Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190044A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:08 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:10 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls, 00:14 and to be diligent to present yourself approved to God, 00:18 rightly dividing the Word of truth. 00:21 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:33 Hello. I'm Shelley Quinn. 00:34 And we welcome you to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:37 This quarter we are studying Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:41 And it's been so exciting. 00:43 We've looked at how Zerubbabel went 00:47 and took 50,000 people in the first wave 00:50 of the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem. 00:55 And then we looked at Ezra 00:57 and how he came to restore the Word of God. 01:01 This wonderful man of God taught the people, 01:04 how important God's Word is to their daily life. 01:08 And we're also considering Nehemiah, 01:10 who led the third wave. 01:12 And this was a man of God, 01:15 who was a prayer warrior and he rebuilt the wall. 01:19 Today is lesson number five, 01:21 and it is violating the spirit of the law. 01:26 So we know that they had a few problems. 01:28 If you would like your own Sabbath School quarterly, 01:32 you can go to the nearest local Seventh-day Adventist Church, 01:37 they'll be happy to give you one. 01:38 I'm sure they would even invite you 01:40 to stay and study with them. 01:42 Or you can go to ABSG.Adventist.org, 01:48 and download your personal copy. 01:50 Well, let me introduce our panel, 01:53 my brothers and sisters in Christ. 01:55 We have so much fun doing this series together. 01:59 And next to me is my precious friend, Jill Morikone, 02:02 who is the COO of 3ABN. 02:04 Welcome. Thank you, Shelley. 02:06 I love to study the Word of God with you. 02:07 Amen. 02:09 And then we have Pastor Kenny Shelton. 02:11 Pastor, thank you for all you do for 3ABN. 02:15 I know you work full time. 02:16 And then you volunteer here and we appreciate you so much. 02:19 It's a quite a blessing. 02:20 Thank you. Amen. 02:22 And then my dear, dear friend, 02:24 Mollie Sue Steenson from Alabama. 02:27 You never know it. 02:28 She sounds like, she's from Boston. 02:31 Yeah, I tell people when they asked me, 02:32 where are you from? 02:34 I tell them, "New York City." 02:35 But they don't believe me for some reason. 02:39 Well, we thank you that you... 02:40 even though you're retired, 02:42 you still come back and join us for this panel. 02:46 And then my very own pastor and dear friend, 02:49 Pastor John Lomacang. 02:50 Always good to be here. I am from New York. 02:54 But we tell people you're from Alabama. 02:57 Okay. It's good to be here. 02:59 Well, before we begin, 03:00 Jill, would you like to have our prayer? 03:02 Sure. 03:03 Holy Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus. 03:05 And we just thank You for the gift of Your Word, 03:08 and the gift of Your Spirit. 03:10 Then we pray right now as we open up Your Word 03:12 that You would illuminate our hearts and minds, 03:15 that You would touch us with the convicting 03:19 and converting power that only You can do in Jesus' name. 03:23 Amen. Amen and amen. 03:24 And so what is the spirit of the law? 03:29 Anytime you hear someone say, the spirit of the law, 03:32 and it can be referring to God's law or even man's law. 03:35 It's talking about the original intent of the law. 03:40 And God's eternal moral law, the Ten Commandments, 03:44 and the temporary covenant that He... 03:46 the law that He gave to Moses, 03:49 that was written in the book of the covenant. 03:51 It wasn't just a written means to an end. 03:57 It included principles of righteousness 04:01 that God was trying to impart to His people, 04:04 and it was for the good of the community. 04:06 Now, it is possible 04:09 to keep the letter of the law 04:12 and ignore the spirit of the law. 04:15 But it is impossible to keep the spirit of the law 04:20 and ignore the letter of the law. 04:23 We first must learn to keep the letter of the law, 04:28 and then we evolve into understanding 04:32 the spirit of the law, we go deeper into it. 04:36 So it's our attitude and our approach to God's law. 04:41 It goes beyond just a list of do's and don'ts 04:44 is what we're saying here. 04:46 So, Israel's... 04:48 as far as Israel's actions, they were quite defective 04:52 in keeping the spirit of the law, 04:54 even the letter of the law, you could say. 04:57 They were blind to God's purposes, 05:00 they were selfish, they were thoughtless, 05:04 and obstinately deaf to His purposes. 05:08 But the heart of God revealed in His law, His wisdom. 05:14 And it was purposeful it had His spiritual purpose. 05:17 Isaiah 42:21 says this, 05:20 "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake, 05:24 he will exalt the law, and make it honorable." 05:28 And we see that when Jesus came, 05:30 He did just this. 05:31 He frequently referred to the Sabbath, 05:34 about it being the day of worship, 05:36 the day of rest, 05:38 a time for fellowship with family and friends. 05:41 And he showed us that it was a time for good deeds. 05:44 And then on the Sermon on the Mount, 05:45 He showed us that even lust is considered adultery. 05:50 Hatred is considered murder. 05:52 So He came to exalt the law. 05:56 So in our lesson in Nehemiah, 05:58 we're going to look at Nehemiah 5. 06:01 What's happening? 06:02 Nehemiah is confronting the people 06:05 because they are breaking the spirit of the law. 06:09 And the rich Jews were taking advantage 06:12 of the plight of the poor Jews. 06:16 They were charging usury, 06:19 and that was against the law for Israel actually. 06:21 So Nehemiah comes in and he boldly defends the law 06:26 and he confronts them to return 06:29 what they have confiscated from the poor. 06:31 So that gets us to our memory text, 06:33 Nehemiah 5:11, Nehemiah 5:11. 06:39 "Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, 06:42 their vineyards, their olive groves, 06:45 and their houses, 06:46 also a hundredth of the money and the grain, 06:49 the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them." 06:53 So, basically what this lesson is doing 06:55 is it highlights this ongoing struggle 06:59 of the rich getting richer 07:01 by taking advantage of the poor and oppressing them. 07:05 And Nehemiah is going to deal with this problem. 07:10 It existed before the exile 07:12 and unfortunately it reappears when they return. 07:17 I wanted to read one quick thing 07:18 from the Sabbath School Panel. 07:21 It says, "Be careful..." 07:23 Sabbath School Quarterly, ha, ha, thank you. 07:26 It says, "Be careful not to let rules 07:29 and regulations become an end in and of themselves, 07:34 rather than a means to the end, 07:35 which is to reflect the character of Jesus." 07:39 That's the spirit of the law 07:41 reflecting the character of Jesus. 07:43 So, let's look at Monday's lesson. 07:47 It starts out in Nehemiah 5, and let me set the stage. 07:51 Times were difficult on the outside of the city, 07:54 they had constant oppression from their enemies, 07:58 the opposition was bad, 08:01 then there were devastating economic conditions 08:04 because they had crop failures that was adding to the problem. 08:07 But united under the leadership of Nehemiah, 08:12 the Jewish community was withstanding 08:16 these outside assaults. 08:19 And they were working to rebuild the city wall. 08:22 This meant though that the workers 08:25 who were working on the wall 08:27 couldn't be out in the fields to work, 08:30 to get food to support their family. 08:34 So what many of them lacked the necessities of life 08:39 and then with the crop failures on top of it, 08:41 and Persian taxation, 08:43 this was making the poor families 08:45 seek help from the richer Jews. 08:49 And the leaders were exploiting these people for selfish gain. 08:54 So it was all against God's principle of community 08:59 and brotherhood. 09:01 So here comes Nehemiah. 09:05 And I have to say something. 09:07 What was going on in the community 09:10 was worse on morale 09:13 than that outside opposition, you know. 09:16 So Nehemiah knows that the community is broken inside, 09:20 the families are crying out for a relief. 09:22 And let's look at Nehemiah 5:1. 09:25 "There was a great outcry of the people 09:28 and their wives against their Jewish brethren." 09:30 Now these were either Jews who'd become wealthy in exile 09:33 or maybe they were descendants of the Jews 09:36 who had come in during the first wave 09:41 under Zerubbabel 09:42 and they maybe had an established business. 09:45 Verse 2, says, "For there were those who said, 09:48 'We, our sons, and our daughters are many, 09:51 therefore let us get grain, that we may eat and live.'" 09:55 So this first group is the landless poor. 09:58 The husband's normally worked out in the fields 10:00 as day laborers. 10:02 And right now they quit 10:03 because they were working on the wall. 10:06 Verse 3, says, "There were also some who said, 10:09 'We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, 10:12 that we might buy grain because of the famine.'" 10:16 So they were mortgaging their property to survive. 10:19 And normally that debt would be paid off at harvest time. 10:23 But because there was a famine, 10:25 and because the men were working on the wall, 10:27 they were facing foreclosure. 10:30 Then verse 4, 10:31 "There were also those who said, 10:33 'We have borrowed money for the king's tax 10:36 on our lands and vineyards.' 10:37 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, 10:40 our children as their children, 10:41 indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, 10:45 and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. 10:48 It is not in our power to redeem them, 10:51 for other men have our lands and our vineyards." 10:55 So this third group was mortgaging their property, 11:00 their fields, their vineyards 11:02 and their homes to pay the mandatory taxes. 11:06 And the historian Herodotus said, 11:10 "It was 350 pieces of silver annually." 11:13 So these people couldn't pay these taxes 11:17 and what they would do, 11:19 it was customary that they would sell their children 11:22 into the service of the creditor 11:27 in order to work off the debt. 11:29 And then once again, 11:31 they could at any time usually at harvest time 11:34 redeem their children. 11:36 But they couldn't right now. 11:38 They couldn't buy their children back from slavery. 11:41 So the gap between the rich 11:45 and the poor is growing wider. 11:49 And as that is stretching the social fabric, 11:53 it is fraying and our Sabbath School Quarterly says this, 11:58 "There are times in life 11:59 when we find ourselves in trouble 12:01 because of the consequences of our own actions. 12:04 Of course, there are also times 12:07 we end up sick or in financial straits 12:10 due to no fault of our own." 12:12 The story of Nehemiah 5, 12:15 recounts a time when government policies 12:18 disadvantaged the people, leading to intensified poverty. 12:24 They were caught in the spiral of deepening poverty 12:30 with no way out. 12:32 So we see that Nehemiah, who was a wonderful leader, 12:37 a humble man, 12:39 we're going to see how he reacts to this outcry. 12:45 It was truly a moral travesty, 12:49 because people were not following 12:52 God's righteous principles, 12:55 the spirit of the law. 12:57 Jill, I think you have Monday's? 13:00 Thank you so much, Shelley. 13:01 What an incredible job, 13:03 good foundation for the issues 13:05 that they were dealing with their inside the family, 13:07 you could say, not external pressure, 13:09 but this is looking at internal. 13:11 And the three issues 13:12 specifically that they were encountering. 13:14 In Nehemiah Chapter 5, 13:15 I do have Monday's lesson against the spirit of the law. 13:19 And I have three verses here that we'll be looking at, 13:22 Nehemiah 5:6-8. 13:25 And that covers the beginning 13:27 as it were of Nehemiah's response 13:30 and then the rest of the panel 13:31 will take the rest of Nehemiah 5. 13:33 You know, the story is told of a man 13:35 who heard his daughter 13:37 and her friends arguing loudly in the backyard. 13:41 So he let it go on for a while, and then he thought, 13:44 I better go, Pastor Kenny, and do something about this. 13:47 So he went to the backyard to intervene and she said, 13:49 "But, Daddy, we were just playing church." 13:53 You know, the church is sometimes marked 13:57 more by disagreement than by fellowship. 14:02 When Satan found he could not destroy the church 14:04 by persecution, he tried to join it. 14:08 And you see some of that taking place here. 14:10 Shelley, already laid such a wonderful foundation 14:12 in Nehemiah Chapter 5. 14:14 Nehemiah 4, they encountered external problems, right? 14:18 The enemies came against them as a people, 14:21 as a church as they were seeking to build the wall. 14:24 Nehemiah 6, again is external problems, 14:27 although there was a bit of internal problem 14:28 in Nehemiah 6, as we saw last week. 14:31 But Nehemiah 5 specifically deals 14:33 with the internal problems that they had, 14:36 you could say as a church. 14:38 The community was broken from the inside. 14:43 There was the famine, there was the tax, 14:45 there was the slavery. 14:47 Those are all external, 14:48 but the internal issue is greed and exploitation, 14:53 and not following the spirit of the law. 14:57 Charging interest and selling fellow Jews as slaves, 15:01 not having enough food to feed their families, 15:03 mortgaging properties, all of that, 15:05 borrowing money for the Persian tax 15:07 and not being able to pay it 15:09 and then having your children become slaves. 15:11 So let's read our three verses here. 15:14 And then I wanna unpack that 15:15 and look specifically at resolving conflicts biblically. 15:20 So we're gonna read, we're in Nehemiah 5:6-8. 15:25 Nehemiah, "And I became very angry 15:29 when I heard their outcry and these words. 15:31 After serious thought, 15:33 I rebuked the nobles and rulers, 15:36 and said to them, 'Each of you is exacting usury 15:39 from his brother.' 15:41 " Usury being interest. 15:42 We're going to look at that in just a moment. 15:44 "So I called a great assembly against them. 15:47 And I said to them, 'According to our ability 15:49 we have redeemed our Jewish brethren 15:50 who were sold to the nations. 15:52 Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? 15:57 Or should they be sold to us?'" 15:59 So let's look first of all at the interest. 16:01 I want to look at biblical counsel 16:04 what was in the Word of God, 16:06 what they had already in the Word of God. 16:08 Regarding interest, Exodus 22. 16:11 We'll look at a couple different verses. 16:13 Exodus 22:25. 16:16 "If you lend money to any of My people 16:18 who are poor among you, 16:20 you shall not be like a moneylender to them, 16:22 you shall not charge him interest." 16:26 Also, Leviticus 25:36-37. 16:30 "Take no usury or interest from him, 16:33 but fear your God, 16:34 that your brother may live with you. 16:36 You shall not lend him your money for usury, 16:38 nor lend him your food at a profit." 16:41 Now in case there's any question here 16:43 that they're not supposed to charge interest. 16:46 We look at Deuteronomy 23:19-20. 16:49 "You shall not charge interest to your brother, 16:52 interest on money or food or anything 16:54 that is lent out at interest. 16:56 To a foreigner you may charge interest." 16:59 That means to someone not of the church, 17:02 someone not of the Jewish community. 17:03 "To a foreigner you can charge interest 17:05 but to your brother you shall not charge interest, 17:09 that the Lord your God may bless you 17:11 in all to which you set your hand in the land 17:13 which you are entering to possess." 17:16 Now let's look at one scripture regarding slavery 17:18 and then we'll unpack this. 17:20 Exodus 21:12. 17:23 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, 17:28 and in the seventh, he should go out free 17:30 and pay nothing. 17:32 If he comes in by himself, he should go out by himself. 17:35 If he comes in married, 17:37 then his wife shall go out with him. 17:39 There was this principle put in, 17:43 God had put in as counsel as regulations 17:46 for the children of Israel, 17:48 that they were not to have this disparity 17:50 as you talked about, Shelley, 17:51 between the rich and the poor, 17:52 because they're not charging interest of their brother. 17:54 And if there was a slave on the seventh year, 17:57 they were supposed to set them free. 17:59 And that provides that equalization as it were. 18:03 The Jews were charging as we looked down in verse 11. 18:06 In the lesson indicated 1% interest per month 18:10 or 12% annually. 18:12 Now that was way less than the Mesopotamians charged, 18:16 they charged 50% for silver. 18:18 Can you imagine, 50% interest? 18:21 I can't even fathom that. 18:22 It sounds like some credit cards now-a-day. 18:24 It does, and they charge 100% for grain annually. 18:27 So the Jews could have been patting themselves 18:29 on the back, right? 18:30 We're only doing 12% annually. 18:32 But it was still against 18:34 what they were supposed to be doing. 18:36 They weren't supposed to charge their brother any interest, 18:38 it's against the spirit of the law. 18:40 So let's look at resolving conflicts, biblically. 18:44 Bring complaints to leadership. 18:47 This is for the members 18:48 and then the rest we're gonna look at it 18:50 from a leader's perspective, but this is for members. 18:52 Bring complaints to leadership and obviously, 18:55 somehow it got to Nehemiah. 18:57 I don't know if someone actually physically 18:59 went to Nehemiah and said, 19:00 "This is what's going on amongst the people right now." 19:02 Or whether he just heard about it through hearsay, 19:05 but somehow it got to Nehemiah. 19:07 You know, often we bring complaint, Shelley, 19:09 to everyone except leadership. 19:11 We just say, I wanna see 19:12 if other people feel the same way 19:13 I do about this situation. 19:15 I just really need to air my feelings right now. 19:17 And you're a good sounding board for me. 19:20 The leaders' too busy 19:21 and I don't think they're gonna listen to me anyway. 19:23 But no, the biblical model 19:26 is to bring those complaints to leadership. 19:28 Let's look at what Nehemiah as a leader did. 19:31 The rest of this council for resolving conflicts 19:34 is dealing with the leader. 19:36 First, take time to hear the complaint. 19:40 Nehemiah could have said, "You know what? 19:42 I'm busy building the wall. 19:44 We're hardly even taking time to sleep." 19:45 We're working so hard, Miss Mollie, I don't know. 19:48 I don't have time. 19:50 But no, take time to hear the complaint 19:52 to realize the seriousness 19:54 of what people bring before you. 19:56 Second is take action. 19:59 Not just sit back and hear the complaint, 20:01 but take action. 20:03 Underneath that, 20:04 I see that he had some righteous 20:06 anger going on here. 20:08 It said, we already read it, that he became very angry. 20:13 The original word means to burn or be kindled with anger. 20:19 Righteous anger is never about self, Pastor John. 20:22 It's never about my own feelings. 20:25 They were hurt, and so I'm angry. 20:26 That's not a righteous anger. 20:28 That's all about self and pride. 20:30 Righteous anger is about injustice for others. 20:34 It's about standing up for wrongs 20:36 that need to be righted in the sense of Jesus 20:38 going into the money changers and throwing them out, 20:41 because there was a wrong that needed to be righted. 20:44 In addition, 20:46 he coupled that with self control. 20:48 Did you notice that he said here, 20:50 in verse 7, it says, "After serious thought," 20:53 and then it goes on what he did. 20:55 So he initially got angry 20:57 about what's going on in the oppression of the poor, 20:59 but he didn't react out of anger, 21:02 he exercised self control 21:03 and he took time before responding. 21:07 Proverbs 16:32, 21:10 "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, 21:14 And he who rules his spirit than he who captures a city." 21:18 The next thing I see he did as he's taking action 21:21 is he did a private confrontation 21:23 and then a public confrontation. 21:26 The private confrontation started first. 21:28 And that would be 21:29 what we call the Matthew 18 principle. 21:32 You go to the person first before you do anything public. 21:36 And we see that he did that. 21:37 It says, "After serious thought, 21:39 I rebuke the nobles and rulers." 21:41 So he talked to the leadership first, 21:44 before he called a general assembly 21:46 and dealt with the whole issue. 21:47 He first went to the nobles and leaders. 21:51 Sometimes we have that anger 21:53 and it might not always be righteous, 21:54 I'm just being honest with you. 21:56 In my case, it might not be. 21:57 So we have that anger 21:59 and then you might take some time to cool off, 22:01 and then what happens? 22:02 You say, I guess it wasn't a big deal, 22:03 and I just want to address it. 22:05 No. 22:06 Sometimes if you wait, 22:07 and maybe you're not as hard on with the collar, 22:09 and you think it's not an issue, 22:10 but it still needs to be addressed. 22:13 So he did the private confrontation with the leaders. 22:16 Then he did the public confrontation, 22:18 because in verse 7, it says, 22:20 "He called a great assembly, 22:22 all the people came together to address the issue." 22:25 Finally, the last point, he addressed the issues. 22:30 He didn't sweep them under the carpet. 22:31 He didn't say, well, 22:33 we're just not gonna deal with it. 22:34 And he said in verse 7, 22:36 "Each of you is exacting usury from his brother." 22:39 So he told them clearly, 22:40 you are charging interest 22:41 and you're not supposed to be doing that. 22:43 And then in verse 8, 22:44 he addressed the other issue of them 22:46 selling their brothers and sisters as slaves. 22:49 He said, "We redeem the Jewish brethren 22:52 from the other nations, 22:54 and yet you're selling your own brothers and sisters 22:56 to each other as slaves." 22:59 Now, the rest of what he did, 23:00 I can't address because that comes in the next day. 23:03 But I love that Nehemiah was a man of God 23:07 that he thought and he prayed 23:10 and then he took action. 23:12 Amen. Very good. 23:14 Well, we are going to take a short break, 23:17 and we will return in just a moment. 23:24 Ever wish you could watch 23:25 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again 23:27 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 23:30 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com, 23:35 a clean design makes it easy 23:38 to find the program you're looking for. 23:40 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide, 23:43 so you can follow along. 23:45 Sharing is easy. 23:47 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 23:50 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 23:55 You know, I always love to hear Jill. 23:57 I really appreciated that conflict resolution 24:01 and what you, how your mind works 24:04 as you're reading this scripture 24:05 to pull out these principles for us. 24:07 Now we are going to Kenny Shelton... 24:10 Pastor Kenny Shelton who will do Nehemiah acts? 24:14 You know, to me that's quite a challenge. 24:16 You know, when you get to that, 24:17 there comes a time when we have to act. 24:21 It comes a time when situations 24:22 whether it be in the church or in the home, 24:24 individual life. 24:26 You talk about things, you try to work them out, 24:28 you compromise. 24:30 You know, you do whatever you think to work something out 24:33 and then there comes time that we act as so, 24:36 here Nehemiah had come to that point, 24:39 and the good foundation that both of you laid 24:42 is also the foundation most of mine. 24:46 So, that it's good to repeat, 24:48 it's good to go over 24:50 but also it brings into the point 24:51 that Nehemiah had to do something about it. 24:54 He felt convicted of God to do something. 24:56 I think, this is all personal we can look at. 24:58 It comes the time like one of the message 25:00 you can't just put it aside, 25:02 you can't dismiss it, 25:04 while you're a little aggravated, 25:05 you could have said something or you've cool down. 25:07 Now you're not gonna say anything. 25:09 But it's an issue that needs to be dealt with. 25:12 And some of it, I think, 25:13 you brought out first of all was the letter of the law. 25:15 I like to just read a passage scripture 25:17 because I think I'm gonna incorporate that. 25:19 If I have time, I'll tell a little story on myself. 25:21 And I'll let the panel decide 25:23 whether I was the letter of the law 25:26 or whether I was of the spirit of the law. 25:29 We'll make a decision on that. Okay. 25:30 I'm gonna read this right here. 25:32 Everybody have to judge, 25:34 I'm gonna let you be the judge, okay? 25:35 So you can say, he's guilty or he's innocent. 25:37 It's been a long time ago. 25:39 You repented. 25:41 Well, if it's wrong, the text, 25:44 I wanna consider just 2 Corinthians 3:6. 25:47 2 Corinthians 3:6. 25:50 Now again, we're talking about 25:52 the violation of the spirit of the law here, right here. 25:55 I'm gonna read that, 2 Corinthians 3:6, 25:57 so have your Bibles turn along with, 25:59 it says, "Who also hath made us 26:01 able ministers of the new testament, 26:04 not of the letter, 26:07 but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, 26:11 but the spirit giveth life." 26:13 So it's a little bit deeper than okay, we're just not... 26:15 that talks about here the letter does what? 26:18 It'll kill you. 26:19 The letter here simply any kind of grammar, 26:21 anything that's may be written in a letter form, 26:24 but if it's not taken the right way 26:26 from the right motives of the heart, 26:28 it can kill you. 26:29 you know, a lot of people you don't die immediately, 26:31 but you die a little bit daily from the things that are said, 26:34 some of the things that are done here 26:36 or misapplied. 26:37 Romans 5:10 said, 26:39 "We shall be saved by his life." 26:42 The Spirit gives what? 26:44 Spirit gives life 26:45 and we shall be saved by Jesus 26:47 talking about his life, Romans 5:10. 26:50 Here, Paul, in this passage 26:51 that we're looking at 2 Corinthians 3:6, 26:54 I like the way he does it. 26:55 He does it in Chapters 6-18, or verses 6-18. 27:01 He predicts a contrast 27:04 between the letter and the spirit 27:06 and there is a big contrast 27:08 between the letter and of the spirit. 27:09 Romans 2:27-28. 27:12 I'm just saying that so you can jot them down 27:14 and move right on, Romans 7:6, 27:16 jot them all down. 27:18 Because one refers to the outward, 27:20 you know, and then one's mentioned to the inward. 27:23 So we're dealing with two different things here. 27:25 So Paul wants to get real clear to the people 27:27 because there's always a misuse 27:30 it seems like when you think about 27:32 when you mentioned letter, some people get tight. 27:35 When you mentioned law, some people get tight, 27:38 you know, it's the way that it is 27:39 because maybe background 27:41 or maybe it's just something they think 27:43 they have learned or that they know. 27:45 But I'm also to agree the spirit gives life, 27:47 I like that. 27:49 God intended in Judaism, 27:52 to have someone mentioned here, 27:54 "both" that means both the letter of the law 27:57 and also be the spirit of the law. 28:01 The formal creature, 28:03 Paul was right in the midst of a big discussion. 28:07 And he could spend hours doing it. 28:09 Big discussion of about that the formal things 28:12 that took place about the rules and regulations 28:16 all that's not bad. 28:17 But yet, you know, people, we don't like rules right away, 28:19 but we do without them. 28:21 You see an overbalance of them and stepping beyond that 28:24 which God has ordained 28:25 which we're talking about in this lesson. 28:27 We get ourselves into trouble here. 28:29 And so Paul mentioned as he said, 28:31 the Jewish priesthood, as it passed away, 28:34 became what like it, it really is a dead letter, 28:37 even though it's still good, 28:38 even though as far as you know, 28:40 there's principles and things that we can learn from. 28:42 He said, it's really rules and regulations. 28:44 But the contrast that of Christian ministers 28:47 here is of the Spirit of God. 28:50 So there's to me, there's a big difference. 28:52 Paul had been educated quickly on the spot, 28:55 have been educated on number one, 28:57 I think really, to the letter of the law. 29:00 When you say he was, I mean, 29:01 he was hard-nosed about the letter of the law, 29:04 but when the spirit of life got a hold of him, 29:07 when the Holy Spirit got a hold of him, 29:09 changed his life, changed his thinking. 29:11 All of a sudden, he's thinking, letter of law, 29:15 what about the letter of law? 29:16 It made all good, 29:18 but has nothing to do with my salvation. 29:20 So the letter of the law, what does a person do with it? 29:24 Here, there was overreaching, 29:26 here there was plain in Scripture, 29:29 of what should have taken place. 29:31 I don't know about it, Pastor John, 29:33 but a lot of times I've seen things 29:34 it's just as clear to me, to you. 29:37 As clear as the bail I read in Scripture, 29:39 and yet someone else reads it 29:40 and they're going off the deep end somewhere over here. 29:42 I said, we just do what it said here by the grace of God, 29:46 we would not be having these issues. 29:49 So anytime we deviate from that 29:51 we're going to have issues always 29:53 because God's gonna bring us back to center, 29:56 I believe. 29:57 He always does. 29:59 I had it, and I got more. 30:00 But there was one thing I thought was interesting. 30:03 Many, many years ago, I built a house for a guy. 30:06 Now this is where we sit in the judgment seat. 30:08 Bless your heart and I love you for 30:10 where I'm guilty or innocent. 30:11 It's okay. 30:13 But anyway, 30:14 and I'm looking at the letter of the law, 30:16 I'm looking at the spirit because in the letter 30:17 there's a contract. 30:20 There's an agreement. 30:22 So even in that there's agreement, 30:23 and if we stick by the agreement, 30:24 isn't it okay? 30:26 Well, this year, I had no idea, building a house in LA 30:29 and the guy when he's buying is all of his own materials. 30:32 And so he was responsible. 30:33 So he went the lumberyard. 30:34 He ordered all these trusses, 30:36 but he found out they're little higher 30:37 and what he thought so he came to me, 30:38 he says, as a contractor, now, 30:40 could you get those cheaper for me? 30:42 I said, I don't know. 30:43 But I'll sure try to save you the money. 30:46 And so I just went in there saying about 30:48 I just said I'd like to wear so many trusses... 30:50 And sure enough, 30:52 the lumberyard gave a $300 discount. 30:56 So I went back to the man 30:57 and I said well praise the Lord $300. 31:00 The man said he'd given to me. 31:01 So you know, he said, Oh, that's brought us savings. 31:04 Praise God. So that's good, man. 31:07 I get the savings right. 31:08 I said, All right, well, absolutely $300, 31:10 what he sign down here 31:12 and I'll just pass that on to you. 31:14 So I pass that savings on to him. 31:16 He was very happy. 31:17 That was our agreement. 31:18 That was our arrangement. 31:20 If I could save your money, I would. 31:21 And the amount and laid it all out. 31:23 I went the letter, right? 31:26 And then, you know, here's what I found out. 31:28 I found out the next month billing 31:32 that the lumberyard went ahead and discounted me 10% more. 31:38 No, take them all down say, well now. 31:42 Ten more... 31:43 I had to enter some dealing here is going to set now what? 31:46 The letter of the law, the agreement, 31:48 the contract with the amount was all agreed upon. 31:51 I didn't know about the other, 31:53 you see, the motives be clear, clean. 31:56 And so, you know, 31:57 I didn't realize that next month. 31:59 But before I could say, 32:01 I don't know that I was even going to say 32:04 because I never had thought about that myself. 32:05 I don't pay much attention that we're going, 32:06 going, going all the time. 32:08 But he came to me. 32:09 He drove up in the car said get in the car with me. 32:11 I went, well, this is good. 32:12 I gotten in the car with me. 32:14 And he started telling me, he said, you done me wrong. 32:18 You profess to be a Christian, and you've done me wrong. 32:21 You cheated me. 32:24 I went to shock. 32:25 Wow. 32:26 How did I cheat you? 32:28 He said because I found out 32:29 you got a discount above what you said you'd give me. 32:33 I said yes, I did. 32:36 I didn't know to begin with. 32:37 I just got what they gave me and paper 32:39 and I showed it to you. 32:40 He said, no, you cheated me and just so happened, 32:43 bless his heart. 32:44 He had an accident and he just had one leg. 32:48 And so he looked at me and he pad his leg like that. 32:53 Like are you taking advantage of me because I'm disabled. 32:57 I felt like a heel. 32:58 I had tears in my eyes. 32:59 And it wasn't my intention at all to do that to him. 33:02 So I looked at the... 33:03 We had an agreement. 33:05 We had this, the letter was there. 33:08 But do I go along with that letter? 33:11 Do I let the Holy Spirit speak to me and say, Kenny, 33:16 this man has made some accusations. 33:18 He's talking about Christ who's supposed to live in you, 33:22 even though you didn't realize it here. 33:24 I looked at that man. 33:25 And I said, Well, I'll be more than happy 33:28 to give you what they gave me. 33:30 But we're tempted to admit, 33:32 I think it was $100 what it was. 33:34 He said, well, you're not gonna do that. 33:36 You're not gonna do that. Why would you give it to me? 33:37 I say because it's the right thing to do, 33:39 because evidently we have misunderstanding. 33:41 And I want to go beyond what the letter of the law 33:44 and I want to do this right spiritual thing. 33:48 And the man got really happy. 33:50 He shed tears. 33:52 I shed tears. 33:53 We learned over that. 33:54 And I wanna be, you know, on the spiritual side of it. 33:57 Amen, brother. 33:59 Amen. That's my story. 34:00 I'm sticking to it. 34:02 That's a good story. 34:04 Thank you, Pastor Kenny. 34:06 Well, I've got Wednesday and we're looking at the oath 34:10 and we're in Nehemiah 5:12-13. 34:17 Now, Nehemiah was dealing 34:20 with a heart problem in his country. 34:24 When he saw what was going on, 34:27 and he heard of the cruel oppression, he... 34:30 What does it say, he became? 34:32 Angry. He was very angry. 34:35 But as Jill pointed out, 34:37 he didn't react off of his anger. 34:40 He and we should never react out of our anger 34:44 but he did act. 34:45 So the problem was and that's being lined out, 34:50 it's was oppression, 34:51 mistreatment at the less fortunate 34:54 by the stronger and that's an age old problem. 34:57 Do you know it's a problem that still exist today? 35:00 Yes. 35:01 The strong mistreating the weak. 35:03 The outward trappings were obvious, 35:07 but it revealed a deep seated problem 35:10 in the heart of man, 35:12 a deep seated problem in the heart of God's people. 35:16 A simple verbal admonishment 35:19 wasn't sufficient to make a change, 35:22 nor was a simple acknowledgement 35:25 on the part of the people 35:27 that they shouldn't do what they were doing. 35:29 And I want us to look now, 35:31 Nehemiah dealt strongly with them. 35:34 And here's their response. 35:36 So we're in Nehemiah 5:13-13. 35:40 So they said, 35:43 after Nehemiah whined out their shortcomings 35:48 and what they were doing 35:49 and how they were mistreating the people. 35:51 Here is how they responded to him. 35:53 "So they said, what? 35:55 'We will restore, 35:57 and will require nothing from them, 36:01 we will do as you say.'" 36:02 You see, all Nehemiah was doing 36:04 was bringing them back 36:06 to what the Lord had already shown them they should do. 36:09 He wasn't giving them a new law. 36:12 He was telling them just do what we know to do. 36:18 "Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them 36:22 that they would do according to this promise." 36:25 Verse 13, 36:26 "Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, 36:29 'So may God shake out each man from his house, 36:33 and from his property, 36:35 who does not perform this promise. 36:38 Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.' 36:42 And all the assembly said, 'Amen!' 36:45 and praised the Lord. 36:47 Then the people did according to this promise.'" 36:50 Now, he takes it further. 36:54 Have you ever heard the saying that words are cheap? 36:57 Anybody ever been promised something 37:00 and it didn't come to pass? 37:02 Somebody gives you their word 37:05 that they're gonna do something but they don't. 37:07 Words can be cheap, can they not, okay. 37:10 Even though the leaders agreed to restore 37:14 and give back what they had taken. 37:17 Nehemiah isn't satisfied with mere words. 37:21 And we're gonna look at words here in a minute. 37:23 He needed solid proof. 37:26 Therefore he makes them swearing oath 37:30 before the pray staff swearing 37:33 before the priests carry weight, 37:36 it made the proceedings a legally binding 37:41 valid enforceable action. 37:45 They swore an oath before the priest. 37:49 And it became a legal action. 37:51 But then he goes one step further. 37:55 He pronounces a curse against anyone 37:58 who doesn't carry through with the promise, 38:01 not only would there be legal consequences, 38:05 there would also be retribution from God 38:09 if they didn't do what they promised 38:12 that they would do. 38:14 And remember where, 38:17 when God in the prayer of Nehemiah, 38:21 he put him in remembrance of the covenant. 38:23 And he said, 38:25 "You said that if we were disobedient, 38:28 you would scatter us." 38:29 And what they were disobedient, what happened? 38:32 God scattered them. 38:33 But if we are obedient, you're gonna do what? 38:36 Gather us back together. 38:38 So with this there is retribution 38:44 to them being disobedient, 38:46 if they're obedient, all is well, 38:48 but if they are disobedient, something gonna happen. 38:52 So let's look at this. 38:53 Now Nehemiah in verse 13, he gives him a visual aid. 39:00 Jill, you teach a lot. 39:01 Do you like to use visual aids? 39:03 And I know you do. 39:04 What do the visual aids do? 39:06 It imprints it more strongly on the mind. 39:10 You're not as apt to forget the crux of the teaching 39:14 if you've got a visual aid to imprint it. 39:17 So here is the visual aid. 39:21 "Then I shook out the fold of my garment," 39:24 he shakes out the fold of his garment 39:26 there's the visual aid. 39:28 "And said, 'So may God shake out each man from his house." 39:32 Jill, if you get shaken out from your house, what happens? 39:37 That's really rough if you're outside. 39:38 Yeah, here she has. 39:40 And from his property, 39:41 "Gets shaken out from his property, 39:45 who does not perform this promise. 39:47 Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied." 39:51 Wow, now that's a curse. 39:53 In other words, if you don't fulfill this promise, 39:57 you will lose everything yourself. 39:59 You know, what was the promise? 40:01 The promise was to restore. 40:03 The promise was to quit charging usury. 40:06 The promise was to return the children. 40:09 Okay. 40:10 The keeping of the promise 40:12 to restore all that had been taken 40:14 from their fellow countrymen, 40:15 their land, their vineyards, their olive groves, 40:19 their houses, the money, 40:20 the grain and release the slaves 40:23 they had made of their people was so important to Nehemiah 40:28 that he used drastic measures, 40:31 a twofold persuasion, 40:34 both an oath, now what did the oath do? 40:37 Made it legally binding, 40:40 oath of promise before God 40:43 and pronounced a curse from God, 40:45 if they didn't fulfill the promise. 40:48 Okay. 40:49 Let's look at what a legally binding 40:52 the authority of an oath is. 40:56 Have any you ever taken an oath? 40:58 Oh, yeah. Okay. 41:00 Now what is an oath? 41:01 An oath is a solemn promise, 41:05 often invoking a divine witness 41:07 regarding one's future actions or behavior, 41:10 there's your oath. 41:12 Now, in court any of you have had to swear in court? 41:18 I guess this is true, 41:19 even I think in taking depositions 41:21 and that sort of thing, you have to swear an oath. 41:23 What does the bailiff say to you, 41:26 or have you say? 41:28 I promise to tell the truth, 41:32 the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 41:35 Wow. 41:38 And what happens if you don't tell the truth? 41:42 What is that called? 41:43 What is it called if you don't tell the truth? 41:45 False witnesses. 41:46 False witnesses is called, you perjured yourself. 41:49 Now, here in the United States, in the States, 41:54 if you perjured yourself there is a penalty, 41:56 there's a financial penalty 41:58 and you could serve time in jail. 42:00 Now that's in the states, in a federal court, 42:03 if you perjure yourself, it comes with a five... 42:07 the possibility of a five year sentence in prison. 42:10 I mean, there are consequences to breaking that oath, 42:14 to perjuring yourself. 42:16 Now I want us to look at... 42:18 and that's talking about a natural oath. 42:20 Let's look at the sanctity 42:24 of the oath that is given by God. 42:26 Now this is how seriously God takes oath that to Him. 42:31 And, Shelley, I've got you in Numbers 30:1-2, 42:36 will you read that for me, please? 42:37 Numbers 30:1-2. 42:39 "Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes 42:41 concerning the children of Israel, saying, 42:44 'This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 42:47 If a man makes a vow to the Lord, 42:49 or swears an oath to bind himself 42:51 by some agreement, 42:53 he shall not break his word, 42:56 he shall do according to all that proceeds 42:59 out of his mouth.'" 43:01 He shall not break his word. 43:02 I had this looking at Deuteronomy, 43:04 but I think I'm gonna skip Deuteronomy 43:07 and that it says if you break your vow, 43:11 and it would be sin to you, but, Kenny, 43:13 I've got you in Ecclesiastes 5:4-5. 43:18 It says, "When thou vowest a vow unto God, 43:20 defer not to pay it, 43:22 for he hath no pleasure in fools: 43:24 pay that which thou hast vowed. 43:26 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, 43:29 than that thou shouldest vow and not pay." 43:31 Or is it six? Yeah. 43:33 No, that's it. 43:35 What does he call someone that doesn't fulfill the vow? 43:37 He calls him a fool. 43:38 Okay, there is power in our work. 43:41 Speech is a powerful gift from God. 43:44 There is power of death and life in our tongue. 43:48 He who guards... 43:49 Proverbs 13:3, 43:51 "He who guards his mouth preserves his life." 43:54 So my encouragement to each of us today 43:57 is watch the words that we say be careful, 44:00 don't make a vow 44:01 unless you've got every intention of fulfilling it. 44:05 Amen. Pastor John. 44:06 You guys, you know what I like about coming last 44:08 is I get to glean off of all of you. 44:11 Thank you, so much for the example. 44:12 We're gonna go to Thursday now, Nehemiah as example. 44:16 And I'm going to read very quickly verses 14-19, 44:19 because the situation here arose 44:21 that really troubled Nehemiah. 44:23 They troubled him because he began to see 44:24 in the lives of those around him, 44:27 that they were doing things 44:28 that Nehemiah thought were not only underhanded, 44:32 but burdensome and unjust. 44:35 And Nehemiah is example 44:37 is one that really carries a lot of weight with it. 44:39 I think we all should follow that. 44:42 And let's start with verse 14 of Nehemiah Chapter 5. 44:46 "Moreover, from the time 44:47 that I was appointed to be their governor 44:49 in the land of Judah, 44:51 from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year 44:53 of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, 44:56 neither I nor my brothers ate the governor's provisions. 45:00 But the former governors 45:02 who were before me laid burdens on the people, 45:06 and took from them bread and wine, 45:08 besides forty shekels of silver. 45:10 Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, 45:15 but I did not do so, because of the fear of God." 45:19 "Indeed, Verse 16, 45:21 I also continued the work on this wall, 45:23 and we did not buy any land. 45:26 All my servants were gathered there for the work. 45:29 And at my table were one hundred and fifty Jews 45:32 and rulers, besides those who came to us 45:35 from the nations around us. 45:37 Now that which was prepared daily was one ox 45:40 and six choice sheep. 45:41 Also fowls were prepared for me, 45:44 and once every ten days 45:45 an abundance of all kinds of wine. 45:48 Yet in spite of this 45:50 I did not demand the governor's provisions, 45:53 because the bondage was heavy on this people. 45:57 Remember me, my God, for good, 46:00 according to all that I have done 46:03 for this people." 46:04 I love those examples. 46:06 Nehemiah saw that the burdens 46:08 that were being the benefits to him 46:12 meant burdens to others. 46:14 And sometimes I like the fact here, 46:16 the question was, 46:17 what reason does Nehemiah give 46:20 for not demanding the governor's provisions 46:23 or fees from the people? 46:25 He said it was a burden. 46:26 It was costing them too much, 46:28 it was making life difficult for them. 46:30 And I think about it, Mollie, and one of the points 46:32 I brought out is Nehemiah set an example 46:35 by not taking the governor's provision. 46:37 There are times when our conveniences 46:41 could be somebody else's inconveniences. 46:44 And we have to be very careful and mindful 46:46 not to allow that to happen. 46:47 Don't allow your convenience. 46:48 Some people will say, hey, well, they gave it. 46:51 But if... and we've been in countries 46:53 where we know that for people 46:55 to do certain things for us or to provide certain things, 46:58 we know it'd be a tremendous burden. 47:00 We've gone to countries where the difference in income 47:02 is so drastic, 47:05 and in some cases people have said, 47:07 and I've heard this before, 47:09 some people have said, "Okay, 47:10 well, what you would pay me if I come?" 47:13 And my wife and I don't do that. 47:15 We don't sell the gospel. Amen. 47:17 We said, 47:18 we don't even say it to put a burden, 47:20 we don't even say, all of you want to get me. 47:21 We don't even say that. 47:23 We said, let the Lord, 47:24 if the Lord wants to impress him, 47:25 let's not do that. 47:27 And we were recently somewhere where we heard, 47:30 was in a foreign country. 47:31 I'm gonna be vague about it and we heard, 47:33 even though they were in a pretty affluent society, 47:35 by their standards, 47:37 it was not affluent by our standards. 47:39 And we knew that when we saw the difficulty of raising funds 47:42 for camp meeting and not making the budget, 47:44 and they were talking about quite a bit of budgets 47:46 and tithes and offerings, 47:47 how tight things were and the economy. 47:49 We thought, wow. 47:51 And I looked at Angie said, 47:52 I am so glad we didn't ask them for anything. 47:54 And what we paid to come into the country they gave us 47:57 when we left the country, but the Lord blessed us. 48:01 By just doing something special for us, 48:04 I'll be vague about that. 48:05 But the point of the matter is, 48:07 when your concern is blessing others, 48:10 rather than them just blessing you, 48:12 the Lord will provide all of your needs. 48:14 And so one of my points, I wanna make is, 48:16 don't make a vow 48:17 that you don't intend to honor. 48:19 You took Ecclesiastes 4:4-6. 48:23 And the passage Brother Kenny is gonna read is, 48:25 don't allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin. 48:29 In other words, there's some people that will say, 48:31 I'll give $500 and they raise their hands 48:33 and the energy of the moment, 48:35 but later on, they don't do it. 48:37 And our example is Ananias and Sapphira. 48:39 Yes. 48:40 Acts 5:1-4, I'll read it very quickly. 48:42 "But a certain man named Ananias, 48:44 with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession 48:46 and kept back part of the proceeds, 48:49 his wife also being privy of it, 48:51 brought a certain part 48:53 and laid it at the apostles' feet. 48:54 But Peter said, 'Ananias, 48:56 why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit 48:58 and to keep back part of the price." 49:00 Now we know the rest of the story, 49:02 of the deacons that day buried Ananias, 49:04 and about three hours later 49:06 his wife came in three hours later. 49:07 Why? 49:09 Because all the money that they kept back, 49:10 she went and bought a nice brand new wardrobe. 49:12 That's my pastor's imagination. 49:14 Took a three hours to get ready. 49:16 She came later. 49:18 And the pastor said, did you really pay this amount? 49:23 Why have you agreed with your husband to lie? 49:26 You see the dirt on the deacons feet, 49:28 they got a plot for you in the back of the church, 49:30 and she dropped dead there. 49:31 And I read why... 49:33 And I read and in Acts of the Apostles, 49:36 Ellen White said, 49:37 the reason why God allowed that 49:39 at the inception of the New Testament Church, 49:41 He wanted it to be very clear 49:44 that the Lord does not ignore deception. 49:49 Amen. 49:51 He does not ignore a double tongue. 49:52 He wanted it to be clear. 49:54 Well, you know what, Pastor Kenny, that day, 49:56 everybody seeing that that was the first Sabbath 49:58 where everybody returned an honest tithe. 50:02 So, but look at the examples. 50:05 And the key was it says, 50:07 "Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? 50:10 You have not lied to men but to God." 50:12 So the third point, the truth should not cost us, 50:17 the truth should cost us more than it costs others. 50:19 Yes. Yes. 50:21 Proverbs 23:23, 50:23 "Buy the truth, and do not sell it." 50:26 "Buy the truth and do not sell it." 50:28 That means, I'm willing to pay something for it, 50:30 but don't charge anybody else for it. 50:33 That's why when you invited to preach, 50:35 don't set a price for your sermons 50:37 because the Lord gave it to us freely, 50:39 we give it to others. 50:41 If somebody wants to be moved by the Lord 50:42 to do something like I've seen many instances 50:44 where Danny's gone out and 3ABN gone out, 50:46 and they've done things and sometimes people say, 50:48 Lord impress me to give this donation to 3ABN, 50:51 but, you know, Danny didn't asked for it. 50:53 And that's how God does above and beyond 50:56 what we often asked for when we set prices on things. 50:58 Somebody said, but what if I want to give more than that. 51:01 Let that be a movement of the Spirit of God, 51:03 not a demand of the human heart. 51:06 Peter, Acts 3:6, says, "Silver and gold I do not have, 51:10 but what I do have I give to you." 51:12 And so they didn't go 51:14 as apostles touting silver and gold, 51:17 they went campaigning for the kingdom of God. 51:20 It was not the focus of their ministry. 51:22 The other one, do not demand of others 51:24 what you are not willing to bear yourself. 51:26 And that's what Nehemiah, his focus was. 51:28 He says, I refuse, 51:30 these people are laboring to kill these animals, 51:33 laboring to gather these fruits, 51:34 laboring to provide us food. 51:37 And look, even the people that are working for the kings 51:40 are putting burdens on their shoulders, 51:41 and even the servers 51:43 are charging us more than we should. 51:45 This is a terrible thing. 51:46 I'm not even gonna eat any of it. 51:48 I don't even want to give the idea 51:49 that I support this. 51:51 That's what he said, 51:52 there's 150 sitting at my table, 51:54 we wouldn't even partake of that. 51:55 And so therefore the principles were, 51:57 do not demand of others 51:59 what we are not willing to bear ourselves. 52:01 Luke 11:46, 52:02 "Woe to you also, lawyers! 52:05 For you load men with burdens hard to bear, 52:08 and you yourselves do not touch the burdens 52:10 with one of your fingers." 52:12 I know somebody that had a lawsuit settled, 52:16 and what the lawyer told them what it would cost 52:18 and what the lawyer charged them 52:19 was just insurmountably different, terrible. 52:22 And I said, you know what? 52:23 What's terrible about that, 52:25 as the lawyer you can find a legal way to justify it, 52:26 and you can't even fight them 52:28 because they'll take you to court on their own dime. 52:30 It's a terrible thing, but that's what happens. 52:32 Some lawyers use the law to lie. 52:35 And that's why I heard somebody once say, 52:37 being a lawyer doesn't mean you tell the truth. 52:39 They just find a way to use the law to win. 52:42 And it's a terrible thing. 52:43 That's why the Lord used the phrase lawyers, 52:46 because the practice was prevalent 52:47 and but not all lawyers are that way 52:49 I want to make that point. 52:50 The other one, 52:52 burden bearing should be mutually agreeable. 52:55 In other words, we should agree. 52:56 This is a powerful text. 52:58 Look at this one, 2 Corinthians 8:12-14, 53:01 burden bearing should be mutually agreeable. 53:04 Here it is, "For if there is first a willing mind, 53:08 it is accepted according to what one has, 53:11 and not according to what he does not have." 53:12 Yes. 53:14 "For I do not mean that others should be eased 53:16 and you burdened, but by an equality, 53:20 that now at this time your abundance 53:22 may supply their lack, 53:24 that their abundance also may supply your lack, 53:28 that there may be equity." 53:29 That's a beautiful principle. 53:31 You know, I say, Mollie, 53:32 I know you're not making right now. 53:33 But hey, in the future, I know you, 53:36 you know if when my time comes, I get to come to you. 53:38 And that's the mutuality of burden bearing. 53:41 And that's what the beautiful thing 53:42 about the New Testament church, 53:44 they had possessions 53:45 they didn't consider it themselves, 53:47 they didn't consider it their own, 53:49 they consider that... 53:50 Today, I have a burden you help me, 53:52 tomorrow I'll have a burden, 53:54 I know I'll be able to help you. 53:56 So that should be mutually acceptable. 53:57 And fact of the matter is, God will bless us. 53:59 "Bear one another's burdens, 54:02 and so fulfill the law of Christ." 54:05 Galatians 6:2. Amen. 54:07 Thank you, John, I mean, 54:08 that gets down to the point of the spirit of the law 54:13 is keeping the spiritual principles of righteousness 54:17 that God put in place for the community 54:21 of the brotherhood. 54:22 So praise the Lord. 54:23 But we have just a couple of minutes left. 54:26 Why don't we do a little recap, 54:27 something special you want to mention 54:29 about your day, Jill? 54:31 I wanna mention 1 John 1:7, 54:33 "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, 54:36 we have fellowship with one another, 54:38 and the blood of Jesus Christ 54:40 His Son cleanses us from all sin." 54:43 And I love that because we must walk in the light with Him, 54:48 before we have fellowship. 54:50 And you see the Jews of Nehemiah's day 54:53 and the Christians of today. 54:56 We can have strife 54:57 and internal struggles and problems. 55:00 Trying to follow the letter of the law, 55:02 but ignoring the spirit 55:03 because we leave Jesus out of our church, 55:07 we leave Jesus out of our heart. 55:08 But if Jesus comes in all those, 55:12 all that strife and all the struggles 55:14 will be pushed away. 55:16 Amen. That's right. 55:17 Well, I've kind of learned on here the customs of the world 55:20 are no example for the Christians. 55:22 God has said His principles out, 55:24 Prophets and Kings 6:52, says this, 55:27 it says, "Every attempt to take advantage 55:30 of the ignorance or the weakness, 55:33 or the misfortune of another is registered as fraud 55:37 in the ledger of heaven. 55:41 You know, the golden rule certainly would apply 55:43 do on to others as you have them to do you? 55:46 I've gonna read the first part of that if you don't mind, 55:49 it's Prophets and Kings 6:52. 55:52 Okay. 55:54 And it's concerning the golden rule 55:55 and that what we were looking at 55:57 was how people were oppressing other people. 56:00 "Every unjust act toward a fellow being 56:04 is a violation of the golden rule. 56:07 Every wrong done to the children of God 56:09 is done to Christ Himself, and the person of the saints." 56:13 And then you finished up that quote, 56:15 and so just remember and realize, 56:20 when we are unkind to others, 56:23 we are being unkind to the Lord Jesus Christ. 56:25 That's right. 56:27 In Philippians 2:3-4, 56:28 "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, 56:32 but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others 56:35 better than himself. 56:37 Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, 56:40 but also for the interest of others." 56:42 There's no greater joy than knowing 56:44 that your life is a blessing to someone else. 56:46 That's why the Bible said it is more blessed to give 56:49 than it is to receive. 56:51 Amen. Amen. 56:52 You know, we always mentioned that 56:53 the law of God is a transcript of His character 56:59 and what we have to remember is that 57:02 our God is a merciful God and praise God, 57:05 the mercy seat was above the law, right? 57:09 He always mercy over justice is His band. 57:13 So the spirit of the law is to reflect 57:18 that love and that mercy of Jesus. 57:21 And that's what we all need to be doing. 57:25 As I said earlier, 57:26 you can keep the letter of the law 57:30 and not keep the spirit of the law. 57:33 You can be like those Pharisees 57:35 or but it is not possible to keep the spirit of the law 57:41 and ignore the letter of the law. 57:43 We need to learn to walk in God's law 57:46 and see what the spiritual principles are. 57:49 Well, thank you so much for joining us. 57:52 We hope you'll join us again next time. 57:54 Our prayer for you is that 57:56 the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 57:59 the love of the Father, 58:00 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 58:02 will be yours today and always. |
Revised 2024-09-04