Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180043A
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00:30 Hello and welcome to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:33 It's the moment where we can study God's word together 00:37 and we are glad to be with you. 00:38 My name is John Dinzey, and I would like to 00:40 present to you our panel that is here with us to share 00:42 God's word together. 00:44 So to my left we have Sister Shelley Quinn, welcome; 00:47 thank you, good to be here. 00:49 And next to her is our Sister Mollie Steenson; 00:52 thank you, great to be here too. 00:55 Thank you and Pastor John Lomacang is 00:56 with us as well, always good to be here. 00:58 And our general manager for 3ABN - Sister Jill Morikone; 01:03 it's a privilege to open up God's word. 01:05 And we are just pleased to have this opportunity and, of course, 01:10 we need to start with prayer, so I'm going to ask 01:13 Sister Mollie Sue Steenson to lead us in prayer 01:15 into this study, please. 01:16 Thank you Pastor Dinzey. 01:18 Holy Father... We come before You in the name of Jesus, 01:21 and Father, we are so grateful for Your presence here. 01:24 And Lord, we just, each one of us, give You our heart 01:27 and ask Lord, as we present this message, 01:31 these words that You have given us, that Your power, 01:35 Your presence and Your anointing will just 01:38 overshadow us all. 01:39 And Father, I pray for the hearts and the minds of 01:41 everyone that is listening, that they will be prepared 01:44 to receive the implantation of Your word - it will take root, 01:48 it will grow, it will prosper and we will all continue to 01:51 be conformed to Your image and likeness. 01:53 In Christ's name... Amen, Amen. Amen, thank you so much. 01:57 And the Quarterly that we have for this...ah...ah - Quarter? 02:03 Quarter, yes, is "Oneness in Christ," 02:08 "Oneness in Christ" and you may wonder, "Where do I get 02:10 one of those things?" 02:11 Well, you'll be happy to know that you can visit your local 02:14 Seventh-day Adventist Church and say, "I'd like one of those 02:17 Quarterlies that they mention on 3ABN, 02:20 where can I get one, and they'll be glad 02:21 to give one to you for free. 02:24 But if you want one right away, you can go on the internet 02:27 to ABSG.Adventist.org for Adult Sabbath School Quarterly, 02:35 ABSG.Adventist.org 02:38 And there, you can download a PDF version 02:42 onto your telephone or tablet and you can follow 02:45 along with us right now. 02:46 And so, we'd like to go right into the lesson... 02:49 We are in lesson #4 of 13 lessons and the title is: 02:54 "The Key to Unity," "The Key to Unity" 02:57 The what we call the memory text because some people 03:01 take time to memorize this, is found in Ephesians 1:9-10, 03:07 Ephesians 1:9-10, Notice this wonderful Scripture. 03:11 "Having made known to us the mystery of His will, 03:15 according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 03:19 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might 03:24 gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are 03:29 in heaven and which are on earth - in Him. 03:34 And I praise the Lord, this is a Scripture that gives us 03:37 encouragement and I would like to also point to you 03:41 another Scripture that kind of gives us the idea that is 03:46 brought out here - that Christ is going to gather 03:49 together in one all things, those that are in heaven 03:52 and those that are in earth. 03:54 And this is found in Ephesians 3:14 where we have 03:58 verse 14 and 15, Ephesians 3:14-15... 04:03 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our 04:07 Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven 04:11 and earth is named..." 04:13 So you see, there is this idea of family that is brought out 04:18 here in the Book of Ephesians, not only family on earth, 04:21 but also family in heaven. 04:22 You see, with God the whole universe is to Him as a family, 04:27 and you see this thing brought out in different ways 04:31 in the Scriptures. 04:33 When the disciples came to Jesus... "Lord, how should 04:36 we pray, Jesus said, "After this manner therefore 04:39 you shall pray..."(Not that you should use this prayer 04:41 all the time, but this is the pattern which you could use.) 04:45 And He says, "Our Father which art in heaven." 04:48 You see for us on earth that are adopted into 04:52 God's family, we have the privilege of calling 04:55 Him "Father," and this is a wonderful thing. 04:58 You may also remember that it says that we say, 05:00 "Abba Father," (Daddy). 05:02 You know it's interesting to me that Dr. Samuel, 05:07 that used to be a part of the Thompsonville Seventh-day 05:09 Adventist Church, he is from India and his family is from 05:12 India and he brought out something interesting... 05:14 You know they have - I forgot how many millions of gods 05:17 in India - of course they're not real gods because they have 05:20 gods that are little trees and bushes and all kinds of 05:24 gods, but you see the concept of god that they have 05:30 is you are a servant and this is the god, but there's no 05:35 relationship involved. 05:37 But the Bible shows to us that we are children and family, 05:43 and God is our Father. 05:45 And so this is a marvelous thing that is brought out to us, 05:48 and through Jesus Christ, this is a reality that we are all 05:53 family. 05:55 When we talk about Ephesus, we have to realize that 05:57 this was a major central commerce and influence 06:00 in Asia Minor and of course the church at that time was 06:05 composed of Jews and Gentiles and people in all 06:09 walks of life and this is perhaps a setting 06:13 some people might think for conflicts and division 06:17 to take place, but when you come to Jesus, 06:22 we're all children. 06:24 We are all to love one another. 06:26 Jesus said, "By this all will know that you 06:30 are My disciples, if you have love one for another." Amen! 06:34 So in God's family, there's not to be a division 06:36 one pulling this way and another one pulling that way; 06:38 "No, it's my way," or as some people say, "or the highway." 06:42 People work together. 06:44 I remember one time, I was in South America 06:48 and a marvelous thing had taken place there in Lima, Peru. 06:52 You see, the people were setting a goal - we want to baptize 06:58 X- amount of people every year, X- amount of people, 07:01 and every year they would not reach that goal 07:04 until they tried something different, 07:06 and that is a marvelous thing. 07:08 They started meeting in homes, and you know what happens 07:11 when you're in homes and there are less people? 07:12 You get to know one another! 07:14 You see, and that's what God's family 07:16 is like - we get to know one another. 07:17 And they used to pray more for each other. 07:19 Sometimes when you're in a large setting, 07:21 and this is true, people walk into a church sometimes 07:25 500 or 1,000, they walk in, they listen, 07:30 they listen and then they go home and they don't 07:32 interact with one another. 07:33 God's purpose in bringing us together 07:35 is for there to be unity, for there to be 07:38 fellowship with one another and this is why 07:40 many churches in the Seventh- day Adventist Church have 07:42 have what we call "fellowship dinner" where we are 07:46 not only to partake of a meal together, 07:48 but also we are to fellowship one with another. 07:51 And it's interesting that in the Bible, 07:53 this is brought out as well... 07:55 Jesus is said to be "knocking at the door," 07:58 "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears 08:02 my voice and opens the door, I will come into him 08:04 and sup with him and he with Me." 08:06 And when you think of the idea of having a supper 08:10 together, in the culture that is brought out in the Bible 08:14 that Jesus lived in, sharing a meal together is one of the 08:17 most intimate and familiar things that you can do 08:21 with one another and this is brought out even by Jesus. 08:24 So I encourage you to consider visiting a Seventh-day 08:27 Adventist Church - most of them will have fellowship dinner 08:30 and you can come in and fellowship not only 08:33 partake in worshipping God together, but also 08:36 partake of a meal - get to know one another. 08:38 So I was telling you about Lima, Peru, and I bring this up 08:42 for a reason because they said they brought people from 08:47 all of South America to find out what happened in Lima, Peru, 08:50 why did they suddenly pass all the records, 08:53 all these goals that they were reaching they couldn't reach... 08:57 until they decided to meet in homes and sing together 09:00 and pray with one another and study the Bible together. 09:04 They just passed the goal, so they had to 09:06 bring it higher next year and they passed that goal, 09:08 and they said, "Well we sing together, we pray together, 09:11 we share our meals together." 09:12 And they said, "Well, what's the secret of this unity? 09:15 "Oh well, if somebody doesn't agree, we just throw them out." 09:19 But that wasn't true... He said, "I was just joking." 09:23 He said, "It's the coming together, the fellowshipping 09:27 with one with another that has brought out this unity." 09:30 God has brought this unity about. 09:32 When we realize that we have all been purchased 09:34 by the blood of Christ, that there's no one 09:36 better than another, then we understand that 09:40 he's my brother - why would I do something to hurt 09:43 this person... she's my sister, why would I do something 09:46 to hurt this person. 09:48 And so, the source of unity is Jesus Christ - that we 09:53 understand that we have been purchased by His precious blood. 09:57 I have this section in Sunday, it says, "Blessings in Christ," 10:01 and with the little time that I have left, 10:03 I would like to begin reading in 10:05 Ephesians 1, beginning verse 3, and notice these wonderful 10:11 Scriptures... "Blessed be the God and Father 10:14 of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every 10:19 spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 10:21 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation 10:26 of the world, that we should be holy and without blame 10:30 before Him in love, having predestined us 10:33 to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself 10:37 according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise 10:40 of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted 10:44 in the Beloved." 10:46 These words communicate to us that even before the 10:50 foundation of the world, even as that Scripture is 10:52 brought out in Romans 5:8, God commendeth His 10:55 love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, 10:57 Christ died for us... and this understanding that even 11:01 before the foundation of the world, God chose you, 11:04 chose you, chose me to be a part of His family, 11:07 to rescue us from this world of corruption 11:10 to rescue us from sin, not only that... 11:13 It says here that we may be holy and without blame 11:19 before Him, in love, having predestined us to be 11:23 into the adoption of sons. 11:25 It's not only that you are forgiven, you are accepted 11:28 in the beloved without blame all the things you have done. 11:32 They're gone! Nobody can say... "Aren't you 11:35 that guy that killed 500 people? 11:37 Weren't you that person that used to steal from old ladies?" 11:41 No... all of that is gone because it is cleansed 11:44 by the blood of Jesus Christ. 11:46 It shall not be brought before you. 11:48 You will be cleansed completely. 11:49 And this is the marvelous thing that we have in Christ... 11:51 But not only are you forgiven, but you are also 11:56 adopted as a child of God. Amen! 11:58 You know, in this world, it may be that if you 12:01 committed a crime, that remains on your record. 12:04 You go to apply for a job and you have 12:07 to put there... "Have you ever been in prison?" 12:10 Perhaps you may have that experience already, 12:12 and having to write that down has brought some... 12:15 "Oh man, I have to write that down, hopefully word 12:18 doesn't get around, you know." 12:20 But in God's family we're all one, 12:23 before the Lord we are blameless and we are His children. 12:27 And there's another Scripture that brings out something 12:30 so marvelous, so wonderful that we should just rejoice 12:34 in the Lord because of this. 12:36 This is found in Romans 8:17, I don't have time to look it up, 12:40 but it says there in Romans 8:17 that... as-a-matter-of-fact, 12:46 I think I will read it... "... and if children, 12:49 then heirs - heirs of God and joint areas with Christ, 12:53 if so be that we suffer with Him that we may be 12:56 glorified together." 12:57 Notice that we become joint heirs with Jesus Christ. 13:01 This is a marvelous and wonderful privilege that we 13:04 have in Christ Jesus. 13:06 Now let's go back to Ephesians 1 13:08 to pick up where we left off... 13:10 We talked about being blameless. 13:12 We talked about being adopted into God's family. 13:16 Verse 7... Now in Him, we have redemption through 13:18 His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the 13:22 riches of His grace which He made to abound toward 13:25 us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known to us 13:29 the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure 13:32 which He purposed in Himself that in the dispensation 13:36 of the fullness of the times He might gather together 13:39 in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven 13:43 and which are on earth in Him. 13:45 And this is wonderful that we can become the family 13:51 of God - we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, 13:54 and you have the opportunity... 13:57 You know, it may be that someone is listening right now 14:00 that has now become a child of God and we would like to 14:03 encourage you to do that because when you become a 14:05 child of God, as we read, you become an heir; 14:09 joint heirs with Jesus Christ. 14:10 You become adopted into God's family. 14:13 And there is another Scripture I would like to share with you. 14:16 Let me see... it's 2 Corinthians 5, and I want 14:23 to ask somebody that will read it for us, 14:25 so I think I'll have to read it here because 14:27 my time is just about running out. 14:29 Notice this, in 2 Corinthians 5:19-20... 14:32 I hope that they'll get to read it. 14:34 It says... "...that is, that God was in Christ 14:38 reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their 14:42 trespasses to them and has committed to us the word 14:46 of reconciliation." 14:48 Now notice this... "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ 14:52 as though God were pleading through us, 14:54 we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." 14:59 So God was in Christ reconciling the world unto 15:04 Himself and it is written, we then become ambassadors... 15:09 When you become joint heirs with Christ, 15:11 you become a child of God; you are accepted 15:14 in the beloved, a child... you then are 15:16 an ambassador for Christ. 15:17 What's an ambassador? 15:19 It's the highest representative from one country 15:23 into another country and we are ambassadors 15:27 for Christ! God of the universe. 15:30 We are ambassadors of the God of the universe. 15:32 We can walk with our head knowing that 15:34 we are a child of the Lord! 15:35 I encourage you to become an ambassador for Christ 15:38 and help others become a child of the Lord. 15:41 Amen! Amen! 15:43 Now we get to listen to Shelley Quinn, 15:46 get ready for a blessing! 15:47 Well I was certainly blessed by what you said. 15:50 This is Lesson 4 which is "The Key to Unity" 15:54 And we see that that first key is "Blessings in Christ" 15:59 The other thing is that Jesus breaks down the wall. Amen! 16:04 That's the lesson I have been assigned - Monday, 16:08 "Breaking Down the Wall" 16:10 I know you would all agree that differences can create 16:14 animosity and conflict among people because what we do 16:20 sometimes is we build barriers between ourselves and people 16:23 who are different from us and it can have to do with 16:27 race or religion or it can have to do with your financial, 16:31 your know, political, theological or cultural status, 16:35 or economic status, but Christ breaks down, like you said... 16:40 We realize we're all brothers and sisters - Christ breaks down 16:45 the barriers so that we become one with Him. 16:48 Let's look at how our unity in Christ breaks down 16:52 the effects of our differences 16:53 in Ephesians 2 and we'll begin with verse 11... 16:58 And Paul writes... "Therefore remember that you, 17:01 once Gentiles (heathens in the flesh) - who are called 17:06 uncircumcision (so the Gentiles were labeled "uncircumcision" by 17:11 what is called "circumcision," that would be the Jews) 17:14 made in the flesh by hands (and that's referring to the 17:19 circumcision of the Jews, made in the flesh by hands, 17:21 it was merely a mark) that at that time you were 17:25 without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth 17:28 of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, 17:31 having no hope and being without God in the world." 17:35 So Paul is reminding them... Once you live totally apart 17:39 from Christ, you had no part of the covenant blessings 17:43 of God and you had no promise when you were in the world... 17:47 But, there is a change... He says in verse 13... 17:52 But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off 17:59 (who did not have any knowledge of God) 18:02 have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 18:05 For He Himself is our peace, (He is our bond of unity, 18:10 He is our harmony with God) and He (Paul says) has made 18:16 both one (both the Jew and the Gentile one) and has 18:21 broken down (He has destroyed or abolished) 18:23 the middle wall of separation." 18:25 In the ancient temple of Jerusalem, they had a wall 18:32 of separation to distinguish sections of the temple 18:36 where the Jews could go and where the Gentiles could go. 18:39 And boy, there was an inscription where the Jews 18:44 could go - this inscription forbade any foreigner 18:50 to come any further under pain of death. 18:54 So in Christ, believers are all descendants of Abraham. 19:00 And I want to read Colossians, if you want to turn to 19:04 Colossians 2:11- because here Paul is talking about 19:09 heart circumcision. 19:12 It's not just the physical circumcision that God gave 19:16 to Abraham - that just pointed to the spiritual circumcision 19:20 that believers would receive in Christ. 19:23 I'm going to read this from the Amplified... 19:25 Colossians 2:11... "In Him also you are circumcised with the 19:31 circumcision not made with hands, but in a 19:34 spiritual circumcision performed by Christ by stripping 19:39 off the body of the flesh - that whole corrupt carnal nature 19:44 that is stripped off, the carnal nature 19:47 with its passions and its lust. 19:49 See we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. 19:52 That old is gone and the new has come. 19:55 So now let's go back to Ephesians and we'll continue 19:57 with chapter 2, verse 15... and I love this Scripture. 20:03 He says, "Having abolished in His flesh (talking about the 20:08 crucified flesh of Christ) the enmity, that is, the law 20:15 of commandments contained in ordinances, (he is 20:20 referring here to the ceremonial law of Moses... 20:25 this was the enmity between Jews and Gentiles, 20:29 and he says Christ abolished that on the Cross) 20:34 so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, 20:38 thus making peace." 20:41 So we see Jesus broke down this wall. 20:44 He not only reconciled us to God, but He reconciled 20:48 Jews and Gentiles and He put to death this hostility 20:53 that was brought about and the problems brought about 20:56 by the ceremonial law because what did the ceremonial law 20:59 point to? To Jesus Christ and everything that He did. 21:03 So there's one new people that have in common the 21:11 Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. 21:14 Now I want you just to keep your finger there in Ephesians 21:18 because I want to share with you a parallel Scripture; 21:21 one that is just like this, that people so often 21:26 confuse and that is in Colossians 2:14, 21:31 if you would like to turn there... 21:32 Because here we've just read in Ephesians 2:15- how Christ's 21:37 death abolished the whole system of the Jewish 21:40 Ceremonial Laws. 21:42 So now when we get to Colossians 2:14, 21:45 Paul is writing the same thing... 21:47 He says, "Having wiped out (He blotted out, wiped away 21:52 the handwriting of requirements that was against this... 21:56 this is the one that had the legal decree that demands 22:00 that were put in place that were hostile, particularly 22:04 to the Gentiles) And he says, which was 22:08 contrary to us. He has taken it out of the way, 22:12 having nailed it to the cross." 22:15 I like what the Amplified says, it says, "This note with its 22:19 regulations, decrees and demands, He set it aside. 22:23 He cleared completely out of the way." 22:26 So he is saying that the law was the decree and the 22:31 ordinances, Christ nailed that to the cross. 22:35 It was all pointing to Him, He fulfilled the ceremonial law. 22:42 And then He says in verse 15, continuing in Colossians... 22:47 "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a 22:49 public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 22:53 So (and "so" is always a bridge, "therefore or so") 22:59 let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a 23:02 festival or a new moon or sabbaths... 23:04 Oh wait! Did we get the Ten Commandments 23:08 nailed to the cross? No, no, no, no... 23:11 It was the ceremonial laws and what he's talking about 23:16 here when he's talking about the new moon or sabbaths, 23:20 these are ceremonial sabbaths, the feast days... 23:24 and we know that because of what verse 17 says... 23:28 "which are a shadow of the things to come." 23:31 Who was the body that cast the shadow? Jesus! 23:35 They all pointed to Him. 23:36 But the substance is of Christ that He might reconcile 23:39 them both to God in one body through the cross 23:43 therefore putting to death the enmity." (the mutual 23:46 hatred between those two, the feud came to the end) 23:50 So now let's go back to Ephesians 2:17 23:53 where we began or Ephesians 2, and verse 17 says... 23:59 "He came and preached peace to you who were afar off 24:04 and to those who were near. 24:05 For through Him we both have access by one 24:09 Spirit to the Father. (we're able to approach 24:13 the Father now boldly) And he says, "Now therefore, 24:18 you are no longer strangers and foreigners, 24:20 (isn't that good news?) You are fellow citizens 24:24 with the saints and members of the household of God 24:26 having been built on the foundation of the apostles 24:29 and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself 24:33 being the chief cornerstone." 24:35 So here's the unity - the wall is down and we're being joined 24:40 together and he says, "in whom the whole building 24:43 being joined (or being bound and welded together with Christ 24:47 as the cornerstone )...grows into a holy temple 24:51 in the Lord." 24:53 We are a sanctuary, we are dedicated and 24:56 consecrated and sacred to the presence of God in whom 25:01 (Paul says) "...you also are being built together for a 25:04 dwelling place of God in the Spirit." 25:10 So, this is to me, the beauty of oneness of the unity 25:16 and the key to unity is to understand - we have all 25:19 these blessings in Christ that you were talking about in 25:23 Sunday's lesson, but Christ broke down the wall. 25:27 There is no more barriers between us. 25:30 Amen and Amen! 25:31 Well, right now we're going to take a one minute 25:33 break and we will be right back! 25:39 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 25:42 again or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:46 Well you can - by visiting 25:48 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com 25:51 A clean design makes it easy 25:53 to find the program you're looking for. 25:55 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:59 so you can follow along. 26:00 Sharing is easy, just click "share" and choose 26:03 your favorite social media. 26:05 Share a link, save a life for eternity! |
Revised 2018-10-24