Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210011S
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00:01 Hello, I'm Jill Morikone
00:02 and we are delighted that you have joined us 00:04 for another edition of 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:07 We are getting toward the end of the Book of Isaiah. 00:10 We're on lesson number 11. 00:12 The title of this week is "Waging Love." 00:15 Looking at Isaiah 55 and Isaiah 58. 00:18 I want to encourage you to grab your quarterly 00:20 and Bible and get ready to study with us. 00:22 If you don't have a copy of the quarterly, 00:24 you can always go to the following website 00:26 ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:30 That stands for Adult Bible Study Guide.Adventist.org. 00:35 Get ready to study with us 00:36 as we see what God has for us this week. 01:11 Hello, we're so glad that you've stayed with us 01:14 through this journey of the Book of Isaiah. 01:16 I can't believe we're getting toward the end. 01:18 This title is Waging Love, 01:20 which is an amazing title to me. 01:22 We'll unpack that in just a moment. 01:24 But first I want to introduce you to my family. 01:27 To your family, 01:28 if you've been journeying with us 01:29 through 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:31 To my left, my pastor, John Lomacang, 01:33 privileged to have you here. 01:35 You know, this is He who endures to the end. 01:37 We're enduring, so praise God. 01:39 Isaiah's been a wonderful study. 01:40 It has indeed. 01:42 To your left my sister Shelley Quinn. 01:43 Always a joy to have you here. 01:45 Oh, I'm telling you, this is such an exciting study. 01:48 And I'm like you. 01:49 Romans is my first favorite book 01:51 and Isaiah's the second, so it's good. 01:54 You can see why we all like studying together 01:56 because we all like the same things and same books. 01:58 To your left Pastor Kenny Shelton, 02:00 and just a joy to have you here, Pastor. 02:02 It's a joy and a privilege to be able to, 02:04 you know, work in the vineyard of the Lord today. 02:06 So it's always the delight. Amen. 02:08 To your left Pastor Ryan Day, 02:10 and always love studying with you too, Brother. 02:12 Me too. 02:13 I like to study with you guys, 02:15 and I'm excited about today's lesson. 02:16 Amen. 02:18 Let's go to the Lord in prayer before we do anything else 02:20 and, Pastor Kenny, would you pray for us? 02:21 Sure. 02:24 Our merciful Father in heaven as we've come to You this day 02:26 we give You praise 02:27 and give You honor, give You glory. 02:29 Thank You for being a God in heaven 02:30 that cares for us 02:32 as our lessons brought out this quarter 02:33 that You love us with certainly an everlasting love. 02:36 And that You show it 02:37 through acts and deeds of kindness. 02:38 Thank You for loving us. Thank You for Calvary. 02:40 Now today we ask a very special way 02:42 the anointing of Thy Holy Spirit 02:44 upon our hearts and our minds and our lives, 02:46 every listener, every viewer, 02:48 may their heart to be turned toward heaven. 02:49 May the things of earth grow strangely dim 02:52 as we behold Jesus high and lifted up on the throne. 02:55 We thank You for hearing. 02:56 Thank you for answering every person 02:58 who is involved to make this possible 02:59 to be a blessing today. 03:01 Help us to be a blessing. 03:03 In Jesus' name, amen. 03:04 Amen. 03:06 The title of Waging Love is very interesting to me 03:09 that they put the word waging with love 03:11 because to me waging seems like a military conquest. 03:14 Waging, of course, means to wage, 03:17 would be to engage in or to carry on 03:19 as in you wage a war or you wage a campaign. 03:22 But if you look at the synonyms for waging, 03:25 it kind of puts a different twist 03:26 on the title of this lesson. 03:27 And it makes a lot of sense to me. 03:29 It can be executing or fulfilling, or persisting. 03:34 I like that, persisting love. 03:36 Persevering, maintaining, this is my favorite, pursuing. 03:40 So if in my mind, 03:42 if I think of the title of this week's lesson 03:44 as pursuing love, 03:47 I love that. 03:48 That's really powerful. 03:49 And we'll unpack that in just a moment. 03:51 The lesson had a story 03:52 on Sabbath's portion of the lesson, 03:55 which was really interesting and fits with the lesson. 03:58 It talked about a Jewish cantor and his wife. 04:00 He's just a Jewish worship leader. 04:02 They lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. 04:04 And they had received threatening 04:06 and obscene phone calls 04:08 from the leader of a local Klu Klux Klan group. 04:11 Now, instead of reporting it to the police, 04:13 instead of getting all upset, what did they do? 04:16 They took a chicken dinner to the doorstep of the person 04:20 who sent them the threatening phone calls 04:23 and they reached out in love. 04:24 You could say they waged a war, 04:26 or they pursued in love 04:29 and what happened? 04:30 They became friends. 04:31 Isaiah 55, turn with me, 04:34 we're going to start with Isaiah 55. 04:36 We find that love. 04:38 This is the love of Jesus 04:40 purchased something very costly, 04:42 yet it's freely extended to us. 04:46 We find that salvation and redemption, 04:48 justification by grace through faith 04:50 resides in the Old Testament and in the Book of Isaiah, 04:54 as well as the New Testament. 04:57 In Isaiah 58, 04:58 we find that love leads to works. 05:01 Instead of a self-proclaimed piety 05:03 or some sort of legalism, 05:05 we find that love leads to self-denial, 05:07 to sacrificing for others and to true Sabbath observance. 05:12 Let's look at our memory text. 05:14 It's Isaiah 58:10. 05:16 Isaiah 58:10, 05:18 "If you extend your soul to the hungry 05:20 and satisfy the afflicted soul, 05:22 then your light shall dawn in the darkness, 05:25 and your darkness shall be as the noonday." 05:29 Sunday's lesson is Isaiah 55. 05:32 So turn back a couple chapters to Isaiah 55, 05:35 buy something free. 05:38 Sunday's lesson is God's appeal to those in captivity. 05:42 Remember, we had studied the first portion of Isaiah 05:44 is the Assyrian time. 05:46 And then Isaiah jumps forward prophetically 05:49 a century and a half 05:50 to the end of the Babylonian exile 05:52 for the Jews. 05:54 This section of Isaiah 05:55 is written prophetically to them, 05:57 because God still loves us when we sin. 05:59 There are clearly consequences to sin, 06:01 as was evidenced 06:03 by the children of Israel being in Babylonian captivity 06:06 for those 70 years. 06:08 But yet God in the midst of our greatest pain, 06:12 in the midst of our deepest darkness, 06:14 God doesn't turn away from us, He moves toward us. 06:17 Praise God. 06:19 There's a post I loved that it just said this, 06:21 I loved you at your darkest. 06:24 The darkest place of this earth, 06:26 the darkest place of us spiritually, 06:29 God extends mercy, grace and forgiveness. 06:34 This is the message we see in Isaiah Chapter 55. 06:38 Before we jump into that, 06:41 I just want to touch briefly 06:42 on something that Paul referenced in Galatians. 06:45 Remember, the whole issue in the Galatian Church 06:47 was what? 06:49 Did the Gentile Christians need to be circumcised 06:51 in order to be saved? 06:53 In other words, the issue was, 06:55 was salvation and justification, 06:58 a portion of faith plus works or was it just by faith alone? 07:04 In Galatians 5:4, Paul says, 07:07 "You have become estranged from Christ 07:10 or you've become separated from Christ. 07:13 You who attempt to be justified by the law, 07:16 you have fallen from grace." 07:19 There was a poll done in 2017 07:21 that said most Protestants and Catholics 07:24 believe that faith plus works is necessary for salvation. 07:29 Not that we are saved by grace alone. 07:32 We will see in Isaiah 55, 07:34 this message of salvation by grace alone. 07:39 Why is Isaiah 55 important? 07:41 Let's read verses 1, 2 and 3. 07:44 It's interesting to me 07:45 because we will see several times in this passage 07:48 that the verbs come, come. 07:52 The command is given, the importance of this message. 07:55 It says, 07:56 "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, 07:59 you who have no money, come, buy and eat. 08:03 Yes, come, 08:04 buy wine and milk without money 08:06 and without price. 08:08 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, 08:10 and your wages for what does not satisfy? 08:13 Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, 08:16 let your soul delight itself in abundance. 08:20 Incline your ear, and come to Me. 08:22 Hear, and your soul shall live, 08:24 and I will make it everlasting covenant with you, 08:27 the sure mercies of David." 08:30 Why is this message important? 08:32 The message that Isaiah is proclaiming here 08:35 is a life and death matter 08:37 because salvation is a life and death matter. 08:41 What does the water represent? 08:42 It says, 08:43 "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the water." 08:45 What does the water represent? 08:48 In Isaiah 44:3, it says, 08:51 "I will pour water on him who was thirsty 08:54 and floods on the dry ground. 08:55 I will pour," 08:57 what's that word? 08:58 "My Spirit on your descendants 09:01 and my blessing on your offspring." 09:03 Do you see the connection there 09:04 between pouring water and pouring My Spirit 09:08 or the Holy Spirit on your descendants? 09:10 Water is connected with the Holy Spirit. 09:13 Jesus referenced that as well in John Chapter 7. 09:16 John 7:37, 09:19 "On the last day, 09:20 that last great day of the feast, 09:23 Jesus stood and cried out, 09:26 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.'" 09:29 And then you jump down to verse 39. 09:31 He says, 09:32 "This, he spoke concerning the Spirit, 09:35 whom those believing in Him would receive, 09:38 for the Holy Spirit was not yet given 09:40 because Jesus was not yet glorified." 09:42 We see water connected again 09:44 with both Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. 09:48 This tells us that the work of Jesus 09:50 and the work of the Holy Spirit 09:52 are central to the message of Isaiah 55. 09:55 Amen. 09:56 How can you buy something if you don't have any money? 09:58 That's the interesting conundrum of this passage. 10:01 Because it says, 10:02 "Come buy, if you have no money 10:04 come by and eat." 10:05 Well, how are you supposed to buy anything 10:06 if you don't have money to buy it? 10:09 Salvation is freely given to everyone, 10:12 yet not everyone is saved. 10:14 We need to buy it in a sense. 10:17 What I mean by that is, 10:18 we need to reach out and accept. 10:20 There's a choice, there's a response that 10:23 when the Holy Spirit draws on our heart, 10:25 we need to respond and accept that gift of salvation. 10:28 We need to confess our sins and forsake them. 10:33 What's offered is free to you and me, 10:35 if we reach out and accept it, 10:38 yet it costs everything for Jesus. 10:40 Amen. Amen. 10:42 Why do we pursue non-essential things? 10:46 In verse 2, it said, 10:47 "Why do you spend money for what is not bread 10:50 and your wages for what does not satisfy?" 10:53 The Israelites and Babylonian captivity 10:55 and us today 10:56 we spend time, money, resources 11:00 for things that don't even truly satisfy. 11:03 Jesus is the bread of life and He is waiting to fill us. 11:07 He said, "I am the bread of life." 11:10 And it says why do you spend money 11:11 for what is not bread? 11:12 Why do we spend time searching for things, 11:16 seeking out things 11:17 that have nothing to do with Jesus? 11:20 That's right. 11:21 Why do we listen? 11:22 Verse 3 said, 11:24 "Incline your ear and come to me. 11:26 Hear, and your soul shall live." 11:28 I see the connection there between hearing and obedience 11:32 because if you incline your ear, 11:34 then you come to Him. 11:38 Think about the disciples. What happened? 11:40 Jesus said follow Me, and what happened? 11:42 They made a choice. 11:43 They chose to Matthew left his collection box, 11:46 you know, with the tax collector 11:48 or the fisherman left their nets, 11:50 and they chose to walk in obedience 11:52 and to follow Jesus. 11:54 1 Samuel 15:22. 11:55 Samuel said, 11:57 "Has the Lord as great delight 11:58 in burnt offerings and sacrifices, 12:00 as in obeying the voice of the Lord? 12:03 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, 12:06 and to heed or listen than the fat of rams." 12:10 Again, we see that connection between listening and obedience 12:15 or obeying. 12:18 If I can turn my page here, 12:20 the covenant, let's jump to verse 7. 12:22 This is my favorite verse of my section, verse 7. 12:25 The covenant is established on repentance, 12:27 forgiveness and grace. 12:29 Verse 7 says, 12:30 "Let the wicked forsake his way, 12:32 and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 12:34 let him return, " 12:35 that means to turn back 12:37 "to the Lord, 12:38 and He will have mercy on him 12:40 and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." 12:44 The word pardon means forgive. 12:48 Was the forgiveness or pardon cheap? 12:50 Absolutely not. 12:51 It cost the life of the Son of God. 12:54 1 Peter 1 tells us 12:56 knowing you were not redeemed 12:58 with corruptible things like silver or gold, 13:01 from your aimless conduct 13:03 received by tradition from your fathers, 13:04 but with the precious blood of Christ, 13:07 because it cost the life of the Son of God 13:10 for you and I to have that salvation. 13:14 So here's my seven takeaways, 13:15 and we've just been discussing them now. 13:17 Number one, 13:18 the message of Isaiah 55 is important 13:20 because it has eternal consequence. 13:22 Number two, 13:24 the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit 13:26 are central to the message. 13:28 Number three, 13:29 what is offered is free to you and to me, 13:31 but it cost everything for Jesus. 13:33 Number four, 13:35 we often seek for things that don't satisfy 13:37 instead of looking to Jesus, 13:39 the only person who can truly satisfy us. 13:42 Number five, God calls us to hear and obey. 13:46 Number six, 13:48 God wants to restore 13:49 that covenant that He made with His people. 13:52 He extends to you and to I 13:55 forgiveness, grace and justification. 13:58 Number seven, 14:00 righteousness by faith, justification by faith, 14:03 grace was found in the Old Testament 14:05 and in the Book of Isaiah. 14:08 Isaiah really encapsulates the gospel 14:11 in the Old Testament, 14:12 and it's the same gospel we find in the New Testament. 14:15 I love Genesis 15:6, 14:18 "He, Abraham, believed God, 14:20 and it was accounted to him, reckoned into him, 14:25 imputed to him for righteousness." 14:27 It was not any works, which he did. 14:30 But he reached out by faith and accepted that. 14:33 Isaiah 55:6, 14:35 "Seek the Lord while he may be found. 14:38 Call upon Him while He is near." 14:41 And He will be found of you. 14:43 Amen. Praise the Lord. 14:44 Wow, what a wonderful way to begin. 14:47 And thank you for the cadence 14:49 that you always bring to the lesson study. 14:50 Mine is about God's thoughts. 14:53 It's Monday's lesson entitled, "High Thoughts and Ways, " 15:00 High Thoughts and Ways. 15:02 Isaiah 55:6-13 is where I'm going to begin. 15:06 And, Jill, I too have seven takeaways. 15:11 Your influence is infectious. 15:13 Isaiah 55:6-13. Let's start there. 15:17 And I'm starting where you actually ended. 15:20 "Seek the Lord while He may be found, 15:23 call upon Him while He is near. 15:26 Let the wicked forsake his way, 15:29 and the unrighteous man his thoughts." 15:31 A keyword that's going to come up 15:33 in the continuation of the study. 15:36 "Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, 15:39 and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon." 15:42 Once again, 15:44 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 15:47 nor are your ways My ways," 15:49 says the Lord. 15:50 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 15:55 so are My ways higher than your ways, 15:57 and My thoughts than your thoughts." 16:00 Fourth time the word thoughts is mentioned. 16:03 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, 16:08 and do not return there, but water the earth, 16:11 and make it bring forth and bud, 16:14 that it may give seed to the sower 16:16 and bread to the eater." 16:18 Verse 11, 16:20 "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth, 16:23 it shall not return to Me void, 16:25 but it shall accomplish what I please, 16:27 and it shall prosper in the thing 16:29 for which I sent it." 16:31 And I love verse 12, and 13, 16:34 "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace, 16:37 the mountains and the hills 16:39 shall break forth into singing before you, 16:42 and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands," 16:45 there's a praise song that goes along that way, 16:48 instead of them, 16:50 "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, 16:54 and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, 16:58 and it shall be to the Lord for a name, 17:01 for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." 17:05 The central focus of this is 17:07 God's thoughts versus our thoughts. 17:11 I sometimes try to make comparisons. 17:13 And I was listening once to a young lady 17:15 who was having an argument with her younger sister. 17:18 And I was trying to illustrate to her 17:20 that her mother was smarter than she is. 17:21 So I said to her, 17:23 "Is your seven-year-old sister smarter than you?" 17:24 She said, "Absolutely not." 17:26 I said, "Why don't you listen to your mom, 17:28 she's smarter than you." 17:29 And it hit her as an epiphany. "Really?" 17:31 I said, 17:33 "If you're not smarter, 17:34 if your seven-year-old sister is not smarter than you, 17:36 and you're 14, 17:37 how can you be smarter than your mother?" 17:39 That's right. 17:40 And she thought about that for a moment. 17:41 She said, "Oh." 17:43 And so that's kind of a very minuscule comparison, 17:47 because we can't compare our thoughts to God's 17:51 as a 14-year-old to a 7-year-old. 17:54 We've got to compare our thoughts to one 17:56 who has never not existed, 17:59 to one whose existence is but a vapor. 18:02 And so when I think about myself, 18:03 I say that one of the reasons why God says that 18:07 My word will not return to Me void. 18:09 He is saying 18:10 what I'm telling you has been tried and tested 18:13 through eons, not through years, 18:15 not through scientific experiments 18:18 but through eons. 18:19 I know what I say to be a fact, 18:22 because it has survived the millions of galaxies 18:25 that I've created. 18:26 Have you met somebody 18:28 that created millions of galaxies 18:29 and you ask how did you create that? 18:30 I think you'd sit quietly, 18:32 as they unfold it to you 18:34 the blueprint of such an investigation 18:36 or such a creation. 18:38 So let's look at it. 18:39 Why does God say 18:40 His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, 18:42 as the heavens are higher than the earth? 18:44 Well, one of the points that writer brings out is, 18:47 there's no question 18:49 that the God who created a universe 18:51 in which even some of the simplest things 18:53 contain mysteries, 18:55 that our minds cannot begin to fathom 18:57 is a God whose ways are beyond 19:00 what we can ever begin to grasp. 19:02 This knowledge of His infinite superiority 19:07 should therefore make it easier for us 19:09 to humbly receive His help. 19:12 Can you imagine, infinite superiority. 19:15 Think about that as infinite knowledge, 19:17 or infinitesimal access to funds 19:20 that we could never even really begin to count it. 19:24 And so, when Isaiah talks about this, 19:26 I want to just read one more passage 19:27 before we go to the seven takeaways. 19:29 Isaiah 57:15 brings into an even sharper focus, 19:34 what has been talked about. 19:36 "For thus says the high and lofty one 19:38 who inhabits eternity." 19:40 Try to put your head around that, 19:42 "who habits eternity, whose name is holy." 19:46 This is what God says, 19:48 "I dwell in the high and holy place 19:51 with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, 19:55 to revive the spirit of the humble 19:58 and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 20:01 So when you think about that, 20:03 how can somebody inhabit eternity? 20:05 One day, we'll get a chance at being able to grasp 20:09 and fathom that. 20:10 So the question is, 20:12 what is the context in which the Lord tells about 20:13 His ways in our thoughts and His thoughts in our ways? 20:16 Here's some of the points that I came out with. 20:19 The first point is 20:20 man cannot know the thoughts of God. 20:22 That's right. 20:23 Now that seems obvious, 20:25 but let's look at how Job says this. 20:26 Job 11:7. 20:28 Job is a favorite book of mine. 20:30 We did a study on Job I think not, 20:31 a couple of years ago. 20:33 But Job makes the statement in Job 11:7, 20:36 "Can you search out the deep things of God? 20:40 Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?" 20:43 I think he talked about 20:45 when God finally decided 20:47 to respond to Job in his rantings. 20:51 The Lord, I love that in Job 37 or 38, 20:53 the Lord starts out saying, 20:55 "Where were you 20:56 when I laid the foundations of the earth? 20:58 Where were you 20:59 when I told the ocean so far, but no further? 21:02 Where were you?" 21:04 And Job said, "Okay, I got it." 21:05 He said, "No, shut up and take it like a lamb." 21:07 He kept on pouring into Job 21:09 and I could see Job getting smaller 21:11 and smaller and smaller and smaller 21:12 as God thunders words 21:15 that just are so beyond our comprehension. 21:18 So Job says, 21:19 "Can you search out the deep things of God?" 21:21 And Job had had an opportunity to try to do that. 21:24 And he said, "No, you can't do that." 21:26 He also says in Job 42:3, 21:29 "You asked, 21:30 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' 21:34 Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, 21:37 things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.'" 21:41 That was Job's response after God shook him up 21:44 and emptied his pockets. 21:46 Number two, God knows the thoughts of man. 21:49 Psalm 94:11, 21:51 "The Lord knows the thoughts of man 21:54 that they are futile." 21:56 Sometimes we as... 21:58 Well, I'm not a parent, 21:59 but sometimes we can look at little children, 22:01 after we've given them a prohibition by saying 22:03 "Don't touch that." 22:05 We could look at them and we could say, 22:06 "Don't even think about it." 22:08 Because we can tell by their body language, 22:11 that they're thinking about it like the kid 22:12 that just hovers around the kitchen counter 22:15 just in case, a bottle of or the jar of cookies fall, 22:19 he's there to help catch it. 22:21 He's there just for emergency purposes. 22:24 When in fact, we know, don't even think about it. 22:26 If we can do that in our finite understanding, 22:30 how can God not be able to do that. 22:33 The Lord knows the thoughts of man. 22:35 Hebrews 4:13 reiterates this. 22:39 "And there is no creature hidden from His sight 22:42 but all things are naked and open 22:44 to the eyes of Him 22:46 to whom we must give an account." 22:48 That's humbling. That's right. 22:49 To say, hate to say that, uh, I hope God didn't see that. 22:52 Well, too late. 22:53 He already did. 22:55 Matter of fact, He saw it before you did it. 22:57 That's the beautiful thing about God. 22:58 He's like the guy standing on the roof, 23:00 seeing two cars rushed to an intersection 23:02 with no stop sign. 23:04 He could tell you ahead of time what's going to happen. 23:06 That's the sovereignty of God, 23:07 not only understanding but foreknowledge. 23:10 Number three, 23:11 God is the revealer of secret things. 23:14 Daniel 2:47, 23:17 "The king answered Daniel, and said, 23:20 'Truly your God is the God of gods, 23:23 the Lord of kings, 23:25 and a revealer of secrets, 23:27 since you could reveal the secret.'" 23:30 So God reveals His secrets, Amos 8:7, 23:33 "He reveals His secrets to His servants, the prophets. 23:35 And when we reveal what God has revealed to us, 23:38 God will always get the accolade 23:40 and the acknowledgement. 23:41 Number four, 23:43 God's ways are beyond human comprehension. 23:46 Romans 11:33, 23:48 "Oh, the depth of the riches 23:50 both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 23:52 How unsearchable are His judgments 23:55 and His ways past finding out!" 23:59 The Apostle Paul, 24:00 "God alone decides 24:01 when His counsel will be revealed." 24:03 1 Corinthians 4:5, 24:06 "Therefore judge nothing before the time, 24:08 until the Lord comes, 24:09 who will bring both the light to light, 24:11 the hidden things of darkness 24:13 and reveal the counsels of the heart, 24:15 then each man's, 24:17 then each one's praise will come from God." 24:20 Number six, 24:22 "Of all the great mysteries of the universe, 24:24 no doubt, the greatest of all, is the plan of salvation." 24:27 Ephesians 6:19, 24:29 "And for me, 24:31 that utterance may be given to me 24:32 that I may open my mouth boldly 24:34 to make known the mysteries of the gospel." 24:37 And number seven, 24:38 the mystery of the gospel is not to reveal to us, 24:41 but to reveal thoughts to of us. 24:44 It is not a message that we proclaim, 24:46 it is a message we reflect. 24:47 Colossians 1:27, 24:49 "To them, God will to make known 24:51 what are the riches of the glory of this mystery 24:53 among the Gentiles, 24:55 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 24:57 Amen. 24:58 Thank you so much, Pastor John. 25:00 Wonderful seven takeaways, High Thoughts and Ways. 25:03 We're going to take a short break. 25:05 We'll be right back. 25:10 Ever wish you could watch 25:11 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:14 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:17 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 25:22 A clean design makes it easy 25:24 to find the program you're looking for. 25:26 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:30 so you can follow along. 25:32 Sharing is easy. 25:33 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:36 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:41 Welcome back to our study on Waging Love. 25:43 We kick it off now with Shelley's lesson, 25:46 Fast Friends. 25:47 "Fast Friends," Tuesday, this is Isaiah 58:1-8, 25:53 I don't think we're going to get through all of them. 25:54 But let me just start off by saying this. 25:57 God only commanded one fast in the entire Bible, 26:03 and that is the Day of Atonement. 26:06 But there are fasts 26:08 that occur elsewhere in the Bible. 26:11 And people seem to have fasted for three reasons. 26:14 And these other fasts were either called by rulers 26:17 or sometimes just an individual asked for it. 26:21 So one reason was confession and drawing nearer to God 26:26 and prevailing prayer like in Ezra 8:23 said, 26:29 "We fasted and entreated our God for this, 26:32 and He answered our prayer." 26:34 A second reason was seeking God's will 26:37 or asking for God's favor 26:42 when she sends the message to Mordecai, 26:44 and she says, 26:45 "Gather all the Jews, fast for me for three days, 26:48 and my maids and I will fast and then I'll go to the king. 26:52 And if I perish, I perish." 26:54 But she was really trusting in the Lord. 26:56 Acts 13 when the early church at Antioch 27:00 was seeking God's will they got together, 27:02 they prayed, they fasted. 27:04 And then the Holy Spirit said, 27:06 Hey, separate Paul and Barnabas 27:10 for the work that I've called them to do. 27:13 So, and then some people 27:14 just fast to experience God in a deeper way. 27:18 Now before let me, 27:19 oh, let's just get into Isaiah 58:1. 27:24 This is the Lord speaking to Isaiah and he says, 27:27 "Cry aloud, spare not, 27:30 lift up your voice like a trumpet. 27:34 Tell my people their transgression, 27:36 and the house of Jacob their sins." 27:39 So God is saying, 27:40 hey, Isaiah, loud and clear 27:42 with certain blast of the trumpet. 27:45 He wanted the people to know, 27:46 I'm not pleased with your actions 27:48 and your behavior. 27:49 It's time for you to repent, come back for My favor. 27:52 The trumpet here is referring to the shofar, 27:55 and I made a list, 27:57 I think there's about 15 on this list 27:59 of ways that shofar was used in the Old Testament. 28:03 It was to gather God's people at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. 28:07 It was the reminder, 28:08 it was blown 10 days before the Day of Atonement, 28:11 we find that in Leviticus 23. 28:13 It was to proclaim the liberty in the year of Jubilee, 28:18 you see that in Leviticus 25. 28:20 Break down the walls, bring the feet of the enemies, 28:23 Joshua 6. 28:25 Celebrate the Ark of the Covenant, 28:27 2 Samuel Chapter 6. 28:29 To rally the people for war in Jeremiah 4:5, 28:32 overcoming the enemy like with Gideon, in Judges 7. 28:38 To stop fighting among the brethren, 28:40 that was 2 Samuels 2. 28:42 One of judgment for sin, Ezekiel 33. 28:45 One of the coming day of the Lord, 28:47 Joel Chapter 2. 28:48 Announcing establishment of the king, 28:50 declare to beginning accompany 28:53 the song of the Lord like Chronicles 29, 28:56 when the Leviticus had their instruments 28:58 and the priest had their trumpets, 29:00 to gather people to worship 29:02 and to praise and worship the Lord. 29:04 So the shofar was important, 29:07 and we're waiting 29:09 for that last trumpet, aren't we? 29:10 That last, last. 29:12 Isaiah 58:2, says this. 29:16 "Yet they seek me daily." 29:19 God's saying, Hey, I'm not pleased with them. 29:21 You need to tell them and then He says this, 29:23 "They seek me daily. 29:24 They delight to know my ways, 29:26 is the nation that did righteousness, 29:28 and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. 29:30 They ask of me the ordinances of justice. 29:34 So they're asking God for justice, 29:36 they take delight in approaching God. 29:38 Well, that sounds like a commendation. 29:40 But you know what? 29:42 If you could have heard God's voice, 29:43 there is a note of sarcasm here 29:45 because this was a nation that seemed to seek God, 29:50 they went to the temple daily. 29:52 They listened to the scripture readings, 29:54 they paid their tithes, 29:56 and they made a show of fasting. 29:59 These were acts of piety 30:02 that were just appearances of righteousness. 30:05 But inside, it was just purely pretense. 30:08 This was mere formalism. 30:10 Oh, let us always check our spiritual pulse 30:14 and make sure that that's not what we're doing. 30:17 So God is exposing their hypocrisy. 30:21 He says, "Hey, when you're fasting, " 30:23 we're going to see this, 30:25 "You're continuing in a sinful lifestyle. 30:29 You are corrupted, 30:30 you are oppressing the poor, and the needy." 30:34 So listen, Isaiah 58:3. 30:36 This is the people speaking. 30:38 And they say, 30:40 why have we fasted, they say, 30:44 and they're talking to God? 30:46 "Why have we fasted and you've not seen?" 30:49 Why have we afflicted our souls, 30:52 and you've not taken notice?" 30:54 Then God replies, 30:56 "In fact, 30:57 in the day of your fast you find pleasure 30:59 and exploit all your laborers." 31:02 So, you know, this is true arrogance 31:05 on the account of... 31:06 Have mercy. Of the people. 31:08 They are confronting God, accusing Him, 31:12 "Hey, we're fasting and praying, 31:14 You're not paying any attention to us." 31:16 They are complaining, 31:18 say, God, you don't look at our religious actions. 31:23 So they afflicted themselves 31:26 and that's, you know, 31:27 various forms, 31:28 affliction in the Bible 31:30 is various forms of self-denial, 31:32 which is fasting. 31:33 And this verse makes me think that 31:37 this is one of those self-initiated fasts, 31:40 prescribed by human rulers 31:42 because they're looking to God and saying, hey, we want, 31:46 they wanted some earthly blessings. 31:48 It didn't, they thought 31:49 they weren't receiving something 31:51 they were supposed to receive. 31:52 They were totally blinded to their own sinful condition. 31:58 They're going through the motions, 31:59 but they didn't even really observe the Sabbath, right? 32:03 And although that was, 32:05 has always been my opinion, it's interesting, 32:07 the author of our study, Dr. Roy Gain, 32:10 concludes that 32:11 this chapter refers to the Day of Atonement, 32:14 and if so, boy, they were on dangerous ground. 32:18 Because Leviticus 23:29 says, 32:21 "Any person who's not afflicted in soul on that same day, " 32:24 referring to the Day of Atonement, 32:27 "shall be cut off from his people." 32:30 So Isaiah 58:4 here's what God says to them. 32:34 "Indeed, you fast for strife and debate." 32:40 Well, you know what? 32:41 There's a lot of debating that goes on in the church, 32:43 isn't there? 32:45 He says, 32:46 "And to strike with the fist of wickedness, 32:49 you will not fast as you do this day, 32:52 to make your voice heard on high." 32:54 So their self-denial was hypocritical. 32:58 And guess what? 32:59 That self-denial made them irritable. 33:02 They ended up with contentious brawl. 33:06 They were just pretending. 33:08 And you know what? 33:09 Their pretense excluded 33:12 the possibility of prevailing prayer. 33:15 There's no genuine prayer to God. 33:17 So God wasn't going to respond to their superficial manner. 33:21 And then he says in verse 5. 33:23 Isaiah 58:5, 33:27 "Is it a fast that I have chosen, 33:29 a day for a man to afflict his soul? 33:31 Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, 33:35 and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? 33:37 Would you call this a fast, 33:39 and an acceptable day to the Lord?" 33:42 True worship is more than religious ritual. 33:48 I mean, this is something, 33:50 you know, Jesus summarized 33:51 all the laws of God in two laws. 33:54 You shall love the Lord your God 33:56 with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. 33:58 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 34:01 These people drew near to God with their mouth, 34:05 but their heart was far from Him. 34:09 And I'll tell you something, 34:11 hypocrisy is the enemy of love. 34:16 Hypocrisy is the enemy of love. 34:19 So we need to always check ourselves and see, 34:22 are we doing the same. 34:24 James 1:27 says this, 34:27 "Pure and undefiled religion before God, the Father, is this 34:32 to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, 34:36 to keep oneself unspotted from the world." 34:42 So we need to ask ourselves, 34:46 are we going to church every Sabbath 34:50 and paying our tithes and take communion? 34:54 Is this real? 34:55 Or are we drawing near to the Lord 34:58 with our mouth, but not with our heart? 35:01 God condemns 35:02 the people's insincerity of fasting. 35:05 It was supposed to be more than just outward ritual. 35:10 It involved penitence over sin, and consequent humility, 35:15 that would disconnect them from sin 35:18 and disconnect them from oppressing others. 35:21 So God places emphasis on social justice 35:25 and Brother Kenny's going to cover that. 35:27 Fastening implies self-denial, 35:29 but the true fast is denial of self 35:34 to help others, 35:35 the ministry of mercy, 35:38 denying ourselves to really serve others. 35:45 And that's what God's looking for. 35:48 Praise the Lord. 35:49 Yeah, that, that's a lot. 35:51 You packed a lot into that. 35:54 "Fast Fight" on Wednesday's lesson. 35:58 It gives the verses of Isaiah 58:1-12. 36:01 But we're not going to... 36:03 Sister Shelley covered it rather well. 36:04 But I thought it's very interesting. 36:06 I can't help but go back at what it says Isaiah 58:1. 36:09 I love that verse. 36:11 I always have, I'm not really sure why, 36:12 but it just, it resonates with me 36:14 when it says cry aloud and spare not. 36:17 You know, I think 36:19 when there's a truth that's out there, 36:20 we need to cry aloud and spare not, 36:21 we need to get it out there. 36:23 But notice, this is what you were talking about here. 36:25 Ten days, my lesson brings this out. 36:27 Ten days after the blowing of the trumpet 36:30 on the Day of Atonement. 36:32 This is when the cry went forth. 36:34 Just 10 days 36:35 after the people were supposed to be at one with God. 36:38 Everything was taken care of just 10 days after that, 36:42 then God talks about to Isaiah, 36:45 blow the trumpet, 36:47 get the attention of the people again, 36:48 because what you missed, that wasn't right. 36:50 Their lives was not right with God. 36:52 So you know, 36:53 I believe as I studied this part of the lesson 36:56 that the Lord is looking for 36:57 when I say church always mean to people, 36:59 looking for a people, 37:02 who will not only preach, teach, 37:05 and live and have forth 37:08 the characteristics of Jesus Christ in it. 37:11 It's not just about, we talking about just all win, 37:13 just all talk. 37:15 And I'm not trying to be critical, 37:16 but there's a lot of that that goes on. 37:18 And I like to get down to the nitty-gritties 37:20 of where the rubber meets the road. 37:22 Because Acts:10:38, 37:24 it just simply says this, it says, 37:26 "Jesus went about doing good." 37:28 This is what the church needs today. 37:30 This is what I need in my own life 37:31 go about doing good. 37:34 Our lesson brings out several good points here. 37:36 And maybe it starts with a couple questions, 37:38 notice this. 37:39 What will be better? Let's decide. 37:41 What's going to be better here to attract people to the truth, 37:45 notice this. 37:47 Attract people to the truth 37:48 as it is in Jesus, 37:50 or strict adherence to dietary laws, 37:54 or to a willingness to help the hungry. 37:58 No one wants to get involved, I see. 38:00 All right. 38:01 Yes, it's a difficult question. 38:03 And it can go a lot of different directions. 38:05 But the question still comes out, 38:07 which is better. 38:09 Which is better, 38:10 attract people to the truth as it is in Jesus, 38:13 or the best thing to do is have strict adherence to, 38:16 you know, some people's like that on health issue, 38:18 different things they're just like this. 38:20 This is all and nothing wrong with that. 38:22 It's all good. 38:23 But we should, still should be able to say 38:24 we need to be, God's given us the vision. 38:27 He's given us the gospel, 38:28 he's given us the hope, the whole thing. 38:31 And to me, we just can't be 38:32 even though God impressed different people 38:34 with different things. 38:35 So I'm always very careful not to criticize 38:38 or condemn someone else, 38:40 because they're working hard in area 38:41 which is truth, which is right 38:43 that maybe I don't work so hard in. 38:44 Is that okay? 38:46 Because different gifts that God gives different people 38:48 and different burdens He puts upon them. 38:50 Now, number two, think about this, 38:52 strict rest on the Sabbath, 38:55 or a willingness to spend our own time and energy 39:00 helping those who are in need? 39:02 So what would it be here? 39:04 Strict adherence to the Sabbath, 39:06 and I believe that God has it lined out. 39:08 We know what we should be doing, 39:10 or willingness to spend our time in helping others 39:13 which we have neglected to do that. 39:16 Because we're looking, it seems like a lot of times 39:18 we're looking at the big sins. 39:20 Looking at these things 39:21 that will keep us out of heaven. 39:23 That's my opinion. Throw it out if you want to. 39:25 There may be more people that missed the kingdom 39:27 because the things 39:28 that we have considered as the little things. 39:31 Jesus related to those things you will know. 39:33 You know, you do the one but don't you forget the other. 39:36 And so selfishness is one of those things. 39:38 I found this out in my walk with the Lord 39:42 and I'm still learning. 39:43 I'm still just, I'm still like a baby. 39:44 More I learned, the more I found I didn't know. 39:46 Amen. 39:48 Changed my opinion on a lot of doctrines, 39:52 and what I thought was truth, 39:54 even though it maybe was invariance 39:55 if you know what I mean, just like the principles here, 39:58 but did you find there's much more 40:00 that we can comprehend 40:01 that God gives us through the Holy Spirit. 40:03 I found that anyone, 40:05 now this may be too big for some. 40:08 Anyone can be religious. 40:10 That's right. That's good. 40:12 Anyone can be religious. 40:16 Anyone can go through to the religious motions, 40:19 they can pretend pretty well and maybe even fool you and me, 40:24 even if they go through the right rituals 40:28 at the right time. 40:30 But that's not all that the Lord wants. 40:33 That's not what He requires of us. 40:35 In Isaiah, Chapter 58, 40:36 you're reading verses 1 through 6. 40:38 And I just want to just hit a couple 40:40 because I want to get into the selfish aspect of it. 40:42 Because I think there'll be more people lost 40:44 because of selfishness 40:45 than all the other sins combined. 40:47 Can I just throw that out? 40:49 Absolutely. 40:51 Listen, that's my opinion. 40:53 I know somebody is fighting it, but it's okay. 40:55 I don't mind that. 40:56 I don't mind somebody disagree with me. 40:58 Because you know why? 41:00 Because self is at the root of every sin, that's why. 41:02 Amen. Okay. 41:04 That makes sense, doesn't it? You're right. 41:06 That's right, Brother. Okay. 41:08 So what you got to look at. 41:09 Isaiah 58:6, 41:11 "Is this not the fast that I have chosen:" 41:13 to do what quickly, 41:14 "just loose the bonds of wickedness, 41:17 to undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free, 41:19 and that break every yoke?" 41:21 Verse 7, 41:22 "Is it not to deal the bread to the hungry." 41:24 Well, we're worried about running the streets 41:26 and doing all these other things, 41:27 eating, drinking, getting drunk, 41:28 doing drugs, 41:30 when this person is going to be lost, 41:31 blah-blah, blah-blah. 41:33 Jesus said, "What are you doing here?" 41:34 Real religion that I accept. 41:37 It's not all these rituals and things 41:38 that you're going through 41:39 and sometime in our church services like rituals. 41:41 That's right. 41:42 You know, man, somebody get up. 41:44 And let the Spirit of God 41:46 sometimes just take over in the church. 41:48 Let the spirit speak. 41:50 I mean, I'd love to hear somebody get up and say, 41:51 you know, the Spirit of God's impressing my heart right now. 41:53 And then we as a people can decide 41:55 where the Spirit of God, right? 41:57 Is talking to them or not? 41:59 Because of the messages they will bring to us. 42:02 Is it present truth? 42:03 Is it something that we need in the church? 42:05 But let the spirit. 42:06 We can only sing one song in closing. 42:08 I may want to sing two. 42:10 It's okay. 42:11 You know, it's all right. Amen. 42:14 Brother Ryan sing a time or two 42:15 and Pastor John different ones here singing 42:17 and Jill playing whatever. 42:19 And sometime I want to say, would you do that again? 42:22 I was so blessed, would you do that again? 42:24 And you think, 42:25 well, you'll all get run out on a reel. 42:27 Now, let's go ahead. 42:28 Verse 8, "Then shall thy light break forth." 42:30 God said, "I'm going to bless you, 42:31 I'm going to bless your socks off 42:33 if you will do the right thing." 42:34 And he covered some very simple things right here. 42:37 And then he said, 42:38 "And then thou shall call and the Lord will answer." 42:41 Listen, this is what we want as a church. 42:42 This is what I want in my own life. 42:45 We call upon God and he says what? 42:47 He said, I'm going to, I'm going to answer. 42:49 That's right. 42:50 If I thought He wasn't going to answer, 42:51 if I thought He didn't hear, why am I talking to Him? 42:54 Why am I living this kind of life? 42:56 But I've often thought 42:57 even if I would turn my back on God, 42:59 you say, you know, you don't go to church anymore. 43:00 You don't do all these things. 43:02 What would I really do differently? 43:03 What is it in the world that I really want? 43:05 That's right. 43:06 What really is in the world 43:07 that's risk losing eternal salvation? 43:09 And somebody say, well, you don't know 43:10 if you have eternal salvation or not. 43:12 According to the Word of God, 43:13 praise God He's offering our eternal salvation. 43:15 Isaiah brought it out so beautifully in here 43:18 that God is offering 43:19 while we were yet sinners, isn't that right? 43:21 The Bible says, Christ died for us. 43:23 I like that. 43:25 Now, a couple of things here quick, 43:26 last couple of minutes here 43:27 if I can just get to in my notes, 43:29 I jotted some things down. 43:30 I don't know if I'll find it or not, yeah. 43:32 I will find it because 43:34 I'm going to take time to do it. 43:35 Because I think it's very interesting, 43:36 is that all right? 43:38 Yeah. Okay. 43:39 We're talking about selfishness. 43:40 This is what this has to do. 43:42 Because selfish again is danger of self 43:43 and how to spot it, 43:45 how to spot it in others, how to spot it in ourself. 43:49 I know we don't want to hear but that's too bad. 43:51 Now notice. 43:52 First Selected Messages, 82, 43:54 you know, I don't like to hear things 43:55 that step on my toes either. 43:56 But I thank God for it. 43:58 Pastor, any of you bring a word 43:59 that I just don't necessarily like 44:01 most generally if I don't like it 44:02 and it's truth is because I'm guilty of sin. 44:04 Now, notice that, 44:05 what selfish people and how to spot it, 44:07 and people will lose eternal life. 44:09 They view self in all that they do. 44:12 This is how you can spot it. 44:13 First Selected Message 82, 44:15 "Successful workers keep self out of, 44:18 notice this, as much as possible." 44:20 Right? 44:21 If you really love Jesus, 44:23 you're going to keep self out of everything that you do 44:24 as much as possible, Evangelism 152. 44:28 Self wants to be first in everything. 44:30 This is very dangerous. 44:31 Six Testimonies, 103, 44:33 "Self-admiration results of ignorance 44:37 of God and Christ." 44:40 You know, Pastor John brought all that 44:41 when God is elevated the creator of heavens 44:43 and earth and hues, and talking to Him, 44:45 man, we should feel a little, 44:46 we should dig a hole and get in it. 44:48 Ain't that right? 44:49 If you think about it, trying to, 44:50 you know, compare ourselves with God is true. 44:52 I mean, it's a simple thing, a simple language 44:54 that God calls for a simple message 44:56 you've given to people 44:57 whose mind is stayed upon you, who can understand it. 45:00 Five, a person always trying to advance self in something, 45:04 Christ Object Lesson 400. 45:06 Selfishness, it's dangerous. 45:08 Always pushing for power and position, even riches, 45:11 which makes one seem greater than they are. 45:14 Education, 49. 45:16 Just like Solomon, just like Judas did, 45:19 just like the priest and the rabbis and Satan. 45:22 Now self-conceit is a sin. 45:24 Notice it, self-conceit is the worst sin, 45:27 is a sin most helpless and incurable, 45:31 71:99 and 200. 45:34 I mean, when I look at that, you say, 45:35 I'm going to say we don't have, 45:36 we don't, we don't have selfishness. 45:38 But I encourage us to look deep into 45:41 when things happen in your life and so on. 45:42 First thing, you say, I, me, my, what about me? 45:45 What am I going to do? 45:46 Well, we might rethink the issues. 45:48 Anyway, God still sits on the throne, 45:49 He's willing to help all of us. 45:52 Amen. 45:53 Praise the Lord, Brother. 45:55 Always bringing that straight testimony. 45:57 I like it. 45:59 Praise the Lord. 46:00 All right, let's dive into Thursday's lesson entitled, 46:03 "A Time For Us." 46:05 And Thursday's lesson focuses in 46:07 on probably those two texts in Isaiah 58, 46:10 that most of us know Isaiah 58:4. 46:14 And, of course, I'm speaking of those who, 46:17 those who might believe 46:18 in keep the Sabbath of the Lord, thy God. 46:21 And that is, by verses 13 and 14. 46:24 So let's go there. 46:26 Let's read verses 13 and 14 in Isaiah 58. 46:28 And then we'll go on with our study. 46:30 So it says here, 46:31 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, 46:33 from doing your pleasure on My holy day, 46:36 and call the Sabbath a delight, 46:38 the holy day of the Lord honorable, 46:42 and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, 46:45 nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, 46:49 then you shall delight yourself in the Lord, 46:51 and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, 46:54 and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. 46:57 The mouth of the Lord has spoken." 47:00 Oh, wow. All right. 47:01 So the title of the lesson is A Time For Us. 47:05 And, of course, the context 47:07 and the subject of verses 13 and 14 47:09 is God's holy day. 47:11 And I can't emphasize that enough. 47:12 Let me say that one more time. 47:14 It's whose day? God. 47:16 It's God's holy day. 47:18 You ain't got a Sabbath. 47:20 I ain't got a Sabbath. 47:21 None of us can say 47:23 that we own or have our own kind of Sabbath. 47:26 I can't count how many times I've heard people say to me, 47:28 Well, Ryan, you know, you got your Sabbath 47:29 on the seventh day Saturday, 47:31 and I've got my Sabbath on Sunday, the first day. 47:34 No, that's not what the Bible says, 47:36 it's God's day. 47:38 It's not your day, 47:39 even though He did say wonderfully, 47:40 and I praise God for the Sabbath was made for man 47:43 and not man for the Sabbath. 47:44 God has bestowed that gift of His day for us, 47:48 He's bestowed that blessing upon us 47:50 and says, look, I want you to participate 47:52 and partake of that blessing. 47:53 And that's what 47:54 verses 13 and 14 of Isaiah 58 is all about. 47:59 Now, the lesson brings out 48:00 that there is a somewhat of a connection 48:02 between the weekly seventh day Sabbath 48:05 and of course, the Sabbath that would have been honored 48:08 and observed on the Day of Atonement. 48:10 The Day of Atonement was indeed a Sabbath day. 48:13 In fact, let's go read that. Leviticus 23:27-32. 48:17 I do want to pay attention to this, 48:18 just the fact, just so the fact 48:20 we can highlight the similarities, 48:22 and show that 48:23 there was a connection between the two. 48:26 Leviticus 23, of course, this is where God is, 48:28 is outlining and spelling out 48:30 all of the different festivals and the holy days 48:33 that would, that Israel would need to keep 48:35 and honor and observe, 48:36 because of the Lord's command. 48:38 So 27-32, the Bible says, 48:40 "Also the 10th day of this month, 48:42 shall be the Day of Atonement. 48:44 It shall be a holy convocation to you, 48:45 you shall afflict your souls 48:47 and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord." 48:50 So the author is suggesting 48:52 that because of the language we see, 48:53 of course, right out from the front, 48:55 you know, cry aloud, spare not, 48:57 you know, show My people their sins, right? 49:00 That's exactly 49:01 what the Day of Atonement was all about. 49:03 God would see, 49:04 He would take those sins that the people had brought in, 49:07 those 359 days 49:08 out of the 360 day biblical year, 49:11 and He's dealing with that sin issue. 49:13 And, of course, they would afflict their souls, 49:15 and they would do some fasting 49:17 and they would lay in sackcloth and ashes. 49:19 So there's some language there that is similar. 49:21 So we continue on, notice verse 28. 49:23 "And you shall do no work on that same day." 49:26 So on the weekly Sabbath, 49:28 doesn't the Lord also tell us 49:29 do no, do no work. 49:30 So no labor. 49:32 I'm going to kind of skip through again to verse 31. 49:33 We're not going to read all this 49:35 but verse 31, again, 49:36 he reiterates you shall do no manner of work, 49:39 again re-emphasizing what the Ten Commandments say, 49:42 the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments, 49:43 do no labor, do no work. 49:45 It shall be for a statute forever 49:47 throughout your generations and all your dwellings. 49:49 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest. 49:53 What's the Sabbath about? It's about rest. 49:55 It's about communion. It's about being with God. 49:58 It's about being with each other. 49:59 It's a blessing. 50:00 It goes on to say, 50:02 and you shall afflict your souls. 50:03 And on the ninth day of the month at evening, 50:05 notice this, from evening to evening 50:09 you shall celebrate your Sabbath. 50:10 Same thing, the weekly biblical Sabbath 50:13 was celebrated as God, 50:14 as it says in the Genesis account, 50:15 the evening and the morning was the first day, 50:17 the evening and the morning was the second day. 50:19 From evening unto evening, 50:20 that is from sundown to sundown, 50:22 the Sabbath was to be observed. 50:24 So those are the connections, the similarities that you find 50:27 between that holy day Sabbath observance 50:30 on the Day of Atonement 50:31 in connection with the weekly seventh day Sabbath. 50:34 But make no mistake, I want to make this very clear. 50:37 Verses 13 and 14 is most definitely applicable 50:41 and meant to be understood in within the context 50:43 of God's seventh day weekly Sabbath 50:46 that we honor and observe every single week. 50:48 And I want to ask the question of the hour 50:50 because it seems like I'm auctioneering this off, 50:52 I'm trying to get to the meat 50:54 of what I really want to talk about, 50:56 which is, again, go back to the title of this lesson, 50:58 it's a time for who? 51:00 Us. It's a time for us. 51:02 God wants the Sabbath to be a blessing. 51:05 The question is, 51:06 do we allow it to be a blessing? 51:11 What kind of day is the Sabbath supposed to be? 51:16 Let's go back to verse 13. 51:18 I'm going to read through it one more time. 51:20 It says, "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, 51:22 from doing your pleasure on My holy day, 51:24 and call the Sabbath a delight, 51:27 the holy day of the Lord honorable, 51:29 you shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, 51:31 nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words." 51:35 Okay, so I want to say right now, 51:37 this is one of the most popular text 51:40 quoted by Sabbath keepers 51:42 and we believe in this text, this is a powerful text. 51:45 And I don't want to play that doubt at all. 51:46 We should uphold the message of this text. 51:49 We should be able to teach it, believe it, proclaim it 51:52 and apply it to our Sabbath experience. 51:55 However, this is also one of the most misused 51:58 and abused and misunderstood text 52:01 when it comes to Sabbath keeping 52:02 that many Sabbath keepers, 52:03 they use it in a way to take away the blessing. 52:07 And again, I want to use the word that the Bible uses, 52:09 the delight of the Sabbath 52:11 because they take a few words in here 52:13 and they kind of stretch them to mean something, 52:16 and they kind of exegetically insert 52:19 what they think 52:20 should be the experience of the Sabbath. 52:22 But I want to do a little bit of dissecting. 52:24 Let's do a little bit of word talk here for a moment. 52:27 The Bible says study to show yourself approved, 52:30 rightly dividing the word of truth. 52:33 Sometimes we must go a little deeper, 52:36 instead of just looking at the surface, 52:38 sometimes the Word of God requires us 52:40 to go just a little bit deeper. 52:41 In this case, it would do us a good service 52:44 to go a little bit deeper 52:45 and to go into the original language 52:47 to study this a little bit better. 52:48 I'm not suggesting 52:50 that there's necessarily a translation error here. 52:53 But certainly, 52:55 there can be and should be a better translation 52:57 of some of these words. 52:59 And I'm going to highlight that right now. 53:00 First of all, let's consider what it says when it says, 53:03 from doing your own pleasure on My holy day. 53:06 My goodness. Oh-oh. 53:09 I've heard, you know, we use, 53:10 I've heard so many people use this. 53:11 And I used to use this verse, 53:14 to be very dogmatic about the Sabbath, 53:16 and making the Sabbath ought to be something 53:18 that it's not, 53:20 because when we read that often, 53:21 it says, oh, you know, 53:22 don't do your pleasure on your day. 53:24 That means you can't have fun. 53:25 And you can't eat, 53:27 the Sabbath shouldn't be a day of just, 53:29 you know, happiness and joy, you can't have any pleasure, 53:31 it should be a boring, 53:34 you know, heavy drudgerous experience. 53:36 We should just be doing this all day long, 53:38 you know, in the Word of God, and go to church and you know, 53:42 have that, you know, kind of, you know, that kumbaya moment, 53:45 we're all just kind of sitting around 53:46 and singing in the Word, 53:48 but there's nothing else 53:49 on the Sabbath that you can do that might. 53:51 If it brings pleasure and you enjoy it, 53:53 then you are violating the Sabbath. 53:54 You have turned it into something that it's not. 53:57 Now again, I want to pause, 53:58 press the pause button on what I just said. 54:00 And I want to clarify, 54:01 should we just be just doing any old thing 54:03 that we want to do on the Sabbath? 54:06 Are there boundaries? Are there guidelines? 54:08 Are there things that we have to make sure 54:09 that we safeguard the holiness of the Sabbath, 54:12 and make sure that we're honoring it 54:14 and making it a day 54:15 that God said that He wanted it to be, 54:17 and that is a holy day? 54:18 We should protect the sanctity. 54:20 So I'm certainly not saying 54:21 that we should just do whatever we want. 54:23 That being said though, in the original language, here, 54:25 it's the word chephets, okay, 54:28 which actually right here in the original Hebrew, 54:31 the word for pleasure 54:33 within the context of this passage and it fits. 54:35 It's not necessarily just any old kind of pleasure. 54:37 In fact, it actually translates 54:39 do not do your business pleasure 54:41 on the Sabbath. 54:43 And if you continue on, 54:44 it can even mean business affair 54:46 or business matter. 54:47 This falls within the context 54:48 what we see at the top of this passage, 54:50 up in verse 3, I believe it is 54:52 when it's talking about 54:53 the exploitation of the laborers, okay, 54:56 because what the people had been doing 54:57 is they had lost sight 54:59 of the holiness of the Sabbath. 55:00 And they begin kind of like in Nehemiah's day, 55:02 they began to do their business pleasure 55:05 on the Sabbath day. 55:07 And they had basically taken away the distinction 55:09 and the holiness and the holy observance of the Sabbath, 55:12 and just made it out to be 55:13 whatever day that they wanted it to be 55:15 and continued to do the things that God said, 55:17 "You shall not do on that day, 55:18 but allow the other six days for that to happen." 55:21 Also, another word here 55:23 that was interesting that I found 55:24 is the word delight. 55:26 In the original Hebrew, 55:27 it's not just you know that 55:28 the Sabbath should be a delight. 55:30 Actually, the original Hebrew brings out 55:31 that it should be an exquisite delight. 55:34 It should be a happy day. 55:36 It should be an exquisite delight? 55:38 Is the Sabbath an exquisite delight to you? 55:40 Is it something 55:41 that you have allowed to be a blessing, 55:43 something you look forward to? 55:44 My friends, 55:46 yes, protect the holiness of the Sabbath, 55:48 but don't allow it to become some heavy drudgerous, boring, 55:52 you know, a hard, you know, horrible experience. 55:54 We should delight in the Lord, 55:56 we should be together as a people commune, 55:58 but make the Sabbath an exquisite delight. 56:01 Amen. Thank you so much. 56:03 What a powerful study each one of you. 56:05 Pastor Ryan, Pastor Kenny, Shelley, and Pastor John, 56:08 thank you. 56:09 I want to give each one of you a moment 56:11 to share something about your day. 56:12 Pastor John? 56:13 Well, high thoughts was my day. 56:15 And I'm going to read Romans 16:25-27 quickly, 56:18 he says, 56:20 "Now to Him who is able to establish you 56:21 according to my gospel 56:23 and the preaching of Jesus Christ, 56:24 according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret 56:27 since the world began, 56:28 but now made manifest, 56:30 and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, 56:33 according to the commandment of the everlasting God, 56:35 for obedience to the faith, to God, alone, 56:39 who alone is wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever." 56:42 God is the only wise one 56:44 and His thoughts are always higher than our thoughts. 56:47 Praise God. Amen and amen. 56:48 I just want to comment on something 56:50 that you said Kenny, 56:52 when you said that 56:54 the selfishness is how do you say it, 56:58 the worst sin, 56:59 that's because you know what? 57:00 God is love. He's self-sacrificing love. 57:04 So if God's love is in you, 57:06 you're not going to have that selfishness 57:08 and we just need to remember that 57:09 God is not looking for people, 57:11 just doing religious rituals. 57:15 Hypocrisy is the worst enemy of love. 57:18 Amen. 57:19 This lesson here the prophet pleads for us 57:21 to give up our own thoughts, our own ways, return to God, 57:24 He will abundantly and mercifully pardon us 57:27 and transform us into His image. 57:29 Amen. 57:30 Isaiah 58:12, says that 57:33 God wants us to be repairers of the breach, 57:35 and we often need to be a repairer of the Sabbath 57:37 because the Sabbath has been breached, 57:39 but uplifted as a holy day, 57:41 but allow it to be an exquisite delight. 57:43 Amen. 57:45 I'm reminded of Psalm 139:23, 57:47 "Search me, O God, and know my heart. 57:49 Try me and know my thoughts. 57:52 And see if there's any wicked way in me 57:54 and lead me in the way everlasting." 57:55 This week, God wants to search us 57:57 and how we honor the Sabbath, 58:00 how we treat others and how we look at God. 58:02 Join us next week, 58:04 lesson number 12, "Desire of Nations." 58:06 Amen. |
Revised 2021-03-12