Participants: Pr. John Lomacang (Host), Pr. John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL080020
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00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:02 and sit back as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of "House Calls." 00:22 Hello, friends, welcome to the most informative 00:25 Bible program in the world. 00:27 That's exactly what I believe, 00:28 that's why I am in this program, we welcome to "House Calls." 00:31 This is a walk through the Bible 00:32 and I am not by myself, 00:34 I have my good friend, John Stanton with me. 00:36 It's good to be here, John. 00:37 And back talking about God's word, 00:40 which is the funniest thing for you and I to do. 00:42 That's right. We could possibly do. 00:43 Isn't the best Bible program in the world? 00:45 Well, it's that. 00:46 And, you know, this is the best job in the world 00:47 to be called by God to really 00:50 give Him honor and glory, it's a wonderful thing. 00:52 And by the way the reason I said, 00:54 it's the best Bible program in the world 00:55 it's because, not because of John and I, 00:58 but because we are imparting to you the Word of God, 01:01 the best book in the world. 01:02 So if you have the best book in the world, 01:04 it's got to be the best program in the world. 01:05 That's right and there are lot other 01:06 best programs in the world that open up God's Word, so. 01:09 That's right, and that's what 3ABN is all about. 01:11 Amen, amen. 01:12 John, let's get started off with prayer. 01:14 I think that would be good. And we dive right on them. 01:15 Dear Father in heaven, 01:17 we are so blessed to be able to have this program. 01:20 And we just pray that you'll guide us, 01:21 lead us here today, 01:22 and also for our viewers or listeners, 01:25 and may they have their hearts open their mind, 01:27 expanded to hear your voice, in Jesus' name, amen. 01:31 And friends, once again thank you 01:33 for sending your Bible questions, 01:35 you know that without your questions, 01:37 this program will be kind of boring. 01:39 We like those challenging questions you sent to us, 01:42 and so if you have any at all, 01:44 you can send them to housecalls@3abn.org, 01:47 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 01:49 And we will download them and try our best to answer them. 01:53 And there are some of you that still sent snail mail. 01:57 We say, snail mail because it has a stamp on it. 02:00 That's why they have increased postage, 02:03 because of email. 02:05 But send them anyway, because we do open them, 02:08 whether they are first, second or eve third request. 02:11 We'll eventually get to them. 02:12 John, someone told me recently 02:13 that the best part of the program 02:15 is the questions and the answers. Wow. 02:17 So praise the Lord, 02:18 you know, I think a lot of people are out there, 02:20 wondering how to answer questions 02:22 because people want to know about God, 02:24 they want to know what God's word says. That's right. 02:26 So it's fun to just be able to share that with them, so. 02:29 And since we're going to do that, 02:30 John, why don't you just dive right in, 02:32 and give us the first question for today. 02:34 Let's do that. 02:35 This one is from Cathy in Mount Vernon, Illinois. 02:39 Wow, it's far. That's far away, isn't it? 02:43 Just up this tree here, 02:46 Cathy says, "Dear, John and John, 02:48 I would like to say first, God bless you both. 02:50 We love to watch your program 02:51 and all of the programs on 3ABN. 02:54 You have been a blessing to us." 02:55 Thank you very much, Cathy. 02:58 It says, "The Sabbath school lesson 02:59 we've been studying here recently is on discipleship 03:02 and during the class recently we talked about, 03:04 John the Baptist and Jesus. 03:06 Our question is, did Jesus actually 03:08 baptized any of His followers, 03:11 or was it only John, that did the baptizing? 03:13 Thank you for your help with this issue. 03:15 May God continue to lead you?" Thank you, Cathy. 03:18 Actually the Bible is very clear on who did the baptizing. 03:21 If you turn with us to John 4:1-2, 03:26 it explains here, how the process of baptizing went 03:31 and Jesus' involvement with that. 03:34 It says here, "Therefore, when the Lord knew that 03:36 that Pharisees had heard that Jesus made 03:38 and baptized more disciples than John. 03:41 And then in parenthesis, 03:42 most Bibles will have this in parenthesis, it says, 03:45 "(Though Jesus Himself did not baptized but His disciples,)." 03:49 So clarification right there that even though, 03:52 it's spoken of as Jesus 03:54 being involved in the baptizing process, 03:56 He Himself did not do the baptizing, 03:58 John, but His disciples did. 04:00 It's like when Mark Finley 04:02 or any of the evangelists go overseas 04:04 and they have a lot of baptisms, 04:06 the evangelists would stand on the shore and say, 04:08 "I baptize you in the name of the Father, 04:10 the Son and the Holy Ghost." 04:11 And the pastors will do all the baptizing, 04:13 but the preparation, I believe, for the baptism, 04:15 was done by the Lord. 04:17 And also He trained His disciples 04:19 for that 3 ½ year period, 04:21 how to prepare people for baptism. 04:23 And there's probably a reason for that, 04:24 you know, to avoid people running around and saying, 04:26 "Well, I was actually baptized by Jesus Himself." 04:29 You know, with somehow may be that was a higher 04:32 or a better baptism than others, 04:34 so probably He stayed away from that controversy 04:36 and let His disciples to do that, so just a thought. 04:39 And I liked that in another way, 04:41 another lesson out of that would be 04:43 for Him to communicate that, 04:45 Yes, I sent people forth, the baptism, 04:49 the commission to baptize, I actually modeled that, 04:52 I showed my disciples how to baptize. 04:54 And so, very good, very good point. 04:56 Very good quick question, and I think right to the point. 04:59 Another one here, Mathew 8:12. 05:04 This is an interesting question, John. 05:06 You know, I never think of this question. 05:08 Out of all the questions you get sometimes, 05:10 you know those questions that are really 05:11 kind of make you smile before you read it. 05:14 This is one of those questions. 05:16 Mathew 8:12, 05:22 "But the sons of the kingdom 05:23 will be cast out into outer darkness" 05:26 that's sons of the kingdom of the wicked one. 05:30 "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 05:34 As I read, I think of the question. 05:36 Somebody says, somebody wrote in the question, and asked 05:39 but what if the person does not have teeth, 05:42 how would they be weeping, the gnashing of teeth. 05:46 And I thought about that and I said, 05:48 I hope you aren't asking this question for yourself 05:51 because that in essence says, 05:52 you're planning to be lost. Yeah. 05:54 And I hope that's not the application. 05:57 Secondly, I don't think, 05:59 John, at that point that people can be worried about 06:01 whether or not they have teeth. Yeah. 06:04 You know, I even think or you think about this 06:06 and the emphasis is not the teeth. Right. 06:09 The emphasis is that, 06:10 you know they're arriving in pain-- I'm lost. 06:12 And most of the time if you have teeth, 06:15 you are gnashing your teeth, when you do that, 06:17 but if you don't have teeth, 06:19 it be the weeping and gnashing of gums is what we speak so. 06:23 That it may be silent anguish but anguish is anguish, 06:25 whether you-- That's the key. 06:27 It's anguish anyway. It's anguish. 06:28 You know, I heard, years ago, somebody once said, 06:32 you know, you snore so sold, my teeth rattle, and he said, 06:35 "well, moved them further from the bed." 06:37 And this is one of those situations. 06:39 Honestly there are people that don't have teeth, 06:42 but that's not the issue here, 06:43 the issue is, the anguish of being lost. 06:46 And I think Revelation 16:10 gives us another side of that, 06:50 because they're going to be those, 06:51 who won't be gnashing their teeth 06:53 but listen to what it says, 06:55 "Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl 06:57 on the throne of the beast, 06:59 and his kingdom became full of darkness, 07:02 and they gnawed their tongues 07:03 because of the pain." 07:05 So they-- you know the tongues, 07:08 because of the pain that they're experiencing, 07:10 they're gnawing their tongues, 07:12 rather than gnashing and weeping. 07:15 You see, rather than gnashing their teeth and weeping, 07:17 they're gnawing their tongues with pain. 07:19 Yeah, key part being there, 07:21 the pain and the anguish that people go through so. 07:24 Boy, you wouldn't be thinking about teeth, 07:26 anymore than a person whose, whose house is on fire. 07:29 He is wondering, well, should I 07:31 run out of my house with the suit on or not. 07:34 You know that's a last thought in your mind. 07:36 That's right. Okay. 07:37 John, this next question is from Carroll, 07:39 and she says here, during the morning there was, 07:44 during the worship hour, 07:45 there was a pastor who was preaching, 07:47 and he spoke about the sons of God, 07:50 in reference to Job 1, 07:52 and being the leaders of another planets 07:54 that came to see how God would handle Satan's accusations 07:58 with regard to Job, 08:00 and accusations in general with regard to God. 08:04 It says here, I know that we've heard that pastors on 3ABN 08:07 say that the ones in Genesis 08:08 are mere mortals from here on earth, 08:12 but I'd like to know more about the sons of God 08:15 and where they are from. 08:16 So let's just share a few things here, 08:17 I know that John you have some ideas 08:19 and thoughts about that from the Word of God 08:21 and we'll turn first of all to Genesis 6, 08:26 and we'll look at that passage. All right. 08:27 And let's pull from that passage 08:29 the context here, because remember, 08:30 you don't want to take a single word 08:32 and just run with it. 08:33 A lot of people will use a lot of assumptions 08:37 when they interpret text, and you can't do that. 08:40 You know the Bible actually cautions against that. 08:43 It refers to that as private interpretation. Right. 08:46 And when you use assumptions, personal assumptions 08:48 to explain a text or a specific passage 08:50 that isn't balanced by a hermeneutical 08:53 comparison to other scriptures, 08:55 to pull that in together, 08:57 it's your own private interpretation. 08:59 So we want to stay away from that. Okay. 09:01 Genesis 6:1 says, "Now it came to pass, 09:07 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, 09:10 and daughters were born to them, 09:12 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men 09:15 that they were beautiful 09:16 and they took wives for themselves 09:18 all of whom they chose. 09:20 And the Lord said, My spirit 09:22 shall not always strive with man forever, 09:25 for he is indeed flesh, 09:27 yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. 09:31 There were giants on the earth in those days, 09:33 and also afterward, when the sons of God 09:35 came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, 09:38 those who were mighty men, were of old, men of renown." 09:43 And then of course I'll finish with the verse 5 here, 09:45 "Since then the Lord saw that the wickedness of men 09:48 was great on the earth, 09:50 and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart 09:52 were only evil continually." 09:54 Now the emphasis here, that we see over and over again 09:56 is man flesh, man flesh. 09:59 There's no indication here, John, 10:02 that angels have anything to do 10:04 with what's going on here. Right. 10:05 That the word angel doesn't appear, 10:08 but man and flesh do. 10:09 Even those born to this unholy alliance 10:13 are referred to as being fleshy or being man. 10:16 So they are not spiritual beings, 10:19 they're not angelic beings at all, 10:21 at least from the text we can't infuse that in there. 10:24 I would like to suggest to here 10:25 as we dive in to the subject a little bit more, 10:29 that nowhere do we find in scripture, 10:31 anywhere in scripture, and you let us know 10:33 if you find something, but we haven't found any, 10:35 we have done a lot of searching. 10:36 Nowhere do we find any evidence 10:38 that angels have the ability to procreate. 10:40 Right, in that context. 10:42 Infact, we find suggested, and I say suggested 10:45 because it's my opinion that is suggested, 10:48 that one of the reasons why Satan attacked Adam and Eve 10:52 and attacks God creation 10:54 was because he was jealous that they could procreate. 10:57 I mean, think about this, God creates Adam and Eve 11:01 and says, "Be fruitful and multiply." 11:03 Right and that's not a commission 11:04 He gave to the angels. And Satan has a third. 11:07 Now do you think Satan would 11:08 like to multiply his forces. Right. 11:11 He would like to, but he can't, 11:13 why because he's got a third 11:14 and it's all he's ever going to have 11:16 and they can't expand their kingdom by procreating, 11:19 so he sees Adam and Eve procreating 11:22 and he says, we can't do that. 11:25 But you know what, if we take them down, 11:29 then they can procreate and expand our kingdom. 11:32 So every evidence suggests in the Bible at least, 11:36 that there is no ability to procreate 11:40 given to the angels whatsoever. That's right. 11:42 So to infuse that into Genesis 6 is just beyond 11:45 what scripture actually gives us with regard to the angels, 11:49 your thoughts on that, John. 11:50 And I know that, you know, this is pretty clear on our minds. 11:52 We've been studying this for a while, 11:53 but most have been taught that these are angels 11:56 somehow mating with men and women. 11:58 Well, the Bible uses the phrase, 12:00 sons of God in two particulars. 12:03 And I think that the most important thing 12:04 we have to do and, John, you said, 12:06 well, is look at the context. 12:08 That is important because you'll also find in Job 1:6 12:11 where the Bible says, "They came with a sons of God, 12:14 came to present themselves before the God, 12:17 and Satan came also." 12:19 And the question was, where did you come from? 12:21 And Satan said, from going back and forth, 12:23 and to and fro on the earth. 12:25 So he came as a representative of earth. 12:27 And we know that there was a time, 12:29 right at the time of the creation of the world, 12:31 there was just Adam and Eve. 12:33 So they couldn't be sons of God on the earth, 12:35 because multiplying in the races did not begin yet, 12:38 so in that context, you'll see clearly that, 12:42 that is alluding to the fact that there are other worlds 12:44 on fallen beings, 12:46 where they came to present themselves before the Lord. 12:49 And Satan came as a representative of the earth. 12:52 But in the context of the Genesis 6, 12:55 that's not what suggested there at all. 12:57 Because they made it very, very clear in verse 1, 13:00 "Now it came to pass 13:01 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth 13:05 and daughters were born to them." 13:07 This is earth, this is right away 13:09 giving the application where it is, 13:11 that's the sons of Gods, saw the daughters of man, 13:13 that they were beautiful, you see. 13:16 And when you look at the context, 13:17 and when you study the history here, 13:19 you see that one of the things 13:21 that caused the degradation of the people of God is that, 13:25 the context here is, the daughters were fair, 13:29 the daughters of men were beautiful. 13:32 And you'll see that, the context is, 13:37 the men who worshipped God, 13:39 looked more at the beauty of the women, 13:42 than the allegiance of the woman. Yeah. 13:45 And that's where the degradation came in 13:48 and that pattern is carried through our scripture, 13:52 when men focused more on beauty of the woman 13:55 than her allegiance, is when the degradation began. 13:59 You'll find that the children of Israel were always safe 14:02 until the Philistine women came into the camp 14:04 and they were very beautiful. 14:06 And there is no sin in being beautiful. 14:08 But they focused more on the woman's beauty 14:10 than her allegiance to God. 14:12 And so that's what's talked about here, rather than 14:15 beings coming from another worlds 14:17 coming down and populating the earth, 14:18 because here is the problem here, 14:20 and you made the point very clear, and I reiterate it, 14:22 is that angels are not procreative beings. 14:26 Angels are not given the ability to procreate. 14:28 Yet, we find that they were, probably gender neutral. 14:31 There's no indication if there's any gender 14:33 with regard to angels. 14:34 Right, you just find names like Gabriel, like Lucifer. 14:39 Those are some of the names you have in scriptures, 14:41 those are two of the names you have in scripture. 14:44 Even, Michael the archangel, 14:45 which is a representation of Christ, 14:48 but you don't have, you never heard of Deborah, 14:51 the angel or Susan the angel, you don't know. 14:55 So in the context of working alongside with God 14:59 in ministry beings, these are ministering spirits, 15:02 and spirits are not procreative, ministering beings, 15:05 angels with two and four and six wings, 15:08 they don't have the ability to create another angel 15:10 that has two or four or six wings. 15:12 So there is no procreative thing here. 15:14 So that's why, and in fact what you said, 15:17 which I am just saying all over again, 15:19 no evidence that these were heavenly beings. 15:21 And you mentioned in Job 1 there, 15:23 with regard to the sons of God came before God 15:27 and if you look at the one-- all the references-- 15:30 take if you have a concordance 15:31 or even a problem that you have like a software program, 15:35 type in sons of God 15:36 and look at all the references to sons of God. Oh, yeah. 15:38 It's only used in the context 15:40 of those who are lead by the Spirit of God, 15:43 I am quoting there from Romans 8:14. 15:46 So those who are lead by the Spirit of God 15:47 are called sons of God. 15:50 When Satan appeared before God, in Job 1, 15:54 with all the other sons of God, it's like God was saying, 15:58 all these people, I know are mine, 15:59 because My Spirit operates within them, 16:01 but what are you doing here? Why? 16:04 Because you don't operate 16:06 or you don't put your trust and confidence, 16:09 you weren't lead by My Spirit. 16:12 So Satan was unique in that group, with that respect 16:15 because he wasn't lead by God's Spirit. 16:18 He was in rebellion, he was rebellious angel. 16:21 So anyway, everything there points to the fact that, 16:24 this scripture is often misinterpreted 16:27 and that gives you a little more background on that. 16:30 The only time there will be anything like angels 16:33 or close to being like angels is in the resurrection. 16:36 You'll find, matter of fact, Mathew 5:9, 16:39 "Blessed are the peacemakers 16:41 for they shall be called the sons of God." Yeah. 16:44 But I want to share this one also that 16:46 this does not talk about 16:48 before the creation of the world, 16:52 this is not talking about an Adam's day, 16:54 this is not talking about in the days of Noah, 16:57 this is not talking about in the days of Christ, 16:59 this is talking about after the resurrection. 17:02 Luke 20:36, speaking about 17:05 the things that we have, we can look forward to 17:07 but the things that we cannot look forward to. 17:11 It says, "But those who are counted worthy 17:13 to attain that age" that is the age to come. 17:16 "And the resurrections from the dead 17:18 neither marry nor are given in marriage. 17:21 Nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels 17:26 and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." 17:30 See, there are two things that we will have that of-- 17:33 You give the scripture reference again for them. 17:34 That is a Luke 20:35-36. 17:37 Now the reason why it says 17:38 they are equal to angels is because there, 17:41 there is no death, the angels don't die. 17:44 That the angels are with God, 17:45 don't die and neither will we die, 17:48 that's what the equality of angels come in. 17:51 Not now all of a sudden we are, 17:53 we have lost what God has given us 17:56 the ability to do it in the beginning 17:58 nor has the angels gained 17:59 what God has not given them the ability to do, 18:02 you see, there's no switching of roles here at all. Good. 18:06 Well, I have another question here, I think. 18:11 What happens to people and let me read this letter 18:14 because this is the person that sent the request. 18:18 Speaking about, I work in the medical field 18:21 with patients who have multiple personalities. 18:26 Some are nice people and some are not. 18:30 Some could even be very evil or very scorn. 18:36 When Jesus judges in the last days, 18:38 who does He judge to be fair? 18:42 In another words, which personality 18:44 is He going to judge? 18:46 These patients I care for are one person one day 18:50 and another the next day. 18:54 First of all, I understand the context of that, 18:56 because, you know the Bible even suggests that, 19:01 we are the same way before we come to Christ. 19:03 Because there's an old man, there's a new man. 19:06 We put on the new man, which is Christ 19:08 because the old man that we have when we were born as Adam. 19:11 So to some degree, we have two personalities. 19:14 Jesus came to put one to death, 19:17 so that the new one Christ 19:19 could reign in through our lives. 19:21 But I would say this, first of all, 19:23 to answer the question with an authoritative answer, 19:25 I almost have to have to the sovereignty of God 19:28 to know, how this person needs to be assigned. 19:31 But I don't have that sovereignty, 19:33 I cannot see beyond the surface. 19:36 Now I want to give you the scriptures, 19:37 so that will encourage you 19:38 because God doesn't see as we see, 19:40 as you know the Bible says, 19:41 it's high as the heavens are above the earth, 19:43 His ways are above are ways, 19:44 and His thoughts are above our thoughts. 19:46 And the Bible says, He does not see as men sees. 19:50 Men looks at the outward appearance, 19:52 God looks at the heart. 19:53 So there may be individuals who are held captive 19:57 in this multiple personality 19:59 and we see one thing, but God sees another. 20:03 Someone also told me about this 20:04 and I am not a doctor, so if, I am incorrect on this, 20:07 you know, I'll appreciate your emails. 20:10 Sometimes people are thinking something 20:12 but don't have the ability either 20:14 because of the debilitating disease to say it. 20:18 I even know that some people who 20:19 are challenged with Alzheimer's 20:20 sometimes, they want to communicate to you, 20:22 but then at the end, they're just shaking their heads. 20:25 You know sometimes 20:27 I am not going to go down the list of diseases here, 20:28 but the experiences have been 20:31 science has discovered that sometimes people with autism, 20:35 and they'll say, well, they don't think like 20:37 regular child does, but they are very intelligent. 20:40 And so I even heard of young kids, 20:42 who said, you know there was a program on Oprah Winfrey, 20:46 and I am using this as a reference, 20:48 where they said, it's not-- 20:50 the problem is not how your child is being taught, 20:53 but the problem 20:54 but the challenge is how your child is wired. 20:57 Because some children learn differently than others 21:01 and so this program was designed that, 21:04 if you understand how the child thinks, 21:07 then you could understand, how to teach that child 21:09 and by and large, you know the prodigy children, 21:13 they call them prodigal or prodigy children, 21:15 very, very intelligent, 21:17 they are so far ahead of the normal mind 21:20 that they have to be taught quite differently. 21:23 But in this context, 21:25 I think that the personality is going to be judged 21:28 are somewhat based on these two Bible verses. 21:30 As I mentioned a moment ago, 21:31 what God sees and what we see is something totally different. 21:34 Proverbs 23:7, "For as He thinks in his heart, so is He." 21:40 So the Lord sees what's in the heart, 21:42 not just what's coming out of the mouth? 21:43 All right. All right. 21:44 Now Hebrews 4:12, 21:46 "For the word of God is living and powerful, 21:48 and sharper than any two edged sword, 21:51 piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, 21:54 and adjoins and marrow, 21:56 and is a discerner of the thoughts 21:58 and intents of the heart." 22:00 So it not only goes to the, what he thinks 22:02 but the thoughts and intentions. 22:04 Motives. The motives. 22:07 And sometimes a person's motive 22:10 is even more important than the actual actions. 22:14 The one you're talking about addictions. Oh, yeah. 22:16 Understanding how steep some of these addictions are. 22:19 So you know what are the motives of that person, 22:21 where is the desire and God looks at those motives. 22:25 We are walking through a hospital sometime 22:27 and I have seen some situations where 22:29 you're walking to the ward of a hospital 22:30 where there seems to be people that are just, 22:33 you can't communicate with them, but the nurses say, 22:35 I understand exactly what they're trying to say, 22:37 because they all of a sudden 22:38 are able to communicate on that level. 22:40 And God sees further than even that nurse can. 22:44 Good stuff. 22:46 Let's look at one more question, I think we can get in here. 22:48 This one is from Vern and he is saying here, 22:53 that he has been Seventh-day Adventist Christian 22:56 for about the last three years, 22:58 and he's had a lot of reform and changes in his life, 23:01 the God is doing a lot of powerful things in his life. 23:03 Praise the Lord, Vern by the way. 23:05 Give him the glory, that's great. 23:07 And-- but then he says here, 23:10 that one thing that he just can't seemed to quit is smoking. 23:14 He is just beaten himself up over this, 23:17 he can't, speaking of addiction, 23:19 he can't seem to overcome this thing 23:20 but he's changed in so many other areas of his life, 23:23 and so he is wondering here, 23:26 should he continue look down upon himself 23:28 or will he really find faith and victory in Christ. 23:32 What is our hope that we can give him? 23:35 And so we just like to kind of encourage you, 23:37 here Vern that, you know, 23:40 we are talking about addictions here, 23:41 addictions are so very very difficult to understand. 23:46 They are strong, they have a lot of power over us, 23:49 because our minds are wired as such that 23:51 we are just so used to doing these habits 23:53 that it just takes time to break out of them. 23:55 In fact the Lord is the only one that can cut those, 23:58 super highways of our brain 24:00 that incline us to do this repeated actions. 24:02 Smoking is very much one of those. 24:04 In fact sometimes it's not just the nicotine, that's addictive 24:07 but the habit of how you do it, 24:09 and when you do it and all those others-- 24:10 You train yourself, yeah. You do. 24:12 You just train yourself for a life time 24:13 sometimes to do those things. 24:15 So God recognizes that I believe. 24:18 And although you've had some reforms 24:19 and some changes in your life, 24:20 some wonderful things God is doing, 24:22 God is not given up on changing your habit of smoking. 24:27 So one thing you should never do is give up, 24:30 because God doesn't want you to destroy your body by smoking. 24:34 We can just say that right there. 24:36 So no one should say, 24:37 well I am never going to get rid of this habit, 24:39 because God just, you know hasn't, 24:40 you know I just can't find the victory. 24:42 Through Christ and through God, all things are possible, right. 24:47 We know that from His word. 24:49 So the issue here is never give up. 24:53 Keep trying, keep putting yourself 24:56 under the strength 24:58 and the power of the Holy Spirit. 25:00 Ask for the Holy Spirit everyday to give you the power 25:02 and strength to overcome and never stop trying, 25:05 but there's something else that goes with that, 25:08 that should be your motive. 25:09 But the other part is build yourself 25:11 some relationship within the church community, 25:14 a friend or someone you can trust, 25:17 some accountability partner. 25:19 Ask them or ask somebody who is trained in these areas 25:23 of quitting smoking and other things 25:24 to help you to overcome. 25:27 And you may say, well I've tried 25:28 all these different kinds of programs 25:29 and nothing has worked, but keep trying. 25:32 I mean something we have found story after story, 25:34 John, and you've heard this as well 25:35 that God has miraculously delivered people from smoking. 25:38 I think that's the key there. 25:40 And it's just, you just can't give up though. 25:42 Here's a thing, don't ever resort to say, 25:44 well, I just, I am never going to get rid of this habit. 25:46 God will give you deliverance from that habit, 25:49 just keep on pursuing this different avenues 25:52 and God's strength to help you overcome. 25:54 I believe also you have to claim a victory, 25:57 1 Corinthians 15:57, I believe it is where it says, 26:01 "But thanks to be to God, which gives us the victory 26:03 through our Lord Jesus Christ." 26:05 I sat a person down once, and I said to that person, 26:09 do you believe that 26:11 Jesus is able to give you the victory over smoking. 26:13 He said, yes. 26:15 I said, do you think that 26:16 the cigarette is greater than the Lord? 26:18 He said, no. 26:19 I said, do you think that the cigarette is greater 26:22 than Jesus' ability to deliver? He said, no. 26:25 I said, so let's go ahead and claim the victory 26:28 and let's live in the victory. He says, okay. 26:31 We prayed, we anointed him, claim the victory. 26:33 And then I said, now do you have any cigarettes 26:36 in your truck at all? He said, yeah. 26:39 I said well go get them for me. 26:40 He said, "Well, can I smoke those last ones." 26:44 I said, you haven't claimed the victory 26:46 because the addiction, he was so used to the habit. 26:51 He was still leaving the avenue open there. 26:53 Right, he was not, he was not allowing 26:57 the propitiation of Christ to take effect. 26:59 He was not allowing the substitution, 27:02 and that's what that is all about. 27:04 You see, when you take something away, 27:05 it has to be immediately replaced with something else. 27:08 That's the other thing I was going to say. 27:09 You have to, but I can't carry, 27:13 I can't play on two basket ball teams 27:15 at the same time, it's impossible, 27:17 for me to play for the Lakers and the New York Knicks, 27:21 when they are playing against each other. 27:23 You've got to decide whose team you're on, 27:26 put on the uniform and play like a champion 27:29 because the Lord gives you the victory. 27:30 Then there are those, who sometimes honestly, 27:33 the chemicals and they say, well the chemical addiction, 27:36 well, I've been smoking so long. 27:38 The reason I am so adamant about this, is my mother, 27:41 and she is now resting now in the Lord, 27:43 she was a two to three pack smoker a day, 27:46 she was an alcoholic, 27:48 but she, I said, mom, go and claim the victory, 27:50 she went to a pastor, prayed 27:52 and from that day to the day 27:53 she passed away the craving was gone, 27:56 the addiction was gone. 27:58 The desire for it was gone, I mean instantly-- 28:01 Because of her willingness to cooperate 28:03 and to claim that victory and to walk in the victory. 28:06 You got to walk in the victory. 28:07 You know, the other part too 28:09 you made an interesting comment there 28:10 and I thought you're going to head this direction 28:12 but I'll emphasize what you were saying, was that, 28:14 you got to replace the habit with something else. Instantly. 28:17 Just like when you become a Christian, 28:19 you've got to replace with what you read 28:21 with the word of God because the word of God 28:23 gives you power and strength. You like to read? 28:25 But yeah, but even in the aspect of what we do, 28:29 surrounding when we eat, 28:31 surrounding when we're hanging out with our friends 28:32 and those other things, you got to replace 28:34 what you used to do, smoke with other things, 28:37 so some people say, well, you know, 28:40 we need to pick up the habit for a while of chewing gum, 28:43 you know, or they need to pick up the habit 28:45 of you know, doing something else like, 28:49 one person did lemons. 28:50 Every time they had the desire to pick up and smoke, 28:53 they enjoyed lemons, so they had lemons, 28:55 they would always cut up and they started eating lemons 28:57 and they build the lemon habit over the smoking habit. 29:00 They replaced it. 29:01 So they replaced it there, 29:02 so physically there are things you need to do, 29:05 but as you do those, you link the victory 29:09 and you walk forward in victory in Christ. 29:12 So couple of aspects that we hope 29:13 that we can give you to encourage you there, 29:16 because through Christ all things are possible. 29:19 That's exactly. 29:20 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 29:22 Thank you, for all your Bible comments and questions 29:25 and as we mentioned before. 29:26 If you have any more comments or questions, 29:28 you can send them to housecalls@3abn.org 29:33 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 29:37 And once again we do accept snail mail, 29:40 PO Box 220, West Frankfurt, 29:43 Illinois 62896. 29:47 Thank you for all of your comments and questions. 29:50 And today we are going into 29:52 the next part of the topic of salvation. 29:56 John, this is such an interesting topic. 29:59 On our last program, we made some headway 30:01 but today we're going to dive in little more deeply 30:04 into this program about salvation 30:05 because everyone wants to be saved. 30:07 I went to a church not too long ago, 30:09 when I asked this question, in the midst of the sermon. 30:14 I said, if you want to go to hell, raise your hand. 30:18 There was little kid raises his hand 30:20 and obviously he didn't understand. 30:22 But no one else raised their hand. 30:23 And I said, what amazes me is that, 30:26 none of you raised your hand, 30:27 yet when the call is going to be, 30:28 when the call is made at the end of the sermon, 30:30 I wonder how many of you 30:31 are going to respond to go to heaven. 30:34 Now praise God, the response was tremendous at the very end 30:38 because I believe that I laid the foundation-- 30:40 the break seems hold on them earlier. 30:43 They said, no one wants to go to hell. 30:44 So when I made the call to go to heaven, 30:46 everybody should respond. Sure. 30:47 And there was a tremendous response to that. 30:50 But when we think of salvation, this is something people need, 30:54 and it's a gift. 30:57 So let's go ahead, 30:59 I know we started with the most popular text last week. 31:03 Let's do that again on this program. 31:05 For those who may have missed the last broadcast, 31:08 begin with the central text. 31:11 And the one that I am thinking of is Ephesians 2:8-9, 31:15 but I want to go a different route this week 31:17 and start with John 3:16. 31:19 Yeah, we talked just to recap last time 31:22 about the three aspects of that salvation, 31:24 linking together, justification, 31:27 sanctification and glorification. 31:29 We didn't talk a lot about glorification, 31:31 but glorification is of course, 31:33 entering into the kingdom with a new body, 31:35 an incorruptible body living eternally with Christ. 31:39 So those three aspects we talked about 31:42 and to compare those three, 31:44 I think we defined that as justification as being 31:47 delivered from the penalty of sin. 31:50 Sanctification delivered from the power of sin. 31:53 And then glorification delivered from the presence of sin. 31:57 That sin is no more. 31:59 So now, now let's go back to a more practical aspect. 32:03 We talked about the theology a little bit. 32:05 Now let's go to the practical aspect, 32:07 the most popular text in the Bible. Oh, I think-- 32:09 I agree, let's go there, John, you have that probably. 32:11 You know, I don't know how, 32:12 I don't know if we get this text when we're born. 32:15 I don't know if this is the same thing, 32:17 they give us a baby blanket 32:18 and then they give us John 3:16, 32:19 but everybody knows this Bible verse. That's right. 32:24 We all know the King James Version. 32:26 The atheists could do this text by memory. 32:29 I think it's part of come into the world, 32:30 the Lord says, I'm going to make sure 32:32 that on the day you come out, 32:33 you have absolutely no excuse. 32:35 For God so loved the world. 32:39 Notice John, in California, you know kids would say, 32:41 I so love the car or I so don't-- 32:44 I'm so, you know, yeah the emphasis. 32:48 The Lord had that long before us. Yeah. 32:50 I don't just love you, I so loved the world, 32:53 for God so loved the world 32:54 that He gave His only begotten son 32:57 that whomsoever, 33:01 I mean, that's an invitation to everybody. 33:04 I am whomsoever- whosoever believed in Him, 33:08 should not perish, 33:10 but have everlasting life. That's right. 33:14 Salvation, ever lasting life, offered to everybody. 33:20 There's no essence for anybody to be lost, 33:23 but why is it that people don't accept salvation. 33:25 Let's begin to break this down into the context here. 33:27 Yeah, this text is so clear here, 33:29 and so good for us to start, John, 33:31 because it gives a two dichotomies here. 33:34 You have those who are lost, were born 33:37 because of Adam and Eve sin, 33:39 that's been passing death down to us 33:40 and sin down to us for a long time. 33:42 Every human being is being born 33:44 with a fallen state, a sinful state. 33:48 And as we grow into our age of capability 33:52 and other things we find that, 33:54 the sins that we are committing doom us to, 33:56 to not only death but to eternal death. Right. 34:00 And so this scriptures clearly gives us the dichotomy here, 34:03 that there's a death waiting at the door, 34:05 there's an eternal death waiting at the door 34:06 but God loved us too much to leave us there. That's right. 34:11 And so we all need salvation. 34:13 And here we had God enters into the picture. 34:15 And this is something I said often, 34:17 John, that Christianity provides the only avenue 34:22 for being saved from certain death, 34:25 because it says that God, 34:27 the creator of the world stepped in 34:29 and provided the way. 34:31 Other religions, that you'll find in this world teach this, 34:33 somehow we can arise above our condition 34:37 in doing enough to be able to receive from God, 34:41 a satisfactory stamp that says, 34:43 we have done enough to get to the next level, 34:45 to get to heaven. 34:46 Whether that be reincarnation 34:48 which some teach, whether that be paradise 34:51 where you have virgin women waiting for you, 34:54 whether that be all these other different aspects 34:56 of what is the perfect, you know, heaven to them. 34:59 But God says, that Jesus took our place, 35:03 took that penalty on our behalf. 35:05 And now gives it to us freely, 35:08 which is where we started our last text, Ephesians 2:8-9. 35:11 So this is the place we got to start, 35:13 because God gives us eternal life 35:15 where before were all we had, all we deserved, 35:18 all we were getting was eternal death. 35:21 Salvation at the core, what is it. 35:25 And I want to look at two sides. 35:28 I am going to start in Genesis 1, 35:31 because it is important to see, 35:32 if the Lord wants to restore us to before sin. 35:36 It's important for us to see, what we were before sin. 35:40 We always say salvation. What is salvation? 35:43 It's restoration to what we were before sin, 35:46 because if sin never entered the world, 35:48 that's the nature we would have. 35:50 That's the nature we would possess. 35:52 Another need for salvation too is redemption. Right. 35:54 And redemption is a redeeming back, 35:56 it's pulling it back to where it was, 35:58 putting in back on to that level where it was before. 36:01 I know my New York accent may get in the way here 36:03 but, a pawn, p-a-w-n shop. 36:07 I may want you to sermonize it. I know. 36:09 How many of you ever been to a pawn shop 36:11 and no one raised their hand and I wondered why. 36:13 And they said, my accent, it sounded different, 36:16 I said, you know on the military bases 36:18 where you go, buy things, 'oh-okay!' 36:20 I know, what you're talking about, 36:22 yeah, in fact, Rochelle and I still laugh at them, 36:23 because we looked around, we knew what you were to saying, 36:26 and everybody was like... 36:27 but what you didn't see, 36:29 John was a couple of people are like-- 36:33 and, of course, when you explained it, 36:34 they said, oh. Exactly. 36:37 But anyway one of those funny things 36:38 that happen at times. 36:39 And I thought redemption value, 36:41 because when you go and you, 36:42 you pawn your guitar, or your walkie-talkie 36:44 or whatever instrument you have, 36:46 and people want extra money. 36:49 You get this little ticket, 36:51 that you're able to bring it back to the shop 36:54 and you're able to redeem the item. 36:57 Well, you know friends, 36:59 Jesus when He-- his son was that ticket. 37:05 Over simplification of who Jesus is, 37:07 but He is the redeeming ticket. 37:09 Satan sold us off at next to nothing, 37:12 left us in somebody' possession, the possession of sin 37:16 and God sent His son with redeeming value 37:19 and paid for us, more than we were worth. 37:22 That's right. I mean that to me is great. 37:24 Praise the Lord and you're talking about Genesis 1 here. 37:27 We got to look how He created us. 37:29 And I'm going to read from Genesis 1:26. 37:31 That's from verse 26 and 27, that's-- 37:33 "God said, Let us make man in our image." 37:36 So God when He created us, human beings, 37:39 He made us like Him in character. 37:42 He didn't make us Gods, 37:43 as some religions teach, I want to emphasize that. 37:45 He didn't make us Gods, He made us human, 37:47 we were immortal, 37:48 we were eternal in the life He gave us, 37:50 but He made us man as human beings, 37:53 in the image of God. Let's correct some over here. 37:55 He didn't make us immortal, 37:57 but we had as long as we ate of the tree of life, 38:00 that life was sustained. 38:02 We didn't have the immortality yet. 38:03 No, yeah, and clearly, yes, that's true. 38:06 And--but He gave us that immortality through that tree, 38:10 but He wouldn't take away from us that we had clearly. 38:13 And it says that, "According to our likeness, 38:17 let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 38:20 over the birds of the air, over the cattle, 38:22 over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 38:24 that creeps on the earth. 38:25 So God created man in his own image, 38:28 in the image of God he created him, 38:30 male and female he created them." 38:36 And of course, verse 31 says 38:37 "Everything that God saw he says, was very good. 38:41 He declared it very good. 38:43 So, John, we were created, 38:45 perfect, sinless, untainted by sin. 38:50 And it didn't mean that sin yet hadn't reared his head, 38:52 because it had. 38:53 Sin was out there but we were created sinless. 38:58 It was like that mosquito outside on the porch, 39:00 you know, I'll hear in Thompsonville, 39:02 the one thing we have is critters. 39:06 And at night, in summer time, 39:07 especially if you have a yellow light 39:08 on the back porch, you can see millions of, 39:12 you name it, mosquitoes, flies, moths, 39:16 and they are outside as long as you keep 39:18 the door shut, everything is fine. 39:21 And that was the case. 39:22 This picture that John just read about here, 39:24 was the door to sin was shut. 39:26 So we have the image of God. 39:28 Why do we need salvation? 39:31 Because we lost the image of God. 39:34 We yielded to sin, we opened that door to sin. 39:36 Yielding to sin, and that is the story of Genesis 3. 39:40 That whole controversy, and the fall of the man, 39:45 and losing the beauty that God gave us, 39:48 losing our stand with God. 39:50 Yielding to the temptation, Adam hid himself, 39:55 and when Lord came looking for Adam, 39:57 in that fallen state, 39:59 he could not at that moment 40:02 restore Adam to his rightful place, 40:05 because this whole thing of sin had to run its course, 40:09 and here we are, for thousands of years man are 40:13 and women and children, boys and girls were all victims 40:16 of the nature that was passed on. Yeah. 40:20 1 Corinthians 15-22, "For as in Adam all die, 40:23 even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 40:27 So we are born, John and I were born on that, 40:30 as an Adam we all die. 40:33 And so if you are watching this program, 40:34 listening to this program, keep this in mind, 40:37 it doesn't matter your financial status, 40:39 your educational, your place, your neighborhood 40:42 where you live, how many people know you, 40:43 how famous you are, or how insignificant 40:45 you may find yourself to be, 40:47 everyone of us, if we are not in the nature of Christ, 40:50 if we are not born again, we need to be born 40:54 because we are in that Adam nature, 40:55 and as an Adam all die. That's right. 40:58 You see, that perish aside, 41:00 that's exactly where we are right now. 41:04 And the reason why we are there is 41:05 because of the command of God, 41:07 He gave them, not to eat of a tree 41:10 of the knowledge of good and evil. 41:11 And of course, we know, for those of you 41:12 who know the rest of the story, 41:14 Eve wondered from Adam's side, 41:16 she was tempted by Satan, she ate of that fruit, 41:19 gave it to Adam and he ate them of that fruit 41:21 and we have this death, 41:23 you know, nature passed on to us, 41:24 and the sinful nature passed on to us. Now-- 41:28 But talk about this, John, I know you're going to do it, 41:30 but just talk about that, because the Lord says, 41:33 the day you eat of this tree, you shall surely die, 41:35 Adam didn't die that die, but what did die? 41:38 Spiritually he died. Okay. 41:40 His sins separated him from God, 41:42 and we find in the rest of the scripture, 41:43 telling us that sin does exactly that. 41:46 It separates us from God. 41:48 So it fractured everything that we had in God, 41:53 the image that was given to man, 41:55 the God's image that was put in man, 41:57 when He created him, it fractured that, 41:59 so we were separated from him. 42:00 So it talks about that too. 42:03 So when you are created, when you're born, 42:07 you're born as an old man state, the carnal nature, 42:12 and you do not have within you, 42:14 because you are in a fallen nature, 42:15 you don't have within you, God's image. 42:18 Right, you don't have this inherent desire 42:21 just to be perfect, okay. 42:23 So you have in fact one text is good for that 42:25 is Romans 3:23, we read the last time. 42:28 Yes, yes. Here it is. 42:30 You're at there. Okay. 42:32 Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, 42:37 and fall short of the glory of God." 42:40 And it is a good text because 42:42 the sin is missing the mark there. Right. 42:44 We're born missing it, we can't hit it ourselves. 42:48 We'll fall short of God's glory, 42:50 what He had given us from the beginning. 42:52 He designed that we would have our glory. 42:56 But now we don't have it and we need salvation. 42:59 And the other thing about it is, 43:00 one of the reasons why we must be born again is 43:02 because we cannot-we cannot even be cloned into being good. 43:06 You know, there is this cloning thing going on nowadays 43:08 that people want to have it, maintain a thorough bred 43:10 and so they get the dog, they clone the dog, 43:13 or they clone the cow, or they clone the goat 43:15 or they are into this cloning aspect. 43:17 Salvation is not cloning. 43:19 Salvation is being born again, 43:21 because we are born unable, we all sin, we all fall short. 43:26 So you cannot create anybody from the womb, 43:29 nobody can come into the world, 43:30 that would be-- that will make the mark. 43:33 Because that nature 43:34 that Adam passed on to every one of us, 43:36 we possess at the time of birth. 43:40 How is this different from the phrase, original sin? 43:44 You know, that phrase original sin. 43:47 It's just amazing. 43:48 But let me not go down that path right now. 43:51 And may be you could submit that question, 43:52 I just kind of doing out there. 43:53 Yeah, I'm going to read, Romans 6:23, 43:56 because we needed to transition 43:58 to kind of what the result is of this. Yes. 44:00 "The wages of sin which Adam and Eve committed 44:03 and pass on to us is death" 44:07 but the gift of God, notice what is it, it's a gift, 44:11 "the gift of God is eternal life in whom, 44:15 Christ, Jesus our Lord." Okay, so clearly it's a gift. 44:19 And we read that from last, in our last program 44:20 Ephesians 2:8-9 that God's gift comes by grace, 44:26 through faith in Jesus Christ. 44:29 And so for those of you who may have heard, 44:32 let's deal with this right upfront. 44:34 They may have heard, well those Seventh day Adventist 44:35 and they keep the law 44:37 and you know, they are little bit of, 44:39 they focus on the legal aspects of salvation, 44:42 all the things you need to do. 44:44 Let's dispel that. Right. Right here. 44:47 The Seventh-day Adventist Christian 44:49 from what we find in God's word 44:51 that eternal life, the gift that we receive is free. 44:56 That's right. 44:57 I-the sermon I preached this last Sabbath was, 45:04 going for gold. 45:06 Of course, playing on the Olympics, going for gold. 45:08 And the second part of that title was 45:13 the 'Divine law of reciprocity' 45:16 which is they are coming back 45:18 you know, as someone gives, 45:20 the natural inclination of someone 45:21 is to want to give back, 45:23 God operates within that law and He instill that within us. 45:26 When God gives us salvation it's a free gift, 45:31 but there is reciprocity attached to it, 45:33 because He wants us to respond 45:37 and He built within us the natural inclination 45:39 to want to respond to God. The vacuum. 45:43 Yeah, they are saying, 45:44 you gave me such an incredible gift, 45:47 I want to respond to you by giving you my best. 45:50 And in my relationship with Rochelle, yours in Angie. 45:54 If our relationship was one sided, 45:56 if it was a bunch of take, take, take, 45:59 how long would that relationship really last? 46:01 Wow, it wouldn't last very long. 46:04 But you know when Rochelle does something for me 46:06 that's really nice, I say within myself, 46:10 well, I want to do something back for her. 46:12 I want to give something back to her, 46:13 it's just built within me. 46:15 And that's why I called the divine law of reciprocity. 46:17 Naturally God gave us 46:19 the inclination to want to do something good 46:20 back to somebody else. 46:21 But here's what we teach in Christianity today at large. 46:26 We often say that God gave us the free gift, 46:28 with no inclination to respond, 46:31 and you don't have to respond, 46:33 you don't have to respond on that inclination 46:34 that He gave you to give back. 46:36 You just walk in the gift and you're fine. 46:39 But I believe, rather than tying 46:42 a legalistic approach to this, 46:43 that we have to keep the commandments of God, 46:45 what I'm saying here is that God gives us the free gift, 46:48 and builds within us the desire to give back to Him, 46:50 which is in what form, following His ways, 46:53 keeping His love, walking in His spirit. 46:55 Those things that are part of the whole relationship 46:59 that God has given to us. 47:01 So when you meet the Lord, 47:04 when you meet Jesus and you say, 47:06 "I understand the gift You have given me Lord, 47:08 You've died for me, 47:09 You've paid the penalty for my penalty, 47:11 the penalty of death, 47:13 I want to respond to you and when I respond to you, 47:15 I am giving you my all." That's not legalism, John. 47:19 That is God willing us to have relationship with Him. 47:23 And when we aren't giving back, 47:25 when we are not following His ways, 47:27 what we are saying is that's a fracture relationship, 47:29 it's not whole. Right. 47:31 The whole part is not there. 47:32 We need to respond in the way that it gives us back 47:34 and that's not legalism. 47:36 Keeping the commandments of God 47:37 is our best response 47:39 for what He has given freely to us. 47:42 When you say freely, I like that 47:44 because I was reading as you were- 47:47 actually was glancing at it 47:48 as you were making that comment that-- 47:50 let's reiterate this, Ephesians 2:8-9, " 47:53 For by grace are you saved through faith." 47:57 Now what John was saying is exactly what the Bible says. 48:00 We are saved by grace through faith. 48:02 But Paul asked the question in Romans 3:31, 48:05 "Do we make void the law through faith?" 48:09 And he says, "Certainly not or God forbid. 48:12 On the contrary, we establish the law." 48:15 You see that faith 48:17 through which we were saved is also the faith 48:19 through which we establish God's law in our lives. 48:23 So that faith is not a free will faith, 48:26 that term is so misused. 48:29 I've seen you know, church free will this 48:31 and free will that, almost like to say, 48:33 my will is up to me. 48:35 Nobody can tell me what to do with my will. 48:36 And they use the word free will 48:38 as a license to ignore God's law. 48:41 But listen to the salvation again, 48:43 Romans 5:17, 48:46 "For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one," 48:50 Romans 5:17, 48:52 "Much more those who receive abundance of grace 48:57 and of the gift of righteousness 49:00 will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." 49:04 Now verse 18, "Therefore, as through one man's offense," 49:10 that is Adam, "Judgment came to all men, 49:13 resulting in condemnation," that's the downside, 49:18 "Even so through one Man's righteous act, " that's Christ, 49:22 "The free gift came to all men, 49:25 resulting in justification of life." 49:29 So one man brought death, one man brought offence 49:32 but the other one brought life, 49:33 the other one brought justification. 49:35 See, so we were born in that death, in that offence 49:38 but salvation takes you now to the life 49:42 and to the justification in that life, 49:44 that's why salvation is so necessary. Yeah. 49:46 It takes you off death row. 49:49 I like the way you're talking about that 49:50 because the response there 49:51 that we give in giving back to God is the relationship, 49:54 the ongoing relationship we have with Him in salvation. 49:58 And that means He wants to appropriate to us 50:02 His perfect life. 50:04 Oh, wonderful. Okay. 50:05 So in this aspect there is no other savior. 50:09 You cannot find another savior 50:10 because there is not perfect being 50:12 that has ever walked this earth in our shoes 50:15 that can give us a perfect life freely 50:18 which we can't do ourselves. 50:20 So well, many religions would teach you do-- 50:22 you know, achieve profession by doing the best you can. 50:26 You know, make sure you find it within yourself 50:28 to rise above that sin 50:30 and get in that level that God will accept you. 50:34 Jesus says, "I've done it." 50:36 I didn't know-- I don't committed no sin, 50:39 your sin was put on me, 50:41 I bought but now I give you in exchange 50:43 for that my perfect life. 50:45 And so when we talk about Jesus as our savior, 50:47 there is none other who can give me a perfect life 50:51 and declare me righteous in Him 50:53 because I believe in Him. 50:54 And so, John, there is a transaction here. 50:57 Salvation is about not just-- 51:01 not just receiving salvation, eternal life 51:04 but it's walking in the newness of life 51:06 that God gives us through Jesus every day, 51:09 so that we are seen as perfect in Him. 51:13 You put on this robe of righteousness 51:15 that it now allows the glory of God to be seen in our lives. 51:19 And it cannot be one way, it has to be a transaction. 51:23 Matter of fact here is that transaction summarized, 51:26 Romans 5:19, 51:28 "For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, 51:32 so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous." 51:37 That's transaction. 51:39 You took from Adam something that messed your life up. 51:41 Now take from Christ 51:42 something that will put your life together, you see. 51:45 And here's what we see sometimes, 51:46 now you receive Christ obedience 51:48 so now go out and do what you want to do. Oh. 51:52 As if somehow obedience is not required of the Christian. 51:55 I mean, are we actually saying that God's Ten Commandments 51:57 are ten suggestions 51:59 or the way you should live. No, no. 52:02 That's impossible but that's an entirely different subject, 52:04 and we can talk about that for a long time. 52:07 But I do want to say this, 52:08 let's open up a small can of worms here. Okay. 52:11 What we find is that a lot of people say, 52:14 well, Christ lived out that perfect life for us. 52:18 But he did that through His Godness, 52:21 His divine power that He gives to us. 52:27 But I find that if He somehow did not conquer 52:33 from our standpoint, our advantage point 52:35 that He doesn't become a complete savior for mankind. 52:39 So what we find here is a little bit of distortion, 52:42 there's a little disagreement within Christianity 52:44 is to what nature that Jesus come in. 52:47 You know, did He come in, 52:50 in a perfect nature of His Godness 52:52 relying on His divinity 52:54 and He wasn't susceptible to sin when Satan tempted Him. 52:59 You know, there wasn't even a chance of failure 53:02 or did He come to be like one of us, 53:06 conquer in from our position and then He says to us, here, 53:11 now I have given you the ability to do that. 53:14 Now work with Me, have a relationship with Me 53:16 to the point where you now can conquer in my strength 53:20 and I can lift you by bridging that gulf 53:25 between divinity and humanity. 53:26 I can now allow you to be a partaker of my divinity 53:29 which is the power of my resurrection 53:31 to bring you up to that level of salvation 53:34 where now you are new in Christ. 53:37 See, if Jesus-- 53:39 I believe if Jesus didn't come to be like one of us, 53:43 He cannot be a complete savior. Right. 53:47 Because He have to live to-- 53:48 He came, He had to come 53:50 in the nature of Adam after the fall. That's right. 53:53 Because there's not way that 53:54 Hebrews 4:15 could have been true, 53:57 "For we do not have a high priest 53:58 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses," 54:01 He does sympathize with our weakness 54:02 and here is the reason why, 54:04 "But was in all points tempted 54:07 as we are, now yet without sin." 54:10 The emphasis there is not on the temptation. 54:13 The emphasis is on the nature in which He was tempted. 54:16 You get my point, John. 54:17 The emphasis is not, oh, was He tempted by drugs, 54:20 was He tempted by alcohol, 54:21 was He tempted by stealing a car, 54:23 was He tempted by internet theft? 54:26 No that's' not the emphasis there, 54:27 the emphasis there is tempted in the very nature 54:30 that we are tempted in. That's right. 54:32 Because people say, "Well, how could that be true that 54:34 there were not temptations then that they are now?" 54:37 That's not the focal point, the focal point, 54:39 He was tempted in all points as we are. 54:42 Every point that He was tempted in, 54:43 he had the same nature that we have. 54:45 That's' the focal point of the text. 54:47 So don't look at the itemization of sin, 54:50 look at the nature in which the sin comes to us. 54:53 So if a person is tempted by hunger 54:56 as he was in the wilderness or tempted for the kingdoms 54:58 and fame of the world as many people are, 55:01 it's the same nature He faced those temptations with, 55:04 that's what the Bible is talking about. 55:07 Hebrews 2:14, "In as much then as the children of God, 55:10 or children have partaken of flesh and blood, 55:13 He Himself likewise shared in the same." 55:17 Verse 17, "Therefore, in all things 55:20 He had to be made like His brethren, 55:23 that He might be a merciful 55:25 and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, 55:27 to make propitiation for the sins of the people 55:30 for in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, 55:32 He is able to aid those who are tempted." 55:35 He overcame from where we are, 55:39 He came down to be a man 55:40 so that we can overcome though now 55:43 His strength and His power. That's right. 55:45 There's linking of God reaching down to humanity 55:48 and now humanity by faith reaching up to God 55:51 and there is the salvation. 55:52 If we didn't have that then He would-- 55:56 this whole thing about salvation 55:57 would be ethereal or be unreachable, 56:00 will be in fact a facade. 56:02 Think about what Satan would-- 56:04 how Satan will have a problem if God, 56:06 if Jesus came as God. 56:08 If Jesus really couldn't be tempted, 56:11 if He really couldn't have failed, 56:13 why would Satan have even tempted Him? Right. 56:16 Satan would have claimed foul. 56:17 You can't give them Your life because I can't tempt You. 56:20 You are not susceptible to me and You can't overcome. 56:23 There's no overcoming, You're God. 56:25 He didn't say that because Satan knew 56:27 that He would come like us 56:29 and if he can get Christ to fail, 56:31 then the whole world would be lost to His dominion. 56:34 So, powerful thing, 56:35 I just want to share that, throw that out there 56:36 because there are some that believe, 56:38 well, you know, God can do anything 56:40 because He was God. 56:41 No, He did it in-- from where we were 56:45 depending upon His father for the strength 56:47 and now we can depend upon His father as well 56:49 through the power of the Holy Spirit. 56:50 Right, we follow, friends, in essence, 56:53 we follow the pattern of Jesus 56:55 but not just the pattern of Jesus, 56:58 we are now walking in His life 57:00 or walking in the newness of life. 57:02 And, John, that newness of life is the life that Jesus said, 57:06 He had completely regained 57:09 and captured after the resurrection. 57:12 Now has come salvation and strength. 57:15 And so friends, as we will continue in our next program 57:17 the topic of salvation, know this that, 57:20 that great love that Christ has 57:21 for every one of us is available today 57:24 and that salvation is available today. 57:27 Accept the Lord in your life 57:28 and walk in His saving grace as Christ is your righteousness. 57:32 Have a great day in Christ. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17