Participants: Pr. John Stanton (Host), Pr. C A Murray
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL080029
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's 00:04 word together on this edition of House Calls. 00:22 It's great to have you here with us 00:23 again on another edition of House Calls 00:26 my name is Pastor John Stanton and 00:28 I am C.A. Murray and it's great again 00:30 to be able to open up the word 00:32 of the God to study its pages and to be 00:34 encouraged by that drawing closer 00:36 to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 00:38 which we need to do in this difficult 00:40 times. And Pastor Murray it's great to 00:42 have you here in the studio with 00:43 us yet again. I'm happy to be here, 00:46 I apologize for cutting you off, 00:48 but I like bumping you over to the 00:49 host chair and sitting in a fill in seat, 00:51 I don't get a chance to study the word 00:53 of God with you enough and I always 00:54 enjoy it when it's necessary, 00:56 praise the Lord and thank you 00:57 and me too it's always a blessing 00:58 to have you here. And we just got 01:01 off the heels of a program that 01:02 I think was desperately needed 01:04 where we needed to be encouraged, 01:05 oh! Yes, during very difficult financial 01:07 times and economic times, 01:09 a couple with all the disasters 01:12 and the things we see going on 01:13 around us here as well, but it's a time 01:15 that we need to really have some 01:17 encouragement and I believe that 01:18 program was an encouragement 01:19 to hopefully many of our viewers as 01:21 it was to me as well. Yeah, yeah, 01:23 as we were talking just a little bit, 01:24 certainly well you're a pastor you can 01:26 see the effects of the economic downturn. 01:29 We're in a bit of slide now but 01:32 these are the times as we mentioned 01:34 before test our metal and test 01:36 our resolve in Jesus Christ. 01:39 If you are a person who puts a lot 01:43 of faith in your stocks, your bonds, 01:45 securities then your faith has been 01:47 thoroughly shaken, but if your 01:49 faith is in Jesus Christ has not moved, 01:52 Christ has not changed, he is the 01:54 same yesterday, today and forever. 01:55 So, your faith is as solid as it ever 01:58 was and it really is a question of where 02:00 is your hope, where is your trust, 02:01 where are you putting your resources 02:05 dare I say, in earth or in heaven and 02:07 I say if you're banking in heaven then 02:09 you're fine because everything is 02:11 secure and there is no run on the bank. Amen. 02:13 You know and the peace that we talked 02:15 about having you know with Jesus 02:17 is as we're yoked with him, 02:18 as we're together with him. Yes, 02:20 and so what I thought we could do on 02:22 this program is take a look at seven steps 02:26 that we can take to draw closer to Jesus 02:28 to have a closer relationship with Jesus. 02:31 Yeah, and so that's what we would 02:32 like to talk a bit on our program here today 02:33 but before we do that we always go 02:35 into our question and answer period, 02:37 although before that we always go 02:39 to the Lord in prayer. So, Pastor Murray 02:42 would you lead us there first. 02:43 Be happy to do so. Gracious Father, 02:45 again we thank you for this opportunity 02:47 to talk about our best friend Christ Jesus. 02:50 We thank you for the promise that 02:52 when the name of Jesus is lifted up, 02:55 when Christ is lifted he will draw all men, 02:58 all women, all boys, all girls unto himself 03:00 that he is the great healer, 03:03 the great sustainer, the great provider 03:06 and so we rest in you, we trust you Lord 03:09 and we ask you now to bless our setting 03:11 here as we open the word of God and 03:13 see what your will is for our lives. 03:16 We thank you dear Father in 03:17 Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 03:21 Well, it's time for our, your questions 03:23 hopefully our descent answers, 03:25 we try to do the best of course 03:27 you can't go wrong when you say 03:29 the word of God and look there 03:30 for answers, but we want to encourage 03:32 you to continue to sending your 03:33 programs to House Calls and the 03:35 email address is @3abn.org 03:39 so that housecalls@3abn.org 03:43 feel free to send in your questions there, 03:44 very important and they've been 03:46 very good. So, we appreciate you 03:47 doing that. If you like to send them 03:49 in by regular mail, you can feel free 03:51 to do that as well. But we have 03:53 some good questions here today and 03:55 Pastor Murray, maybe you got one 03:56 and you get started off with. Well, 03:58 we've got a question from Mark and 04:02 Mark is writing from Minnesota, 04:07 White Bear, White Bear Lake, Minnesota. 04:09 It's kind of a long question, so I'm gonna 04:11 try to digest it just a little bit pastor John. 04:14 He evidently or at some time ago in his life, 04:19 he had shot a crow and he shot it 04:23 an air riffle didn't kill it. It was 04:26 wounded, he had wounded it and 04:28 of course he had to then end its life 04:30 because he had wounded it. 04:33 He's very, very said and I think I'm 04:35 listening to this that this has left a sort 04:37 of everlasting impression. Now, he is 04:39 an adult, he has two feral cats either, 04:41 you know cats are kind of just hanging 04:43 around a little bit. He says through the 04:45 indifference and ignorance of mankind 04:47 they have to be destroyed, I guess 04:48 they got to be put down or euthanized 04:50 as we say. And he is really, really sad 04:54 about that, yet he says the spirit 04:58 assured me I am not a killer, 04:59 I don't like animals to suffer, 05:00 trapping animals seems wrong. 05:05 God loves all his creatures, 05:07 I guess he just wants some help and 05:09 comfort because he doesn't like to see 05:10 anybody suffer yeah including animals. 05:13 And I understand that I was not 05:16 a big animal person, but through 05:19 the insistence of my wife we now 05:20 have three cats. Three black cats, 05:25 gorgeous long, silky black and 05:27 one of them just died just a 05:28 couple of weeks ago, of course they're 05:30 Spanish, so we, one of the cats has 05:33 an African name that I gave it, 05:34 one has a Spanish name and one has 05:36 a American name because of our 05:37 grandson named, so we have Ohora, 05:38 the African name, we have Coco 05:41 which is a Spanish cat and. 05:43 No, I'm sorry Pepe is the Spanish cat 05:45 and we have Coco which is the 05:46 English cat. And we found Ohora 05:49 dead and these animals have a way 05:51 of working their way kind of into your 05:52 soul a little bit more, it was not my 05:54 intention to get so chummy with these 05:56 cats, but I feed them they sit on my 05:58 lap and the whole deal. And so, I know 06:01 what it's like when you lose, 06:03 sometime ago Shelley Quinn who 06:05 works here at 3ABN you know her well, 06:07 lost one of her dogs and it really, 06:09 really upset her having that dog 06:11 maybe 16 years, it really upset her, 06:13 and another couple Stevens might 06:15 have lost their dog a number of years 06:17 and their dog had to be euthanized, 06:19 he had arthritis, he was in great 06:21 pain and it was unfair and cruel to 06:23 the dog, to have a dog just, 06:25 he couldn't walk, he couldn't function 06:27 and they had to just you know 06:29 end its life. So I can understand, 06:32 I can understand that, having said so, 06:34 Christ did not die to save animals, 06:36 he died to save human beings. 06:37 I think when we, when we fall in love 06:39 with Jesus a certain kindness come 06:41 into our lives pastor for all creatures 06:44 you know. So you don't want to 06:46 unnecessarily hurt creatures I'm not a 06:48 hunter you know. I just don't, 06:52 that's just not me but by the same token 06:55 there are some science that's done on 06:58 laboratory animals that could not be, 06:59 we could not be helped as human 07:01 unless these kinds of experiments were done. 07:04 So it's tough place to kind of be, 07:06 this fellow says I'm a vegetarian, 07:09 well praise the Lord he don't eat meat so, 07:11 meat so he doesn't he's not responsible for that, 07:14 but Christ died to save, died to save 07:16 you and me and luckily, I say luckily, 07:20 thank God one day there is coming 07:21 when the lion will lay down with the lamb, 07:25 there will be no more hunting of animals, 07:28 there will be no more destruction, 07:29 there will be no more death at all. 07:30 And I think perhaps it would be comforting 07:32 for us to focus on that day. 07:34 Because as long as we are in this 07:37 temple we are on this earth there is 07:39 gonna be death, there is gonna be killing, 07:40 there is gonna be cruelty to animals and 07:42 man to man, humans to humans, 07:44 which is a bad thing. God does indeed love 07:47 all of his creatures but he sent his son 07:49 to die for us and for that we can be 07:52 grateful and thankful. Yeah, and the 07:55 issue really here with this man is that, 07:58 you know you not killing a soul that 07:59 Jesus died for when the animals put down, 08:02 precisely and in many respects your, 08:05 it's an act of mercy for these animals 08:08 that are really suffering and having a 08:09 difficult time and so well he may not 08:12 feel like he can do that, he can bring 08:14 himself to do that there are some who, 08:16 who understand this and maybe 08:19 have a little more resistance to, 08:20 resilience when it comes to putting 08:22 an animal down and they can, 08:23 they may not like you and enjoy it, 08:24 but they understand the merciful 08:25 aspect of that, better than maybe 08:27 he would. So, there are those who 08:28 can help to do that as we know 08:30 many of us who have just you know 08:32 we had to put a young dog, not a young 08:36 dog but an older dog down when 08:37 I was young. And he was, he was 08:40 with us for 17, 18 years, and you know 08:43 your animal grows on you that way. 08:44 Oh! Sure, and anyway so we took 08:47 the animal, the dog to the vet and 08:50 he just give him a shot and he 08:51 just fell a sleep. There was no pain, 08:53 no suffering going on, it's probably 08:55 the most humane way to do that 08:56 and probably in this case that's 08:57 similar to what we'll hear. Yeah, 09:00 you can take heart and that it's 09:01 not cruel, I have a question here from 09:05 Debbie and it says here she was 09:09 reading Pastor Lomacang's article 09:11 in 3ABN, and world called to Hell 09:13 and back and in that article it says 09:17 that there is quote about from 09:20 Revelation 29 and 10 that: 09:22 The fire devoured them, and they will 09:24 be tormented or will be tormented 09:26 day and night forever and ever. 09:27 And she says she always had a problem 09:29 with that try to connect that with 09:31 other scriptures that says that you 09:34 know your soul doesn't live forever 09:36 and how could you go on existing 09:38 forever if in fact this you know 09:41 it's not true. And so anyway, 09:45 so she's saying here, help me 09:47 understand this, help me to reconcile this, 09:48 how do we get to a point where we 09:51 can on one hand the scriptures which says 09:53 that the fire will burn them up, 09:56 neither lead them, neither root or branch, 09:58 and at the same time it says that 10:00 they'll be tormented day and night 10:01 forever and ever. And so let's, let's 10:04 take a look at that text here just 10:06 briefly Revelation 20 verse 9 10:08 and 10 and then lets talk about it. 10:10 I won't spend a lot of time on that 10:14 because there are many, many texts 10:17 involved we can do a whole study, 10:19 a whole program and you've done shows 10:20 on this before with Pastor John, 10:21 so you've touched on this in the past. 10:25 But Revelation 20 verse 9 and 10 says: 10:27 They went up on the breadth of the 10:28 earth and surrounded the camp of the 10:29 saints and the beloved city. 10:31 And this is the, the wicked who are 10:33 about to attach the city now and it says: 10:36 Fire came down from God out of heaven 10:39 and devoured them. And it says: 10:41 The devil, who deceived them, 10:42 was cast into the lake of fire and 10:44 brimstone where the beast and 10:45 the false prophet are. And they will be 10:47 tormented day and night forever and ever. 10:51 One of the things about the language, 10:54 Greek language where they're Aramaic 10:57 as well as when you go back, even Hebrew, 11:01 the language has a lot of personality 11:05 to it. Yes, okay and it's much more 11:07 than the words we use in English, 11:09 a word descriptive of something and it just 11:11 really breathe life into it, you know 11:13 Spanish and obviously when you're 11:15 talking about things in Spanish and 11:17 using words in Spanish, it's female, 11:19 it's male. It's got some identity more then, 11:22 yes, just being a word and it goes 11:25 a long way back when that these 11:28 languages really had a strong 11:30 personality and in this context 11:33 you're talking about a people 11:34 who are going to be thrown into the fire, 11:36 this lake of fire. Who are mortal, 11:40 they're not immortal because First 11:42 Corinthians 15 tells us at the end of that: 11:44 Those that receive immortality, 11:46 right are those who are in Christ whom 11:49 he has comeback to raise them from the 11:50 dead also those who are alive and 11:52 remain here waiting for him First 11:53 Thessalonians 4: That they all receive 11:55 immortality, yes, but the wicked do not, 11:59 the wicked are on the earth, they have, 12:03 they have died because the brightness 12:06 of Christ coming. They've been 12:07 therefore a thousand years, 12:08 they've been resurrected, they're 12:09 still mortal beings but they've been 12:11 resurrected for that last judgment hour. 12:13 Yes, and so we picked that up here 12:15 and so when the terminology is used 12:17 that they will be burned by this 12:19 fire day and night, forever and ever. 12:23 Those words are pertaining to their 12:25 mortal state, so the forever and 12:28 ever as long as they live. So, when we 12:34 look at this judgment obviously we know 12:35 scripture tells us that some sins are 12:38 more heinous than others. God will not 12:41 punish and burn I believe for a longest 12:45 in the period of time, someone who 12:47 really hasn't done a lot of harm to others 12:49 on this earth whether they may have steal, 12:51 they may have lied, they may have done 12:52 some things, they don't want Christ, 12:54 they don't wanna live forever in Heaven 12:55 with him, but their life really isn't 12:58 a life of a murderer or someone who 13:00 has really done harm to many of those 13:03 who during the time they've lived and so 13:05 God will not just keep them alive to cause 13:07 them to burn and suffer for a long 13:08 period of time. But there maybe some 13:10 that we could think of in history of time, 13:12 yes deserve a form punishment 13:14 that is painful, that is vengeance 13:18 that God takes out upon them for the 13:20 acts and the works that they have done. 13:22 And in that case I think we're finding 13:24 here in this text telling us that 13:26 there are some who will burn in 13:28 that fire for a period of time until 13:30 God sees fit to let the immortality 13:32 how that fire consume them and 13:35 burned them up which, you go to 13:37 Malachi which chapter is that? 13:39 Malachi 3 where it talks about 13:41 that it will burn, the fire will bring 13:42 them up, leave them neither root 13:43 nor branch. Right, they be gone, 13:45 it actually is the same, correct. 13:46 And so to reconcile these two which 13:48 you have just to know is that he's 13:50 speaking of mortal beings yes. 13:52 Mortal beings who do not have 13:53 immortality they can't be alive forever, 13:56 if you don't define it that way 13:58 here's the other confusing part too, 13:59 if you don't define it that way pastor. 14:01 You're actually saying that God 14:04 is a tormentor or torturer, 14:08 that he is one who is like unto those 14:12 who we see today. Who might capture 14:15 somebody in a warfare, in some 14:17 kind of a war or something and keep 14:18 them alive to torture them to get 14:19 stuff out of them and we view 14:22 that very, very immorally yes. 14:27 We would be calling God a murderer, 14:28 a torturer and God is not that, 14:30 so it's not pertaining. We're not 14:32 speaking of God in that context, 14:34 we're talking about a God who is 14:35 allowing vengeance to occur. 14:37 People are receiving their just rewards, 14:39 yes and then they will die, right. 14:41 And perish forever and not to be 14:43 around anymore, very true and two 14:44 things you don't wanna do John as 14:45 you well know you don't wanna 14:46 develop doctrinal premises from the 14:48 book of Revelation alone, it is a book that 14:50 uses types and symbols and pictures 14:54 and imagery. So, if you see something 14:56 that is somewhat puzzling in Revelation, 14:59 you need to check out that same 15:01 doctrine in several other places 15:03 to try to get a true picture, right, 15:06 of what Revelation is saying because 15:08 in Revelation, particularly in this 15:09 instance states a fact that they will 15:12 devoured and then it sort of oh what's 15:15 the word I can use, it sort of elaborates 15:17 on that using the imagery again in the 15:21 next verse but your doctrinal 15:23 premises say that, fire came down 15:25 from heaven and devoured them. 15:26 Now that statement is boisterous 15:28 in several other places in the word 15:30 of God where as the next statement is not. 15:31 So take the one that has the 15:33 substantial Biblical backing in other places 15:36 as opposed to the flaw we stated, 15:39 which is kind of an elaboration 15:40 on the fact that's stated in that 15:42 first place. I mentioned too even the 15:45 book of Jude here you go, Jude 7: 15:48 Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed 15:50 with eternal fire is the fire still 15:53 burning now? No, but the effects 15:54 of it were eternal, that's right and 15:57 that is backed up several other places 15:59 in the word of God so we're looking 16:00 at the weight of biblical evidence, 16:01 the weight of biblical evidence is on 16:03 destruction that God will leave them 16:05 neither root not branch as we alluded to, 16:07 that they will destroyed not burning 16:09 forever which really is a bad picture 16:11 of the loving God that we serve, 16:13 yeah it doesn't, it's not in harmony 16:16 with the loving aspect of God, 16:17 precisely, rest of scripture, yeah. 16:19 And also I think this text is talking 16:21 about tormenting them, it's really what 16:23 it's saying is they will suffer a 16:26 judgment of God. I mean this is the 16:28 executive judgment of God, 16:30 they will experience some kind of pain 16:31 and torture, but don't take that, 16:35 that it's gonna exist forever. 16:36 Because that's not in harmony with 16:38 the character of God, the effect will 16:40 be eternal, not the extent. 16:43 Once it's done, it will never 16:45 comeback again, that makes it eternally 16:46 gone but it won't take eternity 16:48 for it to go. Amen, yes, Amen. So, 16:51 what else do we have as far as a 16:53 question there for today. 16:54 We have a question coming from Jamaica, 16:58 Jamaica West Indies it concerns 17:01 chapter 14 the book of Romans 17:03 and the writer wants to know 17:06 I think his name is Frances, Frances 17:08 wants to know is this chapter saying 17:12 that the Sabbath is no longer 17:13 important and that any meat 17:16 can be eating, so eaten rather saying 17:19 that God has already stated that 17:20 some are for consumption while 17:22 others for cleaning up others. 17:24 So basically she wants to know is this 17:27 sort of pulling the pigs off from 17:28 under the Sabbath and opening it up, 17:30 opening it up for us to eat all the 17:33 meats or any kind of meat that we want to? 17:35 Interesting, yeah. Well, let's go to 17:37 Romans 14 then and see what 17:39 we find here, in fact as I get there, 17:42 I'm looking at the title and you 17:45 know Bibles sometimes had titles sections, 17:47 mine says principles of Christian liberty, 17:50 the next one after that, the rest of 17:52 actually Romans 15 gets into practices 17:55 of Christian liberty so we're gonna 17:57 see some principles here or maybe 17:58 we can just read through this okay 17:59 and kind of take a look at what this 18:01 is actually telling us and so we can 18:04 start with verse 1 I'll read a few 18:05 verses and then maybe you can 18:07 read a few, it says in verse 1: 18:09 Receive one who is weak in the faith, 18:11 but not to dispute over doubtful things. 18:14 So, immediately right there, right, 18:17 Paul is talking about disputing over things 18:19 that really are issues that are 18:23 not doctrinal issues, right. 18:24 They are just kind of these doubtful things, 18:26 things that are in doubt, you know 18:28 I would say that more simple way 18:29 of explain that is why, why should Christians 18:32 fight over the date that Jesus is 18:34 coming back? Yes, yeah, does it mater, 18:37 no, no just be prepared, I mean Jesus 18:39 is coming soon, precisely. 18:40 But we shouldn't fight over 18:41 and all the things that are gonna 18:42 surround it on that either you know 18:44 surrounded. Now, this is really important 18:45 John, doubtful things because it's 18:46 sets one of the contacts that this 18:48 whole thing falls into, because there 18:50 are a couple things that people assume 18:52 that are not under doubt, they are not 18:54 doubtful, never have been, 18:55 never will be, so it's sets a context right 18:57 you know lot off the bat, right 18:59 there yes. So, we're not talking about 19:01 things that are, that are not in dispute, 19:03 yes. Okay, we're talking about things 19:04 that they're fighting over here, 19:06 let's go a little further. Verse 2: 19:09 For one believes he may eat all things, 19:11 but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 19:14 Let not him who eats despise him 19:17 who does not eat, and let not him 19:19 who does not eat judge him who eats; 19:22 for God has received him. But I mean 19:26 clearly right there you begin to think 19:28 of or try to apply this, give it some 19:31 context of what they're talking about. 19:32 And eating and not eating to me 19:36 that smells fasting, yeah I mean I'm 19:39 hearing fasting, people are fighting about 19:41 how you should fast here? 19:43 Which some people still do today 19:45 by the way you know well you know drink, 19:47 I only drink water yeah. 19:48 Or some people well I eat fruit, 19:50 it's a fruit fast or I don't know 19:52 whatever they, they determine 19:53 but this is going on back then. 19:56 The reason we run into problems 19:58 with this Pastor John is because people 20:01 read this and make a lot of assumptions. 20:02 They're assuming and you'll see further 20:05 on with some assumptions are 20:06 made we're thinking he must be 20:08 talking about this. When the Bible 20:10 doesn't state that he's talking 20:12 about that, that's right and to make 20:13 those assumptions kind of gets 20:14 you into some theological hard water 20:15 because you can built some premises 20:17 on this text that are really on 20:19 shaky ground. That's right, 20:20 well why don't you read on here, okay, 20:22 we're at 4. I'm in verse 4: 20:24 Who are you to judge another's servant? 20:27 To his own master he stands or falls. 20:30 Indeed, he will be made to stand, 20:33 for God is able to make him stand. 20:35 One person esteems one day above 20:38 another; another esteems every 20:40 day alike. Let each be fully convinced 20:43 in his own mind. He who observes 20:46 the day, observes it to the Lord; 20:48 and he who does not observe the day, 20:50 to the Lord he does not observe it. 20:52 He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives 20:55 God thanks; and he who does not eat 20:58 to the Lord he does not eat, 21:01 and gives God thanks. Okay, yeah now 21:05 what is being said, you know it's clearly 21:10 fasting just doesn't involve eating, 21:13 it involved back then what day you 21:16 fasted on. Right, yeah, yeah and so 21:20 that's what we're getting into here and 21:21 notice one thing is completely absent. 21:24 Let's just state this first of all yeah, 21:25 the Sabbath is completely absent 21:27 from this text. I'm glad you beat me there, 21:29 because what I was alluding to when 21:32 we talked about doubtful things. 21:34 The Sabbath is not under 21:35 discussion here, yeah the Sabbath was 21:37 not doubtful. This is a Pauline letter. 21:40 So we're not dealing with the Sabbath, 21:41 people assume when it says a day. 21:43 They're talking about the Sabbath, 21:45 but this is not because people 21:46 today do dispute, precisely Sabbath 21:48 issue. Yeah, but Paul is not disputing it, 21:50 Paul's not, because it's not under 21:51 disputation here. So, to read Sabbath 21:54 into that is to read something 21:55 into the text which is not there, 21:56 not talking about the Sabbath. 21:58 He's talking about the day you 21:59 choose to fast or the day I choose 22:01 to fast, remember the issue is eating 22:03 or not eating. Again an assumption 22:06 is made while we're talking about meat. 22:07 No, that's not stated here it's about 22:09 eating or not eating, so we make 22:12 a mistake when we read things 22:13 into this text and kind me gets 22:15 us into theological trouble and when 22:17 we do that. You know I may say as a 22:18 pastor that you know to congregation 22:21 some Sabbath, that next week 22:23 we're gonna have a couple days 22:25 of fasting. Because we really need 22:27 to draw close to the Lord we have 22:28 these issues that we're facing as a 22:29 church and I invite you to enter 22:32 into a fasting time, a fasting period 22:34 for a couple days with me next week. 22:36 And we get to those days and some 22:38 choose to fast and some don't choose 22:41 to fast right and then after that there 22:44 is all this discussion, this argument 22:45 about how so and so didn't eat or 22:48 didn't fast on that day. Yeah and then 22:50 there's arguments about well this person 22:52 fasted but you know what they actually 22:53 ate vegetables and things or fruit 22:56 while their fast was going on that 22:58 really wasn't a fast. Yeah, then you 22:59 have this big discussion about 23:00 you know did they do it right or not. 23:02 That's what's going on here, 23:03 it's going on here right. 23:05 That is to bring it to a common you 23:06 know day kind of a scenario, so this 23:09 very you know it is so easy to get 23:11 this confused with a discussion over 23:14 what day you chose to worship 23:16 or honor as the day of that is sacred 23:19 and holy, the Sabbath day. Yeah, 23:21 and when it's clearing talking here 23:23 about that, yes this has nothing 23:24 to do with the day you choose to worship, 23:25 it's all about the day you choose 23:27 to fast and if you're gonna fast 23:29 on a Tuesday you've respect for 23:30 that day, then I'm not to hold you 23:34 in contempt for the day you've chosen 23:36 to fast, it's an eat non-eat question, 23:39 not a meat non-meat question, 23:41 nor is it a Sabbath non-Sabbath question. 23:43 There you go yeah and if you 23:44 go a little further too you read 23:45 down here it talks about in verse 13: 23:52 Therefore let us not judge one another 23:54 anymore, but rather resolve this, 23:56 not to put a stumbling block or a 23:58 cause to fall in our brother's way. 24:01 You remember these aren't just one 24:02 principle, these are principles, 24:04 he's covering here and he seems 24:06 to shift gears because from 24:08 transitioning from 13 to 14 it says 24:10 there in 14: I know and I'm convinced 24:12 by the Lord Jesus that there is 24:13 nothing unclean of itself; 24:16 but to him who considers anything 24:17 to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 24:19 And it's talk about food all of the sudden, 24:22 now this is, gets into the not eating 24:23 or eating its the types of food, right. 24:25 So he shifts gears a little bit here. 24:27 And you almost start to think and 24:31 here's where you can read into 24:32 it too again, that okay now he's making 24:34 everything fair game for food. Yeah, 24:37 but again that's not in doubt back then, 24:39 right, they had a clear understanding 24:42 of what was clean and what was 24:43 not clean, that had been given them 24:45 way back after creation and after 24:48 the fall of course with Noah where 24:50 he's separate the clean from the 24:51 unclean there so. This isn't a debate 24:53 about what you can eat as far as 24:55 clean and unclean, the clean and 24:57 unclean is not defined as to what you're 25:00 reading its how that meat has been prepared. 25:04 And if you have any questions about the 25:06 validity of what I just said, just look up 25:09 First Corinthians chapter 8 and 25:11 chapter 10, because Paul starts 25:15 with the same words, they shouldn't 25:16 judge each other and don't to put a 25:18 stumbling block in front of their brother 25:20 and then he goes on to find what 25:22 that's about and that is about food 25:24 offered to idols, to idols right, right. 25:27 Not about the food you're talking about, 25:31 the actual food itself. Whether it would 25:32 be swine or whether it would be a clean 25:35 food like beef or something, yeah. 25:36 If you look at Paul's history. 25:37 Paul was by his own admission, 25:40 Pharisee of a Pharisee. Sabbath was not 25:43 an issue for Paul, unclean and clean 25:45 meat is not an issue for Paul. 25:46 The only issue there in that day 25:49 was you know you had these idols, 25:50 you have this statue, you had people 25:53 offering meat to that statue 25:55 which is there for a day or two then 25:56 they taken it back out and sell it and 25:57 then people would say well we're 25:59 not gonna eat that, it was offered 26:00 to that statue. But the question 26:02 is that statue is not a live thing, 26:04 it's nothing, it's nothing, we don't 26:06 even believe in that statue so the 26:08 fact that that steak sat in front 26:09 of that statue for two days means 26:11 nothing to that state because the 26:12 statue is just that, it's a statue yeah. 26:14 It's like putting the steak in front of a 26:17 door post, it means nothing. So why would 26:19 you have anything bad against that steak 26:23 because the statue means nothing, 26:24 so really to reject that meat actually 26:27 gives that statue more worth than it is, right, 26:30 and right. It's not worth anything, 26:31 so you buy it at a cut rate price and 26:33 there was some who said we shouldn't 26:35 touch that meat at all 'cause it's offered 26:36 to that idol, others said it makes no 26:38 difference I'm gonna eat anyway and 26:40 he was saying do not let this become 26:41 an error of condemnation, step away 26:43 from that because that shouldn't divide 26:46 us as Christians as people of God, 26:47 so let's not let that become an issue 26:49 that was the only issue not whether 26:51 Sabbath should be kept or unclean 26:53 meat should be eaten. Yeah, yeah 26:55 and when you get down to it, 26:56 if someone considers something 26:58 to be unclean because of an idol 27:00 and they've worshiped idols all their lives 27:02 and is an issue for them Paul's not 27:04 even saying go ahead you're at 27:05 liberality to eat he's saying it was 27:06 gonna be stumbling block to them right. 27:08 Don't force them to eat that food, 27:09 precisely right, don't argue and then 27:12 those who are eating it, for those who 27:14 don't think they should eat it, 27:15 don't accuse them of doing something 27:17 wrong either because they're at liberality 27:18 to eat whatever because that's not 27:20 an idol to them, it's nothing 27:21 yeah, yeah, yeah. And so when 27:22 he's saying here, you know to him 27:24 who's considering something clean or 27:25 unclean that's the issue, there maybe 27:28 a history of someone who has worshiped 27:30 idols and then to others idols are 27:32 nothing and so that's really the issue, 27:33 not can we eat swine or pig or can 27:38 you know should we just be sticking 27:39 with you know the clean meats beef and 27:41 chicken and so forth and so on, 27:42 precisely yeah. And we have a parallel 27:44 today I mean one of that touchy 27:45 issues even the short is music 27:47 when I was listening to two people talk 27:50 about some music the other day and 27:51 one was listening to a song and we're 27:53 being blessed by it and the other 27:55 person said that song reminds me of 27:57 something I used to do and every time 28:01 I hear that song it takes me back to 28:02 an activity I used to engage in that 28:03 which I no longer engage in as a 28:05 Christian, I cannot do that anymore, 28:06 well the other person didn't, initial person 28:09 didn't have that baggage so they had, 28:11 they had no connection between that 28:13 song and that other activity. 28:14 So they were blessed by it were 28:16 as person be connected that song 28:18 to a certain activity and we used 28:20 to smoke dope to that song so you know 28:22 to a song that sounded like that. 28:23 So, they decided I'll listen to it without 28:26 you know maybe headphone it doesn't 28:28 hear you because it takes you a place 28:30 you don't wanna go but I never smoke 28:31 dope so I don't have that connection 28:33 with that kind of song and that's 28:34 kind of what's being said, don't judge 28:35 each other, some people are weak, 28:37 certain things take them to a place 28:38 they don't wanna go. So, let's not 28:40 do anything that will enter somebody 28:42 else's Christian experience. 28:43 And those are great principles 28:45 that Paul needed to share with 28:46 the Church, precisely. When you got 28:47 a church that's got two cultures 28:49 merging will have it's core arguments 28:52 and debates and fights over 28:54 what's proper and what's not proper 28:55 and that's, we find that from 28:57 Romans through the rest of Paul's letters, 29:00 he's trying to keep them from 29:02 fighting over things that they shouldn't 29:04 be finding about and it tends to be 29:05 over traditional stuff. Traditions, 29:07 but they're not fighting over the 29:09 things that are not in doubt yeah, 29:11 clear doctrines. Doctrines of the 29:13 fourth commandment, the Seventh-Day 29:15 is the Sabbath, everybody knows 29:16 that right. I always say that the 29:18 reason why you know this isn't here 29:19 is 'cause if you look at Acts. 29:21 The Acts of the church what they did, 29:24 Acts has two words, two days spoken 29:27 of in them, one's called the Sabbath, 29:29 the other's called the first day. 29:30 That's all you need to know, precisely, 29:32 the first day is not the Sabbath, because 29:33 it's not called the Sabbath, right. 29:34 Which means that's the most simplest way. 29:37 We argue about, yeah, well the first 29:39 day must have been a Sabbath 29:40 gathering so now. Why are we even 29:43 getting there because the Sabbath is 29:45 spoken of there, always called Sabbath, 29:47 yes and it's called Sabbath this is the 29:49 Seventh-Day, the other is called the first day 29:51 who cares if there is a meeting, 29:52 it's called the first day, right, anyway so. 29:56 Sorry that just a, well we're not 29:59 gonna jump on that soap box and 30:00 you know it's just, it's the preacher in you. 30:03 Alright, well you know what we have a fun program 30:06 here to talk about because it's a program 30:08 that I hope will draw all of us closer 30:10 to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ 30:12 and in the tough times that we're living in 30:14 Pastor Murray we all need a closer relationship 30:17 with Jesus oh we do. And you know I 30:20 spend sometime as I was preparing for a message 30:23 on this subject I spend sometime on the Internet, 30:25 I spend sometime in some books 30:27 and I did some research on relationships at large. 30:31 Just you know how we improve relationships 30:33 with our family, with our friends, 30:35 with our spouse and other things. 30:36 And I found essentially seven basic ways 30:40 in which relationships improve, 30:42 that they draw people closer together 30:45 and this can be varying kinds of relationships. 30:48 But I believe that there is a spiritual application 30:50 in those principles, building relationships 30:54 that we can learn from when it comes to Jesus Christ 30:57 and having a closer relationship with him yeah. 30:59 And so what we're gonna talk about in 31:01 in these seven steps to a closer relationships 31:03 with Jesus are things that we can do that, 31:07 that we can do in our every day life 31:09 with our relationships around us. 31:11 But that we can also apply to our relationship 31:13 with Jesus to build a strong relationship 31:16 you know Pastor Murray I think one of that 31:19 the big issues that we have a difficult times 31:22 that we face and the anxiety we get not 31:26 having that peace is because our relationship 31:28 with Jesus tends to be up and down. 31:33 We've all had these strong times, 31:35 we can't be moved we're in our faith and sometimes 31:38 we're in the middle of trouble when that happens. 31:42 But we have these strong times 31:43 and all of a sudden, it's like something hits us 31:46 or maybe we get really busy and I'm a pastor 31:49 you know I'm studying the Bible everyday 31:50 anyway so I don't need my personal devotions, 31:52 I write out and do my stuff I've got to do 31:54 I mean you're at 3ABN sure you have people 31:56 experiencing that here. 31:57 Well, I work for God everyday so, 31:59 yeah, yeah the personal times sometime isn't there 32:01 and all of a sudden we find ourselves feeling little dry 32:05 and you know and we start praying you know Lord 32:08 where's that fire that you had lit in me 32:10 at one time at one time so I just pray today 32:14 that as we talk about some of these, 32:15 taking these steps to draw closer to Jesus 32:18 and have that stronger relationship. 32:19 That you be able to apply some of these 32:21 and get that strength yes, yes and defeat off 32:24 that abiding in Christ and that time with Christ 32:26 that we all need to spend to build the relationship 32:30 that we all want. 32:31 You know it's a matter of building and maintaining, 32:33 I don't know if it's tougher to get clean or to stay clean. 32:36 And anyone who's had a young child 32:38 who they cleaned up and told them don't go near this, 32:41 where I said to my grandson just the other day, 32:43 cleaned him up we're gonna take him 32:45 some place and turn you back 32:46 and he's into the jelly you know so we got him 32:49 clean but he couldn't stay clean. 32:51 And as Christian it's, it's, it's, it's work to establish 32:55 a relationship but then it's equal work to maintain 32:58 the relationship and that's the same way in marriages 33:00 you know you' establish relationship 33:01 then you've got to maintain the relationship. 33:03 And so it's two sides of the same coin really and so this, 33:06 this is building it and also maintaining it, 33:08 yeah you know. And the brand of Christianity 33:11 we see today often it focuses so much on the, 33:15 first of all having the relationship, 33:18 just getting in the relationship. 33:19 But we don't see a lot of emphasis on maintaining 33:22 the relationship yeah. 33:23 And we've almost taken that whole aspect out 33:28 that important, very important sanctification aspect out. 33:31 Yes, because we say well once you're saved, 33:32 you're always saved it's not a big deal. 33:34 So you know once I've got Jesus, 33:35 I've always got Jesus. 33:36 Yeah, and then there's no work at the relationship, 33:39 what if I told Rochelle the day after we were married 33:42 hey you know is Grey getting married to you, 33:44 if you need me call my home and my parents 33:48 will find out where I am and you know if I'm 33:50 busy or something. 33:51 You know I'll make an appointment 33:53 I'll come down and we'll see each other 33:54 and I mean is that a relationship 33:56 I mean is that working at a relationship 33:57 I think that wouldn't last very long 34:00 yeah that's how we started I probably 34:01 shouldn't do this, but I heard this really cute 34:02 story years ago a pastor told me this wife 34:05 took her husband to divorce court. 34:07 And the judge said why are you getting a divorce, 34:09 well she said well my husband hadn't told me 34:11 he love me for twenty five years, 34:13 you know we married twenty five years 34:15 he had never said it, and the husband said 34:16 well I told her, 34:17 I loved her forever when we got married. 34:20 And I figured that she gonna understand 34:22 that if I change my mind, 34:23 I'll let her know you know so she was supposed 34:26 to go off that first statement 34:27 and life doesn' work like that 34:28 in on earth, or in Heaven. 34:30 You know you've got to maintained 34:31 and you've got to keep affirming that 34:33 you're in love with Christ. 34:34 So these statements will get you to Christ 34:37 well then you've got to stay with him, 34:39 you've got to abide, you see that same thing 34:40 from John 5 you've got to abide in him very, 34:42 very much so. So, let's take a look at some, 34:45 some principles and we have some scriptures 34:46 here as well by no means they're meant 34:48 to be exhaust, you know exhausting the word 34:51 and in applying to each step that we talk 34:53 about here but I have just one text here 34:56 identified underneath each step 34:57 and we'll talk about this as we get along, 34:59 so seven steps to a closer relationship with Jesus. 35:02 Step one, know what you want, 35:05 know what you want out of the relationship 35:08 you know this is key it's something 35:10 I think we also often don't spend a lot of time with, 35:12 but see as I was getting ready for a revival series 35:17 here recently for my church. 35:18 I felt very impressed about something that 35:21 I'd never done before and usually don't start off 35:24 a revival series this way but God impressed me 35:28 talk about heaven, now I don't I've never had 35:33 a revival series where we spend the first night talking 35:35 about heaven yeah. 35:36 But the first day we spend as a church going 35:39 through our trip to heaven, 35:42 seeing our family and our friends, 35:44 meeting them again. 35:45 Wow, what we do on the way to heaven 35:47 when we get to heaven, 35:48 what we see the time we spend with Jesus or angels, 35:51 the house. We spend time looking at our house, 35:54 yeah the city that we lived in, 35:55 we walked through the city, 35:56 we spend time coming back to the new earth. 36:00 Living eternally in our new earth building 36:03 our own house, yes, and yes. 36:04 And just I mean everybody was so inspired by that, 36:08 I think what I was trying to establish in that day, 36:12 on that day was we need to know what we want yes. 36:16 We want to be in heaven yes, yes we wanna live 36:19 with Jesus forever, we wanna experience the joys 36:21 of living forever so that what we see around us 36:25 here on this earth just mean nothing compared 36:28 to where we're going and 36:29 what we're gonna get, yeah. 36:30 Now, that's a different but it's a very valid prospective 36:33 to look at the ultimate goal first 36:35 where do we want to go then okay 36:38 what are we prepared to do to get 36:41 where we want to go. 36:42 Now that actually is very inspired, 36:45 because it looks at what do you want, 36:47 do you want a relationship with Christ? 36:48 Do you want to be with Christ forever? 36:50 This is what the ultimate goal is. 36:53 Now what do we're gonna do to make sure 36:55 that happens? Yeah, sure, 36:56 the text I had down here on that is Isaiah 1:18: 37:00 Come now and let us reason together 37:03 and you know the text I spring boarded off 37:06 of for this whole thing is you know I have not seen, 37:09 nor have you heard, yes what God has prepared 37:13 for those who love him and so as we come together 37:17 and reason with God I think part of what he's offering us 37:19 what he's trying to tell us is he said you just don't know 37:22 the plans and the things that I have for you, 37:25 yeah and here let's talk about this 37:26 because the things that you want in your life 37:28 they don't only mean anything I mean I love you, 37:30 I created you, I want you here with me in heaven 37:33 come on let's talk about how we can get you there. 37:36 And through that experience I think 37:38 we can begin to know what we want out of 37:41 this relationship and know also that the God 37:44 that we serve and the Jesus who we now 37:47 are beginning to know is someone who can give us 37:50 everything that we could ever dream of, 37:52 yeah praise God. It's wonderful 37:53 you know you say okay Lord you're gonna, 37:55 you give me heaven, no more death, 37:57 no more sorrow, no more pain, 37:59 no more tax collectors, no more doctors, 38:01 no more nurses, sounds pretty good. 38:05 How we're gonna get that? Yeah, 38:07 you know oh okay I admit I want that, 38:09 it's much better then what I have now. 38:12 I ache, I'm getting old, I got taxes, 38:14 I can't pay my bills, my car's falling apart, 38:16 my body's falling apart, my life is falling apart, 38:18 my job is falling apart, my finance is falling apart. 38:21 I don't want this, I want that how we're gonna get that? 38:24 And God says okay here is how you do, 38:25 here is where we start. 38:26 I think why it's one of the reasons well let's talk 38:28 to young people here for a just a minute. 38:30 When I was young I thought I was invincible, 38:32 oh yeah I mean I had everything I wanted, 38:35 I was young I didn't have the aches and pains, 38:37 I had girlfriends, I had sports you know 38:41 heaven to me wasn't as attractive back then. 38:45 But as you get older, sounds pretty, 38:48 pretty good, it looks real, real good right about now. 38:52 And I'm sure we look even better as we get closer, 38:54 but you know I think what I'm saying by that is. 38:58 You know look at the experience of those 39:01 who have come through, yes you know the younger ages 39:04 and they understand now how important heaven is 39:06 and how good it looks and know that you're not 39:09 gonna live forever on this earth yeah as it's giving to 39:13 you or it has the devil paints the picture 39:15 for you right now. 39:16 And so I want to encourage you know young people 39:17 out there just start here, know what you want, 39:21 do you really want just your 30, 40, 50, 60 more 39:25 years that you have in this earth or do you want 39:27 eternally to live with Jesus and live 39:30 a life forever and we're talking about billions, 39:33 billions, billions, billions of years forever 39:36 I mean there is no end, right, right, that's 39:38 what we're looking for. 39:39 You got to make this sacrifice, I mean in college 39:41 they would tell us you know you may not like 39:43 being a manner, like to study the word, 39:44 but if you wanna get the point B 39:46 you've got to start here with A. 39:48 If you want heaven there are some things 39:50 that you have to do and what's good 39:53 about it as you don't have to do them alone. 39:55 The same God who holds out the reward 39:58 also assist you and getting that reward 40:01 so you've got how to get there 40:03 and you've got help in getting there. 40:06 So, that it's not impossible in fact he makes it 40:10 very, very possible through the death 40:11 of his son, yeah Amen. 40:13 Very, very good, let's take a look at step number 2, 40:17 honesty and transparency in any relationship 40:21 we've got to be honest and transparent 40:23 with the person we're having relationship it 40:25 goes that way with God, you can't hide from God. 40:31 Very true you know and that's, 40:33 I guess that's stating a fact okay we can't hide 40:36 from God, we know that officially but how often 40:39 do we do that and how we live our lives 40:42 in that we hide our sin. 40:43 You know we hide who we really are, 40:45 you know we don't wanna come out 40:47 and be open and honest with God 40:48 and in the way even though we know that 40:50 God intuitively, we know that God knows us 40:53 better than we know ourselves. 40:54 We're not honest with him at times, 40:58 and there is a text from Psalm 32 verse 5 41:02 is that where you're heading to now? 41:04 Actually I was heading to somewhere else, 41:06 to another text but I can jump back. 41:09 Well, let me read this one and then you keep 41:10 going where you're headed okay, Psalm 32:5: 41:12 I acknowledged my sin to You, 41:14 and my iniquity I have not hidden. 41:17 I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, 41:21 And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. 41:24 And so here we find the Psalm is open, 41:27 honest, transparent with God, 41:29 he recognizes, he's sinful, 41:31 he's got things that he cannot hide from him 41:33 and he says basically I'm yours, 41:36 I'm gonna be honest with you, 41:37 I'm messed up, I need help, 41:39 please do something, not only forgive me 41:41 but I'm ready to take the next step 41:43 with you however you see fit. 41:45 It's powerful, this idea of transparency and 41:48 I was wondering when you put that down, 41:50 I saw it here, exactly what you had in mind. 41:52 But it is at First John 1:9 If we confess our sins, 41:55 you cannot hide them from God see might as well 41:58 open your hand and let him see what you're holding 42:00 you know be very transparent and so doing you free 42:05 yourself you know. You open yourself 42:07 and say Lord I know I'm a sinner, 42:08 I can't do this without you I see 42:10 what you want from me, but I can't even approach 42:13 that without your help, without your presence, 42:15 without your power, this is what I'm. 42:17 I'm not righteous, I'm not holy, I'm not good, 42:20 but I want to be what you want me to be. 42:23 Yeah, and if you start there then you're precisely 42:25 where God wants you, that's the starting 42:26 point that God wants you to be at, 42:28 well you say I'm nothing, you're everything 42:30 I become something when I take my nothingness 42:32 and give it to your there I say everything there 42:35 is a chance if I can coin that term when I unite, 42:38 when I lack with what you have 42:39 then I become sufficient Amen, yeah. 42:42 You know the other, the other true is that 42:43 you know often we can have our relationship with Jesus 42:46 and maybe have been living according to what his, 42:49 according to what the Bible tells us how to live 42:52 for a long, long time maybe throughout our life 42:55 we've been a good person. 42:56 But we can almost get in this thing 42:59 where is not how bad we've been but 43:01 maybe we think we're so good yeah. 43:05 And then at the same time on that side 43:07 we're not honest with God either, 43:08 yeah, because you know if you say you've no sin 43:11 you're a lair. So, you know you can get to 43:16 that part of it too where you know 43:18 you're not being honest and transparent with God 43:19 thinking that you're all holy yeah 43:21 and you doing just fine yeah, 43:22 but if God were to really look at you 43:25 without the righteousness with Christ 43:26 you're in badshape. 43:27 You know, that's a very important point 43:30 because it is so easy for us deceive ourselves 43:33 if we look around us we will always find 43:35 ways that we're superior to those around us, 43:38 you know, you know you put on your, 43:41 brush your teeth come here, put on your suit, 43:43 you dress, you go to church on Sabbath morning 43:45 or whatever the other day and you say 43:48 you know what? I'm not so bad, yeah. 43:50 I haven't killed anybody, I don't drink, 43:52 I don't smoke, and I'm not Adolf Hitler. 43:53 You know, I'm not so bad and you can deceive 43:57 yourself into thinking that it is your righteousness 44:00 that commends you to God 44:02 and it does not the only thing that commends 44:03 you to God is your unrighteousness. 44:05 Yeah, in fact that you're so bad 44:08 and even when you say I'm not 44:09 so bad that's filthy rags you are that bad, 44:12 yeah and the starting point is saying Lord 44:14 I am undone and I need you and I cannot help to, 44:18 hope to serve you unless I have your spirit 44:20 and your power. You know sometimes 44:22 I catch a glimpse even as a pastor 44:24 and you probably have done this too, 44:25 you catch a glimpse of what you could be 44:27 without Christ, it's almost like God lets you 44:31 every once in while see a little bit of what you're 44:32 capable of without him. And so sometimes 44:36 I find where does that come from, 44:38 you know well, it maybe its anger 44:40 you know it just gets angry at the situation 44:42 I start you know talking about you know 44:44 man I just, this guy is just driving me crazy, 44:47 I can't stand with him which just leave 44:49 and Rochelle will say you know you need 44:52 to pray for him and I, I catch myself 44:54 right there I say you know why am I thinking 44:56 that way you know I shouldn't be capable of that, 44:59 aren't I righteous now, yeah. 45:00 But at any moment in time yeah without Christ 45:04 we're in bad shape. Just the other day coming 45:06 in from a long trip, coming in from Evansville airport, 45:09 someone cut me off under the parking lot 45:11 and missed me by a foot and never saw me, 45:14 just drove by and I caught myself what a, 45:20 and you know you don't even finish the sentence 45:22 because the Lord you know catches you. 45:24 But for the grace of God and you know 45:28 you do get this glimpse, I think the Lord allows 45:30 those kinds of things to happen so that 45:32 you remember just to stay in an attitude 45:35 of prayer but also that the need of Christ 45:39 is moment by moment it is constant 45:41 because at any second when you figure 45:43 I've got it made, I've got it done then 45:45 Satan will come along and show you that 45:47 you're undone and you don't have it 45:49 made and that you really, really need Jesus, 45:51 yeah, yeah. That's very, very true, 45:54 the third step here in the seven steps 45:57 is acceptance, is acceptance. 45:59 I have here Matthew 11:28: Come to Me, 46:02 all ye who labor and are heavy laden, 46:04 and I will give you rest. 46:05 Oh yes, Jesus makes no restrictions here, 46:07 he says also where you mention this text 46:09 I think in a earlier program that he will 46:11 in no ways cast anyone else who comes to him, 46:13 yes, yes. So, the objective here isn't that although 46:17 we acknowledge our sin, the objective isn't 46:19 to clean our sin up ourselves it is to, 46:23 to allow God to accept us for who we are. 46:27 But also to accept who we are, yes, 46:30 I accept myself as sinner but I also accept 46:33 that Jesus doesn't wanna leave me there 46:35 as a sinner the way that I am and so acceptance 46:38 is a big part of moving forward in our relationship. 46:42 Very, very true the Bible is a great balancing book, 46:45 it doesn't allow you to think too low of yourself 46:48 because you're been purchased by 46:50 the blood of Christ. 46:51 But it also doesn't allow you to think 46:53 too high of yourself because then you will think 46:55 that the victory is yours and not his. 46:57 Yeah, so it balances you, you know it keeps 47:00 you in balance and without knowing that Jesus 47:02 accepts us, if we stop at number 2 47:05 and then we get to 3 and we end we don't know 47:08 that he accepts us we can't go any further yeah, yeah. 47:10 So, acceptance isn't just myself accepting for me 47:13 who I am but its Jesus accepting me 47:15 for who I was yes. 47:16 Knowing that he can transform me too 47:18 so know this you know to draw closer to Christ 47:21 you've got to know that he does accept you 47:23 as you are right now. 47:26 And then of course moves you along that, 47:27 it keeps your courage up to know that 47:30 you haven't gone too far, you haven't done too much, 47:32 you're not too dirty, you're not too disgusting, 47:35 too foul for Christ to reach down, 47:37 you haven't gone so far that his hand cannot 47:38 reach down and draw you back, 47:41 and that's a comforting thing to know that 47:42 when you come he's right there with open arms. 47:44 Amen, yeah talk about number 4 here, 47:47 why don't you go ahead, communications. 47:49 Communication rather, to pray without ceasing, 47:53 it's a loaded one, but communication 47:59 is so important yeah. Oh it is, 48:01 it is two way to talk to him and then to listen 48:04 to him and then to follow what, where he leads. 48:07 You know, you have to communicate with Rochelle, 48:10 I have to communicate with Irma my wife. 48:13 And I say, you have to, you want to, 48:16 part of loving relationship, part of maintaining 48:18 the relationship is communication to talk through 48:21 the differences. It really harkens back 48:23 to a very first text, come let us reason together, 48:25 God is saying this I'm asking of you is, is reasonable, 48:29 it's our reasonable service. 48:31 You know, Romans 12:01, we are living sacrifices, 48:35 wholly accept what's a reasonable service, 48:38 it is not unreasonable for God to say to you 48:41 I made you, I created you, you are mine, 48:44 I've purchased you. Here is how I want you to 48:46 function and if you function this way 48:48 I have a reward for you and the reward is the 48:51 inevitable consequence of living the life that 48:54 I've asked you to live, if you live this way 48:56 this is what's gonna happen and I've died to make 48:58 sure that it happens. So if you follow me 49:00 I will lead you safely home. And if you think about 49:03 this four steps communication, 49:05 I would venture to say that anybody that has has friends. 49:09 The closest friends are the ones that they 49:12 communicate with the most; right it makes sense 49:15 oh yes so if we wanna make Jesus our best friend. 49:18 One that we depend upon, we need to pray 49:21 and communicate with him at all times, 49:23 it's something that happens constantly 49:26 and when it says prayer without ceasing, 49:27 we're not talking about getting on your knees 49:28 all day in prayer. As we know that some 49:31 have interpreted that to mean that in the past. 49:33 But it's a, it's an open line of communication 49:37 with God throughout our day, that no matter 49:39 what comes our way we're always immediately 49:42 our mind is going to you know the fact that Jesus 49:45 is very near. And we can talk with him 49:47 about what's going on in our life, 49:48 yeah, yeah, I think you point is well taken 49:51 the best friends are ones that we, 49:52 I've a very good friend I grew up with him, 49:54 his name is Holbrooke, he lives in Ohio. 49:55 I don't get to see him much and we talking 49:57 through email, you know we communicate 49:58 but we're not in each others company 50:00 and I miss that and I know there are things, 50:03 his kids are growing up, going to school, 50:04 I'm missing that kind of thing, 50:05 I got some friends back in New York 50:07 that I miss and we communicate 50:09 but it's not like being in each others 50:11 company all the time. And that's the way 50:13 it is with Jesus you can't, you can't be with 50:15 Christ from afar, Christ works better up-close 50:19 you know he wants to be close. 50:20 I was saying something to somebody other day 50:21 when you're on route 57 you don't want to get 50:24 too closer to the car in front of you that's 50:26 a dangerous, but with Jesus you want to 50:28 bumper to bumper you know you want to get right 50:30 upon him so that when he turns left you go left, 50:32 when he goes right you go right, 50:33 you wanna be as close as you possibly can 50:35 and that's the safest way to be with Christ 50:37 yeah, yeah. Communication is so essential 50:39 in fact if you look at those, the different armor 50:41 you know people at six there is actually a seventh. 50:44 At the end it says and praying yes, 50:47 so you know if you're out in a battle field 50:51 and there wasn't someone with a radio communicating 50:53 with the commander as to where to go 50:54 and you have their contact, doesn't matter 50:56 what armor you have, you're sunk, oh yeah. 50:58 You've got to communicate yeah. 51:00 Number 5, trust then you moves to trust. 51:02 Notice we're getting closer and more intimate 51:06 with every step in our relationship with Jesus 51:08 it says in John 6:29 that Jesus answered 51:12 and said to them, This is the work of God, 51:14 that you believe in him, whom he sent, 51:16 he's not talking about that you acknowledge him 51:18 as God or the fact that he exists but that 51:23 you put your trust in him. 51:25 Now this is something that we know, 51:28 we hear it all the time, we got to have faith, 51:31 we know this. But how many times 51:34 when we're tested by something, 51:35 when we've trail, when we've a struggle 51:37 that we forgot to go to God first, 51:40 that we try to work things out 51:41 and figured things out ourselves to change 51:44 the circumstances of the trouble we're in. 51:46 And we're not trusting God to work it out 51:50 and I'm think 51:52 that's probably very applicable here to know 51:54 I have confidence that all things work together for good. 51:57 Precisely, precisely, when we think about trust, 52:00 John we're thinking about putting your weight 52:02 on someone you know leaning on someone. 52:04 God says put your weight on me, 52:06 trust me it's not enough to just say they trust 52:10 me but lean on me, put your weight on me. 52:12 We came in today and we sat in these chairs, 52:14 we assumed that they would hold us, 52:16 that we wouldn't end up on the floor, 52:18 we trusted the chairs to hold us. 52:20 Well, it's same with Jesus, put your weight on him, 52:23 rest in him, relax in him and assume 52:25 know that he will hold you, he's able to keep 52:29 that which you commit to him. 52:30 Even though struggles, even though the wind 52:32 we're talking about the storms blowing around, 52:33 oh yes, put your trust in him and you know 52:36 God operates his blessings, his miracles, 52:39 the things that he does for us. 52:40 Operate in the environment of faith, 52:42 very much so, so when you take away the trust, 52:45 when you take away your faith. 52:46 You don't put your faith in Christ; 52:48 there's no room for him to operate. 52:51 Yeah, you defraud him of a chance to bless you, 52:53 yeah because you're not stepping out in faith with him 52:55 yeah like several times healing is another thing, 52:58 he says according to your faith. 52:59 You know so according to how you exercise your faith 53:02 these blessings and these things comes. 53:04 So trust is something very important as the next step, 53:07 the fifth step in having a closer relationship 53:10 with Jesus. Now, number 6, we have two more, 53:12 number 6 time, time. Oh! Yes, spending time with Jesus, 53:16 now I'm not talking about communication here, 53:18 communication is different than time. 53:19 Communication is talking with him about you know 53:22 your needs and hearing his voice and 53:23 communicating with you. But spending time 53:26 with him is just practicing his presence, 53:28 knowing that he's here and just abiding 53:32 in his presence and that's the text I used, 53:34 do you have that one there John 15:4: 53:36 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear 53:39 fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, 53:42 neither can you unless you abide in Me." 53:46 Powerful and very simple, very linear, 53:49 we're gonna have to spend time together, 53:51 we're going to have to be in each others company, 53:54 we're going to have to communicate, 53:56 we will have to talk to you each other, 53:57 we will have listen to each other, 53:59 we will have act on those things which come out 54:02 of the dialogue and when we do that 54:04 we put in quality time and we're drawn 54:06 closer together. Know I can know you unless 54:08 I listen to you and speak to you I can't 54:12 know you through osmosis, I cannot know you 54:14 through just looking at you though 54:17 I can know something about you, right, 54:18 to know you I'm gonna have to talk to you 54:21 and you will have to talk to me, 54:22 we're gonna have to put in the hours necessary 54:24 to understand each other. Cannot do it any other way. 54:27 You really can't, the other aspect too 54:29 I think about sometimes as we often 54:31 separate our secular from our spiritual time. 54:34 You know we have this thing on your mind, 54:36 we can't, we compartmentalize or the Sabbath 54:38 is over or this time our worship is over 54:40 and so now let's move with the secular. 54:42 But God doesn't want us to say bye, right. 54:45 He wants us to say okay now Lord, 54:46 Jesus come with me into the next thing that I do 54:48 and that's the time all day that we spend, yeah, 54:51 yeah with God. No byes with God, 54:53 you're in his presence all the time 54:55 and even when you're doing secular activities 54:57 there is a God presence with you, 54:59 you're aware of it, you're communicating with him, 55:01 you're asking for strength and receiving strength 55:03 from him, so probably keep us from doing a lot 55:05 of things that we shouldn't do, precisely, exactly. 55:07 And the last one step number 7, love in action, 55:10 another way of saying this is service. 55:12 Okay, so love in our relationship 55:15 as we've got closer to him and we've been spending 55:17 doing these things to have a more intimate relationship 55:20 with Jesus, we get to this point where we've to 55:23 put something out now. We've to return the love, 55:25 we've to show our gratitude and express our love 55:28 for Jesus. And the Bible says, if you love me, 55:31 keep my commandments, there is a the response 55:33 to love is the doing and so when I say love 55:37 in action here's the seventh step I'm saying 55:39 you know our service is the way that we draw closer 55:42 to Jesus because we build a dependence 55:45 in everything we do on that relationship. 55:47 And of course the action comes as and only 55:50 as we have fallen in love with him, 55:52 any other kind of service, kind a defrauds him, 55:55 you don't wanna serve the Lord with 55:57 your fist clenched or because you feel 56:00 you're forced to, it must be a service that is, 56:02 is motivated by a loving relationship with the Lord. 56:06 And you know a lot of times we get ourselves 56:08 in trouble anyway, by serving the Lord 56:11 or trying to serve him without spending time 56:13 in these other six steps. 56:14 You know we don't spend the time with the Lord, 56:17 we don't time also involves in this word 56:19 by the way we didn't mention that, 56:20 but we don't talk to the Lord as we should 56:22 and pray and we don't realize that we need to be 56:25 open and transparent and then all of a sudden 56:27 you know we except that we can just go out 56:28 and serve being empty, yeah. 56:30 And we need the other steps before we can 56:33 serve him, but at the same time we need service 56:36 to cap off the other things to get closer to Jesus, yeah, 56:38 yeah. Trying to do it any other way, 56:41 makes you a miserable person and certainly 56:43 a miserable Christian. If you trying to serve 56:46 the Lord without talking with him, 56:47 without receiving Holy Spirit, without communicating 56:49 with him, without trusting him, 56:50 you're doing it because you're afraid 56:53 or because you're feeling forced to 56:54 or some other reason that falls short of a 56:57 loving relationship, it makes you 56:58 really a miserable person, makes it work 57:01 and legalism and not righteousness 57:03 and makes really heaven an impossible thing. 57:08 You just cannot do it without the spirit of God 57:11 in your life, that's right yeah. 57:12 You know friends, God's word says in John 17:3: 57:16 That this is eternal life: that they may know you, 57:19 the only true God, and Jesus Christ, 57:22 whom you have sent. Our objected to hear 57:24 today in giving you these seven steps 57:26 of a closer relationship with Jesus 57:28 is to know him better. May God bless you 57:30 as you put that into practice in your life today. |
Revised 2014-12-17