Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for August 8, 2021
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
1. Viewing Life through the Lens of God’s Sovereignty (1-8)
• life “under the loom”
• “everything” in the hands of God
• apportions times, seasons and tasks
• exhaustive sovereignty demonstrated through a series of contrasts
2. Applying the Joy-Fueling Principle of God’s Sovereignty (9-15)
• two questions: What’s the profit? (9) and What’s the purpose? (10)
• two affirmations:
God makes all things beautiful (fitting, appropriate) in His time
God has placed eternity in our hearts (11)
• two observations:
God gives ability, appetite and orientation (12-13)
God’s actions involve permanence, completeness, reverence and repetition (14-15)
3. So What?
• Because God really is in control, acknowledge your accountability to Him and trust Him to order your steps.
• incentive to look “above the sun” and to the Son (1 Cor. 1:26-31)
• Throw your hands up in faith!
• “Think not that God has thee forsaken when sorrows crown your acts of care, nor that He sleeps and cannot waken while evil prospers everywhere. Each recompense will have its hour. God sets the times with truth, with love and power.” (G. Neumark, “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for August 1, 2021
Satisfaction in a Strange Place: Insights for Life under the Sun
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:26
1. Introduction/Overview
• authorship: Solomon
• genre: wisdom literature
• structure: Satisfaction evaluated (1:1-2:26), Sovereignty explained (3:1-5:20)
Sovereignty applied (6:1-8:15), Concerns addressed (8:16-12:14)
2. Nature of the Book
• not a book for “cheerful fools”
• not a “grab-bag” of inspirational quotes
3. Three Key Emphases
• vanity, vanity…
• under the sun
• the great gift of God
4. Observations from 1:1-2:26
• search for satisfaction
• inscrutable repetition (1:1-11)
• truth about earthly existence (1:12-2:11)
• God gives things and the capacity to enjoy them (2:12-26)
5. The Doctrinal Foundation for Joy
• defining joy
• sovereignty of God
• grace of God
6. So What?
• Because the search for satisfaction is futile apart from God, commit yourself now to the fundamentals of fellowship with and fear of Him.
• connection to Christ: 2 Cor. 4:7-18
• “Who can satisfy my soul like You? Who can comfort me and love me like you do? Who could ever be more faithful and true? There is a fountain, who is a King, victorious Warrior and Lord of everything. My Rock, my Shelter, my very own, Blessed Redeemer who reigns upon the throne.” (Slaughter) (Psalm 107:9)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for July 25, 2021
Guest Speaker: Sherry Forester
Faith in God
Rahab’s Red-Letter Day
Joshua 2:1-7,2:8-24,6:20-26
I. COURAGEOUS FAITH (Joshua 2:1-7)
• God chooses unlikely people to accomplish His plan.
II. COMMITTED FAITH (Joshua 2:8-24, 6:20-26)
• Faith in God gives peace for today and assurance for eternity.
III. CHANGED THROUGH FAITH (Matthew 1:5)
• Faith in God is life changing.
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for July 18, 2021
A Fitting Conclusion
Job 42:1-17
1. The Sufferer’s Confession (1-6)
• in response to Job 38-41
• absolute and uninhibited sovereignty
• ignorant of his ignorance
• anatomy of repentance
2. The Servant’s Intercession (7-9)
• repetition of “servant”
• displeasure with Job’s “friends”
• significance of “seven” and “burnt offering”
• Job’s priestly and mediatorial roles
3. The LORD’S Restoration (10-17)
• from deprivation to restoration: “back from captivity”
• from alienation to reconciliation
• “ …far as the curse is found…” (Watts)
• Job died…more to come!
• culminating connections to Christ: Isa. 52:13, 1 John 2:1-2, Rom. 8:28, James 1:17
4. So What?
• In light of who the LORD is and who you are, acknowledge that the LORD is in control when your life seems out of control.
• Carefully steward your words. (Prov. 10:19)
• “Repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients: sight of sin, sorrow for sin, confession of sin, shame for sin, hatred of sin and turning from sin.” (Thomas Watson)
• Only as you understand the truth about the LORD do you begin to understand the truth about yourself and your circumstances.
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for July 11, 2021
Job in the Dock
Job 40:1-14
-insightful analogy from C. S. Lewis
-The LORD speaks (38:1-40:2 and 40:6-41:34)
-Job finds himself on the witness stand!
1. Challenge of Intent 1-2
• question that closes the first speech
• the blurred line between Creator and creature
• significance of “LORD” and “Almighty”
2. Speechless Sufferer 3-5
• vocabulary change (19:9, 29:20, 31:37)
• hand over his mouth
3. Challenge of Justice 6-9
• out of the “whirlwind” and “Brace yourself!”
• The LORD will ask the questions now!
• Job: in no position to pass judgment
• the arm and voice of God
4. Challenge of Identity 10-14
• majesty and splendor? (Psa. 93:1-5; 144:4; 147:4)
• answering the “If I were in charge…” lament
• self-savior or in need of a Rescuer?
Connection to Christ: Rom. 8:1; 11:33-36
5. So What?
• In light of God’s Self-revelation, prioritize personal submission to Him when suffering comes.
• “Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might, Thy justice like mountains high soaring above, Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.” (W. Smith)
• Grow downward in humiliation before God and upward in adoration of Christ. (C. Simeon)
• “Lord, show me myself…Lord, show me Thyself.” (H. McPhail)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for July 4, 2021
Past Finding Out
Job 36:1-37:24
-introduction to Elihu and his speeches (Job 32-37)
-angry with Job and Job’s three friends
-more engaging and orthodox theological presentation
1. Suffering as God’s Discipline 36:1-21
• affirmation of God’s power and knowledge
• educational aspect of suffering
• presence of creative purpose
• lessons about our character, God’s character and the character of faith
2. Suffering in Light of God’s Majestic Providence 37:22-37:24
• God’s goodness, incomprehensibility, and praiseworthiness
• exaltation of power and greatness
• examples of power and greatness
• series of humbling questions
• connection to Christ (John 8:46)
3. So What?
• Because God’s character and consequent actions are past finding out, determine to rely on him in the darkness of suffering.
• “When darkness seems to hide His face…” (Mote)
• “O joy that seekest me through pain…” (Matheson)
• “And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight…” (Spafford)
• “The wise man rides the wave; the fool is drowned by it.” (Flavel)
• “These inward trials I now employ from self and pride to set thee free, and break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou may’st seek thy all in Me.” (Newton, “Prayer Answered by Crosses”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for June 27, 2021
Wisdom in the Middle of Your Mess
Job 28
-respite from the debate before the final defense of Job 29-31
-interlude on the subject of wisdom
1. Reflect on the inability of human ingenuity (1-11)
• reference to mining
• quest for wisdom
2. Consider the exceeding value of wisdom (12-19)
• rhetorical questions
• preciousness and inaccessibility of wisdom
3. Acknowledge God as the source of wisdom (20-28)
• finally, an answer
• giving weight to the wind (25)
• climactic verse (28): fear Adonai and shun evil
4. So what?
• Because God is the source of wisdom, seek Him in the midst of your suffering.
• Reject all substitutes for wisdom.
• Confess your inability to obtain wisdom apart from God.
• Treasure the wisdom centered in Christ. (1 Cor. 1:30, James 1:5-8)
• “The Perfect Wisdom of our God” (Getty)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for June 20, 2021
Hope at the End of the Rope
Job 19:1-29
-second cycle of speeches: response to Bildad
-Job’s description of rejection followed by a stunning declaration of hope
-concept of biblical hope: future and certain
1. Rejected by Friends (1-5)
• sticks and stones…
• reproached 10 times by calloused counselors (16:2)
2. Rejected by God (6-12)
• faulty perspective based on incomplete knowledge
• vivid descriptions
• Satan’s strategy
3. Rejected by Society (13-20)
• vivid descriptions of social alienation
• physical details
4. But Wait! (21-29)
• plea for mercy from a perspective of misery
• desire for a permanent record
• certainty about his Redeemer (Lev. 25:25, Ruth 4:4-6, Col. 1:13-14, Heb. 6:19-20, Heb. 9:12)
• resurrection hope in the OT (Heb. 11:13)
• personal vindication and future retribution
5. So What?
• If you know Jesus, the Redeemer, you have a hope that will sustain you in your suffering.
• Refuse to sugarcoat the reality of suffering and resove to magnify the ministry of presence.
• “Did you preach it with tears?” (McCheyne)
• “I know I shall see in His beauty the King in whose law I delight, who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, and giveth me songs in the night.” (Crosby)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for June 13, 2021
Sitting with Job
Job 14:1-22
1. Introduction
• Job’s loss of personal possessions/health and opening speech (1-3)
• first cycle of speeches with friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (4-14)
• Job responds to Zophar: theodicy and the doctrine of divine retribution (12-14)
2. Job Reflects on Human Frailty (1-2)
• few days and full of trouble
• fleeting existence: like a flower or shadow
3. Job Appeals for Mercy (3-6)
• fleeting, flawed and a futile pursuit
• determined days and dependent months
• a hireling’s rest
4. Job Assesses His Future (7-12)
• tree symbolism (Gen. 3, Psa. 1, Prov. 3)
• more hope for a tree than for me…
• the naked eye and incomplete understanding (2 Tim. 1:10)
5. Job Opts for Death and Expresses Despair (13-22)
• preference for death over life and question of the ages
• positive pondering: transgression covered
• God’s power and Job’s pain
• connection to Christ: The ultimate Man of Sorrows and Tree of Life (Isa. 53:1-6; 1 Pet. 2:24)
6. So What?
• Because of God’s might and mercy, you can have hope even when you sit in the shards of suffering.
• Let the misery of your condition drive you to the mercy of Christ.
• Live in the constant consolation and motivation of the doctrine of the resurrection. (Jn. 11:25; 1 Cor. 15:58)
• “It is not death to die, to leave this weary road, and midst the brotherhood on high, to be at home with God…” (Malan)
