Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180045B
|
00:01 Well today, we are studying "Images of Unity,"
00:04 and Miss Mollie I believe you have Tuesday... 00:08 "The Temple of the Holy Spirit" 00:11 Yes, more imagery, looking at the temple. 00:14 And, you know, this whole Quarterly - it's designed 00:20 for us to realize that we are one - that if you call 00:27 upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:29 it doesn't matter if you're in India or if you're in Russia, 00:34 it doesn't matter where in the world you are, 00:37 everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:40 are one in Him. Amen! We are one together. 00:43 And we've looked at this beautiful imagery... 00:45 Shelley looked at the people of God, 00:48 and that's what we are. 00:50 We are all the people of God. 00:52 Johnny looked at the household of God and you know what 00:55 I thought about that, Johnny? 00:56 Everybody that is born into this world 00:59 has a common ancestor... who is that common ancestor? 01:03 Adam! Okay, everybody has a common ancestor, 01:07 but if you've made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, 01:11 it's like we are doubly linked because then we are 01:16 linked also by the Second Adam, is that not a true statement... 01:20 through the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:22 Well the imagery that we're looking at today is 01:27 the temple of the Holy Spirit and let me ask you this 01:33 question... What is a temple? 01:35 When Paul uses this term... now remember to the people 01:41 that he's talking to, he's communicating 01:44 with them, not with us. 01:46 Today, if he were talking to us, Jill, I believe he might say 01:51 to you and I... "The church of the Holy Spirit." 01:55 What was the temple? It was the place 01:57 they worshipped. Where do we worship? 02:00 We worship in this church. 02:02 We worship in a church. 02:04 So it's not just the building that we worship in, 02:11 it's also the place where God resides. 02:14 And Pastor Lomacang, you were talking about this beautiful 02:17 building in England was it? In Darby. 02:20 In Darby? And it was a beautiful church 02:24 for many, many years. 02:25 What is it today? 02:26 It's a pub or, you know, they call it a bar. 02:29 It's a bar, so that building at one time probably 02:34 housed the very presence of God. 02:37 It was a temple where God resided but not today. 02:41 because oh, a building is not the church. 02:45 What is the church? It's the people. 02:49 Shelley mentioned earlier and we talk a lot here on the set 02:54 between programs, and she was talking about 02:57 saying, "Oh what a beautiful church you have," 03:00 and the people were thinking, "This building is trashy," 03:02 and she was, "Oh no, we're not talking about this building, 03:06 we're talking about the spirit that is within the people, 03:09 the temple of the Holy Spirit." That's right! 03:11 Okay, I've got four Scriptures that we're going to look at. 03:15 Four Scriptures and the first two are in 1 Corinthians, 03:19 and then we want to go elsewhere, 03:21 but keep your marker in 1 Corinthians because we're 03:24 going to hang there for a while. 03:25 But 1 Corinthians 6:19... "Or do you not know 03:30 that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, 03:35 who you have from God, and you are not your own?" 03:39 So what does this say about your body? 03:42 It is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, 03:46 and it also says, "We are not our own." 03:48 Who do we belong to? We belong to Almighty God. 03:51 Alright, 1 Corinthians now in chapter 3:16-17... 03:57 Laying foundation... "Do you not know that you are the 04:01 temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 04:06 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will... do what? 04:11 destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, 04:15 which temple you are." 04:18 Now, I want us to go to Colossians - we going to look 04:21 at Colossians 1:27 and then we're going to jump to 04:25 Ephesians but then we're coming back to 1 Corinthians. 04:29 So Colossians 1:27..."To them God willed to make known 04:36 what are the riches of the glory of this mystery 04:40 among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, 04:46 the hope of glory." 04:47 Where is Christ? Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory! 04:51 Ephesians 3:17... "... that Christ may dwell 05:01 in your hearts, (where is Christ to dwell? 05:04 in your hearts - how?) through faith; that you 05:08 being rooted and grounded in love..." 05:11 So we see here the reference, the imagery that the Apostle 05:18 Paul is making speaking of the temple of the Holy Spirit. 05:26 Now we look at these Scriptures on a personal level. 05:31 Can we look at these Scriptures on a personal level? 05:34 Absolutely! Where it says that Christ is in our heart 05:37 by faith - that is a true statement. 05:40 And where it says that Christ... 05:43 What is your only hope of glory? That is Christ in us. 05:46 You know I make this statement... 05:48 "You are nothing because of who you are, but you are 05:52 something because of what you contain." 05:54 Christ in you, the hope of glory... and the Scripture 05:58 is referring to the temple of God. 06:01 So we can look at this, we absolutely can look 06:04 at this on a personal level. 06:06 But, we must also look at it on a corporate level. 06:14 We belong to God and He dwells within us, 06:17 and we mustn't defile our body temple. 06:21 We belong to God and we are not our own, 06:24 but when we look at it on a corporate level, 06:28 we are looking at the temple that is a worldwide 06:34 corporate church, a corporate temple, are we not... 06:38 where everyone, I mentioned this earlier, EVERYONE 06:42 who calls upon the name of the Lord, are a part of 06:46 this body and God resides in His church. Amen! 06:52 So we're looking at it on a personal level, 06:54 but we're also looking at this on a corporate level. 06:58 For Paul, God resides within the Christian fellowship; 07:03 hence his warning that anyone who attempts to destroy 07:08 this fellowship will suffer the consequences of judgment, 07:13 that was 1 Corinthians 3:17. 07:16 "If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy 07:20 him, for the temple of God is holy which temple you are." 07:26 Again, looking at this individually and corporately... 07:29 Are we to defile, on an individual basis... 07:33 are we to defile our body temple? No. We are not. 07:37 And let me ask you this... "What are the consequences 07:41 when we defile our body temple?" 07:43 If we put the wrong things in it, 07:46 it brings sickness and disease or we destroy it. 07:50 Okay, unity of believers is at the very core 07:57 of this fellowship and of God's presence in His temple. 08:00 Paul's message is a warning to those who would destroy 08:05 the unity of the church - we're talking about 08:08 the corporate church. 08:10 Oftentimes, when thinking of the destruction of the church, 08:14 we look outward... you're in 1 Corinthians, we're going 08:18 to go look again at chapter 3:2-4. 08:22 Oftentimes if you think of somebody destroying 08:26 the church, we think outward, but let's look at 08:30 what Paul says, is the greatest challenge to our church 08:35 to our unity. 08:37 1 Corinthians 3:2-4, he says to the church... 08:41 "I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now 08:45 you were not able to receive it, and even now, you are still 08:49 not able; for you are still... what's that word? 08:52 you are carnal. For where there are envy, strife and 08:56 divisions among you, are you 08:59 not carnal and behaving like mere men? 09:01 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and the other, 09:05 "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal? " 09:09 Envy, strife, divisions are destructive attitudes 09:13 and behaviors and a real threat to Christian unity. 09:17 When these attitudes are exhibited in the local church, 09:21 God's presence is withdrawn. 09:24 God will not reside in an atmosphere of carnality, 09:30 envy, strife and so forth. 09:32 In other words, conflicts within the local church can destroy 09:38 God's temple. Amen! 09:40 So corporately and individually, we are the temple of God. 09:45 Paul pleads with the Christians at Corinth to walk in unity, 09:50 and to walk in harmony and I think that's our prayer 09:54 for each one of us today; let unity and harmony 09:57 reside in our hearts. Amen! Amen! 09:59 What a wonderful job Mollie, I love that with our body 10:03 being the temple of God, not just personally, 10:05 but corporately - that was fabulous, praise the Lord! 10:09 I especially like this lesson, "Images of Unity" 10:12 because it deals with allegories. 10:14 It deals with metaphors. 10:17 I like words. Pastor John, I like how 10:20 they're crafted; I like to read and you see how people 10:23 choose to craft that. 10:25 So especially this lesson appeals to me because 10:27 it's the analogies; it's the metaphors; 10:30 it's the allegories that Christ uses to refer to us, 10:34 so I love that - the people of God, the household of God, 10:37 the lively stones, the temple of God... 10:40 Mine is "The Body of Christ." 10:42 And if we continue with that metaphor, as it were, 10:46 I want to talk about this portion which is Wednesday, 10:49 "The Body of Christ," as a book. 10:51 So I'm going to talk about, and forward, an introduction, 10:56 a body and a conclusion. 10:58 Now the body of the lesson is what I'm really supposed 11:00 to be talking about, "The Body of Christ" 11:03 That is in 1 Corinthians 12, so turn with me there. 11:06 So before we get to the body, we're going to do 11:09 the forward or the preface to the entire section. 11:12 This is in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, this is how I structured it, 11:18 this is the forward. "And 1 Corinthians 12 11:21 is really about authentic Christian unity... 11:24 And it's about unity not being just in diversity, 11:28 neither is unity despite diversity... 11:32 Unity is achieved through diversity and that's what we 11:37 see here in the body of Christ. 11:38 So we're in the forward portion, this is 1 Corinthians 12:4-6. 11:44 "There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit. 11:48 There are differences of ministries but the same Lord. 11:51 There are diversities of activities but it's the same 11:54 God who works all in all." 11:56 Now it's interesting, both Father, Son and Holy Spirit 11:59 are mentioned in these three verses. 12:03 And the word for diversities, "differences and diversities," 12:06 is all the same word. 12:08 It means in the Greek, "division, difference, 12:11 distinction, diversity." 12:13 So we could read it then... There are differences of gifts. 12:16 Now what are the gifts that are being referred to here? 12:19 Charisma - A gift of grace. 12:23 There are differences in the gifts of grace that are given. 12:27 There are differences in the ministries that are given. 12:32 Now the word for ministry comes from "diakonos." 12:34 In Acts 6- remember when the deacons were appointed. 12:39 It's the same root word and it means, of course, ministry 12:43 or service, but it literally means "to wait at tables." 12:46 As when you would go out to eat and someone comes 12:49 and is your server - someone serves you at the table. 12:53 So there's differences in the gifts. 12:55 There are differences in the ministry or the service 12:58 that we are called to do. 13:00 And finally, there's differences of activities. 13:04 So there are differences in the gifts of grace and how 13:06 we're to operate in that grace. 13:09 There's differences in the ministry that you and I are 13:11 given and how we choose to serve. 13:14 And there are differences in the tasks that we are given, 13:18 and how we function within that. 13:20 That's the forward - now we're going to go to the introduction. 13:23 This is the list of spiritual gifts that is given to 13:25 the church - we won't read that passage, but it leads us 13:30 right up to verse 12 which is our portion here. 13:33 The gifts, of course, are: wisdom, word of knowledge, 13:36 faith, gifts of healings, working of miracles, prophecy, 13:40 discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues and 13:43 interpretation of tongues. 13:44 The point I want to look at is verse 11... "But one in the 13:47 same spirit works all these things, distributing to each 13:50 one individually as He wills." That's right. 13:54 You know what that says? "The Holy Spirit 13:56 is the One who gives the gifts - that means 13:59 the Holy Spirit is the One who gives the differences 14:02 or we could say... the differences that we see 14:05 within the body of Christ are divine. 14:08 So when I look at someone's gift and I say, 14:11 "Well look at that gift, you have this, I have this, 14:14 so-an-so has this," that is part of God's plan. 14:18 That is divine! 14:19 Now we get into the body of this and this is really the body 14:23 of Christ - the metaphor of the church is the body of Christ. 14:26 I see six lessons in here. 14:29 Lesson #1... Unity does not mean uniformity. That's right. 14:34 We see that in verse 12. "For as the body is one 14:37 and has many members, but all the members 14:40 of that one body be many, are one body. 14:43 So also is Christ. 14:45 So we are one body, we are to be united, 14:47 Pastor Johnny, but at the same time, 14:50 we are many members. 14:51 So unity does not mean uniformity. 14:54 Lesson #2... The differences do not have to divide us, 14:59 they can unite us as long as we're in Christ. 15:02 Verse 13, the next verse... "For by one Spirit 15:05 we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, 15:09 slaves or free - and have all been made 15:11 to drink into one Spirit." 15:15 Many times we see those differences of race or ethnicity 15:18 differences of class, differences of money, 15:21 differences of education and we look at that and say... 15:24 "Oh, but you're different than me," but those 15:27 differences don't have to divide us as long as we are 15:30 all one in Christ - we can all be united together. 15:35 Lesson #3... Jealousy cannot exist in the body. 15:40 In fact, it's almost humorous because the example 15:43 is kind of humorous that's given here... 15:45 We are in - I need to turn my page... we're in 15:48 verses 15-19... "If the foot should say, "Because I'm not 15:54 a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore 15:57 not of the body? And if the ear should say, 15:59 "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," 16:02 is it therefore not of the body? 16:04 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? 16:07 If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 16:11 But now God has set the members, each one of them 16:14 in the body just as He pleased. 16:16 And if they were all one member, where would the body be." 16:19 Now when you read that, it's actually kind of humorous. 16:21 You'd think, "Of course not, we're not all one eye 16:24 because it would be a freak, right? 16:27 If you have one hand, but you don't have a foot, 16:29 that would be a problem, so we see that as humorous, 16:31 but in the body of Christ, the same thing. 16:34 Jealousy cannot exist in the body of Christ. That's right. 16:38 Lesson #4... All are essential to the work. 16:41 All are equally important. 16:44 Verse 20... "But now indeed, there are many members 16:48 yet one body and the eye cannot say to the hand 16:52 "I have no need of you," nor again, the head to the 16:55 feet, "I have no need of you." 16:57 No, much rather these members of the body which seem to be 17:01 weaker are necessary." 17:04 You know, you hear these stories of someone who maybe 17:07 is out working in the woods and they are felling a tree, 17:10 and all of a sudden, it falls on them and pins their leg... 17:13 And you hear stories - what if they don't have a cell phone 17:16 or what if, you know, they don't have any way to get out 17:18 from underneath that tree... And then they make the 17:22 horrible decision, "I'm gonna cut off that leg in order to 17:27 save myself - in order to save my life." 17:31 Now when we hear of that, we say that is extreme. 17:35 Okay, you don't want to cut off your leg, right? 17:37 That is like a last-ditch effort, but yet in the church, 17:41 we willingly cut off parts of the body. That's true. 17:45 It does not seem extreme in the church. 17:47 We say, "Who do you think you are? 17:49 You're using... what's that gift? 17:51 Well what do you have to offer to the body?" 17:53 And we eagerly and willingly cut people off, 17:59 where here in the natural world, we would never 18:01 cut off a body part unless it was to save someone's life. 18:05 But here, Paul is saying... "All are essential to the work." Amen 18:09 Nobody can be easily cut off and set aside. 18:13 Lesson #5... Exercise care instead of competition. 18:17 Verse 23... "And those members of the body which we think 18:21 to be less honorable, on those we bestow greater 18:24 honor and our unpresentable parts of greater modesty, 18:28 but our presentable parts of no need. 18:30 But God composed the body, having given greater honor 18:34 to that part which lacks it, that there should be no 18:36 schism in the body, but that the members should 18:39 have the same care for one another." 18:42 Instead of criticizing instead of judging someone 18:45 else harshly, instead of expecting them to somehow 18:48 perform better, we are to build each other up. 18:52 We are to take care of each other. 18:54 We're to have compassion on the weaker parts of the body. 18:58 Lesson #6... Final lesson is that all suffer equally. 19:02 Verse 26... "If one member suffers, all the members 19:05 suffer with it; or if one member is 19:07 honored, all the members rejoice with it." 19:11 You know if you stub your toe, Pastor John, 19:13 pretty soon your shin hurts and your calf and then your thigh, 19:17 and sometimes maybe if you break something, 19:19 you could even get a fever... the whole body is affected 19:23 when one member suffers. 19:25 So in the body of Christ, when one member suffers, 19:28 the whole body comes together, or if one member has a joy, 19:31 the whole body can come together in that. 19:34 So we have the forward, we have the introduction 19:37 in the body, the conclusion is that all of this is important, 19:40 but the end of chapter 12 tells us the greatest thing, 19:43 the most important thing we could ever have 19:46 is that of love. Wow. Amen! Amen! 19:48 I'm going to ask you to preach that sermon one day. 19:51 That was wonderfully put together because a lot of times, 19:53 you know what we're seeing in this lesson, this continuous 19:56 theme of unity in so many facets which can only happen 20:02 in Christ, and thank you for breaking that down. 20:05 You have a unique way of bringing things out, 20:06 I like that - putting it together like a book. 20:09 But now we're looking at "Sheep and Shepherd," 20:13 Thursday, November 8th, and we're going to spend 20:17 most of our time in the Book of John 10. 20:20 John chapter 10, now I have a new Bible, I have the 20:24 "Remnant Study Bible," and I have another Bible 20:28 that I've been toting around for a long time, 20:30 and all my highlights are in there, so I feel like a 20:34 stranger in a foreign land in this unmarked Bible, 20:37 but my wife and I read this Bible together every night 20:40 and so she said, "We need to be on the same page, but I 20:43 feel that..." You know Shelley when you 20:44 work on a Bible and you really get that recipe really 20:47 well down and everything is connected... 20:49 So I'm looking at John 10 and I'm saying, "Where is my 20:51 fingerprint? It's missing!" 20:53 But I know the Scripture is still there, but the Book of 20:56 John 10... you know, one of the favorite Scriptures 21:00 and I use highlighting - I'm now using a new method 21:02 of highlighting - I'm using orange for all of the 21:05 famous Scriptures. 21:07 So if I were to use orange in my Bible, in John chapter 10, 21:12 it would be John 10:10, right? Yes! 21:15 And that is... "The thief does not come except to steal, 21:21 and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may 21:25 have life and that they may have it...how? 21:29 more abundantly." That's an orange Scripture. 21:32 And I'm going to spend time on the Book of John today 21:36 because I want to just... instead of talking about 21:38 sheep and shepherd and shepherd and sheep, 21:39 it's all through the Scriptures and we know that Jesus 21:41 is the Chief Shepherd, I'm an undershepherd. 21:44 We see shepherds... David was a shepherd; Moses was a 21:50 shepherd and we see that the Lord had to teach these 21:56 great men that now echo in the recesses of our minds 22:00 as great leaders. 22:02 We now see why God was able to develop... send Moses out 22:06 for 40 years... He said because if you think dealing with 22:09 those sheep are difficult, wait until I send you back 22:12 to Egypt to get those folk out. 22:15 Because the problem was... you can take sheep out 22:18 and they'll follow you, but taking the Israelites 22:23 out of Egypt was not as difficult as taking Egypt 22:25 out of the Israelites. 22:27 That was the challenge and the Lord says... Learn with the 22:30 sheep first because you're going to have a task 22:32 for the latter part of your life. 22:33 And everything about our lives as undershepherds teaches me 22:37 so much about the Chief Shepherd and I want to make 22:39 this statement - I know we're all excited... 22:41 "Aren't we glad that we have a Chief Shepherd 22:43 that never lets any of the sheep remain unattended." Amen! 22:48 The most beautiful picture... we have a picture on our wall 22:51 out there in the church of Jesus embracing the sheep, 22:53 the lost sheep, and each one of us is in that very 22:57 beautiful illustration of Isaiah. 23:00 "All we, like sheep, have... gone astray." 23:04 But I'm going to just spend a little time on John 10 23:07 because the things that came to me in John 10 23:10 is first - Jesus is the Door. Yes 23:14 He's not only the Shepherd, but He is the Door. 23:19 I'm going to read John 14:6 to illustrate it 23:23 in a little different way. 23:25 Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, 23:30 no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." 23:33 That's the King James Version. 23:35 No one comes to the Father except he comes through Me. 23:38 And He says in John 10:2... "But he who enters by the 23:46 Door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To Him the doorkeeper 23:50 opens and the sheep hears His voice and He calls His own 23:55 sheep by name and leads them out." 23:59 We have so many people in our church that heard the voice 24:02 of the Shepherd... Shelley, your story is one of those. 24:06 Heard the voice of the Shepherd - already a Christian, 24:09 but the Shepherd kept talking and you listened... 24:12 "My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me." 24:15 And so that fold that is talked about in John 10:16... 24:19 we believe, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 24:21 that God has sheep in all different kinds of folds. Amen! 24:25 But He doesn't say, "leave the sheep there," 24:28 He says, "Other sheep I have that are not of this fold; 24:30 them also I must bring and they will hear My voice; 24:33 and there will be one fold and one shepherd." 24:35 The other thing that Peter points out in 1 Peter 2:25... 24:39 "For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned 24:44 to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." 24:48 So Jesus is not just the Shepherd of the flock, 24:51 but He is the Overseer of our souls, and what would 24:53 we be without Him? 24:55 And another method of salvation is often suggested, 24:58 but there is no other name given among men 25:02 whereby we must be saved, than the person of Christ. 25:06 So I want to take the next 4 minutes of my time, 25:08 if it takes that long, and I want to break down one of the 25:12 most beautiful passages in the Bible - The Twenty-Third Psalms. 25:16 I'm going to do this in a poetic way, but you're going 25:19 to follow me in it, and I'm going to use the King James 25:21 Version and I'm going to break down every aspect 25:24 and I'm going to give you 17 points very quickly, 25:27 17 in four minutes. 25:29 The Lord is my Shepherd... "He is my Relationship." 25:33 I shall not want... "He is my Supplier." 25:36 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... 25:40 "He is my rest." 25:42 He leadeth me beside the still waters... "He is my refresher." 25:48 He restores my soul... "He is my healer." 25:53 He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness... 25:56 "He is my reliable Guide." 25:58 For His name sake... "He gives me a divine purpose." 26:03 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... 26:08 "He is my Comforter in times of testing, in trial." 26:14 I will fear no evil... why? "He is my protector." 26:19 For thou art with me... "He is my ever present 26:23 help in time of need." 26:26 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me... 26:29 A little different twist... "He disciplines me." Yes 26:33 "He disciplines me... the rod to keep the evil away from me; 26:38 the staff... to keep me from running away... 26:40 He disciplines me..." 26:42 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies... 26:46 "He is my hope - He shows the work 26:50 that He's doing in my life." 26:51 Thou anointest my head with oil... "He is my 26:54 consecrator - He consecrates me for a holy purpose." 26:59 My cup runneth - how? My cup runneth over. 27:03 Every time I read that Scripture, I remember 27:06 Darrell Marshall's song, "I'm drinking from my saucer, 27:10 because my cup is overflowing. 27:12 I mean, that's a constant testimony - my wife and I 27:16 we pause every now and then, and then go back to it. 27:18 We pause every now and then and we say, "Look at where 27:21 we were - two young people in Brooklyn, New York; 27:25 one that didn't know her father and I didn't know my mother 27:28 nor father and the Lord called us out and He brought us 27:33 to a place and now our cups run over with blessings 27:38 and plans that we could have 27:40 never orchestrated ourselves." My cup runneth over, 27:43 and it goes continually. 27:45 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 27:49 all the days of my life... "He is my constant blessing." 27:52 How many days of our lives? All the days of our lives. 27:56 And we know that all things work together for good 27:59 to those who love God, to those who are called 28:01 according to His purpose. 28:02 No matter whether it's raining or snowing; whether it's 28:04 difficulty or joy; whether it's trial or triumph; 28:07 whether it's violence or victory... 28:10 all the days of my life. 28:12 And then it says in verse 16, And I will dwell in the house 28:16 of the Lord... "He is my security." 28:18 How can you find any greater security than 28:20 dwelling in the house of the Lord? 28:22 And then it says, FOREVER... "He is my eternity." 28:27 So when I look at the Twenty-Third Psalms, 28:31 I did do a sermon one day and I said this... 28:33 "If you can say that the Lord is my Shepherd, then you are 28:36 about to begin a journey and each aspect of the journey 28:40 that you're going to experience you're going to go through 28:42 valleys of shadows of death, but He's not going to leave you. 28:45 You're going to have those days when the water is still, 28:47 and sheep don't drink from oceans. 28:49 They drink from still waters. That's right. 28:52 And the other thing - which is kind of a twist is... 28:56 even though He is the Door, Revelation 3:20 says, 29:00 "Behold I stand AT the door." 29:02 When you are not a part of the Shepherd's flock, 29:07 He stands at the door and continues knocking, 29:09 and He says, "If anyone hears my voice...(the same 29:12 language with John 10), If anyone hears My voice, 29:15 and opens the door, I will come in to him 29:18 and dine with him and he with me." 29:20 So my appeal to you today is if you don't know the 29:23 Shepherd, get to know Him now because the door 29:26 that He is knocking at... one day the knocking with cease, 29:30 and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 29:32 Make Him your Shepherd today. Amen! Amen and Amen! 29:36 A wonderful lesson, thank you John - so much. 29:39 We have just a couple of moments left, but I'd like 29:41 for everyone to have the opportunity to 29:44 give us a closing thought, Johnny. 29:46 Yes, when Jesus Christ dwells in our hearts, 29:51 His love will outflow to others 29:54 and it will be a unifying factor. Amen! 29:58 And when you're having the worse day you think you 30:02 could ever have, just look behind you because 30:06 mercy and goodness are following you! 30:09 Capitalizing on Psalms 23, Pastor Lomacang, 30:12 that was beautiful. Amen! 30:14 That was beautiful, I love that. 30:16 I'm just stuck back there in Psalm 23, but I want to 30:19 make an appeal to you at home to become involved 30:22 in a body of believers. 30:24 If you currently are not part of a church, 30:27 we want to encourage you to join a local congregation. 30:31 We would encourage you to join the Seventh-day 30:33 Adventist Church, but to join a body of believers 30:36 that worship God and that study His word and know 30:40 that you can come in unity and be a part of the 30:43 body of Christ. That's right! 30:44 Well-fed sheep do not stray, well-fed sheep produce 30:48 good wool and well-fed sheep attract other sheep. 30:52 But there's one thing that is about a sheep that's 30:54 so true... A sheep when he's on his back, he cannot 30:58 right himself - that's why we need a Shepherd. Amen! 31:02 Amen! Thank you so much each and every one of you. 31:05 John Dinzey - thank you, Mollie, Jill and Pastor John - we 31:10 appreciate you so much. 31:11 You know, we are talking of unity and as we 31:17 think on these things, don't think that we're 31:20 going to be naive because we do realize from time-to-time 31:24 conflict arises - we are just people. 31:29 So join us next week as we look at what to do to deal 31:36 with the situations "When Conflicts Arise." 31:40 But until then, may the grace of our Lord and Savior 31:42 Jesus Christ, the love of the Father and the fellowship 31:45 of the Holy Spirit be with you. |
Revised 2018-11-07