Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS025021S
|
00:00 ♪♪♪
00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:13 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 Glad that you could join us today. 00:18 We are taking a journey through the prophecies of the Bible, 00:23 learning how to study them so that we end up 00:26 understanding them correctly rather than incorrectly. 00:29 And this week we are on lesson number 8. 00:32 It is "In the Psalms." This is part 1 of 2. 00:35 We're going to be looking at more of this next week. 00:38 But this week we're delving 00:39 into the Psalms and seeing 00:41 how they can help us understand the prophecies of the Bible. 00:44 As we do so, let's begin with prayer. 00:46 Father, we're grateful to be here again today. 00:48 We're glad that You have brought us together 00:50 and brought us to this time and place 00:52 to study Your Word and especially the Psalms 00:55 so we can better understand the times in which we live 00:58 and the things which are shortly to come to pass 01:00 in this world. We ask that You'll bless our time together, 01:02 and we thank You, in Jesus' name, amen. 01:04 >>Shawn Boonstra: Amen. 01:06 >>Eric: We are also grateful to have with us 01:07 the author of this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson, 01:09 Pastor Shawn Boonstra. 01:11 Shawn, good to have you here again. 01:12 >>Shawn: Anonymous off-screen "amen." 01:14 >>Eric: That's right. 01:15 I think by now they recognize the tone of voice. 01:17 They know who is here. 01:18 We still haven't decided to kick you off yet, 01:21 so there's been some good content here, 01:23 and we'll see what next week looks like. 01:25 But this week, I think we're going to be all right. 01:27 "In the Psalms," part number 1. 01:29 So we're looking at the book of Psalms and how they help us, 01:32 how the Psalms help us to understand the prophecies 01:34 found in Revelation. 01:36 And in this week, we're going through different psalms 01:38 and seeing elements of that. >>Shawn: Right. 01:41 >>Eric: Let's start with Psalm 122-- 01:44 >>Shawn: Right, the one that's in the quarterly. 01:46 >>Eric: ...and dive right in. >>Shawn: This was-- 01:48 I know I had some friends proofread the quarterly 01:51 and stuff for me, and they said this is 01:52 one of their favorite parts. 01:53 So many people don't think of the Psalms 01:55 as prophetic books. 01:57 Okay, we've got the poetry, and then we've got Daniel, 01:59 and we've got Revelation. Ehhh... 02:02 You can't separate the Bible into silos quite so neatly, 02:06 and there's a lot of material in the Psalms 02:08 that if Revelation, for example, 02:10 isn't drawing on it, it at least casts light 02:13 on what Revelation's talking about. 02:15 John didn't write in a vacuum, right? 02:17 John wrote with these scriptures 02:18 in his heart and always drawing on the content 02:22 God had already revealed to him and then adding new insights. 02:25 So yeah, Psalm 122. It's one of the "Psalms of Ascent." 02:29 There are a bunch of these from Psalm 120 onward, 02:32 and these are literally sung as they're going 02:35 into the temple. So that should tell us a lot. 02:38 The sanctuary is a huge theme in Bible prophecy. 02:42 And one of the reasons I like this, of course, 02:46 the temple is on Mount Zion. That's where it is, 02:49 the Temple Mount, we now call it, 02:51 where the temple used to be. 02:53 And we find that Temple Mount showing up in Revelation 14, 02:56 which is that central focal point of Revelation. 02:59 The center chapters, 12, 13, and 14, 03:01 are really the focus of the action. 03:03 It's a chiastic structure that puts 03:05 the biggest emphasis in the middle, just about. 03:09 And so we find God's people on Mount Zion, the Father's name-- 03:12 we already know that's His character-- 03:13 written in their foreheads. They're standing there 03:15 with the Lamb. That's their only ticket of access 03:18 to that mountain. And then as we looked earlier, 03:21 they're also spreading the message to the world, 03:23 much the way that the cherubims were singing 03:25 God's glory and sharing His message in Revelation, 03:27 chapters 4 and 5. So this is one of those. 03:29 And I thought, well, why don't we take a look at it? 03:33 And let's start in Psalm 122, right at the head of the thing. 03:37 It's only about nine verses--not about, 03:39 it's exactly nine verses long. 03:42 "I was glad when they said to me, 03:44 'Let us go [into] the house of the Lord!'" 03:47 I have to pause there because 03:49 the house of the Lord is up on Mount Zion. 03:51 And it tells me something: 03:52 Going into God's presence is an occasion for joy. 03:57 And that should speak volumes if we're terrified of God. 04:02 The idea that He lifts the veil, lets us in, 04:05 brings us into His presence. 04:06 Yeah, if we don't have Jesus, you ought to be terrified. 04:10 You ought to be, "Woe am I, I'm a man of unclean lips." 04:13 But David, who has clearly-- he wrote this one. 04:16 He's clearly sinned. 04:18 He finds going into God's presence...joy. Joy. 04:23 If your study of the sanctuary and prophecy isn't joyful, 04:28 you might be reading it wrong. 04:31 Verse 2: "Our feet have been standing within your gates, 04:34 O Jerusalem!" 04:36 And I guess here what I'm looking at 04:39 is he's looking around. I picture David like this. 04:43 He's looking around. "I can't believe where I am. 04:44 I'm in Jerusalem. Look where I get to be." 04:48 And I have to ask myself, 04:49 do I feel that way about the family of God? 04:51 Do I feel that way about being 04:53 part of the last-day remnant movement? 04:54 Do I look around saying, "What am I doing here? 04:58 Look where I am. I can't believe it." 05:00 I don't know how you feel, but I still have a little bit 05:02 of imposter syndrome. I'm a preacher, and it's like, 05:04 who in the world put me in this job? 05:07 I don't know if that's true for you. 05:08 >>Eric: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. 05:11 There's so many places that you and I could be in our lives 05:15 in the world, and God has us right here 05:16 in the heart of what's going on, you know, 05:19 in the midst of the activity, the significant activity 05:22 at the end of earth's history, 05:24 and we get to be a part of it. 05:25 >>Shawn: It pictures us on Mount Zion with Jesus. 05:29 I don't belong there, and I know I don't. 05:31 Verse 3 says, "Jerusalem-- built as a city 05:34 "that is bound firmly together, 05:35 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord"-- 05:39 that still shows up in Revelation; 05:40 there's 12 gates with the 12 tribes-- 05:43 "as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name 05:48 of the Lord." 05:50 What's etched on our foreheads in Revelation, chapter 14? 05:54 >>Eric: God's name. 05:55 >>Shawn: The Father's name. 05:56 And we've discussed this already. 05:58 God's name is not just a label. 06:01 It's not just a word you pronounce in reference to God. 06:05 It's deeper than that. 06:07 To this day, we still say that if somebody 06:10 has a great reputation, they have "a good name," right? 06:14 Name was meant to-- Hebrew parents 06:16 name their babies very carefully: 06:18 "I hope this child grows into the following character." 06:21 Name is character. 06:23 We give thanks to the name of the Lord. 06:25 It's more than just saying, "Hey, thank You for saving me." 06:29 It's an acknowledgement of who He is. 06:32 And we become so enmeshed with that in the last days 06:35 that it's written in our foreheads. 06:36 This is a symbol of where your moral decisions take place, 06:40 in the frontal lobe. 06:42 It's right--it's uncanny how they got that so right, 06:45 but if God's the author, it makes sense. 06:47 God's name is etched into our foreheads. 06:50 We find out in Exodus--it's one of my go-tos for how important 06:55 the name of God is here. 06:56 You know, here they are, they're on Mount Zion, 06:58 they're in the temple, they're in within the gates, 07:01 and they're worshiping God's name. 07:03 At one point, Moses says, 07:06 "I want to see You. I want to see You." 07:08 "Well, I can't show that to you. It'll kill you, Moses." 07:10 "Yeah, but I really need to see You." 07:12 And God says, "I will make my glory pass before you, 07:15 and I will reveal my name to you." 07:17 And what God doesn't do in that case is approach Moses 07:20 in the cleft of the rock and open a piece of paper. 07:22 Here's my secret name. 07:24 Shh, don't tell anybody, but this is how 07:27 it's actually pronounced, and I will put that away. 07:29 No, no, no, He reveals Himself. 07:31 And when it says that God reveals His name to Moses 07:34 in Exodus, chapter 34, He starts to describe 07:38 His own character: "I am the Lord, who is 07:40 "longsuffering and gracious and righteous and merciful 07:43 and just," and His name is His character. 07:47 We worship God's name; we're worshiping who He is. 07:50 The name is written in our foreheads, 07:52 God's character is etched into our foreheads, 07:55 and God's law is also a transcript of His character. 07:58 The Bible says those on Mount Zion 08:00 are the ones who keep the commandments of God. 08:02 Why is that important? Have they earned a spot 08:04 by keeping the commandments? No, no. 08:07 Keeping God's law was ground zero before we ever sinned. 08:10 You don't earn anything that way. 08:11 That was basic level expectation of humanity. 08:16 But it's a transcript of His character, 08:18 and it says in Hebrews, chapter 10 08:19 that God writes His law in our hearts, 08:24 but He writes His name in our forehead. 08:27 The heart is the mind. It is the mind. 08:29 These things are synonymous. 08:31 I don't know, we could spend hours in a psalm like this, 08:34 but we're worshipping the name of the Lord, 08:37 and that's His character; that's His moral law. 08:39 We're in harmony with it. 08:40 I think this anticipates Revelation, chapter 14. 08:45 >>Eric: It leads us right into it, the whole issue of worship 08:47 and worshiping the true God and His character, who He is. 08:50 >>Shawn: Yeah, exactly. >>Eric: Beautiful, beautiful. 08:52 You've got some other-- 08:53 do you want to keep diving into 122? 08:55 >>Shawn: Let's finish this one really quick, yeah. 08:56 Verse 5, really quick, like, I'll burn through 08:58 the whole show. This is important, verse 5: 09:00 "There thrones for judgment were set, 09:02 the thrones of the house of David." 09:04 Okay, we're on Mount Zion, the Father's name is written 09:06 in our foreheads. This parallels-- 09:08 because what do we preach in the three angels' message? 09:10 "Fear God, give glory to Him, 09:12 because the hour of His judgment"-- 09:15 this psalm is foreshadowing that same act. 09:18 There's nothing new in Bible prophecy. 09:20 If we think this message just dropped out of heaven in 1844 09:24 and 1863, we're misguided. 09:27 It's been there since the very beginning of time, 09:30 and it hasn't changed at all. 09:32 "Worship Him who made"-- 09:34 read the Bible; Nehemiah prays to the "God who made"; 09:37 book of Acts, "Worship Him who made"; 09:39 Jonah, who do you worship? "I worship the God who made." 09:42 And the judgment hour shows up here. 09:45 Judgment is tied to heaven's sanctuary. 09:47 That's in Psalm 122: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! 09:49 "'May they be secure who love you! 09:51 "Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!' 09:54 "For my brothers and companions' sake 09:55 I will say, 'Peace be within you!'" 09:59 That underlines something important. 10:02 If our approach to Bible prophecy 10:04 and the three angels' message is fear-based, 10:07 if that's what you're preaching, small wonder 10:10 you're not seeing the results you hoped for 10:12 because--it's the peace. 10:14 What did the angels proclaim when Jesus becomes incarnate? 10:17 Peace. Peace to earth. 10:20 The arrival of Christ is peace. 10:22 A right understanding of prophecy is peace. 10:25 Anyway, we could spend the entire time 10:27 just in Psalm 122. I put a bunch of psalms in there. 10:30 Good luck in your classes getting through all these. 10:32 But they foreshadow, they anticipate-- 10:37 nah, not even that. 10:38 The message has been the same the whole time: 10:40 Since we sinned, come back to the Creator. 10:42 Come back. Come back to Mount Zion. 10:44 >>Eric: These give us context to understand what's going on 10:47 in Revelation. And typically we expect that Revelation 10:51 contains our day in Bible prophecy. 10:54 And I think that's accurate. >>Shawn: Oh, it's in there. 10:56 >>Eric: But all of this helps us understand 10:58 the significance of that. 11:00 You also talk about Psalm 15 and 24. 11:05 >>Shawn: Yeah, boy, oh boy, how are we ever 11:07 going to get all of this done? 11:09 Just come to my private YouTube channel, 11:10 and I'll just read the whole Bible to you. 11:13 That's not actually true. That's not real. 11:15 Psalm 15, this one's important. 11:19 "O Lord, who shall sojourn in Your tent?" 11:21 Who shall be in the sanctuary? 11:22 "Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?" 11:24 Well, there's a really important question because where are we 11:28 in Revelation 14? >>Eric: Mount Zion. 11:30 >>Shawn: On Mount Zion with Jesus. 11:33 And David asks the question, thousands of years in advance, 11:37 who gets to go up there? 11:39 That would be a really important answer. 11:41 How do I get up on that hill? 11:43 Verse 2: "He who walks blamelessly 11:46 "and does what is right... speaks truth in his heart; 11:48 "who does not slander with his tongue 11:51 and does no evil to his neighbor." 11:53 Take a look at who's standing on Mount Zion in Revelation 14. 11:57 There is no guile in their mouth. 11:58 They tell the truth. There is an absolute parallel. 12:01 The same people allowed on the sanctuary grounds 12:05 in the temple in the Old Testament 12:07 is the same group that shows up there. 12:09 This is a historical faith. 12:11 The standards haven't changed. The message hasn't changed. 12:13 The method of salvation hasn't changed. 12:15 We stand in a long stream of God's people 12:18 who all approach God the same way. 12:20 >>Eric: So we're looking at those who stand 12:22 on Mount Zion. We spent a little time in 1:22, 12:26 not near as much time as we could. 12:28 We're touching all these different psalms. 12:30 You go into it, a little more detail, in the study guide, 12:33 but you have a companion book. 12:34 >>Shawn: I do have a companion book, 12:37 and it gives a little more. 12:38 I wish it would give everything, but if you're finding, 12:42 "Man, I'd like to read a little more on this," 12:44 there's some supplemental material in the book that 12:46 I wrote to go with this so that you'll have a little more. 12:49 If you're teaching class, you're sitting in class 12:51 and wanna sound like you did your homework, 12:53 I'll help you do your homework. How about that? 12:54 I'll help you do your homework, and maybe there's a few thoughts 12:57 that can help spark a useful biblical discussion 13:00 that leads to growth in Christ. 13:02 >>Eric: And that's a great place for these discussions 13:04 to spring from, is not just the study 13:07 but also this companion book. 13:09 If you would like to pick it up, 13:10 it's easy to find. 13:11 It's found at itiswritten.shop. 13:14 Again, itiswritten.shop. 13:16 Find the companion book, pick it up, read it, study it, 13:19 let others know that it is there as well. 13:22 Also, if you happen to have missed 13:24 any of our previous lessons, 13:27 remember that they are archived 13:29 and you can watch them at your leisure. 13:32 You can find them on the It Is Written TV channel, 13:34 that's itiswritten.tv, or you can also find them 13:38 on our YouTube channel. 13:39 Just look for the It Is Written YouTube channel 13:42 and all of the past lessons that we have done 13:44 with Shawn are on there as well. 13:46 So, share it with others, let them know 13:48 so that they can be blessed and you can catch up 13:50 on any of them that you may have missed. 13:53 We're going to be back in just a minute as we continue looking 13:55 at understanding prophecy through the Psalms. 13:58 Don't go away. We'll be right back. 14:00 ♪♪♪ 14:06 >>Eric: At It Is Written, we are passionate 14:08 about the study of the Word of God, 14:10 and we encourage you to be serious about it also. 14:13 I want to share with you a way that you can dig deeper 14:15 into the Word of God to mine its depths 14:18 for those precious nuggets of truth. 14:20 And here it is: itiswritten.study. 14:23 Go online to itiswritten.study and you can access 14:27 the It Is Written Bible Study Guides. 14:30 They're 25 in-depth Bible studies 14:32 that will walk you through the Bible. 14:34 It's going to be good for you, 14:36 and it's the sort of thing you'll want to tell 14:38 somebody else about so that they can dig 14:40 deeper into the Word of God and come to know the things 14:43 of the Bible intimately. 14:45 As you get into the It Is Written 14:46 online Bible study guides, 14:48 you'll understand the prophecies of the Bible, 14:51 the plan of salvation, and so much more. 14:54 So don't forget: itiswritten.study, 14:58 itiswritten.study. 15:05 ♪♪♪ 15:09 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:11 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:12 We're looking at the book of Psalms 15:14 and seeing how they can help us understand 15:17 the book of Revelation and the times in which we live. 15:20 Shawn, we're trying to figure out how, 15:22 trying to understand-- maybe that's a better word-- 15:25 how all the Psalms fit together 15:26 with what's going on in Revelation. 15:28 Maybe if we read Revelation 14, that'll give us a little bit, 15:31 something to reference back to. 15:34 >>Shawn: Sure, you know, the book of Psalms is-- 15:36 we've got 150 songs that are worship. 15:39 And of course, worship is central 15:41 to the book of Revelation. 15:43 The key thoughts, again, in that center part, 15:46 chapters 12, 13, and 14, 15:47 worship emerges as one of the big issues. 15:49 So it shouldn't be a surprise that the inspired worship 15:53 of God's people points forward 15:55 to some of the things we find in the book of Revelation at all. 15:58 I think it makes sense. 16:00 And let's take a look at Revelation 14, 16:03 and in particular, I want to take a look 16:05 at the character of those who stand on Mount Zion. 16:10 And this is important because we just asked in the last psalm, 16:13 who gets to stand on that mountain? 16:15 And in Psalm 24, we're going to get the same question again. 16:17 It comes up more than once. Who's allowed up there? 16:20 So right from the top, Revelation 14, verse 1: 16:22 "Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb." 16:26 Well, we've talked about that and how central that is already. 16:29 "With Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name 16:32 written on their foreheads." We've looked at that. 16:35 That's more than just a moniker; it's character. 16:37 "And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters 16:41 and like the sound of loud thunder." 16:42 Oh, we could have a study just on that, 16:43 but we don't have that time. 16:45 "Like the roar of many waters... like the sound of loud thunder. 16:48 "The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists 16:50 "playing on their harps, and they were singing 16:51 "a new song before the throne and before 16:53 the four living creatures and before the elders." 16:55 We touched on that in a previous lesson. 16:58 So the cherubim are there. 17:00 "No one could learn that song except the 144,000 17:03 who had been redeemed from the earth." 17:04 Here we go. Who are they? 17:06 Verse 4: "It is these who have not defiled themselves 17:09 with women, for they are virgins." 17:11 Now, pretty clear in this context, 17:12 we're not talking literally. >>Eric: Right. 17:15 >>Shawn: Or every married man is doomed, every married-- 17:18 no, it's like, no, this is spiritual virginity. 17:21 We already looked at marriage is one of the most common metaphors 17:26 throughout Bible, and the story ends 17:28 with the bride of Christ, and the bridegroom comes, 17:31 and the wedding supper of the Lamb. 17:32 These are people who kept themselves pure. 17:34 They didn't commit spiritual adultery 17:36 with the idols and gods of this earth. 17:38 Or if they did, they're now in Christ, 17:40 and that's all forgiven. 17:41 "It's these who have not defiled themselves with women, 17:44 "for they are virgins. It is these who"-- 17:46 my favorite line here-- 17:47 "follow the Lamb wherever He goes." 17:51 I teach that to evangelistic audiences: 17:54 "Lord, we covenant with You tonight 17:55 "that when You speak, we will follow the Lamb 17:57 wherever He goes." 18:00 "These have been redeemed." 18:01 Here's how I know. They're not literal virgins, 18:03 nor are they actual spiritual virgins. 18:05 They are only so in Christ. 18:07 Otherwise, they wouldn't need redemption. 18:09 They've been redeemed. 18:11 "These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits... 18:13 "[in] the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, 18:16 for they are blameless." 18:18 Now, in what sense would you and I be called-- 18:19 anyway, in a surface reading, I mean, that's it. 18:22 I can't go up on Mount Zion... unless I'm in Christ. 18:26 Don't miss that, right? 18:27 They're there with the Lamb, and it comes up again. 18:30 They follow the Lamb. 18:31 They've been redeemed from the earth. 18:34 You are accounted righteous through Christ. 18:38 That's how you get there. Otherwise you're 18:40 gonna read the Psalms and despair: "I can't qualify." 18:44 So now we go back to Psalm 24, another one. 18:47 I think we looked at Psalm 15 before the break, right? 18:50 >>Eric: Yes, correct. >>Shawn: Look at my memory slip. 18:52 That's aging for you. If you are 30, take care of your brain. 18:55 That's all I want to tell you, because it's going to slip 18:58 on you, whether you want it to or not. 19:01 Aging and death are real, the wages of sin. 19:03 >>Eric: Very much so. >>Shawn: Starts with memory loss 19:05 and then ends in--well, you know how it ends. 19:09 Chapter 24, a psalm of David: 19:10 "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." 19:14 Does that show up in Revelation 14? Sure it does. 19:16 "Worship Him who made." 19:18 "The world and those who dwell therein." 19:21 Again, that's contra the nations. 19:23 There's a lot here that ties back 19:25 to what we've already studied and already looked at. 19:27 God says, "It's all mine. 19:29 "I know that you're going through the appearance 19:30 like you run the show. It's mine." 19:32 "For He has founded it upon the seas 19:35 and established it upon the rivers." 19:37 Lots there, but here comes the big question: 19:40 "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?" 19:41 That's the same one we found. 19:43 "Who shall stand in His holy place?" 19:45 Okay, who is it? Now I want to know, Lord. 19:48 "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 19:51 "who does not lift up his soul to what is false... 19:54 "does not swear deceitfully. 19:56 "He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness 19:59 "from the God of his salvation. 20:00 "Such is the generation of those who seek Him, 20:02 who seek the face of the God of Jacob." 20:07 There's actually more here. 20:08 "Lift up your head, O gates! 20:10 "And be lifted up, O ancient doors, 20:11 that the King of glory may come in." 20:13 It's interesting in that famous book, 20:14 "Desire of Ages," about page 830-something-- 20:18 you'll have to read 10 pages to find it, 20:19 830-something-- 20:21 that book ties that particular statement to Jesus' return 20:25 to heaven, to come into-- the angels welcoming, 20:28 "You've won at the cross." 20:30 So here we have Jesus' ascension. 20:31 "Who is this King of glory?" 20:33 This is the slain Lamb, right, in the sanctuary that 20:36 in Revelation 4 and 5 that we stand with on Mount Zion later. 20:40 "Who is this King of glory? 20:41 "The Lord, strong and mighty, mighty in battle! 20:43 "Lift up your head, O gates! 20:44 "...Lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory 20:47 "may come in. Who is this King of glory? 20:49 The Lord of hosts"-- that's Yahweh-- 20:52 "Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory!" 20:55 Who gets to stand on the hill? 20:57 "He who has clean hands and a pure heart." 20:59 I'm done. 21:01 "Does not lift up his soul to what is false 21:03 or swear deceitfully." 21:05 I'm toast. I'm already disqualified. 21:08 "Such is the generation of those who seek Him, 21:10 who seek the face of the God of Jacob." 21:15 This, to me, is powerful. They're redeemed. 21:18 If that word wasn't there, I'd be despondent right now. 21:22 But when you look at the context, 21:23 these are people who are joyful. 21:25 They're singing this in joy 21:26 as they approach the hill. They're not terrified anymore. 21:29 And that reminds me of the book of Hebrews again where it says, 21:31 "Come boldly to the throne of grace." 21:33 Boldly? Are you kidding me? 21:35 Boldly, me? I can't. 21:37 Yeah, you can. Because you're under the blood of Christ. 21:40 You're not going there alone. 21:42 And I'm not on Mount Zion alone. 21:45 And I don't have to do anything alone. 21:48 "I will never leave you or forsake you." 21:51 I find it interesting here in Psalm 24 that these 21:53 are the people who seek God. 21:56 And here's what I find really interesting. 21:58 You can't actually seek God of your own initiative. 22:04 It doesn't work that way. 22:06 And I know, of course, you make a decision to seek God, yeah. 22:09 The Bible says in Romans, chapter 2 that repentance 22:11 is a gift from God. 22:13 1 Corinthians, chapter 2: "The natural person 22:15 "does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, 22:17 "for they are folly to him... 22:20 "he is not able to understand them... 22:21 they are spiritually discerned." 22:23 How do you end up seeking God? 22:25 It means that the Spirit's already woken up your heart. 22:29 You wouldn't be interested in God at all 22:33 unless He'd already knocked on the door. 22:35 And when people tell me, "I'm terrified 22:37 that I'm not right with God," I say, "That's the first step. 22:40 "You wouldn't care--if God wasn't working on you. 22:43 "The fact that you're worried about this 22:44 "tells me the Spirit of God 22:46 "is already pulling you over the line, 22:47 and you're on your way. Just take that last step." 22:52 Now, seeking implies free will. 22:53 It's up to you to continue to seek the face of God. 22:57 He's not going to force you into the kingdom of heaven. 22:59 So these are people that go up on the holy hill, 23:01 they're willfully seeking God, they want to be there, 23:03 they're joyful about it, 23:05 they're declared pure in Christ, 23:07 and of course they want to live that way. 23:08 They want to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. 23:10 I think the psalm's just like--oh, wow, 23:13 read these two together, and there's more detail. 23:16 And suddenly, prophecy's about joy again, not fear. 23:20 >>Eric: And so many people, 23:21 when they--I remember doing meetings, 23:23 and people coming to the meetings, and they're just, 23:24 they're scared of prophecy. >>Shawn: Oh yeah. 23:26 >>Eric: They've seen the beasts and antichrist 23:29 and mark of the beast, and they're scared. 23:31 This gives us a whole different perspective on prophecy, 23:33 that there should be peace, that there should be joy, 23:36 that there should be comfort in the fact 23:39 that we can indeed be on the hill. 23:42 >>Shawn: Yeah, I know. 23:44 And again, I get it if you're out there 23:46 and you think, "I can't make it." 23:48 I talk to people all the time, just like you do. 23:50 "I don't deserve to be up there. This is terrible. 23:52 I'm going to be one of the ones that God smites." 23:54 Again, read 1 Corinthians 2:12-14. 23:58 You wouldn't care if there wasn't hope. 24:01 That's where you need to start worrying. 24:04 In fact, you know, you're not worrying at all anymore 24:07 once it's past the point of no return. 24:09 I don't worry about people who are worried. 24:11 You're only worried because God is saying, 24:12 "Hey, come up on a hill. I want you here." 24:15 Me? "Yeah, you. I want you on the hill." 24:17 But I can't. "Yes, you can. 24:18 Jesus has redeemed you. You're fine. 24:21 You're fine. Come on up." 24:22 And I got to tell you, the hill's a great place to live. 24:25 I know I don't belong up there, but you're right, 24:28 there's so much joy. Every time they talk 24:30 about going up on Mount Zion 24:32 in the book of Psalms, they're beside themselves. 24:35 It's like, "Wow! I get to go up there!" 24:38 Who reads Revelation like that? 24:39 If you look at modern-day Christianity, 24:42 you don't see a lot of that out there. 24:43 "Oh, antichrist is going to get you." 24:45 It's like, yeah, he's going to try. 24:47 Do your worst. I don't care. 24:49 I'm up on the mountain with-- 24:50 yeah, the dragon is "angry with the woman 24:52 and goes to make war with the remnant of her seed." 24:54 Okay, I think I'm fine. 24:56 I think I'm fine because the Lamb beats him. 25:00 Read Revelation 12. 25:01 The devil's already defeated by the cross of Christ. 25:03 His place is no longer found in heaven. 25:05 The one who's tormenting you is not allowed on the hill, 25:08 never will be ever again, and you're allowed on the hill. 25:11 That's all you need to know. 25:13 >>Eric: You know, I think that's powerful. 25:15 Often when we focus on the idea 25:18 that we don't deserve to be here. 25:19 That's true, we don't deserve to be on the hill, 25:22 but when we do that, when we focus on that, 25:25 the focus is on us. And it's not about us. 25:30 It was never supposed to be about us. 25:31 >>Shawn: No. >>Eric: It's supposed to be 25:33 about Him, about Christ, and what He can do. 25:37 And when we allow our gaze to turn inward, 25:42 that's where we become discouraged, naturally. 25:45 >>Shawn: Absolutely, yeah, there's plenty of material 25:47 in every heart to discourage you. 25:49 I promise you, you could take any sermon I preached, 25:51 read the transcript, and it's not willingly-- 25:55 I don't willingly put error in a sermon. I don't. 25:59 But there'd be enough in there to disqualify me 26:01 from heaven, unwittingly. >>Eric: Yeah. 26:04 >>Shawn: There just would be. 26:05 And anybody who's feeling a little bit confident 26:07 and they're condemning others, I'm thinking, 26:10 "Do you have any idea how you happen to be 26:11 on the hill?" 26:12 If an angel--you know, we're so worried about-- 26:15 we think soul-winning is about being right. 26:17 You have to be right. I don't want to be misunderstood. 26:20 You must be right. You must be faithful to the Word. 26:23 But it's not really about being right. 26:25 It's about loving people the way Jesus loved them 26:28 and introducing them to the One who's always right. 26:30 And that's not you. 26:33 And I often have asked myself this question, 26:35 okay, I think so-and-so is wrong, 26:37 but if my angel showed up tonight to give me a Bible study 26:39 on what I still have wrong, how embarrassing would that be? 26:42 >>Eric: It would be a long night. 26:44 >>Shawn: It would be a long night, 26:45 and he'd barely scrape the surface. 26:47 You get to go on the hill not because you've earned it, 26:50 but because Jesus did. 26:51 >>Eric: That's it. And don't forget that. 26:54 Don't forget that it's not about you; it's about Him. 26:58 It's about what He has done for you 27:01 and what He is doing for you. 27:03 You may feel unworthy. 27:06 Fair and good, it's true. 27:08 You're unworthy, I'm unworthy, and so are you. 27:11 None of us are worthy. 27:13 If we were worthy, we wouldn't need Jesus. 27:15 The fact is, the reason we need Him is because we're unworthy. 27:18 But when we receive Him, when we accept Him 27:20 into our lives, the beauty and the glory 27:25 and the perfection that are His are credited to us, 27:29 not of our own doing, not of our own works, 27:32 not of our own accomplishments. 27:34 It's all about Him, and He works in us. 27:38 So be encouraged. 27:40 Remember that there is a place called Mount Zion, 27:43 and God wants you on that mountain. 27:46 He's preparing you for it, and He has made it possible 27:49 for you to be there. 27:51 We're gonna continue looking at the book of Psalms 27:54 and seeing how the prophecies intertwine 27:56 and weave in the book of Psalms 27:58 when we come back again next week. 28:00 So we look forward to seeing you again next week 28:03 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 28:06 ♪♪♪ 28:24 ♪♪♪ 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2025-05-14