Sister Sunny Sunday School 1/13/13

Sister Sunny Sunday School 1/13/13

Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

Luk 1:73  The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

Luk 1:74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

Luk 1:75  In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

The covenant with the Children of Israel:  Lev 26:3-13

He delivers us from the hand of our enemies.  Our enemies are not flesh and blood.  Our enemies are things of the world and of our flesh that would destroy our spiritual life.  Pride, self-pity, covetousness, lover of self rather than of God, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are all enemies to our spiritual man. 

He delivers us from the hand of our enemies and creates in us a new man so that we can serve Him without fear or strain.  We do not try to be what we are not; He has changed us and taken from us the old carnal nature.  We are His children and inherit His divine nature.  We can be like Him; we are joint heirs with Christ.

We can serve Him boldly, without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life.  We can not only profess holiness but live holiness.  We are not all talk and no walk.  We are forgiven and made new creatures.  We can have the character of God.  It is not robbery: It is not through our own power; it is nothing that we have done.  It is not what we deserved; it is a gift of God.

The birth of Isaac was promised to Abraham and was a miraculous gift from God: 

Gen 18:10  And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

Gen 18:11  Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

Gen 18:12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

Gen 18:13  And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Gen 18:14  Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Adam Clark -  It was to correct Sarah’s unbelief, and to strengthen her faith, that God spoke these most important words; words which state that where human wisdom, prudence, and energy fall, and where nature herself ceases to be an agent, through lack of energy to act, or laws to direct and regulate energy, there also God has full sway, and by his own omnific power works all things after the counsel of his own will. Is there an effect to be produced? God can produce it as well without as with means. He produced nature, the whole system of causes and effects, when in the whole compass of his own eternity there was neither means nor being. He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. How great and wonderful is God!

Then God promised Abraham that through Isaac would be the seed of promise.

The character of Abraham:  There were many people between Adam and Abraham but God established His covenant with Abraham and with his seed after him.  Abraham was called a friend of God.  He believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.  It is because of Abraham’s trust and obedience that God gave him the covenant. 

He believed God to such an extent that when God told him to sacrifice his only son, he willingly set out early the next morning prepared to do just that.  He knew the character of God.  He knew the promise of God.  He did not fear, but believed God. 

When Isaac asked him where the Lamb was, Abraham said that God would provide a lamb.  He bound his son and placed him on the altar.  He raised his knife to complete the act.  He knew that God could even bring his son back to life again if it was needed. 

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

He believed God and trusted Him, no matter what God asked, he was determined to be obedient.  He didn’t understand everything, but he acted in obedience anyway.  He knew the character of God and he feared God and trusted Him more than anything else.

 

Gen 22:16  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

God promised here victory over the enemy and we see the promise of the Messiah.  “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

Gen 18:19  For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

We see here the conditions of God bringing on Abraham that which He had promised: They shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment.  (Clark – not only to preserve the truth in their creed but to maintain it in their practice.)

Justice - From H6663; rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity): - justice, moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness).

Rectitude - rightness of principal or practice; uprightness of mind, exact conformity to truth.

Justice - the virtue which consists in giving to everyone what is his due; honesty; integrity; impartiality; equity; merited punishment; doing right.

Virtue - strength; bravery; valor; moral goodness; voluntary obedience to truth; moral excellence; acting power that produces effects.

Prosperity - advance or gain in anything good or desirable; success; attainment of the object desired. 

Judgment – a righteous verdict – seeing and calling it correctly without partiality.  To do this requires discernment, honesty, and the fear of the Lord. 

Abraham lived a life of immediate obedience.  When God told him to do something he arose early the next morning and did it.  I believe that this is one reason why it says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 

This is why he was the father of promise.  We need to share this attribute so that we may be the children of promise.

Gen 17:7  And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Gen 17:8  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

God promised Abraham the Promised Land: 

God has promised us an inheritance.  It is a land that we are a stranger in because it is not of our carnal abilities.  It is a land flowing with milk and honey, an abundant life.  It is ours if we will claim it and if we will face the giants and trust God to give us the victory.  

 

God has promised us victory over our enemies: pride, self-pity, faultfinding, the oppression of the enemy, despair, hopelessness, lack of victory...  All these things the enemy would like to trap us in and get us wallowing, struggling without gaining any ground because we are not claiming the blood of Christ and putting our focus on Him. 

 

When we focus on people around us or on our self, then we will not have the victory that we need.  When Jesus told Peter to come to Him on the water, Peter kept his feet as long as his focus was on Jesus.  But as soon as Peter started looking at the water around him, he started sinking. 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

The promised land for us is the ground that we can have through the victory that Christ gives to us; it is also the church of God:  the communion and fellowship of the saints who are built together as a habitation for God. 

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Abraham obeyed.  He went out trusting God, not knowing where he went.  Thank God there is a city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God.  Its foundation is the apostles and prophets; Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. 

It is a heavenly city that is a part of kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy.  It is a better country.  If we obey and follow God, we can be a fellow citizen of this city and live in heavenly places with Christ.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.  God desires to dwell with us and in us. He made a way through Jesus that we as Gentiles could be a partaker, a fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God.   “Therefore we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens.”

Deu 11:22  For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

Deu 11:23  Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

Deu 11:24  Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

Deu 11:25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

Those things that were mightier than we, that we could not get the victory over, we now can have the victory over through the blood and strength of Christ.  I rejoice in the victory that God has given me.  I give Him all honor glory and praise.  I’m thankful for the Church of God and for the beautiful saints of God that live a holy life and walk in the light of the Gospel of Christ. 

Walk about Mt Zion brother;
See the bride in spotless white.
With her name enrolled in heaven;
She is walking in the light.

We see that God performed His promise to Abraham and led the Children of Israel out of Egypt with a strong hand and delivered them from their enemies.  He is just the same today.

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Exo 14:28  And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

Exo 14:29  But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

Exo 15:4  Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

Exo 15:8  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

Exo 15:9  The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

Exo 15:13  Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

Exo 15:14  The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.

Exo 15:15  Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

Exo 15:16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

Exo 15:17  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

Exo 15:18  The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.

Exo 15:19  For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.