01:01:20.480 |
OK. So again, I want this to be so embedded in your head that even without me saying it, right, 01:01:28.480 |
I can tell you, well, what's number one? Exegesis. What's number two? 01:01:33.480 |
Systematic theology. What's number three? Historical theology. Don't look up here. 01:01:38.480 |
What's number four? Philosophical theology. OK. All right. 01:01:43.480 |
So I'm going to keep saying that until you get tired of me. OK. 01:01:47.480 |
So the text that we're looking at just broad theme I've already mentioned in the beginning. 01:01:52.480 |
Chapter one. Right. Diligently pursue sanctification. 01:01:56.480 |
Remember chapter one, beginning of chapter one, before he encourages to diligently pursue. 01:02:08.480 |
What does he say? Right. I mean, you've already did it. You've already done it. Right. 01:02:17.480 |
The main theme of chapter one is to diligently pursue sanctification. 01:02:21.480 |
But before he goes there, what does he tell them? Everything that you have, 01:02:25.480 |
everything you need for godliness has been given to you. You're saved by the grace of God, not by your works. 01:02:32.480 |
Peter says you have the same faith that I have. Right. 01:02:35.480 |
So this is this is not a ranking system. We all have it. God already gave it to us. 01:02:41.480 |
He already gave us salvation. So therefore you have no reason why you can't pursue. 01:02:46.480 |
Because Jesus already gave it to you. Now live up to the calling. That's what Christianity is. 01:02:51.480 |
Christianity is work hard so that you can you can get to the next level. That's not what Christianity is. 01:02:57.480 |
Right. That's every other religion. Christianity is what you could not do. 01:03:02.480 |
That's what Jesus Christ has done. So he now calls you a child of God. 01:03:07.480 |
You are holy. Right. You are a child of God. You are a disciple of Jesus Christ. 01:03:14.480 |
Now live up to it. Right. That's Christianity. It's not live a certain way so that you can be a disciple. 01:03:21.480 |
Live a certain way so that you can be holy. So no, God made you now live up to that. Right. 01:03:28.480 |
So it's like semantics but the end result is night and day. 01:03:33.480 |
OK. Where somebody is laboring, sacrificing for the joy in Christ versus somebody laboring and sacrificing to get to the next level. 01:03:43.480 |
Right. Which causes more entrapment. OK. And then. 01:03:50.480 |
Chapter two. Don't follow the teachings or examples of false prophets. 01:03:53.480 |
So he goes through systematically talking about these are the false prophets. And basically he's telling them because they're. 01:03:59.480 |
Why is he telling them one not to follow them and to warn them that the opposition is coming. Right. 01:04:06.480 |
So this would only be relevant to somebody who is actually fighting, struggling, right. 01:04:11.480 |
Trying to be sanctified because if you're not trying to pursue truth, there's no need for you to be deceived. 01:04:19.480 |
Right. The only people who are deceived are the ones who are actively trying to pursue truth. Right. Or opposition. 01:04:25.480 |
If you're not engaged in a fight, what do you need opposition for. Right. 01:04:30.480 |
Number three. And he says our motivation is what he has done. Right. 01:04:36.480 |
For sanctification. Our motivation to pursue is what is that Christ is coming. 01:04:43.480 |
OK. That pretty much sums up the three chapters. 01:04:47.480 |
So if you can just remember that if if you can just remember just these three things. Right. 01:04:53.480 |
At least you'll know where to go to. You know, if somebody asks you a question, it's like, oh, that's where I go. 01:04:59.480 |
Chapter one, chapter two, chapter three. OK. All right. 01:05:05.480 |
This I'm going to leave to you. And then from this point on. OK. I'm going to keep my promise. 01:05:14.480 |
Yeah. So if if you're one of the people who are going to come in again, I want you guys to be encouraged because, 01:05:21.480 |
you know, I hear in different tables and different groups and just encouragement of how the word of God has impacted them, 01:05:29.480 |
what they learned. And instead of me just telling you, we wanted you to hear from the church itself. 01:05:33.480 |
So we asked a few people to come and share. Is it better for them to come up here? 01:05:42.480 |
Yeah, because then the video can go to the other side, too. Right. Yeah. 01:05:46.480 |
Sorry, we didn't warn you ahead of time that you are going to be filmed. 01:05:56.480 |
Can you introduce yourself first? Because. Sorry. 01:06:08.480 |
Hi, everyone. And I was encouraged by my group that this study here and a couple of takeaways we had was, 01:06:16.480 |
number one, to be diligent in the knowledge of the word and the gospel and that's how we can combat false prophets. 01:06:23.480 |
It was interesting to find that the false prophets or the false teachers were coming from within the church. 01:06:29.480 |
Number two, we learned how to be how compassionate and gracious our God is by giving us time to repent and turn to him. 01:06:35.480 |
One of the verses I memorized was I think Peter three nine. 01:06:39.480 |
The Lord is not slow about his promises, as some can't slow in it, 01:06:44.480 |
but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. 01:06:49.480 |
And third, God will deliver judgment. Ultimately, this world will be destroyed by fire and everything will melt away. 01:06:55.480 |
And so we should have an eternal mindset and be bold in sharing the gospel to those around us. 01:07:01.480 |
And lastly, one of the ways we apply being diligent was to memorize scripture. 01:07:05.480 |
And that helped us focus on the word throughout the week. 01:07:12.480 |
So we will come up and ask you to be willing to do so. 01:07:18.480 |
I that's the format. This is not going to fall in. 01:07:24.480 |
First, I want to say that I felt like I learned a lot because I learned a lot from Esther. 01:07:34.480 |
All right, because when we would discuss these questions, I didn't even read the question. 01:07:38.480 |
I didn't even get the answer. So I deeply insightful and learned a lot from perspective, 01:07:45.480 |
which is kind of the the the the posture I took with our group and I was very encouraged by their their personality. 01:07:55.480 |
That would be how they would read the question and how they would answer the question. 01:07:59.480 |
And I learned so much from it. I don't read back. I can't speak. 01:08:05.480 |
One of the things, for example, how would you how would you be part of a whole letter in your own words? 01:08:13.480 |
And in no particular order, I remember beware and be diligent in the small things. 01:08:19.480 |
It's not the knowledge, but what you do with it. Live a life of holiness and godliness. 01:08:25.480 |
Know the scripture, know your salvation and be steadfast in faith. 01:08:30.480 |
The last one is marching order. I just learned so much from how they saw the same text and had a different perspective. 01:08:39.480 |
Like I'm looking at an elephant, you know, it's a big part, a long part, a flat part. 01:08:44.480 |
Another part that I want to share with what did you learn about God through this letter? 01:08:51.480 |
In his judgment, it shows his grace to be patient. He's a God of hand. 01:08:57.480 |
Another one was first book, rights of his eminent coming, meaning first Peter and second book, rights of his patience in waiting. 01:09:06.480 |
God tests his people. He doesn't shield them from the trials and hardship, but gives the means to overcome with his word. 01:09:17.480 |
God's faithfulness for the lost and his promises. 01:09:21.480 |
Character development of Peter from cutting off an ear to his deathbed. 01:09:26.480 |
I found that incredibly something. We saw the progression of Simon to Peter from a person who was so eager and gung ho to a person who was so wise and in his deathbed, how he charged the elephant. 01:09:46.480 |
So anyway, those are one of the things that I learned a lot. I think it's our second lecture together and I hope we continue to kind of orient each other. 01:10:00.480 |
>> We'll start with Lisa and then after Lisa we'll do Ryan. 01:10:10.480 |
>> Hi, I'm Lisa. First of all, I'm just really thankful that I was able to facilitate as a small group leader for the first time. 01:10:21.480 |
Thank you for asking me. We have eight people in my small group and half of them I actually don't know them. 01:10:28.480 |
And then we're able to get to know each other through the weekly Bible study. 01:10:33.480 |
And actually one of them is a nonbeliever. So that in the beginning we knew about it so we prayed for her. 01:10:41.480 |
And then about two months into the Bible study, I think late October, she actually asked me to meet up with her. 01:10:48.480 |
And then before I was going to ask her to meet up with me but I was really happy that she asked me first so she maybe appreciated it. 01:10:55.480 |
So then we went out and I was able to share the gospel with her and praise God that she accepted Christ. 01:11:05.480 |
I was really happy that I shared with her. I think one Bible study, the group set up asked her to share her testimony. 01:11:13.480 |
So she did. So I think it was really encouraging to hear from her, you know, from the rest of the group. 01:11:19.480 |
And then I still continue to disciple her even through the rest. I know that we have a six week break. 01:11:29.480 |
But I think it may be too long. I need to keep discipling her and keep her accountable and continue to grow. 01:11:36.480 |
So yeah, so just pray for her. And I think one thing I learned about myself through the Bible study is His grace is sufficient for me. 01:11:46.480 |
I learned that I'm very blessed because God has saved me. In light of who He is and what He has done for me, 01:11:52.480 |
I need to obey Him to lead a life that's pleasing to Him, to seek Him first, and to give grace to the people around me, 01:12:00.480 |
especially my family, and to share the gospel to the people around me that are lost. 01:12:06.480 |
There are so many of them. And to continue to run the race faithfully until He returns. 01:12:19.480 |
>> Hi everyone. I'm Ryan. I lead a group out in the other room, so this room feels very foreign to me. 01:12:30.480 |
I'm in a lot of different places. But this is actually my first time leading a Wednesday group. 01:12:36.480 |
Prior to this, I was leading youth groups, small groups. So it's been very different, to say the least. 01:12:43.480 |
I've enjoyed both, but they're very different. But I really enjoy being able to talk about the Bible in depth 01:12:50.480 |
and really trying to make applications as a group. And my group of guys, they've been so diligent in preparing. 01:12:58.480 |
And many weeks, they shared things that I didn't even think about, and coming up with interpretations that I didn't even think about. 01:13:09.480 |
So even as a leader, I've benefited tremendously from leading my groups. I'm very thankful for this opportunity. 01:13:16.480 |
I didn't realize that it was supposed to be encouraging, but I'm just kidding. 01:13:25.480 |
I want to share something that we talked about as a group in Chapter 2. 01:13:29.480 |
It's not going to initially sound encouraging, but in the end, it will be. 01:13:34.480 |
In Chapter 2, it was very heavy, a lot of the themes about false teachers and destruction and judgment. 01:13:43.480 |
But one thing that our group kept talking about was, "Who are these guys, and what are they teaching?" 01:13:50.480 |
Because they seem to be described as people who once professed faith, and they're coming from inside the church, not outside the church. 01:13:59.480 |
And as we kept diving deeper and deeper into Chapter 2, we learned that their motivation was their fleshly lusts that they wanted to indulge in. 01:14:10.480 |
So we guessed that maybe they wanted to indulge in these sins, and so they twisted their doctrine to support how they wanted to live. 01:14:20.480 |
So obviously, on the one hand, the message of 2 Peter that we were able to get was that we have to be on guard, to guard ourselves against these false teachers. 01:14:33.480 |
But on the other hand, we tried to apply it to ourselves, because we all, every one of us in our group, we talked about our own fleshly desires that we struggle with. 01:14:44.480 |
And if we give room to those things, then our end could be just like these false teachers. 01:14:53.480 |
And so we talked about how we need to give no room for these fleshly desires, be diligent in killing these sins, or else we will be, just like them, destroyed in the end. 01:15:07.480 |
So that's not the encouraging part, but the encouraging part is that God has granted to us everything for life and godliness. 01:15:17.480 |
And so as we seek to apply all diligence to kill these fleshly lusts, God has already given us everything we need to kill them and to grow in holiness and to actually enjoy being freed from those corruptions and fleshly desires. 01:15:35.480 |
So it was a very encouraging letter, although there were very heavy and gloomy themes. 01:15:46.480 |
Let's welcome up Anthony, and then after him will be Bia. 01:15:51.480 |
Hi everyone, my name is Anthony. I am also leading a group on the other side, over with Ryan and Justin Yee. 01:15:58.480 |
So, man, this study has been very impactful for our group. 01:16:03.480 |
I gotta say that just studying about the end times and Jesus returning has been very sobering for our group. 01:16:12.480 |
And to also piggyback off what Ryan said about the false teachers, that Peter says that these teachers, these false teachers will be among you. 01:16:23.480 |
And so we, even though as Bereans, we also need to be diligent of these false teachers coming into the church as well. 01:16:31.480 |
And one of the things that my group, we were thinking about was in chapter 3 where it talked about the mockers will come with their mocking. 01:16:40.480 |
In their lust they'll say, "Where is this promise coming?" 01:16:43.480 |
And the purpose of them saying that was so that they could continue to indulge in their sin. 01:16:48.480 |
And we were thinking, well, how does this even apply to us? 01:16:52.480 |
Because there are so many times where even for me, I think to myself, well, Jesus isn't coming so it's okay if I indulge in this. 01:17:04.480 |
But as we study scripture, we know that he's coming and he's coming like a thief in the night. 01:17:10.480 |
The biggest thing that we learned about God is his holiness. 01:17:15.480 |
And that's something that we've been talking about frequently in these past few weeks. 01:17:19.480 |
Because God's expectation, God commands us to be holy. 01:17:31.480 |
It's a command that can be carried out by his grace. 01:17:35.480 |
And so we see that command, be diligent, be holy, and come full circle to the end of the book. 01:17:45.480 |
And so, again, we're just so reminded of his holiness. 01:18:13.480 |
One thing is no victory is guaranteed except the victory in Christ. 01:18:24.480 |
But from 2 Peter, I shared this with my group already. 01:18:33.480 |
But I think for me what I saw was a lot of talk of desire. 01:18:38.480 |
Because in Chapter 1, it was saying that we have everything already. 01:18:44.480 |
And so there's like a level of contentment, a level of like everything you need, everything you want is in Christ. 01:18:54.480 |
And then contrasting that with the false prophets, how they lust, how they greed. 01:19:00.480 |
And these desires lead them away from Christ, even denying the master. 01:19:07.480 |
And then also I'll tie that to Chapter 3, which is the coming of Christ. 01:19:12.480 |
And so if you're not desiring -- if your desire is not Christ, just a reminder that everything else is going to get destroyed anyways. 01:19:23.480 |
But for me personally, there's a lot of question of like why -- you know, because there are times where like you're not like diligently pursuing Christ. 01:19:36.480 |
And so then there's always the question of, okay, then why am I not diligently pursuing? 01:19:41.480 |
And then 2 Peter helped me to kind of think through like questions of is Christ really my only desire? 01:19:50.480 |
Is Christ really the only thing that I have really put my hope in? 01:20:14.480 |
So this is actually also going to be first time just doing small group. 01:20:21.480 |
Yeah, I just wanted to say super thankful actually also for this opportunity as well. 01:20:28.480 |
And I think just in our discussion, it truly was just a blessing, just like the discussion and seeing people just come with the questions and challenges that they brought. 01:20:38.480 |
And so one of the questions that we -- I felt like in the many questions that we discussed, one thing really was focused on chapter 1, really asking the question, what does it mean to truly believe we have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness? 01:20:55.480 |
And I think, you know, if you were just to read through this passage initially, you could easily just read past it and just be like, oh, yeah, like, you know, god has given me everything. 01:21:06.480 |
That's what I've been taught for a long time. 01:21:11.480 |
But I think what I'm super thankful about this study is that like if you -- that we're challenged to really inductively study, to ask questions, to meditate and chew on these biblical truths. 01:21:23.480 |
If you really think about -- and what we're talking about is if a Christian were to really believe this as truth, how powerful would that be and how would that translate into your life? 01:21:38.480 |
How does that affect the time that you spend, your fellowship? 01:21:42.480 |
And, yeah, so I think the conclusion really was, you know, the word of god in this promise that he has given us in, for example, in chapter 1, there is power in the truth of the word. 01:21:56.480 |
And if a Christian truly believes this passage is truth, we could genuinely be left without want. 01:22:05.480 |
And so I think that just led to a lot of just reflection and discussion on how does our life really just reflect this question and how it forms our convictions. 01:22:16.480 |
And so, yeah, that's just I think one big thing that we kind of discussed in our discussion, yeah. 01:22:27.480 |
>> Yeah, so I think you all agree that it was much more encouraging to hear from other people than if I just did a monologue. 01:22:34.480 |
But I do want to end it and then I'll give you guys time to, if you need to finish your discussion and then take some time to pray and then that would be it. 01:22:42.480 |
And just like Pastor Mark said, if you -- please sign up as soon as possible. 01:22:47.480 |
That will help us to get things ready for the next session. 01:22:50.480 |
As I wrap up, for me, the main thing that kind of stood out to me is in chapter 3 when we talk about the patience of God is salvation and just how patient God is. 01:23:02.480 |
And to think that whole reason why he hasn't come yet is to give opportunity to -- so that sinners can be saved. 01:23:12.480 |
And how the sinners turned that around saying you're not faithful. 01:23:17.480 |
You know, and not just our salvation but how we take the grace of God and we just basically -- again, I think -- I don't know how else to put it but we spit it back in your face. 01:23:30.480 |
And the reason why certain things may not be happening is because God is gracious. 01:23:37.480 |
If God wasn't gracious and he did come, you and I wouldn't be here. 01:23:43.480 |
And these false teachers would not even be able to question God because if he did come, it would not mean salvation for you. 01:23:52.480 |
He's withholding his wrath in order the sinners to come to Christ. 01:24:03.480 |
It's like how much restraint does it take for God not to come? 01:24:10.480 |
How much restraint does it take for God to be patient? 01:24:14.480 |
And I think about that and how, man, it's just, you know, like the longer I meditate about who Jesus is and what he has done, it's just -- he's just -- I don't know how else to explain it but he's just so beautiful. 01:24:34.480 |
And then knowing and understanding the depth of what it is that we have in Christ, it makes me want to honor him, makes me want to praise him. 01:24:42.480 |
So my worship isn't like it's Sunday, you need to worship, good Christian worship, you need to live this way, you need to do this. 01:24:48.480 |
It's like, yeah, I mean, all that thing is true. 01:24:52.480 |
But if I love my wife or try to love my wife because I'm supposed to, right, a good husband buys her flowers. 01:25:03.480 |
Buys her flowers, remembers anniversary, does this and does this, right? 01:25:07.480 |
I've done my part and I could give you the evidence that I'm a good husband. 01:25:21.480 |
And so if I'm doing that, I'm doing it because I love her, not because I'm trying to be a good husband. 01:25:45.480 |
And so I was just thinking about chapter 3, just meditating on that. 01:25:48.480 |
It's like, wow, the way we treat him, the way we question him, everything he's doing, he's just being so patient with us. 01:25:57.480 |
The reason why he's not acting earlier than what we want is because he's giving us opportunity. 01:26:06.480 |
So that's a thing that I kind of really, you know, like I was meditating on through the study. 01:26:12.480 |
Let me pray for us and then you guys can get to your groups and then take some time to pray. 01:26:22.480 |
Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for your living word. 01:26:28.480 |
Lord, just to be able to see a glimpse of your character, your patience, and your gentle care, Father God, for straying sheep. 01:26:40.480 |
How you constantly encourage us, warn us, and at times rebuke us so that we may stay on this narrow path. 01:26:52.480 |
Thank you, Father God, for at times jolting us so that we can see a clearer view of who you are. 01:27:01.480 |
Help us to digest these things that we've learned, that it would not just be in our memory, but our hearts, and then eventually into our lives. 01:27:12.480 |
So I pray, Father God, that your word would have its effect in us, that we would grow in our salvation, 01:27:20.480 |
that we would truly live up to the calling that you have given us as your children, loved by grace, persevering by grace, 01:27:30.480 |
and we'll be glorified one day by that same grace. 01:27:33.480 |
We thank you, Father in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.