Participants: Jay Rosario & Daniel McGrath
Series Code: E
Program Code: E000015
|
00:19 Hello, my name is Jay Rosario and welcome to Engage.
00:21 I'll be your host. 00:23 And today, we're gonna look at 00:24 exciting subject matter 00:27 that we're gonna be discussing together, 00:29 in fact in the subsequent, 00:30 the subjects that we're gonna be tackling, 00:32 we're gonna look at many, many different broad 00:35 issues that are facing young adults 00:37 all over this globe. 00:38 And joining us is my good friend, Dan. 00:40 Dan, how's it going? 00:41 Good, Jay. How are you doing? 00:42 Doing all right. 00:43 So, Dan, tell us a little bit about yourself. 00:44 Hello, my name is Daniel McGrath. 00:45 I'm a pastor in Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 00:48 And I just moved there, I love it, 00:50 and I'm glad to be here today. 00:53 And like you said, we have some 00:54 amazing topics coming up, 00:55 but today we're gonna be looking 00:57 at the subject of formalism. 00:59 There are many people today who struggle 01:01 with the vibrant Christian experience, 01:02 who want that, but don't have it. 01:05 And are just going through the motions, 01:07 and so we wanna tackle the issue from the Bible. 01:10 See what the Bible has to say about that, 01:11 is it really something that is acceptable 01:14 in our Christian experience or if it's there, 01:16 what do we have to do about it. 01:17 And Dan, I'm so happy that you addressed 01:20 that we're gonna look at what the Bible says. 01:22 See, in this program that's 01:23 what we're gonna dedicate the subject matter to be. 01:25 We're gonna look at the Bible and we're gonna see 01:27 that the Bible has answers to any subject 01:30 that you have in your experience, 01:31 anything that you're struggling with, 01:33 the Bible has guidance. 01:34 In fact, we're gonna begin 01:35 by going through the Bible itself. 01:36 We're gonna go to the New Testament to a book, 01:38 a very small book that we don't hear much about, 01:42 but that is focused primarily 01:45 on addressing issues facing young adults 01:48 and young people in many, many different walks of life. 01:50 We're gonna take a look at 01:51 Second Timothy Chapter 3. 01:53 And as you're turning there, as Dan's turning there, 01:55 I'm already there now, I beat you. 01:56 And those that are viewing are turning there. 01:59 We're gonna see that Timothy 02:02 is a particular letter written by Paul, 02:03 in fact Second Timothy was the last letter 02:06 that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, 02:08 and he was writing to Timothy, 02:09 who was a young person who was surrounded 02:11 by not the most spiritually edifying influences. 02:16 And yet, Timothy addresses a lots of the current 02:19 modern-day challenges that young people have. 02:21 So, we're gonna be focusing on Timothy 02:23 and the text we're gonna look is 02:24 Second Timothy Chapter 3 02:26 and we're gonna be looking at Verse 5. 02:28 Second Timothy 3:5, 02:30 the Apostle Paul is addressing a condition 02:33 that the world as in at that time and in Verse 5, 02:37 he says, "Having a form of godliness, 02:41 but denying its power, 02:44 and from such people turn away!" 02:47 So, it's interesting because, here Dan, 02:49 in Second Timothy we see the form of godliness, 02:53 we see Paul as describing the form of godliness, 02:57 but it's possible to have the form of godliness 03:00 and yet lack the power of godliness. 03:03 And this is gonna be the subject matter 03:04 for our show today. 03:05 Is it possible that in our Christian experience 03:07 we can have the form of godliness, 03:09 we can look like we're godly, 03:10 we can act like we're godly, 03:11 but somehow be void of a powerful experience 03:16 with God and I think this is something that, 03:18 sadly, is prevalence in our experience. 03:21 So, Dan, what is this all about? 03:23 Well, I think it's, it will be important for us 03:25 to define what this means. 03:26 And we skipped right to verse 5, 03:27 but if we start looking at verse 1. 03:30 Paul kind of tells him what's going on, 03:32 what's happening in the last days. 03:33 And I really what he says. 03:35 He says, "But know this, that in the last days 03:37 perilous times will come." 03:38 So, these are times 03:40 that you don't just sit back and watch. 03:42 Perilous is like dangerous. Perilous is dangerous. 03:44 Perilous times. 03:45 And he's speaking about the church, okay. 03:47 This isn't just the world. 03:49 We know that it's dangerous out there. 03:51 But this is the church. 03:52 "For men will be lovers of themselves, 03:54 lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, 03:57 disobedient to parents, unthankful, 03:59 unholy, unloving, unforgiving, 04:02 slanderers without self-control, 04:04 brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, 04:08 haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God," 04:10 and it says, "having a form of godliness." 04:13 Well. Okay. 04:14 So, when we look at this, 04:15 this isn't something we can look into the world. 04:18 We need to be looking in the church for this. 04:19 And I think as young people, you know, 04:22 we're kind of aware of, you know, 04:24 the hypocrisy, the bad in the church, 04:28 I mean, nobody really has to point it out to us. 04:31 So, Dan, you're saying that 04:32 all of these negative characteristics 04:34 that Paul has just addressed 04:35 is talking about religious people? 04:36 Yeah, I think we can look at these-- 04:38 well, the first one is lovers of themselves, you know. 04:42 If we look in the church there are people who, 04:44 you know, are more selfish, 04:46 more concerned about themselves 04:48 than about other people in the church. 04:50 I mean, we can go through each of this. 04:52 Lovers of money, 04:53 there are people in the church more concerned 04:55 about their careers, 04:57 how to get financial stability, 04:59 climb up the corporate ladder 05:01 than they are about the good in the church. 05:02 It's interesting because it isn't necessarily wrong 05:04 to be interested in your career and being successful, 05:07 but yet it's almost like an obsession, 05:09 it becomes more of a priority 05:12 than the importance things in your experience with God. 05:14 Sure, and I think what Paul is, 05:16 you know, bringing out is that 05:18 there are these things that are good, 05:20 there are these things that aren't good, 05:22 but this is not Godly, you know, 05:25 it is secular and it's true that, 05:27 you know, getting money isn't bad. 05:29 But to have these things be the top priorities 05:32 in our life that is when godliness 05:34 gets replaced by the form of ungodliness. 05:36 So then it's possible that these characteristics 05:39 were exemplified in people and individuals 05:44 that had a form of godliness, 05:45 but maybe we can even say that 05:47 the reason why they had these 05:48 negative attributes is because they like the power. 05:50 So, maybe Paul's kind of describing 05:53 characteristics that dwelt in real people, 05:55 who they kind of went with the motions, 05:57 they played church. 05:58 Well, for whatever reasons they lacked this 06:00 powerful experience with God. 06:02 And what else can you say about 06:04 the forms of godliness? 06:07 What are the forms that we see 06:08 may be in this list, you know? 06:09 Well, even if we go on after lovers of money, 06:13 they're boasters, proud, 06:16 there are people in the church who, 06:18 I mean, it doesn't take much to really, 06:21 you know, kind of look around the room 06:23 and figure out that there are people 06:25 with these characteristics that surround us everyday. 06:28 Unthankful, there are people in the church 06:30 who you could do something good for them 06:31 and they don't care. 06:32 I mean, that's, I mean, if we could be honest. 06:34 So ungrateful. They're ungrateful. 06:35 They don't appreciate you, you know, 06:37 there are people who you can get on their 06:39 bad side and it's impossible 06:40 to get off of it, you know. 06:42 And unfortunately this is the case, 06:44 it's not the case everywhere. 06:46 But this is a reality and many people see this and, 06:50 you know, they don't want 06:51 anything to do with you at all. 06:52 So, you know, you've mentioned hypocrisy. 06:55 And I know that's a big, big thing 06:57 that a lot of younger adults struggle with, 06:59 and not even younger adults, but people in general. 07:00 But usually people say, you know, "hypocrisy, 07:04 I don't wanna go to this church because there's, 07:07 a church is full of hypocrites, 07:09 or maybe even--" 07:10 There's no hypocrisy in your church, right. 07:12 Oh! My church is perfect. 07:13 That's debatable. 07:15 I have the best churches in the world. 07:16 You have the best church. 07:17 Well, I don't know, 07:18 but I'd have to visit your church to figure it out. 07:19 So, you know, hypocrisy is something that, 07:21 you know, that's prevalent in all our churches. 07:22 Obviously, some to greater degrees 07:24 than others, but, you know, 07:26 what is it about hypocrisy, 07:29 whether it's in other individuals 07:31 as young people say, 07:32 "Oh! There's too many hypocrites there." 07:33 Or, sometimes we even feel that oh I'm a hypocrite, 07:37 I'm being a hypocrite, you know, 07:38 this kind of a complexion that we have 07:40 or we just keep saying, "Oh! I'm hypocrite. 07:42 I'm a hypocrite." 07:43 When we made mistakes, you know. 07:44 What is it about hypocrisy that is may be so dangerous 07:47 and why do you think 07:48 it's so prevalent in our churches? 07:50 Yeah, well, let me, just tell you a quick story. 07:53 There's somebody that is very close to me 07:55 that grew up in an Adventist home, 07:59 but her parents, you know, 08:01 didn't really live the Adventist lifestyle, 08:03 but they would preach it. 08:05 And so, you know, 08:06 she would see her parents at home 08:08 and see her parents at church and realize that 08:10 there's something not right about this. 08:13 And through, you know, seeing that, 08:16 plus people saying offensive things to her at church, 08:20 you know, I don't have to get into all that, 08:22 but through those experiences, you know, 08:24 she doesn't wanna join the church 08:27 because she says, it's for hypocrites. 08:29 And why would I wanna be, you know, 08:30 associated with a group of people like that. 08:33 So, what you're saying is that 08:34 people who have a form of godliness, 08:36 but it's just a form, 08:38 it doesn't really take part of every facet of life. 08:43 It's only a form. 08:44 It's essentially being a hypocrite 08:46 because it's living, you know, 08:49 maybe one way in the church, 08:51 but maybe living a completely different way 08:53 outside of the church. 08:54 And don't you think that 08:55 young people today can pick that up? 08:56 Yeah, definitely. I mean-- 08:58 You know, it doesn't take much, right. 08:59 Right. Yeah. 09:00 I mean, I think we're still young right now. 09:02 I'm still young. 09:03 Oh! You're still young. I'm still young. 09:04 May be not me. You're getting pretty old there. 09:06 But, you know, they just think the word 09:07 hypocrisy in the original language and Jesus 09:10 even addressed hypocrisy in the New Testament. 09:12 The word 'hypocrisy' and when He said, 09:14 "Hypocrites," it's actually the word 'actor.' 09:16 It's almost as if somebody who is just acting out 09:20 being a Christian, but not necessarily 09:24 being apart of their actual life. 09:26 It's kind of like a script, it's like something that 09:28 you do may be to please those around you, may be to 09:32 just kind of give the good impression that 09:34 you're a certain type of way but in reality 09:36 you're completely different. Yeah. 09:37 Can you tell us may be just from your experience what 09:40 hypocrisy looks like in a church? 09:42 Well, I think hypocrisy has many forms and I think, 09:44 sadly, we see many forms in the church. 09:47 You know, hypocrisy I think and particularly, you know, 09:50 as a pastor I see, I hear a lot of concerns 09:53 may be even a lot of complaints some times 09:55 particularly with young people. 09:56 And one of the things that I hear a lot 09:57 with young people they're saying, you know, 09:59 "well, you know, when I come to church I'm not motivated. 10:03 I just -- I don't really tune into the message. 10:05 I don't tune into anything." 10:06 And when you get down to the bottom of it, 10:08 a lot of times because there's kind of like 10:11 an inconsistency in their home, in the parents. 10:14 They feel like the parents may be, they're saying 10:17 they're happy and they're smiling 10:19 and they're being nice in the church. 10:21 But somehow when they leave the church and they 10:25 get home, somewhere in the road. 10:29 They got disconnected. There's a disconnect. 10:30 They left their Christian experience, 10:32 may be they left it at the church or may be just 10:33 fell out of the car when they were 10:35 driving on their way home. 10:36 But I know that's one of the things that a lot of 10:37 young people struggle with is the whole, why is it that 10:41 my parents expect me to be a Christian in the church 10:44 when it's not something that isn't 10:46 a reality in our homes. 10:47 Have you found that experience 10:49 as well as a pastor? Yeah. 10:50 I think there are people who have 10:54 grown up in a hypocritical home. 10:56 And when they see it, I think it's very 10:58 sensitive of them, because they're trying to find 11:00 what's real, you know, a real Christian experience, 11:03 but hypocrisy can be very, it's something easily picked 11:08 up and something that you don't 11:10 want anything to do with. 11:12 You know, we always use the phrase like 11:14 "Let's be real, okay." Yeah. 11:15 And we always wanna have a real experience. 11:17 We don't wanna be part of something that's fake. 11:19 And if we feel like that, you know, there's some 11:22 hardcore individuals among us who just, you know, 11:25 throw that out of the window and say that, you know, 11:27 we don't want that because it's not real, 11:29 you know, that's not me. 11:30 And people want a genuine experience 11:33 and they don't wanna feel like they're putting up 11:34 a show all the time. 11:35 And it seems like having the form of godliness is 11:38 something that will never appeal to anyone because of 11:41 what you just said, especially young adults 11:42 and young people, we're all about being real 11:45 and having that genuine and authentic experience. 11:47 And when you have a full of godliness, 11:50 there's something that number one, will never have 11:53 you satisfied, because it's not real. 11:55 And number two, it's something that will never 11:56 appeal to other people because it's not real. 11:58 So, having a form of godliness is a problem 12:00 for you as an individual and is a problem for those 12:03 outside because they will never be, may be encouraged 12:07 or even attracted to an experience with God. 12:09 And I think if we look back at Second Timothy 12:12 Chapter 3 verse 7, Paul even continues, there 12:14 there are people who are always learning and 12:17 never able to come to knowledge of the truth. 12:20 And this is, this is key I think, because we go to 12:23 church every week, you know, 12:24 we hear the Sabbath School lesson, 12:26 we hear the sermon, we go to prayer meeting 12:28 and we get so much information, 12:30 may be we read our Bibles at home. 12:32 Hopefully we do that. Amen. 12:34 If you're a church member out there, 12:35 we want you to read the word. 12:37 So, there are people who are getting, 12:39 we're getting saturated with information all our life 12:41 week after week, okay. Always learning new things. 12:45 But the Bible says they're never able 12:47 to come to a knowledge of the truth. 12:48 Meaning, they never really get to apply 12:51 the Bible or experience Jesus for themselves. 12:54 And so, when it comes to that, you know, 12:56 that's where hypocrisy begins. 12:59 And it's interesting because this description even though 13:02 Paul wrote it to Timothy, it's almost verbatim as to 13:06 what Jesus addressed when He spoke to 13:08 the Pharisees, which kind of were the 13:10 religious leaders who knew a lot, they learned a lot. 13:13 They knew a lot about, you know, 13:15 some of the doctrines, they knew a lot about 13:17 the Levitical codes and what have you. 13:19 But for whatever reasons all of these learning 13:22 of religious and ceremonial principles, 13:26 somehow they weren't able to come to the knowledge 13:28 of the truth, which is of course 13:30 that Christ was indeed the Promised One, the Messiah. 13:33 So, here they were arguing about religion 13:36 to the very one, to the creator of all things 13:38 and they were doubting whether or not He existed. 13:40 Is it possible that for us to get 13:42 into that experience as well? 13:43 To be so filled with theories, so filled 13:48 with may be even theology, and at the same time missed 13:51 vital truths like the Pharisees missed 13:54 the most vitalest truth of all, that Christ 13:57 was indeed the Son of God? Yeah. 13:58 I think it's definitely possible because we always 14:02 like to find things that work. 14:03 And we look at, this is the way for me 14:07 to get what I want, right. 14:09 Well, there's a story in Acts Chapter 19, we can 14:12 just turn there because these guys 14:15 were experiencing the same thing. 14:16 This is at the time in Acts Chapter 19 14:19 when the Holy Spirit has been poured on Ephesus. 14:21 Miracles are happening. 14:23 And Paul is doing such great things like even if they 14:26 took some clothes from his body to somebody 14:29 who is sick, the sick person would be healed 14:31 just by touching his clothes. 14:33 And so, we'll pick the story in Chapter 19 verse 14 14:38 that there are seven sons of a Jewish priest. 14:41 So, these are Jewish priests. 14:43 They're kind of like PKs. Preacher kids. 14:47 You know, there's lot of 14:48 stereotype that's go on with that. 14:49 I don't wanna, you know, get into that too much, 14:52 'cause someday I'll have children 14:53 and they'll be PKs but hopefully not. 14:56 And then, it says, in verse 15, 14:59 the evil spirit answered and said to them, 15:00 "Jesus, I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" 15:02 So, they go and they see Paul is doing all these 15:04 miracles and they want the same power that he has. 15:09 So, they go to this guy who's possessed with demons 15:12 or a demon and they try to cast him out. 15:16 In verse 30, "We exorcise you 15:19 by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." 15:21 So, they thought that if they could get it 15:22 just right, like Paul is, they know who Paul is, 15:26 they know who Jesus is, so if we use those two names 15:29 maybe we'll have the same power. 15:30 So, they're kind of borrowing 15:33 from somebody else's experience. 15:34 They wanted the same power, the same experience. 15:37 Okay. But they didn't go about it the same way. 15:39 And well, we know the story 15:40 that the guy overpowered them, 15:42 beat them up and they ran out of the house naked. 15:45 And, but what's interesting is that the Bible tells us 15:47 that they were Jews, that they were sons of a priest. 15:50 These are guys who probably, if they were living today 15:53 would know their Bibles. Right. 15:54 They may fast once a week, you know, 15:57 vegetarians to the teeth. Right. 15:59 Sabbath keepers, you know, to the minute. 16:02 And yet, they had no power. It's interesting. 16:07 So essentially these individuals 16:10 lacked a firsthand experience with God. 16:14 They were trying to maybe ride the coattail 16:17 of the religious or the spiritual leaders 16:20 like Christ or the spiritual leaders like Paul. 16:22 They were kind of quoting Paul, because 16:24 they wanted to see if maybe if they rode on 16:27 his spiritual, you know, occurrence, they can get 16:30 the same benefits but they didn't obviously. 16:32 So I wanna address the viewers, may be you're 16:35 a young person, may be you're finding it very 16:37 difficult to find power in your life for victory 16:40 and you're wondering what's going on, why is it 16:42 that all my friends or why is that this preacher seems 16:45 to be having an exciting time with God when I'm not. 16:47 Is it possible that may be you're also 16:49 under the same situation that these individuals 16:51 were in Acts Chapter 19. 16:53 May be you're simply trying to ride the experience 16:56 of somebody else because you don't have that first 16:59 experience -- firsthand experience with Christ and 17:02 we wanna encourage you to take that step 17:05 and to make that commitment as well. 17:06 Isaiah 29:13 says that, "Their fear toward 17:09 me is taught by the precept of men." 17:12 And it's important for us to realize that we have to go 17:15 beyond just what just we've been taught. 17:17 Just what we've seen or heard to an actual 17:20 living experience within ourselves, otherwise, if we 17:23 try to do it we're gonna remain hypocrites. Right. 17:26 Now, I'm glad you mentioned the word hypocrite, because 17:29 we've mentioned Timothy, we said that Timothy was 17:31 a good source of counsel for the current and 17:35 contemporary difficulties and issues and challenges 17:38 with young adults that are striving to become Christians. 17:40 So we've read the text in Second Timothy, let's go 17:43 to First Timothy, 'cause I think First Timothy, 17:45 I believe, has a good challenge and 17:47 may be even a good counsel as well that would give us, 17:52 I think, power and would give us a good prospective 17:56 as to how to deal with this issue of form of godliness. 17:58 Because, let's be honest, Dan, there are so many 18:01 people that says, "Well, you know, 18:02 I don't want to go to church because there are 18:04 so many hypocrites there." And they leave it at that. 18:07 They say, "well, there are so many hypocrites there." 18:09 But I think First Timothy 4, First Timothy Chapter 4 18:12 beginning in verse 12 really, really 18:15 kind of drives this nail firm. 18:18 It says, "Let no one despise your youth." 18:23 You know, sometimes as young adults 18:24 and young people we struggle because we're young 18:27 and sometimes because we're young and sometimes 18:30 young people even the church have -- 18:33 we don't have the greatest reputation. 18:34 We tend to have the kind of reputation 18:36 of being rebellious and not really being into norms or 18:40 doctrine or standards or what have you. 18:42 Sometimes the older generations, 18:43 they're a little bit kind of worried about us, 18:45 they're like, "Oh! Wait a second. 18:46 We don't want it 18:47 We gotta be careful with this young people. 18:48 We don't want them to think too much, 18:49 get too much involve with. 18:50 " But notice what it says, "Let no one despise your 18:52 youth, but be an example to the believers," and then 18:57 it mentioned several things, "in word, in conduct, 19:01 in love, in spirit, in faith and purity." 19:05 And I think, Dan, this is critical 19:07 because many times we say, " 19:08 "Oh! There are so many hypocrites over there. 19:10 There are so many people over there 19:11 they haven't figure it out. 19:14 They haven't really arrived yet, so I as a young person 19:17 I'm not gonna go over there because they're hypocrites." 19:19 But, obviously what this is teaching us 19:21 is that if it indeed is true that they're hypocrites, 19:24 then I am encouraged, it is my responsibility 19:28 as a young Christian to actually be an example. 19:33 To get in there and show people, 19:34 really show some categories. 19:35 Now, may be we could-- We like to joke around, 19:38 you know, as young people because we're so idealistic 19:42 and we think, you know, we can change the world 19:43 and we joke about, you know, 19:44 hey, I'm gonna change the world. 19:45 Right. And do something. 19:47 And but in reality this is the lesson like, 19:51 you know, you got a-- it might sound a little cheesy, 19:53 but be the change that you wanna see, you know. 19:55 In others. In others. 19:57 And so, you live that lifestyle, 19:58 you go there and be that change. 20:02 It's like a church, you know, who, you know, 20:06 you hear the stories, I'm gonna say this because 20:08 there are churches who don't like their pastor. Right. 20:11 You know, I'm a pastor, so this is something to me. 20:14 And all the praying people leave the church 20:17 instead of staying and praying 20:19 for their pastor. Right. 20:20 And, you know, if all the praying people leave, 20:24 you know, what's gonna happen to him. 20:25 And so, we wanna encourage those people to stay 20:27 but also, you know, the hypocrites 20:29 they need help too. They need help too. 20:30 They need to see what it's like for a young person 20:33 to actually believe and live what they preach. 20:36 And what I love about it, is that, you know, its 20:39 really spelled out, Paul really explain specifics. 20:42 And that's one of things as young people we get 20:44 frustrated with, is when we're given a very 20:46 general standard, when we're given specifics, 20:49 that's why the word of God is such a powerful resource 20:52 because it shows you the standard, but it also 20:53 shows you the steps to get there. 20:55 And what I love about this text is that Paul says, 20:57 we're gonna be an example in word. 20:59 In other words in our conversation, 21:01 is it possible what that, the reason why many times 21:04 our youth is despised is because the content 21:06 of our conversation, number 1, 21:08 its not intelligent, it's not edifying, 21:10 it's not spiritual. 21:11 And of course, the content of our conversation is a 21:14 pretty good gaze as to what our heart is all about. 21:18 Conduct, how we behave, right. 21:21 How we carry ourselves, in love. 21:23 In other words, we have to love even people 21:25 who may have double lives, we have to love that 21:27 just like Christ did. 21:28 In spirit, in faith, and in purity. 21:31 In other words, we're challenged to be 21:33 examples in every facet of our life 21:36 not just at church but even in every other case that we 21:40 we find ourselves in and I think it's pretty much. 21:41 And I think if we just continue reading, Paul says, 21:44 "till I come, give attention to reading, 21:47 to exhortation and to doctrine." 21:49 And this is one thing that's critical, you know, 21:52 I mentioned that we always like 21:53 to get information, but we never apply. 21:55 We need to apply and he's not saying 21:57 just get the information. 21:59 We need to be ever learning and coming to announcing 22:02 the truth. That's right. Not exclusive. 22:04 But then in the very next verse, 22:06 verse 13 to like verse 14, "Do not neglect 22:10 the gift that is in you." 22:13 Verse 15, "Mediate on these things; 22:14 give yourself entirely to them." 22:17 So, it's not just, you know, 22:19 compartmentalize these things on Sabbath. 22:22 We need to be giving ourselves 22:23 entirely to them, all in, or not at all. 22:27 So, it's almost like Paul is kind of giving 22:29 Timothy the how-to tap into that power that those that 22:34 have the form of godliness are lacking. Yeah. 22:36 And I love that because how in the world can we have 22:38 the power when we're not attached to the source 22:41 of the power, which is the word of God. 22:42 And he's exhorting him to read, 22:45 he's exhorting him to doctrine. 22:46 I think as young people we want merely a feel good 22:49 Christian experience, but we don't want the intelligent, 22:53 the profound, the intellect, which really is a balance. 22:56 Yeah. It can't just be all music and emotion. Exactly. 22:59 And there's gotta be some scriptures. Substantial. 23:02 Something with substance, put the music the emotion 23:05 with the word, you've got a good package. 23:07 Another text that I'm really excited about, 23:10 because there's a lot of, the Bible has a lot of ways 23:12 to describe how we can experience 23:14 the power in Romans, which is an amazing epistle 23:18 that really talks a lot about the gospel 23:21 and the character of Christ. 23:23 Romans Chapter 1 in the very introduction 23:25 of this entire book, Paul kind of explains 23:28 a little bit as to what the gospel 23:29 is in Romans Chapter 1 and verse 16 he says, 23:33 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 23:35 for it is the power of God unto salvation." 23:39 So, in other words, the gospel 23:41 is the source of power. 23:42 So, is it possible that the reason why we don't have 23:45 power, we just have a form of godliness 23:47 is because we have a misunderstanding 23:49 of what the nature of the true gospel is. 23:51 Absolutely, and I think another component would be 23:55 a lack of the Holy Spirit, because the Bible says that 23:59 when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive. 24:01 You will receive power. Power. 24:02 Acts Chapter 1 verse 8 I think it is. 24:03 Acts Chapter 1 verse 8. 24:05 And so, we don't understand the gospel we lack power, 24:08 but if we don't have the Holy Spirit, 24:09 we lack the same power. 24:10 It's interesting because that very word, power, and 24:12 that very text Acts Chapter 1 verse 8 24:14 in the original, I don't speak Greek 24:16 I speak Spanish a little bit but. Spanish. 24:18 But in the Greek the word power there is the 24:21 word "Dynamos" which actually where the word 24:24 dynamite comes from. 24:25 So, I think that such a powerful illustration as 24:27 to what happens when the Spirit 24:28 that comes into your life. 24:30 And I think if we put this into practice, 24:32 number 1, tapping into the word of God. 24:34 Number 2, having a firsthand experience with Christ. 24:37 Number 3, allowing the Spirit of God allow it 24:39 to fill us witt spiritual dynamite and 24:42 I think our lives would really take off. Yeah. 24:44 I came up with an acronym a friend of mine actually 24:47 came up with this acronym and I really like it. 24:48 I know how much you love acronyms so. Yeah. 24:50 Everything is an acronym with this generation. 24:52 I think my name is gonna become an acronym soon. 24:54 What's the acronym? Jay. We'll come up with it. 24:56 What's the acronym? 24:57 It's Blest, B-L-E-S-T for avoiding hypocrisy 25:01 you've got to be biblically based. Amen. 25:03 All right, it's gotta be from the Bible. 25:07 You gotta have loyalty to the church, 25:09 to Christ and the church. 25:10 That the "L." That's the "L." 25:12 The "E" is excellence, not just, you know, 25:16 excellence in the world but 25:17 spiritual excellence as well. 25:18 And service is a major component 25:21 of that, that's the "S." 25:22 And the "T" is trusting God, 'cause we lack 25:25 just because we're human and so God has to make up 25:27 the difference for us. 25:29 And if we remove those components, you know, 25:31 if we have excellence without the rest, 25:33 we can become legalistic, you know, 25:35 it's got to be just right. Right. Perfect. 25:37 And if we keep those components there, then 25:40 I think that's a safe word for us to avoid 25:43 the hypocrisy that we're trying to avoid any way. 25:46 Dan, I think we just solved the world's problem in this 25:48 little conversation that we've had. 25:49 As we can see, you know, the word of God is not just 25:52 a book that's written for the older generation, 25:55 it's actually written for the contemporary 25:57 young person who has real valid questions and doubts 26:00 and I wanna encourage the young people 26:02 that are gonna continue to watch this program 26:04 to recognize that the word of God is filled 26:07 with wisdom, you know, we're gonna be blessed 26:09 to have many, many guests in this program 26:12 and we're gonna talk about many, many different 26:13 subjects from how to be a good leader to sexuality, 26:18 some of the more uncomfortable discussions. 26:21 We're gonna talk a little bit more about 26:22 atheism, which is something that plagues a lot of our 26:24 young people, that doubt in the existence of God, 26:27 how do we know He's there, how do we know 26:29 really that He really exist. 26:30 Maybe you're a young person that is studying 26:31 in a secular campus, you know, how do you 26:33 maintain your spiritual principles 26:36 surrounded by so much wickedness. 26:39 We're gonna be talking about this in many many 26:41 other things from music to how to deal with peer 26:43 pressure and the source of our information and the 26:46 source of our insight is gonna be the word of God. 26:49 Dan, is there any last final word 26:51 you'd like to say to our viewers in 10, 15 seconds? 26:53 Fifteen seconds, I'd just like to say that if we could 26:56 pray for the Holy Spirit and really agonize 27:00 for that gift, that the church 27:02 would be a much different place. Amen. 27:05 And so we wanna set the tone that in the last, or in the 27:09 next few episodes as we begin these topics, we 27:12 need the Holy Spirit to both guide our discussions, 27:15 but also to really change our lives 27:17 and change the church. Amen 27:18 Thank you, Dan, for your insights and all 27:20 that you've brought to the table in our program. 27:21 If you've been watching this program, we hope that 27:23 you have been inspired to number 1, 27:25 allow the Spirit of God to fill your life. 27:27 Number 2, to be very much close to the word of God, 27:30 so that you can understand what the gospel is and your 27:33 life will be filled with power. 27:35 Your life will not just be a form of godliness, your 27:37 life will be the powerful source that it needs to be. 27:40 And maybe God not only will change you but will change 27:44 those around you and will even begin to 27:45 change the trends in the church. 27:47 We wanna thank you so much for tuning in today. 27:49 We wanna encourage you to now go away 27:50 as we continue to explore more of these contemporary 27:53 issues facing young adults all over the world. 27:57 God bless you until next time. God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17