Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210040S
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00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn,
00:02 and we welcome you to 3ABN Sabbath School. 00:05 We are beginning a brand new Adult Bible Study Guide 00:08 called Present Truth in Deuteronomy. 00:13 And this was authored by Clifford Goldstein, 00:17 who is the editor for the Adult Study Bible Guide. 00:22 If you don't yet have yours, 00:24 you can go to ABSG.Adventist.org 00:29 and download one or run by any 00:32 Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:33 I'm sure they'll be happy to welcome 00:35 you into their fellowship, give you a copy of the study 00:38 and study with you. 00:40 This is a beautiful quarter. 00:44 The lessons we're going to study 00:47 Deuteronomy topically covering such things 00:50 as the everlasting covenant 00:55 of God's grace. 00:57 The law and grace, 00:58 we're going to look at what it means to love God 01:02 and to love your neighbor. 01:04 And most particularly, 01:06 we will see how the Book of Deuteronomy reveals 01:10 the love of God, 01:12 as demonstrated in Christ's death on the cross 01:16 and His resurrection. 01:17 So we hope you will join us today with a pen 01:20 and your Bible, piece of paper to take notes. 01:24 This study is the preamble to Deuteronomy. 01:58 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn, 02:00 and we welcome you once again to 3ABN Sabbath School. 02:04 I want to introduce the rest of the family that's sitting 02:07 around the table with me. 02:09 We have Pastor Ryan Day. 02:10 I'm here and accounted for and excited to study 02:13 the Book of Deuteronomy. 02:14 Amen. John Lomacang, pastor? 02:16 Praise the Lord. We always learn something as we share. 02:19 Amen. And my precious sister Jill Morikone. 02:22 Thank you, Shelley. Always excited to study. 02:24 And this is a brand new quarter, 02:26 so looking forward to Deuteronomy. 02:27 Amen. 02:29 And then we have a new face on our panel, but he's not new, 02:33 I should say a new member on our panel, 02:35 but he's not a new face to 3ABN 02:37 and that's Pastor James Rafferty. 02:39 It's so good to be here. 02:40 This is my first time, so go easy on me. 02:42 Oh, we're so excited. 02:44 We never go easy on first timers, so. 02:47 Just teasing. Okay. 02:50 James, would you like to have our prayer 02:52 before we begin today? 02:53 Absolutely. 02:54 Father in heaven, again, we just 02:56 want to thank You for Your Word. 02:57 We want to thank You for the promise of Your Spirit. 02:59 We claim the promise now that Your Spirit 03:01 will come to teach us, to guide us, to instruct us, 03:03 to convict us, to comfort us, 03:05 be with us, be with the viewers. 03:07 We pray and ask these things in Jesus' name. 03:09 Amen. Amen, and amen. 03:12 I just want to begin by saying, 03:14 Bible study should always be done through 03:17 the perspective of a lens of God's love. 03:22 It's so important to understand God's love 03:25 if you're going to understand the Bible. 03:27 And context is critical, because the Bible doesn't 03:31 make sense without context. 03:34 So what we're going to do today is, 03:38 I'm going to start off with just kind of... 03:41 Kind of pulling back, so that we get a wide view 03:45 of the five books that Moses wrote. 03:49 You know, these books are called the Law of Moses, 03:52 Moses' Law. 03:53 They're called the Torah in the Hebrew. 03:57 In the Greek it's called the Pentateuch. 03:59 And when Moses was writing, I find this amazing, 04:04 the Bible covers 4100 years of history. 04:09 But the first book of the Bible, 04:11 the Book of Genesis covers like 2300 04:15 of those 4100 years. 04:17 In fact, the first 11 chapters of Genesis, 04:22 which is the book of new beginnings, 04:24 or book of beginnings, the book of origins. 04:26 The first 11 chapters, 04:29 11 chapters cover 04:32 over 2,000 years of history. 04:35 And we see five epic events in those first 11 chapters. 04:40 There's creation, then the fall of mankind, 04:44 the announcement of the Messiah, 04:47 then we see the flood, 04:48 and the dispersion of the nations, 04:52 all in those five chapters. 04:55 I find that amazing, over 2,000 years 04:58 of history distilled into five chapters. 05:01 And you know what's interesting? 05:03 God's existence and God's law are assumed. 05:08 They're not explained. 05:10 But what happens then in verse 12, 05:13 through verse, Chapters 12 through 15, 05:17 is now it's going to give us the patriarchal history. 05:21 God calls Abraham. 05:23 And when God calls Abraham, 05:25 He announces to him the everlasting covenant 05:29 of salvation by grace. 05:32 Hallelujah. 05:34 And He tells Abraham, 05:35 "This salvation is going to come through your seed." 05:39 And we know that God's commandments 05:41 were in place, because when God renews 05:44 the covenant with Isaac in Genesis 26:5, 05:49 He says, "Hey, I'm renewing this covenant with you, 05:51 because your father Abraham obeyed all of My commandments, 05:55 all of My statutes." 05:57 And so we see then in these latter chapters of Genesis, 06:01 it goes from Abraham, Isaac, 06:03 Jacob, then Joseph goes down into Egypt, 06:06 then the rest of the extended family follows him down. 06:10 Now, Exodus is probably one 06:12 of my favorite books in the Bible, because Exodus, 06:15 of course, most people think of it, 06:17 well, it's the story of Moses. 06:19 He grew up 40 years maturing in the Pharaoh's court, 06:23 then 40 years on the backside of the desert, 06:25 and then 40 years leading God's people. 06:29 And when Moses began to lead God's people, 06:34 what we see is that they've now 06:37 been down there for 430 years in Egypt, 06:41 many of those years as slaves. 06:43 And God saves them before 06:47 He even reminds them of their obedience to Him. 06:52 He saves them, He parts the Red Sea, they make the escape. 06:57 Then God comes down on the mountain 06:59 and speaks His Ten Commandments. 07:01 And then Moses goes up. 07:03 And God speaks to him the words of the Book of the Covenant. 07:09 Now let me explain something, the Ten Commandments, 07:11 the way I see it, 07:13 the Ten Commandments are God's Bill of Rights. 07:16 The first four commandments is the love for Him. 07:19 The last six are the Bill of Rights, 07:22 the love for our covenant community. 07:24 But God gives Moses civil laws and ceremonial laws, 07:30 and it's all based around the Ten Commandments. 07:34 Moses comes down, and then we find in verse, 07:38 Exodus 24:7, 07:40 Moses speaks all these words to the people, 07:44 writes it in a book, builds an altar, 07:47 and he ratifies is the book 07:50 is called the Book of the Covenant. 07:51 That's important, because this was the first... 07:54 Most scholars believe it was the first written portion 07:57 of the Bible. 07:58 But what happens? 08:00 Moses goes back up the mountain for another 40 days. 08:04 God's giving him Ten Commandments written on stone. 08:08 And guess what? 08:09 The people have broken the covenant by the time 08:11 he got down there, with those Ten Commandments, 08:14 which Moses throws down and he has to go back up 08:17 and get another copy. 08:19 And so, 08:20 when we look at Exodus, 08:25 we see a rebellious people, they failed to follow God. 08:30 Now, both Genesis and Exodus, they advance historically 08:34 or chronologically, we're covering some time. 08:37 You get to Leviticus, Leviticus doesn't advance in time. 08:42 This is the instructions to the Levitical priesthood, 08:45 how to lead the people in worship. 08:48 That's one portion of the book. 08:51 And it has a lot to do with ceremonial laws. 08:53 Another portion of the book is that it's teaching people 08:58 how to walk in obedience and live a holy life. 09:02 So Numbers, we get to the Book of Numbers, 09:05 another book that Moses wrote, 09:07 and this chronicles the 39 years 09:11 of history of God's chosen people. 09:16 They rebelled at Kadesh Barnea. 09:20 And then it's their wanderings in the desert. 09:24 And that gets us to Deuteronomy. 09:27 Deuteronomy doesn't advance chronologically. 09:31 It happens in a period of a month. 09:33 The older generation of the people 09:36 who rebelled have died off. 09:38 Now the new generation standing at the edge of promise, 09:43 and they're about to go in. 09:44 So Moses gives them some sermons. 09:47 And what he is doing 09:50 is he is leading them in a renewal 09:54 of the covenant that was written in the Book 09:57 of the Covenant 09:58 and the emphasis is on covenant love. 10:01 Deuteronomy is a covenant document. 10:06 That's, it's all about God's redemption 10:09 and how He's going to fulfill His promises to the patriarchs. 10:13 So Deuteronomy is called the Book of the Law. 10:19 But we're also going to see it's called the Book 10:21 of the Covenant. 10:23 So what Moses was doing, he's 120 years old, 10:26 these are his farewell speeches. 10:28 And Moses is expanding the understanding 10:32 of God's covenant. 10:33 And he says in Deuteronomy 30:10, 10:36 "The Lord will again rejoice over you for good 10:39 as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10:42 if," if, the biggest two letter word in the world, 10:46 "you obey the voice 10:48 of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments 10:50 and His statutes which are written in this Book 10:53 of the Law," there's Book of the Covenant, 10:55 "and if you turn to the Lord your God 10:58 with all of your heart and with all of your soul." 11:01 That's always been God's goal. 11:03 In Deuteronomy 31:24-26, 11:08 it says this, 11:09 "When Moses had completed writing the words of this law, 11:15 this covenant law, in a book, 11:17 when they were finished, 11:19 Moses commanded the Levites saying, 11:22 'Take this Book of the Law and put it beside 11:24 the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, 11:27 that it may be there as a witness against you.'" 11:30 Why was it a witness against them? 11:32 Because it not only contained the blessings, 11:35 but it contained the curses 11:37 if they broke covenant with the Lord. 11:40 It's on the side, it's temporary, 11:44 inside the ark, what have we got? 11:46 The Ten Commandments of God. 11:49 Sunday's lesson and, boy, we got to do this went fast, 11:52 but it's love to be loved. 11:55 1 John 4:8, 4:16 say, "God is love." 12:00 Listen, that's not just some emotional 12:04 experience that God has. 12:07 That is the essence, the nature of God. 12:12 This love is expressed by salvation, 12:15 by grace through faith. 12:17 It was demonstrated when Christ died on the cross for us. 12:21 But God never changes. 12:23 He says, "I change not." 12:26 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. 12:29 I'll bet if you've been in the church very long, 12:32 you know the words agape and grace. 12:36 And somebody told me once, 12:37 well, grace isn't in the Old Testament. 12:40 The Old Testament is filled with grace. 12:42 But the word that was used is hesed. 12:47 Oh, it's the most beautiful 12:49 Hebrew word in the whole vocabulary. 12:53 And it talks about God's hesed. 12:56 Here's you cannot describe it 13:00 in a single phrase in English. 13:03 What it means is loving-kindness, 13:06 steadfast love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, 13:10 goodness, devotion, generous, patient, 13:14 loyal love, not of feeling, it's expressed by doing. 13:19 Everything that God does 13:22 is an expression of His love. 13:25 And Psalm 136:1 says, 13:27 "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! 13:30 His mercy," that's actually his hesed, 13:33 "His love, His grace, 13:35 His mercy, His patience endures forever." 13:40 Now, when we are looking, you know, 13:42 1 John says that we love Him 13:47 because He first loved us. 13:48 That's right. 13:49 Deuteronomy, it's all... 13:51 God's covenant is all about 13:54 entering into a love relationship with Him. 13:57 Deuteronomy 6:4-6 says this, 14:01 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!" 14:05 Now get this. 14:06 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 14:09 with all your soul, with all your strength. 14:13 And these words 14:14 which I command you today shall be in your heart." 14:17 Jesus answered someone who asked Him, 14:23 what's the most important commandment. 14:25 In Mark 12:30, this is what Jesus says, 14:28 is the most important commandment in the second 14:32 is to love your neighbor as yourself. 14:34 I just want to point out one thing. 14:37 God's government operates by love. 14:40 The Ten Commandments are written in future 14:42 tense in the form of promises. 14:46 The risk of love is free will. 14:50 And we see what happened in Ezekiel 28:12-17, 14:55 Isaiah 14:12-15. 14:58 We see a covering cherub, 15:00 who was created with perfection, 15:05 but iniquity entered his heart. 15:08 He got prideful and lifted up. 15:11 And he started a war in heaven. 15:13 And that's where the great controversy comes in. 15:17 Amen. Thank you so much, Shelley, for that. 15:19 I'm Ryan Day. 15:21 And I have Monday's lesson entitled, 15:22 The Fall and the Flood. 15:24 And we're going to kind of continue off 15:26 of what Shelley just set up for us, 15:28 which is a beautiful introduction, by the way. 15:30 But I had, I normally try to find 15:33 some little snippets throughout 15:34 the lesson that the author wrote, 15:36 just to kind of hide in there or bring about 15:39 something that the author actually in his own words, 15:42 and I love how he opened Monday's lesson, 15:44 because it really sets us up for the content. 15:46 And I'm gonna read through this, it says, 15:48 "Almost every school child has heard the story 15:50 about an apple falling on Isaac Newton's head, and voila! 15:54 Newton discovered gravity. 15:56 Whether or not an apple really fell on his head 15:58 isn't the crucial point, 16:00 instead, the point is that Newton's great insight 16:02 was to understand that the same force that dropped the apple, 16:06 of course, gravity, 16:07 also kept the moon in orbit around the earth, 16:09 the earth in orbit around the sun, and so forth. 16:13 This was important because for millennia 16:15 many people believed that the laws that governed 16:17 the heavens were different from the laws 16:19 that governed the earth. 16:21 Newton showed that this belief was wrong. 16:24 "And then I love this next point. 16:26 "And though Newton's contribution was in the area 16:28 of natural law, the same principle holds true 16:30 with moral law. 16:32 The same freedom, the freedom inherent in love, 16:35 that led to Lucifer's fall in heaven 16:37 led to humanity's fall on earth, as well." 16:41 And that's where we're going to pick up. 16:43 We've all read these texts, 16:44 but we have to go back to the beginning to understand 16:47 what is coming because pastor is going to take us 16:49 through to Abraham in just a moment, Abram. 16:52 And in this case, 16:53 we're setting up for Tuesday's lesson. 16:56 But let's go to Genesis 2:16-17. Let's start there. 16:59 These are verses that we have read many, many times. 17:02 But this is where God basically He lays out the groundwork, 17:05 He brings about the conditions of this relationship, 17:09 and Adam and Eve had been living in a perfect 17:11 uninterrupted communion with God up to this point. 17:14 And God lays it out very clearly in Genesis 2:16-17. 17:18 Notice what the Bible says. 17:19 It says, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 17:22 'Of every tree of the garden that you may freely eat, 17:26 of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, 17:28 but of the tree of knowledge of good 17:30 and evil you shall not eat, for in it, for in the day," 17:34 excuse me, "for in the day that you may eat of it 17:37 you shall surely die.'" 17:39 So again, of all the trees, 17:41 and I have to just highlight this, 17:42 because this highlights again, this God of love aspect. 17:46 Notice what God says, 17:47 "Of every tree, you may freely eat." 17:51 I heard a minister one time say, 17:53 let's just put a numerical value to this. 17:54 If there was one, let's just say there's thousand 17:56 trees in the Garden of Eden, 17:58 God gave 999 yeses to one no. 18:03 And that's not, that does not tell the story 18:04 of a restrictive God. 18:06 It's not like God was out there pointing out 18:07 all these different elements, you can't go here 18:09 and you can't go there, and you can't do this 18:10 and you can't do that. 18:11 Oftentimes, we see Christianity in that way. 18:13 But yet we see a God of love, a God of freedom, 18:16 because true love requires freedom. 18:18 And so in this case, this is a God who loves us 18:21 enough to give us choice. 18:24 And so true love, as I said, requires freedom. 18:28 But, of course, with freedom comes risk. 18:30 And therefore, in the aftermath of this beautiful 18:33 commandment that God has set out very clearly, 18:35 again, of 999 yeses to one no. 18:38 We see the fall of man comes in Genesis Chapter 3. 18:41 Let's go there. Let's read verses 1 through 7. 18:43 I'm going to read through this because there may be someone 18:44 watching right now that has never 18:46 heard these verses before. 18:47 So we're going to read Genesis 3:1-7. 18:50 And notice what the Bible says. 18:52 It says, "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast 18:54 of the field which the Lord God had made. 18:57 And he said to the woman, has God indeed said, 18:59 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" 19:02 So he's kind of throwing God under the bus already. 19:04 Really, God, God's being restrictive in that way. 19:06 Come on, right? 19:08 Verse 2, "And the woman said unto the serpent, 19:10 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, 19:12 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst 19:14 of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, 19:17 nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' 19:20 Then the serpent said to the woman, 19:21 'You will not surely die. 19:23 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes 19:26 will be opened, and you will be like God, 19:28 knowing good from evil.'" 19:30 Okay, so now she's kind of already 19:32 sucked into this deceptive void. 19:34 And now here comes the aftermath of it. 19:36 "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 19:39 that it was pleasant to the eyes, 19:40 and a tree desirable to make one wise, 19:42 she took of its fruit and ate." 19:46 And also it say, "She also gave to her husband with her, 19:49 and he ate. 19:50 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, 19:52 and they knew that they were naked, 19:54 and they sewed fig leaves together 19:56 and made themselves coverings." 19:58 You know, it's interesting because when I read 19:59 through this, could God have showed up at this very moment 20:03 and said, "Hey, hey, Eve, what are you doing? 20:06 What's happening here?" 20:07 He could have showed up at that moment and stopped her, right? 20:09 But was she aware of the word of the Lord? 20:13 And I think that's the point here, 20:14 God was giving Eve, in this case, also Adam, 20:17 free will and free choice, why? 20:19 Because the point that this lesson is making 20:21 is that true love requires a freedom. 20:23 And I was... 20:25 I have to mention this also because I've read quite a bit 20:27 of CS Lewis over the years. 20:29 Again, we may not agree with every little thing 20:31 he's ever wrote, but he's a great Christian author. 20:33 And you know, he makes this point, that God 20:36 and basically all of His majesty 20:38 and all of His grandeur and in the vastness 20:40 and His eternality and, you know, His omniscience 20:43 and His omnipotence, He condescends 20:46 not only to make something only in His image, 20:49 but He invests the created with the will so authentic 20:53 and genuine that the creation, get this, 20:55 the creation could resist the Creator. 20:59 And He says, surely, this is the greatest 21:01 mystery of all, right? 21:02 And I just think of that because you can't quite 21:05 wrap your mind around it. 21:06 I think Sunday's lesson brings us out that can 21:08 we fully wrap our minds around the fact that God is love. 21:12 What does that even mean, right? 21:13 But yet we know that true love requires freedom. 21:17 And in this case, God gives man the freewill 21:19 and the free choice to either choose him or to reject Him. 21:23 And, of course, in this case, man rejected him and, 21:25 of course, it launches us into a forever, 21:28 it seems like forever problem, 21:30 at least now 6,000 years into this. 21:33 But, of course, after the fall, things go from bad to worse, 21:36 because now we get to Genesis Chapter 6. 21:39 And God is... 21:40 He's got to hit the reset button. 21:42 At least it seems like it in this case. 21:44 Genesis Chapter 6, 21:45 and I'm gonna read verses 1, 2, and 5. 21:47 So Genesis 6:1, 2, and 5. 21:50 Notice what the Bible says. 21:51 It says, "Now it came to pass, 21:52 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, 21:55 and daughters were born to them, 21:57 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, 21:59 that they were beautiful, and they took 22:02 wives for themselves of whom they chose." 22:04 So we already see this, this degradation 22:06 of man to the point and now they're still defying God, 22:09 even from when Adam and Eve had defied God. 22:11 Now, it's even worse than the sons of God, 22:13 God's people, His chosen people are now going outside 22:16 the sanctity of the rules and regulations 22:18 and the plan that God have for them, 22:20 and marrying within the ranks of faith within the church. 22:23 Now they're going outside that 22:25 and they're bringing in the heathen, 22:26 they're basically unequally 22:28 yoking themselves with the world. 22:29 And so because of this, verse 5 comes. 22:32 It says, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness 22:34 of man was great in the earth, and that every intent 22:36 of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." 22:41 And we know the results of this, God sends the flood. 22:44 And, of course, you know, in a sense, 22:46 He gives man a chance to start over 22:49 through the family of Noah in this case. 22:53 But, of course, by the time we get to the Tower of Babel, 22:56 in Genesis Chapter 11, 22:58 we see man is still intent on defying God. 23:02 And so, you're going through, you know, you see that, 23:05 you know, Noah and his family survive it. 23:07 But of course, you know, out of that Shem, 23:10 Ham and Japheth, now they're beginning to multiply, 23:12 the men is multiplying. 23:13 By the time you get to the Tower 23:14 of Babel in Genesis Chapter 11, things are out of control. 23:18 Because you would think, you know, of course, 23:19 the word of mouth, the stories that were passed down 23:22 of how God had to, 23:23 you know, again flood the earth, 23:24 because of the wickedness of man, man, 23:26 things are still way getting out of control to the point 23:28 that I have to read this quote from Patriarchs and Prophets, 23:31 page 119, to kind of sum up 23:32 what's happening here in Genesis 11 with this Tower 23:35 of Babel situation. 23:36 Patriarchs and Prophets, page 119 says, 23:38 "When the tower had been partially completed, 23:41 a portion of it was occupied 23:43 as a dwelling place for the builders, 23:46 other apartments, splendidly furnished and adorned, 23:50 were devoted to their idols. 23:53 The people rejoiced in their success, 23:56 and praised the gods of gold and silver, 23:59 and set themselves against the Ruler of heaven and earth." 24:04 And so, we see this great defying, 24:07 just outpouring of defiance. 24:09 Of course, in this case, 24:10 we know the Bible goes on to say that God confused, 24:13 not only did He confused the languages, 24:15 but, of course, He scattered the fallen race across 24:18 the face of the earth. 24:19 And it's very interesting when you, 24:20 as Shelley brought up very clearly. 24:22 You know, you have these first 11 chapters of Genesis, 24:24 but it almost seems like where God is not rushing, 24:28 but He's swiftly moving through the first 2,000, 24:31 2,500 years of man's history, 24:34 of earth's history in this case, 24:36 because we're moving closer and closer to Abram, to Abraham 24:39 which Pastor Lomacang is going to be covering, 24:41 but it's powerful to see 24:43 how quick the sin issue just dominated mankind. 24:48 But yet the Bible says, God is love. 24:52 And we're going to be talking a whole lot more 24:54 about how God is love and what that entails, 24:56 even though we can't fully 24:58 comprehend it to the fullest extent. 25:00 The Bible gives us glimpses 25:02 and pictures and imagery beautifully, 25:04 so we can look into apparent of the mind, 25:06 the heart of God to understand just who He is. 25:09 Oh, amen. 25:10 We're gonna be studying this for eternity. 25:13 We need to take a quick break. 25:15 Please stay with this, we'll be right back. 25:22 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN 25:24 Sabbath School Panel again, or share it on Facebook, 25:27 Instagram or Twitter? 25:29 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 25:34 A clean design makes it easy to find the program 25:37 you're looking for. 25:38 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:42 so you can follow along. 25:43 Sharing is easy. 25:45 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:48 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:53 This is such an exciting study. 25:54 And Pastor John Lomacang is going to continue 25:57 with The Call of Abram. 25:59 That's right. I have Tuesday's lesson, The Call of Abram. 26:02 Now Abram is the prior name of Abraham. 26:07 One meaning the exalted father, that's Abram. 26:10 And Abraham meaning the father of a multitude. 26:14 But you know, I'm going to begin by talking about 26:15 where he's from, because this 26:17 is very interesting, because the Bible in Genesis 26:19 26:5, speaking about his changed name. 26:24 It says, "Because Abraham kept My commandments, 26:28 my statutes and My laws." 26:30 And it's commonly understood by many 26:32 and even in Christianity that, well, nobody kept 26:35 the commandments until they were 26:36 written on tables of stone. 26:38 Well, let's follow Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 26:40 Jacob's 12 sons, Israel, go into bondage come out, 26:44 go to Mount Sinai week before the Sabbath test. 26:46 And then the stones contained the Ten Commandments 26:49 long before they were written on stone. 26:53 Abraham kept them God's commandments, 26:55 God statutes and God's laws. 26:57 And the other thing that people often think about 26:59 is Abraham was an Israelite. 27:01 Well, that's also wrong. That's right. 27:03 Abraham was from a place called Ur Kasdim, in the Hebrew, 27:07 which is about 200 miles or 300 kilometers, 27:12 southeast of Baghdad, 27:14 where it's located today in lower Mesopotamia, 27:17 called Ur of the Chaldeans, or Chaldeans, 27:20 whichever way you say it, I've heard both. 27:22 So God found a man in the most 27:25 unlikely place to do 27:28 the most uncommon thing. 27:31 It's good. 27:32 God often chooses the most 27:34 unlikely to do the most unimaginable. 27:38 Now when I read Genesis 12:1-3, 27:41 which we're going to turn to right now, 27:43 And, Jill, I have six points. 27:45 We kind of take you through the points today. 27:48 I want to talk about how this verse is really 27:50 the synopsis of almost all Christian's lives. 27:53 When I read this, my wife and I paused, 27:55 I called her and when I was putting my lesson together, 27:58 and I said, "Look at this passage, 28:00 it reminds us so much of our lives," 28:03 because when we were praying to be involved in ministry, 28:06 we were praying in Orlando, Florida. 28:10 And we wanted so badly to be in Orlando, 28:12 Florida to begin pastoral ministry. 28:15 The Lord called us to Northern California. 28:18 And in so many of these things reminds us 28:21 of the parallel of how our lives unfolded. 28:23 But here's the verses, Genesis 12:1-3. 28:27 "Now the Lord said to Abram: 28:29 'Get out of your country," and I'm going to parallel, 28:32 get out of Florida, "from your family 28:34 and from your father's house, to a land 28:37 that I will show you." 28:39 We had no idea where we were going to live, 28:41 we started in a hotel, at a truck stop, 28:44 no idea where we were going to live. 28:46 "I will make you a great nation. 28:48 I will bless you and make your name great." 28:51 And I want to say this in the context 28:52 of this 3ABN platform we're all on. 28:55 You know, it's so humbling. And I take no glory. 28:58 When we travel to places in the world that we don't 29:00 even know exists, that people say, 29:03 Oh, that's Ryan Day, that's Shelley Quinn, 29:05 that's John Lomacang, that's Jill Morikone. 29:08 God has done something with our humble lives. 29:10 And this is why we have to handle 29:12 what God has given to us with humility, because God 29:15 takes the unlikely. 29:16 Amen. 29:17 Jill, did you ever think you'd be the vice president 29:19 of 3ABN? 29:20 No, but I look back at Jill when I called her Julie. 29:23 'Cause he didn't know what my name was. 29:26 But I look at where God brought her today. 29:29 I look at our time coming to 3ABN, 29:30 I look at my wife doing a program on 3ABN, 29:33 her first solo program. 29:34 And I said, "She wouldn't think of ever doing that." 29:38 But God takes the most unlikely to accomplish 29:41 the most unimaginable. 29:43 And He says in verse 3, 29:44 "I will bless those who bless you, 29:47 and I will curse him who curses you. 29:49 And in you all the families of the earth 29:52 shall be blessed." 29:53 And I tell you, God does amazing things. 29:56 But God is the massive architect, 29:59 the great orchestrator. 30:00 He puts His plans before us. 30:03 And then He starts to arrange our destiny. 30:06 Now Abraham had no idea that in 2021, 30:09 people will still be talking about him. 30:11 Is that amazing? Only God can do that. 30:14 And so we have to keep in mind that all of the components 30:17 of our lives can be in someone's conversation 30:21 many decades from now, or many millennia from now 30:23 for good or bad. 30:25 I'm hoping the world doesn't last that much longer. 30:27 But God is the master architect 30:29 who sees the building occupied before the ground 30:32 is even broken. 30:33 And He saw that in Abraham's life, 30:36 and then we look at what kind of life Abraham had. 30:38 And we looked at Galatians 3:7-9, 30:41 the Bible talks about the kind of man he was. 30:44 "Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons 30:48 of Abraham. 30:50 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify 30:54 the Gentiles by faith, 30:55 preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand." 30:59 Did you ever think the gospel was preached to Abraham? 31:02 Yes, it was. That's right. 31:03 Because he communicated what the Lord gave to him, 31:06 saying, "In you, all the nations shall be blessed." 31:10 Verse 9, "So then those who are of faith are blessed 31:15 with believing Abraham. 31:17 First point. 31:19 We don't have to see 31:21 God's plans to know God's capabilities. 31:25 We don't have to see God's plans to know 31:27 God's capabilities. 31:29 Hebrews 11:1, and we're going to unfold 31:31 all this in the context of Abraham's life. 31:34 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 31:38 the evidence of things not seen." 31:40 God saw Abraham's life unfold. 31:44 God saw Jeremiah's life unfold. 31:46 He said, "Before you were born, 31:48 before you were formed in your mother's womb, 31:52 I saw all your days before me. 31:54 And I can't hesitate but to think that God, 31:56 this is us sitting here is no shock to God. 31:58 How did Shelley and Ryan get there? 31:59 How did Pastor James, and Jill, and John get there? 32:02 How did they get there? 32:03 God saw this long before we envisioned it. 32:06 The second point is, when we believe God, 32:09 He never disappoints us. 32:11 James 2:23, 32:13 "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 32:16 'Abraham believed God, 32:18 and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' 32:21 And he was called the friend of God.'" 32:23 You know, I love that He called Abraham, the friend of God. 32:25 And when Jesus came, He said to His disciples, 32:30 you're not just My disciples, you're My friends. 32:33 And I know one of my good friends, 32:36 Pastor Dwight Nelson always talks about the friend of God. 32:39 But I want to say something about this passage. 32:42 Abraham didn't believe in God, Abraham believed God. 32:46 And in Scripture, there's quite a difference 32:47 between believing in God. 32:49 A lot of people say I believe in God, 32:50 but do you believe God. 32:52 See Apostle Paul also in Acts 27:25, 32:55 when he was taking the journey to Rome, 32:57 in his appeal to Caesar, he said the same thing, 33:00 "Therefore take heart, for I believe God," 33:04 and he took it further, 33:05 "that it will be just as it was told me." 33:07 So believing God also means believing what He says. 33:11 Believing God also means believing what He says, 33:14 which takes me to the third point in Psalms 37:23. 33:20 When we trust God's plans, He guides our steps. 33:24 You know, when Abraham left, 33:25 he had no idea where he was going, 33:27 but the Lord said, "I'll show you where to go. 33:29 I'll give you guidance." 33:30 God's providential system, GPS, 33:34 God's providential system, GPS. 33:38 Psalm 37:23, 33:40 "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, 33:44 and He delights in His way." 33:47 Now, we would think that we're 33:48 delighting in God's way, but the Bible says 33:50 He's delighting in our way. 33:51 That's a humbling thing. 33:53 Can you get to the place in your life 33:54 where you live in such harmony with God, 33:57 He starts delighting. 33:58 He says, "Look, look, 34:00 he's following the path I've laid out." 34:01 For God to delight in my way is a humbling thought. 34:06 He delighted. 34:07 He delights in the path of all of the righteous, 34:10 when they do not lean on their own understanding 34:13 and all their ways acknowledge Him, 34:15 then He directs their paths. 34:19 And the fourth one. 34:20 Abram's life was one of faith. 34:22 He followed God out of obedience, 34:23 not out of information. 34:25 Look at Genesis 12:4, 34:28 "So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, 34:32 and Lot went with him. 34:35 And Abram was seventy-five years old 34:37 when he departed from Haran or Haran." 34:39 However you'd like to say that. 34:41 Now why is this vitally important to me? 34:43 Abraham left, not because God gave him 34:46 all the information that he was going to need. 34:48 Lot of people don't experience God's 34:51 blessings because they want God to tell them 34:53 what He's going to do before He does it. 34:55 Abraham didn't do that. 34:56 He said, "I believe You, God, 34:58 I'm going to follow You, God." 34:59 And God made of him a great nation. 35:01 So here's my point to you. 35:03 Don't wait for the information, because you won't experience 35:07 the transformation. 35:09 God transformed him, not informed him. 35:13 Number five, 35:14 Abram's life was one of testing. 35:17 Abram's life was one of testing. 35:19 God tested Abraham when he said, 35:21 offer up your son Isaac. 35:23 Do you know that the test will come to every one of us, 35:25 but the blessing is on the heel of the test. 35:28 So don't be fearful about the testing of God. 35:32 He tests us not to reveal Himself, 35:35 but to reveal to us whether or not 35:37 we really trust Him the way that we should. 35:40 And finally, those that believe by faith and follow God's plan, 35:43 know that His Word is going to be fulfilled. 35:47 Hebrews 11:9-10, 35:49 "By faith he dwelt in the land of promise 35:51 as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac 35:54 and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, 35:58 for he waited for the city which had foundations, 36:01 whose builder and maker is God." 36:02 He trusted God, and he looked forward to that eternal city. 36:06 Amen. Thank you so much each one of you. 36:08 That's incredible. I love that. 36:11 We've been spending a lot of time in the Book of Genesis. 36:14 Now flip over one book, we're going to go to Exodus. 36:17 I have Wednesday's lesson, which is The Covenant at Sinai. 36:21 We'll look at the connection 36:22 between the Sinaitic covenant and grace. 36:24 Now I have four major points, Pastor John. 36:28 The covenant is based on, number one, redemption. 36:31 Number two, the covenant is based on relationship. 36:35 Amen. 36:36 Number three, the covenant is based on God's promise. 36:40 And number four, the covenant is based on obedience. 36:43 So let's unpack those four things. 36:45 The covenant is based on redemption. 36:47 Turn to Exodus Chapter 19. 36:49 Now we think the covenant would be the Ten Commandments, 36:51 but it actually begins in Exodus 19 and it carries. 36:55 Of course, the Ten Commandments 36:56 would be the heart of the covenant. 36:58 But let's start with Exodus 19:4, 37:01 God is speaking, and you will have seen 37:04 what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles' wings 37:08 and brought you to Myself." 37:10 Now three months have passed since Israel went out of Egypt, 37:13 three months since God delivered them from bondage, 37:17 three months since God parted the Red Sea, 37:20 three months since they were redeemed, 37:21 and they are camped here at Mount Sinai. 37:24 And God says, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians." 37:28 God redeemed them, He delivered them. 37:32 He bored them on eagles' wings. That reminds me of the eagle. 37:35 You know, the mother eagle sometimes, 37:37 they toss the baby out of the nest, 37:39 but yet the mother always swoops down and catches them, 37:42 so that they do not fall. 37:44 Let's read the next verse. 37:45 Verse 5, now therefore, now when you say now therefore, 37:50 that means something came before, what came before? 37:52 The redemption. 37:53 God redeemed them. 37:55 "Therefore, because they are redeemed, 37:57 you will indeed obey My voice, and keep My covenant, 38:01 then you shall be a special treasure to me, 38:03 above all people, for all the earth is mine." 38:07 We see the covenant is based on redemption. 38:10 After He delivers them, 38:12 then He calls them into covenant relationship 38:15 with Himself. 38:16 We look at the Ten Commandments, 38:18 of course, that's found in Exodus 20. 38:19 In the preamble to the Ten Commandments, 38:21 Exodus 20:2, how does it start? 38:24 It says, "I am the Lord your God, 38:26 who brought you out of bondage." 38:28 There, again, we're reminded that God is our Deliverer, 38:32 that God is our Redeemer. 38:35 And if you look at Deuteronomy, 38:36 this quarter, we're studying Deuteronomy, 38:38 Deuteronomy Chapter 5, the fourth commandment, 38:41 the center of the covenant, in Deuteronomy Chapter 5, 38:45 what we see? 38:46 That the Sabbath commandment, the seventh day is holy 38:49 is connected again with redemption. 38:53 Let's look at point number two. 38:54 The covenant is not only based on redemption, 38:56 it's also based on relationship. 38:59 God desires to enter into relationship with His people. 39:03 From the beginning, Ryan talked so clearly about 39:05 the entrance of sin into this world. 39:08 Adam and Eve used to commune 39:10 with God on a daily basis. 39:12 And then when sin entered, there was a separation. 39:16 They could no longer commune with God 39:18 face to face as they used to. 39:20 But God wanted to dwell with His people. 39:23 He always wanted relationship with His people. 39:26 We see this with a covenant. 39:28 We see this in Exodus 25:8, 39:30 "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." 39:34 We see this when Jesus came, the Word became flesh, 39:36 John Chapter 1, and dwelt among us. 39:40 We see this in the New Testament, 39:41 God wants to dwell in us through the power 39:43 of the Holy Spirit. 39:45 And we get all the way down to the Book of Revelation. 39:47 And again, in the new heavens and the new earth, 39:50 God will dwell with His people. 39:53 So we're in Exodus 19. 39:54 The covenant is based on relationship. 39:58 Sin broke our relationship with God, 40:00 but redemption restores our relationship with God. 40:04 Amen. That's right. 40:06 19:5, we already read it. 40:08 Let's pick it up in verse 6, 40:10 "And you shall be to Me a kingdom 40:12 of priests and a holy nation." 40:14 You see, God delivered them from bondage, 40:16 He redeemed them, He then established 40:18 a special covenantal relationship with them, 40:21 they would be His people, and He would be their God. 40:26 Let's look at number three. 40:27 This is, the covenant is based on God's promise. 40:31 Now, of course, we have the sacrificial system, 40:33 we can look at that, 40:35 and the promise of the coming Savior. 40:36 We know in John 1:29, 40:38 "Behold, the Lamb of God 40:40 who takes away the sin of the world." 40:43 And the sacrificial system 40:44 established there in the Old Testament, 40:47 we see the slain of the perfect lamb, 40:50 symbolic of Jesus, who would come thousands 40:53 of years later who would redeem us from sin. 40:57 But not only do we see that promise 40:59 of a coming Savior, we also see God's 10 promises of love. 41:04 This is what we call the Ten Commandments. 41:06 Now you might say, wait a minute, 41:07 but they're commandments and its do's and don'ts, 41:09 and they're very difficult, 41:11 and I don't think I can keep them. 41:14 You know, the word commandments in Hebrew 41:16 literally means sayings, like the 10 words of God, 41:19 or the 10 sayings of God, 41:22 and the promises the shalt and thou shalt not, 41:25 you know, thou shalt not commit adultery, 41:27 thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal. 41:30 The shalts and the shalt nots are written in the second 41:34 person singular imperfect. 41:37 Now the imperfect verb form note that it's not 41:40 all completed, the action is being completed. 41:45 It's the same verb form used in Judges 6:23. 41:50 It says, "Then the Lord said unto me, 41:52 'Peace be unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die." 41:55 Now, does that mean I have to sit here 41:57 and try not to die? 41:58 No, that's the promise. 42:00 God says, "You're not going to die." 42:02 It's the same verb tense. 42:04 So when we look at God's law, God's covenant of love. 42:08 And the aspect of these are promises 42:11 that He extends to you and to me saying, 42:14 Yes, I can do this in your life. 42:17 These are promises of who you will be in me. 42:20 Now I've done this before, but since we're talking about 42:22 the covenant sign, I want to mention it again. 42:25 I've taken the liberty. 42:27 This is Jill's version of the Ten Commandments 42:30 rewritten as ten promises of love. 42:34 Promise number one, you will desire only me, 42:38 nobody else, and nothing else. 42:41 Promise number two, 42:42 you will need no other gods or support systems because I, 42:47 I fulfill everything you need. 42:50 Promise number three, 42:51 you will reverence and respect Me, 42:54 My name and My character, 42:56 and you will do everything you can to guard our relationship. 43:01 Promise number four, 43:02 you will delight in spending time 43:04 with Me on our special day, the seventh day Sabbath, 43:08 no interruptions, no distractions, 43:11 just God and us together. 43:14 Promise number five, 43:16 you will love those who have given you life 43:19 and respect the family that I have given to you. 43:24 Promise number six, 43:25 you will respect other people's lives 43:29 and hold them sacred as you would your own. 43:32 Promise number seven, you will delight in 43:35 and love the spouse that I gave to you. 43:40 Promise number eight, 43:41 you will have enough with what I've given to you, 43:44 and will have no need to take from anybody else. 43:48 Promise number nine, 43:49 you will speak truthfully 43:51 and well of neighbors and associates 43:53 because I've placed them in your life for a purpose. 43:57 And finally promise number 10, 43:59 you will be content with what I have given to you 44:02 and will rejoice in the gifts I have given in your life. 44:07 So we look at the Sinaitic covenant, 44:08 a covenant based on redemption, 44:10 a covenant based on relationship, 44:12 a covenant based on the promises 44:14 of God extended to you and to me. 44:16 Number four, the covenant is based on obedience. 44:20 Exodus 19:5 we already read this, 44:23 if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant. 44:26 Now the children of Israel, they clearly understood. 44:29 They were supposed to obey because they said 44:31 twice in those several chapters. 44:33 All that the Lord has said we will do. 44:38 But you know, obedience is not gritting teeth. 44:41 Obedience is not trying harder. 44:45 Obedience is based on love. 44:48 John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 44:52 Obedience is based on grace. 44:54 Ephesians 2:8-10, verse 10 says, 44:57 "We're God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus, 45:00 which God ordained before that we should walk in." 45:03 Meaning, obedience itself is a gift from God. 45:07 Obedience is based on Christ working in the heart 45:10 of the believer. 45:12 John Chapter 15, "I am the vine, 45:14 we are the branches." 45:15 It's based on us being connected to Him. 45:18 Now finally, the Sinaitic covenant kind 45:20 of winds up in Exodus Chapter 24. 45:23 And we see that it was ratified with blood. 45:27 And the people said, "All that the Lord has said, 45:29 we're gonna do." 45:30 This covenant that God put in place, 45:34 based on redemption, based on relationship, 45:37 based on God's promises in our hearts, 45:40 and in our lives, and based on obedience was set up perfectly. 45:44 But did the people obey it perfectly? 45:46 Did the people walk after God 45:49 and seek Him with all their heart? 45:51 Did they seek to honor this God 45:53 who would lavish them with such love? 45:55 I think we'll go to Pastor James 45:57 and find out what happened with the people. 45:59 Okay. Well, that was such a blessing. 46:02 Thursday's lesson is Apostasy and Punishment. 46:05 I'm Pastor James Rafferty, 46:06 and this is my first time on the set 46:08 with these honorable people, but it's a blessing to be here. 46:12 Powerful, really, when we think about our lesson starts 46:14 with this Bible verse in Exodus 19:8, 46:18 right where Jill left off, we're going to pick up. 46:21 Exodus 19:8 says, 46:22 "And all the people answered together, together." 46:25 There's something powerful in unity. 46:26 You know, when you're all together, 46:28 you're all one voice. 46:29 All the people answered together and said, 46:30 'All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.'" 46:33 Yes, it's amazing what you can do, 46:36 and what you can't do, when you're united. 46:39 It doesn't matter how many people 46:41 you get together in football stadiums across 46:43 the United States, we are not promised keepers. 46:48 We're not promised keepers, we just are not able to do 46:51 what God has promised to do. 46:53 And we can't put ourselves in the place of God. 46:56 We have to allow God to fulfill the promises He's made to us. 47:00 And I think that's really the bottom line 47:03 of what happened at Sinai, 47:05 as Jill, as you were sharing there, 47:06 we got the commandments upside down. 47:09 We started thinking these are thou shalt nots, 47:11 these are things we need to do 47:13 and we forgot these are promises. 47:16 These are promises that God has promised to do in us 47:19 and for us. 47:21 Now, the beautiful thing about Israel's failure here in Sinai, 47:25 is that it revealed to them their inability to do for God. 47:31 And over and over again, 47:33 I find this happening in my life, 47:34 I don't know if you've experienced in your life. 47:35 But over and over again, I find myself being reminded 47:38 of my inability to do for God, 47:40 in my relationship with my wife, 47:42 in my relationships with people, 47:44 in my reactions to things that I face, in community, 47:48 in church, in the world, in the way I look at things 47:52 and the way I judge people, and the way I'm critical, 47:54 I find myself over and over again, 47:56 be reminded of my inability to do for God. 47:59 And that is precisely where God steps in. 48:03 You see, sometimes we think that the failure 48:05 of our inability to be obedient to God means we're done. 48:09 It's over, it's ended, we're finished. 48:11 There's no way we're going to be able to do, to be, 48:12 to do the Christian life, to be a Christian, 48:16 but that's actually where the Christian life begin. 48:19 That's where we transition from the world to Christianity, 48:22 because of the world we say, well, 48:24 pull yourself up by your bootstraps, 48:25 and you can do it and grit your teeth, 48:28 and then try it again. 48:29 But in Christianity, 48:31 we come to God as I did 37 years ago, 48:34 and I say, you know, Lord, I can't be a Christian. 48:36 There's no way that I can do what I know I should be doing. 48:40 And if you want me to be a Christian, 48:42 you're gonna have to do it in me. 48:43 That was my first prayer. 48:44 That was the way my life started as a true believer. 48:47 Now I've been raised in a Christian home, 48:49 I said my prayers every night, whether I was drunk or sober, 48:51 but that transition from me trying to meet God's 48:56 expectations failing over and over again 48:58 and thinking I got to do better. 48:59 I got to do better to trusting the Lord, 49:01 trusting in Jesus was a transition from 49:04 the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. 49:06 See, the Old Covenant is not just this idea 49:09 of keeping God's law. 49:11 The Old Covenant is this idea 49:13 of keeping God's law in our own strength. 49:15 There's nothing wrong with keeping the law of God. 49:17 Lot of people say today, well, you know, 49:19 if you're keeping the law of God, you're a legalist. 49:21 You know, that's, that's legalism trying to keep 49:22 the law of God. 49:24 Well, no, actually, all you need to do 49:26 is go to the New Testament. 49:28 Hebrews Chapter 8, Hebrews Chapter 10, 49:31 will tell you what the New Covenant is all about. 49:33 And the center of the New Covenant 49:36 is where God is going to put His law in our hearts 49:39 and our minds. 49:40 God's gonna write them there in our hearts 49:42 and in our minds. 49:43 So the law is still a powerful, 49:45 a central part of the New Covenant, 49:48 what I would call the everlasting covenant. 49:50 I think we'd all agree it's the everlasting covenant, 49:52 because the first promise of the covenant that was given 49:56 was given to Abraham. 49:58 And Abraham was promised something from God. 50:00 And Abraham struggled with the promise, 50:02 you know, I'm going to do this for Abraham of all, 50:04 you know, how could this be, and you know, 50:07 my wife, there's no way that she can have a child. 50:09 That mean, God is making a promise to us. 50:12 And it's typified in Abraham, because Abraham is facing 50:15 something that is overwhelming him, the fact that his wife 50:18 can't have children, and yet he's supposed to have a child. 50:21 And so he tries to figure out another way. 50:25 Sarah helps him, his wife helps him, 50:26 hey, listen, get together with Hagar. 50:28 You and Hagar get together, and we'll help God, right? 50:31 We'll help God fulfill His promise, right? 50:34 We'll do our part, right? God does His part. 50:37 And they do actually, you know, produce a child, 50:40 but God comes to them and He says, 50:41 you know, this is not the child I promised, 50:44 this is not what I promised you. 50:46 I promised you something that surpasses your ability. 50:50 I promised you something that surpasses Sarah's ability. 50:53 And so you know, a year goes by, 50:54 two years goes by, five years goes by, 50:56 10 years goes by, right? 50:58 Abraham was promised when he was 75. 50:59 Now he's 85. Now wait a minute. 51:02 Sarah was 75, 85, 90, he's 100 years old. 51:06 Twenty five years go by, he's 99, 51:09 moving to 100 years old. 51:11 And Abraham himself finally says, 51:13 you know, not only can Sarah and I have kids, 51:15 but I give up on myself. 51:16 I mean, I'm done. I've just, I just can't do this. 51:19 It's just not possible. 51:20 And God says, yes, 51:22 the transition has just taken place, 51:23 you're qualified right now. 51:25 You're qualified to transition from the Old Testament 51:29 to the New Testament, from the Old Covenant 51:30 to the New Cover in the context of experience, 51:33 in the context of understanding how God works. 51:36 And so Abraham then has a son. 51:38 It's a miracle son, it's not a son, 51:40 that he can take credit for. 51:42 It's not a son that his wife can take credit for. 51:45 God gets all the glory. 51:46 And that whole story is told to us in Romans Chapter 4, 51:50 God gets all the glory all the time. 51:52 That's right. 51:53 This is the transition that God wants 51:55 His people to make at Sinai. 51:56 Sinai wasn't a mistake from which they could not recover. 52:00 Sinai, that disobedience 52:02 after the 40 days was a beautiful opportunity 52:06 for them to transition in the New Covenant 52:08 experience for them to realize, you know, 52:10 why did we say all before he said we can do. 52:14 What were we thinking? What were we thinking? 52:16 Those were bad promises. 52:18 And, of course, Paul brings this up in this beautiful Book 52:21 of Hebrews that we focused on in our camp meeting, 52:25 this relational book. 52:26 Paul brings out all of these truths, 52:29 all of these covenant truths. 52:31 And he says, you know what? Those were bad promises. 52:33 You know, that, that the people made, 52:35 they were bad, but it wasn't bad promises that God made. 52:38 But it was bad promises that people made 52:39 when they said, all the Lord has said we... 52:40 Those were terrible promises. 52:42 So God has stepped in, 52:43 He's overruled those bad promises. 52:46 And He's told us, you know what? 52:48 I'm going to put My law in your hearts 52:50 and in your minds. 52:52 I'm going to be your God. You're going to be My people. 52:54 I'm the one that's going to teach you. 52:57 All the way through the New Covenant. 52:59 In Hebrews Chapter 8, you have I, I, I, 53:02 I pointing to God, He's the source. 53:05 This is the lesson that God was longing to teach 53:08 the children of Israel, 53:09 as He transitioned them from this apostasy 53:11 and move them forward. 53:13 He wanted them to understand, if you love Me, 53:16 you will keep My commandments. 53:17 It's going to be an outworking of keeping My, 53:19 if you love Me, so what is our focus to be? 53:22 Our focus is to be loved. 53:23 The children of Israel were to learn this lesson. 53:26 The Jewish nation was to learn this lesson. 53:28 You know, the Jewish nation kept the law of God, 53:31 I mean to the tee, they kept the law of God. 53:33 But in Luke 11:42, 53:36 Jesus says that you left out love, 53:38 you left out the love of God, 53:40 and without the love of God, all that obedience is legalism. 53:43 It doesn't matter if we're keeping God's law for keeping 53:46 the right day or the wrong day. 53:48 If we're religious, according to the Bible 53:50 or religious outside the Bible or in a perversion 53:53 of the Bible, whatever our religion is, 53:55 it's legalism without God. 53:57 It's legalism without the motivation of God's love, 54:00 because the love of God is the only thing that can 54:03 actually cause us to have this New Covenant experience. 54:07 The anointing of the Holy Spirit. 54:09 That's what's promised again in Hebrews Chapter 8, 54:11 the anointing of the Holy Spirit 54:12 is the only thing that can transition us 54:14 from an Old Covenant experience to the New Covenant experience, 54:17 from that apostasy at Sinai, to the reality 54:22 of having a new heart that has fallen in love with God. 54:25 So this week's lesson was powerful in this sense, 54:27 and just want to close it out with Proverbs 3:5-7. 54:32 Proverbs 3:5-7 54:34 really powerful verses here that kind of lay out for us 54:38 the outline of what it means to have 54:41 this relationship with God. 54:42 Proverbs 3, beginning with verse 5 54:44 and all the way through verse 7. 54:46 "Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: 54:48 bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tables 54:51 of thine heart: 54:52 So shalt thou find favor 54:55 and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 54:57 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, 55:00 lean not on our own understanding. 55:02 In all thy ways acknowledge him, 55:04 and he shall direct thy paths. 55:06 Be not wise in thine own eyes: 55:08 fear the Lord, and depart from evil." 55:11 Do you see the principles in there? 55:12 God is revealing these principles, 55:13 and He's showing us this is the way 55:15 and the way is to have this relationship with God, 55:19 this constant dependence on God, 55:21 this continual communion with God, 55:23 this walk with God that causes us to rely upon His strength, 55:27 His power, His love, His mercy, His grace, and as we do that, 55:31 it works out in us this beautiful picture 55:35 of commandment keeping that Jill brought to us 55:37 and that that we've looked at as we've moved 55:39 through this first part of our lesson. 55:42 Amen. Oh, wonderful. 55:43 We're so glad to have you join the team, 55:47 the family of 3ABN, 55:49 and what a wonderful addition 55:51 you are to our Sabbath School study. 55:53 We learn so much from each other. 55:56 Want to give everyone 55:57 just a few seconds to have a comment about your day? 56:01 Amen. 56:02 Yeah, we've learned here today that the Bible says 56:04 God is love, not that He's mere loving, 56:06 but yet He is love. 56:08 How do we fully comprehend that? 56:09 We're going to continue to learn that over this many, 56:12 many ceaseless ages to come, 56:13 but at the same time, true love requires freedom. 56:15 And we learn that we serve a God of love and freedom. 56:18 Amen. 56:20 And the other thing God calls us 56:21 not because of who we are, 56:23 but because of who we can become. 56:26 He calls us not because of what He sees in us, 56:29 but because of what He wants to do in us. 56:31 Philippians 2:13, 56:33 "For it is God who works in us both to will 56:36 and to do of His good pleasure." 56:39 Amen. 56:40 I had the covenant at Sinai, this incredible covenant God 56:42 made with His people, redemption, relationship, 56:45 God's promise in obedience. 56:47 I'm reminded of Philippians 1:6, 56:49 "Being confident of this very thing, 56:51 that He, that's God, who began a good work in us 56:54 will carry it forward to completion. 56:56 You can rest with assurance in Jesus. 56:59 And I love the fact that no matter what our failures are, 57:04 that those failures are doors, they're gateways, 57:06 they're opportunities for us to see God as He really 57:08 is to trust Him as He really is. 57:10 And to have Him recover us 57:13 and renew us in the true New Covenant 57:15 experience that He wants us to have. 57:16 Amen, and amen. 57:18 And you know, the wonderful thing about God 57:21 is love is that His government is a government of love. 57:25 He operates by the power of love. 57:28 And the unifying theme through Scripture 57:30 is that our God is a covenant keeping God. 57:34 His promises are sure. 57:36 And He says, "I will be your God 57:38 and you will be My people." 57:41 I love the Book of Deuteronomy. 57:44 I am so excited about this study. 57:48 And I pray that you'll be able to join us next time 57:52 and the second lesson is Moses' history lesson. 57:56 So join us then. 57:57 We want to thank each one 57:59 of you for your wonderful input today. 58:03 And thank you at home for joining us. 58:05 Amen. |
Revised 2021-10-07