House Calls

Gods Character Revealed Part 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton

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Series Code: HCL

Program Code: HCL150001A


00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:02 and sit bit as we explore God's word together
00:05 on this edition of House calls.
00:23 Hello, friends, welcome to the best Bible program
00:26 this time of the day anywhere on the planet.
00:29 And my friend, John agrees. Don't you John?
00:31 Hey, it is--
00:32 I wouldn't be here. That's right.
00:34 If we didn't believe that to be true,
00:35 we really would be sitting here with our two laptops,
00:37 our Bible questions, our Bibles,
00:39 and with you tuning as an audience.
00:42 So we thank you so much for tuning in.
00:44 Get your Bibles
00:45 because this is the program that you've been waiting for.
00:47 And, John, what are we gonna be discussing today,
00:50 just you can give us a tease.
00:51 God's character, you know
00:53 it's really come under fire of light,
00:55 and it's time that we see with the word
00:57 has to say about it.
00:58 Okay.
01:00 And as you know, friends, we don't do anything.
01:01 We're gonna gone to our Bible questions.
01:03 When we get back in just a moment,
01:04 we'll tell you where to send your Bible questions.
01:07 And but before we do any of that,
01:09 we're gonna have prayer.
01:10 And John is always the one designated to have our prayer.
01:13 So, John, lead us before the throne of grace.
01:15 Happy to do that.
01:16 Father in heaven, we're thankful again
01:18 to open your word and to have that word
01:20 that we can trust and you too about reveal truth
01:23 and reveal yourself through.
01:26 We pray that you'd send your spirit, Lord,
01:28 to help along this program and to be with each here
01:31 so that we might understand not only that truth
01:33 but who you are more deeply in our heart.
01:36 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
01:39 As you know, friends,
01:40 many of you send your Bible questions.
01:41 We thank you for those of you
01:43 who are still sending in the letters,
01:45 we still accept them.
01:46 I know that many of you know the address,
01:48 PO box 220, West Frankfort, IL 62896.
01:52 Attention: House calls.
01:54 But some of you send the email,
01:56 the question, which we appreciate those also.
01:58 But if you have any questions at all,
02:00 you can send those questions to housecalls@3abn.org.
02:04 That's housecalls@3abn.org.
02:08 Keep them coming because we really enjoy your questions.
02:11 And even thank you for those who repeat questions
02:13 because sometimes we answer questions,
02:15 we may leave something out,
02:17 and if you want for the clarification
02:19 you can send those questions us again.
02:20 But, John, what do we have today?
02:23 Well, we've got several questions.
02:24 I think we're gonna start off with the couple
02:26 little, a little faster.
02:28 And then we can get to a question
02:29 that may take a little longer.
02:31 So I'm gonna mention here a one question
02:33 that is a little more brief, just a request by Cathie.
02:38 And she is asking us to elaborate on Psalm 45:11.
02:42 So lets take a look at Psalm 45:11,
02:45 and I'll read that here for you.
02:47 In fact, why don't we back of few verses
02:49 just so we get the context.
02:51 All right.
02:52 Psalm 45, let's start with verse 6.
02:55 Okay.
02:57 "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever,
02:59 scepter of righteousness is a scepter of your kingdom.
03:03 You love righteousness and hate wickedness,
03:05 therefore, God, your God,
03:06 has anointed you with the oil of gladness
03:09 more than your companions
03:11 All Your garments are sainted with myrrh,
03:14 and aloes, and cassia out of the ivory palaces
03:17 by which they have made you glad.
03:20 Kings daughters are among your honorable women.
03:24 At your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
03:27 Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear
03:30 forget your own people also and your father's house".
03:32 And here is the verse
03:34 "So the king will greatly desire your beauty
03:36 because he is your Lord, worship him."
03:39 Okay.
03:40 And I think probably one of the questions,
03:42 a part of the question
03:43 that they are asking us to elaborate on is,
03:45 is what's kind of a depth they meaning here
03:48 because we need to know who the king is.
03:52 And we also need to know who's this daughter is
03:55 that is been spoken of in this passage.
03:58 First of all if the king is the one that is the Lord
04:00 and to worship him, we know that only can be Jesus.
04:03 That's right.
04:04 Jesus throughout the Bible is clearly the king.
04:07 The other part, the daughter is also revealed in that
04:10 the Bible depicts a woman, daughter often,
04:15 as one that is the wife of the Lord
04:19 or he is the husband and the daughter is his wife.
04:23 And so his church
04:25 is really what he is talking about here, his people.
04:29 If you look else for in scripture as well
04:31 you'll find such as Isaiah 61.
04:34 Isaiah talks about how the Lord ornaments are puts,
04:37 for beautiful things on his woman,
04:40 on the daughter.
04:42 And of course, we knows those beautiful ornaments
04:43 are not true rings, and necklaces, and ear rings,
04:47 and in all that kind of stuff.
04:48 It's the beauty of holiness, it's serving the Lord,
04:50 it's walking in God's ways.
04:53 And so he's asking, his to saying here really,
04:55 this is a prophecy about the king desire
04:58 that desire for his wife, the church,
05:01 to walk in that beauty, to walk in the holiness of God,
05:04 to worship their king and their king alone,
05:06 and to serve him.
05:08 And that's really the deeper meaning of this.
05:09 There may some other things
05:11 that people have some different prospective on,
05:14 but at the heart of it that's the message.
05:16 And truly you know,
05:18 you talked about the Lord ornamenting his church,
05:20 he uses the illustration of the Asian bride.
05:23 If you go to India, you see ornamentation is opulent
05:30 when you see the bride.
05:31 So much of the wedding in Asia is indicative of Christ saying,
05:35 "Do you see that bride?
05:37 Hey, a picture of the beauty of my church."
05:40 Not the false externals
05:42 but the beauty that he gives her,
05:45 he's weighing far greater
05:46 than the beauty that is seen in the external Asian wedding.
05:51 But that was pretty clear to the point,
05:53 I don't think there's as much of explanation
05:54 that needs to be there.
05:57 Question we have here, Luke 22:36-38.
06:03 I am gonna go ahead and read those.
06:05 And I am reading in the end New King James version.
06:09 And the question is, "Would you kindly explain
06:12 what does the sword in these verses stands for?
06:15 I have not seen them used anywhere
06:18 after the Lord told them to go and get swords,
06:22 and to sell what they have, and buy one if necessary."
06:27 Think you joy, and it puts you a servant in Christ.
06:31 And they are from Trinidad.
06:32 So, hey, we got some questions coming from the West Indies.
06:36 So that's the wonderful thing.
06:37 Lets read the verses, Luke 22:36-38.
06:41 And by the way, the lady who raised me
06:42 was from Trinidad, that's why I can't did that little thing.
06:44 You identified with that. Exactly.
06:47 "Then He said," that is Jesus in verse 36, He said to them,
06:51 "By but now, he who has a money bag, let him take it,
06:57 and likewise a knapsack, and he who has no sword,
07:01 let him sell his garment and buy one.
07:05 For I say to you that this which is written
07:08 must be accomplished in Me.
07:11 And he was numbered with the transgressors
07:14 for the things concerning Me have an end."
07:18 And verse 38, "So they said, 'Look, Lord, or Lord, look,
07:23 here are two swords,
07:25 and He said to them, 'It is enough.'"
07:27 And I think those the verses that they referring to there.
07:30 Now the question is I believe,
07:33 is the Lord advocating violence?
07:36 Because you know, we think at the context of the sword.
07:39 What's actually happening here
07:40 is when Jesus began his ministry,
07:43 what was closely associate with his ministry
07:46 was the tension that builds on the announcement
07:50 that another king has risen.
07:54 He could possibly be the messiah
07:56 or he could be the king
07:58 that overthrows the Roman government.
08:00 And the tensions here
08:02 are not any tension that we can take lightly,
08:04 so we must "protect ourselves."
08:08 So when Jesus referred to the disciples needing a sword,
08:12 and they say, look we have two swords
08:13 and Lord says, well, that's enough.
08:16 He was not advocating, you take that sword
08:18 to use a sword, he was simply recognizing the tension
08:22 that the atmosphere in which his ministry began
08:25 shifted so much to violence.
08:27 And if you notice further on, matter of fact,
08:30 I'll give you a couple of text here
08:31 just to bring this to, bring this point home.
08:34 Jesus wasn't saying to the disciple,
08:37 when the time comes,
08:38 if you need the sword, kill them.
08:40 Right. Right.
08:42 He wasn't saying that this is, arm yourself.
08:44 But the visibility of the sword
08:46 was not the advocacy of violence.
08:49 Let me give you a couple of examples,
08:51 Mathew 10:34.
08:53 Look at the ways that Jesus uses the sword.
08:56 He says "Do not think
08:57 that I came to bring peace on earth.
08:59 I did not come to bring peace but a sword".
09:04 He is saying a lot of people think
09:05 that my mission is going to be a peaceful mission.
09:08 Well, if I was living at the time that Jesus arrived
09:10 and I was apart of the Judeo-Christian church
09:14 at the time or the before it became the Christian,
09:16 the movement of Judaism.
09:18 And then the messiah showed up
09:20 and I was told about my leaders, that's not him.
09:23 And then the Romans were told by the Jews,
09:25 that's not him.
09:26 And we both have something to fear,
09:28 this man is gonna overthrow our government,
09:30 he's gonna upset our religion, so you got be careful.
09:33 And then now there is search looking for him.
09:36 You can see the tension of the atmosphere,
09:38 but Jesus made it very clear.
09:40 And Mathew 10:34, and Luke 12:51,
09:43 he talked about he didn't come to bring peace
09:46 but He brought a sword in Mathew,
09:48 and then He equated that sword to division.
09:51 But to show that He did not support violence,
09:54 when they came and arrest the Jesus in the garden,
09:57 Peter took out his sword
09:59 and he cut off the ear of one of the solders.
10:03 And Jesus made it very clear in Mathew 26:52, he said,
10:08 "Put your sword in its place,
10:10 for all who take the sword will perish by the sword."
10:16 So now the question you ask, okay, Peter probably said,
10:19 "Lord, didn't you tell me to get a sword?"
10:23 He said, "I didn't tell you to use it to hurt anybody.
10:27 Just, it has a visible representation of protection
10:30 but do not take that sword out because if you'll use it,
10:33 it's gonna be the same instrument
10:35 by which you're gonna perish."
10:37 And then finally the reiteration of that
10:39 and the apostle John in Revelation 13:10,
10:43 "He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity.
10:46 He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword."
10:52 So then what's the obvious stipulation for the sword?
10:58 Well, Paul the apostle brings the sword into full view
11:02 when he speaks about the sword.
11:05 Not of the solder, not of the murderer,
11:09 but the sword of the spirit is the word of the God.
11:13 And so the sword, that's most likely talked about here is,
11:15 Jesus saying, the reasons
11:17 why there is going to be such tension in my arrival
11:20 is because they see me as one who brings division.
11:23 And truly, my doctor more cause division
11:26 but the reason why its gonna cause division
11:28 is because I come not with the Roman sword
11:31 but I come with the sword of the spirit,
11:33 which is the word of God.
11:34 And the proclamation of that sword,
11:36 the spiritual sword, division become the result.
11:39 Its amazing, you know, when Jesus comes back
11:41 a sword is gonna be proceed from his mouth,
11:43 which is the word of God.
11:45 So this is not the advocacy of violence
11:47 but in fact, talking about the fact
11:49 that my mission will be accompanied by tension
11:52 on both the side of the Jews and the Romans,
11:55 but we need to show ourselves ready for this atmosphere,
11:59 but I am not advocating that you take that sword
12:01 and even cut any one with it,
12:03 as it's the case when Peter used it.
12:05 And you know, to elaborate on that further
12:07 I like which you mentioned here with Paul,
12:09 how he talks about the sword of the spirit
12:11 as the word of God.
12:12 We even have to be careful when we wield the sword of,
12:15 the word of God.
12:17 Because remember that it's the sword of the spirit,
12:20 it's the spirit that wields the sword.
12:23 Sometimes we can take the sword and we can start cutting,
12:27 and then we assume the position of a spirit,
12:30 and no longer it's the sword of the spirit,
12:32 it became the sword of John.
12:33 Like the sword of Peter, right.
12:35 And so we can do that even with the word of God.
12:38 We need to make sure that the Holy Spirit
12:40 is the one wielding that sword,
12:42 He is the one that's on the offensive
12:43 in their heart.
12:45 We present the message,
12:46 we present in loving and care for others
12:48 but the Holy Spirit does the convicting.
12:50 You know I like that you bring that out.
12:52 One of the things is we both think alike a lot,
12:55 that's why I decided to give him my name.
12:58 His name is John also.
13:00 But in the reality,
13:02 that same note fits in to the beauty of God's word,
13:06 it's a lamp and a light.
13:08 And when the Lord says, let your light so shine,
13:11 He didn't say to turn on your halogen head lights
13:14 and go blinding other people with the light,
13:16 he wanted us to shine forth like a candle.
13:19 And a candle is not offensive.
13:20 You could look at it
13:21 and it begins to illuminate the surroundings that we're in.
13:24 So, yes, don't use the word of God as a sword
13:27 to cut people up,
13:28 don't use it as light to blind individuals.
13:31 Allow God's glory to be seen,
13:33 and the word of God let be heard,
13:34 and let the spirit of the God do the cutting.
13:37 What you have next for us, John?
13:39 I have a question that comes here from,
13:42 lets see, Jo.
13:45 And I think it's short for Joanne.
13:48 Okay.
13:49 And she says, "Thank you for the House Calls program.
13:51 Its help me to understand and grow in God's word.
13:55 I have a question about the 2520 prophecy."
13:58 "Please clarify what this is and why it is,
14:01 or it's not true.
14:04 Is it gaining momentum
14:05 or it's just another end time deception
14:07 that enemy uses to divide and concur?"
14:10 And then she just wants to know little more about this.
14:13 Now, I would say that this topic, John,
14:16 can fill up in entire in two or three programs.
14:19 So we can't cover this question with any kind of depth.
14:23 But just a quick synopsis here, the 2520,
14:27 in those that advocate that "prophecy"
14:32 are taking it from William Miller
14:36 and the 1843 chart,
14:38 that was first used by the Millerites
14:40 to proclaim the last Advent message.
14:43 And so we are the first, second angles,
14:45 and third angles message that came over that period
14:47 of about 1840 through 1844, 1845.
14:52 During that period Ellen White writes about that
14:56 and she speak of this chart
14:58 as being a significant impieties
15:01 for helping through advent that message by William Miller.
15:04 William Miller use that chart and it was a real great,
15:07 a great tool for helping that message go forward.
15:10 Now the top right corner of the message,
15:12 you'll see that the most significant part of it
15:15 was the 2300 days prophecy, which we knows the 2300 years.
15:20 And that has been advocated.
15:22 We share that message to this very day
15:24 as Seventh-day Adventist.
15:27 But there is another prophecy there
15:30 that William Miller advocating
15:31 which was called 2520 day prophecy, 2520 years.
15:37 And so this group has come together, saying,
15:40 this is kind of the last prophecy
15:41 within Adventism,
15:43 although it was not an Adventist prophecy,
15:44 it never was.
15:45 It was very much William Miller and the Millerites at the time.
15:49 So they advocated, it's the last prophecy
15:51 that's need to be brought back to the forefront
15:53 because it provides a second witness
15:55 to key dates in our prophetic timeline,
15:58 those being 1798 and 1844.
16:02 Essentially what they're saying with the 2520 prophecy
16:05 is that it is given in Leviticus 26,
16:11 its in regard to seventh times, that is indicated there,
16:15 specifically in the King James and New King James version.
16:19 And if that seven time it's used prophetically,
16:22 it add up to 2520 years.
16:24 And you get that by a time is a year,
16:28 so seven times means seven years,
16:30 which equal 2520 days,
16:33 and then convert it into years, its 2520 years.
16:36 Right, if you use the number 360.
16:38 Right, if 360 days per year,
16:41 which is the way the Jews system
16:43 always used a year in prophecy.
16:46 So what they do is, they take that number
16:48 and miller himself believe that the date started
16:52 when Manasha was taking in chains to Syria.
16:58 He was ultimately released and came back to power,
17:00 but for a time he was taken.
17:01 And that was in 677 BC.
17:04 Counting forward that time period,
17:06 you arrive at the 2520 days,
17:09 which is 1844, 2520 years.
17:14 Now during that time also Hiram Edson also came into play
17:18 and disagreed fairly significantly with Millerite,
17:21 in fact, if you go into our history,
17:23 he took an adamant view against Miller's starting date.
17:26 And he advocated the date of 722, which was the time
17:33 that the Assyrians sat and destroyed
17:38 the Northern Kingdom of Samaria, the key city.
17:43 And so he advocates that
17:45 that day the 2520 period run to 1798.
17:50 Well, this group is come together
17:51 and used both to show that,
17:54 hey, this is the second witness,
17:56 sort of speak in the Bible for those two dates.
17:59 And the 2520 year period
18:02 is seen as a time of scattering.
18:06 Yeah, scattering, a scattering period
18:08 where by the Jews and those in the earth
18:12 were under a curse that they called curse of Moses
18:15 for the disobedience that happened back then.
18:18 So that curse then began in 677 under Miller's view
18:22 and continued on through 1844,
18:24 then after the Great Disappointment
18:26 you had a gathering period,
18:27 which is when God's people would gather
18:29 under the Adventist message,
18:30 the three angles message is to proclaim it.
18:32 That in essence is the 2520.
18:34 Here's some significant problems with this.
18:38 Number one, Leviticus 26, the seventh times there,
18:43 Leviticus is not a apocalyptic book.
18:45 It's not a book to be read prophetically.
18:48 So, there's no reason to formulate
18:53 or take the word seven times
18:55 and say, hey, that means prophetic,
18:57 that's prophetic time.
18:59 Number two, the word time
19:01 isn't even in the original text, okay.
19:04 James White came up pretty clearly on this in 1863,
19:07 where he shared and he said it
19:09 in the all inclusive we as a church,
19:12 he said that we believe
19:14 if there is no prophecy existing here at all.
19:17 Therefore, all this arguing about start dates,
19:19 and finish dates, and all those are the things,
19:20 they're just a bunch of nonsense.
19:22 So we as a church at that point left it behind.
19:25 Now this group says, we didn't.
19:27 They tried to kind of read into Ellen White's writings
19:29 and try to bring it back, saying, she advocated it.
19:31 But there is no evidence of that whatsoever.
19:35 All the evidence points to how the church had rejected
19:38 that part of William Miller's prophecy
19:41 and his message and we move forward
19:43 slowly focused on the 2300 year prophecies.
19:48 There's couple other issues
19:49 that are significant here with this prophecy.
19:51 Number one, occurs.
19:52 How does occurs last through the apostolic era?
19:57 How does Christ who came to deliver and set people free,
20:02 how are we operating under a curse
20:05 as we transition from that old covenant experience
20:07 to a new covenant,
20:08 conversion experience in Christ.
20:10 Another thing you have to ask is,
20:12 is this church, is this curse then just handed it to church?
20:15 No.
20:16 What do the gentiles had to do with the curse
20:18 that was brought on "by Israel" way back went for disobedience?
20:24 Several other issues too.
20:25 You have the, Leviticus 26
20:28 is clearly a conditional prophecy.
20:31 It's a prophecy that indicates the increasing--
20:40 correction, chastisement of God upon to people
20:43 for continue disobedience.
20:45 He repeatedly, it says
20:46 if you turn from that this won't happen.
20:49 And so we do say that when God issues
20:51 some kind of a judgment upon his people
20:53 that he would not relent.
20:54 Clearly through out the Bible he relents many times.
20:56 Its right.
20:57 But the other things here is that
20:59 indication are that they did experience the curse.
21:03 And Daniel spoke of that experience in Daniel 9,
21:06 where he says curse within the Law of Moses
21:08 has come upon us as a people.
21:11 Which means that Israel was experiencing the scattering
21:15 and this curse of Moses during the era they were in Babylon.
21:21 And as God brought them out of Babylon,
21:24 he gathers them together again as a people.
21:27 So you have the context of the scattering
21:29 and the gathering within that seven year period
21:31 and then afterward.
21:33 Furthermore too, you have other examples that there,
21:37 in fact, the pioneers use the terminology
21:39 scattering and gathering,
21:40 Ellen White herself did the same thing,
21:42 but she spoke of it in regard to scattering
21:46 that occurred after the Great Disappointment.
21:48 Not up to the Great Disappointment.
21:50 And she said then, the pioneers agreed
21:52 that the gathering period
21:54 actually began more like 1848 to 50.
21:58 And history actually clearly shows that
22:00 and establishes that they wrote on that basis.
22:03 James White says its wonderful during this gathering time,
22:06 and he spoke about the 1848, 1849,
22:09 Sabbatarian or Sabbath conferences
22:11 that were happening around the north east at that time
22:14 that people were being gathered together.
22:16 So one other things we get from all of this
22:20 is the Millerite movement, I refer to it is Neo-Millerite,
22:24 it's a new version of the Millerite movement.
22:26 Okay.
22:28 This Millerite movement, Neo-Millerite movement
22:30 is really a revisionist prospective of history.
22:33 They're taking what history is
22:35 and revise according to a picture
22:37 they've put together, that is fraught with error,
22:41 and problems, and issues.
22:42 And when looked at, it's very complicated,
22:45 but when looked at very deeply you can see fairly quick,
22:49 if you're looking in the right place,
22:50 how problematic it truly is.
22:52 Wow. True. And it is a causing division.
22:55 Coming to the churches where goes,
22:57 the fruit is division and separation,
22:59 division among the people
23:01 when we're called to press together.
23:03 Right. This message is dividing.
23:05 It takes us away from our message to the world,
23:07 it focuses on us, that's another problematic area.
23:10 So there are all kind of issues related to this.
23:14 I wish we had time to going into them in detail.
23:16 But my counsel will be stay away from it,
23:20 don't let it get into the church,
23:21 and make sure you stand clearly on the true present truth,
23:25 not that rendition of it.
23:27 You know, I like the fact that you,
23:29 expounded the way you did, putting into proper context.
23:32 The fact of the matter is this is not the original text
23:37 in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, and 28.
23:42 It's not a prophecy at all.
23:45 So the very foundation is it's not a prophecy at all.
23:49 In the sense of symbolic time,
23:52 then you have a difficulty there
23:53 because you're taking something
23:55 that's not symbolic at all and making it symbolic.
23:59 It was never intended to be symbolic.
24:01 It was talking about,
24:02 and let me just use an example here,
24:04 these verse is talking about the intensity
24:08 of the God's punishment.
24:09 Not the duration of God's punishment.
24:12 In fact, modern translationist interrupt seven times
24:14 as seven folds.
24:16 Right.
24:17 And so when you begin to add to something in the Bible
24:21 that does not exist then you have problems.
24:24 Let me give you an example I will use this illustration,
24:28 Mike Tyson can hit you seven times harder than I can.
24:33 That's not hitting him for seventy days
24:37 or seven weeks or--
24:39 Or even in seven times.
24:40 Or seven times,
24:42 that's just the intensity of the hit is much greater.
24:44 And if I read the text,
24:45 and I'll just go through this very quickly,
24:46 and I will make one comparison.
24:48 I am gonna lead in to this by saying
24:50 this is not referring to duration
24:52 but the intensity of God's punishment.
24:55 Listen to this Luke 26, Leviticus 26:18,
24:59 "And after all this, if you do not obey Me,
25:03 then I will punish you seven times more
25:06 for your sins."
25:08 It's clear seven times more,
25:10 not seven years or seven periods longer.
25:14 And verse 21, "Then, if you walk contrary to Me,
25:19 and are not willing to obey Me,
25:21 I will bring on you seven times more plagues
25:25 at intensity over and over"
25:27 And then verse 24,
25:29 "then I also will walk contrary to you,
25:36 I will punish you yet seven times for your sins,
25:40 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury
25:43 and I even I will chastise you seven times for your sins."
25:48 And in all four categories we're seeing intensity
25:51 rather than duration.
25:53 Now one example in a book that is prophetic
25:56 is the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar.
26:00 In Daniel 4:16, and by the way,
26:03 a lot of time people read the text
26:05 but they don't understand
26:06 that the word there in the Hebrew
26:07 is the word Sheba,
26:09 which does not delineate time but duration.
26:14 Seven times, its not delineating and the word Sheba,
26:19 they can be used in the context of seven weeks.
26:22 But that has not even implemented
26:24 in this particular verse, not even suggested slightly,
26:27 but it is referring to
26:29 'you don't understand my punishment
26:30 until you disobey me.'
26:32 That's what it is being said here.
26:34 Look at the same word in Hebrew here in Daniel 4:16.
26:41 Speaking of Nebuchadnezzar not humbling himself.
26:44 He says," Let his heart be changed from that of a man,
26:48 let him be given the heart of a beast,
26:50 and let seven times pass over him".
26:54 That is referring to duration not intensity.
26:57 So there's a difference one is intensity not duration
27:00 one is duration not intensity.
27:02 So after seven years
27:04 the reasoning of Nebuchadnezzar was returned.
27:06 But after Israel's rebellion
27:09 the intensity of God's judgment increased.
27:12 That's simply that,
27:13 never intended to be a prophecy.
27:15 So if the foundation is not what people are suggesting,
27:18 don't even worry about
27:20 explaining anything beyond that.
27:22 Now, I was say here that there are churches that have,
27:26 the way in which they advocate this
27:28 is to come into churches
27:30 and they began to hand DVDs out,
27:31 they pull people aside,
27:33 and they talk to them about the stuff.
27:34 They usually say, often they come in and they say,
27:36 "Hey, anybody want to stay after potluck for Bible study?"
27:39 And then this is what's advocated.
27:41 So this is how they come in, in a very sneaky way.
27:44 And its not overtly open and nor is it transparent.
27:49 Its very secret.
27:51 So even the fruit of this is really,
27:55 its really demonic.
27:56 It's very divisive. Very divisive.
27:58 What I will do to say this.
28:00 I've actually had an opportunity
28:01 to go to different places
28:03 and help them work through this issues.
28:04 So I have done this several times.
28:06 And if you have people, your church is hit by this,
28:09 and kind of stuck in muck and mire this,
28:11 feel free to contact me because I do have,
28:13 if I have a schedule that can do it, I can go.
28:16 In fact, I am going to Philadelphia here
28:18 in a few weeks
28:19 to help them work through this issue as well.
28:21 And so, let me know
28:23 and I'm happy to help you through it,
28:25 whether it be send you information on it
28:27 or come out and actually do a presentation,
28:29 I'm happy to do that.
28:31 Great, invite John, and he'll represent both of us.
28:36 Appreciate that very much.
28:37 Well, I know our time has come and gone for our questions,
28:39 but if you have any more questions
28:41 or any further clarification is needed,
28:44 send those questions to housecalls@3abn.org.
28:48 That's housecalls@3abn.org,
28:51 and we surely do appreciate your prayers
28:54 and your financial support of this network.
28:58 John, we have a dynamic topic today,
29:02 that we're gonna talk about is that,
29:04 and I'll let you lead into it.
29:06 I got this little bug in my throat.
29:07 Kindly lead into it.
29:09 Yeah, well, you know, we--
29:10 in this day and age, one of the challenges we have,
29:14 Christians have in general, is sharing their faith
29:17 to an increasing world that is secular.
29:21 I'm not talking about the just those who don't believe in God,
29:24 but the God that is being advocated
29:26 by Christians at large
29:27 isn't necessarily the God of the scriptures.
29:30 And one of the biggest challenges there with that
29:32 and would keep,
29:34 I keep using the word challenge here
29:35 because it's creating that,
29:37 is that the God that's advocated is harsh,
29:41 exacting, judgmental,
29:43 one that is not merciful, and kind,
29:46 and loving as the bible portrays.
29:48 And so you have Christians out there with signs,
29:52 'God hates' and add whatever you want to do that sign.
29:55 God hates this, God hates that, God, you know.
29:57 And Christians are becoming known
30:00 for more of what they disagree with
30:04 than they are for who they are, the love that they have,
30:08 the love of Christ in them.
30:10 And so, what's that doing is
30:12 it has a negative effect on sharing the Gospel.
30:16 People don't want to hear about that God.
30:18 And I don't blame them. John, I would want to either.
30:22 But the God of the Bible
30:23 and his character is not being portrayed accurately.
30:28 By I would even say most Christians today,
30:31 they don't even understand the true God
30:33 and His character in the Bible.
30:35 And so I think it's good we spend a program or two,
30:39 going through that and kind of maybe it's defending God,
30:43 maybe defending his character,
30:44 but truly what we're doing
30:46 is trying to reveal God's true character
30:48 to the world through his word.
30:50 That's the good word to talk about
30:51 because God is misunderstood.
30:53 There are so many doctrines today,
30:55 when you think about
30:56 how God's character is being maligned
30:59 in a very terrible way.
31:01 One of those is the doctrine of the eternally burning hell.
31:05 God is seen as this tyrannical God
31:06 that just cannot get a peace that all
31:09 and he's gonna torment, and rotisserie,
31:12 people that have lived 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 maybe even 90 years.
31:16 Trying to make God a torturer. Yeah.
31:18 Because you have to keep someone alive
31:20 to torture them for eternity.
31:21 So he deliberately keeping them alive
31:23 to torture them?
31:25 And this is what is being advocated.
31:26 And let me tell you why I'm so--
31:28 Passionate. Passionate about that.
31:31 Yes, one of the answers is, one of the reasons why,
31:35 or even evangelical friends, don't like the view
31:39 that hell is about fire coming from heaven
31:41 and consuming the wicked and it's done.
31:44 They don't like that.
31:45 Because what they say is,
31:46 well, you're taking away a key motivator
31:50 for someone excepting the Gospel.
31:52 And I think to myself
31:54 what kind of God do you picture him to be
31:57 if your motivator needs to be torment
32:01 or you know, except Christ
32:03 or you're burnt forever and ever.
32:05 What part of that motivates anybody to wanna follow God?
32:09 It's fire escape religion.
32:10 When the fire is out, I don't love you any longer.
32:12 Yeah, and it's like God holding a gun at your head
32:15 and saying, "Love me or I'm gonna kill you."
32:18 I mean who would respond favorably to that?
32:20 You might say, "Okay, I love you."
32:22 But would you really? You know, that's amazing.
32:25 And we haven't even gone to the first verse yet
32:27 in our study,
32:28 but we're just kind of laying some foundation here,
32:30 'cause have the blessing of the maybe extending this
32:33 to a second program.
32:35 To show that God is love, who would out of anyone else,
32:39 who would be the most likely person
32:40 that God should have killed a long time ago.
32:42 Who is it? Satan.
32:44 But he's still around.
32:45 Showing that God is not only loving,
32:48 but God is allowing sin to run its course.
32:52 God is not saying, "Boy, I should have killed him
32:54 a long time ago, I'm gonna--"
32:55 In his mercy, he's letting sin run its course.
32:58 So that his character would be vindicated
33:01 so that people will never come with the idea that, see,
33:04 exactly what he was accused, that was being unjust,
33:08 and exacting, and tormenting, is prove him by the fact
33:12 that he outed Satan the moment he stepped out of line.
33:15 Well, he didn't, you know.
33:17 So we're gonna talk about that today in the program
33:20 and what we're hoping to do,
33:21 and I know John is gonna chine in on this too, is where,
33:24 we in our finite understanding, in our limited view,
33:28 only through the revealed word of God,
33:30 we want to say, if you really know who God is,
33:33 you would fall in love with him,
33:35 and you would want to be in his relationship,
33:38 you would want to be in his will.
33:39 You wouldn't think of anybody more appropriate
33:43 to dedicate your life completely to,
33:46 except the God that we're gonna talk about here today.
33:48 We're gonna use some of the hard versus too,
33:50 because they're versus in the Bible
33:52 that talks about God's justice.
33:54 But it still doesn't take away from the character of God.
33:57 And a God who is God of justice is also the God of mercy.
34:01 Every aspect of his judicial system must be intact
34:04 in order of his character to be fully formed in our sight.
34:07 There's so many directions
34:09 and things we need to talk about on these things,
34:10 I could just launce in the stuff here,
34:12 but we really need to start with a Bible verse--
34:16 Sure.
34:17 That talks about how--
34:21 I mean, we're finite human model beings.
34:24 Can we really know God? Okay.
34:27 And so there's a verse in the Bible, Job 11:7.
34:30 Okay.
34:32 And it says this, "Can you search out
34:33 the deep things of God?
34:36 Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?"
34:39 Can we truly know to the fullest extent
34:42 God and what he's doing?
34:44 God and his plans.
34:46 We can't see beyond
34:47 what's right in front of us that day.
34:49 Right.
34:50 And, so what we talk about here is just what the word gives us.
34:56 There two terms, there's general revelation
34:58 and there's a special revelation.
35:00 General revelation is what we see in nature, around us.
35:04 It reveals God in a general sense.
35:07 If there is a creator,
35:09 it goes beyond just a big bang--
35:12 By the designer. God designed this world.
35:15 He put into effect, he created us,
35:17 and the life that we have is because of him.
35:19 And the things around us reveal who he is in a general sense.
35:25 Special revelation is the scriptures.
35:27 It reveals to us specifically more detail
35:31 than just the general we see around this nature.
35:34 Reveals details about the character of God.
35:36 But even John said at the end of the his book,
35:40 that if you had to write all the things that Jesus did,
35:43 and he represented and he brought to this world,
35:46 the world couldn't house the books
35:47 that would be written about it.
35:49 So we can only scratch the surface here
35:53 to reveal what God's characters will be like,
35:55 but there's plenty there
35:56 to demonstrate the God is so much more loving,
35:59 and kind, and good to us
36:02 than what is being advocated today.
36:04 That's right.
36:05 The Bible is the distillation
36:07 of all that God's so necessary to reveal to humanity.
36:11 But, sufficiently enough
36:13 to know that God is the God of love.
36:15 1 John 4:8, I believe is the wonderful one,
36:17 "He who does not love does not know God
36:19 for God is love."
36:21 And that is so often,
36:25 yeah, let me show you how it's handled.
36:27 God is love.
36:29 Yeah, but he's gonna burn you forever and ever
36:31 and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever--
36:33 If I sat here for the next four years
36:34 and just kept saying "forever and ever!"
36:37 I haven't even tapped the duration
36:39 of how long people say "God is gonna torment people."
36:41 That's just so contra to God is love,
36:45 that it doesn't even make sense.
36:47 So one of the points I'd like you broad out of the fact
36:49 that yeah, we can't really search the deep things of God.
36:52 So the knowledge of God,
36:53 the first thing we wanna bring out
36:55 is the knowledge of God is so limitless.
36:58 It's like trying to measure the universe
36:59 with the 36 inch tape measure.
37:02 We could never do it.
37:03 We could not reach the extensions
37:05 that are beyond human understanding,
37:08 the other thing I want to point out
37:09 is the exclusiveness of God, in Isaiah 45:22.
37:14 John, you have that one there, Isaiah 45:22?
37:18 Lets share that one.
37:20 Isaiah 45:22, "Look to me, and be saved,
37:25 all you ends of the earth, for I am God,
37:27 and there is no other."
37:30 And then it says, "I'm God and there's none like me."
37:34 So exclusive, unique, you cannot copy him,
37:39 he's the original, he's the first,
37:41 the last, the alpha, the omega, the beginning, the end.
37:44 There is other to compare with him.
37:46 And so when you see in the Old Testament,
37:49 the many, many Gods that were constructed,
37:51 each one was the failed attempt to duplicate who God really is.
37:56 I believe Isaiah said,
37:58 they have eyes but they can't see,
37:59 ears but they can't hear, hands but they can't touch,
38:01 feet but they can't walk.
38:02 And no matter how elaborately they are painted,
38:06 it's still doesn't indent who God really is.
38:11 "There is none like me,
38:13 look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth
38:16 for I am God and there is none like me".
38:21 I remember watching a video,
38:23 somebody actually linked this to me in my email,
38:25 and you know, we live in a very technical world today.
38:28 Somebody linked this to my email and there was a--
38:31 evidently it was happening in a church,
38:33 and there were four men carrying on a shoulder stand
38:38 this great image.
38:39 Obviously, that they were gonna inaugurated or something,
38:41 you may have seen the video.
38:42 No, I-- I gotta send it to you.
38:44 It was taller than a human but it was made out of plaster
38:48 and it was painted so elaborately,
38:50 and so beautifully, and the audience stood in awe
38:53 as it was walking down the aisle.
38:55 They were gonna, obviously, they were gonna maneuver
38:57 and lower the stand
39:00 and put it in its rightful place.
39:02 And one of the man miss-stepped.
39:06 You should have seen this.
39:08 And as this statue begin the tether,
39:10 you heard the 'Ah!'
39:11 in the crowd and then it fell
39:13 and crashed into thousands of pieces.
39:17 And the gasp from the congregation
39:19 was almost like God just died.
39:23 And I said, I didn't send them an email or anything
39:27 but I said, "God was just really upset
39:30 that you're putting this porcelain painted figure
39:33 to bow down to and worship and inveterate,
39:35 and he cannot ever be duplicated by anything
39:38 that man can design with his hands".
39:40 And you find examples in the scripture
39:42 where you know, they dig on,
39:44 he cut off his hands, and cut off his feet,
39:46 and cut off his head, and the fellow seems realized,
39:48 wait a minute, whose doing this?
39:51 God is not to be mocked, not to be duplicated.
39:54 But anyways, so God is unique, that's the point I wanna make.
39:56 And taking that story,
39:57 when we're talking about God's character,
39:59 I believe that in the last days
40:00 it' gonna be more about the Gospel.
40:02 Going to all the worlds
40:04 can be more about destroying the first character of God
40:08 and revealing the true character of God.
40:10 Very good the way you put it.
40:11 And so he's going to tear down,
40:13 he's gonna break down this false image
40:15 that he's been set up of his character.
40:17 And give instead through his people
40:21 a true perspective of who he is.
40:23 You know the answer,
40:24 what book is best describing the fact
40:26 that unless he's,
40:28 the true character of God is gonna be revealed.
40:30 The Book of Revelation. Yeah. Revelation.
40:32 See, Revelation is the book of revealing,
40:34 what people need to see more than anything else
40:37 in these last days is the truth about the character of God.
40:40 Amen, amen.
40:42 You know one of the things too that I wanna mention
40:44 at the start of this program
40:45 is God's ways are not light always.
40:51 Okay, so when we think, we can't think like God.
40:55 Okay, we can only think like a mortal human being,
40:59 a limited, a mind and perspective in thoughts.
41:03 Whatever we think about, in fact,
41:05 I believe that's inspired, it's not inspired by us,
41:08 it's inspired the Holy Spirit, right?
41:11 And one of the things that is difficult
41:13 that I think really Christians in general
41:16 have a tough time which is what I call a parent dichotomies--
41:23 Okay. With the in scripture.
41:24 Stuff that doesn't seem to go together.
41:26 But when it comes to God's character,
41:28 it is both pertinent for God.
41:32 Okay. It both is important for God.
41:34 Let give you few of them. All right.
41:35 Love and wrath. Okay.
41:39 Faith, obedience. Freedom, law.
41:45 Grace, judgment. Humanity, power.
41:50 You see, these things are both, they come together in God.
41:54 In fact, I think the psalmist said--
41:59 What is it?
42:00 "Justice and mercy."
42:02 And truth have kissed, have to come together.
42:06 And it's not in a way
42:07 that we understand justice and mercy,
42:09 it's the way the God has brought them together
42:10 at the cross.
42:12 And so when we look at the cross
42:14 and what Jesus is doing there,
42:16 he's there because of his love but he's also there
42:18 because of the justice that was necessary
42:21 to work out the redemption of all mankind.
42:24 So God's love and his justice,
42:27 and these apparent dichotomy, it isn't one or the other.
42:31 Right. It's both.
42:33 And unless we understand in the context of both together
42:36 we're gonna miss God's true character.
42:39 And so maybe a good place to start
42:41 when we're talking about this,
42:42 another place to start would be Exodus 34.
42:46 Okay.
42:47 Remember the story of Moses, he comes up to the Mountain,
42:50 God calls him up there,
42:52 he's to receive the Ten Commandments.
42:54 And what does he asked for God to do?
42:57 "Show me yourself."
42:58 He says, show me who you are, show me your--
43:00 He used the word Glory. Show me your Glory?
43:03 Do you have that passage
43:04 and what he's specifically said in that?
43:07 Let me go there. Exodus 34?
43:09 Yeah, Exodus 34.
43:10 Let me go there-- And what God did--
43:12 I have verse 6,
43:13 and I wanna just go to the full context of this.
43:15 That's a beautiful way to illustrate that
43:16 because when you think about God revealing himself.
43:20 I wanted to comment
43:22 on something you said a moment ago,
43:24 about these dichotomies, the apparent contradictions.
43:28 Yeah.
43:29 And apparent is the operative word.
43:31 Yeah, apparent contradictions.
43:33 The reasons why they seem to be contradictory
43:35 is because of the perspective
43:36 from which we begin to weight everything that we talk about.
43:39 And this is huge, this is kind of,
43:41 if I could said, "I'm gonna get a little intellectual here
43:44 for a brief moment".
43:45 Whenever I discuss any particular topic,
43:47 I always approach it from the basis of what I know.
43:50 That's the knowledge I have.
43:52 Can you imagine God approaching a topic
43:55 and discussing from the basis of the knowledge he has?
44:00 My mind just got hurt.
44:02 The basis of the knowledge he has?
44:06 Is there any weakness in the knowledge of God--
44:09 Job ran into that problem.
44:11 Can you, if you know of anyone who knows it all?
44:15 God knows it all. What did God say to Job?
44:18 Hey, hey, were you there when I form the heavens?
44:21 Were you there when I lay the foundations of the world?
44:24 Were you around, can you understand that?
44:26 Were you there when I told the ocean to go this far
44:28 and no further?
44:30 And Job began to understand how small he was,
44:32 and he said, "Okay, God."
44:33 He said, "No, God," he said, "No, no, no.
44:35 Now it's my turn, you take it like a man."
44:37 And he laid it out for the next three chapters
44:39 in Job with just a gasp--
44:41 And he said, I would just shut my mouth.
44:43 That's what Job's response to all that.
44:45 So the intellectuality of people that we know,
44:47 we talk about Aristotle, Socrates,
44:49 and great minds and--
44:50 Philosophers.
44:51 Sir Isaac Newton, philosophers,
44:53 these men operated maybe seven to ten percent of their brains.
44:55 Ten percent is huge.
44:57 These men operated on the limitlessness
44:59 of their short life span.
45:01 And surely, they don't have access
45:02 to the names of all the stars.
45:05 They can't count the numbers of hairs in my head.
45:07 They cannot understand--
45:09 Good thing for me.
45:11 I resisted that, but you fell into the trap.
45:14 They don't have the understanding
45:16 of everything.
45:17 Yet, when God speaks to us, if you stand before God,
45:19 the judge of all the universe, one of the reasons
45:22 why this point comes to me so well, is in--
45:25 What story that you always illustrate very well?
45:27 Mathew 25, the parable of the 10 virgins.
45:31 Oh, but the other one is unjust judge,
45:32 I think, Mathew 26.
45:34 So what happens is when the Lord comes in
45:36 to examine the guests in the wedding, he says,
45:40 "How did you get in here without a wedding garment?"
45:42 And what was the response? He was speechless.
45:44 He was speechless,
45:46 'cause what excuse could he give to God.
45:48 He looked down and--
45:52 God, what could he say to God when God says--
45:56 Nothing.
45:58 What, before you call, I will answer.
46:01 And while you're yet speaking, I will hear.
46:04 This is the God who is foreknowledge,
46:06 far supersedes any intellect that we have.
46:08 And this is the God whose love is so unsurpassing
46:12 that he would say,
46:13 and we try to reveal that by saying,
46:16 "While you were still sinners, Christ dies for you."
46:21 I mean, that was Paul's revelation of love.
46:24 Before, I know we would probably get to that
46:26 at some time, but let me read this here.
46:27 I'm gonna start with Exodus 33, it says there in verse 18,
46:32 Moses asking the Lord to show him his glory.
46:36 And then he says in verse 19,
46:38 "I will make all my goodness pass before you
46:40 and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.
46:43 I will be gracious to who I would gracious
46:45 and have compassion on whom I'll have compassion."
46:48 But he said, "You cannot see my face
46:49 nor man shall see me and live."
46:53 Or "no man."
46:54 "No man shall see me and live."
46:55 Because of he's intensity and his glory,
46:59 no man can stand that is a mortal.
47:01 Mortal man can't stand-- But what is this--
47:03 Immortal God.
47:05 Then he connects his glory,
47:06 in his revelation he's about to give Moses
47:07 with the Ten Commandments.
47:09 Right.
47:10 And he asked them, he said,
47:11 "Go ahead and cut two tablets of stone,"
47:16 Exodus 34:1, "like the first one."
47:18 So he said, remember, he smashed the first one
47:20 when he came down off of the mountain.
47:22 So he says, "Cut two more tables of stone,
47:25 I'll write on those tablets,
47:27 and be ready in the morning and come up to me."
47:30 And so Moses does that, verse 4.
47:33 And the Lord then descends upon him, verse 5.
47:37 And then the lord proclaims his glory.
47:39 So see, this is all part of one passage here.
47:42 And he says in verse 6,
47:43 listen to the character of God here.
47:46 "And the Lord pass before him and proclaimed the Lord,
47:49 the Lord God merciful and gracious.
47:54 Long suffering or patient
47:56 and abounding in goodness and truth,
47:58 keeping mercy for thousands,
48:00 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin
48:02 by no means, clearing the guilty."
48:04 So now you have a little bit of a shift.
48:06 But it's still the character of God.
48:08 We have an apparent dichotomy,
48:09 but it's not a dichotomy with God.
48:11 Right. It's a full disclosure.
48:14 Of who he is, his wholeness.
48:15 And this is by not clearing the guilty,
48:18 visiting the iniquity of the fathers
48:19 upon their children and their children's children
48:22 to the third and fourth generation.
48:23 So he is a God of Justice and he's God of mercy.
48:27 And he can be both those things through Jesus.
48:30 And I wanna go ahead and have you read verse 9
48:32 because look how beautiful--
48:34 Well, I'm gonna read verse 8 and 9.
48:35 "And so Moses made haste,
48:38 bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped."
48:41 And look at what he said,
48:43 we think that verse 9 is just a New Testament verse.
48:46 Listen what he says.
48:47 "Then he said, I now,
48:50 If now I have found grace in your sight,
48:53 O Lord, let my Lord, I pray,
48:56 go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people,
49:01 and pardon our iniquity and our sin,
49:04 and take us as your inheritance."
49:06 He referred to God in the grace of God, see.
49:10 One of the greatest examples of a powerful person,
49:14 one of greatest examples of the God of love
49:15 is to have the ability to kill us,
49:20 every reason to kill us, and he doesn't.
49:25 Have all the power to abuse us,
49:27 has every reason not to even show us mercy, yet he does.
49:32 How do you show a person who's completely born in sin,
49:37 develop shape in an iniquity is the sinner,
49:41 nothing good in him.
49:42 Even his best righteousness is like filthy rags,
49:45 and he come before God and says,
49:47 "Have mercy on me," and he say,
49:48 "You know what, you deserving of just death.
49:51 But you know what, I'm gonna give you eternal life."
49:54 You know, and the, and God,
49:57 this is the part that's we need to clarify.
49:59 It's not that God wants to administer justice
50:03 against the wicked, he loves all of his creation.
50:06 That's right.
50:08 He's not sitting there and going,
50:09 "Oh, I wish I can just pour out my judgment upon them."
50:11 He's not doing that.
50:12 He is open with his arms wide, wanting to embrace you.
50:18 In fact, if there is any anxiety in him in all
50:21 it's because he wants a sinner turn and live.
50:24 Right.
50:25 Judgment from God is the natural consequence
50:30 from rejecting grace and mercy.
50:34 It's our willingness to hold on to sin
50:37 and on to the life we have,
50:38 that is meaningless without him and a determination to be lost.
50:43 It is only those that retain their sin
50:45 and refuse to embrace the love that God has for them,
50:50 that experience is justice in the end.
50:53 And this is what we need to remember about God
50:55 that he doesn't want to destroy anyone.
50:58 No.
51:00 But he has compassion and he has love for us,
51:03 and the greatest thing he desires
51:05 is for you to turn your heart to him,
51:08 for him to pour that love into you, to change your life,
51:11 and then make you everything he wanted you to be.
51:13 He knows you can be if you let him.
51:17 When Peter talks about God,
51:19 when Peter talks about the Lord,
51:22 he says, not willing that anyone should perish.
51:26 That's right.
51:28 When I think about, now let's go back and appeal,
51:31 let's talk about our humanness.
51:33 When you think about the people that have done you wrong,
51:37 have incessantly maligned your name,
51:42 stolen from you, made attempts to kill you,
51:44 poisoned you, destroy your character,
51:49 you say, I can't wait till they move.
51:51 I can't wait till they leave,
51:53 I can't wait to get rid of them.
51:54 If I was--
51:56 this is what I would do.
51:57 If God, in all those examples of the things that humanity
52:01 has done and is guilty of,
52:04 he desires so much that we be with him.
52:07 He says, I'm going to get ready,
52:08 I'm gonna go prepare a place for you,
52:10 and I'll come again to receive it to myself."
52:12 So we're talking right now
52:13 the part they would exemplifying
52:15 is long suffering of God,
52:16 the character of God, that's gracious,
52:18 a bounding in goodness and truce.
52:21 See, showing mercy to thousands.
52:23 And so when we think about that
52:25 we think, well, who could be like that person?
52:28 And God's character doesn't change.
52:29 No.
52:31 Even in administration of justice in the end,
52:32 the judgment, the fire that comes out of heaven,
52:35 devour the wicked and devour Satan
52:36 and his angels.
52:38 Even in that fire,
52:39 he will extend mercy by allowing it to consume
52:43 and burn up and be done.
52:44 That's right.
52:45 That is still God's mercy at work.
52:48 And let me say that, there are differences.
52:50 I hear often when I'm listening to preachers,
52:52 I just, I don't know why.
52:53 There's something's we tune into with our ear
52:55 that kind of become our hot button
52:57 or something like that.
52:59 I don't know how to call it, what to call it but--
53:00 You pick it up. I just pick it up.
53:01 And grace and mercy are two different things.
53:08 Grace, I would say in general,
53:10 grace is giving us something we don't deserve.
53:15 Mercy is withholding something we deserve.
53:20 Very good point.
53:22 So grace is giving when you don't deserve it,
53:25 mercy is withholding that judgment,
53:27 that sensing what we deserve.
53:31 And, so, they're different things.
53:33 So sometimes grace is kind of this catch all thing.
53:36 But the mercy of God is new every morning.
53:39 That's beautiful.
53:40 And the grace of God is always been extended to us.
53:43 He's doing both at the same time
53:45 that the writers of the apostles often use this
53:50 as an introduction to their letters.
53:52 'Grace and mercy to you,' usually adding piece to that,
53:56 'cause grace and mercy equals peace.
53:58 So those three words are commonly brought together.
54:01 We shouldn't just mould them all together and say,
54:03 oh, the grace of God.
54:04 Yeah, the grace of God is everything to us
54:06 but he is merciful to us as well.
54:08 And sometimes there's question,
54:09 we talk in a way that doesn't give God credit for mercy.
54:14 And I wish we had more time,
54:16 I can see things are just slowly wrapping up to an end.
54:18 We'll have to a second program on this,
54:20 but we need to get into that merciful side of God.
54:23 The other thing I wanna point out is,
54:26 I'm going back to the all knowingness of God.
54:31 I talked about a moment ago, my laptop, John,
54:36 recently I put a one terabyte hard drive in here,
54:38 the solid state drive that may not mean anything
54:41 to those of you watching the program.
54:43 Meaning, no moving parts. That's one terabyte of storage.
54:47 So whatever I wanna access, I can get it,
54:49 because it's pretty much on my laptop.
54:52 I think of the storage capacity that God has.
54:56 And I think of this little tiny planet
54:58 that we think we have a,
54:59 you know we something now called the cloud.
55:04 Another technical term that may not make a difference
55:06 to those listened to the program.
55:08 A technical place to store things
55:10 out there somewhere.
55:11 You know when you wanna store important documents
55:14 that you don't wanna lose, it's on the cloud, or pictures,
55:17 it's on the cloud.
55:18 It's out there somewhere.
55:20 And somebody once asked me, well, where is the cloud?
55:21 And because I couldn't answer that,
55:23 I said, I'm not storing anything in the cloud.
55:26 I don't know what happens to it when it goes to cloud
55:29 because I don't even know where that is.
55:30 So that's the term that's used nowadays,
55:32 not just Mac and PC,
55:33 everybody is into this storing in the clouds.
55:35 I think the cloud is higher than the clouds, right?
55:38 When you think of that as high as the heavens
55:41 are above the earth so are my ways above your ways,
55:45 and my thoughts above your thoughts.
55:48 His way beyond the clouds.
55:50 And so this God, that were talking about,
55:52 Isaiah 46:9-10, I wanna just share this one
55:56 before we wind up.
55:57 "Remember the former things of old.
55:59 For I am God, and there is no other I am God,
56:01 and there is none like me.
56:03 Declaring," verse 10 of Isaiah 46,
56:05 "the end from the beginning, and from ancient times,
56:09 things that are not yet done, saying,
56:11 my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."
56:16 In other words, God says, hey, I got it, I'm in control.
56:19 And the reason why this topic is so widely important, John,
56:21 is this, in this day and age there are very few things
56:24 you can still trust, and rely on, and hold on to,
56:27 and dedicate yourself fully to,
56:28 and find comfort and compassion in,
56:31 you can still find that in God.
56:32 That's right, that's right.
56:34 You know this whole thing,
56:36 we talk about the grace and mercy of God,
56:38 and we'll elaborate on this little more.
56:40 But I wanna give a definition of grace here.
56:42 Because I know that sometimes you say, "Oh, what is grace?"
56:44 And what is the classic answer?
56:46 Unmerited favor. Unmerited favor.
56:48 And it's becomes such a term that we hear all the time
56:50 but we're not really diving into this.
56:52 And so, here's my definition of grace.
56:54 And this came few years ago and I've used ever since.
56:57 But grace, the grace of God
56:59 is any time the God reaches his hand down
57:02 to do something for us
57:03 that we cannot do for ourselves.
57:04 Beautiful.
57:06 It is to save us, but it's also to deliver us from temptation,
57:10 it's to provide power and strength,
57:11 it's to meet our needs,
57:13 all these things are God's grace.
57:14 He's giving something, he's doing something for us
57:16 that we cannot do for ourselves.
57:18 That's the God that we're love and we serve.
57:20 And, friends, that's why we talk about that God
57:22 here at House Calls.
57:23 So keep trusting the lord,
57:24 because one day he's going to make a house call,
57:26 and when he does
57:27 you're gonna meet the God of grace and mercy.
57:29 God bless you, until we see you again.


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Revised 2016-08-15