Participants: Mark Finley
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001027
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01:00 Well, good evening and welcome.
01:01 We really, truly are on the road tonight. 01:06 We are almost a mile from the headquarters at 3ABN 01:10 and we are here at the Worship Center in Thompsonville. 01:13 And I just want you to know that we are so happy 01:17 that you are here. 01:19 And we are extremely happy 01:22 that our good friend Mark Finley is here. 01:25 Now we had Mark earlier in the year 01:28 for an "Anchors" and this time 01:31 when he was-- he came back, he couldn't come 01:33 for five complete nights or five complete meetings. 01:37 He's doing three and we didn't know what to call it. 01:41 We started about calling it an "Anklet" and we didn't know 01:46 if that quite would run or not. 01:48 But so they came up with "On the Road." 01:51 And when they showed me that I said, 01:52 well, we are not very far. 01:53 They said, yeah, but we are on the road. 01:56 We are not at the headquarters. 01:57 So that is true and as a good friend 02:00 of mine says, also correct. 02:03 And I am really looking forward to this series. 02:07 You know next summer, next spring, 02:11 our spring camp meeting is going 02:12 to be on the second coming of Christ. 02:16 We believe that this-- in fact we've got I think 02:18 16 or so topics, 19 topics on the second coming 02:25 of Christ that will be presented next spring camp meeting. 02:32 We're going to be advertising it, watch for it. 02:34 If you can't be here with us, then be sure 02:38 that you watch on 3ABN. 02:41 But that is going to be an exciting time. 02:43 You cannot talk about Christ return too much. 02:47 And we're going to look at every aspect of Christ return. 02:52 And tonight, because he can't be with us 02:55 next spring, well, we've invited Pastor Mark Finley 02:59 to present three messages 03:02 on the second coming of Jesus Christ. 03:06 I am so happy that Pastor Mark is with us. 03:10 As most of you have heard, Pastor Mark has had some 03:14 health challenges and he is facing those with the Lord 03:21 and with good health principles. 03:24 And so he will be sharing 03:27 with you a little bit more about that later. 03:29 But you take a good look at him, you can see that God 03:32 is sustaining him and God is bringing 03:34 him through a very difficult time. 03:36 He has some challenges, there's no question. 03:38 He-- we were talking back, you know, a few minutes ago 03:42 in the green room and I asked him, 03:44 what can I share? 03:46 He said, you just tell them, please pray. 03:49 He said, I had some challenges, 03:50 we've oversee some things overcome 03:52 but we've got still some things to face. 03:56 Getting some reports that are good, 03:58 but we still have some reports we haven't gotten back yet. 04:02 So he said, keep praying, 04:04 keep hoping, keep looking forward. 04:06 He said, I don't operate from fear. 04:09 He said, I just keep-- I am going to preach and live 04:13 as long as God gives me health. 04:15 You know that's all any of us can do, isn't it? 04:17 It really is. 04:19 And we never know sometimes 04:22 when you have something like a cancer, 04:24 you've got warning and you kind of work with it. 04:27 A good friend of mine dropped to the heart attack 04:30 a week ago and it took 11 minutes, 04:34 he's only in his 40s. 04:35 It took 11 minutes or them to revive him. 04:38 If they hadn't had one of those machines 04:40 right there and if he hadn't had some doctors 04:42 and nurses around, I don't believe 04:45 he would have been revived. 04:46 But you see that can happen so sudden, 04:48 you have no chance for usually for a second chance so to speak. 04:53 But when you are battling with an illness 04:57 there's always that great opportunity that God can heal. 05:01 And I believe with all of my heart that God 05:04 is going to sustain Mark Finley and Teenie. 05:08 And that they are going to be preaching 05:09 this message until the Lord comes 05:12 and I am excited about that. 05:14 I believe the Lord is going to come real soon. 05:15 And tonight, Pastor Mark's topic 05:19 is "Why Doomsday Prophets are Wrong." 05:25 And I am anxious to hear that particular subject. 05:30 Before he comes to speak we are going to have 05:34 Dr. Yvonne Lewis sing 05:37 for us a song entitled, "Just once more." 06:05 Here I am again 06:09 I am on my knees again 06:14 But these are different tears 06:18 From a brand new set of scars 06:22 Now they may look the same 06:25 But these are not the same 06:30 These are dirty tears 06:34 So I can't see where they are 06:38 And I pray you'll understand 06:41 And I pray you'll take my hand 06:46 And I pray there's still a place 06:50 In the shelter of your grace 06:54 I know I don't deserve another chance 07:01 But I am sorry, I blew it 07:05 I failed you once again 07:10 All the things I said I was 07:13 I haven't been, and I know that 07:20 You've heard this a million times before 07:27 But I need you to forgive me, just once more 07:34 Oh! I need you to forgive me 07:41 Now I made promises, 07:45 lots of promises 07:50 Tied with ropes of sand 07:54 So they never last for long 07:57 And I'm ashamed to ask 08:01 But I've just got to ask oh Lord 08:07 May I start again 08:10 Will you carry me back home 08:13 Can you look beyond the sin 08:17 To the helpless fool within 08:21 Can you take what I've abused 08:24 And make formidable vessel you can use 08:30 I admit I don't deserve another chance 08:37 Oh, but I am sorry, I blew it 08:42 I failed you once again 08:46 All the things I said I was, I haven't been 08:52 And I know that you've heard 08:57 this a million times before 09:03 But I need you to forgive me, 09:07 just once more 09:16 Can you look beyond the sin 09:19 To this helpless fool within 09:24 Can you take what I've abused 09:27 And make formidable vessel you can use 09:31 I agree I don't 09:34 deserve another chance 09:38 Oh, but I am sorry I blew it 09:44 I failed you once again 09:48 All the things I said I was, I haven't been 09:54 And I know that you've heard this 10:00 A million times before 10:06 But I need you to forgive me, 10:10 just once more I said I need 10:15 you to forgive me, just once more 10:26 Lord, I need you to forgive me, 10:33 just once more 11:03 Well, good evening and welcome. 11:05 We are so delighted that you are here 11:07 for this three part series titled, 11:10 "When Time Fades into Eternity." 11:15 Pastor Jim mentioned a little bit about 11:17 some of the health challenges that I have had 11:19 and I am so thankful to God to be here tonight at 3ABN. 11:25 And I want to express my deepest appreciation 11:29 to those of you that have been praying for me. 11:31 Thank you very much. 11:32 God is restoring my health well. 11:35 The reports this month are better 11:37 than they were last month 11:38 and we trust that next month 11:39 there will be report-- there will be better than 11:41 they were the month before. 11:42 So when people asking me, ask me how I feel, 11:46 I tell them that my energy has returned. 11:48 I am feeling stronger and healthier very day. 11:51 And so we praise God for what He is doing 11:54 and we trust Him implicitly. 11:56 You know, somebody asked me earlier on in this experience. 11:59 Are you praying that God will miraculously heal you? 12:03 And I said, well, my wife is. 12:05 And you know, but what I said was this, 12:09 I am praying that in everything I do in my life 12:13 I will glorify God because I believe 12:16 that if my main object is glorifying God, 12:20 God will take care of my health. 12:22 So my main object everything I do in life, 12:24 in every breath that I take in my life, is to glorify Him. 12:28 To glorify Him before every physician and medical test, 12:32 to glorify Him in every choice 12:35 I make in my choice of healthful living 12:38 and I know if the major object of my life is to glorify God, 12:41 He can well take care of everything else. 12:44 Well, as we enter into this series, 12:45 "When Time Fades into Eternity" let's pray together. 12:48 Father in heaven, thank you so much for Jesus. 12:54 Thank you for His marvelous love, 12:55 thank you for His infinite grace and thank you 12:58 that throughout scripture, we have the promise 13:01 that He will come again. 13:02 That from Genesis to Revelation the first coming of Jesus 13:07 to die on the cross and the second coming of Christ 13:10 in glory that those two comings 13:13 are the focal point of all of scripture. 13:15 And I pray that as we study this great theme 13:19 of the return of our Lord over the next few meetings 13:22 that You will open our eyes to see glorious things 13:25 from Your word, that You'll inspire our hearts, 13:28 that you'll give us a new faith, 13:29 a new courage and a new hope. 13:30 In Christ name, amen. 13:34 From 1991 until 2004, my wife and I lived 13:40 in Thousand Oaks, California. 13:43 Now if you are a Californiaite--all, 13:46 your badge of honor in California is to live 13:52 through and survive an earthquake. 13:56 And so my wife and I had that badge of honor. 13:59 We lived through the 1994 North Ridge earthquake. 14:04 Now I had never lived through an earthquake before, 14:08 never experienced an earthquake. 14:09 We come from the East Coast in New England. 14:11 And so earthquakes were quite foreign for us. 14:14 Hurricanes, yes, earthquakes, no. 14:18 The difference between a hurricanes and an earthquake 14:20 is hurricanes are predictable, earthquakes are not. 14:24 My wife and I were sleeping that evening in 1994 14:28 and the bed began to shake 14:30 and it was not because I rolled over. 14:34 I immediately recognized that something was unusual, 14:37 we were going through an earthquake. 14:40 And pictures on the wall began to fall, 14:43 all our book cases began to tumble. 14:45 Immediately we got our son out of his room and my wife 14:50 and I and our son went outside. 14:52 When the earthquake was over, I walked into our garage 14:56 and we always did a lit of canning and freezing. 15:00 And I noticed to my chagrin that the jars of applesauce 15:06 and jars of canned tomatoes and jars of peaches 15:09 had fall on the floor, they were smashed everywhere. 15:11 Our hearts were broken as much as that glass. 15:16 And so I began looking through the glass at 4 or 5 o' clock 15:20 in the morning, mind you and found some jars 15:24 that had fallen off and they weren't creaked. 15:26 And I said this is wonderful, praise the Lord. 15:29 I began washing them off and I put them all back 15:32 on the shelves, about 100 or 200 jars. 15:35 Nobody had told me about aftershocks. 15:41 And about an hour or later the house began shaking again 15:45 and the jars that I put back on the shelve tumbled off 15:50 the shelve and broke again. 15:53 When I began to read about the earthquakes 15:56 in the paper the next morning, 15:58 I noticed some very interesting things. 16:00 One hundred people had dies in that earthquake 16:06 not because of buildings falling on them 16:10 but Dr. Robert Claver of L.A. 16:13 Good Samaritan Hospital wrote about 16:17 what was called the fear that gripped peoples heart 16:23 and he gave a medical explanation. 16:25 And this is what the good doctor said, 16:27 "When the brain is so terrorized with fear spasms, 16:32 it releases a chemical that jolts the heart 16:36 into a massive heart attack." 16:39 Fear is deadly. 16:42 These people that died that day, 16:45 these 100 that I am discussing, not the others who died, 16:48 but these 100 people did not died 16:51 because a building fell upon them. 16:52 They did not die because they were crushed beneath 16:56 a load of falling debris. 17:00 They died because fear was so great in their hearts, 17:05 when the buildings began to shake, 17:07 when the houses shook that they were in that their hearts 17:13 were jolted by fear into a spasm that cause a heart attack. 17:19 Not there's a lot of fear around today. 17:22 As you look out over our world, 17:26 you will notice that people's hearts are gripped with fear. 17:30 You look out over America today and there's the fear right now 17:35 as I speak that America may launch cruise missiles on Syria, 17:40 that may catapult us into 17:43 a larger conflict in the Middle East. 17:47 Americans are afraid tonight. 17:50 They look out over the economy, 17:52 and there's a great deal of fear. 17:53 When you have a national debt 17:55 of almost $17 trillion, people are afraid. 18:00 Unemployment rates are high, people are afraid. 18:04 There are parents that dropped their children off 18:07 at school every single day and these parents are afraid. 18:12 Have you read in America's newspapers, 18:15 have you seen on the internet about school violence? 18:19 New town Connecticut, a mentally unstable young man 18:24 walked into his school, started shooting 18:26 and children three, four, five years old are gunned down. 18:31 School violence is on the rise, crime is on the rise. 18:35 We might call this America, the anxious. 18:39 We might call it America's anxiety attack. 18:43 Because people are seized with fear, 18:47 gripped with anxiety, filled with stress intention 18:51 many of them are turning to antidepressant. 18:54 I was looking up some of the statistics 18:57 on antidepressant drugs in America. 18:59 This is what I discover. 19:00 One in 10 Americans use antidepressant drugs today. 19:05 Americans spends $280 billion, 19:10 you heard me correctly, $280 billion on antidepressants. 19:16 One in four American women, 19:18 25% are taking antidepressant drugs, 19:22 more than any other developed country in the world. 19:27 America leads the world in antidepressants. 19:31 Do you know that American children are three times 19:34 more likely to take antidepressants 19:36 than European children. 19:39 One half of young adults in America, 19:42 between 18 years old and 33 years old 19:45 are on antidepressant drugs. 19:48 When you have one half of all Americans 19:52 on antidepressant drugs that are between 18 and 33 19:56 you know that, that's incredibly serious. 19:59 28 million Americans have a serious drinking problem, 20:05 largely to calm their fears 20:08 and reduce their anxiety and stress. 20:12 22 million Americans uses illegal drugs. 20:16 Now recently there has been a spade of articles. 20:19 In leading American journals you go back to 2008, 20:23 in the last five years there has been 20:25 all of these articles that have come forth. 20:28 For example, February 27, 2008, Scientific America 20:33 runs an article called The Medicated Americans. 20:36 In another words, Americans are so filled 20:38 with stress, so filled with fear, 20:40 so filled with anxiety 20:42 that they are medicating themselves to death. 20:45 Harvard Health Publications from Harvard Medical School, 20:49 October 20, 2011 reported on a study 20:53 that was done from 1997 to 2008. 20:57 And in this study of antidepressants 21:00 they discovered, reported in Harvard, 21:02 Harvard Health Magazine that the use of antidepressant drugs 21:09 has doubled in United States in the last 12 to 14 years. 21:15 And then April 22, 2013, New York Times Magazine 21:22 ran a feature article that talked about 21:26 heart attacks in America today. 21:28 And it said, fear and anxiety of Americans 21:32 that, that fear and anxiety is leading 21:35 to heart attacks and that the rise of heart attacks 21:39 in America is largely attributed certainly 21:41 to higher cholesterol diet but it's also added to stress. 21:46 People are so stressed out. 21:48 In fact, isn't that what Jesus said in Luke 21. 21:54 And if you have your Bible tonight 21:55 and I know you do, turn to Luke 21. 21:59 Jesus talks about fear, in Jesus' sermon on end events. 22:06 He talks about fear. 22:08 He talks about anxiety, He talks about worry. 22:13 Looking there at Luke 21, 22:18 looking at verses 34 22:22 and onward Jesus says, "But take heed to yourselves, 22:26 lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, 22:29 drunkenness, the cares of this life." 22:32 And if you go back to verse 26, Jesus tells that people 22:38 are going to be-- their hearts are going 22:40 to be weighed down, they are going to be overburdened. 22:42 They are going to try to solve their problems 22:45 through carousing, through excess, 22:47 through drunkenness, through getting involved 22:50 in the things of this life. 22:52 But then Jesus says in verse 26, 22:55 "Men's hearts failing them for fear." 22:59 Men's hearts failing for fear. 23:02 I was interested in the Greek word, 23:05 you know, the New Testament 23:07 was written in the Greek language. 23:08 And I was interested 23:09 in the New Testament word for failing. 23:12 It is the word expiring, expiring. 23:15 Men's hearts expiring from fear. 23:19 The New King James says for the expectation, 23:22 in other words they are concerned about 23:24 what's happening in this world. 23:25 But the King James Version I think it's even better. 23:27 It says, "Looking at those things 23:31 that are coming on the earth." 23:32 So Jesus says literally, men's hearts fail. 23:36 Literally, men's hearts expire. Why? 23:40 Because they are looking at the things 23:43 that are coming on this world. 23:45 They are looking at what's going on around them rather than 23:48 what's going to go on above them. 23:51 You see, why are the doomsday prophets wrong? 23:55 Because they are looking in the wrong place, 23:59 they are looking in the wrong place. 24:02 Here is an eternal truth. 24:05 What you see depends on what you are looking at. 24:10 What you see depends on what you are looking at. 24:15 If your mind is filled with what's going on, 24:21 on the news reports of today, 24:23 if your mind is filled with that's taking place 24:26 on CNN or FOX News, if your mind is filled 24:29 with what's taking place on the internet. 24:31 If your mind is filled with bad news, 24:34 school violence, hurricane, earthquakes, tornado, 24:37 if your mind is filled with wars in Syria, 24:41 if your mind is filled on bad news, 24:44 your heart is going to be so filled with anxiety, 24:48 stress and fear that, that will lead 24:50 your to a coronary heart attack. 24:53 So Jesus says here, men's hearts failing them for fear. Why? 24:58 For looking at those things that are coming on the earth, 25:02 but Jesus said to His disciples something else 25:06 about troubled hearts, John 14. 25:10 And we are going to look there in John 14 25:14 and spend time tonight studying not bad news but good news. 25:18 Wouldn't you agree with me that there are two groups, 25:20 one with troubled anxious, worried, stress filled hearts 25:25 and one group with peaceful, calm, faithful, trusting hearts. 25:29 What's the difference in the two groups? 25:31 The difference is precisely where you look. 25:34 What you look at what's going on around you. 25:36 Jesus said in John 14 starting with verse 1. 25:41 And we are going to look at John 14:1-3 phrase by phrase. 25:47 We're going to dissect the text and tonight, 25:50 Jesus is going to give us new hope. 25:53 Tonight, Jesus is going to give us new confidence. 25:56 Tonight we are looking for calm hearts not troubled hearts, 26:00 because we are not looking were the world is looking, 26:03 we are looking some place else. 26:05 John 14, we began, Jesus says, 26:08 "Let not your heart be troubled." 26:12 Jesus is saying there, don't allow 26:15 your heart to be troubled. 26:16 Now the original text of scripture written 26:19 in the Greek language, there is something 26:21 in the Greek text called the present active. 26:25 In the present active is something that's ongoing. 26:29 So the English doesn't quite capture 26:32 it but the literal translation of the text would say this, 26:36 "Stop letting your heart be troubled. 26:40 Stop letting your heart be troubled." 26:43 Another way to translate it would be, 26:45 do not permit fear to grip your heart. 26:50 Another way to translate it would be, 26:52 don't be concerned with worry, anxiety or stress. 26:57 A modern translation would say, stop being stressed out. 27:02 That's the Finley translation. 27:05 Stop being stressed out. 27:07 Another words, don't allow that to happen. 27:10 Why not? Jesus tells you why not. 27:14 "You believe in God, believe also in me." 27:18 Another words, those that have strong faith 27:22 will not be stressed out by the anxiety of our age. 27:28 Jesus said, don't be stressed out, 27:31 don't allow your heart to be troubled. Why not? 27:33 Because you believe in God, believe also in me. 27:38 Your belief in a God who is in control 27:43 of the universe will deliver you from crippling fear, 27:47 anxiety and stress. 27:50 More and more studies indicate 27:52 that those that have strong faith have less stress. 27:57 There was a study done in 1998 27:59 in the Journal of Gerontology of physiological sciences 28:04 and this is the conclusion they came to. 28:07 They looked at 7,000 Californians 28:11 living in Alameda County, California. 28:13 This is what they said, "Those that have a strong faith 28:17 attend church regularly and place their trust in God 28:22 and study God's word are less stressed out 28:25 over their finances, over their health 28:27 and over world affairs in general." 28:30 Now that is an amazing comment from a scientific journal. 28:36 Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. 28:39 You believe in God believe also in me. 28:43 Now the word for belief there when Jesus says in John 14, 28:49 "You believe in God, believe also in me." 28:52 The word for belief is Pistis, very fascinating word. 28:55 It's not belief in the intellectual sense. 28:58 It's not some intellectual cognition. 29:00 It's not some intellectual ascent to knowledge. 29:04 Biblical faith, biblical belief is more than 29:08 a casual superstitious, superficial faith. 29:12 It's a deep abiding trust in God. 29:15 What is faith in the biblical sense? 29:17 Here's what faith is in biblical sense. 29:19 Faith in the biblical sense is trust in God 29:24 as a friend well known, that leads me to do 29:29 whatever he asks, to follow Him wherever he leads 29:36 and to obey whatever He commands 29:40 becauseI know that He has my best interest in view. 29:45 And I know that at the end, Jesus in me will triumph 29:51 and everything will come out all right. 29:54 See, what is faith? 29:55 Faith is this deep trust, this abiding confidence, 30:02 knowing that the God that rules 30:05 the universes cares for me and that He loves me. 30:09 And that whatever happens in my life, 30:11 my life is in His hand. 30:14 That's why Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled. 30:18 You believe in God, believe also in me." 30:22 Now if you study John's Gospel. 30:26 Belief is a keyword in John's gospel. 30:29 From the first chapter of the Book of John 30:32 till the end of the Book of John belief is a keyword. 30:35 So I want to survey this because you'll never fully understand 30:39 John 14:1-3 unless you understand the concept of belief 30:43 in the Gospel of John. 30:45 So let's go to John 1. 30:46 We're going to look at seven or eight passages in John. 30:49 And see if we can capture the majestic. 30:52 See if we can capture the thrill. 30:54 See if we can capture the bigness. 30:56 See if we can capture the largeness 30:59 of this belief concept in John. 31:01 John 1, you are looking in John 1:12. 31:05 Jesus says in John 1:12, "As many as received Him, 31:09 to them He gave the right to become the children of God, 31:14 even to those," that do what? 31:16 Even to those, that do what, everybody? 31:17 "Believe on in His name." 31:19 So I become a child of God as I do what? Believe. 31:24 So in John's Gospel there are two choices, 31:27 you believe or you disbelieve. 31:29 And as you journey through John's Gospel, 31:32 you see people who believe and people disbelieve. 31:35 The people who believe have calm faith, trust in God. 31:40 The people that believe have been 31:42 given the gift of eternal life. 31:44 The people that believe have an optimistic future. 31:46 The people that believe have the power of God 31:49 coming into their life. 31:50 The people that disbelieve are filled with 31:52 stress, anxiety, filled with fear at times. 31:55 The people that disbelieve at times are filled 31:58 with condemnation and guilt and lack forgiveness. 32:01 The people that disbelieve have to worry about the future. 32:03 So John introduces the key thought over all 32:07 of his book and the key thought 32:08 is to believe, to grasp by faith the reality 32:12 that Jesus is the Son of God. 32:13 To grasp by faith, His forgiveness. 32:15 To grasp by faith, His freedom from condemnation. 32:18 To grasp by faith, the gift of eternal life. 32:20 To grasp by faith and to believe that He is coming gain 32:24 therefore your heat need not be troubled. 32:26 John 3:12-18, again notice this concept 32:31 all through John of belief. 32:33 Grasp by faith who Jesus is. 32:36 Accept the reality of His goodness, 32:39 His grace, His mercy. 32:41 John 3, we are looking 32:42 there now at verse 12, Jesus says to Nicodemus, 32:45 "If I have told you earthly things, 32:48 and you do not believe, how will you" what? 32:51 "Believe, if I tell ou of heavenly things?" 32:53 Verse 15, "Whosoever believes 32:56 in him should not" what? "Perish." 32:59 Verse 16, say it with me, 33:01 "For God so," what? 33:04 TV audience, join us here, "For God so," what? 33:07 "Loved the world, that He gave His 33:09 Only begotten Son, that whosoever" does what? 33:11 "Believes shall have everlasting life." 33:14 Can you have eternal life? 33:16 If you do what? Believe. 33:18 Now notice, let your eyes drop down to verse 18, 33:22 "He who believes in Him is not condemned." 33:26 Now we are going to John 4, I want you to see 33:29 the point in John's Gospel. 33:31 The point in John's Gospel is believe or what? Disbelieve. 33:35 John 4:41-42, John 4:41-42, 33:41 "And many more believed because of his own word." 33:45 This is the story of the Samaritan woman 33:48 and how those in Samaria came to the point of belief 33:53 as they came in contact with the living Christ. 33:56 Then they said to the woman, verse 42, 33:58 "Now we believe, not because of what you said 34:02 for we heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed 34:05 the Christ, the Savior of the world." 34:07 The Samaritans came to the point of what? Believe. 34:11 John 5:38, every chapter of John, 34:15 you see men and women confronted with the living Christ. 34:18 Men and women confronted with Jesus 34:21 as Lord, Jesus as Savior. 34:23 Men and women confronted with the truths of the gospel. 34:25 Men and women confronted with the truth of His return. 34:28 They either believe or disbelieve. 34:31 They believe and they are filled with joy and peace 34:34 and they are delivered from stress and anxiety. 34:37 But if they disbelieve, they are filled 34:39 with condemnation, guilt, shame, eternal loss. 34:43 John 5:38, again, every chapter you will see, 34:48 once you see the theme jumping out at you. 34:50 John 5:38, "But you do not have 34:53 His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, 34:58 Him you do not believe." 35:00 So here the Pharisees did not come to the point of believe, 35:05 it's believe or disbelieve. 35:07 John 6:30, it's very interesting. 35:11 Jesus touches the eyes of the blind and they are open. 35:14 He touches the ears of the deaf and they're unstopped, 35:17 touches the withered man's arm and it's healed. 35:19 Touches legs and people walk again. 35:21 He raises the dead, He multiplies the bread 35:25 and 5,000 are fed. 35:28 All these signs and still what do the Pharisees 35:32 say in John 6 and notice there in verse 30, 35:36 "Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform, 35:40 that we may see it and believe You? 35:43 What work will You do?" 35:45 I mean, think of what he has done already. 35:47 Isn't it quite amazing? 35:50 And their eyes are still blinded. 35:52 Why are their eyes blinded? 35:54 Not because the signs were not present 35:58 but because they did not see them with eyes of faith. 36:03 The signs of the second coming of Christ were all around us. 36:06 Those that have eyes to see, 36:09 those that have ears to hear come to a point of believe 36:14 in the fact that Jesus is coming again just as those 36:19 in the New Testament were confronted 36:21 with signs and were given a choice to believe 36:23 or disbelieve regarding His first coming. 36:27 You and I are going through a repetition 36:31 of what took place in the Gospel of John. 36:33 And our choice is either to believe or disbelieve. 36:38 Disbelieve leads us down a road of stress, 36:42 anxiety, fear, guilt, shame, bewilderment, disillusionment. 36:49 Belief leads us down a road of hope, 36:53 of confidence, of forgiveness, of freedom from guilt, 36:59 of power, of grace, of hope, of optimism in our lives. 37:04 John 9:35-38, John 9:35-38. 37:11 And you'll see exactly why Jesus comes to this climax. 37:16 In John 14, he's building up to something significant. 37:20 John 9:35-38, "Jesus heard 37:25 that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, 37:28 He said to him," this is the man that Christ 37:31 healed of his blindness and they cast Him out of the synagogue. 37:34 So Jesus finds him and he says, 37:36 "Do you believe in the Son of God?' 37:38 He answered and said, 'Who is He, Lord, 37:40 that I may believe in Him?' 37:42 And Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him 37:44 and it is He who is talking with you.' 37:47 Then he said, 'Lord, I believe' And he worshiped Him. 37:49 Again, you have belief and disbelief. 37:54 Now, John 11:42 is a classic. 37:57 We are coming to John 14, 37:59 you will see it in the new light. 38:01 John 11, we're looking there at verse 42. 38:04 John 11:42, the scripture says, 38:09 "And I know--" Now Jesus is at the tomb 38:12 of Lazarus and standing there at the tomb of the Lazarus, 38:17 Jesus is praying to the Father for the resurrection power. 38:21 And he says that I know that you always hear me 38:24 but because of the people who are standing by I said 38:27 this that they may believe that you send me. 38:30 The purpose of the Gospel of John is to present 38:34 enough evidence for people to believe. 38:38 Now go to the end of the-- go to the end of John's Gospel 38:42 and then we're going to come back to John 14. 38:45 Go to the end of John's Gospel, John 20. 38:49 John 20. What is the purpose of the entire Gospel of John? 38:57 John 20, you are looking there at verse 30-31. 39:02 And truly, this is John 20:30-31, 39:06 "And truly Jesus did many other signs 39:09 in the presence of His disciples, 39:10 which are not written in this book. 39:11 But these are written that--" what? 39:15 "You may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 39:18 and that believing you may have life in His name." 39:21 What is the entire purpose of the Gospel of John? 39:23 To resent men and women with two choices, 39:26 to believe or to disbelieve. 39:27 And looking at the evidence of who Jesus is, 39:31 the Messiah of the world, the one whose grace flows 39:34 freely to us, the one who offers us 39:37 forgiveness and power and transformation. 39:39 The one who works so many mighty miracles. 39:41 Jesus says, John writes 39:43 the evidence is there to believe. 39:45 Now, with that background we go to John 14. 39:49 John 14. And this is what Jesus says 39:52 in John 14, He says to His disciples, 39:57 verse 1, "Let not your heart be troubled." 40:00 Another words, stop letting your heart 40:01 be filled with anxiety. 40:03 Stop letting your heart be filled with fear. 40:07 Stop worrying so much about the future. 40:10 Stop worrying about those things 40:11 that you don't know about, you can't control. 40:13 Then he says, "If you believe in God, believe also in Me." 40:19 He said, do not chose disbelieve but chose believe. 40:23 When worry fills your soul, when anxiety grips your heart, 40:28 let your heart chose to believe. 40:33 Believe that He loves you, believe He cares for you, 40:36 believe Jesus says that He is coming again. 40:40 Now notice, He said, 40:42 "You believe in God, believe also in Me." 40:45 Then He says, "Here are the reasons 40:48 why you need not let your heart be troubled. 40:51 You can believe that in My Father's house 40:54 are many mansions; if it were not so, 40:56 I would have told you." 40:57 Look when you are filled with stress. 40:59 Look when anxiety grips you. 41:01 Look when your own finances are not doing well. 41:04 Look when your house mortgage is under water. 41:06 Look when there's a threat of war in the Middle East. 41:11 Look when there are financial difficulties 41:13 in America and around the world. 41:15 Look when you are going through sickness, 41:17 when cancer wrecks your body. 41:19 Jesus said, look, don't let your heart 41:20 be troubled about all that stuff. 41:23 Don't be concentrating on all that stuff. 41:25 You believe in God, believe also in me. 41:26 And he said, here are three reasons 41:28 I am going to give you not to worry. 41:30 First, in My Father's house there are many mansions. 41:34 There's a place beyond this earth of all eternity. 41:38 Life is very, very fragile. 41:42 The truth of the matter is that all of us 41:45 are going to die someday. 41:47 Someday your name is going to be in that obituary column. 41:51 Someday your friends are going to be saying, 41:55 wasn't she a wonderful woman, 41:58 wasn't he a wonderful man? 42:00 Someday that casket of Jesus doesn't come 42:03 that they roll into the church, 42:04 you are going to be inside of it. 42:07 And they all say wonderful things 42:08 about you and go back to the church 42:09 and he beans the potato salad. 42:14 I tell you, that's the truth, that's the truth. 42:17 You say, I don't like to think about that. 42:19 Well, nobody does, nobody does. 42:22 But I tell you some thing. 42:26 The hope that we have as Christians 42:30 is that Jesus is coming again. 42:33 What a hope to fill our hearts. 42:36 What joy to fill our souls. 42:39 Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled." 42:42 That's why Seventh-day Adventist Christians 42:45 are the most optimistic hope filled, 42:47 joy filled people in the world, because we know that beyond 42:52 all those nuclear bombs, beyond all the famines 42:56 and the heartache of this world, beyond the sickness, 42:59 suffering and disease, beyond all of that, 43:03 beyond all the violence, beyond the crime, 43:06 beyond the immorality, Jesus Christ is coming again. 43:11 Somebody has counted that there are 1,845 43:14 the Bible mention Jesus is coming again. 43:16 The second coming of Christ is mentioned in the Bible 43:19 once in every 25 verses. 43:21 For every prophecy in the Old Testament about 43:24 the first coming of Jesus there are eight prophecies 43:27 about the second coming of Jesus Christ. 43:29 Jesus Christ's second return to this world, 43:32 His return to this world is one of the high points of scripture. 43:36 It fills us with hope. 43:37 It fills us with hope. 43:40 Jesus says, believe, believe. 43:42 Noah believed in spite of anything he could see 43:45 that the flood was coming. 43:47 Abraham believed that God was stronger than death 43:51 and he could actually offer up Isaac and Isaac 43:54 would be raised up from the dead if that was necessary. 43:57 Moses believed when he stood on the banks 44:00 of the Red Sea that God could open it. 44:03 Joseph believed that God had a purpose 44:05 when he went into the pit and then the prison that God 44:09 had a purpose for him. 44:10 Daniel believed that God was going to use him 44:14 to impact Nebuchadnezzar and the whole Babylonian empire. 44:18 All these Bible heroes believed something they could not see 44:24 and that which they could not see 44:26 became a reality in their life. 44:28 Faith and sight are different. 44:31 By faith we believe that Jesus will not lie. 44:36 Is there anything impossible for God to do? Yes. 44:42 He can't lie. See, I am a teacher. 44:45 So I have to get my, all my students occasionally. 44:47 Is there anything impossible, 44:49 does the Bible teaches something impossible for God to do? 44:53 The Bible says it is impossible for God to do what? To lie. 44:57 Why it is impossible for Him to lie? 44:58 Because He is the way to what? 45:00 Truth and the life. 45:02 And if He lie it will be contrary to His character, 45:05 His character is truth so He cannot lie, right? 45:08 Has Jesus promised to come again? 45:10 Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied 45:13 He comes with 10,000 of his saints. 45:15 David in Psalm said, Psalm 50:3, 45:18 "Our God will come and not keep silence." 45:22 The Apostle Paul said the Lord Himself 45:24 shall descend from heaven with a shout, 45:25 with the voice of the archangel, with the triumph of God 45:28 and the dead in Christ will be rise first. 45:30 Notice these words, David says, our God might come, 45:34 maybe He'll come, perhaps He'll come, 45:36 I think He'll come. 45:37 Our God-- what? 45:38 Will come, shall come. 45:40 What does Paul say? 45:42 The Lord himself might descend from heaven, shall come. 45:47 Enoch testifies of His coming. 45:49 David testifies of His coming, Paul testifies of His coming. 45:52 John testifies of His coming. 45:54 What did John say? 45:55 John says, Book of Revelation, 45:58 he comes with clouds and every eye-- what? 46:02 Shall see Him come. 46:05 The angels testify of His coming. 46:06 They say, "You men of Galilee, 46:08 why are you standing, gazing up into heaven." 46:09 Acts 1:9-11. Why you're gazing up into heaven? 46:12 This same Jesus, this same Jesus that you saw 46:16 go up into heaven shall so come in what? 46:20 Like manner as you've seen Him go into heaven. 46:24 The Enoch testifies of His coming. 46:26 David testifies of His coming. 46:28 The Apostle Paul testifies of His coming. 46:30 John testifies of His coming. 46:32 The angels testify of His coming. 46:34 And what does Jesus say, let not your heart be troubled. 46:38 Stop worrying. 46:40 Stop getting involved in anxiety and fear, difficulty. 46:44 Jesus said, I am going to prepare a place for you. 46:46 What does He mean? 46:47 He's commanding the angels. 46:50 And we got a lot of angelic carpenters 46:52 that are nailing boards on our new homes. 46:56 Does he mean he's got a lot of bricklayers 46:58 up there with the angels? 46:59 I go to prepare a place for you. 47:01 In the controversy between good and evil in the universe, 47:05 Satan has said that God is unfair and the God is unjust. 47:08 And in that controversy between good and evil 47:10 and the universe Satan has said God does not love us. 47:14 When Christ died on the cross He revealed His love 47:17 before awaiting world and watching universe. 47:20 And now in the light of the cosmic judgment, 47:22 Jesus steps forth, He's preparing 47:25 a place for you and for me. 47:26 And he steps forth in the judgment hour 47:28 in the last days of earth's history and Jesus says, 47:30 is there anything I could have done more 47:32 to save Mark Finley? 47:33 Is there anything I could have done more? 47:35 I came to die, I shed my blood, 47:39 I paid ransom price, I met the demands 47:44 of the law that Mark Finley broke. 47:45 I provide for him the grace and mercy and forgiveness. 47:49 Is there anything more I could do? 47:51 I am preparing a place for him. 47:52 Even now I am sending him power for he ever liveth 47:55 to make intersession for us. 47:57 What is it mean that Jesus is preparing a place for us? 48:00 It means all of heaven is doing everything it can to save 48:03 every human being that there is nothing more 48:05 that heaven could do to save you. 48:08 And in the final analysis, if you and I are lost 48:10 it's because we made a choice to disbelieve 48:12 and not a choice to believe. 48:13 It's not because we didn't have evidence to believe. 48:16 What is it mean when it says, let not your heart be troubled? 48:18 Here's what Jesus is saying to His disciples. 48:20 Look, you stop worrying about this, 48:22 because if you believe in God, believe also in me. 48:24 Put your choice on the side of belief. 48:26 I am going to prepare a place for you. 48:29 I am going to do everything I can to get you there. 48:31 I am going to do every single thing I can do to get you there. 48:34 There is nothing that heaven won't do to save you. 48:39 I am going to pull out every stop. 48:40 I am going to do everything possible to get you there. 48:43 I will do everything I can, I'll send 48:45 my Holy Spirit to convict you. 48:47 I'll send angles to influence your mind. 48:49 I will strength you. 48:50 I will do everything possible to get you there. 48:53 And he said, then don't let your heart 48:55 be troubled because I am preparing a place 48:57 for you there and I am doing everything 48:59 I can to save you. 49:00 In my father's house there are many mansions. 49:02 There's not just a few but there is enough room 49:04 for you because I love that word many. 49:06 What if he said, in my father's house 49:07 there are few mansions. Oh man, a few. 49:09 That's not good enough for me. 49:11 But many, many, many is more than enough. 49:17 Many is more than-- what? Enough. 49:21 There's enough room for you. 49:23 In my father's house there are many mansions, 49:24 if that were not so, would I have told you. 49:26 I would go to prepare a place for you. 49:27 Jesus says, I will come again. 49:31 Somebody said to me once. 49:32 You Adventists, you are up high in the sky by and by. 49:38 I mean, really now, come on. 49:40 What difference does the second coming of Christ 49:42 mean to people that live on earth? 49:43 Let me give you seven reasons 49:44 why the second coming of Christ changes 49:46 your life right on earth today. 49:48 Number one, the second coming of Christ 49:50 provides hope in the face of life's 49:53 most difficult dilemma, death. 49:55 Every single one of us have parents that have died, 49:58 a son, a daughter, a wife, a loved one, a neighbor. 50:03 If Jesus is not coming again, 50:05 is death a dark hole in the ground? 50:07 Is life a long night without a morning? 50:09 The second coming of Christ provides 50:12 hope in the face of life's most difficult dilemma, death. 50:16 So it boils our spirit and encourages our hearts. 50:18 Secondly, the second coming of Christ 50:20 provides a reference point of every thing 50:23 that's happening in life. 50:24 If you are lost in a forest and you come across 50:27 a trail and there are blue marks on the trees 50:30 and you began to follow them, 50:31 you say, wait a minute this is the way out of the forest. 50:34 So the second coming of Christ is a reference point. 50:36 I can look at the threat of nuclear war, 50:39 I can look at rising crime. 50:40 I can see tornados and cyclones in the natural world 50:43 and I can say to myself, there is a reference point. 50:47 I know what this means. 50:48 We are not in the dark. 50:50 Seventh day Adventist Christians that believe 50:53 in the second coming of Christ do not walk around, 50:56 confused about what's going on in our world 50:58 because we see the signs and we believe 51:01 we are on the verge of the kingdom. 51:03 Jesus is coming again. 51:05 Thirdly, the second coming of Christ 51:07 inspires us to hang on 51:09 in the face of life's greatest challenges. 51:12 See, how does the second coming of Christ inspire you today? 51:16 It inspires you when you go through challenges 51:18 to say, you know what? 51:20 This is not all that there is, I can hang on, 51:24 I can persevere because Jesus Christ is going to come. 51:28 Fourthly, the second coming of Christ 51:30 fills us with optimism and joy and hope. 51:34 I mean, you say, Jesus is coming again. 51:38 Sicknesses, disease, disaster and death is gone. 51:41 Suffering and sorrow is gone, chaos and calamity gone. 51:45 Jesus is coming again. 51:46 I mean, if that does not make you optimistic, 51:48 if that does not put a spring in your step, 51:51 if that does not put a smile on your face, 51:53 if that does not put a twinkle in your eyes, 51:56 if the second coming of Christ does not move you, 51:59 you are dead already. 52:01 Five, the second coming of Christ 52:06 gives us an eternal perspective. 52:09 We look away from what is to what will be. 52:12 We look away from time to eternity. 52:15 We look away from what's around us to what's above us. 52:19 You see, when you believe 52:21 in the second coming of Christ, 52:22 you have this incredible internal perspective. 52:26 Sixthly, the second coming 52:27 of Christ provides us with faith in the future. 52:32 See, for us who believe that Jesus 52:35 is coming again, we believe not 52:39 in the doomsday predictions that some meteorites 52:41 are going to strike earth and it's going to be destroyed. 52:44 We don't believe that the last moments on earth 52:47 we'll be calling at one another for living space 52:51 that will be-- have famines 52:54 that just wipe us out. 52:56 The doomsday prophets are wrong, you know why? 52:58 Because they don't look far enough into the feature. 53:01 They have a short view of calamity. 53:04 We are filled with hope. 53:06 We believe that God has a good future for us. 53:10 We believe that something better is on the way. 53:13 And lastly the second coming of Christ keeps us mindful 53:18 that God is still in control. 53:22 Governments may seem out of control. 53:25 Human beings may seem not to have 53:28 the reigns of government in their hands. 53:31 But praise God for every government official 53:33 that works for honesty and justice 53:35 and mercy and goodness. 53:37 But we know this, there never be full peace 53:39 on earth until the Prince of Peace comes. 53:42 We will never solve the problems of earth 53:43 with human solutions, they take divine solutions. 53:48 Some time ago I read an old African legend. 53:52 I love reading these old African stories. 53:55 It was just the legend story that came out of Africa. 53:59 There were four herdsmen taking care of their cattle. 54:05 One was water, one was fire, 54:11 one was falsehood and one was truth. 54:13 And the legend goes like this, they all lived in one house. 54:16 Falsehood was over here and truth was over here, 54:19 they would never sit together at the table. 54:21 And water, well, water try to keep away out 54:23 of fire's way and fire certainly try to keep away from water. 54:29 And they all go out they had these cattle 54:30 and they would just herd cattle. 54:32 Mr. Water, the African legend goes 54:34 and Mr. Fire and Mr. Falsehood and Mr. Truth. 54:39 But pretty soon Mr. Falsehood as you could imagine 54:43 wanted more of the cattle. 54:46 So he went to Mr. Water and he said to him, 54:52 you know we could get more cattle 54:54 if you would just douse Mr. Fire and put him out. 54:59 So Mr. Water thought that was a good idea 55:01 because he can get come more cattle. 55:03 So he figured out a way and he doused Mr. Fire 55:06 with all the water, splash, splash,, douse it all. 55:08 Fire went out. 55:10 Then Mr. Falsehood went to Mr. Truth 55:14 and he said, did you see what Mr. Water did to Mr. Fire? 55:18 Water never will run uphill, 55:20 we can get a lot more cattle if we just go up the hill 55:24 and let's leave Water out all together. 55:26 He is so evil and wicked, he doesn't deserve 55:30 any of these cattle. 55:32 So Mr. Truth said, yeah, he did douse that fire, 55:35 that wasn't very nice, let's go. 55:36 And they went uphill and Water 55:38 ran in the stream in the valley. 55:40 And so Mr. Truth 55:42 and Mr. Falsehood went up 55:44 to the top of the mountain with all the cattle. 55:47 And they had a big argument 55:48 of whose cattle they would be now. 55:50 And they said to the wind, blow wind, blow wind 55:55 and find out from all the people of earth 55:59 is Falsehood greater than Truth. 56:03 Who's greater, false or the truth? 56:07 And so the wind blew and the wind 56:08 came back with this message. 56:11 Falsehood is powerful, 56:16 Truth is powerful. 56:20 Falsehood is more powerful than the truth 56:23 only when truth fails to speak up. 56:29 Falsehood is more powerful than the truth 56:33 only when truth fails to speak up. 56:41 There is a message of truth that God has given 56:45 to his end time people to go to the ends of the earth. 56:49 It's mentioned 1,500 times or more, 56:53 actually 1,845 times in the Bible. 56:55 Jesus Christ is coming again. 56:59 Falsehood is only more powerful that the truth 57:03 of the second coming when those who believe 57:06 the truth of the second coming do not speak up. 57:09 This is our hour. 57:12 Falsehood is only more powerful that truth 57:15 when you disbelieve truth and accept falsehood. 57:20 Oh, God, teach us to fill our hearts 57:25 with Your truth and let the hope of Your coming 57:29 radiate in our souls now and forever. 57:32 And let's pray, Father in heaven, thank you so much. |
Revised 2014-12-17