3ABN Sabbath School Panel

Lesson 13: The Gospel and the Church

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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

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Series Code: SSP

Program Code: SSP000038A


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 to present yourself
00:16 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, I'm Shelley Quinn,
00:34 and we are so glad that you are joining us
00:37 for Sabbath School Panel this week,
00:39 and I believe that you are going to enjoy this study
00:42 because we've got a great panel of wonderful friends
00:46 and brothers and sisters in the Lord,
00:48 but before I introduce them, I just want to welcome you.
00:51 Hope you have the Bible and your pen,
00:54 and I hope you already have a Sabbath School quarterly.
00:59 You know, even if this is your first time to tune in
01:03 and if you don't have one of these,
01:05 even though we are at the end,
01:08 nearly we've got just three more lessons,
01:10 or two more lessons to do.
01:12 But I want to encourage you
01:14 to get this Sabbath School quarterly
01:17 because we are studying the gospel,
01:19 the good news in Galatians of salvation
01:22 by grace through Jesus Christ.
01:24 So if you want to get this,
01:27 if you haven't gone to your Seventh-day Adventist church
01:30 or a local church to get one,
01:31 you can go to ABSG, Adult Bible Study Guide,
01:37 ABSG.Adventist.org and download that,
01:42 so you can follow along today
01:45 and throughout the remainder of the study.
01:47 Let me introduce without further ado
01:50 our wonderful panel.
01:51 Next to me, I have Pastor Johnny Dinzey.
01:54 We're so glad you're with us, Johnny.
01:55 Thank you.
01:56 It's a great pleasure to be here.
01:58 Then Sister Jill Morikone,
02:00 I started to say Sister Jill Quinn,
02:02 I don't know where that came from.
02:04 I received that.
02:05 I think it's a blessing to be here.
02:07 And then we have Pastor Tom Ferguson.
02:09 Hi.
02:10 And Pastor CA Murray
02:12 who I'm going to ask to open in prayer, please.
02:15 Glad to do so, shall we pray?
02:16 Father God, how we thank You for Your Word
02:19 which is a lamp unto our feet
02:21 and a light unto our path.
02:23 We thank You, Father, that we can know Your Word,
02:26 and understand Your Word,
02:27 and put Your Word into practice
02:29 and that in doing so, we are made like Christ Jesus.
02:34 We receive Him into our hearts,
02:36 and that the power of the Word can convict and convert us.
02:40 Thank you, Father, for this study
02:42 in the Book of Galatians
02:44 so that we can see Paul's burden for his church
02:48 and we can see Your burden for Your church.
02:52 And we are convicted once again
02:55 that we are Your people and You are our God.
02:57 Bless us, Father, as we study.
02:59 Bless us as we open this Word.
03:01 May Christ be seen and glorified,
03:03 and we thank You, dear Father, in Jesus' name, amen.
03:06 Amen. Amen and Amen.
03:08 Okay, so we are on lesson number 13,
03:10 the gospel and the church.
03:13 And in the opening here for Sabbath,
03:18 it's talking about an article
03:20 from the International Student Fellowship newsletter
03:23 from March 2007.
03:25 And basically it's telling the story
03:27 of some vegetable farmers
03:28 who as they are producing their crops,
03:32 they were keeping the biggest vegetables for themselves,
03:34 and they were planting the smaller ones
03:36 using those for seeds.
03:38 And what happened after a few disappointing harvests,
03:41 they found out that their crops
03:43 just kept getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller.
03:46 So the important lesson, it's a life lesson,
03:50 a law of life
03:51 is that the harvest reflects the planting.
03:54 If we selfishly hold on to the big things for ourselves
03:59 and we only plant the little things,
04:02 we're going to be disappointed
04:03 because it'll be a poor spiritual harvest.
04:06 In a similar vein, we're going to get to our memory text here,
04:10 so be prepared.
04:12 But what Paul is showing us
04:14 is similar to this in Galatians 6:1-10.
04:17 He's saying, "You reap what you sow.
04:19 You sow to the flesh, reap corruption.
04:22 Sow to the spirit, you're going to reap everlasting life."
04:25 And he's saying, "Don't get weary in doing good to others
04:29 because even if they don't seem to appreciate it,
04:33 you will reap the spiritual harvest."
04:36 So our memory text is Galatians 6:10.
04:39 Let's say that together.
04:40 "So then, as we have opportunity,
04:44 let us do good to everyone,
04:47 and especially to those
04:49 who are of the household of faith."
04:52 Amen.
04:53 So here he's not seeking justification by works
04:57 but living a life of abundance that God has planned for us.
05:03 We want to turn to Sunday's lesson now,
05:07 "Restoring the Falling".
05:09 And I'm going to begin with Galatians 5.
05:13 It would be helpful to be turned there,
05:14 Galatians 5:16.
05:18 Paul says, "I say then, 'Walk in the Spirit
05:22 and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
05:28 There are two natures within every human,
05:32 every Christian I should say.
05:34 Every Christian has a nature that's the old selfish nature
05:39 that we want to please ourself,
05:42 and then there is the born-again spiritual nature.
05:46 Day by day we have to make
05:48 a constant, deliberate decision
05:52 to surrender control of our lives to God
05:54 because as we do that,
05:57 we studied last time
05:58 that the Holy Spirit, when he is in control,
06:01 he will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
06:07 And this is the only way
06:08 that we can conquer our self life
06:10 because God will work in us
06:13 by us hearing His Word
06:16 and responding to His Spirit,
06:18 He will work in us to will and to do His good pleasure.
06:20 Amen.
06:22 But, you know, one thing that I think about
06:23 is that the mind of Christ
06:26 is, "We've been given the mind of Christ," Paul says.
06:29 And I think of that as the Word of God
06:31 and the Holy Spirit.
06:33 So we've got the Word and the Spirit to guide us.
06:37 And even so, this idea of walking in the Spirit
06:43 and never fulfilling the lust of the flesh,
06:45 is it something that every Christian you just say,
06:48 "Okay, that's it.
06:50 I'm not going to, you know, I'm crucified with Christ.
06:53 That old nature is dead."
06:55 You think? I wish.
06:57 Okay.
06:58 So what we're saying is that old ugly sin nature
07:02 can rear its ugly head every now and then,
07:06 so let's look at what Paul is going to tell us
07:10 what to do
07:12 when a fellow Christian falls into sinful behavior.
07:15 In Galatians 6:1,
07:18 he says, "Brethren, if a man is overtaken
07:22 in any trespass,
07:24 you who are spiritual,
07:27 restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness,
07:31 considering yourself lest you are also tempted."
07:36 Now let's kind of, unpack that.
07:38 In the Greek, the word here for overtaken,
07:43 it can mean that you've been caught,
07:45 you've been detected,
07:47 or it can mean you are overtaken by surprise.
07:51 And in context, this would be,
07:54 I would say that this is something
07:55 that suddenly came upon somebody
07:58 that they are being overtaken,
08:02 it's a sudden temptation that seized them
08:05 and they fell into a sin.
08:08 Now, the word in the Greek here
08:10 for trespass is paraptoma,
08:14 and that means a sin or a fault or trespass,
08:18 and it doesn't refer to a deliberate sin.
08:21 So that's why I'm saying the overtaken here
08:24 is that somebody was, they didn't mean to,
08:27 they've been walking a straight path
08:29 but somehow, it's not a deliberate defiant sin,
08:34 but they've stumbled into sin,
08:36 you might say, they've made a false step
08:39 and were caught off-guard.
08:42 So he said, "You who are spiritual,"
08:45 what does it mean we who are spiritual?
08:48 It's those who are being led by the Holy Spirit,
08:51 if you are walking by the Spirit,
08:55 you know, this is the one
08:56 that should go to restore your brother.
09:01 And again, looking at the Greek,
09:03 I just love looking at the Greek words,
09:06 Catharsis, it means when he says,
09:10 "You who are spiritual, restore your brother,"
09:12 that word "restore"
09:14 is the same word that they use
09:16 when they were talking about mending a fishing net.
09:19 It was also used in Greek literature
09:21 when it was talking about a doctor
09:23 that would put a broken leg back into place.
09:28 So our proper response when we see a brother
09:32 who's been walking by the Spirit
09:34 who stumbles and falls,
09:37 is not that we should be gossiping and criticizing,
09:41 but that we who have a relationship with the Lord,
09:45 should be like a doctor,
09:47 or one who's going to help them set that broken leg,
09:51 or mend their fish net,
09:52 go to them in gentleness,
09:55 showing the fruit of the spirit,
09:57 the kindness, the gentleness,
09:59 and the humility that we have,
10:02 to go before them
10:03 and help them see their way back,
10:07 all the while keeping an eye on ourselves
10:10 so that we recognize,
10:12 "Hey, we're not immune to temptation ourselves
10:14 so we shouldn't be judgmental."
10:17 Now let's look at Matthew 18.
10:21 And, Jill, would you read verses 15 and 16.
10:27 Matthew 18:15 and 16.
10:31 Mathew 18:15 and 16,
10:33 "Moreover if your brother sins against you,
10:36 go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
10:40 If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
10:43 But if he will not hear,
10:45 take with you one or two more
10:47 that by the mouth of two or three witnesses
10:49 every word may be established."
10:51 Okay, so these are Jesus' words.
10:53 These are His guidelines for conflict resolution.
10:58 And it's interesting.
11:00 He says, "First, go talk to him by yourself."
11:04 And this is not,
11:05 I mean, this is having a straightforward,
11:08 honest conversation with someone to...
11:12 It's not really a confrontational.
11:14 I mean it shouldn't be confrontational and vindictive.
11:17 It should be going to have a gentle conversation with him
11:22 because otherwise you're going to really create a mess,
11:25 but don't gossip, don't be resentful,
11:29 don't seek revenge.
11:31 You go first to your brother but now it's interesting.
11:34 He says in the next verse
11:36 if that brother won't listen to you,
11:38 your brother or sister,
11:40 if he just doesn't listen to reason,
11:42 he says, "Take with you one or two,"
11:45 and then he quotes from Deuteronomy 19:15,
11:49 "By the mouth of two or three witnesses,
11:51 every word may be established."
11:53 That's a direct...
11:55 Let me read Deuteronomy 19:15.
11:57 "One witness shall not rise
11:59 against a man concerning any iniquity
12:01 or any sin that he commits,
12:03 by the mouth of two or three witnesses,
12:06 the matter shall be established."
12:07 You know, it's interesting to me
12:09 because we talk about the Mosaic Law is no longer,
12:14 I mean, the New Covenant supersedes that, right?
12:16 But the point is this is sensible practical information.
12:22 You don't throw the baby out with the bath water,
12:24 you bring in all the good things
12:26 so we're still using this.
12:28 And then so he's saying,
12:30 you know, "Okay, first you go have a private conversation
12:32 to avoid harboring bitterness.
12:36 Now, take a couple of people with you from the church.
12:39 If they don't respond to that, go with a couple of brethren."
12:43 Then he says if in verse 17, Matthew 18:17,
12:48 "If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.
12:52 But if he refuses even to hear the church,
12:55 let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."
12:59 In other words, he's not a true believer.
13:02 So basically, if somebody... obstinately,
13:06 if you've tried to talk with him in a gentle way,
13:08 you've taken somebody,
13:10 a couple of others with you to try to talk to them,
13:12 and then you present to the church
13:14 and they will not come around,
13:16 then cut them off temporarily from fellowship
13:20 is basically what he's saying
13:22 but we know that Paul in Corinthians
13:25 when he was writing to Timothy,
13:27 it was to be something where you cut him off temporarily
13:30 then try to restore them again
13:33 because the goal is forgiveness.
13:37 The goal is reconciliation
13:40 so that all Christians can live in harmony.
13:44 Brother, Johnny?
13:46 Thank you so much.
13:48 You know, you may be walking down the road
13:49 or may have done this already
13:52 and as you're passing by some homes,
13:54 you see the sign that says, "Beware of dog."
13:59 And surely, you take notice and you know to be careful
14:03 because there's a dog in there.
14:05 And, of course, they don't tell you what size the dog is
14:08 because some homes have a little tiny dog,
14:10 but the sign is there, "Beware of dog."
14:13 So you are warned that you may be in danger.
14:18 The lesson for Monday is entitled,
14:21 "Beware of Temptation".
14:24 And so when we look at Galatians 6:1,
14:27 which is the scripture
14:31 that Sister Shelley already worked through,
14:33 but we're going to take a look at the last part this time.
14:36 So let's look at it again, Galatians 6:1,
14:40 "Brethren, if a man is overtaken
14:42 in any trespass or fault,
14:44 you who are spiritual,
14:45 restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness
14:49 considering yourselves lest you also be tempted."
14:54 So here is a warning for us that if someone falls,
14:58 you also have to be careful
15:01 because you may be tempted as well.
15:03 So this is a warning that Paul wisely gives to Christians,
15:08 wisely gives to us
15:10 so that we can be careful.
15:12 So when we look at the word translated
15:15 considering the lesson points out
15:18 or another word is "take care,"
15:20 literally means to look at carefully,
15:24 pay careful attention to.
15:27 You can look at Romans 16:17
15:31 and we're going to ask someone to read that for us.
15:34 And who is ready, please go ahead and do so.
15:37 Romans 16:17.
15:41 "Now I urge you, brethren,
15:43 note those who cause divisions and offenses
15:46 contrary to the doctrine which you have learned
15:48 and avoid them."
15:50 Now that is a very powerful scripture as well.
15:54 Now this word "note" or "mark" as it is in some versions,
15:59 is the same word "mark" or "note,"
16:03 those which cause divisions.
16:05 And so we need to be aware of temptation.
16:09 In other words, we need to be watchful
16:12 and we need to be considerate of others.
16:15 You know, this scripture that we read, Galatians 6:1,
16:21 and it says, "Through the Spirit,"
16:23 and it uses the word gentleness.
16:26 Now for some people, that is something they need.
16:31 Unfortunately, some people go a little too far
16:34 and they almost make excuse
16:37 for what the person has done
16:39 which can harm the person.
16:42 We are to gently help them along
16:45 so that they will walk again with the Lord.
16:47 Let's go again to the word "beware"
16:50 or to be considering ourselves.
16:54 When I look at this concept or this idea
16:58 to be considerate of yourself as well,
17:01 I think of 1 Peter 5:8.
17:04 In 1 Peter 5:8,
17:06 and, Sister Jill, who was it that read last time?
17:09 I read last time.
17:11 You read last time, okay, Pastor Tom Ferguson,
17:13 if you can help me with 1 Peter?
17:15 "Be sober, be vigilant
17:16 because your adversary,
17:17 the devil, walks about like a roaring lion,
17:19 seeking whom he may devour."
17:21 Thank you so much.
17:22 So in this scripture it's not the same Greek word,
17:26 however it conveys the same thing
17:28 that we are to be watchful
17:30 because of temptations.
17:32 Why?
17:33 Because your adversary,
17:34 the devil is seeking whom he may devour.
17:37 And the terrible thing that is about the devil
17:41 that his object is to destroy you
17:46 and he uses things that may taste good,
17:49 things that may look good, things that may feel good.
17:53 So it's one of those... Temporary pleasures of sin.
17:55 Temporary pleasures of sin
17:56 so that the people doing it are enjoying themselves
18:01 but they're working out their own destruction
18:03 and that's why this "beware of temptation"
18:07 is one that we need to take a look at carefully
18:11 because the devil knows
18:12 as some people say, how to push those buttons.
18:15 He has studied us.
18:17 He knows what can lead us astray.
18:20 And let's continue this idea
18:24 as we look at the time,
18:26 I see that we have very little time.
18:28 In Galatians 5:26.
18:32 Let's go back to Galatians.
18:33 In Galatians 5:26,
18:36 it brings another thought
18:38 about this whole idea of considering thyself.
18:42 Galatians 5:26 states the following,
18:48 "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another,
18:53 envying one another."
18:56 This scripture helps us to understand
19:00 that when we see somebody fall in temptation,
19:05 we should not consider ourselves well,
19:08 "I wouldn't do that."
19:10 The devil takes note of those things by the way.
19:12 "I would... How could you?
19:14 How could you possibly do that?"
19:16 We need to be careful.
19:18 And the Lord is warning us here.
19:20 Paul is warning us
19:22 that we need to be mindful and be careful.
19:24 And so I encourage everyone
19:27 to take a look at this carefully as well.
19:30 When somebody falls,
19:33 you who are spiritual,
19:34 restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, gentleness,
19:38 so that you also do not fall in the same thing.
19:41 When I look at the scripture,
19:43 I'm also reminded of the danger
19:45 of thinking that you have arrived
19:48 and you could not possibly do certain things
19:52 that others do,
19:54 and I want to take a quick look at Revelation 3
19:58 concerning this
20:00 and this is familiar scripture to most Seventh-day Adventists
20:06 and most Christians, I would say.
20:08 In Revelation 3,
20:11 we are warned about being lukewarm.
20:16 And so, I'll read through that quickly
20:19 beginning at verse 14,
20:21 "And to the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write:
20:24 These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
20:27 the beginning of the creation of God,
20:30 "I know your works,
20:31 that you are neither cold nor hot.
20:33 I wish that you were cold or hot,
20:36 so then because you are lukewarm,
20:38 neither cold nor hot,
20:40 I will vomit you out of my mouth
20:41 because you say, "I am rich.
20:43 I have become wealthy and have need of nothing,
20:45 and do not know that you are wretched,
20:48 and miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
20:52 I counsel you to buy of me gold
20:54 refined in the fire that you may be rich,
20:57 and white garments that you may be clothed,
21:00 and that the shame of your nakedness
21:02 may not be revealed,
21:03 and anoint your eyes
21:04 with eyes salve that you may see.
21:07 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
21:10 Therefore be zealous and repent.
21:12 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
21:15 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
21:17 I will come in to him and dine with him,"
21:20 in the King James,
21:22 "Sup with him and he with me."'
21:25 So the Laodiceans have this danger also.
21:30 Not necessarily being conceited but in the sense of, "I'm okay.
21:35 I don't need to be concerned.
21:37 Oh, that's brother, so and so fellow,
21:39 but I'm not going to fall that way.
21:41 I'm okay."
21:43 And you may also remember Peter in this.
21:48 It may be not necessarily conceit,
21:50 but Jesus told them,
21:52 "I am going to go to Jerusalem."
21:54 They're going to crucify me.
21:56 And after three days, I will rise again."
22:01 And later Jesus...
22:05 Well, anyway, Peter says,
22:08 "All of you are going to, you know, run away,"
22:11 basically Jesus said, "Run away."
22:13 And Peter says,
22:15 "Although all men forsake thee, Lord,
22:18 I will never forsake thee."
22:21 And so what was Peter thinking when he says that.
22:25 "I'm okay.
22:26 I can handle this.
22:27 I love you so much, Lord,
22:29 that I would not dare to do that."
22:31 But Peter did not know himself,
22:33 and so for all of us there is this danger
22:36 that when we take our eyes off Jesus,
22:39 when we take our eyes off Jesus,
22:41 we can fall,
22:42 and so the danger is there.
22:45 And so what should we do?
22:47 Well, I like to think of the scripture that says
22:49 that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.
22:52 So it says how...
22:54 I say, "How shall we face temptation?
22:56 Looking unto Jesus,
22:59 the author and finisher of our faith."
23:01 So the warning is there for us
23:03 and we should take heed.
23:04 There is another scripture
23:06 that I would like to bring out,
23:08 1 Corinthians 10:12 to finish this woman off.
23:13 1 Corinthians 10:12,
23:16 and it seems like Sister Shelley
23:17 might be able to quote this from memory.
23:20 Thank you, Stan. Yes.
23:22 Amen. You're in trouble.
23:24 You're in trouble too. If you read it for us?
23:27 Oh, certainly.
23:28 "Therefore, let him who thinks he stands
23:31 take heed lest he fall."
23:33 Thank you so much.
23:34 So you have to take that into context and it says,
23:38 "If you think you stand, take heed lest you fall."
23:41 Stay close to Jesus, keep your eyes on Him,
23:44 and you will have victory through Jesus.
23:46 Amen. Amen.
23:48 Thank you, Brother John, and that's powerful.
23:49 What I like about what we're studying this week,
23:52 the first, you can say,
23:54 10 verses of the Chapter in Galatians 6
23:58 is that it's practical Christianity.
24:01 Paul has done scripture arguments,
24:03 he's done other things.
24:05 He's come at the topic of justification by faith
24:07 from many different angles,
24:09 but to me this is just practical.
24:10 What you talked about is
24:12 what do we do when someone falls?
24:13 That's practical Christianity.
24:14 That happens in the church.
24:17 What you talked about, handling temptation.
24:19 What are you supposed to do?
24:20 That's practical.
24:22 And my part is practical too on Tuesday.
24:24 We're in burden bearing.
24:25 Turn back to Galatians 6.
24:28 In Galatians 6, and I was just telling Pastor Tom
24:31 before we started,
24:33 we have some of the same verses,
24:35 so hopefully we'll come at it from a different perspective
24:38 because we don't really know what's going to come forth.
24:41 Galatians 6, mine is burden bearing,
24:44 and yours is the law of Christ.
24:45 And they're both contained in the same verse.
24:48 Galatians 6:2,
24:50 "Bear one another's burdens
24:53 and so fulfill the law of Christ."
24:56 The Greek word for burden,
24:58 the lesson brought out is "baros".
25:00 It literally refers to a heavy weight or load
25:03 that someone had to carry a long time.
25:06 Not only that, it could refer to the weariness
25:09 or the heavy labor during the day,
25:12 a burden, trouble, load, or even a moral fault.
25:16 And I know you referred to that in verse 1,
25:19 being someone who would slip up and slip into sin.
25:23 This word occurs six times in the New Testament.
25:26 And when someone staggers,
25:29 we want to help steady the load.
25:31 If they're straining under it,
25:33 we want to help bear the burden.
25:36 If they stumble, we want to lift them up.
25:40 Carrying burdens, in ancient days
25:42 for a soldier or a slave was mandatory.
25:46 But Paul is saying,
25:47 "Don't do it because you have to,
25:49 do it to fulfill the law,"
25:51 what does it say, "So fulfill the law of Christ."
25:54 Do it out of love for Christ.
25:56 It reminds me of Romans 13:10.
25:58 "Love does no harm to a neighbor,
26:00 therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."
26:05 I remember, in college, we did some agriculture work.
26:09 And one day, we had all these hanging baskets,
26:14 and I don't remember how big they were,
26:15 but they were full of dirt, they had the plants.
26:18 We were transporting them.
26:20 My job was to reach down, pick up the hanging basket,
26:23 and reach it out to the person across the,
26:26 it was like a row here across the aisle,
26:28 so I'm reaching out with this heavy basket.
26:31 Now, it didn't seem very heavy at the beginning.
26:34 It's only this. That's not too bad.
26:37 We did these 10 baskets, 20 baskets,
26:41 50 baskets, a 100 baskets.
26:44 You know what started to happen?
26:46 I started to shake.
26:47 And I was kind of embarrassed about it.
26:49 I'm reaching out with a basket
26:51 and the gentleman who picked up the basket,
26:53 and incidentally,
26:54 he's a pastor now in the Michigan Conference
26:56 and he's reaching to pick it up
26:58 and I'm going like this, my hand literally,
27:00 because my muscles are so tired from carrying those baskets.
27:04 And I was embarrassed.
27:06 I thought, "Jill, surely you can do this."
27:09 But I couldn't and I could not stop the shake.
27:11 And I'm going like this
27:12 and he says, "Sister Jill, I see what's going on here.
27:17 The burden is becoming heavy."
27:20 So Paul says, "Bear you one another's burdens."
27:24 There's one other thing I want to look at.
27:26 And then we'll look at the burdens
27:27 that we carry for each other.
27:29 It says, "Bear one another's burdens."
27:33 In the Greek, you know in the Greek, you look at it.
27:35 And sometimes, it says it's a noun or a verb.
27:39 This is a reciprocal pronoun.
27:43 Now if you think about a reciprocal pronoun,
27:46 that would be used to indicate
27:47 two or more people carrying out an action
27:49 but they both receive benefits
27:52 or consequences of that action.
27:54 For instance, Brother Johnny, I could say,
27:57 "You and I are talking to each other,"
27:59 meaning, I'm talking but you're talking as well.
28:02 Or I could say, "Shelley, we are...
28:05 You and I are giving each other gifts,"
28:07 meaning, I give you a gift
28:09 but you give me a gift as well.
28:11 So I think, that's important to keep in mind
28:13 when we look at Galatians 2.
28:15 Paul is not saying,
28:16 "I'm supposed to bear Pastor Tom's burdens
28:19 and then he goes his merry way,
28:21 and then I bear Pastor CA's burdens
28:23 and he goes on his way,
28:24 and then I bear Brother Johnny's burdens,"
28:27 we're supposed to bear each other's burdens.
28:31 What burdens do we carry?
28:33 Of course, there is the burden of sin.
28:34 You touched on that, Shelley, if someone slips up into sin,
28:38 there's that burden of sin.
28:41 There is also a burden of sickness.
28:43 I think of the paralytic,
28:44 remember the four men who came and helped carry,
28:49 they broke open the roof
28:50 where Jesus was teaching
28:52 and they lowered that down.
28:54 They literally carried him,
28:56 bore his burden, carrying him to Jesus.
28:59 Now he had a heavy burden of sin
29:01 and he bore that weight.
29:03 So that's why Jesus said,
29:04 "First your sins are forgiven you."
29:06 But He also had the burden of sickness
29:09 that Jesus healed as well.
29:11 Sometimes it's a moral or spiritual burden,
29:14 maybe it's the burden of guilt or shame,
29:16 or it could even be financial or employment
29:19 or some other burden,
29:21 so how do we carry someone else's burdens?
29:25 I don't know.
29:26 Sometimes I think we become busy
29:29 and it's hard to see outside yourself
29:32 and see when someone else is struggling,
29:35 someone else has a burden that they are bearing.
29:38 Not only that, I believe that because of media today
29:42 we are overloaded,
29:44 you could say, with the burdens of everyone in society.
29:48 Remember Jesus said, "Don't worry about tomorrow.
29:52 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
29:54 But you think about what did they know about evil.
29:57 They knew in their own immediate family circle,
29:59 they would know in their synagogue or temple
30:01 what was going on, and perhaps if something happened in Rome
30:05 that was of vital importance they would hear about it
30:07 if the news would filter to them
30:09 and they would find out.
30:10 But today we find out everywhere,
30:14 all over the world
30:15 someone was killed, someone went in
30:17 and there was this school shootings,
30:18 someone was raped, someone was...
30:20 a constantly instead of just your own little circle
30:23 we're bombarded with that.
30:25 And I think because of that we become almost apathetic
30:29 or indifferent to the burdens of our brothers and sisters,
30:34 so I think the beautiful thing
30:37 if God calls us to bear each other's burdens
30:40 and I'm apathetic
30:41 or I'm too busy and I look inward,
30:45 God calls me to look at my brother and sister
30:48 instead of turning in.
30:50 But let's look at Philippians. Philippians 2, verses...
30:56 we'll read more than verse 4.
30:59 I love this passage, the mind of Christ.
31:04 Philippians 2:2,
31:08 "Fulfill my joy by being likeminded,
31:12 having the same love,
31:14 being of one accord, of one mind.
31:17 Let nothing be done
31:18 through selfish ambition or conceit,
31:21 but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others
31:23 better than himself.
31:26 Let each of you look out not only for his own interest,
31:29 but also for the interest of others."
31:32 And then verse 5,
31:33 "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus."
31:36 So God calls us to get out of my own self-interest,
31:40 my own busyness, my own burdens even,
31:43 and look at the needs of other people,
31:47 bear each other's burdens.
31:49 But in addition we talked about in Galatians 2,
31:52 we're to bear each other,
31:53 so it's not only me reaching out
31:55 and bearing someone else's burden,
31:58 now to do that we could pray for the person,
32:00 we could not gossip about them, we could not judge them
32:05 but to reach out in love, in gentleness.
32:08 Maybe they need help,
32:09 maybe we could reach out physically
32:11 and do some physical help as well,
32:14 but not only does God call us to reach out,
32:17 we are to give other people
32:18 we could say the privilege of bearing our burdens.
32:22 Now I'm just being honest with you.
32:24 This is a difficult one for me.
32:26 It's easier for me to say, "Oh, what's your issue
32:30 and let me pray for you."
32:31 But it's difficult for me to sometimes open up
32:36 and to share, "You know what?
32:38 I'm struggling here. Or I need special prayer here.
32:42 I'm having a burden here."
32:44 I think certain things keep me
32:47 from allowing other people to carry my burden.
32:49 Sometimes it's my pride,
32:51 I want to seem like I got it all together
32:53 and I don't want to tell people,
32:55 in my own self-sufficiency I got this, I can do this,
32:59 sometimes it's my shame and guilt over something,
33:02 and sometimes it may be fear or can I trust this person,
33:07 and that's a very valid concern
33:10 because not everyone can bear a burden,
33:13 not everyone we should trust our stuff with.
33:17 So that's the thing too to find,
33:20 who is safe, and who we can trust with.
33:22 So I think Paul's counsel to the Galatians church
33:24 here is to bear each other's burdens
33:27 and by doing that, we fulfill the Law of Christ
33:30 which is esteeming other people as better than ourselves.
33:33 Pastor, Tom.
33:34 Well, before I get into what I was going to do,
33:36 I just want to say that I think as you grow as a Christian
33:38 and in pastoral ministry
33:40 you got to watch out for what you said
33:41 being too proud to be ministered to
33:43 because you're busy giving, giving, giving,
33:45 and that is if you see someone
33:48 that maybe struggles with depression,
33:51 make sure you reach and encourage them.
33:52 If the Holy Spirit pricks your conscience,
33:55 just do something for them.
33:56 Maybe it's a shut in that's lonely
33:59 and you know that no one's recalling them,
34:01 no one's reaching out,
34:03 not only encourage others but do it yourself.
34:05 If it's someone that hasn't been in church for a while,
34:08 maybe it's a single parent,
34:09 you find that things are happening around you
34:12 and if you have a ministry mindset in your thinking
34:15 that you are loving people
34:17 as God would calls us to love them,
34:18 He's empowering you to do so,
34:20 you're sensitive to all of that
34:22 and that's what I wanted to share.
34:24 Let's go to Matthew 22,
34:28 the law of Christ...
34:33 and I want us to look at verses 37-39.
34:39 But before we start reading it,
34:40 I was wondering if, Pastor John,
34:43 if you'd be willing to read those verses
34:44 when we get into that.
34:46 But you know what's happening here
34:47 is there's an argument taking place.
34:49 The Sadducees and Pharisees are trying to trip Jesus up,
34:52 they're trying to get Him.
34:54 Now, there's about 630 laws
34:56 and they're arguing the finer points.
34:58 I think there's five different sects or groups
35:00 that are actually arguing the finer points.
35:02 It was one of their exercises to get into this debate
35:05 at what was the most important.
35:07 Well, then there's the rogue Jesus.
35:09 Let's see what He has to say.
35:11 So the question is, what is the greatest law?
35:14 And let's go ahead and read what He says.
35:17 This is the law of Christ, now.
35:19 Matthew 20...?
35:20 22:37-39. Very good.
35:24 "Jesus said to him,
35:26 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
35:29 and all your soul and with all your mind,
35:31 this is the first and great commandment
35:33 and the second is like it:
35:35 You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'
35:38 And then He says that,
35:39 "On these two commandments
35:41 hang all the law and the prophets."
35:43 It sums it all up.
35:45 And it's interesting because He's quoting,
35:47 is He quoting from the New Testament by the way?
35:49 It didn't exist then?
35:50 He's quoting from the Old Testament.
35:52 That's right.
35:53 And, of course, they tell me He's answering well,
35:56 this is a great answer.
35:57 But He's saying to them
35:59 the first thing of the law of Jesus
36:00 was to love the Father
36:02 with all of his heart, mind, and soul.
36:05 And the second thing, that is a product of that,
36:08 is to love the neighbor as himself.
36:11 And what an amazing...
36:12 Not only call on His life but a call on our lives
36:15 to be like Christ in all things.
36:18 And love...
36:20 He also says in John 15:12,
36:23 "To love one another as I have loved you."
36:25 Let's go to John 15.
36:30 And verse...
36:31 Let's read verse 12 and 13.
36:33 Jill, would you be so kind.
36:35 "This is My commandment,
36:36 that you love one another as I have loved you.
36:40 Greater love has no one than this
36:43 than to lay down one's life for his friends."
36:46 Lay down your life for your friends.
36:48 And in other words don't be so self-absorbed
36:52 that you're insensitive to the needs
36:53 of the people around you.
36:55 Lay down your life for your friends.
36:56 And God's call to that is different
36:58 at different times in our lives.
36:59 And it is a reciprocal thing, as it was mentioned before.
37:03 If it's a one-way street,
37:04 you're wearing out one of the saints
37:06 in order to have another saint feel totally full,
37:09 and eventually you burn out from that and you,
37:12 sometimes you retract
37:13 and you don't want to do it again.
37:15 But it's a reciprocal thing
37:16 if everyone is responding to the Spirit.
37:20 You know, in Micah 6:8, God says to love mercy.
37:23 In Matthew 5:44, He says, love your enemies.
37:28 Let's go to Matthew 5.
37:34 And we're going to look at verse 44.
37:40 5:44? Yeah.
37:43 "But I say to you, love your enemies,
37:47 bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you,
37:51 and pray for those
37:53 who spitefully use and persecute you."
37:56 Wow.
37:57 You know, it made me go to something else.
37:59 I thought about that and I thought
38:01 well there's another verse in a different study
38:04 that I had looked up
38:05 and I believe it was earlier in our quarter
38:07 and I was preparing to present wasn't involved,
38:10 but I looked it up for preparation.
38:13 Let's go to Proverbs 25.
38:19 And we're going to look at verses 21 and 22.
38:27 Proverbs 25 beginning with verse 21
38:30 and, Pastor CA, would you be so kind to read that?
38:34 "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
38:37 and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink."
38:41 22, "For so, you will heap
38:47 coals of fire on his head,
38:49 and the Lord will reward you."
38:51 That reminds me of on a previous lesson
38:54 when Shelley was saying, "I don't get mad, I get even."
38:56 You know, it's sort of like you could read that...
38:58 I didn't say that, I ever said, I'd say.
38:59 No, no, no, no. I knew she was wrong.
39:02 No, no, no, no, that's not me...
39:03 I knew that was coming. Yes, I also...
39:04 Least favorite statement. Yeah.
39:06 Sorry. Sorry.
39:07 I have to be very exact, I forgot.
39:09 Yes.
39:11 Yes, she does not like that statement but referenced it
39:13 that a lot of times we say we don't get mad, we get even.
39:16 And this text here, if you're in that mindset,
39:18 you read that and you go,
39:19 "All right, coals on their head and God's going to reward me
39:23 because I'm doing stuff that is really contrary."
39:26 But is that really what God is saying?
39:28 As a matter of fact, if you go to,
39:29 let's go to Romans 12.
39:31 Could I add something here? Yes, go right ahead.
39:33 Did you know that during that time
39:36 when someone was walking in repentance,
39:39 they would tie this pan to their head
39:43 and they would put coals of fire on their head
39:46 and that meant they were walking in repentance.
39:49 So when he's saying that when you are good to your enemy
39:53 and that is heaping coals of fire,
39:56 that's what brings him to repentance,
39:58 that's what, you know, softens their heart
40:01 'cause suddenly they realize...
40:04 Thank you for sharing that
40:05 because I was doing a study on it.
40:06 I'm going to share some of the things
40:08 I came up with.
40:09 What you said is a great background to that.
40:11 Let's go to Romans 12:20-21.
40:16 Shelley, would you, obviously be kind to us to read that one?
40:18 Yes.
40:19 Romans 12:20-21 says this,
40:24 "Well said, because of unbelief they were broken off
40:27 and you stand by faith do not be haughty
40:30 but fear for if God did not..."
40:33 Is that Romans 12?
40:34 That's a beautiful text but it's not Romans...
40:35 Romans 11 is where I'm reading. It's still a good text.
40:39 Romans 12...
40:41 That happens to all of us, doesn't it?
40:43 20, 21.
40:44 "Therefore if your enemy is hungry feed him,
40:46 if he's thirsty give him a drink.
40:48 For in doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.
40:53 Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good."
40:57 So there's an overcoming evil
40:59 that is occurring as a result of the ill will.
41:01 You know, one of the things
41:02 that I get out of our commentaries
41:04 as I was reading through this is
41:05 coals will burn up the ill will of the offender.
41:09 Amen. Okay?
41:11 And that is where the commentators,
41:13 kind of, settle on that.
41:14 Now, I'm going to do something a little risky,
41:16 I'm going to go a little further on that
41:17 because remember what Jesus on the cross,
41:20 what did He say? Forgive them for...
41:23 "Forgive them for they know not what they do."
41:26 Yeah.
41:27 So when you do good to someone who's your enemy,
41:30 you're actually forgiving them.
41:32 It's actually... it's a...
41:34 it has a transformational effect.
41:36 It does. Amen.
41:38 Okay?
41:39 And then we see that that is not only something
41:40 that Jesus was able to do, it's something
41:43 that His followers are able to do, Stephen,
41:46 he says, "Do not hold this sin against them."
41:49 Now, who was in the crowd when Stephen said that?
41:51 Paul. Saul.
41:52 Saul turned Paul.
41:54 And it had, as a matter of fact,
41:56 if you read in Acts of the Apostles
41:58 you discover that when Stephen went through that experience
42:01 and Paul saw it, it had an impact on him.
42:03 Yes. It did. Yes.
42:04 That eventually he was thinking through things,
42:07 it did not have a full converting effect
42:09 but the encounter with Christ thereafter did,
42:11 so that was transformational forgiveness,
42:15 which will bring that repentance.
42:18 In other words, why is it that we love God?
42:20 Because He first loved us.
42:22 He calls us His friends.
42:24 The wretched refuse that we are,
42:25 we are His friends that He will die for.
42:28 And I look at the fact that when we are good to the enemy,
42:32 we're actually all enemies of God
42:36 and He is good to us
42:37 and it has a transformational effect on us.
42:40 He can actually through us, through that forgiveness
42:43 that He gives us towards someone else
42:45 which is truly forgiving them that only He can produce,
42:48 that will have a transformational effect
42:50 on them.
42:51 Amen.
42:53 And it can be someone who maybe is your spouse
42:55 who is not converted, that is abusive,
42:59 and under the wrong spirit,
43:00 the spirit of the enemy,
43:01 you exercise that forgiving spirit towards them
43:03 and in time it will have a converting effect.
43:07 They can be your co-worker
43:09 that maybe or maybe your immediate boss
43:12 that just feels this is their chance
43:14 to be bullying everyone else around them.
43:17 You can have a transformational effect on those around you
43:21 that do not know God
43:22 and maybe some of them are even in the church.
43:26 And it's something that God calls us to.
43:29 This is the law of Christ.
43:30 The love of God with all your heart, mind, and soul
43:33 and love your enemy, I mean, love your neighbor,
43:36 and the ultimate is to love the enemy.
43:38 Amen.
43:40 And Abraham Lincoln, I think, it was said,
43:42 how do you destroy your enemies?
43:44 You know, by making them your friends.
43:48 And you know, he had an opponent
43:50 that fought him tooth and nail
43:51 that later on he had in his cabinet.
43:53 And they asked him why?
43:55 "It's because he's good at his job."
43:56 And God sees what we can be,
43:59 not where we are apart from Him.
44:00 Amen. Praise the Lord.
44:02 Amen. Well said.
44:04 Thursday we deal with sowing and reaping.
44:08 And as has been stated,
44:14 Paul is moving into pragmatic Christianity,
44:18 just bedrock,
44:19 rubber meets the road applied Christianity.
44:23 And I need to say this idea of sowing and reaping
44:25 is really a transcultural idea.
44:27 Paul has it here but there were other cultures
44:29 that had that same idea that you reap what you sow.
44:32 And perhaps the Galatians had even been familiar
44:36 with this kind of idea
44:38 because there were several cultures
44:39 that had this idea
44:41 that you don't sort of get off scot-free.
44:43 You can't put out a lot of negativity
44:44 and expect positive to come back to you.
44:47 I want to read Galatians 6
44:52 and we're picking up,
44:55 or we'll go 6 through 9
44:56 since we read 10 as our scripture lesson,
44:59 our memory text a little bit ago.
45:00 To him, who has taught the word share
45:03 in all good things, with him who teaches.
45:07 "Do not be deceived.
45:08 God is not mocked,
45:10 for whatever a man sows that he will also reap."
45:13 I'm reading from the New King James.
45:15 "For he who sows to his flesh
45:17 will of the flesh reap corruption,
45:20 but he who sows to the Spirit
45:22 will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
45:24 And 9, "And let us not grow weary while doing good,
45:30 for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
45:35 Amen.
45:37 The lesson talks about this word mocked
45:40 or God is not mocked.
45:42 Mukterizo, it occurs only here in the New Testament
45:47 which I found was interesting
45:49 though it often appears
45:50 in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
45:54 It means literally the lesson gives
45:57 to turn one's nose up in contempt.
45:59 Now, that's a uniquely American kind of thing,
46:02 you know, the turning your nose up.
46:04 So I did a little research into the root word,
46:07 which I found is very interesting.
46:09 It comes from a root
46:12 that means the bellowing of an animal.
46:15 The lowing of a cow or the loud noise of an animal
46:19 or noise coming from the snout of an animal
46:22 which I thought was very, very interesting that,
46:26 this distasteful noise that comes from an animal.
46:33 Jeremiah 30:7 talks about this also.
46:38 Jeremiah says everybody derides me,
46:39 of course, you know,
46:41 Jeremiah's ministry was a tough one
46:42 because he was trying to correct some evils and ills
46:46 that had become resident in Jewish society
46:48 and he's pushing back against that.
46:50 So he's saying everybody is deriding me
46:52 and everybody is mocking me.
46:55 The Hebrew word there is lawag
47:02 and it means interestingly enough
47:06 it has to do with derision,
47:08 but also acting like a foreigner.
47:12 It's sort of a pejorative term that when you mock someone,
47:17 you're acting like a foreigner,
47:18 and it kind of shows sadly the contempt sometimes
47:21 which the Jewish nation had for foreign people.
47:24 But that's, you are speaking babble,
47:26 you're acting like a foreigner, you're acting uncharacteristic
47:29 and that's what Jeremiah was trying to say.
47:33 And then we have another text in 2 Chronicles 36:16,
47:37 won't take time to go to that.
47:38 But there is a point in lesson I want to say.
47:42 I want you to take a look at.
47:43 Paul's point is that people may ignore God
47:46 or even flout His commandments, but they cannot outwit God.
47:51 I remember once I got a pretty good spanking
47:55 and I think I got extra lashes
47:58 because my father thought I was trying to outfox him.
48:02 It wasn't that you committed this infraction,
48:04 that's bad enough, but now you think I'm stupid,
48:07 you know, and so,
48:09 I'm going to tap you a couple of extra times
48:11 because you think I'm as dumb as you
48:13 and you know that kind of thing,
48:15 basically I lived a little long,
48:17 you know, I've seen this before,
48:18 you know, so you can't do that.
48:21 So Paul's point is here that you can ignore
48:25 and you can front, but you can't outwit Him.
48:29 If we can keep records on computer,
48:31 certainly God can keep records of our lives.
48:34 He is the ultimate judge, and in the end we'll have to...
48:40 And in the end we'll have to pay the price
48:42 for their actions.
48:47 Paul goes on to talk about sowing to the flesh
48:51 and reaping in the flesh
48:53 and the examples that he gives are,
48:54 they're really too long to have us to read
48:57 but in Acts 5:1-5,
49:00 you know, we're dealing with Ananias and Sapphira story.
49:03 Yes. Oh, yes.
49:04 And what's sad about that is
49:06 they conspired among themselves to hold back the price
49:09 and they didn't have to.
49:11 There was no reason to develop that cabal.
49:16 You can give what you want.
49:17 You know, you sell a land, I'm going to give you half
49:19 and I'm going to keep half for a rainy day or whatever
49:21 but then to say I'm giving you all
49:22 and then hold it back, you know...
49:26 you're lying to the Holy Spirit
49:28 because I don't know what's in your heart.
49:30 So the only person that knows the truth is the Holy Spirit,
49:32 you're not lying to me, you're lying to God.
49:34 And I think one of the things we can say
49:37 is that anytime we prevaricate, anytime we lie, anytime we sin,
49:42 there is an object to that sin.
49:45 But the ultimate object is to, is to God.
49:49 Joseph said how can I sin and do this great wickedness
49:52 and sin against God.
49:54 So the ultimate accountability is to God.
49:59 Luke 22:3
50:03 is the betrayal of Judas on Christ.
50:08 Again, if you look at the overall context,
50:11 he figured he's making a pretty good bargain.
50:15 Pick up a couple pieces of silver,
50:17 get Jesus to do what I know he should do,
50:20 and they're shocked and surprised
50:22 and Christ allows Himself to be taken
50:24 because He's training, His mindset was,
50:27 He's going to sit on the throne
50:29 and I'm going to give him a little push.
50:31 And then he realized
50:32 that he had made a grand mistake.
50:34 Well, in contrast, we also have Daniel 1:8.
50:38 This is Daniel purposing in his heart
50:40 that he will not defile himself with the king's meat.
50:45 And then finally Matthew 4:1
50:50 which is Jesus in the wilderness
50:51 resisting temptation by the devil.
50:53 The point being that...
51:00 if you sow to the flesh, you will reap to the flesh.
51:02 If you sow to the flesh negativity
51:06 and a negative result has to happen.
51:10 If you show to the spirit,
51:11 it is a spiritual law
51:13 that put in good, good will come out.
51:17 Amen.
51:18 Lead with Christ, it's going to be good.
51:20 I remember years ago a fellow came to our church
51:23 and he said,
51:24 "If you eat fat greasy food,
51:26 you're going to be a fat greasy dude."
51:30 And that was 50 years ago, I just remember that.
51:32 Never forget that one, would you?
51:34 It was a health lecture,
51:36 you know, garbage in garbage out.
51:38 If you sow to the flesh, you're going to reap,
51:41 and I hadn't thought about that in almost 50 years,
51:43 I was a kid.
51:44 He said, you eat fat greasy food,
51:46 you're going to be a fat greasy dude.
51:48 Basically if you sow to the flesh,
51:50 you will reap to the flesh.
51:52 Yes.
51:53 Couple more things and then I'm done.
51:56 The lesson also says this,
51:58 a modern equivalent is that we are free to choose
52:02 but we are not free to choose the consequences of our choice.
52:05 Now that's, that's very, very important.
52:06 Yes.
52:08 You can choose to reject, neglect God.
52:14 We are free moral agents.
52:16 But the truth is
52:18 there are a series of consequences
52:20 that accrue from that rejection
52:24 and you have no control over that.
52:26 You know, you don't.
52:27 You can reject the commandment
52:31 to be faithful to your wife
52:34 and you can go and sleep in, in my book,
52:37 thou shall fear no evil.
52:39 I had a woman in my church, beautiful, lovely,
52:42 monogamous, heterosexual woman
52:45 whose husband chose to go out
52:48 and brought back AIDS to the marriage.
52:51 Now when he left,
52:54 I don't think it was his intention
52:58 to bring that back to his wife
53:00 but when you step outside the commandments
53:02 you have no, you have no control
53:04 over where that's going to end.
53:06 You try something,
53:07 you experiment with something
53:08 and then there are consequences
53:11 that you simply have no control over.
53:13 So you can choose to reject God.
53:15 Yeah.
53:17 You can choose to go away from God,
53:19 but then you open the door to a series of consequences
53:21 and you never know where it's going to lead.
53:24 You have no control which is, which is why if you look at,
53:27 if you look at all the sins today
53:29 that accrue from rejecting the commandments of God.
53:33 What a world pastor this would be?
53:35 Shelley, Jill, Johnny,
53:37 if everyone kept the commandments of God,
53:41 could you imagine
53:43 the kind of world we would be in...
53:44 Heaven on earth.
53:46 It truly would be heaven on earth.
53:47 Yes.
53:48 We wouldn't have to lock our doors,
53:50 we don't have to worry about so many things
53:52 that are just a part of our life now.
53:54 And I'll close with this.
53:56 I don't know what heaven is going to be like
54:00 and nobody does.
54:01 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard.
54:03 I simply know what it's not going to be like.
54:05 Amen.
54:06 You know, it's not going to be like what I see every day.
54:09 It's not going to be like this earth.
54:10 It's not going to be like
54:12 what I hear on the news every night.
54:13 It's not going to be like what I have to experience
54:15 and wade through each and every day of my life
54:17 and that is enough for me.
54:19 The fact that it's not going to be this,
54:22 that's good.
54:24 I know there are some things I don't know
54:26 but what I do know I don't like
54:27 and it's not going to be that, so praise the Lord.
54:29 Amen.
54:30 You know, so be not deceived.
54:32 Don't fool yourself.
54:34 God is not mocked.
54:36 If you live to the flesh,
54:37 you're going to die in the flesh.
54:40 You're going to reap what you sow.
54:41 But praise God,
54:43 the truth is also that if I walk with Jesus
54:48 and I talk with Jesus and I live with Jesus,
54:52 it has been predestined, predetermined
54:56 that one day I will reign with Jesus.
54:58 Amen. Amen.
54:59 And that is as solid as the God who made that promise.
55:03 Amen. So I need not fear.
55:05 I need not be afraid
55:07 because all of the promises are...
55:09 Yes and amen. Yes and amen.
55:11 Christ Jesus. Hallelujah, thank you so much for that.
55:14 You know, last week we studied "Living by the Spirit".
55:18 And now what we've done in this week's lesson
55:24 is the gospel in the Church.
55:26 We are seeing if we're living by the Spirit,
55:29 how it will be manifested in the church.
55:33 When we live by the Spirit, we will forgive one another,
55:36 we'll bear each other's burdens.
55:39 We're going to fulfill the law of Christ
55:42 by loving others like we love ourself,
55:45 and it's so wonderful
55:46 when you think of this sowing and reaping principle
55:50 is the law of life.
55:51 I mean, you can't sow corn and expect to reap wheat.
55:54 So this is just something
55:56 that we all need to be aware
56:02 that God wants us to have
56:06 this personal experience with Him,
56:10 this love experience,
56:12 so that He can pour His love into our hearts
56:14 by the power of the Holy Spirit
56:16 and we can turn around and love others
56:18 and introduce them to the love experience.
56:20 It's just beautiful.
56:22 Well, I just want to thank you
56:26 especially for joining us today.
56:27 But I want to thank our panel, Brother John Dinzey,
56:31 Sister Jill Morikone,
56:33 and we thank you so much Pastor Tom Ferguson
56:36 for coming to join us.
56:37 That's very special.
56:39 Well, we're glad to have, you know,
56:40 I've had a number of people who have said
56:43 you've been a great addition to this panel.
56:44 That's right. Amen.
56:46 Praise the Lord. Praise God.
56:47 And then Pastor CA Murray. Pleasure.
56:49 Our prayer for you as always is that
56:52 you are enjoying the programs that 3ABN airs.
56:59 We try to produce
57:01 Christ-centered programs for you,
57:03 and we want to thank you for demonstrating your love
57:06 by praying for us
57:07 and through your offerings to this ministry,
57:13 but we want you to know that our prayer for you is that
57:16 you will have that intimate relationship
57:19 with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
57:21 And our prayer is that
57:23 the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
57:26 the love of the Father and the fellowship
57:27 of the Holy Spirit will be with you,
57:30 not only today but always.
57:33 Please join us next time
57:35 as we study Boasting in the Cross.


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Revised 2023-11-06