Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210038S
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00:01 Hello, and a great big welcome.
00:02 We're glad you join us today for 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:05 I believe that you're really going to enjoy this lesson. 00:07 I know I did as I was going through it. 00:09 We're going to be on lesson number 12. 00:11 I know that we're entering it, you know, before the end of it. 00:14 But you know, 00:15 I know that you're going to be involved today. 00:17 And we're going to encourage others 00:18 in just a moment, make sure that 00:19 they also gonna be involved. 00:21 Because it's not just what we've been studying here 00:23 and say, well, they did that before, 00:24 you can have the study guides, 00:26 and that you can certainly call for them 00:28 and you can get those and you can go back over them. 00:30 So that's good. 00:32 We're gonna be on lesson number 12. 00:33 We're going to be talking about the Restless Prophet. 00:36 And it was gonna be a lot about Jonah and some things 00:38 that maybe you've heard for years, 00:39 but I know the panel will bring out things 00:41 that Holy Spirit gives them. 00:42 Again, we're glad you joined us today. 00:43 If you don't have your study guide, 00:45 still time still can get them. 00:46 Go to ABSG.Adventist.org 00:50 That's ABSG.Adventist.org 00:53 And download those, get them, 00:55 and I tell you'll be glad that you did. 00:56 We'll be glad that you did too. 00:57 And we're getting ready to start right now. 00:59 Hang in there. Here we go. 01:30 Well, praise the Lord. 01:31 Look like you didn't go anywhere. 01:32 You're gonna stay right here and join us. 01:34 I'm glad, you have choices 01:36 but you made the right choice today. 01:37 We're gonna begin lesson number 12, 01:39 we're going to be looking at, you know, 01:41 the Restless Prophet, what does all that mean? 01:44 And I'll give you a little background here 01:46 before I maybe introduce right 01:50 and even before prayer time, 01:51 I just want to give a little backup, 01:53 this is something that make sure you stay with us 01:55 and we pray that that's what it will do. 01:58 We're going to be in the subject 01:59 the headings is going to be think about running, 02:02 notice this, Running Away. 02:04 What does it mean? 02:05 What do you mean run away 02:07 when God gives you something to do? 02:08 What do you mean you're going to run away? 02:09 And then on now think Monday's lesson. 02:11 Oh, we're going to get a three days rest? 02:13 Well, now, who doesn't like a three days rest, 02:15 but I'm thrilled about this rest that's coming up. 02:17 And then mission accomplished. I like that. 02:20 That means something went on 02:21 but yet it went toward God's way. 02:23 An angry, restless missionary. Hmm. 02:28 Is there a time and place 02:29 where we might get angry sometime, 02:31 you know, we'll see. 02:32 And then, Sister Shelley, a two-way street. 02:36 Can't wait to hear about that one, 02:37 the two-way street. 02:39 And I've always said that in my life about 02:40 lot of different thing, it's two-way street. 02:42 And anyway, we're glad that you're here. 02:44 I want to introduce the panel right now. 02:46 No introduction is needed, I know. 02:48 But it's something that we do. 02:50 And because I believe we have new viewers all the time. 02:52 People are just coming in 02:54 and then will say and say oh who are these folks? 02:55 And so sometime you want to know, 02:57 my left Sister Jill Morikone. 02:58 God bless you. Glad you're here today. 03:00 Thank you for what you do for the cause of Christ. 03:02 Thank you, Pastor Kenny. 03:03 Excited about this study on Jonah. 03:05 Oh, next to you on your left Jason Bradley. 03:07 Brother Jason Bradley, how are you friend? 03:09 I'm doing well. 03:11 It's always great to see the mission accomplished. 03:14 Amen. Oh, we look forward to that. 03:16 Yes. Absolute, thank you. 03:18 To your left Pastor John Lomacang. 03:19 Yes. 03:20 And you asked I'm the one dealing 03:22 with the angry restless missionary. 03:23 Yeah. Looking forward to this one. 03:25 It's amazingly insightful. Amen. 03:28 All right, Sister Shelley. Mine's a two-way street. 03:30 And this isn't what it's about. 03:32 But what I will say is, 03:35 Sabbath School Panel is a two-way street. 03:37 We learn to teach but we teach to learn. 03:42 That's good. 03:43 Praise the Lord. Awesome. 03:45 It's upon us. Yeah. 03:46 Now well, you know, we never go into the Word of God 03:47 without prayer, do we? 03:49 You know, we need the power of the Holy Spirit. 03:51 And we ask for the Holy Spirit. 03:52 We thoroughly believe the Holy Spirit will be here 03:55 and help each one of us here 03:56 and those you know, your ears get big. 03:59 We want your ears to get big and your brain, 04:01 the mind to get big so you can comprehend 04:03 the things of God So, Sister Jill, 04:04 you're right here next, would you pray please? 04:06 Absolutely. 04:08 Holy Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus, 04:10 grateful for the gift of Your Word 04:12 and Your Holy Spirit. 04:14 We ask just now that You would open up our minds 04:17 and hearts to not only hear, but to walk in obedience to 04:21 what you show us in Jesus' name. 04:23 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 04:25 So you had those study guides out right now 04:27 and we always go out to the memory verse, 04:29 I'd say the memory verse, the memory text. 04:32 I did that when I was young. 04:33 Memory verse, have you memorized 04:34 your memory verse? 04:36 Well, memory text here, and this found in Jonah 4:11. 04:40 Now these are powerful words here, 04:42 we should pay attention to them. 04:43 It says, and I should, notice, "And should I not pity Nineveh, 04:47 that great city, in which are more than," notice this, 04:50 somebody may not realize, "120,000 persons, 04:56 who cannot discern between their right hand 04:58 and their left hand and much livestock." 05:02 Kind of interesting thought there, ain't it? 05:04 You take 120,000 here in Southern Illinois 05:06 in the cornfield, you're going to have to go 05:08 from the southern end of Illinois, 05:10 way up to at least the middle of the state, 05:12 it seemed like before we get 120,000, 05:14 just kind of the area there. 05:16 It's very interesting to me. 05:18 So anyway, this subject that 05:20 we're talking about today is 05:21 one of the most interesting stories, 05:23 I think, in the Bible. 05:25 I really do, an illustration, this is a God, 05:27 we can illustrate a lot of things from this, 05:30 and probably one of the first ones 05:31 maybe I ever heard, I don't know that about Jonah, 05:35 and the whale and what happened. 05:36 And so, I looked at it just 05:38 from those little tidbits on there. 05:40 But now I know the panel is going to bring out 05:41 some good spiritual lessons in there. 05:43 Here we have a man prophet that was called by God, 05:47 he was, God equipped him 05:48 to give a message that needed to be given 05:50 because Nineveh was soon to be destroyed. 05:52 And so he went forward to do it. 05:54 But all of a sudden, he begin to think, 05:56 sometimes we do that when God calls us to do 05:57 something that's too big for us, 05:59 too big for our britches sometime we might get, 06:01 think we can do it. 06:02 But sometime, as we think about it, 06:03 we get a little bit frightened and say, 06:05 well, you know, but remember God's call 06:06 is upon you. 06:08 So make sure that you follow through. 06:10 He did follow through to begin with, but what happened? 06:13 Kind of have a change of mind and change your heart 06:16 and the people heard to begin with 06:17 or what did they do? 06:19 They heard to begin with, and then they repented. 06:22 Yes. 06:24 Interesting thought, 06:25 I'd be glad to hear what the panel says about that. 06:26 The call was made, they repented. 06:29 And then they, then what said, the prophet got mad. 06:32 Prophet got all upset. 06:34 Because the people had repeated, he looked bad, 06:37 because he prophesied something else 06:38 that was going to happen. 06:40 So in this lesson, we're gonna look at Jonah 06:41 and the rest, you know, lessons we can learn from this, 06:44 his restlessness and his lack of peace that 06:47 he had in his heart and his mind. 06:50 Remember, Jonah had been called 06:51 in Sunday's lesson Running Away. 06:54 I don't know about you. 06:55 Sometime, I've been a lot of personal things, 06:57 and just forgive me if I do. 06:59 But you know, we learn from personal experiences, 07:01 lessons sometimes that we just never forget. 07:03 We can read them, we can learn them 07:05 from the Word of God, 07:06 that experiences that God allows us 07:07 to go through that teaches us there, 07:10 again all of them. 07:11 I've never forgotten, ever forgotten. 07:15 Now, may God help us to always, you know, keep those in mind. 07:18 Now remember, this wasn't the first rodeo. 07:20 I'd say that in a nice way for Jonah. 07:22 Because 2 Kings 14 tells us this, 07:25 that God had called him before to do a job 07:28 to be one before he appeared, 07:30 and what was soon to take place? 07:32 And he seemed like 07:33 he followed on through with that. 07:35 But this time, evidently, 07:37 and that's some time in our life. 07:38 Sometime, we're just obedient, man, we just flash here, 07:40 and we are there by the grace of God. 07:42 And next time, we say, whoa, wait a minute, 07:45 God, I'm not up to that. 07:46 He said, I wouldn't have called you, 07:48 I wouldn't have equipped you 07:49 if I thought you weren't up to it. 07:50 But you know what He says to me at this time? 07:52 I know you're not but I am, He said. 07:54 That's what we need. 07:55 That's right, He brings you right back down. 07:57 So he decided to run away. 08:00 And is that always a good thing to do when God calls us 08:04 or maybe to run away from anything 08:06 rather than to meet may be head on by the grace of God. 08:09 And he didn't just run away, 08:10 he just didn't hide in his house, 08:12 he went in the opposite direction. 08:14 You know, that's fearful sometime for us, 08:16 instead of just saying God, 08:18 Nineveh's a little bit too much. 08:19 Sometimes we make a complete turn around 08:21 and we go the opposite direction. 08:22 And it makes it very difficult to turn around again, 08:24 and go back in the way He wants us to go. 08:27 And, you know, he thought, why should I do this thing? 08:31 And I think you'll understand it better as we go along 08:32 in the lesson. 08:34 Why should I do this thing if I, 08:36 if I do this and follow through God 08:38 with what you want me to do, it may cost me my life. 08:41 Now, most of us say, well, we understand 08:43 that's the end of things that's going to cost us 08:46 our life as end result. 08:48 But do we really believe it? 08:51 Do we really believe that what you're giving today, 08:55 if you're giving the message God 08:56 has asked us to do, 08:58 it may cost you your life, 09:00 it may cost you a three day vacation, 09:04 you'll get that little along as we go, right? 09:06 It might cost about some people 09:08 getting upset with you just a little bit 09:10 if you follow God's plan. 09:12 But God does have a plan, He understands all that, 09:14 but He still asks us to go forward and do 09:16 what He's asked to do. 09:17 Now, he thought, you know, Jonah had thought about it, 09:20 you know, getting into, you know, 09:22 the Assyrians I think 09:23 were very easy going to begin with, 09:27 then they had a change of heart too. 09:29 And so as Jonah thought about them, 09:31 because they're even compared to, 09:33 I think it's in Ezekiel 31 that they were considered 09:35 as a tree in the garden. 09:37 Isn't that interesting? 09:39 They were like, it tells us that that 09:40 the tree in the garden of God was likened to him. 09:43 And his beauty, all the trees of Eden that 09:45 were in the garden of God envied him. 09:48 Ezekiel 31, read that when you have time, 09:50 3 through 9. 09:51 So evidently, this group was familiar. 09:54 They were helpful. 09:56 They wanted to do it, doing the right thing. 09:59 And all of a sudden, there was a change 10:00 that took place, a change took place. 10:03 And so Jonah was familiar with this change. 10:07 And he realized then that he wasn't on the good side 10:09 maybe anymore if he did 10:11 what he may be that upset him that he would die. 10:14 They would persecute him. 10:15 So he's thinking, well, maybe it's not a good time 10:17 to go along. 10:19 But you know, again, the Assyrians they changed 10:21 and what they changed to, like, maybe we do some time. 10:24 We follow Jesus Christ. 10:26 He's our Lord and our Savior, and we just, 10:28 we just want to just be, 10:29 I want to say snuggle up to Him all the time. 10:31 You know, just be close to Him. 10:33 John did that, he laid his head on the breast, 10:35 right, Christ, you know, 10:37 and I'm sure they prayed together, 10:38 and they wept together and they had joy together. 10:41 But here Assyria became self-centered. 10:44 And all of a sudden, they began, 10:45 they wanted to go back 10:47 and start worshipping those idols again. 10:49 They're doing everything toward Nineveh, 10:51 and all the people of God, they're doing the wrong thing. 10:53 And God says, I'm going to give them a warning, 10:55 something's going to happen. 10:57 They're turning their back on Him. 10:58 And instead of, you know, going to the true God. 11:01 So God sent, notice this, 11:03 Jonah with a message of, remember it's of warning. 11:06 And for the very first time, that message of warning, 11:08 the people straightened up. 11:10 My grandpa always said, Kenny, straighten up and act right. 11:13 And so you know what? 11:14 They straightened up for a little time 11:16 and they acted right. 11:17 But then the time come, 11:18 they didn't act right anymore, you know? 11:21 And so, God began, in fact Nahum talked about, 11:23 read, jot this down before our time runs. 11:25 Nahum 3:1-5, gives a description 11:29 of this terrible power that 11:31 we were talking about, in words like these, 11:33 so in case you realize 11:34 what Jonah is still saying, well, he should have done. 11:37 You know, there was reasons he had, 11:38 and weren't good reason, but they were reasons, 11:40 number one is because the Bible says, 11:43 Nahum said, "Woe to the bloody city." 11:46 Woe to the bloody city. 11:47 And again, he said, it is all full of lies and robbery. 11:51 God knows what he's saying, God knows what he's doing. 11:54 And He sent a warning that you're going to be destroyed 11:56 if you don't change your way there in Nineveh. 11:57 And then he said, there, there are a multitude of slain, 12:01 behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord. 12:04 If God ever comes to that point, 12:06 He says He's against you. 12:07 You know, really, that's serious business. 12:08 Yeah. 12:10 That's serious business, that means decisions 12:11 already been made unless 12:13 there's certainly repentance, something's going to happen. 12:15 Example, the prophet in Chapter 2 12:18 there we looked right in the prophesied Zephaniah, 12:24 I think it was Zephaniah Chapter 2 12:26 prophesied about the desolation 12:29 and the pride and the arrogance of Assyria, 12:32 and what was going to happen to Nineveh. 12:33 So that'd be good to be able to look up 12:34 and see Zephaniah, I think Chapter 2. 12:37 So anyway, we realized 12:38 there was a fight that was scheduled, 12:40 something was going to go on here, 12:42 and that God was sending warnings. 12:44 I'm very, very thankful. 12:46 Isaiah 30:28 says, 12:47 "A righteous judge shall sift the nations." 12:51 A righteous judge shall what? Sift the nations. 12:54 I believe right now, 12:55 and let's put it right now today, 12:57 God is sifting the nations right now. 12:59 God is holding out right now saying, 13:01 hey, who's going to follow Me? 13:03 Who's going to do what I've asked to do 13:04 and the will in His Word, 13:06 so are you going to do that today? 13:08 Am I going to do that by the grace of God? 13:10 In Jonah 1:1-2, it says, 13:12 "The word of the Lord came to Jonah," 13:13 right then right there, there it is. 13:15 "Word came to Jonah, 'Arise, go to Nineveh 13:18 and give the city a cry against it, 13:19 for their wickedness has come up before Me." 13:23 If you think the wickedness in the world, 13:25 they're getting away with it today, 13:26 you better think again, in the cities and the towns 13:29 and what's going on in the world, 13:30 God has a watchful eye on His people 13:32 what's happening in this world today. 13:34 God sending warning, He's sending messages, 13:36 He's sending prophecies, He's sending, right? 13:38 Open your eyes, see these things, 13:39 because the judgments are coming. 13:42 You know, we need to realize that we live in that hour. 13:44 We live in the hour that we hear God is calling 13:47 and He is choosing different men and women 13:49 and even children to be able to speak for Him. 13:52 He knows who He's choosing, 13:54 He knows as He's equipping them, 13:57 and that they will be ready 13:58 so if God is impressing your heart 13:59 and your mind, lines up with the Bible to do 14:02 something even though they're gonna say, 14:03 oh, you might get in trouble for it or all my, you know, 14:06 if people are not going to like it at all, 14:08 if it's, right, lines up with the Word of God, 14:11 I encourage you please do it. 14:12 You don't want to spend three days 14:14 in the belly of a whale. 14:16 You know, you don't want to do that. 14:17 So you want to go ahead right and do exactly 14:19 what God want to do 14:20 and not reason human reasoning for why I don't want to do it. 14:24 But give a lot of reasons why. 14:26 Number one simply is because God said to do it. 14:30 Amen. Amen. 14:31 On these lessons, Sister Jill. 14:33 Thank you so much, Pastor Kenny, Running Away. 14:37 We look at Monday's lesson, which is A Three-Day Rest, 14:41 and we're really looking at Jonah Chapter 2 14:44 is the focus of my lesson. 14:46 You know, the Book of Jonah, 14:47 some scholars say is the greatest missionary book 14:50 in the Old Testament. 14:52 The book shows God is caring deeply 14:54 for the salvation of nations 14:56 beyond His chosen people, which is Israel. 14:59 It shows God's evangelistic heart 15:03 for the Gentiles 15:04 for those who were not God's chosen people. 15:06 And, of course, as Pastor Kenny already talked about, 15:09 the Prophet Jonah was narrow-minded. 15:12 He was stubborn, he was hypocritical, 15:14 and he was pro-Israel to the exclusion 15:17 of anyone else even meriting God's favor. 15:22 The book really shows the irony of a gracious God 15:25 who has a very ungracious missionary. 15:30 Jonah ran away from God, and God's calling on his life, 15:33 God's calling to go to Nineveh as Pastor Kenny 15:35 already talked about, he boarded the ship, 15:39 and the waves and the storm arose. 15:41 And finally Jonah says, "Well, I'm the culprit of this storm, 15:44 and they tossed him overboard, 15:47 and the sea it ceased its raging. 15:50 But that's not the end of the story. 15:51 Because God not only wants to save the nation, 15:54 the city of Nineveh, 15:56 he also wants to save His prophet. 15:59 That's Jonah. So in Jonah 1:17. 16:02 This is right before we pick it up in Chapter 2, 16:04 but Jonah 1:17, it says, 16:06 "The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. 16:10 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish 16:12 or in the belly of the whale, three days and three nights." 16:16 We know that Jesus reference this to illustrate 16:19 His upcoming experience with death 16:21 as far as three days and three nights 16:23 from the crucifixion to the resurrection. 16:25 But we're going to look at Jonah Chapter 2, 16:27 this is Jonah's prayer to God 16:30 from the belly of the whale, 16:33 and I found eight lessons from his prayer. 16:36 So let's look at those eight lessons. 16:37 We're in Jonah 2:1, lesson number one, 16:41 "Then Jonah prayed to the Lord, 16:42 his God, from the fish's belly." 16:45 It's interesting, Jonah is a man of prayer. 16:47 He prays when he's in trouble. 16:48 And we'll also see when we get over 16:50 to Pastor John's lesson that he prays when he's mad, 16:53 and he prays when he's in anguish 16:55 or distress, or in anger. 16:58 Lesson number one, 16:59 when you are in trouble, God hears. 17:05 You can talk to God anytime about anything. 17:09 You don't have to be in church. 17:10 You don't have to be on bended knee. 17:13 You can be in the belly of a fish, 17:14 and I don't think 17:15 that's ever happened before or since. 17:17 But you could be as Jonah was in not a cathedral, 17:21 not the temple or a sanctuary, he's in a fish. 17:25 And he talked to God, 17:26 because when you're in trouble, God hears. 17:30 Peter, what did he say? 17:31 He's sinking in the waves. 17:34 And he didn't have time to kneel and pray. 17:36 He didn't have time to do something official. 17:38 He just said, "Lord, save me." 17:41 I think about Nehemiah. 17:43 Remember, he was the king's cupbearer. 17:45 And when he was going before the king, 17:47 and the king asked why he was sad, 17:49 and why his countenance was troubled? 17:51 What does it say? 17:52 And I prayed to the God of heaven. 17:56 When you're in trouble, God hears. 17:58 Lesson number two. Let's look at the next verse. 18:01 "And Jonah said, he said, 'I cried out to the Lord, 18:05 because of my affliction, and He answered me. 18:09 Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, 18:13 and You heard my voice." 18:15 When you're in trouble, God answers. 18:19 He doesn't just hear, God answers. 18:22 When you're in trouble cry out to God, 18:25 He will hear you, He will answer you. 18:28 Psalm 120:1 says, "In my distress, 18:32 I cried to the Lord." 18:33 And guess what? "He heard me." 18:37 Isaiah 65:24, 18:39 "Before they call, I will answer. 18:41 And while they're yet speaking, I will hear." 18:45 You know, sometimes when we are in trouble, 18:48 we don't want to go to God. 18:49 That's the farthest thing on our minds. 18:51 I know, there has been times in my life where I think, 18:54 but it was my own choice to run away. 18:57 It was my own choice to turn my back on God. 18:59 It was my own choice to do my own thing. 19:02 God, I'm not sure can I come to You? 19:05 That is the time you need God the most. 19:07 When you're in trouble, God will always hear you. 19:10 When you are in trouble, God will always answer you. 19:14 Lesson number three, is in verse 3. 19:16 Jonah 2:3, "For You cast me into the deep, 19:20 into the heart of the seas, 19:23 and the floods surrounded me, 19:26 all your billows and your waves passed over me." 19:30 Now this one might be a little hard 19:31 to catch at the beginning. 19:33 But when you're in trouble, quote scripture. 19:37 This is actually a scripture 19:40 from Psalm 42:7, 19:45 Jonah would have heard this 19:47 when he went to temple, he would have heard 19:48 this in the tabernacle. 19:50 It is a psalm of the sons of Korah, 19:52 who were actually Levites. 19:55 That psalm is Psalm 42:7, 19:56 it says, "Deep calls unto deep 19:58 at the noise of Your waterfalls, 19:59 all Your waves and billows have gone over me." 20:03 So when you are in trouble, turn to the Word of God. 20:07 Open up the Word of God and claim those promises 20:11 over your life 20:12 because all of God's promises are yes 20:14 and amen in Christ Jesus. 20:16 Amen. That's right. 20:17 You know, 2 Chronicles 20, we have Jehoshaphat, 20:20 and the Ammonites and the Moabites 20:21 are coming against the city, and he's terrified. 20:24 And you see, I love this passage, 20:26 but you see this seven step process 20:29 of getting deliverance from your enemies. 20:31 But one of those steps that Jehoshaphat followed 20:34 was to claim a Bible promise of 20:36 what God had done for the children 20:39 of Israel in the past. 20:40 And then he said, God, this is what You did before. 20:42 I know You can do this again. 20:45 So when you're in trouble, quote scripture. 20:47 Lesson number four, we're in Jonah 2:4. 20:50 "Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight, 20:53 yet I will look again toward Your holy temple." 20:57 When you are in trouble, seek God, reach out for God. 21:02 Don't shrink from Him. 21:03 Don't hide from Him, reach out. 21:06 You know where Jonah knew 21:08 where to find God was in the sanctuary. 21:11 Psalm 77:13, "Your way, O God, 21:15 is in the sanctuary, 21:17 who is so great a God as our God?" 21:21 You know, Jonah understood. 21:22 Exodus 25:8, "Let them make 21:25 Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." 21:28 He understood God was in the sanctuary. 21:31 And so he searched for his God there. 21:35 Let's look at lesson number five. 21:37 Jonah 2:5-6, "The waters they surrounded me, 21:41 even to my soul, the deep closed around me, 21:44 weeds were wrapped around my head. 21:47 I went down to the moorings of the mountains, 21:50 the earth with its bars closed behind me forever, 21:53 yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God." 21:59 When you're in trouble, God delivers. 22:01 When all seems lost, God delivers. 22:04 When there is no way out 22:06 and you are stuck in your Egypt experience 22:08 or caught in the belly of the whale, 22:10 and there is no way for you to get out, 22:12 God shows up and He delivers. 22:16 Psalm 40:2 says the same thing. 22:18 "He brought me up out of the horrible pit, 22:21 out of the miry clay, and he set my feet on a rock, 22:25 and he established my steps." 22:28 Lesson number six. 22:29 Jonah 2:7, "When my soul fainted within me, 22:34 I remembered the Lord, 22:35 and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple." 22:39 See that sanctuary language again. 22:41 Lesson six, when you're in trouble, 22:43 never forget God. 22:45 When his soul fainted, when he was in trouble, 22:47 when it seemed like everything was overwhelming him 22:50 around him, he remembered the Lord. 22:54 God is our refuge and strength, 22:57 a very present help in time of trouble. 23:00 That's Psalm 46:1. 23:02 Let's look at lesson number seven. 23:04 Jonah 2:8-9, "Those who regard 23:07 worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. 23:10 But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving, 23:14 I will pay what I have vowed. 23:16 Salvation is from the Lord." 23:19 When you are in trouble, practice gratefulness. 23:23 Now that might seem impossible, 23:26 that might seem when I'm in trouble, 23:28 how in the world am I supposed to give thanks? 23:31 You know, Hebrews 13:15 says, 23:33 "Therefore by Him let us 23:35 continually offer the sacrifice of praise, 23:40 that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." 23:42 Sometimes thanksgiving is a sacrifice. 23:44 And it is not easy 23:46 when you're stuck in the belly of the whale 23:48 and you don't know how you're going to get out. 23:50 How he said, I was sacrificed to you 23:53 with the voice of thanksgiving. 23:54 And yet in the midst of that, God shows up. 23:58 Lesson number eight. Jonah 2:10. 24:00 This is how it ends. 24:01 "So the Lord spoke to the fish, 24:03 and it vomited Jonah on the dry land." 24:07 When you are in trouble, 24:09 God is still in control and He can deliver you. 24:12 The waves and the seas and even the fish, 24:15 they're still under God's control. 24:17 So know today, when you're in trouble, 24:20 God hears, God answers. 24:22 Quote scripture, seek God, God will deliver you. 24:27 Do not forget Him. 24:28 Practice gratefulness and now most importantly, 24:32 God is still in control and He would deliver you. 24:35 Amen. Praise the Lord. 24:37 What a good foundation. Praise God for that. 24:39 And there's a lot more to come. Gonna take a short break. 24:41 We'll be right back. 24:48 Ever wish you could watch 24:50 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:52 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:55 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 25:00 A clean design makes it easy 25:03 to find the program you're looking for. 25:05 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:08 so you can follow along. 25:10 Sharing is easy. 25:11 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:15 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:19 Thank you for staying with us. 25:21 I'm gonna skip right over quickly 25:22 to Brother Jason Bradley, 25:23 because I want to hear the message to talk about 25:25 Mission Accomplished. 25:27 I love that Tuesday's lesson. Amen. 25:28 Tuesday's lesson. 25:30 You know, one of the things that I love is that, you know, 25:32 God's Word does not return void, 25:35 and everybody loves to accomplish their mission. 25:37 So I want you to imagine 25:39 if you were told to go to New York City 25:42 and preach a message that 25:43 inform New Yorkers that their city 25:45 would be overthrown in 40 days? 25:48 What if God gave you the message? 25:51 Would you go on the first, the first call? 25:54 I thought about that as I was studying this lesson. 25:56 And as much as I'd love to say, yes, I go. 26:00 The truth is, I probably would have been 26:02 hesitant like Jonah. 26:05 Sometimes we can be 26:06 pretty hard-headed as human beings, 26:08 when God tells us to do something 26:10 outside of our comfort zone. 26:13 Jonah gave us a prime example of that. 26:16 And we'll begin this lesson by looking at Jonah Chapter 3, 26:19 beginning in verse 1. 26:22 "Now, the word of the Lord 26:23 came to Jonah the second time saying, 26:26 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and preach to 26:29 it the message that I tell you.' 26:31 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, 26:33 according to the word of the Lord. 26:35 Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, 26:38 a three-day journey in extent. 26:41 And Jonah began to enter the city 26:43 on the first day's walk. 26:45 Then he cried out and said, 26:46 'Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!'" 26:51 Now that was an extremely short sermon, 26:54 but it was a powerful one nonetheless. 26:56 Let's read on to see how the people of Nineveh 26:58 responded to the message. 27:00 We are in Jonah 3:5 now. 27:03 "So the people of Nineveh believed God, 27:06 proclaimed the fast and put on sackcloth, 27:09 from the greatest to the least of them. 27:12 Then word came to the king of Nineveh, 27:14 and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, 27:17 covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes." 27:21 Now, I want us to pause right here for a second, 27:24 because the sackcloth 27:25 and ashes hold great significance. 27:29 Sackcloth was a garment made of coarse material 27:32 such as a black goat hair, and it was worn 27:35 when someone was going through a terrible disaster, 27:39 or they were trying to show remorse or penitence. 27:43 As far as the ashes are concerned, 27:44 we were formed 27:46 in the dust and to the dust we shall return when we die. 27:50 So the ashes are a reminder of our death 27:53 and a symbol of sorrow for our sins. 27:56 Now, let's pick back up in Jonah 3:7. 28:00 "And he caused it to be proclaimed 28:02 and published throughout Nineveh 28:04 by the decree of the king and his nobles saying, 28:07 'Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, 28:11 taste anything, do not let them eat, 28:13 or drink water." 28:15 I don't know how you get animals to fast, 28:17 not drink or eat or anything like that. 28:19 I can barely get myself to fast and not eat and all that stuff. 28:23 "But let man and beast be covered 28:25 with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God. 28:28 Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way 28:31 and from the violence that is in his hands. 28:34 Who can tell if God will turn 28:35 and relent and turn away from His fierce anger 28:38 so that we may not perish? 28:40 Then Gods saw their works that 28:42 they turned from their evil way, 28:44 and God relented from the disaster that 28:46 He had said He would bring upon them 28:49 and He did not do it." 28:51 God gave Jonah a very important no fluff, 28:54 no nonsense message to deliver 28:57 to the people of Nineveh, 28:58 and they listened and repented. 29:01 The Holy Spirit was clearly working on their hearts. 29:03 Now you may be asking, what is true repentance? 29:07 So let's look at a few different passages 29:10 and extract some of the elements. 29:12 We'll start with Jonah 3:6-9, 29:14 and I know that we read this 29:16 but we're going to look at it again 29:17 with a different lens. 29:19 "Then word came to the king of Nineveh, 29:22 and he rose from his throne 29:24 and laid aside his robe, covered himself 29:27 with sackcloth and sat in ashes." 29:30 Imagine the king getting off of his throne 29:33 and then sitting in ashes 29:35 and taking his robe off, 29:38 and putting the sackcloth on. 29:40 Verse 7, "And he caused it to be proclaimed 29:42 and published throughout Nineveh 29:44 by the decree of the king 29:45 and his nobles, saying, 'Let neither man nor beast, 29:48 herd nor flock, taste anything, 29:50 do not let them eat, or drink water. 29:53 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, 29:56 and cry mightily to God.'" 29:59 You know, perhaps you've gone through something 30:01 and you've had to just cry out to the Lord. 30:03 Imagine this cry that went out. 30:05 "He cried mightily to God. 30:07 Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way 30:10 and from the violence that is in his hands. 30:13 Who can tell if God will turn and relent 30:15 and turn away from His fierce anger 30:17 so that we may not perish?" 30:20 Jeremiah 25:5, "They said, 30:24 'Repent now everyone of his evil way 30:27 and his evil doings, and dwell in the land 30:30 that the Lord has given to you 30:32 and your fathers forever and ever.'" 30:35 So repent from your evil way and your evil doings. 30:40 And then what comes, 30:42 you dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you 30:45 and your fathers forever and ever. 30:47 Sometimes we get in the way of God's blessings. 30:51 He wants to pour out blessings, 30:53 but we're in the way and we need to repent. 30:55 Ezekiel 14:6 says, 30:58 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 31:00 thus says the Lord God, repent, turn away from your idols 31:04 and turn your faces away from all your abominations." 31:08 Notice we're seeing repent, repent, repent. 31:10 In Revelation 2:5, it says, "Remember, therefore, 31:14 from where you have fallen, 31:16 repent and do the first works 31:18 or else I will come to you quickly 31:20 and remove your lampstand from its place, 31:24 unless you repent." 31:26 In order to repent, we must do the following. 31:30 One, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit. 31:33 Two, we need to acknowledge our wrongdoing 31:35 by confessing our sins to God. 31:39 Three, we must turn from our evil ways. 31:42 And four, we must turn to the Lord. 31:46 Now you may be saying, well, 31:48 three and four sound a lot of like. 31:49 Well, you can make behavioral modifications, 31:52 but you're not going to have a genuine transformation 31:54 until you submit, surrender 31:56 and commit your life to the Lord. 31:58 Repentance is a crucial part of our Christian experience, 32:01 because as Pastor Lomacang always says, 32:04 we are saints under construction. 32:07 In Romans 6:23, it says, "For the wages of sin is death, 32:12 but the gift of God," 32:14 this is my favorite part, "but the gift of God 32:16 is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord." 32:20 I don't want the death. 32:21 I want the eternal life. Thank God for that gift. 32:24 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, 32:28 He is faithful 32:29 and just to forgive us our sins, 32:32 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 32:34 Now, one would think that Jonah 32:37 would have been happy that the mission was accomplished, 32:40 and the people of Nineveh repented. 32:43 But unfortunately, that wasn't the case. 32:45 As the lesson points out, strangely, Jonah, 32:49 who has experienced God's grace for himself, 32:51 personally firsthand seems to think that 32:54 God's grace is something so exclusive, 32:58 that only some they have an opportunity, 33:01 may have opportunity to rest in it. 33:04 So that gives us some serious food for thought. 33:07 Absolutely, yeah. 33:08 Is there someone in your life that has wronged you? 33:12 They've asked God for forgiveness, 33:15 and they've asked you for forgiveness, 33:17 but you haven't forgiven them yet. 33:19 Matthew 6:14, says, 33:22 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, 33:25 your heavenly Father will also forgive you." 33:29 So you know what that means. 33:30 You got to forgive that individual 33:32 if you want forgiveness. 33:34 As human beings, 33:35 we tend to hold people to their past sins, 33:37 as if God's grace is exclusive to just us. 33:41 This is not a country club, 33:43 God extends His grace to everyone 33:47 who will partake. 33:48 That's right. 33:49 If someone walks into your church, tatted up, 33:52 smelling like cigarettes, would they see Christ 33:55 by the way you welcome them 33:56 or would they see judgment by the way you look at them 33:59 and shun them away? 34:00 It's good. 34:02 Remember that, 34:03 when they truly get to know Jesus, 34:05 those things will fall away. 34:07 That's right. Come on. 34:08 Interestingly enough, the Ninevites 34:10 didn't have all the stories of God's tender 34:14 leading that the Israelites had. 34:16 But they responded to him in a positive manner. 34:20 Praise God. 34:22 I believe we are living in the last days 34:24 and just as the Ninevites repented of their sins, 34:28 we must repent of ours 34:30 and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus 34:32 'cause time is short, 34:34 repent, repent, repent and turn toward the Lord. 34:38 Amen. Amen. 34:39 Praise the Lord. Thank you. 34:41 Yes. Okay. 34:43 Thank you, Jason, for this. 34:45 This prophet, Jonah, this I call him 34:48 the reluctant prophet or the man 34:52 who couldn't outrun God or who was more obedient 34:56 to Him or the fish. 34:58 It's right. 34:59 It depends on how we look at the story. 35:02 A couple of things I found in, and I'm in Jonah Chapter 4. 35:06 And mine is called An Angry Restless Missionary. 35:10 Verses 1 to 11 describe 35:13 Jonah's reluctant evangelistic series, 35:16 his anger for God's faithfulness, 35:19 and his attitude about how God turned a crisis 35:25 of magnificent proportions that could have been 35:29 into one of the greatest revival series 35:32 and salvation of an entire city. 35:35 But before I dive into that, 35:37 I want to bring out a couple of things 35:38 that are really important in the story of Jonah. 35:40 Because when you look at Jonah, 35:42 there are seven questions that are asked in the Book of Jonah. 35:44 And it starts out the story. 35:46 I know you covered Chapter 1, 35:47 but I want to just go back 35:49 and highlight these very quickly. 35:50 Let's go to Jonah Chapter 1. 35:52 A very quick, quick peek into that. 35:55 First thing I want to bring out is, 35:57 the direction of your life 35:58 is an indication of your spiritual condition. 36:00 When the Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh, 36:02 what did Jonah do? 36:04 If you look at verse 3, in Jonah Chapter 1, 36:06 the Bible says he went down to Joppa. 36:11 He not only that, he paid the fair, 36:14 the wages of sin, and went down into the ship, 36:19 that to go to Tarshish. 36:21 Nineveh was to the east, Tarshish was to the west, 36:26 he went in the opposite direction. 36:28 And then when the storm arose, what did he do? 36:31 Verse 5, "He went down into 36:34 the lowest parts of the ship, 36:37 and laid down and was fast asleep." 36:42 All of these are indicators. 36:45 The direction of your life 36:47 is an indication of your spiritual condition. 36:49 Jonah went down, down, down, sleep. 36:53 That's what happens when you are running from God, 36:56 your life cannot go up. 36:57 Don't think that obedience ever results in success. 37:01 I mean, disobedience ever results in success. 37:04 Obedience is a precursor to success. 37:07 Don't think that you can run from God as David said, 37:09 where would I go? 37:11 If I go to the uttermost parts of the heaven, You're there. 37:14 If I make my bed in the grave, You're there. 37:16 If I go to the lowest parts of the ocean, 37:18 or the depths of the sea, You're there. 37:20 Where can we run from God? 37:22 And the answer is nowhere. That's right. 37:27 But let's look at the seven questions 37:28 that the Lord asked Jonah. 37:30 And these are all and found in Jonah 1:6, 8 and 11. 37:35 Let's look at the first question 37:36 in verse 6. 37:38 And this is the... Actually in verse 6. 37:40 "So the captain came to him and said to him, 37:44 'What do you mean, oh, sleeper?" 37:46 I like the King James Version. 37:48 What meanest thou, O sleeper? 37:51 In other words, how could you be indifferent 37:54 in the midst of a crisis? 37:56 And this is a question that we should ask ourselves today. 38:00 It is in when the world is in crisis, 38:02 the worst thing we should be is asleep. 38:05 That's why the Apostle Paul says, 38:06 now it is high time to awake out of sleep. 38:10 In the crisis, the worst thing 38:12 the servant of God can be is asleep. 38:16 What meanest thou, O sleeper? 38:18 So the other part in verse 8, the other part in verse 8. 38:21 Look what it says in verse 8, 38:23 and it says, 38:25 "What is your occupation? 38:30 What is your occupation?" Okay? 38:33 And so why would you ask that question? 38:37 Why would you ask that question? 38:38 That question is asking, what do you with your time, 38:43 time of accountability? 38:44 What is your occupation? What takes up your time? 38:47 What in fact are you focusing on? 38:49 And there's another question that bring up. 38:51 Let's go on and look at verse again. 38:53 It says, "Where do you come from?" 38:56 Well, actually, the first part of verse 8 38:58 has a question that didn't start 38:59 with the word what or where. 39:01 But it asked the question, 39:02 for whose cause is this trouble upon us? 39:07 There's always an impact to disobedience. 39:10 Your obedience can mean the salvation 39:12 or the loss of someone around you. 39:14 And these mariners, 39:15 these sailors were negatively impacted 39:17 by a disobedient servant. 39:21 And I'll tell you, 39:22 I wouldn't want to be a disobedient servant 39:24 on an airplane trying to flee from God. 39:27 Can you imagine? Fix that to a plane nowadays. 39:29 Why is this plane rattling? 39:31 Because I'm not supposed to be on here. 39:33 Can you imagine? Who's causing this? 39:36 Can they turn to Jason in the airplane? 39:38 And they do to Jason what they did to Jonah, 39:40 only this time they opened the door. 39:42 Oh, my. You just, here's a parachute. 39:44 Yeah. And you know what? 39:46 What is your occupation? 39:48 The third thing is, where did you come from? 39:51 Where do you come from? 39:52 Where did your journey begin? 39:55 A lot of us have to understand 39:56 where our journey begins has a lot to do 39:59 with where God found us. 40:00 Yes. You know, where are you from? 40:02 Where are you from? Where each one of us is? 40:04 Where are each one of us from? 40:06 That's the origin of our journey. 40:08 The other one is what is your country? 40:10 The place of your influence. 40:11 I think differently from Shelley. 40:13 She's from Texas, I'm from New York. 40:16 Jill is from... Illinois. 40:18 Illinois. Wow. 40:20 Or really, Massachusetts. 40:22 You also New York 40:24 and Kenny's from Southern Illinois. 40:26 Where are you from? What is your country? 40:29 And then the other question of what people are you, 40:31 your identity? 40:33 And it's amazing in the moment 40:34 when that question was asked that 40:36 Jonah had the nerve to say, I'm a Hebrew. 40:39 Well, why are you going into this direction? 40:41 You are a disobedient individual, 40:44 but you are proud about your identity? 40:45 Yeah. 40:46 But the last question he asked was, 40:49 what shall we do to you that the sea may be common to us? 40:53 When a crisis hits, we need to take 40:56 personal responsibility 40:58 for what we can do to reverse that crisis. 41:01 What can we do to you that the sea may become to us. 41:05 Three very important points about this angry, 41:08 restless missionary. 41:11 Let's go to 2 Peter 3:9, 41:13 and I bring out three very important points. 41:15 One, Jonah was angry 41:17 because God's mission was successful. 41:20 What he fails to realize is God 41:23 is interested in the salvation of everyone. 41:28 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack 41:32 concerning His promises, 41:34 some count slackness, 41:35 but is long suffering toward us, 41:37 not willing that any should perish, 41:40 but that all should come to repentance." 41:42 Jonah knew that, but Jonah 41:44 was more concerned about his standing 41:46 as a Hebrew than those who were not. 41:48 And this was a cancer that 41:50 never really rooted itself 41:51 out of the scribes and Pharisees. 41:53 That's why they use terms like dogs. 41:56 They refer to the Gentiles as dogs. 41:58 That was the reason behind the rich man 41:59 and Lazarus parable, 42:01 the dogs came and licked the sore of Lazarus. 42:04 The dogs or the Gentiles were 42:05 more concerned with the needs of the people 42:07 than the Jews who boasted about their Hebrew background. 42:11 Second thing I found in Luke 19:10, 42:15 Jonah put the reputation, 42:17 his reputation above God's desire. 42:20 Jonah put his reputation above God's desire. 42:23 Luke 19-10. 42:25 Luke 19-10. 42:26 Jill, do you have that? I do. 42:28 "For the Son of man has come to seek 42:29 and to save that which was lost." 42:32 Isn't it amazing? Yeah. 42:34 Salvation is not exclusive 42:36 to any specific body of individuals. 42:38 God wants to save any, anyone, 42:41 for the Son of man has come to seek 42:42 and to save that which was lost. 42:44 When we lived in California, 42:45 my wife and I taught that verse to our niece. 42:47 And this was like 30 plus years ago, 42:49 to this day, when we call her in New York, 42:52 we say what's Luke 19:10? 42:54 She repeats it to us. 42:56 When you understand the mission of God, 43:00 He is concerned about the salvation of all. 43:02 If you're lost, He's concerned about your salvation. 43:05 And the next one, 43:08 Jonah was more concerned 43:09 about a plant than a soul. 43:15 That's serious. 43:17 God's mission was not to take away the sins of the plant, 43:22 but to take away the sins of humanity. 43:24 That's right. Jonah 1:20... 43:26 John 1:29, "The next day, 43:30 John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 43:33 'Behold, the Lamb of God, 43:36 who takes away the sin of the world." 43:40 And you know, when you think about it, 43:42 the last thing I want to bring out, 43:43 is the message of the cross 43:45 is not the message of condemnation of sinners, 43:48 but condemnation of sin. 43:51 So when I preach, I preach condemnation of sin, 43:55 but I preach redemption and salvation of the sinner. 44:01 You should never leave church feeling condemned. 44:04 You should leave church feeling empowered. 44:07 The minister must point out the sin, 44:10 but he must point the sinner to the Savior. 44:13 That's why I love John, 1 John 3:8. 44:16 What was the mission of Jesus? 44:19 He who sins is of the devil, 44:22 for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 44:24 For this purpose, the Son of God was manifest, 44:29 that He might destroy the works of the devil." 44:32 In Hebrews 2:14-15, 44:35 "Inasmuch then as the children 44:36 have partaken of flesh and blood, 44:38 He Himself likewise shared in the same, 44:41 that through death He might destroy him 44:42 who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 44:45 and release those who through fear of death 44:47 were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 44:52 God is still a deliverer. 44:54 Amen. Amen. 44:56 Thursday is A Two-Way Street. 45:01 Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrians. 45:05 And I'll tell you what? 45:07 In Jonah's day, the Assyrians, their cruelty was legendary. 45:12 They knew, I mean, 45:14 Jonah knew how cruel they were to their captives. 45:17 These were warlike pagans. 45:19 And you know what? 45:21 He just figured the Assyrians deserve God's judgment. 45:25 It would be a win for Israel, if God would destroy them. 45:30 So he didn't like the Ninevites. 45:32 He even hated the Ninevites. 45:36 And when he preached his one word, 45:39 or one sentence sermon, 45:42 and people repented, man, he was angry. 45:47 And you know, I'm gonna say something, 45:49 I remember once there was someone, 45:50 I've only known hatred once in my life. 45:53 And I thought this was 40 years ago. 45:58 But the bottom line is God told me that 46:00 I needed to forgive this person. 46:03 And that, like, I don't know how to, Lord. 46:06 And He said, "Pray for salvation." 46:07 And I'm saying, 46:09 "I don't want him to be saved, Lord. 46:11 I was ready to let him rot. 46:13 You know where? 46:14 So, what happened, though, as I prayed for him, 46:20 God put forgiveness in my heart. 46:22 But listen to what Jonah says in Jonah 4:2-3. 46:27 He prayed to the Lord, 46:28 because when all he's running around 46:31 and saying, hey, you're gonna be 46:33 overthrown in 40 days, 46:35 and all of a sudden, there's this huge repentance, 46:38 and he's mad. 46:40 And in Jonah 4:2-3, he says, "He prayed to the Lord, 46:43 and he said, 'Our Lord, 46:46 was not this what I said 46:50 when I was still in my country. 46:52 Therefore, I fled to Tarshish." 46:55 He shown us why. 46:56 "I knew that you were a gracious 46:58 and merciful God, slow to anger 47:01 and abundant love, loving kindness, 47:04 one who relents from doing harm." 47:07 He's saying, God, 47:08 I knew you were gonna forgive them. 47:10 Hey, I've received pardon and grace, 47:11 but I didn't want them to. 47:13 That's why I didn't want to go. 47:15 Mercy. 47:17 And then he says, "Therefore now, oh Lord, 47:20 oh, please take my life for me. 47:22 For it is better for me to die than to live. 47:26 How melodramatic can you get? 47:29 But the truth comes out that 47:31 Jonah didn't want his enemies to be saved. 47:36 He's the weak link. 47:38 There he has in this story, 47:41 Jonah has no love for lost souls. 47:44 Just think. Yeah. 47:46 Who do you think is your most despised enemy? 47:51 What country? Where would it be? 47:53 What if God were to say, 47:56 you go take this American airline flight 47:59 to go to this country, 48:01 I'm going to put you in the midst of this 48:03 warlike cruel people to do this. 48:07 I'm telling you, it's, you know, but here's the point. 48:12 God knew that Jonah needed this missionary trip 48:17 as much as Nineveh did. 48:20 So He called, He forgave the Assyrians, God, 48:26 he repented of what he was going to do. 48:30 He relented, in other words, but He also, 48:35 He called them in love, but He called Jonah in love. 48:38 Now, we're told in the quarterly that 48:44 we're supposed to read the Book of Jude, 48:46 and talk about keeping ourselves 48:48 in the love of God. 48:50 Well, there's only 25 verses in Jude, 48:53 but we don't have time for them all. 48:54 So let's just go straight to this point. 48:56 And rather than just build 48:59 or keeping ourselves in the love of God, 49:02 I want to quickly delineate four things. 49:05 Jude 1 and Jude's right over there 49:09 before Revelation, right 49:10 toward the back of the book. 49:12 Jude, there's only one chapter, but beginning with verse 20. 49:18 "But you beloved, building yourself up 49:20 on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. 49:25 Keep yourselves in the love of God, 49:28 looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 49:31 into eternal life. 49:33 And on some having, 49:35 having have on some have compassion, 49:39 making a distinction, 49:41 but others saved with fear pulling them 49:43 out of the fire, 49:45 hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." 49:49 I want to focus on four words there, 49:54 build, keep, look 49:58 and be compassionate. 50:00 Well. Good. 50:01 So build yourselves up on your most holy faith. 50:07 What in the context what Jude is writing is we need to... 50:12 He was telling people build up yourself in the faith 50:16 as a defense against false teachers 50:19 who were trying to tear down the faith. 50:23 They were working hard those false teachers. 50:26 And so what he's basically telling them 50:28 is to keep yourselves by growing in the grace, 50:33 in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 50:37 I'm going to tell you that today, 50:38 build yourself up in your most holy faith. 50:41 There are people who are trying to tear down 50:45 the faith of Christ. 50:47 In Acts 20:32, it gives us an idea 50:52 how we can build up. 50:55 He says, "Now, brethren, I commend you to the Lord, 50:58 and to the word of His grace, 51:02 which is able to build you up 51:04 and give you an inheritance 51:06 among all those who are sanctified." 51:10 So we got to study the Word. 51:12 You cannot, you don't know 51:14 what error is if you don't know what the truth is. 51:17 So you've got to study the Word, 51:19 build yourself up by knowing the scriptures. 51:21 But then he said, 51:23 "Keep yourselves in the love of God." 51:27 I'm going to tell you something. 51:28 I believe that we've got to keep ourselves 51:31 within God's love boundaries. 51:35 And that's what the Ten Commandments is. 51:37 The Ten Commandments, and I say is rather than are 51:42 because it is a single unit. 51:45 But the Ten Commandments describe 51:51 God's boundaries of love. 51:53 This is His law of love, His law of liberty, 51:57 you've got to keep yourself 52:00 within God's boundaries of love. 52:02 And don't let Satan drag you away to do 52:07 what God doesn't want you to do. 52:09 You've got to be obedient to His will 52:12 but know that even obedience is by grace 52:14 because it is God. 52:17 Philippians 2:13 says, 52:19 "It is God who works in you 52:21 to will and to do His good pleasure." 52:24 But we've also got to pray 52:28 if we're going to build ourselves up. 52:30 It's or keep ourselves 52:32 in His faith, in His love. 52:38 You've got to pray for the Holy Spirit. 52:41 And I mean, you know what? 52:43 We can't even really pray in the right direction 52:47 without praying with the Holy Spirit's power. 52:50 Romans 8:26 says, "The spirit also helps in our weaknesses." 52:55 We don't know how we should pray. 52:57 "But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us." 53:00 And you know, this is what I believe is so powerful about. 53:03 I wanna brag on my husband. 53:06 When he first came to 3ABN, he was concerned, 53:10 he couldn't explain the 2300 days. 53:13 And he prayed, he said, 53:15 oh, Lord, please don't let anybody 53:16 call me in pastoral to do that. 53:18 And you know what? 53:19 He got every call except that, 53:21 but he knew not to rely on himself. 53:25 He relied on the Lord that he would always ask and say, 53:29 do you mind if we let, 53:31 invite the Holy Spirit to pray with us. 53:33 And that man is a prayer warrior. 53:34 All right. 53:36 But number three 53:37 is we've got to show compassion. 53:41 We contend for the faith by showing mercy 53:44 and compassion to the wavering, 53:46 show mercy to others, reach out and be mercy. 53:49 Some sincere doubters 53:51 may not have reached a conclusion, 53:55 and they deserve our compassion. 53:57 It may be still possible to convince them of the truth. 54:00 But then there's those who embrace errors 54:03 that are from the false teachers, 54:04 we got to snatch them and pull them out. 54:07 And even those apostates who are teaching wrong, 54:10 we ought to be praying for them, 54:11 just don't get close enough that 54:13 they can contaminate you. 54:14 But let's look at the last one. 54:17 There is the looking for the mercy in the Lord, 54:21 looking for, 54:22 anticipating the blessed hope of His glorious appearing. 54:28 Did you know that that is a purifying act? 54:33 1 John 3:3 says, "Everyone who has this hope 54:36 is watching for the return of Jesus Christ, 54:39 in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 54:45 So what we've got to do is build up ourselves 54:49 in the most holy faith. 54:51 By studying we've got to keep ourselves 54:54 in God's love boundaries. 54:56 We've got to pray with the Holy Spirit, 54:59 contend for the faith by witnessing to others, 55:03 but looking for the appearance of Jesus Christ 55:07 and then we'll be pure as He is pure. 55:09 Amen. Amen. 55:11 Praise the Lord. 55:12 I pray that none of us look at the story of Jonah 55:15 the same way that we did before. 55:17 And I pray that you at home, you're not looking, 55:20 it's different now, 55:21 there's a lot of more spiritual lessons 55:22 and you've been encouraged by disappointment 55:25 and then certainly victory. 55:27 Okay, some last thoughts that we have. 55:28 Sister Jill, we'll start with you. 55:30 Mine was on Jonah in the belly of the whale. 55:32 And my scripture I want to leave with you 55:34 is Psalm 56:3, 55:37 "When you are in trouble, whenever I am afraid, 55:41 I will trust in You. 55:42 In God, I'll praise His Word, 55:44 in God, I have put my trust, I will not fear." 55:48 You do not have to fear no matter what you go through, 55:50 because God is with you. 55:51 Praise the Lord. Amen. 55:53 Good. 55:54 You know, God wants to spend eternity with us. 55:56 He wants to save us so bad. 55:58 Yes. What must we do? 56:00 Repent, repent, repent, turn towards Him, 56:04 and accept that invitation that He's providing us with. 56:07 Amen. That's right. 56:09 And 1 Peter 3:8-9 encourages us 56:12 to extend what Jonah had a difficult time extending. 56:15 "Finally, all of you be of one mind having compassion." 56:21 Thank you, Shelley, for bringing that out. 56:22 Yes. 56:24 Compassion for one another, love as brothers, 56:27 be tender hearted, be courteous, 56:29 not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling. 56:34 But on the contrary, blessing, 56:36 knowing that you were called to this, 56:38 that you may inherit a blessing. 56:41 A blessing begets a blessing. Amen. 56:45 I was just thinking, I think, it's Isaiah 50:4, 56:48 I don't know 50:4, but it's about, 56:50 he's given me the ear, 56:53 the tongue of an instructed disciple 56:55 and in the ear of one who hears. 56:58 You know, at least Jonah heard God. 57:00 Yes. 57:01 We've got to keep our ears open. 57:02 We've got to be ready to respond. 57:04 And don't run away from God. 57:06 Amen. Amen. 57:07 Yeah, I like that last thought, don't run away from God. 57:11 He's speaking, He's looking, He's calling as maybe you, 57:15 He's calling you in a certain ministry, 57:16 calling you in a certain way. 57:18 Please don't run from God. 57:20 Remember, you'll say like, probably most of us have said, 57:23 I'm not equipped for this. 57:24 I can't do it. I'm not qualified to do it. 57:26 And every time He'll come back to you, 57:28 just like He's done to me and rest and say, 57:30 I know you're not but I am. 57:32 Remember He is, He's calling you today. 57:35 Praise God for that thought. 57:36 From Patriarchs and Prophets, page 270. 57:38 God allows, notice this, a period of probation. 57:42 But there is a point beyond 57:43 which divine patience is exhausted. 57:47 And the judgments of God are sure to fall. 57:51 We need to keep that ever 57:52 for in our hearts and our minds. 57:55 He's given us warning after warning. 57:56 He's coming soon. 57:58 And we need to be ready for that. 57:59 You know, we got one more lesson. 58:01 That'd be lesson number 13. 58:02 We're gonna be talking about here, 58:03 The Ultimate Rest. 58:05 We want to be ready for that. God bless you. 58:07 Thank you. See you next time. |
Revised 2021-09-20