Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180041B
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00:02 Welcome back, we're in the middle of our study
00:04 of the Sabbath School Lesson and Brother Johnny, 00:07 you have Tuesday, you want to pick it up for us? YES! 00:09 Well the title for Tuesday's lesson is 00:12 "The Division of the Hebrew Nation" 00:15 You know when you read the Book of Judges, it's just amazing 00:20 and you say, "Why? Why?" Because "And the children 00:23 of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord." 00:25 And then it talks to you about eventually it gets to the 00:29 kings... "And this king did more evil than the kings 00:31 that were all before him." 00:33 So there was this back and forth that was going on. 00:36 Now, when you get to the lesson for Tuesday, it talks about 00:43 the path of apostasy and its dire consequences, 00:46 and we're going to talk about Rehoboam which is in 00:49 1 Kings 12:1-16... So I would like to read this 00:55 in a moment, but first I would like to give you a little 00:58 background because this is the time after the death of Solomon. 01:04 You remember Solomon - the Lord blessed him 01:08 with great wisdom - in so much that the Queen of Sheba 01:11 came to see Solomon because she heard of all the wisdom 01:14 of Solomon and she came and traveled far to see if 01:18 what she heard was true! 01:20 So when you get to 1 Kings 10, after she looked at everything, 01:27 I would like to read a few things to set the 01:28 background to all this. 01:30 After she looked at everything and questioned 01:31 Solomon about all these wonderful things 01:33 that she wanted answers for, 01:34 and Solomon answered her wisely. 01:36 Look at what happened in 1 Kings 10 beginning 01:40 in verse 4... "And when the Queen of Sheba 01:43 had seen all of the wisdom of Solomon - the house that he 01:46 had built, the food on his table, the seating of his 01:50 servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, 01:53 his cupbearers and his entryway by which he went 01:56 up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 01:59 And then she said to the king, "It was a true report 02:02 which I heard in my own land about your words 02:04 and your wisdom; however, I did not believe 02:08 the words until I came and saw with my own eyes, 02:11 and indeed the half was not told me. 02:15 Your wisdom and prosperity exceeds 02:18 the fame of which I heard. 02:20 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, 02:24 who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. 02:28 Blessed be the Lord your God..." 02:30 (Notice when God gives a gift to us, a blessing, 02:34 it's for the people to praise the Lord) and blessed 02:37 be the Lord your God who delighted in you, 02:39 setting you on the throne of Israel because the Lord 02:42 has loved Israel forever, therefore, He made you king 02:46 to do justice and righteousness." 02:49 So what was he supposed to do? Justice and righteousness. 02:53 But when you get to chapter 12, apparently there was a 02:56 change that happened because in his time of apostasy 03:02 he began and took many strange women; 03:04 and he set up shrines for idols and began to worship idols. 03:09 And when you get to 1 Corinthians 12, 03:12 the stage is set and the people are very upset 03:16 about the conditions - they were taxed heavily. 03:18 1 Kings... Yes, in 1 Kings 12, thank you very much. 03:22 Did I say second? You said 1 Corinthians. 03:24 1 Corinthians! There's a text that I may be sharing 03:27 later in 1 Corinthians. 03:28 Now 1 Kings 12... thank you. 03:31 Let's go ahead and read verses 1-16 really quick 03:36 because time is short. 03:38 "And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel 03:42 had gone to Shechem to make him king. 03:43 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat 03:46 heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from 03:50 the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), 03:53 that they sent and called him. 03:55 Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came 04:00 and spoke with Rehoboam, saying, "Your father 04:02 made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the 04:06 burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke 04:11 which he put on us, and we will serve you." 04:14 (now this is during the time of his apostasy - that things 04:17 changed for Israel - before, everybody was happy 04:19 because the king was a wise ruler and brought justice 04:23 to Israel, but things changed) 04:26 "So he said to them, depart for three days (that's what 04:28 Rehoboam said) then come back 04:30 to me and the people departed. 04:32 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood 04:35 before his father Solomon while he still lived, 04:38 and he said, "How do you advise me to answer these people?" 04:42 "And they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant 04:45 to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, 04:48 and speak good words to them, then they will be 04:51 your servants forever." 04:53 Wise counsel, but for some reason 04:56 he was not happy with that. 04:57 And it says in verse 8... "But he rejected the advice 05:01 which the elders had given him, and he consulted the young men 05:04 who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 05:06 And he said to them, "What advice do you give? 05:09 How should we answer this people who have spoken 05:13 to me saying, "Lighten the yoke which your father put on us?" 05:16 Then the young men who had grown up with him, 05:18 spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to this people 05:22 who have spoken to you, saying, "Your father made our yoke 05:25 heavy, but you make it lighter on us - thus you shall say 05:28 to them: "My little finger shall be thicker than 05:31 my father's waist! And now, whereas my father 05:35 put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; 05:38 my father chastised you with whips, but I will 05:41 chastise you with scourges!" (and in the King James it says 05:44 "scorpions") 05:46 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, 05:49 as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me 05:51 the third day." 05:53 Then the king answered the people roughly, 05:57 and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; 06:00 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, 06:03 saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add 06:06 to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, 06:08 but I will chastise you with scourges!" 06:10 So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn 06:13 of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, 06:17 which the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to 06:20 to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 06:22 Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, 06:26 the people answered the king saying: 06:27 "What share have we in David? 06:31 We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. 06:34 To your tents, O Israel! 06:36 Now, see to your own house, O David!" 06:39 So I had to read all this to give you the background 06:42 here because here you have advice from the elders 06:45 that had been from Solomon... they had experience, 06:48 and they gave him wise advice. 06:53 But when he heard the young men... to answer them roughly 06:56 and treat them WORSE than his father did, 06:58 he decided to listen to the young men. 07:01 So here was a marvelous opportunity for Rehoboam 07:06 to be able to set things in such a way that the people 07:11 of Israel would be his servants - they would delight 07:14 in serving him because he lightened their burden. 07:16 But he chose something different and it caused division 07:19 in the land. 07:21 So, this helps us to understand, as well, 07:25 I like to bring it home, as they say, I like to bring it home. 07:28 This also helps us to understand that God gives all of us 07:31 opportunities. Yes 07:32 He gives us choices - choose this way or choose this way. 07:36 And if we choose the way of the Lord, 07:38 there will be a blessing for us. 07:40 And if we choose the way of evil, 07:43 there will be bad results, and I don't know, 07:46 I have chosen badly sometimes and I have had bad results. 07:50 I don't know if anyone else would raise 07:52 their hand to that fact, but when we don't do 07:55 the Lord's will - bad results. 07:58 So Rehoboam brought, through his reign, division 08:03 among the people and set the stage for terrible, terrible 08:09 consequences that happened during the time of his reign. 08:15 And of course, had Rehoboam listened to the counselors, 08:20 and understood the divine will concerning Israel, 08:23 they would have listened to the request of the people 08:25 for decided reforms in the administration 08:28 of the government. 08:29 So the hour of opportunity came to him and he did not listen, 08:34 and, therefore, bad results. 08:36 And so, I would like to leave it there and I would like to 08:38 reserve some time for the rest, Sister Mollie and Pastor John. 08:43 Pastor Dinzey, I want you to know you laid a very 08:46 good foundation here concerning 08:48 the divisions in the Old Testament. 08:51 We find divisions in the Old Testament. 08:54 And division was never God's plan for His people. 09:00 What was God's original plan for His people? Unity. 09:04 Unity - I love the word "harmony." 09:08 For His people to be holy, God's original vision, 09:14 harmony for His people to be holy and to be a witness... 09:19 Jill, I think you covered this earlier - to be a witness 09:22 to all the nations around them. 09:24 Remember God's original purpose for the nation of Israel 09:31 that the people would see the blessings of God on that nation, 09:35 and that nation would be in unity and in harmony 09:40 and something I want to repeat... 09:42 It's Deuteronomy 4:6... "The nations around them..." 09:49 (around the nation of Israel would say) 09:51 "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." 09:57 Well Johnny, do you think that with the decision that 10:03 was made by the king, do you think that the nations 10:05 around him were going to say that? 10:07 No, what did it do? It plunged them into deeper 10:11 disunity - deeper disharmony. 10:14 Now the lesson that I'm covering today is Wednesday, 10:18 and it takes you into the New Testament. 10:21 The title of this is "Schisms... Johnny asked me if I 10:25 was going to use that word, that just means "divisions." 10:28 I think I can say that word easier... 10:31 "Divisions in the Church of Corinth" 10:33 Paul was going to address this. 10:36 We see divisions in the Hebrew nation. 10:42 We're going to look at divisions in the 10:45 New Testament Church, but precious people, 10:48 we've got divisions in our church today. 10:51 And the purpose for the Old Testament is for us to learn. 10:55 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God 10:57 and it's for us to learn. 11:00 Let us learn from the bad mistakes that they made there. 11:03 Let us look into the church at Corinth and let's 11:07 learn from those mistakes so that we, today... 11:09 Pastor Lomacang, wouldn't you love to have total 11:12 division in unity and harmony in our church? 11:15 And I'm thinking of the church here in Thompsonville, 11:18 we've got a good church here! Yes! Amen! 11:21 But every one of us needs to look into our hearts 11:24 and ask God - "Oh Father, if there's divisions 11:27 in my heart, search them out." Amen! 11:29 So in the first four chapters, I want you to go to 11:33 1 Corinthians the first chapter, we're going to look at 11:37 verses 10-13, but in the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, 11:42 the Apostle Paul appeals to the believer for unity. 11:48 See, Paul was at Ephesus, he had been in Corinth, 11:52 established the church in Corinth, now he's in Ephesus, 11:56 and while he's in Ephesus, he hears that there are 12:00 divisions - that there are problems 12:02 in the church at Corinth. 12:04 Now this is what the Apostle Paul did... 12:06 Thank goodness, he was a great orator, but he was a great 12:10 oratition - that's not the word, 12:12 he could write a beautiful letter! 12:14 That's what I want to say! 12:15 He wrote so many of the books in the New Testament, 12:19 and these books that he's writing - most all the time 12:23 they're addressing problems, issues that were in the churches. 12:28 So let's read here in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13... 12:33 He says, "Now I plead with you, 12:35 (now that's sincere, isn't it, sincerity) 12:38 "I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus 12:42 Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there 12:46 be no... what? What is that word? 12:48 Division...So what problem is he addressing? 12:52 He's addressing divisions among you, but that you be 12:57 perfectly joined together in the same mind 12:59 and in the same judgment. 13:01 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, 13:05 by those of Chloe's household, that there are 13:09 contentions among you." 13:11 Now I'd say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul" 13:17 or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," 13:21 or "I am of Christ." (and he asked this question) 13:25 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? 13:29 Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" 13:32 So what is causing this disunity? 13:35 People are lining up behind men. 13:40 They are putting their allegiance behind a man, 13:44 and what is the purpose of Paul's letter? 13:48 It's to bring them, even if they're behind him, 13:52 he says, "No, you need to bring your allegiance to Christ 13:57 and Christ alone." 13:59 Put your allegiance behind Paul... 14:01 His solution was to remind them that they were 14:05 Christians, followers of Christ and not of human beings. 14:10 And I want to just make this statement, 14:12 ya'll have heard this statement... 14:14 How often will man disappoint you? EVERY time. 14:19 Will Christ ever disappoint you? No. 14:21 Now let me ask you this... 14:23 Have you ever seen the devastation that a fall of the 14:30 spiritual leader can cause? Yes. 14:33 People that had their eyes on that spiritual leader 14:38 when the spiritual leader falls, they become disappointed, 14:43 and disillusioned and instead of leaving the spiritual leader, 14:50 what are they prone to do? They'll leave the church. 14:53 They'll leave God. 14:54 And I'm thinking about all that disappointment. 14:58 In 1844, you all know the disappointment of 1844. 15:05 The disappointment of 1844 and were the people disappointed 15:10 Pastor Lomacang? Oh yes. 15:11 Okay, how many people... I asked you about 15:13 this earlier - how many people? 15:15 Well it was estimated about 75,000 left the 15:18 early Advent movement. 15:20 They made their decisions to follow it not based on 15:24 their dedication to Christ, but based on their 15:27 dedication to William Miller's views. 15:29 So great disappointment and a great many people 15:33 were just left devastated. 15:35 Oh, but thank God for that group that they were 15:40 disappointed but here is what they did... 15:43 They dug more deeply into God's word and they found 15:51 a sure foundation and stability to continue 15:56 establishing this movement. That's right. 15:59 And that movement is the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 16:03 so although many were disillusioned, they did what 16:08 Paul is saying to do here. 16:10 They put their allegiance behind the Lord Jesus Christ. 16:15 Paul speaks clearly to those in Corinth - that no matter 16:20 how worthy... Now we have men and women 16:22 that we need to love, we need to admire, 16:25 we need to respect them, but we don't put our eyes on them. 16:29 They are not the one who we are looking to as our example. 16:33 Who is our only example? Jesus Christ. 16:35 Our only example has got to be the Lord Jesus Christ. 16:39 It is Christ and Him crucified that is the source of all truth. 16:46 Paul pleads with us that there be no division among us. 16:51 That we be perfectly joined together of the same mind 16:55 and the same judgment. 16:57 In Corinthians, Paul is addressing members of the 17:00 same church. 17:02 I've got just a minute, but I want us to 17:05 look at something else... 17:06 I want us to look at something that Paul says in Romans 12:18. 17:12 You don't have to turn to it. 17:13 What he says, "If it is possible, as much as depends 17:19 on you, live peaceably with what? With all men. 17:23 You see, I am in a situation now where I have moved. 17:26 I was in an Adventist environment; 17:29 I worked at an Adventist ministry; 17:33 of course I attended an Adventist church; 17:35 all of my buds are Adventists, I've moved to where all 17:39 family is and, you know, none of my family are Adventists. 17:42 None of Hal's family are Adventists. 17:44 We have a wonderful Adventist Church in 17:47 Decatur, Alabama, but you know something I can do? 17:50 I can agree on the areas, I can agree on with my family, 17:55 and what we have determined 17:57 to do is live in peace and harmony with each other 18:01 because there are areas we don't agree on. 18:04 Now I don't compromise by any means and don't hear me say 18:08 compromise, but what I do... if I try to force my beliefs 18:14 down their throat - you know what I've just done? 18:16 I've just alienated them, but if I love them and let my light 18:20 so shine around them, then that loving hand is more 18:25 apt to draw them into the truth God has blessed us with 18:29 than if I try to force if on them. 18:31 So to the degree that we can, 18:34 let us live at peace with everybody. Amen! 18:37 Thank you Mollie, thank you Jill, Shelley and Pastor Dinzey. 18:40 And now we're on Thursday... "Wolves Will Come" 18:44 Wolves! Wow! That's a very cautious word. 18:48 We've heard about the dragon, we've heard about Satan, 18:53 but WOLVES - a completely different identity. 18:57 And there's a statement that we've heard before... 18:59 Wolves in... what kind of clothing? Sheep's clothing. 19:03 I want to begin with Acts 20, 19:05 if you have your Bibles, go there with me. 19:07 This is a very interesting topic how Paul, the Apostle, warns 19:10 the Ephesian elders about the conditions 19:15 that they are going to be confronted with, 19:16 and the amazing thing about that... 19:18 Ephesus denotes the beginning 19:20 of the push of the Christian movement. 19:22 The Church at Ephesus, the very first one, the push. 19:25 At the very onset of the Christian Church, 19:28 Satan loaded his guns to come after the Christian 19:32 by bringing people in. 19:33 Now before we talk about the solution to wolves, 19:37 we're going to talk about the identity of wolves. 19:39 How do you find them out? 19:40 Let's start with Acts 20:25... "And indeed now I know that 19:45 you all among whom I have gone preaching the 19:48 kingdom of God, will see my face no more. 19:51 (in other words, I'm leaving) 19:52 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent 19:56 of the blood of all men." 19:57 (Ezekiel 33... "I'm going to tell you the 20:01 truth so when the accountability comes, it's not on my hand.") 20:05 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all 20:09 the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, 20:14 to shepherd the church of God which He purchased 20:17 with His own blood. 20:18 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves 20:22 will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 20:25 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, 20:30 speaking perverse things, (that's confusing, 20:32 corrupt things) and it says... to draw away the disciples 20:37 after themselves. 20:38 Therefore watch (what did they say we should do? watch) 20:42 and remember that for three years I did not cease to 20:45 warn everyone night and day with tears." 20:49 Paul was serious, so now in his departure, he's saying, 20:53 "Be careful, be careful." 20:55 So I want to do is I want to begin by identifying 20:57 four particular areas where we could identify wolves 21:00 because the Bible makes it clear... 21:02 A wolf in the little kiddy story - I forgot what they call 21:08 ... fairytales, remember growing up, the little tale of 21:10 Red Riding Hood... you know, for those of you 21:14 who never heard about it, don't worry about it. 21:16 But the whole purpose of it was - the wolf 21:18 camouflaged himself to make him look like 21:20 Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, 21:21 until he turned around, he had on the external 21:24 garments, but his internal intentions were quite vicious, 21:27 savage as it were denoted in the Bible. 21:31 First of all, how to identify a wolf? 21:32 Their exterior actions camouflaged 21:38 their interior intents. 21:41 Their external actions camouflaged their internal 21:44 intents - in other words, they do things that seem 21:47 so innocuous, but in fact, 21:48 it's very intentional and very vicious. 21:50 Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 11:13... 21:54 So the first warning is, don't take the external 21:57 as evidence to the internal. 22:00 Don't let the external fool you; listen carefully 22:04 because out of the abundance of the heart what happens? 22:07 ... the mouth speaks. 22:09 Give that person time to reveal who they really are. 22:12 The Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:13... 22:15 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, 22:19 (here's the exterior) transforming themselves 22:22 into apostles of Christ. 22:24 And no wonder! (here's the exterior camouflaged) 22:26 For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 22:30 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers (so when 22:34 somebody says "I'm a minister," I say, "what kind?" 22:36 what kind? we'll talk about that in a moment) 22:38 also transform themselves into ministers of 22:42 righteousness whose end will be according to their works." 22:46 In the Book of Titus 1:16... "They profess to know 22:50 God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable 22:54 disobedient and disqualified for every good work." 22:57 "They say they know Me." But when you examine their 23:01 intentions when you examine their fruit, 23:03 because we are told by their fruits how? 23:05 "By their fruit we will know them." 23:07 The second identity is exactly, they look the part, 23:11 but they don't produce the fruit. 23:15 "By their fruit you will know them." 23:16 They look the part, but examine the fruit. 23:19 That's so vitally important because people today... 23:22 I'm a New Yorker and I'm a fan of... I shouldn't say fan 23:28 because that's short for fanatic, but I enjoy 23:29 my New York teams - I'm a fan of the New York Knicks. 23:33 There, I said it! 23:34 And I have some New York Knicks shirts. 23:37 Now if I put on the entire uniform, somebody might say, 23:40 "Do you play for the New York Knicks?" No. 23:43 Because they'll check the roster and my name is not there. 23:46 The Lord doesn't have those who are camouflaged 23:50 in His roster - He hasn't called them. 23:53 He hasn't chosen them and they have an intentional 23:58 intent on the inside that can only be found or 24:04 discovered when we listen to what they're saying 24:07 and when we examine their fruits. 24:09 Third thing... They don't listen to the shepherd's voice. 24:13 John 10:16... "Other sheep I have which 24:15 are not of this fold." 24:17 We're not talking about the sheep - we're talking about 24:19 the leaders because there are sheep everywhere. 24:22 Do we agree that God's people are in every denomination? 24:24 Absolutely! They are everywhere, but the problem 24:26 is that the leaders are not always of God's fold. 24:29 "Other sheep I have that are not of this fold. 24:32 Them also I must bring and they will hear My voice; 24:35 and there will be one flock and one shepherd" 24:37 or one fold and one shepherd. 24:39 So the point is - they don't listen to the shepherd's voice, 24:42 and the Prophet Jeremiah talked about - here's one... 24:46 Jeremiah 23:21... "I have not sent these 24:50 prophets, yet they ran. 24:52 I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." 24:56 And today, we live in a world of prophetic confusion. 24:58 And people say, "Well this is good prophecy," and they say, 25:01 "What makes your prophecy so true?" 25:02 When we speak a prophecy, it must be supported by 25:05 Scripture because no prophecy of Scripture is of any 25:08 private interpretation. That's right. 25:10 So whatever the prophecy is, it must be supported by 25:13 the word of God beginning to end. Absolutely. 25:16 So we have to make sure that if somebody says, 25:18 "I'm a shepherd or I am a follower of Christ, 25:20 or I'm a sheep of His fold," and they speak differently, 25:24 they are a wolf - a savage wolf. 25:26 The other one, they claim to know Jesus, but the sign 25:29 of allegiance to Him is rejected. 25:32 They claim to know Him. 25:34 Here's the evidence 1 John 2:3... 25:36 "Now by this we know that we know Him, 25:39 if we keep His commandments. 25:42 He who says (I'm going to say it with enthusiasm) 25:45 HE WHO SAYS, whatever a minister says, "I know Him, 25:51 and does not keep His commandments, 25:53 (the Scripture says) He is a liar and the truth 25:57 is not in Him." That's God's discretionary evidence. 26:01 So if somebody says, "Are you an American citizen? 26:03 Let me see your passport, are you an American? 26:04 Were you... Are you? Let me see your passport. 26:06 Let me see your birth certificate." 26:08 The sign of allegiance and identity must be there, 26:11 am I right? Yes. 26:12 So what are the ways that we can be discretionary, 26:15 and we could be furnished with the Scriptural tools 26:18 because don't make decisions about people whether or not 26:21 they are true or false - on your feelings; on your 26:25 prejudices - we may not like a person; 26:29 we may not like the way they sound or the way they 26:31 sing or the way they preach, or we may have an aversion 26:34 towards their denomination. 26:36 Never make a decision based on that. 26:38 Always make your decision based on God's word - the only 26:41 level of discretion. 26:42 The other thing is they teach that God is also not specific. 26:47 They teach that God is not specific. 26:49 How many times have you heard people say, "I know that's 26:52 your truth and this is my truth; you've got your 26:54 points in the Bible to back up what you believe; 26:56 I have my points to back up what I believe." 26:57 I have a letter in my cabinet to this very day of a pastor 27:01 of a large church who has said, "You have your Scriptures 27:03 to back up what you believe and I have mine." 27:04 I said, "Brother, we don't have Scriptures that back up 27:06 two points of controversy. 27:08 Either mine is according to the Scriptures, 27:10 or yours is. 27:11 They claim allegiance, but they teach that God is not specific. 27:15 Here's one of the evidences... 27:16 Some people say it doesn't matter what day... 27:18 you pick a day and make that holy; I'll pick a day 27:20 and make this holy, but the identifying mark is 27:23 "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God," 27:26 so it is not the day YOU PICK, it's the God to whom you are 27:30 connected because He has already selected that day. 27:32 Exodus 20:10... one of the ways we have to keep this in mind is, 27:37 and since I have less than a minute... 27:38 Shelley, I understand how you feel. You are fine. 27:42 To resolve the issues that come to us from savage wolves, 27:48 we have to take heed to ourselves and to the teachings 27:51 of God's word to the doctrines. 27:52 1 Timothy 4:16... "We have to continue in 27:55 them for in so doing, we will both save ourselves and those 28:00 who hear us. 28:01 The other thing - we have to establish ourselves firmly 28:05 on God's word - all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. 28:08 How much? ALL! 28:09 So when somebody says, "I'm a New Testament Christian," 28:11 I say, "You've missed four-fifths of the story." 28:14 All Scripture! 28:15 And finally... we must remain allegiant 28:18 to Christ and walk in the light with Him. 28:21 He says, "Walk in the light as I am and in the light, 28:25 and darkness will not come upon you," John 12:35 28:29 Amen! Thank you so much each one of you. 28:32 What a wonderful study of God's Word talking about 28:35 the disunity as we saw it progress through the 28:38 children of Israel and then into the kings, then into the 28:40 New Testament Church and Pastor John, all the way down 28:43 to today where we need to be careful and we need to 28:46 check everything against the word of God, 28:48 and what God says. 28:50 We have just a few moments left here at the end of our 28:52 program and I want to give each one of you 28:54 an opportunity if you have something that you'd 28:56 like to share regarding your day 28:57 or someone else's day, just a closing thought. 28:59 My closing thought is this... Sin brings discord and 29:04 I think we've all touched on this in some way that 29:06 our responsibility is to unity. 29:11 That means that we must study the word of God, 29:14 pray for the Holy Spirit to lead us and that God will 29:19 give us understanding and then pray that God will 29:22 empower us by the Holy Spirit to walk in obedience. 29:26 Amen! Brother Johnny... 29:27 Yes, you know they were talking about divisions 29:34 and unity and I read something that really stayed in my mind 29:40 and it says... Really it's the absence of Christ in the heart 29:44 that brings division. 29:46 So when people start pulling their own way... 29:49 "My way is the right way," you know, we were recently 29:52 in New York - I came to the conclusion as you're 29:55 driving down the expressway that people were like, 29:58 "I'm first, I'm first, I'm second and I'm third," 30:02 and it was me, me, me. 30:03 And so when we allow Christ to reign in our hearts, 30:07 is when all of us can come into unity. Amen. 30:10 And so we need Christ in our hearts. Amen! 30:13 Miss Mollie. Just a quote concerning... 30:18 Do you believe that God has entrusted the Seventh-day 30:22 Adventist Church with teachings, that we're responsible 30:29 to share with the world. Amen! 30:30 I just wanted to make this statement... 30:32 "As Seventh-day Adventists because God has entrusted us 30:37 with an end-time message for an end-time people, 30:40 we can't take for granted our unity of faith and mission. 30:45 Divisions and quarrels can undermine the unity 30:49 of our church which undermines the effectiveness 30:54 of our message - we cannot allow that." Amen! 30:57 Thank you and finally, we have to allow God's word 31:02 to keep us solidly established. 31:04 2 Timothy 2:15... "Be diligent to present 31:09 yourselves approved to God." 31:11 (make sure that your decisions are to be faithful 31:13 to God) a worker who does not need to be ashamed, 31:17 rightly dividing the word of truth." 31:19 If the word of God is your guide, He will be 31:22 like the GPS that will get you to your heavenly destination. 31:25 Amen! Thank you all so much, Shelley and Pastor Johnny, 31:29 Mollie and Pastor John. 31:30 Thank you for sharing from your experience, 31:32 and from the word of God. 31:33 And we are so glad that you joined us today as well. 31:36 Go to the Lord Jesus, make that decision 31:38 as Greg and I have made and we have made here 31:40 at 3ABN - make the decision found in Joshua 24:15... 31:44 "Choose you this day, whom you will serve. 31:48 As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 31:51 We hope you join us next week as we look at Jesus 31:53 High Priestly Prayer in John 17, 31:56 that prayer for unity. Bye, bye. |
Revised 2018-10-11