Sister Alice Sunday School 9/4/11

Sister Alice Sunday School 9/4/11

All of our inquietude proceeds from a lack of faith in God.

I remember Bro Figeroa saying of God, “I’m so happy with you, are you happy with me?”

He that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Way back in Moses’ day they were waiting for the messiah.  They esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches.  It is worth every price to obtain the recompense of the reward.

The only way any of us are going to endure is by seeing him who is invisible.

Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Job is a wonderful example of enduring. 

Are you happy?  We need to be happy in the savior; He endured that we could be saved.  If we’re walking along the King’s Highway there is a happiness that we can take into eternity.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

When you’re tempted to be weary and faint in your mind, consider Christ.  It makes everything bright and hopeful. 

The great cloud of witness is referring to those in Hebrews 11, those that endured.  Are we a part of that cloud of witnesses?  Do those that are around us see us as enduring? 

I want to endure to the end.  When the enemy tempts me, I ask these questions, “Am I going to let down on the saints faith and confidence in me that I’m going to endure?  Am I going to let go of the promise that He that began a good work will continue to perform it in my life?”  No.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

There is no place to let go of that hope; hope to the end.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

This is the call going out to each of us.  Hold fast.

Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

We must have a pure heart if we are going to see God. 

1Jn 2:11  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

If we have anything against anyone it will become a darkness and blindness to us.  This little cloud that brings blindness will lead us off from being pure in heart.  If we have a resentment against anyone it is not only a spot on our garments but it is a spot in front of our eyes.  We need to have a clear heart toward God and toward all that are around us.

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Happy are those that endure.  The law is what Christ writes on our hearts.  The Old Testament law is just a shadow of what He writes on our hearts.  If we keep the law then we will have happiness.

Act 26:19  Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

We each need to be able to say this.  I have never seen the type of vision that Paul did, but to each of us when we truly come to God repenting and seeking salvation, He gives a vision first of the blood cleansing us from all sin.  We need to be obedient to this vision and he’ll keep us clear to the end.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

This is not our final home.  We are just pilgrims passing through this life.  We’ve come to the Living God.   He’s alive.  We’ve come to an innumerable company of angels, ministering spirits, the body of Christ is a part of those ministering spirits. 

We’ve come to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant: Christ is all and in all.  I cannot say enough of Jesus.

Sister Kelly said, “Lord if you want to whittle me down to a toothpick in order for me to make it, then I want to be a toothpick.”  We don’t want to be distracted by anything.  Melancholy is a distraction and an open door for the enemy to work on us.

We’ve received a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy that cannot be moved.  Let’s not let go of this privilege or of the privilege of prayer and being able to get a hold of God.

Jeremiah was called to serve God in his youth. 

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

The second son of Josiah was the first they set up as king; He was wicked.  Then the older son was set up and he also did wickedly.  It is so much the worse because they had a pattern in their father of right living.   They knew to do better.

It is marvelous that Josiah who did not have a pattern to follow of right living still chose to do righteously.  His grandfather Manasseh was before him and was very wicked.

Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

This is how it is for each one of us.  He has created us, He has plans for us, and He has an investment in us. 

Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

God told him to not try to reason things out with human reasoning.  He was to be a messenger of God and not look at the people. 

It doesn’t matter what kind of a mind battle, emotional battle, spiritual battle, or financial battle that we are in as long as we know that God is with us, we will prevail.

One thing that characterized Jeremiah’s life is:

Jer 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

If we’re going to endure and come through some rough things like Jeremiah did, we’ve got to hold the Word of God in high respect.  We must be sustained by the Word of God.  We must hold to all of the Word of God.

Jer 32:17  Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

Jer 32:18  Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,

Jer 32:19  Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

There is nothing too hard for God!  Do we see Him mighty and great? 

Jer 32:27  Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Jer 32:38  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

Jer 32:39  And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

Jer 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Jer 32:41  Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

Jer 32:42  For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

God has promised to write on the fleshly table of our heart.  If you have a problem with one of the saints it is because there is a misunderstanding.  We have one heart so there can be no rift.  We must be willing to listen and give people space because God wants us to love one another.

This fear is a great respect and is a great blessing. 

Are we enjoying all the good that God has promised?  Go after it for it is ours.

Jer 33:6  Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

Health and a cure!  This is beautiful

The purpose of Jeremiah was to root out, throw down, destroy, replant, and reform.  Josiah was good at this reform; He had Jeremiah to help him with this reform and he also had Hezekiah and other prophets.

The men that have been the greatest blessings of their age have been thought of as a burden of the earth and a plague of their generation.  Paul and Jesus Christ are examples of this.

Where would we have been in the crowd when they were saying, “Crucify Him.”?

Jeremiah was rejected by his neighbors, by his people, and by his friends and then he was rejected by the kings.

Lamentations is written as a national funeral.  In the chapters, 1,2, and 4 there are 22 verses and each verse starts with a different letter of their alphabet.  In chapter 3, verses 1-3 are all the first letter and 4-6 are the second and so on. 

When I’m in the dentist or a difficult spot, I come up with things that I’m thankful for from each letter of the alphabet.  For each of us that want to start out for God, there is strength and we can make it.