Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120007
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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. 00:21 Hello, friends, welcome, to a program 00:23 tailor made for people like you and me 00:24 that want to know more of what the Bible says. 00:27 My name is John and to my right is John. 00:29 Good to have you here, John. Great to be here again, John. 00:31 It's good-- Looking forward to it. 00:32 The Lord has put us together because we both 00:34 share a passion for sharing the word 00:36 and we thank you for tuning in. 00:37 Get your Bibles truly and gather the people 00:41 that are walking around. 00:42 If your home is quiet, don't gather anybody. 00:44 Just sit there by yourself, 00:45 but do get your Bibles and your pens. 00:47 And if you wanna record the program, 00:49 I suggest you do it. 00:50 This is a very vitally important program. 00:52 Our topic of consideration today is 00:55 hearing and listening for the voice of God. 00:57 How does God speak to you? 00:59 And how to know that God does speak 01:02 and the various ways that God communicates to you. 01:05 But we have some questions and Bible comments 01:07 that we'd like to begin our program with. 01:09 But before any of that, we always start with prayer. 01:12 So, John, could you pray for us? Let's do that. 01:14 Our Father in Heaven, you are so gracious to us 01:17 and we just wanna thank you 01:18 for everything you've done for our lives. 01:21 And today as we open our hearts to you 01:23 seeking for wisdom and guidance from your word, 01:26 we pray for your Holy Spirit to attend us, 01:29 to give us the wisdom that we need, Lord, 01:32 to properly not only apply the word, 01:34 but how to put it into effect in our own lives. 01:37 And, Lord, we thank you for what you're gonna do 01:39 through this program to our hearts 01:41 and those listening and viewing today, 01:42 in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 01:46 And if you have any questions, I know that often times, 01:49 people send questions and we get, great questions. 01:51 Today I'm the snail mail guy and John is the internet guy. 01:55 Actually, I have a combination of both. 01:57 But if you want to send any questions to us, 01:59 you could send those through the internet, 02:02 as you see the internet portal to housecalls@3abn.org 02:06 That's housecalls@3abn.org 02:10 and that's where we download those but 02:13 if you want to send them this way, 02:14 P.O. Box 220, West Frankfort, Illinois, 62896 02:19 and attention House calls. 02:21 John, what do you have for us today? 02:22 I've got a question from Lynn. Lynn, okay. 02:25 And she is from California and she-- 02:28 the subject of the question of the email is Hell. 02:33 And so you open it up and it's a very good question. 02:36 A question that we have covered before 02:37 but it may have been sometime. 02:40 And she writes this, if there is no hell, 02:43 then what is this? 02:44 Please read on and then she says, 02:47 Luke Chapter 16 and then she 02:49 gives the verse about the rich man. 02:51 Okay. And Lazarus. 02:52 But I don't--I know we don't believe that there is no hell. 02:56 No, we believe very much, 02:57 just to kind of dispel that notion we believe in a hell. 03:01 So we'll cover--we'll get to that in just a minute. 03:03 So let's dive into the rich man and yes, 03:06 the rich man and Lazarus. Okay. 03:07 And that is found in Luke Chapter 16. Okay. 03:11 And before I share anything or read any portion of this, 03:15 I just want to encourage all of you 03:19 with words that we've said before which is 03:21 whenever you're searching for a truth, 03:24 a specific teaching of the Bible 03:25 on any given topic, 03:28 you've to make sure that you're comparing 03:30 scripture with scripture. 03:31 Don't let one passage drive what you believe about a topic 03:35 and very much I use a kind of a two-pronged principle, 03:38 John, when I study. 03:40 It's about this more simplistic way I can say it. 03:43 And it's in accordance with Isaiah Chapter 28. 03:46 It talks about line upon line here a little there a little. 03:49 Context and comparison-- Right. 03:53 Those two things make sure you're reading it in context 03:57 and second thing making sure you're comparing it with 03:59 other scriptures on that same topic. 04:02 And that those are also in their proper context. 04:04 Now one of the things that I caution 04:05 or that I--at least and thinking about initially 04:08 when I'm looking at this passage is that 04:10 first of all it's a parable. True. 04:11 Need to be very careful in determining a teaching 04:15 on a specific parable that you're getting 04:17 the right teaching that the parable is designed 04:20 to portray or to give. 04:22 So I think the first thing we want to do is back up 04:25 to about verse 14 in Luke 16 verse 14 04:30 and it'll give you the context of the parable, 04:33 that is about to follow. 04:35 And the context here is in verse 14. 04:37 It says, now the Pharisees who were lovers of money, 04:41 also heard all these things and they derided him. Okay. 04:45 So, John, the first thing we see here is that 04:47 the words of Jesus follow how the Pharisees came 04:50 and then of course Jesus is perceiving that they are 04:53 lovers of money and that their mockery or derision 04:56 that's coming from them is the rejection of God's teaching, 05:00 of Jesus teaching on the issue of handling money. 05:04 And whether or not money is something that 05:09 is a good thing for your life or a bad thing for your life 05:12 and of course it's not the money itself 05:14 it's our desire for money. 05:15 But anyway then we find on the heels of few words 05:18 here talking about the kingdom of heaven 05:21 and one is on divorce. 05:23 He gets into a subject here 05:25 which is the parable of the rich man 05:26 and Lazarus and let's read that. 05:29 Verse 19, "There was a certain rich man, 05:31 who was clothed in purple and fine linen, 05:33 and fared sumptuously every day." Okay. 05:36 So right away we start to see that there is this rich man, 05:40 he's living it up every day. 05:43 And it kind of falls right inline with what we just 05:46 read earlier in the context of the passage, 05:48 which is that these Pharisees loved, what? 05:51 Money. They loved money, that's right. Okay. 05:53 Then it says, in verse 20, but there was a certain beggar 05:55 named Lazarus, full of sores, 05:56 who had laid at his gate, desiring to be fed 05:59 with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. 06:02 Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 06:05 So it was that the beggar died and was carried away 06:08 by the angels to Abraham's bosom. 06:12 The rich man also died and was buried. 06:15 And being in torments in Hades, 06:17 he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, 06:19 and Lazarus in his bosom. 06:21 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, 06:24 have mercy on me, and send Lazarus 06:26 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, 06:28 and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. 06:32 But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime 06:36 you received your good things, in other words, riches, 06:40 and likewise Lazarus evil things, which was, 06:43 the things that God did not design for them to be 06:45 but poverty and very strong hardship. Right. 06:49 But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. 06:53 And then it goes on to talk about 06:55 how still the rich man is trying 06:58 to get relief for his family, send somebody to tell 07:00 my family about the situation all that stuff. 07:04 What we find here, John, is clearly a teaching 07:07 against a desire for wealth and not only that 07:10 the perception that when you're wealthy, 07:12 you're blessed by God, and when you're not wealthy, 07:14 you're not blessed by God. 07:16 In fact, you're the lower parts of society. 07:20 Jesus is dispelling that notion by giving a parable. 07:24 And here's the key, He is using a story 07:27 that is fairly common as a, oh, what would you call it a 07:32 a story of the day in regard to Hades, 07:36 a God known to the Greeks and to the Romans. 07:39 A very common God known to the Greeks and the Romans, 07:43 and in using that story, He's not trying to 07:45 all of a sudden shift gears and talk about 07:48 whether or not there is a heaven and a hell. 07:50 But it's whether or not or this-- 07:53 the condition of the heart of the person 07:55 the Pharisees specifically 07:57 who believed riches where the 07:58 the greatest thing to be desired 08:00 and the blessing from God came from that. 08:02 And this poor man Lazarus who they thought was not 08:07 going to go in heaven-- go to heaven. Okay. 08:09 So this is their perception 08:10 and Jesus is dispelling that notion. 08:13 Now let me give you just a couple things 08:15 in regard to Hades. Just you understand 08:17 why Jesus is using this parable. 08:20 And understand the environment He's in. 08:22 He's in the midst of the Roman Empire. 08:26 The Gods of the Greeks had transitioned 08:28 to much of the Roman life, life of the Romans as well. 08:31 They are very much polytheistic, numerous gods, 08:36 Zeus, Xerxes 08:39 all these different Gods that they believed in. 08:41 Now notice this, what it says about Hades. 08:44 And this you can find fairly easily on the internet. 08:48 I didn't have to do a lot of research for it. 08:50 But notice this, the strength of Hades, 08:54 who is also known as king of the dead 08:57 or lord of the underworld. 08:58 Okay, which is the reason why, 09:00 Hades is thought of as being beneath. Right. 09:02 That's why the story talks about Hades 09:04 is to where the rich man went to. 09:06 Now notice this, the strengths of Hades are these. 09:10 He was rich with a wealth of the earth. 09:16 Hades as a God one of the polytheistic gods 09:20 was not only the god of the underworld, 09:21 but he was rich with the wealth of the earth. 09:24 So another reason why 09:26 Jesus chose Hades to use in this story. 09:30 Right because he was in a similar situation 09:32 as the Jews found themselves. 09:34 Exactly. And couple other things. 09:42 In Roman mythology, Hades is considered to be 09:45 the same as Pluto, whose name comes 09:48 from the Greek word Plouton, 09:50 which refers to the riches of the earth. Okay. 09:53 So again you're seeing the association here 09:56 of the story that was a common story of the day 09:59 that Jesus adapted to the situation, 10:02 which was to teach the rich man 10:04 or the Pharisees about their status as rich man 10:08 and where they were really headed. 10:09 But it was not a story designed to teach them 10:12 about heaven and hell. 10:14 That's not even the context of this passage. 10:17 You wanna add anything to that or you wanna go to 10:20 answering the question of hell? Because-- 10:22 Well, you know, this parable is phenomenal to me. 10:25 I've talked about this parable a number of times 10:27 and one of the things that you see in the parable. 10:29 First of all it describes the rich man and clearly 10:32 connects you to this is truly about the Pharisees. 10:36 This is truly about the things that the Jews 10:38 found their security and first of all purple and scarlet. 10:41 And fine linen was the material 10:44 that was comprising the tabernacle. 10:47 They'd ten curtains. 10:49 And on the curtains, you'd purple, scarlet 10:51 but they were all of fine linen. 10:53 And so that's one of the first identities. 10:55 The second thing is these were men that were rich 10:58 and rich in what? 11:00 The Lord had given to them and the same context this, 11:04 you know, what's amazing about the story, they didn't learn. 11:06 Because the same thing that the Lord told them 11:08 through this parable. Because later on it says 11:10 they perceive that He was talking about them, 11:13 as the story ends as the parable ends. 11:16 But they repeated over and over again 11:19 they refused to give the gospel, the bread of life. 11:23 They had that at their table every day. 11:25 And the Gentiles wanted to give us something-- 11:31 I will even take the crumbs. 11:33 That was the story about here 11:34 and so you find that when Paul and Barnabas 11:36 after the rejection of the Jews, 11:38 after the stoning of Steven, 11:40 Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch to preach again 11:42 and the Jews were there. 11:44 And they were so excited because 11:45 Paul and Barnabas was feeding them. 11:47 When the Gentiles heard it, they were angry, 11:50 once again because the Gentiles 11:51 wanted at least some of the crumbs. Right. 11:54 And that's why when Christ was during His time, 11:58 He said, shall we give the food of the children 12:01 to the swine or should I throw the pearls 12:03 to the swine or the food of the children to the dogs. 12:06 These were terminologies that were used in the Jews 12:10 complete resistance of carrying the gospel 12:14 to the poor, specifically. 12:17 And if you were to take Jesus words literally in that, 12:18 you would say that Jesus considered them dogs. 12:21 But He didn't. But that's not 12:22 what He was intending to say. 12:23 He was using the language of the Jews. 12:25 And as He used the language of the Jews, 12:27 He also used the stories of the day. 12:29 That's the parallel I'm trying to draw here. 12:31 So anyway go ahead. 12:32 So the Gentiles in the story here, 12:35 the ones that were so rejected by the Jews, 12:38 they were more concerned about the needs of the poor, 12:41 than the Jews were. 12:42 That's why you find when Lazarus who has sores, 12:46 the dogs, remember, look at that 12:48 terminology in the Bible because 12:50 a woman came to Christ and He said to the disciples, 12:52 should I give the food of the children to the dogs? 12:54 Because He knew they felt that way about the poor, 12:57 about the outcast, sometimes about the Samaritans that way. 13:01 So those who-- they look down upon 13:04 the Gentiles were more desirous about the condition 13:08 of the poor than the Jews were. 13:10 So the dogs, the Gentiles, came and licked the sores 13:14 of Lazarus and Lazarus represented in this parable, 13:16 the Gentiles, I mean, the poor. 13:19 Lazarus represented the poor and so what happens now, 13:22 the poor not getting any relief. 13:24 If you go even further, you'll continually see that 13:26 this is a--that this is a parable once again 13:30 when Jesus is speaking to the Jews 13:32 even when He spoke to the woman at the well, 13:34 what did she point out? 13:36 This well was given to us by our father Abraham. 13:39 The Jews says-- 13:41 she talked about worshipping in the mountain. 13:43 And then the Jews also said we've never been slaves. 13:45 We're children of Abraham. Yeah. 13:47 And Jesus said, before Abraham was they both said, 13:49 in their connection with Abraham 13:51 that this was something that gave them 13:53 preeminence over anybody else. Right. So-- 13:55 Which is why they put him so close in this parable 13:57 to Abraham. Right. He's very bosom. 13:59 He caught him right there. 14:01 And then who ends up in Abraham's bosom? 14:03 Lazarus. Lazarus, yeah. 14:05 The one that they rejected. The poor man. 14:08 Says, wait a minute you think that 14:09 your security is in Abraham. 14:11 Now, brethren, you know that this is a parable 14:13 because there's no way that anybody 14:14 can fit in anyone else's bosom. 14:16 But where does Lazarus end up? He ends up there. 14:19 And so seeing their faith the other thing that shows you 14:21 as a parable not in actual teaching is, 14:24 if you're thirsty right now, 14:26 I could not dip my finger in water 14:29 and quench John's thirst in a comfortable environment 14:32 let alone. Right. 14:34 In hell. That's right. 14:35 The other thing that this parable talks about is 14:39 not what happens when a person dies 14:42 but the eventual weeping and gnashing of teeth 14:46 that's going to occur at the end of the 1,000 years. 14:51 There's gonna be weeping and gnashing. 14:53 Because the--those who have rejected the gospel 14:57 like the Pharisees and the Jews 14:59 are going to see the reward of the righteous. 15:02 That's right. And there's gonna be 15:03 the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 15:05 And they're gonna desire at that moment to be 15:08 as the Bible says, this desire to be, 15:11 to be brought comfort and to be--to find relief. 15:14 Finally, they're gonna see that the very thing 15:16 that they could've had-- they no longer have. 15:19 And what's gonna be the case of Lazarus? 15:21 He's gonna be in the comfort 15:23 and the security of eternal life. 15:25 But the other thing I must point out, John, 15:27 and I know, I'm pointing out all the symbols here. 15:30 By the time this parable was given, 15:33 Lazarus hadn't really died. 15:37 The real Lazarus hadn't died. That's right. 15:40 The reason why Jesus used Lazarus 15:41 because Lazarus was close friends 15:43 He just--he chose the name of close friends 15:46 He used in the particular parable. Right. 15:47 But when this parable was given, 15:48 Lazarus hadn't died. Yeah. 15:50 And not only when he, you know, that he hadn't died, 15:53 but when he did die, there was no retelling 15:56 of the little story that happened like that either. 15:58 So there're a lot of problems with using this in that regard 16:01 Now also if you interpret it the way 16:03 that our person sending the question is-- 16:08 Is understanding it is that if there would be 16:11 a conflict directly with other scriptures in regard to 16:15 what happens when you die. 16:17 And specifically, I'm gonna use just one verse. 16:19 We can go through a lot of them. 16:20 There are so many verses on the subject of death. 16:23 But just one very quickly for a specific point 16:26 and that is Job Chapter 14, 16:28 because the question is asked directly. 16:32 But man dies and is laid away 16:35 indeed he breaths his last and where is he? Right. 16:38 Now the answer you would expect to say 16:40 if this is a teaching would be, Hades. 16:42 Right. But it doesn't say that. 16:45 As water disappears from the sea 16:47 and the river becomes parch and dries up. 16:49 So a man lies down and does not rise 16:51 till the heavens are no more. 16:52 They will not awake. No. 16:55 So they can't be once they die they can't be awake. 16:58 No, they're not awake. 16:59 Nor be roused from their sleep. 17:02 O that you would hide me in the grave 17:04 that you would conceal me into your wrath is passed 17:07 that you would appoint me a set time and remember me. 17:11 If a man dies, will he live again 17:13 all the days of my hard service. 17:15 I will wait till my change comes. 17:17 That's right. So you're asleep. 17:19 You do not wakeup. You're in the grave. 17:21 There's nothing going on until you're remembered, 17:24 that is the time of the resurrection. 17:26 You rise and you are change that is the change 17:30 of your mortal body into the immortal body occurs. 17:35 Now the subject of hell. 17:39 Do we believe in hell, John? 17:41 Have we ever suggested that we don't believe in hell? 17:44 You know, John, this is amazing. 17:47 We believe in a hell that's harder. Harder. 17:52 Than the hell that many people believe in. 17:55 Because the hell that other people 17:57 that some churches believe in, is not hard enough to consume 18:01 what's in the fire. That's right. 18:03 But the hell that the Bible teaches 18:05 is harder than the hell that's now a day's spoken about. 18:13 Now, here is the obvious contrast and conflict. 18:18 If you go to Ezekiel 28, 18:22 this is the question that Christians are never asking. 18:27 This is the question that pastors 18:29 that believe in an eternally burning hell 18:31 and eternal torment don't address. 18:34 And here it is catch it as I throw it. 18:37 Is Satan, going to be around forever? 18:42 The answer is no. No. 18:45 How do we come up with that? 18:47 Let's go to Ezekiel and I was in Ecclesiastes 18:51 and I was gonna give some text here. 18:53 But I'll put something in that passage here 18:55 because I wanted to point out a few things about 18:58 the rich man Lazarus before we went on. 18:59 But Ezekiel, okay, here I'm, 19:05 and you'll see the fate of Satan 19:11 in this story the Lord gives clearly 19:15 speaking of Ezekiel 28, He knows, 19:17 we know that He's speaking of Lucifer 19:19 because he was perfect. 19:21 He was the seal of perfection in verse 28-- 19:23 Ezekiel 12-- Ezekiel 28 verse 12, 19:27 it says, "You were the seal of perfection." 19:29 You were in the Eden of God. 19:31 You were in Eden the Garden of God. 19:34 Every precious stone was your covering 19:35 and he speaks about that. 19:37 You were the anointed cherub who covers verse 14. 19:40 Verse 15, "You were perfect in your ways 19:42 from the day you are created," verse 15. 19:45 But verse 17, "Your heart was lifted up 19:46 because of your beauty." 19:48 But now look at what's gonna happen to him. 19:51 Verse 18 and 19, "You defiled your sanctuaries 19:54 by the multitude of your iniquities, 19:56 by the trading by the iniquity of your trading." 19:59 Therefore, this is the end of the Satan now. 20:02 I brought fire from your midst. 20:05 It devoured, devoured here. 20:11 And I turned you to ashes upon the earth, 20:15 in the sight of all who saw you. 20:18 All who knew you among the people's 20:21 are astonished at you. 20:23 You shall, you have become a horror 20:26 and shall be no more forever. That's right. 20:30 So when you look at that text, 20:32 if Satan is going to be turned to ashes, 20:35 as Malachi says, in Malachi 4 verse 1 to 4, 20:38 the day comes that shall burn as an oven 20:40 And all the proud and all those who 20:42 do wickedly shall be stubble. 20:44 The day that comes shall burn them up. 20:47 And the Bible says, they shall be ashes 20:49 under the soles of our feet. 20:51 So Satan himself is not gonna be around forever. 20:53 So now you get this parable of the rich man and Lazarus, 20:56 they're in the fires 20:58 when the fires of hell are kindled. 21:00 And by the way hell is not some place that's, 21:02 you know, in Wyoming, or in the desert 21:04 or somewhere in Afghanistan. 21:06 I mean, being a little cynical here, 21:09 hell is going to be the earth itself. 21:11 When the fire of God as Revelation 20 says it. 21:14 Yeah, that's right, I've got my book. 21:15 Go, read it for us. Would you read that for us? 21:18 It says in verse 7 that when the thousand years 21:21 have expired, Satan will be released. 21:24 He gathers it says from all the nations 21:26 the four corners of the earth. 21:28 He gathers them together and in verse 9, it says, 21:32 they went up on the breadth of the earth 21:33 and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. 21:36 The city at that time had already set down on the earth 21:39 after the thousand years. That's right. 21:41 So here's where it comes into play, John, 21:42 where you said they'll see, they'll look across that gulf 21:45 that's fixed and see the salvation of God 21:48 and the saints in the city 21:49 and their condition and where they are. 21:51 That's right. Okay, and it says, 21:53 and fire came down from where? 21:57 From God out of heaven and devoured them. 22:02 So the fire is initiated by God from where? Heaven. 22:06 From heaven creating then this lake of fire 22:11 that all of the wicked are thrown into. 22:14 And it goes on to say that, that the devil 22:16 who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire 22:19 in brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, 22:22 and they'll be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 22:26 So there you go. That's right. 22:28 And that is the literal out working of the parable then. 22:32 The parable is highly cryptic and symbolic, 22:35 but this is a literal conclusion of that 22:37 as to what's going to happen at the end of time. 22:40 Right, and they'll be burning as long as 22:41 there's something to burn, and that's why 22:43 the results are gonna be forever and ever, 22:45 not the process because 22:46 there is nothing about us that's eternal. 22:48 Yeah, and just something really quick 22:49 and you heard the terms unquenchable fire. 22:52 It doesn't mean that you can't-- 22:54 that it will never go out. 22:55 It means you can't put it out until it finishes burning 22:58 what it's there to burn for, 22:59 that's what unquenchable means. That's right. 23:01 Eternal fire means that the fire will last 23:04 as long as it takes to burn what's in it. 23:07 And that would be mortal man. 23:10 And mortality does not exist forever. 23:13 Right. So it'll do its work. 23:15 It's eternal in its consequences 23:18 not in its existence, in the process. 23:21 So it's the way you that it has been spun and read 23:25 within much of the Christian world 23:27 that we've a problem with. 23:28 We don't have a problem with the words, 23:29 the Bible uses the words. 23:31 We have problem with how it's being interpreted. 23:33 And if you and the other thing that we point out continually, 23:36 you mentioned this at the very beginning, 23:38 don't just build a complete teaching on one verse. 23:42 Put the whole picture together as we were doing a puzzle. 23:47 If it's a puzzle to you, put all the pieces together 23:49 and it will become clear. Right, 23:51 that's the key element. Thank you, John. 23:53 'Cause the ultimate completing of the puzzle here 23:54 in this case is if the fire is occurring on this earth 23:58 and the wicked are burned up in it. 24:00 It then goes on to say in Revelation 21 and 22 24:03 that the earth is recreated or is the Bible suggesting 24:07 that the righteous are living on the earth 24:10 with the wicked burning underneath them 24:12 throughout eternity? That's a-- 24:15 I mean, would that be a happy place to live? 24:18 And would there be no more pain? No. 24:20 Yeah, there would still be pain and suffering going on. 24:22 And it says, there will be no more pain. 24:25 So, a lot of these things, if you interpret it the way 24:27 that it has been interpreted, are in direct conflict 24:30 with much of scripture on the subject. 24:31 And once again it goes back to that very thing 24:33 you mentioned about, 24:34 look at historically of the teaching of the God, Hades. 24:38 That is, that was what was fuelling, 24:43 I'm gonna use that phrase-- Yeah. 24:44 fuelling the thought about the fires of hell. 24:47 Who was it- is he a Greek God, Hades? 24:50 Greek God and--but the Romans adopted him too 24:52 and continued to share that myth. 24:54 And so you've in the Bible you've these words for hell, 24:57 you've Hades, you've Gehenna, you've Sheol, 25:00 and you've Tartarus or Tatarus. 25:03 Those four words for hell in the Bible. 25:05 Hades that final lake of fire 25:07 is gonna consume all that's wicked. 25:09 And when the Bible talks about that, 25:10 it does mean consume, 25:12 fire came down from God out of heaven, 25:14 Revelation 20 and devoured them. 25:16 John 3:16. Same way it's gonna be devoured. 25:18 Okay, read it. Just quote it. 25:19 For God so loved the world, 25:20 that he gave his only begotten Son, 25:22 that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, 25:25 but have everlasting life. There's an antithesis of both. 25:28 Either you're going to perish, which means 25:30 you'll be burned up and be no more 25:33 or you'll live forever. 25:34 It does not say that whosoever believes in him 25:38 should not burn in the hells of fire 25:40 forever with everlasting life. 25:42 Doesn't say that, it says perish. 25:45 So you've to look very carefully and understand 25:47 what the Bible is really trying to teach. 25:49 Yeah, and one last one, I mean, 25:50 'cause this is really important for those 25:52 who ask the question. 25:53 Lot of times, you don't get a chance to give these 25:55 questions and I don't want to end this question 25:57 with an open end saying, well, do they really perish? 25:59 Here's another passage that builds on that word 26:02 as a matter of fact I think John 3:16, 26:04 builds on this passage. 26:06 Psalms 37, verse 20, but the wicked shall perish, 26:10 the enemies of the Lord 26:13 like the splendor of the meadows 26:15 shall vanish into smoke, shall they vanish away. 26:21 The King James Version says, 26:22 "Into smoke shall they consume away." 26:26 And give them that verse again. 26:27 Psalms 37 and verse 20, 26:31 into smoke shall they vanish away consume away. 26:33 Yeah, and so, and David also goes on to say 26:38 you'll diligently seek their place and there'll be no more. 26:41 But I've a quick question here we're gonna, 26:43 we enjoy the question time, thank you for that 26:46 important question, here's another one. 26:49 This comes from Isaiah, sorry not Isaiah, but Ezekiel. 26:56 I've been saying that all morning Exodus, Exodus. 27:00 Exodus Chapter 35. 27:03 This person asked a very important question. 27:05 Exodus 35 and verse 3, now this passage and one thing 27:12 we emphasize over and over 27:14 is context, context, context, context. 27:17 If you don't, if you don't look at context, 27:19 you've what's called pretext, meaning, I'm coming up 27:22 with something that's really not governed by the map. 27:26 That's not governed by the picture. 27:28 Once again, I'll go back to the puzzle. 27:29 You cannot conclude what a puzzle is by just one peice. 27:33 If you put all the pieces together, 27:35 then the picture is very clear. 27:37 Now Exodus 35 is about offerings. 27:42 It's not about cooking. It's about offerings. 27:46 What kind of sacrifice are you going to bring 27:49 to the Lord and so in this particular story, 27:52 the people Moses, knew that many of them would have 27:54 preferred to stay in their tents 27:56 and kindle their offerings on the Sabbath, 27:59 burn their fires, burn their offerings, 28:01 in their own dwellings 28:03 and that's what the verse was about. 28:05 It was not about, don't light a fire 28:08 and cook anything on the Sabbath. 28:10 That was, this verse was not 28:12 and that's what you ask about Exodus 35 and verse 3, 28:15 and so let me read it here, 28:16 and I'll put the context together 28:18 starting with verse 1, then Moses gathered 28:21 all the congregation of the children of Israel together 28:23 and said to them, these are the words, 28:25 which the Lord has commanded you to do. 28:28 Work shall be done for six days, 28:31 but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you. 28:35 A Sabbath of rest to the Lord, 28:37 whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 28:41 You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations 28:44 on the Sabbath day. 28:46 And Moses spoke to all the congregation 28:48 of the children of Israel saying, 28:50 this is the thing, which the Lord 28:52 commanded saying, take from among you 28:56 an offering to the Lord, whoever is of a willing heart 29:02 let him bring it as an offering to the Lord. 29:05 Gold, silver, bronze, 29:07 if you go through the entire passage, 29:09 you begin to clearly see, 29:10 this work that he's speaking about this 29:12 kindling of a fire, you see, you see the same thing happens 29:15 in the Book of Jeremiah, when the children of Israel, 29:19 when the Lord said, you've defiled the Sabbath 29:21 and he destroyed Jerusalem because they kindled a fire. 29:25 Again the kindling of the fire was used in three capacities. 29:30 One it was used in the context of cooking your food, 29:33 which you find when the children of Israel 29:34 travel through the wilderness, on rare occasions, 29:38 did they cook their food 29:39 because what did the Lord provide them to eat? 29:42 He provided them manna to eat. 29:44 The kindling of the fire was done in the temple 29:46 when there was an offering, a burnt offering, 29:48 and also when there was a, 29:50 when there was a sacrificial offering 29:52 that was brought secondly. 29:53 And the third time the fire was kindled 29:55 was by the high priests, in the temple services. 30:00 But you find in this particular passage 30:02 this is about offerings. 30:04 When you go on and you follow the economy of the Jews 30:08 you find that in the time of the New Testament 30:11 one of the reasons and still this happens today, 30:12 let me use a story here in New York. 30:15 The Jews continued to pervert things 30:19 that God had good intentions for 30:22 and so they were trying to prevent 30:23 any work at all from happening on the Sabbath, 30:26 even so much as kindling a fire 30:28 and that's the phrase used here. 30:30 Today, what do we have at home? 30:32 We've stoves, an electric stove, 30:35 some people have a gas stove. 30:38 The Jews in their day, they believed that 30:41 if you cook something on the Sabbath, 30:44 you're going to be looked upon 30:47 by the Lord as violating the Sabbath 30:50 and so what they did was, they hired the gentiles 30:55 to do their work for them. 30:56 Now, this is the, this is the oxymoron of the whole thing 31:02 or the catch 22here, is if that were in fact true, 31:06 they would still be guilty of sin, 31:08 and tell me, why? 31:11 Well, because they were causing someone else to sin, 31:13 and in causing them to sin, they were in fact sinning. 31:17 Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, 31:18 nor thy man servant, nor thy maid servant. 31:21 That's why the preparation day was given. 31:22 Within your gates. That's right 31:24 and so the principle of that is 31:26 keep the Sabbath free from a burdensome work 31:29 that was the inference of that. 31:30 They're those people today and I think the email here 31:32 was showing me the extreme at which people have taken this. 31:36 It says, there are people who do not eat at church, 31:38 because the food was warmed up on the Sabbath. 31:42 If you prepare your meal before the Sabbath, 31:44 do you have to wait after Sabbath to eat it, 31:46 since you shall not use fire? 31:51 That is getting to where the Jews were. 31:52 And the reason why we say this and we recognize that 31:55 many who watch these programs and stuff are not Adventist. 31:58 They're not Seventh-day Adventists. 31:59 This is what we do not teach. 32:04 This is not Seventh-day Adventism. 32:08 We do not believe this, but there are some that give 32:12 a very legalistic perspective to our faith. 32:17 And this is one instance where we find this is happening 32:21 and it gives us a bad name, frankly. 32:24 This is why we've some 32:25 legalism attached to our denomination. 32:27 Right. But we are not. 32:29 You've to understand the teachings 32:30 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 32:31 do not involve things like this because 32:35 these aren't good conclusions 32:39 that are arrived yet from much of scripture. 32:42 They're repeating many who do this 32:44 repeat the same thing, 32:45 that the mistake that the Jews have all made, 32:47 as they were establishing rules and regulations, 32:50 that they multiplied on the Sabbath day 32:52 for which you could and could not do 32:54 that Jesus came to deliver them from to free them from 32:59 and to say that we're to impose these things now 33:01 is to become or to have a very pharisaical approach 33:05 to your Sabbath worship time, your sacred time with God. 33:10 And it is sad that, that's the case, John. 33:12 And let me just put balance to this, 33:14 we're not saying go and have a barbeque on the Sabbath. 33:17 That's not what we were talking about, 33:18 because you've a preparation day. 33:20 The key is keeping the Sabbath from being a burden 33:24 That's right. That was the key. 33:25 Some people are making it a burden 33:26 by adding to it attachments 33:28 and I didn't finish the story there in New York City, 33:30 there are many hospitals that have a Sabbath elevator. 33:35 Because people still, some of the Jews today believe 33:38 if you press the button on the elevator you've sinned. 33:41 In the Bible you find examples, 33:44 some Jews believe in their codes 33:46 that if you spit on the ground on dirt 33:48 then you're sinning because you're irrigating the ground 33:51 and thereby a plant will grow up 33:52 and these are the things that made the Sabbath a burden 33:55 and that's not the principles of the Sabbath. 33:58 That's not even the literality of the Sabbath. 34:01 It's a holy day to be honored and to keep 34:04 to be kept from being a burden 34:06 that's why we have the preparation day. 34:07 The principle would be that on Friday, 34:09 you get a lot of your cleaning done, 34:11 get everything done in preparation for the Sabbath. 34:13 So that during the Sabbath hours 34:14 it can be quality time between you and God, your family, 34:17 relationships, worship, all those things. 34:20 So anything that might be-- that might come 34:22 in the middle of that, that create a 34:24 need to labor to the point of 34:27 distracting you from the purpose of 34:29 what the Sabbath was created, 34:30 that's what you accomplish ahead of time, 34:32 but not the simple act of striking 34:34 or even turning an electric oven on to 350 34:38 and warming up some food. 34:39 This is a very pharisaical approach to Sabbath keeping. 34:43 And it makes people that don't know 34:44 about the Sabbath say, if that's what they believe 34:47 there's no way, that's why some people say 34:49 you're in bondage because of the miscommunication 34:52 of how God established the Sabbath principles. 34:55 And in that case, you might say 34:56 they have a point in that specific instance. 34:58 In that particular instance, yes, 34:59 they could say the Sabbath has become a burden 35:01 and I don't want to be connected with that at all, 35:02 so be very, very careful of how you observe the Sabbath 35:05 because what happens is, 35:07 you don't want to keep the Sabbath, 35:08 you want to share the Sabbath. 35:10 The Lord of the Sabbath is the most important thing 35:12 and I end with this other example. 35:14 That's why you find in the Bible 35:15 it showed continually over and over, 35:17 this person who had been robbed, this-- 35:21 who had been beaten, 35:22 left by the side of the road, what happened? 35:24 The religious people passed him by, 35:26 the Pharisees passed him by, why? 35:27 Because they were on their way to the temple. 35:30 But now if a person living next door to you is very ill 35:33 and you find out that they have nothing to eat 35:35 and you go to their home and you say, well, 35:39 can I help you in anyway? 35:41 And the person says, oh, I've food there, 35:42 but I just can't make it. 35:44 Do you honestly believe 35:46 if this commandment was so literal, 35:48 do you honestly believe that by warming up 35:51 food for somebody who cannot do it 35:53 for themselves on the Sabbath, 35:55 is a violation of the Sabbath command? 35:58 That's why Jesus said if your donkey fell in a pit, 36:01 would you leave him there? 36:03 And so all these issues around the Sabbath 36:05 that Jesus had to address 36:06 they said Jesus violated the Sabbath. 36:08 His disciples ate bread, they picked corn, 36:11 all these things the Sabbath issues. 36:13 Let us not in our thinking, in our practice 36:15 become like the Jews had. Yeah. 36:18 Let's remember the Christ for the Sabbath. 36:20 Anyway, thank you for this-- 36:21 Our time has slipped away from us today, isn't it? 36:23 Yeah. But we've something that we would cover 36:25 within the time that we've remaining 36:27 and if not we could cover it on the next program. 36:28 Yeah. We'll spend probably two programs on this topic. Okay. 36:32 So you wanna give our House Calls address 36:34 again here, if they wanna send questions. 36:35 Yes, if you've any questions you like to send to us, 36:37 which you do, and I thank you so much we both thank you. 36:39 These questions are very thought provoking 36:41 and very important to respond to. 36:43 Hopefully, we've done a good job on that. 36:45 If not, send us another follow up question 36:47 to housecalls@3abn.org that's housecalls@3abn.org 36:54 Thank you very much for that. John, 36:55 lead us into our topic today. 36:58 Well, we're gonna spend a-- couple of days here on a topic 37:00 that I think is-- very important for all of us 37:02 and that is-- how we can be better 37:05 listeners for God's voice. Okay. 37:07 How can we be better in tune 37:10 and have more affective listening skills 37:13 to discern God's voice. 37:15 I believe that God established relationships. 37:21 He created Adam and Eve. 37:22 He creates all of us because-- 37:25 He wants a relationship with His creation. 37:28 That's right. And the key of every-- 37:30 the key part of every relationship 37:32 especially successful relationship is communication. 37:35 So if God establishes relationships, 37:38 He would never have expected 37:39 that if a relationship has been established, then 37:42 that there will be no communication. No. 37:44 So the deduction then you get from that is 37:47 that God is absolutely speaking 37:49 and communicating with us. Right. 37:52 The issue is, are we hearing Him? 37:55 There's one unknown writer 37:58 who once--who was quoted once as saying, 38:01 "There needs to be more fear 38:04 that we will not hear the Lord, 38:06 then that He will not hear us." 38:10 A lot of times, we're so concerned 38:11 about whether or not He's hearing our prayers. 38:13 We don't spend lot of time 38:15 being concerned that we're not gonna hear Him 38:17 and that's really the greatest concern. 38:20 So the question is, are we listening for God's voice? 38:23 Are we hearing when He's speaking to us? 38:26 And we're gonna cover a few things in this one 38:28 to kind of setup for the rest for the next program 38:31 and some of those things include 38:33 the ways in which God speaks to us 38:36 so that and we might understand those ways 38:38 and discern how He would communicate His will to us. 38:43 And what we're saying when we say God's communicating to us, 38:46 is we're saying He's communicating to us His will 38:49 for our lives. Right. 38:51 Giving us direction and guidance through life 38:53 through the power of His Holy Spirit, 38:56 and so these are some of the things 38:57 that we're gonna talk about. 38:59 I'm excited about this topic. I'm ready to dive in, 39:02 in there're so many stories that come to my mind. 39:04 There're so many Bible examples 39:06 one in particular that comes to my mind is Revelation. 39:08 You may have that in there, Revelation, 39:11 where the constant, the constant admonition is, 39:16 he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit 39:21 is saying to the churches. 39:23 And so, you find the work of the Holy Spirit 39:26 all throughout the New Testament Churches 39:28 is so vitally effective that today 39:30 what that's saying to me, 39:31 John, is that-- if the spirit of God, 39:33 is speaking to us and we choose to ignore it 39:37 and we can't hear what the spirit 39:39 is saying to the church, then we're operating in ignorance. 39:41 That's right. But we're operating in rejection 39:45 of a choice of ignorance. 39:47 We're operating-- we're choosing 39:49 to turn off the voice of God. And so-- 39:53 Well, think about Laodicea, the very last church, 39:55 which we believe, exist in this very day. 39:58 You know, they're rich, wealthy, 40:00 you know, they've all these things. 40:01 They say they need nothing. 40:04 But He tells them their true condition. 40:06 But after he tells them the true condition, 40:08 you see this verse, behold, I stand at the door 40:11 and I do what? Knock. Knock. 40:12 What door is that, that He's standing at? 40:14 The door of our heart. The door of our heart. 40:15 He is knocking. He is warning us to hear Him knocking, 40:19 but many of us just aren't hearing Him. 40:21 And what does He say? 40:23 Well, if you hear My voice, 40:25 you will open to Me, I will come in and have supper 40:28 with you and everything comes as a result 40:33 of that of opening that door to listen 40:36 and hear God's voice. You know, and that's the key. 40:38 If you don't--if you can't hear the voice of God, 40:41 then you cannot, you're not preparing yourself. 40:44 Well, let me put it-- if you don't hear--listen 40:47 for the voice of God, you're missing out 40:49 on the greatest fellowship of Jesus. Yeah. 40:51 That's what that says to me. Yeah. 40:53 If you don't hear voice-- if you're not listening 40:55 to the voice of God, and we're gonna talk about 40:57 the various ways that the Lord speaks to us 41:00 and this is very, very good material. 41:01 I'm glad you brought this up, John, 41:04 this topic about listening for the voice of God. 41:06 Now, we're gonna, it's a launch pad. 41:07 We're gonna start with Psalm 81. 41:10 Okay, Psalm 81. Psalm 81 41:11 and we'll read verses 8 through 13. 41:14 And listen how urgently God is trying to speak 41:18 to His people and what He says is their response. 41:23 Verse 8 of Psalm 81. 41:25 "Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you. 41:28 O Israel, if you will listen to Me, 41:31 there shall be no foreign God among you, 41:34 nor shall you worship any foreign God. 41:37 I am the Lord, your God, 41:38 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 41:40 open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." 41:43 Now notice here first of all, He is asking them, 41:46 listen to Me, please hear My voice. 41:49 And what seems to be the issue here 41:51 is that Israel has set up idols, 41:55 in the place of their desire for God. 41:58 And in setting up those idols, there's a barrier 42:01 for communication between them and God. 42:03 They are not open to listening for God's voice. 42:05 They are open in their admiration 42:07 and their--their every desire is on these things, 42:10 these things that they have setup, they put before God. 42:13 And but He's saying here, 42:15 if you would just open your mouth wide, I'll fill it. 42:19 Right. With all the blessings that I have for you. 42:22 But notice what happens in verse 11, 42:25 "But my people would not hear my voice, 42:29 and Israel would have none of me. 42:31 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart 42:34 to walk in their own counsels. 42:36 Oh that my people would listen to me 42:39 that Israel would walk in my ways." 42:43 Now that last, very last verse there, verse 13. 42:46 There is a pairing here of how we listen 42:52 and how we show God, we're listening, 42:55 that we would listen, that God's people would listen 42:57 to Him and would walk in His ways. 43:01 So listening, we're talking about listening biblically. 43:05 We're not talking about hearing something 43:08 necessarily that is a noise 43:10 or perceiving that something 43:12 is trying to communicate with us. 43:14 Listening in that regard would be passive. Right. 43:17 But right now, we can hear in the background, John, 43:20 the air-condition, it just kicked on--Right. 43:22 And I am aware that it's happening. 43:23 But I am not constantly in tune to it. 43:26 That's a passive acknowledgement 43:28 that the air conditioning is running. Right. 43:30 But when I listen and I respond by walking, 43:34 by putting into practice 43:35 what I am hearing that's active listening. Right. 43:38 That's means I'm engaging my ears, my mind, 43:41 my heart, to hear God's voice and put into practice 43:45 what He is speaking-- what He is telling me. 43:47 And that is the kind of listening 43:49 biblically that God is talking about. 43:51 Yeah. When the Lord, matter of fact 43:53 when the Lord says turn to Me, a lot of times 43:55 when you're speaking to people 43:56 and you're not turned toward them, 43:57 they don't believe that you're listening to them. 43:59 When the Lord says turn on to Me, 44:01 He is in essence saying, 44:03 if you're listening to Me, turn to Me, focus on Me. 44:07 And so one of the blessings of listening is that 44:10 if our focus is really listening to God 44:13 and you got to get this. A lot of times we are, 44:15 in our homes we have entertainment. 44:18 In our homes, we're distracted by elements 44:20 that we introduced into our homes 44:23 and you cannot what the Lord is in essence saying, 44:26 if I use them with context of studying 44:28 or conversing about the Bible, 44:31 you can't effectively study and read the word of God, 44:35 if something else has your attention. 44:37 That's one of the things here. Matter of fact, 44:40 I want to go to 1 Samuel. Okay. 44:42 This is one of my favorite stories. 44:44 And on that comment, especially considering that, 44:49 you know, in the comment about we can't hear God's voice. 44:52 We can't be actively listening 44:53 if our focus is on everything else. 44:56 In this busy world, I think the devil's tool 45:01 to keep us from hearing God's voice to actively listening 45:04 to Him is the fact that we're so busy. 45:06 Our schedule is made up of so many things 45:08 even the information age and-- all the technology we have. 45:11 If we don't set that aside--Right. 45:14 Life is gonna go right by and we'll not have heard God's 45:16 voice and so to many respects good things like technology 45:20 can become a hindrance for hearing God's voice. 45:23 You know, John, you just hit a home run 45:25 right there because I thought about this in the context. 45:27 I was saying to someone matter of fact, 45:29 we were having dinner with a good friend of ours, 45:33 Pastor John Bradshaw, we were having some 45:35 meal with him and-- we were sitting down, 45:40 you know, enjoying a basketball game 45:42 and a commercial came on and the commercial 45:45 talked about this thing called Hulu. 45:48 I don't want to give too much information 45:49 for people to go ahead and follow it up. 45:51 But it was about entertainment, 45:52 about the continual inflow-- the continual pouring 45:55 in of entertainment and it really amazed me, 45:58 this something called Hulu and Hulu Plus. 46:01 And at the end, it had a caption 46:03 "An eviler plot to destroy the world." 46:09 And so you think about all these devices 46:11 and I don't intend to do this, but I have my phone 46:14 sitting next to me, it's off right now. 46:16 Because I don't want to be listening 46:19 to that while I'm listening to Him. 46:22 Right. I don't want this to interrupt the voice of God. 46:26 And a lot of times we carry our own distractions with us. 46:33 So you have a phone that can, 46:36 you know, the faster the networks nowadays. 46:38 What's the intention of that? 46:39 Well, you know, you do get email. 46:41 You have your GPS. You have all these devices 46:43 that do help you in some sense. 46:45 But if you use this as an entertainment device, 46:49 you can actually block yourself out 46:51 from even taking time to read God's word 46:52 because you'll watch movies on these things. 46:55 You could play video games on these things. 46:57 And I asked my wife the question the other day, 46:59 whatever happened to phones that were just designed 47:01 to make phone calls? And see-- 47:03 They hardly even make them anymore, but-- 47:05 Right, because it hinders a couple of things. 47:10 It hinders Satan's attempt to take over your mind. 47:15 To just completely rule and reign in your head. 47:19 Secondly, it hinders the economy in the sense 47:23 of all these industries that want to make 47:25 100s of millions and billions of dollars every year 47:28 on just the, what do they call that, 47:30 the communication devices. 47:31 But here's the story I want to talk about 47:33 and beautiful story. It's about Samuel, 47:38 the boy, Samuel, administering before the Lord-- 47:44 administering to the Lord before Eli 47:46 and verse 2 of 1 Samuel 3. 47:50 "And it came to pass at that time, 47:52 while Eli was lying down in his place, 47:55 and when his eyes had begun to grow 47:57 so dim that he could not see, 47:59 and before the lamp of God went out 48:01 in the tabernacle of the Lord where the Ark of God was, 48:06 and while Samuel was lying down to sleep, 48:09 that the Lord called Samuel. 48:13 And he answered, "Here I am. 48:17 So he ran to Eli and said, 48:20 "Here I am, for you called me." 48:22 And he said, "I did not call, lie down again." 48:27 And he went and lay down." 48:30 And the Lord called yet again, Samuel, 48:32 so Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, 48:35 here I am,for you called me. And he answered, 48:38 I did not call you, my son, lie down again. 48:42 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, 48:45 nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. 48:49 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. 48:52 Then he arose and went to Eli and said, 48:53 "Here I am, for you did call me." 48:57 Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. 49:01 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down, 49:04 and it shall be, if He calls you, 49:06 that you must say, "Speak Lord, for Your servant, 49:10 what's the next word, John?" Hears. 49:12 For your servant hears. 49:14 And So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 49:17 Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, 49:22 "Samuel. Samuel." And Samuel answered, 49:24 "Speak, for Your servant hears." 49:27 Ain't that a beautiful story? Yeah. 49:29 What's the whole issue in the story? 49:32 Who you're listening to. That's right. 49:33 And who are you listening for. 49:36 And so what happened, the Lord was trying to train 49:38 Samuel, to hear His voice 49:41 and here was the whole context of the story. 49:44 Until the word of God is revealed to you, 49:48 you will confuse the voice of God 49:50 with the voice of someone else. 49:53 That's why it's so important to study God's word. 49:55 If you study God's word, you'll never confuse 49:58 the voice of God with the voice of man. 50:01 And you're gonna jump ahead, 50:02 so that's where we're gonna get to. Okay-- 50:04 Because there are several ways that God does 50:06 communicate with us and we can talk about a few of those, 50:09 just to kind of identify them here 50:11 and then we'll expand on them in the next program. 50:13 But let's go ahead and just list them here. 50:15 Sure, go for it. And we can start 50:16 talking about some of them. 50:18 Let me just give you the four. 50:19 First of all, he communicates through the written word. 50:22 God communicates also through audible sources. 50:27 He communicates thirdly through 50:29 thoughts and impressions. 50:31 And fourthly, He communicates through the everyday 50:33 circumstances of life. 50:35 These are not coincidences. 50:37 These are circumstances that He is speaking to us through. 50:40 So written word, audibly, thoughts and impressions, 50:44 and everyday circumstances of life. 50:47 We can kind of just dive into these things 50:49 and see how far we get in this program, 50:50 but the written word is the key 50:52 and that's why I say you--you're actually 50:54 not jumping too far ahead because the word 50:56 is so important and the-- supreme word with regard 51:00 to the written word is the Bible. 51:02 Now, there are other kinds of books and things 51:04 that God can use to communicate His will to us. 51:07 That is true. But there is no other inspired word, 51:11 sacred word that God can communicate His perfect 51:14 will to us expect the word of God. 51:17 So, it is-- it has become now, 51:19 the reason we mentioned this first, the Bible, 51:22 that the Bible is the source by which 51:25 all other communication must be measured. 51:30 Exactly, you know what, John? 51:31 That's why it is first and foremost in our list. 51:35 The written word of God's word is absolutely 51:39 the test for all other written kinds of words 51:43 or in a communication of God's voice to us. 51:47 Today, that's not the case. No. 51:49 That is so sad, but as we speak to you today 51:51 here on House calls set, this is one of the concerns 51:54 and the reason for this program is not 51:55 just about communication. 51:57 But I want you to catch this right away and we talked about 51:59 this prior to the program beginning. 52:01 The reason for this program is to let you know 52:03 what's missing in Christian America today. 52:07 What's missing in the Christian world in general 52:11 is they've put the word of man above the word of God. 52:17 If you don't believe that, if you meet somebody 52:21 that brings to your attention, something that 52:23 you have not heard before or something 52:26 that your church doesn't necessarily teach, 52:29 I like the example and I put this test 52:32 out there a number of times. 52:33 I've said, okay, what does the word of God 52:37 say on this particular topic? 52:38 You know what people have said, 52:39 "Oh, we don't believe that." 52:42 And I have asked a question, well, you don't believe it 52:46 because it's not in the Bible or because what's the reason 52:48 you don't believe it? 52:50 And they said because our church doesn't teach that. 52:54 And I'm thinking, okay. Is it in God's word? 52:58 Well, I don't know if it's there or not. 52:59 And so sometimes you will even reveal to somebody 53:01 what God's word says, 53:03 and they'll say this is the biggest satanic hook 53:08 that people have fallen to. 53:09 I have to wait till the Spirit reveals that to me. 53:13 God's word has clearly said it, 53:15 now if I give you directions on how to open 53:17 a safe deposit box, you don't sit there and say, 53:20 I'll wait till the Spirit reveals this to me. 53:23 Or anything else in life, but we cop out 53:27 as though the Spirit is gonna tell us 53:29 something other than what God's word had said. 53:31 Well, my pastor hasn't told me that 53:33 or my pastor said, it's not important. 53:36 And so, John, you made the point very, very clear. 53:39 The word of God is the standard 53:40 by which all other voices are measured. 53:42 It was the way that Jesus counteracted 53:44 the work of the enemy. Every time the enemy approached Him, 53:46 He said, "It is written, it is written, it is written" 53:50 The written word, the scriptures we have today 53:53 is the supreme authority of our Christian walk 53:59 and the problem we have here with this, 54:01 well, my church doesn't teach that or well, 54:03 the pastor doesn't believe that or my pastor says. 54:06 We are not--we are cultivating a Christianity today 54:12 that is not in the word, but it's in the hearing 54:15 of the traditions of the church, 54:18 what the church has taught 54:19 and what the pastors are teaching. 54:21 And this is so dangerous 54:24 and it is dangerous for a certain reason. 54:26 I don't know maybe you are even heading there, John. 54:28 But it is dangerous for the reason of what God is, 54:34 I should say, God is trying to counteract it, 54:36 but what the devil has sent into the church 54:40 and I am trying to find-- 54:41 Here it is? I want to read this one in Romans, 54:43 as you're looking, did you find it? 54:44 Yes. Okay, read it. 54:48 It says-- I'm in Roman 16 verse-- 54:51 Four, this is 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13. 54:55 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, 54:59 transforming themselves into apostles of Christ." 55:02 That's right. So who your pastor or your teacher 55:05 or your church leaders look to be, need to be tested 55:09 according to the word of God because here's why? 55:11 "And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms 55:13 himself into an angel of light." 55:15 It doesn't look like Satan. It looks like God. 55:18 Well, it must not be Satan, I guess? 55:20 No, Satan, can look like Jesus. That's right. 55:23 Fifteen, therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers 55:27 also transform themselves into ministers of what? 55:30 Righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 55:34 Where're they heading? To destruction. 55:36 And they're speaking to a congregation 55:38 who's also heading to destruction 55:39 if they are not testing the ministers words 55:43 according to what the Bible says. 55:44 And most of the time we're hearing that they're not? 55:47 You know, Satan has been at this for 1,000s of years 55:49 and some people discount the fact 55:50 that he is a powerful foe. 55:52 So why would he not employ people that looked apart? 55:55 Why would he not employ people that seemed 55:57 to look like ministers? 55:58 I tell you, one of the best weapons is disguise, 56:03 you see camouflage. 56:04 The military knows that and-- Satan is camouflaged nowadays. 56:07 People put on these religious looking robes, 56:10 just--nothing gives me the heebie jeebies more than that. 56:13 When a person puts on a religious 56:15 looking garb and tells a lie. 56:17 It's like a wolf in sheep's clothing, 56:19 you know. But here's what Paul says, what happened? 56:22 Paul said this in Romans 16 verse 17 56:25 and he's gonna go on he says. "Now I urge you, brethren, 56:27 note those who caused division 56:30 and offenses contrary to the doctrine 56:33 which you learned, and avoid them." Thats right. 56:36 He says check out God's word 56:37 for those who are such do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ 56:41 but their own belly and by smooth words and flattering 56:46 speech deceive the hearts of the simple 56:51 and that's what happening today. That's right. 56:53 We only have one Gospel, it's through Christ. Right. 56:56 Delivered to us. And that is the Gospel we must hold to. 56:59 There are other things that we're gonna get to here. 57:01 We'll even expand more on the word 57:03 being the supreme authority and the written word 57:04 is the way God communicates to us. 57:06 And we've shared with you the other three methods 57:08 along with that to make a total of four. 57:10 So we'll come back to that, John. 57:12 Go ahead, and take us out here 57:13 and then we will see you in the next program. 57:16 You know, friends, here at House Calls, 57:18 the word of God has been, is, and will continue 57:21 to be the foundation from which we operate. 57:23 And so as we continue on this program 57:25 on our next broadcast, begin today to get ready 57:28 for that by listening to the voice of God 57:30 as He speaks to you today. 57:32 God bless you till we see you again. |
Revised 2014-12-17