Participants: Hiram Rester
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000072
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 His Character Counts with Hiram Rester. 00:22 Good evening and welcome once again to night number two 00:25 in our five part series with our pastor and friend, Hiram Rester. 00:29 His Character Counts. 00:30 And on last evening, we heard a very fine message; 00:34 a new angle, a new way to look at the 00:37 old, old story of the gospel. 00:38 And so we are very thankful that Pastor Hiram Rester 00:41 is here and that you are here in our local audience, 00:44 and those of you who are watching and listening 00:46 from around the world. 00:48 You've got to respect and like a pastor who travels 00:51 with his own entourage. 00:53 He has members of his church with him here tonight. 00:55 And we are very thankful for their presence. 00:58 And that says a lot for the kind of person that our pastor, 01:00 our friend is. 01:02 I don't know really when Pastor Rester came to our notice. 01:08 In talking with him, Jim Gilley knew him when he was 01:12 an evangelist in the Texico Conference. 01:15 And so they have a long association. 01:17 I think that's how he came to 3ABN, through Pastor Gilley. 01:22 Now we need to ask you to pray for some of these brethren. 01:26 Everybody that went to Russia for the 20th anniversary 01:29 has paid for that trip. 01:31 I had a cold and I'm just getting over mine. 01:34 My wife had a cold; just getting over hers. 01:35 Pastor Lomacang has a cold; just getting over his. 01:37 Angie has a cold; just getting over here. 01:39 Danny Shelton has a little sniffle; just getting over his. 01:41 Yvonne has a cold; just getting over hers. 01:43 And the one that it really hit the hardest is Jim Gilley. 01:47 He was suppose to be here tonight. 01:49 He spent a little time in the office today, but you could 01:51 see him fatiguing. 01:53 He got hit the hardest. 01:54 He's sniffling and sneezing and just really going through 01:58 some changes. 01:59 And so we need to remember Pastor Gilley in prayer. 02:02 Because, of all of us, he seems to have gotten it the worst. 02:05 I think everybody that was on that plane 02:07 picked up a little something. 02:09 So we need to be remembered in prayer, if you will. 02:13 Tonight is a very special night. 02:15 I like the topic that Pastor Rester has; 02:19 What Is Your Picture Of God. 02:21 That's a very intriguing topic. 02:22 What does God look like to you? 02:24 What is your mental image or your spiritual image of God. 02:27 And so he's going to wade into that tonight. 02:29 And I'm sure that the Lord will bless him. 02:32 He's a nice guy and someone that we've come to 02:34 love and respect. 02:35 Good sense of humor, good family man, 02:38 good Christian, good preacher. 02:39 And so we are very, very thankful that he was able to 02:43 come away from his church for just a few nights 02:45 to be with us and to be with our world audience. 02:47 Would you now bow your heads with me in a word of prayer. 02:51 Father God, how thankful we are for Jesus. 02:57 We are thankful, Lord, that we have been called out of darkness 03:00 into the marvelous light of His word. 03:03 We're thankful that we've been called from error to truth. 03:07 We've been called to be heralds of a last day message. 03:11 And so Father, as we sit and listen tonight, 03:14 we pray a very special blessing upon this speaker. 03:17 We ask You to bless him so that he might be a blessing to us. 03:23 Speak to him so that he may speak to us 03:27 Your words and deliver Your thoughts. 03:29 Anoint him, Father, so that Christ is seen and heard 03:33 and felt, and not just the words of a man. 03:37 But bless him, keep him. 03:40 Deliver Your word through him this night. 03:43 And we will give to You the praise, 03:45 the honor, and the glory. 03:47 And we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 03:50 And amen. 03:51 Just before Pastor Rester speaks, our music is going to 03:54 come from Jill Morikone. 03:57 She has recently produced a very lovely CD. 04:03 And I believe tonight's song is going to come from that CD. 04:07 I hope it is, because I'm saying it is. 04:09 And it does. 04:10 It's a medley. 04:11 Something Beautiful and Something About That Name. 04:15 She's going to weaver those two very beautiful 04:18 classic songs together. 04:19 And then after Jill shall have finished, 04:22 the next voice you will hear will be Pastor Hiram Rester. 08:15 Amen. 08:16 There's just something about that name. 08:19 What a blessing as we have opportunity to get into the Word 08:24 and to think about our God; what He has done for us, 08:28 how good he has been to us, 08:31 as we think about how His character counts. 08:35 I would like to invite you to open your Bibles 08:39 to the book of Revelation and chapter 3. 08:42 Revelation chapter 3. 08:44 One of the last times I took my car in for an oil change, 08:49 I went into Wal-Mart there. 08:51 I had a slow leak on the front right tire. 08:54 And they told me that it would be a couple of hours wait 08:57 for them to fix the tire and to change the oil. 08:59 There were other folk ahead of me. 09:01 And so I took my book bag that I had my computer in 09:04 and a couple of books. 09:05 I'm always reading a couple of books and my Bible. 09:08 And I walked across the parking lot to a McDonald's. 09:12 And I figured I would rather sit at McDonald's than in the little 09:15 waiting room at Wal-Mart where they were going to 09:18 work on my car. 09:19 And I went to the McDonald's. 09:21 I thought, well... So that I... 09:22 This was in the summer time. 09:24 I said, "I think I'm going to buy a little something 09:26 at McDonald's so I don't feel so guilty about using 09:28 their air conditioning and sitting at the table." 09:30 So I bought me one of those banana strawberry smoothies 09:33 that they have these days. 09:35 And I'm sitting there working on my sermon for that Sabbath. 09:39 Because it was a Friday. 09:41 And I'm working on my message. 09:43 And as I'm doing so, I occasionally overhear 09:47 what some people at McDonald's are saying. 09:51 There was one table right near me. 09:54 There was, what I gathered from the conversation, 09:57 a dad and his teenage daughter, and lady that was not 10:01 part of the family that was eating with them. 10:03 And the daughter was being asked by the lady 10:06 about her cooking. 10:07 And she would talk about how she would cook things. 10:09 She talked about how she made macaroni and cheese. 10:12 And the dad goes, "Yea, she's got to get better at that." 10:16 And you could just see her spirit being crushed 10:19 as then she would talk about something else that she cooked. 10:22 Then he goes, "Yea, she's still working on that too. 10:25 We got it down, but..." 10:26 And the dad, and I'm thinking, does he realize what he's doing? 10:30 Can he not see what he's doing to his daughter? 10:33 Her spirit was just getting lower and lower 10:36 as he was running down what she was doing. 10:39 And then there was a fellow over at the drink fountain, 10:44 at the fountain of drinks there. 10:46 There were three ladies and this guy. 10:49 And the guy was talking really, really loud. 10:52 He was grumpy. 10:53 He was grumpy, he said, because the lady at the counter that 10:58 had waited on him had been grumpy to him. 11:01 And so he was being grumpy about her being grumpy. 11:07 And as he was going on and on and on about the 11:10 lady at the counter, he was so loud that everyone 11:15 in the whole McDonald's heard him. 11:19 And I'm thinking, can he not see how he's being? 11:23 Now I'm being quiet. 11:24 I'm just trying to mind my own business 11:26 and work on my sermon. 11:28 But, you can't help but observe and notice 11:30 some things sometimes. 11:34 And then he said, "We've got to hurry up and get out of here and 11:37 get across the parking lot to Wal-Mart. 11:39 I've got an appointment there at the vision center. 11:43 I'm having trouble seeing and I'm going to go in and 11:46 have my eyes checked." 11:50 And I was reading in Revelation chapter 3. 11:54 He said, "I'm having trouble seeing. 11:56 I'm going to get my eyes checked." 11:58 And there, God is offering, Jesus is offering to us all 12:03 some eye salve that we might be able to see. 12:07 And as he said, "I'm having trouble seeing," 12:09 I'm thinking, maybe that's the problem. 12:11 The dad, as he talked about his daughter, 12:14 maybe he was having trouble seeing. 12:16 And maybe this guy, he's talking so loud that the 12:19 whole McDonald's is hearing him complain and be grumpy 12:22 and use foul language, maybe he can't see how he's being. 12:29 Maybe all of us are having trouble seeing. 12:32 Maybe I'm not seeing the way I need to see. 12:38 And so I began to look into this passage in Revelation chapter 3. 12:43 Maybe we're all having some spiritual eye trouble. 12:49 We see it here in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 17. 12:53 Revelation 3, we've had time to find it now, I think. 12:56 Revelation 3 verse 17. 12:59 This is the message to the Laodiceans. 13:02 And it says, "Because thou sayest, 'I am rich 13:05 and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,' 13:10 and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, 13:12 and poor, and blind, and naked, I counsel thee to..." Do what? 13:17 "...to buy..." 13:18 What's another word for buy? 13:20 Purchase. 13:21 "...to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou 13:24 mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest 13:27 be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; 13:30 and anoint thine eyes with..." What? 13:34 "...eye salve, that thou mayest..." What? 13:39 "...see." 13:41 Now notice this. 13:42 Jesus makes the comparison here to us being blind. 13:48 He says, "You're blind, but you don't think you are. 13:51 You think you have need of nothing." 13:53 Now this is a heavy passage. 13:56 In fact, we're told that a shaking is coming 13:59 among God's people. 14:00 And that it will come forth from the straight testimony 14:04 of the Laodicean message. 14:06 Now perhaps there's some confusion about what the 14:09 straight testimony of the Laodicean message is. 14:12 I know that for many years, I was confused. 14:15 I wouldn't have thought I was confused. 14:19 I thought I had it down. 14:20 The straight testimony; that must mean stepping on our toes. 14:25 That must mean a hard message, a straight message, 14:28 a "line them out," a "show them how bad they are 14:32 and call them to repent," message. 14:34 And that's what I preached. 14:35 I mean, if they were wearing something they weren't 14:38 suppose to, I nailed them. 14:40 If they were playing music they weren't suppose to, 14:42 then I nailed them. 14:44 If they were acting in a way they weren't suppose to, 14:46 I nailed them. 14:48 If they were drinking something they weren't suppose to, 14:50 then I nailed them. 14:52 You caught on, right? 14:53 And I thought that's a straight testimony. 14:55 They're Laodicean and we've got to straighten them up. 15:00 That's not the message. 15:02 Now let me tell you. 15:04 God does line us up and line us out. 15:07 I'm not denying that. 15:08 But that is not the point of this message. 15:12 No, the point of this message, 15:14 we're actually told, is different. 15:16 There's a heart problem. 15:17 And we're told the focus of this message is justification 15:20 by faith and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 15:25 It is a message that exalts Jesus, that lifts Him up; 15:30 that straight testimony. 15:31 And you know what? 15:32 Just as if you're a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 15:35 you can think back to the Adventist history, 15:37 the year 1888. 15:39 There were some people that when a pure message of 15:41 righteousness by faith came, that did not accept it then. 15:44 Yes or no? 15:46 Could that same message bring about a shaking 15:48 among God's people today? 15:50 Those that they know it's a works based system 15:53 and it's about what I do, not what He did. 15:56 Hold on a second. 15:57 Let's be clear, let's unpack this. 16:00 My friends, the issue with the Laodiceans, 16:03 as we think about what is your picture of God, 16:07 one of the problems is, they're blind and they don't know it. 16:12 Have you ever seen someone who's vision is getting worse, 16:15 but they refuse to admit it? 16:18 Yea? 16:19 That's right. 16:21 In fact, my dad... 16:22 If you're watching, dad. 16:23 I know he takes those books and he puts them 16:26 out here and brings them back. 16:27 And he gets some different glasses, but he hasn't 16:30 gone to the optometrist. 16:33 Dad, if you're listening, go to the optometrist. 16:37 Get those eyes fixed. 16:39 Praise the Lord. 16:41 Okay, back to preaching. 16:42 Sorry, I had to meddle a little bit and send a personal 16:44 message there, around the world right to Mississippi. 16:48 Because when we're having trouble seeing, 16:51 that's a problem. 16:52 Yes or no? 16:53 Yes, it is. 16:55 Now as we dig in here... 16:57 Oh, I'm going to get in trouble for that one. 16:59 Oh my, but it's worth it. So worth it. 17:01 There's a heart issue for Laodicea, alright? 17:04 Let me use my dad as another example. 17:08 When he was a teenager... 17:10 How old was he? 17:11 He was a teenager. 17:13 He had an old truck. 17:15 And this old truck, the brakes were going out on it. 17:19 It would still kind of stop if you pumped the brakes. 17:21 You could get it to stop after a little bit. 17:23 But the brakes were going out on it. 17:25 And his dad went to work that morning in the summer and said, 17:28 "Boy, don't go to town without some way to stop that truck." 17:32 And so what was the rule? 17:35 What was the outward test of conformity? 17:39 Don't go to town without a way to stop the truck. 17:44 But what do you suppose that his dad really meant by that? 17:49 I think he meant, don't be driving the truck 17:53 without fixing the brakes. 17:56 Don't drive the truck until the brakes are fixed. 17:58 Oh my, perhaps later he may have wished 18:01 he had been more explicit. 18:03 I don't know. 18:04 But anyway, my dad's buddy, Lewis, wanted to go to town. 18:08 And he said, "Bill, why don't you ease over here to my house. 18:11 I've got an idea." 18:13 And my dad, he was a teenager, remember. 18:16 His buddy, Lewis, was a teenager as well. 18:18 And he said, my dad said, "Dad said I couldn't go to town 18:22 without some way to stop the truck." 18:24 He said, "Is that exactly what he said? 18:25 'Don't go to town without a way to stop the truck.'" 18:27 "That's right. That's what he said. 18:29 'Don't go to town without some way to stop that truck.'" 18:33 "Okay, well come over here to my house. 18:35 I have an idea." 18:37 And so my dad eased through the back roads, pumping the brakes 18:39 to get it to stop, you know. 18:41 Very dangerous, but he did. 18:42 As a teenager, he got over to Lewis' house. 18:44 And Lewis was out back of the house with a cable. 18:47 He had an old truck that they had taken the engine out of. 18:52 He said, "You'll have to pull me to see, but I'm pretty sure 18:55 the brakes still work on this old truck. 18:58 So the idea is, Bill, you pull me." 19:00 That's my dad's name. 19:01 "You pull me in this truck that doesn't have a motor. 19:06 And then I push the brakes and stop us both." 19:11 And so grandpa had said, "Don't go to town without 19:14 some way to stop that truck." 19:15 And so they tested it and sure enough, the brakes worked. 19:18 So there they head off into town, two boys in trucks. 19:23 One in the front with a truck without brakes that work. 19:27 The other one in the back with a truck that has brakes 19:30 that work fine, but no motor under the hood any longer. 19:35 And so off into town they head. 19:37 The plan was, when Bill stuck his arm out the window, 19:40 my dad stuck his arm out the window and went like this, 19:42 that Lewis knew to hit the brakes. 19:46 Simple enough. 19:48 And so they go rolling down into town. 19:52 And Lewis is looking at the scenery. 19:56 And the light changes. 19:58 It turns red. 20:00 And so my dad, Bill, starts pumping on the brakes 20:03 to stop the truck. 20:07 He's waving his arm out the window for Lewis to stop. 20:10 But Lewis is enjoying the scenery. 20:14 And so as Bill pumps on the brakes, the truck begins to slow 20:20 and just, you know, starts stopping some even though 20:22 it's brakes are messed up. 20:24 And so now there's slack in the cable. 20:27 And Lewis looks up and realizes his front bumper is very 20:30 close to the back bumper of the truck in front of him, 20:33 that there's slack in the cable, that Bill is waving his arm 20:36 crazily, and Lewis hits the brakes. 20:40 Screeches to a halt. 20:43 And the slack quickly comes out of the cable. 20:47 At which point guess what happened. 20:49 The cable broke. 20:52 Luckily, no one was at the light. 20:53 And Bill rolled right on through the light and down the street. 20:56 Well, Lewis let off the brakes. 20:58 A little bit of an incline there and he managed 21:00 to roll on through as well. 21:03 And Lewis rolled into the Chevy dealership. 21:08 Bill was a little further up. 21:10 As he rolled into the Chevy dealership, one of the salesmen 21:14 came out and said, "Young man, may I help you?" 21:16 Maybe he thought someone was there to look at a car, right? 21:19 And Lewis says, "Well, I'm having some car trouble, sir." 21:24 "Really, you are? 21:25 Well pop the hood. Let's have a look." 21:28 And so he pops the hood to the truck. 21:32 And then he goes around, he throws the hood up, 21:38 and he looks. 21:40 And he does a double take. 21:41 He looks and he goes, "Oh no, my motors gone." 21:49 And then he steps to the side of the truck 21:50 and looks back down the road. 21:53 Like perhaps it had fallen out. 21:56 The guy at the dealership looks down the road along with him. 22:00 About this time, Bill is slowly backing the truck 22:03 back towards Lewis. 22:05 And he says, "Lewis, is there a problem?" 22:07 And he says, "Yea, I'm having some car trouble, Bill." 22:12 He said, "Man, well would you like me to tow you? 22:14 I've got a cable." 22:16 It had broken off at Lewis' front bumper. 22:18 And so he took the cable and he retied it under Lewis' truck. 22:22 And then while the man at the dealership is still trying to 22:25 figure out what's going on, they hook up 22:27 and head on through town. 22:30 You see, there's a problem with that. 22:32 Outwardly, they were conforming to what grandpa had said. 22:36 Yes or no? 22:37 But were they obeying the spirit of the law? 22:40 Was their heart in obedience? 22:44 Or really, though they were claiming to obey, 22:46 was their heart in disobedience? 22:50 Yes. 22:51 My friends, sometimes the Laodicean condition 22:54 being such a heart problem, people tend to be outwardly 22:59 into obedience while their heart is into disobedience. 23:04 You see, what that truck that was being towed needed 23:07 was a new motor. 23:09 And my friends, the motor like the heart of a vehicle, 23:11 we need a new heart. 23:14 Can you say amen to that? 23:16 Well sure. 23:17 "The Laodiceans..." listen to this particular quote. 23:22 It says, "The Laodiceans were not entirely blind, 23:26 else the eye salve would have done nothing to 23:29 restore their sight." 23:31 Remember, it went through this whole list. 23:33 "Knowest not that thou art wretched, miserable, 23:35 poor, blind, and naked." 23:36 A heart condition here. Right? 23:39 So, "They weren't entirely blind, or the eye salve 23:42 would have done nothing to restore their sight and enable 23:45 them to discern the true attributes of Christ." 23:48 That's from Seven Bible Commentary, page 965. 23:52 That quote leads me to say, hold on. 23:54 They weren't entirely blind. 23:57 You ever heard somebody say that someone is as blind as a bat? 24:02 But most of the time they're talking about somebody 24:03 that can see some. 24:05 Yes or no? 24:06 That phrase in English at least. Right? 24:09 And so as we look here, this is intriguing to me. 24:13 They can see some, and so the eye salve is going to 24:17 do some good so they can see the true attributes of Christ. 24:20 The eye salve helps us to see His attributes. 24:23 Attributes of what? 24:25 Of His character. 24:28 My friends, His character counts. 24:30 Can you say amen? 24:31 Absolutely. 24:33 Now as we think of the character of God, 24:36 what is your picture of God? 24:38 The picture of God that you see with your eyes. 24:41 Not so much your physical eyes, but your spiritual eyesight. 24:46 Well as we look at this particular issue, 24:49 we're talking in Revelation chapter 3, we're told that 24:54 we're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, 24:56 and know not that we're wretched, miserable, 24:59 poor, blind, and naked. 25:00 One of the problems is we don't know our condition. 25:04 I remember with my own eyesight, even in my 25:07 mid 30's now, that I was at my in-law's house 25:10 a couple of years ago. 25:12 And I don't remember if it was my father-in-law or 25:14 my mother-in-law, but they had gotten new glasses. 25:18 One of them, new eye glasses. 25:20 And we were sitting around talking and I just slipped 25:22 their eye glasses on. 25:25 And I didn't realize my eyesight was beginning to deteriorate. 25:28 But I was looking across the room and I put the 25:31 eye glasses on. 25:32 And all of a sudden, a digital clock over there, 25:36 the numbers got pristine and clear. 25:41 And I thought, "Wow." 25:43 Sometimes you don't know what you can't see 25:46 until you can see. 25:48 You see, the Laodicean condition is they know not that they're 25:52 wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 25:53 That's a dangerous condition; to be in a dangerous 25:56 scenario and not know it. 25:59 They don't know that they don't know. 26:02 He that knowest not and knowest not that he knowest not, 26:05 knows little. 26:07 As we look at this passage, we're counseled by Jesus 26:12 to buy of Him gold tried in the fire, 26:17 and white raiment, and eye salve that we can see. 26:24 Now we're told in the book, Our High Calling, page 350, 26:29 that, "The great Redeemer represents Himself..." 26:33 Who's the great Redeemer? 26:35 That's Jesus. 26:36 "...represents Himself as a heavenly merchantman, 26:40 laden with riches, calling from house to house, 26:44 presenting His priceless goods." 26:49 And then it quotes Revelation 3:18-20. 26:53 So let's go ahead and read verse 20. 26:56 And it says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 27:00 If any man hear My voice and open the door, 27:02 I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me." 27:06 So as a heavenly merchantman, remember He says, "I counsel 27:10 thee to buy of Me." 27:12 And He stands at the door and knocks. 27:14 Now let's unpack this. 27:16 This will be something that will be new for some of you. 27:18 I know when I first saw it, I thought, "This is pretty cool." 27:21 In fact, if any of you have a colporteuring or 27:24 literature evangelism background or you're currently doing 27:28 that important work, you're going to find this 27:30 to be really interesting. 27:31 And that is, that Jesus is represented as a 27:36 heavenly merchantman. 27:38 What's another term for merchantman? 27:41 A salesman. That's right. 27:44 And he's going from house to house. 27:47 What's another term for house to house? 27:51 Door to door. 27:53 Now that makes sense, doesn't it? 27:55 I mean, the Bible says that Jesus would be despised 27:58 and rejected of men. 28:00 And here Jesus is portrayed as the most despised 28:04 of all people on earth. 28:06 No, not the harlot, not the drug dealer, not the rapist. 28:11 No, the door to door salesman. 28:15 Oh yes. 28:17 There are people I know that if a door to door salesman 28:19 shows up, "Close the blinds, run, hide. 28:23 Pretend you're not home." 28:25 Right? 28:26 "Tell them to go away. We don't want any." 28:29 Yes or no? 28:31 You see, with Wal-Mart just down the street, 28:33 we don't feel the need to buy anything that a 28:35 door to door salesman has. 28:37 If we want something, we'll go and get it. 28:40 "Go away, we don't want any." 28:43 But here, Jesus is going from house to house 28:47 with the most precious of goods. 28:49 So if you're a door to door salesman, especially selling 28:52 the most precious of goods such as message books, 28:56 such as materials that point to Jesus, 28:59 like a colporteur or literature evangelist does, 29:01 then you're in good company. 29:02 Because that's what Jesus is represented as right here, 29:05 as a heavenly merchantman going from house to house 29:09 with the most precious of goods. 29:11 Have you ever seen that? 29:12 That Jesus is a door to door salesman? 29:14 How encouraging is that? 29:16 That's an aspect of His character; that He's 29:18 thorough and that His passion is relentless 29:22 to reach you and me. 29:24 And so He continues. And we look at this. 29:28 You know, as we unpack this particular issue, 29:31 we have a problem. 29:33 We have a tendency not to see our true condition. 29:38 Just like with a door to door salesman today, we go, 29:41 "We don't need it, we don't want it. 29:44 We are rich and increased with goods, and have need to nothing. 29:46 I don't need it." 29:48 But He goes, "No, you really need what I'm selling." 29:51 You say, "Well Jesus, is it expensive?" 29:52 "Yes, it's extremely expensive. But I've already paid for it." 29:57 "Well, what is it?" 29:58 "Oh, well let Me tell you what it is. 30:02 I have a faith for you that shines like gold. 30:07 I have a robe of My righteousness that covers 30:11 all of your sins. 30:13 I have an ointment for your eyes that will let you see My love 30:19 and mercy and goodness like you've never seen it before. 30:25 And while you focus on Me," Jesus says, "I will 30:29 search you and purify you and prepare you to be 30:34 received up into My kingdom and to be with Me in eternity." 30:41 And He says, "Knock, knock. May I come in?" 30:47 Now we all have eye trouble. 30:50 We're wretched, miserable, poor... What? 30:52 ...blind and naked. 30:54 Jesus wants to give us eye salve that we may see His attributes, 30:59 that we may see His mercy, that we may see His grace. 31:02 And in this Laodicean message, as we accept that faith, 31:06 that faith that grows in Him, that faith that works by love, 31:10 that righteousness by faith, and as we accept His robe 31:15 of righteousness not our fig leaves, not our own works, 31:19 no, but His robe of righteousness, 31:22 we're going to receive those and grow in those as we 31:25 have that eye salve, and we see His glorious character, 31:29 His attributes, His beauty, His passion for us. 31:34 And it's going to prepare us to be ready to meet Him, 31:37 and to share that message with others in the world. 31:41 It's powerful. 31:42 And so we go to Genesis chapter 3. 31:44 We're going to talk here about sin a little bit. 31:47 Now I grew up in the Baptist church. 31:50 And one day coming home from church... 31:52 My mom didn't go, my dad and I had gone to church. 31:54 And as we came home, mom said, 31:56 "What did the preacher preach about?" 31:58 And my dad said, "He talked about sin." 32:00 And she said, "Well, okay. What did he say about sin?" 32:03 And dad said, "Well best I can tell, he was against it." 32:06 And you know, at least you're going to know as we get into 32:09 this, that when it comes to sin, that I'm against it. 32:12 The preacher is against it tonight, right? 32:13 But there's so much more here. 32:15 We each have this sin eroding at our very characters, 32:20 and this selfishness at the core. 32:23 So what can we learn about this in Genesis 3? 32:26 You see, now we're back at creation in Genesis. 32:30 My ministry name is, Creation To Revelation. 32:33 Of course with the cross in the center. 32:35 We were just in Revelation; the last things, the eschatos. 32:38 Now we go to Genesis, to the protos, to the beginning things. 32:42 And we look here in Genesis chapter 3 verse 1. 32:46 It says, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast 32:49 of the field which the Lord God had made. 32:51 And he said unto the woman, 'Yea, hath God said, 32:54 "Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"'" 32:58 Notice here that he begins to invite Eve to question 33:04 God's word, to question what God had said. 33:09 Now in verse 2, "And the woman said unto the serpent, 33:13 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 33:15 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst 33:17 of the garden, God hath said, "Ye shall not eat of it, 33:20 neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."'" 33:26 Verse 4, "And the serpent said unto the woman, 33:29 'Ye shall not surely die.'" 33:32 "Not really, that's not really what He meant." 33:35 And so he's now not only causing her or encouraging her to 33:39 question the word, but now to doubt the word of God; 33:44 whether He means what He said. 33:48 Now verse 5 as we look here, "For God doth know that 33:52 in the day ye eat thereof, then your..." 33:56 What's that next word? 33:57 Your what? 33:59 "...eyes shall be opened." 34:02 Your eyes. 34:04 Now he's lying through his teeth while he's telling the truth. 34:09 Because he's misrepresenting what's going to happen. 34:11 Her eyes will be opened. 34:13 But he's making it sound like it's a good thing in this case. 34:16 And it's not, is it? 34:18 He's lying through his teeth while he's telling the truth. 34:22 I'll let you unpack that one. 34:24 It says here, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, 34:27 then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, 34:30 knowing good and evil." 34:31 What did it mean that her eyes would be opened? 34:34 Is it talking about her literal physical eyeballs? 34:37 I mean, was Eve like a little puppy who's eyes 34:40 hadn't opened yet? 34:41 No. Spiritually speaking, your eyes. 34:44 Now remember, there's a problem in Revelation with our what? 34:48 Eyes, that goes back to right here. 34:51 Yes or no? 34:52 Yes it does. 34:54 And so it ties together. 34:55 We look and we see it. 34:58 It says, "Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, 35:01 knowing good and evil." 35:05 Again, now he's encouraging Eve to doubt the 35:10 goodness of God. 35:13 To doubt the goodness of God. 35:19 Think about this. 35:21 He's encouraging Eve to question the intent of why God said it. 35:27 Does God truly have good intentions toward her? 35:32 That's really what Satan is trying to bring out and 35:34 cause Eve to question. 35:37 He's insinuating that God can't be trusted. 35:41 He's insinuating that God cannot be trusted, 35:44 and ultimately that God is not selfless and others-centered. 35:49 But rather He is selfish, He's holding back from her, 35:53 He's holding her down, keeping her from being all she can be. 35:59 And he's presenting here a distorted view of God. 36:04 In fact, what he is doing is he is projecting upon God 36:09 the attributes of his own character; 36:12 his own selfishness, his own dishonesty, 36:17 his own desire for self supremacy. 36:20 He is projecting onto God. 36:24 And Eve is sitting here going, "Oh my." 36:27 She getting a different picture of God here. 36:31 She's beginning to see God in a different view 36:34 than what she had seen Him. 36:36 Notice that precedes sin coming into this world. 36:39 And, my friends, might I suggest that something 36:42 that will precede sin being banished from this world 36:46 will be people's eyesight being corrected to see God as He is. 36:52 His goodness, His purity, to trust Him, 36:55 to grow in grace and knowledge, 36:57 to come to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. 37:00 Now notice in verse 6, "And when the woman 37:02 saw that the tree was..." 37:04 One, good for food; and two, pleasant to the eyes; 37:06 and three, desirable to make one wise. 37:07 "...she took of the fruit and did eat, and gave also unto 37:09 her husband with her, and he did eat." 37:12 She came up with three reasons to disobey God. 37:15 And so three good reasons to disobey God. 37:18 Right? No. 37:19 There were no good reasons to disobey God. 37:21 In fact, there weren't any reasons at all to disobey God. 37:24 There were three excuses. 37:28 That's right. 37:29 Once people begin to question God's goodness, 37:32 and to question His intentions toward them, 37:35 and to question His character, then all they need to be 37:39 rebellious is excuses. 37:41 They don't need reasons. 37:44 And so Eve came up with three excuses. 37:47 "And she took of the fruit and did eat." 37:49 At the heart level, she began to think of who? 37:55 Herself. 37:57 The heart level; that is the root of sin. 38:01 Yes or no? 38:03 Did Eve sin only when the fruit went into her mouth, 38:07 or before that? 38:09 Think it through. That's right. 38:12 Well as we look at these issues, we now go to verse 7. 38:18 "And the eyes of them both were opened." 38:21 So now we're talking about eyesight. 38:23 What is your picture of God? 38:25 As their eyes are opened now, they begin to have, 38:28 in this case, a worse picture of what God is like. 38:34 Their picture of God goes downhill again. 38:38 You say, "Really?" Yeah. 38:40 "The eyes of them both were opened, and they 38:42 knew that they were naked. 38:43 And they sewed fig leaves together and 38:45 made themselves aprons." 38:46 These fig leaves, this is man's first attempt 38:49 to cover his wickedness through his own works. 38:54 Futile attempt, though it be. 38:56 And there are still some Christians out there today 38:59 that are trying to be good enough to get 39:01 God to accept them. 39:02 And so they are trying to work their way to heaven. 39:05 They feel, "If I can just be good enough, I will make it." 39:09 My friends, that is the problem right there. 39:12 It's not going to work. 39:13 No, we look here and it says in verse 8, 39:17 "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the 39:20 garden in the cool of the day. 39:22 And Adam and his wife..." Did what? 39:26 "...they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God 39:30 amongst the trees of the garden." 39:33 They heard God coming, and they did what? 39:37 They hid themselves from God. 39:41 Think about this now. 39:43 As we look at this issue, they had come to the point 39:47 they had a distorted view of God. 39:49 They had begun to think of themselves. 39:51 And now they are naked. 39:53 They realize that they are naked, anyway. 39:57 And they hide from God. 40:01 We're talking about shame and fear. 40:04 Two things; shame and fear. 40:06 Have you ever had that nightmare, that dream 40:10 when you were a kid, that you ended up at school naked or 40:15 ended up at school in your underwear maybe? 40:18 And it's a dream of being totally ashamed 40:22 and scared, right? 40:24 Well it's that bad and worse, right here 40:26 magnified in real life. 40:28 "And they hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God 40:33 amongst the trees of the garden." 40:35 Now think about this. 40:38 They have shame and they have fear. 40:41 They no longer trust God, do they? 40:44 They're running and hiding from God. 40:48 This strange new impulse, this compelling drive 40:53 to hide from their Maker, to run from their Creator. 41:00 In verse 9, "And the Lord God called unto Adam, 41:03 and said unto him, 'Where art thou?'" 41:06 "Where are you, Adam?" 41:08 Now what is your picture of God? 41:10 What do you think His voice sounded like? 41:14 "Where are you, Adam?" 41:17 "Where are you at?" 41:21 No. 41:23 "Where art thou?" 41:24 I don't know exactly what His voice sounded like. 41:26 But I can tell you this, this evening; 41:29 I can tell you that what your picture of God is 41:36 will affect what you think His voice sounded like right there. 41:40 What is your picture of God? 41:47 Well, notice verse 10. 41:50 "And he said, 'I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid 41:55 because I was naked. 41:59 And I hid myself.'" 42:04 Notice again this is a reference to both shame and fear. 42:12 Had God changed? 42:14 I mean, from the day before when God came walking 42:16 through the garden in the cool of the day, 42:19 and now to this day, had God changed even a little bit? 42:24 No. 42:25 Malachi 3:6 tells us, "I am the Lord, I..." What? 42:30 "...I change not." 42:32 God had not changed. 42:34 So if God had not changed, who had changed? 42:39 Adam and Eve had changed. 42:43 Now, they are feeling guilty. 42:46 They are feeling condemnation. 42:50 And they're projecting that upon God, that it's coming from Him. 42:56 When actually it is a result now of their sinful condition. 43:01 The shame, the fear, the condemnation 43:04 is coming forth from within. 43:08 It's a result of their brokenness in sin, 43:13 the evil of sin. 43:17 Well, we move ahead here. 43:19 And we see that something very important... 43:23 Go with me quickly, would you, to 1 John chapter 3 43:26 and verse 20. 43:28 This crucial part here in 1 John chapter 3. 43:32 Right back by the book of Revelation. 43:34 Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd, 1st John. Right? 43:36 1 John 3 and verse 20. 43:38 And then we'll go back to Genesis chapter 3. 43:41 And it says in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 20, 43:46 it says, "For if our heart condemn us, God is 43:50 greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." 43:53 So what condemns us? 43:55 Our heart. 43:57 Our own brokenness, our own sinful nature condemns us. 44:01 "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have 44:04 confidence toward God." 44:05 "If our heart condemn us not..." 44:07 My friends, trust is being restored in our heavenly Father. 44:10 Is it not? 44:11 Think about this. 44:13 We're accepting His forgiveness, if that's the case. 44:16 Now, verse 11 in Genesis chapter 3, 44:19 "And He said, 'Who told thee that thou wast naked? 44:22 Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee 44:24 that thou shouldest not eat?' 44:25 And the man said, 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, 44:29 she gave me of the tree and I did eat.'" 44:33 Oh my. 44:34 Broken relationships with God lead to broken relationships 44:39 with others. 44:41 Ever since that time, it's been, "She did it," 44:45 "He did it," "It's your fault." 44:48 It has echoed down through the ages. 44:54 Damaged people in a damaged world. 44:58 That's right. 45:00 Well, as we look at the context of what God is telling us here, 45:07 look with me in Genesis 3 and verse 24. 45:10 It says, "So He drove out the man; and He placed at the 45:15 east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword 45:20 which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." 45:25 Some people have felt, "Well, God was being mean here. 45:27 God was being harsh." 45:29 No, that's a very loving thing that God did. 45:31 Because the Bible says that if man continued to eat 45:34 of the tree of life, he would continue to live forever. 45:39 And so, separating him from the garden of Eden, 45:42 removing him from the tree of life, God was saying, 45:45 "I love man too much to let him live in a state of sin 45:51 for all eternity." 45:53 Because ultimately, sin brings about misery. 45:57 And miserable eternal life would be awful. 46:03 And God says, "I've got a plan. 46:05 I'm going to separate you from your sin, if you let Me. 46:11 I'm going to give you a revelation of 46:13 My love and character." 46:14 As sin entered this world, Eve began to 46:17 question God's goodness. 46:19 She began to question God's purpose. 46:23 She began to question His intentions. 46:26 And God says, "No, I'm going to show you 46:30 that I love you more than you can ever know. 46:34 And I'm going to woo you back to Myself. 46:36 And I'm going to take the penalty for your sin." 46:40 We see the promise of that here in Genesis 3:15. 46:43 I'm not going to get into it too much because that gets 46:46 ahead of us with our topic for tomorrow night titled, 46:50 The Righteous Serpent. 46:52 And we look here in Genesis 3 and verse 15. 46:56 Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity..." 46:59 A difference, an enmity dealing with a controversy, if you will. 47:07 "...between thee and the woman, and between thy seed 47:10 and her Seed. 47:12 It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." 47:18 I'm going to tell a few Mississippi snake stories, too. 47:20 I just can't help it. 47:22 We're going to do that tomorrow night. 47:23 But as we dig into this prophecy tomorrow, 47:27 I'll just go ahead and tell you ahead of time 47:29 that, no, the prophecy is not specifically 47:33 just talking about all women. 47:34 That's not why most women are scared of snakes. 47:36 It's deeper than that. 47:38 This is the first prophecy that tells of the coming Deliverer; 47:42 of the Messiah. 47:44 That's right. 47:46 And what did God do then? 47:47 If you read on down in the Bible, verse 20, 47:50 it tells us here, verse 21 actually, 47:53 "Unto Adam and to his wife did the Lord God make coats 47:57 of skins, and clothed them." 48:00 They had made themselves aprons of fig leaves. 48:03 And God made them coats of skins; 48:05 pointing to the death of some animal as a sacrifice. 48:10 Pointing forward to Jesus dying on the cross. 48:12 And notice, they had made themselves aprons or 48:14 girdles of fig leaves, and God made them coats of skins. 48:18 I hate to digress here today, but my friends, sometimes 48:21 when God's people today are wearing aprons or girdles, 48:24 God might wish they would put on a coat. 48:26 You find modesty right there in Genesis chapter 3. 48:30 Man originally didn't put on enough clothes, right? 48:32 But there's a contrast in the word girdles and 48:35 aprons and coats. 48:36 Plus, it was insufficient. 48:37 It represented their works. Right? Sure. 48:40 And the offering, the sacrifice, represented the righteousness 48:45 of Jesus, who would come and die for our sins. 48:48 "Without the shedding of blood is no..." What? 48:51 "...remission." 48:52 And we move ahead, we see something that is powerful 48:56 in the Word of God. 48:59 And that is John chapter 3. 49:03 Let's look there. 49:05 John chapter 3. 49:07 The gospel of John. 49:09 We go here together. The gospel of John, chapter 3. 49:13 This is a passage we're all familiar with. 49:16 And you're going to begin to see how this series, 49:19 His Character Counts, continues to build and to grow. 49:25 And we're going to see God differently. 49:28 We're going to see He's more loving than we've ever imagined. 49:32 Notice here in John 3. 49:33 I'm not going to spend too much time in this passage either. 49:35 For it also gets into what's coming up in our program, 49:41 as these verses will begin to overlap and to grow in 49:45 significance as we look at them together. 49:47 It says in John 3 and verse 16, "For God..." 49:53 You know this, right? 49:54 "...so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, 49:59 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 50:03 but have..." What? 50:06 "...everlasting life." 50:10 Notice verse 17. 50:11 "For God sent not His Son into the world..." 50:15 To do what? 50:17 "...condemn the world; but that the world through Him 50:20 might be..." What? 50:23 Think about that, my friends. 50:26 Think about that. 50:27 Did Jesus come to this world to condemn us? 50:31 No, but right from the beginning when sin entered this world, 50:37 Adam and Eve were filled with shame and fear and condemnation. 50:43 And though that was coming from within them 50:47 because they were thinking of themselves, 50:50 they were projecting it upon God. 50:55 And Jesus came to show us what the Father is like. 50:59 And He says, "Neither do I condemn thee." 51:05 Oh my. 51:06 Perhaps there are those that are watching 51:09 tonight at home, and you know who you are, 51:12 you feel condemned, and you feel ashamed, 51:15 and you feel fearful of God. 51:19 The God that came to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden is 51:22 not to be feared. 51:25 He's the God of plan A, B, C, and D. 51:28 And when you run out of letters in the alphabet, 51:31 He still loves you and has a plan. 51:34 And He reaches out for you. 51:36 And He loves you beyond what you can imagine. 51:40 And if you're experiencing condemnation tonight, 51:43 and fear, let me tell you this. 51:49 That is not something that God wants you to feel 51:53 in regards to Him. 51:55 He comes to you and He calls to you as that voice in the garden. 51:59 It was not a voice of condemnation. 52:01 It says, "Where are you?" 52:04 You see, God wasn't coming to play hide-and-go-seek 52:07 in the garden. 52:08 He was coming to commune with Adam and Eve. 52:10 Don't think for a moment that God was surprised 52:14 and caught off guard that they had disobeyed Him. 52:18 My friends, God didn't change there that day. 52:20 Man did. 52:22 God has always been infinitely good and infinitely loving. 52:28 Full of compassion beyond what you and I can ever understand. 52:35 And He reaches out to you and to me. 52:38 And He wants us to give our hearts to Him. 52:43 You see, the devil from the beginning has tried 52:46 to malign God. 52:48 He has tried to get God to seem as if God is a dictator, 52:52 that He's out to tell you what to do and to steal your fun, 52:56 and to condemn you. 52:59 And to just give you an all around bad day and bad life. 53:02 But no, my friends, Satan is projecting upon God 53:07 the attributes of his own character. 53:10 All the while claiming God's attributes. 53:13 Satan would have you believe that he is the one 53:15 that gives you freedom. 53:17 Right? 53:18 Satan would have you believe that he is the one 53:21 that gives you joy. 53:23 Satan would have you believe that he is the one 53:27 that accepts you. 53:30 But, my friends, he is taking the attributes of God to himself 53:37 while he's applying the attributes of himself to God. 53:42 Don't be fooled. 53:44 My friends, we're talking here about God's character. 53:48 And His character counts. 53:49 Jesus came to show us the character of God. 53:54 And so often, the religious people of Jesus' day, 53:57 they didn't know how to relate to Him. 53:59 Because Jesus was showing acceptance and love 54:02 to the worst of sinners. 54:04 He was reaching out and showing them the love of God. 54:08 Not only by saying it, but showing, 54:11 "Neither do I condemn thee." 54:15 You remember the woman caught in adultery? 54:19 And they brought her to Jesus and said, "According to the 54:22 law of Moses, she should be stoned." 54:24 And Jesus is writing, you know, in the dirt. 54:26 He stands up and He was acting like He didn't hear them. 54:31 They spoke again to Him and He says, "He that is without sin, 54:35 let him cast the first stone." 54:41 And from the oldest to the youngest, they slowly turned 54:44 and went away, as they were convicted by the power 54:48 of the Holy Spirit that we're all sinners. 54:51 And what did Jesus do as he looked upon this woman 54:55 on the ground, as He saw her there weeping and crying, 55:00 thinking her life had come to an end, 55:03 her shame and her fear? 55:07 He said, "Neither do I..." What? 55:12 "...condemn you." 55:13 Just like John 3:17 says; He came not to condemn. 55:16 "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and..." What? 55:22 My friends, please listen to this. 55:27 If you're going to come to the point and say, "Sin no more? 55:30 Do you believe in victory over sin?" 55:32 Yes I do. 55:33 But, my friends, I do not believe that victory over sin 55:36 comes before, "Neither do I condemn thee." 55:40 If you have a guilt-ridden, shame-ridden, fearful version 55:46 of a belief in God, you are paralyzed to be freed from sin. 55:51 Because you're still concerned about yourself. 55:55 And self love is at the root of sin. 56:01 When the root of righteousness and commandment keeping 56:04 is others-centered love; love to God and love to others. 56:08 Can you say amen? 56:10 And so God says, "Neither do I condemn thee." 56:13 If you're carrying a load of condemnation, 56:16 how do you see God? 56:18 What is your picture of God? 56:20 Do you want to see a better picture of God and have that 56:23 guilt roll off here this evening? 56:25 Do you want to feel God's acceptance, 56:28 His passion for you, like the woman caught in adultery? 56:32 It doesn't matter what you've done, what guilt you are 56:36 carrying here this evening, my Jesus says to you, 56:41 "Neither do I condemn thee." 56:43 Religious people might have condemned you. 56:45 There might be people at the church that have condemned you. 56:47 There were Pharisees in that day that had condemned her. 56:50 Yes or no? 56:52 But Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn thee." 56:55 Accept it, my friends. 56:57 Accept the love of Jesus. 56:59 Accept the passion of Christ. 57:02 See a vision of God that loves you more than 57:05 you've ever imagined. 57:07 And accept it and embrace it. 57:09 Because His character counts. 57:12 And, my friends, He loves you with an everlasting love. 57:16 He desires just now that you know that. 57:20 And that you accept Him as your Lord and Savior 57:23 anew here this evening. 57:25 Is that your decision? 57:26 I hope so. 57:28 Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17