3ABN Sabbath School Panel

Lesson 11: Freedom in Christ

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Jill Morikone (Host), Pr. C.A. Murray, Pr. John Dinzey, Pr. Tom Ferguson, Shelley Quinn

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Series Code: SSP

Program Code: SSP000036A


00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness
00:10 the implanted Word,
00:11 which is able to save your souls.
00:14 And to be diligent
00:15 to present yourself approved to God
00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth."
00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:25 Our study today is the Gospel of Galatians.
00:32 Hello, and welcome to another 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:36 My name is Jill Morikone
00:37 and we're so glad that you have taken time to join us.
00:40 As we open up the Word of God and study together.
00:43 We're in the middle of our study
00:45 on the Book of Galatians
00:46 written by the Apostle Paul
00:48 and what an incredible study it has been so far.
00:51 We want to encourage you to get your own copy of the quarterly
00:55 put out by the Seventh-day Adventist church.
00:57 We are studying the gospel in Galatians
00:59 for third quarter.
01:01 And you can get that, you can obtain that
01:03 by going to the website ABSG.Adventist.org.
01:09 That stands for
01:11 Adult Bible Study Guide .Adventist.org.
01:15 You can download it
01:16 and you can follow along with us as we share.
01:19 Or you can always, we want to encourage you
01:21 to check out your local Seventh-day Adventist church
01:24 and join a Bible study class there
01:27 and get involved.
01:28 I want to introduce our panel to you at this time.
01:30 We have to my left Brother John Dinzey,
01:33 and it's a privilege to have you here.
01:34 It's great to be here by God's grace.
01:36 Thank you and next to you is Pastor C.A. Murray,
01:38 and it's always a joy to share with you as well.
01:40 Good to be with you once again.
01:42 And next to you Pastor Tom Ferguson
01:44 of the Marion district,
01:45 and we always love it when you can come to 3ABN
01:47 and join the team here.
01:49 It's great to be here.
01:50 And at the end is Shelley Quinn,
01:52 and it's just a privilege to have you here
01:54 and share from the Word of God as well.
01:55 Thank you. It's my joy.
01:57 So we are so glad not only to have our panel here
02:00 but to have each one of you
02:02 as we open up the Word of God,
02:03 we want to encourage you to grab your Bible
02:06 and a pen and a paper
02:08 and get ready to look up the texts
02:10 and to follow along with us.
02:11 But before we go any farther,
02:13 we want to go to the Lord in prayer,
02:14 and Brother Johnny, would you pray for us?
02:16 Sure. Let's pray together.
02:18 Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord,
02:21 for Your goodness and mercy to us
02:23 and we approach Your throne of grace in Jesus name.
02:26 We pray, Lord, that You will direct our study,
02:29 guide our study
02:30 and, Lord, having already studied and prayed
02:33 we ask, Lord, that You will bless us
02:35 with Your Holy Spirit that we may speak Your words
02:38 and we ask You for a blessing upon all,
02:40 in Jesus' name, amen.
02:41 Amen.
02:43 We are on lesson number 11.
02:45 And I love the title of this lesson,
02:47 Freedom in Christ.
02:49 And today so many people are in bondage.
02:53 I can think back to my own history
02:55 and times I have been in bondage
02:57 whether you or you could be in prison,
02:59 in bondage physically
03:01 but many times we're in bondage spiritually.
03:04 It could be an addiction of some sort.
03:06 It could be some sort of sin.
03:08 We feel like we're in bondage
03:10 but God wants, He came to set us free.
03:13 John 8:36 says,
03:15 "Whoever the Son sets free is free indeed."
03:18 And God wants to bring us freedom.
03:20 That was Paul's message really to the Galatians church
03:24 because they were in bondage under the law,
03:27 having received justification by faith.
03:32 Now the Judaizers has had come in
03:33 and had said not only it's a justification by faith,
03:36 you need to add works to it.
03:38 And this week as we look at freedom in Christ,
03:41 we're gonna look at it from two different angles.
03:43 If you think of the road, the Christian journey
03:45 that we're called to walk upon,
03:47 on one ditch is the ditch of legalism
03:50 which is what Paul especially addressed
03:52 here in the epistle to the Galatians church.
03:55 Weekend, last week we talked about the bondwoman Hagar
03:59 and how Ishmael was born
04:01 through Abraham's own initiative
04:03 or through self righteousness.
04:05 And we can fall into the ditch of legalism
04:08 thinking that it's righteousness by faith
04:10 plus works.
04:11 But at the same time
04:12 if we don't fall into the ditch of legalism,
04:14 we might fall into the ditch on the other side,
04:17 licentiousness, lacking moral restraints.
04:22 Paul encourages us don't use the liberty,
04:24 the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus
04:27 to as an opportunity to serve the flesh.
04:30 So we're going to look at both of them,
04:32 this week as we discuss freedom in Christ,
04:34 but let's do our memory text
04:36 and then we'll jump into Sunday.
04:38 We'll read our memory text together.
04:39 We're in Galatians 5:13.
04:45 "For you were called to freedom, brothers.
04:49 Only do not use your freedom
04:51 as an opportunity for the flesh,
04:54 but through love serve one another."
04:57 Amen.
04:59 On Sunday's lesson we look at Christ has set us free
05:01 and I want to encourage you to turn the Galatians 5.
05:04 We're gonna start with verse 1.
05:06 Now if you joined us last week,
05:08 we talked all about the two covenants
05:10 in Isaac, in Ishmael.
05:11 Isaac being the son of promise, righteousness by faith,
05:15 and Ishmael being the son under the law
05:18 or self righteousness,
05:20 and right at the end of chapter 4,
05:23 the last verse says,
05:24 "So then brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman..."
05:27 Meaning children of Ishmael, that self righteousness,
05:31 "But of the free..."
05:32 Meaning children of the promise or children of Isaac
05:35 and then we jump into 5:1,
05:38 "Stand fast therefore,
05:41 and the liberty by which Christ has made us free."
05:45 The word for liberty,
05:46 in the Greek literally means freedom or liberty.
05:49 Especially a state of freedom from slavery
05:52 and I think we were all redeemed,
05:54 Christ bought us,
05:56 He redeemed us from sin,
05:58 from the condemnation of the law,
06:00 from slavery.
06:02 "Stand fast therefore in that liberty
06:06 by which Christ has made us free."
06:10 John 8:36, I referenced at the very beginning,
06:12 "Whomever the Son has made free,
06:15 shall be free indeed."
06:17 But it doesn't end there.
06:19 He doesn't just say stand fast in that liberty,
06:21 it continues,
06:22 "Do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."
06:28 Do not be held in snare again.
06:30 On Monday nights for the past several years,
06:33 I had the privilege of going to the women's jail
06:36 at our local jail here in Benton,
06:38 and ministering to the women there.
06:40 And when I read this verse,
06:41 it reminds me especially of one woman,
06:43 I'll call her Sarah, that's not her real name.
06:47 And I remember she was there in our Bible study,
06:49 she came every Monday night
06:51 and she was passionate about following Jesus.
06:54 She had a background of drugs,
06:56 you could say this would be one of those bondage things
06:59 that held her captive, it was an addiction.
07:02 And she had become free in Christ
07:05 and she was so excited about serving God
07:08 and walking the liberty,
07:09 the freedom with which Christ has set her free.
07:12 Well, she got out
07:13 and a few months later guess what happened?
07:15 We're sitting in our Monday night Bible study
07:18 and she showed up.
07:21 And I said, "Sarah, what are you doing here?
07:24 You are free."
07:26 Not only did she become free in Jesus
07:28 while she was in jail,
07:29 but she became physically free
07:30 and she got out.
07:32 But here she is back again in jail
07:34 and she told an incredible story.
07:36 She talked about getting out
07:38 and, you know, those environmental influences,
07:42 those old friends,
07:44 those acquaintances that she had before she got in
07:49 began to pull her back
07:51 or entangle her again in that yoke of bondage.
07:56 She said her cousin died in her arms.
08:02 Oh.
08:03 Drug overdose.
08:05 It wasn't a suicide attempt,
08:07 it was doing drugs
08:08 and she had taken too much
08:10 and it killed her.
08:11 And she said, "I'm holding her and she died.
08:15 And, Jill, and I went right out and I got high again.
08:19 I went right back to the yoke of bondage.
08:24 I went back there."
08:26 And so we talked about
08:27 how Christ can set us free again
08:30 even though she had been entangled again,
08:32 Christ can set us free again.
08:35 And I think that Christ, He sets us free
08:38 and you think about the Galatians,
08:39 back in Galatians 3,
08:41 Paul says, "Oh foolish, Galatians,
08:43 do you think being made set free by the spirit
08:46 now are you perfected in the flesh?"
08:49 And so many times we think I am set free
08:51 and then we go back
08:53 and we become entangled again in that yoke of bondage.
08:58 Paul is really speaking to two groups here
09:00 I think, both the Gentile Christians,
09:03 "Don't go back to your worldly ways,
09:05 prior to being called by God."
09:07 But also to the Jewish Christians,
09:09 "Don't hold on to your view of salvation by works..."
09:12 Which would be by circumcision,
09:14 "Know that it is by grace."
09:16 Ephesians 2, "We're saved by grace through faith."
09:19 And it is a gift of God,
09:21 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
09:24 So how do we keep from being entangled again
09:28 in the yoke of bondage?
09:29 If we're supposed to stand in the liberty
09:31 with which Christ has set us free,
09:33 how do I keep from going back again
09:36 to that yoke of bondage?
09:38 I think first we look away from ourselves.
09:42 Philippians 3, let's turn there.
09:45 Philippians 3, we'll read verse 13 and 14.
09:49 Brother Johnny, do you have that?
09:51 Almost.
09:52 Philippians 3, well, I don't have it either yet.
09:54 Philippians 3.
09:55 What verse?
09:57 Thirteen and fourteen.
09:59 Philippians 3:13, 14,
10:01 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended
10:05 but this one thing I do,
10:06 forgetting those things which are behind,
10:09 and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
10:12 I press toward the mark for the prize
10:15 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
10:18 So I think, Paul's encouraging us,
10:21 exhorting us,
10:22 not to look behind us
10:24 at either past mistakes or past victories.
10:28 Neither do we look around us
10:30 to see how other people are doing,
10:32 we are to look forward
10:33 and to press forward to the mark.
10:36 And I know in my own experience,
10:38 it's easy to become entangled again if I turn inward.
10:42 If I look at myself
10:44 instead of keeping my eyes fixed fully on Jesus,
10:49 not only do we look away from self,
10:52 we're to look away from other people.
10:54 Let's look at 2 Corinthians 10.
10:57 2 Corinthians 10
10:58 and, Pastor C.A., if you want to get that,
11:00 2 Corinthians 10:12?
11:03 "So we dare not class ourselves
11:05 or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves,
11:08 but they measuring themselves by themselves,
11:12 and comparing themselves among themselves,
11:15 are not wise."
11:18 I could look at Brother Johnny or Pastor C.A.
11:22 or Pastor Tom or Shelley and say,
11:24 wow, they're doing better than me in this
11:27 and they're here but that's not my role.
11:30 Or you could look at someone else and say,
11:32 "I think I'm achieving a little better."
11:35 None of that works.
11:36 And when we do that you know what happens,
11:38 it's taking our focus off of Jesus
11:42 and putting it on other people.
11:43 So whether our focus is inward on ourselves
11:46 or whether it's external to other people,
11:50 either way it's taking our focus off of Jesus
11:52 and it makes it easier to become entangled again
11:56 in that yoke of bondage.
11:58 We are to look to Jesus.
11:59 2 Corinthians 3:18,
12:02 this is one of my favorite scriptures
12:04 and I know I say that all the time.
12:06 I love this one.
12:08 Pastor Tom, you have this one?
12:09 2 Corinthians 3:18.
12:12 "We all, with unveiled face, beholding in a mirror,
12:14 the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image
12:17 from glory to glory
12:19 just as by the spirit of the Lord."
12:20 Yes. Amen.
12:21 As we looked to Jesus,
12:24 we become transformed from glory to glory.
12:26 That word in the Greek transform metamorphosed,
12:30 and I love that word
12:31 'cause it shows
12:32 the illustration of the caterpillar
12:34 who crawls on his belly
12:36 and who is not very attractive
12:38 unless you really like bugs and creepy crawly things
12:40 to a butterfly.
12:43 It is a complete radical transformation.
12:46 You couldn't look at a butterfly flying around
12:48 and say, "Oh, I see remnants of the caterpillar."
12:52 Completely different in how they look,
12:54 and how they act,
12:56 and how their mode of transportation,
12:57 how they get around
12:59 and that's what the Lord Jesus wants to do in our lives.
13:01 As we look to Jesus,
13:03 He completely and totally transforms us.
13:06 And finally, how do we not become entangled again
13:10 with the yoke of bondage?
13:11 We need to put on the armor of God.
13:14 Ephesians 6, let's look at Ephesians 6.
13:20 We have just a moment, we'll look quickly.
13:22 There are several components to the armor.
13:24 We won't even read them all.
13:27 Verse 10, "Finally brethren be strong in the Lord
13:29 and in the power of His might,
13:32 put on the whole armor of God."
13:33 I think when God calls us to put on the amour,
13:35 it's not a once in a lifetime experience.
13:38 It's not like at our time of baptism,
13:40 "Okay, I'm putting on the armor.
13:42 I got it, I'm dressed.
13:44 I'm done."
13:46 It is a moment by moment,
13:48 every morning when I wake up putting on the armor of God.
13:52 "For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood,
13:54 but against principalities
13:55 and powers of rulers of the darkness of this age,
13:58 spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places."
14:01 There is a battle going on out there.
14:04 So what is the armor?
14:06 We are to stand on.
14:07 I'm at verse 14,
14:09 having ourselves girded about the waste with truth.
14:13 We are to put on
14:14 the breastplate of righteousness.
14:16 Righteousness is a gift from God
14:19 that needs to be freshly accepted and lived.
14:23 Self centeredness
14:25 and prideful confidence leads to destruction.
14:27 We need to put on
14:29 the breastplate of righteousness
14:31 have our feet shod
14:32 with the preparation of the gospel of peace,
14:35 take the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation,
14:39 the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God
14:42 and spend time in prayer.
14:43 So Paul's encouraging us to stand in the liberty
14:48 with which Christ has made us free.
14:50 Brother Johnny?
14:52 Thank you, that was a blessing
14:54 and we continue with the Monday's part,
14:58 the nature of Christian freedom.
15:01 In this Monday's part we have an important thing to consider
15:07 and it is that the reason the nature of freedom
15:11 is because Christ, Jesus Christ has set us free.
15:15 And when you are free, He says you are free indeed.
15:20 So part of this has to do
15:22 and you will know the truth
15:23 and the truth shall set you free.
15:25 Christ is our freedom.
15:27 And so in this world of sin,
15:30 we have to understand
15:31 that everyone that walks upon it,
15:33 the Bible says that all have sinned
15:35 and come short of the glory of God
15:37 whether you like it or not.
15:40 Because of sin,
15:42 you have a price on your head
15:44 as they say that if you do not give yourself to Christ,
15:49 you're going to have to pay for your sins.
15:52 In order for you to be freed from the condemnation of sins
15:56 of the things you have done,
15:58 you need to find Jesus.
15:59 You need to give your heart to Jesus.
16:01 You need to find in Him
16:03 the peace that passeth all understanding.
16:05 So in order to do this, God has made the way.
16:09 Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
16:11 And I just praise the Lord
16:12 because He has given us the scriptures
16:14 that are able to make us wise unto salvation
16:16 because freedom comes through the Lord
16:18 and this is why,
16:20 you know, the first time I heard it, it amazed me.
16:22 You were talking about visiting the prison.
16:25 We used to have United Prison Ministries
16:26 here on 3ABN and they used to,
16:28 one of the prisoners said that they were,
16:32 "I know I'm in jail but I'm free."
16:34 And I go, "What do you mean you're free?"
16:37 It's because he found Jesus.
16:38 Amen.
16:40 And that makes all the difference in the world.
16:41 It doesn't matter where you are,
16:43 what your condition is,
16:44 whether you are poor or rich,
16:46 whether you have sickness or you have health,
16:49 if you have Jesus, you are free.
16:51 And whatever condition you're in,
16:54 you're going to be delivered from.
16:56 Thanks be to God.
16:58 And so we glorify God for that and we praise His name.
17:02 Now let's look into some scriptures.
17:04 When you look at Paul's letters in 1 Corinthians 6:20,
17:07 we have some things to consider.
17:10 If we have a volunteer to read that
17:12 we will be grateful for that.
17:14 1 Corinthians 6:20, who's going to help me?
17:17 "For you were bought at a price,
17:19 therefore glorify God in your body
17:21 and in your spirit which are God's."
17:24 So we see that we are brought with a price
17:28 and how did, how did the Lord purchase us?
17:32 It is through the precious blood
17:34 of Jesus Christ.
17:35 Amen. And that is wonderful.
17:37 When you begin to understand that,
17:40 you began to see that God loves you
17:43 and when you know that God loves you,
17:45 that make all the difference in the world.
17:47 And you can go through trial and tribulation.
17:49 You can go through difficulties knowing God loves you.
17:52 This thing that I'm going through
17:54 is just part of a process
17:56 something that I need to go through
17:58 for my own good for some reason
18:01 or for the good of others.
18:03 Do you believe that you can go through
18:04 some suffering for the good of others
18:06 to bless others?
18:07 Yes, and people have done that.
18:09 And so I would say
18:11 that Joab went through some sufferings.
18:13 I see some good for me,
18:16 he didn't know me
18:17 when he was going through that,
18:18 but his experience has been a blessing to me.
18:22 And so we see that God loves us,
18:26 and so I think that is one of the clues
18:29 to understand living in this world
18:31 although it may be difficult,
18:33 we may face horrible, difficult times,
18:36 but if we know God loves us
18:38 and He has our best interest in mind,
18:40 we need not fear, we need not worry
18:42 because Jesus says, "I have overcome the world."
18:45 I would like to take a look at some other scriptures
18:48 and for this we need to go to
18:52 1 Corinthians 10.
18:55 We are in Corinthians already, so let's go to verse 13 and 14
19:00 and the Bible says,
19:01 "There had no temptation taken you
19:04 but such as is common to man
19:06 but God is faithful.
19:08 Who will not suffer you or allow you to be tempted
19:11 above what you are able
19:13 but will with that temptation
19:16 also make a way to escape
19:17 that you may be able to bear it."
19:19 And I added the next verse it says,
19:21 "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry."
19:27 Actually that's part of what the lesson says.
19:29 And so I see here that in this scripture
19:33 we find that God is so caring, so loving
19:36 that He does not allow
19:39 the devil to have his way with us
19:42 because really if the Lord
19:43 allowed the devil to have his way with us,
19:45 who in the world would have freedom?
19:47 Who in the world would have peace?
19:49 And sometimes I think of some of those bugs
19:51 that are out there, the flies,
19:53 and the mosquitoes and those things
19:55 and there's one particular bug that bugs me.
19:58 And that is those that try to get inside your eyeball,
20:01 you know, they try to get inside your eye,
20:03 and you're trying to get away and it's amazing.
20:06 But sometimes I think of that
20:08 and I think, you know, that's how the devil is.
20:10 He tries to annoy you and create problems for you
20:13 but God is there
20:15 and He is measured
20:17 in what He is allowed to do to you
20:22 because otherwise he would just harass us to the degree that,
20:26 you know, you will go crazy.
20:27 But thanks be to God
20:29 that God does not allow him,
20:31 the Satan, Satan to do whatever he may please with you.
20:34 And the Bible says
20:35 that He sets a hedge of protection about you
20:37 and we think of Psalms 34,
20:39 the angel of the Lord encampeth round about you
20:43 and delivers you.
20:44 So we can take courage in God's Word.
20:47 Boy, there are some wonderful scriptures
20:49 to go through here.
20:51 So knowing that we have been bought with a price,
20:54 knowing that Jesus Christ has rescued us,
20:58 we can then understand, Romans 6:6,
21:02 I'm just gonna read some short part of it.
21:04 It says, "We know that our old self
21:07 was crucified with Him..."
21:08 Romans 6:6 and so on this basis,
21:11 on the basis of this fact
21:13 we see that Paul makes another exaltation
21:15 in Romans 6:12
21:17 and this I will ask somebody to read for us,
21:20 Romans 6:12.
21:22 And what does that one say for us?
21:24 Romans 6:12, does anyone have it?
21:26 "Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body
21:29 that you should obey in its lust, it in its lust."
21:32 Wow, that is, if we look at that,
21:35 we see that when we give ourselves to Christ,
21:38 we also have a choice
21:40 because it says therefore, what?
21:43 What's the next part? "Let not sin..."
21:44 "Let not sin reign in your mortal body."
21:48 In other words, don't let it have dominion over you.
21:50 So we have a choice in this aspect as well.
21:53 And so we must exercise our choice,
21:55 our freedom of choice in the right direction.
21:58 And so freedom in Christ,
22:00 it comes because Christ has delivered us
22:05 and we praise the Lord for that.
22:07 So a lesson has a question and here it is,
22:11 from what has Christ freed us from?
22:14 I will give you the short version.
22:16 There are several scriptures pointed out here.
22:19 The Lord Jesus has made us free from sin.
22:23 That's right.
22:25 And the dominion of sin and what sin will do
22:28 to those that cling to it.
22:30 You know, it's kind of amazing
22:32 that you see things in this world happen.
22:35 People cling to things that are going to hurt them,
22:37 you know, for years
22:39 and I know that this is a struggle for some people,
22:41 but I am gonna mention it anyway
22:43 because we can have victory through Jesus Christ.
22:44 That's right.
22:46 For years they've been putting on the cigarette packs,
22:49 you know, it has been determined
22:51 that this causes cancer,
22:52 it has been determined this is bad for your health
22:54 and yet people continue to do it
22:55 because they are controlled by it.
22:58 And when they give themselves to Christ,
22:59 they can find victory in that.
23:04 The same thing happens with sin.
23:06 You know, sin if you hold on to it,
23:08 will destroy you.
23:10 And we are being asked by Christ,
23:13 let not sin therefore reign or have dominion over you.
23:18 And the only way this can happen is
23:20 if Christ is in you, in us, the hope of glory.
23:24 And so we have that as Christ is in us,
23:27 the hope of glory we can have freedom,
23:30 and it is through Him that we have freedom.
23:32 And I'm going to mention that scripture again
23:34 that we mentioned in another program.
23:36 It says, my little children these things write unto you
23:40 that you sin not, and if any man sin,
23:42 we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ,
23:45 the righteous.
23:46 So even though it may be that you may fall,
23:50 we are thankful that we have a faithful high priest
23:53 that is there for us,
23:55 our advocate, the one that sets us free.
23:58 So in Paul's letter you see the sense of freedom
24:01 being used more than
24:03 any other parts of the New Testament,
24:05 and I would like to bring one to you
24:07 because I see that my time is fast departing
24:10 and that is that Galatians 2:20.
24:15 Galatians 2:20 and it says,
24:18 "I have been crucified with Christ."
24:21 Yes. And what else?
24:23 "It is no longer I that lives but Christ liveth in me
24:27 and this life which I now live in the flesh,
24:29 I live by faith in the Son of God
24:32 who loved me and gave Himself for me."
24:35 Amen.
24:36 So Christ lives in us, that is freedom.
24:39 Christ lives in us, that is what gives us victory.
24:42 And the moment we walk away from Christ,
24:44 we are in great danger.
24:46 So our part is to stay in Christ
24:50 and we have freedom.
24:51 Well said, well said.
24:53 Tuesday's lesson seeks to deal with
24:56 and discuss the dangers and consequences of legalism.
25:01 And I think we do well to reanimate
25:05 the definition of what legalism is.
25:10 For me, to me it is an attempt to gain favor
25:13 or to be in right standing with God
25:15 through one's own efforts.
25:17 Just as flat and a simple as one can make it,
25:20 to try to get right with God through your efforts.
25:24 Paul in Galatians 5:2-12 talks about
25:29 and really takes his treatise on circumcision.
25:34 But may I suggest that those circumcision is the issue,
25:40 it's not the only issue.
25:41 That's right.
25:42 The circumcision is the poster child
25:45 for a mindset that says I need to do something
25:49 to get right with God.
25:51 In this issue it's circumcision but the modern day parallel
25:55 could be any number of things
25:57 that we try to do to get right with God.
26:00 Some try to fast their way to righteousness.
26:04 Some try to vegetarian their way to righteousness.
26:07 Some try to vegan their way to righteousness.
26:10 Some tried to no TV their way to righteousness.
26:15 So circumcision then is the stand in
26:19 for anything that we do
26:22 that we think can get us right with God.
26:27 And that will get us into right standing with God
26:31 and as such Paul is very passionate about this.
26:34 You see again that passion sort of leaking through
26:37 in Galatians 5:2-12 here
26:42 because he sees them lapsing back into this idea,
26:46 this mindset of trying to work your way through to God.
26:51 And it's being placed upon them
26:54 by people who do not have their good
26:56 and I don't know, you know, I cannot judge
26:58 the mindset of the Judaizers
27:01 whether they were doing it with a good heart
27:03 thinking maybe they need to do this
27:04 to be part of the club,
27:06 or whether it was a nefarious kind of plot,
27:08 it doesn't really matter.
27:10 The burden is that it was wrong,
27:13 it was putting them back into bondage
27:15 and Paul did not want his Galatian believers
27:18 to fall under that
27:20 because it is the polar opposite
27:23 of what Christ offers us
27:25 as a way, not a way,
27:27 the way to righteousness.
27:31 The lesson says
27:32 in one of the consequences of legalism,
27:36 a little play on words, Christ offered, Christ says,
27:41 that what they were going into will not benefit them,
27:45 opheleia, rather it obligated them,
27:49 opheiletes to the law.
27:52 So there's this little play on words
27:53 that's not gonna help you,
27:55 it's gonna make you a debtor to the law
27:57 and will not help you at all.
28:00 And then if you try to keep one,
28:02 then you've got to try to keep all
28:04 and you really end up trying to,
28:07 you really end up keeping none,
28:08 James 2:10, I have got here says that,
28:11 "If you offend in one point, you offend in all."
28:13 So your relationship to the law is dare I say skewed
28:18 because trying to keep the law
28:22 really kind of gives the law dominion over you
28:24 because you cannot keep it.
28:26 It cannot be done aside from Christ.
28:28 Now, the Judaizers were trying to get
28:31 these new Christians
28:33 to entertain something which was comfortable for them.
28:39 This idea of circumcision was something given to Abraham
28:42 as a sign of a covenant relationship.
28:46 So I'm thinking their mindset
28:48 was surely if it was so important
28:51 that God gave it to Abraham as a sign
28:54 and it has been a sign all these years,
28:56 then surely must be a sign to the new Christians.
28:59 So we better get them to keep this truth
29:02 and get them to understand that this is necessary.
29:06 This thing of circumcision was so important
29:09 that in Jeremiah 9:25 and 26,
29:14 I discovered that there were some other people,
29:17 other nations that were doing circumcision
29:20 not as a religious right
29:22 but the Jews were not the only one practicing it.
29:24 And yet, to the Jewish mind
29:26 the dividing line was circumcised, uncircumcised,
29:30 even for those nations that were keeping,
29:32 that were doing circumcision.
29:34 They were still class to the Jewish mind
29:36 as uncircumcised
29:38 because it was not a sign of covenant with them.
29:40 You were covenant circumcised and everybody else
29:43 whether you're keeping,
29:44 whether you're doing practicing circumcision or not
29:46 was uncircumcised.
29:48 So in their mind it loomed very, very large.
29:51 It was something that they had a modicum of pride in,
29:54 it distinguished them from other nations.
29:56 It was the sign given to Father Abraham
29:58 and carried down with only short lapses
30:03 in the practice for generations.
30:07 So their thinking is,
30:09 well, surely this is got to be a requisite
30:13 for these new believers.
30:17 And of course, it must have come up
30:19 at the Jerusalem counsel
30:20 because a number of infractions did
30:22 and of course, you know, James sort of digested down,
30:25 we can't do all of these things,
30:27 we've got to really settle in morality,
30:33 things strangled which wasn't a new were offer to idols
30:36 rather which was a sort of a New Testament dust up,
30:38 there was some problems with that.
30:40 But all of these other Jewish things
30:42 no longer held sway.
30:45 Now it's all about Jesus and that was ratified
30:48 and the brethren began to preach
30:50 and proclaim that I want to go through
30:52 what Paul writes
30:55 as the dangerous consequences of legalism.
30:58 The first one is trying to earn
31:01 God's favor by submitting to circumcision
31:04 and all of that it obliges a person to do
31:06 in respect to the law and has had before,
31:09 in this issue it was circumcision
31:10 but you could plug really any practice in there...
31:12 That's true.
31:14 And turn it into a legalistic requirement
31:19 that would take you away
31:20 from what Christ is trying to give you.
31:22 Secondly, the person will be cut off from Christ.
31:25 He's saying if you do these things,
31:29 you are really cutting off the flow of,
31:34 you know, I keep want to come back to grace pipeline.
31:36 But you're cutting off the flow
31:39 of blessings and grace from Jesus Christ
31:43 because now you're working,
31:44 you're sweating, you're thriving,
31:46 you're trying to do it on your own
31:48 and you simply cannot do it.
31:50 An unrighteous person
31:52 cannot keep a righteous holy law
31:53 without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
31:56 and the work of a holy God in his heart.
32:00 So you've cut yourself off, you're trying to do something
32:05 and you've cut yourself off from the source of strength
32:07 that will enable you to do something,
32:09 so you're actually working against yourself.
32:11 Yeah, He says you've fallen from grace.
32:12 You've fallen from grace, precisely.
32:14 Yeah, you've fallen from grace. Wow.
32:17 Which is strong, that's strong
32:19 'cause, you've fallen from grace.
32:22 Paul's third objection to circumcision
32:24 is that it hinders spiritual growth.
32:26 It does.
32:27 Spiritual growth comes from abiding in Jesus.
32:30 The whole John 15
32:33 and not just an occasional assent to Jesus
32:36 but abiding in Jesus,
32:37 staying in Jesus, staying with Jesus,
32:39 relying on Jesus, receiving from Jesus.
32:42 And if you're working on your own,
32:45 how can you grow?
32:47 How can you grow?
32:48 How can a plant grow unless it is in soil
32:51 and getting water and getting nutrients?
32:53 If you cut a pair of a set of flowers,
32:57 the other day my wife was away and I bought her
33:00 three dozen roses at the airport, you know...
33:03 Oh, very nice. And she was rather impressed.
33:06 Lucky Irma, that's very nice.
33:08 And then just few days later
33:10 she thrown them out because there's not, you know,
33:13 you put them in water and you put the little powder
33:14 and that's supposed to extend their life,
33:16 but they're going to die, you know, they're going to die.
33:19 All is that in same way,
33:20 if you're cut off from the vine,
33:23 the branch is not gonna be able to succeed.
33:25 And so if you're working on your own
33:27 and not receiving the goodness, the grace of Christ,
33:31 you're going to die spiritually.
33:33 And so that's what he's trying to say here.
33:35 If you're trying to do it on your own
33:37 sooner or later you're going to run out of spiritual gas
33:40 and you are going to die.
33:42 Finally, circumcision removes the offense of the cross.
33:46 How?
33:48 The lesson as the message of circumcision implies
33:51 that you can save yourself
33:53 as such it is a flatter,
33:56 it is flattering to human pride.
34:01 It's nice to have this
34:04 pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality.
34:07 You know, but you can't pull yourself
34:10 up to the kingdom of God.
34:13 You can't.
34:14 You can't do that, you need Jesus.
34:16 And there are some people
34:18 whose personality sort of bristles at the idea
34:22 that I've got to depend on somebody else.
34:24 Yes, it's very humbling.
34:26 It is very humbling, and of course, in this world,
34:29 people will let you down.
34:32 But God will never let you down,
34:34 and that's why I love
34:36 the sentiment of Hebrews 13:5-6,
34:38 we can boldly say God is our helper.
34:41 You know, we can boldly say that God is our helper.
34:44 And we need Him and we depend on Him.
34:47 And you know, there are times in our life
34:48 when God puts you in something and when you get through,
34:51 you know, it had to be God, it was not you.
34:53 Well, if you live your life like that,
34:56 it makes you dependent upon God,
34:57 but it also makes you grateful that you serve a God
34:59 who loves you so much that He will never leave you,
35:02 and never forsake you, and always by your side.
35:05 So it removes you from those dangers
35:07 that are inherent in trying
35:09 to be self righteous and get righteousness
35:11 of by through your own efforts.
35:14 It makes you dependent upon a God
35:16 who loves you and will always be with you
35:19 and has made provision for your success.
35:22 Amen.
35:23 As I'm sitting here, I'm thinking about,
35:27 really we're striving to see clearly as sinners
35:31 which are self centered by nature
35:34 is instead of the kingdom of this earth
35:36 which we've always known pre-Christian,
35:39 pre-conversion, the kingdom of heaven
35:43 which is selflessness and all righteousness
35:46 comes by God before the fall,
35:50 after the fall, and now.
35:52 And we are the ones
35:54 that are struggling trying to figure that out
35:56 because we have to die to self, die to self, die to self...
35:59 Yes.
36:00 And that journey,
36:01 we can go into many ditches
36:03 because we struggle to understand it.
36:05 It's an amazing thing that our nature,
36:08 our natural self is at war
36:09 with what God is trying to teach us all.
36:13 I was probably about six months into my first district,
36:15 my first pastorate
36:17 and it was 4:30 in the morning
36:19 and I received the phone call.
36:21 And though the woman shared her name
36:25 and I had only met one other individual
36:27 in the district by that name
36:29 so in my stupor I thought I'm listening
36:31 to this other individual.
36:32 And she was crying and she was telling me
36:36 that my husband is a faithful member,
36:39 but I am in the wrong place.
36:40 I am, where I know I shouldn't be,
36:43 I have left the church.
36:45 I have gone to another church.
36:47 She'd gone to a Pentecostal church,
36:49 an independent Pentecostal church
36:51 and she says,
36:52 "I know that if I don't go back to where God wants me,
36:55 then I'm gonna be lost."
36:57 And it wasn't until later on that I figured out
36:59 who I was actually speaking with
37:01 someone I had never met,
37:02 you know, when you're the pastor,
37:04 you expect that you're supposed to know who this is
37:06 and I couldn't figure it out the whole time.
37:09 Well, this individual, bless her heart,
37:11 she came into the faith,
37:12 she became active in the church,
37:14 and then she wanted to talk to me.
37:16 And she said, "Pastor, I'm having a problem."
37:18 She said, "In that other church that I was in,
37:22 they told you how long your dress had to be,
37:25 they told you what it need to be made of,
37:26 they told you how you're supposed to keep your hair.
37:28 The pastor micromanaged us
37:32 and now that I don't have that..."
37:35 She said,
37:36 "I don't know what to do with this freedom I have.
37:40 Look all of a sudden,
37:41 you see our topic for today
37:43 and Wednesday's is liberty not licentiousness."
37:46 Which she struggled
37:47 with is that she went from bondage
37:49 to licentiousness
37:50 and didn't experience that freedom.
37:52 Let's go to
37:55 Galatians 5:13.
38:05 And it says, "For you brethren, have been called to liberty,
38:09 only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh
38:12 but through love serve one another."
38:16 Do not use liberty.
38:17 So really what are we at liberty from?
38:19 We are actually, we are, well, we're saved from sins penalty.
38:24 That's the liberty we receive,
38:27 but we're also receive freedom from something else,
38:30 it's found in
38:31 Galatians 2:17-21.
38:42 "But if while we seek to be justified by Christ,
38:47 we ourselves are also found sinners,
38:49 is Christ therefore a minister of sin,
38:50 certainly not.
38:52 For if I build again those things
38:53 which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor,
38:57 for I through the law died to the law
38:59 that I might live to God.
39:01 I have been crucified with Christ,
39:03 it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me."
39:07 Amen.
39:08 "And the life which I now live in the flesh,
39:10 I live by faith in the Son of God
39:11 who loved me and gave Himself for me."
39:15 Amen.
39:16 And then verse 21,
39:18 "I do not set aside the grace of God,
39:20 for if righteousness comes through the law,
39:22 then Christ died in vain."
39:25 So we see that we have this freedom in Christ,
39:27 and you know I was thinking,
39:29 well, how do we
39:32 not go into that ditch of licentiousness?
39:35 And my mind went to John 15
39:37 and something we have to all keep in mind
39:40 because the freedom is in Christ,
39:41 I am crucified.
39:44 It is Him that is living in me
39:46 and we can say it over and over again,
39:48 we can think it, we can be resolute about it,
39:51 but at the same time
39:53 we often fall out of that experience.
39:56 But in John 15:4-5,
40:00 "Abide in me and I and you
40:02 as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
40:04 unless it abides in the vine,
40:05 neither can you unless you abide in me."
40:07 Amen. I am the vine.
40:08 We have to remember Jesus is the source of life,
40:11 of spiritual life.
40:12 Amen.
40:14 And you are the branches,
40:15 He who abides in me and I in Him
40:17 bears much fruit
40:18 for without me you can do nothing.
40:20 Amen.
40:21 Now I think about it, oh, what is the fruit?
40:23 You go to Galatians 5, back to Galatians.
40:29 You know, this very thing that we're talking about,
40:31 we were mentioning people are struggling
40:34 with Paul's gospel.
40:36 Paul's gospel was one that,
40:37 you know, I guess he was like the Morris Venden of his day,
40:40 was radical thinking,
40:41 righteousness by faith, what is this?
40:43 We have to do,
40:44 we can do that plus the law
40:46 and then we'll be good and everything.
40:47 And I think as an Adventists,
40:49 we struggle with the same thing.
40:50 Absolutely.
40:51 Christians struggle with that, any Christian will struggle.
40:53 But we find that, you know,
40:55 there are things that are removed
40:56 when you're walking in the spirit,
40:58 but the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22 says,
41:01 "Is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
41:05 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,
41:07 against such there is no law..."
41:10 So here we have empowering grace.
41:14 So that is the law of liberty living in us
41:16 and this is the result of it.
41:18 But what happens is sometimes people find themselves
41:21 in verse 19 and onward,
41:24 "In the works of the flesh,
41:26 there is the adultery, the fornication,
41:28 the uncleanness,
41:29 and this doesn't have to be an action,
41:30 this could be in thought,
41:32 this could be in their inner thought life,
41:34 in their who they are.
41:36 Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
41:38 outbursts, or wrath, selfish, ambitions, dissensions,
41:41 heresies, envy, murders, and drunkenness, revelries."
41:44 So here we find this is what we come to Christ with
41:49 but He exchanges that for what we read
41:52 and when we read the fruit of the spirit.
41:57 But it is no longer I living,
41:58 it is Christ in me
42:00 and that's something that each one of us
42:02 needs to experience.
42:04 There's something else it says here
42:05 in that verse Galatians 5:13,
42:08 it says, "But through love serve one another.
42:13 So an antidote for serving the flesh
42:17 is to serve others.
42:18 Yes.
42:20 I think that it's an important ingredient
42:21 in a Christian's walk
42:23 and there are too many Christians
42:24 that don't experience the serving others.
42:27 Amen.
42:28 Yeah, I remember one time a pastor said to me,
42:30 this is before it was pastoring.
42:31 He said,
42:33 "You know, there's a reason I'm a full time pastor."
42:34 I said, "What's that?"
42:36 And he said,
42:37 "Because without it, I'd be lost."
42:38 Wow.
42:40 "I need full time ministry to keep me
42:43 in a saved condition."
42:45 I thought wow.
42:46 Well, you know, I realize that
42:48 if God calls you to full time ministry,
42:50 you know, He wants you to bless others
42:51 but He also wants to transform your life,
42:54 it's what you need and He's more interested
42:57 in our salvation than our ministry.
42:59 That's true.
43:01 And when I look at this, I think wow,
43:03 "Serving others in love
43:05 is what we need to do only through death to self
43:08 is that possible."
43:11 And that is the way the kingdom of heaven operates.
43:15 The very thing that we are trying to grasp,
43:17 a hold of and get figure out
43:19 what this is really all about as a Christian,
43:20 because if you think about it,
43:22 when we close our eyes and sleep or Jesus comes,
43:25 we are going to enter into that transformed state.
43:28 The only thing we're taking with us is character.
43:30 Character.
43:31 And it's being developed now,
43:33 and now is the time to learn this very thing.
43:36 Well said.
43:37 And I think about the Three Angels' messages,
43:39 we're not really sharing them unless it's infused
43:43 with righteousness by faith.
43:45 It's got to be Christ's message not mine.
43:48 I'm not the one that's right,
43:49 I'm as lost as the other person.
43:51 And if it were not for this message,
43:52 I'd have nothing to share.
43:55 And what a privilege it is
43:56 because as we serve others and by the way,
44:00 until you love God
44:02 with all your heart, mind, and soul
44:03 and love your neighbor as yourself,
44:05 you cannot be serving others.
44:07 It's maybe more self serving. It's good.
44:08 Yeah.
44:09 Some people are so busy,
44:11 but they're really not in Christ,
44:12 they're just busy.
44:14 But as we serve others
44:16 then it has a transforming effect
44:18 and a holding effect.
44:19 So we don't fall into that trap
44:23 of licentiousness
44:25 that so easily befalls God's people.
44:29 So that is the goal that God has for every one of us
44:33 is for us to live in liberty.
44:37 By the way, His law,
44:38 the moral law is the law of liberty.
44:40 That's right.
44:42 And it's freedom from sin, it's freedom from its penalty,
44:45 and the victory could be ours.
44:48 You know, if we knew Him as we could,
44:51 as we have the opportunity to know Him,
44:53 we'd have the victory all the time.
44:55 And I think of that very thought,
44:58 Christ was our example in all things,
45:00 it's in Christ that there is victory,
45:02 His spirit in us.
45:04 And serving others is a way to not only behold Him
45:08 but to be a co-laborer with Him,
45:12 ministering to the needs of others.
45:13 Absolutely, thank you very much,
45:15 that was good.
45:17 Thursday's lesson, we're going to be talking Paul
45:20 is talking about fulfilling the whole law.
45:23 It's interesting throughout all of Paul's writings
45:27 when he writes about doing the law,
45:30 it's always in a negative way.
45:33 You know, he writes negatively about doing the law,
45:36 but he writes very positively about fulfilling the law.
45:41 So what we're going to do is try to reconcile
45:42 these two statements in this lesson.
45:45 And there's a sharp contrast, so let's look at this.
45:48 In Galatians 5:3-4,
45:55 and this is a wake up call for anybody
45:58 who thinks that what you are doing
46:02 can add to your salvation.
46:03 If you don't accept the salvation of Jesus Christ
46:07 by faith alone, by God's grace,
46:10 if you're doing anything
46:12 to make yourself right before God
46:15 to give you to, bring your righteousness,
46:17 you need to listen to this.
46:18 Galatians 5:3-4.
46:20 Paul writes,
46:22 "And I testify again to every man
46:24 who has become circumcised..."
46:25 As you said this is the poster topic
46:28 but doesn't mean just circumcision.
46:31 "To every man has become circumcised
46:33 that he is a debtor,
46:35 he has assumed an obligation
46:38 because he's coming
46:40 under the law for justification.
46:42 He's a debtor to do or to keep do the whole law."
46:48 So you're obligated,
46:49 if you're gonna try to be saved by the law,
46:52 you are obligated to keep the perfect obedience
46:56 to the entire law which we know is impossible.
46:59 But listen to verse 4,
47:01 "You have become estranged from Christ..."
47:05 Wow, you've been separated, you're a stranger to Him.
47:08 "Now you who attempt to be justified by law..."
47:13 Whether it's dietary law or any other law,
47:16 "You who attempt to be justified by law,
47:19 you have fallen from grace."
47:23 Remember, what Jesus wrote in Revelation,
47:25 remember how far you have fallen.
47:29 Oh, so Jesus is no longer your first love because self,
47:34 you're inserting self a savior.
47:36 So in Galatians 3:10, let's read that one.
47:43 Why is he saying you becoming a debtor?
47:45 In Galatians 3:10,
47:47 he said for as many as are of the works of the law,
47:51 now he's talking about the Mosaic covenant here.
47:53 He's gonna make it clear
47:55 because He's going to quote from it in just a second.
47:57 "For as many as are of the works of the law
48:02 under this Mosaic law are under a curse,
48:07 for it is written cursed is every one
48:11 who does not continue in all things
48:14 which are written in the book of the law to do them."
48:18 So salvation
48:21 by doing works,
48:25 by trying to save ourselves
48:26 separates us from Jesus Christ.
48:30 It doesn't imply though
48:31 that we have no need of obedience
48:33 and that's what we really want to look at
48:36 but rather that as Hebrews 7:22,
48:41 I believe says,
48:42 "Jesus is the surety of the covenant."
48:45 And it goes on in 7:25 saying
48:48 that He is therefore able to save to the utter most
48:52 all those to come to God through Him,
48:55 because He lives to make intercession for us.
48:59 So the surety of the covenant,
49:02 He is making sure that,
49:05 He's telling us, okay, through me,
49:07 all of God's promises are yours,
49:08 yes and amen in Christ Jesus.
49:11 But he is also assuring God, all right,
49:14 Lord, through Me working in Him
49:16 to will and to do His good pleasure.
49:19 As I work in C.A.
49:21 to will and to, I promise Lord,
49:24 I will keep,
49:26 I will perfect the work that I have begun in Him.
49:29 That's right.
49:30 So obedience to fulfill the law,
49:35 if you look at the word in the Greek,
49:37 it's like if you had a yard here
49:40 and then it suddenly got this dip,
49:42 this hollow place,
49:44 fulfilling it would be to come in
49:47 and fill it over, making it leveled out.
49:51 So let's look at Romans 8:3-4.
49:57 Romans 8:3-4.
50:02 What does Paul mean it?
50:04 We're gonna be fulfilling the law.
50:05 Romans 8:3-4.
50:08 He said, "For what the law could not do
50:10 and that it was weak through the flesh..."
50:12 In other words nobody can keep the law,
50:15 that Mosaic law was impossible.
50:17 "God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
50:23 on account of sin.
50:25 He condemned sin in the flesh..."
50:28 Amen.
50:29 Now here comes the purpose statement.
50:31 "So that, he condemns sin in the flesh by dying for us
50:37 so that the righteous requirement of the law
50:40 might be fulfilled in us
50:43 who do not walk according to the flesh
50:45 but according to the spirit."
50:47 Hallelujah. Amen.
50:49 So when He ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit.
50:56 And now Ephesians 3:16-20,
51:01 it's talking about Paul writes and says,
51:04 "You know I prayed that you will be strengthened
51:06 with might, or due to my power,
51:09 through the Spirit in your inner man
51:11 so it's through the Holy Spirit,
51:13 so that Christ might live in your heart
51:15 by face so that you can be rooted,
51:17 grounded, and love
51:19 and come into the full stature of Christ.
51:21 So now as the spirit lives in us,
51:24 Christ lives in us by faith,
51:26 and it's just so exciting to know
51:29 that Christian behavior
51:31 is more than a mere outward obedience,
51:35 he changes our heart, that's right,
51:37 that's the new covenant promises
51:39 that He gives us a new heart
51:42 and we fulfill the requirements of the moral law
51:48 because He's working His character out in us.
51:51 Amen.
51:52 It's just because, we love Him and we want to keep that.
51:56 Romans 13-8.
52:00 Paul writes to the Romans and he says,
52:02 "Owe no one anything except to love one another,
52:06 for he who has loved one another
52:09 has fulfilled the law.
52:12 You know, when the young ruler came to Jesus
52:16 and said one of the most important commandments
52:18 in Mark 12:30-31,
52:20 Jesus said this is it,
52:22 love the Lord your God with all your heart,
52:23 all your soul, all your mind,
52:25 all your strength love your neighbor
52:27 as yourself, right?
52:30 So this was actually not the rich young ruler
52:32 This was the scribes and Pharisees
52:34 who came to Him.
52:35 So what we have to look at
52:41 is that
52:42 that's the bottom line to Christianity,
52:44 He tells us, Jesus tells us in Matthew 22,
52:49 I'm gonna read, let me quickly read this.
52:53 This is where a man comes to me
52:55 and says, teacher, what's the greatest commandment
52:57 of the law, and Jesus once again says,
53:00 "Love the Lord your God
53:01 with all your heart, soul, mind,
53:03 this is the first and greatest commandment
53:06 and the second is like this, is like it.
53:09 You should love neighbor as yourself.
53:12 On these two commandments,
53:14 hang all the law and the prophets.
53:19 All the writings of the Old Testament
53:21 are hanging on those two commandments.
53:22 Amen
53:24 Now. Why?
53:27 Without love the law is empty
53:33 and it's cold.
53:34 I have met some people who are law keep person...
53:39 Empty and cold.
53:40 And they're empty and cold.
53:41 I mean they were, you know, you just feel like
53:43 you've been slapped up against the cheek
53:46 with a cold fish.
53:48 But without the law, love has no direction.
53:53 True.
53:54 So I want to send you to my favorite scripture
53:58 one of my favorites I'd like to.
54:00 Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13.
54:03 Because when Christ is living in our heart
54:07 by the power of the Holy Spirit,
54:09 you see we can even love God
54:11 with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength
54:12 and love our neighbor by our self,
54:14 not in our own strength, Romans 5:5 says,
54:16 "God is the one who pours His love
54:18 into our hearts
54:19 by the power of the Holy Spirit."
54:22 And 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, Paul writes and he says,
54:26 "May the Lord make you increase
54:29 in the bound of love to one another
54:31 and to all just as we do to you."
54:34 'Cause this is how you're going to fulfill the law.
54:38 He says, but what is the reason,
54:40 why does he want God to do this in us?
54:43 To make us abound in love, to make us grow in love.
54:47 Here's his purpose statement,
54:48 so that he may establish
54:51 your heart's blameless and holiness
54:54 before our God and Father
54:55 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
54:57 with all His saints.
55:00 What's he saying?
55:02 As God causes us to grow in love,
55:06 we grow in holiness
55:08 because the essence of God is love.
55:13 He pours that essence into us and it is love
55:18 that makes us want to obey God to follow His voice,
55:22 to listen to Him.
55:23 It is love that self-sacrificing love,
55:27 I'm not talking syrupy sweet, this is...
55:29 I'm talking about that self sacrificing love
55:33 that makes us serve others.
55:34 Amen.
55:35 Amen, beautifully said, Shelley,
55:37 what an incredible blessing.
55:38 To me this is practical Christianity
55:41 lived down in action.
55:43 This is the gospel
55:44 and how it applies to my own life.
55:47 You talked about love,
55:48 I wrote it down, I love what you said,
55:50 "Without love the law is empty and cold,
55:54 but without the law, love has no direction."
55:58 And love truly as our memory text,
56:00 love is the fulfilling of the law.
56:02 Both Pastor C.A.
56:04 and Pastor Tom, you both referenced John 15.
56:08 One from the angle of keeping us
56:09 from legalism and one from the angle of keeping us
56:12 from licentiousness,
56:14 and you think if we are to have Christ love,
56:17 if love is truly the fulfilling of the law,
56:20 if we are to have Christ formed within the hope of glory,
56:24 we have got to abide in the vine.
56:26 Amen. We have got to abide in Christ.
56:30 I think about Greg when he was young
56:33 and had a great vine swing.
56:36 And they cut the grapevine off at the root
56:38 and they swung out over the valley
56:40 and came back and swung out over the valley
56:43 and came back and they did this for weeks and months.
56:47 And then one day someone came to visit
56:49 and he was a kid
56:51 and he jumped on the grapevine swing
56:53 and he swung out over the valley
56:54 and you know what happened?
56:55 It broke.
56:57 And he went flying and landed,
56:58 but he was okay, praise the Lord.
57:00 But the reason it broke is it was disconnected
57:05 from its life source.
57:06 So as we incorporate these principles of walking
57:11 by faith know that
57:14 we have to remain connected to the vine,
57:17 that is the most important thing,
57:19 Jesus, life giving sap flowing through us.
57:22 Thank you Shelley Quinn, Pastor Tom Ferguson,
57:24 Pastor C.A. Murray, and John Dinzey,
57:26 and we thank you for joining us as well
57:29 for 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
57:31 We want to encourage you to be connected to Christ
57:34 and stay connected this week.
57:36 Bye-bye.


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Revised 2023-10-31