Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000057S
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00:20 Hello friends. Welcome to another Wednesday night Bible 00:23 study here in Thompsonville, Illinois. You know, we say 00:26 Thompsonville, we say West Frankfort. Well if you ever 00:29 visited 3ABN there's just one thin line apart in two different 00:33 little towns. But this is the 3ABN Worship Center and we thank 00:36 you for tuning in tonight to continue with our with us in our 00:39 study: How to Live a Spiritual Life in a Natural Body and we're 00:43 going to be transitioning into a new series and it is entitled 00:47 How to Know the Truth About the Truth. You probably tilted your 00:52 head to the side like a puppy, huh? What did he mean by that? 00:56 But you'll find out when we get there. But tonight if you'd like 00:58 to follow along with our lesson go to this website ASF.3ABN.ORG. 01:05 and download Lesson Number 17 as well as Lesson Number 18. 01:12 Now our attempt will be to finish Lesson 17 and transition 01:15 to Lesson 18. But in the event that we don't you'll be ahead of 01:19 us and that is you'll be able to study out Lesson Number 18 01:22 and be prepared for the next broadcast. But invite your 01:25 friends and family members to sit down with us for a 01:28 thoughtful hour as we walk through our Bibles together. 01:31 Can we say amen to that? No better thing to do than to spend 01:35 time in the word of God. We'd like to thank you for tuning in 01:37 from around the world to make this broadcast as special as we 01:41 believe it is from the word of God led by His Holy Spirit. 01:45 For tonight let's bow our heads and invite God's presence to be 01:48 with us. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness, for 01:52 your mercy and always for your grace for we discover that your 01:58 grace truly is sufficient for us and we also know Lord that in 02:02 our weakness your strength is truly made perfect. Tonight 02:07 Father as we open your word we pray that you'll open our hearts 02:10 and our minds and unite us around the world together in the 02:13 study of your word and may your Holy Spirit, who promises to 02:18 lead and guide us into all truth prepare us for the reception of 02:22 truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well you know we like 02:27 to sing our theme song and you'd like to join us if you can 02:31 Now you know our theme song is Victory in Jesus. The words will 02:36 be on our screen and they will be on yours. I know that many of 02:38 you have joined us as the song so let's sing our song tonight 02:42 Victory in Jesus. ♪ ♪ 02:52 ♪I heard an old, old story how the Savior came from glory♪ 02:59 ♪How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me♪ 03:06 ♪I heard about His groaning how the precious blood's atoning 03:13 ♪And I repented of my sin and won the victory♪ 03:22 ♪O Victory in Jesus my Savior forever♪ 03:29 ♪He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood♪ 03:37 ♪He loved me e'er I knew Him and all my love is due Him♪ 03:45 ♪He plunged me to victory Beneath the cleansing flood♪ 03:52 ♪I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory♪ 03:59 ♪And I heard about the streets of gold♪ 04:04 ♪Beyond the crystal sea♪ 04:07 ♪About the angels singing and the old redemption story♪ 04:14 ♪And some sweet day I'll sing up there♪ 04:19 ♪A song of Victory♪ 04:22 ♪O victory in Jesus my Savior forever♪ 04:30 ♪He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood♪ 04:38 ♪He loved me e'er I knew Him and all my love is due Him♪ 04:45 ♪He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood♪ 05:04 Amen? We are about to get a flood here in Southern Illinois. 05:08 We've been getting a lot of rain and I don't know if it was like 05:12 this in the days of Noah because they had never had rain before 05:16 but at the site of clouds, those who live in places like Oklahoma 05:22 and Texas and Kentucky and Tennessee and Illinois, we kind 05:26 of hunker down because we know that it could bring with it a 05:28 lot of other things. And even forecasted possibility of hail, 05:33 strong winds. But the only wind we're waiting for tonight is the 05:37 wind of God's Holy Spirit, Amen? We are here, though not 05:41 many in number, we're glad that you are making up the difference 05:44 as we join together around the world. We have been studying the 05:48 topic How to Become a Christian. That may seem strange because 05:52 those of us who are studying are "Christians." At least in our 05:57 labels we are. But there's a lot more that pertains to being a 06:03 Christian than just having the label whether the denomination 06:07 is a small on or a large one, the most confused place in the 06:11 world today is among Christians. That's why I'm beginning a new 06:17 series on the heels of this one called How to Know the Truth 06:21 About the Truth. Because when I study different religions, I 06:26 don't spend a ton of time with that but sometimes you think of 06:30 and I want to be kind but I think about the 1.2 billion 06:34 Catholics and I think for the most part they all believe the 06:37 same thing. That is you have a charismatic Catholic and you 06:42 have other branches, but for the most part the 1.2 billion 06:47 members of the Catholic church, whether infants or adults tend 06:50 to be under one creed, one banner, and one set of beliefs 06:55 found in the Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine. But then 06:59 when you mention the word Christian, people say what 07:03 flavor, what brand or what denomination. Because the word 07:08 Christian doesn't mean what it did in the Bible. The word 07:11 Christian in the Bible meant there was one Lord, one faith, 07:13 one baptism, one God, one Father of all, one set of beliefs that 07:17 was unifying all Christians together. It was just Jews and 07:21 Gentiles. There was just error and truth. There was falsehood 07:28 and there was light. There was no massive diversity and in the 07:32 context of Christianity nowadays people say well I'm Christian 07:36 and to me that really doesn't mean anything. Because 07:39 Christianity is a lot larger than just having a label and 07:44 that's why the next series is going to really put a great 07:46 highlight on the importance of knowing the truth about the 07:51 truth. Now people may say okay sounds like a redundant 07:56 statement to know the truth about the truth. But let me just 07:59 go ahead and give you a preview so that you can prepare yourself 08:01 and tonight we'll see it also fit into this topic on how to 08:05 become a Christian or what it means to be a Christian. I 08:09 mentioned to you the word Christian. What is a Christian? 08:11 Somebody tell me. Let's say this together: What is a Christian? 08:13 A follower of Christ. That's an easy definition, the most 08:19 appropriate definition, the true definition, a Christian is a 08:22 follower of Christ. Jesus mentioned in Matthew 7 that the 08:27 way that leads to eternal life is a narrow path and few there 08:31 be that find it. But He also in that very same context, I 08:35 thought it was not unusual but how appropriate in the passage 08:39 where you mention you'll know them by their fruits, He 08:43 mentioned the road to eternal life is narrow and He also said 08:46 not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the 08:48 kingdom of heaven, only those who do the will of my Father 08:52 which is in heaven. So what he in essence is saying is there's 08:55 a lot more to being a Christian than just saying you're a 08:58 Christian but he wants those who are willing to do the will of 09:01 His Father in heaven. Then when Jesus came, He says, I came unto 09:07 my own and my own did not receive me. And we'll find 09:13 out... I don't want to jump ahead. I'm just kind of holding 09:15 the brakes because it's just flowing over. I don't want to 09:18 go to the book that I have put in the new lesson, but you'll 09:22 discover that how to become a Christian brings with it 09:25 tremendous benefit. So our topic tonight although our 09:30 theme is how to live a spiritual life in a natural body 09:32 our topic is... 09:36 And we left off on Question Number 12 so that means tonight 09:39 we're going to go ahead and begin with Question Number 13. 09:45 Setting the stage. And this question is as follows. It's on 09:49 out screen and you'll see it also on your screen. The 09:53 question is... 10:04 And we're going to go to the book of John. What book did I 10:07 say? John, my book. John 17 and we're going to look 10:12 together at verse 3. You know John is a powerful book in that 10:18 there's John, there's 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, then there's 10:23 Revelation. And a lot of people look at the book of John as the 10:28 book from the one that was most beloved by Christ. He was the 10:32 youngest of the disciples yet he was one of the sons of 10:35 thunder, meaning he was loud. But he learned how to tone it 10:39 down and allow Jesus to... I'm not referring to anybody in my 10:43 presence here. We have a brother It's okay to be loud for Jesus. 10:49 Isn't that right, as long as you're thundering the gospel, 10:52 but he learned to love Jesus, he learned to communicate with 10:57 tones of love. He was the one that was the last disciple to 11:00 die and he died of natural causes, because God, as Pastor 11:05 Doug Batchelor says, until God is finished with you, you are 11:09 immortal, that is nobody can do anything to take your life until 11:14 God is done with you. That's the immortal sense, not that you 11:16 have immortality. But then if anything happens to you, you 11:20 have the gift of immortality which we'll all put on when 11:24 Jesus comes. But let's look at what the major change will be 11:27 after we become Christians. John 17:3- And the answer is verse 3 11:34 John 17:3... Thankfully you all have your lessons and your Bible 11:38 Let's read the first one together, and it reads as 11:41 follows... 11:54 Now this verse brings into view two persons of the Godhead, the 11:59 Father and the Son. So when the Bible says, and this is life 12:03 eternal that they may know you, the only true God AND Jesus 12:09 Christ whom you have sent, it's hard for anybody to think of 12:15 Jesus or God in three manifestations. You know there 12:18 is this belief that God manifests Himself in different 12:23 ways or God metamorphosed from God the Father, then he 12:25 metamorphosed like the butterfly into God the Son and then he 12:29 left His shell like an aphid and left behind the Holy Spirit. 12:33 Those who believe in three manifestations of God rather 12:37 than the persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy 12:41 Spirit. So what this text is in essence saying to us and I'll 12:43 go ahead and show you the answer you can write it down, the 12:47 answer is... 12:52 And you have that personal relationship with God through 12:54 whom? Somebody tell me. Through whom? Through Jesus. Because 13:00 you're no longer coming straight to God, but as Jesus says no one 13:04 comes to the Father except through me. Go with me to the 13:08 book of John, chapter 10. You're putting the answer down, you 13:11 have a personal relationship with God. In other words, the 13:17 door is open now for us to have access to the Father. There's 13:21 only one way to the Father and that's through the Son, Christ 13:25 Jesus. That's not a very popular statement nowadays because 13:30 people think there are many different ways. But there's only 13:33 one way to the Father. Okay John 10 and I want to look at 13:46 verse 1. I'm not going to read too many of them but I'll select 13:50 the verses that are most appropriate to the point I'm 13:52 trying to make. Because Jesus is the way, Jesus is the one that 13:55 connects us to the Father. John 10. I'm going to read it 13:58 from the New King James Version but the translation is really 14:01 not that important. It says: Most assuredly I say to you 14:05 he who does not enter the sheep fold by the door but climbs up 14:10 some other way the same is a thief and a robber, but he who 14:17 enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him 14:22 the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he 14:27 calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. You should 14:32 rejoice when you read that text because Revelation 18 talks 14:34 about another call come out, Come out of her my people. The 14:38 only way that He can lead them out is by them hearing His voice 14:42 That's so instrumental in the topic that's coming up. And He 14:45 goes and says in verse 4 and when he brings out His own sheep 14:53 He goes before them and the sheep follow Him for they know 14:58 His voice. They not only know Him but they even know His voice 15:01 Those of you who get phone calls sometimes you get a phone call 15:05 and it may be somebody you haven't heard from in a long 15:07 time but the moment you hear their voice you say, Naw, tell 15:13 me this is not Jeffrey. Yep, this is Jeffrey because you 15:17 sound a little older but I can never forget that voice. Have 15:19 you ever had that experience before? Sometimes you talk to 15:22 people that you haven't heard from in a long time and you say 15:25 I can't believe this is who I think it is. Is this, and you 15:29 mention their name. And how do you know them, how do you know 15:30 them over the phone, by their voice, unless you have one of 15:35 those new phones that has video. But for the most part and the 15:39 very same thing happened with Mary when she waited in the 15:42 garden on the resurrection morning. She thought that Jesus 15:44 was the gardener until He said her name and the she thought 15:49 wait a minute, is this who I think it is. She identified 15:53 Jesus by His voice. Very important point I'm making here. 15:55 You see, a lot of people think that the voice of God is audible 15:59 but the voice of God is also written. Amen? God spoke these 16:05 words. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy 16:12 Spirit. So these words were spoken, these words were written 16:18 but they came forth from the Father, they came forth from 16:21 Christ, they came forth through the work of the Holy Spirit. 16:25 These words are not born in the mind and lives of men. It was 16:29 communicated through their experiences but these are the 16:32 words of God. And we'll find that in just a moment. But let 16:37 me go and finish this, I want to end the point here. Let's go 16:41 down to verse 7 of John chapter 10. Jesus said to them, Most 16:47 assuredly I say to you, what's those four words? I am the door. 16:53 I am the door of the sheep and whoever came before me are 17:02 thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them. I am 17:06 the door. If anyone enters by me he will be saved and will 17:13 go in and out and find rest. So we see right away this personal 17:18 relationship that we have with the Lord is very important 17:21 because if you have this personal relationship you're not 17:24 just in a relationship with Him by name. There's some people... 17:27 people who are called name callers. You ever know 17:31 people like that? When you mention...Yeah, Yeah I know Him. 17:34 What's his nick name? I do that. And somebody did that once and 17:39 I'll show you about a personal relationship. Not that we want 17:42 to minimize Jesus in any way, but usually if you say to 17:45 somebody Oh I know and you mention the person's name. 17:50 I want to be vague so I don't really bring out... Okay, let me 17:54 use myself as an example. I know that this is going to happen. 17:59 When I go all over the world people are going to start 18:00 calling me this. If anybody ever calls me Junior they have to 18:07 know me from way back when I was a little boy. They have to know 18:11 me from Madison Street in Brooklyn. Now I can even go 18:14 further. If anyone calls me Jun-Jun, they had to know me 18:18 when I was a little boy, a tiny tyke, because that was what my 18:21 sister called me before she was able to say John. She would say 18:26 Jun-Jun. And I discovered that was not an accident but it's 18:32 traditional in some Philippino families, the name Jun-Jun is 18:35 very common. So Jun-Jun when I was a little boy, Junior growing 18:39 up but John as an adult. I remember somebody one day, my 18:43 sister was with us and somebody 18:46 said as they saw me as a pastor and 18:49 they said Junior. She said, He's a pastor now you need to call 18:51 him John. Call him John. He's not Junior anymore, he's grown 18:56 up. He's a pastor now, you need to call him John. There's some 19:00 connection to that. Jesus had such a personal relationship 19:04 with His disciples that he said, Let's kind of get off this 19:10 Master thing. Let's call each other friends. See? They 19:15 referred to Him as Friend. And there are those, my good friend 19:19 Pastor Dwight Nelson always speaks about the forever Friend, 19:23 Jesus our forever Friend, a friendship with Jesus. So that's 19:28 where that personal relationship comes in. You know, why is this 19:30 important? If you have a personal relationship with Christ you are 19:33 never in the dark, because friends stay in touch. The best 19:38 way to stay in touch with Jesus is through prayer, through the 19:43 reading of His word, and through the listening to hear 19:46 Him speak to us. When I read the Bible, I study the Bible. You'll 19:50 find many references to after people have prayed, they waited 19:54 to hear from the Lord. They waited for the Spirit of God to 19:58 guide them and lead them and impress them strongly on what 20:01 they have studied in the word of God. So having a personal 20:04 relationship with God is extremely important. That's 20:07 Number 13. Now Number 14. Let's go to that one. Number 14... 20:19 Let's go to Titus 1:16. Okay. This Christian label. I mean 20:29 I've met people that nowadays actually sometimes we talk about 20:34 a flavor. What flavor are you. Ah, Christianity nowadays has 20:39 been reduced down to a brand of cereal. But the challenge that's 20:45 going to come out of the next topic we talk about. The problem 20:48 that is people minimize their beliefs and they maximize the 20:56 word Jesus. Now let me take a minute on that. They minimize 21:02 what they believe, but they maximize the fact that well we 21:07 all have the same God. You've heard them say that, you've 21:10 heard people say that. But Jesus taps them on the shoulder and 21:13 says Ah wait a minute. Are you talking about Jesus? We all have 21:16 Jesus in common? Yeah you know we have Jesus in common. Well 21:21 aren't we all called by His name You see where I'm headed? 21:24 In Isaiah 4:1 says, wait a minute, but you have your own 21:29 Jesus, you have your own bread. You have your own doctrines. 21:33 They're not connected. You have your own apparel, your own 21:36 method of righteousness. But all you really want from me is my 21:39 name. That's not enough. That's why when we go to the series on 21:42 How to Know the Truth About the Truth, it's going to open your 21:46 mind to see it's not just important to emphasize the fact 21:51 that ah we all, it doesn't really matter what we believe 21:53 we know we all love Jesus. James completely obliterated that 22:01 ideology that all you have to do is believe because he said even 22:05 the devils believe and what do they do? They are more convinced 22:09 that there's a God than many of us are. They're so convinced 22:12 that He exists that they're warring against Him every day. 22:15 And some of us are so convinced that He exists that we don't 22:19 even call on Him every day. So let's see. Why is it 22:23 important to have more than a Christian label? Titus 1:16 look 22:27 at what it says. It says... 22:43 Isn't that amazing. That's a powerful passage. They profess 22:46 to know God. Somebody once was on the radio on I forgot what 22:50 channel it was but I was driving in the car and whatever the talk 22:53 show host was, whoever the talk show host was, they 22:55 were talking about people that say they know Michael Jordan. 23:00 And he said Ah well what's that really mean? 23:05 He said okay when you first meet him you 23:08 don't call him Mike because you're not on that basis with 23:10 him. You say Mr. Jordan or Mr. Michael Jordan. You address him 23:16 at the point of respect. And then if you go further, you 23:20 could say, if he lets you in the circle, you could say 23:22 Mike. Then if you go even further, he said you can call 23:25 him Boo. Whatever nickname he has. People are like that. Each 23:30 of us are known in our family circles with different names. 23:33 So if somebody professed to know somebody, you say, if you know 23:38 him that well, okay, could you get us into this event, could 23:41 you get us into this gala event. Could you get us into this party 23:44 Well I don't know him on that level. See so the Lord is saying 23:48 in this verse people profess to know God but if you look at 23:52 their actions their actions don't connect to somebody that 23:56 claims to have that kind of connection with God. So here is 24:00 why it's important to have more than a label. The answer: Our 24:03 works must match our profession. Our works must match our 24:12 profession. The answer to number 14. So the works which is how we 24:18 live our lives, must be in harmony with what we profess to 24:22 believe or who we profess to be. Isn't that right? Okay, let's 24:26 go on. Let's try to get as much as we can in tonight and 24:29 hopefully transition to the next one. I'm just so excited about 24:32 it. I don't want it to be next year before I get to that one. 24:35 You know how that goes. Okay Number 15... 24:50 A lot of people are Christians but not really. Okay. Now let me 24:55 get down the nitty gritty. We're taking our shoes off, 24:57 we're taking our socks off, we're walking on ground. You 25:00 can't tell if the ground is hot or cold if you have on shoes and 25:04 socks. But if you take your socks off and your shoes off you 25:08 are where the foot meets the road. This text or this question 25:15 brings the foot in touch with the road. In other words, it 25:17 brings the label Christian in touch with whether or not 25:21 you're really walking the Christian life. Question again. 25:25 What must we include in our lives after becoming Christians? 25:28 John 9:4 Turn there with me. John 9:4. There's something that 25:38 must be in our lives after we become Christians. I remember 25:42 when I joined the baseball team in high school some years ago 25:45 I was so skinny in high school. They gave me a baseball uniform 25:48 I was trying to small one but they gave me a baseball uniform 25:51 that was so oversized that I had to sew up the inseams just so 25:56 I didn't look like I had on pajamas. Now follow what I'm 26:01 saying. Once you join the team you got the equipment, you got 26:04 the uniform, you got the emblem, you got your number, you were 26:08 assigned to a particular position to fill and then you 26:13 were included in the game. You follow me? So if you were on the 26:19 baseball team what a lot of our guys excuse me hey let me see 26:23 your cleats what kind of cleats did you get, let me see your 26:26 uniform, let me see your glove. 26:29 for evidences that you are connected to the team. So if I 26:33 said I'm on the team they'd say well where's your uniform. I 26:35 don't have a uniform. Well then you're not on the team. What 26:38 position are you playing. Well I haven't got a position yet. Then 26:41 you're not on the team. Anybody on any team has been assigned a 26:46 position. If you don't have a position then you're not on the 26:49 team. Right? Then you also have practices. When is your 26:53 basketball practice. I don't even know. Aren't you on the 26:56 team? Yeah but everybody else has a schedule. How come you 26:59 didn't get a schedule? Well I am on the team but I didn't get a 27:02 schedule. Now everybody got their schedule so you're not on 27:06 the team. We used to say in the city, you're fronting. 27:08 That means you're not telling the truth. 27:10 Well let me say something here. 27:13 This is a very powerful point. To say that we are Christians, 27:19 there's something that we must include in our lives after 27:21 becoming Christians or else by not including this we are saying 27:26 we are not on the team. You've got to play if you're on the 27:34 team and if you're on the team you can get on the field. And 27:38 those who are not on the field are not getting any championship 27:42 trophies, they're not getting any paycheck when the 27:44 championship happens. They're not getting any remuneration of 27:47 any kind because they're just sitting in the stands. I think 27:50 I've laid enough foundation. Here's the answer in John 9:4. 27:55 Here's the answer. John 9:4 Let's read this together... 28:15 Okay. Perfect timing for this one because the basketball 28:19 season just ended. So if anybody says to me they're going 28:23 to an NBA basketball game I'm going to say you need to go back 28:27 to bed and wake up again because there are no NBA 28:29 basketball games. There are none till way down in the later part 28:35 of September. If anybody says I got tickets to a basketball game 28:38 you want to go with me, I'd say which basketball game. There 28:42 are no games happening until later on in the year. Here's my 28:47 point. There's a work that God has chosen every one of us to be 28:50 involved in if we are Christians Notice the second word in this 28:57 statement. What's your second word? Somebody tell me. It 28:59 doesn't say you should, it doesn't say you should think 29:03 about it. What does it say? Say it with some gusto. What does 29:06 it say? Must. You must work the works of Him who sent me while 29:13 it is day. Anybody that says they are Christians and not 29:17 involved in working for God is not a Christian. Can I say that 29:22 with authority? You cannot be a Christian and not be working for 29:27 the person that has hired you. He didn't hire you to listen to 29:32 sermons. He didn't hire you to parts of socials or just to be 29:37 involved in sitting down. One writer said if there's a mist 29:44 in the pulpit, there's a fog in the pews. You know. The frozen 29:51 chosen. The inactive active. There's no such thing. The 29:55 Christian world is the only place where you can do nothing 29:58 and expect to go to heaven. Isn't that terrible. Go with me 30:02 to Revelation 22. I don't want to start preaching but I just 30:08 might. Look at Revelation 22. Very powerful verse. You've got 30:11 to realize God hasn't chosen us how to become a Christian. I'm 30:15 a Christian. What are you doing for the kingdom of God. Nothing. 30:17 I'm just waiting for Him to come I'm at the bus stop. I'm waiting 30:20 for the train to come. I'm waiting for the clouds to part. 30:22 That's why people that are inactive... This is an amazing 30:26 thing. People that are often inactive doing nothing, they 30:29 get tired of waiting. So those are the people that say I can't 30:31 wait till Jesus comes. Well that's all you been doing is 30:36 waiting. Haven't been doing anything. And then you ask 30:40 people to do stuff, ah I don't know. You do that same thing at 30:46 work. The boss asks you to do something. I don't know. You 30:50 don't know?! I've hired you, I'm paying you. You're going to tell 30:55 me you don't know?! Well look at the word, Revelation 22 and 31:02 we're going to look at verse 12. Verse 12 completely... I've 31:08 adopted this word tonight; completely obliterates the idea 31:12 that Christians should be inactive. Look at what Jesus 31:16 said: And behold I am coming quickly and my reward is with 31:24 me to give to everyone according as his works shall be 31:30 in the King James Version. You're going to get a reward 31:32 according to your works. In other words, no works, no reward 31:40 It's like you don't go to work and on Friday you show up and 31:44 stand in line. I used to remember those pictures of 31:47 construction sites. You know a construction is a strange thing. 31:49 There's no really established office, but on Friday all the 31:53 guys take their hard hats off and they're all standing in line 31:55 in front of the foreman's shelter. You know how that is? 31:57 They're all standing in line and somebody turns around and says 32:00 hey Mike I haven't seen you all week. Been sick. 32:03 So do you know what line this is? 32:05 The paycheck line yeah. So why are you standing in this 32:08 line? And you get to the front of the line and the foreman says 32:12 hey Mike good to see you. Why are you here? Well everybody 32:17 else got a check. Mike we pay people for the work they do. 32:23 This may sound like a revolutionary idea, but God 32:28 calls Christians to work, Amen? Somebody. Just tired of this 32:32 whole idea. I'm tired of this whole idea of Christians that 32:37 just don't want to do anything and they go well I'm a Christian 32:40 and they mention their denomination. Anyway. 32:44 John 14:12. My good buddy was on the battlefield for the Lord, 32:50 told me look at John 14:12. Look up John 14:12. That's right 32:55 A good one. See you could... He just been, anyway I don't 33:00 want to put him up higher but he's just been in the church for 33:04 more than a year and out there on the field working for the 33:05 Lord. That's why these texts are popping out at him. John 14:12: 33:09 Notice what it says. Jesus speaking to his disciples. He's 33:12 comforting them and telling them, I'm leaving now but 33:15 there's something you must do. 33:16 Verse 12. Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in 33:24 me, the work that I do, he will do also and greater works than 33:29 these he will do. Why? Because I go to my Father. In other 33:33 words the Lord is saying I'm getting out of the way. But you 33:35 know what you can do while I'm gone? You're going to do what 33:38 I've done and even more. In other words, I'm just one man 33:42 but there's 12 of you and after the day of Pentecost there's 33:46 going to be a whole lot more and you know the rest of the story, 33:49 3000, 5000 and the church clerk lost it and couldn't even keep 33:53 up with the numbers and just wrote down the word multitudes. 33:56 That's how God does it. Right? Just multitudes. But why did the 34:01 gospel get to the world then in only 34 years. You know why? 34:04 Because they believed so much in the coming of the Lord they got 34:08 together and worked in preparation for the coming of 34:12 the Lord. Even John as he was on the Isle of Patmos, he was so 34:15 diligent to finish his work, he wrote even so come Lord Jesus. 34:19 Because he knew he was busy working for the Lord. You got 34:23 me in prison but you can't stop me from writing the book of 34:26 Revelation. They worked in prison. Paul and Silas in prison 34:30 singing. They had a choir rehearsal at midnight. God broke 34:34 them out of jail and they baptized the jailer. I mean that 34:38 didn't even stop them. Somebody said Paul if you do this again 34:43 they're going to whip you. That's okay. I've been whipped 34:45 already. So he said I must press toward the mark for the prize 34:52 of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus. He pressed. 34:55 He didn't sit, he pressed. He had a goal. So many people who 35:00 become Christians and the evidence of a Christian... 35:02 Here's a point I want to bring up. We must involve ourselves 35:05 in working for the Lord. This ideology that we could be 35:09 Christians and just wait for Jesus to come, it's insipid, 35:11 it's like warm milk. Can you imagine drinking milk in a 35:17 container that's been left outside on a 100 degree day? 35:19 We don't drink milk as it is. Even if it's rice milk it tastes 35:24 bad. Oh you know, warm. Where's the milk? In the back of your 35:28 car. My wife, whenever we go to the airport we put extra bottles 35:31 of water in the car. Because you know how it is when you get home 35:34 you get thirsty like half way to the airport. So we put like four 35:37 bottles, drink two when we're going. We'll have two in the car 35:41 coming back, at least. So she said but while 35:44 the car's at the airport 35:45 it's going to get warm. I said Honey, we're coming back at 35:47 night. So it might be cooler. At least it will be room 35:51 temperature. Lord have mercy if you come back during the day in 35:55 the summer, because no one wants warm water when you're thirsty. 36:00 You see, Jesus had the very same position about Christians that 36:03 just don't do anything. He says, I can't drink you, I can't even 36:09 digest you're profession. The only thing I can do is spit you 36:11 out of my mouth because you're not hot. You've not doing 36:14 anything for me. You're not cold You're not even against me. 36:17 You're just taking up space and we've got all these Christians 36:22 taking up space and I'm just looking pretty waiting for Jesus 36:25 to come. This is a Bible study not a sermon, but I'm making the 36:33 points here that's what it's all about. Those of you who are 36:35 watching, get involved in your church's mission. Do not get 36:39 uninvolved thinking that somehow when God comes back He's going 36:42 say you know what, I'm going to let you pass. I'm going to 36:45 give you eternal life even though you did nothing. No 36:48 that's not why He calls us. Ephesians 2:10 For we are his 36:54 workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God 36:58 prepared beforehand that we should walk therein. He's got 37:03 all these positions, but He's looking for people to hire. What 37:05 did he say to Isaiah. He was talking about man there's so 37:08 many people, we've got so much to do. Who shall I send and 37:12 Isaiah said... What'd he say? Here I am Lord, send me. And 37:17 then Jesus Old Testament and New Testament he said to His 37:20 disciples I send you forth as lambs among wolves. He doesn't 37:24 call us to sit down, He calls us to stand up. He calls us, trains 37:29 us, sends us. Right? Number 16 and I'm having a sneaky feeling 37:33 we might not get to the next lesson tonight. Somehow this has 37:36 transitioned into an exciting study. Question Number 16. Here 37:40 it is... 37:51 How do we declare that? This is another one. I'm just really 37:55 swinging tonight. Not from a lamp but I'm swinging in the 38:00 Holy Spirit. You know that winnowing tool that God had in 38:04 His hand? Swept away all the tares, gathered in the wheat. 38:08 How do we know? Malachi 3:10 is where we're all turning. 38:12 Malachi 3:10 How do we declare to the church that we are 38:16 connected to Christ? This one has always baffled me and my 38:19 brother you know where I'm headed, right? so I'm not going 38:21 to get there yet. We're going to wait till we read the text, 38:23 then we're going to make reference, but here it is, 38:25 Malachi 3:10: This is called minimal Christianity. What's 38:30 the word that I used? Minimal. This is the minimal requirement 38:34 of a person who says they're connected to Christ. This is the 38:37 bare minimum. This is not the maximum. This is what you got to 38:41 do. This is what you must do as you're connected to Christ. Here 38:44 it is: Together... 39:07 I know that in the King James Version by heart. That there 39:09 shall not be room enough to receive it. A lot of people 39:12 think of tithing well okay, I'm going to go ahead and pay my 39:16 tithe. No, no, no, cut. You don't pay tithe, you return it. 39:22 Right? Because God owns everything. Somebody once said 39:28 Lord if you, then I will. How could you bargain with somebody 39:30 when you don't own anything to bargain with Him with. God if 39:35 you do this for me, I'll do that for you. It's like an ant saying 39:38 to a big 18-wheeler, if you do this for me I'll clean your 39:43 tires. I mean think about that. An ant, an ant compared to an 39:48 18-wheeler is not even a good comparison because we're smaller 39:51 than an ant when it comes to comparison to God. It's like an 39:56 ant trying to take an 18- wheeler on its back and say 39:59 well we need some more ants to do this. No matter how many ants 40:01 you get, you are not going to move an 18-wheeler. No matter 40:04 how many of us join together we cannot move God. But the 40:08 point of the matter is a lot of Christians nowadays have what's 40:12 called... Let me just put the answer on the board while I'm 40:13 emphasizing the important point. 40:22 You notice how this is different from all the other topics. We 40:25 talked about sanctification, justification, glorification. 40:28 We talked about pressing toward the goal. We talked about 40:29 studying our Bibles, all the facets of Christianity and the 40:33 important aspects to it, but this is now saying, okay now 40:37 let's get down to the brass tacks of it. You are a Christian 40:39 Do you support the church financially? Well, um. Whenever 40:45 I have money to. Well you know the reason why you may not 40:47 have money to is because that's not a part of your heart. The 40:50 Bible says where you treasure is there will your heart be also 40:54 You know God has a habit of multiplying what we give to Him. 40:59 If you give a little, He'll take it and multiply it and you'll 41:05 have much. Now let's go ahead and qualify that. God is not 41:10 going to say I am an investment project. But God promises, as 41:15 David the psalmist says, I was young, I am old and I have never 41:24 seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging for bread. 41:29 Paul, Philippians 2, I believe it's verse 12. He says, And my 41:35 God shall supply all of my need according to His riches in glory 41:42 through Christ Jesus. God's got a bank. We always worry 41:45 about the economy. I'm not worried about the economy, not 41:48 at all. You know my retirement may go up and down but then 41:51 the government hasn't been making a difference in my life 41:55 to this point. God is supplying all my needs. When Elijah was 41:59 out there running from Ahab and Jezebel God sent him air mail 42:02 God sent him Federal Express food, a raven, brought him his 42:06 lunch all the time he was out there. He had air mail coming in 42:12 every day. He never starved. Isn't that right? So we've got 42:19 to show the church and the Lord by our actions. Let's go to the 42:22 next one, Number 17, How to support your church financially. 42:26 I was amazed and I was pointing to my brother Richard here how 42:31 as treasurer in Fairfield and he's been my head elder for many 42:35 years and also over here in Thompsonville. The percentage 42:41 of members that literally support the church hovers around 42:46 25-30 percent. That's in tithing And then some of them tithe 42:53 this is the other thing that really blows me away, some 42:55 members tithe because they know in the Adventist church that all 42:58 that money goes directly to the conference, but they won't give 43:01 offerings because they don't like what the church does. 43:06 So they're only going to give offering if I like the sermon or 43:11 if I like the members. Well let me tell you something. You don't 43:15 do that. You do it because you love the Lord. Amen somebody? 43:18 Will a man rob God? And they had the audacity to ask God in what 43:29 way have we robbed Thee. He said in tithes AND in offerings. The 43:35 curse comes to you, not to the church. God will sustain the 43:38 church. Isn't that right? So for those of you who think that okay 43:42 if I must do it, I'll do it. But let's look at this next question 43:51 2 Corinthians 9:7. Isn't this a good lesson. There's a sermon 43:55 right here. 2 Corinthians 9:7. How does you Christian walk 44:07 become acceptable to the Lord? Because God doesn't need 44:13 anything, but he's established a system whereby the church on 44:17 earth will have all of its needs provided. That is through the 44:21 people that are members of it. But He always relies on the 44:25 heart. God doesn't say okay now that you're a member give me 44:28 your 1040, give me your 1099, give me your W2. So I'll figure 44:33 out how much you make and I'll have direct deposit. No God 44:35 doesn't do that. If you want to do that you can, but God says 44:38 wait a minute. I'm want to see where your heart is, I'm going 44:42 to see where your heart is. Like a mother who gave her son 10 44:46 oranges and he goes to school and one of the kids asks for one 44:48 He say no! These are my oranges. Do you think you're going to 44:52 lose vitamin C by giving away one orange? Really? We think 44:58 somehow that... And you know what God is better than all the 45:03 stores, God is better than the stores. God is better than the 45:04 restaurants. They want 15 percent gratuity, isn't that 45:07 right? But let's look on the heart God looks for. 45:10 2 Corinthians 9:7 Here it is on the screen... 45:18 2 Corinthians 9:7... 45:33 That word cheerful is a powerful word in the Greek. In other 45:35 words, people are happy to give. What else can I do Lord? What 45:40 can I give thee for all they benefits toward me? Anything 45:43 else I can do Lord? Sure. You know what I love as a pastor? 45:47 I like people that have a good attitude when you ask them to do 45:50 something. And I'm thinking even people who have bad attitudes 45:53 like other people that have good attitudes when they ask them to 45:55 do something. Did you get that? Some people have a bad attitude 45:59 but they want people to have a good attitude when they ask them 46:01 for something. You know, I've got to go home. What do you 46:08 need? Never mind, go home, I've got it. I remember once, not 46:14 here, I remember once walking. I was just like so loaded down 46:18 trying to get the church door open and I've got an umbrella, 46:21 I've got my brief case, I've got my backpack, my Bible and it is 46:25 rainy and the rain is pointing sideways and my clothes I'm 46:29 trying to keep from getting them wet. And I'm standing at the 46:31 door of this particular entrance and I'm trying to find a way to 46:35 get in and there are people standing on the other side of 46:36 of the door looking at me, is he going to do it? Is he going to 46:40 do it. I bet five dollars he's not going to do it. It looked 46:43 they were betting on it. And I walked through, almost slipped 46:47 on the floor which was totally wet. And I'm thinking what were 46:50 you thinking? And that's what Jesus meant when He said he that 46:53 is not with me is against me. He who is not gathering with me is 47:00 what? Scattering abroad. God doesn't need anything. If you 47:02 don't like to do, God says forget it. I'll get somebody 47:04 else to do it. God didn't need Judas. Judas needed God. You see 47:11 he thought well Lord I'm the treasurer of the group. That's 47:15 why you're in trouble because you don't see your need of me. 47:18 And that's an amazing thing. God wants cheerful givers. So here's 47:22 the answer. It's kind of a long one... 47:27 And notice I didn't just say giving money to the Lord, giving 47:32 our time, giving our talents, giving our testimony and also 47:36 giving our treasure. That's the four T's: Time, Talent, 47:42 Testimony and Treasure. If it was up to some Christians the 47:47 world would never know that anybody has done anything for 47:50 us. Because some people never testify about God's goodness. 47:53 Some people never say that God has done anything for them. The 47:58 Bible says, Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. So somebody 48:02 says what has God done for you. And they're like has He done 48:09 anything for you in the last three weeks. They go back to 48:12 17 years ago. Is that the last thing He did for you? What has 48:18 God done for you yesterday? If all you can say is He woke me up 48:24 He gave me a mouth to eat and a tongue to taste it when I 48:30 swallow my food. My legs are working. He woke me up and I'm 48:34 functioning. Although I don't have as much as I'd like to 48:37 everything that I have I'm thankful for because somebody 48:41 else. See that's right. Any day above the ground is a good day. 48:45 Isn't that right? People got to learn. Ellen White says we must 48:51 educate our lips to praise God. But some people, you wait for a 48:56 testimony. I never... Ah people are listening. Hey that's the 49:00 point! They want to hear what the Lord has done for you. There 49:03 maybe somebody across the room or on the other side of the 49:05 church that needs to hear. I know that brother was struggling 49:09 God did that for him. I'm going to trust God to do what he needs 49:13 to do for me. But when you don't talk about it. God does not need 49:17 silent majority. He owned the world. You're walking in the 49:19 mall. You don't even ask for it. You walk in the mall and music 49:22 is piped into your ears. You don't even ask for it. You're at 49:25 the stop light and there's profanity coming from the car 49:28 or the vehicle next to you. You don't ask for it. That's why I 49:31 like my good friend Doug Batchelor and I've taken this up 49:33 ever since he told me this years ago. If you're next to somebody 49:37 and they're blasting their music turn up yours, but make yours 49:41 Christian. Amen? One day Doug Batchelor was at the light and 49:44 there was this car next to him. He opened his window and C.D. 49:47 Brooks was preaching and he waved and C.D. Brooks said 49:48 REPENT! He said perfect timing. We've got to educate ourselves 49:55 no we got to educate our lips to praise the Lord. Am I telling 49:58 you the truth? The world is not afraid of the garbage that's 50:04 there yet Christians are so quiet. Are there Christians in 50:07 your community? I have no idea. They never knock on my door. 50:11 I don't know. I see somebody going out of that house. Is that 50:14 a Christian? I guess so. We must have a love for the people even 50:20 around us. We will have a positive attitude about giving 50:24 to the Lord. You want to write this down. Time is the hardest 50:27 thing to give. People can give money; that's the last thing on 50:31 the list. Give time value, the most important commodity that 50:35 God gives us is time. Isn't that right? Give your time. 50:39 Your talent. Don't ever think that you could put your talent 50:43 on hold for the next year because you're tired of working 50:46 for God. You know what I say to people when they say that? 50:48 Quit your job. Say to your boss I'm tired. 50:50 I'm tired every day, 7:30 50:54 to 5:30, I'm tired. I'm quitting for the next two years. You 50:58 just keep paying me. I'll figure out when I need to come back. 51:04 But I ain't working for the next year because I've been doing 51:06 this for 17 years. There's some people that have that attitude 51:09 about God's work. Pastor do I have to do this again? And I'm 51:14 who do you work for? It's not me because I don't have a dime 51:17 to give you at the end of this road. But when I think about the 51:21 Lord, he's going to be standing there with a crown. This is what 51:23 I want to hear. I want to hear well done thou good and faithful 51:25 servant. Don't you want to hear that? That's what I want to hear 51:28 But well done; what have you done. Nothing, but I want to be 51:33 in heaven. Well what have you done. Nothing. Although we're 51:37 not saved by works, we deny Him by our works. And where there is 51:43 no work, there is tremendous denial. I'm glad I'm on your 51:47 team but don't ask me to do anything. We'll have a positive 51:51 attitude about giving to the Lord. Look at the next one. 51:56 Number 18. Okay... 52:06 I was talking so fast the word the was too short for me to wait 52:15 Okay. What's the difference? Colossians 3:2. Okay. Look at 52:28 that one. Colossians 3:2. I'm ahead of the curve but I don't 52:34 think I'm going to get to the next lesson tonight. But that's 52:36 okay. You can still do it in preparation for the next 52:38 broadcast. Colossians 3:2 Here we are. Even though I have it 52:43 right in front of me, I like to turn to it because there's some 52:45 extra stuff in there that you don't want to miss. 52:47 Colossians 3:2, reads as follows Let's read this short one 52:52 together. Are you ready?... 53:05 Some people say you're so heavenly minded that you're no 53:07 earthly good. That's not my concern sometimes. Sometimes 53:09 people are so earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. 53:12 You see the Lord is saying the challenge to the church in the 53:15 last days is they're going to be so earthly minded they're no 53:19 heavenly good. I've not met very many people that are so heavenly 53:23 minded that they're no earthly good. I've met people that are 53:26 so earthly minded that they're no heavenly good. They're so 53:32 concerned about the world. So concerned and so enamored by the 53:35 world that God even if you try using them they're like you know 53:38 like a car out of tune. They like a piston that the chamber 53:43 has been blown. They just have no connection. It's like 53:45 they've missed their connection with God. I like the way the 53:49 King James says this. It's Set your affections. What does 53:53 affection mean. What do you think somebody is an affectionate 53:56 person, what do you mean. Huh? Loving. That means it's not just 54:01 in their heads. It's not like saying I like John Dinzey. You'd 54:05 say You know a really like John Dinzey. Boy I appreciate him. 54:09 That's affection. You know when you say to your wife, I like you 54:12 Anybody can say that. But if you say Honey I, ah, my 54:17 affections are wrapped up in you. When the Lord says set your 54:20 affections on things above, you know what He's saying? Get your 54:23 mind set for the place you're headed. When we go on vacation 54:26 you know what we do? Man when we finally figure out where 54:30 we're staying we look at that brochure. And when we get there 54:33 and we come back, You should have seen where we were. When 54:38 people get excited about vacation don't they tell other 54:40 people? Don't they have a smile on their face? Ahh, I'm going to 54:45 miss you guys, but I'm not going to be thinking about you because 54:47 I'm going to be gone. I'm going to relax. I'm not going to do my 54:52 hair. I don't use hair spray when I go on vacation. I have 54:57 no shoes on, I mean sandals. I don't go to Alaska for vacation 55:00 either. I go where it's warm. But the point of the matter is 55:02 my affections are altered when it's on the place I'm headed. 55:06 That's what's happening here in this text. If your mind is on 55:10 heaven it ought to alter the way you think._ now Jesus is 55:15 coming. You know what, I think I should get to work. Amen! I 55:20 think I should do something. He's coming. Didn't the Lord 55:25 say? Blessed is the servant who when the master comes he finds 55:32 doing. Right? Blessed is a... Hold Lord, I'm almost done with 55:38 this Bible study. Wait a few seconds. We should be so excited 55:42 about the coming of the Lord that we're working up to the 55:43 very moment. Come on sir. Accept Jesus. I mean I can tell by the 55:47 rumblings of the world it's not going to be long. Get excited 55:52 about the coming of the Lord. Set your affections on things 55:54 above. Here's the answer to that one... 56:03 So many people are into pleasing themselves. We've got to be more 56:07 connected to pleasing the Lord. Isn't that right? I don't know 56:12 happened to me. The Lord's got into... I prayed and the Holy 56:16 Spirit jumped in and that's why I'm so fired up about this. 56:20 Number 19. Here it is. Let's try to get this one... 56:33 You know your life ought to mean something to somebody else. 56:35 Isn't that right. No such as a disconnected Christian. When you 56:41 read the book of Acts, the book of Acts is a powerful blueprint 56:46 for how Christians ought to be. You know they all had 56:49 possessions but nobody considered his possessions his 56:52 own. If somebody else had a need they said we got it. If they had 56:58 a need somebody else gave. If somebody else had a need they 57:00 gave. They were disconnected from all those things. 57:04 Let's get the last text for tonight. 57:05 How do fellow Christians experience the change 57:07 in our life? Here's the answer. Read that together. 57:17 Oh man I tell you this is an inspired lesson here. I'm going 57:21 use this for a sermon one day. I'm not going to tell you when. 57:23 But I tell you this is going to be a Bible study sermon. We 57:26 should understand that the presence of Christ in our lives 57:30 should alter our affections, should alter our love for the 57:33 Lord, should also activate our desire to do something for the 57:36 advancement of the kingdom, for the saving of souls, for the 57:40 lifting of one another's burdens But the one thing you don't want 57:43 to do; you don't want to be a Christian and just sit down and 57:48 have no use to heaven and no use to earth. That's not what 57:54 Jesus is coming back for. So friends keep on trusting God. 57:57 Focus on what He's called you to do and one day whatever's 57:59 not clear will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless you. 58:03 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2020-01-15