Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000147A
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00:22 Hello friends, and welcome to another Wednesday night Bible
00:24 Study here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:26 We welcome you with a hearty Amen. Amen! 00:29 And thank you so much for taking the time to pause your evening 00:33 and to get your Bibles, and invite your friends, 00:35 and family members to tune in tonight as we continue in the 00:39 topic, The Christian Obligation. 00:41 We're going to finish this topic tonight, and I'm excited to 00:44 announce if the world continues spinning for another week, 00:48 and all things go according to God's plan, the next lesson 00:51 is going to be, The Truth About Jesus. 00:54 Now the reason why I've chosen that topic is, a lot of people 00:57 might say, Well, what's not the truth? 01:00 What's the truth that's not about Jesus? 01:02 Jesus is the truth, many people might say. 01:04 But the reality is, if the truth about Jesus were accepted 01:10 then there would be less non-believers, 01:13 that there will be more people believing in Jesus. 01:16 You know, the Bible says, He's the way, 01:18 the truth, and the life. 01:19 I'm kind of going ahead of my schedule here, because I often 01:21 talk about where to get the lessons before I do this. 01:23 But it's going to be a very exciting topic, 01:26 The Truth About Jesus, covering not only who He is, 01:30 but Bible prophecies pointing to the accuracy, 01:33 and the confirmation of the ministry of Jesus. 01:36 And so I'll tell you a little bit more about that before 01:39 we get into our topic tonight, after our theme song, 01:43 and after I tell you where to get the lesson. 01:44 But the first thing is let's have prayer together. 01:47 Loving Father in Heaven, we thank You. 01:49 The opportunity is always ours, and surely the blessing is ours 01:53 also, as we open Your the word and study together. 01:57 Tonight Lord, come. 01:58 Be our teacher through Your Holy Spirit. 02:01 Empower our minds to absorb what You will have us to learn, 02:06 and may the glory for the knowledge received, 02:09 and the power accompanying it, go back to You we pray, 02:13 in Jesus' name, Amen. 02:15 Now to get a copy of our lesson, go to this following website: 02:24 and download lesson #35, The Truth About the 02:28 Christian Obligation, The Truth About the Christian Obligation. 02:31 And there at that very same website you can get the videos 02:34 of the prior lessons, you can download the lessons themselves. 02:38 But if you want to find out how to peer the two, what you do is 02:41 you play the video. 02:42 At the very beginning of the video it tells you what lesson 02:44 it's associated with. 02:45 And you have a number of Bible studies, at least 35 Bible 02:48 Studies with more than 108 videos. 02:52 That's 108 hours of video. Amen? 02:55 That's almost an entire... 02:56 If you did nothing, but stayed in the house all week long; 02:58 that's about almost an entire week, 03:00 short of sixty hours, obviously. 03:03 But we're going to sing our theme song tonight before 03:05 we go into our lesson. 03:07 Our theme song is entitled what? together? Victory in Jesus. 03:11 Let's sing this song together. 03:19 I heard an old, old story, how the Savior came from glory. 03:27 How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me. 03:34 I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning. 03:42 Then I repented of my sin and won the victory. 03:49 Oh victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. 03:57 He sought me, and bought me with His redeeming blood. 04:04 He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. 04:12 He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. 04:20 I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory, 04:27 and I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea, 04:35 about the angels singing, and the old redemption story, 04:42 and some sweet day I'll sing up there the song of victory. 04:49 Key change. Oh victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. 04:58 He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. 05:05 He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. 05:12 He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. 05:30 Amen! Now repeat the title with me. 05:34 It's on the board. The Truth About the Christian Obligation. 05:39 Today I received a phone call, and it is from the company that 05:46 provides us the extended warranty for our car. 05:51 When we bought our vehicle we decided... 05:54 Well, you know, they give you, as many of you might know, 05:57 if you purchase a vehicle they give you what they call 05:59 a 100,000 mile power train warranty, 06:03 or some companies 50,000 miles. 06:05 Well, the power train is from the engine all the way to the 06:09 wheels; that crank shaft, and all the things connected there. 06:13 And in many cases nothing goes wrong with that. 06:18 And so you have a warranty that they'll say, 100,000 miles or 06:22 4 years, whichever comes first. 06:24 I don't know how many people do a 100,000 in 4 years, 06:29 but the 100,000 mile warranty for the power train. 06:33 But many of you know that things that often go wrong 06:36 in your car, if it's going to happen, it's going to go wrong 06:39 in the first 3 to 4 years. 06:41 And if... What's the rule they call it? 06:45 The law, Murphy's law? 06:48 I don't know what that means. 06:49 But we've associated that with if something's going to 06:54 go wrong, it's going to go wrong according to Murphy's law. 06:57 Who is Murphy? I don't know how that came about. 06:59 But usually we say, Okay, well if things go wrong in today's 07:03 cars, a lot of electronic things could happen. 07:07 You know, the GPS could stop working. 07:09 And we can't, like in the past, pull our car side like back in 07:14 the 80's, Bob, right? when you could just take a little voltage 07:19 tester and test the wires. 07:21 To me, nowadays everything is so electronic. 07:23 So the guy called me and said, What I wanted to inform you is 07:27 the benefits of your warranty is about to expire; the benefits. 07:35 And I said, No, it's not about to expire. 07:39 He said, Well, this is the last notice. 07:41 We've called you many times and told you 07:43 it's about to expire. 07:44 I said, No, it's not about to expire. 07:47 Hold on please for our service manager. 07:50 Okay. The service manager comes on. 07:52 Sir, we want to tell you that you're about to lose all the 07:56 benefits to the warranty that came with your car. 07:59 I said, No, I purchased the extended warranty. 08:02 Oh! The service person didn't tell me that. 08:05 Well, Sir, we'll take you off of our list. 08:07 We won't bother you any longer. 08:09 Now, they said that before, but they have called me over, 08:14 and over, and over, and over again to sell me a new 08:17 warranty for more benefits. 08:19 And who doesn't want benefits? 08:21 I mean how many of you don't want benefits? 08:22 Really, when you think about your job, when you think about 08:25 your job you're often, Well, what are the benefits? 08:27 What are the health benefits? 08:28 What are my vacation benefits? 08:29 In Europe it's better than here. 08:31 Some people say in Europe you get four weeks 08:33 vacation the first year. 08:34 In America one week. 08:36 You've got to work hard to get two weeks, and four, 08:39 well, after about ten years. 08:40 The benefits; we think of the benefits. 08:43 Now, if the benefits, if you change the word benefits 08:49 to obligation, you'll say to your employer, 08:52 You are obliged to give me X amount of weeks 08:55 a year for vacation. 08:56 You are obliged to fix my car because I purchased it from you. 08:59 You are obliged to cover me with health care 09:03 because I work for you. 09:04 And in America right now there are lots of obligations. 09:07 Now the lesson entitled, The Christian Obligation, 09:10 to me is better termed, Christian Benefits. 09:14 So let's go to Psalms 116. 09:16 This has been my springboard text. 09:19 And what's wonderful about this text is it puts the word 09:24 obligation in the better category. 09:26 Now, going back to my original story that I began with about 09:29 the extended warranty on my vehicle. 09:32 When I go to the manufacturer, or to the Toyota particularly, 09:36 or specifically, and my service intervals come up, 09:40 I am so happy when I go to the service counter to say, 09:45 I have the extended warranty. 09:47 Do you know what that means? 09:48 That translates into me paying how much? zero. 09:52 And, you know, it's so, Oh, okay, great! 09:57 Well, you know, we'll also wash your car for you. 10:00 There's some extended benefits. 10:02 Is there any place you want to go? 10:04 They treat you with kid gloves. 10:05 Kind of nice. Because I don't know of any car manufacturer 10:09 that doesn't want to make money. 10:10 And then some people say, Don't buy the warranty. 10:13 You know what happens when you don't buy the warranty? 10:15 Murphy's law kicks in! 10:18 And something goes wrong and they say, Well, Sir, we told you 10:21 about the warranty. 10:22 I don't know, that's just how it seems to work. 10:23 So this text, when we think of our relationship with Jesus, 10:28 Jesus didn't really have to come to save us. 10:34 He came to save us because He blanks us; because He what? 10:38 because He loves us. 10:40 And so when you think of all that the Lord has done for us, 10:43 this text jumps into my mind when I think about it. 10:46 Oh, I told you guys to turn to Psalm 116, didn't I? 10:49 And I didn't even turn there. 10:52 Here I am. And let's look at verse 12, 10:55 and let's read this together. 10:56 What a beautiful passage. 10:57 Alright? The Psalmist writes, What shall I render to the Lord 11:03 for all His what? benefits toward me. 11:08 When you think of benefits, I mean how many 11:11 benefits can you think of? 11:13 I'm going to open it up a little bit, because I don't 11:14 give you guys an opportunity to talk too much. 11:16 How many benefit... What benefit can you think of 11:18 when it comes to Jesus? 11:20 What, what benefit comes to your mind? 11:21 Health, what else? Peace, what else? 11:25 Eternal life, the greatest of benefits. 11:28 What else? protection. 11:31 What else? Well, Angie said health. 11:36 Huh? Wisdom. Karen said peace. 11:41 Peace again. Knowledge, hope, faith, strength. 11:47 Does He provide all of our need? 11:49 Does He promise to do that? 11:51 He provides all of our need. 11:52 Ah, what else? What about His love for us? 11:56 Do you thank God for His patience? 11:59 Is that a good benefit? 12:01 Do you thank Him for His forgiveness? 12:03 Is that a benefit? Do you thank Him for answered prayer? 12:06 Is that a benefit? So when you think about this 12:09 you can go on and on. 12:10 Do you thank God for His grace? 12:11 What about His grace? 12:13 Do we need grace? Yes. 12:14 What about His salvation? Huh? 12:19 What about His forgiveness? 12:21 Think of... His kindness. 12:23 When you think about all the benefits, has the Lord ever sent 12:29 you an e-mail when you asked Him to forgive you 12:32 with the two letters NO? 12:34 Have you ever done that? No. 12:36 So when you think of all the Lord is willing to do for us, 12:39 this is a very good question. 12:42 And notice, this is a question. 12:44 But, David said, What, what shall I render to the Lord 12:50 for all His benefits toward me? 12:54 But often times the Christian life is lived out of, 13:00 What must I do? You know the rich young ruler, 13:02 what did he ask Jesus? 13:04 What did he ask Jesus? 13:05 What must I do to have eternal life? 13:10 What do I have to do? 13:11 And sometimes we give our lives to the Lord by saying, 13:13 What do I have to do to become a member of your church? 13:16 What do I have to do? 13:20 The Lord has done more than we can ever do. 13:24 What do you say? Amen! 13:25 And so as we look at this topic tonight, what we're going to 13:28 talk about tonight are the benefits, 13:31 but also the empowerment. 13:34 Because when the Lord says, Okay, here's what I'd like 13:39 you to do for Me, Bob, Karen, Brother Hutchinson, or Janeck. 13:43 Here's what I'd like you to do for Me. 13:45 The beauty of the Lord is He doesn't just request of us, 13:50 in response to our question, but He also does something else. 13:54 Let's go to question #13. 13:55 There's something else He does. 13:57 And I believe, it is my firm belief that tonight 14:01 we will finish this lesson. 14:04 Go to Question #13. 14:06 Here it is; look at this. 14:08 And we're talking about the benefits of God, 14:11 but let's look at the context of the question. 14:25 Alright? And we are going to one of the books that 14:28 many of us know... 14:30 Well, Philippians actually is one of my favorite books in the 14:33 Bible, because I call it the Olympic, or the athletes book. 14:39 It's a book that is filled with so many of 14:42 the promises we claim. 14:43 That's your book? The athletes book. 14:46 It's filled with so many promises. 14:49 Huh? Isaiah. Oh Isaiah is filled with promises. 14:53 Well, let's look at Philippians 4:13. 14:56 And since it's the first one of our texts tonight, 14:58 you can read it along together with us. 15:00 We might hear you if you speak loud enough, or loudly enough. 15:03 Here it is: Philippians 4:13. Together, it says: 15:14 Do you know that... Let's put that down. 15:16 So is it really possible to keep the commandments of God? 15:19 How do we keep it? Say it again: through Christ. 15:24 It would be terrible, Karen, if He said, Keep My commandments. 15:30 But I don't know how you're going to do it. 15:33 Look at John 14:15. This is the... this is... 15:36 Look at John 14:15. 15:37 He says, Keep My commandments. 15:39 But I don't know how you're going to do it. 15:42 He says, Keep it, and then I provide you the strength, 15:45 and the power to be able to accomplish it. 15:49 John 14:15 would be a pretty mean text if this 15:53 Philippians 4:13 did not also support what Jesus makes the 15:59 statement about in John 14:15. 16:03 If you love Me, what? keep My commandments. 16:11 And the commandments are not multiple choice. 16:13 They're not selective. 16:16 If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16:18 And then we might ask the question, How, Lord? 16:21 Have you looked at the commandments; 16:23 how restrictive they are sometimes? 16:24 How specific they are? 16:27 How empowering they are? 16:29 And, you know, somebody once talked about the 16:32 ten commandments as the ten promises, 16:34 because the ten commandments are not just thou shall not's. 16:37 But on the heel of the thou shall not, a blessing comes. 16:40 Look at the blessing. 16:43 The verse that's right after John 14:15: This is the blessing 16:46 if we keep His commandments. 16:48 Now this is huge because when you read this text you'll see 16:51 that there's something Jesus would not do unless we are 16:55 open and honest in obedience to His commandments. 16:59 Notice what He says in verse 16. 17:00 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, 17:06 or Comforter, that He may abide with you for how long? forever. 17:11 Who is this Comforter? even the Spirit of truth, whom the world 17:17 cannot receive, because he neither sees Him, 17:21 nor knows Him, but you know Him for He dwells with you, 17:27 and will be in you. 17:28 Notice, notice the inflection; notice the way that Jesus talks 17:34 about the Holy Spirit. 17:35 Look at verse 16. Whom even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world 17:41 cannot receive because it neither sees, notice, Him, 17:45 nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you, 17:49 and will be in you. 17:50 Him, Him, Him, Him, He; all capitalized. 17:55 Speaking of the Holy Spirit as an actual person of the Godhead. 17:58 That's a whole nother topic. 18:00 I did one on the Holy Spirit, but that's a whole nother topic, 18:02 because today there's some people that are struggling as to 18:05 whether or not the Holy Spirit is a real person of the Godhead. 18:08 Is He just a force? 18:09 Shall the force be with you, or is He an actual 18:13 person of the Godhead? 18:14 Well, He is an actual person of the Godhead. Amen? 18:17 Now, but He is a Spirit. 18:20 And that's something that many of us, we can't equate the two, 18:23 because we think of an actual person of the Godhead 18:25 with flesh and bones. 18:27 But look at John 4. Let's go there. 18:29 Look at John 4; just giving you a little bit of extra knowledge. 18:35 Now, let me ask you a question. 18:38 Does God have flesh and bones? 18:40 Will we see God's face one day? 18:43 Okay, so that means He does have physical features, right? 18:49 Don't be... right? Okay, okay. 18:53 Just want to see if you are with me. 18:55 Look at John 4. Now the Holy Spirit is the One who abides 19:00 with you, and will be with you always. 19:02 But notice John 4. Alright? 19:05 Look at verse 24. What are the first three words? 19:12 God is what? God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must 19:16 worship Him in what? Spirit, and what? truth. 19:19 Is God Spirit? Yes. Oh, I just wanted to make sure; 19:23 Holy Spirit, God is Spirit. 19:25 Do we see God? Do we see the Holy Spirit? 19:28 We see the work. We see the work. 19:30 Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. 19:37 See, if He became flesh, He became the human flesh that 19:42 we have, so that He could overcome sin as we 19:45 would by the same power. 19:47 Little digression, but just want to give you 19:49 that additional information. 19:50 So can we really keep the commandments of God? yes or no? 19:54 Yes! And how do we do it? 19:56 We do it through Christ. 19:58 Let's go to the next one. 20:00 #14, #14. This is a very interesting one. 20:07 And the question is: 20:18 And, you know, this sounds crazy, but I was talking to a 20:22 young lady recently, and she was told in so many ways, 20:27 when she discovered the truth about the Sabbath. 20:32 She asked her clergy, Well, why don't we honor the Sabbath? 20:37 And his immediate response was, It was just for the Jews. 20:42 And she hadn't studied the Bible enough to 20:44 know, No, no it's not! 20:45 And so this is one of the excuses that Christians often 20:49 get when they are confronted with keeping the commandments 20:52 of God, or more particularly, keeping the Sabbath. 20:54 So the answer is, if we do honor our Christian obligation, 21:00 we shouldn't just not lie, steal, commit adultery, 21:03 bear false witness, dishonor our parents. 21:07 We shouldn't just not do those things, but we should also 21:09 honor the Sabbath of the Lord. 21:11 Isn't that right? But let's look at this. 21:12 Aren't the ten commandments just for the Jews? 21:16 Let's go to 1 Corinthians 7:19, 1 Corinthians 7, and let's look 21:21 together at verse 19. 21:24 Very interesting! Okay, here I am. 21:31 The Corinthian church, shortly after the death and ascension 21:38 of Jesus, or the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, 21:40 the issue continued. 21:42 The Jews continued to impose upon others, even after the 21:46 ceremonial system had come to its end, the Jews continued to 21:49 impose on others the necessity, they believed, 21:53 of keeping the commandments of God. 21:56 But they also enjoined with that, 21:58 You've got to be circumcised. 22:01 But look at what the Bible says. 22:03 The Apostle Paul responds to the Corinthians believers by 22:06 saying the following. Here it is. He said, 22:19 So how many of us... 22:22 Well, let's go to Romans 13 now. 22:26 Go with me to Romans. 22:28 Let me make sure. Good. 22:29 Romans 13. Okay, here we are. 22:34 So the answer to this one: Aren't the ten 22:36 commandments just for the Jews? 22:38 What's the answer? Yes or No? 22:39 No, just put no. Wow, Romans 13. 22:45 I want to show you another one, too. 22:47 Let's start with Romans 13. 22:48 Okay, here we are. And here it is. 22:54 Verse 8, verse 8. We read in Romans: Owe no one anything, 23:02 except to love one another. 23:04 For he who loves another has done what? fulfilled the law. 23:09 Notice this, four of the commandments: you shall not 23:14 commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, 23:17 you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. 23:21 And if there's any other commandment, are all summed up 23:24 in this saying, namely, you shall, together, love your 23:29 neighbor as yourself. 23:32 Notice, notice what comes there also, not just the benefits that 23:37 we receive from God, but if we have love for our neighbors, 23:40 then it says to us, I can't do that. 23:44 If we love someone more than we love... 23:46 Okay, well, let's put this the way the Bible puts it. 23:51 If we love someone as much as we love ourselves; 23:53 love your neighbor as yourself. 23:58 If you love somebody as much as you love yourself, 24:03 you would not want the tables to be turned, 24:05 and to do harm to your neighbor. 24:07 Because you wouldn't want your neighbor to do harm to you. 24:10 Often times we live on the opposite side of the table. 24:12 We often live where we feel the right to maybe harm someone, 24:16 but would not want them to do the same to us. 24:19 So when the Bible says, Love your neighbor as yourself... 24:21 And look at verse 10, it says, Love does no harm to a neighbor. 24:25 Therefore, love is the what? fulfillment of the law. 24:31 Which means if I love someone that means 24:34 I'm going to uphold it. 24:35 If I love someone I'm going to uphold it. 24:38 Am I going to destroy it? 24:40 I'm going to uphold it. 24:41 And the word fulfill, it simply means to accomplish the task. 24:47 When you love someone you don't say, Well now, let me see, 24:50 Brother Hutchinson, which one? 24:52 Should I covet, or should I kill, 24:54 or should I lie about him today? 24:56 Oh well, let me see, which one is worse? 24:58 Well, I won't do those, but... 24:59 You know, we don't do that. 25:01 We don't think of any of those when we love a person. 25:04 Oh, I couldn't do that. 25:05 Because we are now looking through the window of LOVE, 25:08 which is what? love. 25:10 And then if the Lord is in our heart, 25:12 once again the text applies. 25:14 I can do all things through who? Christ, who does what? 25:18 strengthens me, because I'll be honest with you, 25:19 do you ever feel like... I won't use that term. 25:25 Do you ever feel like getting back at somebody? 25:29 Okay, no response required. 25:31 No one wants to indite themselves here. 25:33 But in the human sense, depending on how we might be injured, 25:38 whether emotionally or mentally, or somebody might take something 25:41 that doesn't belong to them, that we find out about. 25:43 Sometimes in the human sense, sometimes we feel, Oh, now that 25:47 I know who did it, you wait! 25:50 And we want to get back. 25:52 But, if we temper that response by remembering that the tables 25:58 could turn any day. 25:59 But for the grace of God, the tables can turn any day. 26:03 So we have to remember that keeping the commandments of God 26:07 is the most important thing. 26:08 It is what matters. 26:10 And all of that could be done in a response of 26:13 love to our neighbors. 26:14 Now, I said in Romans, right? 26:17 Let's go to Romans 3. 26:21 Let's see why it's important for all of us to keep 26:24 the commandments of God, as we know that it's 26:27 not just for the Jews. 26:28 Okay, Romans 3:23, Romans 3:23. 26:35 Matter of fact, yeah Romans 3: 23. 26:43 Let's look at this. 26:44 We're going to start there. 26:46 For all have what? sinned and fall what? 26:51 short of the glory of God. 26:53 Look down to verse 29. 26:56 Let's pull out a couple of passages here. 26:59 Or is He the God of the Jews only? 27:02 Is He not the God of the Gentiles? Yes, 27:07 of the Gentiles also. 27:10 And then you go down to verse 31. 27:12 Do we then make void the law through faith? 27:16 And what is the answer? certainly not! 27:19 On the contrary, we what? establish. 27:22 Another word for fulfill is establish. 27:25 When you establish a residence, what do you do? 27:28 There's another phrase we use in America. 27:30 We settle in. What's another? 27:32 What's below to the trees? 27:34 What at the... We put down our roots when we establish. 27:38 When we establish a business... 27:40 We're going to be here for a long time. 27:43 The word establish has longevity connected to it. 27:46 When we establish a relationship instead of just selling 27:49 something, people that are very good at business they say, 27:53 I'm not just into selling you a product, 27:54 I want to establish a relationship. 27:56 And that relationship then breeds trust, and it breeds 28:01 a long term business connection. 28:05 When we establish God's law, through love, there's a trust 28:10 factor that goes along with it. 28:12 The benefits that God has established toward us is 28:16 returned now out of loving service to the Lord, 28:19 and then also to those around us. 28:21 So when we think about this, the reason why the commandments 28:25 are not just for the Jews, is because God is not just the God 28:29 of the Jews, but of the Gentiles also, which is us, which is us. 28:36 Amen to that? Amen! 28:37 I've never... I don't think I have Jewish roots, but by faith 28:41 I'm an heir according to the promise. 28:43 By faith I am an heir according to the promise. 28:47 Now I kind of gave you #15, so let's go ahead 28:50 and read it anyhow. Okay #15. 29:03 I put an S on there, but I should have taken that off. 29:07 That's okay. Does it excuse us from honoring God's law? 29:12 And what's the answer? No. 29:14 I kind of gave you that one ahead of time. 29:17 Because the Bible says, Do we make void the law through faith? 29:20 And the answer is, Certainly not! 29:23 So instead of putting down no, what are you going to put down? 29:26 Instead of putting the answer no, what should you put down? 29:29 Certainly not! Okay. 29:32 Put down certainly not. 29:34 Do we make void the law through faith? 29:37 Another phrase in the King James Version, God forbid! 29:42 That, you know, that sounds so final: God forbid! 29:47 We don't speak that way anymore, but we do sometimes. 29:51 God forbid if that would happen to me. 29:54 We fault... But that's the context in which we use that. 29:56 What we mean is, Hope that will never happen to us. 29:59 But the response to this is in a faith based relationship 30:03 we should never look for reasons to ignore God's law. 30:06 So the Apostle Paul says, God forbid! Certainly not! 30:09 How could we do that when we think of all the benefits 30:13 that the Lord has extended towards us? 30:15 Now when you think about benefit relationships, 30:19 does anybody want a relationship with benefits? 30:22 Huh? Right? Can you imagine you having a relationship, 30:28 and somebody said, Now, I'm your friend, 30:29 but don't ever ask me for anything. 30:30 Can you imagine that? 30:32 Wouldn't that be horrible? 30:34 Ah, hey Terry, I need help. My car broke down. 30:38 Call somebody else. 30:39 But aren't we friends? 30:41 We're just friends in name only. 30:44 Would you do that? No, not at all. 30:46 We are not islands. 30:49 God has given us the context to to the word koinonia 30:52 there is fellowship. 30:53 We have fellowship with one another. 30:55 And fellowship brings into the circle a Christian obligation. 30:59 So what is our obligation? 31:01 What's the first highest priority of our obligation? 31:06 Romans 13:8, I just said. 31:08 Owe no one anything except to what? love one another. 31:13 The highest obligation is what? love. 31:17 Now for somebody to say, Janeck, I love you, 31:19 but don't ever ask me for anything. 31:21 That's not really a love relationship. 31:23 Jesus brought that out in the illustration. 31:26 He says, If your neighbor asks for a fish, 31:29 would you give him a stone? No. 31:34 So if we, being evil... 31:37 Look at that. If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts, 31:41 how much more would our Heavenly Father give the 31:44 Holy Spirit to those who ask? 31:47 But now, are you ready for the conditions of the Holy Spirit? 31:50 Go with me to the book of Acts. 31:52 There are conditions to everything. 31:54 Don't you think so? 31:56 Any of you have children? 31:59 If you have children that are acting up, and they come and 32:02 ask for the car keys, are you going to give it to them? Huh? 32:06 Okay. I didn't think so. 32:10 Nah, if they're acting up, not if they have a mishap, 32:14 but they're acting up. We're all human. 32:17 Okay, Acts 5, and I want us to look at verses 29 and 32. 32:24 Acts 5:29, 32. Okay, okay, let's look at that. 32:39 Obviously this is after the apostles are freed from prison, 32:42 and they are brought before a point of strict investigation. 32:47 Verse 29, Then Peter and the other apostles answered and 32:50 said,... together... We ought to obey God rather than men. 32:56 In other words, let's bring this down to our topic. 32:59 Our obligation is to who? God, first, above man. 33:05 So if it came down to who do I listen to, man or God? 33:12 What should our answer be? God. 33:14 Our obligation is to Him first. 33:16 Love the Lord your God with how much of your heart? 33:19 all your heart. But now let's look at the condition. 33:21 Because I brought it into context; 33:23 I brought into the scenario the Holy Spirit. 33:25 How many of us need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives? 33:28 We all do, but there is a condition to it. 33:30 You see, let's... Let me lay the foundation before I 33:32 turn you to the verse. 33:33 The Lord does not give anything to anyone who doesn't see the 33:38 obligation of honoring Him, of listening to Him. 33:43 It's like a child come to the parent and say, 33:47 I need the car keys, Bob. 33:52 You need the car keys? 33:54 As many things as I've asked you to do, you've done none of 33:56 them, and you need the car keys? 33:58 Here's 45 cents; take the local bus, or find another way. 34:04 You don't ask for benefits on the heels of disobedience. 34:08 Same thing with God. 34:10 Look at verse 32, Acts 5:32. 34:13 And we are His witnesses... the Bible says... to these things, 34:18 and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those 34:26 who do what? obey Him. 34:29 Another word for obey is obligation. 34:32 You see, when we honor our obligation to God, 34:36 He can trust us with the power of the Holy Spirit. 34:40 By the way, we don't use the Holy Spirit, 34:43 the Holy Spirit uses us, but we make ourselves 34:45 available to the Holy Spirit. 34:47 But we're asking God, Lord, I need Your Holy Spirit. 34:50 He says, Ah, it comes to those who are obedient. 34:54 I'm not going to put you into that realm of 34:57 availability of power. 34:58 Remember the story in the book of Acts also where one of the 35:03 locals saw the power of the Holy Spirit as active through 35:07 the apostles lives, and he tried to get that power? 35:11 And what happened to him? 35:12 Well, the Devil got him instead; stripped him, ran out into the 35:17 street out of his mind, because he was not obedient; 35:20 he was not an obedient servant of God. 35:22 God does not give to those who disobey Him such connection. 35:26 And the Holy Spirit is power. 35:28 Matter of fact, without the Holy Spirit you 35:29 really can't do anything. 35:30 Acts 1:8 says, After the Spirit comes upon you, you shall, 35:35 after you receive the power, then you'll be witnesses. 35:38 You cannot do anything without the power of God's Holy Spirit. 35:42 Go to #16, #16. Let's go to #16. 35:47 And here's the question: 35:57 How do we know that? 35:59 Another statement's made, and if you haven't caught the fabric 36:03 of this lesson yet, this lesson is actually designed to dispel 36:07 many of the myths told about the commandments of God, 36:11 many of the myths told about the commandments of God. 36:14 We're going to go to Matthew 5 to find our answer. 36:18 Alright? How do we know that the commandments of God 36:24 are still in force? Here we are. 36:28 Matthew 5, let's begin with verse 17, the words of Jesus. 36:32 Here's what He said: 37:27 Now this verse is often misunderstood. 37:29 Now notice... Let's go back to that in pieces. 37:32 Did Jesus come to destroy the law? No. 37:36 Matter of fact, let's go to Isaiah, Isaiah. 37:49 Okay, Isaiah 42:21. Thank You, Lord. 37:51 That's what happens when you're in a Bible Study like this. 37:54 The Lord brings those texts right back to my mind; 37:57 brought it right back. 37:58 Look at Isaiah 42. Jesus fulfilled this verse in this 38:04 statement: He fulfilled Isaiah 42:21, and Matthew 5:17-19. 38:10 Notice what the Bible says in Isaiah 42:21: The Lord is well 38:16 pleased for His righteousness sake. 38:20 He will, what's the next word? exalt, or magnify the law 38:27 and make it honorable. 38:29 Now I'm going to take both of those words. 38:30 The King James Version says exalt, 38:32 the New King James says magnify. 38:34 When you exalt something, you lift it up 38:38 above the crowd, right? 38:41 When you magnify you amplify, you make it a larger focus. 38:46 I was thinking about bringing my flashlight. I didn't do that. 38:49 But, magnifying... It's like, well, you can see part of my 38:53 shirt, but now I'm going to show you the whole shirt. 38:55 I just magnified the color green. 38:58 See, by magnify. See, some people look at the law of God, 39:01 they see, Ah. they see part of it. 39:03 But then the Lord says... He comes and shows 39:04 them the whole thing. 39:05 And what He actually did by magnifying the law, 39:07 here's what He did: you see, the Jews used to believe that 39:12 you could only violate, Thou shalt not kill by actually 39:15 taking somebody's life. 39:17 How did He magnify it? 39:19 Somebody tell me. He said, Even if you're angry, 39:23 without a cause; if you're angry, or you hate a person, 39:29 it's as though you have done what? 39:32 as though you've murdered them. 39:33 But He also went to the other side. 39:35 If you look at a woman to do what? lust, then He says you 39:40 have done what in your heart already? 39:41 you've committed adultery. 39:42 So He says, Am I making it easier, 39:44 or am I making it more difficult? 39:46 Right, it shows the broadness; He's not narrowing it down, 39:52 He's broadening it by saying, Hey this... 39:54 And let's look at something else. 39:55 Let's go to some of the other commandments. 39:57 Thou shall not covet. 39:58 Let's look at that one. 39:59 By the way, I believe that the tenth commandment, Thou shall 40:02 not covet, is the foundation of all the other nine. 40:07 Because if you covet another god, then you will have 40:10 another god before Him. 40:12 If you covet another day, then you have another 40:14 day above the Sabbath. 40:15 And you'll see the coveting of other things leads you to 40:19 other areas that violate the other nine commandments. 40:22 Well, let's look at the coveting. 40:24 If you see something that doesn't belong to you, and you 40:31 become covetous, you're saying in your heart, Oh, if I... 40:35 You know, I have things... 40:36 I'll just tell you this little story. 40:38 I have things around my house that I have not been 40:41 able to find for years. 40:43 And I've said to my wife, Honey, it was right here. 40:47 It was right here. I know it was right here. 40:56 Huh? Famous last words. 40:59 Now there's something that I have been looking for 41:01 for the last ten years, and I have not found it. 41:03 So I said, okay, following that very train of thought I said, 41:07 Okay, well maybe, maybe I did move it. 41:10 Maybe I did move it. 41:12 But then I started looking everywhere. 41:14 And my wife knows... 41:15 Honey, can I look real well? 41:18 She says, If it's in this house, I'll find it. 41:21 And I want to tell you, this is a broadcast, 41:25 I haven't found it. 41:27 So you know what I've thought to myself? 41:29 Maybe somebody wanted it. 41:31 Maybe somebody took it. 41:34 And usually, when I can't find something, I say to my wife, 41:38 Honey, it's not here. 41:40 You sure you didn't leave it at work? 41:42 Let me go check. And she finds it on her desk at work, 41:45 or in her car, or someplace else. 41:47 Because once she said, It was right... 41:49 I said, Now honey, if it was here, what? You'll find it. 41:54 When it's not there what happens is in the covetous spirit... 41:58 See here at 3ABN, Praise the Lord, we don't have to deal 42:00 with that issue, because for the most part we've had people 42:03 come visit here at 3ABN, and people have said, Ah, well,... 42:07 They come to do a program, or they put their purse down, 42:10 or their wallet down, or their phone down. 42:13 I said, Don't worry about it. 42:14 It will be there when you come back. 42:16 Nobody's going to mess with it. 42:17 Don't worry about it. 42:18 And, you know what? Praise the Lord, we don't have 42:20 that problem here, Amen? 42:22 People are very trustworthy. 42:23 They'll sometimes return... 42:25 Pastor, somebody left it. 42:26 Oh, okay. And we'll find out what the name is in the wallet, 42:30 and call them with the purse or the Bible. 42:31 The one thing, the one thing that has been the most difficult 42:36 for people to come back and claim is their Bible. 42:39 People often say, I missed my purse, I lost my phone, 42:42 I can't find my wallet, but very few people come back 42:44 and say... And we have a lot of Bibles that are unclaimed. 42:48 And I thought, Wow, they'll come back and claim their 42:51 phone, but they won't come back and claim their Bible. 42:54 It's an amazing thing. 42:56 It talks about... Huh? 42:57 They're embarrassed because they lost their sword. 42:59 Or they're out there without a sword. 43:01 Embarrassed because they lost their sword. 43:02 I remember losing my Bible, and it was the most horrible 43:05 experience I ever had. 43:06 Losing my Bible was the most horrible experience I ever had. 43:09 Left it at a church; couldn't find it. 43:12 And I was miserable till it arrived. 43:14 That's when I was in the Heritage Singers. 43:16 They sent it to me Federal Express. 43:18 They said, It will be there by Monday. 43:19 When the Bible arrived at the ranch where we lived in 43:23 Placerville, California, and Federal Express rang the 43:26 doorbell and gave the Bible to me, everybody cheered! 43:29 Yeah! John is happy again! 43:31 He's got his Bible. 43:32 I don't know how people could have missed their Bible 43:35 and not feel this loss of connection to their Bible. 43:38 But, however we got to that story out of this text is... 43:41 I don't know, but I think about magnifying some... 43:45 Things that are important to us we magnify them. 43:48 Isn't that right? If it's important 43:50 to us we talk about it. 43:52 We give a lot of focus to it. 43:53 God's law is important to Him. 43:55 That's why we magnify the Lord, and we magnify His law. 44:01 Let's go to #17. So the answer is, How do we know that the 44:06 commandments of God are still in force? 44:08 He didn't do away with them. 44:10 He said, I will not! 44:11 I did not come to destroy. 44:13 He did not destroy them. 44:15 He would not destroy them. 44:17 I did not come to destroy. 44:19 I came to magnify. I came to magnify. 44:25 And I thank the Lord He didn't come to destroy them, 44:27 because can you imagine the world today if in fact God's 44:30 law was thrown out? 44:32 What foundation would we have for our government? 44:34 Because in America many of our laws are based on the judicial 44:39 integrity of the commandments of God. 44:41 Whether a person is atheist, agnostic, or of another 44:45 religion, right now in America the commandments of God 44:49 are the force of most of our laws: 44:52 the ten commandments of God. 44:55 Even atheists wouldn't want you to steal something from them. 45:00 Isn't that funny? Why would an atheist want us 45:03 to steal something? 45:04 Who said not... Thou shall not steal? 45:06 Well, they know it's a wrong thing, but why? 45:09 Because God says it. 45:11 Alright, let's look at #17. 45:13 What? #17, here it is. 45:25 Luke 16:17, Luke 16:17. 45:34 Wow! Luke 16:17. You know, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John 45:40 they approach the subjects from different perspectives. 45:45 This is a very interesting perspective. 45:47 Alright, here I am in Luke. 45:53 Okay here it is. And the Bible reads: 46:10 Do you know what a tittle is? 46:11 It's that little, we think of it as the top of the T, the tittle. 46:21 Jot, dot, tittle, the top of the T. 46:26 It's easier for the dots to all disappear, and the tops of the 46:31 T's to be wiped out, than for one, 46:33 than for the law of God to fail. 46:38 Can the law of God fail? 46:40 No, it will never fail. 46:41 So it can't even... It could be ignored, 46:44 but it cannot be violated any more than the law 46:47 of gravity can be violated. 46:50 You cannot violate something whose force is connected to 46:55 that which is eternal, or the One that is eternal. 46:59 Is God eternal? Yes. 47:00 Is His law eternal? 47:02 Because it is a reflection of the character of God. 47:05 And you can no more get rid of the law of God, 47:07 than you can get rid of God Himself. 47:11 #18, let's go to #18. 47:16 I actually used the word here, I actually used the word here. 47:22 Okay, let's look at this here. 47:37 What benefit, okay? 47:40 Psalm 112:1-3. Okay. 47:53 I still have in the back of one of my old Bibles where I sat 47:57 down one Sabbath afternoon, before I even discovered the 48:00 Cruden's Concordance, and wrote down every text that found in 48:03 the Old Testament about the commandments. 48:07 Okay, Psalm 112:1-3. Here it is, here it is: 48:46 Isn't that a blessing? 48:48 Go with me to Psalm 1. 48:50 That's a blessing of the Lord. 48:51 It says, If you are obedient you are blessed. 48:54 Your descendants will be mighty on the earth. 48:57 The generation of the upright will be blessed. 49:00 Everyone that comes after you will be blessed. 49:03 Did I say Psalm 1? Psalm 1, okay. 49:06 Let's go to Psalm 1. 49:08 The first Psalm. Okay. 49:16 We are going to finish this. 49:17 We are going to finish this, yes we are. 49:19 Okay, look at Psalm 1. 49:21 Twenty-six verses; it starts with this, look. 49:24 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the 49:30 ungodly, nor stands in the path away of sinners, 49:34 nor sits in the seat of the scornful. 49:37 But look at verse 2. 49:39 But his delight is in the what? law of the Lord, 49:44 and in His law he does what? meditates day and night. 49:50 That means he ponders by talking to himself. 49:54 Isn't that amazing? 49:56 He meditates. Okay, okay... 49:58 People would think he's talking to him... 50:00 He's pondering; he's going over the beauty of the 50:03 commandments of God. 50:04 Look at the blessing, which comes on the heels of what 50:06 we just read in Psalm 112. 50:08 He shall be like a what? tree planted by the rivers of waters 50:12 that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also 50:17 shall not what? wither. 50:18 And whatever he does... together... shall prosper. 50:23 Do you want prosperity? follow God's law and prosperity surely, 50:27 according to God's word, will follow. 50:30 But now look at the contrast. 50:31 The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff, 50:35 which the wind drives away. 50:38 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, 50:41 nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 50:45 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of 50:48 the what? ungodly shall what? shall perish. 50:52 Look at the contrast. 50:53 The blessing that comes with obedience, and the curse that 50:56 comes with disobedience, they can't stand. 50:59 In other words, what the Bible means when it says they can't, 51:01 they cannot endure the investigation of God. 51:04 They can't make it through that. 51:05 Let's go to #19 now. 51:07 #19 the blessing that comes, you want to add 51:10 that additional Psalm 1. 51:12 Okay. So #18, what is the benefit that obedience 51:16 to the commandments of God brings? longevity and blessings, 51:20 family blessings, material blessings, 51:23 not just spiritual blessings. 51:25 He says your family will be blessed, your finances will be 51:28 blessed, your generations will be blessed. 51:31 If you want to pass down the legacy of righteousness, 51:34 to bless all those that come after you, be obedient to the 51:38 commandments of God. 51:41 He said that to Abraham. 51:42 If you'll be... Look, look at the stars of the... 51:44 That's how your generations are going to be. 51:46 And to this very day that is very true. #19, here it is: 51:58 Revelation 14:12, Revelation 14:12. 52:04 And to what category? 52:06 Can we find Revelation? 52:10 There it is. Okay, into what category? 52:17 I'd like us to read this together, since we all know 52:20 this is one of those clarion texts; one of those texts 52:23 that you cannot ignore. 52:24 Here it is, together: 52:37 Into what category does the Bible place those 52:39 that honor God's law? 52:41 What do we call? saints. 52:42 We used to be sinners, but praise God 52:45 we are now what? saints. 52:47 Can all the saints say Amen? Amen! 52:50 See, we say we're sinners, but the Lord said, Wait a minute! 52:53 That's how you were born, but when you're obedient I take the 52:57 SINN and places SAIN. 53:00 Isn't that wonderful? 53:02 I take away the SIN and put SAIN. 53:09 Now did you get that? 53:11 Look at the two: SIN. 53:13 He puts a letter between SIN, A, SAIN. 53:20 We become a part of the A team, because of the power that God 53:25 works through us to be obedient to His commandments. 53:28 It also puts us in the category of obedience. 53:31 Right! But we're obedient through His strength. 53:34 Ain't that right? We're not obedient in our own strength, 53:37 because we can do all things through Christ. 53:39 He's the One that empowers and makes us capable of obedience. 53:44 We cannot be obedient in our own strength. 53:46 And I want to go to the fifth, I want to go 53:48 to the last one here. 53:49 And let's look at this one. 53:51 #20, #20. I think God is happy. 53:56 I can hear Him. The Son of God is clapping outside. 53:59 I can hear Him out there saying, Yes! 54:03 He has a deep voice. 54:05 My mother used to say, Whenever you hear thunder, 54:07 God is moving His furniture around. 54:09 I didn't know that. I used to just run under the 54:13 table no matter what. 54:16 And I didn't like lightening, but now I could handle it. 54:20 My wife still calls me the cloud watcher, the cloud watcher. 54:23 Honey, we're in the Midwest; see those clouds? 54:25 Keep your eyes on the clouds. 54:28 Okay, here it is, #20. 54:38 What is it? Here it is: He says, 54:48 There are going to be a lot of folk in heaven 54:50 because they loved Jesus. 54:53 Notice, because they loved Jesus. 54:56 You've got to love Him before you keep His commandments. 55:00 Go quickly now to Isaiah. 55:03 I mean, sorry, to Exodus, Exodus. 55:06 Now we're going to look in the commandment itself. 55:09 We're going to look into the ten commandments themselves, 55:12 and see how this is amplified. 55:14 If you love Me, keep My commandments. 55:16 Look at this. Exodus 20. 55:21 Alright, and we're going to go ahead and look at verse 5. 55:30 Exodus 20:5, speaking of carved images, or graven images. 55:40 You shall not bow down to them, nor do what? serve them, 55:46 for I, the Lord your God am a what? jealous God, 55:52 visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children 55:57 to the third and fourth generation of those who do what? 56:01 Hey, notice the contrast? 56:03 If you love Me do what? keep My commandments. 56:06 But look at the contrast. 56:08 But showing mercy to thousands of those who do what? love Me 56:16 and what? keep My commandments. 56:18 That last part of verse 6 is almost identical to John 15. 56:21 If you love Me, do what? keep My commandments. 56:24 Who love Me and what? keep My commandments. 56:27 So this is not just a New Testament concept, 56:29 this is an Old... This is right in the commandments themselves. 56:32 Showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me 56:37 and keep My commandments. 56:38 So He says now, Jesus comes personified. 56:40 If you love Me, do what? Keep My commandments. 56:43 And sometimes people say, Well, that's a new, that's new. 56:46 No, it's not new. It was right in the commandments themselves. 56:49 Now let's look at the last part of it. 56:51 Go to Revelation 22, Revelation 22. 57:03 Revelation 22. Look at this. 57:06 This has got all capstone. 57:07 Revelation 22:14. Remember Psalm 1, Blessed is the man 57:11 that walketh, who meditates on God's law day and night. 57:14 Look at this one. If our obligation was ignored, 57:18 this would not be our benefit. 57:19 Blessed are those who do what? verse 14, do His commandments. 57:27 They are lived out in the Christian's life. 57:29 That they may have the right to the tree of life. 57:33 If you want to have the right one day? and may enter through 57:37 the gates what? into the city. 57:40 We've been singing about the city so long. 57:42 There's a land that is fairer than day. 57:44 We've been singing, In the sweet by and by. 57:46 We've been singing, Just over the mountain 57:48 in the promised land. 57:49 Friends, we all want to be in the promised land, 57:51 so if you love the Lord, your obligation to His commandments 57:55 would not be a burden. 57:56 The commandments are not burdensome. 57:58 But if it doesn't make sense, friend, continue by prayer, 58:01 studying God's word, and one day it will come 58:03 into A Sharper Focus. 58:05 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-05-17