Sunday Bible School
September 8, 2024
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Revelation - Part XVI
September 8, 2024
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Revelation - Part XVI
Summary of the presidents message
The Sunday Bible School on September 8, 2024, was held live from the Mahanaim of Domingos Martins, Espírito Santo, with the participation of pastors Gedelti Gueiros, Gilson Sousa and Josias Junior.
Message from pastor Gilson Souza:
We greet all the brethren with the peace of the Lord Jesus!
We are starting the Sunday Bible School. The topic to be discussed is the message of the
Holy Spirit resonates among the Faithful Church, in relation to the prophetic markers that are being fulfilled in our days, in preparation for the Church’s rapture.
Pastor Gilson Sousa presented responses from various brethren to the questions posed, and several experiences and testimonies related to the Sunday Bible School.
Message from pastor Gedelti Gueiros:
I greet you all with the peace of the Lord. Let’s answer the questions posed.
Question
Reading Revelation chapter 2, verses 8 to 11, which speaks about the period of the Church of Smyrna, what is the emphasis of the operation of the Spirit of the Lord in this Church? Cite the verse.
Answer: The Spirit of Wisdom, Verse 8.
The church that exchanged the values of the present life for the values of eternal life. It died with Christ to be resurrected with Him.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:’” (Revelation 2:8)
We see in the history of the church in the time of Smyrna, the moment that God’s servants lived, their struggles and persecutions (tribulation of ten days) suffered. The wisdom of the church was in exchanging the values of this life for eternal life. The first struggle of the church was opposition to doctrine, which occurred in the time of Ephesus. The opposition came from within the church, but also from outside. From within were those who
Pr. Gilson Sousa conducting the Sunday Bible School
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Revelation - Part XVI
wanted to oppose doctrine. From outside were the Jews who understood that salvation was in the law. Salvation in the Old Testament was by law. But in the New Testament it is by grace.
The difference lay in the fact that grace was operated in the heart. It would be the Holy Spirit who would say where sin was. Because it is the Holy Spirit who tells what is not right in your life.
Thus, the wisdom of the church, in the time of Smyrna, was to die to this life to be resurrected and live eternally with the Lord. Jesus was alive. It was not simply the operation of the letter, but of the Spirit. They were convinced that there was an eternal death and an eternal life. Between eternal death and eternal life, they chose eternal life, even if they were to lose their temporal life.
In Ephesus, apostolic doctrine
was established. Smyrna would live the doctrine. The great persecution begins with Stephen, the first martyr, and will end in Pergamos with Antipas, the faithful witness.
“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9)
Thus, between the time of the church of Ephesus and Pergamos existed the church of Smyrna. Martyrdom begins in Smyrna and ends in Pergamos, where the ten waves of persecution end. There is not, properly, a chronological separation. What is important is the prophetic that commands time.
Pr. Gedelti Gueiros leading the summary of the Sunday Bible School
The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Revelation - Part XVI
Question
Reading Matthew, chapter 13, verse 25, in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, what is the prophetic application of the expression: “but while men slept...”?
Answer: It refers to those who slept in the Lord through physical death.
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.”
(Matthew 13:25)
In the first persecution, there was the obstacle of the Jews and the Roman Empire. It was the opposition to prevent the Word from being announced. But the church began to prosper. The Roman Empire saw that this growth was dangerous. And, because of this, persecutions came. The first persecutions were until the year 100. Persecutions came to Stephen, James, Peter, and Paul. The suffering of the church to live the
doctrine began.
When the period of Smyrna comes, due to the growth of the church, persecution increased. And they were persecuted to death. In the letter to Smyrna, the expression used in the letter was “persecution, poverty, and death”. Despite all this, the church overcame this phase.
Testimony of two young women who were martyrs during the period of Emperor Septimius Severus
In the time of Septimius Severus, the emperor prohibited conversions to Judaism and Christianity. The Gospel had grown and multiplied. In a city called Carthage (North Africa), two young women lived: Perpetua and Felicity. Both were twenty-two years old. Perpetua was from a rich family. It was a privilege to be literate at that time. She wrote a diary. Felicity was a family ser-
vant, but for Perpetua, she was a sister in Christ.
Perpetua was very faithful. Faced with the emperor’s law, they were denounced and arrested. Perpetua had just had a baby. Perpetua’s mother was a believer. Felicity was eight months preg-
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The Preparation of the Church for the Rapture - Revelation - Part XVI
nant. They were arrested along with six servants of the Lord. Perpetua records that the prison was very unsanitary. There was also a law that a pregnant woman could not be martyred. Perpetua’s father went to the prison to ask her to deny the Lord and respect his gray hair. “You need to take care of your son”. She answered him, saying: “Do not be afflicted, for nothing will happen if it is not by God’s will. We are not arbiters of ourselves”. And she went to the others to say: let no one deny the Lord.
When Felicity had the child, they took everyone to the amphitheater of Carthage: the two with six more servants of God. For the men, they released a boar, a leopard, and a bear. For the two, they released wild cows. The cow goes directly to the person. One of the cows made a charge and lacerated a part of Perpetua, tearing her dress. She gathered her clothes, not worried about her wound, but concerned about not exposing herself. Felicity came and hugged her. The animals charged against both. A soldier, who was there, cut the neck of one of them. On the other, he missed and hurt her a lot. But then he killed her.
In the diary, made by Perpetua, she records that she had spiritual gifts. In one of the gifts, she saw a ladder that went up to heaven, but there was a serpent in the middle. She discerned and spoke to her fellow prisoners: “We will have a battle, but we will reach eternity”.
Question
Reading Matthew, chapter 13, verse 28, who sowed the bad seed and what is the prophetic application of this bad seed?
Answer: An enemy is who sowed the bad seed. It prophetically refers to contrary doctrines that were disseminated among the brethren.
“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’” (Matthew 13:28)
This question was answered through the videos sent.
Question
Reading Revelation, chapter 2, verse 9, who was the group that said they were Jews and were not? What did they disagree with in the message of Christianity preached by the Early Church?
Answer: This group was formed by those who wanted to impose the doctrines of the Old Testament on the brethren. They disagreed with the doctrine of grace by preaching salvation by works.
“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9)
This question was answered through the videos sent.
May the Lord bless us.
Pr.
Gedelti Gueiros President of the Maranata Christian Church