Participants: John Lomacang (Host), Pr. Dwayne Lemon
Series Code: FDOF
Program Code: FDOF000029A
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00:22 Friends, welcome to Foundation of our Faith,
00:24 a Dare to Dream production here 00:26 at Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 00:29 I'm particularly excited about our presenter 00:31 and our musician for today, 00:33 Elder Dwayne Lemon of Preaching, 00:35 Teaching and Healing ministries is gonna be our speaker 00:39 for this episode of Foundation of our Faith. 00:43 He is a man that has been delivered 00:45 by the Lord out of the darkness of the R&B and hip-hop world. 00:50 He was a dancer 00:51 and a choreographer in his former walk. 00:54 But now he is a servant of the Lord, 00:56 bearing the light of God's love to the world. 00:59 And people are being transformed 01:01 and brought to the knowledge of God's saving grace 01:03 through his ministry. 01:05 He desires to lead people to a life of surrender to God 01:09 and believes that the medical ministry 01:12 is combined with the Three Angels' Messages 01:15 is a way to get people prepared for the coming of our Lord. 01:19 His message today is entitled, "The Bottom Line". 01:22 But before he comes to minister to us, 01:24 we'll be blessed by Esther Alonzo-Neal 01:27 who is a recording artist, known internationally, 01:30 she has sung in Kenya, Brazil, France and the Philippines. 01:34 Her desire is to share Jesus 01:36 as she sings in multiple languages, 01:39 and today she is gonna sing 01:41 in that beautiful language of English, 01:43 this wonderful message in song, "Go Light Your World". 01:47 After her song the next voice that you'll hear will be that 01:51 of Elder Dwayne Lemon. 01:57 There is a candle in every soul 02:05 Some brightly burning, some dark and cold 02:12 There is a Spirit who brings a fire 02:18 Ignites your candle and makes His home 02:25 So carry your candle 02:29 Run to the darkness 02:33 Seek out the helpless 02:36 Confused and torn 02:40 Hold out your candle 02:43 For all to see it 02:47 Take your candle 02:50 And go light your world 02:54 Take your candle 02:57 And go light your world 03:04 Frustrated brother 03:07 See how he's tried to 03:11 Light his own candle 03:15 Some other way 03:18 See now your sister 03:22 She's been robbed and lied to 03:25 Still holds a candle 03:29 Without a flame 03:32 So carry your candle 03:36 Run to the darkness 03:39 Seek out the helpless 03:43 Confused and torn 03:46 Hold out your candle 03:50 For all to see it 03:53 Take your candle 03:57 And go light your world 04:00 Take your candle 04:04 And go light your world 04:11 'Cause we are a family 04:14 Whose hearts are blazing 04:18 So let's raise our candles 04:21 And light up the sky 04:25 Praying to our Father 04:28 In the name of Jesus 04:32 Make us a beacon in darkest night 04:39 So carry your candle 04:42 Run to the darkness 04:46 Seek out the helpless 04:49 Confused and torn 04:53 Hold out your candle 04:56 For all to see it 05:00 Take your candle 05:04 And go light your world 05:13 Run to the darkness 05:16 The hopeless 05:19 Confused and torn 05:23 Your candle 05:25 For all to see it 05:27 For all to see it 05:29 Take your candle 05:31 And go light your world 05:35 Take your candle 05:43 Go light your world. 06:12 Well, why don't we go ahead and say amen again? 06:14 And praise the Lord for such a wonderful song 06:17 that lifts our hearts heavenward. 06:19 And I'm very grateful for the opportunity 06:21 to study the word of God with each and every one of us. 06:24 We are going to take a very important look at a subject 06:28 that I've entitled The Bottom Line, 06:30 and I think you'll understand that as I share with you 06:33 a very brief story and then after that, 06:35 we'll pause for word of prayer 06:37 and then we'll get deeply into God's word. 06:41 I remember one time I was in Seattle, 06:43 Washington and when I was there somehow someway, 06:47 I found myself in the home of a drug dealer. 06:52 Now I'm in ministry at this point, 06:53 I'm definitely not doing the things 06:55 I used to doing it and even, and even in my old life, 06:58 I did not go around, you know, selling drugs 07:00 or anything like that but somehow, someway, 07:03 I was placed in a home with a man 07:06 who was very, very known for selling drugs, 07:09 very popular doing it. 07:10 And I would imagine my life 07:11 and his life was in danger that night. 07:13 I discovered it on the backend 07:14 so it was too late for me to leave. 07:16 So I just had to kind of bear with it. 07:18 Well, nevertheless, I remember being there 07:20 and so because I'm a minister of the gospel, 07:23 I said, well, let me go ahead and kind of dialogue 07:26 with my brother a little bit, see where his head is at, 07:28 and see if there is a way to share Christ with him. 07:31 And so I started to talk to him about God and the Bible, 07:35 truth for this time, end time events, 07:38 and as we were talking he got to a place 07:40 where he said, "I don't believe in the Bible." 07:42 And you know, 07:43 those who were kind of special words to me, 07:45 you know, anytime a minister hears that, 07:46 he sees it as an opportunity. 07:49 And so I remember that I heard him say that, 07:51 and I said, "Oh really, I said, tell me why, 07:53 why don't you believe in the Bible?" 07:54 And he gave one of the strangest answers 07:56 that I've ever heard. 07:58 And he said, because the Bible does not explain 08:01 how pyramids were built. 08:05 And I remember, I thought to myself, 08:07 the Bible doesn't explain how pyramids were built 08:09 so you don't believe in the Bible, 08:10 and he said, "Yup, that's right, 08:12 I don't believe in the Bible 08:13 'cause it doesn't explain how pyramids were built." 08:15 And I began to talk with him to say 08:17 so in your mind you believe the Bible 08:19 is supposed to explain every single thing 08:22 that has ever happened in the world, 08:25 and he said, "Well yeah, why not, 08:27 pyramids were significant." 08:29 And so, you know, I met the brother 08:30 where he was at and I said, "You know what, 08:32 I think your challenge is that 08:35 you do not understand the theme of the Bible. 08:38 You do not understand the bottom line point 08:41 of why God created this book." 08:43 And so I began to talk with him 08:45 and share some principles with him 08:47 that at the end of that discussion, 08:49 I believe that he became a believer 08:53 in the word of God 08:54 and therefore became a believer in God himself. 08:56 And the things that I shared with him, 08:58 the Lord is impressed upon my mind are things 09:00 that I need to share with you. 09:03 And so what we're gonna do at this time is 09:04 we're gonna prepare ourselves to study a little bit 09:06 about the bottom line. 09:08 Why does this book exist? 09:10 What is the bottom line message of the gospel? 09:13 What is the bottom line message of the church? 09:15 What is the bottom line message of the Three Angels' Messages? 09:17 What is the bottom line? 09:21 And so as we prepare our hearts to go through the study, 09:24 the best way for us to do that, I believe is with prayer. 09:28 And I'd like to do that upon my knees 09:30 and so I'm gonna kneel to pray 09:31 and you can just reverently bow your heads 09:33 but let's all pray together as we go before the Lord 09:36 and let Him speak to our hearts 09:37 as we prepare to get to the bottom line. 09:44 Our loving Father, 09:45 we are grateful always for the opportunity 09:47 to study Your words of truth. 09:49 We thank You, dear God, 09:50 for the way that Your spirit 09:52 speaks to the hearts of humanity. 09:54 We are living in a time 09:55 where we need to get to the bottom line. 09:57 We need to understand why the church exists. 10:00 Why the everlasting gospel is going forward? 10:03 Why do we even study this book called the Bible 10:05 above any other book? 10:06 And I just pray that in our few moments together, 10:09 make your words plain to our hearts, 10:11 for this is our prayer that we do ask 10:13 with the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus' name, amen. 10:19 All right. 10:21 Why don't we go ahead and let's turn our Bibles 10:22 to the Book of 2 Peter? 10:24 We're going to the Book of 2 Peter, 10:25 we're going to consider chapter 1. 10:29 Peter was explaining a very powerful point 10:32 in previous verses. 10:33 Our focus is gonna be in 2 Peter 1, 10:35 we're gonna look at verses 20 and 21, 10:38 but you have to understand that Peter is given reasoning 10:42 that in any other case 10:44 would have been the greatest proof of a fact. 10:48 In other words, there is a such thing 10:49 as called an eyewitness, 10:50 and when you have an witness, that's about the greatest proof 10:52 that you can have of something that took place, an event. 10:55 And Peter earlier in the chapter 10:58 was talking about how he and his fellow brothers 11:00 were eyewitnesses to the glory and the majesty of Christ. 11:04 Well, here it is that by time we get down to verse 19, 11:07 he says something very interesting. 11:09 I said verses 20 and 21 11:10 because that's gonna be our key focus 11:11 but verse 19 will give some context. 11:14 After Peter gives a faithful account 11:17 of what they saw with their own eyes, 11:20 heard with their own ears after that, 11:23 he then says something that to some of us might be 11:25 a bit strange. 11:26 After he gives this sure witness, 11:28 he then says in verse 19, 11:30 he says, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy." 11:36 In other words as powerful as it was 11:39 that he was an eyewitness to the majesty of Christ, 11:41 there is something even more sure 11:44 than being an eyewitness 11:45 and that is the word of prophecy, 11:48 the scripture. 11:49 He says, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy, 11:52 whereunto you do well that you take heed, 11:54 as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, 11:57 until the day dawn, 11:59 and the day star arises in your hearts." 12:01 And therefore he says in verses 20 and 21, 12:04 "Knowing this first, 12:05 that no prophecy of the scripture 12:08 is of any private interpretation." 12:11 This is why it's more sure. 12:13 This is not a book compiled by which man saw it 12:17 as an opportunity to simply express 12:19 what he thinks. 12:21 You know, there's a lot of ministers that do that. 12:23 There's a lot of preachers that do that. 12:25 There's a lot of evangelists that do that. 12:27 There's a lot of parents that do that. 12:29 There's a lot of teachers that do that. 12:30 There are people who feel in their minds 12:33 that I have right to go above what the Bible says, 12:36 I have a right to fall short of what the Bible says, 12:39 but many people ignore the reality 12:42 that ministers of the gospel are called to preach 12:45 what the Bible says and what the Bible says only. 12:48 We are never to preach or to share 12:51 "gospel message 12:53 of our own private interpretation." 12:56 The scriptures did not come by private interpretation, 12:59 as a result of that, 13:01 that's why it's a more sure word. 13:03 So notice what it goes on to say, "Knowing this first, 13:06 that no prophecy of the scripture 13:07 is of any private interpretation." 13:09 It says, "For the prophecy came not in old time 13:12 by the will of men: 13:14 but holy men of God spake 13:17 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 13:21 And you need to understand that. 13:23 The Bible says, 13:24 that they were these holy men of God 13:26 and before the sisters get little upset 13:28 because sometimes you know the Bible will speak 13:30 in a masculine tense and many a times 13:33 it's not just referring to men but mankind. 13:35 But if you read it just for English face value 13:37 you might think the Bible can be chauvinistic 13:39 and I'll balance that out in just a second 13:41 but the reality is, 13:42 is that it was holy men and holy women. 13:44 And they came together and the Bible says 13:48 that they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 13:50 Now we need to understand that, so what I'm gonna do is 13:52 I'm gonna now tell us to go to 2 Timothy 3, 13:55 just so we can get an understanding. 13:57 2 Timothy and we're now going to consider Chapter 3, 14:01 "Holy men of God spake 14:02 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 14:06 What constitutes this idea of moved by the Holy Ghost? 14:09 That needs to be explained. 14:11 So now we're going to the Book of 2 Timothy 14:13 and we are going to consider Chapter 3. 14:16 And let's notice what the Bible says 14:17 as we look at 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 and watch the verse. 14:23 The verse says in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17, it says, 14:28 all scripture, how much scripture? 14:31 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 14:36 and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 14:40 for instruction and righteousness, 14:42 that the man of God may be perfect, 14:44 thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 14:46 So scripture came to us 14:48 not by man's own private interpretation, 14:51 him taking an opportunity to say what he want to says 14:54 or she taking an opportunity to say what she want to says 14:57 but the Bible says 15:00 that when these men or women spoke, 15:03 these holy men and women of God, 15:05 when they spoke it was as a result of being moved 15:09 by the Holy Spirit. 15:10 And now when you notice what it says here, it says, 15:13 all scriptures given by inspiration of God. 15:16 Now believe it or not, that term inspiration of God 15:19 is synonymous to this idea of being moved 15:22 by the Holy Spirit. 15:24 What does it mean 15:26 when it says inspiration of God? 15:27 What does that mean? 15:28 One day I was looking it up, you know, 15:30 the Bible is written in three basic languages 15:31 Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. 15:32 Well, in fact they're not very basic 15:34 if you have studied it, but nevertheless 15:36 they are definitely not English, 15:38 and the Bible says in the Greek 15:40 which is the New Testament here. 15:41 The Greek word for inspiration is God breathed. 15:45 So my mind began to imagine, you know, 15:47 I'm a home-schooling father 15:49 and I teach the Bible class to my children. 15:51 My children all teenager right now, 15:53 I have a house filled with teenagers and thank God 15:55 they're not regular teenagers. 15:57 So we still have heaven in our home, amen. 16:00 And so it is that when, you know, 16:02 when we're teaching class, 16:03 we had to go through the fundamentals of scripture 16:06 and when we went through the fundamentals of scripture, 16:08 we were able to look at the idea 16:10 of inspiration God breathed. 16:12 So naturally in your mind you're saying, 16:14 scripture came to us when God breathed. 16:16 So if you take it just for face value, 16:21 one would think that somebody is here 16:24 and that's one of the holy men or holy women of God 16:26 and God goes to them and goes 16:29 and just breathes on them or goes... 16:32 You know, in other words if you've just taken it 16:33 for face value, 16:35 God breathed, this is how scripture came. 16:37 It would not make a lot of sense, would it? 16:39 But you know something that would make sense? 16:42 Go to the Book of 2 Samuel 23, watch this. 16:45 If you go to the Book of 2 Samuel 23, 16:48 I think we're gonna better understand 16:50 the idea of the movement of the Holy Spirit 16:53 or the inspiration of God meaning God breathed. 16:56 So let's notice now what the Bible says in 2 Samuel, 16:59 we're going to Chapter 23 17:02 and we're gonna let the Bible explain itself. 17:04 I want you to always remember that scripture is 17:06 forever the key that unlocks scripture. 17:10 Let the Bible explain itself. 17:13 So the Bible says in 2 Samuel, we're now in Chapter 23. 17:16 What does it mean the Spirit of God 17:18 moved upon these holy men or women? 17:21 What does it mean 17:22 when the scripture came by inspiration, 17:25 God breathed upon these people, what does that mean? 17:28 2 Samuel 23, the Bible says in 2 Samuel 23 17:32 starting at verse 1 and we'll do verses 1 and 2. 17:35 The Bible says in 2 Samuel 23:1 and 2, 17:39 "Now these be the last words of David. 17:42 David the son of Jesse said, 17:44 and the man who raised up on high, 17:46 the anointed of the God of Jacob, 17:48 and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 17:51 the Spirit of the Lord, did what? 17:54 Spake by me, and his word was in my tongue." 18:00 Did you know something I realized every time we talk? 18:04 Do you know what we're doing when we speak? 18:06 We're breathing. Did you get that? 18:09 When we talk, we're breathing. 18:13 You can't hold your breath and talk 18:14 or at least talk very long. 18:16 And this is a pretty deep book here so, 18:17 I can guarantee you God was breathing 18:19 and not holding His breath. 18:20 In other words, 18:21 when you think of moved by the Spirit of God, 18:24 when you think of inspiration God breathed, 18:26 the reality is God's spirit was talking to the mind 18:30 of the holy men and the holy women 18:32 and as they heard they repeated the words of God. 18:36 This is how scripture came to us. 18:37 It was not conjured up by the ideas 18:40 and the philosophies of men. 18:42 It was conjured up from the very mind of God 18:45 by which He spoke His words to humanity 18:49 and humanity heard those words, 18:51 and then they repeated those words, 18:53 and then there were scribes who wrote those words 18:55 and hence we have the word. 18:57 This is what God has given to each and every one of us. 19:00 This is the blessed book called the Bible. 19:02 This is the holy scripture 19:04 that helps us become wise unto salvation. 19:08 Now understanding this, 19:11 what then is the theme of all of these writings? 19:14 What is the theme? What is the great focal point? 19:16 Why was this book together? 19:18 What was it that God wanted to talk about so bad? 19:21 That He wanted to make it extra plain to humanity 19:24 so that we don't miss it and we can understand 19:26 what He's saying. 19:27 Well, now I want us to go to the Book of Acts 3, 19:29 we're gonna pick up in a story. 19:32 In Acts 3, 19:33 it was the Apostle Peter anointed by the Holy Spirit 19:37 unto what is termed the early rain. 19:40 The Spirit of God came down upon Peter 19:41 and the other brethren. 19:43 And as they were anointed with God's spirit 19:45 to preach the word with power as promised in Acts 1:8. 19:49 When they were there preaching the Word of God 19:52 to all of these devout Jews from all over the planet. 19:56 As they were giving the Word of God to these individuals, 19:59 presenting truth in a manner that they did not know 20:01 or nor understand it before. 20:03 As Peter was giving this message, 20:05 he got to the phase of his message 20:07 by which he was giving an appeal. 20:10 And when he made his appeal, 20:12 I want you to notice the very keywords 20:14 that are used in Acts 3:19-21, 20:17 we're gonna consider now the key focus of the message. 20:20 He's bringing to a close and as he gets to Acts 3, 20:24 notice what it says in verses 19 and 21, 19-21. 20:28 He says, "Repent ye therefore, 20:32 and be converted, 20:33 that your sins may be blotted out, 20:36 when the times of refreshing 20:38 shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20:40 And he shall send Jesus Christ, 20:42 which before was preached unto you. 20:45 Whom the heaven must receive 20:47 until the times of restitution of all things, 20:50 which God hath spoken by the mouth of, 20:52 how many, all his holy prophets since the world began." 20:58 Stop, notice, 21:01 I started our subject by talking about an interaction 21:04 I had with a man who was involved 21:05 in a very dangerous lifestyle of drug dealing. 21:08 He made it clear that he did not believe 21:09 in the Word of God, he did not believe in God. 21:12 As we began to talk, 21:13 one of the key obstacles for him 21:16 was that he did not believe in God or the Bible 21:18 because it did not explain things 21:20 that he felt the Bible should have explained. 21:23 So now I had to become an educator to my brother 21:26 and to help him understand the great theme 21:29 or focus of the Bible 21:31 so he can understand why certain information is there 21:34 and certain information is not. 21:36 So we began by looking at the fact 21:38 that how did the scriptures come to us. 21:41 Well, we saw through the words of the Apostle Peter 21:43 that the scriptures came to us as a result 21:46 of being a more sure word of prophecy 21:48 than even being an eyewitness which is very encouraging. 21:51 He then said, "And when the scriptures came, 21:54 it didn't come by private interpretation 21:56 or independent man's will, 21:58 it came by the movement of the Holy Spirit, 22:02 which we went to 2 Timothy 3 22:03 and saw that the movement of the Holy Spirit 22:05 is the inspiration of God. 22:08 And the inspiration of God is God breathing 22:11 of which we went to 2 Samuel 23 22:13 and saw that God breathing means God was talking. 22:17 God was giving His words to the minds of humanity. 22:20 The minds of humanity would speak His words 22:22 and then the words were written down 22:25 and that's what we have today. 22:26 Then we said, well, 22:28 what's the theme of these words? 22:30 What's the key focal point? 22:32 So we look at this appeal point of Peter sermon 22:35 when Peter began to tell the people very step by steps 22:40 of what they need to do 22:41 as a result of hearing the gospel, 22:43 but I want you to focus on what was the focus 22:46 of the writing of all the prophets 22:48 because that's the theme. 22:49 Notice what it said, it said in verse 19 22:51 that people need to repent, 22:53 but isn't there something you have to do after that? 22:55 Yes, first you had to repent. 22:57 Then what came after repentance? 22:59 Then it said conversion. 23:00 What comes after conversion? 23:02 Sins being blotted out. 23:03 When are the sins blotted out? 23:05 When the times of refreshing shall come 23:07 from the presence of the Lord. 23:09 But then what happens after the times of refreshing? 23:10 And then they shall send Jesus Christ 23:13 which before was preached unto you. 23:14 But what happens after Jesus Christ comes 23:17 of whom He was before preached? 23:19 It says, "That ultimately we must get to something called 23:23 the times of restitution of all things. 23:28 That is the end result of what God wants to accomplish. 23:32 God is not satisfied with just repentance. 23:35 God is not satisfied with just conversation, 23:37 God is not satisfied just with the blotting out of sins 23:40 when the times of refreshing comes, 23:41 God is not satisfied simply that Jesus comes back. 23:44 God is only satisfied when everything is restored 23:48 back to the way 23:50 He set it up in the first place. 23:52 That's the end result. 23:53 I have a dear friend of mine who always said, 23:55 always think with the end in mind. 23:58 When you function in life, you always think 24:00 what's the end result of what I'm about to do? 24:02 You never make a move, you never make a decision 24:05 and minister should not even preach a message 24:07 if it does not meet that end result. 24:11 What is the end result? 24:12 God says, "I want to restore everything 24:16 back to its original course." 24:19 That's the great goal of God. 24:20 That's the great goal of the gospel. 24:21 That's the great goal of the first, second 24:23 and third angel's message. 24:24 That is the goal of the church 24:26 is to be instruments in God's hands 24:28 that the ultimate goal 24:31 shall be accomplished. 24:34 And so God says, 24:36 "I want to get everything restored back 24:37 to the blueprint if you will, 24:39 right back to the way that he made everything. 24:41 And now my brothers and sisters, 24:43 this becomes a very important point for us. 24:45 Because there's a lot of things happening in our world 24:49 but they don't, and I'm talking about good things, 24:51 there's a lot of good things that are happening in our world 24:54 even in the church but the question is, 24:57 is it designed to bring about the restitution of all things? 25:02 You know, we have to understand that the great work of God, 25:04 the great work of the gospel 25:06 is that God wants everything 25:08 as He planned it to be restored back. 25:10 And this is important for us because I used to say something 25:14 that I would imagine a lot of you have said at one point 25:17 I've heard minister say it a lot of times 25:19 and I would imagine everybody who says it, 25:21 says it innocently. 25:23 Sometimes you're working with young people, 25:24 I'll highlight young people, 25:26 and sometimes when you're working with young people, 25:28 you know, you want to talk about helping them understand 25:31 who they are and whose they are. 25:35 And one of the things that often will be stated 25:37 especially to young people, 25:38 especially if they're in the world 25:40 and you're trying to bring them to Christ, 25:41 is you want to help them understand, 25:42 don't you know that you were made in God's image? 25:45 Don't you know that God made you in His image 25:48 and you are a representation of a king 25:50 and royalty and all these things. 25:52 And I used to say that, people said that to me. 25:55 But do you know I found out that 25:56 that is not holistically true. 26:00 And I used to say this all the time, 26:01 we are made in God's image. 26:04 Now let me show you why I believe that, 26:06 that is not a holistically accurate statement. 26:10 Go to the Book of Genesis. 26:11 Let's go back to the beginning because if we're gonna, 26:13 if things are gonna be restored, 26:15 you have to know what to restore. 26:17 You know, you can't, you can't just say, 26:19 let's restore everything because you need to know 26:21 what the thing is that needs to be restored. 26:23 So let's go back to the beginning of time 26:25 and let's look at the Bible a bit more carefully, 26:28 and let's understand what God wants to restore. 26:32 Because remember, time is the restitution of all things 26:34 was the focus of the writings of all the holy prophets, 26:37 it's the theme of the Bible. 26:39 But what is the thing that God wants to restore, 26:42 that has not been identified yet. 26:43 So now let's go to the Book of Genesis 1, 26:45 so we go back to Genesis. 26:47 We're in Genesis 1, 26:48 we're considering what is it that God wants to restore 26:55 because whatever He wants to restore 26:56 that should be the focus of the church. 26:58 Whatever He wants to restore, 26:59 that should be the focus of the every sermon. 27:01 Whatever God wants to restore, 27:03 that should be the focus of every ministry. 27:05 Doesn't matter, the goal is restoration 27:10 and He wants everything restored 27:12 which by the way is the work of Elijah. 27:15 But now watch this, in Genesis 1, 27:17 notice what the Bible says in Genesis 1, 27:18 we're going to consider, 27:20 right there in the beginning of time. 27:21 Genesis 1:26, 27:23 when God got to the crowning of His creation 27:27 which was humanity. 27:29 You'll notice that the Bible says in Genesis 1:26, 27:32 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, 27:36 after our likeness: 27:39 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 27:41 and over the fowl of the air, 27:42 and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 27:44 and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." 27:46 So as a result it's very simple, 27:49 as a result of man being made in God's image 27:52 and likeness he had dominion. 27:54 You get that? 27:56 Mankind cannot have dominion 27:58 until his image and likeness is restored. 28:00 There are people trying to have dominion right now. 28:02 These people have these dominion ministries. 28:04 You know, dominion ministries, dominion kingdoms 28:06 and, and we talk about all these things 28:08 and we want to have dominion 28:10 but we don't want to have the image 28:11 and likeness of God, that is ridiculous. 28:13 That is counterproductive, that is out of gospel order. 28:16 The Bible lets us know that 28:18 the dominion comes as a result of that which was previous. 28:22 First, man was made in the image 28:23 and likeness of God, and as a result of that 28:25 he had dominion, all right? 28:27 So if we want to see things in order, 28:30 then we must understand 28:31 that God in the beginning of time, 28:33 we were made in God's image and likeness. 28:37 Now that means that we had actually a physiology like God 28:42 as well as a mindset like God. 28:43 If you look up those words 28:45 image and likeness in their original, 28:46 it deals not just with mindset like God. 28:49 It actually deals with a physiology like God. 28:52 That's why sometimes you read the Bible and it talk about, 28:54 you know, God has eyes, 28:56 He has hands etcetera and so on. 28:58 All right, well, after man sinned, 29:01 I'm gonna fast forward because remember what I said, 29:03 I said that when we tell people that they're made in the image 29:06 and likeness of God today in 2016, 2017 and beyond, 29:10 when we tell people that, 29:12 we have to understand is that holistically true. 29:16 Well, let's consider it. 29:17 Genesis 5, in Genesis 5 after Adam and Eve sinned, 29:22 there was literally a change 29:25 in the very structure of humanity. 29:28 And so notice what the Bible says in Genesis 5, 29:30 look at what it says. 29:31 In Genesis 5:1 to 3, the Bible says, 29:34 "This is the book of the generations of Adam. 29:38 In the day that God created man, 29:40 in the likeness of God made he him. 29:44 Male and female created he them, 29:46 and blessed them, and called their name Adam, 29:49 in the day when they were created." 29:51 Now watch verse 3, this is after sin. 29:53 "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, 29:56 and begat a son in, what, his own likeness, 30:02 after his image, and called his name Seth." 30:08 The Bible declares that once Adam and Eve sinned, 30:12 mankind was no longer simply born in the world 30:14 with the image and likeness of God, 30:16 but we were born in the world with the image 30:18 and likeness of Adam, 30:20 and that's why true biblical Christianity 30:25 is a message not simply, watch my words. 30:28 It is a message not simply of redemption. 30:34 But true biblical Christianity 30:37 is inclusive of a message of redemption 30:40 but also restoration. 30:43 Do you get that? 30:45 Now, my brother and sisters, 30:46 if we're made today 30:48 in the image and likeness of God, 30:49 then what does God need to restore? 30:52 He doesn't need to restore anything 30:54 because the whole focus of God 30:55 is to restore His image and likeness. 31:00 And so when I tell young people today, 31:01 oh, I'm not gonna tell them, 31:02 you are in the image and likeness of God. 31:05 We have remnants of the reflection of the image 31:07 and likeness of God, but we have great polarization 31:11 of the image and likeness of Adam. 31:14 We have his nature. 31:15 We have his fallen nature. 31:18 We have his characteristics now. 31:20 And therefore the goal of the gospel 31:23 is that we might receive a message 31:25 by which it is restorative 31:28 to the image and likeness of God. 31:33 Now there is something we need to understand 31:36 about that image and likeness. 31:38 Because to say image and likeness 31:40 is still is not explanatory enough. 31:42 If I say what does the image and likeness of God look like? 31:44 How does it, how does it function? 31:45 We don't know yet, do we? 31:47 Not what we studied thus far. 31:48 We just know that man was made 31:50 in the image and likeness of God, 31:51 but we need to know what's that like, 31:53 because the Bible make something else clear 31:55 when we go to Genesis 2. 31:57 So now I go to Genesis 2, watch the story here. 32:00 So in Genesis 2 this is obviously before sin, 32:03 before the fall. 32:04 This is when they did have the image and likeness of God. 32:07 I will submit unto you that the image and likeness of God 32:11 had to in some shape, form or size have a function. 32:15 Listen to my words carefully, have a function like clothing. 32:20 It had a function like clothing, was a covering 32:21 of some kind and I'll prove that, watch this. 32:24 In Genesis 2, look at what the Bible says 32:26 as we go to verses 20 to 25, all right? 32:29 Adam is by himself 32:31 and Adam is probably having some issues right here 32:34 because God has given Adam the job of naming animals, 32:38 and I would imagine in my mind 32:40 that as Adam is naming the animals, 32:42 he is going through something at some point 32:45 as he's doing some comparative thought, 32:47 watch what I mean. 32:48 In verse 20 it says, "And Adam gave names 32:51 to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, 32:53 and to every beast of the field, 32:55 but for Adam there was not found an helpmeet for him." 32:58 Now that verse I believe was put there on purpose, 33:02 because if there is one thing that is for sure, 33:06 God's original design for Adam and Eve 33:08 was to be fruitful and to multiply 33:11 but it wasn't just Adam and Eve, 33:12 it was also the animal creation. 33:14 Now to be fruitful and multiply, 33:16 you have to have a partner, is that right? 33:18 You're not gonna do it by yourself. 33:19 We still haven't figure that one out, at least not fully, 33:22 and so it is that there had to be a partner 33:24 so Adam is naming, 33:25 Mr. Giraffe, Mrs. Giraffe, 33:27 Mr. Rhinoceros, Mrs. Rhinoceros, 33:30 Mr. Trout, Mrs. Trout, 33:32 Mr. Eagle, Mrs. Eagle. 33:34 So Adam is naming all these animal creations 33:36 and then I can imagine him going to that 33:38 crystal clear water 33:39 and he's looking by that water, by the River Euphrates 33:41 and he's looking and seen a reflection of himself 33:43 and he's saying, "Adam and Adam". 33:47 And you can imagine that Adam is having a problem right now 33:49 'cause he's noticing there is all these pairs, 33:51 but there is no helpmeet for him. 33:54 And so as Adam sees this, 33:56 God now allows Adam to take a very sweet power nap. 34:02 And so what the Bible says in verse 21, 34:03 "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, 34:06 and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, 34:09 and closed up the flesh instead thereof. 34:10 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, 34:13 made he a woman, praise God, and brought her unto the man. 34:18 And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones, 34:20 and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, 34:23 because she was taken out of Man. 34:25 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, 34:28 and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." 34:30 And I love verse 25, it says, "And they were both naked, 34:35 the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." 34:40 And you have to understand that's a strange statement 34:42 in the Bible. 34:43 For them to both be naked and not ashamed, 34:46 that's a strange statement 34:47 because it doesn't follow the theme of scripture. 34:49 When you go to Isaiah 47:1-3, 34:52 you see that nakedness and shame go together. 34:55 When you go to Revelation 3:18, 34:59 again you'll see nakedness and shame go together. 35:02 It's a shameful thing in our day and age, 35:04 when a man and a woman reveals their nakedness 35:07 before whole bunch of people 35:08 that's none of their business 35:10 to know what their bodies look like. 35:11 And so in the mind of God, 35:12 he actually shows 35:14 that nakedness and shame go together but in Genesis 2:25 35:17 they're naked but they're not ashamed. 35:19 Now that's not too hard for us to figure out, 35:22 because right now all of us in this room we are naked 35:28 and we are not ashamed, you know why? 35:29 I'm naked before you right now, 35:31 and I'm not talking about spiritually, 35:32 I'm talking about physically. 35:34 I'm naked before you right now, 35:35 but I'm not ashamed, and the reason why is 35:37 because I have something covering my nakedness 35:39 and it's call clothing. 35:41 I'm naked under this but as long as I have clothing, 35:44 I'm not ashamed. 35:46 There is something covering my nakedness. 35:50 And so was Adam and Eve, 35:52 they were naked but they were not ashamed, 35:54 and I'll submit unto you the reason why was 35:55 because there were something 35:58 that was covering their nakedness. 36:01 And I know this to be so because now watch Genesis 3. 36:07 When you pick up in the story in Genesis 3, 36:09 what does the Bible say? 36:10 It says, "Now when the serpent was more, 36:12 now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field 36:15 which the Lord God had made. 36:16 And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, 36:19 Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 36:21 And the woman said unto the serpent, 36:23 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 36:25 But of the fruit of the tree 36:27 which is in the midst of the garden, 36:28 God has said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, 36:29 neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' 36:31 And the serpent said unto the woman, 36:32 'Ye shall not surely die. 36:34 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, 36:36 then your eyes shall be opened, 36:37 ye shall be as God's, knowing good and evil.' 36:40 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 36:42 that it was pleasant to the eyes, 36:44 and a tree to be desired to make one wise, 36:46 she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, 36:49 and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." 36:51 Watch verse 7, 36:53 "And the eyes of them both were opened, 36:57 and they knew something, what did they know? 37:00 They knew that they were naked, 37:03 and they sewed fig leaves together, 37:05 and made themselves aprons." 37:07 Now that's a significant point. 37:09 Adam and Eve, when they were made 37:11 in the image and likeness of God, they had a covering, 37:14 and that covering enabled them to be naked but not ashamed. 37:19 When they committed one sin, don't lose that, 37:24 please don't lose that. 37:26 When they committed one sin, 37:30 they lost their covering 37:35 and now their eyes are open 37:36 and they now know that they're naked. 37:39 And they see a need for covering 37:42 and they look to self to cover themselves. 37:46 They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. 37:50 Well, we know the effect of this 37:52 because it says in verses 8 to 10 of Genesis 3, 37:55 "And they heard the voice of the Lord God 37:56 walking in the garden in the cool of the day, 37:58 and Adam and his wife hid themselves 37:59 from the presence of the Lord God 38:01 amongst the trees of the garden. 38:02 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, 38:04 Where art thou? 38:06 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, 38:07 and I was afraid, 38:09 because I was naked, and I hid myself." 38:13 Notice that in Genesis 2:25, 38:17 Adam and Eve are naked and not ashamed. 38:20 By Genesis 3:10, 38:24 now Adam and Eve are naked and ashamed. 38:28 There is something Adam and Eve had in Genesis 2:25 38:34 that they lost by Genesis 3:10 38:39 that God's whole theme of the Bible 38:42 is getting that thing restored back to mankind 38:46 because when it is restored back to mankind, 38:50 the image and likeness of God will be perfectly reflected. 38:54 We need to find out what that thing is. 38:58 What is the thing that Adam and Eve had in Genesis 2:25, 39:02 it enabled them to be naked and not ashamed. 39:05 But by Genesis 3:10 39:06 they're now naked and they're ashamed, 39:07 they're hiding themselves. 39:09 There is something they had but they lost it, 39:11 and God's design is to bring it back, to restore it. 39:17 I wonder what it is. 39:19 Well, it's not that hard you know. 39:21 Whenever I teach classes and I go through these lessons 39:24 with missionaries, I like to talk about it 39:25 and I let them go ahead and rattle away, 39:27 and they'll say all sorts of things. 39:29 Lot of people say, oh, it's the light, 39:30 the light of God or they'll say, oh, it's this 39:32 and that and you know, they share lot of thoughts 39:33 and that's great. 39:35 And then I usually ask this question next, 39:37 after they say oh, it was this, it was that, it was the other, 39:40 I then say, okay, very good. 39:42 What Bible verse do you have to support your answer? 39:46 And that's when it gets very quiet like it is right now. 39:49 What Bible verse do you have to support your answer? 39:52 And many a times they don't have a Bible verse. 39:55 And if we don't have a Bible verse 39:57 but we're still giving answers, then it might be our opinion. 39:59 And I don't know about you but everybody has an opinion 40:01 and who says your opinion is above mine 40:03 and mine above yours. 40:04 Ministers are not called to give our opinions, 40:06 we are called to give the Word of God, amen? 40:08 All right. 40:09 So with that being stated, 40:11 we need to give the Word of God. 40:12 What is it that Adam and Eve had in Genesis 2:25 40:16 that evidently was lost by Genesis 3:10, 40:18 and now they're hiding themselves 40:20 in their nakedness? 40:21 Well, the first clue was in Genesis 1, 40:25 in Genesis 1:26, did you catch it? 40:27 It said in Genesis 1:26, 40:30 "Let us make man in our image and likeness." 40:34 So we agree that man had not just a mindset like God 40:37 but a physical structure like God. 40:39 Well, this is important 40:40 when we're talking about covering, why? 40:42 Go to Psalms 104 division. 40:45 If you go to Psalms 104, 40:47 you'll notice that there is something 40:50 that God Himself actually covered Himself with 40:54 and He actually covered Himself with something like clothing. 40:59 And I want you to see what the Bible says about it. 41:00 So in Psalms the 104 division, watch what the Bible says. 41:03 In Psalms 104 look at verses 1 and 2, 41:07 watch what God covers Himself with, 41:10 literally like clothing. 41:13 The Bible says in Psalms 104:1, "Bless the Lord, O my soul. 41:17 O Lord my God, thou art very great, 41:19 thou art clothed with honor and majesty. 41:22 Who covers thyself with," what? 41:25 Light, notice that, 41:27 "He covers himself with light as with a garment: 41:31 who stretches out the heavens like a curtain." 41:34 So the light is what God covers Himself with like a garment 41:39 and it reveals His glory and majesty. 41:42 But it reveals something else. 41:45 It reveals His glory and majesty but it reveals 41:48 something else that's very important to our study 41:50 because we need to get to the theme of the Bible. 41:53 And so it is that if God covered Himself 41:56 with light like clothing 41:57 and He made Adam and Eve in His image and likeness, 42:02 then would we not agree Adam and Eve 42:03 must've been covered with light like clothing as well. 42:07 Wouldn't that be a fair agreement? 42:08 Yes, it would. 42:09 If God covered Himself with light like clothing, 42:12 then when He made Adam and Eve in His image and likeness, 42:15 Adam and Eve were covered with light like clothing. 42:18 Now here is a question that might sound 42:20 super, super simple and fundamental 42:22 but it actually make sense. 42:23 What is the purpose of light? 42:26 I just want you to think about that, 42:27 what's the purpose of light? 42:28 We'll say things like dispel darkness etcetera. 42:30 I'm gonna show you what the purpose of light 42:31 is in Ephesians 5. 42:33 Go to Ephesians 5. 42:34 Because God covers Himself with light, 42:36 and I believe any move that God makes has deep purpose. 42:39 And so when God covers Himself with something, 42:41 there was a purpose behind it. 42:43 When He covered Adam and Eve with the same thing, 42:44 there was a purpose behind it and the question is, 42:47 what is the purpose of light? 42:48 And so let's look at the Book of Ephesians, 42:50 we're gonna consider Chapter 5 42:52 and we're gonna understand the great purpose of light. 42:55 And notice what the Bible says. 42:57 In Ephesians 5, notice 42:59 what the Bible says in verse 13. 43:02 The Bible says in Ephesians 5:13, 43:05 "But all things that are reproved 43:07 are made manifest by the light: 43:09 for whatsoever doth make manifest is light." 43:15 Did you catch that? 43:16 The purpose of light is to make something manifest, 43:21 it is to make something known. 43:24 And the reason why that's important to me 43:26 is because I don't know about you 43:27 but a lot of people struggle with Genesis 1 43:29 in the creation account, 43:31 because what's the first thing 43:33 that we read in the creation account? 43:34 God said, "Let there be light", but wait a minute. 43:38 On the fourth day, God made sun, moon and stars. 43:42 So whatever light 43:44 God was talking about on that first day of creation 43:46 is not the same light spoken of on the fourth day of creation. 43:48 So whatever light he was referring to 43:51 was not a light that came from constellations. 43:54 It was a light that was coming from Himself. 43:56 There were something God wanted to make manifest 43:58 all throughout the universe. 44:00 And I wonder what it was. 44:02 And so we see that God covers Himself 44:04 with light like clothing, 44:06 therefore when He made Adam and Eve, 44:07 He covered them. 44:09 When Adam and Eve had the image and likeness of God, 44:11 they were covered with light like clothing. 44:14 So Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the light. 44:19 And now their eyes are opened 44:20 and they know their own nakedness, 44:22 their true condition. 44:25 Well, here it is that the Bible makes it clear 44:27 that the purpose of light is to make something manifest 44:29 and the question is, 44:30 what is it that the light was to make manifest? 44:35 What is it that the light was to make known? 44:38 Notice what the Bible says in a wonderful story, 44:41 it is in the Book of Micah. 44:43 When you go to Micah 7, 44:45 Micah is acknowledging the challenges 44:47 that he and his people faced 44:48 with the Assyrian Kingdom 44:50 and Micah recognizes his enemies 44:54 coming against him 44:55 but he also recognizes his God of whom he can go to. 44:59 And the Bible says in Micah 7 45:02 and I want you especially to consider verse 9. 45:05 Watch what the Bible says in Micah, 45:07 we're looking at the 7th Chapter 45:09 and we're considering verse 9 45:11 when we're entertaining the question 45:12 what is the purpose of light, 45:15 it is to make something manifest 45:17 and now what is the light making manifest. 45:20 Micah 7:9, the Bible says, 45:24 "I will bear the indignation of the Lord 45:27 because I have sinned against him, 45:30 until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me." 45:35 Watch this, "He will bring me forth to the light 45:39 and I shall behold his righteousness." 45:44 What is it that the light was making manifest? 45:46 His righteousness. 45:51 When we come to the light of God, 45:54 we will behold His righteousness. 45:59 That is what the light was making manifest. 46:04 And so it is and the reason why this gets deep, 46:05 I got a second witness, go to Psalms 37. 46:08 Watch again, second witness, Psalms 37. 46:10 "The light makes known God's righteousness." 46:15 Psalms 37 46:16 and notice what the Bible says in Psalms 37:6, 46:19 second witness. 46:21 In Psalms the 37 division, 46:23 notice what it says as we consider verse 6, 46:27 the Bible says, 46:29 "And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, 46:33 and thy judgment as the noonday." 46:36 God's righteousness was revealed through the light 46:41 and so when God says, let there be light, 46:45 it was a manifestation of His righteousness 46:46 going all throughout the universe. 46:48 The whole universe was to be governed 46:50 by righteousness. 46:51 Now that's not deep to believe because go to Psalms 97, 46:55 if you go to Psalms 97, 46:57 you can see that this was ultimately the desire of God 46:59 anyhow in everything that He created. 47:01 In Psalms the 97th division, 47:02 watch how the Bible spells it out again. 47:04 Psalms, we're looking at Chapter 97 47:08 and look at what it says as we looked at verses 1 and 2. 47:11 God wanted His righteousness to be established 47:15 all throughout creation, why? 47:18 Notice what it says in Psalms 97:1:2, 47:21 "The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, 47:23 let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. 47:26 Clouds and darkness are round about him: 47:28 righteousness and judgment 47:30 are the habitation of his throne." 47:35 Literally righteousness is how His throne is established, 47:39 His throne is established upon righteousness. 47:41 And so when God's throne in heaven 47:43 is established upon righteousness, 47:45 when God created the universe, 47:46 He wanted the universe to be established 47:48 in righteousness. 47:49 Righteousness, God's righteousness 47:51 was to spread all throughout existence. 47:55 So when God made man 47:57 His crowning act of creating on earth, 48:00 God says, "I'm gonna cover them with My righteousness." 48:04 And that's what Adam and Eve were covered with, 48:07 and when Adam and Eve chose to sin against God, 48:12 they lost righteousness. 48:15 You see a lot of people don't understand this 48:16 but go to 1 John 5, 48:18 you see what did Adam and Eve do? 48:20 Notice what it says in 1 John 5. 48:22 In 1 John 5, what does the Bible say 48:25 as we consider verse 17? 48:27 The Bible says in 1 John 5:17, 48:30 it says, "All unrighteousness is sin. 48:35 All unrighteousness is sin." 48:37 And so it is that when God made man, 48:39 He covered mankind with His righteousness, 48:43 but when man chose unrighteousness, 48:45 when man chose to sin, they lost God's righteousness. 48:49 Their eyes were now open 48:51 and they knew that they were naked. 48:52 And therefore they try to cover themselves. 48:57 The great theme of the Bible is a plan 49:01 that God has put together 49:03 that He is going to restore righteousness 49:07 back to His people. 49:10 When I was sitting there with that drug dealer, 49:12 I told him I said, "My brother, I said, you know, 49:13 what the great theme of the Bible is?" 49:14 He said, "What's that, after we did the study, 49:16 did the same study with the brother. 49:18 I said, "My brother, 49:19 do you know what God wants to do. 49:20 You want to know what the theme of the Bible is?" 49:22 He says, "Yes, tell me." 49:23 I said, "It's God's plan to help man 49:25 get His clothes back on." 49:28 And I remember he said, 49:29 "Man, I never heard it like that before." 49:31 I said, "That's right." 49:32 The great theme of the Bible is God has put a plan together 49:34 to help men get his clothes back on 49:37 because right now we have nakedness issue. 49:39 And we're not just talking about breast and backside 49:41 that's been revealed, 49:43 we're talking about something far more naked than that. 49:46 And that is the sinful condition 49:47 that all of us are in, 49:49 the unrighteousness condition that we're in, the great focus, 49:52 the great theme of the Bible is God wants to restore 49:57 His righteousness back to humanity. 50:03 That's why, you see if a pyramid 50:05 could explain how I could get God's righteousness, 50:07 I guarantee you God would have explained it 50:10 as far as how it become in the first place. 50:13 There are many things that have been done in the world 50:15 that are very amazing to the human eye, 50:17 but it does not help us get one step closer to God 50:21 and His righteousness. 50:22 And so when the Bible was put together 50:24 it is a 66 book compilation by which God is showing mankind 50:28 how we can go from an unrighteous state 50:30 to His righteous state. 50:34 And somebody says righteous still 50:36 doesn't sound clear enough. 50:38 Righteousness is still too broad, still too abstract. 50:41 Well, I believe God can make it even more plain. 50:43 Go to Psalms 119, what really is righteousness? 50:46 What is righteousness? 50:48 Someone may ask, well, let's find out. 50:50 The Bible says in Psalms, the 119th division 50:52 exactly what righteousness is. 50:56 And notice what the Bible says in Psalms, the 119th division, 50:59 and I want you to see what it says in Psalms 119 51:01 and we're going to consider verse 172, 51:04 Psalms 119:172 and let's notice what the Bible says, 51:11 in Psalms 119:172, the text says, 51:15 "My tongue shall speak of thy word: 51:18 for all thy commandments are righteousness." 51:24 Is that clear? Does that help? 51:28 All God's commandments are righteousness, 51:31 and I believe inspiration, put that word all, 51:35 I believe the Spirit of God spoke the word all David, 51:39 because today we live in a world 51:41 where some people say most commandments, 51:44 represents God's righteousness. 51:45 No, my brothers and sisters, that's not what the Bible says. 51:48 The voice of God said, 51:50 "All thy commandments are righteousness." 51:55 So that includes seventh-day Sabbath, 51:57 that includes honor thy father and thy mother, 51:59 that includes thou shalt have no other gods before me, 52:02 that includes thou shalt not commit adultery. 52:05 All thy commandments are righteousness. 52:10 This is the great theme. 52:13 The great focus of the Bible. 52:16 God wants to bring man back to His righteousness. 52:19 He wants to restore 52:21 His righteousness back in humanity, 52:24 and we get a small picture of it 52:26 because the story didn't end at Genesis 3:10. 52:29 Go back to Genesis 3, 52:30 let me show you a closing point here. 52:31 In Genesis 3, yes, it is true. 52:35 When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost righteousness. 52:37 You see when they were made, 52:39 they were covered with God's righteousness 52:40 and God put the clothing on them. 52:43 But then when they fell into sin, 52:44 rather than repent they went to their own righteousness 52:47 and they tried to make an apron. 52:48 Now I know about you 52:50 but you'll never leave your home in an apron. 52:51 I hope you wouldn't if you got sense 52:53 because aprons reveal a lot of nakedness. 52:55 And so it is that Adam and Eve are naked, 52:57 but they think they're gonna put on 52:59 an apron to cover their nakedness 53:01 but they were too blind to realize 53:03 they were still naked. 53:04 Boy, does that sound like humanity today? 53:07 And when you think about it, if the truth be told, 53:10 we live in a country 53:12 where there's always things talking and speaking of 53:16 in a political context. 53:18 You know, there's a lot happening in politics often. 53:21 And generally the idea is that in politics 53:25 there's always a politician who wants to basically say, 53:28 we know how to make things better, 53:29 we know how to help things get stronger, etcetera. 53:32 And this is what we see in the political realm for years 53:34 and not just years past, but perhaps even years to come. 53:38 But the reality is, is that did you know 53:40 that the Bible actually tells us 53:43 even how a nation can be great, 53:46 how a nation can be exalted. 53:48 And it's interesting 53:49 because it ties directly into the very topic 53:52 we're discussing right now, righteousness. 53:54 Notice what the Bible says in the Book of Proverbs 14. 53:57 In Proverbs 14, I want you to see what the Bible says. 54:00 You see no matter how much we vowed or choose or decide 54:04 or elect different individuals at various times 54:07 in our world history, 54:08 the standard of God's word is always the same anytime 54:12 we seek to bring God's country as we call it 54:15 to a, to an exalted state. 54:18 Notice what the Bible says in Proverbs 14. 54:20 In Proverbs 14 consider what it says in verse 34. 54:24 The Bible says in Proverbs 14:34, 54:27 it says, "Righteousness exalteth a nation, 54:32 but sin is a reproach to any people." 54:36 You see if righteousness is not the subject at hand 54:39 on how to make a nation great, 54:42 or how to make a community great, 54:43 or how to make our homes and our hearts great, 54:46 if righteousness is not the central theme 54:49 and central subject, 54:51 we will be laboring in vain. 54:55 We might see spurts here and there, 54:57 but we will never see the fullness of 54:59 what God desires 55:00 because God wants to restore righteousness. 55:04 And, my brothers and sisters, the question is how? 55:07 We're unrighteous 55:09 and sometimes even our more sincere righteous efforts 55:14 appears before God as a filthy rag. 55:18 How do we do it? 55:19 The Bible is very simple. 55:21 It was in John 15, 55:23 that Jesus made a statement that no other human being 55:27 can say in the context of how Jesus said it. 55:31 The Bible says in John 15 as we prepare to close. 55:35 It says in John 15, right there in verse 10, 55:40 Jesus makes a very definite statement. 55:42 This is why I appeal to you, it is sensible, 55:46 it's actually biblically logical 55:48 to look to Jesus for righteousness. 55:51 You see we understood that 55:53 all God's commandments are righteousness. 55:56 Psalms 119:172, well, notice what Jesus says here 55:59 in John 15:10, Jesus says, 56:02 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, 56:08 even as I have kept my Father's commandments, 56:13 and abide in his love." 56:16 My friends, do you understand that Jesus says, 56:19 "I kept righteousness, I did it perfectly. 56:23 I did it flawlessly." 56:25 At no point in Jesus' life, 56:28 do we see an example of unrighteousness. 56:30 In Isaiah, I see it, in Moses I see it, 56:34 in Daniel, I see it, in John the Baptist, I see it, 56:39 in many of the individuals that other religions 56:42 hold in high esteem and revere so much, we see it. 56:46 Various points in their lives of unrighteousness 56:48 but with Christ, He says, 56:50 I kept righteousness from the cradle to the grave. 56:53 This is why He's qualified to be our righteousness. 56:58 And the question is, will we let Him in our hearts 57:02 that He might be our righteousness 57:04 and finally we can surrender our Vown. 57:08 This is my hope and my prayer for each and every one of us 57:11 and that it's not just an appeal to you, 57:13 that's an appeal to me. 57:15 And if you accept this appeal, 57:17 let us seal it with a word of prayer. 57:19 Our loving Father, we thank You so much 57:21 for the righteousness of Jesus that is available to us 57:23 when all our righteousness fails. 57:25 Please, Lord, give us a sincere heart 57:27 to accept Christ our righteousness today, 57:31 in Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2017-03-02