Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW200036S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Family Worship. 01:14 Happy Sabbath. 01:16 Amen, amen. 01:17 It's been a busy week. 01:19 It's been a real busy week. 01:20 And, you know, I don't want to delay. 01:23 Let's just go ahead 01:25 and introduce the rest of the family 01:26 that's here with us. 01:28 Okay, we got him, the man without any hair. 01:32 Did this on purpose. 01:33 I know you did. 01:34 My good friend, Eric Durant. 01:36 It's good to be here. 01:37 Eric, what do you do here in 25 words or less. 01:39 I am one of the engineers 01:41 that make sure that 3ABN stays on the air 01:43 and that all the equipment continues to operate. 01:46 Amen. We praise God for it. 01:48 I know you're a busy man. 01:50 Very busy. Busy man. 01:51 But I'm blessed also. Amen. 01:53 Yes, you are. 01:54 And Ryan Day, Pastor Ryan Day, 01:57 one of my favorite people also, 01:59 we get to office fairly close to each other. 02:01 But I run down to your office all the time, 02:03 because you're the man with the answer. 02:04 Well, I don't know about that. 02:06 But many times you're the man with the answer. 02:08 So I'm in your office probably just as much as you are mine. 02:12 Anyway, this is going to be a wonderful program. 02:14 So glad that you're with us. Amen. 02:16 And we're so glad that you at home 02:19 are taking the time out or if you're in your car, 02:21 just listening. 02:22 We're so glad that you're joining us. 02:23 I'm Shelley Quinn. I'm JD Quinn. 02:25 And it is a blessing to spend these Sabbath hours together. 02:30 You know, one thing that I have learned is that 02:35 the Sabbath is my reminder 02:39 that God is not only my Creator, 02:41 but He's the one that's recreating me 02:44 in the image of Jesus. 02:45 He is the one who is sanctifying me. 02:49 And from week to week, 02:50 it's amazing 02:51 how you can get into a performer type Christianity 02:54 where you're trying to do more. 02:56 But the Sabbath always reminds me 02:58 I can take a deep breath 03:00 and say, Lord, I thank You 03:01 that You are the source of our salvation. 03:04 We can never save ourselves. 03:07 And I know that all three, 03:09 the three of y'all are all workers. 03:11 You're very, very productive. 03:12 All three of you are extremely productive people. 03:14 Not that you're not, thank goodness. 03:16 No, y'all are productive. 03:18 I work on being productive. 03:21 But anyway, so Sabbath does mean a whole lot 03:23 because it does whenever though that sun goes down. 03:26 Now that is a special time 03:28 that we can get the necessary rest 03:29 that we need. 03:31 But more than the rest is just to focus on Him. 03:33 Amen. Amen. 03:35 Let's kick this off. 03:36 Ryan, why don't you have an opening prayer? 03:39 Absolutely. Let's do that. 03:40 Our Father in heaven, Lord, 03:42 we're just so blessed right now on the Sabbath, 03:44 Lord, it's Your Sabbath, Your day, 03:47 the time that we get to come together 03:49 and commune with You, 03:50 visit with You, spend time with You. 03:52 And, Lord, to spend time with each other as family, 03:55 as brothers and sisters in Christ. 03:57 And right now as we prepare to open Your Word, Lord, 04:00 give us the Holy Spirit 04:02 to be able to rightly divide Your word of truth, 04:04 to be able to understand it, to comprehend it. 04:07 And, Lord, more than anything draw us to You. 04:10 Help these words speak to our hearts. 04:12 Help us, help it to draw us to Jesus Christ. 04:15 That's our prayer. 04:16 And we ask it in confidence 04:17 and in the name of Jesus Christ. 04:19 Amen. 04:20 Thank you so much, Ryan. 04:22 This is such a special time of the year, 04:25 a time when people pause 04:28 and consider the birth of Jesus Christ. 04:33 And I thought we would start off tonight 04:36 with one of the most famous passages of Isaiah. 04:40 I'm sure you've heard it many times 04:42 and we could spend forever on it. 04:44 But let's look at Isaiah 9 and we'll begin with verse 6. 04:49 Isaiah has so much to say about the coming Messiah. 04:54 But this is the first place he's mentioning in it 04:56 and he says, Isaiah 9:6, 04:59 "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, 05:06 and the government will be upon His shoulder. 05:10 And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 05:15 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, 05:20 Prince of Peace." 05:22 Now, that is something, 05:25 he said, he goes on, let's go on in verse 7, 05:29 "Of the increase of His government and peace 05:32 there will be no end, 05:34 upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, 05:37 to order it and establish it with judgment and justice 05:42 from that time forward, even forever. 05:46 The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." 05:49 How we praise God, that this child was born. 05:54 And this child actually was our God, 05:57 who came to become a person, 06:01 the Son of Man, and the Son of God. 06:04 It's so amazing to me. 06:06 But what we want to focus on tonight, 06:11 is Jesus, the Prince of Peace. 06:16 And actually, tonight's program is called pursuing peace. 06:21 So let's define peace. 06:24 What is peace? 06:27 Well, it's a personal sense of well-being. 06:30 Okay. 06:31 A wholeness, a harmony and a security 06:34 through a proper relationship with God and fellow man 06:36 from a Christian perspective. 06:38 And, of course, then there is, 06:40 the term that may also refer to, 06:42 as you know, restful or harmonious state of affairs 06:45 among people or things, 06:46 or within a particular environment, 06:48 as the note brings out here, 06:49 which I thought 06:51 properly kind of encompasses a full definition of peace. 06:54 But, of course, from a biblical perspective, 06:57 peace cannot exist 06:59 as we're going to find out without Christ. 07:03 There is only true genuine peace 07:05 found in Jesus. 07:06 Absolutely. 07:08 Tonight, what we'd like to do is give you five points, 07:11 if you've got, 07:13 I'll help you around the table with your Bibles and your pens. 07:16 What we want to do is look at why Jesus came, 07:21 and that was to achieve for us, peace with God, 07:25 and like you said, with, 07:26 that's the foundation for all peace. 07:29 Because if we don't have peace with God, 07:32 there's not going to be any peace in our life. 07:35 We will look at God as the source of peace, 07:40 try to understand what is the peace of God. 07:46 And then we're going to take a chunk of time 07:48 to talk about pursuing peace with our fellow man. 07:54 And finally, we'll end up just with this disclaimer, 07:58 that there will be no true peace on earth 08:02 until God recreates the earth. 08:05 So why don't, Eric, why don't you start off? 08:07 Let's talk about... 08:09 Well, first, let me just say this, 08:12 when God created the earth, 08:15 it was a place of perfect peace. 08:19 How was that peace lost? 08:21 Peace was lost through a lack of faith, 08:27 a lack of obedience. 08:31 It's a problem that I think 08:32 a lot of us run into where the devil raises doubt. 08:36 And he raised doubt in the minds of Eve. 08:40 And by raising that doubt, she began to question things, 08:43 and she lost her faith. 08:45 And instead of following what God said, 08:47 she started to think of the alternatives. 08:51 And the devil played into that. 08:52 And I think we all fall into that trap 08:54 sometimes when Satan, 08:57 and as a result we ended up losing paradise. 09:00 And when you think about it, 09:01 here Adam and Eve had that perfect peace. 09:04 They walked with God in the cool of the garden, 09:06 and all of a sudden, 09:08 do we know they lost their peace? 09:09 Yeah, they're hiding behind the bushes now. 09:14 But it wasn't just losing peace with God. 09:17 What happened when God asked the question, 09:21 "Who told that you were naked? What's happened here?" 09:25 Adam turned on Eve, didn't he? 09:27 It's hurtful. 09:28 So when we lose peace with God, we lose peace with one another. 09:33 Exactly. 09:35 Suddenly... We start grabbing for things. 09:36 We start grabbing for things. 09:38 So why did Jesus come? 09:42 Eric, why don't you read Colossians 1:19- 20, 09:46 and we will see 09:47 how he came to achieve for us peace with God. 09:52 Colossians 1:19-20, 09:56 "For it pleased the Father that in Him 09:59 all the fullness should dwell, 10:01 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, 10:05 by Him, 10:06 whether things on earth or things in heaven, 10:10 having made peace 10:11 through the blood of His cross." 10:13 Let's just talk about that for a second. 10:15 We can't go beyond that. 10:18 How did God in the person of Jesus Christ 10:21 make peace through His blood? 10:25 Ryan? 10:26 Well, it was through the cross. 10:28 And, of course, we know that right there 10:30 in front of the Garden of Eden when men fell, 10:32 and that peace was lost, 10:34 the declaration was made that there would be a coming seed, 10:37 that Christ would come, He would be the substitute. 10:41 In other words, 10:42 instead of man's blood being shed, 10:43 it would be the blood of Christ Himself. 10:46 And so what this, what this is essentially saying 10:49 is that it was through the blood of the cross 10:53 that peace was made 10:54 and that can only come through God, 10:56 that can only come, in this case, 10:58 through the bloodshed of the Son of God Himself. 11:00 So, so it's more than, 11:02 you know, sometimes we think about 11:04 how wonderful it is to receive forgiveness, 11:07 1 John 1:9, that, 11:09 that when we confess our sins, 11:11 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 11:14 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. 11:16 But it's more than enjoying, just cleansing. 11:22 It is a reconciling with God. 11:24 Sin is a barrier between us and God. 11:27 But Jesus came to break down those barriers, 11:31 and to bring us into proper relationship. 11:35 And I like this word here. 11:36 And it took me a while 11:38 to really understand it in the fullness. 11:40 In other words, totality, so this, this, 11:43 this would be a done deal, 11:47 the way that the ingeniousness of the plan that he had. 11:50 Amen. 11:51 I just, I just can't, every once in a while, 11:54 I'll just kind of float out here, 11:56 you know, and think about this. 11:57 It keeps coming down, you deduce, deduce, deduce. 12:00 Then there's the fullness of God, 12:02 the perfect plan that He made, so that we have hope. 12:06 Amen. Amen. 12:07 Honey, you want to read in Romans? 12:09 Romans. 12:11 Romans 5:1, 12:13 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, 12:16 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 12:21 Go ahead. 12:22 And in Romans 5:10, just down a few script texts, 12:26 "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God 12:30 through the death of His Son, 12:32 much more, having been reconciled, 12:35 we shall be saved by His life." 12:38 All right. 12:40 So what does it mean to be justified by faith? 12:44 Where you're justified by your trust, 12:48 because ultimately, that's what faith is. 12:50 What is justification? 12:51 So justification is the pardoning, 12:53 it's basically the pardoning of God saying, 12:56 you know what, my blood is now being placed upon yours, 12:59 you are justified by the sacrifice of Christ. 13:02 And so now you are made righteous, 13:04 that's essentially what's happening. 13:05 But you're not made righteous because of your righteousness. 13:08 You're made righteous because of the righteous act, 13:10 the righteous deed, and the righteous sacrifice, 13:13 the bloodshed of Jesus Christ. 13:14 So you're justified, in other words, 13:16 made righteous because of your faith, 13:20 your trust in Jesus Christ, 13:22 who is ultimately your righteousness. 13:23 So this idea of justification is like coming before a judge, 13:27 and you are guilty. 13:29 That's right. Are we guilty? 13:31 We all are, aren't we? Most certainly. 13:32 But to be justified means to be pardoned to be to Him, 13:37 He basically has said, clamp down and he says, 13:41 okay, you are no longer guilty of your sins. 13:46 And like you said, 13:47 " Man couldn't do that for himself." 13:49 It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ, 13:52 only through His substitutionary sacrifice 13:56 because once you've sinned, what is the penalty for sins? 14:01 Death. 14:03 So there's no way 14:04 we could have done this for ourself. 14:06 Ryan, why don't you read Colossians 1:21? 14:10 Yeah, absolutely. So Colossians 1:21-23. 14:13 And I'm reading from the New King James Version, 14:15 it says, 14:16 "And you, who once were alienated 14:18 and enemies in your mind by wicked works, 14:21 yet now He has reconciled 14:25 in the body of His flesh through death, 14:27 to present you holy, and blameless," 14:30 there's that justification aspect, 14:32 "and above reproach in His sight, 14:35 if indeed you continue in the faith, 14:37 grounded and steadfast, 14:39 and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel 14:42 which you heard, 14:44 which was preached to every creature under heaven, 14:48 of which I, Paul, became a minister." 14:52 And so, I love this text because 14:54 and I just want to reference 14:56 the two previous texts we just mentioned, 14:58 Colossians 1:19-20, 15:00 which brother Eric read, 15:01 of course, JD read Romans 5:1-10 there. 15:05 And I just read Colossians 1:21-23. 15:08 There's a word that appears in each one of these verses. 15:11 That to me is the central, 15:14 the central foundational concept of why Jesus came, 15:18 why the Father sent His Son. 15:20 Because and I'm just reminded, 15:22 as I was reading through these texts, 15:23 another text came to mind. 15:25 Isaiah 53:6. 15:27 All we like sheep, 15:30 starting with Adam and Eve, all the way down. 15:32 "All we like sheep have gone astray, 15:35 we have all went our own way." 15:38 Okay. 15:40 And so since we have become lost, 15:42 like little lost sheep, 15:43 the father says, you know what? 15:45 I'm going to consent if you go down there, 15:49 and you reconcile, 15:51 that's the word that we find in each one of these passages 15:53 that we just read, each one of these texts. 15:55 God, Jesus came to reconcile, what does that mean? 15:58 Well, I remember when I was a kid, 16:01 me and my brother sometime would argue, 16:03 we would fight. 16:04 And sometimes that argument, that fight would pull us 16:07 kind of push us a far apart from each other. 16:09 But mom and daddy would always come back in there 16:11 and make us hug and kiss and, 16:14 you know, say our sorries 16:15 and they would always make sure that we are reconciled, 16:17 that is brought back together. 16:18 All we like sheep have gone astray, 16:21 we've went our own way. 16:22 Jesus has come to reconcile us, to bring us back into the fold, 16:26 to point us and set us back in His way of righteousness. 16:30 Amen. 16:31 You know, what I think of 16:32 when I think of reconcile is 16:34 you reconcile your bank account. 16:35 Okay. 16:36 So we had a bank account, 16:39 and we owed a debt that we could not pay. 16:43 So what happens? 16:46 Christ deposits His righteousness, 16:50 imputes His righteousness into our account, 16:55 and helps us reconcile this account 16:59 so that we're no longer in the negative, 17:01 now we can have peace and God demonstrated His love, 17:06 in that while we were still sinners. 17:09 Romans 5:8 said, He sent Him to die for us. 17:13 Hallelujah. 17:14 We just need to go and make a withdrawal. 17:16 Amen. 17:18 Many of us, it's there, 17:19 but we haven't made a withdrawal yet. 17:22 Grace writes the check, faith takes to the bank. 17:25 Okay. 17:26 One of the things that we didn't mention yet, 17:28 and I don't know if we're going to mention it 17:29 is this also brings about humility. 17:32 Oh, absolutely. 17:33 When I think about anyone going to the cross, 17:38 let alone Christ, God, going to the cross for me. 17:43 How can you not help to be humbled by that? 17:45 And that humbleness for me, 17:47 it brings me a certain degree of peace 17:49 that no matter what happens in this world, 17:51 trials and tribulations, 17:53 I have a God that was willing to go 17:55 suffer and die for me. 17:57 And that brings me a lot of comfort. 17:59 And He always has His arms wide open. 18:01 Yes, yes. Yes. 18:03 Amen. Welcome. 18:05 We wish we had time to go into your prodigal son. 18:08 So don't worry, but we'll hold that. 18:10 I wanted to point out one thing in Colossians 1:23. 18:14 What does that begin with? 18:17 "He says that we've been reconciled, 18:20 He will present His holy blameless 18:22 and above reproach in His sight." 18:25 It's conditional, if. 18:26 If, that's the two, 18:28 the biggest two letter word in the whole world. 18:32 If, indeed, we continue in the faith. 18:37 That is, I would say that that is covenant language. 18:43 Absolutely. 18:45 Because that's agreement, 18:46 there's an agreement there, right? 18:47 There's a conditional sense there 18:49 that if we partake in that, 18:51 then we have that bank account 18:53 that those funds to withdraw or to tap into, right? 18:56 It's a beautiful thing. Amen. 18:58 Okay, so point number two. 19:00 JD, why don't you start us off on that, 19:02 this is our source of peace. 19:05 And peace comes from God. 19:08 Yes. 19:10 And this is from Paul. 19:11 And I think that most of his, most each one of the... 19:17 Epistles. 19:18 Epistles, yes, 19:20 as they start off, he says grace to You, 19:22 but I love this grace to You. 19:24 In other words, divine favor to you, 19:27 grace to You and peace from God. 19:29 Thank you, Jesus, 19:30 our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 19:32 So where's the grace and peace coming from? 19:35 God. 19:37 God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 19:38 Go ahead and read Isaiah 26:3 because... 19:40 Yes. 19:42 So let us remember our source of peace 19:44 is coming from God. 19:46 Then Isaiah 26:3, this is one of my perfect, 19:48 this is one of my favorite. 19:50 "You will keep him in perfect peace, 19:53 whose mind is stayed on you," 19:55 and why? 19:56 "Because He trust in you." 19:59 Oh, I don't know if there's anything 20:01 better than perfect peace. 20:03 Total, just being totally in harmony with each other, 20:07 walking side by side, 20:08 understanding each other, you know. 20:10 And this is what God does when you know, I remember, 20:13 I used to use this as an affirmation. 20:16 Oh, thank you, Lord, 20:17 that You keep me in perfect peace. 20:19 Thank You that You cause me to trust in You. 20:22 And then one day, something happened. 20:25 That boy, I'll tell you 20:26 just an hour after I'd done that, 20:28 I lost my peace. 20:29 And it was bad. 20:31 And I run around wringing my hands, 20:33 and it's like, oh, no, what are we going to do? 20:35 And suddenly the Lord, you know, this scripture says, 20:38 He'll keep us in perfect peace, 20:41 if we keep our mind focused on the author 20:44 and finisher of our faith. 20:47 And all of a sudden, what I heard, not audible, 20:50 but what I heard was, where are your eyes? 20:53 Focus on me or on your problem. 20:56 And so, when I return my focus to Him, 20:59 that trust built back up and peace was restored. 21:03 Eric, how about John 14:27? 21:06 John 14:27, 21:08 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, 21:11 not as the world gives do I give to you. 21:16 Not as the world gives do I give to you. 21:19 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 21:23 I love this because there's so much fear right now. 21:27 And when He says, 21:29 "Let not your heart be troubled, 21:33 neither let it be afraid." 21:35 That tells me that He has my back, 21:39 that He's going to protect me 21:41 that no matter what comes my way, 21:44 it's going to be okay. I just have to remain faithful. 21:47 And I have to persevere through the trials. 21:51 And everything will be fine. 21:54 We just know that 21:55 He's in the midst of the trial with us. 21:57 He's always in the midst of the trials with us. 21:59 And this brings me a lot of comfort. 22:02 I think that these, 22:03 both of these, Isaiah 26:3, John 14:27. 22:07 If you have a three by five card, 22:09 I put both of those on there, put it in your purse, 22:11 put it in your wallet, 22:13 because daily, you will find someone 22:16 that's out of whack somewhere the other. 22:19 Their peace is disturbed. 22:21 And this is a wonderful opportunity. 22:24 May I share something with you? 22:26 You know, the Bible tells us 22:28 that we don't have to be troubled. 22:31 We don't have to be afraid. 22:33 There is perfect peace out there, 22:36 if you will keep your eyes focused on Jesus. 22:38 That's right. It's Satan. 22:39 He wants to steal our peace, he wants us to be afraid. 22:42 He wants us because he knows, the more afraid he makes us, 22:46 the more he separates us from God in our hearts. 22:49 So when he says, 22:51 "Don't be afraid, " 22:52 he's saying stay connected to God, 22:53 keep your eyes on Him. 22:55 I always think about Peter, 22:56 was it Peter who was walking on the water. 22:58 And he took his eyes off of Christ, 23:00 and he immediately sank. 23:02 And we don't want to take our eyes off of Him, 23:06 we don't want to sink. Amen. 23:07 So we see in these scriptures that the Father and the Son 23:11 are our source of peace. 23:13 What about the Holy Spirit? 23:16 Ryan, you want to read Galatians? 23:19 Oh, I was hoping you would go there. 23:20 And that's exactly where I'm going to go. 23:22 Okay, good. 23:23 So I'm going to read Galatians 23:24 and I'm going to reference another text 23:26 that goes along with it. 23:27 So Galatians 5:22-23 here says, 23:29 "But the fruit of the Spirit..." 23:31 Excuse me, the fruit of the Spirit 23:33 is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, 23:36 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 23:38 self-control, against such there is no law." 23:42 So, of course, one of those is peace. 23:43 Okay, now, press the pause button 23:45 on that scripture for just a moment. 23:47 I want to, I want to highlight the fact that, 23:49 of course, we just read here, 23:50 that the fruit of the Spirit 23:52 so when Christ left, 23:54 He said, I'm going to send you another comforter, 23:57 another paracletus in the Greek, 23:59 not to get too theological. 24:01 But simply, Christ knew that when He would leave, 24:04 He would not leave us comfortless. 24:06 So now, through the Holy Spirit, 24:08 Christ bestows that peace upon us 24:09 through the work of the Holy Spirit. 24:11 Now, as I was reading this text, 24:13 and when we were studying for this, 24:16 a few texts came to mind. 24:17 First of all, 24:20 when Jesus was resurrected in John 20, 24:23 it's powerful when you read verse 19 of John 20. 24:25 It says, 24:27 "Then the same day at evening 24:28 being the first day of the week, 24:30 when the doors were shut, 24:32 or the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews." 24:35 Was there peace to start? 24:36 Oh, absolutely. 24:38 Were they worried, were they in a state of peace? 24:39 No, they weren't. 24:41 Their whole world had been turned upside down 24:43 because Jesus had died. 24:44 And, of course, now He appears unto them. 24:47 And it's interesting that He says, not once, not twice, 24:51 but three times in this same short passage here. 24:54 "Peace be with you." 24:56 That's verse 19. 24:58 And He says it again in verse 21. 25:00 "Peace to you." 25:02 And then He repeats it again in verse 26, 25:04 "Peace to you." 25:06 Peace to you, peace be with you, 25:07 peace to you. 25:08 And it says there that because He sense that fear, 25:11 He sense their discomfort, 25:13 He sense that they were on edge, 25:14 they were in a state of anxiety, 25:17 what He accompanied with that peace be with you, 25:20 it says that He breathed upon them, 25:22 and He said, receive you the Holy Spirit. 25:26 This is the same God, 25:27 we're talking about the source of peace. 25:30 God is the source of peace. Christ is the source of peace. 25:34 The Holy Spirit is the source of peace. 25:36 And so we have to understand here 25:38 and I think of that famous passage, 25:40 you know, the same God that can speak to the winds 25:43 and the waves and say what? 25:45 Peace be still. 25:47 It's the same God 25:48 that can speak peace into your life. 25:51 And so I'm thinking, you know, as a sort of said, source, 25:53 I'm thinking of an illustration for this. 25:55 And I thought of one that really, 25:56 to me really fits here. 25:57 I remember, back years ago, when I was living as a heathen, 26:01 I was a full time DJ, 26:04 and I traveled around with my equipment. 26:06 And I would take this equipment round to different places. 26:08 And I would set it all up. 26:10 And, of course, the one thing that you had to have 26:12 for all of that to function 26:13 is a powerful electrical source. 26:16 And so I always would do, 26:18 I would set up all of my equipment in places 26:19 just where it needed to be, connect all the wires, 26:21 put everything together and then you come to that point 26:23 where you press that power switch. 26:26 And nine times out of 10 always comes on. 26:29 But there's one day, I press the power button, 26:32 nothing and I remembered I plugged it up in the wall. 26:35 So I knew that's, that's not, 26:36 it's got to be something else I spent. 26:37 I know, 26:39 I was in such a state of anxiety 26:40 because I was at an event 26:41 where I was getting paid big money to do this event. 26:43 And I'm walking around 26:44 trying to figure out what's going on. 26:46 All the while, what I realized 26:47 after searching and pulling wires 26:49 and checking everything, 26:50 I walked back over to that source to that wall. 26:53 And where I had plugged that in, 26:55 it was a weak outlet. 26:57 And the holes were bored out and the cord had fallen out. 27:00 Oh, no. 27:01 Without that cord, connected to that source, 27:05 it wasn't going to function properly. 27:07 Christ is our source. 27:09 And we have people today that you know work, 27:10 sometimes we have people 27:12 that are looking for substitutes 27:13 for momentary peace. 27:15 You know, they don't necessarily want Jesus, 27:16 they don't want God. 27:18 They don't want religion. 27:19 But they'll do little things, maybe read a book or maybe, 27:21 maybe I don't know, take a bubble bath 27:23 or whatever that they think 27:24 just brings them that momentary, you know... 27:27 Calgon moment. Right. 27:29 But you know, we have to understand 27:31 from a Christian perspective, from a biblical perspective, 27:33 Christ is the ultimate source of genuine, long term peace. 27:39 Because He is the Prince of Peace. 27:42 And it is, it's totally unnatural. 27:45 If you've not experienced it, we can explain it to you. 27:50 It is, He's not just the source. 27:53 It is His peace that He's giving to us. 27:56 It is the peace of God. 27:58 Why don't you read, Eric, in John 16:33? 28:02 John 16:33, 28:07 "These things I have spoken to you, 28:09 that in Me you may have peace. 28:12 In the world you will have tribulations, 28:15 but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 28:19 One of the interesting things about what you said, Ryan, 28:23 is that in the repair world as an engineer, 28:29 99% of the time 28:32 the problem is the power supply. 28:36 That's the first thing that you're taught to look at 28:38 when there's problems. 28:39 Number one, do you have power? 28:42 Number two, is it clean power, 28:44 you can actually have dirty power, 28:46 which will interfere with the circuits 28:47 and things like that. 28:49 So the power supply is very, very important. 28:51 Well, you could preach that. 28:53 I'll leave that to Ryan. That's a good point. 28:57 When you suffer tribulations, make sure you have clean power. 29:01 Oh, I like that. 29:03 And everything's going to be okay. 29:04 Amen. 29:05 But we find that power, what does he say? 29:07 In Me. 29:10 It is only as if we are believing in Jesus, 29:15 we have to be living in Jesus, connected to the vine. 29:21 And JD, I know you love Philippians 4. 29:23 Why don't you read Philippians 4:4? 29:27 "Rejoice in the Lord always. 29:29 Again I say, rejoice! 29:32 Let your gentleness be known to all men. 29:35 The Lord is at hand." 29:37 And I love verse 6. 29:39 "Be anxious for nothing..." 29:42 Put your name in there. 29:43 "Be anxious for nothing 29:44 but in everything by prayer and supplication, 29:46 with thanksgiving, 29:48 let your requests be made known to God, 29:51 and then the peace of God, 29:54 which surpasses all understanding, 29:57 will guard your heart and your mind 29:59 through Christ Jesus." 30:01 And it goes on and says in verse 8, 30:04 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, 30:06 whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, 30:10 whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, 30:14 whatever things are of good report, 30:17 if there is any virtue 30:19 and if there is anything praiseworthy, 30:23 meditate on these things. 30:25 The things which you learned 30:27 and received and heard and saw in me, these do, 30:32 and then the God of peace 30:38 will be with you." 30:39 Amen. 30:40 You know what I love about that? 30:42 Jehovah Shalom, God, our peace. 30:48 And when it's talking about, 30:51 we actually cut, there's a transition there. 30:54 When it's saying if we're just be prayerful, 30:57 make thanksgiving, with thanksgiving, 31:00 let your requests be made known. 31:02 But then it kind of transitions to tell us 31:05 how to secure this peace, 31:09 you know, where He says, start looking at what's true. 31:13 Look at what's noble, consider these things, 31:18 and put them into practice. 31:20 And you're going to have 31:22 Jehovah Shalom walking with you. 31:25 I will honestly tell you, 31:28 I had a very bad day on Wednesday, 31:34 I received six phone calls, 31:36 I've got two friends who are dying, 31:39 just lost my best friend. 31:44 Everything that was coming in, my heart was so heavy. 31:48 I mean, I was grieving within for these people. 31:52 Then I watched the news. 31:54 And we're seeing 31:55 what happened with the latest hurricane 31:58 is these poor people already flooded out fires 32:01 that are still going on the pandemic, 32:04 the social and moral chaos in this world. 32:07 And I mean, I remember turning off the news. 32:09 And I was like, 32:12 I need to focus on what's good and pure 32:15 and get in the Word of God to restore my peace. 32:20 And it is something that 32:23 it's so easy to have your peace lost 32:26 if you don't keep your eyes on God. 32:29 You have to keep that clean power. 32:31 Amen. 32:32 When I was reading, when I was reading, 32:33 whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, 32:36 whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, 32:38 whatever things are lovely, 32:39 whatever things are of good report. 32:41 If there's any virtue, 32:43 and if there's anything praiseworthy, 32:44 meditate on these things. 32:46 As he read that, I was thinking clean power. 32:49 Clean power, amen. Yeah, that's right. 32:51 Amen. That's good. 32:52 Ryan, why don't you tackle Ephesians 2? 32:55 I think JD had a comment. 32:56 Well, I've just, as you were talking while ago, 32:59 I was going to go back to 2 Thessalonians 3:16. 33:04 "Now may the Lord of peace Himself, give you peace, 33:08 always in every way." 33:10 And so I was just thinking whenever, 33:12 yesterday, this complicated day 33:13 or Wednesday, this complicated day 33:15 that you were having, 33:17 or this would be always in every way, 33:20 the Lord will be with you. 33:22 Amen. Amen. 33:23 You said Ephesians 2? Yes. 33:25 Okay. Ephesians 2:13. 33:26 Ephesians 2:13-16 says, 33:28 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off 33:33 have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 33:37 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, 33:42 and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 33:46 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, 33:49 that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, 33:53 so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, 33:58 thus making peace, and that He might reconcile, 34:02 there's that again, 34:03 them both to God in one body through the cross, 34:07 thereby putting to death the enemy." 34:11 I love that. 34:12 Enmity between the Gentiles and the Jews. 34:15 But what does He mean that He abolished in His flesh 34:21 the law of commandments contained in ordinances? 34:26 Well, if you go all the way back to Deuteronomy, 34:30 my mind goes all the way back to Deuteronomy Chapter 31, 34:33 where it says that, that law, that Book of Moses, 34:35 which was not of the Ten Commandments, 34:37 but was an additive, given by God to Moses, 34:40 as a witness against them. 34:42 It reminded them of the sin that they had committed. 34:45 It kept them in check 34:46 because of the sin that they had committed 34:48 in violating the Ten Commandment law of God. 34:50 And so, only Christ was able to bring that reconciliation. 34:54 Only He through His peace 34:56 and I love how it words it here, 34:58 "For he himself is our peace. 35:01 And so that he might," 35:02 in verse 16, 35:04 "He might reconcile both, 35:05 them both to God in one body through the cross, 35:08 thereby putting to death the enmity." 35:10 Of course, that enmity is the sin, 35:13 it is, that enmity is that separation, 35:16 that death, that death separation 35:18 brought about because of our sin, 35:20 the separation between God and man, 35:21 and Christ is the one who established that bridge. 35:24 He brought it back together and reconciled, 35:26 it's a beautiful thing. 35:28 And He fulfilled the law of Moses. 35:30 He became 35:31 all of that ceremonial law pointed to Jesus. 35:35 And all of those ordinances pointed to Jesus. 35:39 And so now, He has given us this peace. 35:44 Okay, we have been just laying a foundation, 35:48 if you don't know the peace of the Lord, 35:52 I do want to encourage you, what a time to just reach out. 35:59 If you don't understand what we're saying, 36:01 if you say, Lord, if You're real, 36:05 by the power of Your Holy Spirit, 36:06 I want to experience Your peace. 36:08 If You're real, 36:10 help me to surrender control of my life to you, 36:14 to yield that You might fulfill in me Your purposes. 36:20 And I want to experience Your peace. 36:22 I encourage you to pray that. 36:25 But it's all here 36:27 we've got peace is being reconciled to God. 36:32 You can't have any true peace without that. 36:35 It's coming from God. 36:37 It is the peace of God, 36:39 Jesus is our peace, the Prince of Peace. 36:44 But it is so important. 36:46 We want to spend some time on this idea 36:51 of living at peace with humanity. 36:56 I think this is such a relevant topic right now 37:00 because, you know, when I look out, 37:03 I don't say a whole lot of peace 37:04 coming right now. 37:06 And, of course, 37:07 the Bible encourages us to live at peace with others, 37:12 not by compromising the truth, or loyalty to Christ. 37:17 But let me just read in, 37:20 in Hebrews 12:14. 37:27 This is a commandment to us. 37:30 Pursue peace with all people. 37:36 What? 37:37 Are you pursuing peace with... 37:40 What does it mean to pursue? 37:41 Strive Strive. 37:43 What is when the police are in hot pursuit, 37:47 they're chasing after something, right? 37:50 So pursue peace with all people and holiness. 37:57 Oh, what does that mean, pursuing holiness? 38:01 You know, 38:03 holiness is another word for sanctification. 38:05 They're synonymous, 38:06 it just means to be separated from sin. 38:10 Holiness isn't 38:11 when I put my hair back in a tight little bun 38:13 and scrub my face, wear my long skirts, 38:16 and I wear my long skirt. 38:18 But, but that doesn't make me holy. 38:21 What makes me holy is being sanctified by God. 38:27 But it means 38:29 that I have to cooperate because God... 38:31 See, justification 38:33 is just the beginning of the salvation process. 38:37 There is this beautiful next phase 38:41 called sanctification. 38:43 Justification happens immediately 38:46 when we accept Christ, 38:47 when we ask for forgiveness of our sin. 38:50 But sanctification 38:52 is a life time of allowing God 38:57 to work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. 39:00 So he says, 39:03 we've got to pursue peace, pursue holiness, 39:07 without which no one will see the Lord. 39:11 You know, I actually think it's not, 39:14 I mean, 39:15 if you look at the construction of the sentence, 39:17 most people say, without holiness, 39:19 you won't see the Lord. 39:20 Well, if you're not pursuing peace with all people, 39:23 you're not going to see the Lord. 39:25 It says, looking carefully, 39:27 lest anyone fall short at the grace of God, 39:31 lest any root of bitterness, 39:34 springing up causing trouble, 39:37 and by this many become defiled. 39:40 How does bitterness? 39:41 What does the root of bitterness do 39:44 to our Christian walk? 39:47 Now, this is a scary, scary verse, 39:52 because bitterness is like cancer. 39:56 Ooh, that's good. 39:57 It eats away at you. 39:58 It can start small 40:00 and then it eats away at you over time. 40:02 That's good. 40:04 Um, maybe I shouldn't say this, maybe I should. 40:06 Go ahead. 40:07 But I have a relative 40:10 who I hadn't seen in 30 years 40:14 and when I met this relative, we were going over some things. 40:17 And I found that 40:19 that this relative was bitter against me for 30 years, 40:24 because I didn't help her fix her car one day 40:27 when I was a teenager. 40:30 And she was, I said, 40:31 "First, I don't remember this, 40:33 but you held on to this for 30 years, 40:35 because I didn't help you fix your car 40:37 when I was a teenager. 40:39 And that created a lot of other issues. 40:42 So that's when I realized that we need to heal this cancer. 40:46 And we talked it through 40:48 and she realized 40:49 I'm not the person I used to be, 40:51 and things like that. 40:52 But bitterness is very, very dangerous. 40:54 And what I read here is it says, 40:57 lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, 41:00 and then it concludes by saying, 41:02 by this many become defiled. 41:05 So I think each one of us, 41:06 we have to search out 41:09 the bitterness in our own heart. 41:10 If we had that bitterness, 41:12 we need to come to terms with it, 41:15 and the individual that we might be bitter with, 41:17 and get rid of it, because it'll eat us alive. 41:20 So you're basically saying in my, 41:22 in my hearing you is that 41:25 if we want to pursue peace with other people, 41:27 we've got to pursue forgiveness. 41:30 We've got to forgive and try to reconcile with them. 41:35 Okay. 41:37 Let me bring this up, Shelley, 'cause I mean, I like this. 41:41 And we're, these are cousins right here, 41:43 Hebrews 12:14-15, 41:45 but so does Psalms 34:14 fit in this. 41:49 "Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. " 41:54 As I'm looking here, 41:57 depart, seek, and pursue are all very active. 42:02 That means that we've got to be involved. 42:05 So then we're dropping down here 42:07 being active, being positive. 42:11 We're here again, pursue peace with all people. 42:14 So actively step out. 42:16 And then the opposite of that, 42:20 which I read this 42:21 and it just jumped off the page at me. 42:23 If not, then we could be spiritually careless. 42:28 Now that's pretty heavy, you know, too big. 42:32 I don't mean to be careless. 42:34 But you can be careless here maybe by accident, 42:37 if you're not active in what you're doing. 42:40 And so we need to be determined, 42:43 we need the purpose. 42:45 Absolutely. 42:46 What you're saying goes right into actually, 42:50 the heart of the true biblical gospel. 42:53 In this sense, 42:54 what Shelley just read in Hebrews 12:14-15. 42:56 And more specifically, verse 14, 42:59 pursue peace with all people, 43:01 there's a comma there, and holiness. 43:03 And you said that some people would take this next part 43:06 which says, without which no one will see the Lord. 43:09 And they won't apply that to holiness. 43:10 But I would agree with you. 43:12 I think that that's a continuance 43:14 all of that before 43:16 speaking of the pursuing peace with people and holiness 43:19 is a prerequisite for you to be able to see the Lord 43:23 that salvational. 43:25 That's a salvational language, 43:27 that's a life or death language. 43:29 Now, with what you were just saying there, 43:31 what came to my mind is this. 43:34 What God is saying in these verses 43:36 depart from evil and do goods, 43:38 seek peace and pursue it, 43:39 this activeness that involves a choice. 43:43 Jesus is using language 43:44 that flies in the face of our nature, 43:47 this fallen nature that we have. 43:49 Now I'm using that language because there's a lot of people 43:51 that believe in a false, I'm going to say it, 43:54 for lack of a better word, 43:56 a false evangelical gospel that says, sin is who I am. 44:01 I can't help but it's my nature. 44:02 And there's some people that will say, 44:04 well, you know what I want to, 44:05 I want to forgive that person in my mind. 44:07 But you know, my just, it's, I can't help it. 44:09 My nature won't allow me to forgive this person. 44:12 I just can't allow myself, it's not in my nature to do so. 44:15 But yet Christ what He is saying here, 44:16 that's a salvational situation. 44:18 That's a life or death situation. 44:20 This is an active choice, 44:21 that you have to come to grips within your life, 44:23 that in order for you to have that peace 44:26 that surpasses all understanding. 44:28 You have to be able to be at peace 44:31 with your brethren, 44:33 even as hard as that may be. 44:35 And you can't be at peace with your brethren 44:37 unless you're at peace with God, 44:39 but you can't be at peace with God 44:41 if you're not at peace with your brethren. 44:43 So it begins there but yeah, it makes the loop 44:48 and you know what? 44:49 A scripture just hit me, 44:51 because we're talking 44:52 about this pursuit of peace with our brother 44:57 and holiness with God. 44:59 Isaiah 48:18, 45:02 I don't know 45:03 why I didn't put this in the syllabus, 45:05 but it just hit me. 45:07 If we're going to pursue holiness, 45:11 that's it and don't get hung up on that word. 45:14 It means that we are pursuing the idea of allowing God 45:20 cooperating with God, that He separates us from sin. 45:25 And that's the only time 45:26 you'll ever have peace in your life. 45:28 Isaiah 48:18, this is God speaking. 45:33 And He says, 45:34 "Listen to the heart of a loving father." 45:40 He is saying this to you tonight. 45:42 He's saying it to me, to everyone around this table. 45:46 "Oh, that you had heeded My commandments, 45:51 then your peace would have been like a river, 45:56 and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." 46:02 God wants us 46:05 to have His peace in our hearts. 46:08 And, you know, we see 46:09 and hear stories all the time of missionaries 46:13 who are captured and imprisoned 46:17 and do incredible works while they're in prison. 46:21 And they keep the peace in the heart, 46:23 even though they're tortured. 46:25 And it's because they have learned 46:30 how to receive that river of peace from God, 46:35 that righteousness, 46:36 they still walk in obedience to God's commandments, 46:39 and they still seek to pursue peace 46:43 even with their enemy. 46:45 That's right. 46:46 And just is, it's very important 46:48 because it is a choice. 46:50 If you woke up every morning in prison, 46:54 boy, you could certainly have an attitude. 46:58 But if you choose, it can be the best of days. 47:05 And so that is very important choice. 47:07 But spiritually, 47:09 when you choose not to actively seek this peace, 47:12 and to pursue peace with your brethren, 47:14 and with God, 47:16 you are waking up every morning in prison. 47:18 Ooh, that's good. 47:20 There are so many people that I know, 47:23 I grew up in New York City, who are very angry to this day, 47:28 just angry at life, angry at everything. 47:30 When I talk to them on the phone, 47:32 I'm like, here we go again. 47:34 And in every case 47:35 it's because they held on to something 47:38 that festered, that festered in them over time 47:40 and turn them into a very angry individual. 47:43 So what this is saying to me, 47:45 and I think everyone else 47:46 is if you hold on to these things, 47:48 if you don't forgive, 47:49 if you don't learn how to forgive, 47:51 if you don't learn how to trust in God, 47:53 it's going to fester 47:55 and turn you into someone 47:56 that you really don't want to become. 47:57 Amen. 47:59 So if we're going to live at peace with humanity 48:01 and going with what you said, 48:02 why don't you read out Romans 14:19 and 12:17? 48:07 Romans 14:19, 48:10 "Therefore let us pursue the things 48:11 which make for peace and the things 48:14 by which one may edify another." 48:16 Boy, there's that word again, pursue, 48:19 pursue the things that make for peace. 48:22 You know, 48:24 sometimes somebody will hurt your feelings, 48:26 they will offend you. 48:28 And I have to tell you 48:30 that did you know this is what the Lord told me 48:32 once when I was offended by someone, 48:34 it was kind of like, look what they've done to me. 48:39 And, boy, I'm telling you in the shower, 48:41 what I heard was, 48:42 I'm saying the word blah-blah, blah-blah, 48:44 talking about change them and blah-blah, blah-blah. 48:46 And what I heard was, 48:48 the spirit of offense is the spirit of pride. 48:54 Whoa, 48:56 you think about that, you cannot be offended that, 49:00 unless your pride has been wounded. 49:03 And so all of a sudden, 49:05 and then it was finished 49:06 with which is the spirit of Antichrist. 49:08 And I thought, whoa! 49:11 So now instead of me, asking God to change someone, 49:15 I'm asking God to change my heart. 49:17 Don't let me be. 49:19 And I am not an easily offended person. 49:22 And I give Him all the glory for that. 49:25 But it's that idea of pursuing things 49:29 which make for peace. 49:31 Now, what does he say in Romans 12? 49:33 This would be to your friends in New York. 49:35 Yes, he says, 49:36 "Repay no one evil for evil, 49:39 have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 49:43 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, 49:46 live peaceably with all men." 49:50 They pay no evil for evil. But I love that last part. 49:54 If it is possible, 49:56 you're supposed to do everything you can 49:59 to try to pursue peace. 50:02 But sometimes we, it says, as if it is possible, 50:05 as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 50:11 So there's some you just can't live peaceably. 50:14 That's right. 50:15 Yeah, it seems like you know you can, 50:17 you can really make an effort to make peace with someone, 50:21 but it's a two-way street. 50:24 That person, 50:25 the person that you're trying to make peace with 50:26 has to be able to also be in a mindset 50:29 to be able to reciprocate that peace. 50:32 And sometimes we run into situations 50:34 where we will do all that we can 50:36 to make peace with someone, 50:37 but that person's heart is still bitter, 50:39 they're still a slave to that bitter attitude. 50:41 And in this case, 50:42 we have a promise here from God, 50:45 that clearly tells us that if it is possible, 50:47 as much as it depends on us, 50:48 in that case, we've done all that we possibly can, 50:51 you know, live peaceably with all men, 50:53 but in some cases, 50:54 some people may not allow us to do that. 50:56 And that's not our fault. 50:58 So in that case, we would just simply, 51:00 for lack of a better term, dust the feet off, 51:02 dust the dust off our feet, 51:04 and continue to pray for that person and go on. 51:08 And I think it's so wise there that it gives us an out, 51:11 rather than sitting here making you feel guilty, 51:14 and you just keep going back and going back and going back 51:17 and the bitterness and the bitterness 51:19 and then the guns come out. 51:21 Forgive me, Lord. 51:24 And all you're trying to do is just be a good neighbor. 51:27 That's right. That's right. 51:28 I used to think forgiveness was for the other person. 51:33 It's not, it's for us. 51:35 We have to learn to forgive, 51:37 even if, like we just mentioned, 51:39 you can't establish that peace 51:41 because like you said, it's a two, 51:43 it's a two-party thing to have peace. 51:45 You can still forgive that individual, 51:47 even though there's no peace. 51:49 And by forgiveness, you save yourself. 51:50 Amen. 51:51 That's right. Yeah. 51:53 And, you know, something that love your enemy. 51:54 And what Paul said, when you forgive, 51:57 I'm not sure, it was Paul who said that about, 52:00 it's like you're heaping coals on a fire on their head. 52:03 You know where that comes from? 52:05 And there was a practice 52:07 that when someone was repenting, 52:10 they had these helmet type things, 52:13 it was like a plate, 52:14 and they would put coals of fire 52:18 on top of their head, 52:19 to show their repentance. 52:21 So what the Bible is saying is that, 52:25 if you will love your enemy, if you will forgive them, 52:29 you will heap coals upon their head, 52:30 you can actually bring other people to repentance. 52:34 And I remember reading his story, 52:36 help me, Honey, I think we read this together. 52:38 But anyway, 52:39 a man who was 52:43 I think he was imprisoned in China, 52:44 and he had been tortured, and he was a missionary. 52:48 And he was so loving to his captors 52:53 that he brought them to Christ. 52:57 And, you know, 52:58 he had to go above and beyond to do that. 53:01 But like you said, it was for his benefit. 53:04 It kept him at peace, 53:06 but he ended up bringing them to Christ. 53:08 Now, Ryan, would you get into 1 Peter, 53:10 we got to get this. 53:12 Sure, absolutely. 53:13 1 Peter 3:8-12. 53:14 The Bible says, 53:16 "Finally, all of you be of one mind, 53:18 having compassion for one another, 53:19 love as brothers, be tenderhearted, 53:22 be courteous, 53:23 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, 53:26 but on the contrary blessing, 53:29 knowing that you were called to this, 53:32 that you may inherit a blessing. 53:34 For He who would love life and see good days, 53:37 let him refrain his tongue from evil, 53:40 and his lips from speaking deceit. 53:43 Let him turn away from evil and do good, 53:45 let him seek peace and pursue it." 53:48 There it is, again, 53:49 "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, 53:51 and His ears are open to their prayers, 53:54 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 53:58 You know, this brings up a good point that you made, 54:00 as you were introducing this segment here 54:02 of talking about being at peace with humanity. 54:05 And that is we have to, 54:07 we have to consider 54:08 and sometimes we have to do 54:10 a little bit of self-examination. 54:11 We have to do a little bit of inventory 54:13 of our own selves. 54:15 Because I find that a lot of people 54:17 and I get these calls. 54:18 In fact, I got a call recently in pastoral. 54:20 Why can't I have peace? 54:22 I've been praying for it. 54:23 I've been praying for it and praying for it 54:25 and praying for it 54:26 and I can't seem to just have the peace 54:27 that I need in my life. 54:29 Well, that's not always an easy question to answer 54:31 because I don't know that person's heart. 54:33 I don't know that person's life. 54:35 But truly, 54:36 sometimes we may need to take inventory 54:38 because many times the reason 54:40 why even as Christians professed Christians, 54:43 that claim that we believe in God, 54:44 claim that we live for the Lord, 54:46 but yet we don't have that peace 54:47 and that joy in our life. 54:49 Many times it's because there's a compromise 54:51 somewhere in our relationship with the Lord. 54:54 Many times we need to take because there's a fine line. 54:58 Let me put an example here. 55:00 There's a fine line 55:01 between legalism and liberal compromise. 55:04 We have to find that balance. 55:06 And I find that many people who are in that real, 55:08 you know, that opposite end of the spin 55:10 legalism perspective, 55:12 they're living according to legalistic standards. 55:14 And then the other side of that liberal compromising, 55:17 you know, there's no peace 55:19 on opposite ends of the spectrum, 55:21 we have to find that balance. 55:22 You know, there's no, 55:24 it's hard to find that fine line between, 55:26 you know, extreme dogma and passive relativism, 55:29 which we've done a program on that in the past. 55:32 We have to understand that there can be no compromise. 55:36 And so sometimes, 55:37 and I'm going back to Philippians 4, 55:40 take that spiritual inventory. 55:42 Ask the Lord, Lord seek me, show me 55:45 because sometimes we're not receiving that peace. 55:48 We're not experiencing that peace, 55:50 because we've compromised somewhere in our relationship 55:53 and sometimes we need to go back 55:54 and take inventory and see, 55:56 are we contemplating and meditating on those things 55:59 that are true, those things that are noble, 56:00 those things that are just and pure and lovely, 56:03 and the things that are of good report 56:05 on a virtue, 56:06 and things that are praiseworthy, 56:07 all of these wonderful aspects of the character of God, 56:10 there's something missing there. 56:12 And we have to understand that there can be no compromise. 56:14 Amen. 56:15 All right, let's just hit cloak quickly, 56:18 on our fifth point, 56:19 and that is worldwide peace will not occur 56:22 until Christ establishes the new heavens 56:25 and the new earth. 56:27 And for your edification, read Matthew 24:6-14, 56:33 because Jesus is saying, 56:35 hey, you've got to endure to the end, 56:38 we're going to see all of these things happen, 56:40 but endure to the end. 56:43 And He is talking about horrible things 56:46 that are happening on the earth. 56:47 And we're seeing them happen now. 56:49 And then read Revelation 21:1-4, 56:55 and you will see some beautiful things. 56:57 And Isaiah 11:6-9, 57:00 where God is talking about, 57:02 when the new heavens come down, 57:05 the lion and the lamb are going to lie together. 57:09 And the leopard and the young goat, 57:10 it's beautiful. 57:11 We're out of time. 57:13 I have to read my favorite scripture of all, 57:16 and that is Romans 15:13. 57:19 This is our prayer for you tonight. 57:21 We're so glad that you joined us 57:23 on this Sabbath evening, 57:25 "But may the God of hope 57:28 fill you with all joy and peace in believing 57:32 that you may abound in hope, eager expectation, 57:37 by the power of the Holy Spirit." 57:38 Bye-bye. Bye-bye. |
Revised 2020-12-10