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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023006S
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00:00 (victorious orchestral theme music)
00:13 (music ends) 00:15 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:19 This week we are looking at lesson number six, 00:21 "Laying Up Treasures in Heaven." 00:24 We're continuing our journey, a 12-week journey, 00:27 through the subject of 00:28 "Managing for the Master Till He Comes," 00:30 looking at stewardship, faith, finances, 00:34 and our walk with Jesus. With us again this week 00:37 is the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, 00:39 Ed Reid. He is an ordained minister. 00:43 He is also a licensed attorney 00:45 and has a great deal of experience 00:47 in the area of stewardship. 00:49 We're gonna be looking into this lesson on 00:51 "Laying Up Treasures in Heaven" in just a moment. 00:53 But let's pray before we do. 00:55 Father, we ask that You'll bless us again this week 00:57 as You have in the past. And as we continue our journey 01:00 through this fascinating subject, 01:02 we ask that You'll bless us today, 01:03 and we thank You, in Jesus' name, amen. 01:06 Ed, welcome back once again. 01:07 >>Well, thank you. It's a pleasure to be here again. 01:10 >>So we're looking at "Laying Up Treasures in Heaven." 01:12 I think this is a verse that many Christians have heard. 01:15 We're gonna unpack it a little bit, 01:17 but let me start by reading our memory text here 01:19 from Mark, chapter 8, verses 36 and 37. Jesus says, 01:24 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, 01:27 "and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give 01:31 in exchange for his soul?" 01:34 Well, we're talking about laying up treasures in heaven. 01:37 Why would a person want to lay up treasures in heaven? 01:40 What's the point? What's the purpose? 01:42 >>The real interesting thing, we've read this verse before, 01:44 but when we look at... 01:48 Matthew 6:19 and 20, where it talks about the storage, 01:50 the investments made on this earth, they're not safe, 01:52 but if we send them to heaven, they will be safe. 01:55 Now, the answer to your question directly, it's this way. 01:58 If you had your money, a lot of money in a bank 02:00 you knew was failing, 02:01 and you knew of a bank that was much stronger, 02:03 what would you do? 02:04 >>Move it. 02:05 >>Move it over there, that's for sure. 02:07 The Bible is very clear. I'm gonna read this from 2 Peter, 02:09 the third chapter, verse 10, where it says, 02:12 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, 02:14 "in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, 02:16 "and the elements will melt with fervent heat; 02:19 "both the earth and the works that are in it 02:20 will be burned up." 02:21 So my home and this studio 02:23 and all your stuff's gonna get burned up. 02:25 So would you rather have it in the bank here 02:27 somewhere on the earth? 02:28 Or would you rather have it in the heavenly bank? 02:29 >>No, not much point in having it here on earth 02:31 if it's all gonna be turned to ashes here 02:33 in the near future anyway. 02:34 >>Everything's gonna get burned up, that's for sure. 02:36 >>All right, so laying up treasures in heaven 02:38 certainly sounds like it's a better long-term investment. 02:41 I guess maybe that's one way to put it. 02:43 And in Sunday's lesson, you're focusing us 02:48 toward that long-term investment, 02:51 in looking at Noah finding grace. 02:54 What type of life focus is found in those 02:57 who are storing up treasures in heaven? 02:59 How does their perspective, how does their worldview differ? 03:02 How is it different from people 03:04 who are storing up money here, as it were? 03:07 >>Well, this way, we're gonna look at several instances 03:09 from the Bible where people made decisions. 03:12 This is amazing, Eric, where you're talking about decision, 03:15 financial decisions that have eternal consequences, 03:18 very serious situations. 03:20 For example, I mentioned earlier that Matthew 19 03:24 and Mark 10 and Luke 18 03:25 all talk about the story of the rich young ruler. 03:28 Well, frequently when you talk about 03:30 what God asked people to do, 03:32 it's noteworthy to consider that 03:33 those seeking heavenly treasure 03:34 are frequently asked to do something 03:36 very drastic in their life, very, very drastic, 03:39 called upon major life-altering decisions. 03:41 For example, He asked the rich young ruler, 03:43 "Sell what you have and give [it] to the poor, 03:44 "and [then You'll] have treasure in heaven; 03:45 ...come, follow me." 03:47 He offered this man a place in His inner circle 03:49 if he would just sell and give his money to the poor. 03:53 Now, this is interesting because 03:54 we'll actually have a chapter in our lessons this quarter 03:57 about helping the poor. God doesn't ask everybody 04:00 to give all their funds to the poor, 04:03 but He knew this man was sold on his own possessions, 04:06 and he was really selfish about them. 04:08 So He said that was what it would take 04:09 to get the man to heaven. But he went away sorrowful 04:12 because that decision was an eternal consequence. 04:14 We never hear from this man again. 04:16 Now, you talk about the experience of Noah, 04:19 which is kind of interesting. 04:20 Here's a guy who's just doing his own thing, 04:22 and he's probably about 450 years old, 04:26 enjoying life like everyone else around him. 04:28 And God comes to him and says, "I'm about to-- 04:30 "the wickedness on the earth is so great 04:31 "I'm gonna destroy everything. But I'm telling you about it 04:34 "because I want you to build a boat for me. 04:36 "And when you do that, well, 04:38 whoever wants to get on board will be safe." 04:40 What did it cost Noah to build a boat? 04:42 >>It cost him everything. 04:43 >>It did. It cost him everything he had-- 04:45 120 years of his life, all his resources went into the boat. 04:49 People thought he was crazy. 04:50 Well, how did they ever know he wasn't crazy? 04:53 >>Well, when the rain came. 04:55 >>Well, right before that, 04:56 there was one little final chance of deliverance and mercy 04:59 that--when the ark was finished 05:01 and Noah was giving his last sermon. 05:02 And then something amazing happened. 05:05 Animals and birds came from all directions in order, 05:07 by sevens and by twos, into the ark with no one, 05:10 no sheepdogs barking at their heels or anything, 05:13 coming in automatically. 05:14 Anyone with a lick of sense would've recognized 05:16 that God was doing this. But nobody changed their mind 05:19 because you can't just think, 05:21 "Well, I'm gonna live for the world most of my life, 05:23 and then when I get through, I'll turn to God." 05:25 That's not gonna happen. The decisions we make now-- 05:28 now is called the day of salvation, of course. 05:31 So in Noah's case, he had to change his life completely. 05:33 His life was enduring the ridicule, the laughter of people. 05:37 They thought he was crazy, 05:39 but he saved himself and his family. 05:42 Sometimes I say he only saved himself and his family. 05:44 But listen carefully: He saved himself and his family. 05:47 Would that be enough for most of us? 05:49 That's an incredible story. 05:51 Noah could have spent time and resources 05:52 building a home for himself 05:54 but instead decided to do that for God, 05:56 120 years of his life. 05:59 Now, the interesting thing is we're talking today-- 06:01 and I don't wanna make too much fun of this-- 06:02 but we're talking about following the science 06:04 and many things in the world today. 06:06 The scientists told people that it couldn't rain 06:09 and the boat wouldn't float and all that kinda thing. 06:11 And my question of those skeptics were, 06:13 how many scientists got on board the ark? 06:16 How many saved themselves? How many saved their families? 06:19 We have to understand that 06:20 God's not in the business of saving multitudes-- 06:21 He's--individuals, saving individuals, 06:23 and that's all of us together. 06:26 As individuals, 06:27 we're looking for God's guidance in our lives. 06:29 >>So Noah made that decision to believe God 06:33 and to get on the ark. 06:35 What was it that you think Noah possessed? 06:39 What did he have? What did he do that allowed him 06:42 to be able to make that decision when other people, 06:45 well, the vast majority, didn't? 06:48 What was it that motivated Noah 06:50 to move in the right direction? 06:53 >>A good question because it's gotta be something, 06:56 doesn't it? Would you like to save yourself and your family? 06:59 Then this is what the plan is. That's what God told him, 07:02 so he decided he wanted to do that, 07:04 and so he chose God by faith. 07:06 He knew it had never rained before. 07:07 He knew that big boat wasn't gonna be, 07:09 you know, way up on dry land, 07:11 would never float down to the river on its own. 07:14 But he had to make a decision. 07:15 Is he gonna follow the voice of God? This is another thing, 07:17 is when you read the Bible on a regular basis, 07:19 you hear the voice of God speaking to you and your family. 07:22 So if you don't read the Bible, 07:23 you don't know God's voice when He comes to you like that. 07:25 It's hard to know what to do, but he knew what to do. 07:28 And we'll even find in two other stories in this lesson 07:31 important lessons about what to do 07:33 when you hear God's voice. 07:35 >>You know, speaking of stories 07:36 to know what to do when you hear God's voice, 07:38 Monday's lesson is about Abram, the father of the faithful. 07:42 Abram knew God's voice, 07:44 and God's voice told him to do something 07:47 that went against conventional wisdom-- 07:49 I guess we'll put it that way. 07:51 How did Abram--what motivated him to leave his homeland, 07:56 to move to a foreign country, 07:58 to live in a tent for the rest of his life? 08:00 Why would he make such a life-changing, 08:02 life-altering decision? 08:03 >>That's a very good question as well. 08:05 This man knew the voice of God. 08:08 Who among us or who of our friends 08:09 would just sell everything they have 08:10 or pack up what they could haul away 08:12 and leave their friends and family 08:13 and their resources behind and go to a foreign country? 08:16 Well, he did that. 08:18 And I'm gonna give you the answer right now. 08:19 The reason he did it, because he knew-- 08:21 he looked for a city whose foundations 08:23 and "[building]...maker is God," a city with foundations. 08:26 This is an amazing story because the only city in the Bible 08:30 that has given the dimensions of its foundations 08:32 and the building materials is the great New Jerusalem. 08:35 He saw that in his mind. 08:37 And so he was willing to leave everything, 08:39 sacrifice his life, 08:40 live in a tent the rest of his life. 08:42 The family also lived in a tent. 08:44 And, Eric, this is the most amazing thing. 08:45 He did not enjoy it and didn't get it. 08:47 It wasn't satisfied to him in his lifetime. 08:49 He just looked in faith that it would happen sometime. 08:52 >>So, throughout his life, 08:54 he never got to see the realization of what it was 08:57 that God had promised him. 08:59 But he was willing to go, not just partway in, 09:03 but really all in, in this endeavor. 09:06 A lesson there for us maybe? 09:08 >>Yes, indeed. Something interesting is that 09:11 when we talk about rewards in the last week of the quarter, 09:13 we'll talk about eternal rewards, 09:15 but there's rewards in this life as well. 09:18 Most people don't realize this, 09:19 but in the 18th chapter of Genesis, 09:22 the Lord Himself and two angels came down from heaven 09:24 because they were gonna investigate. 09:25 This is part of the investigative judgment of Sodom, 09:27 as you may remember. 09:29 And it's interesting that this man living in a tent 09:32 was able to host Jesus Christ and two angels for supper 09:36 and wash their feet. This is amazing to me. 09:39 >>So, part of his blessing, 09:41 he didn't realize the ultimate end of it in his life, 09:46 but he did get to experience 09:47 some really incredible experiences 09:50 that he wouldn't have been able to 09:52 if he hadn't made that decision to follow God completely. 09:56 Can you think of any other blessings that Abram experienced 09:59 or saw or had or was able to benefit from? 10:03 >>Sure. Apparently he conversed with God regularly. 10:06 And one time God told him to, 10:07 "Step outside tonight and look up at the stars." 10:10 And, you know, 10:11 most of us around a lot of ambient light nowadays, 10:12 so we don't see the Milky Way and all the beautiful stars 10:14 unless we live in someplace up in the mountains 10:15 or something. 10:16 But he looked up there, and God said to him, 10:19 "See all these stars? 10:20 Your descendants are gonna be like these children." 10:23 Really interesting, 10:24 (laughs) when He came to him on the 18th chapter-- 10:27 first of all, when God and the two angels came, 10:30 He was disguised at first. 10:32 He was just dressed as a man. 10:34 And so He said, "Well, tell me a little bit about yourself." 10:37 He did that to Abram. 10:38 "Well, it's just me and my wife here, 10:40 but God's promised us that we're gonna have children." 10:42 God said, "Oh really? How many do you have now?" 10:44 "None." "How old are you?" 10:45 "Well, I'm 99. I'm almost 100." 10:47 Then He said, 10:48 "About this time next year"--this is Genesis 18-- 10:51 "your wife is gonna have a new baby boy." 10:53 And Sarah wasn't visible, she was inside the tent, 10:56 but she laughed in her heart. 10:58 That's what the Bible says. She laughed in her heart. 10:59 And God said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" 11:01 "But I didn't laugh." 11:03 It's like being at a funeral or something; 11:04 you don't wanna laugh right out loud, 11:05 but you laugh in your heart if you think of something funny. 11:07 So she thought, "This is never gonna happen to me." 11:10 But God said, "About this time next year, 11:11 you'll have a bouncing baby boy." 11:13 So he had the promise of God for a child, 11:15 only one child--not star-like, but you remember 11:17 it's incredible what God can do 11:19 with the faith of individual people. 11:23 >>So he started with that one child, 11:25 and down through the years, you know, 11:28 here we are today where God has His faithful children 11:31 really all around the world. 11:33 >>In the millions. 11:35 >>In the millions, easily in the millions. It's incredible. 11:38 When God makes a promise, He will keep His end of it. 11:41 We just have to decide 11:43 whether we want to keep our end of it. 11:44 And that's something that we've already looked at 11:46 this quarter. So the story of Abram is a powerful one. 11:50 The story of Noah is a powerful one. 11:53 And if you wanna continue learning more about 11:56 some of these stories, 11:58 there's, of course, the Bible study lesson 12:00 that we're going through, 12:01 this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 12:03 You can get a great deal from that. 12:05 But if you want to hear more stories, 12:07 gain more insight into this particular subject, 12:12 get a better grasp of it, maybe increase your faith, 12:16 strengthen your faith in moving forward 12:18 and receiving some of these blessings of God, 12:20 I wanna encourage you to pick up 12:21 a copy of the companion book 12:23 to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 12:25 It's called "Managing for the Master." 12:26 Ed Reid, of course, is the author of this, 12:29 just as he is the author of the Sabbath school lesson. 12:32 And if you pick this up and read it, 12:33 study it, and apply what you find there to your life, 12:37 you're going to find that in incredible ways, 12:39 God blesses you in ways 12:40 that you have never experienced before. 12:43 And if you wanna pick this up, 12:44 it's very easy to do so. 12:46 Just go to itiswritten.shop. 12:48 Again, that's itiswritten.shop. 12:51 And you can search for "Managing for the Master" 12:54 by G. Edward Reid. 12:56 Pick that up and you will gain some additional insights. 12:59 We aren't done yet, we still have some more to go this week, 13:02 and I wanna encourage you 13:03 that we still have about six more weeks to go. 13:06 So if you're just coming across this program this week, 13:08 it's not a standalone program. 13:10 If you wanna see how God can bless you in your finances 13:13 and fix some things that where maybe there are problems 13:16 or you're wondering how to invest 13:18 or you're wondering how to get rid of debt 13:19 or you're wondering whatever it has to do with finances, 13:23 you're in the right place. 13:24 We're gonna come back in just a few moments 13:26 as we continue looking at this subject of 13:28 "Laying Up Treasures in Heaven." Stay with us. 13:31 (theme music swells and ends) 13:36 >>[John Bradshaw] There's something placed by God 13:38 inside the human heart: a yearning to be free. 13:42 (pen scratching) 13:43 And the actions of some went beyond the page 13:47 and the lecture hall 13:48 to the tracks of something that became known as 13:52 the Underground Railroad. 13:55 [America Wilson singing] ♪ Steal away ♪ 13:59 ♪ Steal away, ♪ 14:02 ♪ steal away ♪ 14:05 ♪ to Jesus. ♪ 14:10 ♪ Steal away, ♪ 14:13 (crickets chirping) 14:14 ♪ steal away home. ♪ 14:20 ♪ I ain't got long ♪ 14:23 ♪ to stay here ♪ 14:28 >>[Announcer] Watch "Midnight to Dawn" 14:30 on itiswritten.tv. 14:36 (victorious orchestral theme music) 14:41 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:42 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:44 We're continuing here with lesson number six, 14:47 "Laying Up Treasures in Heaven." 14:49 Wanna jump to Tuesday's lesson, Ed. 14:51 It talks about Lot's bad decisions. 14:54 We've looked at some good decisions that Noah made, 14:57 that Abram made, and now we come to Lot's-- 15:00 or, pardon me, to Abram's nephew, Lot. 15:03 And typically when we think about Lot, 15:05 we don't list him among the people 15:07 who made very wise decisions. 15:10 What can we learn from the story of Lot? 15:14 >>It's a very interesting story 15:15 because God always does what He says He'll do. 15:18 In the call of Abraham in chapter 12 of Genesis, 15:20 He says, "I'm gonna bless you and make a great nation. 15:22 I'll bless everybody that associates with you," and so on. 15:25 So Lot--give him credit for this-- 15:27 made a decision to follow with Abram. 15:29 And God did what He said He could do, 15:30 'cause in the 13th chapter of Genesis, it says 15:34 Abraham was very rich in livestock and silver 15:36 and gold and so on, 15:37 and Lot also had tents and herds and so on. 15:39 And God blessed him too. 15:41 Finally, they had to go. 15:44 They had so many livestock 15:46 they couldn't live close together. 15:47 So Abram came to Lot and said, 15:48 "Listen, our shepherds are arguing. 15:50 We need to move away from each other. Where do you wanna go? 15:52 You choose first." 15:53 Well, Lot's bad decision was he chose first. 15:56 He should have said, 15:57 "Well, Abraham, you're the senior man here. 15:59 You choose first, and I'll take the other one." 16:00 But instead he said, "There's a beautiful valley over here, 16:02 and the river runs through it. I'll go that way." 16:05 So he was a wealthy man; remember this now. 16:08 The last verse in the chapter 13 is 16:11 he pitched his tent--where? Towards Sodom. 16:14 The next chapter has him living in Sodom. 16:17 People like to go to cities for being near the mall 16:19 and all the conveniences of the stores and stuff. 16:23 But he lost his family as a result, as you know. 16:25 A real interesting situation. He-- 16:28 some good choices that he made is he had joined Abraham, 16:31 and he also welcomed the angels to his house 16:33 when he was down in Sodom. 16:35 Bad choices: 16:37 He chose the best land for himself, kind of selfish, 16:39 moved his family into Sodom, a city with foundations. 16:42 So his city with foundations is Sodom, 16:44 not the great New Jerusalem. He delayed in leaving Sodom, 16:48 and he argued with God about fleeing to the mountains. 16:50 So we're gonna look and talk about 16:51 some of these things that are very interesting. 16:54 However easily Lot could have justified his decision 16:56 to move into the city, 16:57 it has eternal and life-changing consequences for him. 17:02 There was a time when three Elamite kings 17:04 ransacked Sodom and took Lot and his family captive. 17:07 When Abraham heard about what happened to Lot, 17:09 what could he have said? What would we say today? 17:12 >>Is, "Aw, that's too bad." 17:13 >>"Well, sure, too bad. You chose to live down there." 17:15 We have a expression here in the South that says, 17:17 "He made his bed; let him sleep in it." 17:19 But instead, he armed himself. 17:20 By the way, Abraham was so rich at this time 17:22 that he had his own trained army, 17:24 318 people in his own household 17:26 that were trained servants as fighters. 17:28 So he joined a couple of his friends 17:30 and they went and ransacked; they rescued the hostages, 17:33 got all the money back 17:34 that they took out of Sodom and Gomorrah, 17:35 all the hostages back, and so on, very interesting story. 17:39 But here's the sad part, another bad decision. 17:41 Guess what Lot did? He moved right back into Sodom. 17:46 When don't we learn? These are bad situations. 17:49 Sometimes in our quest for stuff, 17:50 we don't learn the lessons well. 17:52 God sent messages of warning to Lot, of course-- 17:54 but something interesting--and his family, 17:56 letting them know about the pending destruction. 17:59 God and two angels-- 18:01 this is, to me, interesting because remember that 18:03 our small decisions make up to bigger decisions. 18:06 And if you make decisions about--some people say, 18:08 "Well, you know, I'm too busy to go to prayer meeting, 18:10 "but when things get bad I'll start going to prayer meeting 18:12 and change my life a little bit." 18:14 But you don't make decisions like that 18:15 in just the spur of a moment. 18:17 Lot was sitting at the city gate, 18:19 which means that he was a man of distinction in Sodom. 18:22 When the two angels came-- 18:23 you remember the two angels had been with God, 18:26 and God sent them on to warn the city of Sodom. 18:30 It's really sad that... 18:33 Abraham had to argue with God about-- 18:34 or he bargained with God-- 18:35 this is another bargain situation, Eric, 18:37 where he bargained with God about, "You wouldn't do it. 18:39 "Wouldn't destroy good people with bad people, would you? 18:41 Would not the God of all the earth do right?" 18:43 So he says, "What if there were 50 good guys down there?" 18:46 And God said, "Well, for the sake of 50 I wouldn't do it." 18:48 And then another interesting thing happened. 18:50 He said, "Well, maybe what if there were five less?" 18:52 And so God did the math in His head, and He said, 18:54 "For 45 I wouldn't do it." Then Abraham started asking more. 18:58 And finally he said, "What if there were only 40? 19:00 "What if there were only 30? What if there were only 20? 19:02 What if there were only 10?" 19:03 God said, "For the sake of 10, I wouldn't destroy it." 19:05 Now, here's something amazing. 19:07 God did not stop granting mercy 19:09 until Abraham stopped asking. 19:10 He probably could have saved it for three people, 19:12 but he didn't. He stopped at 10. 19:14 Meanwhile the angels arrived down in Sodom, 19:16 and Lot took them to his house. 19:19 Sodom was such a wicked city it reminds us some of today. 19:22 But anyway, he entertained these people in his house. 19:24 And back in those days, of course, they didn't have CNN 19:26 and television and Fox News and all that stuff, 19:29 so when strangers came to town, 19:31 you used them for their information source, 19:34 for your news information and stuff. 19:36 So they were talking after supper when all of a sudden, 19:38 some men gathered on the front porch of his house 19:41 and started banging on the door, 19:43 "Send those men out to us that we may sodomize them." 19:46 I'll never understand why 19:47 Lot offered his daughters to these crazy guys, 19:49 but anyway, the angels smote them with blindness 19:52 so they couldn't see the door anymore. 19:54 And then they brought back Lot into the house and said, 19:56 "Listen, we're not down there as salesman 19:58 "selling Melaleuca or something. 19:59 "We're out here sent from God telling you that 20:01 tonight's gonna be the last night on earth for this city." 20:04 Now, what should he do? 20:05 "Do you have anybody else here?" they said. 20:07 "Go and tell them." So he went to his sons-in-law 20:09 since some of his daughters had married off, 20:11 and he went to their homes, and they said, 20:12 "Dad, what are you doing here this time of night? 20:13 It's past your bedtime." 20:15 They're up watching late show, of course. 20:16 But he said to them, "You guys are not gonna believe this, 20:20 "but there's two angels at our house right now. 20:21 "And they said if we leave tonight, we'll be saved. 20:23 Otherwise, we're gonna get burned up." 20:25 And they laughed at him and thought he was drunk. 20:27 So he went home and told the angels, "I'm not leaving. 20:30 The kids won't leave. I won't leave either." 20:32 The Bible is very clear about this 20:33 in the 14th chapter of Genesis 20:35 that they'd argued with God all night with the two angels 20:37 as why they should not leave. 20:39 And finally when the morning dawned, 20:40 they grabbed ahold of his hand and his wife's hand 20:42 and his two daughters and left them down outside the city. 20:45 So they levitated right over the city wall. 20:47 And it was God who said on the outside--the Bible says, 20:49 then He said to them, "Do not look back. 20:52 Flee for your lives." 20:54 Well, then Lot started arguing with God Himself, who said, 20:57 "Flee to the mountains." 20:59 And, see, God's standing right beside him, 21:01 the Creator of the universe. 21:02 He said, "If I go up there, some animal will get me." 21:04 But He said, "Flee to the mountains. Don't argue." 21:06 And finally he said, "Well," 21:09 Lot said, "there's this little city called Zoar; 21:10 let me go over there." So God let him go over there. 21:13 But his wife looked back while he was arguing with God 21:15 and became a pillar of salt forever, 21:17 really a sad situation. 21:18 So Lot made a bad decision of moving into a city. 21:22 A wealthy man, how much did he have when he came out? 21:26 >>He had nothing but-- 21:27 >>Clothes on his back. >>Some of his children, 21:29 that's it. >>Two children 21:30 and the clothes on his back. That's all he had. 21:32 And then, of course, they became the Moabites 21:33 and the Ammonites as well, sad situation. 21:36 >>So he made the decision to move toward the city 21:40 and eventually into the city, 21:41 and that had an impact on the worldview of his family, 21:46 his wife, most certainly. 21:48 She looked back, and evidently she had some things there. 21:52 She had a home there; she had possessions; 21:53 she had things on earth-- >>Right. 21:56 >>...that were drawing her back. 21:57 And God tells us to lay up our treasures in heaven. 22:01 So, an incredible story of Lot's life. 22:03 What about Jacob? Wednesday talks about Jacob's story. 22:07 What do we learn from his story? 22:09 >>Well, in this particular case, 22:09 we're gonna look just mainly at 22:10 the first part of Jacob's life. 22:11 But...God had told Rebecca, his mother, 22:15 that she would-- 22:18 that Jacob, the younger one, would be the leader, 22:20 and the older one would serve the younger, and so on. 22:22 But she wanted to do it her way. 22:23 So she deceived the father, and he had to flee-- 22:27 Jacob had to flee from home. 22:29 Now, here's something interesting; 22:30 a lot of people don't realize this. 22:32 But when he fled from his homeland to Laban, 22:36 his mother said, "Tarry with him a few days 22:38 "until thy brother's fury is turned away; 22:39 then I'll send for you and fetch thee." 22:42 So she thought he was gonna cool down, 22:43 and he'll be back shortly. How long was he gone? 22:46 Twenty years. His mother died before he came back. 22:49 He never saw her face again. 22:50 By the way, interesting stuff you read in the Bible, 22:53 Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah 22:57 are all buried in the same grave, the Cave of Machpelah. 23:00 You remember Rachel was buried along the way, 23:02 but this is a kind of an interesting situation. 23:05 Twenty years he had to give up, never saw his face again. 23:08 But something amazing happened. 23:10 When he was leaving--God is so gracious. 23:16 When he was running the second day away from home at night, 23:18 he stopped just all outta breath. 23:20 He was running as hard as he could go without, you know, 23:22 drinking as much water as he could and all that. 23:24 He set this big stone up to hide behind, and... 23:27 when he fell down to sleep, 23:28 I believe he had a prayer, and he said, 23:30 "God, please let me come back to my homeland again 23:32 and don't let my brother find me sleeping." 23:35 And God appeared to him, 23:36 and that's what we call Jacob's Ladder. 23:38 The Lord appeared to him, 23:39 and the angels were going up and down 23:40 on this staircase that led to heaven, 23:43 and God above was there and says, 23:44 "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, your father, 23:47 "and here's what's gonna happen. 23:49 I'll bring you back to this land again." 23:51 The way this ends, Eric, 23:52 is what I wanna tell you about this story. 23:53 It's an amazing story. 23:56 Jacob said, "This is the very house of God. 23:57 I didn't know it." So he set up the stone 23:59 and made a pillar there and called it the "House of God." 24:01 But then he said, "Since You're gonna do all this for me, 24:04 of all You give me, I will surely give a tenth to You." 24:06 And he said, 24:08 "The Lord will be my God just like He was Abraham's God 24:09 and Isaac's God." So as a young man, he made a decision, 24:12 as you had said earlier, to go all in for God. 24:15 This is very, very interesting. 24:17 Later on when God was talking about 24:19 our next character, Moses, 24:20 He appeared to him in the burning bush. 24:22 And you remember that bush was burning out in the desert, 24:24 and he said--Moses probably seen bushes burn 24:26 on caught lightning fires before, but he said, 24:29 "I think I'll turn aside and see this great sight." 24:31 And a voice came out of the bush and said, 24:33 "Moses, Moses!" "Here I am." 24:35 "Take your shoes off. You're on holy ground." 24:37 This is, to me... And Moses said, "Who are You?" 24:40 "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." 24:45 From then on, God always referred to Himself 24:47 as the God of those three patriarchs, incredible story. 24:50 So, God forgave him 24:52 and brought him back to his homeland again. 24:55 >>You know, Ed, you just mentioned Moses 24:57 as the next individual we're looking at. 24:58 Of course, that's Thursday's lesson, "Moses in Egypt." 25:02 What was it that set Moses apart for his greatness? 25:05 Why did God use him in such an incredible way 25:08 when He didn't choose others? 25:11 >>It's very interesting that 25:13 Moses had such a distinguished career as a lawgiver 25:15 and so on, Mount Sinai, receiving the law from God. 25:18 A lot of people don't realize this, 25:19 but on the gable end of the U.S. Supreme Court 25:22 on the west--on the east side of the U.S. Supreme Court, 25:25 in the center, 25:26 right under the high point of the gable there, 25:27 is Moses sitting with the Ten Commandments 25:29 on his knees. This is at the U.S. Supreme Court building 25:31 in the United States. 25:33 So he's recognized worldwide as something really incredible. 25:37 Moses could have been, 25:38 we understand from the circumstances and the timing, 25:41 a pharaoh of Egypt 25:42 and all the treasures of sin for a season. 25:44 Really interesting, had he chosen that, 25:46 he would probably be a mummy in the Cairo Museum today. 25:50 Instead he chose to go suffer with God's people. 25:53 And though this is called delayed gratification, Eric, 25:55 where you put off what you could, would like to get 25:59 for a period of time, 26:01 anyway, we know he's been taken to heaven 26:04 because he was with God on the Mount of Transfiguration, 26:07 a very interesting story. 26:08 In Stephen's sermon in Acts 7, verse 22, it says, 26:13 "Moses was learned in...the wisdom of the Egyptians, 26:15 ...[he] was mighty in words and deeds." 26:16 So he was a scholar of Egyptian leadership and all of that, 26:19 but he chose to suffer with God's people. 26:21 And then because he had his faith 26:22 on the reward that's coming. 26:24 >>So he was raised with a phenomenal upbringing, 26:29 opportunities, experience, education, 26:32 but ultimately he turned his back on all that 26:34 for something eternal. It's an incredible picture, isn't it? 26:37 >>He must have developed some kind of relationship with God 26:39 because it's interesting 26:41 that he spent only 12 years with his mother-- 26:43 praise the Lord for that--but he never forgot that 26:46 and still thought of them as his people. 26:49 >>So it made an incredible impact on his life, 26:51 one that we are still benefiting from today. 26:54 So this week we've looked at laying up treasures in heaven. 26:58 Ultimately that's what God wants us to do. 27:00 The world around you is geared toward, 27:04 well, trying to encourage you to get everything outta life 27:06 that you can right now. 27:08 And while there are certainly some things 27:10 that we can enjoy in life right now, 27:12 ultimately the bigger prize, 27:14 if we wanna call it that, is eternity. 27:16 And if we can focus our sights less horizontally 27:20 and more vertically, we are much more likely to experience 27:24 all the blessings that God has for us. 27:27 We're going to continue next week 27:28 on our journey through this quarter's study, 27:31 "Managing for the Master Till He Comes." 27:34 Until that time, pick up the companion book, 27:37 if you haven't done already, 27:38 invite others to watch these programs as well, 27:40 and we will look forward to seeing you next week 27:43 here on "Sabbath School," 27:44 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:46 God bless you. See you next time. 27:47 (relaxing orchestral theme music) 28:27 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-02-01