Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for April 24, 2022

Stay Ready!

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1. Introduction

• comparison/contrast of 4:13-18 (coming of the Lord/day of the Lord)
• a common conclusion to note
• Because Scripture certifies the certain return of Christ, stay ready in light of the destruction and deliverance it will bring.

2. Revisiting the Manner of Christ’s Return 1-3

• full awareness of readers and the implication of imminence
• like a thief in the night (Matt. 24:43, Luke 12:39)
• what people might say (Jer. 6:14)
• metaphor of suddenness

3. Reminding Readers of Their Identity 4-5

• children of light/day
• contrast between light/darkness and day/night

4. Reinforcing the Need for Readiness 6-8

• commands: let us not sleep, let us keep awake, let us be sober
• observation of human behavior
• since we belong to the day… (Isa. 59:17)

5. Recognizing the Presence of Motivation 9-10

• diametrically opposed destinies of two groups
• hope of deliverance rooted in Christ’s death

6. Receiving Two Concluding Commands 11

• encourage and edify

7. So What?

• Reflect regularly on the imminence of Christ’s return
• Resolve to be found faithful-and ready!
• “One Day” (J. Wilbur Chapman)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for April 17, 2022

Easter Message

Now What?

1 Peter 1:13-21

1. Introduction

• born again to a living hope… 1:3-9
• salvation, prophets and angels 1:10-12
• connection with “Therefore” 1:13
• Because Christ is the ransoming and resurrected Lord, hope continually in His future grace and conform increasingly to His faithful character.

2. Hope Completely 13-14

• hope fully in future grace…
• preparing your minds for action
• being sober-minded
• not being conformed

3. Conform Comprehensively 15-16

• be holy…
• as He who called you is holy
• since it is written (Lev. 11:44)

4. Reverence Continually 17-21

• conduct yourselves with fear…
• if you call on Him as Father
• knowing that you were ransomed
• foreknown, revealed and raised

5. So What?

• Does the anchor of your hope dangle out of heaven?
• For what or for whom are you set apart?
• “…All to Him I owe…”
• “Awake, sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns; Take up thine eyes, which feed on earth; Unfold thy forehead, gathered into frowns; Thy Saviour comes, and with Him mirth…” (Herbert)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for April 10, 2022

Easter Message

The Kind of King He Is

Matthew 21:1-11

1. Introduction

• beginning of Passover week
• Matthew’s theme: Kingship of Jesus
• focus: who Jesus is and what He came to do

2. Purposeful Arrangements of Jesus 1-7

• near Jerusalem: Bethphage and Mount of Olives
• disciples dispatched for donkey requisition
• declaration of kingship: riding on a donkey
• scriptural fulfillment of Zech. 9:9: riding on a cloaked colt

3. Positive Response of the Crowd 8-9

• spreading garments and waving branches
• shouting of Scripture: fulfillment of Psa. 118:25-26
• crowd composition and expectations

4. Agitated Response in the City 10-11

• Who is this?
• superficiality, ignorance, opposition, submission

5. So What?

• Because Jesus is who Scripture says He is, worship Him now as Savior, Treasure and King.
• Submit to the kind of King Jesus declares Himself to be.
• Grasp the contrast between His first coming and second coming (Matt. 21 and Rev. 19)
• “Rejoice, the Lord is King” (C. Wesley)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for April 3, 2022

Partners in Progress

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

1. Introduction

• from the negative to the positive
• no place for coasting/complacency
• Because the goal is to glorify God, progress in your love for insiders and outsiders.

2. Inside the Church: View Sanctification as a Community Project 9-10

• commendation: family language
• continuation: taught by God (Isa. 54:13)
• cooperation: among yourselves and across the region
• culmination: mutual support network

3. Outside the Church: Aim to Attract the Attention of the Unsaved 11-12

• living quietly: our ambition
• minding our business: not meddlesome
• working with our hands: not parasites
• the long nose and lazy hands connection
• incentive not excuse

4. So What?

• Treasure the “team” concept.
• Stop expecting non-Christians to act like Christians.
• Stop excusing the sub-biblical behavior of Christians.
• Aim for a “winsome” witness.
• “Teach me, my God and King, in all things Thee to see, and what I do in anything, to do it as for Thee. To scorn the senses’ sway, while still to Thee I tend; in all I do be Thou the Way, in all be Thou the End.” (G. Herbert)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 27, 2022

For Now We Live

1 Thessalonians 3:6-10

1. Introduction

• Paul’s reflection on Timothy’s positive report
• Knowing the life-giving nature of the gospel, resolve to pour your life into others for the glory of God.

2. Discern the Nature of the Good News 6

• continuing endurance: confidence and conduct
• continuing affection: receptivity and reciprocity

3. Delight in the Development of Others 7-8

• in the midst of costly investment
• the instrument of their faith
• encouragement and enablement from their endurance
• in the Lord

4. Direct Prayer and Thanksgiving to the Source of Life 9-10

• overwhelmed with gratitude
• praying with constancy and intensity
• reunion and reinforcement

5. So What?

• “Remember always the presence of God. Rejoice always in the will of God. Direct all to the glory of God.” (H. Scougal)
• Recognize that a culture of religious spectators and consumers contradicts the biblical concept of Christian life in the context of the church.
• “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee…” (F. Havergal)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 20, 2022

Guest Speaker: Dr. Jim Sibley

Mordecai’s Cross and the Message of Purim

Esther

1. Introduction

2. The Story of Esther

3. Purim

4. Divine Reversals

• The Structure of Esther
• The Ring of Haman
• The Cross of Mordecai

If we could see beyond today as God can see,
If all the clouds should roll away,
The shadows flee;
O’er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet
For you and me.

If we could see, if we could know, we often say,
But God in love a veil doth throw
Across our way;
We cannot see what lies before,
And so we cling to Him the more,
He leads us till this life is o’er;
Trust and obey.

A. W. Pink, “God is working out His eternal purpose, not only in spite of human and satanic opposition, but by means of them.”

David Livingstone, “I am immortal until the will of God for me is accomplished.”

Daniel Webster, “Faith puts God between us and our circumstances.”

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 13, 2022

Positive Reinforcement

1 Thessalonians 2:7-12

1. Introduction

• overcoming the distance between writer and recipients
• Paul’s coming, appeal and motivation (2:1-6)

2. Convey Loving Care 7-8

• looking back to verse 6
• no loss of heart
• like a nursing mother

3. Contribute Constant Labor 9

• for further proof…
• not chargeable to you
• proclamation at personal cost

4. Communicate through Consistent Behavior 10-12

• devout, upright and blameless
• like a father exhorting, encouraging and imploring
• intimacy and instruction
• conformity to God’s character and communication

5. So What?

• In light of God’s provision of His gospel, invest in the spiritual progress of others for His glory.
• “Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God’s judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.” (Ryle)
• “There are but two lessons for Christians to learn. The one is, to enjoy God in everything; the other is, to enjoy everything in God.” (Simeon)
• “Jesus, Lord, we look to Thee, let us in Thy name agree: show Thyself the Prince of peace; bid all strife forever cease. Let us for each other care, each the other’s burden bear; to Thy church the pattern give, show how true believers live.” (Wesley)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for March 6, 2022

A Faith That Travels

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1. Background and Greeting 1

• Paul, Silas and Timothy: second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9)
• themes: thanksgiving, conversion, sanctification, expectation
• grace and peace

2. The Reception of the Gospel Calls for Thanksgiving 2-4

• mentioning in prayer
• remembering their faith, hope and love
• knowing their election by God (Dt. 7:6-11, Rom. 9:11, 11:5)

3. The Reality of Gospel Progression Calls for Thanksgiving 5-8

• gospel communication and conformity
• imitation, inspiration and impact

4. The Report of Gospel Transformation Calls for Thanksgiving 9-10

• turned to God from idols
• to serve…and to wait…
• Jesus, the One who delivering from the wrath coming

5. So What?

• Because of the surpassing worth of the gospel, treasure the testimony of life transformation.
• For the beleaguered believer: the salvation and vindication of Christ!
• “This is my Father’s world: Why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King: Let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad.” (Babcock)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for February 27, 2022

Gospel Preservation

Daniel 6:1-28

1. Competence of God’s Man 1-3

• one of three high officials and the new king’s plan (5:29)

2. Conspiracy against God’s Man 4-9

• sought ground for complaint (Psalm 2:1-3)
• the law of his God
• proposal and lion’s den punishment

3. Consistency of God’s Man 10-15

• as he had done previously (1 Kings 8:46-53)
• discovered by accusers
• report to the king and the king’s response

4. Crisis in the Lion’s Den 16-18

• cast into the den
• king’s declaration
• stone, seal and no sleep

5. Conquest over the Lion’s Den 19-24

• king’s anguished tone
• angel, shut mouths, unharmed
• taken out of the den
• punishment of accusers

6. Confession of God’s Greatness 25-28

• decree to tremble and fear
• note the verbs
• prosperity of Daniel

7. So What?

• Recognizing your current exile status, order your life according to God’s greatness.
• connection to Christ: the lion’s den and the way of the cross (Heb. 13:13-14)
• discipleship: “a long obedience in the same direction” (Peterson)
• “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” (Williams)

Dr. McKellar’s Lesson for February 20, 2022

Handwriting on the Walls of Today

Daniel 5:1-31

1. Overview

• 30 year gap between Daniel 4 and 5
• Nebuchadnezzar is dead and the new king is Belshazzar (“Bel, protect the king!”)

2. Belshazzar Throws a Party 1-4

• lavish feast
• narrator’s intent
• a profane case of idolatry (Rom. 1:18-21)

3. A Hand Suddenly Appears 5-12

• revelation that interrupts the revelry and Belshazzar’s response
• incompetent wise men
• counsel from the queen mother

4. Daniel Is Brought to the King 13-24

• insecurity exposed
• absence of deferential politeness
• a bit of context and a charge from Daniel

5. Interpretation of the Dream 25-31

• mene…tekel…peres
• the promised reward received
• Belshazzar’s demise “that very night…”

6. So What?

• Because its outcome is both certain and devastating, flee the dishonor of idolatry and focus on delight in God.
• Connection to Christ: The only feast for which there is a future is the one where Christ is host. (Matt. 22:11-13, Rev. 19:6-10)
• “What we revere we resemble either for our ruin or restoration.” (G. Beale)
• Remain awed by God’s majesty and mercy. (“Depth of Mercy” by C. Wesley)