Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180006A
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00:01 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, 00:08 "To receive with meekness the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:13 And to be diligent 00:15 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 00:27 Stewardship Motives of the Heart. 00:32 And we welcome all of you to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 Thank you so much for joining with us. 00:38 We are so excited 00:40 about these lessons that we're studying. 00:43 Our quarterly, these three months 00:46 that we're in now, is on Stewardship 00:49 and we are learning so much. 00:51 Let me introduce you to our panel. 00:53 We have Pastor John Lomacang, 00:56 Jill Morikone, Shelley Quinn, 00:59 and Jill Morikone's other half, Greg, I'm sorry, 01:03 I have to say, "She's the better half." 01:05 I'd agree with that, that's okay. 01:07 Don't apologize. 01:09 Greg Morikone, Greg, 01:10 it is so good to have you with us. 01:12 Thank you, good to be here. 01:13 Well, thank you so much. 01:14 You know, we're in the sixth lesson 01:18 in our quarterly. 01:20 And today, we're looking at the marks of stewardship 01:23 or the marks of a steward. 01:26 And we are rightly dividing God's Word 01:32 and we want each of you to be doing the same thing. 01:36 And so I want to invite you, if you don't have a quarterly, 01:40 to go to, you can go to the website and download it. 01:44 You go to ABSG.Adventist.org. 01:48 Download the lesson and study along with us. 01:51 But even better than that, if there is 01:54 a Seventh-day Adventist Church in your community, 01:58 go to that church and ask them for a quarterly 02:01 and then, you know, on Sabbath morning, 02:04 you can study with us. 02:06 But you can also study with your local Adventist church. 02:09 It is, we learn so much more when we're together 02:14 in a group of people, 02:16 is you get everybody gets to share, 02:18 so we encourage you to do that. 02:21 Before we go into our lesson though, we need to pray. 02:24 Pastor Lomacang, let's pray over our lesson today. 02:28 Loving Father in heaven, 02:30 whenever we open the Word of God, 02:31 we pray that we open our hearts. 02:34 And the skill that You've entrusted to us, 02:36 may we convey that back to You 02:38 and ask for the Holy Spirit instead 02:40 to guide our hearts and minds, to be of one accord 02:44 so that the stewardship of communicating the gospel 02:48 will be accomplished through the faithful work 02:50 that You accomplish and carry forward through us. 02:54 Bless us as we speak. 02:56 May our minds be furnished with an understanding 02:59 that possesses our soul. 03:02 And may those who are watching and listening to the program 03:05 be edified, and Jesus be glorified. 03:08 In your name we pray. 03:10 Amen. Amen. 03:11 You know, our quarterly tells us, 03:14 now we're going to read our memory text 03:15 in just a minute. The quarterly tells us that 03:19 stewards are known by their brand 03:22 or their distinctive mark along the line of a retailer. 03:27 And I was thinking of a retailer, 03:30 one that where everybody's familiar with. 03:32 So McDonalds, they retail, they retail hamburgers, 03:35 but they are a retailer. 03:37 And we have been to Moscow. 03:40 You can go anywhere in the world, 03:43 think about this. 03:44 You see those golden arches, what do you automatically know? 03:48 McDonalds. That's right. 03:49 There's McDonalds, so that is the marks of, 03:55 a distinctive mark of McDonalds. 03:58 Now our memory text tells us there is a distinctive mark 04:04 about a steward. 04:05 And I want us to read that memory text now. 04:09 The memory text is 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. 04:14 Let's all read together. 04:16 "Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ 04:21 and stewards of the mysteries of God. 04:24 Moreover it is required in stewards 04:28 that one be found faithful." 04:31 Don't you like that word, faithful? 04:33 So what is a mark of a steward? 04:38 What is a mark that will be found on a steward? 04:41 They will be faithful. 04:44 Now, how would you acquire 04:49 a mark of faithfulness? 04:52 And I was thinking about that, how would you do that? 04:55 You know, we become what we behold. 04:58 That's right. Yes. 04:59 And so 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us, 05:02 "But we all, with unveiled face, 05:05 beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 05:09 are being transformed into the same image 05:12 from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." 05:17 Our very identities become so blended 05:21 with the traits of Christ as we behold Him in His Word 05:26 that we become branded by Him. 05:30 His attributes become our attributes. 05:34 You know, the Word says, 05:35 "But he that is joined unto the Lord is," what? 05:39 "Is one spirit." 05:40 So how many of you would like to be branded, 05:43 to have the same attributes as the Lord Jesus Christ. 05:46 And can we say that one of His greatest attributes 05:51 was His faithfulness. 05:52 He was faithful even unto death. 05:56 So that's the mark of a steward, that branding. 05:59 Now, on Sunday, I have the honor, 06:02 and the privilege of looking at faithfulness. 06:05 What does it mean to be faithful? 06:08 And I've got that definition, 06:10 staying true to what we know is right, 06:12 especially in the heart or in the heed 06:15 of spiritual battle. 06:17 In Hebrews, faithful means to trust, 06:21 to be solid or firm, to be tested and tried 06:25 and remain firmly committed to God. 06:28 Now, let me ask you this. 06:30 Have any of you ever been tested and tried 06:32 and been tempted to give up or give in 06:37 when things really got bad? 06:39 You ever had... Absolutely. 06:40 I recall a time when I was going through 06:43 a really hard time. 06:45 I mean, things got, it seemed like 06:47 everything was falling down on every side 06:50 and I didn't want to fight any longer. 06:53 I wanted to just give up and quit. 06:55 And I hope nobody else is ever been there, 06:58 but that's what I wanted. 07:00 What would be the opposite of faithful? 07:03 Giving up and quitting, so that would have been the opposite. 07:07 And you know, in 1 Timothy 6:12, 07:11 Paul is talking to Timothy and here is what 07:14 the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, 07:17 "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, 07:21 to which you were also called 07:23 and have confessed the good confession 07:25 in the presence of many witnesses." 07:27 Fight the good fight of faith. 07:29 Now when you're, what you're really 07:30 wanting to do is give up and quit, 07:32 you're not wanting to read scriptures 07:34 that tell you to fight. 07:36 And so I got to thinking. 07:38 "What did Paul know anyway? 07:40 Did he ever have to fight? 07:42 Wait a minute. 07:43 I suppose Paul might have had to fight a time or two, 07:46 did he not?" 07:48 Paul, the Apostle Paul sanctified, let's look at 07:51 what the Apostle Paul had to fight. 07:53 2 Corinthians 11. 07:57 This is what Paul says about himself. 07:59 Now remember, we're talking about 08:01 marks of a steward faithfulness. 08:04 Here's what Paul says, 08:06 "Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, 08:10 three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day 08:14 I have been in the deep, in journeys often, 08:17 in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 08:20 in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the gentiles, 08:24 in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness..." 08:28 What verse are you in, Miss Mollie? 08:29 Chapter 11, 26 is what I'm just reading. 08:32 Thank you. Thank you. 08:33 "In perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, 08:37 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, 08:40 in hunger and thirst, in fasting, 08:43 often in cold and nakedness." 08:45 Now, was Paul fighting the good fight of faith? 08:49 Oh, yeah. Oh, he was. 08:51 The opposite of giving up, 08:53 being faithful is what Paul was doing. 08:56 So I looked at Paul, 08:58 and I would just have to say that Paul's battles 09:02 made mine look like a walk in the park. 09:05 Nothing to compare with it. 09:07 To fight and win the good fight of faith, 09:09 we're going to have to be found faithful. 09:12 The Apostle Paul had the branding 09:15 of a faithful steward. 09:18 One of our greatest examples of a faithful steward 09:22 would be faithful Abraham. 09:24 Okay. 09:25 In Hebrews 8:1, "By faith Abraham obeyed 09:30 when he was called to go out to the place 09:34 which he had received as an inheritance. 09:37 And he went out, not knowing where he was going." 09:43 Romans 4:9, says about Abraham, 09:46 "For we say that faith was accounted 09:49 to Abraham for righteousness." 09:53 So faithful Abraham, 09:55 one more branded faithful steward. 10:00 The reformer Martin Luther, 10:03 preparing to speak before the emperor, 10:06 he drew near the Holy Scriptures. 10:12 And with emotion he placed his left hand 10:17 on the sacred volume 10:19 and raising his right hand toward heaven, 10:22 swore to remain faithful to the gospel 10:26 and freely to confess his faith. 10:29 And listen to this, 10:31 "Even should he seal his testimony with his blood." 10:36 Think about the martyrs, those early martyrs. 10:39 How many of them sealed their faith with their blood? 10:44 Faithful, they were branded as faithful. 10:47 They were stewards that had been branded 10:51 with faithfulness. 10:53 The Lord Jesus Christ, we see it in the Apostle Paul, 10:57 we see it in others, in the great faith chapter, 11:01 we see it with Martin Luther, 11:04 we see it with so many of these early martyrs. 11:07 There's a promise to us in Revelation 2:10. 11:14 It says, "Be faithful until death, 11:18 and I will give you the crown of life." 11:21 Faithfulness is a distinctive mark 11:24 of stewardship. 11:26 The way we take on the attributes, 11:29 the way we receive this mark, remember, 11:32 how many of you want to branded as faithful 11:36 to receive that branding? 11:38 We become what we behold, 11:40 and as we behold our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 11:45 in His Word, 11:46 then that branding is so impressed on us 11:50 that we have been predestined, the scripture tells us 11:54 in Romans 8th chapter, 11:56 We have been predestined, to be conformed of what? 12:00 To be conformed to the very image 12:02 and likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12:06 My encouragement to all of us today 12:08 is to spend time in God's Word, allow that branding 12:13 to take place in our lives that we would have 12:16 that branding of faithfulness, 12:18 and we would be like Christ in His very image 12:21 and in His likeness. 12:22 Pastor Lomacang? 12:23 Wow, Mollie, you threw me the ball really quickly, 12:26 I appreciate that. 12:27 But I won't take that additional time 12:29 I'll leave it for whoever is gonna come after me. 12:31 And I think that's you, Jill. 12:33 And you could choose to pass it or... 12:34 I'll pass it on. Or rally it out to Greg. 12:36 Loyalty, loyalty is Monday lesson. 12:42 And loyalty is a topic that, excuse me, 12:49 requires introspection, 12:51 looking in first before we look out, 12:54 because all of us, every one of us, 12:57 and those of you who are listening 12:59 and watching the program, 13:00 everyone likes people to be loyal. 13:05 One man once said, the reason why he likes dogs, 13:11 and the other says dog is man's best friend. 13:13 And he said the reason why he likes his dog 13:15 is because he wags his tail and not his tongue. 13:19 That's good. That's pretty good. 13:21 He wags his tail, not his tongue. 13:23 Now there's something about loyalty that draws us, 13:26 and there's something about disloyalty that repels us. 13:31 But I think of the number of examples 13:34 in the Bible of loyalty, in this lesson particularly, 13:37 what it zeroes in on is our loyalty to God. 13:41 Because Loyalty to each other 13:43 while it should be unconditional, 13:46 we kind of tend to link little conditions to loyalty. 13:50 "If you, then I will. If you, then I will." 13:52 Now there are some ifs and thens in God's Word. 13:55 "If My people, you know, confess and forsake 13:58 their wickedness, then I will hear from heaven." 14:00 That's not loyalty, that's confession 14:02 that is needed for forgiveness to follow. 14:05 And the Lord does not forgive what we do not confess, 14:08 so that's not the same as loyalty. 14:10 But let's begin by looking at Matthew 6:24. 14:13 And the passage that we're about to read 14:16 has showed up in other lessons but it's hard 14:21 to talk about stewardship and isolate any one 14:24 particular text for any one particular lesson. 14:26 Because this lesson, 14:28 if I could give a description to it, 14:30 it's not like a frozen ice cube, excuse me, 14:34 but it pours into all the lessons, 14:37 all the text seem to pour into the lesson 14:40 from one end to the other. 14:43 Matthew says in 6:24, "No one can serve," 14:48 how many masters? "Two masters, 14:51 for either he will hate the one and love the other, 14:55 or else he will be loyal to the one 14:58 and despise the other. 15:00 You cannot serve God and mammon." 15:03 And I think of this whole idea of master 15:05 because when the Hebrews and Daniel, 15:07 when they were sold unto slavery into Babylon, 15:13 there was a test. 15:15 You never know whether a person is loyal 15:17 until the test comes. 15:19 In the Garden of Eden, the reason for the tree 15:21 of the knowledge of good and evil was to test 15:24 Adam and Eve's not only obedience, 15:27 but loyalty. 15:28 And they, obviously we know, failed the loyalty test, 15:32 and so all of us had been impacted 15:33 in one way or the other by their disloyalty 15:36 or their failure to be faithful. 15:38 But I think of the Hebrews, and let's go 15:42 to the Book of Daniel very quickly here. 15:44 It came to my mind, it's not in my notes, 15:47 but that came to my mind about the declaration 15:50 that the Hebrews made 15:51 when they were on the Plain of Dura 15:54 when the golden image was erected 15:58 and they were called to make a decision. 16:03 And I would go to Daniel 3, 16:09 and I would look at the end of verse 15. 16:12 You know, it's amazing, Daniel has long verses, 16:15 you know, Paul has short verses, 16:17 Daniel has this long verses. 16:19 And the end of the verse of Daniel 3:15, it says, 16:24 "But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately 16:28 into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 16:31 And who is the God 16:33 who will deliver you from my hand? 16:36 And Shadrach," verse 16, "Meshach, and Abednego 16:40 answered and said to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, 16:43 we have no need to answer you in this matter. 16:47 If that is the case, our God whom we serve 16:51 is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, 16:56 and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 16:59 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, 17:03 that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship 17:07 the golden image which you have set up.'" 17:09 And I wrote a statement down, "We remain loyal to God 17:13 not because He will, but because He can." 17:16 It's good. That's good. 17:17 We are loyal to God, not because 17:19 He will step in all the time but He can. 17:22 And when He doesn't, we have to maintain 17:23 a sovereignty. 17:25 The Lord chose to save these loyal servants 17:28 in the fire, not from the fire. 17:31 And some people might say, "Well, if I, 17:33 and this is the question that always comes up. 17:35 They say, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" 17:37 This is the perfect example. 17:39 These Hebrews did nothing, they came into slavery, 17:41 they were bound into slavery in a foreign land. 17:45 They were faithful in all their duties, but still, 17:48 their faithfulness prior to the test 17:51 was not sufficient at the time of the test 17:54 because their loyalty was now tested 17:56 even though they were faithful and wiser 17:58 and carried out their duties with great responsibility. 18:01 At the time of test, the test of loyalty came, 18:04 here's my point. 18:06 We will as a church face the future test of loyalty. 18:09 So it is in the little tests 18:11 that we are prepared for the big test. 18:14 As one verse in the Bible, and maybe Jill could pull it up 18:17 or maybe one of you can but it talks about, 18:19 if we can't keep up with, if we can't cross the Jordan 18:22 when the water is low, what's gonna happen 18:24 when the Jordan rises? 18:26 You can't run with the horsemen, how can... 18:28 With the footmen. 18:29 How can you contend with the horse? 18:30 How can you contend with the horsemen? 18:32 I think Jeremiah was the one that said that. 18:34 So what we're seeing is all the little tests 18:37 that we face in life, whether it's family test, 18:40 relationship test, whether financial test, 18:44 whether tests in tithing and offerings, 18:47 whether church attendance, or Sabbath School attendance, 18:52 every test we face is a test of loyalty. 18:56 And it's sad that people... I've always said this, 18:59 and I think it fits right here, people in the world 19:02 would sit in a football game in subfreezing weather 19:06 to watch a pigskin ball kicked through two metal posts, 19:10 and folk won't even come to a beautifully warm church 19:13 to sit on comfortable pews to hear the Word of God 19:16 being proclaimed. 19:17 Something's wrong with that. 19:19 Your verse is Jeremiah 12:5. Read it for us. 19:21 "If you have run with the footmen, 19:22 and they have wearied you, 19:24 then how can you contend with horses? 19:26 And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, 19:29 they wearied you, then how will you do 19:30 in the floodplain of the Jordan?" 19:33 What will you do when the Jordan rising? 19:35 So if you were in a place at peace 19:37 among your own fellow worshippers 19:39 and you can't handle the stresses of loyalty. 19:42 Now, loyalty requires a cool mind 19:45 and so a person might say, "You know, 19:47 I would not have said that, had you not done that." 19:50 But I've learned through the years 19:52 that each one of use owns our own emotions. 19:55 Nobody owns Mollie's emotions. 19:57 You don't have a button that I can press, 19:58 it's your button, you press it. 20:00 Am I right, Shelley? Yes. 20:01 So we sometimes will say, "Well, if you hadn't done that, 20:03 I wouldn't have said that." 20:05 Those are tests of loyalty. 20:07 Loyalty to the profession we have, 20:10 loyalty to am I who I say I am, 20:14 or is it just what I say but now what I do." 20:17 And at one point or the other, 20:18 each one of us including myself, yours truly, 20:21 have failed the test of loyalty at one point or the other 20:24 in our growth aspects of Christianity. 20:26 But you know what that's done? 20:27 That's reminded us that when the finance is warmed up 20:29 the next time, you'll say, "I'll be glad to go in it," 20:33 because God has shown Himself strong. 20:35 Go with me to 1 Chronicles 28:9, 20:39 loyalty to God is without compromise. 20:42 1 Chronicles, what? 20:44 1 Chronicles 28:9. 20:48 Okay. 20:51 And the Lord says, "As for you, my son Solomon, 20:55 know the God of your father, and serve Him with a," 20:58 what kind of heart? "A loyal heart," verse 9, 21:02 "And with a willing mind," loyalty has to be willing, 21:05 it cannot be forced, "for the Lord 21:08 searches all hearts and understands 21:11 all the intent of the thoughts." 21:13 Not just what we do but the intention. 21:15 "If you seek Him, He will be found by you, 21:18 but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever." 21:22 And unfortunately Saul experienced that. 21:25 And for sometime, Solomon did, 21:27 but the Lord didn't forsake Solomon, 21:29 Solomon forsook the Lord. 21:30 But here's what I want to transition on, 21:32 2 Chronicles 16:9. 21:35 "God honors those who are loyal to Him." 21:37 So many more things, we should be getting 21:39 like 12 minutes each. 21:41 I'll be loyal to my one, my ten. 21:44 I'm going to give just a beginning of it. 21:46 2 Chronicles 16:9, one of my favorite passages, 21:50 "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro 21:54 throughout the whole earth," can you see it? 21:57 Yes. Yes. 22:01 "To show Himself strong on behalf of those 22:05 whose heart is loyal to Him." 22:09 Isn't that powerful? Amen. 22:10 So God wants to say, "Yes, I brought John through. 22:15 Yes, I stood up for Shelley. 22:16 Yes, I was there for Mollie. 22:18 Of course, I was there for Jill. 22:20 When things turned against Greg, 22:21 I stood with him." 22:23 When men forsook me, as Paul says, 22:24 they forsook me, but the Lord stood by me. 22:27 And so when you want God to be loyal to you, 22:30 be loyal to God. 22:32 Amen. Amen. 22:33 That's powerful, Pastor, thank you so much. 22:36 God shows Himself strong in our behalf. 22:39 What an incredible blessing. 22:40 I have Tuesday, a clear conscience, 22:43 and if I were to subtitle it, I would call it 22:46 living without guilt, fear, or shame. 22:51 To me, that's what a clear conscience is, 22:53 living without guilt, fear, or shame. 22:57 They conducted a survey in 2016, 22:59 they had 700 respondents, and they asked them 23:02 for the top ten things, 23:04 if they could only possess one thing, 23:06 what would it be? 23:07 And they compiled the list. 23:09 This is an order from number one to number ten. 23:11 If they could possess one thing, what would it be? 23:14 The thing most people wanted to possess was happiness. 23:18 Number two on the list, money. 23:20 Number three, freedom, peace, 23:23 joy, balance, fulfillment, 23:27 confidence, stability, and passion. 23:30 That was in order from one to ten. 23:32 Now if Jill were to put together a list, 23:34 my list would look a little different. 23:36 I came up with five actually that I would really want. 23:40 And I don't know if they're in order 23:41 but my list would be love, peace, health, 23:47 purpose, and a clear conscience. 23:50 To me, nothing else really in the whole world 23:53 really matters. 23:55 You think about in the beginning, 23:57 in the Garden of Eden, when God created it. 23:59 What do we read in Genesis 1, Genesis 2? 24:01 God said, it was good. 24:04 And then it was very good. 24:08 Perfect peace, perfect contentment, 24:11 and harmony ruled in the Garden of Eden. 24:14 And you could say Adam and Eve walked with a clear conscience. 24:17 They lived without guilt, fear, or shame, 24:20 but then something happened. 24:21 Let's take a look at Genesis 3, 24:24 and you know where I'm going here, 24:26 the entrance of sin into the Garden of Eden, 24:29 Genesis 3. 24:32 And we're actually not gonna read the temptation 24:35 with the serpent and all of that, 24:36 we're gonna pick it up in verse 7, 24:38 this is right after Eve has reached out 24:40 and eaten the fruit and gave it to her husband. 24:43 Verse 7, 24:45 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened," Adam and Eve, 24:48 "and they knew that they were naked, 24:49 and they sewed fig leaves together 24:51 and made themselves coverings. 24:53 And they heard the sound of the Lord God 24:55 walking in the garden in the cool of the day." 24:58 And you think previously, when they heard God's voice, 25:00 I can imagine them running to meet Him, 25:03 wanting to talk with God, and here, what did they do? 25:06 "Adam and his wife hid themselves 25:09 from the presence of the Lord God 25:10 among the trees of the garden. 25:13 Then the Lord God called to Adam 25:15 and said, 'Where are you?' 25:17 He said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, 25:19 I was afraid because I was naked, 25:21 and I hid myself." 25:24 The entrance of sin in the Garden of Eden 25:27 brought fear, shame, and guilt. 25:31 The entrance of sin was the beginning of us 25:34 not having a clear conscience. 25:36 And as you go all the way down, turn with me to 1 Timothy 4. 25:40 Many people, and at home you might feel like 25:42 I'm in this condition right now, 25:44 many people are in this condition, 25:45 and I can tell you I have been here too, 25:48 where we're going to look. 25:49 I Timothy 4:1-2, 25:55 it says, "The Spirit expressly says that in latter times 25:58 some will depart from the faith," 25:59 so some will have walked with Christ but will turn away, 26:04 "giving heed to deceiving spirits 26:06 and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, 26:10 having their own conscience seared with a hot iron." 26:16 We go from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, 26:18 perfect unity, perfect oneness with their Maker, 26:22 their Creator, that unity, and that peace, 26:25 and clear conscience. 26:26 And we come to this point, having the conscience 26:29 seared with a hot iron. 26:31 In the Greek, having been seared is the word 26:35 we would translate in English, but in the Greek, 26:36 it means to sear with a hot iron to cauterize. 26:40 It literally refers to branding a person 26:44 with a red hot iron, scarring the flesh 26:47 and numbing or deadening the senses. 26:52 It's like being branded with a conscience, 26:55 but we're branded with the marks of sin. 26:57 Now if you feel like your branded 26:59 with the marks of sin, your conscience is 27:01 as it were deadened, 27:03 you can't hear the voice of God as much anymore. 27:06 Don't loose hope because God can purify that conscience. 27:10 Let's look at Hebrews 10, one of my favorite scriptures, 27:14 and I know I say this all the time, Shelley. 27:17 Hebrews 10:19, 27:23 "Brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest 27:26 by the blood of Jesus," 27:27 oh, aren't you thankful for the blood of Jesus, 27:31 "by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, 27:34 through the veil that is His flesh, 27:36 and having a High Priest over the house of God," 27:38 I love verse 22, "Let us draw near 27:41 with a true heart in full assurance of faith, 27:45 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience 27:48 and our bodies washed with pure water." 27:51 You feel like your conscience is seared, 27:53 does it feel like it's branded with that consciousness of sin, 27:57 God can clean it. 28:00 He can take an evil conscience, sprinkle it, 28:03 and wash it with pure water, and He can restore in us 28:07 that innocence that Adam and Eve first had 28:10 in the beginning with their Maker. 28:13 So in my remaining time, I want to talk about seven keys 28:17 to developing a clear conscience. 28:20 Seven ways that you and I can live without fear, 28:23 guilt, or shame. 28:25 Number one, repent and confess your sin. 28:28 Isaiah 59: 1-2, we won't turn there, 28:31 but we know that scripture. 28:32 It says, "The Lord's hand is not shortened 28:34 that it cannot save you, 28:36 nor His ear heavy that He cannot hear you, 28:39 but your iniquity," or you sin, 28:42 "have separated you from your God. 28:44 And your sins have hidden His face from you 28:46 that He will not hear." 28:48 So if you feel like, "Boy, my sins are a wall 28:50 between me and Jesus." 28:52 We claim, Miss Molley, I John 1:9, 28:54 "If we confess our sins, He's faithful 28:58 and just to forgive us and to cleanse us 29:01 from all unrighteousness." 29:02 So your heart, your conscience is deadened, 29:06 by the power of His spirit, He forgives you. 29:09 Number two, allow His blood to cleanse you. 29:12 Turn back one chapter, we were in Hebrews. 29:15 Hebrews 9:14, it says, "How much more 29:21 shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 29:24 offered Himself without spot to God, 29:27 cleanse your conscience from dead works 29:30 to serve the living God?" 29:32 I love this because it actually talks about 29:33 your conscience and the dead works. 29:36 So to me, this is talking about, our conscience, 29:39 it was seared with a hot iron, it was dead 29:42 and yet the blood of Jesus cleanses it 29:45 so that we can in turn then serve the living God. 29:49 Number three, allow Him to justify you. 29:52 Romans 5:1, "Being justified by faith 29:54 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 29:57 So when Jesus justifies us, we are reconciled again 30:02 back to the Father, we are brought 30:04 as we're back in right relationships. 30:06 Sin brought fear, Adam and Eve were afraid of the Father, 30:10 but then because of Jesus and His justification, 30:13 we're no longer afraid of God. 30:14 He reconciles us. 30:16 We have peace again with God the Father. 30:20 Number four, allow Him to wash you. 30:24 1 Corinthians 6, I like this scripture, 30:28 1 Corinthians 6:11... 30:40 Now before verse 11, it talks about 30:42 there're adulterers and homosexuals, 30:44 thieves and covetousness and drunkards, 30:47 there is a whole list of sins listed here. 30:50 That they will not inherit the kingdom of God. 30:52 And then the next verse, verse 11, 30:54 "Such were some of you" when I read this, Shelley, 30:57 I think that's all of us, all of us at one point 31:00 or another have fallen into one of this list 31:03 but we do not have to stay there. 31:06 It says, "You were washed, you were sanctified, 31:10 you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 31:13 and by the Spirit of our God." 31:15 Amen. 31:16 Number five, allow His Word to cleanse you. 31:20 Ephesians 5:26, "He wants to sanctify and cleanse her," 31:24 meaning the church, "with a washing of water 31:27 by the Word." 31:28 Allow God's Word, spend time in His Word. 31:31 As you spent time in His Word the old works, 31:35 the dead conscience, I always think 31:37 it starts to dissipate and become clean. 31:40 When you wash something with water 31:42 pretty soon the dirt goes away and what's left is purity. 31:45 Number six, allow Him to write His Word 31:48 in your heart. 31:51 Hebrews 8:10, the promise, we won't turn there 31:54 because of time but God promises 31:56 to write in our mind and in our hearts His law. 32:01 So we go from at the beginning Adam and Eve 32:05 walking in intimacy with their maker, 32:07 we come down to our day, 32:09 us being seared with a hot iron, 32:11 our conscience is being deadened 32:14 and we come to the point after God, 32:17 we ask for His forgiveness, we repent and confess our sins, 32:21 we allow His blood to cleanse us, 32:23 we allow Him to justify us, we allow Him to wash us, 32:26 we allow the Word to cleanse us, 32:28 we come to the point were His Word 32:30 is written again in my mind. 32:33 That's incredible, my conscience 32:35 that was deadened and seared with a hot iron 32:37 is now written with a law of God, 32:41 and the final verse, we choose to make choices for Him. 32:45 Miss Shelley. 32:46 What verse went with that make choices for you. 32:49 Roman's 13:14, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ 32:52 and make no provision for the flesh." 32:55 Excellent, excellent. 32:57 Okay, so we're looking at the marks of the steward 32:59 and we've had faithfulness is one of the marks, 33:03 loyalty is one of the marks, 33:05 a clear conscience is one of the marks, 33:08 and a very important mark of a steward is 33:14 Wednesday's lesson which is obedience. 33:19 You know, the lesson begins talking about Cane and Abel. 33:22 God had put into effect 33:27 a system of offering 33:31 that He wanted because we know that 33:35 without blood there is no remission of sin, right? 33:38 So God put a sacrificial system into place 33:41 and Cane and Abel clearly knew, I mean 33:44 this was passed on, He, God had to kill the lamb 33:47 to make clothing for Adam and Eve 33:50 and so this is when it all began. 33:53 But Cane and Abel both knew this 33:55 and Cane came and in defiance of Lord 34:00 he knelt at the alter and offered God the fruit 34:05 of his own labor 34:08 while Abel came knelt at the alter 34:11 and offered the lamb, the blood of the lamb, 34:14 which the lamb represented Jesus Christ. 34:17 See, you can never earn your salvation 34:20 by your own labor 34:22 and this is what God was showing. 34:24 So we have one who is obedient 34:28 one who was disobedient 34:31 and the interesting thing is that 34:34 Cane became jealous of Abel. 34:37 Abel was obedient, God accepted Abel's sacrifice 34:44 but He didn't approve of Cane's, so what did Cane do? 34:48 He murders his brother. Very, very interesting. 34:51 I want to read something directly 34:53 from the lesson because, 34:55 and I'll reserve my comment for just a moment, 34:58 but the lesson says, obedience starts in the mind, 35:03 it involves the delicate process 35:05 that mentally accepting the responsibility 35:08 of carrying out the commands from a higher authority. 35:13 Obedience stems from a relationship 35:16 with an authority figure 35:19 and the willingness to obey that figure. 35:23 In the case of our relationship with God, 35:25 our obedience is a voluntary loving action 35:31 that moulds our behavior to moral obligations. 35:34 Obedience to God must be as specific 35:39 as He directs and not only as we think 35:41 or desire it should be and the case of Cane 35:44 is a perfect example of someone doing his own thing 35:48 instead of doing what God asks. 35:50 One of my favorite scriptures, you know, 35:54 it wasn't until I understood grace 35:57 that I accepted obedience. 36:02 Obedience is by grace, 36:04 it is only as God is working in me 36:08 to willing to do His good pleasure 36:10 that I can even obey, so even obedience is by grace. 36:15 But 1 John 2:3-4 has become one of my favorite scriptures 36:19 and it's so easy to remember. 36:21 Just remember 1-2-3-4, 1 John 2:3-4, he says, 36:27 "Now by this we know that we know Him." 36:30 This is how John says, 36:32 "This is how we know that we know Christ. 36:36 If we keep His commandments and he who says, 'I know Him,' 36:41 and does not keep His commandments 36:44 is a liar and the truth is not in him." 36:47 You know, there are people who say, 36:52 when we start talking about obedience 36:55 you know what they'll say, "Ah, you are preaching faith 36:59 plus works and that's another gospel." 37:02 I've got someone that writes me quite often say, 37:04 "You're preaching another gospel." 37:06 I want to show you something, let's, well, 37:09 let's look at 1 John 5:2-3 37:10 while we're right there in 1 John. 37:13 John writes this, he says, "By this we know that 37:15 we love the children of God when we love God 37:19 and keep his commandments. 37:21 For this is the love of God. 37:23 That we keep His commandments." 37:25 Are we getting this? That's right. 37:27 Loyalty is about expressing our love for God 37:31 through obedience isn't it? 37:32 It's all about love. 37:34 This is the love of God that we keep His commandments. 37:36 His commandments are not burdensome. 37:39 Some people try to turn love for God 37:43 into just an emotional reaction. 37:46 But let me tell you something, 37:47 love without obedience is not love. 37:51 Let me repeat that, 37:53 love for God without obedience is not love. 37:58 In 1 John 3:18, He says, 38:01 "My little children, let us not love in word 38:04 or in tongue but in deed and in truth." 38:08 Love for God is expressed 38:13 in our deeds of obedience 38:16 and His commands are not burdensome. 38:18 You know, they were been Rabbinical tradition 38:21 created thousands of little laws 38:25 that they had to keep the law. 38:28 Yes. 38:29 They did not bring life 38:31 because these were not God's commandments, 38:33 they were man-made commandments. 38:35 But Jesus taught us that obedience 38:38 is a heart attitude of love 38:40 and that who supplies us the new heart? 38:44 Who puts His spirit in us? 38:46 God does. It's God who does this. 38:49 So when the Holy Spirit is living in our hearts, 38:54 He gives us the power to walk out 38:59 and the strength to walk out in obedience. 39:02 And love for God and love for our brothers and sisters 39:08 is what motivates us and makes obedience desirable. 39:14 You know, I mean that's what, and let me tell you some, 39:17 any time we've think that God's commandments 39:19 are burdensome, guess what's happening? 39:21 We're putting our own desire, our own will above God's. 39:27 Cause when you love Him with all your heart, soul, 39:29 mind and strength, you are going to obey. 39:33 Now I've got to get to this. 39:35 Romans 5, I'm trying to check the clock here. 39:39 Romans, excuse me, 1:5, this is so critical, 39:45 I want to hit several in Romans, Romans 1:5, 39:49 Paul writes, now and I have to say this, 39:51 this is one of the most important books 39:54 on the subject of faith is Romans. 39:57 And Paul's first mention of faith 40:00 is linked with obedience. 40:03 Look at this, "Through Him, 40:06 we have received grace and apostleship 40:10 for obedience to the faith 40:14 among all nations for His name." 40:18 The literal translation here, 40:20 if you look at the literal translation 40:22 of the Greek, he is saying, 40:25 "For the obedience of faith." 40:31 Obedience is the very nature of faith, 40:37 faith is the central and controlling principle 40:40 of obedience and like I said, 40:43 this is the obedience to the commands, 40:46 to the doctrines of the Christ and it is by grace. 40:49 So we are asked in the Bible 40:54 to turn away from sinful disobedience, 40:57 to repent and turn back to God to obey. 41:01 Now let's look, see Paul's apostleship, 41:05 he was commissioned to teach the obedience of faith, 41:10 so he starts of Romans talking about 41:11 the obedience of faith. 41:13 Let's look at Romans 16, will begin with verse 24, 41:17 because he is going to use 41:20 the very same terminology here. 41:24 It's like he is booked into it, this book on faith, 41:27 it's obedience of faith. 41:30 He says in Romans 16:24, 41:32 "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 41:34 be with you all, Amen. 41:35 Now to him who is able to establish you 41:38 according to my gospel 41:40 and the preaching of Jesus Christ, 41:41 according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret 41:44 since the world began, but now has been made manifested 41:48 by the prophetic scriptures has been made know to all man 41:52 according to the commandment of the everlasting God 41:54 for obedience to the faith 41:59 to God alone. 42:02 Wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever." 42:07 I mean, may I take 42:08 one of those extra minutes that we have? 42:10 Okay, 'cause I want to, see throughout Romans, 42:14 faith should be read as obedient faith. 42:19 He always links the two together, 42:22 there is absolutely no evidence in the scriptures 42:26 and particularly in Romans that Paul ever said 42:30 faith alone was efficacious for salvation. 42:34 Many people want to accept Christ as their savior 42:37 but they don't want to accept Him as Lord. 42:41 They don't want to commit and submit to His authority, 42:45 and if you want to be saved, Jesus Christ has to be 42:48 Lord of your life. 42:50 You've got to walk in obedience, 42:53 so Romans 6:16 says this, 42:58 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves 43:02 to obey you are that ones slaves whom you obey 43:07 whether of sin leading to death," 43:10 so we can either obey sin and where does that lead us? 43:13 To death. Down the pathway to death. 43:16 "Or of obedience leading to righteousness." 43:22 Wow! 43:24 Hallelujah, obedience, righteousness is by faith, 43:27 obedience is by grace through faith, 43:30 and obedience helps us walk in that path 43:33 of righteousness. 43:34 One more scripture if I can get it in 15 seconds, 43:38 Romans 10:16-17 says, 43:40 "They have not all obeyed the gospel." 43:45 Boy, it's important that the gospel is to be obeyed 43:48 for Isaiah says, "Lord who has believed 43:50 our report so that faith," and that's obedient faith, 43:53 "comes by hearing and hearing by the Word." 43:57 So the word of God is life giving, 43:59 it's life transforming, Christ is speaking to us 44:05 through the Bible, and He bids us, 44:08 "If you love Me keep my commandments," 44:11 because obedience is the mark of a steward. 44:14 Amen. Shelly, well, on fire. 44:16 Great job. 44:17 Is neat, isn't it, to open the word of God. 44:20 Ho! Amen. 44:21 It's so exciting there are so many treasures 44:22 to be dug up for sure. 44:24 Mine is a, in the quarterly, Thursday and again 44:29 we are talking about like Shelly was mentioning 44:31 the marks of a steward. 44:33 Faithfulness, loyalty, a clear conscience, 44:35 obedience, and mine is trustworthy. 44:38 So I know you can really expound upon definitions 44:43 but the definitions for trustworthy, 44:44 I have here reliable, honest, 44:49 deserving of trust. 44:52 Pastor, when you came inside down 44:54 did you think about the chair you were sitting on? 44:56 Much, I know I didn't. Not really. 44:58 I just came, pulled out my chair, sat down. 45:01 Now if you are to pull your chair out 45:03 'cause we know chairs are meant to be, right? 45:05 We sit in them. 45:06 And you were to pull your chair out 45:08 and you sat in it and it collapsed 45:09 and you fell down and nearly hit your head on the floor. 45:12 So you got up, put the chair kind of back together, 45:14 kind of put the screws back, try to do a little welding 45:17 if the weld broke, and then I was to sit in your chair, 45:21 I probably wouldn't just go... 45:24 And sit in, yeah, just, yeah, oh, yeah, 45:26 because the chair had lost it's trustworthiness to me, 45:30 so I'd probably look at it, turning the chair upside down, 45:33 look at the screws, check the welds may be, 45:35 you know, kind of wiggle it a little bit, 45:37 because I'm in my mind trying to figure out 45:39 the difference may be between trust and trustworthy, 45:41 so as the steward were to be trustworthy. 45:46 One of the thing, I know we just have little bit of time 45:47 I'm going to hit this quick. 45:49 But in West Virginia where I grew up, 45:50 we had steep banks. 45:52 A giant beech tree was growing on this bank, 45:55 and up the side of the beech tree 45:57 was an old grape wine, a wild grape wine. 46:00 My sister, my dad and myself, we cut the base 46:03 and once we cut the base, 46:05 it was sort of a free swinging rope, 46:08 so again trying to build this trustworthiness of this wine, 46:13 I didn't quit trust it, we tugged on it. 46:15 Yeah, seems stable, it was up way up in the tree, 46:18 so because it's on a bank, wow, I mean you can get back 46:21 and run, run, run, run, run, run 46:23 and swing way out over the garden, 46:26 almost to the creek. 46:28 So again we tugged on it, seem pretty good, 46:30 we took several running jumps 46:32 and we swung on that old grape wine 46:35 for many months until one time 46:37 one of my favorite friends came over to my house 46:40 and took a muddy swing and that wine broke. 46:44 And down he went into the garden. 46:47 At that point, that wine has lost 46:50 it's trustworthiness for us. 46:51 Of course, we couldn't go back and attach it. 46:53 But again trustworthiness, 46:55 now that's for things like a chair, 46:57 may be an old grape wine, 46:59 what are the qualities of a trustworthy person? 47:03 I have several here, they are honest, 47:06 they are authentic... 47:08 That's great. I like that. 47:10 They are consistent, they have integrity, 47:14 they are compassionate, they are kind, 47:18 they are resourceful, they are connectors, 47:21 basically building relationships, 47:23 they are humble, and they are available. 47:26 I want to look at a scripture Luke 16, 47:30 and lets look at verses 10-12, 47:34 Luke 16:10-12, 47:40 and it says, see, Shelly, 47:42 you have that don't you in your, 47:43 mine is the King James, you have the New King James? 47:45 Yes, I do. Would you mind to read that... 47:46 Certainly. 10-12? 47:48 "He who is faithful in what is least 47:50 is faithful also in much, 47:52 and he who is unjust in what is least 47:56 is unjust also in much. 47:58 Therefore if you have not been faithful 48:02 in the unrighteous mammon," or money, 48:05 "Who will commit to your trust the true riches?" 48:10 Your spiritual riches, "And if you have not been faithful 48:13 in what is another man's, 48:15 who will give you what is your own?" 48:17 So the lesson asks, 48:19 if you're following along in your lesson, 48:20 thank you, Shelly. 48:21 It asked the question, the lesson asked, 48:23 what do these verses teach us about being trustworthy? 48:28 I just marked put several things down, 48:29 jotted several things down, 48:31 "Is to be trustworthy in little or small areas, 48:35 we must be trusted in much larger responsibilities." 48:38 I think many times we don't think about 48:40 the little things in life, do we? 48:42 I think about small things like okay, 48:44 this table that we're sitting at, 48:47 there's a lot of glue that's involved to glue 48:48 all these little pieces of wood together. 48:51 We don't think much about glue, you know, someone can say, 48:53 "Oh, yeah, that glue looks thick, 48:55 let's add a little bit of water to it, it dilutes it, 48:58 and the glue is not as strong, 48:59 this may seem little but it's major. 49:03 How many have you been in an elevator? 49:06 Yes. I've been in the elevator. 49:07 Do you know what makes an elevator go up and down, 49:09 what holds that thing? 49:10 Its cables. Cables. 49:12 Cables are made of what, Pastor? 49:14 Lots of strands of steel. Lots of strands of steel. 49:16 That's right, lots of little strands. 49:18 What if the cable, all the little strands 49:21 that if they talked together said, "Ah, 49:23 I'm not worth anything, I'm not worth anything, 49:24 hey you buddy over there, just one little strand 49:27 you hold up that elevator." 49:28 Boy that wouldn't work, 49:30 all the little things means something, don't they? 49:31 I think of these LED's behind us, 49:33 you're seeing the big LED wall, that's made of, I don't know, 49:37 thousands and thousands of light emitting diodes. 49:41 One little thing, you add it all up together 49:43 makes a difference. 49:44 Pastor, you were talking earlier 49:46 and this goes to verse 11 of chapter 16 of Luke, 49:49 "If therefore you have not been faithful 49:52 in the unrighteous things, who will commit to your trust, 49:56 the true riches." 49:58 Pastor, I thinking in our spiritual journey, 50:01 the little things spiritually, I don't know 50:03 if you want to call going to church as little 50:06 but you can say, "Oh, I'll just may be 50:08 skip this Sabbath, it's not going to matter," 50:11 it does, doesn't it? 50:13 Yeah, well, every little decision... 50:14 It does spiritually. Spikes the problems, yeah. 50:16 Yup, it adds up and makes a big difference 50:18 in our own lives. 50:20 So being trustworthy, 50:24 I think is a very important. 50:26 Well, time does go by fast doesn't it? 50:27 Let's, let me read this, "Being trustworthy 50:30 is a characteristic of a good steward. 50:32 The trustworthy steward understands 50:35 the deep significance of his role, 50:38 he understands that God is trustworthy, 50:42 and he will aim to be the same." 50:45 Let's look at 1 Kings 8, 50:49 chapter 8 verse 56, 50:52 1 Kings 8:56, "I have characteristics 50:56 of being trustworthy, one is reliable," 50:59 and verse 56 says, let's see, 51:02 the last part of the verse 51:05 or we will read the whole thing, verse 56, 51:06 "Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest 51:08 unto His people Israel, 51:10 according to the all that He has promised, 51:12 there hath not failed one word of all His good promise 51:18 which He promised by the hand of Moses, 51:19 His servant." 51:21 Did you catch that? 51:22 Not one word has failed of God, that's reliable. 51:26 Integrity, let's go to 2 Kings 51:30 chapter 12, 2 Kings 12:15, 51:37 and basically in summary of this text, 51:40 basically the man of the temple were very faithful 51:44 with the temple money, so no one had any concerns 51:47 about giving the money to the keepers of the temple money 51:50 because they are using putting it to good use, 51:52 so good integrity. 51:54 Proverbs 11:1 talks about honesty. 51:58 So characteristics of being trustworthy, 52:00 again there's so many things that we can put down, 52:02 I have reliable, integrity and honesty. 52:07 Trustworthiness comes from commitment 52:09 to honesty first. 52:11 Amen. Did you catch that? 52:13 Honesty first and that 52:15 He is reliably truthful to everyone. 52:20 To everyone, regardless of attachments 52:24 even when being honest involves being disloyal to man. 52:29 That's hard to do, you know that's hard to do 52:31 because you can be honest to a certain point 52:32 and then it's like, "Okay, you know, 52:34 I'm going to kind of stick up from our brother here 52:36 just because, you know, we're buddies." 52:37 Yeah. That's good. 52:39 So yeah, "So even when being honest 52:42 involves being disloyal to man." 52:44 Boy, I just pray in my own heart, 52:45 God I want to be always the trustworthy man of God 52:48 that you want me to be. 52:50 Biblical examples, of course, we have Jesus Christ, right? 52:54 He is the top, to me, example of being trustworthy 52:59 and we can go back to that 1 Kings reference 53:01 that we are talking about 53:02 where not one word of God has failed. 53:04 We think about all the prophesies 53:06 that have been fulfilled, 53:07 we know that we can rely on God. 53:10 We think of the story of Daniel, 53:11 that's mentioned in our lesson quarterly. 53:14 Daniel 6:4, I put this down, 53:17 "They could find no fault in him." 53:20 And here he stood for several different monarchs, 53:23 you think about that and here he wasn't killed. 53:26 They said, "Oh, we want you, we've heard about you Daniel." 53:30 I have, how do we become trustworthy? 53:33 Allow time, it doesn't develop over night, 53:36 and we have to give ourselves time 53:38 but we have to work at it, it requires some effort. 53:41 Being faithful in the little things, 53:43 both temporal and spiritual, 53:46 and commitment to honesty to everyone. 53:50 We've heard especially here in the United States 53:53 but the President Abraham Lincoln 53:55 and his incredible honesty. 53:58 And there are many, many stories told of him 54:01 were, one in particular instance, 54:03 he had found that he had over charged someone 54:05 and so he walked, he didn't have a car, 54:08 of course, he walked three miles to return, 54:11 I've heard from 2 pennies to 7 pennies, 54:13 I'm not sure which one it is, but he walked all the way 54:16 to their house to give them their 2 pennies 54:18 that night once he closed the store. 54:20 But I think trustworthiness, again if I go back to this 54:23 at the very beginning, honest, authentic, consistent, 54:26 integrity, compassionate, kind, resourceful, 54:29 relationship builders, humble, available, 54:32 all very important and in closing, 54:34 is trustworthiness important? 54:36 Yes, it is. Why? 54:38 Because God is trustworthy, as a follower of Jesus Christ, 54:42 which each one of us are, we are to represent Christ 54:45 to the world as trustworthy servants of His. 54:48 Could I just add one comment? Please. 54:50 You know, when we are talking about 54:51 when Jesus keeps saying, 54:53 "If you're faithful in little, you'll be faithful in lot. 54:55 You're unfaithful in the little, 54:57 you're unfaithful in a lot, you know why? 54:59 The habit follows you. Oh, that's good. 55:02 We develop a habit and if you are not faithful 55:06 with little things, then suddenly 55:08 if God tries to give you a lot, 55:10 you don't have to habit of faithfulness, 55:12 you'll be unfaithful. 55:13 Aw, great God, I appreciated that so much, very good. 55:16 Trustworthiness I think of, you know, 55:20 what situational ethics are? 55:22 That's where you say, "Okay, in this situation, 55:25 you can do something that's not quite 55:27 on the up and up, 55:29 and that just debunks that whole thinking. 55:33 Because, and today we were looking at 55:36 the marks of the steward and what is a steward? 55:40 It's one who acts in the stead of another, 55:42 so we are all stewards, who are, we are, 55:45 who are we as steward... 55:47 Jesus Christ. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. 55:49 See, that's who we are a steward off. 55:51 And I just wanted to run through these 55:53 very quickly, here are marks that every one of us should, 55:58 they should be attributes in our lives, 56:00 first was faithfulness, staying true 56:03 in the heat of the battle. 56:05 Pastor Lomacang, loyalty to God not because He will 56:10 but because He can. 56:13 And then, Jill, clear conscience, 56:15 living without fear, guilt, or shame. 56:21 Shelly, obedience, I loved what you said, 56:24 only as God is working in us, both the will and to do, 56:29 can we even be obedient. 56:32 And you said this too, 56:33 "Love without obedience is not love." 56:38 And then, Greg, you covered trustworthiness so beautifully. 56:42 So those who are all marks, attributes that all of us 56:47 need to be branded with as servants of the living God. 56:51 Well, I want to thank all of you, Greg, trustworthy, 56:54 reliable, honesty, deserving of trust, 56:57 authentic, integrity, I love that word integrity. 57:01 Thank you for bringing that to us. 57:02 Shelley, Jill, Pastor Lomacang, and thank all of you 57:06 for being with us today, you know, we still, 57:09 we want to encourage you to download your lesson 57:13 for next weekend and be here with us. 57:15 You know, we are here every week 57:17 and we're here to help you. 57:19 We want to encourage you also to attend 57:21 to your local Seventh-day Adventist church 57:24 and until next week, 57:25 we pray that God will continue to greatly bless you. |
Revised 2018-01-31