Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL130003
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00:01 Hello, Friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:02 and sit back as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of "House Calls." 00:22 Welcome to another "House Calls" program. 00:24 Today we are so thankful that you've chosen to sit down. 00:28 We know that some of you wait for us to come into your home, 00:31 into your heart, into your business, 00:32 maybe even into your church. 00:34 So thank you, for inviting John and John. 00:36 And we're excited to be here today. 00:38 What about you, John? We are. I am. 00:40 It's always exciting to this, very privileged thing we do, 00:43 open up the word of God and share truth. That's right. 00:46 And so we want you to next-- 00:47 to sit down for the next hour or so 00:50 and get your Bibles, get your pens, 00:52 invite your family, and your friends 00:54 to join us in "House Calls" 00:56 and expect the Lord to do something wonderful. 00:58 We have two new topics that we're gonna be presenting-- 01:00 actually one on this program. 01:02 But as you know your Bible questions mean a lot to us. 01:06 We'll tell you a little more about that in just a moment. 01:08 But before we go any further 01:10 we always like to begin with prayer. 01:11 John? Let's pray. 01:13 Father in heaven, we again ask for your leading, 01:15 your guiding hand here today. 01:17 Draw near to us, we pray with your Spirit 01:19 and may we understand your word 01:21 as we open to talk about various topics and questions 01:25 that are very appropriate and important here 01:28 in the day in which we live 01:29 and also a topic we know that is near and dear to your heart. 01:32 So, Lord, we submit thisprogram to you 01:34 and ask for your blessing here in Jesus name. 01:36 Amen. Amen. 01:38 And as you know your questions are, let a moment ago 01:41 by saying your Bible questions make a difference. 01:44 Now in my hand I have a couple of snail mail. 01:47 What is that mean nowadays 01:48 I mean it was not sent by email, but it was sent by post office. 01:52 By a snail? By a snail. 01:54 It got here eventually 01:56 that's the way we like to say it. 01:58 Thank you, no matter how you send 01:59 those questions and comments, we do appreciate them. 02:02 So continue sending them. 02:04 Well, I also got an email, John, it was a dissertation. 02:08 My wife said I bet you it's about 20 pages long 02:11 and it was 20 pages long. 02:14 So let me give you a hint. 02:15 I think we've mentioned this before, 02:16 but maybe some people haven't caught it. 02:18 When you send a 20 page dissertation 02:22 we can't do anything with that, 02:24 because there is so information there 02:26 we cannot distill that down. 02:28 It will take up so much of our time to put that together. 02:30 So try to be very concise. 02:32 Send a small line either through email 02:34 or a single piece of paper like this 02:36 and explain what you like to answer 02:38 and we will be glad to do that. 02:39 But if you have any questions or comments, 02:41 here is the email that you can send them to. 02:43 Send those to housecalls@3abn.org 02:46 that's housecalls@3abn.org 02:50 and we'll download those 02:51 and do what we're gonna do right now, get to the questions. 02:55 Right, John, what we have today? That's right. 02:57 I've got a question here from-- we'll call him Mr. Parker, 03:01 'cause he is a parker. Mr. Parker, okay. 03:03 Didn't give his first name here, but great question. 03:06 "I know the Bible says that 03:08 Jesus was tempted in all points like we are. 03:11 I find it hard to believe that He could ever be tempted 03:14 to lie, steal, kill, or commit sins of a sexual nature. 03:19 What are your thoughts on this?" 03:21 Okay. Great question. 03:22 And so for answering this though 03:25 we want to go to Matthew Chapter 4. 03:27 We'll spend sometime looking at the temptation of Christ. 03:29 Now we know throughout His ministry here on earth 03:34 that the devil was always tempting Him. 03:36 Trying to get Him off course, 03:38 to deviated Him from His purpose 03:40 as our Savior and our Lord to become our redeemer. 03:44 But this battle here that begins 03:46 right after His baptism in Matthew Chapter 3. 03:50 We find this battle in Matthew Chapter 4 03:52 of being tempted in a wilderness. 03:54 We find some of the key elements of temptation here, 03:57 because we have to remember that 03:59 temptation for the enemy of any specific individual 04:03 is a very specifically tailored temptation. 04:08 In other words it takes into play the context, 04:12 the time in which that individual lives, 04:15 their history and all the things 04:17 that would give Satan the maximum opportunity 04:20 to get someone to fall and to succumb, 04:24 to yield to that temptation. 04:25 And so he also tailored these 04:27 specifically for Jesus when He was here. 04:30 Now, Jesus was not tempted 04:32 with every specific temptation that mankind has. 04:36 But generally every area of temptation Jesus conquered, 04:39 He overcame in our behalf. 04:42 And we can depend upon Him for those temptations. 04:44 And so we're gonna cover in this here 04:46 we'll see very clearly that these three areas of temptation 04:50 pretty much cover the entire gamut of all temptations, 04:53 specific temptations for any of us, 04:56 you and I, who face the enemy 04:59 and the way he oppresses us 05:02 with tempting us to fall away from Christ. 05:04 John, let's go to-- we're in Matthew Chapter 4, 05:07 let's start with Verse 1. All right. 05:09 It says, "Then Jesus was let up by the Spirit 05:12 into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 05:15 And when He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights 05:18 afterward He was hungry." 05:20 Now I can imagine and I have gone 05:24 a short period of time without eating. 05:26 Whenever we fast it could be a day, 05:29 could be two days, it could be three days 05:31 and, boy, I'll tell you, John, 05:32 I am hungry after just a day. Right. 05:36 Can you imagine 40 days of not eating? 05:39 No I wouldn't be--there would be nothing of me left. 05:42 Yes, both of us. Forty days. 05:46 So you can imagine the condition that Jesus is in here 05:49 and so the temptation that is about to come from the enemy 05:51 really is he's going to take advantage of where Jesus is 05:58 as He is hungry, as He is been deprived, 06:01 and physically He's worn-- mentally He's worn out. 06:03 Satan is gonna try to use that then to cause Him to succumb. 06:07 And verse 3, it says, 06:09 "Now when the tempter came to Him 06:10 he said, 'if you are the Son of God 06:13 command that these stones become bread.' 06:17 But He answered and said" that is Jesus answered. 06:19 "'it is written, man shall not live by bread alone 06:22 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 06:25 That is the first temptation. 06:27 What Satan did was look to tempt Christ 06:31 using His physical needs. 06:35 He had been deprive of food for 40 days, 06:37 He had been spending that time fasting 06:38 knowing that temptation would come. 06:40 And so the first thing the enemy try to do 06:42 was get Him to perform a miracle for Himself 06:45 to give Him His own necessities even though God knew-- 06:49 Jesus knew that God did asked Him to fast through this time. 06:53 And so here we find 06:55 the temptation of a physical nature 06:58 and that is anything that our body feels physically it needs, 07:01 You know, I would equate some of this specific temptations 07:05 under that category, John, and you can help me with this, 07:07 as in a desire for foods that aren't good for us. 07:11 Okay. Or even just food. 07:13 Maybe we've made a commitment to fast 07:15 or to do something or to pray and have that time close to God. 07:18 He might tempt us to do the same thing, 07:20 to step in and kind of fulfill or break that promise 07:24 that oath that we made in and eat food ourselves. Right. 07:27 But more than that, there are things 07:29 that aren't good for us that appeal to our physical nature. 07:33 Remember, Jesus did not have the propensity to sin. 07:38 He did not have the desire to sin. 07:40 We have the desire to sin. 07:42 And all these different things 07:44 that appeal to us on a small-scale 07:47 really Jesus was on a greater scale 07:51 overcoming in our behalf. 07:53 And other sins of this nature would be sexual sins, 07:57 temptations that were mentioned by our gentleman 08:00 that sent the question in to lie, steal, kill, 08:03 to get things that aren't ours 08:07 to be hateful in our heart and to look to kill somebody. 08:10 These are physical sins that we all face. 08:14 John, I don't know if you want to weigh in on that, 08:15 but that is one major category that Jesus then overcome, 08:19 He overcame all these sins of a physical nature in our behalf. 08:22 Well, if you look at the Bible you see that-- 08:25 and I like the way you let into this. 08:27 Sin is all in three categories. 08:28 Every sin falls into one of those three categories. 08:32 The very first one you go back 08:34 to the book of Genesis Chapter 3. 08:37 Let's not lose Matthew, 08:38 because I like to compare one with the other. 08:41 But if you look at Genesis Chapter 3 08:43 one of the first things that Satan did to Eve 08:47 was tempt her with appetite. 08:50 The woman, Genesis 3:6, 08:52 "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food." 08:56 All right, the very first wherein--here's the key, 08:59 where Adam and Eve fail, 09:01 Jesus was tempted in the way same areas. 09:04 So appetite was the first temptation 09:06 and if you were to broaden that 09:08 people have all kinds of appetites. 09:09 Yeah, it's not just for food. No, it's not just for food. 09:12 Appetites for whatever, 09:14 whatever would satisfy a person's appetite 09:17 that's why the Bible says in the context of that 09:19 if you hunger and thirst after righteousness you'll be filled. 09:24 Which means every other appetite will never lead you to be filled 09:28 it will lead you down a road of addiction. 09:30 So we have people that are addicted to food. 09:33 We have people that are addicted to any kind of thing 09:35 that will cause them to feel 09:37 that by partaking of this I'm being satisfied. 09:40 So we this lack of satisfaction because the first temptation 09:43 that Satan comes to us with is at least not the first, 09:46 but one of the three temptation is, 09:47 I know exactly what will satisfy you. 09:50 I know what you need. I know what you need. 09:52 You are hungry right now. I know you need some food. 09:56 And what that food may be to somebody 09:58 may be a cigarette that is the thing 10:00 of the focal point of their satisfaction, it could be-- 10:05 Desire for money. Oh, whatever they feel-- 10:08 Lust for pleasure of any kind, I mean, there's a whole-- 10:11 so many sins within this category. 10:13 And including-- as the person mentioned there, 10:17 they say that Jesus wasn't tempted with sexual appetites. 10:21 Well, how do we know that? 10:23 He was tempted in all points as we are 10:25 and surely in that age as in our age 10:27 sensuality and sexuality was an issue of all areas. 10:31 Come on this is Rome, of course. 10:33 Right and you find even, even-- 10:35 I think there was a book put out or movie put out 10:38 not so long ago by this movie-- The temptation of Christ. 10:43 They even suggested that showing that in that age 10:46 where they pulling some of this historical mumbo jumbo from-- 10:50 and I use that, because there's no fact to that. 10:52 But they are making the allusions that, 10:55 "Hey, what if Jesus was tempted in this particular area." 10:59 He was tempted in all points. 11:01 And so when you look at appetite-- 11:03 let's go ahead and narrow it down. 11:05 Whatever your appetite is 11:07 Satan will design the temptation to come after you. 11:10 That's the key, whatever that appetite is, 11:13 whether it's physical, whether it's social, 11:16 whether it's sexual, whether it's-- 11:19 to some kind of substance abuse 11:21 whatever that appetite is if it's not Christ 11:24 you'll continue to hunger and thirst 11:27 and that will become an addiction. 11:29 So that's the first thing. 11:30 I want you to--you're gonna go to the next one? 11:32 Yeah, the next one here begins with verse 5, 11:35 "Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, 11:37 sat him on a pinnacle of the temple, 11:40 And saith unto him, 'If you are the Son of God 11:42 throw yourself down, for it is written, 11:44 He shall give his angels charge over you, 11:47 and in their hands they shall bear you up, 11:48 lest you dash your foot against a stone.' 11:51 Jesus said to him, 'It is written again, 11:54 You shall not temp the Lord your God.'" 11:56 And here we find temptation-- 11:58 and I don't know how you qualify it or classified this. 12:00 I know preachers have a different way 12:03 of each of this temptation 12:04 especially the second and third one here. 12:06 But I see this as a temptation of the mind 12:09 and some call it temptation of presumption, 12:13 you know, assuming or presuming that God is going to just, 12:17 you know, He'll be fine, let this go, 12:20 let the mind loosen up a little bit 12:22 and into these areas whether they please God 12:25 or don't please God it doesn't matter so much. 12:27 It's making the mind lose in its understanding, 12:32 its obligation to serve and to love God 12:34 with all our heart and with our mind. 12:37 And so beyond passions and appetite 12:40 we have this battle that happens in the mind, John, 12:43 be loyal and faithful to God and not presume on His mercy 12:48 that we can pretty much have 12:50 the liberty to do whatever we want, 12:51 which we hear very much today within Christendom. 12:54 Yeah, this second temptation-- 12:56 and by the way I laid the foundation a moment ago 12:58 as I'm building off to what John pointed out. 13:01 This second temptation aligns 13:04 with the one that Eve had to deal with. 13:07 First of all, she saw the food- 13:09 I'll just go ahead and read it again in Genesis Chapter 3. 13:13 "So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 13:16 that it was pleasant to the eye." 13:19 So the second one here-- 13:20 you go to the second temptation in Matthew Chapter 4. 13:27 They're not all in necessarily the same order. 13:30 But you'll find that when you look 13:32 at the three categories in 1 John Chapter 2 13:34 and many of us don't think about 1 John Chapter 2, 13:37 but you find Genesis, Matthew and 1 John 13:41 outlines all three of the categories of sin. 13:44 1 John Chapter 2 says this "For all that is in the world" 13:48 1 John 2:16 "the lust of the flesh," 13:52 appetite, "the lust of the eyes--" 13:55 The woman saw that the tree was good for food. 13:58 You see, and then the devil is now saying to Christ 14:00 and you'll find that this category 14:03 will fall into the second area. 14:06 Also this area is presumption 14:09 when you lay that out "the lust of the eyes," 14:11 in other words I see what I want 14:14 and I don't think that God will really mind 14:16 if I want to head and went after it or went for it. 14:20 We start rationalizing. We start rationalize. 14:21 And that's why say it's really a mental battle here 14:23 with the second temptation. 14:25 It's good for-- I mean, it looks fine. 14:27 It's something that pleases me. 14:29 You find that that's what let us to Samson's downfall. 14:34 I found a woman. She pleases me well. 14:38 Well, at that particular point 14:39 there was no kind of physical connection, but he saw her. 14:41 She was beautiful. Same thing happen to David. 14:44 He looked at that she was beautiful to behold. 14:47 You see the same thing 14:48 "the lust of the eyes" falls into this category. 14:52 So when you're looking throughout the Bible, 14:53 every sin that was committed was either lust of the flesh 14:57 then the lust of the eyes and thirdly the pride of life. 15:00 And that's where the third temptation's gonna go. 15:02 And you might even say that probably sexual sins 15:07 fall into the second category 15:08 more than even the first category, 15:10 'cause it comes through the eyes, 15:11 the doorway into the mind processing this 15:14 and then taking action. 15:16 And you know what, the devil knew this. 15:18 He being a fallen angel understood 15:24 that these temptations that were presented to Eve 15:27 in the garden caused her to fall. 15:30 So he said, wait a minute, 15:31 let me just keep these categories together. 15:33 Which one, lust of the flesh, lust of eyes, and pride of life. 15:36 And when you look at the third temptation 15:38 this falls and-- read the third one 15:39 about Christ first and then we'll go ahead 15:41 and see that how Genesis and 1 John jumps right into that 15:45 and seals the description 15:48 of what this third temptation really is all about. 15:51 Verse 8 from Matthew 4. 15:52 As you finish from the-- the second one, 15:54 if you want to put that in there and give it a categorization. 15:59 It is gratifying the personal desires 16:03 inspite of the limitations that God places on us. 16:07 You see, I need to gratify these personal desires, 16:10 which is not just appetite, but it goes to the next level. 16:14 These are the things that I see I must do 16:16 and I know what God's word says, 16:17 but that's why the devil is able to say. 16:20 Look it-- read the second one again. 16:21 What did he say to Christ? 16:23 "Throw yourself down." Don't worry about it. 16:26 He'll give His angels charge over you. 16:28 He'll work it out as one of the radio talk show 16:32 hosts on KGO radio in San Francisco said 16:35 "It's better to ask for forgiveness 16:37 than it is to ask for permission." 16:39 Throw yourself down, don't worry about it. 16:42 And so what--in essence this is saying is, go for it. 16:46 And you have a lot of people that says-- 16:48 Just do it. Just do it. 16:49 Okay, there you go. 16:51 In the gambling halls, "Ah, you have any more money left? 16:52 I'm gonna put it all on the table, I'm gonna go for it." 16:54 They gratifying at that desire, they just gonna go for it. 16:57 And if you look at that in our world today 16:59 a lot of people go for it, 17:01 because they ignore the limitations 17:02 that God has placed for our own safety. 17:05 And that's what Satan is trying to get Christ to do, 17:07 exceed the limitation. 17:08 There is almost a graduation here 17:10 from the first to the second, from the second of third here, 17:12 'cause the appetite really comes first. 17:13 But if you go beyond that then you really start 17:16 to get into the based carnal nature 17:20 in fulfilling the lust of the eyes as well. 17:22 And so he is saying to Christ 17:23 "You know you want it. Just go ahead and do it. 17:26 God didn't worry about it." Yeah. 17:28 Verse 8 "Again, the devil took Him up 17:30 on an exceedingly high mountain, 17:32 and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 17:35 And he said to Him, 'All these things 17:37 I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' 17:40 Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! 17:42 For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, 17:45 and Him only you shall serve." 17:47 Then the devil left Him and behold angels came 17:50 and ministered to Him." 17:51 I praise the Lord, that Jesus' story 17:53 is differently than Eve's did because it says 17:57 "She took of it's fruit and ate." 18:00 That's how successful Satan was. 18:02 And that, you know, John, this is-- 18:03 I'm glad we're not rushing through this one, 18:06 because it's so good. 18:07 You see, people say "Well, what if Jesus tempted 18:09 with cocaine or crack cocaine or internet gambling 18:16 or whatever the case maybe?" 18:18 Each-- every sin that exist 18:20 falls into one of these three categories. 18:22 That's how simple it is. 18:24 The third one here, "A tree desirable to make one wise." 18:29 What did Satan say to Christ under this third one? 18:33 I'm gonna show you 18:34 all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 18:36 And what this 1 John 2:15 say? 18:39 The third one the pride of life, the pride of life. 18:45 And what happens nowadays is 18:47 the world is so busy giving humanity accolade. 18:52 I'm so proud of my accomplishments, 18:54 I'm proud of my academy award, 18:56 I'm proud of my Grammy award, 18:57 I'm pride of my Emmy award. 19:00 All the kingdoms of the world. 19:02 That's why it's so important-- 19:04 and I mention this as a musician. 19:06 I thought to myself "How do you decide 19:08 what awards to give Christian singers?" 19:11 Is it based on how many people 19:13 have come to Christ through their songs? 19:14 And you got devil awards, you got the Angel awards, 19:16 you got all these awards. 19:18 And sometimes we could fall into the same trap 19:19 of going in the way the world and we give these people-- 19:22 "Oh, that was a best Christian song produced all year long." 19:24 Well, what do you based that on? 19:26 How good it made me feel? 19:28 Was it the best dance Christian song, 19:30 the best party Christian song 19:31 or did it lead more people to give their life to Christ? 19:34 So be really careful. 19:35 Go ahead and register in on that before I finish-- 19:37 Well, I would also say this is a shortcut 19:39 to what God will ultimately fulfill in us 19:43 if we then are glorified. 19:45 If we stand fasten are glorified in the end 19:47 when He comes to take us home. 19:48 This is a shortcut for Christ to get the kingdom early. 19:53 And we live in an I-want-it-all-now society. 19:56 You know, give it to me now 19:58 and the pride of wanting that glorification now 20:02 is wrapped up in this temptation. 20:04 And it really is a temptation of a spiritual nature. 20:07 It's a desire to be spiritually-- 20:10 actually to receive on a very temporary level 20:13 what spiritually will be given to us later anyway. 20:15 We will reign with Christ on thrones. 20:18 He's going to give us 20:19 everything we can possibly imagine or desire. 20:22 But the devil was offering to Jesus in advance earlier, 20:25 not having to go through the trouble, the struggles. 20:28 And we find here many temptations in life today 20:31 which really boils down to pride. 20:33 That I want it all now, 20:34 I want to get this now rather than waiting 20:38 for when Christ says the time is right 20:40 and it's okay to give. 20:42 And this is the category where we find that 20:44 it definitely infringes on our connection with divinity, 20:47 because Satan says, 20:48 "All these things I'll give you if you worship me." 20:51 When I did the series on unclean spirits about the occult 20:54 and the entertainment industry that is the whole thing. 20:57 The whole entertainment industry is based on satanic worship, 21:02 because they want the kingdoms of the world 21:04 and all of its glory. 21:06 He said, I'll give it to you. 21:08 And so we wonder how could an awful singer 21:11 become so famous practically overnight. 21:14 Because when you hear phrases such as 21:16 I sold my soul to the devil 21:18 or I made a contract with the devil 21:20 or I sold out to the devil. 21:22 You find these phrases are really exactly 21:25 they're accepting the offer that the devil made. 21:27 "I'll give you all this but you got to worship me." 21:30 And that's why the Lord says in 1 John 2:15 21:32 about the third temptation "The lust of the flesh, 21:35 and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life," 21:36 the third one is the pride of life 21:38 "is not of the Father, but is of the world." 21:40 In verse 17 of 1 John 2 "And the world is passing away, 21:45 and the lust of it but he who does 21:48 the will of God abides forever." 21:51 And so what is the will of God in the satanic world? 21:54 They say not God's will but my will be done. 21:58 In the Christian world, not my will 22:00 but God's will be done. 22:01 That's right. It's a difference altogether. 22:03 He who does the will of God abides forever. 22:05 And so Satan says "Now, what do you want to do, Eve? 22:07 Looks no, no, Eve, I know what God says, 22:09 but what do you want to do?" 22:11 "Well, I want something to eat. 22:13 I want to have more knowledge than I have right now," 22:15 tree of the knowledge of good and evil 22:17 "and I want to feel better about myself," the pride of life. 22:20 See, and the world says 22:22 "Okay, I know you could feel better about yourself. 22:23 What if I make you a very popular person 22:26 and all your adoring fans just worship you 22:28 when you step out on the stage." 22:29 And that's what we have that today in our world. 22:32 Idols and we are looking for more idols, 22:34 thus American Idol, Dancing with the stars 22:38 all of this stuff, self worship, 22:40 they want to be proud-fully given awards 22:44 and accolade by humanity, 22:46 when in fact you find that 22:48 when even John was about to bow down 22:50 to an angel in Revelation 19:10. 22:54 The angel said, don't do that. 22:56 I'm of your fellow servant and your brethren. Worship God. 23:01 And so human worship is what a lot of people want nowadays. 23:04 So be careful. 23:05 Don't get arthritis by patting yourself on the back. 23:08 So that was a really good question by the way. 23:10 Yeah, i thought it was great question. 23:12 I thought it was really good. 23:13 This is an amazing question that somebody just sent in 23:15 and I like this because it's a very good question 23:19 when you look at the Bible about the phase "temple of God" 23:23 it could mean anywhere from the literal temple of God 23:27 to the spiritual temple of God. 23:29 And this person went through-- 23:30 did a wonderful Bible study, thank you. 23:33 Let me see and I'll give a first name here. 23:35 Thank you, so much. 23:36 Oh, by the way this is from Delise Susan, thank you, 23:40 if you're watching us, Delise, 23:41 we appreciate your question here. 23:45 They gave a number of texts and the question really is 23:49 "I, my body is the temple of God. 23:53 What exactly does this mean? 23:56 Because God works with word pictures or similitudes, 24:00 the icons, so let say Solomon's temple, 24:04 because it was the most elaborate complete. 24:06 So in another words what is the temple of God 24:09 as we look at the Bible?" 24:10 Well, I'm glad you mentioned Solomon first of all here, 24:15 because when God gave the instructions 24:18 to build the temple 24:19 that is today known as Solomon's temple, 24:21 it was never intended to be known as Solomon's temple, 24:25 it was to be known as God's temple, 24:28 but Solomon took the glory to himself. 24:31 And even still today the glory still remains 24:33 the name Solomon is more associated with that temple 24:36 that was built than God's name. 24:39 But you find here very, very carefully 24:42 a couple of the passages 24:44 because I notice you looking at the Book of Romans, 24:47 I mean, 1 Corinthians. 24:48 Let me read a couple of those passages. 24:51 First of all, I'll start with 1 Corinthians 3:16, 24:57 1 Corinthians 3:16 and then I'm gonna point 25:01 to a couple of passages in the Bible 25:03 that really outline exactly what that mean, all right. 25:07 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know 25:10 that you are the temple of God 25:12 and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 25:15 If anyone defiles the temple of God, 25:17 God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, 25:21 which temple you are?" 25:23 And then 1 Corinthians 6:19, 25:26 "Or do you not know that your body 25:28 is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, 25:30 whom you have from God and you are not your own." 25:33 So that's 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19. 25:39 But then let's go to 2 Corinthians 6:16. 25:43 "And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? 25:46 For you are the temple of the living God; 25:48 as God has said, 'I will dwell in them, 25:53 and walk among them; I will be their God, 25:56 and they shall be my people.'" 25:59 " I think you hit the nail right on the head, 26:02 but the one that I want to go ahead 26:03 and narrow it down to-- 26:05 John, could you go to Mark unless you already have. 26:08 Mark 14:58. I want you to see this very carefully 26:12 and I'll go to John 2:19 to make it very clear. 26:18 Yes, the temple-- there was the physical temple 26:21 built to the glory of God, there was the tabernacle 26:24 that was a temporary one as the children of Israel travel 26:27 they would set it up wherever they encamped, 26:30 that was the other temple where God's glory was often seen 26:36 where God's glory was manifest among the children of Israel. 26:40 Go ahead and read that one 26:42 and see what Jesus says about the temple. 26:44 This clarifies it really well. 26:45 Which verse? Mark 14? Mark 14:58. 26:51 Verse 58 "We heard him say, 26:54 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, 26:56 and within three days 26:58 I will build another made without hands.'" Okay. 27:01 So you notice what Jesus said 27:03 He was pointing to temple at Jerusalem in Matthew 27:06 actually gives us details because they were concerned 27:09 when Jesus said "I'll destroy this temple 27:12 and in three days I will raise it up." 27:13 They said, 'Don't you know 27:15 it took 40 years to build this temple? 27:17 How you gonna do it in three days" 27:19 And Marks makes it very clear what he meant. 27:21 "I'll destroy this building, this temple where you worship, 27:25 but in three days I'll raise up another one 27:27 that's not made by hands." 27:29 And what in fact had happened was 27:33 the temple at that particular time 27:35 wasn't destroy it was destroyed in 1870, 27:38 but they thought he meant that building right there 27:40 and they said "How is that gonna possibly happen?" 27:42 He made a very, very clear the temple 27:44 that he's referring to in the spiritual sense 27:48 is the physical body, all right. 27:51 And also John 2:19. 27:53 We read that one very carefully here. 27:55 So when the Bible speaks about the temple 27:57 and then, John, what I like to cap this off 27:59 by doing is going to Romans 12:1, 2. 28:02 Because not only is your body the temple of God 28:04 but the references that you've outlined here 1 Corinthian 6:19, 28:08 2 Corinthian 6:16 and 1 Corinthians 3:16. 28:11 Tells us not to defile the temple of God 28:14 and that's an entire study altogether-- 28:16 from adornment to health to what we do the body, 28:20 whether we abuse it or not 28:21 a number of ways that discovered. 28:23 But I don't want to go into all that today. 28:25 For John 2:19 I'll read this one 28:27 and then we'll cap it off by reading Romans 12:1, 2, 28:31 actually what should we do to the body? 28:33 Okay, John 2:19, 28:37 "Jesus answered and said to them, 28:40 'Destroy this temple 28:41 and in three days I will raise it up.'" 28:44 And you'll notice the Jews said in verse 20 28:47 "It has taken 40 years to build this temple 28:48 and will you raise it up in three days?" 28:51 But verse 21 says, 28:52 "But he was speaking of the temple of His body." 28:57 So this is making very clear, 28:59 our bodies of the temple of God and so Romans 12:1, 2, 29:02 John, what does Romans 12:1, 2 tell us, we should do? 29:05 And what did they doing in the temples? 29:07 This verse makes it very, very clear. Romans 12:1, 2. 29:10 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 29:13 that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, 29:15 holy, acceptable to God, 29:17 which is your reasonable service. 29:18 And do not be conformed to this world, 29:20 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, 29:22 that you may prove what is that good and acceptable 29:25 and perfect will of God." Exactly. 29:27 So you find the whole aspect of the temple, 29:30 the temple services day-to-day, year-to-year, 29:33 month-to-month was all about revealing the will of God. 29:38 The way we live our lives 29:39 and the things we do with our body 29:40 reveals the will of God, 29:42 but when we honor our bodies, 29:45 we are able to prove what is that good and acceptable 29:49 and perfect will of God how do you do not defile, 29:52 how do you keep the temple from being defiled, 29:55 don't follow the way the world treats the body. 29:58 The world marks the body up, plugs hole in the body, 30:01 paints it up, the world abuses the body 30:04 and you can go dawn the list and look at the many ways in, 30:06 I'm sure that you're intelligent enough to discover that. 30:09 But your body is in fact the temple of God, 30:11 how we treat this, 30:13 says whether not we recognize Him 30:14 as the one who owns our body. 30:16 We are in fact the temple of God. 30:18 And there is one other aspect to it too that we-- 30:20 we should not overlook very quickly. 30:23 And that is in the Book of Corinthians, 30:25 both of 1st and 2nd Book of Corinthians 30:27 speaking of the temple. 30:28 There was a greater is another context to that. Sure. 30:32 Verse 9 of 1st Corinthians 3 says, 30:35 "For you are God's fellow workers," 30:37 he's speaking of the church. That's right. 30:39 "You are God's field, you're God's building." 30:42 And then he goes a-- on to talk about how that-- 30:44 we each are individually living stones of His Temple, 30:47 the Church, Christ being the chief cornerstone. 30:51 So in the respect of the body and the temple, 30:54 yes, it is as individually but we make up a larger body 30:57 a larger temple with Christ as the cornerstone 31:00 known the church. Right. And notice, it's one church. 31:03 The reason I bring this up 31:05 is because we're gonna segway to a topic. Okay. 31:08 Where within the church we have to make sure 31:11 that we keep the building together. Okay, very good-- 31:14 A church that has all the stones carefully put in place, 31:19 the devil will see that and want to fracture it, 31:21 he'll want to take stones and move them out of position 31:24 because if he can break one stone out of the wall 31:27 what happens to the stones above it? 31:28 Over time it starts to break and it will crumble. 31:32 And Christ we know is the foundation our cornerstone. 31:34 That's right. And He always is the head of the church. 31:37 But we have to be very careful not to allow 31:39 Satan to fracture this church. 31:42 And Christ has one church, I mean, that is pretty clear. 31:44 Some people challenge this and say you know why were they 31:48 so many denominations in the world? 31:50 Well, we like to argue a lot 31:52 and we disagree and there has been disagreement over time 31:55 but following history 31:57 you'll find that Christ established-- reestablished 32:01 many of the doctrines of the Bible 32:03 through the Protestant Reformation 32:05 and the growing of that movement 32:07 and that movement has continued to go right down through time. 32:10 And during that period of time 32:12 of growth of Christ and His truth, 32:15 you'll find that individual churches 32:18 took a specific part of that growth, 32:21 that knowledge, that truth and made entire denominations 32:24 and almost broke from the linear 32:27 progression of the Reformation which would occur all the way 32:30 down till Christ return. That's right. 32:32 And so these denominations broke off at certain times 32:35 and they only went that far. 32:36 The fractured body. It was a fractured body. 32:38 So even is in regard to truth 32:40 the body of truth given to the church, 32:42 there was only one church and he's been 32:44 restoring the principles of truth 32:46 all the way down through time 32:47 and now we see all these denominations 32:49 that started in different ways in the past 32:52 and people say, "Well, then it's not one body, 32:53 it's several bodies." It's not. 32:56 Biblically one body. 32:57 So we really need to be asking ourselves first of all, 33:01 where is God's church? 33:03 Where is the physical church, evident 33:06 and found in the world today, 33:08 that God still has with Christ as the cornerstone 33:11 and believers acting as His body making up the temple? 33:14 So that's where we're gonna segway to our-- 33:17 to our topic today 33:18 which is about the unity of the church 33:20 or unity in the church. 33:22 That's cap this off real quickly because 33:23 we're transitioning actually here from our Bible questions... 33:26 To our topic in a very good foundation you just laid, 33:28 but if you have any questions about 33:30 anything we've talked about, 33:32 John just laid a wonderful foundation about the topic 33:34 but if you have any Bible questions 33:36 send those questions to housecalls@3abn.org, 33:38 that's housecalls@3abn.org and we appreciate 33:42 all the questions, all the comments 33:44 and all the support to this network. 33:48 Since you laid the foundation dive in there with me. 33:50 I wanted to just dive in without doing all the preamble 33:52 and the post-amble stuff. You go for it. 33:58 Unity in the faith, this-- the fact that Christ has a body, 34:03 the Church on earth makes Satan very angry. 34:07 Oh sure does. 34:08 He destroyed that temple through the Romans 34:11 and their invasion of Jerusalem. 34:13 He doesn't like the physical temple 34:15 just as he doesn't like 34:16 the temple of Christ as His body. 34:20 And today he still doesn't like the church. Right. 34:22 And he's coming after the church with everything he's got. 34:25 The thing that he uses the most, 34:27 John, today is division, is to divide and conquer. 34:34 This has been known by General's, by leaders 34:37 in military campaigns for millennia 34:40 that if you can divide and fracture that army 34:44 that you are going up against, you will conquer it. 34:46 And so Satan is looking to divide, 34:48 to fracture within the church. 34:50 Now we're not talking about fracture amongst denominations. 34:53 I believe that, he has had some success, 34:55 success there in the past leading up to today. 34:57 But within Christ's church today, 34:59 His visible church today, we need to be very careful 35:03 that he doesn't get in and divide us 35:06 from the purpose, from the mission 35:07 that God has given us to do. Right. 35:09 And so the Bible gives lots of counsel. 35:12 Paul especially weighs in on this, Christ-- 35:14 we'll read some of Christ's words as well. 35:16 But Paul over and over again comes back to this 35:19 not letting divisions coming among us, 35:21 contentions, jealousies, things that will fracture us apart. 35:25 And I want to springboard off of one text 35:27 that is found in the Epistle of Peter, 35:29 1 Peter Chapter 4, 35:31 that I think kind of lays a good foundation 35:33 for the groundwork of what we're talking about 35:36 as our primary mission here is a church in staying together. 35:40 And let me read here 1 Peter 4:8-10. All right. 35:45 "And above all things", by the way, 35:48 what does that mean, above all things? 35:50 Anything that you focus on make this the priority. 35:53 This is the priority, this is first place, 35:56 "Above all things have fervent love for one another, 36:00 for love will cover a multitude of sins." Sins. 36:04 "Be hospitable to one another without grumbling 36:08 as each one has received a gift minister it to one another 36:11 as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 36:14 The reason I bring this text up as our springboard is because 36:17 I think it's the primary area, 36:19 the focus area that we lose sight of. 36:23 Now, I understand Christ is the head of the church. 36:24 We need focus on Him. 36:26 But Christ is love, He is the God of love 36:29 and His--His--the greatest power in this world is love 36:33 between us and Him and love for one another. 36:36 And he says, above all things, 36:38 Peter's saying, love one another elsewhere you'll find 36:42 that they will know you by your love for one another. 36:45 If they look at the church and your divisive 36:48 and your grumbling against each other 36:49 and you can't get along, 36:51 Christ does not dwell there, that is a fact. 36:54 And so let's look at this obligation 36:58 that we've been given to 36:59 above all things to love one another 37:02 and not allow various things 37:05 to kind of coming in and to divide 37:06 and so Satan can't kind of come in 37:08 and begin to conquer His church from within. 37:12 I mean, why wouldn't, Satan want to come and divide. 37:14 That's the way you conquer, divide and conquer. 37:18 If I can find a way to get in 37:20 that's why when you think of the concert of the sheep 37:23 I heard that one of the things that sheep are known for 37:27 whenever they sense that danger is nearby the press together, 37:32 so that if a wolf jumps into the fold, 37:34 or tries to get into the fold 37:36 their backs us so pressed tightly together 37:38 that when he jumps he-- the wolf never hits the ground 37:41 or whatever the animal maybe, never hits the ground. 37:43 He runs across their backs like a flat platform 37:46 and out the other side of the fold, 37:48 he is never allowed to get in. 37:49 That's why you find, when shepherds know 37:53 that there's a possible danger nearby 37:56 they corral their sheep together. 37:58 That's what the whole purpose of they gather them together 38:01 and the natural instinct of the sheep 38:03 is to press agains the other sheep, 38:04 that's why when-- if the devil could separate from the fold 38:08 one of the sheep no longer under the guidance 38:11 and protection of Shepherd then he's fractured the church. 38:14 You find Paul's words here that supports 38:18 that so carefully in Ephesians 4:4-6. 38:22 You may be covering that here. Let me peak in here. 38:25 Okay, good, I found one that's on this list. 38:28 There is one body and one Spirit. 38:32 Notice, one body, 38:34 just as you will called and one hope of your calling, 38:39 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 38:42 one God and father above-- father of all 38:46 who's above all and through all and in you all 38:49 and thus the term the temple in us all. 38:52 So one, one, one, one, one and Jesus and John 10:16 says, 38:56 other sheep I have that are not of this fold 38:58 them also I must bring and they will hear my voice 39:00 and they will be one fold, one shepherd. Right. 39:04 But so much has happened 'cause when he go back, John, 39:06 and I think you mentioned this, 39:08 in the Bible days there were the-- 39:11 there was the-- the Jews and Greeks 39:14 or the Jews and Gentiles to be more specific 39:17 and as the church continued to grow 39:18 you had a phrase called proselytize, 39:21 which was in other words converts. 39:24 So those were converts he had those who were converse 39:27 and those who were not converts, those who accepted the message 39:30 and those who didn't accept the message. 39:32 Then there was only truth and there were 39:35 there were no multiple denominations 39:38 like there is today. 39:39 What happened is during the time 39:41 of the development of the seven churches 39:44 you find during the Protestant Reformation 39:47 primarily the age of darkness, that many people 39:51 that came out of the church of Rome 39:54 started a movement back to the Bible 39:56 and then their names were used 39:58 to start different denomination by Martin Luther, Lutherans. 40:02 We have Calvins, Zwingli, Hus, Von, Wycliffe, or Calvinism, 40:06 you had--that came out of a particular area of believe. 40:10 And now we get down to today 40:12 where the church is kind of like a box of cereal, 40:15 pick the kind you like, rather than focusing on-- 40:19 and I like this rather than focusing on 40:21 instead of just ecumenical unity. 40:24 Finding God's oneness in His church on this earth. 40:28 So the truth of God's of words where he wants us to unified 40:30 not on the basis of what do you like, 40:33 what you like, okay, let's get together on that. 40:35 Yeah and what-- what we're talking about here, 40:37 when we talked about unity is not unifying 40:40 all these denominations. 40:41 We're not talking about an ecumenical movement. 40:42 We're talking about within Christ's church 40:46 which agrees on truth 40:48 there needs to be sticking together, 40:50 a unified focus on the mission the Christ has given His church. 40:54 Now I bring this topic up just give some foundation 40:57 because this is not unique to any denomination, 41:03 but Adventist as well have individuals within it 41:08 the look to emphasize one thing 41:10 that they have decided to champion over another. 41:14 And or sometimes maybe choose a specific issue 41:19 or lifestyle or something that they overemphasize. 41:22 And I saw overemphasize because I believe 41:24 where is an overemphasis sometimes 41:25 because it's to the exclusion of much of the body at times. 41:28 It becomes the focal point. 41:30 Becomes the focal point that it becomes judgmental 41:33 and begins to fracture the church 41:36 to the point where even recently 41:38 and we've had ages of this that have come through, 41:41 different doctrines and focal points 41:43 that have come through. 41:44 What people would say if you don't believe my way 41:47 you'll be lost. Right. 41:49 And then that begins to fracture even more you know, 41:52 their doctrine, their lifestyle, their way becomes the only way 41:57 and that's not what the Bible ever taught. 42:00 The Bible taught unity 42:02 and if there is no unity within the church, 42:05 God's church is crippled 42:08 from accomplishing its mission. That's right. 42:10 And so the greatest about all things 42:12 to have love for one another 42:14 and to stay one together treating each other with love 42:18 and respect and kindness, 42:19 not criticizing, not complaining, 42:21 not gossiping about each other 42:23 which is just too frequently happing today. Right. 42:26 And there is a blindness here, people do this. 42:29 You know, they criticize 42:31 the pastor at home after the sermon. 42:32 Yeah, they have him for lunch. They have him for lunch, yeah. 42:36 They criticism him, they chew his up. 42:38 Or this person and that person 42:40 talking about, this person, that person. 42:41 And they claim self-righteousness, 42:42 righteous indignation and doing that, 42:44 when in fact it divides the body. Right. 42:47 And that is what Satan wants to do. 42:49 They are being used by the enemy and they call it righteousness. 42:53 We can't let that happen, we've got to stick together. 42:56 That's right. 42:59 The very essence of the presence of Christ 43:03 in and amongst His people is unity. 43:06 I find it to be a timestamp or a watermark of the world. 43:13 That's why we have in the world 43:15 and world uses the same principle. 43:17 But the difference between the world and the church is, 43:19 the devil is not fighting 43:21 to separate world from the world. 43:23 The devil is glad 43:24 that the world can all agree on certain things, 43:27 so you'll have 60,000 people-- 43:31 I'm maybe over exaggerating in football stadium, 43:33 I don't know if there are any that big. 43:35 But 30,000 people 40,000 people in a football stadium. 43:39 They are all there for one reason, 43:40 we're all here to see the football game. 43:42 The one thing we may differ on is what team we like to support, 43:46 but we all have one passion in common, football. 43:49 And we are screaming fans, 43:50 we are united, we are excited about it. 43:53 Here when it comes to the church that the element there 43:56 that the devil works on to keep us 43:58 separated are our own personal likes, 44:02 our own personal dislikes, our hobby-horse, 44:05 and if I could use that phrase. 44:07 When you look at John 17, 44:09 Jesus understood that human nature would be 44:11 very much a part of the division in the church. 44:14 And you look at even amongst the workers of Christ, 44:17 you had Paul, you had Barnabas, 44:21 you had Mark, you had John, 44:26 you had all these who are part of the New Testament church. 44:29 And sometimes division rose up among the workers. 44:34 And I remember one particular 44:36 where there was a disagreement among the apostles 44:39 and one statement was "Bring Mark with you" 44:43 and Paul says "No, I don't want to, 44:44 don't bring him with you, we can't get along." 44:47 And they went their separate ways 44:48 in one work in this field and one work in that field, 44:50 but as time went on they got back together. 44:52 Came back together. That's right. 44:53 See so, it's not only unusual 44:56 for there to be sometimes a division that 44:58 you need to give people room 45:01 for this resolution to be realized. 45:04 But we should seek resolution, because Paul says, 45:07 "As far as it is possible with you, 45:09 be at peace with all men." Yeah. 45:11 That's a very significant part. 45:13 I like the verse you brought up, Ephesians Chapter 4 45:15 because there definitely is something there beyond 45:19 just a cursory reading of this. 45:22 We have certain pillars of the faith that are important. 45:26 You know, when you are talking about having one, 45:30 "one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, 45:33 one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." 45:36 You know they are our pillars of our faith, 45:38 pillar teachings of the Church. 45:40 Christ is the head, faith, justification, 45:43 sanctification, the Ten Commandments, 45:45 the law of the God is the foundation for our truth. 45:47 And you know, even the Sabbath 45:50 as a commandment comes into play there. 45:52 But beyond that there are other teachings 45:54 in prophecy and things 45:56 that we don't all have to agree on. Right. 45:59 We don't have to agree on those things to be one. 46:02 It's the pillars that we must agree on. 46:04 You can't say, I want to be part of the Adventist Church, 46:06 but I don't believe Christ was the Messiah, 46:08 it doesn't work. Right. 46:10 Because, He is a key pillar of our faith. The Rock. 46:13 He is the rock. And the stone. 46:15 But there are things we get off on in tangents 46:17 and then we get upset of each other. Right. 46:20 And I want to just go through various texts here 46:24 to kind of show that Paul was dealing with the church 46:27 that divided many times. 46:29 And he was like a father, 46:31 constantly trying to keep his kids together. 46:34 And we need to take up the mantra of unity in the faith 46:37 and keep us together. 46:38 You know, right now my mind is going nuts. 46:39 You've given me so many examples. 46:41 But go ahead and-- No, no, go. No let's see. 46:43 When you think of children somebody asked my wife and I-- 46:46 we don't have any physical children of our own. 46:48 But people always ask the question after about 46:49 29, 30 years of marriage. Do you have any children? 46:52 We say no, but we have lot of sheep. 46:54 And then you think of that phrase 46:56 in the Book of Isaiah 53, 46:57 "All we like sheep have gone astray." 47:00 How did that happen? 47:02 Each one have turn to our own way. 47:04 And that is in fact-- 47:06 human nature tends to bring in our own way. 47:09 While I like only hymns, while I like only praise songs. 47:14 And the peacemaker say, "well let's do hymns 47:17 and praise song." You see. Right. 47:19 Well, please don't ever bring a drum. 47:22 Oh, in our culture drums are acceptable. 47:25 Well, we go to bring the bongo. 47:27 You get my point? Yeah. 47:29 Let's not raise our hands, 47:30 let's raise our hands by God's grace, 47:33 don't move your hands at all, amen. 47:35 Did you say amen? You know, I love peacemakers. 47:39 And the peacemaker says, "Can we approve 47:41 at the next board meeting the phrase 47:43 'praise the Lord' so that our church could use it." 47:46 And that sounds cynical 47:47 but really these are the idiosyncrasies 47:51 that the church deals with and they forget 47:54 that the most important thing is uplifting Jesus. 47:57 You see, that's what you were just saying a moment ago. 47:59 That's why my mind was going crazy on that. 48:01 I want to give a just an example here if I could. 48:03 We maybe step on some toes in this program. 48:05 It looks like it may extended two programs actually, 48:07 because I look our time is slipping away from us 48:08 but--The history of the Adventist church has been-- 48:14 you'll find culturally and how it worships, 48:18 fairly, fairly traditional. Right. 48:21 You know. I wouldn't say-- I would say, in some ranks 48:26 it's very formal and that's traditional. 48:29 But other times it's very--- Diverse. 48:34 Diverse, but still traditional really. Right. 48:37 Compared to what you see out there. 48:38 Well, remember when the whole-- 48:41 what they thought was the charismatic--- 48:44 Yeah. Praise, what is the word? 48:47 Celebration. Celebration movement came in. 48:50 I heard just a debate after debate among circles, 48:53 what it was going to do, remember? 48:55 What it was gonna do to the church? 48:56 The Adventist hot potato-- It was gonna destroy the church 48:58 and do this to the church. 48:59 And they will go after this 49:01 and it will become like the world. 49:03 Let me tell you, you know, it didn't happen. No. 49:05 It was a bunch of hot air, it never happen, you know why? 49:08 That's not us. Right. 49:11 We may have some branches that are little more charismatic 49:14 and different and diverse, 49:16 but celebration and what people said 49:19 it would do never happened. Right. 49:21 Because the faith that we have we been given, 49:26 has meat on it, has structure in it, 49:27 it keeps us together, it keeps us on a specific road 49:30 heading one direction. 49:32 We blow things out of proportion sometimes, 49:34 we fight and argue about it, and the Lord sits back. 49:36 You can image Him sitting back and going. 49:38 "Oh, boy, here we go again." Right, and it does. 49:42 But here's where I get to the point I want to make. 49:46 My answer these days to lot of things is, 49:48 don't you think Christ can take care of His church? 49:51 That's right, He can. Isn't He the head of His church? 49:53 Don't you think He can take care of His church? 49:55 You know, the next word is? 49:56 But--but we need to--" No, it's not Christ and us. 50:02 Jesus takes care of His church. He will take care of the issue. 50:06 Yes, if some issue comes up that's needs to be discussed 50:09 we need to have a good place to dialogue about things. 50:12 But we need to do it with respect and kindness 50:14 toward each other, love one another, 50:16 these various texts we're gonna cover in this program 50:18 and next program I'll tell you 50:20 it's not treating each other this way, 50:23 unless we have a challenging issue. 50:25 Paul was saying in the midst of your challenge 50:27 treat each other this way. We need to stick together. 50:30 We need to love each other, and care for each other 50:32 in spite of the differences, embrace diversity. 50:36 If you don't like drums or progressive styles, 50:40 some things and your music, go to a church 50:42 that is much more traditional, much more formal in its worship. 50:44 That's what we have variety of worship styles 50:47 within the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. 50:49 Now I know some people maybe listening here, John, 50:51 and they may be saying, "Oh, boy, 50:53 where have John and John gone? 50:54 Aren't they on the conservative side?" 50:56 No we are right here. We've been here all long. 50:59 We just believe that above all things 51:01 be fervent in love toward each other. 51:04 And at the church gets out of whack at all, 51:06 if we take a miss step or wrong step 51:08 guess who's gonna guide it back on track? 51:10 Jesus. He can handle His church. 51:13 He can protect His church. He can guide His church. 51:16 And so I just thank the Lord for that and I just-- 51:20 I think it's sad when someone says, 51:22 "But, we've got to debate, 51:24 we've got to talk about these issue, 51:26 oh, they don't agree with me. 51:27 You know, the church is gone to--" 51:30 I don't want to even use the term but--Yeah. 51:33 But this mind of thinking that because you believe 51:36 that allows you the freedom to criticize 51:40 and to gossip and the fault find and to backbite, 51:43 and to talk about each other. 51:45 I'm sorry, as soon as you venturing on that ground, 51:48 you are venturing on-- you are in Satan's control. 51:51 I love one of the quotes 51:52 that we have from Inspiration where Ellen White says, 51:57 "Even Christ did not even venture 52:00 on the ground of accusing." 52:02 Even when he met Satan at Moses' grave, 52:07 he said the Lord rebuke you. Right. 52:10 In other words, God rebuke you. 52:12 He had every right 52:14 to deal with Satan right there, but he didn't do it. 52:15 And he even accuse. He did nothing. 52:17 He just said, "I'm here on God's authority. 52:19 I'm taking him." That's right. 52:21 And we need to make sure 52:23 that we are not venturing on this ground of accusing 52:26 and treating each other without, without love and respect 52:29 and in humility-- functioning in humility as a church. 52:34 John, one last thing, 52:36 when I first come into a church the first thing I say 52:38 when I meet the elders and this is my MO. 52:41 So I ever pastor your church in the future, 52:44 but it's God's will, here is what all be saying. 52:46 I ask my elders above all things, 52:49 I ask one thing, first and foremost, 52:52 from all of you, humility. 52:54 If I don't have humility, we can't work together. Right. 52:59 This church has to have at its leadership, 53:00 at its core a humble spirit 53:03 and then God can use us to work in the church. 53:07 One of the challenges with having diversity 53:09 as people see diversity as adversity. 53:12 Yeah, you are right. 53:13 And diversity and adversity are not the same thing. 53:15 It becomes adversity 53:17 when diversity is something that you don't like. 53:19 And Jesus dealt with diversity and adversity, 53:23 but he never left it up to us to sort it out. 53:26 In the parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew chapter 13, 53:30 "So the servant of the owner," in verse 27 53:34 "So the servant of the owner came and said to him, 53:38 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? 53:40 How then does it have tares?' 53:42 He said to him, 'An enemy has done this.' 53:45 The servants said to him, 53:46 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?' 53:49 and he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares 53:52 you also uproot the wheat with them. 53:56 Let both grow together until the harvest, 53:59 and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 54:03 "First gather together the tares 54:04 and bind them in bundles to burn them, 54:06 but gather the wheat into my barn."'" 54:08 He said, no wait a minute, your job is not to separate 54:11 and then there is some people I get phone calls sometimes, 54:12 they say, "Pastor what should I do? 54:14 Should I leave that church?" 54:16 I said, no, you need to be there to grow. 54:18 No, I don't know if you are wheat, 54:20 I don't know if you are tare. 54:22 I'm basing my analogy on the fact that 54:25 what you're standing for is scriptural. 54:27 I'm not saying that what the other person 54:28 is standing for is not scriptural. 54:31 But if both of you are not divided on the core issues, 54:34 or the core beliefs--and you mentioned what a moment ago, 54:37 if we have all the core tenets of our faith in common, 54:41 give room for diversity 54:43 'cause a lot of times people think that 54:46 and I think you mentioned a moment ago 54:48 that it all goes and you said, I don't want to say where. 54:50 But the phrase come and goes to part. 54:53 You know, I don't even know what that meant. 54:55 But sometimes it all falls apart 54:58 when we're trying to change a person's diversity, 55:01 because we're thinking it is going to cause adversity. 55:04 And nowadays you have these phrases 55:06 that are not I always war against these terms-- 55:09 and you know where I'm headed with this. 55:10 I don't believe in the term conservative, 55:12 I don't believe in the term liberal. 55:14 These are political terms, it's not in Scripture. 55:17 Ellen White never mentions conservative and liberal. 55:20 We are either, we are either 55:22 diverse in our approach to worship. 55:25 That's diversity and a term that was used 55:27 by the general conference many years ago, 55:30 unity in diversity. 55:33 So when you have the general conference 55:34 and if you ever go general conference session 55:36 once every 5 years 55:37 for those of you who don't know what that means. 55:39 I'm assuming there is some of our viewers are not Adventist. 55:42 Every 5 years the world church gets together 55:44 in either one of these large arenas around the world, 55:47 whether St. Louis or-- I like the Baptist convention. 55:50 I mean they all get together 55:52 and they make rules and decide-- 70,000 people. Yeah. 55:53 70,000 people 55:55 than we have the parade of nations it is so beautiful. 55:57 We see the nations, the address from China, 56:00 we see from Russia, from the Caribbean islands, 56:04 from Jamaica, from, you know, all the from England, 56:08 the Great Britain. 56:09 We see them come out and they do their programs 56:11 at various times in the whole general conference session. 56:15 And sometime you will see those who come from Africa, 56:17 they will--you know, they have their music. 56:20 And some people that are from here will say, 56:22 "Ah, appalling, they are moving, they are moving to the rhythm." 56:27 And we are thinking, that's diversity, 56:29 unity, diversity, see. That's right. 56:33 And so we got to make allowance for things 56:35 that are not preferential for us. 56:39 Once it doesn't uproot our foundation 56:42 and tear apart the unity of the faith. 56:46 Very well put, and I think as we get into our next program 56:49 we're gonna see what Christ's vision 56:51 for His church was. Yes. 56:53 'Cause we'll get to His prayer, 56:55 and well them get to Paul council 56:56 and the church in keeping it together, 56:58 we've got to stick together. We have to. 57:00 We've got to stick together 57:02 even though we don't agree on all things. 57:03 We can't all think alike, like one person said, 57:05 if everybody was may just like me, 57:07 it wouldn't be any fun. 57:09 We've got be able to have the diversity, 57:12 but yet unify in God. 57:14 That is part of growing 57:15 and part of being in God's church. 57:16 That's right and what-- what did one person say, 57:18 and I've heard this quoted by a number of people, 57:20 "make sure to keep the main thing the main thing." 57:24 Let's not forget 57:26 that the main thing is to uplift Jesus Christ 57:28 and that's what we do here at "House Calls." 57:29 So if you diverse, if you think like us, 57:32 so you don't we pray that 57:34 you will have great day in Christ 57:35 and we can have unity there, God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17