Monthly Archives: August 2022

Dake Annotated Reference Bible

Hands down, this is my favorite Bible reference. Brother Dake (1902-1987) put together the best reference for Pentecostal Evangelicals in our libraries. There are a few points that I disagree with Brother Dake but I can count them on the fingers of both hands.

You can purchase a copy on Amazon here, Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sunday School Text Book

You can find several treatments of the International Sunday School Lesson. Personally, I use the NIV® Standard Lesson Commentary® published by the David C Cooke company. I have used this text for more than five years. This gives me a good introduction to the lesson that week. However, it is ONLY an introduction to the lesson. I do not follow their outline during my presentation but I do recommend that you read it, or another comparable text, before listening to my program. It really helps to prepare your heart and mind for the teaching. You can purchase a copy from Amazon for your kindle or https://amzn.to/3PT7nX2.  Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Call of Abram

International Sunday School September 4 2022 Fall #1

Lesson Scriptures

Genesis 12:1-7 ESV  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  (2)  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  (3)  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  (4)  So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  (5)  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,  (6)  Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  (7)  Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:1-7 ESV

Genesis 15:1-7 ESV  After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  (2)  But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  (3)  And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”  (4)  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”  (5)  And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  (6)  And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.  (7)  And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Genesis 15:1-7 ESV 

Notes

Call of Abram Gen 12:1-3

  • Joshua 24:2 (ESV) And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
  • Enter world to be blessed by the Messiah and this gives the world the opportunity to be be blessed by accepting Jesus as our personnel Savior.

Abram Obeys Gen 12:4-6

  • People lived a lot longer in that day. Abraham 175 when he died so this was middle-age for him.
  • Hebrews 11:8-9 (ESV) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. [9] By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Promise and Alter Gen 12:7

  • The first mention of a theophany in the Bible.
  • But Abram did not see God the Father. He saw the pre-existent Son of God. See John 1:18 NIV  “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

Fear Not Gen 15:1

  • This happened right after Abraham rescued Lot from the attack and capture of the multiple Kings.
  • This was a night vision, not a dream.
  • Psalms 27:1 (ESV) Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Abram Childless Gen 15:2-4

  • The first use of LORD God (Adonai Jehovah) in combination in the Bible.
  • According to the Code of Hammurabi, Eliezer, his steward, Abram’s head servant would inherit if Abram did not have a child.

Faith Counted as Righteousness Gen 15:5-7

  • Hebrews 11:11-12 (ESV) By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. [12] Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
Youtube Presentation of Sunday School Lesson

A Welcoming Invitation

International Sunday School August 28 2022 Summer Quarter #13

Revelation 22:10-21 ESV  And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.  (11)  Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”  (12)  “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  (13)  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  (14)  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.  (15)  Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.  (16)  “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”  (17)  The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.  (18)  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  (19)  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.  (20)  He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  (21)  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Revelation 22:10-21 ESV

The River of Life

International Sunday School August 21 2022 #12

Revelation 22:1-7 ESV  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb  (2)  through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  (3)  No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  (4)  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  (5)  And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.  (6)  And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”  (7)  “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Revelation 22:1-7 ESV

A reference I use often is Dr John Gill. He pastored the same church as Spurgeon about a hundred years before Spurgeon. Here is a link to his commentary on Revelation 22.

A New City

International Sunday School Lesson August 14 2022 Summer Quarter #11

Revelation 21:10-21 NIV  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  (11)  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.  (12)  It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.  (13)  There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.  (14)  The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  (15)  The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.  (16)  The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.  (17)  The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.  (18)  The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.  (19)  The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,  (20)  the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.  (21)  The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

Revelation 21:10-21 NIV