Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL090016
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:23 Well friends, welcome to another exciting program 00:25 as we break open the bread of life today. 00:27 And we are going to share the loaf with you. 00:30 Thank you for joining the most exciting 00:32 and informative program 00:33 we believe in the world at this time. 00:36 And I'm not alone in that opinion. 00:38 What about you, John? 00:40 That's right. At this hour. At this hour, that's right. 00:43 Amen. Praise the Lord. It's good to be here, John. 00:45 It's good to have you. And we know we get together 00:48 and as we say, we open the word of God 00:50 and study it together and we invite our listeners 00:52 and viewers to join us. And they have done so. 00:55 And we have an exciting program that we want you to tune in. 00:58 We want you to stay tuned into. 01:00 We're gonna about the Holy Spirit today, 01:02 a walk in the Spirit. 01:04 But we have some dynamic Bible questions. 01:07 Some of you have sent me snail mail. 01:09 We still accept snail mail. 01:11 Yes, the Internet is not the only means whereby, 01:13 we received questions. Thank you for sending what you have. 01:17 But before we do anything we're gonna have prayer. 01:19 So John, would you have prayer for us. Let's do that. 01:21 Dear Father, in heaven we are so thankful to be here 01:24 and to have this opportunity to open your word. 01:26 And so we just pray that you lead through this Bible study. 01:29 That you will come and your spirit will inhabit us 01:30 and those who are watching, who are listening. 01:35 So that we may understand you better. 01:36 And that we may not just have knowledge, 01:38 but the wisdom to live according to that knowledge, 01:41 in Jesus name, amen, amen. 01:44 As you know, your Bible questions are 01:46 a big part of this program. As a matter of fact, 01:48 I think each of the programs we spent about 01:50 half of the time answering your Bible questions 01:53 and they are some really good questions. 01:56 And if you have any questions, 01:58 you want to send to us because we've always like to activate 02:00 thought in your mind. 02:01 Send them to housecalls@3abn.org, 02:04 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 02:07 And for those of you who know the address, 02:09 who still like to write letters with great penmanship, 02:12 thank you for those who write very legibly. 02:16 You can send those to PO. Box 220, 02:19 West Frankford, Illinois, 62896. 02:22 Thank you for those. And, John, 02:23 we're gonna go back and forth, we're gonna go computer, 02:26 snail mail, computer, snail mail, 02:27 so lets start with computer. Here we go. Okay. 02:29 This question is from Annette. 02:31 And she is asking with regard to something that she says, 02:35 Jesus said, but actually I think, 02:37 she doesn't the quote the verse here. Okay. 02:39 So I think it's, it's more of along Paul's writings. 02:43 Jesus obviously eluted to the issue but, 02:45 she says here could you please tell me 02:47 who Jesus is talking about, all who are taught by the law. 02:53 And then she also says do we connect that 02:57 along with those thieves and robbers 03:00 referred to by Jesus in John 10 verse 8. 03:03 And so I took a look on the, you know, 03:05 we have this quick club program 03:07 that we can look up as, you know, 03:10 part of the, you know, our Bible programs 03:12 that we can look up and find taught by the law. 03:14 And I couldn't find your reference 03:15 specifically by Jesus and it could be that 03:18 the translation I'm using 03:19 or something isn't pulling it up. 03:21 But, from what it appears to me that, 03:24 she's probably referring to something 03:25 John that Paul said, a few times, 03:29 specifically in Romans 7 verse 1. 03:31 I think, he mentioned that in verses where he, 03:33 eluding to it and most closely. 03:35 And here is what Paul says in Romans 7 verse 1. 03:39 Okay. Find it for you real fast. 03:44 He says, Or do you not know brethren, 03:47 for I speak to those who know the law, 03:49 that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. 03:53 Several times Paul would reference the law 03:56 or reference the law when he's speaking specifically 03:59 to the leaders of the Jews, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, 04:03 those who were teachers of the law in those days. 04:07 And you know, he is, I believe speaking to the same here, 04:10 those who know the law, know what it teaches. 04:12 Know, know its practices. 04:14 So, the question then here is those who know that law, 04:19 could it be that Jesus is referring to them 04:21 as thieves and robbers in John 10 verse 8. 04:25 Now, first of all, before we enter that question, 04:26 what's, let's talk about what Jesus 04:29 and what Paul would be referring to, 04:31 speaking of the law. Because there are several ways 04:35 to define law or at least in context which law 04:39 they're talking about. That's true. 04:40 Now we know that the law of God is the Ten Commandments 04:43 that were given, written by his own finger, 04:46 given on tablets of stone to Moses, 04:49 which he put inside the Ark of the covenant. 04:52 You know, we jump over that really quickly at times. 04:54 But it is the very foundation, 04:56 the very basis of the covenant that God made with his people. 04:59 That's right. And then there was the laws, 05:02 the various laws that God gave to Moses 05:05 that Moses wrote down. That's true. 05:08 And he told Moses don't put this in the Ark 05:10 but put this beside the Ark. That's right. 05:12 And if you read, Daniel's pray and in Daniel 9, 05:16 you will see both of those laws referred to 05:18 in fact I'll mention that, 05:19 I'll read that really quickly here, 05:20 'cause it's a real good example. 05:22 Daniel chapter 9, okay, let's go there, Daniel 9. 05:27 Verse 10 and 11. we have not obeyed 05:32 the voice of the Lord, our God, 05:34 he is speaking in behalf of his people corporately, 05:37 that is the children of Israel. 05:39 To walk in his laws, 05:41 which he set before us by his servants, the prophets. 05:45 Yes, all Israel has transgressed your law, 05:49 and has departed as to not obey your voice, therefore. 05:53 Okay, so he's spoken of the Law of God 05:55 up to this point. True. 05:57 Therefore, he says the curse and the oath written 06:00 in the Law of Moses, the servant of God 06:03 has been poured out on us, 06:05 because we have sinned against him. 06:07 So you see the Law of Moses was really given 06:10 after the Law of God. And it contained with in it 06:15 ceremonies and other things that they had to perform 06:18 as purification rituals. As not only purification 06:25 from sin but as an anti, 06:28 or a type which point forward to Christ, 06:30 the anti-type who would be our savior to take away our sins, 06:34 sin of the world. That's right. 06:35 And so, what is being referred to here then 06:39 when he is talking about those who know the law, 06:41 I believe is those ceremonies and those rituals 06:44 and those things that they were very comfortable doing, 06:46 they have doing all their lives. 06:48 And Paul battled this all the time 06:51 with in the early church. Because the early church 06:54 didn't just contain Gentiles, it contained Jews. 06:57 Amen, that's true. 06:58 So as the early church began to grow both Jews and Gentiles 07:01 as they worship together, you had two cultures 07:04 clashing often. One culture saying hey, 07:08 we've always kept the Law of Moses; 07:10 we've always kept those ceremonies. 07:12 And although they understood that Christ fulfilled 07:14 those things, there was still a battle 07:16 there to do many of those things 07:18 or continue to practice them. That's right. 07:20 Where as the Gentiles were hearing from Paul 07:24 and the rest of the Apostles, you know Barnabas, 07:26 he had James, John, Peter who said 07:30 that Christ was the fulfillment 07:31 of those things. And so there was 07:33 this clash between, you know, shall we do them, 07:36 shall we not do them. That's right. 07:37 So Paul in Romans is saying, you know, 07:39 you know these things those who know the law 07:42 and then he goes on to explain and express 07:45 what that law is really pointed to. 07:47 Now if you look at getting to the question here 07:50 found in John chapter 10 verse 8 it says, 07:56 or let's back up to verse 7 Jesus said to them again, 07:58 most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 08:02 Speaking of himself, as the doorway by which 08:05 we must come to not only God but unto salvation. 08:09 All, verse 8, all who ever come before me 08:12 are thieves and robbers, 08:14 but the sheep did not hear them. 08:16 In other words those who provide 08:18 or show another way to be saved, 08:22 another way to come to God those are thieves and robbers. 08:26 So in some respects, you could say that 08:29 if someone is saying, well you need to continue 08:33 even though Christ has come to fulfill all those laws, 08:36 those laws of Moses specifically those ceremonies 08:39 and rituals, right. 08:41 Those who were saying you have to do that to be saved 08:43 are coming another way besides the door. 08:46 That's it. So in that respect you would qualify them 08:49 probably the Pharisees or Sadducees, 08:52 the teachers of the law of those days 08:53 as thieves and robbers. You know all those things 08:57 you said are true and let me just add 08:59 another component to that, because there's always 09:01 this confusion John about the law. 09:03 There are a lot of people, it's amazing to me 09:05 how many people are really confused 09:07 when you mentioned the single word, law. 09:10 Just like mentioning the single word hell, 09:12 in the Bible has four different meanings. 09:16 It has Hebrew definition, it has Greek definition 09:19 and it's applied to the grave, 09:21 it's applied to the lake of fire, 09:22 it's applied to the garbage heap, 09:25 that was outside of the city of Jerusalem 09:26 where people dump their garbage 09:28 and the warm never died and the fire never went out. 09:31 And the Lord talks about, 09:33 the torment of the wicked being similar to that, 09:36 the warm never died, the fire never going out. 09:39 And so when it comes to the law lot of people forget 09:42 and some people misapply the meaning of it 09:45 and say well because you say we must keep the law 09:48 then you are forcing us to do all the things 09:49 that the Jews did and that's not exactly, 09:52 that's not what we're saying at all. 09:54 Matter of fact, one of the texts, 09:55 there are a couple of things came to my mind. 09:57 First, let's go to the book of Galatians, 10:00 want you to see this Galatians. 10:04 The Bible makes it very, very clear. 10:06 And first of all I want to, as we're turning there, 10:08 I want to make it abundantly clear that to be a Christian 10:13 and to be and to believe that Christians could live 10:16 their lives in-obedience to the Lord we serve, 10:21 to Jesus, without living in harmony with his commandments. 10:25 It's a diabolical or, the word I'm using is 10:31 a contrast, is a conflict, 10:33 is the best word I can use or best phrase. 10:35 It's a conflict. Because there are so many people, 10:38 let's say, well you know Jesus did away with the law 10:41 are now in order for us to live in harmony with him, 10:43 we have to get rid of the law. 10:46 Let me go back to the very beginning. 10:50 Before the children of Israel even came into existence, 10:53 before they arrived at Mount Sinai, 10:55 before they entered into Egypt, 10:57 before they were made slaves there. 11:00 Abraham who was not a Jew, 11:04 in Genesis 26 verse 5 we're gonna go there 11:06 and show you how there were laws existing way back then, 11:10 that were not yet written down on tables of stone 11:13 but what communicated to Moses during that time. 11:16 Well, let's first start with this, in Galatians 3:19 11:18 I'm gonna show you the contrast here. 11:20 I know which verse you are going to, okay, 11:22 it says what purpose then does the law serve. 11:26 It was added because of transgressions 11:29 till the seed should come to whom the promise was made 11:33 and it was appointed through angels 11:35 by the hand of a mediator. Okay, you asked the question. 11:39 What laws are referring to there? 11:41 Yeah. We just read from Daniel, 11:43 it was added. It was added. 11:44 Because of their sins. There you go. 11:46 The same thing that Daniel said, 11:48 it was added because, because men committed murder, 11:54 because Cain killed Abel. 11:56 You know, it would not have been a sin 11:58 for Cain to kill Abel, unless there was a law 11:59 already in place. Saying thou shall not kill. 12:01 That's right. So, how could you, 12:03 so let's look at that now a days. 12:05 Okay, we live in a society where we have speed cameras. 12:10 We have people, police with their 12:13 speed detecting guns, with lasers, 12:16 helicopters that watch you when you go from line to line. 12:20 You know, you probably wonder how I know about this. 12:23 I never got a speed camera check, 12:25 but I've had a chance to meet a highways patrolmen 12:27 here and there. And that's you know 12:30 the frailty of humanity and sometimes out desired 12:32 to get to where we getting, 12:33 trying to get to without following the speed limit 12:36 all the time. Here is the point. 12:38 If there was no, on the autobahn there would be 12:42 no need for a laser gun, 12:44 because there was no speed limit. Right. 12:47 There would no need for a helicopter tracing how fast 12:49 you are going on the autobahn because once again 12:51 there was no speed limit. So where there is no law 12:54 against going fast there is no necessary means 12:58 to put another law in place. Right. 13:00 And so because the law of speeding is being 13:02 violated in America, we have all these other laws 13:05 following. You know 55 mile an hour here. 13:08 50 miles an hour there, 30, these are all laws. 13:11 These are all which I would refer to as ordinances. 13:15 So you have the ordinance on the city, 13:17 there are ordinances, ordinances. 13:18 And these were all added and built up 13:20 and they continued to be added and continued to be built up, 13:22 because the bottom line is they just want people 13:25 to stay with in the confines of the speed limit. 13:29 But John, if you think if all the things that are out there 13:32 that exists, comes down to that simple fact. 13:36 Well the law the ceremonial law was added 13:38 because man sinned. 13:39 But now let's go to First Corinthians 7:19. 13:43 Go to First Corinthians of chapter 7 and verse 19. 13:48 When you look at the Law of the various washings, 13:53 the cardinal ordinances, the blood of bulls 13:57 and goats and cows and doves, 14:00 the ways you're offering, all these things. 14:02 They had, you had to specifically be a Jew 14:07 to honor these things, but when it came down 14:09 to the Commandments of God that is not the case. 14:11 That's right. 14:12 Read First Corinthians 7 verse 19 for us John. 14:14 Circumcision is nothing, and Uncircumcision is nothing, 14:18 but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. 14:21 Is that clear? Pretty clear. 14:23 Paul the Apostle of New Testament. 14:25 That's right. 14:26 So you can't read that text 14:27 and say the commandments of God don't matter, right. 14:29 Because here you're talking about circumcision 14:32 which is part of the Law of Moses, that's right, 14:34 and the Law of God or the Commandments of God, 14:37 God's moral law, as being the real that matters, right. 14:42 And the circumcision Paul also goes unto say, 14:44 he say it's not the circumcision of the flesh 14:47 but it's the circumcision of the heart, that's right. 14:49 And that's what the Lord is taking about. 14:51 So when you really narrow or down, 14:53 theirs is nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments of God, 14:55 there is nothing wrong with God's law. 14:57 The weakness of the ceremonial law made it necessary for Jesus 15:02 the anti-type to come. And by the way you know 15:05 we use the phrase anti-Christ and anti-type. 15:08 Anti doesn't mean against it means in place of. 15:11 Right. So when Jesus came those who were taken 15:14 the lives of the lambs gave the introduction 15:19 to John the Baptist. It wasn't something John came up with 15:23 and what should I call Jesus, Lamb of God. 15:27 You know, right. The lamb had been slain for centuries. 15:30 And so when Jesus came he was simply saying to the Jews 15:33 gathered by the River of Jordan, 15:36 there is the Lamb, right. 15:37 That's the lamb, that's the lamb you want. 15:39 The anti-type has come. So when the anti-type came 15:42 that's why when Jesus was crucified the lamb 15:45 that was about to be killed in the temple 15:48 that day was set free and all the temple ceremonies 15:52 were exposed, the curtain being torn from top to bottom 15:55 bringing that to an end. And so John, 15:58 people to say that, we have to keep all those feast days 16:03 where we're adding to our salvation something 16:06 that does not exist any longer in prospect of two. 16:12 Our faith walk with Christ, because now the type, 16:15 the anti-type has come. 16:16 The very essence has come with Jesus, 16:18 no needed for, no needed for all the types any longer. 16:22 Right, exactly. Well that's a lot, 16:26 that's a long question. 16:27 But that was a good one. 16:28 Okay, here is another one. 16:30 And I commend those of you who send these questions in. 16:32 Sometimes some of you that are watching 16:35 the program I think, are they writing 16:37 these questions because it seems like 16:38 they come up so often. Right. 16:40 These are the frequent questions; 16:41 these are the questions that come up. 16:43 This one is from Pauline, 16:46 thank you Pauline, from Arizona. 16:49 I won't give the city 16:50 because I'm sure there are many Paulines in Arizona. 16:52 Thank you so much for your question. 16:54 I'm commenting on Sabbath day, 16:58 Leviticus 26 verse 2 and Exodus 20 verse 8 say, 17:03 keep the Sabbath holy, respect God's sanctuary. 17:09 That's what she is saying there. 17:10 And let me go and read that text. 17:14 Leviticus chapter 26 verse 2, 17:16 Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, 17:18 and reverence my sanctuary: 17:21 I am the LORD. You will notice if you read 17:23 Leviticus chapter 26 it's pluralized Sabbaths. 17:27 If you go to Leviticus chapter 23 17:29 there are many Sabbaths talked about in the Bible. 17:33 And so depending on the translation you use, 17:36 Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 to 11 reads differently, 17:40 only in the context of plural or singular, 17:45 specific or general. 17:46 Let me read the NIV. 17:48 And this is one of the reasons why people kind of shy away 17:51 from the NIV. But I wanna say to you 17:53 in the context it's not incorrect. 17:56 You just have to add the bigger picture to it, 17:58 and I'll go and read it. 18:00 It says remember the Sabbath day Exodus 18:02 chapter 20 verse 8, 18:03 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 18:06 Six days you shall labor and do all your work 18:09 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, 18:12 your God. Notice that used a Sabbath 18:15 rather than the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. 18:21 They put a Sabbath to the Lord as compared 18:24 to the Sabbath of the Lord. 18:26 And if you don't keep reading you could say blaspheme. 18:32 Right. But I want to keep reading. 18:34 And it says, I'm going to verse 11, 18:37 For in six days the LORD made heavens 18:40 and earth, the sea, and all that in them, 18:43 but he rested on the seventh day: 18:46 therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, 18:50 and made it holy, specifying. 18:54 So the reason why, 18:55 NIV used the Seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, 19:00 is because in the Leviticus, the Book of Leviticus, 19:03 there are many, many Sabbaths talked about 19:06 that were not connected at all to the weekly Sabbath 19:09 at the end of creation. Matter of fact, 19:11 go with me John, any thoughts on that so far? 19:14 No. Good. Okay. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 23 19:19 and we share few of them with you before I answer 19:21 the question because this person says 19:23 according to Jesus Christ in the New Testament 19:27 everyday is a Sabbath day. 19:29 And I must, I must disagree with you, 19:33 can't even agree with you. 19:34 You know they say respectfully I think 19:36 that's we're not disrespectful here, 19:38 but I can't agree with that 19:39 because everyday is not the Sabbath day. 19:41 Do you realize the ramifications 19:42 if everyday was a Sabbath day. 19:44 Yeah. What are some other things 19:45 that we couldn't do? 19:47 Well, the fourth commandment doesn't talk 19:48 just about keeping the Sabbath holy, 19:50 it talks about not working on that day. 19:51 Right. Okay. 19:53 So if everyday was the Sabbath you wouldn't work period. 19:57 Because according to the Sabbath command 20:01 you shall labor six days that shows you right away 20:04 that the seventh day was the Sabbath, 20:06 it's not everyday. You know some, 20:08 just another quick note, 20:09 somebody say well when Jesus came 20:11 there was a different set of commandments that were given, 20:14 you heard that argument. 20:15 You know, well, 20:16 you know the ones that he reiterated are important. 20:19 I'm sorry, with that which you write, 20:21 which God wrote with his own finger in stone is set in place. 20:26 And if you look also in the New Testament, 20:31 even the words of Christ every time 20:32 you talked about the Sabbath. 20:34 Oh! Here is one example. Matthew chapter 5, 20:37 you know not one jot or tittle of the law shall fail, 20:40 okay, right. 20:41 Then right after that what does it talk about? 20:43 Thou shall not murder, 20:45 thou shall not commit adultery. 20:48 See so, all of a sudden, 20:49 Jesus starts quoting and referencing 20:51 the Ten Commandments. 20:53 So you know the Commandments 20:55 of the New Testament are the same as 20:56 the Commandments of the Old Testament, 20:57 nothing has changed. 20:59 And it's amazing when you walk 21:02 through the Book of Leviticus chapter 23 21:03 I just pointed out a few of them for you. 21:06 There is the weekly Sabbath. 21:08 I just give the Summery of it. 21:10 The weekly Sabbath, 21:11 the seventh day of the week, 21:13 weekly, there is the Passover. 21:16 Which you look at, that's also referred 21:18 to as the Sabbath. 21:20 Verse 5 on the fourteenth day of the first month 21:23 at twilight is the Lord's Passover. 21:26 You go on now, down to lets look at verse 11. 21:34 He shall wave the sheaf, 21:35 this is the first fruits of ceremony 21:38 of the first fruits, he shall wave the sheaf, 21:41 before the Lord to be accepted on your behalf 21:45 on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 21:49 And you shall offer on that day when you wave the sheaf 21:53 a male lamb of the first year without blemish. 21:56 You have the Passover, 21:57 you have feast of unleavened breads, 21:59 you have the feast of first fruits, 22:01 you have the feast of tabernacles, 22:02 of Pentecost, of trumpets of dedication, 22:04 you have the fest Purim, 22:07 you had also look at verse 15. 22:11 And ye shall count for yourselves from the day 22:13 after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought 22:16 the sheaf of the wave offering; 22:18 seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 22:21 And then if you go down, 22:23 oh, let me give you another one here. 22:27 He added the Day of Atonement. 22:29 You also had in verse 32, it says, 22:32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, 22:36 and ye shall afflict your souls on the ninth day 22:39 of the month at evening, from even to even, 22:42 ye shall celebrate your Sabbath. 22:43 You see right there. That was the Sabbath 22:45 that fell on the 9th day of the month. 22:48 You had one on the first day of the month. 22:50 And these were all ceremonial celebrations 22:54 but not the weekly Sabbath. 22:56 But there are ceremonial celebrations 22:57 because there were holy days to the people in addition 23:02 to the seven day holy day every week. 23:06 Look at verse 39, Also on the fifteenth day, 23:09 this is Leviticus chapter 23, 23:10 also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, 23:13 when ye have gathered in the first fruit of the Lord, 23:17 ye shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days: 23:20 on the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, 23:23 not a small Sabbath, a Sabbath rest. 23:26 And on the eighth day a Sabbath rest, 23:29 that eighth day one was the feast of tabernacles. 23:32 So you find the Bible talks about many, 23:34 many Sabbaths, when those Sabbaths 23:36 which Colossians 2 talks about. 23:39 When it says let no man judge you in meats, 23:41 and drinks and new moons and Sabbath days. 23:44 Those are the things that have been talked about. 23:46 Those are pointing to Christ. 23:48 When Jesus came the only Sabbath that continued 23:52 was the one that was blessed at the end of creation week, 23:54 long before sin entered the world. 23:58 Very good. And did I say 24:00 I was gonna give you also Exodus, 24:02 let me just give this last one. 24:07 Exodus chapter, not Exodus, 24:14 Genesis, here it is. 24:17 Okay. Are you ready? 24:26 And by the way, by the way 24:29 when you read the book of Genesis you see that... 24:38 Okay here it is, Genesis chapter, oh, 24:45 we have it here, okay. 24:54 Well let's move on here, 24:55 I just lost my point here was right in my head. 24:58 That's alright, one of the things about Genesis though, 25:00 you hadn't mentioned, or you touched on a little bit 25:03 is the fact that, that's where the Sabbath really begin. 25:07 You know so when the Sabbath came into view 25:11 or came to the forefront again with in the Ten Commandments, 25:14 it wasn't the first time that the Jews or that anybody 25:18 had heard about the Sabbath, 25:19 Adam and Eve knew about the Sabbath. 25:21 In fact it was the first day they spent together. Right. 25:24 God created them on the sixth day and then as the 25:27 evening came the Sabbath, the Holy sacred 24 hour 25:32 period came into, at least that's the first full day 25:37 that they spent together. So kind of a neat things, 25:39 that we can see there even a creation God created the 25:42 Sabbath for relationships. Right. And for them to get to 25:46 know each other and really spend some close time 25:47 together with themselves and with God especially 25:50 who was their creator. You know if you think about it, 25:54 it was kind an anniversary for them. Right. 25:56 And I think that's one of the things we were talking about 25:59 you were mentioning earlier that you know it's like saying 26:03 my birthday or my anniversary is everyday, 26:06 that doesn't make sense. Because the Sabbath, 26:09 the weekly Sabbath points back to creation, 26:12 a single day event. Right. So in many respects 26:17 how you view creation can help determine or at least 26:21 determines to a great degree how you view the 24 hour 26:24 Sabbath period, it's a sacred day. Right. 26:27 Because my anniversary or my birthday is a 24 hour period 26:32 that is always has been celebrated. 26:33 And always acknowledges that one day that I was married, 26:36 or that I was born. Right. 26:38 And I can't expand that to everyday, everyday. 26:42 Or even a couple days, it's just doesn't work. 26:45 You get old very fast if everyday was your birthday. 26:48 But, let me just qualify now, I think I need to give justice 26:53 to the letter, to the letter that was given to us, 26:56 I got tongue tied there. This person wrote 27:01 and this was a reasoning that they gave, 27:02 that they believe everyday is the Sabbath day. 27:05 We should live lives holy, obedient, righteous 27:08 lives with God and Jesus Christ in our life everyday. 27:13 Not just on Saturday and Sunday. 27:14 The commandment doesn't suggest that we live holy 27:16 one day a week. That's never what we teach 27:19 and the Bible doesn't teach that either. 27:21 I married everyday, but everyday is not my anniversary. 27:25 Right. John, I'm not faithful on just my anniversary. 27:28 Thank you. That's a very good point. 27:30 We are not faithful just on our anniversary. 27:33 We are in love, we love our wives, they love us everyday. 27:36 And so the relationship is what takes place everyday. 27:38 That's what you're talking about here. 27:40 But you don't expand the relationship 27:41 and say because I love her everyday, 27:43 everyday is our anniversary. No more than you say 27:46 well now because we have to live obedient lives. 27:49 And John, for whatever reason and I'm not saying 27:51 this is your reason but sometimes people use it as a 27:53 cop out to say we could pick whatever day. 27:55 We have a number of letters here 27:57 and we can't get to the rest of them today. 27:59 But keep this in my mind, we cannot explain 28:02 a way the only day that Jesus rested. 28:06 The only day that he blessed the only day that he 28:08 sanctified the only day that he hollowed, 28:11 there's only one day. And so you can't say 28:15 well Sunday is my Sabbath. That's just not possible, 28:19 because you can't bless a day. Right. 28:21 See, you bless a relationship but you can't bless the day. 28:25 Alright. Well I have so many more to go on 28:27 but we'll have to just wait for the next program. 28:29 You know there's a question John, 28:30 that keeps coming up over and over again 28:32 and we don't wanna spend time on this, 28:33 we answer it every year. But I bring it up again 28:37 because we had several questions about it 28:39 and we're gonna answer it in brevity to that. Okay. 28:43 And I'd segue kind of from what we are talking about 28:45 here because it's the way that we're gonna answer it. Okay. 28:50 It says, this question is for House Calls; 28:53 please I would like to have the real story behind Christmas, 28:55 Easter and Halloween. Why do we as 28:58 Seventh-day Adventists participate in these holidays 29:00 especially in our SJ schools, colleges extra? 29:03 They mentioned Halloweens, I think that couples subjects 29:05 together, that we just, we don't know Halloween. 29:08 Yeah, Halloween I think we can take out of the question. 29:09 There is no debate I often really seen anybody with in 29:12 the Seventh-day Adventist faith that endorses 29:15 or keeps Halloween. Yeah, it's like witches day. 29:18 You know it's, like it's the day that we shall not try to 29:21 escape even from our house and go do something else, 29:24 But I think the biggest issue in the question 29:26 that really arises John is Christmas, Easter. Right. 29:30 You know why are we having this keeping Christmas, Easter. 29:33 Let me say just real quick. And keeping is the thing you 29:35 are gonna talk about. Exactly where I'm going. Okay. 29:39 We as Adventist Christians don't keep Christmas and Easter. 29:42 Right. And the reference there is, 29:45 it comes from the ideology behind the original days 29:48 it was established, both those days as Rome, 29:51 the church of Rome established them, 29:54 made them holy days, days to be kept by the members, 30:00 or adherence of Roman Catholicism. 30:02 Matter of fact let me add this point; 30:04 they made it like a ceremonial law. 30:06 That's right. Exactly, since we are talking about 30:08 that point, very good reference. 30:09 They made it an ordinance that you must honored. Yeah. 30:13 That is a distortion of God's word. 30:16 In fact you know many Catholics would say 30:18 well I don't go to a church all the time, 30:19 or all the mass but you know what, on holiday. 30:22 Christmas, Easter I'm in church. Mortal sins. Yes. 30:26 And so anyway I just, we bring that up because 30:30 we distinguish the difference between 30:32 a holiday and a holy-day. They are two different things. 30:38 You know, you know over and over again, 30:42 year after year, we are faced with these days 30:45 and the challenge of how to evangelize others on these days. 30:49 And you know what I would suggest John that these days 30:52 present an opportunity rather than something to avoid, 30:58 an opportunity to share Christ with others. 31:02 Christmas, I mean the one day the people are open to hearing 31:05 about the story of Jesus. The people who want nothing 31:07 to do with him 364 days will come to see a 31:10 Christmas program with their kids in it, 31:12 or come to church and see a Christmas program on that day. 31:14 I mean, come on, are we sitting in our homes and say, 31:17 oh, it's a bad day, I'm not gonna go anywhere. 31:20 No we use that day as an opportunity to get out there 31:22 and tell us about Jesus. And I'll tell you, you know, 31:26 it's nothing about keeping the day holy, it's about, 31:30 this is a great opportunity to share. 31:31 Share Jesus, right. And not only that 31:33 let's think about, lets just think set aside all the stuff 31:36 about the holy day and things now, 31:38 on both those days. Shouldn't we use any day 31:42 that really is about friendships, relationships, 31:46 love, God's love for us. Shouldn't we take those times 31:50 to engage in activities that draw us close to our 31:53 brothers and sisters and our families. 31:55 That's what I've always done growing up as an Adventist. 31:58 From year to year as my parents would put the 32:01 evergreen tree in the house, 32:03 or maybe put gifts around the tree, 32:05 and we share with each other, it was about relationships, 32:08 right, and sure kids do, you know digress into this thing 32:12 or what I get for Christmas. Well if that's what going on 32:15 in your home then you have a chance to teach them 32:17 about what Christmas really is about. 32:19 Because that's not really the intention of Christmas, 32:20 that's what secular society has made of it. 32:24 And we don't support that either because that to me 32:26 it's just simply coveting, alright. 32:30 So the issue really is in reference of today, 32:33 we don't believe it's a holy day either one of them. 32:35 No. Not at all. But a great opportunity to share 32:37 with others and talk to others about Christ 32:39 and a great opportunity to get together our family 32:41 and our friends, and they share gifts out of love 32:43 and out of care for one another. So you know I'm sorry. 32:48 Truth. If we were to take everything 32:51 that originated in its pagan form, 32:53 if we would say I'm not gonna have anything to do with it, 32:55 do you realize you wouldn't have a time to wake up 32:57 every morning, you wouldn't know what date it was. Okay. 33:01 Because today would not be and I can't give them, 33:04 I am not gonna date the program, 33:05 but today wouldn't be the date it is, 33:07 because you know what? That goes back to 33:11 Greco-Roman structure of time and how they began to you know. 33:17 Get the days like, the days. Monday was moon's day, 33:20 Tuesday is twees day, yeah, Wednesday is weedens day. 33:23 And not only that the year, you know January 1, 33:26 the year 2005 was, what does AD stand for, Anno Domini. 33:34 That was, that had it's Roman and its Greek origins, 33:38 flatten origins and pagan forms, right. 33:43 So I mean, come on, we have to be careful about that 33:45 because it's not just about Christmas 33:47 and Easter when we're talking about, 33:50 you know avoiding things that are pagan. 33:53 The thing we should avoid that is pagan. 33:54 And I gave a sermon here I just mentioned this before to you. 33:57 My sermon last Sabbath was like a pagan. Okay. 34:00 If you really want to read in the Bible what pagans did, 34:03 it is nothing to do with Christmas and Easter activities. 34:08 It was much more sinister than that. 34:10 Right, it was not about recognizing Jesus at all. 34:13 The thing that we have to keep in mind, 34:15 and Ellen White talks about this in the book Adventist Home, 34:17 she talk about how we should focus on the Christmas season. 34:21 She said it's not possible, she said it will be almost 34:23 impossible to ignore the time of the year and then this is 34:26 something that a lot of Adventists tumble over 34:29 when I say Adventists because you know in the 34:31 Bible and the book of Jeremiah, there was an evergreen tree 34:34 that was afixed, and people bowed down and worshiped it. 34:37 And some people I don' know that that's a huge leap 34:40 between what those who are paganistic in their approaches 34:43 and in their practices did. And compared to now we 34:47 by having a Christmas tree in our home we're bowing down 34:49 and worshiping it. I have never done that. 34:52 Because that's not even where the Christmas tree came from? 34:54 No, but I want to say that was a practice, yeah, 34:56 one of the practices that people often referred to that the most. 35:01 But I find it unusual that the 2 days of the year 35:04 that are most apropo to the resurrection of Jesus 35:08 and the birth of Jesus, which both dates 35:10 are not even established. I mean that is the 35:13 birth of Jesus is not established, 35:15 we have more accuracy of the resurrection time. 35:17 But the birth of Jesus is not established. 35:20 And, but to honor his birth and to honor and to praise God 35:23 for his resurrection is not an observance that takes away 35:27 from any command of God nor does it add to it 35:31 a pagonistic nature. And says now by saying 35:35 even using the phrase Merry Christmas. 35:38 We know that Jesus wasn't born on that day. 35:41 Or I don't use the phrase Happy Easter; 35:45 we just recognize the resurrection of Christ 35:47 around that time of the year. Yeah. So, these are not things, 35:50 these are not things taken away from our walk with Christ. 35:53 If it starts taken away from your walk with Christ, 35:56 then the approach that you have 35:57 towards it may be really the issue. 36:00 Yeah, and you know what. If you can in good conscious, 36:04 you know, celebrate and enjoy your family 36:06 and do the things that typically, you know, 36:10 families do on these days. Don't do it. 36:12 I mean we're not saying go against that. 36:13 You must be not saying you have to. 36:14 But don't yell, get after everybody else 36:16 and I say yell because we get how many questions on this 36:19 every single year? Yeah, we get a lot of questions on it. 36:21 It's a huge question this time of year. 36:23 Don't condemn your brethren because they do, 36:26 some of these things on these days 36:28 because that just puts a barrier or a block between 36:30 you and your brethren, that's not right. 36:32 And that's what Paul was talking about 36:33 one man eseems one day above another, 36:36 another man esteems everyday alike. 36:38 There are some people you know, December 25 36:40 is just like any other day. Easter just like any other day. 36:44 There are some people say that Sabbath is like any other day. 36:46 You know, it doesn't really matter, 36:48 they say well it's just Saturday, 36:49 and Saturday becomes a major shopping day, 36:52 Macy's white sale, you know, all these sales are going 36:54 one day only. That's what the world does to Sabbath, 36:57 but to us it's a holy day. But Easter and Christmas 37:00 have never become holy days. But Jesus is always holy. 37:04 Right. So that's to keep, if you honor Jesus, 37:06 you honor Him everyday and when other people 37:09 who don't know Jesus pause to recognize Him, 37:12 look at it is an open door to share Jesus in a realistic way. 37:15 And that's what Christmas and Easter does. 37:18 Well thank you for your questions, 37:19 we have spent a little more time here today. 37:20 But that's okay, we have latitude, 37:23 we don't have a clock that's beating us in the head 37:26 as to how long we can cover a particular topic. 37:29 But I know we have awakened some questions 37:31 in your minds and if you want to send any questions to us here, 37:34 you can send those to the address on the screen. 37:37 Housecalls@3ABN.org, that's Housecalls@3ABN.org 37:42 and we'll do the computer snail mail thing 37:45 and most of you who are sending snail mail. 37:48 I am not going to give out the address; 37:49 I don't want to encourage anybody else to. 37:51 But those of you who are writing to 3ABN, 37:53 you pretty much know what our address is. 37:55 We appreciate your support very much. 37:59 Now John, while I am clearing my throat, 38:01 lead us into our topic. Well, you know, there is much 38:05 said about the work of the Holy Spirit. Right. 38:07 And in fact if you look at Christendom at large, 38:11 there are so many differences of opinion with regards to 38:13 how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of individuals 38:16 and the church itself. It's also attacked for 38:22 the doctrine of itself of the Holy Spirit, 38:25 as to whether or not it's a force that comes from God 38:30 or whether it's a being of the Godhead, 38:33 which is the Godhead, the Triune Godhead doctrine 38:36 that we as Adventist scribe to. And so, we thought we take 38:40 some time to talk about a walk in the spirit. 38:45 You know, when we're having this walk of faith 38:47 as Paul describes in Roman chapter 8. 38:49 Those that walk in the spirit, those are the ones that are 38:52 abiding in Christ and living in Christ. 38:54 What does that really mean, when we're talking about a 38:58 walk in the spirit. And what does it mean 39:00 to have the spirit of God abiding in you 39:02 and so we'll spend a couple of programs here at least 39:05 talking about these kinds of things and other things 39:08 relating to the Holy Spirit. Yes, as a matter of fact 39:13 I was thinking of this, matter of fact I am tempted to share 39:17 this question but I am not gonna yield to the temptation, 39:20 we'll do it in the next program. But let's go ahead and dive 39:24 into this because you know. Everything that we do 39:27 including honoring the commandments of God, 39:30 the Ten Commandments to be more specific. 39:33 You cannot do that without the power 39:35 of the Holy Spirit in your life. I remember the mistake 39:39 that the children of old, or the children of Israel made. 39:43 They said, all that the Lord has said we will do, 39:47 that lasted maybe a few hours. 39:49 Because right there at the mount, 39:50 the base of Mount Sinai. They got involved in 39:53 adultery, promiscuity, they just sunk lower and lower 39:57 and lower and lower, because they made a wow with their 40:00 mouths but they were not able to do with their hearts 40:02 because they were trying to do it on their own strength. 40:05 Well the question is where do we get the strength from to 40:08 live a Christ centered life. Right. And that's where the 40:12 Holy Spirit's power come in. So, John, let's begin at the 40:15 beginning, let's go to the book of Acts, okay, 40:16 I am gonna start there. Acts chapter 1, 40:21 Acts chapter 1 not enough said about 40:24 the Holy Spirit and his work. We often say, well, 40:27 it's great to have the Holy Spirit but what good 40:29 is going to make and you will see. 40:34 I remember a sermon, I don't know if it's the topic, 40:37 I don't know if it's the title but it was something to the 40:39 effect of, we will leave the light on for you. 40:44 Remember that slogan I think Motel 6, 40:46 that should have been a Christian slogan. 40:48 We'll leave the light on for you. 40:51 Notice the most important reason and the most 40:55 important purpose for praying for and asking for 40:59 and pleading for God's Holy Spirit. 41:01 John Acts chapter 1 and verse 8 start there. 41:05 This is Jesus speaking to the disciples, 41:07 He says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit 41:13 has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me 41:16 in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria 41:20 and to the end of the earth. Okay, notice the text. 41:24 You shall receive power, and the King James Version says 41:27 after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you. 41:30 Brethren, we don't have any resident power, 41:34 anymore than a computer can work without being plugged in 41:40 or just last forever on battery life. 41:42 There are some Christians that are battery life Christians, 41:45 which means they are righteous as long as their battery lasts. 41:49 And I am using that application because it's very 41:51 difficult to sin while in you're in church, 41:53 although we've seen some people try that as pastors. 41:58 Sabbath mornings sometimes it could be a fiasco, 42:00 depending on the heart of the person coming to church. 42:03 But it is not possible to live a Christ centered life. 42:08 It is not possible to keep in living harmony with the 42:11 commandments of Jesus. When he says if you love me, 42:13 keep me my commandments, the very next passage shows 42:17 how important the Holy Spirit is. 42:18 So, we need the Holy Spirit for power in our relationship. 42:22 I am reading from Luke chapter 24. 42:24 Okay, let's go there. And Luke, Dr. Luke wrote 42:29 the book of Acts. That's Right. And so, this is the same 42:32 thread of thought here as we just now read in Acts 1 42:37 of being concluded by his book, by under his name, 42:41 his surname Luke. What verse? 42:44 And it says here, Luke 24 beginning with verse 46. 42:50 Okay, let's go there. He said to them, 42:54 thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ 42:57 to suffer in the rise from the dead the third day 43:01 and that repentance and remission of sins should be 43:04 preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. 43:07 Here we see a picture of the great commission 43:10 and Matthew describes in a little different words. 43:13 But essentially what's being told the disciples is that, 43:16 these things aren't just for you, this is for the world. 43:19 Christ came to save the world 43:21 and this message must go to the world. 43:23 That's right. Then notice these words verse 48. 43:28 And you are witnesses of these things. 43:30 Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you, 43:35 a very important promise because He calls it the promise. 43:37 That's right. But tarry in the city of Jerusalem 43:41 until you are endued with power from on high. 43:47 That's right I like that. In other words make sure you 43:49 will stay here, make sure you wait in Jerusalem, 43:51 don't go out yet. Don't go out to share your faith, 43:54 don't go out to give the message, don't go out to 43:56 do anything, because first you need what? 43:59 Power, I like that. You need power. 44:02 That's a very good one, John. My wife when we travel 44:05 long distance says and we are sitting in a seat 44:07 in a plain that doesn't have a power outlet. 44:10 We were coming back from Australia earlier this year 44:15 and you know, in Australia we bought some of these 44:17 auxiliary batteries that you charge 44:19 by plugging it into a USB port, Universal Serial Bus port. 44:24 And because if you're on a flight that's gonna last in one 44:28 lake for fourteen and hours and your battery 44:32 lasts only may be for 3, the mathematical 44:36 difference is obvious. So, we bought a 44:38 couple of those extended batteries 44:39 and charged them up and my wife had an iPod 44:42 and she uses it quite a bit. And she's started running 44:44 down her extra battery before my extra battery 44:48 starts to run down. And when her extra battery 44:51 life started blinking and you know those message 44:53 came upon the iPod screen, you know, 20 percent 44:56 battery life, that low battery and it got to the 44:59 and it went off and she says aah shocks... my battery, 45:03 my iPod shut down and she leaned over to me very kindly, 45:06 do you have your battery? And you know, 45:11 brethren, when we are not connected. 45:16 We will have one of those moments. 45:18 Do you have your battery? And you know what? 45:20 The beautiful thing about that is I went ahead and gave mine 45:22 because I didn't need it. I have my laptop 45:26 and what I was doing at that time. 45:27 I said that was a great joy to give her the battery 45:30 and just let her plug it in, and say ah great. 45:32 And you know what the point of the, 45:34 point of the illustration is this; 45:36 we don't have any resident power. 45:38 We don't have this, now that I am a Christian I am gonna 45:42 live like a Christian, walk like a Christian, 45:45 talk like a Christian. You walk around with that attitude, 45:48 that boastful attitude; you will be falling on your 45:50 face on the first day of your Christianity. 45:52 Because you say that the echo from the spirit world, 45:55 the dark spirit world is oh yeah. Exactly. 45:59 Oh yeah, and you will have trouble. 46:01 Matter of fact in the book of James, 46:03 I think that's where it is. Let me go there. 46:07 Yeah James, yeah. James chapter 1, 46:16 yeah there, that's where it talks about here. 46:20 The trials that we get here as Christians, 46:22 we have to keep in mind that whenever we begin to boast 46:26 that we have some kind of resident power, 46:28 James says not at all. Let patience have 46:32 its perfect work that you may be perfect 46:34 and complete lacking nothing. But you will know in verse 3, 46:38 there will be testing of your faith 46:40 that's gonna produce the patience. 46:41 And so temptations are going to come, 46:48 trials are going to come but the Bible says, 46:50 let him who thinks he stands take he lest he fall. 46:53 And the only way that we could live our life without 46:56 falling continually is when we lean and pray for 47:02 and walk in the power that's made 47:05 available through the Holy Spirit. 47:07 That's right, you know, one of the verse 47:09 that I was gonna read here. That I think as we launch this 47:12 topic, it's very important are the words of Christ found in 47:16 John chapter 14. Yes. Because, he uses a word here 47:20 to describe the Holy Spirit, that is very important since 47:23 we are talking about how much we need the Holy Spirit 47:25 working on our lives as Christians. 47:28 John 14 in fact you know, I would add 47:30 just before I read this. Whenever I find myself 47:34 struggling or maybe I failed and I have committed a sin 47:38 and find that I am not abiding in Christ 47:40 and letting the Holy Spirit at work. 47:41 That's true. I find I can tie it back usually to the morning. 47:45 Maybe I didn't, I skip my devotion like I so busy 47:47 for the day and you know, how we get those days. 47:49 We rush out and we go. And we fin ourselves 47:51 either agitated or things aren't going so well and our wives 47:55 will remind us, why are you so upset today? 47:58 You've been kind of testy. We've been there, right? Right. 48:01 It's because I am not allowing the Holy Spirit to work. 48:04 I am kind of taking over for the day, right. 48:06 And so, Jesus said these words with regard to our 48:08 need every day of the Holy Spirit. 48:12 He says in verse 16 of John chapter 14. 48:15 And I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper. 48:21 That he may abide with you how long? 48:24 Forever. Forever. The spirit of truth whom 48:28 the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him 48:31 nor knows Him but you know Him, for He dwells with you 48:35 and will be in you, right. Now, here's, 48:38 I love this verse, verse 18. The verse that sometimes 48:41 we stop and we don't read, listen to this. 48:43 I speaking of Jesus, I will not leave you orphans, 48:47 I will come to you. That's right. 48:50 So the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit comes inside of you. 48:54 He is bringing Christ into your life. 48:57 That is an important key to remember. 48:59 It's not just well I do everything out of the power 49:00 the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, send your spirit to me. 49:03 Jesus says no by the Holy Spirit coming into your life. 49:06 He inhabits you Jesus Himself inhabits you. 49:10 And begins to work and help you in your life 49:14 as your helper, as your helper. Also as the spirit of truth 49:18 and we'll probably talk about that later on too, 49:20 how the truth is associated with the Spirit. 49:22 But, John, Jesus as He begin to describe His departure 49:26 from the disciples that he was going to leave them, 49:29 they were very concerned. They're very concerned about 49:33 how Jesus could leave them all to themselves 49:36 and where would He be going that they couldn't go with Him. 49:39 Well, He made sure that He told them that 49:41 they would not be alone. He would be with them 49:44 through the power of the Holy Spirit and that is so 49:47 important for us to remember as Christians 49:48 that we can't do it alone. Jesus has left this world 49:52 but He is with us through the Holy Spirit only and we need 49:56 that spirit working in us every day. 49:58 Matter of fact; let me refer to a story in the Bible 50:00 that shows you how important it is to walk in the 50:03 spirit, to continue to walk in the spirit. 50:06 You've heard people throw that phrase around loosely 50:09 but they're about to chop your head off. 50:12 To walk in the spirit, means we are exemplifying, 50:15 we display the presence of the spirit. 50:17 We use the phrase the Bible use the phrase, 50:19 the fruit of the spirit singular. 50:22 When that fruit is, when that one fruit is present, 50:26 it brings with it love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 50:29 gentleness, meekness, patience. Now we often run 50:33 past love, joy, peace. But there are a lot of people 50:35 that are not love filled. There are a lot of people 50:38 don't have joy, there are a lot of people that they just are 50:40 never at peace, they are not even advocates of peace. 50:44 Love, joy, peace there are some people that are 50:46 so impatient long suffering is missing. 50:48 And sometimes they have a short fuse 50:49 for their brother and their sister. 50:51 Yet they read and teach the Bible. 50:53 Yeah, they teach the doctrinal aspects of it and they are very 50:56 astute in the understanding of it. 50:58 But like Jesus said to the Pharisees, 51:00 sometimes you are like an empty sepulchre. 51:01 But here is the real, here is the problem. 51:04 Let's go to Matthew 12 and verse 43. 51:06 Matthew 12 and verse 43 you know, 51:09 when you pray for the Lord to clean up your life. 51:12 It's like somebody cleaning up your house, 51:16 but there is more to a life than just a cleaned up life. 51:20 All right, if your life is only cleaned up you are in danger. 51:24 Read that for us John, Matthew chapter 12 51:28 starting with the verse 43 down to verse 45. 51:30 When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, 51:33 he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none. 51:37 Okay notice. An unclean spirit goes out. 51:39 So he is no longer in, he is out, so then he is left. 51:43 Because both spirits can't reside within the same person. 51:47 So watch out when you say you've rebuking the spirit. 51:50 Yeah. That's just the only one aspect of it. 51:52 That's right. Okay, go on. 51:53 Then he says I will return to my house from which I came 51:57 and when he comes, he finds it empty, 51:59 swept and put in order. Okay, read those three words 52:02 again he finds it how? Empty. Empty. 52:05 Swept and put in order. That represents the lives 52:08 of so many people come to church. 52:10 They are empty of sin, they are swept up. 52:15 You don't see the dirt any longer 52:17 and they all put in order, they just look the part. Right. 52:20 But continue the story. Verse 45, then he goes 52:25 and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked 52:28 than himself and they enter and dwell there. 52:32 In the last state of that man is worse than the first. 52:36 So, shall it be with this wicked generation. 52:40 And the problem in the story was the house was empty, 52:44 it was swept, it was put in order. 52:46 The spirit left, but he said wait a minute let me go back 52:49 and here's the key. When the Bible says, 52:50 pray to be filled with the spirit. 52:53 You can't just afford to be empty of sin so when we talk 52:56 about we got over cigarettes, and got over 52:59 whatever you got over, whatever the Lord 53:00 gave you victory over. You now have to be filled 53:03 with the Holy Spirit in order to be saved. 53:06 When Paul, as Paul and especially Paul was going 53:09 around teaching the people and bringing Christ to those 53:12 who had not yet become part of that early church 53:16 but as the early church was growing. 53:18 There was one question he asked them very frequently. 53:21 He said, have you received the spirit? Right. 53:24 Have you been filled with the spirit yet? 53:26 And that was a question that seemed to be repeated 53:28 over and over again and most of the time people would say. 53:32 What are you talking about? They didn't know what Paul 53:34 was referring to. And so that's why 53:37 there was a description there of two baptisms. 53:40 There is a baptism where by we are baptized 53:44 into the life of Christ but then there is also 53:45 a baptism with the Holy Spirit. Right. 53:47 And they can happen at the same time but some evidently 53:51 receive the baptism of the water going down to 53:54 get rid of the old life which we just talked about. Right. 53:57 But did not receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit 53:59 which is the new life coming in and beginning to work 54:03 and give us power to live the holy life. 54:05 So Paul, you know, I think it's very indicative of how 54:09 important the Holy Spirit is because Paul is 54:11 one of the first questions Paul would ask anybody, 54:13 as they talked about living for Christ 54:16 is Have you received the spirit? Right, and the disciples 54:20 couldn't even proclaim the Gospel 54:22 without receiving the Holy Spirit. 54:23 You know, when you think about it here's 54:25 the way that Paul talks about it in Romans Chapter 8. 54:27 And Romans Chapter 8 is the spirit chapter 54:30 and I could use that phrase loosely 54:31 because he talks about the spirit all the time. 54:35 But Romans chapter 8 and from verse 5 down to verse 11. 54:40 I am gonna read this very quickly. 54:42 For those who live according to the flesh, 54:45 set their minds on the things of the flesh. 54:48 But those who live according to the spirit, 54:50 the things of the spirit check out what your mind is 54:52 focused on to find out whether or not the spirit is 54:54 abiding you, that's the first test. 54:56 For to be carnally mind of death but to be spiritually 54:59 mind of his life in peace. In other words, if your mind 55:02 is on all the things that are temporary and carnal, 55:04 you are abiding in death not in the spirit. 55:07 It says because the carnal mind is enmity against God, 55:11 for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed it can be. 55:14 Another indication John that we are not walking in the 55:16 spirit is we have a problem with God's law. Yeah. 55:20 Okay, but that's not the whole just of my point here. 55:22 So, then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 55:26 Now read verse 9 to 11. But you are not in the flesh 55:29 but in the spirit if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. 55:33 Notice in you, if the spirit of God dwells in you according 55:35 to that story the devil wouldn't come back 55:37 and found it empty. That's right. Keep going. 55:39 Now if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ he is not his. 55:43 Okay notice, if you don't have the spirit of Christ, 55:45 you don't belong to Jesus. In other words look for the 55:48 fruit to be evidence that the spirit 55:50 is abiding there continue. And if Christ is in you, 55:53 the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life 55:57 because of righteousness. Go ahead. 55:59 But if the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from 56:01 the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from 56:04 the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through 56:08 his spirit who dwells in you. See, and so clearly it says 56:12 if you narrow it down verse 13. If you live according to the 56:16 flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death, 56:19 the deeds of the body you will live. 56:21 As many as are led by the spirit of God these are the 56:24 children of God. So, when you look at that. 56:27 Look at the things that are abiding in your life 56:29 and see whether or not they are spirit based, 56:31 or whether they are carnally based. 56:33 Or whether they are flesh based. Are you getting your way 56:37 or is the spirit having his way. Right, you know, the other 56:39 thing too I pick up in verse 11 is that this power. 56:42 Power of the spirit that resides in us is resurrection power. 56:46 It says the same power that raised Christ from the dead, 56:49 now raises us from the dead of old works 56:53 and sin through life in Christ. And then these mortal bodies 56:56 that we're gonna have till Jesus comes and now can be 56:59 kept from falling into the temptations and the sins, 57:01 at least not giving into the temptations because we have 57:04 resident power the spirit says ahh...ahh 57:07 and we say okay, thank you Lord. 57:08 We will listen to the Holy Spirit. 57:09 That's right, Amen. So, does it make a 57:11 difference John? Absolutely. 57:13 You know friends when we talk about this topic 57:14 and we've just scratch the surface as you know we're 57:16 just laying the foundation, but you could begin to 57:18 experience this joy and this presence of the spirit of God 57:21 in your life today. How do you do it? 57:24 Invite the spirit of God into your life and when you do 57:26 you will know what resurrection power is all about. 57:30 Have a great day in the power of Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17