The Bible tells us, 00:00:01.36\00:00:02.70 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 00:00:02.73\00:00:05.43 and the Word was God." 00:00:05.47\00:00:07.64 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:00:07.67\00:00:10.07 the implanted Word 00:00:10.11\00:00:11.51 which is able to save your souls, 00:00:11.54\00:00:13.91 and to be diligent to present yourself 00:00:13.94\00:00:16.11 approved to God, 00:00:16.14\00:00:17.75 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:00:17.78\00:00:20.75 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:00:20.78\00:00:25.25 Our study today is 00:00:25.29\00:00:27.16 "Preparation for the End Time". 00:00:27.19\00:00:31.36 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:00:31.39\00:00:34.50 This is our weekly gathering together to study 00:00:34.53\00:00:37.20 the Word of God. 00:00:37.23\00:00:38.57 And we invite you to join us as together 00:00:38.60\00:00:40.84 we dig deep into the Word of God 00:00:40.87\00:00:43.20 and bring forth nuggets and treasures that will be, 00:00:43.24\00:00:46.27 dare I say meek in due season for our lives. 00:00:46.31\00:00:48.91 I am so very, very happy to have fellow students 00:00:48.94\00:00:51.95 and fellow travelers with me. 00:00:51.98\00:00:53.82 Yvonne Lewis, 00:00:53.85\00:00:55.18 Pastor John Lomacang, Mollie Steenson, 00:00:55.22\00:00:57.65 Shelley Quinn. 00:00:57.69\00:00:59.02 Lord and ladies, good to have you here. 00:00:59.05\00:01:01.46 And we are happy that you have joined us. 00:01:01.49\00:01:04.13 And should you want to follow along with us 00:01:04.16\00:01:07.40 to take some notes, 00:01:07.43\00:01:08.76 let me suggest that you go to ABSG.Adventist.org. 00:01:08.80\00:01:13.37 There you will find a Bible study guide, 00:01:13.40\00:01:16.17 an adult Bible study guide similar to the ones 00:01:16.20\00:01:19.01 that we all have in front of us. 00:01:19.04\00:01:20.38 And that will allow you to share with us 00:01:20.41\00:01:22.78 to join in your own personal study, 00:01:22.81\00:01:24.88 and to take notes. 00:01:24.91\00:01:26.25 And I dare to say that if you take these notes, 00:01:26.28\00:01:27.75 you will use this material 00:01:27.78\00:01:29.12 if you are a Sabbath school teacher, 00:01:29.15\00:01:30.62 or if you are one 00:01:30.65\00:01:31.99 who give some talks and lectures 00:01:32.02\00:01:33.36 from time to time, you'll get good information, 00:01:33.39\00:01:35.22 things that you can use 00:01:35.26\00:01:36.59 and that you can share with your friends 00:01:36.62\00:01:37.96 and your fellows, 00:01:37.99\00:01:39.33 as together we walk this road that leads to glory. 00:01:39.36\00:01:42.06 Our subject for this quarter is "Preparation for the End Time." 00:01:42.10\00:01:47.34 And I dare to say there is not a more timely subject to study 00:01:47.37\00:01:50.94 as we get closer and closer to the end of this world, 00:01:50.97\00:01:54.11 to the time when Jesus Christ will put in His appearance 00:01:54.14\00:01:57.05 to gather together His saints. 00:01:57.08\00:01:59.61 This particular lesson is salvation 00:01:59.65\00:02:02.92 and the end time. 00:02:02.95\00:02:05.02 And, pastor and ladies, 00:02:05.05\00:02:08.16 our memory text comes to us from 1 John 4:10. 00:02:08.19\00:02:12.99 But before we go into that, let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:02:13.03\00:02:16.40 And I'm going to reach all the way down 00:02:16.43\00:02:17.77 to the end of the panel to Shelley, 00:02:17.80\00:02:19.43 and ask you to pray for us as we delve into this lesson. 00:02:19.47\00:02:22.20 Heavenly Father, 00:02:22.24\00:02:23.57 we come once again in the name of Jesus praising 00:02:23.61\00:02:26.11 You Father for Your everlasting gospel 00:02:26.14\00:02:28.41 for salvation by grace through faith. 00:02:28.44\00:02:31.38 And, Lord, we thank You for Jesus 00:02:31.41\00:02:33.62 and Your Holy Spirit in Your word. 00:02:33.65\00:02:35.55 And we pray as we open this Word, Lord. 00:02:35.58\00:02:38.19 You will send Your Holy Spirit to be our teacher. 00:02:38.22\00:02:41.66 And, Father, let us learn from Him 00:02:41.69\00:02:44.89 and from one another. 00:02:44.93\00:02:46.26 We thank You for each of the dedicated members 00:02:46.29\00:02:48.96 of this panel who have studied Your Word in depth 00:02:49.00\00:02:53.07 so that they might bring to the surface 00:02:53.10\00:02:56.40 those crystal clear diamonds of Your truth, 00:02:56.44\00:03:00.51 in Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:00.54\00:03:02.44 And let me ask, add rather that our posture is the posture 00:03:02.48\00:03:06.35 of learners and seekers. 00:03:06.38\00:03:07.75 When we come and give you 00:03:07.78\00:03:09.25 sort of the digest of our studies, 00:03:09.28\00:03:11.42 we don't know it all, we don't have it all. 00:03:11.45\00:03:14.22 The Lord has given us some things 00:03:14.26\00:03:15.59 that we want to share with you. 00:03:15.62\00:03:17.53 The lesson has some things 00:03:17.56\00:03:18.89 and we want to add to those things. 00:03:18.93\00:03:20.26 And hopefully 00:03:20.30\00:03:21.63 as you're gathering and studying, 00:03:21.66\00:03:23.00 you are learning new things also 00:03:23.03\00:03:24.67 that will enrich your life and your walk with Jesus. 00:03:24.70\00:03:27.07 Our memory text is from the NIV. 00:03:27.10\00:03:31.61 It is 1 John 4:10. And let's read that together. 00:03:31.64\00:03:35.41 The Bible says, 00:03:35.44\00:03:36.78 "This is love, not that we loved God, 00:03:36.81\00:03:40.38 but that he loved us and sent his Son 00:03:40.42\00:03:44.15 as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 00:03:44.19\00:03:48.22 The first part of the lesson and I'm just going to read it. 00:03:48.26\00:03:51.66 I could not say it any better, 00:03:51.69\00:03:53.63 though I do want to comment on this. 00:03:53.66\00:03:56.60 It says one of the fascinating 00:03:56.63\00:03:58.10 but crucial differences between Christianity 00:03:58.13\00:04:01.94 and non-Christian religions 00:04:01.97\00:04:04.01 is that while the others emphasize 00:04:04.04\00:04:06.27 what their founders have taught them. 00:04:06.31\00:04:09.78 They do not emphasize 00:04:09.81\00:04:11.15 what their founders have done for them. 00:04:11.18\00:04:13.88 And I think that's very crucial 00:04:13.92\00:04:16.28 as the difference between what Christianity is 00:04:16.32\00:04:19.09 and what the vast majority of non-Christian religions are. 00:04:19.12\00:04:24.46 And that's because their founders 00:04:24.49\00:04:27.50 may have done for them... 00:04:27.53\00:04:31.73 I'm sorry whatever their founders 00:04:31.77\00:04:33.10 may have done for them, it cannot save them. 00:04:33.13\00:04:36.50 So their founders can teach them, 00:04:36.54\00:04:38.54 they can talk to them, 00:04:38.57\00:04:39.91 they can explain to them how to be saved, 00:04:39.94\00:04:42.34 but those founders could not save them. 00:04:42.38\00:04:44.91 And that's a very, very big difference. 00:04:44.95\00:04:47.52 All these leaders could do was try to teach their people 00:04:47.55\00:04:51.65 how to save themselves. 00:04:51.69\00:04:54.69 In contrast Christians emphasize 00:04:54.72\00:04:57.19 not only what Jesus taught, but praise God what He did. 00:04:57.23\00:05:01.16 And may I add what He is still doing. 00:05:01.20\00:05:03.80 Because what Christ did provides the only means 00:05:03.83\00:05:06.80 by which we are saved. 00:05:06.84\00:05:09.17 Christ incarnation in human flesh, 00:05:09.20\00:05:12.11 His death on the cross, 00:05:12.14\00:05:13.94 His resurrection, and His ministry in heaven. 00:05:13.98\00:05:18.05 So we serve not an active God who is waiting to be pleased, 00:05:18.08\00:05:22.48 not a passive God rather who is willing to be pleased, 00:05:22.52\00:05:25.09 we serve an active God, who is actively searching, 00:05:25.12\00:05:28.46 and reaching, and teaching, and saving, and blessing, 00:05:28.49\00:05:31.69 and ministering to us the benefits 00:05:31.73\00:05:34.26 even now of His sacrifice. 00:05:34.30\00:05:36.43 So vast difference in what we undergo 00:05:36.46\00:05:41.47 and understand as Christians. 00:05:41.50\00:05:42.84 The wonderful truth is especially important for us 00:05:42.87\00:05:45.51 amid the perils and deceptions of the last days. 00:05:45.54\00:05:49.58 We move now into Sunday. 00:05:49.61\00:05:52.21 Not too long before the Christ, 00:05:56.99\00:05:58.59 Christ spoke with His inner circle. 00:05:58.62\00:06:00.96 And of course Philip said, "Show us the Father." 00:06:00.99\00:06:04.23 And I want to diverge here 00:06:04.26\00:06:05.59 just a moment to move into a little something else. 00:06:05.63\00:06:10.30 Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer is a theologian, 00:06:10.33\00:06:13.13 a Dutch theologian. 00:06:13.17\00:06:14.50 One of the most more famous Dutch theologians. 00:06:14.54\00:06:17.54 In the German tradition, 00:06:17.57\00:06:19.34 born in 1903, died just in 1996, 00:06:19.37\00:06:21.24 not too long ago. 00:06:21.28\00:06:22.61 He was a giant in the Reform Church 00:06:22.64\00:06:23.98 in the Netherlands. 00:06:24.01\00:06:25.35 He wrote two books, 00:06:25.38\00:06:26.72 they combined them into one book 00:06:26.75\00:06:28.08 that I had to read 00:06:28.12\00:06:29.45 while in the seminary called simply Sin, 00:06:29.48\00:06:31.49 799 pages on sin. 00:06:31.52\00:06:36.22 I loaned the Sin to Johnny Dinzey 00:06:36.26\00:06:37.59 about a year ago. 00:06:37.63\00:06:38.96 He kind of came back, 00:06:38.99\00:06:40.33 a week later his eyes were kind of glazed over. 00:06:40.36\00:06:42.90 He said, "Thank you very much." 00:06:42.93\00:06:44.87 But Berkouwer wrote this book on sin. 00:06:44.90\00:06:48.14 One of the things that he dealt with early on in the book 00:06:48.17\00:06:52.17 were what he called rational arguments 00:06:52.21\00:06:54.51 for the existence of God. 00:06:54.54\00:06:56.01 Now by rational 00:06:56.04\00:06:57.38 he did not mean rational versus irrational, 00:06:57.41\00:06:59.81 he meant there are arguments that you can give 00:06:59.85\00:07:04.65 to a secular mind outside of the Bible 00:07:04.69\00:07:08.66 which are rational, they're rational arguments, 00:07:08.69\00:07:11.53 there are many, many biblical arguments 00:07:11.56\00:07:14.10 for the existence of God. 00:07:14.13\00:07:15.73 But what if you're dealing with a person 00:07:15.76\00:07:17.20 who has no Bible knowledge, 00:07:17.23\00:07:18.57 no Bible conscience, has not really heard about God, 00:07:18.60\00:07:20.70 and is very, very secular. 00:07:20.74\00:07:22.07 How do you begin to move him into a God consciousness 00:07:22.10\00:07:26.17 since he has no consciousness of God or the Bible? 00:07:26.21\00:07:29.24 So he says there are rational arguments, 00:07:29.28\00:07:31.31 secular arguments that move this guy. 00:07:31.35\00:07:34.88 There are four, 00:07:34.92\00:07:36.25 I'm only going to deal with two. 00:07:36.28\00:07:37.62 One is the teleological argument 00:07:37.65\00:07:39.55 which basically says, 00:07:39.59\00:07:40.92 if you've got a car which is a complex entity, 00:07:40.96\00:07:44.13 then somebody more complex had to put that thing together. 00:07:44.16\00:07:47.76 You don't get complexity from by chance. 00:07:47.80\00:07:50.80 So if you've got an engine that works and a transmission, 00:07:50.83\00:07:52.87 and brakes, and lights, 00:07:52.90\00:07:54.24 somebody had to think that out and put that together. 00:07:54.27\00:07:56.91 So when you look at the world, 00:07:56.94\00:07:58.47 the sheer complexity of the world bespeaks 00:07:58.51\00:08:01.98 that somebody had to put that together. 00:08:02.01\00:08:03.45 There's no way you can get the kind of complexity 00:08:03.48\00:08:05.31 we have in this world 00:08:05.35\00:08:06.68 without a designer, a master designer. 00:08:06.72\00:08:09.58 Call it what you want, 00:08:09.62\00:08:10.95 but somebody had to put that together. 00:08:10.99\00:08:12.59 The second argument is the ontological argument. 00:08:12.62\00:08:16.12 That argument is simply this. 00:08:16.16\00:08:18.29 Every culture regardless of who they are has some idea 00:08:18.33\00:08:23.63 that there's something bigger than them. 00:08:23.67\00:08:26.50 Wherever you go on planet earth, 00:08:26.53\00:08:28.34 darkest Africa, Europe, 00:08:28.37\00:08:30.61 Australia, New Zealand, the Aborigines, 00:08:30.64\00:08:32.77 everybody's got this idea 00:08:32.81\00:08:34.91 that there's something out there. 00:08:34.94\00:08:37.28 And if you study every culture, 00:08:37.31\00:08:39.51 he says, "Every culture has 00:08:39.55\00:08:41.82 that something in three elements 00:08:41.85\00:08:44.65 a creator, a destroyer, and a preserver." 00:08:44.69\00:08:50.36 Every culture's got that. 00:08:50.39\00:08:51.76 We call it God the Father, Satan, 00:08:51.79\00:08:54.20 and Jesus the Redeemer. 00:08:54.23\00:08:55.66 But you will find elements of that in every culture. 00:08:55.70\00:08:58.70 And he says the fact that everybody knows 00:08:58.73\00:09:01.40 there is something there, 00:09:01.44\00:09:02.84 means there's got to be something there. 00:09:02.87\00:09:05.17 Because everybody has an idea, they may have different names, 00:09:05.21\00:09:08.18 different ways to deal with it, but everybody knows that. 00:09:08.21\00:09:11.95 So that's the ontological argument 00:09:11.98\00:09:13.45 for the existence of God. 00:09:13.48\00:09:14.82 If you could find a culture that doesn't have it, 00:09:14.85\00:09:16.72 you may have an argument, but every culture's got it. 00:09:16.75\00:09:19.35 And everybody believes 00:09:19.39\00:09:20.72 there's something bigger than you and I. 00:09:20.76\00:09:24.33 So we've got these rational arguments 00:09:24.36\00:09:26.49 for the existence of God 00:09:26.53\00:09:28.50 because they all have these same elements. 00:09:28.53\00:09:31.90 The problem is depending 00:09:31.93\00:09:33.64 on the teachings of that culture 00:09:33.67\00:09:36.91 you can get a correct view of who God is, 00:09:36.94\00:09:41.34 or you can get a very distorted view 00:09:41.38\00:09:43.48 of who God is. 00:09:43.51\00:09:44.85 Some pastor say, 00:09:44.88\00:09:46.21 you've got to please God by sacrificing your children, 00:09:46.25\00:09:48.55 or taking trips to a certain place, 00:09:48.58\00:09:51.79 or crawling up steps on your knees. 00:09:51.82\00:09:53.89 So you get this distorted image of God. 00:09:53.92\00:09:57.03 He says the thing about Christianity, 00:09:57.06\00:09:59.19 Christianity gives you the correct image of God 00:09:59.23\00:10:02.36 because it shows a God 00:10:02.40\00:10:03.80 who loves with an everlasting love. 00:10:03.83\00:10:06.53 Most cultures dealing with who the lessons says, 00:10:06.57\00:10:11.21 have a God 00:10:11.24\00:10:12.57 that we have to sacrifice to meet His commands. 00:10:12.61\00:10:15.88 Every culture says that there is a dissonance 00:10:15.91\00:10:18.91 between the Creator and His created, 00:10:18.95\00:10:22.08 and Christianity says that too. 00:10:22.12\00:10:23.55 The difference is, 00:10:23.59\00:10:24.99 I don't have to sacrifice to please Him, 00:10:25.02\00:10:28.26 He has already, as the memory text says, 00:10:28.29\00:10:31.16 "Shown His love by coming after me. 00:10:31.19\00:10:34.33 I don't have to go running after Him, 00:10:34.36\00:10:36.43 He comes running after me." 00:10:36.46\00:10:38.53 God is a God of love. 00:10:38.57\00:10:41.04 And that's the basic difference, 00:10:41.07\00:10:42.70 I don't have to cut myself, 00:10:42.74\00:10:45.34 I don't have to go to a certain city, 00:10:45.37\00:10:47.48 I don't have to flagellate myself, 00:10:47.51\00:10:50.01 I don't have to make myself perfect 00:10:50.05\00:10:52.38 before I come to Him. 00:10:52.41\00:10:54.58 In Christianity, this God accepts me as I am. 00:10:54.62\00:10:58.65 And then through His grace and mercy begins to make me 00:10:58.69\00:11:02.22 into what He wants me to be. 00:11:02.26\00:11:03.89 So the sacrifice is not mine, 00:11:03.93\00:11:07.10 the sacrifice is coming from God. 00:11:07.13\00:11:10.37 God so loved the world, Pastor, that He gave. 00:11:10.40\00:11:13.64 So God's doing the sacrificing. God's doing the giving. 00:11:13.67\00:11:16.60 And that's the beauty about Christianity 00:11:16.64\00:11:20.78 that He loves so much that He is not comfortable 00:11:20.81\00:11:24.75 with the distance or the dissonance. 00:11:24.78\00:11:28.18 God wants to bridge the gap. 00:11:28.22\00:11:30.19 And I cannot run too far, I cannot run too fast, 00:11:30.22\00:11:33.99 I cannot sin too much, I cannot outlast Him, 00:11:34.02\00:11:37.89 He will out love me. 00:11:37.93\00:11:40.90 His love will supersede my sin. 00:11:40.93\00:11:44.77 So where sin abounds, 00:11:44.80\00:11:48.87 grace does abound much more. 00:11:48.90\00:11:51.34 So it turns this whole thing on its head. 00:11:51.37\00:11:53.94 I don't have to beat myself up. 00:11:53.98\00:11:55.74 I've simply got to present myself to God 00:11:55.78\00:11:59.71 and He that cometh unto me, the Lord says, 00:11:59.75\00:12:03.39 "I will in no wise cast out." 00:12:03.42\00:12:07.09 So Christianity is such a marvelous religion 00:12:07.12\00:12:09.96 because the truth is, 00:12:09.99\00:12:12.46 Shelley, Mollie, Pastor, and Yvonne, 00:12:12.49\00:12:14.56 God's doing it all. 00:12:14.60\00:12:16.56 And if I just stop fighting and surrender, 00:12:16.60\00:12:20.57 He will save me, He'll get me in. 00:12:20.60\00:12:23.17 The key for Christianity is God 00:12:23.20\00:12:27.54 is not trying to keep you out, 00:12:27.58\00:12:29.88 He's trying to get you in. 00:12:29.91\00:12:32.21 And if we will just work with Him and surrender to Him, 00:12:32.25\00:12:34.98 He will indeed save us 00:12:35.02\00:12:37.32 because He has loved us with an everlasting love. 00:12:37.35\00:12:39.95 And I got two, three pages to follow, 00:12:39.99\00:12:41.32 I will never get to. 00:12:41.36\00:12:44.73 Christ then, to get back to lesson. 00:12:44.76\00:12:48.00 Christ is an expose of who God is. 00:12:48.03\00:12:51.67 Philip said, "Show us the Father." 00:12:51.70\00:12:53.94 Well, duh, you know... 00:12:53.97\00:12:57.14 Have I been with you so long and you don't know 00:12:57.17\00:12:58.77 that you're looking at the Father, 00:12:58.81\00:13:00.24 if you've seen Me, 00:13:00.28\00:13:01.61 you've seen the Father, the love I have for you, 00:13:01.64\00:13:03.61 that the Father's love. 00:13:03.65\00:13:04.98 The care I have for you, that the Father's care. 00:13:05.01\00:13:07.05 The grace and mercy I'm showing, 00:13:07.08\00:13:09.58 the way I deal with my Father and how I'm dealing with you, 00:13:09.62\00:13:12.19 that's all God working through me 00:13:12.22\00:13:14.39 so that you can see God in everything that I do, 00:13:14.42\00:13:18.29 and everything that I say, and everything that I am. 00:13:18.33\00:13:21.56 So our view of God is filtered dare I say 00:13:21.60\00:13:26.57 through the lens of Jesus Christ. 00:13:26.60\00:13:29.94 So when you see Christ, you see God. 00:13:29.97\00:13:33.91 And then when you see in retrospect 00:13:33.94\00:13:36.31 the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus who was obedient unto death, 00:13:36.34\00:13:40.02 even the death of the cross. 00:13:40.05\00:13:41.48 We know that the love God 00:13:41.52\00:13:45.05 has for us is an everlasting love, 00:13:45.09\00:13:48.16 and eternal love, and a love 00:13:48.19\00:13:50.03 that will stop at nothing to get His children back home. 00:13:50.06\00:13:54.16 God wants us back home with Him. 00:13:54.20\00:13:56.90 And He has provided every means to make that happen 00:13:56.93\00:14:00.40 for which we can say hallelujah and praise the Lord. 00:14:00.44\00:14:04.67 Yvonne? Amen. Wow. 00:14:04.71\00:14:07.34 You know when you think about the love of Christ 00:14:07.38\00:14:10.15 and that's my, my lesson is on the love of Christ. 00:14:10.18\00:14:14.72 There is so many places you could start. 00:14:14.75\00:14:17.85 You could start with the things that He did, 00:14:17.89\00:14:20.42 the way He cared about people, 00:14:20.46\00:14:22.06 the way He healed the woman who had an issue of blood 00:14:22.09\00:14:26.06 or the way He talked to the woman at the well, 00:14:26.09\00:14:28.66 or the way He dealt with the widow of Nain 00:14:28.70\00:14:33.13 and raised her son, 00:14:33.17\00:14:34.54 and there are just so many places to start. 00:14:34.57\00:14:38.81 And when I first got this assignment I was thinking, 00:14:38.84\00:14:41.88 the love of Christ, I mean you can... 00:14:41.91\00:14:44.51 That's just so amazing. It should be easy. 00:14:44.55\00:14:48.25 But where do you start with that 00:14:48.28\00:14:50.39 because there's so many ways that He demonstrated His love. 00:14:50.42\00:14:56.16 So the lesson, I'll go back to the lesson 00:14:56.19\00:14:58.13 because the lesson started 00:14:58.16\00:14:59.76 actually with the plan of salvation and sin, 00:14:59.79\00:15:05.87 and how sin has created 00:15:05.90\00:15:07.90 such a huge chasm between mankind and God 00:15:07.94\00:15:12.87 that God in His fore knowledge knew 00:15:12.91\00:15:17.18 that there was going to be sin, 00:15:17.21\00:15:18.81 and made a plan of salvation even before there was any man. 00:15:18.85\00:15:22.68 So before man was created, before earth was created, 00:15:22.72\00:15:27.09 God the Father, and the Son, 00:15:27.12\00:15:29.52 and the Holy Spirit sat down and talked about 00:15:29.56\00:15:32.79 what provision was going to be made for mankind. 00:15:32.83\00:15:38.23 And so, here we have this chasm 00:15:38.27\00:15:42.20 that is so huge that nothing could bridge it 00:15:42.24\00:15:47.14 except a perfect being taking 00:15:47.18\00:15:51.38 on sinful man's nature 00:15:51.41\00:15:55.28 and dying for us. 00:15:55.32\00:15:58.45 So it's like how could this bridge be closed? 00:15:58.49\00:16:04.69 It had to be something miraculous. 00:16:04.73\00:16:07.00 It had to be something extraordinary. 00:16:07.03\00:16:11.43 And that was someone and it was Jesus Christ. 00:16:11.47\00:16:14.64 Amen. 00:16:14.67\00:16:17.57 Ellen White says that in Christ 00:16:17.61\00:16:20.24 we become more closely united to God 00:16:20.28\00:16:23.04 than if we had never fallen in taking our nature the Savior 00:16:23.08\00:16:27.88 has bound Himself to humanity by a tie 00:16:27.92\00:16:31.32 that is never to be broken 00:16:31.35\00:16:33.59 through the eternal ages He is linked with us. 00:16:33.62\00:16:37.76 And as Pastor CA brought out and this is a text we all know, 00:16:37.79\00:16:42.63 "God so loved the world 00:16:42.66\00:16:44.27 that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:16:44.30\00:16:46.87 that whosoever believeth in Him 00:16:46.90\00:16:48.37 should not perish but have everlasting life." 00:16:48.40\00:16:51.34 He gave Him not only to bear our sins 00:16:51.37\00:16:54.48 and to die as our sacrifice, 00:16:54.51\00:16:56.81 He gave Him to the fallen race. 00:16:56.85\00:17:00.95 So God became man. 00:17:00.98\00:17:03.12 Christ was both fully God and fully man. 00:17:03.15\00:17:07.22 He was Immanuel, God with us. 00:17:07.26\00:17:11.39 So let's look at John 1:1-3. 00:17:11.43\00:17:15.86 Because these scriptures kind of let us know in essence 00:17:15.90\00:17:21.60 who Jesus is. 00:17:21.64\00:17:26.47 And it says, "In the beginning was the Word, 00:17:26.51\00:17:30.91 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:17:30.95\00:17:35.48 And this is from the, in KJV, The New King James, 00:17:35.52\00:17:39.39 "He was in the beginning with God. 00:17:39.42\00:17:41.69 All things were made through Him 00:17:41.72\00:17:43.93 and without Him was nothing made, 00:17:43.96\00:17:47.06 nothing was made that was made." 00:17:47.10\00:17:49.06 So let's start with, first of all, 00:17:49.10\00:17:51.90 if we want to understand Jesus, 00:17:51.93\00:17:54.47 we have to begin with the relationship shared 00:17:54.50\00:17:58.07 between Him and the Father, between Father and Son 00:17:58.11\00:18:02.21 before the world began according to John 17:5 and 24. 00:18:02.24\00:18:07.22 And this relationship is the central revelation 00:18:07.25\00:18:10.79 of this gospel and the key to understanding 00:18:10.82\00:18:13.39 all that Jesus says and does. 00:18:13.42\00:18:17.13 In the beginning it says, 00:18:17.16\00:18:19.36 now just taking that first phrase 00:18:19.39\00:18:21.16 "In the beginning" 00:18:21.20\00:18:22.53 we can compare that with Genesis 1:1, 00:18:22.56\00:18:24.83 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 00:18:24.87\00:18:29.07 This John 1:1 says, in the beginning. 00:18:29.10\00:18:34.21 Genesis 1:1 is talking about the creation of the earth. 00:18:34.24\00:18:39.88 But John 1:1 is talking about the beginning of all things... 00:18:39.91\00:18:44.62 That's right. That's right. 00:18:44.65\00:18:46.19 Of all things, not just in the beginning of creation, 00:18:46.22\00:18:50.73 but in the beginning of all things. 00:18:50.76\00:18:53.33 And when John says 00:18:53.36\00:18:57.50 in the beginning was the Word. 00:18:57.53\00:19:01.57 The Word is in the Greek is logos. 00:19:01.60\00:19:05.01 And logos actually can be divided into two things, 00:19:05.04\00:19:10.55 utterance and thought. 00:19:10.58\00:19:13.75 Jesus Christ was actually the utterance and thought, 00:19:13.78\00:19:19.55 the intelligence of God in human flesh. 00:19:19.59\00:19:24.96 So I mean, it's amazing to me 00:19:24.99\00:19:27.90 that the Father and the Son are one in essence, 00:19:27.93\00:19:33.34 they are one in purpose, 00:19:33.37\00:19:36.71 but yet they are manifested in these two different beings. 00:19:36.74\00:19:41.84 They have the same essence. 00:19:41.88\00:19:43.51 And so, when it says that, 00:19:43.55\00:19:46.82 "Jesus Christ in the beginning was the Word, 00:19:46.85\00:19:51.12 and the Word was with God," 00:19:51.15\00:19:54.02 this whole idea of to be with God means 00:19:54.06\00:19:56.76 that the Word is distinct from Him. 00:19:56.79\00:20:00.10 In other words, they have the same essence 00:20:00.13\00:20:03.47 but the Word with here 00:20:03.50\00:20:07.90 in the Greek 00:20:07.94\00:20:09.34 it's used to indicate a personal relationship, 00:20:09.37\00:20:12.07 not mere proximity. 00:20:12.11\00:20:13.91 So we're with each other, that's proximity. 00:20:13.94\00:20:18.58 But this with from the Greek here 00:20:18.61\00:20:22.92 it indicates a personal relationship, 00:20:22.95\00:20:26.05 they were with each other, 00:20:26.09\00:20:27.79 they had this personal relationship. 00:20:27.82\00:20:32.06 And so it says, "He also was God." 00:20:32.09\00:20:37.10 So, you know, there are a lot of religions 00:20:37.13\00:20:38.63 that teach that Jesus 00:20:38.67\00:20:43.24 was a prophet, 00:20:43.27\00:20:45.31 He was a God. And some of the... 00:20:45.34\00:20:49.21 There's a particular version of the Bible 00:20:49.24\00:20:54.05 that says that He was a God. 00:20:54.08\00:20:55.68 They put an article before it making, 00:20:55.72\00:20:58.55 diminishing who Jesus was. 00:20:58.59\00:21:00.52 But John is letting us know, 00:21:00.56\00:21:02.46 "No, He wasn't a God, He was God. 00:21:02.49\00:21:06.90 Jesus Christ is God. 00:21:06.93\00:21:09.40 Jesus Christ was with the Father 00:21:09.43\00:21:12.23 at the beginning, 00:21:12.27\00:21:13.60 in Him was life unborrowed and underived." 00:21:13.64\00:21:17.64 So Jesus Christ is God. 00:21:17.67\00:21:20.34 And I think that, 00:21:20.38\00:21:23.31 you know, when we diminish 00:21:23.35\00:21:26.41 who He is, 00:21:26.45\00:21:29.58 it's such a detraction from His love for us. 00:21:29.62\00:21:34.16 So we really, if we just think about what Jesus has done 00:21:34.19\00:21:39.73 and who He is, 00:21:39.76\00:21:41.10 His relationship to the Father and His relationship to men, 00:21:41.13\00:21:44.90 He decided He was going to come, and give His life, 00:21:44.93\00:21:49.50 and sacrifice, total sacrifice 00:21:49.54\00:21:53.01 for humankind. 00:21:53.04\00:21:56.18 Now, if we go to Philippians 2:5-8. 00:21:56.21\00:22:01.85 Philippians 2:5-8. 00:22:01.88\00:22:07.89 It says, "Let this mind be in you, 00:22:07.92\00:22:10.43 which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, 00:22:10.46\00:22:16.46 did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 00:22:16.50\00:22:19.90 but made himself of no reputation, 00:22:19.93\00:22:22.34 taking the form of a bondservant, 00:22:22.37\00:22:24.57 and coming in the likeness of men. 00:22:24.61\00:22:27.44 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, 00:22:27.48\00:22:31.68 and became obedient to the point of death, 00:22:31.71\00:22:34.95 even the death of the cross." 00:22:34.98\00:22:37.22 Amen. 00:22:37.25\00:22:40.92 It's amazing to me that Jesus would leave 00:22:40.96\00:22:45.13 His heavenly home paradise. 00:22:45.16\00:22:47.33 You know, well, think about places 00:22:47.36\00:22:49.03 that you've been on the planet that are just gorgeous. 00:22:49.06\00:22:52.97 We can't even compare that to heaven. 00:22:53.00\00:22:56.14 He left there as King of kings and Lord of lords, 00:22:56.17\00:22:59.74 left there to come here as a servant, 00:22:59.77\00:23:03.91 to come here to live as men. 00:23:03.95\00:23:07.88 That means He got hungry, He got tired, 00:23:07.92\00:23:12.09 you know, all the things that we endure, 00:23:12.12\00:23:15.49 He went through for us. 00:23:15.52\00:23:17.83 And I can't imagine that kind of love. 00:23:17.86\00:23:23.13 And so it says... 00:23:23.16\00:23:26.13 Paul doesn't say when he says, 00:23:26.17\00:23:28.44 "Let this mind being you 00:23:28.47\00:23:30.57 which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God 00:23:30.61\00:23:34.01 did not consider it robbery 00:23:34.04\00:23:36.28 to be equal with God." 00:23:36.31\00:23:40.62 In the form of God means 00:23:40.65\00:23:44.79 He was clearly an eternity past. 00:23:44.82\00:23:48.29 And Paul asserts 00:23:48.32\00:23:50.19 that Jesus Christ existed eternally 00:23:50.23\00:23:53.06 in the form of God. 00:23:53.09\00:23:54.46 The English word form is misleading 00:23:54.50\00:23:56.70 because it suggests shape. 00:23:56.73\00:23:58.80 You know, we think of form as shape 00:23:58.83\00:24:01.47 but it actually means... 00:24:01.50\00:24:04.01 It's the Greek word morphe, 00:24:04.04\00:24:06.07 which refers to the essential nature 00:24:06.11\00:24:08.71 of something or someone. 00:24:08.74\00:24:10.71 So Jesus Christ had 00:24:10.75\00:24:12.41 the essential nature of the Father. 00:24:12.45\00:24:16.38 Jesus' nature and character corresponds with God. 00:24:16.42\00:24:20.89 In Paul's day, the word morphe was used like a rubber stamp. 00:24:20.92\00:24:25.49 So back in that time 00:24:25.53\00:24:27.80 if you had like an important document 00:24:27.83\00:24:30.73 they used a stamp, 00:24:30.77\00:24:32.23 dipped it into wax and like a ring, 00:24:32.27\00:24:36.24 dipped the ring into a hot wax, and sealed it with that stamp. 00:24:36.27\00:24:41.48 Well, that's what Jesus Christ is to God. 00:24:41.51\00:24:44.75 He represents God. 00:24:44.78\00:24:47.15 He represents the image of God. 00:24:47.18\00:24:51.09 And has given His life for us. 00:24:51.12\00:24:55.22 There is no way to cover the love of God, 00:24:55.26\00:24:59.73 one of Christ when you think about what He's done for us 00:24:59.76\00:25:05.63 and what He's going to do. 00:25:05.67\00:25:07.37 He's coming back. 00:25:07.40\00:25:09.14 He's coming back to take us all with Him. 00:25:09.17\00:25:12.77 One day soon we're going 00:25:12.81\00:25:14.81 to be able to look in His eyes and say, 00:25:14.84\00:25:17.91 "Lo, this is our God, we've waited for Him. 00:25:17.95\00:25:20.55 And He has come to save us." 00:25:20.58\00:25:22.68 Amen and amen. Thank you, Dr. Yvonne. 00:25:22.72\00:25:26.05 Thank you, Pastor CA. Mine is the love of the Spirit. 00:25:26.09\00:25:30.63 And mine is what day, am I Tuesday? 00:25:30.66\00:25:33.26 Tuesday. I'm Tuesday. 00:25:33.29\00:25:35.33 Now when you talk about the Holy Spirit, 00:25:35.36\00:25:36.93 this topic excites me to a great degree 00:25:36.97\00:25:39.93 because I look at the whole total work 00:25:39.97\00:25:42.60 of redemption. 00:25:42.64\00:25:44.31 You have in the very beginning you have God the Father, 00:25:44.34\00:25:46.57 the Son and the Holy Spirit in Genesis. 00:25:46.61\00:25:49.81 Then in a nutshell you have the fall of man, 00:25:49.84\00:25:53.62 then the Father sends the Son for the work of redemption. 00:25:53.65\00:25:58.65 The Son leaves and sends 00:25:58.69\00:26:00.16 the Spirit for the work of sanctification and sealing. 00:26:00.19\00:26:03.93 So to deny the legitimacy of the Holy Spirit is to say 00:26:03.96\00:26:07.60 that we are not being sanctified 00:26:07.63\00:26:09.66 and we will not be sealed. 00:26:09.70\00:26:11.70 Because Jesus is not the one doing the work, 00:26:11.73\00:26:14.60 He's working through the ever-present person 00:26:14.64\00:26:19.21 of the Holy Spirit. 00:26:19.24\00:26:21.11 So when he said it is expedient that I go 00:26:21.14\00:26:24.51 it is expedient that I go in John 16:7, 00:26:24.55\00:26:28.88 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth, 00:26:28.92\00:26:30.59 it is to your advantage or expedient..." 00:26:30.62\00:26:32.32 in the King James, "that I go away. 00:26:32.35\00:26:35.76 For if I do not go away the help or the Comforter 00:26:35.79\00:26:38.33 will not come to you, 00:26:38.36\00:26:39.69 but if I depart, I will send him to you." 00:26:39.73\00:26:43.60 So the Father sends the Son for the work of redemption. 00:26:43.63\00:26:47.77 The Son sends the Spirit 00:26:47.80\00:26:49.37 for the work of sanctification and sealing. 00:26:49.40\00:26:52.01 So to deny the personage of the Holy Spirit is to say 00:26:52.04\00:26:54.81 we're not being sanctified and we will not be sealed. 00:26:54.84\00:26:58.91 Because there's a process of a complete work, 00:26:58.95\00:27:02.22 they're all in the very beginning, 00:27:02.25\00:27:04.62 they will all be there in the very end. 00:27:04.65\00:27:06.92 So I want to walk through a couple of passages 00:27:06.96\00:27:08.46 in the Bible. 00:27:08.49\00:27:09.82 You cannot deny the legitimacy. 00:27:09.86\00:27:13.16 And because this lesson is about the end time, 00:27:13.19\00:27:15.26 you know, we're talking about the last days, 00:27:15.30\00:27:17.83 events leading up to the coming of the Lord. 00:27:17.87\00:27:20.74 The very last book of the Bible refers to 00:27:20.77\00:27:25.17 "He that has an ear let him hear 00:27:25.21\00:27:27.31 what the Spirit says." 00:27:27.34\00:27:29.81 So the Spirit is talking, 00:27:29.84\00:27:32.68 "He that has an ear to hear, 00:27:32.71\00:27:34.05 let him hear what the Spirit says." 00:27:34.08\00:27:35.42 And seven times in Revelation you hear the phrase 00:27:35.45\00:27:38.85 what the Spirit says. 00:27:38.89\00:27:40.86 Now, is the force speaking. 00:27:40.89\00:27:43.86 I've been aware of the fact that I'm speaking right now, 00:27:43.89\00:27:47.36 I'm speaking with my mouth. 00:27:47.40\00:27:49.53 The Holy Spirit as the person of the Godhead speaks 00:27:49.56\00:27:52.97 with his mouth in the absence of Christ. 00:27:53.00\00:27:55.77 So he's not a force that's impressing in, 00:27:55.80\00:27:59.27 and just molding, and guiding 00:27:59.31\00:28:01.08 which are components of His work also. 00:28:01.11\00:28:04.68 But in order for the church to hear, 00:28:04.71\00:28:08.28 he has to speak. 00:28:08.32\00:28:09.92 In order for us to be able to hear, 00:28:09.95\00:28:12.55 someone has to speak. 00:28:12.59\00:28:13.92 So as we are hearing and from Ephesus all the way 00:28:13.96\00:28:16.83 to Laodicea, 00:28:16.86\00:28:18.19 the issue was hear what the Spirit is saying. 00:28:18.23\00:28:21.00 Now when we go through one of the first points 00:28:21.03\00:28:23.03 that were brought out in the lesson 00:28:23.06\00:28:24.40 is that the work 00:28:24.43\00:28:26.13 of the Holy Spirit is diminished. 00:28:26.17\00:28:29.07 Almost to the point where people make it appear 00:28:29.10\00:28:31.04 as though that there is a relationship, 00:28:31.07\00:28:33.41 the Holy Spirit is the emotional relationship 00:28:33.44\00:28:37.08 between the Father and the Son. 00:28:37.11\00:28:39.51 And so in other words it says, 00:28:39.55\00:28:41.12 well, you know, Mollie, you have such a nice spirit. 00:28:41.15\00:28:44.79 Well, I'm recognizing 00:28:44.82\00:28:46.76 your character, your personality, 00:28:46.79\00:28:50.03 but I'm not recognizing another force with you. 00:28:50.06\00:28:53.56 However, when people use 00:28:53.60\00:28:56.70 that analogy that the Holy Spirit 00:28:56.73\00:28:58.37 is just the way the Father feels about the Son 00:28:58.40\00:29:00.97 or rather Son feels about the Father, 00:29:01.00\00:29:03.37 they're talking about a Spirit 00:29:03.41\00:29:04.97 that exists between the two of them. 00:29:05.01\00:29:07.18 There is a love that always exist 00:29:07.21\00:29:10.81 because God is love. 00:29:10.85\00:29:12.38 But that's not what the Bible is referring 00:29:12.41\00:29:14.18 to when it speaks about the Spirit of God 00:29:14.22\00:29:17.39 is simply an emotional feeling between 00:29:17.42\00:29:19.29 the Father and the Son, 00:29:19.32\00:29:20.76 it diminishes the work of the relationship 00:29:20.79\00:29:23.66 of the Holy Spirit to the work that is being carried on now. 00:29:23.69\00:29:26.13 So let's look at a few things. 00:29:26.16\00:29:28.40 One of the ones that jumps out at us Matthew 28:19, 00:29:28.43\00:29:32.93 Christians are baptized in the name of the Spirit 00:29:32.97\00:29:37.21 along with the name of the Father and of the Son. 00:29:37.24\00:29:40.48 Now the word there name is the word 00:29:40.51\00:29:43.31 'cause some people may say, "What is His name? 00:29:43.35\00:29:44.95 What is His name? What is the name of the Father? 00:29:44.98\00:29:46.82 What is the name of the Son? 00:29:46.85\00:29:48.18 What is the name of the Holy Spirit?" 00:29:48.22\00:29:49.55 The word there in the Greek is the authority of. 00:29:49.58\00:29:54.42 So how could a force have the same authority 00:29:54.46\00:29:58.69 as the Father and the Son? 00:29:58.73\00:30:00.50 Because the word is not saying 00:30:00.53\00:30:02.66 in the authority of them separately 00:30:02.70\00:30:04.63 but in the authority of them unitedly. 00:30:04.67\00:30:08.07 So the Father has authority, the Son has authority, 00:30:08.10\00:30:11.31 the Spirit's authority is not stepped down, 00:30:11.34\00:30:14.38 it's a continuation of the same authority. 00:30:14.41\00:30:16.44 Matter of fact, the authority 00:30:16.48\00:30:17.81 is so high in the work of the Holy Spirit, 00:30:17.85\00:30:19.58 that if you grieve Him, 00:30:19.61\00:30:22.95 your sin may be forgiven 00:30:22.98\00:30:24.32 against what you said about Jesus, 00:30:24.35\00:30:25.92 but it will not be forgiven 00:30:25.95\00:30:28.76 if you speak against the Holy Spirit, 00:30:28.79\00:30:30.33 not in this life nor in the world to come. 00:30:30.36\00:30:32.56 So the Bible is talking about the importance 00:30:32.59\00:30:36.43 and the high authority that the Spirit possesses. 00:30:36.46\00:30:39.70 But it's not a force possessing this, 00:30:39.73\00:30:42.00 but a personage of the Godhead. 00:30:42.04\00:30:43.84 So when the Bible says baptize them 00:30:43.87\00:30:45.37 in Matthew 28:19, 00:30:45.41\00:30:47.31 "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, 00:30:47.34\00:30:50.95 and of the Holy Spirit." 00:30:50.98\00:30:52.41 You cannot baptize a person in a force, 00:30:52.45\00:30:57.49 you can only baptize them into a relationship. 00:30:57.52\00:31:00.86 That relationship is so strong that Jesus talks about it. 00:31:00.89\00:31:04.19 Let's go to John 16. 00:31:04.23\00:31:06.70 Jesus talks about this relationship 00:31:06.73\00:31:08.90 in a very candid way. 00:31:08.93\00:31:11.47 John 16 and I think it begins 00:31:11.50\00:31:15.37 with verse 8 down to verse 16. 00:31:15.40\00:31:19.57 And notice the many ways 00:31:19.61\00:31:21.68 that Jesus legitimizes the work of the Holy Spirit 00:31:21.71\00:31:24.61 in the personage of the Holy Spirit 00:31:24.65\00:31:26.98 starting in verse 8. 00:31:27.02\00:31:28.72 I just read verse 7 so I'll go to verse 8. 00:31:28.75\00:31:32.05 "And when he has come, 00:31:32.09\00:31:35.22 he will convict the world of sin, 00:31:35.26\00:31:37.43 and of righteousness, and of judgment of sin, 00:31:37.46\00:31:40.83 because they do not believe in me of righteousness, 00:31:40.86\00:31:43.53 because I go to my Father, and you see me no more, 00:31:43.57\00:31:45.83 of judgment, 00:31:45.87\00:31:47.20 because the ruler of this world is judged. 00:31:47.24\00:31:49.74 I still have many things to say to you, 00:31:49.77\00:31:53.21 but you cannot bear them now. 00:31:53.24\00:31:54.74 However when he, the Spirit of truth has come, 00:31:54.78\00:31:59.55 he will guide you into all truth, 00:31:59.58\00:32:01.65 for he will not speak on his own authority, 00:32:01.68\00:32:04.42 his own authority, but whatever he hears, 00:32:04.45\00:32:06.86 he will speak, 00:32:06.89\00:32:08.22 and he will tell you things to come. 00:32:08.26\00:32:10.26 He will glorify me, 00:32:10.29\00:32:11.63 for he will take of what is mine 00:32:11.66\00:32:13.60 and declare it to you." 00:32:13.63\00:32:15.23 Now, I don't want to be facetious 00:32:15.26\00:32:16.73 or condescending about 00:32:16.77\00:32:18.50 that which is holy 00:32:18.53\00:32:19.97 but He, He, He, He, He, He... 00:32:20.00\00:32:24.81 The word there is a recognition of an authority, 00:32:24.84\00:32:30.51 a recognition of a person, not a recognition of a force. 00:32:30.55\00:32:34.72 To go very quickly, Ephesians 4:30. 00:32:34.75\00:32:39.89 The Spirit by the way 00:32:39.92\00:32:41.39 does not have his own authority. 00:32:41.42\00:32:44.43 But the Spirit has the authority 00:32:44.46\00:32:46.93 that each one of the persons of the Godhead share. 00:32:46.96\00:32:51.07 He doesn't have an authority separate 00:32:51.10\00:32:52.43 from Jesus or an authority separate 00:32:52.47\00:32:53.84 from the Father. 00:32:53.87\00:32:55.20 That's why Matthew 28:19 says, 00:32:55.24\00:32:56.77 "Baptize in the name of the authority of..." 00:32:56.81\00:32:59.14 They all share the same authority, 00:32:59.17\00:33:01.28 none greater than the other. 00:33:01.31\00:33:02.64 Here's another one, 00:33:02.68\00:33:04.01 Ephesians 4:30 showing that you cannot grieve a force. 00:33:04.05\00:33:07.55 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit 00:33:07.58\00:33:09.85 by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption." 00:33:09.88\00:33:12.85 You cannot grieve a force. 00:33:12.89\00:33:14.29 Amen. Amen. 00:33:14.32\00:33:16.12 When the Bible talks about how God was grieved 00:33:16.16\00:33:18.49 at His heart that He had made man. 00:33:18.53\00:33:20.93 That's a real Greek, 00:33:20.96\00:33:22.30 the same word grieved one in Hebrew, one in Greek. 00:33:22.33\00:33:25.90 If God was sorry, 00:33:25.93\00:33:27.54 He was grieved when He saw the sin of man. 00:33:27.57\00:33:29.80 The same word is being used here. 00:33:29.84\00:33:32.11 So one is being used for force and the other for the person? 00:33:32.14\00:33:35.18 No, both are being used to identify 00:33:35.21\00:33:37.35 the person of the Godhead. 00:33:37.38\00:33:38.85 Another one, John 14:6, 00:33:38.88\00:33:42.15 "The Spirit is a helper and the comforter. 00:33:42.18\00:33:44.42 Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, 00:33:44.45\00:33:46.55 and He will give you another helper 00:33:46.59\00:33:48.96 which means Jesus is a helper. 00:33:48.99\00:33:51.29 But another one is coming 00:33:51.33\00:33:54.60 that he may abide with you forever. 00:33:54.63\00:33:57.63 Jesus, three and a half years of ministry 00:33:57.67\00:34:00.24 from His childhood to 33 years old. 00:34:00.27\00:34:02.57 But I'm leaving now. My work is complete. 00:34:02.60\00:34:05.74 But the work is going to continue 00:34:05.77\00:34:07.11 through the person of the Holy Spirit, John 14:6. 00:34:07.14\00:34:12.08 Luke 12:12. 00:34:12.11\00:34:14.12 The Holy Spirit also teaches, forces don't teach, 00:34:14.15\00:34:18.12 a person teaches. 00:34:18.15\00:34:20.09 "For the Holy Spirit will teach you 00:34:20.12\00:34:21.82 in that very hour what you ought to say." 00:34:21.86\00:34:25.06 Not only that Romans 8:26, the Holy Spirit intercedes. 00:34:25.09\00:34:28.66 "Likewise the Spirit also helps, 00:34:28.70\00:34:30.93 that is the helper in our weaknesses: 00:34:30.97\00:34:33.64 for we do not know what we should pray 00:34:33.67\00:34:35.20 for as we ought: but the Spirit himself," 00:34:35.24\00:34:38.27 there is that word again, 00:34:38.31\00:34:39.87 "makes intercession for us with groanings 00:34:39.91\00:34:41.64 which cannot be uttered." 00:34:41.68\00:34:43.04 The Spirit sanctifies. 00:34:43.08\00:34:44.98 The Bible speaks about 00:34:45.01\00:34:46.41 the sanctification of the Spirit 00:34:46.45\00:34:48.08 in 1 Peter 1:12. 00:34:48.12\00:34:49.95 A force cannot sanctify. Only a person can sanctify. 00:34:49.98\00:34:54.16 John 16:13, 00:34:54.19\00:34:55.52 "The Spirit leads into all truth." 00:34:55.56\00:34:59.26 If I'm following somebody that's a force, 00:34:59.29\00:35:04.80 then I'll not know where he's going or it's going. 00:35:04.83\00:35:08.20 But the Bible never refers to the Holy Spirit as it, 00:35:08.24\00:35:11.81 always says he. 00:35:11.84\00:35:14.01 And finally, the greatest evidence 00:35:14.04\00:35:16.14 that the Holy Spirit is a person 00:35:16.18\00:35:17.88 of the Godhead is the incarnation of Christ. 00:35:17.91\00:35:20.85 When He said to Mary 00:35:20.88\00:35:22.22 that which is conceived in you is of the Holy Spirit. 00:35:22.25\00:35:27.16 Amen, and amen. Mollie? 00:35:27.19\00:35:29.66 You know, the love of the Father, CA, 00:35:29.69\00:35:33.63 you made that so clear. 00:35:33.66\00:35:37.93 And, Yvonne, the love of the Son. 00:35:37.97\00:35:41.10 And, Pastor, the love of the Spirit. 00:35:41.14\00:35:43.24 You know what we see in that, 00:35:43.27\00:35:45.67 all power of the Godhead bodily. 00:35:45.71\00:35:48.24 God the Father, God the Son, 00:35:48.28\00:35:49.61 and God the Holy Spirit are doing everything 00:35:49.64\00:35:53.18 they can to assure us of salvation, 00:35:53.21\00:35:57.95 to draw us, to help us. 00:35:57.99\00:36:02.02 And I've got Wednesday's lesson. 00:36:02.06\00:36:06.70 And that's the assurance of salvation. 00:36:06.73\00:36:08.70 And I'm just thinking 00:36:08.73\00:36:10.07 how encouraging 00:36:10.10\00:36:13.94 for every being in heaven, 00:36:13.97\00:36:17.21 all of the Godhead is pulling 00:36:17.24\00:36:21.58 for us there. 00:36:21.61\00:36:23.28 And I was so pleased when I saw that what was assigned to me. 00:36:23.31\00:36:28.08 Thank you, Shelley. 00:36:28.12\00:36:29.45 Was the lesson on the assurance of salvation 00:36:29.48\00:36:31.85 because to be honest 00:36:31.89\00:36:33.22 I struggled with that for some time. 00:36:33.25\00:36:36.96 And something that I came 00:36:36.99\00:36:41.33 to the realization of was for us 00:36:41.36\00:36:44.80 to be prepared for the end time 00:36:44.83\00:36:46.30 and that's what we're looking at, 00:36:46.33\00:36:47.67 preparation for the end time. 00:36:47.70\00:36:49.74 And today we're looking at salvation and the end time. 00:36:49.77\00:36:53.64 For us to be prepared, 00:36:53.68\00:36:56.64 we've got to have an assurance of our salvation. 00:36:56.68\00:37:00.52 And here is the reason 00:37:00.55\00:37:02.08 why how can we proclaim something 00:37:02.12\00:37:05.65 we're not even sure of. 00:37:05.69\00:37:07.99 And how can we face great tribulation? 00:37:08.02\00:37:13.43 Do we know what is out there? 00:37:13.46\00:37:16.46 You know read the end of the book. 00:37:16.50\00:37:18.03 Now, the end of the book tells us what? 00:37:18.07\00:37:20.10 What does Danny always tells? We win. 00:37:20.14\00:37:23.00 But you know to get from here to there, 00:37:23.04\00:37:24.54 there are some things 00:37:24.57\00:37:25.91 we're going to have to go through. 00:37:25.94\00:37:28.44 And to have the courage to stand in these end times, 00:37:28.48\00:37:33.05 we've got to have an assurance of our salvation. 00:37:33.08\00:37:35.98 But now just speaking for myself, 00:37:36.02\00:37:38.65 before the Lord took me on a journey, 00:37:38.69\00:37:43.06 in reading scriptures alike... 00:37:43.09\00:37:46.83 I'm going to have you turn to Matthew, Matthew 7. 00:37:46.86\00:37:51.13 And we're going to look at other scriptures. 00:37:51.17\00:37:53.70 But I want to read a scripture like Matthew 7:13-14. 00:37:53.74\00:37:59.27 And the scripture says, "Enter by the narrow gate. 00:37:59.31\00:38:03.41 For wide is the gate and broad is the way 00:38:03.45\00:38:06.21 which leads to destruction, 00:38:06.25\00:38:08.42 and there are many who go in it, go in by it." 00:38:08.45\00:38:11.99 And I'm thinking of myself. 00:38:12.02\00:38:13.56 I look at the character of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:38:13.59\00:38:17.19 and I look at me. 00:38:17.23\00:38:18.56 And I'm thinking 00:38:18.59\00:38:20.16 I'm on that broad way, you know. 00:38:20.20\00:38:22.06 I'm not on that... 00:38:22.10\00:38:25.73 But here's what I had determined, 00:38:25.77\00:38:27.74 here's what I had said to myself. 00:38:27.77\00:38:30.17 You know, I'm going to give it my best shot 00:38:30.21\00:38:32.54 because this is something that I believed 00:38:32.57\00:38:35.08 that some get beaten with many stripes 00:38:35.11\00:38:38.25 and some get beaten with fewer stripes. 00:38:38.28\00:38:41.22 And so I'm thinking, 00:38:41.25\00:38:42.58 you know, I'm going to do the best, 00:38:42.62\00:38:43.95 I know to do so maybe I won't get it as bad 00:38:43.99\00:38:45.59 as, you know, of some... 00:38:45.62\00:38:47.19 This is thinking that is not godly, 00:38:47.22\00:38:50.46 just understand that but this is where I was. 00:38:50.49\00:38:53.46 I was really going to try to be good. 00:38:53.50\00:38:57.00 Well, let me tell you something, 00:38:57.03\00:38:58.50 you can't be good enough. 00:38:58.53\00:39:00.34 So see my thinking was, I'll askew. 00:39:00.37\00:39:03.10 But thank God for His Word. 00:39:03.14\00:39:05.27 Through God's Word, 00:39:05.31\00:39:06.64 your arrow can get straightened out. 00:39:06.68\00:39:08.48 And so again, today, 00:39:08.51\00:39:09.84 I'm looking at the assurance of salvation. 00:39:09.88\00:39:12.65 I want to continue in Matthew 7, 00:39:12.68\00:39:14.62 I read verse 13, 00:39:14.65\00:39:15.98 "Because narrow is the gate, 00:39:16.02\00:39:17.39 and difficult is the way which leads to life, 00:39:17.42\00:39:20.72 and there is few who find it." 00:39:20.76\00:39:22.49 So see I'm sealed, there's my doing. 00:39:22.52\00:39:26.09 And I was raised in an environment 00:39:26.13\00:39:30.57 that taught once saved always saved. 00:39:30.60\00:39:33.17 Now even in that environment I knew that wasn't the truth. 00:39:33.20\00:39:38.84 Now see what that teaching was that once you're saved, 00:39:38.87\00:39:43.45 there's nothing you can do so bad 00:39:43.48\00:39:45.38 that you can lose your salvation. 00:39:45.41\00:39:47.02 Now, I am convinced that you, 00:39:47.05\00:39:49.42 that what can separate us or who can separate us. 00:39:49.45\00:39:52.49 What can separate us from the love of God? 00:39:52.52\00:39:54.69 That's Romans 8:35. 00:39:54.72\00:39:56.06 I am totally convinced 00:39:56.09\00:39:57.59 that nothing can separate us from the love of God. 00:39:57.63\00:40:00.73 And as long as we walk up rightly 00:40:00.76\00:40:03.13 in our obedience to God, our salvation is so sure. 00:40:03.16\00:40:07.97 But if we choose to walk away, 00:40:08.00\00:40:10.97 do you know we get to walk away, 00:40:11.01\00:40:12.54 don't we, Pastor Lomacang? 00:40:12.57\00:40:13.91 That's the freedom. We do. 00:40:13.94\00:40:16.08 If we stay faithful, 00:40:16.11\00:40:17.95 then I'm going to tell you something, 00:40:17.98\00:40:19.38 I decided that I'd believe in once saved always 00:40:19.41\00:40:21.58 saved as long as you are faithful to God, 00:40:21.62\00:40:24.45 as long as you stay obedient to God's Word 00:40:24.49\00:40:27.49 because I agree with Romans 5:35, 00:40:27.52\00:40:31.03 nothing can separate us from the love of God. 00:40:31.06\00:40:34.30 But I want you to turn to Matthew 7. 00:40:34.33\00:40:39.10 I want to show you something here 00:40:39.13\00:40:40.77 because even when we have the assurance of our salvation, 00:40:40.80\00:40:44.87 I don't want us to become presumptuous. 00:40:44.91\00:40:47.48 Romans 7... 00:40:47.51\00:40:49.74 Matthew 7. Yeah. 00:40:49.78\00:40:51.18 Mathew 7:21, and it says, 00:40:51.21\00:40:55.52 "Not every one that saith unto me, 00:40:55.55\00:40:58.79 Lord, Lord," this is written in red, 00:40:58.82\00:41:00.96 and so this is Jesus. 00:41:00.99\00:41:03.96 "Not every one that saith unto me, 00:41:03.99\00:41:06.59 Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, 00:41:06.63\00:41:10.57 but he that doeth," what? 00:41:10.60\00:41:13.34 "The will of my Father which is in heaven." 00:41:13.37\00:41:16.34 So then it goes on in verse 22, 00:41:16.37\00:41:20.68 "Many will say to me in that day, 00:41:20.71\00:41:24.05 Lord, Lord, have we not done stuff in your name? 00:41:24.08\00:41:28.08 Have we not prophesied in thy name? 00:41:28.12\00:41:30.52 And in thy name cast out devils? 00:41:30.55\00:41:33.62 And in thy name done many wonderful works?" 00:41:33.66\00:41:36.89 But listen at what Jesus says, verse 33, 00:41:36.93\00:41:41.50 "And then I will profess unto them, 00:41:41.53\00:41:45.83 I never knew you..." 00:41:45.87\00:41:48.10 Verse 23, "And then I will profess unto them, 00:41:48.14\00:41:51.61 I never knew you: depart from me, 00:41:51.64\00:41:55.28 ye that work iniquity." 00:41:55.31\00:41:57.55 Now here is what I see in that in verse 23. 00:41:57.58\00:42:02.95 He doesn't say 00:42:02.98\00:42:05.32 that depart from me 00:42:05.35\00:42:09.66 you who are not perfect. 00:42:09.69\00:42:12.09 He doesn't say to me, to say to us depart from me, 00:42:12.13\00:42:17.93 you who don't have any faults. 00:42:17.97\00:42:20.57 What does He say? 00:42:20.60\00:42:22.20 Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. 00:42:22.24\00:42:27.64 That is not saying you have to be perfect. 00:42:27.68\00:42:30.65 Oh, thank God for 1 John 1:9. 00:42:30.68\00:42:32.98 If Jill was here, she would say, 00:42:33.01\00:42:34.58 I knew she was going to get that in there somewhere 00:42:34.62\00:42:37.15 because there is no one sitting at this table 00:42:37.19\00:42:40.22 that doesn't have to run into 1 John 1:9 ever so often. 00:42:40.26\00:42:44.29 Let me quote that for you. 00:42:44.33\00:42:46.03 "If we confess our sins, 00:42:46.06\00:42:48.66 He is faithful and just to forgive us." 00:42:48.70\00:42:51.07 For number one, He forgives us of our sins 00:42:51.10\00:42:55.57 and then He goes one step further, 00:42:55.60\00:42:57.67 cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 00:42:57.71\00:42:59.91 Hey, if we are cleansed 00:42:59.94\00:43:01.84 from all unrighteousness, Yvonne, what does that make us? 00:43:01.88\00:43:06.05 It makes us righteous. 00:43:06.08\00:43:07.82 So He doesn't say, 00:43:07.85\00:43:09.32 "Depart from Me, you who have faults, 00:43:09.35\00:43:13.69 you who aren't perfect." 00:43:13.72\00:43:17.23 He says and this is what lawlessness. 00:43:17.26\00:43:20.10 He says, "Depart from Me you who were practicing 00:43:20.13\00:43:25.27 as a habitual life style lawlessness, 00:43:25.30\00:43:29.67 who were outside the law. 00:43:29.70\00:43:32.01 It was a way of life." 00:43:32.04\00:43:33.94 Thank God for 1 John 1:9, 00:43:33.98\00:43:35.98 that should give us so much assurance. 00:43:36.01\00:43:38.58 Now, remember the scripture that says, 00:43:38.61\00:43:40.98 "Faith comes by hearing 00:43:41.02\00:43:43.32 and hearing by the Word of God." 00:43:43.35\00:43:45.19 And I want us to look at some scriptures very quickly 00:43:45.22\00:43:49.49 about the assurance we can have, not in ourselves, 00:43:49.52\00:43:54.53 but in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:43:54.56\00:43:57.80 1 John 5:11-13. 00:43:57.83\00:44:01.64 1 John 5:11-13. 00:44:01.67\00:44:07.01 "And this is the testimony: 00:44:07.04\00:44:09.58 that God has given us eternal life, 00:44:09.61\00:44:13.78 and this life is in his Son. 00:44:13.82\00:44:16.62 He who has the Son has life, he who does not have 00:44:16.65\00:44:21.42 the Son of God does not have life. 00:44:21.46\00:44:24.26 These things I have written to you 00:44:24.29\00:44:26.29 who believe in the name of the Son of God, 00:44:26.33\00:44:28.86 do you believe in the name 00:44:28.90\00:44:30.83 of the Lord Jesus Christ listeneth this 00:44:30.87\00:44:33.64 that you may know that you have eternal life, 00:44:33.67\00:44:37.14 and that you may continue to believe 00:44:37.17\00:44:39.51 in the name of the Son of God." 00:44:39.54\00:44:41.51 One more scripture. I think Joel 2:31-32. 00:44:41.54\00:44:46.25 Let's go to the Old Testament. 00:44:46.28\00:44:49.28 Joel 2:31-32. 00:44:49.32\00:44:53.52 "The sun shall be turned into darkness 00:44:53.56\00:44:56.36 and the moon into blood, 00:44:56.39\00:44:58.26 before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 00:44:58.29\00:45:01.96 And it shall come to pass that whoever..." 00:45:02.00\00:45:07.24 I'm a whoever, John, are you are whoever? 00:45:07.27\00:45:08.94 I'm a whoever. Pastor John's a whoever. 00:45:08.97\00:45:11.41 "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." 00:45:11.44\00:45:16.48 Well, let me just do one more word. 00:45:16.51\00:45:18.28 John 10:27 and 28. Got you jumping back and forth. 00:45:18.31\00:45:22.22 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 00:45:22.25\00:45:25.92 and they follow me: and I give them eternal life, 00:45:25.95\00:45:30.03 and they shall never perish, 00:45:30.06\00:45:32.43 never shall any one snatch them out of my hand." 00:45:32.46\00:45:35.20 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, 00:45:35.23\00:45:37.60 that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:45:37.63\00:45:39.67 that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, 00:45:39.70\00:45:42.67 shall not perish, but have everlasting life." 00:45:42.70\00:45:45.14 Let me give you one last quote. It's from Martin Luther. 00:45:45.17\00:45:48.68 Do we do like the teachings of Martin Luther? 00:45:48.71\00:45:52.61 The great reformer, here is what he says, 00:45:52.65\00:45:56.22 "And this is where I am when I look to myself, 00:45:56.25\00:46:01.36 I don't know how on earth I can be saved. 00:46:01.39\00:46:04.83 When I look to Jesus, I don't know how I can be lost. 00:46:04.86\00:46:09.40 All we do is look to Jesus." Sister Shelley? 00:46:09.43\00:46:12.10 Amen, Mollie. 00:46:12.13\00:46:13.47 Thank you so much, that was beautiful. 00:46:13.50\00:46:15.37 I just love, you learned so much 00:46:15.40\00:46:19.04 and you reminded of so much as we get together. 00:46:19.07\00:46:21.91 My lesson is Thursday. 00:46:21.94\00:46:24.11 And as Thursday is the ever lasting gospel. 00:46:24.15\00:46:28.82 In Malachi 3:6, the Lord says, 00:46:28.85\00:46:32.65 "I am the Lord, I change not." 00:46:32.69\00:46:35.76 Hebrews 13:8 says, 00:46:35.79\00:46:38.16 "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever." 00:46:38.19\00:46:42.73 So let's open our Bibles to Revelation 14. 00:46:42.76\00:46:48.47 And when we get to Revelation 14, 00:46:48.50\00:46:51.14 we want to look at the beginning 00:46:51.17\00:46:53.98 of the proclamation of the three angels' messages. 00:46:54.01\00:46:58.85 And in that three angels messages, 00:46:58.88\00:47:01.92 it begins in verse 6 saying this. 00:47:01.95\00:47:05.42 "Then I saw another angel flying 00:47:05.45\00:47:08.79 in the midst of heaven, 00:47:08.82\00:47:10.43 having the everlasting gospel to preach to those 00:47:10.46\00:47:14.60 who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, 00:47:14.63\00:47:18.93 and people saying with a loud voice, 00:47:18.97\00:47:21.87 Fear God, that's to honor, to respect. 00:47:21.90\00:47:26.11 Fear God, hold Him in awe, give glory to Him, 00:47:26.14\00:47:30.58 for the hour of His judgment has come, 00:47:30.61\00:47:34.05 and worship Him who made heaven, 00:47:34.08\00:47:36.32 and earth, the sea, and the springs of water." 00:47:36.35\00:47:41.46 All right, what is the everlasting gospel? 00:47:41.49\00:47:44.29 We've already talked about it here in Revelation. 00:47:44.33\00:47:48.03 Let's just turn there, Revelation 13:8, 00:47:48.06\00:47:51.57 that's just a little bit back. 00:47:51.60\00:47:53.87 Revelation 13:8. 00:47:53.90\00:47:56.84 It says, 00:47:56.87\00:48:00.18 "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, 00:48:00.21\00:48:02.51 whose names have not been written 00:48:02.54\00:48:04.48 in the Book of Life," 00:48:04.51\00:48:06.48 and that's talking about 00:48:06.51\00:48:07.85 those who reject Jesus will worship the beast. 00:48:07.88\00:48:11.79 But the Book of Life is where Jesus 00:48:11.82\00:48:14.82 has written down everybody's name 00:48:14.86\00:48:16.73 who has accepted Him. 00:48:16.76\00:48:18.23 And it goes on to say, 00:48:18.26\00:48:19.59 "The Book of Life of the Lamb slain 00:48:19.63\00:48:23.77 from the foundation of the earth." 00:48:23.80\00:48:26.03 From the very beginning, 00:48:26.07\00:48:29.24 God has had before He ever laid the foundations of this earth, 00:48:29.27\00:48:34.38 God had the Calvary plan in mind. 00:48:34.41\00:48:37.18 That's right. Let's turn to Hebrews 13:20. 00:48:37.21\00:48:40.62 We've got not a whole lot of time. 00:48:40.65\00:48:43.65 Mollie kind of touched on something 00:48:43.69\00:48:45.19 that I was going to speak on, 00:48:45.22\00:48:46.89 so I can stretch mine out just a little bit. 00:48:46.92\00:48:49.96 But look at Hebrews 00:48:49.99\00:48:51.33 13:20. 00:48:51.36\00:48:56.36 The scripture reads, "Now may the God of peace, 00:48:56.40\00:48:59.90 who brought up 00:48:59.93\00:49:01.27 our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, 00:49:01.30\00:49:03.30 that great shepherd of the sheep," 00:49:03.34\00:49:05.24 that's our Lord Jesus, 00:49:05.27\00:49:06.94 "through the blood 00:49:06.98\00:49:08.34 of the everlasting covenant." 00:49:08.38\00:49:13.68 So we see this lamb who was slain 00:49:13.72\00:49:16.82 from the beginning of the world 00:49:16.85\00:49:18.62 or before the foundation of the world. 00:49:18.65\00:49:20.86 His blood was the blood of the everlasting covenant 00:49:20.89\00:49:24.36 which gives us the everlasting gospel. 00:49:24.39\00:49:28.76 And this is the covenant of redemption 00:49:28.80\00:49:31.97 by grace that God started 00:49:32.00\00:49:34.77 before He ever created 00:49:34.80\00:49:37.31 a human being. 00:49:37.34\00:49:40.81 The plan was that He would come, 00:49:40.84\00:49:42.94 He would redeem us, He would restore us to God, 00:49:42.98\00:49:46.45 and that we might 00:49:46.48\00:49:47.95 have unbroken fellowship with Him again. 00:49:47.98\00:49:51.05 So this everlasting gospel of Revelation 14 00:49:51.09\00:49:55.19 in the first angel's message, 00:49:55.22\00:49:57.69 this is the gospel 00:49:57.73\00:49:59.63 that was preached beginning back in Genesis 3:15. 00:49:59.66\00:50:03.20 Let's turn there, Genesis 3:15. 00:50:03.23\00:50:08.67 Genesis 3:15. 00:50:08.70\00:50:14.11 When God says, 00:50:14.14\00:50:17.15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, 00:50:17.18\00:50:21.78 and between your seed and her seed, and he..." 00:50:21.82\00:50:26.09 When it's talking about your seed the little "s" 00:50:26.12\00:50:28.99 and then the capital "S" seed, this is Jesus Christ. 00:50:29.02\00:50:32.86 He the capital "S" seed, 00:50:32.89\00:50:35.40 "He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." 00:50:35.43\00:50:40.74 So Jesus from the very beginning, 00:50:40.77\00:50:44.57 all of the covenants were about Jesus. 00:50:44.61\00:50:47.18 It's all of the everlasting covenant. 00:50:47.21\00:50:49.21 In John 8:56 Jesus said this, 00:50:49.24\00:50:53.85 he said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced 00:50:53.88\00:50:56.85 to see my day, he saw it and he was glad." 00:50:56.89\00:51:02.26 Question is when did he see Christ day? 00:51:02.29\00:51:06.43 I'm going to tell you what I believe. 00:51:06.46\00:51:07.96 If you all want to correct me later, 00:51:08.00\00:51:09.40 you can correct me. 00:51:09.43\00:51:10.77 What I believe is in Genesis 15, 00:51:10.80\00:51:14.24 "When God covenant with Abraham, 00:51:14.27\00:51:18.57 put him into a deep sleep 00:51:18.61\00:51:20.78 and then we've got the smoking pot as God 00:51:20.81\00:51:23.08 passed between the sacrifices as they were cutting covenant." 00:51:23.11\00:51:27.45 I believe that is when Abraham saw Christ day 00:51:27.48\00:51:31.65 because just a few chapters later 00:51:31.69\00:51:34.82 in Genesis 22:8, 00:51:34.86\00:51:37.86 "When God asks Abraham 00:51:37.89\00:51:40.90 to bring and sacrifice your only begotten son." 00:51:40.93\00:51:46.33 "Oh, are you kidding? 00:51:46.37\00:51:48.77 I've waited a 100 years for this kid to be born, 00:51:48.80\00:51:52.27 this child of promise." 00:51:52.31\00:51:54.91 But listen in Genesis 22:8, 00:51:54.94\00:51:57.65 "Abraham said my son God will provide..." 00:51:57.68\00:52:01.98 I mean he's got his grown son now 00:52:02.02\00:52:03.92 that he's taking up there to sacrifice. 00:52:03.95\00:52:06.25 He says my son God will provide for himself the lamb 00:52:06.29\00:52:09.92 for a burnt offering. 00:52:09.96\00:52:12.53 So the two of them go up to there together. 00:52:12.56\00:52:15.26 See, I believe that Abraham had already taught Isaac 00:52:15.30\00:52:19.40 about the day of Jesus. 00:52:19.43\00:52:21.30 And here's what I based 00:52:21.34\00:52:22.67 that belief on Hebrews 11:19 says that, 00:52:22.70\00:52:26.37 "By faith Abraham took Isaac 00:52:26.41\00:52:30.85 to sacrifice him, 00:52:30.88\00:52:34.92 concluding that God 00:52:34.95\00:52:37.75 was able to raise Isaac 00:52:37.79\00:52:41.22 even from the death." 00:52:41.26\00:52:43.93 So he had already seen the day of Jesus. 00:52:43.96\00:52:48.03 He knew that God was going to provide 00:52:48.06\00:52:50.57 His only begotten son as the offering 00:52:50.60\00:52:54.37 and that He would raise him so he said, 00:52:54.40\00:52:56.81 "Okay, all of my seeds going to come through Isaac, 00:52:56.84\00:53:00.21 then God's got to raise him." 00:53:00.24\00:53:02.18 "So yes, Lord, I'll obey. 00:53:02.21\00:53:04.11 I will sacrifice my son 00:53:04.15\00:53:05.55 because I know you're going to do that. 00:53:05.58\00:53:07.72 But I know that you're a man who keeps your word. 00:53:07.75\00:53:10.59 So you're going to raise him up 00:53:10.62\00:53:11.95 just like you've raised Jesus up," 00:53:11.99\00:53:13.56 that's my personal belief. 00:53:13.59\00:53:15.32 So the point is that when we look 00:53:15.36\00:53:20.33 throughout the Old Testament, 00:53:20.36\00:53:22.70 we see the everlasting covenant. 00:53:22.73\00:53:25.57 When God said, "Make me a sanctuary 00:53:25.60\00:53:28.14 that I might dwell among them." 00:53:28.17\00:53:30.51 He created this sanctuary just as it was on the pattern 00:53:30.54\00:53:33.71 as it was in heaven. 00:53:33.74\00:53:35.41 This was theology in physical form, 00:53:35.44\00:53:39.71 they could see the pictures of salvation 00:53:39.75\00:53:41.78 'cause these people didn't read. 00:53:41.82\00:53:43.39 Now, Moses could read, 00:53:43.42\00:53:44.85 but the Hebrew slaves didn't know how to read. 00:53:44.89\00:53:47.82 So everything you see in the sanctuary 00:53:47.86\00:53:50.89 is a picture of God's plan of salvation 00:53:50.93\00:53:54.20 and each covenant including the old covenant, 00:53:54.23\00:53:57.50 each covenant builds on the last covenant. 00:53:57.53\00:54:01.30 And it's a progressive revelation, 00:54:01.34\00:54:04.21 an unfolding of the plan of salvation. 00:54:04.24\00:54:08.48 But in the old, and there's one eternal plan, 00:54:08.51\00:54:11.75 it's the eternal gospel. 00:54:11.78\00:54:14.12 In the Old Testament, 00:54:14.15\00:54:15.48 righteousness has always been by faith. 00:54:15.52\00:54:17.85 Jeremiah 33:16, he says, "The Lord our righteousness." 00:54:17.89\00:54:23.32 And then in Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah says, 00:54:23.36\00:54:27.40 "Hey, the best that we can offer up, 00:54:27.43\00:54:30.20 our best righteousness is like filthy rags before Him. 00:54:30.23\00:54:34.24 It is always been salvation by grace through faith. 00:54:34.27\00:54:38.11 It has always been that we cannot save ourself. 00:54:38.14\00:54:42.78 That salvation in the Old Testament, 00:54:42.81\00:54:45.05 in Psalms 3:8 says, 00:54:45.08\00:54:46.41 "Salvation belongs to the Lord." 00:54:46.45\00:54:48.25 And in the New Testament, Revelation 17, 00:54:48.28\00:54:50.75 it says, "Salvation belongs to the Lord." 00:54:50.79\00:54:53.92 So the point is, 00:54:53.96\00:54:55.29 an unchanging God has an unchanging gospel. 00:54:55.32\00:54:59.89 And we need to look at all of the Old Testament 00:54:59.93\00:55:04.60 through the lens 00:55:04.63\00:55:06.33 of this everlasting gospel. 00:55:06.37\00:55:10.01 Because the fact that it is an eternal gospel 00:55:10.04\00:55:14.41 that gives us assurance. 00:55:14.44\00:55:16.11 As you said, for those who are willing to accept it, 00:55:16.14\00:55:20.38 we can have absolute assurance of our salvation 00:55:20.42\00:55:23.42 as long as we are in Christ. 00:55:23.45\00:55:27.39 Ephesians 1:4-5 says this, 00:55:27.42\00:55:30.89 "Just as he chose us in him 00:55:30.93\00:55:34.70 before the foundation of the world, 00:55:34.73\00:55:36.67 that we should be holy and without blame 00:55:36.70\00:55:38.37 before Him in love, 00:55:38.40\00:55:39.73 having predestined us to adoption 00:55:39.77\00:55:43.10 as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, 00:55:43.14\00:55:46.51 according to the good pleasure of His will." 00:55:46.54\00:55:50.11 Before He created the world, 00:55:50.15\00:55:51.68 He had the Calvary plan in mind. 00:55:51.71\00:55:55.85 And here's what the quarterly ask. 00:55:55.88\00:55:58.89 How could salvation come from anything that we could do 00:55:58.92\00:56:01.66 if we were elected to have that salvation in Him 00:56:01.69\00:56:05.03 even before we existed? 00:56:05.06\00:56:07.46 Our choice is simple. CA, you said it earlier, 00:56:07.50\00:56:10.30 it is just a matter of we have to surrender, 00:56:10.33\00:56:14.57 He does everything, we just yield to His control, 00:56:14.60\00:56:18.37 we just say, "Lord, save me 00:56:18.41\00:56:21.18 and accept as you pray 00:56:21.21\00:56:23.58 to be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 00:56:23.61\00:56:26.35 Accept His love and walk 00:56:26.38\00:56:29.92 in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:56:29.95\00:56:31.62 That right. Amen. 00:56:31.65\00:56:32.99 How very, very powerful. 00:56:33.02\00:56:34.36 Thank each one of you for adding your little bean 00:56:34.39\00:56:39.69 to the soup, 00:56:39.73\00:56:41.06 you put your little bean in the pot, 00:56:41.10\00:56:42.56 just really, really well done. 00:56:42.60\00:56:44.13 A couple of things... 00:56:44.17\00:56:45.50 A couple of weeks ago, 00:56:45.53\00:56:46.87 I was watching 3ABN on a Thursday night. 00:56:46.90\00:56:48.27 Shelley, you were on, Pastor, you were on, 00:56:48.30\00:56:50.27 I don't recall who else, and bear me, Mollie, 00:56:50.31\00:56:52.67 but a woman send in a question, 00:56:52.71\00:56:54.04 she said, "I don't feel saved." 00:56:54.08\00:56:56.34 Remember that, I don't feel like I'm in Christ. 00:56:56.38\00:56:59.11 I don't feel close to God and I have got so little time." 00:56:59.15\00:57:02.95 What we established here today 00:57:02.98\00:57:04.89 is that all of heaven is intimately, intricately, 00:57:04.92\00:57:08.39 and inextricably bound up in our salvation. 00:57:08.42\00:57:11.63 All heaven is working for our salvation. 00:57:11.66\00:57:14.46 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us." 00:57:14.50\00:57:20.24 So you don't have to earn it, you don't have to work, 00:57:20.27\00:57:22.67 it's there, that love is there waiting for you, 00:57:22.70\00:57:24.91 that love is there. 00:57:24.94\00:57:26.31 It's there, just accept it. 00:57:26.34\00:57:28.01 And remember feeling is not faith. 00:57:28.04\00:57:31.18 Trust God, He is faithful. We'll see again soon. 00:57:31.21\00:57:33.98 Bye-bye. 00:57:34.02\00:57:35.38