Anchors of Truth

Overcome

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Justin Torossian

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000160A


00:14 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:16 live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:23 Well we welcome you to our last of the Anchors series here
00:28 with Justin Torossian.
00:30 And it has really been a blessing.
00:34 This afternoon's topic is, Overcome.
00:39 And we're looking forward to this.
00:42 It's been a series involving the Laodicean church,
00:46 of which the Bible tells us we are.
00:49 But it does tell us that this church is victorious.
00:53 And that's the great message that we hear today from Justin.
00:59 I'd like to tell you a little bit about Justin.
01:01 In addition to the fact that he is the great great great
01:06 grandson of James and Ellen White, this young man
01:10 has a real passion for evangelism.
01:13 He's still in seminary, but he has taken leaves
01:17 to hold evangelistic meetings.
01:19 He's held meetings in nine countries around the world
01:23 working with Share Him and other groups
01:25 and presenting the gospel.
01:28 When a young man that has that kind of love for this message,
01:31 you know that he loves the Lord and that the Lord is using him.
01:36 He loves working with young people in a very special way.
01:40 And God has given him a real gift in that way.
01:45 And he also is a normal person.
01:50 Loving the mountains and the outdoors, and loves to hike
01:53 and get out in nature.
01:55 And this just gives you a little background for Justin.
02:00 Currently he's at Andrews University where he is
02:03 a research assistant and a graduate assistant
02:06 for Dr. Jerry Moon who is in the history area there,
02:12 church history department, of Andrews University.
02:16 And he is working, Justin is, on his Masters of Divinity degree.
02:24 I know that many of you have really been
02:27 impressed with this series.
02:29 Last night I got a call from Kenneth Cox.
02:32 "Who is this young man," he said.
02:34 And he wanted to know more about Justin.
02:38 So I was able to share a few things with him.
02:41 So this is an exciting time.
02:43 We love Anchors.
02:45 Anchors, normally, we've had some of our
02:48 more experienced speakers.
02:51 But this time we said we wanted a couple of younger speakers
02:55 to come and to present to us.
02:58 And Justin was one of those that was chosen.
03:01 There will be another one in December.
03:03 And you'll be able to get acquainted once again
03:08 with one of our younger speakers.
03:10 Before Justin comes, our friend and our pastor,
03:16 and a man that we love so much, John Lomacang,
03:18 is going to come sing a song that we all love,
03:22 at least I do, Wonderful Merciful Savior.
03:42 Wonderful, merciful Savior,
03:48 precious Redeemer and Friend;
03:54 who would have thought that a Lamb could
04:00 rescue the souls of men.
04:05 Oh, You rescue the souls of men.
04:16 Counselor, Comforter, Keeper,
04:22 Spirit we long to embrace;
04:29 You offer hope when our hearts have
04:35 hopelessly lost our way.
04:40 Oh, we've hopelessly lost our way.
04:48 You are the One that we praise,
04:54 You are the One we adore;
05:00 You give the healing and grace our
05:07 hearts always hunger for.
05:12 Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
05:19 You are the One that I praise,
05:26 You are the One I adore;
05:32 You give the healing and grace my
05:38 heart always hungers for.
05:43 Oh, my heart always hunger for.
05:54 Almighty, infinite Father,
06:00 faithfully loving Your own;
06:07 here in our weakness You find us
06:13 falling before Your throne.
06:18 Oh, we're falling before Your throne.
06:26 You are the One that we praise,
06:32 You are the One we adore;
06:38 You give the healing and grace our
06:44 hearts always hunger for.
06:49 Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
06:57 You are the One that we praise,
07:04 You are the One we adore;
07:10 You give the healing and grace our
07:16 hearts always hunger for.
07:21 Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
07:42 Praise God that Jesus is our wonderful, merciful Savior.
07:49 It's been a blessing to be here with you at this
07:51 Anchors Of Truth.
07:52 And it's hard to believe that we're already at our fifth
07:55 and final message together.
07:57 It's really flown by, and you know, I have been
08:00 tremendously blessed to be able to be here with you
08:03 sharing the Word of God.
08:04 And in doing so, the Lord has spoken to my own
08:07 heart once again.
08:09 We've been examining Jesus' message together to the
08:12 church of Laodicea.
08:14 And our series, Called, Chosen, Faithful,
08:20 has been pointing us as to how to be just that.
08:24 Not just called, not just chosen,
08:26 but faithful until Jesus comes again.
08:29 Before we begin, I'd just like to invite you to
08:32 join me one more time as we ask God's presence here in prayer.
08:40 Our Father in heaven, we thank You so much
08:44 for the privilege of prayer.
08:47 And that because of Jesus we can boldly come
08:50 before the throne of grace.
08:52 Lord, we ask that You would speak to our hearts and minds
08:56 once again in the way that only You can.
08:59 We pray that as we examine the last words of Jesus to Laodicea,
09:04 that beautiful promise to overcome,
09:07 that we would not only be inspired, but Lord, that
09:10 we would be transformed.
09:12 May we not just hear information, but experience
09:16 life transformation just now.
09:18 We pray in Jesus name, amen.
09:23 It was a few years ago, and I was driving
09:27 in Fresno, California where I lived and was
09:29 working as a pastor.
09:31 And I was listening to a radio station.
09:33 And I loved the beautiful Christian music on this station.
09:38 But as I was listening, there was an advertisement
09:41 that came on for a book.
09:43 And this particular radio station believes and teaches
09:49 that God has foreordained a certain amount of people
09:54 to be saved and the rest of humanity to be lost.
09:57 And that we have no choice in the matter.
09:59 So they were advertising for this book.
10:01 And I'll never forget, they said, "To buy your copy of,
10:05 'I Hope God Saves Me,' call 1-800-da da da - da da da da."
10:11 And I though, "I hope God saves me?"
10:14 How many of you would want to read a book called,
10:16 "I Hope God Saves Me"?
10:19 Do we have to wonder, is God just picking and choosing
10:23 who's going to be saved and who is going to be lost?
10:27 Our message today is entitled, Overcome.
10:31 And we're going to answer the question,
10:34 do we have to wonder and be in fear and doubt
10:38 as to if we are in a saving relationship with Jesus
10:41 or can we be assured of salvation right now?
10:47 In our series together we've been taking a look at
10:49 Jesus' message to the church of Laodicea.
10:52 And we know that besides applying to the first century
10:56 local literal churches there in Asia Minor,
11:00 these churches were symbolic of seven time periods of
11:03 church history down through time
11:06 until Jesus comes again in the clouds of glory.
11:08 And this has been believed and taught by many of the great
11:13 Protestant reformers who held to the historicist
11:15 view of Bible prophecy.
11:17 And we today know that these seven churches
11:20 are representative of seven time periods of church history.
11:23 So the last church on the list, Laodicea, is the time period
11:29 in which we find ourselves today.
11:33 We've seen that the Laodicean message, the message from
11:36 Jesus Himself, is a strong message.
11:39 But it's a message given out of love.
11:42 He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."
11:46 Or, "I discipline and correct."
11:48 And we know that God, our Father, our heavenly Father,
11:51 loves us so much that like a loving parent,
11:54 when we need discipline and correction,
11:56 He doesn't just let us continue on in our mistakes.
11:59 But He warns us of our danger.
12:02 But as we've seen, Jesus, the heavenly Physician,
12:05 does not just diagnose our disease of sin,
12:08 but He offers us the solution.
12:11 And that is the kind of God we serve.
12:13 He doesn't just point out our problems,
12:15 but He provides the solution for us.
12:18 Praise God for that.
12:20 We've seen that Jesus, the heavenly Physician,
12:23 to provide this spiritual prescription,
12:27 had to give His own life to pay the price.
12:31 And we've seen together what that prescription is,
12:34 that spiritual solution to our problem of being
12:38 wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
12:41 We've seen that Jesus Himself received the victory
12:44 over sin in His life, and the victory over death.
12:48 And He can offer that to us as well.
12:52 We've learned together that the meaning of the name, Laodicea,
12:55 contrary to what many people believe,
12:59 as they commonly think that it means, lukewarm,
13:02 we saw that lukewarm was a description of Laodicea,
13:05 but not its definition.
13:07 The definition of Laodicea is, people of the judgment.
13:12 This message is a message for God's church
13:16 during the time of God's pre-advent
13:18 or investigative judgment.
13:21 Now contrary to what many of us believe,
13:26 when we hear the word, judgment, do we think of something
13:29 negative or positive?
13:32 Something negative.
13:33 Now contrary to this, in the Bible, "judgment," primary
13:38 meaning is actually a positive one.
13:41 Did you know that?
13:42 Some people who have thrown away the idea of the
13:44 investigative judgment, the biblical teaching of the
13:47 pre-advent or investigative judgment, have done so
13:50 because they could not reconcile assurance of salvation
13:53 with the judgment.
13:55 But friends, rather than being a threat to our
13:59 assurance of salvation, the teaching and the biblical truth
14:03 of the investigative judgment establishes
14:06 assurance in our salvation.
14:08 The Bible's primary meaning when it comes to judgment
14:12 is a positive one.
14:13 Let's take a look at it together.
14:15 I hope you brought your Bibles.
14:16 I see many of you did here today.
14:18 And if you're at home, go ahead and grab your Bible.
14:20 We're going to be using it.
14:22 Let's look at Psalm 76:8-9.
14:27 Psalm 76:8-9
14:29 Here, David speaks of judgment.
14:34 And we're going to see it is a positive statement.
14:39 Verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 76.
14:42 I'll be reading from the New King James Version.
14:45 "You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
14:48 the earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment
14:53 to deliver all the oppressed of the earth."
14:56 So here David says that God arose for judgment,
14:59 but he doesn't say it was some negative thing.
15:00 God arose to judgment in order to deliver the oppressed.
15:05 Let's look now at Psalm 35:24.
15:08 The biblical picture of judgment is primarily a positive one.
15:13 Psalm 35:24
15:16 Here David says, "Vindicate me, O Lord my God,
15:19 according to Your righteousness;
15:21 and let them not rejoice over me."
15:24 This word, "vindicate," is also translated in many versions,
15:28 "Judge me, O Lord."
15:30 So David was actually praying, "God, judge me."
15:34 When God judges us, and our lives are in Christ,
15:38 it means that He is justifying us.
15:40 Every time that we are cleansed from our sins,
15:43 we pass through judgment.
15:45 And God decides that we are righteous.
15:49 And you know, God doesn't just say that we're righteous.
15:53 There is, in theological circles, dispute as to
15:56 whether the robe of Jesus' righteousness is imparted
16:00 or imputed, and whether it's given to us
16:03 and whether it transforms us right away.
16:07 And this is discussed in theological circles.
16:10 And friends, it's because God's robe of righteousness
16:13 is both imputed and imparted to us.
16:17 God cannot lie, Titus 1:2.
16:20 God cannot lie.
16:21 So when He declares that you are righteous,
16:24 the creative power of His word makes that a reality.
16:29 God's righteousness, His robe of righteousness,
16:33 justifies and cleanses us.
16:35 Justification and sanctification.
16:39 You know, the New Testament also echoes this
16:41 positive view of judgment.
16:44 Positive at least for those who are in Christ.
16:46 Let's turn to 1 John 4:17.
16:50 1 John 4 and reading in verse 17.
16:58 Here, John says to the church, "Love has been perfected
17:02 among us in this: that we may have boldness in the
17:05 day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world."
17:10 John is saying, "We can have confidence, boldness,
17:13 in the time of judgment if our lives have been
17:16 surrendered to Jesus Christ."
17:18 One last verse in the New Testament to establish this.
17:22 Romans 8:1
17:24 Beautiful chapter we mentioned the other night in our message,
17:27 Wretched, Miserable, Victorious.
17:30 This chapter is all about the indwelling and infilling
17:33 of the Holy Spirit.
17:34 There in verse 1 Paul says, "There is therefore..."
17:37 Now, how much condemnation?
17:40 "...no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus;
17:44 who do not walk according to the flesh,
17:46 but according to the Spirit."
17:49 Friends, if we are in Christ, there is no condemnation.
17:52 And judgment is good news.
17:57 In the Old Testament times, things were different than the
18:00 judicial system we have today.
18:02 We often, when we hear the term, investigative judgment,
18:07 or God's judgment, we have a picture of God on His throne,
18:13 and a person standing there and Jesus with His arm around them,
18:18 and God the Father as the judge behind
18:21 maybe a desk of some sort.
18:23 And the person has their head and they're hanging
18:26 their head in shame.
18:27 Jesus has His arm around them and He's pleading their cause.
18:31 But friends, in the Old Testament, the picture
18:33 of judgment, a court of justice, was very different
18:36 than what we have today.
18:38 You see, in the Old Testament times, the judge
18:41 was also the advocate.
18:44 So the person who is making decisions in judgment
18:47 was also looking for a way to acquit the person,
18:50 to justify them, to declare them as indeed righteous
18:54 and able to go free.
18:56 This is why in John chapter 5 Jesus says the Father has
18:59 committed how much judgment to the Son?
19:01 All judgment to the Son.
19:03 1 John 2:1 says that we have an Advocate with the Father.
19:06 Jesus Christ the righteous.
19:09 That is good news. Amen?
19:11 Jesus is not only our Advocate, but He is also our Judge.
19:17 The primary meaning of God's judgment in Scripture
19:21 is a positive one.
19:22 To those who are in Christ it means vindication.
19:26 It means justification.
19:28 Judgment means salvation.
19:31 But if we haven't given our lives to Christ,
19:33 it means condemnation.
19:35 But friends, if we have surrendered to Christ,
19:38 we can have peace and assurance even in this time of God's
19:43 investigative judgment.
19:45 Praise God for that. Amen?
19:47 And through His people, in this judgment, God will display
19:51 His character of love to the world.
19:53 And not only the world, but to the on looking universe.
19:56 In this great controversy between good and evil,
19:59 God's character will be vindicated.
20:02 It will be seen that indeed He is a God of love.
20:05 And His people will perfectly reflect that picture.
20:10 Judgment to those in Christ brings joy, not fear.
20:15 Now out there floating in the unbiblical waters of doctrine
20:20 is a teaching called, "Once saved always saved."
20:24 It's a teaching that teaches, at one little point in time
20:29 in the past, if you gave your life to Christ
20:32 then you're covered.
20:33 No matter what you do from that point on,
20:36 you can't lose your eternal salvation.
20:39 You'll be fine no matter what.
20:41 But friends, the Bible doesn't teach that this is the case.
20:45 Can a saved person choose to be lost?
20:48 Absolutely. We see some biblical examples.
20:50 King Saul is one example.
20:52 We see Judas who literally walked with Jesus,
20:55 he was His disciple, but Judas chose to be lost.
21:00 Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10:12.
21:03 There, Paul expresses this reality.
21:13 Hebrews 3:12 is another place where the Bible
21:17 communicates this, that it's possible for us to choose
21:21 to give our lives to Jesus, but then to turn from Him
21:25 and to go the opposite direction.
21:27 A saved person can choose to be lost.
21:30 Hebrews 3:12, Paul says...
21:41 Paul was talking to believers here, and he said,
21:44 "Look, be careful.
21:45 If there's an evil heart, a doubting heart
21:47 of unbelief in you, you can depart from the living God."
21:51 Friends, God wants us to ask good questions.
21:55 But He wants us to ask questions and seek for the answers.
21:59 Not to ask doubting questions.
22:02 You know, the difference between essentially doubting
22:04 and asking good questions is that when we ask
22:07 a question, we really want to know.
22:09 When we're doubting, we're not even really asking
22:12 or desiring to know.
22:13 We've already almost made up our minds.
22:17 Now friends, the opposite of this one extreme of
22:20 once you're saved you're always saved,
22:23 is another ditch.
22:24 It's like, on the Christian journey we're walking on a road.
22:28 And as we're walking this pathway to heaven, there are
22:30 ditches on both sides of the road.
22:33 One extreme and the other extreme.
22:35 And the devil is happy for us to be in either ditch
22:38 off of the road, because it means we're no longer
22:41 continuing effectively on the journey to heaven.
22:44 The opposite of this teaching is that you can never
22:48 really be sure of your salvation.
22:52 And this is also a deception from Satan.
22:54 Let's turn together to Jesus' words in Luke chapter 10.
22:59 He had just sent His disciples out.
23:02 They had returned from their first missionary journey.
23:05 They were so excited.
23:07 God had worked miracles through them.
23:09 And they came back and they said, "Lord, even the demons
23:12 are subject to us in Your name."
23:15 Friends, look at what Jesus had to say to them.
23:18 Luke 10:12 says...
23:21 Excuse me.
23:23 Luke 10:20
23:25 Here, Jesus tells them...
23:37 Friends, you know, when the Bible teaches
23:39 when we give our lives to Christ in baptism,
23:42 our names are entered into the Book of Life in heaven.
23:46 Every time that we sin, the Bible teaches as well that
23:49 our sins are written in the book of record.
23:52 And in God's judgment at the end of time,
23:55 one of two things will be blotted out.
23:58 If we have not confessed those sins,
24:00 our names will be blotted out of the Book of Life.
24:03 But the good news, the good news of the gospel is that
24:07 if we confess those sins and repent of them,
24:10 God will blot out our sins with the blood of Jesus.
24:14 Praise God that to those in Christ,
24:17 no one need fear the judgment; but it can bring joy.
24:21 Now Jesus here said that, "You should rejoice,"
24:25 He told His disciples, "because your name is..." What?
24:29 "...written in heaven."
24:30 Simply question, could the disciples rejoice
24:35 if they didn't really know their names were written in heaven?
24:38 Yes or no?
24:40 They couldn't.
24:41 Jesus was saying here, "You can be sure,
24:44 you can rejoice, that because you've given your lives to Me
24:47 and you're following Me, that your names
24:49 are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
24:52 Your names are written in heaven."
24:53 They could be sure of that.
24:55 Another place where the Bible communicates
24:57 this beautiful truth is 1 John 5:12-13.
25:04 1 John 5 talks about the good news that we can be sure
25:10 of our salvation when we've given our lives to Christ
25:13 and surrendered our all.
25:14 1 John 5:12-13
25:19 There John says, "He who has the Son has life.
25:23 He who does not have the Son does not have life.
25:26 These things I have written to you who believe
25:28 in the name of the Son of God that you may know that
25:31 you have eternal life, and that you may continue
25:34 to believe in the name of the Son of God."
25:37 Friends, He said, "I have written these things
25:39 to you so you can know, not wonder,
25:42 but know that you have eternal life."
25:45 We can be sure of our salvation, friends,
25:48 if we've given our lives into the precious hands of Jesus
25:51 and we're surrendering to Him moment by moment.
25:55 Ellen White echoed this when in a talk to the General Conference
25:59 in 1903 she said, "We must not base our salvation
26:03 upon supposition..."
26:26 Friends, as Christians God wants to share the gospel through us.
26:31 Matthew 24:14, Jesus there says that when the gospel
26:36 of the kingdom is preached in all the world as a witness
26:39 to all nations, then shall the end come.
26:42 And the word, "witness," there is the Greek word
26:44 of which the root is, "martureó."
26:47 It's the word from which we get martyr.
26:50 In other words, this word does not just mean a profession.
26:54 You know, we need to preach the gospel and to
26:56 share the gospel, amen?
26:57 But God wants to give a living demonstration to the world
27:01 of the power of the gospel when it transforms our lives.
27:05 A witness.
27:07 Witnessing is not just something we do.
27:08 A witness is something that we are.
27:11 A friends, every one of you in this room and within the
27:14 sound of my voice has a sphere of influence
27:17 that no one else has.
27:19 You know, you can reach people that certain preachers
27:22 and teachers cannot reach.
27:24 And God has given all of us the privilege
27:26 of sharing the life changing power of His gospel.
27:31 You know, we can walk so closely with God
27:36 that we can be like Enoch.
27:38 Genesis 5:24 tells us a little bit about Enoch.
27:42 There's not a lot said in the Bible about him,
27:44 but what is there is incredibly powerful.
27:47 He's mentioned in the New and the Old Testament.
27:50 Genesis 5:21, "Enoch lived sixty-five years,
27:54 and begot Methuselah."
27:55 Excuse me, verse 24.
27:57 "And Enoch walked with God..."
28:03 Enoch walked so closely with God that one day, I imagine,
28:08 that as Enoch was walking with God, God said,
28:11 "Enoch, why don't you just come to My house.
28:13 It's closer."
28:15 Friends, we can walk and talk with God in the same way.
28:18 Enoch walked with God through prayer.
28:21 And you know, we can train, by God's grace and by His strength,
28:24 we can train our very thought processes to be prayer.
28:28 You know how you think to yourself, "Oh, I need to
28:29 remember to write a 'to do' list.
28:31 I need to write this. I need to..."
28:32 And you're thinking to yourself, and there's that voice
28:35 that you're thinking, speaking to yourself, so to speak.
28:38 We can actually train that to be conversation with God
28:42 where we're constantly praying.
28:45 And this is what Paul meant when he said,
28:46 "Pray without ceasing."
28:49 We can constantly be praying to Him
28:52 and in conversation with Him,
28:53 and walking and talking with Jesus.
28:57 Louis Pasteur was looking into a microscope
29:02 by one of his lab assistants.
29:05 And he was so still that the man decided not to say anything,
29:11 and he just walked out.
29:13 But as he was walking out, Louis Pasteur said,
29:15 "Yes, do you need something?"
29:18 And the man said, "Oh I'm sorry.
29:19 I thought you were praying."
29:21 And as he was looking into that microscope, he said,
29:24 "I was."
29:26 Friends, in everything that we do, every aspect of our lives,
29:30 we can be in communion with God.
29:33 He wants to walk with us.
29:35 He wants to talk with us.
29:37 He wants to spend time with us.
29:39 And praise the Lord for that.
29:41 And as we walk and talk with Him, as we spend time
29:44 in communion with Him day after day, moment by moment,
29:49 it is possible for Him to keep us from stumbling,
29:53 to keep us from falling.
29:55 To keep us from falling into the sins that have bound us
29:59 or pulled us down for so long.
30:01 Jude verse 24.
30:03 There's only one chapter in the book of Jude.
30:06 But it's a powerful little book.
30:08 Right before Revelation. Jude verse 24.
30:24 I just want to finish it.
30:25 I'll finish it in the New King James.
30:27 "...to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty,
30:31 dominion and power, both now and forever, amen."
30:37 Friends, God is able to keep you and I from falling.
30:41 This is possible through constant communion with Christ.
30:46 You know, victory over sin is not possible by us
30:50 focusing on victory over sin.
30:53 Did you catch that?
30:55 Victory over the sins that hold us is not possible
30:58 by focusing on them.
31:00 Victory over sin is only possible as we focus
31:02 our eyes on Christ.
31:04 And as we do, in the words of the song,
31:07 "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face,
31:11 and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
31:15 in the light of His glory and grace."
31:18 Friends, when we turn our eyes upon Christ,
31:21 the things of this world, as we focus on Him,
31:24 and as we fall in love with Him more and more
31:26 and are grateful for the infinite sacrifice
31:29 He paid for our eternal salvation,
31:32 friends, in our hearts we'll develop a hatred for sin,
31:36 a disgust for the sins that crucified our Savior.
31:40 We will want to stay as far away from those as possible.
31:44 And you know, rather than praying in the negative,
31:48 and praying, "God, help me not to swear."
31:50 "Help me not to lie."
31:52 "Lord, help me not to..." fill in the blank,
31:55 we should pray in the positive.
31:57 We should focus on Christ and say,
32:00 "Lord, help me to tell the truth."
32:03 "Lord, help me to have pure language like Jesus had."
32:07 "Lord, help me to have self-control like Jesus did."
32:10 And as we pray in the positive and focus our spiritual
32:13 eyesight on Christ, He'll grant us victory through the
32:16 indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
32:20 You know, there's what I like to call, a divine paradox,
32:24 in the Christian walk.
32:26 And that is that the closer you come to Jesus,
32:29 the closer we come to Him, the more we recognize
32:33 our own unworthiness.
32:36 The closer we come to Him, we recognize all the more
32:41 how sinful and filthy spiritually we are.
32:45 So friends, know that as you're drawing closer to Christ,
32:48 you'll recognize how bad you are.
32:51 But don't be discouraged by looking at yourself.
32:54 I love the way Martin Luther, the great
32:56 Protestant reformer put it.
32:57 He said, "When I look at myself,
33:00 I don't see how I could be saved.
33:02 But when I look at Jesus, I don't see how I could be lost."
33:06 Keep your eyes on Christ.
33:09 Philippians 1:6 gives this beautiful promise.
33:13 One of my favorite in all of Scripture.
33:26 You know, I'm really good at starting projects.
33:30 Whether it's writing a song, or maybe writing a book,
33:34 or building something, I'm great at starting stuff.
33:39 My problem is finishing them.
33:42 And friends, I am so glad that God doesn't have that problem.
33:45 When God starts something, He finishes it.
33:49 And He's promised us that the good work that He's begun
33:52 in your heart and in my heart will be carried forth
33:56 to completion when Jesus comes in the clouds of glory.
33:59 At that day when we're not only free from the sins
34:04 that He's broken us free from here as we've walked with Him,
34:06 but we'll be free from even the sinful nature that
34:09 leads us to be tempted.
34:11 We'll be even free from the presence of sin.
34:14 No more temptation.
34:15 And you know, it's not a sin to be tempted.
34:18 Christ Himself was tempted.
34:20 And in the same way that He overcame, Revelation 3:21,
34:23 He tells us that we are to overcome.
34:25 How did Christ overcome?
34:27 Through Scripture.
34:29 He said, "It is written..."
34:30 And friends, you and I can't stop temptations from coming
34:34 sometimes, but we can answer with Scripture,
34:37 quote a Bible verse, sing a song, and that will disappear.
34:41 It will melt away.
34:44 You know, we can't stop the birds from lying over our heads,
34:47 but we can stop them from making a nest in our hair.
34:50 And that is what God would have us do;
34:51 answer with Scripture.
34:54 You may be thinking, "This sounds great, you know.
34:59 It sounds beautiful, but I'm too messed up.
35:04 My life is too bad for God to fix."
35:08 Friend, you know, God's promises in His Word,
35:13 the one we just read, Philippians 1:6,
35:16 all of them, they're for you.
35:19 They're for you and they're for me.
35:22 No matter what your background, no matter what your walk
35:25 has been, God can transform your life.
35:29 I love this quote, and we're going to share a few quotes
35:31 from this book, Steps To Christ.
35:33 It's one of the best books you'll ever read
35:35 outside of the Bible.
35:36 And if you call the team here at 3ABN,
35:39 they'll send you a free copy of this book.
35:42 Here in page 52, it says...
35:58 How many believing souls?
35:59 Every believing soul.
36:18 Friends, God's promises, every last one of them,
36:21 are for you.
36:23 And they're for me.
36:25 The Faith I Live By, page 102, another beautiful promise.
36:29 A beautiful statement.
36:41 Friends, we can have assurance if we've
36:43 given our lives to Christ.
36:45 It's a necessity.
36:47 And here's why it's a necessity.
36:48 As God wants us to share the gospel with the world,
36:51 can you share something you don't have?
36:54 Of course we can't.
36:55 If we don't have the assurance, the biblical assurance,
36:59 that we are in a saving relationship with Jesus,
37:02 then we can't share anything of eternal value with anyone.
37:06 But friends, we can rest assured, we can know
37:10 that Christ, if we've surrendered our hearts to Him,
37:13 Christ, would He return in this moment,
37:16 we would be saved by His grace.
37:19 One preacher put it this way: Justice means we get
37:24 what we deserve.
37:25 Mercy means we don't get what we deserve.
37:29 But grace means we get what we don't deserve.
37:32 And friends, God's grace offers us what we don't deserve.
37:36 And that is the gift of eternal life through Christ.
37:40 You know, the devil often gets us to look at ourselves
37:43 and become discouraged.
37:45 Isaiah chapter 6 is one example of this.
37:47 And as we said, part of it is the divine paradox.
37:51 Because the closer we come to Christ, the more we recognize
37:54 our desperate need of Him.
37:55 Which is a good thing.
37:57 We cast ourselves upon the Savior for His help.
38:00 In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah was in vision
38:03 and he saw God in His holy temple.
38:07 He said in verse 5, "Woe is me, for I am undone.
38:12 Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
38:15 midst of a people of unclean lips;
38:17 for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
38:23 Friends, when we recognize our own sinfulness,
38:27 it's that very thing that we recognize, if we could
38:30 surrender it to God, that He cleanses us from.
38:33 Let's continue reading.
38:34 "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand
38:37 a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar."
38:41 Verse 7 of Isaiah 6, "And he touched my mouth with it,
38:45 and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips;
38:48 your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.'"
38:52 Where did that coal touch Isaiah?
38:55 His lips.
38:56 What did Isaiah say was his problem?
38:58 "I'm a man of unclean lips."
39:01 Friends, God will transform us in the areas where we
39:04 recognize we have problems and come to Him
39:07 and say, "Lord, please transform me.
39:09 Because I can't do it on my own."
39:12 But Isaiah looked at himself and he was discouraged.
39:16 God didn't let him stop there.
39:18 He sent an angel to encourage him.
39:21 You know, the devil wants us to look at ourselves
39:24 and become discouraged and believe that there is
39:27 no hope for us.
39:28 Steps To Christ, page 71, this beautiful quote says this...
40:09 Amen, praise the Lord for the mercies of Jesus.
40:12 And that we need not look at ourselves and become
40:15 so discouraged that we have no hope.
40:18 Friends, it's good to look at ourselves,
40:21 to recognize our own sinful as we're in Christ's presence,
40:24 because it leads us to look to Christ;
40:27 the One who is our hope.
40:31 Micah 7:19 gives the beautiful promise.
40:35 You know, God's Word is so full of promises.
40:41 And we can praise Him that all of them are for us.
40:45 Micah 7:19, there he says...
40:58 You know, there are some places in the sea,
41:00 like the Mariana Trench, that we have not
41:02 even been able to explore.
41:05 It is so deep, the pressure down there is so strong,
41:09 that we haven't even been able to send machines down there.
41:13 Friends, the ocean is a symbol of what God is
41:16 going to do with our sins.
41:17 He's going to cast them away, they'll be gone,
41:20 if we confess them to Him.
41:22 We turn from them.
41:24 God takes those and it is as if they have never existed.
41:29 But you know, sometimes we act like that's not the case.
41:34 We've confessed our sins, but we feel
41:38 like we haven't been forgiven.
41:40 And based on that feeling, we keep asking God for forgiveness.
41:44 You know, some time ago I was praying, and the Lord
41:47 really convicted me on this.
41:49 I was praying, and a few days before there had been something
41:52 that I had confessed to the Lord and repented of.
41:55 And I found myself two days later confessing that sin again.
41:59 And it was as if the Holy Spirit told me,
42:00 "Justin, why are you confessing that?
42:03 I've already forgiven you.
42:05 It's gone, why are you bringing it back up?"
42:08 Friends, the devil wants to point us to our past sins,
42:11 even the ones that have been forgiven and cleansed
42:13 by the blood of Jesus, to discourage us
42:15 from moving forward.
42:17 But we can have confidence and assurance
42:20 that when God has forgiven our sins, they are blotted out.
42:23 They are in the deepest end of the ocean.
42:26 They are as far away as the east is from the west.
42:29 Friends, they are gone.
42:31 And we can trust Him by taking Him at His word.
42:35 There was a man who was teaching his daughter to drive.
42:41 And as he was, they were driving past their neighbor's house
42:45 and the neighbor's cat ran out in front of them.
42:48 And rather than hitting the breaks soon enough,
42:50 she ended up hitting the cat and they killed the cat.
42:54 And she felt terrible, she was in tears.
42:57 And they took the cat to the neighbor's door,
42:59 they rang the door bell, and they said, "We're so sorry.
43:01 I'm so sorry I killed your cat."
43:04 And they shed some tears and they said,
43:06 "Well, we'll bury Fefe in the back yard."
43:09 And the cat was buried, and they said,
43:11 "You know, we forgive you. Mistakes happen."
43:14 And some time went on.
43:16 It was the next day, actually.
43:17 And the family received a knock at their door.
43:21 And they answered the door and they were kind of perturbed,
43:24 because this girl had dug up the cat, and said,
43:27 "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
43:29 They said, "You know, that's okay."
43:32 And they buried the cat together again.
43:34 The next day, a knock on the door.
43:37 The girl is there with the cat again,
43:38 "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
43:41 They said, "Look, leave the cat buried."
43:44 Friends, this is a good illustration of what we do
43:46 sometimes with our sins.
43:47 They're gone, but we keep bringing them up
43:50 as if Christ has not cleansed us.
43:52 And this is often because if you have confessed your sin to God
43:57 and repented of it, it doesn't necessarily mean that
44:00 you feel okay.
44:02 It doesn't necessarily mean that you feel good about it.
44:05 And those feelings of guilt can continue on.
44:08 Friends, I love this quote from, Steps To Christ, page 52.
44:13 paragraph 1.
44:14 Listen to this and quote this, memorize this little quote.
44:18 It is beautiful.
44:19 And when you don't feel like your sins have been forgiven,
44:24 but you want to take God at His word
44:26 that you are cleansed, quote this
44:30 along with 1 John 1:9.
44:33 She says to say, "I believe it, it is so;
44:38 not because I feel it, but because He has promised."
44:43 Friends, we can know that if we've confessed our sins to Him,
44:47 repented of those sins, that He has cleansed us.
44:50 He's forgiven us of them.
44:52 Even if you don't feel it, it is so.
44:55 God has promised, and He is a God who cannot lie.
45:01 Steps To Christ, page 64, another beautiful quote
45:04 expressing this biblical beautiful truth.
45:59 Friends, if we have given our lives to Christ,
46:02 even in the times that we may fall and we may mess up,
46:05 we can have assurance that God doesn't reject us.
46:08 He doesn't cast us off.
46:10 But He helps us up by His righteousness
46:13 to confess those sins, to repent of them.
46:15 And He helps us to walk with Him in victory.
46:20 Praise the Lord for that.
46:21 We need not be discouraged.
46:23 We can have confidence and assurance, blessed assurance,
46:27 that Jesus is ours.
46:30 Christ, who is dwelling in our hearts once we've
46:33 surrendered to Him, is our Advocate
46:36 as well as our Judge.
46:38 And He's dwelling in our hearts by faith.
46:40 We have nothing to fear for God's judgment.
46:44 I want to invite you to turn with me to 2 Timothy.
46:51 The book of 2 Timothy.
46:53 Paul here is sharing with Timothy, a young pastor.
46:59 And as he is, he's knowing that he's heading
47:03 toward the end of his life.
47:05 And in 2 Timothy 4:6, some of his last words, he says,
47:08 "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering,
47:11 and the time of my departure is at hand.
47:14 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
47:18 I have kept the faith.
47:20 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
47:23 which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
47:25 will give to me on that Day, and not to me only
47:29 but also to all who have loved His appearing."
47:33 Friends, Paul said, "I have confidence, not because
47:37 I'm confident in myself, but because I'm confident
47:39 in Christ that I will have that crown of life, by His grace.
47:43 Because Christ has overcome in my life."
47:47 Friends, all of us will either be overcome
47:51 or we will overcome.
47:54 And if we've given ourselves to Christ and we continue to do so,
47:57 we need not be overcome, but we can overcome.
48:02 What is the key? What is the key?
48:06 Revelation 3:20, Jesus' last words to the Laodicean church.
48:11 Revelation 3:20, the invitation of the Savior, He says...
48:26 Friends, Jesus wants to dine with us.
48:29 You know, it's very interesting.
48:31 In the Greek language, there are three words for
48:34 three different meals of the day.
48:36 Just like we have in English and most languages.
48:39 The New Testament was written in Greek.
48:40 And the first word is akratisma, which means breakfast.
48:45 And this was usually just a little piece of bread,
48:48 some juice.
48:49 And you would eat it quickly, on the rush.
48:52 Different people would eat it on their own.
48:54 Then there was ariston, which was lunch.
48:56 And it was usually by the working men.
48:58 They would go aside in kind of a picnic style lunch.
49:01 They would just eat their meal together.
49:03 But deipnon was dinner.
49:06 Deipnon was supper, that evening meal when the family
49:09 would gather together, when they would spend time
49:11 with each other, when they would commune with each other.
49:14 This is the word that Jesus uses here.
49:16 He says, "I will deipneo with you."
49:19 Christ wants to dwell with us.
49:21 He wants to spend time with us, friends.
49:23 Not just a, you know, Pop Tart devotion in the morning.
49:27 A quick breakfast, a quick spiritual
49:29 breakfast devotional time.
49:31 He wants to remain with us.
49:33 He wants to spend quality time with us.
49:36 And friends, when we do, Christ will enable us to
49:40 be faithful, full of faith.
49:43 Because we've spent time with Him and we've spent time
49:47 in His Word.
49:48 Revelation 17:14 gives us the key of how not to be overcome,
49:55 but how to overcome.
49:59 Revelation 17, speaking of the forces of earth that will
50:03 make war against Christ, the Lamb.
50:06 There it says, "These will make war with the Lamb,
50:09 and the Lamb will..." What?
50:11 "...overcome them.
50:13 For He is Lord of lords and King of kings.
50:16 And those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."
50:22 Friends, what's the key there?
50:24 Those that are what?
50:26 Those that are with Him.
50:28 Friends, the key to victory, the key to overcoming
50:30 rather than being overcome, is to be with Jesus.
50:34 He wants to spend time with us.
50:37 He wants to enter our hearts by faith and transform our lives.
50:41 They key is spending time with Jesus.
50:44 You know, I praise the Lord for media ministry.
50:47 You know, God raised up the media to finish the work
50:50 of taking the gospel to all the world.
50:52 You know, the devil may have hijacked it in some
50:55 different ways, but it is what God has raised up as His tool
50:58 to help finish the work.
51:01 But you know, Laodicea, as we learned,
51:04 they plumbed their water supply in from Hierapolis.
51:08 And by the time it got there, it was lukewarm.
51:10 They didn't have a water source of their own.
51:13 Friends, you know, I praise the Lord
51:16 for the preaching of the gospel.
51:18 And sermons are an excellent resource
51:20 to listen to, to watch, friends.
51:22 They can strengthen us in our spiritual walk.
51:24 But there is nothing like the source of water that
51:27 God wants to give us as we personally study His word.
51:31 It cannot stop, it cannot be completely watching sermons
51:35 and learning things that God has revealed to others
51:37 as they have spent time with Him.
51:38 Friends, we ourselves must drink from the waters of life.
51:42 I love what someone said, they said the Holy Spirit
51:44 is not symbolized as a waterfall,
51:47 something beautiful to be admired,
51:49 but as water to be drank and to become a part of us.
51:53 As we spend time in God's Word, His promise to that
51:56 Samaritan woman in John 4 is the promise to us.
52:00 That we will have waters of life, a river of life, flowing
52:05 out from us.
52:07 The Holy Spirit will fill us.
52:09 And friends, we will be able to share the good news of
52:12 what Christ has done in our lives with those around us.
52:16 The key to not be overcome but to overcome in this
52:20 great controversy is to be with the Lamb.
52:24 This is how we can be called, chosen, and faithful.
52:29 To be with Christ, the One who has overcome.
52:34 If the devil discouraging you about your past sins,
52:38 he's pointing you to the past, then take heart.
52:41 Turn your eyes upon Christ.
52:43 If you have confessed those sins, know that they are
52:47 forgiven of you.
52:49 Friends, they are cleansed.
52:51 And you can trust that you're transformed.
52:56 Martin Luther had a dream.
52:59 In Martin Luther's dream, the devil was standing there.
53:05 And he had a long roll, a scroll, that he just rolled out.
53:10 And it continued going and going as far as
53:12 Martin Luther could see.
53:15 Martin Luther looked at that scroll.
53:18 And in detail were a list of his sins.
53:22 The devil, his arm on that scroll, said, "Martin Luther,
53:26 are these your sins?"
53:29 And he said, "Yes."
53:31 But he saw something light emanating
53:33 from behind the devil's hands.
53:35 And he said, "But move your hands."
53:38 The devil said, "No.
53:40 Martin Luther, are these not your sins?"
53:45 And Martin Luther said, "Yes, but move your hands."
53:48 The devil said, "No.
53:50 Martin Luther, are these your sins?"
53:54 Martin Luther said, "Yes, but in the name of Jesus
53:57 move your hands."
53:59 And at the name of Jesus, Satan fled.
54:02 And there, what Satan had been covering up
54:05 in words written in light were, "The blood of Jesus
54:11 cleanses Martin Luther from all his sins."
54:16 Friends, we can take courage, if our lives are in
54:20 Christ's hands, He has cleansed us from our sins of the past.
54:27 Today, maybe when it comes to thinking about
54:31 the time of God's judgment, you don't have peace
54:35 in your mind.
54:38 And that's for one of two reasons.
54:41 It's either because the devil is discouraging you
54:44 even though you've given your life to Christ
54:45 and the judgment can mean peace and joy,
54:49 or because your life is not in God's hands.
54:53 Friends, we have reason to be afraid of the judgment
54:56 if our lives are not in the hands of Jesus.
55:00 Today, we've heard God's voice and we've seen it
55:04 clear from His Word that God, our Judge, is also our Advocate.
55:12 He wants to justify you through His grace.
55:15 He wants to change your life and mine
55:19 so that the judgment can bring joy and assurance of salvation
55:22 and not fear.
55:25 And just now, if you want to say, "Lord, I fear the judgment
55:29 because I haven't given myself to You.
55:32 But in this moment, I want to surrender my all to You."
55:39 If that's your desire, I want to invite you
55:41 to raise your hand.
55:43 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
55:47 Now maybe you are afraid when it comes to
55:51 hearing about the judgment, but you've given your
55:53 life to Jesus already.
55:55 You've surrendered to Him,
55:56 you've walked with Him moment by moment.
55:58 Yes you've fallen, but you've confessed those sins.
56:03 And you want to say, "Lord, I recognize
56:05 that those sins that the devil is pointing me to,
56:08 You've forgiven me of those.
56:10 Please, Lord."
56:11 You want to pray, "Please, Father, give me the joy
56:15 and the peace, the assurance that comes
56:18 in walking with Jesus," I want to invite you
56:20 to join me in standing.
56:23 Standing to say, "Lord, give me the peace, the assurance
56:26 that comes by Christ living in my heart."
56:30 Amen, amen.
56:32 Let's sing together through song, and let us invite God
56:35 one more time to come into our hearts.
56:41 Into my heart, into my heart,
56:49 come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
56:58 Come in today, come in to stay;
57:08 come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
57:18 Father in heaven, this is our prayer.
57:20 Come into our hearts, Lord.
57:23 Transform us.
57:24 Give us the peace and assurance You want to offer us.
57:28 We thank You for Jesus.
57:30 In His name we pray, amen.


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Revised 2016-01-19