The Sanctuary Adult Bible Class

06/22/2022

Thanks to all. 🙏🙏🙏

06/18/2022

06/01/2022

The Sanctuary Adult Bible Class News

A forgetful husband thought he had conquered the problem of trying to remember his wife's birthday and their anniversary. He opened an account with a florist, provided him with dates and instructions to send flowers along with an appropriate note signed, "Your loving husband." His wife was thrilled by this new display of attention. All went well until, many bouquets later, on their wedding anniversary, he came home from the office, kissed his wife, and said offhandedly, "Nice flowers, honey, Where'd you get them?"

This past Sunday, May 29th, Carolyn and I were out of town in Chattanooga, Tennessee attending a granddaughter's High School graduation and the associated family gatherings, which we enjoyed very much. Rarely are we out of town on a Sunday and we greatly appreciate Bro. Kevin Walker filling in and teaching the Sanctuary Adult Bible Class on that Sunday. At time of this writing we were unable to receive word, however, we are confident that Bro. Kevin, as with his longtime ministry in song, did a great job. Having not taught a lesson this past Sunday Morning, I look back into the past and review a message given on Wednesday, April 25th, 2018.

This week's review is titled Thou Shalt Remember and is based on Deuteronomy 24:18-19, "But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands." As with the forgetful husband in the above story, people, even God's redeemed people, have a great tendency to forget what God has done for them.

One writer commented that the book of Deuteronomy, instead of being called the book of Deuteronomy, could have been called, "Down Memory Lane." Two phrases run side by side throughout the book: "Thou shalt remember," and "Beware lest ye forget." Deuteronomy 5:15,"And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out..." Duet. 15:15,"And thou shalt remember..." Duet. 16:12,"And thou shalt remember..." Duet. 24:22,"And thou shalt remember..." Duet. 4:9,"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget..." Duet. 4:23,"Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget..." Duet. 6:12,"Then beware lest thou forget the LORD..." Duet. 8:11,"Beware that thou forget not the LORD..." Duet. 8:14,"Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God..." If there is one thing that I love to do, it is to remember...the night that I first heard the gospel...the first time that I heard those wonderful words of life. John 6:63,"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 17:8,"For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me." In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses called upon God's people to remember three things...

I-FIRST, GOD'S PEOPLE WERE TO REMEMBER THEIR RUIN (Deuteronomy 24:18)
Deuteronomy 24:18,"But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee..." The famous hymn Amazing Grace was written in 1779 (243 years ago) by a man named John Newton and Deuteronomy 24:18 was John Newton's favorite Bible verse. As a young man John Newton lived a wild, sinful life on the high seas as a slave trader. Eventually he sank so low as to actually become the slave of a slave, the slave of a woman who joyed in her power over him and made him even beg for his bread. John Newton could never remember those days without shuddering. After John Newton's conversion to Christ, he wrote out Deuteronomy 24:18,"Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman (a slave)...and the LORD thy God redeemed thee..." John Newton put it on the mantelpiece of his study to remind him, so he would remember.

We think of Israel's predicament in Egypt: Slaves! In Egypt! How the mighty tribes of Israel had fallen! Proud Judah, crafty Levi, cruel Simeon, ambitious Ephraim-their descendants were all slaves. All Jewish males born were under Pharaoh's sentence of death. Exodus 1:15-16,"And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live." The Hebrews had no power to redeem themselves, no power to redeem their brothers, the extent of their ruin was complete. An entire sea, the Red Sea, stood between them and deliverance, deliverance was humanly impossible. Before our salvation our lostness was complete. We were, Ephesians 2:1,"...dead in trespasses and sins."

One wrote: "We were on our annual Christmas trek to Chicago. Each year we brought our family to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and to visit the museums. This year we decided to finish our Christmas shopping at the Woodfield Mall. In the midst of all the fun and excitement, one of us noticed that little three-and-a-half-year-old Matthew was gone. Terror immediately struck our hearts. We had heard the horror stories: little children kidnapped in malls, rushed to a restroom, donned in different clothes and altered hairstyle, and then swiftly smuggled out, never to be seen again. We split up, each taking an assigned location. Mine was the parking lot. I'll never forget that night, kicking through the newly fallen snow, calling out his name at the top of my lungs. I felt like an abject fool, yet my concern for his safety outweighed all other feelings. Unsuccessful, I trudged back to our meeting point. My wife, Martie, had not found him, nor had my mother. And then my dad appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand. Our hearts leapt for joy. Interestingly enough, Matthew was untraumatized. He hadn't been crying. To him, there had been no problem. I asked my father where he had found him. 'The candy counter,' he replied. 'You should have seen him; he was standing there with his little hands behind his back and moved his head back and forth, surveying all the luscious options.' Matthew didn't look lost. He didn't know he was lost. He was oblivious to the tremendous danger he was in. Our is a candy-counter culture, where people don't look lost, they don't know they're lost; they just live their lives, fascinated by the things of this world." We, as the redeemed of the Lord, who also live in this culture, often seem more and more apt to forget where we came from, we came from..the land of the lost.
God's People Were To Remember Their Ruin

II-SECOND, THEY WERE TO REMEMBER THEIR REDEMPTION (Deuteronomy 24:18)
Deuteronomy 24:18,"...the LORD thy God redeemed thee..." The Lord God, the creator of the universe, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the one who had entered into a contractual relationship with Abraham in what we now refer to as the Abrahamic Covenant. What a covenant, an unconditional contract printed and published promising the ultimate protection and promotion of Abraham's seed. "The Lord redeemed thee!"-God was faithful to His contract despite His people's unfaithfulness. "The Lord thy God redeemed thee," God! Here the word in the original language is Elohim-the God of creation, the God who has power enough and to spare. What a God He is! He has power to endow an atom with energy enough to annihilate an island of the sea. The God who has power enough to fuel a hundred billion stars in a hundred billion galaxies and send them on incredible journeys at inconceivable velocities across the vast reaches of space. "The LORD thy God redeemed thee," Moses said, "Never forget it!" Rather, "Never forget Him."

Many years ago, a gathering of friends at an English estate nearly turned to tragedy when one of the children strayed into deep water. The gardener heard the cries for help, plunged in, and rescued the drowning child. That drowning child's name was Winston Churchill. His grateful parents asked the gardener what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, "I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor." "We'll see to it," Churchill's parents promised. Years later, while Sir Winston Churchill was Prime minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. The country's best physician was summoned. His name was Dr. Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered and developed penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved young Winston from drowning. Later Churchill remarked, "Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person." May we always remember what the hymn writer wrote, "Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."

God's People Need To Remember Their Redemption

III-THIRD, THEY WERE TO REMEMBER THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES (Deuteronomy 24:19)
Deuteronomy 24:19,"When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands." God's people have many responsibilities because of their salvation in Christ. The people of God in the book of Deuteronomy are commanded here, to express their gratitude to God, not in sacrifices and offerings, not in rituals and religious observances, though, of course, those things were commanded elsewhere in the scriptures, and those things had their place. They were to remember their gratitude to God by showing kindness to the poor, to the widow, to the stranger, and to the fatherless-especially at harvest time. The people of God should remember that with the knowledge of God and spiritual privileges come many responsibilities. For example, the book of Romans is divided into sixteen chapters, the first eleven chapters name and explain at least seven of the believers great privileges. The Apostle Paul then uses the next five chapters (12-16) listing and explaining a number of the believer's responsibilities.

Consider the story told by Bernard L. Brown, Jr., president of the Kennestone Regional Health Care System in the state of Georgia. Brown once worked in a hospital where a patient knocked over a cup of water, which spilled on the floor beside the patient's bed. The patient was afraid he might slip on the water if he got out of bed, so he asked a nurse's aide to mop it up. The patient didn't know it, but the hospital policy said that small spills were the responsibility of the nurse's aides while the large spills were to be mopped up by the hospital's housekeeping group. The nurse's aide decided the spill was a large one and she called the housekeeping department. A housekeeper arrived and declared the spill a small one. An argument followed. "It's not my responsibility," said the nurse's aide, "because it's a large puddle." The housekeeper did not agree. "Well, it's not mine," she said, "the puddle is too small." The exasperated patient listened for a time, then took a pitcher of water from his night table and poured the whole thing on the floor. "Is that a big enough puddle now for you two to decide?" he asked. It was, and that was the end of the argument. There are over 7,868,872,451 (that's nearly eight billion-with a 😎 people in the world today. All saved people are commanded in Mark 16:15,"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Witnessing to the lost is not a gift and is never listed in I Corinthians chapter twelve or anywhere else in the Bible as a gift. Witnessing to the lost is a command, a command that many Christians today, much like the nurses aide and the housekeeper want to explain away to be someone else's responsibility.
Remember your Responsibilities.jpg
We look forward to next Sunday Morning, June 5th at 9:45 in the Sanctuary Adult Bible Class. We will continue our verse by verse study of Psalm 119 as we study Psalm 119:129-136. We have said that Psalm 119 is an extremely practical portion of scripture. It is designed to build up the believer, to change his life as he reads it, as he hears it properly taught and as he assimilates its truths into his life. We invite you to be with us this Sunday as we open up God's Word.

Dan & Carolyn Cregan
Class Leaders

05/30/2022

The Sanctuary Adult Bible Class News

Pastor and author Tim LaHaye, creator of the Left Behind book and film series, in his book How to Study the Bible for Yourself wrote on pages 95-96, "Writing about God's sure guidance, British pastor Frank W. Boreham recounted a time when a minister visited his home in New Zealand. Being young and inexperienced, Boreham sought the counsel of his guest. He said that one morning they were sitting on the veranda, looking out over the golden plains to the purple sunlit mountains. He asked the minister, 'Can a man be sure that in the hour of perplexity he will be rightly led by God? Can he feel secure against making a false step?' 'I am certain of it,' exclaimed the minister, 'if he will give God time! As long as you live, remember that. Give God time!"

This past Sunday morning in the Sanctuary Adult Bible Class as we continued our study of Psalm 119, we noticed a hint of impatience creeping into the words and prayers of our psalmist. In Psalm 119:121-128, we found that the psalmist continued to be surrounded by watchful, vengeful enemies. He tells the Lord that it's time for Him to begin to do something about the adverse circumstances under which he's been suffering, evidently, for quite a number of years. Most of us can relate to the psalmist, because we've told the Lord, at times, much the same thing. As if we can tell God when He ought to go to work! Below can be found a short version of the Bible lesson taught on Sunday morning, 05/22/22.

I-FIRST, THE PSALMIST'S THREE SERIOUS CONCERNS (119:121-124)
The Psalmist wanted God to act in three ways:
A-First, that God would act in Government (Vs.121)
Vs.121, "I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors." Here we have the seemingly endless problem of right forever on the scaffold and wrong forever on the throne. God is not dead, He is not asleep, His silence is not the silence of indifference, His silence is the silence of infinite patience (II Peter 3:9). I would remind you that throughout the course of human history, God has been silent much more than He has spoken. Our psalmist tells the Lord that he had done right, so why doesn't God likewise do the right thing? Vs.85, "The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law." His thinking is, "Lord, those who oppress me have broken Your law in the process of oppressing me, they deserve Your judgment now!" In Vs.23,"Princes also did sit and speak against me..." Those in government and in other high positions were working against him and the psalmist wanted and expected God to work. Solomon wrote, Ecclesiastes 5:8,"If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; there be higher than they." As with the story of the British pastor above, our psalmist learned that God will do as He wills and do so on His timetable, not ours. Give God time.
God Is Just
B-Second, that God would act as Guarantor (Vs.122)
Vs.122,"Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me." A Guarantor is, "One who warrants, one who provides a formal assurance of guarantee, as for the fulfillment of obligations." This is the only verse in Psalm 119 that does not include one of the ten synonyms for God's Word, the reason? Throughout Psalm 119, the psalmist is likened to a man who possesses a written guarantee in time of need and that guarantee is God's written Word. Again and again he says in many ways, "I believe God!" In Vs.122 he goes directly to the Guarantor Himself. He is our only hope of heaven, He is our unfailing resource in life. God delights when we take Him at His Word. He delights when we tell him how dependent we are on Him, remembering that faith is dependence upon God.

C-Third, that God would act with Grace (Vss.123-124)
a-First, by Delivering Him (Vs.123)
Vs.123,"Mine eyes fail for thy salvation (deliverance) and for the word of thy righteousness." Picture a shipwrecked mariner, he's climbed up a high cliff on a lonely island to scan the horizon in search of a passing ship. Picture a small military fortress, the enemy has the fortress surrounded, food supplies are running low, water is in short supply, a trusted soldier has been sent through enemy lines to see if aid can be called, the soldiers continue to wait, to look, with failing hope. Speaking of Abraham, the Apostle Paul wrote, Romans 4:18,"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be." Regardless of the circumstances and the years of waiting, Abraham believed God concerning the birth of Issac, the promised son. Our psalmist, in his oppressed, perilous circumstances, took his stand with Abraham against all odds that God would deliver him.
b-Second, by Strengthening Him (Vs.124)
Vs.124,"Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes." In the New Testament, Ephesians 3:16 tells us, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." The New Testament Christian enjoys the privilege of the Holy Spirit's indwelling, not so for Old Testament believers. For the Old Testament psalmist, if God was going to make him go on waiting for the fulfillment of His promises, then he needed to be fortified within by the Word of God which is also our privilege as New Testament believers.

Being Fortified Within by the Word of God

II-SECOND, GOD'S SERVANT REQUESTS UNDERSTANDING (Vs.125)
Vs.125,"I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies." God's servants do not live by explanations; they live by promises and we must remember that we are His servants. As God's servants, how does God give us insight into His mind and will? As He chooses to give us wisdom and understanding and as He enlightens our study of God's Word.

III-THIRD, THE PSALMIST'S PRIMARY COMPLAINT (Vs.126)
Vs.126,"It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law."
A-First, the psalmist as God's Servant
Vs.65,"Thou hast dealt well with thy servant..." Vs.17,"Deal bountifully with thy servant..." The psalmist was a servant, it was always his time to serve, to work, and to obey the Lord. The psalmist was being oppressed by evildoers (Vs.115), he was oppressed, grieved by their behavior, grieved by the actions of ungodly people in places of high position and people throughout society. He feels that God's intervention is needed, he asks God to act against the workers of evil. Religious leaders were making God's Word void by teaching doctrines in opposition to it, by setting up tradition in its place, by disregarding and belittling the authority of God's Word. Sin was becoming fashionable, godliness was beginning to be regarded as foolishness and a waste of time, sin was becoming more and more acceptable. When Israel was brought to its lowest point in Egypt, then God raised up Moses and worked mighty miracles. The psalmist would have welcomed such an intervention of God in his day. Vs.126,"It is time for thee, LORD, to work..."
B-Second, the psalmist as God's Discerning Servant
The psalmist's opinion was that there had come a time that God must act. Moral apathy and spiritual apostasy were such that God's Word had become largely set aside by the wicked. Isaiah 59:14,"...justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity (justice, integrity, truth) cannot enter." We are very clearly at this place in our world today and in His time, the Lord will work. His will may be the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation period, however, Jesus said, Matthew 24:36,"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." We should pray about many things, but exactly how and when God intervenes in the affairs of men is God's business and not ours.

IV-FOURTH, THE PSALMIST'S SIGNIFICANT CLAIM (119:127-128)
A-First, the Treasure he Loved (Vs.127)
Vs.127,"Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold." What a magnificent claim, the psalmist staked his claim in the Lord as a prospector who has struck a rich mine. Notice his first love- It's not gold, but God, what he wanted most was not the wealth of the world, but the wealth of the Word. What people will do for gold: sell their souls, sell their bodies, sell illegal drugs, commit murder and all kinds of evil. The psalmist loves God's Word so much, in part, because of the claim it gives him on God.

B-Second, the Truth he Lived (Vs.128)
Vs.128,"Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way." A great statement, a great place to take one's stand in life. Vs.127 puts a monetary value on the Bible-it's worth more than gold. Vs.128 puts a moral value on the Bible-it's always right. When the Bible says something about creation, that settles it, the Bible is right. Let the world bring on their origin researchers and if they contradict God's Word, what the Bible says is right and they are wrong. When the Bible says something about crime, human conduct, salvation or any subject, if someone contradicts God's Word, they're wrong and God's Word is right.

Ken Braddy is the manager of LifeWay's Adult Bible Study curriculum and adult Sunday School trainers. In his book Breathing Life into Sunday School, he writes on page 13, "I'm convinced that some church leaders may never have been a part of a church with a strong, vibrant Sunday School. In their experience, Sunday School doesn't work. I get that. I'm arguing for a revitalization of Sunday School. I'm saying that Sunday School can be a healthy ministry, but we must roll up our sleeves and go to work. I'm convinced that a Sunday School that isn't healthy can experience new life and vibrancy. People experience this all the time when they realize they are in poor health. Those people adopt new eating habits and exercise routines, and in time they lose weight, feel better, and have renewed energy. The same thing can happen with a church's Sunday School ministry. It can get healthier." Let's build a great Sunday School.

We look forward to next Sunday Morning, May 29th at 9:45 in the Sanctuary Adult Bible Class. Carolyn and I are very rarely gone on a Sunday, however, this Memorial Day weekend we plan to travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee to be present at a granddaughter's High School graduation. Our class can look forward to the teaching of Bro. Kevin Walker whose teaching is always a blessing to those who hear him. Please make plans to attend this Sunday.

Dan & Carolyn Cregan
Class Leaders

05/18/2022

The Sanctuary Adult Bible Class News

One of golf's immortal moments came when a Scotchman demonstrated the new game to President Ulysses S. Grant. Carefully placing the ball on the tee, he took a mighty swing. The club hit the turf and scattered dirt all over the President's beard and surrounding vicinity, while the ball placidly waited on the tee. Again the Scotchman swung, and again he missed. Our President waited patiently through six tries and then quietly stated, "There seems to be a fair amount of exercise in the game, but I fail to see the purpose of the ball."

Most people also, "fail to see the purpose of the ball." They fail to see the infinite importance of keeping their eyes on God's Word and on the God of the Word. If there's one thing that the psalmist of Psalm 119 did, he kept his eye on the ball. He always kept his eye on what was most important, not only the things most important to God, but also those things of genuine importance to himself. In Psalm 119:24 he said, "Thy testimonies also are my delight..." In Vs.77, he said, "...for thy law is my delight..." Delighting in God's Word is a spiritual, emotional and logical experience. God created us with each of these capabilities in order for us to be able to relate to Him more fully. God also designed our minds to be able to enjoy new things and to solve problems. The psalmist had learned from God's Word how to experience peace of mind. He had learned the importance of, as the Apostle Peter wrote hundreds of years later, I Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." But, there was one great danger that the psalmist needed to keep his eye on, and that was his oppressors, those he describes in Vs.115 as, "evildoers." He talks to them about God and he talks to God about them. While doing so, he tells us of his adherence to the Word of God. This past Sunday in the Sanctuary Adult Bible Class, we continued our study of Psalm 119 and below is a short version of the lesson taught on 05/15/2022.

I-FIRST, WHOM THE PSALMIST TRUSTED (119:113-117)
We notice that:
A-First, the psalmist's Vacillation is Assessed (Vs.113)
Vs.113, "I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love." The word in the original language for "vain thoughts" could be translated "divided thoughts," the idea is to be double-minded. With constant pressure on him from his enemies, the psalmist assesses his tendency to vacillate, his own see-saw thoughts as well as, his basic faithfulness and loyalty to the Word of God. He had experienced private moments of doubt, times when compromise looked attractive. The root of the word for vain and divided thoughts is used in I Kings 18, when the prophet Elijah summoned the people to Mount Carmel to confront them concerning their idolatry and half-heartedness toward the Lord. I Kings 18:21, "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." The word Elijah used for halt literally means to leap, that's what a double-minded, vacillating person does-leaps this way and then that way. The psalmist hated it, especially when he saw it in himself.
Double Mindedness.jpg
B-Second, the psalmist's Victory is Assured (Vs.114)
Vs.114, "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word." A hiding place tells us that the danger isn't yet upon you, perhaps it can still be averted. A shield is needed when the hiding place no longer can provide protection, the danger is a present-tense danger. My thoughts go to Abraham in Genesis chapter fourteen. He had just won a tremendous victory over an invading army from the East and had rescued his nephew Lot. I can imagine the excited chatter as Lot, Lot's wife and Lot's children reminisced and rejoiced together. Then, perhaps to Abraham's near disbelief, Lot informed Abraham that he would be returning to S***m. Quiet settles over Abraham's camp, the aging man of faith, with his wife Sarah, now growing old and still God's promise of a son remains unfulfilled. Then, in the air, begins to hang the possibility that the eastern army, robbed of its spoils, might return to exact revenge on the patriarch Abraham who had caught them by surprise, but just then... Genesis 15:1, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."

C-Third, the psalmist's Virtue is Publicly Attacked (Vss.115-117)
Because of the unrelenting pressure from his enemies, the psalmist realized three things:
a-First, his Need for Separation from the world (Vs.115)
Vs.115, "Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God." It's a good idea to put distance between ourselves and those who would persuade and influence us into doing something wrong. Imagine if Eve had said to Satan, "Depart from me, ye evil doer..." When Jesus was tempted of the Devil three times following His 40 day fast we read in Matthew 4:10, "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." When Potiphar's wife attempted to seduce Joseph, we read in Genesis 39:12, "And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he felt his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out."
b-Second, his Need for Scripture (Vs.116)
Vs.116, "Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope." God's Word is what undergirded the psalmist's faith, stiffened his resolve, he knew the value of Scripture as a defense, a protection, a bulwark against evil.

c-Third, his Need for Support (Vs.117)
Vs.117, "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes." In Vs.117 we find the threefold law of "life in the grapevine:"
1-First, a vine must learn to cling.
Vs.117, "Hold thou me up..." A vine must have outside support, it can not hold itself erect like other trees, "Hold thou me up..." Jacob finally learned to cling, he was finally broken at Jabbok. We see him clinging to a mysterious heavenly Visitor in Genesis 32:26, "And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."
2-Second, a vine must be able to climb.
Vs.117, "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe..." Growing stronger, maturing, climbing upward. II Peter 3:18, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ..."
3-Third, a vine needs to be able to cluster.
Vs.117, "...and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually." After the grapevine has learned to cling and to climb, it can then fulfil the law of its Creator and begin to bear fruit. A vine stays where it's placed, leaves the problems of pruning, planning and protecting it to the husbandman, and eventually it blesses the world with its grapes. The Spirit-filled Christian will bear the Fruit of the Spirit.

II-SECOND, WHY THE PSALMIST TREMBLED (Vss.118-119)
A-First, the psalmist Trembled at the Justice of God
a-First, in His Dealings with those who reject God and God's Word (Vs.118)
Vs.118, "Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood." The word in the original language translated, "trodden down" can be rendered, "set at naught." That's how God dealt with sinners, with those who set at naught the Word of God. God set them at naught, what they taught was deceit, falsehood, the psalmist uses the past tense to tell the fate of moral, religious, political, cultural and financial cheats.

b-Second, in His Dealings with the Wicked (Vs.119)
Vs.119, "Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies." Sometimes God does it in great holocausts of judgment: the universal flood, S***m, war, famine, pestilence. Sometimes God allows wickedness in society to be brought to a boil and skims it off. But, even when God isn't dealing with human wickedness in dramatic ways, He's still dealing with it. Every man, woman, boy, and girl ever born, eventually dies, one by one God skims off like dross, men like Nero, Caligula, Karl Marx, Hi**er, Stalin, Mao, ordinary men and women, every person ever born, skimmed off like dross. The psalmist trembled at the righteous justice of God.
He trembled:
B-Second, the psalmist Trembled at the Judgment of God (Vs.120)
Vs.120, "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments." Contemplating the judgment of God on the wicked instilled fear in the psalmist's soul. The kind of God envisioned by liberal preachers has no basis in fact. They depict God as too kind, too merciful to send people to hell, their God is kind of a cosmic Santa Claus, expecting God to serve them, to be sort of their phycologist in the sky. God is a God of infinite love, Who is also a God of awesome and terrifying holiness. Hebrews 10:31, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Concerning the seven years of Tribulation found in the book of Revelation. Revelation 6:17,"For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

Ken Braddy is the manager of LifeWay's Adult Bible Study curriculum and adult Sunday School trainers. He has written a book titled Breathing Life into Sunday School, 12 essentials to revive your most important ministry. On page 15 of the book he wrote, "At the time of the writing of this book, I'm serving part-time on a church staff in addition to my role at LifeWay Christian Resources. When I first became acquainted with this church, it had less than 200 people in Sunday School on an average Sunday. Today, after implementing some of the things you'll read about in this book, the church now has one of the fastest-growing Sunday Schools in Tennessee (percentage growth) year-over-year. The church has experienced new highs in Sunday School; we've started ongoing training for teachers; and we are exploring ways to provide more space to accommodate growth. We have a plan to reach an average attendance of 400 within the next twenty-four months. I believe we'll beat that goal." Build a great Sunday School!

This next Sunday Morning, May 22nd at 9:45 in the Sanctuary Adult Bible Class we plan to continue our verse by verse study of Psalm 119 by deep-diving into Psalm 119:121-128. We encourage you to be with us. We will begin this Sunday with congregational music, brief announcements, special music by Darlene Clemens and then the teaching of the Word of God. The truths of Psalm 119 will build you up in the faith and are designed to change your life. First time visitors are welcome.

Dan & Carolyn Cregan
Class Leaders