Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120006
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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." 00:22 Welcome to another edition of "House Calls." 00:24 And we are so glad you've chosen to do 00:27 what the Lord spoke to you today to do 00:29 and that is to watch this Bible-based program. 00:32 Because you know what, we have committed ourselves 00:34 to giving you a, "Thus saith the Lord." 00:37 And we are not going to compromise 00:38 no matter what, right, John? That's right. 00:41 It's good to have you here today. 00:42 John Stanton. 00:43 John Lomacang. That's right. 00:45 I'll tell you, we know each other's names, 00:47 he's 6'10'' he doesn't like to admit it, 00:49 I'm 6'3'' on a good day 00:51 but that has nothing to do with it. 00:52 We're sitting right now in our chairs, 00:55 we've got our Bibles, we've got our pens. 00:57 And so get your Bible, get your pen, 00:59 get your friends, get your neighbors, 01:01 get your kids, your wife. 01:03 Get the church together whomever is in your space, 01:05 right now and say sit down 01:07 you cannot afford to miss "House Calls" 01:09 because we're coming to you from 3ABN. 01:12 And we've got a doozy of a program, 01:13 we're gonna be talking about prayer, 01:15 we're gonna also talk about some questions 01:17 you sent in, some really good questions 01:20 and we'll tell you before we go any further 01:23 how you can send more questions and but before we do anything, 01:26 we always like to pray 01:27 and John is our designated prayer. 01:30 So, John, bring us before the Lord in prayer today. 01:32 Father, we all need to come before Your throne here 01:36 not only to speak Your words but to hear your voice. 01:39 And so, Lord, we ask for Your presence to be here with us, 01:42 that all those involved in the program, 01:45 all those who are listening, who are viewing the program, 01:48 well, we just pray for Your blessing to be upon us today. 01:52 Lord, speak to our hearts and may we hear Your voice. 01:54 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. 01:57 Thank you, John, wonderful prayer. 01:59 You know friends, we like your questions 02:01 and anytime you send them in, 02:03 we just have fun downloading them 02:05 and we have some good ones today. 02:07 A number of questions you've asked 02:09 but if you have any questions and comments 02:10 that may come to your mind even now, 02:12 you can send those to housecalls@3abn.org, 02:15 that's housecalls, one word, @3abn.org 02:20 and if you are a snail mail person, 02:24 that's snail mail, letters, stickers, snail mail. 02:30 PO Box 220, West Frankfort, Illinois, 62896. 02:34 Attention House Calls, 02:35 and by the way that address is 3ABN. 02:37 Thank you for all you do 02:39 and thank you for your questions. 02:40 John, what do you have for us today? 02:42 We got a question from Bob, 02:43 who lives in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. 02:46 Oh, you said Brooklyn, I got happy there. 02:48 Thought it was Brooklyn New York. 02:50 No, Brooklyn Park. Brooklyn Park, okay. 02:52 Yes, "John and John, the subject is old 02:55 but not received or resolved for many of us." Okay. 03:01 "The subject of the rapture. 03:04 Now we have a request. 03:05 Would you give us in, 03:07 you know, clear delineated writing, 03:12 spelling out the sequence used by the secret rapture theorists 03:17 for their teaching and then adding some text 03:22 in regard to how this theory is not legitimate 03:26 or not correct from the word." 03:28 And so let's go ahead and do that, let's dive in, 03:31 I think the first place most people start 03:34 is 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4, I'm not gonna go there first 03:38 because I think often that passage, 03:41 did I throw you off a little? 03:43 That passage is cued by another one first. 03:46 Okay, let's go to the other one. 03:48 It's cued in its reading and so let's start with-- 03:52 and if I'm correct, Matthew Chapter 24. 03:55 I know where you're going, I can see it right now. 03:58 We're gonna start with verse 36. 04:01 Matthew 24. Matthew 24, okay. 04:04 "But of that day and hour no one knows, 04:06 not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 04:11 But as the days of Noah were, 04:13 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 04:17 For as in the days before the flood, 04:19 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, 04:22 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 04:24 and did not know until the flood came 04:26 and took them all away, 04:28 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." 04:31 Then verse 40. "Two men will be in the field: 04:35 one will be taken and the other left. 04:37 Two women will be grinding at the mill: 04:39 one will be taken and the other left. 04:42 Watch therefore, for you do not know 04:44 what hour your Lord is coming." 04:48 All right, so here we have 04:52 at least presented in the beginning of this theory. 04:55 So now we're presenting their theory. Right. 04:57 That when the rapture occurs, one will be taken to heaven 05:02 and the other will be left. 05:05 That's what they say-- 05:07 Well, that's what I'm saying, this is the basis 05:08 for their theory and so they say, 05:10 "One will be taken, the other will be left 05:11 at the coming of Jesus." 05:14 And this case is called the secret rapture 05:16 because Jesus is not visibly seen. 05:20 So what they suggest, they theorize is that, 05:24 this is speaking of that event 05:26 prior to the visible return of Christ. 05:30 Now let's read the Bible in its true context 05:33 because we need to be able to see 05:34 is that a provable theory? Is that a valid theory? 05:38 Or is this scripture telling us something else? 05:40 Okay, Stanton, we go back to it or you-- 05:42 Well, we're gonna say right here. 05:43 Yeah, let's go right through here. 05:47 So the first thing we have is the context 05:50 and the context here is 05:52 as in the days of Noah. That's right. 05:55 And as you go through the context here, 05:58 it's established before the two men in the field 06:01 or the two women grinding at the mill, 06:04 you have this statement here in verse 39 06:06 that says in regard to the coming of Christ, 06:10 that they did not know 06:12 until the flood came and did what? 06:14 Took them all away. Took them all away. 06:17 Immediately after that, the very next verse it says, 06:19 "Two men will be in the field, 06:21 one will be taken and the other left. 06:23 Two women will be grinding at the mill, 06:24 one will be taken and the other left." 06:27 So if the context is the flood that came 06:30 and took them all away, 06:32 we need to ask the question first, 06:33 who were taken away by the flood? 06:35 And where did the flood take them? 06:37 And where did the flood take them? 06:38 So what's the answer to that question? 06:40 The flood took them away in death. 06:43 The flood did not take them away to a safe place. 06:46 Flood came and took them all away. 06:48 As a matter of fact, this question is answered. 06:53 This same question is asked by Luke in Luke 17. 06:57 Let's go there and look at the same-- 06:59 Let's go there next Luke Chapter 17. 07:02 I'm gonna show you verse 27 and verse 34. 07:06 Okay, so as we're transitioning there, 07:08 just you can understand where we're at now. 07:10 So the flood comes, takes them all away 07:13 and those that it took away were sinners to destruction, 07:16 those who did not enter into the ark. 07:18 So the context then of those taken 07:21 and some left are, at least the conclusion 07:24 I would arrive at is, I don't want to be taken. 07:27 Not--exactly, not the way that this is referring to it. 07:29 Right, I don't want to be taken 07:31 because the ones taken in the flood 07:33 were taken to destruction, they died. 07:35 And to affirm that, look at Luke 17: 27. 07:38 17. Verse 27. 07:41 And it's says, "They ate, they drank, 07:46 they married wives, they were given in marriage, 07:50 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 07:53 and the flood came and destroyed them all." 07:58 And let's go even further, look at verse 35. 08:03 "Two women will be grinding together, 08:05 the one will be taken, the other left. 08:08 Two men will be in the field, 08:10 the one will be taken and the other left. 08:12 And they answered and said to Him, 08:15 'Where, Lord?'" In other words, 08:17 "Taken where?" "So He said to them, 08:20 'Wherever the body is, 08:22 there the eagles will be gathered together.'" 08:25 They're not taken to heaven, they're taken to destruction. 08:28 And to verify that Genesis 17: 21 and 22. 08:31 "And all flesh died that moved on the earth, 08:34 the birds, the cattle, the beasts 08:36 and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 08:38 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, 08:42 all that were on dry ground died." 08:47 That's right, and the eagles there 08:50 in some of the updated translations is vultures 08:53 because the bird here isn't necessarily an eagle, 08:56 it's a bird, a scavenger, a bird that is going to devour 09:00 and eat that which is on the ground 09:03 that is left there after being-- after perishing, after dying. 09:07 So clearly the context here now we've established, 09:11 of the one taken the other left is exactly opposite 09:14 to what's taught by the rapturists. 09:17 Yes, obviously opposite. Okay. 09:19 So now with that context, we'll go to 1 Thessalonians. 09:22 Okay. Okay. 09:24 Go ahead. 09:26 As you go there, I want to read a passage 09:27 before you get there, you go to 1 Thessalonians 09:29 but if you're listening in, 09:31 there's a verse in Revelation that one of the reasons 09:34 why Revelation has just recently become 09:38 a book of focus in the evangelical world 09:40 is because they have discovered 09:42 by the continual battering of other Christians, 09:45 that Revelation is not a book of mysteries, 09:48 Revelation is not a book 09:49 that's intended to be misunderstood, 09:51 Revelation is not a book that takes on relevance 09:54 only to those who are left behind, 09:56 that's been the common teaching that those who are left behind 09:59 now are confronted by Revelation. 10:01 Revelation Chapter 4 is a common passage 10:04 that's used by those who espouse to the secrete rapture. 10:08 Revelation 4:1 is the verse that's used 10:11 classically to suggest 10:14 that when you read 1 Thessalonians, 10:16 I'm gonna read Revelation 4 10:18 because the connection is phenomenal. 10:20 Okay, you're gonna read first-- 10:22 1 Thessalonians 4, you read that first, 10:25 then I'll show you 10:26 what significance they add to the word "trumpet." Okay? 10:29 Okay, all right. 10:32 Let's start with verse 15. Okay. 10:37 "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, 10:39 that we who are alive and remain 10:42 until the coming of the Lord 10:44 will by no means precede those who are asleep. 10:47 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 10:49 with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, 10:51 and with the trumpet of God. 10:53 And the dead in Christ will rise first." 10:55 Now first of all-- 10:57 first thing you got be thinking is resurrection here. 10:59 Right. Okay. 11:00 "Then we who are alive and remain," 11:03 there it is again a second time, 11:05 "shall be caught up together with them 11:07 in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 11:09 And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 11:12 Okay, now what I want to add? You want to add something? 11:14 No, no. You add it and then I'll come back. 11:16 Now what I want to emphasize, the word trumpet in verse 16 11:19 is what I talked about because it says, 11:21 when the trumpet sounds, something is gonna happen 11:25 and they eisegetically, not exegetically, 11:30 eisegetically, apply Revelation 4:1 11:32 to the blowing of the trumpet here in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. 11:36 Listen to Revelation 4: 1, 11:39 this is--they say this is where the rapture happens. 11:42 Revelation 4:1, "After these things I looked, 11:46 and behold, a door standing open in heaven. 11:49 And the first voice which I heard 11:51 was like a trumpet speaking with me, 11:55 saying, 'Come up here.'" 11:57 You see, that's where the church is snatched away 11:59 and the church is taken up, "and I will show you things 12:03 which must take place after this." 12:05 They leave out that second part 12:06 because they stop on the come up here. 12:08 The church they say is taken out on the come up here call. 12:11 But he's really talking to John. He's talking to John. 12:13 John is not going up there literally, 12:16 John is being snatched away in vision. That's right. 12:19 So when the Bible speaks about come up here, 12:22 he as in other places in Revelation, 12:24 Jeremiah the prophet, Daniel also the prophet, 12:27 Isaiah the prophet, they were taken off in vision. 12:29 Even Paul the Apostle says, 12:32 "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." 12:35 And he was speaking about their being present in vision. 12:38 Peter also was caught away in vision in Acts Chapter 10. 12:42 It's not a literal snatching away of the church 12:44 right here by any means because verse 2, 3 and 4, 12:47 talks about what John was shown 12:49 when he was caught up by vision, but where was he physically? 12:52 He was on the island of Patmos. Right, that's right. 12:54 So this trumpet call 12:56 that's talked about in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 12:59 is not the same as the trumpet that's heard here, 13:02 neither is the same as the trumpet, 13:04 matter of fact, the only trumpet 13:05 that it could be referred to is Revelation 1: 7. Right. 13:09 You see, when it says, look at that very quickly, 13:14 let me just make sure, 13:15 why am I going all the way towards Genesis? 13:17 Revelation 1, let me make sure 13:19 because I don't want to give false references 13:22 Revelation 1:10, as a matter of fact, 13:27 not verse 7. 13:30 Yeah, Revelation 1, verse 7 says, 13:33 "Behold, He is coming with clouds, 13:35 and every eye will see Him, 13:36 and they also which pierced Him. 13:38 And all the tribes of the earth will mourn 13:40 because of Him. Even so, Amen." 13:43 Verse 10. Verse 10. 13:45 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, 13:47 and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet." 13:50 Yeah, the trumpet that's spoken about there 13:52 is simply the voice of God. 13:54 So the trumpet that John is talking about here in verse 4, 13:56 verse 1 of Revelation 4 is simply the voice of God, 13:59 not the voice of God calling them away. 14:02 But in 1 Thessalonians 4, 14:04 once again, the voice of God as of a trumpet, 14:06 that's the only association, 14:08 but the event is not the same. That's right. 14:11 And it's proved and established further by these other passages 14:13 we're looking at which help to dispel this notion 14:16 that there's a secret rapture in advance of the tribulation, 14:21 the great tribulation at the end of time. 14:23 Notice here in 1 Thessalonians 4, 14:25 just before we leave that, that it says 14:27 that those who are alive and remain 14:31 are the ones that are gonna be caught up 14:32 to meet the Lord in the air. It says that actually twice. 14:35 If you look at passage I think that you referenced earlier, 14:37 John, Genesis 7: 23. 14:40 7: 22. Okay. 14:42 We need to read on 23, look what 23 says. Okay. 14:45 "So He destroyed all living things 14:47 which were on the face of the ground, 14:49 both man and cattle, 14:50 creeping thing and bird of the air. 14:52 They were destroyed from the earth. 14:54 Only Noah and those who were with him 14:56 in the ark remained alive." 14:59 Okay. Okay. 15:01 So clearly in the flood, when you look at the old story, 15:05 God uses the water to take away 15:08 to destruction those who were the wicked. 15:10 Only Noah and his family remained alive, 15:14 it says, in the ark. 15:16 And that's why we always, 15:17 you know, you hear over and over again 15:19 the church being that great ship 15:22 that's going to sail into the kingdom. 15:24 Stay in the ship, 15:25 don't get lost by getting out of the ship. 15:27 Those who remain on this earth are the ones 15:31 that are not taken to destruction 15:33 and are the ones that are raptured up 15:37 to meet the Lord in the air, 15:38 visibly and audibly at the second coming. 15:41 Now the other part of this too, 15:43 that we need to dispel a little bit is some say, 15:45 well, if you read on in 1 Thessalonians, 15:47 you see that the Lord comes, 15:49 the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. 15:52 So see, it's a secret rapture. 15:54 Well, this is--quickly, 15:56 if you compare this with the writings of Peter, 15:58 he quickly dispels that notion. 16:01 So turn over to Peter 16:03 and I believe it is 1 Peter, am I right? 16:11 Okay, here we are. 16:15 No, it's 2 Peter, I'm sorry, chapter 3. 16:18 I'm there. 16:20 All right, why don't you read that? 16:21 2 Peter 3:10. 16:23 And it says well, "Behold the day of the Lord 16:28 will come as a thief in the night, 16:32 in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise", 16:36 by no means quiet, "and the elements 16:40 will melt with fervent heat." 16:45 Clearly you can't do that secretly. Yeah, that's right. 16:48 "Both the earth and the works 16:50 that are therein will be burned up." 16:54 Clearly not a secret event. 16:55 So at the same time that the day of the Lord, 16:58 when he comes which is as a thief in the night-- Right. 17:03 That everything is going to pass away with a great noise, 17:06 melted with fervent heat and burned up. Right. 17:10 So you cannot say, well, He's coming as a thief 17:13 and that's the secret rapture 17:14 and that everybody, people will be snatching away 17:16 and we're just snatched away and we'll just kind of be 17:17 living on this earth wondering what happened to them. 17:20 That is not what happens. 17:22 In fact, when the Lord is catching anybody up 17:24 to meet Him in the air, to take them to heaven, 17:27 the world will be burned up at that time. 17:30 And, of course, Jeremiah we've quoted that 17:31 here I think in a recent program. 17:33 It says it'll be, the dead will be 17:36 strewn upon the earth, it'll be as void 17:41 and that no one will exist on this earth 17:44 that were on this earth before that event, alive. 17:49 Praise the Lord, and you see this, 17:51 this is so clear, the Lord doesn't want to sneak back. 17:56 I mean, one of the challenges that we have here 17:59 is the question that must be asked, 18:03 why is the Lord sneaking back? 18:06 Why is He saying, "Sshh, let's go, let's go." 18:10 That's not what the David the psalmist says, 18:12 "Our Lord shall come and shall not keep silent." 18:17 "A fiery stream shall issue and came forth from before Him 18:22 and it shall be very tempestuous all around about Him." 18:25 And--what's the reference for that one? 18:28 Okay, let me give you. Right here. 18:29 It's a good reference, 18:31 'cause we are looking for a multitude of texts here. 18:33 Okay, here we are, check it out, John, here in Psalms 50: 3. 18:38 Now various translations, just now when I quoted that, 18:41 I mixed the King James and the New King James Version 18:43 because it says, Psalms 50: 3, 18:47 "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent, 18:50 a fire shall devour before Him. 18:55 And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him." 19:00 I mean, really. 19:01 You know, John, this is one of the clearest, 19:03 I think, in answering this question, 19:05 one of the clearest reasons, examples of laying out 19:08 before someone line upon line, 19:11 precept upon precept, here little there little. 19:14 You can't make a single doctrine out of one passage or one text. 19:18 You've got to compare these texts with the other. 19:20 You know, you can read the thief in the night thing 19:22 and you can have a whole doctrine, 19:23 a whole sermon on that but it's gonna be wrong 19:25 unless it lines up with other passages 19:27 that are speaking about the same event. 19:29 And clearly we're seeing that when Jesus comes back, 19:31 the earth will be burned up, 19:33 everyone will be devoured at that time, 19:35 that is the wicked. 19:37 Not only that. What? 19:40 Acts 1 is huge. Look at Acts 1. 19:44 These texts just completely obliterate 19:48 the ideology that there's gonna be some secret return. 19:52 You compare His leaving with His returning in Acts 1. 19:57 Look at Acts 1 beginning with verse 9. 20:01 Speaking about how He left and how He's gonna come back. 20:04 And "Now when He had spoken these things, 20:09 while they watched, He was taken up, 20:13 and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 20:18 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, 20:22 as He went up," 20:23 notice the opposite of going up is coming down, 20:26 "behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 20:30 who also said, 'Men of Galilee, 20:33 why do you stand gazing up into heaven?'" 20:36 Change the voices so that people don't miss it, 20:38 go ahead, John. 20:39 "The same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, 20:43 will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." 20:48 Exactly, you saw Him go and you will see Him come back. 20:52 And Jesus said, get this, He said in John 14, 20:59 "If I go prepare a place for you, 21:01 I will come again and receive you to Myself 21:03 that where I am, there you may be also." 21:05 He didn't talk about many receptions 21:07 because he made it very, very clear, 21:09 if you're not ready when He comes back, 21:10 Matthew 24, if you're not ready when He comes back, 21:13 "I will appoint you your portion with the hypocrites." 21:18 So He says, I'm not coming back another time, 21:21 if you're not ready, don't worry about it. 21:24 Hey, Mark, get ready because I know you're not ready, 21:27 your wife is ready. I'm gonna take Susan. 21:29 Mark, I'll come back in seven years to get you. 21:31 That's nowhere in the Bible. 21:33 There was no second chance in the flood, 21:36 there was no second chance 21:37 in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 21:40 there was no second chance in the destruction of Jerusalem. 21:44 There is no second chance theology. 21:46 This whole ideology came into existence 21:48 by the rapture theory. 21:50 And by the way, if you want really further information, 21:53 look up the secret rapture, go to Wikipedia. 21:58 Now Wikipedia is a dictionary that many contributors 22:01 but one thing it does have, 22:02 it is clearly definitive about how 22:05 the whole rapture theory was formed 22:08 by Francisco Ribera and Luis de Alcázar, 22:11 two Jesuits commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church 22:14 to put this dispensational view together. 22:18 And National Geographic did a whole expose on this 22:22 and clearly said, "This is not supported by the Bible, 22:25 yet millions of Christians believe it." Yeah. 22:29 And you know the whole Left Behind series 22:30 did its part to hammer this point home, 22:33 so did Hal Lindsey and Jerry Jenkins, 22:36 Tim LaHaye, the writers and the authors 22:38 of the theologian and the author 22:40 of this whole Left Behind series. 22:42 So it's nothing more than a theory 22:44 that has been adopted 22:46 and embraced by many evangelicals 22:48 that has no scriptural support whatsoever. Yeah. 22:51 So now what happens, John, is they got a shoe-- 22:55 this is a best way to-- they found a shoe, 22:58 kind of like Cinderella shoe 23:00 and they look for a foot to stick it on. 23:02 They found a theory 23:04 and they look for the passages to stuff into it 23:06 and that's what the problem is with this whole theory. 23:08 It's nothing but a theory 23:10 and they're finding verses to add to it 23:12 when in fact the Bible doesn't support 23:14 a secret, invisible, silent, 23:18 sneak-up-behind-you return of Jesus. 23:20 He's coming back and boom-- 23:22 may I have Revelation-- last one. 23:23 Go to Revelation Chapter 6, okay? 23:26 Read that one for us. Revelation Chapter 6. 23:28 I think it's verse 14-17. Revelation Chapter 6. 23:32 I think it's verses 14-17 23:34 but pick the verses that you like to begin with. 23:37 But I think it ends at 17. 23:40 You see where I am? Yes. 23:42 Start I think at verse, verse 13. Well, verse 14. 23:49 "Then the sky receded as a scroll 23:51 when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island 23:53 was moved out of its place. 23:55 And the kings of the earth, 23:57 the great men, the rich men, the commanders, 23:58 the mighty men, every slave and every free man, 24:01 hid themselves in the caves 24:02 and in the rocks of the mountains, 24:04 and said to the mountains and rocks, 24:05 "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him 24:07 who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 24:10 For the day of His wrath has come, 24:12 and who was able to stand?" 24:14 Not only that, you have Revelation 19 24:17 which talks about partaking or calling the birds of the air 24:21 to come to eat of the flesh of captains 24:22 and kings and all those that perished 24:25 as a result of the return of Christ. That's right. 24:28 And notice, He says, "The way you saw Him go 24:31 is the way you're going to see Him come back 24:33 and He's coming back with the armies of heaven." 24:36 This is gonna be-- this is the reception of the ages. 24:41 The sad thing is there are millions, 24:44 I mean, into the tens of millions 24:47 that right now have embraced 24:49 and have assimilated into this psyche 24:53 this belief that "we could be gone any day now." 24:57 No, brothers and sisters, 24:59 the Lord is gonna come back as a thief 25:01 but they are transpiring events that will occur to let you know 25:05 because He says in Matthew and Luke, 25:07 when all these things begin to come to pass, 25:10 look up and lift up your head for your redemption draws near. 25:14 I think we-- 25:16 We spent a lot of time on that question 25:17 but it takes a lot of working through 25:18 and I think we need to cover it once in a while. Yes. 25:21 To make that very clear 25:22 because it's such a false teaching out there 25:24 that we don't want anybody to be deceived by. 25:26 It's tragically false 25:28 but you know there are some people nowadays, 25:29 I've tried to share this with individuals 25:31 and they've said, "I don't care what you say." 25:33 "Brother, we don't want you to take 25:35 what we say we want you to take the Bible." 25:37 Unfortunately, there are many denominations today, 25:39 many main line Christian churches 25:41 that really don't care what the Bible says. 25:43 They like what their leaders say. 25:45 And to say, I don't care what you say 25:46 but the question is, do you care 25:47 what the word of God says? Right. 25:49 They'll listen to their leaders 25:51 that are very popular and famous and visible on television 25:53 have multiple thousands of followers 25:55 and they'll say, "Well, that's not what my pastor says." 25:57 Let me tell you something, 25:59 if your pastor's word is against the Bible, 26:01 then you need to follow the Bible 26:02 instead of your pastor 26:04 because there are a lot of leaders 26:05 that are gonna lead people to destruction 26:06 and they're gonna follow their leaders into destruction. 26:09 The fact of the matter is, if the blind leads the blind, 26:12 both of them are gonna end up in the pit. 26:14 So make sure that it's on God's word 26:16 and not a single scripture that's taken completely 26:19 away from all the other 50 or so 26:22 that makes a topic very, very clear. 26:24 I think one more we have to do before we go on 26:26 and thank you, John, that was a very important-- 26:28 I got excited about that because it's been a while 26:30 since we talked about the rapture. Yeah. 26:32 And we got to hammer that home 26:34 because Satan is deceiving millions 26:36 and it's a terrible thing. 26:39 Somebody speaks about a lesson study, 26:40 "Last week of the Sabbath school lesson 26:42 taught clearly that a born again, 26:44 converted person now has both, 26:46 a carnal fleshy nature and a spiritual nature 26:50 which was against one another 26:52 and they talked about that. 26:53 How can this be true? 26:55 How can light coexist with darkness? 26:58 Can we serve two masters or be double minded?" 27:01 And they gave a lot of the passages here 27:03 which I appreciate very, very much. 27:05 Here is what I believe was being communicated 27:08 and I'll go back and check that reference 27:09 to see what the Sabbath school lesson said 27:12 or the lessons that he said. 27:13 But here's what the reality of it is. 27:15 We have a spiritual nature in a mortal body 27:19 and that's exactly what has been talked about there. 27:22 The flesh, this is mortal flesh 27:26 wars against the spiritual commitment that we've made. 27:29 When we give our lives to Christ, 27:31 the Holy Spirit comes in. 27:33 Matter of fact, go with me to Romans 8. 27:35 Romans 8, and this is vitally important. 27:37 Romans 8 is speaking about the very same thing 27:40 that you just asked in the question. 27:42 We have to walk in the spirit, we cannot walk in the flesh. 27:46 When you put on Christ, 27:49 you are not walking in the spirit. 27:52 But the thing that you still have 27:53 is you have this fleshy nature, this mortal body 27:56 and the one battle that we have daily, 27:58 the reason why Paul the apostle said 28:00 we have to die every day is 28:01 because he woke up in a spiritual walk with Christ 28:04 but he knew that this mortal flesh 28:06 was gonna be his battle ground. 28:09 And so look at Romans 8:1, it says, 28:11 "There is therefore now no condemnation 28:13 to those who are in Christ Jesus 28:15 who do not walk according to the flesh, 28:18 but according to the Spirit." 28:19 Now get the context, they are in Christ 28:22 but it says, while you in Christ 28:24 please do not walk according to the flesh. 28:26 What flesh? This mortal flesh. 28:28 That's right. This is the battle ground. 28:30 And by the way, you know very well 28:31 that after you become a Christian, 28:32 you did not instantly forget how to do wrong. 28:36 As a matter of fact, Isaiah 1 from verse 18 to 20 says-- 28:40 I think verse 16 to 20, 28:42 "Cease to do evil, learn to do good. 28:44 Learn to do well," the King James Version says. 28:47 So you have to unlearn those ways 28:48 because you are now walking in the spirit 28:51 but it says as you walk in the spirit, 28:53 please don't make any provisions 28:55 to fulfill the lust of the flesh. 28:58 Because there are people that have overcome alcohol, 29:01 they have given it up and they say, 29:02 "Oh, man, last week I just had this-- 29:05 all of the sudden this rush, 29:06 I smelled a cigarette or I walked passed the bar 29:09 and the door opened and I smelled the alcohol 29:10 and like, wow, all of a sudden my mind just connected 29:13 and said, 'Man, I remember that' and I had to just say, 29:15 'Lord, deliver me.'" 29:17 That's the battle that's talked about. 29:18 It's not saying that now we are carnal 29:23 and spiritual, and spiritual and carnal. 29:25 Yes, they are both co-existing 29:27 because the flesh is the last thing 29:28 that needs to be consumed. 29:30 As a matter of fact, let me encourage you, 29:32 we have a program on Wednesday night 29:33 on 3ABN called "A Sharper Focus" 29:39 which you need to tune in because we're talking about 29:41 how to live a spiritual life in a natural body. 29:44 Here's a passage, Romans 8:13 also. 29:48 Romans 8:13, do you have Romans 8 John? 29:50 Read verse 13 for us. 29:52 "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, 29:54 but if by the Spirit you put to death 29:57 the deeds of the body, you will live." 29:59 And what was the battle that Paul had? 30:01 Paul fought continually. 30:03 He says, "What I will to do, I can't do it. 30:10 What I am not supposed to do, that I do. 30:14 Oh, wretched man that I am! 30:15 Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" 30:17 This death he is speaking about 30:19 is we've died to sin but this body still remembers it. 30:24 And Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 30:26 talks about the natural body and the spiritual body. 30:29 He says, "The spiritual was not first, 30:32 the natural was first." 30:34 One day we're gonna have the spiritual body 30:36 to match the spiritual walk we have with Christ 30:39 but until then, there's this constant battle. 30:42 Matter of fact, let me give you one more. 30:44 Romans 8:4-5, speaking about, 30:48 "That the righteous requirement of the law 30:49 might be fulfilled in us, 30:51 who do not walk according to the flesh 30:53 but according to the Spirit. 30:54 For those who live according to the flesh 30:56 set their minds on the things of the flesh 30:59 but those who live according with the Spirit 31:01 the things of the Spirit." 31:02 So he says, "Do not let sin reign--" 31:06 He says also in Romans 8, 31:07 "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body." 31:11 The benefit of the blessing we have here 31:13 is we have a spiritual nature 31:15 but until this mortal body becomes immortal 31:18 and this corruptible mind becomes incorruptible, 31:21 that's the constant battle every day. 31:22 And by just a quick note, I mean, 31:24 we're talking about the theology of this. 31:27 Practicality is that you cannot walk in the spirit 31:29 unless the Holy Spirit has baptized you afresh. 31:33 So every moment of every day when you wake up, 31:35 you need to spend time on your knees 31:37 dying to the flesh 31:40 and asking for the Holy Spirit to inhabit your life. 31:43 That's right. 31:44 And only then when you walk up 31:47 listening for the voice of God, 31:48 leading you throughout the day, 31:50 allowing Christ to be at the throne of your heart, 31:52 having already died to your flesh, 31:54 are you able then to walk 31:56 in the way that God wants you to walk, 31:57 which is the Christian walk. 31:59 That's right. 32:00 You know, a point you made 32:03 that I need to pay particular attention to 32:05 and I need to answer this lastly on this point. 32:08 You said that the reference said 32:11 we both have a fleshy nature and a spiritual nature. 32:14 I don't agree with that. 32:16 I want to make that very, very clear. 32:17 And so if that was what's said, that's not true. 32:20 We don't have a fleshy nature 32:22 and a spiritual nature-- 32:23 We have a spiritual nature-- 32:25 And a fleshy body. And a fleshy body. 32:26 Exactly. 32:27 And that's the difference because Ezekiel 11:19, 32:30 the Lord made a commitment. 32:31 He said, "I will give them one heart, 32:36 I will put a new spirit within them 32:38 and take away the stony heart out of their flesh, 32:42 I will give them a heart of flesh." 32:45 And so what's happening here is that carnal-- 32:47 that carnal flesh is war against the spiritual nature. 32:51 That's where the battle is going on. Right. 32:53 It used to be a fleshy nature before you gave it to Christ, 32:56 he crucified that fleshy nature, 32:58 gave you a spiritual nature 33:00 but the residual of that is the fleshy body. 33:02 Okay. 33:04 Thank you o much 33:05 for your questions and comments though. 33:06 If you have any more questions you'd like to send to us, 33:08 send those to housecalls@3abn.org, 33:11 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 33:14 And we thank you so much 33:15 for all the contribution you make to this program. 33:17 You know, John, we've really been enjoying these questions 33:19 that people have been sending in. 33:21 And they've been very, very good questions 33:23 so keep that up 33:24 whatever method you choose to use to send those in. 33:27 But go ahead and take us now to our topic on prayer. 33:29 We laid some foundation but I'll let you take it. 33:32 Yeah, we've kind of introduced the subject of prayer 33:35 and how our prayers can be more effective 33:37 and we can be more confident that God is hearing us. 33:40 We look to the elementary principles of prayer 33:42 in coming to God in humility, confession, 33:46 seeking His face, praying, all those things are-- 33:50 they invite communication with God. 33:53 And that's what we need to be doing. 33:54 Now I think we're gonna get into the last part of this in prayer 33:57 in the aspect of being surrendered to God's will. 34:01 When we pray, it must be according to God's will 34:05 and I think Christ gave us the biggest example of that. 34:08 And we probably should start with that, there. Okay. 34:12 So what is it, Matthew 26 or something, 34:16 Jesus in the garden? 34:17 Well, as you go on there, 34:18 I want to read this passage here in 1 John. 34:20 You turn to Matthew and I'll read 1 John 5:14-15, 34:24 kind of laying the foundation. 34:26 It's a wonderful-- as you look for that one. 34:29 But 1 John 5:14-15 are the ones I'd like to lay, 34:36 it says, "Now this is the confidence 34:39 that we have in Him, 34:41 if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us. 34:45 And if we know that He hears us, 34:47 whatever we ask we know that we have the petition 34:51 that we have asked of Him." All right? 34:52 So that whole context of asking, 34:55 Jesus spent time in the garden talking to His father 34:58 and asking His father. 34:59 And I believe you have the reference for that. Yeah. 35:01 And I want to segue as this passage almost from the-- 35:05 the question that we just had because it's perfect. 35:09 What's happening is, is Jesus goes with His disciples 35:12 down to the garden of Gethsemane, 35:14 asked His disciples to pray. 35:16 And now I'm gonna pick up the story in Matthew 26:40 35:19 where he comes back to the disciples 35:21 to see how they're doing 35:22 when they're-- as they're praying for Him, 35:24 they're supposed to be praying for Him 35:25 but listen to what happens next, 35:28 "Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping 35:30 and said to Peter, 35:32 'What, could you not watch with me one hour?'" 35:36 Notice these words, 35:38 "Watch and pray lest you enter into" what? 35:41 "Temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, 35:45 but the flesh is weak." 35:47 What a segue from the last question we had. Yes. 35:49 I mean the spirit of God in us-- 35:51 if we are allowing the spirit, 35:53 if we're differing and yielding to the spirit's leading, 35:56 then if Peter had been doing that, 35:58 he would have continued to pray. Right. 36:00 But his flesh was weak, he fell asleep, 36:02 he was subject to temptation, 36:04 which is why inevitably he fell-- 36:07 he ended up denying Christ. 36:10 But then notice, Jesus sets the opposite example 36:14 in the very next verse, 42. 36:16 "Again a second time He went away 36:17 and prayed, saying, 'O my Father, 36:19 if this cup cannot not pass from me 36:22 unless I drink of it, your will be done.'" 36:27 And he's repeating of course 36:29 the earlier verse with His first prayer in verse 39, 36:34 "O Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me 36:36 nevertheless not as I will, but as--" what? 36:39 "You will." As you will. 36:41 So Jesus is by--by example to us, differing His will. 36:48 He's setting down His will, He's dying to His flesh 36:52 and He is saying, your will be done. 36:54 That's right. 36:56 You know the flesh-- the flesh is a-- 36:59 to say the flesh is a battle is an amazing thing. 37:02 There are some people-- 37:04 I'm gonna just give you a little story here. 37:05 There are some people that hear stories of individuals 37:07 that were way out there in the world, in the darkness, 37:09 they were partiers, gamblers, 37:12 they were in prison, they served time. 37:14 They went through all this difficult hardships in life 37:17 and they listen to their testimonies 37:19 and sometimes they are so enamored by the fact that, 37:22 wow, God has really delivered that person. 37:25 I even heard one person once say, 37:27 "I wish I had that kind of experience 37:29 so that I can really appreciate my Christianity 37:32 or I can appreciate the truth that God has given to me." 37:35 Well, let me encourage you, 37:36 it is not important or imperative 37:37 that you have a dark experience 37:39 to appreciate the beauty of the light. 37:41 It's actually better that you never go into the dark 37:45 because you are less scarred 37:46 and you are more receptive and there are less barriers. 37:49 And the reason I let out by saying that is 37:51 because this flesh that Peter had, 37:54 Peter had a lot of issues as a fisherman. 37:57 My brother is a fisherman. 37:59 When you're down at the pier fishing with other fisherman, 38:01 profanity is a common thing. 38:03 You know, they talk about all kinds of all colored subjects. 38:06 So now Peter accepting Christ as his savior and Lord 38:10 he's still battling with the flesh 38:12 and so much so that the flesh had dominance over him 38:15 and the flesh could not even stay awake 38:18 to mediate for the Lord. 38:20 I tell you, that's where 38:22 you really look at prayer as mediation. 38:24 He said, "Pray for Me." 38:25 And what a privilege, the Lord pray for us 38:27 but what a privilege God called-- 38:29 Jesus called His disciples to pray for Him. 38:32 Absolutely. 38:33 Be able to know that you can pray 38:35 and in so doing and in so praying 38:38 they were in a way a help-- 38:40 they were to be, a help to Christ. 38:42 That's right. Through His trial. 38:44 We can be a help to others by praying and lift them up. 38:47 We are called to be-- 38:49 by the way, I didn't add this point 38:50 but when we were talking about a program ago 38:53 of the old and new covenants, 38:55 under the new covenant Christ is the high priest. 38:58 Do you know who the priesthood is? We are. 39:00 The church. The church is. 39:01 We are to minister for others. A royal priesthood. 39:05 We are the royal priesthood 39:06 and part of that ministry is intercessory prayer. 39:09 If you look at that old priesthood of all, 39:11 one of their jobs was 39:12 to mingle amongst the people and to pray for them. 39:15 And we are to intercede for those around us 39:18 lifting them up to Christ, 39:19 to the high priest in the courts of heaven. 39:21 That's right. And in doing that, 39:23 we're able to aid them in their spiritual walk. 39:26 And how many of us are really engaging in 39:28 regular intercessory prayer for others? 39:31 I encourage you to really make that a part of your prayer life 39:34 because people around you, they need it. 39:36 Not just your family, not just your friends, 39:38 the church needs it. 39:40 It's so wonderful you bring that out, John, 39:41 because in the altar of incense--in the holy place, 39:44 the altar of incense 39:45 was a symbol of the constant prayers of the saints 39:48 rising before God which is in fact a spiritual-- 39:52 which is a spiritual requirement in the life of the Christian. 39:55 In Romans 8 we always say, 39:57 "And we know all things work together 39:59 for the good of those who love God." 40:00 But I want you to point out in very context of prayer, 40:03 go with me to Romans 8. 40:04 John has the passage but don't lose yours. 40:07 Look at Romans 8 very quickly here 40:09 in the context of prayer. 40:10 How wonderful prayer is yet how imperative it is 40:13 for us to be partnering with the Holy Spirit 40:16 because when we pray, John, 40:18 the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. 40:22 And I want you to notice in that very same passage, 40:25 this is the door that had opened up. 40:27 Look at Romans 8:26. 40:28 You just said, "The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak." 40:30 Read Romans 8:26, look how it starts. 40:33 "Likewise, the Spirit also helps us 40:35 in our weaknesses for we--" 40:36 Okay, stop. The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. 40:39 Right. But who helps? 40:40 Spirit helps in our weakness. 40:42 "For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, 40:45 but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us 40:48 with groanings which cannot be uttered. 40:51 Now he who searches the hearts knows 40:52 what the mind of the Spirit is 40:54 because he makes intersection 40:55 for the saints according to" who? 40:58 The will of God. "The will of God." 41:00 So he helps to bring and establish 41:01 what the will of God is even in your prayer life. 41:04 That's right, and so it's after that where it says, 41:07 "And we know that all things work together 41:09 for good to those who love God, 41:10 for those who are the called according to His purpose." 41:12 It says that after the context of the fact that 41:15 you know when you get down to pray-- 41:16 this is beautiful, I mean, praise the Lord for this topic. 41:19 When you pray, this is so practical 41:22 that you have to understand 41:23 even in the weakness of your prayer-- 41:25 this is so beautiful, there is no such thing saying 41:28 as a prayer that doesn't count. 41:30 That's right. It's so wonderful. 41:32 Lord, I have so much to pray for, 41:36 I don't even know where to begin, 41:37 there are some people. 41:39 And then sometimes you pray and you get up off your knees 41:41 and you feel like you shot a blank. 41:44 You know that you feel like you know 41:46 your prayer gun was completely unloaded, 41:48 you have no water in your water bottle of prayer. 41:51 It was just seem like you just hit a glass ceiling 41:54 and it went no further 41:55 but the spirit in that very weak moment, 41:57 the spirit says, "I know what you mean. 42:01 I'll help you." 42:03 And that's so beautiful about the prayer. 42:04 So never--there's some people that say, 42:06 "Pastor, can you pray for me?" 42:07 Yes, we do, do that but, John, I always say, 42:11 don't ever feel that you cannot come boldly 42:14 before the throne of grace 42:15 and bring your prayers and petitions to God. 42:18 Can you imagine when Peter said, 42:19 "Hey, John, pray for me. I am on my way down." 42:23 Pray for me. I am--you get my point? 42:24 Exactly. 42:26 So brother, just call out to God He will-- 42:28 He says, "You call," matter of fact, 42:30 He says, "Before you call, I will answer you. 42:32 And while you are yet speaking I will hear." 42:34 That's the beauty of God 42:36 and the spirit connecting in prayer. 42:37 Now a couple of texts I want to bring in here. 42:40 Because we need to provide 42:41 a little bit of a full experience here. 42:44 We are to come boldly before the grace-- 42:46 the throne of grace. Right. 42:48 We're never to become-- 42:49 to come before Him presumptively. 42:50 No. Exactly. 42:52 And here's what we mean by this, 42:55 first of all, 1 Peter Chapter 5-- 42:57 Oh, yes. Okay. 43:01 Verses 6 and 7. 43:07 Verse 6, "Therefore humble yourselves 43:09 under the mighty hand of God 43:12 that He may exalt you in due time." 43:15 Oh, you know what, it can take a while 43:17 but when you humbly come before Him 43:20 then He will exalt you in due time. 43:22 The verse before that talks about God 43:24 resisting the proud and giving grace to the humble. 43:26 So we need humility and that's where we began 43:28 with 1 Chronicles or 2 Chronicles 7:14, right? 43:31 Humble. Humble yourself. 43:33 But then notice this, verse 7, 43:35 "Casting all your care upon him for He cares for you." 43:40 Folks, so number one, humility. 43:42 Approaching God humility, contrition of heart, 43:45 with repentance and confessing your sins 43:49 then having Christ being that 43:52 or applying His blood to mediating your behalf 43:55 now you have the grounds in Christ. 43:58 This is always the way it happens, 44:00 in Christ to then boldly come to the throne of grace. 44:03 You don't ever boldly come 44:05 before the throne of grace without Christ. 44:07 You can't. You won't even get there. 44:09 That's presumption. That's right. 44:11 It takes humility, it been-- 44:12 it's in Christ, it's making sure 44:14 the work of repentance and confession is done. 44:16 If you're holding on to some sin, 44:20 you got to let Jesus deal with that. 44:23 You got to let him apply his blood. 44:25 You got to give that up because that's the condition 44:29 for coming before the throne of grace boldly 44:31 is always repentance and confession, and humility. 44:35 Wow, you know, that's a battle. 44:37 That's some serious armor there 44:39 because the very next passages, 44:42 the very next verses say, "Be sober." 44:45 You now, you're coming, the Lord is with you, 44:47 "be sober, be vigilant because your adversary 44:49 the devil walks about like a roaring lion 44:52 seeking whom he may devour. 44:53 Resist him, steadfast in the faith." 44:56 And so he says it here, 44:58 but how do you resist him without making sure 45:01 that you draw near to God? 45:03 You know you got to draw near to God. 45:04 God will draw near to you, 45:06 casting all your care upon him, humbling yourself. 45:08 You have to draw near to God 45:10 and you know how we draw near to God? 45:11 Many times through prayer. That's right. 45:13 God is never more than a breath away. 45:17 I love that one so-- I forgot who said that 45:19 but it fits, doesn't really matter who said it. 45:21 God is a breath away. 45:23 If you're in your car and the world around you 45:26 is turbulent, He's a breath away. 45:28 That's right. He is right there. 45:29 And I've always found that God is always reasonable. 45:33 And that's where I want to bring Isaiah Chapter 1. 45:37 Because you know, we're talking about 45:38 confessing sins, putting those behind us 45:41 then coming to God and talking with Him 45:43 as we would talk to a friend. 45:45 Now we're not saying you know, 45:47 I've always had trouble with the man upstairs. 45:51 Comment. 45:52 Oh, don't you-- didn't have to be-- 45:53 You know, it's just-- I mean, to speak of God 45:56 who is all mighty, who is holy beyond measure, 46:00 worthy to be praised, as the man upstairs. 46:03 Like on the second floor. 46:04 To me is just bringing Him down to our level. 46:08 And I just say that, a quick comment on that 46:10 but anyway look at Isaiah 1:16. Okay. 46:16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. 46:20 Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. 46:24 Cease to do evil, learn to do good. 46:27 Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor. 46:29 Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. 46:31 'Come now, and let us reason together' 46:34 says the Lord, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, 46:37 they shall be white as snow. 46:38 Though they are red like crimson, 46:40 they shall be as wool. That's right. 46:42 If you are willing and obedient, 46:43 you shall eat of the good of the land. 46:45 But if you refuse and rebel, 46:47 you shall be devoured by the sword.' 46:48 For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 46:51 So notice here He's not saying 46:54 deal with your own sins and overcome them yourselves. 46:57 That's not the context here. 46:59 The context here is the willingness 47:03 to give up those things in your life 47:05 that are barriers between you and God. 47:08 Right. 47:10 You know, there's a little verse in the Bible, 47:13 in the New Testament and it goes like this, 47:17 "Do not quench the spirit." 47:19 Simple, "Do not quench the spirit." 47:22 Let me add some commentary on that. 47:25 The way that we quench the spirit, 47:28 the foremost way we quench the spirit 47:29 is the retention of sin. That's right. 47:33 The prayer blocker. Yeah. 47:35 When we keep sin in our lives 47:37 and we determine to have a certain thing our way 47:41 we actually can quench, 47:42 that is stop the work of the Holy Spirit in us 47:45 because if the Holy Spirit's coming into you life 47:47 and he's convicting you of sin, of certain things 47:50 that need to be dealt with 47:51 and he will help you root those out. 47:54 And you say, "No, I want to do them anyway," 47:57 what you're in effect doing is quenching the work of spirit, 48:00 you're causing yourself to go back 48:02 to operation under the flesh. 48:04 And in every respect that 48:07 then takes you out of the new birth experience 48:11 and causes you to be a heathen once again. 48:14 Another way of saying that is you become lost. 48:17 And so sin must be dealt with, in our prayer life. 48:22 Confession, willingness to get rid of it, 48:24 to let the Lord deal with this by His blood 48:27 and then as we come before Him, 48:29 not quenching the spirit by these sins 48:31 but letting Him change us, 48:33 that's when the reason between God and us into play. 48:36 That's when we can communicate 48:38 and allow the free flowing spirit operate in our lives. 48:41 Yeah, that's why Proverbs 28:13 reads as follows, 48:47 "He who covers his sins will not prosper, 48:52 but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." 48:57 You know, I like that, will have mercy. Yeah. 49:00 Yes, you will have mercy 49:02 but there's something you have to do. 49:03 When you call on the mercy of God, 49:06 you have to be willing to live up 49:07 to the requirements of God. 49:09 He said, "Of course, I am a merciful God 49:11 but you've got to do something. 49:13 You've got to confess and forsake." 49:16 You never give a criminal mercy in a court 49:21 where he says, "Your Honor, I want your mercy 49:23 but as soon as I get out of here, 49:25 I'm killing me some more people." 49:27 Man, you--would you quit thinking like me? 49:29 Would you stop that right now? 49:31 I am gonna tell you, you just need to cut that out. 49:33 You were thinking that way? 49:36 I was saying, you know, when you get a ticket, 49:37 you don't go to a court room 49:39 and say, "Okay, judge, I am gonna pay this ticket 49:43 but I am out there and I am doing a 100." 49:45 I just bought me a Ferrari, 49:46 I can't wait to try it out on your roads. 49:48 You know, and more than that, 49:49 you know I realize that once I pay this ticket 49:51 then you've done away with the law in my life. 49:53 You're done away with law 49:54 in my citizenship in this kingdom. 49:56 So I want to live free in this country 49:57 but I'm gonna drive a 100 miles an hour, 49:59 I'm gonna murder people, I'm gonna do what I want 50:00 because law doesn't apply to me anymore. 50:02 You know the time that we've driven 50:04 slowest in our lives is right after we get a ticket. 50:06 The police is behind us and he sits there 50:07 till we drive off, we drive 54 miles an hour in 65 zone, 50:13 we don't even want to get near 55. 50:15 I mean, truly that's-- because he is-- 50:17 even if he's given us a ticket, we have to go away 50:20 with a confessing heart and forsaking and we say-- 50:22 Now he says, "Now you keep it down." 50:25 We say, "Keep it down, my foot. 50:27 I'm gonna keep my foot down, 50:28 I'm not gonna keep my speed down." 50:30 No, we don't do that. 50:31 We at that moment, we confess and forsake 50:34 although we've been caught, we still walk away. 50:37 We drive away so to speak with a very humble heart. 50:40 And there are so many people that want God's mercy 50:43 but don't want to confess and forsake their sins. 50:44 But they rather do away the law 50:46 than do away with their sins 50:48 and that's really what people are saying 50:50 when they are saying the law was done away with in Christ. 50:52 They're really saying, 50:53 "I don't want to have to be accountable to God's law 50:56 to order my life in harmony with it." 50:58 Okay, if a highway patrolman pulls you over, 51:00 you say, "Officer, before you say anything, 51:02 I need to make a request. 51:04 Would you please get rid of these speed limits, 51:06 it's interrupting my life? 51:09 You know, honestly. 51:10 I'm tired of those exit signs 51:12 and please those yield signs, I am not yielding anymore, 51:15 I'm done with yielding. 51:16 I've been yielding all my life." 51:17 Do we say that and expect him to give us mercy? 51:21 Okay. You need to get a shot of that. 51:24 Behind bars, you know-- 51:26 You know, I asked a simple question. 51:29 Who is free, the one keeping the laws of our nation 51:32 or the ones breaking them, who's free? 51:35 The one living in harmony with it. 51:37 The ones keeping the laws. 51:39 Who is free in our relationship with God, 51:41 the ones keeping His law 51:42 or the ones breaking His law continually? 51:44 The ones who are living in harmony with it. 51:46 This is not rocket science. 51:48 The salvation of God is simple to understand. 51:51 He makes it plain, we make it difficult. 51:55 And I'm sorry it just-- 51:57 we see these challenges to the gospel, 52:00 the Lord did away with His law. 52:02 You know we're no longer under the law. 52:04 You know what it means, under the law? 52:05 That means under the condemnation 52:08 that comes from the law. 52:09 It doesn't mean that we are under-- 52:10 we are not under the requirements of the law. 52:12 Oh, we are always under the requirements. 52:13 We're under the requirements of God's law, 52:15 we're not under the condemnation of the law anymore, 52:16 yet that passage is even skewed. 52:19 How many times do we have to say, 52:22 scripture upon scripture, line upon line, 52:24 let's bring this theology, let's bring His truth together 52:28 and make it beautiful." 52:29 Yes, as a matter of fact, let me make some-- 52:30 let me make a suggestion. 52:32 If you ever hear or if you ever hear again 52:34 you preacher say, "The law has been done away with." 52:37 At that moment, close your Bible, 52:41 get up out of your seat 52:42 and get out of that church as fast as you can 52:45 because your preacher has just given himself permission 52:48 to violate the law of God. 52:50 And it could be in any one of those ten categories. 52:52 It could be in any one of those categories. 52:54 As a matter of fact, my good friend Pastor Bachelor, 52:56 when a preacher once told him that-- 52:58 he says, "You can't keep the law." 53:00 He says, "Okay. 53:01 Well, Pastor, tell me which one are you violating?" 53:04 And he stood there like, almost like huh? 53:07 I don't really-- do you mean-- 53:08 did you just ask me if I'm vio-- 53:11 he sees reality then when he says, "Okay, you're right. 53:15 You say we can't keep the law. 53:16 Let me just follow that train of thought for a brief moment. 53:18 Which one are you violating?" 53:20 And then it hits home 53:21 because he's teaching people 53:23 that they need salvation from sin. 53:25 And when you are living in sin 53:27 and the preacher is condoning that he is in essence saying, 53:30 "You prayer life has absolutely no power in it whatsoever", 53:35 because in order for your prayers to go through, 53:38 you've got to acknowledge the fact that 53:40 you are a sinner in need of a savior, 53:42 you know, in need of the mercy of God 53:44 and if you cover those sins 53:46 which in fact will be covered in your life 53:49 that is will be glossed over 53:51 if you believe that you don't have to live in harmony 53:53 for commandments of God. 53:55 You can't violate God's commandments 53:56 and expect to pray for God to give you blessings. 53:59 It just doesn't work that way. 54:00 No. In any economy at all. 54:02 You're turning, where are you headed? 54:03 Well, I am in a segue to a last piece on this. 54:05 Okay. Sure. 54:08 Praise God for Jesus because he dealt with our sins. 54:13 Jesus would not have had to have died on the cross 54:16 to pay for the penalty for our sins 54:17 if the law could have been changed. 54:19 If the law could have been changed 54:21 then he would just change the law 54:22 and it wouldn't have been sin anymore. 54:24 Saved him a death. 54:25 But Jesus died because he knew the penalty had to be paid. 54:27 The requirements of the law had to be fulfilled, 54:29 "By faith now they're fulfilled as we trust in Christ" 54:32 but it doesn't mean that doesn't remove the obligation for us 54:35 or in our life in harmony with His example. 54:38 That's right. 54:39 So praise God that Jesus was send to this world 54:42 to live the life that we could not live. 54:45 And part of our prayer, 54:47 part of our prayer life should be praise and thanksgiving. 54:52 Okay. That's kind of the way 54:53 I want to kind of go to as we end. 54:55 We need to praise God as we end this program 54:58 because it is a key aspect to our prayer life. 55:03 Notice this from Philippians 1:3-4. 55:06 Oh, John, I was turned there. 55:07 Would you stop? Okay, go ahead. 55:11 "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 55:15 always in every prayer of mine 55:17 making request for you all with joy." 55:22 Wow. 55:23 God is so good to us and Paul recognizes that 55:28 and he thanks Him constantly for His grace. 55:32 In fact, you find as he opens most of His letters, 55:36 grace and peace to you, writing to the saints. 55:41 This is the attitude that we should have in prayer. 55:43 Constant thanksgiving and praise to God 55:45 for everything that He has done in our life. 55:50 Another text would be Colossians Chapter 3:15-17. 55:58 Okay. Go for it. 56:00 "Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, 56:02 if anyone has a complaint against another, 56:04 even as Christ forgave you." 56:06 See that gratitude that we have here 56:08 in our relationships with each other. 56:10 "But above all things put on love, 56:13 which is the bond of perfection 56:15 and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, 56:17 which also you were called in one body, and be thankful." 56:22 Be thankful. 56:24 I love verse 16 too, include that too. 56:26 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, 56:28 in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another 56:31 with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 56:34 singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. 56:38 And whatever you do in word or deed, 56:39 do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 56:41 giving thanks to God the Father through Him." 56:45 I tell you, you know what it communicates there, John? 56:47 It communicates an exuberance and a vibrance 56:50 that just embraces the Christian. 56:52 Oh, I can't wait to praise and thank God 56:54 for the good things He has done for me. 56:55 Yeah. Amen. 56:57 So when you come to God, come with humility, 57:00 put away those sins you know that He's convicting you of. 57:03 Praise God for dealing with those things 57:06 and then let Him communicate to you His will 57:10 and then walk in harmony with it. 57:12 In James, you know, James brings out 57:15 one of the most indelible examples. 57:17 He says, "Elijah was a man 57:18 subject to like passions as we are 57:20 but he prayed and when he prayed, God responded." 57:23 Friends, here is the principle. 57:25 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 57:29 Hold on to the righteousness of Christ 57:32 and your prayers will be answered. 57:34 God bless you till we see you again. |
Revised 2014-12-17