with David Platt
TM
For many believers around the world, following Christ is not simply unpopular or discouraged. It’s dangerous.
KNOW HIS WORD. KNOW HIS PERSECUTED.
Each year’s Secret Church gathering consists of over four hours of intense Bible study, as well as a concentrated time of prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.
We hope you’ll not only believe these truths, but also share them with others. The goal of Secret Church is to serve the church in making disciples of all nations, all for the glory of God.
secretchurch.org Copyright © 2019 by David Platt and Radical, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
Published by Radical, Inc.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Why Is This Called Secret Church? Te idea behind Secret Church comes from time David Platt spent teaching and ministering among underground Asian house churches. Due to hostility from the government, from the surrounding community, and even from their own family, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are forced to gather in secret, sometimes at the risk of their lives.
Te plight of our persecuted brothers and sisters also explains why prayer for the persecuted church is a major part of every Secret Church gathering. We remember those who cannot meet openly, asking God to sustain their faith, to change the hearts and the actions of their persecutors, and to use their witness for the spread of the gospel. We also pray for the unreached, those who have little or no access to the gospel.
Why So Much Teaching for One Night? We realize that each Secret Church study contains too much biblical teach- ing—over four hours worth!—to digest in one sitting. Tat’s one reason we make it available in bite-size segments at radical.net. However, this deluge of teaching is meant to remind us of the hunger for God’s Word that exists among many underground churches around the world.
With few opportunities to gather and little access to biblical teaching, our persecuted brothers and sisters may meet for eight to twelve hours at a time simply to sing, pray, and study God’s Word. Tis God-centered focus is a help- ful corrective to the desire for entertainment that characterizes many church gatherings in the U.S.
What’s the Goal of This Study? We hope your faith will be strengthened as you encounter teaching from God’s Word in this study. However, the truths you hear are not meant to stop with you. You are encouraged to teach them to others as you meet one-on-one or as you gather in small groups and churches. Secret Church is intended to be a resource for making disciples both locally and globally.
We urge you to consider the role God may have for you and your church as you take the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to those in your own community and to unreached peoples among the nations. For more Secret Church resources, go to radical.net. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...... 5
Old Testament
Te Pentateuch ...... 7
Te Historical Books ...... 47
Wisdom Literature ...... 87
Te Prophets ...... 113
New Testament
Te Gospels ...... 145
Acts ...... 186
Letters from Paul ...... 213
Letters from Others ...... 225
Index ...... 246
Somalis of East Africa ...... 251 PRAYER, FASTING, AND THE PURSUIT OF GOD
Why Are We Here?
• We have many questions about prayer.
Prayer: with God.
does prayer work? When does God answer? Why pray when God already knows what I need? Or does He? pray when God has already determined what will happen? Or has He? What do I do when it feels like I’m praying into thin air? How do I know what God is leading me to do in my life?
• We are very confused about fasting.
Fasting: from physical food for spiritual purposes.
Te world has defned it in diferent ways. Te church has it in most ways. Few of us do it. Most of us avoid it.
• We are relentlessly tempted to forsake the pursuit of God.
Te Pursuit of God: Te quest to know, enjoy, worship, and love God.
We are self-sufcient (or so we think).
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We are always busy (or so we say). We are easily . We are constantly . We are addicted to food. We are accustomed to comfort.
What Is Our Plan?
• Let the do the work. 125 Texts and Takeaways Explore biblical truths. Answer personal questions. Ofer practical exhortations.
• the Word in the process.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)
- 6 - 125 TEXTS AND TAKEAWAYS A Biblical, Practical Overview of Prayer and Fasting
THE PENTATEUCH
1 GENESIS 1–4: Essential Foundations
The Nature of God . . .
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)
• He is the supreme .
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
• He is the sovereign King.
And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. (Genesis 1:30)
• He is the righteous Judge.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17)
• He is the merciful Savior.
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
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The Nature of Men and Women . . .
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fsh of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26–27)
• We are created in the of God. We are a unique refection of God. We are utterly reliant upon God. We are ultimately responsible to God.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fll the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fsh of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
• We are created for the of God. To enjoy a relationship with God. To rule over all creation. To refect and multiply God’s glory to the ends of the earth.
The Nature of Sin . . .
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the feld that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1–6)
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• We are beings.
• We are in a spiritual battle. Satan can speak and is smart. Satan is a malicious liar and an evil murderer.
• We are full of .
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned . . . (Romans 5:12)
We question God’s Word. We doubt God’s love. We choose our ways.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fg leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:7–13)
• We need a faithful .
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the feld; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14–15)
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One who is fully like us. One who is fully like God. One who will redeem us from our rebellion against God. One who will restore us to a relationship with God.
The Nature of Salvation . . .
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8–9)
• God the guilty. A relationship with God begins not with our pursuit of Him, but with His pursuit of us.
“When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at frst aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when frst I received those truths [of the doctrine of election] in my own soul—when they were as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God. One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon. The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth fashed across my mind in a moment—I should not have sought him unless there had been some previous infuence in my mind to make me seek him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that he was the Author of my faith, and so the doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, ‘I ascribe my change wholly to God.’” – Charles Spurgeon
A relationship with God continues because of God’s personal, faithful, perpetual pursuit of us.
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“However far and fast I’ve run, still over my shoulder I’d catch a glimpse of You on the horizon, and then run faster and farther than ever, thinking triumphantly: Now I have escaped. But no, there You were, coming after me. There was no escape. I have never wanted a God, or feared a God, or felt under any necessity to invent one. Unfortunately, I am driven to the conclusion that God wants me.” – Malcolm Muggeridge
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
• God the shameful. Purity of heart is essential to be in the presence of God. Sacrifce for sin is necessary to experience communion with God.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a faming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22–24)
• God the fearful. God’s grace alone keeps us from experiencing His eternal wrath.
“I saw my condemnation in my own heart, and I found no way wherein I could escape the damnation of hell, only through the merits of my dying Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” – George Leile
God’s grace alone allows us to enjoy His eternal love.
“We were living in slavery to sin and Satan, and the Lord hath redeemed our souls to a state of happiness, to praise his glorious and ever-blessed name; and we hope to enjoy everlasting peace by the promise of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.” – Thomas Nicholas Swigle
The Need for Prayer . . .
The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin
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is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6–7)
• Te appeal of sin and selfshness is strong before us.
Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the feld, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:8)
• Te antidote to sin and selfshness is God above us.
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. (Genesis 4:25–26)
2 GENESIS 12; 15; 17: TWO REALITIES AT THE HEART OF COMMUNION WITH GOD
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-fve years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb. (Genesis 12:1–9)
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• God graciously . He provides direction for us. He makes promises to us.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:1–8)
• We gladly . We take radical risks. We trust in radical .
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteous- ness. (Genesis 15:1–6)