Participants: Shelley Quinn (Host), Herb Larson Jr.
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000309
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00:31 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn
00:32 and we welcome you again to "Issues and Answers." 00:36 Today our issue is going to be exposing the counterfeit. 00:40 Unmasking the one who masquerades 00:43 as an angel of light. 00:44 You know, in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, 00:47 Paul writes and he says in verse 14. 00:50 "It is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades 00:53 as an angel of light." 00:55 You know, John wrote in 1 John, 00:57 God is love but he also said "God is light 00:59 and in Him there is no darkness at all." 01:02 Paul goes on he says, so here Satan masquerading 01:04 as an angel of light so it is not surprising 01:08 if your servants also masquerade 01:10 as ministers of righteousness 01:11 but they are in will not correspond with their deeds. 01:14 Now let me introduce my guest, you know, 01:16 I'm try to tie that scripture in with what we're talking about. 01:21 Our guest is Herb Larson from Canada, 01:23 international businessman, extraordinary 01:26 and the president of Imagine Life Ministries. 01:30 You are really a lay minister too. 01:32 You go out and do a lot of ministry. Yeah. 01:33 I'm a tent maker I guess is what you call me 01:35 because of I don't charge to do ministry but I-- 01:38 you know, so I support myself with my business. 01:41 And you know, and getting to know you, 01:43 you really do have a deep personal 01:44 relationship with the Lord. 01:46 Sometimes some of the things you say are little edgy 01:48 but I think you do that in purpose, 01:50 a little shock factor to get people's attention. 01:51 Oh, I think so. 01:52 I think sometimes we need to get off top to edge center, 01:54 you know, and even myself. 01:57 So you take a bit of an edgy stands on things 02:00 and it gets people thinking. 02:01 I mean, I love it when I go speak at a pastor 02:04 retreat or something, they debate for two days. Yeah. 02:07 Because what it does is, is I'm not trying to be, 02:12 you know, negative or anti-bible 02:13 but if you bring things up to get people to think 02:15 and discuss guess what, 02:16 out of that comes sometimes 02:19 you know, benefit. Amen. Amen. 02:22 Now we know the scripture that I started with 02:24 I don't know the Holy Spirit just seem to impress that. 02:27 What--on my mind before we begin 02:29 and what I'm thinking is that 02:31 because Satan masquerades as an angel of light. 02:34 The Bible says that His word is light unto the feet 02:39 and lamp unto my path. 02:40 The entrance of this word brings light. 02:42 But what happens is Satan is always trying to get us 02:45 to doubt God's word. 02:46 He's always bringing forth some theories, 02:49 some--something that is a counterfeit to God's word 02:53 and he has this false light if you will. 02:56 It's kind of like, you know, 02:57 the moon has no light of its own, 02:59 it only can reflect the sun. 03:02 Well, Satan has no light 03:05 but his reflection is a distorted reflection 03:07 because he's trying to fool people. 03:10 So when you're talking about you doing a little things edgy 03:14 and you're looking at me like where is she going, 03:16 but when you're talking about doing things a little bit edgy, 03:19 you mention something to me that 03:21 I felt so fascinating I wanted to talk about this. 03:24 And that is as you are practicing friendship evangelism 03:29 and practicing-- you're witnessing, 03:32 telling your testimony to people. 03:34 People generally speaking they start calling you back 03:38 and you got them into the Bible, 03:39 reading it hour a day. 03:42 And they call you back and they start asking questions. 03:45 You send out your own Bible studies 03:48 and they get to that point of studying the Sabbath. 03:52 Now when they come back you don't give them opinion, 03:55 you just have questions and scriptures. Absolutely. 03:59 But when they come back to you, 04:01 how do you take someone through 04:03 the counterfeit of the Sabbath? 04:06 Well, first of all and you've already brought it up 04:08 I think well enough as we have to recognize it for-- 04:11 one thing important. 04:12 For everything God is against 04:14 to there's a fake forgery or counterfeit. 04:16 There's actually a book published, 04:18 non-religious book 04:20 called fake forgeries and counterfeits. 04:22 And what it is it's basically a Bible on how to do that 04:25 in essence I mean, not a Bible 04:26 but you know, I mean, it's a how to manual. 04:28 Because it's really trying to teach people how fakes 04:30 and forgeries all happen. 04:32 But the interesting thing is unless you, 04:35 unless you study the original, you're gonna be duped. 04:38 Because if you study nothing 04:39 but fake throughout your life-- 04:41 like I'm involved in art, I'm an artist. 04:43 And so you know, if I look at somebody 04:46 and it looks like a shingle or whatever else 04:49 looks to me like a very much could be that. 04:52 But if I study shingle's original 04:54 so the point where I'm in front of that thing, 04:56 you know, 10 inches away looking at every detail. 04:58 And now I see a counterfeit, it gonna be very evident to me, 05:00 same with the Bible. 05:02 If you're in the Bible and you're studying the real, 05:05 the counterfeits become quite obvious. 05:08 But if you aren't in the Bible 05:09 spending a serious amount of time 05:10 studying the real or the original 05:13 then it's pretty easy to get messed up 05:15 and what may be a counterfeit. 05:17 So just what everything we do 05:19 it all comes back to spending time in the Bible 05:22 understanding the original or the authentic. Okay. 05:25 And then and only then can we understand the counterfeit. 05:28 So with that in mind nobody wants to be duped, 05:32 nobody wants to buy the Picasso that's a fake. 05:36 Especially spending the real value and getting a fake. 05:39 And so it's the same thing in spiritual things. 05:42 I mean nobody wants to get duped. 05:44 And so, so when people come to me first of all 05:47 I lead them to Jesus through my testimony. 05:50 We did a program once before and that, you and I. 05:53 I lead them only by sharing what's happened to me 05:56 and then from that point on 05:58 it is not my job to push them into 06:00 when I think they should understand certain doctrines 06:03 or certain biblical, you know, 06:05 what I would call the meat of the word. 06:07 'Cause Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 was very specific, 06:11 he went and evangelized, 06:12 he spent 18 months evangelizing the Corinthians. 06:16 Four and half years later, 06:18 he now writes them back that's 1 Corinthians. 06:22 And he writes them back and says I left you on milk 06:24 'cause you couldn't handle the meat. Yes. 06:27 And it's-- and he says you still can't. 06:30 Now that certifies in the face 06:32 sometimes that what we may be come to the conclusion of. 06:35 Paul should have given them more back then. 06:36 But no, he's like Jesus. 06:38 Jesus told the disciples when He's ready to leave, 06:39 He says, there are many things I like to tell you but I can't. 06:42 I will leave that up to the Holy Spirit to tell you that. 06:45 Paul did that later on with the Corinthians. 06:47 So what do we're supposed to do? 06:48 So I leave lot of that up to the Holy Spirit 06:51 and the timing of the Holy Spirit, 06:53 if they're in the Bible and I'm spending time with them 06:55 since study this about Jesus, study that about Jesus. 06:58 Recognize He needs you and He wants you, 07:00 so search share what's happened to you already. 07:01 I get people sharing their testimony right off the bat 07:05 whether before they've hardly know anything. 07:07 'Cause I said this is, I don't know much. 07:08 I said, doesn't matter what's already happened, 07:10 you're excited about life now, you can study in the Bible. 07:12 You got this fresh outlook. 07:15 Share that with somebody else. You think that? 07:17 I said yeah, it will make a difference in their lives. 07:19 And when you see a make difference, 07:20 you recognize God needs you, God wants you. Amen. 07:23 And so that's all part of holding them on the milk. 07:26 In other words, letting them taste this courtship. 07:29 I mean, my wife and I courted, 07:32 yeah, I pretty much knew very, very soon in the first look 07:35 that hey, she would be somebody 07:36 I could probably get married to. 07:38 And I could have probably said 07:40 and she thought I was the right one, 07:41 right off the bat too. 07:42 So we could have said hey, you know, it seems right, 07:44 let's just get married 07:46 and forgo the two and the half years of courtship. 07:49 But I want to tell you something. All right. 07:50 Where did you get two and half years 07:51 that's just your personal experience? 07:53 Well, two and half years of courtship 07:54 before we got married. 07:55 But we could have said forget 07:56 that part of it just get married. 07:57 I'm just trying to say that's not doctrinal, 07:59 you don't have to date two and half years or-- 08:01 No, that's true. Yeah. I know exactly. 08:03 What you didn't know-- 08:05 anyhow, so the two and half years 08:07 of courtship though was-- 08:09 it stills a highlight in your life. Yes. 08:12 The little games, the little flirting, 08:14 all those little need things that take place 08:17 as you get to know each other. 08:19 The new dimension that unfolds everyday. 08:21 Well, let's read what dating Jesus in essence. 08:23 When you first come to know Him, it's-- 08:26 you read in the Bible and you begin to find these 08:29 little things about Him, you know. 08:31 And it's like, it's His courtship time. 08:33 We need the courtship, that what builds the foundation. 08:36 That's what says yes, He is worth it. 08:39 And yes, when it comes to some of the rules and regulations 08:42 sometimes that we see in the Bible they all are valid. 08:46 And now I could understand now 08:47 they have a relationship with Him. 08:48 Why they are important in my life? 08:50 Not just keeping rules. Yeah. 08:53 As you suddenly realize these are boundaries of love 08:56 that He's saying. Absolutely, inner joy. 08:58 These rules are really not rules as much as it is saying. 09:01 This is something I'm gonna empower you to do 09:02 to walk in His path to protect you. 09:05 It's like you know, if you're driving 09:07 on a some mountainous road and it has no guardrail, 09:12 it can be pretty frightening trying to drive up there 09:15 and if you hit a little icy spot, 09:16 little slippy spot and think you're gonna go 09:19 80 feet down into the canyon that's pretty scary. 09:21 So what God does is, 09:23 He just puts up these guardrails for us 09:25 and before the courtship, if you were to hear these, 09:30 you might think oh, it's nothing about a buts and don't. 09:33 But then once you begin to know God 09:36 and hear whatever His rules or regulations. 09:40 You realize these aren't don'ts, these are dos, 09:42 this is what He's gonna do in our life 09:44 to keep us protected. 09:45 It will become part of your life. Yes. 09:47 To the point where you're not looking out, 09:49 okay, how did I do today? Yeah. 09:51 No, He's just going into the-- 09:52 when you allow Him in, your heart changes. 09:55 So it's automatic, I mean, you know, Ezekiel 36:31, 09:58 from starting verse 24 says, 09:59 "I will give you the new heart." Amen. 10:02 And so He wants to do this is a gift. 10:05 And so, so when I'm sharing with people, 10:08 I leave them on quoting Jesus. 10:11 I--you know, I just use that 10:12 because we're using that analogy. 10:14 I leave them on discovering Him, 10:16 spending time, getting to know Him. 10:18 The little, the little innuendos 10:20 that go on between your prayer and reading and stuff 10:22 that God does for us. 10:24 And Jesus, you know, imparts through us. 10:25 I mean, all these little exciting things 10:27 that I ask for an answer and then I read it in the Bible 10:29 and there it is. Yes. 10:30 You know, they're just wonderful little nuggets. 10:33 And so that's the way Jesus works 10:34 and He builds His trust just like 10:35 he would be in relationship. You know. 10:37 I ask Him to guide me in my understanding this 10:40 and there is the nugget. Yeah. 10:42 It may take me three-four days of study 10:44 'cause in the interim of studying that three-four days 10:47 I'm learning new things. And so, so you live up to God. 10:50 So when they finally come around now 10:52 and I know that they are ready for what I call meat. 10:56 In other words it's the things that 10:58 early on would have just choked them. 11:00 You know, it's like a baby that's the analogy given. 11:02 You'll be one day in Jesus. Yes. 11:04 And there comes a point, you know, we had our kids, 11:07 I mean they start out on milk. 11:10 And then it comes a point 11:11 whether it's a winning process, you know. 11:12 Now it's--now they can start eating more solid things. 11:15 It's the same with the Bible. 11:16 The analogy is all over the place, Hebrews 5. 11:19 And so, so I really feel its vitally important 11:23 to let people develop at the rate the Holy Spirit 11:25 wants them to develop. 11:26 Because we don't know where they are coming from 11:28 what kind of lessons they need to learn 11:29 in terms of just relationship with Him. 11:31 When they finally get there, 11:33 they are gonna be asking you questions. 11:34 Now how do you answer those questions? 11:36 How do you answer the meat questions? 11:39 Well, I could tell anybody the answer 11:40 'cause I can memorize things. 11:42 I mean I've got a pretty much a state of a mind 11:44 but I can you know, I do have the capability to measure-- 11:46 you know, memorizing certain elements 11:48 to teach them or whatever. 11:50 Well, I've discovered of my personal, 11:53 you know, witnessing and leading people to Jesus life 11:55 which has been last 15 years 11:57 and God sends me people everyday. 12:00 I've discovered that doing it the biblical way 12:04 allows these people to build a solid foundation. 12:06 So when they get to what, 12:07 you know, what may be considered the meat 12:09 they are ready to eat it, they are not gonna choke on it. 12:12 And the Holy Spirit leads us. 12:13 So when they phone or you know, and they phone up or email 12:16 and say well, what about this, 12:17 you know, we understand you're Seventh-day Adventist. 12:21 You know, what is the difference 12:22 or what--you know, they starting to question. 12:25 If at that point I still think 12:26 and this is no, this is exactly what I do it. 12:28 If I still think that they haven't really developed 12:30 that close relationship 12:32 I say, you know what, I really want to tell you that, 12:34 you know, I want to explain that to somebody 12:35 but really right now here, I want you to read this in John. 12:37 And I would like you to read that, 12:38 I want you to really 12:40 but if I can see that they're there 12:42 that the hunger there is for the meat. 12:44 Then what I do 12:46 is I want them to come to the conclusion 12:49 on whatever it is, I'm gonna share with them. 12:50 Not me, see it's what, 12:52 it's when it's their revelation it's text. Absolutely. 12:55 If I come to a conclusion 12:56 that this is the way it is on my own logic, 13:00 you know, whatever or God's logic through me. 13:03 It's gonna stay. 13:04 But if I tell somebody, 13:06 you know, potatoes are bad for you 13:08 and somebody else says no, they are good for you. 13:10 Well, you know, I mean they will believe me for a while 13:13 until somebody else says 13:14 well, no, they are actually good for you. 13:15 You know what I mean, it's like opinions 13:17 if that's all people are given 13:20 is somebody else's idea of what it is 13:22 then as soon as I tell them they say, yeah, I see it. 13:24 Then somebody else say, no it's not, 13:26 it's this way they see that. 13:28 If they come to their own revelation 13:30 where all of a sudden they say, oh, I came to this conclusion. 13:35 It sticks. So how do I do that? 13:38 Well, first of all, the one thing 13:40 that's universally accepted by every denomination. 13:44 And like I said in previous shows 13:47 I speak in all different denominations, 13:48 Baptists, Methodists, Mennonites 13:51 and you know, in Christian colleges 13:52 by their fates and stuff. 13:54 And so I'm not there to tell them 13:56 what they should do but if God can use me 13:58 to allow them to come to a revelation, why not? 14:02 And so but when they-- you know it's universal, 14:04 everybody would agree on in Christianity as this fact. 14:07 For everything that God has ever instituted 14:09 there's a fake forgery counterfeit. 14:11 I mean Chuck Swindoll 14:12 any of them will say the same thing. Yes, absolutely. 14:14 I mean there's no question about it. 14:16 So I agree with that too. 14:18 So what I do, then as I say, well, let look at some. 14:21 Let's look at some of the fakes and forgeries. 14:23 And you know what, if you start at 14:24 the very first verse in the Bible, 14:26 that's a good place to start. 14:28 So that's what I do. I say let's go to Genesis 1. 14:31 And so I will turn to Genesis 1, 14:32 in my Bible I highlight these in a different colored 14:34 just because I want to run through them quickly, 14:36 it's just the way I do it. 14:38 But so what I do is I ask them questions, 14:39 okay, read the first scripture reference and they read. 14:41 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." 14:44 So I say what would the-- what could their-- 14:46 what counterfeit could be hidden here. 14:49 It doesn't take long to figure out evolution. 14:51 God created, they say evolution. 14:54 So I immediately ask them a question. 14:55 Does it matter that most of the world, 14:57 possible most of the world 14:59 believes that evolution is the way 15:00 we, you know, they our origin. Yeah. 15:03 Or is it more important to believe what the Bible say? 15:05 What they will say it's more important to believe 15:06 what the Bible say. Okay, see move on. 15:08 You go to verse 5 15:09 and the evening and the morning with the first day. 15:12 And I say not a big one 15:13 but its interesting thing we'll discover here. 15:15 The day break here is from evening unto evening. 15:18 Could there be a counterfeit 15:19 or something that was changed here? 15:21 Yeah. That's good. 15:22 And I say you know, sometimes I think 15:24 and I say okay, when we do break our day? 15:25 When is the new one starting midnight? 15:27 Okay and I say we'll start a big deal 15:28 but later on we'll have ramifications 15:30 but it interesting thing. 15:31 So we got two here, we really got into it. 15:34 Then I go over in to verse 26, "Let us make man in our image." 15:38 What could the counterfeit be there? 15:41 And if they don't get right away I'll give them a hinder two. 15:43 What's the evolution theory say that we are in the image of? 15:46 It's a monkey, it's an ape. 15:48 And so when I say does it matter that most of the society 15:50 or lot of society believes that 15:52 we evolve from a monkey in the image of a monkey 15:54 rather than an image of our loving God. 15:57 And they will agree, of course it matters, 15:59 Bible, the truth matters. 16:01 Verse 27, "So God created man in His own image, 16:03 in the image of God created him male and female, 16:06 He created them." Heterosexuality started here. 16:10 What could the counterfeit be that or we will get that? 16:13 And you notice I'm taking notes. 16:15 And so then we move on to verse 29. 16:18 And then I asked again, does it matter 16:19 that lot of people believe in another 16:21 alternate style of sexuality than heterosexuality? 16:24 And they will say, yes, it does matter. 16:26 You know the Bible is the one is right. 16:28 Verse 29, "Every herb bearing seed 16:30 which is upon the face of the earth 16:31 and every tree in the, 16:33 in which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed, 16:35 to you it shall be your meat. 16:37 And every beast of the earth in there." 16:39 And you go on and talk about 16:40 that will be the seed in the grass, 16:41 that they are meat too. 16:42 And there meat being food. Right. Yeah. 16:45 And exactly and so I said 16:47 it's not a life or death situation here 16:49 but at the same time, it doesn't go, 16:50 if I did interesting. 16:52 The God said I will give you the grain of the field 16:55 as your meat for both animals and humans. 16:57 So that the real is we're gonna be vegetation. 17:00 And I said this isn't about, you know, you got to do this, 17:02 your lifestyle or rules or anything else. 17:03 I'm just bringing this up. 17:05 And then I say, isn't that interesting that, 17:07 that's what God gives and what is the counterfeit, 17:10 what would that be? Oh, eat each other. 17:14 You know, so all these things 17:16 we're not even out of the first chapter of Genesis 17:19 and here's all this counterfeit showing up. 17:22 Now then what I do is I go to Chapter 2, 17:24 move to the next chapter. 17:27 And it said, "And on the seventh day 17:28 God ended His work which He had made, 17:30 and He rested on the seventh day 17:32 from all His work which He had made. 17:34 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, 17:36 because that in it he had rested from all his work 17:38 which God created and made." 17:39 Okay, we just got through going through 17:42 a half a dozen counterfeits earlier on, 17:45 could there be another, could we assume 17:47 because there's so many counterfeits already 17:48 that there could be another counterfeit here. 17:51 I have them read the stuff, you know. 17:53 And so they won't get it a lot of times, that's fine. 17:56 I mean who would unless somebody told you 17:57 and so I said read it again. 17:59 So they read it again, sometimes it's three four times. 18:01 I'm not gonna tell them the answer. 18:03 It's not my job telling the answer. 18:05 It's my job to lead them to their own revelation. 18:08 So then when they finally get down say well, we don't get it. 18:10 I said, what day is it talking about 18:11 that the God set aside as the day of rest. 18:15 He set aside, well, seventh, they said okay, 18:18 what day of the week is that? 18:20 They'll get that one. 18:22 I say so could there be a counterfeit here. 18:24 So they know the seventh day is the Saturday. 18:25 Yes, 'cause it's clear there. And guess what? 18:28 All of a sudden it's like, no way, or what? 18:35 And now guess what? It's their revelation. 18:36 They say what is that mean? 18:37 I say, you know what, here I got to study on this, 18:40 no opinion expressed 18:43 I'll hand you this, you're gonna look into deeper. 18:44 You have to decide 18:45 I'm not here to tell you what you have to do. 18:48 You have to decide what you think is right. 18:52 You told me before that it doesn't matter 18:54 that most of the world leaves you evolved, 18:56 you said that it really matters what the Bible says. 18:58 Now just let me ask you one of the question, 19:01 does it matter that much of Christianity 19:04 chooses another day? 19:05 This is the rest day, 19:06 why would you start your work resting, 19:08 your week resting. You end after work with a rest. 19:14 So I just say it's up to you, 19:15 and honestly I mean that, it is up to them. 19:20 If I can be a instrument in God's hand 19:23 to make them aware of the fakes counterfeits 19:24 and forgeries of Satan 19:28 and they see it and they come to their own conclusion, 19:31 they have to decide. That's good. 19:33 And if they're in the bible studying 19:35 like I tell them they have to from day one an hour a day. 19:38 I don't care if they're an atheist or not. 19:41 If they're in the bible studying, 19:43 they're in the right hands, why? 19:44 'Cause the Holy Spirit is gonna teach them all things. 19:46 Absolutely. 19:48 And so-- And again 1 Corinthians 2:14 says 19:50 these are spirit words, they are spiritually designed, 19:53 got to have the spirit and it needs them. 19:56 I mean it's so good to allow, 19:58 you know, Jesus said in John 6:63, 20:01 He said the spirit-- the flesh counts for nothing, 20:04 only the spirit brings life. 20:06 So we can try to really force feed the "meat" too soon 20:13 before they've got any scriptural teeth if you will 20:16 and they cannot chew it up and digest it 20:20 so it's just kind of something that goes down 20:23 and comes back up. 20:24 But if we allow them, if we get them into the word 20:27 and let them develop that relationship with the Lord 20:31 and then guide them though this, 20:33 it's very good process. 20:35 I'm enjoying what you're saying. 20:36 Well, it's just that-- it just that what it does, 20:39 see, I don't know, see some people can 20:42 get married after a month of dating. 20:45 Maybe that's all they need. 20:46 Maybe that's unlocked all the, you know, idiosyncrasies of it. 20:50 I don't know and that's fine, you know, if that works, great. 20:53 Well, that's was two and half years 20:54 but whatever it's the same thing with Jesus. 20:55 Maybe some people can take it quicker than others. 20:58 But to assume, to make the assumption 21:00 to take the place of the Holy Spirit 21:02 in essence and saying, 21:03 you need to know this, you need to know this, 21:05 you need to know this. 21:07 I don't really want to be there in that position to be pushing 21:10 when somebody should have meat. 21:12 I want to be there as God's instrument 21:16 to lead them to an understanding 21:19 of whatever they're asking. Okay. 21:20 And that's, yeah-- 21:21 My husband says he works in the pastoral department, 21:24 you know JD? Right, yeah. 21:26 At 3ABN and he said that they are thank you, I think so. 21:29 He says that, you know, you've heard the 80-20 rule, 21:33 like 80% of people do 20% of the work 21:37 and he actually I remember what he was saying, 21:40 20% of people do 80% of work. 21:43 I know I'd get that wrong. 21:44 Anyway he said there's really is a kind of an 80-20 rule 21:47 with people who call in. 21:48 He said there's some people, you know that are real seekers, 21:52 he said it seemed like about 20% of the callers 21:54 are real seekers and they wanted all right now. 21:57 He used to say that I was-- 21:58 you know he still does that I'm a seeker of the truth. 22:01 I'm not one that wants it a little bit at a time, 22:04 I mean I want to jump in 22:05 and dig go deep down into the scripture 22:08 and I guess that what you're saying 22:11 if I'm interpreting this right Herb, 22:13 is that we need to treat each individual just as that, 22:17 as an individual, with a lot of prayer asking God 22:20 and letting them they are ready to progress were there 22:25 praying them through 22:27 and then as they already progressed 22:28 where they're with the next step to give them 22:30 to show them a way to a deeper relationship with the Lord 22:33 and a better understanding of the Bible. 22:35 Absolutely, and God uses us as facilitators. Yes. 22:39 He uses us, but the thing is this sometimes, 22:41 and here's where Laodicean comes into the whole formula 22:43 as the problem is we make the assumption 22:46 that maybe everything is fine in our camp, 22:49 you know, maybe we are all okay. 22:51 And so we're patiently waiting around 22:54 if we want to employ this technique, 22:56 we're patiently waiting around, 22:57 you know, for these other people 22:58 to come to the same understanding 23:00 we have it whatever else when we're told clearly 23:04 that sometimes we need to go back to the basics. Yeah. 23:09 You know, that and let me just try and find here real quick. 23:13 Okay, here Hebrews 5:12. 23:16 It says, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers," 23:19 Okay, what Paul is talking about here? 23:20 He saw talking at Hebrews, he's saying, 23:22 for the time you-- in other translation, 23:24 for the time you've already spent with me 23:26 and the Bible, you should be teachers. Yes. 23:30 Then it says ye have need, but here's the problem, 23:32 "Ye have need one that teach you again 23:35 which be the first principles of the oracles of God, 23:37 and are became such as nave need of milk, 23:39 and not of strong meat." 23:41 So he's telling those who should have 23:43 enough time behind them, 23:45 where they should be teachers by now, say, 23:46 no, no, go back and start on milk again. 23:49 You need me again. 23:50 You need the basic understanding of me 23:52 before you can even impart meat 23:54 or even handle it yourselves. 23:57 And so the Bible is full of this in essence telling us, 24:00 slow down, I can do the work. 24:02 You know, here-- let me read this to you-- 24:05 it reads so differently from the amplified. 24:06 Same but different, look, it says in verse 10, 24:10 where do we start here? Verse 12, I'm sorry. 24:13 In verse 12, "For even though by this time, 24:15 you ought to be teaching others, 24:17 you actually need someone to teach you over again 24:19 the very first principles of God's word. 24:22 You have come to need milk, not solid food." 24:26 He goes on in verse 14 and says 24:29 that "solid food is for the mature person, 24:32 the full grown person, those whose senses 24:35 and mental faculties are trained by practice." 24:41 And I think that this is trained by practice to discriminate 24:45 and distinguish between what is morally good and noble, 24:47 what is evil and contrary 24:49 to either to the minor human law. 24:52 So I think as I interpret this 24:55 is that Paul is saying we really, 24:58 I mean, you can study all you want 25:00 to answer the Sabbath school quarterly questions 25:03 but you really only get to know God's word as you study it 25:08 and then begin to put it into practice. 25:10 You know, we learned to teach, 25:13 teach to learn type thing, as you're learning this, 25:16 if you're not out there putting it in practice, 25:18 then it just kind of goes straight through. 25:22 It's a gilt and you should receive how much? 25:24 Refilled but more. Yeah. 25:25 Same with the scripture. Absolutely. 25:28 And so God, that's exactly right. 25:29 I mean that's what he wants to do is 25:32 He wants to give us His abundant life 25:34 but He's telling us, He's giving us warning signs. Yeah. 25:36 Don't think, don't be so pompous 25:38 to think you've got it all figured out 25:40 and you're now the chef 25:41 who's gonna feed either milk or meat to somebody else, 25:44 you may need to go back to the very basics of all 25:47 and build a relationship with Jesus one on one 25:50 before you can handle the meat. 25:52 And you got to be-- you know, every time 25:54 you speak of some other scripture bounces off you a bit 25:57 and in Mark 4:24, listen to this, 25:59 he said, Jesus said to them, 26:01 "Be careful what you are hearing. 26:03 The measure of thought 26:04 and study you give to the truth 26:05 you hear will be the measure of virtual knowledge 26:08 that comes back to you 26:09 and more besides will be given to you." 26:11 So it all comes back to that final principle 26:15 of where you start somebody, 26:17 when you're witnessing to them 26:18 is to get them into the Bible for an hour. Absolutely. 26:23 Every day to get in the Bible for an hour, 26:25 every day, you challenge them, 26:27 it's 60 day challenge that you give them 26:29 but you find that after that 26:30 it's just becomes, it becomes a habit. 26:32 I know it's gonna be sooner than that 26:34 but you know what happens, 26:35 they begin to phone me immediately 26:37 and start saying, wow, this happened, this happened, 26:39 that happened and this is what-- 26:40 you know what do you think about this. 26:42 Because if you give them time in the word, 26:44 the Holy Spirit's gonna do the work. 26:46 It's not my job takes the pressure off me 26:50 because then I can go out and shared with other people. 26:52 Oh, mercy. 26:53 And it's just wonderful 26:54 and if you look at 2 Timothy 3:7 it says 26:56 some people ever learning 26:58 but never able to come to the knowledge of truth. 27:00 Well, you know, we want to be on to giving end. 27:02 Well, find Jesus first 27:04 and then He's going to use you. Amen. 27:05 We're already up, our time is all gone I can't believe it. 27:09 But we want to thank you, so much for coming back 27:11 and thank you, for sharing this about 27:13 how Satan has a counterfeit, 27:17 a forgery or a fraud for everything. Absolutely. 27:20 Thank you, so much. okay. 27:21 For those of you at home, 27:23 I hope that you have enjoyed this time. 27:25 It certainly has flown by for me 27:27 and, you know, we always want to leave you with this thought 27:31 and it's our prayer for you actually 27:33 and that is that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 27:36 grace being more than just a narrative favor. 27:39 His super abundant power to salvation is His grace. 27:44 May His grace, the love of the Father 27:47 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 27:49 be with you today and always. 27:51 Remember, get in the word 27:53 and study to show yourself approved. |
Revised 2014-12-17