Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180042A
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00:30 Hello, I'm John Lomacang and I'd like to welcome you
00:32 to our Sabbath School Panel where we are continuing 00:35 in our third lesson on the wonderful Quarterly topic... 00:39 "Oneness in Christ" and I'll tell you in just a 00:42 moment how to get a copy of this lesson and to 00:45 how to follow along with us. 00:46 And we have wonderful panelists with us today... 00:49 I'd like to quickly take the time to remind you of 00:52 who they are because if you've watched our program before, 00:54 I'm sure you've seen them and if this is your first time, 00:57 remember this channel where you can study God's word 01:00 together - I'll give you some more details in just a moment. 01:03 But Mollie, it's good to have you here. Thank you, thank you! 01:05 And whenever I'm near you, I get ready - I put on 01:08 fireproof clothing - you're always on fire for the Lord. 01:11 Laughter... I love that. 01:13 Jill, the lady of the word, 01:14 appreciated very much. Thank you so much. 01:17 Pastor Dinzey, he is a multilingual pastor, head of 01:22 3ABN Latino - good to have you 01:23 here today. It's a pleasure to be here. 01:24 And Shelley, I don't know which hat to talk about, 01:26 but you have so many, thank you for what you 01:29 do here at 3ABN. Amen! 01:31 And, hasn't this lesson been a wonderful 01:33 thing to study? Yes, it has. 01:34 I mean, we're just on #3, the third one and this week's 01:39 study is... "That They All May Be One" 01:43 ... Covering October 13-19, if you don't have a copy 01:47 of the lesson, you can go to this following website... 01:49 ABSG.Adventist.org and download a copy. 01:55 That's ABSG.Adventist.org and download a copy 02:00 or you can go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church 02:02 and joint in on the Bible study; 02:04 I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms, 02:06 and if you don't have a lesson, they'll give you one. 02:09 And at least we will do so here and I know that if you ask, 02:12 they will make one available to you. 02:14 Before we go any further though, I'd like to always ask 02:17 the Lord's blessing to be with us and I want to ask 02:20 Pastor Dinzey to give us that blessing today. 02:23 Sure, let's go to the Lord in prayer... 02:25 Our Loving Heavenly Father, We want to thank You, Lord, 02:28 for this time that we could be together to study 02:31 Your Holy Word. 02:32 We ask You, Father, to bless us with the Holy Spirit 02:35 that we may speak the words Your children need to hear. 02:39 We pray, Lord, that as we study together, 02:41 we will be drawn closer to You and closer to one another. 02:45 We pray for Your blessing upon all that are watching and 02:47 listening wherever they may be and Your Holy Spirit 02:50 touch their hearts to understand what they should do 02:53 about the things they are about to hear. 02:55 In Jesus name... Amen, Amen! 02:57 Thank you so much. 02:58 "That They All May Be One" 03:02 As I looked over the lesson, I want to just begin with 03:04 our memory text, it's in John 17:20-21, the memory text. 03:11 The Bible reads as follows, "I do not pray for these alone, but 03:16 also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 03:20 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I 03:24 in You; that they also may be one in Us, 03:28 that the world may believe that You sent Me." Amen! 03:32 It's very interesting how the text begins because the Lord 03:35 gives one of the key elements of oneness right off the bat. 03:39 That is We, that He may be in the Father and the Father 03:43 may be in Him and in some sense, we have the 03:46 obligation when Jesus addresses His concerns, 03:49 we have the obligation, as Christians, to do everything 03:52 with the other person in mind. 03:55 Remember Jesus, all through His ministry, He said, "I did not 03:58 come to do My own will, but the will of the Father 04:02 that sent Me," and we've talked about this 04:04 in some of our prior lessons, how unity is interrupted, 04:08 how separation begins to set in - that's when we begin 04:10 to do things with only our self-interests at heart. 04:13 And Jesus never did anything with self-interest, 04:16 but everything He did, He did as the Father appointed Him. 04:20 The Father appointed Him the tasks in His condescension 04:24 as a human, as the Divine One clothed in human flesh, 04:28 as the Human One that sequestered divine flesh. 04:35 It's amazing when you think about Jesus 04:37 stepping down Himself. 04:39 I like to think of the picture... 04:41 We have in Thompsonville, right where 34 and 149 04:45 intersects, just before we get to that intersection, 04:49 there's a row of power transformers - I would consider 04:52 they are and I have a little shaver at home I shave with 04:56 periodically and I thought to myself, "What would 04:58 happen if I go right down to that power transformer 05:01 and plugged in my shaver that requires only 12 volts." 05:05 Well I hate to say, maybe not only will my shaver 05:08 disintegrate, but I might cease to exist. 05:09 And I think of divinity that way. Yes 05:13 There's so much power in the person of Christ, 05:16 that He came into human flesh by stepping down 05:21 His power, but He remained the Son of God and became 05:27 the Son of man. 05:28 And then He spent 3-1/2 years in this earth training, 05:32 calling and equipping His disciples to do a work 05:36 and then when you think of His preexistence from eternity, 05:41 and His perfection, even not in the slightest way defeating 05:47 the mission He came here to accomplish and not in thought, 05:50 not in deed, not in action and then He comes forth from the 05:53 tomb saying all authority, all power is given unto me 05:56 in heaven and in earth and then He thinks to Himself... 06:00 "I've got to leave My church in the hands of these 12 guys?" 06:04 Laughter...The sons of thunder; Peter whose mouth is in 06:10 fifth gear and his mind is in first; 06:13 Thomas who can't tell - is that the Lord or is it not;" 06:17 Judas, we know he got filtered out because of his 06:20 own personal greed. 06:21 But then you have John, the youngest one, the one whom 06:25 Jesus loved - he was a tender one growing up to be 06:27 the catalyst for the Book of Revelation. 06:30 And you look at all the different characters 06:32 that were there represented in the twelve and I would 06:35 have thought to myself... "I'm really 06:39 concerned whether or not there's going to be unity here." 06:41 And so John 17 is the creed, 06:49 it is the buttress of unity. 06:53 I'm looking for a particular word that will come to me, 06:56 midstream and I'll just blurt it out, but right now 06:58 it can't come to the forefront. 06:59 Let's look at John 17:1-5, it's the armada; yes, 07:04 it's the armada of unity. 07:07 John 17:1-5... "Jesus spoke these words, 07:13 lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father the hour 07:17 has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also 07:21 may glorify You, as You have given Him 07:25 authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal 07:28 life, to as many as You have given Him. 07:31 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, 07:35 the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 07:39 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished 07:43 the work (that's what I want to say - "I have finished the 07:45 work - Amen everybody) I have finished the work which 07:49 You have given Me to do. 07:52 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, 07:56 (and this is powerful) with the glory which I had 07:59 with You before the world was." 08:02 You cannot deny the preexistence of Christ 08:04 on that very statement. 08:06 So the concerns Jesus had, the person who constructed the 08:11 lesson or the committee that put the lesson together, 08:13 categorized under these different areas. 08:16 The prayer that Jesus prayed about concerning His 08:19 followers were contained in His concern about 08:21 His betrayal and death. 08:23 Now we know that before the cross, He had a concern 08:25 about His betrayal and death and the concern was not that 08:28 He was going to be betrayed, He knew was - that was 08:31 prefigured in writings of the Old Testament prophets; 08:34 "The one who is My friend, He will betray Me" - that was a 08:38 prophecy that had to come to pass. 08:41 But He was concerned because the Bible says, "Woe unto the one 08:43 who betrays Me, it's better that that 08:45 person hadn't been born." 08:46 So that betrayal was a concern He had, then also His 08:49 High Priestly work that He was going to participate in after He 08:54 finished His work on earth as the Man walking the road 08:58 to the cross of Calvary, then He continued His ministry, 09:02 but in His absence, now He has to entrust the word 09:06 or the work to frail human beings. 09:09 So He prays about His high priestly function 09:14 in the absence of His disciples. 09:17 He's praying not for His function but for them. 09:20 The other one, His prayer of consecration 09:22 for His sacrifice; His concern for unity among believers, 09:27 and these are all the concerns that the church had 09:29 in the New Testament. 09:30 His prayer of consecration on behalf of those 09:32 who will eventually believe. 09:34 Can you imagine - Jesus is praying for those who will 09:36 eventually believe and they 09:38 haven't even heard the message yet. 09:40 And we've come to discover that some of those, 09:42 even the Nicodemus that came to Christ - the one that came 09:48 to the Lord by night, Nicodemus, 09:50 he became an ardent supporter of evangelism 09:53 in the New Testament. 09:54 He financed some of the evangelistic series. 09:57 He became the person that stood strongly 09:59 behind the advancement of the gospel, but he needed 10:02 an encounter with Christ first. 10:03 And then Jesus prayed for those that the Father will give Him. 10:08 And this I want to make clear - is not a statement 10:11 of predestination because people have read that 10:13 and said, "Okay, the Father is picking who is to be saved 10:15 and who is to be lost? No... 10:17 Because we have all been predestined to be sons and 10:20 daughters of God, can we get an Amen? Amen! 10:22 So the Lord has made every provision for every one of us 10:24 to be saved and that's what the Emancipation Proclamation 10:27 is all about... you've been set free, you just have to accept 10:30 the Emancipation Proclamation. 10:32 And I heard the story about a slave that had been 10:34 declared free, but because they didn't get it from 10:37 the person that had them in slavery, 10:39 they just continued working. 10:41 And we have been given the "Emancipation Proclamation" 10:44 through the risen Savior. Amen! 10:47 But what I want to bring out very carefully here, 10:49 and I'd like us to turn now to John 17:3, 10:53 I think, to me, if there's a beautiful passage 10:58 in the Bible in the Book of John chapter 17, 11:03 I would say this to me is one of the central focuses in the 11:06 life of Christ because a lot of times we think eternal life 11:09 is a doctrine - "eternal life" is a person. 11:15 Let's look at that, John 17:3... 11:20 Shelley, do you have it? I do. Or Jill do you have it? 11:22 Which one of you have it? 11:24 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You; 11:28 the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." 11:32 Notice it's the ONLY true God. 11:34 He wouldn't make that statement unless there were 11:36 competing Gods. 11:37 And He knew that through the New Testament, through the 11:41 rise of the Ephesians' Church, the church at Corinth, 11:44 the church at Philippi, the church at Ephesus, 11:46 He knew that there would be contentions and the 11:48 apostles contended with more than one false god. 11:51 So He made it clear, "When you go and proclaim, 11:54 proclaim the ONLY true God," and Shelley and Jill, 11:59 I just singled you both out because you know, I know 12:01 you love the Book of Romans, and the Apostle Paul made it 12:03 very clear in the very beginning of the 12:05 Book of Romans, "I desire to know nothing but... what? 12:09 "Christ and Him crucified." 12:12 He made it clear this is My mission. 12:14 And then in the Book of John... this is something that I heard 12:17 a pastor - good friend of ours, David Asscherick... 12:19 I heard him say this and I was amazed by this and I did 12:21 my own homework afterwards and what an amazing thing... 12:24 He says there are two words that came out continually 12:27 in the Book of John... "know" and "believe." 12:32 "Know" and "believe." Those words are repeated 12:35 repetitiously "know" and "believe" that you might 12:38 know and in knowing, you might believe. 12:40 And both of those are encased in John 3:16, 12:44 "That you might know and believe." 12:46 But let's look at the gift of eternal life... 12:47 By the way, let's look at eternal life - first as a gift. 12:49 Ephesians 2:8... "For by grace are we saved 12:52 through faith and that not of yourselves, 12:54 it is the gift of God." 12:56 One of my favorite authors, "Oswald Chambers," 12:59 said it this way, "Eternal life is not the gift of God, 13:03 it's the gift "God." 13:06 And God is the gift! Yes 13:09 He's not just saying, "Here's a gift." 13:10 He's saying, "Isn't that the proclamation that was 13:14 given about the coming of Christ?" 13:16 "Call His name Emanuel" meaning, "God with us." 13:20 He came to give us God, He came to show us the Father, 13:23 and so when we come into this one relationship 13:25 with God, we're not only receiving the GIFT 13:27 that is eternal life, but we're receiving the Person of God, 13:32 the Person of God through Jesus Christ who is 13:34 the One who embraces eternal life. 13:37 Secondly, eternal life is an appointment. 13:40 Eternal life is an appointment. 13:42 Acts 13:48... "Now when the Gentiles heard this, 13:46 they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, 13:49 and as many as had been appointed to eternal life 13:53 believed, eternal life is an appointment." 13:56 Thirdly, eternal life is our hope. 13:59 Titus 1:1... "Paul, a bondservant of God 14:02 and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the 14:05 faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the 14:08 truth which accords with godliness... 14:17 Verse 2... in hope of eternal life which God 14:20 who cannot lie, promised before time began." 14:23 So, thirdly... eternal life is a hope. 14:28 The next one, eternal life is in Christ. 14:31 Who can find 1 John 5:11 in 59 seconds? 14:38 1 John 5:11... "And this is the testimony that God has 14:42 given us eternal life and this life is in His son." 14:45 So eternal life is not just to give eternal life, it is Christ. 14:49 And lastly, and I'll transition, eternal life is a PROMISE. 14:54 Eternal life is a promise. 14:56 1 John 2:25... "And this is the promise, that He has 15:00 promised us eternal life." 15:02 "And this is the promise that He has promised us 15:04 eternal life." 15:06 So eternal life is a gift, an appointment, our hope, 15:09 it is Christ and it is a promise. 15:14 And when you focus on those aspects of your 15:17 walk with Christ, it tends to dissipate the fear 15:20 that oneness will not exist because oneness 15:24 and eternal life is all in Christ. Amen! Amen! 15:27 And Amen! 15:30 Let me ask you a question, now I've got Monday's lesson, 15:36 and it's "Jesus Prays for His Disciples" 15:39 Okay, what is a disciple? 15:42 Jesus prays for His disciples... 15:46 It's a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 15:48 How many of you are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? 15:51 If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, 15:55 Jesus is praying for you now. 15:57 Our memory text and a Scripture 16:00 that Jill is going to expound on is... 16:03 John 17:20... I'm going to read it for you before I look into 16:09 John 17:9-19, but let me read this to you... 16:14 "I do not pray for these alone, (Jesus is talking about His 16:19 disciples that are physically before Him at the time) 16:23 He says, "But also for those who will believe in Me 16:28 through their word." That's right. 16:29 Now let me ask you each of you.. 16:31 Jill, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ 16:35 through these words? Amen! 16:37 So you know what this is telling us, Pastor Lomacang? 16:40 This prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples is for you. 16:46 This prayer is for Jill, Shelley, this prayer is for you. 16:52 We can listen to this prayer as we read it and realize 16:57 the Lord Jesus Christ is praying for us. 17:01 Now let me ask you this question... 17:03 Where is the Lord Jesus Christ right now? 17:06 And that would be Romans 8:34... "Who is he who condemns? 17:12 It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, 17:18 who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes 17:24 intercession for us." 17:26 Do you know what intercession is? 17:27 Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, 17:30 John Dinzey and He is praying for you. 17:32 He is making intercession for you. 17:35 "Intercession" is where you take the hand of Jill Morikone, 17:42 Jesus is taking the hand of Jill Morikone; 17:45 He's reaching over, He's taking the hand of God 17:48 and He's pulling you together. 17:50 That's what an intercessor does. 17:52 That's what Jesus is doing for us right now. 17:57 And here's the prayer that He is praying 18:00 for each and every one of us. 18:02 I hope you are in John 17:9-19, "I pray for them. Jesus says. 18:10 I do not pray for the world but for those You have 18:15 given Me, for they are Yours. 18:18 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, 18:22 and I am glorified in them. 18:25 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in 18:30 the world, and I come to You. 18:33 Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom 18:38 You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one." 18:43 He is saying, "Holy Father, keep Jill Morikone 18:47 that she may be one with Us even as We are one. 18:52 Personalize this because Jesus prayed this. 18:55 Do you all think if the Lord Jesus Christ prayed this 18:59 to His father, that this prayer is going to be answered? Amen! 19:04 I can't imagine it not being answered. 19:07 Verse 12... "While I was with them in the world, 19:10 I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me 19:13 I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of 19:16 perdition, that the Scripture may be fulfilled. 19:19 Verse 13... But now I come to You, and these things 19:24 I speak in the world, that they may have My joy 19:30 fulfilled in themselves. 19:31 Verse 14... "I have given them Your word; and the world has 19:35 hated them because they are not of the world, 19:38 just as I am not of the world. 19:40 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, 19:43 but that You should keep them from the (devil) evil one. 19:48 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 19:51 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 19:55 As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them 19:59 into the world. 20:01 And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself, that they also 20:07 may be sanctified in truth." 20:10 Now two things stand out... 20:12 What is He praying for? 20:14 Verse 11- It was unity. Verse 19- Our sanctification. 20:21 Now what is the definition of unity? 20:24 We've said this - our whole Quarterly is about 20:27 oneness in Christ, unity, harmony. 20:31 And then He prays for our sanctification. 20:34 The definition of sanctification... 20:38 "To set apart for a sacred person or for religious use; 20:46 to consecrate; to free from sin; to purify." 20:51 So He's praying for us; first that we would be in unity. 20:56 James 3:16... "For where envy and evil seeking exist, 21:03 confusion and every evil thing exist." 21:07 So what he's saying - we've got to pray for their unity. 21:11 If they will be in unity and harmony, where there is 21:15 lack of unity; where there is confusions; where there is 21:19 striving - what is there? 21:20 There is every evil work. 21:23 He prays for our unity; for our harmony and He prays 21:27 for our sanctification - that we will be set apart 21:31 for holy service unto God. 21:34 Jesus knew what was ahead for His disciples. 21:39 What happened to every one of His disciples? 21:42 Did they have a pleasant, easy, meadow to walk through? 21:46 Every one of them (am I saying this correctly?) 21:49 walked through difficult hard times, some even to the 21:54 point of death. 21:55 And He knows what is ahead for every one of us. 22:01 Does anything ever catch God by surprise? No not at all. 22:05 The enemy of our soul, who wants nothing less than 22:09 to destroy every one of us, is walking about as a roaring 22:14 lion doing what? Seeking whom he 22:17 may devour. 22:22 Jesus commits us to the care of His Father for 22:27 Him to protect us while we're in this world. 22:31 There is evil in the world! 22:33 1 John 5:19... Tells us this: "We know that we are 22:39 of God and the whole world lies under the sway of what? 22:45 Under the sway of the wicked one. 22:49 But because the world is the place where we live, 22:54 and where we serve God, Jesus prays that 23:00 ... He says, "I do not pray 23:02 that You should take them out of the world, 23:05 but that You should keep them from the evil one." Why? 23:10 Because Jesus loves this world. 23:15 He gave His life... Do you know Jesus didn't 23:18 just give His life for you and for me? 23:22 Jesus gave His life for the whole world and there is a 23:27 whole world, Pastor Lomacang, of men and women, 23:31 precious souls, that have never even heard the gospel message. 23:36 And we are the instruments that are in this world that 23:41 must be used to bring this gospel message to those 23:45 precious souls that Jesus died for. 23:48 He shed His blood for them. 23:50 Now we are the instruments in the hand of God to be used 23:56 to bring the gospel message to the world and so 24:00 Jesus is praying for us... if Jesus prays for us, 24:04 you know God is hearing Him. 24:06 Does that not bring you courage? Amen! 24:08 Doesn't it encourage you to want to go forward 24:12 and be great and mighty warriors for the Kingdom of God 24:16 because if God be for us, who can be against us? 24:21 Jesus is speaking to His disciples... 24:25 I'm going to finish with this Scripture, John 13:18-21... 24:30 "I do not speak concerning all of you. 24:32 I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture 24:36 may be fulfilled, "He who eats bread with Me has lifted up 24:40 his heel against Me." 24:42 Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, 24:46 that you may believe that I am He. 24:48 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I 24:53 I send receives Me; and he who receives Me 24:56 receives Him who sent Me. 24:58 When Jesus said these things, He was troubled in spirit, 25:02 and testified and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, 25:06 one of you will do what? One of you will betray Me." 25:11 Jesus knew that Satan had the power to reach right into 25:16 His inner circle and to effect one of His very own. 25:22 He knew that he had that power. 25:24 So if he could do it to someone on the inner circle 25:27 of Jesus, do you not think we need that prayer and we 25:31 need that protection because Jesus wants to use 25:34 each and every one of us to bring the gospel 25:37 of the Lord Jesus Christ to the whole world. 25:40 That's right. Amen! 25:41 Thank you so much Mollie. 25:42 You know, we're going to take a short break to share some 25:45 very important information with you and then we'll be right back 25:48 to continue our lesson on Tuesday... 25:50 "For Those Who Will Believe in Me" 25:56 Every wish you could watch the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 26:01 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 26:04 Well, you can by visiting 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com 26:09 A clean design makes it easy to 26:11 find the program you're looking for. 26:13 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 26:17 so you can follow along. 26:18 Sharing is easy, just click "share" and choose 26:22 your favorite social media; share a link, save a life 26:25 for eternity! |
Revised 2018-10-17