Participants:
Series Code: HHJ
Program Code: HHJ000017S
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00:01 Music...
00:15 Hello and welcome to the 11th Secrets Unsealed Summit 00:19 which is entitled: The Hour of His Judgment 00:21 and to this Question and Answer time. 00:24 My name is Pastor James Rafferty 00:26 and I have with me here some other distinguished fellows. 00:30 To my right... your left is Pastor CA Murray 00:34 and then to his right is Dr. Teske 00:39 and then to my left... your right... is Pastor Stephen Bohr 00:44 and to his left is my brother Eric Wilson. 00:49 Just met Eric and we had a great talk today. 00:54 It is just good to catch up and talk about Jesus and the gospel 00:58 and the hour of His judgment. 01:00 So, we have several questions that have come in 01:02 and we do not feel adequate 01:05 even though there's probably maybe a 100 or 200 years 01:08 between us in ministry I imagine 01:10 you know, and we still don't feel adequate 01:12 to answer these questions 01:14 so, we want to ask for the Holy Spirit to be here with us 01:17 to guide our discussion... 01:18 to guide us as we look into the Word 01:20 and find answers to these questions that have been asked, 01:23 there are some very... very significant questions 01:26 from the heart, I believe, 01:28 people out there just wanting to be right with God 01:31 so, let's just pause for a second... 01:33 have a word of prayer and we'll get right in. 01:34 "Father in heaven, thank You so much 01:36 for this opportunity that we have just to... 01:39 to answer questions that are coming from the hearts of people 01:42 who have been listening to this 11th Summit: 01:45 The Hour of Your Judgment 01:46 and who have felt the Holy Spirit talking to them... 01:50 convicting them and perhaps even felt the nudge 01:54 of the adversary discouraging them 01:58 and seeking to tell them that it's too late for them 02:01 and Father, we... we know it's never too late 02:04 when someone is asking for... for Your mercy... 02:07 for Your grace... 02:08 for the salvation that is proffered to us in Jesus Christ, 02:12 when that is their heart's desire, it's never too late 02:16 and so, Father, we lift up these questions... 02:19 we lift up this session... we lift up this time... 02:21 we lift up our hearts to You for cleansing 02:23 and for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit 02:25 and we lift up Your Word 02:27 and we ask that its power would be present and felt 02:30 as we... as we navigate through these questions. 02:34 Guide each one of us we pray 02:35 and those who are listening, in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:39 All: Amen. 02:40 All right, so we have several questions that have come in 02:42 and a couple of them are for Dr. Teske... 02:46 they're medical questions 02:48 and I was thinking we could kind of intersperse them 02:51 with our theological questions, if that sounds okay... 02:55 we'll start with a theological question 02:58 and let me just get my glasses on here 03:00 so that I can read these clearly, 03:02 I can read without my glasses, I... I'm still in denial 03:05 but with the glasses I definitely can read well. 03:08 So... "Dear Pastors, 03:10 does God give a Christian supernatural power 03:15 to overcome sin? 03:17 If so, how do we access it? 03:20 Or do we just have to be strong enough on our own 03:25 to give up sin? 03:27 I've asked God to help in changing me 03:29 but I don't feel like any progress is being made. " 03:32 So, who would like to... to get us going on that question? 03:36 Eric, you want to get us going? 03:37 Eric: Yes. James: Get us going. 03:39 Eric: I would love to be able to answer that 03:41 and the reason why is because that question plagued me 03:45 for probably the first 40 years of my life. 03:47 Does God give supernatural power? 03:51 Our Sister Ellen White says that without supernatural power, 03:56 you're lost. 03:58 It's not just that some people need it, 04:00 every single human being has to have supernatural power. 04:03 So, how do we... how do we tap into... 04:05 how do we access that power that God has promised us? 04:10 Well, it's so simple that we miss it... it's by faith. 04:15 God has promised us victory. 04:18 Ellen White says in Education page 126 04:22 that every command is a promise. 04:25 When it's accepted by the will... 04:28 that means, when I open the door of my heart 04:29 and I say, "God, I can't do this 04:31 but I'm willing for You to come in and do it inside of me. " 04:34 God will do it. 04:36 So, to access that victory over sin, 04:39 something that helped me personally was 04:42 to realize that when Jesus was on Calvary, 04:46 He did not simply pay the penalty for my transgression. 04:51 That was only part of the gospel... that was half. 04:54 He not only paid the penalty for my failure, 04:58 but He took our personal sins upon Himself. 05:04 He carried our personal sins in His own body on that tree 05:09 and rather than yield to mine or your personal sins, 05:15 He chose to die rather than sin... 05:18 Romans chapter 6 verses 10 and 11. 05:21 So, what Sister White says is... 05:23 is... we have to now appropriate 05:27 Christ's death on Calvary as my death and as your death. 05:31 It's not just... He paid for it... 05:34 He died unto your temptation... unto your personal sin. 05:38 So, you have to look and say, "When He died... I died... 05:42 I am crucified with Christ... 05:45 I cannot sin for I am born of God... " 05:48 and all of that comes only by faith... 05:51 believing what God has promised. 05:53 James: Great answer Eric. 05:56 Would anyone like to add to that? 05:58 I've got a Bible verse I'd like to add... 06:00 C.A. you got a Bible verse? 06:01 CA Murray: Yeah, I wanted to add John chapter 15... 06:04 the first five verses which is the... the... 06:07 I call it the... "The Abide Lesson" 06:09 that if we're going to bear any good fruit for righteousness, 06:13 we have to abide in Christ 06:15 and... and... as the... the vine... 06:17 the branch abides into the basic heart of the plant 06:21 and draws nourishment from that, we must abide in Christ Jesus 06:25 and only in doing so can we hope to overcome. 06:32 You have some individuals who... who have the ability... 06:35 if you look at the life of Joseph Bates, 06:37 Ellen White talks about Joseph Bates... 06:40 he had the ability to stop doing things 06:42 through force of will. 06:43 He realized that drinking was bad... 06:47 he just stopped drinking... 06:48 he put the bottle down... never picked it up again. 06:49 He realized that smoking was bad... 06:51 he put the cigarette... the cigar... the pipe down... 06:54 never picked it up again. 06:55 So, you can stop doing things 06:57 through force of will 06:59 but that's not enough... it's... it's not enough, 07:02 you need the indwelling Christ. 07:04 First of all, if you stop doing things because of force of will, 07:07 you haven't asked God for forgiveness, 07:09 so, they're still sitting there as sins... 07:10 you've stopped doing them 07:11 but you haven't been forgiven of those sins... 07:13 so they still condemn you to judgment. 07:15 You need the blood of Christ to cover those sins 07:18 and to remove them from you. 07:19 So, it's more than just not doing a thing... 07:22 it's getting forgiveness for that thing 07:24 and that can only come through the power of Christ. 07:27 James: Amen, I think another summary of that would be 07:30 morality is good... but it's not righteousness by faith. 07:33 Panel: Well said, amen... well said. 07:35 James: Any other Bible verses? 07:36 I have one in John chapter 1 because the question was, 07:40 "How do we tap into that power?" 07:42 And in John chapter 1... when I first became a Christian, 07:45 this was one of my favorite verses... verse 12, 07:48 "But as many as received Him... " 07:51 that is Jesus... 07:53 "to them gave He power to become the sons of God, 07:57 even to them that believe on His name... " 08:00 verse 13, "Which were born, not of blood, 08:03 nor of the will of the flesh, 08:04 nor of the will of man, but of God. " 08:07 We are born again... 08:08 when we're born again, 08:09 we become partakers of the divine nature 08:12 and the divine nature doesn't sin... 08:14 Jesus didn't sin and when you have His nature, 08:16 you don't want to either... you can't do it. 08:19 It's not that it's impossible... 08:21 it was possible for Christ though He never did... 08:23 and it will always be possible for us 08:25 but when the love of God comes in... 08:27 when the character of God comes in... 08:29 when He writes His law in our hearts, 08:31 that's something we just don't want to do 08:33 and the more that we abide in Christ 08:36 as you were saying Murray with... C.A. with John 15, 08:40 as we abide in Christ, we bear fruit 08:41 and that fruit is not fruit of sin... 08:43 it's fruit of righteousness. 08:44 Eric: Pastor Rafferty, can I add something? 08:46 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:48 Eric: You just brought up something that... 08:49 that we're told in that verse in John chapter 1 verse 12, 08:53 it says, "Even to them that believe on His name... " 08:58 the name "Jesus" actually means Yahweh's or Jehovah's salvation, 09:05 Jehovah saves... 09:06 so, when we say, "I believe on Jesus... " 09:09 I'm literally saying, 09:11 "I believe, God, that you will do what you promised me... 09:14 that you will save me from my sins... " 09:17 and as we speak our faith in Him, 09:20 Ellen White says, "God does what He's promised" 09:24 so we have that... that act of faith in speaking 09:28 and claiming that promise and yielding 09:30 as Pastor Murray said. 09:32 James: Okay, there's only one theologian among us 09:34 who hasn't spoken yet, 09:35 I don't know if he wanted to. 09:36 All: Laughter. 09:39 Stephen: Well, I was just waiting to glean 09:42 all of the wisdom of the other theologians... 09:44 but yeah, I'd just like to mention, 09:47 wherever I travel, I have people ask this question, 09:50 "How do I overcome sin?" 09:52 and I usually ask them a question, 09:56 "What are you watching and listening to?" 09:59 Because... because sin is overcome 10:02 or you lose the battle with sin 10:06 depending on what you allow to come through your five senses. 10:10 If we're beholding Christ on the Cross, 10:14 for example, you know, 10:16 Ellen White says that we're supposed to spend that hour 10:19 dwelling... thoughtful hour... dwelling on the life of Christ 10:24 particularly the closing scenes. 10:25 You know, when we hear Him crying out, 10:27 "My God... My God... why have You forsaken Me?" 10:30 When we hear Him tremble in the... in the Garden, 10:32 "Let this cup pass from Me: 10:34 nevertheless Your will be done, not Mine. " 10:37 We ask Jesus, "Why did this happen to You?" 10:40 He says, "It's because of your sins. " 10:42 Then we see how terrible sin is... 10:44 the sin is terrible because it sent my best friend to the cross 10:50 and as I behold the holiness of Christ, 10:53 then the things I watch on television 10:56 which is mostly illicit sex... you know... materialism etc. 11:04 what I place in my mind either strengthens or weakens 11:07 my ability to overcome sin... it's the bottom line, 11:10 so, abiding in Christ in practical terms 11:13 means beholding Him... and being changed from glory to glory. 11:17 That's a very practical answer 11:19 and so, I would ask this person, you know, 11:21 "What are you watching... what are you listening to?" 11:23 If we're watching or listening to the world, 11:26 we're going to become like the world. 11:27 If we're watching and we're listening to Christ, 11:30 we're going to become like Christ... 11:32 it's a law that by beholding we're changed. 11:34 James: Second Corinthians 3:18 and Great Controversy 555, 11:37 so, that law works both ways... it works both ways. 11:40 CA Murray: You know, this is a very important point 11:43 because if you look at 11:45 the books of 1st... 2nd... 3rd John three times, 11:47 John says, "He that is in Christ, does not sin... " 11:50 and you can get kind of turned around 11:54 because it also says that 11:57 if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. 11:59 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 12:00 CA Murray: You know, okay, what are you saying to me? 12:03 I'm not going to sin or if I sin... 12:04 and, of course, the understanding is that... 12:07 that the text is in the imperfect tense... 12:10 so he does... that... that is in Christ, 12:12 does not continue to sin... does not live in sin... 12:15 does not wallow in sin... 12:16 does not practice sin 12:18 but if you make a mistake... if you slip and fall... 12:20 if something comes into your life momentarily 12:24 or you have a little lapse... Christ has taken care of that, 12:27 you know, it's... it's... it's... it's taken care of... 12:31 you're not... you're not abandoned... 12:32 you're not left to yourself. 12:34 So, what... what I want... 12:36 I don't want to keep... 12:37 James, I don't want to keep fighting sin... 12:40 I want to get the victory over it... 12:42 I want to get to the point in my life 12:44 where this has no attraction to me anymore. 12:46 I don't want to spend every day saying, 12:48 "Okay, I'm not going to look at this... 12:50 I'm not going to go there... 12:52 I'm not going to go out of my house 12:53 because I may see something... I may do something... 12:54 I may smell something... I may touch... 12:56 I may taste something... I'm just going to stay home. " 12:58 I want to get to the point where I can walk through the world 13:01 and the world has no attraction to me... 13:03 I want to be... I want to be done with that 13:06 and Christ says, "That is possible... 13:08 old things can be past... 13:10 all things can be made new... " 13:12 I can get to the point where I don't even want that anymore, 13:15 I don't desire that anymore... 13:16 that's true victory 13:18 and that only comes through the indwelling of Christ. 13:20 I can... I can stop doing it 13:22 but that doesn't make me stop wanting it... 13:25 I want to stop doing it and I want to stop wanting it. 13:28 James: Righteousness by faith. 13:30 CA Murray: Precisely, I want to get to that point in my life 13:32 and... and we can have that through the power of Christ. 13:34 James: All right, let's get the good doctor in here, 13:36 what do you say? 13:38 Dr. Teske, we've done a lot of theologising... theologizing here 13:42 and you can... please feel free to enter into that with us too, 13:45 I don't want... just because you're a doctor, 13:47 doesn't mean you might not have a... 13:48 some great stuff to add to... to our conversation 13:51 but I wanted to ask a couple of questions that have come in 13:54 that are focused on health 13:55 and I think health is really important, 13:57 we're told that it is the right arm of the third angel's message 14:00 and the third angel's message and the judgment 14:02 are connected together. 14:03 My wife is a Registered Dietician... Nutritionist 14:07 and she loves health 14:08 and so, you know, 14:10 she is always reminding me of how important health is 14:14 and so, I'm so thankful you're here 14:15 and can answer some questions there 14:17 so the question that's come in here... 14:18 the first one we have for you is this, 14:20 "Is it true that we remember everything we experience 14:25 and if that is true, 14:28 what role does sleep play in that 14:30 and how important is REM sleep 14:33 and why is it the last part of sleep?" 14:35 I'm kind of giving you the whole thing here 14:37 so that you can put a... answer all this stuff... 14:39 put it all together. 14:40 Teske: Would you like me to repeat my lecture? 14:42 All: Laughter. 14:44 Teske: As far as your memory is concerned, 14:48 there's a short-term memory that everything goes in 14:52 as you experience it 14:54 whether it's what you saw, heard, smell... 14:59 taste... everything around you... 15:00 an hour later, I could say, 15:03 "Where did you leave those keys?" 15:05 And you can think back and remember 15:07 and figure out where they were, 15:09 now, if you left them there and I ask you a week later, 15:13 where was something you laid down... 15:15 you might or might not be able to trace back the memories 15:18 and figure out where it was 15:20 because they've become dimmer or erased. 15:23 We talked about... during the night 15:27 when you're in this stage one and two non-REM sleep, 15:31 you're starting to go to the real deep sleep 15:34 and then it... there is where you transfer memories 15:37 from the short term up to the long term... 15:40 to the cerebral cortex 15:41 where they become this integrated memory... 15:44 the database that you operate on that's you... up here... 15:49 that's all up there and the fascinating part about it... 15:53 we can see it on the EEGs... 15:55 you can actually see in this... 15:56 these... they call them little sleep spindles... 15:58 they go Bzzzz... Bzzzz... Bzzzz... 16:00 and they can actually trace those, 16:02 if you were practicing the piano that day 16:04 and really working on learning some parts, 16:06 what they'll find is, those little bzzz... bzzz... 16:09 they trace them... 16:10 they're going right up to the motor cortex there 16:12 from your fingers... 16:14 in other words, you're actually storing in memory 16:16 the position of these, 16:17 not the short term that you store at this stage 16:20 but now they're in the integrated total memory 16:22 of everything that's going on there 16:25 and the next day, you go to the piano 16:27 and even though you were struggling with that yesterday, 16:29 now, you go there and it flows... 16:33 it's integrated... it's being coordinated by the cerebellum 16:36 and you put that up in the context here 16:39 of the rest of the cortex 16:40 and everything that goes on there, 16:41 and you're really able to put that memory... 16:44 that memory has been stored up in a more permanent location 16:48 and all of your memories are stored that way 16:51 in the various parts of the brain. 16:53 The interesting thing is that your frontal cortex... 17:00 your pre-frontal lobe... 17:01 where you actually make a decision 17:04 what to store and what to discard. 17:07 You don't want to save everything you've experienced... 17:10 where you parked your car at the Mall 17:13 is not really going to be relevant next year 17:16 but it will be a couple of hours from now 17:19 when you're done shopping 17:20 but that's something you want to erase 17:22 and you want to erase that flash drive every night 17:25 so you got a clean flash drive 17:27 ready to go to store the new events of the day 17:29 and whatever else you're going to learn... 17:31 you want to put there 17:33 and they've actually done studies and they can... 17:35 they've discovered that it is your pre-front... 17:37 this is the same part of your brain 17:39 that makes your moral decisions... 17:40 your right and wrong decisions... 17:42 I choose to do this... 17:44 the power of the will... 17:45 all of these are actually taking place up in here... 17:48 the power-decision thought is in this frontal cortex 17:51 and that's actually... you're unconscious 17:54 but it is this part that is making the decision 17:58 of what you're going to store 18:00 and what you're not going to store 18:03 and of course, how is it going to make that decision? 18:06 Very fascinating how they come up with these experiments 18:09 but they actually take this group of college students 18:12 and they give them this list of things to... 18:14 list of words right here 18:15 and then they have them look at all of these words 18:17 in this list right here 18:19 and then, few hours later, 18:20 they'll ask them to repeat and say how much they can remember. 18:22 But then they will ask them the next morning 18:25 how much they can remember 18:26 and find out what... you know, you lose a lot of stuff... 18:30 you save some stuff 18:31 but then they do the same thing... 18:33 but this time, as they go through the list, 18:34 some of them are marked with little asterisks... 18:37 those are the ones we want you to remember 18:38 because we're going to ask you 18:40 about those in the asterisk next... tomorrow. 18:42 As they go through and read the list... same thing... 18:45 testing in a few hours is about the same as the day before... 18:49 now, testing the next day after a good eight hours of sleep, 18:53 the memory recall of the asterisk ones 18:56 is way up compared to the others. 18:59 In other words, that intellectual thought of... 19:01 "I need to remember this... " 19:03 actually allowed you to transfer it up to the permanent memory 19:07 during the night... 19:09 in other words, you're more... 19:11 so, what you decide is important is going to make a difference. 19:14 James: Okay. 19:16 Teske: But, there is another thing, 19:17 we talked about the motor, you know, learning... 19:20 whether it's learning to ride a tricycle 19:22 or whether it is learning to play the piano... 19:25 your motor... or gymnastics... whatever... 19:27 learning motor skills... 19:29 you'll notice there... 19:31 in other words... practice... repetition. 19:34 Pastor Bohr was talking about what we watch... what we do... 19:38 that repetition of watching the same type of thing... 19:42 seeing the same type of... 19:43 whatever is the trend of what we're feeding on, 19:47 the frontal context is going to put that up 19:51 in your permanent long-term storage... 19:54 you know, you become what you are... 19:57 as we say, when we behold Christ continuously, 20:00 what's going to be stored in that cortex 20:03 to perfectly reflect the character of Christ... 20:06 to have His character impressed upon us 20:09 means to be stored in that cortex... being part of that... 20:12 it's all going to... yeah, it comes in here... 20:16 you are your mind... 20:18 you know, salvation takes place in your mind, 20:22 you know, it's... 20:23 this Christ in you... is in your mind. 20:27 The tabernacle service... you know, 20:30 foreshadowed all of this. 20:32 Your mind is that tabernacle... 20:36 the Shekinah glory has come to dwell in there. 20:38 James: So how does that... what you're saying... 20:40 how does that relate to REM sleep? 20:42 Is this REM sleep that you're talking about... 20:43 or is REM sleep different? 20:44 Teske: No, that's a totally different thing. 20:46 James: Oh it is... okay... so, how important is that? 20:49 Teske: REM sleep takes place in... in the sleep cycle, 20:52 your first... there's usually a deep cleaning cycle 20:55 as we wash all of the chemical debris out of the mind 20:58 and get a clean mind. 21:00 James: We keep the stuff we want to keep... 21:01 Teske: No, that's different... the first part... 21:03 and then you're storing the good stuff 21:05 and then later on, you're deleting that flash drive 21:08 of the unimportant stuff... 21:10 then, REM sleep is totally different. 21:13 In REM sleep, you not only disconnect all the senses, 21:16 but you also disconnect the motor... 21:19 there's a switching board in your thalamus... 21:21 in the center of your brain... 21:22 when you go to sleep, you switch off the sensory input 21:25 you're not hearing... seeing... feeling... 21:28 it takes a lot to override that and break in and, you know, 21:32 shake you awake or a loud siren to wake you up. 21:35 So, that's the sensory coming in... 21:38 but when you move to REM sleep, 21:41 we also switch off the motor output... 21:44 you become totally paralyzed during REM sleep. 21:46 James: Oh really? Teske: Except for your eyeballs, 21:48 your eyeballs are darting back and forth 21:50 and nobody knows why we do that. 21:51 But you become totally paralyzed during REM sleep. 21:56 REM sleep is when you dream. 21:59 All those dreams you have weren't happening all night long 22:02 they were happening during REM sleep. 22:04 All of these hallucinations... 22:07 these combinations that are absurd 22:10 pulled out of various parts of your cortex 22:13 is pulling these out 22:15 and it's actually making connections 22:17 to those different parts right there 22:20 and it's reinforcing things. 22:21 This is the part where you develop creativity. 22:26 The ability to connect this idea with this idea 22:29 and the senses come up with something new here, 22:32 takes place during that REM sleep. 22:35 James: Wow! 22:37 Teske: There are musicians who have woken up 22:40 from their REM sleep with a melody... a song... 22:42 the words... poetry... 22:44 and it is at that point, 22:45 they've learned they can get up 22:47 and if they write it down right away, 22:48 they would actually get some very creative stuff. 22:52 One of the fascinating stories... 22:53 A Russian Scientist... this is in the past 22:56 studying up of various elements... 22:58 he made up these old flash cards for each of the elements 23:01 and the various characteristics and how they react 23:04 and he knew there had to be a pattern... 23:05 there had to be something to this 23:07 and for over a year, 23:09 he carried that stack of flash cards around him 23:11 while he was riding a train... 23:12 he would pull those out and thumb through them 23:14 and see if he could make some sense of them, 23:16 one night, in a dream, it suddenly all came together... 23:19 the cards lined up 23:21 and he saw the relationships between them. 23:23 He got up and he wrote down what we now know 23:26 as the Periodic Table of the Elements. 23:27 James: Oh! 23:29 Teske: With very few changes, that is still the Periodic Table 23:32 that we all memorize in Chemistry Class. 23:34 James: Okay. 23:35 Teske: It came together... those connections came together 23:38 in the REM sleep. 23:39 Your creativity... your ability to do new things... 23:43 different things... that's all going to come together there. 23:47 If we lose that REM sleep, 23:49 we're going to cut out that aspect of our experience... 23:53 become more robotic and less ingenious 23:57 and feeling to come up with new stuff. 24:01 James: Okay. 24:02 Teske: But it's... but it's actually connecting 24:04 all those little pieces together there. 24:06 Very interestingly... 24:07 whales only sleep with half the brain at a time 24:14 because in REM sleep, 24:17 they've become paralyzed and they drowned. 24:19 They have to keep breathing... 24:20 so, whales... half of the brain goes through a sleep cycle 24:23 for several hours... 24:24 then the other half goes to sleep... 24:26 and this side stays awake 24:28 and so, they swim and breath with whichever side is open 24:29 on the other side... 24:31 and whales have no REM sleep. 24:34 James: Okay. 24:35 Teske: So, I guess they're not real creative. 24:37 All: Laughter. 24:39 James: All right, we're going to have another question 24:41 for you Doctor... so don't... 24:42 Eric: Pastor Rafferty. James: Yes. 24:44 Eric: Can I say something? James: Sure. 24:45 Eric: You brought something up that I know a lot of people 24:47 like myself have had questions about, 24:49 what if I've lived a life in my past 24:53 that I don't want to remember... 24:55 what if I've watched movies like... 24:57 like we've talked about or I've listened to music... 25:01 and people go, "Once you've seen it 25:03 or listened to it and done it, 25:05 it's... it's etched in the mind. " 25:07 We have got a promise even there... 25:09 the Bible says, "Let this mind be in us which was in Christ" 25:12 and Christ says, the New Covenant is... 25:16 "I'll write my law in your heart and your sins and iniquities... 25:19 I will remember no more... " 25:21 so, we can literally ask God, 25:23 "God, I'm giving the tables of my mind to You... 25:28 I want you to blot it out... 25:30 blot out all the wickedness that I've done, 25:32 get rid of those memories and those images 25:34 that I should have never looked at... " 25:36 and God will do it. 25:37 James: Amen... amen. 25:39 Teske: You know, we might add to that thought... 25:41 we have soldiers that come back from the war 25:43 with something called: PTSD 25:46 and it comes from memories you don't want to remember 25:52 whether it was their buddies being blown apart 25:55 or they were murdering all these people... 25:57 that's a traumatic thing. 25:59 People... we weren't designed to murder people 26:01 and when you out there 26:02 in hand-to-hand combat murdering people... 26:05 it affects you 26:06 and those are memories that play on you, you know, 26:09 and what happened to your closest buddies mess you 26:12 and one of the interesting things they have found 26:16 in the treatment of PTSD is that REM sleep helps. 26:18 James: Hmmm... 26:20 Teske: Interestingly, if you have good REM sleep 26:24 on a regular basis, 26:26 it helps to modulate bad experiences. 26:31 Grief... anxiety... depression... 26:35 all of these things will improve with REM sleep. 26:39 It has a modulating healing protective function 26:44 on these way-out experiences from whatever source 26:48 it helps you to modulate those... 26:50 putting back in the right context... 26:52 you can make connections 26:53 and connect them in a constructive way... 26:55 it's not that you've forgotten them 26:58 and you're amnesic about them, 26:59 but they don't destroy your life now... 27:02 they don't paralyze you 27:03 and keep you from going on with a productive positive life. 27:08 You know you can answer that... 27:11 what is it that destroys REM sleep? 27:14 We mentioned some of them... 27:16 we mentioned the role of caffeine 27:17 and its disruption of the sleep. 27:19 Alcohol is very disruptive of REM sleep 27:22 so are sleeping pills... various sleeping pills. 27:26 James: Really? Sleeping pills too? Okay. 27:28 Teske: They prevent... all of these aspects of sleep 27:31 and particularly the REM... 27:32 the alcohol... an alcoholic who has been out of REM... 27:36 major REM-sleep deprived... 27:38 there's no REM sleep with alcohol 27:40 and when you're an alcoholic, 27:41 you haven't had REM sleep for days... weeks or months. 27:44 One of the first things they get is hallucinations... 27:46 vivid hallucinations 27:49 and snakes and lizards are crawling out of the wall 27:51 and spiders are on their arms 27:53 and the only thing we can do is try to drug them back down 27:58 to spare them these hallucinations 28:00 which are basically... 28:02 they need dreams so bad, 28:03 they're dreaming while they're still conscious and awake 28:05 and it's a very discomforting... disquieting 28:08 to have all of these types of things that happen in dreams 28:11 happen when you know you're awake. 28:12 James: You know, it's interesting you should say that 28:13 because I have a good friend who's an alcoholic 28:15 and he told me some years ago 28:17 that he doesn't have dreams anymore... 28:18 he doesn't dream anymore... 28:20 it was a real thing for him that he felt, you know was... 28:22 was missing 28:24 so anyway, we've got a few more questions we need to get to 28:26 so, we'll go ahead and digress now back to the theological... 28:29 "Dear Pastors, I had mentioned to family members 28:34 who are Christians 28:35 that we have to give up sin if we want to go to heaven. 28:38 Their response was that all we have to do 28:42 is accept that what Jesus did on the cross 28:45 and believe that He will save us. 28:46 They said my message was a message of perfection 28:49 and that my message was discouraging 28:52 because of our sinful natures. 28:53 How perfect and obedient do we have to be 28:57 to get into heaven?" 28:59 Wooo... Pastor Bohr. 29:01 Bohr: You know, could I just comment on that? 29:06 What do we mean by our sins taken care of 29:10 when we accept the death of Jesus on the cross? 29:13 The devil accepts the death of Jesus on the cross... 29:18 I mean, he believes it. 29:19 Accepting the death of Jesus on the cross means, 29:25 first of all that you repent... 29:29 you're really, really sorry for sin 29:31 because of what it did to Jesus. 29:33 Secondly, confess that sin 29:36 and say, "Lord, I blew it. " 29:40 3. Have faith and trust that Jesus 29:45 will take His life and His death and credit them to my account 29:50 so that I'm accepted in the Beloved. 29:53 When that happens, there's a transformation in the life 29:58 and there's a change in the behavior... 30:01 but the problem is... many of the Christian world 30:04 say, "Oh, all I have to do is 30:06 believe that Jesus died on the cross. " 30:07 But there's much more involved 30:09 in believing that Jesus died on the cross. 30:12 It has to do with seeing how terrible sin is... 30:15 not wanting anything to do with sin anymore... 30:18 being sorry for sin... 30:19 confessing that there's no excuse... that I'm to blame 30:23 and having faith that Jesus will take His life and His death 30:27 and credit them to my account. 30:29 So, all of that is involved in accepting Jesus 30:33 and His death on the cross. 30:35 James: Amen... amen... Eric... 30:36 Eric: It's interesting because this is a question 30:39 that all of us should recognize. 30:41 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 30:42 Eric: Why do we... why do we resist perfection? 30:45 The Olympics wants perfection. 30:48 If you... if you had 20 young women 30:51 that were going to enter the Miss Universe Pageant, 30:53 nobody gets up there and says, 30:55 "Ah, I'd like to be number four. " 30:56 James: Hmmm... 30:58 Eric: You know, if you go to the Olympics, 30:59 you say, "I want to be on the Olympics Ski Team... " 31:01 and they say, "What's your goal?" 31:03 "I'd like to win a Bronze... " 31:04 the coach wouldn't even let you on the team. 31:07 If you want to be CEO of IBM, 31:10 they're not going to put you there if you just want to... 31:13 "I'd like to make a 100,000 dollars next year 31:15 for the Company. " 31:17 The world wants perfection... 31:20 why should we as Christians be satisfied with anything less 31:23 and I'm not there... I'm not claiming to be there 31:25 but it's like... Jesus said something to us, 31:29 He said, "Be ye therefore perfect, 31:32 even as your Father in heaven is perfect... " 31:34 and Ellen White said something when she quoted that. 31:38 She said, "This Command is also a promise. " 31:41 God wants us to be exactly like Him 31:46 and if... if we are striving 31:49 with everything in us to gain that, 31:51 He'll make sure that He gets us there. 31:53 James: Amen... amen... C.A. 31:55 CA Murray: I recall getting into... and I don't argue 31:58 but I recall getting into reasonably intense discussion 32:01 once with an individual... 32:03 we were talking about whether Martin Luther had a theology 32:06 of Sanctification. 32:07 We know he had justification but did he go beyond? 32:13 and rather that we litigate this now, 32:15 I would say this... what... what Pastor Bohr was talking about 32:17 is Justification. 32:19 You... you are saved... 32:20 you are right with Christ at the point of Justification. 32:23 Were you to close your eyes in death the next second... 32:26 you are saved 32:27 but the longer you live... every other second, 32:29 you got to be working towards getting closer to Christ 32:32 which is the Sanctification experience. 32:34 The thing is, James, 32:36 I think that people want to be right 32:39 but there's something in us in these last days... 32:42 we don't want to do. 32:44 We don't... we just... we barely do... 32:47 well, He has showed your old man what is... 32:49 what requires of you... 32:50 what's the next word? 32:52 Do... do justly... 32:54 you... you... you... you... you... 32:56 James: Love mercy. 32:57 CA Murray: Your bank account is credited 33:00 at the point... you give your heart to the Lord... 33:02 you are justified... 33:03 from then on, you got to do... you can't get away from that. 33:07 It's part of your growth experience. 33:09 You can't get around it, you can't avoid it. 33:11 It's part of your living... your loving and your acceptance 33:14 and your surrender to Jesus Christ. 33:16 James: It's the irrefutable objection... 33:18 take up your cross and follow me is the irrefutable objection. 33:21 Bohr: Precisely... 33:24 Ellen White wrote a very short statement 33:25 which is powerful. 33:27 The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed. 33:33 That's a fancy theological word for credited... 33:36 placed to our account. 33:39 James: "Reckoned" the Bible says. 33:41 Bohr: In other words, our debt is paid. 33:42 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 33:44 Bohr: The righteousness by which we are sanctified, 33:47 is imparted... and the Lord says, 33:50 it's given constantly from Christ to us. 33:53 The first "Justification" is our title to heaven... 33:58 it gives us the right to heaven 34:00 but Sanctification is the fitness for heaven 34:04 and, you know, I used an illustration 34:08 when we did the... the Symposium 34:10 on Final Generation Theology, 34:12 do you suppose that you could pay someone 34:16 at the Department of Motor Vehicles enough 34:19 that you could buy a Driver's License 34:21 even though you don't know how to drive? 34:22 James: Hmmm... maybe. 34:24 Bohr: I think there might be a corrupt person 34:25 where you can get a Driver's License. 34:27 Does that give you the fitness to drive? 34:29 All: No. 34:31 Bohr: It would be pretty dangerous, wouldn't it? 34:32 Panel: Correct. 34:34 Bohr: Do you think it's possible that there are people out there 34:35 that know how to drive but don't have a Driver's License? 34:38 Panel: Laughing. 34:40 Bohr: Of course... in order to drive you have to have the Title 34:44 and you have the fitness 34:47 or else you're not... you're not going to be able to drive 34:49 and so, the same is true with salvation. 34:51 You have to have the imputed 34:53 and the imparted righteousness of Christ. 34:55 James: All right, let's add to that, 34:57 so, let's say you have your title... 34:58 and you have your fitness and you go out and drive 35:01 and you break the speed limit 35:02 and this has happened to me, you know, 35:05 I've been pulled over by a Police Officer and I'm guilty... 35:07 I'm guilty of transgressing the law, 35:09 at that point, I've... 35:11 you know, I've got the fitness because I can drive 35:13 and I've got the title because I've got my license, 35:15 but I'm a transgressor 35:16 and at that point, I'm under the law. 35:20 What I mean by that is 35:21 I'm under the condemnation of the law 35:23 and in the Christian experience 35:25 as in my experience with one Police Officer, 35:27 instead of writing me out the ticket, 35:29 he extended to me grace or mercy... 35:32 he forgave me but he said to me, 35:34 "I don't want you to be driving this car 35:39 in violation of the law from this point on... " 35:41 and you know what I said? 35:42 I said, "Thank you very much Officer, 35:44 believe me... I will not be violating the law anymore. " 35:47 Panel: Go and sin no more. 35:48 Bohr: Let me piggyback on that, let me piggyback on that 35:50 because I had an... I had that experience. 35:53 James: I think we all have to some degree, right? 35:55 Bohr: When I was pastor of Fresno Central Church... 35:57 I just arrived... it was the first year that I was here, 36:00 we had a fantastic Prayer Meeting... 36:02 we sang and we gave testimonies and we studied the Word 36:06 and I was really pumped up 36:07 so, when I got out, I went to... 36:10 and I turned on to First Street 36:12 and I was going about 55 miles an hour 36:16 in a 40-mile-per-hour zone 36:18 I saw the police lights behind me, so I stopped. 36:22 By the way, to make a long story short, 36:25 I didn't have a Driver's License with me 36:27 and I didn't have the auto registration available 36:30 but he checked me out in the computer 36:32 and he asked me... "What... what do you do?" 36:35 I was almost embarrassed to tell him... 36:36 I said, "I'm a Pastor... " 36:38 and he says, "Well, do you know why I stopped you?" 36:40 "Yes, I was going over the speed limit... " 36:43 and then I said, 36:44 "You know, we just came out of a Prayer Meeting here... 36:46 just a couple of blocks from here... 36:49 and I was pumped up and my head was in the clouds... " 36:52 and he says, 36:53 "Yeah, but when you're driving, it needs to be on the earth. " 36:55 All: Laughter. 36:58 Bohr: And so, then he says to me he says to me... 37:01 "You know, being that you didn't do it intentionally, 37:04 you were just kind of... you were just kind of out of it, 37:07 I'm going to forgive your ticket... " 37:10 and so, he forgave my ticket. 37:12 James: Okay. 37:13 Bohr: He did the wrong thing. James: Oh? 37:14 Bohr: He did the wrong thing, 37:16 see the illustration of the Policeman saying, 37:19 "I'll let you go this time... " 37:21 is not a full illustration. 37:23 James: Okay. 37:24 Bohr: And the illustration of "Justification" would be... 37:26 if the policeman says, 37:28 "My job is not to forgive your ticket, 37:31 my job is to enforce the law and you've broken the law 37:35 so, you have to pay for the ticket 37:38 but because you're sorry, 37:40 I'm going to go down to the Police Station 37:42 and I'm going to pay the ticket... " 37:44 that's where the illustration is complete 37:47 because if he just allows me to get off the hook 37:50 without enforcing the law, 37:52 you're actually making fun of the law. 37:54 James: Right... yeah... good... good. 37:56 CA Murray: We all have one, 37:57 I got to just put this in real quick... 37:58 speeding to Prayer Meeting on Wednesday night, 38:00 pulled over by the New York City police, 38:02 I... actually I had baptized several New York City Policemen, 38:05 I have a little card that I was given by a policeman that said 38:09 yeah... basically... "Show it when you put one... 38:11 when they ask you for license and registration... 38:12 pull out this card, 38:14 I guarantee you, they'll let you go... " 38:15 and I... and I did that once 38:17 and he said... he said, "What is that?" 38:18 I said, "I got this from Sergeant so and so... 38:21 he's a member of my church. " 38:22 He said, "Okay... " 38:24 he said, "Are you a real Pastor?" 38:25 I said, "Yeah... " 38:26 "You believe in God?" I said, "Yes. " 38:28 He said, "Okay, slow down 38:30 or you're going to meet your boss. " 38:31 All: Laughter. 38:33 James: Eric... 38:35 Eric: This is... this is interesting... 38:37 there is a statement that was made by W.W. Prescott 38:40 and Ellen White was at the sermon where he shared this. 38:43 James: Avondale? 38:45 Eric: Yes... he said, "To receive Christ, 38:49 or to believe on Christ... is to receive Christ... 38:51 not to merely receive a set of doctrines 38:55 but to receive a life. " 38:58 So, when I accept Christ, 39:01 I'm not just accepting that He did something outside of me, 39:05 I'm saying, "I accept You coming into me 39:09 and now living Your life of holiness and purity 39:13 and obedience in my mortal flesh. " 39:16 2nd Corinthians 4:10 and 11. 39:18 So, it's not just to believe on Him, 39:21 it's to love Him enough to let Him rule and reign 39:25 and conquer sin in my life. 39:27 James: And one thing that I think 39:28 that these illustrations are brought up 39:31 is how inadequate illustrations are 39:33 to fully explain the gospel of Jesus Christ... 39:38 that everlasting gospel. 39:39 I think there's a place where we're told that 39:42 you can't explain it, you have to... 39:44 it has to be experienced. 39:45 You can't... so, we can argue about... jzjzbzbz 39:47 and all this theological stuff but the truth of the matter is: 39:50 "To as many as have received Him... 39:52 to them He gives power to become 39:53 the sons and daughters of God 39:55 and that is an experience that you can't necessarily 39:58 always wrap around... words around or illustrations 40:01 or, you know, illustrate. 40:02 Okay, let's get to another question here, 40:04 this one... we're going back to... 40:07 to our... our good Dr. Teske, we're going to give him 40:10 this question with a caveat of time 40:14 because, Man! you've got so much stuff that you can share with us 40:17 it's... it's great 40:19 but we've got about 17 minutes left... 40:20 we got a few more questions and a couple have come in 40:22 so, Dr. Teske, "What is the recommended dose 40:26 for Vitamin B12... is it 5,000 mcgs daily or twice a week? 40:33 Teske: This will be a short answer, 40:34 you know, the dosage is 5,000 micrograms 40:40 which is the same as 5 milligrams 40:42 but for some reason, they always like to write 5,000 micrograms. 40:44 James: Okay. 40:46 Teske: And a couple of times a week, 40:49 you will pick up enough to cover your daily needs. 40:53 Remember, your liver can store up to about 5 years' worth 40:58 of Vitamin B12 40:59 and because of its irregular appearance 41:03 in our vegetarian diet, 41:06 storing up some extra might be of value to you 41:10 and particularly, 41:12 you may well be running on very minimal reserves 41:15 if you've been a vegetarian for a long time. 41:17 It's, you know, only it's going to come from animal sources, 41:21 you know, such as meat 41:23 and if we're living on a plant-based diet 41:26 in this day and age, 41:27 you will become deficient 41:29 and you will experience 41:31 permanent irreversible nerve damage... 41:33 brain damage down the road here at some point 41:36 if you are deficient, yeah 41:39 yeah... and so, I would recommend that you take 41:43 the 5,000 micrograms every day, you won't forget it, 41:46 you don't have to keep track of it... 41:48 it just becomes a daily habit, put it there... 41:50 get the little ones that dissolve in your mouth 41:53 that you chew or dissolve in your mouth... 41:55 we explained that in the lecture. 41:57 If you missed the lecture, go back 41:58 and you can pick up those details 42:00 but 5,000 micrograms every day if you're on a plant-based diet. 42:04 James: Which I do... I do a Vitamin B12 every day 42:07 and it really helps me in stressful situations... 42:09 it really helps me 42:11 and I can tell when I'm low on Vitamin B12 actually... 42:13 I... I have some skin issues that I deal with... 42:16 Eczema that I deal with and I can always tell... 42:18 it's always related to my Vitamin B12 42:20 so, sometimes, I'll take a little bit more 42:21 and sure enough, there's a direct connection there 42:24 so, it's really been helpful for me. 42:26 Stress is a big factor, I think, for me anyway 42:28 when it comes to... 42:30 okay, here's a question, 42:31 "Dear Pastors, Pastor Murray said, 42:32 Pastor Murray said in his sermon this morning 42:37 on Sabbath 42:38 that now is the time of judgment. 42:41 How long do you think the judgment has been going on? 42:44 Also, is it possible that my life has already been examined 42:48 and my fate has been sealed?" 42:50 And then I just want this a little bit 42:52 because there's a little bit more to this 42:53 that kind of fills it out. 42:55 "After a long departure from God, 42:57 I came to my senses and asked God where I stood with Him. 43:00 This was followed by a short dream 43:02 in which an image of a dead little girl was in the desert 43:04 followed by a TV screen listing my sins. 43:07 Ever since then, I feel like God has already judged me 43:10 and destined me to hell. 43:11 I have no peace whatsoever 43:13 regarding my salvation, thank you. " 43:15 So, C.A., would you like to start with this since... 43:19 CA Murray: Let me take the back-end of that first 43:21 because I think it's... it's... 43:23 the Lord does not accuse or condemn... Satan does that, 43:30 so, if you're being plagued by those thoughts, 43:33 God does not send those thoughts of discouragement. 43:37 God will prick your conscience. 43:39 He will arrest you in your steps 43:41 but God is not out to disquiet you, 43:44 He's out to save you... He's out to give you peace. 43:46 So, those thoughts are not coming from the Lord 43:48 and... and you need to understand that 43:50 because you may think 43:52 that because you're going through a bad time, 43:53 that's commentary on God's love for you... it is not. 43:57 It is not commentary on God's love for you. 43:59 James: Amen. 44:01 CA Murray: Ah... ah... my thought just... 44:03 I had three or four things in my mind 44:04 and I'm... I'm.. I'm losing my thought... thought process... 44:06 Eric: Shall I say something? CA Murray: Yes, go ahead. 44:08 Eric: to give you a second. 44:10 If somebody has got a question like this 44:12 or struggling like this and I've been there... 44:14 we have got a booklet that we're about to publish and I'll... 44:17 I'll share it for free as a PDF if you'll send us an e-mail. 44:20 It's called: A Message of Hope. 44:21 There's one... one verse in the Bible 44:25 that always got me through those times 44:27 where the enemy was attacking me with: 44:29 You've committed the unpardonable sin... 44:31 you've gone too far or... 44:33 Jesus said, "Him that commeth to me, 44:35 I will in no wise cast out. " 44:39 Panel: Amen... amen. 44:40 Eric: It's like He... Ellen White says... 44:42 He was ready to forgive Judas 44:44 if Judas only would have turned 44:47 and Jesus said in John 6... I think it was 6, He said, 44:50 "I've only lost one... and that was the son of perdition... " 44:55 speaking of Judas... only one... 44:57 and so, I think, if God is for us, 45:01 who can be against us? 45:03 James: You know, Ellen White says, 45:04 "If we only had one promise in the Bible, 45:06 that would be enough to take us into the Kingdom of God... " 45:08 John 6:37... very true. 45:10 CA you're back on here, Buddy. 45:11 CA Murray: You know, I'm thinking... 45:13 you know, and... and... and Eric's thought brought me to it, 45:16 Judas' sin was no worse than Peter's sin... 45:19 they were both based on a mistake. 45:22 Peter had enough... Peter fell on... on... on Christ 45:27 and... and Judas could have... 45:29 I mean, Judas pointed Him out, 45:31 picked up a few bucks in the... in the... in the process. 45:33 He thought he was helping Christ... he was not. 45:36 Peter denied Him... is Judas' mistake any worse than Peter's? 45:41 The thing is, "What happens to you 45:43 when you are caught... 45:44 when you are convicted... 45:46 when life shows you that your course is wrong, 45:48 you've got to go to Jesus. 45:50 Peter went to Jesus... Judas did not 45:53 and so, that's the same answer for... for... 45:55 this poor soul... go to Christ... 45:58 He will not cast you out... 45:59 He's able to save to the utmost 46:01 and if you... if you... if you've got some time 46:03 to really play with the... the Word of God... 46:05 look up "utmost" any time... any place... 46:07 anywhere... any situation... 46:09 there is no place you can go... you cannot run too far... 46:12 you cannot run too fast to run away from God. 46:15 He will track you down... 46:16 He will stay with you... 46:18 He will hold on to you. 46:19 You can boldly say, Hebrews 13:5 and 6, 46:21 "I can boldly say, 'God is my helper... ' 46:23 He will never leave me nor forsake me... " 46:25 that is an iron-clad promise... 46:27 it knows no variance... 46:28 it knows no haste... 46:29 it knows no delay... you are still in Christ... 46:32 Christ is still in you... He loves you 46:34 and the fact that you feel guilty... 46:36 the fact that you feel shame... 46:38 the fact that you feel sadness is testament in itself... 46:41 is de facto testament that you are you are still in Christ... 46:43 you haven't gone too far. 46:45 James: Yeah, and we've got to remember, you know, 46:46 sometimes these dreams... when we've... 46:48 we talked earlier about this... 46:50 when we put all this garbage in our brains... 46:52 sometimes that stuff comes... Satan takes that stuff 46:54 and he tries to use that to manipulate us 46:56 and overwhelm us with guilt 46:57 and Job's friends tried that, you know, 46:59 when Job was dealing with His struggles... 47:01 one of them said, "I had a dream... 47:02 oh Man! there were some stuff that came up in that dream 47:04 and it's you... you're the... " 47:06 and so, Satan will come in through those avenues 47:09 and try to overwhelm us with these ideas 47:11 but what about the judgment? When did the judgment start? 47:13 Have we been in the judgment? Did it start? 47:15 How long ago did it start? 47:17 That's the questions being asked there... 47:18 how long do you think the judgment has been going on 47:20 and, you know, 47:23 has my life already been examined and... and sealed? 47:25 Anyone wants to tackle that? 47:27 Bohr: Well, both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy 47:31 indicate that the judgment began on October 22, 1844. 47:34 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 47:36 Bohr: It began with those who died 47:39 beginning with... in chronological order... 47:42 beginning with Adam 47:44 and continuing throughout the course of history 47:46 and it ends with the living. 47:47 The judgment of the living has not taken place yet 47:51 because it's linked with... with the Sunday Law 47:54 which exactly is going to divide humanity into two groups... 47:57 those who have the Seal of God 47:59 and those who have the Mark of the Beast. 48:02 So, basically, the judgment began in 1844 48:05 it's ongoing... we have the judgment of the dead 48:08 and it will soon... Ellen White said in 1911, 48:11 will pass through the living... no one knows when. 48:13 James: None know how soon. 48:15 Bohr: That's right, and so, what is the bottom line? 48:18 The bottom line is... we need to be ready all the time. 48:20 You know, we talk about the close of probation... 48:23 we need to be ready for the close of probation... 48:26 true... but if we die 48:28 before the close of probation for the world, 48:31 the door of probation is closed for us. 48:35 James: Yes. 48:36 Bohr: And so, we need to be ready all the time... 48:38 every day... we need to be walking with the Lord. 48:39 James: Hmmm... 48:41 CA Murray: You know, I remember as a child, 48:42 I joined the church back in the... the dark ages... 48:46 back in the 50s and 60s and 70s, 48:48 they usually try to scare people and say, 48:50 "You never know when your name is going to come... " 48:52 you know, "and... so you got to... you got to... 48:53 you never know... your name may be passed... " 48:55 they would... they would really scare the stew out of us, 48:58 you know, because you didn't... 48:59 you have this uncertainty. 49:00 What is important is that I live each day with Christ... 49:04 that I walk each day with Christ... 49:07 that I surrender... that... that I give my life to Christ. 49:10 Let... what's going to happen in heaven 49:12 is going to happen in heaven... 49:13 what happens on earth is in... in my control, 49:16 if I surrender with Him... 49:17 if I walk with Him... if I pray to Him... 49:19 if I examine my life and let Him live His life in me... 49:23 that's what I can... can handle... 49:24 that's what I can deal with and that's what... 49:26 is... is for me to do. 49:27 James: All right, so the judgment began in 1844 49:29 according to Daniel chapter 8 verse 14 49:32 and Revelation chapters 10 and 11 verse 1, 49:34 and the judgment began with the dead 49:37 and soon... 49:38 we don't know how soon it's going to go to the living, 49:41 so, if you're alive... your name has not come up... 49:44 your fate has not been decided 49:46 and you are open to receive the grace of God 49:49 and to believe that He forgives you and accepts you as His child 49:52 because whoever comes to Him, 49:54 He will in no wise cast out, Eric. 49:56 Eric: Something that I think is important 49:59 which all of us have agreed on and... and shared, 50:02 God has not given us the spirit of fear, 50:05 we cannot be scared into going to heaven. 50:09 Sometimes God allows fearful things to happen to wake us up 50:13 but He does not use fear to drive us into heaven 50:16 because the fearful will have their part in the lake of fire 50:19 Revelation says... 50:21 what we have to remember is... is that all of our righteousness 50:26 that means... all of it... 50:28 every righteous moment that we have ever had 50:31 is filthy rags... menstrual cloth. 50:34 That's what the Bible says. 50:36 So, we are not going to pass the judgment 50:41 by us having a good week. 50:43 Our being found in Christ when... 50:49 when my name comes up, if I am in Christ, 50:53 when the page is turned to Eric Wilson, 50:56 there's a picture of Jesus. 50:57 I'm using His name and He has given His life to me. 51:03 So, every moment that I'm living 100% for Him... 51:08 that I'm consecrated to Him, 51:11 His life is mine. 51:13 So that takes the pressure off of... 51:15 "I wonder if I was good enough... 51:17 what if I... is God going to cast me into hell 51:19 because, you know, today I slipped and lost my temper 51:23 and boom! you know, I lost everything... 51:26 all my righteousness is not counted for anything now" 51:29 God is looking... is our heart and life 51:31 committed and consecrated to Him... 51:34 because if it is, His life is reckoned as ours. 51:38 James: So, our works don't save us... 51:39 our works testifies as to whether or not we put our trust 51:42 in Christ... so works are important 51:44 because they testify that we have faith in Jesus 51:47 and then when our names come up, 51:49 Jesus is our righteousness, is that... okay. 51:51 Eric: Our good works are the fruit of God's Spirit 51:54 and His Son living inside of us. 51:57 James: Amen... Pastor. 51:58 Bohr: There's no greater fool 51:59 than one who tries to defend himself in a Court of Law. 52:03 So, we'd better... we'd better ask Jesus to be our Attorney 52:06 because He knows the end from the beginning... 52:10 He knows all the ins and outs... 52:11 He knows all of the arguments that He can use 52:14 against the adversary 52:15 so, the key is for us to have Him as our Attorney or Advocate. 52:20 CA Murray: One quick line, James if I may... 52:22 we're... we're in television... 52:25 God judges on the video... 52:30 we tend to judge on the snapshot... 52:32 but God doesn't judge... 52:34 if you take a snapshot of your life 40 years ago 52:37 and your life now... 52:39 they're... they're vastly different 52:40 but there was a video between 40 years ago and today... 52:43 God's looking at that video not just... 52:46 a snapshot is a frozen section of your life at that point 52:49 that may not... that may or may not be your whole life, 52:52 that may be just that point. 52:53 James: It's like being taken out of context... 52:54 CA Murray: Hmmm... hmmm... 52:56 James: Satan is trying to take us out of context. 52:57 CA Murray: Precisely, he's taking out the snapshot... 52:59 "I saw you that night... " 53:00 "Well, it's true but you took a snapshot... 53:02 look at the video... look at the whole life... " 53:04 and praise God He judges us on the video... not the snapshot. 53:08 Bohr: "And furthermore, the person repented of the snapshot, 53:12 they were sorry... they confessed 53:14 and they trusted in Me. " 53:16 James: That's the rest of the video... 53:17 that's the rest of the video, yeah. 53:19 James: All right, "Why did Joseph 53:21 an Old-Testament type of Christ 53:23 marry a daughter of the High Priest of On... 53:26 a pagan Egyptian deity 53:28 and why did Joseph also have a silver cup of divination?" 53:31 That's a question that's coming in to us 53:33 from a Professor at Leadership at Andrews University. 53:37 Now, I'd like to start that question off 53:40 if you don't mind me doing that... 53:41 Joseph... a type of Christ marrying a princess in Egypt, 53:45 you know, of the Priest of On. 53:47 When you look at the lineage of Christ... 53:52 especially in the book of Matthew, 53:54 you're going to find some very questionable 53:57 dubious characters in there. 53:59 CA Murray: Skid marks in there. 54:00 James: Yeah, skid marks... I like that... 54:02 when you... when you look at the Old Testament book of Hosea, 54:05 you're going to find God doing something very unusual 54:07 and Hosea was a Hebrew word for Joshua 54:10 which is a... you know, equivalent of Jesus... 54:13 marrying a prostitute... 54:14 marrying a harlot is what did... 54:17 why? A type of Christ reminds us 54:20 Joseph's story reminds us 54:22 that God is interested in the salvation of the heathen. 54:25 God is interested in connecting Himself... 54:28 you know, another question that could be asked about this is, 54:31 "Why did God send Joseph to Egypt 54:33 to help Pharaoh interpret his dreams 54:36 and why did Joseph... 54:37 why was Joseph helping this Egyptian pagan king 54:40 to store up food to save all of Egypt? 54:42 Why didn't God just let all of Egypt die? 54:44 They're all unbelievers anyway. 54:45 Because God is in the business of saving people 54:48 and God wanted Joseph's influence to be there 54:52 to be inclusive of... to have him connect with 54:56 and have his children connect with 54:58 and bring into God's kingdom 55:00 people from those heathen nations 55:02 and if God's people would have been on target every time, 55:05 they would have always been doing this 55:07 in a way that wasn't... like Solomon... 55:10 in a way that was salvational to... to... 55:13 to these other nations. 55:14 Now, the cup of divination... 55:17 someone of you is going to have to tackle that... 55:19 I brought the question up 55:21 and I've given a good start to it... 55:22 does anyone else want to touch on the cup of divination? 55:24 What was that all about? 55:26 Bohr: Well, maybe Joseph didn't use the cup 55:28 the way the Egyptians did, 55:30 you know, there was a Urim and a Thummim 55:31 and that... that was kind of a strange way of God answering 55:36 so, you know, 55:38 we find, for example Daniel and his friends in Babylon... 55:42 you know they did not use the same methods 55:46 that the wise men and the magicians of Babylon did. 55:51 So, I don't think we have enough information 55:54 about the... the woman that Joseph married 55:56 to know whether... you know, maybe she was... 55:59 she did accept the Lord... we don't know... 56:02 and as far as the cup of divination, 56:05 well, maybe Joseph didn't use it the way the Egyptians used it 56:08 maybe the Lord used that means. 56:10 James: Yeah, maybe it was an excuse for him 56:12 to tell his brothers, 56:13 "Hey, I know what you guys are up to, 56:15 I know what's going on here, see my cup of divination... 56:16 that's what I use... " 56:18 but really, he wasn't using that cup, 56:19 he was just trying to get them to think 56:21 that he had this... this... this power. 56:23 We've got about a minute left, 56:25 and I don't know that we have enough time 56:28 to get into another question, what do you guys think? 56:30 Should we wrap it up there or...? 56:32 Bohr: Shoot and we will answer. 56:33 James: Okay, let's shoot, all right, 56:35 "The Bible says in Revelation 14 verse 12, 56:37 'Here is the patience of the saints, 56:38 here are they that keep the commandments of God 56:40 and the faith of Jesus... ' 56:42 I noticed it says, 'faith of Jesus' 56:45 and not 'faith in Jesus' 56:46 what does 'faith of Jesus' mean? Eric. 56:51 Eric: If we have the mind of Christ... 56:53 the Apostle Paul tells us that Christ has been made unto us 56:58 wisdom, and righteousness, 57:00 and sanctification, and redemption. 57:02 James: First Corinthians 1. 57:04 Eric: If he is in us, we have His righteousness... 57:07 we have His life... 57:09 we have His faith 57:11 so, having the faith of Jesus 57:14 is how we keep the commandments of God. 57:16 He kept them, now He lives His life in my mortal flesh... 57:21 I keep them by faith in Him 57:24 and He keeps them in me through His faith. 57:27 James: All right, so, any other thoughts on that? 57:29 We got 18 seconds left. 57:30 Bohr: No pressure. James: No pressure. 57:33 Well, this has been fun... 57:35 we had some good health talks... 57:37 some good theological questions... 57:39 some good health questions... some good answers 57:41 and obviously we need more time 57:43 because we've still got a few questions left 57:45 but we're going to wrap it up right here, 57:47 hope you enjoyed spending the time with us... 57:48 God bless. |
Revised 2021-04-22