Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
September 12, 2001
Introduction
Yesterday morning, we as a country have witnessed the most horrific,
terrible episode of terrorism that the world has ever known. With four commercial airliners being
highjacked and used as missiles, untold thousands were killed as the World
Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked.
Our nation is in a state of war, and what’s most frustrating is that we
don’t really know yet who we’re at war with.
We in America have had a false sense of security over the years. Though we’ve been involved in wars, we in
our lifetime have never seen anything like this touch our continent.
As we turn on the TV, we see over and over again the images of an airliner
plowing into a high rise tower, and then watch as the towers eventually
collapse and thousands of people run for their lives.
What does it all mean? Is this the
end of the world? Is this the beginning
of the end? What does God want from us
as Christians?
Hopefully, we’ll address some of those questions tonight.
Peter wrote this first letter to the church at large during a time when the
church was beginning to go through intense persecution. It was written to a people who were
beginning to know suffering up close.
:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love
as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
be ye all of one mind – homophron
– of one mind, concordant
It’s interesting to see what’s happening in Washington during this national
crisis. On Monday, the congressional
leaders were arguing and bickering over just about everything. On Tuesday afternoon, they were gathered on
the steps of the capitol to express their unity and support for the
President. Then spontaneously, they
began to sing “God Bless America”.
Amazing.
having compassion one of another – sumpathes (“sympathy”) – suffering or feeling the like with
another, sympathetic
People need compassion and sympathy right now.
Give blood.
Pray. Some of the men from Calvary
Chapel Old Bridge in New Jersey work in the World Trade Center and as of
yesterday their families had not heard from them.
Listen. There are going to be
people around you who are scared and disoriented. They don’t now what to do.
Be there.
love as brethren – philadelphos
– loving brother or sister
be pitiful – eusplagchnos –
having strong bowels; compassionate, tender hearted
It’s easy during times like this to withdraw and only care about
ourselves. We need to be concerned about
others.
be courteous – philophron (“friend”
or “loving” + “mind”) – friendly, kind
There are a lot of people on edge right now. We need to go the extra mind to be kind.
:9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise
blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a
blessing.
My son had a homework assignment this afternoon
“Can you name situations in your city or country where disrespect for
others occurs?”
We talked about it and then it hit us, “What bigger show of disrespect can
you have than flying a commercial airliner into a skyscraper?”
We are not to return “evil for evil”.
Does this mean that it is wrong for our nation to strike back at the
terrorists?
No. God gives that kind of
authority to nations, but not to individuals.
As individuals, we need to learn to turn the other cheek. But governments are set up by God to handle
taking care of evil in the world:
(Rom 13:4 NLT) The authorities are sent by God to help you.
But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you
will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose,
to punish those who do wrong.
I think we need to take the lead in being careful not to harbor anger and
hatred towards Arab or Muslim people.
Mohammed taught his people to hate, Jesus teaches His followers to love.
:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his
tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
Peter is quoting the Old Testament, Psalm 34:12-16
guile - deceit
:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
eschew – turn away from ekklino
– to turn aside, to turn
away from
ensue – pursue dioko – to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to run after;
to press on: figuratively of one who in a race runs swiftly to reach the goal
:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open
unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
There will be a growing sense of anger, frustration, and hatred in our
nation as we wait for our military to give “payback” to the terrorists.
We need to be careful that we, as Christians, let it go. We need to put it into God’s hands.
God will judge those who have done evil.
Even if we as a nation were to never find out who did this or were never
able to bring punishment against them, God will. One day they will stand before God.
:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is
good?
:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye:
:14 be not afraid of their terror,
neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:
terror – phobos – fear,
dread, terror
be not afraid – phobeo –
to put to flight by terrifying (to scare away); to fear, be afraid; to be
struck with fear, to be seized with alarm
Or, “do not be terrorized by their terror”
be troubled – tarasso – to
agitate, trouble (a thing, by the movement of its parts to and fro); to cause one
inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity; to
disquiet, make restless; to strike one’s spirit with fear and dread; to render
anxious or distressed
This is what terrorists want, to strike us with terror. They want us to feel unsafe wherever we
are. They want to paralyze us with
fear.
sanctify – hagiazo – to
set aside as holy
The verses should actually be broken up like this. We know this because Peter is quoting from
Isaiah, and this is the quote itself.
Peter is quoting from Isaiah 8:12-13 –
(Isa 8:11-14 KJV) For
the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should
not walk in the way of this people, saying, {12} Say ye not, A confederacy, to
all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their
fear, nor be afraid. {13} Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him
be your fear, and let him be your dread. {14} And he shall be for a sanctuary;
but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel,
for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
In the circumstances of Isaiah 8, the southern kingdom of Judah, and it’s
king, Ahaz, were under threat by two enemies: the northern kingdom of Israel,
and the kingdom of Syria.
Both Ahaz and the people had this great idea, that they would use their
money to hire a big bully to help them, the kingdom of Assyria. But God tells
Isaiah, “Don’t be thinking like the people”. God says, “Don’t give so much
respect to the Assyrians, you need to be giving Me respect”. The people ought
to be fearing and respecting only ONE person, the Lord God.
God goes on to promise to Isaiah that He will be a “sanctuary … a stone of
stumbling and for a rock of offence …”
Peter has already quoted this part
of Isaiah 8 (back in 1Peter 2:8). This makes me think that Peter must have
recently been studying Isaiah 8, or maybe even had it open on his desk as he
was writing.
For those who make God their fear, He becomes a place of safety for them.
For those who reject Him, He becomes something they’ll trip over to their own
hurt. He’s either your biggest asset or your worst nightmare.
Lesson
Only fear God
Fear can be a good thing or a bad thing.
It is a feeling that will motivate us either in the right direction or
the wrong direction.
If you are afraid of water, you might not ever take a bath. This is a bad thing.
If you are afraid of burning yourself, you will handle pots and pans on the
stove with great care. This is a good
thing.
If we are afraid of people in the wrong way, they can paralyze us and keep
us from doing what is good. But if we
understand that God is the one whose feelings we ought to really be concerned
about, then we will hopefully do what is right.
Jesus said,
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell.
:15 and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear:
meekness – prautes –
mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness
fear – phobos – fear,
dread, terror
(1 Pet 3:15 NIV) …Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect,
God is not just concerned that we have answers for people, but that we give
the answers with the proper attitude.
We don’t need to be angry or look down on people who are asking the
questions. We need to care about them
and answer their questions.
Lesson
Be ready to share
There are a lot of hurting people right now. There are going to be a lot of people all around us who are going
to begin to question their lives and wonder what it’s all about.
Is this the “end of the world”?
Yes and no.
No, because I am not aware of how the attack on America would
necessarily fit into some kind of prophetic scenario. It may be possible, but I’m not aware of it.
I think about the closest thing I’ve wondered about is the
destruction of Babylon recorded in Revelation 18, where the world’s commercial
system is destroyed in “one hour” and the kings of the earth stand at a
distance and watch the smoke rising from the city’s destruction. The merchants of the earth will weep too,
and it was interesting that what was destroyed was known as the “World Trade
Center”.
But was yesterday’s tragedy a fulfillment of Revelation
18?
I don’t think so.
Revelation 18 speaks of an entire city’s destruction, not the
destruction of a few buildings, though they were huge buildings. Revelation 18 speaks of a permanent
destruction, whereas I expect New York will rebuild and rebuild bigger and
better. The destruction of Babylon is
described in Revelation 17 as being done by the “ten kings” who are allied with
the antichrist, both of which I do not see on the world scene as yet.
I may be wrong, but I see the terrorist attack on New York
as a very small picture though interesting picture of what will happen in
Revelation 18.
Yes, because we’ve been at the “end of the world” for a number of
years.
The very fact of the existence of a nation of Israel
should be the greatest wake up call to the world to the fact that we are in the
end times. A nation that has not
existed since AD 70, the very nation that God calls His “chosen people”, a
nation that is clearly to be around in the last days, came out of nothing in
1948.
The issue isn’t “Are we at the end of the world?” The issue is, “Are you ready?”
(Luke
12:16-21 KJV) And he spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully: {17} And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do,
because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? {18} And he said, This will I
do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all
my fruits and my goods. {19} And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. {20}
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? {21} So is he
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
You never know when your life is going to end. The lives of thousands of families have been
made tragically aware of this yesterday.
The issue isn’t, “Do I have a couple more days to
party?” The issue is, “Are you ready
right now?”
You never know when your time is up.
:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of
evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in
Christ.
:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well
doing, than for evil doing.
Lesson
Bad things happen to good people
Why?
There are bad people in the world.
There is sin in the world.
We may ask ourselves or be asked by others, “If God is a God of love, why
is there evil and suffering in the world?”
The answer is that God has chosen to allow man to have free will. God has allowed man to either choose to do
good or to do evil. God has allowed man
to either choose to serve and follow Him or to follow Satan. And when a person is following Satan, they
will do what Satan does:
(John
10:10 KJV) The thief cometh not, but
for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
Lesson
Suffer for well doing
On the news last night there came a line across the bottom of the screen
that said that there were 300 fire fighters missing in New York, presumably
lost when the World Trade Center collapsed.
These men had gone into the towers to evacuate them, and ended up losing
their lives in the process.
There was a news report today regarding one of the downed highjacked
planes. On the plane that crashed in
Pennsylvania, there was a cell phone call from one of the passengers to a
friend. They told the friend that the
men on the plane had gotten together and taken a vote and had decided to over
power the highjackers. The person put
the phone down and they weren’t heard from again.
You will find that in your life, when you do something good, you may not
always be rewarded with nice things but may in fact be rewarded by suffering.
Lesson
Don’t suffer for for evil doing
Sometimes we bring “suffering” to our lives because we are doing something
wrong.
(1 Pet 4:14-16 NLT) Be happy if you are insulted for being a
Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God will come upon you. {15} If you
suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying
into other people's affairs. {16} But it is no shame to suffer for being a
Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his wonderful name!
If this is the case, we shouldn’t be quick to
complain. God isn’t thrilled with what
you are doing.
:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit:
Jesus was the ultimate example of someone suffering for doing good, someone
who suffered according to the will of God.
When He died, He died to accomplish a purpose. He died to pay for our sins.
He was the “just” man and He died to take the place of the unjust, us. He did this so that we could be able to know
God.
If you are wondering whether or not you know God, you need to know. If you were to die tonight, would you know
absolutely for sure where you would spend eternity? There is not reason for not knowing for sure. God wants you to know for sure.
(1 John 5:11-13 KJV) And this is the record, that God hath given
to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. {12} He that hath the Son hath
life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. {13} These things have
I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know
that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God.
If you open your heart to Jesus, you will have eternal life.