Sermon

The Issues about Women's Liberty pt 17

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  1. Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is

  2. designed to uplift and strengthen you in your

  3. walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until

  4. the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive

  5. right in. Hallelujah. Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter

    Luke 3 chapter mention Luke 3 chapter mention

  6. 3. Thank you, Jesus. So we are continuing our

  7. message. We started long ago. And last Wednesday,

  8. we saw that in Luke, Dr. Luke was somehow to

  9. rewriting Genesis chapter 5. And we know that

    Genesis 5 chapter mention

  10. that Genesis chapter 5 is also linked to Genesis

    Genesis 5 chapter mention Genesis 1:26–27

  11. chapter 1, verse 26 to 27. In fact, verse 1 and

  12. 2 is also of Genesis chapter 5 is right in Genesis

    Genesis 5 chapter mention

  13. 1. Are we together? Verse 26 and 27. Amen? And

  14. we also noted that That Jesus, as Luke presented,

  15. traced Jesus back, not just to Adam, but also

  16. to God. But he said at the last part, and I want

  17. us to read that please. He said, the son of Adam,

  18. the son of God. Hallelujah. Are we in Luke chapter

    Luke 3 chapter mention

  19. 3? Look at verse 23. Luke chapter 3, verse 23.

    Luke 3:23

  20. Now Jesus himself. began his ministry at about

  21. 30 years of age, being, as was supposed, the

  22. son of Joseph, the son of Heli. And then when

  23. you go and we saw all the son of this, the son

  24. of that, and traces Jesus back to Adam. Look

  25. at verse 38. It said, the son of Enos, the son

  26. of Seth, the son of Adam, the son. of God. The

  27. son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

  28. And remember we said go back to Genesis chapter

    Genesis 5 chapter mention

  29. 5. Genesis chapter 5. Look at verse 1. He said,

    Genesis 5 chapter mention

  30. this is a book of the genealogy of Adam. In the

  31. day that God created man, he made him in the

  32. likeness of God. Verse 2, he created them male

  33. and female and blessed them and called them mankind.

  34. In the day we are created. We said this also

  35. was rewritten, just when we read Genesis 1, 26

  36. and 27, you will see that. Now in verse 3 of

  37. that chapter 5, it says, And Adam lived one hundred

  38. and thirty years, and begot a son in his own

  39. likeness after his own image, and named him Seth.

  40. And name him Seth. And then we talked and noted

  41. that that word image is relational. Or we said

  42. that word image, we can say it means son. It

  43. means son. Or we can say family or kingship.

  44. It means that what unites you with the other.

  45. And so when we go back. and look at what Luke

  46. is saying, and say the son of Seth, which means

  47. Seth in the image, sorry, the son of Seth, yes,

  48. the son of Adam, that means Seth is a son of

  49. Adam, which means Seth in the image of Adam.

  50. Are we together? And Adam in the image of who?

  51. God, because he said the son of God, which means

  52. the image of God. Are we together? So which means

  53. that Jesus, the image of God, or Jesus, the son

  54. of God, Jesus, the image of God. Are we together?

  55. Hallelujah. Go back to Matthew 19. And what we

  56. just last concluded on Wednesday, we said, so

  57. why is Jesus called the image of God? We said

  58. Jesus is called the image of God because he became

  59. a man. Hallelujah. Matthew 19. Matthew 19. Look

  60. at verse 4. He said, and he answered and said

  61. to them. Of course, this is in response. This

  62. is Jesus' response to the Pharisee questioning

  63. verse 3. The Pharisee, verse 3, also came to

  64. him, testing him. And saying to him, Is it lawful

  65. for a man to divorce his wife for just any other

  66. reason? And verse 4, And he answered and said

  67. to them, Have you not read that he who made them

  68. at the beginning made them male and female? Made

  69. them. Male and female. Of course, Jesus pointing

  70. them back to Genesis 1, verse 27. Also Genesis

    Genesis 1:27 Genesis 5:1

  71. 5, verse 1 and 2. Hallelujah. Now, in his response,

  72. Jesus did not own exclusively the phrase, the

  73. image of God. He made them at the beginning male

  74. and female. So Jesus was pointing the issue that

  75. male and female are made in the image of God.

  76. Now I want you to note something here. Again,

  77. how Jesus responded to the Pharisee. When they

  78. asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce

  79. his wife for just any other reason? In verse

  80. 3. He did not say, well, it depends whether she's

  81. born again or not. That's not what Jesus said.

  82. Hallelujah. Remember, they were Pharisees. They

  83. were not born again because he made them to understand

  84. that even the issue of divorce, of putting away,

  85. it was not so in the beginning. Are we together?

  86. And they were asking because that was what they

  87. were doing. In fact, they wanted to claim, they

  88. said, Moses even asked us, they said, we should

  89. give a certificate of divorce. What we are trying

  90. to say is that this is already, we have a certification

  91. in this process. You see? There's something we

  92. are standing on. We are not just speaking. We

  93. have a source from the Bible. You see? And some

  94. of us say, It is written now. It is written now.

  95. It's in the Bible. It's in the Bible. We want

  96. to defend our... It's in the Bible. Hallelujah.

  97. So, what are we trying to say? So, Jesus responded.

  98. He didn't say, well, you can divorce your wife

  99. if she's not born again. You can put her away.

  100. You understand? That's not what he's talking

  101. about. The issue of the image is not an issue.

  102. exclusive to those who are born again. Are we

  103. together? We've already talked and said image

  104. is identity. It's a collective identity. You

  105. understand? Rather Jesus pointed them that in

  106. the beginning it was not so. And therefore what

  107. God joined together because he mentioned that

  108. He said, let no man put asunder. What God has

  109. joined together is not marriage ceremony. He's

  110. talking about joined in creation. Are we together?

  111. He's talking about in creation. So, because these

  112. people are unbelievers, they are hard -hearted

  113. people. They disrupted the plan of God. And today

  114. we still have that identity crisis. Hallelujah.

  115. The world is full of identity crisis. All kinds.

  116. So the first thing you will be able to help yourself

  117. is that your understanding of a woman and of

  118. a man be shaped by Scripture. Your understanding

  119. of a man and a woman be shaped by Scripture.

  120. Colossians chapter 15. Let's go there. I'll still

  121. press a little bit on the issue of why Jesus

  122. is called the image of God. We have already established

  123. earlier that the reason why he's called the image

  124. of God is because he became a man. Colossians

    Colossians 1 chapter mention

  125. chapter 1. Verse 15. Colossians 1, 15. It says,

  126. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn

  127. over all creation. Over all creation. And I want

  128. you to know the word, who is the... image of

  129. the invisible God. The image of the invisible

  130. God, the firstborn of every creature. Hallelujah.

  131. Now, if you look at it, maybe just glance, it

  132. will look as if Paul is saying that Jesus is

  133. the only image of the invisible God here. Jesus

  134. is the only image of the invisible God. If you

  135. just look at it, just By face value. I mean just

  136. glance through it. But no. Look at the word.

  137. By using the firstborn of every creature. Because

  138. it didn't stop there. It said the firstborn.

  139. So the image of the invisible God. Is not exclusive.

  140. It said the firstborn of what? Of. Over every

  141. creation. Now that word every creation is talking

  142. about. is man or refers to man. Firstborn of

  143. every creation. That is man in the image of God.

  144. So Jesus, because he's man, is the image of the

  145. invisible God. The first, you understand, born

  146. over all what? Creation. So it means he is the

  147. first, you understand, over all creation. So

  148. image is a collective identity. The first bond

  149. is the word prototokos, P -R -O -T -O -K -O -S,

  150. prototokos in Greek. It means the model of how

  151. other sons will look like, meaning that it is

  152. not the... Only, but means that there are others.

  153. Are we together? How others, he is the model

  154. of how others will look like. So, and that is

  155. talking about, and I want us to note, look at

  156. verse 18 of that same Colossians. Look at verse

  157. 18. He said, and he is the head of the body.

  158. Are we together? Amen. He is the head of the

  159. body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn,

  160. from what? From the dead. I want us to come together.

  161. I mean, just follow me. From the dead, that in

  162. all things he might have the preeminence. Acts

  163. chapter... 13 verse 33. Acts 13, 33. Acts 13,

  164. 33. He said, God has fulfilled this for us, their

  165. children, in that he has raised up Jesus. As

  166. it is also written in the second Psalm. You are

  167. my son. Today have I done what? Begotten you.

  168. So of course he's talking about the resurrection

  169. of the body. So our hope of the resurrection.

  170. Is because he was risen. Is because he was risen.

  171. And of course I want to just read. A text in,

  172. remember, Prototokos showing us a model of what

  173. we will be, all of us. Men, not angels. Hallelujah.

  174. What we would be, men, we, men, will be, you

  175. understand, not angels. Glory to Jesus. 1 Corinthians

  176. 15. Let me read some few things there. Look at

  177. what's starting. But if there is no resurrection

  178. of the dead, then Christ Christ is not risen.

  179. Verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead

  180. and has become the what? The first fruit of those

  181. who have fallen out as what? As sleep. Of those.

  182. The first fruit of who? Those. So when he said

  183. the image of the invisible God, the firstborn

  184. over all creation, he's not trying to say that

  185. Jesus exclusively is called the image of the

  186. invisible God. Are we together? It's an inclusive

  187. word. It's a collective term. Image. Image is

  188. a collective term. And when you look at verse

  189. 23, it says, but each one in his own order. Christ,

  190. the what? The first fruit. Afterward, those who

  191. are Christ at his what? At his coming. So you

  192. see, there will always be those. Are we together?

  193. There will always be what? Those. Every creation.

  194. All over all creatures. Listen. Of course, he's

  195. not talking about the plants, the animals, everything.

  196. Listen. He's talking about men. Those. Those.

  197. In fact, Romans 28 says brethren. Are we together?

  198. Romans 8. Look at 29. He clearly says brethren.

  199. He didn't say those even. He said brethren. 29.

  200. He said for whom he foreknew, he also predestined

  201. to be conformed to the image of his son that

  202. he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

  203. Firstborn. among many brethren. So image is inclusive.

  204. Talks about image is relational. Image is family.

  205. Are we together? Family is a plan of God that

  206. we are together. Understand? Remember the last

  207. time we discussed It's not the plan of God to

  208. stay in isolation. You understand? To stay in

  209. isolation. You cannot achieve God's purpose alone.

  210. You cannot achieve God's purpose in isolation.

  211. This freelancer kind of a believing life is not

  212. God's will. You understand? You are a freelancer.

  213. You move from your online. Today is Sunday. You

  214. attend 20 services. You move from this one to

  215. that one. And you are not in any. God wants us

  216. to be together. Hallelujah. Amen. So, Jesus.

  217. Patuk from our nature. Man. Man. So, when we

  218. talk about Jesus, the image of God, he points

  219. us to what he has come to do. Are we together?

  220. Amen. Look at this text. Let me read because

  221. I think it's good to read the whole of it. Hebrews

    Hebrews 2 chapter mention

  222. chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Let me read from

    Hebrews 2 chapter mention

  223. verse 9. Hebrews chapter 2, I will read from

    Hebrews 2 chapter mention

  224. verse 9. Verse 11. And those who have been sanctified

  225. are all of one. For which reason he is not ashamed

  226. to call them brethren. Saying, I will declare

  227. your name to my brethren. In the midst of the

  228. assembly, I will sing praise to you. Again. Look

  229. at verse 13. And again. I will put my trust in

  230. him. And again, here am I and the children whom

  231. God has given to me or given me. Look at verse

  232. 14. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken

  233. of flesh and blood, he himself, he himself likewise

  234. share in the same. Verse 16. Verse 16. But he

  235. does give aid to the seed of Abraham. He gives

  236. aid to the seed of Abraham. He said, those who

  237. belong to Christ are the seed of Abraham. Hallelujah.

  238. Say, I have help. I have help of God. He said,

  239. therefore, in all things. He had to be made like

  240. his brethren. Oh, are you together with me? Are

  241. you together with me? He had to be made like

  242. his what? Like his brethren. He became a man.

  243. That he might be a merciful and faithful high

  244. priest in the things pertaining God to make propitiation

  245. for the sins of the people. Hallelujah. Amen?

  246. Are we together? So Jesus, being the image of

  247. God, or we say the image of the invisible God,

  248. is not exclusive to him. Rather, it shows the

  249. inclusive nature of what he came to do. Of what

  250. he came to do. That's why you saw. Verse 17 will

  251. say. Therefore. In. In all things. He had to

  252. be made. Like his brethren. He had to be made.

  253. Like brethren. Go back a little bit to. Hebrews

    Hebrews 1 chapter mention

  254. chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. God who at various

    Hebrews 1 chapter mention

  255. times and in various ways spoke in time past

  256. to the fathers by the prophet has in these last

  257. days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed

  258. heirs of all things through whom also he made

  259. the worlds. Verse 3. who being the brightness

  260. of his glory and the express image of his person,

  261. and upholding all things by the word of his power.

  262. That word image is a great word character. C

  263. -H -A -R -A -K. T -E -R, character. Now, this

  264. word is different from the one we read. You understand?

  265. A little bit in what I mean different. I mean,

  266. they're not the same spelling. You understand?

  267. In Colossians 1 .15, which we said the invisible

  268. God, also the image. of his son, that the image

  269. that is in Romans chapter 8 verse 29. Of course,

    Romans 8:29

  270. we have many other places in scripture that talks

  271. about the image. For example, 2 Corinthians 4,

  272. 4 talks about also the image. You understand?

  273. Character is, this is the only place we have

  274. this word character. You understand? In Hebrews

    Hebrews 1:3

  275. chapter 1 verse 3. Character refers to representation.

  276. You understand? It talks about the person, representation

  277. also. Now, the word, image, which I said we read

  278. in Colossians 1 .15, Romans 8 .28, and so forth

  279. and so on, I mean, and so many of those other

  280. places, is icon. E -I -K -O -N, icon in Greek,

  281. icon. It also refers to representation, status

  282. or representative figure or likeness. You understand?

  283. In fact, this word icon is the one used most

  284. in the New Testament Greek. You will see it appears,

  285. for example, in the King James Bible more than

  286. 23 times. Or about 23. Let's say 23. So you can

  287. see that. And this word icon. The Hebrew word

  288. is Salem. You know what we study? So icon. The

  289. Hebrew word is Salem. Which we have already studied.

  290. Which is image. Now if you look at it. You will

  291. see that. Character. and a corn are synonymous.

  292. They are synonymous. All of them refers to likeness

  293. or representative or representative figure or

  294. representation. Therefore, the theology that

  295. Jesus Is the image of God is correct. But it

  296. does not show. That the description image of

  297. God. Is exclusive to him alone. Are we together?

  298. It's correct to say Jesus the image of God. But

  299. that description. Is not. Exclusive to him. In

  300. fact as we have noted. That he's called the image

  301. of God because he became a man. So, God who became

  302. a man is called the image of God. You've heard

  303. him called also the son of man a lot. Are we

  304. together? Hallelujah. Yes. He is a son of man.

  305. He is a son of God because he is a son of man.

  306. So, our view about man, about, when I say man,

  307. I mean male and female, believers or not, should

  308. be that of The representatives of God. In the

  309. plan of God that he created all of us to represent

  310. him. Are we together? To be as his image. You

  311. know, I told you that word in the image. You

  312. know, probably that's what we use. So I want

  313. to use that word as his image because it means

  314. to represent him. And what that means is that

  315. it's not just man or him alone in terms of male.

  316. It's male and female. And remember we said in

  317. the plan of God, They are not to walk in isolation.

  318. It's a collective term. It shows us that God

  319. desire to build a family. That in God's plan

  320. is to build a family. So he made them male and

  321. female in the image of God. In the image. of

  322. God. Remember, one of the problems which I will

  323. come to it is that our view have to be adjusted

  324. because even though, yes, somehow we know that

  325. men in this church that men are not born sinners.

  326. Did you get what I'm trying to say? Are we together?

  327. But you see, sometimes there's some debris that

  328. makes you to think that you are of a higher value

  329. to God than those who are unbelievers. In fact,

  330. there's a way we sometimes say sometimes this,

  331. you understand? I am the apple of God's eye.

  332. There is a jealousy of God over my life. You

  333. are a dead man if you say anything against me.

  334. So we conjure scripture and we grab here, grab

  335. here. And we are happy. When others are suffering.

  336. It's only when you hear that they are killing

  337. believers. Then you say. Lord save them. Lord.

  338. What is this? But once you hear. Especially those

  339. who have been against you. Once. You have heard.

  340. You say. That's the judgment of God. They are

  341. joking with the God's anointed. You see, your

  342. theology is tempered. Something is wrong. It

  343. makes it look as if the love of God has high

  344. and low. There is some certain situation, certain

  345. condition. When you received him, his love is

  346. higher towards you. When you have not received

  347. him, his love towards you is low. and his dispositions

  348. toward those who are against him, he killed them.

  349. Our worldview ought to be shaped by the word

  350. of God. That in the plan of God, male and female,

  351. you understand, in the image of God. You have

  352. to fight your village. Because so many of us

  353. have been walking with our villages, even though

  354. we have left it far away. But he's still following

  355. us. There's nothing wrong to go to a village,

  356. but let it not continue to be in your head. When

  357. you see a woman, what is your disposition towards

  358. her? What is your first instinct? And even our

  359. women, our ladies, each time you come among people,

  360. I've seen it in class. We say, who represent

  361. us? The man who you know is the dumbest in the

  362. class, you come out. The smart ladies, you see

  363. them. He said, you, can't you? No, he can't do

  364. it. Because consistently we have been taught

  365. or society have made it to look like you are

  366. inferior. And your value is only in marriage.

  367. And many of us unconsciously You are sitting

  368. now. Even though you are doing well in school,

  369. your main goal, your ultimate desire, your apex,

  370. your zenith, you understand, in life, is to get

  371. married. You feel something, as people told you,

  372. that... If you didn't see men crowding around

  373. you, something is wrong with you. Did you see

  374. that your village is still following you? You

  375. must understand that there is an inherent value,

  376. an essence and a significance that God has made

  377. you. In his own image, just like the man. We

  378. might differ because of, in terms of reproduction

  379. and things. Are we together? But there are not

  380. two kinds of men, God admit. There are not two

  381. kinds of images. Did you understand what I'm

  382. trying to say? It's one. It's one. Look at what

  383. James said. Look at James. Chapter 3. Let me

    James 3 chapter mention

  384. read from verse 6. James chapter 3 verse 6. He

    James 3:6

  385. was talking about the tongue. He said the tongue

  386. is a fire. A wall of iniquity. The tongue is

  387. so set among our members. That is the fire. Verse

  388. 8. Verse 8. Full of deadly poison. Look at verse

  389. 9 where I'm going. Oh, let's read together. One,

  390. two, go. With it, we bless our God and Father.

  391. And with it, we curse men who have been made

  392. in the world. Oh, talk to me again. Hallelujah.

  393. That word, similitut. That word, similitut. He

  394. didn't say believers who. He said man. All man.

  395. Made in the similitude of God. That was similitude.

  396. It's homoesis. H -M. H. Did I say H -M? H -O.

  397. H -O. Don't worry. Maybe I want to return to

  398. Hebrew. You know, in the earlier Hebrew, there

  399. was no vowels. H -O -M -O -I -O -S -I -S. H -O

  400. -M -O -I -O -S -I -S. It means likeness. Interestingly,

  401. this word in Hebrew is the moot. Remember? Image

  402. and likeness, which we have studied before. Are

  403. we together? Which was used also for Seth. He

  404. was born after the likeness and the image of

  405. God. And we noted that the word likeness, you

  406. understand, is the same like image, which is

  407. Salem. Are we together? So, this word similitude

  408. also means... Or it means, you can say, it's

  409. the same thing with image. It's a man made in

  410. the image of God. So this means all of us, male

  411. and female, male and female, have been made in

  412. the image of God. Did you see that, what I'm

  413. saying? He said, who have been made, not who

  414. will be. Are you with me? He did not say who

  415. will be. Did you understand what I'm saying?

  416. Who have been made. That's why we said the word

  417. image is not something that is even exclusive

  418. to believers. Every man and every woman. Look

  419. at Acts. Look at what Paul said. Jesus. Acts

  420. 17. Acts 17. I want you to see what is the view

  421. of the Bible in this regard. I want you to see

  422. how these apostles... How the prophet of old

  423. wrote and what they meant by the image of God.

  424. And what the apostles, when they came, also what

  425. was their view? What was their understanding

  426. and revelation concerning this? Look at verse

  427. 17. Well, let me read from verse 16. Acts 17.

  428. Verse 16. Now while Paul waited for them at Athens,

  429. his spirit was provoked within him when he saw

  430. that the city was given over to idols. Therefore

  431. he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and

  432. with Gentiles, worshipers, and in the marketplace

  433. daily with those who happened to be there. Then

  434. certain Epicureans and Stoic philosophers encountered

  435. him. And some said, what does this babbler want

  436. to say? Others said, he seems to be a proclaimer

  437. of foreign gods because he preached to them Jesus

  438. and the resurrection. Verse 19. And they took

  439. him and brought him to the Areopagus saying,

  440. may we know what this new doctrine is of which

  441. you speak. For you are bringing some strange

  442. things to our ears. Therefore, we want to know

  443. what these things mean. These are not believers.

  444. For all the Athenians and the foreigners who

  445. were there spent their time in nothing else.

  446. but either to tell or to hear some new things.

  447. Then Paul, verse 22, stood in the midst of Areopagus

  448. and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all

  449. the things you are very religious. For as I was

  450. passing through and considering the... objects

  451. of your worship. I even found an altar with this

  452. inscription to the unknown gods. Therefore, the

  453. one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim

  454. to you. Look at verse 24. God who makes the world

  455. and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven

  456. and earth, does not dwell in temples made with

  457. what? Made with hands. Verse 25. No, is he worshipped

  458. with men's hands as though he needed anything

  459. since he gives to all life breath and all things.

  460. Verse 26. And he made. Please note verse 26.

  461. What did he do? And he made from one blood every

  462. nation of men to dwell on all the face of the

  463. earth and has determined their pre -appointed

  464. times and boundaries of their dwellings. Verse

  465. 27. So that they should seek the Lord in the

  466. hope that they might grow for him and find him.

  467. Though he is not far from each of us. For in

  468. him we live, we move and have our being. As also

  469. some of your poets have said. also is offspring.

  470. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God,

  471. we ought not to think that the divine nature

  472. is like gold or silver or stones or something

  473. shaped by art and man's devising. I want you

  474. to know that Paul, first and foremost, was not

  475. speaking in church. He was not speaking to believers.

  476. So he was not speaking to Christians. He was

  477. speaking to these philosophers. Are we together?

  478. Look at verse 26. He said, and he makes from

  479. one blood every nation of men. Every. Every.

  480. One blood from one blood. This means that every

  481. human being has the same identity. Did you understand

  482. what I'm trying to say? Every human being has

  483. the same identity which came from God. Remember

  484. what James said. You understand? Men who have

  485. been made, how? In the similitude of God. Paul

  486. is again reaffirming that every man, every human

  487. being, you understand, have the same identity.

  488. That same identity is what Jesus partook. You

  489. understand? Are we together? And the word became

  490. flesh. And he dwell among us. The word became

  491. flesh. And he dwell among us. So Paul. In this

  492. text. Is pointing. To Moses view. In Genesis

    Genesis 1 chapter mention

  493. chapter 1 and 2. About man. James pointed us

  494. to that one also. Remember we have said that

  495. these people were not writing from a thin air.

  496. Did you understand what I'm saying? The apostles,

  497. when they were writing and teaching, they were

  498. not writing from a thin air. It was the materials

  499. of Moses and the prophet they were using. So

  500. every view that we are holding, we ought to see

  501. it across scripture. Because what they were holding

  502. were actually what was taught and revealed. So

  503. Paul agrees with even the poet. You know, you

  504. don't need, it's all necessary. You know, I see

  505. many believers when something happens and then

  506. they ask, and maybe something very spectacular

  507. and it happens and they ask, who is he? Is he

  508. a believer? I know that thing is from the pit

  509. of hell. Did you hear what I'm trying to say?

  510. We have not seen that kind of pattern. Please,

  511. Jesus did not save you to enter into bitterness

  512. with those people who are not saved. Are we together?

  513. The fact that you acknowledge The good things

  514. of God in man doesn't mean that you subscribe

  515. to their ideology. Did you understand what I'm

  516. saying? Paul agreed with their poet. This philosopher,

  517. he agreed with them. Remember, we have it in

  518. our... I think it's here, right? In him we do

  519. what? This is not a quotation from Bible. It's

  520. not from any Old Testament. This is Paul's extraction

  521. from the philosophers. Did you understand what

  522. I'm saying? From these poets. Please don't deny

  523. good things. Don't deny good things. You know,

  524. I know brothers do that. If you see good things,

  525. acknowledge it. Acknowledge it. It's always seen.

  526. It means you are healthy. Acknowledge it. You

  527. know, in those days, anything you see, an invention

  528. in the world or anything that is good, you say,

  529. we know who is giving them those ideas. They

  530. are getting it from the pit of hell. It's from

  531. the marine world. How did you know? Were you

  532. there? There are truths, and we taught this during

  533. the time we were talking about the communicity

  534. of Scripture, I think during one of our cataclysms,

  535. right? There are many texts, many biblical writers

  536. that actually quote from materials from unbelievers.

  537. But the fact that you quote a piece does not

  538. mean that you say everything they are writing

  539. and everything is okay. No, that's not what they're

  540. saying. In fact, if you check here, in that same

  541. place, Paul disputed some of the things also

  542. they are saying. Did you understand what I'm

  543. trying to say? So it's not that blanketly. Oh,

  544. let me see that place. Verse 29. Therefore, since

  545. we are of the hospital of God, we ought not to

  546. think that the divine nature is like gold. Did

  547. you see that? That means they are taking that

  548. the divine nature is like what? He said, no,

  549. no, no, no, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's

  550. wrong. So the fact that Paul quoted from them

  551. and said this is right does not mean that he

  552. subscribes to everything they are saying. Are

  553. we together? So please acknowledge this. If you

  554. see a lady beautifully dressed, you say, oh,

  555. you are beautifully dressed. You know, sir? Don't

  556. you say, bless you, sister. And then when you

  557. go in your heart, say, this lady is endowed.

  558. Hallelujah. You are human. Live it. Humanity

  559. is not sinfulness. Do you understand what I'm

  560. saying? Do you get what I'm trying to say? I

  561. see some people do look as if you are a believer.

  562. You make Christianity look as if it's about you

  563. frowning your face. When people are laughing,

  564. you don't want to laugh. What is that? When we

  565. are fellowshipping and everybody is speaking

  566. and eating some this thing. You don't want to

  567. eat before bread. What is the meaning of that?

  568. You say, what do you call it? Ministerious ethics.

  569. Where did you learn that? From your Jesus? Hallelujah.

  570. Now, as I close for today, the question is, is

  571. that identity, the human identity, is that image,

  572. that identity, sin of sin? No. We have already

  573. noted that that has never been the teaching of

  574. Moses. Moses never taught that. That we are born

  575. sinners. Never. Are we together? Moses never

  576. taught that. The apostles never taught that.

  577. Never. They never taught that. Many people misinterpret

  578. Romans chapter 3. We have taught it in this place.

    Romans 3 chapter mention

  579. Romans chapter 3 verse 23. You understand? All

    Romans 3:23

  580. have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.

  581. You understand? Or Romans 5. Verse 12. No. That's

  582. not what Paul is saying. He didn't say that everybody

  583. on earth have sinned. It's not true. You know,

  584. son, when we come next, we will ask the question,

  585. is our physical body part of the image of God?

  586. Is our physical body part of the image of God?

  587. Because we need to address a lot of things. And

  588. so that you see it clearly. That, you know, there

  589. are some teachings of a mixture of different

  590. things. Whereby you think is by destroying your

  591. body and killing your body is the body of sin.

  592. Is the body of sin. We have to kill it and we

  593. die daily. Okay, from what? Of course, I die

  594. daily. See my gray hairs. But that's not what

  595. Paul is saying. Are we together? But as you are

  596. moving, know that there is an inherent value.

  597. The same value like that of a man. God has no

  598. different value for a woman different from that

  599. of a man. Are we together? You have an inherent

  600. value. And it's not because you have done anything.

  601. James told us that he has made. Meaning that

  602. it's an identity not by doing, but by being.

  603. Are we together? By being. You do nothing to

  604. receive such inherent value. It's an act of God.

  605. It's the doing of God. It's the work of God.

  606. And we have seen it. And we tell the Lord for

  607. it. Can you just thank the Lord for that? And

  608. say, Lord, let my view concerning my sister change.

  609. Concerning who I am change. To the one that is

  610. yours. That you have value in her. Just like

  611. you have value in me as a man. That we are both

  612. in the image of God. That you never desire that

  613. we... Stay in isolation. That together. That

  614. together. That it is your plan we stay together.

  615. That it is your plan. You are planning. You are

  616. planning right from the beginning. You wanted

  617. a family. A family that is connected. Male and

  618. female. You wanted a church. Male and female.

  619. Glory to Jesus. Oh, thank you, Lord.