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)
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)
