The Bible tells us, "In
the beginning was the Word,
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and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
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It says, "To
receive with meekness
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the implanted word,
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which is able to save your souls
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and to be diligent to
present yourself approved to God
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rightly dividing
the Word of truth."
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Join us now for the
3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
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Our study today is
"The Gospel of Galatians".
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Hello, and welcome to
3ABN's Sabbath School Panel.
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My name is Jill Morikone,
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and we're so glad
that you have taken time
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out of your day to open
up the Word of God with us
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as we study and share
about the Book of Galatians.
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We are in the
third quarter this year,
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and the Gospel in Galatians,
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and we're studying the
Adult Bible Study Guide
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put out by the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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If you would like your own copy,
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you're always
welcome to go visit
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a local
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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and they would be delighted
to give you a quarterly.
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If, however, you
want to go online
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or you don't attend
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the Seventh-day
Adventist Church,
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you can always go
to ABSG.Adventist.org.
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That stands for Adult
Bible Study Guide.Adventist.org.
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You can download the
lesson on your cell phone,
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on your iPad, or your
device, and you can print it off
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and follow along
with us as we study.
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I'm joined today
by a wonderful panel
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men and women of
God who love Jesus.
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And I'm excited that
each one of you are here.
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To my left is
Pastor Kenny Shelton.
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Always good to
be here. Thank you.
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It's a privilege to
open up the Word of God
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and share with you and each one.
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Brother John Dinzey,
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it's a joy to
have you here as well.
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It's great to be
here by God's grace.
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Amen.
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And, Shelley Quinn, it's always
a privilege to share with you.
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Oh, I love doing this panel,
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getting to hear what
everybody has to say,
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great insights. Amen.
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And we're joined by
Pastor Ronnie Shelton,
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and we're so glad
you're here as well.
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I'm sure glad to be here too.
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And it is fun, ain't it?
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It is fun. It's fun.
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Yes. It is.
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It's a joy to
open up God's Word.
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We're studying Galatians,
Paul's treaties, you could say,
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on righteousness by faith,
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and what a joy to get in
and to open up the Word of God.
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Before we do that
we always want to pray.
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We want to invite you at
home to bow with us and pray.
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And, Pastor Kenny,
would you pray for us?
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Sure.
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Our kind,
loving, heavenly Father,
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again a privilege to be
able to open the precious book
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called the Bible, bread of life,
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and we pray as we
open the book by faith,
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we receive the promises
that You would enlighten us
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through the power
of thy Holy Spirit,
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illuminate our
hearts, and our minds.
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Oh, Lord, we pray
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that You just dismiss
the things of this world
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and that we can just concentrate
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and focus upon heaven.
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Bless now, we
pray through our minds
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and through the
study that's going forward
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but mainly through
the power of thy spirit
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that will be brought up
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will bless the
hearts, answer the questions
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of those who study
right along with us.
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We thank You for
each one of them.
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Bless now, we
pray, we give You thanks,
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and we give You
honor, and give You glory.
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And ask the Holy Spirit to take
possession now in Jesus' name.
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Amen. Amen.
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We're studying
lesson number three
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which is the
Unity of the Gospel.
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Yes.
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And as we know
there were several issues
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that Paul was dealing with
that he was contending with
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why who wrote the
epistle to the Galatians.
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One of them being the Judaizers,
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believed that the gentiles
needed to be circumcised
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in order to be saved.
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And he was dealing
with, we would say,
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gospel of salvation plus works,
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grace plus works,
gospel of grace plus works
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instead of we are saved
by grace through faith alone.
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And not of ourselves,
it is the gift of God,
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lest any man should boast.
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So as he looked dealt with that,
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we want to look at
the unity of the gospel.
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He did everything in his
power to maintain the unity
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of the apostolic circle
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in the midst of the
attempts by these Judaizers,
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by these
believers to destroy it.
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But as important as
that unity was to Paul,
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we would discover this week
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that truth must
never be compromised
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for the sake of unity,
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and we'll discuss that
as we get into it this week.
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But let's go to
our memory text first.
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We are in and interestingly
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our memory text
is from Philippians.
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We're studying Galatians
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but our memory
text is Philippians 2
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and it deals with unity.
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Let's say it together, 2:2,
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"Complete my joy by
being of the same mind,
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having the same love,
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being in full
accord and of one mind."
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Sunday's lesson talks
about the importance of unity.
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And as we jump into that,
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I just want to look
at the difference between
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unity and uniformity.
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So uniformity
according to the dictionary
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is the quality or
state of being uniform.
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Well, that doesn't tell us
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the whole lot,
we need to look at
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what does it mean to be uniform.
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Uniform is having
always the same form,
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manner, or degree.
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Not varying or variable at all.
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It would be
consistent in conduct or opinion
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of the same form with others,
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conforming to
one rule or one mode,
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or presenting an
unvaried appearance of surface,
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pattern, or color.
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I think about...
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When Greg and I
first got married, I...
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We would ride in the car,
and this was back in the day
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when now you just push
the button and you say,
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"I want my car to
set at 75 degrees."
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You know, how you can do that?
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And you can adjust
the temperature on the car
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so it sets at 75 degrees.
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Well, when we got married,
it just had blue and red.
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And if you want it
cold, you turn it more blue
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and if you want it
red, you turn it more...
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I mean, you want it
hot, you turn it more red.
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So we would get in the car,
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this is when we
first got married
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and I would say,
"Oh, I am hot, I'm hot."
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And so Greg would reach up
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and he would
adjust it like this, "eek"
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And I would say,
"That's not enough!
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Eeek!" and I turn
it way over to cold.
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Well, you know what happened?
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A minute or two, I'd be going,
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"It's cold in
here. Why am I so cold?"
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And he just kind of look at
me and I would take the knob
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and I would "Eek"
all the way over to warm.
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Well, you know what happened?
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I'd become too hot.
That's right, Pastor Ronnie.
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And so then Greg
said, "Jilly, you know,
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if you don't adjust
this so drastically,
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you would find a happy medium
and you would be comfortable."
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Uniformity would
be like we would say,
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everyone has to sit
at the same temperature,
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the house has to be
painted the same color,
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we all have to be
cookie cutter Christians
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and have
identically the same belief.
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I think
uniformity is based in fear.
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1 John 4:18,
"There is no fear in love,
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but perfect love
casts out all fear."
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By contrast, what
we're studying this week
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is not the
uniformity of the gospel.
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We're looking at
the unity of the gospel.
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I want to look at
three things what unity is
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and we'll contrast that
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with three things
what unity is not.
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Unity, this is Merriam-Webster,
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the quality or state
of not being multiple,
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a condition of
harmony, or accord,
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the quality or state
of being made into one.
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It almost
symbolizes different people
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coming together into one mind
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like our memory
text says one heart.
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You know they say,
if you live by yourself,
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maybe you lived by
yourself, you're not married,
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you work maybe from home,
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so you don't have
co-workers to deal with.
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Maybe you say, "I'm
gonna worship at home."
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All of that stuff.
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You buy yourself,
you have less possibility
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you could say for
friction with other people,
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would that be accurate?
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But the moment you introduce
somebody beside yourself,
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the potential for conflict
increases exponentially,
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because people think
different than we do.
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They live different,
they act differently.
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You think about the marriage
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and the potential for could
be disagreements in a marriage
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or you multiply
that times a 100,
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a 100 people were sitting
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at the Thompsonville
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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You imagine if a 100 or 150
or 200 people came to church,
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you have the
potential for more conflict.
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Jesus prayer to His disciples...
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Remember, John 17,
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was that they
would come into unity
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and to oneness
of heart and mind,
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just like He was
one with the Father.
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He wanted us to be one
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as brothers and
sisters with each other.
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So three things,
unity is a place where,
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number one, there is diversity.
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Unity does not mean uniformity
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as in we all like,
blue colored carpet,
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or blue colored
jackets, it doesn't mean that.
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It means that
there is still a place
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where there is diversity.
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Number two, unity is the
place where there is humility.
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That's good.
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Disagreements are not
something to be feared.
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I think that they
stretch us, grow us, humble us,
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make us go to the
foot of the cross.
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Let's look at Philippians 2,
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and then we'll
get to Galatians here.
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But let's look at
Philippians 2:2-4,
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the mind of Christ.
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Yes.
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Verse 2, "Fulfill my
joy, by being likeminded,
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having the same love,
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being of one
accord, of one mind.
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Let nothing be done
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through selfish
ambition or conceit.
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But in lowliness of mind,
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let each esteem be
others better than themselves.
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Let each of you look out
not for his own interests,
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but for the
interests of others."
00:09:57.46\00:10:00.26
Unity thrives
where there is humility
00:10:00.30\00:10:02.96
where I esteem Shelley,
00:10:03.00\00:10:04.90
or Pastor Kenny,
or Brother Johnny,
00:10:04.93\00:10:06.74
or Pastor Ronnie, or you at home
00:10:06.77\00:10:08.77
as more than I would
esteem my own thoughts
00:10:08.80\00:10:11.54
and my own
opinions on a certain topic.
00:10:11.57\00:10:14.74
Unity is a place
where there's diversity,
00:10:14.78\00:10:16.61
it's a place
where there's humility,
00:10:16.64\00:10:18.35
it's also a place
00:10:18.38\00:10:19.71
where there is doctrinal purity.
00:10:19.75\00:10:22.75
We cannot have
unity apart from truth,
00:10:22.78\00:10:27.19
and that's what Paul
was trying to express
00:10:27.22\00:10:29.39
to the Galatian
church, to the believers there.
00:10:29.42\00:10:33.23
You think about Martin Luther,
00:10:33.26\00:10:34.93
he built his belief
in justification by faith
00:10:34.96\00:10:38.80
and you could
say even the backbone
00:10:38.83\00:10:40.87
of the Protestant
Reformation, the 95 Theses
00:10:40.90\00:10:43.87
he nailed to the
church door in Wittenberg,
00:10:43.94\00:10:46.04
built off of the concepts,
00:10:46.07\00:10:48.04
the principle of
justification by faith
00:10:48.11\00:10:50.48
found in the
gospel of Galatians,
00:10:50.51\00:10:52.71
found in the
epistle of Galatians.
00:10:52.75\00:10:56.69
Great Controversy, page 166,
00:10:56.72\00:11:00.29
"Had the reformer,
meaning Martin Luther,
00:11:00.32\00:11:02.82
yielded a single point
00:11:02.86\00:11:04.63
Satan and his hosts
would have gained the victory,
00:11:04.69\00:11:07.76
but his unwavering firmness
00:11:07.76\00:11:10.07
was the means of
emancipating the church
00:11:10.10\00:11:12.43
and beginning a
new and better era."
00:11:12.47\00:11:14.47
So what if he had said,
"Okay, I need to give in
00:11:14.50\00:11:18.17
and they're saying
that it's grace and works,
00:11:18.24\00:11:20.61
not just grace so
I'm going to do this."
00:11:20.64\00:11:22.61
No, he had to stand
for the principle of truth,
00:11:22.64\00:11:26.18
the principle what
was in the Word of God.
00:11:26.21\00:11:29.42
And we have doctrine
and practical application.
00:11:29.45\00:11:32.45
If you focus on doctrine
00:11:32.49\00:11:33.82
to the exclusion of
practical application,
00:11:33.86\00:11:36.62
you have aborted the
process and you become arrogant.
00:11:36.66\00:11:39.59
If you focus on
practical application
00:11:39.63\00:11:42.13
without a doctrinal foundation,
00:11:42.16\00:11:45.00
we either fall into legalism
or superficial Christianity.
00:11:45.03\00:11:48.94
Paul, you find
this in his writing,
00:11:48.97\00:11:50.61
he lays the
doctrinal foundation first,
00:11:50.64\00:11:53.98
then he applies it
00:11:54.01\00:11:55.34
to the everyday problems
of life as we deal with it.
00:11:55.38\00:11:58.31
So unity is the place
where there's diversity,
00:11:58.35\00:12:00.35
humility, and doctrinal purity.
00:12:00.38\00:12:02.82
It is not a place
where anything goes,
00:12:02.85\00:12:05.19
we know that the Word of
God absolutes are important.
00:12:05.22\00:12:09.62
Malachi, 3:6, "I am
the Lord, I change not."
00:12:09.66\00:12:12.86
It is not a place where
doctrine is unimportant.
00:12:12.89\00:12:16.30
Ephesians 4, let's
look real quick there
00:12:16.33\00:12:19.33
at Ephesians 4:13.
00:12:19.37\00:12:26.11
Do you have that, Shelley? Yes.
00:12:26.14\00:12:27.48
Ephesians 4:13? Ephesians 4:13.
00:12:27.51\00:12:29.74
"Till we all come to
the unity of the faith,
00:12:29.78\00:12:32.48
and of the
knowledge of the Son of God,
00:12:32.51\00:12:34.82
to a perfect man to
the measure of the stature
00:12:34.85\00:12:38.45
of the fullness of Christ."
00:12:38.49\00:12:40.69
Amen. We are to strive.
00:12:40.76\00:12:42.56
We all come to the
unity of the faith.
00:12:42.59\00:12:45.03
The word for unity means
00:12:45.06\00:12:46.39
especially it
means oneness or unity,
00:12:46.43\00:12:49.00
especially the God produced
oneness between believers.
00:12:49.03\00:12:52.73
Amen.
00:12:52.77\00:12:54.10
The harmony from
sharing likeness of nature
00:12:54.14\00:12:56.34
with the Lord.
00:12:56.37\00:12:58.64
And third, unity is not a place
where hurt feelings are held,
00:12:58.67\00:13:03.68
where opinions are held
above mutual submission,
00:13:03.71\00:13:07.55
respect, and the
study of God's Word.
00:13:07.62\00:13:11.19
We're in Galatians 2.
00:13:11.22\00:13:14.09
This week we look at
really Galatians 2:1-14.
00:13:14.16\00:13:19.63
And he begins
verse 1 and 2, I'll read
00:13:19.66\00:13:21.70
and then I think Pastor
Kenny jumps in after that.
00:13:21.73\00:13:24.73
Verse 1 and 2, Galatians
2, "Then after 14 years,
00:13:24.77\00:13:28.24
I went up again to
Jerusalem with Barnabas."
00:13:28.30\00:13:30.67
Remember, Galatians 1,
00:13:30.71\00:13:32.87
he laid out the gospel,
00:13:32.91\00:13:35.58
he laid out Jesus
Christ had come to him
00:13:35.61\00:13:38.68
on the road to Damascus
and some of his journey.
00:13:38.71\00:13:43.15
And then now
we're in Chapter 2:1,
00:13:43.18\00:13:45.35
"Then after 14 years I
went up again to Jerusalem
00:13:45.39\00:13:47.66
with Barnabas and
took Titus with me.
00:13:47.72\00:13:50.16
And I went up by revelation,
and communicated to them
00:13:50.19\00:13:52.99
that gospel which I
preach among the gentiles,
00:13:53.03\00:13:56.26
but privately to those
who were of reputation,
00:13:56.30\00:13:59.70
lest by any means I
might run or had run in vain."
00:13:59.73\00:14:05.81
He went up to
Jerusalem, it was a distance.
00:14:05.84\00:14:09.71
But the false
teachers in Galatia
00:14:09.74\00:14:11.71
were claiming that
Paul's gospel was not in harmony
00:14:11.75\00:14:14.68
with what Peter and
the other apostles taught.
00:14:14.72\00:14:17.32
And in response to this charge,
00:14:17.35\00:14:19.12
Paul said, "I have
to go up to Jerusalem
00:14:19.15\00:14:21.52
and I need to discuss
this with the brethren
00:14:21.56\00:14:24.43
and we need to come to an
agreement pertaining to it."
00:14:24.49\00:14:27.96
Pastor Kenny,
you have circumcision
00:14:27.96\00:14:29.53
and the false brethren.
00:14:29.56\00:14:30.90
You know, as we look at
this the way this starts out.
00:14:30.93\00:14:34.47
You always have to kind
of begin at the beginning
00:14:34.50\00:14:36.94
and even though a
part of our lessons
00:14:36.97\00:14:38.34
that you cover
different aspects of it
00:14:38.37\00:14:40.81
but there's new
people that view,
00:14:40.84\00:14:42.18
there's people who have
still questions and new viewers.
00:14:42.21\00:14:44.81
So we have to look at,
00:14:44.88\00:14:46.21
I think it's been
answered several different times
00:14:46.25\00:14:48.38
when you look at circumcision
00:14:48.45\00:14:50.25
is a sign of a
covenant relationship.
00:14:50.29\00:14:52.79
You know, we're in Genesis
17, "God gives that to Abraham."
00:14:52.82\00:14:56.83
And so and it just
didn't include the males,
00:14:56.86\00:14:58.86
it include
everyone's been brought out.
00:14:58.89\00:15:00.80
So it's wonderful to know
that God has given everyone
00:15:00.83\00:15:04.13
the opportunity
to have salvation,
00:15:04.17\00:15:07.24
it's a wonderful thing.
00:15:07.27\00:15:08.60
I mean, you talk about
bringing joy and excitement
00:15:08.64\00:15:11.24
that we have an opportunity
to be saved in God's Kingdom.
00:15:11.27\00:15:14.64
So as we look
at the circumcision
00:15:14.71\00:15:17.41
comes false
brethren, what does that mean?
00:15:17.45\00:15:19.81
We're looking at,
00:15:19.85\00:15:21.18
because the way
that some took it,
00:15:21.25\00:15:23.35
you know, the way
that it started out,
00:15:23.39\00:15:25.22
the way God intended it,
00:15:25.25\00:15:26.76
and the way man came
in and begin to change it.
00:15:26.79\00:15:29.52
You quoted there in
Malaschi, where God changes not.
00:15:29.56\00:15:32.63
But interesting, man does change
00:15:32.66\00:15:35.46
and he changes a lot sometime,
00:15:35.50\00:15:37.43
but we have to go back
to scripture with that.
00:15:37.47\00:15:40.34
And I thought it
was very interesting.
00:15:40.37\00:15:43.30
The lesson gave out
several passage of scripture
00:15:43.34\00:15:46.54
when you're talking
about the circumcision.
00:15:46.57\00:15:49.11
He meant of the what,
00:15:49.14\00:15:50.48
we know what, of the
heart, didn't that right?
00:15:50.51\00:15:52.18
What we're talking about? Yes.
00:15:52.21\00:15:54.12
I thought it was
very interesting in there,
00:15:54.15\00:15:55.52
that Deuteronomy
10:16, and Deuteronomy 30:6,
00:15:55.55\00:15:59.29
it talks about circumcision
00:15:59.32\00:16:01.76
and even it says, "One
circumcision of the heart
00:16:01.82\00:16:04.96
to bring us back,
00:16:04.99\00:16:06.33
notice this, to love
God with all of our heart
00:16:06.36\00:16:10.10
and all of our mind.
00:16:10.13\00:16:12.00
That's what it's all
about, we realize duty to God,
00:16:12.03\00:16:14.14
duty to our fellowman
00:16:14.17\00:16:15.50
but to bring us back to our
love relationship with Christ.
00:16:15.54\00:16:18.61
And even one point
again been brought out,
00:16:18.64\00:16:20.84
it's very interesting.
00:16:20.88\00:16:22.21
Paul didn't
mince words sometime,
00:16:22.24\00:16:23.88
he just simply, he talked
about stiff-necked people,
00:16:23.91\00:16:26.95
you know, stiff-necked people.
00:16:26.98\00:16:29.12
I thought how interesting it is.
00:16:29.15\00:16:31.09
Really, in one aspect of
this where you look at it
00:16:31.12\00:16:33.52
and just do a
little studying on it,
00:16:33.56\00:16:35.26
it's dealing with apostasy.
00:16:35.29\00:16:37.43
Yes.
00:16:37.46\00:16:38.79
Even in the church, stiff-necked
00:16:38.83\00:16:40.60
because they were going
opposite of what was the truth
00:16:40.63\00:16:43.67
and what was right,
00:16:43.70\00:16:45.07
and what many even understood
as being truth and right.
00:16:45.13\00:16:48.40
They wanted to
do their own thing,
00:16:48.44\00:16:49.97
they got a following.
00:16:50.01\00:16:52.11
You know, no matter
what you preach or teach,
00:16:52.14\00:16:54.21
there's somebody
who is gonna follow you.
00:16:54.24\00:16:56.28
People say, "Well, I've
got a lot of followers."
00:16:56.31\00:16:57.85
That doesn't make you right,
you know, what makes us right
00:16:57.91\00:17:01.15
is line upon line,
precept upon precept,
00:17:01.18\00:17:03.55
here a little
and there a little,
00:17:03.59\00:17:04.99
shall we find out what truth is.
00:17:05.02\00:17:07.39
But, of course,
during Paul's time
00:17:07.42\00:17:08.82
naturally the
big debate was over,
00:17:08.86\00:17:11.13
whether you were
circumcised or not.
00:17:11.16\00:17:12.83
Our lesson brings out
150 years before Jesus,
00:17:12.86\00:17:17.60
you know, what were they doing?
00:17:17.63\00:17:19.63
You know, what were
the people in charge?
00:17:19.67\00:17:21.30
They were making
people as it were,
00:17:21.34\00:17:23.30
they were forcing
men to be circumcised
00:17:23.34\00:17:26.88
and even if you
were in the jurisdiction
00:17:26.91\00:17:29.18
of those who were in charge,
you were still forced to do it.
00:17:29.21\00:17:32.45
I mean, what kind
of a gospel is that?
00:17:32.48\00:17:36.12
What kind of a
message really is that?
00:17:36.15\00:17:38.65
I've often said, I'm a believer
in the seventh day Sabbath,
00:17:38.69\00:17:42.36
that's just the way it is.
00:17:42.39\00:17:43.73
I'm just convicted and
I'm converted on the issue
00:17:43.76\00:17:46.03
at this point
of time in my life,
00:17:46.06\00:17:47.60
the seventh day Sabbath.
00:17:47.66\00:17:49.20
You know, no matter what,
00:17:49.23\00:17:50.57
unless somebody
can prove in scripture
00:17:50.60\00:17:51.93
that's impossibility.
00:17:52.00\00:17:53.67
And so, you know,
we look at this here
00:17:53.70\00:17:56.00
and we come to
the point over here,
00:17:56.04\00:17:59.74
if I could make everybody
00:17:59.77\00:18:05.61
become a Seventh-day Adventist,
00:18:05.65\00:18:07.98
I would not do it
or observe the Sabbath.
00:18:08.02\00:18:11.35
Would it be right or wrong?
00:18:11.39\00:18:13.49
If you were in authority
00:18:13.52\00:18:15.06
to where you
could make everybody
00:18:15.12\00:18:17.13
a Sabbath
keeper, would you do it?
00:18:17.16\00:18:19.36
A man forced against his will
is of the same opinion still.
00:18:19.39\00:18:22.03
Same opinion still.
00:18:22.06\00:18:23.40
So no, you should not do
that because God doesn't...
00:18:23.43\00:18:25.97
He doesn't accept
that kind of worship.
00:18:26.00\00:18:28.27
You know, it's
certainly is free choice.
00:18:28.30\00:18:30.37
But certainly they did it
because there was a reason
00:18:30.41\00:18:34.01
why these folks in
leadership did this,
00:18:34.04\00:18:37.88
because they honestly believe
that salvation was a state,
00:18:37.91\00:18:41.35
did they not?
00:18:41.38\00:18:42.72
This was...
00:18:42.75\00:18:44.09
How many times have you
heard salvational issues?
00:18:44.12\00:18:46.92
If you travel and
talk to people enough,
00:18:46.96\00:18:49.49
they're gonna bring
everything from A to Z and say,
00:18:49.52\00:18:52.23
and then you look at
00:18:52.26\00:18:53.60
and you're saying
you've got to be kidding
00:18:53.63\00:18:54.93
and they're saying,
00:18:55.00\00:18:56.33
"Well, that's a
salvational issue!"
00:18:56.36\00:18:57.90
They know it will make you
stop and think a little bit
00:18:57.97\00:19:00.57
and lot of time
they look at them
00:19:00.60\00:19:02.00
and says, "It's not either."
00:19:02.07\00:19:03.47
But disagree, no, it's not.
00:19:03.51\00:19:05.87
Because many times
00:19:05.91\00:19:07.24
that's their little
deal to claw to get in.
00:19:07.28\00:19:09.24
But these folks thought
00:19:09.28\00:19:10.61
it really was a
salvational issue
00:19:10.65\00:19:12.21
and it's best if you
go ahead and do it anyway.
00:19:12.25\00:19:14.12
You know, you don't want
to, you still going to do it
00:19:14.15\00:19:15.55
because what is all about?
00:19:15.58\00:19:17.25
Gehenna or hell,
it doesn't have people
00:19:17.29\00:19:19.25
who've been circumcised in it.
00:19:19.29\00:19:20.62
You know, so you're thinking...
00:19:20.66\00:19:21.99
You know, this was
really their thought.
00:19:22.02\00:19:23.36
So I was reading along
00:19:23.39\00:19:24.86
and I thought
Paul, how about Timothy?
00:19:24.89\00:19:27.20
Now Timothy was a Galatian,
wasn't he a gentile, was he?
00:19:27.23\00:19:32.07
What was he?
00:19:32.10\00:19:33.44
He was part
Jewish, part Galatian.
00:19:33.47\00:19:34.94
He was part, wasn't he?
00:19:34.97\00:19:36.54
And we have a couple of issue
with Timothy and with Titus
00:19:36.57\00:19:41.68
because one of them
00:19:41.71\00:19:43.21
decided it was
best for the gospels
00:19:43.24\00:19:45.15
like, some of you are
not going to get this,
00:19:45.18\00:19:46.68
because he's
talking about a compromise,
00:19:46.72\00:19:48.82
decided it was best to
go ahead and be circumcised
00:19:48.85\00:19:51.82
so the doors would be open,
so you could preach the gospel.
00:19:51.89\00:19:55.82
In our time we'll
say, "Well, if it's truth,
00:19:55.86\00:19:57.66
we're not going to sacrifice
anything we're gonna..."
00:19:57.69\00:20:00.96
But then as we look at it
down through here, would we say,
00:20:01.00\00:20:06.03
panel, that there was
prejudiced in that day?
00:20:06.07\00:20:08.30
Why were people
prejudiced at all.
00:20:08.34\00:20:10.47
The Jews were
prejudiced that's in Acts 16,
00:20:10.51\00:20:13.51
again because of the prejudice,
00:20:13.54\00:20:15.34
because of the
hardness of the heart,
00:20:15.38\00:20:17.71
because of what
they believed, they said,
00:20:17.75\00:20:20.05
"You know, this is best
if we go ahead and do that,
00:20:20.08\00:20:22.22
that way the
doors will be open."
00:20:22.25\00:20:23.75
But you know, you
never sacrifice the truth.
00:20:23.79\00:20:26.25
That's right. You
never sacrifice truth.
00:20:26.29\00:20:27.96
I think that's
part of the unity.
00:20:28.02\00:20:29.42
You know, even if they
say, even there's a war,
00:20:29.46\00:20:31.99
you stand for what is
truth and what is right.
00:20:32.03\00:20:34.23
And Titus again was
full blooded gentile
00:20:34.30\00:20:36.73
but, you know, God
had another plan here.
00:20:36.77\00:20:40.00
As he was setting the stage
so that the rest of the church
00:20:40.04\00:20:43.57
and the rest of the people
00:20:43.61\00:20:44.94
and what Paul was
preaching and teaching,
00:20:44.97\00:20:46.31
that people would grasp it,
00:20:46.34\00:20:47.91
there was examples given
so that they could follow it
00:20:47.94\00:20:51.01
and they could understand
so they could be in unity.
00:20:51.05\00:20:53.85
I mean, I'm
seeing a lot of unity,
00:20:53.88\00:20:55.58
and I'm seeing a lot of harmony,
00:20:55.62\00:20:57.12
but I also noticed
when you call for unity
00:20:57.15\00:21:00.49
and harmony, you have people
00:21:00.52\00:21:02.32
who do not want
that in the church.
00:21:02.36\00:21:05.13
They don't want it,
they're not gonna say that
00:21:05.19\00:21:07.30
but they go against every time.
00:21:07.36\00:21:09.60
You'll say, "You know,
00:21:09.63\00:21:10.97
if we can just come
together on this issue."
00:21:11.00\00:21:12.33
And they're like, "Oh, no,
00:21:12.37\00:21:13.70
we're not gonna
to do that at all."
00:21:13.74\00:21:15.07
So, but God will
encourage us and strengthen us
00:21:15.10\00:21:18.14
that we must have unity,
that's what Christ prayed for,
00:21:18.17\00:21:22.21
that's exactly
what's going to take place.
00:21:22.24\00:21:24.81
And I don't know if you
have ever asked yourself
00:21:24.88\00:21:26.95
as how's it going to come about?
00:21:26.98\00:21:28.78
It was too big for me to answer.
00:21:28.85\00:21:31.35
How is this unity
that Christ prayed for,
00:21:31.42\00:21:33.46
how can we all be one?
00:21:33.49\00:21:34.82
When like you say,
you have a 100 people...
00:21:34.89\00:21:36.32
There's a difference,
there's a difference.
00:21:36.36\00:21:38.66
When you're talking
about really unified
00:21:38.69\00:21:40.90
in giving the
three angels' message,
00:21:40.93\00:21:42.90
for instance, you know.
00:21:42.93\00:21:44.57
All of a sudden, here we
might differ on a few things
00:21:44.60\00:21:46.90
but I think when it
comes to giving the gospel,
00:21:46.94\00:21:49.44
the giving the good news,
00:21:49.47\00:21:50.81
giving the
three angels' message,
00:21:50.84\00:21:52.61
giving those distinctive
truths that God has in His word,
00:21:52.64\00:21:55.81
I think we're in
agreement on those things.
00:21:55.84\00:21:57.68
That binds us
together, that helps us to...
00:21:57.71\00:22:00.25
That works together
00:22:00.28\00:22:01.68
and let's not
just focus on like,
00:22:01.72\00:22:03.35
say, the color of
clothes we have or whatever
00:22:03.39\00:22:05.52
which people will do that.
00:22:05.55\00:22:06.89
They're worried about
what color hanky you have here
00:22:06.92\00:22:09.26
rather than what's being said.
00:22:09.29\00:22:10.93
They're worried about
what kind of shoes you wear,
00:22:10.96\00:22:13.09
or they're worried
about if you say aha-aha.
00:22:13.13\00:22:15.00
I get a letter once
said, "Hey, Kenny, shut up."
00:22:15.03\00:22:16.73
They say, "Be quiet."
00:22:16.77\00:22:18.10
You say, "Aha-aha" too
much and praise the Lord.
00:22:18.17\00:22:20.04
Well,
everybody's just different.
00:22:20.07\00:22:22.34
Me too, I get those too.
00:22:22.37\00:22:24.34
And they
basically say, "Be quiet."
00:22:24.37\00:22:26.24
And I try to write back
and say, everybody's not quiet,
00:22:26.27\00:22:29.18
it doesn't make
you right or wrong
00:22:29.21\00:22:31.11
but there is a time and a place
00:22:31.15\00:22:32.48
and certainly we need to
be respectful of other folks.
00:22:32.51\00:22:35.02
But we're different
00:22:35.05\00:22:36.45
but yet we need to be
respectful of one another.
00:22:36.48\00:22:39.95
Paul said there is
freedom and I love it.
00:22:39.99\00:22:43.43
There is
freedom in Christ Jesus.
00:22:43.46\00:22:44.83
Amen.
00:22:44.86\00:22:46.19
Whether you circumcise
or whether you were not,
00:22:46.23\00:22:48.40
he said it doesn't matter.
00:22:48.46\00:22:50.43
The book's very clear on that.
00:22:50.47\00:22:51.83
We read, the
Bible's very clear on that.
00:22:51.87\00:22:53.57
But he says, right, we
have liberty, I love that,
00:22:53.60\00:22:55.70
in Jesus Christ salvation
00:22:55.74\00:22:57.71
and it's not by
doing, it's not by earning,
00:22:57.74\00:23:00.74
it's been brought
forth beautifully here.
00:23:00.78\00:23:02.91
It's a free gift of God.
00:23:02.94\00:23:04.38
And I'm so very
grateful and thankful for that.
00:23:04.41\00:23:06.92
And that was not,
maybe not just really easy,
00:23:06.95\00:23:10.55
my brother
mentioned there before
00:23:10.59\00:23:11.92
in the way we were raised,
00:23:11.99\00:23:13.32
that was not
really a easy concept
00:23:13.36\00:23:15.49
to grasp because our
mind at small age was geared,
00:23:15.56\00:23:19.56
at least mine was a
little bit different.
00:23:19.59\00:23:21.66
It was geared
more works orientated
00:23:21.70\00:23:25.03
rather than it's a free gift.
00:23:25.07\00:23:26.40
And once I got
that through my head,
00:23:26.43\00:23:27.87
it actually
brought a lot of joy.
00:23:27.90\00:23:29.70
Oh, yeah. A lot of happiness.
00:23:29.74\00:23:31.37
And there's
nothing that I can do,
00:23:31.41\00:23:34.34
I am a hopeless case
without Christ Jesus.
00:23:34.38\00:23:37.28
There's nothing I
can do to earn it.
00:23:37.31\00:23:39.41
Twenty-four-seven we
work for Him, we do this...
00:23:39.45\00:23:42.48
No, doesn't
earn... Doesn't count.
00:23:42.52\00:23:44.12
It's only by Jesus
Christ and His sacrifice,
00:23:44.15\00:23:46.59
and by His blood, and
I'm depended upon Him.
00:23:46.62\00:23:50.16
I thank God for these lessons
00:23:50.19\00:23:52.73
and I'm praying that
everyone studying along with
00:23:52.76\00:23:55.96
will really get
into maybe deeper than
00:23:56.00\00:23:57.83
maybe we have in the past
00:23:57.87\00:24:00.10
and really look at part of
what we're talking about...
00:24:00.14\00:24:02.77
Part of our lesson says,
identify what the gospel is.
00:24:02.80\00:24:04.97
Amen.
00:24:05.01\00:24:06.34
And I just want to
point out one thing
00:24:06.37\00:24:07.71
because I don't think
you finished your thought,
00:24:07.74\00:24:09.34
that here in chapter 2,
00:24:09.38\00:24:11.18
as Paul is recounting
00:24:11.21\00:24:13.55
when he went to
the Jerusalem Council,
00:24:13.58\00:24:17.32
obviously, Titus was with him,
who was a full-blooded gentile.
00:24:17.35\00:24:22.16
So he goes up in AD 49
for this Jerusalem Council,
00:24:22.22\00:24:26.63
and we'll study
this in a little bit
00:24:26.66\00:24:28.06
that what the letter said was,
00:24:28.13\00:24:31.43
"Okay, gentiles
don't have to be in."
00:24:31.50\00:24:33.64
And he makes
this point right here.
00:24:33.67\00:24:35.84
"Not even Titus who was with me
00:24:35.87\00:24:38.24
being a Greek was
compelled to be circumcised."
00:24:38.27\00:24:42.78
So, you know, I
just want to make sure
00:24:42.81\00:24:44.31
people understood...
00:24:44.35\00:24:45.71
Well, there was unity there,
00:24:45.75\00:24:47.08
wasn't there with Paul's gospel?
00:24:47.12\00:24:48.45
Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:24:48.48\00:24:49.82
Unity came together with
the church and with Paul.
00:24:49.85\00:24:51.39
Yes. Good.
00:24:51.42\00:24:52.75
There is such
freedom in that unity
00:24:52.79\00:24:54.12
and praise the Lord for that.
00:24:54.16\00:24:55.49
Brother Johnny, you
have Unity in Diversity,
00:24:55.52\00:24:58.03
how do we achieve that?
00:24:58.06\00:24:59.53
Strangely enough this portion
00:24:59.56\00:25:01.66
which is Tuesday's
entitled Unity in Diversity.
00:25:01.70\00:25:07.50
The lesson tells us
to go to Galatians 2
00:25:07.54\00:25:12.61
and go through verses 1-10.
00:25:12.64\00:25:15.81
I'm gonna go up to verse 4
00:25:15.84\00:25:17.18
and then begin a
little talk or hear about,
00:25:17.21\00:25:19.98
was something that brought
out in the lesson about freedom.
00:25:20.02\00:25:23.45
So verse 1,
Galatians 2:1, "Then 14 years
00:25:23.49\00:25:29.19
after I went up again
to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
00:25:29.22\00:25:32.36
and took Titus with me also.
00:25:32.39\00:25:34.56
And I went up by revelation,
00:25:34.56\00:25:36.43
and communicated
unto them that gospel
00:25:36.46\00:25:39.63
which I preach among
the gentiles, wonderful,
00:25:39.67\00:25:43.37
but privately to them
which were of reputation,
00:25:43.41\00:25:46.68
lest by any means I
should run, or had run in vain.
00:25:46.71\00:25:50.58
But neither Titus, who
was with me, being a Greek,
00:25:50.61\00:25:53.68
was compelled to be circumcised.
00:25:53.72\00:25:56.28
And that because of false
brethren unawares brought in,
00:25:56.32\00:25:59.95
who came in privily or
privately, if you prefer,
00:26:00.06\00:26:03.26
to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus
00:26:03.29\00:26:08.03
that they might
bring us into bondage."
00:26:08.06\00:26:13.67
So these false brethren,
00:26:13.70\00:26:18.81
their intention was not good.
00:26:18.84\00:26:21.44
Their intention
was to bring them
00:26:21.48\00:26:23.38
again to bondage.
00:26:23.41\00:26:25.35
So what do you mean bondage?
00:26:25.38\00:26:28.08
We're gonna have to talk
about bondage and freedom here,
00:26:28.12\00:26:29.95
because Paul called bondage
00:26:29.98\00:26:34.12
that system of sacrifices
and ordinances that continued
00:26:34.16\00:26:38.93
after Jesus
Christ was crucified.
00:26:38.96\00:26:41.96
After Jesus
Christ was crucified,
00:26:42.00\00:26:45.47
there was an understanding
that we were to come into,
00:26:45.53\00:26:50.34
that the light
was shining greater.
00:26:50.37\00:26:52.87
Greater light came
00:26:52.91\00:26:54.24
in which Jesus
being the Lamb of God
00:26:54.28\00:26:57.81
was crucified for us.
00:26:57.85\00:27:00.12
So the system of sacrifices
00:27:00.15\00:27:01.52
and offerings
had its importance,
00:27:01.55\00:27:03.49
had its time until
Jesus died on the cross.
00:27:03.52\00:27:07.52
And so the people that went back
00:27:07.56\00:27:10.23
into that practice,
00:27:10.26\00:27:11.83
Paul called bondage.
00:27:11.86\00:27:14.60
So now he is
talking about freedom.
00:27:14.63\00:27:17.40
They came to spy out the
freedom we have in Christ.
00:27:17.43\00:27:21.24
And so we have to
look at the context
00:27:21.27\00:27:23.34
of why he uses
the word freedom here
00:27:23.37\00:27:26.34
and the lesson brings out
00:27:26.37\00:27:27.71
some interesting
things about freedom
00:27:27.74\00:27:29.08
because we have
freedom in Christ.
00:27:29.14\00:27:31.41
Now freedom from that living
00:27:31.45\00:27:35.68
according to the practices
of the ritual offerings,
00:27:35.72\00:27:39.05
and the sacrifices,
and all those things,
00:27:39.09\00:27:41.09
that's the freedom that
he's talking about, why?
00:27:41.12\00:27:43.83
Because Jesus
fulfilled those things.
00:27:43.86\00:27:47.20
And because He
is the Lamb of God
00:27:47.23\00:27:49.80
that was crucified for us,
00:27:49.83\00:27:52.00
we don't have to
sacrifice or crucify,
00:27:52.03\00:27:54.60
sacrifice lambs anymore.
00:27:54.64\00:27:56.67
The true sacrifice had come,
00:27:56.71\00:28:00.74
so we no longer need to
rely on animal sacrifices
00:28:00.78\00:28:04.25
for the forgiveness of our sins.
00:28:04.28\00:28:05.81
So this freedom when
we talk about freedom,
00:28:05.85\00:28:08.32
I've to keep an
eye on the clock here.
00:28:08.35\00:28:10.15
So this freedom, when
we talk about freedom,
00:28:10.19\00:28:12.25
is freedom in Jesus
because we accept Jesus
00:28:12.29\00:28:15.26
as our personal
Savior and we accept Jesus
00:28:15.32\00:28:18.03
as our personal Savior,
00:28:18.06\00:28:19.66
we give Him our baggage of sins,
00:28:19.69\00:28:23.60
all of our sins.
00:28:23.63\00:28:25.30
And He died on
the cross for those,
00:28:25.33\00:28:27.30
so we no longer
need to be living
00:28:27.34\00:28:30.54
under the
condemnation of those sins.
00:28:30.57\00:28:32.91
That's right.
00:28:32.94\00:28:34.28
So let's look at
this wonderful thing here
00:28:34.31\00:28:36.31
that is the freedom in Christ.
00:28:36.34\00:28:39.55
So we're talking
about a Christian experience
00:28:39.58\00:28:41.28
and we're talking about freedom,
00:28:41.32\00:28:42.72
if you may or an
interesting thing
00:28:42.75\00:28:44.42
is brought out in the
lesson, that freedom is a word
00:28:44.45\00:28:48.32
that Paul uses more
than any other writer
00:28:48.36\00:28:51.06
in the New
Testament, interesting.
00:28:51.09\00:28:53.29
So this freedom in
Christ comes as an understanding
00:28:53.33\00:28:57.77
that Christ, our
sacrifice, our lamb,
00:28:57.80\00:29:01.40
our Passover was
sacrificed for us.
00:29:01.44\00:29:04.44
And it involves
also, this freedom involves
00:29:04.47\00:29:07.44
freedom from being enslaved
00:29:07.48\00:29:10.05
to the desires of
our sinful nature.
00:29:10.08\00:29:12.81
You can read
Romans 6 about that,
00:29:12.85\00:29:15.08
but I would like to ask
somebody to read Romans 8:1, 2,
00:29:15.12\00:29:21.06
Romans 8:1, 2, oh, see
Sister Jill already has it,
00:29:21.09\00:29:24.33
could you please
read that for us?
00:29:24.36\00:29:25.69
"There is
therefore now no condemnation
00:29:25.76\00:29:28.40
to those who
are in Christ Jesus,
00:29:28.43\00:29:30.30
who do not walk
according to the flesh,
00:29:30.33\00:29:32.27
but according to the Spirit.
00:29:32.30\00:29:33.90
For the law of
the Spirit of life
00:29:33.94\00:29:35.47
in Christ Jesus has made me free
00:29:35.54\00:29:38.31
from the law of sin and death.
00:29:38.34\00:29:40.38
Amen, so we have here
00:29:40.41\00:29:42.68
that there is no condemnation
to them they are what?
00:29:42.71\00:29:46.72
In Christ Jesus.
00:29:46.75\00:29:49.75
I know Shelley wants
to talk a lot about that.
00:29:49.78\00:29:52.12
This being in Christ Jesus
is the liberty that we have.
00:29:52.19\00:29:56.26
Yes.
00:29:56.29\00:29:57.63
And if you're
not in Christ Jesus,
00:29:57.66\00:29:59.56
oh, oh, then you
have condemnation,
00:29:59.59\00:30:02.70
'cause you find no condemnation
when you are in Christ Jesus,
00:30:02.73\00:30:07.20
but if you're
not in Christ Jesus,
00:30:07.24\00:30:08.80
then there is condemnation.
00:30:08.84\00:30:10.84
So there is no
condemnation to them
00:30:10.87\00:30:13.48
that are in Christ Jesus,
but now there is a qualifier.
00:30:13.51\00:30:17.05
Shelley, want to talk
to us about the qualifier?
00:30:17.08\00:30:19.41
Are you putting
it over to my day?
00:30:19.45\00:30:21.52
No, not yet. Oh wait.
00:30:21.55\00:30:23.59
Where... I was...
00:30:23.62\00:30:24.95
In the verse, Romans 8,
what does the next part say?
00:30:24.99\00:30:27.62
Oh, about walking not
according to the flesh
00:30:27.66\00:30:32.19
but according to the spirit.
00:30:32.23\00:30:33.80
There it is. So if
you're not walking,
00:30:33.83\00:30:36.40
if you're walking
according to the flesh,
00:30:36.43\00:30:39.10
then you don't have the
freedom in Christ Jesus.
00:30:39.13\00:30:41.77
So there's a balance
here that we've talked about,
00:30:41.80\00:30:44.67
that we've talked
about, we just talked about,
00:30:44.71\00:30:46.44
we don't throw the
Ten Commandments away
00:30:46.47\00:30:50.25
because Christ
died on the cross.
00:30:50.28\00:30:52.28
No, the commandments
continued, because, you know,
00:30:52.31\00:30:55.75
it's interesting
sometimes, I said to people,
00:30:55.78\00:30:58.19
"So you don't
believe the Ten Commandments
00:30:58.22\00:30:59.89
are binding up on people?"
00:30:59.92\00:31:01.69
"No, I don't."
00:31:01.72\00:31:03.96
"Did you ever do
any door-to-door work?
00:31:03.99\00:31:08.93
Or tried to help
somebody know about Jesus?"
00:31:08.96\00:31:13.67
And they say,
"Yes, I have done that."
00:31:13.70\00:31:15.37
So they work to lead people
00:31:15.40\00:31:19.17
to understand
that they are sinners.
00:31:19.24\00:31:22.01
They say, "Well,
what is a sinner?"
00:31:22.04\00:31:23.38
Oh, oh.
00:31:23.41\00:31:24.75
A sinner is someone
who has committed sins,
00:31:24.78\00:31:26.21
and the Bible says,
00:31:26.25\00:31:27.58
"The sin is the
transgression of the law."
00:31:27.62\00:31:29.62
So you cannot take away the law,
00:31:29.65\00:31:30.99
because if you
take away the law,
00:31:31.02\00:31:32.35
then there are no sinners.
00:31:32.42\00:31:33.76
That's right.
00:31:33.79\00:31:35.12
But we have
freedom in Christ Jesus
00:31:35.16\00:31:36.49
because He is the
one that took our sins.
00:31:36.52\00:31:38.76
The Lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world
00:31:38.79\00:31:41.43
takes our sins, and
so we have this freedom,
00:31:41.46\00:31:44.63
this freedom to
walk in no condemnation
00:31:44.67\00:31:48.00
because we are in
Christ Jesus and this,
00:31:48.04\00:31:51.41
"Are in Christ Jesus",
00:31:51.44\00:31:52.77
is continuing
being in Christ Jesus.
00:31:52.81\00:31:55.98
Amen. And that
brings you liberty.
00:31:56.01\00:31:59.81
Liberty, what do
you mean liberty?
00:31:59.85\00:32:01.98
Now liberty to do
whatever you want.
00:32:02.02\00:32:04.52
Liberty to be freed from sin,
00:32:04.55\00:32:09.19
as it says in Romans 6:7,
00:32:09.22\00:32:12.79
let me read verse Roman 6:6, 7.
00:32:12.86\00:32:15.40
"Knowing this that our
old man is crucified with him,
00:32:15.43\00:32:19.83
that is Jesus,
that the body of sin
00:32:19.87\00:32:22.84
might be destroyed
or rendered helpless,
00:32:22.87\00:32:27.18
the henceforth we
should not serve sin
00:32:27.21\00:32:30.98
for he that is
dead is freed from sin."
00:32:31.01\00:32:34.18
So through Jesus Christ
we can be freed from sin,
00:32:34.22\00:32:37.69
to them and
walk after the flesh,
00:32:37.72\00:32:42.66
not after the flesh
but after the spirit.
00:32:42.69\00:32:45.33
And so reading
verse 2, Romans 8:2,
00:32:45.36\00:32:48.60
"For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
00:32:48.66\00:32:50.60
has made me free from
the law of sin and death."
00:32:50.63\00:32:53.84
Now we just have
about two minutes
00:32:53.87\00:32:55.30
and something to talk about
00:32:55.34\00:32:58.21
the fact that Paul was
called to preach unto the...
00:32:58.24\00:33:02.41
Gentiles. Gentiles.
00:33:02.44\00:33:04.35
While Peter was
called to preach unto them
00:33:04.38\00:33:06.48
that are called
the circumcision.
00:33:06.51\00:33:07.98
That's right. True.
00:33:08.02\00:33:09.35
So where, this is,
this is the diversity
00:33:09.42\00:33:10.95
that they're talking about.
00:33:10.99\00:33:12.32
Not that there is not unity,
00:33:12.39\00:33:13.99
it was the same gospel
being preached to the gentiles,
00:33:14.02\00:33:17.23
it was the same gospel being
preached to the circumcision,
00:33:17.26\00:33:20.63
but there was a
difference in the approach,
00:33:20.66\00:33:23.63
and that's what
made the difference.
00:33:23.67\00:33:25.07
The difference in the approach,
00:33:25.10\00:33:26.74
because you have to help
the circumcision understand
00:33:26.77\00:33:29.60
that Christ fulfilled
the sacrificial system,
00:33:29.64\00:33:34.68
and the gentiles
have to understand
00:33:34.71\00:33:36.64
that there is a savior,
00:33:36.68\00:33:38.01
that you were
once tossed to and fro,
00:33:38.05\00:33:41.12
but now you are, you
can be a child of God,
00:33:41.15\00:33:44.42
and child of Abraham
00:33:44.45\00:33:47.42
as they say,
children of Abraham.
00:33:47.46\00:33:49.52
All through Christ Jesus,
00:33:49.56\00:33:50.89
because Jesus Christ is the
one that gives us the freedom.
00:33:50.93\00:33:53.43
So even today there are people
00:33:53.46\00:33:56.23
that come from
different walks of life,
00:33:56.26\00:33:58.73
and you would not approach
00:33:58.80\00:34:00.90
somebody that
was into witchcraft.
00:34:00.94\00:34:04.21
For example, in the same
way you would approach someone
00:34:04.24\00:34:07.34
that is an atheist.
00:34:07.38\00:34:09.81
There may be some, I'm
thinking of a young man
00:34:09.84\00:34:13.48
that called 3ABN, I hope I
can say this in one minute.
00:34:13.52\00:34:16.18
He called 3ABN once and he said,
00:34:16.22\00:34:21.12
that he was a Satan worshipper,
and he was a Satan worshipper
00:34:21.16\00:34:24.83
because that's what
he was taught by people,
00:34:24.86\00:34:28.00
and when I tried to
tell him about Jesus,
00:34:28.03\00:34:30.77
he began to get
excited about the freedom
00:34:30.80\00:34:35.50
that he could
have in Christ Jesus.
00:34:35.57\00:34:37.04
Amen. Yes.
00:34:37.07\00:34:38.41
And he began to understand
00:34:38.44\00:34:40.34
that there is
liberty in Jesus Christ,
00:34:40.38\00:34:43.35
because when
you read the gospel,
00:34:43.38\00:34:45.71
when people hear the gospel.
00:34:45.78\00:34:49.78
That's why Paul
says, "I marvel,"
00:34:49.82\00:34:52.32
that you are so soon
removed from the gospel
00:34:52.35\00:34:55.12
because the joy of the
gospel to Paul was such
00:34:55.16\00:34:58.76
that he'd say, "How
can anyone give that up
00:34:58.79\00:35:01.63
and go to something
00:35:01.66\00:35:03.13
that brings you under punished."
00:35:03.16\00:35:05.80
I have to stop. Amen and amen.
00:35:05.83\00:35:08.90
Oh, I don't know
why I'm sitting here
00:35:08.97\00:35:10.31
yawning about to fall asleep.
00:35:10.34\00:35:11.94
It is not because I am bored.
00:35:11.97\00:35:15.31
I have win states
00:35:15.34\00:35:16.68
which is the
confrontation in Antioch
00:35:16.71\00:35:20.02
and so here Paul
has just talked about,
00:35:20.05\00:35:23.22
he's related the story to them,
how he went to Jerusalem AD 49,
00:35:23.25\00:35:29.12
about the council that he met
with the leaders of the church,
00:35:29.19\00:35:34.00
and now he's gonna tell them
about what happened in Antioch.
00:35:34.00\00:35:37.33
And Antioch was a place
00:35:37.37\00:35:41.54
where both Paul and
Barnabas ministered.
00:35:41.57\00:35:44.37
It was the first
gentile church, Antioch, Syria.
00:35:44.41\00:35:49.18
And it was the
most important church
00:35:49.21\00:35:51.91
other than the
mother church of Jerusalem,
00:35:51.95\00:35:54.25
in the early church.
00:35:54.28\00:35:56.25
Antioch was the
third largest city
00:35:56.32\00:35:59.12
of the Roman world and
it was a huge culture of,
00:35:59.19\00:36:05.49
it was a commercial
center, but it was also a place
00:36:05.53\00:36:09.70
where there was a
lot of pagan worship,
00:36:09.73\00:36:13.27
and the worship
of these pagan idols
00:36:13.30\00:36:16.91
promoted immoral sexuality
and all kinds of other evils.
00:36:16.94\00:36:22.91
So, but Antioch
is the first church
00:36:22.98\00:36:25.38
to send out missionaries
00:36:25.41\00:36:27.05
when they laid
hands on Paul and Barnabas
00:36:27.08\00:36:30.62
and they were the first
to be called Christians.
00:36:30.65\00:36:33.09
Did you know, I
looked this it up,
00:36:33.12\00:36:35.66
the word Christian
is only used three times
00:36:35.69\00:36:39.36
in the entire Bible,
in the New Testament.
00:36:39.43\00:36:42.36
First was Acts
11:26, where it says
00:36:42.40\00:36:45.63
that the disciples were first
called Christians at Antioch
00:36:45.67\00:36:49.14
and it was meant to be,
it meant to belong to Christ
00:36:49.20\00:36:54.28
and this was
supposed to be kind of like
00:36:54.31\00:36:57.15
a dig at them, a slam at them.
00:36:57.18\00:36:59.05
Ridicule. Mercy.
00:36:59.11\00:37:00.52
But it entered sacred vocabulary
00:37:00.55\00:37:03.52
as something that
was very beautiful.
00:37:03.55\00:37:06.32
So the fact that this
term was coined in Antioch,
00:37:06.39\00:37:12.56
it makes you think that
those people at Antioch,
00:37:12.63\00:37:15.26
you know, most of the
Jews, their problem was...
00:37:15.30\00:37:18.07
and I understand this,
00:37:18.10\00:37:19.43
everyone of God's
covenants built on the next.
00:37:19.47\00:37:24.61
It is just an
unfolding revelation
00:37:24.64\00:37:27.14
of God's plan of salvation.
00:37:27.18\00:37:29.38
So the Jews
looked at Christianity,
00:37:29.44\00:37:33.25
the Christian Jews,
they looked at Christianity,
00:37:33.28\00:37:35.88
it's kind of like a
little addition to Judaism
00:37:35.92\00:37:38.45
and that's why they could,
00:37:38.49\00:37:39.85
they had such a
hard thing of letting go,
00:37:39.89\00:37:42.62
but this idea that they
were called Christians there,
00:37:42.66\00:37:45.99
it kind of separates
the Christians from Judaism.
00:37:46.03\00:37:51.73
Now, James has
assumed the leadership
00:37:51.77\00:37:55.20
of the Jerusalem church,
00:37:55.24\00:37:57.21
probably because
Peter and the other apostles
00:37:57.24\00:38:00.04
were traveling quite a bit
00:38:00.08\00:38:02.68
and he was the one
who was the spokesperson
00:38:02.71\00:38:05.08
at this Jerusalem Council.
00:38:05.11\00:38:06.45
Let's look at Acts 15:24.
00:38:06.51\00:38:09.72
He's presiding as the spokesmen,
00:38:09.78\00:38:14.32
when this council was called
00:38:14.36\00:38:15.76
regarding Paul's gentile mission
00:38:15.82\00:38:18.69
and in Acts 15:24,
00:38:18.73\00:38:20.40
here is the
result of the council.
00:38:20.43\00:38:24.33
It says in this
letter, "Since we have heard
00:38:24.37\00:38:28.34
that some who went out from us,
00:38:28.37\00:38:30.31
from Jerusalem have
troubled you with words,
00:38:30.34\00:38:33.78
unsettling your soul, saying,
00:38:33.81\00:38:36.44
"You must be
circumcised and keep the law,
00:38:36.51\00:38:40.28
to whom we gave
no such command."
00:38:40.32\00:38:44.85
So these
Judaizers were going forward
00:38:44.89\00:38:48.36
under their own steam.
00:38:48.39\00:38:49.99
They believed they
were right, they didn't care
00:38:50.03\00:38:51.99
what the mother
church practiced, whatever.
00:38:52.03\00:38:54.93
So they didn't root
out all the Judaizers,
00:38:54.93\00:38:57.53
who believed that
00:38:57.57\00:38:58.90
it was the
gospel of Jesus Christ,
00:38:58.97\00:39:01.87
plus circumcision,
plus the works of the law.
00:39:01.90\00:39:05.84
And what they were
doing was bringing,
00:39:05.87\00:39:08.34
they were bringing
now here in Galatia,
00:39:08.38\00:39:11.28
these people back
under bondage to the law,
00:39:11.31\00:39:13.42
because it says,
00:39:13.45\00:39:14.78
if you're gonna live by the law,
00:39:14.82\00:39:16.58
I mean, you got to do
everything in the law, right?
00:39:16.65\00:39:19.92
So, now Paul has told them
00:39:19.95\00:39:23.63
about that encounter with Peter
00:39:23.66\00:39:27.76
and how they all left
his friends and everything.
00:39:27.76\00:39:30.47
But now he's going
to further demonstrate
00:39:30.50\00:39:33.17
his apostolic authority
here and he relates the story
00:39:33.20\00:39:36.97
about the Antioch church.
00:39:37.01\00:39:39.04
So this was sometime
00:39:39.11\00:39:40.94
after this
consultation at Jerusalem.
00:39:40.98\00:39:46.15
So Judaizers went up to
visit the Antioch church
00:39:46.18\00:39:50.02
at the time that
Peter was also visiting.
00:39:50.05\00:39:53.79
So what happens
is these Judaizers
00:39:53.82\00:39:57.69
just are astounded that Peter
from their church in Jerusalem
00:39:57.73\00:40:04.30
is eating with
uncircumcised gentiles,
00:40:04.33\00:40:08.57
and they gave him a hard time
00:40:08.60\00:40:10.54
and Peter weakens
under their influence.
00:40:10.57\00:40:13.61
He's afraid of
offending his own countrymen
00:40:13.64\00:40:15.94
so he joins this little click,
00:40:15.98\00:40:17.95
he reverts back
to his prejudice ways
00:40:17.98\00:40:20.75
because Jews, see
the rabbi said that,
00:40:20.78\00:40:23.85
if I sat, if I
entered your home,
00:40:23.89\00:40:25.62
if you're a
uncircumcised gentile,
00:40:25.65\00:40:27.42
if I entered your home,
if I sat with you at dinner
00:40:27.46\00:40:30.16
that I would become
ceremonially unclean.
00:40:30.19\00:40:34.10
So the Jews would
not touch a gentile,
00:40:34.10\00:40:36.97
they didn't want
anything to do with them.
00:40:37.00\00:40:38.80
Let me interject because,
00:40:38.83\00:40:40.57
he had been doing
that previously, right?
00:40:40.60\00:40:42.87
Before the Jews came to town
00:40:42.90\00:40:44.54
he had been
socializing with them...
00:40:44.57\00:40:46.07
Eating with them...
Yeah, that's what they think.
00:40:46.14\00:40:47.48
They come find him doing this.
00:40:47.51\00:40:48.84
We were all equal...
00:40:48.88\00:40:50.21
Till these guys come
in now. Yeah, they come...
00:40:50.25\00:40:51.58
And find Peter
and they are like,
00:40:51.61\00:40:52.98
"Can't believe
you're doing this."
00:40:53.01\00:40:54.95
So what happens is
Peter becomes two-faced.
00:40:54.98\00:40:58.95
I mean, really he's
humoring man's circumcised group
00:40:59.02\00:41:02.39
by pulling back,
and it shows you...
00:41:02.46\00:41:06.29
You know, when you're
at leadership position,
00:41:06.33\00:41:08.30
it is very dangerous for
you to make the wrong move.
00:41:08.33\00:41:14.84
You can split the church,
because he even led Barnabas,
00:41:14.87\00:41:19.64
Barnabas was led to follow him.
00:41:19.67\00:41:22.28
So now all of a sudden
Peter who's been as you said,
00:41:22.31\00:41:25.98
he is been with these
gentiles, he's been eating,
00:41:26.01\00:41:28.92
they've been fellowshipping
together during his visit.
00:41:28.95\00:41:31.49
These Judaizers coming
00:41:31.52\00:41:32.92
and they're just
like, "Oh! How could you?"
00:41:32.95\00:41:35.16
Yeah. How could you?
00:41:35.19\00:41:36.93
So now, he separates
and so does Barnabas.
00:41:36.96\00:41:40.76
So Paul knowing certain terms,
00:41:40.80\00:41:43.73
he confronts hypocrisy of Peter
00:41:43.77\00:41:47.94
and here's what he
says in Galatians 2:11-13,
00:41:47.97\00:41:51.97
and by the way this
little argument shows
00:41:52.01\00:41:55.14
that Paul was in no
ways inferior to Peter
00:41:55.18\00:41:59.01
or the rest of the apostles.
00:41:59.05\00:42:00.72
So Galatians 2:11,
00:42:00.75\00:42:03.18
"Now when Peter
had come to Antioch,
00:42:03.22\00:42:05.79
I withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed.
00:42:05.82\00:42:11.46
For before certain
men came from James, "
00:42:11.49\00:42:14.86
now that doesn't
mean that James sent them,
00:42:14.93\00:42:17.53
'cause we've already
seen, he didn't send them out,
00:42:17.57\00:42:19.77
but they're coming
from the mother church.
00:42:19.80\00:42:22.07
"Before men came from James,
00:42:22.10\00:42:25.41
Peter would eat
with the gentiles.
00:42:25.44\00:42:26.81
But when they came,
00:42:26.84\00:42:28.18
he withdrew and
separated himself
00:42:28.21\00:42:29.61
fearing those who
are of the circumcision
00:42:29.68\00:42:32.85
and rest of the Jews also played
00:42:32.88\00:42:35.15
the hypocrite with him,
00:42:35.18\00:42:38.35
so that even
Barnabas was carried away."
00:42:38.39\00:42:41.19
So, see the mother church
00:42:41.22\00:42:42.69
didn't practice
this in Jerusalem.
00:42:42.76\00:42:44.39
Peter didn't practice
this separation of the Jews
00:42:44.43\00:42:47.76
and the gentiles.
00:42:47.83\00:42:49.16
And, boy, I mean,
00:42:49.20\00:42:51.37
Paul tells them,
hey, this is hypocrisy
00:42:51.40\00:42:53.57
which are pretty strong
words for one man of God to...
00:42:53.60\00:42:56.30
It's quite
contagious too, wouldn't it?
00:42:56.34\00:42:57.94
Yeah. It was spreading.
00:42:57.97\00:42:59.31
Yes, yes. Yeah.
00:42:59.37\00:43:01.01
So Peter, the reason I
think that Paul could be
00:43:01.04\00:43:04.95
so strong in his
language of saying,
00:43:04.98\00:43:11.39
"You hypocrite,"
00:43:11.42\00:43:13.29
is because he was
positive Peter new better.
00:43:13.32\00:43:15.56
Yeah. Why?
00:43:15.59\00:43:16.93
Because Peter had already,
00:43:16.96\00:43:18.59
Peter made the first
mission to the gentiles.
00:43:18.63\00:43:21.43
Yeah, he is the one who went
to Cornelius in the beginning.
00:43:21.46\00:43:22.86
He went to Cornelius. Yes.
00:43:22.90\00:43:25.33
And here God have given
him this vision of the sheet
00:43:25.37\00:43:27.70
coming down that, you know,
and I do want to touch on that,
00:43:27.74\00:43:30.87
because so many people think
that when the sheet came down
00:43:30.91\00:43:34.98
filled with the unclean foods.
00:43:35.01\00:43:37.71
That, and God
said, "Arise Peter, eat."
00:43:37.75\00:43:41.72
And then he
says, "Kill and eat."
00:43:41.75\00:43:43.49
He says, "Don't call
unclean what I've called clean."
00:43:43.52\00:43:46.35
It's about diet.
00:43:46.39\00:43:47.72
Well, but here's
how we know, people say,
00:43:47.76\00:43:50.96
"Why would God do
that if He didn't,
00:43:50.99\00:43:53.09
if He wasn't
doing away with that."
00:43:53.13\00:43:54.83
In Jeremiah 35,
00:43:54.83\00:43:56.43
we don't have
time to turn there,
00:43:56.46\00:43:57.83
but listen to this.
00:43:57.87\00:43:59.40
God told his prophet Jeremiah,
00:43:59.43\00:44:02.04
he said go to the
house of the Rechabites,
00:44:02.07\00:44:03.91
speak to them and bring them
00:44:03.94\00:44:05.61
into the house of the
Lord, into one of the chambers
00:44:05.64\00:44:08.78
which was an
apartment for the priest.
00:44:08.81\00:44:10.91
Give them wine to drink.
00:44:10.95\00:44:13.82
What?
00:44:13.85\00:44:15.18
'Cause this is
talking about fermented wine.
00:44:15.22\00:44:17.52
So Jeremiah goes and
does it, they come in
00:44:17.55\00:44:21.29
but they wouldn't drink,
and God knew they wouldn't.
00:44:21.32\00:44:24.03
He knew how faithful they
were, he was setting them up
00:44:24.06\00:44:26.63
as an example of faithfulness.
00:44:26.70\00:44:28.36
So here Peter
has walked with Jesus
00:44:28.40\00:44:30.03
three and a half years,
00:44:30.07\00:44:31.40
he has never
eaten anything unclean.
00:44:31.43\00:44:33.10
So in Acts 10:28, Peter says,
00:44:33.13\00:44:36.77
when he finally understood
the meaning of the vision
00:44:36.81\00:44:38.71
he says "You know
how unlawful it is
00:44:38.74\00:44:40.28
for a Jewish man
to keep company with
00:44:40.31\00:44:42.28
or go to one of another nation,"
00:44:42.31\00:44:45.21
cause he's speaking
out from the standpoint
00:44:45.25\00:44:46.92
of their traditions.
00:44:46.95\00:44:48.52
But God has shown me,
00:44:48.55\00:44:50.89
not that I
should eat unclean meat.
00:44:50.92\00:44:52.42
He says God has shown me
that I should not call any man
00:44:52.45\00:44:56.52
common or unclean.
00:44:56.59\00:44:58.39
We know that Peter
didn't do away with,
00:44:58.43\00:45:01.83
start eating unclean food,
00:45:01.86\00:45:04.03
because there wouldn't
been an approver in the church
00:45:04.07\00:45:06.53
and there's no record of it.
00:45:06.60\00:45:07.94
So our lesson here is simple.
00:45:07.97\00:45:10.27
We can't be double minded,
00:45:10.31\00:45:13.64
we can't
practice double standards,
00:45:13.68\00:45:16.85
we cannot esteem one
man above another man.
00:45:16.91\00:45:20.65
And the fact that Peter,
00:45:20.68\00:45:22.88
our church leader was led
astray ought to be a warning
00:45:22.95\00:45:28.92
to every single one of us.
00:45:28.96\00:45:31.03
He followed the crowd
because of peer pressure
00:45:31.06\00:45:34.23
and that shows us,
no man isn't fallible,
00:45:34.30\00:45:37.93
not even the pope,
00:45:37.97\00:45:39.30
who Catholics
believe he is the successor,
00:45:39.37\00:45:41.77
every man is fallible.
00:45:41.80\00:45:44.34
That's right.
00:45:44.37\00:45:45.71
So what we're saying
is you can't just be a,
00:45:45.74\00:45:47.91
love the one you're with.
00:45:47.94\00:45:49.78
That's good. I like that.
00:45:49.81\00:45:51.41
Wishy-washy, you know,
00:45:51.45\00:45:53.68
change your
mind today, tomorrow,
00:45:53.72\00:45:55.92
you think something
else, you've got to be solid,
00:45:55.95\00:45:58.85
be solid on the Word of God.
00:45:58.89\00:46:01.46
As I look at Thursday's part,
00:46:01.49\00:46:04.09
Thursday's part
about Paul's concern,
00:46:04.13\00:46:06.96
and, you know,
as I studied this,
00:46:07.00\00:46:10.43
I keep thinking to myself,
"Why is it that the Jews,
00:46:10.47\00:46:14.54
were all such a,
on a different page,
00:46:14.57\00:46:18.91
you know, why were the Jews
in so much opposition to Paul,
00:46:18.94\00:46:22.04
what Paul was bringing."
00:46:22.08\00:46:24.01
And I come back to this,
00:46:24.05\00:46:27.05
the Jews were about
getting to heaven through works.
00:46:27.08\00:46:32.99
Probably there will
be some of you have heard
00:46:33.02\00:46:34.49
or maybe read the book
00:46:34.52\00:46:35.86
that Laura Schlessinger
wrote on the Ten Commandments.
00:46:35.89\00:46:39.63
And she says in her books,
she says, "You Christians,"
00:46:39.66\00:46:43.60
and she's a Jewish,
so she's a Jew, she says,
00:46:43.67\00:46:46.43
"You Christians,
believe that you are saved
00:46:46.47\00:46:49.37
through the
atoning sacrifice of Jesus,
00:46:49.40\00:46:52.71
she says that's what
you Christians believe."
00:46:52.77\00:46:54.44
We say, yeah, yeah.
That's it, absolutely right.
00:46:54.48\00:46:57.05
But the Jewish nation she said,
"But we as practicing Jews,
00:46:57.08\00:47:01.32
believe we get
there on our merits."
00:47:01.35\00:47:05.09
So this is the
background of the Jews,
00:47:05.12\00:47:07.19
this is why the
Jews were not accepting
00:47:07.22\00:47:09.56
what Paul was preaching,
00:47:09.59\00:47:11.23
'cause he was
preaching Christ to them
00:47:11.26\00:47:13.23
and they didn't accept Christ.
00:47:13.26\00:47:14.73
Right.
00:47:14.76\00:47:16.10
Oh, but they did, I
mean, those Judaizers did,
00:47:16.13\00:47:19.13
they just didn't
accept him alone.
00:47:19.17\00:47:20.94
Yes. Yes. Yeah.
00:47:20.97\00:47:22.90
Good point. Good point.
00:47:22.94\00:47:24.27
But she said that we teach
00:47:24.31\00:47:25.87
as a Jewish
nation, as a Jewish woman,
00:47:25.91\00:47:28.04
she said, "I believe
that we get to heaven
00:47:28.08\00:47:29.78
through our works and the merits
00:47:29.84\00:47:31.91
of what I'm
doing takes me there."
00:47:31.95\00:47:34.52
So Paul was fighting
this as the Jewish nation.
00:47:34.55\00:47:39.49
And by the way
I said this about,
00:47:39.55\00:47:41.29
many of them didn't
accept Christ, some did,
00:47:41.32\00:47:44.03
but the ones who didn't,
00:47:44.06\00:47:45.39
the Jewish nation
still does not accept Christ.
00:47:45.43\00:47:49.20
So therefore, Jesus'
sacrifice still means nothing
00:47:49.23\00:47:52.73
to the Jewish nation.
00:47:52.77\00:47:54.10
Now there are, of course,
there are Messianic Jews,
00:47:54.14\00:47:56.47
you know, who become Christian,
but the nation itself does not,
00:47:56.50\00:48:01.41
they're still
looking for their Messiah.
00:48:01.44\00:48:03.45
Yeah, mercy.
00:48:03.48\00:48:05.08
And so, this is
some of the things
00:48:05.11\00:48:07.02
that Paul was having
to deal with at that time.
00:48:07.05\00:48:09.88
Jesus, who is this?
00:48:09.92\00:48:11.49
Why should we be
doing what you say?
00:48:11.52\00:48:15.16
You know, because his
sacrifice doesn't mean anything
00:48:15.19\00:48:17.76
to many of them, you know.
00:48:17.79\00:48:19.59
So Paul comes
down on him quite hard.
00:48:19.63\00:48:24.30
The question is asked,
00:48:24.33\00:48:25.67
what reasons does Paul give
for publicly confronting Peter?
00:48:25.70\00:48:28.90
There was a great confrontation
between Peter and Paul,
00:48:28.94\00:48:33.34
and Paul comes
down on him very hard
00:48:33.38\00:48:35.71
and the text that gives
here is Galatians 2:11-14,
00:48:35.74\00:48:39.88
if I can get
someone to read that for me?
00:48:39.91\00:48:41.72
Galatians 2:11-14.
00:48:41.75\00:48:45.05
"Now when Peter come to Antioch,
00:48:45.09\00:48:46.92
I withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed.
00:48:46.96\00:48:50.63
For before certain
men came from James,
00:48:50.66\00:48:52.69
he would eat with the
gentiles, but when they came,
00:48:52.73\00:48:55.36
he withdrew and
separated himself,
00:48:55.40\00:48:57.10
fearing those who
were of the circumcision.
00:48:57.13\00:48:59.67
And the rest of the Jews
00:48:59.70\00:49:01.37
also played the
hypocrite with him,
00:49:01.40\00:49:05.11
so that even
Barnabas was carried away
00:49:05.14\00:49:07.51
by their hypocrisy.
00:49:07.54\00:49:08.91
But when I saw that they
were not straight forward
00:49:08.94\00:49:12.48
about the truth of the gospel,
00:49:12.51\00:49:14.58
I said to Peter before them all,
00:49:14.62\00:49:17.05
if you, being a Jew, live
in the manner of gentiles,
00:49:17.09\00:49:22.36
and not as the Jews,
00:49:22.39\00:49:24.49
why you compel
gentiles to live as Jews?
00:49:24.53\00:49:28.63
That's a good
question, isn't it?
00:49:28.66\00:49:30.00
It is.
00:49:30.03\00:49:31.37
You know, how in the world
00:49:31.40\00:49:32.73
can you teach
someone to behave like this,
00:49:32.77\00:49:34.60
when you're not
behaving like this.
00:49:34.64\00:49:36.87
That's what he
was saying to them.
00:49:36.94\00:49:38.34
In other words, you are
telling all of those out there,
00:49:38.37\00:49:40.94
"We are all equal."
00:49:40.98\00:49:42.84
But when the
brethren come to town,
00:49:42.88\00:49:44.41
you separate yourself from them
00:49:44.45\00:49:45.78
and act like you're
not mixing with them,
00:49:45.81\00:49:47.35
you know, because
they are a lower class.
00:49:47.38\00:49:50.32
Which makes them
compelled to be circumcised
00:49:50.35\00:49:52.65
and to follow the law to
feel those special blessings.
00:49:52.69\00:49:54.22
So they're going back to again
being saved by their deeds,
00:49:54.26\00:49:59.16
by their merits.
00:49:59.19\00:50:00.53
How close is that to what we,
00:50:00.56\00:50:01.86
sometimes you're
raised with and you heard,
00:50:01.90\00:50:03.60
don't do as I, do as I tell you.
00:50:03.67\00:50:05.87
Do as I tell you. That's right.
00:50:05.90\00:50:07.97
That's somewhat
said there, yeah.
00:50:08.00\00:50:10.41
That doesn't work too.
00:50:10.44\00:50:11.77
No, that doesn't work at all.
00:50:11.81\00:50:13.14
Why should I do
that because I said so.
00:50:13.17\00:50:14.84
Said so. I didn't get it either.
00:50:14.88\00:50:16.85
Most of us had to ask questions,
00:50:16.88\00:50:18.61
you know, I need more than that,
00:50:18.65\00:50:20.22
I need more than
just, you told me that
00:50:20.25\00:50:21.88
you were really big on that.
00:50:21.92\00:50:23.28
I need more than
just my dad just said so.
00:50:23.32\00:50:24.65
I think I was. You was.
00:50:24.69\00:50:27.66
So the problem by
the way was not that
00:50:30.76\00:50:32.99
Peter had been
eating with the Jews,
00:50:33.03\00:50:35.86
that's not the
problem or with the gentiles.
00:50:35.90\00:50:37.93
When the Jews came to the town,
00:50:37.97\00:50:39.63
Peter was expected
to eat with them also,
00:50:39.70\00:50:42.10
because that was his custom.
00:50:42.14\00:50:43.91
The custom was
the brethren came down
00:50:43.94\00:50:45.64
and you all ate together.
00:50:45.67\00:50:47.14
But the sin of it was
where he separated himself
00:50:47.18\00:50:50.11
from the gentiles,
because now he said one thing,
00:50:50.15\00:50:53.21
he said, "We're equal",
00:50:53.28\00:50:54.62
but his actions said we weren't.
00:50:54.65\00:50:55.98
All right. Yeah.
00:50:56.02\00:50:57.35
And so that then
was laid at his feet.
00:50:57.39\00:50:59.22
The issue was the
truth of the gospel.
00:50:59.25\00:51:02.22
In other words,
I'm telling you this,
00:51:02.26\00:51:04.46
but then they look at your life
and say, in our case let's say,
00:51:04.49\00:51:07.40
"But Pastor, you're
not doing that yourself."
00:51:07.46\00:51:09.66
You know, if we bring it to
us in our churches, you know.
00:51:09.73\00:51:12.43
It's a very high standard
00:51:12.47\00:51:14.87
that the pastors
have to live to, isn't it?
00:51:14.90\00:51:16.37
Yes.
00:51:16.40\00:51:17.74
So many others would say,
well, you know, that's okay,
00:51:17.77\00:51:20.91
then he's not the
pastor of the church,
00:51:20.94\00:51:22.71
you know, the standard should be
00:51:22.74\00:51:24.08
same for all of us, isn't it?
00:51:24.11\00:51:25.45
That's right. Yes. Absolutely.
00:51:25.48\00:51:26.82
Even though, we do as pastors,
00:51:26.88\00:51:28.22
we have a little more
accountability I think.
00:51:28.25\00:51:30.65
I think there is accountability,
00:51:30.69\00:51:32.42
'cause you think, I know
our pastor here always says,
00:51:32.45\00:51:34.59
there is no
standard for fellowship,
00:51:34.62\00:51:36.69
meaning everyone
can come to church.
00:51:36.73\00:51:39.13
There are
standards for membership
00:51:39.16\00:51:40.76
and there should be high
standards for leadership.
00:51:40.80\00:51:43.93
Meaning, what you
were saying, Pastor Ronny,
00:51:43.97\00:51:45.47
is there is more accountability
given with a trust.
00:51:45.50\00:51:48.47
Because of our
influence on the group.
00:51:48.50\00:51:50.64
But, you know, and I think
this is very important too.
00:51:50.67\00:51:52.37
Well.
00:51:52.41\00:51:53.74
Is that anybody
who has the opportunity
00:51:53.81\00:51:55.41
to have a platform as I do.
00:51:55.44\00:51:56.88
I'm not a pastor
00:51:56.91\00:51:58.38
but when you have
the opportunity to speak,
00:51:58.41\00:52:00.62
I think it's
very important for us
00:52:00.65\00:52:02.12
to be very transparent
00:52:02.15\00:52:04.05
and tell of our own
feelings or problems
00:52:04.09\00:52:07.36
and how God, we know,
00:52:07.42\00:52:08.86
it would be a
hypocrite to stand up
00:52:08.89\00:52:12.46
and preach on
something that you're not doing.
00:52:12.49\00:52:15.26
So anytime I've got a topic,
00:52:15.30\00:52:17.23
I'll say, "Now, you
know, this is a health message,
00:52:17.30\00:52:20.17
I still need some
help with it or something."
00:52:20.20\00:52:22.70
I don't want to ever put
myself forward as an example.
00:52:22.74\00:52:27.51
We have to set the example,
00:52:27.54\00:52:29.98
because so many
are looking at us,
00:52:30.01\00:52:31.81
you know, when I was in Muscogee
00:52:31.85\00:52:33.75
just recently in
a last few months
00:52:33.78\00:52:35.42
when I was
associate pastor there.
00:52:35.45\00:52:37.72
I made several
sermons on those of you
00:52:37.75\00:52:40.59
who would like
to be re-baptized,
00:52:40.62\00:52:43.02
you know, and then of
course someone saying,
00:52:43.06\00:52:45.53
"I've been an
Adventist a long time,
00:52:45.56\00:52:46.93
I don't need to be re-baptized."
00:52:46.96\00:52:48.80
So I went from
that, Brother Johnny,
00:52:48.83\00:52:50.87
I said, "Most of you don't know,
00:52:50.90\00:52:52.50
last July, I was re-baptized."
00:52:52.53\00:52:55.44
Just July of 2016, I was
re-baptized by my own son
00:52:55.47\00:53:00.24
who's the pastor now
at West Frankfort Church.
00:53:00.28\00:53:02.54
So then some people loosened
up then, well, you know,
00:53:02.58\00:53:05.28
"If he could be
re-baptized, maybe I should."
00:53:05.31\00:53:07.58
You know,
00:53:07.62\00:53:08.95
and so there were
number that who were,
00:53:08.98\00:53:10.92
but I am talking
about the example
00:53:10.95\00:53:12.45
that we set as you
said being straightforward.
00:53:12.49\00:53:15.96
I'm not asking
you to be re-baptized,
00:53:15.99\00:53:18.29
if I wouldn't do
it myself, you know,
00:53:18.33\00:53:20.93
because and when I said
about the re-baptism, Johnny,
00:53:20.96\00:53:23.67
I said I've got fewer
days ahead than I have behind.
00:53:23.70\00:53:27.14
I want to seal the
deal with God one more time.
00:53:27.17\00:53:29.57
That's right. Yes.
00:53:29.60\00:53:31.84
And so, Galatians
3:28 and Colossians 3:11,
00:53:31.87\00:53:36.88
let's look at that quickly.
00:53:36.95\00:53:38.51
Galatians 3:28
and Colossians 3:11,
00:53:38.55\00:53:42.75
the question is,
00:53:42.78\00:53:44.12
how does the truth
in these texts help us
00:53:44.15\00:53:46.25
to understand
Paul's strong reaction?
00:53:46.29\00:53:49.96
Galatians 3:28,
00:53:50.03\00:53:51.36
"There is neither Jew nor Greek,
00:53:51.39\00:53:52.99
there is neither slave nor free,
00:53:53.03\00:53:55.23
there is
neither male nor female:
00:53:55.26\00:53:57.60
for you are all
one in Christ Jesus."
00:53:57.63\00:54:01.24
I mean, he summed
it up there, didn't he?
00:54:01.27\00:54:03.04
Yes.
00:54:03.07\00:54:04.47
He said that, it
didn't amount to nothing
00:54:04.51\00:54:06.44
whether you are a
Jew or you are a Greek,
00:54:06.47\00:54:08.81
if you are a male,
if you are a female,
00:54:08.84\00:54:11.01
we all stand equal at
the foot of the Cross.
00:54:11.05\00:54:14.25
Yes. Yes.
00:54:14.28\00:54:15.62
So very good
statement. Colossians 3:11.
00:54:15.65\00:54:19.02
"Where there is
neither Greek nor Jew,
00:54:19.05\00:54:20.89
circumcised nor uncircumcised,
Barbarian, Scythian,
00:54:20.92\00:54:25.53
slave nor free, but
Christ is all, and in all."
00:54:25.56\00:54:30.03
Amen.
00:54:30.07\00:54:31.40
Now why were people
so taken back by that?
00:54:31.43\00:54:34.60
I mean, was that
a new teaching or...
00:54:34.64\00:54:36.81
Hope might be.
00:54:36.87\00:54:39.14
They haven't heard that before?
00:54:39.17\00:54:40.58
There was such a
class system, wasn't there?
00:54:40.64\00:54:43.04
You remember when Jesus,
00:54:43.08\00:54:44.41
you know, people
said about Jesus,
00:54:44.45\00:54:45.78
nobody ever spoke like He did.
00:54:45.81\00:54:47.18
Yeah.
00:54:47.22\00:54:48.55
Nobody said
nothing about re-baptism,
00:54:48.58\00:54:50.05
you know, when they were talking
00:54:50.09\00:54:51.42
about the rich young
ruler, you know, and Jesus said,
00:54:51.45\00:54:54.22
"You must be born again."
00:54:54.26\00:54:55.59
What?
00:54:55.62\00:54:56.96
Nobody is ever
talking about rebirth."
00:54:56.99\00:54:58.56
You know, so this
teaching was new to them
00:54:58.59\00:55:02.40
they hadn't heard
anything like this,
00:55:02.43\00:55:03.87
because of the caste system
like you were talking about.
00:55:03.90\00:55:07.10
You know, these in the temple,
especially was way up on top
00:55:07.14\00:55:10.41
and the poor person
was way down on the bottom
00:55:10.47\00:55:13.38
with many layer of
strata between of classes.
00:55:13.44\00:55:17.11
And so I think, I love the
way the Bible brought that out,
00:55:17.15\00:55:19.88
in Christ there is
neither Jew nor Greek,
00:55:19.91\00:55:23.22
there is neither rich nor poor.
00:55:23.25\00:55:24.59
That's right.
00:55:24.62\00:55:25.95
You know, there's
neither slave nor free,
00:55:25.99\00:55:27.42
there's neither male nor female,
00:55:27.46\00:55:30.03
for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
00:55:30.09\00:55:32.59
What He said there is no place
for prejudice in the gospel.
00:55:32.63\00:55:36.03
Amen. We are all equal.
00:55:36.06\00:55:37.70
Good, yeah. Amen.
00:55:37.73\00:55:39.60
What a powerful
study, I love that verse.
00:55:39.63\00:55:42.10
Because I think coming
down through the stream of time,
00:55:42.14\00:55:45.74
we know this was an
issue in the Galician church
00:55:45.77\00:55:47.91
but, you know what,
it's an issue today.
00:55:47.94\00:55:49.84
Yes. Sure, that's true.
00:55:49.88\00:55:51.21
You know, you can look
around and you can see,
00:55:51.25\00:55:52.81
we separate by
races or ethnic groups.
00:55:52.85\00:55:57.02
We separate by male or female,
we separate by rich or poor,
00:55:57.05\00:56:01.46
or high or low
based within that.
00:56:01.49\00:56:03.83
But God calls us all
at the foot of the cross
00:56:03.86\00:56:07.23
in humility of
heart, we are all equal.
00:56:07.30\00:56:11.63
Really, we are
worth nothing less,
00:56:11.67\00:56:14.44
Shelley, always says and
the price that Christ paid
00:56:14.47\00:56:17.37
for you and for me
on the cross at Calvary.
00:56:17.44\00:56:20.24
So I don't know you might
be watching today's lesson,
00:56:20.31\00:56:22.98
you might be saying,
00:56:23.01\00:56:24.38
"I have never accepted
the Lord Jesus into my heart."
00:56:24.41\00:56:27.82
We want to give you
opportunity right now,
00:56:27.85\00:56:31.49
kneel down wherever you are
00:56:31.52\00:56:32.99
or if you're
driving or you can't kneel,
00:56:33.02\00:56:35.32
just send up a
prayer to God and say,
00:56:35.36\00:56:38.79
"I accept you as
my personal savior.
00:56:38.83\00:56:41.30
Thank you that, 1 John 1:9,
00:56:41.33\00:56:44.00
"If we confess our
sins, he's faithful
00:56:44.07\00:56:45.97
and just to forgive
us and to cleanse us
00:56:46.00\00:56:48.60
from all unrighteousness."
00:56:48.64\00:56:50.61
Know that Lord Jesus loves you,
00:56:50.64\00:56:52.07
we will get to this in
our study in Galatians.
00:56:52.11\00:56:54.08
You are an heir, you are a
son or a daughter of the King,
00:56:54.11\00:56:59.48
what better place to be.
00:56:59.51\00:57:01.12
So Pastor Ronny,
and Shelley Quinn,
00:57:01.15\00:57:03.89
and John Dinzey, and
Pastor Kenny Shelton,
00:57:03.95\00:57:06.09
it's such a joy to
have each one of you here.
00:57:06.12\00:57:07.96
Thank you. Thank
you for sharing...
00:57:07.99\00:57:09.42
And we thank you for joining us
00:57:09.46\00:57:12.13
for the 3ABN
Sabbath School Panel.
00:57:12.16\00:57:14.63
We want to encourage you to
check out your local church,
00:57:14.66\00:57:17.20
to get involved in
a church community,
00:57:17.27\00:57:19.77
to spend time
in the Word of God,
00:57:19.80\00:57:22.77
spend time in prayer.
00:57:22.80\00:57:24.14
I know that your
3ABN family prays for you,
00:57:24.21\00:57:26.71
that we love you, and
that we're so excited that
00:57:26.74\00:57:29.34
one day soon we
can spend eternity
00:57:29.38\00:57:32.85
with our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
00:57:32.88\00:57:35.35
Bye-bye.
00:57:35.38\00:57:36.72