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00:35 Good morning, friends,
00:36 and welcome again to Sabbath School Study Hour 00:38 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:40 just outside of Sacramento, California. 00:43 Very warm welcome to our online members, 00:46 and our friends who are joining us across the country 00:48 and around the world, 00:49 as well as our regular church members 00:51 and visitors right here in person, 00:53 delighted that you joined us this morning 00:55 for our study on our new lesson quarterly, 00:58 which the whole quarter is entitled 01:00 "Oneness in Christ." 01:01 And today we find ourselves on lesson number four, 01:05 it's called "The key to Unity." 01:07 So that's what we'll be looking at today. 01:09 For our friends who are joining us, 01:10 if you don't have a copy of today's lesson, 01:13 we do have a website that you can go to 01:15 and you can download today's lesson, 01:17 which is lesson number four. 01:18 All you have to do is go to the website study.aftv.org, 01:24 and you can download lesson number four, 01:26 and you can follow along with us as we study. 01:29 We have a free offer we'd like to tell you about, 01:32 a book written by Pastor Doug entitled 01:34 "Compromise, Conformity and Courage." 01:37 This is our free offer today. 01:38 And if you'd like to receive this, 01:40 all you'll need to do is call 866-788-3966 01:45 and ask for offer number 774, 01:48 and we'll be happy to send you this book 01:51 dealing with the subject 01:52 of Compromise, Conformity and Courage. 01:54 If you'd like to get a digital version of the book, 01:57 all you'll need to do is just text the code "SH019" 02:02 to the number 40544. 02:05 You'll then receive a link as to where you can go to download 02:08 a digital copy of the book, 02:10 Compromise, Conformity and Courage. 02:13 Well, before we get to our lesson this morning, 02:15 I'd like to invite our song leaders to come forward, 02:18 and they'll be bringing 02:19 a special musical item this morning. 02:29 I'm a pilgrim, and I'm a stranger 02:36 I can tarry, I can tarry but a night 02:42 Do not detain me, for I am going 02:48 To where the fountains are ever flowing 02:55 I'm a pilgrim, and I'm a stranger 03:02 I can tarry, I can tarry but a night 03:09 There the glory is ever shining 03:15 Oh, my longing heart, my longing heart is there 03:21 Here in this country so dark and dreary 03:28 I long have wandered forlorn and weary 03:34 I'm a pilgrim, and I'm a stranger 03:41 I can tarry, I can tarry but a night 03:48 There's the city to which I journey 03:54 My Redeemer, my Redeemer is its light 04:01 There is no sorrow nor any sighing 04:07 Nor any tears there, nor any dying 04:14 I'm a pilgrim, and I'm a stranger 04:21 I can tarry, I can tarry but a night 04:31 Dear, Father, once again we are grateful 04:33 to be able to gather together in your house 04:34 on this beautiful Sabbath, 04:36 open up Your Word and study 04:38 this important subject of unity, 04:40 and how we can have unity, in the church, 04:42 amongst believers, 04:44 found in Your Word and in Christ. 04:46 So bless our time together today, 04:48 for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 04:52 Our lesson this morning is going to be brought to us 04:53 by our lead pastor here at Granite Bay, 04:55 Pastor Doug Batchelor. 04:59 We're continuing now in our lesson 05:01 dealing with Oneness in Christ. 05:04 And we're on lesson number four today. 05:06 And lesson four is titled, "The Key to Unity." 05:10 Now, I was wondering why they didn't entitle it 05:13 the keys to unity 05:15 because I see several in the lesson. 05:17 But then it really boils down to there is one key to unity, 05:21 and we'll talk about that before it's over. 05:24 And we have a memory verse. 05:26 It's two verses from the Book of Ephesians, 05:28 Ephesians 1, 05:30 you like to say it out loud with me, 05:32 it's from the New King James Version. 05:34 Ephesians 1:9, 10. 05:38 Ephesians 1:9, 10, ready? 05:41 "Having made known to us the mystery of His will, 05:45 according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 05:50 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times 05:54 He might gather together in one all things in Christ, 05:59 both which are in heaven 06:01 and which are in earth, in Him." 06:05 So I want to talk about the key to unity. 06:07 Of course, a key is Christ. 06:09 He's the ultimate key to unity. 06:11 Now our mission today 06:14 is to really go through the Book of Ephesians. 06:17 This whole lesson, it covers sort of Ephesians 1-6, 06:21 it's a whole book. 06:23 And one of the central themes 06:25 of the Book of Ephesians is unity. 06:28 And so we're going to be 06:29 talking about some of the different aspects. 06:31 I was tempted to say, 06:32 I wonder if I can read Ephesians 1-6 06:34 in a Sabbath School lesson, 06:36 but I think I'd lose you if I did it that way. 06:39 I just like to make sure that you kind of get the gist of it. 06:43 And for those of you who don't know, 06:46 the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, 06:48 when they put together a Sabbath School quarterly, 06:52 their idea is that they like to take 06:54 the members through the entire Bible 06:56 over a five year period. 06:59 And they do it maybe 07:00 coming through different subjects in different angles. 07:03 But the idea is that during that five-year period, 07:05 you'll at least have touched 07:06 on every major book in the Bible. 07:08 So you sort of get a great global view of the scriptures. 07:14 And so Ephesians is really our mission. 07:17 And the central theme here in Ephesians 07:19 is talking about the unity. 07:22 Now just to give you a little bit of background, 07:25 matter of fact to give you that background, 07:26 turn with me in your Bibles 07:27 to the Book of not Ephesians, Acts. 07:31 Go to the Book of Acts 19. 07:35 And a story that you may have read through quickly, 07:38 but it's got a lot of very important passage 07:41 Acts 19:1. 07:43 Acts 19:1, "And it happened, 07:49 while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, 07:52 having passed through the upper regions, 07:54 came to Ephesus." 07:55 Our study today is about the Book of Ephesians. 07:58 Paul came to Ephesus. 08:00 "And finding some disciples he said to them, 08:04 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit 08:05 when you believed?' 08:07 And they said to him, 08:08 'We have not so much as heard 08:09 whether there is a Holy Spirit.' 08:12 And he said to them, 08:13 'Into what then were you baptized?' 08:16 So they said, 'Into John's baptism.'" 08:19 And then Paul, meaning John the Baptist. 08:22 "Then Paul said, 'John indeed baptized 08:24 with a baptism of repentance, 08:26 saying to the people that should come, 08:28 should believe on Him who would come after him, 08:30 that is, on Christ Jesus.'" 08:32 So he talks to them about Jesus. 08:35 "When they heard this, 08:36 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 08:39 And when Paul laid hands upon them," 08:42 some think that it's important to have a second baptism 08:44 to receive the filling of the spirit. 08:46 Others argue that it was through the laying on of hands. 08:49 That's a study we don't have time for today, 08:51 but there's a lot more in the Bible 08:52 than I ever hear preachers talk about. 08:55 The New Testament church had a lot to say 08:57 about the laying on of hands. 08:59 Matter of fact, Paul in Hebrews 09:02 calls it one of the elementary doctrines 09:04 of laying on of hands. 09:06 You don't ever hear that 09:07 in the baptismal vows or anything. 09:08 Anyway, that was a side road I took, 09:11 I'm back now. Okay. 09:15 "When they were baptized in Paul, 09:16 he laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, 09:20 and they spoke with tongues and they prophesied. 09:23 Now the men were about 12 in all." 09:28 And you go on and you read here that Paul, 09:31 he went in, and he reasoned with them, 09:33 and he spent a few years in Ephesus. 09:37 Now this is very interesting 09:39 because here you have these believers. 09:41 And some of have argued, 09:42 "Were they proselytes to Christianity and Judaism? 09:47 Were they people from Asia?" 09:50 It sounds like they were Gentiles 09:53 who had heard about John the Baptist 09:55 maybe through some of the Jews that had gone north, 09:57 and they accepted the truth about Jesus. 10:00 And there's 12 of them. 10:03 Through the ministry of Paul, 10:04 a great work begins there in Asia Minor. 10:08 It's almost like a mirror of what Jesus did. 10:10 Jesus worked in Judah among Jews through 12, 10:14 the Holy Spirit poured out, 10:15 and they do a great work in Israel. 10:17 Now Paul goes up to Asia, and he chooses 12, 10:22 he lays hands on them, 10:23 they're filled with the Holy Spirit. 10:25 Didn't Jesus lay hands on the 12 apostles? 10:28 And through the work of these 12 men, 10:31 a great work happens. 10:32 It's almost like a parallel group of apostles 10:35 for the work among the Gentiles, 10:38 like I said, whether they were Jews 10:41 that lived among the Gentiles 10:43 or if they were part Gentiles," it's not entirely clear. 10:47 They did not speak Hebrew, it says they spoke in tongues, 10:51 meaning that they probably 10:52 spoke some of the local languages there of Turkey. 10:55 And they heard them suddenly receive the gift of tongues. 10:58 So this is the same thing that happens with the apostles. 11:02 Did you catch that? 11:04 It's very exciting when you think about it. 11:06 It's almost like a parallel to the work of Jesus 11:09 among the Jews now happens through Paul, 11:12 who Christ called, among the Gentiles, 11:16 and a great work spreads up there. 11:18 Now there was a problem though. 11:21 As the work began to spread among the Gentiles, 11:23 and the Holy Spirit is poured out, 11:25 and the church was growing, 11:26 soon there were more Gentile Christians in Ephesus 11:29 than there were Jews, 11:30 but they all worshipped together. 11:32 They all went to the synagogue, 11:33 what day of the week did they worship? 11:35 They all gathered in the synagogue on Sabbath. 11:38 Matter of fact, it says several times 11:40 that on the Sabbath day, 11:43 the Gentiles asked that Paul might speak unto them, 11:46 and the whole city came together. 11:48 And so the problem was, 11:50 you've got the Jews and you've get the Gentiles, 11:52 and there was a division. 11:55 And a lot of problems arose. 11:57 And some of the Jewish believers in Jesus were saying, 12:00 "You need to keep the ordinances 12:02 in the ceremonial laws." 12:04 And the church down in Jerusalem said, 12:05 "No, you don't need to keep circumcision, 12:08 you do need to keep, 12:09 you know, the Sabbath, and the health laws." 12:11 They specifically mentioned of eating the blood. 12:13 And you'll find this battle between the two groups. 12:17 It became very intense. 12:18 The Jews sort of felt like they had special privileges. 12:21 So Paul has to write them a letter. 12:24 And one of the central themes 12:26 in the letter of the Ephesians is, 12:29 you guys got to work together, unity. 12:32 You are united in Christ. 12:35 And you're not just Jew and Gentile. 12:40 You know, they talk... 12:42 There's a lot of talk about 12:43 racial division in North America. 12:47 Is it just me or do you hear that? 12:50 I mean, you think that 12:51 that would be behind us at this point. 12:54 But I heard about racism 12:58 when I was growing up in New York City, 12:59 but I didn't really think much of it 13:01 because I went to a public school, 13:03 where our kids where from all over the world. 13:07 And our neighborhoods, you know, just... 13:10 We were Spanish, and African-American, 13:12 and Italians, and Jews, 13:14 and it was just a hodgepodge. 13:16 And the kids pretty much got along. 13:18 The interesting thing was, 13:20 we all told jokes about race to each other. 13:24 But we didn't care, we loved each other, we tell... 13:27 I bet I'm the only one here 13:28 that told the Polish joke growing up, right? 13:34 I see a lot of confessions out there happening right now. 13:38 And, what we had jokes about? 13:40 They would tell Jewish jokes, 13:41 I'm Jewish, and they would tell Italian jokes, 13:43 and we would all tease and joke each other, 13:44 but we all loved each other and kind of worked together 13:46 once we were in the classroom, 13:47 when we went out to play in tetherball, 13:49 which is illegal now, 13:50 and all the other things that we did, 13:52 but we would get along. 13:53 It wasn't till I got out of New York, 13:55 I realized that racism really was a problem in some places. 13:59 Well, it was a real problem in Asia 14:01 between the Jews and the Gentiles 14:03 because there were hundreds of years. 14:07 The Jews felt like we are the chosen people, 14:09 we're better than everyone else, 14:11 the Gentiles are dogs, they're dirty, they're unclean. 14:15 Do not even let the shadow of a Samaritan fall upon you. 14:22 And Samaritans were kind of half Jews. 14:23 I mean, it was really bad if you were a pure Gentile. 14:26 And so these were some deep seeded problems 14:29 that the early church had to overcome 14:31 because it wasn't long after Christ, 14:34 before there were now more Gentiles 14:37 believing in Jesus than Jews. 14:39 And the Jews began to feel really threatened. 14:44 Do you see that in North America a little bit? 14:47 When the voter guide 14:50 used to always be printed in English. 14:53 And then because there were 14:54 so many Spanish speakers in the country, 14:57 they started printing it in Spanish. 15:00 And some of the English only speakers were saying, 15:02 "Well, they ought to learn English." 15:06 And now you'll find the voter guide 15:07 is in Chinese as well. 15:11 And this is a real threat to people who thought, 15:16 "Isn't this an English speaking country?" 15:19 I'm just trying to make what they're going through back 15:21 then relevant for today. 15:24 Humanity hasn't changed much. 15:26 Amen. 15:28 All right, let's get back to the Book of Ephesians. 15:30 So I just wanted to give you the background 15:32 for what some of the issues were that 15:34 they were grappling with. 15:36 Ephesians 1, now I'm going to read... 15:39 Let's see if I'm going to find my notes here. 15:41 I'm going to read verses 1-14. 15:45 This is a section where it talks about redemption in... 15:50 Blessings in Christ, and redemption in Christ. 15:53 "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ 15:55 by the will of God, 15:56 to the saints that are in Ephesus, 15:58 and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 16:00 Grace to you and peace from God, 16:02 our Father, and from the Lord, Jesus Christ. 16:05 Blessed be the God 16:06 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 16:08 who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing 16:10 in the heavenly places in Christ, 16:13 just as He chose us in Him 16:15 before the foundation of the world, 16:17 that we should be holy and without blame before Him," 16:20 Now a lot of people turn to the Book of Ephesians 16:23 to try to prove a Calvinistic view of predestination. 16:27 The Book of Ephesians does talk about predestination, 16:31 but it's not that kind of predestination 16:34 that God chose ahead of time 16:35 who would be saved and who would be lost. 16:37 So I'll read a little bit, I'll explain, 16:39 but you'll see the language here. 16:42 Then it says, "He chose us from the foundation of world," 16:44 sounds like predestined, "that we should be holy 16:47 and without blame before Him in love, 16:49 having predestined us 16:51 to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, 16:55 according to the good pleasure of His will, 16:57 to the praise and to the glory of His grace, 16:59 by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 17:03 In Him we have redemption through His blood, 17:06 the forgiveness of our sins, 17:07 according to the riches of His grace 17:09 which He made to abound toward us 17:11 in all wisdom and prudence, 17:13 having made known to us the mystery of His will, 17:16 according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 17:20 in that dispensation of the fullness of times 17:23 that He might gather together..." 17:24 And I read all that to get to this one sentence. 17:27 "That He might gather together in one 17:31 all things in Christ, 17:33 both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in Him. 17:36 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, 17:38 being predestined..." 17:40 There's that word again. 17:42 "According to the purpose of Him, 17:44 who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 17:47 that we who first trusted in Christ 17:50 should be to the praise of His glory. 17:52 In Him you also..." 17:54 All right, that's the key. 17:56 Paul says, "We, who first trusted," 17:58 talking about the Jews. 18:00 And then he says, "In him, you also..." 18:02 Who is he talking about now? 18:04 The Gentiles, saying, "We have all been called." 18:08 God predestined before the foundation of the world 18:11 that through Jesus all people could be saved, 18:15 Jew and Gentile. 18:17 Now do you realize, there's only 18:18 two kinds of people in the world, 18:22 male and female. 18:24 Everybody fits into one of those categories. 18:27 From the Jewish mind, 18:28 there's still only two kinds of people in the world, 18:31 Jew and Gentile. 18:32 If you're not a Jew, 18:33 you've only got one other option 18:35 if you're a person, you're Gentile. 18:37 And if you're not a Gentile, you're Jew. 18:41 And so what Paul is saying... 18:42 I want to make you sure that you understand 18:44 that this was all encompassing for them. 18:46 He's saying, "We were chosen, 18:48 and you were chosen that we all might be one." 18:52 So when he's talking about predestination in Ephesians, 18:54 he's not talking about individuals 18:57 that were predestined to be saved 18:59 and others not chosen to be saved. 19:02 He's talking about God had predetermined 19:04 that all should be saved in one. 19:08 That's why God says, "The Lord is not willing 19:10 that any should perish." 19:12 God never predestined some people to be lost. 19:16 And so some have misunderstood this, 19:18 and they think the predestination 19:19 he's talking about is the Calvinistic view, 19:23 once saved, always saved sort of thing. 19:25 All right, so there was a commentary in my notes. 19:29 It said, "The Jews considered themselves an elector, 19:32 chosen people, 19:33 and wish to monopolize the Divine love. 19:36 The Apostle here shows that God had the Gentiles 19:40 as much in contemplation of His mercy and goodness 19:43 as He had the Jews." 19:44 That's actually a comment I believe from Matthew. 19:47 I'm sorry, from Adam Clarke's commentary. 19:51 God having determined to bring 19:52 both Jew and Gentile to salvation, 19:54 not by works, nor by any human means, 19:58 but by Jesus Christ. 19:59 That's another important point. 20:00 Have you ever heard people saying, 20:03 "In the old dispensation, 20:04 the Jews were saved by works and the law, 20:07 in the new dispensation, 20:08 we are saved by grace and faith." 20:12 That is baloney. 20:13 A theological term for that is baloney. 20:16 In our church, it would be veggie baloney, 20:18 but it's baloney either way. 20:20 It's just not true. 20:22 God did not see people in the Old Testament by works 20:25 and us now by faith. 20:27 Everybody is saved by Jesus through faith, 20:30 not of works. 20:31 Abraham believed God, 20:33 and it was counted to him for righteousness. 20:34 So was Abraham saved by works or faith? 20:37 Faith. 20:38 But if you have faith, it will be seen in your works. 20:42 Is that just true for Jews or for Gentiles too? 20:45 It's for everybody. 20:46 So, you know, whenever I hear people say that God, 20:49 you know, it's almost like I've heard them say, 20:51 "Well, God give the Ten Commandments 20:52 to the Jews to prove His law can't be kept, 20:55 so now we're saved just by faith, 20:57 we don't have to keep the law." 20:59 You mean, God just gave them an impossible task, 21:01 and then punish them for not doing it? 21:05 Isn't what that would mean 21:06 that He gave them an impossible task, 21:08 and said, "You couldn't do it. 21:09 I'm going to punish you for not doing it, 21:11 but I knew you couldn't do it." 21:13 What father will do that? 21:15 That's cruel. 21:16 If you tell your child, 21:17 "You need to jump up on this step." 21:18 And they say, "I'm trying, I can't reach it." 21:20 And then he beats him for doing it. 21:22 That's really what they're saying. 21:24 Okay. 21:29 "In whom, having believed," notice I'm in verse 12 now, 21:33 "that he, who first trusted in Christ, 21:36 should be to the praise of His glory. 21:38 In Him you also, Gentile, trusted, 21:41 after you heard the word of truth, 21:43 the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, 21:48 you were sealed 21:49 with the Holy Spirit of promise." 21:52 Was it only 120 Jews at Pentecost 21:55 or 3,000 at Pentecost or 5,000. 21:57 After Pentecost, all Jews received the Holy Spirit? 22:01 Or do we see that Paul goes up in the Asia, 22:03 and Gentiles received the Holy Spirit too. 22:06 Isn't that right? 22:07 How many of you remember. 22:08 It's interesting, Philip is preaching in Samaria, 22:12 and people wanted to get baptized. 22:14 So Philip calls Peter and John to come up, 22:19 and they baptized them, 22:21 and they laid hands on them 22:22 that they should receive the Holy Spirit. 22:25 You notice that happening again? 22:26 Baptize, laying on of hands 22:28 that they should receive the Holy Spirit, 22:29 so it's interesting. 22:31 God tells the apostles, 22:33 "You're going to be my witnesses in Judea," 22:36 I'm sorry, "in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, 22:40 and the uttermost parts of the earth. 22:42 Now follow the history of Acts. 22:44 Holy Spirit is poured out in Jerusalem, 22:47 then they go up preaching in Judea, 22:49 then they go out to Samaria. 22:52 And about that time, there's a great persecution 22:54 because of the conversion of Paul, 22:56 the stoning of Stephen. 22:58 And they're scattered, it says, 22:59 "Everywhere preaching the gospel." 23:01 And the gospel goes to the Gentile 23:03 immediately after the conversion of Paul. 23:05 And actually the stoning of Stephen, 23:07 which then led to the conversion of Paul, 23:10 exactly what Jesus said 23:11 the sequence would be is the way 23:14 that it plays out in the Bible. 23:16 So... 23:18 All right, moving along here, 23:19 he says, "You received the Holy Spirit 23:21 by which you were sealed." 23:24 What is the seal of God? 23:29 Well, if you look in Isaiah 8:16, 23:33 "Bind up the testimony, 23:34 seal the law... 23:38 among my disciples." 23:42 Does somebody have the law sealed in their heart 23:44 without the Holy Spirit? 23:48 Everybody that has the law sealed in their heart 23:51 must have the Holy Spirit. 23:55 What is the mark of the beast? 23:58 Mark of the beast, first and foremost, 24:00 is the spirit of the devil. 24:03 Would you agree that everybody 24:04 that has a mark of the beast is a spirit of the devil? 24:08 "You don't have God's Spirit," 24:09 Jesus said, "You got another spirit." 24:11 Said, "You're of your father, the devil." 24:13 All right, but there's something more specific about 24:15 what that mark is. 24:17 It means you're obeying the laws of the devil 24:19 instead of the laws of God. 24:21 What is the seal of God? 24:23 Holy Spirit. 24:25 First and foremost, it's the Holy Spirit. 24:27 Isn't that right? 24:29 Then it is seen by a surrender in giving your lives to God 24:33 and keeping His commandments. 24:34 And in the middle of God's law, He's got one commandment 24:36 that begins with the word holy or at least begin with a word. 24:40 It's got the word holy in it, begins with the word remember. 24:43 And it's one of the most important commandments 24:46 'cause it has to do with worship, 24:47 giving God your time. 24:49 And so you have the Sabbath 24:50 is a special seal that is seen among His people. 24:53 But are there Sabbath keepers 24:55 that don't have the Holy Spirit? 24:59 The people who crucified Jesus, did they keep the Sabbath? 25:03 They actually wanted Him killed quicker, 25:04 so they could run home from crucifying the Messiah 25:07 and keep the Sabbath. 25:09 And isn't there an irony there? 25:11 Is that going to save them? 25:13 So if you are a Sabbath keeper, 25:15 but you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, 25:17 will that save you? 25:19 No. 25:20 He says, "So you're sealed 25:22 with the Holy Spirit of promise, 25:24 who is the guarantee of our inheritance," 25:27 the Bible says, "Grieve not." 25:28 It's also in the Book of Ephesians 2, 25:30 "Grieve not, the Holy Spirit were with you 25:32 are sealed for the day of redemption." 25:36 So when the disciples received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, 25:42 that was a guarantee that they had then... 25:44 They were saved. 25:46 And when they were baptized, 25:47 and they prayed for the Holy Spirit, 25:48 they were saved. 25:49 Jesus said, "Unless you're born of the water and," what? 25:53 "The Spirit." 25:54 See for the disciples, 25:56 it wasn't like modern evangelists, 25:57 where you just see how many you can dunk, 25:59 and then write down a number, and send it to the conference, 26:01 and say, "Look, how many baptisms we have." 26:03 God wants to know... 26:04 Yeah, but were they spirit filled too? 26:07 You got to be born of the water and born of the spirit. 26:09 So the early church, Paul is saying... 26:11 What makes us one? 26:13 One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 26:17 One baptism in water, one baptism in spirit or both. 26:22 We're made one through the Holy Spirit. 26:25 Someone's going to read for me Galatians 4:7 just in a moment. 26:29 And in the meantime, I'm going to read Acts 11:15. 26:33 Paul said, "And as I begin to speak, 26:35 the Holy Spirit fell on them as upon us at the beginning." 26:39 That's actually Peter, sorry. 26:41 Peter's recounting 26:43 when the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius 26:45 and his household, and notice what he says, 26:47 Cornelius, he's not a Samaritan, 26:49 he's not a half Jew, he's 100% Gentile. 26:52 He's from the Italian regiment, he's Italian, he's a Roman. 26:59 These are the people who crucified Jesus. 27:01 What? They're going to join the church? 27:04 Can you understand Peter's confusion about all this? 27:07 But when he relates it to the church in Acts 11, 27:09 he says, "I began to preach, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, 27:14 as on us at the beginning. 27:16 It fell on the Gentiles the same way it fell on us. 27:19 Then I remembered the word of the Lord 27:21 how he said, 'John, indeed baptized you with water, 27:24 but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 27:27 If, therefore, God gave them the same gift as He's given us 27:32 when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, 27:34 who was I that I could withstand God?" 27:37 So what kind of gift did the Gentiles get? 27:39 Same gift as the Jews got. 27:41 All right, please read for us your verse. 27:44 Galatians 4:7, "Therefore you are no longer a slave 27:49 but a son, and if a son, 27:52 then an heir of God through Christ." 27:56 Amen. 27:57 It tells us in Ephesians, 27:58 we're one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 28:00 and the Bible also says one family. 28:04 We're baptized into one family. 28:07 I like it when, in church, 28:08 we call each other brother and sister. 28:11 And when our kids were growing up in a small church, 28:14 we attended, we told them to call everybody, 28:18 you know, it always sounds weird 28:19 when you hear a little kid calling an adult, "Hey, Bill." 28:23 They always should be like Mr. Smith or something. 28:25 So we would tell them to call them 28:27 Uncle Joe or Uncle Bill or Aunt Seine. 28:32 And, you know, when everyone came to church, 28:34 visitors would say, "Oh, he's got a big family here." 28:38 So that's right, we're all related. 28:42 You want to do that here? 28:44 That'd be good, let's teach our kids 28:45 to call each other uncle and aunt, 28:46 or grandma and grandpa, or something like that. 28:50 But I see that in some countries I visit, 28:52 they call everybody auntie. 28:55 Yeah, the Filipinos, they always say auntie or ma. 28:58 Yeah, it's all family. 29:00 That's right, I like that. 29:02 So we're one family. 29:04 We're united as servants. 29:05 Look in Matthew 20:25. 29:09 "But Jesus called them and He said to Himself, 29:11 "You know the rulers of the Gentiles 29:12 lorded over them, 29:14 and those who are great, exercise authority over them. 29:16 Yet it will not be so among you, 29:18 but he who desires to become great among you, 29:20 let him be your servant. 29:22 And whoever desires to be first among you, 29:23 let him be your slave, 29:24 just as the Son of man did not come to be served, 29:28 but to serve, 29:29 and He give His life for ransom for many." 29:32 You know, among the Gentiles, 29:33 they had, kind of like, this class separation. 29:36 You had the rich, and you had the slaves. 29:39 Jesus said, "It's not going to be that way in the church, 29:40 you are all servants." 29:42 We're all on an equal playing field. 29:45 Amen. 29:47 All right, let's go to the next section here, 29:49 breaking on the wall. 29:50 Go to Ephesians 2. 29:52 We'll start with verse 11. 29:54 As I said, we don't have time to read through the whole book. 29:57 Ephesians 2:11, 29:59 "Therefore remember 30:00 that you were once Gentiles in the flesh," 30:02 clear enough what He's talking about now, 30:04 "who were called the uncircumcision 30:07 by what is called the circumcision," 30:08 The Jews called you the uncircumcision, 30:11 "made in the flesh by hands 30:13 that at that time you were without Christ, 30:15 being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel 30:17 and strangers from the covenants of promise, 30:20 having no hope and without God in the world." 30:22 Before you were adopted and brought in, 30:25 you were without hope and without God in the world. 30:27 "But now in Christ Jesus, you were one so far off, 30:32 have been brought near by the blood of Christ." 30:34 So what makes us one? 30:35 What's one of the keys? 30:38 That's right. 30:39 You know, one of the things I think that explodes racism, 30:44 the Bible says, "God has made of one blood, all nations." 30:50 And I had to fill out a form last week, 30:52 and it has on there, "What is your race?" 30:55 I would resent that a little bit. 30:57 I did DNA test, and I'm sort of a hodgepodge, 31:00 but I guess I'm principally white. 31:02 That so I put that down. 31:04 But it occurred to me, there's a lot of white people, 31:06 if I went to the hospital, 31:07 they give me a blood transfusion, 31:09 it won't work 31:10 because they've got the wrong blood type. 31:12 And yet there are a lot of 31:13 Spanish people or black people 31:15 who have the same blood type as me, 31:17 and their blood would save me. 31:19 What matters is the blood type. 31:22 When you become a Christian, we all get O positive, 31:28 you know, I should call J positive blood, right? 31:32 We become of one blood. 31:35 Amen. 31:36 "But now in Christ you who once were far off 31:39 have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 31:41 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one," 31:47 Jew and Gentile, whatever your race, 31:50 He's made both one. 31:51 "He has broken down the middle wall of separation, 31:56 having abolished in His flesh." 31:58 Now what is that wall? People have all kind of argued. 32:00 What's the wall that Jesus broke down? 32:07 In the Jewish temple, 32:09 they actually had a wall that separated... 32:12 There was a place where Gentiles could come. 32:14 But the Gentiles could not come inside the place for the men. 32:19 How many of you remember 32:20 Paul was accused of bringing a Gentile 32:23 into the Jewish court? 32:25 And they nearly tore him limb from limb. 32:28 But now, in Christ, 32:30 that wall of separation 32:31 between Jew and Gentile is broken down. 32:33 Others have argued, 32:34 it's talking about this veil that separates us from God 32:37 that was in the temple. 32:39 But now we have access directly to the Father through Christ. 32:43 I think, here He may be talking about 32:44 the wall of separation in the courtyard. 32:46 But through Jesus, there's no wall anymore. 32:50 He says, "So to create in Himself," 32:52 I'm still in verse 15, 32:54 "Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, 32:57 that is, the law of commandments 32:58 contained in ordinances, 33:00 so as to create in Himself one new man from the two," 33:05 the Jew and the Gentile, whatever your background is, 33:08 we are made one people, thus making peace, 33:12 and that He might reconcile them both to God 33:15 in one body through the cross, 33:18 thereby putting to death the enmity," 33:20 the animosity, the separation. 33:22 You know, where you find that word, "enmity?" 33:25 It says, "There'd be enmity 33:26 between the dragon and the woman." 33:28 Right there in Genesis, a separation, a polarization. 33:32 But the polarization between Jew and Gentile 33:35 does not exist anymore in Jesus. 33:37 We become one family, one faith. 33:39 Amen. 33:41 "Bringing them both to God in one body through the cross." 33:45 So that's one of the keys, it's through the cross. 33:48 You know, there is a simple law of life that... 33:51 As two people move towards a common object, 33:55 they will inevitably be moving towards each other. 34:00 So if you decide to go to the South Pole, 34:02 and I decide to go to the South Pole, 34:04 it doesn't matter where in the world you are, 34:05 as we both decide to go to the South Pole, 34:07 we will eventually be coming closer together over time, 34:11 is that right? 34:13 And if you decide to move towards the cross 34:16 and be like Christ, 34:18 and your spouse decides 34:20 they want to move towards the cross 34:21 and be like Christ, 34:22 what happens to the husband and wife? 34:25 They end up getting closer together. 34:28 If members in the church that may be at odds 34:31 because of some family feud 34:32 or some division or whatever it is, 34:33 if they are both determined to be more like Jesus, 34:37 what happens to those families that might have been feuding? 34:40 They'll start coming together. 34:42 As we all fix our eyes on Jesus, 34:45 the author and finisher of our faith, 34:47 and we move towards that common goal, 34:50 we will be moving towards each other. 34:52 So what's the key to unity? You know, lift up Christ. 34:55 Christ said, "If I am lifted up, 34:56 I will draw all men to myself. 34:58 And what happens to those people 35:00 that are drawn to Christ. 35:01 They will inevitably be drawn to each other in the process, 35:06 And I know it sounds very simple, 35:07 but it really is simple. 35:10 "Thereby putting to death the enmity, 35:12 He came and He preached," I'm in Ephesians 2:17. 35:15 "He came and He preached to you 35:17 who were far off and to those who were near," 35:20 the Gentiles, the Jews, we were near, 35:22 we're both speaking peace. 35:24 "Through Him we both have 35:26 access by one Spirit to the Father." 35:29 Equal access, 35:34 united into one spiritual house. 35:37 Now go to verse 19, Ephesians 2:19, 35:41 "You are therefore 35:42 now no longer strangers and foreigners, 35:46 but fellow citizens." 35:49 I don't know if he's here today, 35:50 but one of our members, couple of weeks ago, 35:54 who is originally from Macedonia went down, 35:57 and he took the oath, and he took the vow, 36:00 and he became an American citizen. 36:03 And so we were able to congratulate him. 36:05 And he can now vote, I think, in the next election. 36:08 And so he is one of us now, if you're an American, 36:12 that's what I mean, you know, he's joined in. 36:15 Well, you know, you're a separate nation 36:17 when you're Christian. 36:18 Peter says that... 36:20 Oh, that's, I don't want to take your verse. 36:22 Tell you what? You get ready to read that. 36:23 I'm going to read... I'll finish Ephesians. 36:28 In Ephesians, yeah, chapter 20, 36:30 "Having been built on the foundation 36:32 of the apostles and prophets, 36:33 Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 36:37 in whom the whole building, being fitly framed together, 36:40 grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 36:43 in whom you also are being built together 36:45 for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." 36:49 All right, go ahead, read for us 1 Peter 2:9. 36:53 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 36:57 a holy nation, His own special people, 37:00 that you may proclaim the praises of Him 37:03 who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 37:07 So the Bible tells us that there's... 37:09 We become part, 37:10 we're all living stones in one building. 37:12 Matter of fact, if you look in 1 Peter 2:4, 37:16 "Coming to Him as a living stone, 37:18 rejected indeed by men, 37:19 but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, 37:23 are built up into a spiritual house, 37:26 a holy priesthood, 37:27 to offer up spiritual sacrifices 37:29 acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 37:32 Therefore it is contained in the scripture, 37:33 'Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, 37:36 elect and precious, 37:37 and he who believes in Him 37:38 will by no means be put to shame.'" 37:41 So Jesus said destroy this temple 37:44 made with hands, 37:45 and in three days I will make one without hands. 37:48 And when that confused the Jews 37:50 who were listening, they said, "What? 37:52 It took 46 years to build this temple, 37:53 how you're going to raise it up in three days?" 37:55 It says, he spoke of what? 37:58 His body. 38:00 What is the church called? 38:02 Body of Christ. 38:04 And so when Jesus said, "When I rise, 38:06 I'll be building a new temple." 38:08 What is that temple? 38:11 You. 38:13 Paul said... 38:14 Now people get confused 38:15 'cause Paul says it two or three times. 38:17 He says, "Why don't you know 38:18 that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" 38:20 Your physical body is like a temple, 38:22 Holy Spirit dwells in you. 38:23 But he says it another way. 38:25 Another time he says, "Ye," collectively, 38:28 "are the temple of God." 38:30 That we together make of difference stones 38:32 in the temple of God. 38:35 And so we're built on the foundation of Jesus, 38:38 he is the cornerstone, 38:39 and there's a whole sermon in the story 38:40 that goes with the cornerstone that was rejected, 38:43 deed stacked, back to the days of Solomon 38:45 when the masons cut the stone in advance, 38:48 and they brought it up, and it was an odd stone, 38:50 and they kept tripping over and bumping into it, 38:52 and the architects knew they needed that first. 38:56 Well, they pushed it off the hill 38:58 because they thought it was a menace. 39:00 And finally when they wanted to build the corner, 39:02 they said, "Where is the stone?" 39:03 They said, "We sent it to you a long time ago. 39:04 It was one of the first ones from the quarry." 39:07 "Oh, that old thing that we kept tripping over." 39:11 And that's often been used as an analogy of Jesus 39:13 who was the cornerstone that they stumbled over, 39:16 but he's the foundation of everything. 39:20 And so you can read... 39:22 And that's in 2 Corinthians 6:16, 39:24 "What agreement has the temple of God with idols, 39:26 for you are the temple of the living God." 39:29 He's speaking to the church collectively. 39:31 Sometimes I say you, I'm talking about one person, 39:33 sometimes I say you, I'm talking about y'all, right? 39:37 As they say in Texas. 39:38 And so here Paul is going y'all are the temple of God. 39:43 And so we become a spiritual house, 39:49 and there's a new priesthood. 39:52 And there are new garments, it's Christ's righteousness. 39:58 You notice what happened when Jesus died? 40:01 There was a tearing that took place. 40:05 The high priests that tried Christ tore his garments, 40:09 because now we have a new priesthood. 40:11 And the Bible tells us that when He died on the cross, 40:14 the veil in the temple was torn 40:16 because now we have a new temple. 40:18 And so the old was passing away, 40:21 and the new was being replaced. 40:23 All right, unity in one body. 40:25 Now jump to Ephesians 4. 40:27 Ephesians 4:1, we're going to read verses 1-3. 40:32 "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, 40:34 beseech you to walk worthy of the calling 40:36 with which you were called, 40:38 with lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, 40:41 bearing with one another in love, 40:43 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit 40:47 in the bond of peace." 40:48 So here's one of the keys to unity again, 40:50 did you catch it? 40:52 It's a four letter word, love. 40:57 Notice what he says here, 40:58 "Bearing one another in the love, endeavoring..." 41:02 You know what endeavoring means? 41:03 Striving. 41:05 If it came easy, you wouldn't need to strive. 41:07 Do we sometimes need to strive to love each other? 41:11 The Bible says, "Love your enemies." 41:14 And the Bible says, "Love your neighbor." 41:16 And that's because sometimes 41:17 your neighbor becomes your enemy. 41:20 And even in the church, 41:22 you are going to have your love muscles tested. 41:26 Isn't that right? 41:27 And he says, we need to strive. 41:30 The devil's going to try to find 41:32 all kinds of reasons to divide. 41:36 Keep in mind, the devil was listening when Jesus said, 41:40 "By this," this is John 13:35, 41:42 "By this all people will know that you're My disciples, 41:45 if you love one another." 41:46 The devil heard that. 41:48 Everyone, the best evangelistic program in the world 41:50 is if all the church loves each other. 41:52 You can't pick a better evangelistic program 41:54 according to Jesus. 41:55 So the devil knows that. So how... 41:57 If you're the devil, 41:58 I'm sure you'd want to be a good devil, right? 42:01 How would you oppose the work of Jesus? 42:07 If all people will know we're His disciples 42:09 by our love for one another, 42:10 you would do all you could to bring in division, 42:13 isn't that right? 42:15 So that means, Paul says, 42:16 "We need to endeavor to love each other, 42:20 and to keep the unity," that he talks about, 42:23 "in the bond of peace." 42:25 Peace and unity takes work to have that. 42:28 Someone's going to read Ephesians 4 in just a moment. 42:32 And I'm going to read 1 Corinthians 13, 42:34 you all know this, "Love suffers long and is kind, 42:39 love does not envy, love does not parade itself, 42:42 is not puffed up, love does not behave rudely, 42:46 it does not seek its own." 42:49 Okay, when I get involved 42:50 in any kind of marriage counseling, 42:54 105 times out of a 100, 42:58 there's pride and selfishness involved. 43:02 And if you could do away with the pride and selfishness, 43:05 you can take care about 99% of problems. 43:09 There's other issues usually. 43:11 But somebody, if not both, it's pride and selfishness. 43:16 Often, over something small, 43:18 and they just can't bring themselves 43:20 to apologize or humble themselves. 43:23 "Love is not puffed up, it does not seek its own, 43:27 it is not provoked, it thinks no evil, 43:30 it does not rejoice in iniquity, 43:32 but it rejoices in the truth, it bears all things, 43:35 it believes all things, it hopes all things, 43:38 it endures all things." 43:41 And if we have that kind of love in the church, 43:44 will there be unity? 43:46 Amen. 43:47 All right, read for me please Ephesians 4:4-6. 43:50 Ephesians 4:4-6, 43:52 "There is one body and one Spirit, 43:54 just as you were called in one hope of your calling, 43:57 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 44:00 one God and Father of all, who is above all, 44:02 and through all, and in you all." 44:05 What's the operative word in that verse? 44:08 One. 44:09 One, one, one, one. 44:11 Now when we say, "Here, O Israel, 44:16 the Lord, our God is one." 44:19 And people get all twisted up not believing in the Trinity 44:24 because Bibles say, the one God. 44:28 But here Paul is saying, 44:31 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 44:32 and you ought to be one." 44:33 He's talking to the church. 44:34 One in the Hebrew mind did not mean numerical quantity. 44:39 One in the Hebrew mind meant unity 44:42 that people should be one. 44:43 They saw themselves as one people. 44:45 When they confessed sin, 44:46 they didn't just confess my individual sin, 44:49 they confessed their sins collectively. 44:51 Jesus in the Lord's prayer, 44:52 He says, "Forgive us our debts." 44:56 They thought of themselves as one church. 44:59 So they prayed. 45:01 You read where Daniel says in Daniel 9, 45:03 "While I was confessing my sin and this sin of my people." 45:08 Elijah, no, Isaiah in Isaiah 6, 45:12 he says, "Lord, I am a man of unclean lips, 45:14 and I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips." 45:16 They always thought corporately 45:18 that we're in this thing together. 45:20 Yeah, we're Americans, we are very, we're individuals. 45:21 You know, we're mountain, 45:23 and we would just trek off by ourselves out in the woods." 45:25 But they didn't think that way back then, 45:28 they thought more about the unity of it all. 45:31 All right, next section. 45:33 Church leaders in unity. 45:35 Now God gives different gifts to be used. 45:38 And notice what it's for. 45:39 Now I'm in verse 11, Ephesians 4:11, 45:44 "He gave some to be apostles..." 45:45 Now does that mean all are to be apostles? 45:49 I mean some. 45:50 "Some are prophets," some are not. 45:53 "Some evangelists," some are not. 45:55 Some evangelists are not pastors, 45:58 some pastors are not of evangelists. 46:01 There's different gifts, right? 46:05 "Some pastors and teachers," what for? 46:09 He says, you're given why?" 46:11 For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, 46:14 for the building up of the body of Christ," for how long? 46:19 "Till we all come to the unity of the faith." 46:22 Okay, I want to stop right there. 46:23 So how long do we need these gifts? 46:26 "Till we all come to the unity of the faith 46:28 in the knowledge of the Son of God 46:29 to a perfect man to the measure of the stature 46:33 of the fullness of Christ." 46:35 Some people say the different gifts of the spirit 46:37 have been done away with. 46:39 Have you ever heard that? 46:40 Yeah, there's people that say, "Oh, we don't have leaders, 46:44 we don't have prophets anymore, 46:46 we don't have the gift of tongues anymore. 46:47 Those were for the early church, 46:49 we don't have that anymore." Well, the way I read it, 46:51 Paul says, "We need this till we all come in the unity 46:54 of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God 46:56 to a perfect man to the measure 46:57 of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 46:59 Would we still need that? 47:01 We haven't arrived yet. 47:03 To protect us from what? 47:05 Why do we need these leaders? 47:07 "That we should no longer be children, 47:09 tossed to and fro 47:10 and carried about with every wind of doctrine, 47:12 by the trickery of men, 47:13 in the cunning and craftiness and deceitful plotting." 47:16 Do we still have the trickery of men? 47:19 Are people being led to and fro by every wind of doctrine? 47:22 Then do we still need the leadership 47:24 and the gifts of the spirit to help us have that unity? 47:28 You know, it's a very important work of pastors 47:30 in the church to keep the flock together. 47:33 What does the devil want to do? 47:35 If you want to get... 47:36 Yeah, if you want to get the lambs, 47:37 you get to scatter them. 47:39 That's what dogs often do when they're hunting. 47:41 They try and break up the flock so that they can pick them off. 47:46 I don't know if you've seen any of the nature footage 47:48 from the safaris in Africa 47:50 where these lions will sometimes 47:51 try to get a young cape buffalo. 47:55 But they've got to separate 47:56 that young cape buffalo from the herd 47:59 because the male cape buffalo 48:01 have no qualms about taking on a lion. 48:04 And they got footage of them killing lions with their horns. 48:08 And as long as they stay together, 48:12 they're safe. 48:14 And so the devil is trying to scatter the flock. 48:16 And then the last part here, 48:17 its human relationships in Christ. 48:19 We'll read Ephesians 5:15-21, 48:23 "See then that you walk circumspectly, 48:25 not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, 48:28 because the days are evil. 48:30 Therefore do not be unwise, 48:32 but understand what is the will of the Lord. 48:35 Do not be drunk with wine, which is a dissipation, 48:39 but be filled with the Spirit, 48:41 speaking to one another in psalms 48:43 and hymns and spiritual songs, 48:45 singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 48:48 giving thanks always for all things to God 48:51 the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," 48:54 Notice in this one verse, 48:55 it talks about Father, Son, and Spirit. 48:58 "Giving thanks always to God, the Father 49:00 in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, 49:02 submitting to one another in the fear of God." 49:04 If we do that, we'll have unity. 49:07 And in the final section, I'm running out of time. 49:10 Ephesians 5:22, 49:12 "Wives, submit to your own husbands," 49:14 Now it's talking about family unity, 49:15 "Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. 49:19 For the husband is the head of the wife, 49:20 as also Christ is head of the church, 49:22 and He is Savior of the body. 49:24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, 49:27 so let the wives be 49:28 to their own husbands in everything. 49:30 Husbands, love your wives, 49:31 just as Christ also loved the church 49:34 and gave Himself for her." 49:35 It's not hard for the wives to submit 49:36 if the husbands love like Christ did. 49:41 "That He might sanctify and cleanse her 49:43 with the washing of water by the word, 49:45 that He might present to Himself a glorious church, 49:49 not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 49:51 that she should be holy and without blemish. 49:55 So husbands ought to love their wives 49:57 as their own bodies, 49:58 he who loves his wife loves himself." 50:02 You ever heard that expression, 50:03 "If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy." 50:06 So if you want to love yourself, 50:08 you need to love your wife. 50:09 It will play out better for you, right? 50:12 And he says more here, we're out of time. 50:14 He goes on and talks about "The two joined together, 50:17 husband and wife become one flesh." 50:19 So it's quite a bit of emphasis on oneness. 50:23 Before we close out, I want to remind our friends, 50:25 we do have a free offer, you'll enjoy. 50:27 It's called Compromise, Conformity and Courage, 50:30 and we think you'll find encouragement in this. 50:32 If you like a free offer 50:34 or you like a copy of this for free, 50:36 just call the number 866-788-3966, 50:41 that's 866-Study-More, ask for offer number 774, 50:45 and we'll sent that to you. 50:46 You can also download it by texting the code, 50:49 "SH019" and you text that to 40544, 50:54 you can download it and read it there. 50:56 God bless you, friends. We're out of time. 50:57 Lord willing, 50:58 we'll study His word again together next week. 51:13 Friends, are you afraid of heights? 51:14 If so, you might want to look away right now. 51:18 One of the most famous attractions 51:19 in the San Francisco Bay area 51:21 is the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. 51:24 While this world famous bridge was named 51:26 as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. 51:28 Few people know the story of the brave men 51:30 who were involved in its construction 51:32 and also known as the Half Way to Hell Club. 51:36 Designed by a group of visionary engineers 51:39 at 4,200 feet from end to end, 51:41 the Golden Gate Bridge was at one time 51:43 the longest suspension bridge in the world. 51:46 During its construction from 1933 to 1937, 51:50 the Golden Gate Bridge 51:51 had one of the best safety construction records 51:53 of any project during that time. 51:56 Keep in mind, they would factor in 51:57 and calculate that one man would die 52:00 for every million dollars that was spent. 52:02 So with a budget of $35 million, 52:04 they knew that loss of life would be unacceptable. 52:07 This is why the chief engineer Joseph B Strauss 52:10 was absolutely adamant about 52:12 using the most rigorous safety precautions 52:14 that it ever been used in bridge building. 52:17 He had a local manufacturer of safety equipment, 52:19 designed special headgear 52:21 that he insisted be worn on every job. 52:23 This became the prototype for the modern hard hat 52:26 worn for the first time ever, 52:28 but the safety precautions went even farther. 52:30 Strauss provided a special hand and face cream 52:33 to protect their skin from the cold biting wind 52:36 and glare free goggles to protect their eyes. 52:38 In addition, they also ate a special diet 52:41 to help ward off dizziness 52:43 when they were working at those epic heights. 52:45 But the most conspicuous safety precaution was a gigantic net 52:49 that was suspended from end to end 52:51 under the entire construction area 52:53 of the Golden Gate Bridge. 52:55 In fact, during construction, 52:57 this net saved the lives of 19 men 53:01 who later became known as the Half Way to Hell Club. 53:04 Now you need to keep in mind, 53:06 these were some of the most dangerous 53:07 construction conditions you can imagine. 53:10 The wind was constantly blowing. 53:12 They were walking around on iron 53:14 that sometimes had ice from the freezing fog. 53:17 In places, they were over 700 feet above the icy waters. 53:22 Yet, the men coming from all walks of life 53:24 were willing to take these risks 53:26 because it was during The Great Depression 53:28 and they would get paid up to $11 a day 53:31 which was a fortune back then. 53:33 One of the other benefits of the net 53:36 was they discovered that the men 53:37 were much more courageous 53:38 even though they were walking high 53:40 on those slippery surfaces 53:42 because they knew there was a mechanism to protect them 53:44 if they should fall, 53:46 this gave them the confidence and the courage 53:48 to press on and get the bridge built in record time. 53:51 You know, friends, as Christians 53:52 we have a great work to do. 53:54 The Bible tells us that we get to participate with Jesus 53:57 in building a bridge that connects heaven and earth, 54:01 and there are dangers along the way. 54:02 The devil would like to paralyze us with fear 54:05 that we might fall or make a mistake, 54:07 but we know that Jesus has provided a safety net for us 54:10 and we don't have to be afraid. 54:12 We can press on with confidence 54:14 because the promise is in the Book of Jude 24, 54:16 he is able to keep us from falling. 54:19 But sometimes we make mistakes, 54:21 still don't be discouraged, friends, 54:23 if you read in 1 John 2:1, the Bible says, 54:26 "If we fall, if we sin, 54:28 we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ. 54:31 So let's press on together 54:32 and build that bridge with Christ. 55:24 The heavens were pouring for him, 55:26 the Holy Spirit came down. 55:27 This is what God wants you to experience. 55:30 If you come to Christ, your sins are washed away, 55:33 you become a new creature. 55:34 It's a land of beginning again, 55:36 and how many of you wish you can restart. 55:40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, 55:44 in as much you shall do it to one of the least of these, 55:47 my brethren, you did it to me. 56:10 Hi, friends. 56:12 You know, the modern flags 56:13 that we see flying from the top of capital buildings 56:16 right in front of patriotic homes 56:17 really stem back from the times of battles 56:20 being fought between warring nations. 56:23 These beautifully designed and intricately colored banners 56:26 were flown high above the battlefield, 56:28 so the warring forces were able to identify amid the chaos, 56:31 and the smoke, and the fog of war 56:33 where their forces were rallied 56:35 and where they were fighting the battle. 56:36 And if you could capture your enemy's flag, 56:38 it was considered the highest honor. 56:41 I wonder if that's where we got the game "Capture the flag". 56:45 With the changes in war, 56:46 now these flags also represent 56:48 a little more of the demarcation 56:50 and identification of different nationalities. 56:52 Today the flags that represent 56:54 the different nations of the world 56:55 are very colorful and diverse. 56:57 And all of the colors and the shapes 56:59 have a specific meaning. 57:00 They're easy to distinguish and recognize from one another. 57:03 Perhaps one of the most interesting flags in the world 57:06 is the flag of the Philippines. 57:08 This is unique 57:09 because it is flown differently in times of peace 57:12 than it is in times of war. 57:14 During times of peace, 57:15 the Filipino flag that's composed 57:17 red, white, blue, and yellow 57:19 is flown with a blue side up. 57:21 But in times of war, 57:22 they flip it around and the red side is up 57:25 because there they're willing to make sacrifices 57:27 of their blood to defend the freedom of their country. 57:31 In the same way that an embassy 57:33 that is situated in a foreign country 57:35 flies their flag 57:37 while still surrounded by another nation, 57:39 Christians are supposed to have the flag of God's love 57:42 flying in this fallen world. 57:44 You can read in the book, Song of Solomon 2:4, 57:47 "His banner over me is love." 57:49 Love is the flag that identifies Christians 57:52 as a unique kingdom even here in the world. 57:55 So, friend, the big question is, 57:57 how are you flying your flag? |
Revised 2018-10-17