Lesson 13 | The New-Covenant Life (Qtr. 2, 2021)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] welcome to hope sabbath school an in-depth interactive study of the word of god we're concluding a series today on the promise god's everlasting covenant it's been an amazing series if you've missed any go to our website hopetv.org hope ss and you can watch the whole series i know you'll be blessed today's topic is a beautiful one the new covenant life what does it look like what are the characteristics of a life that has a living connection with our great and awesome god we're glad you're with us and we pray you'll be blessed and welcome to our team good to be together again isn't it what a great series what's the most important lesson we've learned in this series on the god's everlasting covenant well i'm going to tell you it's how much god loves us right he wants us to be with him and to know his his love for us as jesus said i pray that they would be with me where i am what an amazing promise we have through jesus our lord we're always happy to hear from you our hope sabbath school viewers around the world and you can write to us at sshope hope tv.org we share it with the team even our media team because we're encouraged right as we hear what god's doing here's a note from ian in botswana where's botswana in africa it's in africa that's a good general area right billy we'd like to express our gratitude for your tireless efforts in recording hope sabbath school programs the eagerness with which it's presented the beaming faces animated by the holy spirit only glory will reckon the far-reaching influence and impact on the masses out there that's true isn't it be blessed all of you we are happy to be part of the largest sabbath school ever well ian thanks for writing to us from botswana and we do pray that our faces reflect uh the amazing uh glory of god here's a note from wyler in brazil oh sabina that's your home country right w-y-l-l-e-r how would you say that in portuguese ah that's a different name it's different brazilian but weimer w-y-l-l-e-r wheeler willer maybe we're going to get a lot of brazilians writing to us and telling us how to say that name but anyway we give you a wave let's give let's give willow or weiler a wave right i'm an adventist from brazil and i'm learning english so i'm using the marvelous programs on hope sabbath school to help me okay but also it increases my knowledge about jesus amen amen thank you very much for this ministry and for spending a long time with closed captioning on the videos because that helps me a lot you guys have no idea how much that helps me well some of you know learning a second language how having closed captioning can be a great blessing and you know we have hope sabbath school members in how many countries around the world more than 200 so many of them english is not their first language that's why we tell people on the team speak slowly and clearly because many of you i know are watching with another language is your mother tongue i pray that god will continue to bless you as you do his work sorry for my english he says one day i will be able to communicate better well you did a great job and we apologize i couldn't even say your name right so maybe you can send me the phonetic pronunciation of your name all the way from parana parana brazil i got that right thanks for writing to us all right here's a note from a donor in iowa that's kind of right in the heart of the u.s right iowa and the donor writes and says dear hope channel family we've been watching you every day and we pray that god will pour a double portion of his holy spirit on you for sharing his word amen amen that's our prayer enclosed is a small gift to help your ministry thank you god bless you every day and a donation of a hundred dollars amen and bless the ministry of hope channel well thank you we're a donor-supported ministry you can go to hopetv.org donate or go to our website and click on the yellow button thanks for being part of this miracle called hope sabbath school well here's another unusual name the person lives in hyderabad india the name is shirish shirish and the person writes hello hope sabba school hello i've been watching hope sabbath school and listening to the songs for the past three or four years i've never missed an episode until now i'm really blessed to hear the studies and the discussions which are organized in a very nice way god bless you all well we say god bless you shirish all the way from india and isn't it amazing we've got a hope sabbasco family all around the world here's one last note from gene writing from the solomon islands gene writes and says i love watching and joining the hope sabba school discussion with you all i cannot explain the feeling of calmness and blessing i always feel when i'm watching hob sabba school now we we know stephanie that's not us right that's the work of the holy spirit isn't it amen thanks for doing god's work may he continue to bless you all in your ministry may we all meet in heaven with him one day soon amen amen god bless you all well gene thanks for writing from the solomon islands you know we should make a plan to all meet somewhere like off to the left side of the the throne of god you know we should say let's have a hope sabbath school meeting but i think we've got eternity to coordinate that what we've learned from this series more important than anything else is we're going to be with jesus who loves us father son and holy spirit love us with an immeasurable and unfailing love well right now we need your help to sing our theme song we're not allowed to sing in the studio because of the pandemic but we love to hear you sing it's our theme song from psalm 105. oh give thanks to the lord call upon his name let's sing it [Music] thanks to together lord call upon his name all give thanks to the lord his name make [Music] talk about his wondrous words let the hearts of those rejoice seek the lord in his strength seek his face ever more remember his marvelous works which he has done oh give thanks to the lord call upon his name all give thanks [Music] let's pray together a father in heaven we do just like the scripture song said we want to call upon your name first of all to bless your name to give you thanks you are a great and awesome god thank you that you are a god who always keeps your promises today as we study about the new covenant life i know that that's your desire for each one of us who's joined the study today that we would experience life and life more abundantly so may the holy spirit energize us as we read as we share and as we join in this in-depth interactive study of your word i pray in the name of jesus amen amen amen well if i were to ask you to describe what are some of the characteristics of a new covenant life you say well it must be better than than before you have a living connection with god right yes we're going to look at a few of the characteristics of a new covenant life that's a life that has entered into this loving transforming relationship with god and maybe you'll say well i can think of some others and we'll catch those at the end but we're going to start with something jesus said in john 15 verses 9 through 11 john chapter 15 verses 9 through 11. sabine if you could begin our study today these are the words of jesus and they give us one characteristic of a new covenant life okay so i'll be reading from the new king james version uh john chapter 15 verses 9 to 11 and it says as the father loved me i also have loved you abiding my love if you keep my commandments you are abiding my love just as i have kept my father's commandments and abiding his love these things that have spoken to you that my joy may remain you and that your joy may be full now there's a lot of important truth in those words of jesus what are some things stephanie that you hear as you listen to the words of jesus that as his father has loved him he has loved us it's all about a relationship with us right yes he doesn't want us to just know about him he wants us to know him personal living relationship and and what is one of the results of that living relationship that our joy will be full yes now we're from different cultures you know some cultures you know if you're really joyful you know right and in other cultures is like you know some of us are more expressive than others but but when your joy is full yes it's visible isn't it yeah you're gonna see it philly yeah i one way i try to describe it with my friends is that you know imagine when you go on vacation you know your favorite spot and you're having just blast you're not thinking about work you're not thinking about anything you're just enjoying the beach you're just out there having fun eventually you need to come back but imagine having that experience 24 7 regardless of what's happening this is like that height of joy that god jesus wants us to have with him so fullness of joy yeah and and you know john who recorded those words of jesus he didn't forget what jesus said look in his first letter to christians in first john stephanie if you could take us to first john chapter one the first four verses if that that word of jesus left a deep impression on the apostle john's mind that one of the characteristics of a new covenant life is is joy fullness of joy and i'll be reading from the new king james version 1st john chapter 1 verses 1-4 that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declared to you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us that which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ and these things we write to you that your joy may be full why would knowing the truth about jesus bring us fullness of joy what's the answer yes travis well because we just in a previous lesson learned that it's jesus that sets us free so if god is love someone says if you want to know what god is like well jesus said that if you've seen me you've seen the father if we want to know what god is like just look at the look at the life of jesus well when we look at the life of jesus we see a kind compassionate loving god who wants to redeem us from our sins who wants to take us through life who wants to give us joy who wants to live with us forever how can you not have joy with somebody like that so how does he how does that joy actually find its way into our hearts is it worked up you know let everything get like louder and quicker how does that joy find its way into our hearts do you know well yes stephanie i'm just looking at the verse the first verse that we've seen with our own eyes we've looked upon we've handled concerning the word of life so you would say that by now we're not actually there with jesus like john was right right but by studying the life of jesus and as travis said seeing what an amazing revelation of the father his life was joy wells up yes but there are some people that read um they read the bible no i'm not interested in that is it not a supernatural work that we experience that fullness of joy sabina yes it's through god's work it's through the holy spirit you know as you're reading the bible you're going to start having your heart change it and your experiences will also reflect the presence of god so at least that's for me how this joy comes it's in this relationship with god that the holy spirit is part of it for sure you know my wife wrote a little scripture song the fruit of the spirit is love joy that's the next one when you had love and joy both in the text too right that you read from jesus love and joy the holy spirit brings to us the joy of that living relationship with jesus but thank you stephanie it's through spending that personal time reflecting on jesus just as john testified travis in the first verse we read in john 15 it says abide and you can't abide somewhere where you don't currently reside so you have to go and the word abide means stay you want to stay there you want to go there and stay there you want to stay in your relationship with jesus it's not like come and go and get it when you you when you stay you will experience that joy you know that same word to abide or or to remain is in john 15 of the branch being grafted into the vine abide in me so that ongoing connection right not just a passing connection um yeah we know the love of god but we also know the joy of god so what would you say to a person i mean have you met people who are professed christians who don't seem that joyful yeah sure so what would you say is it possible that that they're just having a bad day is that possible yes it is it's possible but what if you don't ever see the fullness of joy in the person you say derek what about me what if i don't see the joy of the lord in me then what do i do sabina well pastor derek i think that the bible and jesus even alerted us to the fact that we were going to go through tribulations and even when we look at the book of psalms and david he had so many difficult experiences but he speaks for instance on psalms 23 which is such a famous psalm how he could even pass through the you know to the valley of death and knowing that god is there with him that he would have a banquet in front of him so that's how i relate with suffering and also eventually encountering christians who may not be that joyful they may be going through that valley but for sure like if you have that conviction that god is with you and in your experience and walk with him you know that there is a banquet ahead and he does say my cup runs over surely goodness and mercy he starts getting a little joyful at the end of the song doesn't he he as he turns his attention away from the dark valley to jesus to the house of the lord right can you share a time in your experience when you caught a glimpse of of the fullness of joy that's ours in the lord i i guess i'm hearing that's not going to be every day though it ought to really undergird our whole life experience the joy of the lord is our strength right that's right someone share a time maybe you were on a mission assignment or maybe you were in a worship experience you just felt the joy of the lord sabina i can think of when my niece was born i'm not a mother i don't i'm not married but i have a niece and i was so joyful when i saw her coming into life i know this is maybe a simple experience to many people but if you have a child or someone in your family i think you have shared this joy as well and how old were you if you don't mind me asking when the baby was born this was about 12 years ago i was in my 20s like early 20s okay so so you were certainly very old enough to see everything and understand what was happening yeah and you felt the joy of that new life exactly and recognizing also god as creator and the one was just like experience it was absolutely it was the encounter of with life that is always being renewed by god's power so when we experience that kind of joy in our lives what should we do celebrate celebrate thank you god amen right thank you thank you god that's one of the fruit i guess of this new covenant life isn't it that your joy may be full travis so we were uh we were building churches in malawi africa and putting roofs on and so we drove many hours through these trails get back we're building this church and while we're building this church a group of women that came there and they were serenading us in song while we're putting this roof on the church we had tears in our eyes we're building and they just continued to sing and sing and they were so happy that they were getting a church and a roof and we were all in tears when we left that day because we had met such a beautiful group of people you know but it brought joy to all of our hearts we recognized you know that they were just so happy beautiful yeah it was no i don't know when i was in kenya they they would move while they sang yeah they did they do that too they were not just like this right so they're happy celebrating what god's doing through your ministry putting a roof on their church but you were experiencing the joy of the lord oh it was amazing if we just took this one characteristic we'd say that's important but there are some other characteristics we want to look at a second one is experiencing freedom from the guilt of sin romans chapter 8 jason if you could take us to verse 1 of romans 8 another characteristic of this new covenant life is freedom from the guilt of sin what does the apostle paul declare in chapter 8 verse 1 of romans i have the new king james version here romans chapter eight verse one there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit now i this is confession time don't give me any specifics please but have you ever felt condemned because of your sin [Music] guilty yes how does that feel not good not good that could really hinder the joy of the lord right right yes so god wants to set you free from that guilt by the way guilt is not a bad thing guilt lets you know that you're off track right but freedom from the weight of that guilt that condemnation and to set you free [Music] how can a just and holy god do that because you deserve to be feeling guilty you transgress the law of a holy god how can he do that and still be just it's called amazing grace but tell me about it yes i was thinking in romans the wages of sin is death it's something we've earned like you said but the gift of god he's giving it to us you're right we don't you know how he can do it because he paid the price and he has the authority to give it to us so if i keep walking around stephanie maybe you've heard people sometimes i'm shocked people are still burdened down by something that they committed 20 years ago right i mean they're carrying it like a backpack heavy well um god doesn't want that right in the new covenant life he wants us not only to experience fullness of joy but freedom from the guilt of sin how can i help a person that's feeling they say oh well stephanie i i've asked to be forgiven but i still feel defiled i still feel dirty i just have that weight of guilt on me what would you say to her i would definitely be praying for that person because i think the holy spirit would need to give me guidance as i speak but i would try to point point her to jesus who is he says in first john 1 9 if you confess your sins he's faithful and just forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and what god says is what he does so we can trust that but i think it's it's really having a building that person needs to have a stronger and um relationship and trust in god and i think we all have to each one of us struggles and maybe go back to the gospels where you see stories like john 8 i don't condemn you go and sin no more right yeah but you quoted a text that you've hidden it in your heart first john 1 verse 9 and maybe we should read it again because i think if you ask people can can god forgive your sins but there's something else that god wants to do that you quoted there in first john billy do you have that verse first john 1 and verse 9. i just i'm impressed that we should read it was quoted to us by stephanie sure and i'll be reading from the new international version if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness there's another verb that's used here in the english translation not only or cleanse is one possible word another one is pure purifier you say boy i'm pure again isn't that amazing yeah it's a miracle that's a miracle that is a miracle yeah i'm clean yeah by the grace of god that condemnation is taken away and how does it just god do that christ bore our condemnation that's right right yes he bore our sin and offered us not only forgiveness but cleansing cleansing a new covenant life free you say well i'm happy now because when the devil tells me things i did in the past yeah i can say get behind me satan yeah right i've been set free from the condemnation that i deserved amen yes right john chapter 5 verse 24 is a beautiful promise of jesus john chapter 5. jason do you have it verse 24 uh this this is a wonderful passage it even goes on to talk about the resurrection you know the dead in christ are going to rise it's a powerful passage but look at verse 24 of john 5. have the new king james version here john chapter 5 verse 24 most assuredly i say to you he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life that tells me by the way there is a final judgment it's clearly taught in scripture but it's telling me that the outcome's already settled for the person who's accepted jesus yes amen praise god praise god the outcome's already settled because i stand under the righteousness of jesus it's a beautiful beautiful promise i'm going to experience freedom from condemnation before that i said fullness of joy but i'm also going to experience the love of god like never before billy in a previous study you were quoting from memory from ephesians chapter 3 right but would you read that for us in our study today ephesians chapter 3. let's read the whole passage if you can it's so beautiful verses 14 through 21 because i believe that one of the characteristics of a new covenant life is not only fullness of joy and freedom from condemnation but it's experiencing the love of god like never before how does the apostle paul express that in ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 14-21 sure and i'll be reading from the new international version for this reason i knew before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name i pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in his inner being so that christ may dwell in you in your heart through faith and i pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the lords holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of christ and to know that this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of god now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the in the church and in christ jesus throughout all generations forever and ever amen amen what impacts you the most as you listen those words are given by inspiration of god right this isn't just paul writing holy men of god spoke as they were moved by the holy spirit right what impacts you the most stephanie as you hear these it's like he's he's wrestling with trying to describe the the breadth and depth the height of the love of god to him who is able to do he's he's able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that you can ask or think according to the power that works in him that really impacted you yes he's able he's able to do all of that and more all right sabina what impacted you as you heard those words i think that what impacts me the most here pastor derek on verse 9 19 it's when it says that the love of christ surpasses knowledge so we can't ever grasp or comprehend the dimension of this love even as a christian when i feel like i have experienced enough experiences in which i've seen god's love towards me my family or friends and for me it's already risen for joy and fulfillment but then still the bible is telling me that his love surpasses my knowledge so there's there might be much more maybe eternity exactly understand and then just beginning to understand god yeah well we talked about how that joy of the lord comes to us by the holy spirit did you know the love of the of god also is poured into our hearts by the holy spirit where where's that found is is there a text that talks about god's love is poured into our hearts jason i see you nodding where is that found that's romans 5 5. romans chapter 5. would you read that for us and verse 5. so does that mean uh by the way jesus did say ask does that mean we can ask day by day for the love of god to be poured into our hearts that's part of the new covenant life i'm joyful and i'm free from condemnation and and i'm filled with the love of god how does that read in romans 5 5. romans chapter 5 verse 5 new king james version says now hope does not disappoint because the love of god has been poured out in our hearts by the holy spirit who was given to us now if we just took that we could say oh that's wonderful i'm just going to experience the love of god like never before and that's good but look at another truth in john 7 where jesus is talking about the ministry of the holy spirit who brings to us a deeper experience of the love of god john 7 verses 37 to 39 travis could you read that for us and i'll be reading from the new king james version on the last day that great day of the feast jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water but this he spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the holy spirit was not yet given because jesus was not yet glorified but when the holy spirit was poured out and we are filled with the holy spirit who brings the love of god what happens what do what does it say it passes through that's right it's like it's not something that we even want to uh restrict correct but out of us flows a river of living water the love of god flowing that passes all knowledge yes is flowing through us the new covenant life is not just about experiencing the love of god the new covenant life is about what sharing it's about sharing the love of god you say billy that's really practical you work for a developmental relief agency called adra it's not about just saying oh god you love me so much that's good yeah but it's more than that it's it's actually you know being able to give what i what i found most um the best thing about my my my job is yes you know people give them food give them water but what i found most rewarding is when they get hope and the fact that we serve a god we can provide and the people are so it's very interesting that jesus is using the word like thirsty people are really thirsty for hope they are really thirsty to know that you know they can make it to the next day and things are going to get better so as much as we can give them water and food yes that's that's okay but when we give them the hope that hey you know there is a god who's going to give justice there's a god who's going to make things right that you lost your loved one he's gonna make make that right he's he's gonna fix things he's a fixer he's a healer they get that life in that hope that you know what i think there is things gonna get better and sometimes people crave that more than maybe just the food that you give them and the little things that you give them we give them the love of god perfect poured into our hearts by the holy spirit right yeah can you think of someone in either in your own life experience or maybe a bible character where you see the love of god this is the new covenant life by the way right not only fullness of joy and freedom from guilt but the love of god is being poured through that person um maybe someone you say yep she lives next door or it maybe know that i'm thinking of a new testament bible character you know who's really you see the love of god being poured through that person somebody come to mind stephanie yeah i was thinking of a friend of mine in florida and dina has she it doesn't matter whether she knows the person or not i called her up and said can you help i have a friend who's not feeling well and she needs someone and she was right over there and spent the entire day with her and prayed with her and you know that it's unselfish commitment to doing whatever god calls to do being ready to let the love of god flow through absolutely it's it's quite a it's a remarkable witness isn't it it is when the love of god anybody else can you think of either someone in real life now or a bible character yes i'm just thinking about something that happened yesterday with a friend of mine they were sharing with me that the water heater broke in their house and the house is new it's the first time they are you know encountering this issue in a new city that they are leaving and they called a friend of them that works with them in the church and this person who lives about two hours away from them is coming today to help them fix the water heater because he's a plumber and he simply made that out of like a good heart and knowing that you know god loves him so much he's just making that as a gift to them so for me this is also an evidence of god's love poured in their lives through the life of this other person who has received this love from god and the holy spirit so i'm excited for them i know for them it's very important that's a beautiful testament because it just happened yesterday and today right yes what came to my mind just from the bible was this lady named tabitha also called dorcas sewing clothes and she dies or they're weeping they're bringing clothes you know it's like the love of god was pouring through her and of course you know the end of that story in acts chapter eight that she's raised from the dead right it's like wow uh amazing but but it's a wonderful thing when we see the love of god being poured through a person's life do you know that god wants that to happen through you and through me that's part of that new covenant life experiencing fullness of joy freedom from condemnation not only experiencing the love of god more deeply but allowing his love to flow through us share a time when you experienced that when you were the recipient of the love of god being poured through someone um to bless your life does anyone have an experience that comes to mind we should all be going but but you know it's not as common as god would want it to be is it that stepping aside and just letting the love of god pour through us sabina i do have many examples that i can think of primarily from my family right my parents i think that parents usually or should be the primary people that represent this type of love towards us but i'll give you another example it's not going to be for my family it's a friend who has recently helped me move all my things that i had from a city to another and drive 10 hours of truck and for me up to now it's very impressive on my heart this love that this person showed to me because she had to work she had to take care of her own dog and other things that she had to do but still she took three days of her busy week just to help me move all my things and drive this truck so that i wouldn't do that by my own and that for me is really like an evidence of god's loving her life and to me it sounds very practical right travis i saw your hand yeah well i remember when i was first um some church members paid for me to go on a mission the very first mission trip it's actually the one that started you know to change my life and uh so i was there and i i was smoking cigarettes yet and maybe chewing tobacco and you know doing things like that and even with curse you know i wasn't a church-going christian you know bible-believing christian a practicing one at that time but i went so you were invited to go on a mission trip that you were going to see the love of god but you were definitely a work in progress right but i knew that i shouldn't do any of these things on the trip and so i didn't bring anything along or you know but i'm i remember we're eating for for we're building a mission house and we're cleaning up beans to eat out in the jungle you know cleaning them up and i said i said a bad word and i thought they're gonna kick me out of here i am gone and i looked over and his name was judd and he looked at me and he just gave me a smile and it was he had love in his eyes it was a forgiving smile and i knew okay i know that i shouldn't have done that but i'm safe these guys are safe and they're not going to condemn me and and and that impacted me even just something small like that impacted me i realized that this is a group of people that love me and are going to work with me along my journey beautiful testimony yeah well if we just took these characteristics and by the way you may be saying okay should be experiencing fullness of joy freedom from condemnation guilt and experiencing the love of god and letting the love of god flow through me oh lord that should take me to my knees every day right yes but another characteristic of this covenant new covenant life is a wonderful assurance of salvation wow wonderful assurance of salvation let's look at a few verses that reinforce that shall we john chapter 11 verses 25 and 26 jesus is speaking at the gravesite of someone named lazarus right but he has something to say about life and new life stephanie would you read john 11 25-26 sure and i'll be reading from the new king james version jesus said to her i am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die he shall live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die do you believe this so there's a challenge here because her brother has just died and yet he believed in jesus as the messiah so how is it that people can die and yet jesus says you'll never die is there one death that is temporary and another death that is permanent well let's see what jesus says let's look in john chapter 6 verses 39 and 40. jason if you have it john 6 39 and 40. we're just actually reading the words of jesus here because jesus is the resurrection and the life right have the new king james version here john chapter 6 verses 39 and 40. this is the will of the father who sent me that of all he has given me i should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day and this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and i will raise him up at the last day two times i will raise him up that means even if they fall asleep in the first death they're not going to stay asleep right yes there's going to be a reservation let's look again in john 5 verses 28 and 29. stephanie if you could read that for us the new king james version says do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation now a careful study of the book of revelation will show that there are two resurrections there and they're separated by a thousand years actually that's in revelation 20. yes but what's most important is we want to rise in the resurrection of the living the righteousness not of the resurrection yes resurrection of condemnation right correct we want to rise up as those who've fallen asleep trusting in jesus as our savior is there another bible text that comes to your mind not by jesus now but one of the apostles that speaks about this resurrection of those who've fallen asleep in jesus first thessalonians first thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13 through 18. first thessalonians chapter 4. i'm looking seeing page's turn here sabina do you have it yes chapter 4 of first thessalonians beginning with verse 13 down through verse 18. okay so i'll be reading from the new king james version and it says but i do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep leads to sorrow as others who have no hope for if we believe that jesus died and rose again even so god will bring with him those who sleep in jesus for this we say to you by the word of the lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord will by no means precede those who are asleep for the lord himself will descend from the heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the lord therefore comfort one another with these words so when does eternal life begin does it begin after assuming we've fallen asleep in death when we're raised in the resurrection when jesus comes when does eternal life begin travis if we have jesus we have eternal life now even if we fall asleep forever that's right a short sleep yeah right right anybody agree disagree i have come that they may have life and have it more upon you more abundantly that's a present experience yes so how does it affect you with the trials that we face in life right we we live in a broken world to know that you have the assurance even today of that of that eternal life sabine pastor derek for me changes everything you know all my entire perspective of life of goals of meaning of purpose is changed by the realization that god that god made me for eternity and offer here you know i think that many of us if not all of us actually we do everything in our lives actually thinking of the day we are going to die you know the time frame that we have considering your wedding considering your marriage considering your work the upbringing of a child will always be based on the fact that there will be a day in which we're going to die but if you have in your heart the certainty that this life here is just a part of eternity then all those other things that appear to be a hindrance to you you gain a new perspective you know even your work when you are doing work you're not going to think of a work that is going to vanish soon but it's a work that can bring results for eternity and i can think of that in every area of my life how it affects and certainly when i learned about this truth here it changed even my purpose as what i was going to go and do with my life in each one of my days while i'm here you know it begins right now that's a powerful testimony billy yeah um i love history and one thing that i find out in history is that people use death or people in command use death to force you know the the people that they have uh power over to force them to do things that they would not normally do so death is used as a tool to force people to do anything like the threat of death you mean yeah is used like a weapon as a weapon like if you don't do this i'll kill you that sounds like the devil by the way exactly yes so imagine if if if you know that hey you know if i have christ i have eternal life so yes you know you may kill me but you won't kill my soul in the sense where you know god will will raise me up again so that fear is gone that death does not have no entire power over me that even if somebody forced me to do something that i know should not be done then i'll be able to stand up for what is right and what is um and also you know do what is right so i think it's very important to know that the fear of the threat of death when it's gone it can it it liberates you oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your victory right right yeah thanks be to god who gives me the victory through jesus christ amen so if someone says renounce jesus or i'm going to kill you that's the weapon they're using right yeah of death you know the what's the answer nope you can kill me but i'll take jesus you cannot terminate my life yeah i mean you may cause me to stop breathing here but i have the assurance of an eternal life with god right amen i know what did paul say i know whom i have believed yes and i am persuaded persuaded that he is he's able to keep that which i've committed to him amen what have i committed to him my life my whole life yes and my my destiny he's able to keep that which i've committed to him against that day that assurance of eternal life is something that no one and nothing can take away from us amen you say derek there's a lot of wonderful characteristics of a new covenant life right fullness of joy freedom from guilt experiencing the love of god and sharing the love of god having the assurance of eternal life but but there's a fifth characteristic i'd like us to close within our study and it's somewhat related to the third one of not only experiencing the love of god but sharing the love of god okay but it's sharing something else maybe it's the love of god too that's why i say they're related but sharing the good news sharing the gospel message is a characteristic of the new covenant life it's not like well that's just something that billy does or that's something that stephanie does no everyone who's experiencing the new covenant life right we'll share the good news let's look in matthew chapter 28 verses 19 and 20. travis if you have that would read it for us and by the way it ends by saying even to the end of the age which means it's not just talking to his followers back then it's all of us right how does the word of jesus read there in matthew 28 and i'll be reading from the new king james version go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all things that i have commanded you and lo i am with you always even to the end of the age amen amen now the amazing thing about jesus when he asks us to do something which will be a blessing to other people we will also be blessed right when we let the love of god flow through us we're also blessed as the love of god passes through us when we share the gospel message and the hearer has tears in his eyes and we're also blessed right and so in the minutes that are remaining let's share some testimony maybe people are listening and saying does it really make a difference and the answer is yes that new covenant life makes a difference share a time when you were blessed as you shared the gospel message with someone else maybe you were speaking to a large crowd in malawi maybe you were speaking to one person at work but a time when you felt blessed as you shared the gospel message with someone else who'd like to share stephanie well i'm i'm thinking about a group of us who were doing some evangelistic seminars and there was one person who came in to the series and he was saying no i've done i've gone too far and i've done more than what god can forgive was this by the way in america it was okay it was and um i share with him some of the bible promises that we have that if we confess our sins he's faithful and just forgive us of our sins and to and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and he he actually didn't come back for a while and then we just prayed every night every night we prayed for this gentleman and toward the end of the series he walked in the front door and i understand he is actively involved now but it was a group of those of us who were praying and individuals in the church who are very involved in um speaking to him personally and i just think you know that's where the joy comes right is when you when you see the fruits of what god's done through human beings human beings like us who are weak and feeble i just realized it takes us back to the experiencing fullness of joy it's like it keeps on going doesn't it yes as we live that new covenant life and by the way for those of you who couldn't see stephanie was smiling while she was talking about this man showed up again what a miracle of god sabina do you have an experience where sharing that good news you were blessed in the process absolutely you know pastor derek like stephanie i've had the opportunity to participate in some missionary activities and outreach events but i think that one that really impacted my life was when i had the chance to leave for some years in uganda some years i'm sorry some months in uganda i was there for half a little more than half a year and we every week we would visit islams and places where people needed to hear the message and i remember of a family which was a family who was very very poor and very unfortunate they didn't have much but the joy came so strong to me pastor derek because you know they they barely could read and we had the chance to study with them for a few weeks and they started coming to church and bringing their kids and eventually you know the kids were deciding this to participate every activity of the church they were engaging engaging and i don't know how they are right now but at this moment when i saw the transformation of the place of isolation where they were and all of a sudden they were connected to a church group they were so close to them and now could help them to provide for education even help them to adjust for the needs that they had for me was such a great joy i was just a little piece in that process i removed my myself from the country i'm no longer there in uganda but i'm sure that they have a way to connect with that church and that this was making a difference for them it was wonderful yeah it's beautiful billy yes um back where i grew up i went out with a friend of mine and typically let's say on a weekly basis you know we would go out and then feed on the homeless and my friend was visiting boston where i grew up she decided to come along and i'm having fun i'm meeting uh uh those who are homeless and i'm you know i'm asking them what do you need they're like you know i'm hungry can you grab me some food so i'll go to mcdonald's grab grab some food come back i'm having a blast and i'm hearing their stories i'm talking to them and then my friend just like shocked and uh she's shaking i said why are you shaking she said this lady just told you that she got raped like two days ago and you're i mean you're just you're not even thinking about i'm like i'm thinking about but i'm here to help her it's basically the since i've been so much around her that she hasn't been exposed to how bad the streets are and since i'm always around them it's not it's something that i hear but also i know what they need and it's that that touch this handshake this time that i'm spending with them this prayer that i'm giving with them so all that experience and um and i'm i'm so at the end of the day i said i'm having a you know this is a great day because i'm able to help somebody who just had a traumatic experience the night before and she was not the only one there were so many other ones so my friend was was shook she was shaken she said how how can you process that in a day and i said that's basically that's the exposure maybe a a month not a month a year or two years afterwards i heard that she's volunteering at a home at a at a center near our school that helps people who who went through that and that person is actually shayna she's one of the sabbath school members and it the joy that i see is that you know that transformer that you know she changed i think a career path to help those who have been abused those who have been homeless and now she's also comfortable in that in that area you know what's amazing this new covenant life is not just about us having a better life is it that's right it's about letting others around us experience that new life in jesus yes freedom from guilt and joy and love of god and assurance of eternal life but sharing that with those around us oh my friends if you've been inspired today you'll say oh god could you use me like that you know what will happen if you surrender and ask god to use you you will be blessed that new covenant life will be yours day by day that's my prayer for you that's my prayer as we bow our heads just now father in heaven you've got such an amazing plan for us and it's not just about taking care of us it's about us joining you in your mission that others too might experience fullness of life god thank you for your unfailing love thank you for your mercy your forgiveness your your your blessings to us beyond number may we share those blessings and point people to you in jesus name amen amen well thanks for joining us for hope sabbath school what a journey we're on i pray that you would take the blessings you've gained and be a blessing to those around you [Applause] [Applause] you

Channel: HopeSabbathSchool

Views: 48,210

Rating: 4.7743301 out of 5

Keywords: Hope Sabbath sschool, HSS, Hope, Bible, Bible study, Hope Channel, Sabbath school, Derek Morris

Id: 4CaRfUxsd0o

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 20 2021