Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000009
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00:30 Hello, I'm Lance Wilbur.
00:31 And I'm Dwayne Lemon. 00:33 And we like to welcome you again to another program of TKS 00:36 the True Knowledge of Self, 00:38 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:41 Now those of you who've been following along 00:43 with a series in our last episode, 00:46 we identify the biblical gospel 00:49 and we contrasted that with the other gospel 00:51 as many other gospels 00:52 but what is the Bible have to say about itself 00:54 and regards to the gospel. 00:57 And so as we identified the gospel, 00:59 we saw that it was a message 01:01 that was designed to be preached to all nations. 01:05 And we saw that the result 01:08 or the fruit of the deliverance of that message, 01:11 specifically that first second and third angel's message 01:15 as highlighted in Revelation 14 01:17 produced a world ready for harvest. 01:23 In other words as was highlighted 01:26 the harvest is the end of the world. 01:28 So this message that goes out 01:30 produces a crop that needs to be harvested. 01:34 And we'll be talking more about that in future programs. 01:39 But I want to ask now, Dwayne, the question. 01:44 When we're talking about the gospel 01:47 and even some of the-- the apprehension 01:51 that exist out there in the street 01:52 in the hi-hop culture in many other places. 01:55 If the gospel is so simple 01:57 and the Bible outlines and defines what the gospel is, 02:00 why is there so many different versions 02:03 if you will in different churches. 02:06 Why not one unified movement, one unified body? 02:12 And if there is one church 02:15 if you will like a modern day Israel, 02:17 a spiritual Israel then what of the other people 02:21 that are not a part or members of that modern days. 02:25 We're all members of this particular church 02:27 or that particular church, 02:28 what if the other individuals? 02:29 Well, one of the things we have to keep in mind 02:32 is that Jesus made it very, very clear 02:35 that he has sheep that are all over. 02:39 The Bible tells us that Jesus said, 02:41 many sheep I have which are not of this fold, 02:43 but he says, but I'm calling them 02:44 and I'm gonna bring them together 02:45 that they may form one fold. 02:46 You'll find this in John 10:16, 02:49 so we know that the Bible definitely 02:51 acknowledges that God has people in several places. 02:54 I firmly believe that in various religious 02:57 organizations and different places through out the world 03:00 even though we are not holistically in agreement, 03:03 theologically there are some people 03:05 that are living up to the light of what they know to be right. 03:08 And biblically in the eyes of God he says, 03:11 they are my people. 03:12 This is why the Bible talks about you know Babylon, 03:15 even the second angels message. 03:16 Babylon has fallen, has fallen 03:18 but when the second angels messages repeated 03:20 in Revelation the 18:1-5, 03:23 God says come out of her my people. 03:26 Yes, and that's what I just want to highlight 03:27 for myself and for you as well. 03:29 Yeah. 03:30 And when I'm out there on the block, 03:31 you know beating people down and selling crack. 03:34 Nobody's looking at me and saying 03:35 oh, there is one of God's children. 03:37 Right. 03:38 And he's gonna call them out and bring them into his folds. 03:42 sometimes we have that same idea 03:43 and that same misconception 03:45 that oh, because that person is like that right now 03:48 God is not working in their life. 03:50 They won't hear the voice of God. 03:51 Thank God, God did not look at me like that. 03:54 Thank God, He didn't look at you like that. 03:55 And we dare not look at people like that. 03:57 We don't look at people and deal with them 03:58 where they are now we look at them 04:00 at what they can become through Christ. 04:01 Right. 04:02 And that's how God saw me and saw you 04:04 but I will say that not all churches are right. 04:07 I have to say that not all churches, 04:09 not all religious organizations are right. 04:11 Even the churches that profess to say, we are-- 04:13 teaching the gospel and so on. 04:16 There is one gospel that is designed 04:18 to bring about the harvest to bring an end to sin 04:22 and to the problems in this world. 04:23 And that gospel is held under the Three Angels Messages 04:27 found in Revelation 14. 04:29 So therefore while we do want to let people know that, 04:32 hey, you know we are not going around 04:35 condemning individuals or what have you. 04:37 We are paying attention to the religious institutions 04:39 that are out there. 04:40 And not all of them are teaching God's word. 04:43 They are not being faithful to God's word. 04:45 Jesus wants us to overcome this thing called sin 04:48 and the reason why is because in Isaiah 59: 2 it says, 04:53 "But your iniquities have separated 04:56 between you and your God, 04:57 and your sins have hid his face from you, 05:00 that he will not hear." 05:01 You know, you and I here right now 05:03 and our brides are not with us. 05:05 We know we love our wives and one of the things 05:07 that I love is to behold my wife face to face. 05:10 I like text messaging and you know 05:12 all of the nice ways to communicate 05:13 but there is nothing like beholding 05:15 your bride face to face 05:17 and communing with her and expressing your love. 05:19 So it is that God he has a bride, 05:21 it's his people here in this church in this world. 05:24 And God is saying I want to behold my bride face to face 05:27 but it was sin that cause me turn His face. 05:30 So when God through the gospel, 05:33 through the righteousness of Christ, 05:34 when He is able to help us overcome these things 05:38 then God now knows he can once again 05:41 have that face to face communing. 05:43 And therefore God gives a message to his people 05:46 that are design to bring and experience 05:49 that will bring about that harvest. 05:52 And this is very, very, key with God. 05:54 And I got to tell you the truth, Lance. 05:56 I mean, my heart goes out to those hip hop culture, 05:59 we know that a lot them. 06:01 You hear the testimonies over and over again, 06:03 I'm remember Kanye West, he was giving a testimony 06:06 about how he grew up in the church environment. 06:09 And he grew up hearing about Christianity, 06:12 clearly that's not what he's about today 06:14 and that's his choice but at the same time 06:17 it could be that Kanye West as well as many others 06:20 who are affected and infected by hip hop culture 06:23 have been exposed to something 06:25 that may Christianity look ugly. 06:28 All right, a misrepresentation. 06:29 It's a misrepresentation. 06:31 I'll give you an example in Romans 1:16 the Bible says, 06:37 " For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 06:41 for it is the power of God unto salvation 06:46 and it belong both to every one that believeth; 06:48 to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." 06:50 Now when I think about that, 06:51 that means that the gospel is more than lip service. 06:54 The gospel is not about what you can just 06:56 preach or teach or talk anybody can do that. 06:58 And truth and I say this not insult but donkeys can talk. 07:01 Yeah. 07:02 You know the Bible give us 07:03 an example of that would bail 'em. 07:04 So it's not about talking and just preaching a message. 07:07 The question is are you experiencing the power 07:09 that the message was designed to give. 07:11 Is that power being demonstrated 07:13 in your day to day life. 07:15 How is it that a minister can-- can preach from a pulpit 07:18 but then he's found later on smoking? 07:20 How is it that-- well, go ahead. 07:21 Yeah, and that would-- that reminds me 07:22 of as you have a story in-- you know portion of your story 07:28 of how you came to the knowledge of the truth 07:31 that you know-- where you experienced that first hand. 07:33 That's correct. 07:34 I mean, here it is I'm in a church environment 07:36 and I'm supposedly around you know 07:40 incredible amount of holiness. 07:42 And I'm coming straight off the world, 07:43 straight offthe you know hip hop and R&B industry. 07:46 And I'm now coming into church, 07:48 I'm being told that all I have to do 07:49 is speak in languages that even I can't understand-- 07:52 and supposedly that means 07:53 that I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. 07:55 Well, I'm thinking okay, fine, well, one day 07:58 I find myself in an experience into Pentecostal Church 08:01 where I'm now speaking in tongue 08:03 as they understand it, 08:04 I know biblically that-- that's not correct today. 08:07 But nevertheless at that time I didn't know that, 08:09 so after I had that experience, I go outside. 08:13 And when I go outside, I'm honestly trying to figure out 08:15 what is happening because-- 08:17 Outside of the church. 08:18 Outside of the church, literally 08:19 I'm standing outside of the doors of the church. 08:21 And I'm confused because I'm thinking 08:23 what just happened to me? 08:24 You know, and 'cause something took over. 08:27 It wasn't something that I invited 08:28 or wanted but it took over. 08:30 That's something that you were mocking prior too. 08:32 Yeah, I mean, I was thinking that 08:33 this thing is not real anyhow. 08:35 It's not gonna really affect me, but I was wrong. 08:37 It was real. And when eventually I'm outside. 08:41 I'm trying to figure out what-- what just happened to me. 08:44 Shortly after that there were two people 08:45 who came outside and these were two individuals 08:48 who're also speaking in tongue were supposed to be filled 08:51 with the Holy Spirit and the list goes on. 08:53 But when they came outside they were talking about 08:55 how they were gonna practice fornication that night. 08:58 Now obviously that was confusing to me 09:00 because here it is that I know now 09:02 that the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 09:05 that God's will is for us to be sanctified 09:08 and that we should flee from fornication. 09:11 But here it is they were ready to plan 09:12 and approach fornication to make it even worse. 09:15 Another person he comes outside and he is, 09:18 you know another person that was speaking in tongues, 09:21 supposedly filled with the Holy Spirit. 09:23 He comes outside and then instead of him 09:26 taking his Bible out of his pocket, 09:27 he took cigarettes out of it. 09:29 And he obviously lit it up and was smoking it right there 09:31 on the front porch of the church. 09:33 So I'm thinking to myself now, 1 Corinthians 3: 17 09:37 tells us that if any man defiles the temple, 09:40 the body that God will destroy that person. 09:43 So God obviously takes seriously 09:45 how we take care of our bodies 09:46 and anybody knows that smoking is bad. 09:48 So I'm seeing these things. 09:49 They don't make sense, it's a contradiction. 09:52 And it was to the point that quite honestly, 09:54 I got really, really turned off with it. 09:56 Finally a guy comes outside, 09:58 this was the crowning act for me. 10:00 Guy comes outside again, he was one of the people 10:03 that was speaking in tongue, he comes outside 10:05 and he starts cursing and swearing. 10:07 He starts using all the same what I call Egyptian language 10:10 that I know I was using 10:11 when I was in my little Egypt experience. 10:13 And you know as he is cursing and swearing 10:16 even though I didn't know the Bible very well. 10:18 I do remember the story of Matthew 26, 10:21 where it shows that Peter was told my Jesus, 10:24 he's gonna deny him three times. 10:26 And then here it is that when the people 10:27 came to Peter in Matthew 26, the first time they came 10:30 they weren't you the follower of Christ? 10:32 Peter says, not me. 10:33 Second time not me, third time, they say wait a minute. 10:37 We know you are a follower of Christ and they said, 10:39 it was because of the way you speak. 10:41 Can you imagine that? 10:42 Peter was found guilty for being 10:44 a Christian by the way he talked. 10:46 I vow to God that we can find people guilty 10:48 for being followers of Christ, today by the way we talk. 10:50 Exactly. 10:51 But nevertheless Peter wanted to prove 10:54 that he was not connected to Jesus Christ 10:56 and that he didn't know Him. 10:57 And because they speech as the identifying mark 11:00 Peter choose to use speech to demonstrate 11:04 I don't know Christ. 11:05 And the speech that peter choose to use, 11:07 is he began to curse and to swear. 11:10 When an individual curses and swears they testify 11:12 that they are disconnected from Christ at that moment. 11:15 And so it is that I'm looking at this and I'm turned off. 11:18 I believe that many individuals in hip hop 11:21 and R&B culture are exposed to the many hypocrisies 11:25 that many of us you and I have been exposed to as well 11:28 that turned us off from Christianity. 11:29 So therefore my heart goes out to them 11:31 that they do or they saw you know, 11:33 the hypocrisies the contradictions and so on. 11:36 But like any other person, 11:38 you're supposed to study to show yourself prudent to God. 11:40 You are not supposed to let people be a chief example 11:43 that's why Christ came. 11:44 He's our chief example 11:45 and when I look at the character of Christ, 11:46 I see that He is all together lovely. 11:49 So I was confused, 11:51 I was finding myself in a state of confusion 11:54 but thank the Lord through understanding God 11:56 and His will it brought me out of that state. 11:58 Now God prophetically told us 12:00 that Babylon is a place of confusion. 12:03 Yes. 12:04 Babylon is a place that clearly 12:06 was not for God and for His standards. 12:08 And even anciently Israel, 12:10 they found themselves encountering Babylon 12:12 and I believe that there are some things 12:14 about the experiences of Israel as they encountered Babylon. 12:18 That we're gonna find is an amazing parallelism 12:21 between what we're seeing today amongst God's people 12:24 as we are encountering 12:25 the influences of Babylon today. 12:27 So I love it if you can help, you know, build on that idea 12:30 so that way we can see what God has to unfold 12:32 in our program a little but further. 12:34 And yeah, absolutely we're gonna have to go 12:36 again back to the Bible. 12:37 And it shows us that there was some-- 12:39 something that happened. 12:40 Something went wrong and Israel eventually found itself 12:43 in confusion or literally exiled in Babylon. 12:47 So I want to start with Numbers 22 12:51 and in the Book of Numbers 22, I'm going to look at verse 12 12:56 and the background to the story is Balaam, 13:01 the children of Israel still wandering in the wilderness, 13:03 and he's preparing after the 40 years 13:05 to enter into the Promise Land, 13:07 and obviously the locals didn't approve. 13:11 And they wanted somehow to derail 13:14 the exploits of the Israelites and not disallow them 13:18 from coming in successfully and inhabiting the Canaan land. 13:22 So a local came basically hired 13:25 a prophet to come and curse Israel, 13:28 so that they would not succeed in their endeavors. 13:31 This prophet had a relationship with God, 13:33 He had a past experience with the true God, 13:35 the God of Heaven the God of Israel 13:38 And he had to admit at a certain point 13:40 even though he agreed to the financial exchange-- 13:43 he took the job if you will 13:45 but after many, many efforts he had to agree. 13:48 And it's kind of highlighted here in Numbers 22:12 13:54 It says, " And God said unto Balaam, 13:56 Thou shalt not go with them, 13:59 Meaning those who hired him to curse Israel. 14:02 "Thou shalt not go with them, 14:04 Thou shalt not curse the people for they are blessed." 14:09 And it's very clear and we're gonna deal 14:11 with this kind of subject of blessing and cursing. 14:14 God will not allow the people 14:18 that have a right relationship with Him to be cursed. 14:22 God will not allow the curse 14:24 to fall upon those who follow Him. 14:27 Now that does not mean the God-- 14:29 that God's people won't experience hardship 14:31 or trial or apparent suffering or experience bad circumstances 14:36 because we know that our primary example 14:38 Jesus Christ went through those things on our behalf. 14:40 That's right. 14:41 And he says also in John 15 14:42 that a servant is not greater than his master. 14:45 The world hated me, it's gonna hate you also. 14:47 So that we should not expect anything less 14:50 from the world than Christ received. 14:52 So it's not talking about that but it's talking about 14:54 God allowing you to not succeed. 14:58 Biblical success as is defined in Joshua 1 15:01 true success in following God faithfully 15:04 God will reward our efforts eventually 15:06 in due time in His timing. 15:08 But we see here 15:09 that as individuals want to curse God's people, 15:12 God is not going to allow them to be cursed 15:14 because they are blessed. 15:16 They have his favor. 15:17 Now if we go also now because there was a point 15:20 in other words when God's people were blessed 15:22 and he would not allow a curse to fall upon them. 15:24 He would not allow them 15:25 to be taken into exile into a frown nation. 15:28 Something happened, so as we look at what happened? 15:31 We're gonna kind of trace through history briefly 15:34 what could have been 15:35 or what the Bible reveals is the reason why. 15:38 And you know I find this to be interesting 15:40 because in kind of builds on the idea founded 15:43 Proverb 14:34 that it says, " Righteousness exalts a nation, 15:48 But sin is a reproach to any people." 15:51 Yes. 15:52 So therefore when God's people 15:55 are hidden in Christ there righteousness, 15:57 of course I'm making this a modern application 15:59 that we know that even though 16:02 the powers of sin will attack us. 16:03 They won't over come us. 16:05 We have that victory that same way 16:06 that power of the enemy wanted to attack Israel 16:09 but it wouldn't overcome them. 16:10 Right. 16:11 Because God's favorite was upon them. 16:13 It is a very powerful principle that we ought to keep in minde 16:15 as individuals, as well as a collective body-- 16:18 Yes, and we're going now to 1 Samuel 8, 16:21 and again another background. 16:22 God's people enter into the Promise Land 16:24 and God sets up what He anoints judges 16:27 to kind of-- co rule with God. 16:30 God is the ruler, He is the king if you will 16:32 and He sets up and anoint to judge us 16:35 and prophets to co rule or to-- 16:39 to co administer the nation with him. 16:43 Eventually there's a problem 16:45 and the people want to be like everyone else around. 16:51 And Samuel goes to great lands to warn them against the evils 16:57 that will result from choosing a man to rule over them as king 17:02 rather than the God of heavens rule over them as king. 17:04 So on 1 Samuel 8 we picked that up 17:06 and Samuel is pleading with the people 17:08 'cause the people comes to Samuel 17:09 as the judge and the prophet 17:11 is the co ruler with the God over the nation of Israel. 17:14 And they come to him and say, you know what? 17:16 We want a king just like all the other nations are. 17:17 We want to be like everybody else around this. 17:20 And Samuel is giving the warnings-- 17:21 giving the warnings please don't do this. 17:23 This is a bad decision. 17:24 Don't do this, evil will come about. 17:27 Their final assessment or their final request 17:29 in verse 20 is or I'll start from verse 19. 17:33 1 Samuel 8: 19-20 17:36 " Nevertheless the people refused to obey 17:40 the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; 17:43 but we will have a king over us; 17:46 That we also may be like all the nations; 17:49 and that our king may judge us, 17:51 and go out before us, and fight our battles." 17:53 So they say, we don't care 17:54 we're just talking about Samuel. 17:55 We hear your warnings 17:57 but you know what we'd rather have a king. 17:58 We will have a king in fact and we're gonna get it 18:01 whether you like it or not. 18:02 And whether God essentially whether God likes it or not. 18:05 So we know that God harken on to their voice 18:08 because he actually warned all the way through Moses 18:11 that the nation, the people of Israel 18:13 eventually will gonna ask for a king. 18:15 And if they ask for a king don't refuse them. 18:17 Give them what they want and this is sometimes-- 18:19 some confusion here 18:20 because sometimes we complain and blame things on God. 18:25 The course that our life takes 18:26 or certain circumstances we blame on God 18:29 when the reason why we're in that situation 18:31 is because we choose against God. 18:33 And instead of God forcing us to do robots 18:36 and forcing us to comply. 18:38 He allows us to make the decision 18:40 and choose what to do. 18:41 And at sometimes it's a bad decision 18:43 and we have to deal with the consequences. 18:46 God is still there willing to help 18:47 and to save to the outermost but sometimes our choices, 18:50 our bad choices leave us 18:52 in a undesirable predicament to say the least. 18:56 So going now in 1 Samuel fast forwarding 19:00 they got the king, they got their king. 19:02 Right, and we know that 19:03 their first king of Israel was Saul, Saul the Benjamite. 19:07 And in 1 Samuel 12:19 19:11 it shows something very interesting. 19:15 It says, " All the people said unto Samuel, 19:20 Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, 19:23 that we die not: for we have added 19:26 unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king." 19:32 So now they see some of the warnings, 19:34 that Samuel was giving that God was giving through the prophet. 19:37 They see some of these things coming to pass 19:40 and now they're saying, oh, please God, have mercy on us. 19:44 Because not only have we done all these wicked things 19:46 but on top of that we've asked for a king other than you. 19:50 And so they came to an understanding at that point 19:53 that they made the wrong decision 19:55 but lo and behold they now perpetuate that wickedness 20:00 and this becomes almost institutionalized. 20:02 So this becomes a problem instead of one man sinning 20:05 or one man in his family sinning and going against God 20:08 or maybe one tribe going against God. 20:11 Now we're getting to the point where in an entire nation 20:13 is institutionalizing rebellion against God 20:16 and choosing something else 20:17 or choosing a man over God Himself. 20:21 Now this also is kind of brought into view 20:26 in the Book of Deuteronomy. 20:27 Because when we go back as I said, 20:29 Moses was given the warning 20:33 that the people would ask for a king. 20:35 And there's also a kind of in the Book of Deuteronomy, 20:38 we understand that its collection of sermons 20:42 that were given by Moses at the end of his life 20:45 because he knew he was going to die 20:47 before entering the Promise Land. 20:48 Joshua was reading to assume leadership, 20:51 so Moses is kind of trying to summarize 20:54 the entire covenant all of God's commandments. 20:57 All of God's instructions and His past experiences 21:00 with his people and his deliverance 21:01 from Egypt in bondage. 21:03 He's summarizing that in this Book of Deuteronomy, 21:06 so in Deuteronomy 28 he kind of bring 21:09 everything into a climax if you will 21:11 and there is a whole entire chapter 21:14 dedicated to blessings and cursing 21:17 dedicated to the result of what following God will yield. 21:22 And also the result of what disobeying 21:25 over bending against God will yield. 21:26 And it's very, very compelling and interesting 21:29 and we're looking at Deuteronomy 28. 21:31 Now you know, one of the things 21:32 that I like about this study that we're doing right now 21:34 is even though we're looking at past experiences. 21:38 You know, we're looking at Israel of old 21:40 and the decisions they made 21:42 all of these different problems 21:43 that they have gone through and so on. 21:45 I believe the relevance of it 21:46 is when you consider in 1 Corinthians 10, 21:50 from verses 1-10 it goes through the history of Israel. 21:53 It literally talks about the bad decisions they made 21:55 and all these other problems that came 21:57 as a result of their decisions. 21:59 But by time you get to verse 11 22:01 of that same Book and same chapter of 1 Corinthians 10, 22:04 it says "All these things happened unto them 22:07 the Israelites, for ensamples." 22:10 That word ensamples means types. 22:11 And every type has to have anti-type. 22:14 It says all these things happened unto them 22:17 for ensamples. 22:18 And they are written for our admonition 22:21 upon whom the ends of the world are come. 22:24 Yeah. 22:25 So when we look at Israel and we look at their choices, 22:29 their behaviors and so on think about it. 22:32 Israel was given a culture, they were given a lifestyle 22:36 but the problem was, they weren't content with it. 22:38 And therefore as a result of their lack of contentment, 22:41 they looked at the other nations around them 22:42 and they said, we want to be like them. 22:44 Do we see those same mistakes happening today? 22:47 People have been given something 22:49 from God is called the Bible. 22:51 God has given us His word, He's given us instruction 22:54 but we don't want that. We say, no I want other things. 22:56 I want to be like what I see on TV and the list goes on. 22:59 And then what happens is 23:00 we find ourselves reaping the whirlwind 23:02 as we're about to find out Israel, reap the whirlwind. 23:05 So here it is that we're seeing a parallel again 23:07 because these things had happened unto them with types 23:10 that were gonna happen to those 23:13 who profess to follow God, but were also living 23:15 in the times of the end of the world. 23:17 So really what we're reading is not necessarily 23:20 just past truth it's actually present truth. 23:22 Yes. 23:23 We're reading things about how 23:25 what we've seen Israel have done in times past. 23:27 We're seeing that wow, we're repeating 23:29 the same mistakes of Israel even today. 23:32 And here it is that now in Deuteronomy 28, 23:34 you got to show us. 23:35 Here's the end result 23:37 of what ended up happening to Israel 23:39 as a result of this continual rebellion 23:42 against God in His will in His ways. 23:44 Absolutely, so when you consider Deuteronomy 28, 23:48 verses 1 all the way through 14 23:52 are dealing with the blessings that will come upon the nation, 23:58 every individual, every industry, 24:00 the economy, absolutely everything. 24:03 Remember when God bless us, 24:04 He bless us in total and-- and he gives 24:07 a complete restoration like we talked about. 24:10 So God says, if you follow me 24:11 and we are in a right relationship 24:13 and you follow my instruction. 24:16 True knowledge of self if you will 24:18 then all of these blessings are come upon you. 24:22 But verses 15, all the way down and to verse 68 24:28 are dealing with their curses 24:29 that will come, if they rebel. 24:32 So there's a very real cost for going against God 24:36 and you know, we're just gonna kind of get a snapshot 24:39 in verses 47-52 as Deuteronomy 28, 24:44 starting with verse 47 going all the way down to 52 it says, 24:48 "Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God 24:50 with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, 24:53 for the abundance of all things; 24:54 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies 24:58 which the Lord shall send against thee, 25:00 in hunger, and in thirst, 25:02 and in nakedness, and in want of all things: 25:05 and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, 25:08 until he have destroyed thee. 25:11 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, 25:15 from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; 25:19 a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 25:23 A nation of fierce countenance, 25:25 which shall not regard the person of the old, 25:27 nor shew favour to the young: 25:29 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, 25:32 and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: 25:35 which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, 25:39 or oil, or the increase of thy kine, 25:42 or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 25:46 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, 25:48 until thy high and fenced walls come down, 25:51 wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: 25:54 and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates 25:56 throughout all thy land, 25:57 which the Lord thy God hath given thee." 26:01 If four shadows 26:02 that if this institutionalize rebellion comes 26:05 and continues generation after generation, 26:08 God will send foreign nation from a far off 26:11 whose language you don't even understand or speak. 26:13 And they will come upon you like the eagle, 26:15 like a bird of prey and swoop down upon you 26:18 and completely wipe you out and take you away. 26:21 And we're warned that as Israel, 26:24 as this happened to Israel in the past. 26:27 We're warned that these are in for our admonition, 26:29 our benefits. 26:30 They're examples for us 26:31 to watch and follow so we don't repeat 26:33 the past failures of God's people. 26:35 And that's the key is that we don't repeat it. 26:38 We have to get ourselves to a point to realize 26:40 that you know in New York they have the subway. 26:44 And the subway have something called the third rail 26:46 and the third rail is where they carry 26:47 current of electricity that helps that train run 26:50 so that it can do what it has to do. 26:52 So it is that there was a time 26:54 when some touched the third rail 26:55 and unfortunately they died. 26:57 Well, they're some who didn't believe 26:59 that they third rail could do such a damage to an individual. 27:02 But here's the point, I can't-- I may not believe it 27:05 but there's one of two ways I can find out if it's true. 27:07 I can find out by experience 27:10 or I can find out by someone else's experience 27:12 and I've realized that the wisest way to do that 27:14 is not for me to experience it 27:16 but to find out through someone else experience. 27:19 Just one of the reasons why the Bible was written, 27:20 it shows the experiences of the failures 27:24 but it also shows the experience 27:25 of the successful and it shows us how to walk 27:27 into the a path of the successful. 27:30 You know folks we're so glad that you joined us today, 27:32 we're grateful that we got a chance once again to see 27:35 and behold history to see how Israel 27:38 made certain mistakes in times past 27:40 but how it is also designed for our learning. 27:43 It's for us to understand that we will make the same mistakes. 27:50 We want to thank you for joining us 27:51 and always remember Proverbs 2:6 27:53 that tells us it is the Lord that gives wisdom 27:55 and out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 27:59 See you next time. |
Revised 2015-05-28