Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200044S
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00:01 Hello, friends, welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:03 I'm Pastor John Lomacang, 00:04 we thank you for taking the time 00:06 to join us for lesson number five. 00:08 Now the overall theme for this quarter is education. 00:12 But today, our study is Jesus as the master teacher. 00:17 What you need is a Bible 00:19 and some time to sit down and walk with us 00:21 through an exciting unfolding of who is Jesus 00:24 and how and why is He the master teacher. 00:27 To follow us on a lesson, 00:29 go to absg.adventist.org, and download a copy. 00:34 But you can also 00:35 go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:37 and join them for an exciting study 00:39 through the Word of God. 00:41 Right now pause with us and take the time to join us 00:44 as we unfold 00:45 and divide the Word of God together. 01:19 Friends, it's that time again to study our lessons together. 01:23 Thank you for tuning into 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:27 We always appreciate meeting with you 01:28 and when we travel around the world, 01:30 we hear people say, 01:32 this has become one of our favorite programs. 01:34 And we thank you for the support 01:35 in any way you could do that financially or prayerfully. 01:39 Now today we're talking about education, 01:41 and specifically Jesus as the master teacher. 01:44 But I'd like to do something before we go any further. 01:47 I'd like to introduce you to my family. 01:50 We call them a panel, they're my family. 01:52 And they're part of the panel. 01:54 Good to have Shelley. 01:56 Shelley, I missed you the last time we are, 01:59 did our Sabbath School taping. 02:01 I'm so glad you're back. I missed you all. 02:03 And I missed all of you at home. 02:05 It is wonderful to be back. Yes. 02:08 And, Jill, I know you have a list. 02:12 But you enlist in dividing the Word of God, 02:15 and I appreciate that so much. 02:17 Thank you, Pastor John. 02:18 Always a joy to study the Word of God 02:19 and study with you at home as well. 02:21 And the guy that is ready, 02:23 you could just give him a 10 seconds notice 02:25 and he's ready to preach. 02:26 Good to have you here, Ryan. 02:28 It's a blessing to be here always. 02:29 Ready to go. 02:30 A young man who has, is farther along in years 02:33 than a lot of people his age. 02:35 Appreciate that, God bless you. And we... 02:38 Why didn't you say that about me? 02:40 No, I wouldn't tell about you. 02:42 But you might be wondering, we just showed you four people. 02:45 Well, Pastor Kenny Shelton cannot be with us today. 02:48 And, but however God has given us 02:50 extra room to go ahead 02:53 and still divide the word of truth. 02:55 So just stay tuned. 02:56 I believe that the food is not going to change. 02:59 We just have one less servant, but God is able. 03:03 But before we go any further, 03:05 Shelley, would you have prayer for us? 03:06 Absolutely. 03:07 Holy Father, we come before You 03:09 with thanksgiving in our hearts. 03:11 Lord, we are so grateful for Your plan of salvation 03:15 by grace through faith in our Lord 03:17 and Savior Jesus Christ. 03:19 We are so grateful for those who put this, 03:23 who compiled these lessons. 03:26 And now, Father, 03:27 we asked for the outpouring of Your Holy Spirit, 03:30 not just on us, but on all. 03:33 Give us all ears to hear 03:35 what the Holy Spirit would have to say. 03:38 And the power to put it into practice in Jesus' name. 03:42 Amen. Amen. 03:43 Thank you, Shelley. 03:45 We're going to go to October 24-30. 03:48 If you have your lesson, go to lesson number five, 03:51 Jesus as the Master Teacher, and the Overview. 03:56 We're going to begin with the memory text 03:57 in 2 Corinthians 4:6. 03:59 And I'll go ahead 04:01 and read that as you follow along. 04:02 2 Corinthians 4:6. 04:05 It says, "For it is the God 04:08 who commanded light to shine out of darkness, 04:13 who has shone in our hearts 04:15 to give the light of the knowledge 04:17 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 04:23 I love the story that the writer started with. 04:27 Billy Graham was traveling. 04:29 And Billy Graham 04:30 was a very well-known wonderful man. 04:33 If you've ever heard him preach before, 04:34 you know that he's a man 04:35 that did have a wonderful relationship 04:37 with Jesus, 04:39 always presenting Christ everywhere he went. 04:41 And his life was a life 04:43 of exemplary character for ministers. 04:47 And I appreciate that. 04:48 He talked about once he was visiting 04:50 where soldiers and this is not uncommon. 04:54 He was visiting 04:55 where soldiers were in the battlefield. 04:57 And there was a young man who was so mangled 05:00 because of his injuries in the war, 05:02 but he said, as he was laying mangled, 05:04 face down on a canvas, 05:07 on a canvas and steel contraption. 05:09 He said to the general, you know, 05:13 as the doctor said to Billy Graham, 05:15 I doubt this young man would ever walk again. 05:18 And he said to the general, you know, I fought for you, 05:21 I fought for you. 05:23 But I've never seen your face. 05:26 And the general was so moved. 05:28 He got on his knees and went under the canvas, 05:32 next to this steel contraption. 05:35 And he started talking to the soldier. 05:37 And Billy Graham said, "I watched as tears 05:40 from this soldier fell on the cheeks 05:42 of the general 05:44 before this young man lost his life." 05:46 And he said, "What a moving example 05:48 of what Jesus did for us, a world mangled by war, 05:53 a world casualties strewn left and right, 05:56 people day by day going through hardship, 06:00 people day by day needing healing 06:02 from their broken hearts, 06:04 needing acceptance from relationships 06:07 of abandonment, 06:08 people wanting to see the face of Jesus, 06:11 and what this world needs more than anything else. 06:14 And I don't, I cannot speak for you 06:15 and your country. 06:16 But I know the entire world 06:18 has gone through a COVID crisis. 06:20 But the world has gone mad. 06:21 There's something that has happened to our world 06:23 more than just the disease. 06:26 Somehow, logic has been thrown out the window. 06:29 And in the face of this present society, 06:32 people need to know who Jesus is. 06:36 He has not changed with the times. 06:39 And I like the fact that it's almost as though Jesus 06:42 during a certain period of history, 06:45 because the Bible did predict, as you know, in Daniel 9, 06:48 that there was a timeframe that Jesus was going to come. 06:51 And when you study history, when you even read the Bible, 06:54 you can see that He came up 06:56 in one of the darkest moments of history. 06:58 And the devil wanted to stay that way. 07:00 He tried to kill Him as Revelation 12 says, 07:02 he tried to kill the Savior as soon as He was born, 07:05 because he was determined to keep the world 07:08 in the darkness that it's in. 07:09 So let me make a point 07:11 before I go into the lesson today. 07:12 The world that we see today, this is Satan's world. 07:17 But in the splintering of this world, 07:21 God has still maintained a semblance of His presence. 07:26 You know, when my wife and I wake up 07:28 on Sunday morning, 07:29 after we've gone through a very busy weekend. 07:31 Sabbath is a very busy day for us, too. 07:33 And we open our backyard door and sit down, 07:36 and all we hear 07:37 are the birds eating their food, 07:40 you have this experience. 07:42 The squirrels running after the birds' food. 07:46 We see the squirrels running from our roof 07:47 jumping on the birds' food, 07:49 or sometimes they just run up to our window 07:51 and stand they like to say, you fed them but come on, 07:53 could you help us out. 07:55 And I said, listen to that 07:56 just the trees moving slowly, the water, 07:59 and we hear the sounds of God's saying, 08:01 "This world may be messed up. 08:02 But I've still preserved myself a witness in the society." 08:06 People need to see the face of Jesus. 08:08 You know, when you think about the soldier, 08:10 you think about all of us. 08:11 Let's look at the mission of Jesus, 08:13 the most beautiful picture 08:14 that Jesus came to give which is, 08:17 in fact, a representation, 08:18 a revelation of the Father, 08:21 is found in Isaiah 61:1-3. 08:26 And by the way, 08:27 I will be covering Sunday and Monday's portions 08:32 of revealing the Father. 08:33 Look at Isaiah 61:1-3, 08:38 the beautiful picture that Jesus came to present 08:40 to the world about not only Himself, 08:43 but about the Father. 08:44 He says, "The Spirit of the Lord 08:46 God is upon Me, 08:49 because the Lord has anointed me 08:53 to preach good tidings to the poor." 08:56 I don't often do this but, friends, 08:57 do we need good tidings? 08:59 Amen. 09:00 What this world is in need of right now 09:02 is something that's good. 09:04 Even, I think they should even switch it around 09:06 instead of saying a 90% chance of rain, 09:10 they should say, a 10% chance of sunshine. 09:13 Let's start focusing on the positive things. 09:15 That's why I like to watch ABC World News. 09:18 They always end with a beautiful story, 09:19 some story about a hero, something that was beautiful, 09:23 something that was a lighthearted, 09:24 some story that leaves you on a high note, 09:27 after all that bad news, we need a high note. 09:31 The Bible talks about the high note of Jesus 09:33 and the high note of the Father. 09:35 It goes on to say, "He sent me," 09:37 and I want you to get this. 09:39 The Father sent the Son. 09:41 He sent me, He wants me to let you know this about us. 09:45 See He's now, I want to reveal to Him. 09:47 I want to reveal to you who He is. 09:49 Because some people think that in the Old Testament, 09:52 God is this angry man 09:54 who's having an argument with his Son saying, 09:56 "Dad, don't be so hard on them." 09:58 And then Jesus shows up 10:00 in the New Testament, and people say, 10:01 "Wow, man, Your Dad was hard on us. 10:05 Could you be nice? Could you be different?" 10:07 Well, Jesus is saying, 10:08 "Wait a minute, wait a minute, no, My Dad is great. 10:11 And so I'm here to tell you that 10:13 He and I are just the same." 10:15 He goes on to talk about this beautiful character, 10:17 "He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, 10:19 to proclaim liberty to the captives, 10:22 and the opening of the prison 10:23 to those who are bound for us too. 10:25 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, 10:29 and the day of vengeance of our God, 10:31 to comfort all who mourn, 10:34 to console those who mourn in Zion, 10:37 to give them beauty for ashes, 10:39 the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise 10:43 for the spirit of heaviness, 10:46 that they may be called trees of righteousness, 10:50 the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." 10:54 Most beautiful picture, a most beautiful picture 10:58 that the Father and the Son are together in, 11:00 but a lot of times people don't see the Father. 11:04 You know, we have the Apostle Philip saying, 11:07 show us the Father. 11:08 We have Timothy, that's doubting, 11:10 that's doubting, and Jesus 11:12 through the quagmire of their... 11:14 Thomas. Thomas. 11:15 Sorry, thank you so much. Who did I say? 11:17 Timothy. Timothy. 11:19 Timothy was waited down the road. 11:21 Thank you so much. Timothy came down the road. 11:24 Thomas who was doubting 11:26 that Jesus was in fact who He said He is. 11:30 And because I never refer to Jesus as was, 11:33 I refer to Him as always is, He is. 11:36 But you find that the Father was so desirous 11:39 of making a picture of Him in the world clear 11:43 that He said to the Son, 11:45 "I know you're going to save humanity. 11:46 That's our plan. 11:49 But I need to give them a beautiful picture of Me." 11:51 So let's go to Hebrews 1. 11:53 "I need them to see me. 11:55 I want them to know I am not this bad guy. 11:58 I want them to know that 12:00 You and I are on the same page." 12:02 Okay, Hebrews 1:1-4. 12:04 Jill, do you have that? I do. 12:05 Read that for us. 12:07 "God, who at various times 12:08 and in various ways spoke in time past 12:11 to the fathers by the prophets, 12:13 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, 12:16 whom He has appointed heir of all things, 12:18 through whom also He made the worlds." 12:21 Let's just look at verse 3, 12:22 "Who being the brightness of His glory 12:25 and the express image of His person, 12:27 and upholding all things by the word of His power, 12:30 when He had by Himself purged our sins, 12:34 sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 12:37 having become so much better than the angels, 12:39 as He has by inheritance 12:41 obtained a more excellent name than they." 12:44 He said, this is what He came to do. 12:46 But He didn't come to do it by Himself. 12:48 He wanted to be very, very clear. 12:50 When I come into the world, I'm not here on my own mission. 12:53 I'm here on our mission. 12:56 And this was something predetermined, 12:57 the plan of salvation, the Lamb slain 12:59 from the foundation of the world. 13:02 So He said, this is who we are. 13:04 That's why I love the fact that, 13:06 I'll bring up six quick, quick points. 13:08 If I have enough time, 13:09 I'll give you some more points quickly. 13:11 But first thing that Jesus came to do, 13:12 He came to eliminate substitutes. 13:15 He came to eliminate substitutes,. 13:17 Until Jesus came, everything was a substitute. 13:20 Lambs being killed, goats, bullocks, doves, 13:23 the high priest, substitute, you know, 13:25 the whole temple services, 13:27 the lampstands, the table of showbread, 13:29 substitutes, Jesus came to get rid of substitutes. 13:32 John 1:29, "When John saw Jesus coming toward him, 13:36 he said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God," 13:39 not the Lamb of God, 13:40 but the Lamb of God, singular, possessive. 13:44 "This is he that taketh away the sin of the world." 13:47 Notice, he didn't say the lamb. 13:49 But he said, the Lamb of God. 13:51 Father sent Him. 13:53 He wants you to know, this is the representative. 13:55 He's not just here on his own mission, 13:58 but He's the Lamb of God. 14:00 Now, this is beautiful. I want you to get this. 14:03 He's not the Lamb of God that we are going to slay. 14:06 When I started, this became more personal. 14:09 This is the Lamb that God chose is going to be slaying. 14:15 This is God's lamb. 14:18 See, everybody else had a lamb. 14:20 But God said, "I got to give you up." 14:25 He said, "Okay, that I'm willing to lay down." 14:27 You see, when Abraham had that exchange 14:28 between him and his father, "Where's the lamb?" 14:31 Remember, he said, 14:32 "God will provide himself a lamb. 14:34 This is the fulfillment of that." 14:36 So when God, when Abraham said to his son Isaac, 14:40 where's the sacrifice, 14:42 he said, "God will provide himself a lamb." 14:44 This is the fulfillment. God provided Jesus. 14:47 He didn't let Him go on a mission. 14:49 He let Him go, He says, "You're going to have to die. 14:52 You're okay with that? 14:54 And you got to give up a whole lot of things. 14:56 You got to give up the adoration of angels. 14:58 You got to go on a battlefield where You may not come back. 15:01 But we're going to be with you. 15:03 You're not going to see us, we're going to be with you. 15:05 It's going to be tough. 15:06 You're going to be in a war. 15:08 And you're going to die. Is it, are you okay with that?" 15:10 He said, "Yes Dad" 15:12 and He laid down like Isaac did. 15:14 See that whole thing was showing 15:16 what God was going to do through His son. 15:18 And so when I thought about that, I thought, wow, 15:20 God had to send Himself a lamb. 15:22 So John's introducing the Lamb of God, 15:25 God's lamb, not just our lamb. 15:28 That's the first thing. 15:29 Secondly, Jesus came to reveal a just government. 15:33 One thing that no country has a just government. 15:36 They may have great benefits, 15:38 but there's only one just government, 15:40 Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a Child is born, 15:44 unto us a Son is given," revealing of the Father, 15:48 "and the government will be upon His shoulder. 15:50 And His name will be called Wonderful, 15:53 Counselor, The Mighty God, 15:56 The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." 16:00 And I love this, 16:01 of the increase of His government and peace, 16:04 there will be no end. 16:07 Babylon went down, 16:08 Medo-Persia went down, Greece went down, 16:10 bulletin, Rome's going down, 16:11 the United States is going down, 16:13 but not His, of His government there will be no end. 16:16 Upon the throne of David, 16:18 and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it 16:22 with judgment and justice from that time forward, 16:25 even forevermore. 16:26 The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 16:29 In other words, God is saying, 16:30 "I understand you guys, 16:32 you presidents and prime ministers 16:33 and prelates and all these kings 16:35 and princes and lords of lords of lords." 16:37 He said, "But hey guys, don't forget. 16:39 This is My show. 16:41 This is My planet. 16:42 I'm going to write all the wrongs 16:44 and if you join me, you'll be in the new government, 16:46 of which there'll be no end." 16:48 The third thing Jesus came to reveal 16:50 the true nature of the Father. 16:53 Exodus 34:6, "And the Lord passed before him 16:57 and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, 17:00 merciful and gracious, 17:01 longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth." 17:05 These are the revelations of the Father. 17:08 God is not a substitute, God Jesus is not a substitute, 17:11 Lord, they are both the real thing, the genuine. 17:16 Their governments are the genuine government. 17:18 God's nature through the son of Jesus is the true nature. 17:21 Jesus also came to expand the knowledge of God. 17:25 He says in John 10:25, 17:28 "Jesus answered them, 17:30 'I told you, and you do not believe. 17:33 The works that I do in My Father's name, 17:36 they bear witness of Me. 17:38 But you do not believe, 17:40 because you are not of My sheep, 17:42 as I said to you." 17:43 Verse 27, "My sheep hear My voice, 17:46 and I know them, and they follow Me." 17:48 I love the way it goes. 17:49 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, 17:52 neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." 17:55 Why? 17:57 Because He says in verse 29, "My Father, 17:59 who has given them to Me, is greater than all, 18:02 and no one is able to snatch them 18:03 out of My Father's hand. 18:05 I and My Father are one." 18:07 The revelation of the Father once again. 18:09 And then finally, 18:11 Jesus came to unify the Father and the Son. 18:14 People had no problem accepting the Father 18:16 all through the Old Testament. 18:18 But He said, John 14, 18:20 "Let not your heart be troubled. 18:23 You already believe in God, believe also in Me." 18:28 There's no division here. 18:30 In my Father's house, 18:32 He keeps bringing the Father into it. 18:34 You know, like that song 18:35 many, many years ago, Amy Grant wrote, 18:37 you have your father's eyes. 18:39 When people look at us, as sons and daughters of God, 18:43 it is a beautiful revelation for people to look at us 18:45 and say, "Wow, now I know what God is like. 18:49 Now I know what Jesus is like. 18:51 Look at that gracious, young man. 18:52 Look at that lovely young lady. 18:55 Look at how kind they were to me 18:56 in spite of what I did." 18:58 You know, when we do that 18:59 we recognize we are in the place of Christ, 19:01 showing who Jesus is, showing who the Father is, 19:06 which takes us now to Monday, 19:08 and I'll be able to cover Monday, 19:10 like Jill is able to do in two minutes. 19:12 Let's go. 19:14 Jesus was in existence 19:17 before the world came into existence, 19:20 just like the Father. 19:22 John 1:1-2, 19:24 "In the beginning was the Word," 19:25 I think in one of the prior lessons, 19:26 Shelley covered this, 19:28 "the Word was with God, the Word was God." 19:30 He was in the beginning with God, no separation. 19:34 Secondly, Jesus was before the world, 19:38 not only here when everything was clear, 19:40 but He was before the world. 19:41 John 17:5. 19:43 And now once again, look at the unity here. 19:45 "O Father," speaking to us, 19:47 "glorify Me together with Yourself with the glory 19:52 which I had with You before the world was." 19:55 See not separate. 19:56 The revelation of the Father is revelation of the Son, 20:00 and the revelation of the Son 20:01 is the revelation of the Father. 20:03 I want to note down here that blew me away 20:08 because I know it didn't come from me. 20:09 The mission of the father was to present His Son, 20:13 the mission of the Son was to present His Father. 20:17 That was the mission together. 20:19 The mission of the Father was to present the Son, 20:21 the mission of the Son was to present the Father. 20:25 And then Jesus made it very, very clear 20:27 that He also is the Creator. 20:30 John 1:3, "All things were made by Him, 20:33 and without Him, 20:34 nothing was made that was made." 20:36 Grab that, those of you that are having a difficult time, 20:39 looking at the preexistence of Christ, 20:41 looking at the unification of the existence 20:44 pre of the Father and the Son, they have a difficult time. 20:47 If it says, and the Bible does say 20:49 nothing was made without Him that includes Him. 20:53 That's right. 20:54 If something was made, if He was made, 20:57 that statement is an illegitimate statement. 21:00 And finally, speaking about Hebrews 1:8, 21:04 "But to the Son He says: 21:05 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, 21:08 a scepter of righteousness 21:11 is the scepter of Your kingdom.'" 21:13 The Father and the Son together are preexistent, 21:17 self-existent and eternal. 21:20 Wow, praise the Lord for that. 21:22 Now, since there's not going to be a second 21:24 before we go by, 21:26 we're going to take a short break. 21:27 After the break, I'll give the time to Shelley, 21:30 but don't go anyway. 21:31 We'll be right back. 21:37 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 21:40 again, or share it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? 21:44 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 21:49 A clean design makes it easy 21:51 to find the program you're looking for. 21:53 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 21:57 so you can follow along. 21:58 Sharing is easy. 22:00 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 22:03 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 22:06 Hello, friends. 22:07 Welcome back to our Sabbath School lesson on Jesus 22:10 as the Master Teacher. 22:11 Shelley has Tuesday. 22:13 Thank you so much. 22:14 Tuesday's is "Reading The Master Teacher's Mind." 22:20 Let's open by going to 22:21 1 Corinthians 2:14. 22:28 It says, "The natural man 22:32 does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, 22:36 for they are foolishness to him, 22:39 nor can he know them, 22:41 because they are spiritually discerned." 22:45 But then it goes on in verse 16, 22:48 1 Corinthians 2:16 saying, 22:51 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, 22:55 that he may instruct Him?' 22:57 But we have the mind of Christ.'" 23:01 Oh, the mind of Christ, how we desire it, 23:06 how we need it. 23:08 But as believers 23:11 through the power of the Holy Spirit, 23:13 and the written Word of God, we can know how our God thinks. 23:19 This is the mind of Christ. 23:22 So I want us to look at just a couple of things. 23:26 What is the mind of Christ like? 23:28 Matthew 12:30. 23:31 I didn't intend to include this. 23:33 But for some reason, it just hit me. 23:36 Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, 23:40 "He who is not with Me is against Me, 23:46 he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." 23:52 So we see right away that unity 23:56 is important to Jesus, 23:58 the mind of Christ. 24:00 Look at John 17 24:04 and you will be familiar with these. 24:06 But this is some of my favorite words 24:09 that Jesus said in John 17:17. 24:13 He said, "Lord, sanctify them by Your truth, 24:16 Your Word is truth." 24:18 What does it mean to sanctify, sanctify and holiness. 24:23 Sanctification and holiness are the same thing, 24:26 simply means to be set apart. 24:29 So Jesus is saying, sanctify them by your truth, 24:33 set them apart from evil. 24:34 And look what he goes on to say, 24:37 "As you sit me into the world, 24:40 I also sent these and them into the world." 24:44 He's talking about His disciples, hold on. 24:47 "For their sakes, I sanctify Myself that 24:49 they also may be sanctified by the truth." 24:53 Now listen to what He says in John 17:20. 24:57 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for all those 25:03 who will believe in Me through their word." 25:06 And what is that prayer, 25:08 that Jesus is praying for all of His disciples, 25:12 that they may all be one as You, Father, 25:16 are in me and I in You, 25:19 that they also may be one with us 25:24 that the world may believe that You've sent Me. 25:28 So how's He going to do this? 25:30 How's He going to unify? 25:32 I believe Mark 12:30 when Jesus said 25:35 that this is the most important commandment, 25:38 that you love the Lord your God with all of your heart, 25:40 soul, mind and strength. 25:42 And then He said in the second is like this, 25:44 that you would love your neighbor as yourself. 25:47 It is love that is going to sanctify us. 25:51 So now let's pick up 25:52 where the lesson begins in Philippians Chapter 2. 25:57 Philippians Chapter 2, 26:00 we're going to see what concern Paul 26:05 has on his mind 26:06 as he writes the Philippians this letter. 26:10 And it's apparent in the letter 26:12 that disunity was destroying the Philippian Church 26:17 or it was about to destroy the integrity of the church. 26:20 Philippians 2:1, Paul says, 26:25 "Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ," 26:30 he knows that God encourages His own, 26:33 "if any comfort of love," These pictures, 26:37 God coming down 26:39 and whispering tender words in our ear, 26:42 "if any fellowship of the Holy Spirit," 26:45 that's the indwelling Holy Spirit, 26:48 "if any affection and mercy," 26:51 we know His mercies are new every morning. 26:54 Paul says, "fulfill my joy by being like-minded, 26:59 having the same love 27:02 being of one accord, of one mind." 27:06 Now don't turn away from there. 27:07 I'm just going to take a sidebar. 27:10 It is an important principle of the body of Christ 27:16 that we have unity. 27:18 Unity glorifies God. 27:21 And you know, Paul mentioned this, 27:23 we're going to stay in Philippians. 27:25 But he mentions this in Romans 15:5-6. 27:31 He says, "Be with one mind, 27:34 and with one mouth glorify the God 27:37 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 27:39 He mentions it in 1 Corinthians 1:2 27:42 and he says, "O brethren, I plead with you, 27:45 by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 27:48 that you all speak the same thing. 27:51 And that there be no divisions among you, 27:53 but that should be perfectly joined together, 27:57 in the same mind, and in the same judgment." 28:01 Speak the same thing. 28:02 What is he saying? 28:04 One of the things I love about 28:06 the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 28:08 it was born on the principle of Sola Scriptura. 28:13 And everyone came 28:15 from so many different denominations 28:17 when this movement began, but they got together, 28:21 and they were going to come up with what does the Bible say? 28:26 So there's doctrinal unity in our church, 28:31 you're not going to hear 28:32 one person speak something else, 28:34 and another speak a different message. 28:38 And we don't allow 28:40 for private interpretation of Scripture. 28:43 You know, sometimes, 28:44 we have people who will write us 28:46 and they've got new light on something. 28:49 Well, if they've got new light, 28:51 they need to send it to the BRI, 28:54 The Biblical Research Institute, 28:57 because we're not going... 28:58 We're not a platform for new like, 29:00 God doesn't give you something that 29:03 other people can't study and see as well. 29:06 It could be something that's coming to the surface, 29:09 but there's going to be unity in our message. 29:12 We're all going to study it, right? 29:15 So let's continue in Philippians 2:3. 29:18 He says, "Let nothing be done 29:20 through selfish ambition or conceit, 29:22 but in lowliness of mind, 29:23 let each esteem others better than himself. 29:29 Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, 29:32 but also for the interest of others." 29:36 So selfish ambition conceit pride. 29:41 And let me tell you something, 29:43 any prejudice is the spirit of pride. 29:46 If we're pushing for our own way, 29:48 if we're pursuing personal glory, 29:52 it causes rivalry in division. 29:54 So humility to esteem others is what is important. 29:59 And we've got to show 30:01 if we're using the master teacher's mind. 30:04 We're going to have 30:05 self-sacrificing love for others. 30:08 So spiritual stability depends on mutual love, mutual respect, 30:14 it depends on submitting, 30:17 as Paul said in Ephesians 5:21, to one another out of love. 30:23 So, in Philippians 2:5-8 once again, 30:27 we see that Jesus Christ 30:29 is the ultimate expression of humility. 30:33 Let's read that. 30:34 "Let this mind be in you, 30:36 which was also in Christ Jesus." 30:38 Hey, that's the message today. 30:41 Open your mind, open your heart. 30:43 "Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who," 30:49 being in the form of God, 30:50 in very nature, He was always God, 30:53 "did not considered robbery 30:55 to be considered equal with God," 30:57 because He was, 30:59 "but He made Himself of no reputation." 31:03 He emptied Himself. 31:05 He emptied Himself of His glory, 31:08 He emptied Himself 31:09 of His prerogatives is a way to say it, 31:12 taking the form of a bondservant 31:14 coming in the likeness of man 31:15 and being found in appearance as man, 31:18 He humbled Himself and became obedient, 31:21 even to the point of death on a cross. 31:25 What this describes is Christ long, 31:29 downward road from sitting in heaven 31:34 as God to becoming Son of man, 31:39 Son of God, the covenant Son of God. 31:42 And then it's, 31:44 it's that He was willing to give it all up for us. 31:49 You know, Paul wants us to learn from this incarnation. 31:53 And I want to, 31:54 I don't want to finish with this. 31:56 What I want to do is something struck me 31:58 when we were reading Hebrews 1:1 through, 32:01 I think you were reading that just at the beginning, Jill. 32:05 Here, it's talking about how Jesus comes, 32:08 He is the expression of the glory of God. 32:11 He's the outrank, He's everything that God is, 32:14 Jesus is, so as loving and faithful 32:18 and forgiving as Jesus Christ was so is the Father, 32:22 but it says, interestingly, in verse 5, well 4, 32:27 "Having become so much better than the angels, 32:30 as He has by inheritance 32:32 obtained a more excellent name than they." 32:35 What do you mean He became better than the angels? 32:37 He's their Creator, 32:39 "for to which of the angels that says, 32:41 'Did God ever say, 32:44 You are My Son, today I have begotten You." 32:48 He is speaking of the covenant sonship of Jesus Christ 32:52 as the last Adam when He sacrificed Himself. 32:57 Then He took our flesh back to heaven. 33:02 He stands at the right hand of the throne of God 33:05 as the perfect last data representative of mankind. 33:10 Amen, thank you so much, Shelley and Pastor John. 33:13 You're welcome. 33:14 Incredible, Jesus as the master teacher, 33:17 revealing who the Father is, 33:20 understanding that mind of Christ. 33:23 I have Wednesday's lesson, 33:24 "The Master Teacher and Reconciliation." 33:28 I love this topic. And I'm so excited. 33:31 Thank you, Shelley, for this topic. 33:33 I'm very grateful I received this topic. 33:36 I want to start with a couple questions 33:37 for you at home. 33:39 Would you begin a friendship, 33:41 if you knew the person would later turn against you? 33:45 Would you marry someone if you knew 33:47 they would later stop loving you 33:50 and reject you? 33:52 Would you seek after a God who might reject you? 33:58 By contrast, would you seek to mend a friendship 34:02 if you knew it could be restored and mended? 34:06 Would you rekindle the romance 34:08 if you knew you could be loved again? 34:10 Would you follow a God who would never leave you, 34:13 who would never forsake you, 34:15 who would never stop loving you? 34:18 I would. 34:19 That's what reconciliation is all about. 34:22 Jesus, the master teacher and reconciliation. 34:27 Before we get into the principle 34:28 of reconciliation, 34:30 and how Jesus brought about that reconciliation, 34:32 we have to look at separation 34:34 because if you're not separate, 34:36 there's no need to be reconciled. 34:38 So let's begin 34:40 with the separation caused by sin. 34:42 We're going to Genesis. 34:44 Genesis 3:8. 34:47 Sin brought separation from God. 34:50 Sin brought fear and guilt. 34:54 We see this in Genesis 3:8, 34:56 "They," that would be Adam and Eve, 34:58 remember after Eve took of the forbidden fruit, 35:01 after she was deceived. 35:02 We've addressed this on our previous lesson 35:04 into eating the forbidden fruit 35:06 and after Adam knowingly partook of the forbidden fruit, 35:11 the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 35:13 After that, they realized they were naked, 35:16 they were ashamed. 35:17 Verse 8, "They heard the sound of the Lord God, 35:20 walking in the garden in the cool of the day, 35:23 and Adam and his wife hid themselves 35:25 from the presence of the Lord God 35:27 among the trees of the garden." 35:29 You see, sin brings fear. 35:32 Sin brings guilt. 35:34 Sin brings separation from the Father's presence. 35:38 Sin separates us from God. 35:40 If you jump over just a couple of verses, 35:42 Genesis 3:24. 35:44 "So He," God," drove out the man, 35:48 and he plays cherubim 35:49 at the east of the Garden of Eden, 35:51 and a flaming sword which turned every way 35:54 to guard the way to the tree of life." 35:56 That word in Hebrew for drove out, 35:59 means to drive out, to cast out, to expel. 36:02 Sin separates us physically from the presence of God. 36:07 Isaiah 59:1-2, 36:11 "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, 36:13 that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy, 36:16 that it cannot hear. 36:18 But your iniquities or your sins have separated you 36:22 from your God, and your sins 36:24 have hidden His face from you, 36:27 so that He will not hear." 36:29 That is the consequence of sin, 36:32 the result of sin is separation from God. 36:36 Sin causes, if we don't allow God 36:39 to eradicate it from our lives, 36:41 to forgive us and justify us, we'll get there. 36:43 That's the reconciliation part. 36:45 But if we don't, and we hold on to that sin, 36:48 sin causes eternal separation from God. 36:52 If you go all the way down to the Book of Revelation, 36:54 Revelation Chapter 6, this is the sixth seal. 36:58 Revelation 6:15-17, "And the kings of the earth, 37:03 the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, 37:06 every slave and every free man," 37:08 what did they do? 37:10 "Hid themselves in the caves 37:12 and in the rocks of the mountains, 37:13 and said to the mountains and rocks, 37:15 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him 37:18 who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 37:20 For the great day of His wrath has come, 37:22 and who is able to stand?'" 37:25 You see, and that final day when Jesus comes, 37:28 those who hold on to sin and have not allowed 37:32 Jesus' blood to cleanse them 37:34 and wash them and forgive them, 37:36 they will be eternally separated from God. 37:39 They say fall on us, 37:40 they cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. 37:45 And then, of course, that ends with the great day 37:47 of his wrath is come and who is able to stand? 37:49 Those who are sealed 37:51 with the character of God in their foreheads. 37:55 So let's look at reconciliation. 37:57 If sin brought about separation from the Father, 38:01 reconciliation is brought about by God and Jesus Christ. 38:06 Romans 5. 38:07 Romans 5, I love this passage, verses 9 and 10, 38:11 we are reconciled by Christ's death, 38:14 the blood of Jesus. 38:16 Romans 5:9-10, "Much more then, 38:19 having been justified by his blood, 38:22 we shall be saved from wrath through him. 38:25 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God 38:28 through the death of His Son." 38:30 Did you catch that? 38:32 We were enemies meaning our sin has separated us from God, 38:36 but the death of Jesus, 38:38 Jesus perfect sacrificed His blood reconciled us 38:42 again to the Father, "much more, 38:45 having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." 38:49 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God 38:51 through our Lord Jesus Christ, 38:53 through whom we now 38:54 have received the reconciliation. 38:57 We were reconciled to God 38:59 through the death of Jesus Christ. 39:02 Now we're also reconciled by God, to God, 39:07 through Jesus Christ. 39:09 So hopefully this makes sense. 39:11 It's not just Jesus who says, 39:13 "Okay, I'm going to stand in the gap, 39:14 My blood will be in their stead." 39:17 It's not just Jesus who says, 39:18 "I want to bring you back to the Father." 39:20 God Himself loves us, 39:22 and He wants to be reconciled to us. 39:26 And He sent Jesus to be that bridge, 39:29 to reconcile us back to Himself. 39:31 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. 39:36 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 39:39 he is a new creation." 39:42 That word in Greek for new means new in quality, 39:45 not in age, new in quality, completely brand new. 39:50 If we are in Christ, we're a new creation. 39:52 Old things have passed away, 39:53 behold, all things have become new. 39:57 Verse 18, "Now all things are of God 40:00 who has reconciled us to Himself," 40:02 so who reconciled? 40:03 God? 40:05 "God has reconciled us to Himself 40:06 through Jesus Christ, 40:09 the blood of Jesus and the death of Jesus." 40:11 And has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 40:16 Did you catch that? 40:17 God wanted to reconcile us to Himself, 40:20 Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the death of Jesus on the cross 40:23 was the agent as it were to bring about 40:26 that reconciliation and because you 40:28 and I are reconciled, 40:29 we have the privilege of extending that 40:32 message of reconciliation to other people 40:35 so that they can be reconciled themselves 40:37 to the Father. 40:39 Verse 19, "That is, 40:40 that God was in Christ reconciling 40:45 the world to Himself, 40:46 not imputing their trespasses to them, 40:48 and has committed to us this word of reconciliation." 40:53 We have the privilege of being an ambassador for Christ." 40:57 The next verse, 40:58 "As though God were pleading through us, 41:00 We implore you on Christ's behalf, 41:02 be reconciled to God, for He made Him." 41:06 Verse 21, "God made Jesus who knew no sin, 41:11 to be sin for us, that we might become 41:15 the righteousness of God in Him." 41:17 That double imputation, 41:20 Christ took my sin was imputed as it were to Him on the cross. 41:24 And His righteousness was imputed 41:27 or given as a covering for me. 41:30 We're reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ. 41:32 We are called to reconcile others back to God, 41:35 not that we can do anything in the reconciliation process, 41:38 but we can be the mouthpiece, 41:40 we can speak that message of reconciliation. 41:45 We are made righteous because He is righteous. 41:49 We're reconciled to each other through Jesus Christ. 41:52 Let's look at Ephesians 2:14. 41:55 "He Himself," Jesus, "is our peace, 41:58 who has made both one, 42:01 and has broken down the middle wall of separation." 42:05 Now, in the temple, at the time of Jesus, 42:08 the time when Paul was writing here, 42:10 there was that middle wall of separation, 42:13 that phrase referred 42:14 to the dividing wall in Herod's temple. 42:16 It excluded the Gentiles from entering the inner courts. 42:21 What does this verse saying? 42:23 In Christ, He is that 42:25 He takes down that dividing wall 42:28 between class and caste and race, 42:32 and position and power, 42:35 and personalities and money, 42:37 whatever is dividing us as people in Christ, 42:41 that dividing wall is taken down. 42:44 Wow. 42:45 One more verse, Colossians 1:18, 42:48 we look at Christ's role in redemption 42:51 and reconciling us back again to the Father. 42:54 Colossians 1:18-20, 42:57 "And He is the head of the body, 42:59 the church, who is the beginning, 43:01 the firstborn from the dead, 43:04 that in all things He may have the preeminence." 43:08 Verse 19, "For it pleased the Father 43:11 that in Him all the fullness should dwell," 43:15 that means in Jesus all the fullness should dwell, 43:20 "and by Him," that's by Jesus, 43:23 "to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, 43:27 whether things on earth or things in heaven, 43:29 having made peace through," what?" 43:32 The blood of the cross." 43:34 I don't know if today you feel estranged from God, 43:39 you might be looking in your life, 43:41 looking in your heart 43:42 and thinking there's a lot of sin inside, 43:45 that I have a lot of guilt, I have a lot of shame. 43:47 There's a lot of condemnation. 43:49 Christ came by the blood of Jesus to forgive you, 43:53 to cleanse you, to cover you. 43:55 All you have to do is reach out and say, 43:58 "Lord Jesus, I ask You into my heart just now. 44:02 Would you forgive me? 44:03 Would you cleanse me? 44:05 And would you make me Your son or Your daughter." 44:08 Christ came to reconcile us back to the Father. 44:12 Amen. Praise the Lord. 44:13 Man, that's powerful, powerful lesson. 44:16 I have Thursday's lesson entitled 44:18 "The Master Teacher's First Pupils." 44:21 And I have to say it kind of caught me 44:23 a little bit off guard 44:24 because as I was looking at this title, 44:27 before I had ever studied the lesson, 44:28 read the lesson, I'm thinking 44:30 of what probably most people 44:32 would think as Christ first pupils, 44:34 His first students. 44:36 And so my mind went directly to the disciples 44:38 in the ministry of Jesus after His baptism. 44:41 But the lesson actually takes an interesting 44:43 and rather deep look 44:46 into an earlier segment of Christ's life, 44:49 a much earlier segment of Christ's life 44:51 in which we find some early pupils there and, 44:54 of course, I'm referring 44:55 to all the way back to the birth of Jesus. 44:58 And so I'm actually going to dive deep 44:59 into Luke Chapter 2 here. 45:01 We're going to go to Luke Chapter 2. 45:02 We're going to begin in verses... 45:04 We're going to be verse 8 onto verse 20. 45:06 And we see here that 45:08 we can learn some lessons from some, 45:12 I guess you could say, 45:13 some people that you wouldn't think 45:15 were pupils of Jesus at this particular time. 45:18 Of course, He's a kid, He's a baby, right? 45:21 What can you learn from baby Jesus, right? 45:24 But there is some lessons we can learn. 45:25 And so Luke Chapter 2, beginning with verse 8, 45:28 the Bible says, 45:29 "Now there were in the same country, 45:31 shepherds living out in the fields, 45:34 keeping watch over their flock by night, and behold, 45:37 an angel of the Lord stood before them, 45:39 and the glory of the Lord shone around them, 45:42 and they were greatly afraid. 45:45 Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid for behold, 45:50 I bring you good tidings.'" 45:52 Pastor, you mentioned that 45:53 we need some good tidings that they were receiving 45:55 the best tidings this night. 45:57 So it says right there in verse 10, 45:59 "I bring you good tidings of great joy, 46:01 which will, which will be to all people." 46:05 Verse 11, "For there is born to you this day 46:08 in the city of David as Savior, who is Christ, the Lord." 46:13 I just want to pause there for a moment 46:14 and just take this scene in because 46:16 setting this up is vitally important. 46:19 First of all, Jesus knows, He knows our hearts. 46:23 And it's interesting that He would choose 46:25 the most unlikely of people to be pupils or students. 46:31 And in this case, these gentlemen 46:33 are going to go on to declare the gospel news. 46:36 And you would think that 46:37 of all the people during that time, 46:39 He would choose maybe an educated person, 46:41 someone that, you know, 46:43 probably was a little bit more of a, you know, 46:47 educated reputation than shepherds 46:49 in the middle of a field somewhere. 46:50 But God knows, God knows what's best 46:53 and in this particular situation, 46:55 there's a lot that we can glean from this. 46:56 Let's continue reading, verse 12. 46:58 It says, "And this will be the sign to you, 47:01 you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 47:04 lying in a manger and suddenly 47:07 there was with the angel 47:08 and multitude of heavenly host praising God 47:10 and saying glory to God in the highest, 47:12 and on earth peace, good will toward men. 47:16 So it was when the angels 47:18 had gone away from them into heaven, 47:20 that the shepherd said to one another, 47:22 'Let us now go to Bethlehem 47:24 and see the thing that has come to pass 47:27 with the Lord has made known to us.'" 47:30 Verse 16 says, "And they came to with haste 47:33 and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. 47:36 Now when they had seen Him, 47:38 they made widely known the saying 47:41 which was told them concerning this Child." 47:44 Now just want to pause there again, 47:46 and just take this in, 47:47 because the lesson actually asked a question, 47:48 can you pause and imagine 47:50 what these brothers saw when they show up on the scene? 47:53 First of all, they're told in advance 47:55 that it's going to come in the form of a baby. 47:57 Now this is significant in the fact that 47:59 prior to this the average idea 48:02 or the common idea in the minds of the people 48:04 of this day, was that their Savior, 48:06 their Messiah was going to show up, 48:08 He was going to be this great heroic figure. 48:11 The last thing on their mind was that 48:12 it was going to be a baby, right? 48:14 But not only is it just going to be a baby, 48:16 okay, you might can accept that, 48:17 but surely, it's going to come in 48:18 all this majesty and glory and power 48:21 and is this great, majestic scene, 48:23 but yet they show up on the scene, 48:25 and what do they see? 48:26 A little baby, 48:28 lying in a feeding trough for animals. 48:32 And so automatically, we can glean something. 48:34 I wanna continue reading these verses, 48:36 and then we're going to pull all this together. 48:37 Verse 18 says, "And all those who heard it marveled. 48:39 So they've went on, 48:41 they've declared this message out of faith," 48:43 It says, "All those who heard it 48:44 marveled at those things, 48:46 which they were told by the shepherds. 48:48 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, 48:51 then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God 48:54 for all the things that they had heard and seen, 48:56 as it was told to them." 48:58 So it's amazing to consider 49:00 that these brothers acted in faith to go out 49:03 to even find Jesus. 49:04 Many of us would probably, even with all of the splendor, 49:07 all of the glory of these angels 49:08 probably would even question, did that really happen? 49:11 And really, is this a baby, God's going to send 49:14 the Savior of the world as a baby, what? 49:16 But these brothers, 49:18 they received it, they acted in faith. 49:20 Secondly, notice, 49:21 Jesus hasn't even worked a miracle yet. 49:23 He hasn't even preached or said a word. 49:25 They're going based on the fact of what they have been told 49:28 and shown at this point, 49:29 there's no special when they get on the scene, 49:31 there's no special awe-inspiring glow 49:33 or outward appearance that says that 49:35 this is the King of the universe. 49:37 You can see that these guys, they show their willingness 49:41 to act on their faith 49:42 and submit themselves to learn from the Most High. 49:46 Even in a scenario that is most unlikely, 49:50 a baby, a scene of a baby, 49:52 which I found was very interesting. 49:54 Now, there's a lot more that I can cover here, 49:55 but I want to go on to the next passage 49:57 that the lesson brings out 49:59 and now we're bringing in the wise men. 50:00 Okay, you wouldn't think 50:02 the wise men are pupils of the master, 50:04 but that isn't the case. 50:05 We're going to go over to Matthew 2:1-12. 50:08 I may not read all of it. 50:10 But I want to just highlight this for a moment. 50:13 We're going to see here again, we have the wise men 50:15 and then we have another individual 50:17 that's in this story 50:18 that we can learn some lessons from as well. 50:19 And that is, we have Herod and the wise men. 50:21 And you'll see there's a drastic difference 50:24 in how they receive 50:25 this message of the coming King. 50:27 So notice, beginning in verse 5, 50:29 excuse me, verse 1, excuse me. 50:31 Verse 1, it says, "Now after Jesus was born 50:34 in Bethlehem of Judea, 50:36 in the days of Herod, the king, 50:37 behold, wise men 50:39 from the east came to Jerusalem, 50:40 saying, 'Where is He 50:41 who has been born king of the Jews, 50:43 for we have seen His star in the east 50:45 and have come to worship Him.'" 50:47 Notice the faith, based on the message, 50:50 based on the prophetic word of the Lord. 50:52 They're stepping out in faith to say, 50:54 we're going to come, we're going to find this King, 50:56 and not just to find and behold Him like 50:58 I could imagine most of us would probably sit there 51:00 and just behold this scene like, 51:03 this is the King of the universe. 51:04 This is the Son of God, but they're not just coming 51:06 to behold the scene, 51:08 they're coming to worship this little baby 51:10 because they understand. 51:12 It goes on to say in verse 3, 51:13 "When Herod the king heard this, 51:14 he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 51:17 And when he had gathered 51:19 all the chief priests and scribes, 51:21 and the people together, he inquired of them 51:23 whether the Christ was to be born." 51:25 Verse 5, "So they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judea, 51:28 for thus it is written by the prophet," 51:30 of course, verse 6 is referring 51:32 back to the prophets or the prophetic word, 51:34 "But you Bethlehem, 51:36 in the land of Judea, are not the least among 51:38 the rulers of Judah, 51:40 for out of you shall become a ruler 51:42 who will shepherd My people Israel." 51:45 So verse 7, "Then Herod, 51:47 when he had secretly called the wise men, 51:49 determined from them what time the star appeared. 51:52 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, 51:54 'Go and search carefully for the young Child, 51:56 and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, 52:00 that I may come and worship Him also." 52:02 Two different ways that we approach this 52:05 because you know, the rest of the story. 52:07 He sends them, brothers on in hopes that 52:09 they're going to come back and confirm, get confirmation, 52:12 this is indeed, it's Him. 52:14 He's here, He's born. 52:16 But, of course, we know the story. 52:17 You know, they're shown by vision 52:19 or by a dream or something, 52:20 I think it says, in the last part here that 52:23 they were shown, it was shown to them that 52:25 the king was up to no good so they did not return. 52:28 Okay, but Herod, of course, 52:29 sends his guards to go into Bethlehem 52:33 and to basically take the life 52:35 of every child two years and younger. 52:37 Now, there's a few lessons we can learn here 52:39 from the perspective 52:41 of Jesus Christ as the master teacher, 52:43 and these individuals as His first pupils. 52:46 First of all, notice Herod, we see selfishness 52:50 to the highest degree on display 52:51 in this particular passage from Herod. 52:54 There's no willingness to learn. 52:57 A complete rejection 52:58 of the prophetic word of the Lord 53:00 from Herod's perspective 53:01 and no willingness to submit to the Most High 53:04 in His divine plan. 53:05 I mean, this is a king, who's in the Mecca, 53:08 the epicenter of the Judean faith, 53:11 in this case, 53:13 what would turn out to be the Christian faith, 53:14 eventually, the prophetic word has been given 53:17 and he shows no interest, 53:18 no willingness to submit himself 53:20 to learn of this, in contrast to that 53:23 we see these wise men, 53:24 through the wise men we see wisdom. 53:26 Okay, obviously, we see their faith 53:29 in trusting the word of the Lord, 53:31 we see their good works, 53:33 and carrying out the mission to seek and find the Savior, 53:36 their willingness to submit and humble themselves 53:39 to the divine plan of God, 53:40 they are willing to listen and be taught," 53:43 notice this, that's powerful, 53:46 "we see their willingness to worship 53:48 the Most High even before 53:50 all the special signs and wonders." 53:53 These are powerful lessons that we can learn 53:55 because what we see here is, 54:00 today, we are no different than any of these individuals 54:02 in the sense that we can learn and glean from this, 54:04 that we are living in a day and age 54:06 where we also must live by faith. 54:08 We also must live not according 54:10 to what we see and what we hear. 54:11 But we must live by faith 54:13 and we live in a day and age today 54:14 where it seems like more and more people 54:16 are questioning God's Word, 54:18 or rejecting the prophetic Word of the Lord, 54:20 or rejecting the divine plan of God. 54:22 And many times it leads us to not properly give homage 54:26 in worship to Jesus as the King of the universe 54:29 and as He deserves. 54:31 There was a nice, simple but profound message 54:34 right there in the lesson. 54:35 It said, "Christian education 54:37 is rooted in the worship of Christ." 54:39 And why would that be? 54:41 It's simple, because God became man. 54:44 Yes. 54:45 God became and He took on carnal human flesh 54:48 to come save us, 54:50 these little finite microscopic specs 54:55 in a vast universe. 54:57 God saw us and He gave His life for us. 54:59 He took on the human flesh, all of the challenges, 55:02 the temptations, the pain, 55:04 the sorrow, the grief, the death, 55:06 so that we might be saved all without sinning, 55:09 so that we can be saved. 55:10 That's why He deserves worship and honor 55:12 because He first loved us 55:15 when we didn't deserve to be loved. 55:17 We can learn from that, become a pupil of Jesus, 55:20 no matter what phase you're in, 55:22 and submit your hearts to Jesus. 55:24 Amen. Thank you, Ryan. 55:26 Shelley, I'm going to give you an opportunity 55:28 to summarize the day you covered. 55:31 The day I covered was Reading the Mind of Jesus, 55:35 the Master Teacher. 55:37 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, 55:39 "We've been given the mind of Christ," 55:42 it's right here," through the word 55:45 as directed by the Holy Spirit." 55:47 Because these are spiritual words, 55:49 spiritually discern. 55:51 But I believe the foundation of Christian education 55:55 has to be Sola Scriptura, the Bible and the Bible only. 55:58 Amen. 56:00 I had the Master Teacher and Reconciliation. 56:03 And I just want to leave you with a famous Bible verse, 56:06 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world 56:08 that He gave His only begotten Son 56:10 that whoever believes in Him 56:12 should not perish but have everlasting life." 56:16 God sent Jesus to this world 56:18 because we were separated from the Father. 56:21 There was this chasm 56:22 and this gulf created by our sin 56:25 and our iniquity and He sent Jesus to bring us 56:28 back to the Father. 56:29 Amen. 56:31 Like the wise men, like the shepherds, like mate, 56:33 like even the parents and the disciples. 56:36 We have to submit ourselves in faith to God's divine plan, 56:40 and make sure that 56:41 we always put Christ as the root 56:44 and the center of our educational experience. 56:46 Thank you so much. 56:47 And mine was Revealing the Father. 56:49 And as Jesus came to reveal the Father, 56:52 He has sent us to reveal Jesus to the world. 56:56 You know, people need a revelation of Jesus. 56:58 And this is pertinent 57:00 because in the beginning of the ministry of Christ, 57:02 this exchange between Jesus 57:05 and Peter occurred in Matthew 16, 57:09 "When Jesus came into the region 57:10 of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, 57:13 'Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' 57:15 He said, I know I am but who do they say?' 57:18 So they said, some say John the Baptist, 57:20 some Elijah, other Jeremiah, or other prophets. 57:23 But who do you say that I am?'" 57:26 Friends, as you listen to the study today, 57:28 that's a question 57:29 that you must answer not just verbally, 57:32 but in the life you live, 57:34 in the way you treat others, in the way you worship, 57:38 in the way you live. 57:39 Everyone is going to say, you are in fact, 57:43 are you with the Christ? 57:45 Don't make the mistake that Peter did later on 57:47 in his ministry by denying Christ. 57:49 We can either confirm Him or deny Him by the way 57:52 we live and treat others. 57:55 Join us for our next lesson. 57:56 Lesson number six, 57:58 "Moral Lessons from the Master Teacher." 58:01 Thank you so much for joining us. 58:03 Thank you for tuning in. 58:04 May you reveal Christ in the life you live today. 58:07 God bless you. |
Revised 2020-10-29