Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210002S
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00:01 Hello and welcome once again to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:03 We are so excited that you have joined us today 00:06 in a wonderful study. 00:07 We're going to be on lesson number 2. 00:08 We're going to encourage you 00:10 how to get that lesson in just a moment. 00:11 We're going to be talking about 00:12 "Crisis of Leadership." 00:14 Leadership is so, so very important to all of us. 00:17 And this lesson brings up some very good points, 00:19 and I'm sure that you won't want to miss it. 00:21 Get your pencil and paper. 00:22 Get your Bible and, you know, 00:23 check what the panel is saying 00:25 to make sure it lines up with the Word of God. 00:27 I think that's wonderful if we do that. 00:29 And If you don't have those study guides, 00:31 imperative that you get them, at least in my opinion, 00:34 that way you can study right along with us. 00:36 You can download those at ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:40 That's ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:44 Get yourself a copy and continue to study 00:46 right along with us every week. 00:49 We know it's going to be a blessing 00:50 because we believe the Holy Spirit 00:51 of the Living God is involved. 00:53 Again, glad you join us. 00:55 We're getting ready to start right now. 00:56 So get ready. We'll see you in just a moment. 01:29 Hello and welcome back. 01:30 It sure looks like you didn't go anyplace 01:32 and I'm happy about that. 01:33 Praise God. 01:35 Again to study it's just going to be excellent. 01:37 I know it is but the material 01:38 that we went over crisis of leadership. 01:41 Now think about crisis of leadership 01:43 and what that really means. 01:44 I know, in my own personal life, 01:47 I needed good leadership. 01:48 I needed somebody 01:50 that was willing to stand out there, 01:51 show the way, set the example, 01:53 and when they didn't, lot of times, I fell apart. 01:56 So maybe this lesson will help you 01:57 as well as helping me. 01:58 So anyway, we're glad that you're, 02:00 if you joined us. 02:01 Introduce our panel, shall we? 02:03 On my left, Pastor John Lomacang. 02:04 Always a treat and a pleasure. 02:05 Good to be with you, Pastor Kenny. 02:07 Don't you? 02:08 You love to study the Word, don't you? 02:09 Oh, yes, Isaiah is particularly a blessed book. 02:11 Yeah. 02:12 I mean we did the first lesson already. 02:14 I'm just, I'm on a spiritual high. 02:15 Amen. 02:16 And this is number two 02:18 and I think it's going to get better as we go. 02:19 To your left, Sister Jill Morikone. 02:20 Blessing, always good to have you 02:22 and study with you. 02:23 Privileged to be here and to open up God's Word, 02:25 I am excited about the study. 02:26 Oh, absolutely. 02:28 And then on your left, that's Sister Shelley Quinn. 02:31 Always a joy 02:32 and the Lord just brings something out of you 02:34 at different times and it just blesses our heart. 02:36 Thank you. Praise the Lord. 02:38 And He'll bring some more out today. 02:40 We're relying on Him. To your left, Brother Ryan Day. 02:43 Blessing, blessing, my Brother. 02:44 I'm so glad to have you here. 02:46 Me too. I'm good to be here. 02:48 Yeah, you know, sometimes 02:49 it's just nice to know the panel, 02:51 not that everybody knows everything. 02:52 We're all learning 02:53 and we're in the school of Christ 02:55 and we'll be learning through the ceaseless ages, 02:56 but it seemed like here on the panel 02:58 and I get myself in a jam. 02:59 I can just point to any of you and say help me, help me 03:02 and you can do it by the grace of God. 03:04 So you see, I mean, it's good to have that concreteness, 03:07 you know, together 03:09 as we worship the Lord together. 03:10 We want to pray. 03:12 I'm a believer in prayer 03:13 and I know you are too, Pastor John. 03:15 Would you pray for us please? 03:16 Sure. Let's pray. 03:17 Loving Father in heaven, 03:19 thank You so much for the privilege 03:20 and opportunity of opening Your Word. 03:21 We know that as we continue our trek 03:23 through the Book of Isaiah, 03:25 Lord help us to put on spiritual boots, 03:28 to be able to navigate a ground that may be familiar to us, 03:32 but is far deeper than we can ever imagine. 03:35 Give us wisdom and understanding to glean 03:37 from what you have written 03:39 that we may not only see the historical aspects, 03:42 but how it may apply to our lives 03:44 and give us guidance, 03:45 for this day we ask in Jesus' name. 03:48 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 03:50 Thank you. 03:51 And then we go right naturally right to our memory text 03:53 which is, it's like dynamite to me 03:56 when you really look at it. 03:57 And, Sister Jill, would you read that for us please? 03:59 Sure. 04:00 Isaiah 6:1, 04:02 "In the year that King Uzziah died, 04:04 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, 04:08 and the train of his robe filled the temple. " 04:12 I'm going to use it the lesson there, 04:14 because there's several good questions 04:16 that are asking some answers that are worth pondering. 04:20 You know, I like questions sometime that make me think, 04:23 you know, and in this lesson 04:25 I think it does it in lesson number two. 04:27 It said, 04:28 "When asked by one of his disciples 04:29 about the ingredients of a good government, 04:32 Confucius answers, " 04:33 not sure about Confucius. 04:35 I'm just, okay. I'm reading it. 04:36 Confucius answered, and he said 04:38 "sufficient food, right, sufficient weapons 04:41 and confidence in the common people." 04:44 So he threw out three things. 04:45 I think it's very interesting 04:46 that we might look at little bit closer as we go. 04:48 But the ones who are his followers ask, 04:51 but what maybe, 04:52 if you had to get rid of one of those and get rid of, 04:55 which one would you get, you know get rid of first? 04:58 And he said, "Oh, weapons." 05:00 He said, "Oh, okay, you get rid of weapons." 05:02 And then, of course, 05:03 he was pressed a little bit farther. 05:05 If you had to get rid of another one, 05:06 which one would you get rid of? 05:07 There's only two left 05:09 and he said, "The next one, I'd get rid of food." 05:11 They said, "Oh my, get rid of food. 05:13 Man, you know what? 05:14 People need food to go and to fight 05:16 and to do whatever they do. 05:17 We all need good food." 05:18 And so then they asked him again, talking about here, 05:21 I thought it was interesting. 05:22 Confucius, that he replied, 05:24 "Food from of old, hunger has been the lot of all men, 05:29 but a people that have no longer trusts 05:32 its rulers is lost indeed." 05:34 I thought that was interesting. 05:36 If we've lost our trust in our leaders, 05:40 our rulers we're lost indeed. 05:42 In the church, we need good rulers, 05:44 good leaders. 05:45 That's right. 05:47 You know in the government, everything and then the home. 05:50 You know, in your home, 05:51 it needs to be somebody or both mom and dad. 05:54 Good leaders, they're in the home 05:56 because if we don't have that, 05:57 everybody kind of goes their own way. 06:00 So people do, notice this, 06:02 as a people do indeed want strong, trustworthy leadership. 06:08 When the soldier was signing up, 06:09 notice this, for his second term. 06:11 I remember when I was in there and they, 06:13 "Are you going to sign up for a second term? 06:15 I was saying no as I was running. 06:19 Weren't about to. 06:20 You know, but thank God, lot of them are. 06:22 But he was asked, 06:23 "Are you going to be able to sign up, 06:25 you know second term?" 06:26 And he said right here, 06:27 "I tried the civilian life. 06:30 I got out of the service. 06:31 I tried civilian life, 06:32 but you know nobody's in charge out there." 06:36 So there are a lot of people 06:38 who love to be in something that's organized, 06:39 you like to have someone that's in charge, 06:41 someone that you know that you can go to, 06:43 someone that you can trust, 06:44 someone that's going to be there, 06:45 someone that's just consistent 06:47 and I think that's probably 06:49 what we're looking at in this week's lesson. 06:51 We'll look at Judah's crisis of leadership 06:54 and the sad results that followed. 06:56 We go to Sunday's lesson. 06:58 There's so much in here 06:59 and we won't have time to do it all. 07:01 But Sunday's lesson is entitled, 07:02 "The King is Dead." 07:04 Long live the king. 07:06 Not sure what all that means but it sure as we dig into it, 07:08 we'll find out. 07:10 Notice, our memory text, we read here talks about that, 07:13 the death of King Isaiah, notice this. 07:16 To get a better picture of the significance 07:17 of the king's death, 07:19 I think we turn to 2 Chronicles 26. 07:22 Now it wants to really to do the whole chapter 07:25 and really it takes too long to read the whole chapter. 07:28 I hate to say it that way 07:29 but it takes a long time to read it. 07:30 So we're going to pick through 07:32 I think some valuable verses 07:33 that will help us to understand what was going on. 07:35 We'll look at this foundation, we will look at this. 07:38 I want to call it the fact that this sets up. 07:41 He reigned for a very... 07:43 The king reigned for a long time, didn't he? 07:44 Now I wonder why he reigned for a long time? 07:47 Because he was doing the right things, 07:50 you know, and that's the way it is in any aspect of our life. 07:52 If we do the right thing, God has promised to bless. 07:55 He's promised to open things up. 07:57 He's promised to open the windows of heaven 07:59 and pour out great blessings 08:01 and not room enough to receive. 08:02 But again, on condition of obedience to doing 08:05 what God would have us to do, 08:07 but sometimes even in, 08:08 I think he reigned for 52 years, wasn't it? 08:10 That's a long time for a king, 08:13 but along the way something happened. 08:16 And sometimes it happens in our Christian experience 08:18 along our walk with God, something happens. 08:21 And in this instance, he lost his power, 08:26 he got out of control. 08:28 Pride came in and so he lost it. 08:32 And pride is very, very dangerous we know that. 08:35 Bible tells us that pride leads, 08:36 you know, to destruction. 08:38 Proverbs 16:18 says, Pride cometh before what? 08:42 Before haughty spirit of destruction. 08:44 So pride comes there and then destruction 08:47 and you see all throughout Scripture, 08:48 that's very consistent. 08:50 God allows man to go. 08:51 He doesn't come in 08:53 and just change things all at once. 08:54 He gives us time to get things right 08:56 and to get back with Him. 08:58 And I'm very grateful and thankful for that 09:00 and I'm sure you are too. 09:01 He didn't cut me off, He saved when I fall down. 09:03 He's still there to reach His hand down to pick us up 09:05 if we're willing to do that. 09:06 Proverbs 29:23 says, 09:09 "Man's pride shall bring him low." 09:12 Didn't say it would elevate him. 09:14 Man's pride would do what? 09:15 Let him low. 09:17 And we know the story certainly of Nebuchadnezzar 09:18 of what happened. 09:20 You don't want to eat grass out in the field for seven years. 09:22 you know, till we come to our senses. 09:25 I look at pride and I'll put equal presumption. 09:29 Presumptuous person, think about that. 09:31 That means when you're presumptuous, 09:33 you overstep. 09:34 And a lot of times we overstep even in the cause of Christ. 09:38 We overstepped more than what God has called us to do. 09:42 This may hurt some people's feelings, 09:43 not trying to do that. 09:44 But sometimes we're not even supposed to be, 09:46 that God never called us, 09:48 but we want to be there and so we pushed to do that 09:51 and this is certainly what happened to the king 09:52 as you well know, 09:54 overstepping or taking something for granted. 09:57 We never want to do that in the cause of Christ. 09:59 So 2 Chronicles 26:1-5. 10:02 Just again, we're not going to read that 10:03 but I want you to read it there and just let's go over. 10:05 This again it's a... 10:07 Talked about the king says he was 16 years old 10:10 when he began to reign. 10:11 Interesting about an early age. 10:13 I don't know if 16 year olds could do 10:15 maybe what they did then or whatever but it's early, 10:18 it's very early and very young to begin to reign. 10:20 Again 52 years and he did that 10:23 which was most of the time went right 10:25 in the eyes of God. 10:26 Number three, he saw God and as long as he did, 10:29 God prospered him. 10:31 And so I could just say that if we get nothing else out, 10:33 if you do what is right, 10:34 I guarantee you God will prosper you. 10:37 We all want to prosper, don't we? 10:38 We will always say we want to be in health, 10:40 but we have to do the right things 10:41 by the grace of God 10:43 listed out in certainly in His Word. 10:45 2 Chronicles 26, 10:47 just jot it down, 16 through 15. 10:49 It tells how the king became strong. 10:53 It's like that would be good for all of us 10:54 if we want to be strong in the Lord, 10:56 not in the world, but in the Lord. 10:58 2 Chronicles 26:16 starts out, tells of his downfall. 11:03 So we can read that. 11:04 Pride took control. 11:05 He became... Whoo! 11:07 I like to say sometime 11:09 he became too big for his britches. 11:11 His head got too big for his crown. 11:13 We could use other things, 11:15 but you know that happens sometimes. 11:17 It even happens in the religious realm 11:18 and certainly it should not. 11:21 We don't want to get, to try to get too big for God 11:23 because you know, 11:25 God's bigger than anything that we think we can do. 11:27 Now, read this verse in 2 Chronicles 26:16. 11:31 I just want to read this 11:33 because I've referred to it here. 11:34 It said, "But when he was strong, " 11:36 talking about the king here, notice, 11:37 "his heart was lifted up to his destruction, 11:41 for he transgressed against the Lord," what? 11:44 "His God." 11:45 He went into the temple of the... 11:47 Oh, notice what he started doing here. 11:49 God never asked him to go in there. 11:51 He may have been the king. 11:53 They had big britches. 11:54 They had a big crown. 11:56 God never asked him to go in there, 11:58 but he's going to go in there and you know, 12:01 because when he went in there because he's going to burn 12:03 what was incense upon the altar. 12:05 And I think he had everything 12:08 which he needed to burn the incense 12:09 so he meant business. 12:11 He went in there. 12:12 He started to go in there to do it, 12:13 but what happened? 12:15 The priest. 12:16 The priest, praise God, 12:18 some of the priest stopped him and said, 12:19 hey, you can't go in there. 12:20 You're not authorized to go in there. 12:22 So that this makes us think about certain things 12:23 that God has authorized us to do and other things 12:26 He is not authorized us to do, 12:28 even in the ministry in my opinion. 12:31 We have to be very careful about that. 12:33 Now the king, he became very angry 12:35 like you can't tell me whether I can go in there 12:37 and you know do what was it to, burn incense. 12:40 You can't tell me that. 12:42 Verse 19, the king became very angry. 12:45 He'd already had the censer in his hand and notice this, 12:48 when the king refused reproof. 12:50 Notice what happened? 12:51 What did God? God does this sometime. 12:53 Sometime immediately, 12:55 God steps in and stops the situation. 12:58 With the king, immediately he turned leper. 13:00 Right, leper? 13:02 He was, oh my, he said leprosy. 13:04 How long did he have the leprosy? 13:07 It's the rest of his life. 13:08 He thought he could go in 13:10 and do what God has not asked him to do 13:11 and God said, no, he's not going to. 13:12 It separated him from the church, 13:15 it separated him from the men, of his people. 13:18 He had to live as it were by himself. 13:19 He was cut off from the house of God 13:22 because he's tried to do that 13:24 which God did not ask him to do. 13:26 So I think we have to be very careful about that. 13:27 Don't you? 13:29 We just do that what God asks us to do. 13:30 I'm going to read this quickly in last minute or so here. 13:32 I like this, Review and Herald, August the 14th, 1900. 13:36 Notice what this says? 13:38 The case of the king as it were that revealed, 13:40 how God will punish the sin of presumption. 13:42 Notice. 13:44 The Lord has ordained men 13:45 to certain positions in the church 13:48 and He would have, 13:49 not have them step out of the place 13:52 to which He has appointed them. 13:54 When the Lord gives them a measure of success, 13:57 somebody listen up. 13:58 They are not to become lifted up 14:01 and think themselves qualified 14:03 to do a work for which they are not fitted 14:06 and to which God has not call them. 14:10 Some of us, surely, we wouldn't want to do that. 14:12 We don't want the frown, 14:14 right, of God 14:15 and to me and Isaiah is given warnings here 14:17 that we need to fit, 14:18 and I encourage you to fit where God wants you to fit, 14:22 where you know where He's called you, 14:24 and don't go beyond that. 14:26 Just stay within that. 14:28 I'll tell you, sometime men will try to hold you back. 14:30 If God has ordained it the other way, 14:31 man cannot hold you back. 14:33 Don't worry about that. 14:34 God opens doors. 14:36 He sends you through those doors. 14:37 He blesses you. 14:39 Allows you to do things 14:40 that maybe man wouldn't allow you to do. 14:41 But you know what, 14:43 we cling to the arm, right, of God, not of flesh. 14:45 So we need to look at this, you know, the difference 14:47 and I wish we had time, 14:48 we don't to look at the difference between 14:50 the, the contrast between the king and Isaiah. 14:53 The king fully tried to force his way in there, 14:55 but Isaiah he set back and he said, 14:58 I'm going to wait on God and He'll take care of. 15:00 Pastor John? Yes. 15:01 Wow, thank you, Pastor Kenny. 15:03 You went over one of my favorite stories. 15:07 The story of Uzziah, 15:08 not favorite because of how it turned out. 15:12 But favorite because Uzziah is the only one 15:16 that was second in line 15:17 when it came to wealth in the Bible. 15:20 When it based on Solomon's, 15:21 Uzziah was that one 15:23 and beginning to reign when he was 16 years old. 15:26 Mercy. 15:28 Monday's lesson is entitled "Holy, Holy, Holy." 15:32 Now, why is Isaiah 6:1-4 so vitally important 15:37 is because God gave Isaiah this vision 15:40 to remind him of who is in charge. 15:44 Yes. 15:45 You know, sometimes when difficulty comes 15:47 and the nation is in disarray. 15:49 Wow. Okay. Let me not even take that exit. 15:54 God has to remind us that He is still in charge. 15:56 Amen. 15:58 I've often said to people 15:59 and you know as we talk about this lesson, 16:02 it's amazing how 2020 was an amazing year for us, 16:06 but God is still in charge. 16:08 Want to make it very, very clear. 16:09 Men come and go, dynasties rise and fall, 16:12 kingdoms crumble and kingdoms are built, 16:15 presidents come and presidents go, 16:17 but Isaiah and Uzziah are parlayed 16:21 for a particular reason 16:22 and as I studied this 16:24 how Pastor Kenny, I discovered one of the reasons 16:26 why Isaiah 6:1 begins where it does 16:29 is because Isaiah says 16:31 in the year that King Uzziah died, 16:33 Isaiah 6:1, I saw the Lord. 16:36 Now I came to discover 16:37 that the emphasis is on I I saw the Lord, 16:41 sitting on the throne high 16:42 and lifted up and the train of His robe filled the temple. 16:45 What I discovered in the story 16:47 becoming familiar with Uzziah's life 16:48 all the way through, 16:50 is the vision that God had for Uzziah, 16:53 he gave it to Isaiah instead. 16:55 Because Uzziah forfeited the blessing that God... 16:59 As I mentioned in one of prior lessons, 17:01 God's blessings are always conditional. 17:03 Uzziah went where God never sent him, 17:05 wanted what God never gave him 17:08 and wanted to occupy a position 17:10 that God never qualified him for. 17:12 And by the way, 17:13 80 priests came to the door 17:15 and chased Uzziah out of the temple 17:19 and then God booted him out and when leprosy broke out, 17:23 it broke out on his Uzziah's forehead, 17:25 the very place where the problem was. 17:27 It was not what people thought about Uzziah, 17:30 but it was what Uzziah thought about himself. 17:32 Yes. 17:33 He was feared when he was an honorable man, 17:35 but he experienced the fear of the Lord 17:38 when he lost his honor, 17:40 the honor that God intended for him to have. 17:42 Let's go to Isaiah 6 now. 17:44 Let's begin to unpack 17:45 why this is so vitally important. 17:47 Why is the vision of understanding 17:49 who is in charge 17:51 vitally important for the people of God today? 17:53 I'm going to read verses 1 to 4. 17:56 I just read verse 1, 17:58 but I'll go ahead and look at the context, 18:00 the setting in which this vision was given. 18:02 Verse 2 of Isaiah 6. 18:04 "Above it," 18:05 that's above the throne, 18:07 "stood seraphim. 18:08 Each one had six wings, with two he covered his face, 18:11 with two he covered his feet, 18:12 and with two he flew, 18:14 and one cried to another and said, 18:16 notice, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 18:21 The whole earth is full of His glory 18:25 and the posts of the door were shaken 18:27 by the voice of him who cried out, 18:30 and the house was filled with smoke." 18:34 The vision that Isaiah sees is the same vision 18:39 that was synonymous 18:40 with the people of God in Israel. 18:42 Whenever God's presence was in the temple, 18:44 smoke filled the temple 18:46 and it was important for them to see in the smoke 18:50 through which they couldn't see the holiness of God. 18:53 God's holiness. 18:55 Isaiah is given the vision, after the deaths, 18:57 after the death of Uzziah, 18:59 but God gives him a vision 19:01 while the nation is in turbulence 19:04 and political turbulence at that. 19:06 But God reminds Isaiah who is in charge, 19:09 while the Assyrians are on the warpath. 19:11 And this is something that's really important because, 19:14 now they were great nations that opposed Israel. 19:16 Great nations that opposed Judah, 19:19 and for time it looked like 19:20 the opposing nations were about to wipe out 19:24 the existence of the nation 19:26 through which the blessings of God were going to come. 19:29 But when they got to that brink, 19:31 where it could have spelled the end of Judah 19:33 or the end of Israel, 19:35 God said, wait a minute. All right. 19:37 I'm still on the throne. 19:38 I'm still the one high and lift it up 19:40 in the midst of a crumbling 19:42 political world of Isaiah's day, 19:44 as well as in the midst 19:46 of a crumbling world in our day, 19:48 angels confirm that God's glory is still intact. 19:53 But the question was asked by the writer, 19:55 where is the glory of God? 19:56 While Isaiah has reminded that 19:58 God's glory is where it always has been, 20:01 on the universe's, on the throne of the universe. 20:05 Look at Isaiah Chapter 46. 20:08 It's a good lesson, this lesson really calibrates our mind. 20:11 In a world that we're facing now, 20:13 we are not secure because of presidents, princes, 20:17 prime ministers or dictators. 20:19 We are secure because 20:20 God is still in charge of the universe. 20:22 I was saying to someone just the other day 20:25 and I say this to you, 20:27 the story is going to end the way that God wrote it. 20:29 That's right. Amen. 20:30 It's not going to end any other way. 20:31 That's right. 20:33 Isaiah 46:9-10, 20:34 "Remember the former things of old, 20:36 for I am God and there is no other." 20:39 Don't forget that. 20:40 I am God and there is none like me. 20:44 Why should we keep trusting God 20:45 in the midst of a crumbling world? 20:46 Yes. 20:48 Declaring the end from the beginning 20:49 and from ancient times things that are not yet done. 20:54 What is God saying? 20:56 My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. 20:59 Matter of fact, go with me to Revelation, 21:01 what just brought this to me, 21:03 you know, the Revelation scenario 21:04 doesn't take into consideration 21:06 political party or power or wealth 21:08 or anything of the nature. 21:10 Let's look at Revelation Chapter 17, 21:13 and we'll look at a couple of verses here. 21:15 Revelation Chapter 17. 21:17 This is not in my notes. This is extra. 21:19 No charge. Okay. 21:21 Here it is. 21:23 Revelation Chapter 17 and it says in verse 13, 21:27 speaking about the coalition of Babylon. 21:29 It says, 21:31 "These are of one mind 21:32 and they will give their power and authority to the beast." 21:36 But verse 14 says, but don't forget. 21:39 These will make war with the Lamb 21:41 and the Lamb will overcome them, 21:43 for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, 21:46 and those who are with Him are called chosen and faithful. 21:49 You might wonder what 21:51 with such a threatening coalition, 21:53 how is it that the Lamb wins? 21:55 Well, look at verse 17. 21:57 Look at verse 17. 21:59 For God, 22:00 echoing the words of Isaiah 46:9-10. 22:03 "For God has put it into their hearts 22:08 to fulfill His purpose." 22:09 All right. 22:11 To be of one mind 22:12 and to give their kingdom to the beast 22:15 until the words of God are fulfilled. 22:18 Don't forget that. 22:19 He says, "I'll do all My pleasure." 22:21 God says, 22:22 "Even if you go on the wrong direction, 22:24 I'm going to put it in your mind 22:25 to fulfill My will." 22:27 That's powerful, we have to remember that. 22:28 Because right now in this world, 22:30 that's being built back better or being reset. 22:33 There you go. 22:36 God is saying, "I'm still in charge." 22:37 Good news. 22:39 We are living in fearful times for the people of God. 22:42 So why would the Lord make an appearance to Isaiah 22:45 in the temple as opposed to any place else? 22:49 Exodus 25:8 tells us why. 22:51 Why would God make an appearance to Isaiah 22:53 in the temple 22:55 as opposed to any place else? 22:58 Exodus 25:8, 23:00 "And let them make me a sanctuary 23:02 that I may dwell among them." 23:04 God appears where God knows 23:07 His appearance makes a difference. 23:08 He wants to dwell among us. 23:10 So He appears in the very place where one day, panel, 23:14 this is going to be beautiful. 23:15 We often talk about this 23:16 but we know that there's no earthly sanctuary services now, 23:19 but one day 23:20 we are going to see the face of God 23:22 and the glory of God. 23:23 We're going to finally realize 23:25 what Moses saw 23:26 when God gave him the pattern to build the temple. 23:29 What Isaiah saw when Uzziah lost his reign, 23:32 and what we're going to see one day. 23:34 Let's go to another text in the Bible, 23:36 Exodus Chapter 14. 23:38 God shows Isaiah that through the vision, 23:41 this is a time of pause. 23:43 Sometimes God has to cause us to pause to allow us 23:48 to recalibrate our vision of His glory." 23:49 Yes. 23:51 Exodus 40:34-38, 23:54 "Then the cloud covered 23:55 the tabernacle of the meeting 23:57 and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 23:59 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting 24:03 because the cloud rested above it 24:05 and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 24:08 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, 24:12 the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 24:17 But if the cloud was not taken up, 24:20 then they did not journey till the day 24:23 that it was taken up. 24:25 For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day 24:29 and fire was over it by night 24:32 in the sight of all the house of Israel 24:35 throughout all their journeys." 24:38 Now, what was that cloud saying? 24:40 I'll transition on this passage. 24:42 Zachariah 2:13. 24:45 You know, it's difficult to look into the future 24:48 when a world is turbulent. 24:49 But God says to Isaiah, 24:51 He said it to Moses and He says to us, 24:53 and my transitional text is Zachariah 2:13, 24:57 these words of encouragement. 24:59 Be silent all flesh before the Lord, 25:02 for He is aroused from His holy habitation. 25:06 God is still on the throne. Amen. 25:08 Praise the Lord. 25:10 That's exciting. Isn't it? 25:11 Now, you don't want to go away 25:12 because we're going to be right back in just a second. 25:20 Ever wish you could watch 25:21 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:24 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:27 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 25:32 A clean design makes it easy 25:34 to find the program you're looking for. 25:36 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:40 so you can follow along. 25:42 Sharing is easy. 25:43 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:46 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:51 I see you didn't go anywhere. Praise God for that. 25:53 We're going to get right into Tuesday's lesson 25:55 with Sister Jill Morikone, 25:56 "A New Personality." 25:58 "New Personality." Absolutely. 26:00 I love that, the transforming grace of God. 26:04 We're in Isaiah 6. 26:05 We're going to look at verses 5 through 7. 26:07 Thank you both so much for that foundation laid, 26:11 because it's pivotal for what takes place here. 26:13 We know that Isaiah is in this vision. 26:17 He's in the sanctuary, in the temple as it were. 26:20 We know that this is right after King Uzziah died. 26:23 And it's a time of great national apostasy. 26:27 the people at that time. 26:29 And Isaiah says, let's just jump in verse 5. 26:31 He says, 26:33 "Woe is me, for I am undone 26:36 because I am a man of unclean lips 26:38 and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 26:41 For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts." 26:46 So when I read that verse, my question is, 26:48 why did Isaiah react the way that he did? 26:52 Now if your eye had seen seraphims 26:54 and had seen celestial beings crying holy. 26:58 Holy, holy. 26:59 If we had seen this vision of the sanctuary or the temple, 27:02 we would have been overcome. 27:04 Oh, yeah, That's right. 27:05 But to understand the significance 27:07 in Isaiah's mind, 27:08 we have to look just a bit at Israel's history, 27:11 at the sanctuary service 27:12 and specifically as the lesson brought out 27:14 the Day of Atonement. 27:16 So we're gonna look at four quick things 27:19 before we really jump 27:21 into the takeaways of this passage. 27:23 Number one, there was an appointed time 27:25 to enter the Holy of Holies. 27:27 Turn with me to Leviticus 16. 27:29 Of course Leviticus 16 specifically talks about 27:32 the Day of Atonement. 27:35 Leviticus 16:2, 27:37 "And the Lord said to Moses, 27:38 'Tell Aaron your brother, 27:39 not to come at just any time 27:41 into the Holy Place inside the veil, 27:43 before the mercy seat which is on the ark, 27:46 lest he die, 27:47 for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat." 27:50 Of course, we know 27:52 the Day of Atonement happened once a year, 27:54 but there was an appointed time. 27:56 They couldn't just wander in any time they felt like it. 27:58 There was an appointed time to enter the Holy of Holies. 28:02 Number two, 28:03 only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. 28:07 Hebrews, keep your finger in Leviticus, 28:10 we're coming right back there. 28:11 But Hebrews 9:6-7 says, 28:15 "Now when these things have been thus prepared, 28:17 the priests always went 28:19 into the first part of the tabernacle 28:20 performing the services. 28:22 But into the second part, 28:24 the high priest went alone once a year not without blood, 28:29 which he offered for himself 28:30 and for the people's sins committed in ignorance." 28:32 So you notice, not anybody was allowed in, 28:35 just the high priest. 28:37 Point number three, 28:39 a cloud of glory was required even then 28:43 or the high priest would have died. 28:44 They needed that protective smokescreen 28:47 as it were of incense. 28:50 Back to Leviticus. 28:52 Leviticus 16:12 and 13. 28:54 "Then he, Aaron, 28:55 the high priest would take 28:57 a censer full of burning coals of fire 28:59 from the altar before the Lord 29:01 with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine 29:05 and bring it inside the veil. 29:08 And he shall put the incense on the fire 29:10 before the Lord 29:11 that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat, " 29:15 that is on the testimony lest he die. 29:19 And why was that important? 29:20 Because point number four, 29:22 sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God. 29:27 Genesis Chapter 3, remember Adam and Eve, 29:29 when they sinned in the garden. 29:30 And Genesis 3:8. 29:32 What does the word of God say? 29:34 Adam and his wife hid themselves 29:37 from the presence of the Lord God 29:38 among the trees of the garden. 29:39 Why is that? 29:41 Because sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God. 29:44 We get all the way down to the last book of the Bible 29:47 in Revelation 6 29:50 and we see this imagery of the second coming of Christ. 29:53 And the wicked, 29:54 what are they doing in Revelation 6:16. 29:56 They cry out, fall on us to the rocks. 29:59 They want to hide. 30:00 Hide us from the face of Him, 30:02 who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 30:05 for the great day of His wrath is come 30:06 and who is able to stand? 30:09 So the four things that Isaiah would have remembered 30:12 from his context, 30:13 from what he knew was that 30:16 there was an appointed time to enter the Holy of Holies. 30:18 Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. 30:21 That a cloud of glory was required 30:24 even then or the high priest would die 30:26 and that sin cannot exist in the presence of God. 30:30 And I can't see inside his mind, 30:31 so this is Jill's supposition. 30:33 But if I were there, I would think, 30:35 it's not the Day of Atonement. 30:37 I'm not the high priest. 30:38 There's clearly a cloud here, 30:41 but I am a sinner in the presence of a Holy God. 30:46 I am unclean. 30:48 I am unworthy. 30:51 God, clean me. 30:53 God cleanse me. 30:56 God sanctify me. 30:58 That's why he said that, 30:59 I am undone, I have unclean lips, 31:02 my people are sinners, God plea. 31:05 And so we see in verse 6, what does God do. 31:08 "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, 31:10 having in his hand a live coal 31:12 which he had taken from the tongs from the altar. 31:15 And he touched my mouth with it, 31:18 and he said: 'Behold, 31:19 this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, 31:23 and your sin purged.'" 31:26 So what are the lessons that we see 31:28 from this passage? 31:30 I see four lessons. 31:31 Lesson number one, 31:33 recognition of God precedes 31:36 recognition of my own sinfulness. 31:40 Recognition of God of who He is, 31:43 of His mightiness, 31:45 and glory of His purity and holiness 31:48 that always precedes recognition 31:51 of my own sinfulness. 31:53 Isaiah said, what did he say? I am undone. 31:56 I dwell in the midst of a people 31:57 of unclean lips. 31:59 Why? 32:00 Because my eyes have seen the glory of God, 32:02 because he had gotten 32:04 just a tiny glimpse of God's holiness, 32:08 of God's character. 32:10 That led him to that recognition 32:13 of his own sinfulness by contrast. 32:16 Romans 2, what does it say? Romans 2:4. 32:18 The goodness of God leads us to repentance. 32:23 Lesson number two, repentance precedes cleansing. 32:28 Always repentance comes before cleansing. 32:32 The seraphim came with a coal from the altar after 32:35 Isaiah said, woe is me, I am undone and I am unclean. 32:41 1 John 1:9, 32:42 "If we confess our sins, 32:44 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 32:47 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 32:51 Confession and repentance 32:53 precede forgiveness and cleansing. 32:56 That's right. 32:57 Lesson number three, fire precedes purification. 33:01 That's right. 33:03 Number 31:23. 33:05 Everything that can endure fire, 33:08 you shall put through the fire and it shall be clean. 33:12 So why is it put through the fire? 33:14 That purification process in the fire 33:17 makes something clean, 33:20 it makes us pure. 33:21 Zachariah 13:9. 33:23 This is in the New Living Translation. 33:25 "I will bring that group through the fire 33:27 and make them pure. 33:29 I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold". 33:34 That the coal from the altar 33:36 was symbolic of that purification process 33:40 that God wants to do in your life and in mine. 33:44 1 Peter 1:7, Peter puts it this way, 33:46 the genuineness of your faith 33:48 being much more precious than gold that perishes. 33:52 Though it is tested by fire, 33:54 may be found to praise honor and glory 33:56 at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 33:59 So the coal from the altar 34:01 that the seraphim took purified Isaiah, 34:03 prepared him for his mission. 34:07 Now, this is kind of a side note, 34:08 but this is very fascinating to me with Uzziah. 34:10 Remember Uzziah, the king received leprosy. Why? 34:14 Because he took the coals from the altar 34:16 and he tried to offer them as incense. 34:19 Isaiah received purification 34:23 because the seraphim used the coal from the same altar 34:27 and they made Isaiah himself the incense. 34:32 So Uzziah wanted to offer incense 34:35 but Isaiah, he became the incense. 34:38 Lesson number four, final lesson. 34:40 Holiness precedes any sending forth. 34:45 You know, we're not called, Isaiah was not called. 34:47 We call Isaiah 6:1, the call of Isaiah. 34:51 He was not called 34:53 because he was talented or special or extraordinary. 34:56 You and I are not called to serve Jesus. 35:00 We are not called to evangelize or to witness 35:03 because we are talented or special or extraordinary. 35:07 True. That's right. 35:08 We are called because God has touched us 35:11 and purified us for service. 35:14 God doesn't call the qualified, 35:16 but He qualifies those whom He calls. 35:19 That's true. 35:21 And this is what we see 35:22 before the call went forth to Isaiah. 35:25 We see this purification, 35:26 this cleansing process that had to take place. 35:29 So recognition of God His character and holiness 35:32 precedes recognition of my own sinfulness. 35:35 Repentance precedes cleansing. 35:39 Fire precedes purification 35:41 and holiness precedes any sending forth. 35:45 And, Shelley, you have the call for sending forth. 35:48 Amen. Praise the Lord. 35:49 Thank you for setting that up. 35:51 So we're going to look 35:52 at Wednesday's lesson is the "Royal Commission," 35:56 and we will look at Isaiah 6:8. 36:00 So he says also 36:03 I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 36:06 whom shall I send and who will go for us? 36:11 And then he said, then said I, here I am, send me. 36:17 You know to me it's a remarkable contrast 36:19 that it goes from the personal singular pronoun, 36:23 who shall I sent, 36:25 to the plural pronoun us 36:26 and that doesn't prove the Triune God, 36:31 but I think it implies it pretty strongly. 36:34 So Isaiah has this unforgettable vision of God 36:39 in the holy sanctuary 36:41 and the closer you get to God the more you know God 36:44 the more you will recognize your own sin. 36:47 And you know what, recognizing our sins painful, 36:50 but the repentance is so joyful. 36:55 I've got a teaching 36:56 that I called the joy of repentance. 36:59 People always say what, the joy of repentance? 37:03 Repentance is joyful. 37:05 So here his tongue is touched with this burning coal, 37:11 which was symbolic of cleansing and you know what happens, 37:14 once Isaiah has seen this perfectly sinless 37:17 pure holy God, 37:19 he is ready to consecrate his life to God's service. 37:25 He and this holy boldness comes on him 37:29 and he takes God's statement, 37:33 who shall I send and who will go for us? 37:36 He takes that as a personal invitation, 37:38 you know, we should too. 37:40 Jesus has the Great Commission. 37:42 He has sent us out, 37:44 but he was eager to go 37:47 wherever God wanted to send him. 37:49 And he was humbled by the experience to do that. 37:55 Multiple places in the Scripture 37:57 give us evidence 37:59 that God's sanctuary is a place of encouragement. 38:05 Psalm 73, 38:06 if you want to turn there, let me set this up. 38:09 What's going on in Psalm 73? 38:12 The psalmist is wallowing in self-pity. 38:16 Have you ever done that? 38:18 But the reason he's wallowing in self-pity is because 38:22 it seems like the wicked are prospering, 38:24 while the righteous are those who are living a righteous life 38:29 are having difficulties. 38:30 Then look at verse 17. 38:32 Psalm 73:17. 38:34 He said, he's struggling with this 38:38 until I went into the sanctuary 38:43 and then I understood their end. 38:48 So his attitude completely changes 38:51 because once he's in the sanctuary, 38:54 he's realizing that 38:56 the whole world is under God's sovereign control 38:59 and he recognizes, 39:01 hey, I'm on the right side of things. 39:04 So he gained victory over temptation 39:10 when he recognized God's purpose. 39:12 Now let's look at Hebrews 4:14-16. 39:16 Probably one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, 39:20 Hebrews 4:14. 39:22 This gives us another vision of the heavenly sanctuary. 39:26 It says, 39:28 "Seek then that we have a great high priest, 39:32 speaking of Jesus, 39:34 who has passed through the heavens, 39:36 Jesus the son of God, 39:38 let us hold fast our confession. 39:41 For we do not have a high priest 39:44 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 39:49 but was in all points tempted 39:52 as we are yet without sin." 39:57 When you envision Jesus, 40:02 God became a man. 40:05 He became the Son of man. 40:06 He became this Son of God, the covenant Son of God. 40:10 Do you realize 40:12 the reason that we can come boldly before the throne? 40:17 It's because we have Christ, 40:19 our high priest 40:21 sitting at the right hand of the throne 40:25 and He knows, 40:26 He understands you when you're feeling weak, 40:29 when you're feeling tempted. 40:31 He was tempted in all ways as we are, 40:33 yet He was without sin, 40:36 but He's got that heart for us. 40:38 He understands 40:40 and He knows how to certainly intercede 40:45 and mediate on our behalf. 40:47 So then it says in verse 16, because, 40:53 because you've got this high priest, 40:55 let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace 41:00 that we may obtain mercy 41:04 and find grace to help us in time of need. 41:09 You know, God invites you as His child 41:14 to come before Him with boldness. 41:16 That means with security in your heart, 41:20 with assurance that He's on your side, 41:23 He has your eternal benefit at mind. 41:25 Now, we should come with reverence. 41:28 We don't take God for granted, but come with reverence, 41:33 but don't hesitate, come before Him. 41:36 So Hebrews 10, 41:37 let's look at that while we're there. 41:40 Hebrews 10:19-23 says, 41:44 "Therefore brethren having boldness 41:47 to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus." 41:50 Here the high priest could only go in once a year, 41:54 but now we've got this, this privilege. 41:58 Why? 41:59 Verse 20, we've got, 42:01 we can enter with boldness by a new and living way, 42:06 which was consecrated for us through the veil, 42:09 that is through the flesh of Jesus Christ. 42:12 And then he says, "Let us hold fast" 42:16 in verse 23, 42:18 "the confession of our hope without wavering, 42:21 for he who promised is faithful." 42:25 It is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ 42:29 that the veil was ripped open into the Holy of Holies. 42:33 That gives us permission to go in with confidence, 42:37 with boldness. 42:39 As a child of God, 42:41 we come and sit right at His feet 42:45 and we can have utter confidence in His promises. 42:49 So here's one more, very quickly. 42:52 We've got a few minutes, couple of minutes left. 42:55 Here's a... 42:57 Turn to Revelation Chapter 5. 43:00 This is a throne room scene of the heavenly throne room. 43:06 What's happening is, John sees the scroll, 43:09 this book that's got these sealed 43:12 with seven seals. 43:13 And in this book, 43:15 this regards God's plans to solve this sin problem, 43:20 to save fallen humanity. 43:23 This is, it contains the full mystery 43:26 of what's going to occur at Christ's second coming, 43:30 but he's looking around and he's going, who's worthy? 43:35 There's no man in heaven or earth 43:37 who's worthy to open this 43:41 except one, 43:43 the Son of man, the Son of God, the lion of Judah, 43:47 the root, the root of David. 43:50 He had prevailed. He had conquered. 43:52 So verse 6, this is Revelation 5:6. 43:57 John says, 43:58 "I looked and behold and in the midst of the throne 44:01 and the four living creatures in the midst of the elders, 44:04 stood in lamb, 44:06 as though it had been slain 44:07 having seven horns, seven eyes, 44:10 which are the seven spirits of God sent out. 44:14 And then he says, 44:16 the seven horns that's perfect authority. 44:19 Seven's the number of perfection. 44:21 Perfect wisdom. 44:22 This is worthy is the lamb. 44:26 And then verse 9, 44:27 once they recognize that this sinless lamb is worthy, 44:32 He's gained victory for us by carrying His lamb. 44:35 Verse 9. 44:37 It says, "Oh, they sang a new song. 44:39 You're worthy to take the scroll, 44:41 to open it seals for you were slain. 44:44 And then every creature is worshiping. 44:48 Now here's what 44:50 our author of the quarterly had to say. 44:55 Not only does God's sanctuary throb 44:57 with awesome power, 44:59 it's a place where weak and faulty people, 45:03 such as we can find refuge, 45:05 we can be reassured 45:07 by knowing that God is working to rescue us through Christ, 45:11 our high priest. 45:13 And he says, 45:14 John saw Christ representatives 45:16 as sacrificial lamb that had been slaughtered, 45:20 not a pretty sight, 45:22 but the description makes the point 45:24 that although Christ was raised from the dead, 45:26 ascended to heaven, 45:28 He continually carries the cross event with Him. 45:33 He is still lifted up 45:35 in order to draw all people to Himself at His altar. 45:40 Amen. Praise the Lord now. 45:42 My goodness. Yeah, well. 45:44 I love that. I love this story. 45:46 It just seems like yesterday 45:47 I was, I was in the, my class in AFCOE, 45:51 we were at AFCOE a few years ago 45:53 when I was going through 45:54 the Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism 45:56 and our class got to sit in on one of Pastor Doug series 45:59 that he entitled Formula for Faith. 46:01 And he used this conversion experience of Isaiah, powerful. 46:05 And as I'm hearing you guys go through this, 46:08 it's setting us up for Thursday's lesson, 46:11 which is entitled "Appalling Appeal." 46:15 And it is quite an interesting appeal. 46:18 And you could just imagine, I can imagine you know, 46:21 the reader, anybody reading this, 46:23 or maybe even perhaps the humanity of Isaiah 46:27 as he's hearing all of the, 46:28 experiencing all these wonderful things. 46:30 You know, he sees God, 46:31 he sees God's righteousness 46:33 and it causes him to see his unrighteousness 46:35 as filthy rags. 46:36 And what's his response, woe is me. 46:38 So he has this repentance experience, 46:40 this confession, 46:41 which he pours his heart out to God. 46:43 I'm a man of unclean lips. 46:45 And then God says, but who are we? 46:46 Who am I going to send out? Who's going to represent me? 46:49 And Isaiah says, 46:50 "Pick me, my Lord. 46:52 Me, I'll go. I'll go." 46:54 And what is his first message? 46:57 What is his first message that God sends him to declare? 47:01 Here it is. Isaiah 6:9-10. 47:05 Notice what the Bible says. 47:07 It says, "And he said, go and tell this people. 47:10 Keep on hearing, but do not understand. 47:14 Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. 47:17 Make the heart of this people dull and their ears heavy 47:21 and shut their eyes, 47:22 lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears 47:25 and understand with their heart 47:29 and return to be healed. 47:32 I can imagine, you know, again, the humanity, 47:36 did I hear that correct, Lord, 47:37 You want the very first message 47:39 you want me to go tell these people 47:41 is that they have eyes they can't see, 47:44 ears they can't hear. 47:45 Their hearts are dull, 47:47 their mind and hearts can't perceive. 47:49 What? 47:50 This is the message you want me to deliver. 47:51 And just in case you might think that, 47:53 you know, maybe, 47:55 maybe it's not really what he's saying. 47:56 Jesus reiterates this in the gospel. 47:59 In fact, let's go there right now, 48:00 Matthew Chapter 13, 48:02 we're going to read verses 13 through 15. 48:05 It's interesting because Jesus makes mention of this 48:09 after He's just delivered the Parable of the Sower 48:11 and He's giving them this parable 48:13 and the disciples of Jesus, 48:14 why in the world 48:15 You're speaking to these people in parables, 48:17 that doesn't make any sense. 48:18 Notice what, how Jesus responds. 48:20 Matthew 13:13-15. 48:23 It says, therefore, this is Jesus speaking. 48:25 He says, 48:26 "Therefore, I speak to them in parables because," 48:29 now tell me if these words sound familiar, 48:30 "because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear." 48:36 It goes on to say, "Nor do they understand." 48:40 And in them, 48:41 the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, 48:45 which says, and then he quotes that prophecy. 48:48 Hearing you will hear and shall not understand. 48:51 And seeing you will see and not perceive. 48:55 And you say, why, why is that? 48:56 Why, why is God declaring this 48:59 somewhat of a judgment upon them? 49:01 Because again, they have ears that can't hear, 49:03 they have eyes that can't see. 49:05 Why is this? 49:06 I think Christ explains it right here. 49:08 Verse 15, notice. 49:09 It says, "For the hearts of this people have grown dull. 49:13 Their ears are hard of hearing 49:14 and their eyes, they have closed." 49:16 Okay. 49:18 So there's a choice on the part of the people, 49:20 lest they should see with their eyes 49:21 and hear with their ears, 49:23 lest they should understand with their hearts and turn 49:25 so that I should heal them. 49:29 So what we're reading here 49:31 is the condition of the people in Isaiah's time. 49:34 And then there's another application of this 49:36 as Jesus now applies this upon the Pharisees, 49:40 the people that he's trying to witness to in His day, 49:42 they're not listening either. 49:44 So Jesus says, 49:45 "Man, well is, 49:46 the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled right here, right now 49:48 because you have ears that can't hear, 49:50 you have eyes that can't see. 49:52 And until those are open so that you can see 49:54 and that you're soften 49:56 your hardened heart, 49:57 you're not going to be able to perceive the thing 49:59 which I want to speak to you. 50:02 This reminds me of Pharaoh. 50:04 Remember Pharaoh. 50:05 The Bible says, I think it's around nine times, 50:07 nine or ten times. 50:08 It says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. 50:11 And when you read that kind of on the surface, 50:13 it makes me, it kind of sound like, 50:14 man, God, that's tough. 50:15 You're tough on people, Lord, 50:17 You hardened that person's heart. 50:18 But the truth of the matter is, 50:20 God allowed Pharaoh's heart to be hardened 50:23 because of Pharaoh's choices, 50:24 same thing in Isaiah that we're reading here, 50:26 same thing here 50:28 that Jesus is declaring to the people in His day. 50:29 He will allow a person's heart to become hardened 50:32 if they are not allowing 50:34 their ears and their eyes to see and to hear 50:37 and to comprehend the way of the Lord for their life. 50:41 What I see happening here, 50:42 what God is essentially spelling out 50:45 is probably the most scary condition 50:47 that one person could ever experience. 50:49 And Jesus speaks of this in Matthew 12:31-32, 50:53 you might have heard it 50:54 something like blasphemy of the Holy Spirit 50:57 in which you reach a point 50:58 in which your heart is so hardened, 51:00 you have created 51:01 a spiritual callous upon your ear, 51:03 that you are no longer allowing the Holy Spirit 51:06 to speak to you. 51:07 I want to talk about this for just a moment, 51:09 because what we see here 51:10 being addressed in this passage 51:12 is something that a lot of people it's kind of, 51:15 it's somewhat of a creeping compromise of a situation. 51:18 It's a subtle creeping effect 51:20 that happens on the heart of a person 51:22 because they constantly over a period of time, 51:26 begin to turn away their heart from the Lord. 51:28 They begin to create, as I said, 51:30 that spiritual callous on their ears. 51:31 They're no longer, they hear the Holy spirit, 51:33 but then they turn that counsel away. 51:35 They read the Word of God, 51:37 and then they ignore that counsel 51:39 or they ignore the commandments 51:40 and they ignore the Word of the Lord. 51:42 And over a period of time, 51:43 their heart becomes spiritually hardened, 51:46 where the Lord cannot penetrate that heart anymore. 51:50 I'm thinking of John 16:13. 51:53 And we're talking about how this happens. 51:55 How does this occur? 51:56 Why is Jesus speaking the way He did 51:58 to the Pharisees? 51:59 Why does God send Isaiah out to deliver this message 52:02 to the people there? 52:04 This process has occurred. 52:05 And I want to spell that out in the remaining minutes 52:07 that I have here. 52:08 Notice what Jesus says here in John Chapter 16, 52:10 we've read it many times. 52:11 Verse 13. 52:13 Jesus says, however, when he, the spirit of, 52:16 the spirit of truth has come, what is his job? 52:20 Why has he come? 52:21 He has come to guide you into how much truth? 52:24 All truth, 52:25 or he will not speak on his own authority, 52:27 but whatever he hears he will speak. 52:29 And he will tell you things to come. 52:32 So why does God send the Holy Spirit? 52:34 To lead us, to guide us, 52:36 to shape and mould 52:38 our thinking, our minds, our hearts, 52:39 to be more like that of Jesus Christ. 52:41 But if we are, 52:43 as Paul writes in Ephesians 4: 30, 52:47 when we are grieving the Holy Spirit, okay? 52:50 And I'm just going to reference that 52:51 Ephesians 4:30, 52:52 where Paul says 52:54 and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 52:56 for by whom you are sealed to the day of redemption. 52:58 When you grieve the Holy Spirit, 52:59 what are you doing? 53:01 You're pushing away the life source of truth. 53:03 You're pushing away the Spirit of the Lord. 53:06 Even Paul, again, 53:07 echoes this in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 53:10 one of the shortest, 53:11 but most powerful texts in all of scripture, 53:13 it sends a powerful message. 53:14 Paul just says, 53:16 "Do not quench the spirit. 53:17 Do not quench the spirit." 53:19 In other words, is it possible? 53:20 The fact that he's saying do not do this. 53:22 It must be possible 53:23 that you can indeed quench the spirit of the Lord. 53:27 And then the sad thing is 53:28 that's exactly what was happening 53:30 in the days of Isaiah 53:31 when all of this apostasy had come in, 53:33 they had completely forsaken the way of the Lord. 53:35 They had completely forsaken the covenant of the Lord. 53:37 And so God says, you know, 53:39 he has this wonderful conversion experience, Isaiah, 53:41 in the presence of the Lord. 53:43 And he says, look, if you're going to go out 53:44 and you're going to speak for me, 53:46 yes, Lord, I'll speak for you. 53:47 Send me, this is the message I want you to tell them. 53:50 And here it is, their hearts are hardened. 53:53 They've turned away their ear. 53:54 They have ears, but they can't hear, 53:56 they have eyes, but they can't see 53:58 because they have hardened their hearts. 54:01 Also think of you talking about 54:02 God hardening the heart of Pharaoh. 54:03 Again, it's not that the Lord is bestowing this upon someone 54:06 because it's His plan or it's His choice, 54:08 it's because of our choice. 54:10 And we see this as Paul also talks on this point 54:14 in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, 54:17 it says, and with all unrighteous deception 54:20 among those who perish 54:23 and why are they perishing? 54:25 Because they did not receive the love of the truth 54:30 that they might be saved. 54:32 And for this reason God, here it is, 54:34 same thing He did to Pharaoh. 54:36 God will send them strong delusion 54:38 that they should believe a lie, 54:40 that they may all be condemned, 54:41 who did not believe the truth, 54:43 but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 54:46 Why did they not believe the truth? 54:47 Because they quenched the spirit of truth, 54:50 because they pushed away the spirit of truth, 54:52 because they neglected the counsel and the leadership 54:54 and the guidance of the Holy Spirit 54:56 that God had sent them. 54:58 Also think of 1 Timothy 4:1-2. 55:01 Again, Paul had a lot to say on this. 55:04 Notice what he says here. 55:05 Now the spirit expresses, expressly says in latter times, 55:09 some will depart from the faith 55:11 giving heed to deceiving or seducing spirits 55:14 and doctrines of demons. 55:15 But notice what he says here. 55:17 Speaking lies in hypocrisy, 55:18 having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. 55:22 What is happening here? 55:23 It's that spiritual callous that hardening of the heart. 55:26 It's almost like the searing of a hot iron, 55:28 kind of like cauterizing a wound. 55:30 When you're on the battlefield 55:31 or you see somebody in the movies 55:32 or you hear of them cauterizing wound, 55:34 what are they doing? 55:35 That wound is not healed, 55:36 they're sealing up that wound 55:38 that we are sealing up our hearing, our vision, 55:40 our understanding 55:42 when we are not listening and obeying the Lord. 55:45 So make sure your eyes are open. 55:46 Make sure your ears can hear 55:48 and listen to the Holy Spirit today, 55:50 lest we fall into this same trap. 55:53 Amen. 55:54 Praise the Lord. 55:55 We need another hour. 55:57 Yeah. 55:58 I'll tell you this study in Isaiah's good. 56:00 We pray it's been a blessing to you. 56:02 We're going to, we've got a couple of minutes. 56:03 We want to go by 56:04 and I'm sure the Holy Spirit is given each one 56:06 just another little tidbit 56:08 that might help us along the way. 56:09 Brother John? 56:11 While all of us have been in discouraging situations 56:12 at one point or another, 56:14 that's just the way the Bible is. 56:16 It looks at man. It reads man. 56:17 I said, don't let, don't just read your Bible, 56:20 let your Bible read you. 56:21 And in discouraging days in which we live, 56:24 I like as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, 56:28 but Lamentations a book that spells lament 56:32 brings us encouraging words in discouraging times. 56:35 Lamentations 3:21-24. 56:37 He says, 56:39 "This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. 56:43 Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed 56:45 because His compassions fail not. 56:48 They are new every morning. 56:51 Great is your faithfulness. 56:53 The Lord is my portion says my soul, 56:56 therefore I have hope in Him." 56:58 In discouraging times like this, 57:01 get a vision of the Lord as Isaiah did. 57:03 And you'll still have hope. 57:05 Amen. 57:06 My verse is in Ezekiel, Ezekiel Chapter 11, 57:09 God says that 57:10 "He does not have any pleasure in the death of the wicked." 57:12 And then it says, 57:14 "Turn, turn from your evil ways for why should you die, 57:18 O house of Israel." 57:20 And I think that's God's appeal to each one of us to, 57:23 when we see that holiness of God, 57:25 when we see His purity to just come and say, 57:28 would you cleanse me? 57:29 Would you bring a coal from your altar 57:31 and touch me and transform my life? 57:33 Amen. 57:35 And I believe that God is still today 57:38 looking down and saying, 57:40 whom shall I send, who will go for us? 57:44 And I think Jesus answered the question 57:47 who is supposed to be sent in Matthew 28:19. 57:52 He says, and He's speaking to you, 57:54 He's speaking to me, 57:56 He's speaking to all Christians. 57:58 Therefore go and make, this is Matthew 28:19, 58:02 "Go and make disciples of all nations, 58:08 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 58:11 the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 58:13 and teaching them to observe all that I've commanded." 58:17 Amen. Amen. 58:18 I'm just going to echo the words of Paul 58:20 in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 58:22 "Do not quench the spirit." 58:24 We cannot begin to adopt 58:26 the spiritual eyesight of the Lord, 58:28 the spiritual hearing of God, 58:30 the spiritual mind of Christ 58:31 if we are not led by the Holy Spirit. 58:33 Don't harden your hearts, 58:35 but open it up to the leading guiding power of God. 58:38 Amen. Praise the Lord. 58:39 It's encouraging. 58:40 I pray that the lesson has been encouraging to each one of you. 58:43 You've been inspired to get into the Word 58:45 and dig a little bit deeper. 58:47 Isaiah has so much to offer 58:48 as the Holy Spirit spoke to him, 58:50 and these things were written down 58:51 for each one of us. 58:53 So we pray, it's just been a big blessing for you. 58:55 Now, listen, you won't want to miss 58:56 next week's lesson. 58:58 We're going to be talking about 58:59 when your world is falling apart. 59:02 You don't want to miss it. Be sure to join us. 59:03 Thank you for joining us at 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 59:05 See you next time. |
Revised 2021-01-27