Hello, Friends, grab
your Bible and a friend
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and sit back as we
explore God's word together
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on this edition
of "House Calls."
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Welcome to another
"House Calls" program.
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Today we are so thankful
that you've chosen to sit down.
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We know that some of you wait
for us to come into your home,
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into your heart,
into your business,
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maybe even into your church.
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So thank you, for
inviting John and John.
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And we're
excited to be here today.
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What about you,
John? We are. I am.
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It's always exciting to this,
very privileged thing we do,
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open up the word of God
and share truth. That's right.
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And so we want you to next--
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to sit down for
the next hour or so
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and get your
Bibles, get your pens,
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invite your
family, and your friends
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to join us in "House Calls"
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and expect the Lord to
do something wonderful.
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We have two new topics
that we're gonna be presenting--
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actually one on this program.
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But as you know your Bible
questions mean a lot to us.
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We'll tell you a little more
about that in just a moment.
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But before we go any further
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we always like to
begin with prayer.
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John? Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, we
again ask for your leading,
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your guiding hand here today.
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Draw near to us, we
pray with your Spirit
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and may we understand your word
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as we open to talk about
various topics and questions
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that are very
appropriate and important here
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in the day in which we live
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and also a topic we know that
is near and dear to your heart.
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So, Lord, we
submit thisprogram to you
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and ask for your
blessing here in Jesus name.
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Amen. Amen.
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And as you know your
questions are, let a moment ago
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by saying your Bible
questions make a difference.
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Now in my hand I have
a couple of snail mail.
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What is that mean nowadays
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I mean it was not sent by email,
but it was sent by post office.
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By a snail? By a snail.
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It got here eventually
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that's the way
we like to say it.
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Thank you, no
matter how you send
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those questions and
comments, we do appreciate them.
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So continue sending them.
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Well, I also got an email,
John, it was a dissertation.
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My wife said I bet you
it's about 20 pages long
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and it was 20 pages long.
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So let me give you a hint.
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I think we've
mentioned this before,
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but maybe some
people haven't caught it.
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When you send a
20 page dissertation
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we can't do anything with that,
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because there is
so information there
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we cannot distill that down.
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It will take up so much of
our time to put that together.
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So try to be very concise.
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Send a small line
either through email
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or a single piece
of paper like this
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and explain what
you like to answer
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and we will be glad to do that.
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But if you have any
questions or comments,
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here is the email
that you can send them to.
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Send those to
housecalls@3abn.org
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that's housecalls@3abn.org
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and we'll download those
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and do what we're gonna do
right now, get to the questions.
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Right, John, what we
have today? That's right.
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I've got a question here from--
we'll call him Mr. Parker,
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'cause he is a
parker. Mr. Parker, okay.
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Didn't give his first
name here, but great question.
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"I know the Bible says that
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Jesus was tempted in
all points like we are.
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I find it hard to believe
that He could ever be tempted
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to lie, steal, kill, or
commit sins of a sexual nature.
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What are your thoughts on this?"
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Okay. Great question.
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And so for answering this though
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we want to go to
Matthew Chapter 4.
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We'll spend sometime looking
at the temptation of Christ.
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Now we know throughout
His ministry here on earth
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that the devil was
always tempting Him.
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Trying to get Him off course,
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to deviated Him from His purpose
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as our Savior and our
Lord to become our redeemer.
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But this battle here that begins
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right after His
baptism in Matthew Chapter 3.
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We find this battle
in Matthew Chapter 4
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of being
tempted in a wilderness.
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We find some of the key
elements of temptation here,
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because we have to remember that
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temptation for the enemy
of any specific individual
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is a very specifically
tailored temptation.
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In other words it
takes into play the context,
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the time in which
that individual lives,
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their history and all the things
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that would give Satan
the maximum opportunity
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to get someone to
fall and to succumb,
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to yield to that temptation.
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And so he also tailored these
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specifically for
Jesus when He was here.
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Now, Jesus was not tempted
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with every specific
temptation that mankind has.
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But generally every area
of temptation Jesus conquered,
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He overcame in our behalf.
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And we can depend upon
Him for those temptations.
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And so we're
gonna cover in this here
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we'll see very clearly that
these three areas of temptation
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pretty much cover the
entire gamut of all temptations,
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specific
temptations for any of us,
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you and I, who face the enemy
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and the way he oppresses us
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with tempting us to
fall away from Christ.
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John, let's go to--
we're in Matthew Chapter 4,
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let's start with
Verse 1. All right.
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It says, "Then Jesus
was let up by the Spirit
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into the wilderness to
be tempted by the devil.
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And when He had
fasted 40 days and 40 nights
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afterward He was hungry."
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Now I can
imagine and I have gone
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a short period of
time without eating.
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Whenever we fast
it could be a day,
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could be two days,
it could be three days
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and, boy, I'll tell you, John,
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I am hungry after
just a day. Right.
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Can you imagine 40
days of not eating?
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No I wouldn't be--there
would be nothing of me left.
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Yes, both of us. Forty days.
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So you can imagine the
condition that Jesus is in here
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and so the temptation that
is about to come from the enemy
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really is he's going to
take advantage of where Jesus is
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as He is hungry, as
He is been deprived,
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and physically He's
worn-- mentally He's worn out.
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Satan is gonna try to use that
then to cause Him to succumb.
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And verse 3, it says,
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"Now when the
tempter came to Him
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he said, 'if you
are the Son of God
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command that these
stones become bread.'
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But He answered and
said" that is Jesus answered.
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"'it is written, man
shall not live by bread alone
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but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
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That is the first temptation.
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What Satan did was
look to tempt Christ
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using His physical needs.
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He had been deprive
of food for 40 days,
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He had been
spending that time fasting
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knowing that
temptation would come.
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And so the first
thing the enemy try to do
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was get Him to
perform a miracle for Himself
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to give Him His own necessities
even though God knew--
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Jesus knew that God did asked
Him to fast through this time.
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And so here we find
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the temptation
of a physical nature
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and that is anything that our
body feels physically it needs,
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You know, I would equate some
of this specific temptations
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under that category, John,
and you can help me with this,
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as in a desire for
foods that aren't good for us.
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Okay. Or even just food.
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Maybe we've made
a commitment to fast
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or to do something or to pray
and have that time close to God.
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He might tempt us
to do the same thing,
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to step in and kind of
fulfill or break that promise
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that oath that we made in
and eat food ourselves. Right.
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But more than
that, there are things
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that aren't good for us that
appeal to our physical nature.
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Remember, Jesus did not
have the propensity to sin.
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He did not have
the desire to sin.
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We have the desire to sin.
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And all these different things
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that appeal to
us on a small-scale
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really Jesus was
on a greater scale
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overcoming in our behalf.
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And other sins of this
nature would be sexual sins,
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temptations that were
mentioned by our gentleman
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that sent the question
in to lie, steal, kill,
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to get things that aren't ours
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to be hateful in our heart
and to look to kill somebody.
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These are physical
sins that we all face.
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John, I don't know if
you want to weigh in on that,
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but that is one major category
that Jesus then overcome,
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He overcame all these sins of
a physical nature in our behalf.
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Well, if you look at
the Bible you see that--
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and I like the
way you let into this.
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Sin is all in three categories.
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Every sin falls into one
of those three categories.
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The very first one you go back
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to the book of
Genesis Chapter 3.
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Let's not lose Matthew,
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because I like to
compare one with the other.
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But if you look
at Genesis Chapter 3
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one of the first
things that Satan did to Eve
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was tempt her with appetite.
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The woman, Genesis 3:6,
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"When the woman saw that
the tree was good for food."
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All right, the very
first wherein--here's the key,
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where Adam and Eve fail,
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Jesus was tempted
in the way same areas.
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So appetite was
the first temptation
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and if you were to broaden that
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people have all
kinds of appetites.
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Yeah, it's not just for food.
No, it's not just for food.
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Appetites for whatever,
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whatever would
satisfy a person's appetite
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that's why the Bible
says in the context of that
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if you hunger and thirst after
righteousness you'll be filled.
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Which means every other appetite
will never lead you to be filled
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it will lead you
down a road of addiction.
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So we have people
that are addicted to food.
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We have people that are
addicted to any kind of thing
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that will cause them to feel
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that by partaking of
this I'm being satisfied.
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So we this lack of satisfaction
because the first temptation
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that Satan comes to us
with is at least not the first,
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but one of the
three temptation is,
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I know exactly
what will satisfy you.
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I know what you
need. I know what you need.
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You are hungry right now.
I know you need some food.
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And what that
food may be to somebody
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may be a
cigarette that is the thing
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of the focal point of their
satisfaction, it could be--
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Desire for money.
Oh, whatever they feel--
00:10:05.23\00:10:08.14
Lust for pleasure of any
kind, I mean, there's a whole--
00:10:08.17\00:10:11.66
so many sins
within this category.
00:10:11.69\00:10:13.32
And including-- as the
person mentioned there,
00:10:13.35\00:10:17.17
they say that Jesus wasn't
tempted with sexual appetites.
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Well, how do we know that?
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He was tempted in
all points as we are
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and surely in
that age as in our age
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sensuality and sexuality
was an issue of all areas.
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Come on this is Rome, of course.
00:10:31.48\00:10:33.18
Right and you find even, even--
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I think there was a
book put out or movie put out
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not so long ago by this movie--
The temptation of Christ.
00:10:38.42\00:10:43.59
They even suggested
that showing that in that age
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where they pulling some of this
historical mumbo jumbo from--
00:10:46.33\00:10:50.27
and I use that, because
there's no fact to that.
00:10:50.30\00:10:52.66
But they are
making the allusions that,
00:10:52.69\00:10:55.00
"Hey, what if Jesus was tempted
in this particular area."
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He was tempted in all points.
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And so when you
look at appetite--
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let's go ahead
and narrow it down.
00:11:03.86\00:11:05.75
Whatever your appetite is
00:11:05.78\00:11:07.70
Satan will design the
temptation to come after you.
00:11:07.73\00:11:10.94
That's the key,
whatever that appetite is,
00:11:10.97\00:11:13.32
whether it's
physical, whether it's social,
00:11:13.35\00:11:16.40
whether it's
sexual, whether it's--
00:11:16.43\00:11:19.75
to some kind of substance abuse
00:11:19.78\00:11:21.87
whatever that
appetite is if it's not Christ
00:11:21.90\00:11:24.91
you'll continue
to hunger and thirst
00:11:24.94\00:11:27.32
and that will
become an addiction.
00:11:27.35\00:11:29.37
So that's the first thing.
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I want you to--you're
gonna go to the next one?
00:11:30.80\00:11:32.17
Yeah, the next one
here begins with verse 5,
00:11:32.20\00:11:35.38
"Then the devil took
Him up into the holy city,
00:11:35.41\00:11:37.27
sat him on a
pinnacle of the temple,
00:11:37.30\00:11:40.26
And saith unto him,
'If you are the Son of God
00:11:40.29\00:11:42.53
throw yourself
down, for it is written,
00:11:42.56\00:11:44.90
He shall give his
angels charge over you,
00:11:44.93\00:11:47.32
and in their hands
they shall bear you up,
00:11:47.35\00:11:48.93
lest you dash your
foot against a stone.'
00:11:48.96\00:11:51.85
Jesus said to him,
'It is written again,
00:11:51.88\00:11:54.14
You shall not temp
the Lord your God.'"
00:11:54.17\00:11:56.95
And here we find temptation--
00:11:56.98\00:11:58.77
and I don't know how you
qualify it or classified this.
00:11:58.80\00:12:00.83
I know preachers
have a different way
00:12:00.86\00:12:03.02
of each of this temptation
00:12:03.05\00:12:04.42
especially the
second and third one here.
00:12:04.45\00:12:06.23
But I see this as a
temptation of the mind
00:12:06.26\00:12:09.25
and some call it
temptation of presumption,
00:12:09.28\00:12:13.01
you know, assuming or presuming
that God is going to just,
00:12:13.04\00:12:17.51
you know, He'll
be fine, let this go,
00:12:17.54\00:12:20.43
let the mind
loosen up a little bit
00:12:20.46\00:12:22.47
and into these areas
whether they please God
00:12:22.50\00:12:25.12
or don't please God it
doesn't matter so much.
00:12:25.15\00:12:27.77
It's making the mind
lose in its understanding,
00:12:27.80\00:12:32.19
its obligation to
serve and to love God
00:12:32.22\00:12:34.56
with all our
heart and with our mind.
00:12:34.59\00:12:37.69
And so beyond
passions and appetite
00:12:37.72\00:12:40.54
we have this battle that
happens in the mind, John,
00:12:40.57\00:12:43.36
be loyal and faithful to
God and not presume on His mercy
00:12:43.39\00:12:48.93
that we can pretty much have
00:12:48.96\00:12:50.33
the liberty to
do whatever we want,
00:12:50.36\00:12:51.73
which we hear very much
today within Christendom.
00:12:51.76\00:12:54.71
Yeah, this second temptation--
00:12:54.74\00:12:56.54
and by the way I laid
the foundation a moment ago
00:12:56.57\00:12:58.41
as I'm building off
to what John pointed out.
00:12:58.44\00:13:01.26
This second temptation aligns
00:13:01.29\00:13:04.50
with the one that
Eve had to deal with.
00:13:04.53\00:13:07.70
First of all, she saw the food-
00:13:07.73\00:13:09.83
I'll just go ahead and read
it again in Genesis Chapter 3.
00:13:09.86\00:13:13.21
"So the woman saw that
the tree was good for food,
00:13:13.24\00:13:16.01
that it was
pleasant to the eye."
00:13:16.04\00:13:19.34
So the second one here--
00:13:19.37\00:13:20.74
you go to the second
temptation in Matthew Chapter 4.
00:13:20.77\00:13:27.69
They're not all in
necessarily the same order.
00:13:27.72\00:13:30.52
But you'll find
that when you look
00:13:30.55\00:13:32.30
at the three
categories in 1 John Chapter 2
00:13:32.33\00:13:34.94
and many of us don't
think about 1 John Chapter 2,
00:13:34.97\00:13:37.63
but you find
Genesis, Matthew and 1 John
00:13:37.66\00:13:41.16
outlines all three of
the categories of sin.
00:13:41.19\00:13:44.25
1 John Chapter 2 says this
"For all that is in the world"
00:13:44.28\00:13:48.67
1 John 2:16 "the
lust of the flesh,"
00:13:48.70\00:13:52.09
appetite, "the
lust of the eyes--"
00:13:52.12\00:13:55.47
The woman saw that the
tree was good for food.
00:13:55.50\00:13:58.27
You see, and then the
devil is now saying to Christ
00:13:58.30\00:14:00.78
and you'll find
that this category
00:14:00.81\00:14:03.79
will fall into the second area.
00:14:03.82\00:14:06.04
Also this area is presumption
00:14:06.07\00:14:09.77
when you lay that out
"the lust of the eyes,"
00:14:09.80\00:14:11.75
in other words I see what I want
00:14:11.78\00:14:14.03
and I don't think
that God will really mind
00:14:14.06\00:14:16.64
if I want to head and
went after it or went for it.
00:14:16.67\00:14:20.21
We start rationalizing.
We start rationalize.
00:14:20.24\00:14:21.88
And that's why say it's
really a mental battle here
00:14:21.91\00:14:23.78
with the second temptation.
00:14:23.81\00:14:25.56
It's good for-- I
mean, it looks fine.
00:14:25.59\00:14:27.71
It's something that pleases me.
00:14:27.74\00:14:29.68
You find that that's what
let us to Samson's downfall.
00:14:29.71\00:14:34.41
I found a woman.
She pleases me well.
00:14:34.44\00:14:38.30
Well, at that particular point
00:14:38.33\00:14:39.70
there was no kind of physical
connection, but he saw her.
00:14:39.73\00:14:41.93
She was beautiful.
Same thing happen to David.
00:14:41.96\00:14:44.71
He looked at that she
was beautiful to behold.
00:14:44.74\00:14:47.51
You see the same thing
00:14:47.54\00:14:48.91
"the lust of the eyes"
falls into this category.
00:14:48.94\00:14:51.98
So when you're
looking throughout the Bible,
00:14:52.01\00:14:53.38
every sin that was committed
was either lust of the flesh
00:14:53.41\00:14:57.70
then the lust of the eyes
and thirdly the pride of life.
00:14:57.73\00:15:00.72
And that's where the
third temptation's gonna go.
00:15:00.75\00:15:02.77
And you might even say
that probably sexual sins
00:15:02.80\00:15:07.24
fall into the second category
00:15:07.27\00:15:08.64
more than even
the first category,
00:15:08.67\00:15:10.04
'cause it comes
through the eyes,
00:15:10.07\00:15:11.50
the doorway into
the mind processing this
00:15:11.53\00:15:14.54
and then taking action.
00:15:14.57\00:15:16.84
And you know what,
the devil knew this.
00:15:16.87\00:15:18.95
He being a
fallen angel understood
00:15:18.98\00:15:24.94
that these temptations
that were presented to Eve
00:15:24.97\00:15:27.37
in the garden
caused her to fall.
00:15:27.40\00:15:30.50
So he said, wait a minute,
00:15:30.53\00:15:31.90
let me just keep
these categories together.
00:15:31.93\00:15:33.30
Which one, lust of the flesh,
lust of eyes, and pride of life.
00:15:33.33\00:15:36.15
And when you look
at the third temptation
00:15:36.18\00:15:37.99
this falls and--
read the third one
00:15:38.02\00:15:39.54
about Christ first
and then we'll go ahead
00:15:39.57\00:15:41.84
and see that how Genesis
and 1 John jumps right into that
00:15:41.87\00:15:45.96
and seals the description
00:15:45.99\00:15:48.58
of what this third
temptation really is all about.
00:15:48.61\00:15:51.17
Verse 8 from Matthew 4.
00:15:51.20\00:15:52.68
As you finish from
the-- the second one,
00:15:52.71\00:15:54.82
if you want to put that in there
and give it a categorization.
00:15:54.85\00:15:59.19
It is gratifying
the personal desires
00:15:59.22\00:16:03.39
inspite of the limitations
that God places on us.
00:16:03.42\00:16:07.63
You see, I need to
gratify these personal desires,
00:16:07.66\00:16:10.58
which is not just appetite,
but it goes to the next level.
00:16:10.61\00:16:14.23
These are the
things that I see I must do
00:16:14.26\00:16:16.21
and I know what God's word says,
00:16:16.24\00:16:17.96
but that's why the
devil is able to say.
00:16:17.99\00:16:20.39
Look it-- read
the second one again.
00:16:20.42\00:16:21.79
What did he say to Christ?
00:16:21.82\00:16:23.55
"Throw yourself
down." Don't worry about it.
00:16:23.58\00:16:26.69
He'll give His
angels charge over you.
00:16:26.72\00:16:28.91
He'll work it out as
one of the radio talk show
00:16:28.94\00:16:32.54
hosts on KGO radio
in San Francisco said
00:16:32.57\00:16:35.33
"It's better to
ask for forgiveness
00:16:35.36\00:16:37.77
than it is to
ask for permission."
00:16:37.80\00:16:39.76
Throw yourself down,
don't worry about it.
00:16:39.79\00:16:42.43
And so what--in essence
this is saying is, go for it.
00:16:42.46\00:16:46.78
And you have a lot
of people that says--
00:16:46.81\00:16:48.18
Just do it. Just do it.
00:16:48.21\00:16:49.58
Okay, there you go.
00:16:49.61\00:16:50.98
In the gambling halls, "Ah,
you have any more money left?
00:16:51.01\00:16:52.95
I'm gonna put it all on the
table, I'm gonna go for it."
00:16:52.98\00:16:54.84
They gratifying at that desire,
they just gonna go for it.
00:16:54.87\00:16:57.49
And if you look at
that in our world today
00:16:57.52\00:16:59.38
a lot of people go for it,
00:16:59.41\00:17:01.04
because they
ignore the limitations
00:17:01.07\00:17:02.88
that God has
placed for our own safety.
00:17:02.91\00:17:05.53
And that's what Satan is
trying to get Christ to do,
00:17:05.56\00:17:07.30
exceed the limitation.
00:17:07.33\00:17:08.70
There is almost
a graduation here
00:17:08.73\00:17:10.10
from the first to the second,
from the second of third here,
00:17:10.13\00:17:12.02
'cause the
appetite really comes first.
00:17:12.05\00:17:13.68
But if you go beyond
that then you really start
00:17:13.71\00:17:16.45
to get into the
based carnal nature
00:17:16.48\00:17:20.19
in fulfilling the
lust of the eyes as well.
00:17:20.22\00:17:22.37
And so he is saying to Christ
00:17:22.40\00:17:23.77
"You know you want it.
Just go ahead and do it.
00:17:23.80\00:17:26.42
God didn't
worry about it." Yeah.
00:17:26.45\00:17:28.86
Verse 8 "Again,
the devil took Him up
00:17:28.89\00:17:30.69
on an exceedingly high mountain,
00:17:30.72\00:17:32.43
and showed Him all the kingdoms
of the world and their glory.
00:17:32.46\00:17:35.85
And he said to
Him, 'All these things
00:17:35.88\00:17:37.25
I will give You if You
will fall down and worship me.'
00:17:37.28\00:17:40.17
Then Jesus said to
him, 'Away with you, Satan!
00:17:40.20\00:17:42.76
For it is written, "You
shall worship the Lord your God,
00:17:42.79\00:17:45.32
and Him only you shall serve."
00:17:45.35\00:17:47.53
Then the devil left
Him and behold angels came
00:17:47.56\00:17:50.36
and ministered to Him."
00:17:50.39\00:17:51.80
I praise the
Lord, that Jesus' story
00:17:51.83\00:17:53.94
is differently than
Eve's did because it says
00:17:53.97\00:17:56.98
"She took of
it's fruit and ate."
00:17:57.01\00:18:00.31
That's how successful Satan was.
00:18:00.34\00:18:02.34
And that, you
know, John, this is--
00:18:02.37\00:18:03.83
I'm glad we're not
rushing through this one,
00:18:03.86\00:18:06.13
because it's so good.
00:18:06.16\00:18:07.53
You see, people say
"Well, what if Jesus tempted
00:18:07.56\00:18:09.71
with cocaine or crack
cocaine or internet gambling
00:18:09.74\00:18:16.76
or whatever the case maybe?"
00:18:16.79\00:18:18.25
Each-- every sin that exist
00:18:18.28\00:18:20.61
falls into one of
these three categories.
00:18:20.64\00:18:22.81
That's how simple it is.
00:18:22.84\00:18:24.29
The third one here, "A tree
desirable to make one wise."
00:18:24.32\00:18:29.38
What did Satan say to
Christ under this third one?
00:18:29.41\00:18:32.99
I'm gonna show you
00:18:33.02\00:18:34.39
all the kingdoms of
the world and their glory.
00:18:34.42\00:18:36.79
And what this 1 John 2:15 say?
00:18:36.82\00:18:39.49
The third one the pride
of life, the pride of life.
00:18:39.52\00:18:45.51
And what happens nowadays is
00:18:45.54\00:18:47.37
the world is so busy
giving humanity accolade.
00:18:47.40\00:18:52.37
I'm so proud of
my accomplishments,
00:18:52.40\00:18:54.23
I'm proud of my academy award,
00:18:54.26\00:18:56.05
I'm proud of my Grammy award,
00:18:56.08\00:18:57.94
I'm pride of my Emmy award.
00:18:57.97\00:19:00.07
All the kingdoms of the world.
00:19:00.10\00:19:02.96
That's why it's so important--
00:19:02.99\00:19:04.66
and I mention
this as a musician.
00:19:04.69\00:19:06.66
I thought to
myself "How do you decide
00:19:06.69\00:19:08.56
what awards to
give Christian singers?"
00:19:08.59\00:19:11.87
Is it based on how many people
00:19:11.90\00:19:13.27
have come to Christ
through their songs?
00:19:13.30\00:19:14.72
And you got devil awards,
you got the Angel awards,
00:19:14.75\00:19:16.87
you got all these awards.
00:19:16.90\00:19:18.27
And sometimes we could
fall into the same trap
00:19:18.30\00:19:19.73
of going in the way the
world and we give these people--
00:19:19.76\00:19:22.25
"Oh, that was a best Christian
song produced all year long."
00:19:22.28\00:19:24.70
Well, what do you based that on?
00:19:24.73\00:19:26.79
How good it made me feel?
00:19:26.82\00:19:28.42
Was it the best
dance Christian song,
00:19:28.45\00:19:30.05
the best party Christian song
00:19:30.08\00:19:31.61
or did it lead more people
to give their life to Christ?
00:19:31.64\00:19:34.40
So be really careful.
00:19:34.43\00:19:35.84
Go ahead and register in
on that before I finish--
00:19:35.87\00:19:37.47
Well, I would also
say this is a shortcut
00:19:37.50\00:19:39.41
to what God will
ultimately fulfill in us
00:19:39.44\00:19:43.66
if we then are glorified.
00:19:43.69\00:19:45.30
If we stand fasten
are glorified in the end
00:19:45.33\00:19:47.13
when He comes to take us home.
00:19:47.16\00:19:48.78
This is a shortcut for
Christ to get the kingdom early.
00:19:48.81\00:19:53.33
And we live in an
I-want-it-all-now society.
00:19:53.36\00:19:56.55
You know, give it to me now
00:19:56.58\00:19:57.98
and the pride of
wanting that glorification now
00:19:58.01\00:20:02.12
is wrapped up
in this temptation.
00:20:02.15\00:20:04.94
And it really is a temptation
of a spiritual nature.
00:20:04.97\00:20:07.96
It's a desire
to be spiritually--
00:20:07.99\00:20:10.44
actually to receive
on a very temporary level
00:20:10.47\00:20:13.14
what spiritually will be
given to us later anyway.
00:20:13.17\00:20:15.60
We will reign
with Christ on thrones.
00:20:15.63\00:20:18.25
He's going to give us
00:20:18.28\00:20:19.76
everything we can
possibly imagine or desire.
00:20:19.79\00:20:22.21
But the devil was offering
to Jesus in advance earlier,
00:20:22.24\00:20:25.65
not having to go through
the trouble, the struggles.
00:20:25.68\00:20:28.50
And we find here many
temptations in life today
00:20:28.53\00:20:31.16
which really
boils down to pride.
00:20:31.19\00:20:33.08
That I want it all now,
00:20:33.11\00:20:34.91
I want to get this
now rather than waiting
00:20:34.94\00:20:38.37
for when Christ
says the time is right
00:20:38.40\00:20:40.91
and it's okay to give.
00:20:40.94\00:20:42.59
And this is the
category where we find that
00:20:42.62\00:20:44.49
it definitely infringes on
our connection with divinity,
00:20:44.62\00:20:47.33
because Satan says,
00:20:47.36\00:20:48.80
"All these things I'll
give you if you worship me."
00:20:48.83\00:20:51.93
When I did the series on
unclean spirits about the occult
00:20:51.96\00:20:54.80
and the entertainment industry
that is the whole thing.
00:20:54.83\00:20:57.78
The whole entertainment industry
is based on satanic worship,
00:20:57.81\00:21:02.17
because they want
the kingdoms of the world
00:21:02.20\00:21:04.08
and all of its glory.
00:21:04.11\00:21:06.56
He said, I'll give it to you.
00:21:06.59\00:21:07.98
And so we wonder how
could an awful singer
00:21:08.01\00:21:11.09
become so famous
practically overnight.
00:21:11.12\00:21:14.59
Because when you
hear phrases such as
00:21:14.62\00:21:16.77
I sold my soul to the devil
00:21:16.80\00:21:18.43
or I made a
contract with the devil
00:21:18.46\00:21:20.39
or I sold out to the devil.
00:21:20.42\00:21:22.31
You find these
phrases are really exactly
00:21:22.34\00:21:25.56
they're accepting the
offer that the devil made.
00:21:25.59\00:21:27.78
"I'll give you all this
but you got to worship me."
00:21:27.81\00:21:30.19
And that's why the
Lord says in 1 John 2:15
00:21:30.22\00:21:32.32
about the third temptation
"The lust of the flesh,
00:21:32.35\00:21:35.31
and the lust of the
eyes and the pride of life,"
00:21:35.34\00:21:36.81
the third one is
the pride of life
00:21:36.84\00:21:38.28
"is not of the
Father, but is of the world."
00:21:38.31\00:21:40.67
In verse 17 of 1 John 2
"And the world is passing away,
00:21:40.70\00:21:45.38
and the lust of
it but he who does
00:21:45.41\00:21:48.74
the will of God abides forever."
00:21:48.77\00:21:51.20
And so what is the will
of God in the satanic world?
00:21:51.23\00:21:54.65
They say not God's
will but my will be done.
00:21:54.68\00:21:58.50
In the Christian
world, not my will
00:21:58.53\00:22:00.39
but God's will be done.
00:22:00.42\00:22:01.95
That's right. It's a
difference altogether.
00:22:01.98\00:22:03.35
He who does the will
of God abides forever.
00:22:03.38\00:22:05.45
And so Satan says "Now,
what do you want to do, Eve?
00:22:05.48\00:22:07.75
Looks no, no, Eve,
I know what God says,
00:22:07.78\00:22:09.31
but what do you want to do?"
00:22:09.34\00:22:11.06
"Well, I want something to eat.
00:22:11.09\00:22:13.38
I want to have more knowledge
than I have right now,"
00:22:13.41\00:22:15.72
tree of the
knowledge of good and evil
00:22:15.75\00:22:17.16
"and I want to feel better about
myself," the pride of life.
00:22:17.19\00:22:20.87
See, and the world says
00:22:20.90\00:22:22.27
"Okay, I know you could
feel better about yourself.
00:22:22.30\00:22:23.89
What if I make you
a very popular person
00:22:23.92\00:22:26.23
and all your adoring
fans just worship you
00:22:26.26\00:22:28.47
when you step out on the stage."
00:22:28.50\00:22:29.87
And that's what we have
that today in our world.
00:22:29.90\00:22:32.01
Idols and we are
looking for more idols,
00:22:32.04\00:22:34.59
thus American Idol,
Dancing with the stars
00:22:34.62\00:22:38.57
all of this stuff, self worship,
00:22:38.60\00:22:40.96
they want to be
proud-fully given awards
00:22:40.99\00:22:44.86
and accolade by humanity,
00:22:44.89\00:22:46.53
when in fact you find that
00:22:46.56\00:22:48.65
when even John
was about to bow down
00:22:48.68\00:22:50.71
to an angel in Revelation 19:10.
00:22:50.74\00:22:54.46
The angel said, don't do that.
00:22:54.49\00:22:56.36
I'm of your fellow servant
and your brethren. Worship God.
00:22:56.39\00:23:01.31
And so human worship is what
a lot of people want nowadays.
00:23:01.41\00:23:04.35
So be careful.
00:23:04.38\00:23:05.75
Don't get arthritis by
patting yourself on the back.
00:23:05.78\00:23:08.96
So that was a really
good question by the way.
00:23:08.99\00:23:10.81
Yeah, i thought it
was great question.
00:23:10.84\00:23:12.21
I thought it was really good.
00:23:12.24\00:23:13.61
This is an amazing question
that somebody just sent in
00:23:13.64\00:23:15.83
and I like this because
it's a very good question
00:23:15.86\00:23:19.73
when you look at the Bible
about the phase "temple of God"
00:23:19.76\00:23:23.57
it could mean anywhere
from the literal temple of God
00:23:23.60\00:23:27.03
to the spiritual temple of God.
00:23:27.06\00:23:29.44
And this person went through--
00:23:29.47\00:23:30.86
did a wonderful
Bible study, thank you.
00:23:30.89\00:23:33.01
Let me see and I'll
give a first name here.
00:23:33.04\00:23:35.27
Thank you, so much.
00:23:35.30\00:23:36.77
Oh, by the way this is
from Delise Susan, thank you,
00:23:36.80\00:23:40.52
if you're watching us, Delise,
00:23:40.55\00:23:41.92
we appreciate
your question here.
00:23:41.95\00:23:45.18
They gave a number of
texts and the question really is
00:23:45.21\00:23:49.40
"I, my body is
the temple of God.
00:23:49.43\00:23:53.21
What exactly does this mean?
00:23:53.24\00:23:55.99
Because God works with
word pictures or similitudes,
00:23:56.02\00:24:00.72
the icons, so let
say Solomon's temple,
00:24:00.75\00:24:04.52
because it was the
most elaborate complete.
00:24:04.55\00:24:06.89
So in another words
what is the temple of God
00:24:06.92\00:24:09.19
as we look at the Bible?"
00:24:09.22\00:24:10.77
Well, I'm glad you mentioned
Solomon first of all here,
00:24:10.80\00:24:15.45
because when God
gave the instructions
00:24:15.48\00:24:18.27
to build the temple
00:24:18.30\00:24:19.67
that is today known
as Solomon's temple,
00:24:19.70\00:24:21.62
it was never intended to
be known as Solomon's temple,
00:24:21.65\00:24:25.48
it was to be
known as God's temple,
00:24:25.51\00:24:28.50
but Solomon took
the glory to himself.
00:24:28.53\00:24:31.21
And even still today
the glory still remains
00:24:31.24\00:24:33.88
the name Solomon is more
associated with that temple
00:24:33.91\00:24:36.51
that was built than God's name.
00:24:36.54\00:24:39.17
But you find here
very, very carefully
00:24:39.20\00:24:42.65
a couple of the passages
00:24:42.68\00:24:44.19
because I notice you
looking at the Book of Romans,
00:24:44.22\00:24:47.24
I mean, 1 Corinthians.
00:24:47.27\00:24:48.64
Let me read a
couple of those passages.
00:24:48.67\00:24:51.38
First of all, I'll
start with 1 Corinthians 3:16,
00:24:51.41\00:24:57.53
1 Corinthians 3:16
and then I'm gonna point
00:24:57.56\00:25:01.76
to a couple of
passages in the Bible
00:25:01.79\00:25:03.22
that really outline exactly
what that mean, all right.
00:25:03.25\00:25:07.81
1 Corinthians
3:16 "Do you not know
00:25:07.84\00:25:10.58
that you are the temple of God
00:25:10.61\00:25:12.89
and that the Spirit
of God dwells in you?
00:25:12.92\00:25:15.48
If anyone defiles
the temple of God,
00:25:15.51\00:25:17.62
God will destroy him; for
the temple of God is holy,
00:25:17.65\00:25:21.37
which temple you are?"
00:25:21.40\00:25:23.23
And then 1 Corinthians 6:19,
00:25:23.26\00:25:26.25
"Or do you not
know that your body
00:25:26.28\00:25:28.18
is the temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you,
00:25:28.21\00:25:30.40
whom you have from God
and you are not your own."
00:25:30.43\00:25:33.68
So that's 1
Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19.
00:25:33.71\00:25:39.37
But then let's go
to 2 Corinthians 6:16.
00:25:39.40\00:25:43.44
"And what agreement has
the temple of God with idols?
00:25:43.47\00:25:46.96
For you are the
temple of the living God;
00:25:46.99\00:25:48.96
as God has said,
'I will dwell in them,
00:25:48.99\00:25:53.47
and walk among
them; I will be their God,
00:25:53.50\00:25:56.82
and they shall be my people.'"
00:25:56.85\00:25:59.87
" I think you hit the
nail right on the head,
00:25:59.90\00:26:02.30
but the one that
I want to go ahead
00:26:02.33\00:26:03.71
and narrow it down to--
00:26:03.74\00:26:05.15
John, could you go to
Mark unless you already have.
00:26:05.18\00:26:08.51
Mark 14:58. I want you
to see this very carefully
00:26:08.54\00:26:12.61
and I'll go to John
2:19 to make it very clear.
00:26:12.64\00:26:18.13
Yes, the temple--
there was the physical temple
00:26:18.16\00:26:21.31
built to the glory of
God, there was the tabernacle
00:26:21.34\00:26:24.03
that was a temporary one as
the children of Israel travel
00:26:24.06\00:26:27.56
they would set it up
wherever they encamped,
00:26:27.59\00:26:30.41
that was the other temple
where God's glory was often seen
00:26:30.44\00:26:36.54
where God's glory was manifest
among the children of Israel.
00:26:36.57\00:26:40.77
Go ahead and read that one
00:26:40.80\00:26:42.17
and see what Jesus
says about the temple.
00:26:42.20\00:26:44.12
This clarifies it really well.
00:26:44.15\00:26:45.78
Which verse?
Mark 14? Mark 14:58.
00:26:45.81\00:26:51.62
Verse 58 "We heard him say,
00:26:51.65\00:26:54.05
'I will destroy this
temple that is made with hands,
00:26:54.08\00:26:56.94
and within three days
00:26:56.97\00:26:58.34
I will build another
made without hands.'" Okay.
00:26:58.37\00:27:01.61
So you notice what Jesus said
00:27:01.64\00:27:03.64
He was pointing to
temple at Jerusalem in Matthew
00:27:03.67\00:27:06.58
actually gives us details
because they were concerned
00:27:06.61\00:27:09.83
when Jesus said
"I'll destroy this temple
00:27:09.86\00:27:12.06
and in three days
I will raise it up."
00:27:12.09\00:27:13.65
They said, 'Don't you know
00:27:13.68\00:27:15.05
it took 40 years
to build this temple?
00:27:15.08\00:27:17.47
How you gonna do
it in three days"
00:27:17.50\00:27:19.44
And Marks makes it
very clear what he meant.
00:27:19.47\00:27:21.70
"I'll destroy this building,
this temple where you worship,
00:27:21.73\00:27:25.93
but in three days
I'll raise up another one
00:27:25.96\00:27:27.89
that's not made by hands."
00:27:27.92\00:27:29.84
And what in
fact had happened was
00:27:29.87\00:27:33.04
the temple at
that particular time
00:27:33.07\00:27:34.99
wasn't destroy it
was destroyed in 1870,
00:27:35.02\00:27:38.17
but they thought he
meant that building right there
00:27:38.20\00:27:40.88
and they said "How is
that gonna possibly happen?"
00:27:40.91\00:27:42.85
He made a very,
very clear the temple
00:27:42.88\00:27:44.74
that he's referring
to in the spiritual sense
00:27:44.77\00:27:48.88
is the physical body, all right.
00:27:48.91\00:27:51.65
And also John 2:19.
00:27:51.68\00:27:53.69
We read that one
very carefully here.
00:27:53.72\00:27:55.72
So when the Bible
speaks about the temple
00:27:55.75\00:27:57.92
and then, John, what
I like to cap this off
00:27:57.95\00:27:59.74
by doing is going
to Romans 12:1, 2.
00:27:59.77\00:28:02.18
Because not only is
your body the temple of God
00:28:02.21\00:28:04.63
but the references that you've
outlined here 1 Corinthian 6:19,
00:28:04.66\00:28:08.75
2 Corinthian 6:16
and 1 Corinthians 3:16.
00:28:08.78\00:28:11.89
Tells us not to
defile the temple of God
00:28:11.92\00:28:14.03
and that's an
entire study altogether--
00:28:14.06\00:28:16.90
from adornment to
health to what we do the body,
00:28:16.93\00:28:20.31
whether we abuse it or not
00:28:20.34\00:28:21.71
a number of
ways that discovered.
00:28:21.74\00:28:23.33
But I don't want to
go into all that today.
00:28:23.36\00:28:24.98
For John 2:19 I'll read this one
00:28:25.01\00:28:27.92
and then we'll cap it off
by reading Romans 12:1, 2,
00:28:27.95\00:28:31.33
actually what
should we do to the body?
00:28:31.36\00:28:33.52
Okay, John 2:19,
00:28:33.55\00:28:37.57
"Jesus answered
and said to them,
00:28:37.60\00:28:40.20
'Destroy this temple
00:28:40.23\00:28:41.60
and in three days
I will raise it up.'"
00:28:41.63\00:28:44.84
And you'll notice
the Jews said in verse 20
00:28:44.87\00:28:47.11
"It has taken 40
years to build this temple
00:28:47.14\00:28:48.94
and will you raise
it up in three days?"
00:28:48.97\00:28:51.45
But verse 21 says,
00:28:51.48\00:28:52.91
"But he was speaking of
the temple of His body."
00:28:52.94\00:28:57.67
So this is making very clear,
00:28:57.70\00:28:59.13
our bodies of the temple
of God and so Romans 12:1, 2,
00:28:59.16\00:29:02.18
John, what does Romans
12:1, 2 tell us, we should do?
00:29:02.21\00:29:05.09
And what did they
doing in the temples?
00:29:05.12\00:29:07.03
This verse makes it very,
very clear. Romans 12:1, 2.
00:29:07.06\00:29:10.44
"I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God,
00:29:10.47\00:29:13.00
that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice,
00:29:13.03\00:29:15.84
holy, acceptable to God,
00:29:15.87\00:29:17.26
which is your
reasonable service.
00:29:17.29\00:29:18.86
And do not be
conformed to this world,
00:29:18.89\00:29:20.78
but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind,
00:29:20.81\00:29:22.88
that you may prove what
is that good and acceptable
00:29:22.91\00:29:25.94
and perfect will
of God." Exactly.
00:29:25.97\00:29:27.94
So you find the
whole aspect of the temple,
00:29:27.97\00:29:30.87
the temple services
day-to-day, year-to-year,
00:29:30.90\00:29:33.76
month-to-month was all
about revealing the will of God.
00:29:33.79\00:29:37.97
The way we live our lives
00:29:38.00\00:29:39.37
and the things
we do with our body
00:29:39.40\00:29:40.93
reveals the will of God,
00:29:40.96\00:29:42.71
but when we honor our bodies,
00:29:42.74\00:29:45.27
we are able to prove what
is that good and acceptable
00:29:45.30\00:29:49.41
and perfect will of God
how do you do not defile,
00:29:49.44\00:29:52.90
how do you keep the
temple from being defiled,
00:29:52.93\00:29:55.49
don't follow the way
the world treats the body.
00:29:55.52\00:29:58.15
The world marks the body
up, plugs hole in the body,
00:29:58.18\00:30:01.59
paints it up, the
world abuses the body
00:30:01.62\00:30:04.84
and you can go dawn the list
and look at the many ways in,
00:30:04.87\00:30:06.93
I'm sure that you're intelligent
enough to discover that.
00:30:06.96\00:30:09.42
But your body is in
fact the temple of God,
00:30:09.45\00:30:11.62
how we treat this,
00:30:11.65\00:30:13.02
says whether
not we recognize Him
00:30:13.05\00:30:14.85
as the one who owns our body.
00:30:14.88\00:30:16.40
We are in fact
the temple of God.
00:30:16.43\00:30:18.47
And there is one other
aspect to it too that we--
00:30:18.50\00:30:20.71
we should not
overlook very quickly.
00:30:20.74\00:30:23.14
And that is in the
Book of Corinthians,
00:30:23.17\00:30:25.42
both of 1st and
2nd Book of Corinthians
00:30:25.45\00:30:27.15
speaking of the temple.
00:30:27.18\00:30:28.76
There was a greater is
another context to that. Sure.
00:30:28.79\00:30:32.27
Verse 9 of 1st
Corinthians 3 says,
00:30:32.30\00:30:35.11
"For you are
God's fellow workers,"
00:30:35.14\00:30:37.05
he's speaking of the
church. That's right.
00:30:37.08\00:30:39.13
"You are God's field,
you're God's building."
00:30:39.16\00:30:42.33
And then he goes a-- on
to talk about how that--
00:30:42.36\00:30:44.30
we each are individually
living stones of His Temple,
00:30:44.33\00:30:47.54
the Church, Christ
being the chief cornerstone.
00:30:47.57\00:30:51.09
So in the respect of
the body and the temple,
00:30:51.12\00:30:54.54
yes, it is as individually
but we make up a larger body
00:30:54.57\00:30:57.80
a larger temple with
Christ as the cornerstone
00:30:57.83\00:31:00.26
known the church. Right.
And notice, it's one church.
00:31:00.29\00:31:03.80
The reason I bring this up
00:31:03.83\00:31:05.20
is because we're gonna
segway to a topic. Okay.
00:31:05.23\00:31:08.02
Where within the
church we have to make sure
00:31:08.05\00:31:11.85
that we keep the building
together. Okay, very good--
00:31:11.88\00:31:14.78
A church that has all the
stones carefully put in place,
00:31:14.81\00:31:19.61
the devil will see that
and want to fracture it,
00:31:19.64\00:31:21.62
he'll want to take stones
and move them out of position
00:31:21.65\00:31:24.71
because if he can break
one stone out of the wall
00:31:24.74\00:31:27.02
what happens to
the stones above it?
00:31:27.05\00:31:28.81
Over time it starts to
break and it will crumble.
00:31:28.84\00:31:32.04
And Christ we know is the
foundation our cornerstone.
00:31:32.07\00:31:34.75
That's right. And He always
is the head of the church.
00:31:34.78\00:31:37.92
But we have to be
very careful not to allow
00:31:37.95\00:31:39.90
Satan to fracture this church.
00:31:39.93\00:31:42.64
And Christ has one church,
I mean, that is pretty clear.
00:31:42.67\00:31:44.96
Some people challenge this
and say you know why were they
00:31:44.99\00:31:48.00
so many
denominations in the world?
00:31:48.03\00:31:50.51
Well, we like to argue a lot
00:31:50.54\00:31:52.67
and we disagree and there
has been disagreement over time
00:31:52.70\00:31:55.24
but following history
00:31:55.27\00:31:57.00
you'll find that Christ
established-- reestablished
00:31:57.03\00:32:01.17
many of the
doctrines of the Bible
00:32:01.20\00:32:03.74
through the
Protestant Reformation
00:32:03.77\00:32:05.55
and the growing of that movement
00:32:05.58\00:32:07.37
and that movement has continued
to go right down through time.
00:32:07.40\00:32:10.37
And during that period of time
00:32:10.40\00:32:12.07
of growth of
Christ and His truth,
00:32:12.10\00:32:15.31
you'll find that
individual churches
00:32:15.34\00:32:18.66
took a specific
part of that growth,
00:32:18.69\00:32:21.39
that knowledge, that truth
and made entire denominations
00:32:21.42\00:32:24.51
and almost broke from the linear
00:32:24.54\00:32:27.01
progression of the Reformation
which would occur all the way
00:32:27.04\00:32:30.24
down till Christ
return. That's right.
00:32:30.27\00:32:32.12
And so these denominations
broke off at certain times
00:32:32.15\00:32:35.01
and they only went that far.
00:32:35.04\00:32:36.41
The fractured body.
It was a fractured body.
00:32:36.44\00:32:38.57
So even is in regard to truth
00:32:38.60\00:32:40.56
the body of truth
given to the church,
00:32:40.59\00:32:42.62
there was only one
church and he's been
00:32:42.65\00:32:44.25
restoring the
principles of truth
00:32:44.28\00:32:46.01
all the way down through time
00:32:46.04\00:32:47.61
and now we see all
these denominations
00:32:47.64\00:32:49.06
that started in
different ways in the past
00:32:49.09\00:32:52.04
and people say, "Well,
then it's not one body,
00:32:52.07\00:32:53.88
it's several bodies." It's not.
00:32:53.91\00:32:55.98
Biblically one body.
00:32:56.01\00:32:57.74
So we really need to be
asking ourselves first of all,
00:32:57.77\00:33:01.47
where is God's church?
00:33:01.50\00:33:03.52
Where is the
physical church, evident
00:33:03.55\00:33:06.11
and found in the world today,
00:33:06.14\00:33:08.27
that God still has with
Christ as the cornerstone
00:33:08.30\00:33:11.43
and believers acting as
His body making up the temple?
00:33:11.46\00:33:14.93
So that's where
we're gonna segway to our--
00:33:14.96\00:33:17.54
to our topic today
00:33:17.57\00:33:18.94
which is about the
unity of the church
00:33:18.97\00:33:20.71
or unity in the church.
00:33:20.74\00:33:22.21
That's cap this off
real quickly because
00:33:22.24\00:33:23.77
we're transitioning actually
here from our Bible questions...
00:33:23.80\00:33:26.32
To our topic in a very
good foundation you just laid,
00:33:26.35\00:33:28.91
but if you have
any questions about
00:33:28.94\00:33:30.31
anything we've talked about,
00:33:30.34\00:33:32.15
John just laid a wonderful
foundation about the topic
00:33:32.18\00:33:34.51
but if you have
any Bible questions
00:33:34.54\00:33:36.34
send those questions
to housecalls@3abn.org,
00:33:36.37\00:33:38.91
that's housecalls@3abn.org
and we appreciate
00:33:38.94\00:33:42.69
all the
questions, all the comments
00:33:42.72\00:33:44.56
and all the
support to this network.
00:33:44.59\00:33:47.98
Since you laid the foundation
dive in there with me.
00:33:48.01\00:33:50.23
I wanted to just dive in
without doing all the preamble
00:33:50.26\00:33:52.57
and the post-amble
stuff. You go for it.
00:33:52.60\00:33:58.15
Unity in the faith, this--
the fact that Christ has a body,
00:33:58.18\00:34:03.87
the Church on earth
makes Satan very angry.
00:34:03.90\00:34:07.53
Oh sure does.
00:34:07.56\00:34:08.93
He destroyed that
temple through the Romans
00:34:08.96\00:34:11.17
and their invasion of Jerusalem.
00:34:11.20\00:34:13.70
He doesn't like
the physical temple
00:34:13.73\00:34:15.10
just as he doesn't like
00:34:15.13\00:34:16.60
the temple of
Christ as His body.
00:34:16.63\00:34:20.06
And today he still
doesn't like the church. Right.
00:34:20.09\00:34:22.42
And he's coming after the
church with everything he's got.
00:34:22.45\00:34:25.71
The thing that he uses the most,
00:34:25.74\00:34:27.53
John, today is division,
is to divide and conquer.
00:34:27.56\00:34:34.08
This has been known
by General's, by leaders
00:34:34.11\00:34:37.16
in military
campaigns for millennia
00:34:37.19\00:34:40.58
that if you can
divide and fracture that army
00:34:40.61\00:34:44.32
that you are going up
against, you will conquer it.
00:34:44.35\00:34:46.73
And so Satan is
looking to divide,
00:34:46.76\00:34:48.79
to fracture within the church.
00:34:48.82\00:34:50.81
Now we're not talking about
fracture amongst denominations.
00:34:50.84\00:34:53.36
I believe that, he
has had some success,
00:34:53.39\00:34:55.12
success there in the
past leading up to today.
00:34:55.15\00:34:57.84
But within
Christ's church today,
00:34:57.87\00:34:59.74
His visible church today,
we need to be very careful
00:34:59.77\00:35:03.25
that he doesn't
get in and divide us
00:35:03.28\00:35:06.46
from the
purpose, from the mission
00:35:06.49\00:35:07.95
that God has
given us to do. Right.
00:35:07.98\00:35:09.80
And so the Bible
gives lots of counsel.
00:35:09.83\00:35:12.46
Paul especially
weighs in on this, Christ--
00:35:12.49\00:35:14.64
we'll read some of
Christ's words as well.
00:35:14.67\00:35:16.45
But Paul over and over
again comes back to this
00:35:16.48\00:35:19.33
not letting
divisions coming among us,
00:35:19.36\00:35:21.29
contentions, jealousies, things
that will fracture us apart.
00:35:21.32\00:35:25.23
And I want to
springboard off of one text
00:35:25.26\00:35:27.69
that is found in
the Epistle of Peter,
00:35:27.72\00:35:29.94
1 Peter Chapter 4,
00:35:29.97\00:35:31.51
that I think kind of
lays a good foundation
00:35:31.54\00:35:33.50
for the groundwork of
what we're talking about
00:35:33.53\00:35:36.09
as our primary mission here
is a church in staying together.
00:35:36.12\00:35:40.08
And let me read here 1
Peter 4:8-10. All right.
00:35:40.11\00:35:45.27
"And above all
things", by the way,
00:35:45.30\00:35:48.16
what does that
mean, above all things?
00:35:48.19\00:35:50.67
Anything that you focus
on make this the priority.
00:35:50.70\00:35:53.42
This is the
priority, this is first place,
00:35:53.45\00:35:56.08
"Above all things have
fervent love for one another,
00:35:56.11\00:36:00.11
for love will cover a
multitude of sins." Sins.
00:36:00.14\00:36:04.90
"Be hospitable to one
another without grumbling
00:36:04.93\00:36:08.43
as each one has received a
gift minister it to one another
00:36:08.46\00:36:11.33
as good stewards of
the manifold grace of God."
00:36:11.36\00:36:14.88
The reason I bring this text
up as our springboard is because
00:36:14.91\00:36:17.69
I think it's the primary area,
00:36:17.72\00:36:19.71
the focus area
that we lose sight of.
00:36:19.74\00:36:23.02
Now, I understand Christ
is the head of the church.
00:36:23.05\00:36:24.89
We need focus on Him.
00:36:24.92\00:36:26.30
But Christ is love,
He is the God of love
00:36:26.33\00:36:29.32
and His--His--the greatest
power in this world is love
00:36:29.35\00:36:33.81
between us and Him
and love for one another.
00:36:33.84\00:36:36.70
And he says, above all things,
00:36:36.73\00:36:38.39
Peter's saying, love one
another elsewhere you'll find
00:36:38.42\00:36:42.61
that they will know you
by your love for one another.
00:36:42.64\00:36:45.63
If they look at the
church and your divisive
00:36:45.66\00:36:47.98
and your
grumbling against each other
00:36:48.01\00:36:49.86
and you can't get along,
00:36:49.89\00:36:51.51
Christ does not dwell
there, that is a fact.
00:36:51.54\00:36:54.36
And so let's look
at this obligation
00:36:54.39\00:36:58.28
that we've been given to
00:36:58.31\00:36:59.68
above all things
to love one another
00:36:59.71\00:37:02.07
and not allow various things
00:37:02.10\00:37:05.02
to kind of
coming in and to divide
00:37:05.05\00:37:06.88
and so Satan
can't kind of come in
00:37:06.91\00:37:08.96
and begin to conquer
His church from within.
00:37:08.99\00:37:12.41
I mean, why wouldn't,
Satan want to come and divide.
00:37:12.44\00:37:14.64
That's the way you
conquer, divide and conquer.
00:37:14.67\00:37:18.88
If I can find a way to get in
00:37:18.91\00:37:20.93
that's why when you think
of the concert of the sheep
00:37:20.96\00:37:23.79
I heard that one of the
things that sheep are known for
00:37:23.82\00:37:27.74
whenever they sense that danger
is nearby the press together,
00:37:27.77\00:37:32.64
so that if a wolf
jumps into the fold,
00:37:32.67\00:37:34.89
or tries to get into the fold
00:37:34.92\00:37:36.46
their backs us so
pressed tightly together
00:37:36.49\00:37:38.74
that when he jumps he--
the wolf never hits the ground
00:37:38.77\00:37:41.26
or whatever the animal
maybe, never hits the ground.
00:37:41.29\00:37:43.81
He runs across their
backs like a flat platform
00:37:43.84\00:37:46.43
and out the
other side of the fold,
00:37:46.46\00:37:48.32
he is never allowed to get in.
00:37:48.35\00:37:49.72
That's why you
find, when shepherds know
00:37:49.75\00:37:53.67
that there's a
possible danger nearby
00:37:53.70\00:37:56.32
they corral
their sheep together.
00:37:56.35\00:37:58.88
That's what the whole purpose
of they gather them together
00:37:58.91\00:38:01.21
and the natural
instinct of the sheep
00:38:01.24\00:38:02.99
is to press
agains the other sheep,
00:38:03.02\00:38:04.65
that's why when-- if the devil
could separate from the fold
00:38:04.68\00:38:08.51
one of the sheep no
longer under the guidance
00:38:08.54\00:38:11.18
and protection of Shepherd
then he's fractured the church.
00:38:11.21\00:38:14.82
You find Paul's
words here that supports
00:38:14.85\00:38:18.20
that so carefully
in Ephesians 4:4-6.
00:38:18.23\00:38:22.67
You may be covering that
here. Let me peak in here.
00:38:22.70\00:38:25.70
Okay, good, I found
one that's on this list.
00:38:25.73\00:38:28.90
There is one
body and one Spirit.
00:38:28.93\00:38:32.93
Notice, one body,
00:38:32.96\00:38:34.74
just as you will called
and one hope of your calling,
00:38:34.77\00:38:39.01
one Lord, one
faith, one baptism,
00:38:39.04\00:38:42.90
one God and father
above-- father of all
00:38:42.93\00:38:46.19
who's above all and
through all and in you all
00:38:46.22\00:38:49.20
and thus the term
the temple in us all.
00:38:49.23\00:38:52.08
So one, one, one, one, one
and Jesus and John 10:16 says,
00:38:52.11\00:38:56.14
other sheep I have
that are not of this fold
00:38:56.17\00:38:58.64
them also I must bring
and they will hear my voice
00:38:58.67\00:39:00.85
and they will be one
fold, one shepherd. Right.
00:39:00.88\00:39:04.35
But so much has happened
'cause when he go back, John,
00:39:04.38\00:39:06.57
and I think you mentioned this,
00:39:06.60\00:39:08.27
in the Bible
days there were the--
00:39:08.30\00:39:11.65
there was the--
the Jews and Greeks
00:39:11.68\00:39:14.38
or the Jews and
Gentiles to be more specific
00:39:14.41\00:39:17.28
and as the
church continued to grow
00:39:17.31\00:39:18.94
you had a phrase
called proselytize,
00:39:18.97\00:39:21.93
which was in
other words converts.
00:39:21.96\00:39:24.21
So those were converts he
had those who were converse
00:39:24.24\00:39:27.10
and those who were not converts,
those who accepted the message
00:39:27.13\00:39:30.40
and those who
didn't accept the message.
00:39:30.43\00:39:32.31
Then there was only
truth and there were
00:39:32.34\00:39:35.53
there were no
multiple denominations
00:39:35.56\00:39:38.07
like there is today.
00:39:38.10\00:39:39.59
What happened is during the time
00:39:39.62\00:39:41.45
of the development
of the seven churches
00:39:41.48\00:39:43.98
you find during the
Protestant Reformation
00:39:44.01\00:39:47.56
primarily the age of
darkness, that many people
00:39:47.59\00:39:51.22
that came out of
the church of Rome
00:39:51.25\00:39:54.44
started a
movement back to the Bible
00:39:54.47\00:39:56.85
and then their names were used
00:39:56.88\00:39:58.81
to start different denomination
by Martin Luther, Lutherans.
00:39:58.84\00:40:02.96
We have Calvins, Zwingli, Hus,
Von, Wycliffe, or Calvinism,
00:40:02.99\00:40:06.81
you had--that came out of
a particular area of believe.
00:40:06.84\00:40:10.15
And now we get down to today
00:40:10.18\00:40:12.02
where the church is
kind of like a box of cereal,
00:40:12.05\00:40:15.79
pick the kind you like,
rather than focusing on--
00:40:15.82\00:40:19.13
and I like this
rather than focusing on
00:40:19.16\00:40:21.33
instead of just
ecumenical unity.
00:40:21.36\00:40:24.02
Finding God's oneness in
His church on this earth.
00:40:24.05\00:40:28.13
So the truth of God's of words
where he wants us to unified
00:40:28.16\00:40:30.49
not on the basis
of what do you like,
00:40:30.52\00:40:33.39
what you like, okay,
let's get together on that.
00:40:33.42\00:40:35.59
Yeah and what-- what
we're talking about here,
00:40:35.62\00:40:37.64
when we talked about
unity is not unifying
00:40:37.67\00:40:40.08
all these denominations.
00:40:40.11\00:40:41.51
We're not talking
about an ecumenical movement.
00:40:41.54\00:40:42.95
We're talking about
within Christ's church
00:40:42.98\00:40:46.06
which agrees on truth
00:40:46.09\00:40:48.63
there needs to be
sticking together,
00:40:48.66\00:40:50.83
a unified focus on the mission
the Christ has given His church.
00:40:50.86\00:40:54.60
Now I bring this topic
up just give some foundation
00:40:54.63\00:40:57.82
because this is not
unique to any denomination,
00:40:57.85\00:41:03.53
but Adventist as well
have individuals within it
00:41:03.56\00:41:08.06
the look to emphasize one thing
00:41:08.09\00:41:10.51
that they have decided
to champion over another.
00:41:10.54\00:41:14.20
And or sometimes maybe
choose a specific issue
00:41:14.23\00:41:19.00
or lifestyle or something
that they overemphasize.
00:41:19.03\00:41:22.93
And I saw
overemphasize because I believe
00:41:22.96\00:41:24.49
where is an
overemphasis sometimes
00:41:24.52\00:41:25.89
because it's to the exclusion
of much of the body at times.
00:41:25.92\00:41:28.78
It becomes the focal point.
00:41:28.81\00:41:30.18
Becomes the focal point
that it becomes judgmental
00:41:30.21\00:41:33.56
and begins to
fracture the church
00:41:33.59\00:41:36.08
to the point where even recently
00:41:36.11\00:41:38.57
and we've had ages of
this that have come through,
00:41:38.60\00:41:41.88
different
doctrines and focal points
00:41:41.91\00:41:43.45
that have come through.
00:41:43.48\00:41:44.85
What people would say
if you don't believe my way
00:41:44.88\00:41:47.13
you'll be lost. Right.
00:41:47.16\00:41:49.68
And then that begins to
fracture even more you know,
00:41:49.71\00:41:52.13
their doctrine, their lifestyle,
their way becomes the only way
00:41:52.16\00:41:57.64
and that's not what
the Bible ever taught.
00:41:57.67\00:42:00.59
The Bible taught unity
00:42:00.62\00:42:01.99
and if there is no
unity within the church,
00:42:02.02\00:42:05.45
God's church is crippled
00:42:05.48\00:42:08.15
from accomplishing
its mission. That's right.
00:42:08.18\00:42:10.64
And so the
greatest about all things
00:42:10.67\00:42:12.58
to have love for one another
00:42:12.61\00:42:14.13
and to stay one together
treating each other with love
00:42:14.16\00:42:17.98
and respect and kindness,
00:42:18.01\00:42:19.38
not
criticizing, not complaining,
00:42:19.41\00:42:21.66
not gossiping about each other
00:42:21.69\00:42:23.33
which is just too
frequently happing today. Right.
00:42:23.36\00:42:26.41
And there is a
blindness here, people do this.
00:42:26.44\00:42:29.56
You know, they criticize
00:42:29.59\00:42:30.99
the pastor at
home after the sermon.
00:42:31.02\00:42:32.80
Yeah, they have him for lunch.
They have him for lunch, yeah.
00:42:32.83\00:42:36.27
They criticism
him, they chew his up.
00:42:36.30\00:42:38.66
Or this person and that person
00:42:38.69\00:42:40.06
talking about, this
person, that person.
00:42:40.09\00:42:41.46
And they claim
self-righteousness,
00:42:41.49\00:42:42.86
righteous
indignation and doing that,
00:42:42.89\00:42:44.38
when in fact it
divides the body. Right.
00:42:44.41\00:42:47.29
And that is what
Satan wants to do.
00:42:47.32\00:42:49.08
They are being used by the enemy
and they call it righteousness.
00:42:49.11\00:42:53.66
We can't let that happen,
we've got to stick together.
00:42:53.69\00:42:56.78
That's right.
00:42:56.81\00:42:59.44
The very essence of
the presence of Christ
00:42:59.47\00:43:03.50
in and amongst
His people is unity.
00:43:03.53\00:43:06.27
I find it to be a timestamp
or a watermark of the world.
00:43:06.30\00:43:13.55
That's why we have in the world
00:43:13.58\00:43:15.31
and world uses
the same principle.
00:43:15.34\00:43:17.08
But the difference between
the world and the church is,
00:43:17.11\00:43:19.31
the devil is not fighting
00:43:19.34\00:43:21.00
to separate
world from the world.
00:43:21.03\00:43:23.10
The devil is glad
00:43:23.13\00:43:24.77
that the world can all
agree on certain things,
00:43:24.80\00:43:27.76
so you'll have 60,000 people--
00:43:27.79\00:43:31.18
I'm maybe over exaggerating
in football stadium,
00:43:31.21\00:43:33.80
I don't know if
there are any that big.
00:43:33.83\00:43:35.53
But 30,000 people 40,000
people in a football stadium.
00:43:35.56\00:43:39.10
They are all
there for one reason,
00:43:39.13\00:43:40.50
we're all here to
see the football game.
00:43:40.53\00:43:42.91
The one thing we may differ on
is what team we like to support,
00:43:42.94\00:43:46.08
but we all have one
passion in common, football.
00:43:46.11\00:43:49.22
And we are screaming fans,
00:43:49.25\00:43:50.69
we are united, we
are excited about it.
00:43:50.72\00:43:53.76
Here when it comes to the
church that the element there
00:43:53.79\00:43:56.07
that the devil
works on to keep us
00:43:56.10\00:43:58.96
separated are our
own personal likes,
00:43:58.99\00:44:02.08
our own personal
dislikes, our hobby-horse,
00:44:02.11\00:44:05.73
and if I could use that phrase.
00:44:05.76\00:44:07.59
When you look at John 17,
00:44:07.62\00:44:09.92
Jesus understood
that human nature would be
00:44:09.95\00:44:11.92
very much a part of
the division in the church.
00:44:11.95\00:44:14.74
And you look at even
amongst the workers of Christ,
00:44:14.77\00:44:17.89
you had Paul, you had Barnabas,
00:44:17.92\00:44:21.74
you had Mark, you had John,
00:44:21.77\00:44:25.97
you had all these who are part
of the New Testament church.
00:44:26.00\00:44:29.35
And sometimes division
rose up among the workers.
00:44:29.38\00:44:34.46
And I remember one particular
00:44:34.49\00:44:36.76
where there was a
disagreement among the apostles
00:44:36.79\00:44:39.61
and one statement
was "Bring Mark with you"
00:44:39.64\00:44:42.99
and Paul says
"No, I don't want to,
00:44:43.02\00:44:44.40
don't bring him with
you, we can't get along."
00:44:44.43\00:44:47.28
And they went
their separate ways
00:44:47.31\00:44:48.73
in one work in this field
and one work in that field,
00:44:48.76\00:44:50.86
but as time went on
they got back together.
00:44:50.89\00:44:52.55
Came back
together. That's right.
00:44:52.58\00:44:53.95
See so, it's not only unusual
00:44:53.98\00:44:56.17
for there to be
sometimes a division that
00:44:56.20\00:44:58.93
you need to give people room
00:44:58.96\00:45:01.15
for this
resolution to be realized.
00:45:01.18\00:45:04.36
But we should seek
resolution, because Paul says,
00:45:04.39\00:45:07.14
"As far as it is
possible with you,
00:45:07.17\00:45:09.87
be at peace with all men." Yeah.
00:45:09.90\00:45:11.68
That's a very significant part.
00:45:11.71\00:45:13.08
I like the verse you
brought up, Ephesians Chapter 4
00:45:13.11\00:45:15.43
because there definitely
is something there beyond
00:45:15.46\00:45:19.95
just a cursory reading of this.
00:45:19.98\00:45:22.36
We have certain pillars of
the faith that are important.
00:45:22.39\00:45:26.73
You know, when you are
talking about having one,
00:45:26.76\00:45:30.79
"one body, one
spirit, one hope, one Lord,
00:45:30.82\00:45:33.07
one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all."
00:45:33.10\00:45:36.29
You know they are
our pillars of our faith,
00:45:36.32\00:45:38.88
pillar teachings of the Church.
00:45:38.91\00:45:40.86
Christ is the head,
faith, justification,
00:45:40.89\00:45:43.38
sanctification,
the Ten Commandments,
00:45:43.41\00:45:45.37
the law of the God is
the foundation for our truth.
00:45:45.40\00:45:47.94
And you know, even the Sabbath
00:45:47.97\00:45:50.37
as a commandment
comes into play there.
00:45:50.40\00:45:52.50
But beyond that
there are other teachings
00:45:52.53\00:45:54.61
in prophecy and things
00:45:54.64\00:45:56.33
that we don't all
have to agree on. Right.
00:45:56.36\00:45:59.93
We don't have to agree
on those things to be one.
00:45:59.96\00:46:02.77
It's the pillars
that we must agree on.
00:46:02.80\00:46:04.94
You can't say, I want to be
part of the Adventist Church,
00:46:04.97\00:46:06.94
but I don't believe
Christ was the Messiah,
00:46:06.97\00:46:08.57
it doesn't work. Right.
00:46:08.60\00:46:10.05
Because, He is a key
pillar of our faith. The Rock.
00:46:10.08\00:46:13.16
He is the rock. And the stone.
00:46:13.19\00:46:15.25
But there are things
we get off on in tangents
00:46:15.28\00:46:17.76
and then we get
upset of each other. Right.
00:46:17.79\00:46:20.52
And I want to just go
through various texts here
00:46:20.55\00:46:24.29
to kind of show that Paul
was dealing with the church
00:46:24.32\00:46:27.63
that divided many times.
00:46:27.66\00:46:29.79
And he was like a father,
00:46:29.82\00:46:31.19
constantly trying to
keep his kids together.
00:46:31.22\00:46:34.05
And we need to take up the
mantra of unity in the faith
00:46:34.08\00:46:37.11
and keep us together.
00:46:37.14\00:46:38.51
You know, right now
my mind is going nuts.
00:46:38.54\00:46:39.91
You've given me
so many examples.
00:46:39.94\00:46:41.31
But go ahead and--
No, no, go. No let's see.
00:46:41.34\00:46:43.61
When you think of children
somebody asked my wife and I--
00:46:43.64\00:46:46.35
we don't have any
physical children of our own.
00:46:46.38\00:46:48.29
But people always ask
the question after about
00:46:48.32\00:46:49.85
29, 30 years of marriage.
Do you have any children?
00:46:49.88\00:46:52.32
We say no, but we
have lot of sheep.
00:46:52.35\00:46:54.27
And then you
think of that phrase
00:46:54.30\00:46:56.35
in the Book of Isaiah 53,
00:46:56.38\00:46:57.75
"All we like
sheep have gone astray."
00:46:57.78\00:47:00.93
How did that happen?
00:47:00.96\00:47:02.33
Each one have
turn to our own way.
00:47:02.36\00:47:04.77
And that is in fact--
00:47:04.80\00:47:06.27
human nature tends
to bring in our own way.
00:47:06.30\00:47:09.02
While I like only hymns,
while I like only praise songs.
00:47:09.05\00:47:14.74
And the peacemaker
say, "well let's do hymns
00:47:14.77\00:47:17.15
and praise
song." You see. Right.
00:47:17.18\00:47:19.78
Well, please
don't ever bring a drum.
00:47:19.81\00:47:22.39
Oh, in our culture
drums are acceptable.
00:47:22.42\00:47:25.03
Well, we go to bring the bongo.
00:47:25.06\00:47:27.61
You get my point? Yeah.
00:47:27.64\00:47:29.04
Let's not raise our hands,
00:47:29.07\00:47:30.62
let's raise our
hands by God's grace,
00:47:30.65\00:47:33.00
don't move your
hands at all, amen.
00:47:33.03\00:47:35.44
Did you say amen? You
know, I love peacemakers.
00:47:35.47\00:47:39.09
And the peacemaker
says, "Can we approve
00:47:39.12\00:47:41.19
at the next board
meeting the phrase
00:47:41.22\00:47:43.10
'praise the Lord' so
that our church could use it."
00:47:43.13\00:47:46.39
And that sounds cynical
00:47:46.42\00:47:47.96
but really these
are the idiosyncrasies
00:47:47.99\00:47:51.00
that the church
deals with and they forget
00:47:51.03\00:47:54.08
that the most important
thing is uplifting Jesus.
00:47:54.11\00:47:57.59
You see, that's what you
were just saying a moment ago.
00:47:57.62\00:47:59.09
That's why my mind
was going crazy on that.
00:47:59.12\00:48:00.97
I want to give a just
an example here if I could.
00:48:01.00\00:48:03.06
We maybe step on
some toes in this program.
00:48:03.09\00:48:05.05
It looks like it may
extended two programs actually,
00:48:05.08\00:48:07.00
because I look our time
is slipping away from us
00:48:07.03\00:48:08.96
but--The history of the
Adventist church has been--
00:48:08.99\00:48:14.72
you'll find
culturally and how it worships,
00:48:14.75\00:48:18.36
fairly, fairly
traditional. Right.
00:48:18.39\00:48:21.54
You know. I wouldn't
say-- I would say, in some ranks
00:48:21.57\00:48:26.22
it's very formal
and that's traditional.
00:48:26.25\00:48:29.80
But other times
it's very--- Diverse.
00:48:29.83\00:48:34.31
Diverse, but still
traditional really. Right.
00:48:34.34\00:48:37.15
Compared to what
you see out there.
00:48:37.18\00:48:38.55
Well, remember when the whole--
00:48:38.58\00:48:41.72
what they thought
was the charismatic---
00:48:41.75\00:48:44.85
Yeah. Praise, what is the word?
00:48:44.88\00:48:47.70
Celebration.
Celebration movement came in.
00:48:47.73\00:48:50.90
I heard just a debate
after debate among circles,
00:48:50.93\00:48:53.70
what it was
going to do, remember?
00:48:53.73\00:48:55.10
What it was
gonna do to the church?
00:48:55.13\00:48:56.50
The Adventist hot potato--
It was gonna destroy the church
00:48:56.53\00:48:58.56
and do this to the church.
00:48:58.59\00:48:59.96
And they will go after this
00:48:59.99\00:49:01.36
and it will
become like the world.
00:49:01.39\00:49:02.99
Let me tell you, you
know, it didn't happen. No.
00:49:03.02\00:49:05.52
It was a bunch of hot air,
it never happen, you know why?
00:49:05.55\00:49:08.88
That's not us. Right.
00:49:08.91\00:49:11.16
We may have some branches
that are little more charismatic
00:49:11.19\00:49:14.69
and different and diverse,
00:49:14.72\00:49:16.87
but celebration
and what people said
00:49:16.90\00:49:19.41
it would do
never happened. Right.
00:49:19.44\00:49:21.38
Because the faith
that we have we been given,
00:49:21.41\00:49:26.11
has meat on it,
has structure in it,
00:49:26.14\00:49:27.51
it keeps us together, it
keeps us on a specific road
00:49:27.54\00:49:30.89
heading one direction.
00:49:30.92\00:49:32.29
We blow things out
of proportion sometimes,
00:49:32.32\00:49:34.34
we fight and argue about
it, and the Lord sits back.
00:49:34.37\00:49:36.30
You can image Him
sitting back and going.
00:49:36.33\00:49:38.34
"Oh, boy, here we go
again." Right, and it does.
00:49:38.37\00:49:42.89
But here's where I get
to the point I want to make.
00:49:42.92\00:49:45.99
My answer these
days to lot of things is,
00:49:46.02\00:49:48.20
don't you think Christ
can take care of His church?
00:49:48.23\00:49:51.04
That's right, He can.
Isn't He the head of His church?
00:49:51.07\00:49:52.97
Don't you think He can
take care of His church?
00:49:53.00\00:49:55.38
You know, the next word is?
00:49:55.41\00:49:56.78
But--but we need to--"
No, it's not Christ and us.
00:49:56.81\00:50:02.19
Jesus takes care of His church.
He will take care of the issue.
00:50:02.22\00:50:06.12
Yes, if some issue comes up
that's needs to be discussed
00:50:06.15\00:50:09.10
we need to have a good
place to dialogue about things.
00:50:09.13\00:50:12.79
But we need to do it
with respect and kindness
00:50:12.82\00:50:14.84
toward each
other, love one another,
00:50:14.87\00:50:16.78
these various texts we're
gonna cover in this program
00:50:16.81\00:50:18.66
and next program I'll tell you
00:50:18.69\00:50:20.86
it's not treating
each other this way,
00:50:20.89\00:50:23.00
unless we have a
challenging issue.
00:50:23.03\00:50:25.89
Paul was saying in the
midst of your challenge
00:50:25.92\00:50:27.67
treat each other this
way. We need to stick together.
00:50:27.70\00:50:30.58
We need to love each
other, and care for each other
00:50:30.61\00:50:32.91
in spite of the
differences, embrace diversity.
00:50:32.94\00:50:35.99
If you don't like
drums or progressive styles,
00:50:36.02\00:50:40.20
some things and your
music, go to a church
00:50:40.23\00:50:41.98
that is much more traditional,
much more formal in its worship.
00:50:42.01\00:50:44.95
That's what we have
variety of worship styles
00:50:44.98\00:50:47.55
within the
Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
00:50:47.58\00:50:49.23
Now I know some people
maybe listening here, John,
00:50:49.26\00:50:51.25
and they may be
saying, "Oh, boy,
00:50:51.28\00:50:53.08
where have John and John gone?
00:50:53.11\00:50:54.68
Aren't they on the
conservative side?"
00:50:54.71\00:50:56.13
No we are right here.
We've been here all long.
00:50:56.16\00:50:59.52
We just believe
that above all things
00:50:59.55\00:51:01.87
be fervent in
love toward each other.
00:51:01.90\00:51:04.38
And at the church
gets out of whack at all,
00:51:04.41\00:51:06.88
if we take a miss
step or wrong step
00:51:06.91\00:51:08.69
guess who's gonna
guide it back on track?
00:51:08.72\00:51:10.58
Jesus. He can handle His church.
00:51:10.61\00:51:13.53
He can protect His
church. He can guide His church.
00:51:13.56\00:51:16.71
And so I just thank the
Lord for that and I just--
00:51:16.74\00:51:20.65
I think it's sad
when someone says,
00:51:20.68\00:51:22.60
"But, we've got to debate,
00:51:22.63\00:51:24.68
we've got to talk
about these issue,
00:51:24.71\00:51:26.08
oh, they don't agree with me.
00:51:26.11\00:51:27.48
You know, the
church is gone to--"
00:51:27.51\00:51:30.47
I don't want to even
use the term but--Yeah.
00:51:30.50\00:51:33.36
But this mind of thinking
that because you believe
00:51:33.39\00:51:36.96
that allows you the
freedom to criticize
00:51:36.99\00:51:40.20
and to gossip and the
fault find and to backbite,
00:51:40.23\00:51:43.22
and to talk about each other.
00:51:43.25\00:51:45.02
I'm sorry, as soon as
you venturing on that ground,
00:51:45.05\00:51:48.04
you are venturing on--
you are in Satan's control.
00:51:48.07\00:51:51.07
I love one of the quotes
00:51:51.10\00:51:52.62
that we have from Inspiration
where Ellen White says,
00:51:52.65\00:51:57.13
"Even Christ
did not even venture
00:51:57.16\00:52:00.23
on the ground of accusing."
00:52:00.26\00:52:02.96
Even when he met
Satan at Moses' grave,
00:52:02.99\00:52:07.33
he said the Lord
rebuke you. Right.
00:52:07.36\00:52:10.44
In other words, God rebuke you.
00:52:10.47\00:52:12.62
He had every right
00:52:12.65\00:52:14.02
to deal with Satan right
there, but he didn't do it.
00:52:14.05\00:52:15.43
And he even
accuse. He did nothing.
00:52:15.46\00:52:17.20
He just said, "I'm
here on God's authority.
00:52:17.23\00:52:19.63
I'm taking him." That's right.
00:52:19.66\00:52:21.93
And we need to make sure
00:52:21.96\00:52:23.33
that we are not venturing
on this ground of accusing
00:52:23.36\00:52:26.36
and treating each other without,
without love and respect
00:52:26.39\00:52:29.62
and in humility-- functioning
in humility as a church.
00:52:29.65\00:52:34.73
John, one last thing,
00:52:34.76\00:52:36.16
when I first come into a
church the first thing I say
00:52:36.19\00:52:38.49
when I meet the
elders and this is my MO.
00:52:38.52\00:52:41.24
So I ever pastor
your church in the future,
00:52:41.27\00:52:44.22
but it's God's will,
here is what all be saying.
00:52:44.25\00:52:46.86
I ask my elders
above all things,
00:52:46.89\00:52:49.85
I ask one thing,
first and foremost,
00:52:49.88\00:52:52.12
from all of you, humility.
00:52:52.15\00:52:54.85
If I don't have humility,
we can't work together. Right.
00:52:54.88\00:52:59.00
This church has to
have at its leadership,
00:52:59.03\00:53:00.89
at its core a humble spirit
00:53:00.92\00:53:03.59
and then God can use
us to work in the church.
00:53:03.62\00:53:07.37
One of the
challenges with having diversity
00:53:07.40\00:53:09.27
as people see
diversity as adversity.
00:53:09.30\00:53:12.00
Yeah, you are right.
00:53:12.03\00:53:13.41
And diversity and adversity
are not the same thing.
00:53:13.44\00:53:15.84
It becomes adversity
00:53:15.87\00:53:17.24
when diversity is
something that you don't like.
00:53:17.27\00:53:19.47
And Jesus dealt with
diversity and adversity,
00:53:19.50\00:53:23.75
but he never left it
up to us to sort it out.
00:53:23.78\00:53:26.61
In the parable of the wheat
and tares in Matthew chapter 13,
00:53:26.64\00:53:29.99
"So the servant of
the owner," in verse 27
00:53:30.02\00:53:34.75
"So the servant of the
owner came and said to him,
00:53:34.78\00:53:38.03
'Sir, did you not sow
good seed in your field?
00:53:38.06\00:53:40.96
How then does it have tares?'
00:53:40.99\00:53:42.69
He said to him, 'An
enemy has done this.'
00:53:42.72\00:53:45.24
The servants said to him,
00:53:45.27\00:53:46.64
'Do you want us to
go and gather them up?'
00:53:46.67\00:53:49.73
and he said, 'No, lest
while you gather up the tares
00:53:49.76\00:53:52.84
you also uproot
the wheat with them.
00:53:52.87\00:53:56.50
Let both grow
together until the harvest,
00:53:56.53\00:53:59.02
and at the time of harvest
I will say to the reapers,
00:53:59.05\00:54:03.26
"First gather together the tares
00:54:03.29\00:54:04.66
and bind them in
bundles to burn them,
00:54:04.69\00:54:06.06
but gather the
wheat into my barn."'"
00:54:06.09\00:54:08.26
He said, no wait a minute,
your job is not to separate
00:54:08.29\00:54:11.15
and then there is some people
I get phone calls sometimes,
00:54:11.18\00:54:12.86
they say,
"Pastor what should I do?
00:54:12.89\00:54:14.60
Should I leave that church?"
00:54:14.63\00:54:16.67
I said, no, you
need to be there to grow.
00:54:16.70\00:54:18.94
No, I don't know
if you are wheat,
00:54:18.97\00:54:20.80
I don't know if you are tare.
00:54:20.83\00:54:22.20
I'm basing my
analogy on the fact that
00:54:22.23\00:54:25.33
what you're
standing for is scriptural.
00:54:25.36\00:54:27.41
I'm not saying that
what the other person
00:54:27.44\00:54:28.83
is standing for
is not scriptural.
00:54:28.86\00:54:30.98
But if both of you are not
divided on the core issues,
00:54:31.01\00:54:34.96
or the core beliefs--and
you mentioned what a moment ago,
00:54:34.99\00:54:37.42
if we have all the core
tenets of our faith in common,
00:54:37.45\00:54:41.44
give room for diversity
00:54:41.47\00:54:43.84
'cause a lot of
times people think that
00:54:43.87\00:54:46.35
and I think you
mentioned a moment ago
00:54:46.38\00:54:48.23
that it all goes and you
said, I don't want to say where.
00:54:48.26\00:54:50.46
But the phrase
come and goes to part.
00:54:50.49\00:54:52.97
You know, I don't
even know what that meant.
00:54:53.00\00:54:55.19
But sometimes it all falls apart
00:54:55.22\00:54:58.03
when we're trying to
change a person's diversity,
00:54:58.06\00:55:01.52
because we're thinking it
is going to cause adversity.
00:55:01.55\00:55:04.78
And nowadays you
have these phrases
00:55:04.81\00:55:06.57
that are not I always
war against these terms--
00:55:06.60\00:55:09.10
and you know where
I'm headed with this.
00:55:09.13\00:55:10.66
I don't believe in
the term conservative,
00:55:10.69\00:55:12.70
I don't believe
in the term liberal.
00:55:12.73\00:55:14.96
These are political
terms, it's not in Scripture.
00:55:14.99\00:55:17.33
Ellen White never mentions
conservative and liberal.
00:55:17.36\00:55:19.97
We are either, we are either
00:55:20.00\00:55:22.90
diverse in our
approach to worship.
00:55:22.93\00:55:25.19
That's diversity
and a term that was used
00:55:25.22\00:55:27.49
by the general
conference many years ago,
00:55:27.52\00:55:30.14
unity in diversity.
00:55:30.17\00:55:33.21
So when you have
the general conference
00:55:33.24\00:55:34.61
and if you ever go
general conference session
00:55:34.64\00:55:36.35
once every 5 years
00:55:36.38\00:55:37.75
for those of you who
don't know what that means.
00:55:37.78\00:55:39.55
I'm assuming there is some of
our viewers are not Adventist.
00:55:39.58\00:55:42.08
Every 5 years the
world church gets together
00:55:42.11\00:55:44.27
in either one of these
large arenas around the world,
00:55:44.30\00:55:47.15
whether St. Louis or-- I
like the Baptist convention.
00:55:47.18\00:55:50.61
I mean they all get together
00:55:50.64\00:55:52.01
and they make rules and
decide-- 70,000 people. Yeah.
00:55:52.04\00:55:53.83
70,000 people
00:55:53.86\00:55:55.23
than we have the parade of
nations it is so beautiful.
00:55:55.26\00:55:57.45
We see the nations,
the address from China,
00:55:57.48\00:56:00.68
we see from Russia,
from the Caribbean islands,
00:56:00.71\00:56:04.57
from Jamaica, from, you
know, all the from England,
00:56:04.60\00:56:08.47
the Great Britain.
00:56:08.50\00:56:09.87
We see them come out
and they do their programs
00:56:09.90\00:56:11.86
at various times in the whole
general conference session.
00:56:11.89\00:56:15.08
And sometime you will see
those who come from Africa,
00:56:15.11\00:56:17.46
they will--you know,
they have their music.
00:56:17.49\00:56:20.87
And some people that
are from here will say,
00:56:20.90\00:56:22.52
"Ah, appalling, they are moving,
they are moving to the rhythm."
00:56:22.55\00:56:27.02
And we are
thinking, that's diversity,
00:56:27.05\00:56:29.71
unity, diversity,
see. That's right.
00:56:29.74\00:56:33.82
And so we got to
make allowance for things
00:56:33.85\00:56:35.78
that are not
preferential for us.
00:56:35.81\00:56:39.78
Once it doesn't
uproot our foundation
00:56:39.81\00:56:42.75
and tear apart the
unity of the faith.
00:56:42.78\00:56:46.58
Very well put, and I think
as we get into our next program
00:56:46.61\00:56:49.84
we're gonna see
what Christ's vision
00:56:49.87\00:56:51.40
for His church was. Yes.
00:56:51.43\00:56:53.08
'Cause we'll get to His prayer,
00:56:53.11\00:56:55.01
and well them
get to Paul council
00:56:55.04\00:56:56.68
and the church in
keeping it together,
00:56:56.71\00:56:58.64
we've got to stick
together. We have to.
00:56:58.67\00:57:00.63
We've got to stick together
00:57:00.66\00:57:02.03
even though we
don't agree on all things.
00:57:02.06\00:57:03.57
We can't all think
alike, like one person said,
00:57:03.60\00:57:05.67
if everybody was
may just like me,
00:57:05.70\00:57:07.08
it wouldn't be any fun.
00:57:07.11\00:57:09.62
We've got be able
to have the diversity,
00:57:09.65\00:57:12.67
but yet unify in God.
00:57:12.70\00:57:14.07
That is part of growing
00:57:14.10\00:57:15.47
and part of
being in God's church.
00:57:15.50\00:57:16.87
That's right and what--
what did one person say,
00:57:16.90\00:57:18.27
and I've heard this
quoted by a number of people,
00:57:18.30\00:57:20.77
"make sure to keep the
main thing the main thing."
00:57:20.80\00:57:24.59
Let's not forget
00:57:24.62\00:57:25.99
that the main thing
is to uplift Jesus Christ
00:57:26.02\00:57:27.99
and that's what we do
here at "House Calls."
00:57:28.02\00:57:29.89
So if you diverse,
if you think like us,
00:57:29.92\00:57:32.64
so you don't we pray that
00:57:32.67\00:57:34.04
you will have
great day in Christ
00:57:34.07\00:57:35.44
and we can have
unity there, God bless you.
00:57:35.47\00:57:37.74