Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, January 2, 2025. 1 Peter 1!
Babylon in the church.
The church ion Babylon,
This is the main idea that Peter explores in his encouragements to the churches in the Roman Empire.
We are able to draw many corollaries to the church in modern America, to be sure, but it is also a very personal message for all followers of Christ to look in the mirror and discern for ourselves the power of God in our lives and whether or not we are living lives worthy of our calling.
I pray that this message both challenges and encourages you and your congregation.
We will see you in church!
This is a video recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, January 2, 2025. Watch here via the YouTube link!
This is an audio recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, January 2, 2025. Listen here or through your favorite podcast app!
This is a transcript from the audio of this episode of Turning on the Lights! – Thursday, January 2, 2025
Good morning, good morning. I just got a broadcast failed, but yet it says we’re live. So here we go again. Turning on the lights at the Church Town Church of God. Not quite sure if it is actually working. You can tell me, hopefully some people come on and they can say, “Yep, it’s working.” Because we’ve had this issue before. Good morning, church. Looking good, looking fantastic. There’s where we sat to read through the New Testament. Beginning at 1201 AM, January 1, we finished at 715 last night. It was very, very interesting. Quite an interesting experience indeed. I’m going to get everything ready for us today here. There’s my little tripod. There’s the church. Enjoy it. January 6 is the last day of Christmas. And so the decorations will come down. I have a lot to clean up here today. I’m going to give it a few seconds here yet to see if we are actually online. Oh my goodness gracious. So there we are. I’ll get my Bible and everything. I’ll be waiting to see if anybody comes online. If not, I’ll shut her down. And I may try again. I may not try again. I don’t know. This is very frustrating over Facebook. I may just have to create the YouTube channel and use the Mevo, use our camera and broadcast right into the YouTube channel. It certainly seems to be a lot more reliable. It says two people are on. If you are on, can you please make a comment or a thumbs up or a something, something, because it’s doing the thing again where it says that the broadcast failed. Okay, so I guess the broadcast did not fail. Here we are. Wonderful. Okay. Good morning, Megan. Ah, Thursday morning, New Year week. Last week was Christmas week. This is new year week falling right in the middle of everything, which disrupts my work week. Right? I mean, you have to work sort of around a couple of things because man, I would like a little bit of time off as well. So I really worked hard on Monday front end loading things and then yesterday a little bit today or no yesterday. Wait, Monday, Tuesday, new year’s Eve, a little bit during the day, Wednesday. Not so much. Now, today I got to get back to work and get things done for Sunday because Sundays always come for some reason. I don’t have the power to stop time or stop the clock. I mean, I should write. I could be trusted with that, but Sunday, you know, you finish one Sunday. Here comes another Sunday. Good morning. Good morning from Texas. Those Longhorns got themselves into a bit of a bind yesterday, didn’t they? Woo. Dog howdy. That was a game that was fun to watch. And I enjoyed that one very much. Then I did a lot of reading yesterday for the reading project. I hope you guys check it. If you go to our YouTube channel, you can check that part one and part two, you can only live stream over YouTube for 12 hours. So at 11 and a half hours, we cut it off and then we started part two, but it’s all of the new Testament. And we had, I forget how many different readers, a lot. It was in, everybody had a very unique experience. The church had a very unique experience. I got involved in the middle of the afternoon and then McKenzie got involved in the middle of the afternoon. And then I was left to finish up revelation. And you know, I love me some revelation. You know, I don’t go in for all of the signs and things and watch. I go into revelation to hear that consistent message that those who have faith and persevere in the faith to the end will be saved. That’s what I want to hear over and over and over again, because I think revelation can be used by scrupulous and unscrupulous preachers alike to scare people. There was an entire industry church industry built on the rapture and end times and movies and a, and a whole entertainment pyramid built on end times. Stop it. And the bride will remain holy, pure and blameless. And those who persevere in their faith will be saved. You can let there, there, we’re going to experience the judgment. We are going to experience the judgment of other. We are going to experience the tribulations of the world, but we will not be. How should I say this? The tribulations and the things that the Lord will happen, the plagues and the woes and the stuff are for those who do not believe who do, and it’s the effort to show them that they’re being judged and the judgment of God is at hand. Repent. The Bible says in revelation over and over and over and that yet they still did not repent. That’s how hard some people’s hearts will be when the time comes. If your heart is not there, if your heart is in Christ and Christ is in you, it’s a wonderful message of transition. It’s a wonderful message of recreation. It’s peaceful and joyful and hopeful. Oh yes. The advent of Christ come Lord Jesus come. Lord, we pray that your word will go out today. Touch hearts and minds as you see fit and Lord, we pray that those hearts and minds will hear. Understand, be warmed by your Holy Spirit. Repent and the Kingdom of God will grow in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Speaking of the Kingdom of God, here we are. I’m going to follow up in this church with what I did in advent in first Peter talking about the church that is embedded in the secular world. We defined our terms on Tuesday, the visible church. That’s the church that you see everything from this. Let me show you from this to all of the stuff that you see on social media television, all this and everything that you can see the gatherings of those who call themselves Christians. And believe me, it’s the visible church that gets us into a lot of trouble and the invisible church. Those are the hearts and minds that are walking with the power of God within them and they’re not gathered in congregation at the time. Maybe you don’t have a congregation at that time. Wherever you go, wherever you are, whatever, where you’re at work, whether you’re traveling, whether you’re shopping, the invisible churches all around you. Those individuals who are possessed by the Spirit of God. And we talked about the term Babylon being the secular world. Babylon was created long, long time ago out of sin, grew up as an empire that was oppressive and horrible and became synonymous for empires that are oppressive and horrible. And today we use it for our secular world. I’ll start a lot outside of America, which is oppressive to Christians and horrible, but even inside America it is full. And you read again in Revelation, the temptations of even the merchants who make money and sell things and everything that the church is tempted by in the wealth and prosperity of America, of Babylon. She seduces the church into her. Now what? Sometimes it looks like changing church doctrine to fit what people want to hear. Sometimes it looks like the church simply coming synchronicity with Babylon so that there is no difference. You walk from one performing arts center and watch a secular show. And on Sunday morning you go to another performing arts center and watch a secular religious show or a secular show with religious overtones. And sometimes it looks like pure heresy. There is no Trinitarian God, right? Jesus was just a man. You yourself are God, all, whatever the case may be. And we see this in large scales, right, with like Mormonism and so forth. And we see this on small scales where people just for it, whether they’re trying to or not get it wrong. So we need to take a good look at the church. And it begins with a good look at ourselves as individuals who are embedded into a congregation. And that’s what Peter is talking about here in his letter. The context of the letter is that Peter himself is writing from Rome, the seven headed monster, the seven hills of Rome. Hello, Revelation. And he is writing to the churches in the empire who are under severe, significant perseverance isn’t a person. Persecution isn’t even the appropriate word. When you’re plucking Christians out of their home and sticking them on pikes and lighting them on fire so that you can see during the night that is beyond persecution. Right? And we talked about how Nero and then for the next 300 years, the emperors who would come after him used Christianity and Christians as the focal point as the enemy in the effort to continue to unite the Roman empire. You unite around a common enemy, whether that enemy is real or fabricated. It’s a common, common, common tactic. It is a natural phenomenon, i.e. World War II in America. And it can be a manmade phenomenon, i.e. nearly every little dictator in South America and Central America and Southeast Asia over the years. All praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ is by his great mercy that we have been born again. Amen. Because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance and inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive the salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead. Even though you have to endure many trials for a little while, these trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, though your faith is much more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Notice the bent that Peter is riding toward the future. Because he speaks of the present right now. Christ has sealed your heart for him, remain strong in the faith, and you will have this hope that is embedded in your salvation of being, living eternally with Christ. And for him to say he had to be a little careful in his letter, he can’t just come out and start railing against the emperor, railing against the… Are we back? It said I needed to reconnect. I’ve got a, I had a phone call and messages and we’re up and running. I mean, I got to get a separate camera. This pastor’s phone. Monday, I think when I, Monday I got 47 messages. Like three of them I needed. Do I belong? Anyway, so if he writes all of that, much like if you’re in a oppressive country today and you start speaking against the government, they’re going to get you. They’re coming to get you. You will be a political prisoner or they’ll just kill you. And you look at every oppressive dictatorship from Soviet Russia, Russia today, to communist China, to the, to the tinpot dictators of central and south America, political opposition. You look at it in America, we just do it a different way. When men get a taste of power, and by men I mean humans, when we get a taste of power, we want more power. When we create a government, it becomes self perpetuating to gather more wealth and more power. That’s the way it is because of how broken we are. So Peter needs to write this and say, Hey, though you may go through some trials right now through some trials when you’re being plucked from your home and fed to wild animals for sport, not even sport entertainment. When you’re considered dirt, your life is nothing. It’s below, beneath any animal that walks the face of the planet. Those aren’t little trials, but he has to be careful in how he writes it. And that’s why this letter is so pure and so powerful. I always say God certainly knew what he’s doing when he writes these letters. Of course he does. But we’re not grasping the pureness of it and the power of it. I didn’t know I had a do not disturb mode. I’ll check it out. Megan. He says, so be truly glad there is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. You know, harmless, but the, the, the, the, the message is hang on. If you have been, if you are in the hand of God, if you have submitted, if you’ve repented and you have submitted, your inheritance is there for you. You need not worry. And as we know with the lens of history, looking back, this was all a part of God’s plan. Whether God intentionally created the persecution or God used the persecution. This is how the early church went out. The pressure came down and the church went out and those who remained faithful, you talk about revelation, you talk about the trial and judgment and all of those things were coming down from Babylon, coming down from Rome on these people and those who remained faithful and true were incredible examples to other people. No, you will not shake my faith. I know the living God. And that is the inspiration for so much more to come. And eventually whether God caused Constantine to adopt Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire or God used the fact that he did that. Now Christianity goes to the four corners. So we got to look at, this is just beginning here in this letter of 1 Peter. And the message is, God loves you. You’re his. You may die tomorrow. You may die in 50 years. Nobody knows, but you’re his. Your inheritance is sealed. And it’s so simple and so powerful. The church today needs to hear this. It’s not promise after promise after promise of signs and wonders and miracles and this and that. And, oh my gosh, you’re going to be wealthy and prosperous and you got to have signs and wonders. You’re going to have the power of this and be able to do that and whatever. None of that. God loves you. He is with you and your inheritance is sealed forever. There’s not much of a better promise than that. Right? That’s why it’s always a red flag for me. When churches or preachers or teachers or whatever are walking around saying, God’s Holy Spirit, you can wield it like you wield a sword. God’s Holy Spirit will give you gifts because you deserve them. You know, God’s Holy Spirit signs and wonders and this and that and the other thing. No, that’s not the promise. If God chooses to do things of that nature, great, but they will, you will experience that and you will know that it is of God. You remember in scripture when the writers of the gospel say, and the people listen to him because he spoke with such authority, unlike the teachers of religious law, that authority that you feel that authority that you experience is God’s Holy Spirit. You know it as a Christian, you know, because scripture also teaches our spirits connect with his spirit and we are United as one, you know, and so at in the church context, you know, when you’re being played, you know, when you’re being used, you know, when you’re being fed a bunch of lies, you know, when you’re being fed a bunch of things that somebody thinks you want to hear because you have the very spirit of truth within you. So Peter knows this. Peter is banking on this and the letter is not overtly theological in nature, overtly political in nature. It is encouraging for those who know. They’re like, yes, I know. I know whether this thing, whether this life lasts another five days or 50 years, I know. I know Peter, thank you for the encouragement. I know the promise that I was given when I was saved. You love him even though you have never seen him, though you do not see him now, you trust him. See how simple yet how powerful the words are and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. There you go. And once again, when we look at the church in Babylon, what is the church trying to accomplish here in this context, which is modern America? What is the church trying to accomplish? Saving souls or anything else? Living a life according to your calling in the gifts that you have been given by God’s Holy Spirit or something else? That’s it. This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this precious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. Now, all of it was prophesied. Christ is the fulfillment of that prophecy. Now you’re living in the post resurrection, post Pentecost world. God’s Holy Spirit is poured out for all who will believe in their hearts and profess with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this good news has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Do you hear that again, church? This is a huge point of discernment when we’re talking, good morning, Mark, talking about the power of God’s Holy Spirit, because we will worship God in spirit and in truth. When we talk about the power of God’s Holy Spirit, is somebody trying to tell you, this is the way God’s Holy Spirit demonstrates his power. You’ll be flopping around, laughing, running around the sanctuary, babbling, doing all these different things. That’s the Holy Spirit? Or is God’s Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth that allows you to connect through his word with the living God? Which one sounds more likely? Quite frankly, which one sounds better as a Christian? What are you being taught about the power of God’s Holy Spirit? That it’s yours for you to wield as you choose or that it is the very power that raised Christ from the dead that will allow you to grow and become the person, the disciple of Christ that he sees, living a life worthy of your calling, discerning God’s will through prayer, through his word, through fellowship, through godly conversations, submitting yourself daily or some sort of wild power you can have. You know which one the deceitful heart would like to have? The deceitful heart would like to stand there and just show off all of this power. Peter says, “Stop it, church.” Here’s the last thing before we go for today. It’s verse 12 of chapter one of 1 Peter. And this is where we’re going to stop because he’s going to go into a call for holy living, which we’re going to get into next week. It’s what I’m talking about, a call for holy living, not a call to behave poorly, not a call to act like a bunch of crazy people in church, a call to a holy living, something that looks different than Babylon, something that is pure, something that is forgiving, something that is loving, something that is unselfish, something that is submitted to God’s will, thus attractive. People that are non-believers come in, and Paul teaches this, people that are non-believers come into your church service and it looks like a wild animal farm. How attractive is that to a non-believer? You might be just getting off thinking about all the power that you got or whatever, some emotional trip you’re on. But when a non-believer is a part of your fellowship, they should experience the very presence of God because, Immanuel, God is with every individual, God is with that congregation, which sounds more attractive, quite frankly, which sounds more Christian, follower of Christ. The church in Babylon’s got a lot of work to do, and most of that work involves getting back to the text. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this good news has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. That’s that discernment, that’s that authority, that’s that truth that you know as a Christian. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen. Final point, we talked about this before. The church as the vessel through which the good news would spread throughout the world was hidden from the heavenlies and from the prophets. This, the church, the fellowship, the gathering was understood by God and Jesus will be her, the head of the church. This church of which Jesus Christ is the foundation and the head is the vessel through which the word of God will go out throughout the world. That’s our mission. And as straightforward as that may seem, once that church gets in bed with Babylon, it’s hard not to copulate. You know what I’m saying? You got to stay true to the word of God. You have to be dependent upon the very power of discernment that you are given by God’s Holy Spirit. You have to be completely dependent on him to lead you, guide you, direct you. And in the name of Jesus Christ, that’s where we believe it for today, my prayer is that you hear and discern the word of God in spirit and in truth. And that you, the kingdom of God grows more pure within you. And as a result, the kingdom of God grows through you and your call to holy living, which we will explore next week. God bless you and amen. I got to get over and get to work. I got 27 messages pouring in on my phone right now from all kinds of people. There’s all kinds of stuff. I’m like, give me a half an hour. Nope. So God bless you and keep you. I love you guys. And as we always say on Thursday, what are we going to say? What are we going to say? We’ll see you in church.
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