you never told us

The world is on a collision course with destruction, and the only way off it is thru Jesus Christ!

Proclamation of Truth Our Work.--In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light-bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import,--the proclamation of the first, second,

                                                                            120

and third angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.  {Ev 119.3}

     The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God's people are to be true to the trust committed to them. . . .  {Ev 120.1}

     Shall we wait until God's judgments fall upon the transgressor before we tell him how to avoid them? Where is our faith in the Word of God? Must we see things foretold come to pass before we will believe what He has said? In clear, distinct rays light has come to us, showing us that the great day of the Lord is near at hand, "even at the door."--Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 19, 20. (1909)  {Ev 120.2}

Ezekiel 3:17-19; 33:7-8

33:7   So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 

  33:8   When I say unto the wicked, O wicked [man], thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 

The third angel is represented as flying through heaven, proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This message is to prepare a people for the coming of Christ. If men should refrain from proclaiming it, the very stones would cry out. The people must be warned. The words of the prophet are, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." We have a solemn work to do to proclaim this message of warning to the world. Are we engaging in this work? Will men arise in the Judgment and say, "You never told me that these things were so"? Will the gates of the city of God be closed against us, or shall we dwell with Jesus through the ceaseless ages of eternity? We want to give to God all that there is of us. It is only to the faithful workers that the Saviour says, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."  {HS 234.1}

How will Jesus be able to say “well done thou good and faithful servant!”  if you never served?

There are some now claiming to be followers of Christ who in the judgment will be confronted by their friends and neighbors to whom they might have pointed out the way of salvation, but whom they allowed to remain unwarned. Then will they hear the terrible words: "Why did you not tell us the things you claimed to believe? Why did you not seek to help us understand the truths of God's Word? Why did you not do all in your power to warn us, before it was everlastingly too late? You never told us these things that would have helped us to prepare to meet our God in peace. You allowed us to come up to the judgment, unwarned, unsaved."

Can God allow us to enter into his kingdom after such a life of selfishness, friends he will not. How can He allow you to enter when you have been disobedient to his last instruction found in Math 28:19.

We have been warned brethren that if the watchman makes an uncertain announcement and ought of the people perish, God will require their blood at the watchman’s hand.  Ezekiel 3:17-19

3:17   Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 

  3:18   When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 

  3:19   Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 

The Soul and Spirit

How essential is the understanding what the soul and spirit are?

After tonight you realize that it is at the very epicenter of the gospel.  Because what the gospel is indeed about is the salvation of the soul.  How is it even remotely possible to intelligently discuss the salvation of the soul when we don’t have the vaguest idea of what the soul really is?

1 thes 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If the soul and is to kept blameless how can we do this? How can we intelligently cooperate with God in this matter if we cannot identify what the soul or spirit are?

Stress; the whole body, the whole spirit and whole soul?  Not the same thing

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

The salvation of man is in the soul.  (The solution to the complex problem of saving man and destroying sin).

Questions to be answered

If the salvation of the soul is in the believing then what does a believing soul do? 

What happens to a believing soul? What does the conversion of the soul mean? What is the soul?

What we believe about the soul determines to a large extent what we understand by death.

That is why there is so much talk about spiritualism within the Christendom, because there is a misunderstanding of what exactly is the soul and spirit are?

Therefore this is something that is very important in our understanding of salvation.

There is no text that totally define the spirit or soul so what we will do to find the definition of these words is to match text up text as

Isaiah 28:9   whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [Them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts. 

  28:10   for precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little: 

And from this conclude the meaning the words used.

We must see things through a historical eye, before we proceed however.

Our western society is built on 3 foundations.

Roman law and government

The system of the jury, Senate, Courts-separation of power –legislative, judiciary branch and executive branch-all Roman

Greek philosophy and Logic

Analysis to take apart-that is why they viewed the soul, spirit and the body as three independent aspects of man. And were to be treated as such. The atom that which cannot be cut.

Hebrew Religion

One God

Philosophy is an effort for man to understand God and Himself. Within philosophy there is what is called anthropology. What is a man philosophically

The Greek had an idea of what a man is.  They thought of the body of man as a prison, and inside this prison was a good soul. Thus we have immortality of the soul.

Why is it I want to do good, but I do evil.  The body is evil and the soul is good and the conflict between right and wrong is as a result of the conflict of his good soul and his evil body. Made sense right. The good soul would escape at death. But hi is of course Greek and not biblical

Although this is not scriptural because God declared the body very good. The Greeks seemed to have been heading in the right direction however as you will find out as we proceed that the conflict within man is not so much between his soul and his body, but his spirit and his body.

The Hebrew belief was totally opposite of this---the body was a temple not defiling degrading like a prison. The soul could not live independently of the body as a matter of fact they believed that the two were so woven together that neither could survive without the other.  The soul too ceases to exist when the body dies.

But within Christendom there is this belief that the soul of man is immortal and it is not biblical.

 eccl 12:7   then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. 

The spirit of course returns to God. But what exactly return to God.

Spirit comes in three forms in the bible. -The spirit of God, the spirit of man, and the Holy spirit.  You know who the Holy Spirit is, so let’s go on to discuss the spirit of God and man.

So ask yourself whenever you see spirit ask which it is? Otherwise you can draw ridiculous conclusions.

Consider Gen 2:7   and the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 

Picture the man with all his organs in place and limbs, but he is not a living soul until he receives the breath of life.  The bible does not say God put a soul in the man rather that the man became a living soul after receiving the breath.  The bible does not teach that we have a soul, but rather that man is a soul.

Job27:3   All the while my breath [is] in me, and the spirit of God [is] in my nostrils;

So we understand that it is the spirit of God that was put in man that made him a living soul.  Therefore going g back to the text in ecclesiastics therefore should be understood that it is the Spirit of God that returns to Him.  Not the spirit of man.

James 2:26   for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

If a man from the American‘s most wanted bursts through the door with a gun and he has his eyes fix ed me to take my life.  There isn’t a decent bone in this man’s body. Question!! Does e have the spirit of God in Him?  Isn’t he alive? Walking right?

Of course he does right? In him we live and move and have our being. God is the source of life. God might not approve how he is using his spirit bout He has given it anyway.

Next question does this man have the Holy Spirit?-of course not.

But just before he could swing the machete suffers a heart attack and dies.  What happened to the spirit that at was in him?  It went back to God who gave it.  This is not personality, the soul, not the spirit of the man, but simply the spirit of God that goes back to Him who gave it.

There is nothing in scripture that confirms that there is something about man that returns to God when he dies.  Everybody has the spirit of God, good and bad within them that are alive, and as the scripture says once we die it returns to God. Or are we to contend that this man has gone to heaven like Enoch or Elijah.  Which interesting enough did not leave their body behind? 

Let’s move on to the soul.  Similarly let’s match scripture upon scripture.

Let’s start with Gen 2:7   and the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 1:30   And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Although it is not clear here the word used to describe the animals is living soul.

Rev 16:3   And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead [man]; and every living soul died in the sea.

Rev 8:8   And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 

  8:9   And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 

The soul spoken of here in the waters are animals, Birds, dogs, bugs are souls. Man does not have a special claim on the word soul. I hope this is clear.  Animals are souls. Because they express emotions

This is a prophecy by the way that the day will become red and poisonous as the blood of a dead man.  The red tide in Florida

Let’s rap up soul.-Greek word-psyche- psychology is not the study of how man thinks but how he feels.   That is what we have in common with his animal kingdom.  Sure you have seen animals express emotions.

Contrary to the belief of the Greeks the bible never links immortality and the soul together the bible teaches, although you will show some people this text they will no budge from their belief in the immortality of the soul 

Ezekiel18:20   The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Can a soul die?  Of course James 5:20   Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. 

The next text I’m about to read it of utmost importance, pay attention here

Isaiah 53:10   Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

  What does it say was made an offering for sin?  You see our Lord never complained about what men did to h is body, what brought a cry of anguish from our Lord was what the father did to him.  When he could not see his father he cried out in his soul, in his feelings, I can’t understand it, my god my God why has thou forsaken me. Not an agony of his flesh, but an agony of his soul.

  53:11   He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 

 

53:12   Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It was the gift of our Lord that saved the Human family, by the soul of our Lord

Satan’s attempts to pollute every truth that the Lord has laid down.  Sabbath, Soul, tongues, spirit

Consider these text it

Matthew26:38   Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.  (feeling-soul)

  Luke1:46   And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 

Luke1:47   And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

The spirit is the mind, mental, intellectual.-If there is time I will go into it.

Luke2:35   (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Foretaste of that which would happen at the cross, the agony of what Mary would feel.

Luke21:19   in your patience possess ye your souls.  Don’t panic

Conversion of the soul is therefore  a complete change about how we feel.  Whether it is towards the world, God, right , bible, wrong etc.

Change of ideas because we come to understand his Love for us rather than, wanting to destroy us.  Worship;---I total feelings about God change when we start to recognize exactly God is and what he has done.  If it is our total consideration then our emotions, we generally shift.

The greatest things about life is not that of satisfying the flesh but rather the spirit.  Drunkards change, smokers change, selfish rich change.

What I once hated I love and what I once love now I hate. 

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

John 4:1   Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

Eph 4:23   And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 

Col 3:10   And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 

This one is nice Matthew 26:41   Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak. 

This is after Jesus had finished praying and found his disciples sleeping after he had asked them to keep his company. Truly the disciples wanted to stay up with him but they wee simply too tired to do so. They mentally committed to staying awake

Acts19:21   After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

Paul made his mind

1 Cor2:12   Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 

Not thinking like those in the world. Because we are striving to be like the Lord.

Col2:5   For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

What is Paul saying? Did Paul spirit leave his body and left his body walking around, to leave his spirit to be with them.  If your thought is so polluted this is what you will come up with, however if you believe the bible you will  know that what Paul is saying is that he is thinking of you.

But doesn’t the bible say that angels are spirits, because they lack physical bodies. Any being that possess self determining thought is a spirit, you are a spirit God is a spirit.

Although animals are called souls they are not spirits, because although they can emit emotions they cannot possess self determining thought.  (Algebra,)

God is a soul

Heb10:38   Now the just shall live by faith: but if [any man] draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Doesn’t he express feelings of hurt, or anger, don’t we grieve him, is God a spirit of course because he is an intelligent being

Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

1 Thes 5:235:23   And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Modern language.

I pray that God will preserve you physically, mentally, emotionally blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that I shouldn’t hate my mother but I do.  Collision of soul and spirit. 

The mental institutions near genius, but emotionally confused.

Not much spirit but always happy.

Being able to love doing right.-

Psalm 1Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law

Having therefore he understanding of the three units, soul body and spirit. No one can fool us, whether it is the devil in the personification of dead relatives.

The stone which the builder refused

Our subject of discourse is The stone which the builder refused!

My ambition is just to deliver to you thus saith the Lord.  Pray for me that I will not deviate from this.

Let us Pray

Our key text is taken from

 Matth21:42-45 lets read it together.

21:42   Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? 

  21:43   Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 

  21:44   And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 

  21:45   And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 

In my presentation I hope to give you pointers as to how to better study and understand the bible.

Each text represents an event which could be a sermon; however I will be focusing on verse 42. Now some of you might be saying yeah, we already know that Christ is the rock, cause it says so in

Acts 4:10-11

4:10   Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, [even] by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 

  4:11   This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

However this is not the interpretation that we will be zeroing on.  I will be examining the understanding that the Scribes and Pharisees had when these words were spoken. Vs 45 Why would they perceive that Jesus was speaking of them? Were they wrong for thinking this?

Symbolic language-needs definition

If this language were not symbolic it would not need definition. However there are clues in the text that tells us that this is symbolic language.

In order for us to have a clear understanding any subject to be discussed, there must be a common understanding of the terms used

Having said this, what are the terms that need defining in vs 42.  “Builder” should be one, “stone” another and “corner” the last.

In defining these words we come to a critical juncture.  How do we go about establishing what these words mean?  Do you think Mr. Oxford or Webster should be the source of our definitions for these words?  Absolutely not!

If you do not have the greek Hebrew translation as I do  you use the principle found in Is.28:9-11? Let’s go there now.

28:9   Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts. 

  28:10   For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little: 

  28:11   For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 

Here the Lord is acknowledging that his word is not easily understood, vs 11, and is making clear that you can only unlock the doctrines and mysteries contained within the bible by matching scripture with scripture.

Indeed it was the use of a “Strong’s Concordance along with the bible that the Pioneers of our church during the 19^th Century came to understand the prophecies contained in the books of Daniel and Revelation.

By linking line with line and precept with precept the pieces of the puzzle laid out in these books slowly came together.  So similarly if we are to get an understanding of our study text, we must follow the established method of unlocking the messages hidden in God’s written word.

Let us now turn to our first word which we seek to define. If your findings are correct, it should match the definitions that I have found by comparing the Hebrew/Greek concordance.

Builder

3618 oikodomeo { oy-kod-om-eh’-o}  also oikodomos { oy-kod-om’-os}  Acts 4:11

from the same as 3619; TDNT - 5:136,674; v

AV - build 24, edify 7, builder 5, build up 1, be in building 1, embolden 1; 39[1]

( a builder is a teacher. One that edifies)

Stone

There was no big revelation about this except that which could be derived from scripture. When I looked this word up in Greek it just said object for building or use in capital punishment

Lifeless Object gen 29:10, 31:45, ex 15:5, 15:16

Thing for holding a foundation gen 49:24, ex 17:12, job 38:6,

Cutting tool exodus  4:25

Texture of vessels-ex 7:19

Object used for capital punishment ex 8:26, 17:4 , lev 20:2 27, 1 sam 17:49

Object used for building. Ex 20:25, 1 king 6:7, ps 118:22

A witness gen Joshua 24:27, 1 samuel 7:12

A marker-1 kings 1:9

Head

2776 kephale { kef-al-ay’}

from the primary kapto (in the sense of seizing); TDNT - 3:673,429; n f

AV - head 76; 76

GK - 3051 { kefalhv }

1)   the head, both of men and often of animals. Since the loss of the head destroys life, this word is used in the phrases relating to capital and extreme punishment.

2)   metaph. anything  supreme, chief, prominent

2a)  of persons, master lord: of a husband in relation to his wife

2b)  of Christ: the Lord of the husband and of the Church

2c)       of things: the corner stone[2]

Corner

1137 gonia { go-nee’-ah}

probably akin to 1119; TDNT - 1:791,137; n f

AV - corner 8, quarter 1, 9

GK - 1224 { gwniva }

1)   corner

1a)   an external angle, a corner

1b)       internal corner, i.e. a secret place[3]

The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. (Wikipedia)

So another way of saying this is: “The heathen (the people that are not yet acquainted with life) are going to inherit heaven over those that go by the title sons of Abraham” The Jewish leaders at the time did not have to do a bible study to  understand what Jesus meant by this statement. But was this the only time that Jesus hinted at this?  Let us look at this further.

Before we go to scripture let us take a look through history at the development of the church.

During the dark ages while the Waldenses preserved the practice of true religion in the caves. Martin Luther (an established Roman Catholic) brought the truth once again to the forefront. Why did God use him and not one of the faithful followers of scripture that were forced to go underground? Is it possible that this was a fulfillment of the scripture we looked at?

Or

In another totally different time period, why was  Elijah the man of God not sent to homes of one of the 7000 that had not bowed to Baal, but to the home of a widow of Zarephath (heathen city)    `Q1. 1 kings17:19 Could this too be a fulfillment of this prophecy? 

Jesus’ Birth

The wise men that first found Jesus were astrologers, it was after consulting with the Hebrew scrolls they found out what was the significance of the star they saw in the heavens.

Am I making the same mistakes that physical Israel made?  Are we destined for the same fate as physical Israel? If so what were these mistakes and how can we avoid them?

If the Jews had studied the Scriptures with earnest, prayerful hearts, their searching would have been rewarded with a true knowledge of the time, and not only the time, but also the manner of Christ's appearing. They would not have ascribed the glorious second appearing of Christ to His first advent. They had the testimony of Daniel; they had the testimony of Isaiah and the other prophets; they had the teachings of Moses; and here was Christ in their very midst, and still they were searching the Scriptures for evidence in regard to His coming. And they were doing unto Christ the very things

                                                                            613

that had been prophesied they would do. They were so blinded they knew not what they were doing.  {Ev 612.4}

     And many are doing the same thing today, in 1897, because they have not had experience in the testing messages comprehended in the first, second, and third angel's messages. There are those who are searching the Scriptures for proof that these messages are still in the future. They gather together the truthfulness of the messages, but they fail to give them their proper place in prophetic history. Therefore such are in danger of misleading the people in regard to locating the messages

These events  indeed do bare an  uncanny similarity to what we are discussing. Let us now turn to scripture to see if there is anymore evidence?

Revisit

Remember now the Jewish leaders understood Jesus to be saying that  “The heathen are going to inherit heaven over those that go by the title sons of Abraham” Indeed it seems that this is what verse 43 seems to be saying.

Matth21:42-45 lets read it again together.

21:42   Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? 

  21:43   Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 

  21:44   And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 

  21:45   And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 

Who seemingly are the ones that are perfecting the character of God then?. 

This then means that somehow along the way, there is going to be a major switch. Somehow it isn’t those who know righteousness will be practicing it, but those who do not?  Isn’t this strange?

But the truth is that time and time again those who profess to have the truth have only hidden it and refused to share. Quite accurately did Paul describe the Jews as our ensample.  (1 cor 10:11 meaning type)

Lets look at another instance where Christ stated the same thing. Now this is a parable that has been quoted over and over ad yet this meaning has never been brought out.

Good Samaritan luke10:30-35

The certain man is the Perishing world

The true Christian has neglected his duty

The rest of the so called Christians have neglected their duty too

Leaving only the people who have been rejected as having known the Lord to serve the Lord and they do a might fine job. 

Truly they prove themselves to be the Lord’s sheep over those that have professed to be so. My sheep hear my voice (john10:27)

The priest and the Jew held their peace at the expense of a dying man.  It was upon the

Samaritan to do what the priest and Jew would not do.

The danger of keeping quite

If Daniel had kept quiet when the decree was made to slay all wise men he would have

been killed too.

When Jesus was riding into Jerusalem when asked to silence his disciples by the

priests/Pharisees what was his reply? his reply was that if they had held their peace

immediately would sticks and stones be raised up to give God the praise.

The will of God will be accomplished in the earth whether or not we want it to.  The big

question is “How will it fulfill in my life? Will I found standing for or against the Lord?”

 The danger of keeping silent…..whereas the jews had the books and the whole truth

never kept the law, but the Samaritan having never learnt and never know the truth lived

up to it.

Expand of deeds

• The Samaritan took of  his clothes, and put it on the man - Jesus has given us his righteousness and this righteousness has been described as clothing  

• The Samaritan anointed the man's wounds with oil - We know that the Holy Spirit is referred to as oil, hence this could be likened to Jesus giving us the Holy Spirit 

• The Samaritan paid the inn keeper - Jesus paid our debt

• The Samaritan gave a promise to come again - Jesus has given us a promise to return again

Do not neglect Christian Duty

Mathew25:31-46  -Christian Duty

 25:31    When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 

  25:32   And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: 

  25:33   And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 

  25:34   Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

  25:35   For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 

  25:36   Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 

  25:37   Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? 

  25:38   When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? 

  25:39   Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 

  25:40   And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. 

  25:41   Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 

  25:42   For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 

  25:43   I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 

  25:44   Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 

  25:45   Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. 

  25:46   And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 

Matth 7:22   Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

  7:23   And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

Matt 25:30   And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

  25:31   When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 

  25:32   And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: 

  25:33   And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 

  25:34   Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

  25:35   For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 

  25:36   Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 

  25:37   Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? 

  25:38   When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? 

  25:39   Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 

  25:40   And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. 

Everyone is exerting an influence upon others, and will be held accountable for the result

of that influence. Words and actions have a telling power, and the long hereafter will

show the effect of our life here. The impression made by our words and deeds will surely

react upon ourselves in blessing or in cursing. This thought gives an awful solemnity to

life, and should draw us to God in humble prayer that He will guide us by His wisdom. 

{PP 556.1}

We will be held accountable not only for the working out of our own salvation, but for the influence for good or evil that we exert on other souls.  {MM 202.3}

Lets us look at even another parable that is quoted often: Prodigal son

Parable of the prodigal son speaks of the depth of the transgression reached by the prodigal (This represents the world)

The jew/christian is the good son (notice his boasting I have done your will father all these years and yet still finds himself on the outside of the house) when the story is done.

But the prodigal son is the one who is in the house and has the robe on.

The Prodigal son                                                       The Proud son

one chooses sin                                                             the other chose godliness

One has abandoned everything called home              The other has stuck close to everything homely

One has danced with the world                                  Has nothing to do with the world

Gone to the dregs of the dregs                                   Upheld standards and principles

Finally comes to self and sees the need for                Never left home and never saw

returning home.                                                           a need to leave. (not even to seek his brother)

Majority of Gods people are in the world……they are genuine- the people who now are calling themselves Christian are not worthy…those that do not call themselves Christians are more worthy.

(I am sure that each person has a personal experience with someone who is calling Your testimony with renting a house in Jamaica)- Is there a non Christian in your life that is displaying the Character of God more than you are?

Who then is a worthy?

  Rom 2:25-7

  2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. 

  2:26   Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? 

  2:27   And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

It is not the people that are in the church now that God is going to use to finish his work-I have not come to call the righteous Math 9:13

Appeal

There is an open invitation for us to be a part of the kingdom (wedding feast) in the

hereafter.

I pray that I might be counted worthy.

Make sure you get of the Holy Ghost now while he is available,

Ask God for Him while you can get Him. (luke11:11-13)

What does it mean to ask 

The oil is to be used throughout the day. not just for evening and morning worship. You cannot expect to do things they way you want to throughout the day and then pick up God where you left Him at the point where you left him after worship in the morning or evening.

You need to carry the Lord throughout the day with us, putting Him first in everything.

the big problem is that we invite the spirit, but we are so plugged into the world that He cannot stay with us.

Consider Jesus, although he did not have any earthly possessions, he put God first  in everything that he did.

Recognizing that indeed it is the people who are now numbered among the transgressors that will return and do God’s work, the way he want it to be done. Leaving the rest of us without a crown Rev3:11

Story;  A man has a company, and he has only one son. He is to die, the man buys books, put the son through school and makes at his son’s disposal every toll he would need to run the business.  However the son squanders the time and never really applies himself and so never fully becomes qualified for the position of manger, because he is the son do you think it fair that the company should still be given to him although he is not qualified.

Especially if there is an outsider who is more qualified and better prepared to take the position.

Now is the acceptable time to perfect our character. Recognizing that character is not formed overnight.  We need now to make our calling and election sure.

By redeeming our time

Our time belongs to God. Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn

obligation to improve it to His glory. Of no talent He has given will He require a more

strict account than of our time.  {COL 342.1}

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[1]Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.

[2]Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.

[3]Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1995.