Participants: Artura Masci (Host), André C. Waller, Charisa Fong, John Lomacang, Joseph Khabbaz, Marcha William, Taj Pacleb, Tapiwa Mutseriwa, Zeny Vidacak
Series Code: 15WAC
Program Code: 15WAC000010A
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00:16 Good afternoon ladies and gentleman
00:18 distinguished guests, children. 00:20 What a blessing it is to be here this afternoon. 00:23 We're gathered here for a purpose, we're gathered here 00:25 to share some time with a great cross-section of spiritual 00:32 and intellectual knowledge here. 00:33 We've got from the young, sitting next to me here. 00:37 to... well I was going to say the very old, 00:39 but to the older folk amongst us, 00:41 which I'm counted amongst that as well. 00:43 So this afternoon, we're coming together to 00:45 share some questions... there are some 00:46 pressing questions on people's hearts. 00:48 These questions have been gleaned over the last few days 00:51 of this conference session, and we have attempted to 00:55 try and amalgamate everyone's questions 00:56 so that nobody misses out. 00:58 For those of you who feel that your question 01:00 has not been answered, please log on to website, 01:03 and your question and answer will appear there as well. 01:06 So, as we look, we've got... as I said a great cross-section. 01:11 We have a physician amongst us. 01:13 We have ministers of the gospel who rightly divide the word 01:18 the way it should be, evangelists... 01:20 And, I would like to start with this young lady 01:22 because I think- ladies first. 01:23 I'd like to start with this young lady on the first here, 01:25 Charissa - tell us a little bit about yourself. 01:27 Okay, well my name is Charissa Fong. 01:29 I live in Sydney and this year, I'll be working at the 01:32 Adventist Media Network. 01:34 Fantastic indeed! 01:37 Next we have Brother Tapi. 01:40 Yes, Tapi is a minister of the gospel in Sydney. 01:45 We take care of two churches, Cabramatta and Fairfield. 01:49 Fantastic! Sister Marsha... 01:51 I'm Marcha William and I have worked as a doctor 01:55 for a couple of years, particularly in the area 01:57 of psychiatry, but now I'm a song evangelist for the Lord. 02:01 Indeed, lovely! Thank you 02:03 Minister of the gospel in this local church. 02:07 Married and I have 3 children. Fantastic, thank you for that. 02:12 My name is Taj. I'm from the beautiful islands 02:14 of Hawaii, but my wife and I, we live in California 02:19 and we do public evangelism and we just go from church 02:22 to church, from place to place conducting 02:24 Bible Prophecy Seminars, revivals and training. 02:28 And, we're happy to be here today. 02:29 My name is John Lomacang, I'm from Illinois, 02:33 native of New York City, pastor for 28 years now, 02:36 and love the Lord, love to share His word, 02:40 and praise God for the opportunity to open 02:44 His living Word. 02:50 My name is Andre Waller, and I am one of the 02:53 co-directors for Tekoa Missions and I preach, 02:55 and teach and just have a great time in the Lord. 02:57 And I'm married, happily married to my beautiful bride, Alpha, 03:01 If she sees this, just want her to know - love her. Amen 03:06 My name is Joseph Khabbaz and I am Youth Director here 03:10 in the South Queensland Conference. 03:12 I'm really glad to be here, and I also am married 03:15 and my wife is back there and I'm just so glad 03:17 that she can be here and join me. 03:20 I'm really glad to be here and looking forward 03:22 to opening up God's Word together. 03:25 Thank you very much! 03:26 As you see, we are diversified certainly in age, 03:30 and in occupations and professions here as well. 03:33 But also in culture, so there's a rich bit of 03:36 culture here between us here. 03:37 Now my friend, Andre... you sound American. 03:41 I am definitely American. Right on... 03:44 Yes, I'm American. Okay 03:45 If anyone needs translating, you know, 03:48 when we're trying to understand how you people speak because 03:50 Pastor Lomacang is always sort of trying to speak 03:54 "Australian," how do you do that? 03:56 No worries mate... 03:57 Thank you... Audience laughter 04:00 Very good! I'm trying to teach him. 04:04 First question... Why did Jesus have to die? 04:12 Why on a cross, and was there 04:15 no other way to fulfill the prophecy? 04:19 That is one of my favorite topics in the Bible. 04:25 It's the science of salvation, and the first thing we 04:28 need to understand is that the depth of the sacrifice of Christ 04:34 is not something that our finite brains can fully comprehend 04:37 in the here and now. 04:38 Throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, 04:40 we're going to be studying exactly what happened 04:43 at the cross and we will never ceased to be amazed 04:45 at what happened in that moment in history. 04:50 But the reason why Jesus had to die is very simply 04:53 found in the book of Romans 6:23. 04:56 The Bible says that, "The wages of sin is death, 05:00 but the gift of God is eternal 05:02 life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 05:03 And so, sin brings death, not like when Satan said 05:09 it would bring life, sin brings death. 05:10 And the reason why sin brings death is because, 05:13 according to 1 John 3:4, "Sin is the breaking of the law," 05:17 and God's law is a law of love. 05:20 Love is what brings life. 05:22 Love is what sustains the whole universe. 05:25 The antithesis to love is sin. 05:27 Sin brings death because sin is selfishness, 05:30 or it's self love and self love can never be sustained. 05:34 And so when sin came into the world, death came as a result 05:37 because sin is self love; it's the breaking 05:39 of the eternal law of love. 05:41 And so Jesus had to die, or I should say, 05:44 He did not have to die for us, He rather chose to die for us. 05:49 He chose to take our death so that we could have His life. 05:53 And it's something that the Bible calls "a great mystery." 05:58 The mystery of Godliness, how Christ was manifested 06:01 in the flesh and then took our 06:03 sins upon Himself and paid the price. 06:05 But what we do know is sufficient to know that 06:07 God is truly a God of love. 06:10 Now part of the question was "Why on a cross?" 06:12 Well, it's interesting that the Pharisees accused Christ of 06:15 blasphemy and according to the Old Testament, 06:18 the punishment for blasphemy was not crucifixion, 06:21 but rather, it was stoning. 06:23 And yet the Pharisees and the Jews, they did not 06:26 press for that type of death. 06:29 The reason why is because they had to put Jesus away in 06:32 such a way that no one would defend Him, 06:35 not even God would defend Him, 06:39 and that the only way was by crucifixion. 06:42 And so they pressed upon Pilate to ratify 06:45 their desire to crucify Him... 06:47 And the reason why is because if you look in Matthew 27, 06:52 we find that they are tempting Christ to think that 06:57 not even God is going to help Him out. 07:01 In Matthew 27:43 it says, "He trusted in God, 07:08 let Him, let God, deliver Him, Jesus now, if He will have Him; 07:14 for He said, "I am the Son of God." 07:16 And so, as Jesus was on the cross, they were saying to Him, 07:18 "If You are the Son of God, and if God in Heaven 07:21 really wants You, He is going to deliver You right now." 07:24 You see, in Deuteronomy 21:23 it says that the one that 07:33 hangs on the tree is cursed by God... 07:35 And so as Jesus is hanging there on the tree of the cross, 07:38 it's as if God, Himself, is cursing Him. 07:41 You see, if they would have stoned Him, 07:42 He would have been a glorified martyr, 07:45 but at the cross, it's as if God Himself, doesn't even want Him, 07:50 and that's why Jesus said, "My God, My God, 07:53 why have You forsaken Me?" 07:55 Something interesting as I bring this to a finish 07:59 is that when they said those words in Matthew 27:43, 08:03 they were actually fulfilling prophecy... 08:05 The prophecy of Psalm 22, and Jesus heard those words 08:09 and He understood the prophecy of Psalm 22... 08:13 And they knew that they were fulfilling that prophecy 08:16 by saying those words and so in response to that, 08:19 even though He, Himself, felt forsaken by God, 08:23 He quoted Psalm 22:1 which says, "My God, My God, 08:27 why have You forsaken Me?" In other words, 08:29 when Christ felt utterly forsaken by God, 08:32 He still claimed God as His own. 08:34 He said, "My God, My God." 08:38 Even though You forsake Me, You are still my God, 08:43 and that's the great victory of the cross. 08:45 And so by dying this death which is a permanent death, 08:49 an eternal death, He was paying the full wages of sin, 08:51 and that's how the prophecy was fulfilled. 08:54 Amen! Thank you for that very, very comprehensive answer. 08:59 Why is it important for us to 09:03 study the books of Daniel and Revelation? 09:08 Daniel and Revelation are sister books in the Bible. 09:12 We call them books of prophecy. 09:14 The very word "prophecy" is a word that denotes 09:17 looking forward. 09:18 With giving you an analogy, the Old Testament 09:23 is the New Testament concealed. 09:26 The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. 09:30 And so when the Old Testament was written, 09:32 there were Bible prophecies there and I would piggyback on 09:35 what my brother just said... Prophecy is not only about 09:39 end-time events, but prophecy is about the life, the nature, 09:43 the crucifixion of Jesus. 09:45 So when Jesus fulfilled those prophecies, 09:49 those things that were forecast; those things that were spoken of 09:53 700-1000 years before their time of fulfillment, 09:57 were ratified, were confirmed. 09:59 And so Daniel and Revelation are to us, 10:02 what signs and exits are on the highway in our journey. 10:06 As we count down the exits, as we notice our destination, 10:09 each exit, each road marker, each mile marker 10:13 indicates to us how near we are to our journey's end. 10:16 Revelation is a book that speaks of prophecies that 10:21 have been first revealed in the book of Daniel. 10:23 And so think of Daniel sometimes as the introduction 10:26 of some of the last-day prophecies in which Revelation 10:29 gives the rest of the story. 10:32 But why do we have prophecy? 10:33 We find in John 13:19 these words from Jesus... 10:37 He says, "Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come 10:44 to pass, you may believe that I am He." 10:47 Contrary to the popular view that we are to focus on the 10:52 beasts and the plaques and all of the sometimes 10:55 described gory details of the beasts in Daniel 10:58 and the 7 plagues of Revelation and the bottomless pit, 11:01 and the dragon and the angels 11:03 that fought against Christ and His angels. 11:05 The purpose of both of those books are to reveal the 11:08 person of Christ. 11:09 And so when these prophecies are fulfilled, 11:12 we could remember that Jesus said, "I told you this 11:15 long before it came to pass, so that when it does 11:18 come to pass, you will believe that I am He." 11:21 In other words, what does that mean... I am who He? 11:23 I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. 11:26 And that's what prophecy does, 11:28 takes us from the beginning unto the end. 11:30 Isaiah 46:10 confirms that He is, in fact, the Christ. 11:35 What does He do? 11:37 "Declaring the end from the beginning and from 11:40 ancient times things that are not yet done 11:43 saying, "My counsel shall stand and I shall do all my pleasure." 11:48 And so finally, when you look at the prophecies, 11:50 one of the things that serves well about prophecy... 11:53 it neutralizes the phrase, "Jesus can come any day now." 11:57 That's a common phrase in Christianity. 12:00 He can come any day now; we might disappear 12:02 any moment now like the rapture theory tends to denote 12:05 which is, in fact, not founded on Scripture. 12:08 But when you follow prophecy, you understand the timetable. 12:11 Everything done in the Bible has a timetable. 12:14 Going back to Jesus... when the fullness of time had come, 12:17 God sent forth His Son. 12:18 When they tried to arrest Jesus, "My time had not yet come." 12:22 When He finally got arrested, "This is Your hour." 12:26 So everything that has to do in God's word, He knows. 12:29 And finally, Jesus said in Matthew 24, 12:32 "No man knows the day nor the hour, no not the angels 12:36 of heaven, but My Father only." 12:38 So how would we know? 12:39 Matthew 24:32-38, "If you learn the parable of the fig tree... 12:45 Let me use prophecy as the fig tree... 12:47 "When it begins to bud," when these prophecies 12:50 begin to come to pass, you know that we're nearing the end. 12:54 That's the major reason for prophecy - letting us know 12:56 where we are in the finalizing of this nature of sin, 13:00 and the eradication of sin eternally. 13:03 I appreciate your comment regarding the beastly 13:06 preaching of Revelation because Revelation is the 13:08 Revelation of Jesus Christ. 13:09 "Blessed is he who studies and understands." 13:12 Now I did say, as we started, we have 45 minutes, 13:17 and then we have a second session. 13:18 We have 45 minutes for all the questions, 13:20 not each question gentlemen. 13:22 Laughter from audience. But thank you very much. 13:25 What is your understanding of Christian perfection 13:31 from the biblical viewpoint? 13:37 Christian perfection is definitely a biblical teaching 13:40 Jesus, Himself, in Matthew 5:48, He said, "Be ye therefore 13:45 perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." 13:49 And sometimes we read that scripture, 13:51 we get a little bit nervous because we think about 13:53 the frailties and inconsistencies of our own 13:55 lives and sometimes that standard sometimes can be 14:00 discouraging, but we must remember that the reason 14:02 why God has lifted the standard so high is because 14:05 if the standard was low enough, some of us would think that 14:07 we can jump up in our own efforts and strength 14:10 and attain the standard by ourselves. 14:12 But it's high, higher than the highest human thought can reach 14:15 is God's ideal for His children and it's so high because 14:18 God wants us to understand that it's humanly impossible 14:22 to reach the standard. 14:23 It requires a miracle and God 14:25 has a whole bunch of those for us. Amen? 14:27 But as far as Christian perfection, what does it mean? 14:30 That word "perfect" in the original, it means "mature." 14:33 So, God wants to mature us as Christians. 14:36 The Bible says "Grow in grace," and I think that the 14:39 verse that really helps us to understand this 14:42 is found in 1 John 4, and so if you turn your 14:44 Bible there, quickly, 1 John 4... 14:48 The perfection that Jesus is referring to, the maturity, 14:52 is even as your Father in Heaven 14:54 is perfect or even as God is perfect... 14:56 And when you read the context, it's how we are to love 14:59 our enemies and bless those who curse us and do good 15:02 to those who spitefully use us and that's exactly 15:04 what God is like. 15:06 He blesses those who reject Him and spit in His face. 15:09 And so, it's referring to perfection of character. 15:12 And it says in 1 John 4:16, "And we have known and 15:17 believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. 15:21 And he that dwells in love, dwells in God and God in him. 15:24 Verse 17, "Herein is our love made perfect (or mature), 15:30 that we may have boldness in the day of judgment 15:33 because as He is... stop right there - how is He? 15:38 He is perfect, He is holy, He is merciful, 15:41 He is kind, He is gracious, He is marvelous, 15:43 He is all of these things and so it says, 15:45 "As He is, so are we in this world." 15:49 Not at His coming, but in this world. 15:53 And so the Bible teaches that we can be just like Jesus, 15:56 and I want to be like Jesus, but how does this take place? 16:01 The next verse, verse 18... "There is no fear in love, 16:06 but perfect love casts out fear because fear hath torment. 16:10 He that fears is not made perfect in love." 16:13 And so, if we're serving God because we're afraid of God 16:17 or afraid to be lost or if we're serving God 16:19 because of the rewards of God, and the blessings of God, 16:22 that shows that our love for God is not perfect or mature, 16:25 it's an immature love. 16:26 So the measure of Christian perfection 16:29 is measured by the motive of our obedience 16:33 and our loyalty to God. 16:35 We need to come to the point where we serve God 16:37 not because of the blessings of God... 16:39 We serve God because of God because God is love, 16:43 and His love is enough. 16:44 And so, many people trying to serve God because of the 16:47 fear of hell or the reward of heaven, 16:49 but we need to serve God because God is love. 16:52 And then the next verse, "We love Him because 16:53 He first loved us." 16:55 And so all we need to do in order to mature 16:57 into Christian perfection is to understand 17:00 the depth of His love and love awakens a love response, 17:03 and it's that love that fulfills the law, 17:05 the perfection of the law of love in our hearts 17:08 as the book of Romans 13:11 says. 17:10 And I'm sure glad that we had a perfect sacrifice 17:13 in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Amen 17:16 If we have sinned... "IF" ... we've all sinned. 17:21 If we have sinned, and this question is coming 17:23 in many different varied forms so we've amalgamated this... 17:27 If we have sinned, would God punish us? 17:30 Do I lose my salvation when I fall into sin? 17:36 Yeah, that's a really good question and appreciate 17:38 the person that sent that in. 17:40 You know, there's this idea that God will never punish sin. 17:46 There's this idea that God will love and He is love, 17:51 but love is balanced. 17:54 Love also looks at sin for what it is. 17:57 In Ecclesiastes 12:14 says, "For God will bring every 18:03 work into judgment including every secret thing 18:07 whether good or evil." 18:10 We will have to be accountable for the decisions that we make. 18:14 And, there's this idea that the "Investigative Judgment" 18:19 is something that really comes from Ellen White's writings 18:22 and I just want to say that the Investigative Judgment 18:25 is not just from Ellen White's writings, 18:28 it's found in the Bible itself. 18:29 In fact, all the way in Genesis, when God is investigating, 18:34 He goes after Adam and Eve, 18:36 and He asked them questions doesn't He? 18:38 He investigates and He asks them, 18:40 where are you, what have you done?" 18:42 "Who told you this and who told you that?" 18:44 They had been listening to the serpent. 18:46 There's an investigation that takes place. 18:48 All the way in Genesis we can find, throughout the Bible, 18:52 God investigating the actions of His people. 18:55 The purpose is.. is because God is transparent. 18:59 God is transparent in His actions, 19:02 and He wants us to know that He is a merciful and loving God, 19:06 even in His judgments. 19:08 The question, the second one was, 19:10 "But will I lose my salvation if I sin?" 19:14 Well, the sanctuary message actually answers this question 19:18 very clearly and we find that in Numbers 15:22 19:24 Numbers 15:22 says, "If you sin unintentionally and do not 19:31 observe all these commandments 19:32 which the Lord has spoken to Moses, 19:34 all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of 19:38 Moses from the day the Lord gave the commandments, 19:41 and onward throughout your generations, 19:44 then it will be, if it is unintentionally committed 19:48 without the knowledge of the congregation, 19:50 the whole congregation shall offer one young bull 19:54 as a burn offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord 19:57 with its grain offering and its drink offering, 20:01 according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats, 20:05 as a sin offering; so the priest shall make 20:08 atonement for the whole congregation 20:11 of the children of Israel. 20:12 It shall be forgiven them for it was unintentional. 20:17 They shall bring their offering and the offering made by 20:21 fire to the Lord; and their sin offering before the Lord 20:25 for their unintended sin." 20:29 The Bible says, through the sanctuary service, 20:31 that there are times when God's people who sinned 20:34 unintentionally, but guess what... 20:36 they were still part of the camp. 20:39 They were still part of God's people 20:41 allowed to be in the camp. 20:42 Now further on a few verses later, it talks about 20:46 another type of sin. 20:48 Chapter 15, still verse 30-31: "But the person who has 20:54 done anything presumptuously, whether he is a native-born 20:58 or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, 21:02 and he shall be cut off from among his people. 21:07 So there's a sin that in the Bible calls "presumptuous." 21:11 In the Hebrew, it actually says "high-handed sin." 21:15 That sin is both deliberate and defiant. 21:19 When we're both deliberate and defiant in our sins, 21:23 the Bible calls it "presumption," 21:25 and we are then cut off from the camp. 21:28 We're no longer part of God's people, 21:30 but God respects our decision not to be a part of it. 21:34 If we shake our fist at God, and say, "God, I don't want to 21:38 be part of Your people anymore, 21:39 I don't want to be part of Your chosen Christian kingdom." 21:44 God says - You don't have to be, but the Bible says 21:47 we are then cut off. 21:49 Therefore, John the Baptist says, "Behold the Lamb of God 21:54 who takes away the sin of the world." 21:56 If we have sinned, go straight to the Lamb. 21:59 Because there is propitiation, 22:01 there is forgiveness through the Lamb. 22:04 If you've sinned, if the Holy Spirit speaks to you, 22:07 don't raise your fist at God, but go straight 22:09 to the source of forgiveness, Jesus Christ... 22:13 for when we behold Him, we become changed, 22:15 and forgiveness, we will find, is freely available. 22:19 Can I just add one other text to this question right here... 22:22 Proverbs 28:13, it says, "He who covers his sins 22:27 will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them 22:30 will have mercy." Amen! 22:32 And to complement that from Hebrews, it says, 22:35 you know, for a person to continue to sin willfully... 22:38 once he comes into the knowledge, 22:40 there shall be no more sacrifice." 22:42 Next question... this is an age old question, 22:46 it's been around since long before even Martin Luther. 22:49 Talking about faith and works. 22:51 Faith and works, faith and works. 22:52 "Isn't keeping the Sabbath day being saved by works?" 22:58 Well, we could basically say that if you are keeping 23:01 any of the commandments in order to be saved, 23:06 it's the same thing. 23:08 You have the whole nation of Israel, in fact, 23:13 leadership of Israel, religious leadership of Israel 23:16 whose approach to salvation was like that... 23:18 "Basically, I am going to keep the commandments, 23:22 and I'm going to earn the favor in order to be saved." 23:26 So it could be the 4th commandment, 23:27 it could be any commandment, but what is really 23:30 interesting about this one is that Sabbath, 23:35 when you think about it and when you look at the Bible... 23:38 Look, for example, Genesis 2:1-3 you find that Sabbath is really 23:45 a memorial of creation, memorial of creation, 23:49 so let me just read you that text. 23:51 "The heavens and the earth were completed and all the hosts 23:55 by the 7th day God completed His work which He had done, 23:59 and He rested on the 7th day 24:01 from all his work which He has done. 24:03 Then God blessed the 7th day and sanctified it 24:06 because in it, He rested from all His work 24:09 which God has created and made." 24:13 Imagine that last day, God rests from His work. 24:19 Sabbath is rest and Adam and Eve haven't done 24:22 anything really and God is asking them to rest 24:26 almost the very first day of their existence. 24:30 So how can that be works when you are resting in God's work? 24:35 But not only that, what is also interesting what we find 24:38 in the Bible is that Sabbath is also a rest in salvation. 24:43 In the book of Deuteronomy 5:15, it says, "You shall remember 24:49 that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, 24:51 for the Lord your God brought you out of there 24:53 with a mighty hand and by outstretched arm, 24:57 and, therefore, you will remember the Sabbath day." 25:00 So Sabbath day somehow becomes a sign of salvation. 25:04 So when you and I come on Sabbath day, 25:06 that's a memorial of salvation, 25:09 and you rest rather than work. 25:12 You rest in His salvation. 25:14 So on Sabbath you rest in the work of His creation. 25:17 On the Sabbath day, we rest in the work of His salvation. 25:21 But it's not only that, but we also find that Sabbath 25:24 is a rest in His sanctification meaning... 25:28 "I am going to change you in the likeness of Christ." 25:31 And you find that in the book of Exodus 31:13, 25:36 where He says, "It's a sign that I sanctify you." 25:40 So fancy that as a Christian. 25:43 When you come on the Sabbath day, 25:45 what you are doing, you are having a triple rest. 25:48 You are resting in the creative work of God, 25:51 and you are enjoying it. 25:53 You are resting in the salvation work of God, 25:56 and you are enjoying it. 25:58 You are resting in the work that He's doing in you 26:01 to change you in the likeness of Christ. 26:03 So that cannot be salvation by works! 26:08 When we understand the Sabbath as the Pastor Zeny is 26:11 portraying it for us, the Sabbath, keeping the Sabbath 26:14 is our love response to Jesus. 26:16 So it's not "I have to keep the Sabbath," 26:18 "I get to keep the Sabbath, I want to keep the Sabbath 26:21 because I love Jesus." Amen! 26:23 Going on from that, here is another question... 26:25 Obedience versus saved by faith. 26:28 You know Satan has done such a great job to confuse people, 26:31 and, hence, that's why we're here this afternoon, 26:34 for us to de-confuse... I don't know if that's a word or not, 26:36 but to de-confuse. 26:38 Obedience versus saved by faith. 26:41 How am I saved... through obedience or faith? 26:45 And, do the two contradict each other? 26:51 They do not contradict each other. Amen! 26:54 Grace and faith do not contradict each other 26:57 in the sense that... 26:59 Well, let me start by saying there are two camps... 27:01 One that says you are saved by grace, you don't need to work. 27:06 And then perhaps there could be another camp that says, 27:09 "Oh, it's all to do with works, I can do it by myself, 27:14 and salvation." 27:16 These two camps are on slippery slopes. 27:19 They have problems. 27:21 I'm going to read a text that combines both 27:25 words faith and grace. 27:27 They are found in Ephesians 2:8, but this time we don't want to 27:33 end in verse 8, let's go right on to verse 10. 27:37 "For by grace are you saved through faith, 27:41 that is not of yourself. It is the gift of God. 27:45 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 27:50 Verse 10, For we are His workmanship 27:55 created in Christ Jesus, and to good works 28:00 which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. 28:06 So as a sinner, if I come to Christ, 28:11 He forgives my sin because that is called 28:15 "grace unmerited favor." 28:17 I have received His grace, but then Christ, 28:21 like a master sculptor that He is, He begins 28:25 to do His workmanship. 28:27 In this workmanship, He is doing it in me 28:31 it comes out to you as works that were created before. 28:36 So I'm not saved by faith and works, 28:38 I'm saved by faith that works. Amen! Very good! 28:45 I just want to add a few verses: Romans 1:5 is a really 28:50 excellent one, it says, "By whom we have received 28:52 grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith." 28:56 So grace, not only pardons the past, 28:58 but it empowers the present for obedience. 29:01 And then Romans 3:31, Paul says, "Do we then make void 29:09 the law through faith? God forbid, 29:12 ye, we establish the law." 29:14 And so we can obey without believing, but we cannot 29:18 truly believe without obeying as a natural resolve 29:21 because faith established the law in our life. 29:25 Thank you! God - we serve a God that is 29:28 all knowing, so if God already knows whether I will be 29:32 saved or lost, how does that 29:35 make it that I still have free will? 29:39 Excellent question, right? 29:42 I'm from the United States of America, 29:43 I flew here 21 hours... I know when I get home 29:48 when I get off that plane and walk to the tarmac, 29:52 and get to the parking lot or wherever my wife 29:55 is picking me up, I know that my wife will be 29:57 driving the car, #1... #2, I know that when 30:01 they see me, they will give me a hug! 30:03 Now, am I manipulating that because I know ahead of time; 30:07 I have foreknowledge that they will do this very action. 30:09 I've come home many times, they've done the same thing. 30:12 So foreknowledge does not mean that I manipulate 30:16 or control an individual's freewill or choice. 30:18 Does that make sense everybody? 30:20 But I want to read to you now from the book of Ephesians 30:22 and I think the idea of predestination kind of comes 30:26 into this question. 30:28 And, the idea of predestination 30:29 is that God has chosen who is going to be 30:31 saved or who is going to be lost. 30:33 I want to go to the book of Ephesians for a moment. 30:34 Look at verse #4, Ephesians 1:4, and just notice 30:41 what the Bible says and I'm going to be short 30:42 because I have a tendency to want to preach. 30:44 So verse 4 says: "According as He has chosen us 30:48 in Him before the foundation of the world that we 30:53 should be holy and without blame before Him in love. 30:58 ... Pay attention now. Having predestinated us 31:02 unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself 31:09 according to the good will of His pleasure." 31:12 So here's the question... Is man, himself, predestined, 31:16 or is the path predestined? 31:19 The path is predestined, the way that you're going to be saved 31:22 if you're going to be saved, you're going to be saved if 31:25 you have accepted Christ. 31:27 That is the only means of salvation. 31:30 So the path has been pre-chosen, it has been foreordained. 31:34 So right now, you came through into this building, right? 31:37 It was foreordained that you would come 31:39 through the door to come into this room. 31:41 You could choose not to walk through the door. 31:43 But the only way, realistically, to get into the building 31:47 without breaking down the windows or the doors, 31:49 is to walk through that door 31:51 and you have a choice that you can make. 31:53 I have to pause right now, somebody else could help answer. 31:56 Deuteronomy 30:19... This idea that God predestines 32:00 you to be saved and I'm glad, just to reiterate 32:02 what he is saying... He said the method has 32:05 been established - there's only one way to fly 32:10 to America - that's on an airplane... 32:11 that's been predestined, but whether or not 32:14 you get onboard is your choice. 32:16 That is the decision you make and that's the decision 32:20 to accept the predestined method of salvation. 32:24 Deuteronomy 30:19, "The Lord says, "I have set before you 32:27 life and death, blessing and cursing, choose life." 32:31 He tells you the best method by which you will be saved, 32:34 but He tells you - you got to choose. 32:36 So when we say we're predestined, that's not a 32:39 teaching the Bible supports. 32:41 It almost makes us into a tomatoz 32:43 rather than those that have the free agency 32:46 of making our own decision. 32:48 And let me just add this... If everyone was predestined 32:51 to be saved, which is a teaching that goes around, 32:54 there will be individuals in heaven, 32:56 and heaven would be hell for them. 32:59 Why force someone to go where they 33:01 haven't chosen that they want to be. 33:04 So predestination, in the eyes of many, really boils down to 33:08 ... you've got to choose what road is going to be 33:10 your final destination. 33:13 One more piece... Verse 9 says, "Having made 33:19 known unto us the mystery of His will or His desire according 33:24 to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself. 33:27 Now what is this good pleasure that He purposed in Himself? 33:30 Verse 10... "That in the dispensation of the fullness of 33:33 times, He might gather together in one all things in 33:38 Christ, both which are in heaven or on earth, even in hell. 33:43 So God's great desire at the end of the day, 33:45 heaven and earth, we, all of us, 33:48 be united in One, in One Person, His name is Jesus. Amen? Amen 33:55 Okay, I was handed a slip of paper just before I came in, 33:59 and on that question, it talks about Americans wearing ties, 34:05 and Australians don't. 34:07 And I thought to myself, I'm Australian... tie. 34:12 But anyway, here's the question... 34:14 "How should we dress in church on Sabbath? 34:18 Does it matter for God or does God look beyond our ties?" 34:25 Well, I have a mentor who was my pastor when I was growing up 34:30 by the name of Pastor Bruce Price. 34:32 Some of you may know him, and he had a saying... 34:35 He said, "If your going to a dog fight, 34:37 dress like you're going to a dog fight." 34:39 When we come to church on Sabbath, we come here 34:42 because we're here to worship God. 34:45 We understand from the Bible, that the Sabbath is a rest day. 34:49 We know from Bible prophecy that it is a test day, 34:52 and it's also the best day, it's the blessed day. 34:55 And I believe when we come to church to worship 34:58 Jesus, to worship God on the 7th day Sabbath, 35:01 that we should dress as though we are coming to worship God. 35:04 We shouldn't try to... it's not about showing off 35:07 to anybody else, it's not about getting attention. 35:11 We're here to have an audience with a Holy God, 35:14 and some of you may remember, we looked at the 35:17 story of Moses when he was at the burning bush, 35:19 and God said, "Take off your shoes because the ground 35:22 where you're standing is holy ground. 35:24 Not because the dirt was holy, but it's because 35:26 he was in God's presence. 35:27 And the lesson we can take from that and apply to 35:30 when we're coming to church, is when we come to church 35:33 we should assume a posture of reverence before a holy God, 35:36 and I think that touches dress. 35:38 I think how we dress says where our heart is. 35:41 And so it's a matter of the heart. 35:45 I was talking behind the stage here and Pastor John... 35:48 You mentioned something about a courtroom... could you, 35:51 because I've never been in a courtroom, but he can tell us. 35:54 In America, whenever you go to court to appear 35:57 before the judge, as you are entering the courtroom 36:00 on the wall, there is a particular plaque 36:02 that tells you how you cannot appear in court. 36:06 No spaghetti strings, no low and tight clothing, 36:09 no sandals, no slippers. 36:11 If you have tattoos, make sure they're covered. 36:13 And do not come in fully covered with jewelry. 36:16 He wants you to come in as modest as you possibly can. 36:19 That's before an earthly judge! 36:23 How can we come before a heavenly Judge 36:26 and think it doesn't matter? 36:27 You know the text... go ahead and read that one in 36:33 Genesis 35:1-4... when Jacob was calling his family 36:39 to sanctification and God called them to go back to Bethel 36:42 to be sanctified, he said to them in Genesis 35:2, 36:51 "And Jacob said to his household and to all who 36:53 were with him, "Put away the foreign gods which are 36:57 among you; purify yourselves and change your garments." 37:01 And notice what they did in verse 4... 37:03 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in 37:06 their hands and all the earrings which were in their ears, 37:09 and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree 37:12 which was by Shechem. 37:14 So Jacob knew that if they were going to go to 37:16 Bethel to be sanctified, they couldn't go the way 37:19 that they appeared before. 37:21 They must change to appear before a holy God, 37:25 the way that He ordained for them to be. Amen! 37:26 I just want to add two very quick points... 37:29 I was blessed to be able to grow up in a family 37:31 where I knew about Sabbath from a very early age, 37:34 and the Sabbath was made special! 37:35 We had special Sabbath clothes, and we would lay 37:39 those clothes out on Friday, the day of preparation 37:41 because we were so excited and looking forward to the Sabbath. 37:44 So make Sabbath special when you dress as well. 37:47 Lastly, a verse from Scripture, it's 1 Corinthians 10:31... 37:51 The Bible says, "Therefore whether you eat or drink, 37:54 or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Amen, Amen! 38:00 Yes? I'm sorry, one more point 38:02 on this... sorry, sorry. 38:04 Eleven minutes and counting. Yes, yes... 38:07 Exodus 32- you don't have to go there, 38:10 but when they had calf worship... 38:12 I want you to hear what I'm saying... 38:14 When they were doing calf worship, the people ended up 38:18 worshipping naked... Are you hearing what I'm saying? 38:23 When the people were worshipping the wrong way, 38:26 their dress reflected who they were worshipping. 38:31 When, in Genesis, Adam and Eve when she bit the fruit, 38:37 what was the question? 38:39 "Who told you you were naked?" 38:41 Your relationship of God will cover you. 38:49 All right, I heard a few Ooo's and Ahh's and praise the Lord. 38:52 I gather it this way, very simply... 38:54 If we had to meet Queen Elizabeth, 38:56 mortal Queen Elizabeth, we'd put on some pretty good gear. 39:01 We're meeting with the King, the Eternal King. 39:05 Next question... in 10 minutes and 21 seconds, 39:11 but that's not 10 minutes for one question. 39:13 How do we practically implement the model in Acts 39:19 to bring about the unity that was seen 39:22 so evident in the early church? 39:23 Well, for starters, I guess one of the issues in churches today 39:32 is to realize that the shepherd does not give birth to sheep. 39:41 It's the sheep that do that. 39:45 So, I hope you get the point I'm making. 39:52 I'm just thinking that this is not a question of church board 40:00 to organize this to happen. 40:03 Each one of us as an individual could kick start this happening. 40:09 I'm just going to read with you from Acts 2... 40:12 From verse 42: "And they continued steadfastly 40:17 in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking 40:23 of bread. I'll read that again. .. and in prayer. 40:27 Let me read that again... "And they continued steadfastly 40:29 in the apostles doctrine, and fellowship, 40:32 and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." 40:34 And if you continue reading, they went from house to house. 40:37 This was happening in the homes. 40:40 So if people, as individuals, started doing this, 40:46 two families doing this, embodying the Acts plan, 40:53 then invite their neighbor, invite their friends... 40:56 Before they know it, there are 20 implementing 41:01 the plan in the book of Acts. 41:05 They have grown, they split, now we've got two groups. 41:10 Those two groups grow. 41:13 This is how the early Christian church grew. 41:15 Verse 47: "Praising God and having favor with 41:18 all the people." Not in a church board meeting, 41:21 not the pastor announcing from the pulpit... 41:24 "And the Lord added to the church daily." 41:27 So this is not a program, this is a Christian thing. 41:34 So to answer the question directly, there are 4 steps. 41:36 #1- Verse 42, They continued steadfastly, pastor thank you 41:41 for the sermon... in the apostles' doctrine... #1 41:45 #2- Fellowship - I'm not talking about what we do 41:50 at the door of the church after the sermon. 41:53 There is genuine love for one another during the week. 41:57 #3- Breaking of bread. 42:00 #4- Prayer... there is no substitute to that. 42:04 That's how it happened in the Bible. Amen indeed! 42:09 And so few turned the world upside-down without all the 42:13 mod cons and the gadgets that our Pastor Lomacang likes, 42:16 they turned the world upside-down. 42:18 May I just make an appeal after this and say, 42:21 Hey folks, small group ministry is so vitally important, 42:26 and I know in this particular church, we have about 8 of them. 42:30 And in listening to just really them replicating 42:36 what is being read, it's just a pleasure. 42:38 You can just see that what is being said is being experienced. 42:43 So being a church and coming on Sabbath, yes, 42:47 but being a church during the week and getting together 42:52 with fellow believers and inviting others who are not, 42:56 and just sharing with them is the way to go... 42:59 very, very simple, so fantastic. 43:03 We're running out of time, listen, we need to give 43:05 Marcha a turn as well, don't you think? Yeah, 43:07 don't you think? She's sitting her quiet. 43:11 Sister, how do you know if the Holy Spirit is actively 43:16 working in one's life? Will I feel His presence? 43:21 Yeah, that's a great question. 43:24 As a Pentecostal Christian, before I became an Adventist, 43:28 it was very much based on how I felt that determined 43:31 whether or not I thought that I was in the Spirit or not. 43:33 And so I went from feeling to feeling, to feeling and became 43:37 an absolute emotional wreck thinking that I was in 43:40 God's presence and then I wasn't. 43:41 It depended upon my mood swings, and it's really not 43:45 the way to go because in Jeremiah 17, it talks about 43:48 the heart being deceitful above all things - who can know it? 43:52 You know, who can know our emotional layer 43:54 and our state and how that works from day-to-day. 43:57 But I think the concern behind that question is whether or not 44:02 this person who asked it, has the Holy Spirit working 44:06 in their lives because they see inconsistencies in their life. 44:10 And the short answer to that question... 44:13 How do you know if the Holy Spirit is actively working 44:16 in your life? is found in Galatians 5:22, 44:21 where it says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 44:25 peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 44:29 and in verse 23, it says, meekness, temperance 44:32 against such there is no law." 44:35 So you can see through the way the Holy Spirit 44:38 manifests Himself in our lives, whether or not He really 44:42 is working in there and you are probably thinking right now... 44:45 "Oh man, this does not add up to me at all." 44:52 And it's true we look at that, and we think how on earth 44:55 are we going to be all those things - loving, joyful, 44:57 peaceful, longsuffering, gentle. 44:59 Right there, I've just lost on all 4 points. 45:03 Am I now in the spirit, but there's a very important 45:07 thing that we need to understand. 45:08 In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, "Behold I knock on the door." 45:15 If any man hears my voice and opens that door... 45:18 He's talking about the heart. 45:19 "I will come in and sup with him." 45:22 In John 14:17 and John 15:26, it goes on to define 45:30 absolutely who it is that comes into our heart. 45:33 Who it is that comes into our personal place, 45:38 our place of emotional need, and that is the Holy Spirit 45:43 because it is the Holy Spirit that dwells in our heart. 45:46 But in John 14:17, "He is called the Spirit of truth. 45:51 And in John 8:32, Jesus says that "You shall know the truth 45:56 and the truth shall set you free." 45:58 Set me free from what? 46:00 Well, as a doctor, when you look at the heart, 46:02 it has 4 chambers, right? 46:04 Blood comes into 2 of the chambers, 46:07 pumps into the lungs, goes back into the heart, 46:09 and then pumps out to the rest of the body 46:11 to provide oxygen and nutrients and take away our waste. 46:16 But I do believe that we have a heart that has 46:19 that has many chambers. 46:21 The heart has many... there are many areas 46:25 of our lives that have chambers that are actually 46:27 closed to Jesus, but others that are open to Him. 46:30 So when He comes and knocks on that door, 46:32 and He walks in, very often what happens is He 46:36 resides in the corridor, but there are places in our 46:39 lives, chambers in our hearts that are still closed to Him. 46:44 And so in some areas of our lives, we are joyful, 46:48 and we are peaceful, and we are gentle, 46:51 and we have self control, you know, 46:53 but in other areas, where those doors are shut, 46:57 and they're shut because of some wound that 47:00 you've received, in that door, that pain 47:04 behind that door, He doesn't have access 47:07 because you don't trust Him to open that door yet. 47:10 And so the work of the Holy Spirit is progressive. 47:13 It is not an overnight thing, you don't suddenly receive 47:16 all the fruits of the Spirit 47:17 overnight... Ah ha, now I am in the Spirit. 47:20 And then, you know, one day you are happy in church, 47:23 "happy Sabbath, you are joyful and peaceful and you see 47:25 Brother A over here - who reminds you of the pain 47:28 behind one of your locked doors, and suddenly you just want to 47:30 beat him up and you think, "Oh man, I'm now 47:33 out of the Spirit - like I'm totally not in the Spirit." 47:36 It's not like that, Jesus works progressively 47:40 from door-to-door-to door in our heart. 47:43 And He works with the truth. 47:45 Now to give you a practical example of that in closing 47:48 my thought... In my own personal life, 47:52 one of the things that happened to me when I became a doctor, 47:55 I had to do a lot of after hours and I had this cardiac page. 47:58 Now every doctor that has that cardiac page, 48:02 you know when that page goes off and they know that someone 48:05 is having a heart attack, sometimes they feel like 48:07 they are having a heart attack because of the anxiety 48:11 that suddenly comes upon you knowing that you have to go 48:14 and deal with this crisis. 48:15 But for me, the anxiety which wasn't just probably 48:20 this level, my anxiety was woo up there to such an extent 48:24 that I was paralyzed and waiting for other people on my team 48:27 to go to that person and deal with the issue before I 48:30 even got there. 48:31 And I prayed, I said, "Lord, what is this? 48:34 I am not displaying the fruit of the Spirit which is peace, 48:38 and I need peace in my heart to be able to go and tend 48:41 to the needs of the people that I'm serving here 48:43 in this hospital... Can you please look behind 48:48 my behavior to deal with what's behind that." 48:52 And so - fast forward 1 year, I'm sitting down having 48:55 my anniversary dinner with my husband and I'm sitting there 48:58 having dinner, 7 sparrows flew into the glass wall that was 49:04 separating us from the outside world - they flew in and they 49:07 slammed right into this wall, fell on the other side 49:11 of this glass and some of them were dead and some of them 49:13 were seizing and some managed to fly away. 49:16 As I looked upon this with helplessness, 49:19 because I was on the wrong side of that glass pane, 49:21 I could not help them... 49:22 As I looked upon this with helplessness, 49:25 I began to weep and I mean weep so bad that my 49:29 poor hubby was saying, "Oh man, I better get her out 49:31 of this room real quick." 49:33 And so I went home and asked God about that... 49:36 He brought a memory to me concerning this and He 49:40 said, "Marcha, at the age of 8, you stood helpless watching 49:44 this elderly man fall over and you could not him because 49:47 you were age 8," and the pain of that I had 49:50 locked behind that door, walking around now as a 49:53 40-year-old with anxiety over everything that reminded me 49:56 me about that pain. 49:58 And so this is the kind of work the Holy Spirit has to do. 50:00 It is progressive... it is progressive. 50:03 Thank you for that answer. 50:04 Look, we've saved the best to last, who would like to come 50:06 back for a second session and hear some more? 50:08 We need to close right now, so please, thank you very much. 50:12 And the reason that we're spending time on this 50:14 is for your sakes as much as ours... Thank you |
Revised 2015-08-12