Friday, March 31, 2017

Lesson 2 An Inheritance Incorruptible April 1-7

'Feed My Sheep': 1 and 2 Peter
Sabbath School Lesson Begins
Bible Study Guide - 2nd Quarter 2017
Lesson 2April 1-7

An Inheritance Incorruptible


Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Pet. 1:1, 2; John 3:16; Ezek. 33:11; 1 Pet. 1:3-21; Lev. 11:44, 45; 1 Pet. 1:22-25.
Memory Text: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22, NIV).
Whenever one studies the Bible, particularly focusing on one book or even a section of a book, a few questions need to be answered, if possible.
First, it would be good to know who the intended audience was. Second, perhaps even more important, it would be good to know what the precise reason for the writing was. What was the particular issue (if any) that the author wanted to address (such as Paul’s writing to the Galatians in regard to the theological errors being taught about salvation and the law)? As we know, much of the New Testament was written as epistles, or letters, and people usually write letters in order to convey specific messages to the recipients.
In other words, as we read Peter, it would be good to know, as much as possible, the historical context of his letter. What was he saying, and why? And of course, most important of all: What message can we (to whom, under inspiration, it was written, as well) take from it?
And as we will soon see, even in the first few verses, Peter has a lot of important truth to reveal to us today, centuries removed from when he wrote.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 8.
SundayApril 2

To the Exiles

If you were given a piece of paper that began, “Dear Sir,” you would realize that you were reading a letter. And you would assume that the letter came from somebody you probably weren’t close to.
Just as modern letters have a standard way to begin, so do ancient letters. First Peter begins as any ancient letter would. It identifies the author and those to whom it was sent.
Read 1 Peter 1:1. What can we learn from this one verse that helps to give us a bit of context?
Peter clearly identifies himself. His name is the first word in the letter. Yet, he immediately defines himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Thus, as Paul often did (Gal. 1:1, Rom. 1:1, Eph. 1:1), Peter right away establishes his “credentials,” emphasizing his divine calling. He was an “apostle,” that is “one sent,” and the One who sent him was the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter identifies a region where his letter was directed: Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. These are all regions in Asia Minor, roughly equivalent to the part of modern Turkey east of the Bosphorus.
Debate exists about whether Peter was writing mostly to Jewish believers or to Gentile believers. The terms Peter used in 1 Peter 1:1 “sojourners/exiles,” “dispersion [diaspora],” (NRSV) are terms that naturally belong to Jews living outside of the Holy Land in the first century. The words chosen and sanctified in 1 Peter 1:2 are suited to both Jews and Christians alike. Describing those outside of the community as “Gentiles” (1 Pet. 2:12, 4:3) also underlines the Jewish character of those to whom Peter writes.
Some commentators argue, in response, that what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:18 and 4:3 would be more appropriately said to Gentile converts to Christianity than to Jewish ones. After all, would Peter really have written to Jews about the “futile ways inherited from your ancestors” (NRSV)? Or would he have said to Jewish readers, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles-when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries” (1 Pet. 4:3, NKJV)?
What’s more crucial for us, though, isn’t so much who the audience was but, rather, what the message says.
MondayApril 3

Elected

Read 1 Peter 1:2. What else does this tell us about those to whom Peter had been writing? What does he call them?
Whether writing to specifically Jewish or Gentile believers, Peter was sure about one thing: they were “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Pet. 1:2).
Here, though, one needs to be careful. This does not mean that God predestined some people to be saved and some to be lost, and as good fortune would have it, the ones Peter was writing to happen to be some of those chosen or elected by God for salvation, while others were chosen by God to be lost. That’s not what the Bible teaches.
Read 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, John 3:16, Ezekiel 33:11. How do these verses help us to understand what Peter meant when he called these people the “elect”?
Scripture makes it clear that it was God’s plan for everyone to be saved, a plan instituted in their behalf even before the creation of the earth: “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4, NKJV). “All” are “elect” in the sense that God’s original purpose was for everyone to be saved and no one to be lost. He predestined all humanity for eternal life. This means that the plan of salvation was adequate for everyone to be included in the atonement, even if not everyone would accept what that atonement offered them.
God’s foreknowledge of the elect is simply His knowing beforehand what their free choice would be in regard to salvation. This foreknowledge in no way forced their choice any more than a mother knowing beforehand that her child will choose chocolate cake instead of green beans meant that her foreknowledge of the choice forced the child to make it.
What kind of assurance can you get from the encouraging truth that God has chosen you to be saved?
TuesdayApril 4

Key Themes

Read 1 Peter 1:3-12. What is Peter’s main message in these verses?
In his greeting to his readers in 1 Peter 1:1, 2, Peter has already mentioned the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2). The three members of the Godhead form the subject of 1 Peter 1:3-12. The Father and the Son are the topic of 1 Peter 1:3-9, and the Holy Spirit is prominent in 1 Peter 1:10-12.
As he writes about the Father and Son and the work of the Holy Spirit, Peter introduces many of the themes that he will come back to.
Christians, Peter begins (1 Pet. 1:3; see also John 3:7), have been born anew. Their whole life has been transformed by Jesus’ resurrection and the extraordinary inheritance that awaits Christians in heaven (1 Pet. 1:3, 4). Here, as in so many other places in the New Testament, the resurrection of Jesus is key to the Christian hope.
This hope gives Christians a reason to rejoice, despite the fact that many of those reading 1 Peter are suffering. This suffering tests and refines their faith, just as fire tests and refines gold. Even though Peter’s readers have not seen Jesus during His earthly ministry, they love Him and believe in Him. And the outcome of their faith in Him is salvation and the promise of “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4, NKJV).
Peter also lets them know that the prophets of old had predicted the “grace that would come to you” (1 Pet. 1:10). The prophets of the Old Testament “inquired and searched” (1 Pet. 1:10, NKJV) about the salvation that these people were now experiencing in Jesus.
As they suffer persecution for their faith, Peter points out that they are part of a much wider conflict between good and evil. In the end, he is seeking to help them stay faithful to the truth, even amid trials.
First Peter 1:4 says that there is an inheritance “reserved in heaven for you.” Think about that on a personal level; there is a specific place reserved in heaven just for you, personally. Then how should you personally respond to this wonderful promise?
WednesdayApril 5

Living the Life of Salvation

Read 1 Peter 1:13-21. According to this passage, what should motivate Christian behavior?
The word therefore, which begins 1 Peter 1:13, NKJV, shows that what Peter will say next grows out of what he had just said. As we saw in yesterday’s study, Peter just had been talking about the grace of God and the hope that Christians have in Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:3-12).
As a result of this grace and hope, Peter urges his readers to “gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Pet. 1:13). That is, as a response to the salvation that they have in Jesus, they must prepare their minds in order to stand firm and be faithful (1 Pet. 1:13).
Read 1 Peter 1:13. What does it mean to rest your hope fully upon the grace revealed in Jesus?
No question, Peter tells them their hope rests only in Jesus. But he then emphasizes that a certain level of behavior is expected from Christians as a consequence of their salvation. He notes three of the great motivations that lie behind Christian behavior: the character of God (1 Pet. 1:15, 16), the coming judgment (1 Pet. 1:17), and the cost of redemption (1 Pet. 1:17-21).
The first thing that will motivate Christian behavior is the character of God. This character can be summed up this way: God is holy. Peter quotes from Leviticus 11:44, 45 when he says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). Therefore those who follow Jesus must also be holy (1 Pet. 1:15-17).
A second motivation for Christian behavior is found in the realization that God, who is holy, will judge everyone impartially, according to what each has done (1 Pet. 1:17).
A third motivation arises from the great truth that Christians are redeemed. This means that they have been bought with a price, a very high price: the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:19). Peter emphasizes that the death of Jesus was not an accident of history but something established before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20).
What motivates you to be a Christian? What would you answer, and why, if someone asked you, Why are you a Christian? Bring your answers to class on Sabbath.
ThursdayApril 6

Love One Another

Peter next steers Christians to the ultimate expression of what living a holy and faithful life will be like.
Read 1 Peter 1:22-25. What crucial point is he making here about what it means to be a Christian?
Peter’s starting point is that Christians are already purified (“Seeing ye have purified . . .”), and are living in obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22). The verb “purify” or “cleanse” is closely related to the words holy and holiness, which link back to what Peter wrote a few verses earlier (1 Pet. 1:15). Through their commitment to Jesus, and through their baptism (compare 1 Pet. 3:21, 22),
Christians have purified themselves by setting themselves aside for God, and they do this by obeying the truth.
This change in their lives has the natural consequence so that they now find themselves in a close relationship with others who share a similar worldview. These relationships are so close that Peter uses the language of family to describe them. Christians are to act out of brotherly and sisterly love. The Greek word used in 1 Peter 1:22, when he talks about the “love of the brethren,” philadelphia, means literally “love of brother/sister.” It is the love that families have for one another.
There are several different words in Greek that are translated “love”: philia (friendship), eros (the passionate love of a husband and wife), agape (a pure love that seeks the good of the other). The word Peter uses when he writes “love one another fervently” (1 Pet. 1:22, NKJV) is linked to agape-which usually means the pure love that seeks the good of others. That’s certainly why he added the phrase to love one another “with a pure heart” (1 Pet. 1:22, NKJV), the kind of heart that comes from being “born again” (1 Pet. 1:23; see also 1 Pet. 1:3) through the incorruptible Word of God. This kind of love comes only from God; it’s not what a selfish, self-centered unregenerate heart will manifest, which is surely why Peter puts such an emphasis on being purified and on “obeying the truth” (1 Pet. 1:22). The truth is not just something believed; it must be lived.
How can we learn to be more loving? What choices must we make in order to be able to manifest the kind of love that comes from a “pure heart”?
FridayApril 7
Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Christ the Way of Life,” pp. 365-368, and “Perfect Obedience Through Christ,” pp. 373-376 in Selected Messages, book 1.
It’s amazing how rich and deep this first chapter of Peter is and how much ground it covers. Peter begins his epistle with a meditation on the character of the Godhead, bringing in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father has provided a Savior in His Son, Jesus Christ, and we are elected in Him for sanctification and obedience. We come to love Jesus, and in Him we rejoice with exalted joy because, through His death and resurrection, we have the promise of an “inheritance incorruptible” in heaven. Even amid trials, then, we can greatly rejoice in the salvation offered us in Christ. “His [Peter’s] letters were the means of reviving the courage and strengthening the faith of those who were enduring trial and affliction, and of renewing to good works those who through manifold temptations were in danger of losing their hold upon God.” - Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 517. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit worked through the prophets to outline the days in which Peter and his readers live. As a consequence, Christians should live holy lives, filled with obedience to the truth, in communities that are characterized by the kind of love that comes from a “pure heart.”

Discussion Questions:

  1. In class, go over your answers to the question at the end of Wednesday’s study: What motivates us to be Christians? What do your answers share in common? How do they diverge?
  2. Twice in this first chapter (1 Pet. 1:3, 21), Peter brought up the resurrection of Jesus. What is it about the Resurrection that is so crucial to our faith?
  3. Peter talked about an “inheritance incorruptible” (see also Dan. 7:18). What does that mean? Think about all the things in this world and this life that fade away or that can be destroyed instantly. What should this tell us about how wonderful our promised inheritance really is?
  4. How can our faith grow amid trials? That is, what choices can we make to help us to learn from the things we suffer?
Inside Story~ 

The Cancelled Funeral-Part 2

Everyone in the room heard One-Ojo sneeze too, and they ran outside terrified. I continued praying, and One-Ojo opened her eyes. She struggled to free herself from the ropes that bound her. I called her brother to come and untie the burial ropes.
When her brother saw One-Ojo struggling, he began shaking with fear. But I urged him to untie his sister. When she was freed, we helped her to a chair. The mourners who had fled now crowded around the doorway and windows to see the dead girl who was now alive.
One-Ojo asked for food, and someone brought it to her. Soon her strength returned, and we praised God together. Then I told the family that God had healed their daughter in answer to prayer, but that God was not willing to share His glory with witchcraft. I warned them not to put herbs on One-Ojo according to their custom, for this is a form of witchcraft, and it would not please God. The girl’s mother and brother nodded in agreement.
It was dark when I returned to my room. My legs were shaking, and I felt weak and exhausted. I knelt down and prayed, “God, today my 'Thomas prayer’ has been answered. I believe. Use me as You will. I’m yours.” Then I fell into bed and slept soundly.
About 1:00 in the morning a loud knock at my door woke me. “Pastor Larie, come!” a woman’s voice begged. I opened the door and found One-Ojo’s mother standing there. “Come!” she begged. “One-Ojo is dead again.”
“How can that be?” I asked. “God’s power never fails.” I hurried with her to where One-Ojo lay on her bed. I checked her pulse and her breathing. She was dead-again. As I knelt down beside her, I smelled the witch doctor’s herbs that someone had spread on her body.
“Who put those herbs on her body?” I asked. One-Ojo’s mother said that her husband must have done it, for he was the only other person in the house.
“God raised her from the dead,” I said, “and He deserves the glory for her resurrection. But someone has dishonored God and applied these herbs to her, and now she is dead again!”
I turned and prayed as the family waited silently. A few minutes later One-Ojo opened her eyes and sat up. I stayed with her a few minutes. Then before I returned home, I warned the family again not to allow anyone to touch her body with the witch doctor’s herbs. Her mother and brother nodded vigorously. Then I went home and fell into bed, exhausted.
To be continued.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.  email: info@adventistmission.org  website: www.adventistmission.org
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, March 24, 2017

Lesson 1 The Person of Peter. March 25 -31 2017

Feeding the Sheep

Because our study this quarter is 1 and 2 Peter, we are reading the words of someone who was with Jesus at most of the important moments in His ministry. Peter was also someone who had become a prominent leader among the earliest Christians. These facts alone would make his letters worth reading. But these letters take on added interest given that they were written to churches experiencing troubled times: they faced persecution from without and the danger of false teachers arising from within.
Peter warns that among the things that these false teachers will promote is doubt about the second coming of Jesus. “Where is the promise of his coming?” they will say, “for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” ( 2 Pet. 3:4 ). Today, almost two thousand years later, we know the reality of that charge, don’t we?
Besides Peter’s warning about false teachers, the suffering the churches experienced is a topic that he returns to several times. This suffering, he says, mirrors the sufferings of Jesus, who took our sins in His body when He died on the cross ( 1 Pet. 2:24 ). But the good news is that Jesus’ death brought nothing less than freedom from the eternal death caused by sin, as well as a life of righteousness here and now for those who trust in Him ( 1 Pet. 2:24 ).
Peter says that Jesus not only died for our sins but will return to earth and usher in the judgment of God ( 2 Pet. 3:10-12 ). He stresses the fact that the prospect of judgment should have significant practical implications in the life of the believer. When Jesus returns, He will destroy all sin and will cleanse the earth with fire ( 2 Pet. 3:7 ). Then Christians will receive the inheritance that God has been storing up for them in heaven ( 1 Pet. 1:4 ).
Peter has very practical words on how Christians should live. First and foremost, Christians should love each other ( 1 Pet. 4:8 ). He sums up his view by saying: “Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind” ( 1 Pet. 3:8, NRSV).
Peter’s epistles are also a fervent proclamation of the gospel, the central message of the whole Bible. After all, if anyone should know the saving grace of the Lord, it is Peter. This same Peter, who so openly and crassly denied His Lord (even with cursing), saying, “‘I do not know the Man’” (Matt. 26:74, NKJV), is the same one to whom Jesus later said, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). These two epistles are examples of Peter’s doing just that?feeding the Lord’s sheep.
And, of course, any part of that feeding would include the great truth of salvation by faith in Christ, a theme that his fellow worker, the apostle Paul, so powerfully proclaimed. This is the truth of God’s grace. Peter knew about this, not just theoretically, or just as a doctrine, but because he had experienced the reality and power of that grace for himself.
As Martin Luther wrote in his commentary on Peter: “Consequently this Epistle of St. Peter is one of the grandest books of the New Testament, and it is the true, pure Gospel. For Peter does also the very same thing as Paul and all the Evangelists do in that he inculcates the true doctrine of faith, how Christ has been given to us, who takes away our sins and saves us.” Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1982), pp. 2, 3.
Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep. We are among those sheep. Let’s get fed.
Robert K. McIver grew up in New Zealand and has worked most of his career at Avondale College, where he teaches Bible and archaeology. He is the author of several books, including The Four Faces of Jesus and Beyond the Da Vinci Code.

Lesson 1March 25-31

The Person of Peter


Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week's Study: Luke 5:1-11; Matt. 16:13-17; Matt. 14:22-33; Luke 22:31-34, 54-62; Gal. 2:9, 11-14.
Memory Text: “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:30, 31, NKJV).
Peter is the author of the two books (1 and 2 Peter) that bear his name. He was one of the early followers of Jesus; he remained with Jesus during the Lord’s ministry here; and he was one of the first disciples to see the empty tomb. So Peter had a wealth of experiences from which, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he could draw in order to write these powerful letters. “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Pet. 1:16, NASB).
Peter appears often in the Gospels, revealing both his triumphs and failures. He was the usual spokesman of the disciples in their interactions with Jesus. After the resurrection and ascension, Peter became a prominent early church leader. The book of Acts talks about him, as does the book of Galatians.
Most important, Peter knew what it was to make mistakes, to be forgiven, and to move forward in faith and humility. Having experienced for himself the grace of God, he remains a powerful voice for all of us who need to experience that same grace, as well.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 1.
SundayMarch 26

Depart From Me!

When we first meet Peter, he is a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 4:18, Mark 1:16, and Luke 5:1-11). He had been working all night without catching a fish. But then he and his companions obeyed Jesus’ command to return to the lake and to try again. How astonished Peter and the others must have been when they caught so many fish that their boats were sinking. What must have been going through their minds after this miracle?
Read Luke 5:1-9. What do Peter’s words to Jesus in Luke 5:8 tell us about Peter? That is, what insights do they give us about where he was spiritually?
Peter must have been impressed by what he knew of Jesus. Even before this miracle, when Jesus told the group to put down the nets, Peter-though incredulous because they had caught nothing-nevertheless said: “‘at Your word I will let down the net’” (NKJV). It seems that Peter must have known something about Jesus already, and this knowledge impelled him to obey. Indeed, evidence suggests that Peter already had been with Jesus for a while before this event.
Perhaps one key is in Luke 5:3, which talks about what happened before the miracle of the fish. “Then He [Jesus] got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat” (NKJV). Maybe the word of Jesus here was what had first impressed Peter so deeply.
However, after the miracle, Peter sensed something more in Jesus, something holy in contrast to his own sinfulness. Peter’s realization of his sinfulness, and his willingness to admit it publicly, shows just how open he was to the Lord. No wonder He had been called! Whatever his faults, and they were many, Peter was a spiritual man who was ready to follow the Lord, regardless of the cost.
Read Luke 5:11. What’s the crucial principle here? What does this text tell us about what kind of commitment Jesus asks for? What should it tell us, too, that these fishermen were willing to abandon everything when their nets were full?
MondayMarch 27

Confessing the Christ

One of the grand moments in the story of Jesus occurred in a dialogue with Peter. Jesus just had been dealing with some of the scribes and Pharisees who had been challenging Him to give them a sign, something to prove who He was (see Matt. 16:1-4). Then, later, alone with the disciples, Jesus talked about the two miracles He had performed, in which He twice fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish. He did all this in the context of warning the disciples about the “leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:11).
Read Matthew 16:13-17. What is happening here? What is the significance of Peter’s words to Jesus?
Peter here spoke boldly of his faith in Jesus. And it’s clear from Matthew 16:20 that his confession of Christ as the Messiah was shared by the others, as well. This was to be a turning point in the ministry of Jesus, even though the disciples, including Peter, had much more to learn.
“The disciples still expected Christ to reign as a temporal prince. Although He had so long concealed His design, they believed that He would not always remain in poverty and obscurity; the time was near when He would establish His kingdom. That the hatred of the priests and rabbis would never be overcome, that Christ would be rejected by His own nation, condemned as a deceiver, and crucified as a malefactor,-such a thought the disciples had never entertained.” - Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 415.
As soon as the disciples recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus begins teaching that He must suffer and die (see Matt. 16:21-23), a concept that Peter could not accept. Peter goes as far as to “rebuke” Jesus. Jesus then turns to Peter and says, “‘Get behind Me, Satan’” (Matt. 16:23, NKJV). This is one of the harshest things that He said to anybody during His ministry; yet, He did it for Peter’s own good. Peter’s words reflected his own desires, his own selfish attitude about what he wanted. Jesus had to stop him in his tracks, right then and there (and though Jesus was really speaking to Satan, Peter got the message). Peter needed to learn that serving the Lord would involve suffering. That he learned this lesson is clear in his later writings (see 1 Pet. 4:12).
How often do your personal desires clash with what you know God wants you to do? How do you decide what to do in those situations?
TuesdayMarch 28

Walking on Water

In their time with Jesus, the disciples saw many remarkable things, although few of them can compare with the events described in Matthew 14:13-33, Mark 6:30-52, and John 6:1-21. Jesus used five small loaves of bread and two fish to feed more than 5,000 people. Again, what must have been going on in their minds after seeing something like this?
Read Matthew 14:22-33. What’s the most crucial message we can take away from this story for ourselves to help us in our own walk with the Lord?
With the feeding of the multitudes, these men had just witnessed the power of Jesus in a remarkable way. He truly had control over the natural world. That must have been what helped Peter make his rather bold, or even presumptuous, request: “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matt. 14:28, NKJV).
What an expression of faith!
Jesus, then, acknowledged this faith and told Peter to come, which he did, another expression of Peter’s faith. It would have been one thing to walk on water when it was calm, but Peter did so in the midst of a storm.
The usual lesson of the story is about taking our eyes off of Jesus. But there’s more. Peter surely must have trusted in Jesus, or he never would have made the request and then acted on it. However, once he did act, he started to get scared, and in that fear he began to sink.
Why? Could not Jesus have kept Peter afloat regardless of Peter’s fear? Jesus, however, allowed Peter to reach the point where he could do nothing but cry out in his helplessness, “Lord, save me!” (Matt. 14:30, NKJV). Jesus then stretched out His hand and did just what Peter had asked. The fact that “Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,” (Matt. 14:31, NKJV), when Jesus could simply have kept him afloat without the physical contact, surely helped Peter realize just how much he had to learn to depend upon Jesus.
We can start out in great faith, trusting in the power of our Lord, but when the situation gets frightful, we need to remember Jesus’ words to Peter: “‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:31, NKJV).
WednesdayMarch 29

Denying His Lord

Read Luke 22:31-34, 54-62. What lessons can we learn from Peter’s failures?
Peter’s intentions were good. And, in fact, he showed more courage than did the other disciples. He actually followed Jesus in order to discover what would happen to Him. But in doing so, he decided to hide his true identity. This compromise, this deviation from the path of what is good and right, led him to deny his Lord three times, exactly as Jesus had warned him.
The story of Peter here is in a sad way very instructive on how devastating the result of compromise can be.
As we know, Christian history is soiled with the terrible results that happen when Christians compromise crucial truths. Though life itself often involves compromise, and we must at times be willing to give and take, in crucial truths we must stand firm. As a people, we must learn what are the things that we must never compromise, under any circumstances (see, for instance, Rev. 14:12 ).
According to Ellen G. White, Peter’s compromise and failure began in Gethsemane when, instead of praying, he slept, and thus wasn’t spiritually ready for what was coming. Had he been faithful in prayer, she wrote, “he would not have denied his Lord.” - The Desire of Ages, p. 714.
Yes, Peter failed terribly. But as great as his failure, God’s grace was even greater. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20, NKJV). It was Jesus’ forgiveness that made Peter one of the prime leaders of the early Christian church. What a powerful lesson for us all about the reality of God’s grace. What a lesson to us all that, despite our failures, we should press on ahead in faith!
Yes, Peter knew what it meant to be forgiven. He knew firsthand just what the gospel was all about because he had experienced, not just the reality of his human sinfulness but the greatness and depth of God’s love and grace toward sinners.
How can we learn to forgive those who have greatly disappointed us as Peter disappointed Jesus here?
ThursdayMarch 30

Peter as Church Leader

During the ministry of Jesus, Peter often acted in the role of leader of the 12 disciples. He was their usual spokesman. When Matthew lists the disciples, he says “first, . . . Peter” (Matt. 10:2). Peter also took a prominent role in the early church. It was Peter who took the initiative to appoint a disciple to replace Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus (Acts 1:15-25). On the day of Pentecost, it was Peter who explained to the multitudes that they were seeing the promised gift of the Spirit, poured out by God upon His people (Acts 2:14-36). It was Peter who, when arrested for speaking about the resurrection of the dead, spoke to the high priest and the assembled Jewish leaders (Acts 4:1-12). It was Peter who was led to Cornelius, the first Gentile to be accepted as a follower of Jesus (Acts 10:1-48). It was Peter whom Paul visited for 15 days when Paul first came to Jerusalem after his conversion (Gal. 1:18). Indeed, describing the circle of Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem at that time, Paul identifies three “pillars” of the Church: Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and John the beloved disciple (Gal. 2:9).
Read Galatians 1:18, 19; 2:9, 11-14 What do these texts tell us about Peter, even while he functioned so prominently in the early church?
Even as a church leader, even as someone clearly called of the Lord (Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep” John 21:17), even as the one who received the vision about not calling “any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28 ), Peter still had some important growing to do.
In the early days of the church, almost all the Christians were Jews, many of whom were “zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20, NKJV). In their interpretation of the law, eating with Gentiles was problematic because the Gentiles were considered unclean. When some Jewish Christians came from James at Jerusalem, Peter stopped eating with the Gentiles in Antioch.
For Paul, such behavior was an attack on the gospel itself. He saw Peter’s actions as frank hypocrisy and he wasn’t afraid to challenge him on it. In fact, Paul used the opportunity to express the key teaching of the Christian faith: justification by faith alone (see Gal. 2:14-16 ).
Though called of God, Peter had some blind spots that needed correcting. How do we respond when others seek to point out our own “blind spots”?
FridayMarch 31
Further Thought: Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, “The Call by the Sea,” pp. 244-251, “A Night on the Lake,” pp. 377-382.
From the fisherman’s early admission of his own sinfulness to his bold declaration of Jesus that “‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Matt. 16:16, NKJV) to his terrible denial of his Lord and even to his triumphs and mistakes as a leader in the church, Peter certainly had been a key player. Thus, under the flawless inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he could write what he did, not only from theoretical knowledge but from experience itself. He knew not only the saving grace of Christ but His transforming grace, as well: “Before his [Peter’s] great fall he was always forward and dictatorial, speaking unadvisedly from the impulse of the moment. He was always ready to correct others and to express his mind before he had a clear comprehension of himself or of what he had to say. But Peter was converted, and the converted Peter was very different from the rash, impetuous Peter. While he retained his former fervor, the grace of Christ regulated his zeal. Instead of being impetuous, self-confident, and self-exalted, he was calm, self-possessed, and teachable. He could then feed the lambs as well as the sheep of Christ’s flock.” - Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 334, 335.
Who among us can’t relate in some degree to Peter? Who hasn’t, at times, stood boldly for their faith? And who hasn’t, at times, failed miserably?

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does it tell us about the grace of God that even after such a shameful denial of Jesus, Peter would still come to play such a prominent and important role in not just the early church but in the Christian faith itself? (After all, he wrote part of the New Testament.) What lessons can we take from his restoration about how to deal with those who, in their own way, have failed the Lord?
  2. In class, talk more about the dangers of compromise for the church. How can we know on what things we need to give and take, and on what things under no circumstances we can compromise? What are examples that we can find in church history of compromise that led to disaster? What lessons can we learn from these events?
  3. Peter learned some lessons the hard way. From seeing his mistakes, how can we learn the lessons we need to learn but in an easier way than Peter did?
Inside Story~ 

The Cancelled Funeral-Part 1

One day after school, I overheard my sister talking to a friend. “But it happened,” a girl said. “The man was dead, and now he’s alive.” How can a dead person come back to life? I wondered. Then I said aloud, “That could never happen.”
“It’s the truth,” my sister said. “The man was dead, and now he’s alive.”
I knew that God had raised people from the dead in Bible times. But miracles such as that didn’t happen anymore. Or did they? I knelt and prayed the prayer of Thomas. “Lord, if this is true, let me see it with my own eyes. Then I will believe” (John 20:25, NIV.
After a while I forgot about this strange story about a dead man being raised to life.
When I finished high school I applied to serve as a Global Mission Pioneer before starting college.
A Global Mission Pioneer is a layperson chosen by the church, who is given a small stipend, and asked to move into a community and teach the everlasting gospel while modeling the values of Christianity. Pioneers serve a unique and special role in starting new congregations in new areas, among new people groups.
I was assigned to a remote region of central Nigeria where few outsiders ever went and where we had no Adventist believers. I settled in a village and began making friends. Most of the villagers worshipped idols, but some allowed me to share the gospel with them. One teenage girl named One-Ojo seemed especially interested in learning about God. I began studying the Bible with her.
Then one afternoon a boy ran to my room shouting that One-Ojo was dead. “She died last night,” the boy said. “The family wants you to come before they bury her.”
Dazed, I slipped on my shoes and ran toward One-Ojo’s home. When I arrived, I found her body lying on a straw mat, bound hand and foot and ready for burial. I stared at her as I thought about our Bible study just the evening before. How can she be dead? I wondered. I touched her arm; it was stiff and cold.
I asked for permission to pray before the family buried her. About 20 people in the room watched as I knelt beside her burial mat and prayed. I asked God to give this girl her life back to teach these people that God is all-powerful.
I had been praying for about an hour when I noticed beads of sweat on One-Ojo’s body. I laid my hand on her arm and felt warmth. Encouraged, I continued praying. Then One-Ojo sneezed.
To be continued.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.  email: info@adventistmission.org  website: www.adventistmission.org
All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Sabbath School Lesson Ends
Home  SabSunMonTueWedThurFriStoryHelps
Previous  Next  Contents
For questions and concerns about the Study Guide,
please contact the editor of the Bible Study Guide, Clifford Goldstein
The web version of the Sabbath School lesson is published on this site by permission of the Office of the Adult Bible Study Guide, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Website contents copyright 1996-2016 by Sabbath School Net, an independent supporting ministry.
For permission to copy contents of the web version of the Sabbath School lesson, please contact both the Office of the Adult Bible Study Guide and the publisher of this site.
All art in these lessons and on the cover is published on this site by permission of GoodSalt.com.
Our Favorite Images come from GoodSalt.com
We invite you to join a discussion of this lesson each day on the Sabbath School Net Daily Lessons blog. And on Sabbath mornings, you are warmly invited to join a group discussion of the week's lesson in your local Seventh-day Adventist congregation.
Sabbath School Net is an independently funded supporting website not affiliated with nor funded by the Sabbath School Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists)It is run by volunteers and costs are covered solely by donations from the users of this site.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)