ORIGINS: Small Group Bible Study

Jesus, Provider & Sustainer

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 KJV)

Lesson Eight

Christ provides for us in much the same way as parents provide for their children.

Photo credits: Hannah Goldstein

Jesus, Provider & Sustainer

Sharing Studying Praying Witnessing

Intro...
1. Welcome God's presence. 2. Share the BEST and WORST thing that happened to you this week. If a need for prayer is expressed take time to pray for that individual and need on the spot.

Key text...

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 KJV)

Scripture Passages...

Genesis 1-2; Exodus 15:26; Nehemiah 9:21; Job 37:14-15; Psalm 50:14; 69:30; 98:4-6; 145:9; 148:3-6; Proverbs 3:5-6; Jeremiah 5:22, 25, 27-29; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 4:1-11; 7:9-11; 11:28-29; 28:20; Luke 1:37; 12:32; John 3:16; 10:28; 14:3; Romans 6:14; 12:9, 17, 21; Philippians 4:13, 19; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Peter 1:13-21; Revelation 13:8; 21:1-4.

Todays World...

Read Job 37:14-15 and Jeremiah 5:22. Not a year goes by without natural disasters causing chaos

somewhere in the world. Floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis destroy lives, homes, and livelihoods. No one would argue that the seas have a right to violate their established boundaries and crash across coastlines. In fact, people agree that disaster occurs whenever the sea breaches the shoreline, even though God Himself has placed the sand for the bound of the sea. God also established boundaries for human behaviour. Yet not a day goes by without countless violations of His commands, resulting in disastrous physical and spiritual consequences. Amazingly, we often argue that we have the right to violate these boundaries. Read Jeremiah 5:27-29. In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, Gods people had stepped out of bounds, using deceit to become rich and refusing to defend the needs of the poor among them. The result was disaster. What parallels do you see between this passage and the current state of our society today? Read Jeremiah 5:25. What was the consequence of stepping out of bounds? Because of the laws of creation, there is inherent order. Therefore, violating these laws has inherent consequences. God, in His kindness, simply and lovingly communicates to us the order of things so we can avoid those consequences.

Lesson Impact...
Briefly share what points stood out for you in the lesson or how the lesson study has influenced you.

It was so...

Prayerfully read Genesis 1:7, 9, 11, 15, 24. When God spoke something into existence, it was so. Gods words are true and powerful. When He speaks, something happens. What assurance in God does this give you? In Matthew 28:20 Jesus says Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. As you reflect on the account of creation and the power of Gods words, think about other things God and Jesus have said, other things you can count on. Read John 10:28; Hebrews 13:5; and, John 14:3. Create a list of Bible promises and memorise them.

The Great Contrast...

Read Matthew 4:1-11 and then contrast this passage with Genesis 1 and 2. In Genesis 1:31 we read that God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. Notice the contrast between the landscape in Genesis and Matthew. In the latter text, the same tempter who once

entered Gods garden now welcomes God to his turfthe dangerous, barren wilderness. The wilderness is a picture of what the worldand lifebecomes when Satan has his way. With one decisive blow, the joy of Eden was replaced with the barrenness of shame. But Jesus was victorious on Satans turf! This gives us hope that we, too, can have victory.

Deep Love...
Read 1 Peter 1:13-21; Revelation 13:8; and John 3:16. The Bible says that before God created our planet, He had decided to display the depth of His love for us through His Sons death on the cross. When you read these passages together and link them to other things youve discovered in the Word of God, what does the amalgamation of these facts, and or, evidences mean to you?

Rest, Designed by God...

Do you need rest? Do I feel stressed when functioning in your normal day-to-day activities? Is it difficult to find joy? Do I wake up tired? Read Matthew 11:28-29. The Sabbath bids us behold in His created works the glory of the Creator. And it was because He desired us to do this that Jesus bound up His precious lessons with the beauty of natural things. On the holy rest day, above all other days, we should study the messages that God has written for us in nature. We should study the Saviours parables

where He spoke them, in the fields and groves, under the open sky, among the grass and flowers. As we come close to the heart of nature, Christ makes His presence real to us and speaks to our hearts of His peace and love. And Christ has linked His teaching, not only with the day of rest, but with the week of toil. . . . In every line of useful labour and every association of life He desires us to find a lesson of divine truth. Then our daily toil will no longer absorb our attention and lead us to forget God; it will continually remind us of our Creator and Redeemer. The thought of God will run like a thread of gold through all our homely cares and occupations. For us the glory of His face will again rest upon the face of nature. We shall ever be learning new lessons of heavenly truth and growing into the image of His purity. Thus shall we be taught of the Lord, and in the lot wherein we are called we shall abide with God.
Ellen G. White, Counsels on Health, p. 165.

The Power of Praise...

Read carefully Psalm 50:14; 69:30; 98:4-6; 145:9; and, 148:3-6. How do these passages instruct us on how we are to give God praise? Can you think of other passages that tell us how we can praise God? When we are thankful for what God does for us, bad times are easier to bear. What bad time might you be facing now that can be made lighter by thanking God for something He has given you or done for you?

What inspires you in nature to praise God? How has His salvation inspired you to praise Him in your words and deeds? Why is it important to praise God for the multitude of ways He sustains and provides for us?

Sustaining Grace...
Read reflectively Romans 12:21. In the temptations we face today, must decide if we will believe that the Lord will provide us with the strength to help us do what is right. Read carefully Philippians 4:13 and Romans 12:9, 17. In Luke 1:37 the angel Gabriel states that with God nothing shall be impossible. In the temptations we face today, must decide if we will believe that the Lord will provide us with the strength to live victoriously. Paul states in Romans 6:14 that sin shall not have dominion over you.

Jehovah-Jireh, Our Provider

Read Genesis 1; Exodus 15:26; Nehemiah 9:21; Proverbs 3:5-6; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 7:9-11; Luke 12:32; Philippians 4:19; and, Revelation 21:1-4. From the opening words in Genesis to the closing

promises of Revelation, God presents Himself as the One who supplies all of our needs.

To do...
Ask God to show you a person(s) whose need you can fulfil
in His name. Give that person a gift of food, clothes, gas, or a word of encouragement, according to his or her lack, along with a note letting the person know just how much God loves him or her. Read through one of the Gospels and highlighting every promise you can find, knowing that you can count on God your Provider to keep them.

Recommended Reading...
Read the following passages in your Bible:
Job 37-42; Isaiah 40; Deuteronomy 8:6-18; and, Psalm 23. Read the following stories of Gods provision: Genesis 21:9-20 (Hagar); Genesis 22:1-19 (Isaac); Exodus 16 (the Israelites); Isaiah 53 (the Messiah); and, Matthew 14:13-21 (the 5,000). Give Ye Them to Eat, Chapter 39, The Desire of Ages, Ellen G. White. https://egwwritings.org/

Break into twos or threes and pray for one anothers needs, as well as for your friends and family...

LESSONS ON FAITH
LESSON#8: ABRAHAM, FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL (PART 2) (Living by Faith)

Living by Faith

LESSONS ON FAITH
LESSON #8: ABRAHAM, FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL (PART 2) (Living by Faith)
When Abraham and Sarah had cleared themselves of all the scheme of unbelief which had produced Ishmael and had stood upon faith alone--dependence on the word of God alone--Isaac, the true child of the promise, was born. In harkening to the voice of Sarai (Gen. 16:1), Abram had swerved from the line of strict integrity to the word of God, from the strictness of true faith, and now that he had returned to the word only, to true faith, he must be tested before it could be certainly said of him that his faith was counted for righteousness. He had trusted the naked word of God as against Ishmael and had obtained Isaac, the true child of the promise of God. And now, having obtained Isaac, the question must be determined whether he would trust the naked word of God as against even Isaac himself. Accordingly, God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Abraham had received Isaac from God by trusting the word of God only. Isaac alone was the seed promised by the word of the Lord. After Isaac was born, God had confirmed the word by declaring, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Gen. 21:12. And now came the word of God, Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him for a burnt offering. God had declared to Abraham, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. "In thy seed

shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." "In Isaac shall thy seed be called," and now, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering! But, if Isaac is offered for a burnt offering, if Isaac is burned up, what will become of the promise of the blessing of all nations in him? What will become of the promise, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven innumerable? Yet there stood the word, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham had trusted the word of God only, as against Ishmael, but this is more than trusting the word of God as against Isaac--it is trusting the word of God as against the word of God! And Abraham did it, hoping against hope. God had said: Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven; In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham did not insist that God should "harmonize these passages." It was all sufficient for him to know that the statements were all the word of God. Knowing this, he would trust that word, would follow that word, and would let the Lord "harmonize these passages," or "explain these texts," if any such thing were needed. Said Abraham: God has said, Offer Isaac for a burnt offering. That I will do. God has said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." And, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. I interfered once in the promise and hindered it till I repudiated all that I had done and came back to the word only. Then, by a miracle, God gave me Isaac, the promised seed. Now He says, Offer Isaac, the promised seed, for a burnt offering. I will do it. By a miracle God gave him at the first, and by a miracle God can restore him. Yet when I shall have offered him for a burnt offering, he will be dead, and the only miracle that can then restore him is a miracle that will bring him back from the dead. But God is able to do even that, and He will do it, for His word is spoken, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and In Isaac shall thy seed be called. And even the bringing back of Isaac from the dead will be to God no more than He has already done, for, as to offspring, both my body and Sarah's were as good as dead, and

yet God brought forth Isaac from us. He can raise Isaac from the dead, and He will. Bless the Lord! It was settled. He arose and took his servants and Isaac and went three days' journey "unto the place of which God had told him." And when on the third day he "saw the place afar off," "Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you." Gen. 22:5. Who will go? "I and the lad will go." And who will come again? "I and the lad will go . . . and come again to you." Abraham expected to have Isaac come back with him as certainly as that he went with him. Abraham expected to offer Isaac for a burnt offering and expected then to see Isaac rise from the ashes and go back with him. For the word of God had gone forth, In Isaac shall thy seed be called, and, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. And Abraham would trust that word only, that it could never fail. Heb. 11:17-19. THIS IS FAITH. And thus "the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." James 2:23. But yet above this, "It was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed; if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:23-25. To trust the word of God only, to depend upon the word of God only, to depend upon the word of God, even as against the word of God--this is FAITH. This is the faith which brings the righteousness of God. This is what it is to exercise faith. This is "what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of exercising faith. And "understanding how to exercise faith," this is the science of the gospel. And the science of the gospel is the science of sciences.
First published in the Review & Herald, Jan. 31, 1899 By A. T. Jones & E. J. Waggoner