Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000029A
|
00:29 Hi, I'm Lance. And I'm Dwayne.
00:31 And welcome to another episode of TKS, 00:34 a True Knowledge of Self, 00:36 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:40 In our last episode, we were studying the word of God. 00:43 And we were looking at the very pillars 00:46 of what constitutes the Christian lifestyle. 00:49 And this was important because we're talking a lot 00:51 about hip-hop culture which also has pillars. 00:54 And we looked at some of those pillars 00:55 and we'll be building on them even more 00:57 in up and coming episodes. 00:58 And we were trying to see, do they blend together 01:00 or is there a contrast? 01:02 And thus far, we are seeing 01:03 there is a tremendous contrast between the two. 01:06 Yet, so many Christians 01:09 are also engrossed in hip-hop culture. 01:12 And it's for these reasons that God has allowed us 01:13 to put forth these episodes where we can really study, 01:16 take a fair look at it 01:17 and let the word of God get the final say. 01:20 Thus far, we looked at four powerful pillars 01:23 as it relates to the Christian faith. 01:25 And we were looking at it from the Book of 2 Peter Chapter 1 01:27 and we started right there from verse 4 and onward. 01:30 And we saw that there were 01:32 four very important foundational pillars 01:35 to the Christian faith, one beginning with Faith. 01:38 The second was Virtue. 01:40 The third was Knowledge, 01:42 and then the fourth was Temperance. 01:44 And these are experiences 01:45 that the Lord wants to bring us in 01:47 and the beautiful part of all of this 01:49 is that He holds Himself responsible 01:52 to help us develop these things. 01:54 This is one of the comforts of Christianity. 01:56 It is not something that we have to conjure up ourselves 01:59 or accomplish by ourselves. 02:01 Christ is our aid, He is our help. 02:03 His spirit is there to empower us, 02:05 to lead us, to teach us, to guide us, and instruct us 02:08 so that we don't fail 02:09 and ultimately God's word can be fulfilled now unto Him 02:13 that is able to keep me from falling 02:15 and to present you faultless 02:16 before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. 02:19 We are very grateful for these precious promises. 02:22 And now, what we're going to do 02:23 is we're going to build on the remaining pillars 02:26 that we have not reviewed thus far. 02:27 So, Lance, I'm excited. 02:29 It looks like God is, 02:31 is speaking to your heart and mine 02:32 as He is speaking to the several viewers 02:34 that are watching. 02:35 And I believe that the Lord is really helping us 02:37 to get settled into His truth, 02:39 both intellectually and spiritually 02:41 so that by His grace, we cannot be moved. 02:42 That's right 02:44 So now we're looking at some of these pillars here 02:45 and we looked at the first four 02:47 but there's more to even continue. 02:48 So you take us over, man, and help us to see 02:51 what are the remaining pillars 02:52 and how can we bring this into our daily experience. 02:55 So the next step in the ladder is patience. 02:59 I mean, that is something that we don't really think about 03:02 as being supernatural, but many of us, 03:04 I'm sure have gone through experiences 03:06 where they require a supernatural, you know, 03:09 other worldly patience to get through and to deal with. 03:13 So we're going to, again, go through some Bible verses 03:15 'cause we're trying to figure out 03:17 what does the Bible say, 03:18 how does the Bible define these principles that is laying out? 03:22 So I'm going to start in Revelation Chapter 14 03:24 or Revelation 12 for that matter. 03:26 So we're looking at Revelation 12 03:27 and see how the Bible deals with this subject of patience. 03:31 Revelation 12 in verse 17. 03:32 Now, Revelation 12 is really dealing with this... 03:36 I know in previous episodes, 03:38 we talked about The Great Controversy. 03:41 You know, the war that started in Heaven 03:42 and the fall of Lucifer from Heaven to this Earth, 03:46 then becoming Satan 03:47 and the Accuser of the Brethren, 03:49 and the Devil, the Adversary. 03:50 And we saw that he eventually took that war 03:56 to the earth against God but through his created beings. 04:01 And so Revelation 12 is dealing with that context 04:03 and in verse 17 of Revelation Chapter 12, it says thus, 04:08 it says, "And the dragon..." 04:10 which is Satan in according to verse 9. 04:12 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman. 04:15 And went to make war with the remnant of her seed, 04:19 which keep the commandments of God, 04:21 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 04:23 Now, we're talking about patience, 04:24 so what does that have to do with patience? 04:26 Well, if we go forward a couple of chapters 04:28 and look at Revelation Chapter 14. 04:31 In Revelation Chapter 14 it says here in verse 12, 04:36 it says, "Here is the patience of the saints: 04:39 Here are they that keep the commandments of God 04:41 and the faith of Jesus." 04:43 So we see that the patience of the saints 04:45 is communicated as those that keep the commandments of God 04:47 and have the testimony or the faith of Jesus. 04:50 And now, when we talk about Peter's ladder here 04:53 and we talked about the Faith, 04:54 and the Virtue, and the Knowledge, 04:55 and the Temperance and now the Patience. 04:57 We realize that patience is one of the identifying marks 05:02 of God's people essentially. 05:04 So, you know, there's more verses we're gonna look at, 05:06 but it's interesting that the Bible 05:08 goes out of its way to note and repeat 05:11 the characteristics of those 05:14 that are standing ultimately in the Last Days 05:16 and kind of standing against 05:19 the warfare of Satan against God's remnant 05:23 or His last remaining people on the earth before He comes. 05:26 So look at Revelation Chapter 2. 05:29 And we're going to turn to Revelation 2 05:31 and seek to understand this further. 05:34 It says Revelation Chapter... 05:35 in Revelation 2 in verse 10, it says, 05:38 "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: 05:41 Behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, 05:45 that he may be tried, 05:47 and ye shall have tribulation ten days: 05:50 Be thou faithful unto death, 05:53 and I will give you a crown of life." 05:55 Now, this idea... Remember, the faith of Jesus. 05:58 Well, what was Jesus? 05:59 Jesus was faithful unto death, even the death of the cross, 06:02 as the Bible says. 06:04 So he endured great affliction and trial. 06:07 Essentially, he was the object of Satan's wrath, 06:10 the wrath that we read there it means his anger, 06:12 his intense murderous rage, right? 06:16 So Jesus was the object of that rage 06:19 while he was walking the earth. 06:21 And ultimately Satan tried to kill him literally. 06:25 And he thought that, you know, 06:26 the suffering that he would put on them 06:28 and the cross experience was Satan 06:31 somehow getting a victory, getting an upper hand, 06:33 winning a battle, if you will. 06:34 We know that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day 06:37 and that was the victory. 06:39 That, that completely solidified, if you will, 06:42 that process of Jesus dying on the cross 06:45 and raising from death unto life 06:47 was that kind of the nail in the coffin, 06:50 if you will, for Satan's whole agenda. 06:53 But when Jesus ascended, Satan eventually turned his... 07:00 to inflict his wrath and that new object 07:02 became God's people, okay? 07:05 And God's people now, just like Christ, 07:08 as Christ said, for example in John 15. 07:11 He says, "If the world hates me, 07:12 it's going to hate you as well." 07:14 You know, you'll be hated by all nations for my name sake. 07:17 So now, God's people become the object of Satan's wrath. 07:21 And they now find themselves enduring the same trials 07:24 and afflictions of Christ 07:25 and the tribulation that Jesus went through. 07:27 And now, he's saying to his people, 07:29 "As I did be thou faithful into death. 07:32 And now shall have and receive a crown of life." 07:35 And essentially this is what he's talking about. 07:36 Here is the patience of the saints. 07:39 Patience is really endurance. 07:42 The ability to supernaturally to endure trial, persecution, 07:46 oppression that is coming from Satan, 07:48 from a supernatural force. 07:50 A greater supernatural force is willing to protect you 07:53 and willing to save you and deliver you, 07:55 even though you might have to go through this present danger 07:58 and present suffering. 07:59 I see so many parallels. 08:01 I mean, I can see a lot of lessons even that, 08:03 that comes from this. 08:05 Again, patience. 08:08 Another term for patience is if 08:09 we were to actually define the word "patience," 08:11 it's also longsuffering. 08:13 You know, being able to suffer long to endure, right? 08:16 And when you look at this, this, 08:18 this speaks volumes to our society today. 08:22 What are some of the reasons 08:23 why God encourages us to be patient? 08:25 One of the first reasons why is 'cause He says, well, 08:27 first of all vengeance is Mine. 08:29 The Lord says, "I'll take care of everything." 08:31 So God is saying, you can be patient, 08:33 because you don't have to lose your patience 08:35 and take control of the circumstance, 08:37 because I'm going to be able to take care of it myself. 08:40 I am going to take vengeance. 08:41 "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." 08:43 The guilty, will suffer sooner or later. 08:46 So, one of the things that can enable us to be patient 08:49 is that very fact that we can trust 08:52 God is going to do this. 08:53 God is going to handle these things in life that happens 08:56 that causes me sometimes to lose my patience. 08:59 If ever there was a time for a message like that is right now 09:01 because there is a lot of, as you stated, social unrest. 09:05 There's a lot of things happening right now 09:07 that does not look fair. 09:08 There are judicial systems 09:10 that are being put in questions. 09:11 There are police officers that are being put in question. 09:13 There are civilians that are being put in question. 09:16 And it seems like everybody is in a state of unrest 09:18 and we're losing patience 09:20 in trying to handle situations ourselves. 09:22 And we're not necessarily saying, 09:24 "God, what have you told us to do? 09:27 Or how to respond to the crisis we're in right now?" 09:29 And one of them is to be patient, 09:33 to be longsuffering. 09:34 In the midst of crisis and trial, 09:36 do not lose your Christianity. 09:39 Maintain your Christ likeness 09:42 in the midst of whatever trial or tribulation 09:43 you are going through. 09:45 So, oppression and persecution and injustice 09:47 is not an excuse to abandon morality. 09:50 Correct. 09:51 And this is a message 09:53 that is needed right now, today, 09:55 because individuals are losing their patience. 09:57 And I understand the frustration of the patience 09:59 because it's never a good thing 10:01 to see injustice take place on either side. 10:03 We have police officers right now, 10:05 they're looking at themselves as victims. 10:06 We have civilians right now 10:08 that are looking at themselves as victims. 10:09 And both of them are in such a perplexed situation, 10:12 they're responding to it but the response is, 10:15 many a times, is not the counsel 10:17 that God is giving from His words. 10:19 And as a result of that, 10:21 we are allowing the flesh to lead us. 10:22 And we have to be careful. 10:24 It's funny enough, 10:25 and we're going to talk about this in another episode. 10:26 We see that even in the midst 10:28 of this social unrest right now, 10:29 they are hip-hop icons 10:31 and individuals that are kind of putting themselves 10:34 in the forefront to try to be the leaders 10:36 and to lead people and to guide them 10:38 but we're understanding 10:39 there's a deeper picture going on in the backdrop. 10:41 And when we start talking about Bible prophecy, 10:43 this thing is going to come together really powerfully. 10:45 So I'm grateful for the way that we're studying something 10:48 as simple as patience 10:50 and being able to see how necessary it is. 10:52 And it must be applied in our lives even unto death, 10:56 as Christ did when he walked on this earth. 10:59 Very, very important point. I appreciate it. 11:01 So, let's go on and I want to look at Matthew 10 and 22. 11:04 We are still talking about patience, 11:06 an essential step in this Peter's ladder 11:09 that we've been talking about. 11:10 Matthew 10 and verse 22 says the following. 11:14 And we said this, but I want to read it here. 11:17 It says, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. 11:21 But he that endureth to the end shall be saved." 11:24 Sensible again, reiterated. 11:27 Endurance, patience, longsuffering as you said. 11:30 Hebrew 6:12. 11:33 Hebrews 6:12. 11:36 We turn there and read it. 11:38 Hebrews 6:12, it says, 11:42 "That ye be not slothful, 11:45 but followers of them who through faith and patience 11:49 inherit the promises." 11:50 So, remember we talked about 11:54 faith there previously in Hebrew 11? 11:57 And the idea that faith translates into action 11:59 and that essentially is how men are able to access 12:03 the grace of God and the salvation of God. 12:06 But it says here now, that the faith and patience 12:10 was what allowed individuals in the past 12:14 to inherit the promises of God. 12:17 So God is putting forth these promises. 12:19 Again, we have to choose whether or not 12:21 we're going to subscribe and follow them. 12:23 Not just intellectually, but at this level 12:26 that is going to actually dictate and influence 12:29 and command our actions and our behavior. 12:32 And if we do this and exhibit these things, 12:34 we, like others in the past, 12:36 other faithful individuals in the past, 12:38 we will inherit the promises. 12:40 Now, let's look at James. 12:42 James 1 and 12. 12:45 It says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation. 12:50 For when he is tried, 12:53 he shall receive the crown of life, 12:55 which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him." 12:59 So again, endurance, inheriting the promises. 13:02 Now we know it's salvation, the crown of life. 13:04 Enduring to the end, the same shall be saved. 13:06 And it says again, "That there's a blessing 13:09 to the man that endureth temptation." 13:13 Those that are able, supernaturally to receive 13:17 what God is offering 13:19 and withstands the advances 13:22 in the offensive force 13:24 of Satan's wrath will be rewarded. 13:28 God is going to repay. 13:30 God is going to recompense. 13:31 God is going to have vengeance. 13:33 It's not in, it's not our responsibility 13:37 to take it into our own hands in exact justice. 13:41 It's not in our, it's not our responsibility. 13:43 So we have to be willing to acknowledge that, 13:45 accept that 13:47 and see that God's wisdom must have a solution, 13:50 it must provide a solution through a different avenue, 13:53 a different means by which we can obtain this. 13:55 Now, so that individuals who may be viewing 13:57 do not see this position 13:59 we're taking in an extreme fashion. 14:01 We are not saying that we do not respond 14:04 to social injustice or things of that nature, 14:08 that we should just simply sit back 14:10 and let evil just ride 14:11 and have its course simply because, you know, 14:14 we are to exercise patience that God will take care of it. 14:17 What we are saying is that, God has given us a methodology 14:21 of how to approach social injustice. 14:23 But it was always in the context 14:25 of the Great Controversy. 14:26 It was always in the context of the war 14:29 between Christ and Satan over the mind of men 14:32 and dealing with the issue of sin versus righteousness. 14:36 We again, I stated before, 14:37 and I think it's worthy to state again. 14:39 An individual cannot legislate evil. 14:41 You cannot put together enough laws to stop evil. 14:45 Evil just constantly keeps 14:46 coming up in new manifestations. 14:48 Years and years and years ago, 14:50 individuals would use sticks and stones, 14:51 today they use guns. 14:53 And now they're using lasers and also... 14:55 I mean, it's just new manifestations 14:57 of the same issue, which is violence, 14:59 violence in the heart. 15:00 So what Christ wants us to understand is that 15:02 our battle is against sin, 15:04 our battle is against the issue of sin 15:06 and dealing with that. 15:08 And that's how Jesus worked. 15:09 He didn't allow himself to get caught up 15:10 into the political games and all these things like 15:12 we see a lot of people doing today. 15:14 But he dealt with the issue of sin in the human heart. 15:16 And this is when an individual was truly delivered 15:19 from all these evils. 15:21 But if we just simply, you know, doing other things, 15:24 it may not meet the goal and we constantly see that. 15:27 So we're not negating the fact 15:28 that we have to address social injustice. 15:30 We're saying it needs to be addressed in the context 15:32 of the Great Controversy. 15:33 It's an issue of sin, and that's our fight, 15:35 that is our issue. 15:36 We must go territory after territory 15:38 and make aggressive warfare against soul destroying sins 15:42 that are taking place in our world today. 15:44 And so, when we talk about the steps again, 15:47 we've got to go to the next step, 15:48 and it's equally important. 15:50 These steps are not 15:51 one is better than the other or this or that. 15:53 They're all equally valuable 15:55 and equally important and equally essential. 15:57 And it's not like He gives you one 15:59 and He doesn't give you the other. 16:00 Or you got to... 16:02 He gives you one, you got to work towards the other. 16:03 He's willing to give you all if you receive by faith, 16:06 all right? 16:08 So, we talked about Faith, and Virtue, 16:11 and Knowledge and Temperance, and Patience. 16:13 And now we're going to talk about the next step, 16:15 which is Godliness. 16:16 And so, I'm going to look at Leviticus 19. 16:20 We're going back to an important place 16:24 in the Old Testament in Leviticus 19 16:27 and the second verse. 16:30 Leviticus 19 and the second verse. 16:35 And it says the following. 16:38 Leviticus 19 and verse 2. 16:43 All right. 16:46 It says, "Speak unto all the congregation 16:50 of the children of Israel, and say unto them. 16:54 Ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am Holy." 16:59 That's a revolutionary concept. 17:01 This is something in the theological world 17:04 that we call, "corporate solidarity". 17:06 The idea that like is like. 17:08 So if God is Holy, then His people are to be holy. 17:13 And that's just the way it is 17:14 because God is going to take care of His people. 17:17 God is going to give something to His people. 17:19 He's going to give them something that 17:20 they cannot generate themselves. 17:22 He's going to cover them with His garment 17:24 and take away their filthy garment. 17:26 They are going to become sons and daughters of God. 17:29 And as His children, 17:30 they're going to reflect their parent, all right? 17:32 So, God is Holy, so His people must be holy. 17:36 And this is reiterated, 1 Peter Chapter 1. 17:40 1 Peter 1. 17:43 And it kind of quotes from the same passage. 17:47 And we'll look at it this way. 17:49 1 Peter 1:15 and 16. 17:53 It says, "But as He which hath called you is holy, 17:58 so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. 18:02 Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am Holy." 18:06 So when we talk about godliness, 18:08 we're talking about holiness, right? 18:10 And we're talking about holiness, 18:12 we're talking about God and His people being both holy. 18:18 In other words, when God looks at us, 18:21 He should see Himself 18:23 and not because we've done anything good, 18:25 not because we deserve it, 18:29 but because if we access the grace that God is offering 18:34 and He forgives us of our sins 18:35 and cleanses us from all unrighteousness, 18:37 so it essentially makes us righteous. 18:38 If He does that, then when He looks at us, 18:41 He sees Himself 18:42 because He clothed us, He filled us, 18:45 He baptized us, He did all of these things. 18:48 And He changed us, transformed us, 18:50 so He looks at us 18:51 and it's like He's looking in a mirror. 18:53 And that's what really God is looking for. 18:55 He's not looking for us, He's looking for Himself in us. 19:01 And when He sees that, He says, "Here are my children. 19:05 I am Holy, my children are holy." 19:07 And He's the one that makes all of it happen. 19:10 So it says, 19:14 that in 1 Corinthians 1:30. 19:19 It says, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, 19:23 who of God is made unto us Wisdom, 19:26 and Righteousness and Sanctification 19:29 and Redemption." 19:30 So Jesus Christ now, the Son of God, 19:34 is the embodiment of all of these attributes 19:37 and all of these virtues. 19:38 And He is the one that is to us, 19:43 Wisdom, Righteousness, 19:45 Sanctification, and Redemption. 19:47 So the godliness that we need, the godliness that God says 19:50 we are to be, the holiness that we are to be, 19:53 that we are to have, is only accessible 19:55 and only embodied 19:57 and only realized in Jesus Christ. 19:59 And as we accept Him and accept His merits, 20:03 then we can be that which God said 20:05 and originally actually designed us to be. 20:07 And this is important because 20:09 when we think about why hasn't Jesus come back yet? 20:12 You know, when you think about 20:13 how many people you may have seen 20:14 in your youth that have said, 20:17 "The Lord is coming, 20:19 the world is coming to an end, etcetera." 20:20 And I remember seeing that when I was four years old, 20:23 I'm 42 years old now, 20:24 and I still have not seen the Lord come yet so, 20:27 someone could fall into a state of disbelief 20:30 as a result of this. 20:31 But we don't understand what God is trying to do. 20:33 What God is trying to do is produce 20:36 a character within us that is just like His. 20:39 This is how the world got started with man 20:41 and this is how the world must end 20:42 when it comes to those 20:43 whom He's going to bring home with Him. 20:45 It was because of Lucifer becoming unlike him 20:48 that he earned the name Satan, which means adversary. 20:51 He earned the name Devil, which means slanderer. 20:53 And God does not want to bring another adversary, enemy, 20:56 or slanderer into His house. 20:58 So the reason why the Lord has not come back yet 21:00 is because He still doesn't see the character reflected. 21:03 He is waiting with longing desire 21:06 to see the character of Christ 21:07 perfectly reproduced in His people. 21:09 And when this happens, He will come. 21:11 So, godliness is very much high upon the ladder 21:13 but nevertheless it's there. 21:15 And we can obtain it through Christ 21:17 and His power enabling us, as we talked about, 21:21 to accomplish anything that He has called us to do. 21:23 That's right. 21:24 So eight steps, we're moving on to the next one. 21:26 so far we have Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance 21:31 Temperance Patience 21:32 Patience, Godliness and now, Brotherly Kindness. 21:36 So this is something that humanity struggles with. 21:41 And this is why, in my estimation 21:42 why it's so high on the ladder, if you will... 21:44 That's right. 21:46 Is because it can only be done 21:48 by possessing those things that preceded. 21:52 So let's look at John 15, Brotherly Kindness. 21:55 I mean, it is as simple as the phrase communicates. 21:59 John 15 and we're reading 13 to 15. 22:03 It says, "Greater love hath no man than this, 22:06 that a man lay down his life for his friends. 22:10 Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. 22:13 Henceforth I call you not servants, 22:15 for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, 22:18 but I have called you friends. 22:20 For all things that I have heard of my Father, 22:22 I have made known unto you." 22:24 So, how is brotherly kindness, you know, in its truest sense, 22:29 in its essence, how is that exhibited? 22:32 Laying down your life for your friends. 22:37 That's a tall order. It is. 22:39 And look at John 13. 22:41 John 13:34 and 35. 22:43 John 13:34 and 35 says this, 22:46 "A new commandment I give unto you that, 22:49 ye love one another as I have loved you, 22:52 that He also love one another. 22:55 By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, 22:59 if ye have love one to another." 23:02 Brotherly Kindness. 23:04 This is actually now, 23:05 from the words of Jesus Himself, 23:07 is the way that people will know 23:10 if you are one of My disciples. 23:11 This is how men will know 23:14 if you are one of My sons or daughters. 23:16 So, this idea of, you know, 23:21 Peter's ladder, these pillars, 23:23 if you will, we're talking about the Faith, 23:25 and the Virtue, and the Knowledge, 23:27 and the Patience, and the Temperance 23:30 and the Patience, and Godliness, 23:33 Brotherly Kindness... 23:36 It leads us naturally into the final in the eighth, 23:42 you know, leg of the ladder. 23:45 And it is charity, right? 23:48 It says, "charity," which means love, right? 23:50 Charity means love. 23:53 Love is so vitally sensual and important. 23:57 Essentially, the central pillar of God's government, 24:00 that we're going have to dedicate 24:02 an entire episode to this subject. 24:04 Love happens to be also one of those pillars 24:07 that hip-hop articulates and highlights 24:10 in that peace, love, unity, safely having fun. 24:14 And I believe that the love 24:17 that the Bible is going to talk about 24:19 and the love that hip-hop is talking about 24:21 are going to be completely opposite things. 24:24 Yeah. And these is one of the... 24:25 This is one of the most abused terms 24:28 in the human language today is the word, "love." 24:31 I mean, we can say we love somebody 24:32 and then I'll follow up, follow through, 24:35 can absolutely contradict what we just said. 24:37 And that's, that's where we are today 24:39 and that's the reason why love does need to be qualified. 24:43 You know, we're talking about pillars 24:45 because we need to set a foundation because, again, 24:48 "With all thy getting get understanding." 24:49 We want to know how do we walk 24:51 in the experience of these things 24:52 but at the same time, there is a power out there 24:55 that is seeking to contrast what God has stated. 24:58 And one of the terms they're using is the very thing 25:01 that is foundational 25:02 to God and His government, which is love. 25:04 So, there needs to be an exposure, 25:07 there needs to be a clear line divided showing 25:10 what is love from the biblical context 25:14 and then how does that compare to the love 25:16 that is being purported throughout hip-hop culture. 25:19 And we have to see those lines clearly 25:21 and then we have to make a choice. 25:22 That's right, and I have to, you know, 25:24 give a little foreshadowing, you know, a little teaser. 25:28 One is very deep and one is very shallow. 25:31 That is correct. 25:32 I mean, one is extremely deep and limitless. 25:35 And one is very surface and superficial and shallow. 25:38 Yeah. 25:39 And once we start peeling things back 25:41 and understand that, really, we don't want superficial. 25:47 We don't want something that's only going to go so far 25:50 because we need something greater, 25:51 we need something that's going to solve life's problems. 25:53 We need something that's going to correct situations. 25:56 And well, we're not saying 25:59 is we're trying to fix all worldly systems. 26:02 That's not we're talking about. 26:03 We're talking about a situation that is so critical 26:07 that God is going to have to step in Himself 26:10 and literally recreate the whole thing 26:14 in order for it to be set up properly. 26:16 That's right. 26:17 We're not looking to change this system. 26:19 We're looking for this system to eventually expire 26:24 and be replaced by God system. 26:26 And only those who endure to the end will be saved. 26:28 So, you know, this is, 26:30 when we talk about these principles, 26:32 we want to promote 26:34 and we want to kind of instill principles 26:38 that are going to lead to true knowledge itself. 26:44 Amen, amen. 26:45 Well, once again we have been very blessed in our studies 26:49 and we have gotten through 26:50 seven of those very precious pillars 26:52 that really constitutes what it is to be a Christian 26:56 and to live a life according to the principles of Christ. 27:00 And I believe that as we, day-by-day, 27:02 put into practice what we have learned... 27:04 There's a beautiful term that I'd like to share with you all, 27:07 that is a term called, "Experimental Religion." 27:10 And what that simply means is, 27:11 taking the words of God as you see them. 27:14 And then once you understand them. 27:16 Seek to apply it. 27:18 Seek to apply it in your life. 27:19 How can I apply Faith or Virtue or, you know, 27:22 Temperance, and Knowledge 27:24 and all of these other wonderful things? 27:25 And you will see that it is through experimental religion 27:28 that it becomes real to you. 27:29 Because a gospel that is not practical 27:32 quite honestly is a worthless gospel. 27:34 And this is what we need to look at 27:36 when we think about the true gospel, 27:38 and we also think about the gospel of hip-hop. 27:41 We have to make that comparison 27:42 and let the word of God be true 27:44 and let every other man be a liar. 27:46 And therefore, I want to encourage you 27:47 to keep studying to show yourselves approved unto God. 27:50 Share with a friend what you've been learning. 27:52 Go ahead and dig deeper and deeper. 27:55 And my hope and prayer is that the next time we come 27:57 that you will join us and until then, 28:00 remember the blessed words of Proverbs 2:6, 28:03 which tells us, 28:04 "It is the Lord that giveth wisdom, 28:07 and out of his mouth comes knowledge 28:09 and understanding." 28:11 God bless you. |
Revised 2016-03-28