Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180004A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:13 And to be diligent to present yourself approved to God 00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is Stewardship Motives of the Heart. 00:31 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:35 I'm Jill Morikone, and we're delighted 00:37 that you have taken time out of your day 00:39 to open up the Word of God with us 00:41 and to share out of the Sabbath school lesson. 00:43 We are in the first quarter 2018, 00:46 we are in lesson number four today's study, 00:48 the quarterly this quarter is Stewardship, 00:51 Motives of the Heart. 00:53 And if you don't have a copy, 00:54 you can always go to the website ABSG.Adventist.org, 01:00 and you can get your own copy. 01:02 That stands for 01:03 AdultBibleStudyGuide .Adventist.org. 01:07 And we encourage you to download that 01:09 you can follow along 01:10 as we study together on the panel. 01:13 We always like to encourage you 01:14 to go visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:18 They will give you one of these quarterlies 01:20 and you can join the class and you can study as well. 01:23 It's my privilege to introduce our panel to you at this time. 01:26 We have Miss Mollie Steenson, Pastor John Lomacang, 01:29 Mr. Danny Shelton, 01:30 it's a privilege to have you on the Sabbath School Panel... 01:32 Thank you. It's good to be here. 01:33 For the first time. 01:35 And then Sister Shelley Quinn. 01:36 And what I appreciate about each one of them is that 01:40 they walk the talk. 01:41 They are students of the Word, 01:43 and they practice what they preach, 01:45 they live out the Word of God, 01:47 exemplify it in their daily lives. 01:49 So I'm excited about our study here today. 01:52 We are on the fourth lesson 01:53 which is escape from the world's ways. 01:56 Before we get into that, 01:57 we always like to open up in prayer. 01:59 And, Mr. Danny, would you pray for us here today? 02:01 I will. 02:02 Dear Lord, we thank You for Your blessings 02:04 and we thank You for life, and health, and strength, 02:06 and we thank You for anointing of the Holy Spirit 02:09 that we have felt here already. 02:10 And we pray for each of our viewers today 02:13 that as we study these lessons that we will really, 02:15 ultimately look at ourselves, and see where we need to be, 02:19 and that's in Your presence. 02:21 So we ask, again, today for Your Holy Spirit 02:23 upon all of those watching, 02:25 those of us that are in front of the camera 02:27 so as behind the cameras 02:28 that everything that said and done 02:30 will be done to Your honor and to Your glory. 02:33 In Jesus' name I pray. 02:34 Amen. Amen. 02:36 Now before we get into actually the lesson on Sunday, 02:40 the lesson opened up on Sabbath with an interesting statement. 02:43 It said, "Although Satan failed with Jesus, 02:47 he has succeeded with everyone else." 02:49 Now we know the Bible says what? 02:51 All have sinned 02:52 and fallen short of the glory of God. 02:55 But when I think about that, "Satan failed with Jesus, 02:57 he has succeeded with everyone else." 02:59 How do we escape from his snare? 03:03 That's really what we're talking about this week 03:05 in our Sabbath School lesson. 03:07 How do we escape from the world's ways? 03:10 The key is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 03:14 I remember when I was a teenager, 03:17 I thought she was old, but she was probably only 15. 03:21 Watch out. Oh. 03:23 But now I'd say she is very young. 03:26 Oh, thank God. 03:27 But at the time, I thought she was, 03:28 you know, as a teenager, 03:30 you think anybody over 25 is rather old. 03:31 Absolutely. 03:32 And so I thought she was old. 03:34 She had gone prematurely gray but her skin was very young 03:37 and she wasn't that old at all, but I thought she was older. 03:41 And in class one day, I remember she said, 03:44 "If all I had for following Jesus 03:46 was a relationship with Him in this life, 03:50 I would follow Him." 03:51 If there was no hope of eternal life, 03:54 if there was no hope of something hereafter, 03:57 if all I had was a relationship with Him now, 04:00 I would follow Him. 04:01 And I remember, I thought, "Not me." 04:04 The only reason, at that time in my life, 04:06 the only reason I was even having some semblance 04:09 of a relationship with God was the thought 04:12 that maybe there's something hereafter. 04:14 But, you know the truth, Miss Mollie, 04:16 is that the peace, the joy, 04:19 the experience of being having an intimate walk 04:24 with our father, our Abba God 04:27 is like nothing else that this world could ever give. 04:29 So I want to encourage you, this week we're talking about 04:32 having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 04:35 Let's look at our memory text, 04:38 Proverbs 11:4 and 28, 04:42 we want to encourage you at home 04:44 to read along with us as we read here together. 04:47 "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath 04:51 but righteousness delivers from death. 04:54 He who trust in his riches will fall 04:58 but the righteous will flourish like foliage." 05:02 On Sunday we look at our relationship with Christ. 05:07 I want to look at seven keys, 05:11 different keys for protection against the pull of the world. 05:15 Or we know that the pull of the world, 05:17 the whole lesson is about escape from the world's ways. 05:19 And we know that the pull of the world can be strong. 05:23 So what is our protection against that? 05:25 How do we escape that? 05:26 Before we get into those keys, I want to just talk briefly 05:31 about what it means to have a relationship with Christ. 05:35 First, He takes the initiative, that means God does. 05:38 Romans 5:8, "While we were yet sinners," 05:41 that's you and me, 05:43 "Christ died for us." 05:44 And our response is we respond to Him in love. 05:49 Second, He draws us to Himself in repentance. 05:52 Romans 2:4, "The goodness of God 05:56 leads us to repentance." 05:58 So we're wandering far from God. 06:00 He is the one wooing us, drawing us back to Him. 06:04 Three, He died for us 06:06 so that we could spend eternal life with Him. 06:09 John 3:16, 06:10 "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son 06:14 that whosoever believes in Him should not perish 06:17 but have everlasting life." 06:19 We respond, He gives the offer. 06:21 We respond by believing Him, in Him, 06:24 and accepting Him as our personal Savior. 06:28 Number four, He forgives and cleanses us from sin. 06:33 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, 06:35 He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins 06:38 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 06:41 We respond simply by accepting His gift of forgiveness 06:46 and allowing Him to cleanse our hearts. 06:49 He justifies us by His blood. 06:51 Romans 5:9, 06:53 "Having been justified by His blood 06:54 we shall be saved from wrath through Him." 06:58 We respond through faith, by faith that justification, 07:02 His righteous white robe is applied to our lives. 07:06 He talks to us and knows us. 07:08 What does He say, "My sheep hear my voice 07:11 and they know me and they follow me." 07:14 We're gonna talk about that this week. 07:16 We know His voice through the Word. 07:19 We know His voice through the Spirit. 07:21 We know His voice through prayer. 07:24 And what an incredible privilege is ours 07:27 to have that relationship with Him. 07:30 But even if you woke up one day and you said, 07:32 "I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, 07:35 I want Him in my life." 07:38 There's always a daily battle. 07:39 Satan comes against us 07:41 and wants to pull us from Jesus. 07:43 So what is our protection against that? 07:46 Here's the five keys. 07:47 Number one is to choose Jesus. Okay. 07:50 Joshua 24:15, what does that say? 07:52 "Choose you this day whom you will serve," 07:57 and then it ends with, 07:58 "but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 08:02 Amen. We are to choose Jesus. 08:04 Choosing Jesus is not 08:06 a once in a lifetime experience. 08:07 It's not... 08:08 I remember, Mollie, you always say, 08:10 "When I made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life 08:12 in the ladies lounge in Decatur, Alabama." 08:15 I've heard that at a time or two, 08:16 that's powerful testimony. 08:18 But that does not mean that then, 08:20 from that moment on you just go your merry way. 08:23 It means every morning when we wake up, 08:26 we have to make a choice that day to choose Jesus. 08:31 Number two, we behold Jesus. 08:34 2 Corinthians 3:18, "We all, with open face 08:37 beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, 08:40 are being transformed into the same image 08:42 from glory to glory." 08:44 And if you think about that word 08:45 for transformed is a metamorphist in the Greek. 08:48 And Greg likes nature. 08:52 And sometime ago, summertime, he said, 08:54 "Oh, Jilly, come look." 08:56 And underneath our port railing was a little caterpillar 09:00 and he was spinning his cocoon and we watched him. 09:03 And he was there. 09:04 And then every morning we'd go out 09:05 and we'd look at the cocoon, still there. 09:08 Next morning, cocoon, still there, 09:11 next morning, and we kept going. 09:12 And then on Sabbath, 09:15 to me there has to be a spiritual lesson in that. 09:19 On Sabbath, Greg said, 09:21 "Jilly, come quickly, the cocoon is breaking open." 09:25 And we went and looked at it, and the butterfly emerged. 09:29 That is the process 09:30 that the Lord Jesus does with you and me. 09:33 We're just crawling in the mud. 09:34 We are nothing but caterpillars 09:37 in the muck, in the mire, in the mud of sin. 09:39 And Jesus by the power of His Spirit changes us, 09:43 and transforms us from this to a butterfly. 09:48 And that process 2 Corinthians 3:18 09:51 takes place by beholding Jesus. 09:54 That's right. 09:55 Number three, we ask God to put to death the old man of sin. 09:59 Let's look at Romans 6. 10:01 Romans 6, 10:06 we're going to look at verses 6 and 7. 10:09 Mollie, do you have them? 10:12 Romans 6:6-7. 10:16 Roman 6:6-7, yes, I do. 10:18 Just because I'm not there yet, doesn't mean anything. 10:22 Romans 6:6-7, 10:25 "Knowing this that our old man is crucified with Him 10:30 that the body of sin might be destroyed 10:33 that henceforth we should not serve sin, 10:36 for he that is dead is freed from sin." 10:40 Yes, you see that. 10:41 Mine, I have New King James. 10:43 It says, "He who has died," same thing, 10:45 "has been freed from sin." 10:47 Now, I don't mean this in any disrespectful fashion, 10:51 but if you've ever been to a funeral, 10:53 and there's a person who's passed away, 10:55 who's in the casket, 10:57 or you go to a gravesite, 10:58 and they're already in the ground, 11:00 you could never tempt them with cigarettes. 11:02 That's right. 11:03 You could never tempt them with alcohol. 11:05 You could never tempt them to lust, 11:07 or if you got in their face and got mad, 11:10 they wouldn't respond back in anger. 11:12 And why is that? 11:14 'Cause they are dead. 'Cause they are dead. 11:15 So this scripture which is incredible to me 11:19 says that when the old man, the old woman of Jill 11:23 who wants to get mad when someone talks back to me, 11:26 or who wants to act out in whatever fashion of sin 11:30 from the old life, 11:31 it says, "The old man of sin is dead, is crucified." 11:36 Verse 11, "Likewise, you also reckon yourselves 11:39 to be dead indeed to sin 11:42 but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 11:46 Now initially when I read that, I think, 11:48 "That's a little difficult. 11:50 How in the world am I supposed to be dead 11:52 to the old life of sin, and alive to Christ?" 11:55 There's another verse that I think shed light on that. 11:57 And this is point number four. 11:58 Allow Christ and His Spirit to live in you. 12:02 So first, we die to the old person of sin, 12:05 then we allow Christ and His Spirit to live in us. 12:09 Now, I want to look at two scriptures for that. 12:10 The first one is one chapter over, Romans 7. 12:15 Now, this is not an original thought with me, 12:17 I first heard it from Pastor John actually. 12:19 And I won't explain it 12:22 in the same fashion, Pastor John, 12:23 but hopefully it will be fairly clear. 12:26 Romans 7:20. 12:29 It says, "Now if I do what I will not to do, 12:32 it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me." 12:37 Did you catch that? 12:38 If there is sin going on in my life, 12:40 it's not me who is doing it, 12:43 it is sin that is dwelling or resident in me. 12:46 In the Greek, the word for dwell means 12:49 to inhabit dwell, or make a home. 12:52 Almost as if sin comes in and sets up residence 12:56 as it were inside of us. 12:57 It's not me who's doing it, 12:59 it's the sin that's residing within me. 13:01 Now contrast that with Galatians 2:20. 13:06 Galatians 2:20, it says, 13:09 "I have been crucified with Christ. 13:12 It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." 13:17 It's the same phrasing, 13:19 it's not me who's doing it, Christ is living in me. 13:23 In the other way, it wasn't me who is doing it, 13:25 it's sin who is living in me. 13:28 So the difference is 13:30 allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to come into our lives, 13:34 and to set up residence as it were inside. 13:37 And when He lives in us, it's not me gritting my teeth 13:41 and trying to put to death the old man of sin, 13:44 it's God by the power of His Spirit filling in me, 13:47 and He's the one who does the work. 13:50 Finally the last point, number five, 13:53 is to guard your eyes and your ears. 13:57 You know, what we behold 14:01 the things we look at, television, 14:03 the books we read, the magazines we read, 14:05 the things I listen to on the radio 14:08 have a decided impact in my spiritual walk. 14:11 They either pull me away from Jesus 14:14 back to the world's ways, 14:16 or they can focus me heavenward looking at Jesus. 14:21 So as we talk Sunday about relationship with Christ, 14:24 the pull of the world is strong. 14:26 But as we daily make a choice for Jesus, 14:29 as we behold Jesus constantly, 14:33 as we ask God to put to death the old man of sin, 14:36 and allow Him by the power of His Spirit 14:38 to live inside of us. 14:40 And as we guard what we look at and what we listen to, 14:45 that will be the key in our walk, 14:47 in our journey with the Lord Jesus Christ. 14:50 And, Mollie, you have some more keys. 14:51 You're gonna talk about the Word of God. 14:53 Going into the Word, you know, the scripture says, 14:55 "Guard your heart with all diligence." 14:58 I think, the Amplified says vigilant, 15:01 "And above all that you guard 15:03 because out of it flow the issues of life." 15:07 And that was so beautiful the way you express that 15:10 to keep, to be able to keep ourselves pure before the Lord. 15:14 Well, on Monday, we look at in the Word. 15:18 And I want to repeat something that you said a little earlier. 15:22 Satan failed completely with Jesus, 15:26 but he hadn't failed with a single one of us. 15:29 The scripture she quoted, "For all have sinned 15:32 and come short of the glory of God." 15:35 So my question is, what makes the difference? 15:37 Because there's got to be something 15:39 that makes the difference. 15:41 What did Jesus use at every juncture 15:46 when tempted by Satan? 15:48 It is written. The word written. 15:49 See, it is written. 15:51 Do you know we have got the same word? 15:53 We have got the word. 15:55 And just as Jesus, do you think if you, 15:59 Jill, if you use God's Word when Satan comes at you, 16:03 do you think he will be repelled 16:05 just assuredly as when he came in Jesus? 16:08 Jesus repelled him. 16:09 See, it's the power that's in the Word, 16:11 and that's what we're looking at, in the Word. 16:15 Revelation 12:11, you all know this scripture. 16:19 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, 16:23 and by the word of their testimony, 16:25 and they did not love their lives to the death." 16:28 And we've got this word. 16:30 This same word within us is powerful. 16:36 For the word to do us any good, 16:40 it must come off of this written page, 16:43 and is got to go somewhere. 16:44 Where is it got to go, Shelley? In our hearts. 16:46 It's got to go into our hearts. 16:48 And, you know, when Hal and I first got married, 16:54 somebody gave us one of these big white family Bibles. 16:58 You know, where we might have got it was 17:00 when we bought furniture, it seems like, 17:02 the furniture company gave us this big, it was huge. 17:07 And what you did was that you wrote, 17:09 when you got married 17:10 you wrote your children's names, 17:12 you know, it was one of those family heritage Bibles. 17:14 Do you think we ever read that thing? 17:16 No, it didn't do us any good, no good whatsoever. 17:20 But I remember, after I made Jesus the Lord of my life, 17:24 I got this little Cambridge Bible, 17:27 and, you know, that thing is falling, 17:29 I kept it, it's falling apart. 17:31 Do you think that Bible did me some good? 17:34 It's written under, it's underlined. 17:36 Do you know I read that Bible... 17:38 Now this is back when I was young, 17:40 I wish I still had that same zeal, 17:43 the zeal of when you first made Jesus the Lord of you house, 17:46 oh, that was fun. 17:47 All that zeal. 17:48 I read that Bible so diligently 17:50 that there are two type of graphical errors 17:53 in that Bible, 17:54 and I've got them both underlined in circles. 17:56 Of course, I was a legal secretary back then, 17:58 and I had to do a whole lot of proofing things. 18:01 But that Bible, 18:03 now that big one did me no good, 18:06 but that little Cambridge Bible, 18:07 oh, honey, that one changed... 18:09 Oh, and then I got the amplified Bible. 18:11 It's falling, I've shown you all my Amplified Bible, 18:13 the front cover's off of it, it's falling apart, 18:16 it's underlined. 18:18 Those are the Bibles that will do use. 18:21 That's the Word of God that you hide in your heart 18:24 that will do you some good. 18:25 With that, 2 Timothy 2:15, 18:28 and I'm going to read it out of the King James Version. 18:31 It says, "Study to show thyself approved unto," whom? 18:36 God. "Unto God." 18:37 See, it doesn't matter to me. 18:39 It just doesn't matter. 18:41 What other people may think of you, 18:43 study to show yourself approved unto God. 18:47 And I tell my people this in Sabbath school. 18:49 How many times have you heard me say this, 18:51 "Today we have come to learn God's Word, 18:55 to learn the biblical principles." 18:56 If we go into a class, 18:58 if we listen to one of Pastor Lomacang's sermons, 19:01 and all we take away from it is knowledge. 19:04 We've learned some data. 19:06 That's not gonna change your life. 19:08 We don't... 19:09 I don't teach a Sabbath school class, 19:11 you don't preach a sermon, 19:12 so we can play Bible trivia and win. 19:15 We take a Sabbath school class, 19:19 we want that word to go into us, 19:21 and to change us into metamorphosis, 19:24 into that very image and likeness of God. 19:27 You do that by hiding that Word in your heart 19:30 and letting it change you. 19:32 Okay, in October 2017, 19:36 the world's population was reported at 7.6 billion people. 19:42 Statistics show that more than 6 billion Bibles 19:46 have been distributed worldwide. 19:48 According to Guinness world records, 19:50 the Bible is the bestselling book of all times. 19:54 And is reported bestseller almost every year. 19:59 In the United States alone, it is estimated 20:02 that around 25 million Bibles are sold each year. 20:07 Now with those statistics, it only stands to reason to me, 20:12 now you would think 20:14 that godliness should be on the rise, 20:17 but is that what we find? 20:19 No. 20:20 No, the opposite seems to be true. 20:21 Now, why would that be? 20:23 Because the Bibles are sitting on the shelf, 20:27 laying on the coffee table, 20:29 on your nightstand gathering dust. 20:31 It does you no good unless you open it up, read it, 20:35 hide that Word in your heart. 20:36 You know what the Psalmist said, 20:38 "I hide God's Word in my heart." 20:40 Why? 20:41 "That I might not sin against Him." 20:43 Okay, the Word of God holds supreme authority 20:47 because of its author. 20:49 The Bible's authority is inherent in every word. 20:54 Just as there is no higher authority 20:57 in an earthly kingdom than the king, 21:00 there is no higher authority you and I can depend on 21:05 than the Word of God because it's God's kingdom. 21:10 That's right. 21:11 The authority is timeless. 21:13 Now think about this. 21:14 I like that word timeless. 21:16 When we read Exodus 20:3, 21:21 "You shall have no other gods before me." 21:24 That commandment 21:26 has the very same force behind it today 21:30 that it had 21:32 when God first spoke those words to Moses 21:35 on Mount Sinai more than 3000 years ago. 21:39 Has the Word lost any of its power? 21:41 No. 21:42 It's powerful today as it ever were. 21:45 Its power is timeless. 21:47 In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 21:51 we have the exact same passage. 21:55 The scripture says, 21:56 "Heaven and earth will pass away 21:59 but my words will by no means pass away." 22:02 Do you know what it says in the King James Version, 22:05 "Heaven and earth would pass away 22:06 but my words by no means shall pass away." 22:10 They will never pass away. 22:11 And in Psalms 119:89, "For ever oh, Lord, 22:16 your word is settled in the heavens." 22:19 You know what that settled word, that word means? 22:22 The Greek word for it is, 22:24 I don't do a lot of Greek but I know this one. 22:26 That Greek word is natsab, N-A-T-S-A-B, it's for settled. 22:30 It means to be established as a fortress, a garrison, 22:34 or a tower. 22:36 In the heavenlies, God's Word is established as a fortress. 22:41 Heaven and earth is going to pass away, 22:43 God's Word will never pass away. 22:45 God's word is settled in the heavenlies. 22:48 The Bible is a living document of divine origin. 22:53 When we come to this book with a sincere heart 22:57 and do what 1 Timothy 2:15 tells us to do, 23:01 it will changes us, it will change us. 23:04 The scripture says, 23:05 "The entrance of your word gives life," 23:09 that's Psalms 119:130, 23:11 "The entrance of your word gives light." 23:14 It gives understanding through the darkness. 23:16 Think about all our understanding to the simple. 23:20 Think about all the darkness that is in your life. 23:23 Oh, none of us have arrived, there's areas of darkness. 23:27 We take the light of God's Word into us. 23:31 You know what happens to that darkness? 23:33 It is dispelled, and that's because, 23:37 that's because we come to God with a sincere heart, 23:41 you know, every time... 23:42 Let me just encourage you in this. 23:45 Every time before you sit down to read God's Word 23:48 or to study God's Word, 23:49 open yourself up to God. 23:51 "Oh, God, here I come. 23:53 I present my heart before You and I ask You, oh, God, 23:56 as I read this Word, as I study this Word, 23:59 change made. 24:00 Don't let me be reading this Word to say, 24:02 "Oh, how can this word help Jill?" 24:05 No. 24:06 "How can this Word help me, change me oh, God 24:08 into Your image and into your likeness." 24:12 You know what Jesus told the Jewish leaders? 24:15 "You search the scriptures for you think, 24:18 you have eternal... 24:19 in them you have eternal life." 24:21 He goes on to say, 24:23 "And these are they which testify of me." 24:26 "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God," 24:29 John 1:1. 24:30 "And the Word was God." 24:32 John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." 24:36 You want to learn of Jesus, go into those scriptures, 24:39 take that Word in you, 24:41 it will change you into His very image, 24:43 and into His very likeness. 24:45 A prayer for all of us, 24:47 "Grant me grace as I study your Word 24:50 to understand and apply it to my everyday life." 24:54 Amen. 24:55 Wow, Mollie, you're on fire. 24:57 I'm supposed to follow that up. 25:00 I always appreciate you, Mollie, 25:01 because you are a woman of the Word. 25:03 Thank you. Thank you so much. 25:04 Thank you, Jill. 25:05 We're talking about communication also 25:07 on Tuesdays lesson, The Life of Prayer. 25:12 I like statistics, 25:13 one of the things that really throw me is statistics, 25:15 and sometimes I peek into that. 25:18 And I was glad that you mentioned 25:19 about some statistics. 25:21 But prayer is simply the art of communication. 25:25 That's what it is. 25:26 We all talk to someone on a daily basis, 25:28 we all have cell phones. 25:30 And on that statistical note, 25:32 I decided to look into cell phones, 25:35 not in the sense of buying them or adding any features to them, 25:38 but just to find out how many cell phones were sold 25:41 within a particular period of time. 25:43 In 2007, 25:46 122 million cell phones were sold. 25:49 That's world wide, that's 2007. 25:52 2016, 25:54 1.5 billion cell phones were sold. 25:59 And it is estimated that by the year 2020, 26:03 there'll be 2.87 billion cell phone users. 26:07 Now when you talk about six billion people, 26:09 there are some people that, 26:11 now that's the new cell phone users. 26:13 That's not taken into consideration 26:16 phones that were resold 26:18 because some of us buy a new phone 26:19 and sell somebody else our old phone. 26:21 Some companies take old phones and recycle them 26:23 and take them to other countries. 26:25 That's just talking about where statistics can be gathered. 26:30 You know, they don't go to, 26:31 and I'm not saying this disrespectfully. 26:32 There are places in the world that nobody walks up to a hut 26:35 and take a survey. 26:36 Sure. 26:38 This is based on a national survey 26:39 which says to me people want to communicate. 26:41 And the life of prayer is a life of communication. 26:44 And so if you're watching this program, 26:46 I want to begin with a very important passage 26:50 to help you understand what prayer really is. 26:53 The more you talk to someone, the more you know them. 26:56 Amen. That's true. 26:57 John 17:3, 27:00 "And this is eternal life that they may know you 27:05 the only true God and Jesus Christ 27:08 whom you have sent that they may know." 27:10 Now I heard a statement years ago, it says, 27:14 "Don't expect a ten thousand dollar answer, 27:17 Danny, to a ten cent prayer." 27:20 Okay. 27:21 We live in a ten cent prayer world. 27:23 And, you know, statistically our lives are like, 27:26 we're like in a pressure cooker here. 27:28 We're always on schedule for something. 27:30 Shelley doesn't hesitate to tell us 27:31 what the new programmings are. 27:33 Give us schedules for things that are coming up. 27:35 And Jill, and Mollie, and Danny always has ideas. 27:37 Yeah. 27:38 And nothing wrong with that, that's what we need to have. 27:40 God need to give us inspiration to keep going. 27:43 But in our desire to communicate, 27:45 we cannot forget to communicate with the source 27:50 of the most, of the purest power 27:54 is the communication with God. 27:55 Amen. 27:57 A purest, most unadulterated power 27:59 is communication with God. 28:01 And so if eternal life is knowing Him, 28:04 then it makes sense to communicate with Him 28:06 on a continual basis. 28:08 I read statistics in, a statistic. 28:10 Here's another one, 28:11 that Satanist pray six times a day. 28:15 Daniel prayed three times a day. 28:19 I think, Muslims pray at least three times a day. 28:22 I think some people say about five times a day. 28:26 How often do you pray... 28:28 Yes, it's good. 28:30 When you think about communication. 28:32 My wife and I have increased our prayer life 28:34 because we've discovered that prayer really, really 28:38 is a viable connection with God. 28:40 But I must say something, 28:41 I don't believe that prayer works, 28:43 I believe that God works. 28:45 Okay. Thank you. 28:46 Okay, because people pray to trees, 28:48 people pray to crystals, 28:50 the Mount Carmel, the showdown all the heathens 28:54 and the apostate Israel leaders prayed 28:57 but nothing happened. 28:58 And Elijah prayed, and boom, God answered. 29:01 I don't believe that prayer works, God works. 29:03 Amen. 29:05 But a couple of avenues on what is a prayer life. 29:07 Let's talk about the first one. 29:08 Luke 22:42, 29:10 first of all prayer is submission to the will of God. 29:14 Submission to the will of God. 29:15 When you get a call from someone, 29:17 it's always good to know that there's a two way conversation. 29:20 I know that some of you watching might say, 29:22 "There are some people that I call, 29:23 the moment I say, hello, I lose connection 29:26 'cause I listen to the whole conversation, 29:29 and well, when they're done, 'Well, talk to you later.' 29:31 Well, I haven't had a chance to say anything." 29:33 Well, prayer is first a communication with God, 29:38 but it is, in fact, a submission to His will. 29:41 Who has Luke 22:42, do you have it, Jill? 29:45 Luke 22:42, look at the submission aspect. 29:47 22:42 saying, 29:49 "Father, if it is your will take this cup away from me, 29:53 nevertheless not my will but yours be done." 29:56 Okay. Jesus is the example. 29:58 If Jesus said, Lord, not My will, 30:00 saying to His Father, not My will but Yours be done. 30:02 Shouldn't we say the same thing. 30:04 Not My will but Yours be done. 30:07 That's most important 30:09 because if the thing that we decide to do 30:11 is not in harmony with the will of God, 30:13 it's not going to work. 30:15 But the only way to know that it's gonna work is to say, 30:16 "Father, here are my plans." 30:20 And like any good idea 30:21 or like anything that we're excited about. 30:23 I remember once coming up with this fascinating idea 30:26 and I typed it down as quickly as I possibly could. 30:28 Matter of fact, let's use the illustration 30:30 of Lanny Wolfe. 30:31 You know when we're writing songs. 30:34 And yeah, just, you had the chorus, was it? 30:36 Yeah, I had a chorus and music to song and... 30:40 We needed the lyrics for the verses. 30:42 And I had started saying, said, "Don't say a word. 30:45 You're gonna mess with my thoughts." 30:46 And I think, 30:47 "How many time do our words mess up God's thoughts." 30:50 God's thoughts. 30:52 Because He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts." 30:54 That's right. "My ways are not your ways." 30:56 So sometimes you come to the Lord and say, 30:58 "Lord, here's what I want you to do." 30:59 He says, "Don't say anything 31:02 'cause that's not what is in my mind." 31:04 Prayer says to us, "First submit to My will." 31:08 The other one is Matthew 26:41. 31:12 And I'll read this in the interest of time, 31:14 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. 31:17 The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is..." 31:19 Weak. Weak. 31:20 "The flesh is weak." Prayer keeps the flesh strong. 31:24 Because prayer, and I like the Apostle Paul, 31:28 I was thinking about great preachers, 31:30 great singers, great musicians, 31:31 people that are good at what they do, 31:33 and I came to the conclusion, "They can still fall." 31:37 Because the flesh, 31:38 in the best day the flesh is weak. 31:41 Yeah. 31:42 But Paul says, and the acknowledgment I boast, 31:46 I would rather boast in my infirmity 31:49 that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 31:51 Prayer keeps the flesh strong 31:54 or more specifically, prayer to our God. 31:58 He keeps the flesh strong, 31:59 for it is God who is working in us. 32:02 The third thing, Isaiah 55:6, "Seek the Lord." 32:07 Now, it doesn't make sense to call somebody 32:10 after you bought something that you shouldn't have purchased. 32:14 It makes sense to call them first. 32:16 And my wife and I have done that now. 32:18 She said to me, "Teach me how to shop on Amazon." 32:22 'Cause I've saved money by shopping on Amazon. 32:25 She said, "I have no clue about shopping on Amazon." 32:27 So sometimes a package shows up, 32:28 she says, "What did you get this time? 32:31 I wish you would tell me what you buy." 32:33 And I said, "Okay, from now on I'm gonna tell you, 32:35 but it's not any interest to you 32:36 because it's something 32:37 that you don't even have an interest in." 32:39 She said, "But to tell me anyway." 32:40 And so we do that now, we tell each other, 32:42 well, now, "Honey I bought this." 32:45 We have to do that while the person is accessible. 32:48 And Isaiah said, "Our prayer leads us to seek the Lord 32:51 while He may be found." 32:52 Now is there time that He's not going to be found? 32:55 That's the supposition. 32:57 But I believe that what that means is, 32:59 "It's good to seek in before a decision 33:01 than to seek in after a decision 33:03 to try to get him to reverse it." 33:06 When in fact sometimes decisions leave with it 33:10 the results that are often irreversible. 33:13 He forgives the sin 33:14 but the result sometimes irreversible. 33:16 The other one, our prayer should be regular. 33:20 Psalm 55:17, Psalm 55:17, The Bible says, 33:24 "Evening and morning and at noon, 33:27 I will pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice." 33:31 Regular prayer, evening, morning and at noon 33:35 but if you pray, you need faith to know 33:39 that who you are playing to is on the other line. 33:41 Ain't that right? 33:43 It's impossible to please God 33:44 if we don't come to Him through faith. 33:46 Because we have to believe that He is. 33:48 And my wife have, 33:49 my wife and I have done so much praying together. 33:51 Like sometimes we'll make a phone call 33:53 to make a decision. 33:55 Like just a few days ago, 33:56 we made an arrangement with somebody 33:57 to come here to 3ABN. 33:59 We said, "Oh, now that we look at our calendar, 34:01 it's going to be chaos." 34:03 And our phone call was, they're gonna buy their ticket. 34:05 Well, we knew that. 34:07 When they hang the phone up, 34:08 they're going to buy their ticket. 34:10 We said, "Okay, before we call them back, let's pray, 34:11 "Father, you know this is not the right time. 34:13 Please move so that person doesn't buy the ticket. 34:17 So we can reschedule." 34:18 We called them, I texted him and they called. 34:21 They said, "You know what? 34:23 As soon as we hung up, 34:24 I got the strong impression not to buy the ticket." 34:26 Thank you. Praise God. 34:28 That's awesome. 34:29 And she, and that person even said, "That's God." 34:31 And we knew it is because we prayed, 34:33 "Lord, we're gonna make this phone call, 34:35 please impress that person not to buy the ticket 34:37 because if they do, 34:39 then it's going to be a very difficult situation." 34:41 And so when you think about prayer, 34:43 for prayer to mean something to God, 34:47 it has to mean something to us. 34:49 And for prayer to be, 34:52 be the instrument to move God's heart. 34:55 As I said, "If we want God to hear us when we speak, 35:00 prayer teaches us to hear God when He speaks." 35:03 Amen. Amen. 35:04 Danny? 35:06 Amen. Thank you, John. 35:07 That's great, and Jill and Mollie. 35:09 Mine is on the life of wisdom Wednesday 35:12 and we learn about Solomon. 35:15 And I don't know about you 35:16 but I always think of Solomon of such great wisdom. 35:20 One of the smartest men 35:21 probably that ever lived on this earth 35:24 but the great consolation is, 35:26 and when I really read and studied his life, 35:29 is he made some really dumb decisions. 35:31 And I say that, "I mean, you know, 35:32 he's a Bible character and he's dead." 35:34 But that gives me consolation 35:37 that we can be, you know, make dumb decisions 35:40 but still when we come back to God... 35:41 Yes. 35:43 And ask Him for wisdom that He will give it to us. 35:46 But we today and nowadays it seems like 35:49 the world we judge wisdom by human IQ. 35:53 Man writes a book and then sets this co-op, 35:57 sets up a university and says, 35:59 "Jill, you come this university. 36:01 If you study everything I've said in my humanness, 36:05 and you learn it, and you do a good job, 36:08 I'm going to give you a good grade 36:09 and you're smart. 36:11 I'm gonna give you Ph D. 36:12 I'm going to give you, you know, 36:14 from your masters all way up, I'm going to, 36:15 you have a doctorate." 36:16 And yet it might not, 36:18 if I can use a country term "amount to a hill of beans" 36:22 because one of the wisest people 36:25 I ever met was my father here in eighth grade education. 36:28 And but he was wise 36:30 and we'll talk about the difference 36:32 in wisdom, and smart, being smart. 36:35 So there's a lot of smart people on this earth 36:38 but what we really need is wisdom. 36:41 And we only get that wisdom from the Lord. 36:44 I think we can say that, 36:46 "Knowledge does not equal wisdom." 36:48 You agree with that? That's right. 36:49 That is true. It doesn't. 36:50 And for scripture here, it starts out. 36:53 This is one of most beautiful stories in the Bible 36:55 is found in the story of Solomon's request to God 36:58 to give him above all things. 37:00 And it's in 1 Kings 3:9, this is New King James. 37:05 It says, "An understanding heart to judge your people 37:09 that I may discern between good and evil, 37:12 for who is able to judge this great people of yours." 37:15 And so Solomon, there were times that 37:18 he in his older years maybe like most of us. 37:22 It seems like wisdom comes with gray hair so to speak, John? 37:26 You're pretty wise, right? 37:27 It comes with... 37:28 We learn what not to do. 37:30 Well, we learn from our mistakes. 37:32 So I put here all understanding, 37:34 all knowledge and understanding come from the Lord. 37:37 Now you agree with that? 37:38 That's true. 37:39 All knowledge and understanding come from the Lord. 37:42 But knowledge and understanding only become wisdom 37:45 when we put it to spiritual use. 37:48 When we use spiritual discernment. 37:49 That's right. 37:51 'Cause without spiritual discernment, 37:52 it's just knowledge. 37:54 That's kind of like having faith and not using it. 37:57 Oh, I know all about faith. 37:59 I've read about it, I've read Hebrews 11. 38:01 I can tell you all about faith but I've never really used it. 38:05 So what good does it do me? 38:07 So all of this smartness and all the knowledge 38:11 that I have, 38:12 Mollie, even the understanding does not really help me 38:17 to get where I want to get. 38:19 And that's that relationship you're talking about 38:22 with the Lord Jesus Christ. 38:23 So what I have to learn to do is 38:25 find out what is true wisdom. 38:28 Because man, when we look at the world today, 38:31 wisdom is different, you know, is looked at differently 38:35 than what true wisdom really is. 38:36 But it's just like a preacher. 38:39 I hear people preach, 38:40 in fact yesterday someone told me about this preacher. 38:43 Man, this is one, it's a televangelist. 38:45 This guy is great, he is deep. 38:48 He is one of the best preachers I've ever heard in my life. 38:52 And I said, "What was the topic about? 38:55 And I said, they said, 38:56 "Don't you think he's a great preacher?" 38:58 And I said, "No." 39:00 "Why not, I mean he's so smart, he just knows the Bible, 39:03 he has so much wisdom." 39:05 And I said, "But he didn't tell the truth." 39:08 So what you mean is he had a great delivery. 39:12 Somebody is a great communicator, a great deliver, 39:15 but a preacher without telling the truth is nothing. 39:18 Right, there's nothing, 39:20 there's no wisdom in being a great communicator 39:23 if you're not telling the truth. 39:25 And I'm talking about preachers who talk about 39:27 keeping just certain commandments of God, 39:28 and not all the commandments of God, 39:30 and then when they have an opportunity to say 39:33 how about this commandment. 39:34 Oh, well, that one was done away, 39:36 they want to put away these things. 39:37 So that's really not wisdom 39:40 because wisdom is our spiritual discernment 39:44 for the knowledge and understanding 39:46 that God gives us is to put it into action. 39:47 That's right. 39:49 And so as preachers, as laymen, 39:51 as members of the body of Christ, 39:54 we need to find out what true wisdom is. 39:57 So Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is" what? 40:02 You know it... 40:03 "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 40:06 Those of you at home know that. 40:08 Proverbs 9:10 says, 40:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom 40:12 and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." 40:15 That's right. 40:16 So now we're starting to put things together. 40:18 You know, we talked about earlier in 1 Kings 40:21 if you go to Chapter 11, it tells of, 40:24 about some of Solomon's really dumb decisions. 40:27 I figured this out, Shelley, 40:28 how can you be so smart and be dumb enough 40:31 to have 700 wives and princesses 40:34 and 300 concubines. 40:35 That's right. 40:37 I mean honestly, that's ridiculous. 40:38 I wouldn't be smart enough 40:39 to remember their names of thousand, 40:42 he had over a thousand women. 40:44 So that's a dumb decision. 40:46 I don't think anybody disagree with me. 40:48 I couldn't remember, I don't know he was very smart, 40:51 maybe he did or maybe just said, 40:53 "Hey, darling or hey sweetheart, 40:54 just called them all honey or... 40:55 He gave name tags. 40:59 They must've worn name tags, 41:01 but ultimately his mistake was, that in all of his smartness, 41:06 and all of his knowledge and understanding 41:09 that he went for the lust of the flesh. 41:12 Yes. 41:13 So what did he do that took him down a wrong path. 41:16 God told him what to do. That's right. 41:18 But he chose foreign women, women who serve false gods, 41:24 and it just went on and on and on. 41:27 And that, there is a result 41:28 what you become you behold, right? 41:32 So what happened, so Solomon not only chose all these women, 41:36 but he says he loved these 700 women 41:40 and 300 concubines plus. 41:42 But I did a little bit of, 41:43 I looked into that to research that a little bit. 41:46 And he didn't actually love all these women, 41:49 he lusted after these women. 41:51 So really his lust took him away from God. 41:56 So any wisdom he had was lost 41:58 because these women and the lust for them. 42:01 He not only, get this, 42:03 Solomon not only went for the women God told him not to, 42:08 but he actually caused him to turn away from God 42:11 and actually became an enemy of the law of God at times. 42:16 And that can happen to each and every one of us. 42:19 So true wisdom, 42:21 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 42:24 Later in life Solomon recognized his mistake. 42:27 So I want to encourage you today, 42:29 it's not too late for you and me 42:32 to bring our mistakes to God and to bring our lust. 42:36 Now, his obviously and David had the same thing 42:39 his father had the same thing with Bathsheba, you know, 42:42 so here Solomon. 42:44 Today, I don't know what you call him 42:46 but it wouldn't be very good names 42:47 probably most people, they'd say, 42:49 "This guy, you know, 42:50 he's a womanizer, he's whatever." 42:52 It was lust of the flesh 42:54 but I want to tell you something, 42:55 lust of the flesh doesn't have to be 42:56 just sexual lust of the flesh. 42:58 We can do, whether it's alcohol, 43:01 whether it's tobacco, 43:02 whether it's just plain old selfishness. 43:04 That's right. 43:05 Because when we are lusting, we're serving self. 43:07 That's right. 43:08 So we have, May Chung used to say, 43:10 "We have a spiritual nature and we have a physical nature, 43:13 so whichever one you feed the most 43:16 is the one that grows." 43:17 Yes. That's right. 43:19 So with the beast inside of us, 43:21 the physical nature or the spiritual nature. 43:23 So today it's my encouragement 43:25 and I've rededicated my life to the Lord. 43:28 Said, "Lord, where my thoughts 43:30 and where does wisdom come from?" 43:32 Understanding that wisdom comes from God. 43:36 There's a lot of intelligence, there's a lot of knowledge 43:39 you can gain from reading other material. 43:42 But we have to place it all and point it all to. 43:45 If it doesn't line up with the Word of God, 43:47 we can't go for it. 43:48 I don't care what it is, 43:50 what it has to be when my brother was, 43:51 this is way back in late '50s, when my brother Tommy, 43:54 I remember his eighth grade science class he made all A's. 43:58 But they had a test and this test said, 44:02 man came, at that time we were so simple, 44:04 "Man came from monkey." 44:05 Other words, it was the evolution, 44:07 they were teaching even back in the '50s. 44:09 So my brother asked my mother, "What do I do?" 44:12 And she said, "Well, you're not going to do that, 44:14 you're just going to say God created us." 44:16 And he did it, 44:17 and actually got a whipping from the school teacher 44:19 who was a Christian, who said, 44:22 "I hate to do this 'cause I'm a Christian 44:23 but we have to do. 44:25 This is what the textbook says. 44:27 We have to go by the textbook." 44:29 But I'm here to tell you today, 44:30 the only textbook that we have to go by is the Bible. 44:32 Amen. That's right. 44:34 Because that is the wisdom of the Lord. 44:36 So what's the wisdom of the Lord? 44:38 The fear of the Lord. 44:40 Now what's that mean? 44:41 Does it mean, "Oh, I'm just scared to death." 44:43 No, the fear means respect law of God. 44:46 You look at Him as to who He is and who we are. 44:50 Once we can understand who we are, 44:51 that we're nothing, we can do nothing of our own 44:55 but when we come to Jesus we can, 44:58 I can do all things through Christ 45:01 who strengthens me. 45:03 So I'm so thankful today that we serve a God who loves us. 45:07 He's willing to, 45:08 when we confess our sins as you already said, 45:11 "He's faithful and just to forgive us from our sins, 45:13 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 45:17 So wisdom, the beginning of wisdom is what? 45:20 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 45:22 So let's pray and ask God to give us wisdom 45:25 as we keep in touch and in tune with His holy law. 45:28 Amen. Amen. 45:30 Shelley? Thank you, Brother. 45:31 You know, as we're talking about 45:34 escaping from the world's ways. 45:37 Jill, you spoke of relationship. 45:39 Mollie, you spoke of relationship with Christ. 45:42 Mollie, the Word of God and the power of the Word. 45:45 And, John, the prayer and you, wisdom. 45:48 And my day is the Holy Spirit. 45:51 And I just want to say this, "Without the Holy Spirit, 45:55 it's impossible to have a relationship with Christ." 45:58 Without the Holy Spirit, 45:59 it's impossible to understand the Word. 46:02 Without the Holy Spirit 46:03 we don't know how we ought to pray. 46:05 And without the Holy Spirit, there'll be no discernment. 46:08 So there's certainly will be no wisdom. 46:11 And the great controversy, our lesson brings out 46:14 that the great controversy is very real. 46:16 There's two sides warring, God's side and Satan's side. 46:22 And Satan in his unholy alliance 46:25 are trying to often lure you through things of this world. 46:31 And as 1 John 215:16 says, 46:33 "Don't love the things of this world 46:35 because the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes 46:38 and the pride of life. 46:40 None of these are from the Lord." 46:41 So Satan's trying to pull you in one direction, 46:44 but the good news is that 46:46 God is wooing you with His love. 46:48 He has sent His Holy Spirit to convict and convince us of sin 46:54 and He's drawing us to Jesus. 46:56 And I want to read just a few things here 46:59 that I think are very important and let me say why. 47:04 There is a little controversy going on. 47:07 Is the Holy Spirit a person? Is the Holy Spirit a force? 47:12 And typically people will quote 47:16 in the King James Version, where it says, 47:19 "The spirit itself maketh intercession for us." 47:24 And they'll say, "See, it's an it." 47:26 Well, let me tell you, 47:27 Jesus always referred to Him with the personal pronoun. 47:31 He, but you cannot prove the Holy Spirit's personality 47:37 by the pronoun. 47:38 That's important to note and here's why. 47:41 The word Spirit in the Greek is pneuma. 47:44 That is neuter gender, 47:46 that means it's neither he or she. 47:49 And Jesus said "The Father God is Spirit." 47:55 That's also the word pneuma. 47:57 And he said, "And those who worship Him 47:59 must worship in Spirit and in truth." 48:02 So if Jesus said in John 4:26 48:04 that the Father is Spirit and the Holy Spirit is Spirit, 48:08 you lose that argument to say the Spirit is it. 48:13 So let's look at John 14:15-17 is where I'd like to begin 48:19 because Jesus came to reveal and represent 48:26 the Father on earth. 48:28 But then the Holy Spirit was sent 48:31 to reveal and represent Jesus on earth. 48:34 And in John 14:15-17 Jesus says this, 48:38 "If you love me keep My commandments, 48:40 and I will pray the Father 48:42 and He will give you another helper." 48:46 That is in the Greek allos parakletos. 48:50 And the only reason I'm bringing this up, 48:51 Jesus was our parakletos. 48:53 The Messiah was the parakletos, the helper, the advocate, 48:58 the one who stood by us. 49:00 But when Jesus said He was going to give another helper. 49:04 The word allos in the Greek means 49:06 one that's exactly identical to. 49:10 Not just, just here's a pen, now I'm going to give you 49:14 another ballpoint pen or another ballpoint pen. 49:17 It would be to say it is exactly the same. 49:20 So he says that he may abide with you forever. 49:23 The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive 49:26 because it neither sees him nor knows him 49:28 but you will know him, for he dwells with you. 49:34 And then he goes on in John 16:13, he says, 49:40 "When the Spirit of truth has come, 49:42 He will guide you into all truth." 49:45 And you can't, you know what, Mollie, 49:47 it's so true when you're reading the Word, John 17:17, 49:51 Jesus said, "Oh Lord, sanctify them by the truth, 49:54 your Word is truth." 49:56 So when I'm opening that Word, I'm praying, Lord, sanctify me. 50:01 Send Your Holy Spirit. 50:02 Let the Holy Spirit be my teacher 50:05 and then sanctify me by this Word. 50:08 So the Spirit Jesus said will not speak on his own authority 50:12 but whatever he hears, he will speak 50:16 and will tell you things to come. 50:18 So I want us to look very quickly. 50:20 We've got just a few minutes. 50:22 But let's just hit as many scriptures as we can. 50:24 Jill, will you look up Ezekiel 36:26-27. 50:31 Mollie, if you will do John 16:7-9. 50:35 John, if you will do John 14:26 50:39 and then, Danny, I'm going to have you do 1 Peter 1:2, 50:45 and I'm going to ask you to hold your comments 50:47 because we want to... 50:48 I've got bunch of more scriptures 50:49 if we can get them in. 50:51 But, Jill, let's look at what God does for us to empower us, 50:56 to have this relationship, 50:57 and understand the Word and have wisdom 51:00 and pray with him. 51:02 Jill, Ezekiel 36:26-27. 51:05 "I will give you a new heart 51:07 and put a new spirit within you. 51:09 I would take the hardest stone out of your flesh 51:12 and give you a heart of flesh, 51:14 I will put my spirit within you 51:16 and cause you to walk in my statutes 51:19 and you will keep my judgments and do them." 51:22 How exciting, and this is a new covenant promise 51:25 that God says, "Hey, I'm going to circumcise your heart. 51:28 I'm going to take out that and give you a new heart. 51:32 And He says, I'll put My Spirit within you." 51:34 Because anything that God commands us to do, 51:37 He is going to empower us to do. 51:39 Mollie, John 16:7-9. 51:42 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth, 51:44 it is expedient for you that I go away: 51:46 for if I go not away, 51:48 the Comforter will not come unto you, 51:51 but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 51:53 And when he is come, he will reprove the world 51:56 of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment of sin 52:01 because they believe not on me." 52:03 You know, what amazes me about this. 52:06 The one thing that Jesus returned to heaven with 52:08 that He didn't have when He came to earth 52:12 was a body. 52:13 Jesus took on, 52:15 He's not only perfectly man and perfectly divine, 52:19 but He's perfectly human. 52:20 So once He took that body on, 52:23 He gave up His ability to be omnipresent 52:27 to be at all places at all times. 52:30 Now, it is the Holy Spirit, 52:32 the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ. 52:35 And this is why He is saying, "Hey, it's better Danny, 52:39 it's better John, that I go away 52:41 'cause then I can send the Spirit. 52:43 And he's going to dwell in you, 52:45 he's going to convict you of sin, 52:47 he's going to teach you." 52:48 John, would you do John 14:26? Sure. 52:52 "But the helper, the Holy Spirit 52:53 whom the Father will send in my name, 52:56 he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance, 52:59 all things that I have said." 53:02 So he is our teacher, 53:04 and in Philippians 2:13 God says, or Paul says that, 53:09 "God works in us to will and to do His good purpose. 53:13 And the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:13. 53:16 It says that, 53:17 "If we live according to the flesh will die, 53:21 but if by the power of the Holy Spirit, 53:26 we put to death the misdeeds of our flesh." 53:29 We're going to live forever. 53:30 And that's two people there. 53:33 The Holy Spirit can't crucify our flesh 53:36 without our permission. 53:37 He can't put to death the misdeeds of our flesh, 53:39 lest we submit and commit to him, 53:42 but we cannot change ourselves without his power. 53:46 So it says, "If by the power of the Holy Spirit, 53:49 if you cooperate, then he will change your life. 53:54 Danny, read 1 Peter 1:2. 53:58 "Elect according to the foreknowledge 54:00 of God the Father, 54:02 and sanctification of the Spirit, 54:04 for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 54:07 So the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. 54:12 As also 1 Corinthian 6:11 says 54:14 that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. 54:18 And then just jot these down really quick, 54:20 I only have a minute left. 54:21 Romans 8:26 as we don't know how we ought to pray, 54:25 but the Holy Spirit makes intercessor. 54:27 He's helping us with our prayer. 54:30 Romans 5:5 says, "God pours His love into our hearts 54:34 by the power of the Holy Spirit." 54:35 But I have to read this one to you, Ephesians 3:16-21. 54:41 Paul is praying that God would grant you 54:44 according to the riches of His glory. 54:46 To be strengthened with might 54:48 through His Spirit in your inner being, 54:50 and might there, 54:51 that's dunamis power of the Holy Spirit. 54:53 Why? 54:55 So that Christ can dwell in your hearts through faith. 54:59 Christ dwells in our hearts through faith 55:02 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 55:04 And the Holy Spirit helps us to understand 55:06 how wide and long and deep and high 55:09 the love of God is for us. 55:11 So without the Spirit, 55:13 we can't have the personal relationship 55:15 with the Lord, 55:17 we can't understand the Word of God. 55:19 Our prayers are nothing without the Spirit, 55:21 and there is no wisdom without the Holy Spirit of God. 55:25 Amen. Thank you so much, Shelley. 55:27 What an incredible blessing, 55:29 the promise of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit. 55:33 Mr. Danny, 55:34 the difference between wisdom and being just smart. 55:38 And how true wisdom, 55:40 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 55:43 Pastor John, I wrote down, prayer doesn't work, God works. 55:47 Praise the Lord for that. 55:49 And Miss Mollie, you talked about the Bible, 55:51 the authority or the perpetuity and the life changing power 55:54 of the Word of God. 55:56 We just have a few moments left. 55:57 I want to take just a few seconds a piece. 55:59 Our title here is, "Escape from the World's Ways." 56:03 So if you could each take your title 56:05 and talk about how that pertains 56:07 to escaping from the world's ways 56:09 like, Miss Mollie, you have the Word of God. 56:11 How does the Word of God help us escape 56:13 from the world's ways? 56:14 Changes us, and it changes our perspective, 56:16 it changes the way we think. 56:18 We've been totally programmed by the world 56:20 and here we make Jesus Christ the Lord of our life. 56:22 Then through His Word we get reprogrammed. 56:25 Amen. Pastor John? 56:26 And prayer to me is the key in the morning 56:28 and the bolt at night. 56:29 Amen. Wonderful. 56:31 Wisdom is not watching CNN or Fox. 56:34 It's sticking to the Word of God. 56:36 Amen. That's powerful. 56:38 It is the Holy Spirit. 56:39 We need to pray daily to be filled with the Holy Spirit 56:42 because He is the one who will help us 56:44 put to death the misdeeds of our flesh. 56:47 Amen. 56:48 Thank you so much, Miss Mollie, Pastor John, 56:50 Mr. Danny, and Miss Shelley. 56:51 Thank you for sharing from your heart 56:53 and from the Word of God. 56:54 And we thank you at home for joining us. 56:56 We want to encourage you to develop a personal relationship 57:00 with the Lord Jesus Christ. 57:02 I'm so glad we had this lesson. 57:03 The whole quarterly is on stewardship, 57:06 but this lesson in a special way 57:08 pulls us back from that, 57:09 and says make Jesus the Lord of your life. 57:12 Spend time in His Word, spend time in prayer, 57:15 learn that He can pour His wisdom into you. 57:18 And He does all of that 57:20 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 57:23 Next week we look at Stewards After Eden. 57:27 Join us next time. 57:28 God bless you and keep you. |
Revised 2018-01-31