Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120001
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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, and welcome 00:24 to another edition of "House Calls." 00:25 My name is John Lomacang 00:27 and thank you for tuning in to one of the most informative 00:29 Bible programs anywhere on the planet. 00:32 At least, I think so and don't you think so? 00:34 I agree. I agree. 00:35 We have a lot of fun here but we make sure 00:37 we stick to the word and that's key. That's right. 00:40 And so we would like to invite you 00:41 to get your friends, your family, 00:43 get all the people that are walking around 00:45 your house or maybe your church. 00:46 Tell them to sit down, get their bibles, their pens 00:49 and also ask for the Lord to guide them 00:51 as we talk about some very vitally important topics today, 00:54 beginning with your Bible questions. 00:56 And we're gonna talk about faith today, 00:58 something that the world does not have a whole lot of 01:00 and something that's waning tremendously. 01:03 But before we do anything, 01:04 before we get to your Bible questions and your comments, 01:06 we always begin with prayer. 01:08 So, John, have prayer for us today. 01:09 Let's do that. 01:11 Gracious Father in heaven, 01:12 we thank You so much for another day. 01:14 And on this day we want to make sure 01:16 we spend time with You, 01:17 and so, Lord, as we open up the word, 01:20 Your word given to us, 01:22 we pray that You would lead and guide us into all truth. 01:24 We pray that Your Holy Spirit would be here with us 01:27 as we talk about the questions that have come in, 01:29 those that are watching as well us who are presenting, Lord. 01:33 Be here in it all, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. 01:37 And I know because you have your Bibles with you, 01:41 we like to begin with questions. 01:42 Now we'd like to let you know that 01:44 if you have any questions that you would like to send to us, 01:46 you can send those to housecalls@3abn.org. 01:49 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 01:53 We will go to the internet, download those questions 01:55 and hopefully get to them in one of our programs. 01:58 If we don't get to your questions, 01:59 send it again but try your best to send short questions. 02:03 You know, John, sometimes people send, 02:05 you know, doctoral dissertations. 02:07 And when we see it, it gets so overwhelming 02:09 sometimes we choose not to answer them. 02:11 Well, just move on to the next one. Exactly. 02:12 Yeah, it's too tough 02:14 to read through that much material. That's right. 02:15 But we do appreciate these questions 02:17 because they're really a part of the program. 02:19 If we don't have these questions from you 02:21 then the program becomes much less interactive 02:25 and so we appreciate them. 02:27 And I'll start off with a question here 02:29 that's one that I know 02:30 that comes up in churches from time to time. Okay. 02:33 And a good question we haven't had this 02:36 that I remember before actually, and it comes from-- 02:41 actually doesn't say actually who this one is coming from 02:44 but it says, "Dear pastors, 02:45 would you please explain Deuteronomy 22:5? 02:49 Thank you." Okay. 02:50 So let's go to Deuteronomy 22:5 and we'll read that. 02:55 This is part of the different laws given to the Israelites 03:01 as far as how they are to conduct their faith in God. 03:09 And so this one is specifically about clothing 03:13 and it says in verse 5 of Deuteronomy 22, 03:16 "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, 03:20 nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, 03:24 for all who do so 03:25 are an abomination to the Lord your God." 03:29 Now it's--obviously, when you read that, 03:31 it's like, whoa, this is a serious issue, right? 03:33 I mean, abomination to God, 03:35 no one wants to be an abomination to the Lord. 03:38 But I think we need to really understand 03:40 what this verse is saying and to do so, 03:43 I think, probably the most common mistake 03:47 is to focus on the articles of clothing 03:53 which are not identified here. 03:55 John, what I mean by that is there's no list here 03:59 of what a woman or a man should be wearing. 04:02 That's a very good point. 04:03 So the issue really here in this verse 04:05 is not the articles of clothing, 04:09 it is whether or not a woman is dressing to look like a man 04:13 or whether a man is dressing to look like a woman. 04:17 Okay, good-- 04:18 And so when it comes to that, 04:19 you know, some people want to assign well, pants. 04:21 Men wear pants, women shouldn't wear pants. 04:23 And I know that this restriction has been thrown out there 04:25 amongst some groups today. 04:27 But to read that or conclude that from this verse 04:31 is to read into the verse something that is not there. 04:34 There are no articles of clothing here. 04:36 So the point is, is that women should dress 04:40 beautiful to be like women. Right. 04:43 Men should dress macho, 04:46 you know, strong, to look like a man. 04:47 And that's what we're called to do. 04:50 Now in our culture today 04:51 and I speak from, you know, as an American, 04:53 it is common for women to wear pants. Right. 04:57 And so to say that God is talking 05:01 down through time to us today 05:02 and saying women should not wear pants 05:04 is what we call, eyes of Jesus, 05:08 reading into the text something that is not there, 05:11 rather than exegetically pulling out of the text 05:14 what really is there 05:15 and what is there is not a list of clothing 05:18 but the principle that we should not as men 05:22 look like women or women look like men. 05:25 That's all you can get from this text. Right. 05:28 And back then, that was important for them to do 05:32 because if you think about it in terms of, 05:35 you know, what they were wearing 05:37 and what they looked like, it was to be very different. 05:41 I think the difference is 05:42 probably much greater than even today. 05:44 So this verse is in the Bible to give them a principle, 05:48 not to give a restrictive list of clothing items 05:52 as to what they should wear and what they shouldn't wear 05:54 that we carry down through time. 05:56 It's a cultural aspect of the Bible 05:58 that sometimes people just don't really pull into 06:01 or take into account when they're reading the word. 06:03 You know, what is also amazing about that is, 06:06 a lot of times we read these Bible verses 06:08 and we put them, we superimpose them, 06:12 somewhat like taking your picture 06:14 and saying you are the complete example. 06:16 And superimpose John's face and arms 06:19 over every man on planet earth. 06:21 And make John or the way he looks 06:24 or the way he dresses the standard. 06:25 Oh, that would be dreadful. 06:27 That would--he said that would be dreadful. 06:30 Okay, I won't argue with that-- with you on that one, 06:32 but I leave that up to you to say. 06:34 But the point of the matter is, 06:36 we have to first look at the cultures 06:37 and this is, I think, 06:39 one of the most important things here, 06:41 culture to culture, things are different. 06:43 I use an example, in-- 06:47 I think it's Ireland or Scotland where the kilt is worn. 06:50 Is which one is it, Scotland? Scotland. 06:52 Scotland, where the kilt is worn. 06:55 You would not commonly see a man in the United States 06:58 wearing a kilt to work every day. 07:01 That would be the opposite 07:03 of men should not wear a woman's garment. Right. 07:06 But that's only because of the culture that is here. 07:09 And even still you can't apply 07:13 the principles of Scotland in the way they dress 07:16 to the principles of America the way that they dress. 07:19 Nor do--nor does the culture of Scotland 07:22 view the kilt as feminine. Right. 07:26 So it doesn't--this is not gonna apply to that culture. 07:30 So, yeah, I mean, I think the principle is there. 07:34 We can find the principle here but I think, 07:37 I don't think you can read into it a list of things 07:41 that we should take in our culture today. 07:43 Putting that list together is really, 07:46 kind of, putting together your own agenda and we can't, 07:50 we should be very careful not to do that. 07:51 And so you've the Old Testament Scripture there 07:53 but you also have a principle that's pointed out by Timothy. 07:56 In the Book of Timothy, we find 1 Timothy 2:9, 08:00 this issue is addressed again. 08:02 It says, "In like manner also, 08:05 that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, 08:10 with proprietary" or propriety "and moderation 08:15 not with broidered hair or gold, or pearls, or costly array." 08:20 Paul was talking about the modest way 08:24 in which women are to present themselves 08:27 and one of the principles that were listed here, 08:31 if you look this up in context, 08:33 that the context of this is in verse 10, 08:37 "women who profess godliness." 08:41 And so now if you apply that principle to our society today, 08:43 you could--I don't want to be judgmental on this theory 08:47 but you could sometimes tell where the line is being crossed 08:50 between a person professing godliness 08:52 or person not professing godliness. 08:54 And oftentimes it's based on the way they dress. 08:57 Now, we want to once again 08:59 not be judges in this particular area 09:01 because some people may say, well, 09:02 well, I heard-- let me just put it the way 09:04 I heard somebody say it. 09:06 A good friend of mine said, "Do you dress to-- 09:09 do you dress in a way 09:10 that is provocative to get a man's attention 09:13 or if a man is looking at a woman, is it his problem?" 09:17 See, and I think the issue here is we're talking about modesty. 09:21 Sometimes people say, 09:22 well, the way you dress is distracting to me. 09:27 Somebody also may say, 09:29 well, that bright blue shirt you have on 09:30 is distracting to me. 09:32 So it depends on what context you're in. 09:36 Now I wouldn't wear this bright blue shirt to a funeral. 09:42 All right, out of context. Right. 09:44 Nor would you wear a red suit to a black tie, 09:48 black suit formal event. 09:51 Totally out of context. 09:52 And so what is being talked about here is, as you dress, 09:55 make sure that the way you dress is in context to the setting, 09:58 also to the society in which you live. 10:00 And if you're a Christian, you must apply modesty to that. 10:05 It's very important. Exactly right. 10:07 And I think the other part of this too, 10:08 is that you have to understand why God is giving this counsel. 10:14 And now again, now I'm giving you 10:15 some of my opinion would be in this, 10:17 but at least it follows most of the counsel 10:19 that I find in Scripture on these things. 10:22 When God is saying this, His intent here is 10:25 so that the effect that the individual has, 10:28 is it negative on those around them. 10:31 So it's not intended to say that wearing this clothing 10:35 defiles the individual that's wearing it 10:38 as much as it is a problem 10:40 or becomes a problem to those around them in this respect. 10:44 So when we talk about, okay, if someone wants to say, 10:49 well, women shouldn't wear pants. 10:52 You know, that's the typical one that's often applied here. 10:55 People that are really restrictive of that. 10:57 Well, the question really is, 10:59 are those pants affecting those around her 11:03 in a way that is not conducive to godliness? Right. 11:06 And this is where we're tying in Timothy's counsel here 11:08 or Paul's counsel in the Book of Timothy. 11:10 And that is, you know, like when women come to church 11:14 and if they're wearing this low cut dress 11:16 with cleavage hanging out, they may say, 11:18 well, this doesn't hurt me 11:21 but they're not giving proper consideration 11:23 to what wearing that clothing does to those around them. 11:27 The counsel for not wearing that is for what others perceive 11:30 about that individual not for maybe herself. 11:33 She can wear that clothing in her house all day long 11:36 and God will have no problem with that 11:38 if she chose it to do that on her own. 11:40 But bringing this into the church setting, 11:42 men are visual, immediately what they see, 11:44 they react to and he's trying 11:47 to protect from the reaction. Right. 11:50 That's the way these principles 11:51 and especially this text should be read. 11:53 And so I really encourage, 11:55 especially, those who have put a very restrictive 11:59 interpretation on this text to consider that 12:02 because that is really the key issue here, 12:05 for mine, from what I see here 12:06 and what the rest of God gives in His word is intended to do. 12:10 And the other thing here, 12:12 didn't want to spend a whole lot of time on this 12:13 but really, it comes down to the principle of modesty 12:16 and what message are you sending, 12:17 because the very same thing can be applied. 12:19 I was invited over to another country, 12:21 I don't want to mention which one it is, 12:22 just to be vague to do a seminar on adornment. 12:27 And I was surprised after one of the seminars 12:30 that the young ladies came to me and said, 12:32 well, the problem that's being expressed here is the guys. 12:36 They come to church with shorts and flip-flops on 12:39 like they're gonna be going surfing after church 12:42 and that's really beginning to upset us. 12:44 And we were thinking in some cases 12:46 that the complaint would be 12:47 the guys complaining about the girls. Right. 12:49 But then I went to another place in the United States 12:52 and the guys, they were complaining about the women, 12:54 how difficult it was for them to think about God 12:57 and keep their minds on the Lord 12:58 when the women came to church on Sabbath, 13:00 because their dresses are very short 13:03 or the clothing was very, very tight. 13:05 And so the one thing that is really important here, 13:08 the principle we'll wind up on is, 13:09 be modest and express by the way you live. 13:12 You want to reflect the glory of God, 13:14 not dress in such a way that it's gonna be distracting 13:17 or it's gonna be out of context. 13:19 Nor do you go the opposite direction 13:21 and come to church with your clothing 13:24 dragging on the ground looking out of context. 13:27 I like the way that one of my favorite writers 13:29 Ellen White talked about this. 13:30 She says the people of God should not be so distracting, 13:33 and I'm paraphrasing here, 13:35 that they look out of context to the times. 13:38 Dress in context to the times but do dress modestly 13:41 and let the principle be godly. 13:44 God is being glorified by the way that you look. 13:47 Very important. 13:48 No matter what you do, do all to the-- 13:50 "Do all to the glory of God", 1 Corinthians 10:31. 13:52 Yes, very important. 13:54 Here's another question. 13:56 "At the resurrection, will the unsaved 14:00 who are livingat the time, at that time be destroyed, 14:04 sent to their graves until the second resurrection?" 14:07 And I think the second part, 14:08 "During the 1,000 year reign with our Lord in heaven, 14:11 will there be any humans living on the earth?" 14:15 Okay, very good question. 14:17 Let's first start in Jeremiah, 14:19 and I want to put the context together. 14:20 The Lord has returned and there are only 14:25 really two groups when Jesus comes. 14:27 There are the saved and there are the unsaved. 14:29 What I want to first begin with 14:31 is Revelation 22:12 which simply says, 14:33 "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, 14:36 he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, 14:38 he that is filthy, let him be filthy still, 14:40 he that is holy, let him be holy still." 14:42 Not necessarily in that order. 14:44 But simply there are only two groups, 14:45 those who are holy, unholy, 14:46 those who are righteous and those who are filthy. 14:49 There's no third category. That's right. 14:50 And so when the Lord comes, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, 14:55 "That the Lord himself will descend, 14:58 the dead in Christ will rise first." 15:00 That's the first resurrection but they're not gone yet. 15:02 "Then we which are alive and remain 15:04 shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, 15:06 to meet the Lord in the air." 15:08 So there's a first resurrection. 15:10 Then there's the ascension of the righteous. 15:12 The righteous who were dead are now alive, 15:15 the righteous who are alive did not die 15:18 and they ascend together, 15:20 once again dispelling the idea 15:21 that people die and go to heaven right away. 15:23 But there's another class. 15:25 And go with me to Thessalonians, 15:28 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. 15:34 And we're going to look at verse 8, all right? 15:45 And obviously, this is speaking about the coming of the Lord. 15:48 I'll start with verse 1, it says, "Now, brethren, 15:50 concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 15:54 and our gathering together to Him, 15:58 we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind, 16:02 or troubled, either by spirit, 16:05 or by word, or by letter as if from us, 16:09 as though the day of Christ had come." 16:13 And then he goes on and speaks of all the events 16:17 that must transpire before the Lord comes. 16:21 Then he speaks about the lawless one in verse 8 16:23 and he says, "And then the lawless one will be revealed 16:27 whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth 16:31 and destroy with the brightness of His coming." 16:34 So when you think of the lawless one who is-- 16:37 he's not only the lawless one or that the one of iniquity, 16:41 there are others of iniquity. 16:42 They are the righteous and they are the unrighteous 16:44 and all those who are unrighteous will be destroyed 16:47 by the brightness of the coming of Christ. 16:49 But the question you ask and I go back to that here says, 16:53 "Will they be sent to their graves?" 16:55 Well, Jeremiah 25:33 says it this way 16:59 and I'm gonna go ahead and magnify this 17:01 a little bit here for my own benefit. 17:03 Forgot my glasses today. 17:05 But Jeremiah speaks of the condition of the world 17:09 when the Lord comes and what's gonna happen to those 17:10 who are destroyed when the Lord appears. 17:13 It says, "And at the day, 17:15 the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth 17:19 even to the other end of the earth. 17:22 They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried, 17:28 they shall become refuse on the ground." 17:32 When you think of refuse, 17:33 I think one of the best ways of thinking of refuse 17:36 is look at a baseball stadium after the game. 17:39 Well, look at a New Years Eve celebration 17:41 after the crowd disperses in Time Square in New York. 17:43 That's refuse, it's everywhere. 17:45 And if you left it there and you just never cleaned it up 17:48 you'll find from day to day from day to day, 17:50 it's like a garbage strike in a major city like New York. 17:54 There's refuse all over the ground. 17:56 It's not gathered, it's not being put into piles 17:59 and buried in a garbage heap anywhere. 18:02 It's just all over the ground. 18:03 And the Bible's describing the very same thing 18:05 that when the Lord returns, 18:07 there will be no funerals being held for the wicked. 18:10 There will be no gathering of bodies, 18:14 like for example, wherever the funeral home is, 18:17 they won't be having funerals for all those 18:19 because there won't be any place to put them. That's right. 18:23 No one here to put them anywhere. 18:25 Even the funeral director if he's not saved, 18:27 he's gonna be refuse on the ground. 18:30 Matter of fact, I'm from New York City 18:32 and I know that there are a couple of major cemeteries. 18:34 One is Evergreen Cemetery, 18:37 the other one is Cypress Hills Cemetery, 18:39 and my sister who works for-- she was an EMT, 18:42 works for the fire department, police department. 18:45 They point out that unless you had 18:48 a plot purchased many years ago, 18:50 there's no space to bury you 18:51 in Cypress Hills or in Evergreen. 18:54 They're burying them far away out on Long Island 18:57 or some other location upstate New York 18:59 because there are too many people to bury. 19:02 So now let's just put this in context. 19:04 What will happen when the Lord comes? 19:06 And multiple millions, I'm assuming, 19:09 that are not saved in the city of New York 19:11 are just all over the ground. 19:14 They're in elevators, they're in cars, 19:16 they are on the sixth floor, they're destroyed 19:18 by the brightness of Christ's coming. 19:20 They are all over. 19:21 There's not gonna be some general gathering 19:23 sending body bags 19:25 to New York City to start funerals. 19:28 They will be like refuse on the ground 19:30 and then eventually, what's gonna happen with them 19:33 as Malachi tells us what's gonna happen with them 19:35 because this is a second portion 19:37 wondering what's gonna happen with them 19:39 when this timeframe is done. 19:41 Well, and before you go there, 19:43 just a couple of verses to add to that if you, 19:45 if you note in Revelation 19 right after the coming of Christ 19:50 the appearing of Christ in the sky, 19:52 it says here in regard to those that are not caught up with Him. 19:56 Okay, I see where you're headed here. 19:57 It says in verse 17, 19:58 "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, 20:00 and he cried with a loud voice, 20:01 saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, 20:04 'Come and gather together 20:05 for the great supper of the great God, 20:07 that you may eat the flesh of kings, 20:08 the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, 20:11 and the flesh of horses, and those who sit on them.'" 20:14 Now this is highly symbolic. Right. 20:16 And we shouldn't interpret this as meaning, 20:18 well, then He keeps the birds alive to eat. 20:20 Now the idea here is that as birds circle a corpse 20:24 on the ground that is unburied, 20:26 this is the invitation that birds have food on the ground, 20:31 which are the bodies of wicked men who have perished. 20:34 And it's exactly an opposition to-- 20:37 it's opposite to Psalms 79:2 where it says, 20:41 "The dead bodies of your servants 20:43 they have given as food 20:44 for the birds of the heavens." Okay. 20:45 See, so what wicked men have done to saints, 20:49 now God is going to do to wicked men. 20:51 So that's the antithesis here of what's happening 20:54 at Christ's return. That's right. 20:55 So nothing buried 20:57 or the birds wouldn't be able to get to it. That's right. 20:59 But literally, I mean, 21:01 we're not talking about literal picture here 21:02 but the imagery here is strewn bodies on the ground 21:05 as Jeremiah indicates as well. 21:06 Well, it's gonna be quite an end 21:08 because you know the birds of the heavens are God's arsenal. 21:11 You see that in many places in the Bible 21:13 that God called nature. 21:14 He talks about in Job, He says, "Have I not stored up snow," 21:19 somewhat like a treasure house or storage house. 21:22 He speaks of all the arsenal 21:24 and He speaks of natural things like snow and hail and fire, 21:29 like it was in the antediluvian time, water. 21:32 But it's gonna be quite a scene. 21:34 I want to encourage you 21:36 if you are listening to the program 21:38 when you ask this question. 21:40 I know you probably don't have to determine 21:43 or even be fearful of what we responded to you by saying today 21:47 because you're planning to be in the first resurrection 21:50 or be in the first group ascending to go to heaven. 21:54 And by the way if you're not in the first group 21:55 that ascends to heaven, 21:57 there's no second group ascending. 21:59 Yeah. There's no rapture. 22:00 That's another whole topic altogether. 22:02 You have one more? Yes, I do. 22:04 It's a good question that kind of segues us 22:07 into the topic here of faith. Okay. 22:10 "Hi, pastors. 22:12 Jesus came to set the captives free. 22:16 How does one become free? 22:18 How can it happen in my life?" 22:21 And so we're gonna go to John, 22:24 John Chapter 8, I believe, 22:33 and right around verse 32. 22:36 Okay, John 8:32. 22:39 Okay, here we are. 22:43 We'll start with verse 1, give it some context here. 22:48 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, 22:52 'If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.'" 22:56 Okay, so now what are you talking about? 22:59 Abiding in the word of God, spending time in the word of God 23:02 searching for the truths of God's word. 23:04 Verse 32, "And you shall know the truth, 23:07 and the truth shall make you", what? 23:09 Free. "Free." 23:12 So what is happening here 23:14 is Jesus is talking to these disciples 23:16 and He's saying if you abide in My word, 23:17 if you trust in My word and look to it 23:21 for the answers of life, you'll be free. 23:24 But without the word there are no answers to life 23:28 and you'll be held captive to the enemy, 23:30 to Satan for the duration of your life. 23:33 You see, from the moment we are conceived 23:36 and then we are born, we are captive to sin. 23:39 Through Adam's disobedience, 23:41 sin has passed down through generations. 23:43 We are naturally sinful. You will-- 23:46 Sin is spoken of as being slavery to the enemy 23:50 that is Satan and his demonic host 23:52 who are constantly seeking to tempt. 23:54 And as they do that, your natural flesh, 23:57 you're inclined, you're bent toward evil, 24:00 it's easy for you to follow their suggestions. 24:03 But what Christ has come to do is 24:05 put amity between that natural inclination to want to be sinful 24:11 and this is amity within your mind 24:12 to desire the things of God. 24:14 And so when you look at God's word, 24:16 you're studying, you trust it, looking for the truths. 24:19 The truths about you condition, sinful condition, 24:21 truths about repentance and confession 24:24 and belief and faith in Jesus as your Savior. 24:27 You make Him your Lord. You follow Him in life. 24:29 All those things help to reveal, 24:32 help to set you free from the captivity of sin 24:35 to the freedom you have, the newness you have 24:39 as a new creation in Jesus Christ. 24:41 That is why He came to this earth 24:43 to live that perfect life for us and by faith in Him, 24:47 He gives us that perfect life. 24:48 He also paid the penalty for your sins at the cross. 24:51 All those things are taken care of. 24:52 He says, "I've taken care of everything 24:54 that the enemy has sought to bring you down, 24:56 to hold you captive, 24:57 and in Me and in My truth as you find that, 25:00 you will be set free." 25:02 And so the answer there 25:04 as to what can I do in my life to be set free? 25:07 The answer is study the word and search for Christ first, 25:11 start with the gospels, and invite Him into your life 25:14 and He will begin to set you free from Satan 25:17 and his constant harassment to fall into sin. 25:21 And I enjoy that freedom because obviously if now since-- 25:26 oh, it's been 20 years 25:27 since I've been following the Lord actively. 25:29 I mean, I grew up in the church and I grew up in a home 25:31 that believed in Jesus 25:34 and was taught the right way but I didn't follow it. 25:37 And I know you have a similar story 25:39 but I can see the contrast in the way I used to live 25:42 and now how I live today. 25:44 Praise the Lord. And I am free. 25:46 And that is something that I want the world to know about, 25:50 which is why I became a preacher, 25:51 why you became a preacher, is to set the captives free. 25:54 That is the message of the gospel, 25:56 the good news of the gospel of salvation. 25:58 Praise the Lord. Thank you for that. 25:59 I think I have one more I could fit in here very quickly. 26:02 Question: "I've been wondering about 26:04 the significance of 40 in the Bible. 26:06 40 years in the wilderness, 40 days in the desert, 26:09 40 pieces of silver, 40 days of rain, 26:11 etcetera, etcetera. 26:13 I've not heard any discussion on this 26:14 but I know the Bible always has some message 26:17 when something is repeated." 26:19 Well, the number 40 is often used in the Bible 26:21 to denote the existence of a generation. 26:24 And also let's-- I'm gonna give you 26:25 a couple of examples in the Bible here. 26:27 First of all, Numbers 32:13, 26:30 speaking of the Lord's anger 26:32 against the children of Israel it says, 26:33 "So the Lord's anger was aroused against Israel." 26:36 Numbers 32:13, "and He made them wander 26:39 in the wilderness forty years, 26:43 until all the generation that had done evil 26:46 in the sight of the Lord was gone." 26:48 So 40 years is commonly referred to in the Bible as a generation. 26:52 Another example you have in Psalms 95:10, 26:55 "For forty years I was grieved with that generation, 26:58 and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, 27:02 and they do not know My ways.'" 27:04 And lastly, the one that we commonly refer to, 27:06 Numbers 14:34, "According to the number of the days 27:13 in which you spied out the land, forty days, 27:17 for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, 27:21 namely forty years, 27:23 and you shall know My rejection." 27:25 And so what happened is the generation 27:27 that came out of Egypt died during that time 27:31 of the 40 years sojourn in the wilderness 27:33 and out of them, only the ones that were-- 27:36 of the men 20 years and older, 27:38 only Joshua and Caleb were spared out of those 27:42 who were responsible men 20 years and older, 27:45 they made it into the promised land. 27:47 So the comment here is 40, 27:50 the number 40 is often referred to as a generation of time. 27:55 By the way, when you look at-- 27:56 when you look at the Book of Matthew chapter 1, 27:58 it speaks about 14 generations from this, 14 generations, 28:02 14 generations putting into considerations 28:04 there were 42 generations from-- 28:08 if I go back to that very quickly, 28:09 since I brought the point up, I need to verify that. 28:13 Well, I'll let you have some fun doing the homework 28:16 but the Bible speaks of 42 generations. 28:19 "So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen, 28:23 from David to the captivity in Babylon are fourteen, 28:26 and from the captivity in Babylon until Christ 28:28 are fourteen generations." Matthew 1:17. 28:31 Talking about how long it was 28:33 from Abraham to Christ, 42 generations. 28:38 You add that up and you get the timeframe 28:39 if you put 40 years per generation. 28:42 Very interesting. Yeah, yeah. 28:43 Anyway, thank you so much 28:45 for your questions and your comments. 28:46 Once again if you want to send 28:48 any comments to us or questions 28:49 send them to our email address housecalls@3abn.org. 28:54 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 28:57 And even if you have snail mail, sometimes we get snail mail. 29:01 You can send those to PO Box 220, 29:03 West Frankfort, Illinois, 62896 29:06 and we'll try our best to get to them. 29:07 Thank you very much. 29:09 Now, John, why don't you segue into our topic today? 29:11 We're talking about something that everyone needs, 29:13 something that every one of us in need of. 29:16 And what is that? 29:17 Well, one of our questions was about being set free. Okay. 29:20 And the key to being set free is faith 29:24 and so we would like to share at least 29:25 during a couple of programs here with you 29:29 various aspects of faith. What is faith? 29:32 How do you exercise your faith? 29:33 How do you strengthen your faith, increase your faith? 29:35 All these different elements. 29:37 So, you know, our thought here is why not do a program 29:41 to give a solid foundation of faith 29:44 to those that areviewing it because it could be-- 29:47 and John, I know that you and I have had times 29:50 where we had experienced this 29:52 but, you know, most of us probably would not say, 29:55 "You know what, I'm perfectly, 29:57 exactly where I want to be with Christ. 29:59 I'm perfectly content in my Christian, 30:01 my spiritual experience." 30:03 Well, contentment is a little different, 30:04 maybe I shouldn't use the word content, 30:06 but to say I've arrived at where I need to be-- 30:09 Right. No, okay. 30:11 All of us want more of Christ. 30:13 We want to experience more in this walk of faith. 30:16 And so how do we do that? 30:18 Well, it's all about Christ in us, 30:20 the hope of glory. That's right. 30:21 The one that moves us along in our faith. 30:23 So let's take a look at that through these various, 30:26 kind of, a window into faith and what that means, 30:28 so that we might 30:30 have a greater spiritual walk with Jesus day by day. Okay. 30:35 When you talk about faith, 30:37 what is the first text that comes to mind? 30:40 I could ask you if you had emailed 30:42 directly to me right now, 30:44 I'm sure you'll come up with Hebrews 11:1. 30:46 Faith is, and you go there, right? 30:49 You know, we ask people what is sin? 30:51 Sin is? Transgression of the law. 30:53 What is faith? Faith is? 30:55 Let's go to Hebrews 11:1, 30:56 beginning there because this article, 31:00 this word and I want to use the word 'article' 31:05 rather than the word 'word' when it comes to faith 31:09 because faith is more than a word. 31:12 Faith is an article of our walk with Christ. Faith is? 31:18 Go ahead, John, read that for us. 31:20 I almost like this word better though even, 31:22 faith is substance. Okay. 31:25 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 31:29 the evidence of things not seen." 31:32 So faith is substance and faith is evidence. Right. 31:36 In everything, in every part of our Christian walk, 31:39 we need something that we can hold on to, 31:41 something tangible. 31:42 Faith is just a word, it's not tangible. 31:46 Faith exercised, experienced as substance 31:51 is something you can hold on to, 31:52 that's tangible. That's right. 31:54 So faith is not this ethereal cloth 31:55 that you're grabbing on 31:57 as you're falling toward the ground. 31:59 Faith is a parachute, it holds you, 32:00 it brings you down. 32:02 It causes you to reach your destination. 32:05 It's substance, it has a tangible-- 32:09 in the economy or in the walk that we have with Christ. 32:15 It's a tangible aspect of it. It's substantial. 32:19 Faith is the substance, it's evidence, 32:21 it is what can be presented to prove our walk with Christ. 32:25 So if somebody says, 32:26 how do I know you're a Christian? 32:29 Well, I have faith. 32:32 But as you know, 32:33 that's not the only thing that a Christian has. 32:35 Because if faith is just it, 32:37 then lots of people can claim to be Christians. 32:40 And this is a problem here too, because it's-- 32:43 often faith does boil down to just the word. 32:45 You know, well, I believe, I have faith. 32:48 Well, faith there is-- if it is substance, 32:53 if it is evidence, it must be exercised. 32:56 There's got to be a trust element to it. 33:01 So if you want a true understanding 33:05 whether or not you are a Christian, 33:07 it's not whether you believe that God exists, 33:11 that's faith as the word. 33:12 It's whether you exercise your faith 33:15 when you face the challenges of life 33:18 and the exercising of faith always involves trust. 33:23 And that's the substance, 33:24 the evidence that we have of our relationship, 33:28 in our relationship with God. 33:29 And one of the reasons why this topic is vitally important 33:32 is because if you look at our walk today, 33:36 someone also gave the definition, 33:38 I believe it was Robert Schuller, I'm not sure. 33:41 I don't necessarily espouse to everything 33:44 that he propagate, propagates. 33:47 I don't really buy into all of that 33:49 but I think one of the statements he made 33:51 which has some validity to it. 33:53 He said, faith-- sin is the absence of faith. 33:58 And I thought, well, that, okay, 34:01 I could see that to some degree. 34:03 And when you think about it, I could see it this way, 34:06 sometimes people make decisions to go into sin 34:11 because they don't have faith 34:12 that God can bring them through or that the Lord can provide, 34:17 or the Lord can sustain them. 34:19 One of the examples would be the Bible says, 34:21 "I've never seen the righteous forsaken, 34:23 nor his seed begging bread." 34:24 So somebody says, 34:27 oh, the Lord has not responded quickly enough 34:30 so I don't have faith that He's gonna come through for me, 34:32 so I'm gonna go ahead and steal what I need 34:34 or, you know, take by force what I'm in need of. 34:38 And so when you don't have faith in the Lord, 34:40 then the only thing you have is this-- 34:43 this burning desire to provide your own need 34:45 rather than saying my God will supply all of my need 34:48 according to His riches in glory. 34:50 But when you think about how important faith is, 34:53 it's a huge component to our walk with Christ 34:58 because that's something 34:59 that was lacking in the children of Israel. 35:02 I mean, think about their journey, John. 35:04 The Lord brought them out of Egypt, 35:06 crying to be led free and the Lord brought them out 35:09 and the Bible says "with a mighty hand." 35:11 So do I have faith that God can bring me out? 35:14 No, I don't know-- 35:15 only have faith, I have evidence. 35:17 I saw it happen. 35:18 I was there. I was there. 35:20 On one of those he brought out, 35:21 can God get us through the Red Sea? 35:23 Not only can I, do I believe he could, but He did. 35:26 Can God save us from the Egyptians? 35:29 I believe He can 35:31 but not only did I believe it, He did. 35:33 And so you see continually, we need water, 35:35 we're dying of thirst in the wilderness. 35:37 I have faith that God can provide. 35:39 Not only did he-- 35:40 not only did they have faith He could, but He did. 35:42 I'm starving, what am I gonna eat tomorrow? 35:46 I believe that God can provide, 35:47 not only do we believe He can but He did. 35:49 So we have evidence after evidence after evidence 35:51 after evidence after evidence 35:52 after evidence that what God did for the children of Israel, 35:56 He can do for us. 35:59 But what was the problem of the children of Israel? 36:01 Now, I don't know if you want to say something 36:03 before I go to the text. No, no. 36:04 The problem with Israel is that they, 36:06 they stopped keeping their eyes on the God who could provide. 36:10 They started looking elsewhere 36:12 besides putting their faith and trust in God. 36:14 Look at Deuteronomy 32:20. 36:16 This comes down to the question 36:18 what was one of the major downfalls 36:20 in the lives of the children of Israel? 36:21 One of the major downfalls. Deuteronomy. 36:24 Deuteronomy 32:20, 36:25 I would like to have you read that one for us, John. 36:28 Because when you think about this, 36:29 this often is expressed about those whose faith-- 36:34 who do not exercise faith in God, 36:36 who do not have the assurance that God can do for them 36:39 all the things He did for the children of Israel, 36:41 for His own children. 36:42 "And He said, 'I will hide my face from them, 36:45 I will see what their end will be, 36:48 for they are a perverse generation, 36:50 children in whom there is no faith.'" 36:54 Children in whom there is how much faith? No faith. 36:58 So when you think about that, 36:59 how many times did God prove himself 37:03 in their wilderness journey? Over and over again. 37:06 Over and over again. 37:07 Okay, let's bring it to-- 37:09 how many times has God proved Himself 37:10 in your life and my life? Many times. 37:11 Over and over and over again. 37:13 Matter of fact, I think we don't even have enough records 37:14 to keep track of that. 37:17 But one of the challenges here is Habakkuk says 37:22 if the Lord has justified you 37:24 now you've got to live from a different walk. 37:28 "The just shall live by faith." 37:31 We live not by sight but by faith. 37:35 You know, I was reading a story here recently in a magazine 37:39 and that was a great story, 37:42 a faith story, a faith building story 37:44 about what God does today for His people. 37:46 And it was this couple who had been-- 37:49 they had gone over to an island to minister in dental work 37:53 and to support the people there. 37:55 And they got there and the circumstances were 37:58 that they really didn't work out the wage issue. Oh. 38:01 That they would just be provided for, 38:03 but it wasn't really worked out as to how that would happen. 38:06 Well, they were there for I don't know 38:07 how many weeks it was, 38:09 and they agreed to go for several months. 38:12 And they got over there 38:13 and the husband was in the next room 38:17 and he heard his wife sighing, you know, crying out to him. 38:20 "Come in and look at this." 38:22 And he comes into the kitchen. 38:23 She opens up the fridge and he says, 38:25 "Yeah, it's a refrigerator." 38:28 She says, "No, look." 38:29 He looked in there and said, "Yeah, the light's working." 38:32 And she says, "No, there's nothing in it. 38:35 We're out of food." 38:37 And he said, 38:38 "We know that God brought us here." That's right. 38:40 Right now, instead of panicking 38:42 and finding all the things that we can do to try and, 38:45 you know, solve this problem, let's kneel down, 38:48 let's pray and put our faith and trust in God. Right. 38:51 What they did not only to trust in God was to pray 38:55 but they said, I'll tell you what, 38:56 let's get some friends and let's go out 38:58 and let's snorkel. 38:59 We need to work off this anxiety we have. 39:01 Let's go snorkeling a bit. 39:02 It's a great area to snorkel, 39:04 you know, to go through and look at the fish. 39:05 Don't know what to do when you're hungry. 39:07 Well, you know, I mean, come on. 39:08 Okay. I'm following. 39:10 It's amazing, just to kind of alleviate that anxiety. 39:12 So they're snorkeling and a little time goes by 39:16 and his wife yells out to him again. 39:18 "Honey, come over here and look at this." 39:20 And she's pointing down, 39:22 in fact, I'm not even sure she's able to express this 39:24 but she's saying, "Look down." 39:26 You know, she's--her mouth with a snorkel. Right. 39:28 And he looks down there and he says, 39:30 "Oh, that's despicable." 39:31 She says, "No, look." 39:32 He looked little closer, so he swam down 39:36 and as he got down about 15 feet, there's a bag. 39:40 And as he opened the bag, it was a plastic kind of a bag, 39:43 guess what was in it? What? 39:44 $100 bills. $100. 39:49 There were five of them 39:51 and the bag was kind of open in a way. 39:52 And he said, you know, he was down there, 39:54 you know, just holding his breath. 39:55 I guess he was holding his breath 39:57 and went through them and he felt them 39:58 and the ink didn't come off and they felt real. 40:01 Came up and sure enough, five $100 bills. Wow. 40:06 So he went and looked for others real quick, 40:10 spending some time, didn't get out 40:11 and he found three more. 40:13 Eight $100 bills, 40:15 they went in thanked the Lord right there 40:18 because they knew in their experience, 40:19 not only did they exercise their faith 40:22 and go out to show that, 40:24 Lord, we're not gonna go panic about this, 40:25 You're gonna provide. That's right. 40:26 God responded immediately to their faith 40:28 and said here is the money, 40:30 I'm gonna put in that bag 40:31 right under where you're snorkeling, 40:32 so you can have it. 40:34 That $800 lasted them 40:35 for the rest of their time there before they left. 40:39 A provision that they couldn't dream 40:41 would have come in that way. 40:43 But because they exercised their faith and said, 40:46 Lord, we're gonna trust in You. 40:47 They went out and just let Him do 40:49 do what He was gonna do, He provided. 40:51 And sometimes we don't experience the miracle 40:54 because we don't exercise the faith. 40:55 Wow. That's very, very true. 40:57 So we need to know what this-- 41:00 how this faith works because the more we practice it, 41:03 the more we exercise our faith 41:05 in an active way not passive way, 41:07 I believe, but in an active way, 41:09 the more God will through faith make our experience grow, 41:13 our Christian walk grow. 41:14 He rewards our faith. 41:18 Wow, but, you know, let me go to the flip side of that. 41:21 There are some individuals who say, 41:23 "Well, I have faith that my check was mailed today. 41:25 Oh, I have faith that my check has arrived," 41:28 but they sit on their couch in the living room 41:31 and refuse to go to the post office 41:32 or even out to the mail box to see if it's there. 41:34 So they want that check to get legs and come in. 41:37 I have faith that God can find me a job 41:39 but they don't even look for one. 41:41 They don't go, sign up, apply. 41:44 So what am I saying? 41:45 Faith requires more than just an ethereal, 41:48 intellectual knowledge that-- 41:50 or an intellectual assertion that God will do it. 41:55 Because God is not working with the automatous 41:57 or nor is God programming us. 42:00 I like Mark 11: 22, he says, first of all understand 42:02 where the source of your faith is. 42:04 Have faith in God, Mark says in Mark 11: 22. 42:07 So we have faith in God but we also have faith that, 42:10 that God, not just in God 42:12 but that God can do more than we can possibly imagine. 42:17 You know, in this message 42:18 that I was preaching here this last Sabbath, 42:20 I talked about exercising our faith. 42:24 And one of the things I brought up for the elements 42:26 of how we can listen better to God's--for God's voice, 42:28 for His leading is to wait. 42:31 Now, I know we just talked about sitting on the couch 42:33 and actually going out and applying for a job, 42:36 when you're asking God to bring you a job 42:37 that's not how to exercise your faith. 42:39 Sometimes, faith in the Bible is always an active word. 42:46 And even waiting can be active. 42:50 Waiting can be anticipating the blessing 42:53 when you can't do anything else. 42:54 In other words, waiting isn't a lazy waiting. 42:59 Waiting is an exercising your faith in the God 43:02 who will do something, who will move that mountain, 43:05 who will do something for you so you can pass through. Right. 43:08 Waiting happens when you can't do anything. 43:11 That's right. Sometimes you can't do--yeah. 43:13 But many times God says, 43:15 now go do something and you need to do it. 43:17 So I think what we're doing in this program 43:20 is figuring out when do I wait? 43:22 When do I go do something? 43:24 And how do I know God's in it, 43:26 what He wants me to do and all these things are about 43:30 understanding how faith works 43:32 and how God wants us to experience faith 43:35 and put our faith in Him throughout our lives. 43:37 Truly, because there was a situation in the Bible 43:39 where the Lord said to the Israelites, 43:42 "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord 43:45 which He will accomplish for you today", 43:48 which required nothing on their part but to stand still. 43:51 So on the flip side of actively participating with your faith, 43:56 there's also a side where you sometime have to acquiesce 43:59 and say, "Okay, God, this is way beyond me. 44:04 I don't even know what to do." 44:06 And the Lord says, "Stand still 44:09 and see the salvation of the Lord." 44:11 And then sometimes He says like he did to Moses, 44:14 what's that in your hand? 44:16 See, so you have to pray and ask God, 44:18 in those days when they come, 44:20 God does not apply one principle 44:22 or one scripture to every situation 44:24 because you find that Abraham, 44:26 he was--his faith was affirmed by his works. Right. 44:30 See, he didn't just have this intellectual assent 44:33 that God is in charge and God is in control. 44:35 He did something that his faith was accepted before God. 44:39 There's also-- maybe you could speak 44:40 on this a little bit, John. 44:42 There's also this little misunderstanding 44:44 that the Old Testament, it's all about works. 44:49 That, you know, the people were saved because they obeyed, 44:52 because they followed, they did exactly as prescribed 44:55 in the--under the old covenant system of rules and regulations. 45:01 I mean, this is the way that their salvation was worked out. 45:05 But you read on in Hebrews chapter 11 45:09 and it speaks of these old patriarchs of the Old Testament 45:12 and in every case, it says by faith, 45:15 by faith, by faith, by faith. 45:18 So if anyone is telling you this kind of law and grace thing 45:23 where the law or the dispensation of the law 45:25 was in the old covenant system, 45:26 now under grace we exercise faith in Christ, 45:30 that is completely contrary to a reasonable understanding, 45:35 a reasonable reading of the entire book 45:38 or all the books of the Bible because over and over again 45:41 you didn't see the exercise of law 45:42 to be saved in the Old Testament, 45:43 you saw the exercise of faith. That's right. 45:46 And grace that came from God. 45:49 And so similarly you have elements of not only faith 45:55 in the Old Testament, 45:57 because that's the way we're saved, 45:58 but you have elements of law in the New Testament. 46:02 Because part of faith is obeying Him. Right, right. 46:06 And I think we'll get into that as well 46:07 but I just--I wanted to give this thing because this idea, 46:10 concept sometimes that in the Old testament, 46:12 we talk about some of these stories, 46:14 well, you know, they had to obey, 46:15 they had to do this and that and then God accepted them. 46:18 Never has that been the requirement for salvation, 46:21 for that redemption, is obedience 46:23 so that you can be saved. Right. 46:25 It's faith and trust in God who did the saving for you. 46:29 We obey because we love Him 46:31 and this is the way He would want us to walk. 46:34 And so now you come into the walk of faith 46:38 and by the way, 46:40 "For by grace are you are saved through faith", 46:41 that has always been the fact. 46:43 Noah found grace in the eyes of Lord. 46:46 God in the Old Testament described Himself as gracious, 46:49 long suffering, good--long suffering, 46:53 and abundant in mercy and truth. 46:56 This is God, He's always been gracious. 46:59 So there's not a work salvation and faith salvation, 47:03 "For by grace are you saved through faith 47:06 and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, 47:08 not of works lest anyone should boast." 47:10 So you have those who say, 47:12 "Well, didn't they work their way into salvation 47:15 through the laws of the Old Testament?" 47:16 No, the laws of the Old Testament, 47:18 the ceremonial laws, the laws that required a sacrifice 47:21 and offering, burnt offering, sin offering, 47:24 the wave sheaf offering that came to the Lord, 47:26 those were simply there to affirm 47:28 that we are offering 47:30 these offerings to a God that we don't see. 47:33 That I would even say what they were doing 47:35 was the practicing of their faith. Right. 47:38 'Cause I'm offering these offerings to a God 47:39 that I don't see, 47:41 then I must believe He is. That's right. 47:43 And so, you know, you have the other definition of faith. 47:46 "Without faith it is impossible to please God," 47:48 for he that cometh to God with an offering, 47:51 with a prayer, with a request, 47:53 "he that cometh to God must believe that he is. 47:56 And that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." 48:00 So we come to God, 48:02 how do you come to somebody you can't see? 48:05 You come to Him by faith. That's right. 48:08 Substance of things hoped for, 48:09 the evidence of the one that we can't see. 48:13 And the Bible says, "No man has seen God 48:14 at anytime but by faith." 48:16 He said it to Thomas, he said it to the disciples, 48:19 "Have I been with you so long you haven't seen the father." 48:22 So it's a very much of faith aspect in their walk 48:25 Well, I was just looking here at Isaiah Chapter 1. Okay. 48:29 Starting around verse 10, talking about, 48:34 this is God speaking to the people and He's saying, 48:37 "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom, 48:40 give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah, 48:43 to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?" 48:46 And he goes through, you know, their sacrificing, 48:48 their burnt offerings, 48:49 the cattle that they slaughtered for Him, 48:52 how they appear before Him in His court room, 48:54 how they observed the different feasts, 48:58 new moon, Sabbaths, 48:59 all that's all the different ceremonial 49:01 Sabbaths that are going on there, 49:03 all the things they were doing, 49:05 God is saying what is that to me? 49:08 What was missing? Faith. 49:10 Deuteronomy, what was it 32? 49:12 20. 20. 49:13 These people are doing these things 49:15 but they have no faith. No faith. 49:16 We've got to mix faith in everything 49:18 we do or it becomes, 49:20 our obedience to God becomes legalism. 49:24 That's the definition, it's a transition. 49:26 Obedience is by faith, legalism is without faith. That's right. 49:30 By law alone, and Paul addressed that in Romans 4, 49:32 he says, "For if those who are of the law are heirs, 49:38 faith is made void, 49:40 and the promise made of no effect." 49:43 Isn't that a powerful one? 49:44 That's a powerful. Which one is that one again? 49:46 Romans 4: 14, "For if those who are of the law are heirs, 49:49 and faith is made void, 49:51 and the promise made of no effect." 49:53 So if we were saved by the law, 49:54 only by the sacrifices, burnt offerings, sin offerings 49:57 and all the other aspects of the law of God, 49:59 if that was our sole method of salvation, 50:02 then he said, well, you made everything of no effect, 50:05 you don't even need faith but on the contrary, 50:09 he says we're saved by the grace of faith that not of ourselves 50:12 and it's amazing you mention that 50:14 and I have the scripture poised. That's perfect. 50:16 Right, to mention here, we didn't even coordinate that. 50:19 But truly, faith is not a major part 50:23 but it's the key evidential part of our walk with God. 50:27 As a matter of fact, one of the questions here 50:30 in Luke 18: 8, a question, 50:33 let's go to that question here, Luke 18: 8. 50:36 The question is what did Jesus ask 50:38 or what did Jesus say would characterize, 50:41 the last days. 50:42 And the reason why we're bringing this topic to you is 50:45 because it's more than just-- it's a lot more than just, 50:49 well, we need to be a people of more faith. 50:52 Today with all the things that we are trusting 50:54 and we're trusting in a stable economy, 50:56 we're trusting in our political leaders, 50:58 we're trusting in-- we're hoping that 51:01 weather is becoming more predictable. 51:05 In reality, you can't predict the weather anymore 51:07 even the meteorologists can't predict the weather anymore 51:09 because it still out of whack and out of ordinary. 51:13 But Jesus made a statement, 51:14 He said what is gonna be the challenge of the last days. 51:17 They are in Luke 18: 8. Well, yeah. 51:20 Starting with verse 7, 51:22 "And shall God not avenge His own elect 51:24 who cry out day and night to Him? 51:27 Though he bears long with them, 51:31 I tell you that He will avenge them", how fast? 51:34 Speedily. "Speedily. 51:36 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, 51:38 will He--" It's a good question, 51:39 "Will He find faith on the earth?" 51:43 In other words, for those who are looking around 51:44 at all the problems and all the things happening, 51:47 will he find them exercising their faith 51:50 and trust that He will avenge them? 51:52 The question is not will God 51:55 or does He even want to avenge His people, 51:58 of course, He does, He loves His people, 52:00 the question is will those who He wants to avenge 52:04 be exercising their faith. 52:05 Will they be actively trusting and putting their faith in God 52:10 who can and is ready to deliver. 52:14 This is where a lot of people come up with this idea 52:16 that the gentiles and the Jews are saved differently, 52:21 the Jews were saved by Law, 52:22 the gentiles that accepted Christ were saved by faith. 52:27 They were both saved by grace through faith. 52:30 The reason why God had established 52:32 the ceremonial system was to point them to 52:35 the work that Christ would accomplish on their behalf. 52:38 So the gentiles come along after Christ accomplished this work 52:44 and they look back, the Jews looked forward, 52:49 they had a meeting point, the cross of Christ. 52:51 So one wasn't saved by a different form than the other 52:55 and the reason I mention this 52:56 because nowadays a lot of people say, 52:58 well, since we're saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, 53:02 we don't need to keep the commandments. 53:03 And that's a contrary statement compared to what the Bible says. 53:08 Knowing that, it ignores the explicit statements 53:11 in the New Testament about keeping the commandments of God 53:14 and it's watered down as such 53:16 where as they begin to reinterpret 53:18 what those commands are. 53:21 And really, we know that 53:22 probably we don't have a problem with nine of them. 53:26 It's just one that they have an issue with but anyway, 53:30 as we're starting to wrap up this program, 53:32 I see time's slipping away here. 53:34 In regard to faith, faith and pleasing God 53:40 through obedience in the life comes together. Right. 53:43 When you hear about faith, 53:45 never let faith be this ethereal non-substance form out there, 53:49 faith is something to be practiced, 53:51 to be exercised in life. 53:52 And if we're gonna put our faith in God, 53:54 don't need to read his word and say what do I do to exercise 53:57 or practice my faith? Right. 53:59 Right? You have to. 54:01 And that's the question, what do I do, God, 54:04 to put into practice the faith that I have in You? 54:07 He says, okay, now we can start. 54:09 Let me help to--let me first put my spirit within you 54:12 and begin to transform your life and make you over new. 54:15 And then help you to be able to live in harmony 54:19 with the precepts and the things, 54:20 the ways that I've set forth through the Scriptures. 54:24 And that's just a-- that is the Christian walk. 54:27 That's why Christians are committed 54:30 and should always be committed 54:31 to following the Lord in every respect. Yeah. 54:35 Very, very important, following the Lord in every respect. 54:38 But I want to just complete that statement 54:40 with this statement I made a moment ago, 54:43 how the people of God 54:45 in the last days will be characterized 54:47 as the people of obedience. 54:49 Obviously through the indwelling Christ. 54:51 Well, Revelation 14:12 says-- 54:53 We're going there, how did I know that? 54:54 How did you know that? 54:56 It says here, "Here is the patience of the saints, 55:01 here are they that keep the commandments of God 55:06 and have the faith of Jesus." Amen. 55:09 Commandments and faith. 55:12 So you see, they go hand in hand. 55:14 Faith, the means whereby we are saved by grace through faith, 55:19 faith is the door that we walk into that relationship with, 55:22 actually, Christ is the door, 55:23 but faith makes the Christ that we do not see accessible to us, 55:29 we see Him by faith. 55:31 When Abraham was traveling, 55:33 by faith he looked for a city 55:35 which had foundations whose builder and maker is God. 55:38 He looked way beyond what he could see with his eyes 55:41 but he knew that there was a city 55:43 that would be apparently existing one day 55:45 who--whose builder and maker is God. Yeah. 55:49 And it's about, it really comes down to the relationship 55:52 and we haven't brought this word out yet 55:53 but when you establish your faith in Christ 55:57 and you believe in Him, 55:59 and we're talking about substance and evidence, right? 56:02 That's how the relationship begins to grow with God. 56:06 And so every day when you wake up, 56:09 before those feet even hit the floor, 56:11 it's--Good morning, Lord. Right. 56:13 It's communicating with Him, you know, prayer, through prayer 56:18 and through just constant walking with Him, 56:22 you know, pray without ceasing is a constant attitude of prayer 56:24 live throughout the daily life, 56:26 that is how we exercise our faith 56:28 knowing that God is always there with us. 56:32 And this is the walk of faith, that's why Paul-- 56:34 and I know we don't have time to get into this now, 56:35 we'll do it in the next program but the walk of faith, 56:38 Romans 8, you know, we don't walk 56:42 now in the old fleshly body that once we had, 56:44 the body of sin, we walk in the newness of life 56:47 which is in the spirit given to us, 56:49 we walk by faith knowing and communicating with God 56:53 in every step of the way. 56:54 And when you think about the trials that come 56:57 because the people of God 56:59 are not just to serve God in easy times 57:01 but in difficult times, you know, 57:03 the time is not far distance 57:04 where there'll be those who'd be under severe persecution, 57:07 there'll be those who'll be at the edge of the sword, 57:10 spiritually speaking. 57:11 But the Lord says at that moment, 57:14 here is where the patience 57:16 and the faith of the saints come in. That's right. 57:18 And so, friends, as we continue here at "House Calls", 57:20 we want to encourage you 57:21 that making a relationship with Christ 57:23 is more than just something that is bogged down in exercises. 57:28 Give your heart to Christ and have a faith walk with him 57:30 and when He comes, you'll be ready. 57:32 God bless you till we see you again. |
Revised 2014-12-17