Sabbath School Today, Volume 9 - Paul E. Penno

More documents

Recommendations

Info

When the Lord promised Abraham, He stipulated no "bargain" or "transaction" terms. It was a give-and-take relationship--God would do all the giving, and Abraham would do all the taking. And how did Abraham "take" the blessing? Totally by faith. Abraham "believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6; remember, we are Abraham's "children"). "Abraham believed" His promises--a heart-melting appreciation of the love of God that has redeemed humanity at the cross. Such faith is the kind that is alive, which "works." It reconciles alienated hearts to God and therefore at the same time reconciles their hearts to His holy law. But for nearly 4000 years both Abraham and his descendants have twisted and distorted this simple good news. Abraham proposed to God that he help Him out of His difficulty by adopting Eliezer, a slave, to be his "heir" (15:2-4). God said No! Then Sarah, embittered because she couldn't get pregnant, proposed that she help God out of His difficulty by adopting a slave-girl's son from Abraham as her own (16:1-4). Again God said No! (17:1-19). The Lord insisted that everything would be His doing 100 percent. And here is where the battle has raged these thousands of years. We are all "born in sin," inheriting a sinful nature (Psalm 51:5; Rom. 7:14-17). It's easy notto believe. Faith humbles our hearts! The result? We ourselves have invented the "old covenant," our promises to God. Somehow we must help save ourselves! Don't you wish when you were younger you had understood that God's great promises to Abraham were to you also. Nobody told us! Our whole life would have been different. All that God promised Abraham was precisely what worries us. (Teens are the most worried people on earth.) We wanted to be "a great nation," that is, we want to be "somebody." We don't want to be just a number in humanity. We want to live for a purpose, to amount to something. 171
Are we sinful? Of course we are! But the desire to be "somebody" is also God-given; and He wants every person to hear His promise, "I will make of you somebody important!" We also need to hear Him tell us, "I will bless thee." That will lift a load of fear from our hearts. And yes, we want to hear Him tell us that He will make our name "great" in some meaningful way. We don't want to be a glob of jelly, a "blah" person. We want to be "someone" in others' eyes! And yes, sinful though we are, we do indeed dream of God doing for us what He promised to do for Abraham, "And thou shalt be a blessing." From our dawn of consciousness we dream of becoming something for God. We don't know how, but we want to be a useful person in God's great plan for the world. Oh, we can be so happy if we know that all along God is promising us these wonderful things He promised Abraham! All seven of those fantastic promises in Genesis 12:2, 3 will rejoice our hearts if only we know that God is telling us all that! We can stand taller and walk more sprightly when we know His promises are for us. We can study better, develop our abilities more efficiently. And best of all, if we know that God is promising us that someday we will fellowship with Christ in "all families of the earth being blessed," that by His grace we will be an agent He can use in some little but meaningful way to convey that "blessing" everywhere we will go--oh, the new covenant will make all the difference in our thinking and lives. Don't you think it will go a long way in healing disunity in the church? Now, how about passing on those new covenant promises to someone else? 172
Page 1 and 2:
SABBATH SCHOOL TODAY VOLUME 9 Paul
Page 3 and 4:
did you make? Christ reverses our m
Page 5 and 6:
Peter's thing when he denied Christ
Page 7 and 8:
Chapter 2 I See, I Want, I Take The
Page 9 and 10:
the faith of Jesus; therefore it is
Page 11 and 12:
Chapter 3 God or Mammon A fundament
Page 13 and 14:
preamble, when we appreciate what t
Page 15 and 16:
elieve in the power of God to deliv
Page 17 and 18:
ighteousness. Only when we allow ou
Page 19 and 20:
92. 6. A. T. Jones, "The Third Ange
Page 21 and 22:
Jeremiah (31:22); and what He wants
Page 23 and 24:
Second, to consider Christ continua
Page 25 and 26:
Chapter 6 The Marks of a Steward Th
Page 27 and 28:
not the source your pleasures that
Page 29 and 30:
Chapter 7 Honesty With God Is there
Page 31 and 32:
nothing like it presented publicly
Page 33 and 34:
and the same. ... God's covenants w
Page 35 and 36:
olster our sagging self-esteem. In
Page 37 and 38:
God to die for us on His cross. Tha
Page 39 and 40:
which worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6; I
Page 41 and 42:
through us. We plead on Christ's be
Page 43 and 44:
His righteousness. It is a message
Page 45 and 46:
ealized that, he took a deep breath
Page 47 and 48:
When the Father gave His Son, Chris
Page 49 and 50:
His Father wakened Him morning by m
Page 51 and 52:
Chapter 13 The Result of Stewardshi
Page 53 and 54:
LORD which exercise lovingkindness,
Page 55 and 56:
nature, "sin shall not have dominio
Page 57 and 58:
Chapter 15 Daniel and the End Time
Page 59 and 60:
ody have a corporate concern. If "o
Page 61 and 62:
denominational repentance, followed
Page 63 and 64:
Commandments through the power of J
Page 65 and 66:
cleanse, to purify, to sanctify, to
Page 67 and 68:
evealing to us His work as our high
Page 69 and 70:
counsel of His will' (Eph. 1:11)."
Page 71 and 72:
must occur to the Holy Spirit's wor
Page 73 and 74:
with God than has ever in the past
Page 75 and 76:
--Paul E. Penno Endnote: [1] Ellen
Page 77 and 78:
the Lord, I do not change" (Mal. 3:
Page 79 and 80:
doctrines," for she said it was "fr
Page 81 and 82:
Chapter 20 Matthew 24 and 25 The sp
Page 83 and 84:
Recognizing and joyfully accepting
Page 85 and 86:
meaning to "old" light. The message
Page 87 and 88:
call to come out of it. Righteousne
Page 89 and 90:
Did this take place when Christ pai
Page 91 and 92:
Chapter 23 America and Babylon Befo
Page 93 and 94:
In an effort to reassert herself as
Page 95 and 96:
dragon," and then the "image of the
Page 97 and 98:
Chapter 24 Gods Seal or the Beasts
Page 99 and 100:
Heaven is powerless to prevent it.
Page 101 and 102:
Chapter 25 Babylon and Armageddon T
Page 103 and 104:
his advantage. This is the conditio
Page 105 and 106:
... This experience awaits the remn
Page 107 and 108:
15), so that this truth can "lighte
Page 109 and 110:
and abase the exalted. ... It shall
Page 111 and 112:
truth to the world as the apostles
Page 113 and 114:
separation from sin, a deliverance
Page 115 and 116:
Chapter 28 Pentecost "Pentecost" is
Page 117 and 118:
come, like a lost vein of gold in t
Page 119 and 120:
"scripture" in John 7:37, 38 (SS 4:
Page 121 and 122: The early believers had achieved a
Page 123 and 124: children of Abraham." [2] God expla
Page 125 and 126: Chapter 30 The First Church Leaders
Page 127 and 128: Holy Spirit manifest full and compl
Page 129 and 130: Chapter 31 The Conversion of Paul A
Page 131 and 132: oken and contrite heart. "Lord, exp
Page 133 and 134: land, there is needed confession, r
Page 135 and 136: Chapter 32 The Ministry of Peter Fr
Page 137 and 138: and rejected what Christ has alread
Page 139 and 140: Endnote: [1] Ellen G. White, Select
Page 141 and 142: verse 46 Paul addressed the Jews wh
Page 143 and 144: advance. --Paul E. Penno Endnote: [
Page 145 and 146: who persecuted Paul and Barnabas."
Page 147 and 148: Conference. This was wise advice, b
Page 149 and 150: Chapter 35 The Second Missionary Jo
Page 151 and 152: y letting Him do His blessed will i
Page 153 and 154: Chapter 36 The Third Missionary Jou
Page 155 and 156: On the north side of the city stood
Page 157 and 158: Chapter 37 Arrest in Jerusalem One
Page 159 and 160: produce the promised child without
Page 161 and 162: take the righteousness of Christ as
Page 163 and 164: impossible. What we need to do is g
Page 165 and 166: a man, to use a common expression,
Page 167 and 168: international strife. Two world war
Page 169 and 170: you just couldn't sit still. The to
Page 171: Chapter 40 Creation and Fall Not a
Page 175 and 176: Chapter 41 Causes of Disunity How p
Page 177 and 178: If the Lord was capable of sending
Page 179 and 180: In summation, any message of righte
Page 181 and 182: In the celebrated 1848 Sabbath Conf
Page 183 and 184: Chapter 43 Christ, the Key to Unity
Page 185 and 186: you shall die") that the day Adam s
Page 187 and 188: --Ann Walper Endnotes: [1] Ellen G.
Page 189 and 190: "the former rain," and the "latter
Page 191 and 192: Chapter 45 Images of Unity The Bibl
Page 193 and 194: Since the only flesh that there is
Page 195 and 196: Chapter 46 When Conflicts Arise The
Page 197 and 198: Those who "seemed to be pillars" (C
Page 199 and 200: Chapter 47 Unity in Faith The Quart
Page 201 and 202: H. Kellogg at Battle Creek, and inf
Page 203 and 204: common temptations and inclinations
Page 205 and 206: [9] Ellen G. White, The Desire of A
Page 207 and 208: proclaim the gospel for two thousan
Page 209 and 210: ... "Christ desires unity, but He d
Page 211 and 212: John 4:10). Truly this "propitiatio
Page 213 and 214: Here is where the "gospel" comes in
Page 215 and 216: Chapter 50 Unity in Worship Meeting
Page 217 and 218: oth you and the sons of Israel; and
Page 219 and 220: Chapter 51 Church Organization and
Page 221 and 222: years of Ellen White's long lifetim
Page 223 and 224:
of organization; it is the collecti
Page 225 and 226:
accordingly. They are the ones who
Page 227:
present age, while we wait for the
show all

Sabbath School Today, Volume 9 - Paul E. Penno

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?