Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP220031S
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00:01 Hello there. The 3ABN Sabbath School Panel is about to begin.
00:03 My name is John Dinzey and we're about the head into an exciting 00:08 study and this week's lesson is Extreme Heat. We are studying 00:13 the lesson In the Crucible With Christ. If you do not have a 00:16 Bible study guide we encourage you to visit 00:19 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com, download a lesson and join in 00:24 the study. 00:26 ♪ ♪ 00:55 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. My name is 00:57 John Dinzey and this is going to be an exciting, encouraging and 01:02 a blessing if you stay tuned. We are covering the topic, very 01:06 important, very vital for today Extreme Heat and our 3ABN family 01:13 and panelists are here. To my immediate left, Pastor James 01:15 Rafferty. 01:17 Good to be here John. I have Monday's lesson which is 01:18 entitled Wayward Israel. 01:20 Yeah. Excellent. And we have Sister Jill Morikone. 01:22 Thank you, Pastor Johnny. I have Tuesday's Surviving Through 01:25 Worship. 01:26 Ah, to your left is Sister Shelley Quinn. 01:28 What a blessing it is to be here My topic is Surviving Through 01:32 Hope. 01:34 We also have Pastor John Lomacang with us. 01:35 And I'm all the way down here at the end but mine is called 01:38 Extreme Heat. So it's going to warm up as we get closer 01:42 to the end. 01:45 Well before we begin our study we want to encourage you to get 01:49 a lesson if you do not have one by visiting 01:51 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. Join us in this study because it 01:55 is going to be a blessing. We have already prayed for the Holy 01:59 Spirit but we're going to pray again because we want to include 02:01 you in this prayer. I'm going to ask Sister Shelley Quinn if 02:05 you'll please lead us. 02:06 Thank you. Our glorious and loving heavenly Father we come 02:10 in the name of Jesus to approach your throne of grace and ask for 02:15 your Holy Spirit to bless these presentations. Anoint our lips. 02:21 Lord give us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say and 02:26 help us to put these words of encouragement into practice. 02:30 In Jesus' name, Amen. 02:32 Amen, amen. Thank you so much. We now begin with the Saturday 02:38 afternoon portion. Remember the title for the lesson, the entire 02:44 lesson is Extreme Heat. And I wonder if you have gone through 02:47 some heat or some extreme heat. And this lesson has the memory 02:52 text found in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 10. Notice: Yet it 02:57 pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief when you 03:03 make His soul an offering for sin. He shall see His seed, He 03:07 shall prolong His days and the pleasure of the Lord shall 03:13 prosper in His hand. You know we have a writer, Christian writer, 03:18 C.S. Lewis, the lesson brings this out and I'm going to read 03:22 what the lesson says concerning something he said at one point 03:26 that he was going through some difficult times. It says: Not 03:29 that I am I think in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. 03:34 The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things 03:39 about Him. The conclusion I dread is not so there's no God 03:45 after all but so this is what God's really like? And this is 03:50 from a book called A Grief Observed. And so the lesson 03:57 brings something out that I'd like to bring to you and it says 04:02 The question is how hot can it get? I mean how hot will God 04:08 allow, as far as heat is concerned, an experience to come 04:11 to you? And the Week at a Glance I'd like to read this statement 04:16 to you so you can get a feel or a taste of what's coming because 04:19 as you heard the titles of the different days, it's going to be 04:24 something you want to stay and listen. Why do you think God is 04:28 willing to risk being misunderstood by those He wants 04:31 to know Him and love Him? How much do you think God is willing 04:36 to be misunderstood in order to mold you into the image of His 04:41 Son? Now this is something that you should keep in mind as you 04:44 hear the different days of the week that we're studying. The 04:48 first, one that we're going to go into is Sunday. Abraham in the 04:52 Crucible. And so if you have never heard the word crucible 04:56 I'd like to bring you a definition. A crucible is an 04:59 extremely difficult experience or situation, a severe test or a 05:05 trial. So Abraham in the crucible. Abraham endured many 05:12 difficult situations. But there's one test that surpasses 05:16 all the others and as you look at the whole Bible, very few 05:21 people were tested such as Abraham was tested and really 05:26 this test is what you might say is the icon or pinnacle. The reason 05:34 why people call Abraham the Father of the Faithful, this 05:38 takes us to Genesis chapter 22 and we begin with verse 1. In 05:45 Genesis chapter 22 verse 1, it says: Now it came to pass 05:49 after these things that God tested Abraham and He said to 05:54 him: Abraham. And he said, Here I am. And this is something that 06:01 you have to take into account here...Who is talking? God is 06:05 talking to Abraham and he immediately answers, Here I am. 06:08 And notice what verse 2 says: Then He said, Take now your son, 06:15 your only son whom you love. Go to the land of Moriah and offer 06:22 him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which 06:27 I shall tell you. Now if you notice the words here, it brings 06:32 to you different ideas. Notice when He says, Your son, and 06:37 it's interesting that God didn't say take your son and offer him 06:40 on a mountain. No. Take now your son, your only son, and then He 06:46 adds whom you love. And these words obviously bring to 06:53 Abraham his son that was born to him at such an old age. Abraham 06:59 was about, what was it, a hundred years old when Isaac 07:03 was born. And God had promised that through Isaac he was going 07:08 have a multitude of people. But now God is asking Abraham to 07:12 take his son Isaac whom he loves and offer him as a burnt 07:17 sacrifice. I think anyone would want to ask themselves why would 07:21 God ask that. He's never asked anything like...This doesn't 07:23 seem like God. It's out of character with God. How can this 07:28 be? These are questions that you have to ask yourself. Did 07:31 Abraham think these things? But no. As you look at verse 3 07:35 notice what the Bible says concerning Abraham. So Abraham 07:40 rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two 07:45 of his young men with him and Isaac his son. And he split the 07:49 wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of 07:53 which God had told him. Now there's no record in the Bible 07:57 that Abraham told Sarah anything This was obviously in the night. 08:02 There's no record that Abraham said, We're going to be leaving 08:05 for a while and we'll be back. You know, he said nothing to 08:10 Sarah because Sarah, it was also for her a miracle that Isaac was 08:16 born. So Isaac was a miracle child and now the Lord is asking 08:21 for that child to be sacrificed. Now by this time you know it's 08:29 calculated that Abraham was about 120 years old and Isaac 08:34 was a strong young man as you will see in a moment. Let's move 08:37 quickly to verse 4, Genesis 22 verse 4: Then on the third day 08:42 Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. Oh three 08:49 days. Imagine on the third day. So day one he has to be thinking 08:53 about I'm going to have to sacrifice my son. And as a 08:57 father I would start thinking you know. Wow look at these 08:59 wonderful days I've had with my son. You know, perhaps he was 09:04 thinking about the future. I wonder what he's going to be 09:07 like, what kind of man he's going to be, would he follow the 09:09 Lord with all of his heart to the end of his days? He had 09:13 three days to think about all these things. Three days to even 09:16 say maybe I was just having a bad day, a bad dream. Maybe I am 09:21 confused. Maybe that's not the Lord talking to me. But Abraham 09:25 knew God's voice. He followed the Lord. He had obeyed the Lord 09:30 throughout all his life. Yes he had stumbled and made 09:34 a few mistakes 09:36 along the way and God brought this test to him so that he 09:40 could learn something very, very valuable. The Lord only does 09:45 things allows tests and trials to come to us so that we can 09:48 learn something about ourselves or about Him. And notice now in 09:54 verse 5: And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the 09:58 donkeys. The lad and I will go yonder and worship and we will 10:02 come back to you. So the two young servants, he told stay here 10:06 He didn't want these two individuals when they realized 10:09 hey, what are you doing? You know Abraham is old. They might even 10:14 overpower him and try to keep him from committing or doing the 10:19 sacrifice that the Lord had asked of him. So he said you 10:21 guys stay here and we're going to go worship and we will come 10:24 back to you. Notice he said we will come back to you. It's 10:28 interesting because in Hebrews chapter 11 it says that Abraham 10:34 sacrificed his son and saw... He was willing to do this as 10:41 believing since the Lord had promised that through Isaac 10:44 Now he took God's word to be a fact. God promised and through 10:49 his son Isaac he was going to have seed. He was going to have 10:54 a multitude. Nations would come out of him. So Abraham believed 10:58 God and Hebrews chapter 11 brings out that even if I have 11:02 to sacrifice him the Lord will bring him back from the dead 11:06 because the Lord fulfills His promises. So a difficult, 11:10 difficult thing to face and Abraham was willing to do it. 11:14 Now Genesis chapter 22 verse 6: So Abraham took the wood of the 11:19 burnt offering...and notice what he does...He laid it on his son 11:23 Isaac's back. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife and 11:27 the two of them went together. Isaac was strong. Isaac could 11:31 carry the wood. And so together they walked and in verse 7: But 11:37 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, My father. He 11:40 said, here am I, my son. Then he said look, the fire, the wood 11:46 but there's the lamb for the burnt offering? A difficult 11:51 question. What will Abraham say? Son, you are the offering. No, he 11:56 wasn't ready for this. And Abraham said, my son, God will 12:01 provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of 12:05 of them went together. It is obvious by verse 9 that Abraham 12:10 had to tell his son, My son, God has asked me to sacrifice you. 12:14 They surely had a moment to embrace and even wept together 12:20 I'm sure and say goodbye, but there's something interesting. 12:24 You know, we look at the faith of Abraham but we have to also 12:27 understand that Isaac believed in God. Isaac had faith. And he 12:32 was willing to do and follow through with being the sacrifice 12:37 There's a picture here of God the Father and God the Son, 12:41 Jesus Christ. God the Father offered his Son. His Son, Jesus 12:47 Christ was willing to come to this even wicked world and die 12:52 for us. There are some similarities but not completely 12:56 Can you picture here the ultimate sacrifice that was made 13:02 for us. Time is quickly moving so let's go to verse 9: Then 13:06 they came to the place of which God had told him and Abraham 13:09 built an altar there and placed the wood in order and he bound 13:12 Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood and 13:14 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his 13:18 son...but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and 13:22 said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, Here I am. And he said do 13:26 not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him for now I 13:31 know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son 13:34 you only son, from me. What a test! What a test! And Abraham 13:42 was faithful. Verse 13: Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and 13:46 looked and there behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by 13:49 its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up 13:54 for a burnt offering instead of his son. What joy came, tears, 14:01 and sorrow, now there was joy because there was a ram God 14:06 provided a ram. And that's very interesting aspect that we don't 14:09 have time to go to but Abraham was faithful. A great example 14:13 for us. 14:14 Amen, amen. There are difficult stories in the Bible. I have 14:17 another one and this one is entitled Wayward Israel and it's 14:21 talking about the story of Hosea And Hosea is another difficult 14:25 story when you go into the word of God. It's 14:28 just this idea of God's faithful prophet, Hosea, being asked to 14:33 marry his wife Gomer who runs away, has children with another 14:37 man and is sexually unfaithful and then God calls him to take 14:42 his wife back. My name is James Rafferty and I have Mondays 14:46 lesson, Wayward Israel. And it's about Hosea chapter 2, primarily 14:52 Hosea chapter 2. So if you'd like to open your Bibles there 14:54 to Hosea chapter 2 and we'll just begin in these first few 14:57 verses here. God is speaking to us through the story. Because 15:01 the word Hosea in the Hebrew the origin of Hosea is connected to 15:07 the same meaning for the New Testament word for Jesus. Hosea 15:12 actually means savior, at least the root word means savior just 15:14 like Jesus means savior. So Hosea is a type of the savior 15:18 if you will. What God is basically saying is that you 15:22 know my people, Hosea, had been unfaithful to me. You know 15:26 they've gone a-whoring. They've just been like a harlot and I 15:29 would like you to illustrate that. When God calls us to be 15:33 an illustration of the sacrifice that He Himself is making that 15:37 is the greatest trust and the highest honor. The fellowship 15:42 with Christ in His sufferings. That's why the title of this 15:46 lesson for this quarter, the Sabbath School adult lesson is 15:49 In the Crucible With Christ. Christ is already there and 15:53 we're joining Him in the crucible because the pain that 15:57 sin has brought to the heart of God from its very inception is 16:01 revealed in the little trials that we go through and of course 16:05 in Calvary. In other words, Calvary is not just one onetime 16:08 sacrifice that God has made for us. Calvary is a revelation of 16:12 an ongoing sacrifice that God has made for us in allowing sin 16:17 and suffering to be in this world and allowing us to 16:20 experience that. You imagine the heart of a parent. I know as a 16:23 parent myself our hearts long for our children. We feel their 16:30 pain and their suffering and God feels the same way with all of 16:33 His children. Everything we go through on planet earth, all of 16:35 the suffering that He sees, it comes to his heart first and 16:39 foremost and He longs to end it. So in Hosea God is speaking 16:43 through his faithful prophet. In verse 2 and 3 He warns of 16:46 this removal of temporal blessings. Why does He do that? 16:49 Well because as many times, and I know this as an evangelist, 16:52 we travel the world and we go to these countries that are 16:55 developing and they don't have all of the luxuries and the 16:57 resources and the extras that we have, but they're very receptive 17:02 for the gospel. We printed millions of pieces of literature 17:05 for countries all over the world You go over there and stand on 17:08 the street corner with a box of literature, I've done this in 17:10 nations in Africa, Zambia for example and people will come 17:14 around and they'll pick up that literature. You try to hand 17:16 literature to people in some of these developed countries and 17:19 Nope, nope, not interested. You give something to them and down 17:21 the block you see it in the garbage can or whatever. People 17:25 can be more receptive when they go through these difficulties. 17:27 And so God says, I'm going to remove your temporal blessings. 17:29 Not because God wants to harm us or afflict us but because He 17:33 wants to awaken in us an interest, a hunger for spiritual 17:38 things. In verses 5-7 God allows the trials of life to hedge up 17:41 and detour us from some of the...I'm going to hedge up 17:44 their way and they're not going to be able to find their lovers. 17:46 And again He's doing that because he wants to separate us 17:51 from the world. In fact, in Revelation 13 we're told about 17:54 the mark of the beast where we're going to be cut off and we 17:56 can't buy or sell. Well you can look at that as a negative or 17:59 you can look at that as a positive. And I think for us, 18:01 for Christians, it's actually going to be a positive in a 18:04 sense. We're going to be cut off from the world, we're going to 18:06 to have no more distractions. We're going to stay focused in 18:09 prayer and study and witnessing. And that's going to be it. And 18:12 so God hedges up our way so we can't find our lovers, we can't 18:15 find the things of the world that we love and instead we have 18:19 thorns and thistles. We realize that those lovers are illusive 18:25 lovers. In Hosea chapter 2:8, 9 God removes His blessings and in 18:29 Hosea chapter 2 verse 10 we find ourselves without the 18:33 righteousness of His cover and we find selfishness exposed. He 18:36 wants to show us who we are so we feel our need of Him because 18:39 the last church in Laodicea is rich and increased with goods 18:42 and needs nothing. So the lesson quarterly goes on to say this 18:46 story raises two important issues about the way we 18:49 experience God when He is bringing us to repentance. 18:53 Number one, first we risk not recognizing that God is at work. 18:58 When we go through trials and difficulties there's a risk, Is 19:02 God in this? You know Balaam's donkey dashes his foot against 19:06 the rock wall and Balaam's upset at the donkey and...this car how 19:11 come it's always breaking down. right? And we risk not knowing 19:16 Well maybe the car won't start because God is keeping you from 19:19 going somewhere where maybe you'll get in an accident or 19:21 maybe you don't need to be going Sometimes in the trials, God is 19:25 keeping us from danger or doing things that really we shouldn't 19:28 do. I remember years ago I was driving somewhere I ought not to 19:32 drive and I had no strength to hold back from this place I 19:36 shouldn't be going and I said Lord, if you don't want me to go 19:39 here, go there, stop my car and it stopped! It stopped running 19:43 literally. I pulled over. It was an old Subaru yellow '74 Subaru 19:49 voted the ugliest car ever made. I pulled over and I was just 19:53 like Okay Lord, I got the message. I'm going to turn 19:56 around. Turned the car on, it started, turned around, and went 19:59 back home. I was like Praise the Lord. Sometimes God will work in 20:03 those extreme ways. That's what the book of Hosea is telling us. 20:06 Hosea chapter 2 is telling us. And then the second lesson here 20:10 that we want to look at is, we risk misunderstanding God when 20:14 He is at work. So sometimes we can identify that He's working 20:18 and other times we misunderstand Well how can God be a loving God 20:21 if He's taken away my temporal blessing. How can God be a 20:24 loving God if He won't allow me to do these things? We risk 20:26 misunderstanding His character but God loves us. In fact, let's 20:30 read on in Hosea chapter 2 verses 14-23. Just a summary of 20:37 the verses here. We're not going to be able to read 20:39 all the verses 20:40 but I just want to give you an outline of what God is doing 20:42 here. There's a key phrase that you're going to find in Hosea 20:46 chapter 2 and its the phrase, I will. I will, I will, I will. 20:51 It's a new covenant phrase. It's a covenant faithfulness phrase 20:55 that God is using here and the whole chapter, we could identify 20:59 this whole chapter as the I will covenant, from God's perspective 21:04 Then I will covenant or the New Covenant. The New Covenant is 21:06 all about what God is going to do, not what we're going to do. 21:08 And God wants us to step into that covenant and agree with Him 21:12 in that covenant. So in verse 14 God brings us into the 21:16 wilderness trials, that's the wilderness is synonymous with 21:19 trials bring His comfort. We look for and need His comfort 21:25 when we're in those trials and God allows us to go through 21:29 trials, through the wilderness, sometimes because He wants 21:31 to comfort us. He wants us to be aware of His comfort. God brings 21:34 us in verse 15 to the Valley of Achor. Now Achor reminds us of 21:39 the sin of Achan who coveted that Babylonian garment and that 21:42 Babylonian gold and hid all of that in his tent. So God is 21:47 bringing out our hidden worldliness. And that's our hope 21:50 The Valley of Achor is the door of hope because buried deep 21:53 within our hearts is this worldliness that God wants to 21:56 bring out through trials, that we have more dependence on Him 21:58 and less dependence on this world, on Babylon. Verse 16: 22:02 We will call God Ishi, champion, husband and no longer Lord. 22:09 We're not going to be servant relationship with God. That 22:12 will be there but it will be more than a servant relationship 22:14 because we're going to serve Him out of love because we see Him 22:17 as our husband, as our champion and not just as our taskmaster. 22:22 Number 17: Balaam, representing servitude rather than loving 22:27 relationship with God will be removed. So this relationship 22:30 that's just a servant relationship, this servitude 22:33 relationship. It's going to be removed. We're not going to have 22:34 to have this relationship with God that's like well I'm just 22:37 doing it because you know He's making me do it and I just want 22:40 to serve Him because I want to go to heaven. No. We're going 22:43 to serve Him because we love Him and you know when you love 22:45 someone service becomes a delight when you're in love and 22:48 this is what God. God wants us to experience delight in serving 22:53 Him and following Him. And in verse 18, just a summary here: 22:57 The new heavens and the new earth covenant promises are 23:01 reiterated. You know the heavens will hear and the earth will 23:04 hear. Everything is going to be listening to the voice of God 23:07 Everyone is going to say when God speaks, Here am I. Here am I 23:14 And then 19: God is going to betroth us, will be engaged to 23:18 us in Christ's righteousness, in loving kindness, in judgment, 23:23 and in mercy. It's all about God, it's not about us. It's all 23:27 about Christ and His righteousness. It's not about 23:28 what we do, it's about what He does and because of what He does 23:32 we then do. And then verse 21: There's a day coming, that day 23:38 when God will hear. God will hear the heavens and that word 23:41 a primitive root which means he's going to pay attention 23:44 and the implication is He's going to respond. By extension 23:48 He's going to speak specifically He's going to sing, He's going 23:50 shout, He's going to testify. We're going to hear the voice of 23:53 God and He's going to be happy and joyous. Not that He isn't 23:55 now but there's a day coming when we're going to enter into 23:58 that joy. In heaven, in Revelation there's these 24:01 multitudes, vast multitudes that none can number of angels and 24:04 redeemed host singing to God and God is going to join in with 24:08 those songs, if you can imagine that. God is going to sing over 24:11 us as we sing with Him and in verse 22: In that day, the earth 24:15 shall hear or announce the corn, the wine and the oil. In the New 24:18 Earth everything will blossom in abundance, verse 23: God will 24:21 sow His people in the earth through mercy and He shall say 24:25 these are my people. And they will say, He is my God and the 24:29 New Covenant will be complete. 24:31 Amen. Thank you, Pastor Rafferty. Well we are going to continue in 24:36 a moment. We'll be right back. 24:37 ♪ ♪ 24:43 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again or 24:46 share it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Well you can by 24:50 visiting 3ABNsabbathschoolpanel.com 24:53 A clean design makes it easy to find the program you're looking 24:58 for. There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide so you 25:02 can follow along. Sharing is easy. Just pick Share and choose 25:06 your favorite social media. Share a link, Save a life 25:10 for eternity. 25:12 Welcome back. We continue studying the lesson Extreme Heat 25:14 and now we're ready for Tuesday's lesson with 25:17 Sister Jill. 25:18 Thank you so much, Pastor Johnny and Pastor James. I love this 25:22 lesson Extreme Heat. I'm shouldn't say I love this lesson 25:25 because it's a little painful, but what we can learn from this 25:30 lesson. I love that. (Jill Morikone) Abraham in the 25:33 crucible and Hosea in the crucible and I have Job in the 25:36 crucible. So turn with me to the book of Job. We're looking at 25:39 Surviving Through Worship. We're going to look at seven keys how 25:45 we can respond to extreme heat through worship. Now the story 25:50 of Job is fascinating. We won't take much time with it but you 25:54 know the nutshell of the story. God and the angels are in heaven 25:57 and who comes in heaven? Satan arrives. Now what's interesting 26:02 to me is that who brings Job to Satan's attention? Is Satan the 26:08 one who brings up Job. No. In Job 1 verse 8 God is the one who 26:15 brings Job to Satan's attention. Then the Lord said to Satan Have 26:20 you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in the 26:23 earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns 26:27 evil. It's not Satan who brings the attention to God. It is God 26:32 who brings attention to Job and God knows what's going to follow 26:36 He knows the future. He knows what's going to happen. It's 26:39 interesting to me this whole conundrum of the origin of 26:43 suffering. We know that suffering and sin is the result 26:46 of Satan as a result of sin. Yet God allows it. We can 26:50 clearly see that from the book of Job. God permits it. The 26:53 lesson had three questions which we won't really unpackage I but 26:57 thought they were fascinating. Here they are: Question number 27:00 one: If God is giving permission for Job to suffer what 27:04 difference does it make whether God or Satan is personally 27:07 inflicting the suffering? Number two: How can God be righteous 27:13 and holy when He actively allows Satan to cause Job such pain? 27:18 Number three: Was this a special situation, a one-time occurrence 27:23 or is this how God usually or regularly deals with His 27:29 children? Now as we go on in the lesson you going to see we don't 27:34 really answer those three questions because the focus is 27:37 really it's not a theodicy, we're not trying to justify God 27:40 in the face of evil. This lesson is how Job responded to 27:45 suffering and how you and I respond to the crucibles of life 27:50 to the extreme heat that we experience. Now those were the 27:55 three questions from the lesson. This would be the question from 27:59 Jill. Am I willing to trust my God even when I don't understand 28:04 So the story of Job, what happens? In one day 28:08 he loses what? His 28:09 oxen and donkeys and all the servants tending them. He loses 28:12 his livelihood and work. He loses his sheep and the camels 28:16 and the servants. He loses his 10 children, all of his children 28:20 seven sons, three daughters. He loses his family. And then God 28:27 allows Satan to strike yet again and Job's health is affected 28:32 boils from the top of his head to the tip of his toes and on 28:37 top of that his spouse says why don't you just curse God and die 28:40 So I don't know about you but if you lost your job that'd be a 28:45 big deal, or if you lost your livelihood, or your ability to 28:49 travel or if you lost one child. They say that loss is 28:52 immeasurable. Can you imagine all your children and your 28:57 health? And your spouse turns against you. And what does Job 29:00 do? He worships. That's what we're going to study. So let's 29:04 look at Job 1 verse 20. Now the lesson really begins. Six keys, 29:11 how you and I respond to extreme heat through worship. Job 1:20: 29:18 Then Job arose...this is right after his wife says curse God 29:20 and die...Job arose, he tore his robe shaved his head, fell to 29:25 the ground and what's that word? (worshiped, worshiped) He 29:28 worshiped. Key number one: Recognize that worship is not 29:33 separate from pain. You know I always used to think that they 29:37 were separate. Now if I'm happy and I feel like everything's 29:40 good between God and I, I can worship. I can come to church. 29:45 I can bow prostrate before Him and worship in the solitude of 29:49 my own home. I can worship in the car. But what about when 29:53 you're in pain? Do you want to worship? I usually don't. When 29:57 I'm in pain I want to withdraw. When I'm in pain I want to go 30:00 go away. You think pain and sorrow surely cannot be elements 30:05 of worship. But yet Job turned to worship. He turned to God in 30:11 the midst of his pain. Psalm 34:18: The Lord is near those 30:15 who have a broken heart and He saves those who have a contrite 30:21 spirit. God draws near when you and I are in pain. Key number 30:26 two about worship: Recognize that worship includes silence. 30:30 There's an interesting Psalm, 137 It says by the rivers of Babylon 30:35 we sat down. We wept when we remembered Zion. They are in 30:40 pain. And then it says in verse three. Those who carried us away 30:44 captive asked of us a song and those who plundered us 30:47 requested mirth saying sing us one of the songs of Zion. 30:51 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? 30:56 Some seasons of suffering are too heavy even for a song. 31:01 Job's friends recognized this 31:04 and what does it say in Job 1? They sat for how many days? 31:08 Seven days, in silence, and they didn't say anything. Recognize 31:15 that worship includes silence. Number three: Recognize that 31:20 worship includes the opposite of number two. It includes singing 31:24 and singing sustains in suffering. Sometimes there is 31:30 time for silence. Sometimes there are times for song. This 31:36 is another Psalm, Psalm 42. Verse 8 says: The Lord will 31:40 command His lovingkindness in the daytime. In the night, His 31:45 song will be with me. That means in your pain, in your darkness, 31:49 in your time of night, you can turn to God with worship with a 31:56 song because singing sustains in suffering. We see this with Paul 32:00 and Silas. They're in jail and what were they doing at midnight 32:03 They were singing. Now let's read the next verse, Job 1 verse 32:07 21. We get the last three keys to worship. And he said...this 32:13 is Job. He had just turned toward God in worship and now he 32:16 said...Naked I came from my mother's womb. Naked I will 32:19 return. The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the 32:24 name of the Lord. Key number four: Recognize that worship 32:29 comes from a place of need. Job recognized his nakedness. He 32:34 recognized his inability to change his circumstances. John 32:40 15 verse 5: Jesus says: Apart from me, you can do nothing. 32:45 Recognize that worship ultimately comes from a place of 32:49 need when we recognize, God I need you. That is worship. Key 32:55 number five: Recognize that worship comes with an 32:58 acknowledgment that God is in control. So this is connected 33:01 with recognizing I need you, God. And yet you are still in control 33:07 Job said: The Lord gave and the Lord took away. He's 33:11 acknowledging that God is still in control of his life. Isaiah 33:18 55 verses 8 and 9: My thoughts are not your thoughts. Sometimes 33:24 we don't understand what happens to us. Sometimes we don't 33:27 understand the pain that is surrounding us but yet God's 33:32 thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways, says 33:36 the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my 33:39 ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 33:42 The final key, Key number six is recognize that worship praises 33:49 God regardless of how you feel. What did Job say? May the name 33:54 of the Lord be praised. He chose to praise God even in the midst 33:59 of devastating pain. Now this is an interesting point for me 34:05 because I've always been a feelings Christian. If I felt it 34:08 it must be true. If I didn't feel it that God must not be with 34:13 me. But nothing is further from the truth. We can choose to 34:17 worship God. We can choose to praise Him no matter how we feel 34:21 in our hearts, no matter how we feel inside because God's word 34:26 is true. And our God is a God of love. So the six keys to 34:32 worship in the midst of extreme heat: Recognize that worship is 34:37 not separate from pain. That worship does include silence 34:43 sometimes, and that's okay. That worship includes singing and 34:48 singing will sustain you in suffering. Do you need 34:52 sustaining, break out into a song. Recognize that worship 34:55 comes from a place need and an acknowledgment of your 34:59 dependence on God, and your acknowledgment that He is still 35:05 in control and finally number six: Recognize that worship 35:09 praises God regardless of how you feel. This is what I find in 35:13 the life and story of Job and this is what we can experience 35:17 today in these last days. 35:19 Amen. Amen. Beautiful. Thank you Jill. And you know in my own 35:22 experience I have found that in the worst pain when you praise 35:29 God and have an attitude of thanksgiving He brings great 35:33 hope. I'm Shelley Quinn and Wednesday's lesson is Surviving 35:37 Through Hope. If you're familiar with the story of Saul he was 35:42 perse...I mean he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was persecuting 35:46 all of the Christians. Got letters from the Sanhedrin. He 35:52 was on the way to Damascus to persecute Christians there. 35:56 Jesus appeared to him on the Damascan road knocked him off 36:00 his high horse and Saul was blind for three days afterward. 36:06 Now God speaks to Ananias, a disciple there and sends him to 36:14 Saul. Listen to this. Acts 9: 15-16. The Lord said to him... 36:21 to Ananias...Go...He's sending him to Saul...For he is a chosen 36:28 vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the 36:32 children of Israel...and I love verse 16. He said this is the 36:37 Lord saying this is what you're going to say to Saul...For I 36:41 show him how many things he must suffer for my namesake. What a 36:49 calling to ministry. You know, if God's calling you to ministry 36:53 and says, hey come here. I want you to go into ministry. I'm 36:56 going to show you how much you got to suffer. It's like well 36:59 I don't know. Paul was God's chosen ambassador of grace. He 37:04 wrote so much of the New Testament. I love his writings. 37:07 He ministered to Jews but he was a special minister to the 37:11 Gentiles. Now in 2 Corinthians 11, we're not going to take time 37:16 to read this but 2 Corinthians 11:23-29, Paul lists the extreme 37:25 heat of the many crucibles he found himself in. He labored 37:29 hard in evangelism, church planting, often in danger. He 37:35 received the Jewish beating of 39 lashes, not once but five 37:41 times. He received the brutal Roman beating three times. He 37:46 was shipwrecked at the writing of 2 Corinthians 11, he'd already 37:50 been shipwrecked three times. Now he got shipwrecked the 37:54 fourth time as he was a prisoner headed for Rome. Once when he 37:58 was shipwrecked he spent the whole night and day floating on 38:03 a piece of debris waiting to be rescued. He faced serious 38:08 dangers, threats, as he traveled not just flooded rivers, not 38:12 just the robbers but frequent dangers from the Jews and 38:17 occasionally even from the Gentiles. The Judaizers were 38:21 probably the most frightening, the false brethren. He was not 38:24 just in physical pain but emotional pain because Paul had 38:29 a burden in his heart, a concern for every new Christian and how 38:35 their faith might grow. You know Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13 38:40 He says, God, won't let you be tempted beyond what you can bear 38:43 But let me ask you a question. Is it Biblical to say that God 38:48 won't put on us more than what we can bear. Let me read to you 38:54 2 Corinthians 1:8,9. This is Paul's word. 2 Corinthians 1:8,9 39:00 He says we don't want you to be ignorant brethren of our 39:04 trouble which came on us in Asia that we were burdened beyond 39:12 measure, above strength...In other words, far above their 39:20 ability to endure. Have you ever been burdened beyond measure? 39:24 See it's wrong. People say, Oh God won't put on you more than 39:28 you can bear. Yeah, sometimes more than we can bear comes on 39:33 us. We're burdened beyond measure. But listen what he says 39:37 was the purpose. So that... that's your purpose statement... 39:40 he said We despaired even of life and we had the sentence of 39:45 death in ourselves that...here's your purpose statement. This is 39:52 the reason it happened...that we should not trust or rely on 39:57 ourselves but in God who raises the dead. See no matter what 40:02 Paul went through, no matter how bad it was, the extreme heat of 40:07 his crucibles, he never got into a pity party. He never felt 40:12 sorry for himself. His faith was never crushed. I mean, he's in 40:16 prison, he's been beaten and he's singing, talk about singing 40:20 But remember this, self-pity is straight from the pits of hell 40:26 and sometimes it's natural. You're going through a lot and 40:29 you're kind of like Ohhh, oh woe is me. Nobody else is going 40:32 through this. But Paul didn't feel that. He recognized, he 40:40 recognized God was still in control and he knew that God was 40:45 teaching him to rely on Him so he survived his circumstances 40:49 through hope. Now in the Greek hope isn't maybe it'll happen 40:56 maybe it won't. Hope means eager expectation. Paul knew God was a 41:06 God of His word, that He kept His promises and he trusted in 41:10 God's will, he trusted in God's purposes, he trusted in God's 41:15 deliverance. In 2 Corinthians he goes on in verse 10, chapter 41:18 1 verse 10. He said, So we're not relying on ourselves but God 41:23 who raises the dead. In verse 10 he says, Who delivered us from 41:29 so great a death. So he's excited. God has delivered them. 41:33 And he said He does deliver us in whom we trust that He will 41:40 still, deliver us. He had perfect hope, eager expectation of what 41:45 God was going to do. And then it's interesting. He said, you 41:51 also helping in prayer for us. Isn't that interesting? Paul 41:55 found hope in the intercessory prayer of other church members. 42:01 He said, You also helping in prayer for us that thanks may 42:05 be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to 42:11 us through many. Our intercessory prayers make a big 42:15 difference. Through all of Paul's troubles, through all of 42:21 them, he had eager expectation, eager hope in God. I love Romans 42:29 15:13. It's one of my favorite verses. This is Paul. This is 42:34 how he saw God. He said, Now may the God of hope fill you with 42:41 all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by 42:47 the power of the Holy Spirit. See this is how we survive our 42:53 crucibles. When the Holy Spirit is in us God pours His love into 42:58 our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. And he just causes 43:03 us to bubble over with eager expectation of what He's going 43:08 do to us. Now listen to this. Here's how he began his letter 43:13 to the church at Corinth, the second letter. 2 Corinthians 43:17 1:3-4. He said blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 43:22 Christ, the Father of mercies, God of all comfort who comforts 43:26 us in all of our tribulations that...here's the purpose 43:30 statement. God comforts us so that we may be able to comfort 43:34 those who are in trouble with the comfort with which we 43:39 ourselves are comforted by God. I've been through a two-and-a- 43:43 half-year trial. It's not been pleasant. But you know what? 43:48 As I praise God, as I give Him thanks and I worship Him, what 43:53 I've learned is that God has taught me many lessons but He 43:57 uses me so much to reach out and minister to other people in 44:02 physical pain. So our suffering, when we go to God, He turns it 44:10 into a ministry to minister to those others who have suffered. 44:16 So I love the fact that God treats sinful people like myself 44:24 with kindness and tenderness and mercy and love and then He comes 44:32 alongside of us in the midst of our trials and He comforts us. 44:37 You know I think of Deuteronomy 33:27, I believe, where it's God 44:43 He's holding us in his everlasting arms and it says He 44:49 will thrust out the enemy from before you saying destroy. 44:54 Jesus said that in this world we're going to have many 44:56 tribulations. Don't be surprised But He said, Be of good cheer, 45:00 for I have overcome the world. So in the depth of our sorrows 45:05 God's compassion comforts us. We can survive through hope, 45:13 hope in His intervention and God is teaching us just to be 45:20 totally dependent on Him, to rely upon Him who gives life 45:26 to the dead. 45:28 Amen, thank you, Shelley. You've all warmed it up now it comes 45:33 down here to the Extreme Heat. Thank you very much. Extreme 45:38 Heat (John Lomacang) which is my lesson for Thursday. Let's go to 45:43 Isaiah 43. I'm going to start there because there are some 45:45 very warm passages in scripture and I'd like to start with one 45:49 of them with which we are very familiar. Isaiah 43 and I'm 45:51 going to read verses 1 and 2. You know, it's amazing what God 45:56 sees. God sees what we can be not just what we are and that is 46:05 the reason, as I study the lesson, why extreme heat is 46:10 necessary. Look at Isaiah 43. Now you know this. But now thus 46:16 says the Lord who created you O Jacob and He who formed you O 46:19 Israel, fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you 46:23 by your name. You are mine. That's the scripture that was 46:29 the inspiration behind the first song I wrote, You Are Mine. 46:32 When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and through 46:36 the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk 46:39 through the fire, you shall not be burned nor shall the flame 46:44 scorch you. The writer of the lesson asks us to write down the 46:49 different ways in which God assures His people of comfort 46:52 during the times of water and fire, during the times when the 46:55 picture that God sees does not resemble the picture that we see 46:59 You know we see ourselves as we are. God sees us as we can be. 47:02 One of my most loved passages in scripture talks about our 47:06 potentiality. God sees us where we are but He also sees us in 47:10 the finished product. We will be like Him for we will see Him as 47:14 He is. So God's assurance is on four planes: I will be with you 47:17 in the waters, the rivers will not overflow you, the fires will 47:23 not burn you and the flame will not scorch you. But what God 47:26 sees as the lesson writer points out are four things: First God's 47:30 extreme heat is not to destroy us but to destroy sin. Secondly, 47:38 God's extreme heat is not to make us miserable but to make us 47:43 pure. Thirdly, God cares for us through all things and is always 47:48 constant and tender regardless of the circumstances. 47:52 He will never 47:53 leave us alone no matter what happens to us. As Psalm 103:13 47:57 points out: As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities 48:02 those who fear Him. Why does God allow extreme heat to come to us 48:07 Now before I talk about the four things that happen in the 48:10 moments of extreme heat and point out two things that God 48:12 brought to me, I want to point out how God sees us and why 48:17 He allows His children to go through extreme heat. Psalm 91 48:21 verse 14, God will treat us the same way as a tender loving 48:27 parent treats a child. Psalm 91 verse 14: Because He has set His 48:33 love upon me, therefore, I will deliver him. I will set him on 48:37 high because he has known my name You see God's chastening is for 48:43 our growth and our purification. Proverbs 3 verses 11, 12. My son 48:47 do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor detest his 48:51 correction, for whom the Lord loves He corrects just as a 48:55 father the son in whom he delights. God promises us that 49:00 through Jesus Christ, He will be with us until the end. We know 49:03 that. Matthew 28:20- to the end of the world. But let me point 49:06 out four things that I see that fire accomplishes. Let's go to 49:10 Daniel 3 verses 19-24. First of all fire reveals allegiance. 49:15 Fire reveals allegiance. As you're turning there remember 49:18 this. It is not what we go through but what we become 49:22 as a result that matters. We know the very familiar story. 49:26 Nebuchadnezzar's angry that they're not bowing down. The 49:30 Bible says: Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and the 49:34 expression of his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and 49:35 Abed-nego He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven 49:39 times more...extreme heat... than it usually was heated. 49:45 and he commanded certain mighty men of valor in his army to bind 49:48 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and cast them into the burning 49:52 fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their clothes, 49:57 their trousers, there turbans and their other garments and 50:01 were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore 50:05 because the king's command was urgent and the furnace 50:10 exceedingly hot...notice extreme heat all the way through...the 50:14 flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, 50:18 Meshach and Abed-nego and these three men, Shadrach, Meshach 50:21 and Abed-Nego fell down into the midst of the burning fiery 50:25 furnace Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in 50:30 haste and spoke saying to his counselors, Did not we cast 50:36 three men bound in the midst of the fire. They answered and said 50:40 to the king, True. And then we read the rest. Now in the midst 50:44 of the fire, I see one like the son of God. Now my focus was not 50:51 so much the fact that Jesus was in the fire. My focus on this 50:55 passage was the fire revealed their allegiance. You see a lot 50:59 of times difficulty changes our allegiance. Some people say, if 51:03 this is how God is I don't want any part of Him. Why do people 51:05 think that because they become Christians then all of a sudden 51:09 God shuts off the fire. No. The fire is needed for the 51:11 purification of what still remains in our character. So 51:15 my question is, What do you allow the fires in your life to 51:21 reveal. Or whom do you allow the fires in your life to reveal? 51:24 Do they reveal the unchristlike character in you or does it 51:28 reveal the Christ who is in the fires with you? Don't forget 51:32 that. If God allow you to go through fires, He says I will be 51:35 with you in the fires. There's a saying that God gave to me, 51:39 matter of fact, about the trials we face. God sees our 51:44 capabilities and consumes our complacency. God sees our 51:48 our capabilities and consumes our complacency. Which takes me 51:53 to the second takeaway. Let's go to 2 Peter 3 verse 10, 2 Peter 3 51:58 verse 10. The Bible says: But the day of the Lord will come as 52:01 a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with 52:04 a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat both 52:08 the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up. 52:12 Second purpose that God allows fires: Fires consume evil works. 52:17 Now before the evil works of the world are going to be burned up 52:20 God allows the fires to consume the evil works in us. How else 52:24 will God purify His children unless He puts them through the 52:29 fires of purification. Number three. Let's go to Revelation 52:32 3 and verse 18, Revelation 3 and verse 18: I counsel you to buy 52:38 of me, gold refined in the fire that you may be rich and white 52:42 garments that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness 52:45 may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve that 52:48 you may see. The third purpose for fire, fire purifies a 52:52 character, fire purifies a character. So many of us come 52:57 to Christ and are baptized and we are unlike Him on the day of 53:01 baptism, so He puts us, as one person said He knows how long 53:04 to keep the cake into the oven until it is done. My mom used to 53:10 cook a lot of cakes or bake cakes and she would say do not 53:14 open the oven until the cake is done. Now I'd like to open it 53:18 and I did that once and she knew it because I did it so much the 53:21 cake caved in because it was done on the outside but it was 53:25 not done on the inside. Here's something that you might want to 53:29 chew on. God knows exactly how long to keep you in the oven. He 53:32 wants not to consume you but to develop you. And number four: 53:36 The fires of purification result in obedience. 1 Peter 1:22: 53:41 1 Peter 1:22: The fires of purification result in obedience 53:46 Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth 53:52 through the spirit in the sincere love of the brethren. 53:55 Love one another fervently with a pure heart. Some people will 54:00 never know what it's like to love somebody purely unless God 54:04 purifies them. Fires of purification will result in 54:08 obedience but also it will show itself in our fervent love 54:11 towards others. James 1 verse 4: Extreme heat requires patience. 54:18 But let patience have its perfect work that you may be 54:24 perfect and complete lacking nothing. Another statement that 54:28 God gave to me: God develops our greatest capacity through our 54:32 greatest difficulties. God develops our greatest capacity 54:36 through our greatest difficulties. You see, God sees 54:39 us where we are but He knows that He doesn't leave us as He 54:44 finds us. He sees that in the purification one day we will be 54:47 like Him. Which brings me now to Philippians 1:6: Be confident 54:52 that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it 54:55 unto the day of Jesus Christ. And 1 John chapter 3 verse 2: 54:59 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been 55:04 revealed what we shall be but we know...and I'm going to add this 55:07 that when the fire is done...we shall be like Him for we shall see 55:12 Him as He is. God develops our greatest capacity through our 55:17 greatest difficulties. God sees our capabilities and consumes 55:22 our complacencies It is not what you go through but what you 55:27 become as a result of it that matters. My question to you 55:31 again is when you are facing the fires of trial who is revealed 55:35 in your life. I pray that in Extreme Heat God is revealed 55:40 through your life. 55:42 Amen, amen, amen. What a wonderful lesson this has been 55:46 and each one has been a blessing. I would like to go 55:50 back now to each one of you for a final thought. 55:52 Well it's all about being in the crucible with Christ and 55:55 sometimes we have to ask ourselves the question: Why wait 55:59 In other words, why wait for God to do something in our lives 56:02 extreme in order for us to be drawn back to him. Why not 56:05 allow God to speak to your heart and surrender it to Him without 56:10 that intense crucible? 56:13 Hmm. I like that, that's really good. Mine was Job, the crucible 56:16 of Job and if you feel like you're going through a Job-like 56:19 experience, take heart. At the end of the book, God blessed his 56:25 life at the end and God will be with you through the midst of 56:28 the crucible. 56:29 Amen, and I just want to remind us that not all trials are from 56:34 God. He's not causing them and He does obviously allow them 56:40 but just sin in general. If your body's degenerating and you're 56:44 in pain the good news about being a Christian is that we can 56:48 still, go to God and let Him fill our hearts with the power of the 56:52 Holy Spirit and we can just bubble over with hope, the 56:58 blessed hope of what we know is coming. 56:59 And finally, Jesus did not come to burn us up but to light us 57:07 up. He did not come to consume us but to ignite us. The fires 57:11 will refine us and consume whatever does not reflect 57:14 the character of Christ. The fires will burn away anything 57:17 that does not resemble Jesus. 57:20 Amen, amen. Well you have heard the voices of Pastor James 57:24 Rafferty, Sister Jill Morikone, Sister Shelley Quinn and Pastor 57:28 John Lomacang. My name is John Dinzey and it's been a blessing 57:31 to be with you. I had Abraham the call that God made to him to 57:35 sacrifice his son. In John chapter 8 verse 56: Your father 57:39 Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and he was glad. 57:44 You see that experience of Abraham allowed him to see that 57:48 hey, the Son of God is coming to offer His life for me and 57:53 that helped him. Next week's lesson is Struggling With All 57:59 Energy. Don't miss it. 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 58:01 We'll see you next week. 58:03 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2022-11-15