back to indexBerean Community Church Wednesday Bible Study 3/9/2022
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How marvelous, how wonderful is thy savior's love for me. 00:00:17.460 |
With the rain of dim glory, his face I at last shall see. 00:00:30.940 |
To be my joy through the ages, to sing of his love for me. 00:00:43.920 |
Singing how marvelous, how wonderful that my song shall ever be. 00:00:58.400 |
How marvelous, how wonderful is thy savior's love for me. 00:01:10.880 |
Singing how marvelous, how wonderful that my song shall ever be. 00:01:25.360 |
How marvelous, how wonderful is thy savior's love for me. 00:01:46.780 |
To be my joy through the ages, to sing of his love for me. 00:02:16.720 |
Do you want to play through that song again, "His Mercy is More"? 00:03:20.840 |
What love could remember, no wrongs we have done. 00:04:07.720 |
What patience would wait as we constantly roam. 00:04:29.180 |
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. 00:05:20.100 |
His blood was the payment, his love was the cost. 00:05:25.580 |
We still need the debt we could never afford. 00:08:34.560 |
- I feel like I have spaghetti all over my mouth. 00:08:37.700 |
- I feel like I have spaghetti all over my mouth. 00:10:46.600 |
- I feel like I always like, like I don't remember, 00:11:38.220 |
- I can see people, never unroll the number again. 00:12:12.340 |
- The singer can dance to, to, on the screen. 00:14:08.600 |
- It's really weird, I'm like, I'm missing you guys. 00:14:44.660 |
- All right, let's all take a minute to quiet our hearts 00:15:02.420 |
and then all pray for us before we start worship. 00:15:12.540 |
Heavenly Father, I just thank you for this time 00:15:39.220 |
that you've given us to come here tonight for Bible study. 00:15:51.700 |
we could be encouraged and strengthened in our faith. 00:15:59.420 |
Lord, that your word would just do its work in our hearts 00:25:29.660 |
but it was still pretty dense, I assume, right? 00:25:38.260 |
we're gonna start with last week's passage moving forward, 00:25:45.700 |
and then I'll show you what some of the questions 00:25:50.260 |
and then we'll break up into our time of discussion. 00:25:59.180 |
but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 00:26:09.420 |
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God 00:26:21.700 |
and he who believes in him will not be disappointed. 00:26:24.780 |
This precious value then is for you who believe, 00:26:32.780 |
and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, 00:26:36.260 |
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, 00:26:43.020 |
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, 00:26:47.780 |
a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 00:26:51.560 |
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him 00:26:53.740 |
who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:27:13.340 |
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, 00:27:15.460 |
so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, 00:27:18.100 |
they may because of your good deeds as they observe them. 00:27:27.260 |
in the passage from last week and then today as well. 00:27:30.860 |
And the first two questions are pretty standard, 00:27:36.780 |
But question number three, when you guys do have time, 00:27:47.060 |
you probably will know why this question is being asked. 00:27:49.660 |
Okay, who are the people of God and what's their purpose? 00:27:53.480 |
And then four, a little bit more applicational, 00:27:55.940 |
what does it mean for a Christian to be living on Earth 00:28:05.220 |
We'll reconvene and we'll go into our teaching portion. 00:28:11.340 |
and then we'll dismiss into our discussion time. 00:28:14.440 |
Father, we're thankful that we are here tonight. 00:28:22.820 |
will not just be an academic theological exercise, 00:28:30.260 |
that it would cause us once again to be humbled, 00:28:39.220 |
and all of that would stir within us a great motivation 00:28:46.380 |
and to shine the light of Christ into this dark world. 00:29:03.000 |
where all of us are moved first and foremost toward worship, 00:29:18.140 |
our small group leaders, really to guide well. 00:29:26.860 |
a little bit changed and a little more Christ-like 01:30:04.500 |
- All right, if you guys can turn your attention, 01:30:22.500 |
just having a wrap-up of what we're looking at today, 01:30:28.000 |
I pray that you would help us not to get lost 01:31:22.500 |
what are the first two words in our passage today 01:31:31.000 |
I had to include last week's passage into my outline, 01:32:41.000 |
there is an emphasis on the return of Christ. 01:32:55.500 |
and strangers, that's kind of part of the call. 01:33:04.500 |
I just highlighted in gray all the non-people of God. 01:33:08.000 |
The non-people of God, that's not even a word, 01:33:10.500 |
but I'm just gonna call them non-people of God 01:33:19.500 |
Regardless, I'm just putting non-people of God, 01:33:24.000 |
And you see the for they, for you, your former self, 01:33:35.000 |
I highlight in the red all the very important words. 01:33:39.000 |
And I notice that there are two so that's there. 01:33:45.000 |
the so that usually is telling me to do something, 01:33:52.000 |
'Cause I feel like in my mind, in my reading, 01:33:54.500 |
at this juncture, that's a very important point 01:34:02.000 |
and then I notice the thing that comes after it 01:34:30.500 |
when I'm trying to figure out who are the people of God. 01:34:38.500 |
but this actually helps me kinda be tethered to, 01:34:47.500 |
and he's always been doing this for his praise. 01:34:54.500 |
and I'm not gonna drift too far from that, all right? 01:35:10.500 |
you notice that sometimes the wording is different, right? 01:35:14.500 |
So just in the event you guys might be wondering what that is, 01:35:24.500 |
Our Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew. 01:35:57.500 |
so my first Bible had a bunch of Chinese in it, 01:36:27.000 |
Supposedly, reportedly, 70 scholars of their day 01:36:35.000 |
So the Septuagint is the earliest Greek translation 01:36:43.500 |
so the original people who wanted this translation 01:36:58.000 |
It'd be like, "Wait, they translated it wrong." 01:37:05.000 |
because our Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew. 01:37:09.000 |
Their Old Testament was translated from the Greek. 01:37:27.500 |
"He who believes in it will not be disturbed." 01:37:36.500 |
"and he who believes in him will not be disappointed." 01:37:44.000 |
So just in the event that that's annoying you, 01:38:06.500 |
So for my eyes, I wanna understand the context 01:38:15.000 |
So Isaiah 43 is talking about the chosen race. 01:38:20.500 |
How many guys got tripped up on the chosen race, 01:38:23.500 |
They all mean a little different things, right? 01:38:52.000 |
so I will make a chart on the side of my 1 Peter passage 01:39:02.500 |
around the verses that he quotes to help me, okay? 01:39:06.000 |
And if I have time, I will dig and dig and dig, 01:39:10.000 |
and start looking into all the historical contexts 01:39:15.500 |
So I'm not gonna go into all of these things with this, 01:39:20.000 |
but this is the process by which I try to come 01:39:22.500 |
to the conclusion, who are the people of God? 01:39:39.000 |
were the nation of Israel, beloved and chosen of God. 01:39:49.000 |
If you guys are wondering why, for most of the Old Testament, 01:39:59.000 |
Way later, when they were exiled, they had no land. 01:40:05.500 |
They were from a land formerly known as Judah. 01:40:10.500 |
So they had to call this displaced people of Judah, 01:40:17.500 |
And eventually, they started getting called the Jews, 01:40:20.000 |
and you see that mentioned often in the book of Esther. 01:40:25.500 |
in, like, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all right? 01:40:31.500 |
that's where--that's the region they were once from, okay? 01:40:36.500 |
So the Judeans, the Jews, in the New Testament, 01:40:43.500 |
from our vantage point, who are the people of God? 01:40:48.000 |
It's all people who put their faith and trust 01:41:00.500 |
Whether you're Vietnamese or Chinese or Tanzanian or Indian, 01:41:13.000 |
The people of God are also often called the household of God, 01:41:24.500 |
the Holy Spirit gave Abraham the gospel in advance, okay? 01:41:39.500 |
Old Testament people of God were specifically 01:41:42.000 |
of the Hebrew race, the nation of Israel, Jews. 01:41:47.000 |
New Testament, it's kind of like a--I want to say jjamppong. 01:42:04.500 |
So then an important question that arises from that 01:42:09.500 |
is, then has the church replaced the nation of Israel 01:42:30.500 |
they broke their covenant, and now they stumbled. 01:42:33.500 |
The NASB actually calls it to their doom, right? 01:42:43.000 |
So then has the church replaced the nation of Israel 01:42:56.000 |
Okay, now this is going to throw a lot of you guys 01:43:22.500 |
The promises that are given to the nation of Israel, 01:43:50.000 |
from the Scripture in accordance with the context 01:43:55.000 |
We want to see--that's why we're doing inductive study. 01:43:59.000 |
We want to be as accurate to what God has to say. 01:44:02.000 |
Exegesis is, I am going to impose my opinion, 01:44:20.000 |
what are all the things in the book of Revelation, 01:44:27.000 |
When you're thinking through all of these things, 01:44:34.000 |
You don't want to already have a decision made in your heart. 01:44:37.000 |
I am a person who believes that the church has replaced Israel 01:44:51.000 |
What we want to do is see what the whole of Scripture 01:45:04.000 |
And until I have a firm grasp of the whole of Scripture, 01:45:15.000 |
So we don't want to eisegit and place our framework 01:45:22.000 |
We want to see what the whole of it has to say to us. 01:45:26.000 |
And I believe that the whole of Scripture has to say 01:45:28.000 |
that God is not done with the nation of Israel 01:45:49.000 |
"For the time already past is sufficient for you 01:45:52.000 |
to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles," 01:45:56.000 |
and we just looked at the fleshly lust stuff, right? 01:45:59.000 |
"having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, 01:46:02.000 |
carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries." 01:46:09.000 |
So literally, the word "Gentile" means the nations 01:46:14.000 |
Okay, that's how the New Testament uses the word "ethnos." 01:46:18.000 |
So from a simple reading, you'll have to conclude 01:46:36.000 |
because it's like they're going to be giving glory to God. 01:46:47.000 |
So I'm going to read verse 12 for you one more time. 01:46:52.000 |
"Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles 01:46:57.000 |
so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, 01:47:03.000 |
they may because of your good deeds as they observe them 01:47:44.000 |
And to understand it as, they're getting judged. 01:47:57.000 |
In fact, the Gentiles, even at the end of times, 01:48:15.000 |
I am keeping my conduct so good among the Gentiles 01:48:39.000 |
I read this as, "This Gentile may come to faith." 01:48:46.000 |
1 Peter 3 says something very similar about wives. 01:48:49.000 |
"In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands, 01:48:53.000 |
so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, 01:49:05.000 |
just as it was so absurd for God to bring Gentiles 01:49:11.000 |
just as it was unthinkable for God to bring these pagan, 01:49:19.000 |
barbarian Gentiles into this royal priesthood, 01:49:31.000 |
by my conduct, I can win them over to the faith 01:49:51.000 |
of the ministry of reconciliation to the best of my ability. 01:49:58.000 |
the Gentiles are going to also bow their knee. 01:50:14.000 |
That's how I'd read that, just grammatically, 01:50:30.000 |
are they comfortable or are they uncomfortable? 01:50:36.000 |
I mean, in America, it's a little bit different, 01:50:52.000 |
So if a Christian, or if an alien and a stranger 01:51:09.000 |
and an, not an exile, but alien and a sojourner often. 01:51:13.000 |
So for you guys who don't know what I used to do in Korea, 01:51:28.000 |
where like, I open up my balcony and there's a pool. 01:52:03.000 |
I didn't know that you had to turn it the other way for the hot. 01:52:36.000 |
where there are monkeys right outside my window 01:52:41.000 |
I am not happy there because I'm already jet lagged. 01:52:49.000 |
North Korea, the hotel that we were staying at, 01:52:52.000 |
whatever it is, they put tigers on the curtain. 01:53:03.000 |
I am not impressed with your country because of this tiger curtain. 01:53:11.000 |
in Uganda, where I had a, my hotel room was nice and clean 01:53:18.000 |
So, all of those places where I'm an alien and a stranger, 01:53:36.000 |
Like, I'm passing through. This will end. I'm gonna go. 01:53:44.000 |
but Compassion International is a blatantly Christian organization. 01:53:50.000 |
into the countries and we would stay at the hotel, 01:53:53.000 |
I would actually tell them, and sometimes it was true, 01:54:02.000 |
But I was like, "Koreans are hated in this country? 01:54:06.000 |
"So, let's do our best to represent not just Korea, 01:54:17.000 |
Because, first of all, the people who are working here 01:54:32.000 |
And just pray for their salvation, pray for their help, 01:54:41.000 |
Don't complain to the employees in the hotel. 01:54:44.000 |
So that we could leave a good experience of a Korean group, 01:54:57.000 |
I don't know what that did for, like, the image of the Korean. 01:55:02.000 |
Because a lot of times, in the Philippines especially, 01:55:17.000 |
I was like, "Let us leave a good impression." 01:55:20.000 |
Perhaps to change their mind of what Korean Christians are like. 01:55:26.000 |
Because the world sees Korea as a Christian nation. 01:55:32.000 |
So, when I think of this passage, that's what I think of. 01:55:45.000 |
I'm not going to be in a rush to change the curtains in a hotel 01:55:50.000 |
My goal there is to represent compassion well. 01:56:03.000 |
All of the suffering that we go through is temporary. 01:56:08.000 |
But the world does not have an answer for joy in the midst of suffering. 01:56:12.000 |
And so, we're going to be starting to move in that direction in this passage. 01:56:30.000 |
Thirteen to 20, it's going to be talking about two groups. 01:56:39.000 |
Question five is what does it mean to be subject? 01:56:49.000 |
And I'm going to post this on Facebook, so you don't need to scramble to write. 01:56:53.000 |
For today's discussion, I actually would encourage you guys with this little exercise, 01:57:00.000 |
what three words would the Gentiles nearest and dearest to you use in describing your life? 01:57:10.000 |
And would you say that these words are accurate or slanderous? 01:57:17.000 |
If it's accurate, I need to change some stuff in the midst of my Gentiles. 01:57:24.000 |
Peter is self-righteous, Bible-thumping, like just hard, evangelical, conservative pastor. 01:57:37.000 |
Some of it is very derogatory and slanderous. 01:57:45.000 |
So, the Gentiles in your life, what would they describe you as? 01:57:53.000 |
And then the second and third questions are similar. 01:57:56.000 |
How can your small group members pray for you as you, one, fight to abstain from fleshly lusts? 01:58:05.000 |
Some of it's like the desire to complain that the curtains are ugly. 01:58:10.000 |
Three, how can your small group members pray for you as you witness 01:58:13.000 |
and minister to specific Gentiles around you? 01:58:18.000 |
And you guys understand where I'm getting these questions from, right, from our passage. 01:58:22.000 |
So, let me pray for us, and then we'll dismiss into our time of sharing. 01:58:37.000 |
Lord, but to remember, Lord, that you love us. 01:58:44.000 |
And you did not come because we were lovable, but you came because we were helpless, 01:58:52.000 |
So, as we reflect on your goodness and as we reflect on our frailty, 01:59:02.000 |
And, Lord, I pray that you would help us to be vulnerable with each other 01:59:11.000 |
And as we grow, so that you will receive the glory that you do in our lives.