1. Adult Bible Study Guide Jul Aug Sep 2015 Adult Bible Study Guide Jul Aug Sep 2015 powerpoint presentation designed by claro ruiz vicente http://clarovicente.weebly.com

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4. Biblical Missionaries Our Goal We will look at mission first and foremost as God’s means for commu- nicating the gospel. Mission is a core part of God’s sovereign activity in the process of redeeming humanity. We will study how God’s eternal purpose has been accomplished in the lives of individuals in the Bible whom He has used to be missionaries to the lost.

5. Biblical Missionaries Contents 1 The Missionary Nature of God 2 Abraham: The First Missionary 3 The Unlikely Missionary 4 The Jonah Saga 5 Exiles as Missionaries 6 Esther and Mordecai 7 Jesus: The Master of Missions 8 Cross-Cultural Missions 9 Peter and the Gentiles 10 Philip as Missionary 11 Paul: Background and Call 12 Paul: Mission and Message 13 Must the Whole World Hear?

6. Biblical Missionaries Lesson 5, August 1 Biblical Missionaries Lesson 5, August 1 Exiles as Missionaries

7. Key Text Daniel 7:14 NIV “ ‘ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.’ ”

8. Exiles as Missionaries Quick Look 1. Daniel and the Exiles (Isaiah 39:6, 7) 2. Daniel as a Missionary (Daniel 4:37; 6:25, 26) 3. Daniel and God’s Kingdom (Daniel 7:13, 14)

9. Exiles as Missionaries Initial Words T HE book of Daniel is also a kind of handbook for missionary activity. Through faithfulness and diligence and unwavering faith, believers revealed the reality of the living God to those who knew only false ones and gave these pagans a chance at a place in this everlasting kingdom, as well.

10. Exiles as Missionaries 1. Daniel and the Exiles Isaiah 39:6, 7 NKJV “ ‘Behold, the day is coming when all that is in your house...shall be carried to Babylon, nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

11. 1. Daniel and the Exiles Exiles as Missionaries T HE reader encounters some of the challenges facing Hebrews living in an alien culture that provided no apparent support for their loyalty to the God of Israel and, at times, was openly hostile. It paints a picture of men who learned to live out their commitment to truth in the absence of the temple, the priesthood, and sacrifices.

12. Exiles as Missionaries Testimonies 8:153 “Every institution that bears the name of Seventh-day Adventist is to be to the world as was Joseph in Egypt, and as were Daniel and his fellows in Babylon. In the providence of God these men were taken captive, that they might carry to heathen nations the knowledge of the true God.

13. Exiles as Missionaries Testimonies 8:153 They were to be representatives of God in our world. They were to make no compromise with the idolatrous nations with which they were brought in contact, but were to stand loyal to their faith, bearing as a special honor the name of worshipers of the God who created the heavens and the earth.”

14. Joseph and Moses in Egypt, Nehemiah in Babylon, and Esther in Persia. Each lived a creative and rich life, skillfully negotiating complex religious, social, political, and economic dynamics far different from those of their home culture. They were in their own ways effective missionaries for the God of Israel. 1. Daniel and the Exiles More Exiles as Missionaries

15. Exiles as Missionaries 2. Daniel as a Missionary Daniel 4:37; 6:25, 26 NKJV “ ‘I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice.... Then King Darius wrote:... ‘[I]n every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for He is the living God, and steadfast forever....’ ”

16. 2. Daniel as a Missionary In Babylon In Daniel 2, Daniel didn’t have a choice: either give the king what he wanted or face death. In contrast, in chapter 3, his three friends could have spared themselves the fiery furnace if they simply had obeyed the king’s command. Instead, by their faithful witness, they were able to testify to the power of the true God.

17. 2. Daniel as a Missionary In Babylon In Daniel 5, he is called upon to explain the extraordinary writing upon the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, foretelling the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire. Belshazzar had had opportunity to learn truth and to be humbled by it. He didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.

18. 2. Daniel as a Missionary In Persia In Daniel 6, he was thrown into a den of lions, but God dramatically intervened in a situation that even the sympathetic king could not reverse. Daniel’s deliverance so pleased the king that he issued an empire-wide royal decree exalting the God of Daniel.

19. Exiles as Missionaries 3. Daniel and God’s Kingdom Daniel 7:13, 14 NKJV “And...One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!... To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.... His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”

20. 3. Daniel and God’s Kindom Visions of Superpowers In Daniel 7–12, he had his own visions, which revealed the future of great world superpowers. His visions especially emphasized that, despite earthly rulers and their machinations, God retains final control of nations. In the end, He and His final kingdom will triumph, and that triumph will be complete (see Dan. 2:44).

21. 3. Daniel and God’s Kindom Visions of Superpowers “ ‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel...then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains’ ” (Matt. 24:14–16).

22. 3. Daniel and God’s Kindom Visions of Superpowers Jesus closely linked the book of Daniel to the end times, which, isn’t surprising, because Daniel in many places does indeed point to the end times (Dan. 8:17, 19; 11:35; 12:4, 13). And, according to Jesus, the end doesn’t come until “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world” (Matt. 24:14, NKJV).

23. Exiles as Missionaries Final Words The gospel is to be preached unto “all the world,” and only then will Jesus return. And we are the ones called to preach it. Some then argue that Jesus can’t return until we do our work. How are we to understand our role in the timing of Jesus’ return?