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)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for June 6, 2021
Trust God Fully
Job 1:1-22
1. Introduction
• structure: prologue/introduction to Job (1:1-2:10)
• description of Job (1:1-5) and dialogue with Satan (1:6-2:10)
• not to perplex or provoke, but to proclaim the incomprehensible God
• the response of the “righteous” to inexplicable suffering
2. Permission Granted 1:8-12
• commended
• questioned
• conditioned
• Job’s lack of awareness
3. Plan Executed 1:13-19
• Sabeans swoop
• fire from heaven
• Chaldeans conquer
• desert wind
• repetition of “still speaking”
4. Confidence Sustained 1:20-22
• resolve to worship
• acknowledgement of sovereignty
• connection to Christ (1 Peter 3:18)
5. So What?
• Knowing God is in control, worship Him when your world shatters.
• Love God more than self or stuff.
• Reflect on the temporary nature of suffering.
• Learn to live with mystery.
• “Every joy of trial falleth from above, traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love; We may trust Him fully, all for us to do; They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.” (Havergal)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for May 30, 2021
In a Category by Himself
Colossians 1:15-20
1. Introduction
• an ancient heresy with a modern ring
• not supplemental but supreme
• Because true greatness should never go unrecognized, bank all your hope on Jesus and pursue Him passionately.
• concentrated catalog
2. Recognize the greatness of His non-origination
• before all things
• firstborn of all creation (Psa. 89:27)
• before Abraham was… (John 8:58)
3. Recognize the greatness of His exact representation
• image
• head of the body
• fullness
4. Recognize the greatness of His purposeful creation
• agent
• source
• sustainer
5. Recognize the greatness of His amazing reconciliation
• firstborn from the dead
• reconcile…making peace through the blood of the cross
• that in everything He might be preeminent
6. So What?
• Of whom else…?
• “Christ the Son is the stream that brings salvation to every man’s lips. All wants are supplied there. Take it as a piece of the simplest prose, with no rhetorical exaggeration about it, that Christ is everything.” (Maclaren)
• “It’s beautiful when the worth of Jesus and the love of His followers match…when the value of His perfections and the intensity of our affections correspond.” (Piper)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for May 23, 2021
Guest Speaker: Sherry Forester
Choices Make the Man
Judges 14-16
I. Samson’s willfulness (Judges 14:1-4)
A) Deficient in self-control
B) Disrespected authority
C) Disregarded wise counsel
God uses even our willful choices to accomplish His plans.
II. Samson’s waywardness (Judges 14:5 – 15:20)
A) Dismissed spiritual lessons
B) Disobeyed God
C) Distanced his friends
D) Downplayed his sin
E) Devoted to revenge
God gives undeserved grace to His wayward people.
III. Samson’s wake-up (Judges 16)
God will always achieve His plans.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
– C.S. Lewis
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for May 16, 2021
Taken up to Heaven
Luke 24:50-53
1. Introduction
• doctrine of the ascension of Jesus
• ascension day: 40 days after resurrection
• biblical progression/fulfillment (2 Kings 2:11, Psa. 68:18, Psa. 110:1-4)
2. Insights from Luke’s Ascension Accounts
Luke 24:50-53
• preceded by appearing and opening (24:36-49)
• blessed (Num. 6:24-26)
• parted
• carried
• worship of joyful disciples
3. Acts 1:9-11
• preceded by a preface, clarification and promise (1:1, 6-8)
• lifted up
• cloud escort
• angelic question
• angelic confirmation
4. Applying the Ascension: Vindication, Confirmation, Initiation, Mobilization
5. So What?
• Because of the reality of the ascension of Jesus, experience His constant comfort and anticipate His ultimate exaltation.
• “The dust of the earth is on the throne of the Majesty on High.” (Duncan)
• “…He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found…” (Watts)
• “And our eyes at last shall see Him, through His own redeeming love, for that Child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above, and He leads His children on to the place where He is gone…” (Alexander)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for May 9, 2021
Like the Criminal on the Cross
Luke 23:32-43
1. Background for 39-43
• Luke’s Spirit-inspired and unique perspective (32-33)
• following the “first word” from the cross (34a) and before the record of Christ’s death/burial (44-56)
2. The Saving Inclination of Jesus
• caring about the heart of a condemned criminal
• atoning and going
• surrendering Himself to save sinners (34b-38) (Psa. 22:7-8)
3. The Repenting Representation of the Criminal 39-41
• rebuking the other criminal
• admitting his own guilt
• confessing Jesus as innocent King
4. The Assuring Declaration of Jesus 42-43
• criminal’s request
• a “mind-blowing” response
• implications of a single sentence
5. So What?
• Because of His capacity to save condemned criminals, magnify Christ’s saving grace and your certain future.
• If your ultimate confidence is in your accomplishments, you will abhor this text.
• Never impugn the outrageous nature of God’s grace.
• “The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away…” (Cowper)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for May 2, 2021
But Not so with You
Luke 22:24-30
1. Background
• in the context of the Lord’s Supper
• preceding the prediction of Peter’s denial
2. The Contention among the Disciples 24
• not the first time (Matt. 20:25-28, Mark 10:42-45)
• a distracted dispute about greatness
• connection to John 13:1-5
3. Jesus Corrects the Disciples with a Command 25-27
• custom of the culture
• emphasizing a striking contrast
• specific command supported by example
4. Jesus Conveys Assurance and Authority to His Disciples 28-30
• gracious assessment
• staggering assignment
• heavenly joy and holy vocation
5. So What?
• Since greatness in God’s sight means humble service, take your cues from Jesus.
• Cultivate gospel humility. (Phil. 2:5-11)
• Remember that you’re not home yet.
• “Then I shall bow in humble adoration…” (Hine)
