Lesson 10 June 2 - 8
Memory Text: (Mat 5:10 RSV) "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Scripture from the NEW KINGS JAMES VERSION" Copyright © 1982: Used by permission
Sabbath Afternoon
(1 Cor 13:3 NRSV) If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
(1 Cor 13:3 NKJV) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
(Gen 4:8 NKJV) Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
(Rev 17:6 NRSV) And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.
(Rev 17:6 NKJV) I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
Sunday
Zechariah - Stoned To Death
(2 Chr 24:21 NRSV) But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the LORD.
(2 Chr 24:21 NKJV) So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.
(2 Chr 24:17-18 NRSV) Now after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king listened to them. {18} They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and served the sacred poles and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
(2 Chr 24:17-18 NKJV) Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. {18} Therefore they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.
(2 Chr 24:19-20 NRSV) Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD; they testified against them, but they would not listen. {20} Then the spirit of God took possession of Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada; he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has also forsaken you."
(2 Chr 24:19-20 NKJV) Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. {20} Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.'"
Monday
Uriah - Killed With A Sword
(Jer 26:20-23 NRSV) There was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words exactly like those of Jeremiah. {21} And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. {22} Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and men with him to Egypt, {23} and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and threw his dead body into the burial place of the common people.
(Jer 26:20-23 NKJV) Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. {21} And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. {22} Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. {23} And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
(Jer 26:11 NRSV) Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, "This man deserves the sentence of death because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."
(Jer 26:11 NKJV) And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, "This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears."
(Jer 26:12 NKJV) Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard.
(Jer 26:13-15 NRSV) Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will change his mind about the disaster that he has pronounced against you. {14} But as for me, here I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. {15} Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."
(Jer 26:13-15 NKJV) "Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. {14} "As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.
{Jer 26:15} "But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."
(Jer 26:21 NRSV) And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt.
(Jer 26:21 NKJV) And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt.
Tuesday
John The Baptist - Beheaded
(Mat 14:1-4 NRSV) At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; {2} and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him." {3} For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, {4} because John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."
(Mat 14:1-4 NKJV) At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus {2} and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." {3} For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. {4} Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."
(Luke 1:15 NKJV) "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
(Luke 7:28 NKJV) "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
The childhood, youth, and manhood of John had been characterized by firmness and moral power. When his voice was heard in the wilderness saying, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" (Matt. 3:3), Satan feared for the safety of his kingdom. The sinfulness of sin was revealed in such a manner that men trembled. Satan's power over many who had been under his control was broken. He had been unwearied in his efforts to draw away the Baptist from a life of unreserved surrender to God; but he had failed. And he had failed to overcome Jesus. In the temptation in the wilderness, Satan had been defeated, and his rage was great. Now he determined to bring sorrow upon Christ by striking John. The One whom he could not entice to sin he would cause to suffer. {DA 224.1}
Jesus did not interpose to deliver His servant. He knew that John would bear the test. Gladly would the Saviour have come to John, to brighten the dungeon gloom with His own presence. But He was not to place Himself in the hands of enemies and imperil His own mission. Gladly would He have delivered His faithful servant. But for the sake of thousands who in after years must pass from prison to death, John was to drink the cup of martyrdom. As the followers of Jesus should languish in lonely cells, or perish by the sword, the rack, or the fagot, apparently forsaken by God and man, what a stay to their hearts would be the thought that John the Baptist, to whose faithfulness Christ Himself had borne witness, had passed through a similar experience! {DA 224.2}
Satan was permitted to cut short the earthly life of God's messenger;
Desire of Ages, p. 224 (Continued)
but that life which "is hid with Christ in God," the destroyer could not reach. Col. 3:3. He exulted that he had brought sorrow upon Christ, but he had failed of conquering John. Death itself only placed him forever beyond the power of temptation. In this warfare, Satan was revealing his own character. Before the witnessing universe he made manifest his enmity toward God and man. {DA 224.3}
Though no miraculous deliverance was granted John, he was not forsaken. He had always the companionship of heavenly angels, who opened to him the prophecies concerning Christ, and the precious promises of Scripture. These were his stay, as they were to be the stay of God's people through the coming ages. To John the Baptist, as to those that came after him, was given the assurance, "Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end." Matt. 28:20, R. V., margin. {DA 224.4}
God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory (p. 225) of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Phil. 1:29. And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor. {DA 224.5}
Wednesday
Stephen, The First Christian Martyr - Stoned To Death
(Acts 7:58 NRSV) Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
(Acts 7:58 NKJV) and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
(Acts 7:1-53 NKJV) Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?" {2} And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, {3} "and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' {4} "Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. {5} "And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. {6} "But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. {7} 'And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.' {8} "Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. {9} "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him {10} "and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
{Acts 7:11-58} "Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. {12} "But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. {13} "And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. {14} "Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. {15} "So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.
{Acts 7:16-53} "And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. {17} "But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt {18} "till another king arose who did not know Joseph. {19} "This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. {20} "At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. {21} "But when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. {22} "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. {23} "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. {24} "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. {25} "For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. {26} "And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?' {27} "But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? {28} 'Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?' {29} "Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. {30} "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. {31} "When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, {32} "saying, 'I am the God of your fathers; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and dared not look. {33} 'Then the LORD said to him, "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. {34} "I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt."' {35} "This Moses whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. {36} "He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. {37} "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.' {38} "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, {39} "whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, {40} "saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' {41} "And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. {42} "Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? {43} You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.' {44} "Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, {45} "which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, {46} "who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. {47} "But Solomon built Him a house. {48} "However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: {49} 'Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? {50} Has My hand not made all these things?' {51} "You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. {52} "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, {53} "who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."
(Acts 7:55-56 NRSV) But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. {56} "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
(Acts 7:55-56 NKJV) But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, {56} and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
(Acts 6:10 NKJV) And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
Thursday
Peter - Crucified Upside Down
(John 21:18 NRSV) Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go."
(John 21:18 NKJV) "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."
(John 21:19 NKJV) This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 537 - 538
"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written (p. 537) unto you. . . . Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." {AA 536.3}
In the providence of God, Peter was permitted to close his ministry in Rome, where his imprisonment was ordered by the emperor Nero about the time of Paul's final arrest. Thus the two veteran apostles, who for many years had been widely separated in their labors, were to bear their last witness for Christ in the world's metropolis, and upon its soil to shed their blood as the seed of a vast harvest of saints and martyrs. {AA 537.1}
Since his reinstatement after his denial of Christ, Peter had unflinchingly braved danger and had shown a noble courage in preaching a crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour. As he lay in his cell he called to mind the words that Christ had spoken to him: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." John 21:18. Thus Jesus had made known to the disciple the very manner of his death, and even foretold the stretching of his hands upon the cross. {AA 537.2}
Peter, as a Jew and a foreigner, was condemned to be scourged and crucified. In prospect of this fearful death, the apostle remembered his great sin in denying Jesus in the hour of His trial. Once so unready to acknowledge the (p. 538)
cross, he now counted it a joy to yield up his life for the gospel, feeling only that, for him who had denied his Lord, to die in the same manner as his Master died was too great an honor. Peter had sincerely repented of that sin and had been forgiven by Christ, as is shown by the high commission given him to feed the sheep and lambs of the flock. But he could never forgive himself. Not even the thought of the agonies of the last terrible scene could lessen the bitterness of his sorrow and repentance.
The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 537 - 538 (Continued)
As a last favor he entreated his executioners that he might be nailed to the cross with his head downward. The request was granted, and in this manner died the great apostle Peter. {AA 537.3}
(Gal 2:11-20 NKJV) Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; {12} for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. {13} And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
{Gal 2:14-20} But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? {15} "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, {16} "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. {17} "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! {18} "For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. {19} "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. {20} "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
(1 Pet 1:6-7 NKJV) In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, {7} that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Friday
(2 Pet 2:4-8 NKJV) For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; {5} and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; {6} and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; {7} and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked {8} (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds);
(2 Pet 2:9-10 NRSV) then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment {10} --especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones,
(2 Pet 2:9-10 NKJV) then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, {10} and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,