WEBVTT 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:14.320 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.600 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:19.820 with dozens of nationalities worshiping together. 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:23.000 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.219 you are through our website ecb .asia or our 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:31.079 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:37.460 by this week's sermon. Good morning. Would you 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:41.329 please join me? As we begin this time, Lord, 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:49.710 your word is just amazing because it, even though 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:53.450 it was written so long ago, it just talks to 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:59.429 things we face every day. And it is true that 00:00:59.429 --> 00:01:02.990 as we come together, we are not wanting just 00:01:02.990 --> 00:01:08.239 another sermon, but we want your truth. Truth 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:12.500 that sets free, that looks at the heart and helps 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:17.359 us see what is there. Would you bless us today 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:22.920 with that understanding? And yes, Lord, please 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:26.980 use me in your power and your grace. In Jesus' 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:31.079 name, amen. At the beginning of the month, we 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.560 started the series in the book of Colossians. 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:36.239 which is called Grace and Peace, A Journey Through 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:37.939 the Book of Colossians. And one of the things 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:40.560 that we've discovered is that God wants us to 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:44.079 experience these two things, His grace and His 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.959 peace. And when we really understand His grace, 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:52.060 what follows is peace. It's like the byproduct 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:55.819 of His grace. And until this point, everything 00:01:55.819 --> 00:01:59.780 that we've studied has been focused on us being 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:03.090 the recipients of that grace. The Apostle Paul 00:02:03.090 --> 00:02:05.349 says, do you believe in Jesus as your Savior? 00:02:05.510 --> 00:02:09.110 Are you following Jesus? Great. The moment you 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:11.650 started believing in Jesus, he transferred you 00:02:11.650 --> 00:02:13.590 from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:16.389 light. Now you are completely reconciled. You 00:02:16.389 --> 00:02:19.389 belong to him. You don't have to ever worry about 00:02:19.389 --> 00:02:24.689 rejection, about not making it. God. Has now 00:02:24.689 --> 00:02:27.689 adopted you into his family. And therefore don't 00:02:27.689 --> 00:02:30.389 listen to the distortions of the world. That's 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:33.990 not who you are. Now you are a follower of Jesus. 00:02:34.110 --> 00:02:37.349 Indwelled by his Holy Spirit. And because that 00:02:37.349 --> 00:02:40.349 is who you are. Now you can walk in his grace 00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:43.990 and his peace. That's kind of like a summary 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:47.349 of the previous three studies. But if you missed 00:02:47.349 --> 00:02:49.969 any of these studies. Please go to the app. Go 00:02:49.969 --> 00:02:53.469 to the website. Catch up with them. Because starting 00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:58.590 today, there's a shift. The Apostle Paul will 00:02:58.590 --> 00:03:02.349 start talking about how grace is not just something 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:06.610 that we receive, but we are meant to be channels 00:03:06.610 --> 00:03:10.789 of that grace. And if we are channels of that 00:03:10.789 --> 00:03:16.789 grace, peace follows. But if we choose to not 00:03:16.789 --> 00:03:21.389 be channels of God's grace, peace will not follow. 00:03:22.509 --> 00:03:25.129 And therefore, in the study that we're going 00:03:25.129 --> 00:03:26.969 to have today, we're going to be talking about 00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:31.469 relational peace. Because God wants you to experience 00:03:31.469 --> 00:03:35.210 His grace and His peace now flowing through you 00:03:35.210 --> 00:03:38.830 into your relationships. So I have to ask you, 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:44.090 are you experiencing relational peace? In your 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:47.110 marriage, with your in -laws, with your friends, 00:03:47.250 --> 00:03:52.620 your co -workers? How is it going? No, I'm not 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:55.259 asking are they a pain. That's a different question. 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:59.680 Regardless of whether they are nice people or 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.800 not so nice people, relational peace is what 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:08.080 you are experiencing within that is coming out 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:11.680 of you into those relationships. And what we'll 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:15.740 discover in this study is that God wants you 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:19.879 to experience that peace in that relationship. 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:24.319 realm of relationships as well. So if you are 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:28.699 lacking peace in relationships, if there are 00:04:28.699 --> 00:04:30.800 names that you prefer not to be mentioned because 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:33.279 immediately they stir something negative within 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:39.519 you, then this study is for you. As we enter 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.459 this space, one of the first things that we will 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:45.480 learn through all of it is that grace doesn't 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:49.129 stop with you, it flows through you. And that's 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:52.769 why Jesus, when he started teaching his followers, 00:04:53.129 --> 00:04:58.709 he said, you are the light of the world. Not 00:04:58.709 --> 00:05:01.829 just Jesus is the light of the world, but now 00:05:01.829 --> 00:05:05.550 you are the light of the world. The grace that 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:08.610 I came to give you now is meant to be shared. 00:05:09.629 --> 00:05:12.670 And that's why I want you to look at this picture. 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:18.290 This guy is holding a flashlight. And the function 00:05:18.290 --> 00:05:22.790 of the flashlight is to be able to channel all 00:05:22.790 --> 00:05:25.629 this energy that is found in the batteries and 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:29.069 now channel it out into this form of light that 00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:31.730 comes out. And it's a very interesting thing. 00:05:31.850 --> 00:05:35.149 I have some flashlights that we buy whenever 00:05:35.149 --> 00:05:38.970 we go camping. And I brought one here for you. 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:42.550 So you get to see it. This is very convenient 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:45.709 because you put it on your head like this. You 00:05:45.709 --> 00:05:48.620 know? You turn it on, and just wherever you move, 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.920 you can see. It's so clear. It's not a fashion 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.439 statement, of course. But, you know, the nice 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.279 thing is you press this little button. Well, 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.399 if you do it right, I had it backwards, upside 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.660 down there. You press this button, and it's like 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:09.360 the light should come on. It should. But when 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.610 it's not coming on, it's very frustrating. Because 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:14.649 it's like, I need the light. What's wrong with 00:06:14.649 --> 00:06:17.029 this thing? And you open it and you realize, 00:06:17.209 --> 00:06:19.509 you know, haven't used it in a while. And before 00:06:19.509 --> 00:06:21.269 you know it, you open, you get the batteries 00:06:21.269 --> 00:06:28.089 out. Corrosion. And because there's corrosions 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:30.189 in the battery, the power is not flowing, the 00:06:30.189 --> 00:06:35.009 light is not happening. And what I discovered 00:06:35.009 --> 00:06:38.439 is that I am like that flashlight. Jesus says, 00:06:38.459 --> 00:06:40.660 Pablo, you are the light of the world now. Let 00:06:40.660 --> 00:06:44.740 my power flow through you. Sure. But how many 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:47.220 times he wants to turn it on and it's not flowing. 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:50.560 And when I get the batteries out of my heart, 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.879 it's like, oh, no wonder. There are certain things 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.199 that have become corroded within me that are 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:01.040 keeping me from being a channel of God's grace. 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.980 And what the Apostle Paul does in this study 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:08.459 is that he is going to take us through three 00:07:08.459 --> 00:07:12.740 areas in which we stop being a channel of God's 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:15.579 grace. Think of it like the three batteries of 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.639 your flashlight. And he's going to take each 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.980 one of them and he's going to say, how are you 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:23.579 doing with that battery? Is it working? If not, 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:30.420 replace it. One of those areas is the way I think 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:33.259 and I see people. The other one is the way I 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:36.019 think and I relate to their faults. And the other 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:38.180 one is the way I think and I relate to their 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:42.259 needs. Each one of these areas are areas in which 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:45.899 God means for you to be a channel of his grace. 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:50.120 So that peace follows and you can experience 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.959 peace in your relationships. But what we see 00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:57.240 in the book of Colossians is these three areas. 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:00.980 were the areas that were being compromised. And 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:03.639 therefore, it's not that they didn't believe 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:07.180 in the grace of God now as recipients, but the 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.540 reason they were not experiencing the level of 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:12.220 peace that God wanted them to experience was 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:16.199 because they stopped applying that grace in these 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.240 three areas. So let's find out what that looks 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:22.170 like. Before we do so, we have to understand 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:24.550 a little bit of the background. And we covered 00:08:24.550 --> 00:08:27.470 some of this in the first session. So if you 00:08:27.470 --> 00:08:29.529 have not seen the first session, go back later 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:33.549 to watch the whole thing. But what matters in 00:08:33.549 --> 00:08:35.990 this study is to remember that the Apostle Paul 00:08:35.990 --> 00:08:40.909 was in Rome when he met this guy, Onesimus, who 00:08:40.909 --> 00:08:44.500 was a slave that escaped from his master. And 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:47.740 then in prison, Rome shares the gospel with Onesimus. 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:51.879 Onesimus comes to know Christ. And now he's a 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:54.720 follower of Jesus. But it so happened that the 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.700 master that he escaped from was from this place 00:08:57.700 --> 00:09:02.539 called Colossae. And he was a Christian. And 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:04.740 he happened to be a friend of the Apostle Paul. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.600 Wow. Small world. That's why I say you better 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:14.519 behave because somebody knows somebody. Now Paul 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:19.419 starts hearing from the guy who planted the church 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:24.879 in Colossae that Philemon attends. So he's hearing 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:26.899 everything that is going on in that church. So 00:09:26.899 --> 00:09:30.259 he says, okay, enough. Let me write a letter 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:33.639 to the Colossians. And let me write another letter 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.419 to Philemon, who attends that church too. And 00:09:37.419 --> 00:09:40.220 I'm going to send these two letters with Tychicus. 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:45.320 So that's how we get them. And when he writes 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:49.539 to Philemon about Onesimus, he writes the whole 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:52.460 letter, but you get a feel for it by reading 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.500 some of these verses. Now, you say, Philemon 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:57.840 chapter 1, but in reality there's only one chapter. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:01.580 So we just sometimes say, Philemon verse 15. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:05.580 Which chapter? The only one. Okay, verse 15. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:11.720 It seems, Philemon, That you lost Onesimus for 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:13.840 a little while so that you could have him back 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:18.139 forever. He is no longer like a slave to you. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.440 He's more than a slave. He is a beloved brother 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:25.500 especially to me. Now he will mean much more 00:10:25.500 --> 00:10:28.860 to you. Both as a man and as a brother in the 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:32.419 Lord. Because yeah, he came to know Christ just 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:35.120 like you did. So he's a follower of Jesus like 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.190 you are. So he's a brother to you. In the Lord. 00:10:39.870 --> 00:10:42.769 You are both children of God. So you are brothers 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:48.590 now. So if you consider me your partner. Your 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:52.730 friend. Philemon I'm going to ask you. To welcome 00:10:52.730 --> 00:10:55.690 Onesimus. As you would welcome me. And if he 00:10:55.690 --> 00:10:58.110 has wronged you in any way. Which I know he has. 00:10:58.970 --> 00:11:01.929 Well or if he owes you anything. Just charge 00:11:01.929 --> 00:11:06.159 it to my account. And through this letter, he 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:11.000 is encouraging Onesimus and Philemon to start 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.919 experiencing following Jesus and his grace and 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:19.700 his peace by being a channel of God's grace to 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:22.899 each other. But through this letter, we get a 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:26.179 glimpse of some of the social context of the 00:11:26.179 --> 00:11:28.259 Church of Colossus, some of the issues that we're 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:31.480 facing, and everything becomes much clearer. 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:34.919 So throughout the letter, what we realize is 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:37.620 that they were experiencing lots of relational 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:41.580 struggles. And that's why he's going to take 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:44.159 them through each one of these things. And this 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.299 is why he writes to them. So listen to this whole 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:50.379 section that we will study and dissect in a little 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:56.659 bit. Hey, Christians in Colossae, you Philemon 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.659 included there, put on your new nature. And be 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:05.000 renewed as you learn to know your creator and 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.600 become like him. This is Jesus that I mentioned 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.600 to you, who is God, your creator, your Lord, 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:14.480 your Savior. Yeah, that Jesus. As you get to 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.879 know him more and become more like him. This 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:21.500 is who you are now. And in this new life, it 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:24.820 doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile, 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.840 circumcised, uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.059 slave. free, you name it. Whatever labels you 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.779 have come up with in your culture, it doesn't 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:39.919 matter because Christ is all that matters and 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.259 he lives in all of us. You Philemon, you Onesimus. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:51.759 So, since God chose you, To be the holy people 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.000 he loves, he transferred you from the kingdom 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.340 of darkness to the kingdom of light. You are 00:12:56.340 --> 00:12:58.879 fully reconciled with him now because Jesus paid 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:03.279 for all of your sins. Because now you are the 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:07.899 people that he loves. You must clothe yourself 00:13:07.899 --> 00:13:11.440 with tender heart and mercy, kindness, humility, 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:17.740 gentleness, and yes, patience. Make allowance 00:13:17.740 --> 00:13:21.970 for each other's faults. Expect it. People will 00:13:21.970 --> 00:13:25.909 hurt you. But then you have to forgive anyone 00:13:25.909 --> 00:13:29.789 who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you. 00:13:30.070 --> 00:13:34.590 And so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:38.250 yourself with love, which binds all of us together 00:13:38.250 --> 00:13:42.029 in perfect harmony. So let the peace that comes 00:13:42.029 --> 00:13:45.690 from Christ, the one that follows grace, let 00:13:45.690 --> 00:13:50.389 that peace. Now rule in your hearts for as members 00:13:50.389 --> 00:13:53.610 of one body you are called to live in peace and 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:58.769 always be thankful. Let that peace rule in your 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:02.529 heart but peace follows grace. So be a channel 00:14:02.529 --> 00:14:04.970 of God's grace first and then that peace will 00:14:04.970 --> 00:14:08.450 rule your heart. And this is what he tells them 00:14:08.450 --> 00:14:11.250 in this section. If you notice he's going to 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.450 take him through each one of these three areas 00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:17.509 that are foundational to understand how how we 00:14:17.509 --> 00:14:20.529 ensure we experience relational peace. And the 00:14:20.529 --> 00:14:24.009 first one he addresses is how they think of people. 00:14:25.350 --> 00:14:29.330 Now, in the church of Colossae, you have people 00:14:29.330 --> 00:14:31.549 from different cultures, different backgrounds. 00:14:31.990 --> 00:14:34.210 There were the Jews, there were the Greeks, there 00:14:34.210 --> 00:14:36.669 were the Romans, all of them now following Jesus. 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:41.970 This was the first generation of Christians in 00:14:41.970 --> 00:14:45.480 the first century. There were not plenty of churches 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:49.120 everywhere like ECB. These were the beginning 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:53.440 of the followers of Jesus coming together. And 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:59.080 they were struggling. Why? Well, because from 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:01.559 each one of their cultures, they had learned 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:03.759 in their upbringing before they came to know 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:07.470 Christ, they had been pre -programmed. By their 00:15:07.470 --> 00:15:10.250 social context to think of themselves a certain 00:15:10.250 --> 00:15:13.789 way. And to look at others a certain way. And 00:15:13.789 --> 00:15:17.830 typically it was looking down on them. And that's 00:15:17.830 --> 00:15:20.649 why he mentions all these categories. Like to 00:15:20.649 --> 00:15:24.850 the Jews, he says, Jews, I know that we Jews 00:15:24.850 --> 00:15:27.889 see people in two categories. Jews, Gentiles. 00:15:29.090 --> 00:15:32.590 And sometimes we call them uncircumcised. Yeah. 00:15:32.870 --> 00:15:37.330 Not to be nice. This is how we Jews. See people. 00:15:37.429 --> 00:15:40.289 So the moment we see you, we think, circumcised 00:15:40.289 --> 00:15:45.830 or uncircumcised? Jew or Gentile? And we want 00:15:45.830 --> 00:15:50.570 to categorize you. And for you Greeks, I know 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:54.669 that you have learned to think that you are better 00:15:54.669 --> 00:15:58.210 than everybody else. And you Greeks are, you 00:15:58.210 --> 00:16:01.289 know, the most civilized. And you call the barbarians 00:16:01.289 --> 00:16:03.750 those that cannot speak Greek, you know. Oh, 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:09.059 he's a barbarian. But I know that you learn to 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:12.379 look at those Scythians like the worst. I mean, 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:16.279 those are uncivilized. Those are more like animals 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.820 rather than people. And I know that that's how 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:24.539 you learn to think of them. And Romans, I know 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:27.259 you also have your categories. I know that you 00:16:27.259 --> 00:16:30.200 learn to think of people that are slave or free. 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:32.700 So if you're free, you're here. If you're a slave, 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:38.480 uh -huh. But he says, you know what? Even though 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:41.600 this is how you were shaped before you came to 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.639 follow Jesus. Now that he has transferred you 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:46.639 from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.159 light. Now that he has given you his spirit to 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:54.279 shape you in the image of your creator. Now you 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:58.159 will have to stop thinking the same way about 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:00.779 people. And you will have to learn the gospel 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:03.860 change the way you see yourself and you see people. 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:09.299 Because. This community that you have in Colossae 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:14.519 has to represent Christ well. That's what he 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:16.339 tells them. Will you read it out loud with me? 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.359 In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:24.359 a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:29.289 barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ 00:17:29.289 --> 00:17:32.970 is all that matters and he lives in all of us. 00:17:33.069 --> 00:17:37.569 You will have to start seeing Christ in the other 00:17:37.569 --> 00:17:41.289 person. You will have to start seeing and learning 00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:46.190 to see the other person in you. Like the other 00:17:46.190 --> 00:17:48.490 person may have a different accent, may come 00:17:48.490 --> 00:17:50.529 from a different background, may have a different 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:53.670 social status than you, but that person is... 00:17:54.029 --> 00:17:57.450 As much a sinner as you are. And in the same 00:17:57.450 --> 00:18:01.049 need of Jesus as you have. And if that person 00:18:01.049 --> 00:18:03.289 came to know Christ. Is endowed by the same Holy 00:18:03.289 --> 00:18:06.089 Spirit that you have. So you are pretty much 00:18:06.089 --> 00:18:09.910 the same. From God's perspective. And you will 00:18:09.910 --> 00:18:14.630 have to learn Philemon. To see Onesim as your 00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:19.730 slave. Yeah. You will have to start seeing them. 00:18:19.849 --> 00:18:22.880 Not just as slaves. You will have to see him 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:27.799 as your brother in Christ. You can imagine how 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:32.920 revolutionizing that perspective was for them 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.119 because they were already shaped by all of these 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.460 things. And that was one of the sources of tension. 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:43.740 Now, I know that ECB is not in the first century. 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:46.619 We are so much more civilized than the Colossians. 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:51.259 With the era of globalization, we know so much 00:18:51.259 --> 00:18:54.940 more about other cultures and countries. We struggle, 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:57.900 not at all, with anything that is prejudice, 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:04.279 negative attitudes. Or do we? Well, ECB, we calculate 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:07.579 about 70 different nations represented here. 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:11.880 So I thought, I wonder, do we have words and 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.279 language that we use about other people in some 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:16.819 of these different countries? And I collected 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:20.880 above. close to 15 countries, and I picked up 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:22.900 a couple of the words that the research brought 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:25.720 up, and I came up with a collage of words. Now, 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:28.599 to be honest, I have no idea if this is offensive 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:32.279 in your country or not, but these are the words 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:36.599 that all of these different countries, some of 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:41.259 which you come from, use to describe others that 00:19:41.259 --> 00:19:46.660 we see as inferior, and we ourselves are superior. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.640 And it's amazing how many of these terms are 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.900 used for people that are people who immigrated 00:19:54.900 --> 00:19:59.220 into our country. But yeah, you know very well 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:03.759 what your culture is. Maybe you don't say circumcised 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.740 and uncircumcised, but you say other things. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.900 And you learn to see people from other countries, 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:13.839 especially the neighboring countries, as not 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:19.960 so smart like we are. You know, and every country 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:22.559 has its own narratives that we create, but it 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.900 creates all of these relational tensions as a 00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:28.880 result. Because you start thinking yourself inferior 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.240 or superior, and that is the problem. You are 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:37.359 unable then to be a channel of God's grace. And 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:40.420 all of the problems that that develops. Now, 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:44.980 in my country, the U .S., if I go to the doctor, 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:48.259 I may get a form that I need to fill out. And 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:50.859 within the form, there are questions they're 00:20:50.859 --> 00:20:53.519 going to ask me. One of those questions, often, 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:56.900 is about race. And just to give you a little 00:20:56.900 --> 00:21:00.640 context into my culture and my country. So the 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:02.579 form will look like something like this. Okay, 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:04.440 what's your race? Can you please mark all that 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:10.500 apply? Wait, all that apply? Okay. White, African 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:13.299 American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, 00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:17.720 Asian. Hispanic or Latino, native Hawaiian or 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:21.519 other Pacific Islander. So that makes one, two, 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:27.140 three, four, five, six, seven, and more. Or decline 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:32.099 to answer. It's like when some people come to 00:21:32.099 --> 00:21:35.559 our country, it's like, what should I mark? It's 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:38.960 like, I have no idea. I remember the Kenyan guy 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.660 that said, you know, I did not know I was black 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:45.650 until I came to your country. And all of this 00:21:45.650 --> 00:21:49.309 narrative that we have, we just have, we don't 00:21:49.309 --> 00:21:53.069 realize why. But I understood it because when 00:21:53.069 --> 00:21:55.069 I was doing my doctoral studies, I had to research 00:21:55.069 --> 00:21:59.529 this topic. And what I discovered is that in 00:21:59.529 --> 00:22:01.829 the context of Western countries, if you come 00:22:01.829 --> 00:22:04.190 from a Western country, as well as those that 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:06.089 were colonized by Western countries, if your 00:22:06.089 --> 00:22:09.559 country happened to be one of those. Some of 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:12.599 these ideas about categorization of people came 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:16.619 from the 1700s. But people that were in different 00:22:16.619 --> 00:22:19.700 science fields from some European countries. 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:25.740 One of the earliest was in 1735. And Karl, what 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:29.500 he discovered from his perspective was that there 00:22:29.500 --> 00:22:32.759 are actually four races. Humans are categorized 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:36.529 in four races. Europeans. were whitish, Americans 00:22:36.529 --> 00:22:39.869 were reddish, Asians were tawny, and Africans 00:22:39.869 --> 00:22:43.430 were blackish. So that was his categorization, 00:22:43.490 --> 00:22:46.650 the first attempt, and it was based on color. 00:22:47.369 --> 00:22:50.529 For some reason, not hair color, not eye color, 00:22:50.569 --> 00:22:55.450 but skin color. But only a few years later, from 00:22:55.450 --> 00:23:01.710 1735 to 1775, another scientist, this time from 00:23:01.710 --> 00:23:04.279 Germany, He says, no, no, no, no, no. There's 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:08.480 no four. There's five races. I have discovered 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.220 that the Caucasian race is white, the Mongolian 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:16.740 race is yellow, the Malayan race is brown, Ethiopian 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:20.819 race is black, and American race is red. So we 00:23:20.819 --> 00:23:26.700 have five colors. And, you know, we wrote songs 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:29.380 for our children that said something like, red 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:31.839 and yellow, black and white, they are precious 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:34.079 in His eyes. Remember, that's where all of this 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:39.619 comes from. And then, when my country was founded, 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:42.400 we have an amazing Declaration of Independence 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:46.420 that says, all men are created equal. And we 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:51.099 love that. That's one of our values. But I discovered 00:23:51.099 --> 00:23:53.240 in my research that the same person that wrote 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:55.759 the Declaration of Independence, one of our founding 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:00.339 fathers, Thomas Jefferson, he also wrote another 00:24:00.339 --> 00:24:04.420 book about the state of Virginia. And in it, 00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:07.990 he starts... sharing about some of the perspectives 00:24:07.990 --> 00:24:10.950 that were common already during his time because 00:24:10.950 --> 00:24:13.690 of all of these signs that have been developed. 00:24:13.990 --> 00:24:16.670 And he says, I advance therefore as a suspicion 00:24:16.670 --> 00:24:20.029 only that the blacks, whether originally a distant 00:24:20.029 --> 00:24:22.650 race or made distinct by time and circumstances, 00:24:23.069 --> 00:24:26.529 are inferior to the whites in the endowment both 00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:30.690 of body and mind. Physically and mentally, the 00:24:30.690 --> 00:24:32.910 people of that color, they are inferior to the 00:24:32.910 --> 00:24:35.650 people of that color. That's just... Obvious. 00:24:37.029 --> 00:24:41.750 And this mindset started permeating so many different 00:24:41.750 --> 00:24:45.049 places. So you fast forward several years, a 00:24:45.049 --> 00:24:49.549 few centuries, and I got to read the autobiography 00:24:49.549 --> 00:24:53.670 of a lady called Debbie Irvin. And she says, 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:56.069 you know, I didn't understand all these narratives, 00:24:56.109 --> 00:24:58.890 where they came from. So she wrote a book called 00:24:58.890 --> 00:25:02.529 Waking Up White. And in it, she says, look, the 00:25:02.529 --> 00:25:05.859 way I understood it, Race was for other people, 00:25:06.019 --> 00:25:10.440 brown and black skin people. I thought white 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:13.940 was the raceless race, just plain, normal, the 00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:17.119 one against which all others were measured. I 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:21.640 thought, David said, I was the standard. And 00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:24.599 that's exactly what Paul is telling the Colossians. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.839 You look at others based on who you are and you 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.759 think, I'm the standard. Those are barbarians, 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:37.309 but I'm Greek. And that attitude is at the core 00:25:37.309 --> 00:25:40.450 of the problem of categorizing people from all 00:25:40.450 --> 00:25:42.950 of these different cultural mindsets that have 00:25:42.950 --> 00:25:48.049 developed. There was a lady in Brazil. She became 00:25:48.049 --> 00:25:51.569 a photographer. But in her own country, they 00:25:51.569 --> 00:25:54.529 have all these categorizations also for people. 00:25:54.750 --> 00:25:57.690 Some superior, some inferior. She happened to 00:25:57.690 --> 00:26:02.789 be in kind of like the inferior category. And 00:26:02.789 --> 00:26:05.230 what Angelica does when she goes to Spain, she 00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:08.450 studies photography, and because this part was 00:26:08.450 --> 00:26:11.509 part of her own journey, she wanted to use her 00:26:11.509 --> 00:26:14.710 art to kind of address the issue that was bothering 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:17.369 her so much. She's like, are we really these 00:26:17.369 --> 00:26:22.529 categories? I don't think so. I don't think that 00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:25.710 people can determine my level of smarts by my 00:26:25.710 --> 00:26:31.650 skin color. And now, She started traveling through 00:26:31.650 --> 00:26:33.690 different countries, taking pictures of anyone 00:26:33.690 --> 00:26:35.849 that wanted to volunteer for the project. The 00:26:35.849 --> 00:26:39.529 name of the project? Humanae. And what she did 00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:41.650 is that she took pictures of all of these people, 00:26:41.789 --> 00:26:43.849 like thousands of people in her project, more 00:26:43.849 --> 00:26:46.329 than 20 countries, and then she will match the 00:26:46.329 --> 00:26:50.430 color of their skin to the palette of the Pantone 00:26:50.430 --> 00:26:53.910 scale, with the number and everything. And she 00:26:53.910 --> 00:26:55.930 will display these things in different museums 00:26:55.930 --> 00:27:00.589 throughout the world to make a statement. Her 00:27:00.589 --> 00:27:03.230 statement was simply saying, look, we have to 00:27:03.230 --> 00:27:07.009 rethink how we think of people. Because these 00:27:07.009 --> 00:27:10.150 categorizations are making us look at some people 00:27:10.150 --> 00:27:13.549 as superiors and others as inferior. And we are 00:27:13.549 --> 00:27:17.670 pretty much the same. You want to compare your 00:27:17.670 --> 00:27:20.630 tone to the tone of another person, you will 00:27:20.630 --> 00:27:22.369 figure out maybe they are from a whole different 00:27:22.369 --> 00:27:31.119 country. And as creative as this is, What Angelica 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:34.299 didn't understand is that the problem that the 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:37.819 Apostle Paul is addressing, this categorizing 00:27:37.819 --> 00:27:40.680 of each other that makes us look as superior 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:45.460 or inferior and then plugs our ability to treat 00:27:45.460 --> 00:27:50.079 people with God's grace, that that issue is not 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:54.740 cultural, it's not political, it's spiritual. 00:27:55.980 --> 00:28:00.019 And all of us, because of our sinful nature, 00:28:00.299 --> 00:28:05.039 have the tendency to embrace perspectives that 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:07.440 are distorted, starting to look at ourselves 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:10.579 and the way we look at others. And this became 00:28:10.579 --> 00:28:15.700 so clear in a whole different case of a very 00:28:15.700 --> 00:28:21.759 creative elementary school teacher. She was in 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:25.460 her small town at her school teaching, and all 00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:30.059 of her kids were of the same, And she thought, 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:35.640 how can I teach my kids about this problem of 00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:38.759 looking at people differently and treating them 00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:43.059 unjustly with prejudice? And she came up with 00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:45.319 an idea. And this idea and the whole experiment 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:49.240 was documented in this documentary called A Class 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:53.720 Divided. I encourage you to watch it. It's fascinating. 00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:58.299 It was created in the late 1960s, I think like 00:28:58.299 --> 00:29:03.400 97 or 8, around that time. And what Jane did 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:06.059 is that she thought, okay, this is what we're 00:29:06.059 --> 00:29:12.279 going to do. So kids, science has revealed that 00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:15.259 people with blue eyes are smarter and more capable 00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:18.700 than people with dark eyes. So what we're going 00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:21.119 to start doing from now on is that people with 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:24.930 blue eyes will have a longer break. And they 00:29:24.930 --> 00:29:27.430 will have more time to answer this test and everything. 00:29:27.549 --> 00:29:30.089 And they're going to have a better treatment 00:29:30.089 --> 00:29:33.789 than those of you that have darker eyes. So they 00:29:33.789 --> 00:29:39.769 started. First day. It's like, really? And the 00:29:39.769 --> 00:29:42.549 kids with the blue eyes started becoming arrogant. 00:29:43.750 --> 00:29:46.210 And they started looking down and laughing at 00:29:46.210 --> 00:29:49.490 the others that were inferior. And she was surprised 00:29:49.490 --> 00:29:53.049 to see. She just made up the category. Day one, 00:29:53.049 --> 00:29:56.049 on that very day, people started reacting that 00:29:56.049 --> 00:30:00.130 way. But what the kids did not know was the experiment 00:30:00.130 --> 00:30:04.190 was going to take a switch. She came next time. 00:30:04.230 --> 00:30:07.829 She said, oh, sorry, I made a mistake. Science 00:30:07.829 --> 00:30:12.069 actually says that kids with dark eyes are smarter 00:30:12.069 --> 00:30:15.890 than the kids with the blue eyes. So from now 00:30:15.890 --> 00:30:18.049 on, we're going to give better treatment on the 00:30:18.049 --> 00:30:20.250 whole thing. So those kids started having all 00:30:20.250 --> 00:30:23.890 that nice experience. And the same thing happened. 00:30:24.750 --> 00:30:27.609 They became more arrogant, looking down, laughing 00:30:27.609 --> 00:30:31.950 at them. And at the end, she told them, look, 00:30:32.109 --> 00:30:35.509 this is not true. It was an experiment. And then 00:30:35.509 --> 00:30:37.990 they were able to reflect as a class about how 00:30:37.990 --> 00:30:41.230 they felt. Even their performance in their test 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:45.029 decreased. The moment they believed, science 00:30:45.029 --> 00:30:52.569 said they were inferior. Paul. wants us to experience 00:30:52.569 --> 00:30:56.829 relational peace. And the very first thing he 00:30:56.829 --> 00:31:04.390 addresses is how we are seeing the other. Are 00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:07.069 we experiencing relationships from a perspective 00:31:07.069 --> 00:31:10.269 where I see Christ in you? Where I see the spiritual 00:31:10.269 --> 00:31:13.750 potential in you? Or I'm looking at you as a 00:31:13.750 --> 00:31:21.019 category that I need to avoid? So pick up. That 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:28.900 battery. And a little bit of corrosion. I remember 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:34.460 the time this person said that we are all racist. 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:37.019 We don't know it until our kids start dating. 00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:43.680 And that kind of corrosion begins without even 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:49.680 noticing it. How do you see people? First thing. 00:31:50.380 --> 00:31:53.460 What's the second thing? The second thing is 00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:56.200 how do you see their faults and how do you relate 00:31:56.200 --> 00:32:01.119 to those faults? One of the things that was happening 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:04.599 is that these Christians were now hurting each 00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:06.700 other, offending each other, and now they were 00:32:06.700 --> 00:32:09.619 experiencing bitterness, resentfulness in their 00:32:09.619 --> 00:32:12.680 relationships. So instead of now being a child 00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:15.299 of God's grace, they were choosing to become 00:32:15.299 --> 00:32:19.549 resentful and there were emotions. That they 00:32:19.549 --> 00:32:22.309 were experiencing now that were not compatible 00:32:22.309 --> 00:32:25.549 with the kingdom of light. And he mentions all 00:32:25.549 --> 00:32:29.890 of those different emotions in the book of Colossians. 00:32:30.809 --> 00:32:34.630 The kingdom of darkness. When you are not aligned 00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:36.750 with God's grace and you do not have his peace, 00:32:36.849 --> 00:32:39.049 this is what you have instead. Would you read 00:32:39.049 --> 00:32:41.829 the section of the kingdom of darkness with me? 00:32:42.789 --> 00:32:50.599 Anger, rage, malice, slander, cursing. If you 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:53.799 are experiencing some of these emotions or these 00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:57.799 tendencies, are you a dominant one? That means 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:00.579 you do not have relational peace. You are not 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:03.160 a channel of God's grace and you have fallen 00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:07.460 for the lie that you need to give people what 00:33:07.460 --> 00:33:13.339 they deserve. In contrast, the kingdom of light 00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:16.299 It's very different. As you follow Jesus and 00:33:16.299 --> 00:33:19.880 you become a channel of God's grace, this is 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:24.420 the list. Read it with me. Compassion, kindness, 00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:29.680 humility, gentleness, patience, forbearing, forgiveness, 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:36.980 love. That is what it looks like. So here, the 00:33:36.980 --> 00:33:38.960 Apostle Paul is going to remind them and say, 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:42.440 look guys. You do not belong to the kingdom of 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:44.880 darkness anymore. You belong to the kingdom of 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:47.759 light. Put on this new nature you have. The Holy 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:51.680 Spirit is in you. He wants to produce this kind 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:57.640 of emotions and behaviors through you. That's 00:33:57.640 --> 00:34:01.740 why he writes this. Since God chose you to be 00:34:01.740 --> 00:34:04.440 the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourself 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:08.280 with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, 00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:11.579 gentleness, and faithfulness. And make allowance 00:34:11.579 --> 00:34:14.000 for each other's faults and forgive one another, 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:19.599 anyone who offends you. And remember, remember, 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:27.800 the Lord forgave you. Didn't he? Didn't you receive 00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:30.119 the full forgiveness of all your sins forever? 00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:36.000 Isn't that God's grace given to you? Okay. So 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:38.980 the Lord forgave you and you now must forgive 00:34:38.980 --> 00:34:46.159 others. Be that channel. And this section is 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:54.260 hard. Because most of us, when we are hurt by 00:34:54.260 --> 00:34:58.019 people, the first thing that we want is not to 00:34:58.019 --> 00:35:00.260 be a channel of God's grace. That's the last 00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:04.059 thing we want. We want to just give them what 00:35:04.059 --> 00:35:07.059 they deserve. They deserve it. Let them have 00:35:07.059 --> 00:35:14.289 it. Jonathan thought that way because his father 00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:18.809 was very abusive growing up. So abusive. But 00:35:18.809 --> 00:35:21.730 Jonathan later came to know Christ. And now he 00:35:21.730 --> 00:35:24.789 was following Jesus. And as he's following Jesus, 00:35:24.929 --> 00:35:28.889 one of his friends tells him, Jonathan, you have 00:35:28.889 --> 00:35:31.730 so much anger towards your father. Every time 00:35:31.730 --> 00:35:34.170 we mention the name, you just become, you know, 00:35:34.230 --> 00:35:37.010 I can see you need to forgive your father. Oh, 00:35:37.429 --> 00:35:40.610 he shouldn't have said that. At that moment, 00:35:40.650 --> 00:35:45.130 Jonathan says to him, do you know what it's like 00:35:45.130 --> 00:35:47.530 to be picked up by your father and thrown against 00:35:47.530 --> 00:35:51.789 the wall? Do you know what it's like to get a 00:35:51.789 --> 00:35:57.829 glass bottle of beer broken on your back? Do 00:35:57.829 --> 00:36:00.670 you know what it's like to carry scars because 00:36:00.670 --> 00:36:05.809 your father physically wounded you? No, I don't. 00:36:05.929 --> 00:36:09.139 Well, then don't tell me. How I should live my 00:36:09.139 --> 00:36:13.500 life. And he got so angry and he started even 00:36:13.500 --> 00:36:17.300 cursing. And he was a Christian following Jesus. 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:19.500 And now all these things are coming out of his 00:36:19.500 --> 00:36:25.000 mouth. Why? He did not want to forgive his father. 00:36:25.300 --> 00:36:30.079 He didn't deserve to be forgiven. And he would 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:32.500 think, you know, I have the right to be angry. 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.719 Because what he did against me, it was beyond 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:42.380 bad. But what he didn't realize was that that 00:36:42.380 --> 00:36:46.360 way of thinking and that way of treating was 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:51.320 corrosion. That was keeping him from being a 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:54.219 channel of God's grace towards his father. And 00:36:54.219 --> 00:36:56.000 therefore there was no peace. And instead of 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:59.179 peace, there was anger. Until his father came 00:36:59.179 --> 00:37:02.039 to know Christ. And now Philemon and Onesimus 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:05.440 all over again. Now it's like, well, my father 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:08.210 is a Christian now, so what should I do? So he 00:37:08.210 --> 00:37:11.630 would not forgive his father for years until 00:37:11.630 --> 00:37:14.449 God started working in his life. And one day, 00:37:14.489 --> 00:37:18.309 he was able to forgive his father from the heart. 00:37:18.590 --> 00:37:22.110 And what Jonathan understood was that forgiveness 00:37:22.110 --> 00:37:24.849 was not so much about whether the person deserved 00:37:24.849 --> 00:37:27.909 to be forgiven or not, or whether what the person 00:37:27.909 --> 00:37:31.909 did was terrible or not so terrible. It had nothing 00:37:31.909 --> 00:37:35.699 to do with that. It had everything to do with 00:37:35.699 --> 00:37:38.920 the calling that God had given us to be a channel 00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:42.599 of God's grace. The question is not, do they 00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:44.719 deserve to be forgiven or should you be angry 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:47.420 with them? The question is, are you going to 00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:52.860 be a channel of God's grace or not? And the answer 00:37:52.860 --> 00:37:55.400 is, if you are a recipient of God's grace, God 00:37:55.400 --> 00:37:58.820 wants you to be also a channel of God's grace. 00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:04.949 That's the way God works. So until he forgave 00:38:04.949 --> 00:38:07.429 his father, understanding what forgiveness was, 00:38:07.590 --> 00:38:11.250 the releasing of all the anger that he had against 00:38:11.250 --> 00:38:16.269 his father, he started healing. And the worst 00:38:16.269 --> 00:38:18.829 thing, he would say, is like, from all my siblings, 00:38:18.989 --> 00:38:21.769 I was the one that looked more like my father. 00:38:22.570 --> 00:38:24.969 And all of our friends would say, oh, you look 00:38:24.969 --> 00:38:31.389 just like your father. And he hated that. Familiar? 00:38:36.750 --> 00:38:39.869 One of the cases that has been the most extreme 00:38:39.869 --> 00:38:43.230 where I've seen the person becoming a channel 00:38:43.230 --> 00:38:47.269 of God's grace was the founder of that ministry, 00:38:47.389 --> 00:38:49.869 Voice of the Martyrs. He was a pastor in Romania 00:38:49.869 --> 00:38:54.550 who was imprisoned by the communists for 14 years. 00:38:54.650 --> 00:38:57.269 Three of those years he was in complete isolation, 00:38:57.690 --> 00:39:06.360 tortured day after day after day after day. What 00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:09.360 would you like to do with those people after 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:14.179 you get out of prison? What if you had the chance 00:39:14.179 --> 00:39:19.440 to find the grave of the person that ordered 00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:24.699 the people to imprison you and torture you? What 00:39:24.699 --> 00:39:27.119 would you like to do on that grave? Would you 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:33.800 like to spit on it? Of course. Such evil. But 00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:38.159 you know what Richard did? He says, my last deed 00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:43.239 before leaving Romania, because he was eventually 00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:47.300 moved to the U .S. He was delivered from prison. 00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:51.340 My last deed before leaving was to go to the 00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:53.900 grave of the colonel who had given me the order 00:39:53.900 --> 00:39:58.519 for my arrest. And who had ordered my years of 00:39:58.519 --> 00:40:02.800 torture. And I placed a flower on his grave. 00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:07.590 He needed to do that. physically he needed to 00:40:07.590 --> 00:40:12.510 do something to show that he was forgiving this 00:40:12.510 --> 00:40:15.349 guy because he could not live with any resentfulness 00:40:15.349 --> 00:40:19.690 in his life. By doing this, I dedicated myself 00:40:19.690 --> 00:40:26.550 to bringing the joys of Christ that I have to 00:40:26.550 --> 00:40:28.949 the communists who are so empty spiritually. 00:40:29.329 --> 00:40:33.570 You see, communists can kill Christians. But 00:40:33.570 --> 00:40:36.489 they cannot kill their love toward even those 00:40:36.489 --> 00:40:39.670 who kill them. Because where does that love come 00:40:39.670 --> 00:40:47.849 from? I'm a channel. And that is why he learned 00:40:47.849 --> 00:40:50.349 in his own journey of following Jesus that even 00:40:50.349 --> 00:40:54.829 his torturers he could forgive. And that showing 00:40:54.829 --> 00:40:58.230 of love was not because they were lovable. It 00:40:58.230 --> 00:41:04.199 was because God loved them. So I have to ask 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:06.840 you to look at the second battery and take a 00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:13.079 look at it. Is it corroded? Is your flashlight 00:41:13.079 --> 00:41:18.440 not working? Because you are refusing to give 00:41:18.440 --> 00:41:22.119 the grace that you have received? Then you will 00:41:22.119 --> 00:41:26.840 have to change that battery. But there was a 00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:29.820 third battery that he talked about. And that 00:41:29.820 --> 00:41:34.130 was the way we see their... And the reason for 00:41:34.130 --> 00:41:37.909 this is because people are driven by self -ambition. 00:41:38.050 --> 00:41:43.030 The first century or the 21st century, same thing. 00:41:43.849 --> 00:41:46.409 If you look at this picture, this is a person 00:41:46.409 --> 00:41:49.630 holding all these different contacts in his hands. 00:41:51.250 --> 00:41:53.829 There's a famous saying, you know, it doesn't 00:41:53.829 --> 00:41:56.150 matter how much you know. What really matters 00:41:56.150 --> 00:42:04.139 is what? Who you know. Why? Well, because who 00:42:04.139 --> 00:42:07.679 you know will benefit you. So we learn to seek 00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:10.659 relationships for the benefit that I will get 00:42:10.659 --> 00:42:14.539 out of it. So if there's no benefit for me, I 00:42:14.539 --> 00:42:17.820 won't engage with that. Why? It's a waste of 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:21.380 time. But this person, oh, with this person I'll 00:42:21.380 --> 00:42:23.559 be friends. This person, I'll pay for their lunch. 00:42:24.159 --> 00:42:29.929 I want them to think nicely of me. Because there's 00:42:29.929 --> 00:42:35.130 something in it for me. And Paul says, uh -uh. 00:42:36.610 --> 00:42:40.670 You will have to learn. If you want to be a channel 00:42:40.670 --> 00:42:42.650 of God's grace and experience relational peace 00:42:42.650 --> 00:42:47.110 that follows, you will have to learn to see people's 00:42:47.110 --> 00:42:51.909 needs differently. And that's why he writes this 00:42:51.909 --> 00:42:56.050 section here. Above all, clothe yourself with 00:42:56.050 --> 00:43:00.789 what? With love. which binds us all together 00:43:00.789 --> 00:43:05.809 in perfect harmony. One of the amazing things 00:43:05.809 --> 00:43:09.329 about Greek, in contrast to English as a language, 00:43:09.610 --> 00:43:12.409 is that in English we only have one word for 00:43:12.409 --> 00:43:17.670 love. I can tell my wife, I love you. And I can 00:43:17.670 --> 00:43:19.949 also turn to my coffee and say, I love coffee. 00:43:20.869 --> 00:43:24.550 Just one word, but I don't mean my wife, I love 00:43:24.550 --> 00:43:28.230 you like I love coffee. Hopefully not, right? 00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:31.519 It's a different meaning. Well, in Greek, it's 00:43:31.519 --> 00:43:34.280 great because they have a specific Greek word 00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:36.760 for the different meanings. You know how many 00:43:36.760 --> 00:43:44.920 words? Four. If I love my child as a parent because 00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:50.079 he's my family, that's one word. If I love a 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:51.900 friend because, you know, he's a nice person, 00:43:52.219 --> 00:43:54.440 they're nice to me, I'm nice to them, it's kind 00:43:54.440 --> 00:43:58.360 of mutual, that's another word. Hey, if I'm sexually 00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:00.739 attracted to this person and I kind of love this 00:44:00.739 --> 00:44:02.820 person because there is this sexual thing going 00:44:02.820 --> 00:44:07.659 on, that's another word. But there's a fourth 00:44:07.659 --> 00:44:12.679 word, which is right here on this verse, and 00:44:12.679 --> 00:44:18.920 it's agape. For God so agape the world that he 00:44:18.920 --> 00:44:22.780 gave his one and only son. God has poured his 00:44:22.780 --> 00:44:27.559 agape in our hearts. Now make sure that this 00:44:27.559 --> 00:44:32.460 agape is what is binding you all together. What 00:44:32.460 --> 00:44:36.500 agape is different from the others is that it 00:44:36.500 --> 00:44:42.260 is a call to serve the needs of the other, not 00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:45.280 because there's something in it for me. There's 00:44:45.280 --> 00:44:48.920 nothing in it for me. I'm just loving you because 00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:54.739 God loves you. That's it. And God is going to 00:44:54.739 --> 00:44:59.000 call you as you follow him to engage in needs 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:03.559 and address and invest sacrificially in things. 00:45:04.960 --> 00:45:08.920 Because his love is driving you. And at that 00:45:08.920 --> 00:45:11.900 moment, you will be wrestling because the way 00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:15.579 you see the need will determine whether you become 00:45:15.579 --> 00:45:19.000 a channel of God's grace or not. Many years ago, 00:45:19.059 --> 00:45:22.539 I was talking to a friend who had been, she and 00:45:22.539 --> 00:45:27.260 her family had been called by God slowly to engage 00:45:27.260 --> 00:45:31.019 more and more with the need of the orphan. And 00:45:31.019 --> 00:45:34.940 they started opening their home to host and have 00:45:34.940 --> 00:45:36.960 some of the kids live with them. We were in a 00:45:36.960 --> 00:45:39.960 foster care system. They will have them for some 00:45:39.960 --> 00:45:42.440 weeks or months, and then they will go. And then 00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:46.179 a new group will come. And through that, They 00:45:46.179 --> 00:45:50.900 started feeling this desire to adopt. And there 00:45:50.900 --> 00:45:53.219 was this particular child that was a preteen 00:45:53.219 --> 00:45:58.980 that was open for adoption. Her case was open 00:45:58.980 --> 00:46:03.000 for adoption. And when the person leading the 00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:07.019 case of this preteen met with the mom, said, 00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:09.940 you know, we did all this psychological analysis, 00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:12.179 all these different things, and my recommendation 00:46:12.179 --> 00:46:16.780 to you is do not adopt. Because this is going 00:46:16.780 --> 00:46:21.480 to be hard. So we are talking, we are meeting 00:46:21.480 --> 00:46:25.099 and discussing, what should we do? Until this 00:46:25.099 --> 00:46:29.019 time, we had been compelled and sure that God 00:46:29.019 --> 00:46:32.579 wanted us to adopt this child. But now this expert 00:46:32.579 --> 00:46:34.679 is telling me, don't go that way because it will 00:46:34.679 --> 00:46:40.940 be too hard. What should we do? You see those 00:46:40.940 --> 00:46:44.789 moments. We learn that the love that God is calling 00:46:44.789 --> 00:46:49.170 us to channel, we don't love because it's easy. 00:46:51.849 --> 00:46:54.989 And if God is calling you to engage with a need 00:46:54.989 --> 00:46:58.210 that is hard, then you are doing it because you 00:46:58.210 --> 00:47:01.050 are a channel of His grace. That's it. There's 00:47:01.050 --> 00:47:04.809 no more to it. Only God knows what He will do 00:47:04.809 --> 00:47:07.369 in the life of that child, even if it's hard 00:47:07.369 --> 00:47:14.079 for 30 years. And actually, it was challenging, 00:47:14.179 --> 00:47:21.280 and it has been hard. But this is what Paul says. 00:47:22.780 --> 00:47:26.340 You will have to stop thinking of the needs of 00:47:26.340 --> 00:47:30.119 others from you as the center. In the need of 00:47:30.119 --> 00:47:32.119 the orphan, one of the things that we learn is 00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:34.619 that we do not adopt children because we need 00:47:34.619 --> 00:47:37.619 children. We adopt children because they need 00:47:37.619 --> 00:47:43.349 families. It's a complete rethinking of the need. 00:47:46.690 --> 00:47:50.929 So I have to ask you, how are you engaging with 00:47:50.929 --> 00:47:55.070 the needs of the other? Who are you loving today 00:47:55.070 --> 00:48:01.469 that is not something in it for you? Or you only 00:48:01.469 --> 00:48:04.690 engage with the needs that then have something 00:48:04.690 --> 00:48:09.170 for you in return? Until we choose to be challenged 00:48:09.170 --> 00:48:12.530 of God's grace, we will not experience relational 00:48:12.530 --> 00:48:16.230 peace. Because remember, grace doesn't stop with 00:48:16.230 --> 00:48:21.869 you. It's meant to flow through you. So I want 00:48:21.869 --> 00:48:26.630 you to take your flashlight, press the button, 00:48:26.789 --> 00:48:31.269 see if it's working or not. And if it's not working, 00:48:31.469 --> 00:48:35.849 take a look at these batteries. Are they corroded? 00:48:36.429 --> 00:48:40.289 Because if they are, today is the time to turn 00:48:40.289 --> 00:48:45.489 to God and say, God, I've been so selfish with 00:48:45.489 --> 00:48:48.809 your grace. I'm happy to receive it, but I have 00:48:48.809 --> 00:48:53.610 refused to give it. No wonder I have lack of 00:48:53.610 --> 00:48:57.550 peace. I'm here to tell you, Lord, make me a 00:48:57.550 --> 00:49:02.269 channel. Let it be Christ through me. That's 00:49:02.269 --> 00:49:05.340 what I want. If that is what you want, I would 00:49:05.340 --> 00:49:08.320 like to conclude this study with these three 00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:12.239 main implications. The first one is that you 00:49:12.239 --> 00:49:15.179 need to welcome the outsider. Stop treating people 00:49:15.179 --> 00:49:20.659 as a category that is inferior. Stop thinking 00:49:20.659 --> 00:49:23.880 of yourself as superior and start looking into 00:49:23.880 --> 00:49:29.719 their lives as we are the same sinners in need 00:49:29.719 --> 00:49:33.360 of Jesus. And you will see the peace that comes 00:49:33.360 --> 00:49:37.820 from that switch. Secondly, if you have chosen 00:49:37.820 --> 00:49:42.119 not to forgive because you believe that that 00:49:42.119 --> 00:49:45.980 person doesn't deserve it, then remember what 00:49:45.980 --> 00:49:51.000 grace is. It's an undeserved gift. Don't wait 00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:54.619 for the person to deserve it. Otherwise, it's 00:49:54.619 --> 00:49:59.239 no longer grace. If God is moving in you to forgive, 00:49:59.380 --> 00:50:03.190 then... Deal with the Lord with that and let 00:50:03.190 --> 00:50:06.070 the grace and the peace of God flow through you. 00:50:06.829 --> 00:50:11.329 And finally, if God is calling you to engage 00:50:11.329 --> 00:50:14.510 in addressing a need that will require sacrifice, 00:50:15.090 --> 00:50:18.110 stop thinking about, is it going to be hard? 00:50:18.389 --> 00:50:20.869 Should I do it? Should I deny what I really want? 00:50:21.230 --> 00:50:24.650 Those are the wrong questions. Go to your knees 00:50:24.650 --> 00:50:27.590 and say, Lord, what do you want me to do? Because 00:50:27.590 --> 00:50:30.389 if you are calling to be a channel of your grace 00:50:30.389 --> 00:50:36.530 for this need, I'm willing. That is what it means 00:50:36.530 --> 00:50:40.150 to start giving grace and being a channel of 00:50:40.150 --> 00:50:45.690 it. So, is God's grace flowing through you? Lord, 00:50:45.789 --> 00:50:48.849 it's great to be a recipient of your grace, your 00:50:48.849 --> 00:50:54.039 love, your embrace, your forgiveness. But really, 00:50:54.239 --> 00:51:00.639 you also want us to love and care and embrace 00:51:00.639 --> 00:51:06.840 and forgive. That takes following you to a whole 00:51:06.840 --> 00:51:12.179 new level, doesn't it? But we want to follow 00:51:12.179 --> 00:51:15.920 you. And we want to experience your grace and 00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:20.400 your peace. So as we stand in your presence, 00:51:20.480 --> 00:51:23.280 we want to tell you, Lord, We're willing, but 00:51:23.280 --> 00:51:27.239 it will have to be Christ through us. There's 00:51:27.239 --> 00:51:32.159 no other way. Because I'm selfish, I'm resentful. 00:51:33.159 --> 00:51:37.840 I want to feel superior. But you call me to be 00:51:37.840 --> 00:51:42.199 the opposite. Not to be more like me, but to 00:51:42.199 --> 00:51:46.619 be more like you. And that is a calling worth 00:51:46.619 --> 00:51:51.760 pursuing. Encounter us in this space, Lord. In 00:51:51.760 --> 00:52:17.559 Jesus' name. If God is calling you to support 00:52:17.559 --> 00:52:20.639 our ministries you will find giving options on 00:52:20.639 --> 00:52:24.280 our website. And remember to join us next week. 00:52:24.539 --> 00:52:25.639 God bless you.