Luccas Rodor - The Least of These (Sabbath School Study Hour)

[Music] hello and welcome once again to another edition of the Sabbath school study hour it is always good to be able to have you join us here as we come together in the Granite Bay seventh-day Adventist Church here in the great greater Sacramento area of California it is always good to be able to come together and study the Word of God the Sabbath School study hour where the theme in the beginning right to the end is the study of the word of God in all of its power we are thrilled to be able to welcome our local members here and guests and visitors that have joined us so far in the Sabbath School lesson study as well as those who are watching online we are always glad to be able to have you we have different online members around the world we have friends and guests and some of you are watching for the very first time we know that your decision to watch this program will be a blessing here today now what today we're going to be continuing to study a theme that we've been continued on since last month in July and that is from this Sabbath schools quarterly and the entitlement of it is the least of these the least of these now as it turns out lesson number eight which is the lesson that we're looking at today is also entitled the least of these and so if you have your Sabbath School quarterly we want to invite you to take that out with your Bible of course as we look at that important study now if you don't have a copy of the Sabbath School quarterly you would like to get a hold of a digital copy of course you can go into any seventh they have in His Church and ask them on a saturday or sabbath morning and they'll be happy to give you what most of the time they have spares to be able to give those who are visiting and are interested but if you'd like a digital copy you can also go to lesson dot a-f-t-v dot o-r-g that's lesson dot a-f-t-v dot or RG and you can find there a free digital download for you to take advantage of that as well before we can invite our singers out as we do most of the time when we come together for the study hour we always have a free gift offer that we want to offer to you and so this is our opportunity to be able to offer you a DVD now this particular DVD is entitled mike is my christianity real is my christianity real and it's part one and this is an important question for us to ask now you can just simply dial one eight six six seven eight eight three nine six six that's one eight six six seven eight eight three nine six six and we'll be happy to be able to send that to you if you're north america or any of the US territories now if you'd rather have a digital copy or you're not in the US or Canada or the digital US territories then you can also download it on your phone and this is one of the advantages we have in our digital age and so you can text the code sh-1 3-0 and so in the message box you want to put sh-1 3-0 and you want to text that to the number four zero five four four four zero five four four so please take advantage of that I know that that is a good study in addition to what we will is studying here today and so now we want to invite our seniors forward as we also worship the Lord in song you as always we like to sing together before we delve into God's Word the world seems to be falling apart and it really is and as believers we are fortunate and we are grateful that we have a Lord that in Zion reigneth and we're gonna sing about that today and we're gonna lift our voices hymn number seven the Lord in Zion reigneth rinsing all three verses [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Father in heaven as we stop we want to ask for your Holy Spirit to be with us this morning we want to thank you for the opportunity to be able to study a word so freely here today I want to pray that you'll be with our teacher pastor Lucas as he shares with us and as we go through this important theme of remember the least of these amongst those who live upon the earth father you have called us to love our brother and that you tell us that our neighbor and our brother is every single human being and so lord please bless teach us we claim the promise of your Holy Spirit to guide us and to teach us all truth and so we prayed in Christ's name Amen this morning we will be blessed as our new youth or newer youth pastor pastor Lucas is going to be teaching the Sabbath school study our God bless you pastor Shawn he mentioned that our lesson this week has the title of the least of these which is interesting because the quarterly is also the least of these right this is a pretty broad study honestly each one of the days of the lesson this week could could be a series of sermons right but we're called right now to have an overview of this and I'd like to begin just saying that I feel that the lesson up to this point has been a build-up to this moment the lesson has been a build-up and what comes after this week's lesson is also an aftermath of what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom we've seen that God created a perfect world and that was the first lesson he created a perfect world a world of harmony a world where the relationship between humans and God and humans with one another was a perfect balanced relationship we fought we saw so that that relationship was broken the relationship with God and the relationship with each other that was broken by something called sin and we've been seeing how God has planned and has tried to restore that those two relationships with each other the memory verse this week comes from Matthew chapter 25 verse 40 and it says and the king will answer and say to them assuredly I say to you as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it unto me this week we find basically four main subjects three four scopes of study and they are the Sermon on the Mount and that includes the Beatitudes and overcoming evil with good we find the parable of the Good Samaritan we find the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and finally we find that courtroom scene where Jesus describes the last day the Judgment Day and that's what we're going to be talking about today now I love it that it begins the author found it fit to begin with the Sermon on the Mount and for a while I was asking myself well why he mentions the Sermon on the Mount and then he goes into some parables why why this order why this order of study and the reason for that is what we find in verse Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 verse 2 where we read that Jesus he begins this sermon he starts this sermon and it says and singing the multitudes he went up on a mountain and he was seated his disciples came to him and when he was this was seated his disciples came to him then he opened his mouth and taught them saying and so Jesus goes into this sermon now what's interesting is that the book of Matthew Matthew was written for whom do you remember Matthew was written for the Jewish nation each one of the Gospels has a specific target audience and the book of Matthew was for the Jewish nation that's why you find for example in the genealogy that we have of Jesus in Matthew who is who does it go back to who was the first one not Adam it goes back to Abraham why because it was interesting it was important for the Jewish nation to find a connection between the Messiah and Abraham their father you'll find that in the book of Luke that was written towards who the Greek nation the Gentiles that's where the genealogy goes back to Adam because it was important for them to understand that Jesus the Messiah is the true Son of Man and so he goes back to Adam but in Matthew he goes back to Abraham the father of the Jews the father of the the Jewish nation now in that context the first four chapters of Matthew you'll find that the main subject is the description of the person of the king the person of the Messiah you have a description of Jesus you have the genealogy you have where he came from you have the description of the king but from chapter 5 onwards we have a shift in the subject you see if up to chapter 4 you have the king from chapter 5 all the way up to chapter 7 which is the Sermon on the Mount you have the description of what it means to follow the king the virtues of the kingdom of heaven what does it mean to be a citizen of a citizen of this kingdom so while in the beginning you have the king then there's a shift to what it means to follow the king who is this king and the logic is clear those who accept him they must know him those who accept Jesus must know who Jesus is and here in the sermon of the mount Jesus appears as a new Moses and this was important for the Jews understand this Jesus appeared as a new Moses he is bringing a new Exodus freedom from sin Jesus is on a new mount a new mountain not the same mountain where Moses got his law and Jesus is bringing bringing a clear comprehension of the law so you find that there is a great there's a connection a relation between Moses and Jesus the law that old law and Jesus's law that's not a new law but a better a clearer understanding of the law he's on a new mount and you have that relation between Jesus and Moses here this chapter contains many known sections and I'm sure that all of you have probably read books about this heard sermons about this study the lessons about the sermon of the mount and this goes far because there's just so much packed into so few chapters so in this chapter we find in this in the sermon we find the Beatitudes we find the love for our enemies we find the Lord's Prayer we find the reference to the birds of the air into the lilies of the fields we find the golden rule we find the narrow paths the pear arrabal of the builders it is such a beautiful deep profound section of the Bible and the point of the sermon the what Jesus is trying to get across to his listeners what he's trying to define here is the Christian relationship between God and others the relationship between quick Christians and God and Christians with each other that's the point of the sermon Jesus is trying to say this is how you should hold your relationship or have your relationship with God and how you should act or live upon your relationship with each other and that's why Jesus begins with these Beatitudes I'm saying that right right Beatitudes okay you guys you guys have to help me with my pronunciation this is why Jesus begins with the Beatitudes since the point is to define Christian relationship with God and Christian relationship with each other just like the Ten Commandments these Beatitudes are divided in two segments I didn't know if you know this but the Beatitudes are divided into two segments the first four they have to do primarily with our relationship with God and the latter four have to do primarily with our relationship with each other for example those that have to do with God are blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall see God sorry for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth and blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled these are the Beatitudes that have to do with my relationship with God primarily they have to do with me and God and the latter for blessed are the merciful for they shall be for they shall obtain mercy blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God and blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven these are the the virtues the Beatitudes that have to do with my relationship with others around me my relationship with people around me so you can see that blessed are the peacemakers who does that have to do with me and the world around me that is in chaos so the Christian who acts as a peacemaker who brings peace to a hostile work environment or a home filled with anger and strife someone who brings peace is promised that theirs is the kingdom of heaven so you see how these are just as the Ten Commandments have to do with me and God and me and my my neighbor these Beatitudes have to do with me and God and me and my neighbor these eight characteristics they identify Christians actually they form up the profile of what it means to be a Christian now differently from the spiritual gifts and some people compare them you know the Beatitudes with the spiritual gifts differently from the spiritual gifts where the spiritual gifts they're given just a few to each person so we find in the Bible in the New Testament where it says you know the summit was given the gift of what of evangelism to others it was given the gift of prophecy and others have the gift of healing in other has others have the gift of speaking in tongues so the Christians us we receive one or the other some have two or three but rarely you'll find someone that has all the spiritual gifts I've never met one well that's good that it's like that it's good that we are each one of us we're good at something different but when it comes to these virtues these eight characteristics of what it means to be a Christian you can't have a Christian that is a peacemaker but a Christian who is not pure in heart you can't have a Christian who was poor in spirit but enough but in the Saint Christian he is not he is not hungry for righteousness or hungry hunger and thirst for righteousness so these characteristics they make up what it means to be a Christian all of them in the same way as in the law you can't honor one and break the other that can't happen it's the same with these Beatitudes these virtues these characteristics they define what it means to be a Christian and that's why Jesus mentions them here at the beginning of this of this great sermon of his they define what it means to be a Christian and the key word the key word here is the word blessed this word blessed comes from the Greek Makarios which means joyful happy and happy for a specific reason we're not just happy for anything we're happy because we pert to the realm of God's government we are happy because we are citizens of the kingdom you see what's interesting when it comes to the kingdom of heaven and you'll find that in the book of Matthew Jesus repeats over and over and over again the the following phrase and so the kingdom kingdom of heaven is likened unto and then he tells a parable he's seeing Jesus is in Jesus's words the kingdom of heaven isn't primarily a place it isn't primarily a geography the kingdom of heaven to Jesus primarily is a relationship with the king that's what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven primarily the kingdom of heaven is not a place but a relationship with the king with the person of the king when we get to to the the main part of chapter 5 when we find overcoming evil with good this is in chapter 5 verse 38 through 45 and we're going to read a few of these verses where it says here you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but I tell you not to resist an evil person but whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other also to him if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic let him have your cloak also and whoever compels you to go one mile go with him to give to him who asks you and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you love your enemies bless those who curse you do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be sons of your father in heaven Jesus was always controversial at least always on the left-hand side of what we would imagine the norm who would preach do good to those who do evil to you love your enemies who could live by those standards naturally it's difficult we see this in the world around us when someone does evil what do we what do we what do we want revenge right but Jesus he sets the bar higher over here Jesus sets the bar higher this this law an eye for an eye in a tooth for tooth this is quoting from the Old Testament and it's called the Lex talionis that's that's the name of this law the Lexus talionis and it means it's a lot of revenge in many people's mouths a tooth for a tooth in Ayana and an eye for an eye and I've heard it said that if we take that literally we'll have a world full of of toothless people and blind toothless blind people at knife or an eye and a tooth for a tooth well we find in the Old Testament when you read this text is that honestly what is being said what God is teaching the nation of Israel is that this is a measure of justice if you take an eye I won't take your whole body I won't take an arm what will be taken an eye it's a measure of justice but Jesus again he sets the bar higher now there's one thing that I really want us to understand most of the Protestant world around us they have angelical world around us they believe right here that Jesus is doing what he is giving a new law have you heard someone say this before here this is the new law this is Jesus's new law and that's what we are under today but that is that is not correct for a few reasons first of all you find in verse 38 you find for example where that Jesus says you have heard that it was said you see that here you have heard that it was said also you'll find this in verse 43 you have heard that it was said what is Jesus referencing here what is Jesus referencing most people will say that he's reference referencing the Old Testament and that's why he is laying down a new law it was said to you this but I tell you this and because of that many many Christians in the world around us they'll say that Jesus is giving us a new law Jesus is not quoting scripture here when he says you have heard he's not quoting scripture he's seeing Jesus's day and actually before that even there were two main schools of thought amongst the Jews you had the the Shem a school and the Hillel school Chimay and Hillel sorry Sean my and hello now the show my school the show my line of thought it was more traditional more Bible based while the hello train of thought the Hallel school was more liberal it was more liberal and most of the Pharisees they were from the Hallel school now in the years and the centuries preceding Jesus the Jewish nation had established something called the Mishnah and the Mishnah were a series of laws series of laws that protected the main law the main code of the Bible so that's where you'll find many rabbinic teachings that are not in the Bible so for example when Jesus says in verse 43 you have heard that it was says you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy where in the Bible do you find this absolutely nowhere it's not in the Bible this comes from the Mishnah this comes from the rabbinic traditional code where they said you have heard where they said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy Jesus isn't saying anything new when he answers this when he says but I say to you love your enemies bless those who curse you and do go to good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you is Jesus saying anything new or is he quoting from Scripture he's quoting from Scripture Jesus quoting from the book of Deuteronomy do you remember in the temptation of the desert when Jesus always answers with it is written it is written it is written you see Jesus he doesn't come to to give a new teaching he gives he comes to confirm that which was already taught so you'll find that these these to you you'll find these two realities in the New Testament in Jesus's terms you'll find that when Jesus says you have heard Jesus isn't talking about the Bible he's not quoting scripture but when he says it was written or have you not read these are the two formulas that you find in Jesus's mouth you'll find that he says it is written or you'll find have you not read Jesus then is quoting scripture and here he is quoting scripture the character characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven were revolutionary no one had ever taught anything like this at least no one recent no one had ever taught anything like this it was revolutionary Jesus was constantly bringing new - not necessarily new teachings but afresh teaching afresh teaching when Jesus speaks of overcoming evil with good compassion and mercy were not a part of the norms of his time they weren't a part of the norms the Romans despised the ideas of Mercy they saw it as weakness the Jewish nation the Jews they dreamed of what revenge against those who had wronged them the religious class the Pharisees they dressed themselves up in their own rigid severe rigorous self-righteousness suffering look at this even suffering which you know when human suffering usually what does human suffering evoke in us what is what are the feelings empathy pity in those days human suffering was seen as it was seen as a deserved punishment do you remember in John chapter 9 when Jesus and his disciples are passing through that man that was born blind what question do the disciples asked Jesus who sinned that was there that was what they thought that was their mindset who sinned was it him or his parents that God should punish him so so you see that mercy and compassion these weren't ideals by which anyone lived by be them Roman or Greek or Jew but here Jesus describes the citizens of his kingdom are those who defeat evil with kindness defeat evil with kindness perhaps one of the best examples of this that we find in the Bible comes in the parable of the Good Samaritan and I'd like to shift to this story right now this is found in Luke chapter 10 verse 25 onwards I'm going to read the first two verses 25 26 and 27 the first three verse 25 26 and 27 and this is what we read here and behold a certain lawyer and the word lawyer here can be translated as an expert in the law okay a lawyer expert in the law he stood up and tested him saying teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life and he said to him what is written in the law what is your reading of it so he answered and said you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself this is one of the best examples of what Jesus was talking about this is a very interesting parable it's an exclusive parable to the book of Luke you only find this parable in the Book of Luke what's interesting is that you also find that there are a few connections between the character found in this parable and the author of the book both were Gentiles the Samaritan he wasn't Jewish Luke wasn't Jewish Luke has the distinction of being the only non Jew author Jewish author of the New Testament and this story is told as an answer that this expert in the law asks Jesus where he says well then who is my neighbor we covered this for weeks ago when I passed the lesson last when I taught the lesson last time this man he he asked this question as what as a justification because Jesus had called him out and so as a justification to justify himself himself the Bible says he asks this question well then who is my neighbor now why do you imagine that he's asking this question who was my neighbor this wasn't a new question this was a very controversial subject amongst the rabbi's of Jesus day because they wanted to define who is the neighbor because want you to find who the neighbor is what can you then do you can exclude those who are not the neighbor if I can define who my neighbor is then I know who who is not my neighbor and if I know who is not my neighbor I know who I have to treat well and who I can neglect who I don't have to care about so Jesus tells this story he doesn't answer the question outright and this was Jesus's way he wouldn't give the answer easy he made people think you see Jesus was the master of removing people from the audience and placing them on the stage Jesus was a master at that at exposing people's wrong thoughts and teaching them helping them understand what was the truth of the kingdom of heaven when we get to the parable and we're not going to read the whole parable here you all know this parable heard it your whole life but when we arrived in this parable one thing that's fascinating is that Jesus doesn't give a big description of the victim he says in a certain man was coming from Jericho to Jeru from Jerusalem to Jericho and that's what you have we don't know if he was rich or poor we don't know whose father he was we don't know if he was well-connected we don't know if he had a family we don't know what his profession was we don't know from the Bible if he was Jewish or not what we know is that there was a man coming from Jerusalem going to Jericho that's all you find about this man who was this man apparently here he's anonymous Jesus deliberately does this deliberately eliminates any possibility of identification the Fallen man is even incapable of asking for help he can't even help himself he's completely helpless at the total mercy of the others that pass him by and you find three others you find the priests you find the Levite and you find a third man when the priest passes him by what does he do he go straight forward perhaps this priest was scared of ceremony ceremonial unclean and cleanliness impurity you see the the rabbinical code of those days had come up with this with this a theory this term or this belief of impurity by association this is not biblical it's impurity by association which means that just by being close to something impure I can then by association become impure why do you think that for example Peter he is very reluctant to go to Cornelius's house because it was taboo it was impure you would become impure by even entering a Gentiles house where is that in the Bible nowhere that's rabbinical teaching and so this priest perhaps afraid of becoming impure and he who was holy he had to do with the temple and the sanctuary he didn't want to become impure and so he passes by we find a second a second person here who the Levite the Levites were a second class of clergy they had responsibilities also in the temple and in the major cities they were very religious they were a tribe of a religious tribe this man this Levite he also passes by perhaps this was one of those Christians that sees suffering and he says a word of Prayer oh dear Lord please have mercy on his soul but he continues on oh lord please have mercy on his soul but he continues on may be scared of the bandits this was a very dangerous area all right the path from Jericho to Jerusalem was a path of about 17 miles of distance and it was full of ups and downs and caves where many bandits it was called the bloody path just for you to see the bloody path because it was so dangerous so perhaps this Levite afraid of the bandits afraid of anything that might happen to him he walks on by now this third character that appears in the story jesus' listeners they were expecting that this character was a lay jew a lay israelite that's what they were expecting that would make sense a layman israelite someone who had no ties to the religious establishment nothing but was a good man that's what they would expect but the text says it tells us here a certain what Samaritan and here my friends we lose we lose the strength of the illustration we lose notion or the idea of the illustration because we can't today 2,000 years later we we have a hard time truly understanding how great the hostility between these two nations was and if you just want to see what I'm talking about when I say the word Samaritan what do you think of what's the word that comes to mind good good that's what you hear oh he was a Samaritan if someone says that said oh he was a Samaritan what does that mean he was good he did something good because he was a good Samaritan but in those days good and Samaritan were the last thing anyone would ever imagine about Samaritans the Samaritans just for you to understand the Samaritans they were a hybrid race they were a mixture of the Jewish nation that had been exiled and all the other pagan nations around them they were cursed publicly and in synagogues they could not be accepted as proselytes they could not be converted to Judaism they could not they had no part in the resurrection or in the eternal life they had no part in this their witness was not acceptable in a court of law their food eating their food to a Jewish to an Israelite it was worse than eating pork their women were considered impure they could not become responsible for an Israelite orphan these were the Samaritans hated hated and he is who Jesus uses as a perfect example of love he's the only non-religious of the story the only one he had every reason to turn away every reason but he decides to become involved and Jesus adds details to this story Jesus says that this man used his own supplies to treat the victim Jesus says that he he used his own animal to transport him the story tells us that when he arrives in the end he pays from his own pocket he pays for for this man's days in the inn and he says he tells the owner of the end look if he wastes if he uses anything more if he spends if there's any other expense I will pay from my own pocket my friends this is not mere humanitarianism this is Christian love this is what Jesus was talking about this is not mere humanitarianism and Jesus ends the parable with that first question the question that was given to him who is my neighbor but Jesus twisted a little just changes that question a little bit because if that question who is my neighbour is an exclusion a question of exclusion Jesus's answer or Jesus's question back to the expert of the law is the question of all inclusion because Jesus he changes the subject of the question who was the neighbor of him who fell that is how Jesus gives the question back who was the neighbour of him who fell do you see how Jesus changes the question to Jesus the neighbour is not the object of the deed understand this - Jesus - Jesus the neighbour is not the object of the deed but the subject it is he who practices the deed the neighbour is not he who receives the good deed but he who practices it what does that tell you is the question who is my neighbor the correct question no the true question is well Who am I the neighbour - do you see the change in the question it's not someone else that is my neighbour I have to act as the neighbour I must be the neighbour that is what Jesus is teaching here how to overcome evil with good this man had everything to turn away but he becomes personally involved an example of how God treated us this world where he became personally involved personally responsible for all of us amen the next story that we find the next parable that we find in this week's lesson in the least of these is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and this appears in Luke chapter 16 I like that these these different parables they appear in the Book of Luke my name is Lucas and my father gave me this name because of the Book of Luke he was studying the Book of Luke for his thesis and and he was studying the you know everything that was happening here and he became mesmerised with Luke and that's why my name is Lucas today so I find interesting that these different parables these parables that you only find in Luke well these are the parables that you only find you only find in Luke if I could rename this parable I would rename it as the neighbors who never met the rich man and Lazarus the neighbors who never met this is this is quite an exclusive parable because well among other reasons this is we parable will you find that Jesus gives a name to one of the characters did you know that this is the only parable that you'll find in the Bible where Jesus gives a name to one of the characters and the name was Lazarus Lazarus now the Bible doesn't tell us the name of the rich man but Jewish tradition tells us well Jewish tradition calls this man in the parable deivis all right it's not in the Bible and that's probably not what his name was but the Jewish tradition called him Deva which literally means rich man know the word eves literally means rich man and that's what they called him so for the sake of the parable that's what we're calling we'll call him Jeeves which means rich men they probably passed each other many times multiple times but Lazarus was invisible to Dave's and Jesus he spares no words describing the situation here Lazarus surviving on meager charity full of sores probably disabled dogs would come to lick his wounds what does that tell you I mean the easiest thing for anybody when a dog comes or you know or something like that or a fly comes and and lands on you what you swat it away you push it away but this man was incapable of defending himself helpless defenseless hungry scripture tells us that he wanted to feed himself with what the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table do you know what crumbs these were bread in those days in Jesus days they were used both as a fork or spoon and as a napkin and would be tossed away this man desired he longed to fill his stomach with what the napkins used by others at the table now many people have tried to use this parable to defend their idea of the immortality immortality of the soul you've probably heard this right many people use this parable to defend the idea of immortality of the soul but there are a few serious problems with this that someone would have to navigate through these problems to actually you know use this this parable for that reason for example Romans 6:23 all of you know this the blazes of sin is what death does the Bible tell us that the wages of sin is life in hell is that what the Bible saying the wages of sin is life in hell no the wages of sin is death and the right the right next sentence were the following sentence is that the gift of God is what eternal life the gift of God is eternal life so here eternal life and eternal death are placed in a contrast otherwise we would have both kinds of eternal life eternal life in heaven and eternal life in hell but does the Bible teach that of course not of course not that's not what the Bible is saying here maybe another problem with this interpretation would be what kind of heaven is this is is it possible would it be possible for me to arrive in heaven and then just look over this chasm and on the other side see my loved ones suffering what kind of heaven would that be if I would get there and I would see perhaps a brother or a sister or someone that I loved their suffering burning for all eternity what kind of heaven would this be I don't know if I would want to go to this heaven would it be possible for example for me to take a piece of bread and throw it over the chasm for someone that's in that in that in hell would it be possible for me to wet my finger and and you know let them lick it for for water what kind of heaven would this be no friends Jesus here he is speaking figuratively it's figurative language taken from the common notions from that had penetrated the Jewish post exile Judaism under Greek philosophy that's that's where this story this notion comes from and Jesus corrects it but Jesus uses it we have and basically what Jesus is saying here basically what Jesus is using this story for is to teach us a very basic lesson we have one life to serve only one life the chance that we have to serve is here and now right here right now and that is while we are alive that is the story that Jesus is trying to convey the good we must do we must do now while the door of life is open the cynics might have laughed at Lazarus you know what Lazarus means the name my God my God is my help or the Lord is my help God is my help that's what the named Lazarus means and cynics might have laughed look at Lazarus here suffering and this is an emblem for another Lazarus is it not who also died the cynics might have laughed at Lazarus God is my help maybe not at Lazarus but at is God where is your God Allah xerus that apparently is helping no one there are millions in the world suffering where is your God the problem here my friends is not with God the problem is with is with his so-called stewards humans that's where the problem is that you see God created a world with enough sustenance for all did he not but one thing that God did not create was a world with enough sustenance for the greed of all while around 850 million people every year suffer from chronic undernourishment approximately 1.3 billion tons of food go to waste every year 1.3 billion tons about 1/3 of every of all food produced for human consumption which amounts about 1 trillion dollars every year goes to waste the problem is not with God the problem is with his so-called stewards humanity and that's why Jesus when he's talking about the least of these after introducing the virtues the characteristics of the of his of his citizens of the citizens of his kingdom after exemplifying through these parables and many others what it truly means to love your neighbor to be a citizen of the kingdom Jesus then describes this this courtroom scene this appears in Matthew 25 we're going to read verses 35 and it says for I was hungry 35 through 44 I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me then the righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink when Lord did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you and the king will answer and say to them assuredly I say to you in as much as you did it and it went to the least of these of my brethren you have done it unto me what's interesting here and please bear with me because this becomes kind of tricky what's interesting is that the final test of religion at least here is not religiosity but love you see Matthew 25 Jesus brings us a judgment scene Jesus is sitting upon the throne the nations of the world are brought before him and on that day the question will not be we don't see this here and this judgment scene described by Jesus the question will not be if we believed that's not what it's saying here but if we loved and please again bear with me don't believe that I'm teaching here a kind of you know salvation by works there's no contradiction here with faith I'm not talking about salvation by works the heart of the matter is did your belief lead to love you see did your belief lead to love in the end it's not ultimately what I believed in that saves me but if what I believed in was capable of transforming me you see it's not ultimately what you believed but did what you believed was was what you believed capable of changing you of transforming you that is what Jesus is saying here belief becomes faith at the point of action belief becomes faith at the point of action it's not enough to believe Satan believes belief because faith at the point of action understand in that last final day of judgment Jesus will not mention what we usually consider the big sins sins sin is transgression of the law as we find in first John but as we find in first Timothy chapter 1 verse 5 the purpose of the lies what love the purpose of the lies love you see denying love is the ninety the spirit of Christ and that is the ultimate proof that we never knew him that he never lived in us denying love means that he never inspired our deeds he never motivated our lives despite our great religious pretensions and our great religious speeches denying love that I have lived in myself for myself and only thought of myself and so it will be in the end in the presence of the son of man his humanity will judge our inhumanity that spectacle will be terrible when his burning eyes penetrate through all those false pretenses when those that lived as Jesus had never as if Jesus had never lived will feel naked under his gaze without any masks or hiding places and there we will meet once again with those who either we loved or those who we neglected who we ignored who he treated with contempt no witnesses will be necessary no accusations the words that will be heard that day will not come from theology but from life not from the church not even from the Bible not from religion but from those who crossed our path through life from those who we gave out cups of water of we that we visited that we clothed all in the name of Christ I'd like to end with a text coming from Isaiah chapter 58 4 6 and 7 and this is what it says is this not the fast that I have chosen to loose the bonds of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor that are cast out when you see the naked that you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh you see sometimes my friends we become so preoccupied with something called orthodoxy do you know what orthodoxy means correct belief the word orthodoxy means correct belief we become so preoccupied with orthodoxy that we forget something called ortho praxis correct behavior the correct praxis we forget ortho praxis which is why this prophet here he severely rebuked the Israelites of Jesus of the Old Testament times and these were people very similar to us these were people that were very interested were wary were very um they were very they found it very important to follow the correct day of worship the day of rest that day of atonement the cleansing of the sanctuary they were very zealous about the health code but so much so that they forgot about ortho praxis about how to treat the poor how to treat the widows and you see that the terminology used in Isaiah is the same that Jesus used clothing the poor giving them food giving them water visiting them harboring harboring an orphan that's the terminology here that Isaiah uses the final exam will not be based primarily on our oath ortho/para orthodoxy but our ortho praxis that that is what the lesson taught this week when it comes to the least of these it exemplifies all these things that's the time that we have for today I would like to thank you for joining us here in the local church also thank you that joined us through the internet and we'll be waiting for you again at next week's Sabbath school study hour may God bless you don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource not only can you receive this free gift in the mail you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device to get your digital copy of today's free gift simply text the keyword on your screen two four zero five four four or visit the web address shown on your screen and be sure to select a digital download option on the request page it's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with amazing facts wherever and whenever you want and most important to share it with others [Music] we're here on the beautiful coast of the island of Puerto Rico and if you were to travel east about 2,000 miles of course you'd be out the middle of the ocean but you'd also be in the middle of a mystical sea called the Sarah gasps OH see it gets its name because of this common brown seaweed that can be found floating in vast mats the area of the sea ragazzo see is about 700 miles wide and 2,000 miles long now the seaweed itself is fascinating stuff it was first observed and called Gulf weed by Christopher Columbus it gets the name sargam from the Portuguese what people use it as herbal remedies but out in the middle of the Sargasso Sea the water is some of the bluest in the world it's there you can see 200 feet deep in places it also has a great biodiversity an ecosystem that surrounds us Aragon so sea for years scientists wondered where the american and the atlantic eels were greeting they knew the adult eel swam down the rivers out into the atlantic but they never could find a place where they reproduced finally they discovered it was out in the middle of the Sargasso Sea so it's a fascinating place but if you were an ancient sailor you did not want to get stuck there being caught in the doldrums was extremely difficult for the ancient sailors of course their boats were driven by wind and sail and they'd be caught in the vast mats of the seaweed that would wrap around their rudder barnacles would begin to grow it's an area that is notorious for light and baffling winds and so they make no progress they get stuck the men would become extremely dispirited sometimes violence and even insanity would break out as people were trapped in the doldrums well friends perhaps sometimes you felt that you're trapped in the doldrums you've gone through episodes or depression you feel like you're going in circles life seems stifling you know the bible offers good news there is a way out Bible talks about a famous character that was trapped in a cycle of depression he was low as you could be matter of fact even had seaweed wrapped around his head his name was Jonah but God gave him a way of escape in Jonah chapter 2 verse 3 through 7 we read for you cast me into the depths into the heart of the Seas and the floods surrounded me all of your billows and your waves passed over me then I said I have been cast out of your sight yet I will look again towards your holy temple the water surrounded me even to my soul the deep closed around me weeds were wrapped around my head I went down to the moorings of the mountains the earth with its bars closed behind me forever yet you brought my life up from the pit o Lord my God when my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord and my prayer went up to you into your Holy Temple you know friends away that Jonah got out of his discouraging circumstances he turned to God and he prayed and if God could hear Jonah's prayer just think about it he was as far away from God as anybody could be the belly of a sea monster in the bottom of the ocean in the dark yet he turned to God and God heard his prayer you know these ancient sailors when they were trapped on the deck of a ship for weeks stuck in the doldrums discouraged sometimes they would have a prayer meeting and pray that God would send a breeze that would set them free and get their boats moving they turned to God in prayer and often miracles would happen and the wind would flutter in the sails and bring them out of their seaweed prison pens maybe you have been stuck in the doldrums maybe you've been caught in a cycle of depression if God can do it for Jonah if he can do it for the ancient sailors he can do it for you turn to the Lord in prayer trust his Spirit to blow through your soul and to set you free [Music] amazing facts change lives [Music] it was raised very spoiled very lucky very blessed I was raised in the church actually as a child God was presented to me as vindictive so it didn't interest me very much when I got my shoulder I was told by a friend of mine I wasn't even a Christian I said I'm a good person I don't steal I don't cheat I don't kill and it was told to me that no in order to be a Christian you must be born again the next day I went and appropriated a Bible I read the New Testament I just said the Bible then it said God if you're real deal me in I went to Christian college to study theology and about God but when I left college I took a job selling Christian literature and Bibles door-to-door and I went flat broke I stopped in it's like poker you know place in LA I was an instant success my life became Pope and I got books I read poker books I had my Bible in one hand at poker a book on the other I was a Christian poker player I thought the Lord was blessing me the amount of money that I made playing poker was so big it would scare you I was very self-indulgent I did not deny myself anything that I thought would make me happy but I was still empty I'd went to all the Christian churches gave them all a fair shot some of them three months some two years unimpressed Saturday morning I happen to be traveling from one poker place to another I just happened to have a little TV in my truck and Doug Batchelor came up on that I was like this guy makes sense I knew Doug pastors in Sacramento so I came to meet him I told him I said I'm a Christian doing God's work and I make a living playing poker and I am giving you a great converses to players I go to church and help the community and don't tell me that I'm not doing what's right and he said no you got to get out of that casino period I said I'm making good money and he says I know that you know what I'm telling you is right and I did I recognized through it all I wasn't happy I said Lord my life is a disaster I selfish I'm empty I've tried to do what he wanted me to do so many times and I'd always failed why do I always fail why do I always lose my way [Music] and the Lord spoke to me says you got to be involved you got to be involved in my work and that's when I said I need to dedicate my life fully to God's work by by the grace of God and my wife we went to India until the Lord tells me otherwise we're gonna build orphanages and India so that children can grow up and hear about Jesus and they can go tell them 1.3 billion people in their country God had a plan for me and now I just want to be fully dedicated to the Lord's cause I have Kip Johnston and God used amazing facts to change my life [Music]

Channel: SDA Burgas

Views: 10,963

Rating: 4.8110237 out of 5

Keywords: luccas, rodor, the, least, of, these, sabbath, school, study, hour, sda, burgas, seventh, day, adventist, amazing, facts

Id: a_Xm-F2k6V4

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 08 2019