text:
17-18. Bible Docs 101- Part 3Mark Howard
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PresenterMark Howard
Director, Emmanuel Institute of Evangelism
- Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
- Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Michigan Camp Meeting 2016: The Harvest is Great
- Michigan, USA
- June 12, 2016
Copyright ©2016 AudioVerse.
Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US) license.
The ideas in this recording are those of its contributors and may not necessarily reflect the views of AudioVerse.
- seventh day
- sabbath day
- romans fourteen
- evil spirit
- king james
- doubtful thing
- question number
- soap opera
- sunday service
- bible study
- sabbath study
- apostles keeping
- holy spirit
- question answer question
- acts chapter thirteen
- sabbath day intended
- corrupts good character
- watching soap operas
- seventh day adventists
- big long drawn
- company corrupts good
- broke bread
- bible tells
- false teacher
- study guide
- clear text
- golden calf
- jesus died
- lost track
- wear jewelry
- christian dress
- lord jesus
- break bread
- big thing
- passing pleasures
- celebrate christmas
- crystal clear
- personal thing
- gold pearls
- good friday
- christian entertainment
- stumbling block
- pretty clear
- special people
- sabbath intended
- dress including
- god demonstrated
- number fourteen
- holy nation
- jewelry start
- apostle paul
- personal feeling
- fragrant oils
- ceremonial washings
- sexual touch
- brother jim
- sabbath breaking
- glorify god
- god people
- false witness
- non-christian friend
- bible talks
- belief system
- change time
- speech betrays
- day text
- spirit fell
- christian experience
- gazing stock
- breaking bread
- fence post
- scriptural evidence
- lesson study
- paul preaches
- spiritual man
- church service
- day god
- start driving
- lesson touches
- bible times
- prepared spices
- feel shame
- people bring
- jewish sabbath
- testament record
- god rested
- magical books
- spring spring
- bad company
- thirteen thirteen
- person understand
- ellen white
- spend time
- christian church
- suffer affliction
- jewish exorcist
- god created
- costly clothing
- quality time
- peaceful times
- outward appearance
- bad influence
- lifestyle practices
- jesus rose
- fast days
- day week
This transcript may be automatically generated
Heavenly Father we thank you again for the privilege of being here can't meeting the thank you for the work your spirit has been doing on this campground and in our love in our hearts and lives of the Lord. We pray that the Spirit of God will be present this morning Lord we know that he already has been we appreciate what we heard from Pastor Cameron. But Lord we want the things we're learning to go beyond our hearing of them or even accepting of them but we want to know how to teach effectively so we pray your Holy Spirit would would help us to do just that before we ask and prayed in Jesus' name in them when it comes to mind a I'm doing a spirit of prophecy seminar in the afternoon but in the early formation of admin is doctrine one of the things Ellen Weiss says as she describes the experience of when they used to come together initially and they were studying the Bible. For into the night and sometimes through the entire night they would come together and study and pray. She said that what they were praying for was two things an understanding of the doctrines and how they could teach them effectively it was always a part of the evidence faith you know nobody is like I just want to know this for me it was I want to know how to communicate it to others I. Am not quite sure how to I know if you for example if we listen to what you know Cameron just shared with us you might be wrestling I can see how a person will wrestle with that say well I've got this study guide and this study guy goes this way and how do I incorporate all that I the point I'm hoping you are understanding is. The need for us to have a grasp on the topic I can take any study guide in the Holy Spirit can use this not seen it happen I can take any study guide take somebody through question answer question answer questions answered. But it's a lot different if I own that if I have an understanding of it that I'm conveying through the lesson and I say that because well I've seen a lot of people give lessons studies that they don't understand real well but that's part of that is has to happen nobody starts out knowing everything and the more you share the more you're going to understand I'll guarantee that past Cameron didn't just start out thinking all this stuff but you share it and you study it and you share it and you study it but the more you understand I think a lot of the things he shared will help I wouldn't I wouldn't intend to share all of that in one sit down study as a lot of information but that understanding will help me to share more clearly the basic points of this study and that's what I want you to understand that's we're going to be talking about now with a lesson on the Sabbath I just have my say with us now I think I put in my Bible take quality time is a lesson here in your lessons study set now what do some have a question number seven now there are four from my estimation there are four basic things that you're going to get in just about any Sabbath study say four things the lesson is going to touch on one is going to be when you're talking about the Sabbath one is going to be. The origin of the Sabbath going to go back to creation you're going to see that God created in six days rested on the seventh day set aside the seventh day blessed it hallowed it OK and then you're going to go into the purpose of the Sabbath usually talking about a memorial to creation and then also a memorial or not a memorial rather a sign of recreate an or sanctification and flesh that out a little bit you're going to go into the day of the Sabbath that it is on Saturday. And clarify that your study and then the importance of the seven most lessons that you do on the Sabbath they're going to get into these things. So you could have five questions or ten questions or twenty five questions but basically you're going to be covering this flow and so whether you use this set of lessons or some other set of lessons. It'll probably follow that general flow now when you're putting together a study you may come up with something else you want to add in there but this goes back to what I was saying yesterday when I'm giving a study I want to know what I'm basically getting across I may take three texts or four texts to make this point but I'm making this point I don't want this point to get lost in my four texts and that that is what can happen when you just go through the study you're like OK question number one question over two and you read through it and even if you do everything right and you're asking the question very doing the text you're asking the question again they're answering it you're in or all of that you're not going to be able to communicate the truth if you're just going if you don't have the greater picture in mind of I want them to see the origin of the Sabbath I want them to see the purpose of the Sabbath I want them to see which day the Sabbath is on your steering that as you're going through the study and so as I'm steering the study I'm going to I'm going to take the time I need in there maybe one verse that says it better than others I may take a little more time with so that they can see while the Sabbath originated with God before sin in the you know. Garden of Eden or after before the garden but after the creation he rested and what have you that I'm going to communicate. And most lessons will what I want to do in this time period because we're limited on time is I want to touch on some of the points on this lesson to show you how they're bringing this out but then I want to turn to the difficult Texan of. Actions this is a some of them are brought up in the lesson and most lessons will well let's just look at this lesson for a minute lesson starts with a. Putting question a recent one says has God demonstrated that he wants to spend time with his children. One of the challenges you'll have with the lesson when you make your own lessons is there's always a core of the study where you get the information of I want to show how the Sabbath started I want to show what its purpose is I want to show us today is this is kind of into the purpose area but this is laying a framework for the particular lesson and everybody has their different framework this one is quality time so what's the framework what are they what do you think they're going to try to convey about the Sabbath. Is time with the Lord right and that's their that's the framework they put it in and so that's where if you get you could take this lesson and then you could go I don't know what the lesson is called in Mark when they search for certainty series or landmarks of prophecy you put them all side by side and they're going to have some angle that's going to be the first so you might have the first two or three text and then boom you're right into the probably the almost the same exact text that most Sabbath studies have so if you were to write a study you might say you know I want to take this angle but sooner or later you're going to end up with Genesis one. Right and two where you Genesis two to three is going to be in there which is our second. Text in this study but the first one has God demonstrated that he wants to spend time with his children Oh yes he has you know they're setting a direction for their study. Question number two. And I'm not going to read all the questions I'm just looking at the texts Genesis two two and three tells us where God finished his work of creation and He rested on the seventh day from all this work and he said Blessed and he set it aside three things God did on the seven. There's no record anywhere in Scripture of him doing anything like this on any other day so people argue day they say well you know what does it matter you know I keep Sunday you keep Sabbath I keep any day I keep every day and all these different things now there's no record in scripture of any other day where God rested on it God blessed God set it aside it's not there the seventh the seventh day is the only day that is considered blessed in the scripture and we have it there in Genesis two two and three rape way back now when I get to this I like to point out sometimes that this is you know right after creation before sin and God established the Sabbath why did he establish the Sabbath why did he establish the Sabbath one thing I like to ask it is not in this lesson particularly I like to go to. All now I'm now I'm blanking in my own mind on that. Not fifty eight fifty eight is GOOD know where the Lord. I say forty where the Bible says the Lord the creator of the heavens. Created the heavens the earth neither are. My my brain is slow this morning let's go to is a forty twenty eight we'll just see it neither faints nor is weary. Right so I'll ask people the question I get you turn in there now so just it slowly came. As a forty. And verse twenty up posed the question God rested on the seventh day Was he tired. He just did all this creating a whole lot of work to God get tired in creating. Verse twenty eight as a forty twenty says Have you not known Have you not heard the Creator God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth was. Neither faints nor is weary did God get tired no god doesn't get tired does it and so the point I like to make with that is and when God rested on the Sabbath his rest wasn't a I got tired I'm going to take a nap arrest because the Sabbath and so I do that when I'm going in the purpose of the Sabbath because we're entering into His rest well you know for seven days for a lot of Seventh Day Adventists I don't know who I'm implicating in here but for a lot of seven the evidence Sabbath is nap day. I'm not saying you can't take a nap on the sabbath but that is not the purpose of this is my day of rest people say well that wasn't exactly what the Lord did he didn't go to sleep on you know and sleep all Sabbath and wait for it to be over so his rest was a Rest of satisfaction in a perfect creation. And I really want to convey when I give the Sabbath study I want to convey that because what that means is when I understand that that God created everything it came out just as he intended. Is everything just as he intended now no so when I rest on the Sabbath that's a sign to me that God wants to he's established and wants to keep between us that he will restore everything the way it was initially And there's a lot that can be brought out in that. This lesson touches on question number two the responding that time with the Lord and then it the question number three. Is was the Sabbath day intended only for Jews to keep. OK now what's the lesson doing why do you think they're asking that question here. OK Right Are there people who say oh the Sabbath is made for the Jews sure they call the Jewish Sabbath and this that the other Any time you're doing a lesson you've got to remember that there's a lot that can be said about the Sabbath and this is one place where I think we should ourselves in the foot as Christians for our own spiritual lives is. For example we can have an evangelistic series we can have something else and members don't come out and say Wow I've heard it before. You know just because you had a study on something in a typical study is not designed to exhaust the subject. But the study is designed to meet common questions and objections and bring enough information that a person can make a decision but it's not exhausting the subject and so when you're putting together if you put together your own lessons or when you're giving a lesson you'll notice the lesson is put together in such a way as to address things that you know are common objections now Bible studies written today are written differently than they were maybe twenty years ago or thirty years ago because there are different objections one of the newer objections that I didn't used to hear a lot of even since I've been back in the church is this big thing where they bring up the rules for where it talks about the entering into the rest and they say Jesus is our Sabbath if ever that when Jesus is my Sabbath now suddenly it used to be about a day in fact there was a period of time quite a period of time where Sunday keepers would keep Sunday the way we're supposed to I would say the way Abbot is keeps that we don't even keep Sabbath anymore we do it like the evangelicals oftentimes we go to church for a couple hours and it's our own day but it used to be that people would honor the day and they would honor Sunday and it was just a matter of saying well the Bible says the seventh day is a seven zero the seventh day is Sunday No The seventh is a set Saturday what and that was it boom they saw it and in all their heart and mind they thought they were following the commands of God. That's not the case anymore now you have to. Your two main. Diversionary. Beliefs are the whole covenant thing while the covenant said we don't have to keep the commandments anymore that didn't used to be the case among Christians and so your lesson studies didn't have to go into that a lot we got a lot of former Adventists have gone out they want their websites to make their tax and these are two of the big ones well we're into the new covenant and. Under the new covenant you don't have to keep the Sabbath is only two commandments love God love your you know neighbor love one another and. Or you'll hear Jesus is my Sabbath this is another one that's you know that it's a spiritual thing it's really just resting in Jesus once you have Jesus I mean you're going to nit pick over a day here a day there that so that's so. Preschoolers you know it's kind of so juvenile and so you know I'm a more experienced Christian I understand it's it's about spirituality the Sabbath is I rest in Jesus all the time every day and you hear the golf in times comes across very sanctimonious but we didn't have that kind of objection years ago so your studies your bible studies over time will change because they're designed to adapt to some of those questions that people ask so you'll find that in this lesson goes over the point of was a Sabbath intended only for Jews to keep no the Bible says the Sabbath was made for man. These are things you want to understand when you're giving the study you want to ask yourself as you're preparing Why is this question in the study what is the point being you know conveyed and you want to make sure that point is conveyed clearly. You want to make sure that the person understands that point. Now there are some people you're going to study with and they've never heard that the Sabbath was a Jewish thing or anything else and so since you're not going to probably if I'm studying with somebody and I know this is an issue with them I'm going to spend a little more time on this question and I will maybe not that there's a whole lot of time to spend. On it I mean it's pretty clear the Sabbath is made but let's say I do this was a Sabbath intended only for Jews to keep Mark two and verse twenty seven I said or could you read that soul or read the text when the Bible study together and she says the Sabbath was made for man very good for the Sabbath is made for man Question number four now I could go right past that and you really didn't OK What was that there for I mean if I just bumped past it OK so I was made for me and. You want to clarify that point so when she says it's out of made for me I asked the question was a sabbath day intended for only Jews to keep. And of course that brings it out a little bit. No the Bible says have made her who. Sam has made for man and I might add in there now sometimes I've heard people call the Sabbath the Jewish Sabbath this and understand it some people have that only came with the Jews but just notice that these are the words of Jesus Jesus makes it clear that the Sabbath wasn't just for the Jews it was made for who all mankind write and how do we know that because he made it when at creation so I might throw something out now I'm not I'm not giving some big it only took me thirty seconds to say that but it's clarifying the point and then I'm going to move on but I want I want to know why I'm brick why I or why the lesson is bring up a certain point sometimes it's in the know. And I personally when I give a study don't go through all the notes with the person I'm studying with I mean they have the lesson and my goal is that they're going to fill in a lesson like this they're going to fill the lesson fill in the blanks read the notes but to me it seems why am I going to meet with you to study over the lesson or didn't read a lesson together you can read a lesson by yourself. So I have my understanding is that my role as a one studying with you is to teach the lesson bring out the things so there are times where I think oh there's a good point in the note and what I'll do is I'll make notations to myself Why don't you read us a lor one of you read the note under that I may have or read a note and then comment on the note maybe the note says it all but I don't just go through Question one read read the note Question two. I will either explain like I did there and sometimes I may go through two or three questions without much explanation and then because sometimes the questions will build one builds into the next builds in that in the next and then I'll make an explanation so you know what we've just seen is this for example when I give the Sabbath study and it's in here in. Pretty much a pretty similar order most studies are going to go through the history of Sabbath keeping Well you know did the did the patriarchs and apostles and prophets keep the same page or some prophets the Old Testament did they keep the Sabbath while that you obviously were not Jesus to Jesus keep the Sabbath a lot of studies won't necessarily go into the Old Testament it's pretty clear the commandments are there anything else but the question will be what about Jesus did he keep the Sabbath what will go to look for sixteen What does it say as his custom was he when it is synagogue What are you going to now when you're in that particular question and you're studying that the person reads Luke were sixteen. And as his custom was Jesus went in this in a god instead of four to read well. What are you going to say on that one what do you think you're going to want to you want to just bump on to the next. Question yet or what do you think you might want to just emphasize their. Custom right you want them you don't want to read over that well let's see as his custom was what is a custom And incidentally talks about Nat in the context as when it's in Nazareth where was Nazareth. His home town that's where he grew up from a boy right so from a boy what did the Bible say Jesus did. And on this I'll do this in a study so read it I'll say now this is what does the Bible say it was his custom What's a custom and I'll let them answer that and if they don't get it right I'll ask him again and I'll make sure they get it right I mean a steer that I'm teaching is a well that's something you do if they custom or it is a custom kind of cultural well and then it's so so to say somebody kind of they're not sure I'll say. Well custom is a custom something you you just do one time oh no no see so you help them out OK so custom is something you do what on a regular basis now we measure it is the place that Jesus grew up and I might ask him or might just say that say so then this is been his custom how long his whole or three life Jesus goes to church on the SAT with that was Jesus custom Now Jesus had a custom of doing something don't you think it probably be a good custom for us to have OK well let's go on to the now I mean emphasize that word custom there but then you go from Jesus you go to the Apostles keeping the Sabbath. And they're usually a couple text or three ticks maybe different questions that will go with the apostles keeping the Sabbath so I might just go through and read the question in the next let's look at this lesson I'm sure it does bring that because I looked at it earlier one of the ones that emphasizes in here is one that I always emphasize I'm going to touch on that with you in a moment. Yeah in fact eleven so this one really doesn't take a lot of time in other I usually go to. Acts Chapter sixteen where it talks about them going down by the riverside Acts chapter Well this brings up thirteen X. eighteen there are a lot of text talk about the apostles worshipping on the Sabbath day several of them talk about them going to the synagogue so I like the X. sixteen text because it talks about how they went down by the riverside something. It's in study guide eight OK Very good so yeah OK because study guide eight goes into a little bit of some of the change of the Sabbath and so they've done they've kind of covered it in two lessons here but X. number Question Number eleven is key this is one of the most key text you're going to use in a Sabbath study because if people haven't heard it you know they're going to hear that the day was changed by Jesus or the Apostles and that they in the early church they worshipped on the first day of the week that's what they're going to hear. So I want you to look up Acts Chapter thirteen I spend time more time on Acts Chapter thirteen you see number seven has Luke four sixteen in their. Acts Chapter thirteen and verse forty two now I'll start when I do X. thirteen I may go back you don't necessarily have to do this but I go to thirteen thirteen because what you have is you have an introduction and Paul begins to give a sermon so you get X. thirteen thirteen. And it says now in Paul is party set sail from path they came to Per go in Pan philia and John departing from them return to Jerusalem but when they departed from Perth they came to Antioch in Presidio and went into the synagogue when on the Sabbath day and sat down and after the reading of the law the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying Man and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say own and Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said men of Israel and you who fear God listen and then Paul goes in to preach that sometimes I'll read that or one way or the other all you the reader all say I like to give a little background of what we're reading in this particular verse that when we get to verse forty two what's happened is Paul has just preached a sermon on the Sabbath day in the synagogue. After he does this it says in verse forty two so when the was Jews went out of the synagogue the Gentiles what's the word there begs don't miss that that these words might be preached to them. When. The next Sabbath OK so they're in the synagogue on the Sabbath day the seventh day Sabbath Saturday Paul preached a sermon and the way the synagogue was set up the Jews had priority that the Gentiles were cornered in another part of the synagogue and so they had to wait for all the Jews to leave and then they came up now just I'll throw this out here if you read in the N.I.V.. Oh now I'm trying to remember what it says it doesn't say Gentiles there. OK but the context makes it clear that it's Gentiles and I'm just saying that it's clearer here in the wording but the concept is still the same so the Jews go out the gentiles do what. They beg to hear more of the same when on the next Sabbath now just this is this is an easy equation here to figure out if the Apostles as people who some people say were holding Sunday services for Gentile believers. Put yourself in Paul's shoes or the Apostle Paul OK and you want to see people saved. You specially you got a burden for gentile people so you're preaching on Saturday. In the synagogue of the Jews but you also have a church service Sunday morning so some Gentiles come to you on Saturday and they're not asking you they're doing what they're begging you to hear more next Sabbath What are you going to tell them hey what you got to wait on next Sabbath guess what tomorrow morning we got a service for gentiles that's when we mean. Right what does the Bible say look what it says verse forty three says when the congregation is broken up many of the Jews and about prostates followed Paul and Barnabas who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God and on the way in the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God what's that telling us there were no Sunday services in the New Testament they were not there Scripture does not record it you do not have any evidence of that history doesn't tell us we have evidence of any Sunday service until second century A.D. could throw that out there but that so I like a person to see that because even if they haven't thought about it I know that when they begin talking to their friends or their pastor or whatever some is going to tell him Well you keep us in the New Testament years and keep the Sabbath. Oh yes they did. And where did they see it they saw it in the Bible. And you know the Sabbath study I'm not like I said I want to get a lot more time in the particular study itself and we'll look at some of the objections because if you go through. The study Question Number eight let me see if a couple points that I might add in here and they have they have it in the additional facts but people wonder what how do we know this with the say how do we know which is Sabbath day is well praise the Lord for Luke twenty three because in them a question every says which day of the week is a sabbath day. And you go through and read Luke twenty three fifty it has twenty three fifty six but I would read right on through which the note kind of takes you through to twenty four when we look at that in our Bibles Luke twenty three Matthew Mark Luke twenty three fifty six and you want to read on through here says then they returned and I actually start here in verse fifty. If I don't start there I still need to explain it and this is one of the challenges of having a Bible study sometimes a study is written and they don't want to put this big long passage so you put one little verse but if I start in verse fifty six it says then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils their return from where what were they doing and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment that doesn't give us the insight that we need so I'm looking at question number eight and I look at the text and I fill in the blank but that really isn't give me my answer I've got this nice little thing below Friday Sabbath Saturday and Sunday but that's not in verse fifty six. That's in verse fifty three twenty four verse one. And so you want this again in preparation if you don't prepare for your lesson you're going to show up there and you're going to be at the Bible so you're read that question. And you're going to hope they don't ask which. Is not in there it doesn't say which day is a Sabbath according to the claim it doesn't tell you which day doesn't confirm it you say so you see the Sabbath this Saturday and hope right but they get the commandment they are they don't know which they the seventh day is so they say I mean people will ask you and I've had this in meetings they'll say well how do we know which day is a seventh day and the really the reality is that they are there the conviction is coming in the thinking OK how to get around this one but that's what people will do you say well it's on the seventh day count on. Sunday Monday Tuesday oh how do we know that for sure how do we know the calendar wasn't changed how do we know if. Right. Right so that's why that's why I'm saying what I'm about to say here is if you go to verse fifty six that doesn't answer your question and you can hope they don't ask you because if they you're you if you didn't prepare so you were preparing now and you're going to be prepared for it because I'm going to tell you what you are going to do here and it works every time it's crystal clear but if I just go to verse fifty six like the study says and if I didn't prepare and I showed up and then they asked me and I and I had reviewed this and they said well how do we know that doesn't say it's Saturday I go and I look like an idiot because I wouldn't know that's why you want to prepare ahead of time so if you go to verse fifty this is this is what the passage the passage tells us now behold there was a man named Joseph a council member a good and just man he had not consented to their decision indeed he was from Aramis the city of the Jews who himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God This man went to pilot and asked for was. The body of Jesus then he took it down took it down from where the cross wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb that was human out of the rock where no one had ever lain before that day was the preparation and the Sabbath you're near so here it says on the day of the preparation which according to this is the day before the Sabbath he went and took the body of Jesus down from the cross. Then it says the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after they observed the tomb and how his body was laid then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment so this helps us to know that that day was a Sabbath according to the Ten Commandments but it doesn't tell us which day it is but in the context we know it's this is the Sabbath the commandment if we can figure what day of the week this is were right on Jack to twenty four verse one says now on the. First day of the week very early in the morning or which day is a Sabbath according to the commandment the seventh day so they rested on that day and then real or early the next morning they got up and it says that they and certain other women with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they prepared but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and what Jesus was risen now listen this is easy and I tell you why it's easy Christian world has made this easy as just about any calendar you have is going to say that it's that little on Passion Week that weekend that that Friday they call it what good Friday I should even ask that Friday because I'm making the assumption we're reading the passage which days which were which days of preparation where Jesus was crucified. All across the board people agree that Jesus died on what we call Good Friday and people also agree that Jesus raised on what day we call Easter Sunday well when Sam of the corded commandment the Bible puts it right between the two you can't miss a crucified on one day and then the day right after that was Sabbath according to the commandment and the day right after that he was risen the Sabbath according to command is the day before Jesus rose and is not a Christian around I won't argue with it will argue with it Jesus didn't rise on Sunday and so that yes there are no. Right right so here you have it right from Scripture and you're in and we have enough common knowledge among people from scripture though you have Good Friday Easter Sunday bam there there you see it right in the Bible Yes exactly and that's what I would do I would say so the day Jesus was crucified on the day he died on the cross and we celebrate that some people sober that have been counted as called good what. And let them answer and the day he rose on is called Easter and they'll answer for you and then what day is the one in between yes. Yeah I'm going to tell you something if Ellen White makes a really amazing statement and it's true. She says if it weren't for the false teachers of the Bible if people just were allowed to read the Bible without the interpretation the false teachers they would come to the truth like that when you deal with a the atheists are easy people don't believe the Bible because you show them in the Bible it once they've seen that wow there's something about the Bible they don't have the influence of some other false teacher telling them what doesn't doesn't mean what it says and so their calendar is different but when you you know you show them that Jesus died and historically it really doesn't matter what their calendar is historically we know that Jesus died on a Friday and he rose on a Sunday. You know now their calendars reflect the day of the week is still the same for them so it's not the seventh day but the interesting thing here is it doesn't it doesn't refer to I guess you know the first day the week very early. You would have to basically introduce them to the different calendar which they're not surprised by in other words they know already that our calendars and from their calendar they also know that counters around the world are different and I don't want to get in a big calendar discussion from a standpoint of. Hold on a minute let me try to include the thought anyway. People nations have used different calendars not only. I mean you look at the Jewish months to different months they start their years in the spring and in you know the next spring spring spring fall or fall calendars are common Babylonian Persia and so it's not that they're not accustomed to that just sharing the information they'll see that it's pretty straightforward in a corroboration for that is I go here first because it's Scripture but from scripture I go to other places the dictionary and languages and languages is an amazing evidence of the Sabbath because languages are old I mean some languages are very old and in in at least I know it's over one hundred four and I don't know what with it the number is languages of the world their day their name for their seventh day is Sabbath our name is on Saturn but their day of the week is called Sabbath their seventh day and so even you know a person who's an atheist who may have a different calendar will reckon that I mean there's a lot of evidence there what if that's the case in the seventh day is not Saturday or Sabbath how come all these other. In there I'm familiar with that in fact most people the people in China speak more languages than Americans do everybody speaks more languages you've heard the saying If you speak three languages you're traveling will two languages bilingual one language or American. Languages you know. OK. Well you should be telling us I will say I'll say this so be careful not to overthink it and what I mean by that is I'm not talking it over thinking this over thinking how people will respond here here's something that you want to really take to heart in fact. One of my favorite texts in the Bible is. The second print the insert teenager I want to make sure I guess it's not first. Sometimes I do that. I would go and say something like that. The Bible says For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth. Second Corinthians thirteen eight and what that saying is this and take this to heart God is the owner author and owner of truth. And if what you are sharing is truth the Bible says the Spirit of Truth will bear witness to that truth and lead people into that truth and so I don't have to worry about convincing a person who's sincere the Spirit of God will convince them but he's not going to convince them of error and so on that's the Apostle Paul when he said that he was he had a confidence that hey I know the truth is going to prevail and it's not that people won't ask you questions and you may have to say OK how my going to answer this but the reality is if a person sincerely seeking you're not going to need some big long drawn out we'll go back and do some historical research and bring that back to them the passage in the scripture and a little bit of evidence maybe from calendars or languages or whatever is will suffice. I mean I've been doing this for fifteen years plus and. I just I've never had to have a big long drawn out discussion except for somebody who doesn't just doesn't want to keep it and you can tell sometimes too I've had discussions with people and you stumped them they're just speechless but they still won't give in because they're just whatever and they'll divert to something else change the subject but most people that's very sufficient I just want you to know in the lesson when you come to Luke twenty three fifty six you want to give a little bit more because that's not covering what that little the note brings it up if you look at the note says with twenty three fifty four and then verse to Luke twenty four one but if you just go with the lesson and you don't and to bring all that into it is not going to make the point that the lesson is going to make open. Yeah they don't go there I just never had anybody go there. But you know. Yeah well you know I think. The different calendars don't change you can you can get the Bible framework on what day one thing that's clear is in the Bible Well the argument I forgot is the strongest argument in favor of the seventh day is a fact you have a whole nation of people who've kept it since God gave. Like. I've heard Pastor bachelor say before you know you could convince me if you had some guy that was stranded on an island somewhere and he lost track of time and lost track of the Sabbath day but you're going to tell me the whole Jewish nation somehow lost track of which is Sabbath was I mean they've been keeping it since God gave it as a nation so. Even for. People just won't argue that even if they're from another culture and have a different calendar they'll recognize that the Jews have always recognized seven days a Sabbath and that Luke twenty three fifty and onward will clarify that. Let's look at these difficult text and objections here and I'm going to written out you can read through them but I just want to highlight. The I'm just going to go through all here starting at the top when they're the Lord's day. Some of these are more common the then others but these are the just the objections you're going to usually get the Lord's day in Revelation all the sun is a Lord's day you'll read this and a lot of places I've seen Catholic and cyclicals that talk about the Lord's day and it's Sunday and they it's the whole thing is a supposition John says in Revelation one in this is all he says I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. And they have derived from that passage that the Lord's Day must refer to the new Sabbath or Sunday from what we're do you get that from there's nothing in scripture so people will say well I know that there's the Sabbath but Christians worship on the Lord's day and I say amen. And if you go through the Bible. And you look all through the Bible there's only one day that's ever called the Lord's day Jesus said the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath day the commandment says six days shall you labor and do all your work for the seventh day the Sabbath was of the Lord thy God you guys if he ate the Lord says if you turn away your foot from the Sabbath from doing your pleasure on my holy day I mean over and over the only day ever called the Lord's Day God claims as his day is the seventh day sabbath so that's an easy wonder if you just share some of the other passages and you look at revelation I mean I have the person tell me the Lord's day where where is that I don't know where it is well I think it's in Revelation one might look at that yet tell me in there where it's this it's not there there's nothing there that says it's any other day that we get it just as John says he says in the Sabbath the Lord's or he was in the spirit in the Lord's Day Well it was the Sabbath day when John had that vision of Revelation. Now Romans the two main objections you typically are going to get. I'll tell you what happens oftentimes when you share the Sabbath of somebody the first thing is well the day was changed. OK That was pretty easy to handle I'll be honest with you the next study after this one. What's it called again something about the date it was changed I forget the name than its title of lesson but that go what that does every Vangelis Does done this and am in a church since we started there are five sorry there are eight Sunday texts in the New Testament that's it and they don't say Sonny No the Bible is a Sunday or Saturday is his first day second day seven day whatever there are eight first day text in the New Testament that is so if we're looking to see the change of the day we would find it in one of those days when it talks about texts it talks about the first day five of those simply say that Jesus rose on the first day they say nothing about worship or anything else there's three other texts there and that's highlighted in. I'm going to jump over the Romans fourteen for a minute look at the next bold face it says they decide. Came together on the first day to break bread signifying a do new day of worship as a people will say the text there X. twenty seven says they came together on the first day that week that's one of the techs to break bread they say they were breaking bread it was a communion service. Which is not what it says. But the easy answer to that is Number Number one obviously the breaking of bread because they broke bread doesn't suit doesn't signify anything about a change in the Sabbath. Furthermore the Bible tells us and it's a little bit further down the let's just read what it says The argument here is since we all were present on the first day it must have been a worship service besides the fact that there is no clear language that says anything regarding worship in the text the Bible tells us elsewhere that the disciples broke bread daily from house to house OK and then it touches on the fact there are these First a Texan brings up one being for Sprint and sixteen which is the next one so the fact that they gathered together and broke bread on the first day doesn't mean they're worshipping there broke bread every day together and I tell people I've preached on every day of the week I've preached Sunday services for churches that doesn't make it into Sabbath day just because they gather doesn't make it you know God wrote his commandments on tables of what don't we still use the expression written in what does that mean can't be changed and God changed the Sabbath by something is vague as as this there are several things that can be brought up but we've already looked at the fact that New Testament record. We don't have any New Testament record of the Apostles keeping the first day week. OK So when people come over and they say for example Romans fourteen what Paul said this and he means that we can keep any day if that's what he was teaching why don't we have record of Paul keeping any day we just don't have read you know you would expect that if the Apostles were teaching the day was changed if Jesus were teaching then you'd have evidence that they kept a different day but we don't have any scriptural evidence it's not there because they didn't keep a different day so this coming together in the first of the week I just usually go to Acts two forty six and say they broke right every day that week the fact that they gather doesn't mean it was a new day of worship and one example I've heard that I've given before is and I told this in my evangelistic meetings imagine that I came in here and I told you OK guys now remember tomorrow we'll start driving on the other side of the road like they do in Europe right. Why are you looking at me that way. Tomorrow aren't you got did you guys hear this. Our government change we're changing they said it's safer for some reason or the other but we're honestly you don't hear this we start driving on the other side of the road tomorrow. Now you're not going to believe that are you why. Yeah hopefully some is going to come out here get it and accept that there are as Howard said. Why wouldn't you believe it it's not just the authority I heard it on the news I don't need to be the authority Yeah. That's right if we're going to make a change to our nation. Are our driving laws that big you know you'd be hearing about it for six months at least it have been everywhere you would've been here you would have heard about it but God Almighty changed his commandments that he wrote with his finger on tables of stone by some text as obscure as old they just happen to meet on the first day that week so it must have changed the law God. It's a ludicrous and I share that with people and you know it registers it like yeah I mean it we would do they know we would do much more if we were changing one of our laws but God's going to change one of the Ten Commandments and there's no clear cut oh by the way I'm changing this no there's nothing in Scripture about it and so this text here is it now they gather together on every day. There are. My quote my simple question there's a few questions I asked of that. Did the Holy Spirit only ever fall in the first. Incidentally that's true on the day of Pentecost was on a Sunday the best we can figure from pretty straightforward but but But what makes that why would that change know that it's it's it's a total assumption the Holy Spirit fell in the Old Testament and the new the Holy Spirit came upon Samson what day was it on what was on Thursday Do we worship on Thursday what about the there was nearly time a new test with those Spirit fell upon Cornelius in his household so it fell upon them in Rome should we all be worshiping in Rome I mean it's an argument that doesn't exist there's no scriptural evidence and I would just tell somebody listen my faith is based on plain teaching of Scripture and there is no point the only plain teaching of Scripture I can see is and I would follow up that. Assumption they're making with if that's the case why again and I keep going back to this why don't we have any evidence at all in the New Testament of them worshipping on the first day of the week. As the same as the Sabbath we don't this gathering here if it talks about in Acts twenty doesn't say they're worshipping their breaking bread and the Bible talks about that when they ate food yeah they'd have to come together to break bread that's how they did it so yes in the series all over the apostles I mean they were all they were last time. You followed I mean time does not permit there are passages in the book of Acts that sells us that when Paul went to trial before Felix and Festus and and Agrippa he said I follow all things that are written in the long prophets well how could he say that if he was breaking the Sabbath. Jesus they had to have false witnesses what false witness do you need I mean what was what was the per the penalty for Sabbath breaking you could have a death penalty on Sabbath breaking of Jesus was out breaking a Sabbath teaching every break the Sabbath no then apples witnesses why we obviously wasn't teaching that what did Jesus say every time they try to trap me to say it is lawful to do good who cares if it's lawful what is lawful mean. In harmony with law who cares if Jesus was doing away with it he'd say no they said you're not you're not doing with lawful course I'm not right why would he argue something law is lawful and people will argue this and say what Jesus was doing that because he was just doing it for the sake of the Jews because he didn't want to. Cause conflict Oh let's see why did they crucify him again it just doesn't none of it washes so but these are the common I'm going to touch on a couple of these and I'm going to have to run through these lessons here these other ones I want to really highlight some things so it says. It says the next one is the first Corinthians sixteen Paul said the church this is the argument people make also the church should take a collection on the first day the week indicating that they were meeting for worship. OK The fact is the Bible doesn't say when they take the collection Paul said lay aside in store on the first day week so that when we come as the apostles we can pick it up and you don't have to be trammelled around trying to gather has nothing to do with the day of worship has nothing to do doesn't tell us it just it doesn't have to do with this a wise thing about offering and so it must happen during a church service and it doesn't say anything like that here is you just reading that totally reading into the text so you can read the answers a little more detail but that's our. Another first a text and then the final First a text. I don't mention here or mention it underneath that last one Acts twenty seven down toward the end John twenty nineteen and it talks about how the disciples were gathered together on the first day of the week but it says right in the text they were gathered. Because of the fear of the Jews they were gathering to worship and so your study the whole the lesson study number eight goes over all those first day texts and that's that's it that's all there are there's nothing John twenty it's in it's in it's under this yeah under the third paragraph towards the end but it's in your last and you're Lesson Number eight goes over all the first a text in John twenty nine thousand that's one of the common tests Yeah. Yeah. It's not necessary that's just how I would do it if I were to do it differently. I would may do seven and eight and then do eighteen but I want an a Christ in there because that's the this something about God for telling. Me that he would change intended change time the law I mean you know you're talking of the Sabbath then you're saying well the Sabbath was changed then look at you like this what do you mean like you're telling me the Sabbath that everybody the world keeps Sunday you're telling me you're suddenly you're some guru that soon seems you know you've got omniscience or something and you know something that nobody else in the world knows that's how they look at you so when you go to prophecy and prophecy foretells of power that was going to come and think to change times and law and then you get the historical statements regarding that that that come that gives a lot of evidence in favor of the Sabbath so if I were to move it I wouldn't move that far off from that I might do that seven eight and then the end of Christ but I would do that in a group. The Law was nailed to the cross This is this one in the Romans fourteen Let me just say this Romans fourteen look at Romans fourteen with me. Romans fourteen is used to dealing with both food and the Sabbath people will say in Romans fourteen that the Paul says well let's look at it. For almost fourteen five says one person esteems one day above another another esteems what every day like ladies be fully convinces own mind he observes the day observed to the Lord he who does not observe the day to the Lord he does not observe it well you know that sounds pretty plain and this one this is one of the common text that people will bring up to main things I would say here the first is again if this is what Paul was teaching why don't we have any record of him keeping the first day. If he's being so emphatic about keeping whatever day you want and then what three points I'd make up first we don't have a record of the Apostles keeping a different day number two let's just say it was up to us to keep a day why wouldn't we choose the day God already chose. Right if I'm going to choose something of I'm going to a restaurant you've been to and I have been to and you're like man and I'm like man I don't want to waste my money to get some I don't like get this this is really good I've had several the dishes here this is really good why would I not decide I disregard that if I don't like the same food as you maybe got to be nuts and I can eat nuts but as a rule I'm going to take your recommendation if I'm going to choose my own day. Why not choose God that even if that was an option which is not an option. Where where where no fast days. Yeah and I'll touch on that may in fact there's a good well let me comment on that just a moment. Romans fourteen the very first thing it says Don't miss this and this is where a lot of people miss and roams fourteen verse one says receive one who is weak in the faith but not to disputes over. Doubtful things so everything else that follows in Romans fourteen is what kind of things what is a doubtful thing. Something you're unsure of are the commandments dealt for their own clear they bake somehow no polls not talking about things that are black and white he's talking about those kind of things including days that people have dispute over and scholars believe that the context is likely. Days of fasting you see this in the ministry of Jesus people come up and say why do you disciples not fast fasting was a big thing fasting had to do with days and food and Romans fourteen talks about days and food I'm not positive about that I'm just telling you that's where a lot of scholars think Paul's addressing that kind of thing you have a parallel with this in first Corinthians Chapter eight you can reverse Quentin separate and you'll see Tall Paul talk about the one with a weaker conscience and the things that you've sacrificed to idols that's the that's what most scholars think that Paul is dealing with OK but even if not the day he's talking about observing it says one man esteems one day above another he doesn't think God esteems a day these are not talking about God's days but man's days do people to some people have regard over certain days that other people don't have regard over. Let's talk about Christmas does everybody in the world celebrate Christmas on December twenty five no do all Christians celebrate Christmas on December twenty five no does the Bible say you can't celebrate Christmas on December twenty five some people would argue that and you get arguments even the Christian church but the point is there are certain things that we just don't have a plain Thus saith the Lord for. It's a doubtful thing and Paul saying in doubtful things a man's got to choose for himself and be accountable to God for OK he doesn't say anything at all in here about worship doesn't say anything about the Sabbath and so the person is reading into the text and sometimes they'll tell a person is after explaining Ugh say OK I'll give you let's just say that this is talking about Sabbath. How come we now have contradictory evidence elsewhere in the New Testament and other words why would Paul be saying that this is not an issue you know you keep it every day and yet you see Jesus keeping the Sabbath they see Apostles keeping the Sabbath they see Jesus telling his disciples in the future that prayer flight not be on the winner of the Sabbath day. And other words we don't take our beliefs from one text and so for a person to take a text which in itself isn't crystal clear if it comes to changing the Sabbath why are you going to take it take that text and make it change everything else in the New Testament and all of Scripture there's just nothing here to do it with Romans for Romans fourteen is about doubtful things it's about days man observes not about days God observes likely fast days it is Jews who wanted to be observed and Paul said look if you want to fast go ahead and fast right because the scripture doesn't tell you how many days you have to fast or what days to fast on you want to fast go ahead fast but don't condemn your brother because he doesn't fast on the day you fast that makes sense but it doesn't make sense if you try to put the Sabbath in there because God explicitly stated when the Sabbath is now I'm going to tell you that if you share that with somebody if they really want to know the truth that will be sufficient if they don't they'll keep on holding on to that in arguing that and that's what I'll tell him Look Paul's not going to contradict everything else in the New Testament with this passage or a here. In our Vangelis a series we talk about fence posts if you've ever anybody here ever said fence post this is an aerial view OK you've got your fence post you want your fence in a straight line but somehow you get knocked a couple of them that you got a couple of them out of whack OK Now tell me what you're going to do are you going to are you going to look at this and say well these two are out of line I'm going to move all these ones over. No you're going to take the two and put them in line with the other five here aren't you there are text in the Bible that are crystal clear there are always text that are going to be a little bit I'm not quite sure what it says are you going to interpret the unclear text by the clear are you going to take the clear text and realign them to fit the young clear text book I have a text that tells me that the dead know nothing which is very plain straightforward and then I have another text that it could be taken either way which way we're going to take it if the bulk of my texts are saying the dead know nothing. Then that's where I'm going to line the unclear texts Romans fourteen is not some crystal clear text on the Sabbath so even if it had potential to be talking about the Sabbath day you have another clear text in the Bible that was say well if that was a case it would contradict the Bible and then I have a bigger problem on my hands than just the Sabbath. Are you following what I'm saying so anyway I'm not going to spend the time to go through these are all kind of spelled out you can read through them the key objections I kind of had hoped to but I really want to look over these supplemental studies because you don't have these in this study series the studies on the Christian dress in Christian entertainment lifestyle and I'm just going to give you the flow of the study so you know what it's addressing we're going to start with Christian entertainment and lifestyle and you'll notice I have a purpose of the study listed at the top and the purpose is to help people understand how a Christian should live you have it. How Christian should live in order to glorify God we and others to Christ and experience true happiness and to urge them to purpose in their heart to commit their life style to Jesus now I start this with Psalm one one through three and I actually started here because of your husband Brenda and his story of his brother Peter and he shares the story of told the story some you heard me told the story of Peter quiche. As a young man who was tempted to compromise his faith but he had learned Psalm one one from an early age Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council then God in our stand in the way of sinners nor sit in a sea the scornful. And it goes on to say but bless it is he who delights himself in the law of the Lord and His law does he meditate day and night well that's my my first check bless it is a man that we're blessed if you know what it means. Happy that's what the word means and so my question first question is what is God's recipe for happiness and God says this is what's going to make you happy but happy is a man who doesn't do these things but instead delights himself in the law and the word for that as we touched on the other day is the Hebrew word Torah. Or maybe I didn't touch on that in here which equals which means instruction. OK now to the Jews this was the first five books of Moses the Torah and. The word means instruction. But the point is that David saying is happy is the man who delights himself in God's instruction and so that's my introduction in this lesson and then I'm going to begin in the lesson to look at the. Action that God gives us in regard to our lifestyles as Christians because we want to be happy right so that's the framework that I use in this particular lesson happy is the person who delights in the instruction of God. Question number two what does the Bible urge us not to love and why this is where the Bible says Love not the world or the things in the world and then talks about the things that are in the world of the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and. The explanation here just basically this describes the lust of the flesh the word lust in some translations is desires but that's what it means we see lust and we think sexual sin and that's not just what this is saying first John is saying the desires the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride of life desires of the flesh or the physical Pleasures arising out of the body it includes sexual immorality includes drug addiction food addictions all of that the desirous for food the desires for love the desires for sex are all good the way God made them but the devil has sought to pervert those things the desires of the eyes lust greed other things anyway that's brought up the Bible urges not to love the things the world loves and then the lesson will begin to get more a little more more specific in those areas Question three Do the pleasures of the world and obviously I'm not having you look these up I'm just giving you the flow of this as you see her clock but Eugen understand the general thought process that I'm going through and why I am highlighting certain things now number three to the pleasures of the world bring real lasting happiness Hebrews eleven twenty four twenty six is where it tells us that Abraham refused to be called the son of Pharos daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy what the Bible calls the passing pleasures of sin there are two points I like to make in this verse number one what did it mean to be called the son of Pharos daughter. What was pharaohs daughter who is pharaoh. The King of Egypt what does it mean to be is the grandson of royalty an heir to the throne is that a big thing but Moses Rhett chose not to have that he would rather suffer affliction. Which is it's a great text like OK I'm not going to be the son of Pharos daughter I'm going to enjoy the peaceful times with my people no it's not peaceful times it says he would rather suffer flexion with the people of God. Rather than to enjoy the. Passing pleasures of sin OK So the first thing I want them to realize is what Moses was laying aside and then why would you lay aside being a king for affliction Well it's talks about the passing place as a sin The second point I'd like to make is and I asked the question is sin pleasurable. Don't you know Christians like I'm not supposed to yes it is it is that's why the devil but it's not lasting and this is the point in the my favorite part of this passage is the last part of it says that Moses did all this for he looked to the reward. And as Christians there are things the devil will try to entice us with through the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life and they may feel good we may enjoy them but that enjoyment is not lasting and when we come down to the end there's a reward and God has a roared for the righteous Moses looked at the reward reward he looked to the final. He looked at the consequences in the final reward of those who would follow God in the reward for those who choose to suffer the affliction now is far better than any kind of reward that a person can have or follow things of following the things of this world and you might bring up examples we hear in the news all the time of famous people that the world wants to be like and then there goes another one committed suicide died in a bathtub over of an overdose whatever else sports stars in a strong and on drugs in this it and they lost all their money gambling and whatever else and just highlighting that look this pleasures of sin don't last and you look at some of the people who have what so many people want the riches in the fame and are they happy now they're miserable and we feed on it and are People magazine and everything else and they have an issue every week because there's so much to tell. So anyway the passing pleasures of sin and the reward number for what counsel does the Bible give about interpersonal relationships first Corinthians fifteen thirty three is a Texas says Do not be deceived God is not known us not God as much Do not be deceived bad company corrupts good character that see and I've a version of it. I've got that So in my head I always forget the New King James version of it but and I think I have yeah I have it there Bad Company corrupts good character even in the note so if you had a different translation but the point is the Bible tells us that the people we hang around with are going to affect the kind of person we become and as Christians we need to make sure that we're not choosing to spend our time with people who draw us away from Christ if we don't make that distinction we will be drawn. No way and so you're this is why you're giving this study you're wanting a person understand you're not going to be happy when you're following the enemy in his ways and they they know that already but a lot of times people process through but they're my friends well. They're not there for you know in what happens a lot of people are not your friends if they disrespect your religion and this is what happens with a lot of people I mean I've had people who are non-Christian friends but they respect the choices you know and you say this is I don't do this but in most cases when you're you have a non-Christian friend and you choose to start following Christ you know I didn't I didn't tell my friends often try to get rid of my friends but they just kind of when when I became a Christian because I didn't do what they did well the Bible warns us and Paul says in the Tech Stars and emphasize this Do not be deceived evil evil communications corrupt good habits I think is what the New King James says Do you know why we say Do not be deceived. Because what are we going to say you say your friends are having a bad influence and you know you don't know it and maybe other people friends have a bad influence but not my friends it's not affecting me hey don't be deceived. If possible knows that the devil deceives us in this point we always think well it's not affecting me it is affecting you bad company corrupts good character number five does a Bible say anything about premarital sex I bring this up just because of our society even in the Christian Church today this is almost. This thing is almost gone the psycho all as long as you love each other you can have sex whenever you want I can't tell you as a pastor I wish everybody had to be a pastor before marriage and counseling to the couples that are all messed up because they got into physical relationships too soon. And people don't understand what the Bible first Corinthian seven one into the Bible said is good for a man not to touch a woman. And so you know what it's talking about is not just talking about you know a touch he says but so that because of fornication let each man have his own wife so in the context of talking at the touch is a sexual touch and what is the Apostle say if you're going to have a sexual touch you need to have ALL wife and you be married OK. Or a husband right Hebrews thirteen four says that. Marriage is honorable. And the bed of marriage is undefiled but fornicators in adulterers God will judge so what the bought in that text is contrast ing people who have those sexual acts it's all in the marriage bed in the confines of marriage it's undefiled but outside of marriage it's called fornication and adultery which the Bible says people are not enter the Kingdom of God because of those things so and I have that first Corinthians six nine in ten says and that's in the passage there another one that's written in the note and another one a reference in the note another point is the woman at the well I remember I didn't always think this way when I first became a Christian I used to argue this I was married but my brother Jim wasn't married and I had other friends that were married and they had girlfriends I'm like hey you know it's not a big deal because that marriage is just as it's just the government it's a piece of paper you've probably heard this kind of thing before well. When Jesus talked to the woman at the well she was living with a man OK You make no mistake it's pretty clear from the passage Jesus said you have a husband she says no I don't have a husband he said what you said is true the fact is you've had five husbands a man you're with is not your husband I'm telling you she was with the man but she wasn't married to the man Jesus didn't just consider it a piece of paper God Marriage is sexual activity is is designed as a privilege of the marriage relationship and and I tell young men and what young women don't give people the benefits of the relationship without the commitment in a relationship you're going to mess yourself up and you're in any way the Lord's telling us is another thing that God gives us to guarantee our happiness Blessitt is the one who delights in the instruct. And of God. So we touch on interpersonal relationships and then you know romantic relationships number six What counsel does the Bible give about the things we look at so Mona one is where the Bible says David says I said no. Impure thing before my eyes. What are we putting before our eyes. And I'll build on that actually in the next. Question takes it a little bit further not just with eyes but our senses number seven what does the Bible say about T.V. movies video games and internet and I mean so many who are nothing it's doesn't say anything that wasn't that they didn't have in their time but I'm addressing a principle here Matthew six twenty two twenty three Jesus said The eye is the lamp of the body. OK he says Therefore if the eye is good. The body will be full of light but if the eye is evil the body will be full of darkness now what he's trying to say is you're what your senses take in will affect the kind of person you are it's the same thing as the parentheses there second Corinthians three eighteen which is by beholding we begin to become we become to change in the same images that we behold this is just another way of saying it and so the things we take into our eyes through our ears the things we read the things we watch they affect us and you can give you know I'll give examples in the study you have your own examples but I studied with a young couple the wife was watching soap operas I don't know for sure this the other day but she was watching soap operas maybe I did anyway I counseled this couple and they were having marital problems and this just came out in the discussion She's watching the soap operas while I don't know if you've ever seen these things but you gotta understand that when you watch. T.V. shows. Those shows are not just entertaining you they're teaching you how to solve your problems you watch how they do it and you're going to do it like they do it and if some woman on a soap opera gets sassy with her husband and that wife is going to watch that she going to sassy with her husband and wonder why doesn't work out quite as well as it worked out in a soap opera anyway I told her she's talked about this and I said look do this for me for a week we study once a week I don't watch any this week. And when I came back the next week she said I cannot believe how that was affecting the way I treated my husband. OK the things we take in and read those are shaping us and so we want to choose things that are good and not those things that are evil yes. Yeah. Yeah. I'd say you're an idiot no I would say that but I mean. In a roundabout way I would say Are you really telling me that you can't let me tell you if we bring into a let us walk into a smoke filled room. Does it defile you you know any way am I going to take the time to go to the passage where the passage Jesus is talking about if you look at Mark seven he's talking about ceremonial washings and he's addressing ceremonial washings he's not addressing influence because it's the same Jesus if that's the case what does he mean here Mark six or Matthew six that the eyes of the body and he's saying that you're going to be defiled by what comes in so most. I'm going to tell you a lot of times when you get those kind of objections people are just wanting to be resistant anybody who does it all honest with themselves are going to realize that they're you notice I don't specify here and I didn't I don't specify to a person this is what you can watch this is what you can listen to I'm not going to spell that out for them I want. Them to understand the principle and everybody knows that there are things that I watch there are people I hang out with there are things that I do that affect mean natively there are some people I hang out with and they bring me down I just ask a person or you tell me is nobody you have anybody you've ever been around they just kind of brings you down or picks you up so you tell me something outside of you doesn't affect you I mean everybody can relate to that at some level and I just want them to understand that as a Christian we need to we need to understand that those things affect us and so we need to evaluate from a Christian perspective what I'm putting into my eyes and ears and and through my sense of what I'm taking into my senses. Number eight what does the Bible say about the music we listen to and hear the Bible talks about. How we're urged the Apostle urges us to listen to Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and the note I just say songs that build up our Christian experience instead of tearing it down again I don't tell them specifically what they can listen to I personally think sometimes we go a little overboard in trying to delineate everything for everybody else I think the principles need to be given I think people need to understand some of that Acts sixteen is not something I necessarily would bring up sometimes it is sometimes I don't but Acts sixteen sixteen eighteen is when the woman who had an evil spirit was following the Apostles and Paul and she said these are men of the most high God hear them remember that and then Paul turned to rebuke the spirit and the spirit left the woman well here's an evil one here's a woman who's been asked by the devil. But she's saying all the right words because some people argue with me well there's music I listen to a singing about God Well just because it calls itself Christian music doesn't mean it's Christian and I'm not making the rules for that but I'm just saying I want to I want them to understand these principles you need to choose those things that actually I don't care if it's called. And here's my question for you is it really drawing you closer to God Oh yeah I feel so much better well let me ask you spending more time in the word well you know I listen to music instead well then that's not wrong you go you know so that kind of thing is just laying those things out number nine what happens when we allow worldly practices into our homes the Bible says we become an abomination like them that's what the Romney seven twenty six is don't take in the abominations of nations don't follow world practices because they're going to have that influence so all of these the last who listen to have been talking about different influences that the world has number ten what do the a fusion believers do when they realize that certain lifestyle practices were displeasing to God The Bible says in Acts nineteen I could give a whole sermon on this I love this passage but they let they burned their magical books. It was the people of evidence and they burn the books and what the Don't Miss This is says that when they burn their books in fact turn to Acts nineteen and I want you to see the passage is interesting because it starts out with some exorcists who figure they're going to cast out evil spirits by the Jesus who Paul preaches so right away they don't know him they don't know Jesus they're like there isn't Jesus is a good luck charm like OK Paul cast out we're going to try this in the Bible says the evil spirit. Look at verse thirteen some of the I ten are Jewish acts nine hundred thirteen some of the attendant Jewish Exorcist took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying we exercise you by the Jesus who Paul preaches. And there were seven sons of Skibo Jewish chief priest who did so and the evil spirit answered and said Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you. Then the man in whom was the evil spirit or who in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them overpower them and prevailed against him so they fled out of the house naked and wounded that in turn out so well OK as a couple things there that really hit me first of all the evil spirit knew Jesus and he knew Paul but he didn't even know his own servant right the man was he was it the ten or X. or is this they were committed to Jesus and you can only serve two masters so if they were in Jesus I decided they were they are the devil the devil who tells you all take care you all make everything that I care about you he didn't even know their name but he knew Jesus' name and Paul's name right. So it says in verse seventeen this saying became known to all the Jews and Greeks dwelling in emphasis and fear fell on them all in the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and look at what is eight hundred says and many who what had believed what does that tell us they didn't just become believers they had believed came doing what confessing in telling their deeds Why Don't miss this. These people evidently had not well it goes on to say in the next verse also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all and they counted up the value of the total fifty thousand pieces of silver Now the point is this. They evidently had been Believe years but they had made a thorough read. From ation in their lives. They just kind of been playing around with Christianity and then they saw what happened to people who played around with the name of Jesus that are taking it seriously with this whole Jewish Exorcist and these men were naked and wounded and they thought we'd better get rid of some things and get serious about this and that's what happened and so they reformed in the Bible says when they the question in the lesson is. What did you feed the visa believers do when they realize a certain lifestyle practices were displeasing to God they burn their magical books and notice verse twenty once they did that it says so the word of the Lord grew mightily in prevail now this may be speaking in a general sense and in ethicists but I like to think of it in a personal sense and in my lesson I bring this out so when you deal with those things in your life that are contrary to God and you put them out then and only then can the Word of God and prevail in your life so when they when they found out that there certainly is some practice displeasing we got rid of them and then what happened their spiritual life revived number eleven is a way a Christian chooses to dress important yet we have a whole lesson on that I don't go into a lot of it here I just go into First Timothy two and you'll notice the note it first Timothy to just talk about dressing in modest apparel with with propriety and moderation and not with gold and pearls etc I don't go into the gold pearls yet but the note just makes the point that. You know there's an old saying that says you never get a second chance to make a first impression and oppression often has a lot to do with how we dress Christian should dress a Christian dress should be neat appropriate not extravagant or flashy drawing undue attention to oneself you know we think of modesty in oftentimes in terms of. Not being too revealing but modesty also has to do with not being not drawing a lot of attention to yourself and in fact Ellen White makes an interesting statement to women in her day who are trying to be real modest and so they want to be extremely covered up and what have you and and Ellen White said be careful not to make yourself a gazing stock they were doing the exact they were being immodest by being modest or trying to be modest because they were they were they were they made themselves a gazing stock. Any way I could say more about that but the. You want to dress Christian dress should be modest not seductive or revealing personal emphasis should be to please God with inward character not to please people with the outward displays just laying out the principle or number twelve is it acceptable or Christian to use slang or foul language I cannot believe I dropped this out out of my presentation only to have it in because it was a long sermon in our Vangelis it Series and I should have left it in. I don't know maybe you wouldn't be surprised how many of our church members swear. It's surprise you mean it's just in it's in even joke of Christianity it's almost like a just hey we're we're human. But if you read the passage you're Mark fourteen sixty nine to seventy one this is about Peter's denial and it's interesting that the Bible says that Peter. When he denied Christ. They said We know you're one of them because you're a Galilean. And your speech betrays you some translations to say your dialect or something that's not what it's saying and you can see in the context what we're galleons. There are fisherman do we have a saying today regarding fishermen or sailors or. I told people I used to swear like a sailor Well you heard that expression probably OK They said you're Galilean in your speech betrays you and you know what Peter did right after they told him that he began to deny his lord with cursing and swearing see this is your galley and you will swear like the rest of the Galleon we know you're one of his followers his followers were known by their purity of speech. And when Peter we tried to show them he wasn't he did it by cursing and swearing so I make that point a Christian speech should be pure number thirteen was a good general guideline for Christian entertainment behavior Philippians four eight was Are things are true noble just lovely of good report. That's a fantastic text especially to summarize a lot of what you've talked about a number fourteen in light of all these things what does God urge us to do if you just for seventy to twenty four talks about putting off the old man that is our own way of life or all conduct and putting on the new man it gives us some specifics in there about and this talks about in the passage touches a little bit on our to our gentleness and kindness and that kind of thing but we ought to live new lives that glorify Jesus number fifteen how we accomplish these changes then you want to eight talks about purposing in our hearts you've got to make a choice to do what's right it's not going to automatically come the Lord will give you power that's why Philip is for thirteen is there I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I like to have that in there but we've got to make a decision to follow Jesus to honor him in our life styles so there's your lifestyle lesson let's see how fast we can do the Christian dress because it's in this lesson. Yeah I've got a whole lesson on it because. You know a Christian dress is what it says on the top this lesson lesson I mean we just don't talk about this in our church anymore. And listen I've seen people be critical about this I've known the jewelry police in the church try to come in and some new person visits and they're going to go and tell him out I don't condone that but we can't allow that to deter us from the biblical principle that God has given us of modesty in dress including the not wearing of jewelry this is something what I'm about to share is something you're going to see the reasons for. In this this is not exhaustive by the way there's a lot more you could look at on the subject of jewelry is and yet you don't have it there is a great book by. Angel Rodriguez who used to work with a bit of a research institute called I think it's called jury everything you wanted to know and were afraid to ask for something like that. There's a lot of people don't understand about Jori in Bible times in Bible times you don't care and a wallet with dollars and quarters in nickels and you carry jewelry Jori was monetary you would not only would people wear it and it was a convenient wallet for you could you would pay for things with it and so you see you see that for example in was it Isaac who gave her a dowry gave jewelry. You see examples of this know what's he doing with jewelry you know if he's a well you'll find guys people jewelry for two one of two reasons number one they used it for money Number two they were backslidden just like we get back OK. So sometimes people say well God people had jewelry you know they had all they had multiple wives too were going to go there one of the things we're going to do but the general tenor we're going to see in scripture in this study notice the purpose of the studies to show that our dress is a reflection of our character and commitment to God and He expects his followers to dress in a way that reveals to others that they find their personal value and sense of belonging in him rather than the customs of the world now this isn't just on jewelry but it's also on our dress and you see starting out with first Peter to nine through twelve The question is does the way we live have an effect on our witness let's look at this. First Peter to lunch times at twelve thirty right I don't know when it is I just want to see the reaction I get out of that no I won't go real long with this because you can fall through it I want to give you the flow but I do want to look at this text first Peter chapter two verse nine I'm talking and turning. I want you to notice what Peter says here. You are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people if you do it using the King James talks about the cool you are that word is peculiar in the sense of belonging to someone and so though I like the reading of the New King James this is really what it's saying is all we're peculiar in the sense that we are God God we're his special people he points to us as these are my people and so Peter says you're this chosen generation priest holy nation is all special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who is called Who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who were once once we're not a people but now are the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have tain mercy Beloved I beg you as sojourners in Pilgrim's that is were travellers in this world this isn't our home we're looking for another home abstain from fleshly lust which war against the souls are here tells us the desires of our body are not just outward they war against our spiritual commitment. Verse twelve no notice this carefully having your what Con doctor conversation is in the King James honorable among the WHO Gentiles are nonbelievers that when they speak against you as evildoers they may buy your good works which they observe which they can see glorify who God in the day of visitation so Peter says when the nonbelievers see the way you live they're going to glorify God If you live. Honorably before God So the question is does the way we live have an effect on our witness absolutely is the Gentiles look at it and it affects what they think about God. So that's how I start this one out what does the Bible say about our outward appearance Romans thirteen fourteen says we are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh now what do we put on. Usually literally what we put things do when a person has a term put on one of the kind things we put on clothing is one of the first things to come to a person's mind you can put on perfume or something else or read it but you put on clothes that possibly uses this language talking about how we live as Christians that we put on Christ so he describes Christ as an article of clothing as a garment and you may have heard the term you know the robe of righteousness so when we put on Christ what people see. They should see Christ right and in the same way then that would say something about the literal things we put on are going to say something about who we are and who we serve number three will our own belief system affect the way we dress looks eight is that is the encounter with the demoniacs of the Gadarene the Bible says when Jesus came to him they were demon possessed and naked. Says when he cast out the demon there Rick the man was clothed and sitting in his right mind. Is not as not an accident somehow in the devil gets to people they want to start taking their clothes off but here we see that when a man with a demon with cast out we see a distinct difference in the way the man dressed right does it will our own personal belief system affect the way we dress yes it will and before why did Adam and Eve try to cover themselves with fig leaves in Genesis they were naked and was. And ashamed right there naked and ashamed the Bible says in Revelation three talks about the white Raymond that Jesus was to give us so that the shame of our nakedness does not appear what is shame when you feel shame a. Kind of person feel shame when they're not guilty I think a person can be ashamed if they you know if a person was naked and all of a sudden you know you're in the shower and you didn't realize your can't meaning that they had a camera in your stall they put it up on the monitors you feel ashamed because you did something wrong anyway shame is a shame is if you look at a. Anyway there are no cameras there. Anyway the point is I describe it beneath here but the point I make here is shame is is shame is a very personal feeling. And and most people well I don't know these days I was going to say most people would be ashamed if they were caught naked somewhere OK So clothing is how we cover that up and a lot of people say well how you dress is not important I beg to differ and if any of you have children you know it's you how you I can't just give my kids any clothes to wear to school what's that. Yeah and you got it so in especially as a Christian you're like OK I want to be modest but I don't want to they want to fit in. And that's not wrong altogether so anyway clothing is incidentally you don't most people don't just buy whatever it everybody else buys I mean to really say I like that on that person but clothing is very personal to us isn't it and the only point I would make here is atomy try to cover themselves as fiddly is to cover the shame of their nakedness shame is a personal feeling and clothing is a personal choice and far from being an insignificant thing like some people pretend it is it's very significant to us how we clothe ourselves it says we we choose the clothes we choose because that's a part of who I am it's a part of my whole appearance yes or no there are things I would show you and I say put this on you like I will be caught dead in that right because it would say something about you you don't want to say so I just want to make the point in the study that you know this is not some people make this like a little thing it's not a little thing it's a very personal thing and that personal thing says something about who you are and you want that something to say you're a Christian. Right. How does a Bible say Christian Cole should close himself or herself. First Timothy two and first Peter's three both are just talking about the wearing not wearing of costs costly clothing or jewelry now don't I know make this point in the study this is some people think they're following Biblical counsel by buying clothes fall apart because they're not expensive costly clothing is not talking about expensive clothing good clothing that last year as expensive as talking about extravagance is talking about paying for that extra whatever. Potentially a mink coat or closing can afford right but anyway and in talks about gold and pearls and so we get into jewelry here this is where the lesson touches into jewelry and expensive clothing two points I would make here. I think it's in. First Peter three. And I've had a lot of people bring this up. First Peter three three says Do not let your dormant be merely outward arranging the hair wearing of gold putting on a fine apparel it had a lot of people say when a study this well is merely outward No it doesn't merely as a tallis ised in your bible is a supplied word by the translators it's not there in the original. It's merely isn't there first Peter three three. Oh wow. It's no but it's in the New King James in a Tallackson my Bible here it's is that you know first Peter do I have the right place here let me make sure yeah three three it says Do not let your door be merely has it so people will bring that up you just you just want to know that so when people bring that up say it's not in the original the Apostles not saying don't let it merely be out reasons don't like your doing be outward your focus shouldn't be outward it shouldn't be in these things that the world adorns itself with but it should be inward first seventy two eight Paul says let your dormant not be with these things and use that expression not be with or not with not with gold pearls. My brother Jim brought up a good example that I really like he said he went to a restaurant in order to. He said in order to breed Oh so that OK I want you to make it real but not with onions I don't like onions OK They went back and he said now they didn't do this at the restaurant he was in but he said imagine they went back got the burrito brought it out he cut its took a bite and he had onions in it. So he calls the waiter and he says yeah I asked that you would bring me the burrito but not with onions Oh I thought you meant not with many onions what would you think you think was wrong with this person I said not with what's hard to understand about that right but when the Bible says it not with gold or pearls or you know costly or a what is hard to understand about that and so you want to help a person communicate God in His Word He gave this instruction not with these things why and I'll do this really quickly because I know we're we're out of our time. I like to bring up number six How is Lucifer adorned in heaven you remember he was covered with all kinds of jewels and I want to make a really clear point I'll do the study this is not to say that God was responsible for Lucifer's fall but I think that God So Lucifer any thought of a perfect being lifted up because of his beauty how much more can an imperfect being it's just not safe for us if we were if we're going to have jewels let God put the jewels on we get is kingdom but here he has instructed his people not with these things some examples and just running and doing a quick run through of Bible history number seven when Jacob and his family decided to make a recommitment of their lives to God what did they do you read Genesis thirty five one before and it says they took off their jewelry. They dispose of their idols in the earrings that were in their ears were a lot of people don't understand that they're idolatry in their jewelry we're pretty tied together and it is so it's so today a lot of people just don't realize some of the idols they have but it was what you're going to find is when you go through the Bible. Jewelry is linked with idolatry it's a stumbling block for God's people and I'm going to tell you as a pastor I'm going to be very clear with you in my C. I started pastoral ministry in one thousand nine hundred nine. Before that I did Bible work and things like that from the time I become a Christian I have never and I want to size the word never seen a person who didn't wear jewelry start to put on jewelry when they were coming more spiritual It's always the reverse if I see a person who doesn't wear jewelry start to wear jewelry it's not because they're getting closer to Jesus never never never to wear the Bible tells us that but we sometimes we just want to find fault with the say Well that was really saying the Bible associates it with idolatry when Jacob me that recommitment they put off the jewelry OK you come to the Golden Calf What did the Israelites make the golden calf out of and how did God respond they made it out of the jury the people and Ellen White tells us in the book page or some prophets that the whole reason Aaron called for their jewelry is because Aaron did not want to make the golden calf but he wasn't strong enough to say no to the people so if you get Oscar for the jury they don't they always argue about taking the jewelry off anyway so they'll never do it only they're more willing to take the jewelry off to make the golden calf you read it in paper from profits. So they made it out of the out of the jury well what happened God told them that point to strip off their ornaments so he could know what to do with them and you read it there in Exodus thirty three five and six and the Bible says the children of Israel stripped off their ornaments literally and you don't get this in the New King James but you get it in for example yes V N N A S B the Amplified Bible and you find it there at the end of the explanation it says for male horror on words the verb says use their God and just say they stripped off their jewelry from here on out God said I don't want it on you OK they came out of Egypt and he evidently allowed this period of time but he said you know it's a stumbling block and get it off and from then on they were not to have the jury which is why a number nine. What distinct. Do we later find between Israel and the surrounding nations in Judges eight they were at war with median and it says that they stripped some of the. Conquests of their jewelry of their earrings. And then it says in the passage for they they were earrings for they were Ishmael lights. So why is a Bible given the explanation because the reader is going to say wait a minute though they stripped off their own instrument or bomb or God people didn't have a real no they didn't they had to or because there Ishmael I'd rather resist telling us the distinction why they had it they were among people that explains it otherwise it wasn't found among God's people who were faithful number ten how does God portray his people in apostasy and I'm not going to read it but I say it three sixteen to twenty one they're all decked out in jewelry. And it in is very clear is God is describing them that's it's now look let me say this here and when you're studying this subject or the person you've been to a lot of studies with I'm not presenting this upfront with people because dress including jewelry is very personal to people and especially it's getting more so with guys but especially with girls it's it's a it's a it's a. It's something that they do to make themselves beautiful and unfortunately men have so. Used women that that and. You know what I'm saying that women feel they need this because they're trying to keep the attention the guy because the guy's always looking around here or there we shouldn't be looking and it's just the billboards and everything else and so it's a very personal thing and when you dress as a woman she's thinking I remember studying a religion I study before we were pastors we don't know we're doing we're going to we're trying to answer all the objections I'll talk about that more tomorrow but she finally got to the point in all of our We're trying to answer it well you know but the text says this year this is and this reason and this reason finally she said. Well if I do that she says I'm going to look so dowdy I've never heard the word dowdy before but that is plain and she said I've already given up this and change this and I've got my family members on me this and that if I give this up I'm going to be so plain jane and people are going to so ridicule me and that's what it was for her going to look plain and all and unattractive and so you've got to be sensitive with this and I mean people come into the church wearing jewelry they're not apostasy coming in I mean some may be I guess but the reality is. I just you want to deal with it understand that this is something our the society in our world really has a demand for all these worldly things and people feel like they need this to be worth something and you're really wanting to convey that God doesn't need you're worth everything to God you're beautiful to God You're handsome to God You don't need these things that the world says you need when you start to give into the world let the world tell you what you need to be important the world will never stop telling you. And so just understand that when you're going through it God is sure what I'm trying to show through this is the devil's always use these things as stumbling blocks to two God's people and it always leads them into apostasy we see this in number question over ten number eleven what was a tendency of God's people when they began to adorn themself. Elves Hosea two thirteen says they put on she pushy Dr sell for the jewels and went after her lover speaking of his people she put on the jewelry and went after other gods it led them away from God And so again you just see a trend of idolatry here number twelve How does Jesus differentiate between his faithful unfaithful at the end of time get two women in Revelation the only way you know that one is a POS state one is by what they're wearing one is wearing gold pearls cost of clothing right the other is dressed in the sun moon and stars you notice that the Bible says it's all nineteen the heavens some of the stars declare the glory of God in the firmament shows his handiwork So one is dressed in things that give glory to God The other gives glory to self this is the picture what is Revelation is a communication who gave to John Jesus did so who painted the picture of the two women Jesus did and Jesus said this is what a pure woman looks like in this what harlot woman looks like a so all the way through the Bible we have this consistency in the teaching of juries to something God says is not safe for us. In our Christian experience number thirteen. I love this passage the point that it makes what is the ultimate effect of trying to fit in with the group again its approval Second Kings nine thirty this is when Queen jazz a bell hears that Jesus who is coming to execute judgement on the house of a have OK So he's coming basically this is judgement day for her she hears He's coming he's writing in and what does the Bible say she does up her hair puts on her makeup and looks out the window like what are you doing on judgement day I'm going on my knees and pleaded with the Lord make sure I'm right with him but her life was so involved in her outward appearance that even when it came down to her soul being on the line she was more focused on outward things and inward thing and this is the point I want to make in the study the devil wants to get you so caught up in trying to look beautiful important everybody else that you forget the. Preparation you need to make of soul to be ready when Jesus comes again OK so number fourteen What does God or just to do says Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind God wants us to be transformed to be different kind of people to be able to glorify Him for people to see him in us to see that we don't need the world and all the things the world says make us important that we recognize our value in God and we want other people to see that their value also is in God. Anyway that's the gist of that study now there are a number of objection. Things that people bring up. And you can read through those but I also have four quotes here and I just want you to notice that I'm not going to read the quotes but all I want you to note the four quotes The first is John Wesley He's co-founder of the Methodist church the next is from Charles Finney was a Presbyterian Violet's the third a C. It's Persians known as The Prince of preachers is a Baptist. All of these churches used to teach that Christians didn't wear jewelry and costly clothing all of them but what's happened and it's creeping into our church is we've been pressured by the world around us and other churches have given in. But they didn't used to teach that a lot of people are surprised to realize the. You know a lot of people are surprised to realize this is not just you need to have an season and then the last one is one of my favorites how many of you know Mr T. is Mr T. was known is known for all the jewelry he used to wear this guy has so much gold I mean I could walk with that much go along with the weight and everything but look at the quote at the very bottom of the page during Hurricane Katrina he went down to help out in the aftermath and he started to feel self-conscious about all his gold and this is what he says as a spiritual man he's a Christian as a spiritual man I felt it would be a sin against my God for me to wear all that gold again because I spent a lot of time with the less fortunate so now listen what do you think he did how many of you seen Mr T. how much gold did he have how easy would it have been for him to say you know I'm just going to move down to a necklace and a ring. You know he took off all of it you don't wear the gold I mean yes I've seen him wear since and promo ads or something or somebody was look at the oh but he doesn't wear it anymore why because he says I'm a Christian man I have mercy I haven't gone into for Seventh Day Adventists I haven't gone into and I won't because of time here but look up let me give you a page. In the book evangelism there are several quotes together about the subject of Christian dress evangelism page two sixty eight right in there to sixty seven to sixty eight and onward very clear statements if we had all had question God tries to clear that question up that this is just something that God's last eight people should not be doing is adorning themselves like the world we want the world to know we want people who are world to know they don't need the world to be important God already thinks are important so important gave His Son that they could have eternal life in him. Anyway Well we went longer than I wanted to but I think we got through it. You know because we got we got to have time for our Bible says let's praying it's right here quick Father in heaven we do thank you so much for your word of truth Lord I pray that you help us to sense even more and more lord that the truth is liberating that these things were studying this some people sometimes feel our restriction of their liberty or freedom are liberating our freeing our are the key to happiness in this life in the life to come father their people this world are looking for happiness and all the wrong places I pray you help us to be confident and bold in teaching them that happiness comes from following the instruction the Lord be with us now Lord as we go to lunch I pray that you would give us clarity of mind movie come back together to study you were asked prayed in Jesus' name. This media was brought to you by audiotapes a website dedicated to spreading God's word through. 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Other sermons in this series
1. Orientation
Mark Howard 52:29 Audio
2. Introduction
Mark Howard 50:42 Audio
3. Introduction & Overview
Jim Howard 1:01:30 Audio
4. Cycle of Evangelism Overview- Part 1
Kameron DeVasher 2:00:04 Audio
5. Cycle of Evangelism Overview- Part 2
Kameron DeVasher 1:33:19 Audio
6. Cycle of Evangelism Overview- Part 3
Mark Howard 54:56 Audio
7. How to Get Bible Studies- Part 1
Wes Peppers 53:17 Audio
8. How to Get Bible Studies- Part 2
Wes Peppers 1:05:36 Audio
9. Bible Docs 101 Overview- Part 1
Mark Howard 1:08:55 Audio
10. Bible Docs 101 Overview- Part 2
Mark Howard 32:31 Audio
11. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 1
Wes Peppers 38:14 Audio
12. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 2
Wes Peppers 54:15 Audio
13. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 3
Wes Peppers 1:18:24 Audio
14. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 4
Mark Howard 59:39 Audio
15. Bible Docs 101- Part 1
Mark Howard 43:21 Audio
16. Bible Docs 101- Part 2
Kameron DeVasher 1:54:10 Audio
19. Bible Docs 101- Part 4
Mark Howard 40:40 Audio
20. Understanding Decisions- Part 1
Mark Howard 1:07:24 Audio
21. Understanding Decisions- Part 2
Mark Howard 1:12:59 Audio
22. Planning an Outreach Ministry
Mark Howard 1:03:51 Audio
23. Bible Study Reformation
Mark Howard 56:03 Audio
24. Keys to Success
Jim Howard 59:18 Audio
25. Baptismal Preparation
Jim Howard 20:38 Audio