Participants: John Stanton & Kevin Hart
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL110013
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00:01 Hello, friends.
00:03 Grab your Bible and a friend and sit back 00:04 as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:21 Welcome to House Calls, 00:23 another program where we invite you into our study here 00:26 and you invite us into your living room. 00:28 And we thank you so much 00:29 for allowing us to be the part of your day. 00:32 My name is Pastor John Stanton 00:33 and with me in the studio today is Kevin Hart. 00:36 Kevin, it's great to have you here today. 00:38 It's great to be here. 00:39 I'm glad you decided to join us, 00:40 and Kevin's been with 3ABN. 00:41 You may have seen him on a few other programs. 00:43 I am excited to have him here with us today, 00:45 because I know that with our dialogue with God blessing 00:48 and pouring out his spirit 00:49 that it will be a blessed program. 00:52 At this time I would like to invite Kevin, 00:54 if you would pray for us that this program 00:56 would be lead by the Holy Spirit. 00:58 Absolutely. Thank you. 01:00 Father in Heaven, we thank you so much 01:01 for the opportunity to share your word 01:03 with our viewing audience and to learn together, Lord. 01:06 To just back and forth your word, 01:08 which is living and powerful 01:10 and sharper than a two-edged sword. 01:12 We pray Lord, that it would convict the hearts out there 01:14 but also it soften the hearts. 01:16 And that as we study, we would once again 01:18 have a glimpse of who Jesus is, the work that He's doing. 01:21 What He wants to do 01:22 and the whole beauty of grace in our lives. 01:25 We pray that you will lead this program 01:27 to the honor and the glory of your name. 01:28 For I do ask these things in Jesus name, amen. 01:32 We have a couple programs here that we're gonna do 01:35 or spend some time on grace. 01:37 In fact, title of the program is the Power of Grace, 01:40 maybe a different aspect that you hadn't seen before. 01:43 Before we dive into that part of the program 01:45 as you know though, we always go to your questions 01:47 and you are a big part of this program, 01:50 in sending those question to us. 01:51 And so today we want to spend sometime with those. 01:54 Let me give you also the couple of ways 01:56 that you can send your questions, 01:58 and the first one would be by regular mail. 02:00 The post office send them to 3ABN in care of House Calls. 02:04 The other way you can write your 02:06 or send your House Calls emails, 02:08 to create an email and send it to housecalls@3abn.org 02:13 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 02:16 We will make sure that we get those questions 02:18 off of that email address and cover them in a future program. 02:22 If at all possible. 02:23 So thank you so much for being part of it. 02:26 Kevin, let's spend sometime here on a few questions 02:29 that are sent in, some great questions we have today. 02:31 What do you have to start this off with there? 02:34 Well, a caller writes in, it says, we are Adventists 02:38 and we were baptized in 1980. 02:40 In addition, we've been contemplating this question 02:43 and would like it addressed. 02:44 They say, what is the significance of being aware 02:49 of Christ ministering in the Holy of Holies 02:51 in heavenly sanctuary and following Him there. 02:55 It's a good question, you know. 02:57 And we can't, I guess really answer that question 03:00 unless we go back to the original tabernacle, 03:03 the original priestly services. 03:04 We don't wanna spend an enormous 03:06 amount of time on that, but basically, 03:09 you know, the earthly priests, 03:11 the Levites were the priests back 03:13 in the Old Testament times. 03:15 All throughout the year they would have services daily, 03:19 offering sacrifices and it was through 03:21 the sacrifices of those, those animals that people 03:23 put their trust in the coming redeemer. 03:25 That's right. Those lambs. 03:27 All those sacrifices represented the coming messiah. 03:30 And so their faith was in Christ in that sense. 03:33 Once a year, it was called the Day of Atonement 03:36 and this was a particular, this was a high, 03:38 high day for the priestly services, 03:40 because it was on that day once a year 03:42 that the high priest would go 03:44 into what was called the Most Holiest. 03:48 And in the Most Holiest is where all, 03:51 in the Hebrew mind set, 03:52 sins didn't just disappear, you know. 03:56 But rather that sanctuary was a holy place and so, 03:59 the idea was that these sins though forgiven by faith 04:03 and the sacrifices still had to go somewhere and it just... 04:07 Accumulated there. 04:08 They accumulated, right exactly, 04:09 you know, it's like dusting your house, 04:11 you know, spring cleaning. 04:12 All the stuff accumulates. 04:13 You don't necessarily see it, right, 04:15 you know, because you clean all throughout the year. 04:16 But in the spring time a lot of us, 04:18 you know, require the dusters, 04:19 we get the stuff we can see. 04:20 And I guess it's a vague illustration, 04:22 that's kind of what happens. 04:23 Since accumulate in the sanctuary 04:25 and they have to be dealt with. 04:26 And so once a year, the high priest would go 04:29 into the Most Holiest and would take that blood 04:33 and it would be sprinkled on the mercy seat. 04:37 And that would symbolize the sacrifice of Christ. 04:43 You know, the full sacrifice, but then from there, 04:45 that blood we have to be transferred to something. 04:48 Of course that's when an scapegoat came into, 04:49 came into being. 04:50 But in the Most Holy Place we know now that 04:55 the earthly sanctuary was really just a representation 05:01 of the heavenly sanctuary. 05:02 Right, it was just a patterning. 05:04 It was a pattern, right. 05:05 In fact, when God gave Moses the directions 05:08 on how to built it, what to do. 05:09 It expressly says, after these things make 05:13 after the pattern of the true. 05:14 You know, so they were made 05:16 after the blue print of real sanctuary in heaven. 05:19 So and to answer the question, 05:20 we know that Christ now is in the Most Holy Place. 05:24 We believe as Adventists, that in 1844, 05:26 he went from the Holy Place 05:28 into the Most Holy Place in his priestly work. 05:31 And so I would like to answer the question basically 05:33 by going to Hebrews chapter 8 real quick. 05:38 And Paul is kind of summing up 05:40 all that he has been talking about. 05:42 He says now, this is the main point 05:44 of the things we are saying. 05:45 We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand 05:49 of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 05:51 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle 05:54 which the Lord erected, and not man. 05:57 And so, when the question is asked, 06:00 what is the need to follow Christ 06:02 into the Most Holy Place. 06:05 It really is an experiential answer, 06:07 rather the answer is in our experience. 06:10 If we believe that Jesus is in the Most Holy Place right now, 06:14 then in essence He is cleansing the sanctuary 06:17 as the high priest did in the days of old. 06:19 That cleansing in the sanctuary 06:21 is the cleansing of sin, you know. 06:23 And we are, His earthly tabernacle Christ lives in us. 06:27 So if Christ is cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, 06:29 then ultimately He's cleansing His people here on earth. 06:32 So for living in that, if you want to use the term 06:34 antitypical Day of Atonement since 1844. 06:38 I believe our focus as God's people should be 06:40 in purging sin out of our lives. Right. 06:42 Because we do have a high priest, 06:45 you know, and as our high priest, 06:47 the Bible says, who can't sympathize with our weaknesses, 06:50 he doesn't just sympathize. Right. 06:52 You know, Christ doesn't just say 06:53 I understand what you're going through 06:54 'cause I was tempted in all points. 06:55 He's been there. 06:56 But yet without sin. 06:58 So Christ overcame and He wants to overcome sin in our lives. 07:01 He wants to purge his people and prepare His people. 07:03 So I think that's what it really means to follow Christ 07:05 into the Most Holy Place. 07:06 Follow Him in experience, you know, be there 07:09 and have Him and we are not talking about this, 07:12 we're not talking about some kind of spiritualism, 07:15 you know, where we mediate 07:16 and we're with Christ literally. 07:18 It's an awareness. 07:19 It's an awareness, it's an awareness 07:21 of what He is doing and He is doing for His people. 07:23 He is cleansing His people, 07:24 you know, preparing His people. 07:25 You know, one of the other things that I found, 07:27 that ties right in with that is, 07:29 is our experience by faith is our trust in Christ 07:34 and what He has done for us. 07:35 And we know that the book of Hebrews clearly reveals 07:38 that Jesus is our high priest. 07:40 And the main work of the high priest was it culminated 07:44 with the Day of Atonement. Right. 07:45 The point to his ministry of cleansing the sanctuary 07:48 in the Day of Atonement, if you want to see 07:49 what the high priest did 07:50 in the typical pattern of this tabernacle 07:54 in the wilderness and through 07:56 the temples of all with the Israelites. 07:58 You can go to Leviticus chapter 16 08:00 that will reveal there what the high priest 08:02 actually did on the Day of Atonement, 08:04 but that's a picture of what Christ is doing 08:06 in the heavenly sanctuary up in heaven right now. 08:11 And so Kevin, as you're talking about, 08:14 you know, His ministry there and what He's doing, 08:16 it's transitioned of sorts, 08:17 you know, it's no longer a simple... 08:21 Now I won't say simple but I mean, 08:22 it's no longer a continual day by day just forgiving of sins. 08:27 There is an eradicating, an illuminating, 08:29 and putting away of sin from the heavenly sanctuary 08:35 by the blood of Christ and we know these 08:37 two phase ministry exists in the heavenly sanctuary 08:40 because it existed in the pattern of it, 08:42 given on the mountain to Moses in the earthly... 08:45 And it's good news for us, you know, 08:46 because we don't wanna be going through 08:48 this continual round of, you know, sin and repentance, 08:50 sin and repentance, the same world. Right. 08:52 You know, nobody wants that. 08:53 There is no joy in that, you know, eventually 08:55 you feel that guilt builds up, you know. 08:58 And it's really, it's a promise, 08:59 you know, it's a promise to know that Christ is cleansing 09:02 and can cleanse sin from our own lives. 09:05 The other part of this too is that Daniel chapter 8 09:09 which is where we arrive at the date of 1844. 09:12 If you look at the 2300 year of prophecy, 09:15 you will find that it begins in 457 with the decree 09:18 to restore and rebuilt Jerusalem, 09:20 including its walls to get it totally done, up until 1844. 09:25 You don't count your zero but it ends in 1844 09:27 which is when it's says the sanctuary will be cleansed 09:31 and the mistakes that the Millerites made, 09:34 where that they thought the cleansing of the sanctuary 09:36 was the cleansing of the earth by fire. 09:38 Of Christ coming back, but in fact it wasn't. 09:40 After that those who continue to study the scriptures 09:43 saw through the cleansing services 09:45 of the Day of Atonement. 09:46 That instead of coming to the earth that Christ actually 09:49 transitioned from Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary 09:52 to the Most Holy Place and began His work of cleansing 09:56 or in fact, judgment, so to speak. 09:59 And just a quick side note, you used the term Millerites, 10:02 it's nice to point this out sometimes, 10:04 because people says oh, you guy, 10:05 you know, we have, it's common these days 10:07 to hear people setting dates. Right. 10:08 You know, in fact, just not too long ago, 10:10 a couple of months ago, a very well known speaker 10:12 in California was once again setting another date 10:15 and everybody was following him. 10:16 And so as a rebuttal, we're talking about that 10:19 but people say oh, you guys been setting dates too, 10:21 you guys set the date back in 1844, 10:23 but the fact is that they were Millerites. Right. 10:26 In fact that we were not. 10:27 There was not Adventists who set the date of 1844. 10:30 These are Millerites, follower of William Miller. 10:32 That's right. 10:33 And so this was done before the Adventist church 10:35 had ever actually become an entity, you know... 10:37 Yeah. They organized and formed in 1863. 10:40 Exactly. So you're aware of that. 10:41 And the prophecies and properly understood 10:45 are with a driving force really, 10:47 as we did begin to study and gather together as a church, 10:50 which is why much of our message today is prophetic. 10:54 And so praise the Lord for that. 10:55 But I would like to claim... 10:56 I just want to share one more text here, 10:58 it's actually just toward the, 10:59 it's actually just jumping over to chapter 9 here. 11:02 And it's on that same thing, but Christ came as high priest, 11:04 starting in verse 11. 11:06 Chapter 9 verse 11 of Hebrews. 11:08 Christ came as high priest of the good things to come 11:10 with the greater and more perfect tabernacle. 11:16 And not made with hands that is not of this creation. 11:18 So once again obviously there's a sanctuary in heaven. 11:21 Not with the blood of goats and calves, 11:23 but with His own blood He entered 11:25 into the Most Holy Place once for all, 11:27 having obtained eternal redemption. 11:29 Okay, now listen, this next verse. 11:30 For of the blood of bulls and of goats, 11:32 and the ashes of a heifer, 11:34 the sprinkling the unclean sanctifies 11:37 for the purifying of the flesh. 11:39 How much more shall the blood of Christ, 11:42 who through the eternal Spirit 11:44 offered himself without spot to God, 11:46 cleanse your conscience from dead works 11:49 to serve the living God. 11:51 So Christ is doing a work not an isolation 11:55 in this heavenly sanctuary. 11:56 But He is doing it with His connection here 11:58 on earth in our hearts. 11:59 In the hearts of men. Exactly. 12:00 Yeah, there is your connection right there 12:02 between our experience and what Christ is doing 12:05 as our high priest in the heavens. 12:06 The other, it involves truth, the issue of truth. 12:09 If you look at Daniel chapter 8 verse 14 12:13 is in regard to the 2300 days. 12:16 It says, then it's when the sanctuary will be 12:18 cleansed after the 2300 days, 12:21 but just prior to that if you back up our couple verses, 12:23 you will find that there is this attack 12:26 upon God's truth and it says... 12:28 That's of religious nature. 12:29 Absolutely, it says in verse 12, 12:32 because of transgression, an army was given 12:34 over to the horn to oppose the Daily sacrifices, 12:36 and he cast truth down to the ground. 12:39 He did this, all this and prospered. 12:41 So what you had, was this period of time, Kevin, 12:43 where truth was cast down to the ground. 12:46 But as the sanctuary was cleansed, 12:49 truth then came back to the forefront 12:52 no longer being cast to the ground, 12:54 but being elevated to reveal through his word 12:57 the true standard God has, and has always had 13:00 for His people and for His truth. 13:02 And so along with the transition of the Christ 13:05 from Holy to Most Holy, there is the cleansing 13:08 and purifying of the doctrine of Christ 13:10 by His truth coming forward. 13:12 So there is a renewed emphasis on the truth of the scriptures 13:15 and that's where the Protestant reformation 13:18 really kind of catapulted us into post 1844. 13:23 And it shows, you know, just the fact that 13:24 it was attacked shows the importance of, 13:26 you know, I mean, just the fact that, 13:27 that it was the focus of this demonic attack 13:30 shows the importance of this message. Right. 13:33 You know, but you can never cast God's truth 13:35 to the ground forever because it's like seed, you know. 13:37 It always going to, it's like grass, you know, 13:39 you can, anyways ever had a garden before, 13:41 you know, you tried to get rid of that grass 13:42 and of course, the grass in this case 13:44 would be a good thing, God's word. 13:46 But it's keep coming you know, because God, 13:48 God's word is living and powerful. 13:49 You can't kill it. 13:50 That's right, amen. 13:52 All right, thank you very much for that question. 13:54 Here is another question that comes from, 13:57 let's see here, Osius. 14:01 Thank you very much for sending us this question. 14:03 I will just read the last part of it here. 14:05 He talks about how he has been a retired pastor 14:08 for a while and there is a query, 14:11 there is a question that he has in regard to 14:14 the sun growing dark, the moon not, 14:16 you know, giving its light and the stars falling from heaven. 14:20 And he talks about this, he says that, 14:24 preachers have been saying that this will happen again. 14:27 And he quotes a couple individuals, 14:30 a few individuals that have said that very thing on 3ABN. 14:34 And I will say I have said that very thing 14:36 and here is why I have said that 14:38 and why all of us are saying that. 14:41 Turn first of all to Luke chapter 21, 14:43 you know, a lot of us, Kevin, will read Matthew's account. 14:47 From Matthew 24 about the sun growing dark 14:50 and the stars falling but the Luke, 14:55 Luke 21 really records more of the context 15:02 within which this happens with Christ's words. 15:05 And so I'm gonna pick it up here in verse 25 15:09 which is the same thing Luke is recording here 15:12 that Matthew recorded in Matthew 24. 15:15 So it says in verse 25, 15:17 And there will be signs in the sun, 15:19 in the moon, and in the stars, 15:21 and on the earth, and here is where the addition comes in, 15:24 distress of nations, with perplexity, 15:27 the sea and the waves roaring, 15:30 men's hearts failing them with fear, 15:33 and the expectation of those things 15:34 which are coming upon the earth, 15:36 for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 15:39 Then they will see the son of man coming in the cloud 15:42 with power and great glory. 15:43 Notice the immediacy here of the things that happen 15:46 and it's not just the sun growing dark 15:48 and the stars falling in the moon, 15:50 knew not giving it's light either 15:51 and then some places the Bible turning red, 15:54 you know, the context here is a global event 16:00 that wakes of the world's leaders to say what's going on? 16:05 What is God doing and they're in anxiety, 16:09 they have feared. 16:10 The sea and the waves roaring, 16:13 of course, now we understand what meaning that is, 16:15 we've seen Tsunamis have devastating impact, 16:18 here over the last several years. 16:20 So there seems to be at least 16:22 a contextually within Christ words, 16:24 a global impact of this, and if you look at the events prior, 16:28 you will find that these were localized events, 16:34 you know, the stars falling, the dark day in New England, 16:39 Lisbon's earthquake. 16:40 These were localized events 16:42 where this contextually is a global event. 16:45 The other thing we find too is that 16:48 when we're talking about 16:50 in the context of the 1260 years period. 16:54 It ends in 1798. 16:56 Well, two of the three events happened before that. 16:59 Right, 1755 Lisbon's earthquake. 17:02 Yeah, and if you look at the sixth seal, 17:04 you will find that, 17:06 that is a time of troubled context there. 17:09 And so it's more than just, 17:12 you know, it's almost like as Christ 17:15 often does things in type and anti-type. 17:17 We see in type what's to come 17:19 through the Lisbon earthquake, 17:21 dark day in New England 1780, 17:23 you know, stars falling, meteor shower in 1833. 17:26 It was a type of what is to come 17:28 globally at the end of time. 17:30 And I want to share, just another aspect of these too. 17:33 Within the Old Testament you will find the prophets there. 17:36 Many of the prophecies given about the day of the Lord. 17:41 The day of the Lord is a prophecy that 17:44 I can't find fits anywhere except 17:47 after the close of probation. Right. 17:49 You will find an hour of judgment 17:52 coming prior to the close, but the day of the Lord 17:54 is the day of vengeance, a day of wrath. 17:56 Those had been an eschatological. 17:58 Yeah, those probation closed, its wrath is poured out. 18:01 And in that context we find the sun will grow dark. 18:06 And so you will find even contextually 18:08 Old Testament prophets pointing 18:10 to this happening at the end of time. 18:12 Joel probably the most prominent because he says, 18:15 that the Holy Spirit will be poured out in latter rain power 18:18 and then he refers right there to the sun growing dark, 18:20 moon not giving its light, so. 18:22 Contextually this is where we get it from. 18:24 I know historically as Adventists, 18:26 especially the pioneers, 18:27 they saw the eminent return of Christ. 18:29 I mean, they believed He was coming in their lifetime 18:31 and so they thought, 18:32 they saw these things has been fulfilled, 18:34 they had been fulfilled. 18:35 And they were, but we see now 18:38 more in type then in final anti-type. 18:41 So anyway just to throw a few things out there 18:43 for your consideration because these are some 18:46 of the basis for which that second application comes from. 18:51 You have another question for us? 18:52 I actually do, yes. 18:54 And it's a question regarding, actually kind of, 18:56 probably a common question for many. 18:59 In Genesis chapter 9, we find the story of Ham 19:03 seeing Noah his father naked, 19:05 and I'd like to turn it real quick. 19:07 Because many people have asked, 19:09 wasn't this kind of severe the judgment pronounce 19:12 upon him for seeing his father naked? 19:14 Let's turn to Genesis chapter 9 real quick. 19:18 And the Bible doesn't really give a lot to work 19:22 with it for us understanding why, you know, 19:25 why Noah pronounced such a strong curse upon him. 19:28 It starts here in verse 18, this is just after the flood. 19:33 it says, Now the sons of Noah 19:34 who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 19:37 And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19:39 These three were the sons of Noah, 19:40 and from these the whole earth was populated. 19:44 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 19:47 Then he drank wine and was drunk, 19:49 and became uncovered in his tent. Okay. 19:51 So there's two, there's two things going on, 19:53 you know, that the issue of Noah. 19:55 Noah wasn't perfect, you know. 19:58 But what happens here is, then says in verse 22, 20:01 And Ham, the father of Canaan, 20:04 the Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, 20:05 and told his two brothers outside. 20:07 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, 20:09 laid it on both their shoulders, 20:11 and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. 20:12 Their faces were turned away, 20:14 and they did not see their father's nakedness. 20:16 And then we find that Noah wakes up 20:18 and he sees what the younger brothers did, 20:21 finds out what happened. 20:22 He says cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants. 20:25 He shall be to his brethren. 20:26 Now if your father pronounced a curse on you, 20:28 that would seem pretty harsh, because this wasn't just, 20:31 you're gonna lose your toys for the day. 20:33 You know, or you're not gonna let me, 20:34 I'm not gonna let you work with me in the garden. 20:35 It's not just temporary. 20:36 Yeah, I mean, it's not just, you know, slap on the wrist. 20:38 This is, you know, this followed them 20:40 through their whole life. 20:41 That's right. 20:42 So the question is, wasn't this kind of severe, 20:45 wasn't this, you know, a little unnecessary. 20:47 And what really we need to considered is, 20:50 number one, the culture. 20:52 This is oriental culture of the time. 20:55 This is, this is not American culture 20:58 that we are looking at here. 21:00 Back then, you know, the fifth commands says, 21:02 "Honor thy Father and Mother." 21:05 One of the most important things in this culture 21:07 at the time was respect for elders. 21:10 You know, you didn't just walk in on them, 21:14 if they're having a conversation, 21:15 you know, you didn't talked back to them. 21:18 If the Bible says, you know, 21:20 the gray hair of a man is his wisdom, 21:22 you know, so just by appearance, 21:25 you know, if a man had gray hair, 21:26 you would respect him. Right. 21:27 No matter who he was. 21:29 This was the degree to which respect 21:31 was given in this culture. 21:33 And so for Canaan, for Ham to see his father's nakedness, 21:38 number one, probably when he went into the tent 21:41 or whatever it was. 21:43 This was something that you'd already have 21:44 in your mind ahead of time. 21:45 I need to be cautious. 21:46 I mean, my father is in here. 21:47 Who knows what he's doing. 21:48 He could be sleeping, you know, so, 21:49 so you, it's a mind set. 21:51 You know, so we, sometimes 21:53 you need to pay attention what the Bible 21:54 is not saying to find out why this is happened. 21:57 You know, so he probably maybe just 21:59 charged right in there, you know. 22:01 And all of a sudden, boom. 22:02 There he is, his father's naked and then 22:04 to make it worse he...in my mind 22:07 at least he goes and tells his brothers. 22:08 He spreads the word. 22:09 He spread them all, you know, and once again the Bible 22:11 doesn't say in what manner he spread the word. 22:14 Maybe he was joking about it, maybe thought 22:16 it was kind of a funny thing. 22:17 We don't know but, you know, but it is very 22:20 likely because the curse, you know, the curse points to, 22:24 this is the severity of the circumstances. Right. 22:27 And so he tells his two brothers, 22:29 you know, big joke maybe who knows. 22:31 But the fact is that it was serious enough 22:33 to where the two brothers went in there with a blanket, 22:35 and they go into the tent and they're not, 22:37 they don't even look to see where they're going, 22:38 they just kind of, you know, they're walking back 22:40 with the blanket looking forward, 22:42 the father is behind them, 22:43 they put the blanket down, you know. 22:45 So they don't accidentally see him naked. Right. 22:48 So we have to considered the culture of the time. 22:52 That's why it was so, so severe of what had happened. 22:56 We don't understand this in American culture, 22:58 because it seems like in many families, 23:00 there is no boundary lines, you know. 23:03 And you know, it's we just don't 23:05 live in this culture today. 23:06 We don't see respect for elders the way we do. 23:09 We don't see respect for elders in the Bible as we, 23:12 as, you know, we see it in the America, 23:14 it just almost seems non-existence. 23:16 Kids talking about their parents, you know, 23:18 I grew up not in the church 23:20 so I had a lot of worldly friends and man, 23:22 I can tell you a story upon story on 23:23 how some of my friends talked to their parents. 23:25 I couldn't believe it, because even though 23:26 we didn't grow up in a religious home per say. 23:29 We were taught respect, you know, we were taught, 23:31 you know, you don't taught back to your parents. 23:34 You don't swear in front of your parents, 23:36 you know, any of the stuff and man, 23:38 I had some friends growing up, 23:40 I can't even tell you half the things they said. 23:42 I mean, they were talking to their parents 23:43 like they were dirt on the side of the street. 23:45 And it was tolerated, you know. 23:47 So we don't see this kind of respect 23:49 in our American culture. 23:51 I think it's common also there 23:52 by Christ as in the days of Noah, 23:54 so it will be just before the coming of the son of man. 23:58 So what we see today in the mistreating of kids 24:01 and disrespecting of kids toward their parents 24:03 I believe it was manifested 24:05 in what Ham did with his father of Noah. 24:08 Right, I think that's substantiated by the fact, 24:11 the time again throughout God's word you find, 24:13 this call to respecting your parents. 24:16 You know, call to obedience from children to parents. 24:19 Ham has obviously saw him and talked lot about it. 24:22 I think it's Timothy, or Peter talks about it, 24:23 in the last days we shall see, you know, disobedient children. 24:27 I mean, this is a pretty big issues, 24:28 and once again the fifth commandment, 24:30 you know, honor thy Father and Mother. 24:32 So it was a pretty serious thing, 24:34 we may not understand it, 24:35 but when we consider the culture of the time, 24:38 it may become a little more clear as to 24:40 why the curse was so severe and pronounce. Sure. 24:43 And this is obviously in note 24:44 of his violence of code of living. 24:47 Exactly, exactly. Thank you very much. 24:49 That was a good question. 24:50 We appreciate you sending that in. 24:52 You know, we can learn little pieces of, 24:55 you know, little nuggets of truth especially as we elevate, 24:58 you know, thinking about God's commandments. 25:00 We elevate that fifth commandment to a standard 25:02 where with we might not really give it unless 25:05 we see in these old stories really kind of 25:08 how important it is to God 25:10 that we treat our elders with respect. 25:12 And so I encourage you if you are young person 25:15 to always respect your parents 25:17 and those who are older and wiser. 25:23 Older and wiser, hopefully older and wiser. 25:24 Yes, all right. 25:25 I have one last question before we dive 25:27 into our subject here and I don't want to 25:28 spend a lot of time on it. 25:30 We could do an entire program on this, Kevin. 25:32 But I'm not gonna do that here but I will touch on it 25:35 because we receive several questions on it, 25:37 and also recently wrote a paper about it. 25:39 So it says, greetings in the name of Christ. 25:44 What was the Daily sacrifice in Daniel? 25:47 What does it mean? 25:49 There is a couple different interpretations, 25:51 number one, it means paganism. 25:54 And in another case, it was the ministry of Christ. 25:58 It doesn't, he is not reading that, 26:00 it saying that exactly but that's accomplish 26:02 kinds of some question, different questions 26:04 we received on this. 26:05 And that is currently the church's view of that. 26:07 It was the Daily is the minister of Christ 26:10 in the heavenly sanctuary, 26:11 and the truth that go along with that. 26:15 So he says which is which, you know, what's right? 26:18 Well, it's interesting to know, 26:19 if you go back into our history, 26:21 history of the Seventh-day Adventist church, 26:22 you will find that the pioneers got into a debate 26:27 over this issue at the turn of this century, 26:29 and that is the eighteenth century 26:30 into the nineteenth century. 26:32 And as they began to debate this issue, 26:34 they elevated to a level a test within the church. 26:40 And Sister White, who is there to provide counsel at times, 26:44 stepped in, this time on inspired counsels 26:48 just simply to say, I don't have any light on this issue, 26:51 don't divide over it, don't elevate this 26:53 to a standard of a test. 26:55 It is not something that place we need to go, 26:57 let's stay united and stick with sharing 26:59 the gospel in its true, in its true form, 27:01 the three angels messages and other things 27:03 that are surrounding the importance, 27:04 you know, parts of the everlasting gospel. 27:07 So she counseled on both sides, you said, 27:09 you know, you guys grew up, stop, you stop, 27:13 I don't have any special thing. 27:14 We know shouldn't elevate this, stop. 27:17 Now that being said, today it's happening again. 27:22 There some who are creating ministries out of this issue 27:26 and they're doing so to raise the level 27:32 of how you define the Daily into a test within the church. 27:36 Well, you know, you're not a true Adventist 27:37 unless you believe as the pioneers initially believed 27:40 which was that it was paganism, 27:43 and that's exactly what they did initially believe. 27:45 They thought that the Daily was referring to paganism, 27:49 not that it referred to the ministry of Christ 27:52 and heavenly sanctuary. 27:53 But as time went on, 27:56 a further understanding of Christ ministry 27:58 in the heavenly sanctuary which we covered 28:00 in the topic here recently, a question we had before 28:03 that the church then adopted the view that it was, 28:06 in fact, referring to the Daily ministry of Christ 28:08 not to paganism itself. 28:10 Now I have a paper that I recently wrote on that 28:13 the issue of the Daily and it was to, 28:16 hopefully kind of harmonize writings 28:19 we have from Ellen White scripture. 28:22 There is a detail verse by verse and actually word study 28:27 within the passage of Daniel chapter 8 28:30 that's really and in also 11 is in there too, 28:33 with regard to the Daily. 28:36 So I put this together with the intent on giving it 28:39 to anybody who is confused on it or who wants to know. 28:41 I offer that to you. 28:42 If you want a copy of the paper that I did on this, 28:45 so it's about 10 or 11 pages, 28:46 it's not too long I can send that to you. 28:48 If you would emailed at pastorstanton@gmail.com 28:52 pastorstanton@gmail.com I am happy to just attach it 28:58 and send it back to you and hopefully 29:00 it will help to clarify what some of the issues 29:02 are currently on that, but it took a while to study 29:06 that out and it will take an entire couple programs 29:09 really to do that. 29:10 But there is strong foundation for the church's current view 29:14 that it is accurate, it is correct, 29:15 and we should stay unified on that. Right. 29:18 And focus on the ministry that we have 29:19 which is reaching souls for Christ. 29:21 Exactly, it's pretty sad when a, 29:24 sometimes obscure aspect of scripture become such a bone 29:29 of contention that it divide us in the stories. 29:31 And that's not what God's word is design to do. 29:33 It's unifies us. Absolutely. 29:35 And if there any word is the little obscure, 29:38 you know, where there is just really 29:39 not a lot of evidence at the time, you know. 29:41 And I have to say, 29:42 we have gathered enough now but, you know. 29:44 It should not be a matter of division 29:46 absolutely not, you know. 29:48 So we need to very careful and cautious of these things. 29:51 You know, the center piece there too, 29:53 just to kind of give a little nugget. 29:56 Sister White needs to comment that, 29:57 they were all united at one point 30:00 on their view of the Daily and the context of that, 30:04 you have to read the entire passage there 30:05 from early writings. 30:06 The context of that was that they were united against 30:10 a literal interpretation of the sanctuary and the sacrifices. 30:15 They view the sanctuary, the sacrifices 30:18 as being referring to the heavenly sanctuary, 30:21 Christ ministry there. 30:23 The word sacrifice was added to the text 30:25 and those that were talking that were sacrificed to teach 30:28 that it was literal and occurring in Jerusalem, 30:31 that we need to go there and somehow 30:34 unite around this significant event, was inaccurate. 30:37 And so when she says, 30:39 we were all united in our view of the Daily. 30:41 She was saying, united in that it was Christ ministry, 30:44 not united in our interpretation of the meanings, 30:47 specific meaning about of the Daily. 30:49 And that's important. 30:50 Yeah, and later on, we know this true, 30:52 because later on when she writes counsel, 30:54 provides counsel on the issues, she says, 30:56 I have no knowledge as to the meaning of the Daily. 30:59 So she doesn't contradict herself 31:02 but people want to read into that 31:04 and they want to make it an issue and I just, 31:06 I want to encourage all you really get on strong foundation 31:09 and read both sides of the issue. 31:11 You've heard only one, read the other as well 31:14 and I believe the Lord will lead 31:15 and blessed by uniting His people together. 31:18 Okay, well, thank you very much for all your questions. 31:20 Let me put up the email address one more time. 31:23 For you, you can send your questions 31:24 to housecalls@3abn.org, that's housecalls@3abn.org 31:31 and again we look forward to receiving those 31:34 and allowing your questions to be part of this program. 31:37 That's always an exciting part. 31:39 Kevin, let's dive into our topic today. 31:42 It's on the power of grace and there are so many 31:45 different things that we can learn from 31:49 or learn about the grace of God 31:51 that I think we have not really even touched 31:53 the surface on, as we dived into the scripture. 31:57 This is one of those topics where, 31:59 you know, at first hearing the word grace, 32:01 oh, yeah, everybody knows what grace is. 32:03 But then when you start to dig, it's like mine, 32:06 this is like mining, digging down for oil and stuff. 32:09 And it really is, it's deep, you know, 32:10 and it's not just one meaning. 32:13 It wasn't really the beauty of the word...Yeah, so... 32:15 Yeah, I know that a lot of us, 32:16 you know, we've assigned this meaning of unmerited favor. 32:20 Right. And that's a good meaning, 32:21 I mean, that's kind of a general meaning, 32:24 it is God bestowing favor upon others, that's His grace. 32:27 When God blesses us, He is being gracious to us, 32:31 but there is something deeper to grace and that's why 32:34 I wanted to cover it in the sense 32:35 of its power in our lives. 32:38 And so we will do that over a couple of programs here. 32:41 I wanted to use as a springboard text. 32:44 A place that maybe people wouldn't ordinarily go 32:48 and that is in the book of Jude. 32:49 If you turn with us to the book of Jude. 32:52 It's only one chapter long but I'm gonna read 32:55 verses 3 and 4 and just point out something to you 32:59 that I think is important for all of us to be aware of, 33:03 because it does help to provide some insights 33:06 into how the grace of God is being mistaught, 33:11 misused, misinterpreted, whatever you have it 33:15 within Christianity today. 33:18 I'm gonna read here verses 3 and 4 33:20 from the book of Jude. 33:21 It says, Beloved, while I was very diligent 33:24 to write to you concerning our common salvation, 33:27 I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you. 33:31 So this time he's not just writing, 33:33 he is exhorting, he is admonishing, 33:35 he's encouraging them 33:36 to contend earnestly for the faith, 33:39 which was once for all delivered to the saints. 33:43 And here is why he is writing to them, exhorting them. 33:46 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, 33:51 they've crept into where? The church. 33:54 Unnoticed, who long ago were marked out 33:57 for this condemnation, ungodly men. 34:00 And here's what they do, 34:02 they turn the grace of our God into lewdness. 34:07 I like NIV's actually translation 34:11 of that word for lewdness, 34:12 it says license for immorality. 34:16 Into a license for immorality or license for sin, 34:20 and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 34:25 Now if I was gonna put this in simple terms, 34:28 I would say that what Jude was saying to the church was that 34:31 men would come in and teach that the grace of God 34:35 gives you a license to kind of go about life as you please, 34:39 because it's all covered by the grace of God. 34:42 And it gives them, this cheap grace gives them 34:46 the license to commit even sin. 34:48 To go about their life in a sinful way 34:50 because God's done it all. 34:53 And the other thing that he hits on there is it diminishes 34:57 the importance of the commandments of God, 34:59 which Jesus clearly says if you love me, 35:01 keep my commandments. 35:02 So this cheap grace, these men that creep in 35:07 that are distorting the word of God 35:09 and they're destroying the doctrine of grace. 35:12 Or actually elevating or actually reducing the standard 35:15 that God has for us. 35:17 But allowing people or teaching them, 35:20 it's okay to kind of just live as you please. 35:22 Because once you're saved, you're always saved, 35:24 that's another aspect of it. 35:25 The other part is that, you know, 35:27 God is going to cover it anyway. 35:28 He's forgiving so, you know, it doesn't really mean 35:31 that you shouldn't try to eradicate 35:33 or push sin out of your life. 35:34 That's another topic, you know, we've covered before, 35:36 but this is a doctrine 35:41 that is essential to the Christian faith. 35:42 It's a part of our common salvation, 35:44 which Jude wrote about and it's something 35:47 that we need to understand in this great context 35:49 or the other doctrines that are surrounding it, 35:51 that are part of it will fall apart. 35:54 I'd like to know in verse 4, 35:55 it says for certain men have crept in unnoticed. 35:59 And then the second line says, 36:02 who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. 36:06 It seems the text is saying 36:09 that they may not be conscience, 36:11 that the conscience that they are doing. 36:12 In other words, just may not be 36:14 a pre-planned attack on their part. 36:17 They may not say ahead of time, okay, 36:18 this is what we're gonna do, 36:19 we're gonna go into the church, 36:20 we're gonna teach this, we're gonna corrupt this. 36:21 Exactly. 36:23 You know, the truth of salvation. 36:24 But the fact that they were marked out long ago 36:26 for this condemnation, tells me one thing 36:28 that these are pawns of the devil. 36:30 You know, which means that, 36:32 that this is a very important aspect of biblical teaching, 36:35 a very important doctrine that the devil wants to corrupt. 36:38 That he wanted to corrupt the early pure church, 36:40 I mean, you know, the church was new, 36:43 there was a lot of, it was brand new, 36:44 there was a lot of questions, a lot of wondering, 36:46 a lot of joy, a lot of, you know. 36:48 And in the midst of these all these brand new experience, 36:51 that's when the devil wanted to hit the hardest. 36:52 Yeah. You know, so of course, he had his little pawns 36:55 and so this is such an important, 36:56 is such a probably is a great topic. 36:59 Because you're right, grace isn't just a one time deal. 37:03 It's not, I don't want to get too far into it. 37:06 Yeah. But you're right. 37:07 It's not a one time thing, God's always, 37:10 his grace is at the forefront of our entire experience. 37:12 Yeah, you know, this manifested itself, 37:15 this creeping in of men with this doctrine 37:17 is manifesting itself in a couple ways 37:19 in the early church. 37:20 You will find that in 37:23 Revelation chapter 2 verses 6 and 15, 37:27 there is a reference to a people where it says, 37:33 here indeed to the church, 37:34 the message of the church of Ephesus, 37:36 Revelation 2 verse 6 it says, 37:39 But this you have that you hate the deeds 37:40 of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 37:43 Then in verse 15 to the church in Pergamos he says, 37:48 thus you also have those who hold to the doctrine 37:52 of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 37:55 And if you do a study on the Nicolaitans, 37:57 you know what their major teaching was? 38:00 They believed in antinomianism which is disregarding the law. 38:04 The law no longer is obligatory, it's no longer, 38:07 do what you please. 38:09 And so the fruit of what Jude was talking about there, 38:12 found it's way into the early church 38:14 where the Nicolaitans took the hold, 38:17 inserted their doctrine of, you know, 38:20 grace is wonderful and you can kind of go as you please, 38:22 don't worry about the law. 38:24 And there was this imbalance then. 38:25 Grace up here, the law just gone, right, 38:29 and find that again today. 38:30 And contextually in Rome, that was pretty encompassing, 38:33 do as you please. Right. 38:35 Because we look at the practices of the Romans, 38:36 I mean, it was pretty, real pretty repulsive. 38:39 But it's not that different from what we're seeing today. 38:41 Right. You know, I mean, when you look 38:43 at the span of history, you know, 38:45 inequity is always abandoned. 38:46 There's always been lewdness and lust, 38:49 and all these kinds of other sins, you know. 38:51 It always existed, because men are corrupt, 38:54 but now in this day and age, you see such a, 38:56 almost a parallel to what was happening in Rome. 38:59 I mean, it was just, it was nothing to be 39:02 ashamed of anymore. Right. 39:03 You know, look at the billboard and looked at the billboards, 39:05 everywhere you look on the billboards, 39:06 you know, sex is selling everything 39:08 from cologne to butter. 39:12 Yeah, I know, it's true. 39:13 You know, and this is so, when this was being taught 39:18 that you can do as you please. 39:20 This wasn't, this wasn't a matter of eating 39:23 unclean meat or meat, 39:25 I mean, this is we're talking about 39:26 some serious practices that were 39:27 clearly forbidden by God, all for us. 39:29 Right, this wasn't a gray area. 39:30 This is the area that where we're clearly, 39:32 an area that was hated by God through the doctrine 39:35 of the Nicolaitans which are tied into 39:37 what they're talking about. 39:38 And he commends them for hating those very things. 39:40 That's right. You know, it was that bad. 39:42 So, you know, as we look at this then, 39:44 if it came into the early church. 39:47 You know, Kevin, we got to ask ourselves, 39:48 is it here again? 39:51 And I would say, it absolutely is. 39:52 Yes and I would say even in full strength. 39:54 Because, today one of the predominate teachings is, 39:59 it spring boards off a verse, 40:00 which we're gonna go to next. 40:01 Let's go to Ephesians Chapter 2, 40:03 if take Ephesians Chapter 2 40:05 and they read verses 8 and 9 and they stopped. 40:08 And they stopped exactly. 40:10 And so, let's read the verse and that the passage here 40:15 and then we'll talk a little bit about 40:16 what we're finding in the church today. 40:19 In fact, why don't you go ahead 40:20 and read that for us if you have that, Kevin. 40:22 Just kind of go through 8 and 9, 40:23 just stop right there so. 40:25 The Bible says in Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 8, 40:27 For by grace you have been saved through faith; 40:31 and that not of yourselves: 40:32 It is the gift of God, 40:34 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 40:37 Okay, you know, we recently finished a program, 40:41 not too long ago on, kind of obedience verses legalism 40:47 and how works comes into play of this whole thing. 40:50 We talked a lot about the grace of God 40:52 and how faith is involved there too. 40:54 Not in the way we're gonna talked about it today. 40:56 But clearly we saw that there was a grace 41:02 as where you begin in your relationship with Christ. 41:04 We cannot commend ourselves to Christ. 41:07 We can't recommend, chose me, 41:09 because of anything we've done. 41:11 We are nothing but filthy rags. 41:13 We don't have anything offer, 41:14 we are sinful human beings. 41:16 It's God's grace that allows us to experience, 41:20 begin to experience salvation in Christ. 41:22 And it has to be free from there, 41:25 the analogy is used when you're dirty 41:28 and you're coming in from working outside all day 41:30 and you need to shower. 41:32 What if the qualification for getting in the shower 41:34 was you have to clean yourself first? 41:37 How far would you get? I mean, 41:39 if you had to get cleaned before you get in the shower, 41:41 you know, you wouldn't go anywhere. 41:43 You wouldn't go in the shower. 41:45 And today it's the same way, 41:46 you know, we shouldn't, 41:48 where we shouldn't be concerned with our works 41:49 and what we have done before we get into shower. 41:52 It's once we get in the shower 41:54 that God cleans us up, 41:55 gives us the free gift of salvation and then says now, 41:58 walk with me in cleanness. 42:00 And then our life become changed. 42:02 And so in that respect this verse is telling us 42:06 that the grace is where we began. 42:07 Right, because we couldn't do anything 42:09 in and of ourselves. 42:10 You know, Isaiah says, 42:11 can a leopard change its spots 42:12 or the Ethiopian change its skin. 42:15 We're lost. That's right. 42:16 You know, we're lost 42:17 and we're in a lost condition. 42:18 If we could do anything in the, 42:22 I don't wanna use a formula. 42:24 If we could add anything to our salvation in the work 42:28 that was necessary to save us from... Right. 42:31 Then it would dismantle the whole entire 42:34 everything that Christ had done. That's right. 42:35 Because then angels could have come instead of Christ, 42:38 you know, If and you know, 42:40 so it's got to be all Christ or nothing. 42:42 Which means its grace, 42:44 and the beautiful thing about that 42:45 is the means that we all in the same level ground 42:48 at the foot of the cross, you know. 42:51 It's the same, it's the grace that saved me, 42:52 you know, it's the grace that brought me 42:54 into a relationship with him 42:55 and it's the same grace that brought you 42:57 into a relationship with Him. Amen. 42:58 So no matter how, 43:00 no matter how ugly of a life you're leading 43:02 or how apparently okay, so, so over life you're leading. 43:06 It doesn't matter we're all lost at the same, 43:08 at the same level. 43:09 It's only about the grace of God. 43:10 So as we look at this verse and I think 43:13 and you read the couple passages 43:14 or that, excuse me, the two texts 43:16 that usually are often quoted 43:18 in regard to the grace of God, 43:19 verses 8 and 9 of Ephesians 2. 43:21 The churches that take this today, go then a step further 43:26 and I believe they're delving into 43:27 what is referred to in Jude in verses 3 and 4, 43:31 which is they start to cheapen it. 43:33 And the reason I say that is because there becomes 43:35 an imbalance between grace and works. 43:42 Faith, we're saved by grace through faith and works. 43:46 Which then James then tries to restore 43:48 with the book of James. 43:49 But, I'm avoiding going there, 43:51 because we got other things about grace to talk about. 43:53 But this is where they go. 43:54 They start here and they stay here 43:56 and really the imbalance comes from emphasizing 44:00 one aspect of salvation over the other. 44:03 And there are two parts that bring about our redemption; 44:07 the first part is how we are justified. 44:11 We are justified by the blood of Christ. 44:12 There is nothing we can do, but when we believe in Him, 44:15 put our trust in Him, 44:16 His blood covers our sin and we are redeemed. 44:20 We are justified by His blood 44:21 and by the works that Christ has done. 44:23 We are talking as some, someone has said, 44:25 we're taken off death row 44:27 and we are counted mong the redeemed. 44:29 Praise the Lord, we are set free. 44:31 But from that point on you will find that 44:33 the scriptures are clear to reveal 44:35 that there is a sanctifying process. 44:38 There is a process of sanctification 44:39 which is the growth in Christ. 44:41 Christ doesn't leave us, how we came to Him. 44:45 He justifies us 44:47 and then begins to change our lives which takes time. 44:50 You know, someone doesn't go from 44:52 often from smoking a pack a day 44:55 to stop smoking all together. 44:57 Some do and I praise the Lord for that. 44:59 We hear about those experiences but... 45:00 But it's a rare experience. But it's rare. 45:02 Most people battle it for a while 45:04 until they finally get deliverance. 45:05 And I think a lot of that is, 45:08 now leads to the sin in our life, 45:10 that sometimes some of these sins 45:11 take a while to root out. 45:13 You know, things like anger. 45:14 I mean, you don't go from becoming, 45:16 you know, rushing from a 0 to 100 miles an hour 45:18 being angry from one day and the next day, 45:19 oh, you know, it's no problem. 45:22 God takes time to work on us 45:24 and this is where verse 10 comes into play. 45:27 I want you to read verse 10... 45:29 Because it's all connected to this whole thing. 45:32 For we are His continuing, not of works, 45:35 lest anyone should boast, verse 10; 45:37 For we are His workmanship, 45:38 created in Christ Jesus for, what? Good works. 45:41 Good works, which God prepared before Him 45:44 that we should walk in them. 45:45 If we couldn't do good works before we were saved, 45:49 you know, if we were in a lost condition, 45:51 if we were as Isaiah says, the leper, 45:55 you know, from the head to the foot, 45:56 from the sole of the foot to the head. 45:58 You know, there is no soundness in it, 45:59 only, petrifying sores, Isaiah says. 46:02 Speaking about the miserable condition of Israel 46:04 and its lost state. 46:07 If we can do anything good in that condition, 46:10 then and Christ is saying 46:12 that we've been created for good work, 46:13 then obviously there's a transition 46:14 that's suppose to be talking place. Yes. 46:15 Something is happening besides, 46:17 beyond just I have justified you to myself 46:21 by what I have done on the cross. 46:22 There is something else that is happening, 46:24 and we even created for Christ for good works. 46:28 Yeah, you know, it's interesting too 46:29 that it says, these good works were prepared 46:31 beforehand that we should walk in them. 46:33 Who prepared them beforehand? 46:34 God prepared them. God did in Christ. 46:37 His works then become the, what do you call it, 46:42 your repertoire 46:44 or your closet of works 46:49 for your life going forward. Right. 46:51 So where you were as filthy rags before 46:53 and now redeemed by Christ. 46:55 He has prepared these works beforehand 46:57 that He works through your life. Right. 46:59 And they become evident 47:00 that Christ has changed you from within. 47:02 And this is called sanctification, 47:04 a part that is often not emphasized 47:06 within the churches today. That's right. 47:08 Because with that comes 47:09 the accountability to the law, the commandments. 47:13 You know, ordering your life in harmony with God, 47:15 cleansing yourself from bad works 47:18 to living the life that God has called you to live, 47:20 all those other things. 47:21 I'll never forget when I was a colporteur years ago. 47:24 I remember I stopped at this one house, knocked the door, 47:26 and at the time I think I was 23 years old. 47:30 And this kid right around my same age, 47:32 you know, guy came to the door 47:33 and I sat down with him on the front porch. 47:35 And I'll never forget, 47:36 I wanted this child find a little of who he was, 47:39 you know, and his background and stuff. 47:40 And I'll never forget he had a, 47:42 he had a beer on the table, 47:44 a little coffee table there on the front porch. 47:46 He had a packet of cigarettes, 47:48 he was smoking a cigarette as we're talking 47:50 and I could see over in the corner, 47:51 some of the movies he had lying around his TV, 47:53 I won't even mention some of them. 47:56 And he's cursing up a storm, not in anger 47:57 but just in every other word out of his mouth. 48:00 And in the midst of all this, he says, 48:02 'cause I was wanted to give him a great controversy 48:04 or some peace of literature. 48:08 And I'll never forget, he says, 48:10 in the midst of this whole thing he says, 48:11 you know, yeah, I got saved, 48:12 I got saved back in '85, you know. 48:15 And I am thinking, I am think 48:17 and because you had to understand 48:18 where I had come from, 48:19 I had come out of that whole mess. Right. 48:21 And it was by the grace of God that he didn't, 48:24 God just declare me justified. Right. 48:27 But brought me from the mess 48:29 I was in to the person I was becoming. 48:31 You know, I'm looking at everything this guy is into, 48:33 and I am saying, 48:35 this is all the stuff that was destroying me. 48:38 And so, you know, but that is the view 48:40 like you were saying, a lot of churches have today. 48:44 You know, and I think James so aptly puts this. 48:48 That he says here 48:51 in James Chapter 2... 48:56 Verse 22. 48:58 Do you see that faith was working together 49:01 with his works, and by works faith was made perfect. 49:05 If you go down little a further he talks, 49:07 he says here in verse 24, 49:09 so you see then that a man is justified by works, 49:11 and not by faith only. 49:14 Another place and I can't see it right now. 49:16 He talks about how, 49:18 oh, here it is, verse 18, back up a little bit. 49:21 Someone will say, "You have faith and I have works. 49:23 Show me your faith without your works, 49:25 and I will show you my faith by my works." I like that. 49:28 So, you know, we reveal our faith 49:30 that we have been changed, we have gotten saved, 49:32 as many people use that term, 49:34 because of the works 49:36 that reveal the evidence of that. Right. 49:39 You know, it just seems 49:42 almost remedial to think about it. 49:44 And almost kindergartenish, 49:48 when you think of what God has done for us. 49:52 Wouldn't that call forth some response 49:55 at the very at least, out of gratitude, you know. 49:57 I mean, at the very least... It's hard to believe that, 50:01 that you would actually believe that you could, 50:03 once having met Christ and giving your heart to him, 50:05 that you would just continue in the way that you're going. 50:07 I mean, isn't there some level of gratitude 50:09 and you know, when I give my son a gift 50:12 or something like that. 50:13 Just out of responding to aid 50:14 or something you know, he's thankful. 50:16 And I see a change in him, you know. 50:18 Next time I ask him to wash the dishes, 50:20 help me wash the dishes or something like that, 50:21 you know, put the dishes away. 50:23 He is right there, he wants to help out, you know. 50:25 And there is response and when I think of grace, 50:29 when I think of justification. 50:32 When God declares us justified by what Christ did 50:35 on the cross and we accept that. 50:36 It's not just a one time deal. 50:37 It's actually an invitation. 50:39 It's an invitation to a responsive 50:42 relationship with Christ. Right. 50:44 I mean, that's what it is, it's a relationship. 50:46 Think about you're married 50:48 and I've been married for eight years. 50:50 Think about, think about 50:52 if we were the same people that we were, 50:55 you know, I don't know how long you've been married but. 50:57 You know, when you first got married, 50:58 16 years ago, okay, 51:00 I mean, imagine if you were the same exact person 51:02 you were sixteen years ago. 51:03 I would hope at least and I'm sure 51:04 your wife would hope even more. I'm a lot different. 51:06 You've grown. We all have. 51:07 You know I've grown, 51:08 and I have got a such a long way to grow even more. 51:10 But nobody should stay at the same place 51:13 they are in a relationship. 51:14 If it's a loving committed relationship 51:16 and the same thing with our redeemer. 51:17 That's right, you know, 51:19 as we were talking about grace then I know, 51:21 we've mentioned here justification. 51:23 But here is the statement I want to make 51:24 that kind of spring-boarding 51:26 the other things that we talk about. 51:28 Grace is as much a part of our justification experience 51:33 coming to Christ initially 51:34 and Him saving us by His grace. 51:36 As is our growing in Christ, our sanctifying experience, 51:41 our sanctification process. 51:44 As we put our trust in Christ 51:46 and he takes us off death row, 51:49 then He puts us into a walk, 51:51 into a relationship with Him 51:53 as He begins to change our life. 51:54 He continues to bestow His grace upon us. 51:57 And this is the aspect of grace 51:59 that we're going to talk about here 52:01 for the rest of this program, and next program in that. 52:04 Grace isn't just a merited favor to redeem 52:06 you where you are preciously unredeemable 52:09 or at least could not redeem yourself. 52:10 Grace is about changing your life 52:13 from that point forward, 52:14 getting you prepared for Jesus to come. 52:16 It's an empowering component. Yes. 52:18 So it doesn't just do something for you 52:21 as a gift that you couldn't do for yourself. 52:24 It continues to give it to you. 52:25 A sermon I recently did was entitled 52:28 "The Gift that Keeps on Giving." 52:30 In another words, it wasn't a one time event, 52:32 it was a repeated event, 52:33 the grace of God continued to be poured out to me 52:36 and you will find in the scriptures 52:37 that we will cover here shortly, 52:39 that grace in that context 52:42 is the most prominent use in scripture. It is. 52:45 Not in the way that it is most commonly taught. 52:48 Now, before we finished our program today, 52:52 I would like to just clarify the difference between 52:54 grace and one other thing that's often talked about, 52:58 which is mercy. 52:59 Because they are very different. 53:01 These two things are often muddied, 53:03 kind of mingled together. 53:04 And we think of them as being one, 53:07 but they are actually subtly different. 53:10 And here is the difference between grace and mercy. 53:14 Grace is receiving something from God 53:17 that we don't deserve. Right. 53:19 Anytime He pours out a blessing on us, 53:21 anytime you give something that comes from Him. 53:23 That's out of His grace. 53:24 That's His grace. Now we've earned it. 53:25 Right, we've learned it because He love us. 53:28 Mercy is not receiving something from God 53:32 that we do deserve. 53:34 So I don't receive condemnation from God 53:38 although I deserve it. 53:39 I don't receive judgment from God to condemnation 53:42 or I don't deserve death, 53:45 I mean, I deserve death but He doesn't give me death 53:47 because of His mercy. Right. 53:49 So in this respect, mercy is with holding judgment, 53:54 grace is liberally giving of himself. 53:57 So these are the, this the key difference, 53:59 because we'll muddy them. 54:01 You know, sometimes mercy 54:02 and grace kind of go together, 54:04 but they actually are quite different. 54:06 I notice in your notes, 54:07 you had a little illustration of what mercy is. 54:10 And I think we all can related to this. 54:12 You know, you're driving down the road, 54:13 not paying attention to the speed limit. 54:15 Your foot gets a little heavier 54:16 for whatever reason. 54:17 So, you know you're doing, let's say 65 and a 55 54:20 and you get pulled over. 54:22 Police officer comes up, checks out your license, 54:24 let's say your license is clean, 54:26 now you're waiting for the verdict. 54:27 You go back, goes back to his car. 54:28 The painful period where he's sitting in his car. 54:31 And you're just like praying Lord, 54:32 please show mercy. 54:34 And he comes back and says, 54:36 be more careful next time. 54:38 That's mercy. That's mercy. 54:39 You did not get something 54:41 that you deserved, you know... Absolutely. 54:42 You obviously were breaking the speed limit. 54:44 You did deserve the ticket. 54:45 I did deserve that ticket, you know. That's right. 54:47 But in mercy, we didn't get it. 54:51 And I think you ought to give a good example 54:53 really of grace which is as a father not compelled 54:56 to give your son a gift 54:58 but because you love giving gifts to your son. 55:00 You brought him a gift, 55:01 you showed him grace and he responded to that. 55:04 That's grace, that's giving of yourself 55:07 where the person doesn't ask for it, 55:09 or doesn't compel it or deserve it. 55:12 So this difference is really important to understand, 55:14 because repeatedly as we come back to grace 55:17 and talk about it as being a power that comes from God. 55:22 We're talking about it in that context 55:24 that He is giving us something that we don't have. 55:28 Not in the sense of mercy withholding 55:29 something that we actually deserve. 55:32 So as we transition now 55:34 and get ready for our next program, 55:37 what I'd like to do is take a look at one text here 55:42 from Second Corinthians Chapter 12 verse 9, 55:45 and this is where Jesus God 55:50 told Paul that He could stand, 55:53 that His grace was sufficient for him 55:55 and notice here how Paul relates this. 55:58 The response from the Lord is, my grace, 56:00 grace is sufficient for you. 56:04 And this is again, Second Corinthians 12:9. 56:06 My grace is sufficient for you, 56:08 for my strength is made perfect in weakness. 56:12 Where God was strong and Paul was weak, 56:18 God's grace step in to provide His strength 56:22 to overtake Paul's weakness. Right. 56:25 That is grace. 56:27 That is the power coming from God. 56:28 His strength coming from Him, 56:31 divine strength so to speak, 56:33 where we just simply don't have it. 56:35 And in Hebrew language, 56:37 this is in Hebrews, it says Greek. 56:38 But in the Hebrew language often a verse would start 56:42 and then at the end of that verse, 56:43 it really be repeating the same thought 56:45 with different words. 56:46 But likewise we do see that in the New Testament. 56:49 My grace is sufficient for you, 56:52 for my strength would be the equivalent of grace, 56:55 the previous verse. That's right. 56:56 For my grace is strength. 56:58 Grace is an active component, 57:00 you know, it's not an idle declaration. 57:03 And it is powerful, and especially this verse 57:06 because we're talking about weakness. That's right. 57:08 You know, we're talking about unfavorable conditions, 57:10 you know, struggling but God says, 57:12 my grace will enable you to stand. 57:15 Well, we pray that, that God's grace will continue 57:18 to be poured out on you as you were looking to be saved. 57:22 You were looking to come off death row, 57:23 He has done that, He is accomplishing that. 57:25 But He continues to offer His grace to you 57:27 each and everyday. 57:29 Stay tuned to our next program on that, 57:31 but for now may God bless you each and everyday. |
Revised 2014-12-17