Participants:
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL150005A
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00:01 Hello, friends, grab your bible and a friend,
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:25 Welcome to the place that 00:26 the Lord knew you would be today, 00:28 and that's right here with us on House Calls. 00:31 Thank you for tuning in. 00:32 I have to my right, my prodigy, my carbon copy, 00:37 he just looks a little different, 00:39 but we share something in common, 00:40 that's a passion for God's word, 00:41 we even have the same name. Good to have you here, John. 00:44 It's good to be here, John. 00:45 You know, today is a good day 00:46 that we are going to get into a topic that is exciting. 00:48 Yeah. 00:49 We're going to cover it on a couple of programs, 00:51 Dispensationalism. 00:54 And now sationalism is a part of it, dispense, 00:58 when you put them two together it simply means 01:00 a theory that has advanced many teachings 01:05 that are not scripturally supported. 01:07 And you'll discover also in this program 01:10 where the foundation of Dispensationalism came from. 01:15 While it has 400-year-old history behind it, 01:20 it's very, very modern... 01:23 And some of the translations of the Bibles, 01:25 not so much translations 01:27 but many of the Bibles that have study notes, 01:29 for example, you have Scofield Study Notes. 01:32 Well, Cyrus I. Scofield was a dispensationalist. 01:37 Some of the modern "prophets" or people 01:42 that have thought themselves to be 01:45 having a great angle on prophecy like Hal Lindsey, 01:49 going a littler further back, Mary Baker Eddy, 01:53 and then you have John N. Darby. 01:57 So it's really, it's quite a trek 01:59 for Dispensationalism, 02:01 but suffice to say we are going to, 02:04 what's the word I can use, we are going to unmask... 02:06 Dispel the myth. 02:08 Dispel the myths behind Dispensationalism. 02:11 We're gonna desensationalize it and then lead you right back 02:16 to what the word of God says, to what the word of God says. 02:21 Sound like you know, get that out of there. 02:23 Yeah, exactly. 02:24 And so stay tune for a program 02:26 that really is going to peak your interest 02:29 and may be hopefully share something with you 02:32 that can strengthen your dedication to God's word 02:35 because this is not a normal topic. 02:37 We're not just talking about the Sabbath 02:39 and the state of the dead, and you know, the 2,300 days, 02:41 we're talking about something that has really gripped 02:44 and led much of Christendom 02:46 into a very dark place with no scriptural support. 02:49 But before we do any of that we always have prayer, 02:52 then we're going to go to Bible questions, 02:54 and all those things that we enjoy to do. 02:55 But, John, before we go any further, 02:57 let's have our prayer. 02:58 Let's do that. 03:00 Father in heaven, we just depend upon you 03:02 so much for any program like this, 03:04 for everyday of our life, but when we open your word 03:07 unless you lead us through your spirit 03:09 we cannot find your truth. 03:11 And so we pray that your presence would be with us, 03:14 that the Spirit would lead and guide our thoughts, 03:16 and bless each heart and each mind 03:17 that is with us today on the program. 03:20 In Jesus' name, Amen. 03:21 Amen. 03:23 And as many of you know, we enjoy Bible questions. 03:27 Sometimes we get them in envelopes. 03:30 But most of the time 03:31 we get them on the internet, and today, 03:33 we're going to have a little bit of both 03:35 of the Bible questions you have. 03:37 And if you're sitting down right now and you think, "man, 03:40 a thought just came to my mind or a question," 03:42 and you have access to the internet, 03:44 you may want to send that question 03:45 to this following email address: 03:47 housecalls@3abn.org. 03:50 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 03:53 And we would enjoy downloading those. 03:57 So keep them coming 03:58 because it's very much a part of our program. 04:00 What you want to know is what we want to answer, 04:03 and if we don't answer to your liking, 04:05 send us another question so we can clarify it. 04:08 But John, we're going to give you 04:09 the first swing of the bat 04:11 or may be I should say 04:13 the first swing of the golf club 04:15 or the scriptures. 04:16 Let me put them in the proper context. 04:18 There you go. 04:19 I have a question here from Haines, 04:21 and he's writing from South Africa. 04:23 Oh, wow. 04:25 He says, "Can you please help me 04:26 with a time prophecy misunderstanding?" 04:29 He says "Nebuchadnezzar became king in 605 BC. 04:34 In the second year of his reign he had the Daniel 2 dream. 04:38 The first year are never counted, 04:42 and that's true. 04:43 He is a centenarian, isn't? 04:44 Meaning, that happened in the third year of his reign, 04:47 he only captured Daniel and his friends in 597-598 BC 04:52 when he invaded Jerusalem." 04:54 My problem is this gap between Daniel's time and 602, 04:59 when he had the dream." 05:00 In other words, Daniel wasn't there 05:02 when he had the dream in 602. 05:05 The question is a great question 05:07 and we should I think know 05:09 little bit about our history, especially this history. 05:11 The part of the question that is not accurate 05:13 is the time Daniel was taken captive. 05:17 There are three deportations 05:19 that happened from Jerusalem to Babylon. 05:22 The first one came on the heels of 05:24 the Egyptian defeat at Carchemish, 05:26 and this is when Pharaoh Necho 05:29 lost to Babylon and really never recovered. 05:32 And really, so then Egypt 05:34 which Israel often depended upon 05:36 as their ally to help them 05:38 with these other northern countries 05:39 was no longer there. 05:41 So King Josiah became the vassal king 05:44 basically of Babylon from that point on, 05:46 and that was the first deportation. 05:47 So Babylon came in to Jerusalem 05:50 and then the first deportation occurred, 05:53 which included Daniel and his three friends. 05:56 So that happened in 605 BC. 06:01 So instead of, the question says 06:03 that he was deported in 597-598, 06:06 that's actually not true. 06:08 Daniel and his three friends actually were deported 06:11 from Jerusalem to Babylon in 605, 06:14 the same year that Nebuchadnezzar 06:16 took over as king. 06:17 Now, the other reason that date is 06:19 an important date for us, 06:21 as we look at prophecies 06:22 because 605 represents 06:25 the first year of the 70 years of captivity. 06:29 So, 605 is the beginning count, 06:32 the marker there for 06:33 70 years of captivity in Babylon, 06:36 marking the first year and the first deportation 06:40 of that time period. 06:41 The second deportation occurred in 597-598 06:44 which he mentions here, 06:48 but that is another group of Israelites from Jerusalem 06:53 or Jews from Jerusalem coming at that point 06:55 and then the third deportation is 586. 06:58 And that is when the whole city was just destroyed, 07:03 because even as a vassal, 07:04 the king would rebel constantly against 07:07 the kings of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, 07:11 who was ruling still then, destroyed it. 07:13 Okay. 07:14 You know, sometimes those viewers 07:17 that are listening to the program are not sometimes, 07:19 but sometimes the persons listening to the answers 07:21 and they will say, 07:23 "Dates, numbers, what does it really matter?" 07:27 And you know, the reason why the Lord 07:28 has given us these prophecies 07:31 is one of the reasons, John, and I have spoken to, 07:34 I remember speaking to a couple 07:37 that were, as they were scientists 07:41 when I was in the city of St. Louis. 07:44 And we went to visit them, they were avout atheist, 07:48 they declared they have no belief in the Bible. 07:50 But when I got to prophecy and I began to walk through 07:53 the time tables of prophecy as it was foretold 07:57 and as it was fulfilled, 07:58 they said... 08:01 "We never heard that." 08:03 And that, they said, 08:04 "That's kind of like science to us 08:06 because it's verifying something that 08:08 to many people, it's just a theory." 08:11 So, when you hear dates talked about 08:13 and when we talk about time prophecies... 08:18 you'll see that the verification of that 08:19 or the validity of those time prophecies 08:21 is to simply say, as Isaiah 46:9-10 says, 08:26 "Remember the former things of old, 08:28 for I am God, and there is no other, 08:30 declaring the end from the beginning, 08:32 and from ancient times things that are not yet done." 08:36 So now, if an atheist listens to a time prophecy 08:41 and the things that were foretold 08:42 are happening exactly as they were foretold, 08:45 they got to say, "Wait a minute, 08:46 who could have done that? 08:47 But... 08:49 So is there really a God?" 08:51 And that is so beautiful 08:53 when it comes to time prophecies. 08:54 So it may just sound like 08:56 dates, and numbers, and kingdoms, and kings, 08:58 but in fact, the whole purpose of it 09:00 is as Jesus said to his disciples, 09:03 "I tell you these things beforehand 09:06 that one day do come to pass you will believe." 09:09 And it affirms, it confirms our faith. 09:10 Right. 09:12 If the word becomes living and powerful 09:15 because no man can predict the future. 09:18 No man. 09:19 And as peter says, 09:21 "Prophecy never came by the will of man, 09:24 but holy men of god spake as they were moved 09:26 by the Holy Spirit." 09:28 So you have God inspiring the prophets, 09:30 Holy Spirit becoming the active penman through them 09:35 and so you say, 09:36 "Okay, well, God, the Holy Spirit, 09:38 well, can I really be an atheist. 09:40 When I'm looking at something 09:41 that in some sense is like science, 09:44 it verifies that there has to be someone outside of us 09:48 that could project something 09:49 from 1,600 years ago, 3,000 years ago 09:52 and it happens in our modern day? 09:54 Is it possible?" 09:55 Yes, it is possible. 09:57 That is why prophecy 09:58 that John just talked about has such validity 10:00 and such necessity behind it in God's words. 10:03 And the other thing 10:04 I'll just mention really quick here in too is that, 10:06 you know, for the atheist, 10:07 for those that are really looking 10:09 at the word of God critically, you know, 10:12 you can be convicted that there is truth here. 10:15 We see these dates and these prophecies 10:16 and they're amazing, 10:18 but then what the devil has done is 10:19 he has brought higher criticism into the forefront today. 10:24 And so many people who look at scripture 10:26 take what's called a higher critical approach. 10:28 They look at it critically to break down, 10:30 it's supernatural... 10:34 ability 10:35 or it's supernatural infusion of God 10:37 through prophecy and through other things 10:39 through testimonies and things. 10:40 So what you will have here, 10:42 your common response would be to the atheist 10:44 to that meets with you and says, 10:45 "Wow, I've never heard that before." 10:47 The higher critical thinking person 10:48 would come along and say, "Well, you know what, 10:50 actually those prophecies were written afterwards, 10:52 after the event happened." 10:53 It couldn't happen. 10:54 And it's absolutely a ridiculous thought 10:56 because most evidence points very clearly to the fact 10:59 that Daniel wrote this book, not anyone else. 11:03 Daniel wrote it. 11:04 If he wrote it, 11:05 it preceded very clearly the events 11:07 that are actually occurring. 11:08 You know, I am glad you brought that up 11:09 because some theologians argue that 11:11 Daniel wrote this after it happened. 11:12 But the time frames would have almost made it appears, though, 11:15 Daniel had to live for hundreds of years. 11:18 Or in some case almost a 1000 years 11:21 in order for these things that were foretold by Daniel 11:23 to be written after they occurred 11:25 because Daniel projected things 11:27 that happened before him and long after him. 11:31 That's why we honestly say the partner of higher criticism 11:35 is Dispensationalism. 11:37 It's this shifting to the future, 11:40 those events that are foretold in Daniels. 11:42 So what can't be covered by Daniels existence, 11:45 what he wrote about is moved to the future 11:48 because one thing the devil does, 11:50 he wants to happen, 11:51 he does not want us to focus and say, 11:53 God's word is absolutely sure and trustworthy. 11:56 He wants to take our eyes off of that. 11:57 And anyway, you can just see it how he's working very clearly. 12:02 I can see that just very, very clear. 12:04 We have a question from, 12:07 well, does not give a first name. 12:10 Sharon, okay, Sharon, and does not say from where 12:14 but says, Sent from my iPad. 12:17 "Matthew 5:20 states that, 'Except your righteousness 12:23 exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, 12:27 you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.' " 12:31 She said, "This is really confusing to me 12:32 because the scribes and Pharisees 12:34 were the people who weren't the most loving and kind. 12:38 What does this mean in practical terms?" 12:41 Well, you kind of answer the question with a question, 12:44 and one of the things that Jesus is pointing out is truly, 12:47 they were not loving and they were not kind, 12:50 they were just law people. 12:53 The law, let me broaden the phrase here 12:57 not just the commandments, 12:59 but the ceremonial laws, 13:01 the laws that were contained in ordinances, 13:05 the Pharisees were sticklers. 13:07 You know, sometimes you can call them 13:08 the doctors of their day, of the theological world then, 13:14 the lawyers of the theological world then. 13:17 And they were very exacting in the way they kept the law, 13:21 which made them so rigid. 13:24 So one of the reasons why the women caught on adultery, 13:28 where you cannot commit adultery by yourself, 13:31 but one of the reasons why she was brought to Jesus 13:33 and Pharisees wanted him to make a decision about 13:36 whether or not she should be stoned 13:39 is they didn't think that adultery was adultery 13:41 until the very act was carried out. 13:44 They didn't think of the way that Jesus expanded that 13:47 to say, well, if you look at a woman to lust after her, 13:49 you have committed adultery already. 13:52 They thought that murder was only murder 13:54 when the actual act took place, when somebody's life was taken. 13:59 But Jesus said, if you hate your brother, 14:02 you've already killed him. 14:03 And so what Jesus was saying 14:05 about the Pharisees and scribes, he says, 14:08 "If we're just law keepers 14:10 based on the literal application 14:12 and fulfilment in carrying out of that law 14:15 then we are no different than they are." 14:17 And so I'm going to read that text 14:19 and I'll share how Paul the Apostle 14:21 also had to deal with this in his day. 14:24 So again, Matthew 5:17 to give you the context. 14:27 Jesus says, "Do not think that 14:29 I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. 14:32 I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. 14:35 For assuredly, I say to you, 14:37 till heaven and earth pass away, 14:40 one jot or one title will by no means pass 14:44 from the law till all is fulfilled." 14:46 And by the way, 14:48 he is saying this to the Pharisees. 14:50 They're kind of thinking "Okay, we know that." 14:53 And he says in verse 19, "Whoever therefore breaks 14:57 one of the least of these commandments 14:59 and teaches men so 15:00 shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, 15:03 but whoever does and teaches them, 15:05 he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 15:07 And they're thinking, 15:09 "Okay, well, hey, we have, up to this point, 15:13 we are fully in alignment with what you just said." 15:16 But then he goes on in verse 20 to say this, 15:19 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness 15:23 exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees 15:26 or scribes and Pharisees, 15:28 you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." 15:31 Then he goes to break it down 15:32 what he meant by the 'their righteousness.' 15:35 Look at very 21, 15:37 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 15:40 you shall not murder, 15:41 and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment, 15:43 but I say to you that 15:44 whoever is angry with his brother 15:46 without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 15:49 And whoever says to his brother, Raca, 15:50 shall be in danger of the council." 15:52 And he goes on. 15:54 And what he's doing is comparing 15:57 not just the actual law itself but the spirit of it. 16:01 And let me make application before I go to 2 Corinthians 3. 16:05 Today, in Christianity, the danger that, 16:09 let me just use this phrase, 16:10 the danger that can be a stumbling block 16:13 to those who honour the commandments of God. 16:15 Because you have these, 16:16 once again, I'll go back to Dispensationalism. 16:19 You have this period in Christian history 16:21 where many evangelicals today say, 16:23 "Well, in the Old Testament, 16:25 they will say, by keeping the law, 16:27 now we will say, by grace through faith." 16:30 And so they say, the dispensation of law, 16:32 the dispensation of grace. 16:34 And so now when you mention the Sabbath today, they say, 16:38 that was under the old dispensation. 16:40 That's how they try to sweep it under the rug. 16:43 But today, we just honour the Lord 16:45 and it really does not matter, 16:46 we just, this whole Spirit is more important 16:49 than the actual letter. 16:51 So what they have done is they said 16:52 the Spirit is more important than the letter 16:55 and the Pharisees says, 16:56 the letter is more important than the Spirit. 16:58 But John 4:23, Jesus says, 17:01 "The hour has come 17:03 that the true worshiper must worship the Father 17:06 in Spirit and in truth, 17:08 for the Father seeking such to worship," 17:10 John 4:23-24. 17:13 And so you have Jesus saying, 17:15 "You think that the letter does not matter? 17:16 Wrong. 17:18 You think only the Spirit matters? 17:19 Wrong." 17:20 The letter and the Spirit 17:22 together is where Jesus is talking about we must be, 17:25 and that's balance. 17:27 So today, Paul the Apostle, 17:29 when he ran into this very same fraction 17:31 among the Christians at Corinth, 17:33 he said in 2 Corinthians 3:6, 17:36 let me go ahead 17:38 and bring up the context of that 17:39 because it's very important. 17:41 By the way, do you have that? I don't know if you have that. 17:43 2 Corinthians, what? 17:44 Chapter 3 and verse 6. Let's look at that. 17:48 I could even start with verse 4. 17:51 2 Corinthians 3: 4. 17:53 Go ahead and read that for us. 17:55 "And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 17:58 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves 18:00 to think of anything as being from ourselves, 18:03 but our sufficiency is from God, 18:05 who also made us sufficient 18:06 as ministers of the new covenant, 18:08 not of the letter but of the Spirit, 18:11 for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 18:13 Okay, so he is saying 18:16 "Where were those who focus so much on the letter?" 18:19 I think they had no Spirit. 18:20 I like the way one preacher says, 18:22 "Too much law you..." 18:28 What's the phrase? 18:29 "Too much law, you dry up, too much Spirit, you blow up, 18:33 but when you combine law and spirit together 18:35 you grow up." 18:36 See? 18:38 There are those who "Law, law, law, law." 18:39 There are those 18:40 "Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace." 18:42 Then, they throw the whole baby and the bath water out. 18:44 We don't needs God's commandments, 18:45 we don't need God's law, we are under grace, 18:47 we're saved by grace through faith. 18:49 And you have this wishy-washy 18:51 pabulum of religion with no solidity to it, 18:53 and you could do anything as long as you love the Lord, 18:56 pick a day as long as you have a day, 18:58 as long as you just do good things. 19:00 The Lord condemn that and that's why he says, 19:03 "The letter killeth, if that's all you focus on, 19:06 but the Spirit makes a life," 19:07 and then he combines it to Spirit and in truth. 19:10 So in a nutshell, as an Adventist 19:14 we cannot focus just on, 19:15 well, if you don't keep the Sabbath, 19:17 you'll be lost, if you don't... 19:19 You know, we have to make sure that 19:21 the purpose of it is John 14:15, 19:24 which we know, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 19:27 The Spirit of love must be encompassed 19:30 and accompanied but anything 19:32 because that's what the Pharisees didn't have. 19:35 They did not have that. 19:36 They were sticklers of the law 19:39 and they did not have any grace connected to it. 19:42 I am resisting going into our topic. 19:43 I know. 19:45 Because this is a good launch, 19:46 but I think we have time for one more question, you think? 19:48 Okay, you want to do it? Yeah. 19:49 This one is from Darrel, 19:53 and it says, "My question is this, 19:55 'Will God answer the prayer of a person 19:57 who was not keeping the Ten Commandments?' 20:01 " All right, good question. 20:03 Let's go to a couple of passages here, 20:06 number one, Jeremiah 11. 20:09 Let's go to Jeremiah 11:10-11. 20:20 And I am going to read here, this is in regard to Israel, 20:23 there have been a rebellion for some time, 20:25 it's one of their cycles of rebellion. 20:28 And so the Lord is speaking and he says here, 20:32 "They have turned back 20:35 to the iniquities of their forefathers 20:37 who refused to hear My words, 20:39 they have gone after other Gods to serve them, 20:41 the house of Israel and the house of Judah 20:43 have broken My covenant 20:44 which I made with their fathers. 20:46 Therefore, thus says the Lord: 20:48 Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them 20:52 which they will not be able to escape, 20:53 and though they cry out to Me, I will not..." 20:56 What? "Listen to them." 20:59 So clearly, you can get to a point. 21:00 The Bible is pretty definitive on this. 21:05 You can reach a point where God will hear 21:09 and it's a result of rebellion, 21:11 but as the kind of rebellion is the kind of action 21:15 in the practice in life 21:17 where you have turned from the Lord 21:19 and you do not want to do the Lord's will. 21:22 There is no desire for repentance, 21:24 there is no sorrow for sin, 21:26 it's a clear path of rebellion, and you know the commandments. 21:30 The Israelites knew very well what The Ten Commandments were, 21:32 they were carrying with them everywhere. 21:35 And they were an integral part of their life, 21:37 but they refusing to hear. 21:39 And in this case, they were making other Gods 21:41 and putting other Gods before their God, 21:44 the God of Heaven. 21:46 And so God says, I will not hear you. 21:49 Now, so back to the question, 21:53 "The prayer of a person 21:54 who's not keeping the Commandment, 21:55 is that prayer heard?" 21:57 It depends. 21:59 Because there are many who break the Ten Commandments, 22:01 who'll break one of the Commandments 22:02 but don't know they are doing that. 22:04 They don't know they are living. 22:05 Sin of ignorance. 22:07 Yeah, and you could also say 22:09 that most of us have sins of ignorance. 22:14 I mean, we all have things we need to work on. 22:16 In fact, the closer we get to Christ, 22:18 the more sinful we see ourselves to be 22:20 because we compare with the One that is perfect. 22:23 So you cannot say just 22:25 because someone has committed a sin or has a sin 22:29 that they're probably not aware of that 22:31 they are not heard by God. 22:34 God reads the heart. 22:36 What's that, "Man's looks upon the outward appearance 22:38 but the Lord looks upon the heart." 22:40 He sees our desire, he sees our motive. 22:42 And there are many in this world, 22:45 I believe, good meaning, well meaning 22:47 Christians who are following the Lord 22:48 with all their heart 22:49 and living up to every bit of light 22:51 that they have been given 22:53 and they study to know 22:54 and come to know through His word, 22:56 and they may be breaking a commandment. 22:58 But God still hears them 23:00 because they are doing it in ignorance, 23:01 they're not doing it with willing, disobedience, 23:04 as was happening back then. 23:07 I'll also mentioned John 14:13-15, 23:10 you have a promise there where Jesus says, 23:14 "Ask anything in My name and I will do it", 23:17 and then verse 15, He says 23:19 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 23:20 So there's a clear connection 23:22 between obedience and the freedom to ask 23:25 God for anything. 23:27 So the best situation any of us can be in this to know 23:30 that we're living up to the light that we received, 23:32 we're not rejecting his commandments, 23:34 we're not rejecting any of the words 23:38 that He says in His word. 23:40 And we know without a doubt that He hears us 23:43 because He loves us 23:44 and He knows our heart is for Him. 23:46 You know, building on that, 23:50 I mean, you made a very good point, 23:51 just to further emphasize the question. 23:54 There is a condition to prayers being answered and lot of times 23:58 we don't think of God's promises his conditions, 24:01 but God's promises are conditional. 24:03 Couple of things I want to point out and you said, 24:05 but I want to reiterate, you know, 24:06 sometimes repetition is the best teacher. 24:10 If a person does not know, Acts 17, 30, 24:14 "Times of ignorance God overlooked" 24:16 or God winked at as the King James Version says, 24:19 "But now commands all men everywhere to repent." 24:21 When a person is unaware of something, 24:24 the sincerity precedes that individual. 24:28 Now, let me just be candid about what I mean. 24:31 You can't say, well, I never read the commandments 24:32 so I didn't know it was a sin to kill. 24:35 There are certain things that we know are wrong. 24:38 You know, because the Lord has placed His law 24:40 in our minds and our hearts. 24:43 So this Spirit that speaks to a person 24:45 just before they are about to commit a heinous crime 24:48 only when they pass the boundaries of God's grace 24:52 they have turned off the voice of the Spirit of God, 24:56 they can commit such heinous crimes 24:58 because they're no longer tuned into the spirit of God. 25:01 They don't want to hear it and the Lord has, 25:03 in the case of Psalm, has departed from them. 25:05 So people are able to carry these things, 25:07 but we are not talking about that extremist of a situation. 25:10 They are those who and honestly, 25:12 let's just say they are many people 25:13 that honour the first day of the week. 25:15 They have no clue. 25:17 There are many people 25:18 that embrace the teachings of the rapture, 25:20 the secret rapture, 25:22 they have not heard anything else and as the Lord, 25:25 as they pray for the Spirit of God 25:26 to continue to lead them, John 16:13, 25:29 "He will lead them and guide them into all truth." 25:32 But once you become aware, 25:34 there is a different standard applied altogether. 25:36 Once you are aware, the Lord makes you 25:41 in a different category altogether. 25:42 So when you get to that point that you know better now... 25:46 let me use the Sabbath as an example 25:48 that you know that the Sabbath is God's holy day. 25:50 You know that He did not sanctify Sunday, 25:53 but now Proverbs 28:9 comes into play, 25:57 "One who turns his ear from hearing the law, 26:02 even his prayer is an abomination." 26:06 That's huge. 26:07 So now "I don't want to hear, I don't to hear." 26:09 I met a guy I once studying with. 26:11 "I don't want to hear, I don't want to hear," 26:12 and I said what is that all about? 26:14 He said "If I hear it, I'm responsible." 26:17 If you hear that railroad crossing bells and whistles, 26:22 if you hear the ding, ding, ding, ding, 26:24 you could plug your ear, but you're gonna get killed. 26:26 Yeah, whether acknowledge it's coming or not. 26:29 I didn't hear it. I'm in the emergency room. 26:31 I didn't hear it. But what you had? 26:33 I had my headsets in. 26:34 It was ringing, it was glanging, 26:36 it was gonging, and you just chose not to hear. 26:39 In the very same way, ignorance is not protection 26:44 when you know better. 26:45 Another text in Isaiah 59:2, 26:48 "But your iniquities have separated you from your God, 26:52 and your sins have hidden His face from you, 26:56 so that He will not hear." 26:58 So we have these cherished sins that we continue to participate 27:01 and the Lord says you know what? 27:04 You keeping going asking Me for things, 27:06 I'm not going to listen to you and here is the reason why. 27:09 1 John 3:22. 27:12 Go there John and read that for us. 27:14 Here is the reason 27:15 why Lord will not listen to some individuals 27:17 because when you know God's requirements 27:19 and you choose to ignore them 27:20 and you think that God is kind a like Walmart or Macy's, 27:24 that just is going to swipe your card 27:25 and give you whatever you ask for. 27:27 No, there are conditions to what God responds to. 27:31 1 John 3, verse 22. 27:32 "And whatever we ask we receive from Him, 27:35 because we keep His commandments 27:36 and do those things 27:37 that are pleasing in His sight." 27:39 Okay, there you go. 27:40 So you just can't keep the commandments 27:42 and say, hey, all these things I have done 27:43 since I was a youth, the rich young ruler. 27:46 But you do what is pleasing in His sight 27:49 and that's why when the Bible says 27:52 when the Lord says to Job, there is none like him, 27:55 he resists evil 27:58 and when the Lord calls the person righteous 28:00 is because that person lives that way in His sight. 28:02 You know, this is another reason 28:04 why we should never reach the point of saying 28:06 I've learned it all. 28:08 This is the most dangerous position 28:09 I think we can become or we can get in to is that, 28:12 you know, I know the truth, I've got all the truth 28:16 and then, somehow, we become closed to any new revelation 28:21 or new understanding of something. 28:23 And I know that, you know, 28:25 our evangelical brothers and friends out there are just, 28:31 they have a different, it's a different gospel 28:33 and we're going to be talking about that. 28:35 This is dispensational kind of view of the gospel 28:37 and a prophecy and of many things. 28:39 We'll talk about that, 28:40 but they're just not open to hearing the other side 28:46 and I think that that is one of the things 28:48 that really brings about a downfall to a church 28:53 because they willingly disregard 28:55 what God is trying to teach them. 28:56 And He can do no more with them, 28:58 as if, they've gone as far as they can go. 29:00 That's why in the Bible in, I believe, 29:03 it's in the Book of Acts where Paul says, 29:06 these were more noble than those in Thessalonica. 29:10 And he's speaking about the Bereans. 29:11 Yeah. 29:12 And that they received 29:14 the word of God with all readiness 29:15 and they searched the scriptures daily 29:17 to see whether these things were so, 29:19 I looked into that and I discovered that 29:21 the Jews in Thessalonica were field by prejedous, 29:26 that is not so much a racial prejedous 29:28 but they had already come to the conclusion 29:31 that they rejected the Messiah. 29:32 So any preaching about the Messiah 29:34 was already suspect. 29:35 It was like, "I don't want to hear it, 29:37 I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it. 29:39 I know exactly what you're going to preach about." 29:40 And today, the same thing has happened. 29:42 I knew you going to be talking about the Sabbath, 29:44 I knew you're gonna talk about the state of the dead, 29:45 the 2,300 days, eternal burning. 29:48 I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it. 29:50 And that's what's happening 29:51 in many of the evangelical communities, 29:52 I don't want to hear it. 29:54 I was talking to somebody on this Facebook page 29:57 that was set up, you know, 29:59 Truth Seekers or whatever the title was, 30:01 and I was going back and forth in dialoguing 30:04 with someone in regard to the Ten Commandments, 30:05 because they had raised the question 30:07 and I chimed in on it 30:08 and they came back really hard, really strong against that. 30:10 You know, "We're in a Gospel of Grace, 30:12 we're not in the law anymore. 30:14 All you law keepers," you know, about the Sabbath and, 30:17 "You're under a burden" 30:18 and just the typical stuff you get. 30:20 And, I said, well, how about all these times 30:25 where Jesus says very clearly 30:26 and asks through the epistles of the apostles, those letters, 30:30 how come they say "keep the commandments of God?" 30:32 He says, "Oh, those aren't the Ten Commandments." 30:35 And they even cite them... 30:36 And, I said, wait a minute, 30:38 those aren't the Ten Commandments? 30:39 He said, "No, those are Jesus Commandments, 30:41 he gave new Commandments." 30:43 I said, wait a minute, "The Jesus, the 'I am,' 30:46 that also was the one that met Moses on the burning bush 30:49 and the one that gave the Commandments 30:51 to Moses way back when, 30:52 the same one Jesus appeared in the New Testament, 30:54 he has other Commandments, new ones?" 30:57 He discarded the old ones and... 30:59 "Yes." And they have no proof of that. 31:02 They have no proof. It's unbiblical. 31:06 It comes from a higher critical way of approaching the Bible. 31:08 They don't use any kind of proof-texting. 31:10 You know, we talk about proof-texting 31:12 sometimes in a bad light. 31:13 No. 31:14 But, there is a time for proof-texting. 31:16 When you're looking at subject matters, 31:17 you need to compare scripture with scripture 31:19 and they prove each other out. 31:21 Right. And they're important. 31:23 And so, but this willing ignorance 31:26 and just rejection of any kind of that study, 31:30 you know, I... There is something in, um, 31:33 our court of law today called 31:34 "the preponderance of the evidence." 31:36 Right. 31:38 And we're not talking about circumstantial evidence. 31:39 No. 31:41 You know, we can't convict under circumstantial evidence. 31:42 But we can convict 31:43 under the preponderance of good evidence. 31:46 And when you put all the scriptures 31:47 on a specific topic, 31:49 that something you're trying to study out together, 31:51 you're gonna have some text 31:52 that might appear to say something else, 31:55 but when you line everything up in your columns 31:57 is to what they appear to be saying, 31:59 you're gonna find it where preponderance of the evidence 32:01 leaning in one direction over the others. 32:03 That's right. 32:04 And that is something that they refuse to do 32:06 when they search the scriptures. 32:08 They take one or two texts 32:09 that appear to say something else 32:10 and they go with that 32:12 because it fits into their model 32:13 which is a dispensational model. 32:16 All the other texts that don't appear to say that 32:18 which are the evidence of truth, 32:20 they reject. 32:22 And so there is a time to refer to the scriptures. 32:27 When it comes to your future, your destiny, your salvation, 32:30 don't put that based on a theory, 32:32 it has to be supported by God's word. 32:34 I'm gonna kinda leave it there, 32:35 'cause, you know, we wanna transition into our topic 32:38 which is gonna be a display 32:41 of what we just talked about here. 32:43 So if you have any questions you wanna send to us, 32:45 you can send those to housecalls@3abn.org, 32:49 that's housecalls@3abn.org, 32:51 and we will gladly by God's leading, 32:53 answer those questions, according to God's word. 32:57 That is the foundation here at this network. 33:01 The word of God is the foundation upon 33:04 which we are established. 33:07 Now, John, lead into a little bit, 33:08 because a lot of the research 33:10 that we're gonna be talking about here today 33:12 are putting together the comparative analysis. 33:15 Now we used the big word "comparative analysis." 33:20 We laid some foundation in the beginning of the program, 33:23 at the top of the hour, 33:24 talking about dispensationalism. 33:29 Really, dispensationalism is responsible for so much 33:34 that exists in Christianity today 33:37 and I'll talk about some of the translations 33:39 and how you can tell whether your Bible is affected by it 33:41 or your study notes are affected by it. 33:44 But, um, the categories that Dispensationalism 33:47 often effects is like law, grace, covenants, 33:52 and what are some of the other ones? 33:53 The Rapture, Second Coming, 33:55 the Resurrection, ah, Tribulation, 33:58 you know, the end time, great Tribulation period, 34:02 among other things, Prophecy, 34:04 time prophecy is much more literal 34:08 than understating a day for a year. 34:10 So, everything, it really runs the gamut. 34:12 Yeah. The millennium. 34:13 You know, we heard the phrase, 34:15 The Earthly Reign, The Millennia Reign 34:17 and people waiting for, wanting to go to Jerusalem, 34:22 where the sacrificial system is gonna be set up again. 34:24 That's all... 34:26 Christ will return to rule there and... 34:27 Yeah. 34:28 So, we're gonna cover a lot of these things, 34:30 each of these topics and just show 34:32 what God's word actually says about that. 34:35 But, I'm wondering, may be, I'll give you way back history 34:37 and then you jump in, 34:38 'cause I know, you preached recently, 34:40 not too long ago on some of the detail of this, 34:43 so you are more fresh up on it than I am. 34:45 Matter of fact, I've done, I did a whole series called, 34:47 "Final Events," which is available through 3ABN, 34:49 it's "Final Events," a five hour series, 34:52 specifically focusing on the theory of the Rapture. 34:55 Yeah. 34:57 Where it came from, 34:58 bringing it all the way to today. 35:00 Yeah. Yeah. 35:01 See, that's a lot more level of detail 35:02 than I've brushed up on here lately. 35:04 But, one thing we do know, is that, after Christ Ascension 35:10 and the Gospel went like wild fire, 35:13 you had the devil kind of shift years a bit 35:15 and instead of saying, I can't beat him, 35:17 I'm gonna join him and you have pagans shifting 35:20 and coming into the church. 35:22 And so, Rome which before had been more pagan 35:25 had become people. 35:27 The Church of Rome. 35:28 And, it wasn't that the church was pure 35:33 and pagans as they came into the church converted, 35:36 it was more of pagans bringing in their rites, 35:38 their ceremonies, their beliefs 35:40 and mingle them with Christianity 35:42 that developed that church 35:44 and for, for many hundreds and hundreds of years 35:47 and the God to appoint where the Lord intervened 35:49 and he rose up, he brought forward to the forefront, 35:53 a reformation, known as the Protestant Reformation. 35:57 That's right. 35:58 So, we have a period of reformers, 36:00 different reformers starting with Martin Luther, 36:02 coming through and getting back to the Bible. 36:04 Their montreal was sola scriptura, 36:07 which was the Bible and Bible alone 36:09 for all rule of faith and practice. 36:11 And, the light was shed back on the word rather than tradition 36:17 and rather than what had been going on 36:19 for hundreds and hundreds of years. 36:21 Not only did it bring out the word of God again, 36:25 which was hidden for many of those years, 36:27 and only defined and explained by the church, 36:32 which had a grip on it. 36:33 But, when that came to light, 36:35 the other thing that was pointed out 36:38 through that protestant reformation period 36:41 was eyes were on Rome as the Antichrist power. 36:45 Right. 36:47 So, they really felt the heat so to speak 36:50 and did everything they could through the inquisitions 36:53 and other things to try and put that down. 36:56 But again, the devil shifted his years 36:58 from force to joining. 37:00 Mm-hm. 37:02 He did the same thing he did early on, he does again. 37:04 And what he did was, 37:05 he launched a counter-reformation 37:08 and the counter-reformation was started first, 37:12 was initiated by the Church of Rome, 37:14 but it wasn't by force, 37:16 in other words by burning people at the stake 37:17 and other things anymore, 37:19 which did destroy and kill millions of people. 37:21 Yeah. More like 50 million. 37:22 But, it only grew, 37:24 this reformation only grew in that, 37:26 but this time they were going to sow seeds of false doctrine 37:30 and that's what it started to do for the counter-reformation. 37:34 Now, can you take us from there, 37:35 because there are two key figures 37:36 that came out that counter-reformation 37:38 and one of them won out, 37:39 which is where Dispensationalism came from. 37:42 You know, there were, there were two Jesuits 37:44 that were commissioned to work on 37:47 a theory that would take 37:50 the eyes of the reformers 37:52 Like Huss, and Jerome, and Wycliffe and Peter Waldo 37:56 and so many of the reformers of that era 38:00 would take their eyes off of the power of the dark ages, 38:04 the Church of the Dark Ages, which is the Roman church. 38:07 And, there were two things that were brought to the table. 38:12 Preterism, which was Luis de Alcazar 38:16 and futurism, which was Francisco Ribera. 38:21 Got to have that roll on there. 38:22 One proposed, Alcazar proposed that 38:26 all of prophecy had already been fulfilled. 38:29 Well, that was weak. Rome did not accept that. 38:32 But, when Francisco Ribera said, 38:34 certain prophecies had been fulfilled 38:36 but other are only going to be fulfilled in the future. 38:41 They established one called the "Gap Theory," 38:44 which was the 70-week prophecy of Daniel 9. 38:48 This was really developed by Darby, right, the Gap Theory, 38:50 he began to... 38:51 Yeah, and Darby gave it the term "The Gap Theory." 38:54 But, um, the Roman Church gave it 38:59 the theory called, um, "Futurism," 39:03 was the term that they used, because they said, well, 39:06 out of the 70-weeks of Daniel 9, 39:09 only 69 were fulfilled. 39:11 That was their proposition. 39:13 And they said, that the last one 39:15 is gonna come way in the future when "The Antichrist" shows up. 39:20 So, now if that one hasn't yet been fulfilled, 39:24 it's saying to the people of that day, 39:25 that had no Bibles, we can't be the Antichrist 39:28 because he's gonna come way in the future. 39:30 That's that dispensation. 39:32 The tribulation when that happens, 39:34 the Antichrist is the one responsible for that. 39:36 But, based on the nine descriptions in Daniel 7, 39:41 the Antichrist clearly was articulated 39:44 by the reformers of their day and they said, 39:47 Rome fits all of the identifying 39:49 qualifiers to be the... 39:52 And, almost to the very last one, 39:53 the reformers knew, their, they, 39:56 it was clear to them that Rome, 39:58 the Church of Rome was the Antichrist power. 40:00 There were only four beasts describes in Daniel 7 40:04 and Rome was the fourth one, 40:05 great, judgeful, terrible, iron teeth, 40:07 that stamps the residue 40:10 and anything that was under the power of Rome. 40:12 The iron kingdom of Rome was completely obliterated 40:17 and the reformers said, this is it, 40:19 This-is-it, everything matches. This is the power. 40:22 And that little horn comes up out of Rome. 40:24 That's right. 40:26 The seven heads and ten horns, 40:27 you had the 10 horns of Western Europe 40:30 and out of that, 3 nations, the Vandals, the Heruli, 40:32 and the Ostrogoths were uprooted 40:34 because they Arian nations, they resisted the rise of Rome. 40:38 When they were finally, 40:39 the last was removed in the year 538, 40:42 then Rome began that reign from 538 to 1798. 40:45 As the Bible says "time, times, and half a time," 40:48 so keeping this foundation helps us to see prophetically 40:51 that the Bible was clear about the position of Rome 40:54 but Rome said we don't want people to understand this. 40:57 So they began to advance and you know, John, 41:01 the apostles knew that this was going to happen. 41:04 In Acts 20:29, 41:07 listen to the words of the apostle, 41:10 he said "For I know this, that after my departing, 41:16 shall grievous wolves come in among you, 41:19 not sparing the flock. 41:22 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, 41:25 speaking perverse things, 41:28 to draw away the disciples after themselves. 41:31 Therefore watch and remember 41:33 that for three years I did not cease 41:35 to warn everyone night and day with tears." 41:38 So that's exactly what happened. 41:40 They brought in heresies that drew away disciples 41:43 and as John said a moment ago, paganism came in 41:46 and assumed the role of Christianity. 41:49 And in fact, I think even in 2 Thessalonians too, 41:51 Paul referred to this power was "already at work." 41:54 Already at work. 41:56 So he saw this power growing through Rome... 41:59 The mystery of iniquity. 42:01 ..where the little horn would rise from, was already at work. 42:04 That's right. Growing and coming to power. 42:06 Mm-hm. 42:07 So the Bible is very clear, 42:09 the protestant reformers understood this, John, 42:12 and so you'd think that we would know 42:15 but this counter-reformation did have an affect, it worked. 42:19 And to a great extent we have now Christendom 42:23 which has adopted at large this theory, 42:27 we are calling dispensationalism, 42:30 that was not only advocated by Francisco Ribera 42:33 but after that by Darby and by others. 42:38 When you read the Left Behind series, 42:40 when you read The Late, Great Planet Earth, 42:42 when you read all these books 42:44 you are reading material that comes from, 42:47 originates with Darby and then Scofeild and others. 42:51 And we don't realize, I think most don't realize 42:53 this is a theory that came out of the counter-reformation 42:57 to undo what the reformers did. 42:59 So here's my point and, then you jump in here, 43:05 God comes along and initiates 43:07 through Luther the protestant reformation 43:10 and does a wonderful thing, 43:11 bringing people back to the truth of God's word. 43:13 The devil counteracts that by bringing through his church, 43:17 through his system, a counter-reformation, 43:20 a false system of truth to overcome and to battle 43:26 against that system of truth that God set up. 43:29 So the question I have is, 43:33 when people say I am a protestant, 43:38 can you really be a protestant 43:40 and accept the counter-reformation, 43:43 doctrines and theories and teachings. 43:45 Wow. 43:46 That's a very, very good question. 43:48 Because you can't really say I'm a protestant 43:50 after, my church and I believe 43:53 after the spirit of the reformers 43:54 which God rose up to power, 43:57 I believe in what they stand for 43:59 and yet live and agree and breathe and teach 44:03 and share those doctrines 44:05 that come out of the counter-reformation 44:06 known today as dispensationalism. 44:08 Right. It's really an either or. 44:10 We've got two presentations, two lines of thought 44:14 and you have to pick one or the other. 44:16 Because, John, both sides can't talk to each other 44:19 in regard to explaining 44:20 and working on doctrines and scripture. 44:23 When this side talks to this side 44:24 and tries to share truth 44:26 and this side shares it with this side, 44:27 they can't hear each other 44:29 because it's two different systems. 44:30 They don't fit. 44:31 They can't incorporate. They can't merge. 44:33 And so I know that, you know, many times our pastors 44:37 in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church 44:38 they get discouraged, you know, 44:39 they're talking to those out there 44:41 that have these firm beliefs that their church teaches 44:43 and they're trying to share their own truth 44:45 but they can't hear them. 44:46 They can't see them. 44:48 And it's just so foreign to them. 44:52 This topic friends you might conclude 44:54 that if the amount of time that we've already passed, 44:57 we're not going to cover it in one program. 44:59 We're gonna do it in a practical way. 45:01 We can't cover every detail either so... 45:02 We're gonna try to do justice to this program 45:04 but one other things 45:05 that we wanna really point out is that, 45:09 the enemy is patient. 45:12 What is existing today under the cloak of Christianity 45:15 and the beautiful buildings and the cathedrals 45:16 and the large worship centres, um, is a well crafted, 45:21 well thought out plan of deception. 45:24 That was crafted in the minds 45:27 of the archenemy himself, Satan, 45:30 who always resisted the advance of the truth. 45:33 He chose the fourth beast of Daniel, the Church of Rome, 45:38 first of all, pagan Rome, then papal Rome, 45:41 then Roman Catholicism today. 45:43 He, through that power, the Bible made it clear, 45:46 they will think to change times and laws. 45:50 We're the saints of the most high, 45:51 persecute the saints of the most high. 45:54 So all the descriptions 45:55 in the Bible and Daniel, they fulfill. 45:58 And it was out of that power 45:59 that these seeds began to be planted 46:01 and then other people came on 46:03 and took the torch and carried it. 46:05 And what we have today now, 46:06 in the categorization of law, grace, the covenants, 46:09 the rapture, the Second Coming, 46:10 all these which we've covered in greater detail, 46:13 what we wanna do in this particular program 46:15 is point out that, we wanna point out, 46:19 how it is in contrast to what the Bible teaches. 46:23 And the contrasting part is so significant. 46:25 I mean, I have in front of me 46:28 how, Francisco Ribeiro past off the scene 46:33 another Jesuit by the name of Saint Robert Bellarmine, 46:38 he was in an Italian Jesuit. 46:41 He was one of the most important 46:42 counter reformation contributors. 46:44 But when he past off the scene, a doctor, S. R. Matlin, 46:47 the archbishop of Canterbury in 1593, 46:51 he was the one that kept these all ancient manuscripts 46:54 which that's how it got access to, 46:58 a man by the name of Manuel Lacunza. 47:00 He was the other Jesuit from Chile. 47:02 And this continued, witting his way 47:04 all the way through Christendom 47:06 until, we heard of Reverent Edward Irwing. 47:11 He was another reformer 47:13 that founded the Catholic apostolic church. 47:16 But, and then Margaret McDonald in 1815, she was one that, 47:21 she was known as the visionary. 47:22 She brought at the table. So we continue this as a track. 47:25 And we'll talk about how it got from her till to today 47:29 where one of the, one of the weakest positions 47:32 of dispensationalism was this. 47:37 Many of the proponents of dispensationalism 47:41 sought support of the Judaism, 47:45 they saw Judaist support. 47:48 And when day didn't have it, they felt that their theory 47:52 could not have gained as much ground as it did. 47:55 And so what they did was 47:57 they advance their teachings under names 47:59 that was associated with Jewish writers 48:03 but Jewish writers had nothing to do with it. 48:05 It's like me saying, my name is John Lomacang 48:09 but I'll just say 48:10 for the purpose of advancing a theory 48:12 that is not support by scripture, 48:14 I'll call myself a Reverent Ben Ezra. 48:18 Ben Ezra? 48:19 And then you read it and you'll say, 48:21 hey, we've got Jewish support 48:23 because we're reading Rabbi Ben Ezra's writings. 48:26 When in fact all of this was John Lomacang 48:28 that took Reverent Ben Ezra's name, 48:31 or Rabbi Ben Ezra's name and added to that document. 48:34 And that's what they classically did 48:35 for the advancement of this dispensational view 48:37 that we have today. 48:39 So this dive into it, John, 48:40 because we've laid some foundation 48:42 that to those who may be watching, 48:44 they maybe doing right now the dog whistle. 48:47 You know the dog whistle is? Yeah. 48:48 We don't hear but the dog go, 'huh.' 48:50 You know and I think as we launch into it, 48:53 what we saw here as the Lord do is the final push 48:56 of the protestant reformation 48:58 is when that 1800 period came around, 49:01 specifically the latter part of the 1830s, 49:03 in about 1840 you had this dispensational, 49:07 this growing dispensationalism kind of run into face-to-face, 49:11 almost fist-to-fist 49:13 with the reformers views once again 49:16 that were rising the power, that came, 49:17 and were proclaimed 49:19 by William Miller and the Millerites. 49:21 And then of course became Sabbatarian Adventist, 49:24 and then the Seventh-day Adventist church 49:25 grew out of that. 49:26 So you see the Seventh-day Adventist church 49:29 in a clear line that is in opposition 49:31 to the dispensational view 49:33 because, and here's why I say that 49:35 because when William Millar began to preach 49:37 that the Jesus was about to come and end all things. 49:40 Remember, the cleansing of the sanctuary 49:42 was the cleansing of the earth by fire. 49:44 That was so for into the ears 49:46 and to those within the church is a bad day, 49:48 because what they believe 49:50 was a thousand years of millennial peace. 49:53 That's right. 49:54 They had come to believe that when Jesus came, 49:57 he was coming up to setup his kingdom on earth 49:59 and to rule from Jerusalem. 50:02 And so you have these two views 50:06 that were running into each other 50:08 and they're still the same today. 50:10 Right. 50:12 The views of dispensationalism, 50:13 this growing dispensational movement 50:15 have continued to advance and then you have 50:17 the Seventh-day Adventist church, 50:18 which continues to hold the mantra of protestants, 50:20 and the Reformers continue to advance and grow as well. 50:24 And this two systems are clashing once again. 50:26 So as we go for these things, when we talk about the two, 50:30 the biblical view and the dispensational view, 50:32 you'll understand where they're coming from 50:34 and their aligns throughout history. 50:36 And the reason why one is more valid 50:38 than the other is not just 50:40 because they compare theory with theory. 50:41 That somebody say, "Well, how do I believe you? 50:44 How do I believe you?" 50:47 The Adventist church, Seventh-day Adventist church 50:48 has gone back to the original, 50:51 the original claims of the early reformers, 50:54 Sola scriptura, which is? 50:55 The bible and the Bible alone. 50:57 If the bible doesn't support it, don't accept it. 51:00 That's the clearest indication that it's just a theory. 51:04 Theories without the support of scripture 51:06 is that's all there. 51:07 And don't believe just because someone says, 51:08 "Well, I go to a Bible believing church." 51:10 You know, my non denominal church, 51:12 we believe in the Bible. 51:14 Make sure it's practiced, it's not just they say they do, 51:18 make sure it's practiced. 51:20 And sometimes, you know, on House Calls 51:21 we hear some people write in and say, 51:22 "You know, you focus so much on these specific teachings." 51:26 Well, these are the ones that are being attacked 51:28 by the dispensational view. 51:29 Right. 51:30 So we're defending the word of God. 51:33 And that is the working out, 51:34 the practice of us standing 51:36 in the bible and the bible alone. 51:38 Right. 51:39 So let's go through, start with some other things here, 51:41 and let's start with law and grace. 51:42 Okay. 51:43 Well, lets say, you know, what I like us to do 51:45 because we have it in front of us, 51:47 so it be nice for us to read the dispensational summary 51:51 and then share the Biblical summary. 51:53 Okay. 51:54 So why don't you do the dispensational summary 51:56 then read the biblical summary then we give this... 51:59 Oh, you get the biblical one, I get the this... 52:01 Well, the way that, the kind of you... 52:05 Okay. 52:06 Here we go, dispensational view of law, 52:08 we're gonna start with law. 52:10 There are two dispensations in the Bible, 52:12 the Old Testament period is an the era of law. 52:15 Israel was required to keep the law to be saved. 52:18 Right. 52:20 So in other words what they are saying 52:21 is in the Old Testament, there was no grace 52:23 it was all law, law, law, law, law. 52:25 And that was the, the condition for salvation. 52:29 Right. 52:30 For the Jews and for Israel way back 52:33 was law keeping. 52:34 But here is a scriptural view. 52:36 A God's law is still authoritative and binding, 52:39 Christians do not keep them to be safe 52:42 but because they are saved. 52:44 Obedience is an expression of love for God. 52:49 And so I almost wanna use, 52:52 well, John 14:15, clearly is the text 52:54 that has so much power behind it. 52:57 "If you love me keep my commandments." 53:00 You know, John, when we go 53:01 to this first dispensational view about Law, 53:05 this idea that in the Old Testament 53:08 the law was the most important focal point 53:10 and now we don't have to focus on that anymore. 53:13 Many of the dispensational theologians today 53:16 have done all hey could discredit the apostle Paul. 53:20 But James the apostle, creates a quandary 53:24 because James chimes in a minimal way 53:29 but it's like he, 53:31 his small book of Book of James 53:34 has buttressed all that Paul has written 53:37 in the many books that he has authored. 53:39 Because if you can get rid of Paul, and say, 53:42 well, Paul had issues, Paul had problems, 53:44 and this is sad that I've heard theologians say, 53:46 well, Paul didn't like women that's why he said 53:50 what he did about women in 1 Corinthians 11. 53:55 Paul had problem with this. 53:56 But when James chimes in, all the sudden, 53:59 and then John the apostle chimes 54:01 in again in the last book, the last chapter of the Bible, 54:05 they don't have any leg to stand on. 54:07 So now go to Revelation 22, 54:10 and matter of fact, Revelation a few places. 54:13 Revelation 22, you begin there 54:16 then Revelation 14:12, that's another one. 54:19 But I am gonna go to the Book of James, 54:22 because James is the one 54:23 that throws this wrench or the shavings 54:28 in the engine of the idea 54:29 that the law doesn't have to be kept. 54:31 All right. 54:33 Revelation 22:14, you know that one. 54:36 And this is by the way, 54:37 this is the last book of the Bible, 54:39 this is the book of prophecy, 54:41 revelation that's never been sealed. 54:42 Yeah. 54:43 So listen to what it says in reference to the idea 54:46 that the law doesn't have to be kept any longer. 54:48 " Blessed are those who do His commandments, 54:50 that they may have the right to the tree of life, 54:52 and may enter through the gates into the city." 54:54 Okay. 54:56 So the last book of the Bible, 54:57 the last chapter in the last book of the Bible, 55:01 verse 14. 55:02 So its says clearly, blessed are those 55:04 that keep his commandments. 55:06 Now what does that do with the idea 55:08 that command keeping was only for the Israelites 55:11 in the Old Testament. 55:12 That blows out of the water. 55:14 And the keeping of the commandments, 55:15 blessed are those who keep them, 55:17 I think hinges on this word too, 55:19 this verse, blessed. 55:20 Right. 55:22 The commandments were not given 55:24 to those who were not God's people. 55:27 Right. 55:28 The commandments were given to people 55:30 who already belong to God. 55:32 Right. 55:33 They weren't trying to be saved, 55:36 it's because they were saved 55:37 that God gave them his commandments. 55:40 I love Ellen White says, 55:42 she says, God has given his laws, 55:45 ten commandments as a hedge of protect, 55:48 a wall of protection around his people. 55:51 And I, if we think of that in those terms, 55:55 we abide in the safety of the commandments 55:58 because we are saved, 56:00 not because we're trying to be saved. 56:02 And this is the misnomer, 56:03 these are the threats, these are the allegations 56:05 thrown at commandment keepers that I think are so, 56:10 they are readily accepted today but just not true. 56:12 Yeah, they are not true at all. 56:13 James, this is the text that throws the wrench, 56:17 theologians don't know what to do with this, 56:18 they can't get rid of it. 56:20 James 2:10-12, 56:21 "For whoever shall keep the whole law, 56:24 and yet shall stumble in one point 56:26 he is guilty of all." 56:27 And look at the law he refers to, 56:29 "For he who said do not commit adultery, 56:30 the ten commandments, 56:32 also says do not murder, the ten commandments, 56:34 but if you do commit adultery but do not murder 56:36 you have become a transgressor of the Law." 56:39 And verse 12, "So speak and so do as those 56:43 who be judged by the law of liberty 56:45 not a law of bondage." 56:48 See? 56:49 Yeah, all of the writers in the New Testament 56:52 keep referring to the commandments 56:53 as the original said. 56:55 Right. 56:56 There is no Jesus' commandments separate 56:58 from the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. 57:01 These are the commandments, 57:02 they are consistent commandments 57:03 throughout the bible. 57:05 And it's just an amazing thought. 57:06 I wish we had time to go into depth in these things. 57:09 But I think just on a surface 57:10 that would answer in regard to the law. 57:13 And so we're saying here 57:15 that the commandments of the God, 57:16 as John made so clear, 57:18 are given to those who love the Lord. 57:19 "If you love me, keep my commandments." 57:21 Those who honour that by love for God will be in the kingdom. 57:25 There'll be no law break because in God's kingdom. 57:27 So today, give your heart to Christ 57:29 and you'll be ready 57:31 for that great and glorious day. 57:33 God Bless you. |
Revised 2016-07-11