Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000035A
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00:28 Hello, I'm Dwayne. And I'm Lance.
00:30 And we like to welcome you to another episode of TKS, 00:33 A True Knowledge of Self, 00:35 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:38 Now in previous episode, 00:39 especially our last couple of episodes, 00:41 we've been dealing with the principle of peace. 00:43 We looked at the Bible and we saw what true peace is. 00:48 And we've been talking about this 00:50 in kind of contrasting 00:51 some of these main cornerstones of hip-hop culture 00:55 which are love, peace, unity, and safely having fun. 01:00 In today's episode, we're gonna be talking about unity. 01:02 But when we consider 01:04 what we've discussed in the past 01:05 and talk about peace, 01:07 we understood that peace was something 01:08 that only God could provide. 01:10 And what we're finding here is a trend. 01:12 All of the things that we need, 01:13 all of the things that are necessary for proper 01:17 and fruitful human existence come from God 01:21 because they originate with God. 01:22 So this is something that God wants us to have, 01:24 these are things that God wants us to have. 01:26 And when we looked at peace, 01:27 we understood that it comes from Him. 01:29 And our response to God's giving of peace 01:34 is a life of consistent, 01:37 obedience, and servitude, 01:39 essentially love for God and keeping His commandments. 01:41 We understood that those... 01:43 That lifestyle of faithfulness and obedience 01:46 actually produces peace. 01:48 Not only for us 01:49 but also that lifestyle will produce peace 01:53 towards those from even our enemies. 01:55 Now we wanna spend most of our attention 01:57 dealing with the subject of the unity 01:59 as the next step, if you will in this progression 02:02 in dealing with the principles of hip-hop culture. 02:05 And we wanna look at it from a true perspective. 02:07 However, the biblical unity 02:10 that we're going to be discussing 02:12 is going to constantly be juxtaposed in scripture 02:15 with a counterfeit unity. 02:17 Now, Dwayne, there's always, 02:19 as we've seen time and time again, 02:21 there's always truth, genuine, and counterfeit. 02:24 And in fact that is the kind of the foundation 02:26 of Satan's government 02:28 is this idea of hate, lies, and counterfeit. 02:33 So one thing we know about our counterfeit is it, 02:35 it is almost the perfect representation of the truth, 02:38 almost a perfect representation of the truth. 02:41 The truth comes first and then the counterfeit 02:44 and the deception comes after. 02:46 But in order for it to truly work 02:47 and be effective as a deception, 02:49 it has to resemble the truth almost perfectly. 02:54 And so when we talk about unity, 02:55 we're gonna get into biblical unity, 02:57 what it is, how it functions, 02:58 and what God's desire is. 03:00 But we wanna look at this idea of counterfeit unity. 03:04 It's something a term called ecumenism. 03:07 What are we dealing with? 03:08 What are we talking about 03:09 when we use the term ecumenism? 03:11 Well, I appreciate that question, sir, 03:12 because that is a point 03:13 that we have to identify in our study. 03:15 It's like every other thing, 03:17 there's true love, there's false love, 03:18 there's true peace, there's false peace. 03:21 And then of course, there's true unity 03:22 but then there is false unity. 03:24 And you hit the nail on the head 03:26 because there is a movement 03:28 that existed many, many years ago 03:31 that still is being perpetuated 03:33 throughout society today called ecumenism. 03:36 And ecumenism can manifest itself 03:37 in just about any type of organization. 03:39 It can be in a Christian realm, 03:41 but it also can in certain ways be manifested in other realms, 03:45 in other cultures, in other religions, 03:46 even hip-hop culture. 03:48 But what really is ecumenism at the end of the day, 03:51 I'm gonna go ahead and just simply read it 03:52 from the dictionary. 03:54 And here's what it states, 03:55 it says, "Of or pertaining to a movement, 03:58 ecumenical movement, 04:00 especially among Protestant groups since the 1800s, 04:04 aimed at achieving universal Christian unity 04:08 and church union through international 04:11 interdenominational organizations 04:13 that cooperate on matters of mutual concern. 04:17 And this is a very important point 04:19 is that it's a call to unity. 04:23 But they're uniting upon things that they hold in common. 04:27 You know, the things that they have 04:28 mutual concerns about. 04:29 So in other words, 04:31 you know, if we just look that 04:32 at from the Christian realm right now, 04:34 if you say, we believe that people need to love Jesus. 04:39 Then every other denomination, every other organization says, 04:43 "Yeah, let's join together and work together." 04:46 Because even though we have all of these differences 04:49 one toward another, 04:50 the one thing we do have in common 04:51 is we believe people need to learn about Jesus 04:53 and love Him. 04:55 And therefore it causes a union to come together. 04:58 The problem is, it's a false union, 05:01 it really cannot last, it cannot truly exist 05:04 without a surrender 05:06 or a relinquishing of original position 05:09 that each organization held. 05:10 And a perfect example is Protestantism 05:13 and Roman Catholicism, 05:15 they cannot go together, 05:16 because Protestantism was literally birthed 05:19 as a result of protesting against the dogmas 05:22 that were being taught through Rome. 05:23 So a Protestant and Roman Catholic, 05:25 or the Protestant movement and a Roman Catholic movement, 05:28 in truth they could never truly unite 05:31 because their reasons for existence 05:34 was that there was an issue 05:36 that existed that obviously was an offense to God 05:38 and caused the Protestant movement to say, 05:40 "We cannot be united with the church of Rome." 05:42 Well, if an individual says, 05:44 well, let's put all of that aside. 05:47 An example, in Roman Catholicism, 05:49 it is taught that Mary is a Co-Mediatrix of Christ. 05:53 In Protestant Christianity, 05:56 we believe that there is one mediator 05:59 between God and man, 06:00 and that is the Man Christ Jesus. 06:01 Now that's biblical, 06:03 you can't find in the Bible where Mary is a Co-Mediatrix 06:05 but you can find in the Bible 06:07 that there is one mediator between God and man. 06:09 So the Protestants generally hold 06:10 the biblical position where the Roman Catholic Church 06:13 would hold more of a traditional position. 06:16 What ecumenism says is, let's not worry about that. 06:19 Let's just keep doing that. 06:20 Let's just keep doing what we do here. 06:22 But because of the fact 06:23 that we believe that people need to learn about Jesus, 06:25 let's unite nevertheless. 06:27 The problem is, 06:29 the Bible tells us in the Book of Amos, 06:31 "Can two walk together, lest they be agreed?" 06:34 And what's the answer? 06:36 The answer is no. 06:37 And therefore, we cannot have true unity 06:39 because one is an offense to God, 06:41 where the other is not. 06:43 It's kind of like Cain and Abel. 06:44 They both had, 06:46 you know, if you will they both had one goal 06:47 which was to worship God. 06:50 Cain, he came with the best of his fruits 06:53 or what have you, 06:55 or he at least came with some fruits. 06:56 He didn't actually come with the best, 06:58 he just came with some fruits and vegetables. 06:59 But Abel, he came with what God required. 07:02 Hebrews 9:22 says, 07:04 "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." 07:06 So Abel came with an animal, 07:09 both of them came to God, 07:11 both of them came to worship God 07:14 and both of them presented offerings. 07:16 Now under the spirit of ecumenism, 07:18 you would think, "Well, God should've accepted both." 07:20 Yeah. But we know the Bible account. 07:21 The Bible tells us Cain's offering was rejected, 07:25 Abel's offering was accepted. 07:27 God does not endorse the spirit of ecumenism. 07:30 It is against His words, 07:31 because it says, 07:33 we can overlook by our own mindsets and choices. 07:36 We can overlook what God has said, 07:38 and we can just say, 07:39 because we agree on this point, let's just go forward anyhow. 07:43 In fact, Revelation 13 brings out a picture like this. 07:45 It's about those who are gonna fall under 07:47 what's called the Mark of the Beast. 07:48 And the Bible makes it clear in the Revelation 14:9-11, 07:53 it says, "If any man worship the beast and his image, 07:55 and receive his mark in his forehead, 07:56 or in his hand, 07:58 the same shall drink of the wine 07:59 of the wrath of God, 08:00 which is poured out without mixture 08:02 into the cup of his indignation, 08:03 and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 08:05 in the presence of the holy angels, 08:06 and in the presence of the Lamb. 08:08 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, 08:10 and they have no rest day or night, 08:12 who worshipped the beast and his image, 08:13 and whosoever receives the mark of his name." 08:15 That is a very clear definite statement. 08:18 Do not receive the mark of the beast, 08:19 otherwise you will receive the wrath of God. 08:23 Well, Satan works through the beast's power. 08:25 And in Revelation 13, it says in verse 16, 08:28 "And he causeth all, 08:30 both small and great, rich and poor, 08:34 free and bond, 08:35 to receive a mark in their right hand, 08:38 or in their foreheads." 08:40 There will be a group of people, 08:41 made up of all different facets of society 08:44 that will unite. 08:46 They are going to come together 08:48 but they're going to receive something called, 08:50 the mark of the beast. 08:51 They will appear united 08:53 but they are in a false unity 08:55 that was lead out by Satan himself. 08:58 It is because of this that it's not enough to say, 09:00 we need to unify. 09:02 It's how do we unify? 09:03 What are we unifying about? 09:05 What is it that we are saying we're in agreement about? 09:08 And how then does that get accomplished or established? 09:11 And this is the question again that we have to put out 09:13 towards hip-hop culture 09:15 when it says, we believe in love, peace, and unity, 09:18 and safely having fun. 09:20 All right, again, sounds great. 09:22 Buts spell it out, how does it work? 09:25 Show me the details, make it plain, 09:27 how can it be practical? 09:28 And this is where the line will be divided 09:30 between God's plan and man's plan. 09:33 So this is why it's important for us 09:35 again to really look at the subject of unity, 09:39 beautiful as it is. 09:40 But we need to know there is a false unity, 09:43 the same way there was a false peace, 09:44 and the same way there's false love. 09:46 And we don't want the false 09:47 because it leads to destruction. 09:49 We want the truth 09:50 because that's what leads to life. 09:52 So in other words, 09:53 the idea, the desire to come together, 09:55 it's not a problem, 09:57 we should come together. Sure. 09:58 But not at the expense of the truth. 09:59 That's right. 10:01 We need to come together under the banner of truth, 10:02 under the stand that God outlines. 10:04 That is correct. 10:05 So ultimately when we talk about unity, 10:07 what is true unity? 10:09 What is God's desire? 10:11 God's desire. 10:12 Now when we think about God's desire, 10:14 I believe Jesus spells it out beautifully in John 13. 10:17 In John 13, the Bible tells us in verse 35, 10:22 it's kind of like what I firmly believe God wants 10:25 and is needed in our world today. 10:27 It says in John 13, 10:29 and we are considering verse 35, 10:32 and this is what Jesus said, 10:34 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 10:39 if ye have love one to another." 10:44 So the Bible's very clear 10:45 that there is a way that people can demonstrate 10:48 Christ likeness or Christianity if you will. 10:51 Lot of people are calling themselves 10:53 the disciples of Christ. 10:54 A lot of people are saying 10:56 they are the representatives of God 10:57 in hip-hop culture, 10:58 in various church groups, 11:00 and of course, other religious groups. 11:02 Many people are saying, 11:03 "Hey, we are the representatives of God." 11:05 Well, Jesus says, 11:07 one of the signs is that it will be unity. 11:10 So this is one of the things Christ shows here. 11:12 He says, "You have to have love one to another." 11:15 Now somebody says, love, unity, are they the same? 11:18 Well, they definitely work together, 11:20 but they're not exactly the same. 11:21 But why do I say unity? 11:23 It's because the word love in John 13:35, 11:26 it comes from the Greek word agape, 11:28 which deals with a godly love, 11:30 this very unconditional type of love. 11:32 And it's beautiful to know that the desire of Christ 11:35 was that we His disciples 11:37 would have that kind of love one toward another. 11:39 But then the Bible says 11:41 something that I believe 11:42 does add the unity component to it. 11:44 But it's found in Philippians 2, 11:46 so I'm gonna compare that. 11:47 So in John 13:35, the Bible says, 11:50 "This is how people shall know you are My disciples 11:52 when you have love one to another. 11:55 But then when we look at Philippians 2 now, 11:58 you see that the Bible also spells something else out 12:01 that we would do well to consider. 12:02 It says in verse 1, 12:05 "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, 12:09 if any comfort of love, 12:11 if any fellowship of the Spirit, 12:14 if any bowels and mercies, 12:16 fulfil ye my joy, 12:18 that ye be likeminded, 12:21 having the same love, 12:25 being of one accord, of one mind." 12:29 So notice in John 13:35, 12:31 Jesus is simply speaking to His disciples. 12:32 He says, listen, this is how people are gonna know 12:34 you're my disciples, 12:36 you gotta have love one for another. 12:38 This is how they will know, 12:39 they'll see through your interactions 12:40 with each other 12:42 that these are children of the Most High God. 12:45 Now God magnifies this point in Philippians 2, 12:49 by saying actually, 12:50 "I want you to have the same love." 12:54 The same love, 12:55 so the love you have is not gonna be degreed 12:57 where you have one kind of love 12:59 and I have a different kind of love. 13:00 God's desire is that we have the same love 13:02 which produces us being of one accord 13:06 of one mind. 13:08 Now that's unity. That's unity. 13:10 This is what Christ wants. 13:13 If we have the same love one toward another, 13:15 we shall be unified. 13:17 And that's why we say that love is the foundation. 13:19 Love is the foundation 13:20 of all of these wonderful virtues 13:22 and from that we can experience every other blessing 13:25 that comes in its string. 13:27 So God wants to make it clear. 13:29 True unity is when individuals can be likeminded, 13:32 when they can be of one accord, 13:34 when they could be of one mind. 13:36 It doesn't mean we lose our individuality, 13:38 you know, I'm still Dwayne, you're still Lance, 13:40 and we are very different. 13:42 Nevertheless, there are some things 13:44 that we do hold in common 13:46 and this is where it is very, very important 13:48 that we have a right understanding 13:50 of what God wants to accomplish. 13:51 So there's actually, again the desire to have this. 13:55 It's something that I believe God places in the human heart. 13:59 So we all should want it, 14:01 and so when hip-hop culture cries for it or strives for it, 14:05 that's an honorable thing. 14:07 Absolutely. 14:08 The problem is the means by which you're going about it. 14:10 Correct. 14:12 The conclusions that you are drawing 14:13 or the lack of conclusions that you're drawing, 14:15 and the lack of power that you're giving, 14:17 that you're communicating to the people, 14:19 you're not directing them to God 14:21 for to obtain it. Correct. 14:22 In other words, you're saying, we need to do this, 14:25 and that's the end of the story. 14:27 Sounds great. 14:28 Everybody would agree with that we need to do that. 14:29 But how do you do it? 14:31 We can't, we've tried, we can't, it's not working. 14:33 So you're not directing them 14:34 to the only one that can supply them 14:36 with what they need. 14:37 And in fact the Bible even shares another verse 14:39 that you're gonna share with us 14:41 that talks about the absolute beauty 14:43 and the picture of what unity would look like. 14:46 Absolutely. 14:48 And you know, I like this 14:49 because once we can reconcile with the fact, 14:53 I cannot produce what God wants independent of God. 14:56 John 15:5, "Without me you can do nothing." 15:00 This is the point that Christ is trying so hard 15:03 to bring across to our hearts. 15:04 You see, before there was KRS-One, 15:06 Afrika Bambaataa, 15:08 before there was Dwayne or Lance, 15:09 before there was Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X, 15:11 there was a whole string of human beings, 15:14 people that insincerity wanted to promote unity, 15:18 love, and peace, and many of these other things. 15:20 And yet, from so many centuries ago, 15:24 up until today, 15:25 you almost have to be deaf, dumb, and blind 15:27 not to see how true the Bible is. 15:29 And what does the Bible say? 15:31 It says in 2 Timothy 3, 15:32 I want you to consider this because this is the point 15:35 that God wants to get across to our hearts. 15:37 And once it gets across, 15:39 then hopefully we can do some things right. 15:40 The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:1, 15:44 "This know also, 15:47 that in the last days perilous times shall come." 15:51 So Bible is making it clear, in the last days, 15:53 it's gonna be some bad situations going on. 15:55 Why? Notice. 15:57 It says, "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, 16:01 covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, 16:05 disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 16:09 without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, 16:14 incontinent, fierce, 16:16 despisers of those that are good, 16:18 traitors, heady, highminded, 16:21 lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, 16:24 and then it says, having a form of godliness, 16:27 but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 16:30 The Bible literally paints a horrific picture 16:33 of not even what the world would look like 16:35 but even at the religious institutions, 16:37 the churches and what they would look like. 16:39 The Bible actually says, it's gonna be horrible 16:41 because all of these things are gonna be rising up 16:43 in the hearts of people, 16:45 they're gonna be traitors, 16:46 they're gonna be heady, highminded, 16:47 lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. 16:49 But they'll have a form of godliness. 16:51 In other words, this lip service, 16:52 this thing about you are God, you are this, you are that. 16:57 Anybody can say that, anyone can talk that. 16:59 But at the end of the day, 17:00 your behavior tells who you are. 17:02 And this is the question, are we getting better 17:05 or are we getting worse 17:07 since we had so many thought leaders 17:09 all throughout the years that have been promoting 17:11 and teaching lots of concepts and different things. 17:14 But the question is, what has it produced now 17:17 in this time in our earth's history in society? 17:20 Well, the Bible tells us, 17:22 it says in verse 12 of 2 Timothy 3, 17:28 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus 17:31 shall suffer persecution, 17:32 but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, 17:38 deceiving, and being deceived." 17:40 The Bible says things are gonna get worse. 17:42 People are gonna continue to get worse. 17:44 Are we living in that society? 17:45 Do we see these things happening today? 17:47 Absolutely. Absolutely. 17:48 Things are getting worse. 17:50 In other words, it is not enough 17:52 to simply give people lip service. 17:54 It is not enough to just say, "Hey, do this. 17:57 Hey, do that. 17:58 Do this or you need to be this. We need to unify." 18:01 It all sounds great. 18:03 But we are testifying through our behavior 18:06 and through the clear landscape of society 18:08 that I need a power outside of myself 18:13 in order to accomplish 18:14 what we have been admonished to accomplish 18:16 literally for hundreds of years, 18:17 through various thought leaders, 18:19 through various people even today. 18:21 So when I look at hip-hop culture which says, 18:23 "Hey, folks, we need to have love, peace, and unity." 18:27 It sounds great but the problem is, how? 18:30 Where are we gonna get this from? 18:32 And the Bible doesn't show us a point of confusion, 18:35 it shows us a beautiful clear answer. 18:37 It's in Ephesians 4, now watch this. 18:40 In Ephesians 4, somebody says, well, I want to get true unity, 18:43 I want real unity." 18:45 No problem, I want it too 18:46 but I'm thankful, I know where to go. 18:48 And here's what the Bible says, 18:49 it says in Ephesians 4:1, 18:54 "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, 18:56 beseech you that ye walk worthy 18:58 of the vocation wherewith ye are called 19:00 with all lowliness and meekness, 19:02 with longsuffering, 19:03 forbearing one another in love 19:05 endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit 19:10 in the bond of peace." 19:12 So notice, they are endeavoring to keep unity, 19:16 but it's the unity of the spirit. 19:20 The only way I can have true unity 19:22 is through the spirit of God that dwells in me. 19:26 As I am empowered by God's spirit. 19:28 It's kind of like the Zechariah 4:6 principle, 19:31 "Not by might, nor by power, 19:33 but by God's spirit, saith the Lord." 19:36 It's gonna take more than just simple intellectual knowledge. 19:38 It's gonna take more than simply wherewithal. 19:41 It's gonna take a submission 19:43 to a power source outside of ourselves 19:45 which the Bible is referring to here as God's Holy Spirit. 19:48 And this is how we are enabled to do God's will 19:52 and to have true unity, the same love 19:55 and to be of one accord with brethren. 19:57 So this is something that's very, very clear 19:59 that the Bible is showing. 20:01 Now here's another point. 20:03 If we are to be unified in the spirit, 20:05 that means the spirit is the one that leads us, 20:07 we don't lead the spirit, right? 20:09 Well, then let's think about this, John 16:13. 20:13 In John 16:13 now, 20:17 this is what the Bible says, 20:18 "Howbeit when He, the spirit of truth, is come," 20:23 "He will guide you into all truth: 20:26 for He shall not speak of Himself, 20:28 but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: 20:30 and He will show you things to come." 20:32 Notice that in Ephesians 4, 20:35 "We are to endeavor to strive for unity of the spirit." 20:39 Then in John 16, the Bible says, 20:42 the spirit of truth. 20:44 True unity comes from truth, not lies. 20:48 Lies have no place with God, lies does not work with God. 20:53 In fact, remember one time, Jesus said something 20:55 when He was talking to His disciples. 20:57 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." 21:01 "No man comes unto the Father but by me." 21:03 So Jesus is not just the embodiment of love, 21:05 He's the embodiment of truth, right? 21:07 Yes. Well, watch this, 1 John 2:21. 21:11 It's kind of like this text 21:12 just keep downloading in my brain. 21:14 So you know, indulge me, please. 21:16 Well, here it is that the Bible says 21:17 in 1 John 2:21, watch this. 21:22 It says, "I have not written unto you 21:23 because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, 21:26 and that no lie is of the truth." 21:31 So no lie is connected the truth, 21:33 Christ is the truth, so no lie connects to Christ. 21:37 The Bible, "Sanctify them through thy truth: 21:39 thy word is truth." 21:40 So no lie can be connected with scripture. 21:43 If people want to be unified, 21:45 it can only happen under God's spirit 21:49 and it must be according to God's truth. 21:52 If I'm teaching you 21:53 that Christianity is not necessary, 21:55 that Christ is not necessary, 21:58 that the Bible is not necessary, 22:00 then you don't have to look to Jesus, 22:01 you can look to yourself and you can create the unity 22:05 as thought leaders are teaching in hip-hop culture, 22:07 then what is happening 22:08 is whether they've realized it or not, 22:10 they're lying to those precious youth, 22:12 and they are not going to bring those people into unity, 22:15 no matter how hard they try. 22:17 And I mean, essentially, that's where it boils down to. 22:19 You cannot call for something that is divine and holy, 22:23 and then reject the author 22:25 of that which is divine and holy. 22:28 So you have a situation where individuals 22:30 are calling for unity in this case. 22:32 And yet, they at the same time is saying that, 22:36 "Well, there's no man up in the sky." 22:39 You know, that's all false, so that's a lie. 22:41 Well, to call good evil, 22:44 and evil good is exactly would say in there, right? 22:47 That's right. 22:49 And so it's been promulgated through today's society, 22:51 it's a deception. 22:52 And when you do this, 22:54 what is it, what message does it send out? 22:56 Well, I'm God, I can choose whatever I wanna choose. 22:59 So I can from... 23:02 in one hand I can, you know, encourage people to, 23:06 you know, be in good health, and be fit, 23:09 and fight against the diseases that are taken, 23:11 you know, many individuals in hip-hop culture, 23:14 you know, have gone down suffering from diabetes, 23:17 gone down from heart disease, heart attacks, 23:20 and suffering from MS, and all these other things 23:22 that are directly associated with lifestyle in many cases. 23:25 And so there is an undercurrent 23:27 of the hip-hop community that's saying, 23:30 "Well, we need to make some changes. 23:31 We need to, you know, improve our health situation." 23:34 But at the same time, then we're talking about, 23:36 you know, drinking, and smoking, 23:38 and that's part of natural, you know, naturally having fun. 23:41 These are things that come from nature, 23:42 therefore they're good for us to consume. 23:44 So you know, it's an idea on one hand 23:47 that we need to pay attention to certain things 23:48 but the deception and the lie that no, 23:50 we can indulge in these things. 23:52 So again, it's impossible to achieve unity 23:58 without acknowledging the truth. 24:01 And if you reject the truth, 24:02 and when we talked about knowledge, 24:04 the rejection of knowledge in Hosea 4, 24:08 "The rejection of knowledge leads to destruction." 24:11 Right. 24:12 And so when the words go out, 24:14 you know, they stop the violence movement 24:16 and the self destruction, 24:17 you know, you're headed for self destruction. 24:19 Well, you're headed for self destruction 24:21 by rejecting knowledge and rejecting the truth. 24:24 Not necessarily by getting involved in crime, 24:26 and all these things. 24:28 The very lifestyle choices you're making 24:29 and the idea that intellectually 24:30 you're rejecting your creator 24:32 is what's leading to your destruction, 24:34 because you have no power to abstain from the things 24:38 that are destroying yourself and your community. 24:39 That's right. 24:41 And, you know, we have to accept 24:43 the fact that humanity has a limit. 24:45 Human nature has a limit. 24:46 There are powers that be, the one thing I will say 24:49 that I agree with the points that are brought out 24:53 fairly forcefully through hip-hop culture, 24:55 but God brought it out before they did, 24:57 but nevertheless they are echoes of this is, 25:00 there are social injustices. 25:02 It's not that it's fabricated, there are disadvantages, 25:05 there is a lot of the cooking of the books 25:07 in people in the back, and there's money manipulation, 25:10 there are people being used and manipulated, 25:15 and there are things happening in society 25:17 they try to keep certain societies down, 25:19 and things of that nature. 25:20 I can see that, I can go in certain neighborhoods, 25:22 and I don't see a billboard promoting Guinness Stout 25:25 and all these other horrific, you know, substances. 25:28 But I can go to other neighborhoods 25:29 and I can see those things there. 25:30 Why is it? You know, or what have you? 25:33 There's a lot of things that are happening in society 25:36 whether be in the judicial system 25:37 or otherwise that definitely is worthy of reform. 25:41 There's no question about that. 25:42 And what we have to realize 25:44 is that humanity does have a limit. 25:46 There does come a point in time 25:48 where our human nature is gonna be capped off. 25:51 And whatever is naturally in us will come out. 25:54 And this is the reason why we are constantly 25:57 pointing individuals back 25:58 to the power source being Jesus Christ 26:01 and the power of His Holy Spirit 26:02 to enable us to demonstrate the principles of true unity 26:07 even during those times of life 26:09 when the precious of life begin to crush us 26:12 and come upon us as a true and heavy way. 26:15 Friends, I believe that, 26:16 you know, God is trying to make a point to our hearts. 26:20 Point by point, principle by principle, 26:22 and that's why we've been studying these things out 26:25 succinctly, very carefully, looking at true love, 26:28 looking at true peace, studying now true unity. 26:31 And even though we haven't really gotten into the concepts 26:34 that really spell out unity in a practical way. 26:37 We're gonna be doing that in our next episode. 26:39 And I trust that the Lord is gonna bless us. 26:41 And I just hope that you stay tuned, 26:43 continue to study, 26:45 review the verses that we have shared. 26:46 Pray and ask God 26:48 to bring these truths home to your heart 26:50 and watch what the Lord would do for you 26:52 and through you for others. 26:54 Until then we look forward to seeing you at our next time 26:56 when we come together. 26:58 And please, remember the words of Proverbs 2:6 that tells us, 27:01 "It is the Lord that gives us wisdom 27:02 and out of His mouth 27:04 comes knowledge and understanding." 27:06 God bless. |
Revised 2017-06-29