Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL170006A
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00:01 Hello, friends.
00:02 Grab your Bible and a friend and sit back 00:04 as we explore God's Word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:23 Welcome to House Calls. 00:25 So glad that you have chosen to tune in again 00:28 to join John I and John II. 00:32 I'm John Lomacang. John Stanton. 00:34 Good to have you here, Pastor Stanton. 00:36 It's good to be here. 00:37 I'll tell you, whenever we get together, 00:38 it's always a blessing, we go back a ways. 00:41 Whenever we get together, it's funny, 00:42 when Rochelle is around and Angela is around, 00:45 we have to use different names. 00:47 They call you Coolidge, they call me Parker. 00:49 That's right. But you call us John. 00:52 Thank you for tuning in to this program. 00:54 It's a blessing to have the opportunity 00:57 to come into your home with the Word of God, 00:59 with your Bible questions, with the topics we're covering. 01:03 And, John, we're continuing on the topic of... 01:06 Of discipleship. 01:07 Yes, greatly important, 01:09 something that is often touched on periodically 01:13 from here to there 01:15 but not really focused on in the way that you have 01:17 as personal ministries director 01:19 in the Upper Columbia Conference. 01:21 And so stay tuned for that wonderful walk. 01:25 We also have Bible questions 01:27 that we're gonna get to in just a moment, 01:28 but we always begin with prayer. 01:30 John. Let's do that. 01:32 Father in heaven, we thank You so much, 01:35 first of all, for how often You have shown up here 01:38 in this program to reveal Yourself 01:41 and Your will through Your Word. 01:42 We just pray that that would happen again, 01:44 please pour out Your Spirit upon us 01:46 and upon each heart who has joined us today. 01:49 In Jesus' name. Amen. 01:51 Amen. 01:52 Now Bible questions are important, we have some. 01:55 I have some here today, 01:57 couple of them I'm gonna deal with. 01:59 I'm gonna deal with the ones that are written on paper. 02:01 And John is gonna deal with the ones 02:02 that are written on the screen, 02:04 which is the Bible questions you often send to us 02:06 by this following email. 02:08 If you have any you'd like to send 02:10 and you have a digital device, 02:12 or the iPhone, Android phone, or computer, iPad, 02:15 or any kind of form of device, send it to this email 02:20 housecalls@3abn.org. 02:22 That's housecalls@3abn.org, and we surely do appreciate it. 02:27 I said surely do appreciate it. 02:28 The other day John asked me who is Shirley. 02:31 Not Shirley do appreciate it but surely do appreciate it. 02:36 That's right. 02:37 John, what do you have for us today 02:38 as far as our first question? 02:40 Well, I've got a question from Irma, 02:41 and she was listening to a pastor 02:44 on a local Christian station down in Texas. 02:48 And she said that 02:51 the pastor said in that program it is an empty prayer 02:55 to ask God for the Holy Spirit 02:57 since the Holy Spirit is in us. 03:01 Is that true? 03:03 I've often heard to ask Jesus 03:05 for the Holy Spirit to be with us 03:06 to open our minds, our hearts, that's my question. 03:11 First of all, what jumps out at me, 03:13 what leaps out at me is John 14, 03:15 it's Jesus meeting with His disciples, 03:17 He says, "Pray for the Holy Spirit." 03:19 That's right. 03:20 Ask your Father for the Holy Spirit. 03:23 But trying to be true to where the pastor is going with this, 03:26 that she was listening to, 03:27 I think he wasn't talking about 03:29 before you receive the Holy Spirit 03:32 but after you receive this Holy Spirit, 03:33 you don't need to ask again. 03:35 So I'm gonna address it from that perspective. 03:37 Okay. 03:39 It's interesting. 03:41 As you read scripture, 03:43 there's a lot of different texts 03:45 you can go to on the Holy Spirit. 03:46 In fact, John, you and I we're just mentioning 03:49 how many questions we've had here 03:51 on this program of late in regard to the Holy Spirit. 03:54 But I want note something here 03:57 that Jesus did with His disciples 03:59 that many probably we don't haven't seen before. 04:04 And first of all, we're gonna go to John 20. 04:07 Okay, John 20. 04:10 And Jesus appears to the disciples in John 20. 04:15 In fact, if you remember the story, 04:16 Mary Magdalene goes out to the tomb, 04:20 she wants to be there close to Jesus. 04:25 And she sees to the tomb is rolled away, 04:27 the body is not there. 04:28 She is really struggling with this. 04:31 And Jesus shows up, and she says, "Rabboni," 04:36 a very affectionate term, "It's, it's you!" 04:38 Right. 04:39 And she grabs a hold of Him 04:41 and He says, "Don't cling to Me, 04:42 I haven't gone to My Father yet." 04:45 But what she does is as she lets go, 04:46 she runs to the disciples and she tells them, 04:48 "I've seen the Lord." 04:50 So as she is saying this, 04:52 as she is revealing these things in John 20:18, 04:57 it picks up in verse 19, it says that, 04:59 "Same day at evening, 05:00 being the first day of the week, 05:02 the doors were shut 05:03 and the disciples were assembled 05:05 for fear of the Jews." 05:06 Right. 05:07 "Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 05:09 'Peace be with you.' 05:11 " So here, the first time, 05:12 Jesus shows up with the disciples there 05:14 in that closed room. 05:15 Now notice what He says in verse 21 and 22, 05:20 Jesus said to them again, 05:22 "Peace to you as the Father has sent Me, 05:23 I also send you. 05:25 And when He had said this, He breathed on them 05:27 and said 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' 05:31 " Before Pentecost, 05:33 Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit. 05:35 That's right. 05:37 And so why then would Jesus encourage them 05:42 after that to come together 05:45 and pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on Pentecost? 05:48 Very good connection. 05:50 If this pastor is right, He would not have said that. 05:55 But if Jesus is our example, He's telling the disciples, 05:58 even though you've received the Holy Spirit, 06:00 continue to pray for the Holy Spirit 06:02 and for the power that is to come upon you 06:04 to evangelize the world, to share the gospel. 06:07 And so what you'll find in Pentecost 06:09 is not the first time 06:11 that the disciples receive the Holy Spirit, 06:14 but it's the first time they receive the Holy Spirit 06:16 with the power to testify 06:18 and share the gospel in the way 06:20 that God intended the gospel to go. 06:22 It was the early rain of the Holy Spirit in power. 06:26 Today, in the last days, 06:29 I believe we're waiting for the latter rain 06:31 to come about. 06:32 But that doesn't negate the fact 06:34 that today existing in our lives, 06:36 in our hearts is the Holy Spirit. 06:38 He resides in us. 06:40 But we're still called to pray for the latter rain 06:42 for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 06:44 in full measure for the power 06:46 that God wants us to have to share our faith, to witness, 06:49 to testify, and to confess Him before the world. 06:53 So there are couple aspects 06:55 to receiving the Holy Spirit here. 06:58 There is, in a general way, 06:59 first we receive the Holy Spirit upon 07:01 when we believe in Christ. 07:02 In fact, several texts say 07:04 as the disciples we're going out 07:08 and sharing the good news with others, 07:11 they had asked the question in several occasions, 07:13 "Have you received the Holy Spirit yet?" 07:14 Right. 07:16 And some people said, "We never even heard of the Holy Spirit." 07:19 And they were baptized. And they were baptized. 07:21 Yeah, and they had received the Holy Spirit. 07:23 So you're talking about the Holy Spirit coming 07:26 can often be different, first into your life, 07:28 can often be different from a former rain 07:31 or a latter rain Holy Spirit experience. 07:34 We're to pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit every day 07:36 and Him to manifest His power. 07:38 But if He so wills, we're also to pray 07:40 for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself 07:42 in great power 07:43 so that we might testify as to God's goodness 07:45 and witness for Him. 07:47 That's right. 07:48 In Luke 11:13, 07:50 Jesus made another example of how important it is 07:53 to ask for the Holy Spirit. 07:55 He said in Luke 11:13, I mean, let's put this in context. 08:00 The question is speaking about asking. 08:05 I'll start with verse nine, 08:07 "So I say to you, ask and it will be given you, 08:11 seek and you will find, 08:12 knock and it will be opened to you." 08:16 And so just to not go through the whole stone and the fish, 08:20 He says in verse 13, 08:22 "If you being evil 08:24 know how to give good gifts to your children, 08:26 how much more will your heavenly Father 08:28 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." 08:32 So these are... 08:33 When it says, given the Holy Spirit, 08:35 He's not speaking about those who are not following Him, 08:39 He's speaking about those who are following Him 08:42 because some people walk in the natural, 08:45 and that is there are many people that are baptized 08:49 and they are... 08:51 I want to be very respectful, 08:53 they don't, they don't receive the power 08:55 to change the way they lived prior to that. 08:59 And the only way that that power happens is, 09:02 "Lord, I need this Spirit of God 09:03 to come into my life." 09:05 When you see at the baptism of Jesus, 09:07 the Spirit of God was descending, 09:10 and they knew in the form of a dove 09:12 and lighting upon Him, once again, 09:13 anointing him for the beginning of His ministry. 09:16 And so in the very same way, the Holy Spirit is needed, 09:19 as Zechariah 4:6, 09:21 "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit." 09:23 That's right. 09:25 Some people operate by might and by power, 09:27 but they don't operate in the Spirit, 09:29 and so therefore you don't see the fruit of the spirit 09:31 showing up in their lives and the gifts are void 09:34 because they don't do anything 09:35 for the advancement of the kingdom of God, 09:37 which is one of the reasons 09:38 why we chose to deal with the topic of discipleship 09:42 because the fruit, the spirit activates... 09:45 The Holy Spirit activates, first of all, 09:47 the fruit to show up in your life, 09:49 then equips you with the gifts. 09:51 If you're just baptized 09:53 and you just become a member of the church, 09:55 you're not yet a disciple of Christ. 09:58 The Lord is looking for discipleship 10:01 not just membership. 10:02 So how do we get that? 10:03 By asking, 10:05 "Lord, I want Your Spirit to come into my life." 10:08 And there's a chapter in Hebrews though, John, 10:12 that you alluded to a moment ago 10:14 where there are people that have 10:17 partaken of the good life, 10:19 they've walked away but all of a sudden 10:21 they've turned away. 10:22 Yeah, Hebrew 6:4-6... 10:24 Okay, let's look at that. 10:26 Talks about that. 10:27 As you're going there, 10:28 let me just add to finish up your comment there, 10:30 you also find an example in Acts 4 10:33 where it says Peter and John 10:35 were beaten by the Sanhedrin 10:39 for sharing the name of Christ to others, 10:42 and they came back and told their companions 10:44 what had happened." 10:45 And it says here that as they did that, 10:50 they prayed in Acts 4:31, 10:52 "When they had prayed, 10:54 the place where they were assembled together 10:55 was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit 10:58 and they spoke the Word of God with boldness." 11:01 That's right. 11:02 So there's an infilling of the Holy Spirit 11:05 that remains in you 11:06 and then there's a infilling or a baptism of the Holy Spirit 11:09 that brings power for ministry, 11:12 power for you to speak with boldness. 11:14 And so I think we underestimate 11:18 in how many ways the Holy Spirit does enable us 11:22 as Christians to live a life to the degree 11:26 that God has called us to live 11:28 not only for interchange, transformation, 11:30 but power to speak and share our faith. 11:33 And the other thing that is very important, 11:35 as we go to Hebrews, I want to talk about this 11:38 because there are some examples in the scriptures 11:39 that talked about how important it is 11:41 to maintain that connection to the power 11:43 that the Lord makes available through His Holy Spirit. 11:47 We have two examples. 11:48 When David repented, Psalms 51 I think it is, verse 11, 11:51 he said, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, 11:57 but do not take your Holy Spirit from me." 11:59 Yeah. You see. 12:01 Then you have the other side of that 12:02 where the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:14, 12:06 "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. 12:09 And a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him." 12:13 So you have the Spirit of the Lord, 12:15 the Holy Spirit left Saul, he didn't even know it, 12:18 and a distressing spirit an evil spirit came upon him. 12:22 And so there are those who once again, 12:26 you have Genesis 6 about the Antediluvians, 12:31 "My Spirit will not always strive with man," 12:34 the work there. 12:35 Why would the Spirit of God strive with man? 12:38 Well, John 16, "He will reprove the world of sin." 12:42 That work was always carried on by the Holy Spirit 12:45 not by a different entity in the Old Testament 12:47 and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, 12:49 but my spirit is one that strolled with the antediluvians 12:52 is the same Holy Spirit 12:54 that comes and convicts us of sin. 12:56 So but Hebrews 6:46, 13:01 speaking about why it's important every day 13:03 to say, "Lord, fill me. 13:06 Lord, strengthen me." 13:07 Why would Paul the Apostle say there's a need to die daily 13:13 if the work that the Spirit does 13:18 is not in harmony, 13:20 let me say to you, 13:22 that the work that the spirit does 13:23 does not call for our acknowledgment of that work? 13:27 Paul says I die daily 13:29 because he wants that Spirit work 13:30 to continue in us to develop us. 13:33 And here's the evidence of that. 13:36 Hebrews 6:46, 13:38 "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, 13:42 and have tasted the heavenly gift, 13:45 and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit 13:49 and have tasted the good Word of God 13:51 and the powers of the age to come, 13:53 if they fall away to renew them again to repentance 13:57 since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God 14:02 and put him to an open shame." 14:05 So let's talk about that, what would happen. 14:07 They tasted of the Holy Spirit. 14:09 He says what's happened 14:11 when they go to that distance, it's difficult, 14:13 impossible for them, 14:15 but it's not impossible for someone to lead them back. 14:18 That's right. And so that's the key. 14:21 But yes, we must pray 14:23 for the infilling of the Spirit of God, 14:25 and I thought it was important 14:26 that so many questions about the Spirit of God 14:29 that have come to us and we didn't just choose 14:32 those questions to be the ones to answer. 14:34 But as I open my snail mail and you download it... 14:37 They are recent questions. 14:38 Those are questions. 14:40 This came from Minor, M-I-N-O-R. 14:46 In John 3:5, 6&8, do you have that? 14:49 Want to read that for us, John? 14:51 Jesus speaks of being born of the Spirit. 14:55 And I'm going to have John read that, 14:57 but the question he puts, 14:58 "How is a person born of the Spirit? 15:02 Please explain. 15:03 I'm having a little trouble with understanding this verse. 15:06 Thank you." Okay. 15:07 John 3:5, 6&8. 15:10 "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly I say to you, 15:13 unless one is born of water and the Spirit, 15:15 he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 15:18 That which is born of flesh is flesh 15:21 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 15:24 And then you said verse 8? Yes. 15:25 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it 15:30 but cannot tell where it comes from 15:31 and where it goes, 15:32 so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 15:34 Okay. 15:36 So the birth, being born of the Spirit 15:40 means you are no longer living in the flesh, 15:43 and I want to go ahead and bring this out 15:45 in Romans 8:13, 15:48 matter of fact Romans 8:1-2 is where I'd like to start. 15:51 Romans 8:1-2. 15:54 Paul the Apostle makes so many comparisons 15:58 between the flesh and the Spirit. 16:00 And the flesh is, unfortunately, 16:04 sometimes we lean on skills and abilities, 16:08 that's the flesh, 16:09 sometimes we lean on, I could do that. 16:11 Sheer willpower. Sheer willpower. 16:14 And we are able to push our way through 16:16 or sometimes we say if I could put my mind to it, 16:20 I could accomplish it, 16:22 or if I try hard enough, I can overcome it. 16:26 Well, that is, you don't have to frustrate yourself 16:29 in those areas 16:30 because the Bible gives an answer. 16:31 Let's talk about living according to the Spirit. 16:33 Romans 8:1-2, the Bible says in Romans 8:1-2, 16:38 "There is therefore now no condemnation 16:42 to those who are in Christ Jesus 16:44 who do not walk according to the flesh 16:47 but according to the Spirit." 16:50 Verse 2, "For the law of the Spirit of life 16:54 in Christ Jesus 16:55 has made me free from the law of sin and death." 16:59 And here's what happens. 17:00 Here's the transitional Spirit walking life, 17:03 "For what the law could not do 17:05 in that it was weak through the flesh, 17:08 God did by sending His own Son 17:11 in the likeness of sinful flesh, 17:14 on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh." 17:19 And here's what happens, 17:21 "That the righteous requirement of the law 17:23 might be fulfilled in us 17:26 who do not walk according to the flesh 17:28 but according to the Spirit." 17:30 When you walk according to the Spirit, 17:32 you have a mental change, 17:33 your mind looks in a different direction. 17:35 It says in verse 5, 17:37 "For those who live according to the flesh 17:39 set their minds on the things of the flesh." 17:42 How do you live in the Spirit? 17:44 Look at the rest of the verse. 17:46 "But those who live according to the Spirit, 17:49 the things of the Spirit." 17:51 So the question is how do you walk in the Spirit? 17:54 You start setting your mind, 17:55 start focusing on things that are spiritual, 17:58 your focus all together changes. 18:01 "Be not conformed to this world 18:03 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." 18:05 You recognize there's a power that's now available to you. 18:09 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. 18:15 "Do you not know that your body is the temple of God 18:17 and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" 18:20 Philippians 1:6, "He does the good work in you." 18:24 He wills and he does this good work in you. 18:27 And so we have to keep in mind 18:29 that when you live according to the Spirit, 18:31 what that means is you are walking completely differently 18:33 than the flesh wants to. 18:35 Well, how do you know the way the flesh wants to walk? 18:38 It will notify you. 18:40 It's always knocking. It's always knocking. 18:43 You could hear it, you could feel it, 18:45 you could sense it, 18:47 the old ways are not easily put to death. 18:51 That's what we have to die every day to the old ways. 18:55 Do you find them hanging around? 18:57 They're always hanging around. 18:58 You always have to say no. 19:00 You always have to say no. 19:02 So when you walk in the Spirit, 19:05 you are living in harmony with the Word of God, 19:08 the will of God, your life is ordered 19:10 in a completely different direction. 19:12 And so when he says, when John says, the wind blows, 19:17 I don't know where it comes from, 19:18 I don't know where it's going, 19:19 in essence, he's comparing, 19:21 we don't know when that work begins, 19:23 we just know when we come to conversion, 19:25 when we come to accepting Christ, 19:26 but we don't know where that started. 19:28 We can't tell where meteorologists sometimes say, 19:32 well, off the coast of Africa there's a tropical depression. 19:37 If the waters are warm, it will pick up strength, 19:39 and by the time it gets to the mainland, 19:41 you know, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, 19:43 and then it hits the mainland of Florida, 19:45 they'll say, it could be a category one 19:47 or category three hurricane, it develops in time. 19:50 In the very same way, 19:51 when the Spirit of God comes into your life, 19:55 you begin to develop 19:57 and you begin to be strengthened 19:59 in your spiritual walk. 20:00 It starts somewhere, 20:02 and as it travels in the course of your existence as a person 20:06 who walks with Christ, 20:07 then that spiritual life continues to be developed. 20:10 That's how you walk in the Spirit. 20:12 That's what the spiritual life is all about. 20:15 Amen. 20:16 Well said. You have another one? 20:18 Yes. Okay. 20:19 I have a question that I think is probably 20:21 on the shorter side. 20:23 It's from Donna and she's asking 20:24 where in the Bible does it say there are women angels? 20:27 Okay. 20:29 And I think probably she's asking this question 20:30 because you'll find in many stores and shops 20:34 angels that look like women and angels that look like men. 20:39 The answer actually is interesting, 20:41 it might be interesting for Donna. 20:45 Nowhere in the Bible does it say 20:46 that there are men angels. 20:50 It just says the Angel Gabriel. Just says the angel. 20:52 Right. 20:53 The Angel Gabriel has 20:55 a what we were consider a man's name. 20:59 But from what the scripture says, 21:02 God never gave angels 21:03 when He created them the ability to procreate. 21:06 Right. Not gender specific. 21:08 In fact, everything in the Bible 21:10 tends to allude to otherwise, 21:12 they're there to serve the Lord of hosts, 21:15 the Lord of the angels Jesus Christ and His will, 21:18 and the angel itself, the word angel means messenger, 21:24 so one who is sent with a message, 21:26 and so they're always going to and fro 21:28 to minister to God's people 21:31 and to bring messages to God's people. 21:34 So there's no marrying among the angels 21:36 and there's nothing going on there 21:37 that would enable them to procreate, 21:39 no evidence of that in the scripture whatsoever. 21:42 Here's the interesting thing. 21:43 There is evidence to the contrary 21:45 we were talking about. 21:46 In Matthew 22:30, 21:49 there's this question in fact 22 21:52 if I remember right, 21:53 you tell me John if you're there. 21:55 Which one? Matthew 22. 21:58 I believe this is the one where they came to Jesus 22:01 and they said if a woman is married, 22:03 her husband dies, marries the next brother, 22:05 husband dies, which one is she married to? 22:08 And at the end Jesus' answer is this, 22:11 "For in the resurrection, 22:12 they neither marry nor are given in marriage." 22:16 So you won't have to... 22:18 This question is really, He's saying, irrelevant. 22:21 But then He adds this 22:23 "But are like angels of God in heaven." 22:25 Their focus is not to procreate 22:28 as we have done here to populate the earth. 22:32 But like the angels who cannot procreate 22:35 who don't expand in number 22:36 because they're not gender specific, 22:40 they just don't have that ability, 22:42 we will be more like that. 22:44 Now here's the thing, John, 22:45 and I've always asked this question, 22:47 and this is one I don't have an answer to. 22:49 Okay. 22:50 Had Adam and Eve not sinned 22:53 and the earth been populated then, 22:55 very quickly it would've been populated, 22:58 would then God have said, 22:59 "Okay, enough of the procreation." 23:03 See we don't have an answer to that question 23:05 as to what God would do because we never really, 23:07 we haven't experienced that. 23:08 Right. 23:10 But the common sense says that at some point 23:12 either you have to move someone to another world 23:16 because they continue to procreate 23:18 or you have to put some kind of guidance 23:19 and restriction on the ability to fill this earth up because, 23:22 indefinitely, forever, it would get too populated, 23:25 be walking around like this, 23:26 and that's not what God had in mind. 23:29 So God's thing, the whole thing about God 23:32 and His creation isn't really about sex 23:36 and procreation and all those other things, 23:38 it's about the relationship between two people, 23:40 not only between God and His people 23:42 but between husband and wife, and family as well. 23:46 So I think sometimes the focus, we have such a focus. 23:48 In fact, today, society such a focus on men versus women 23:53 on a number of topics, whether it be, you know, 23:55 ordination or rights or all those things. 23:58 When it comes to angels, 24:00 I'm sure they're kind of sitting by wondering, 24:02 "Boy, what is this all about?" 24:04 Because they aren't, 24:05 there's no evidence of any gender specific, 24:07 and I think probably part of this issue 24:11 is connected to Genesis Chapter 6 or 7. 24:15 Where the sons of God came into daughters of men. 24:17 Yes, the misinterpretation of that, 24:20 I can't tell you how many times I've had discussions 24:23 with other believers 24:24 who have had an interpretation that is fairly common today 24:28 in regard to that passage and essentially 24:31 what they say is that the angels came down, 24:37 which were the angels that were cast out of heaven 24:39 and they procreated 24:41 another kind of a superhuman race 24:44 with the women of the earth. 24:46 Right. 24:47 And that is Genesis Chapter 6 24:49 where the Bible says in verse 2. 24:53 Well, verse 1, "Now it came to pass 24:54 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth 24:58 that daughters were born to them, 25:00 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men 25:03 that they were beautiful 25:05 and they took wives for themselves 25:08 of all whom they chose." 25:12 And when the Bible talks about that, it talks about, 25:18 these are, people think that these were angels 25:22 that came down and procreated with women 25:27 to make the giants in the earth, 25:28 that's not supported by scripture. 25:30 No. 25:31 These were intellectual giants, 25:32 these were also people of great stature, 25:35 as we see Enoch, 25:38 where that talks about 25:40 were Goliath was from the tribe of Enoch, 25:42 but there was no procreation. 25:45 And it says in verse 4, 25:47 "There were giants on the earth in those days, 25:50 and also after that, "When the sons of God," 25:53 that's where they think sons of God 25:55 because the Bible talks about and the sons of God 25:57 in Job came to present themselves 25:58 before the Lord. 26:00 So they connect sons of God there with Job, 26:03 and say, "Oh, sons of God, must be angels." 26:05 That's not the case, you have to read the context 26:07 because we are sons of God 26:09 and we're not angels, all right? 26:10 That's right. 26:11 Yeah, God asked that the line of Seth 26:14 who really was a replacement for Abel 26:16 and what was going to be his line, 26:19 were the line of God's people, 26:20 the line of Cain was the line that was cursed 26:23 that were the daughters of men, 26:25 the men that populated the earth. 26:27 And so we see the sons of God came into the daughters of men, 26:32 and that's where they think 26:33 "Oh, these must be these divine beings, 26:36 these beings, these angelic beings 26:39 procreating with women of the earth." 26:40 That's not the context. 26:42 It's simply saying as John just alluded to, 26:45 the line of men who honored God. 26:52 All of a sudden, they began to choose women. 26:56 To look elsewhere. Elsewhere. 26:57 They're attracted to these beautiful women out there. 27:00 And you find, as long as they remain independent, 27:05 then the godliness of the society was maintained, 27:11 and that's why you find in the New Testament 27:13 the Bible says, "Do not be unequally yoked together 27:16 with the unbelievers." 27:17 The evidences of what happened 27:19 goes all the way back to just before the flood. 27:21 Most of the time evil corrupts good. 27:23 That's right. 27:24 Good doesn't often convert and change evil. 27:26 That's right. 27:28 And so it's just the case 27:29 that when they began to look elsewhere, 27:30 that's what happen. 27:32 You know, a little Bible thing, 27:33 you know, when we look at stuff sometimes 27:34 how we have these epiphanies, 27:36 we see something we haven't seen before? 27:37 You tell me if I'm right on this. 27:39 Okay. Look at verse 4. 27:42 It says as a statement, 27:44 "There were giants on the earth in those days," 27:46 do you see that? 27:47 Yes. So Genesis 6:4. Yes. 27:50 And notice this word, 27:51 "And afterward when the sons of God 27:55 came into the daughters of men, 27:56 they bore children to them." 27:58 The giants were before. 28:00 That's right. 28:02 The statement that there were giants is merely a fact. 28:04 Right. 28:05 This is Moses writing Genesis, and in Moses day, 28:08 when he wrote this, there weren't giants. 28:10 No. 28:12 But back then, prior to the flood, 28:14 everybody was huge, and he was stating that fact. 28:17 He was simply stating the fact. 28:19 And so I looked at that and I said, you know what, 28:21 some people try to connect this, 28:23 they say, "Well, the children that were born to these angels, 28:29 a superhuman race were giants." 28:31 No, it doesn't say that. 28:33 Actually, it says there were giants 28:34 before that ever happened. 28:37 And the thing that happened was not this superhuman race, 28:40 it was simply God's line of people began to be attracted 28:44 and marry, intermarry with Cain's line, 28:48 and that created corruption, great corruption on the earth. 28:51 That's why I'm glad. 28:52 There were giants in the earth in those days 28:54 and also after afterward. 28:56 Yeah. Before and after. 28:58 Yeah. Well, thank you. 29:00 All right, but just to kind of give a support 29:03 to that statement about evil company, 29:06 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be deceived, 29:09 evil company corrupts good habits." 29:11 There we go. 29:13 Hang around bad people, somewhere along the way, 29:15 they rub off on you, and you become bad too, 29:17 bad to the bone. 29:19 Yeah, that's why we're called to share our faith 29:23 and to confess Christ 29:25 before people who are corrupted, 29:28 but yet when there's no desire 29:29 or interest on their part, move on. 29:31 And there should be no desire on our part to be like them 29:35 but to reflect Christ. 29:37 Well, thank you for your questions and comments 29:38 that you've shared with us. 29:40 And we do appreciate that. 29:43 If you have any more questions you'd like to send to us, 29:45 send them to the following email address 29:47 housecalls@3abn.org, 29:48 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 29:53 Thank you so much. 29:55 John, you've been doing a great job so far. 29:56 I don't think I need to interrupt the process. 29:59 Go ahead and tell... 30:01 I mean, this is what you've studied into significantly, 30:04 and I think, I greatly appreciate that. 30:07 Well, and I know it's great to talk about this with you 30:09 because you've done a lot of study yourself on this topic, 30:11 and so it's always nice 30:13 to kind of share thoughts and ideas 30:14 which is what we're doing, 30:16 and hopefully, encouraging people 30:17 to reconsider, to return, 30:20 and reenergize their walk with Christ as disciples of His. 30:24 That's right. 30:25 And so that's what we're talking about. 30:27 We mentioned at the end of the last program 30:28 that this time we're going to talk about something 30:31 that Jesus said to the woman at the well 30:34 that He not only was saying for her benefit 30:37 but I also believe that 30:38 He was trying to teach the disciples something 30:40 in the interaction with the woman 30:41 that He met at the well. 30:44 And there are several things obviously in their discussion, 30:48 but one thing that He really brought out 30:49 that I thought that was key here 30:51 and it applies to disciples of Christ. 30:56 He says that there is coming a time 30:58 and there are already is, 31:00 when true worshipers 31:02 will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 31:07 A statement that He was making to the woman after a discussion 31:10 where they were differing on their opinion, 31:14 their teaching, 31:16 on where the true mountain is to worship on. 31:20 The Samaritans on Mount Gerizim 31:23 and then the Jews on Mount Moriah 31:26 or the temple mount there. 31:29 So you have this disagreement and Jesus enters in and says, 31:32 "Wait a minute. 31:33 There's coming a time, 31:35 in fact it's already beginning to happen, 31:36 where true worshipers will worship the Father 31:38 in spirit and truth." 31:40 The Disciples of Christ, all of us, 31:42 are called to be worshippers of God. 31:43 That's right. 31:44 So clearly, disciples are the worshippers, 31:46 He is referring to here. 31:49 This balance of spirit and truth, 31:51 I have spent a lot of time studying for a while 31:54 in preparation for a sermon 31:55 that I also spent some time preaching for a while. 31:58 And I thought it was, had some real, 32:01 had a real impact or at least application 32:03 for the church as we know it today. 32:07 It is a statement of balance, first of all. 32:12 God is looking for true worshippers 32:13 who worship in spirit and in truth. 32:16 That's right. 32:17 It's not those who worship in spirit or truth, 32:20 it's not pick one or the other. 32:21 It's kind of like the fruit of the Spirit, 32:23 I've heard you say numerous times 32:24 this isn't a smorgasbord of fruit. 32:26 All right. 32:27 You know, when you receive the Holy Spirit, 32:29 you begin to experience all the fruit of the Spirit. 32:32 Very good point I want to bring up 32:33 because a lot of times people say, 32:36 well, then how many fruit 32:39 did Adam and Eve partake of in order to lead us into sin? 32:43 One. 32:45 So with that one fruit that lead us into sin, 32:47 one fruit begins to manifest righteousness. 32:50 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 32:53 longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, patience, 32:56 you don't say, "Well, oh, I got to get the patient fruit. 33:00 I got to get some meekness fruits." 33:02 No, it all comes in the singular package. 33:03 It all comes together. 33:05 The gift, that fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit. 33:07 Yeah, yeah. 33:08 So when Jesus is saying spirit and in truth, 33:10 he's talking about looking for people 33:12 that are going to do both. 33:13 Right. 33:14 I did some studying of a word, 33:16 and you'll find truth paired with another word 33:21 in the Old Testament numerous times, 33:22 it's over and over again. 33:24 In fact it is likely this is what Jesus was alluding to here 33:27 when he spoke of spirit and truth. 33:30 Now the spirit obviously is a reference to the Holy Spirit, 33:32 but what is He meaning by worshipping in spirit. 33:35 Well, if you look at the Old Testament, 33:36 the word that comes up almost always paired with truth 33:39 is the word mercy, mercy. 33:44 What I have said in churches 33:46 that I have pastored as whether 33:48 it's during the interview process 33:49 or maybe during the visioning process 33:51 is that I would like to make our, 33:53 to help our churches and our members 33:56 instead of judging others 33:58 and extending mercy to themselves, 34:01 I like to reverse that 34:02 and begin to have them judge themselves 34:04 and extend mercy to others. 34:06 Good point. Say that one more time. 34:07 Instead of judging others and extending mercy to myself, 34:11 I need to be judging myself and extending mercy to others. 34:15 My job is not to judge others, the Bible is very clear, 34:18 let a man judge himself. 34:19 Himself. 34:21 So biblically, in the church 34:22 we need to not be looking at the person 34:24 across us in the aisle, 34:26 we need to be looking at our self 34:27 and examining our own life. 34:30 So in this respect, worship in the spirit 34:32 if you connect it with the Old Testament 34:34 in regard to mercy and truth 34:36 that have met together, 34:38 there's this clear balance 34:39 that's established between spirit and truth. 34:43 I mean, the Old Testament being mercy and truth. 34:47 Mercy and justice are both parts of the character of God. 34:53 It is conflicted in this world. 34:55 We often think of mercy 34:56 as being not justice necessarily, 34:59 but in God's eyes, 35:00 He can extend mercy to someone yet be just as well 35:03 because God through Christ paid the price 35:06 for that individual. 35:08 I can tell you, you want to say something here, 35:09 so feel free to jump right in any time, 35:11 but these two things are very important 35:13 in the life of the disciples. 35:15 You know, mercy is what a person asks 35:17 for when he knows 35:19 or she knows that they're guilty. 35:22 Yeah. 35:24 Justice is what a person asks 35:25 for when they know they're innocent, 35:27 "I demand justice." 35:29 That's a good point. 35:30 You don't get arrested and say "I demand justice." 35:33 Right. 35:34 We got videotape, we got evidence. 35:37 You got to convict yourself. 35:38 You know, you don't demand justice. 35:41 If you're guilty, you plead, you don't demand mercy, 35:45 you plead for mercy. 35:47 That somebody says throw yourself 35:48 upon the mercy of the court. 35:50 Yeah. 35:51 And so mercy is something that, 35:52 I love that when the Bible says that the Lord has, 35:55 "Let your loving kindness, your tender mercies, 36:00 do not withhold your tender mercies from me. 36:03 Let your loving kindness and your truth 36:06 continually preserve me." 36:08 And that is in Psalm 40:11. Yeah. 36:10 So, yes, praise God for the mercy and for the truth, 36:14 but now we go to the spirit and the truth, 36:16 and you bring it out when you taught about that. 36:18 And so the spirit really is talking there 36:20 also about the spirit in which we live, 36:22 it's the life in Christ that we have 36:25 and the transformation that happens in us personally. 36:27 The truth is more of the intellectual aspect of it, 36:30 how we follow the truth, 36:31 how we want to walk in His ways. 36:32 And so I want to cover in this program 36:35 both of these aspects in the life of the disciple. 36:38 And then in the last program that we have, 36:40 we're going to look at the disciple making church, 36:41 how do we organize or how does a church organize 36:45 and structure itself 36:46 so that it is conducive for making disciples 36:49 and growing people in discipleship. 36:51 Okay. 36:52 And so we'll look at that in the next program, 36:53 the one that we finish up with. 36:55 But let's take look at this. 36:58 I'm going to read from, let's see here. 37:03 First of all, I like what you said a program 37:06 before that we had done. 37:07 I don't remember which one it was, 37:09 but you mentioned something 37:10 and it was in regard to the Holy Spirit. 37:11 That's what it was. 37:13 We were talking about the Trinity 37:14 and the Holy Spirit, and you said this, 37:15 and I agree emphatically with it. 37:19 First, the Holy Spirit works with us. 37:23 Or works on us? 37:24 Well, either way, I mean whatever word you want, 37:26 he's either with you, working with you, 37:29 or working on you. 37:30 Then he works in you. 37:32 Exactly. 37:33 And then He works through you. 37:35 That's right. 37:36 So before you come to Christ, He is there, he's with you, 37:41 working on your conscience, 37:42 that's where the on and the with comes about, 37:45 He's working, but He's not in you. 37:47 In fact, with Jesus when he told the disciples 37:50 to pray for the Holy Spirit in John 14, 37:52 He said to the disciples right there, 37:54 "He is with you, but will be," future tense, " in you." 37:58 That's right. 37:59 So He spoke very specifically on that 38:01 His desire was that the Holy Spirit would receive, 38:04 Jesus would receive, 38:05 or the disciples would receive the Holy Spirit in them. 38:07 And I think Acts 5:39, 38:11 let me look that up because Peter says, 38:15 "The Lord gives His Spirit," 38:16 look at one turn to the Book of Acts. 38:19 I like my old Bible, here it is. 38:22 Acts 5:32, 38:24 "And we are His witnesses to these things 38:27 and so also is the Holy Spirit 38:30 whom God has given to those who obey Him." 38:34 Yes, those who have responded to the gospel 38:36 and have decided to follow him with their life, 38:39 they receive the Holy Spirit. 38:40 That's right, when they obey Him. 38:42 And then He works through us, 38:43 okay, so there's these few aspects, 38:46 these several aspects of the Spirit's 38:47 work in our life. 38:49 And again, we're, talking about the Spirit now. 38:50 We'll get to the truth here shortly. 38:53 But let me read something, this is from Ezekiel, 38:56 and I think there's probably no greater verse 38:59 in all of scripture with, 39:02 maybe the exception of John Chapter 3 of being born again, 39:05 that speaks of conversion. 39:06 Okay. 39:08 I think it's probably a companion for John 3 39:10 in the Old Testament. 39:11 It's Ezekiel 39:13 Chapter 36:25-28 here's what it says. 39:18 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you 39:21 and you shall be clean." 39:22 Thirty-five what? 39:23 Ezekiel 35, 36:25. 39:27 Okay. 39:30 "I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 39:32 from all your idols. 39:34 I will give you a new heart 39:36 and put a new spirit within you." 39:37 That's the born again experience right there 39:39 that Jesus talked about when He spoke to Nicodemus. 39:42 "I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh 39:45 and give you a heart of flesh. 39:46 I will put My Spirit within you 39:48 and cause you to walk in my statutes." 39:51 Okay, there is the walking in truth, do you see that? 39:54 Mm-hm. 39:55 "And you will keep my judgments and do them, 39:58 then you shall dwell in the land 40:00 that I gave to your fathers, 40:02 you shall be my people, and I will be your God." 40:06 Yeah, I just showed that that's the in us process. 40:09 That is the in us process. 40:11 And the in us process involves the transformation 40:16 by the Spirit of our heart, 40:19 which is the seat of all of our motivations, 40:21 our actions, our emotions, everything that comes. 40:25 In fact, I did a study on heart and mind, 40:28 the heart appears 800 times in scripture, the mind 80. 40:35 Eighty? Eighty. 40:36 That's it? That's it. 40:38 By far, God weighs the heart 40:40 as the important aspect to our conversion. 40:45 The heart has to be converted. 40:47 The mind is not quite enough although both are involved, 40:51 that we first began with the mind, 40:53 it must go down and reach down to the heart 40:55 to change us within as well. 40:57 So the issues of the heart may include the mind, 41:01 but the issues of the mind 41:02 don't necessarily include the heart. 41:04 The heart, yes. 41:05 And the interchangeability of both of those is important 41:08 because when you read Acts... 41:09 I mean, when you read Hebrews 10:16, 41:12 the Lord puts His laws into our minds 41:14 and writes them in our hearts. 41:15 You're thinking just like me. 41:17 That's where I was going to go. It's exactly right. 41:18 So we find in the New Covenant that it's the laws on our mind, 41:22 but it also reaches down to our heart, 41:24 and what is it saying? 41:25 That is saying that with a mind, 41:27 the truth, I accept that, I follow that, 41:29 but in spirit, it has touched the heart, 41:31 it has converted me, I'm changed. 41:33 Matter of fact, John, 41:35 talking about the challenge of discipleship, 41:37 if we go to Romans, look at Romans, 41:43 Romans 7. 41:45 This is beautiful. It shows the mind. 41:49 This is verse 22, "For I delight 41:52 in the law of God 41:54 according to the inward man, but I see," verse 23, 41:57 "another law in my members warring 42:00 against the law of my mind 42:02 and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin 42:05 which is in my members." 42:07 So, John, is... 42:09 I mean, Paul is saying. Yeah, that's powerful. 42:11 That's powerful. 42:13 No, it's just, I mean, the warring against the mind, 42:16 we determine to follow God here, 42:18 but if this isn't transformed, we have no power to do it. 42:21 That's why he says I see another law, 42:23 I see another law in me warring against the law my mind. 42:26 And I think I delight according to the inward man. 42:31 Yes. 42:33 He's not talking about an entity 42:34 running around saying, 42:35 "Hey, I'm so glad to be in here. 42:37 I'll leave whenever you give me an opportunity." 42:39 He's talking about the heart issues. 42:41 When things are deeply seated, it's a heart issue. 42:44 Paul is saying, "My heart is in the right place, 42:48 but there's a war going on in my mind." 42:49 Yeah. 42:51 And as one preacher said, 42:52 the longest journey is from the mind to the heart. 42:55 There you go. Oh, that's a good point. 42:57 I haven't heard that one before. 42:58 That's good. 42:59 So when Jesus is talking about spirit and truth 43:01 in the context of discipleship, 43:03 He's saying that I want to reach not just your mind, 43:05 but I want to change your heart. 43:07 Now, John, and discipleship, this is a powerful point 43:09 because many people that join churches 43:11 join on the intellectual level. 43:13 Ah, that's exactly my point, yeah. 43:16 They join, the Sabbath is true, the state of the dead is true, 43:19 the sanctuary is true, died is true, 43:22 what we should eat and drink and wear, 43:24 true, true not, you know, all these, 43:26 we often accept on the... 43:28 Prophecy is true, the mark of the beast is true, 43:31 all these things, we say intellectually, 43:34 we agree with the 28 points, 43:37 and we say we're converted. 43:39 No, we are not. 43:41 The intellectual assent 43:43 doesn't take us to discipleship. 43:45 The intellectual assent takes us to agreement. 43:48 Right. 43:50 That's it, agreement with God's Word, 43:51 with the truth of God's Word, 43:53 but it doesn't bring us to conversion. 43:54 That's right. 43:55 When Peter was asked on the day of Pentecost, 43:57 men and brethren, what shall we do? 44:00 He said, "Repent and be converted." 44:02 He didn't say agree with the doctrines, 44:04 he said repent and be converted until you are converted, 44:08 agreement to the doctrines 44:09 will be just a set of rules and regulations. 44:11 But when you are converted, 44:12 you can live in harmony with that 44:14 because the Spirit of God is working in your life 44:16 because you have been discipled, 44:18 you have come to the point where as a disciple 44:20 you have denied the natural part of you, 44:23 which says, "I don't want to do that." 44:25 That's right. 44:27 And the part that brings the greatest amount of effect 44:29 on the heart is the relationship. 44:33 It's not the intellectual understanding, 44:36 it's what coming and drawing near to Christ 44:38 through prayer, through walking with him, 44:41 through him converting the heart 44:44 because He loves us, 44:45 those are the things that drive us 44:47 to want to do what He's placed on our heart. 44:51 Listen to this text, powerful text 44:53 from 1 Thessalonians or 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15. 44:59 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15. Okay. 45:03 Now we're going to begin to transition to truth, 45:05 but I want to use this as a transition text for that 45:07 to talking about truth. 45:08 Okay. 45:10 "But we are bound to give thanks to God 45:11 always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, 45:15 because God from the beginning chose you for salvation 45:19 through sanctification by the Spirit and..." 45:24 What? "Belief in the truth." "Belief in the truth." 45:27 There you are, both hand in hand yet again. 45:29 Okay. 45:30 "Sanctification by the Spirit," 45:32 sanctification is that inner transformation 45:34 that happens, "and belief in the truth," 45:36 that's the mental, the understanding, 45:37 the cognitive ability to understand truth 45:40 and to desire to walk in His ways, 45:43 "to which He called you by our gospel 45:45 for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, 45:48 therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold to the traditions 45:51 which you were taught 45:53 whether by word, or our epistle." 45:56 That's a powerful one, I'm writing it down now. 45:58 All right, so you'll see, again, 46:00 you'll find throughout the New Testament 46:02 this pairing of Spirit and truth, 46:05 intellectual understanding and acceptance of that, 46:08 a desire, a commitment to follow it, 46:09 but yet requiring the conversion that happens 46:12 from the Spirit of Christ in us, 46:14 changing our hearts. 46:15 That's why I said before I think it was the last program 46:17 I said there are some who are professing faith 46:20 and belief in the truth who live like the devil. 46:23 It's because the conversion of the heart 46:25 hasn't happened yet. 46:27 And I'll tell you, the telltale sign to me, John, 46:30 that that has happened, that's what's going on, 46:32 and you know this to be true too, it's criticism. 46:36 Very good one. 46:37 A lack of humility 46:38 and an awareness of one's own self 46:40 and a critical spirit, 46:42 that tells me right there 46:43 that more heart conversion needs to happen. 46:46 Wow. 46:48 So when John... When John... 46:49 Look at this. 46:51 Oh, boy, I tell you, 46:52 the sanctifying process is a huge one. 46:55 The converting aspect of it, 46:56 which is in fact sanctification, 46:58 is pointed out in John right here, John 17, 47:03 "Sanctify them by Your truth." 47:05 There you go. 47:07 "Your Word is truth." 47:08 When you gave me 2 Thessalonians 1:13, 47:10 sanctified, they're sanctified by the truth. 47:13 By the Spirit and truth. And truth. 47:16 And so, "Sanctify them by Your truth, 47:19 Your Word is truth." 47:20 Yeah. 47:21 So the truth of God that we are sanctified by 47:26 includes the work of the Holy Spirit. 47:27 Yeah. 47:29 And the Word of God is an instrumental part of that. 47:30 I don't want to diminish the fact that what we believe, 47:33 what we read doesn't have the power 47:35 to change our hearts, it does. 47:37 This is how God speaks to us. 47:39 He speaks to us through His Word. 47:40 But the Holy Spirit must also be present 47:43 to make the change in the heart. 47:45 Right. 47:46 And that's my biggest point by saying 47:48 spirit and truth are both equal 47:51 and important aspects of the conversion process 47:55 for any disciple of Christ. 47:57 Now I want to talk, as of our time here, 48:00 I know we've only got about 10 minutes here, 48:01 I want to talk about the four aspects of truth 48:03 because when you read scripture, 48:05 you read the word truth all the time. 48:06 All the time, it's always there. 48:08 But you have to read the context to understand 48:10 what is being discussed, what's being talked about 48:13 because there are four kinds of truth. 48:17 I mean all of it is truth, 48:18 but there are four contexts of truth 48:20 in the various passages throughout scripture. 48:23 And Jesus does the same thing with this. 48:24 But here are the four. 48:28 Jesus is the truth. Beautiful. 48:30 Okay, so He is overarching the truth, 48:35 okay, Jesus also taught the truth. 48:40 He spoke of the doctrines that He taught His disciples, 48:43 and that's the teaching of the truth. 48:48 Jesus lived the truth. 48:50 So He was our example, He demonstrated what truth was. 48:53 And then lastly, He healed with truth. 48:56 Truth has a healing component. 48:57 If it doesn't heal us inwardly, 49:00 it doesn't do us any good, okay? 49:02 That's right. 49:04 Now here's the interesting thing about all four, 49:05 so the first one Jesus is the truth, 49:07 this is relational. 49:08 This deals with the relationship 49:10 between us and God, 49:11 our perception of who God is and who He is in Christ. 49:16 Jesus is, He brings that to clarity. 49:21 He came to reveal the Father for who the Father really was. 49:24 And He came to a dark world who had misapprehension of God. 49:27 They really didn't know who God was. 49:29 Jesus shows up, and He said, 49:30 "You've seen me, you've seen the Father." 49:33 That's the relationship that Christ was trying to heal 49:35 between Him and His people. 49:37 So in that way, He is the truth, 49:38 He's the example, 49:39 He's the overarching truth brought to them. 49:41 Let me add something to that 49:42 before we move on to the next one. 49:43 Yeah, go ahead. 49:45 Truth is important, 49:46 a lot of times in the Christian world, 49:48 the word truth is often left out 49:49 because they say, "What is truth?" 49:50 It's relational, it's almost a psychobabble 49:52 that entered into the psychological world of, 49:54 you know, psychology and metaphysics 49:57 and all these different types of isms 49:59 that are now being taught in universities, 50:02 truth is in fact when you read something in the Bible, 50:06 it reveals something about God, it reveals a truth about Jesus. 50:13 If you say something that Jesus didn't say, 50:18 then you distort the truth 50:20 and you distort the picture of Jesus. 50:22 That's right. 50:24 So when people say truth doesn't matter, 50:25 all that matters is relationship, 50:27 well, you cannot have relationship with Jesus 50:31 and ignore truth. 50:32 All the truths that we share here on House Calls... 50:36 What we talk about, 50:38 all have an effect, 50:39 all have an effect on how we view God. 50:42 Look at what Jesus said. 50:44 Just like even with the subject of hell, 50:45 this is just a quick one, just an example. 50:49 If you believe that God will burn sinners in hell 50:52 forever and ever and ever, 50:55 indefinitely, writhing in pain, 50:57 your view of God will be different 50:59 than if you understand the Biblical truth 51:02 of God bringing the lake of fire 51:04 and consuming all people, 51:06 there is punishment, yes, in that lake of fire, 51:09 but the fire goes out 51:10 when all that is consumed 51:12 that is going to be consumed of sin 51:14 and the universe will be at peace. 51:16 That's a different view of God conceptually 51:18 than this eternal tormentor. 51:20 Completely. 51:21 And that's just one subject. 51:23 Every truth that we share here, 51:24 we share it because we're concerned about who God is, 51:28 and as who He's in as revealed in Jesus. 51:31 And so this relational aspect of it which reveals us, 51:34 if somebody says, I know John Stanton, 51:36 I know John Lomacang. 51:38 And then they say something that doesn't measure up, 51:40 wait a minute, that's not John, that's not Stanton. 51:44 And you say, "Are you sure you know them? 51:47 Because, I mean, I've known them for a long time 51:49 and that doesn't measure." 51:50 Matter of fact, 51:52 I entered into this doctrinal controversy with someone 51:55 who got very upset about 51:56 and started spreading rumors 51:58 about my position about Jesus. 52:00 And people responded to me on Facebook and said, 52:03 "You know, we've been getting these messages in our inboxes 52:06 and we've been getting these tags on our Facebook page 52:09 that are saying you don't believe 52:10 that Jesus is the divine Son of God." 52:13 And people have said, "I know that's not true, 52:16 I just want you to know what's going on out there. 52:17 I know you wouldn't say that I have your sermons. 52:19 I have your teachings. 52:20 I've known you for 30 years as a pastor. 52:22 I know that's not true." 52:23 Here's what Jesus said, 52:25 and this is going back to truth in relationship. 52:28 Jesus said in 1 John 2:3, 52:31 "Now by this we know," that's relational, 52:33 "that we know Him," that's relational, 52:36 "if we keep His commandments." 52:38 Now I want to make that very clear. 52:39 The truth is commandments, 52:41 the relationship is, I say "I know Jesus." 52:44 So if somebody says I know Jesus 52:47 but I am not going to keep His commandments, 52:49 people say, "You don't know him." 52:51 Right, that's right. 52:53 And then it goes in verse 4, 52:54 "He who says I know Him," relationship, 52:56 "and does not keep His commandments," 52:58 truth, "is a liar and the truth is not in Him." 53:01 You cannot know Him and ignore His commandments. 53:03 That's right. 53:05 So that first step of discipleship, John, is huge. 53:07 Jesus is the truth. 53:08 It is always relational. 53:10 Yeah, very much. 53:12 In fact, John 17:3. 53:13 Okay. 53:15 "This is eternal life that they may know you..." 53:17 This is in Christ's prayer to His Father. 53:19 "That they know you in Jesus Christ 53:20 whom you have sent." 53:21 The only true God in Jesus Christ 53:23 whom you have sent. 53:24 So you can't say I know Him and ignore the truth. 53:27 That's right. 53:28 It's not even... It doesn't jive. 53:29 Now we're talking about Spirit, now we've transitioned, 53:33 we talked about the Spirit, 53:34 now we're talking about truth here. 53:36 And the second aspect of truth is that Jesus taught the truth. 53:40 So He is the truth, 53:42 but now He also taught the truth, 53:43 and we find that He has a doctrine. 53:44 That's right. 53:46 Very much so, he spoke of the doctrine 53:48 that He gave His disciples. 53:50 And so in that respect, the truth is also theological. 53:56 And so in fact, 53:59 Adventists know that very well 54:01 as we already mentioned, we tend to be very intellectual 54:03 about how we accept the truth and His word. 54:06 Then thirdly, Jesus lived the truth, 54:08 He's our example. 54:10 We all heard that over and over again, the adage, 54:13 "What would Jesus do?" Right. 54:14 And I think there's a real good message in there. 54:18 Go to the example of Christ, what did Jesus do 54:21 while He was here as described in His Word? 54:23 Right. 54:24 And we can't go wrong by following that. 54:27 That's why I'd like to transition and state, 54:28 instead of saying what would Jesus do, 54:31 I often say, "What did Jesus do?" 54:33 Absolutely. 54:34 You know, not would, we have to figure that out, 54:35 just look in His Word. 54:37 And that's why theology, a very powerful word, 54:38 this is theological, 54:39 Jesus taught the truth is the theological aspect, 54:41 relational then theological, 54:43 theology is the study of the nature of God 54:46 and what we know to be true about Him. 54:49 Yeah, yeah. 54:50 And then this third one, 54:52 Jesus having Him live the truth, 54:53 He lived it with mission in mind. 54:55 That's right. 54:56 He was trying to reach people, touch hearts, 54:58 grow disciples, 54:59 and then He asked His disciples, 55:01 in fact in John 14, 55:03 I can't remember, verses 9 or 10, 55:04 right around there, 55:06 He says, "The works I do, 55:07 greater works than these you will do 55:09 because I go to My Father." 55:11 So what He was saying there 55:12 is actually a bookend, 55:14 by the way, I should have mentioned this earlier, 55:16 that passage is a bookend to the Great Commission. 55:21 Here in the Upper Room, He's saying greater works, 55:22 or the works I did, greater works you'll do. 55:25 He's telling what's going to happen, 55:26 and then in Matthew 28, He commissions them to do it. 55:30 And the language in both is identical almost. 55:34 It's amazing how those things fit together. 55:36 I wish we had more time on that. 55:37 But adding to that, speaking about missional, 55:39 Jesus said in John 4:34, 55:41 "My food is to do the will of the Father that sent Me." 55:44 "This is My mission. 55:46 That's why I'm here." Yeah. 55:47 "Not my will, but Your will be done." 55:48 This is My mission, His will. 55:50 Yeah, He was always focused on mission. 55:52 And He wants His disciples 55:53 who live out the truth to also be focused on the mission. 55:55 That's right. 55:56 And then lastly, Jesus healed with truth. 56:02 King David said, 56:04 "Lord, I want truth on the inward parts. 56:08 I want inward truth." 56:09 And what he was saying there 56:11 is that I want truth that transforms my life, 56:14 I don't want it just here intellectually, 56:16 I want it to come down into my heart and settle there 56:18 and change the way I live, 56:20 change the way I see things, 56:22 change the way I view God, 56:23 change the way I view others, 56:25 I want this to be transformative. 56:27 And if truth doesn't get to that level, 56:29 the spirit is not working with truth either. 56:31 That's right. 56:33 And so each of these aspects is very important 56:35 when it comes to truth. 56:36 When we talk about truth, what do you mean by that? 56:39 Because the greatest truth is Jesus, 56:41 yet He did teach truth, 56:42 He had doctrines He taught to His disciples, 56:44 He lived out His truth as our example, 56:47 and He healed truth because Jesus was holistic, 56:50 He didn't want to just transform the mind 56:51 and the way you thought, 56:53 He wanted to convert and change the heart 56:54 and the way you lived. 56:56 And so when Jesus came to heal the blind man, 56:58 this holistic aspect of it came down to truth, 57:01 John, the living of it, 57:03 "Do you believe that I could do this?" 57:06 Yeah. 57:07 "Do you believe that I could truly do this?" 57:09 And then he said, "Yes. 57:10 Yes, Lord." 57:12 When He ascended to the truth of what Jesus was revealing, 57:14 healing came. 57:16 It's powerful, holistic. 57:17 For a last comment here, I'd just like to say this. 57:19 We've read in Spirit of Prophecy, 57:21 we see this, the truth as it is in Jesus. 57:23 If you put that in quotes, 57:25 you'll find it appear hundreds of times. 57:27 Here's what I want to say about that. 57:28 In my study of the different things 57:30 she says in regard to that, 57:31 the truth as it is in Jesus is Christ-centered, 57:34 it's love-driven, it's straightforward, 57:37 it's spirit-led, it's life-changing. 57:39 Wow. 57:40 If it doesn't fit that definition, 57:42 you don't have the truth as it is in Jesus. 57:44 Wow, that was powerful. 57:45 You know, you could see the passion here on this topic. 57:47 We thank you for tuning in 57:49 to this House Call program about discipleship. 57:51 I think we'll cover one more program 57:54 on this topic to seal it off 57:56 because God has called each one of us 57:58 to be disciples of Christ. 58:00 We pray that you respond to that call today. 58:03 God bless you. |
Revised 2017-07-06