Participants:
Series Code: PME
Program Code: PME230107S
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00:14 [ "Who You Say I Am" begins ] ♪♪ 00:24 ♪♪ 03:16 >> Bow your heads. God, we want to thank you 03:19 for allowing us to be in a place where we can worship you freely. 03:23 We want to thank you that you have chosen us 03:25 to be your child and that you continue to walk with us 03:28 and continue to talk with us. 03:30 We just want to ask that you continue to be in this place. We know that you are wherever 03:33 we are, and where two or three are gathered, you will be there. We just want to ask that 03:37 you continue to be over us and you continue to watch over us. In your name, we pray. 03:43 Amen. [ "Holy Forever" begins ] ♪♪ 03:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 04:08 ♪♪ 07:31 >> Has this congregation got a future or what? [ Chuckles ] 07:35 Oh, boys and girls, good to see you today. Have you ever been so hungry 07:40 your tummy growled and you could hear it? >> Yeah. 07:43 >> Yeah. What do you do when you get hungry like that? 07:47 Well, you go eat. Well, one summer, one of my 07:53 roommates here in school, and I decided we're going to be 07:56 colporters. Do you know what colporters do? 07:59 They go up and down streets knocking on doors and sell people religious books. 08:05 We were staying in Manistee, Michigan, in the balcony of the church, 08:11 and the church members said, "We'll fix you supper every day, but you got to get 08:16 your own breakfast." Oh, one morning, we woke up. There was nothing to eat. 08:25 It was all gone. We ate it up the night before. And the problem was, boys and 08:29 girls, we didn't have any money to go buy something with. So Ron looked at me, he said, 08:34 "Tell you what, we better pray." So we got on our knees, said, "Dear Jesus, we're so hungry. 08:40 Can you get us something to eat?" And the door of the church 08:43 banged open. And in came our field assistant. He was the one teaching us 08:50 how to sell. "Hi, fellas. What's for breakfast?" 08:57 We looked at each other. We wish, you know -- "Don't you have anything to 09:02 eat?" "Unh-unh." And he said to Ron, 09:06 "Get in the car. Take me to the store." And when he came back, he had 09:10 a big bag of groceries, including a nice-sized jar of peanut butter. 09:15 And we got breakfast. Oh, it felt so good in you. Two weeks later, 09:20 you know what else happened? The same thing! Got up in the morning. 09:25 Nothing to eat and no money. Ron looked at me, he said, "I think we better pray." 09:30 I said, "Ron, Dave's off in Keweenaw." "We're gonna pray." 09:34 So we got on our knees, and we prayed. "Dear Jesus, we're hungry. 09:38 Can you get us something to eat?" You could hear your stomach 09:41 growl, growl, growl. It's going to be a long time till supper. 09:46 Nobody banged on the door. Nobody came in. We sat on the edges of our bunks 09:52 and looked at each other. And you know what happened next? Ron got up. 09:56 I said, "Where are you going?" He said, "I'm going to the post office." 10:00 I said, "Ron, the mail doesn't come out till 2:00 this afternoon." 10:03 >> Hi. >> Hi, sweetheart. And he said, "I'm going 10:07 to go find something. If we got something in the mail, maybe." 10:11 He came back waving an envelope. And we looked at it, and inside... 10:22 What do you think? >> Money. >> Money! You're right. 10:26 A $20 bill. Wow. Now, that's not a lot of money today. 10:33 But back then, boy, that was a lot of money, particularly for two boys 10:37 with hungry tummies. So what we noticed was, on the base of the envelope, 10:45 was the date. You know when that lady -- it was a lady in the church -- 10:50 you know when she mailed it? Five days earlier, and she said, "Boys, I feel impressed 10:59 you need this money." Now, five days earlier, did we know we were going to be hungry? 11:07 Ah, who did? God did. Now, did he send aid to help us 11:14 get something to eat? Oh, yes. Did he impress that lady five 11:20 days earlier to send us the money? Yes. Well, after the summer, 11:26 I came back to school and Ron came back to school. And I sat there 11:32 and I discovered, [gasps] "I'm $300 short!" Now, boys and girls, 11:39 do you ever hear your parents worrying about having enough money? 11:44 Do you ever hear? Yeah. Sometimes parents can do that. Well, I -- 11:50 I got on my knees, I said, "Look, I need $300 for school." I didn't know 11:55 what was going to happen. Well, I got my statement from the business office, 12:01 and on it said $100 cash credit. And I said, "Oh, they made a mistake. 12:09 That's not for me." So I went over and talked to Mrs. Myers. 12:13 I says, "Mrs. Myers, you made a mistake." She said, "John, 12:17 we don't make mistakes here. Let me see that." And she looked at it 12:22 and scratched her head and said, "Oh, we got a check for you. I'll get it. We still got it." 12:29 She went in the other room, came back waving this check. Not a $20 bill, but a check. 12:36 And she handed it to me and said, "Do you recognize the names 12:41 on the check?" I looked at it. Dr. and Mrs. Michael Weaver 12:48 in Brunswick, Maine. [ Gasps ] I said, "Mrs. Myers, 12:53 she's my first cousin." And she said, "Then it is for you." 12:59 I said, "Yes." Wow. You know how much money they sent me that year? 13:06 Now, how much money did I say a minute ago that I was short? $300, right? 13:11 You know how much money they sent that year? $300. 13:16 Moms, dads, this is for you. More than them. [ Chuckling ] Okay? 13:21 Oh. Now, that summer, you know what Peg -- 13:25 Mr. Weaver -- told my mother? "Helen, we have been helping your son, John, 13:31 because we felt impressed he needed the money." Now, who told them? 13:40 God did. Now, the next time -- Here's the solution for you. 13:45 The next time you hear mom and dad worrying about money, here's something I want you 13:51 to remember. Can you do it? Philippians 4:19. Can you say with me? 13:57 Philippians 4:19. Again. Philippians 4:19. Everybody. Philippians 4:19. 14:09 You know why it's important to remember that? It says, "My God will supply 14:13 all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus." So next time you hear 14:20 mom and dad worry, tell 'em, "Read" -- what? -- "Philippians 4:19." 14:27 Once more. Philippians 4:19. And, boys and girls, you may go 14:32 back to your seats. And remember, what's the text? Philippians 4:19. 14:40 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:07 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:53 ♪♪ >> ♪ Come unto Christ ♪ Ye penitent and meek 16:09 ♪ Seek this Jesus of whom the prophets speak ♪ ♪ Seek this Jesus 16:19 whose mercies never cease ♪ ♪ Come unto Christ ♪ And find in Him 16:29 eternal peace ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Come unto Christ 16:41 ♪ Who bore our griefs alone ♪ Who will carry our burdens as His own ♪ 16:53 ♪ Seek this Jesus, and by His love be blessed ♪ ♪ Come unto Christ 17:04 ♪ And find in him eternal rest ♪ Come unto Christ ♪ Ye sorrowful and frail 17:19 ♪ Seek this Jesus, whose comfort cannot fail ♪ ♪ Seek this Jesus 17:30 ♪ And triumph in his might ♪ Come unto Christ ♪ Come unto Christ! 17:43 ♪ Come unto Christ ♪ Abide in Him and live ♪ He will bless you with every 17:56 perfect gift ♪ ♪ Seek this Jesus amid a world of strife ♪ 18:10 ♪ Come unto Christ ♪ And find in Him eternal life 18:25 ♪♪ 18:38 >> We needed that. We did. Oh, God, we sang it, we mean it. 18:47 King of Kings, Holy One. Lord of Lords, Holy One, Eternal Father, Holy One. 18:56 Spirit of God, Holy One. Manifest yourself right now in the moments we have left. 19:06 When your Holy Scriptures are opened, speak to us in Jesus' name. 19:12 Amen. 19:17 "Mission: Impossible (Maybe). Today we are a missionary band. Come on, admit it. 19:31 Did you sing that song when you were a kid in Sabbath school? 19:35 In Croatian and Serbian? ♪ We are a missionary band 19:44 ♪ A missionary band ♪ A missionary band 19:49 ♪ We are a missionary band ♪ Doing all we can I told the boomers 19:59 in first service who sang it with great vigor, "I'm not going to get much of 20:06 a response in second." I guess they don't sing it in Sabbath school anymore. 20:10 You remember that, that opening line? "We are but a band of children. 20:14 We are weak and we are small, but we want to work for Jesus. And there's work enough for all. 20:20 Of course, we always thought that when we sang about being a missionary band 20:23 that meant overseas. And of course, it obviously does include overseas. 20:28 But the truth of the matter is, to be a missionary is to be a person on mission. 20:33 And if you're on mission -- and I hope you are -- then you are a missionary. 20:39 And if there are enough of us to go around, we are a band. A missionary band. 20:45 What kind of mission you talking about, Dwight? Well, let me show you. 20:49 I'm going to leave one line with you today. You take this line home, 20:53 you brood over it as I have. See if it doesn't change your life. 21:00 I'd like to submit to you, before you even see the line, that this line 21:06 comprises your personal mission in this life. Now, I happen to have this line 21:14 taped to the wall in front of me where I have worship in my little bethel 21:17 every morning of the week. To remind me. I submit to you it's your 21:25 mission, too. I want to take you to a passage you've probably been to before, 21:30 the Gospel of Luke. If you'll open your Bible to Luke, it's not going to be 21:33 on the screen. I have a few more months left, you and me together. 21:39 And we're going to do more reading in the Word and less on the screen. 21:42 All right? So, the readings we do today will be in your lap. 21:50 Some of you have gotten a little bit lazy and your Bible doesn't come with you to church anymore. 21:56 It needs to come back. I need you to see it in the book that's with you all week long. 22:00 Open the book, please, the Holy Scriptures, to Luke chapter 1. 22:05 Come on, we've been in the Advent season, we've been in Luke again and again and again. 22:09 It's a wonderful book, but it opens up with a story. And I want to see 22:15 if you can find your one-line mission statement. See if it jumps out at you 22:19 as it does at me. So this is Luke 1. I'm in the New international 22:23 Version, drop down to verse 13. "But the angel" -- We know the angel is Gabriel 22:29 because he introduces himself. "But the angel said to him" -- It's an old elderly priest 22:34 named Zechariah. "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. 22:41 Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to call him John." 22:44 Most people, when they get up front and talk about this verse, they say, 22:47 "Well, you know what it is? They were praying for a child." Are you kidding? 22:50 They have quit praying for a child for decades now. That's not their prayer. 22:55 You know when it's up. You don't pray that prayer anymore. 23:00 They're praying for the Messiah to come again. Again as the prophets again 23:06 and again kept saying He would. "Your prayer's been answered. Your wife's going to have a boy 23:12 and you're going to call him John." Verse 14. 23:15 "He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice 23:18 because of his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. 23:22 He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled 23:28 with the Holy Spirit even before he is born." "Desire of Ages" says every 23:32 child born can be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. In verse 16, "He will bring back 23:39 many of the people of Israel to the Lord, their God, and he will go on before 23:44 the Lord in the Spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts 23:48 of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, 23:52 to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Do you see your one line 23:57 personal mission statement in that passage we just read? Do you see it? What is it? 24:05 Come on, call it out to me. What is it? What is it? 24:11 What's in verse 17? [ Woman speaking indistinctly ] 24:20 Mm-hmm. [ Woman continues ] All right, Joanne, 24:26 what's the next line? Read it for us. >> [ Reading indistinctly ] 24:32 >> Mm-hmm. Let's put it on the screen. Thank you for that reading. 24:35 "To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." I'm telling you, the reason 24:41 I can be so unequivocal about this being your mission at this critical time in history 24:46 is because of two clues that are embedded in this single line in the Greek. 24:50 And I'll show those clues to you right now. This is not some dangling 24:53 participle hanging off in the middle of nowhere in Greekdom. This is a line for you 24:58 and me at this time. Watch this -- "to make ready." Let's talk about this word 25:02 "ready." Clue number one -- "to make ready." 25:08 The Greek word there is the same Greek word in John 14:2,3. Those are red letter words 25:14 spoken by Jesus just before his crucifixion the next morning. 25:19 All right, Thursday night. And what did Jesus say? "I go to make 25:23 ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will" -- what? 25:28 "I will come again." This one-line mission statement has the second coming written 25:34 all over it. There are two clues. I'll give you another one. 25:39 Clue number two -- "to make ready a people prepared." Let's take that participle, 25:44 that adjectival participle. "To make ready a people prepared," the same Greek word, 25:50 by the way, in Hebrews 11:7, where it reads, "By faith, Noah built (or prepared)" -- 25:56 it's the identical word -- "built an ark for the Lord." Those two clues 26:02 are a signal to you and me that this mission is especially applicable to those living 26:09 at the end of human history. Let me put Hebrews -- Bible Hall of Fame, Hall of Faith 26:15 chapter -- verse 7 on the screen for you. "By faith, Noah, when warned 26:19 about things not yet seen, in holy fear" -- I love that song, 26:23 "You Alone Are Holy," that we just sang -- "in holy fear, built" -- there's that word -- 26:29 "(prepared) an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned 26:34 the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith." 26:39 On the eve of destruction, Noah prepares an ark for the saving of the doomed. 26:46 Even so, on this planet's second destruction, on the eve of it, 26:51 God has a missionary band preparing a people for the return of the Lord. 26:57 It's the identical mission that Noah had, that John the Baptist had, only John the Baptist's 27:02 mission was to prepare a people before the Messiah's first coming. 27:06 Your mission and mine is "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" 27:10 before his second coming. The same Messiah coming back to the same planet 27:15 in desperate need. 27:22 That's not that complicated, I hope. To you. 27:26 You got a bright mind. You see it immediately. But to grasp the gravity 27:33 and significance of this one-line mission statement, we need to brood over the drama 27:38 of Noah for a moment. I'm gonna go to the Genesis chapter 6, 27:44 but I'm going to put the words on the screen for this reason. I'm going to use the 27:48 translation, one-man translation of the Old Testament by a brilliant mind named 27:52 Robert Alter. Okay, so we're going to go to Genesis 6. 27:55 Here's what I want -- I need you to notice, please. Note the heightening, 28:01 the crescendoing moral collapse in the culture and society of that antediluvian -- 28:07 and that's just a technical word that means "before the flood" culture and generation. 28:12 And I want you to, as you note that, I want you to ask yourself this question. 28:16 Could it be that this is happening to my planet, my culture at this time as well? 28:23 You just ask that question. We'll go to Alter now, on the screen. 28:27 I've underlined the words that highlight crescendoing. Okay? Here we go. 28:32 Robert Alter's rendition, Genesis 6:5. "And the Lord saw that 28:38 the evil" -- Oh, we get that. Evil is a word whose source you 28:44 just add a D to and you know who it's talking about, okay? "And the Lord saw that the evil 28:51 of the human creature was great." We're talking about great. 28:56 Magnitude. "And the Lord saw that the evil of the human creature was great 29:01 on the Earth and that every" -- Hey, wait a minute. Hold it, hold it. 29:04 How much of every is every? Huh? How much of all is all? It's everything. 29:14 "Every scheme of his heart's devising was only" -- what's only 29:19 mean? -- "(without exception) perpetually" -- what's perpetually mean? -- 29:23 "(constantly) evil." 24/7. That was Noah's day. 29:30 Welcome to America today. 2023. 29:38 We had Gary Kaiser, a well-known contractor in this community, 29:45 come by our house this fall to do some excavating work on our septic system last fall. 29:50 So let's say I'm standing out there when their going down to this hole. 29:53 I'm not going to tell you what's in the hole -- you already know. So they're going down to this 29:57 hole, and I'm watching them. And I'm so fascinated by this. I take out my very 30:03 white handkerchief, and I'm looking at it. I drop the handkerchief 30:09 down into that guck. All right? Oh, no. And it's just like 30:14 it's been sucked down. It's going down further and further. 30:17 And I say, "Wait a minute. Stop, guys. I need to get it back. 30:20 I got to have it, that's my favorite handkerchief." So I reach down 30:24 and I finally pull it up, and it's just dripping. So what do I do 30:29 with this handkerchief now? Well, you know what you do. You just get it out. 30:33 Put it back in, right? No, you don't do that. You take it to your wife 30:38 and say, "Use extra bleach on this, please." Do you do that? No. 30:43 It is saturated. When it's saturated with sewage, there's only one treatment 30:48 it deserves -- destruction. You get it? Saturated. 30:55 Saturated. Synonyms of saturated. Saturated. 31:07 Read it again. 31:19 Now verse 6. 31:27 You have no idea that pain. "What have we done?" He asks himself. 31:37 I listen to WBBM news radio out of Chicago every morning of my life except Sabbath. 31:43 And I'm going to tell you something. I am stunned. 31:48 Comes out of Chicago. I am stunned. And by the way, I need to say 31:53 this quickly -- I'm not dissin' Chicago. Because it will be the same were 31:57 I listening to any other news radio station in America. And every city I go to, 32:02 I find that news radio station. When I'm in LA, it's KNX. When I'm in Washington, 32:06 it's WTOP. When I am in New York City, it's WCBS. 32:11 It's not just Chicago. I am stunned how, over the last few months and even 32:18 this last year here in America, there has been a profound rise in acts of debased immorality 32:25 and crimes of violence. The whole world right now is gawking over our collective 32:31 American shoulders at this brutal and tragic slashing murders of four young 32:36 Idaho University students while they're asleep. They got him. 32:41 The end. It will not be the end. It'll never be the end. 32:49 Were we to sit here, in the few moments you and I have, and review evil's 32:53 gross saturation, saturation in America today, saturation of the human mind, 32:59 saturation of the human culture, saturation of the human society right now, if we did that, 33:04 we would only glorify the satanic source of our destruction. 33:09 There's no point in glorifying him at all. He will pay for this one day. 33:15 Take my word for it. He will pay one day. 33:23 Verse 7. "But Noah" -- "But Noah found favor" -- 33:44 the old King James, you remember, found grace -- "in the eyes of the Lord, 33:48 and Noah was a righteous man, he was blameless in his time." Was he perfect? Are you kidding? 33:55 We all know the story that happens after the flood. "Noah was a righteous man, 33:59 e was blameless in his time. And Noah walked with God." 34:11 I mean, what else can you and I do? 34:14 When your mission is to make ready a people 34:16 prepared for the Lord. I mean, 34:18 what else are we supposed to do? You walk with God 34:20 to the best of your ability. Nobody's a superhero in that. 34:23 You just walk with God. You just stay at it. 34:26 You obey God to the best of your ability. By faith, as we read, 34:31 you trusted Him to help you do what you can to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 34:37 To help others prepare for the end of all things. What else can you do? 34:43 "Patriarchs and Prophets" offers this character sketch of Noah. Boy, I love this. 34:59 Hit the pause button right there. Did you catch that? 35:04 What are those two words? Popular contempt and ridicule. "Hey, wait a minute, boy. 35:09 Did you think that you were going to get applauded and an ovation for pointing out 35:14 that something ain't right the way we're doing it around here? You think everybody's going to 35:17 rise up and call you blessed? It's just the exact opposite." The modus operandi of the enemy 35:23 of enemies is to use popular contempt and ridicule to shout you down, 35:31 to shut you up. So you won't say another word and disturb our comfy status quo 35:40 in this place. "But Noah Stood like a rock amid the tempest"... 36:07 Did Noah have any strength? Answer -- no, he had no strength. 36:11 Where did his strength come from? From the Almighty. From the Infinite One. 36:15 "Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power, while, 36:19 for 120 years" -- as Genesis 6 carefully details -- "his solemn voice fell upon 36:26 the ears of that generation in regard to events, which, so far as human wisdom 36:32 could judge, were impossible." Let's go back to reading our Bible. 36:40 2 Peter. That's in the New Testament. Near the end. 36:45 If you get to Hebrews, just keep going, then you run into James, and then you got first 36:49 and second Peter. 2 Peter. I'm listening for the pages to 36:53 turn, and when you're done turning, I'll read. All right, 2 Peter chapter 3. 36:59 We begin in verse 3. I want you to read this. I want you to listen 37:04 to what you're reading. Think what you're hearing. 2 Peter 3:3. 37:10 "Above all, you must understand that, in the last days" -- ooh, that must be now -- 37:15 "in the last day, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 37:21 They will say, 'Where is this coming he promised? 37:24 Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of 37:30 creation.'" "This talk about the soon coming of Jesus, I'm sick and 37:33 tired of hearing about it." You Adventists just give it up. Don't you know you're wrong? 37:38 He's not coming. Not soon. Not now. 37:43 Not for me." 37:48 "But the scoffers" -- verse 5 -- "deliberately forget" -- They do it on purpose. 37:52 They have a conscience, and the conscience is always right. Whenever you're arguing 37:58 with somebody, never forget the other man's conscience is always on your side. 38:02 Always. Just remember that line. "But they deliberately forget 38:08 that, long ago, by God's word, the heavens came into being and the Earth was formed out of 38:13 water and by water." Verse 6. "By these waters, also, the 38:18 world of that time was deluged and destroyed" -- verse 7 -- "by the same word of 38:23 Almighty God, the present heavens and Earth are being reserved for fire, being kept 38:29 for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly," my Bible reads. 38:38 "Patriarchs and Prophets" records a heartbreaking depiction of the collapse 38:43 of the social and moral order of the human race just before the flood and ends 38:47 that depiction with these words. I want you to see this. 39:02 End quote. People who suggest -- Listen. Listen. 39:07 People who suggest that the love of God somehow negates 39:14 any accountability with sin in their midst or in the world are whistling past 39:21 the graveyard. Oh, no. The day of judgment is coming. 39:29 Ready or not. Oh, it's not true. God is love. 39:34 He doesn't do stuff like this. Oh, really? It is a love of God, 39:40 no less than his justice, that allows us to experience loss, experience 39:47 inability to save ourselves from a hemorrhaging we cannot stanch. 39:53 You just think about that. We've tried every trick in the book and it's getting worse. 39:59 Think about that. 40:06 Somebody is trying to get our attention before it is too late. 40:11 Not to punish us. Come on, get off of that jag. Not to punish us, 40:16 but rather, out of love, to desperately awaken us so that we might change course. 40:21 Change course. Change course. Change course. You're going the wrong way. 40:33 So that we might, like Noah, collectively choose to walk with God blamelessly by 40:38 His Grace, in our obedience, by His Grace. I get it. It's all by grace. 40:44 Obedient to his commandments. "Patriarchs and Prophets" goes on. 41:24 Whoa. Well, let's -- Seems to me, that sounds exactly 41:31 like something Jesus said. Check us out, Matthew 24. Come on, your Bible's still 41:36 open. It's not going on the screen. Matthew 24. 41:41 You've got a device with you. Matthew 24. You'll get there faster than me. 41:46 Matthew 24. Let's drop down to verse 38, just two verses here, 41:53 red letters. This is Tuesday. Jesus will be dead by Friday. 41:58 Matthew 24:38. "For in the days before the flood, people were eating 42:04 and drinking." Hey, hey, hey. Is that a sin? Is it a sin to eat and drink? 42:10 I did this morning. Can't be a sin. "People were eating 42:15 and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 42:19 Is that a sin to get married? I've been sinning for coming on 49 years. 42:25 The same girl. Of course it's not a sin. What Jesus means is life's 42:32 just going on. Nothing big is going to happen. We're safe and sound. 42:38 Life goes on. Hmm. "They're eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage 42:41 up to the day Noah entered the ark." Now here comes verse 39. 42:44 "And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood" -- boom -- 42:49 "came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." 42:56 "Patriarchs and Prophets" didn't invent that. Jesus did. 43:01 "To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Read it. 43:30 Come on. 44:00 Wow. I feel like reading that again. 44:33 Surely that means to stand unflinching for the sanctity of marriage 44:39 between a man and a woman. In a culture and society that has debased marriage 44:46 by discarding the Creator's protective walls, by tearing down the principles 44:51 of purity and decreeing that sexual promiscuity is the legislated right 44:55 of the entire human race, is it any wonder that, in sowing the wind, we are now reaping -- 45:04 how's it go? -- we are reaping the whirlwind. 45:10 Of utter collapse of sexual morality today. 45:14 This culture has produced the Kardashians, who, with 45:18 brazen, brazen disregard manifest their sickness to 45:27 the entire social media world. This culture produced them. 45:35 Is it any wonder? No. 45:38 But what is a wonder... 45:42 is that we whose end-time mission "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord," 45:50 that we ourselves would become confused over sexual morality and immorality 45:56 and end up approving the very antediluvian anti-marriage practices 46:01 that eventually destroyed ancient culture and society. We approve. 46:08 Really? Really? Since the end of this past 46:15 summer, our pastoral staff has been reading out loud together the book of Romans for our staff 46:21 worships. We're at Romans 5 now. But when we came to 46:27 Romans chapter 1, Paul, you know, who you remember, who launches this grand theme 46:31 of the Gospel. "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God" unto 46:36 what? What's the word? "Unto salvation." 46:39 This magisterial opening to Romans chapter 1, when, suddenly, Paul pivots 46:45 on his heel and he engages in a postmortem of the secular society of his 46:54 day. 47:00 As we read his listing of the sexual aberrations that society had declared -- 47:05 as in the days of Noah, as in the days of Paul -- society had declared 47:09 to be acceptable behavior. And by the way, I debated, shall we read it? 47:14 No, it's too graphic to even read in public. We came to Paul's summation 47:21 at the end of his list. It's verse 32, and I will put that on the screen for you. 47:28 Romans 1:32. "Although they know God's righteous decree, that 47:35 those who do such things" -- in that litany that's just preceded this -- 47:39 "those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue 47:44 to do these very things, but also approve of" -- the New Revised Standard 47:48 renders that -- "but also applaud those who practice them." 47:53 Applause, please. I fear for Christian universities. 48:02 I fear for Adventist universities. Where the social pressure 48:08 to conform to the surrounding culture is so strong that some faculty 48:13 and students alike end up applauding and publicly defending the behavior 48:19 Heaven warns is sin, Heaven warns is death. 48:31 Who then can be saved? Who can be saved? We cry out the words of 48:35 the disciples. Jesus is quick with an answer. "With man, it's impossible. 48:40 But with God, all things are possible." 48:48 If only we will turn to Him while there is time. 48:57 I'm going to end with a prayer recorded in Scripture. You're going to read it, too. 49:02 And when that prayer's through, we're going to kneel and pray. Let's read Daniel's prayer, 49:08 one of the great prayers of Holy Scripture. Daniel chapter 9. 49:14 Daniel chapter 9. Read that prayer in your own heart. 49:22 Make it your own prayer in your own soul. Daniel chapter 9, begins 49:28 in verse 4. "I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed." 49:33 Here goes the prayer. "O Lord, the great and awesome God, 49:39 who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 49:45 we have sinned. We have done wrong. We have been wicked. 49:49 We have rebelled. We have turned away from your commandments and laws. 49:54 We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name 49:57 to our kings, to our princes, to our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. 50:01 O Lord, you are righteous. But this day we are covered with shame. 50:09 The people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, 50:13 both near and far, and all the countries where you have scattered us because of 50:17 our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings and our princes and our ancestors 50:23 are covered with shame, O Lord, because we have sinned against you. 50:30 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving even though we have rebelled 50:36 against Him. We have not obey the Lord our God or kept the laws 50:41 He gave us through His servants, the prophets. All Israel has transgressed 50:45 your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore, 50:51 the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, 50:56 have been poured out on us because we have sinned against you. 51:01 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by 51:05 bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven, nothing has ever been done like 51:10 that has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this 51:16 disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God 51:22 by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate 51:28 to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does, 51:34 yet we have not obeyed Him. Now, Lord God, who brought Your people out of Egypt 51:40 with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, 51:45 we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping 51:49 with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from Jerusalem, 51:54 Your city, Your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors 51:59 have made Jerusalem and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 52:07 Now, our God hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For your sake, Lord, 52:17 look with favor on Your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear. 52:24 Open our eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. 52:31 We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy." 52:36 Verse 19. "Lord, listen. Lord, forgive. 52:43 Lord, hear and act. For Your sake, my God, do not delay because Your city 52:50 and Your people bear Your name." Amen. >> Amen. 53:03 >> Let's kneel together. Because if it is our mission to make ready a people 53:10 prepared for the Lord, then we better start with ourselves right now. 53:18 I invite you to kneel, please. 53:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ 53:42 Oh, God... have mercy on us. We have sinned. 53:51 We have tried so hard to be accepted by the world, to be like all the rest, 53:59 that we have sinned against you by calling sin right and calling right wrong. 54:08 As you did with Jerusalem of old, have you done to us? Have you withdrawn your hand 54:15 of blessing so that today we languish instead of flourish? We are diminished 54:22 rather than growing? Forgive us, Holy God, for we have sinned against you. 54:31 We have not obeyed your word, nor heeded your prophets. We thought we were giving 54:36 comfort to the disenfranchised when we have ended up giving license to rebellion 54:43 against Your holy law and Your righteous kingdom. We have aided and abetted 54:49 sinners when what they needed was moral accountability delivered 54:55 by compassionate mentors and caregivers who will lead them to Jesus, 54:59 the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Why would we seek to condone 55:06 or excuse the very sin Jesus died to take away? "Woman, where are your accusers? 55:16 Has no one condemned you?" "No one, my Lord." "Then neither do I condemn you. 55:24 Now go and leave your sin behind. For I am the Lamb of God, 55:31 who takes away your sin." Oh, God, have mercy on us, please. 55:44 And may the light from Heaven's throne room shine on minds and hearts 55:51 in this space right now to lead us to Heaven's next steps, whatever you would 56:00 have them to be. In the words of Daniel's prayer, "Lord, listen. 56:10 Lord, forgive. Lord, hear and act. For your sake, my God, 56:18 do not delay because Your church and Your school and Your people bear Your name." 56:30 That name that is above every name. 56:37 The name of our beloved Redeemer and Savior, whose grace is sufficient for us. 56:46 Whose recreation brings the healing we seek. In the name of Jesus, 56:57 let all the friends of Jesus say amen. And amen. 57:07 >> Think of the last time someone said, "I'm praying 57:10 for you." Didn't it give you a sense of 57:12 peace and reassurance that somebody cares for me? 57:14 I know how I feel when I get an e-mail from one of our viewers saying, "Yo, Dwight. 57:18 I've been praying for you lately." There's nothing like knowing 57:21 someone is praying for you. So I want to offer you an opportunity to partner -- let 57:25 me, let us partner with you in prayer. 57:27 If you have a special prayer request or a praise of 57:29 thanksgiving you'd like to share with us, I'm inviting you 57:32 to contact one of our friendly chaplains. 57:34 It's simple to do. You can call our toll-free 57:36 number -- 877 -- the two words "HIS WILL," 877-HIS-WILL. 57:41 That friendly voice that answers, you tell him, you tell 57:44 her what your prayer need is, we'll join with you in that 57:47 petition. 57:49 May the God who answers prayer journey with you these next few days until we're right back 57:53 here together again next time. 57:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪ |
Revised 2023-01-17