Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210003S
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00:01 If you've been joining us on our study journey
00:03 here in the last couple of weeks 00:05 on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:06 Then you know we're studying through the Book of Isaiah, 00:09 such a powerful book, indeed. 00:11 And you know what? 00:12 There may be someone who is new to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 00:15 who may not know 00:16 how to get access to a copy of our study lessons. 00:19 So we want to tell you that right now, 00:21 of course, we always encourage you 00:23 to go to your local Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 00:24 where you can study with like-minded brethren. 00:26 And, of course, 00:28 they will give you a copy for free, 00:29 but, of course, you can access the study online for free 00:33 at ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:37 And there you can get a free digital copy 00:40 to be able to see it on your iPad, computer, 00:42 whatever it is you're studying with. 00:43 So, again, 00:45 we don't want you to go anywhere 00:46 because we're about to dive 00:47 into lesson number three this week 00:49 in our study on Isaiah entitled, 00:50 "When Your World Is Falling Apart." 00:53 See you in just a moment. 01:26 Hello, friends, and welcome to another week 01:27 of 3ABN Sabbath School Panel, 01:30 where we are always thankful to have you. 01:31 And we're making our way through the Book of Isaiah. 01:34 This is week number three, 01:36 in which we're going to be talking about 01:38 when your world is falling apart. 01:40 I think we've all had that experience, right, 01:42 where it seems like maybe for a moment in time, 01:44 our world just seems to not be going 01:46 just the way we want it to, 01:48 but the Lord has an answer for that. 01:51 And we're going to see that clearly in His Word today 01:53 and in this study. 01:54 Before I go any further, 01:56 I would like to introduce our panel 01:57 as each and every week. 01:59 I'm excited to be able to study with you guys. 02:01 And we have a blessing this week. 02:03 We have brother Greg Morikone, president of 3ABN. 02:06 It's a blessing to have you, Brother. 02:07 Thank you. It's good to be here. 02:08 And, of course, to study of the Word of God 02:10 is always a blessing. 02:11 So blessing to be here with you guys. 02:12 Amen. 02:14 And, of course, next to you is Pastor John Lomacang. 02:15 Brother, it's good to see you here. 02:17 You know what a title 02:18 when the world is falling apart. 02:20 What an interesting lesson, we're looking forward to it. 02:22 Amen. 02:23 Of course, next to you is our sister Jill Morikone, 02:26 and you're the vice president, COO of 3ABN. 02:29 And it's always a blessing. I know you've got to list. 02:33 There might be something in there. 02:35 Always a joy to open up God's Word. 02:36 And one of my favorite books, Isaiah. 02:38 Amen. 02:39 You know, Pastor Ryan, I'm going to add in there 02:40 that she's actually my wife too. 02:42 That's right. Yay! 02:44 Absolutely. 02:46 And, of course, far on the other end down there 02:49 of this big table, we have Ms. Shelley Quinn, 02:51 and it's always a blessing to have you as well, Sister. 02:53 Oh, I love studying with you all 02:56 'cause I learn so much. 02:58 Amen. Praise the Lord. 03:00 We have lots and lots and lots to study 03:02 to talk about during this hour together. 03:05 But before we go any further, 03:07 I'm gonna ask brother, Greg Morikone, 03:08 if you wouldn't mind opening us in a word of prayer. 03:11 Absolutely. Glad to do it. 03:13 Father in heaven, Lord, we're grateful for this day 03:16 that You've blessed us with. 03:17 Thank You that we can open Your Word. 03:19 And when it seems like our world is falling apart, 03:21 Lord, all we have to do is look up 03:23 because You've got everything under control. 03:25 Lord, we just pray for Your Holy Spirit 03:26 to be with us, lead and guide us. 03:28 We thank You, in Jesus' name we pray. 03:29 Amen. Amen 03:31 Amen. Thank you so much. 03:33 Our memory text. 03:35 I think this sums up probably this, 03:36 obviously this entire study 03:38 that we're going to be talking about today 03:40 when your world is falling apart 03:42 and when your world is falling apart, 03:44 keep in mind our memory text, Isaiah 7:9, 03:48 which tells us, 03:49 "If you will not believe, 03:51 surely you shall not be established." 03:55 I love Sabbath afternoon's lesson 03:57 because it has a nice story 03:59 to kind of illustrate and set the foundation 04:02 for what it is we're studying 04:04 and the story was kind of an interesting one 04:06 because I think we could somewhat relate to this. 04:09 Lady and gentlemen 04:10 was coming home one day from church, 04:12 I guess it was on a Sabbath afternoon. 04:14 And as they were pulling into their driveway 04:17 one of their pet birds, 04:19 I guess it was a chicken 04:21 goes flying across the hood of their vehicle 04:23 and they immediately stopped the car 04:24 because they knew that wasn't normal. 04:26 That wasn't right, right? 04:27 Because they normally keep them locked up 04:29 and put away, 04:30 but they were out. 04:31 And so they knew immediately 04:33 there was some type of issue going on. 04:34 And as they investigated the situation, 04:36 they found that 04:38 the neighbor's dog had gotten also loose 04:41 and made its way into the area 04:43 in which they kept the pet birds. 04:45 And, of course, as they investigated, 04:46 they found that there was a couple of birds 04:50 that had been killed. 04:51 And, of course, the family was close to these birds. 04:53 They were their pet birds. 04:55 And as the mother was laying there in the lawn, 04:58 I guess, kind of embracing and holding the you know, 05:00 the lifeless bodies of these birds 05:02 and weeping, of course, in distress. 05:05 They also have another pet on this farm, 05:07 sounds like old McDonald's farm almost. 05:09 They had another pet on this farm 05:10 or on this property. 05:12 It was a duck. 05:13 And the duck was, you know, often, okay. 05:15 But in this situation, 05:16 as the duck was taking in the scene of the mother 05:19 or the lady there holding the two birds, 05:21 this bird, this duck perceived that 05:23 the mother had killed the two birds 05:25 and it kind of caused distress in the mind of the duck. 05:28 And so now every single day after this, 05:31 when it normally would not do this before, 05:33 of course the duck would then attack the owner 05:36 because in its mind 05:39 the mother was responsible for the deaths 05:41 of these other two birds. 05:43 And so the lesson ends with, 05:45 sometimes it's hard to sort out 05:48 who your friends and enemies are. 05:51 And I thought that that was a nice, interesting foundation 05:53 because all of us can relate to a certain extent. 05:56 We live in a world today where it's just hard to trust. 05:59 It's hard to really understand 06:00 and know, who's your friend, who's your enemy, 06:02 who can you trust, who can you not trust. 06:05 And that is exactly 06:06 what lesson three is all about this week 06:08 is that we for sure. 06:09 And I'm just going to kind of lay the thesis 06:11 of this whole thing out here. 06:13 If we can't trust in the Lord, 06:14 then who can we trust in, right? 06:16 At the end of the day, 06:17 you know, for sure 06:18 that you can trust in the Word of the Lord. 06:21 And, of course, the Lord of that Word. 06:23 And I'm going to go on to Sunday's lesson now, 06:26 which is entitled, 06:28 "Danger from the North." 06:29 And it kind of illustrates and helps set the foundation 06:32 for what Isaiah Chapter 7 06:35 in this case is talking about 06:37 in reference to the experience of King Ahaz. 06:40 And I was looking at the how to pronounce this, 06:42 you know, we read it in our English Ahaz, 06:44 and I'm going to say King Ahaz, 06:46 'cause it's just easy to say, but I think it's like Ahaz. 06:49 I think that's how 06:50 you would say it in the original. 06:51 His name is Ahaz. 06:53 We're not going to say that 06:54 'cause that's gonna cause me to say a lot of things 06:56 that is going to be difficult, 06:57 but Ahaz is what we're gonna stick with, 06:59 King Ahaz. 07:00 I wanna start here 07:02 by kind of opening up who is King Ahaz 07:04 and what does the Bible reveal about 07:05 what kind of king that he was? 07:08 I want us to go to 2 Kings Chapter 16. 07:10 We're gonna go there 07:12 because the Bible tells us in 2 Kings 16 07:15 and also in second, or excuse yes, 2 Chronicles Chapter 28, 07:20 it reveals to us what kind of king, 07:23 King Ahaz really was. 07:25 And, you know, there's many, many different kings of, 07:29 what we would consider the nation of Israel. 07:31 But, of course, at this point, 07:33 we're talking about a divided nation of Israel, 07:35 kingdom of the North kingdom of the South. 07:37 You have Judah in the South. 07:38 And, of course, the 10 tribes in the North, 07:40 which is referred to often as Ephraim. 07:42 We see here that King Ahaz 07:44 was one of the kings of the South, 07:47 which is one of the kings of Judah. 07:48 And the Bible reveals that he wasn't a very good king. 07:51 Notice what the Bible says in 2 Kings Chapter 16, 07:54 beginning in verse 2 through verse 4, it says, 07:57 "Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king 08:00 and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem, 08:03 and he did not do what was right 08:05 in the sight of the Lord, 08:06 his God as his father David had done. 08:10 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel." 08:14 Of course, this is speaking in a negative context, 08:16 the bad kings before him. 08:18 He goes on to say, 08:19 "Indeed he made his son pass through the fire, 08:21 according to the abominations of the nations, 08:25 whom the Lord had cast out 08:26 from before the children of Israel. 08:29 And he sacrificed 08:31 and burned incense on the high places 08:33 on the hills and under every green tree." 08:36 So this was not a good king. 08:38 In fact, 2 Chronicles 28: 2-4 goes on 08:42 to tell us how he molded images for the Baals of Gore. 08:45 We're talking about the Baals were the gods of the sun 08:48 that they would worship the Astaroths 08:50 and the goddesses of and gods of fertility. 08:53 All of these false gods 08:55 that the heathen nations around Israel, 08:57 that God was calling them out of from. 08:59 He was wanting them to be separate, 09:01 to be peculiar in a holy way 09:03 from these other surrounding nations. 09:04 But King Ahaz had led them in a way 09:07 that was not according to the covenant of the Lord. 09:10 It was not according to God's commandments. 09:12 And so, now we see 09:14 when we go onto the bulk study of our lesson here, 09:17 the passage 09:18 that really we're studying today is Isaiah Chapter 7. 09:21 And so let's go there. 09:22 I'm gonna read through these verses 09:24 to set the scenario, 09:25 and then we're gonna have some closing comments 09:26 on what is happening here and how does it pertain 09:29 to what we can learn in reference to 09:30 when our world is falling apart. 09:33 Isaiah 7:1-9. 09:36 This is the scenario 09:37 in which King Ahaz finds himself 09:39 in an interesting predicament. 09:40 Who can he trust? 09:41 Who is he going to put his trust in? 09:43 Notice what the Bible says. 09:44 "Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz 09:46 the son of Jotham, " 09:48 I guess that's how you would say that, 09:49 "the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, 09:53 that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah 09:56 the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, 09:58 went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, 10:02 but could not prevail against it. 10:04 And it was told to the house of David, saying, 10:07 'Syria's forces are deployed in Ephraim.' 10:11 So his heart and the heart of his people were moved 10:14 as the trees of the woods are moved in the wind.' " 10:17 That was some movable hearts, right? 10:19 They were not grounded in the Lord's ways. 10:21 That's why fear set upon them. 10:23 Verse 3, 10:24 "Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 10:25 'Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub." 10:31 I guess that's how you would say these names. 10:33 There's a lot of interesting names 10:34 in this study. 10:36 "Your son, at the end of the aqueduct 10:38 from the upper pool, 10:39 on the highway to the Fuller's Field, 10:41 and say to him." 10:43 So he's going to talk to the king, 10:44 "Take heed, and be quiet, the Bible says, 10:47 do not fear or be fainthearted 10:49 for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, 10:52 for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, 10:55 and the son of Remaliah. 10:57 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah 11:00 have plotted evil against you, saying, 11:03 'Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, 11:05 and let us make a gap in its wall 11:07 for ourselves, 11:08 and set a king over them, the son of Tabel.' 11:12 thus says the Lord God.' " 11:14 So here it is. 11:16 As we continue on here in verse 8 here, 11:20 we're going on through verse 7 into verse 8. 11:22 So let's just keep in mind. 11:23 There's an alliance being created 11:25 between the kings of the North, 11:26 in this case, 11:28 the kingdom of the Northern region of Israel. 11:30 So the Northern kingdom and the king of Syria, 11:32 and they're wanting to come against the Southern kingdom. 11:35 So notice what verse 8 and 9 continues to say, 11:37 "It shall not stand, nor shall it come to pass." 11:40 Verse 8, 11:41 "For the head of Syria is Damascus, 11:43 and the head of Damascus is Rezin. 11:45 Within 65 years, 11:46 Ephraim will be broken so that it will not be a people. 11:50 The head of Ephraim is Samaria. 11:51 And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. 11:54 If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established." 11:57 There's our memory text. 11:59 If you will not believe, 12:00 you shall not surely be established. 12:02 So they've come together to form this alliance 12:05 because they ultimately why? 12:07 They're coming together 12:08 because they're hearing wind 12:10 of the growing kingdom of Assyria 12:12 and the king of Assyria 12:14 and their armies are growing, their empire is growing. 12:15 So if they can take over Judah, the Southern kingdom, 12:19 they can plant a puppet there, a puppet ruler, 12:21 and they can take over its resources 12:23 and they can have a little bit more of a stronghold 12:26 and an influence in coming against the king of Syria. 12:29 Now, what was the response of King Ahaz? 12:33 That's the question 12:34 'cause the Lord has sent His prophet, 12:36 the prophet has spoken. 12:37 He has communicated what the will of the Lord is, 12:40 trust in the Lord. 12:41 The Lord will see you through this. 12:42 What was the response of Ahaz? 12:44 Well, let's go into the 2 King 16:7-9. 12:48 It tells us clearly. 12:50 2 Kings 16:7-9. 12:51 It says, 12:53 "So Ahaz sent messengers to, 12:55 I'm going to say Tiglath Pileser." 12:58 I'm going to call him King TP for this study. 13:01 All right. 13:03 "So he says to King TP of Assyria saying, 13:05 'I am your servant and your son. 13:07 Come up and save me 13:08 from the hand of the king of Syria 13:11 and from the hand of the king of Israel, 13:12 who rise up against me. 13:14 And Ahaz took the silver and gold 13:17 that was found in the house of the Lord, 13:19 and in the treasuries of the king's house, 13:22 and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. 13:25 So the king of Assyria heeded him, 13:27 for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, 13:31 carried its people captive to Kir, 13:34 and killed Rezin." 13:36 And so, what is happening here in this passage 13:38 is his response to God is, Lord, I'm not gonna trust you. 13:44 I'm gonna continue doing what I wanna do. 13:47 And, in fact, I'm gonna reach out to the king, 13:48 another king, 13:49 and I'm gonna create an alliance 13:51 with this Assyrian king. 13:52 And I'm gonna go on about my way, 13:54 and I'm not going to trust in Your word. 13:55 And so the lesson that we can learn from this, 13:58 my friends, as our message says, 14:00 and of course, if you read on about the story of Ahaz, 14:03 he was not a good king. 14:04 He eventually, he didn't reign as long as other kings, 14:07 because he did not trust in God. 14:10 And so the lessons 14:11 that we can learn on a personal level 14:13 is if we're not obeying the Lord now, right now, 14:17 what makes us think 14:19 that we'll have the faith to trust Him 14:20 when the real trials come? 14:22 Amen 14:23 And that's what we need to learn to take away 14:24 from this lesson. 14:26 I'm thinking of James 2:22, right? 14:27 "But do you want to know, O foolish man, 14:29 the faith without works is dead." 14:31 And, of course, verse 22 says, 14:33 "Do you see that faith was working together 14:35 with his works and by works faith was made perfect." 14:39 So God sometimes will allow us to walk through trials as Ahaz. 14:44 Of course, his world literally was falling apart. 14:47 Did he put his trust in the Lord? 14:48 No, he did not. 14:49 So the lesson we take away from this, my friends, 14:51 as we're moving forward 14:52 is we need to understand that 14:54 putting our faith in the Lord is the right thing to do. 14:56 Trusting in the Lord's word is the just thing to do. 14:59 Absolutely. Amen. 15:00 Wow. Thank you, Pastor Ryan. 15:02 Well, I tell you studying the Word of God is so exciting. 15:05 There's so many things to be found and to learn 15:08 lots of names, Ryan too. 15:09 That right. 15:11 I have... King TP. 15:12 Yeah king TP and I also have that name here. 15:14 So maybe I'll have to refer to him as that too. 15:16 It's a new one. 15:18 So mine is Monday, 15:19 "Attempted Interception" 15:20 and Pastor Ryan and I have basically the same passage. 15:22 I have Isaiah 7:3-9. 15:26 And just give me some quick backdrop again, 15:28 Ryan touched on this briefly, 15:30 but Ahaz becomes king of Judah in about 735 BC. 15:35 And that he's about 20 years old, 15:37 which is really young. 15:38 You think about this being king, 15:39 but he's a wicked king. 15:41 Like Ryan mentioned, 15:42 and as the scripture has mentioned, 15:43 he causes his children to pass through the fire. 15:45 You have 2 Chronicles Chapter 28, 15:48 excellent reads by the way, 15:49 you just touched on some of that. 15:51 And then also you have 2 Kings 16, 15:53 some really good passages in the Bible 15:54 that gives more of the story of King Ahaz, 15:56 and what's going on. 15:58 But he worshiped Baal 15:59 and had those around him worshiping Baal 16:01 in the high places. 16:02 And then in 735, 734 BC, 16:05 you also have 16:07 the Syro-Ephraimite War going on. 16:09 So you have Rezin, king of Syria, 16:11 joining forces with Pekah, king of Israel. 16:14 They're forming an alliance together. 16:16 King Ahaz says, 16:17 "Oh, no, 16:19 I'm about to be annihilated 16:20 wiped off the face of the earth. 16:21 I need to do something." 16:23 You think about this. 16:24 He's a young man, young king, 16:26 and he's about to be wiped out, he feels. 16:27 So then he says, 16:28 hey, I'm going to join forces with who? 16:30 He's going to join forces with Assyria and King... 16:34 TP. TP, thank you. 16:35 Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria. 16:39 And on Monday's lesson, read this in your lesson, 16:41 I like this part. 16:42 It says, 16:44 "Although appealing to Tiglath-Pileser for help 16:46 seemed logical and attractive from a human standpoint. 16:50 God knew it would bring the Davidic kingdom of Judah 16:53 under foreign control 16:55 from which she could never recover." 16:58 Now, this is where you see 17:00 the entrance of the Prophet Isaiah. 17:03 This is in Isaiah 7:3. 17:07 And it says here, 17:09 "Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 17:10 'Go out to meet King Ahaz, 17:12 you and Shear-Jashub your son at the end of the aqueduct 17:17 from the upper pool 17:18 on the highway to the Fuller's field." 17:22 Now this is the first national crisis 17:25 in Isaiah's ministry. 17:26 So Isaiah 6, 17:28 which you studied last week was the call of Isaiah. 17:30 So here's the first national crisis 17:31 in Isaiah's ministry. 17:33 So this is about 735, 734 BC. 17:37 And you have the Syro-Ephraimite coalition. 17:39 And it's interesting because Isaiah's son comes with him. 17:44 God asks Isaiah son to go with him 17:47 and meet King Ahaz. 17:49 And they meet where? 17:50 They meet at the aqueduct 17:52 from the upper pool on the highway 17:53 to the Fuller's Field. 17:55 Now fast forward about 34, 35 years 17:58 to the second national crisis in Isaiah's ministry 18:03 was taking place here. 18:04 This is the siege of Assyria against the Jerusalem. 18:07 So Isaiah 36:2 says, 18:09 "Then the king of Assyria sent to Rabshakeh 18:12 with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. 18:16 And he stood by" where? 18:18 "The aqueduct from the upper pool, 18:20 on the highway to the Fuller's Field." 18:23 Very interesting here, 18:24 Isaiah, his first national crisis 18:25 in his ministry, 18:27 he meets King Ahaz basically by the aqueduct, 18:30 35 years later, he meet who? 18:33 King Hezekiah at the same place. 18:35 Who's King Hezekiah? 18:37 The son of Ahaz. 18:39 So you have Ahaz who is, 18:41 we know didn't choose the right way, 18:43 but as we'll study further on here coming up, 18:45 Hezekiah chose the way of the Lord. 18:47 So praise the Lord for that. 18:49 So then I'm going back to this whole meeting here 18:52 of Isaiah and his son. 18:54 And I can only imagine, 18:56 now you've got Ahaz here who's what, 18:57 has his young kids go through the fire 18:59 and sacrifice them. 19:01 And here comes Isaiah with his son 19:04 as part of the ministry. 19:05 Wow. Can you imagine what that would look like? 19:06 Yes. Wow. 19:08 This is amazing. 19:09 But then Isaiah introduces his son to King Ahaz, 19:12 and you know, the meaning of names 19:14 and things like that. 19:15 It's been interesting to look this up 19:17 and it's in the lesson, 19:18 Isaiah son's name is Shear-Jashub. 19:21 Boy, I sure hope I'm saying this right, 19:23 Pastor Ryan. 19:24 Right. Okay. 19:25 And it means a remnant shall return. 19:28 So the root word for return 19:29 can carry the definition of repentance. 19:32 So Ahaz needed repentance. 19:34 The people needed repentance. 19:36 So Isaiah son's name was really a rebuke to the king. 19:41 You know, the name had a message 19:43 for Isaiah and it was from God 19:45 for King Ahaz and it was from God, 19:48 turn from your sins or go into captivity. 19:50 So basically he's saying, turn from your sins now, 19:53 or go into captivity, 19:54 or two, you're going into captivity, 19:57 but a remnant will return, 19:59 you know, with rebuke, which is powerful to me. 20:01 There's also a message of hope here. 20:03 So, yeah, God is definitely a God of justice. 20:06 We know that, but He also provides hope. 20:08 There's a way out. 20:09 And, you know, it's interesting. 20:10 It's really a solemn thought here is that 20:12 the decision was King Ahaz, 20:13 what's he going to do right here? 20:15 The decision is his, God wasn't gonna to force him 20:17 to make the decision, 20:18 but this is the way, walk in it. 20:20 But it's up to King Ahaz. 20:21 And I think it's a good lesson for us 20:24 to learn right now too, 20:25 you know, as we face different things, 20:27 who are we going to choose? 20:28 God's not going to force us, but we need to choose God. 20:29 I think it's Joshua 24:15, it says, 20:32 "As for me and my house, we will," what? 20:35 "We will serve the Lord." Amen. 20:37 Wow, time's going by in a hurry. 20:38 So this is Isaiah's message, okay? 20:40 Isaiah 7:4-9, 20:43 and he said to Ahaz, 20:45 "And he said to him, 20:47 'Take heed, and be quiet, 20:49 do not fear or be fainthearted 20:50 for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, 20:53 for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, 20:55 and the son of Remaliah. 20:57 Because Syria, Ephraim, 20:59 and the son of Remaliah 21:00 have plotted evil against you, saying, 21:02 'Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, 21:04 and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, 21:07 and set a king over them, the son of Tabel.' " 21:10 Verse 7, 21:11 "Thus says the Lord God: 21:12 it shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 21:15 For this head of Syria is Damascus, 21:17 and the head of Damascus is Rezin. 21:20 Within 65 years, Ephraim will be broken 21:22 so that it will not be a people." 21:25 Verse 9, 21:26 "The head of Ephraim is Samaria 21:27 and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son." 21:30 This is really key here. 21:31 "If you will not believe, 21:32 surely you shall not be established." 21:36 You know, to Ahab, to Ahaz 21:39 the situation was really serious. 21:40 I mean, he was really afraid, 21:42 but as you go back to the very beginning of this, 21:43 it's in verse 4, 21:45 Jesus is saying, God is saying, 21:46 "Don't worry about that. It's just two stubs. 21:49 They're just smoking firebrands. 21:50 It's nothing to me." 21:51 And again, I think another lesson for us to learn 21:53 is that sometimes we can look at a situation, 21:56 look at the world we're in and say, Whoa, this is it. 21:59 I think we're done for, no one can save us from this. 22:02 We know that God is our savior, 22:04 and we can trust in Him as you were talking about, 22:06 Pastor Ryan. 22:07 Verse 9, 22:08 in order to make this decision 22:10 Ahaz needed to trust the Lord and His promises. 22:13 He needed to believe in order to be established. 22:16 Believe and established are from the same Hebrew root word, 22:20 meaning that which is reliable or true. 22:22 So therefore Ahaz needed to be sure. 22:26 Sure in what? 22:27 Sure in the Word of God in order to be made sure. 22:31 He needed to rely in order to be reliable. 22:35 And I think here too it's just, it's really sad 22:37 'cause here you have King Ahaz, 22:39 he was trying to establish himself. 22:41 He realizes that the kings of the North, 22:42 they're coming against him. 22:44 And he's thinking in his own strength, 22:45 my own power, 22:46 I got to survive, I've got to do something. 22:48 Ah, the king from Assyria, let me join forces with him. 22:51 He's wanting to survive. 22:52 He's trying to establish his kingdom, 22:54 but in trying to establish his kingdom, 22:56 God provided an answering key in the Prophet Isaiah, 22:59 but he didn't listen. 23:01 And so therefore he was not established. 23:03 So sad. 23:04 Here are the lessons that we can learn 23:06 from Isaiah's message to Ahaz, 23:08 trust in God and His promises. 23:11 I want you to turn to Numbers 23:19. 23:13 This is a really good passage. 23:14 So we hope that 23:16 you're not just listening to Sabbath School, 23:17 but that you're actually opening your Bible 23:19 and your Sabbath School lesson as well. 23:20 And it says, Numbers 23:19, 23:22 "God is not man, that He should lie, 23:25 or a son of man that He should change His mind. 23:28 Has he said, and will He not do it? 23:30 Or has he spoken and will He not fulfill it?" 23:34 Praise the Lord. We can trust in God. 23:37 We can count on God's promises because God is love. 23:40 1 John 4:8. We know that God is love. 23:42 I think of John 3:16, powerful passage, 23:46 for God so loved the world. 23:47 We can count on God's promises because God is unchanging. 23:52 Malachi 3:6, 23:53 "For I am the Lord, I do not change." 23:56 We can count on God's promises because of His infinite wisdom. 24:01 We think of James. 24:02 We can look at the passage, James 1:5, 24:05 "If any of you lack wisdom, 24:06 you shall ask of God who gives generously to all 24:09 without finding fault. 24:10 And it will be given to you." 24:12 Amen. 24:13 You know, in closing, you know, we're in tough times. 24:16 We know the year 2020 was tough. 24:18 We're just in the first few weeks of 2021, 24:20 you know, your world maybe turned upside down 24:23 it may seem to you, 24:24 but I want to leave with you to trust God, be sure in what? 24:28 The Word of God in order to be made sure. 24:30 Don't lose your faith. 24:32 We must establish ourselves in the Word of God. 24:34 We must trust in God. 24:37 I want to encourage you to build relationship with God 24:40 because to trust 24:41 you have to build a relationship. 24:43 I love my wife, but I trust my wife. 24:45 And the reason I trust my wife, 24:46 because we have a relationship for years now. 24:49 Build that relationship with Jesus Christ. 24:51 Study His Word on a daily basis. 24:53 Go to Him, talk to Him, 24:55 then sit back 24:56 and let Him talk back to you from His Word. 24:58 So I want to encourage you to trust in the Lord. 25:01 Believe in God's Word, and you will be established. 25:05 Praise the Lord. Amen. 25:07 Hey, 25:08 we're just getting started, right? 25:09 The Book of Isaiah has so many wonderful gems 25:11 and wonderful lessons to learn. 25:13 We're going to take a quick break. 25:14 Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. 25:20 Ever wish you could watch 25:22 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:24 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:27 Well, you can 25:28 by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 25:32 A clean design makes it easy 25:34 to find the program you're looking for. 25:36 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:40 so you can follow along. 25:42 Sharing is easy. 25:43 Just click share 25:44 and choose your favorite social media. 25:46 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:50 Hello, welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 25:52 We're going to kick it over to Pastor John 25:54 for Tuesday's lesson. 25:56 Yeah, no pun intended, but I have another chance. 25:58 By the way, 26:00 that's the title of this lesson for today, 26:01 "Another Chance." 26:03 If you have your lessons 26:04 go with me to Tuesday, January 12th, 26:08 you know, Ryan and Greg has been laying foundation 26:12 that's so critical at this point 26:14 because they've been laying out the circumstances 26:17 and the conditions that Ahaz was facing in the wars 26:22 that were coming up against him. 26:24 But there was something inside of Ahaz 26:26 that God wanted to get out. 26:28 And I want to just say this before I go into. 26:30 Lot of times, 26:31 God will bring difficulty our way 26:33 to break our self-reliance. 26:36 That's something that Ahaz wasn't getting 26:39 because the Bible says 26:40 when a man's ways please the Lord, 26:43 he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 26:46 Wow. 26:47 Now, why were his enemies not at peace with him? 26:49 Because his ways did not please the Lord. 26:51 And sometimes God brings difficulty our way 26:54 so that He can break what we call our self-reliance. 26:59 That's why Tuesday is so vitally important. 27:01 Isaiah 7:10-13. 27:03 Now let's look at all the Tiglath Pileser 27:06 and the names that were difficult. 27:09 The adversaries coming up against Ahaz, 27:13 and look what the Lord says through Isaiah, the prophet. 27:16 "Moreover, the Lord spoke again to Ahaz saying, 27:20 ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, 27:23 ask it either in the depth or in the height above." 27:26 Meaning from, 27:27 you go from the grave to the highest heavens. 27:30 "But Ahaz said, 27:32 'I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord.' 27:36 Then he said 27:37 'Hear now, O house of David! 27:40 Is it a small thing for you to weary men, 27:43 but will you weary my God also?' " 27:47 You notice something here. 27:49 Ahaz is saying, I'm not going to ask. 27:52 Now when the Lord says ask. 27:54 If Solomon did what Ahaz did, 27:57 then Solomon would not have received the wisdom. 27:59 The Lord said to Solomon, 28:00 "Ask whatever you want." 28:02 And Solomon asked for wisdom 28:03 and Solomon is now known as one of the wisest men, 28:06 a thousand women later. 28:09 You get a lot of wisdom out of that, 28:11 but God gave him something that still to this very day, 28:14 we all admire. 28:15 The wisdom that comes 28:17 when God gives you a blank slate and says, 28:21 ask for help. 28:22 And I'll give you help. 28:23 Ahaz was given the privilege to ask from God, 28:27 whatever he needed. 28:28 God was giving Ahaz a limitless invitation 28:32 to have his request granted. 28:35 Now think about it. 28:36 In the times of war, 28:38 who would you prefer to be on your side? 28:39 God. 28:41 But in this case, 28:42 one another thing 28:44 we have to come in realization of 28:46 not only does God bring difficulty 28:48 to break our self-reliance, 28:50 but God never forces Himself where He is not invited. 28:54 He will never impose Himself where He is not invited. 28:58 The writer of the lesson 28:59 brought one of the questions out. 29:01 Why did Ahaz respond in the way he did? 29:03 And I'll give a couple of reasons. 29:05 Ahab responded in the... 29:07 Ahaz responded in the way he did. 29:10 And this was an indication of self-reliance 29:12 not one of respect. 29:15 He closed his heart to God's offer 29:18 because he thought he could handle it. 29:21 He thought that his kingship was sufficient. 29:23 And that's why later on, 29:24 he went ahead and started making alliances 29:27 because he thought, 29:29 if I could handle this situation myself, 29:32 we'd go back to the children of Israel. 29:34 Remember the battle. 29:36 What was a small nation... 29:38 Ai. 29:39 Ai, very small two letters. 29:42 Thank you, Jill. 29:43 They figured we beat big armies, 29:45 we got this one. 29:47 That little nation made them run for their lives. 29:50 Here's my point. 29:52 When anything seems handleable, 29:56 you're not going to find that word in the dictionary. 29:58 If you think you could handle whatever comes your way 30:00 without God's help. 30:02 That's the first step in failure. 30:04 That's why we find in the Bible, 30:05 notice this. 30:07 And this is what we experienced through our scripture, 30:08 because Ai is not the only one. 30:10 When the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 30:14 Jonah decided, 30:15 look, not only do I not need your help, 30:17 I'm not even listening to you. 30:19 But look at Jonah 3:1-2. 30:22 Look at Jonah 3:1-2. 30:24 And it says, 30:26 "Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah 30:30 the second time, saying, 30:33 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, 30:35 and preach to it the message that I tell you.' " 30:37 And we find in verse 2, 30:39 and Jonah decide this time I'm going. 30:43 When God takes you 30:44 through the washing machine of personal cleansing, 30:47 which is what Jonah went through. 30:49 Think about that. 30:51 Jonah went through a cleansing process. 30:53 He was the only, Ryan, as an evangelist. 30:55 He was the only one 30:56 that showed up at an evangelistic series, 30:58 smelling like a fish dinner. 31:01 He got chucked up on the shore of Nineveh. 31:05 God never intended for him to get there in that condition, 31:09 but because he refused God's offer 31:12 because he refused God's directive. 31:14 He ended up in a condition 31:16 that God said one way or the other, 31:18 you will comply with my conditions. 31:21 But notice what the Bible says, 31:22 the reason why we should not put ourselves 31:24 in such a predicament. 31:28 Psalm 46:1. 31:29 And this was true 31:31 in every condition of all the battles 31:33 that the Israelites faced. 31:34 God is our refuge and what else, Jill? 31:37 Our strength. Our strength. 31:38 A very present help in trouble. 31:41 That's right. God didn't have a past. 31:43 God didn't have a future. 31:44 That's why whenever I talk about God 31:46 or when I talk about Jesus, 31:48 I don't say Jesus was the son of God. 31:50 I say He is. 31:51 He's never a was. 31:53 God is never a was. 31:54 He is our refuge and our strength, 31:57 a very present help in trouble. 32:00 Ahaz refused God's divide offer. 32:02 It led him to difficulty. 32:04 But notice, I'm gonna bring out about five points. 32:07 One of those is found in Hebrews 12:25. 32:14 The warning. 32:17 Hebrews 12:25, 32:19 "See that you do not refuse him who speaks." 32:22 What did Ahaz do? 32:24 He refused God's, 32:25 "For if they did not escape, who refused him, 32:28 who spoke on earth much more shall we not escape, 32:33 if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven." 32:38 The Book of Hebrews points out five dangers, 32:41 and one of the dangers was refusing God. 32:44 When we refuse God, it's dangerous. 32:47 And so many people, 32:49 I said to my wife the other day, 32:50 we always talk about salvation. 32:51 I said, nobody's going to be lost 32:53 because of sin. 32:54 No one's going to be lost because of sin, 32:56 but they're going to be lost 32:57 because they refuse to repent of sin 32:59 because all have sinned. 33:01 No one is going to be lost because of sin. 33:03 They're going to be lost 33:04 because they refuse to repent of sin. 33:06 God extends the help and they refuse God. 33:09 If they refuse the one who speaks from heaven. 33:11 Well, I think that enough's said. 33:15 Let's go to another situation. 33:16 Exodus 7:14. 33:18 Look at all the conditions 33:20 where God was giving these leaders 33:22 more than one opportunity. 33:24 And we know the fate of them. 33:27 Exodus 7:14. 33:29 So the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hard. 33:33 Why? 33:35 He refuses to let the people go. 33:38 And we know the story. 33:40 Did they go, Ryan? 33:41 That's right. They left with. 33:42 And I read Ellen White made this point. 33:44 I want to just insert this here. 33:45 Ellen White says, it was God's plan 33:48 to give Pharaoh the credit 33:50 for freeing Israel, 33:53 because he refused to participate with God 33:56 in the freeing of Israel, 33:58 God did it without his participation. 34:00 So when God gives us an opportunity 34:02 to partner with Him, 34:03 He wants to give us the credit 34:06 and the partnership of obedience. 34:08 Second thing, 34:10 refusing God affects our hearts. 34:11 And I know we've talked about this before, 34:13 but Isaiah 1:19-20, 34:15 "If you are willing and obedient, 34:17 you shall eat of the good of the land. 34:18 But if you refuse and rebel, 34:20 you shall be devoured by the sword, 34:22 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 34:25 Let's go now to Hebrews 3:7-11. 34:28 Once again, refusing God affects the heart. 34:31 It affects the heart. 34:33 Hebrews 3:7 says, 34:35 "Thus therefore as the Holy Spirit says today, 34:40 if you will hear his voice," 34:43 what is that? 34:44 "Dot harden your heart, as in the rebellion, 34:47 in the day of trial in the wilderness, 34:49 where your fathers tested me, 34:51 tried me 34:53 and saw my works 40 years. 34:55 Therefore I was angry with that generation and said, 34:58 they always go astray," where? 35:00 "In their heart. 35:02 And they have not known my ways. 35:04 So I swore in my wrath." 35:06 Thirdly, refusing God is the same spirit 35:09 that surrounds the rejection of God's Ten Commandments. 35:13 Exodus 16:28, 35:14 "And the Lord said to Moses, 35:16 'How long do you refuse 35:18 to keep My commandments and my laws.' " 35:21 Brethren, the refusal of the commandments of God 35:23 is not because God's commandments are bad, 35:26 but a stuck heart once again, 35:29 refusing to be obedient at any point 35:32 is because of the carnal heart of humanity. 35:34 And so, when we get that precious invitation 35:38 to respond to the invitation of God. 35:42 Keep this in mind, 35:43 God is not willing that any one of us should perish. 35:46 God is not willing that 35:47 any one of us should experience failure. 35:50 But if we simply refuse 35:51 to respond to the conditions of God, 35:54 the impact of that refusal will be felt. 35:59 Thank you so much, 36:00 Pastor John and Greg and Pastor Ryan. 36:03 We're jumping back to Isaiah 7. 36:05 I forgot I still have my mask on. 36:06 I need to take that off. 36:08 We're jumping back to Isaiah Chapter 7. 36:11 You know, 36:12 what's so sad to me in this section 36:14 as each one of you have brought out 36:16 with this incredible coalition that came against Judah 36:19 and the fear that would be an Ahaz's heart. 36:21 I certainly would be afraid. 36:24 And yet God in His mercy and His love 36:27 extends this grace and says, just ask a sign. 36:30 Like he's saying you can trust Me 36:33 and I'll be there for you. 36:34 And just ask for the sign. 36:36 And what's interesting to me is it says, 36:38 ask a sign for yourself from the Lord, your God. 36:41 But then when Ahaz says, 36:43 "I don't, I'm not going to ask for a sign." 36:46 Then it says, 36:47 "Hear now O house David! 36:49 Is it a small thing for you to weary men 36:50 while you weary my God." 36:52 Awesome. 36:53 Do you notice that shift. 36:55 It was your God as in Ahaz's God. 36:57 Now it's my God as in Isaiah's God, 37:00 'cause Ahaz had refused his God. 37:04 So then God says, 37:06 okay, you're not going to ask for a sign. 37:08 I'm going to give you a sign. 37:09 And that's what I have is verse 14. 37:11 And Shelley also has verse 14. 37:14 So hopefully I won't step on 37:15 the same section that she's discussing. 37:18 It says, therefore, because you're wearying my God, 37:22 because you're not even reaching out to Him. 37:24 You're not allowing Him to give you a sign. 37:25 "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. 37:30 Behold, the virgin shall conceive 37:31 and bear a son 37:33 and shall call his name Immanuel." 37:35 Now before we unpack that, 37:36 I just want to look for a brief moment 37:38 at the history of signs throughout the Word of God. 37:41 You know, in the Bible, 37:42 many times people asked for signs. 37:44 The one I think of first of would be Gideon. 37:47 Remember in Judges 6, 37:49 he said, 37:50 am I gonna have victory over the Midianites? 37:52 And the sign he asked for him was that 37:54 the fleece would be wet with dew and the ground dry. 37:57 And he said, well, that wasn't quite hard enough. 37:59 So the next time the fleece would be dry 38:01 and the ground wet. 38:03 King Hezekiah asked God for a sign 38:05 that he would live longer. 38:07 We see this in 2 Kings 20, 38:09 and the sun dialed 38:10 the shadow would go back 10 degrees. 38:13 The Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 16 38:16 asked Jesus for a sign from heaven. 38:17 But He said, 38:19 "You're not getting any sign, 38:20 but the sign of the Prophet Jonah." 38:23 Herod, he hoped for a sign from Jesus 38:25 because he had heard about Him. 38:27 We see this in Luke 23, but Jesus answered not a word. 38:32 Now in the Bible, 38:33 it seems more rare for God to ask someone, 38:37 to ask for a sign 38:38 like God asking Ahaz to ask for a sign. 38:41 I think about Moses with the children of Israel. 38:44 And Moses said, 38:45 "What if the children of Israel don't believe me?" 38:47 This is at the burning bush experience, 38:49 and God is calling Moses to deliver the people. 38:52 And Moses says, 38:53 "What if they don't believe me?" 38:55 And God says, 38:56 "The staff you have in your hand 38:58 to throw it down, 38:59 it'll turn into a snake and then come back to a staff, 39:01 your hand put it in and pull it out 39:03 and it'll turn to leprosy and go back to normal. 39:06 The water from the river would turn to blood 39:08 and then back on the dry ground." 39:10 And Ahaz, of course, 39:11 was clearly told to ask for a sign. 39:14 This verse in verse 14, 39:17 the sign that the Lord Himself gave 39:20 has a dual application, which the lesson brought out. 39:24 We're going to spend the balance of our time 39:26 on the application 39:29 that comes in the future. 39:30 That would be Jesus, the Messiah. 39:32 I want to touch just briefly. 39:34 The lesson talked about it, 39:36 the present day application for the sign as well. 39:38 Now this is interesting. 39:40 Usually when we read this, 39:42 "The virgin shall conceive and bear a son 39:44 and should call his name Immanuel." 39:46 We kind of stop there. 39:47 But if you look at the literal application, 39:49 you need to keep going. 39:50 The next verse, verse 15 says, 39:52 "Curds and honey He shall eat 39:54 that He may know to refuse the evil 39:56 and choose the good, 39:58 for before the child shall know to refuse the evil 40:01 and choose the good, 40:02 the land that you dread will be forsaken 40:05 by both her kings." 40:06 Now who are the two kings 40:08 that Isaiah is talking about there? 40:09 That would be the king, 40:11 the Northern tribes of Israel and the king of Syria. 40:15 So this coalition that was coming against Ahaz 40:19 that would be broken by time 40:21 this child were to grow up 40:23 and would know to choose between evil and good. 40:26 So basically by the time 40:27 they reach what 12 years of age, 40:29 that this kingdom would be broken. 40:31 And then verse 17, 40:32 "The Lord would bring the house of Assyria upon you 40:35 and your people, and your father's house, 40:37 days that have not come 40:38 since the day 40:39 that Ephraim departed from Judah." 40:41 So that's obviously a prophecy looking forward to 701, 40:45 when Assyria comes against the city of Jerusalem 40:48 and besieges it. 40:50 And then we know the end result of that, 40:53 which we will get to. 40:54 God destroyed 185,000 of the Assyrians in one night. 41:00 So the literal application, 41:01 there are several different interpretations. 41:04 The lesson mentions two. 41:06 Briefly it could refer to Isaiah's son, 41:10 not the first son, of course, we already talked about that, 41:12 but the second son who's born in Isaiah 8:3. 41:16 If you see there's a correlation there, 41:18 Isaiah 8:3, 41:20 "I went to the prophetess, 41:21 and she conceived and bore a son. 41:22 Then the Lord said to me, 41:24 'Call his name,'" 41:25 whatever that is, 41:26 "'for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 41:28 'My father and My mother, 41:30 the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria 41:32 will be taken away before the king of Assyria.' " 41:35 Do you notice, it's very similar. 41:37 You have the one before the child is of age 41:40 that the Northern kingdom of Israel and Syria 41:44 would be destroyed. 41:45 And here you see the same thing take place. 41:47 Now, of course, there's no reference 41:49 to the name Immanuel. 41:50 So it's not a direct correlation. 41:52 The lesson also mentioned, it could be Hezekiah, 41:55 but Hezekiah was never referred to as Immanuel. 41:58 And we also clearly know 42:00 that Hezekiah was definitely of age 42:02 long before that came to pass. 42:04 Now let's look at the final fulfillment 42:06 or application 42:07 that would be of Jesus. 42:09 We see this correlation in Matthew 1:23, 42:13 Matthew, of course, 42:14 quotes from this passage in Isaiah 7:14, 42:17 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear son. 42:20 They shall call his name Immanuel, " 42:23 which is translated God with us. 42:26 Now in Isiah's day, 42:27 there were two enemy kings 42:29 poised to take out God's chosen line of Judah. 42:33 Who were those kings? 42:34 The Northern kingdom of Israel and Syria. 42:37 In Matthew's day, 42:39 there were two enemy kings 42:41 poised to take out the Messiah. 42:44 That would be King Herod 42:46 and, of course, he had an alliance with Rome. 42:50 In Isaiah's day, 42:51 the birth of a child 42:53 the sign that God is with us 42:55 pointed to the physical 42:56 and local deliverance of the nation of Judah. 42:59 In Matthew's day, 43:01 the birth of a child, 43:03 the sign that God is with us 43:05 pointed to the physical and universal deliverance 43:08 of everyone everywhere from there since. 43:13 Jesus is the final fulfillment 43:16 of that prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. 43:18 We know He is divine. 43:20 If you jump over just two chapters, 43:22 Isaiah 9:6, 43:25 "For unto us, a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, 43:30 and the government will be upon His shoulder. 43:32 And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 43:35 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 43:39 He is divine. 43:41 He is not only divine, He is with us. 43:45 We read this in Matthew 1:23, 43:48 "The virgin will be with Child and bear a Son. 43:50 They will call His name Immanuel, " 43:52 which is translated God with us. 43:55 We won't touch any more on that 43:56 'cause I know Shelley's day touches on God with us. 43:59 He is the root and branch of Jesse. 44:04 Isaiah Chapter 11. 44:05 We have another messianic prophecy 44:08 come forward here in Isaiah 11:1, 44:10 "There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse," 44:14 referring to the coming Messiah, 44:17 the Lord Jesus, 44:18 "and a branch shall grow out of his roots." 44:21 You jump down to verse 10, 44:24 "And in that day, 44:25 there shall be a root of Jesse 44:27 who shall stand a banner to the people, 44:29 for the Gentiles shall seek him, 44:31 and his resting place shall be glorious." 44:35 Jesus is the root and branch of Jesse. 44:39 references this as well. 44:42 I, Jesus have sent my angel 44:45 to testify to you these things in the churches. 44:47 I am the root and offspring of David. 44:51 I am the bright and morning star. 44:56 But He is not only divine, He's not only with us, 44:59 He's not only the branch, 45:01 He's not only the root of Jesse, 45:03 He is my savior. 45:06 To me that's the incredible promise. 45:09 This sign that was given to the people 45:12 at that time carried forward those hundreds of years 45:16 until the birth of Christ. 45:18 Matthew 1:21. 45:20 "She shall bring forth a son. 45:21 You shall call His name Jesus, 45:23 for He will save His people from their sins." 45:28 Ahaz was offered the opportunity 45:31 to make a choice 45:32 and to just choose to trust God. 45:34 He chose not to trust God. 45:36 He chose to go his own way. 45:39 And God said, I will send a deliverer. 45:42 The Lord Himself will give you a sign. 45:45 The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son 45:47 and shall call His name Immanuel. 45:50 Amen. 45:52 We do have the same verses, 45:53 and I'm going to repeat a couple of those verses. 45:56 I have Thursday, 45:57 "God Is With Us." 45:59 And let's read that again 46:00 because this is an important promise 46:03 from God. 46:04 It's an important prophecy. 46:06 Isaiah 7:14, 46:08 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign." 46:11 And remember, Ahaz refused the sign. 46:13 So God's telling Isaiah to tell Ahaz, 46:18 hey, God's gonna give you a sign 46:21 whether you want one or not. 46:22 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive 46:26 and bear a Son 46:27 and shall call His name Immanuel." 46:32 Jesus Christ is the great fulfillment 46:36 of this prophecy. 46:37 What it shows me is that 46:40 God will always be faithful to His promises. 46:45 Some ways, sometimes in ways that is beyond our expectation 46:51 because Jesus Christ was not just the sign. 46:57 He was God who became a human, 47:02 who became the Son of man 47:04 and the Son of God, God incarnate. 47:07 God came down to be with us in person. 47:11 So Matthew 1:21, 47:14 the angel is telling Joseph 47:17 that Mary has conceived by the Holy Spirit 47:23 because, you know, here, Joseph and Mary are engaged. 47:27 Actually they were married 47:28 because they'd signed a marriage contract. 47:30 They just hadn't come together physically. 47:33 They weren't living together. 47:35 There had been no relationship, 47:38 physical relationship between the two of them. 47:40 So when he finds out she's pregnant, 47:42 it's like what? 47:44 And then the angel tells him no, no. 47:48 That what she has conceived, 47:50 who she has conceived is of the Holy Spirit. 47:53 And in verse 21, Matthew 1:21, 47:56 the angel says she will bring forth a son. 47:59 You shall call his name Jesus, 48:03 which means the Lord is salvation. 48:07 And He will save His people from their sins. 48:11 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled. 48:15 So we know we can tie this back to Isaiah 7:14, 48:19 'cause it says all this was done, 48:21 that it might be fulfilled, 48:22 which was spoken by the Lord 48:23 through the prophets saying, 48:25 "Behold, the virgin shall be with Child 48:28 and bear a Son 48:30 and they shall call His name Immanuel," 48:34 which is translated. 48:37 This is what the scripture says, 48:38 verse 23, God with us. 48:43 God with us. 48:45 This is not an abstract concept. 48:51 God came down 48:52 and He lived on this earth 33 and a half years 48:56 before He was crucified and resurrected and returned. 49:00 But you might ask, well, is God with us now? 49:03 You know, sometimes people say, well, 49:05 I know the Holy Spirit lives within me, 49:08 but if Jesus took our flesh back to heaven, 49:11 He can't, you know, He can't be with us all here. 49:15 Let me read to you. 49:16 And I encourage you to look at this, 49:18 Ephesians Chapter 3, 49:21 and let's look at verse 16 through 19. 49:27 "Jesus lives in our hearts 49:31 by faith, through the Holy Spirit." 49:33 So Paul writes to the Ephesians 3:16, he says, 49:38 "Oh that God would grant you 49:40 according to the riches of his glory 49:42 to be strengthened with might 49:44 through his spirit in the inner man that" 49:49 and any time you see that or so that, 49:51 it's a purpose statement. 49:53 So he says, 49:54 the reason I want you to be strengthened 49:57 with might with dynamite, dunemis power inside you, 50:03 inside your heart by the Holy Spirit 50:05 is so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 50:11 What's the purpose of Christ 50:13 dwelling in our hearts through faith, 50:15 that, I know they're purpose statement, 50:18 you being rooted and grounded in love 50:20 may be able to comprehend with all the saints. 50:23 What is the width, the length, the depth, the height, 50:25 to know the love of Christ, 50:27 which passes knowledge 50:29 that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 50:32 Oh, hallelujah. 50:35 So Jesus, you shall call Him Jesus. 50:40 That means the Lord is salvation. 50:44 And it guarantees eventual victory 50:49 to the remnant of God's people. 50:51 It's the promise 50:53 that God will be with His people. 50:55 This is a covenant formula. 50:57 What did God always say? 50:58 Part of the formula is, 51:00 I will be their God and they will be My people. 51:04 So it indicates His relationship 51:08 between God and His people. 51:10 So what's the significance of such a promise? 51:13 Well, I'll tell you what? 51:15 I praise the Lord that he said, 51:16 I will never leave you or forsake you. 51:19 And when I was walking through such a dark time, 51:23 I suddenly realized 51:26 that God's divine presence was with me. 51:29 I mean, I had a divine awareness 51:31 of His presence with me 51:33 and, you know, 51:34 nowhere in the Bible does it say, 51:36 nowhere does God say, 51:38 "Hey, if you're my kid, 51:39 you're not going to have any trouble." 51:40 No Jesus said, 51:42 "Hey, on this earth, you will have tribulation. 51:44 But don't worry, I've overcome the world." 51:48 Just because you're God's child 51:49 doesn't mean you're not going to endure pain and suffering. 51:53 We suffer for many reasons. 51:55 Sometimes we suffer for our own mistakes. 51:58 Sometimes we suffer for other people's mistakes. 52:02 Sometimes we just suffer injustice, 52:05 but God will settle all accounts. 52:08 You can count on that. 52:09 And when we know that God is with us, 52:12 it gives us great assurance and comfort. 52:14 Psalm 23:4, David wrote, 52:18 "Yea though I walk through the valley 52:20 of the shadow of death. 52:21 I will fear no evil, for You are with me. 52:25 Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." 52:29 The valley of the shadow of death. 52:32 That's a perilously threatening situation. 52:39 Boy, we've been through some, haven't we? 52:42 But we can fear no evil. 52:44 I mean, we can have that complete assurance 52:47 that our Great Shepherd is with us. 52:50 He takes His rod. 52:52 This is a comforting instrument. 52:54 It's He defends us. 52:56 It's like a club 52:58 that defenses for our protection. 52:59 He walks before us, He protects us from assault. 53:05 And then His staff was used for guiding. 53:08 And when God is with us, 53:10 we know that our gracious God is leading 53:14 and guiding and directing us. 53:16 Isaiah 43:2, you love this, I love this. 53:20 This is a fabulous promise. 53:23 And somebody who's listening today 53:27 needs to hear this. 53:29 When you pass through the waters, 53:31 God says, I will be with you. 53:34 Waters are calamities that overwhelm us. 53:37 And it's symbolic for chaos and evil. 53:42 But God says, 53:43 when you pass through the waters, 53:44 I will be with you and through the rivers, 53:47 they shall not overflow you. 53:49 When you walk through the fire, 53:53 that's a calamity that consumes. 53:56 And he says, when you walk through the fire, 53:59 you shall not be burned 54:01 nor shall the flames scorch you. 54:03 Doesn't that remind you 54:05 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? 54:07 There they are in the fire. 54:09 And all of a sudden Jesus is with them. 54:11 And the only thing they came out, 54:13 not smelling like smoke. 54:15 The only thing that burned when they were in the fire, 54:18 were the ropes that were binding them. 54:20 So it is such a beautiful thing 54:23 when we think about walking through the waters. 54:27 Moses' generation walked through the Red Sea. 54:30 Joshua's generation walked through the Jordan River, 54:34 but this is a general promise of God's protection. 54:37 And I wanted to read something to you 54:40 because, you know, 54:41 if we look at the history of God's people, 54:44 we see that God with us, this is a true promise. 54:48 And there was something so sweet in our quarterly. 54:54 And here's what it says. 54:56 Where was the Lord 54:58 when the Babylonians threw 54:59 Daniel's three friends into the fire? 55:01 He was with them. 55:03 Where was the Lord 55:04 during the time of Jacob's trouble 55:05 when he wrestled until daybreak? 55:08 Hey, listen, Jacob's arms as close as you could get. 55:12 And then it says that when Stephen was mobbed, 55:17 where was the Lord? 55:18 He was standing 55:20 at the right hand of the throne of the Father. 55:23 What do you mean He was standing? 55:24 The Bible says that 55:26 Jesus is sitting 55:28 at the right hand of the throne, 55:29 but I love this. 55:30 Morris Venden, 55:32 who is a an Adventist pastor said this. 55:37 Why did Stephen see Jesus standing? 55:41 And he said, 55:43 "Jesus wasn't gonna take that sitting down." 55:46 So it is true. 55:49 It's a promise that God is with us. 55:51 He will never leave you or forsake you. 55:53 Amen 55:55 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 55:57 It's been an exciting study. 55:58 Let's go through it and get some final remarks. 56:00 Sure. 56:01 You know, Ryan, something else that stood out to me 56:03 about this whole thing with Ahaz, 56:06 is that God hadn't given up on him, 56:08 even though he's such a wicked king, 56:11 he sent Isaiah the prophet to him 56:13 and he says, take heed, be quiet, do not fear. 56:16 So I don't know where you're at. 56:17 You may feel, you know what? 56:19 I'm so bad, God would never, you know what? 56:20 You're special to God. 56:22 So I want to encourage you today 56:23 to build that relationship, 56:24 to find God, to say, 56:26 let me find what You've got in Your Word, 56:27 because God loves you. 56:30 When God gives you 56:32 the privilege of asking for a sign, 56:34 Matthew 7:7, 56:36 "Ask and it shall be given, 56:38 seek and you will find, 56:40 knock and the door will be open." 56:43 Take advantage of the blessing 56:45 that God wants to put in your possession. 56:48 Amen. 56:49 Isaiah 41:10, 56:51 "Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, 56:53 I am your God. 56:54 I will strengthen you, I will help you, 56:56 I will uphold you with my righteous right arm." 56:59 So if you're afraid today, if you're facing something 57:02 that seems insurmountable, the Lord Jesus will help you. 57:06 Listen, I love Isaiah 61. 57:09 And I'm gonna read verse 3 57:11 because it's talking about God being with us, 57:14 "To comfort all who mourn, 57:16 to console those who mourn in Zion, 57:19 to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 57:24 the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." 57:27 Boy, I'll take that wardrobe change any day, 57:30 "That they may be called trees of righteousness, 57:33 the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." 57:37 Praise the Lord. Thank you guys so much. 57:39 It was a special lesson 57:41 learning so much in how to trust in the Lord. 57:42 And we know sometimes God will send us trials. 57:46 He will allow us to go through that fire, 57:48 but He promises to indeed be with us. 57:51 We just need to learn to trust Him. 57:52 Don't be like King Ahaz, right? That's right. 57:54 Learn to trust in the Word of the Lord 57:56 because He is sure. 57:58 My friends, thank you so much for joining us this week. 58:00 Gotta come back next week though, 58:02 because we're going to be taking 58:03 on lesson four, entitled, 58:05 "The Hard Way." 58:06 We'll see you right back here. 58:08 God bless. |
Revised 2021-01-15