Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120004
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00:01 Hello, friends grab your Bible and a friend and sit back
00:03 as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:21 Welcome, to another edition of House Calls. 00:22 My name is John Lomacang. 00:24 The guy with a bright salmon-colored shirt on, 00:26 and my friend to my right with the blue shirt on is John also. 00:29 It's up to you to figure out who's who. 00:31 But welcome to the program while you do that. 00:33 We are here to get back into the Bible 00:35 and enjoy God's word together. 00:37 And John, it's always good to have you at my right hand. 00:40 And to have you at my left, it's great. 00:43 I tell you we are brothers. 00:45 Some people said, "I can't tell the difference." 00:46 But when he stands up, he's like 6'9½", 00:48 he keeps saying 6'9½", he's really 6'10", 00:51 because he never comes here barefoot. 00:54 But today I hope you have your Bible with you. 00:55 Do you have your bible? I have my sword ready. 00:57 Good and I'm glad that you're here. 00:59 You know, friends get your Bibles, get your pens, 01:01 hit the record button because we're going to enjoy 01:04 ourselves as we walk through the word of God together. 01:07 We'll give you some information in just a moment 01:10 on how you can send your questions. 01:12 I'm gonna slowdown to speak like a person from the mid-west. 01:15 We'll give you information in just a moment 01:17 and how you can get your questions to us. 01:19 But before we do anything more, 01:21 I'm gonna have John open with some prayer. 01:23 Well, let's do that. 01:24 My father in heaven, we thank you again for giving us 01:27 an opportunity here to, 01:29 share in this program and we pray that you would lead 01:32 and help us instruct us in every aspect of it. 01:35 We pray for our listeners, our viewers, 01:37 those who are part of this program, 01:39 a very important part. 01:40 We pray that you would touch their lives, 01:42 and that you would speak to their hearts 01:43 as well in Jesus name, amen. 01:45 Amen, now friends your questions are big part of our program 01:50 and if you have any questions to send you 01:51 can always send those to housecalls@3abn.org. 01:55 That's housecalls@3abn.org, that's the internet connection 01:59 but if you have send mail, some of you are at home 02:02 and don't have internet connections, 02:04 you can send those to P.O Box # 220, 02:06 West Frankfort Illinois 62896. 02:09 And put attention House Calls and we'll get thoseq questions 02:13 and we'll answer them accordingly. 02:15 But, we have some questions today 02:17 from our internet topic 02:20 and I'd like to begin with one here. 02:22 Usually John begins with-- 02:23 he's kind of thrown in the mantle to me today. 02:27 I've a question, I don't know if the person name is D-e-r 02:30 but that's how they spell it. 02:32 Der, I don't know where that name is from but anyway. 02:38 "I have a question. 02:39 I was reading this text due to hearing 02:43 this text in a sermon. 02:46 Due to what has happened in Japan." Wow. 02:50 "I prayed and I'm not sure if I'm correct 02:53 in my understanding of this text and what it means. 02:58 'Were of old', does that mean..." 03:01 That's the word, "were of old". 03:02 "Does that mean 'from the beginning?' 03:06 "And here is the text. 03:08 Go with us to 2nd Peter Chapter 3 and verse 5. 03:12 This is the passage that they're addressing. 03:15 "Earth standing out of the water 03:18 and in the water is this before the flood 03:24 and during the flood." 03:25 I think they mean 'or during the flood'. 03:31 Read the passages read the verses before that, 03:33 John, and the verses after that. 03:35 One of the most important things 03:37 we try to do is keep it into context. 03:40 The picture develops very clearly like a puzzle, 03:46 when you have more pieces put together, it's right. 03:49 Let me read starting verse 3, all right. 03:51 "Knowing this first: 03:52 that scoffers will come in the last days, 03:55 walking according to their own lusts, 03:58 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? 04:01 For since the fathers fell asleep, 04:03 all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. 04:07 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God 04:11 the heavens were of old, 04:13 and the earth standing out of the water 04:15 and in the water, by which the world 04:18 that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 04:23 But the heavens and the earth 04:24 which are now preserved by the same word, 04:27 are reserved for fire until the day of judgment 04:30 and perdition of ungodly men." okay. 04:32 And so to give an answer it means actually both. 04:37 The earth was standing out of the water 04:39 and then the earth was in the water. 04:42 You find the reference made here 04:43 because two of the verses separate that. 04:45 It speaks of the point you made "were of old". 04:51 "That by the word of God the heavens were of old, 04:55 and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. 05:00 By which." In other words, because of this, 05:02 that's how the flood was possible. 05:05 And I'm accede verse 6 05:06 as the reiteration of that, right. 05:08 Because the verse 6 has repeats the same thing. 05:11 "The world that then existed", 05:12 which is out of the water, 05:14 "being flooded with water" in the water. 05:16 It's a repeating of the statement 05:19 from the prior verse, right. 05:20 Simply meaning as you know today a lot of floods exists 05:23 because the water has overflowed their boundaries. 05:27 This was something greater 05:28 and far more applicable than that. 05:30 Which we know to be the great deluge or the means 05:34 by which the Antediluvian World was destroyed by the flood 05:37 and so that's pretty simple and to the point. 05:40 Yeah, and I think the whole thing is driving 05:42 to the fact that at the end of the world 05:44 it will not be flooded again, right. 05:46 But that it's reserved for fire this time. 05:48 And the context is that scoffers are saying, 05:51 "This won't happen. 05:53 There's no coming and there's no sign of Jesus coming again." 05:55 Which we see today. 05:56 We have many today in the world that are saying, 05:58 "Well, I don't see the end of the world. 05:59 We just have a few problems and, 06:01 yeah, I mean, the problems or substantial hurdles, 06:03 but, you know, the world ebbs and flows. 06:05 We have these climate changes 06:06 that we've seen in the past overtime. 06:08 It's not really coming to an end." 06:10 And that's, in fact, what Peter is saying-- 06:13 that they'll say that, but then it will end. 06:16 And the other thing... 06:18 this opens the lot of doors here. 06:19 The other thing is this world is not being, 06:22 the Lord is not coming back 06:23 to this world to walk in this world. 06:26 Any more than He came to the world of the Antediluvians 06:31 to walk in amongst them and save those 06:33 who were on the earth. 06:35 The purpose of it is to destroy by fire the next time. 06:39 The reason I say that, John, is because there are some 06:41 who believe that there is going to be 06:44 this thousand year earthly reign of Christ. 06:48 That's why there's such push on getting the world 06:51 balanced in its ozone layers and making sure that, 06:55 we don't pollute the land for our children in the future. 06:59 I know that there are other benefits to that, 07:01 by having clean water and clean air. 07:04 We don't want to just go nuts and just destroy the land. 07:07 Because the Bible did say in Revelation 11, 07:09 "I will destroy those who destroy the earth." 07:11 But it's actually showing that God is not coming back 07:16 to reform or to live down here with us. 07:21 He's coming back to take us where He is, 07:23 preparing home for us. 07:25 And so this world is getting ripe for destruction 07:28 and the context of that, 07:29 whole thing is don't be confused. 07:32 God made a promise the last time to destroy the world 07:35 and He made a promise this time to destroy it, 07:37 and as He fulfilled the last promise, 07:39 He's gonna fulfill this promise. 07:41 That's the whole context of that passage, yeah. 07:43 It almost kind of conjures up the thought to me, 07:45 at least as you were talking, 07:46 that how sometimes people that need to be saved 07:50 or want to be saved, 07:51 how they try to clean themselves up, oh, yeah. 07:53 So that Jesus can then accept them. 07:56 But we know that, that model doesn't work. 07:58 You come to Jesus as you are, 08:00 repenting and confessing your sins. 08:03 And then Jesus does the cleaning up. 08:05 So in this respect we're not here in this world 08:08 to somehow get it ready 08:10 so that we can kind of hand it to Him 08:12 when He comes to reign on His throne on this earth. 08:15 No, He's coming down on this earth 08:16 to then take His people... 08:19 that in the second coming, it says that His feet won't 08:21 even touch the ground. 08:23 That in the second coming 08:24 He will catch us up to meet Him in the air. 08:28 And then take us with Him to where He is in heaven. 08:32 And of course that's a fulfillment 08:34 of John Chapter 14 verses 1 to 3. 08:37 So clearly, He's not coming down to establish 08:39 His kingdom here. 08:40 It's gonna be destroyed by fire at his return. 08:42 People will be consumed by the brightness of his presence 08:46 and then He will take all those who are righteous, 08:49 that have been saved, 08:50 with him to live with him in heaven 08:52 through the thousand years. 08:53 Okay, very good one. What do you have for us? 08:56 I have a question here 08:57 asking for clarification on two scriptures 08:59 that are somewhat compatible here with the discussion 09:03 we've already begun. 09:05 And that is Ephesians 4:8 through 10 09:08 and comparing that with 1st Thessalonians 4:13 to 18. 09:14 And so this is Linda who's asking us 09:19 to explain or expound on these thought provoking passages. 09:25 Are there differences 09:27 or is there harmony between these two? 09:29 And so let me read first of all from Ephesians Chapter 4, 09:33 verses 8 through 10. 09:38 It says, "Therefore He says: 09:42 "When He ascended on high, 09:44 He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. 09:51 Now this, He ascended what does it mean 09:54 but that He also first descended 09:56 into the lower parts of the earth? 09:59 He who descended is also the One who ascended 10:03 far above all the heavens, that He might fit all things." 10:09 Okay, so what it's saying here is that, 10:12 talking about Christ's ascension that he ascended on high. 10:15 It means ascended in... 10:17 Paul, Apostle Paul is clarifying this, 10:18 it means ascended because first he descended 10:21 to the lower parts of the earth. 10:23 And now he could be talking about a couple of things here. 10:27 That He simply came down to this earth 10:29 from the glories of heaven to begin to live out 10:33 the life of righteousness for us, 10:36 die on the cross for us, 10:37 paying the penalty for our sins. 10:39 And then so He had the right then 10:41 to re-ascend to heaven in our behalf 10:45 and to mediate the benefits of the redemption 10:48 He achieved while He was here on this earth. 10:50 So speaking of that, or it could also be 10:52 the added element of the fact that when He came to this earth, 10:55 not only He did he die for us on the cross 10:57 but that He rested for three graves-- 10:59 three days in the tomb in the grave 11:02 that was the lower parts of the earth. 11:04 So either way I don't have a problem 11:06 with that interpretation. 11:08 So the question is how does that harmonize 11:10 with 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4, verses, 11:16 what is it, 13 to 18. 11:18 Do you have that one, John? 11:19 Yes, I got you there. 11:22 Okay 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4, verse 13 to 18, 11:25 okay, here we are. 11:27 And to read is follow as, 11:29 "But I do not want you to be ignorant 11:30 brother and concerning those who have fallen asleep, 11:33 lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 11:37 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 11:39 even so God will bring with Him with those who sleep in Jesus. 11:43 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord 11:46 that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of Lord 11:49 will by no means precede those who are asleep. 11:52 For the Lord himself will descend 11:54 from heaven with a shout, 11:55 with a voice of an Archangel 11:57 and with the trumpet of God 11:59 and the dead in Christ will rise first. 12:02 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up 12:05 together with them in the clouds 12:07 to meet the Lord in the air thus 12:10 we shall always be with the Lord. 12:13 Therefore, comfort one another with these words." all right. 12:18 So when looking at these two verses, 12:19 we're actually talking about 12:21 a couple different things here, okay. 12:22 Number one, the first passage in Ephesians Chapter 4 12:25 is referring to Christ coming to this earth 12:28 to become our savior and our Lord, our redeemer. 12:32 The one that was going to live out 12:34 that perfect life in our behalf-- 12:36 the life that we cannot live perfectly ourselves-- 12:39 and to die on the cross to pay the penalty of the sin, 12:42 for the sins that we have committed. 12:44 And then, of course, after resting in the grave, 12:47 then going to heaven as he indicated 12:49 in John Chapter 14 that he says, 12:51 "I am going to prepare a place for you." 12:53 In other words, "I'm going back to heaven 12:55 to prepare a place for you. 12:56 But when I come again, 12:57 I will receive you to myself 12:59 that where I am, you may be also." 13:01 Well, that part receiving Him, us to himself, 13:05 to be where He went, 13:07 which is where he ascended in heaven. 13:08 That's what 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4 is talking about. 13:12 So when He comes down, 13:14 he's going to call us up with his great voice, 13:17 the voice of Archangel, with a trumpet of God, 13:19 and resurrect the living, 13:21 the saints and then also catch up 13:24 or rapture up at that time. 13:26 The rapture makes sense. 13:27 It's not a secret rapture, 13:29 its an audible visible calling up 13:31 to meet him in the air 13:33 and then returning with both the resurrected saints 13:35 and the saints who are alive 13:37 and remain to heaven to live with Him 13:39 during the thousand years. 13:40 So these scriptures are very much in harmony 13:42 with each other, that's right. 13:44 Ephesians 4 preceding 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4 13:47 which is coming back to this earth to receive His saints. 13:52 I wanted to add to that one of the, 13:55 one of the beauties of the word God is. 13:58 There are no mysteries there, 13:59 but sometimes when you grapple with particular scriptures, 14:02 you have to put all the components together 14:05 as Ephesians brings in some components of the resurrection. 14:09 1st Thessalonians brings in components of the resurrection 14:12 and in reality the resurrection is one of the topics. 14:15 It's as very very vaguely 14:17 or hardly talked about at all today in many churches. 14:20 It's die, go to heaven. Die, go straight to heaven. 14:25 Die, go to the place of burning. 14:28 But the Bible has the strong foundation 14:31 which teaches there's gonna be a resurrection 14:34 and we're gonna all go to heaven together 14:36 as Hebrews-- one of the passages 14:38 I want to add to that is in the Book of Hebrews. 14:41 Go over with me to the Book of Hebrews Chapter 11 14:44 and the faith chapter. 14:49 Hebrew 11, verse 35, it speaks of a better resurrection 14:56 and the better resurrection is the first resurrection. 14:59 It says, "Women received their dead raised to life again: 15:04 and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; 15:08 that they might obtain a better resurrection." 15:11 And there it says verse 39, 15:13 "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, 15:20 did not receive the promise." 15:22 And verse 40, "God having provided 15:25 something better for us, 15:27 that they should not be made perfect apart from us." 15:31 You know, the better resurrection 15:34 is not talked about. 15:35 You don't hear any sermons about the resurrection. 15:39 You don't. Because this concept 15:41 has taken over that people die 15:43 and just float off very early to heaven in the spirit form. 15:48 Resurrection almost has become 15:49 unimportant to the Christian world, right. 15:51 When it was the Christian world's greatest hope. 15:54 Matter of fact the great magazine cover would be, 15:57 you know, you see like, 15:59 you know, the road sings in front of you. 16:01 And it says, "detour" straight to heaven. 16:05 Because the road might be on that detour 16:07 sign will be the resurrection. 16:09 "Enter here to wait for the resurrection." 16:11 But then you have another sign right below, "Detour. 16:13 Go straight to heaven". "Detour". 16:16 Yeah, we I would strongly encourage all of our viewers 16:19 our listeners to read very carefully 16:21 the entire Chapter of 1st Corinthians Chapter 15. 16:24 It's all about the resurrection. 16:25 And what it says throughout that chapter, 16:27 how we are all basically waiting for this resurrection 16:32 to happen to meet up with for that great reunion in sky 16:36 that we just read about. 16:37 Which is 1st Thessalonians 4, 16:40 the great reunion in the sky amongst both those 16:42 who have died before us 16:45 and those who are alive at the time of Christ return. 16:47 We want to be resurrected to meet others, 16:50 to meet our friends, to meet our family members, 16:52 to meet our loved ones in the air to go to heaven 16:55 with them at the same time. 16:57 That is the beautiful picture of the resurrection 17:01 and what its formed is that great day of the 2nd coming, 17:03 the redemption of Christ 17:05 when he comes to redeem us from this world 17:08 and to take us from its sin 17:10 and so what a beautiful picture he has established for us. 17:14 For the conclusion of this age of sin. 17:17 But yet, the Christian world has kind of done 17:20 into the incredible disservice by saying, 17:21 "Well, everybody is already in heaven already, 17:24 and that, you know, the only thing 17:26 the resurrection is for is so we can take, 17:28 God can take the souls from heaven 17:30 put them down into bodies now, 17:32 that are being raised to go back to heaven." 17:34 You know, there is no evidence in the scriptures, 17:36 John, of anybody living without a body in heaven. 17:40 No, there is not. 17:41 There is not one, 17:42 there is not one verse. Very good point. 17:43 Of someone living in heaven without a body, that's right. 17:47 So to say this soul is conscious existing in heaven. 17:50 Without its body because it won't be receive 17:53 its glorified body into a resurrection. 17:55 It is a teaching that is nowhere in scripture. 17:58 You're right. 17:59 And so I really I don't know, 18:02 I kind of know where it's coming from, 18:03 I should say. But I don't understand 18:06 the real basis or the foundation for its teaching 18:09 because it seems to be rely on just a couple verses 18:12 that are interpreted in this way 18:15 because already of the conclusion 18:17 that the person studying the scriptures has arrived at. 18:19 Which is, "Well, people are already in heaven." 18:21 So this verse is telling us that this is when it happens. 18:25 But in no way do we find 18:27 any supporting scripture for that. 18:29 I am actually glad you mentioned 18:30 that because there are certain things in the Bible, 18:32 if you take a scripture all by itself 18:34 and don't build a support around it, 18:36 you could almost make it sound like its saying 18:39 something other than what it really says. 18:41 That's why, you know, Isaiah says, 18:42 "here a little, there a little, 18:44 line upon line, precept on precept" 18:46 and one person once said its impossible 18:49 or it's dangerous to build 18:50 a whole doctrine on one scripture. 18:53 In particular, the topic of what happened 18:55 when a person dies. 18:58 The Bible gives so much clear evidence 19:01 as to what happens when they die. 19:03 Where they return, to what they are not doing. 19:08 Even in Job 14 it says, 19:11 "if a man dies, will he live again?" 19:16 It says in Ecclesiastes, "he died and where is he?" 19:19 and then it goes to the very next verse 19:21 and answers that. 19:22 "The living know that they would die, 19:23 but the dead know nothing." 19:25 So it's really important, 19:27 as you pointed out at a moment ago, 19:29 to really build on that. 19:30 And because sometimes 19:33 we could be quoting scriptures in Bible. 19:35 I remember one day I got together 19:36 and I was really in my preaching mode 19:39 and somebody set me an email. 19:40 I got hung up on Isaiah 3:20. 19:42 Knowing full well in my calm mode, 19:46 that's not what it says. 19:49 But somehow that got in there, 19:50 you know, sometimes you get that. 19:52 There are some days that certain words 19:53 are hard to annunciate. 19:56 I had one of those days and I kept saying, 19:57 "Isaiah 3:20, Isaiah 3:20" somebody wrote me and said, 19:59 "It doesn't say that at all. 20:01 It doesn't say that at all." 20:02 And so contribute that to a slip of the tongue, 20:06 not so much an intent to misquote scripture, 20:09 because we do want to maintain biblical integrity. 20:14 So we thank you for those things, 20:15 and that's why I chose to mention that. 20:17 So that people can see, 20:18 yes, we are walking through the scriptures together 20:21 and we don't want to make you think 20:22 that we all have it completely together. 20:25 Anytime you want to correct us 20:26 and we accept that correction, 20:28 we will surely bring that on the air. 20:30 On my laptop, as well as on John's, 20:33 we have Bibles before us that allows us 20:35 to answer certain questions like the next one. 20:38 A really important question. 20:40 There are many translations nowadays. 20:43 You have some that are paraphrases 20:45 like today's English version. 20:47 You have some that are authoritative translations 20:50 and like New American Standard Bible. 20:53 King James Version, New King James Version. 20:56 New International Version. 20:58 I tend to shy away more from the NIV 21:01 than I do from the New King James Version, 21:04 but this individual asks, 21:06 "Greetings, I would like to know 21:07 why it is that almost everyone uses 21:11 the New King James Version Bible 21:13 and not the Old King James Version. 21:16 Looks like even the SDA leaders are teaching things 21:18 that should not be so. Or they should not be doing." 21:22 And let me give you one of the reasons. 21:25 Couple of points and we could all speak 21:27 back and forth on this issue. 21:29 The King James Version or The New King James Version 21:33 the words that are inspired are not interrupted. 21:39 Meaning, the words that are contributory 21:42 to the actual language Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic 21:45 are not interrupted at all. 21:48 But the thought is what's inspired. 21:50 That's why you find, and let me give you an example: 21:52 Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. 21:55 They will all speak of same incident 21:57 but sometimes from a different angle. 21:59 One of the great controversies that exists, 22:01 not so much in the translations, 22:03 but in the Bible itself is that why does one say, 22:06 "When Jesus rose, it was yet dark." 22:08 And the other one said, "as it began to dawn", 22:10 and the other one says "as it dawned 22:12 on the first-day of the week". 22:14 But the thing that is most significant 22:16 about the New King James Version, 22:18 it corrects and puts in the proper context 22:22 or proper grammatical setting. 22:26 Some of the words that were not correctly 22:28 so in the King James Version. Let me give you an example. 22:30 Go with me to Genesis Chapter 3 22:34 and we're gonna look at verse 5, 22:35 and I have both translations listed here on my page 22:39 so that I can read them both. 22:40 Alright? I'm gonna first read it from the King James Version. 22:44 And I'm gonna tell you how it is put. 22:45 And if you have King James Version 22:46 Bible and a New King James, 22:48 put them side by side so you could follow along 22:50 and see exactly what I mean. 22:52 Well, the discussion here 22:53 is about the fall of Adam and Eve. 22:55 And the suggestion here in verse 5 is this. 23:00 "For God doth know," this is serpent speaking to Eve 23:04 "For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, 23:10 then your eyes shall be opened: 23:13 and ye shall be as gods... " plural " 23:17 knowing good and evil." 23:19 That's what the King James Version says. 23:21 But if you read the New King James Version 23:23 one of the things I wanna point out 23:25 in the King James Version, the word "gods" 23:27 is plural and its small G. 23:31 But here is where the New King James version 23:33 corrected it. "For God knows 23:35 that in the day you eat of it, 23:37 your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, 23:40 knowing good and evil." 23:42 The suggestion and the context of the passage, 23:44 Lucifer saying that you will become like God, 23:48 not that you'll be like gods. 23:51 You will be a god, Eve and you will be god, Adam. 23:54 That's not what the suggestion was. 23:56 Well, the word is Elohim. 23:58 The word is Elohim, which is not small G, plural. 24:02 It's singular and it's really God as an almighty God. 24:08 So that's one of the things 24:09 that the King James Version did not properly translate. 24:13 And so in many cases 24:14 the New King James Version corrects the, 24:17 something like that. 24:18 Put it in the proper context not little g-o-d-s, 24:22 but capital G-o-d because the devil said, 24:24 "You could become like Him, if you just disobey him." 24:28 And we knew that was not the case 24:30 and later on you find that the Lord said 24:34 "let us go down because the man has become like one of us", 24:39 suggesting clearly. Another reference 24:41 and there's a number of them I can't do them all here. 24:44 But I'll give you one more, 24:46 showing one of the greatest things 24:47 that the New King James Version has done is correct the tense 24:50 and given the proper setting for the word that's used there. 24:53 So it's not misconstrued because, 24:56 John, when the Bible uses the word spirit, 24:59 depending on the word there, it can mean the Holy Spirit, 25:02 it can mean the breath of life in your nostril, 25:06 or simply it can mean the spirit by which something is done. 25:12 Spirit of man. Spirit of man. 25:13 It's the spirit by which we do something. 25:15 Right, so you know he did it, did it with an evil spirit. 25:18 And, in fact, in that context, it could demonic spirits. 25:21 So it could be demonic spirit 25:22 it could mean spirit of in the breath of man 25:26 which is ruach or nephesh or it can mean the Holy Spirit. 25:31 And so one of the things that the New King James Version 25:33 did and I will... matter of fact, 25:35 I want you go to Numbers 11:25. 25:38 And I'll read Numbers 11:25 in the King James Version. 25:41 And I want you to notice 25:42 if you have the King James Version, 25:44 the difference between the two translations, 25:46 because the New King James Version 25:48 corrects and puts these words in the right setting. 25:54 Whenever you speak of divinity, you don't use a small letter. 25:58 You use a capital letter. 26:00 And it says in the King James Version, 26:04 "And the Lord came down in a cloud and spake unto him 26:08 and took the spirit that was upon him 26:11 and gave it to the 70 elders. 26:14 And it came to pass 26:15 that when the spirit rested upon them, 26:18 they prophesized and did not cease." 26:20 Now you notice on both examples on the King James Version. 26:22 The word "spirit" is small cap. 26:25 Small, not even cap, small letters. 26:28 But if you read the King James Version, 26:30 John, read that for us. 26:31 "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him 26:35 and took of the Spirit..." 26:36 Capital S. " that was upon him 26:39 and placed the same upon the 70 elders. 26:42 And it happened when the Spirit" that's capitalized again," 26:45 rested upon them that they prophesied 26:48 although they never did so again." 26:51 And so you see clearly one of the most prevalent things 26:55 it does is corrects the tense. 26:58 What I wanna also show you 26:59 and I mentioned a moment ago one of the reasons I don't, 27:02 one of the reasons I shy away mostly, 27:04 I think you have more 27:05 controversies surrounding the NIV. 27:07 Because there are some texts that are absolutely deleted 27:11 but you don't have that in the King James Version. 27:14 It speaks more like we speak today 27:16 but it doesn't move away so far from the context. 27:19 It doesn't move way at all from the context of the verses. 27:21 Yeah, and I would say that the NIV, 27:23 along with other modern translations, 27:25 come from a different manuscript line, 27:27 than does the King James and the New King James Version. 27:30 So by the instances of that, 27:32 it's not so much that it was deleted, 27:33 it's that the text there isn't evident 27:36 through the historical line, in other words. 27:38 So you can't just put something there 27:39 that's not there in the manuscript, right. 27:41 So the modern translations come from a different line 27:44 than do the King James and the New King James Versions. 27:48 And there's all kinds of debate about 27:49 whether or not that's legitimate or not. 27:51 Obviously the modern translation 27:53 comes from a manuscript that is older, right. 27:55 Than the King James 27:56 and then the New King James Version as well. 27:58 But I think I agree with you when it comes to Bible study 28:01 and typically pick up my New King James Version Bible 28:04 to do that in, because often I am finding 28:08 that it's easier to follow line to line, 28:10 subject to subject with that. 28:12 Now that's preference for me, 28:14 but it doesn't mean that the NIV other translations 28:16 that are from the older manuscript 28:19 in a modern version, as it's spoken of, is evil. 28:22 Or somehow the intent is that Satan has got in there 28:26 and done something to the word. 28:27 I think God is absolutely able to protect his word 28:31 from ancient times up to today in the various forms. 28:36 Now I also can agree probably with you on sometimes 28:41 when you're using a um, not an actual translation 28:46 but more of a paraphrase Bible. 28:49 Then you're getting lot of man's words 28:51 added into the text to help provide clarification for it, 28:55 and in some ways, it's correct. 28:57 But in sometimes, you read it, it's definitely not correct. 29:00 It's actually leading you the wrong direction. 29:02 So you want to be careful of paraphrases. 29:04 Also be careful of the notations 29:06 and the Biblical notes of the bottom of these things, 29:09 'cause it depends upon what kind of Bible 29:11 that you're reading. 29:12 But it could be a commentary that is based upon, 29:16 um, one person's interpretation that will lead you 29:19 also in a wrong direction. 29:20 So the word is the most important part. 29:23 And, John, you know, the other thing is, 29:24 a lot of the times we read the King James Version Bible 29:27 and certain passages kind of make you blush, 29:30 because we don't speak that way today, yeah. 29:33 There's one of particular if this is a... 29:36 I know where you going. You know huh? 29:38 You're going to Balaam. The story of Balaam. 29:40 Oh, well, I chose not to go to that one, 29:42 because that's kind of offensive. 29:43 Yeah, that's right. If you speak to someone today 29:46 in the context of modern society, 29:48 so many things have been corrupted 29:49 that we don't we don't speak the way we used to. 29:52 We use certain words that were acceptable. 29:55 Let me give you a passive example. 29:56 This is not a controversy-- this is not 29:59 intent to spark any controversy. 30:01 But in the thirties and forties 30:03 when you said the word gay 30:04 that means you were happy, right. 30:06 Okay? Doesn't mean that today. No. 30:08 It means something completely different. 30:10 In the same way and I talked about this 30:11 how the Christians should get back, 30:12 take back their rainbow. 30:14 Because it was a time rainbow always represented 30:16 the promise of God that he would not flood 30:18 the world by, he would not destroy world by a flood. 30:22 But nowadays you see a rainbow 30:23 on the back of somebody's car, 30:24 it means something different altogether. 30:27 Modern society has so twisted the meaning of things 30:31 that God never intended to be twisted, 30:32 that we have to comeback to the reality of it and see, 30:35 put it in the proper context. 30:36 Now I'm not gonna go to the one on Balaam 30:38 because I know that, you know, 30:39 I don't want to walk the line--so its offensive 30:43 when I sometimes hear it. 30:45 But if you hear it in the context 30:46 you could understand a person's using 30:47 the King James Version, but the one that 30:48 first Samuel 25:22, this was brought to my attention. 30:51 And I was so glad that this was corrected 30:53 in the King James Version and then the New King James, 30:58 actually, the new international version 31:01 gives it there's certain times I use the NIV Bible 31:04 because sometimes it speaks so clearly. 31:07 But the, um, I'll read it in the King James Version. 31:10 And first Samuel 25:22, 31:13 "So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, 31:18 if I leave of all that pertain to him, 31:21 by morning light any that pisseth against the wall." 31:26 And we don't speak that way. We don't. 31:28 But if you read the New King James Version 31:30 it says, "May God do so, and more also, 31:32 to the enemies of David, 31:34 if I leave one male at all who belong to him 31:38 by morning light." 31:40 That's the way to speak today. Male. 31:42 But we don't, we don't use that kind of 31:44 context language today. 31:46 You know, we say male and female. 31:48 We don't use the word-- 31:50 So the New King Version was intended to leave 31:53 in place the integrity of the King James Bible, 31:58 exactly, but take words and the way things are said 32:02 and put them into a modern language. 32:04 Which is something that has been indorsed 32:07 and supported by our church from many many years. 32:09 Right, you know, one of our main church pioneers 32:12 we think is very inspired 32:14 through her writings throughout. 32:16 As the translations were coming out, 32:17 she used them and she said that 32:19 she gave very much praise to some of those 32:22 who were working to bring out these new translations 32:25 because it made the word more understandable, right. 32:27 Well, you know, I think we doing nothing, 32:29 but get into controversies over this thing. 32:31 Divide churches when we become rooted in saying 32:35 where it's only King James Version. 32:37 That they may be your preference. 32:39 It's preferential rather than-- That's really the issue. 32:41 It's not a salvation issue. 32:43 And that's what I think, so many times people make this, 32:45 "Oh, if we turn away from the King James Version 32:48 we're gone in the way of darkness." 32:50 King James was not a Christian. 32:53 He was the one that commissioned the translation. 32:57 But he was not a, 32:59 "Oh, God has inspired me to put this translation out 33:02 and all the words are inspired." 33:03 By no means. Do the history-- 33:05 Do the historical search on that. 33:06 King James is not the source of the inspiration. 33:10 He's the source of the commission 33:11 for that Bible to be put together. 33:13 And lastly, this is the most significance difference 33:16 and I mentioned the NIV here. 33:17 Romans 8, verse 1, and I want you read Romans 8, 33:20 verse 1 in the New King James Version. 33:22 It says the same thing in the King James Version. 33:24 They don't have any difference there. 33:31 And I like the way that it-- 33:32 but here's what the NIV does 33:34 and I don't really support this. 33:35 But read that in Romans 8 and verse 1, 33:38 King James-- New King James Version. 33:40 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those 33:42 who are in Christ Jesus, 33:44 who do not walk according to the flesh, 33:46 but according to the Spirit." 33:47 Okay, where does the condemnation not come in? 33:50 According to your walk, right? 33:51 Right, if you don't walk according to the flesh, 33:54 there's no condemnation because you're walking 33:56 according to the spirit. 33:58 But now if you read this in the NIV, 33:59 the whole second part-- 34:01 this is the part that is taken out. 34:03 Who do not walk according to the flesh 34:05 but according to the spirit? 34:06 That's completely left out in the NIV. 34:09 It doesn't appear in the original manuscripts all. 34:11 Right. It's just not there. 34:12 And so you have here in the NIV, 34:14 "Therefore there is now no condemnation 34:17 for those who are in Christ Jesus." 34:19 Yeah, it's in the King James Version it continues, 34:22 "who do not walk according to the flesh" 34:23 and the New King James, 34:24 "who do not walk according to the flesh" 34:26 But it's not included in the NIV, 34:28 because of the source of the translation 34:29 that they use. 34:30 So...but once again, if you look at the whole 34:33 inspired thought, the other thing you find 34:35 in the NIV is, um, sometimes it says that 34:40 "blessed are they that, who have washed their robes." 34:43 Instead of "blessed are they that keep the commandments." 34:47 Revelation 22, verse 14. 34:49 But once again the whole inspired thought 34:51 is not lost. 34:53 But some of the passages are just 34:54 completely taken out, 34:55 so I rather stick with the New King James Version. 34:58 And I quote many of my texts from the King James Version 35:01 because it's in my head, right. 35:02 From all the years we've used them. 35:03 Memorization of old, yeah. 35:04 Right, well, anyway, we've covered quite a bit 35:06 here today and we've extended our time 35:08 a little bit for some very important topics. 35:09 But if you have any question you want to sent to us, 35:11 send those to housecalls@3abn.org. 35:14 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 35:17 And once again, thank you so much 35:19 for all that you do for this network 35:20 and all that you do to support us by your prayers 35:23 and your financial support. 35:25 We do appreciate it. 35:27 Now, John, let's dive into our closing out 35:30 of our topic today. 35:33 We're going to finish up our discussion on faith. 35:38 But you were adding a different approach to it. 35:40 And tell us. Yeah. 35:41 We're now finishing up by touching on just 35:43 some of the areas of practicing our faith. 35:48 And these are key areas of life that 35:50 we think are very important 35:51 where we need to be exercising that faith muscle 35:55 or building that faith muscle. 35:56 You're becoming stronger in that faith 35:59 and so we want to share with you 36:01 some of the aspects that we see 36:02 they are very important for today. 36:04 I think some of the areas that maybe some Christians 36:06 struggle in and other areas that maybe some of you don't. 36:10 But again, these are the practices of faith 36:13 and some different aspects of that. 36:15 And one of the first ones I think that was important to, 36:17 to touch on, John, is this dialogue between 36:22 Jesus and the disciples found in Luke chapter 17. 36:27 So why don't we start there and listen to what 36:33 Jesus was asking them to do and how they responded... 36:38 to his request and we'll start with Luke 17. 36:44 Let's just start with verse 1, okay. 36:47 It says, "Then He said to the disciples, 36:49 'It is impossible that no offenses should come, 36:52 but woe to him through whom they do come! 36:56 It would be better for him if a millstone 36:58 were hung around his neck, 37:01 and he were thrown into the sea, 37:02 than that he should offend one of these little ones.'" 37:08 In reference to those that were coming to him. 37:10 So deceiving, offending little ones. 37:12 Now listen to this. Verse 3, "Take heed to yourselves. 37:16 If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, 37:18 and if he repents, forgive him. 37:20 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, 37:24 and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 37:26 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." 37:30 Now listen to the response from the apostles-- 37:32 the disciples here. 37:34 "And the apostles said to the Lord, 37:36 'Increase our faith.'" 37:38 Wow, so put yourself under the mindset 37:41 of the disciples here. 37:44 The word says apostles, in cases. 37:46 Same individuals we're talking about. 37:50 They're hearing Christ say to them that even 37:53 if someone offends you over and over again, 37:55 commits the sin against you, if he comes back to you 37:59 and asks for forgiveness and repents, forgive him. 38:02 And this word seven times, I think is more intended 38:05 to designate, not necessarily seven times only, 38:10 but seven times is a perfect number, 38:12 as in, elsewhere, I think in Mathew, 38:16 we read that if someone asks forgiveness to you 38:21 forgive him seven times. 38:22 And he says "no, seventy times seven", right? 38:25 Okay, so there's this magnitude that goes 38:27 beyond the basic idea is that 38:29 beyond what the disciples were thinking about 38:31 would be the alotted amount of times, 38:33 to give some or extend to someone forgiveness. 38:36 So they're hearing this and they're saying, 38:38 "Do you mean if someone keeps on hurting us 38:40 over and over again that I'm to forgive him 38:42 every time if they ask?" 38:44 And Jesus says, "Yes, that's exactly 38:47 what you need to do." 38:48 So the response here is then, "Increase our faith." 38:53 John, I think this is an area. It's a sensitive area. 38:57 But we need to understand it. 38:59 That God is asking for the church, 39:02 and as its members, that the greatest thing 39:05 we have for one another is love. 39:07 And then whenever there's an opportunity 39:09 to reconcile and repair a relationship, 39:11 that we must take it 39:13 and forgive those who have hurt us. 39:15 This requires faith. Wow, that's true. 39:21 And 'cause our natural inclination is 39:24 to not want to forgive. 39:25 I mean, come on, how many times they hurt me? 39:27 I'm done with this, right? I'm moving on. 39:29 I'm writing them off. 39:31 But God says, "No, no, if they keep coming back to you 39:34 and ask for forgiveness, you forgive them every time 39:37 and that requires faith. 39:40 Now, faith in a god who supremely is the God of love. 39:45 And we want to share this aspect of faith 39:47 because some of you, I think, 39:49 may be holding onto that forgiveness. 39:52 You're not extending that forgiveness 39:54 to a brother or a sister who has hurt you, 39:56 who has offended you. 39:57 And I know it says, "They must come to you 39:59 and seek that forgiveness first," 40:02 but let me tell you, Mathew 18 says. 40:04 "The one offended should go to the one 40:06 who did the offence to ask or to seek reconciliation." 40:10 John, I mean, these pastors 40:11 have been through this many times. 40:13 You know, "I'm not going to forgive them, 40:14 they need to come to me." 40:16 Mathew 18 says no, if you're the one that was offended, 40:19 you go to the one committing the offence 40:21 and seek reconciliation, right? 40:22 Right. That's the rule. 40:25 So if you're offended, doesn't matter how many times, 40:29 go to the individual that offended you, 40:31 seek reconciliation, 40:32 if they are open to reconciliation forgive them. 40:37 I would even add to that, regardless. 40:40 Forgiveness is what we should extend to anybody 40:43 that has offended us or hurt us. 40:44 Wow, and it takes faith to do that. 40:46 You're right. You are exactly correct. 40:49 I mean, that is just... you can't argue with that. 40:52 And then, and so the Lord-- and then it's after that 40:55 that He says to them let me show you 40:58 how effective it would be. 40:59 If you had the faith of mustard seed it'll happen. 41:01 'Cause they're saying I don't really 41:03 have enough faith to do that. 41:04 I don't really have enough faith 41:05 to go and forgive somebody. 41:06 He says it doesn't take a whole lot. 41:08 Matter of fact, let's start with the mustard seed. 41:11 It can move a mountain. 41:12 He doesn't say, if you faith of a mountain 41:13 you can move a mustard seed. 41:15 He said if you had the faith of a mustard seed, 41:16 you could move a mountain. 41:17 In other words, oh, man, I'll tell you, 41:19 that's you put that into context in a beautiful way, 41:22 John, because, you know lot of the situations 41:24 we face in life are like mountains to us. 41:26 And we don't want to go to that mountain. 41:29 Forget it, forget it, I'll just stay in the Midwest. 41:32 You know, you're in a mountainous state, 41:33 a beautiful state of Idaho. 41:34 But truly our situations appear to us as mountains 41:38 and the Lord says, that mountain can be moved 41:42 if you just simply put your mustard seed faith 41:45 into action, it'll happen. 41:47 It'll work. I appreciate that. 41:49 And it can seem impossible. 41:50 So it is impossible we would think 41:52 that a mountain can be moved by faith. 41:54 But God says, when it comes to a barrier 41:57 between you and another, 41:59 God can remove mountain through faith. 42:02 He can extend forgiveness. 42:03 Now it ties in also with other passages 42:06 where Christ says, even in his prayer 42:08 as He's teaching the disciples had to pray, 42:10 He says forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 42:14 So do not, the antithesis to that 42:17 would be do not forgive our debts 42:19 as we don't extend forgiveness to our debtors. 42:23 So we need to be forgiving others 42:26 or the result would be that God would not forgive us. 42:30 I mean haven't all of us done something to God 42:33 that doesn't deserve his forgiveness? 42:35 But he's been gracious to us. 42:38 You think about that whole unrighteous servant. 42:42 You know, where he came before the king. 42:43 He had this incredible debt. 42:45 And the king forgave it all. 42:47 And he left praising God or thanking the king for that, 42:50 went down the street, ran into a guy who owed him 20 bucks. 42:53 Right, and had him thrown in prison 42:55 because he wouldn't pay him back 20 bucks. 42:56 Well, the king called him back in to give account for that 42:59 and said because you wouldn't forgive the other debt, 43:01 I now will not forgive you. 43:03 In fact, I heed back that debt upon you. 43:05 Pay it all, throw him into prison. 43:06 I studied that out, John, and I came to discover 43:09 one of the servants who owed the king 43:12 so much that he said give me time. 43:14 You know how much time he would have needed? 43:15 He said based on how much he owed 43:17 it would have taken him 325 years to pay it back. 43:20 He didn't have 325 years. 43:22 So when he said give me time. 43:25 He had no time. 43:26 There was not enough time for him to do that. 43:28 That's why the Lord in his mercy said, you need time? 43:31 No, what you need is forgiveness. 43:33 And so that's what he extended to him--forgiveness. 43:35 And faith is the, is the element there 43:38 and sometimes we can't come to the point 43:40 of forgiveness or accomplishment 43:42 because our faith is so weak. 43:44 It's smaller in our admittance than a mustard seed. 43:48 And it's also --it's... 43:51 hearing this is a way to test our faith. 43:53 You know, don't think that you've arrived, 43:56 I mean, we all something that we need to work on. 43:59 And examine yourself to see whether you are of the faith. 44:03 And so we examine ourselves and some may say, 44:05 "Well, I have great faith." 44:07 But yet they're not extending forgiveness 44:09 to their brother or their sister. 44:12 And you know, we can get 44:14 situations like that even as pastors. 44:16 You know, we can unintentionally 44:20 maybe offend somebody in the church or something 44:22 and then all this, you know the backbiting 44:24 and the conversing behind the scenes. 44:26 About the pastor and what they've done 44:28 and, oh, how they've harm--and then, of course, 44:29 then they're not speaking to their pastor and all this stuff. 44:31 That is done in the name of, 44:35 "I have great discernment in faith 44:36 and the pastor did wrong." 44:38 Right, but yet, they have a weak faith 44:40 because they're not forgiving. 44:42 And so sometimes, it's the very opposite. 44:44 We feel we have great faith, 44:46 but because of withholding forgiveness and reconciliation, 44:49 we actually have a very weak faith. 44:52 So, it's a, it is the greatest, 44:54 most upstanding individual in God's eyes 44:58 is the one that is most humble. 45:00 That's true, the first thing I said to my elders 45:02 when I came to Sandpoint 45:05 and all of them will attest to this. 45:06 They said, "What would you like from us the most?" 45:09 We were dialoguing about this and I said, 45:10 "What I expect from the most, 45:12 first on the list above all things, 45:13 is that you would be humble. 45:15 I'm looking for humble men as elders. 45:17 If you are all humble, we can work together." 45:21 And they said, "You know, they were, you're right. 45:23 That's what we want." 45:25 And we have had a great relationship 45:26 and then going forward. 45:28 Humility is not for the weak. 45:30 Humility is for the strong. 45:32 Right. Stronger faith. 45:34 And so how do we increase our faith is 45:36 really great question. 45:38 I believe it's where you look makes a difference. 45:41 Where you have your eyes fixed makes the difference. 45:44 The statement made by the writer 45:46 of Hebrews in Hebrews 12. 45:47 I want to go there and show you or point you out 45:52 the place that we could look 45:54 if we need to get our faith strengthened. 45:57 Because truly, if you look to people sometimes. 46:00 Well, Job said, "Don't put your trust in princes 46:04 or in the son of man in whom there is no help." 46:07 So who do you look to? 46:08 Who do you look to when you need 46:09 the difficulties of life resolved? 46:12 Look at what it says here in Hebrews 12 verse 2. 46:15 Notice this is a very important, 46:16 because we know each person 46:18 as a measure, measure of faith. 46:19 That's where it started. 46:21 Read 1, too, because it's laying aside that weight. 46:24 Okay, it says, "Since we are surrounded by 46:27 so great a cloud of witnesses, 46:30 let us lay aside every weight, 46:33 and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 46:38 and let us run with endurance the race 46:41 that is set before us..." 46:43 How do we run it? 46:45 "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 46:49 who for the joy that was set before Him 46:53 endured the cross, despising the shame, 46:56 and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 47:00 Who do we look to? Jesus. 47:02 I look to you, look to the Lord. 47:04 Keep our eyes fixed on him. 47:06 He's the one that began our faith 47:08 and He's the one that's gonna finish our faith. 47:11 Now is your faith gonna be stronger as you look to Christ? 47:14 Of course, it's gonna be stronger. 47:16 It can't help but be stronger 47:18 if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ. 47:20 But the reason why many of us 47:22 don't have that kind of faith we have, 47:24 or that we should have, is the same example 47:26 we find in the story of the disciples. 47:28 When they were in the boat they were been tossed. 47:30 They were looking more at the weather, 47:33 at the conditions around them, 47:35 than the Lord that was right there with them. 47:37 Just a few feet away. 47:39 "Uh, master." 47:40 And they woke him up and he resolved the situation. 47:43 They looked at him 47:45 and when they kept their eyes fixed on Him 47:46 every situation was resolved around them. 47:49 You know, and also you'd equate the race 47:51 in verse 1 to faith in verse 2. 47:56 Because it says "Let us run with endurance 47:58 the race set before us, looking to Jesus, 48:00 the author and finisher of our faith." 48:02 So the race is the race of faith. 48:06 So the race we're running in life as a Christian, 48:09 is a race of, constantly engaging in faith. 48:14 Trusting that Jesus would only start us off. 48:16 He saves us and justifies us to the beginning, 48:20 with that throughout that life. 48:22 Throughout the race that we run through life-- 48:24 the Christian life-- we are exercising 48:26 that same faith that we had 48:28 when we first believed to allow Jesus 48:30 to finish the race of faith. 48:33 Yeah, that's a very good point. 48:34 Because the race of faith, Paul the apostle told us 48:38 that we should contend for the faith 48:40 that was once delivered to us. 48:44 It is. 48:48 It is the activity of your life 48:50 that determines whether or not you're living by faith 48:53 or whether you're living by sight. 48:55 I know some individuals, 48:57 and I think we all know individuals 48:59 that right now are in a dire situation. 49:03 One of the things we often do 49:04 which we should do more of in a critical situation, 49:07 we often say to a person, 49:08 "Well, you know, lets get together 49:10 and anoint that person." 49:11 But there's something about 49:12 that anointing service that brings it 49:15 to a point of divine connecting with humanity, 49:19 rather than just humanity speaking about the divine. 49:22 There's a connection there that happens 49:24 when we pray in faith. 49:27 When we move forward in faith. 49:29 We activate in our own hearts, in our own lives, 49:33 a strength that we don't normally have. 49:35 And look at James. 49:38 Did you wanna say something before I go...? 49:39 No, there's another text I'll go to. 49:41 Let's start with yours though, uh, James. 49:43 Okay. James chapter 5, verse 15. 49:49 And what I want to point out more so here, 49:51 is not just the word faith, 49:53 but the phrase "prayer of a faith". 49:59 "And the prayer of faith will save. 50:02 " Now it's talking about the sick here. 50:04 But the prayer faith will save you heartache. 50:07 The prayer of faith will save you disappointment. 50:11 The prayer of faith would save you many sleepless nights. 50:15 Because sometimes people pray before they go to bed 50:18 and all through the night they can't sleep 50:21 because they're worried. 50:22 "Oh, it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen." 50:23 The prayer of faith will save a lot of situations. 50:27 And not just that, if you look at the story 50:29 of those being healed in Christ's day, 50:32 especially the man that was let down from the roof. 50:34 Yeah, remember, he came down 50:36 and he was seeking physical healing. 50:39 And what were the words that were pronounced? 50:41 Of course he received that, 50:42 but what were the words pronounced by Christ? 50:45 "Your sins are forgiving you," that's right. 50:48 So he's seeking physical healing 50:49 and the response of Christ is, 50:50 "Your sins are forgiving you." 50:52 That's the first response. 50:53 Yeah, the first, and so you have...you know, 50:55 we may want to be healed from our physical maladies, 50:58 but we best--God knows what's best is that 51:03 we're healed of our spiritual maladies. 51:06 Which is we need salvation from sin. 51:10 Sin is what's causing this. It's a sin sick soul. 51:13 Because this passage when you think about 51:15 the prayer of faith saving the sick, 51:17 will that person eventually die? Yes. 51:19 So has that prayer of faith 51:22 not been affectively responded to? 51:24 Yes, it has been effectively responded to. 51:26 But it also goes on and if He has 51:29 committed sins he will be forgiven. 51:32 There it is. Yeah. 51:33 And the Lord also points out that in that person's life, 51:38 that person would have the benefit 51:40 also of the resurrection He would raise him up. 51:42 He would raise him up. He would forgive his sins. 51:44 He would guarantee him salvation. 51:47 So the prayer of faith saves. 51:50 Whatever you situation is, whatever your difficulty is. 51:54 But when we think about the difference 51:56 it makes in our lives, you mentioned 51:57 you wanted to go to a particular passage. 51:59 Well I was looking at Romans 1:16-17. 52:02 Oh, lets go there. 52:05 Which is Paul's declaration here 52:08 about the power of the gospel. 52:10 Okay, and he says here 52:12 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 52:14 for it is the power of God to salvation 52:17 for everyone who believes, 52:19 for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 52:22 For in it the righteousness of God 52:24 is revealed from faith to faith, 52:28 as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith'." 52:31 So the statement here of the righteousness of Christ 52:34 is revealed from faith to faith, is this walk of faith. 52:37 It's faith to faith because each foot 52:39 is taking each step of faith. 52:41 And as you're walking through life from faith to faith 52:45 you're gaining victory through every step 52:48 as you're walking in that faith walk. 52:51 Romans Chapter 8 is an entire chapter 52:54 about walking in the spirit and not in the flesh. 52:56 Right. That it's a faith walk. 52:58 That's true. Yeah. 53:00 I like that you're bringing that out. 53:02 I like the way you did the step to step 53:04 because sometimes you're walking 53:05 in the valley of shadows. 53:07 And it is a serious faith walk. 53:09 And reality to the challenges 53:12 that we face in our world today. 53:14 There are many people right now watching this program. 53:16 There're some of them that are in this valley of shadows. 53:18 The reason why we chose this topic 53:20 over just a doctrinal topic, 53:22 is because our world is in turbulence today. 53:25 A lot of people that are, you know, 53:27 we talk about the stability of the job market 53:29 and whether or not jobs are gonna go up or down. 53:31 That's not a fact for the Christians 53:32 who has faith that God will provide. 53:35 But one foot in front of the other. 53:39 That faith walk, "Okay, Lord I'm going by faith. 53:43 I'm moving by faith." 53:45 You're walking in that race. 53:47 That's right. Of endurance. 53:49 And I like the fact you use the word walk in faith 53:52 or walk in the race because races are not always running. 53:56 That's right, sometimes you got to walk 53:58 and that's how you are able to endure better. 54:00 My wife knows that, because I said, 54:02 you know, she could walk a lot longer than I could run. 54:04 And that makes a difference. 54:06 In the same way, when we walk in that faith walk, 54:09 one foot in front of other walking from faith to faith 54:12 it reveals the righteousness of God. 54:14 In other words, what it's saying is 54:17 by living that life of faith, 54:19 Christ is seen more clearly in your life. 54:21 Because you're a person who believes. 54:23 And people say, "How did that happen, John?" 54:26 I just kept going foreword by faith, 54:28 and God rewarded my faith. 54:30 The righteousness of God being revealed. 54:33 You know, and kind of the great place to end up, 54:35 'cause I know we're slipping away, 54:37 is a little text in 1st Peter. 54:41 Okay, 1st Peter. And it starts with chapter 3. 54:45 I mean excuse me, chapter 1, verse 3. 54:48 Talking about how Christ is begotten us 54:50 again through his mercy. 54:53 And how we are-- its almost like 54:55 here's how you are walking this walk of faith. 54:57 1st Peter 3? 1st Peter 1. 54:59 Okay 1st Peter 1. Starting with verse 3, okay. 55:02 And so it says, "Blessed be the God 55:05 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 55:07 who according to His abundant mercy 55:08 has begotten us again to a living hope 55:11 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 55:12 to an inheritance incorruptible 55:14 and undefiled, that does not fade away, 55:17 reserved in heaven for you, 55:19 who are kept by the power of God through..." 55:21 What? Through faith. 55:23 "Through faith for salvation 55:25 ready to be revealed in the last days, or last time." 55:29 "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, 55:33 if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 55:36 that the genuineness of your faith, 55:39 believing much more precious than gold that perishes, 55:43 though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, 55:46 honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 55:49 whom having not seen you love. 55:51 Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice 55:57 with joy inexpressible and full of glory." 55:59 And then look at this little verse, 56:01 "Receiving the end of your faith." 56:03 In other words the end of race, 56:04 "The salvation of your souls." 56:06 Wow, I like that it mentions three times 56:09 the power of God through faith, 56:11 the genuineness of your faith, 56:14 and the end of your faith. 56:15 Wow, that is that is beautiful showing the steps 56:19 that are taking in a person 56:20 whose life is continually moving forward 56:23 and onward and upward in Christ. 56:25 Starts with faith, you walk with faith 56:28 and at the end of faith saves you 56:30 with the redemption with the second coming of Christ. 56:32 Wow, that's-- I hadn't included 56:34 that in my syllabus here, but it fits perfectly 56:37 because it is in the contrast. 56:40 Did you begin with verse 5? 56:41 With verse 3, okay, it begins included in that contrast is, 56:47 "Who are kept by the power of God through faith, 56:50 yes, how we kept through faith." 56:53 The trails that come we got to face them through faith. 56:56 Yeah. Yeah, every time. 56:58 And it's- it can be struggle. 57:00 I realize this, don't let anybody tell you, 57:02 when you're baptized, when you come out of that water. 57:04 It's going to get easy. It's not easy. 57:08 Because submitting, humility, meekness, the things 57:11 we differ to God for his salvation that's not easy. 57:14 But it is the all the power of God. 57:16 That's right and John here at House Calls 57:18 we believe in encouraging you 57:20 and keeping you strong in the faith. 57:22 Contend for the faith that was once delivered to you 57:24 because one day when the Lord 57:26 comes to make a House Call on your life, 57:27 we pray that he will find someone 57:29 who has been walking in faith. 57:31 God bless you until we see you again. 57:33 Have a great day. |
Revised 2014-12-17