Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180043B
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00:02 Well we are back here for the Sabbath School Panel,
00:04 and our study continues with 00:06 Sister Mollie Sue. Thank you, thank you! 00:08 I have got the privilege of teaching today on the... 00:13 "Unity in One Body" and that's Tuesday's lesson. 00:16 Now did you hear all of those Scriptures that Shelley shared? 00:21 Every one of those Scriptures was Paul speaking 00:25 to that Ephesians Church, 00:26 telling them who they are in Christ Jesus. That's right. 00:30 Now in the letters Paul writes to different churches, 00:35 he addresses issues that those churches are facing. 00:39 When addressing the issues, he is very practical 00:43 in the way he expresses himself. 00:45 Now these Ephesians, these believers who were heirs 00:51 to the promises - Shelley you made that so clear, 00:54 they were now heirs to the covenant blessings, 00:58 and to the promises of God that had formerly been 01:02 only for who? For the Jewish nation! 01:07 But they hadn't grasped the truth and were living 01:11 as second-rate Christians. 01:13 Second-rate children of God. 01:16 That's why Paul keeps telling them... 01:18 who they are in Christ, who they are in Christ. 01:20 Ooo, I love that Scripture, this isn't even in my lesson, 01:23 but I'm going to share this one that Shelley shared, 01:26 and that's Ephesians 2:19... He says to them, "Therefore 01:30 you are no longer strangers and foreigners, 01:35 but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the 01:39 household of God." (he is stressing that to them) 01:44 Paul is dispelling erroneous thinking and to dispel an 01:51 error, you have to go to the root of that error 01:55 and pull those roots out. 01:57 And then, Paul is sharing truth; the entrance of God's word 02:02 gives life; truth dispels error, 02:07 and so that is what Paul is doing. 02:09 Now they feel that they are second-rate; 02:12 they haven't grasped the truth that they are fellow citizens 02:18 in the Kingdom of God. 02:20 Now some years ago, I read a book by Coretta Scott King. 02:25 She is the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 02:29 And, this is what she said... she was talking about 02:33 racism and she said, "Racism is a coin that's got two sides. 02:41 One side of that coin says, "I'm superior; 02:45 the other side of that coin says, "I'm inferior." 02:50 And what Sister King said was, "Both sides are error, 02:56 both sides are wrong. 02:57 There is no superiority and there is no inferiority 03:01 in the Kingdom of God. That's right! 03:03 And that's what Paul is addressing here. 03:06 Now the superiority - you know he touched on that too 03:12 those that may would feel that they're superior, 03:15 and that's when he talks about the breaking down of the 03:21 middle wall of partition... that middle wall of separation. 03:25 Those Jews that were reading this - they were raised 03:29 in this culture and they knew very well what that 03:32 middle wall meant. What did that middle wall mean? 03:35 It meant that you can't come any further because 03:40 this is where only the Jews can go; 03:42 This is where only we can go. 03:44 Paul is saying... "Oh no, that wall has been broken down." 03:48 That means that the Jewish people and the Gentiles 03:55 that make Jesus Christ the Lord of their life, 03:57 they are now one and they are equal... 04:00 there is no more separation. 04:04 Now bringing down that wall, it reminded me of another wall 04:09 that's been brought down. 04:11 What was the purpose of the Berlin Wall? 04:13 Do you remember the bringing down... I remember 04:15 when that happened... I think that makes me very old. 04:19 But... No, I remember it! 04:20 Jill... Then that makes you 04:22 very old too! She's not very old. 04:24 But what that wall did was... did it not separate East Berlin 04:28 from West Berlin? Separated families. 04:30 It caused disunity. Yes. 04:31 Okay, when the wall came down, then there was what? 04:35 There was unity! And so that's what Paul 04:38 is saying - with the coming down of that wall, 04:40 there is unity! That's right. 04:44 He expresses clearly to those Gentiles... see the church and 04:49 Ephesians were Gentile believers that the oneness, 04:55 the unity that now exists between the Jewish 04:58 believers and the Gentile believers wasn't just a theory. 05:03 Like sometimes we think good theory, but not really fact. 05:08 No, he's saying, this is a fact, and then he goes on to say... 05:12 Go to Ephesians 4, I want us to look at this... 05:17 Ephesians 4, we're going to read verses 1-3, 05:24 and here's what Paul says... "I, therefore, the prisoner 05:29 of the Lord, (you know, where is Paul writing 05:31 this letter from? He's in prison. This is how he 05:35 communicates to those churches in the other areas 05:39 where he had been and as an apostle had established 05:43 these churches)... a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you 05:47 to do what? To walk worthy of the calling 05:51 with which you were called... 05:52 (Walk worthy - the calling is that of 05:57 not being a second-rate citizen, but that of being an heir, 06:01 and a joint heir with Christ, as a child of God, 06:06 and we ARE - we are what the word says we are. 06:11 If the word says it, it's the truth - God's word is the truth. 06:15 And if God says we are overcomers by the blood of 06:18 the Lamb and the word of our testimony, guess what? 06:20 We are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb 06:23 and the word of our testimony! 06:26 This is what he's saying to those Ephesian believers 06:30 and that is what He is saying to us today... 06:32 Don't live beneath what Christ has accomplished for you! 06:38 That is negating the power of the blood that Christ 06:41 shed for you on Calvary.) Let's go on... 06:44 Verse 2... (But He doesn't want you to become 06:48 proud or puffed up, listen at this...) 06:51 ... with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, 06:56 bearing with one another in love (there's the love, 07:00 remember my title is "Unity in One Body," 07:05 what is the root of all unity? It's LOVE!) 07:09 ... endeavoring to keep the unity of the 07:12 Spirit in the bond of peace. 07:15 These attributes are all rooted in love and I want us 07:21 to turn to 1 Corinthians 13; can't teach on love without 07:26 going to 1 Corinthians 13, I'm going to begin in 07:31 verse 3... "And though I bestow all my goods to 07:37 feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, 07:40 but have not love, it profits me what? Nothing. 07:44 It profits me nothing! 07:46 Without love, it profits you nothing. 07:48 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; 07:52 love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 07:55 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, 07:59 is not provoked, thinks no evil; 08:01 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 08:05 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, 08:09 endures all things." 08:10 This is the love - the love of God has been shed abroad 08:13 in our hearts - by the Holy Ghost which was given. 08:16 So that love is in there. 08:18 Let's go on... "Love preserves relationships among brothers 08:22 and sisters and promotes peace and unity in the Christian 08:26 community and beyond. 08:29 If those, outside our church, let me make this statement... 08:32 If those outside our church, outside our local church, 08:36 Pastor John, look into our church and they see 08:41 strife and disunity, are they going to want to join 08:44 themselves to us? No. 08:46 Of course they're not. 08:48 What was the last thing that Jesus, or one of the last 08:52 things Jesus told His disciples? 08:55 That's John 13:34... "A new commandment 08:59 (the eleventh commandment) A new commandment I give to you 09:04 that you do something, that you love one another 09:07 as I have loved you, that you also love one another." 09:13 Now I want to finish this with a quote from Sister White. 09:21 In the exhortation of Paul at Ephesus, she asks us 09:26 a very serious question. 09:28 Sister White tells us... "Divisions in the church 09:31 dishonor the religion of Christ before the world, 09:35 and give occasion to the enemies of truth to justify 09:38 their course. Paul's instructions were not 09:41 written alone for the church in his day, God designed 09:44 that they should be sent down to us." 09:46 Here is her question for you and for me... 09:49 "What are we doing to preserve the unity in the bond of peace?" 09:55 Good question! Good thing to think about. Amen! 09:58 Pastor John... Thank you, Mollie, for that 10:00 segue about unity because this whole lesson is telling us, 10:04 in various ways from the cultural differences 10:06 and all the things that Shelley brought out, breaking down 10:09 that middle wall - a partition separating the Gentiles 10:11 from the Jews - so glad to hear you talk about 10:15 how the coin had two sides and both sides are wrong 10:20 in the sense of racism. 10:22 And now we talk about the tools that God is going to give 10:24 to the church to bring about the unity that it needs. 10:28 I like building things... I'm not a contractor, 10:32 but I, through the years, build things. 10:35 I have a desk at my house I built. 10:37 I have a six dresser drawer I built - a tall one. 10:41 I like to do woodwork. 10:43 I don't tell everybody that the strongest dresser in my house 10:47 is the one that I built because I took the time, 10:50 I put the best materials into it and the desk I built 10:54 is still there - it goes from place to place and it doesn't 10:57 even move - it's rigid. 10:59 But when I see building projects like churches being built, 11:02 this sanctuary being built, it brings together people 11:05 that have, until that point, not known each other. 11:10 It brings together people that are professionals on 11:12 roofing, painting, laying foundations and the whole 11:17 purpose of it - Jesus being the architect pulls us all together 11:21 with various gifts. 11:23 And the church is built best when those gifts... 11:26 if somebody says, "We're going to try to do the roof 11:30 ourselves," but somebody says, "But you're a painter," 11:32 "Aww, I could do roofs," 11:33 "Have you ever done a roof before?" 11:35 "No, but I don't think it would be that much difficult," 11:37 and the roof falls in. 11:40 And somebody says, "The reason why the roof fell in is 11:43 you don't have the gift of doing roofs." 11:45 "You should leave it to the professionals." 11:48 Well God thought about His church in that sense 11:51 in Ephesians 4, let's look at this. 11:53 I'm going to begin with verse 13, actually verse 12... 11:58 and then I'm going to pedal back to the gifts as outlined 12:01 and see that the Lord looked at the building up of 12:04 the body of Christ and He says, When I made my people 12:08 different color eyes, different color hair, different 12:11 backgrounds, different experiences and we know the 12:14 gospel really is, in fact, the synopsis of the life 12:18 of Jesus from the perspective of four different men, 12:21 but they were all with the same Lord. That's right! 12:23 Looking at it from different corners... 12:25 north, east, south and west. 12:26 Verse 12- speaking about these gifts... 12:29 "... for the equipping of the saints (they need a specific 12:32 kind of equipment) for the work of the ministry for the edifying 12:37 (or the building up) of the body of Christ..." 12:39 (And notice, when the guy with the saw and the hammer and the 12:42 paint and the roof material and the foundation-laying material 12:45 all come together, they come together)... till we come 12:48 to unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 12:53 to a perfect man, (a completed project) to the measure 12:57 of the stature of the fullness of Christ... 12:58 (clean lines and even when the outside is done, 13:01 I was like this... when you see the building outside, 13:04 people said, "Is it done?" They said, "No." 13:06 It's working on the inside. 13:07 And that's how we are, the Lord gives us gifts and when people 13:11 look at the outside, "He's got a nice suit on, 13:13 wonderful jacket; I like that outfit; Shelley, you look great; 13:16 Pastor Dinzey, I like that tie." 13:18 The Lord is still working on the inside, isn't that nice? 13:21 We're still under construction. Still under construction! 13:24 So I like my favorite passage in the Bible... 13:27 I'm going to look at this very quickly... 1 John 3, 13:31 my favorite Scripture in the Bible. 13:35 It used to be Romans 13:11-14, that's a good one too, 13:38 but my favorite verse in the Bible shows what the unity 13:42 of the faith is going to do; what the end product 13:44 is going to be. 13:46 Jill, do you have it? 1 John 3:1-2... 13:53 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, 13:57 that we should be called children of God! 13:59 Therefore the world does not know us because it did not 14:02 know Him. (now here's the key) Beloved, now we are children 14:06 of God; (when?) (now!) (right, right now) 14:09 and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, 14:12 but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, 14:14 for we shall see Him as He is." 14:16 Okay, that program on television, "Extreme Makeovers," 14:19 they would say, "Move the bus!" 14:21 One day, Heaven is going to say, "Move the bus!" Amen? 14:27 And then all the heavenly hosts are going to say, 14:30 "Look at what Jesus did." Amen! 14:35 Because if I was an angel, I'd say, "Now wait a minute, 14:37 wait a minute, wait a minute; are you really going to let 14:41 John Lomacang in heaven?" 14:43 The Lord says, "I'm not done yet." 14:46 "He who has begun a good work in us, will complete it." 14:49 And part of the process of completing that 14:52 is He's got to give the church 14:54 the tools so we can work together. 14:58 If I could saw and hammer and build and paint and put on 15:01 roofs and foundations, I wouldn't need anybody 15:03 to help me, but I can't do what Shelley does and I can't do 15:06 what Mollie does, and Jill and I can't 15:07 do what Pastor Dinzey does, so He gives us all these 15:09 different things, so He says, "Try to build that church 15:13 by yourself and see what happens." 15:15 "Can't do it, Lord, so I need Shelley, I need Mollie, 15:18 I need Jill, I need Danny, I need everybody." 15:21 Everybody has a particular gift. 15:23 And then He says... If you think anyone of those are 15:25 insignificant... Let's go to 1 Corinthians 12. 15:28 If you think any one of those is insignificant, 15:30 look at 1 Corinthians 12. 15:32 Do you think you can do it by yourself? 15:35 Look at 1 Corinthians 12, okay here we are... 15:39 I'm going to read starting with verse 4... 15:42 "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 15:46 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 15:49 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the 15:52 same God who does what, who works all in all. (He's working) 15:57 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to EACH 16:00 for the profit of all... 16:02 The first point I want to make: Don't ever think 16:05 the gift that God has given to you is for your benefit. Amen 16:10 The gift I have is to benefit Shelley, Mollie and Jill and 16:13 Pastor Dinzey - my gift is not given for my benefit. 16:17 A point that's very important to make because I'm 16:19 going to read the rest of the passage... 16:20 because people today are taught in some of the Christian 16:23 walks of life - some of the churches, that if I don't 16:26 have a particular gift, then I'm not saved. 16:29 No! The Lord says even as He outlines the gift, 16:33 He's going to say in 1 Corinthians at the end 16:35 of chapter 12, "... a desire, earnestly desire the best 16:40 gifts and yet I show you a more excellent way." 16:43 In other words, as Mollie said, "Love... you can have all the 16:46 gifts in the world but if you don't have love - which is 16:48 not a gift but a fruit... we're not known by our gifts, 16:52 we're known by our... Fruits! 16:54 "By their fruit, you will know them." 16:56 So if you're being taught in your community that it's by 16:59 your gift that you identify with God, that's not scriptural. 17:03 It is by your FRUIT... "By their fruits you will know them." 17:06 You will know them by their fruits - does a tree gather 17:09 thorns and thistles? No... it doesn't have the... 17:11 Now rose bushes, yes, but that's not a fruit. 17:14 That's a flower! 17:16 By their fruits you'll know them. 17:17 Look at this...let's go to some of the other ones, 17:19 and we can't go through all of them because 17:21 you know, the Lord gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, 17:23 pastors, teachers, all are needed in Ephesians 4, 17:26 they're all needed but here's why they're needed... 17:28 It says, down to verse 8... "For to one is given the 17:34 word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of 17:36 knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith 17:39 by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the 17:42 same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, 17:44 to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, 17:46 to another different kinds of tongues, to another 17:49 the interpretation of tongues. 17:51 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, 17:56 (here's the key...) distributing to each one individually 18:00 as HE wills." 18:02 He decides... Jill needs the gift of administration, 18:06 Pastor Dinzey needs the gift of tongues... 18:10 I'm a bilingual illiterate, I can't speak in two 18:12 languages...Figure that out! 18:15 Mollie needs the gift of an Alabamian - she could speak 18:19 in many languages! 18:21 But we all have various gifts... Shelley has so many 18:23 hats, we don't know which one she has on on what day, 18:26 but those are gifts that God gave her and said, 18:28 "Send her with those gifts to 3ABN - they need it." 18:31 These are gifts, but is to benefit everyone, 18:34 and He decides as He wills who needs what. 18:39 But the one thing I want to point out as I wind up 18:42 is Ephesians 4:12 because when we get these gifts, 18:48 it says in Ephesians 4:12... "For the equipping of 18:51 the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the 18:54 edifying of the body of Christ." 18:56 And we like to say, "For by grace are we saved through 18:59 faith, that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, 19:02 not of works lest anyone should boast." 19:04 We are not saved BY works, we are saved... Shelley, 19:08 you know where I'm going, we're saved... what Shelley, 19:09 FOR works! 19:12 Ephesians 2:10... "For we are His workmanship created in 19:17 Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared 19:20 beforehand that we should walk in them. Amen! 19:23 So on that note, the Lord put church leaders together 19:27 to equip the church. 19:29 The church is to equip the community and it's a 19:32 reciprocal process, go out, come in. 19:36 Come unto Me - go into all the world. 19:38 Come unto Me - GO... that's the gospel, 19:40 two words - come and go! 19:41 And when we come and receive these gifts, 19:43 we can go and continue building of the Kingdom of God 19:46 and here's the point: Nobody is exempt! 19:49 Amen! Thank you so much Pastor John. 19:52 What an incredible foundation! 19:54 I love the concept of the different gifts, 19:57 and then the fruit that God has given to us 19:59 but the gifts that we have within the body of Christ. 20:02 My day is Thursday, "Human Relationships in Christ" 20:07 We're looking at a long passage and I don't know how 20:10 we're going to get through this, but we're in Ephesians 5. 20:13 So jump over one chapter, Ephesians 5, 20:15 we're going to begin in verse 15 and go all the way 20:18 to chapter 6, verse 9. 20:20 We won't read each verse, but that's our subject 20:23 for today... "Human Relationships in Christ" 20:26 We'll look at relationships as friends and acquaintances, 20:29 and fellow Christians as husbands and wives, 20:32 as parents and children, as masters and slaves. 20:37 Christianity is a religion of relationship because it's 20:40 all about the relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, 20:43 and then how we are to live out the relationship 20:46 we already have with Jesus with other people in the 20:49 context of community. 20:51 So let's begin in Ephesians 5:15... 20:53 "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, 20:57 but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil." 21:02 How are we to live in relationship with others? 21:05 We are to live with eternity in view with a proper 21:09 understanding of the times in which we live. 21:11 Verse 17... "Do not be unwise, but understand 21:15 what the will of the Lord is." 21:16 We are to understand the will of the Lord for our lives. 21:20 "And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; 21:23 but be filled with the Spirit," 21:25 Now in Greek, Pastor John, that's continuous action... 21:28 Not that I was filled this morning and then that's 21:31 going to last me for the rest of my life... 21:33 we're to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. 21:36 Verse 19... "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns 21:39 and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your 21:43 heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things 21:46 to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," 21:49 We are to live with gratitude. 21:51 We are to live with praise in the context of 21:55 community of believers. 21:56 And then the next verse... "Submitting to one another in 21:59 the fear of the Lord." 22:01 A mutual submission in the body of Christ 22:04 I think is important and that only comes as a result 22:06 of the Holy Spirit living in us and us willing to walk 22:10 in humility toward out brothers and sisters. 22:14 Now we get to the subject of marriage, Christ in the 22:17 church and husbands and wives relationship. 22:22 Several years ago, there was an article in the "Saturday Evening 22:25 Post," it was called "The Seven Ages of the Married Cold." 22:29 The married what? 22:30 "Cold," as in sniffles, you get a cold. Okay 22:33 Year #1... The husband says, "Sugar Dumpling, I'm 22:38 really worried about you, my baby girl; you've got a 22:40 bad sniffle; I'm going to check you into the hospital 22:43 and ensure you get good treatment." 22:44 Year #2... She gets a cold. He says, "Listen darling, 22:48 I don't like the sound of that cough, I called the doctor, 22:51 and he's coming to check you out now." 22:54 Year #3... He says, "Maybe you better lie down, honey. 22:57 Nothing like a little rest when you're feeling wiped out." 23:01 Year #4... He says, "Now look dear, be sensible - after you've 23:06 fed the kids and done the dishes and cleaned the floor, 23:09 then you better go lie down." 23:11 Year #5... He says, "Why don't you take a couple of aspirin." 23:14 Year #6... He says, "I wish you'd gargle or something 23:18 instead of sitting around all evening barking like a seal." 23:22 Year #7... "Stop sneezing, are you trying 23:26 to give me pneumonia." 23:27 Now we laugh about that, but that is not God's design 23:32 or God's desire for marriage. 23:35 He intends from the beginning, the love is to deepen 23:38 and grow and strengthen, and lengthen, 23:41 and our commitment to each other, our joy and our 23:47 unity in marriage is to become even deeper 23:50 each year as it goes by. 23:52 We're in Ephesians 5:22... "Wives submit to your own 23:56 husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is 23:58 head of the wife as also Christ is head of the church; 24:01 and He is the Savior of the body. 24:04 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, 24:06 so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 24:10 Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the 24:13 church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify 24:17 and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 24:19 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, 24:23 not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 24:26 but that she should be holy and without blemish. 24:29 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their 24:32 own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself." 24:36 So first I want to talk to the wives and being a woman, 24:39 maybe this is a little easier because it's a woman 24:41 talking to - if you're a woman watching at home. 24:44 The wife's role is two-fold; first, we are to submit to our 24:48 husbands as unto the Lord. 24:50 Submission to our husband is part of obedience to God. Amen! 24:56 Role #2... We are to respect the authority of our husband 25:01 as priest of our home. 25:05 Now if you think about submission, 25:06 many times when I've talked about this concept or discussed 25:11 it, you know with your girlfriends, they say, "Well, 25:12 submission means that, I'm going to be humiliated." 25:17 Submission may result in degradation, but it does not. 25:20 Submission results in the wife's glory... why do I say that? 25:24 Verse 27... What does it say? "... that He might present 25:28 her to Himself a glorious church." 25:29 Now this is a symbol of the husband and wife relationship 25:33 as Christ in the church. 25:35 Submission results in the wife's favor and glory. 25:39 Submission results in the wife's joy - it's not a cross that we 25:44 glumly bear - it is a path to joy. 25:48 Submission results in an example to the world. 25:51 The wife joyfully submitting to her husband and the husband 25:54 tenderly and selflessly loving his wife. 25:58 Submission involves respecting your husband 26:00 instead of attacking him or putting him down. 26:03 It involves seeking to please your husband 26:06 instead of competing with him. 26:08 It involves honesty and openness 26:10 instead of whining, deception or manipulation. 26:15 It involves responding to him with appreciation 26:18 instead of criticism or apathy. 26:21 Now when I read that list, I can tell you I have done 26:24 some of those negative things in my marriage, 26:26 so I'm not sitting here saying that I have done 26:29 this job perfectly cause I can assure you I have not. 26:32 But this is God's ideal and goal for us and when we 26:37 respond this way, there is joy, there is glory, there is oneness 26:43 and unity. 26:44 Submission does not involve passivity. 26:46 A wife can influence her husband and should do it... 26:49 but in the right way with a meek and a quiet spirit. 26:53 Submission does not involve apathy or indolence 26:56 or laziness - a wife can actively use the gifts 27:00 that God has given to her. 27:01 We see that in the Proverbs 31 woman. 27:03 And submission does not involve burying a wife's 27:07 spiritual gifts or calling. 27:08 Now let's talk to the husbands a moment... 27:10 Husbands are called - now of course, I'm a woman here 27:14 so a pastor would be more equipped to do this, 27:16 but husbands are called to love your wife as Christ 27:20 loves the church. 27:22 Husbands are called to sacrifice for their wives. 27:25 And I don't believe the sacrifice is in the form 27:27 of being a martyr and neither do husbands sacrifice 27:30 in order to make their wife happy. 27:33 I believe husbands sacrifice and husbands love their wives 27:37 in order that she can bloom as God intended. 27:43 The purpose of love is what? The perfecting of the beloved. 27:47 So what was the purpose of Christ's love for the church? 27:49 It was to sanctify her, to set her apart. 27:52 When you get married, you take your wife out of the world, 27:55 as it were, and you set her apart. 27:57 She's yours, she belongs to you and you want to devote 28:01 that special attention to her. 28:03 The purpose of love is the perfecting of the beloved, 28:07 to present her in glory, not having spot or wrinkle, 28:10 to make her holy and blameless. 28:12 1 Peter 3 says... "We are to live with our wives 28:15 according to knowledge, know what she needs, 28:18 know what she's good at, know what help she needs 28:20 in order to develop what God has given to her. 28:24 Now for children in Ephesians 6. It says... "Children obey your 28:27 parents in the Lord for this is right and honor 28:31 your mother and your father." 28:32 Parents though are not supposed to provoke their children 28:36 to anger or to wrath. 28:37 In the Greek, it literally means to push someone's buttons. 28:41 So as parents, don't provoke your children 28:43 or try to "push their buttons." 28:45 Then we move on to slaves and masters. 28:49 Slaves are to walk in obedience to their masters. 28:52 They are to do it for Christ and not for men - not to 28:56 please men, but they do everything they do for Christ. 29:00 They are to watch their motivation - that we do it 29:03 only for Christ and to trust God for the reward. Amen! 29:07 And then masters are to recognize that they are in 29:09 subjection to a higher authority... 29:12 that is the Lord Jesus Christ. 29:14 They are not to threaten people who are under them or to 29:17 make them afraid and they are not to show 29:20 favoritism or partiality. 29:23 So there's a great deal in this passage 29:25 in Ephesians 5 and Ephesians 6 on walking in unity; 29:30 walking in harmony and it all comes as a result 29:33 of us submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ and allowing Him 29:38 to do His perfect work in us. Amen! 29:41 Wonderful, thank you so much every one of you... 29:43 And if you've just walked in, we are studying the 29:46 lesson - "Oneness in Christ," 29:47 lesson #4, "The Key to Unity," 29:50 and remember, you can get this from: 29:52 ABSG.Adventist.org 29:55 And, we'd like to take a few moments to see... 29:57 Give us a little summary of what you've 29:59 captured from this lesson. 30:01 My lesson was "Breaking Down the Wall," and it was 30:04 speaking of what separated Jews from Gentiles, 30:07 but I just wanted to add that sometimes we can put up 30:11 a wall of self-preservation around our own lives 30:17 because we don't want to submit in a certain area to the Lord. 30:22 So this is something that only Jesus, only the Holy Spirit 30:26 can help us bring down any wall between us and the Lord. 30:31 Well I looked at "Unity in One Body," 30:34 and, you know, I think I'm going to ask the question 30:37 that Sister White asked us. 30:39 I'm going to ask that question again... 30:41 And the Scripture was Ephesians 4:3... 30:43 "...endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 30:46 of peace," and her question to us was... 30:50 "What are we doing to preserve the unity in the bond of peace?" 30:54 And I just thought that was a thought-provoking question! 30:57 Mine simply is - Whatever gift you have, always use it 31:01 in the context of God's love." Amen! 31:04 Mine would be - Only as we surrender to the Lord Jesus 31:07 Christ can we truly love each other. Amen! 31:10 Thank you so much every one of you. 31:12 I'd like to read this from "Testimonies to the Church, 31:14 Vol. 9, page 190, and it says, "The life of Christ 31:18 established a religion in which there is no cast, 31:20 a religion by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond 31:22 are linked in a common brotherhood 31:24 equal before God. God bless you. |
Revised 2018-10-24