Callie Williams

InVerse, 2nd Quarter 2019: Family Seasons

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

Jonathan Walter

Hope Channel

13-Turning Hearts in the End Time

Find out what the last time prophecy in the Old Testament is talking about in reference to Elijah and last days and families on this episode of Inverse.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, Welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

We have been covering 12 episodes on the topic of families and we are on the 13th week, the final week on this season.

We've been covering on fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, family fights and all the answer to all of families problems is Jesus.

We're going to cover the last prophecy in the Old Testament found in Malachi chapter 4, verse 5 and 6.

Before we read scripture though, we need to have a prayer.

We're going to ask the Lord to bless us in the reading of his words.

Father, we come before you and we're so thankful for the Word of God.

We thank you that you have taught us so many lessons in this past season.

And 1 more time, We ask that you will send your spirit to guide us into more truth, help us to understand your word and to apply it in our lives.

Okay Israel, let's go to Malachi chapter 4, verse 5 and 6.

It says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

This is the last book of the Christian order of the Hebrew Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures.

And this is kind of the last Bible verse before we get into Jesus coming out in Matthew 1.

It's talking about the other great day of God So everything being wrapped up of Jesus coming back and it ends with I just yeah I find it interesting as we were reading it like this is where it ends There's so many different because so many things that will happen when Jesus comes back and there's so many things that we have to look forward to and that we'll experience but he ends with this idea of hearts being turned back and it could have just said people's who were enemies or people that didn't like each other or people who hadn't had their hearts but fathers and their children will have their hearts turned back to them.

So we have this picture of unity in the family when this comes to place.

Yeah, we've been talking about families for quite a long couple months now.

And sometimes people think, families, that's not really a heavy Bible study.

But here we see a, it's not a time prophecy where a time is mentioned but there is a timely element to this prophecy and it's incorporated into family so family ministry family life family health has a Correlation to the last days to the second coming of Jesus.

Well, I'm not sure if I'm answering that question This idea that it's so foundational that a family is the smallest building block of relationships That leads to communities which leads to greater groups of people.

So, if we can have the fathers and the children's hearts turned back together, if we can have unity there, then we can build greater unity upon that.

But if you don't have unity at the smallest unit, you can't have long lasting unity anywhere else.

Let's look at that verse a little bit more carefully.

Verse 5, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.

Jonathan's here to talk about archaeology.

Elijah was an Old Testament prophet, And he was a very, very powerful prophet, had some crazy experiences, some amazing experiences, amazing prayers answered.

And he actually had the privilege to go into heaven without seeing death.

And here, hundreds of years later, we have this prophecy.

That might have been a sound trick as he was going up there, the angels singing something.

So he went up there, but this is hundreds of years later now.

We have this prophecy, Elijah's coming, and then in the time of Jesus, people were like, you know, is Jesus Elijah?

And then there's actually a reference, Jesus was actually clarifying that this prophecy is not talking about the actual Elijah coming, but there's elements of his ministry that will be seen again and again in the time of Jesus and in the time of the end.

Well let's go to, keep your finger there Malachi, let's go to Luke chapter I think it's 1 and verse something in chapter 1.

This is where preparation would actually have helped, huh?

He will have joy and gladness, he will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

What was the link between him and Elijah?

So, John the Baptist, he was the guy who came...

He was preparing the world in, basically, in a small case, in his sphere for the first coming of Jesus, the first advent of Christ.

He was going before, he was preaching a message of repentance, turn to God, you know, repent, be baptized, and he...

So that word repent is a Christian word, it's a religious word, but what you're saying is essentially means just turn.

Sebastien Braxton

Sikhu Daco

12-What Have They Seen in Your House?

Whether you watch us on Monday morning or Friday night, we're coming into your house to see what's going on in your family on this episode of Inverse.

Hey guys, we're in episode 12 on this entire season on the topic of families.

We've covered so many different aspects of family but on this episode we're going to break through the screen and go into your house to see what's going on in your family, I wish technology would be that advanced to do that but we're not, we're going to be talking about what is the witness that your internal dynamics of your family show to the rest of your neighborhood.

So we're going to have a word of prayer, and Sebastian, can you pray for us, and we'll get directly into Scripture.

Father in heaven, we know that it is easy to be a Christian in certain contexts, but Father, in our homes, are places where it may not be so easy.

We pray Lord that you would not only speak through us in this discussion, but you may speak to us.

And we offer this prayer from our hearts in Christ's name, amen.

Callie, let's go to 2 Chronicles there, a very rare book of the Bible to be reading from, it's not rare but just not common and chapter 32, We'll start reading a narrative from verse 24 25 26 and then skip town to verse 31.

All right Those are very specific instructions.

Yes, I want to follow them in those days Hezekiah was sick and near death and he prayed to the Lord and he spoke to him and gave him a sign but Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him for his heart was lifted up therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah." And verse 31, however, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him in order to test him that he might know all that was in his heart." Yeah, Siku, what is going on in that story?

Okay, Well, for background, Hezekiah is a king, and his father actually was Ahaz, who turned out to not be a good king by the end of his reign.

But Hezekiah comes into the picture, and he's bringing up all these reforms.

The temple, and restoring worship, they have the Passover and all these reforms.

But then he comes to this point where he gets sick and he's about to die and the prophet of the Lord comes and tells him the fullest stories in Isaiah, I think it's 38 and 39.

The Prophet comes to him and says, Hezekiah, you better get your house in order because you're about to die.

So get your anything, you know, say your goodbyes.

But Hezekiah says, I don't want to die yet.

And so he petitions to God, he prays to God that God would give him more life.

And in response, God answers, yes, you're gonna get 15 more years.

And as a sign that I have answered your prayer, God performs this miracle where the sun goes backwards.

And the way that it's put in scripture is you know they had sundials.

And so the sundial went back, I think it says 10 degrees.

So this was anyone with a sundial Anywhere in the world could see that something changed at least if the Sun was shining on where you were you could see that So this is a sign that is specifically for Hezekiah, a miracle that God is doing in Hezekiah's personal life, but it becomes evident to everyone that something strange in the cosmos is happening.

And so people all the way in Babylon find out that that that the reason that this happened is because God Performed a miracle for King Hezekiah So they come all the way to find out what is this thing that has happened And Hezekiah goes about and in verse 31 of 2nd Chronicles 32 It says ambassadors from of the princes of Babylon.

These are ambassadors sent from Babylon verse 31 sorry 31 of chapter 32 they They came to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land.

And it says that God wanted to see what was in his heart.

So when they come in they inquire what is this thing all about?

In Isaiah, it actually tells us that Hezekiah goes about and he shows them his entire household.

He's like, oh, and I've got this chest over here, and he opens it up, and he shows them all the wealth that has been accumulated throughout the time.

And the prophet comes to him afterwards and says, these guys came to your house.

But he never told them about the God who actually turned the son backward.

And because of that, a curse is pronounced on him.

He's happy that, you know, he gets to live another 15 years, but his sons are not going to be able to experience the prosperity that they should have.

And let's also take note that his son comes out to be 1 of the most wicked kings ever in the history of Israel and reigns for 50 years, you know Manasseh.

And this whole idea that Hezekiah's house was not in order.

So when he was about to die, the prophet said, set your house in order, you're going to die.

God extends his life and rather than using the extended time to make his house even more in order, extending your life doesn't mean you're not going to die, it just means God prolonged the time to give you more time to get your house in order.

And by the time that God had used this situation to bring the Babylonians, who at that point in time weren't a great nation, they weren't a powerhouse on the earth, God was giving an opportunity to sow the seed so that a person like Nebuchadnezzar down the line, when he was born and would eventually become King of Babylon, he would actually probably have been born a believer in the God of Jehovah, the God Jehovah, and not into the false gods of Babylon.

But Hezekiah missed an opportunity, that in his house, the thing that was most precious that he should have shared should have been Christ.

I mean, it's, to me, it's literally mind boggling how you could be like, I showed everything.

Like when people see the internal things of your house, what do they come away with?

Is it like, wow, man, you got a new X59, doohickey, new 349, a million dollars, or it's like, wow, what's the takeaway?

And I think here in verse 27 of chapter 32 of 2 Chronicles, verse 27, Hezekiah had very great riches and honor.

He made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable items.

And instead of saying, hey, God gave me these things, you're like, yeah, that's what I have.

I think what's the scariest part of it for me is it doesn't sound like, and maybe I'm not missing a verse, but Hezekiah, it doesn't sound like Hezekiah is intentionally hiding God.

He's not like, oh, I'm ashamed that I worship God, so I don't want to mention him.

His priorities are just not straight, and he is more proud of the things that he has than the God that he serves.

And so I see that, you know, well of course I love God, so of course I'll talk about God, but it takes intentionality to show that to your neighbors, the people who come in contact with your home.

I was talking to David recently and we were talking about how...

Just want to make sure, you know, how timing this is.

So we were talking about what we want our family to be known for.

When people interact with us, oh, that family's always this way, that family's always that way, and not something we show off and we we shine up for certain days but like it just becomes natural and that's what I think we all want in our families is to naturally glorify God and to naturally mention him and to naturally like it's like man you can't help it And it's not like we're putting on, but I can't not talk about Jesus.

You mentioned that even when you're not putting anything on, there's something that's still coming out anyway.

Family is always poems and you're always, you're gonna advertise something or other.

But something is being advertised regardless of whether you're trying or not.

I was talking to 1 of my students recently.

I'm gonna always talk to my students until I have kids, and they said, and they always talk about you, I will, they asked me a question and they were saying they were gonna ask someone else, but they're like, yeah, I don't know if you want to talk to Ms.

Williams because you know she's just gonna give you a Jesus answer.

And they meant it as an insult, but I take it as the highest compliment there is like I'm glad you know that I'm glad that you know when you interact with me it will somehow come back to Jesus because Jesus is I mean he's the answer to all I actually taught a Sabbath school class where I made fun of you like girl you know every time we have this problem and then casual Jesus knows I know Jesus knows but then that is the answer.

The thing that got me is Hezekiah when people came into his home what they saw what he showed them was his wealth and etc.

I kind of am on the opposite spectrum of Hezekiah.

And, you know, we, our house is not magnificently furnished.

And I remember near the beginning of us moving into our home.

And I was feeling kind of embarrassed, you know, how sparsely furnished our home is.

And man, you know, we can't have people over.

We don't have enough places for people to sit, you know, et cetera.

And It kind of made me feel like not wanting to invite people into our home, because I felt like there wasn't anything that you could give.

But at the end of the day, I realized that our home is not the thing that people should see when they come into our home.

The experience that they have shouldn't be that they sat on a really awesome couch, you know, or that the carpet was super plush, but there should be an experience that's beyond that, that transcends the drapings and the hangings on the wall, that when people come into your home, even though I may not have riches to show them, but they can see Jesus in my home.

10-Little Times of Trouble

On this episode, we're going to look at family fights.

I'm going to ask you guys straight off the bat.

We've been looking at a lot of topics this season.

Right from your memories, and I know you're unprepared for this, what do you remember from this season?

Singleness, you like the 1 on singleness.

We talked about sexuality abrasion of marriage.

That's very important Anything else we remember from from this that Jesus is still the answer.

Well, that's a cue we need to have a word of prayer and we'll get into the topic of family fights.

So, this is kind of a sensitive topic, yeah?

And we want to just let you guys know out there that we are not from perfect families.

We don't have perfect families and we are probably guilty of a lot of the things that all human beings are guilty of.

And we are in this quest to find together what the Bible has to say and how our families can benefit from the Lord's blessing.

Father in heaven, thank you so much for your love and thank you that you desire to enter into even the less beautiful aspects of our experience and I pray that as we discuss that you guide us by your Holy Spirit and you lead us to practical and Christ-centered truths, we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

Starting verses in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 and Siku, can you read that for us?

Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.

Jonathan, what's going on and set us up for our discussion on fights and families and this week it's called little times of trouble not the big time of trouble little times of trouble.

Well here in Ephesians there's a couple of things to keep in mind this section these 2 verses we just read are embedded in an admonition of Paul to not live like you used to live, okay?

Now it's time to follow the spirits leading in your life.

You were created for righteousness, holiness, therefore put away lying in verse 25, and then in verse 26, he goes into, be angry and do not sin, which is actually a quote from the Old Testament, where Psalm 4, verse 4 says the same thing.

So when we talk about anger, that is something that I believe all of us have experienced.

And the Bible acknowledges that reality, that there are moments when we get angry.

Something is upsetting us, something is interfering with our values, our perception of things, and so it upsets us.

But it says here, do not sin, and don't let the sun go down on your wrath and don't give a place to the devil.

So there seems to be 2 kinds of ways of dealing with anger.

Or you have anger, but then there seems to be like, hey, anger is natural.

It is a reaction to something that disturbs you.

But don't let it continue until the sun sets.

Let's spend some time talking about anger.

Like you were saying about anger is an emotional reaction to, and it's usually your perception of what is just or unjust and so it comes from your framework, your morality and so it's a visceral reaction to what you perceive to not be going the right way and that actually is a good thing because if nothing angers you then you have no standards.

There is nothing that could ever go wrong.

If you don't get angry then there is no standards.

That is profound because God gets angry and we got to be very careful we can't attribute human anger experiences to God but there is a visceral reaction to these things.

And it shows that it can lead to a decision so be angry okay and do not sin So that means you have a choice on whether or not your anger leads to sin or not.

And sometimes we feel like it's, well, if I'm angry, then it's just a matter of time, then I sin.

Or just when I'm angry, I have to express it this way.

What is the difference between righteous in that's a that's a term that many people right is anger what is righteous indignation righteous anger indigestion like what is what is that well I think it kind of goes back to what you think was saying it's you know anger is I missed what happened there's an indigestion all right talking about righteous and You get angry when you have indigestion.

So as we, anger comes with comparison to a set of values.

So righteous anger, so depends on what do you define as righteousness.

Is it my personal standards or is it, you know, the immovable standards that God has?

So anything that interferes or anything that, so to say, upsets God's standards is righteous anger.

I would think about things that made Jesus angry and things that didn't make Jesus angry.

So I think of the time where people were saying, like, well, you're an illegitimate child, and we know our father is, who's your father?

It was a personal attack and he didn't get angry.

Yeah, just like, I don't have time for this.

But instead, when he sees people defiling the temple of God, that gets Jesus angry.

And so it's like, man, so it's not just, oh, if I'm personally attacked.

Because Jesus was personally attacked and they had no right to say that it was disrespectful but that wasn't enough to bring out righteous indignation because that wasn't his focus.

So could we modify that verse verse 26 be angry But you can only be angry when it's for other things and not for yourself Well, I and I don't know if I everyone agrees with this, but I think emotions and of themselves are amoral Okay, I don't think they have more attributes So you can be angry and that doesn't mean you're good or bad.

It just means your experience and emotion But then what you do based on that, that's when it starts becoming a moral situation.

And that's probably when it mentions and sin not.

What is an example where you do get angry and a sin results as a result and giving place to it?

Well I can give examples from my childhood.

09-Times of Loss

Do Christians suffer less than unbelievers out there or do they suffer more?

Find out more on this episode of Inverse.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

There's some questions that Christians often have to wrestle with.

Do believers have more benefits believing in God, or are there more suffering and more burdens as believers?

This is the question we're going to raise on this episode of Inverse Weed.

Father in heaven, thank you that in the Bible we find the truth about reality as we live it and we pray father that today as we suffer as we study this Topic of suffering and loss that you'd be with us in Jesus name.

Amen Sebastian we're gonna be in Philippians chapter 3, verse 8, and we're looking at this entire season on the concept of families, and families are often the environment and platform for suffering and for loss, and for a lot of these things.

What is a good verse we can start with in chapter 3?

So we'll start in verse 7 and we'll read 7 and 8.

But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed I also counted all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord For whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ Kelly what's going on there?

I know I know immediate context seems a little bit weird, but help us flush that out.

Yes, I think a good way is to kind of break down the ending part of verse 8.

So it talks about, yeah, all these things, loss, excellence, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish.

So these good things that he listed previously, I count them lost, that, meaning this is the purpose, that I may gain Christ.

And this idea that all these good things that he accomplished or accomplished in him, he doesn't count them as good anymore because he instead exchanges them for the knowledge and this closeness with Jesus Christ.

When you when you start reading the first part of chapter 3, Paul's gonna give us kind of an insight into what his family background is, what his pedigree is, and he's talking about the fact that he's a Jew, that he's like the Jew of the Jews, that he's like the best of the best of the best of the Jews and so he's actually you know we're getting a picture into his genealogy and who he is as an individual and sometimes you know you have this element of the family dynamic of where you come from and this defines you.

And Paul said that all these definitions that are attributed to me because of the family that I come from or the things that I've done, when you come face to face with who Jesus is, it's not only is it nothing, not only is it 0, but it's actually negative, you know, and so I think that's what it's saying.

And I think it's so profound what Paul is presenting to us is the idea that by contrast, the cherished value and preciousness of Jesus and knowing him as a person puts every single thing that we could possibly lose in its proper valuable place.

So it's like, yes, normally you remove Jesus from the equation and man losing my health and losing my life and losing my family is devastating but for the person who knows Jesus this is such a prized possession that I'm actually already considered these things as loss just so I could gain Jesus and as long as I have Jesus me suffering the loss of these things and my desire to serve and to submit my life to Christ helps me to understand that yes, it hurts, but it doesn't hurt as much because I have this precious thing.

And that through this precious thing, I can actually regain anything that I've lost.

So let me ask the question I asked in the opener, do Christians suffer more or do believers suffer less?

I think you know there's there's aspects of the Christian life that you suffer more right because also you're on the opposite side of the devil, devil hates you therefore the devil will do that thing to you, you're a target, so there's persecution, there's health loss, there's trust loss, there's all these other kinds of loss, but you gain Christ.

Back to Menu

Presenter

Callie Williams

All Recordings

13-Turning Hearts in the End Time

27m

12-What Have They Seen in Your House?

26m

10-Little Times of Trouble

26m

09-Times of Loss

27m

07-Keys to Family Unity

27m

05-Wise Words for Families

27m

02-The Choices We Make

28m

01-The Rhythms of Life

27m

02-Among the Lampstands

27m

01-The Gospel From Patmos

27m

06-The Sealed People of God

27m

But, Lord...

32m

Sound Doctrine