Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 30, 2025
Exiles in Action
1 Peter 3:1-12
1. Introduction
• submission and substitution (2:13-25)
• this morning: specific applications and summary regarding submission
• Considering your identity and destiny, honor the Lord presently.
2. Wives: Adorn the Eternal 1-6
• being subject: the humble recognition of the divine ordering of society
• prioritizing inward character over outward cosmetics
• confident expectation enables courageous compliance
3. Husbands: Conform to God’s Standard 7
• active sensitivity
• assigning specific honor
• acknowledging spiritual consequences
4. All Believers: Commit to Mindful Modeling 8-12
• displaying the character of Jesus
• being mindful of ultimate accountability
• “Jesus is all the world to me and true to Him I’ll be. O how could I this Friend deny when He’s so true to me?” (W. Thompson, “Jesus Is All the World to Me”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 23, 2025
The Submission and Substitution Connection
1 Peter 2:13-25
1. Introduction
• the matter of identity (2:1-12)
• this morning: submission in a secular culture and its scriptural support
2. Command: Submit to Civil Government 13-17
• the meaning and the reason (13)
• the scope (14)
• the divine strategy: doing good, using freedom, showing respect (15-17)
3. Command: Submit in the Context of Personal Employment 18-20
• counter-cultural inclusion (18)
• gracious enduring (19-20)
4. Connection: See How Substitution Relates to Submission 21-25
• example to trace: refusal and reliance (21-23)
• ultimate and unique submission through substitution (24) (Lev. 16)
• sustaining Shepherd (25) (Isa. 53:6)
5. So What?
• Because Jesus is your ultimate standard and only substitute, live in glad submission to Him.
• It takes a divine methodology to achieve a divine agenda.
• “Why did they nail Him to Calvary’s tree? Why, tell me, why was He there? Jesus the helper, the healer, the friend, why, tell me, why was He there? All my iniquities on Him were laid; He nailed them all to the tree. Jesus the debt of my sin fully paid; He paid the ransom for me.” (J. Moore, “Why?”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 16, 2025
The Matter of Your Identity
1 Peter 2:1-12
1. Review/Context
• a living hope and a guaranteed inheritance (1:3-9)
• the message of salvation (1:10-12)
• checklist for exiles (1:13-25)
• Because Jesus is the foundation and focus of your identity, live a life marked by His power and praise.
2. Crave True Nourishment 1-10
• prerequisite (1)
• passion (2a)
• purpose (2b)
• progression (3-5) (Psa. 34:8)
• permanence (6-8) (Isa. 28:16, Psa. 118:22)
• perspective (9-10)
3. Keep Away from Sin 11-12
• sinful desires that strategize against the soul (11)
• keeping conduct honorable so that God is honored (12)
4. So What?
• Remember that what God says about you is truer than what anyone else, including yourself, says.
• Grasp the options: enjoy deliverance or experience downfall.
• Plan to proclaim His excellencies this week!
• “A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They’re building a palace for me over there; Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing: All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.” (H. Buell, “A Child of the King”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 9, 2025
A Checklist for Exiles
1 Peter 1:13-25
1. Review/Context
• a living hope and a guaranteed inheritance (1:3-9)
• the message of salvation (1:10-12)
• Considering God’s saving work through Jesus, pursue His agenda for your life.
2. Set Your Hope on Future Grace 13-14
• preparing your minds
• being sober-minded
• not being conformed
3. Be Holy as God is Holy 15-16
• since it is written (Lev. 19:2)
4. Conduct Yourselves with Fear 17-21
• if you call on Him as Father
• throughout the time of your exile
• knowing that you were ransomed
• a responsibility to relish (Luke 12:4-7, Isa. 66:2, Prov. 9:10)
5. Love One Another Fervently 22-25
• having purified your souls
• since you have been born again
• through the living and abiding word of God (Isa. 40:6-8)
6. So What?
• not retreating or assimilating, but blessing
• “Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life; offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life; Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever…” (Bliss, “Wonderful Words of Life”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 2, 2025
The Matter of Your Inheritance
1 Peter 1:3-9
Not Home Yet: Insights for Aliens from 1 Peter
1. Introduction
• background/context for 1 Peter:
• distinction between temporary station and eternal destination
• hope: stabilization without stagnation
• analysis of the greeting (1:1-2)
• Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, you have a guaranteed inheritance.
2. Supernaturally Empowered (3)
• “The resurrection is God’s ‘amen’ to Christ’s statement, ‘It is finished!’” (Johnson)
3. Securely Possessed (4)
• four observations about the believer’s inheritance
4. Superbly Protected (5)
• the constant surveillance of omnipotence
5. Sensitized Perspective (6-7)
• three observations about the believer’s trials
6. Sustained by an Unseen and Incomparable Person (8-9)
• “Let us never live another day as if He were dead.” (Marshall)
• “…He then is all my hope and stay…” (Mote)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for February 23, 2025
Series on God Sustains His People
…From Whom All Blessings Flow…
Leviticus 26:1-13
1. Review/Context
• stress on holiness that concludes with the blessings/curses of Lev. 26
• “He is fully able to muster all of nature and all nations to enact His blessings or curses.” (Ross)
• the concept of “blessing”:
2. Reminder 1-2
• avoiding idolatry
• engaging sanctification
3. Promise of Provision 3-10
• precipitation
• peace
• plenty
4. Promise of Presence 11-13
• dwell and walk with
• basis of blessing
5. So What?
• connection to Christ: Matt. 11:28-30, Rom. 8:32
• Because the LORD demands and honors absolute allegiance, obey His instructions and expect His blessings.
• Cultivate a biblical perspective of the LORD’S blessings.
• “ But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay; for the favor He shows, and the joy He bestows, are for them who will trust and obey.” (Sammis, “Trust and Obey”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for February 16, 2025
Series on God Sustains His People
A Full Atonement Forecast
Leviticus 16:1-34
1. God’s Sobering Presence (1-5)
• experience of Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10)
• place of God’s presence
• preparation for entering God’s presence
2. Access into God’s Presence (6-28)
• blood atonement and ritual removal (scapegoat) (6-10)
• purification by blood (11-19)
• purification by removal (20-28)
3. Preparation of God’s People (29-34)
• contrition
• cessation
• cleansing
4. So What?
• Note the NT connections to Christ: Rom. 3:25, Heb. 13:12, 9:12-14; 26-28, 2 Cor. 5:21
• Because Jesus fulfills every detail forecasted, relish His finished work through reflection and repentance.
• “Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was He; ‘Full atonement!’ can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!” (P. Bliss)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for February 9, 2025
Series on God Sustains His People
Accepted by God
Leviticus 1:1-17
1. Review/Context
• golden calf (Ex. 32) and the necessity of reconciliation
• tabernacle: the word revealed and worship through sacrifice
• the LORD called…saying
• Lev. 1: focus on burnt offerings
2. Entrance Allowed
• basis of acceptance of the worshiper
• no one prohibited from approaching
• requirement for sacrificial victim: blameless/without defect
3. Procedure Specified
• blood and body of a substitute
• identification of worshiper with the sacrificial victim
• sacrifice “surrendered” and wrath of God satisfied
• atoning sacrifice
4. Acceptance Indicated
• sacrifice consumed by fire on altar
• smell/aroma of sacrifice: pleasing to the LORD
5. So What?
• Those who approach God based on atoning sacrifice may experience acceptance with Him forever.
• Note the NT connections: Mt. 20:28; Rom. 3:25; Eph. 5:27: 1Pet. 1:19, 2:22
• “Sacrifice is at the heart of all true worship.” (Ross)
• “What language shall I borrow…?” (Bernard of Clairvaux, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded”)
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for February 2, 2025
Series on God Sustains His People
A Case of Post-Calf Grace
Exodus 35:30-36:7
1. Assessing the Building
• a dwelling designed by the LORD
• constructed to communicate
• attention to the LORD’S instruction
• “It is possible to believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God—yet neglect it and effectually repudiate it just because we think that it is not great enough for today’s tasks.” (Boice)
2. Embracing the Beauty
• Why not just throw a few boards together?
• empowered artistry: Bezalel and Oholiab
• objective standard of excellence
3. Experiencing the Blessing
• voluntary offering: an “art” form in itself
• Before you render, you receive. (35:1-3)
• time, talent and treasure (35:4-29)
• The people were restrained!
4. So What?
• When you are instructed by God’s principles and inspired by His presence, you pursue lavish participation in His work.
• from the portable to the permanent (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:21; 1 Cor. 6:19)
• Breathtaking “Beauty” has visited us. (John 1:14)
• Your use of His resources should reflect the depth of His rescue. (Kirk, “Our Best”)
• divine artistry to the glory of God!
Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for January 26, 2025
Series on God Sustains His People
Meanwhile, Back at the Camp
Exodus 32
1. Disobedience to the LORD’S Revealed Will
• violation of at least three commandments
• the major issue in Exodus: worship (24:3, 7)
• “God created man in His image and ever since, man has been trying to return the favor.” (Chesterton)
2. Doubting the LORD’S Sufficiency
• impatience with the LORD’S timing
• disrespect for the LORD’S representative (Acts 7:39-40)
• a hostile “takeover” attempt
3. Distortion of the LORD’S Purpose
• the LORD’S reputation (9:16)
• a self-serving mentality and a demonstration of depravity
• idolatry leading to immorality
• “What we revere, we resemble, either for our ruin or our restoration.” (Beale)
4. Discounting the LORD’S Activity
• the misuse of the LORD’S gifts
• a case of spiritual amnesia (Psa. 106:19-22)
5. So What?
• Knowing that God abhors idolatry, repudiate it and replace it with holy intoxication.
• battling infidelity with intoxication (Eph. 5:18)
• “Man must have an object, and when he turns from the true God, he at once craves a false one.’ But this statement can also be reversed. The way to reduce our craving for false gods is for our minds and hearts to be intoxicated with the Spirit of the one true God.” (Pink)
• “The dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be, help me tear it from Thy throne, and worship only Thee.” (Cowper, “O, For a Closer Walk with God.”)
