The Prisoner in the Third Cell by Gene Edwards Read Free Book Online

questions as I faced death!”
    â€œSo did I when I faced death. Just as I did not answer you, neither did my Father answer me. We died in quite similar ways.”
    â€œYou died? You died as ignominiously, as I did?”
    â€œYes, John. But I rose from the dead.”
    â€œYou rose from the dead? But how?
    â€œCome, brother John . . . take my hand. The moment has come. I will now take you to that place where you know . . . even as you are known.”
    Dear reader, no one can fully understand the pain you feel as you suffer your present situation. Whether it came upon you because of circumstances or by the deeds of men, one thing is certain. Before this present tragedy entered into your life, it first passed through the sovereign hand of God.
    â€œAnd blessed are you . . .”

Book Discussion Guide
    1. Look at pages 17–19, which describe John’s absolute devotion to God, unimpeded by cares of this world. What would you require, or what thorns would you need to pull from your life (see Luke 8:14), to live unhindered before God?
    2. We remember John for many things, not least Jesus’ praise in Matthew 11:11: “Of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.” But in this story, John never felt his ministry was great. What’s your opinion of your own legacy? How do you expect people will remember you?
    3. How do you generally react to nonconformists—people who don’t fit in by nature or by choice? How does your immediate community respond to them? How welcome are they in your church?
    4. How can we recognize a person of God? What are the hallmarks to look for, and how can we avoid looking at the wrong factors?
    5. John railed against the Pharisees, who had burdened the people with man-made religious rules. Are there any religious or social systems today that might prevent people from connecting with God? What can you do to change or oppose those systems?
    6. John answered God’s calling and, though he had questions, never looked back. What is God calling you to do? How can you be wholehearted?
    7. Has God ever failed to meet your expectations? How did you respond to Him? What happened in your relationship with Him as a result?
    8. Why did Hannel and Parnach land in the first and second cells? How did they respond to their predicaments? What is your response when you face adversity or trouble?
    9. When John’s disciples brought his question to Jesus (pp. 48–50), what caused Jesus such anguish? Do you think Jesus has ever had a similar response to your own doubts or anxious fears?
    10. Reread chapter 16. How do you respond to a God we do not understand, who is capable of healing many but does not heal all? Have you ever been offended with God? If so, what are the standards to which you were holding God? Why do you think He remains so difficult to understand?
    11. Think of a time when you’ve prayed or pleaded and the only answer has been silence. How did this affect your relationship with God? What do you think God was saying by remaining silent?
    12. “I will always be something other than what men expect me to be. I will work out my will in ways different from what men foresee” (p. 73). Do you agree with the author’s proposition? What can we know of God? What sort of assumptions about Him should we avoid?
    13. Do you trust your understanding of God, or do you trust God Himself (ch. 19)? When is it easy to confuse the two?

Please turn the page for an excerpt from A Tale of Three Kings . . .
    Chapter 1
    The youngest son of any family bears two distinctions: He is considered to be both spoiled and uninformed. Usually little is expected of him. Inevitably, he displays fewer characteristics of leadership than the other children in the family. As a child, he never leads. He only follows, for he has no one younger on whom to practice leadership.
    So it is today. And so it was three thousand years ago