This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Be Obedient And Be Blessed", 3/25/2018

BE OBEDIENT AND BE BLESSED

2 Chronicles 7:12-22

For this lesson, I used the " The Message, The Bible In Contemporary Language" by Eugene H. Peterson   2002

I use this version, not to change the King James version, but to see the Word

from a different perspective.

GOD CHOSE US AS HIS TEMPLE

V:12 God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, "I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship."

A. After the 14 day dedication of the temple was over, God visited Solomon

    that night.

   1. Doing the celebration, there was prayer, sacrifices and lots of noise.

   2. Many people were busy doing the task that was assigned to them in 

       in the dedication of the temple.

   3. Sometimes God allows us to enjoy the celebration of Him before

       He gives us new directions.

   4. His voice would be downed out in all the noise.

B. It is in our quite time that God speaks to us.

   1. When you meditate on the Word, the Word though the power of

        Holy Spirit will speak to you.

   2. God responds to some prayers immediately.

   3. When it comes to our commitment to God, we will hear from Him.

GOD GIVES US CLEAR CHOICES

V:13 If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people,

14 and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.

15 From now on I'm alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. "

A. Everybody who comes to church is not devoted to God.

    1. Solomon threw a big party for God and everyone showed up to celebrate.

    2. Many people show up for the celebration, but not for God.

B. God knew that heart of His chosen people had not changed with the dedication

     of the temple.

    1. God knew that His nation would continue to worship idol gods.

    2. God gave Israel a choice to follow His commands with a promise of

        abundance with their obedience.

C. God gives us the attitude we need to be blessed by Him.

    1. We must humble ourselves before Him.

    2. We must seek His presence.

    3. We must turn from our wicked ways.

    4. We must ask for forgiveness.

D.  The promise for obedience is prayers answered and restoration

       of the land.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

   1. Every believer in Jesus Christ can lay claim to this promise.

   2. Successful living  is a result of obedience to God's commands.

GOD ACCEPTS OUR CHOICE OF HIM

V:16. " Believe me, I've chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always."

A. Whatever we dedicate to the Lord with a pure heart and pure motives will be

      accepted by Him.

     1. Romans 12:1 states, " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that

         you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your        

         reasonable service."

    2.  1 Corinthians 6:19 states, " Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy 

          Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."

 B. We were chosen by God before the foundation of the world.   Ephesians 1:4

    1. We were purchased with the price of the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

    2. We have been sealed until the day of redemption.

GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES

V:17-18. " As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments,

18 then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel — make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I'm giving to you, namely, 'You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.'"

A.  This covenant has both a conditional and a non conditional element.

    1.To the nation of Israel, the non conditional part of the covenant was fulfilled with the

       death and resurrection of  Jesus. 

    2. Jesus is the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

    3. He reigns forever over all believers.

    4. Our salvation is not conditional on our own merits.

B. The conditional part of this covenant is being fulfilled in all those who

     reject Christ as their personal savior.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING GOD

V:19-20 "But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them,

20 then the guarantee is off: I'll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I've just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will be nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. "

A. The Nation of Israel as a whole continued to worship idol gods.

     1. They worshipped God with their lips, but their hearts was for from Him.

     2. In 586 BC, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to destroy the temple

         that Solomon built, burned down Jerusalem and take Israel captive  for

         seventy years.

B. The Bible is a record of God keeping His promises.

     1. The temple was rebuilt after  Israel was released from Babylonian

          captivity.

     2. Again, the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD by Titus after Israel

         rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

GOD KEEPS THE BAD PROMISES AS A RESULT OF DISOBEDIENCE

V:21-22. " And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; tourists will shake their heads, saying, 'What happened here? What's the story behind these ruins?'

22 Then they'll be told, 'The people who used to live here betrayed their God, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That's what's behind this God-visited devastation.'"

A. Today the temple in Jerusalem remains in ruins.

     1. The nation of Israel still reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     2. The temple is now being rebuilt in the hearts of all believers.

     3. John 2:19 states, "Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it 

         again in three days."

B. The physical temple has never been rebuilt after it's destruction in 70AD.

    1. Only the western wall still stands today.

    2.  This is the fulfillment of God's prophecy resulting from Israel's

         rejection of Jesus as Lord and Savior.

THANK GOD FOR CHOSING US IN REDEMPTION

Rev. M. Mitchell

Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church

5510 west Sam Houston Park Way North

Houston, Texas 77041

For more lessons, follow me on facebook and visit my blogs,

goodnewsrevmmitc.blogspot.com and revmmitchell.com

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)