As we explore the intricate tapestry of endurance and faith in 1 Peter, we’re also taken on a fascinating journey to Ethiopia. Greg Harris recounts the remarkable growth of Christian home groups, defying the odds set by geopolitical and spiritual challenges. Amidst desolation, hope emerges, fostering communities eager for biblical teachings. This episode promises insights into both personal spiritual growth and widespread transformation through faith.
A foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
SPEAKER 03 :
When gold ore comes out of the ground, it’s impure. But when placed in the furnace, the refining process burns away the impurities, and what’s left is pure gold. This time on Through the Bible, our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, is going to tell us about some of the things that God uses to melt and purify not gold, but our human hearts. I’m Steve Schwetz, and as you settle in here on the Bible Bus and find your seat, Greg Harris and I have some time to continue an update that we started telling you about last month.
SPEAKER 04 :
And Steve, of course, we’re always excited about all the things going on around the world. But I have to say this one’s ranking pretty high on both of our hearts. We have been to this country. We talked to you a few weeks ago about a movement of God of home groups in Ethiopia. And just a real quick history is you went there in early 2024 for a pastoral training.
SPEAKER 03 :
We were supposed to have – I think the goal was 30 pastors, and we had like, I don’t know, 75 or something like that. The room was very crowded, and we had to do it in three languages simultaneously, and that’s a whole other story that we covered before. But it was huge. And their goal, I thought, was way too big.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, they said, we’re going to do 2,350 groups in one year, and you came back and went, I’m not so sure. And I said, I don’t think so either. But – Lo and behold, they started growing like crazy. Six months later, I went back because I wanted to see and encourage the people that were doing this. And they had 2,250 groups in six months. And so we hope that you are a subscriber to our newsletter, either in print or digitally. We’re not trying to sell you anything. It’s full of great resources and encouragement. And what we want to share is… Right. Yes. And it’s like a different country, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, when we showed up, I felt like I was on a movie set of the day after a war because there were so many relief organizations that had come in there. I mean, everybody’s driving a Toyota Land Cruiser that’s white and has some type of symbol on the side of the car.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, all kinds of government agencies up there, yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
There was no place to eat because all the hotels were occupied with all these relief workers. So it really was an interesting place to be. And in the midst of that, those people are trying to rebuild their lives after all of that civil war, cross-border war. I mean, it’s on the border up there with Somalia and Eritrea. And there’s been – I mean, the borders are just kind of suggestions from the government officials. It’s all tribal. So it’s just interesting. But even in that debris, in that morning after world, there’s a core of believers that need the gospel, that want solid Bible teaching, and they want to give it out to their friends and their family. And we’re seeing opportunities for home groups even in that desolate area.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and that’s – you talked about the sort of the political, geopolitical devastation. There’s also religious, if you will, or spiritual devastation. What is called the Orthodox Church is – and I want to say this carefully. We don’t beat up on other denominations, but the believers that we met with called the Orthodox priests magicians. Yeah. And I was trying to wrap my head around that. And I had an experience. We were bumping along in the car, as you know, in the four-wheel drive. And one of the guys said, let’s pull over and get some fruit at a stand. So we’re sitting there. The car is idling while some of our guys are buying the fruit. And I got my camera out. And I watched these Orthodox priests would come right up to cars. And they were basically like door-to-door beggars. And I watched this man go. go up to a truck driver, and he had a wooden box strapped around his… an offering box strapped around his neck. The guy puts money in it. Then the priest and the local believers called him a magician, held up the cross, which he kissed, and then he did some sort of incantation, and… The local believers said, this has nothing to do with Christianity whatsoever. In fact, while we were in the same car waiting, a priest came up and tried to do that. And Waksuma, our guy, Steve knows what’s coming. Waksuma is our speaker in Oromo, and he’s a passionate, he’s like the Apostle Paul for Ethiopia. Yes. So he starts getting animated and speaking to the guy. I’m like, I bet he’s preaching the gospel. And the guy practically ran away. And so there are 120,000 of these, quote, priests or magicians. And what’s happening is, and I wish we had time to explain this, so please get the newsletter and read the article. But what’s happening is these guys, some of them are going underground. And I met with one guy that has 100 home groups in, he’s an Orthodox priest, but he’s leading 100 TTP home groups.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s an important point. Not all these priests are these magicians that are trying to extract money out of people. There are men that really are believers, and they’re being strengthened and encouraged by God’s word and the teaching through the Bible, and they’re giving it out correctly.
SPEAKER 04 :
In fact, the guy – and if you get the newsletter and read the article, there’s a picture of this priest and I, and one of the coordinators said, we’re telling this guy to tone it down or they’re going to throw you out because they’re basically undercover for the Lord.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Steve, this is the kind of exciting stuff that God is doing through our really simple efforts to give the whole word out to the whole world.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s so encouraging. Greg, let me pray for us as we begin. Heavenly Father, every time we hear testimonies about what’s going on in Ethiopia, whether it’s in the south or in the north, we are just so encouraged. And we pray, Lord, that your spirit would continue to move among the people here. in those particular areas of Ethiopia, that you would bless your word, that the home groups would expand, that many people, many Orthodox priests that don’t know you would come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and the people that they witness to would believe as well. We pray that there would be revival in that country, that it would spread over the borders into Somalia and into Eritrea in the north, and that you would be glorified in all things. Bless the program as it goes out now. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now here’s Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee in our study of 1 Peter chapter 1.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now friends, we’re coming today back to the first chapter of 1 Peter at verse 17. Now this is a very important epistle as I’m sure that you’ve discovered. Now we want to begin here by saying that we’re in this section where the theme is suffering and the scriptures, that the Word of God ministers to you in your life. And that there’s no other way, as we’ve seen, for God to take the dross out of your life anymore. And you could take the dross out of gold except by putting it in the crucible and heating it red hot. And then it’s melted and the dross can be taken off and it’ll be a fine object. I had the privilege of seeing the crown jewels. in the Tower of London, and the beautiful gold crown there set with diamonds. As I looked at it, I thought, well, that gold had come out of the ground. It was just ore. And my, what it had been through before it can be in a crown and be there to thrill the tourists that came by and took a look at it. Now, God puts you and me through that, and that’s the only way He can develop us. Now, this idea today that there’s some little shortcut, and you can take some little course, and you’re going to become some wonderful Christian. Now, I’m here to say something very unpopular again, but it must be repeated. Somebody needs to say it. The only way for God to fashion you and me is to put us on the anvil of life, And bring us to a red hot heat. And then to beat us into the shape that he wants us in. That’s his method. And he says that he uses it. He doesn’t apologize for it. And he never asked me to apologize for him. So I won’t apologize for him. I just say that’s his method today. And we have too many phony so-called spiritual folk. That feel like they’re adequate today. And they’re as phony as a three dollar bill. They don’t know what it is to suffer. They don’t know what it is to endure pain. And yet they feel like that they’re living Christian life at the very top. My friend, God’s method is to put you in the crucible of life. Now, will you listen to him here as he continues to speak about these things that have to do with the nitty-gritty things of life? And he says, “…and if ye call on the Father, who without respect to persons…” And here again, Paul has said it, James has said it, now Peter says it, that God doesn’t respect persons. None of us are God’s little pets. that he’s going to keep a nursing bottle in our mouths all the time and burping us all the time. Listen to him. “‘And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear,’ my friend, in view of the fact that God’s going to judge your work as a Christian.” This hasn’t anything to do with your salvation. It has something to do with your Christian life, down here where you’re living it. Now, in view of the fact that, I tell you, it ought to cause some of us to become very sober-minded. And to give a little more attention to the life that we are living today and make sure that we’re not superficial. That this smile that we have on our face all the time and that we’re attempting to produce joy and radiate happiness and sunshine everywhere that we go. My friends, the gospel is not sprinkling rose water on a bunch of dead weeds. The gospel today transforms lives and brings life to you. As we have seen, we have a living hope that rests upon the resurrection of Christ, which means he’s alive up yonder today at God’s right hand. Now he goes on to say in verse 18, “…forasmuch as ye know.” I hope you know this today, that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Now, he’s talking here actually about the objective work of God for your salvation, and that is the redemption. And he had to pay a price for you. You see, you and I stood under the judgment of God, and the soul that sinneth it shall die. And God hasn’t changed that. That has never been revoked. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the immutability of God is the terror of the wicked if they give any thought to it at all. God doesn’t change. It’s nice to say that we’re living in a new age and we have new thoughts and new ways and that sort of thing. My friend, God has not changed. No reason for him to change. He knew the end from the beginning. Why did he need to change? He doesn’t. And he didn’t learn anything when he read the morning paper and looked at the television newscaster this morning. Didn’t tell him a thing. And there was no surprise. God has no surprises. Now, we’ve been redeemed. And how we are redeemed? Not with corruptible things like silver and gold. Now, silver and gold can be purified by being put in the crucible. Heated red hot and the dross can be drawn off. But may I say to you, even gold and silver will corrupt. Now, if you have any silver at home that you use on your table, you only get it out when you have visitors. And you know, every time you get it out, it’s corroded. It’s dull, looks like pewter. Why? It’s corrupting. Silver will corrupt. Gold will corrupt. Therefore, we’re not redeemed with corruptible things. And anything that’s taken from our vain manner of life, there’s nothing in this life, this life is empty, friends, without the redemption of Christ. It’s meaningless without it. There’s nothing quite as meaningless as human life apart from the redemption of Christ. Everything else serves a purpose that’s in this world. Every animal is here because it serves a purpose. Every plant is here, serves a purpose. The sun in the sky serves a purpose. Man without God is meaningless. He’s garbage. Someone has said that we’re merely animals. a little breaking out on the epidermis of a minor planet. That’s all in the world that mankind is apart from God. We have not been redeemed with corruptible things or anything from this empty world and empty life. Mankind hasn’t anything to offer to God today. My friend, what do you have that God wants and needs? One of the things I learned being put aside, man, I thought the conferences I had up in the Northwest and the services that I was to conduct, my, I thought they were important. God put me flat on my back and he said, listen, he said, you know, I got along without you before you got here. And the interesting thing is, I’m going to get along without you after you leave here. Now, you think these things are important, but I want you to know that what is important, I want you to lie here flat on your back, look up at me and find out. that your relationship with me is the most important thing that there is. And I want to teach you a few things. I want you to find out that you need to rest in me and that you can trust me. And you teach the Word of God, and sometimes you’re teaching way out ahead of where you’ve been living. Now I want you to sort of catch up. And I want you to find out that what I say in my words is true. And that little suffering is not going to hurt you at all. It’s going to mold you and shape you. May I say to you, we’ve been redeemed, not with these empty things in this world. What can you and I do today to redeem ourselves? Verse 19, “…but we’ve been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.” And here goes Simon Peter again, that great big fisherman. He says the blood of Christ is precious. but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Simon Peter was with him three years and he says he was without blemish and without spot. And I rather think that he knew more about it because all that he got for following him was a cross and he was crucified. And I’d rather believe him than the writers of Jesus Christ Superstar because they admit the only reason they wrote it was to make money. Simon Peter wasn’t in the money-making business because he said, we haven’t been redeemed with corruptible things, silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Now, that’s our redemption. That’s objective. That’s what God did for you and me, who verily was foreordained. And here we go again with this long definition that we have in the New Schofield Bible. And may I say to you that the better word here is foreknown rather than foreordained. But you have here really a tremendous statement in the Schofield Reference Bible. But when I begin to deal with these words that we have like foreordination, election, predestination, foreknowledge, and all of that sort of thing, I feel like that man today, because we have a finite mind, we treat God like he’s a great big computer. And I don’t think he’s that at all. He’s got a heart bigger than any computer. And I’m not really concerned whether foreknowledge comes before foreordination. Now, I studied all that in theology and did pretty well in it. And very frankly, I, since then, have just not been concerned with which comes first. The important thing is this. who verily was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. And if you want it in good old Americana, the cross of Christ was not an ambulance sent to a wreck. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And God knew all the time that Vernon McGee would need a savior. And he loved him enough to provide that savior. And I don’t know about you, I don’t need a computer to go over this. I just need a God with a great big heart of love that provided by his grace a redemption. This is wonderful. Now, will you notice, “…who by him do believe in God who raised him up from the dead.” Simon Peter just can’t get us away from the resurrection. And gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. Before he put grace in hope, and now it’s faith and hope. This is the great apostle of hope. And hope rests upon the resurrection of Christ. The fact we have a living Savior, and he’s coming someday. Now listen to him. Seeing that ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit. The Word of God, friends, is a miracle-cleansing agency. On television today, they show you their competitor’s product, and it won’t take all the spot out, but theirs takes the spot out. It may be a spot on a shirt or a pair of breeches or a sock. or a tablecloth or what have you, or maybe on the floor that you’re not really using the right wax there. They all got some miracle product today. My friend, the only miracle cleansing agency in this world today is the Word of God. It’s the best bar of soap that you can get, and it’s lots better than zest. It’s lots better today than getting a box of Tide or a bottle of Joy. This will take the spots out, the Word of God today. And many of us need to get closer to it. And he says, “…unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.” Now, I won’t go into detail there other than to say that your relationship to the Word of God will lead to a right relationship with other believers, by the way. Now, let’s move on. Verse 23, being born again. not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now we’re back to the word of God again. Now we’re going to talk about the subjective work of God in salvation. The objective work, Christ died, that’s our redemption. That happened 1900 years ago and you can’t add anything to it. But if you’re going to become a child of God, you’ll have to be born again. You will have to be born from above. This is what the Lord Jesus, you remember, said to Nicodemus that night. And he was religious to his fingertips. He said to him, you must be born again. You must be born anathen, from above, by the Spirit of God. Now, what does God use? Being born again not of corruptible seeds. but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now, let me say this, and I want to say it very carefully. You cannot be saved. You cannot be born again apart from the word of God. This is the miracle that’s in the world today, is this book. And you know, I never cease to marvel, though, when I get letters, and I just can’t read them all to you, about people who just listen to this little week broadcast that we have. And their lives are transformed. They’re born again. And I say, my. Isn’t that wonderful? Don’t see how it happened. Well, this is what he said, that the Word of God, it liveth and abideth forever. Now, we’re living in a day when a great deal is said about virility. A man that’s vigorous and virile and a woman that is sexy. And my, there’s a big emphasis that’s put on that today. I want to tell you about the thing that’s more virile and vigorous than anything else. And I hope you don’t misunderstand. It’s sexy. It’s the Word of God. It is something that, my friend, you can put your arms around the Savior that’s presented here. You can trust Him. And a birth takes place, a miraculous birth. A virile and vigorous, that the Word of God today can penetrate your heart, make you a child of God. My friend, this is something today that’s important. And all of this running around with an emphasis on sex and virility and sexy. I think that we’re becoming paranoid today. The human race says, you’d think this generation discovered sex. My friend, that which will really bring a birth in your life is the Word of God as it reveals Christ to you. And then something takes place on the inside of you. You’re born again, for all flesh is like grass. Don’t think that there’s something in us. There’s nothing. And all the glory of man like the flower of grass. The grass withereth and its flower falleth away. Man is just like the grass out there. It looks nice and green in the summertime. but it’s very dead in the wintertime. It won’t care but for just a little while. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. My friends, May I say today, we need the preaching and teaching of the Word of God above everything else. And I do not mean to minimize the place of music and the place of methods and the place of organization and the place of many other things. But there’s no substitute for the Word of God today. And on that note, we close. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
1 Peter tells us that the living and abiding word of God is the only thing that will last forever. In fact, we believe that God uses his word to penetrate our hearts. So if you’d like to know more, click on How Can I Know God in our app or at ttb.org. Or if you’d like us to mail you a few resources, we can do that. Simply call us 1-800-65-BIBLE. Or if you like email, biblebus at ttb.org is the email address. Now next time, in our continuing and never-ending study of the Bible, we’re going to be in 1 Peter, still, and we’re going to learn how to grow as a Christian. So here’s a hint. It includes the study of God’s Word. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll meet you right here next time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sin had left the prince unsaved. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today’s study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee is brought to you by Through the Bible and it’s made possible by the generous prayer and financial investments from listeners like you on the Bible bus all around the world.
