Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190031A
|
00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:08 It says to, "Receive with meekness 00:10 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:14 And to be diligent to present yourself approved to God, 00:18 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:21 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is, "The Least of These." 00:34 Hello, friends, welcome to our 3ABN Sabbath School panel. 00:38 If you've been tuning in, 00:39 we thank you for your consistency. 00:41 We also thank you for your prayers 00:43 and your financial support of this network 00:44 which we believe is anointed of the Lord 00:46 to do a work that He alone receives the praise for. 00:50 And the Sabbath School panel has become in your words 00:53 one of the favorite programs on 3ABN, 00:55 but keep praying for us because this is not a tiptoe 00:58 through the tulip work, 00:59 it's a diligent work that we praise God 01:02 to be involved in. 01:03 Today, we're talking about the cry of the prophets. 01:06 And this is a particularly challenging lesson 01:09 because when you think of prophets in the Bible, 01:11 they have had a diligent work to do. 01:13 God has anointed them to do something 01:14 that was not something that was preferential, 01:18 but it was, in fact, mandatory. 01:20 And when you follow God, 01:21 you cannot make decisions about 01:22 what to say and what not to say. 01:24 So follow us today, we're going to be talking about 01:26 something that's really important. 01:28 And it all fits into the context of how God 01:31 has been involved in repairing a broken earth 01:34 through work, through justice, 01:36 through taking care of the needs of the poor, 01:38 through relationships that have been bound together 01:41 that have been fractured over the course of human history. 01:44 And each of us today has a lesson that will address 01:47 the cry of the prophets in particular. 01:49 But first of all, let's meet our panel. 01:51 To my immediate left is Mollie Steenson. 01:52 Always good to have you back. 01:54 Thank you. Thank you. It's a joy to be here. 01:56 And you're Mollie, isn't that what they call it? 01:58 I'm afraid, there are Alabama-isms, I don't know. 02:02 Good to have you here. Thank you 02:03 And, Shelley, how're you doing? 02:05 I'm doing great. 02:06 Always a pleasure to be here 02:07 and learn from each and every one of you. 02:09 That's right and the man with the plan, 02:12 Pastor Ryan Day, good to see you. 02:14 It's good to be here, Brother. That's right. 02:16 I appreciate you all the gifts God has given to you. 02:17 Praise the Lord for that. 02:19 And, Jill, the list lady. 02:22 I always look for that list. 02:23 I know I'm redundant on that, 02:25 but I appreciate every bit of it. 02:26 It's a privilege to be here 02:28 and to learn from each one of you 02:29 and to study God's Word. 02:30 That's right, and we're going to do 02:32 nonetheless today. 02:33 But we need the power that is not 02:34 something that's resident within us. 02:36 So bow your heads as I ask Jill 02:38 to take us before the Lord in prayer. 02:40 Holy Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus, 02:43 and we just thank You for the gift of Your Word. 02:46 Thank you for the gift of Your Spirit. 02:48 And we just ask right now that You would tune our hearts 02:51 and our minds 02:53 that we would receive what You have for us 02:56 in Jesus' name, amen. 02:58 Amen. Amen. 02:59 The cry of the prophets, the memory text. 03:02 And by the way to get a copy of the lesson, 03:04 let me just let you know that. 03:05 Go to the following website ABSG.Adventist.org 03:10 and download a copy. 03:12 But if you don't have access to a computer, 03:15 or if you prefer a live audience 03:18 where you can study together, 03:19 go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 03:21 Just type it in Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:23 and Lord will lead you 03:24 and you'll find not only wonderful fellowship, 03:26 but solid Bible students. 03:29 The cry of the prophets. Let's look at our memory text. 03:32 It comes from the Book of Micah 6:8. 03:35 You know, Old Testament prophets, 03:37 I just take my hat off to them. 03:41 When you look at the declaration of Stephen 03:43 just by the time he was about to be stoned... 03:47 Yes. 03:48 He ran through, he literally summarized 03:51 the work of the prophets 03:53 and how God used prophets through the ages 03:56 as constant calibration of the journey of His people. 04:00 But look at the words of Micah the Prophet here. 04:02 Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, O man, what is good, 04:08 and what does the Lord require of you 04:10 but to do justly, to love mercy, 04:13 and to walk humbly with your God? 04:16 Amen. 04:17 When you think of prophets, 04:19 we often think of bearded men on grey, 04:22 but then when you read the Bible, 04:23 and you hear Jeremiah says, 04:25 "I'm too young, I'm just but a youth." 04:27 When you think of the call 04:28 of some of the prophets and the kings of Israel, 04:30 some of them began to reign when they were 16 04:33 and others when they were eight. 04:34 And I'm thinking, 04:36 I wouldn't even give the car keys 04:38 to the lawnmower to an eight year old. 04:40 Am I right? Absolutely. 04:42 Just take out the garbage, 04:43 that's about all I'm gonna trust you with. 04:45 But the Lord has seen in His wisdom to choose men 04:48 before they were molded by the influences of world 04:51 and put them under His tutelage 04:53 and develop their minds and mold their minds. 04:55 I think of Uzziah, 04:59 how Uzziah began to reign when he was 16 years old. 05:02 Well, some 16 year olds get excited 05:04 when they get their own room for the first time 05:06 but he reigned for 52 years and what a beautiful life. 05:09 But it says of him, 05:11 he was marvelously helped until he became great. 05:14 So what I want to point out today 05:16 in the very beginning of any role of leadership 05:18 that anybody is called to leadership. 05:20 Don't ever let your greatness get to the place 05:23 where you use God's tools to rob God of His glory. 05:28 That's a dangerous thing and Uzziah, 05:30 when you think about the reforms. 05:32 And years ago, 05:34 I always remember that text in Isaiah Chapter 6, 05:37 where it says, "In the year that King Uzziah died, 05:40 I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, 05:43 high and lifted up." 05:45 And it baffled me until one day I decided, 05:47 why is Isaiah talking about Uzziah? 05:50 And I looked at his life. 05:52 And it was amazing how God called him 05:54 and that man's life was a trajectory 05:55 of success after success after success 05:58 until one day his success 06:00 became the God that he worshiped. 06:02 And when he denied God's rebuke, 06:05 leprosy broke out on his forehead 06:07 and the Bible talks about two famous lepers. 06:09 Naaman was a leper, but the Bible says of Uzziah, 06:12 he is a leper, and he died in the house of leprosy. 06:15 So the day, the most, 06:17 the greatest danger in a prophet's life... 06:19 And by the way, another word for prophet is preacher, 06:22 a proclaimer 06:23 because prophets were to proclaim 06:24 things to come. 06:26 And today, you know, the gift of prophecy 06:28 is not just a gift, it prophesies 06:29 to give trajectories 06:31 of what's happening in the future. 06:32 But it's also a gift to proclamation, 06:34 proclaiming the Word of God. 06:36 And so despite God's clearly detailed plan 06:38 for the Israelite nation, 06:40 they just ignore the prophets over and over and over, 06:43 and they fell into the category or chasm I would say, 06:46 of the request that we're going to look now in 1 Samuel 8:5, 06:50 it fell into this chasm 06:52 that brought them untold failure in leadership. 06:57 And I'm referring now 06:59 to the recurring call to justice, 07:02 which is our Sunday's lesson. 07:05 Notice the request of the Israelites. 07:08 And they're speaking to Samuel by the way, 07:10 "And they said to him," verse 5, "look, you are old." 07:16 Now I don't want to even run past that 07:18 because an old prophet is better than a young prophet 07:20 without wisdom. 07:22 Come on, Mollie, can I get an amen? 07:23 Amen. 07:25 An old prophet is better than a young prophet 07:27 without wisdom. 07:28 There're certain things, 07:30 I remember when I was in New Guinea 07:32 years ago and I, I viewed in a community 07:35 up in the mountains of New Guinea, I was watching, 07:37 and they had these reoccurring circles, 07:39 small circle, larger, larger, larger and larger, 07:42 and I noticed that the ones on the outer ring 07:45 were the younger boys, 07:47 and it seems like the ages increased as 07:49 the ring got smaller. 07:51 And I couldn't help and ask, 07:52 what, what's this ring all about? 07:55 And they said, "The older man, the wiser man 07:58 sits in the center of the circle. 08:00 You have to earn the right to get close to him." 08:02 Amen. 08:04 Because his age brought wisdom 08:06 that the younger men couldn't appreciate, 08:08 yet they earned the right to get close to that circle. 08:11 And so when they came and sat up 08:12 for their daily lessons, they sat on their ring, 08:15 and they surrounded 08:17 and when you, you have to earn 08:18 the right to get close to that older man. 08:21 And in our society like America, 08:24 we put older people in buildings 08:26 and say they are, they have passed their usefulness. 08:28 But Samuel, they told him the same thing, you are old, 08:31 and your sons don't, do not walk in your ways. 08:35 Now make us a king to judge us, like all the nations. 08:38 And boy, did they get a king? 08:41 Did they get a king? 08:43 He was tall and handsome. 08:45 He was everything that the eye could have. 08:47 But what was on the outside did not match 08:50 what was on the inside. 08:52 And look at 1 Samuel 8:10-18. 08:56 What was Samuels' warning 08:58 to the people in response to their request for a king? 09:00 Now, I want to read this because there are many of you, 09:02 you might be in a church where you're saying, 09:04 you know, this is the kind of pastor we need. 09:06 And we get committees together now, 09:08 they talk about the kind of pastor they want. 09:10 They predesigned pastors. 09:11 And sometimes when the pastor shows up 09:13 that begins to become the pastor in your church, 09:15 you say, "That's not what we asked for." 09:17 Well, you know what I've discovered, panel. 09:19 We could ask for what... 09:20 We could ask for something, but God knows what we need. 09:23 Amen. 09:24 And so, if the Lord sends you somebody 09:26 that doesn't match your preferences, 09:30 God knows your need rather than your preferences. 09:34 1 Samuel 8:10-18 notice this. 09:37 "So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people 09:40 who asked him for a king. 09:42 And he said, 'This will be the behavior of the king 09:45 who will reign over you." 09:46 He says, "I know about this guy." 09:49 "He will take your sons and appoint them 09:51 for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, 09:55 and some will run before his chariots." 09:57 Notice, he is a self-centered man. 09:59 "He will appoint captains over his thousands 10:02 and captains over his fifties, 10:04 will set some to plow his ground 10:07 and reap his harvest." 10:08 Do you see his self-centeredness 10:10 of his leadership? 10:12 "And some to make his weapons of war 10:14 and equipment for his chariots." 10:18 And then it gets even worse. 10:19 "He will take your daughters 10:21 to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 10:23 And he will take the best of your fields, 10:26 your vineyards, and your olive groves, 10:28 and give them to his servants. 10:30 He will take a tenth of your grain 10:32 and your vintage, 10:34 and give it to his officers and servants. 10:36 And he will take your male servants, 10:38 your female servants, your finest young men, 10:41 your donkeys, and put them to his work. 10:45 He will take a tenth of your sheep. 10:47 And you will be his servants. 10:49 And you will cry out in that day 10:51 because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, 10:54 and the Lord will not hear you in that day.' 10:57 " What a rebuke. Yeah. 10:59 Well, you know, the story of Saul. 11:01 And there are two things in the Bible 11:02 that are reoccurring, two reoccurring statements 11:04 that I want to share with you right now. 11:06 Go to 2 Kings 12:2, 11:09 this is the first one. 11:10 2 Kings 12:2. 11:12 My wife and I, we love studying our Bible together. 11:15 And this was something that, we have a new Bible, 11:17 I'm highlighting and highlighting it. 11:19 But, Jill, read 2 Kings 12:2, and notice the statement here. 11:23 "Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord 11:25 all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him." 11:29 Okay, he was not afraid to take instruction. 11:32 And what kind of life did he do? 11:33 He did what was right in whose sight? 11:36 Sight of the Lord. In the sight of the Lord. 11:38 Many people look right in your sight. 11:41 But in the sight of the Lord is a question, who are they? 11:44 And that's the thing that we must always exemplify, 11:46 not how people perceive us, but how God perceives us. 11:50 Amen. That's right. 11:52 A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. 11:54 Who is he approved unto? 11:55 He is approved unto God. 11:57 One of my favorite devotional, Oswald Chambers says, 11:59 "If we live our lives wanting to be approved unto God, 12:02 we will be approved unto men." 12:04 If you live a life that's just approved unto men, 12:07 you will not necessarily be approved unto God. 12:09 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. 12:11 O would that be your desire to do 12:13 what was right in the sight of the Lord. 12:14 We can easily impress the masses, 12:16 but are we right in the sight of the Lord? 12:18 And 1 Kings 15:34. 12:21 Whoever gets there first, read that, well, 1 Kings 15:34. 12:25 I'm just winding mine up on a very important point. 12:28 Go ahead. 12:30 "He did evil in the sight of the Lord, 12:31 and walked in the way of Jeroboam, 12:34 and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin." 12:37 These are the two parodies 12:40 in the life of the kings and leaders of Israel. 12:42 And Samuel, Saul, Solomon, David, 12:45 they all fall into these, one of these two categories. 12:48 He did evil in the sight of the Lord. 12:49 And let me just go ahead and segue 12:51 to the next day on this note. 12:53 I did, I want to spend some time 12:55 on the important values of leadership. 12:58 It is not what we do in the sight of men 13:00 that determine greatness, 13:02 but what we do in the sight of the Lord. 13:04 And what promise has the Lord made to us? 13:06 1 John 3:22. 13:08 "And whatever we ask, we receive from him," 13:12 but here are the conditions, 13:13 "because we keep His commandments, 13:15 and do those things 13:17 that are pleasing in His sight." 13:18 Amen. 13:19 The judgment will be in Ecclesiastes 12:14, 13:22 "For God will bring every work into judgment, 13:25 including every secret thing, 13:27 whether it be good, or whether it be evil." 13:30 Amen. Mollie. 13:32 Well, I have Amos, so go to the Book of Amos. 13:36 And let's just look at what Amos says about himself. 13:41 And so, I think I want to say it this way, 13:45 because he reminds me of me. 13:48 He says, "Look out, 13:50 I'm not a prophet, nor I'm the son of a prophet." 13:53 But God has given me a message for you 13:56 and I wanna give it to you. 13:57 So let me read that for you. 13:59 It's, "I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet," 14:02 that's Amos 7:14-15, "but I was a shepherd. 14:06 And I also took care of sycamore or fig tree. 14:10 But the Lord took me 14:12 from tending the flock and said to me, 14:14 'Go prophesy to my people.' 14:18 " So now, what does a prophet do? 14:21 Amos tells us in 7:8, "The Lord says to Amos, 14:27 'Behold, I am setting a plumb line 14:30 in the midst of My people Israel." 14:34 Now, here's what a prophet does. 14:37 Does a prophet usually come, Pastor Lomacang, 14:40 with a good message for the people? 14:43 Why does God send the prophet in the first place? 14:46 The plumb, you're at plumb, what? 14:49 When you drop a plumb line, 14:51 what's the purpose of the plumb line? 14:53 So you build a wall and you drop the plumb line, 14:56 what does the plumb line show you? 14:57 Straight line. 14:58 Either the wall is straight or the wall is crooked. 15:01 So God sends His prophets 15:03 to walk right down the middle of our churches 15:06 and drop a plumb line. 15:08 Now, in the nation of Israel, 15:10 they could do and we see it all through history 15:15 where God would send a prophet to a people, 15:20 and He will drop that plumb line, 15:22 and the people had one of two choices. 15:25 They could straighten the wall or they killed the prophet. 15:29 Now, how many times did they kill the prophet? 15:31 Because straightening the wall rarely ever seem to be 15:35 what the people wanted to do. 15:37 So it's interesting to know that Amos prophesies 15:41 during a period of time in Israel 15:44 when Israel was doing great. 15:47 Business was booming. 15:49 Their boundaries were bulging. 15:51 So on the surface, 15:54 it looked like Israel was doing just fine. 15:57 There was money in their bank account. 16:00 Their kids were behaving. 16:02 And so, they were self-sufficient. 16:06 Okay. 16:08 What does God look at? 16:10 Does He look at the outward? No. 16:12 Okay, here's where we get in trouble. 16:16 God looks below the surface. 16:18 In the nation of Israel below the surface, 16:21 there was greed and injustice, 16:24 hypocritical religious motions have replaced true worship, 16:29 which had created a false sense of security 16:35 and growing callousness to God. 16:38 So Amos is given a message from God 16:41 to go to the nation of Israel. 16:43 So I want to delve into this message 16:47 that that Amos has been sent to deliver. 16:52 Amos 1:3, "Thus says the Lord..." 16:56 He begins on a popular note, 16:59 listing off the surrounding nations 17:02 which are Syria, Philistia, 17:05 Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, and Moab 17:07 detailing their crimes and their atrocities 17:12 for which God will promise them. 17:14 He's speaking as an oracle of God to Israel. 17:19 And you could just imagine 17:22 the Israelites applauding these indictments 17:25 of their enemies, 17:27 particularly since many of the crimes 17:30 of these nations, the surrounding nations 17:33 that surrounded Israel, 17:35 these, their crimes had been directed at Israel themselves. 17:40 Okay, then Amos moves a little closer to home, 17:45 declaring God's judgment against the people of Judah. 17:49 Israel seven neighbor, remember, 17:53 that the kingdom was split, 17:56 and there was a northern kingdom 17:58 and there was a southern kingdom. 18:01 So Israel is the northern kingdom, 18:04 Judah is the southern kingdom. 18:07 And so they had split obviously 18:09 because of dissension between them. 18:12 So Israel's southern neighbor is now the separated kingdom, 18:18 speaking on behalf of God, 18:20 Amos cites their rejection of God, 18:23 not the northern kingdom which Israel was, 18:26 but the southern kingdom which Judah was. 18:29 Their disobedience of his commands 18:31 and the punishment that would come to them. 18:34 Again, we can just imagine the Israelite people, 18:37 the people of the northern kingdom. 18:40 They were applauding, as Amos pointed out 18:43 the wrongdoing of the people of the southern kingdom. 18:47 Now, do you remember 18:48 when Nathan the Prophet came to King David? 18:51 Yes. 18:52 And he was ascribing to him this situation. 18:57 Now, what he was really doing 18:58 was addressing David's kin sin against Uriah. 19:02 But he gives a little story 19:07 of rich man had a lot of sheep, 19:11 and the poor man only had one. 19:13 And the rich man was having a banquet. 19:16 And he rather than going to his flock 19:18 went to the poor man and got his one sheep. 19:21 Oh, how did David react to that? 19:23 Off with his head. 19:24 Off with his head, but what did Nathan do? 19:27 He turned to David and he said, "O thou art the man." 19:31 So now we have the northern kingdom. 19:36 And they're thinking, look at this. 19:39 Amos is here, 19:41 and he is prophesying against all of these surrounding us. 19:44 He's prophesying against that southern kingdom, 19:47 and they're feeling good about themselves. 19:50 However, Nathan, 19:52 Amos is about to turn his attention to his audience. 19:59 So Amos 3:1-3, "Hear this word..." 20:02 Now, something I want to say before I read this. 20:05 God can't seem to help Himself. 20:08 He can ascribe all of your sins 20:13 and the degradation and, 20:15 but He's always going to give you that hand of hope. 20:19 Amen. 20:21 He just can't seem to help Himself. 20:22 So here, Amos 3:1-3, 20:25 "Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, 20:27 O children of Israel, against the whole family 20:30 which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: 20:32 'You only have I known 20:34 of all the families of the earth, 20:36 therefore I will punish you for your iniquities.' 20:39 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" 20:42 Now Amos 5:1-4, 20:44 "Hear this word which I take up against you, 20:47 a lamentation, O house of Israel: 20:50 The virgin of Israel has fallen, 20:53 she will rise no more. 20:55 She lies forsaken on her land, 20:57 there is no one to raise her up. 20:59 For thus says the Lord God: 21:01 'The city that go out by thousand 21:03 shall have a hundred left, 21:05 that which goes out by a hundred 21:08 shall have ten left to the house of Israel.' 21:10 " Is He ascribing punishment to the nation of Israel? 21:13 Yes, He is. 21:15 Look at verse 4, 21:16 "For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel," what? 21:20 "Seek Me and live." 21:24 And verse 14. 21:27 Jump down to that. 21:29 Well, let's go to Amos 5:12-15, 21:31 For I know your manifold transgressions 21:34 and your mighty sins: afflicting the just 21:36 and taking bribes, 21:37 diverting the poor from justice at the gate. 21:40 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, 21:43 for it is an evil time." 21:46 Verse 14, "Seek good not evil, that you may live, 21:50 so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, 21:54 as you have spoken. 21:56 Hate evil, love good, establish justice in the gate. 22:00 It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious 22:03 to the remnant of Joseph." 22:05 The last verses of Amos, 22:08 prophecy point to the future restoration of God's people. 22:11 Now I want to read you this quote from Sister White. 22:15 In Patriarchs and Prophets, talking about this prophecy 22:18 that Amos delivers to his people. 22:21 "Ten thousand unnoticed mercies 22:24 were silently falling in the pathway of ungrateful 22:30 rebellious man. 22:32 Every blessing spoke to them of the giver, 22:35 but they were indifferent to His love. 22:38 They refused to listen to the voice of God, 22:41 in His created works and in the warnings, councils, 22:45 and reproves of His Word, 22:47 and thus he was forced to speak to them through judgment. 22:53 Paul tells us in Romans 2:4 that it is the what? 22:57 The goodness of God that leads us to repentance 23:01 but, and there is a but. 23:03 But if in our stubbornness we refuse to repent, 23:08 God loves us so much, 23:11 He will bring judgment to get our attention. 23:15 That is, I think a powerful statement. 23:18 Oh, God loves us, 23:19 His hand of love and mercy is always extended to us. 23:23 In their hour of deepest apostasy and greatest need, 23:28 God's message to them was one of forgiveness and hope. 23:35 What do we take away from this, Jill? 23:37 There are times we need to speak up address wrong, 23:43 but always do it with love and a hand of hope. 23:47 Amen. 23:49 Mollie, I don't know if it's a Mollie-ism 23:51 but when you said, God can't help Himself. 23:53 He just can't. 23:55 I love that because He loves us so much. 23:58 He cannot stop loving us. 23:59 I want you to think about that as we take a short break, 24:02 and we'll be right back. 24:08 Ever wish you could watch 24:10 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:12 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:15 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 24:20 A clean design makes it easy 24:22 to find the program you're looking for. 24:25 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:28 so you can follow along. 24:30 Sharing is easy. 24:31 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 24:34 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 24:42 Welcome back. 24:43 We'll continue in our lesson study 24:45 with Shelley Quinn on the Prophet Micah. 24:48 And that is, I just loved your lesson, Mollie, on Amos, 24:51 but if you just go over a couple more books 24:53 and past Jonah, you find the Prophet Micah. 24:57 And one thing I wanted to say is that, 24:59 Micah and his contemporaries 25:01 were called the grieving prophets of doom 25:05 because God was calling His people to repentance. 25:09 They were willfully breaking His covenant, 25:12 and God sent them down. 25:14 You know, the first three chapters of Micah. 25:17 It's pretty much just expressing 25:20 the anger that God was feeling, 25:22 the sadness, the disappointment, 25:24 the anger against the evil that the people had been doing. 25:29 And he sent Micah to just say, 25:32 hey, if you don't straighten up, 25:33 you've got destruction coming your way. 25:35 So let's look at Micah 1:1. 25:38 Micah 1:1, 25:39 "The word of the Lord that came to Micah 25:42 of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, 25:46 kings of Judah, 25:48 which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem." 25:53 Now you talked about the division of the kingdoms. 25:56 The capital of the northern kingdom 25:58 was Samaria, 26:00 and they had fallen into idolatry and immorality 26:04 so bad that God marked the northern kingdom 26:10 for destruction and they were, 26:12 Assyria came in and captured them in 722. 26:16 What was the capital of the southern kingdom, 26:19 the kingdom of Judah? 26:21 The capital was Jerusalem. 26:22 That's right. 26:24 But worshiping Jerusalem had degraded to the point 26:28 that they were just mimicking pagan worship 26:31 that was in the north. 26:32 So these two capitals basically represented 26:36 all of the entire nations of Israel and Judah. 26:40 So understanding that, let's look at Micah 2:8. 26:44 Micah 2:8. 26:47 And this is the Lord speaking and he says, 26:50 "Lately My people have risen up as an enemy, 26:53 you pull off the robe with the garment 26:56 from those who trust you, as they pass by, 27:00 like men returned from war. 27:03 The women of My people 27:05 you cast out from their pleasant houses, 27:07 from their children you have taken away My glory forever." 27:11 So what is he saying? 27:13 He's saying, innocent folks are passing by, 27:16 and you greedy oppressors are attacking them. 27:21 And you're the enemy of the people. 27:24 You're evicting the helpless widow from their homes, 27:28 and God's upset. 27:30 So he says in verse 10, "Arise and depart, 27:34 for this is not your rest, because it is defiled, 27:38 it shall destroy, yes, with utter destruction. 27:42 If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, 27:45 saying, 'I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,' 27:51 even he would be the prattler of his peoples." 27:54 So what? Let's unpack that a little bit. 27:58 The landlords were rich, they were powerful, 28:02 they were wreaking havoc on the people around them, 28:05 and devising schemes to get the people's land. 28:10 They were depriving people of their right to the property 28:13 which was against God's law. 28:15 But they had false prophets that were popular in that day, 28:19 who were coming along, saying, "Hey, you know, 28:24 he's the God of grace. 28:25 He's the God of goodness. 28:27 God wants you to enjoy your wine, enjoy this." 28:30 They were focused only on God's love, 28:35 His patience, 28:37 but they've forgotten to focus 28:39 on His holiness and His justice. 28:41 For don't we need, you know, those prophets 28:44 were promising a life of self indulgence, 28:47 the false prophets, a life of self indulgence, 28:51 one that did not demand righteousness and holiness. 28:54 How much do we hear 28:58 the false prophets of today who were doing the same thing? 29:01 So Micah, you know, God sends him to say, 29:06 "Hey, I'm a just and righteous God. 29:10 And so, Micah comes along to give the message. 29:13 So in Chapter 3 of Micah, 29:17 Micah Chapter 3, let's begin with verse 8. 29:20 He says, this is Micah speaking now. 29:23 And he says, "Truly 29:25 I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, 29:28 and of justice and might, 29:31 to declare to Jacob his transgression 29:35 and to Israel his sin. 29:38 Now hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob 29:41 and rulers of the house of Israel, 29:43 who abhor justice and pervert all equity, 29:47 who build up Zion with bloodshed 29:50 and Jerusalem with iniquity: 29:52 Her heads judge for a bribe, 29:56 her priests teach for pay, 29:59 and her prophets divine for money. 30:03 Yet they lean on the Lord, 30:06 and say, 'Is not the Lord among us? 30:09 No harm can come upon us.' 30:12 Therefore because of you 30:15 Zion shall be plowed like a field, 30:18 Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, 30:22 and the mountain of the temple 30:24 like the bare hills of the forest.' 30:28 " So God send Micah to confront the political leaders, 30:32 the spiritual leaders, the judicial leaders, 30:36 who they're perverting justice, 30:38 and they're perverting God's Word. 30:41 And so, here God sends Micah, 30:44 and as I said, these people had misinterpreted 30:49 God's patience with them as His approval. 30:52 And because they offered no justice, 30:55 God's saying, "Hey, I want to hide My face from you." 30:58 God can't look favorably upon sin. 31:01 So when His people, 31:04 when He sent Micah to tell him this and, you know, 31:07 King Hezekiah repented because of Micah's message. 31:12 We find that in Jeremiah 26:19, 31:16 Hezekiah brought down every high place, 31:19 every stone altar and every pole of Asherah. 31:23 But now, as you said, 31:25 God cannot help Himself, Mollie Sue. 31:28 So let's look at the best part, my favorite verses in Micah. 31:33 This is Micah 6:8. 31:35 "He has shown you, O man, what is good, 31:38 and what does the Lord require of you 31:40 but to do justly, to love mercy, 31:43 and to walk humbly with your God?" 31:45 You know, God's people were His covenant people. 31:48 They knew what He required of them. 31:50 He had already shown them what His standards were, 31:54 and the standards were pretty simple, 31:56 do justly, love mercy, walk with humility before Me. 32:00 And that just means, walk depending on Me. 32:03 Humility is total dependence upon God and upon His Spirit. 32:08 So God didn't give up on His people. 32:11 Look at Micah 7 and we'll look... 32:15 This is, just remember it this way. 32:17 Micah 7:8-9. 32:20 That's the way to remember, 32:22 this is one of my favorite scriptures. 32:24 "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, 32:28 when I fall, I will arise, 32:30 when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. 32:34 I will bear the indignation of the Lord, 32:36 because I have sinned against Him, 32:38 until He pleads my case 32:42 and executes justice for me. 32:45 He will bring me forth to the light, 32:48 I will see His righteousness." 32:52 See, God was giving them all of these warnings 32:54 because He loved them. 32:56 And He's saying, "Hey, if you just come to Me, 33:00 I want to turn things around. 33:01 You may fall down one time, two times, 33:04 three times, four times, 33:05 however many times you fall down, 33:07 you, I'll get you up again." 33:09 And going down to Micah 7:18. 33:15 And we're going to look at two more verses, Micah 7:18-19. 33:21 And I can just hear this prophet of doom, 33:25 this grieving prophet who's been telling these people 33:29 in the first three chapters, this message of, boy, 33:33 here's how bad you are. 33:34 Here's what God's judgment is, 33:36 this is what's going to happen if you don't repent. 33:38 Listen what he says, "Who is a God like You, 33:43 pardoning iniquity," I'm in Micah 7:18-19, 33:47 "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity, 33:50 and passing over the transgression 33:53 of the remnant of His heritage? 33:55 He does not retain His anger forever 33:59 because He delights in mercy. 34:02 He will again have compassion on us, 34:05 He will subdue our iniquities 34:08 and cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea." 34:14 Micah found hope in God's unchanging character. 34:18 Amen. 34:19 Micah knew that only God could solve this sin problem. 34:23 And he knew that God is gracious. 34:25 He remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 34:30 And we know that 1 John 1:9, says, "If we confess our sins, 34:35 He is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sins 34:38 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. 34:41 Who is God like you, oh, God." 34:44 Amen. Amen. 34:46 Praise the Lord. 34:48 Well, my lesson is on Ezekiel. 34:51 So we're going to continue on that theme. 34:54 But, you know, kind of taking a few steps back. 35:00 Much of the Book of Ezekiel, 35:02 see, the Book of Ezekiel is an incredible book. 35:04 It's kind of multifaceted. 35:05 There's much, much that Ezekiel shares, 35:07 much of his visions, 35:09 very complex prophetic material. 35:12 But also much of the Book of Ezekiel 35:15 is God speaking through Ezekiel, 35:18 calling out the apostasy of His time. 35:21 Ezekiel the Prophet along with Jeremiah 35:23 lived in what is, 35:25 I considered the height of the apostasy of Israel. 35:28 And so when you consider, 35:30 you know, these different transition 35:33 periods of time in which Israel, or God's people, 35:36 or the nations of the world were in great apostasy. 35:40 Many people think of, 35:41 you know, cities like Sodom and Gomorrah 35:43 to be the height of the great apostasy that, you know, 35:46 God brought a judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. 35:48 And if we were to ask a group of Christians, 35:50 this came from the study lesson. 35:52 If we were to ask a group of Christians 35:53 about the sins of Sodom, 35:56 chances are many would launch into a description 35:58 of its various sexual sins and other forms of depravity. 36:01 And that is true because when we think of that, 36:03 we think of that great apostate state that Sodom and Gomorrah 36:07 was in that eventually brought to its end. 36:10 But in considering Ezekiel 16:49. 36:13 Notice what Ezekiel, 36:15 he brings about a different element 36:18 to the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah 36:20 that many of us may not think of. 36:22 Again, Ezekiel 16:49, 36:26 the prophet writes, "Look, 36:28 this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: 36:32 She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, 36:37 and abundance of idleness, 36:39 neither did she strengthen 36:41 the hand of the poor and needy." 36:43 Okay. 36:44 And so we don't usually think of Sodom and Gomorrah 36:46 in this particular way, 36:48 but it's almost like Ezekiel's focus 36:50 is on the economic injustice and lack of care 36:53 for those in need in this particular aspect. 36:56 And the lesson brings out this question, 36:57 I think it's a fair question to ask. 36:59 Could it be that in the eyes of God, 37:02 these economic sins were just as bad as the sexual sins. 37:05 You know, sometimes in our own humanistic minds, we like to, 37:08 you know, layer or, you know, rank sins above another, 37:11 but in God's eyes, sin is sin. 37:13 And it doesn't matter what type of sin 37:14 it separates you from the Lord. 37:16 And obviously Ezekiel highlights 37:18 the economic injustice and the lack of care 37:21 for those who are in need. 37:23 Sodom and Gomorrah 37:25 very much practiced that as well. 37:27 But I want to kind of take a different turn, 37:29 because when you think of these particular practices, 37:33 much of the aspects of our lesson so far 37:35 have been on, you know, 37:37 the laity or the general populace. 37:41 You think of just in general, 37:42 we're addressing the fact that people 37:44 need to give more attention to those who are in need. 37:48 But most of the time, we don't think 37:50 they're putting much thought into or expecting 37:53 the leadership of the church 37:55 who are lacking in this area greatly. 37:57 And it was through the Prophet Ezekiel 37:58 that we see that God highlights this problem 38:01 even within the leadership of God's Church. 38:03 I'm going to be... 38:04 I'm going to take us to Ezekiel Chapter 34 38:06 at this point. 38:08 And I want you to see how through the Prophet Ezekiel, 38:10 God actually calls out His shepherds, 38:14 He calls out the sheep, 38:15 or excuse me, the shepherd of the sheep, 38:17 the leaders of the church. 38:20 And so I'm in Ezekiel 34:2-4. 38:24 Notice what this particular text says, 38:31 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, 38:36 prophesy and say to them, 38:38 'Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: 38:41 'Woe to the shepherds of Israel 38:43 who feed themselves! 38:45 Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?" 38:47 So there can be a literal, very much a literal 38:49 application of this as well 38:50 as a spiritual application along with it. 38:53 "You eat the fat 38:55 and clothe yourselves with the wool, 38:57 you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock." 39:02 And then verse 4, 39:03 "The weak you have not strengthened, 39:06 nor have you healed those who were sick, 39:09 nor bound up the broken, 39:11 nor brought back what was driven away, 39:13 nor sought what was lost, 39:16 but with force and cruelty you have ruled them." 39:19 Now, we don't usually get 39:21 that type of mentality or image in our mind 39:24 that the leadership of a particular church 39:27 or a religious Christian group like this would be cruel 39:31 and use force to rule over the people. 39:33 But we have to remember again, this was in, 39:35 this was the period of probably the height of apostasy 39:38 in Israel's history. 39:39 This was the, these are the same people 39:42 that forced God to evacuate 39:43 its own holy sanctuary back in Ezekiel 11. 39:47 And so God is calling them out. 39:48 He's saying, "Look, 39:50 you know, you need to be made known of your state." 39:52 And I just want to kind of take us back. 39:54 Now, we're still in the Book of Ezekiel, 39:56 but I wanted to highlight in fairly good detail 39:58 from a biblical perspective of the spiritual state 40:01 that these shepherds, these leaders were in. 40:04 When you get to a point 40:06 where you're starting to have to call out God's leadership, 40:08 because they're not following God's principles 40:11 in taking care, or paying attention, or giving, 40:14 or showing care to those in need, 40:16 that is the result of something else. 40:18 And we can see that actually highlighted very clearly 40:20 in Ezekiel Chapter 22. 40:22 In the 22nd Chapter of Ezekiel, 40:24 I'm gonna begin reading in verse 26 and onward. 40:26 Listen to the details very, very much. 40:29 This is very strong language here. 40:30 Notice what he says, 40:32 "Her priests have violated My law 40:35 and profaned My holy things, 40:38 they have not distinguished 40:39 between the holy and the unholy, 40:43 nor have they made known the difference 40:45 between the unclean and the clean." 40:47 You know much of what we're talking about here 40:48 in this particular verse, 40:50 we can say this is going on in today's time. 40:52 This is very much a reflection of the many of the leadership 40:55 of the ministries of today's world. 40:57 It goes on to say, "And they have hid their eyes 41:00 from my Sabbaths, 41:02 so that I am profaned among them. 41:04 Her princes 41:05 in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, 41:08 to shed blood, to destroy people, 41:11 and to get dishonest gain. 41:13 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, 41:16 seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, 41:18 saying, 'Thus saith the Lord God,' 41:21 when the Lord hath not spoken." 41:22 Speaking on behalf of God, 41:24 but yet God had not spoken to them. 41:26 But notice what the Bible continues to say. 41:28 Verse 29, "The people of the land 41:30 have used oppressions, committed robbery, 41:32 and mistreated the poor and needy, 41:34 and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 41:37 So I sought for a man..." 41:38 Notice what God says through the prophet here, 41:40 "I sought for a man among them 41:42 who would make a wall, and stand in the gap 41:45 before Me on behalf of the land, 41:47 that I should not destroy it, but I found no one." 41:52 He couldn't find anyone to stand up for righteousness. 41:55 "Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them, 41:58 I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath, 42:00 and I have recompensed their deeds 42:02 on their own heads," says the Lord God. 42:06 And so this was a very strong, strong language from God, 42:10 to these priests, to the leaders of Israel. 42:11 And He's basically saying, "Look, 42:13 you're not paying attention 42:14 to these other major aspects of ministry. 42:16 My people are in need. 42:18 I need you to reach out and touch them. 42:19 I need you to serve them. 42:21 I need you to meet their needs, but you can't 42:22 because you are so far away from Me. 42:25 And so God is pleading with His people, 42:26 "Please turn to Me, keep My commandments, 42:28 obey my principles." 42:31 We also see in Ezekiel 34. 42:33 So I'm going now forward into the 34th Chapter of Ezekiel. 42:38 And I may not read all of these texts, 42:40 but I want you to see something here. 42:41 There is a differentiation 42:43 between what God is actually spelling out 42:46 or kind of penning a clear picture here 42:47 between a shepherd 42:49 who is not fulfilling the deeds and the works of a shepherd. 42:53 And then God highlights Himself and showing Himself 42:56 as the God or the true Shepherd that He is. 42:59 Notice the beginning verses of Ezekiel 34, 43:01 starting with verse 7. 43:03 It says, "Therefore, you shepherds, 43:04 hear the word of the Lord: 43:06 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 43:08 'surely because My flock became a prey, 43:10 and My flock became food for every beast of the field, 43:13 because there was no shepherd, 43:14 nor did My shepherds search for My flock, 43:17 but the shepherds fed themselves 43:19 and did not feed My flock.' 43:21 " So God, He's saying, "Look, I need you to tend to My sheep. 43:23 I need you to feed My sheep, but you're not doing this. 43:26 And He calls them out for these various sins, 43:28 but then jump down to verse 11. 43:30 This is where God now inserts Himself. 43:32 He says, "Use Me an example. 43:33 I'm the true Shepherd here." 43:36 It says, "For thus says the Lord God," verse 11, 43:38 "Indeed I Myself 43:40 will search for My sheep and seek them out." 43:42 He said, "You may not search for them, but I will. 43:44 You may not seek them out, but I will. 43:46 As a shepherd seeks out his flock 43:49 on the day he is among his scattered sheep, 43:52 so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them 43:54 from all the places where they were scattered 43:57 on a cloudy and dark day." 43:59 He says, "Look, My sheep may be wondering in darkness, 44:01 but I'm right there with them." 44:03 I found this interesting quote from Testimonies for Minister, 44:07 Testimonies for the Church, volume four, page 377. 44:10 She says, "The preacher who bears the sacred truth 44:13 for these last days must be the opposite of all this and, 44:18 by his life of practical godliness, 44:20 plainly mark the distinction existing 44:23 between the false and the true shepherd." 44:26 She goes on to say, "The Good Shepherd 44:28 came to seek and to save that which was lost. 44:31 He has manifested in His works His love for His sheep. 44:34 All the shepherds 44:36 who work under the Chief Shepherd 44:38 will possess His characteristics, 44:40 they will be meek and lowly of heart. 44:42 Childlike faith brings rest to the soul 44:45 and also works by love 44:46 and is ever interested for others. 44:48 If the Spirit of Christ dwells in them, 44:52 they will be Christlike and do the works of Christ." 44:55 Amen. Amen. 44:57 What a powerful study each one of you as you were talking, 45:00 I was just thinking, here today, 45:03 we think if a preacher preaches a straight message, 45:05 whoo, that was a little harsh. 45:07 They are to read the Old Testament. 45:09 They are to read the minor and the major prophets 45:12 and read the scathing 'cause they used that word, 45:17 the scathing rebukes that were given. 45:20 And why were they given? 45:22 'Cause God loves His people passionately, 45:25 and He wants to see them saved. 45:27 He is not willing that any should perish, 45:30 but that all should come to repentance. 45:32 When each one of you were sharing, 45:34 I just saw the prophets calling to people's hearts. 45:38 They've turned away from God. 45:39 They're worshipping false idols. 45:41 They're doing idol worship of false gods, 45:43 and they're oppressing the poor 45:46 and there's such injustice going on. 45:49 But yet, there's always this call for repentance. 45:52 My prophet is Isaiah, not my prophet, 45:55 but Thursday's lesson is on the Prophet Isaiah. 45:59 And thank you, Shelley, for giving me Isaiah 46:01 because I love the Book of Isaiah. 46:04 It's actually one of my favorite books of the prophets. 46:09 Isaiah begins the section of the latter prophets. 46:12 Isaiah going all the way to Malachi. 46:14 It's the longest book in the section. 46:17 And Isaiah used a larger vocabulary of Hebrew 46:21 than any of the other Old Testament writers. 46:24 It contains both prose and poetry. 46:26 And even when you read it in English, 46:28 it's amazing, just the writing of it. 46:31 I love it. 46:32 His name Isaiah means salvation of Yahweh, 46:37 or God saves. 46:39 He was a contemporary of Amos, and Hosea, and Micah. 46:43 And it was written to those specifically in Judah 46:46 and Jerusalem. 46:48 The themes of the Book of Isaiah, 46:50 we see themes of salvation, judgment, 46:53 which we're going to get to, remnant, Messiah. 46:56 There's a lot of prophecies about the coming Messiah. 46:59 And Isaiah actually, you get to the end of the book, 47:01 it takes us all the way up to the new heavens 47:04 and the new earth. 47:05 There's also comfort, 47:06 and redemption, and restoration. 47:10 If you kind of divide Isaiah into parts, 47:11 that would be part one, which is the book of judgment. 47:18 Then we have a historical interlude in the middle. 47:21 And then we have part two, which is the book of comfort. 47:25 So hopefully, in my remaining time, 47:28 we're going to get to part one and part two, 47:30 but we got to start with the book of judgment first. 47:32 So turn me to Isaiah 1:15. 47:36 We're going to look at a lot of scriptures here from Isaiah. 47:38 Isaiah 1:15. 47:41 It tells us that God refuses to see or hear His people. 47:46 And why is that? 47:47 Verse 15, 47:48 "When you spread out your hands, 47:50 I will hide My eyes from you, 47:52 even though you make many prayers, 47:54 I will not hear." Why? 47:56 "Your hands are full of blood." 48:00 And then he makes this appeal, 48:02 verse 16, "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, 48:06 put away the evil of your doings 48:09 from before My eyes. 48:11 Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, 48:16 rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, 48:19 plead for the widow." 48:21 Verse 18, "Come now, he says, and let us reason together. 48:25 Though your sins are like scarlet, 48:28 they shall be as white as snow, 48:31 though they are red like crimson, 48:32 they shall be as wool." 48:34 The people that Isaiah was talking to of that time, 48:36 and we're going to look at some of the specific sins 48:39 that he condemned in the Book of Isaiah. 48:42 But their hands were pretty red, you could say. 48:45 There was a lot of sin going on 48:47 in the nation of Judah at that time. 48:50 But yet God's saying, 48:52 "I can forgive all that, I can redeem all that 48:54 and you can be white as snow again." 48:57 And then there's a call, 48:58 a challenge to walk in obedience. 49:00 The next verse, verses 19 and 20. 49:02 "If you are willing and obedient, 49:05 you shall eat the good of the land, 49:07 but if you refuse and rebel, 49:09 you shall be devoured by the sword, 49:12 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 49:14 So there was a choice that the people were faced with, 49:17 they could choose God's way, 49:20 they could choose to repent and turn back to Him. 49:22 Or they can choose to walk in their own stubbornness, 49:25 their own foolish pride, 49:27 and there would be consequences 49:29 as a result of that choice to walk against God. 49:32 So let's look at some of the specific sins 49:35 that Isaiah condemned. 49:37 Jump over to 3:14-15. 49:40 He condemns the oppression of the poor. 49:43 Isaiah 3:14-15, 49:45 "The Lord will enter into judgment 49:47 with the elders of His people and His princes: 49:50 'For you have eaten up the vineyard, 49:53 the plunder of the poor is in your houses. 49:56 And what do you mean by crushing My people 49:59 and grinding the faces of the poor?' 50:01 says the Lord God of hosts.' 50:03 " Now, that's pretty strong language 50:06 to not only crush people 50:07 to but to literally grind their face. 50:11 So he's condemning them for oppressing the poor. 50:15 Isaiah 5:8, 50:17 he condemns them for a greed to want to get more. 50:21 Isaiah 5:8, "Woe to those who join house to house, 50:24 they add field to field, till there is no place 50:27 where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!" 50:30 Now, we know that money itself is not evil, 50:33 but the love of money is the root of all evil. 50:37 And in this case, they loved it so much. 50:39 They were greedy, and they were trying to add house to house, 50:42 and field to field, and land to land. 50:44 There's also condemnation, we're going to Isaiah 10:1-2, 50:49 condemnation against 50:50 unjust laws and oppressive decrees, 50:53 against the deprivation of the rights of the poor, 50:56 against the abuse of dependent people 50:58 such as widows and orphans. 51:00 So we're in Isaiah 10:1-2, 51:02 "Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, 51:05 who write misfortune, 51:07 which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice, 51:10 to take what is right from the poor of My people, 51:14 that widows may be their prey, 51:16 that they may rob the fatherless." 51:19 So the whole first part of Isaiah 51:21 is this book of judgment. 51:22 Then we have the historical interlude. 51:24 And my favorite part is part two. 51:27 That is the book of comfort. 51:30 So there are so many promises. 51:32 If you look at my Bible in Isaiah, 51:34 I always highlight the promises that I see in yellow 51:38 and Isaiah is just full of yellow. 51:40 I love it at the end. 51:41 There's too many to enumerate, Ryan, 51:43 but I'm going to give you seven, 51:45 seven promises we find here in the book of comfort. 51:49 Number one, he's going to send an intercessor. 51:52 This is Isaiah 59:15, 51:55 the latter part of verse 15 and the first part of verse 16. 51:58 "Then the Lord saw it, 51:59 and it displeased Him that there was no justice. 52:02 He saw that there was no man, 52:04 and wondered that there was no intercessor." 52:08 And we're gonna see, He sends Himself as the intercessor. 52:13 Isaiah 59:16, that second part, 52:16 "Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him, 52:19 and His own righteousness, it sustained Him." 52:22 Number two, promise two, 52:24 He will bring salvation and He will bring forgiveness. 52:28 Isaiah 59:20, 52:30 " The Redeemer will come to Zion, 52:31 and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,' 52:34 says the Lord.' 52:36 " Isaiah 55:7, "Let the wicked forsake his way, 52:40 and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 52:42 let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, 52:46 and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." 52:50 He promises to send the intercessor, 52:52 that's the Lord Jesus Christ. 52:54 He promises to bring salvation and forgiveness. 52:57 He promises that He will defend us. 52:59 That's number three, He will defend us. 53:02 Isaiah 59:19, the latter part of that verse. 53:06 "When the enemy comes in like a flood, 53:08 the Spirit of the Lord 53:09 will raise up a standard against him." 53:13 Isaiah 54:17, Mollie, you quote this all the time. 53:16 "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, 53:18 but every tongue that rises up against you in judgment 53:22 you shall condemn. 53:23 For this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord." 53:27 Number four, He will renew His covenant with us. 53:30 Isaiah 59:21, "As for Me,' says the Lord, 53:34 'this is My covenant with them: 53:36 My Spirit who is upon you, 53:37 and My words which I have put in your mouth, 53:39 shall not depart from your mouth, 53:42 nor from the mouth of your descendants, 53:44 nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants,' 53:47 says the Lord, from this time and forevermore.' 53:50 " Isaiah 54:10, 53:52 "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, 53:55 but My kindness shall not depart from you, 53:58 nor shall the covenant of My peace be removed,' 54:00 says the Lord, who has mercy on you.' 54:03 " Number five, moving quickly, 54:05 he will grant us His righteousness. 54:08 That's His character. 54:10 Also Isaiah 60:21," 54:12 Also your people shall all be righteous, 54:15 they shall inherit the land forever, 54:18 the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, 54:20 that I may be glorified." 54:22 Number six, he will do a new thing in our lives. 54:25 Isaiah 43:18-19, 54:28 "Don't remember the former things, 54:30 nor consider the things of old. 54:31 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth, 54:36 shall you not know it? 54:37 I will even make a road in the wilderness 54:40 and springs of water in the desert." 54:42 Finally, number seven, 54:44 He will grant us peace and comfort. 54:47 Isaiah 52:9, "Break forth into joy, 54:51 sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! 54:55 For the Lord has comforted His people, 54:58 He has redeemed Jerusalem." 55:01 So God comes with a message, a stern message of rebuke. 55:05 But if we heed, and if we turn back to Him, 55:09 His promises are incredible to use, 55:12 Ryan, where His promises are incredible. 55:14 Wow. That's right. 55:15 I'm full. Amen, this was beautiful. 55:17 I think we could just say amen and do the benediction. 55:21 But we have about a little more than two minutes. 55:24 I'll give you an opportunity to recap 55:26 what we covered this week. 55:27 You know, each one of these, looking at the prophets, 55:31 they all had a stern rebuke 55:33 to bring to the people that God sent them too. 55:36 And I'm thinking of times when maybe we feel within ourselves 55:40 that we need to speak to someone about a situation. 55:43 And I just want to encourage you, 55:44 if you feel that impression, make sure it's God, 55:48 and then bathed in prayer. 55:50 And always, if you need to address the situation, 55:53 remember how God always did it. 55:56 He always gave the instruction and then He always gave hope, 56:02 He gave a message of salvation. 56:05 So always bring any message. 56:07 There are times when we need a stern rebuke, 56:10 but always deliver it with hope and with mercy. 56:13 Amen and amen. 56:14 I'm just thinking that, 56:16 you know, sometimes the enemy of our souls trips us up. 56:20 Sometimes we, somebody knocks us down, 56:23 I mean, we're being oppressed. 56:25 But just remember Micah 7:8-9, where Micah said, 56:28 "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, 56:31 when I fall, I will arise, when I sit in darkness, 56:35 the Lord will be a light to me." 56:37 Amen. Praise the Lord. 56:38 I just want to reiterate the last couple of sentences 56:41 of Testimonies for the Church, 56:43 volume four, page 377, I love this. 56:46 It says, "Childlike faith 56:47 brings rest to the soul and also works by love 56:50 and is ever interested for others. 56:53 If the Spirit of Christ dwells in them, 56:56 they will be Christlike and do the works of Christ." 56:59 Amen. Amen. 57:01 Isaiah 54:11, "O you afflicted one, 57:06 tossed with tempest, and not comforted, 57:09 the Lord will lay your stones with colorful gems, 57:12 and your foundations with sapphires." 57:14 So no matter what you're going through, 57:15 God is beside you and He will see you through. 57:19 Amen. Wow, wow. 57:20 This week I know, when we approach this lesson, 57:23 we all said, Lord, this is a big mountain. 57:26 How can we summarize the life of a prophet? 57:29 But God is faithful. Is He not? 57:31 Amen. Amen. Can we get an amen? 57:32 Amen! 57:33 I like those words, because it means true, 57:35 God's Word is true 57:36 and everything He has said is wonderful. 57:38 We'd like to encourage you to join us next time. 57:40 Our next lesson is Worship the Creator, 57:44 and it's getting better and better. 57:47 And the Worship of the Creator 57:48 is broken down to the multifaceted, 57:51 but if I could summarize this lesson, 57:52 it's these words, 57:53 2 Chronicles 20:20, the last part, 57:56 "Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established. 58:00 Believe in His prophets, and you shall prosper." 58:03 God bless you until we see you again. |
Revised 2019-08-01