Participants: PULLED
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180040B
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00:01 Welcome back to our Sabbath School Lesson.
00:02 I am going to pick up on Tuesday, October 2nd, 00:05 "Further Disunity and Separation" 00:08 Thank you Shelley and Mollie for laying the foundation 00:10 introducing unity and talking about how it was fractured 00:13 by the choices Adam and Eve made when they could not 00:16 curtail the consequences. Amen. 00:19 We're going to talk about disunity as we talk about 00:21 separation and let's go to Genesis 11, 00:24 and we're going to look about a postdiluvian generation. 00:28 You know the antediluvian generation was the generation 00:30 leading up to the flood - the Lord made a promise 00:33 that is now introduced to us in Genesis 11, 00:36 but there are consequences and there is also creative 00:40 destruction introduced in these passages - follow me carefully. 00:43 Verse 1... "Now the whole earth had one 00:46 language and one speech. 00:47 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, 00:50 that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, 00:53 and they dwelt there. 00:54 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks 00:57 and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, 01:00 and they had asphalt for mortar. 01:02 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, 01:05 and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us 01:08 make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered 01:11 abroad over the face of the whole earth. 01:13 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower 01:17 which the sons of men had built. 01:19 Notice it's not the sons of God, but the sons of men. 01:21 And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they 01:25 all have one language..." 01:26 A point needs to be made here... You can be unified, 01:29 but your unity can be against God's will if your unity 01:33 is for the wrong reason and on the wrong agenda 01:35 that's not in harmony with God's will. 01:38 It goes on to say... "And this is what they begin 01:41 to do or began to do; now nothing that they 01:45 propose to do will be withheld from them. 01:47 In other words, their consequences are coming, 01:49 you can't chose those, right Mollie? That's right. 01:52 Verse 7... "Come, let Us go down 01:54 and there confuse their language, 01:56 that they may not understand one another's speech." 01:59 "So the Lord scattered them abroad 02:04 from there over all the face of the earth, 02:08 and they ceased building the city. 02:10 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there 02:13 the Lord confused the language of all the earth; 02:15 and from there, the Lord scattered them abroad 02:18 over the face of all the earth." 02:20 Well the question that was introduced right here 02:23 which I'd like to dive right into - what happened here 02:26 that makes the problem of separation and disunity worse? 02:30 They began to build what they thought was the agenda of 02:33 God, but in fact was their own agenda; 02:36 they did not accept God's agenda. 02:37 So I broke it down into a few categories that I would like to 02:40 dive into right now... 02:42 The one is - they became absorbed in self-interest. 02:46 Self-interest is always the precursor to introducing 02:49 disunity. 02:51 The antediluvians or the postdiluvians were less 02:54 interested in how their quest affected others. 02:57 When our pursuits are disconnected from the effect 03:02 that it has on others, disunity is always the result. 03:06 You know, when you make a decision, you say, 03:07 "I don't care what they think about, I don't care 03:09 what they want to hear, I don't care about the music, 03:11 I don't care about the sermon they want me to preach... 03:12 As long as we make decisions and we don't take other 03:15 people into consideration, it always creates disunity. 03:19 They did not want what God had so they said, 03:22 "Let us build ourselves a city." 03:24 I'm glad God is building us a city. Amen! Amen! 03:27 They engineered their own methods of salvation; 03:31 "the tower whose top is in the heavens," 03:33 just in case we can't trust God... 03:34 that is what's happening today. 03:36 People have other ways of salvation. 03:39 Isaiah 4:1... "We will eat our own bread 03:42 and wear our own apparel, 03:44 only let us be called by your name to take away our reproach," 03:47 our own method of salvation... 03:49 And that's why Christianity today has become a cacophony 03:52 of confusion - creative destruction. 03:55 Thirdly, they cared about their own future, 03:57 not the future that God had ensured. 04:00 Next, they paid attention to the agenda and the plans 04:04 that were only interesting to them. 04:07 They had an agenda that made self the focus. 04:10 Whenever self is the focus, unity never results. 04:15 When people say, "I don't want to hear what you have 04:17 to say, I don't care what you think... 04:18 then we could never be in harmony. 04:20 That's why we are told in the Bible... 04:22 "To esteem the other person above ourselves." Yes 04:25 And whatever we do, as far as it is possible with you, 04:28 be at peace with all men." 04:30 Going on... But God stepped in, God thwarted a divisive agenda, 04:36 and He'll do that today. 04:38 The Lord demolished their coalition... 04:40 The first intent was to slow their 04:43 progress against God's agenda. 04:45 I'm so glad that God did not allow them to go 04:47 the way they... that's why He separated them. 04:49 They asked for bricks, they got a straw. 04:51 They asked for a hammer, they got a chisel. 04:53 They said, "This is not working," so they found 04:55 the group that sounded like they did and they began, 04:58 God scattered them throughout the earth. 04:59 So we have Columbia, we have Mexico, we have China, 05:03 we have Japan - scattered throughout the earth. 05:06 We got Texas - the great country of Texas, 05:08 and we got Alabama - not too far away. 05:11 But confusion because all that live in America don't sound 05:15 the same, Amen Mollie! Amen! Laughter 05:19 Alabamians - they don't understand people from Maine. 05:22 We got people from California, 05:23 they don't sound like New Yorkers. 05:25 They make "calls" in California, 05:26 but they make "cawls" in New York. 05:28 Creative destruction, confusion. 05:30 The second thing God did was to separate their 05:33 intellectual corruption. 05:35 They were intellectual, they were smart. 05:37 They were giants in their intellect. 05:39 He separated their intellectual corruption so that it would 05:43 not interrupt His plan. 05:44 And the third intent was to create boundaries. 05:47 They ceased building the city. 05:50 Their project came to an end. 05:52 So now, with that in mind, we see what they did 05:56 and today the results - the consequences are obvious. 06:00 The world is in disarray. 06:01 Let me suggest four ways that we could foster unity. 06:05 1 John 1:7... "Commit to a personal walk 06:09 in the light of God's word." 06:11 "Commit to a personal walk in the light of God's word." 06:14 "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 06:17 we have fellowship with one another, 06:19 and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son 06:20 cleanses us from all sin." 06:23 Don't join a church for friendship, 06:25 join it for fellowship. Amen! 06:28 Fellowship is not accomplished by find a what-you-like 06:32 or what-you-like, but if we like what Jesus likes, 06:34 and we walk in that, then we will have fellowship. 06:38 Koinonia is divinely borne. 06:40 Secondly, foster a commitment to extend peace. 06:45 Romans 12:8, "If it is possible as much as depends on you, 06:50 live peaceably with all men." 06:53 Don't say, "I don't really care what I said to Mollie," 06:56 No... care what you said to Mollie! 06:58 Don't say I don't really care how... and just pass 07:00 to John Dinzey or Jill or Shelley or you, CARE about it, 07:04 and then do what you can to rectify and bring about peace. 07:08 Why? "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall 07:11 be called the children of God." Amen 07:13 Thirdly, abandon the position of nationality or gender 07:17 superiority - God didn't take Eve from Adam's feet, 07:22 nor did He take Eve from Adam's head... 07:25 He took the rib from Adam's side. That's right. 07:28 Jill, while separate, we are still made in the image of God. 07:33 And when men and women are joined together, they finish 07:36 the image of God in the human race. 07:38 God gave Adam stewardship responsibilities; 07:42 He gave him dominion over the earth... 07:44 But He didn't create him to rule his wife 07:46 and keep her under his foot. 07:48 It's when transgression came in that the Lord said, 07:52 "The husband is the head of the wife," 07:54 not in a domineering capacity, but in a capacity 07:58 of stewardship responsibility as the priest. 08:01 He says, "Now whatever happens in your house, 08:03 I'm gonna hold you responsible." 08:05 So we have to be those individuals. 08:07 We have to take that stewardship responsibility. 08:09 The Bible says in Acts 17:26 about nationality... 08:12 "He has made from one blood every nation of men 08:15 to dwell on all the face of the earth." 08:18 So no matter what our nationality... this table 08:20 is very diverse - no matter what our nationality, 08:24 we have to foster a position of unity, not national or 08:30 gender superiority. 08:31 And finally... We have to exalt Jesus 08:35 through our lives. Amen! 08:36 Here's where the greatest experience of unity occurs... 08:41 you know, not through methods, not through styles or preaching, 08:44 not through types of music, not through denominational 08:46 preferences but here is how unity is best accomplished... 08:50 John 12:32... "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, 08:58 will draw all men unto Myself." 09:02 Whatever the nationality, whatever the race, 09:04 whatever the cultural background, 09:06 whatever the national origin, whatever the language... 09:08 let's not create confusion, let us not do things to 09:13 further disunity and foster separation... 09:17 But if we lift up Christ, everyone will hear 09:21 as the disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost, 09:24 they said, as the Jews gathered there, they said, "We do hear 09:29 in our own language, ...diversity... 09:31 the wonderful works of God." Amen! 09:33 When Jesus is uplifted, disunity will die, separation will cease, 09:38 and unity and Christ will reign supreme. 09:42 So make that your pledge, make that your determination, 09:45 and Christ will accomplish it in your life. 09:48 Amen! Thank you Pastor John, we've had church, 09:51 we can go home now! 09:53 I love this lesson and the entire focus of the lesson. 09:57 We started with creation and the unity that existed, 10:00 the oneness of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 10:04 but with the creation with Adam and Eve with the Father 10:06 and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 10:08 We know that sin brought consequences; 10:10 sin brought disunity; sin brought separation 10:13 from the Father and Pastor John, what a wonderful analogy, 10:17 not only of the separation that took place there 10:19 at the Tower of Babel, but of the unity that God 10:22 wants to bring us back into. 10:23 And my lesson is on Wednesday. 10:26 You know, after the Tower of Babel and after that occurred 10:30 and this separation, God looked and He said, "I want to 10:34 call a man who will come back into unity with Myself." 10:39 And through him, an entire nation of people that could be 10:44 a representative to the world, 10:46 of the unity that he wants to have. 10:49 And that man is, of course, Abraham - the father of 10:52 not only the Jewish people but Christianity. 10:56 We come from the Lord Jesus Christ who came through 10:59 the seed of David, so we come from that as well. 11:03 It's interesting to me that God called Abraham His friend. 11:07 You know, if you read the Bible, I'm not sure any other person 11:12 in the Bible is called, "the friend of God," 11:15 you can correct me, Pastor John, if I'm wrong, 11:16 but "the friend of God," He called him His friend. 11:19 And He said to the disciples, "You are no longer my..., 11:21 but you're My friends. That's true, okay, okay. 11:23 That's personally... So in addition, yes, 11:25 good, thank you. 11:27 So Ms. Mollie, if I had you over to my house... 11:28 now you're more than an acquaintance, 11:30 so that's not a good example. 11:32 Let's say somebody that I don't know, okay, and they 11:34 came over to my house, I'd say, "You gotta sit up 11:36 straight on the sofa and, you know, you want to feel 11:39 proper and you want everything to go good, but if Mollie 11:41 came over, I could lean back and I could relax and I could 11:45 have a good time. Why? 11:46 Because she is my friend. 11:49 When you are a friend with someone, 11:50 friends don't block each other out of 11:52 certain spaces in their life. 11:54 That's what Abraham was to God. 11:57 He did not push God away from certain places 12:00 in his life... He said - You have ready access to 12:02 every area of my life. 12:04 James 2:23 says... "Abraham believed God, 12:08 and it was accounted to him for righteousness, 12:11 and he was called, "the friend of God." 12:14 He was called "the friend of God," why? 12:16 Because he was justified, because he was brought 12:19 back into right relationship with God the Father. 12:23 There were no closed spaces in his heart that he pushed 12:26 God away from. 12:27 As we look at faith in the basic elements 12:30 of Abraham's faith, faith is not static. 12:33 It's active, it's dynamic, it is moving! 12:36 So I want to look at the five actions of faith 12:40 as we see revealed in the life of Abraham. 12:42 The first action of faith is that genuine faith 12:46 leads to forgiveness and justification. 12:49 Faith leads to forgiveness and justification. 12:53 Justification and forgiveness precedes friendship with God 12:57 because sin brought disunity, sin brought separation 13:00 from God, so when we are justified, brought back 13:03 into right-standing with God the Father - what happens? 13:06 We are back in unity with Him again. 13:09 I think of Romans 4:3, it says... "What does the 13:12 Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was 13:15 accounted to him for righteousness." That's right. 13:18 That word "accounted" to him means to 13:20 "reckon or to consider." 13:22 It's a bookkeeping term meaning 13:24 "to put on your record or to credit" to one's account." 13:28 What is Paul saying here? 13:30 He said, Abraham believed God, that's the faith, 13:32 and what happened? He was justified, Pastor John. 13:36 He was justified - that righteousness, as it were, 13:39 was credited to his account. 13:41 I think of 2 Corinthians 5:21... "For He made Him who knew 13:45 no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made 13:50 the righteousness of God in Him." That's right. 13:52 Ms. Mollie, I would call that "a double imputation 13:55 or a double crediting." 13:57 In other words, my sin was credited to Jesus and His 14:01 righteousness was credited to me. 14:04 So say that word again, "imputation." "Imputation" 14:07 So people don't think you mean "amputation." 14:08 Thank you! "IMPUTATION" 14:10 Beautiful word, I didn't want them to miss that. Thank you. 14:13 So genuine faith leads to forgiveness and justification 14:16 leads to us being brought back into unity with God 14:20 and the Lord Jesus Christ. 14:21 #2... Genuine faith leads to obedience. 14:24 Turn with me to Hebrews 11. This is the great faith chapter. 14:29 Hebrews 11 and it talks about Abraham 14:32 quite a bit in this chapter. 14:33 We're in verse 8... "By faith Abraham obeyed 14:38 when he was called to go out to the place which he would 14:39 receive as an inheritance. And he went out 14:43 not knowing where he was going." 14:45 So God called him out from Ur and he didn't know 14:48 where he was going, but what does it say? 14:49 "By faith Abraham obeyed." 14:52 Genuine faith always leads to obedience. 14:55 #3... Genuine faith trusts in the promises of God. Amen 15:00 We see that in the next verse. Verse 9... 15:03 We're still in Hebrews 11. "By faith he dwelt in the 15:06 land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents 15:10 with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him 15:12 of the same promise; for he waited for the city 15:15 which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 15:19 He claimed by faith that promises... 15:22 genuine faith trusts in the promises of God. 15:25 #4... Genuine faith lives for the hereafter. 15:29 In other words, this world is not all that there is, 15:32 neither is tomorrow guaranteed, but genuine faith 15:35 looks beyond what we see in reality here 15:39 and it looks for the hereafter. Amen 15:40 It looks for eternal life. 15:42 Hebrews 11:13 talks about how they died in faith 15:46 not having received the promise, but were assured 15:49 of them even though they were 15:50 strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 15:52 Verse 16... "... they desire a better, 15:54 that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not 15:58 ashamed to be called their God, 16:00 for He has prepared a city for them." 16:01 So Abraham looked for the hereafter. 16:05 He did not just live for the here and now. 16:07 #5... Genuine faith obeys without question. 16:11 Trust implicitly in the promise, 16:14 and the God who made that promise. 16:16 Regardless of any present circumstances, 16:19 we see this as the ultimate sacrifice - when Abraham 16:22 was willing to obey God without question. 16:25 He was willing to trust in God's promise and still offer 16:29 his son Isaac as a sacrifice - we see that. 16:32 So you might be saying... "How do I receive faith?" 16:35 Or, "How do I grow my faith?" 16:38 Recognize that faith is a gift. 16:40 Romans 12:3 says... "God has given to every man 16:43 a measure of faith." Amen! 16:46 Ephesians 2:8... "For by grace you have been 16:49 saved through faith and that not of yourselves, 16:52 it is the gift of God." What is the gift? 16:54 Salvation is the gift. 16:56 Grace is the gift. FAITH is the gift. 17:00 Recognize that faith is a gift of God. 17:03 Then realize that the word of God is what produces faith 17:06 in the life of the believer. Amen 17:08 Romans 10:17... "Faith comes by hearing 17:11 and hearing by the word of God." 17:14 So if you want to grow your faith, 17:15 spend time in the word of God. 17:18 God gives to each one of us a measure of faith, 17:20 but then we need to spend time in the word of God 17:23 in order to grow that faith. 17:25 Trust God to complete your faith. 17:28 Sometimes I think... "I have to do this on my own," 17:30 but GOD is the One who completes it. 17:33 Hebrews 12:2... "Looking unto Jesus, the author 17:37 and finisher of our faith." 17:40 So the word "finisher" in Greek means "perfector" 17:43 or "completer," so He is the One who finishes our faith, 17:47 He's the One who completes it. 17:49 He's the One who brings it to perfection. 17:51 And then allow your faith to be tested... 17:54 Not only do we spend time in the word of God, 17:56 and of course that grows our faith - not only do we 17:59 trust God that He's going to complete it, 18:01 He's going to perfect our faith, we allow Him to test it. 18:04 Sometimes that's a hard thing. 18:06 James 1:2-4... "My brethren, (Brother Johnny) 18:11 count it ALL JOY," which is hard when you 18:14 fall into various trials, knowing that the testing 18:17 of your faith produces patience. 18:19 But let patience have its perfect work that you may be 18:21 perfect and complete lacking nothing." 18:24 So the testing of our faith... as we allow our faith to be 18:26 tested - what happens? 18:28 It grows, it strengthens, it produces in us other virtues. 18:33 Finally, ask for greater faith. That's right. 18:37 Luke 17:5... "And the apostles said to the 18:39 Lord, "Increase our faith." 18:42 Increase our faith - ask for greater faith. 18:45 After creation, when the fall occurred, when Mollie talked 18:50 about it so eloquently, discord and disunity was the result. 18:54 God wanted to call one man and through him an entire 18:57 nation of people who would reconnect with Him, 19:01 and with each other. 19:03 Faith in our Creator, faith in our Redeemer 19:07 brings us back into harmony with Him and each other. 19:09 This is a faith, as we just talked about, that leads 19:13 to justification and the restoring of our relationship 19:16 with God and with each other. 19:18 It's a faith that leads to sanctification, 19:20 and the grace to walk in obedience. 19:24 It's a faith that leads to trust in and reliance 19:27 on His word and the promises found in His word. 19:31 And finally, it's a faith that leads to unity 19:34 both in this life as brothers and sisters and in the 19:37 life to come. Amen, Amen! 19:40 Amen, praise the Lord! 19:41 Well, this leads us to Thursday's part of the lesson, 19:45 and so... "God's Chosen People" 19:49 Through Abraham came God's chosen people, 19:51 the people of Israel. 19:53 And even today, you know, you have the Jews saying... 19:57 "Abraham is our father," and so not only this 20:00 as Jill has said, he's also the father of 20:03 the Christian believers. 20:06 Now in calling Abraham to be His servant, God chose 20:08 for Himself a people to represent Him to the world. 20:11 This was God's intention, that through the people 20:14 of Israel, He will bring the everlasting gospel 20:17 to the whole world. 20:19 And the people of Israel were to be a light... 20:23 Marvelous promises are given to the people of Israel. 20:27 I encourage you to read the Book of Deuteronomy 20:30 to see how many wonderful, exceeding great and precious 20:33 promises were given to them, so that if they followed God, 20:37 obeyed His commandments... oh! I'd like to read some 20:41 of these wonderful blessings that God promised to them. 20:44 For this, I'm turning to the Bible in Deuteronomy 7. 20:50 In Deuteronomy 7, we are going to see some great 20:54 and wonderful things. 20:55 First we're going to read a few verses. 20:58 We're going to read verse 6 to bring us to the place 21:01 as to why God chose the people of Israel. 21:05 Notice in verse 6... "For you are a Holy people 21:09 to the Lord your God. 21:10 The Lord your God has chosen You to be a people 21:13 for Himself, a special treasure 21:16 above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 21:18 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you 21:22 because you were more in number than any other people, 21:25 for you were the least of all peoples. 21:27 But because the Lord loves you and because He would 21:31 keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, 21:34 the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand 21:37 and redeemed you from the house of bondage, 21:40 from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." 21:43 God made a promise to Abraham that through him would be 21:48 a mighty nation and they were supposed to be 21:51 a light to the world. 21:52 Let me read some of the wonderful blessings, 21:54 as I mentioned before and these are in Deuteronomy 7. 21:59 I'm going to read verses 12, perhaps to verse 15... 22:04 "Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these 22:08 judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your 22:12 God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy 22:16 which he swore to your fathers, and he will love you and 22:20 bless you and multiply you. 22:22 He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of 22:26 your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, 22:29 the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock 22:32 in the land which He swore to your father to give to you. 22:35 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a 22:39 male or a female barren among you or among your livestock, 22:42 and the Lord will take away from you all sickness, 22:46 and I will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of 22:49 Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all 22:53 of those who hate you." 22:54 And so great and wonderful promises - what were they to do? 22:58 They were to keep God's commandments; 23:01 they were to follow His instructions and in following 23:04 His instructions, their crops will grow, 23:07 no one will be barren, there will be no sickness 23:09 among them - then as the other nations saw this, 23:12 they would say, "Wow, what's going on here? 23:14 What? Why are you so blessed? What is going on?" 23:18 Then they would say, "Oh, it is because we are following 23:20 God's commandments! What are they? 23:23 Look at them..." 23:24 And they would examine these commandments and they 23:27 would be able to say, "What a marvelous people, 23:29 what wise commandments and wisdom God has given you." 23:34 That the nations will say, "Well we want to be blessed too. 23:37 We want to do what you're doing so that we will 23:39 also be blessed, so that we will have no diseases among us, 23:42 so that our crops would grow." 23:44 This is what the Jewish people, the people of Israel were to do. 23:48 If they were faithful to God, God would bless them 23:51 above all peoples and so this was what the people 23:57 of Israel were to do, the chosen people. 24:00 Now notice in Deuteronomy 4:2 that the commandments 24:07 that God gave to the people of Israel, they were not to 24:11 make any changes whatsoever. 24:13 I'd like to ask Sister Jill, would read 24:14 Deuteronomy 4:2, please. 24:17 "You shall not add to the word which I command you, 24:19 nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments 24:22 of the Lord your God which I command you." 24:24 And there is something that remains till today... 24:28 as Christians we are not to change the commandments. 24:31 Now, we know the Bible tells us that there will be 24:34 a power that will think to change times and laws 24:37 and God had already warned us way back in Deuteronomy 4, 24:41 that we are not to think not even to change, 24:44 nor to add to them. 24:46 And so this was what God told the people of Israel, 24:50 and as long as they remained faithful, 24:54 the blessings would come upon them. 24:56 Now that is the key - as long as they remained faithful 25:00 and obeyed God, they were going to be blessed. 25:02 Now once they walk out of the hedge of protection that 25:07 God's commandments provide them... 25:09 Now they're entering into the enemy's territory, 25:12 and when you walk into the enemies territory, 25:14 when you walk away from God, when you start walking 25:16 in disobedience, you are really giving permission for the devil 25:21 to harass you and to cause you more 25:23 trouble than you really want. That's right. 25:26 So I would say that God's way is the best way. 25:29 And so, I would like to read verse 39 and 40 25:34 of Deuteronomy 4. 25:38 Moses is talking to the people of Israel... 25:40 "Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, 25:43 that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth 25:48 beneath; there is none else. 25:50 You shall keep, therefore His statutes and His commandments 25:53 which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee, 25:57 and with your children after thee that you may 26:01 prolong your days upon the earth 26:03 which the Lord your God gives you." 26:06 So we see that God wanted to preserve a knowledge 26:11 of Himself through the people of Israel and through Him 26:14 be a blessing to the whole world. 26:17 And so this blessing came upon them as long 26:22 as they remained faithful. 26:24 And so the people of Israel, through them 26:29 was to come the Messiah and when the Messiah came 26:33 if they embraced what He brought them, 26:37 they, today, would be again the center of the world. 26:43 The center of the world's attention. 26:45 But unfortunately, and we're going to talk about this 26:48 as we go on, they did not follow God's commandments, 26:53 they walked away from all this. 26:55 So they had really nothing to boast in themselves. 27:00 How does God choose people? That's the question. 27:03 Why did God choose the people of Israel? 27:06 You know when we think about the way people choose people, 27:11 I remember seeing a long time ago that somebody made up 27:15 this story about a... what are those people called 27:21 that come in and do an assessment of a business 27:24 and then they make recommendations? 27:26 What is that? Anybody remember what they call that? 27:28 Efficiency expert or something like that. 27:30 Some experts in businesses, they supposedly came 27:33 and examined all the disciples and looked at their 27:37 characters and all of their background and they said 27:40 to Jesus, "Well, You have a mess on Your hands, 27:46 You have a mess on Your hands! 27:48 What You want to do in the world, it's really bad. 27:52 This guys are really just fishermen, 27:54 they have no education, it's just not gonna work out. 27:56 But You have one guy there that is really above them all, 27:59 his name is Judas - that's the guy that you should 28:02 be putting in front of all these guys. 28:04 That's the guy they should be following." 28:06 You see, but God doesn't look at... What does God look at? 28:09 God does not look at the outward appearance. 28:11 He looks at the heart. 28:13 So even today, God is looking for people... 28:15 The Bible says He's looking for people that will 28:18 worship Him in Spirit and in truth! 28:23 And the Bible says it takes the foolish things 28:26 to confound the wise. That's right. 28:28 And when you understand your weakness, when you understand 28:31 that God is God - that He is God, and that anything you do 28:35 glory be to God, then God can work with you. 28:38 God can use you as an instrument, 28:40 and the gospel will go further. 28:42 And so I want to encourage everyone that the same 28:47 thing that God wanted to do with the people of 28:49 Israel, He wants to do with you. Amen! 28:52 If you choose to be faithful, if you follow the Lord, 28:55 if you say, "Lord, here I am, send me," 28:58 all the blessings that God promises He will give to us. 29:03 And so I want to encourage you to be faithful. 29:05 God loves you and He wants to use you to be a light 29:10 to the world, to be a light to those around you, 29:12 and that's what I would like to encourage you to do. 29:14 Amen and Amen! Thank you Johnny! 29:17 Just let's take... we're almost out of time 29:20 But let's take 10 seconds each, 29:22 quick recap or point from your day. 29:24 Watch what you do, there's gonna be consequences! 29:29 Unity is only possible as we both, together, focus on Christ 29:33 and lift Him up. Absolutely! Jill... 29:37 Reach out by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and know that 29:40 He wants to bring us back into 29:41 that right relationship with Him and each other. Amen! 29:44 When we understand our weakness and that without 29:48 Jesus we can do nothing, then is when God 29:51 can do something through us. 29:52 Oh, absolutely! 29:54 And you know, the most important thing that 29:56 the church needs today is unity because it's when we are 30:00 unified - when we are one in spirit with Him, 30:03 one with each other, this is when we reflect 30:06 His love and His light and His life. 30:08 And let me tell you something... 30:10 unity is what brings peace as well. 30:12 We can't even have peace with God unless we're 30:15 unified, can we? 30:17 So we are so glad you joined us today and we pray that 30:20 you will come back next week. 30:22 We will be looking at "Causes of Disunity" 30:26 in this fourth quarter called "Oneness in Christ." 30:29 Our prayer for you is that the grace of our Lord and Savior 30:33 Jesus Christ, the love of the Father and the fellowship 30:36 of the Holy Spirit will be with you always. 30:38 Thank you so much for joining us. |
Revised 2022-09-13