Wes Peppers

Lansing SDA Church

The Two Witnesses of the Two Witnesses

Father in heaven, this morning as we open your scripture, as we consider counsel from the spirit of prophecy, I just pray, Lord, that you would come upon us, that you would draw us close, and that you would help us to see the blessing that we can receive from these things which we'll discuss this morning.

I pray your Holy Spirit would cause us to be stirred, our hearts to be stirred.

We would see the importance of things that we will discuss, and Lord, that your Spirit would convict us to make the right decisions and to make the right adjustments in our life to be able to honor You in everything that we do.

And we know, Lord, You have such a deep love for us, a love deeper than we can ever even imagine.

So we ask Your blessing now and we come in Jesus' name.

Now if you go to the book of Revelation chapter 11, which we're not going to do right now but if you go there you can write it down and read it later you read about 2 witnesses that the Bible talks about being killed and laying in the streets and then they are eventually resurrected, right?

And so the Bible talks about them they, because of the word of their testimony, they are killed and then they're laying in the streets for 3 and a half days and we've studied this before in our seminars on prophecy and then they are raised to life and they are called back up to heaven, right?

How many of you remember even in the spring we studied this in the revelation, Unlocked Revelation series and many people always ask who are the 2 witnesses and who are they?

The Bible talks about them and in the book of Zechariah chapter 4 you can read the whole chapter we're not going to read it this morning you can write that down and go home and read it this afternoon but in Zechariah chapter 4 it speaks about these 2 witnesses and it that stand before 2 olive trees or they are 2 olive trees that stand before the throne of God.

And the Bible says that they are the word of God.

And of course, there's 2 testaments to the word of God, the old and the new, right?

And so they are the 2 witnesses, the Old and the New Testament.

But the question we want to ask this morning is, who are the 2 witnesses of the 2 witnesses?

Not the 1 I have for today, but I could preach another sermon on that.

So I have to ask you a question that will help us identify that.

What are the 2 greatest corporate and sacred assemblies outside of divine worship that open God's word and provide opportunities to study it and understand it better through prayer.

Tell me what those 2 things are, if anybody can guess.

Now this is a new year so you ought to expect a sermon like this from your pastor, amen?

How many of you would expect that from me?

Now I can't find a Bible verse to support that, Actually I can kind of a principle wise and we'll look at some of that.

But Sabbath school and prayer meeting are the 2 witnesses of the 2 witnesses.

They are the 2 services that testify that we have as an organized movement of Christians of believers that testify of the Word of God.

We come to Sabbath school to study the Word of God.

We come to prayer meeting to study the Word of God and to pray at both meetings that we may understand the Word of God more thoroughly.

In the divine worship service, we are not able to fully break down things as we are in Sabbath school, amen?

So we're going to talk about both of those this morning for just a little bit.

And we're going to see the importance of them.

We're going to answer a number of questions.

Somebody might ask, what is Sabbath school?

Well, if you're visiting with us from a Sunday church, it's very similar to what?

It's where you come together in a classroom type setting to study the word of God and to do it on a personal level.

So Sabbath School is an opportunity for members and guests to come together for the sole purpose of studying the Bible on a personal level.

Right now, you're hearing the Word of God proclaimed on a public level, but Sabbath school offers us the opportunity to do it personally, interactively, yes?

And it typically precedes the divine worship hour, so it's right before it.

What are the 5 main purposes of Sabbath school?

Number 1, spiritual growth, nurture, and discipleship of old and new members.

Number 2, interactive, personal and deep Bible study that disciples members.

So in Sabbath school, in the worship hour, it's very important, divine worship is very important, but you don't get that personal interaction, you don't get that personal connection, that personal study, right?

So you get that in Sabbath school, and it's also interactive.

Number 3, small group fellowship that nurtures personal relationships.

I often find people that say, well, you know, I come to church, and I don't really, I talk to people but I don't really know them.

How many of you ever heard somebody say that?

I won't ask you to raise your hand but how many of you have said that?

I get the, and so what Sabbath school does is it gives you the opportunity in a small classroom setting to be able to interact with other believers, amen?

So some people say, well, we have such a big church.

Well, Sabbath school is 1 of many opportunities you have to do that, amen?

Number 4, opportunity for local outreach and soul winning.

And you know, this year, each department, every month is going to be leading an outreach.

And so, Sabbath school was actually originally intended for new believers and people that weren't of our faith to come in and be able to learn about our truth.

And to be able to understand what we believe so that they can give their lives to Christ and follow Him.

So Sabbath School fosters local outreach.

And number 5, if I can get my thing to work here, gives you an opportunity to participate and support in world mission.

How many of you believe that world mission is important?

We take up offerings in Sabbath school for missionaries.

We have mission projects through Sabbath school.

How many of you think that you wanna grow spiritually this morning?

How many of you think that you wanna be nurtured in your faith?

How many of you think you need discipleship?

How many of you think you need interactive personal Bible study?

How many of you think you need group fellowship and personal relationships with others?

How many of you think you want to do, or that we need to have local community outreach, amen?

The Sacred Circle

The Sacred Circle: A Higher Calling

Father, this morning we're thankful to be a part of a church family.

We have many families that make up the larger church family.

And Lord, we want to have strong families.

We want to have families that are true disciples.

We want to have families that are loving and kind to each other.

We wanna have families that have a missionary spirit in the home.

We wanna have families that are tight knit, close together.

And so Father, we pray that today and every day, your spirit will be poured out upon us.

We wanna pray, Father, that you would move upon us, you would draw us close to you, close to each other.

And we pray today, Father, that as the world has sought to creep into our homes, I pray today that as mothers and as fathers and as young people, we would take back our homes, we would take charge of our homes, and we would allow them to be sacred circles of sweet godly influence, and their presence would be there.

We ask your spirit to guide and lead and we come in Jesus' name, amen.

Last week we looked at 5 areas of the covenant marriage.

And those areas were, number 1, was what?

It actually won't be today, but it'll be soon.

And we're going to post those on the website as well, but I'll have a hard copy for you also.

We want to be honest in our homes, completely honest, even if the wife says, does this look good on me today, honey?

My wife doesn't always like when I say, honey, that doesn't look the best.

And honest in all things, in our private life.

Is there such a thing as a private life in the home, yes or no?

Number 3, we talked about trust and respect, right?

Being able to trust each other's word and respecting each other and we talked about that in depth.

And number 5 was intimacy, spiritual, emotional, and physical intimacy.

We talked about those 5 aspects of a covenant marriage.

Now what's the alternative to a covenant marriage?

And a contract marriage is based upon you meeting whose needs?

A covenant marriage is based upon what can I do for you?

So which kind of marriage do we want to have?

Now today, I want to talk a little bit about families, the family unit involving the children in this.

And we're going to take a look at 5 different areas of a happy home.

Now that doesn't mean these are the only 5 areas.

I wish that I could talk about this a lot more than I am, but there's enough for probably 20 or 30 sermons, and I'm trying to compact it all into 1.

So I try to take the broadest strokes and put it into a message.

All right, I wanna just start with this statement from the book, The Adventist's Home, page 21.

It says, while there are weighty responsibilities devolving upon the parents to guard carefully the future happiness and interests of their children, it is also their duty to make home as attractive as what?

This is a far greater consequence than to acquire estates and money.

For your children to have a happy home, a nice place, And when I say happy, when I say nice, I don't mean a big fancy home, but to have good memories, to have pleasant experiences, to have joyful moments in the home.

That is more important to your children than what kind of house you live in.

Then how much money is in the bank and how many vacations you take, what kind of car you drive, how many boats or motorcycles you have.

It's more important for your children to have a happy, simple, pleasant home than it is to acquire money or estates.

The home feeling should be kept alive in the hearts of the children that they may look back upon the home of their childhood as a place of peace and happiness next to heaven.

Now, maybe some of you did not have that growing up.

Some of you may have had a very bitter experience, a very negative experience, But that doesn't mean that we can't turn that around for our own children.

And if you've you've have children grow, then for your grandchildren.

Yes, I can remember my home was kind of back and forth.

But what I always knew when I went to grandma's house, that was a great time.

My grandma always had something cooked for me, whether it was pinto beans and cornbread or, or homemade apple pie or something.

And he could always count on the blessing of Grandma's house.

And so whatever you are, if you're single by yourself, you have the opportunity to minister to some young person.

And when they come to your home to make it pleasant for them, amen?

Now, when it says make them pleasant and happy, What it doesn't mean is to indulge.

And we're going to talk about that here as we go.

So Here's a verse I want us to understand that makes every home a happier home.

The Sacred Circle: Godly Love in the Home

Father, we thank you so much this morning for the opportunity to study your word.

We pray that as we look at this precious subject, that your presence would be with us, your presence would be close to us, that you would draw sweetly near to our hearts.

And we ask for your blessing in Jesus' name.

Make us like you in our homes, in our workplace, in the church, everywhere we are, Lord.

May we love each other as you have loved us.

There's a bit of information in this 1, but we won't tarry too long on anything.

Well, last week we talked about covenant versus contract marriages.

And we hit that pretty hard from the book of Genesis and all of us are either in a contract or a covenant marriage or relationship is that true when you are involved in just relationships with other people You can have a covenant or a contract relationship.

And I'm not going to go through all these again.

I went through them last week, but I didn't want to hit the 2 bottom ones.

A contract marriage or relationship demands joy through mutual benefit.

In other words, I'm in this relationship because you're satisfying a need that I have.

And then also a person will say, I'll meet your need as long as you meet what?

A covenant relationship, however, seeks joy through mutual what?

Not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you.

The circle of life is that I give and receive, but giving comes what?

And also, in the contract relationship, you have this concept of that I will split you in 2 if that's necessary to get what I need or to defend and protect myself.

We saw that from Genesis 2 and Genesis 3.

In Genesis 2, God established between Adam and Eve a covenant relationship.

But in chapter 3, when sin came into the picture, it brought about a what?

Contract, and that woman whom Adam was so ready to love in chapter 2, he was ready to throw her under the bus in chapter 3, right?

He said, oh, the woman you gave me, right?

And so sin always will carry us from a covenant relationship to a what?

But the good news is that in Genesis 3 15, because both Adam and Eve had entered into that contract relationship, God said, I will make a covenant with both of you and I will be the 1 that will be split in 2 for your sakes.

And he's done the same thing for each 1 of us.

And so the only true success in marriage is going to come when God is at the what?

If we are both looking up towards Jesus in the marriage, then we're both going to be drawn closer to him, and as we're drawn closer to Him, we're drawn closer to who?

Now what we're going to talk about today is 5 areas of the covenant relationship or the covenant marriage.

Now let me help you understand in 1 sermon you cannot cover everything okay?

I'm gonna hit the core of the core and do my best to do that.

By the way I want to recommend some books to you.

There's a lot of great books out there and I'll give you a list of books next Sabbath, but I always want to recommend this book right here, The Adventist Home.

If you've not read this book in your home and you're planning your marriage, please do so immediately, like today.

Also, the last 4 chapters of the book, Ministry of Healing, the last 4 chapters deal so powerfully with relationships, both marriage and others.

I don't know if you've ever seen this book, The 5 Love Languages.

How many of you have seen this book before?

Here's a book that the conference, I'm so thankful in the Michigan conference, on our anniversary, they actually send us some kind of book or DVD every year that will enhance our marriages.

And this is the book they sent us this year.

It's a really wonderful book called Lifelong Love by Gary Thomas.

And then here's a book, I'm not necessarily pointing you to this book, but Willard F.

There's a book called His Need, Hers Needs, also by the same author.

Any books by this gentleman are very good.

There's lots of books out there, but these are some of the ones that have blessed us in a very special way.

Now we can't cover everything as I mentioned, but I do want to hit these 5 points.

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 19.

Matthew 19, and we're going to start in verse 5 and 6.

It says, and he answered and said to them, have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female and said for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the 2 shall become 1 what?

We talked about this last week, and that word 1 flesh means ikad, which means 1 in unity.

So we maintain our individuality in marriage, yes or no, but we are still yet 1.

Then he says, so then, they are no longer 2, but 1 flesh, therefore what God has joined together, let not man do what?

Now you hear those words all the time in a marriage ceremony, right?

When God is joined together, let no man separate.

But that includes both the other man and yourselves.

And God wants us to not separate, but He wants us to be 1.

The Sacred Circle: Joyous Covenant

Father, this morning, we come to You, praising You, thanking You, rejoicing, Father, in the joy that we find through Jesus Christ.

The love and the peace that we find in Him can compare to no earthly treasure, no earthly relationship, no earthly joy.

And Father, we would come this morning seeking to know You, seeking to be known by You, Lord, seeking to be experiencing the fullness of your Spirit.

And we pray, Father, that you would draw close to us this morning.

We lift up those families that have had loss this week, and we pray, Father, that your Spirit would be close to them, that you would draw near to them, that you would minister to them.

And Father, we pray that our church family would also put their arms around them.

Father, it's terrible to lose loved ones.

It's terrible to lose children and parents and brothers and sisters and friends, Lord.

But we know that this is not Your original plan.

So we pray, dear Father, that as we draw close to each other, we draw close to You, Lord, that Your love would fill our hearts and fill those voids that we often experience.

And now, Father, we turn our eyes upon You to be drawn to You through the worship of the Word.

And we pray that that Word would be broken today, that our hearts would be comforted, convicted, and encouraged.

And Lord, we ask all these things to be poured out in Jesus' precious name.

I want to just review with you from last Sabbath, a few statements and a few thoughts before we move in here.

Adventist's home, page 17, says, God would have our families symbols of the family in heaven.

Let parents and children bear this in mind every day, relating themselves to 1 another as members of the family of God.

Then their lives will be such a character as to give to the world an object lesson of what families who love God and keep His commandments may be.

His peace and grace and love will pervade the family circle like a precious perfume." How many of you think that's a beautiful statement?

How many of you want your homes to be like this.

Whether you're single, whether you're married, whether you have children, it doesn't matter.

And God desires and has designed that the family would be a revelation of the relationship between Himself and His people on earth.

But even further than that, God would design that the family unit would be a revelation of the relationship between the Trinity in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So we saw last week real quickly that from ages 0 to 3, the child watches and learns more from who?

And then from the ages of 3 to 5, the child watches and learns more from who?

What I wanted you to see and remind you of this week is that from ages 5 to 9, the child actually watches how the mother and the father do what?

So, 0 to 3, you can be sure, my daughter is attached at my wife's hip.

She has to know where my wife is all the time.

Back to Menu

Presenter

Wes Peppers

All Recordings

The Two Witnesses of the Two Witnesses

42m

The Sacred Circle: A Higher Calling

53m

The Sacred Circle: Godly Love in the Home

51m

The Sacred Circle: Joyous Covenant

48m

Remnant Surrender

2h 4m

5. Separating the Saints and Splitting the Sanctuary

1h 2m

4. Friendly Competition or Great Controversy?

1h 4m

3. Enhancing or Endangering Spirituality?

1h 3m

2. Self Worth or Self Period?

1h 2m

1. Prayerful Character or Prideful Contempt?

1h 1m

13. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 3

1h 16m

12. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 2

52m

Sound Doctrine