Participants: John Lomacang, John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL110016
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's words together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:22 Welcome to another edition of House Calls. 00:24 We know that you are taking the time to tune in. 00:27 We hope you take the time to spiritually tune in. 00:29 Get your Bibles, your friend, your pens, 00:32 hit the record button and join John and John 00:34 for another edition of a very exciting program of 00:36 House Calls. I said that I am all, 00:38 all in one bread, is that amazing? 00:40 Good to have you here John. It's good to be here. 00:42 And I tell you we have a very exciting topic today. 00:45 We're gonna continue on why so many denominations, 00:49 why so many churches, why do people believe 00:52 so many different things when there is only one Bible. 00:56 You may have that question. Stay tune for that topic. 00:59 We're gonna dive into it today. 01:00 After we handle and answer some of your Bible questions 01:03 which you're so faithful, you take the time 01:05 to send to us but before we do anything 01:07 we're gonna go to the Lord in prayer. 01:09 John, have prayer for us today. 01:10 Okay. Father in Heaven, 01:12 we again ask for your spirit to be here 01:14 to guide and direct our words, 01:16 our thoughts as we go through the pages of scripture 01:19 we pray that you would make things very clear 01:22 as to what we should believe. 01:23 You promised us Jesus that the truth would make us free 01:27 and that's what we seek today. 01:28 We seek to be free and to be truly serving you 01:31 and worshipping you in spirit and in truth. 01:34 In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 01:37 As you know we always have Bible questions 01:39 and you are a part of that part of our program. 01:42 If you have any Bible questions 01:44 you'll like us to respond to, send those Bible questions 01:46 to housecalls@3abn.org, that housecalls@3abn.org 01:52 and for the most part John's gonna download those, 01:55 I open up the snail mail, we have snail mail 01:57 not that as bad but it's just takes longer to get here. 02:00 If you want to be a part of the split second generation 02:02 send them on the internet but however you send them 02:05 we thank you for those and then we respond to them 02:08 and we'll get back to you as we possibly can. 02:11 So thank you for your faithfulness. 02:13 What do we have John for our first question today? 02:16 First question is, I didn't see actually who it's from, 02:19 I will share that with you but the writing is saying 02:21 that a friend who recently he was dialoging 02:25 about a certain subject with, subjects with asked, 02:28 if the rapture has to happen 02:30 during one of the Jewish holidays, 02:33 he acknowledged here that, you know, 02:36 the Adventist, some of the Adventist's view of the, 02:38 of the rapture in the Bible is the second coming 02:41 and return of Christ and Him bringing us 02:44 up as he brings the resurrected saints up 02:46 to meet him in the air, that is the rapturing. Right. 02:49 Today people talk about the secret rapture. 02:52 So I wanna distinguish between those two. 02:54 We don't see any evidence of a secret rapture 02:57 in the scriptures. But, you know the question is, 03:00 does it have to happen during one of the Jewish holidays. 03:03 No, there is no scripture at least that tells us 03:06 that it does or that it doesn't. 03:08 So it's really one of those things John where, 03:11 the question really can't be answered 03:13 that I can at least see from scripture itself. 03:15 Now that being said, it wouldn't surprise me 03:17 that we learn down the road later on 03:20 throughout the annals of eternity. 03:22 That there is some connection 03:24 as to the timing of God's second coming, 03:26 of Christ's second coming to meet us. 03:28 But connecting this specifically 03:30 to the Jewish holidays in the scripture 03:33 I don't find any evidence to that. 03:35 Very good point because sometimes 03:36 people try to nail things down to, 03:39 well this is when the feast of harvest happen, 03:43 well, this is the one the way the sheep occurred, 03:45 this is the day of Pentecost, 03:47 this is the Feast of unleavened bread, 03:49 and this is the Feast of Tabernacles. 03:51 Well if we lock those down to the Jewish calendar 03:53 we can figure it out. 03:55 Well, Jesus said, no man knows the day nor the hour no, 04:02 not even the angels of heaven but my Father only, 04:05 so therefore he hasn't told us what the date is. 04:07 You know, in effect the circumstantial evidence 04:09 actually points to the fact that it doesn't, 04:12 because we read in scripture that 04:14 there is a period of time that seems to be a tarrying. 04:18 A tarrying, exactly. A tarrying time 04:19 right before Christ appearance, 04:22 to, to call his resurrected saints and those who are alive 04:26 and remain to meet him and to take them to heaven. 04:29 There's also reference to in scripture, 04:33 talking about the hastening of the Lord's return 04:38 and so us being diligently being faithful 04:41 about our mission as a church to get the word out 04:44 so that the world might come to a knowledge of 04:46 Jesus Christ as their Savior, doing that and being affected 04:50 with that and being faithful to that 04:51 can hasten Christ's return, also tells you that, 04:54 that date is not fixed in history 04:56 or ain't fixed in the future. 04:58 So evidence suggest that no it isn't gonna be tied to 05:02 the feast but there's nothing in hard and fast 05:04 that actually confirms or denies that. 05:06 That's right exactly! 05:08 Well we have, have other questions here. 05:12 This one John, I tell you it was so long 05:17 that I have tried to pick something out of it. 05:24 Let me, let me summarize this question 05:26 and I'm gonna add statements that are my opinion 05:31 and I'm gonna give you some Bible verses. 05:33 The gist of this question John was each church 05:37 does something that is not supported by the Bible, 05:42 including the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 05:47 Well the things that this person pointed out 05:49 as earmarks of apostasy or nothing more than, 05:54 nothing more than actions or things done traditionally, 06:01 for example, let me just go ahead and read 06:05 what the person has said so I won't be adding my own words. 06:10 Pastor Lomacang, I am seeing where you are 06:12 looking for Satan this season and this year 06:17 and in another words Satan's deceptions. 06:20 But you need also look at the prayer circle 06:24 that we partake and also the prayer warriors. 06:31 The Bible does not talk about this 06:32 but there are roots in paganism. 06:36 I believe the churches are in apostasy as was also 06:38 the Israelites right before they run over the Canaan. 06:41 There's also a person that also talks about praying, 06:44 also the Bible does not talk about holding hands 06:46 when praying, it talks about kneeling, 06:47 standing, and falling on the face. 06:50 So, the question I wanna ask right now 06:52 at the very beginning, is there anything wrong 06:54 with the prayer circle? 06:56 Is there anything wrong with being a prayer worrier? 06:59 Now the one term I've always added to this expression, 07:02 what I've always added to this explanation 07:05 after the phrase prayer warrior, 07:07 I've made it very clear that anybody 07:09 could be a prayer warrior because you don't have 07:12 to be warrior, in other words 07:13 you don't have to be a soldier so to speak 07:17 in the military sense to be able to come before God. 07:22 Let me broaden that, people that go to 07:24 the army are soldiers. 07:27 You don't have to be a military person 07:31 in the spiritual sense, have qualifications 07:36 to be able to go before God and prayer. 07:38 So what is a prayer warrior? 07:40 A prayer warrior is anyone who gets on his or her knees 07:43 and pray before the Lord 07:44 and agonize before Christ in prayer. 07:47 That is the art of war through prayer. 07:50 So, people tell they are prayer warriors 07:52 and we are praying warriors and that that simply means 07:55 there are people that are wanting to go before God 07:57 and antecede in prayer for you which you can sometimes 07:59 do for yourself but there are persons sometimes who feel 08:02 that they are not strong enough to pray 08:05 and they want someone to go before God and intercede 08:07 through prayer for them, that's okay. 08:10 That's not something that's paganistic, 08:13 that is not something that causes people to be 08:14 in apostasy because I am a team of prayer warriors, 08:19 that's not at all, in any stretch of 08:22 the imagination a paganistic practice. 08:25 The other one is circle of prayer. 08:28 That's, this simply means when two or three 08:30 are gathered what are they doing? 08:32 There was a circle of prayer 08:34 in the upper room, they prayed. 08:36 Circle doesn't mean round circle, 08:38 it just means people gathering together 08:40 to pray, it's not pagan. 08:43 When the disciples gathered together, 08:44 when the apostles gathered together on the day 08:46 Pentecost the whole place was shaken, 08:48 what were they doing? They were praying. 08:50 That's the phrase that's often 08:52 associated with circle of prayer. 08:54 Not a round circle, in the sense of a paganistic 08:57 where all is praying around a campfire 08:59 or praying around a hexagram, 09:02 that's not the term we are using. 09:03 You know, when people hold hands together to pray? 09:06 That's in the same way we hold hands together 09:09 to walk or we hold hands together to make sure 09:11 that the person behind us doesn't break 09:13 the cadence of the line. 09:15 That's once again not a paganistic practice. 09:18 So by holding my hand or holding somebody else's hand 09:21 that's simply we are unified 09:23 and what we were praying for here. 09:24 Those are just simple mannerisms and acts. 09:27 So when you use those as an indication 09:30 that people are in apostasy you may also fall 09:33 into the category of people that say its apostasy 09:35 to raise your hands when you pray 09:37 but the Bible continually says lifting up holy hands. 09:41 See, so when you began to get into the point 09:43 where you have a certain qualification for prayer 09:46 or certain or certain posture for prayer 09:50 then you can't do as Paul suggest to pray 09:52 without ceasing because ideally to pray 09:54 while you're driving if you feel that the only time 09:56 you can do this by kneeling or by falling on your face 10:00 before God or by standing, you can't do standing, 10:03 kneeling or falling on your face in your car. 10:06 But you can't be in a constant attitude of prayer 10:09 that really makes a difference. 10:11 What do you say about this? 10:12 You know, a couple of things jump out of me there, 10:14 the term apostatize is used way too loosely. 10:16 Yeah. There's a difference between 10:17 apostatizing or apostatizing and with backsliding. 10:23 Just because someone is not living 10:25 according to what they -- what the truth is, 10:29 doesn't mean they apostatized. 10:31 Apostatize. So -- 10:34 It's a tongue twister. It's a tongue twister. 10:37 So, we can't just say with everybody 10:39 that is not following those directions 10:41 and say they are in apostasy. Right. 10:43 You know, there are some that 10:44 backslide and don't do what God has directed them to do. 10:49 Apostasy in the Bible is very clear, 10:51 which you find is apostasy is something 10:53 that has rejected Christ. 10:56 They have rejected the system of truth. 10:59 They've sought not to follow in the ways of God 11:02 and they have made a conscious decision to do that -- 11:05 It's true, yeah, yeah. 11:06 -- in most cases of the world it is a entire church 11:09 or group of people that have done that, 11:11 it's the leaders of those individuals. 11:14 Couple of references would be Jesus' own statement 11:17 in Matthew Chapter 23 where He looks upon his own people 11:21 who are about to kill him, who are about to crucify im 11:24 and He says "your house is left unto you desolate", 11:27 why is that because they have gone into apostasy, 11:30 they've rejected the Messiah and that is the course 11:34 that they'd chosen so they are now operating 11:36 in that specific separation from Christ 11:41 and the truth as it is in Jesus. 11:44 And so, we, I think there is a little too loose of a term 11:49 of that phrase being used here and so I just, 11:52 I will caution on that. 11:53 The other thing too is that sure we recognize 11:55 that there are paganism practices out there, 11:58 let me give you a, share an issue here with you. 12:03 The devil has counterfeits for what God has as truth. 12:08 Just because we see paganism doing things, 12:12 does it under the same that the church 12:15 or individual's might do does not mean necessarily 12:17 that they are practicing paganism things. 12:20 The question is, on some of these issues, 12:25 is the devil mimicking what Christ has asked us 12:30 or has given us permissive things 12:31 that God has given us to do, such as being prayer warriors 12:35 or being in a circle of gathering at prayer 12:37 and just because paganism practices the circle around, 12:42 you know, the star and things 12:43 that we shouldn't be gathering together around in prayer. 12:46 You know, you know, don't let the devil win 12:48 on these things. John, you know very well, 12:51 we hear about this year after year Christmas debate. 12:55 We shouldn't be doing anything to acknowledge Christmas 12:58 at all and it's like we let the devil win. 13:01 Every Christmas season, at least some of us do by, 13:04 by just failing to even recognize that Jesus 13:08 came as a babe to this world 13:11 and there's a message behind that. That's right. 13:13 We, some of the Adventist have a powerful message 13:15 behind Christ, the child who is our savior 13:20 and what better time is there that during Christmas 13:22 to share that story. 13:23 Well, people that are open and only receptive 13:25 during that time of the year. 13:26 Absolutely! We even have inspiration 13:29 that tells us that we should engage 13:30 in these kinds of discussions -- Right! 13:32 -- And then we should even, it's permissible to even have 13:34 a tree in the church during that time. 13:37 Yet, oh! You know its paganism. 13:39 You know, I, I am so tired of this constant 13:42 looking for the negativity in things. Yeah. 13:44 I think we should be concerned and be careful on guard 13:48 to not allow things that the enemy 13:50 is doing to come into the church. 13:53 But some of these things, we go way overboard on 13:55 and we're missing the entire principle of the thing 13:58 and I think to a degree what we have is 13:59 that in this question, John. 14:01 That's just my feeling about it. 14:03 I, I agree with you and what happens is 14:05 there are things and I wanna just give you 14:07 some point of, some point of support in this sense. 14:10 We do have to be very careful 14:12 with what we allow to be a part of our 14:14 Christian experience so, this is, this question is 14:17 not all bad but what I wanna do is 14:19 use the context of it to, to give support to you 14:23 in this particular area. 14:25 If you find that there are things that are seeping 14:27 into your life or pouring into your life 14:30 that are causing your, a Christian walk with Christ 14:34 to a road then, yeah, I would say avoid those things. 14:38 If you become focused more on the things 14:40 that are happening rather than the reason 14:42 why they are happening that is, 14:44 prayer warrior, prayer circle, 14:48 the lifting of hands whatever, 14:49 if you begin to look at all these things 14:51 as all indicators of apostasy then what happens is 14:54 you become a, a Christian police, 14:57 policing and looking for all the error 14:59 and not looking to Christ. 15:01 One of the examples you find in the Bible 15:04 is that Paul addressed traditions in the Bible. 15:08 Now, traditions and conflict with a direct command 15:11 are to be avoided. 15:13 For example, we're gonna talk about some of those today. 15:15 Traditions that exist in Christianity that, 15:18 that conflict with a direct command of God 15:20 are to be avoided because Jesus says, 15:22 matter of fact here, Matthew, 15:23 "why do your disciples transgress 15:25 the traditions of the elders? 15:28 For they wash not their hands while they, 15:30 when they eat bread." 15:31 That's what one of the Pharisees said, 15:32 why are they transgressing the traditions of the elders? 15:37 But Jesus said, "Why do you transgress 15:38 the commandment of God by your tradition?" 15:40 See, so we have to sometimes choose 15:42 between the tradition of the elders 15:44 and the commandments of God. 15:46 That's when it becomes an issue of salvation. 15:48 But if, mom, if mother turn the turkey 15:52 at a 45 degree angle and the daughter didn't 15:55 and grandmother didn't that's not an issue of salvation. 15:59 If, if everybody stood in church when the Pastor read 16:03 the Bible or people raise their hands 16:05 when they sing or sang those are not traditions 16:07 that are gonna cause a person to be lost. 16:09 We've to be very, very careful when your salvation 16:12 is based on something a person does or cannot do 16:15 then it ceases to be based on salvation by grace 16:19 through faith in Christ alone, to be very, very careful. 16:23 If a person around me raises his hand or kneels down 16:26 or has a prayer circle or is a prayer warrior 16:28 and they walked through the neighborhood in prayers, 16:30 they walk past people's homes 16:31 those are not bad things to do. 16:33 Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. 16:35 He took his disciples and he says couldn't you pray 16:37 with me one hour? 16:39 Or do they have a prayer circle 16:40 in the garden of Gethsemane. No. 16:43 If I was, and if I was, 16:44 you know, really reaching I'd say you know what, 16:47 paganism, they practice going into the woods, 16:49 out into the open, into nature and to do those, 16:53 the ceremonies and the practices they do, 16:54 who I don't know, Jesus and his disciples 16:56 did that, doesn't look good. 16:58 And you know what -- I could, 16:59 you can find stuff like that. 17:00 I can make stuff up and people would follow it 17:03 and that's what we have found today. 17:04 You had to be very careful because in the Old Testament, 17:06 when the Bible says spiritual, wickedness and high places, 17:10 the altars of God were built in the mountains. 17:13 That's why when a woman met Jesus 17:15 at the well she said, she talked about my father 17:18 worshipping on that mountain and Jesus said that, 17:20 "hour is coming." Well, really 17:21 it wouldn't matter what mountain you worshiped on, 17:24 it really wouldn't matter and so what the paganist did, 17:26 what those who did not know Christ was, 17:28 is they set up altars in the same mountains 17:32 right next to the altar of God. Altars, yeah. 17:34 And so that's why the Lord says, 17:35 we have to breakdown spiritual wickedness and high places, 17:38 the high places were in the mountains and the groves. 17:41 So, John yeah, your point is very well taken, 17:44 we could say worshiping in nature is doing the same 17:46 thing that pagans do but it's not. 17:48 What I would say is pagans have corrupted things 17:52 that were done by Christians for the right reason 17:55 and have now given at the wrong labels, 17:57 in many senses that's exactly what happens. 17:59 So, once again prayer walking, prayer circles, 18:05 the holding of hands that's not any indication 18:09 of a person being lost to do that. 18:11 If that was their method of salvation 18:13 you can say them but it doesn't negate 18:16 or cancel their salvation -- 18:19 It's right. -- by enemies. 18:20 John, I have a question in regard to the Sabbath and, 18:23 and you know we get a lot of questions about the Sabbath 18:25 and we try not to answer them all, 18:27 try and group them a little bit, 18:30 and so I just, I wanted to share this one 18:32 because it really haunts in one, 18:34 specific passage in the Bible that is often referred 18:37 to as a Sabbath passage 18:38 that has nothing to do with the Sabbath. Okay. 18:40 And so I'll just share this, 18:41 it's gonna be a brief question. 18:44 If you hand only the verses below to judge 18:46 concerning the Sabbath, would you still be convinced 18:49 that the Sabbath day could only be on Saturday? 18:53 I'm searching for truth and so anyway, 18:56 the text then that is provided is Romans 14: 5-6. 19:01 Okay. Alright, and then the comment 19:04 is made here, the entire sections of 19:06 Romans 14: 1-12 is worth careful study. 19:11 Nevertheless, he instructions here are that individuals 19:14 must be convinced in their own minds about 19:17 which day they observe for the Lord. 19:20 If the Seventh-day Sabbath were a requirement 19:22 then the choice would be not man's but God's. 19:25 I will think here, I will it is God's decision. 19:28 It is God's choice, it's His probity, 19:30 that's why we worship on the seventh-day is the Sabbath. 19:33 You know, that's one of the interesting things too 19:35 is that the commandments is very clear, 19:37 the seventh-day is the Sabbath. 19:39 Right. There... 19:41 Analytical, I've no argument. 19:42 And the seventh-day cycle is never changed 19:44 from the very beginning. 19:45 In fact, the only reason we have seven days in a week 19:48 is because God established it that way at the creation. 19:51 There's no lunar, there's no solar, 19:54 there's no cycle in space, in heavens that tell us 19:57 there is a week with seven days. 19:59 Is that God created this world on six days 20:02 and then the last one He rested and established, 20:06 blessed, sanctified, made holy the seventh-day Sabbath. 20:09 That's right. And so any way, 20:11 here's the thing that I wanted to do 20:13 with this question John. Turn to -- 20:16 Romans. Romans 14. 20:17 I am there. And, does this passage 20:21 as is suggested here, be an easing, 20:26 easy convincing statement that we really shouldn't judge 20:30 between Saturday or Sunday, seventh-day of the day, 20:33 first day of the week when it comes to Sabbath keeping. 20:36 Okay, so the first, let me answer the -- 20:38 Go ahead, you go ahead no. 20:39 Okay, one of the, one of the first questions that this, 20:41 one of the issue of this, of this passage is the 20:45 Christian liberty, the freedom to make 20:49 one's mind up but to also know that when you make up 20:52 your mind to do one thing or the other God 20:55 is gonna be the one to judge you. 20:56 Now, having said that it doesn't say because 21:00 I've made up my mind, what I've made up my mind 21:03 to do is right, in my mind and what he has made up his mind 21:07 to do is right in his mind. 21:08 No, it may be right in our minds 21:10 but is it right in God's word. 21:13 And so what we do here, this passage, 21:15 the whole context of this passage, 21:18 if you look up, if you look at verse 12, 21:20 it pulls the whole context of this whole book together, 21:23 this whole single chapter was summarized in this word, 21:26 so let, so then each of us shall give 21:30 account of themselves to God. 21:32 You have to give an account. That's right. 21:34 Do you can give your -- so you're not accountable 21:36 to John or me or church 21:40 or a pastor or a team of leadership. 21:43 You are accountable to God, so therefore 21:45 on that very note, instead of saying well you know, 21:48 I wanna honor this day above that day, 21:51 Paul was talking about primary, 21:53 and we know this from the study of this passage 21:56 that Paul was talking about many of the traditional days 22:00 that were observed by the Jews and the Romans 22:05 so to stay aloof from that and this 22:07 became a controversial issue. 22:09 Also the things that the Jewish would eat 22:11 and would not eat became issues of division 22:13 rather than unity for the church, 22:15 for the Christians in Rome and so Paul says, 22:17 okay, you may, you may say I can eat an-- 22:23 I can eat animal that was scarified to idols 22:27 but the animal itself is clean naturally like you could say 22:29 I can eat a lamb but somebody may say, 22:31 well that lamb was sacrificed to idols 22:33 and so Paul was saying, okay, so is it wrong to eat a lamb 22:36 because it was sacrificed to idols 22:38 then the Jewish guy may say, yes because all the sins 22:40 are transferred to it and I'm eating simple flesh now. 22:42 So the Roman comes along and says I didn't know that 22:44 that was sacrificed to the idols so I'm gonna eat it 22:47 not ask any questions. 22:49 And so now does the Jewish say, 22:50 well he could its sinful lamb and I'm eating sinless lamb, 22:54 this the, these are the issues that were addressed 22:56 in this passage and so you look at this 22:58 I can't judge him, he can't judge me 23:00 but God can judge us both. 23:04 And what's amazing to be John is nowhere 23:06 in this passage does the Sabbath even have a mention. 23:11 That's right. It's not even mentioned anywhere. 23:13 Let's talk about those who are weak to these things, 23:16 those who are stronger do these things, 23:18 if that's what the other person says they could do 23:20 and that's all they can do. Let them to do that. 23:23 You know, and let God be the one that judges. 23:25 And, and if you go back you have to connect this 23:27 to all the scripture. 23:29 If you go back the Old Testament you'll find 23:32 that in the Jewish system they had laws for a dietary 23:36 laws not only for what kind of food you eat 23:39 but even what days you observe your fasting, 23:42 what days you do certain things. 23:44 And there were holy days other than the 23:46 Seventh-day Sabbath day as well. 23:48 And so when you look at this passage, 23:51 first of all, the question is, 23:53 is it about the Sabbath, well, 23:54 the Sabbath doesn't even appear here. Right. 23:56 Everything that appears here 23:57 about eating is evidence, this is about dietary laws, 24:01 its regard to observing feast or fasting days or, 24:06 or the practice of not eating foods offered to idols. 24:10 Which they are very strict 24:12 about as Jews in the Old Testament. 24:14 And so, the other evidence here 24:16 you find is that Paul addresses 24:19 the same kind of issue over and over again 24:21 in many epistles to the church. 24:23 So go elsewhere in these letters, 24:25 you'll find the Jews and the Gentiles are fighting over 24:29 the practices of the Jewish system versus 24:32 the practices that Christ established 24:34 under the new covenant. 24:35 And its not just about dietary stuff 24:38 they are fighting about all kinds of issues, 24:39 whether you keep feast days, whether you, you know, 24:42 you sacrifice lambs still just as offerings 24:44 and all these stuff Paul was saying it doesn't matter, 24:49 these aren't issues, these are doubtful disputes 24:53 that you guys are just kind of spending a lot of time 24:55 on when the key issue is Jesus and what he has established. 24:58 Yeah and, this, this is a, 25:00 this is a great passage so when a person says 25:02 I think that if you carefully study Romans 14, 25:05 will the Sabbath still be an issue. 25:07 Yes, because this passage is not about the Sabbath. 25:11 This is about disputes between brothers 25:13 and brothers and the church. 25:15 So, here, let me, let me go and point out a few things. 25:18 Let me give you an example. 25:19 If I decided, okay I'm just gonna eat this 25:23 because it makes you happy but as far as I am concerned 25:27 that lamb was used in the sacrifice and if I eat it 25:31 I'm gonna feel terrible, I feel condemned in eating it. 25:35 Well, the Lord says, okay if you doubt that 25:37 what you're about to do is right then you are condemned 25:41 if you go on and still do it to please somebody else. 25:46 If you are doubting whether or not you should do 25:48 something and you feel condemned in practicing that, 25:53 but you go ahead and practice it 25:54 just to make the other person happy you are still condemned 25:57 because you've judged yourself, 25:59 you've condemned yourself on the very practice 26:00 so it says don't do it because your mind 26:03 is against it and as the saying goes 26:05 a man convinced against his will 26:07 is of the same opinion still. 26:09 That's what happened, this whole passage is about 26:11 whether or not you understand, 26:13 don't offend somebody and this is one and remember 26:16 at Fairfield I won't mention the person's name, 26:18 but we had a brother, we had a person at church, 26:21 let me just be very vague. 26:22 That when people brought food to fellowship lunch 26:26 sometimes that person will go and say is there 26:27 cheese or no cheese in that? Remember that? 26:30 And I said, I heard that person say 26:32 that one day and I had to pull him aside, 26:34 we use a phrase Jenkem. 26:36 I had to pull him aside and say, you know what, 26:39 that person doesn't even know half of what you know, 26:42 how dare you put a stumbling block before that person 26:45 asking them whether or not there's cheese in there. 26:47 That person has brought the best they could and I said, 26:50 you are, you are gonna chase, 26:52 folk away when you do things like that 26:54 and Paul made that very steep and notice what he said, 26:57 he says, verse 20 of Romans 14, 27:00 "Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food." 27:04 Do not destroy, and then the other one, 27:07 Verse 15, "Do not destroy with your food 27:11 the one for whom Christ died." 27:13 This is all about food first of all. 27:14 Right. He is saying -- 27:16 And then destroying others with the, the rules. 27:18 Right, he's saying, you are saying 27:19 cheese or no cheese? Vegan or no vegan? 27:21 I mean, come on guys, follow the principles 27:23 of the Bible and live within the compounds 27:25 of that but do not allow the things that are restraining 27:28 you to become the measure of somebody 27:30 who is not even yet there. 27:32 That's what this whole passage is about. 27:34 He says so -- bottom line, you have to give an account 27:37 to God for the things which you're convinced of 27:38 but let the convictions from the word of God 27:41 not from the, the traditions of men. 27:44 You know and, and the same one that wrote 27:46 Romans 14, also it says in Acts Chapter 18, 27:52 as he taught the Jews and the Gentiles on the Sabbath day, 27:58 I'm gonna read the text, Acts 18:4, 28:01 he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, 28:04 not just one, every Sabbath 28:05 and persuaded both Jews and Greeks, 28:07 what they were they both meeting on John. 28:10 They were both meeting on the Sabbath. 28:12 They were in unity, they were in harmony 28:14 with which day was the Sabbath. 28:16 When -- There's no issue 28:17 of the first day of the week in the entire book of Acts. 28:21 In fact, here's the amazing thing, 28:23 it's like we had blinders on John because 28:25 in the book of Acts, the Sabbath is called 28:27 Sabbath, Sunday is called the first day of the week. 28:30 People wanna argue that the first day of the week 28:32 is the new Sabbath but it's never called the Sabbath. 28:35 The Sabbath is different than the first day of the week. 28:37 Just a mere fact that they 28:39 are listening to different things -- 28:40 Right. -- Different days 28:42 tell us the Sabbath wasn't change by the time 28:43 of the early church, but if you'll look in history 28:46 you'll find that the Sabbath change didn't come 28:48 about until the 4th century. 28:52 This issue, you know, 28:53 these books were written in the 1st century. 28:56 Right, there were, there were side by side practices 28:59 of traditions etc that were established like 29:02 168 A.D. when the, the farmers had to keep their flocks 29:06 and keep their herds and feed them, 29:08 so they said okay, okay, okay, okay you could do that 29:11 but on the first day of the week but now we're gonna have 29:14 two days, the traditional day 29:15 was called the family day and then the Sabbath 29:17 and Rome sought ways 29:18 of separating the Jewish tradition. 29:20 And that was long after the, the -- 29:21 Long after. These -- These scriptures. 29:22 These were not scriptural commands 29:25 and what amazes me about this one particular issue 29:27 and I did, I did a series on this as a matter of fact 29:29 on the last day event, you may wanna contact 29:31 3ABN and get a copy of that series called 29:35 "The Last Days". 29:36 I did a five part series on last day events 29:38 will open your eyes to a lot of these issues 29:40 and help you see where the Sunday, 29:42 where the observance of Sunday came from. 29:44 Those who help establish it don't even have any qualms 29:47 about making it very clear but many Christians 29:50 who are honest in their approach to the observances 29:52 that they embrace wanna find scriptural support 29:55 for it when there are no scriptural support, 29:57 when there is no scriptural support for it 29:58 that's for our topic that we're gonna cover 30:01 as we finish the questions here but here's the, 30:03 here is the issue. 30:06 The person also added in the question after you study 30:08 this passage will you still conclude that the Sabbath 30:11 is gonna be an issue in the end times. 30:14 Yes it is, you know why? 30:16 Because that is the issue that divides the majority of 30:18 the Christian world. 30:20 That is the thing that the world is doing, 30:22 they are setting up more and more to, 30:25 to violate God's clear command to keep 30:29 the Sabbath holy and they are substituting through 30:31 the traditions of men what God has never ordained, 30:35 God has never sanctified, God has still doesn't 30:37 approve of, and they are saying time has made it 30:41 acceptable to God, it doesn't. 30:43 And I feel prompted to say this too, 30:45 it's never been men's day. 30:47 It's never been a day that I can decide which one I keep 30:50 I think the reference here is that, 30:54 you have to be convinced in your own mind. 30:56 You can't say, read the scripture. 30:59 I mean you can't say, well, you know, my day 31:02 is Sunday and someone else's day is the Sabbath as long as 31:06 we just kind of convince in our mind 31:07 that we can worship God on our day. 31:09 God has already established the day, 31:11 he did that at creation even before the Ten Commandments 31:13 were ever given to children of Israel. 31:16 And so now, we've come down through time 31:18 and the enemy's attack, this institution, 31:21 this sacred institution of the Sabbath, 31:23 just like he has, he has done with many other teachings 31:28 in our study of denominations, 31:30 he has done that here and the very deciding factor 31:33 back in the Book of Exodus that says that they will know 31:36 that you are my people by your observance of the Sabbath. 31:39 Right. It is the sign of your loyalty to meet 31:42 the creator God has now been torn down. 31:47 Right. New tradition set up. 31:49 Get rid of the sign. 31:50 And it's gotten rid of the sign, you know, 31:52 exactly what I want, it's gotten rid of the sign 31:53 of God's people and God and their relationship. 31:56 Yes, it's like getting off to an exit that has no sign 31:58 and you'll pick the exit. 32:00 You'll find John's house, 32:01 pick whatever exit you'll find his house. 32:03 You know, guess me John on this particular issue 32:05 people saying make up your own mind, 32:06 decide for yourself but can you decide for yourself 32:10 what is stealing, what is adultery, 32:12 what is called righteousness, what is worshipping 32:15 other gods, no, God hasn't given us room 32:18 to decide any of that, he is God, 32:21 you don't tell the general of an army what you want to do, 32:24 the general of the army tells you what you should do. 32:27 That's just how we do it in the military. 32:29 You don't tell the coach what you wanna do, 32:30 the coach tells you what to do. 32:33 That's how we have coaches in, 32:34 in leaders of basketball teams and football teams 32:36 and we have military generals, 32:37 we have Commander in Chief, they command! 32:40 That's what discipleship is about anyway. 32:42 Discipleship we follow the Lord and Jesus says, 32:44 "Why call me Lord, Lord, 32:47 and do not do the things which I say?" 32:49 That's the biggest crux of Christianity and nowadays 32:52 and we wrapped into all those other stuffs. 32:55 Great community programs, great outreach, 32:57 feed the hungry, clothe the naked, 33:00 be missionaries all over the world, 33:01 we wrapped disobedience in good garments, 33:04 garments of doing things. These are all good things. 33:06 Another one, there's some say, 33:07 we wrapped disobedience to something else in garments 33:10 of doing good things almost thinking that I could 33:13 still transgress and do good things and God 33:16 will forget the things I should do and replace 33:18 with the things that I am 33:20 not required to do, it's really amazing! 33:22 You know, and John segue that, 33:23 because we're going into a topic here. 33:25 We got to segue. 33:27 About why so many denominations today? Yeah. 33:30 Why are we all teaching different things 33:33 yet there is one word, one gospel, we've to follow. 33:38 And, by the way as we segue out of this, 33:40 do you have any other questions you'd like to 33:41 send to us here at House Calls you can send them, 33:43 send those to housecalls@3abn.org, 33:46 that's housecalls@3abn.org and we're excited about 33:49 the questions you send. 33:51 These are the things that we wanna hear about, 33:53 stimulate our thoughts, challenge us and we do 33:55 appreciate so much all you do for the support of 33:58 3ABN and this program. Thank you very much. 34:01 The topic John we began, 34:04 "Why are there so many denominations?" 34:06 One of the reasons is, why these denominations 34:10 continue to flourish is because of one thing 34:12 that I've described scriptural ignorance. 34:16 You know, if you decided to run a race, 34:19 say the Boston Marathon, if you are in Australia 34:22 we have a place in the northeast called 34:24 Boston one of our states. 34:26 The Boston Marathon, the route or the route 34:30 how we wanna say it is predefined, 34:33 the hill, the turns, the whole thing, 34:35 just like a racing course it's predefined, 34:38 you're not gonna just drive fast in any direction and win. 34:40 In the very same way, this race that we run as 34:43 Christians has been predefined 34:45 and all the rules of the race are right here. 34:50 But the reason why there are so many different races 34:52 and people are running in, you know, 34:53 so many different directions, more specifically there are 34:55 so many different denominations is 34:57 because people have gotten rid of the rule book. 35:00 Some people say I'm just New Testament Christians, 35:02 like this much, this is all I wanna keep, 35:04 that's it, that's all I want, 35:05 keep all the rest for yourself and they make it appear 35:08 as though this is all done away with melted across 35:11 and we have this thing, nowadays that was 35:14 prophesized in Revelations, I'd like to begin with 35:16 by going back to Babylon, the Lord prophesized 35:19 that there would be confusion in the last days 35:22 and the reason for this confusion is people 35:24 just don't want to hear the truth, it's really amazing. 35:30 Christians are the greatest offenders 35:33 when it comes to hearing the truth. 35:34 You walk up to a person that knows nothing about Jesus 35:37 that wanna find out and they'll say just, 35:39 I just wanna do what God's words said. 35:41 Christians nowadays had been traditional Christians 35:43 for generation, generation, generation I don't wanna hear, 35:46 it was good enough for my mother, 35:48 my grandfather, my pastors says it that's all I want. 35:51 That's the first step to self-annihilation. 35:55 Don't wanna hear it anyway I'm preaching. 35:57 Well, that's you're preaching. 35:59 And so let's go to the book of, lets go back to 36:03 one of the passages here in, in the book of... 36:08 You said something about Revelations. 36:10 Revelation, yeah. 36:11 Springboarding off of what we saw in the last, 36:16 last program, we were talking about Babylon 36:19 and how Babylon has harlots as their children 36:25 and these harlots of course we know they are women 36:27 and they are all involved in what is the apostasy going on 36:33 within the Christian era, 36:35 the Christian faith down through time. 36:38 Now, John may be what we got to do is just cover a little, 36:41 just brief history. A very, very, may, 36:45 you know, big overview. 36:47 What we have is the early church that was established 36:51 here and Paul and the other apostles 36:54 writing their letters to keep the church on the right path. 36:58 And it was important to keep them on the right path 37:00 because as Jude says in Verse 3, 37:04 I think it is, I, "I command you to earnestly -- 37:08 "Contend for the faith". "Contend for the faith -- 37:10 That was once -- Which was once 37:12 and for all delivered to the saints. Right. 37:14 So contend for it, fight for hold onto it 37:17 because as we also read last time, 37:20 men have crept in unnoticed, unaware to anybody 37:23 and they've actually turned the grace of our God 37:26 into a license for immorality. 37:29 So the practices and the things going on 37:30 in the church were already coming in, 37:34 they got heated. Now, it's like bring 37:36 something up to mind here real quick. 37:38 Now I am preaching if you don't mind. 37:39 Go for it. If you look at Revelation Chapter 2. 37:45 Okay, Revelation Chapter 2, I'm on my way. 37:48 Look at Verse 15 and 16. Okay. 37:52 This speaks on what you're just talking about here. 37:54 You know, it is, as long as I believe in Jesus I'm okay, 37:56 its good enough for my parents, 37:57 I don't have to know all the things about the Bible. 38:00 Look at this, verse 15 of Revelation 2, 38:03 "thus you have also thou who hold the doctrine 38:07 "of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. 38:13 "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly, 38:15 and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." 38:19 Okay. Interesting, Jesus comes 38:20 in the Second Coming in Revelation 19 38:22 it says that out of his mouth comes a sharp -- 38:24 Sword. Sharp sword. 38:25 So Jesus is saying here there are some things I hate 38:28 that you're practicing, you better repent 38:31 or I'll come upon you as a sword. 38:33 Right. So don't sit there thinking a real doctrine, 38:35 teachings of Christ, those things don't matter, 38:38 Jesus in his own words is telling the truth be careful, 38:41 because there's stuff that's coming into this church 38:42 that should not be there, repent and get back on course. 38:46 And, you know, that's amazing, that, 38:48 that we say so clearly or specifically that the Bible 38:51 says it so clearly because this is where doctrine 38:53 has been given a bad wrap. 38:55 Sure you had. So you had churches nowadays 38:57 that are non-denominational. 39:00 We don't teach doctrines here 39:02 we just teach about the Bible. 39:04 As I go into a bank and say I'd like to have some money 39:07 and they say well, in what denomination. 39:09 I don't want ones, I don't want fives, 39:10 I don't tens, I don't want 20s, 39:12 I don't want 100s, give me something other than that. 39:16 Will they empty all the chains and put in your pocket. 39:19 Take your $4,000 paycheck home and change. 39:21 And what would you protest it's too heavy. 39:24 The point of the matter is there is no such thing 39:26 as a non-denominational church. That's right. 39:29 They, they woo you in with all these flamboyant 39:35 wonderfully picked words. As Paul says, 39:38 "with much fair speech they deceived the simple." 39:43 So you get this Christian Disney World 39:46 and it feels good and you get excited 39:49 and we all have a prayer session, 39:51 we just praise the Lord and the Lord says, 39:54 "I know they draw near me with their mouth, 39:56 honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." 39:59 And you're talking about here the church, 40:02 a system -- and this is where I wanna keep the focus on, 40:04 we've said it last week we've probably repeated 40:06 in every single of our, every single one of our 40:08 programs on this topic but what, what has, 40:12 has separated from Christ is not the people, 40:17 it's the system, it's the, it's the organization 40:20 of the church itself and so, you know, 40:23 we were talking about the early church 40:24 and keeping it on track, well then what happened was 40:27 there was a, there was getting to be falling away. 40:30 And we had where the devil came in to set up 40:34 his own church and you find that paganism 40:37 which he used to persecute the church in the early age 40:40 that persecution did not work the church grew 40:42 so what he said was, "I can't be them I'm going to -- 40:46 Join them. -- join them." 40:47 And so he took paganism, 40:50 put a Christian garb on it and called it his church. 40:54 Right. And interesting, 40:56 the church is referred to as the mother church. 41:01 And we find in Revelation 17 41:03 that she is the mother of harlots. 41:05 And by the way, you know that she has on purple and red 41:10 which means what color is missing rather 41:13 than just what color is there. 41:14 The color that is missing is blue. 41:17 Blue were in the garments of the leaders the tassels blue, 41:23 representing the presence of God's law. 41:26 This woman kicked that out. 41:28 God's commandments are kicked out that's what you find in 41:31 Revelation 12:17, "the dragon is angry with 41:34 the woman who want, and want to make war 41:36 with the remnant of a seed which keeps 41:38 the commandments of God." 41:40 So when you bring to narrow it down, 41:42 and I could go back, if the system that you are part of, 41:44 we are using that broad phrase nowadays not to use 41:47 any denominational titles, but if the church 41:50 or the system that you are a part of teaches that 41:55 the commandments of God are done away with, 41:58 nailed to the cross then the devil 42:00 has nothing to fight against you for. 42:03 He is not angry with you. 42:04 He is not even gonna try to stop you. 42:06 He is gonna let you go ahead and vainly worship 42:09 that is ignorantly believing as you're taught that 42:12 the commandments of God don't really matter. 42:14 Well, if the last book of the Bible says it does then 42:17 it really does not just the commands in the general sense 42:20 like some transition try to make it 42:22 but the word they are clearly 42:24 is in reference to God's Ten Commandments. 42:26 Yeah, the other thing two of that in Chapter 14 verse 12 42:31 it combines that the patience of the saints, 42:33 those who are faithful to God throughout the end 42:36 time struggles and troubles or those who keep the 42:39 commandments of God and the faith of Jesus 42:43 and so you cannot say that keeping the 42:45 commandments of God or legalism. No. 42:47 Because you have people keeping the commandments 42:49 and having the faith of Jesus at the same time. 42:51 That's right. Faith then works together. 42:53 Faith then works together through 42:54 the whole book of James is establishing that proof 42:57 too so, here you've got, this system is false system 43:01 that is setup under the garb of Christianity, 43:05 paganism with the garb of Christianity 43:08 and then out of that system over years of time 43:11 and years of persecution 1260 years 43:15 you have a time where that system is beginning to wane, 43:18 it's beginning to struggle and God establishes reformers 43:23 that come up and there you have the protest 43:26 with reformation. And it's called 43:28 protest of reformation because these reformers 43:30 are protesting against Rome, they are protesting against 43:35 the established mother church. 43:38 The thing is, is that as you continue down through time 43:41 as the reformation occurs and out of that reformation 43:43 we will talk about this a little bit more you have 43:45 these various denominations that come out. 43:47 Right. In the 1600s you have Baptist, 43:50 of course Martin Lutheran reformer has the 43:52 Lutheran Church that stands on his principles. 43:54 Which he didn't start. 43:55 Yes, yes he didn't start that church 43:56 but a church was developed from Martin Luther's teachings 44:00 and you have other denomination that come 44:02 about over the, the centuries beyond that. 44:07 But what does the mother church do, 44:09 what is the Babylon the harlot, 44:10 the mother church do with, why is it saying that 44:13 there are still harlots, they still are not fully 44:16 following her or following Christ's teachings, 44:19 they are still living in harlotry. Well... 44:21 Here is one, Isaiah. Go ahead. 44:23 Okay. Go ahead. 44:24 Turn yours, Isaiah Chapter 4 verse 1, 44:28 the Lord outlines conditions and by the way 44:30 there is a motive that is throughout the book of Isaiah 44:34 practically mentions a number of times early in the, 44:38 in the chapters of Isaiah its, it's a phrase if you look 44:41 at this phrase in that day, in that day, 44:44 in that day the Lord continue, 44:46 it talks about the conditions that were prevail in that day 44:49 that is the day of the Lord. 44:51 What he says in Isaiah 4:1 speaking about that continued 44:56 motive, he says "And in that day, seven women," 45:02 the Bible talks about seven churches. 45:04 "In that day seven women shall take hold of one man," 45:10 who is the man, the man Christ Jesus 45:12 "saying," here is the reason for the confusion. 45:16 "We will eat our own bread," bread is synonymous 45:19 with the word of God, we have our own teachings, 45:21 "and wear our own apparel" meaning our own measure 45:24 of righteousness or right and wrong, 45:27 "only let us be called by your name," 45:29 Christian, "to take away our reproach." 45:32 In other words I have the label so people don't believe 45:34 that there is any reproach here. 45:36 See Satan is a master at deception, 45:39 I talked about that in the series. 45:41 The seven systems, the final coalition, 45:44 there are systems that Satan has established 45:46 to deceit people, he does it in the world, 45:49 and he does it very effectively, 45:50 in Christianity he does it effectively and lot of other 45:52 movements around the world but they said, 45:55 okay, okay, okay we know what your bread is, 45:58 that's exactly what happen in the wilderness. 46:01 Jesus tried to feed Israel with manna everyday 46:05 but they wanted their own bread. 46:07 Their own food, yeah. 46:08 They wanted their own food, give us our own doctrines, 46:11 give us our own righteousness, 46:13 all we want from you is the name Christians. 46:16 And so nowadays because it has the label Christian 46:18 people assume it's right but I could see so many churches 46:21 teaching so many different things, 46:22 going in so many different directions all be right, 46:25 they can't be right. 46:27 It's right. Unless you believe that there 46:29 is no absolute truth which Christians in general believe 46:33 but that's not right. There isn't absolute truth. 46:35 That's why they are such digging the hill. 46:37 So look at the next verse though, okay, Isaiah 4:2. 46:41 "In that day as well the branch of the Lord shall 46:44 be beautiful and glorious," so this isn't the branch 46:47 that is from another. This is the branch 46:51 that comes from where, the Lord. From the Lord. 46:54 "And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent 46:56 and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped." 47:00 So Israel who is the faithful and who doesn't don't 47:05 want just Christ in name they want everything about 47:08 Christ and everything that he is, 47:10 those who have escaped hold fast to him 47:12 and thats why you have the patience of the saints 47:14 who keep the commandments of God 47:15 and the faith of Jesus in Revelation 14:12. 47:18 But then you have this mother of harlots doing 47:21 their own thing they look like the church. 47:24 They are women but they do stuff that is much different 47:27 than Christ church would do. 47:29 Now it is impure and unholy that the doctrines 47:32 and its teachings are misleading and deceptive 47:35 and those are some of the things that I think 47:36 we wanna get into, that was the heart of 47:39 the battle and the reformation. 47:41 Mark Lutheran another reformer standing up against 47:43 the Church of Rome and the Rome then coming against 47:46 them like a wheel, when you find a few years later 47:48 you had what is called the Counter Reformation seeking 47:51 to undo what God had established 47:55 during the reformation period. 47:57 And now today you still have a Counter Reformation 47:59 going on where Protestant churches today 48:02 only want the name of Protestant but they do know 48:05 what they no longer protest against the teachings of Rome. 48:09 You know John I did and I keep coming back 48:11 to the series John, you need to get a copy 48:13 of that Last Days series from 3ABN. 48:16 I talked about that how there is no more protesting, 48:21 it's almost like many Christians have 48:24 surrendered to, to darkness, to things that are easier, 48:31 to things that are more favorable, 48:32 to things that fit best into their schedule, 48:35 to, to traditions in their family, 48:38 to things that they like, stain glass, nice choirs, 48:42 wonderful programs for my children, 48:44 entertainment for my children, Christian Disneyland 48:48 like many years ago I praise the Lord that Jim Baker 48:50 has turned around, you know, you know, 48:53 his, Michael Jackson's Never Neverland was just like 48:56 this big whole Disney World that the Baker's had many, 48:58 many years ago. So that's what, that's what, 49:02 that's what coming into the Christian church nowadays. 49:04 Sin has poured all those candy coating into 49:07 the Christian church and people are sweetened 49:09 by it and we forget that there is a way 49:11 but I wanna continue in Isaiah 10 here real quickly, 49:13 Isaiah 4 where we just were a moment ago, 49:16 I wanted you to see something because John 49:18 used the word here in verse 2 of Isaiah 2, 49:23 "for those of Israel who have escaped" 49:25 that's very important because the question 49:27 is who is going to escape those things 49:30 that are coming on the world. 49:32 There's a way to do it and this passage hits 49:35 it on the head Isaiah 10 and verse 20 look at this. 49:39 Once again, "In that day," 49:40 motive that is the day of the Lord and 49:42 "it shall come to pass in that day 49:45 "that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped 49:50 "of the house of Judah will never again depend on him 49:54 "who defeated them but will depend on the Lord, 49:58 the holy one of Israel." 50:00 How they gonna depend on him John? In truth. 50:02 Okay, truth is important in the Old Testament, 50:05 truth is important in the New Testament, 50:07 truth is never not been important, 50:09 its just only been downplayed and water down in churches 50:12 around the world, this mega-church 50:13 and giga-churches that have seven stepsv 50:16 of the successful Christian. 50:18 In all these programs, women that are loose, 50:21 they are loosened folk with, but they are binding them 50:23 on the other side, you are loose, 50:25 but you are bound in era. 50:27 So really how does it matter, it does matter. 50:29 So we're, we've decided to tackle the topic that, 50:34 we're going to generate some e-mails, 50:37 but that's what, we don't want the e-mails 50:38 as much as we want to stimulate your thoughts. 50:41 We want to get all that dust of dormant Christianity 50:45 stirred up and say, get back to your Bible 50:46 and stop becoming a conveyable Christian, 50:49 that just does over the church teaches 50:51 and goes down the path of everybody else, 50:53 the path of least resistance. 50:55 By the way, I'm gonna turn back to you here John, 50:57 but the path of least resistance is the reason 51:00 why rivers are crooked, the water flows to the path 51:04 of least resistance. God is saying we can't afford 51:07 to be that way, because we've to take 51:10 straight path for our feet. 51:12 But many churches are intentionally leading 51:15 their people to crooked paths. 51:17 All the guys of convenience and tradition 51:20 and with phrases like, it doesn't matter, 51:23 all was nailed to the cross. 51:25 That's not what the Bible teaches. 51:28 So we're gonna be talking about some denominations. 51:31 That's right. And we'll be talking about, 51:34 in fact we'll just spend a couple of minutes here 51:36 on our own denomination, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 51:39 because even within the denomination that we love 51:43 and care for, that John and I are preachers 51:46 and are teachers, we're pastors, we're shep, 51:50 under shepherds. We love this church, 51:53 that there are things in this church that the devil 51:56 is still trying to do. 51:57 He is not content to allow the truth go forward 52:02 without at least trying to attack the church itself 52:05 that is disseminating that truth. Right. 52:08 And so within this church even you have divisions 52:11 that have gone off and we say we share this with you, 52:14 because we don't want anybody to go astray. 52:17 That's right. So there are churches 52:19 out there that are in the branch of the apostasy 52:24 and then there is the true church, 52:25 but it also is suffering some problems. 52:29 And within this church, you have groups 52:30 that have broken off from this that are, 52:33 help in lifting them. Subversive, 52:35 let me give you an example a few years ago, 52:37 not few years ago, but more than ten years ago, 52:39 the sad reality in Waco, Texas, David Koresh. 52:43 David Koresh was a young man that attended 52:45 one of our churches in California, 52:46 had Bible studies in afternoon, 52:48 but then he took a left turn and establish himself 52:53 as an authority and as a law unto himself 52:56 and if you are in America, you know, what the end result 52:58 of that was. Lot of people lost their lives 53:01 needlessly under the context of Branch Davidians. 53:07 So they started moving Branch Davidians 53:09 and they deceived people by saying 53:11 but we're Seventh-day Adventists. 53:15 We're the remnant. We're part of the remnant. 53:17 While they may have held the doctrines 53:19 in common in many areas, but there were some 53:21 they went off on, because you cannot be 53:22 leading a group and having all these extra fears 53:24 inside as a leader and think that's supported 53:27 by the church, that is not supported by 53:28 the church, that's not supported by the Bible. 53:30 So they establish this convenient doctrines or 53:35 portions of leaving out the important things, 53:38 but held on to the title only let us 53:40 be called by your name. Right. 53:42 And that's what happened, you have the Branch Davidians, 53:45 you have this others that calls the Brinsmead, 53:48 then you have Shepherd's Rod, then you all the divisions of 53:51 the Shepherd's Rod, and all these people are going. 53:53 They reform, entire reform. 53:55 We format in its movement, those who just feel that 53:58 you have to be so strict if you smile 54:00 you are on a fast track to destruction. 54:03 There is so much that has crept in and is drawing away 54:07 disciples after themselves, but if you follow 54:10 the teachings of the Bible, you understand 54:12 the 28 fundamentals of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 54:15 as it is, the full world wide body, 54:17 that's why John, we're even particular about 54:19 who uses our name, Seventh-day Adventist. 54:22 There are churches that are not under 54:24 the system of churches, that they use the name 54:27 and people think oh, that's a church. 54:29 And you go in there and you think, 54:30 what are these folk doing? If that's what the 54:32 Adventist Church is about, I'll have none of it. 54:35 So we're saying that in Christendom itself, 54:38 there are those who have a mainline church 54:42 that represents itself which is a mainline Baptist, then. 54:44 You have a forum, you have the Southern Baptist, 54:47 Southern Baptist Convention, you have a Freewill Baptist. 54:49 You have all these that are in and among themselves, 54:52 there are controversies. 54:53 So when we deal with these topics, 54:55 we're not going to topic about, 54:56 just we're not going to talk about all isms 54:59 and all the branches. We're going to deal with 55:01 the mainlines of each of these particular movements 55:03 and find out what's based on the Bible, 55:05 and what's not based on the Bible. 55:07 Yeah, you know, one of the battles 55:11 that we've seen in the church that at least 55:13 that I've met or at least have been up against, 55:17 I know it's down here, its really every where 55:18 around the country are from these groups, 55:21 because what they do is they try to, 55:23 they disperse out into the mainline church 55:28 and then they try and pull people from 55:29 the mainline church into their movement. Right. 55:32 They are not going and evangelizing out there. No. 55:34 They are trying to pull Seventh-day Adventists 55:37 from in their churches into what they believe. 55:39 And there are even some groups I think there are 55:42 some parts that, you know, 55:45 may be I won't use the word deadly, 55:46 but I think there are some teachings there 55:48 that are little skewed among historic Adventism. 55:53 Those that believe that you've got to be 55:55 strict and rigid of only, about only what the pioneers 55:59 of the Adventist Church believed 56:00 in the early parts of this movement. 56:02 In developmental stages. And then from that you have 56:05 folks that believe well the trinity isn't totally false 56:07 they aren't there in one there is only two in one. 56:10 I think you have the airiness that comes in that Christ 56:12 is not really divine, you know, 56:14 this stuff is within still, means you are 56:18 on a very small scale, I'm saying, right, 56:19 but misleads and the devil is at work inside as well. 56:23 So just because we say as a Seventh-day Adventist Church, 56:26 we've the truth, it doesn't mean that 56:28 we don't have our challenges. Right. 56:30 We got our challenges and we want to 56:31 acknowledge that to you. 56:33 But we're in a line or a branch where 56:36 God is blessing with truth his movement, 56:40 His church, His remnant and we're then in turn 56:43 evangelizing the world that call people out of Babylon, 56:46 the other line that isn't apostasy. 56:49 And we'll talk about these churches 56:51 and why in fact we believe they are in apostasy. Right. 56:54 And some of the things that are misleading teachings 56:58 and so forth that are coming out 56:59 of those that you should be aware of. 57:01 You know John, that is so right. 57:02 That why here are House Calls, 57:03 we're so convicted that God has something 57:06 for us to follow, that's not cunningly devised 57:08 but is based on the Bible. 57:10 And so Jesus said, the sheep I have 57:12 that are not of this fold, them also I must bring 57:15 and they will hear My voice and there will be on fold 57:18 and one shepherd. Friends, the Lord 57:19 has a fold for you to follow, not one that's necessary 57:22 convenient for you, but one that will take you 57:24 from where you are to eternal life. 57:27 So until we see you again, 57:28 may the Lord continue blessing you. 57:30 Have a great day in Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17