True Knowledge of Self

True Pillars -part 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur

Home

Series Code: TKS

Program Code: TKS000028A


00:29 Hi, I'm Lance. And I'm Dwayne.
00:31 And welcome to another episode of TKS.
00:34 A True Knowledge of Self,
00:36 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective.
00:40 In our last episode,
00:41 we were looking at the realities of the pillars
00:45 of the hip-hop culture.
00:47 But then we compared it
00:48 to the pillars of the Christian culture,
00:51 and we were able to see definitely
00:52 a vast difference between the two.
00:55 And we were looking at the word of God
00:57 briefly through the Book of 2 Peter Chapter 1
00:59 where it was going through those pillars point by point.
01:04 And, Lance, I think, it's important for us
01:05 to take some time through this episode
01:07 to really kind of give an understanding
01:10 of each of these elements or pillars as we would call it
01:14 of what we read in 2 Peter 1, because, again,
01:17 it's kind of like Proverbs 4:7,
01:19 you know, " Wisdom is the principal thing,
01:21 therefore get wisdom:
01:22 and with all thy getting get understanding."
01:24 It's one thing to mention something,
01:26 it's another thing to understand
01:27 what has been mentioned.
01:29 It's because of that, that we mentioned
01:31 these elements, these wonderful pillars
01:33 of what really constitutes a Christian lifestyle
01:36 which I think is really important,
01:37 so because of that, we wanted to take some time
01:40 in this episode to help our viewers
01:42 to really get a chance to understand,
01:44 you know, how do I apply these wonderful pieces
01:47 of the latter that Peter has pointed out
01:50 that ultimately leads to God Himself.
01:52 How can I make that real in my life
01:55 and in my circumstances?
01:57 So, I'm really excited man.
01:58 I love to talk about practical godliness
02:01 in light of all the events happening in our world so.
02:03 This is gonna be a study
02:04 where we're going to be focusing on that so.
02:06 You know, how can you help us
02:07 get a true understanding of these various points,
02:10 these ladders that are steps on the ladder rather that.
02:14 You know, we can walk on by faith in trusting God.
02:17 Right, so there's basically eight steps,
02:19 we looked at 2 Peter 1:4.
02:22 Well, we looked at I believe verses 2-10.
02:24 And I just want to focus on the latter aspect,
02:27 those principles, those pillars, if you will
02:29 and so I'm going to pick up reading in 2 Peter Chapter 1.
02:32 I'm just going to read verses 4 through 7.
02:34 And we're gonna walk this thing through.
02:37 It says, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great
02:40 and precious promises:
02:41 that by these ye might be partakers
02:44 of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
02:47 that is in the world through lust."
02:49 And then it goes on to say, "And beside this,
02:52 giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue,
02:56 and to virtue knowledge, And to knowledge temperance,
03:00 and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness,
03:04 And to godliness brotherly kindness,
03:07 and to brotherly kindness charity."
03:10 So, these are the eight steps if you will on the ladder
03:13 and we just want to spend some time
03:15 walking through point by point,
03:17 step by step, to just say what the Bible says.
03:19 How does the Bible define these words
03:21 because we talked about in a previous episode,
03:22 the importance of defining terms.
03:24 It's one thing to say a word
03:26 and leave everybody to subjectively,
03:28 subjectively interpret that word is another thing
03:30 to allow the Bible to objectively define it so.
03:34 We're going to start right there in order so.
03:36 We're talking about faith first, what is faith?
03:38 Because faith is the first step in the ladder, in the process
03:43 and so we're just gonna look at verses
03:44 many, many places we can go here.
03:46 But, you know, we don't have too much time
03:49 so Romans Chapter 4, Romans Chapter 4
03:52 we're going to read verses 3 to 5
03:54 to look at a simplistic definition of faith.
03:56 So in Romans 4 starting on verse 3, it says,
03:59 "For what say at the scripture?
04:02 Abraham believed God,
04:04 and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
04:07 Now to him that worketh is the reward
04:10 not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
04:13 But to him that worketh not,
04:15 but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
04:19 his faith is counted for righteousness."
04:23 So the faith is counted for righteousness,
04:26 i.e. belief is counted for righteousness,
04:30 that's why we ultimately call it righteousness by faith.
04:33 Faith is in its most simplistic form is a belief in God.
04:38 God says this and no matter the circumstances,
04:41 no matter the situation I believe it,
04:43 and I'm going to live based on that belief.
04:46 It's not just, you know, intellectual belief.
04:50 It's a belief that, that bears action,
04:53 that warrants action,
04:55 it solicits action, requires action.
04:57 And so that's why,
04:59 there's always the Bible constantly,
05:03 you know, juxtaposes the idea of faith and works,
05:06 so some people get caught up in either extreme.
05:08 So I want to look at another verse in Hebrews Chapter 11,
05:11 the Book of Hebrews and the 11 Chapter of Hebrews.
05:14 And we're going to go ahead and read from verses 6 and 7.
05:18 Hebrews 11:6, 7, it says, "But without faith
05:23 it is impossible to please him..."
05:25 He's talking about God.
05:26 "For he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
05:30 and that he is a rewarder of them
05:31 that diligently seek him.
05:34 By faith Noah,
05:36 being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
05:38 moved with fear,
05:40 prepared an ark to the saving of his house,
05:42 by the which he condemned the world,
05:45 and became heir of the righteousness
05:47 which is by faith."
05:48 So, Noah believed,
05:50 he exhibited faith and the faith was exhibited
05:53 through his preparation of the ark.
05:55 The building of the ark is what made the faith genuine.
06:00 If he believed what God said and didn't build the ark,
06:04 then he wouldn't be exhibiting faith, he wouldn't have faith.
06:06 And the Bible says,
06:08 "Without faith, it's impossible to please God."
06:10 So faith is the very first step in the ladder.
06:14 And the Bible says that God has dealt
06:17 to every man a measure of faith.
06:19 That's right.
06:20 So, you know, we all, we all are capable of believing God.
06:25 He has given more than enough evidences that we can do that
06:28 and this becomes foundational.
06:30 It's one of the things I really appreciate about scripture
06:32 because when I think about the Bible,
06:34 God doesn't just tell you what to do?
06:36 God, our Father in heaven truly is a good parent
06:39 because I can remember times.
06:41 You know, it's kind of like a parent telling a child
06:43 behave yourself, behave yourself.
06:44 And the child doesn't behave himself
06:46 and the reason why is because the parent
06:47 never gave him a model.
06:49 They never said, "Here is how you behave yourself.
06:51 Here's a model of good behavior."
06:53 So, a lot of times parents can cripple their children
06:56 by telling them to do things without giving them a model
07:00 and ability to accomplish the thing
07:01 they're telling them to do.
07:03 God in verse 6 says, "Without faith,
07:05 it is impossible to please God
07:07 for he that comes to God must believe that he is.
07:09 And that he is a rewarder of them
07:10 that diligently seek him."
07:12 And God says, now let me give an example of how faith works.
07:14 Then He goes to verse 7.
07:16 "Noah, being warned of God of things not yet seen as yet,
07:18 he moved with fear."
07:20 So, that's an action word.
07:21 So, God gives us not only the instruction,
07:24 but He gives us an example of how the instruction works,
07:27 and He did that through Noah.
07:29 So, this is how the Lord is teaching all of us,
07:31 so we can know practically how to demonstrate faith.
07:34 And how really does faith develop anyhow?
07:36 Because, you know, somebody may say,
07:38 okay, well, fine I need faith.
07:40 How do I develop faith?
07:42 You know, and that's a legitimate question.
07:43 Yeah, so basically if we look at a verse
07:46 that comes to mind Romans Chapter 10.
07:48 So, if we look at Roman 10,
07:51 I think it answers that question directly.
07:52 Okay.
07:54 Romans Chapter 10, we're looking at verse 17,
07:56 and Romans 10:17 it says,
07:59 "So then faith cometh by hearing,
08:02 and hearing by the word of God."
08:05 So, faith is obtained from God,
08:07 it's something that comes from God.
08:09 And it's something that can be obtained through His Word.
08:12 That's right.
08:13 In another word, spending time,
08:14 consuming His Word produces faith.
08:17 That's right.
08:18 And faith essentially is that first step in the ladder.
08:20 And this was perhaps the deceptive factor
08:22 that hit me growing up in hip-hop culture
08:24 is that I was not taught to look to the Word,
08:27 I was taught to look to myself.
08:29 And this is where people are constantly being taught
08:31 is that you don't have to look
08:32 to an organized religion or any of that.
08:34 You don't have to look to these various books
08:36 that they claim contradict themselves.
08:38 Just go ahead and consider the fact that you are God,
08:41 you can be the architect of your future.
08:43 And all the devil wants
08:45 is to keep our eyes from this word,
08:48 because as long as our eyes stay off of this Word,
08:50 it is going to be impossible to develop faith,
08:52 which means it's going to be impossible to please God.
08:55 And that is exactly what Satan wants us.
08:57 So, we have to get back to the blueprint.
08:59 We have to get back into the Word,
09:01 so that we can develop a faith,
09:03 and that faith will be settled in Christ,
09:05 and it leads to all the wonderful other privileges
09:08 that we're about to look at through the rest.
09:09 That's right, so, the next step on the ladder is virtue.
09:12 So, what is virtue?
09:14 Essentially the definition of virtue is moral purity.
09:17 That's what the word means literally, so,
09:18 that's what the word in the original language means,
09:20 that's what the English word means moral purity.
09:23 So, the Bible is talking about faith,
09:25 producing moral purity.
09:27 So, I want to look at a verse in Philippians,
09:29 Philippians 2:13, 15 Philippians 2:13, 15.
09:35 It says, "For it is God which worketh in you
09:39 both to will and to do of His good pleasure
09:43 that ye may be blameless and harmless.
09:46 The sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked
09:49 and perverse nation.
09:50 Among whom ye shine as lights in the world."
09:53 So this idea of purity being blameless,
09:56 being harmless, being pure,
09:58 morally pure is something number one
10:01 that comes from God.
10:02 But the only way I can get it essentially is by faith
10:05 according to that outline of Peter's ladder.
10:08 So, faith allows me to have access
10:10 to what God is providing.
10:12 And we've talked about righteousness,
10:14 we've talked about you know, God's commandments,
10:15 God's way, His character.
10:17 The only way that can we can truly obtain it
10:19 is through that first step of faith.
10:21 Once we believe, like we read in 1 John 1:9 it says,
10:25 "For if we confess our sins, He is faithful
10:28 and just to forgive us our sins,
10:30 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
10:33 Essentially to make us righteous,
10:34 to make us pure,
10:36 to give us virtue that is true virtue.
10:38 Virtue is not just fleeting,
10:39 it's not just what I feel like in this moment or that moment.
10:42 You know, it's interesting and we're going to talk
10:43 about this in future episodes here.
10:45 But there's a lot of social unrest going on.
10:48 There's a lot of, of feeling and there's a lot of passion
10:54 toward things that people are perceiving to be wrong.
10:57 Right.
10:59 We need to take a stand because this is wrong.
11:02 I believe some of these things are wrong.
11:06 But who tells us what's wrong or right?
11:07 Where do you get--
11:09 Where do you get your moral compass?
11:10 If morality is relevant, right?
11:12 And morality is not biblical,
11:14 you know, there's no necessarily
11:16 the saith the Lord to dictate morality.
11:18 Then who is--
11:20 Who are you to say or who is this group
11:22 or that group to say that this is wrong.
11:23 That's right. People say, "Oh well, this is.
11:26 Well, something has to give you the moral framework
11:29 to make a moral determination, a moral judgment.
11:32 So you can't on one hand say, I'm a moral or moral,
11:35 morality is subjective and there's no absolute truth,
11:39 but on the other hand come out
11:40 and so empathically say, this or that is wrong.
11:42 That's right.
11:43 So, you know, we are comfortable
11:46 with this as Christians, but a lot of people
11:48 have difficulty dealing with that question.
11:51 If morality is not in stone somewhere,
11:54 if morality does not come from somewhere
11:56 and kind of transcends human existence,
11:58 then how can you or whoever else
12:00 say this or that is wrong.
12:02 It just is. Right.
12:04 So, virtue, moral purity
12:06 is something that comes from God.
12:07 And we can only access it through faith.
12:10 And we read Philippians 2:13, 15.
12:14 So, when we go to the next step
12:15 and essentially this is kind of what we're talking about here.
12:18 Fundamentally, it's knowledge.
12:20 So it says, add to your faith virtue
12:23 and to virtue knowledge.
12:25 So, knowledge is something that,
12:28 you know, many people try to obtain.
12:30 Now, knowledge can't necessarily save you.
12:34 Knowing something can't necessarily save you.
12:36 It's how, what you do,
12:38 how you respond to that knowledge.
12:39 But nevertheless, a knowledge is required
12:41 in order to make an intelligent decision.
12:43 That make sense, right?
12:45 So, when we talk about knowledge...
12:48 Well, let's go ahead and look at Hosea 4:6
12:50 Okay.
12:51 Hosea, there in the Old Testament
12:53 as one of the prophets.
12:55 And Hosea 4:6 says the following.
12:59 It says, "My people are destroyed
13:04 for lack of knowledge:
13:07 Because thou hast rejected knowledge.
13:09 I will also reject thee,
13:13 that thou shall be no priest to me:
13:16 Seeing now has forgotten the law of thy God.
13:18 I will also forget thy children."
13:20 That's strong language. Yes, it is.
13:21 Very strong language, but, it is a truth.
13:24 It is a transcendent truth.
13:27 Without the knowledge
13:29 and without the knowledge means you don't have it,
13:31 not because it wasn't there.
13:33 Not because it was inaccessible,
13:34 not because you couldn't have it,
13:35 not because God withheld it.
13:37 It's because when God offered it,
13:38 you rejected it.
13:40 You didn't just rejected once, you rejected twice.
13:41 So if you look in the context, and you look at how God dealt
13:43 with His people through history,
13:45 He gave it to them thousands, millions arguably,
13:48 you know countless times.
13:50 So, knowledge is there, God is knowledge,
13:54 He embodies knowledge, and He's revealed Himself
13:57 continually in countless ways to His creation.
14:02 Our job or our responsibility is to choose
14:06 to either accept it or reject it.
14:08 And if we reject it, we will be destroyed.
14:11 That is a Bible timeless truth.
14:14 If we reject the knowledge that God is offering,
14:16 we will be destroyed.
14:17 If we accept it, we will be saved.
14:20 We will be redeemed.
14:21 We will be given everlasting life.
14:23 And there's an order to knowledge.
14:25 In other words, God is not saying
14:28 that we should just obtain knowledge in every ray
14:32 and every sphere of life, that's not the context
14:34 of what the verses are talking about.
14:36 What the context of the verses
14:37 are talking about is a knowledge of him.
14:40 It's the knowledge of Him and His will.
14:43 He is the object. Yes, right, that's right.
14:44 It's great to have knowledge
14:46 on many, many other subjects of life
14:48 because, you know, it can help us in this world.
14:50 But how much the more important
14:52 that we gain a knowledge of God.
14:54 That was his focus when he's bringing up
14:57 these verses like in 2 Peter 1, Hosea 4:6 etcetera.
15:01 And that's really, when we say true knowledge of self,
15:04 what we're really talking about is true knowledge of God.
15:07 The idea that God made us,
15:09 and He is the only one worthy of worship,
15:11 and He is the object of all our affections,
15:13 and the solution for all of our problems.
15:15 That's right.
15:16 So look at John 17:3 for example.
15:18 Because this is even more profound,
15:20 in the Gospel of John 17: 3
15:24 it says something very interesting here.
15:26 It says, "And this is life eternal,
15:29 that they might know thee the only true God,
15:33 and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
15:35 So, the knowledge
15:37 that this is God and this is His Son.
15:41 This is the solution for all of life's problems,
15:44 essential the solution for sin.
15:47 This knowledge is eternal life.
15:51 And it's not talking about
15:52 an intellectual knowledge per se,
15:54 it's talking about an intimate knowledge.
15:56 You know, the Bible talks about Adam knowing his wife.
15:59 That's right. And then they had children.
16:02 He is talking about a level of intimacy
16:04 that exists at the highest rung of humanity.
16:07 So, God is even, has a greater level of intimacy
16:10 because He made us with His own hands,
16:12 He breathed into our nostrils the breath of life.
16:15 So, this intimacy that God has and will talk about love,
16:18 but the love that God has for us,
16:20 we can't measure it.
16:21 And I like this because this is again
16:23 another contrast that we do
16:25 unfortunately see between hip-hop culture
16:28 and Christianity, two cultures.
16:30 And one is promoting knowledge but it's the knowledge of God.
16:34 The other is knowledge of self.
16:36 You know, I mean, literally
16:37 it is understanding yourself more
16:40 and exalting yourself to the place of God versus
16:44 understanding yourself more that you are a based
16:47 and you have a true knowledge of our Creator
16:50 and what He desires for the creation
16:53 and it causes a submission unto the Lord that is,
16:55 "We live a life of not my will but Thy will be done."
16:58 Very, very contrast one to the other.
17:00 So this is why, this is an important study
17:02 that we're doing right now to really help people see,
17:04 this is what God wants.
17:06 And this is a growing in knowledge,
17:08 because can you really have faith in God
17:12 which remember faith the first step,
17:13 virtue second and then knowledge third.
17:15 We can't really have a faith in God
17:16 unless you know something about Him obviously.
17:19 So, we get to this third layer right here,
17:21 this is a growing knowledge,
17:22 this is, this is something where...
17:24 An intimate knowledge. Yeah, intimate knowledge.
17:25 In other words, the intellect can be stimulated
17:27 on the foundation, that's okay.
17:29 But it has to become intimate.
17:31 I like how 2 Thessalonians 2 talks about individuals,
17:35 who will be destroyed in the last days.
17:38 And it says, "The reason why
17:40 was because they had not the love of the truth."
17:43 Not just the knowledge of the truth,
17:45 but it says they had not the love of the truth.
17:47 So, God wants knowledge to ultimately produce a love
17:51 that brings us into a place
17:53 where we do keep His commandments.
17:54 We experience true righteousness,
17:56 and we can go home with Him, so this is why faith,
18:00 virtue, knowledge growing in an understanding of God
18:03 in Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
18:04 Yeah. Very powerful.
18:06 And so, when we take that even a step further.
18:10 Jeremiah 9:23 and 24 it says, "Thus saith the Lord,
18:16 let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
18:19 neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
18:22 let not the rich man glory in his riches.
18:25 But let him that glorieth glory in this.
18:28 That he understandeth and knoweth me
18:31 that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness,
18:34 judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
18:36 For in these things
18:37 I delight light saith at the Lord."
18:39 Amen.
18:41 I mean that completely destructs.
18:43 You know, it blows apart this idea of self.
18:47 That's right.
18:48 And there's no glory in anything
18:50 we can generate ourselves and obtain by ourselves.
18:53 The only glory is in the knowledge
18:55 that God is the one who possesses the true virtues,
18:58 the true essence, the true character,
18:59 the true righteousness and when we do this,
19:01 that's the freedom.
19:03 Powerful.
19:04 So, the next step, and the next rung
19:05 in the ladder is temperance.
19:08 Something that's not really talked about a lot,
19:10 especially in today's society.
19:11 So, we're dealing with faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance.
19:17 What is temperance?
19:18 I'm just going to, you know, read another verse
19:21 to kind of show the importance of it in kind of,
19:23 I think it gives us a definition if you will
19:25 and we kind of talk more about it.
19:27 So, it says here in 1 Corinthians 9:24 to 27,
19:31 1 Corinthians 9:24 to 27, it says, "Know ye not
19:35 that they which run in a race run all,
19:38 but one receiveth the prize?
19:40 So run, that ye may obtain.
19:43 And every man that striveth for the mastery
19:46 is temperate in all things.
19:48 Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown.
19:51 But we an incorruptible,
19:53 I therefore so run not as uncertainly.
19:57 So fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
20:00 But I keep under my body,
20:02 and bring it into subjection: Less that by any means,
20:06 when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
20:10 Very deep, very profound. Absolutely.
20:12 So, Paul, here is contrasting
20:14 literally professional athletics.
20:16 You know, the Olympic Games
20:18 you know, started way back in the Greek culture.
20:20 The same culture that Paul was ministering in.
20:24 So he's taken professional athletes and he's,
20:27 he's using illustration,
20:28 he's saying look at professional athletes.
20:31 They all run a race, and they're all running to win.
20:34 Nobody's running to lose.
20:35 They're running a race
20:37 and they're willing to sacrifice everything
20:40 to achieve their goal.
20:41 And that goal is that crown,
20:42 that prize, that victory wreath.
20:44 You know, that famous,
20:46 I, you know, that, that, like we see--
20:50 And what do they call it?
20:52 The winner's crown, the ivy wreath that goes on,
20:57 on the head and he says, "Well, how much more do we,
21:03 who are chasing and running a race
21:05 for an incorruptible crown..."
21:07 essentially eternal life salvation.
21:09 "How much more should we strive for the mastery
21:12 like the professional athlete does for his corruptible crown.
21:16 His perishable crown, we haven't imperishable crown.
21:19 So, we should be temperate in all things
21:21 just like a professional athlete is
21:23 and we can go down the list.
21:24 Some people look at these professional athletes
21:26 and say, "Oh, you know, they want to be
21:28 like LeBron James or whoever else."
21:30 And they think somehow LeBron James
21:32 is just sitting on his couch
21:34 and he goes outside and plays basketball like,
21:36 like people on the street do.
21:38 He has the highest level of science and fitness
21:42 and physiology at his disposal.
21:44 You know, therapy, physical therapy,
21:46 physician's surgery whatever he needs.
21:49 He has the best equipment, he has custom shoes.
21:51 You know, he has luxury facilities.
21:54 He has all of these things.
21:56 And a personal trainer, and a personal chef,
21:59 and a nutrition, a dietician, all that stuff to put his body
22:02 in the best possible condition to go through the taxing
22:06 that's required to get his corruptible crown.
22:09 You can't just walk off the street
22:11 and do what those guys do.
22:12 That's correct.
22:14 Nor can you try to obtain a incorruptible crown,
22:18 eternal life and salvation by just walking off the street
22:21 and calling yourself a Christian,
22:22 and throwing on it like throwing
22:23 on a basketball jersey is going to make you
22:25 an NBA basketball player, this is not going to happen.
22:28 So he says here,
22:30 and this is where the definition come in,
22:32 temperance, right?
22:33 He says in, you know,
22:35 in the closing part of the passage.
22:37 "But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection."
22:42 That's right.
22:43 So, temperance is really the idea of abstinence
22:47 from everything that's going to harm me.
22:49 Just like a professional athlete,
22:50 you know, is not going to do certain things
22:52 and when he is training
22:53 because it's going to give him negative results.
22:55 So, if he wants the best results,
22:57 he needs to abstain from anything
22:58 that's going to harm him.
23:00 And then, moderation in all things that are good.
23:04 It's not moderation in everything, right?
23:06 As I always used to say sometimes that,
23:08 you know, we know things that are bad.
23:10 You know, and for example
23:11 we would never give somebody counsel
23:13 and say, "Oh, it's okay to smoke crack in moderation."
23:15 That would be absurd, and ridiculous to most people.
23:17 That's something that's harmful.
23:19 As a society we've agreed that crack is bad.
23:22 So, we would never say, "It's okay in moderation."
23:24 But yet other things that are more socially acceptable
23:26 like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes,
23:29 you know, and other harmful substances that people...
23:31 Now smoking marijuana.
23:32 Yeah, people consume on the regular basis.
23:34 We say, "Oh, that's okay in moderation."
23:36 Right. You know, just don't do it.
23:38 If it's bad it's not good in moderation.
23:40 It should be, we should abstain
23:42 but if it's good,
23:44 moderation in those things that are good,
23:45 so that's really what temperance is.
23:47 So, it's not Paul is striving
23:49 not like one that's training for a boxing match
23:52 as one that beat at the air.
23:53 But as one that is striving for incorruptible crown,
23:56 that's what temperance is.
23:58 So, when it talks about this idea of faith, virtue,
24:01 knowledge and now temperance
24:02 we see something that's really jelling everything together.
24:05 Now, the reason why this is important
24:06 is because, it kind of brings us back to a point
24:09 we established earlier.
24:10 When we were talking about righteousness by faith,
24:12 we were talking about something God can do for us
24:14 that we cannot do for ourselves.
24:16 That's right.
24:17 And we talked about God's ability
24:19 not only to pardon but to empower.
24:21 This is a great point,
24:22 great time to make this point
24:24 because, temperance is something we need.
24:27 The Bible says, "Tempered in all things."
24:29 So that means, in your physical activities,
24:31 that means in your sleeping, that means in your working,
24:35 in your playing, in all of the different areas of life,
24:38 God wants us to have a self-control.
24:40 Yet, a lot of people try to do that.
24:43 Have success in certain places, but then they fail in others.
24:46 But yet the Bible says, "All things."
24:48 So how do we jell this? The way we do it is simple.
24:52 The Bible says, in Galatians 5:22 and 23.
24:56 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
24:58 joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
25:01 meekness and temperance against such there is no law.
25:05 An individual cannot have total control over themselves
25:10 void of the Spirit of God."
25:12 It is impossible.
25:13 So, we need the spirit of Christ,
25:14 to come within our hearts to enable us
25:17 to live this incredibly controlled life
25:20 in all the areas and dynamics of life.
25:22 This is why I get so notice,
25:24 Temperance is literally pulling us out of ourselves.
25:27 It's calling us out of self, and saying come to God,
25:30 because there's no way you can have this outside of God.
25:33 So this is a liberating and not oppressive.
25:36 And opposite of what we would normally think.
25:38 That's correct.
25:39 We think well, if I got to give all of my rights
25:41 essentially over to someone else.
25:44 I have to completely relinquish my ability to dictate,
25:51 what I'm going to do with my life,
25:52 how I'm going to think,
25:53 how I'm going to do this and that?
25:55 I'm going to be totally dependent on another
25:57 and there's not another person.
25:58 There's not a government, this is not whatever,
26:00 this is on the creator of the universe.
26:03 I got to be completely dependent
26:04 and by doing that I actually achieve freedom and liberty,
26:09 that is something
26:10 that is contrary to all worldly thinking.
26:12 And it is contrary directly even to the principles
26:15 contained in hip-hop culture.
26:17 And this is why God wants to open our eyes,
26:19 to help us see the realities.
26:21 Again, as we stated before it's not that what God wants
26:25 cannot be accomplished.
26:27 This is typically what makes people give up.
26:29 This is what makes them say, "Forget this stuff doesn't work
26:31 you know, I'm just going to try something else."
26:33 It's because, it's not that God's counsel was wrong.
26:37 It was how many of us have approached it.
26:39 God wants us to understand of course,
26:41 anything I tell you to do.
26:42 I read in a little book called, "Christ Object Lessons,
26:44 page 333, which tells us clear as day.
26:47 "All God's biddings are enablings."
26:50 Whatever the Lord calls us to do, He not only bids us,
26:54 He says, "I will enable you to do everything
26:57 that I've called you to do."
26:58 It's for this reason that the Lord wants us
27:00 to start understanding,
27:02 that you cannot do anything without me.
27:06 Not what I'm calling you to do.
27:07 You can do things in life,
27:09 but you can't do anything without me,
27:10 anything that I've called you to do.
27:11 But with me, you can do all things through Christ,
27:15 who will be your strength.
27:16 And so there's a, there's eight steps in the ladder.
27:19 We went through half of them.
27:20 I think is a good place to pause,
27:22 and we're going to have to continue
27:23 in another episode to walk through
27:24 the final steps in Peter's ladder.
27:26 Okay, great.
27:28 Well, friends, again we've have been
27:30 very, very blessed.
27:31 The Lord is helping us to get a true understanding of Him,
27:35 a true knowledge of self.
27:37 And this is all true education.
27:39 And it's a blessing and I'm grateful for the things
27:41 that we're studying right now,
27:43 about how to practically walk up this little ladder
27:46 that we are seeing through the writings
27:48 of the Apostle Peter.
27:49 And I pray that you will just continue to seek God, ask Him.
27:53 Lord, help me to live out these truths in my life
27:56 and tell a friend and encourage others.
27:58 And I believe you will be tremendously blessed.
28:01 Again, thank you for joining us
28:02 and we know that the words of Christ are true
28:05 when he says in Proverbs 2:6.
28:07 "That it is the Lord that gives wisdom
28:09 and out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding."


Home

Revised 2016-03-28