Anchors of Truth

The Second Coming²

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Greg & Jill Morikone (Host), Pr. Wes Peppers

Home

Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000175A


00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:21 Hello friends and welcome to 3ABN, the worship center.
00:24 We're live here in Thompsonville or West Frankfort, Illinois.
00:27 We're right on that line between the two towns.
00:30 But welcome to Anchors Of Truth with Pastor Wes Peppers.
00:33 It's been a blessing. It's already program number 5.
00:36 And it's hard to believe. It's gone by quickly.
00:38 And today's message is called, The Second Coming, Squared.
00:44 Now he has some neat titles to his sermons, I have to say.
00:48 Now he's the senior pastor of the
00:50 Lansing Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:51 And he and his wife are a fantastic team.
00:55 It's been a blessing having them here at 3ABN.
00:57 Amen, I know Greg and myself knew Pastor Wes and his wife
01:01 just in passing.
01:03 Meeting them at ASI, GYC, something like that.
01:05 But getting to know them here, they're a precious dedicated
01:09 couple; dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ,
01:11 dedicated to ministry, and to evangelism.
01:14 I think Pastor Wes has a heart for evangelism.
01:17 It comes through in his messages.
01:19 And each one of the messages that he has presented,
01:22 the Holy Spirit has brought conviction to my own heart.
01:25 And just to realize we are in the end times
01:28 and Jesus is about ready to come again.
01:30 So we're excited about the message he has for us today.
01:33 The Second Coming, Squared.
01:35 Before he will present the word of God,
01:39 Marion will be singing again.
01:41 And her song is entitled, When Love Was Slain.
01:44 And it's a beautiful thing, because the music
01:47 prepares our hearts in a special way for the message.
01:51 Before she sings and before he brings the message,
01:53 let's bow our heads in prayer.
01:54 Father in heaven, Lord, we're grateful again for
01:58 Your holy Sabbath day.
01:59 Lord, this is Sabbath afternoon here and, Lord, we just
02:02 thank You for being with Pastor Wes as he has
02:04 brought us the messages over this past week.
02:07 Lord, we just pray for a continued blessing upon him
02:09 as he brings us the message today.
02:11 Lord, that it would not be his words but it would be
02:13 Your words, Lord, through him.
02:15 He is the vessel.
02:16 And Lord, we just all want to be clay, Lord,
02:19 that we want You to be the Molder, Lord, of us.
02:22 We don't want to be in the way or stand in the way.
02:25 So Father, as Your words prick our hearts,
02:27 Lord, that we would listen and, Lord, that we would obey.
02:31 We thank You again for Your love for us.
02:33 We thank You for Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation.
02:36 Lord, thank You that we can turn to You at any moment,
02:39 and You hear us, and we know You answer our prayers.
02:42 - In Jesus' name we pray, amen. - Amen.
02:57 This world is not my home,
03:03 oh, this world is not my home.
03:11 My home's been made by heaven's throne;
03:20 this world is not my home.
03:28 This life is not my own,
03:35 oh, this life is not my own.
03:43 I am His and His alone;
03:52 this life is not my own.
03:59 I was bought when Love was slain;
04:07 what I cost to pay death's wage.
04:14 Now ransomed, I am freedom's slave;
04:22 my Jesus raised me from the grave.
04:35 Come now and walk with me,
04:42 oh, come now and walk with me.
04:50 Together we the Lord shall meet;
04:59 come now and walk with me.
05:06 I was bought when Love was slain;
05:14 what I cost to pay death's wage.
05:21 Now ransomed, I am freedom's slave;
05:29 my Jesus raised me from the grave.
05:37 Oh, I was bought when Love was slain;
05:45 what I cost to pay death's wage.
05:52 Now ransomed, I am freedom's slave;
06:00 my Jesus raised me from the grave.
06:14 Soon Lord, very soon,
06:20 oh, soon Lord, very soon,
06:28 You'll come to take me to be with You.
06:37 Soon Lord, very soon.
06:53 Good greetings again, friends.
06:57 How are you today?
06:58 It is good to be back with you once again for our final
07:03 meeting of Anchors Of Truth for this series.
07:05 And what a beautiful song, amen?
07:08 When Love Was Slain.
07:09 The ransom that was paid for your life and mine
07:12 that we might spend eternity with our Lord and Savior.
07:16 Aren't you so thankful today for the redeeming grace
07:19 that Jesus so freely offers to each one of us?
07:22 The price that He was willing to pay.
07:25 And you know, I was reading just the other day,
07:28 yesterday I believe it was, in the book, Desire Of Ages.
07:31 And I can't even remember which chapter it was.
07:33 Actually it was, The Foreshadowing of the Cross,
07:36 was the chapter I read.
07:37 And the very first couple of paragraphs mentioned
07:40 that Jesus saw, even before He stepped down to this earth,
07:45 Jesus saw every wound that He would receive,
07:50 every ill word that was spoken to Him,
07:52 every time that someone would speak something that would
07:55 slight His heart, He saw every single one of those times
07:59 and He felt the pain of it.
08:01 And yet He was still willing to step down
08:04 and come and die for us.
08:06 What a beautiful Savior we have. Amen?
08:08 A precious wonderful Savior.
08:11 Well our subject is, The Second Coming, Squared.
08:14 Somebody may say, "Well, what does that have to do?"
08:17 Well you're going to find out, right?
08:18 I always have these titles, but the Lord always promises
08:23 a precious revelation from His Word. Amen?
08:26 So let's just bow our heads together and ask for His
08:28 blessing one more time.
08:30 Father, we thank You so much that once again
08:32 we can gather here together for Anchors Of Truth
08:35 and to open Your Word and to study the true messages
08:39 that You have for us.
08:40 Lord, we have seen indeed that we are living in the last days.
08:43 We have seen that we are a theater to the universe,
08:47 that the whole universe is watching
08:49 and really essentially cheering us on
08:52 as we are transformed back into the image of Jesus.
08:56 And Lord, we want to pray today that the second coming
08:59 would be the hope and the center of our lives,
09:02 and that it would be our focus and our thoughts
09:05 on a daily basis.
09:07 We ask just now that You would send Your Holy Spirit
09:09 to guide and direct our hearts, to direct our minds,
09:13 as we open Your Word.
09:15 And we ask Your blessing.
09:16 In Jesus' name we ask, amen.
09:20 A beautiful passage that many of us, I'm sure, are familiar with;
09:24 Titus 2:13.
09:28 Now in our last presentation, we saw that the entire
09:32 universe, essentially, through the story of the prodigal son,
09:35 the entire universe is waiting for God's people
09:38 to come back together. Amen?
09:40 And I made that appeal for those folks who maybe
09:44 have left the church, who have been watching online
09:47 or have still been wrestling with that, to come back.
09:50 And that's what Jesus is looking for. Amen?
09:53 He's waiting for us to come back to be one body
09:56 and one people.
09:57 And also I believe that the whole universe is watching
10:00 and waiting for that second coming of Jesus.
10:03 They are eagerly anticipating the moment when God's people
10:08 will finally be back with Him face to face for eternity.
10:13 How many of you, friends, are looking forward to that time?
10:15 Look with me in the Bible at Titus 2:13.
10:19 A beautiful passage that we're very well familiar with.
10:23 The Bible says, "...looking for the blessed hope
10:26 and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior
10:29 Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us,
10:33 that He might redeem us from every lawless deed
10:37 and purify for Himself His own special people,
10:41 zealous for good works."
10:44 Verse 15 says, "Speak these things, exhort,
10:47 and rebuke with all authority.
10:49 Let no one..." What?
10:51 "...despise you."
10:53 And I believe today, friends, that it has been the vision
10:58 and the excitement of the second coming of Jesus
11:02 that has driven the Adventist church into mission,
11:05 and really into existence.
11:07 And all the success that we've had over the last 150 years
11:11 as a church has all been centered and focused around,
11:15 yes Jesus dying on the cross,
11:16 but also Jesus coming again. Amen?
11:20 But you know, it seems like in the last days we have become
11:23 a bit lethargic with our vision, our hope, our belief
11:27 that Jesus is coming back to this world.
11:30 You know, I hear people talk all the time and they say,
11:32 "Oh well, you know, I've been hearing all my life
11:35 that Jesus is coming back again.
11:37 And I've heard all my life that He's coming back soon.
11:39 People told me not to get married.
11:41 People told me not to go to college.
11:43 People told me not to have children.
11:44 Because Jesus is coming soon.
11:46 But time passed, and Jesus has not come."
11:50 Is it really true that Jesus is coming again?
11:53 What do you think, friends?
11:54 Based upon what we've already studied in our series,
11:57 I believe that the time is getting near.
11:59 One thing we can be sure of, one thing we can be certain of,
12:03 is that every single day that passes
12:06 draws us one day closer to the return of Jesus. Amen?
12:10 It will come in His time.
12:13 And you know, another passage that I wanted to share with you
12:16 that kind of illustrates this, if you go with me
12:19 to 2 Peter chapter 3.
12:22 2 Peter chapter 3.
12:24 And it's a very powerful passage that I believe
12:26 actually describes the day in which we are now living.
12:30 2 Peter chapter 3, and notice what the Bible says here.
12:35 We're going to start in verse 3.
12:38 Peter here says, "...knowing this first:
12:43 that scoffers will come..." When?
12:46 "...in the last days," it says, "walking according
12:52 to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise
12:55 of His coming?
12:57 For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
13:00 as they were from the beginning of creation.'"
13:03 Isn't that interesting?
13:04 Doesn't that sound like you've heard people say that before?
13:07 "Oh you know, I've heard Jesus is coming,
13:09 but He still hasn't come."
13:10 Well the Bible says that we should be careful
13:13 not to fall into that temptation.
13:15 Because when we begin to fall into the temptation
13:19 of believing, "Oh we've been saying a long time
13:21 Jesus is coming, but He's still not yet come.
13:23 All things are as they were since before,"
13:25 we fall into the temptation of getting comfortable.
13:32 And I believe that's what has happened
13:35 to many in the church today.
13:36 We've become comfortable, we've become settled,
13:39 we've become eased.
13:40 We've become just not pilgrims in this world anymore,
13:45 but we've become citizens of this world.
13:48 And Jesus tells us, "Do not become citizens of this world."
13:52 Do not join yourself, as from our last talk,
13:55 to the citizen of this far country.
13:57 But align yourself and look to another time
14:01 when Jesus will come.
14:02 We should live every day by faith that Jesus
14:05 is coming soon. Amen?
14:06 Because even if Jesus doesn't come in our lifetime...
14:09 I think He probably will.
14:11 We don't know that for sure.
14:12 But even if He doesn't come, that time for us
14:16 is going to come soon, isn't it, when we pass from this earth.
14:20 And so we should always be living with the vision
14:23 of the second coming before us.
14:25 And that's why I've entitled this message,
14:28 The Second Coming, Squared.
14:30 Because I believe that as we have lost our vision,
14:34 not completely lost it, but as we've kind of
14:36 gotten lackadaisical and sleepy in our vision of Jesus
14:41 coming soon, we need it to come back exponentially. Amen?
14:46 We need it to come back.
14:47 You notice that's squared.
14:48 If you take two and there's two squared,
14:51 that means you multiply two by itself, right?
14:53 Two squared is four. I think I got that right.
14:56 I was not so great in math.
14:58 Three squared I think would be nine, or something like that.
15:01 Six, something along the lines.
15:03 It's nine, I believe it is.
15:04 I was never a math major.
15:06 But we need the vision of the second coming of Jesus
15:11 to come back exponentially.
15:13 Not just in the church, but in our hearts, amen?
15:17 In our lives.
15:18 And that every decision that we make in this life,
15:22 as we are surrendered to Jesus, we are making that decision
15:26 based upon the fact and the context that Jesus
15:30 will one day come back.
15:31 We make a lot of decisions, I believe, friends,
15:34 that are not eternal.
15:36 Just like I talked about my truck, I backed into the tree.
15:40 And my friend said to me, "That's not the truck
15:43 you're going to take to heaven with you, is it?"
15:45 Right? Sometimes we make these decisions in our lives
15:47 that are just very earthly and temporally based.
15:50 But Jesus is calling us by faith to look beyond this world
15:54 to what yet is to come.
15:56 Beyond what is seen to what is unseen. Yes?
15:59 Now I find one of the most beautiful books
16:03 on the second coming is actually the book of 1 Thessalonians.
16:08 And you find a very beautiful picture, a very consistent
16:13 picture, that the apostle Paul gives us throughout the book
16:17 on the second coming.
16:19 So if you would, turn there with me.
16:20 And that's where we're going to spend most of
16:23 the rest of our time.
16:25 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.
16:29 And what you find throughout the book of Thessalonians,
16:32 it's a very interesting thing how this worked out,
16:35 but at the end of every chapter in the book of Thessalonians
16:40 Paul gives us a picture and a vision of the
16:44 second coming of Jesus.
16:45 And he gives some aspect from that chapter
16:49 on how we need to be ready for Jesus when He comes.
16:54 So are you ready to go on this adventure today
16:56 talking about the second coming?
16:57 Are you ready for that?
16:59 Those of you watching, are you ready for that?
17:00 We welcome you as well, by the way.
17:02 I'm sorry I forgot to do that earlier.
17:03 But we welcome you as well.
17:04 We're glad you're here with us.
17:06 We're going to go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.
17:10 Notice what the Bible says, we're going to start in verse 5.
17:14 Paul the apostle speaking here says, "For our gospel did not
17:17 come to you in word only, but also in power,
17:21 and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance,
17:25 as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake."
17:29 Let me ask you a question as we pause for just a moment.
17:33 Does the gospel have power? Yes or no, friends.
17:36 When we experience the power of divine grace upon our life,
17:41 it changes us, does it not?
17:43 It took me from a hardcore alcoholic, drug using,
17:48 and all kinds of other stuff using, maniac
17:55 and God transformed my heart,
17:57 and He transformed my life.
18:00 And friends, those of you watching today,
18:02 He can do the same for each one of us. Amen?
18:05 I'm nobody special.
18:06 But there's a power in the gospel when we yield our lives
18:11 to the Lord Jesus.
18:12 He takes us wherever we are and He begins to shape us,
18:16 and He begins to mold us, and He begins to transform us
18:20 day by day, moment by moment.
18:23 And there is power in the gospel. Amen?
18:27 There is power in Christ working in our lives.
18:30 And I am living proof of that.
18:32 And you can be too.
18:34 And verse 6 says, "And you became followers of us
18:37 and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
18:42 with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples
18:46 to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.
18:50 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth,
18:53 not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.
18:57 And your faith towards God has gone out, so that we
19:00 do not need to say anything."
19:02 And watch this in verses 9 and 10.
19:04 "For they themselves declare concerning us what manner
19:08 of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols
19:14 to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son
19:19 from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
19:22 even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."
19:27 Here, Paul paints a beautiful picture of the gospel
19:32 and the second coming of Jesus.
19:34 And he says that it was the power of the gospel
19:37 and the hope of the second coming of Jesus,
19:40 that Jesus would return from heaven, that broke the power
19:44 of idols in the lives of the people whom he
19:48 was ministering to.
19:49 How many of you are thankful for that power of the gospel? Yes?
19:52 And so we're going to look at several points
19:54 from this chapter.
19:56 And the first point that I want to look at is this:
19:58 That the hope of the second coming of Jesus...
20:15 Amen?
20:17 Now every single one of us, whoever we are,
20:19 if we are not serving and living for Christ,
20:24 we are serving idols...
20:26 ...of some kind.
20:28 And you know, many times we think about idols as
20:31 being these statues, these things that people would
20:35 bow down and worship.
20:36 And surely that was the case back in more primitive times.
20:40 But today, idols very much still exist, do they not?
20:45 There are still idols everywhere.
20:47 And some people might ask the question,
20:50 "Well, what exactly is an idol?"
20:52 An idol very simply is this:
20:54 Anything that we choose to put in first place before God
20:59 becomes an idol in our lives.
21:01 Anything that takes our affection away from Christ
21:05 and places it on something or somebody else becomes an idol.
21:11 And those idols, when we begin to give the affection
21:14 to those idols, they begin to have a power over us.
21:18 Do they not?
21:20 Whether it's electronics, whether it's entertainment,
21:23 whether it's a boyfriend, a girlfriend,
21:25 whether it's our houses, our jobs, our bank accounts,
21:29 our vehicles, whatever it may be in our lives
21:32 that we give affection to and we'd rather spend time
21:36 with that thing than with the Lord,
21:38 that thing becomes an idol in our lives.
21:40 What do you think?
21:41 Now idols are not necessarily always bad, are they?
21:46 Bad things.
21:48 Some people think, well idols are usually like drugs
21:51 or alcohol, or something like that.
21:53 But we can actually make idols out of good things, can't we?
21:57 We can make idols out of children.
22:00 You know, my wife and I, we have seen a lot of people
22:03 make idols out of children.
22:05 And sometimes, many times actually, the temptation
22:08 is for us to do the same.
22:10 You know, when a child disobeys, and they need to have that
22:16 loving guidance and correction, sometimes it's so easy
22:20 when they disobey and they look up and give you that smile
22:24 to just let that thing slide, right?
22:27 But we don't often realize that in doing so,
22:30 when we think, "Oh, I don't have the heart to discipline them,"
22:35 or, "It's just so cute, I just can't resist,"
22:39 we don't realize that when we do that,
22:41 it begins to damage their characters.
22:45 Are you with me?
22:46 Makes sense.
22:48 And so we often will let those things slide.
22:50 And children can even become idols.
22:54 And we don't want children to become idols, do we?
22:56 But it can; the devil will use anything he can.
22:58 Any relationship, anything that we attach ourselves to.
23:02 But Jesus wants to break the power of idols in our lives.
23:06 He wants us to love our children, but He wants
23:08 us to teach them the ways of the Lord. Amen?
23:11 So idols can be something that are very close to us,
23:14 or something animate or inanimate.
23:17 So we can make idols out of good things.
23:20 And here's a principle that I have found.
23:23 When we compromise truth in our lives, in our Christian walk,
23:27 in our witness before the world and before others,
23:30 when we compromise truth in our life,
23:34 we lose divine power in our lives.
23:37 Yes or no?
23:39 Because when we compromise truth, our wills and our
23:42 decision making processes become weaker.
23:46 And it becomes easier to say "yes" to sin and "no" to God.
23:51 Right?
23:52 That's why when the Bible says to be on the strait and narrow,
23:55 Jesus wants us to be on that walk.
23:58 And to deviate one direction or another, even one degree,
24:02 can lead us on a path that will take us further and further away
24:07 from God's ideal for our lives.
24:09 And Jesus says, "You need to stay on that path,
24:12 you need to stay on that track, on that pathway that
24:16 leads to life, and not allow ourselves to go
24:19 to the left or to the right."
24:22 Because the more choices...
24:24 Sometimes we think, "Well, this decision is not really going to
24:27 make that big of a difference."
24:31 But every decision has the opportunity
24:34 to have eternal impact.
24:37 What do you think?
24:39 Very much so.
24:43 When we make something an idol, we are serving it over Christ.
24:49 And idols of men have no power except to enslave us
24:56 to a meaningless and purposeless life.
24:59 What do you think today?
25:00 But Jesus, through the power of the gospel
25:03 and the hope of the second coming, wants to free us
25:06 from these idols.
25:07 What do you think?
25:09 How many of you have ever had an idol in your life?
25:10 Those of you watching, maybe you've had idols in your life.
25:12 Maybe today, even right now, there's an idol that you know
25:16 God has been touching your heart, speaking to your heart,
25:19 to release to Him, to let go to Him.
25:24 And you've been battling, and you've been struggling,
25:26 and you've been wrestling with that thing.
25:28 And you know that God is convicting you to let it go.
25:32 But you hang onto it as if it's going to do
25:34 something good for you.
25:35 Well friends, if it was going to do something
25:38 good for you, Jesus would never ask you to give it away.
25:42 He only asks us to give away and to surrender to Him
25:46 those things which He knows are going to be a
25:49 curse to us in the end.
25:51 And so the Spirit of God lovingly every day leads us
25:55 to the foot of the cross.
25:57 And He can so fill our hearts with the love of Jesus
26:02 that there becomes no more room for idols in our lives.
26:06 How many are thankful for that today?
26:08 What a powerful promise.
26:10 People ask me all the time,
26:11 "How do I get rid of idols in my life?
26:14 How do I let go of my love for the world?
26:18 How do I get rid of these desires to do the things
26:21 that I know are contrary to God's will?"
26:23 It's very simple, friends.
26:26 It's not to resist wholly the temptation.
26:30 Now we have to resist in the power of Christ.
26:32 I'm not saying that we're not to do that.
26:34 But the way is to not stand up and fight that temptation.
26:38 The way to do it is to fill your life with Jesus,
26:42 to fill your heart with His presence.
26:45 And as Jesus comes into the heart, and we kneel
26:48 before Him, and we plead with Him,
26:50 and we say, "Lord Jesus, give me a love for You
26:54 that surpasses the love for the world,"
26:57 He will begin to do this.
26:59 I know this for a fact, because when I entered into the
27:02 Christian journey from atheism, it's not been all roses
27:06 and pomegranates.
27:08 You understand?
27:10 It's been difficult, there's been ups and downs.
27:12 And there's been times when I've loved the world.
27:14 And I plead with God and I say, "Give me a love for Jesus
27:18 that surpasses the love for the world.
27:20 Give me a love for Your Word
27:22 that surpasses the love for entertainment."
27:24 And every single time, without fail, Jesus
27:28 has answered that prayer.
27:30 And He will do it for you too.
27:31 He will do it for you too.
27:33 So as the love for Jesus comes into our hearts,
27:36 it will squeeze out the love for the world.
27:40 And as the love of Christ fills our hearts,
27:42 there will become no room for love for the world.
27:45 Aren't you so thankful today for Jesus?
27:48 So the Spirit of God leads us to search our hearts
27:51 and to search His Word, and to gracefully change
27:55 in our life that which is not in harmony with His Word and will.
27:58 Is there something today that needs to change in your life?
28:01 Is there something that you need to let go to Jesus?
28:04 Is there some idol that's holding you down,
28:06 that's preventing you from being all that God wants you to be?
28:09 Jesus invites you today to surrender that to Him.
28:15 Charles Spurgeon made the statement, he said...
28:25 Amen?
28:26 When we make Jesus our all, we shall find all in Him.
28:30 All His promises can begin to come true in our lives.
28:34 All His hopes and dreams, His complete transformation
28:38 of our lives, all these things and more become ours
28:43 when we make Jesus our all.
28:46 Friends, there is not room in the heart for two masters.
28:52 Jesus told us this.
28:54 There is not room in the heart for two masters.
28:57 And we must choose.
28:59 You see, some people enjoy their life sitting on the fence.
29:05 You know what I mean by that?
29:06 There's a phrase, "Don't sit on the fence," right?
29:09 And I say to you today, you cannot sit on the fence,
29:12 because the devil owns the fence.
29:16 And if you sit on the fence, he owns you. Right?
29:19 So get off the fence and get on the side of Jesus. Amen?
29:23 Point number two comes from chapter 2 verses 19 and 20.
29:29 Notice what this says.
29:31 Chapter 2 verses 19 and 20.
29:33 "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
29:38 Is it not even you in the presence of our
29:41 Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?
29:44 For you are our glory and joy."
29:49 What's the second point from these verses
29:51 about the second coming of Jesus?
29:52 It is that the transforming power...
30:04 Amen?
30:05 It gives us a passion for soul winning and mission.
30:09 And the more that we think about the second coming of Jesus,
30:12 the more it burns within our hearts that others
30:16 would be ready to meet Him as well.
30:18 How many of you want your friends and family to be in the
30:20 kingdom of God eternally with you?
30:22 And Jesus wants us to develop that passion,
30:25 He wants to place that in our hearts,
30:28 to share the gospel with those around us.
30:32 And so the Holy Spirit...
30:33 This is very important, friends.
30:35 The Holy Spirit desires to lead us to a place
30:39 where we value the salvation of others
30:43 more than their opinions of us.
30:49 Think about that for just a minute.
30:51 Because often times God will impress us to say this
30:56 or to say that to somebody.
31:00 And we will say, "Well, I don't know, Lord.
31:02 Because if I say that, what will they think of me?"
31:07 You know, I find it very interesting that there's a
31:10 certain class of people who don't want to answer to anybody,
31:14 they don't want to come under any authority,
31:17 they don't want to have to answer to
31:21 the choices that they've made.
31:23 They want to be free.
31:25 And yet at the same time they spend their whole life
31:29 worrying about what other people think of them.
31:31 They say, "I don't care what people think,"
31:33 but really they do, don't they?
31:35 And sometimes the Lord impresses us
31:38 to do something instrumental for the salvation of others,
31:41 and we cringe back and we say, "Oh Lord, what would happen if
31:46 I said that to them?
31:48 They might think badly of me.
31:49 Or maybe it's not the right time."
31:51 And so we hesitate.
31:53 Because we value their opinion more than their salvation.
31:59 And the Lord says, "No."
32:01 He says, "You must awaken and trust that I am leading
32:05 your life when I impress upon you to speak."
32:09 Pray for divine appointments.
32:11 You know, I've got to tell you, friends.
32:13 It is incredible, incredible, what happens
32:18 when I pray for divine appointments.
32:22 It's amazing.
32:23 Because every single time I pray for a divine appointment,
32:27 the Lord gives me one right then.
32:30 Maybe not at that moment, but that day.
32:32 You know, just the other day I prayed.
32:34 I was picking up my suits from the dry cleaner,
32:36 and I was praying, I said, "Lord, give me a
32:38 divine appointment today."
32:39 I walk into the place and the lady served me,
32:44 and she was playing Christian music on the radio.
32:47 And I said, "Is that Christian music?"
32:48 And she said, "Yes."
32:49 And I said, "I really always appreciate Christian music."
32:53 And I said, "Are you a Christian?"
32:54 She said, "Yes." I said, "Wow."
32:56 And I had some GLOW tracts in my pocket.
32:59 And I said, "Well, you might enjoy one of these."
33:01 And she said, "Do you mind if I have one of each?"
33:05 And I said, "Amen, no problem."
33:06 So I actually laid them out on the counter
33:09 and they were all spread out there.
33:10 And she was taking them all, and she said,
33:12 "Do you have any more?"
33:13 I said, "Actually, I have some more different
33:15 ones in my vehicle."
33:17 So I went out to my car and I got that packet
33:19 and I brought it back in and I laid it out.
33:21 And she took one of each of those.
33:22 I said, "What makes you so eager to understand
33:26 God's will for your life?"
33:27 I said, "Do you study the Bible?"
33:29 She said, "Actually, yes."
33:30 She said, "Four months ago my father passed away."
33:35 And she said, "And since that time, my daughter and I
33:38 every day have been reading the Bible."
33:40 And I said, "Well have you understood
33:42 everything that you've been reading?"
33:43 She said, "Not always."
33:45 And I said, "Well, would you like to understand it better?
33:48 Would you like to have somebody do Bible studies with you?"
33:50 She said, "I would love that."
33:52 Got her name and number, took it to one of the ladies
33:54 in the church, they're doing Bible studies together. Amen?
33:57 Every single time God will work this out.
34:00 A couple of months ago I was at Sam's Club
34:02 and I met this young man at the gas station.
34:06 And he started talking to me.
34:08 And I started asking him some questions.
34:12 And I actually had on an Amazing Facts shirt.
34:14 I use to work at Amazing Facts.
34:16 And he said, "What's Amazing Facts?"
34:17 And I said, "It's a Christian radio and television ministry."
34:20 He said, "You're a Christian?" I said, "Yes."
34:22 He started telling me about his journey with God
34:25 and how God had brought him out of this and that and
34:28 all these different things.
34:29 And I said, "Wow."
34:31 And he said, "Well, where do you go to church?"
34:32 And I said, "Well, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist."
34:35 We shouldn't be ashamed of that, should we?
34:37 We should be excited about it because we believe
34:39 Jesus is coming soon.
34:41 And I said, "Well, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist."
34:43 And he says, "You're a Seventh-day Adventist?"
34:45 And I said, "I am." He said, "Whoa."
34:48 He said, "I recently listened to some talks
34:53 by a man named Roger Morneau."
34:55 And he said, "And I've been waiting, I've been wanting
34:59 to meet a Seventh-day Adventist."
35:01 And he looked at me and he said, "You're the first real live
35:04 one I've ever met."
35:05 I got a kick out of that.
35:06 I'm the first real live one, right?
35:08 And so we got to talking.
35:10 And he just opened up, and the Lord had done
35:13 so many things in his life.
35:14 We started Bible studies.
35:16 And he is studying now, preparing, wants to be baptized.
35:20 And God is good. Amen?
35:22 When I studied at his house, we'd be studying
35:25 and there were times he would jump up off the couch
35:29 and say, "Man, that makes more sense than anything
35:31 I've ever known in my whole life."
35:33 He says, "I've been waiting my whole life to understand
35:36 truth like this."
35:38 It's the wonders of the Bible, amen?
35:40 The wonders of God's Word.
35:41 It transforms our lives.
35:43 So friends, pray for divine appointments.
35:46 Share literature, share your testimony.
35:48 Be burdened for souls to be in God's kingdom.
35:52 Because the hope of the second coming leads us
35:55 to want others to be saved. Amen?
35:58 I think of a young lady named Vera who I met in Ukraine.
36:03 And Vera was a teenage girl, she was 17 years old.
36:07 And she was ready to give up on God.
36:12 And she was actually getting some medical treatment
36:15 for a problem with her back in Ukraine,
36:17 and she was actually going to move away.
36:20 But because of her back pain, it kept her there
36:23 in the town.
36:25 And so she was walking to the doctor one day
36:28 and one of our students, our missionary students,
36:31 handed her an invitation to the series of meetings
36:35 that I was doing right there in the city.
36:37 And she looked at that invitation and she said,
36:39 "Well, since I'm going to be here anyway,
36:43 I might as well give God one more opportunity,
36:47 one more chance to prove Himself."
36:49 So she started coming to the meetings,
36:51 and she came to the meetings every night.
36:53 And she was so excited about what she was learning.
36:56 And on her way, it was about a week into the meetings,
36:59 on her way to the meetings she was crossing the street.
37:02 And as she was crossing the street, she said a car
37:05 came out of nowhere and it was going to strike her
37:08 right in the side.
37:10 And she said, "I only had enough time in just a few moments
37:14 to say a prayer."
37:15 And she said, "Lord Jesus, please save my life."
37:18 And she said, "Instantly, it was like a hand just
37:21 stopped that car."
37:22 And it stopped one inch from striking her right in the side.
37:27 It was that night that I preached on Jesus
37:31 and His love and His gift of salvation.
37:34 And she accepted Jesus into her heart that night.
37:37 When she went home...
37:39 She rode the bus about 40 miles each night
37:43 to come to the meetings. Amazing.
37:45 When she went home, she told her mother about the meetings.
37:49 Her mother began to come to the meetings with her.
37:51 And together, they were actually both baptized.
37:55 And they both were with joy. I think we have a picture.
37:58 I don't know if we can get that picture up.
38:00 There it is, there they are getting baptized.
38:02 Well after that, she was very excited
38:05 about her new faith.
38:07 And so she went home and she actually came back in the fall
38:10 as a missionary student.
38:12 And she brought her sister to the next series of meetings.
38:15 I think we have a picture of that as well.
38:17 She brought her sister to the next series of meetings.
38:20 And her sister studied the Bible and she was baptized as well.
38:23 And this girl was so on fire that she went out knocking
38:27 on doors inviting people to do Bible studies.
38:29 And she met an elderly man named Eugene.
38:32 I think we have a picture of him as well.
38:34 There he is.
38:35 And if you notice that newspaper that he's holding in his hand.
38:39 That newspaper is an article about him from 15 years prior.
38:44 He had been diagnosed with fatal cancer.
38:47 He was going to die from cancer.
38:49 And the doctors said to him, they said, "Look, there's
38:51 nothing else we can do for you.
38:53 Go home and prepare to die."
38:55 He went home and he was not satisfied with that answer.
38:58 So he got on his knees and he began to plead with God
39:02 to bring healing to him.
39:03 And he began to fast and pray and read the Bible.
39:07 And he was suppose to die within a few months,
39:09 and 15 years later he was still alive.
39:12 How many of you can say amen?
39:13 I don't know how God worked that out,
39:15 but God knew, and He did something.
39:17 And that young girl knocked on his door and gave him
39:19 an invitation to study the Bible.
39:20 And he began to study the Bible, he came to the meetings,
39:23 he gave his life to Christ, and he joined the Adventist church.
39:27 How many of you can say amen?
39:28 How much today do we spend asking Jesus
39:33 to bring somebody into our life to witness to?
39:37 How much?
39:39 Sometimes we might be afraid of what will happen
39:44 if we did pray that prayer.
39:47 Dear friends, if we believe in the second coming of Jesus,
39:51 we must ask God to give us a burden and a heart
39:56 to see souls saved for the kingdom. Amen?
39:59 It is not an option.
40:02 The heart that is transformed wants to tell others
40:05 about the Friend that they have found in Jesus.
40:09 It ought to always be on our minds.
40:11 It ought to always be on our hearts.
40:13 Because it is always on the mind and the heart
40:17 of God Himself. Amen?
40:19 His entire existence exists to see His children saved. Amen?
40:24 And we ought to follow that example.
40:26 The third thing that I want you to look at
40:29 from Thessalonians about the second coming.
40:31 Go to chapter 3 verse 12.
40:34 Notice what the Bible says.
40:36 It says, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound
40:39 in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you..."
40:47 You know, the Bible tells us that the hope of the
40:49 second coming gives us a deep love for each other. Amen?
40:54 You look at the book of Acts and the love that
40:57 they displayed for one another.
40:58 They laid down their lives for each other.
41:01 They ate together, they lived together,
41:04 they slept together.
41:06 In the same house, you understand.
41:08 You know what I'm talking about.
41:10 Appropriate sleeping, right?
41:11 They were together.
41:12 They were in one mind and one heart and one unity.
41:16 And they had this deep love, an agape love,
41:20 that Christ had placed in their hearts for each other.
41:23 We need that kind of love, amen?
41:26 When we have the hope of the second coming,
41:28 when we see our fellow church members...
41:30 Sure maybe they said something nasty to us.
41:33 Sure they may have scoffed us or blown us off
41:35 at some point or another.
41:36 But we see them with the eyes that Jesus sees them with. Amen?
41:41 We don't see people as they are, we see them as they can become.
41:45 Because that's how Jesus sees us.
41:49 Amen?
41:50 That's how Jesus sees us.
41:52 When He looks at us, He doesn't see us as we are,
41:55 but as we can become by His grace.
41:58 We need a deeper love for one another, don't we?
42:01 We need that heart's plea to make us brothers and sisters
42:06 in Christ that we'll lay down our lives for one another.
42:11 Well if you look at the next verse, verse 13, it says,
42:18 just continuing on from verse 12, "...so that He may
42:22 establish your hearts blameless in holiness
42:26 before our God and Father at the coming of our
42:30 Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."
42:34 Let me tell you, friends, that God wants His people
42:40 to be holy.
42:42 God wants His people to be spiritual.
42:45 And that can sometimes become a taboo word,
42:50 or a word that we reflect upon and we think,
42:54 "Oh, you know, that's very difficult and no one
42:58 can achieve perfection," and whatever else.
43:01 I like to view it this way:
43:03 God has an ideal for our lives. Amen?
43:06 He wants to complete us and He wants to restore us
43:10 back into the image of His Son Jesus
43:14 before He comes to heaven.
43:15 So that way, borrowing from a friend of mine,
43:18 the language, that way we don't just get into heaven,
43:22 but we will fit into heaven. Amen?
43:24 Because He wants us to adopt the culture of heaven
43:28 here on earth.
43:29 Earth once had heaven's culture, but it's been lost.
43:32 And Jesus says, "Before My people can spend eternity
43:35 with Me, that culture must be returned to the church.
43:39 But it must be taking place in our hearts
43:42 and in our minds." Amen?
43:43 And so God wants us to be transformed.
43:46 And so I believe today that the transforming grace of the gospel
43:50 and the hope of the second coming gives us a desire
43:53 to place God first in our lives and gives us a love for Him
43:57 so deep that we don't want to sin anymore.
44:02 Amen?
44:04 If we can put the vision of Jesus before us
44:06 every single day, it can, I believe, lead us to the place
44:10 where we reject sin in our lives.
44:13 What do you think; do you think that's a possibility?
44:15 If Jesus Christ is living within us by faith,
44:19 as He has promised to do when we open our hearts to Him,
44:22 then tell me, friends, what sin it is in our lives
44:26 that He cannot gives us victory over?
44:28 There is none.
44:30 Because Jesus' power, the resurrection power of Christ,
44:34 is greater than any power of sin and death
44:38 that can be in our hearts.
44:39 What do you think?
44:41 And wherever Jesus goes, wherever Jesus enters,
44:44 He brings light and joy and peace and power to overcome.
44:49 What do you say, friends?
44:50 What do you say, watching today?
44:52 I believe, friends, that the power of God
44:55 is stronger than the power of sin.
44:57 The power of sin.
45:00 The Bible tells us in Titus 2:11-14,
45:05 I'm going to read this, it says, "For the grace of God
45:09 that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
45:13 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
45:17 we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
45:21 in this present age..."
45:24 You see, friends, we've got to make the choice
45:28 to surrender our sins to Jesus.
45:31 We've got to make the decision and be determined about it.
45:36 But even though we're determined,
45:38 it doesn't matter how determine we are,
45:39 we still don't have the power to do it, do we?
45:42 But He has the power. Amen?
45:45 He has infinite power of heaven to cast away
45:49 anything in our lives that would separate us from Him.
45:52 But we have to want it.
45:54 He doesn't just give it flamboyantly.
45:56 He doesn't just give it haphazardly.
45:58 He only gives it to those who truly hunger
46:01 and thirst for righteousness.
46:03 And friends, you may be thinking to yourself today,
46:05 "I really don't have that hunger and thirst."
46:09 Pray for it.
46:11 Pray for it, and watch and see God gradually
46:14 increase it in your life.
46:16 Increasing it in your life.
46:19 Someone once said that, "God is becoming so beautiful to me
46:24 that I never want to sin again."
46:26 Amen?
46:28 I want you to notice this statement in,
46:29 Testimonies for the Church, volume 4, page 625.
46:33 Notice this statement here, it's very powerful.
47:05 Now notice that.
47:06 A couple of things here.
47:08 It says that there must be a continual reliance.
47:12 Sometimes we rely sometimes, sometimes we rely most times,
47:17 sometimes we rely a lot.
47:19 But it says there must be a continual.
47:22 Which means, an unbroken reliance upon the merits
47:27 and the blood of Jesus, because that's the only thing
47:30 in this world that has power over sin.
47:34 What do you think today?
47:35 Now she also says that when the Holy Spirit
47:38 is breathing upon the soul.
47:40 That's another word for bringing conviction to your hearts.
47:44 Okay?
47:45 When the Holy Spirit is convicting the heart,
47:48 she says, that man, or I will add, that woman,
47:51 must respond to its influence.
47:54 If we don't respond to the convicting power of the
47:57 Holy Spirit in our lives, there will be no transformation.
48:01 You understand?
48:02 When the Spirit convicts and we resist,
48:05 our moral abilities and our moral nature
48:09 becomes more weakened.
48:11 But when we respond, God injects in us,
48:14 our hearts and minds, divine power;
48:17 and we find strength and victory.
48:18 I've seen it happen.
48:20 You know, I remember just a few months ago,
48:26 I was wrestling with this temptation that
48:28 Satan had brought to me.
48:30 Yes, pastors have temptations, and they wrestle too.
48:32 And I was wrestling, and I just sensed myself
48:36 growing weaker and weaker and weaker.
48:40 And I was just about to the point where I was going to
48:43 yield to that temptation.
48:47 And I heard my little boy, 3 years old,
48:51 in the very moment...
48:52 I'm telling you, friends, this was divine.
48:54 In the very moment I was about to yield to that temptation
48:57 and give in, he began to sing the song,
49:01 "Jesus loves me, this I know;
49:04 for the Bible tells me so.
49:07 Little ones to Him belong;
49:09 they are weak, but He is strong."
49:14 And it was in that moment that I gathered myself
49:18 and I said, "Lord Jesus, take this thing from me."
49:21 And He gave me power over that temptation,
49:25 and I did not yield.
49:27 It was all His glory and His power and strength, amen?
49:30 We need that.
49:32 How much time do we spend each day asking God
49:35 to give us the power of the Holy Spirit?
49:38 We need to pray that prayer every day, friends.
49:41 Pray that prayer every day.
49:42 Lord Jesus, give me more and more of the Holy Spirit
49:45 until I'm completely transformed into the image of Christ Jesus.
49:51 We're going to go now to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4,
49:54 and we're going to read verses 16 through 18.
49:57 We're going to look at our next point.
49:58 Verses 16 through 18, the Bible tells us...
50:03 This is a passage that as Seventh-day Adventists,
50:05 we know very well, don't we?
50:07 Verse 16, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
50:11 with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
50:14 and with the trumpet of God.
50:15 And the dead in Christ will rise first.
50:18 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
50:21 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
50:24 And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
50:27 Therefore comfort one another with these words."
50:32 Do those words bring comfort to your heart today?
50:34 They bring comfort to our heart.
50:35 And I believe today, friends, that the hope of the
50:37 second coming gives us a comfort in our hearts
50:41 that can keep us through the darkest times of our lives...
50:50 If we keep the vision and the hope of the second coming
50:53 ever before us, Jesus will guard our hearts.
50:57 He will draw close in the darkest time.
51:00 But you know, friends, some people tell me, they say,
51:02 "You know, it's all nice and well that we would
51:04 have the hope of Jesus in the future, but what about
51:07 the present, Pastor Wes?
51:08 What about the here and now when my heart is aching
51:11 and it's breaking, and the dark clouds have surrounded me?
51:14 What about this moment?"
51:16 Never fear, friends.
51:18 For the Bible says we have a great High Priest
51:21 who intercedes for us.
51:23 And He says you can come boldly to the throne of grace
51:26 in time of need.
51:28 When we draw close to Jesus in our darkest hour,
51:32 He will draw close to us. Amen?
51:35 The hope and the assurance of His presence
51:38 is always with us, even to the end of the age.
51:42 How many of you can say amen?
51:44 He promises to never leave us, nor forsake us.
51:49 What a great God that we serve. Amen?
51:51 He is with us now, He is with us tomorrow.
51:54 He is with us every day until we see Him face to face
51:57 in the clouds of heaven.
51:58 We can take heart, we can be encouraged,
52:01 in those dark moments of our life.
52:02 What do you say today?
52:04 Our last point for this message is found in chapter 5,
52:13 and it is in verse 23 and 24.
52:17 Paul the apostle gives a final vision of the second coming.
52:21 He says, "Now may the God of peace Himself
52:24 sanctify you completely;
52:27 and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless
52:31 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
52:34 He who calls you is faithful, and also will do it."
52:42 Isn't that a beautiful promise, friends?
52:44 That He would sanctify us completely.
52:47 It's His power, not ours.
52:49 It's His grace, not our own strength.
52:52 It's His works on the cross, not our own.
52:55 It's He that sanctifies us completely.
52:58 And our last point is that the transforming grace...
53:14 All the joy of Jesus living within, amen?
53:17 The joy of Jesus living within.
53:19 He has power over every sin that can come into our lives.
53:25 I want to come to this quote from the book,
53:28 Acts of the Apostles, page 507.
53:31 Notice this, friends.
54:31 Who will stand, friends?
54:34 We need an exponential vision of the second coming of
54:38 Jesus in our hearts and minds, amen?
54:41 An exponential vision.
54:45 There was a young man who had strayed away from God.
54:51 And he was in Ukraine.
54:54 And he told his father, who was a pastor, he said,
54:57 "I want you to give me your apartment,
54:59 or I'm going to kill you."
55:02 He actually told him this.
55:03 So his father moved out, he moved in.
55:06 And one night he was sitting there after a party that he had
55:09 thrown in his house, and he was sitting there about
55:12 three in the morning smoking a cigarette.
55:15 And he said, all of a sudden a vision of the door
55:20 became just bright as the sun.
55:23 And he said that someone stepped through that door,
55:28 and his face was so bright he could not even look upon him.
55:31 And he said to him, this happened just a few years ago,
55:35 "If you only knew how much I love you
55:38 and how much I care for you, and how soon I am returning
55:43 to the earth," he said, "You would not be throwing away
55:47 your life like this.
55:48 Won't you come back to me before it's too late?"
55:55 The person stepped back through the door
55:58 and it returned to normal.
56:00 He said that it so shook him up that he came back to the church
56:06 and he was re-baptized.
56:08 And he said, "I believe that Jesus is coming soon."
56:12 Dear friends, are we really ready for Jesus
56:15 to return to this earth?
56:17 Have we really surrendered our lives?
56:19 Have we asked Jesus to take away the idols of our lives?
56:24 Have we asked Jesus to give us a transforming love
56:28 for others in the church and for the lost?
56:31 Have we asked Jesus to completely sanctify us?
56:35 Are we trusting in Him in the darkest times of our lives?
56:39 Are our lives totally surrendered to the
56:41 living Christ who is coming soon?
56:44 Is every decision that we make and everything that we do
56:47 in this life, dear friends, is it centered around the fact
56:51 that Jesus is returning to the earth today?
56:54 He's asking us to surrender our lives to Him.
56:57 He's asking you today, dear friends that are watching,
57:00 He's asking you, He's inviting you,
57:02 to make that decision to make a complete surrender to Him
57:07 and to allow that work of grace in your heart
57:10 to prepare you for His soon return.
57:13 Friends that are watching, friends here locally,
57:15 will you make that decision today?
57:17 Is that the desire of your hearts?
57:18 Would you make that decision and heed the voice of Jesus?
57:20 Let me see your hands. Let's pray.
57:23 Father, we thank You so much for the hope of Jesus' return.
57:26 And we pray, dear Father, that our hearts would be transformed
57:30 and changed by the power of Your glory
57:33 and the power of Your grace, and we will be standing with You
57:36 when You return in the clouds of heaven.
57:38 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.


Home

Revised 2016-04-19