Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP220030S
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00:01 Hi, I'm Shelley Quinn, and we welcome you to 3ABN Sabbath
00:04 School Panel. This quarter we're studying In the Crucible With 00:08 Christ. Great encouragement from the Bible to help you through 00:13 your trials with strength and hope and courage. If you don't 00:18 yet have your adult Bible study guide go to 00:21 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com You can download it there. You 00:26 can also watch future programs and pause them and take notes. 00:30 We do this for you so we're glad that you're with us. 00:35 ♪ ♪ 01:06 Oh hello, I'm Shelley Quinn and we're so glad you're with us 01:09 today. Our lesson is Seeing the Goldsmith's Face. If you don't 01:16 understand what that is right now, you will soon. Let me 01:19 introduce the rest of the family here at the table. My dear 01:23 brother Ryan Day. 01:25 Amen, always a blessing. I'm talking today about Having Faith 01:28 Amid the Refining Fire. 01:30 Oh, wonderful. And my precious sister, Jill Morikone. 01:33 Thank you Shelley. Excited to be here today. 01:36 My pastor John Lomacang. 01:38 Mine is entitled The Wise. Whether you'll be wiser although 01:43 for it, that's up to you. 01:44 And then our dear brother, John Dinzey. 01:48 Thank you, a blessing to be here Thursday's portion, Character 01:51 and Community. 01:53 Ah wonderful. Jill would you like to have our opening prayer? 01:56 Sure. Holy Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus 01:59 grateful for the gift of your word, grateful for the gift of 02:02 your Holy Spirit. And right now we open up our minds and hearts 02:07 to what you have for us today. In Jesus' name, Amen. 02:12 Amen! Well we're starting on Sabbath Seeing the Goldsmith's 02:19 Face. Our memory text is one of my favorite verses, 02:22 2 Corinthians 3:18 which says: But we all with unveiled face 02:29 beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being 02:34 transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by 02:42 the Spirit of the Lord. We behold in the word of God the 02:47 glory of His character and the Holy Spirit takes us from one 02:52 level to the next as He develops in us the image of 02:57 Jesus. You know the interesting thing about this is new covenant 03:01 believers don't have a veil that obstructs the view of the glory 03:07 of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Remember Moses had to 03:11 wear a veil because there was the fading glory of the old 03:17 covenant that was based on nothing more than symbols and 03:21 shadows. But we by beholding Christ's character we become, 03:27 we're changed and we become what we behold. So we're transformed. 03:32 I love the word in the Greek. It's metamorfu, it's to be 03:38 like the metamorphosis, from the caterpillar to the butterfly. 03:41 So our ultimate goal as Christians is to grow in the 03:46 grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to 03:50 become Christlike. In Sabbath's lesson there's a story from a 03:56 book Amy Carmichael wrote called Learning of God and what she did 04:02 is she took a group of students to see an Indian, in India, an 04:07 Indian goldsmith. And when they got there in the middle of the 04:12 charcoal fire there was a curved tile, it was a roof tile, and on 04:17 that tile there was a mixture of salt, tamarind fruit, and brick 04:23 dust. But embedded in the brick dust was gold. So what happened 04:28 as the fire devoured the mixture the gold began to separate all 04:34 the dross came to the top where he could skim it off. And the 04:39 goldsmith took the gold out with tongs and if it wasn't pure 04:42 enough he replaced it back in the fire. So each time the gold 04:47 was replaced, the heat was increased and the group asked 04:51 how do you know when the gold is purified. He said, that's easy. 04:56 When I can see my image reflected in the gold. You know 05:02 we go through trials and God sometimes allows us and 05:07 sometimes places us in a trial. And I had the thought as I was 05:12 reading this when I'm in a trial am I quick to say Lord let me 05:16 become more like Jesus through this. I loved an extra thought 05:21 that was added on Friday from Helen Keller. Here's what she 05:24 wrote in her book Leadership. Character cannot be developed 05:30 in ease and quiet. Only through the experience of trial and 05:37 suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, 05:41 ambition inspired and success achieved. Are you in a trial 05:47 today? Then just know that God is going to work out something 05:52 special. Malachi 3:3 says: He sits as a refiner and a purifier 05:57 of silver. He will purify His people and purge them as gold 06:03 and silver that they may offer to the Lord an offering in 06:09 righteousness. So just like the precious metals we're refined, 06:14 our character is refined by fire Trials help us to overcome our 06:20 character defaults if we are smart. Now we're going to look 06:27 at Sunday's lesson, In His Image Genesis 1:27 in Sunday's lesson 06:34 says: God created man in His own image, in the image of God He 06:41 created him, male and female, He created them. I want to say 06:50 something. The Bible tells us God is love. Love is the absence 06:56 of sin. That's what makes God holy. There's no sin. So it is 07:02 God's nature of love that makes Him separated from sin that 07:08 makes Him holy. Now in the garden something happened and 07:15 it occurred to me this way the other day, it's an interesting 07:19 thought. Adam and Eve declared their independence from God in 07:24 the garden. Think about that for a minute. They went against His 07:31 instructions. They said we don't need you, God. And that is the 07:37 root of all sin. When we declare our independence from God and 07:42 when sin entered the world it entered us. It marred the image 07:50 of our God in us. So this is what...you know there's a cosmic 07:56 conflict between good and evil, Satan and the Lord, and it is 08:01 still unfolding today before our very eyes. In fact, I think it's 08:08 heated up. But what God wants to do is recreate us. He wants 08:13 to transform us and conform us to the image of His Son. God 08:20 wants to restore this image of Jesus in us so He gives us a 08:26 hope and a destiny. Hang on because here we go. Romans 8:28 08:31 is our hope. It says that God works all things together for 08:37 good for those who love Him and are called according to His 08:41 purpose. Are you kidding, my children, my husband, just got 08:45 killed in a car wreck. How is God going to work that together 08:48 for my good. Well you can't separate Romans 8:28, which is 08:53 our hope from Romans 8:29, which says those He foreknew He 09:01 predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. So 09:04 everything that happens, even our trials, difficulties, all 09:09 these perplexities and pain that we go through God is recreating 09:15 in us the image of Jesus making us a little bit more like Him. 09:23 And I have to say something. Somebody will say, oh that's for 09:27 those who are called. It upsets me so when people say God has 09:32 an elect people, certain people are called to be saved, certain 09:37 aren't. That's not what the Bible says. 1 Timothy 2:4. It 09:41 says that God desires all men to be saved (That's right) and to 09:46 comes to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Peter 3:9 says He's not 09:51 willing that any should perish but that all should come to 09:56 repentance and Ezekiel 33:11 God says: As I live I have no 10:02 pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked 10:05 would turn from his way and live And then He says, Turn, turn 10:10 from your evil ways for why should you die. So those who are 10:17 described as the called are those who have accepted Christ 10:23 Jesus, the free salvation that He offers us, but not all accept 10:29 the gospel invitation and God won't violate our free will. 10:34 So here we've got, He's working everything together for our good 10:40 to create in us a heart, a character, like Jesus. You know 10:47 what, God knows the end from the beginning. He knows every event 10:51 that's going to happen and He knows how to work it out for our 10:56 eternal benefit. Now His foreknowledge doesn't cause it 11:03 to happen. But He knows in advance and He predestined those 11:09 who would accept Christ to become His children, to become 11:14 His family, to be justified and sanctified. Our afflictions, 11:22 what we go through is the refining of our character. He's 11:27 like the goldsmith. We're not on a little roof tile. He's holding 11:33 in His hands, that's the crucible and He's going to let 11:39 us stay in the heat until the dross comes to the surface and 11:44 He can skim it off. His purpose is that all who are called, all 11:50 who accept Christ will be recreated in His image. What is 11:57 the image of Christ? Philippians 2:5: Let this mind be in you 12:02 that was in Christ Jesus. He was God. He humbled Himself to 12:08 become a man. He was obedient to the point of death, even the 12:12 death on the cross, so what God wants is that we would regain a 12:20 humble spirit. And His plan of salvation is total dependence 12:24 upon Him. Remember claiming or declaring independence from God 12:30 is how we got in this mess in the first place. So He's looking 12:35 for that humble spirit. Jesus was fully dependent upon God. 12:39 He said, I only do what the Father tells me to do, I only 12:44 say what He tells me to say. His was a self-sacrificing love. 12:50 That's what God wants to recreate in us to get rid of the 12:55 selfishness. You talk about dross. His character is patient, 13:00 it is tender and He wants us like Jesus that we would live in 13:10 obedience to the will of God. So we're conformed inwardly or 13:16 transformed but we're conformed to the image of Christ's 13:22 character and at the resurrection we're going to be 13:24 conformed the image of his glorious body. Romans 8:14-17 13:31 says this: As many as are led by the Spirit of God these are the 13:36 sons, the children, of God. For you did not receive the spirit 13:40 of bondage again to fear but you received the spirit of adoption 13:44 by whom we cry out Abba, Papa, Father. The Spirit Himself bears 13:50 witness with our spirit that we are God's children and if 13:55 children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ 13:59 if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified 14:07 together. 14:09 Amen. Thank you so much Shelley for that great introduction. 14:11 Praise the Lord. I am Ryan Day and I have Monday's lesson 14:14 entitled Faith Amid the Refining Fire. Man! This lesson really 14:21 hit home because you know each and every one of us if you 14:23 profess to believe in Jesus Christ and you are on that 14:27 journey, on that path of growth and you know at some point in 14:30 your life, if you haven't already but at least you're 14:31 headed there, but most of us can probably say that we have 14:35 experienced some type of refining experience, some type 14:36 of refining moment in our life. And the question is can we 14:40 remain faithful, can we keep the faith through this refining 14:44 moment in our life through the refining fire. Of course, the 14:47 lesson begins on Monday by taking us to Job chapter 23. Job 14:53 is really the greatest example, one of the greatest examples, 14:56 when it comes to you know talking about keeping the faith 15:01 through the fire. This brother went through it all. This 15:03 brother experienced so much and chapter 23 really records a 15:10 special record here of you know the heaviness that's upon the 15:14 heart of Job, but yet at the same time, even though in his 15:17 groanings and his murmurings and his complaints you know as he's 15:20 wondering why and asking all of these questions he still 15:24 expresses his trust, his faithfulness in God even though 15:28 there are so many unknowns, so many question marks as to why 15:32 this is occurring to him in his life. Let's begin reading there 15:35 in verse 1 and we're going to read through to verse 10. So Job 15:38 23 and we're going to read through to verse 10. Starting 15:40 with verse 1. It says: Then Job answered and said, Even today my 15:45 complaint is bitter...and then of course, it says...My hand... 15:49 this is the New King James Version...My hand is listless 15:51 because of my groaning...The original Hebrew here actually 15:54 should read His hand...is heavier, His hand is listless 15:58 because of my groaning...And verse 3 says: O that I knew 16:01 where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat...You 16:05 know, I'm feeling this brother because there's times in life 16:10 I have said and I know many of us have probably said, Man if 16:13 only I could just see God and talk to Him. If only I could 16:17 just be in His presence and just ask Lord why and maybe just 16:20 conversate about why are you allowing this, why are you 16:23 allowing that, why do I have to go through this? If only I could 16:27 just meet with Him and see Him. You know maybe I could make 16:32 sense of all of this. You know I would be extra encouraged. But 16:35 yet you know it just showed the humanity of Job. But yet 16:38 he continues on even through the unknowns, even through not being 16:41 able to see God, not being able to talk to God or hear from God 16:45 verbally. He continues on in his faith. Notice what it says here 16:48 in verse 4. He said: I would present my case before Him... 16:51 he's talking about if only I could see Him, if only I could 16:53 meet Him and be at His seat I would present my case before Him 16:56 But then notice he says: And fill my mouth with arguments 16:59 I would know the words which He would answer me and understand 17:05 what He would say to me. Would He contend with me in His great 17:09 power. No but He would take note of me...It's interesting because 17:13 Job is acknowledging God's goodness and patience here. He's 17:17 saying, you know what, even though I'm having to go through 17:19 this you know God would know me, He would hear me out but yet I 17:23 would understand His words. I would understand His judgment. 17:27 Because God is patient, God is good. Notice what he continues 17:30 to say from 7 on to 10. It says: There the upright could reason 17:34 with Him and I would be delivered forever from my judge, 17:38 Look, I go forward but He is not there and backward but I cannot 17:43 perceive Him. When He works on the left hand I cannot behold 17:48 Him and when He turns to the right hand I cannot see Him...and 17:52 love this last verse...But...I love this...But He knows the way 17:56 that I take. When He has tested me I shall come forth as gold. 18:02 I love that. I love that. Even though you can kind of sense 18:07 the humanity and the complaints and the murmuring and the ugh 18:10 he's wrestling with what's happening in his life, Job still 18:14 acknowledges that while he can't see or hear God, he realizes 18:18 that this is all to produce a better version of himself. You 18:23 know it takes a generous amount of spiritual maturity to view 18:27 the trials of your life as something positive and worth 18:30 while in the end my friends. And that's tough, that's tough. 18:34 especially when you're enduring it. It takes a lot of spiritual 18:36 maturity to be able to come to the realization, you know what, 18:41 this is for the better. This is for good. That's why I've always 18:45 completely enamored the words there in James 1; we read a 18:49 couple of times here where it says, Count it all joy when you 18:51 fall into various trials. You know I don't know a single 18:54 person who really needed to be somewhere on time but then they 18:57 had a flat and had to end up on the side of the road, Oh praise 19:01 God that I had this flat, Lord thank you for this various trial 19:04 or this tribulation or this difficulty or whatever it is I'm 19:07 going through. You know I've very rarely ever met anyone that 19:10 praises God through their trial but yet that's what we have to 19:14 grow in spiritual maturity to understand it's all for the 19:17 building of our character, it's all to build patience, it's all 19:20 so that Christ can see Himself in us. Shelley read this text 19:23 earlier, Malachi chapter 3 and I'm going to add verse 2, so 19:26 verses 2 and 3 and I love this because it says: But who can 19:30 endure the day of His coming? Hmm. Who can endure the day of 19:36 His coming and who can stand when He appears. For He is like 19:41 a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. And then verse 19:46 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. 19:48 He will purify 19:50 the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may 19:53 offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. It's interesting, 19:58 He starts this by saying who can endure the day of His coming? 20:02 In other words, it's like Malachi's saying look Jesus is 20:05 coming soon. The Lord is going to come sooner than you think. 20:07 Will you be able to stand prepared ready, will you be able 20:12 to stand confident at the appearing knowing that you are 20:16 ready to walk in the kingdom? You know, I found this quote, 20:19 it's a popular quote we've often heard from Christ's Object 20:22 Lessons, p. 69, but it really amplifies the importance of this 20:26 whole refining process because it says here: Christ is waiting 20:29 with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His 20:33 church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly 20:36 reproduced in His people then He will come to claim them as His 20:41 own. My friends are we ready for that? Are we ready for that 20:44 appearing of Jesus Christ, because amid this refining fire 20:48 process some people are throwing their hands up and saying, I 20:51 can't take it anymore. I can't handle this anymore. And some 20:54 people fall of by the wayside. They're not persevering through 20:58 the faith and that's the whole point of this lesson is can you 21:01 remain faithful in the midst of the refining fire? I Peter 1:7, 21:06 we've read this many times so far, but it says that: The 21:10 genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold 21:12 that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to 21:16 praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This 21:20 is a lifelong journey. That's the beautiful thing about 21:23 sanctification. We don't talk about a giant leap with the Lord 21:26 or a sprint with the Lord but it is a walk. We talk about our walk 21:30 with God, but along that walk oftentimes we find ourselves 21:33 having to walk through the water walk through the fire. And 21:36 that's the beautiful thing I love about Isaiah chapter 43 21:39 verse 2 is that you know you may be walking through that fire, 21:42 though you may be walking through some deadly waters in 21:46 your life, whatever the case may be, God says, you know what, I'm 21:49 there with you. Even though the refining process may be 21:53 difficult, even though you may find yourself seeming at times 21:57 like there's no hope, when is this going to end? Jesus says I 22:00 know what you can bear and what you can't. I'm not going to let 22:04 you be tested, I'm not going to let you be tried, I'm not going 22:07 let you be pushed past the point that you can bear. That's why I 22:10 love Isaiah 43 verse 2, it says: When you pass through the waters 22:13 I will be with you. I love that. He says: And through the rivers, 22:17 they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire 22:20 you shall not be burned nor shall the flames scorch you. I 22:24 love that. Jesus says you know what I'm going to try you, I'm 22:26 going to test you. You may have to stand a little bit in that 22:29 fire but you know what, It's for the better because I'm going to 22:30 let you stand there just in the amount of time that it needs to 22:33 perfectly reproduce my character my image in you. I love that, 22:38 it's beautiful. Noah. There's so many examples in the Bible. 22:41 So many examples in the Bible of those who went through the 22:45 refining fire but remained faithful. Noah was the only 22:47 righteous man on earth during the time of global apostasy but 22:51 this brother remained faithful amid the refining fire. Abraham 22:54 experienced trial when he was asked to leave his home to be a 22:57 stranger in the land of Cainan. But throughout his life that 23:00 brother remained faithful amidst the refining fire. Joseph was 23:04 constantly ridiculed by his brothers, sold into slavery and 23:08 went to prison for something he didn't even do. But that brother 23:11 remained faithful amidst the refining fires of his life. 23:13 Moses was raised in a pagan home asked to remain faithful during 23:17 Egypt's time of trouble, the 10 plagues, and then led an 23:20 ungrateful group of degenerates wondering in the desert for over 23:23 40 years. This brother went through 80 years of refining 23:26 fire but he remained faithful through it all. David was called 23:29 to face a giant nearly three times his size, spent years 23:32 running from Saul who wanted him dead, and also spent the vast 23:36 majority of his life in war defending Israel. That brother 23:39 spent his life in the valley of the shadow of death, but he 23:41 remained faithful amidst the refining fire. Daniel, Hananiah, 23:46 Mishael, Azariah were taken captive to Babylon. The three 23:51 them brothers literal went into a fire but of course they were 23:54 tested and they passed the test. They were thrown in a fiery 23:57 furnace and of course Daniel in a den of lions but they remained 24:02 faithful through the refining fire. Paul, Paul is one of the 24:04 greatest examples. Go read 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 what this 24:07 brother went through. It's amazing. Jesus what He went 24:11 through even though his testimony and his character and 24:15 everything was perfect. Jesus still went through the fire. He 24:19 remained faithful to His Father. The question is: Will you remain 24:22 faithful amid the refining fire. Trust in the Lord with all your 24:25 heart and He will direct your path. 24:28 Amen, thank you Ryan. That was a beautiful lesson and we've got 24:34 more to come. Just a quick break and we'll be right back. 24:37 ♪ ♪ 24:42 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again or 24:45 share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Well, you can by 24:49 visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 24:53 A clean design makes it easy to find the program you're looking 24:56 for. There are also links to the adult Bible study guide so you 25:01 can follow along. Sharing is easy. Just click Share and 25:06 choose your favorite social media. Share a link, 25:08 Save a life for eternity. 25:11 And now we're going to Jill Morikone who has Tuesday's 25:15 lesson. 25:16 Thank you so much, Shelley and Pastor Ryan. What an incredible 25:18 lesson, Seeing the Goldsmith's Face. I love that. I'm 25:23 Jill Morikone. I have Tuesday's lesson which is Jesus's Last 25:27 Words. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. This is of course 25:31 the week before Passover and Jesus' crucifixion. These are 25:35 some of Jesus' last words last words to his disciples. He's 25:39 leaving them and He wants to instruct them how to prepare 25:42 for when He comes again. Now the lesson wants us to discuss 25:47 two of these parables which we don't have time for so we're 25:51 only going to focus on the 10 virgins which is Matthew 25 25:56 verses 1-13. How can we be ready for the second coming of Jesus? 26:02 How can we be ready for His return? We have 10 takeaways 26:07 from the 10 virgins. Let's go. We're in Matthew 25 verse 1: 26:12 Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins who 26:15 took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom...So who are 26:19 the virgins? We know in Bible prophecy a woman represents what 26:24 A church. And the virgin would represent the pure church, the 26:29 true church, the church with doctrines in accordance with the 26:34 word of God. We know in Revelation 12:17 this woman 26:39 keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus 26:42 Christ. This is not the scarlet woman who's riding the beast in 26:46 Revelation 17. These 10 virgins have the word of God. We also 26:51 see that because all 10 had lamps, did they not? The lamps 26:55 represent the word of God. Psalm 119 verse 105: Your word is a 27:02 lamp to my feet and a light to my path. So this end time, 27:08 Bible-believing, pure church was waiting for the second coming of 27:14 Christ. Are you familiar with an end time, Bible-believing church 27:19 that's waiting for the second coming of Christ? Takeaway 27:23 number one: Knowledge of God's word is essential for salvation. 27:28 I'm reminded of Paul writing to Timothy, his son in the faith. 27:32 This is 2 Timothy 3:15: That from childhood, you have known 27:36 the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise to 27:40 salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Do you want to 27:45 be ready for Jesus's second coming. Study His word. Let's 27:51 see the next verse. Matthew 25 verse 2: Five of them were wise 27:55 and five were foolish. Takeaway number two: Church membership 28:01 does not guarantee salvation, even membership in God's end 28:08 time, Bible believing, commandment keeping 28:11 church does not guarantee salvation. Take away number 28:17 three: Outside appearances are not always an indicator of 28:21 salvation. If you had looked at the virgins you probably 28:23 wouldn't have known right off, these are the five wise and 28:27 these are the five foolish. You would not have seen that. The 28:30 scribes and Pharisees looked holy, did they not? But yet they 28:34 were whitewashed sepulchers. The thief on the cross looked like a 28:39 sinner and the onlookers looked at him and all they saw was a 28:43 sinner. But heaven looked down and saw a forgiven saint. The 28:49 sheep and the goats: The goats were surprised. Why? That they 28:53 didn't make it to heaven. Do you want to be ready for Jesus's 28:58 second coming. Don't rely on church membership. Don't rely on 29:03 outward indicators of holiness. Let's read the next verse. We're 29:08 in Matthew 25 verses 3 and 4: Those who were foolish took 29:13 their lamps and took no oil with them but the wise took oil 29:17 in their vessels with their lamps. Now we know oil 29:22 symbolizes here the Holy Spirit. Remember David was anointed with 29:25 oil and what happened? The Spirit of the Lord came upon him 29:28 from that day forward. We also know in Zechariah 4, this is the 29:32 vision of the lampstand with the seven lamps and Zechariah 4:6: 29:37 He answered and said this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel; 29:40 Not by might nor by power but by my, Spirit says the Lord of 29:47 hosts. So the wise had oil in their lamps but they also had 29:51 oil, additional oil in their vessels or their flasks or 29:55 whatever you call. But the foolish did not have that 30:00 additional oil. They were unready. Ellen White says they 30:07 are destitute of the Holy Spirit It reminds me of 2 Timothy 3 30:13 verse 5: Having a form of godliness but denying its power. 30:17 From such people turn away. Destitute of the Holy Spirit. 30:23 Takeaway number four: An anointing or infilling of the 30:29 Holy Spirit is essential for salvation. Church membership in 30:34 the remnant church is not enough An outward knowledge of the 30:37 word of God is not enough. Cultural Christianity is not 30:42 enough. We must be changed. We need the Holy Spirit to 30:46 understand. We need the Holy Spirit to change our characters 30:51 I look at the foolish virgins as those stony ground hearers in 30:57 the parable of Jesus, I think it's Matthew 13 with the sower 31:00 going forth to sow. Stony ground hearers, a superficial knowledge 31:04 of God, a superficial knowledge of His word and yet none of 31:09 those roots had gone deep. Do you want to be ready for Jesus's 31:13 second coming? Receive the Holy Spirit. I like this quote Though 31:20 Jesus was bruised in service He never lacked power. By contrast 31:25 you and I, we are rarely bruised broken or ground in service but 31:31 we are usually powerless. The truth is the greatest zeal and 31:37 knowledge are useless without God's Holy Spirit providing the 31:40 right perspective, the right attitude and intention for any 31:44 service we perform. Now what is the connection between the 31:48 Holy Spirit and character? I think they're inseparable. I 31:52 don't think you can separate the two. The foolish did not have 31:55 the Holy Spirit meaning the foolish did not have God's 32:00 character inside and that was due to a lack of the Holy Spirit 32:04 working in and through their lives. Takeaway number five: 32:07 Allowing the Holy Spirit access to our hearts to change us, it's 32:12 essential for salvation. Do you want to be ready for Jesus's 32:17 second coming. Allow His Spirit to change you in the 32:22 the image of 32:23 Jesus. Let's read the next verse Matthew 25:5: While the 32:26 bridegroom was delayed they all slumbered and slept. Does this 32:30 remind you of the church of Laodicea, the seventh church in 32:34 Revelation chapter three, the lukewarm church. The problem 32:37 with that church, the Laodicean church, they did not understand 32:40 their true condition The foolish virgins probably didn't even 32:44 they didn't have extra oil. Even the wise slept. Everyone 32:49 slumbered and slept. Takeaway number six: Even the most 32:53 dedicated, Bible believing, Spirit following Christian can 32:57 become weary in the delay. Do you want to be ready for Jesus's 33:02 second coming. Do not be weary in doing good. That's Galatians 33:07 6 verse 9. Matthew 25:6. At midnight a cry was heard behold 33:12 the bridegroom's come. Go out to meet him. Who gives the cry 33:17 that the bridegroom is coming? Now this is Jill's 33:20 interpretation alone, okay. This is just Jill's interpretation of 33:24 it. We always say there's two groups. We say there's the wise 33:27 and the foolish. But I think there's three groups. The wise 33:31 had the Holy Spirit and a deep experience with God but they 33:35 become weary and they fall asleep. The foolish are 33:37 apathetic. They have a superficial experience with 33:40 God. But the third group is those who delivered the cry. 33:45 Those who deliver that message, those who say the bridegroom's 33:50 coming, everybody wake up. Verse 7-10. All the virgins arose and 33:55 trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, Give us your 33:59 oil for our lamps are going out. But the wise said no we cannot 34:04 give it to you. Takeaway number eight: The Holy Spirit cannot be 34:10 bought or sold. One's experience with God, one's character cannot 34:14 be transferred. We know in Acts 8 Simon tried to buy the Holy 34:18 Spirit, but it didn't work. Let's read the last couple 34:21 verses, Verses 11 and 12. Afterward, the other virgins came 34:24 saying Lord, Lord, open to us. They're the foolish. But he 34:27 answered and said I do not know you. Takeaway number nine: 34:32 Knowing Christ is essential for salvation. It's not enough to 34:37 know about Him. We must know Him And the last verse, verse 13: 34:41 Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour 34:45 in which the Son of man is coming. Watching and waiting 34:50 are essential for preparation for the second coming. So do 34:54 you want to be ready for Jesus's second coming? Study His word. 34:58 Don't rely on your church or outward indicators of holiness. 35:02 Receive the Holy Spirit and allow His Spirit to transform 35:06 your life. Do not be weary in doing good. Receive the 35:11 righteousness of Christ. Know Jesus. Don't just know about Him 35:14 and watch and be ready for He is coming when you least expect it. 35:18 Wow, thank you Jill. Wow. That's a perfect segue into why it's 35:22 important to be wise. And mine is Wednesday. Thank you for that 35:26 foundation. Thank each one of you. Why it is important to be 35:29 wise. (John Lomacang) Let's to to Daniel chapter 12 and the 35:33 writer and I looked up an article about Gavin Anthony and 35:38 according to this he's currently a pastor in Dublin, Ireland. 35:41 The one who constructed the lesson and I was very pleased by 35:45 the practical nature of this lesson but what he brought out 35:48 is what I want to talk about right now, how important it is 35:51 to be wise, knowing what is coming. Starting with Daniel 35:55 12 and I'm going to read verses 1 down to verse 4: At that time 36:00 Michael shall stand up, the great Prince who stands watch 36:04 over the sons of your people... I like the King James Version, 36:08 stands in behalf of His people...And there shall be a 36:12 time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation 36:15 even to that time and at that time your people shall be 36:20 delivered everyone who is found in the book and many of those 36:24 sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting 36:29 life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those... 36:33 and this is the focal point... those who are wise shall shine 36:37 like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn 36:41 many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But you 36:46 Daniel shut up the words and seal the book until the time of 36:49 the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase 36:54 You know the question I was asked in the beginning of the 36:57 lesson is what is the context? What time in earth's history is 37:00 being referred to and most importantly what can we tell 37:03 from these verses about the character of God's people during 37:07 these times What characteristics are given them in contrast to 37:10 the wicked. This is a time that we've talked about quite a bit. 37:14 But it's a time that's hardly imaginable. Because when the 37:19 servant of the Lord, Ellen White talks about this time and 37:21 looking forward to this time she says usually in anticipation 37:25 something is worse that it is in experience, but such is not the 37:30 case. The Bible says a time of trouble such as never was and if 37:33 you think about the coalescing together of all the difficulties 37:37 that humanity has faced and you think a time is coming that is 37:40 hardly imaginable it's something that really boggles the mind. 37:44 You find in the book of Zephaniah, let me just give you 37:47 an example of the context of the time. Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 37:51 14-18. And Zephaniah talks about this time of trouble, talks 37:55 about the context that Daniel introduces. This is the context, 38:00 this is the setting, if you can put this into a mental picture 38:04 here it is: The great day of the Lord is near. (Where's that?) 38:10 Zephaniah 1 verses 14-18. (thank you) The great day of the 38:15 Lord is near, it is near and hastens greatly. The noise of 38:18 the day of the Lord is bitter. There mighty men shall cry out. 38:24 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a 38:28 day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness 38:31 and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of 38:36 trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the 38:40 high towers...Then he says: I will bring distress upon men and 38:43 they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against 38:47 the Lord. Their blood shall be poured out like dust and their 38:50 flesh like refuse...Now what about those who have a lot?... 38:55 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver 38:58 them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land shall 39:01 be devoured by the fire of His jealousy for He will make speedy 39:07 riddance of all those who dwell in the land. Speedy riddance. 39:11 Two words that you don't often put together, speedy riddance. 39:14 I've not used the word riddance in a long time. But look at the 39:18 time. It's a difficult time that we're facing, however, there's a 39:22 contrast to that side. This is where the wise come in. Go back 39:25 to Daniel again. We see in Daniel 12 verse 3, it says 39:30 speaking about this time while men are in distress what are the 39:35 conditions of the people of God? Verse 3: Those who are wise 39:41 shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who 39:44 turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. So 39:48 while the world is wrapped in darkness the people of God are 39:52 standing forth illuminated by the glory of God. And I think in 39:56 some ways similar to what Moses experienced when he came down 39:59 from the mountain. His face was so enraptured by the glory of 40:02 God that they had to veil his face. At a time of darkness when 40:06 the world is wrapped in darkness spiritual darkness and physical 40:10 darkness, not just a physical darkness. Look at Isaiah 60 40:13 verses 1-2, talking about this time that the people of God are 40:17 going to stand forth. This gives me encouragement because right 40:20 my wife and I went down to Southern California once. We 40:24 were living in California and we went down...we happened to be 40:27 visiting a friend but it was around the time of the Oscars or 40:31 one of those major awards and we ended up driving through a 40:35 community where we saw all these black long limousines. There 40:40 were limousines everywhere, I mean hundreds of them and all 40:42 the windows were darkened and there was a red carpet, it was 40:45 by the Kodak Theater and here we are driving through in a 40:48 Nissan Maxima. We looked like get out of the neighborhood type 40:50 of look. And it was like what we were doing we were looking 40:54 to see if anybody would roll down the window, because you 40:56 can't see through it. We were wondering. We know all these 40:58 people are famous, maybe we might recognize somebody. 41:01 or even still they might recognize us. Long before 3ABN, 41:05 we had no kind of platform at all. But just in our own minds. 41:08 So we saw someone roll their window down partially and looked 41:13 out and all we saw, just the eyes, couldn't recognize who it 41:15 was. On the way home, we were just so frustrated. I said you 41:18 know that's terrible. I mean here we are, these people don't 41:21 even want to let us see who they are, what they look like. And 41:25 the Lord tapped me on the back of my head and He said: Okay 41:29 they live in a world where you can't get in but one day you're 41:33 going to be living in a world where they can't get in. The 41:36 walls of the New Jerusalem are going to be clear as crystal 41:39 and He said don't worry you can't see them but one day 41:43 they'll see you. And I thought wow. Not judging any of them to 41:46 be saved or lost but I thought that's a contrast. That's a time 41:50 those who are shining now, if you don't know the Lord, you 41:53 won't shine then. So Isaiah 60 talks about the contrast, which 41:58 is what the lesson brought out. Look at what it says. Isaiah 60 42:01 verses 1-2. Do you have it, Jill? (I do) Read that for us. 42:04 Arise, shine for your light is come and the glory of the Lord 42:07 is risen upon you. For behold the darkness shall cover the 42:11 earth and deep darkness the people, but the Lord will arise 42:13 over you and His glory will be seen upon you. 42:17 That's right. So the contrast between the difficulty which was 42:20 pointed out in the lesson, what makes the wise wise? It's the 42:25 glory of God that's lighting upon then but where did this 42:28 wisdom come from. Go to Colossians 3 and verse 16, 42:32 Colossians 3 and verse 16. We don't just get wisdom because we 42:35 hang around in church but there's something that makes the 42:37 difference between those who are in darkness and those who are in 42:41 the light. Colossians 3 and verse 16. Let's look at that 42:43 together. It says: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly 42:47 in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalm 42:53 and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your 42:57 hearts to the Lord. Singing Ryan grace in your hearts to the Lord 43:01 Now where does that wisdom come from? The word of God dwells in 43:04 us richly. And when the word of God dwells in us richly notice 43:07 Psalm 119 verse 130. At a time of darkness here's where the 43:11 wisdom comes from. The entrance of your word gives light. He 43:15 gives understanding to the simple. So wisdom comes from 43:19 to word of God and then we read in Psalm 119 verse 105: Your 43:24 word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So here we 43:27 go. At a time of darkness the people of God are wise not 43:31 because all of a sudden they've had wisdom rained on them, but 43:35 they were studying God's word. God's word is the source of 43:40 wisdom. I've been in conversations where people have 43:42 been...their minds have been you know their words boggle me 43:45 sometimes but then I find a way to introduce God's word and all 43:49 of a sudden you realize that the wisdom of man is really 43:52 foolishness in the eyes of God. God uses the simple things to 43:56 confound the wise. The word of God is powerful at that time. 44:00 And what makes the time of darkness even more comforting 44:04 for the people of God...2 Peter 1 verse 19...What does the word 44:09 of God do for those who follow the word of God? 2 Peter 1:19 44:13 says: So we have the prophetic word confirmed or word of 44:17 prophecy that is made sure, which you do well to heed as a 44:21 light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and 44:25 the morning star arises in your heart. Notice, light is coming 44:29 the morning star is arising. When we look at prophecy and we 44:33 forecast through God's word we're able to say we know what's 44:36 coming, then all of a sudden we know what kind of preparation to 44:39 make. It's not the time that's coming that causes trepidation 44:42 but it's nonpreparation for the time that coming that will cause 44:47 trepidation. If you know what's coming the best thing to do is 44:50 to be wise in preparation for that day. Daniel was told in 44:56 Daniel 12 verse 4: But you Daniel shut up the words and 44:58 seal book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro 45:02 and knowledge shall be increased At that time why will it be 45:07 necessary for the people of God to be in the light? Revelation 45:09 18 verse 4. Here's the reason why. In darkness the people of 45:13 God have one final message, Revelation 18 verse 4: And I 45:17 heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my 45:21 people lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her 45:24 plagues. Wisdom causes us to be the final light to the world. 45:28 Amen, amen. Praise the Lord. Well we have Thursday's 45:33 portion. My name is John Dinzey. The title for Thursday is 45:39 Character and Community. And the lesson here focuses in Ephesians 45:43 chapter 4 verse 11-16. I am going to back up to verse 7. 45:49 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 7 and here we have the words: But to 45:54 each one of us grace was given according to the measure of 46:01 Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, when He ascended on high 46:06 He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now let's go 46:12 to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11: And He Himself...that is Christ 46:16 ...gave some to be apostles and some prophets and some 46:21 evangelists and some pastors and teachers. So it is Christ that 46:25 gives the gifts so all glory should go to Christ. Remember 46:31 that we are supposed to see the goldsmith's face, keeping the 46:36 focus on the goldsmith, which is Jesus Christ, there will be 46:40 growth, there will be unity, there will be love for one 46:44 another. So here in John chapter 1 and verse 16 notice that it is 46:54 Jesus again the focus. John writes: And of His fullness we 47:01 have all received grace for grace. Each and every one of 47:07 God's children has received of the fullness of Jesus Christ 47:12 and grace for grace. So the gifts come from Jesus and as we 47:17 maintain a close relationship with Him the gift that He has 47:22 given will be put to the use that God has intended for that 47:27 gift. Not for glorifying self, not for you to be put on a 47:31 pedestal, but the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 47:35 For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry 47:42 for the edifying of the body of Christ. So the gifts that God 47:47 has given to each and everyone of us are to benefit everyone 47:52 else, benefit the family of God. So as we consider Ephesians 47:57 chapter 4 verses 11, 12 we can conclude that this is referring 48:02 to the necessity for God's people to be joined together 48:06 in community. The title for the lesson for Thursday is Character 48:10 and Community. So the gifts that we get...consider for a moment 48:15 you're given the gift to be an evangelist. But you live out by 48:20 yourself on your own on a mountain in a cave and you're 48:25 supposed to have the gift of a pastor or evangelist, that gift 48:28 is going to what? You're not going to put it to the use that 48:32 God intended. You need to come to the community, you need to 48:35 come together with God's family for that gift to be put to the 48:39 use that God has intended. Verse 13, Ephesians 4:13: Till we all 48:48 come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son 48:55 of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the 48:59 fullness of Christ. This is the goal. To the measure and the 49:04 stature of the fullness of Christ. To be a perfect man. 49:07 And we all need one another to help another. We need to pray 49:11 one for another. And the idea of being lone ranger Christians 49:16 is not according to God's plan. If you're the lone ranger and 49:19 you're out there by yourself doing all these things and glory 49:22 to yourself, glory to yourself, that is not God's plan. God's 49:26 plan is for the church, God's family, to be a body of 49:30 believers. The family in heaven and a family in earth are to be 49:35 united. Remembering that there's to be the unity of the 49:42 faith and of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and when we come 49:44 together, you know the Sabbath School lesson is to bring the 49:49 church community together to discuss the lesson. Yes you 49:53 study by yourself but when you come to the classroom, we're all 49:57 sharing. What did the Lord show you this week as you were 49:59 studying the lesson. And we share with one another. We edify 50:03 one another. As I've been listening here, I've been 50:07 edified and I'm sure you have as well. This is why we do the 3ABN 50:12 Sabbath School Panel to edify God's family. And we rely upon 50:18 the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, we ask for the Holy Spirit 50:22 because this is all leading us to the unity of the faith. I'm 50:25 going to read from Steps to Christ, p. 101.1: God does not 50:32 mean that any of us should become hermits or monks and 50:35 retire from the world in order to devote ourselves to acts of 50:40 worship. The life must be like Christ's life, between the 50:44 mountain and the multitude. Yes you need time alone by yourself 50:47 to pray and to ask the Lord to give you strength and to bless 50:52 you with the Holy Spirit, but we also need to pray together. We 50:56 need to sing together, we need to worship together, we need to 50:59 testify of the Lord's goodness and as we hear how the Lord is 51:03 blessing one another we are encouraged in the faith. Our 51:06 faith will grow as we hear how God is leading in the lives of 51:10 His children. And everyone will face challenges. And we are to 51:15 come together to say, brethren pray for me. Even Paul himself 51:20 he said brethren pray for us. We all need to pray one for 51:26 another. And you know what? There's enough division in the 51:30 world. We need to see the example of unity that God has 51:34 intended. The world needs to see this. I continue reading: He who 51:39 does nothing but pray will soon cease to pray or his prayers 51:43 will become a formal routine. When men take themselves out of 51:47 social life away from the sphere of Christian duty and cross 51:52 bearing, when they cease to work earnestly for the Master who 51:55 worked earnestly for them, they lose the subject matter of 51:59 prayer and have no incentive to devotion. Their prayers become 52:05 personal and selfish. They cannot pray in regard to the 52:08 wants of humanity or the upbuiding of Christ's kingdom 52:12 pleading for strength and wherewith to work. So the idea 52:16 of a unity of believers is what we should strive for. Notice 52:23 what Christ prayed in John chapter 17 and verse 11. He said 52:29 to the Father: And now I am no more in the world but these are 52:35 in the world and I come to thee. Holy Father keep through thine 52:41 own name those whom thou has given me...Why?...That they may 52:46 be one as we are one. And we should strive to see that prayer 52:54 answered in our lives and in our community of believers. So if 52:58 you're pulling one way if the apostles are pulling one way, 53:03 the prophets are pulling another the teachers are pulling another 53:05 way, you will have division, you will have strife, you will have 53:10 jealousy, you will have selfishness displayed. 53:12 This is not God's plan. Now I want to go to Ephesians chapter 53:16 4 verse 14. Notice that: We should no longer...apparently 53:21 there was a time that people were being happened what was 53:26 what we're about to mention. That we should no longer be 53:30 children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of 53:35 doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of 53:40 deceitful plotting. Now this you can see here that Satan has to 53:45 be involved in this idea, trickery of man and cunning 53:49 craftiness of deceitful plotting Satan works through people and 53:53 he is trying to deceive God's people from following the Lord. 53:57 He worked upon the disciples. I mean, Jesus Christ was about 54:00 to be crucified. What were they doing? They were arguing with 54:03 one another who was going to sit next to Him as He went to the 54:08 kingdom. So we need to be united The prayer of Christ that we may 54:13 be one as He and the Father are one. Now I want to point out 54:21 that we should all be anchored in Jesus Christ and so this is 54:27 why as we come together we learn more about Christ from one 54:32 another. I need to move quickly to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 15: 54:36 But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into 54:42 Him who is the head, Christ. Christ is the head and by 54:48 speaking the truth in love as He did we will grow up as He is. 54:54 So why does Paul tell us that we should speak the truth in love? 54:58 Really. How many people do you win by speaking the truth with 55:00 hate. When you speak the truth with love and that is the way 55:05 you will touch people's hearts through the blessing of the Holy 55:09 Spirit. Ephesians 4:16, have to get that in From whom the whole 55:13 body joined and knit together. These words talk about such a 55:18 unity that we need to strive for by the grace of the Lord. Knit 55:22 together by what every joint supplies according the effective 55:27 working by which every part does Its share causes growth of the 55:33 body for the edifying of itself in love. We need to strive for 55:37 this and by God's grace we shall achieve it. It is needed. 55:40 Hey, I have been so blessed by each one of you today and want 55:46 to just give you a few seconds for a closing thought. 55:48 Amen. You know Job strived and desired to see God. If only I 55:54 could see Him and talk to Him. You know even Thomas, he doubted 55:58 that Jesus had been resurrected. He said I have to see him 56:01 before I believe Him. The Jesus says in John chapter 20 verse 29 56:04 I love the words: Thomas because you have seen me you have 56:08 believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have 56:13 believed. 56:14 Amen. The 10 virgins the bottom line is we are called to have 56:19 the Holy Spirit, the word of God but to be filled with the Holy 56:23 Spirit and to allow Him to transform our characters into 56:26 His image so that we can be ready. 56:28 And if we are to be ready at that time if you lack wisdom 56:32 James 1 verse 5 says: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of 56:36 God. God is willing and waiting to supply to you what you need 56:41 for the times that are just ahead of you. 56:43 Amen. And I would like to remind you that the disciples by God's 56:48 grace became of one accord and the Lord wants us to do the same 56:52 Pray for one another, confess our sins before the Lord and ask 56:56 for the blessing of the Latter Rain. 56:59 Amen, amen. We are so thankful that you've been with us today 57:03 Seeing the Goldsmith's Face... you know in the Garden of Eden 57:08 Adam and Even rejected God's word and they declared their 57:13 independence of God and that's where all these crucibles were 57:19 initiated, but God will work all things together for your good 57:22 to make you a little bit more like Jesus when you walk 57:27 through the crucible with Him in faith. And you want to join us 57:33 for our next lesson which is Extreme Heat. 57:39 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2022-10-24