Anchors of Truth

Wretched, Miserable...Victorious!

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Justin Torossian

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000158


00:14 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:16 live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:25 Welcome to Three Angels' Broadcasting Worship Center
00:29 here in the mighty metropolis of Thompsonville.
00:34 You know, Thompsonville is a growing community.
00:37 We have a gas station, a couple of eating establishments,
00:41 and just recently a Dollar General.
00:45 Have we arrived or what?
00:48 But you know, what really puts Thompsonville on the map
00:52 is that truth filled messages leave the studios of 3ABN
00:58 and literally belt the globe.
01:01 And that's what puts Thompsonville on the map.
01:05 It's the message of Jesus,
01:07 not any establishments of business.
01:10 And we just want to welcome you.
01:12 If you're tuning in to us by television, or internet,
01:17 or radio, we want you to relax and get your Bibles
01:23 and be prepared for a wonderful message tonight.
01:26 A message that is a last day message
01:31 from the book of Revelation.
01:33 The last book of the Bible to the last day generation.
01:37 We have our speaker this evening will be Pastor Justin Torossian.
01:45 Pastor Justin comes to us from California.
01:47 He was raised in northern California.
01:51 And has been employed by the Central California Conference
01:56 of Seventh-day Adventists.
01:59 Pastor Torossian has most recently worked with
02:05 Pastor Stephen Bohr, a presenter on 3ABN.
02:09 And we really appreciate and have enjoyed his messages
02:14 throughout the years.
02:16 And Pastor Torossian worked as an associate in the church that
02:23 Pastor Bohr pastors.
02:27 His message this evening is entitled,
02:31 Wretched, Miserable... Victorious.
02:37 I like the last part.
02:39 The first part, truthful but often a little hard to hear;
02:44 wretched and miserable.
02:45 But we're happy for the ending; victorious.
02:49 This is the third of a series coming to you live.
02:54 And live is often a little bit scary, you know.
02:57 Whatever comes out, that's what it is.
02:59 Warts, wrinkles, and all.
03:01 But it also gives a wonderful dynamic when a message
03:09 comes live over television.
03:12 Puts you a little on edge, but the Lord really blesses.
03:17 And we know that tonight the Lord is going to bless
03:20 Pastor Torossian as he opens the Word for us.
03:24 But before Pastor Torossian comes and speaks,
03:28 we going to be blessed by music from our own
03:33 Yvonne Lewis.
03:35 Yvonne is our manager of Dare To Dream.
03:38 And she is going to sing the song, Wonders Never Cease.
03:46 Yvonne, before you sing though, let me just pause and have a
03:49 word of prayer both for you and for Pastor Justin Torossian.
03:54 Father in heaven, we count it a privilege as the Sabbath hours
04:00 here in Thompsonville are just beginning
04:04 to be able to come apart, sit at Your feet,
04:08 and listen as Your servant speaks, opening the
04:11 Word of God to us.
04:14 We ask that You'll bless our dear Pastor Torossian.
04:17 Give him words from on high.
04:20 And Yvonne Lewis as she presents the gospel
04:25 in melody, in singing.
04:27 We pray that You'll also bless her as she now sings,
04:32 Wonders Never Cease.
04:35 In Jesus' name we ask, amen.
04:58 I heard He walked on water and opened blinded eyes;
05:07 the deaf were made to hear again
05:12 and the dead were called to rise.
05:15 Oh, but when I gave Him all my heart,
05:21 a greater thing took place;
05:25 the Lord of every miracle
05:30 redeemed me by His grace.
05:36 And wonders never cease as long as I believe
05:45 and place my life within the nail scarred hands
05:51 that bled for me.
05:54 And when I think I've seen His best,
05:59 I stand amazed to see
06:05 His glory never ends
06:12 and wonders never cease.
06:32 He still walks on water to calm my trouble seas;
06:39 and in the midst of thunder
06:45 I can hear Him speaking peace.
06:48 And though some believe His miracles
06:53 are just part of yesterday,
06:58 I'm living proof His changing power
07:03 will never passed away.
07:10 And wonders never cease as long as I believe
07:19 and place my life within the nail scarred hands
07:24 that bled for me.
07:28 And when I think I've seen His best,
07:33 I stand amazed to see
07:39 His glory never ends.
07:45 Oh, wonders never cease
07:53 as long as I believe
07:57 and I place my life within the nail scarred hands
08:03 that bled for me.
08:06 And when I think I've seen His best,
08:11 I stand amazed to see
08:17 His glory never ends
08:24 and wonders never cease.
08:30 Oh, His glory never ends
08:37 and wonders never cease.
09:11 Amen.
09:14 Good evening.
09:15 Welcome again to our series, Called, Chosen, Faithful.
09:21 Called, Chosen, and Faithful.
09:22 We've been examining together Jesus' message
09:24 to the church of Laodicea.
09:27 And before we begin again tonight, I'd just like to invite
09:31 you to join me in prayer as we especially ask the Holy Spirit
09:34 to be present to help us to understand
09:37 and apply God's word tonight.
09:39 Let's pray.
09:41 And join me in prayer through song if you know it.
09:46 Spirit of the living God,
09:52 fall afresh on me.
09:58 Spirit of the living God,
10:04 fall afresh on me.
10:09 Break me, melt me,
10:15 mold me, and fill me.
10:21 Spirit of the living God,
10:28 fall afresh on me.
10:34 Father in heaven, this is our prayer tonight.
10:37 We Thank You that You are more willing to give us
10:40 the Holy Spirit when we ask than Godly good parents are
10:45 to give good gifts to their children.
10:47 Thank You, Lord, for Your presence here with us tonight.
10:51 We ask that as we study Your Word that we would not
10:54 hear the voice of a man, but that we would hear the
10:57 voice of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.
11:00 Speak to each and every one of us tonight through Your Word.
11:03 We pray in Jesus' precious name.
11:05 Let all God's people say amen.
11:11 It began as a normal Thursday.
11:14 But that day would turn out to be anything but normal.
11:19 The men working over 700 meters, nearly half a mile underground,
11:24 were mining for copper and other minerals in the San José mine
11:28 in the country of Chile.
11:30 Around lunch time the men started to feel vibrations.
11:34 And suddenly, it happened.
11:37 There was a massive explosion.
11:40 When the dust cloud finally settled,
11:43 the 33 men found themselves trapped by a mega block of stone
11:47 45 stories tall and weighing twice as much as
11:52 the Empire State Building.
11:54 This block had broken off from the rest of the mountain
11:57 sealing the men in that mine.
12:00 One of the men, his name Luis Urzúa, the crews supervisor,
12:05 looked up at the stone, the flat stone wall as it seemed,
12:09 and said, "It was like the stone that they put over Jesus' tomb."
12:14 Countries from all over the world rushed to help form
12:17 a rescue plan together to get these men out of the mine.
12:21 The rescue team included three large international
12:24 drilling rig teams, the expertise of the NASA
12:27 space agency, more than a dozen multinational corporations
12:31 from nearly every continent.
12:33 The rescue was truly a global effort.
12:37 No one on the surface knew if the men were alive.
12:41 Many people doubted that they were alive.
12:44 And they thought, "Even if they are alive,
12:46 they most likely will have starved to death
12:50 by the time we find them."
12:52 But their family members and friends gathered together
12:54 in a camp above the mine called, Campamento Esperanza;
13:00 Camp of Hope.
13:02 Friends, these family members didn't give up,
13:04 and they continued praying.
13:06 And finally, after 17 days on August 22, a note written
13:13 in bold red letters appeared taped to a drill bit
13:16 when it was pulled to the surface.
13:18 It simply read, "Estamos bien en el refugio los 33."
13:23 "We are well in the shelter, the 33 of us."
13:27 Everyone of those men had been miraculously spared
13:30 and their lives had been spared.
13:32 They were alive.
13:34 Finally on October 13, 2010, an estimated one billion people
13:40 worldwide were watching.
13:42 Maybe you saw it as it happened.
13:45 Finally, after a total of 69 days, the last miner
13:49 was hoisted up to the surface.
13:51 The world rejoiced.
13:54 Paramedics held up a sign to TV cameras reading,
13:57 "Misión cumplida, Chile."
13:59 "Mission accomplished, Chile."
14:03 Everyone recognized that this was truly a miracle.
14:08 This was indeed a miracle.
14:10 A number of books were written.
14:12 And many of them acknowledging that this was indeed a miracle.
14:15 Author Héctor Tobar says that, "All 33 men recognized
14:19 their story was their most precious possession."
14:23 The British newspaper, Daily Mail, said,
14:25 "A deep religious faith powered this rescue.
14:28 Miners and families and rescuers alike believed their prayers
14:32 were answered."
14:34 Chile's president himself stated,
14:36 "Faith has moved mountains."
14:39 When one of the men, Esteban Rojas, stepped out of the
14:42 rescue capsule, he immediately knelt on the ground,
14:45 folded his hands in thanks to God, raised his hands
14:49 into the air, and rejoiced and gave glory to God
14:52 for the rescue that had been accomplished.
14:56 Friends, the world rejoiced because these men who
14:59 were trapped were finally free.
15:02 They were free at last.
15:06 Our message tonight comes to us from Revelation chapter 3.
15:10 We've been examining together Jesus' message to the
15:12 church of Laodicea.
15:14 And we've learned that beyond just a message to those
15:17 first century Christians in the local literal churches
15:20 in Asia Minor, these seven churches and the letters to them
15:24 from Jesus Himself are symbolic of seven time periods
15:27 of church history down through time until Jesus would
15:32 come again in the clouds of glory.
15:35 Friends, as we've seen, the church of Laodicea,
15:39 as the last church on the list, the last letter is to
15:43 the church of Laodicea.
15:44 And Laodicea is symbolic of God's last day people.
15:50 Friends, Laodicea, as we've seen, was a wealthy city.
15:55 They made eye medication and they manufactured garments
15:59 that they reported across the Mediterranean.
16:02 But Jesus said, in spite of this they were spiritually poor,
16:06 spiritually blind, and spiritually naked.
16:10 Last night in our message, The Physician's Prescription,
16:13 we discovered Jesus' spiritual solution to us.
16:16 The gold that is to make us rich, the symbol of faith
16:19 and heavenly love combined.
16:21 The eye salve that gives us wisdom to not only understand
16:24 the Word of God, but to apply it to our lives;
16:28 which is the Holy Spirit that aids us with this grace
16:31 and wisdom that we need.
16:33 And of course, the robe of Jesus' righteousness,
16:36 which not only cleanses us from our sins,
16:40 but transforms our lives so that Jesus lives out
16:44 His own life through us.
16:46 And our characters become more and more like His,
16:49 woven together as one.
16:52 Friends, Christ has supplied the solution for us.
16:56 The message to Laodicea is a message of stern correction.
17:01 As we've seen, of all the seven churches, the letters to them,
17:05 Jesus said positive things about every single church
17:10 mixed with negative, but nothing positive about Laodicea.
17:15 There was nothing in this strong message to soften the blow.
17:20 Jesus was giving a wake-up, and is giving a wake-up call
17:23 to His people.
17:25 Well friends, as we see, Jesus doesn't do this
17:28 to hurt us, but to help us.
17:30 Revelation 3:19
17:33 Jesus actually tells us this very thing.
17:37 He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."
17:42 Or as the ESV puts it...
17:48 Friends, when God gives us a strong message,
17:51 and when loving parents give us a message of correction,
17:54 it's because they care for us.
17:56 And God loves us too much to go on thinking that we're okay
18:00 when we're really spiritually wretched, miserable,
18:03 poor, blind, naked, and lukewarm.
18:07 God wants us to come to Him to recognize
18:10 our desperate need of Him, and not convince ourselves
18:14 that we are okay.
18:16 Praise the Lord that, as we saw, Christ doesn't just
18:18 diagnose our disease.
18:20 But He offers us the spiritual solution.
18:23 Now last night we noticed something that seems rather
18:26 strange in Revelation 3 in verse 18.
18:30 Actually 17 and 18.
18:32 I want you to look at verse 17 with me first.
18:35 We're going to count again together the number of
18:37 adjectives that Jesus gives about Laodicea in verse 17.
18:41 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy...'"
18:52 How many?
18:53 Five, that's right.
18:55 Now let's look at verse 18 and see how many solutions
18:59 Jesus offers in verse 18.
19:00 And we went through those in our message tonight.
19:20 So we see that in verse 17 Jesus gives five terrible
19:24 descriptions of Laodicea.
19:26 But in verse 18 He only offers three solutions.
19:31 Let me ask you, does God ever do something halfway?
19:35 Absolutely not.
19:36 In fact, we see in the Bible when Jesus healed someone
19:39 who had a withered hand, their hand was as good as the other.
19:42 God never does anything halfway.
19:44 Our God, when He provides a solution,
19:47 it is a complete solution.
19:49 So the question comes, what is the answer
19:53 to being spiritually wretched and spiritually miserable?
19:57 Now, the answer is connected to the last sentence
20:02 of Jesus to Laodicea; verse 21.
20:04 It's not found in this passage, but it's connected to verse 21.
20:09 Verse 21 of Revelation 3 says...
20:22 You may be wondering how are those connected.
20:24 Hold that thought, we're going to come back to it.
20:26 Because you're going to see by the end of this message.
20:29 Friends, you know why Jesus doesn't offer the solution
20:33 in this passage to being wretched and miserable?
20:37 Something I love about the Bible is that it's deep.
20:40 You know, the more we study the Bible, the more we realize
20:44 how little we really know, and how powerful it is
20:47 as not just a book of any kind, but as God's word itself.
20:52 You know, the Bible gives us the answers to what it means to be
20:57 wretched and miserable elsewhere in Scripture.
21:00 God is actually pointing us to the answer elsewhere.
21:03 Listen to this.
21:04 Providentially, the word, "wretched," in Greek
21:07 in this form is, "talaiporos."
21:10 And it's only used in one other place in all the Bible.
21:14 Similarly, the word that is used here for, "wretched,"
21:17 in the Greek form as well, "eleeinóteroi,"
21:21 this form is only ever used one other place
21:24 in all of Scripture.
21:26 So if we go to these places and study the context,
21:29 we can understand what God is telling us it means
21:32 to be spiritually wretched, spiritually miserable.
21:35 And He can give us the solution there as well.
21:39 Friends, the first thing that we see is that
21:45 we are spiritually wretched.
21:47 And let's turn together to Romans chapter 7.
21:49 Let's go to that one place where this word is used,
21:53 the one other place in Scripture.
21:55 Now before we read it together, remember that in order for the
21:59 gospel to be good news, first we must know the bad news.
22:05 The gospel really can't be good news unless we know
22:09 and until we know the bad news.
22:10 And the bad news is that we are wretched.
22:14 We may look alright on the outside, but many of us inside
22:17 are spiritually dead, wretched.
22:21 Wretched literally means horrendous, terrible,
22:25 atrocious, afflicted, tormented, tortured.
22:31 This is the spiritual state of many, even though on the
22:34 outside they're alright.
22:37 Romans 7 starting in verse 21.
22:40 Here, Paul speaking of the pre-converted man, he says...
23:12 Friends, here Paul describing the pre-converted man,
23:16 the state of the pre-converted man, someone who has
23:19 been awakened to the disgust for sin,
23:23 there has been inside of them awakened a hatred for sin,
23:27 but they're still held captive to it.
23:29 This is a person who loves their sin, yet they
23:32 hate it at the same time.
23:34 To be spiritually wretched, we see from this context
23:37 in Romans 7, means to be held in bondage to sin.
23:43 Friends, you know, sometimes in the battle against sin
23:46 we don't fight very hard.
23:48 You know, part of us, our carnal nature wants to sin.
23:53 That certain sinful part of us.
23:56 And rather than running away from our sin like Joseph
23:59 ran away from Potiphar's wife, we crawl away from our sin,
24:04 half hoping that it will catch us somehow.
24:06 Friends, God wants us to flee temptation.
24:10 The Bible says in James 4:7 to submit to God
24:14 and resist the devil, and he will flee from us.
24:17 But often times we do the opposite.
24:20 We resist God and we submit to the devil,
24:23 and we end up choosing to sin.
24:26 Friends, God wants to grant us victory over temptation.
24:32 And if we give ourselves to Him, He'll give us victory
24:35 over the devil and his wiles.
24:37 Now Paul said, "O wretched man that I am,
24:40 who will deliver me from this body of death?"
24:44 Now Paul was speaking of course of the nature,
24:49 the carnal nature that is naturally drawn
24:52 to things that are wrong.
24:54 But it's very interesting that historians and
24:56 Bible commentators actually note that in Paul's day
25:01 Roman soldiers would sometimes chain a wounded enemy soldier
25:06 who they found on the battlefield to a corpse.
25:10 They would chain a soldier to a dead body so that this soldier
25:16 would be stuck next to this corpse, and no doubt end up
25:20 being eaten by wild animals or catching a disease and dying.
25:24 Many commentators suggest that Paul, when he was saying,
25:28 "Who will deliver me from this body of death,"
25:31 was talking about this and making this kind of parallel.
25:35 It's like he was saying that before a person receives
25:37 the power of the Holy Spirit into their lives,
25:40 it's like we're stuck, chained to our sinful selves
25:45 just waiting to die.
25:48 Paul is talking here about the battle against sin,
25:52 the battle against self.
25:54 And you know, the battle against self, the battle against sin,
25:57 is the greatest battle ever fought.
26:00 Alexander the Great conquered the world,
26:03 but he died at the age of 32 in drunkenness because he
26:07 could not conquer the enemy of self.
26:11 By the way, did you know that all sin is selfishness?
26:16 All sin, if you boil it down to its core, is selfishness.
26:21 You know, don't take my word for it.
26:22 Let's see it together from Scripture.
26:24 Now I want to share an equation with you.
26:27 Don't worry, it's not a mathematical equation.
26:30 It's a linguistic equation.
26:32 It's a word equation.
26:34 But it's going to help us clearly understand
26:36 the two opposing principles in the great controversy
26:39 between Christ and Satan.
26:42 I want to show you this equation as it's empty.
26:46 Now love; 1 Corinthians 13:5, tells us that,
26:50 "Love seeketh not her..." What?
26:53 "...her own."
26:54 So love, we could then say, is selfless, right?
26:58 So love is synonymous with selflessness.
27:02 This is one of the definitions.
27:05 It is what Biblical agape love really is.
27:10 So another word for love is selflessness.
27:13 Now in Matthew 22:37-39, when the lawyer asked Jesus
27:18 what the greatest commandment was, Christ said,
27:21 "Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart..."
27:32 So we see here that love is synonymous with law-keeping.
27:39 This is what Paul said in Romans 13 when in verses
27:42 8 through 10 he summarized five of the Ten Commandments,
27:45 and in verse 10 he said...
27:54 So friends, we see that love...
27:55 And we can plug this into our equation.
27:57 ...love results in law-keeping.
28:00 Is that clear from the Bible? Amen.
28:03 This is why Jesus said in John 14:15,
28:05 "If you love Me..." What?
28:08 "...keep My commandments."
28:10 So we see that love, true love, true selflessness,
28:14 leads to not law-breaking, but law-keeping.
28:18 Now let's continue filling in our equation.
28:21 Remember with me the very first time...
28:24 Before we do that, what is the opposite of selflessness?
28:29 Selfishness, right?
28:31 The opposite of selflessness would have to be selfishness.
28:35 These are the two opposing principles, by the way,
28:38 in the great controversy.
28:40 Love and sin.
28:42 Selflessness and selfishness.
28:45 Now what is the opposite of law-keeping?
28:50 Law-breaking.
28:51 Now remember the very first on earth that someone
28:55 broke God's law, when was it?
28:58 In the Garden of Eden. Right?
28:59 Eve saw the fruit, she was tempted by Satan
29:02 through the serpent, and she took the fruit for herself.
29:07 She took it for herself.
29:09 This was founded in selfishness.
29:12 Now our last verse of the equation is 1 John 3:4
29:17 where the Bible says, a familiar verse to many of us,
29:19 that sin is transgression of the law.
29:23 Sin is defined as law-breaking.
29:26 So here we see our equation is completely filled in.
29:30 Sin is selfishness, which leads to law-breaking.
29:35 Friends, these are the two opposing principles
29:38 in the great controversy.
29:39 The one on top; love, selflessness, law-keeping.
29:44 That is from above, it's from heaven.
29:47 The other principle; sin selfishness, law-breaking.
29:51 They are from Satan's side in this great controversy.
29:56 They're from the enemy.
29:57 So here we see these two opposing principles
30:00 in this great controversy.
30:02 And we've seen from the equation that all sin
30:05 is synonymous with selfishness.
30:08 Ellen White echoes this when she says
30:11 in 7 volume, Manuscript Releases...
30:17 And you know, if we really understood this,
30:19 especially as Christians, we would be guarded against
30:23 not only lawlessness and law-breaking,
30:25 but we would be guarded against legalism as well.
30:29 Think about it.
30:30 Legalism is us trying to earn our own way to heaven
30:34 by keeping God's law in our own strength.
30:37 Legalism is "us" focused.
30:40 But friends, the very principle of the law
30:42 is selflessness, not selfishness.
30:45 So if we are keeping the law trying to do it in our
30:48 own power, and trying to gain and earn heaven,
30:52 friends, that is breaking the law in principle.
30:55 So legalism is actually breaking God's law.
30:58 This is why it's been said that he who attempts to earn heaven
31:02 by keeping the law in his own strength
31:04 is attempting an impossibility.
31:06 Also because it's impossible to keep God's law
31:09 in our own strength.
31:10 We need the help of the Holy Spirit.
31:12 We need Jesus dwelling in our heart.
31:15 And friends, when He does, Jesus the law giver
31:18 becomes Jesus the law keeper in you and through you.
31:24 Friends, when we keep God's law out of love for Him,
31:28 with Christ swelling in our hearts by faith,
31:31 it is Christ focused.
31:33 And when our eyes are focused on Christ,
31:35 we can keep His law in His strength.
31:38 So we've seen from Scripture that all sin
31:40 is actually selfishness.
31:43 You name it, whether it's arrogance, pride, self-pity,
31:48 whether it's anger, impatience, lying, lust, laziness,
31:53 you name it, this is the fruit, but the root is selfishness.
32:00 You know, as I was growing up my grandparents,
32:03 Daniel and Gladys Kubrock gave tours at Elmshaven,
32:07 Ellen White's last home in northern California.
32:10 And they gave tours as well as took care of the gardens.
32:13 I remember going out with them and helping them
32:16 weed in the garden sometimes.
32:18 And friends, if you've ever weeded in a garden,
32:21 you know that if you just rip off the top of that weed,
32:24 even if you can't really see much of it at all
32:27 or much of the roots, you know that is only creating
32:31 a temporary solution to a deeper problem.
32:35 That weed is just going to grow right back, isn't it.
32:38 Now friends, it's the exact same in our lives.
32:41 If we try to stop our sinful outward habits
32:44 but don't allow Christ to show us the root of the problem
32:47 and allow Him to remove it from our hearts,
32:49 then it's just going to come back in one way or another.
32:54 As we submit ourselves to Him, only Christ as the heavenly
32:59 Gardener, can weed and pull the weeds of habit
33:03 out of our hearts and give us a heart of selflessness and love.
33:08 And you know, right in the middle of that word,
33:10 "selflessness," is the word, "less."
33:14 And that should be our prayer. Amen?
33:16 Lord, may there may be less of me and more of You.
33:19 This was the prayer of John the Baptist.
33:21 He said, "He must increase and I must decrease."
33:27 Now friends, this will be our prayer when the Holy Spirit
33:30 is working in our lives.
33:32 Paul recognized that divine help from Jesus
33:35 through the Holy Spirit was the only answer
33:38 to captivity to sin, our wretchedness.
33:42 In verse 25 of Romans 7 he discovered the answer,
33:46 he mentions the answer.
33:52 Friends, Paul recognized that the answer, the solution,
33:55 was in Christ.
33:57 He is the only one who can provide the solution
34:00 to our disease of sin, to change our selfish hearts.
34:05 This gospel reality was beautifully put in the book,
34:08 Christ's Object Lessons, page 254.
34:11 There it says...
34:41 Friends, only God can do that.
34:42 That is the miracle that we need from Him.
34:45 You know, you may have habits that you've tried to kick,
34:49 habits that you've tried to get rid of.
34:51 And you've tried and you've failed.
34:54 And you've tried and you've failed.
34:57 Tried again and you've failed.
34:59 Friend, don't give up.
35:02 In the strength of Jesus, confess that sin.
35:05 Ask for forgiveness, and then take the righteous
35:07 right hand of Jesus and let Him help you up.
35:10 And keep walking in Christ.
35:12 Friends, the answer when we fall into sin
35:16 is to come to our Savior, who is the Advocate for us.
35:19 If we sin, 1 John 2:1, we have an Advocate with the Father;
35:23 Jesus Christ the righteous.
35:26 Praise the Lord that if you have fallen,
35:29 you can know that if you confess your sins to Him,
35:31 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
35:35 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
35:38 But that blood of Jesus doesn't just cleanse us.
35:42 It also transforms us.
35:44 You know, just the other night, last night actually,
35:48 a friend of mine who I met here, he told me,
35:52 he said, "You know, I stopped smoking many times,
35:54 but I only quit once."
35:57 Friends, if we fall and we confess our sins to Him,
36:01 we take His hand, we get up, and we keep walking
36:05 in His strength.
36:07 There is power in the blood of Jesus when we come to love Him.
36:12 This is the key.
36:14 When we come to love Him, there develops in our heart
36:17 a hatred for sin.
36:19 Because it's the sin that crucified our Savior.
36:23 Remember two points about Jesus' solution to our wretchedness.
36:26 The first is this.
36:28 When we develop a love for Jesus, we gain a hatred for sin;
36:33 and the struggle begins.
36:35 And when we hear that word, "struggle," it doesn't bring up
36:38 positive imagery in our minds.
36:40 But let me ask, is it good if someone is struggling
36:43 against sin or not?
36:46 Actually, let me ask it this way.
36:49 If you were on a river and you were there on a little boat
36:57 on this river, and you saw someone floating down
37:01 this river and they were face down in the water,
37:04 just a body floating down, would you rather see that
37:07 or would you rather see someone who's, "Help, help."
37:10 Blub, blub, blub, blub.
37:12 "Help." Blub, blub, blub, blub.
37:13 Going back under the water.
37:14 Which would you rather see?
37:17 The second one.
37:18 Someone who is struggling.
37:20 Because the struggle is a sign of life.
37:22 Friends, the struggle is a sign of life.
37:24 And when we are struggling against sin, it means that
37:27 God has placed in us a desire to be free from that thing.
37:31 And when we realize that the only solution is in Christ,
37:34 we'll come to Him.
37:36 We'll ask Him to transform us, to change us, as only He can.
37:42 Struggle is a sign of life.
37:46 You know, sometimes we fall and mess up.
37:49 And rather than taking Jesus' hand and getting back up,
37:52 we excuse it and we say, "Well, you know, I'm only human."
37:57 Or maybe someone else messes up and we say,
37:59 "Well, they're only human.
38:02 What can we expect?"
38:04 Friends, if you're only human,
38:07 then you're not really a Christian.
38:11 If you're only human, you're not really a Christian.
38:16 Don't take my word for it.
38:17 Let's go to 2 Peter 1, 2 Peter 1:3-4.
38:22 This is beautiful.
38:24 Let's start in verse 2.
38:25 "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of
38:28 God and Jesus our Lord as His divine power has
38:31 given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
38:35 through the knowledge of Him who has called us
38:36 by glory and virtue..."
38:38 Here it is.
38:39 "...by which have been given to us exceeding great
38:42 and precious promises, that by these you might be
38:46 partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
38:50 that is in the world through lust."
38:52 Friends, as Christians, we have the privilege
38:54 of being partakers of the divine nature.
38:57 That means that the divinity of Christ, as He lives in our
39:01 hearts, is lived out in our humanity.
39:03 And things can take place, victory can happen,
39:06 when we failed and tried, and failed and tried, and failed.
39:10 Jesus can grant us the victory.
39:14 Friends, praise the Lord that when Christ comes
39:16 to dwell in our hearts, all things are possible.
39:19 Christ's Object Lessons, page 333,
39:22 "As the will of man cooperates with the will of God..."
39:36 Friends, we serve a fair God.
39:38 And He doesn't require of us anything that is not
39:40 possible in His strength.
39:43 You know, when Christ dwells in our hearts,
39:46 the One who is Omnipotent is there.
39:49 And He can grant us the victory that we could
39:51 never have on our own.
39:54 You know, His blood not only offers us pardon from the past,
39:57 but power for victory now in the present.
40:02 To follow Jesus means that we'll be signing up for the greatest
40:06 battle that was ever fought.
40:08 It's the battle against self.
40:11 But Christ guarantees us the victory.
40:14 And the reason He can guarantee us that victory is because
40:17 He Himself has won that battle.
40:19 You see, Jesus walked this earth, lived in human flesh,
40:23 experienced temptations beyond what we will ever feel
40:26 because He had capacities and abilities far above
40:30 what we have, but Jesus never sinned in one single point.
40:34 He lived a perfect sinless life.
40:37 John 14:30, Jesus said, "The prince of this world is coming,
40:41 and he has nothing in Me."
40:43 Hebrews 4:15 says, "He was tempted in all points
40:46 like as we are, yet without sin."
40:49 1 Peter 2:22, "He did no sin, neither was guile
40:54 found in His mouth."
40:55 Brothers and sisters, Jesus can give us the victory over sin.
40:59 Because He Himself won the battle against sin
41:04 in human flesh.
41:06 Friends, praise God that Christ has walked more
41:09 than a mile in our shoes.
41:11 He knows what it's like to struggle.
41:13 But friends, the same victory that He won
41:17 He wants to grant to us by living out His life within us.
41:23 Every time He was tempted to sin, He prayed,
41:25 "Not My will, Father, but Thy will be done."
41:30 Friends, His heart of love, as we behold Christ on Calvary,
41:36 the ultimate display of selfless love,
41:38 His heart of love for us awakens love in our hearts for Him.
41:47 In the words of Romans 5:5, "The love of God is
41:50 shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit."
41:53 You know, right after that verse, as we mentioned,
41:56 in Romans 7:25, Paul launches into Romans chapter 8
42:00 which is all about victory that Christ offers us
42:03 through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
42:06 And go check out that chapter.
42:07 It is powerful. You will be blessed.
42:10 Now remember, as we behold Christ, the sinless One,
42:13 we gain a hatred for sin; and the struggle begins.
42:17 Second thing to remember about our wretchedness,
42:20 the blood of Jesus not only offers us pardon from the past,
42:23 but power for victory in the present.
42:27 Jesus Himself has won the victory over sin,
42:30 and He is able to weed the sins out of your heart
42:33 as well as out of mine.
42:35 So we've discovered the answer to the first of the
42:38 two dilemma's about wretchedness.
42:42 The first of the two dilemma's, which is being
42:44 spiritually wretched.
42:46 Now what about spiritually miserable?
42:50 Come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
42:52 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is the one other place in Scripture
42:56 where this word is mentioned, this word, "miserable."
43:01 Now it's in the context, and let's start in
43:04 verse 16 together.
43:05 1 Corinthians 15 starting in verse 16.
43:23 Friends, in verse 19 it continues on and it says...
43:33 This is that same word.
43:35 And it's in the context of death.
43:38 First of all, we are wretched.
43:40 And that is in the context of bondage to sin.
43:43 The second word, "miserable," is in the context of death.
43:46 So here, miserable means that we are facing the death sentence.
43:52 We are facing the death penalty.
43:53 But friends, praise the Lord for the good news of verse 20.
43:57 Let's read verse 20 together.
44:07 Friends, death got Methuselah at 969.
44:11 It got Abraham at 175.
44:14 Death got Adam at 930.
44:16 It got Jesus at 33, but He rose again.
44:20 Friends, death could not hold down the giver of life.
44:24 He rose from the dead.
44:26 And praise the Lord that He did.
44:28 Matthew chapter 28, the women came to the tomb.
44:31 They waited to embalm His body because it was a lot of work.
44:34 The Bible says they rested according to the commandment
44:37 on the Sabbath day.
44:38 When they came to the tomb, the earth had quaked.
44:41 An angel of the Lord had descended, rolled back
44:44 the stone from the door of the tomb.
44:46 The Bible says His countenance was like lightening.
44:49 His clothing was white as snow.
44:52 In verse 5, the angel said to the women...
45:10 Friends, you know why Jesus didn't open the door
45:14 and roll back the stone from that tomb Himself?
45:17 Because when Jesus rose from the dead,
45:19 He rose as King of kings and Lord of lords.
45:22 And Kings don't open doors.
45:25 Servants open doors for them.
45:27 And the angel, His servant, opened that door for Jesus.
45:31 Friends, Christ conquered death.
45:34 Death could not keep Him down.
45:39 Death could not keep down our Savior.
45:43 "For God so loved the world that He gave
45:46 His only begotten Son..."
45:54 Friends, when Jesus died and rose again,
45:58 He did not just conquer the first death, the death of sleep
46:03 that we die when we fall asleep in death here.
46:07 Jesus conquered the second death.
46:09 This famous verse, John 3:16, we all know people who have
46:12 given their lives to Christ, but who have fallen asleep in death.
46:16 This verse is talking about the second death that Jesus
46:19 conquered and won the victory over.
46:22 Hebrews 2:14 mentions this.
46:24 It says, "For as much then as the children are partakers
46:27 of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise
46:30 took part of the same; that through death
46:33 He might destroy him that had the power of death;
46:36 that is, the devil."
46:38 Friends, Christ, through His death, destroyed
46:43 the power of the devil, and the power of death itself.
46:47 Revelation 20:14 speaks of the future reality
46:51 that death itself will cease to exist.
46:57 Praise the Lord for the day that death will die.
47:00 "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire."
47:04 This is what the Bible tells us will be a future reality.
47:08 Death itself will die.
47:10 Friends, when Jesus rose from the dead, He dealt
47:14 the deadly blow to the devil.
47:16 He established the day that death would die.
47:20 He gave death the death sentence.
47:23 Death will cease to exist.
47:25 Friends, praise God from whom all blessings flow,
47:29 that death itself will one day soon be no more.
47:34 Friends, on that day this will be a reality; Revelation 21:3-4.
47:42 "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men..."
48:08 Friends, because Jesus rose from the dead,
48:11 we too can rise from the dead.
48:15 We too can receive victory over sin and over death itself
48:20 if we have united our lives to Him through baptism.
48:25 Friends, we can receive victory over death.
48:29 And you know, when He returns with all the angels
48:31 and completes His rescue mission to those who are
48:35 trapped in this darkened world here below,
48:37 we will all praise God for the answers to prayer
48:40 that have resulted in our deliverance.
48:43 And when we, with the redeemed from all ages,
48:45 arrive in heaven, I imagine that the rescue workers,
48:49 the holy angels, will have banners that say,
48:51 "Mission complete.
48:53 Planet earth, mission complete."
48:57 Now friends, when we have entered into His kingdom,
49:00 no doubt like that man, like Esteban Rojas,
49:06 we will have made it into the kingdom
49:09 just like he made it out of that Chilean mine,
49:12 and we'll fall on our knees and we'll raise our hands,
49:16 and we'll give glory to God, for we will have overcome.
49:22 Friends, because Christ received the victory
49:28 through His resurrection, He's given us the victory over death.
49:34 Praise the Lord for the gift that He has
49:36 given us in eternal life.
49:40 Jesus' final words to the Laodiceans are for you.
49:46 Revelation 3:21 says...
50:03 Friends, let me ask you, what if the last man
50:07 trapped in that Chilean mine in 2010
50:11 sent back word to the top that he didn't want to come back up?
50:20 What if the last man said,
50:22 "You know, I kind of like it down here."
50:26 That would be ridiculous.
50:29 But friends, what Christ has done in the rescue mission
50:34 for us, to offer us eternity, is infinitely greater.
50:40 But some of us are content to stay in our sin,
50:44 in our state of wretchedness.
50:47 The Bible says, Luke 4:16, Jesus' first words
50:51 in His public ministry, He quoted the book of Isaiah
50:54 where it says that He came to set at liberty
50:57 those who are oppressed.
51:01 Friend, tonight will you accept the victory
51:03 over sin that He's offering you?
51:07 You know, Christ will enable us, He'll grant us
51:10 the ability to overcome.
51:13 His promise is sure.
51:15 If we surrender to Him, He'll live out His life
51:18 through us and in us.
51:22 Tonight there's something in your life that
51:23 you're struggling with.
51:26 There's a certain sin that keeps pulling you down.
51:29 You've tried and you've failed.
51:32 You've tried and you've failed.
51:36 And friends, you know that you cannot enter those pearly gates,
51:40 you cannot enter into His kingdom
51:41 with this still in your life.
51:45 Maybe it's an addiction.
51:48 Something that's holding you in chains, and you feel like
51:52 you can't break free.
51:55 Maybe it's a sexual addiction.
51:57 Maybe it's a drug addiction.
51:59 Maybe it's an addiction to gambling.
52:01 Maybe it's video games.
52:04 Friends, maybe it's something that's become a part of you
52:09 and engrained in your habit life.
52:11 Maybe it's lying.
52:13 Maybe it's swearing, impatience.
52:17 You name it.
52:19 Christ can give you the victory over that sin.
52:23 Christ came to set the captives free.
52:26 And He's coming back for a people who will have overcome
52:29 by His blood, who will have surrendered to Him to the
52:33 point that they would rather die than sin against their God.
52:38 Maybe it's a combination of these things, friend,
52:40 but whatever you're struggling with,
52:42 the Lord has brought it to your mind just now.
52:47 If you want to say in this moment,
52:49 "Lord, take this from me.
52:54 Break me free from these chains.
52:57 Lord, I submit myself to You and I trust You to do the
53:01 work that only You can do.
53:04 God, break me free from this sin."
53:06 If there's something in your minds that you want victory for,
53:11 and tonight you want to say, "God, I give myself to You.
53:15 Live out Your life within me.
53:17 Break me free from this.
53:20 I want to be in Your kingdom.
53:22 I want to be there for the welcome party.
53:25 I want to see Jesus and spend eternity with Him.
53:29 Break me free from this sin."
53:30 If that's your desire, I want to invite you to raise
53:32 your hand where you are
53:34 to say, "Lord, break me free from these chains.
53:37 I trust You to do so."
53:39 Amen. Amen.
53:45 Maybe you've seen tonight for the first time
53:49 that through His death and His resurrection
53:52 Jesus can grant us victory over both the first death
53:56 and the second death.
53:59 Friends, I want to share something very important.
54:01 Please listen closely.
54:03 God is a God of courtesy.
54:06 He never forces Himself on anyone.
54:11 It's against His nature of love.
54:13 And the victory over death for us, eternal life,
54:18 can only come to us through a very special union with Jesus.
54:23 I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to Romans 6.
54:28 The Bible talks about this special union.
54:33 Romans 6 starting in verse 4.
55:01 Friends, do you want the assurance tonight
55:04 that if you were to fall asleep in the sleep of death,
55:09 that when Christ returns in the clouds of glory
55:13 that you would be raised to life to spend eternity with Him?
55:19 Maybe you haven't given your life into the Lord's hands yet
55:24 and given yourself completely to Him through baptism,
55:29 and you want to say tonight, "Lord, I want to
55:31 be united with Christ through baptism.
55:35 I want to be united with Him in this symbol of death and rebirth
55:39 so that if I should die before He comes,
55:42 I would be raised to life to go home for eternity."
55:47 Friend, if that is your desire tonight,
55:50 I want to invite you where you are to just stand.
55:54 If you have not yet been baptized or you want to be
55:57 re-baptized because you've strayed from the Lord,
56:01 I want to invite you to stand where you are.
56:02 Praise the Lord.
56:04 Amen, amen.
56:06 And if you're joining us from home and you want to study
56:09 toward your baptism, please call the number on your screen.
56:13 Someone from the team here at 3ABN will put you in contact
56:16 with someone who can come and study the Bible with you
56:19 and introduce you to more of the truth of God's word,
56:22 so that you, one day very soon, can go through those
56:25 sweet waters of baptism and have the assurance of eternal life.
56:31 Victory, not only over the sin that binds you,
56:34 but victory over death itself when Christ comes very soon.
56:39 Amen.
56:40 Friends, let's seal our decision with prayer.
56:47 Our Father God, we thank You for the victory that You offer us.
56:52 Lord, we are wretched and miserable.
56:56 We are battling sin and facing death.
56:59 But we thank You that Christ, through the indwelling of His
57:02 Holy Spirit, can live out His life within us.
57:06 That Jesus can give us victory over the chains that bind us.
57:09 He can set the captives free.
57:13 God, tonight some of us have made commitments
57:16 for baptism into Christ.
57:19 We pray that You will seal those decisions
57:21 for now and for eternity.
57:23 May each of us be there on that day when You return,
57:28 and we can go home to heaven with You for eternity.
57:33 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.


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Revised 2015-12-10