Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180041A
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00:31 Hello and welcome to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:34 I'm Jill Morikone and we're delighted that you have taken 00:37 time from your day to open up the word of God, 00:40 and to study along with us. 00:42 We are in the fourth quarter studying "Oneness in Christ." 00:46 We are in the second lesson of that quarter... 00:49 "Causes of Disunity" 00:51 Last week, we talked about love is the foundation for unity, 00:56 and we talked about creation. 00:57 Sin is the catalyst for division and disunity - as we saw 01:03 that take place in the fall and later with the Tower of Babel. 01:07 And then we saw how God made a call back to unity 01:10 when He called Abraham as His friend back into righteous 01:15 right relationship with Him and called the entire nation of 01:18 Israel and by extension each one of us as Christians 01:22 we're called back into unity with God the Father, 01:24 Son and Holy Spirit. 01:26 I want to introduce our panel to you at this time... 01:29 On my left is Shelley Quinn, lovely to be here; 01:31 Brother Johnny Dinzey, a pleasure to be here; 01:34 Mollie Steenson - we're delighted that you could 01:36 come up and join us for the Sabbath School Lesson, 01:38 why thank you; and Pastor John Lomacang, 01:41 our pastor here - good to be here. 01:43 It's a privilege to open up the word of God 01:44 with each one of you and to share. 01:46 And before we go any further, let's go to the Lord in prayer 01:49 and Shelley, would you pray for us here? Absolutely. 01:52 Heavenly Father, We come in the name of Jesus 01:55 thanking You for unity in Christ; thanking You, Lord, 01:59 for these lessons and, Father, our prayer is that Your church.. 02:05 that we may one with Jesus and one with You, 02:09 and one with each other, so Father, help us 02:11 to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit would say through us 02:16 today and for each one of us to put this into practice. 02:20 We thank You in advance for the answer to the prayer of faith. 02:23 In Jesus name... Amen 02:25 Amen! Thank you. 02:27 Before we jump into our lesson here today, 02:30 I want to give you the website where you can get this 02:33 Quarterly for yourself, just go to... 02:35 ABSG.Adventist.org 02:39 and you can download your own copy. 02:41 That stands for "Adult Bible Study Guide.Adventist.org 02:47 and you can get your copy or we always encourage you 02:50 to visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:53 They would have a copy of the Quarterly; 02:55 they would invite you to sit down in a Sabbath School 02:57 Class and participate in the discussion. 03:00 As I mentioned already, we're on Lesson 2 and our topic is 03:04 "Causes of Disunity" 03:06 Now "Merriam Webster," the Dictionary, defines unity 03:10 as "a condition of harmony or being in one accord; 03:15 the conflict or state of being made one." 03:18 Now Shelley, the potential for conflict is huge the moment 03:21 you introduce someone beside yourself. That's right. 03:24 So anybody who is married would that, 03:27 anybody who has gone to college and lived with a roommate 03:29 would know that anytime you introduce someone 03:32 beside yourself, you automatically have the 03:34 opening, the potential for conflict. 03:38 Now you multiply that in a church by 10 people 03:41 or 100 people or 1,000 people, and Pastor John, 03:44 you could have a great deal of conflict. Understatement. 03:47 Laughter... that's right. 03:49 Unity is a place where there is love instead of selfishness. 03:54 There is diversity instead of control and there is 03:59 humility instead of arrogance; there is doctrinal purity 04:05 instead of tolerance and moral relativism. 04:10 Should unity be preserved at the cost of truth? 04:13 The answer to that is "absolutely not." 04:17 I think of Martin Luther and a quote here from 04:21 "Great Controversy," p.166, Ellen White talking about 04:25 Martin Luther - she says... "Had the reformer yielded 04:28 a single point, Satan and his hosts 04:31 would have gained the victory, but his unwavering 04:34 firmness was the means of emancipating the church 04:37 and beginning a new and better era." 04:39 In that case, unity would not ... should not, should never be 04:43 at the expense of doctrinal truth; 04:46 at the expense of the word of God. 04:48 As we talk about the history of Israel, 04:53 we see a history of walking with God and then falling 04:58 away from God - we begin to see apostasy; 05:01 we begin to see rebellion - choosing to walk away from God. 05:05 And then we see the results of that of disunity. 05:09 And then God called to His people and they came back. 05:14 They repented - they came back, they were restored into unity 05:18 and right relationship with Him, 05:19 and then we that falling-away again. 05:22 That's what Sunday's lesson is all about... 05:24 "Return O backsliding children," and before we do that, 05:27 I want to read the memory text, you can look up and follow 05:30 along at home - we're in Proverbs 9:10... 05:34 The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, 05:39 and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." 05:44 What are the causes for division is disunity in the church? 05:47 Obviously, they are all under one heading and you could 05:50 categorize that as sin, but I like to categorize it in 05:54 three different categories. 05:55 We could say "sin, stubbornness and selfishness." 06:00 All of them really do fall under the category of sin 06:02 and we know that. 06:03 But sin leads, obviously, to disobedience to God, 06:07 and unfaithfulness to His word. 06:09 Stubbornness is me just saying, "I'm unwilling 06:13 to surrender my pride, my own way to the will of God... 06:18 thinking "I'm right and my way is the only way." 06:21 Selfishness is seeking myself and my own needs 06:26 or what I think are my needs ahead of other people. 06:30 Now those are what I would call the three main categories 06:33 of disunity or division in a church, 06:35 but there are quite a few subcategories, 06:37 we could say, under that... 06:38 One of those would be "gossip." 06:41 Now gossip can do a great deal to cause division 06:44 and disunity in the church. 06:46 Miss Mollie, you've told me this for years... 06:49 "If I were to say something about someone else to you, 06:52 what happens? 06:53 You now have to deal with that." 06:55 Now this could be rectified with this other person, 06:58 and this could be solved, but you're going to, forever, 07:00 have something in your mind about that other person. Yes 07:04 Gossip brings division and disunity. 07:07 Evil surmising brings division and disunity. 07:11 Think about 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter on love 07:15 in verse 5 it says... "Love thinks no evil." 07:19 But when I begin to either surmise or think evil of 07:22 someone else, what happens? 07:23 It changes the way I relate to that person 07:26 and that leads to disunity. 07:29 Jealousy! Jealousy certainly leads to division and disunity. 07:34 1 Corinthians 3:3... "Where there are envy, 07:37 (or you can say jealousy) strife, and divisions among you, 07:42 are you not carnal or behaving like mere men?" 07:46 Quarreling - that definitely leads to 07:49 division or to disunity. 07:51 2 Timothy 2:23-24... "Don't have anything to do 07:55 with foolish and stupid arguments because 07:58 you know they produce quarrels and the Lord's servant 08:01 must not quarrel, instead he must be kind to everyone, 08:06 able to teach, not resentful." 08:09 What else leads to disunity? Lack of prayer. 08:12 I think of Matthew 18:20... "Where two or three people 08:16 are gathered in His name (what does Jesus say?) 08:19 I am there in the midst of them." That's right. 08:21 So that means when we come together, 08:22 when we pray, what happens? 08:24 Jesus draws near and we draw near to each other. 08:28 We come in unity, but if I refuse to pray with my sister 08:32 or my brother, if I choose not to do that, that leads 08:36 to disunity. 08:37 I think also a lack of confrontation leads to disunity. 08:42 Now you may say... "How is that even possible?" 08:44 But when you sweep things under the carpet, 08:47 what happens? 08:48 Resentments begin to build up in your own heart 08:52 and you never go to the person and actually address 08:54 or talk about things... that can lead to disunity. 08:58 I also believe a lack of evangelism or a lack of 09:01 evangelistic spirit leads to disunity because if you see a 09:05 church or church members that are evangelistic in heart 09:10 and mind and life and that's all they think about, 09:12 there is no room for division in that because they're 09:15 focused on that one mission. 09:17 As I mentioned already, the history of Israel is filled with 09:20 a repeated pattern... walking with God and then 09:23 following after other gods, choosing their own way 09:26 to walk in sin and selfishness and stubbornness, 09:29 and then that led to apostasy and division... 09:33 And then they made the choice, God called to their hearts 09:36 "Come back to Me," and then we that repentance 09:39 and that reformation and them coming back to Him. 09:41 Let's look in Deuteronomy 28, this is the law of blessing 09:46 and curses - blessings and cursings I guess you would say. 09:50 Deuteronomy 28 and before we look at blessings that 09:53 take place as a result of walking 09:56 in unity with God - as a result of walking in His commands. 10:00 Let's look at the conditions... 10:01 Now when I read Deuteronomy 28, I see three conditions 10:04 for those blessings to come upon the children of Israel, 10:07 and by extension, you could say, "us as 10:09 the children of God today." 10:11 Let's read verse 1, Deuteronomy 28:1... 10:14 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey 10:17 the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully 10:20 all His commandments which I command you today, 10:23 That the Lord your God will set you high above 10:26 all nations of the earth, and all these blessings 10:28 shall come upon you and overtake you because you obeyed 10:31 the voice of the Lord your God." 10:34 So let's look first at the beginning... 10:36 It says, "It shall come to pass, if you diligently obey 10:40 the voice of the Lord your God..." 10:41 Now in Hebrew, the word for diligently is "shema" 10:45 which means "to hear." 10:46 The word for obey is "shema" which means "to hear." 10:51 So in other words, it's almost - now I'm not a Hebrew scholar, 10:54 but if I were reading that, it lists the word twice. 10:57 It says "hear-hear," so it's almost like God is saying... 11:00 "If you really listen." 11:03 You know, He mentions it twice... 11:05 "If you hear, hear." 11:06 "If you really listen to My voice." 11:10 And what are you supposed to do when you listen? 11:11 It says, "To observe carefully all His commandments." 11:14 "Observe" is "shamar, which means "to keep watch over, 11:19 to preserve, to guard." 11:22 So what is God saying here... we are to listen, 11:26 listen very closely because it mentions "hear, hear" twice. 11:29 We are to hear His voice and we are to keep watch 11:33 or guard over His commandments. Amen! 11:36 In other words, we are to walk in obedience 11:38 to what He has called us to do. 11:40 The third condition I see in verse 14... 11:43 It says, "So you shall not turn aside from any of the words 11:46 which I command you this day, to the right or to the left, 11:49 to go after other gods to serve them." 11:53 So not only are we to listen closely for the voice of God, 11:57 not only are we to keep watch over His commandments, 11:59 we are not to walk after other gods. 12:03 We're not to follow after gods of our own choosing. 12:05 So what are the blessings that come upon us? 12:07 There are blessings regardless of location... 12:11 Whether you are in the city or the country; 12:13 whether you're going in or coming out. 12:16 There are blessings on your home and your children. 12:19 Blessings on your job and your finances. 12:22 The Bible talks about garden and herds and food and storehouses. 12:26 Money - That you will be able to lend money, 12:29 and you don't even have to borrow money. 12:31 There will be blessing and protection and vindication 12:35 against your enemies. 12:37 And what is the result of all these blessings? 12:40 That is in verse 10... It says that, "All peoples 12:43 of the earth shall see that you are called by the name 12:47 of the Lord and they shall be afraid of you." 12:50 So all people - in other words, God didn't give the blessings 12:52 for the children of Israel to just sit down in their luxury... 12:56 "I have a lot of blessings from God and I'm having 12:58 a really good day today." 13:00 They were given blessings because they were called to 13:03 be a light - they were called to be as a city set on the 13:07 hill to the Gentiles - to those around them to see this 13:11 is what happens as a result of walking with God. 13:15 You know the history of Israel and they did not always 13:18 choose those blessings; they did not always hear; 13:21 they did not always observe and keep... 13:23 And they DID turn after false gods, 13:26 but God did not forsake them. 13:27 Our last Scripture is Jeremiah 3. 13:30 Jeremiah 3- this is at a time of general disobedience. 13:37 As a whole, the nation of Israel had turned away from God, 13:41 and yet, He gives this beautiful appeal 13:43 in Jeremiah 3:14... "Return O backsliding children," 13:50 says the Lord, for I am married to you. 13:53 I will take you one from a city and two from a family, 13:57 and I will bring you to Zion." Return. That's right. 14:02 So even in a time of disobedience and walking 14:05 away from God - God still wanted to be their people. 14:10 He still loved them. 14:12 He still wanted them. 14:14 He still wanted to restore them and restore them back 14:19 into unity and right relationship to Him. 14:22 Before we go on to Shelley and she's going to talk about 14:24 the judges and the spiritual condition 14:26 in the time of the judges, I just want to say, 14:29 "I don't know where you feel like you are in your walk 14:32 with God today - you might feel like, "I'm like the 14:34 children of Israel and I've wandered far from God; 14:37 I've not listened to His voice; I have not kept 14:41 His commandments; I have turned after other gods. 14:44 And God is speaking to you right now and He says, 14:46 "I love you with an everlasting love, would you 14:49 return to me? 14:51 I am married to you and I love you and I want you 14:54 as my son and as my daughter." Amen and Amen! 14:57 Thank you Jill for that beautiful foundation. 15:00 And, you know, this is such a great lesson... 15:04 "The Causes of Disunity" 15:07 My lesson is Monday and, boy, the title tells you 15:13 what a cause of disunity is. 15:16 "Right in His Own Eyes" When we think that we are right, 15:21 and we believe that our way is better 15:24 than God's way, we're in trouble. 15:26 There's going to be disunity. 15:28 So, you will recall, who succeeded Moses? 15:32 Who was it that took the children of Israel 15:36 into the land of Canaan? Joshua? Yes! 15:39 So the Book of Judges is the history of the period that 15:45 immediately followed after Joshua died until 15:52 the time of Samuel. 15:55 So let's look at Deuteronomy 16:18... 16:00 When Moses instructed, in Deuteronomy 16:18, 16:06 "You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates 16:12 which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes 16:18 and they shall judge the people with just judgment." 16:23 So after Moses and Joshua had died, 16:31 what they did was follow this advice and judges 16:33 were appointed to be the highest civil authorities in the land. 16:37 Now Samuel comes along, he was a priest, 16:41 a prophet and the last judge and he was the first king-maker. 16:47 So he linked the period of the judges with the monarchy, 16:51 but the Jewish tradition says that Samuel authored this book. 16:57 I highly doubt it because Samuel was absolutely against 17:04 making a king. 17:06 Samuel did not - he was totally opposed to that idea. 17:11 And what we see in Judges 17:6 and then in 21:25 as well... 17:17 It's an identical quote, it says, "In those days, 17:23 there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right 17:30 in his own eyes." 17:32 So the author seems to be in favor of having a king, 17:38 and he thought maybe this would basically prevent 17:42 their spiritual decline. 17:45 But we know that the kings did not solve the apostasy. 17:51 In fact, they led their people into apostasy so often. 17:56 So the theme of Judges is one of sin and apostasy 18:02 from true religion and it's interesting because 18:05 it shows how it always brings God's displeasure 18:09 and then what does God do? 18:12 He permits suffering; He permits disaster, 18:17 but it isn't vindictive, it's supposed to be educational. 18:22 In other words, God allows this to come on the people 18:26 to bring about sincere repentance. 18:29 And then what He does is, He raises up a person 18:32 or circumstances to bring relief from the disaster, 18:37 and we see this pattern in Judges 18:39 just repeated over and over. 18:41 So God's people would only... let me say it this way... 18:49 God's people would only find unity in their nation 18:55 through loyal obedience. 18:58 It's just what you said earlier. 19:00 Righteousness exalts a nation, but moral decay brings 19:06 about the national weakness. 19:09 So let's look at Judges 2:6-13 and we'll look at the spiritual 19:15 and social conditions of Israel during the time of the judges. 19:20 Judges 2:6-13... "When Joshua had dismissed 19:25 the people, the children of Israel went each to his own 19:27 inheritance to possess the land. 19:29 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, 19:34 and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. 19:40 (so for that whole generation, everybody that had served 19:44 Joshua and lived during that time) 19:47 who had seen all the great works of the Lord 19:51 which He had done for Israel..." 19:54 (so Joshua and those elders that served with him, 19:57 and lived just beyond his death, they were familiar 20:02 with all the works of the Lord) and it says in verse 8... 20:06 "Now Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, 20:09 died when he was 110 years old, and they buried him within 20:15 the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, 20:19 in the mountains of Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gaash. 20:25 When all that generation... (here's going to be a switch 20:29 now)... had been gathered to their fathers, 20:32 (what does that mean - when they're gathered to their 20:35 fathers, they're sleeping the sleep of death with the fathers) 20:39 Another generation arose after them who did not know 20:45 the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. 20:50 So in one generation, they're forgetting about 20:53 their covenant Redeemer. 20:56 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord 21:01 and served the Baals, and they forsook the Lord God of 21:05 of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, 21:08 and they followed other gods from among the gods of the 21:12 people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; 21:17 and they provoked the Lord to anger. 21:21 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths." 21:27 Now I'm going to jump forward 21:29 just a little bit to Judges 3:5-7... 21:32 "Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, 21:38 the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, 21:41 and the Jebusites. 21:43 And they took their daughters (they took the daughters 21:46 of these pagan people) to be their wives, 21:50 and they gave their daughters (the Israelite daughters) 21:54 to the sons of these pagans and they served their gods. 22:01 So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." 22:06 That's repeated seven times in the Book of Judges. 22:10 "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." 22:13 "They forgot their God and they served the Baals 22:17 and the Asherahs." 22:19 So God had commanded them to be separate from the people. 22:25 He sent them in there as a light to the Gentiles, 22:29 but He wanted them to be separate 22:31 from their unholy influences. 22:34 We are in this world, but we're not to be of this world, right? 22:39 So He was saying to them - don't conform to their pagan 22:44 practices and what happened was, the evil of the pagans... 22:50 they tempted the Israelites and within just one generation, 22:56 one generation, after the death of Joshua, those who had 23:02 participated in the conquest that they've gone on 23:05 and suddenly these people become more and more 23:08 like the people that they were actually charged to displace. 23:12 It's amazing... the Bible says, Bad company 23:19 corrupts good morals. That's right. 23:21 Evil companionship - this is why it is so important 23:25 if you as a youth - sometimes you don't understand 23:29 why your parents may say, "Son, I don't want you to hang 23:33 with this group of kids," and you think, "Well, why not?" 23:37 "Why not?" I remember my mother 23:40 told me once - I always had to bring my friends home 23:43 to meet her and after I brought this one friend home, 23:46 she said, "Honey, I want you to be friendly to her, 23:50 but I don't want you to be too close to her." 23:53 And come to find out, there were good reasons 23:55 why my mother saw through it before I did. 23:58 But what happened - these evil companions ruined 24:04 the training and the good intentions of the people, 24:07 and they began to follow the inclinations of their own heart. 24:10 And this is what happens - the nation lost the memory 24:15 of God's redemptive work and the historical pattern, 24:19 the people abandoned the Lord their Redeemer and then in 24:23 judgment, He would send in foreign enemies; 24:26 they would cry out to the Lord and in mercy, 24:30 He would provide a deliverer. 24:33 So instead of learning the lessons that they should have, 24:38 they kept going deeper and deeper into depravity, 24:41 but God is a bigger Savior than we are a sinner. 24:45 Aww, Amen Shelley. Thank you so much. 24:48 It's amazing they forgot in one generation what God 24:51 had instructed and how they had walked with Him, 24:53 but praise the Lord that judgment is redemptive. 24:56 We're going to take a short break just now. 24:57 Don't go anywhere... we'll be right back. |
Revised 2022-09-13