Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP220032S
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00:01 Here on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel we've been learning this
00:04 quarter that growing in Christ often brings challenges. It's 00:07 just a fact of life. Well we're making our way through our study 00:10 this quarter entitled In the Crucible With Christ and this 00:13 week we're on lesson number six entitled 00:16 Struggling With All Energy. So we want you to join us this week 00:20 because we have a powerful study. It's going to be very 00:23 enlightening and we want to tell you how you can get a copy 00:25 of this study just in case you may not have one. Obviously you 00:28 can go to 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 00:35 and you can access a copy for free or as always we encourage 00:38 you to go find your local Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:41 and join in with a small group and study together. So don't go 00:44 anywhere. We're going to break open the word of God in just a 00:47 moment. We're going to have an exciting study lesson. We'll see 00:50 you right back here is just a moment. 00:53 ♪ ♪ 01:22 Hello friends. Welcome back to another edition of 3ABN Sabbath 01:25 School panel. My name is Ryan Day and as always we're so 01:28 thrilled to have you at home all around the world joining 01:32 us at this time, this special hour of study. We consider you 01:35 a part of this family, we consider you a part of the panel 01:38 because without you we wouldn't be here, right? We wouldn't be 01:41 doing this program without you. So thank you for your continual 01:44 love, prayer, and support of 3ABN ministry and this week lesson 01:47 number six as we're making our way through a study, 01:50 In the Crucible With Christ. Lesson number six is entitled 01:54 Struggling With All Energy. It's going to be an exciting one 01:57 and I would like to take the moment before we go any further 02:00 to introduce our special panel. To my direct left is 02:03 Ms. Shelley Quinn, how are you doing? 02:05 Oh I'm blessed to be here and my day is the Diving Human 02:09 Combination. 02:10 Oh wow, praise the Lord. Pastor James Rafferty, always 02:13 a blessing to have you brother. 02:15 Always good to be here. I have Tuesday's lesson which is 02:17 entitled The Disciplined Will. 02:19 Amen, amen, exciting. And to your left is Pastor John 02:22 Lomacang, Brother. 02:24 Mine is off the chain because it's called Radical Commitment. 02:27 What does that mean? Stay tuned. 02:29 All right. Radical. All right. And then of course down at the 02:32 far end of the table, Pastor John Dinzey. Always a blessing 02:35 to have you, my brother. 02:36 It's a blessing to be here. I have Thursday, 02:38 The Need to Persevere. 02:41 All right. Praise the Lord. Struggling With All Energy. 02:45 I don't think that any of us is going to deny that sometimes our 02:50 walk with the Lord, probably because of our own...more of on 02:54 our own part than anything else but oftentimes we find ourselves 02:57 struggling. We find ourselves in a challenging situation where it 03:01 seems hard to persevere. And I know we're going to talk about 03:03 that. But before we pray, I just want to read our opening memory 03:07 text which comes from Colossians chapter 1 verse 29. I'm going to 03:11 read the NIV and then I'll also read the New King James Version 03:15 as well. Colossians chapter 1 verse 29 coming from the NIV 03:19 (New International Version) and it says: To this end I 03:22 strenuously contend, struggling with all the energy Christ so 03:26 powerfully works in me. I guess that's where they got the title 03:30 from right there...Struggling with all the energy Christ so 03:35 powerfully works in me. I like that. New King James Version: 03:39 Same verse, Colossians chapter 1 verse 29: To this end I also 03:44 labor...Paul writes...Striving according to His working which 03:48 works in me mightily. Praise the Lord for that truth. And on that 03:53 note I would like to ask Ms. Shelley Quinn if you'd have a 03:55 prayer for us. 03:57 I'd love to. Our loving heavenly Father, we ask now for that 04:01 energy. We ask for the power of your Holy Spirit. We ask to be 04:05 emptied of self, filled with you and let your Holy Spirit be our 04:09 teacher. And we pray for your blessing on all who are hearing 04:13 our voices that Father that we will all learn together. We 04:17 praise you and thank you for your word Lord. We thank you 04:20 for your spirit. In Jesus' name Amen. 04:23 Amen, amen, Praise the Lord. Sabbath Afternoon's study 04:27 actually opens with a rather interesting scenario, a story 04:32 that talks about two guests that were on a talk show and these 04:39 two guests were in two drastic situations but yet similar. Both 04:43 had lost a child in their life. The woman who lost her son that 04:47 had been murdered 20 years before. It goes on to describe 04:50 her as she was angry, she was bitter, full of hate in her 04:55 heart. But yet the gentleman that was on this same program 04:59 with her, he was totally different. His daughter has been 05:02 murdered by terrorists a few years earlier and he spoke about 05:04 forgiveness toward the killers and about how God had 05:07 transformed his heart and also his hurt towards them. However 05:12 terrible and painful this lesson brings out, however terrible the 05:17 pain, this man had become an illustration of how God can 05:21 bring healing to the darkest moments of our life. Ain't that 05:24 the truth. And I think many of us are obviously witness for 05:28 that or an example of that. But it also brings out this. It says 05:31 how can two people respond so differently? How does spiritual 05:36 change occur in the life of a Christian enabling that 05:40 individual to mature through life's crucibles rather than 05:44 being completely overwhelmed by them. I think right now if I was 05:48 at home watching this I'd be screaming into the television 05:51 going yeah! That's what I want to know. I want to know how can 05:54 we gain that victory. How can we have that spiritual maturity to 05:58 be able to take on these crucibles and make it through 06:01 them rather than allow them to overwhelm us and overcome us. 06:04 That sets us up for Sunday's lesson which I was so happy to 06:09 have because it's entitled The Spirit of Truth. 06:12 The Spirit of Truth, I like that And the lesson opens up saying 06:18 have you ever prayed, Please God make me good. I can raise ch, 06:24 ch, ch, ch, ch. That's me, right I've prayed that. Lord change me 06:28 Lord cleanse me. Lord make me whole, make me more like you. 06:31 And often times in life when we're struggling through 06:35 something, maybe it's a character flaw, maybe it's a 06:38 lifestyle practice or whatnot. I find myself sometimes saying 06:42 Lord, I'm struggling but God help me overcome. But it doesn't 06:46 come necessarily sometimes the way we expect it to. That 06:49 victory doesn't always come in the way that sometimes when we 06:52 read in the word of God. It makes it sound so simple. It's 06:54 just calling out on the Lord and you shall be saved. You know 06:58 asking the Lord and He will make you whole. But the lesson brings 07:01 this out, powerful point, and it can kind of just perfectly sets 07:04 us up for Sunday's lesson. It says, Why? One reason...In other 07:11 words, why does it seem like that victory doesn't come 07:14 immediately or why does it seem like we persevere through those 07:17 crucibles as quick or swift as we might hope for? And it says 07:21 one reason is disturbingly simple. While the Spirit has 07:27 unlimited power to transform us it is possible by our own 07:32 choices to restrict what God can do. But wait a second, Ryan. 07:36 God's all-powerful. God can do anything. We just ask and His 07:40 Spirit will you know move mountains. His Spirit can make 07:43 the world come into existence, but He can't change me? Well 07:46 he can but maybe there's something that we are doing to 07:49 prevent the working of the Holy Spirit in our life. I want to 07:52 jump over to John chapter 3 and we start to see the foundational 07:56 importance of having the Holy Spirit in our life. This is a 07:59 life or death situation, my friends. I just want to make 08:01 that clear. This is not just some willy-nilly little topic 08:04 that we just skim over and think that we can get by without the 08:08 working of the Holy Spirit in our life. John chapter 3 makes 08:11 it very clear that we need the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit 08:15 working in us to prepare us for the kingdom of God. In fact, 08:18 right there Jesus is having this conversation with Nicodemus. 08:22 Starting in verse 3, so John chapter verse 3, Jesus answered 08:25 and said to him, Nicodemus, most assuredly I say to you unless 08:28 one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus 08:32 said to Him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he 08:35 enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? 08:38 And then Jesus brings to light the situation. Verse 5: Jesus 08:42 answered, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of 08:45 water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And 08:49 then verse 6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that 08:53 which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Powerful point there. 08:57 We need the Holy Spirit. We have to be born of the Holy Spirit 09:01 in order to even be able to enter the kingdom of God. So 09:03 is this a serious topic? Is this something that we need to 09:07 consider? Absolutely. I found this rather interesting quote 09:10 here from Homeward Bound, p. 88, referring to what we just read 09:13 and the topic of the Holy Spirit It says here: Here is declared 09:17 the same truth that Jesus had revealed to Nicodemus when He 09:20 said, Except a man be born from above he cannot see the kingdom 09:24 of God. Not by seeking the holy mountain or sacred temple are 09:28 people brought into communion with heaven. Religion is not to 09:32 be conformed to external forms or ceremonies. The religion that 09:36 comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. 09:40 In order to serve Him right, it says, we must be born of the 09:46 Divine Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. It says, this will purify 09:50 the heart and renew the mind giving us a new capacity for 09:54 knowing the loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to 09:59 all His requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of 10:04 the working of the Holy Spirit By the Spirit every sincere 10:08 prayer is indicted and such prayer is acceptable to God. 10:13 Whether a soul reaches out after God there the Spirit's working 10:19 is manifest and God will reveal himself to the soul, for such 10:22 worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive them and to 10:26 make them His sons and daughters Now that's a beautiful reality 10:30 but often we find ourselves in a situation in which we're doing 10:34 exactly what Paul counsels us not to do. For instance in 10:38 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 when he says: And do not grieve 10:40 the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of 10:44 redemption. We know that that's important. Also in 10:46 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:19 he says: Do not quench the Holy 10:51 Spirit. Are we quenching the Holy Spirit in our life. Are we 10:54 grieving away the work of the Holy Spirit in our life. My 10:57 friends, this is salvational, this is huge. And we go on to 11:01 learn that it's the Holy Spirit's job to bring us in 11:04 communion with God. He's referred to as the Spirit of 11:08 Truth. And so we find in John chapter 14 verse 26, notice what 11:13 the Bible says here John chapter 14 in fact, we're going to be in 11:16 John 14 and John 16 in the closing time that we have. You 11:19 want to turn there. So John 14 and John 16. But John 14 verse 11:23 26 says: But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 11:26 will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring 11:31 to your remembrance all things that I have said to you. Now 11:35 here's what's amazing. That's a promise from Jesus. I'm going to 11:38 leave here. I'm going to send the Holy Spirit and He's going 11:40 do this, this, this, this and this and we're going to read on 11:43 through chapter 16 and see what all those things are. But a part 11:46 of this is that the Holy Spirit is in the business of leading 11:49 and guiding us and teaching us all things, but why is it that 11:52 all people have not been taught all things. Because there's 11:55 something in our life, maybe our choices, maybe some rebellion 11:58 there that is preventing the Holy Spirit this Spirit of Truth 12:01 to do the divine work in our life that we need. Go on to John 12:05 chapter 16 verses 5-15. Notice what it says here. I'm going to 12:10 start reading in verse 5. It says: But now I go away to Him 12:14 who sent me, and none of you asks me, Where are you going? 12:16 But because I have said these things to you sorrow has filled 12:21 your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your 12:25 advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper 12:28 will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. 12:32 Now notice verse 8 here: And when He has come He will convict 12:37 the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. 12:41 Now for the sake of time let's skip down to verse 13 because 12:45 right with this, He's going to convict us of sin and of 12:48 righteousness and of judgment, but notice verse 13: However 12:50 when He the Spirit of truth has come He will guide you into all 12:55 truth for He will not speak on His own authority but whatever 12:59 He hears He will speak and He will tell you things to come. He 13:03 will glorify me for He will take of what is mine and declare it 13:07 to you. And I'm going to kind of pull a little bit here from the 13:11 book of Lomacang if you don't mind me, Pastor. I learned from 13:14 Pastor Lomacang and I find this application to be very truthful 13:16 in the sense that the Holy Spirit wants to do all of these 13:19 things in our life but there's three aspects to the working of 13:23 the Holy Spirit. He wants to work on us, he wants to work in 13:27 us and He wants to work through us. But oftentimes we prevent 13:31 that working my friends because of choices in our life. Why do 13:34 we have to endure these crucibles. Why does it seem like 13:36 we're white-knuckling our way through. We can't seem to gain 13:39 the victory. Oftentimes it's not because God doesn't want to come 13:42 through or God is preventing it but oftentimes it's our choices. 13:46 Lord, I don't want this, I'm just using this as an example 13:50 certainly not trying to offend but Lord I don't want this lung 13:52 cancer anymore. But rather have you put down the cigarettes? 13:56 Sometimes it's choices in our lives that prevent the Holy 14:00 Spirit from giving us the victory that we need. That's why 14:03 based on that truth that the Holy Spirit is working on 14:05 everyone. But He wants to work in us and also through us. 14:09 That's why Acts chapter 5 verse 32 says: And we are His 14:12 witnesses to these things. And so also the Holy Spirit whom God 14:15 has given to those who obey Him. I want to obey Him, then all we 14:20 have to do is surrender our will to Him. Remember what Jesus said 14:23 in the garden. Lord let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless not 14:27 my will but yours be done. 14:31 Wonderful foundation. Thank you Ryan. And let me see if I could 14:33 match your energy. I'm Shelley Quinn and we have for Monday 14:39 lesson, The Divine-Human Combination. If you have your 14:43 Bibles, you might want to open to Colossians chapter 1 because 14:45 we're basically going to stay in Colossians 1 the entire time. 14:50 What Colossians 1 is revealing is the Divine-Human Combination 14:55 God who became a human being and the divine-human combination 15:04 in each of His followers. Now Paul did not start the church at 15:11 Colossae but when Epaphras brought him a good report about 15:15 what was going on Paul wrote to the Colossians. We're going to 15:19 begin chapter 1 verse 9. Colossians 1 and verse 9. 15:24 He's heard this report of their faith and their love and their 15:28 hope in Christ. And Paul writes in Colossians 1:9: For this 15:33 reason we also since the day we heard it did not cease to pray 15:37 for you and to ask that you may be filled the knowledge of His 15:43 will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Hey parents, 15:48 that's a great prayer to pray for your children, isn't it? 15:52 And he goes on saying why he's praying: That you may walk 15:58 worthy of the Lord. It's only as we are filled with the knowledge 16:01 of God's will, filled with that heavenly wisdom and spiritual 16:07 understanding that we can walk worthy of the Lord fully 16:10 pleasing Him. Now how do we walk worthy of the Lord and please 16:14 Him? Paul's about to lists four things. He says: Being fruitful 16:19 in every good work. So the performance of Christian service 16:25 good deeds, that's bearing fruit in the Lord. Then Paul adds: 16:30 Increasing in the knowledge of God. Continuous spiritual growth 16:37 will increase your appetite your love for the study of scripture. 16:45 If you don't love to study the scripture pray and ask God and 16:49 say Lord help me to love your word because that's how you get 16:52 to know Him. Then Paul continues in verse 11: So being fruitful 16:58 is the first way to walk worthy of Him, increasing in the 17:03 knowledge of God, that pleases God. But verse 11, he says: 17:07 Strengthened with all might according to His glorious power 17:13 for all patience and longsuffering with joy. 17:18 So it's the full dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit. 17:25 This is how we endure our trials Then the fourth thing he says 17:32 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be 17:36 partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. So we 17:41 need to express gratitude to God in all things, in all situations 17:45 And I'll tell you when I get really down...You know if you're 17:50 in a lot of pain and you can't do something what I do is I'll 17:54 thank God and say well thank you that I can still walk. Thank you 17:57 that I can still think, thank you that whatever. In Numbers 13 18:01 he said that He has delivered us from the power of darkness 18:03 conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we 18:08 we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of 18:12 sins. Now before we go to the next verse watch what Paul does. 18:16 He is going to talk about Christ's supremacy as our 18:21 Creator and our Redeemer. He's in the very form fully God and 18:30 so when He came in Him to manifest the presence of God in 18:33 the flesh this is who Jesus Christ is. Colossians 1:15: 18:38 He's the image of the invisible God. He's a representation of 18:46 God in human flesh. He is the firstborn overall creation for 18:51 by Him, all things were created that are in heaven and on earth 18:55 visible, invisible, whether thrones or dominions or 18:59 principalities or powers. All things were created through Him 19:03 through Christ Jesus and for Him and He is before all things 19:11 because He's not a created being and in Him, all things consist. 19:16 It's by the word of His mighty power that He holds everything 19:20 together. He's the head of the body, the church who is the 19:23 beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in all things He 19:28 may have preeminence. Now I have to just mention the title first 19:34 born, when He said He is the firstborn of all creation, the 19:37 firstborn of the dead this does not mean that Jesus was created. 19:43 How can our creator of all things be created. It's 19:47 impossible to be both. First born means preeminence or it's 19:53 a preeminence in rank or in time It's a covenant term that gives 19:59 Christ priority. He is supreme over all the created works. 20:03 So let's look at verse 19. Colossians 1:19: For it pleased 20:10 the father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. Now this 20:14 is highlighting Christ's Divinity. The entirety of God's 20:20 being within Him. He was fully divine and fully human...And by 20:24 Him to reconcile all things to himself by Him whether things 20:27 on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the 20:32 blood of His cross. And verse 21 says: You who were once 20:36 alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, but now He 20:39 had reconciled. He's done more than forgive you. He's brought 20:43 you back into relationship with God. He did this in the body of 20:48 His flesh through death. Now this is highlighting Christ's 20:54 humanity. In the body of His flesh. And then he says, He did 20:59 this to present you holy. That just simply means to present you 21:06 separated from sin that we are set apart by the righteousness 21:11 of Christ Jesus and blameless and above reproach in his sight 21:14 if indeed you 21:16 continue in the faith. That's important. You can't just begin 21:20 and change your mind and expect to be saved. You've got to 21:24 continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away 21:28 from the hope of the gospel. Verse 27. I love verse 27: To 21:33 them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory 21:39 of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you 21:44 the hope of glory. What is God's glory? It's His character. How 21:50 do we develop His character? It's as Christ is in us. And you 21:55 know Ephesians 3:16, 17 days that it is when the Holy Spirit 22:02 is in us, as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells 22:07 in our hearts by faith. And the indwelling Spirit is our hope 22:16 and our guarantee of becoming like Him. And verse 28, he goes 22:21 on. He says: Him we preach warning every man and teaching 22:25 every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect... 22:29 that means mature and you're perfect at every stage of your 22:34 growth as you're maturing... perfect in Christ Jesus. Now 22:38 verse 29: To this end I also labor striving according to His 22:48 divine working which works in me mightily. Here's the divine/ 22:55 human combination in us. God fills us with His Spirit. 22:58 Philippians 2:13 says it is God who works in us to will and to 23:03 do His good purpose. But the balance of Christian living is 23:07 we receive the Holy Spirit. God empowers us but we must take 23:14 action. God is never going to coerce you, He's not going to do 23:17 anything to force you. He works in us to will. He lines up our 23:22 will with His will as we read the word and we understand and 23:28 we think oh yeah. But you know what. It is not till we take a 23:32 step of action that actually the Holy Spirit begins to work in us 23:38 beyond changing our thoughts. We got to step out in faith and the 23:43 power of the Holy Spirit. We'll show up. God's plan is total 23:47 dependence upon Him and Paul's saying here that God empowered 23:54 him to labor. God empowered Paul to work to the point of 23:58 exhaustion and I think that's so interesting because we know 24:03 Paul had a lot of opposition but I have to point out, this 24:07 doesn't mean that we're striving for salvation. There's no amount 24:11 of good works that we could do to earn salvation but to become 24:16 mature we have to strive against pride, against selfishness and 24:22 sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:13 says this: 24:26 If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by 24:31 the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of your body you will 24:38 live. So it is the Holy Spirit working in us but if by the 24:42 Spirit you put to death. We got to cooperate. It's that divine/ 24:46 human combination that is the answer. 24:50 Amen, praise the Lord. Thank you for that insightful lesson 24:54 Shelley. And we don't want you going anywhere because we're 24:56 going to take a short break. We'll be right back. 24:57 ♪ ♪ 25:03 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School panel again? 25:06 Or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Well you 25:10 can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 25:14 A clean design makes it easy to find the program you're looking 25:18 for. There are also links to the adult Bible study guide so you 25:23 can follow along. Sharing is easy. Just click share and 25:27 choose your favorite social media. Share a link, Save a life 25:31 for eternity. 25:33 Hello friends. Welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School panel. At 25:36 this time we're going to kick it over to Pastor James Rafferty 25:38 for Tuesday's lesson. 25:40 Thank you so much. We have the title The Disciplined Will 25:44 for Tuesday's lesson and really this is kind of an understanding 25:49 of how our feelings play into our Christian experience and how 25:52 many times get us in hot water. Our feeling kind of bring the 25:57 crucibles, bring the trials, because we go by our feelings 26:00 instead of going by the word of God. So the lesson starts out by 26:04 saying one of the greatest enemies of our wills is our own 26:08 feelings. We are increasingly living in a culture bombarded 26:12 with pictures and music that can appeal directly to our senses 26:15 triggering our emotions and anger and fear and lust without 26:22 even realizing it. You know you could watch something on YouTube 26:24 you can see a little video or this and that and the other and 26:26 all of a sudden you're feeling all these feelings and emotions 26:28 and pretty soon you're thinking a certain way and it has nothing 26:32 to do with anything. It's actually in the word of God. 26:35 We're just being bombarded. In fact in the book of Revelation 26:38 chapter 16 it talks about this in relationship to the battle of 26:41 Armageddon and how Satan is like frogs, like the frogs of Egypt. 26:45 He's everywhere. Three unclean spirits are everywhere 26:48 bombarding us and drawing us toward his side in this battle 26:54 this contest between heaven and earth. So the lesson goes on to 26:58 say now how often do we think such things as what do I feel 27:03 like eating for supper? What do I feel like eating for supper. I 27:08 don't know honey, what do you feel like eating. I don't know. 27:11 what do you feel like eating? Do you want to eat this? Ah I 27:12 don't feel like eating that. I feel like eating pizza. I don't 27:15 know. What do I feel like doing today? Do I feel good about 27:20 buying this. Feelings have thus become intimately involved in 27:26 our decision-making, right? So we're making these decisions. 27:31 A lot of times we're basing them on our feelings. Feelings are 27:32 not necessarily bad. We don't want to completely eliminate 27:35 feelings. Feelings have a place. God made us to be feeling 27:38 creatures. He made us to use our senses and our feelings. You 27:41 know every once in a while you know I don't have good feeling 27:44 about this, right? Aaa, I'm not sure about this. That could be 27:47 very helpful. So we've got to allow feelings to have a place. 27:50 So the lesson quarterly goes on to say. They're not necessarily 27:53 bad but how I feel about something may have little to do 27:56 with whether it is right or best Indeed our feelings can lie to 28:03 us. The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9: The heart is 28:06 deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, right? Who 28:10 can know it? And our feelings can create a false picture of 28:15 reality causing us to make bad choices, setting us up for a 28:19 crucible of our own making. All right. So what examples can we 28:23 find in the Bible, the quarterly goes on to say, where people 28:25 made choices based on feelings rather than on God's word and 28:29 what were the consequences? And they give three examples. And 28:31 we'll look at those three examples just slightly. The 28:34 first one is in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6, right? And this 28:37 is the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 28:40 chapter 3 and verse 6: Basically the woman and the serpent are 28:45 engaging in a conversation about the fruit of a certain tree that 28:49 God told us not to...Do not eat of that tree. In the day that 28:52 you eat of that tree you will surely what? Die. And the 28:57 serpent says you're not really going to die. Look at this fruit 28:59 It's absolutely delicious. Look at me. I'm talking and you'll be 29:03 just like God if you would just consider this in fact, just touch 29:07 it, just touch it. And so she touches it you know and she 29:10 sees it and you can imagine... Be like God. I'm not going to 29:14 surely die. All of these emotions, all of these feelings 29:16 are sourcing through her brain and the next thing you know what 29:19 does she do? She eats the fruit. I'm not going to say it was an 29:23 apple. I'm just going to say she eats the fruit, right? And the 29:26 next thing you know Adam is in with her. Why? Because he looks 29:30 at his wife, she's so beautiful, they're just together, they're 29:33 connected their one. Like I can't even imagine, I can't even 29:37 ...there's no way that I'm supposed to be without her. It 29:39 just doesn't feel right that we're separated, it doesn't feel 29:43 right. The word of God could have been trusted. God could 29:45 have done a million things for Adam at that point. He goes by 29:49 the emotions, by the feelings, and the next thing you know 29:51 they're in it together. And God comes on. God comes on the scene 29:55 God wants to investigate the situation and He comes looking 29:58 for them. He comes looking for them. Of course, what are they 30:00 doing. They're hiding. Why are they hiding? Because they feel 30:03 like they're afraid of God, they're just scared of Him. 30:06 Like oh He's going to take us out, right? God said he was 30:10 going to die in that day and He's probably going to enforce 30:12 the death decree upon us. So these feelings is where we all 30:18 started going downhill and now through the process of allowing 30:21 our feelings to overwhelm at times our will, our clear choice 30:26 based on the word of God all these feelings surge through us 30:30 and tell us that we're to do something different than what 30:33 God has actually said. 2 Samuel chapter 11 is the next reference 30:38 the quarterly gives and it's of course the incident with David 30:41 and Bathsheba. And you can imagine, David is a man after 30:44 God's own heart. He's just been a stalwart for decades. He's 30:48 been faithful to God. Oh he's had his slips here and there but 30:51 now he is alone. He's without his army, his troops are out in 30:55 the field. He goes out. Sees this woman bathing and his 31:01 feelings and his emotions, his thoughts, all of that, overwhelm 31:07 him and he does the unthinkable. He ends up in this relationship, 31:10 this illicit relationship and only so in order to cover this 31:13 up because he feels like I don't want to get caught, I don't want 31:15 to be embarrassed, he feels like oh no, what's going to happen? 31:18 All these feelings are dictating what he needs to do. And finally 31:23 he is confronted by Nathan the prophet through a story and 31:28 again God reaches his heart. And God is always seeking to reach 31:32 our hearts, to reach our wills, to reach our thought processes 31:36 that have been at times overwhelmed with these feelings. 31:39 The next example, the third one, is in Galatians chapter 2. Just 31:42 a summary here again Peter he's sitting with the you know 31:47 Gentiles he's ministering to the Gentiles, he's been given a 31:50 ministry to the Gentiles, you know, he was given a vision of 31:54 a sheet with all these different animals which was symbolic of 31:57 his ministry to the Gentiles. You know the Jews show up and 32:01 all of a sudden he does an about turn. You know he feels a little 32:03 bit like embarrassed or a little intimidated or whatever. You 32:06 know. You're out in the airport and you're traveling to St. 32:09 Louis back home and you're there and you're eating your meal and 32:12 you're sitting down to eat your meal and all these people around 32:14 you and you aren't sure if you should pray or not you know 32:17 because what are they going to think of you, right? What are 32:19 they going to think of you? So you swallow, please bless this 32:21 food and you start eating right? Peter was in a situation where 32:26 he felt a little bit embarrassed right? Ah and then he just kind 32:29 of plays the hypocrite you know. No one knows you're a Christian 32:32 Do people know you're a Christian when you travel for 32:34 the Lord? Do people know you're a Christian when you're in your 32:37 business? Do people know you're a Christian wherever you go? 32:38 Are there things that you wouldn't necessarily do in 32:41 public because you're not quite you know comfortable. Your 32:45 feelings, how are they going to think about me. This is where we 32:50 And so Paul gives Peter a little bit of rebuke, you know, kind of 32:54 straightens him out a little bit gets his back on track. You 32:56 know, Peter went through that before when he denied his Lord 32:58 right? He's at the campfire with the guys and he doesn't want to 33:01 feel like he's the odd one out and they say aren't you a 33:04 disciples. Oh no, no. He just feels. The feelings overwhelm us 33:07 at times. It's so important for us to recognize that Jesus 33:11 Christ came to defeat those feelings. And he did that in 33:13 Gethsemane specifically. He did it in many places but in Matthew 33:16 chapter 26, just referencing it now. Three times He felt like He 33:21 wanted this cup to be passed from Him. Three times. And of 33:25 course He didn't just feel like I just don't feel like, you know 33:28 He felt it like I'm being separated, blood, like sweating 33:32 blood, like pain, like agony, like pulling apart from the 33:35 One He'd been with for all eternity and He overcame those 33:39 feelings. He overcame the feelings and He made a decision 33:42 of the will. Not my will but Thy will be done. Not once, not 33:46 twice, but three times Jesus Christ prayed that prayer in our 33:50 behalf to strengthen us. The lesson ends with 1 Peter chapter 33:54 1 and verse 13, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 13. We're going to 33:58 read this verse, 1 Peter 1:13 considering everything now and 34:04 really if you looked at the first part of 1 Peter chapter 1 34:08 it would be a summary basically of a lot of what we've covered. 34:11 It's a summary of the plan of salvation, the context of 34:13 everything the prophets have written in the context of what 34:15 God is calling us to. And then he's kind of saying: Wherefore 34:19 based on all of this, everything we just talked about. Gird up 34:21 loins of your mind. This is King James verbiage...Gird up the 34:27 loins of your mind. Be sober. Hope to the end for the grace 34:31 that is brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. See 34:34 the revelation of Jesus Christ isn't just in the last book of 34:36 the Bible. The revelation of Jesus Christ is everywhere in 34:40 the Bible. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. So gird up... 34:43 that means to bind about like with a belt, right? Belts keep 34:47 our clothes up you know. Belts keep us covered. Belts keep us 34:51 protected. You know, protect the loins, the procreative power, 34:54 the mind, the deep thought and it's exercise. Protect your mind 34:59 and your thoughts, your feelings protect all of that. Be sober. 35:03 That actually means to abstain from wine. Why? Well because 35:07 alcohol impacts our ability to think deep for deep thought. It 35:12 cuts off the blood circulation to the brain. And Hope. That is 35:16 joyous expectation. Have this hope to the very end. Don't 35:19 waiver, have this hope to the very end because you are going 35:23 to see Jesus Christ, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the 35:26 disclosure of Jesus Christ not just at His second coming. You 35:30 are going to see the revelation of Jesus Christ when you gird up 35:33 when you protect your mind and your heart. When you get into 35:35 the word of God. When you connect with the Lord in prayer 35:38 when you meditate on the word of God you're going to see a 35:41 revelation of Jesus Christ and that's what God wants for each 35:44 one of us. 35:47 Amen. Which leads us now to Radical Commitment. Thank you 35:48 for the foundation. Radical Commitment. Radical. That means 35:52 beyond ordinary, out of the ordinary. Not anything that is 35:55 in harmony with your natural desire. Christians have to get 35:59 away from the feelings. (Pastor John Lomacang) We've got to get 36:02 to the spiritual. Because there's a battle between what we 36:04 want to do and what we don't want to do. I think that in one 36:08 of our lesson studies, we talked about the commitment of Christ. 36:11 Radical commitment was to say not my will but yours be done. 36:15 That's radical commitment. And it means that what you're facing 36:18 is quite out of the ordinary with what you desire to face. 36:22 But as the Bible says He didn't look at the cross. The cross is 36:25 a station along the way to the destiny. The cross was not the 36:29 destiny. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the 36:33 cross. So we got to look beyond the things that we are called to 36:36 face. These are the radical things that come into our lives 36:38 that are intended to get us to our destiny. Matthew 5 verses 36:44 29, 30 talks about the radical nature of what commitment is. 36:47 And thank you James because I like that he said leave those 36:51 feelings aside because if its sunny you don't feel the same. 36:54 If it's cold you surely don't feel the same. However, you feel 36:57 is not that the Christian life should be operating. Matthew 5 37:01 verse 29, 30: If your right eye causes you to sin pluck it out 37:05 and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one 37:10 of your members perish...not your church members...[chuckles] 37:15 just had to tuck that in there...than for your whole body 37:18 to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to 37:23 sin cut it off and cast it from you, for it is more profitable 37:26 for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body 37:32 to be cast into hell. Now by the way, you made this reference to 37:36 Jesus was specifically talking about the sensuality that the 37:39 Pharisees found themselves in. You see the doctrine of the 37:41 Nicolaitans was my spiritual life and my natural life don't 37:47 affect each other. And so they felt we can be involved in 37:50 sensuality, sexuality, immorality and my spiritual life 37:53 is not affected. The Lord was addressing that in this 37:56 particular passage. But He wasn't calling them to do their 37:59 bodies physical harm. Rather He was saying to them, if your mind 38:04 is not able to be controlled you've got to make some radical 38:08 decisions. You've got to find ways of controlling your mind 38:11 Cut off whatever is keeping your mind from being controlled. The 38:14 verse didn't say pray for God to instantly remove the sinful 38:20 tendencies from our lives. A lot of people say, Lord...now I just 38:24 want to be very candid here. Are you ready?... Lord take away my 38:28 desires. He will never do that. Because He gave you those 38:32 desires. Desire for food, for sleep, for love, for sex, for 38:37 anything that has been built into you to be in the right 38:41 category. But when those desires are not led by the right motives 38:45 and principles, this is where the distortion comes in and 38:49 that's what He's talking about here. So these radical changes 38:52 that are being called for us to participate in, radical 38:56 commitment comes in these four areas. Let's go to Hebrews 38:58 chapter 12 verse 1. And I think I just referred to this but a 39:02 radical commitment means being willing to sacrifice whatever 39:06 obstructs our goal. I just made reference to this but let me go 39:09 ahead and read it. Hebrews 12:1: Therefore...this is radical... 39:13 since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let 39:17 us...there it is...lay aside... how many weights?...Every weight 39:22 and the sin which so easily ensnares. The King James besets 39:26 us. I love that word. It besets us. It's like this brick in the 39:30 middle of our living room that we keep tripping over and we 39:33 don't want to move because our grandfather owned it. It was our 39:38 grandfather's brick. Well he's causing his grandson to trip. 39:40 Move the brick. In our lives there are traditional things 39:43 that are passed down generationally. We call those 39:45 inherited tendencies that when we don't cut them off they 39:50 become cultivated tendencies. And then here's what he says: 39:54 The sin which so easily ensnares and only then can you run with 39:57 endurance the race that is set before you. Radical commitment 40:01 also means being willing to sever anything and anyone that 40:05 hinders our spiritual growth. Somebody once sent a question 40:09 in the Bible Q and A. I'm living with a guy 18 years. He doesn't 40:13 want to get married, he doesn't want to commit his life to the 40:15 Lord. I want to go to church. What should I do, I love him. 40:18 I said take the next bus in the opposite direction. If somebody 40:22 wants to carry you to destruction and they'll give you 40:26 no evidences, don't let your feelings become the reason why 40:30 you're lost. Cut it off. Cut them off. It's better to go to 40:35 heaven without that person than to go to hell with them. (mmm) 40:40 Third thing. Being willing to sever anything and anyone 40:43 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore come out from among them and be 40:48 separate says the Lord and do not touch what is unclean and I 40:52 will receive you. We got to be willing to do that. And what you 40:54 see right here, this is not the part where we are saying Lord do 40:58 this, do that. This is the part of Christianity that you are 41:00 completely responsible for. Lot of people say well the Lord is 41:04 going to make the changes. He's going to make the changes only 41:07 as you submit your will but He's not going to pick up this glass 41:10 and move it. You got to move it. He's not say I sent you a check 41:13 and I'll go to the mailbox and bring it into the house. You got 41:16 to get up and go. He's not going to say I got a job for you so 41:18 bring the job to my house. No you got to get up and go to the 41:21 job. There are certain things that the Lord will never do. 41:25 The third thing. What does radical commitment mean? Being 41:27 determined to push past the distractions to the prize. 41:29 That's what Paul said in Philippians 3 verse12 and 14. 41:32 I do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing I do 41:38 forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward 41:41 to those things which are ahead I press toward the goal for the 41:44 prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I was just 41:49 quoting recently Usain Bolt the Jamaican runner that broke 41:54 records that are still standing and he says, there are many 41:57 people that are better starters than me but I'm a better 42:01 finisher. And he said don't focus on how you began the race 42:05 focus on how you finish it. And he said thirdly, Win from within 42:10 meaning you got to see yourself as a winner before you are 42:12 willing to wake up at 7 o'clock in the morning, do your exercises 42:17 Nine months before the Olympics his coach gave him no rest. 42:23 Before Jesus comes we cannot rest in making all the changes 42:26 necessary for our fitness when the Lord comes. Being committed 42:31 to radical change means being committed to delayed 42:34 gratification over the pleasures of sin for a season. Hebrews 11 42:40 verse 24, that's exactly what Moses did. He says, choosing 42:44 rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy 42:47 the pleasures of sin for a season. There's some people that 42:53 say oh I want to enjoy this now and they like that chauffeur who 42:57 was trying to get the job. He tried to impress the owner and 43:00 he drove as close to the cliff as he could without going over. 43:03 And he didn't get hired. And he said I mean I showed you how 43:07 close I could get to the edge. He said no, I want somebody 43:10 who's going to stay far away from the edge. I'm not putting 43:13 my life in your hands. The Lord doesn't want us to just barely 43:18 skirt sin, He wants us to cut it off so that we are not radically 43:24 destroyed by sin. Radical change prevents radical 43:28 destruction. Radical action is necessary, not because God has 43:31 made the Christian life difficult but because we and our 43:35 culture have drifted so far away from God's plans for us. The 43:40 writer said: People often wake up and wonder to themselves how 43:44 could I have gone so far away from God. The answer is always 43:48 the same, just one step at a time. So what do we do? Now 43:54 here's how radical change happens, Romans 12:1,2. 43:56 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you 44:00 present you bodies...you got to present something. Don't say 44:03 Lord, I'll give you my prayers, I'll give you my heart, I'll 44:07 give you my praise. So many people are praising God with 44:10 their hands and cursing God with their lives. This text says 44:14 don't praise Him with your hands and curse Him with your life. He 44:17 says present your body as a living sacrifice holy and 44:21 acceptable to God which is your reasonable service or as the 44:24 NIV says which is your spiritual act of worship. It's easy to say 44:27 I praise you, Lord. I'm not going to keep your commandments 44:30 I love you Lord but don't expect me to keep your Sabbath and we 44:34 are living in a day and age where there's a form of 44:37 Godliness. All these feelings, thank you, James, all this 44:41 feeling but no commitment. How does feeling overpower 44:46 commitment. Because they are conformed to the world. But the 44:49 Lord says do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by 44:52 the renewing of your mind. And that's why when people say my 44:56 body belongs to me. No, it doesn't. 1 Corinthians 6:19 44:59 No, you do not belong to yourself You are bought with a price 45:02 therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit. People 45:08 want to glorify God in the spirit but don't tell me to stop 45:12 drinking, stop alcohol, stop carousing, stop watching what I 45:15 watch, stop going where I go. I'll glorify God in my spirit. 45:18 Don't ask me to glorify God in my body. Well how can this 45:23 radical change be affected. We've got to pray the prayer of 45:26 David. Thank you for the example What did David pray when he 45:29 radically messed his life up? He said for God to change him 45:31 internally first. Create in me a clean heart Oh God and renew a 45:37 right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 Radical commitment means 45:43 asking God to give you the right mind so you can have the right 45:47 life. Amen, amen. 45:50 Amen, what a blessing it's been to be able to listen to each and 45:52 every one of you. I now have Thursday's lesson: 45:55 The Need to Persevere My name is John Dinzey and pay 45:59 close attention. We're going to move fast. In Genesis chapter 31 46:03 verse 11 Jacob reveals that the Angel of God spoke unto him in 46:08 a dream and said: Get everything ready and go back to your 46:16 family's where they live. The land of your kindred it says in 46:19 Genesis 31:13. Now we move to Genesis chapter 32 beginning in 46:24 verse 1 So as he begins to set out Genesis chapter 32 verse 1 46:29 says: Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. So 46:34 this is already a sign from the Lord, Hey I'm going to be with 46:38 you all the way. Trust me. Verse 2: When Jacob saw them, he 46:44 said This is God's camp and he called the name of that place 46:46 Mahanaim. So now Jacob, from verse 3 to 6, he sets out a plan 46:54 to send a message to Esau that I am coming. And notice what he 46:59 says: Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother 47:02 in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, and he then commanded 47:06 saying, Speak thus to my Lord Esau. Thus your servant Jacob 47:11 says, I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. 47:14 Notice the words that he sends to him letting him know I'm 47:19 coming but I'm not coming to take over. Jacob your servant. 47:22 He's putting himself in a submissive position and letting 47:25 Esau know, Hey I am coming, I'm not coming to take over. He's 47:30 trying to send him a message that I'm not coming to take over 47:33 You're in charge. I am your servant. And so this is what he 47:37 said: Now he says in verse 5, I have oxen, donkeys, flocks and 47:42 male and female servants and I have sent to tell my Lord that 47:45 I may find favor in your sight. Notice what happens in verse 47:50 Then the messengers returned to Jacob saying, We came to your 47:54 brother Esau and he is also coming to meet you and 400! men 48:02 are with him. So what kind of message is this? Esau is coming 48:07 with soldiers. He's coming with men and so the message was clear 48:13 to Jacob. In verse 7 it says, So Jacob was greatly afraid and 48:18 distressed. And he divided the people that were with him and 48:20 the flocks and herds and camels in two companies. And he's 48:26 distressed. He's in fear. Now this is something to consider. 48:30 Remember that Jacob deceived Esau and he had to leave his 48:36 father's house, his family's house, running for his life. 48:39 Now he's heading back there. So the sin that he did deceiving 48:45 his brother, now he's understanding it does not only 48:51 affect you. Now your whole family could be affected by your 48:54 sin. You have to take serious consideration when temptation is 48:58 coming, hey this could be very serious damage to me and other 49:02 people. So trust in the Lord, do good and you will be blessed. 49:06 Instead of doing the deceptions and sins that could carry not 49:10 only you but those you love and put them in serious danger. 49:15 So let's go now to verse 8. And he said if Esau comes to the 49:22 one company...he divides the two...If Esau comes to one 49:25 company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will 49:28 escape. So he divides the group into two and he sets before them 49:34 sheep and oxen and cattle and every time as Esau was coming 49:38 These are from your servant Jacob, they are for you. So he's 49:43 trying to soften him and prepare him so that when he meets Jacob 49:49 by now he's delighted. Hey thank you for all the gifts and this 49:54 is great. You know, you're not coming to take over. 49:57 I understand. So this is the message he's trying to bring. 49:59 But he is still afraid. He is still afraid. So Jacob goes to 50:04 the Lord in prayer, Genesis 32: 11. Deliver me, I pray, from the 50:09 hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau. For I fear him. 50:12 lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. So 50:16 he's understanding his sin is serious. Look, it could have 50:20 serious repercussion years later years later. And he said, for 50:25 you said...he's now talking to the Lord bringing to Him the 50:27 promise that He made...for you said I will surely treat you 50:30 well and make your descendants as the sand of the sea which 50:33 cannot be numbered for a multitude And this is a message for us. We 50:37 can come to the Lord and present His promises and say Lord you 50:41 promised this. I have been faithful. Please bless me. 50:45 Please take care of me and yes the promises are there for us to 50:50 claim by faith trusting in the Lord. And now he sets his 50:55 strategy to protect his family. As I mentioned, he divided them 50:58 in two and each one with a message as Esau would come, but 51:02 we need to move quickly now to John chapter 18 and I'm going to 51:08 point to you verses 4 through 6. For this reason, you see the 51:14 lesson brings out that Jacob gets involved in a wrestling 51:20 match and the lesson brings out that this wrestling match was 51:23 with Jesus Christ. I want to point this out because it 51:28 appears that they were wrestling for a long time and Jacob 51:32 appeared to be so strong that Jesus could not overcome him. 51:36 But you see look at John chapter 18 verses 4-6: Jesus therefore 51:45 knowing all things that would come upon Him went forward and 51:47 said to them, Whom are you seeking? This is when He was in 51:50 Gethsemane. He was praying and they were coming to take Him and 51:53 arrest Him and crucify Him. They answered, Jesus of Nazareth. 51:56 Jesus said to them, I am He. And Judas who betrayed Him also 52:01 stood with Him. Now when He said to them, I am He,...what 52:04 happened?...They drew back and fell to the ground. So we're 52:07 talking about Jesus. All He did was talk and people fell to the 52:11 ground. Now this idea that He's wrestling with Jacob and He 52:13 couldn't get loose is because Jesus adapted Himself to Jacob 52:19 to prepare him to understand who he's wrestling with and that he 52:25 needs to appeal for a blessing. Now I remember when our sons 52:31 Samuel and Caleb...Samuel was about 5, Caleb was about 8 years 52:36 old and we were having a soccer match. I couldn't play my heart 52:40 out and run as fast as I could. They were just young guys But I 52:45 had to adapt the game so they could have fun and enjoy 52:48 themselves and when I saw them trying hard to make a goal, hey, 52:52 I would let them make a goal. And you should see the joy in 52:55 their faces, oh we made a goal, we made a goal! So I had to make 53:02 it challenging for them. So Jesus adapted Himself in this 53:06 wrestling match so that Jacob could understand his place. Now 53:13 remember previous in these verses he said I am not worthy 53:16 of the least of Thy blessings. He's coming along the way to 53:21 understand that God blesses those who have faith in Him. 53:24 And Jacob was now humble and he says I am not worthy of the 53:29 least of these blessings. Let's go quickly now to Genesis 32 53:32 beginning in verse 22: And he arose that night and took two of 53:36 his wives and his female servants and his 11 sons and 53:40 crossed over the ford, a shallow part of the body of water, that 53:45 they may be crossed over. So he separated himself from the 53:47 family, then it says, verse 24, Then Jacob was left alone and a 53:51 man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. This is Jesus 53:57 Christ. Jesus adapted Himself to him. And in verse 25 it says: 54:01 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched 54:04 the socket of his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of 54:08 joint as he wrestled with Him. Now this is something powerful 54:13 to consider because here they are wrestling and wrestling and 54:16 it appears that it was a long time and so Jacob now needs to 54:20 understand hey, you're not wrestling just with anybody. 54:25 So He touched the socket of his hip to let him know, in reality 54:28 reality he's wrestling with Jesus. Jesus could just touch an 54:33 arm and it would go limp, touch another, go limp, and basically 54:37 Jacob could do nothing. But He took him along the way to help 54:41 him. Now when Jacob realizes his hip was out of joint he now was 54:47 holding on. Wait a minute. I've got somebody here than can bless 54:51 me. He said let me go for the day breaks. But he said I will 54:54 not let you go unless you bless me. Now there's something about 54:58 this appeal that I need to take you to Hosea really quickly. In 55:03 Hosea chapter 12 verses 2-4 it reveals the way that Jacob 55:08 appealed. I only have time to read verse 4. It says: Yea He 55:12 had power over the Angel and prevailed. Notice. He wept and 55:16 made supplication unto him when he found Him in Bethel and there 55:22 he spake with us. So here he was pleading, he was begging 55:27 please bless me. It wasn't a you're going to bless me or else 55:29 No, it was a pleading and he was weeping for a blessing. And so 55:35 says in verse 27: So he said to him what is your name. He said 55:40 Jacob...He knew the name...and He said your name shall no 55:43 longer be called Jacob but Israel for you have struggled 55:48 with God and with men and have prevailed. He persevered and God 55:52 blessed him. We need to persevere with the Lord. We need to pray 55:56 and persevere and we will receive blessing that we are not 56:00 receiving because we are not persevering. 56:02 Amen, praise the Lord! This has been a powerful lesson. I 56:06 enjoyed it and such a blessing. Let's get some final thoughts as 56:09 we prepare to close. 56:11 My day was the Diving/Human Combination and here's the 56:15 bottom line. Jesus said apart from me, you can do nothing. 56:18 We have to go to the Lord, be filled with the Holy Spirit. He 56:22 will empower us but He won't force us. We have to take action 56:26 Amen. My lesson was the Disciplined Will and the will is 56:30 the action of choice. And many times we let our feelings 56:33 overwhelm us when we make choices. I always tell my wife 56:36 Don't go by feelings. That doesn't mean feelings shouldn't 56:38 have a place but let our feelings be guided and directed 56:40 by the word of God. 56:42 All right thank you. And mine was called the Radical 56:46 Commitment. Now for me as a pastor I'm going to appeal to 56:49 clergy also because this is a very powerful radical 56:52 commitment that the apostle Paul talked about. He said 56:56 1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and bring it 56:59 into subjection lest when I have preached to others I myself 57:02 should become...and I use the King James Version...a castaway. 57:06 We don't want to be a castaway and lead others to Christ. 57:10 Manuscript 161, 1904, this message. It says: And when we 57:18 seek with such an intensity for the blessing of God as Jacob 57:20 we shall receive it. 57:22 Amen. Thank you guys so much. It's been such a blessing. My 57:28 friends, I know you've been blessed and I know that each and 57:30 every one of us is continuing to learn as we grow and we gain and 57:34 equip ourselves with the knowledge to be able to 57:35 understand how to persevere through these crucibles. I just 57:38 want to leave you with John chapter 15 and verse 5: It says 57:42 I am the true Vine Jesus says. You are the branches. He who 57:44 abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for with me you can 57:50 do nothing. We just need to abide and trust in Jesus Christ 57:54 and He will give us the strength and the power to persevere 57:57 through. My friends, we want you to join us next week. We know 58:00 you're going to be back here. Lesson number 7's coming up. 58:03 We're going to be discussing and studying Indestructible Hope. 58:07 God bless. ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2022-11-15