Part 13: Preparing to See Jesus

By Andrew McChesney

The evil spirits have fallen silent. Father believes Christ won a victory over Satan with the baptism, and that is why the devil tried so hard to prevent it.

Image © Pacific Press

Peace has filled the family home. Mother is a church deaconess, and she still sings in the choir. Junior is 17 and finishing high school.

Father, who is 43, has shared his incredible story in churches around Brazil, and many of those who have heard it have committed their lives to Jesus. In Coari, where Father decided to follow Jesus, 16 people gave their hearts to Christ after hearing his testimony.

Father credits the Holy Spirit, not his story, for changing hearts.

“My experience is shocking, but I see the Holy Spirit working in their hearts as they listen,” he said.

In addition to sharing his story, Father sells Bibles and has presented them to his mother, his older sister, and his two younger brothers. He is praying for them. His mother stopped worshiping in the Candomblé temple long before his baptism. When she learned that evil spirits were trying to kill him, she resolved to have nothing more to do with them.

While Father is rejoicing in his new life in Christ, he remains watchful by praying and reading the Bible every day. He remembers 1 Peter 5:8, which says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (NKJV). He also is mindful of the warning in Matthew 12:43-45, where Jesus said, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ’I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

But Father is not afraid. “Even now, the devil has no power over me,” he said. “That’s what I preach in every church that I visit.”

He dreams of the day when he will meet Jesus face to face. “I pray that the Lord will never give up on me. I also pray not to give Him up,” he said. “I pray that I remain faithful and persevere until the end. I have hope that I will see Him. That is my hope.”

Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open eight churches in the South American Division, including four in Brazil, where Father (Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos) lives with Mother and Junior (pictured).

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Amen!(0)

The post Inside Story: South American Division ~ Part 13: Preparing to See Jesus appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-south-american-division-part-13-preparing-to-see-jesus/

Further Thought:

Read Ellen G. White, “Gethsemane,” Pages 685-697, and “Calvary,” Pages 741-757, in The Desire of Ages.

“Three times has He uttered that prayer.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Three times has humanity shrunk from the last, crowning sacrifice. But now the history of the human race comes up before the world’s Redeemer. He sees that the transgressors of the law, if left to themselves, must perish. He sees the helplessness of man. He sees the power of sin. The woes and lamentations of a doomed world rise before Him. He beholds its impending fate, and His decision is made. He will save man at any cost to Himself. He accepts His baptism of blood, that through Him perishing millions may gain everlasting life. He has left the courts of heaven, where all is purity, happiness, and glory, to save the one lost sheep, the one world that has fallen by transgression. And He will not turn from His mission. He will become the propitiation of a race that has willed to sin. His prayer now breathes only submission: ’If this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Pages 690, 693.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

Amen!(0)

The post Friday: Further Thought ~ Christ in the Crucible appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/friday-further-thought-christ-in-crucible/

We might as well get used to it: as long as we are here, in this world, we are going to suffer. As fallen creatures, it is our fate. Nothing in the Bible promises us anything different. On the contrary …

What do the following verses have to tell us about the topic at hand? Acts 14:22, Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 3:12.

Image © John Clement Collection at Goodsalt.com

Yet, in the midst of our suffering, two things we should keep in mind.

First, Christ, our Lord, has suffered worse than any of us ever could. At the cross, He “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4, NKJV); what we know only as individuals, He suffered corporately, for us all. He who was sinless became “sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21), suffering in a way that we, as sinful creatures, couldn’t begin to imagine.

But second, as we suffer, we should remember the results of Christ’s suffering, that is, what we have been promised through what Christ has done for us.

Read John 10:28, Romans 6:23, Titus 1:2, and 1 John 2:25. What are we promised?

Whatever our sufferings here, thanks to Jesus, thanks to His bearing in Himself the punishment of our sin, thanks to the great provision of the gospel — that through faith we can stand perfect in Jesus right now — we have the promise of eternal life. We have the promise that because of what Christ has done, because of the fullness and completeness of His perfect life and perfect sacrifice, our existence here, full of pain, disappointment, and loss, is no more than an instant, a flash, here and gone, in contrast to the eternity that awaits us, an eternity in a new heaven and a new earth, one without sin, suffering, and death. And all this is promised to us and made certain for us only because of Christ and the crucible He went into so that one day, coming soon, He would see “the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11).

<–Wednesday Friday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Thursday: The Suffering God appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/thursday-suffering-god/

Christ in the Crucible streamed live from the inaugural Hit the Mark Spiritual Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. Join the panel and Summit attendees as they discuss our last lesson of the quarter. Question: Is this True, Somewhat True, or False?: There is nothing we can do to increase our value with God. 

Amen!(0)

The post Christ in the Crucible – Hit the Mark Summit Sabbath School appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/christ-in-the-crucible-hit-the-mark-summit-sabbath-school/

“Join host Eric Flickinger from It Is Written as he discusses this week’s Sabbath School lesson with the author, Gavin Anthony. Come away with unique insights and discover the main points the author wished to convey in this week’s lesson.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SmlY5XMpi0&w=560&h=315]

Amen!(0)

The post 13: Christ in the Crucible – It is Written – Discussions with the Author appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/13-christ-in-the-crucible-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/