Participants: Lee Venden
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000123
|
00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:23 Welcome again to Anchors Of Truth. 00:25 Glad that each one is here in our live audience. 00:27 My name is Greg Morikone. 00:29 This is my wife, Jill. 00:30 We also want to say a welcome to you in our television land. 00:34 Also through radio you may be listening 00:36 to this program this evening. 00:38 Also on mobile devices. 00:39 That seems to be quite the trend as well. 00:41 We get a lot more response from people that are watching 00:43 on their iPads, their iPhones, Android devices as well. 00:47 But anyway, welcome to the Anchors Of Truth program. 00:49 What a blessing this series has been with Elder Lee Venden. 00:54 I know that I've truly been blessed. 00:56 And tonight is night number three from this series. 00:59 But if you're joining us brand new maybe tonight, 01:03 just real quick, Pastor Lee Venden, 01:05 he comes from Upper Columbia Conference, 01:08 which I call way out west from here in southern Illinois. 01:12 And he is the full time Revivalist for that conference. 01:17 He and his wife travel a lot together. 01:20 He and his wife have been married, he told me 01:22 just before we went out here on stage, for 36 years. 01:25 They have two beautiful children. 01:27 And they're so happy in serving the Lord. 01:30 Now I know we've been following this series. 01:32 Tell us a little bit more about what this full five part series 01:36 is all about. 01:37 It's called, The Revelation of Whom. 01:39 And for those of you who have been here night by night, 01:41 it has been a tremendous blessing, hasn't it. 01:43 And if you have joined us at home, we know it has 01:47 been a blessing for you at home as well. 01:50 Obviously, the "Revelation Of Whom" focuses on 01:53 looking at the book of Revelation, but yet 01:56 looking at it through the eyes of Jesus. 01:58 Trying to find Jesus in the book of Revelation. 02:02 Wednesday night we looked at Revelation chapter 3, 02:05 the counsel Jesus gives to the church of Laodicea. 02:08 That's the end time church. 02:10 We looked at last night was the first angel's message. 02:13 That was an incredible message, wasn't it, sweetie. 02:16 - It was, absolutely. - I was so blessed by that. 02:19 Who gets the glory. 02:21 And my own heart was pricked as I prayed 02:25 last night and asked Jesus, "Lord, show me the 02:28 pride that is in my heart." 02:29 Because he talked about giving God the glory 02:31 and not for our own self. 02:33 So it was an incredible blessing. 02:35 And tonight, we're looking at the second angel's message. 02:38 And the title is, Do It Yourself Religion. 02:41 So I'm excited to hear what he's going to share, 02:43 how we can see Jesus in the second angel's message. 02:46 Absolutely. 02:47 And before we actually go to the music, which you're 02:50 actually bringing our music to us tonight, 02:53 we want to actually have a short prayer. 02:54 And then you'll tell us about this song 02:55 you're going to play for us. 02:56 Let's pray. 02:57 Father in heaven, Lord, we are so thankful. 03:00 Thankful, Father, that as we're here in this live broadcast 03:05 here in Thompsonville, Illinois, just a little speck 03:07 on the earth, Father somehow, I don't know how it all works, 03:11 but Lord You hear each one of our prayers. 03:14 Lord, thank You that we can talk to You, 03:16 we can talk to You on a personal, just personally 03:19 Father, as we would to a friend. 03:21 Lord, we honor You as God. 03:23 And we recognize You as our Father and as our Lord, 03:25 as our King, as our Redeemer. 03:27 Lord, also we're thankful for You wanting to have a 03:30 personal relationship with us. 03:32 We pray for a special blessing on Elder Venden as he 03:34 brings us again another part to this series. 03:38 Lord, bless his lips. 03:40 Thank You that he is being a vessel that You're able to 03:43 pour Your words through to us. 03:46 And Father, as we hear the message, may we not just 03:48 be hearers only, but doers also of what You want us to do. 03:52 And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 03:54 So tell us this song you're going to play for us tonight. 03:56 It's actually a medley, it's two songs. 03:59 It's, Something About That Name, and Something Beautiful. 04:03 I'm just playing the piano, I'm not singing. 04:05 And sometimes it's nice to know what the words are to the song. 04:09 So the second part of the song, Something Beautiful, 04:12 it says, "Something beautiful, something good; 04:14 all my confusion, He understood. 04:17 All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife; 04:21 but He made something beautiful out of my life." 04:25 Amen, and as soon as Jill is done playing the medley, 04:29 we'll get to hear the third part of this series, 04:31 Do It Yourself Religion. 04:34 Amen. 07:38 Something about that name. 07:41 There really is something about that name. 07:44 The name above all names. 07:45 At the name of Jesus every knee will bow. 07:49 I'm going to bow one more time and have another prayer. 07:53 Lord Jesus, I just bow just now knowing that even though 08:00 there is time and space between us, You hear this prayer. 08:05 And that You are eager to supply us with an extra measure 08:12 of the Holy Spirit tonight. 08:14 You told us to ask. 08:15 You said where two or three are gathered in Your name, 08:17 that we should ask. 08:18 And I'm asking right now. 08:20 I know I need the Holy Spirit. 08:22 I want to be on cruise control. 08:25 And I pray for the Holy Spirit to just fill our hearts 08:30 and open our minds and our ears and our eyes 08:34 to what a friend we have in You, and what that friendship 08:38 includes, and how we can live more completely for Jesus. 08:42 In whose name I pray, amen. 08:47 Well I want to start out by telling you a story 08:51 about a confederate prison. 08:54 Actually, a prisoner in a confederate prison camp. 08:59 He was a Union soldier and he had somehow gotten captured. 09:02 And there he was in this prison camp. 09:04 Somehow, I don't remember how, I just remember 09:06 what happened next in this story; he escaped. 09:08 He managed to escape. 09:10 But he traveled by night, because he was very deep 09:13 into the confederate territory. 09:15 And he didn't want to be seen, you know. 09:17 And so he would travel under cover of darkness. 09:20 And days passed as he traveled. 09:23 And finally he was getting kind of excited, 09:25 because he realized that he was almost to the Union territory. 09:30 And he couldn't wait to get home again. 09:33 And so it was the final sort of day or two that he thought 09:36 he'd have to travel at night. 09:38 He was going along in the darkness in the woods, 09:40 and suddenly a group of soldiers, picket soldiers, 09:44 surrounded him. 09:46 And the jig was up. 09:47 So near and yet so far. 09:49 They aimed their guns at him, they told him to put his hands 09:51 on top of his head. 09:53 They told him that if he did not surrender, 09:55 they would shoot him on site right there. 09:58 And so it was two choices; surrender or be shot. 10:03 He made the surrender choice. 10:06 And they came in the darkness, got around him, 10:08 tied his hands behind his back, and started marching him 10:13 through the forest. 10:14 It was getting close to dawn, and about the time they got 10:20 to the prison where they were going to place him, 10:24 he realized that every soldier's uniform was blue and not gray. 10:30 And he suddenly discovered he had surrendered to his friends. 10:35 And boy was he happy. 10:37 Was he happy. 10:39 He had surrendered to his friends and it was 10:42 going to be a happy ending. 10:45 Well, tonight we're going to talk about how that 10:48 surrendering to Jesus and depending upon Him 10:52 is actually the happiest ending to the story. 10:56 We noticed last night as we took a look at the 10:59 three angels' messages and began looking at them, 11:01 we noticed that there is a common thread 11:04 that goes through all three of the messages. 11:07 Much like the British Navy and their scarlet thread 11:09 that goes through their rigging and their ropes. 11:12 There's a common thread, and that is... 11:25 That's the common thread. 11:26 And now tonight we're going to take a look at 11:28 the second angel in Revelation 14:8, 11:31 a second angel and a mystical Babylon. 11:36 So in Revelation 14:8, we read... 11:53 Now, if all nations drink of her wine, that would have to include 12:00 the non-Christian nations as well, wouldn't it? 12:03 Right? 12:04 So that would include Muslim nations. 12:06 That would include Buddhist nations. 12:09 That would include all nations, Christian and non-Christian. 12:14 So if that's true, then Babylon would have to be something more, 12:18 something more than a uniquely defined denomination. 12:23 If it's going to include all nations. 12:26 Alright? 12:28 Today we're going to discover how easily 12:31 Babylon's problem can actually be our problem as well. 12:36 Babylon's roots, as you know, trace back to a tower 12:42 known as the tower of Babel. 12:45 The tower of Babel was built by a fellow named Nimrod. 12:50 And in Genesis we find this interesting start of the story. 13:07 Now this word, "babel," we're use to that word 13:11 in our modern day. 13:12 Because when we use that word, we're referring to confusion. 13:15 So someone's talking too fast, or they are not enunciating, 13:19 or they're slurring their words, or talking too quietly 13:23 and so it turns into kind of a murmur. 13:25 And we say to them, "Slow down or speak more clearly. 13:29 You're just babbling," we say. 13:31 "You're just babbling, I can't understand what you're saying." 13:34 So this term, "babble," comes back to the tower of Babel. 13:40 And you know the story. 13:42 There in Genesis 11, Nimrod was the first king of Babylon. 13:48 He actually was. 13:50 And he built this tower of Babel. 13:52 And the purpose of building the tower of Babel 13:54 was to save themselves. 13:57 The people wanted to save themselves. 14:01 Noah's descendents after the flood had been told, 14:04 God made a promise, and He said that He would 14:06 put His bow in the sky as a symbol, the rainbow, 14:12 as a symbol of His promise to never again destroy the earth 14:16 with a flood. 14:18 Every time I see a rainbow, I think, "Wow, that's His bow." 14:22 His bow. 14:23 It actually arches over the throne in heaven. 14:27 And someday we'll get to see it, the original. 14:30 So far we've been seeing something I guess maybe 14:32 you might call them the reprints. 14:35 If the reprints are so good, can you imagine what the 14:38 original must look like. 14:40 So anyway, Noah's descendents doubted the rainbow's promise. 14:48 They doubted God's promise and they did not trust Him 14:52 to fulfill what He said. 14:55 And so in an effort to save themselves 14:58 they built this tower. 15:00 They figured, "If God doesn't come through His promise, 15:03 which we're not sure we trust Him on, we don't need to worry 15:07 because we're going to take care of ourselves." 15:10 Well, how did God deal with the tower of Babel? 15:13 It went to the ground. 15:15 They were already confused about salvation, 15:17 they thought they couldn't trust God. 15:21 So He confused their speech as well, and they became babblers. 15:26 As I already mentioned, that's where we got 15:28 that phrase that we often use. 15:30 Now following Babel, we find Nebuchadnezzar 15:35 in a city known as Babylon in 606 BC. 15:40 Now God's people are captive to a nation that symbolizes 15:48 man's effort to save himself. 15:52 See, it goes all the way back to the tower of Babel. 15:54 Now we have Babylon, and it is a nation that symbolizes 16:00 man's effort to save himself. 16:04 God's people are captive there. 16:06 Now the only thing needed to be Babylon's captive 16:13 would be to be enslaved to the idea that somehow 16:18 I can save myself. 16:20 Whether it is getting to heaven or whether it is in perfecting a 16:25 Christ-like character. 16:27 In either case, if I think I can save myself 16:32 I am enslaved to what Babylon symbolizes. 16:37 Babylon's wine, then, is our presentations title. 16:42 It is, do it yourself. 16:44 And our title is, Do It Yourself Religion. 16:49 Nearly every false religion is based on the idea that 16:51 man can save himself by his own efforts. 16:55 In some way save himself. 16:57 So do I have to belong to a particular church 17:01 in order to be captive to the idea that I can 17:05 depend on my own efforts? 17:07 I don't have to belong to any church. 17:10 Or I can belong to every church or any church 17:13 and still have this tendency to depend upon myself. 17:20 I pray every day that God would enable me to depend upon 17:26 Thee instead of depending on Lee. 17:30 It's so easy to slip into self-dependence. 17:36 Don't have to belong to a particular church. 17:39 Arthur Spalding, in his book, Captains of the Hosts, 17:43 writes this... 18:01 Now just a minute ago, we said Babylon represents confusion. 18:04 Right? 18:16 Notice he said many Christians. 18:20 Many Christians. 18:22 Many professed Christians. 18:24 Many years ago before I was a pastor, I taught 18:31 in a Seventh-day Adventist high school. 18:33 And I taught religion, or Bible. 18:37 And I remember we had a guest speaker 18:41 come to our community who was presenting a series 18:46 of religious meetings in one of the local churches. 18:51 Every day he would come to our high school 18:54 and he would do a special presentation while he was 18:57 in town for the young people there in the high school. 19:00 And then after his presentation, he would mingle in the various 19:03 classrooms and field questions and interact with the kids. 19:08 So I was seated in one of the classrooms 19:11 as he came in to interact with the kids. 19:14 And the kids asked him some questions. 19:17 They wanted to ask how they could be more victorious. 19:21 How they could be overcomers. 19:22 How they could get over besetting sins, 19:25 problems, failures, flops, falls. 19:27 They wanted to know how they could be overcomers. 19:29 And they asked him, "So you know, 19:31 what counsel do you have for us? 19:32 How does it work?" 19:33 I'll never forget what he did. 19:35 He went over to the board and he made a chart. 19:37 I'm going to try and represent this chart 19:38 for you on the screen. 19:40 He said, "Now look at this chart. 19:41 There's different heights on the chart because different people 19:45 are capable of different percentages of effort 19:48 towards overcoming. 19:49 Some people may only be able to produce 10% of the effort." 19:52 He said, "Now if you look at the chart, you'll notice 19:53 nobody can do 100%. 19:56 Nobody can get to the top. 19:58 But some people have just sort of by birth and by genetics, 20:02 and whatever, some people have more unction, 20:05 more guts, more discipline, more whatever." 20:09 And he said, "Now here's the deal. 20:10 Everybody, whether you're a 90 percenter or whether you're a 20:13 10 percenter, you've got to do your part. 20:16 And after you have put forth the effort that you're capable of, 20:20 whichever level that is, then God kicks in the rest 20:25 and takes it to 100%." 20:27 Which was the rest of his chart. 20:28 So he said, "You all can get to 100%. 20:30 God makes up the difference. 20:32 So if you're a 10 percenter, God's going to make up 90. 20:34 If you're a 90 percenter, God's going to make up 10. 20:36 You'll get to the 100%. 20:38 But you've got to do your part if you expect God to do His." 20:42 That's what he said as I listened. 20:45 And I struggled with it because I noticed how confusing 20:51 it seemed to be to the young people. 20:53 They asked him questions like, "Well how do you know whether 20:55 you're a 10 percenter or a 90 percenter?" 20:58 "How do you know if you've done your 10%?" 21:00 "How do you know if you thought you were a 10 percenter 21:02 and God thought you were a 15 percenter? 21:04 How do you know if you still had 5% to go?" 21:07 "How can you be sure?" 21:08 "And another thing, how come that person doesn't have to 21:10 try as hard as I do just because I got born with more strength? 21:14 Why should I expect to have to do more?" 21:16 And so there's this confusion going on here. 21:19 Confusion. 21:22 He was referencing what Spaulding had just described 21:27 a moment ago that there are professed Christians 21:30 who say, "After you've done your part, God kicks in 21:33 and does the rest. 21:34 But you have to do part and He does part. 21:37 And between you, you get 100%." 21:40 Well they were confused, and I was confused. 21:44 You know, I've been confused on this. 21:48 I can remember trying so hard to do my part. 21:50 I, you know, wondered, "Well what is my part?" 21:53 And I tried, you know, I... 21:54 Some people tell you, "You've got to make better choices." 21:57 So I tried to work at better choices. 21:59 Other people told me, "You need to resist more than you are. 22:02 You need to strengthen your resolve. 22:05 You need to quote a Scripture at the point of temptation." 22:10 I remember carrying a little pocket New Testament around 22:12 with me thinking that maybe if I, at the right moment 22:15 you know, I could kind of pull that thing out and it would 22:17 just kind of be like a good luck charm or something 22:19 that would help me get across that crisis. 22:21 I've tried singing hymns at the point of temptation. 22:25 I tried cold showers. 22:27 I tried counting backwards from 100, you know. 22:29 I tried all kinds of ways, methods, gimmicks, 22:33 whatever you might say, in order to do my part. 22:37 And I discovered that I kept flopping and failing miserably. 22:49 Do it yourself religion. 22:53 I would suggest that probably the greatest problem 22:57 in the Christian religion... 22:58 And that would be in every church. 23:00 That would be including my church. 23:02 Every church. 23:04 ...is this idea that somehow we must save ourselves. 23:09 Maybe we don't think we can save ourselves 23:11 in terms of getting to heaven, but many of us 23:15 have been confused about how much we have to do 23:19 to perfect a Christ-like character. 23:24 See, do it yourself religion has a way of sneaking in 23:29 very easily. 23:31 The greatest symptom that I am a victim of 23:34 "do it yourself" religion, the greatest indicator 23:38 that I have slipped into the self-dependence rut, 23:43 is the pitifully small amount of time that most of us find 23:48 to spend with Jesus morning by morning and day by day. 23:54 I told you last night, I think it was, 23:56 about a survey that I've taken. 23:59 70 to 80% of people who attend church, by filling out an 24:04 anonymous survey, indicate that they are faithful in 24:06 church attendance but they have little or no 24:08 time for God during the week. 24:11 Well, if I can't find time to spend alone with Jesus Christ 24:16 on my knees in prayer and in His Word, 24:19 if that's not a priority in my life, if He and I are not 24:22 on regular speaking terms, there is little or no 24:26 communication with God, if I do not know what it means 24:28 to have a meaningful devotional life, 24:30 something more than a text for the day with my hand 24:34 on the doorknob, you know, something more than 24:38 somebody reading a short page of something 24:41 while we all shovel food into our mouths around the table, 24:45 something more than just flipping on the station 24:47 to the religious broadcast while driving and calling 24:50 that my time with God, if I don't go one on one with Jesus, 24:55 if I don't have time for Him, then regardless of what I 24:59 might say, I am depending on myself. 25:03 I am actually living my life independent of a personal 25:07 relationship with Jesus. 25:11 Wow. 25:13 We've been told that it would be good for us to spend 25:15 a thoughtful hour every day in contemplation of 25:18 the life of Christ, and that we should especially focus on 25:21 the closing scenes. 25:23 A thoughtful hour. 25:25 But many of us can't even find enough time... 25:27 Many of us can't even find as much time to spend with Jesus 25:30 as we spend with our meals. 25:32 And yet Jesus compared Himself to bread. 25:35 He said, "I am the bread of life." 25:36 Whoa, well how much time do I spend eating the 25:39 physical bread of life, and could there be any correlation? 25:42 See, if I don't have time for the bread of life, 25:45 I'm living my life independently of Jesus, regardless of 25:50 what church I attend on the weekend. 25:57 Now, I'm talking about the daily devotional life. 25:59 Because that's how you get to know Jesus better. 26:03 You remember Mary and Martha. 26:05 Martha, bless your heart, she was working for Jesus. 26:08 She was trying to make a meal for Him and for the disciples, 26:11 and for her brother and her sister. 26:12 I mean, that's a good thing; I would call that church work. 26:14 Working for Jesus. 26:16 But when she came out and made it clear 26:18 that she wished Mary would help... 26:19 Remember, Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus learning of Him. 26:23 Jesus said to Martha, "Martha, Martha. 26:27 You're troubled by much serving. 26:29 But one thing is needful, Martha. 26:33 And Mary has figured out what it is. 26:35 And I don't want to take that away from her. 26:36 Martha, I appreciate your desire to work for Me. 26:39 But Martha, there's something I want even more than your work, 26:44 more than what you can do for Me. 26:46 Martha, I want you. 26:47 I want a friendship with you. 26:50 I want to commune with you, I want to fellowship with you. 26:53 I want us to become closer and closer. 26:56 And Mary has figured that out, Martha. 26:58 Now Martha, I'm not saying I don't want you to work for Me. 27:01 I'm just saying that, you know, let's stay in touch, shall we?" 27:08 If I don't have the time with Mary to sit at Jesus' feet, 27:12 if I am substituting working for Jesus for devotional life, 27:18 then I am living life apart from God. 27:21 I am depending on myself. 27:26 This is not, this daily devotional life is not optional. 27:30 It's the whole basis of the Christian life. 27:33 It is. 27:34 Can you imagine someone trying to run a dairy farm 27:36 without any cows or goats? 27:39 Can you imagine someone trying to, um... 27:43 ...skydive without a parachute more than once? 27:49 Can you imagine a baker without flour? 27:58 Can you imagine a bank or a banker without money? 28:05 Oh, you can imagine that because that's what 28:06 we do in America, I guess. 28:07 Just sort of bank without money. 28:10 But anyway, you understand what I'm saying. 28:13 In each of those examples that I just used, 28:17 the most important ingredient was missing. 28:21 Well, what flour is to the baker, 28:23 what a dairy cow is to the dairyman, 28:27 the daily devotional life and time alone with Jesus 28:30 is to the Christian. 28:31 It's not optional, it's the least common denominator. 28:34 I cannot grow in a personal walk with Jesus 28:37 without spending time with Him day by day. 28:39 Can't do it. It's not optional. 28:41 You don't just squeeze this in at the end of a busy week 28:43 if you have a little time before you fall asleep on Friday night. 28:45 No, this is a daily matter. 28:47 I eat food every day. 28:49 And I must eat the bread of life every day as well. 28:53 Now this angel's message that we were just looking at, 28:56 I'm going to look at it again with you 28:57 because there's a word in here that I want to notice. 28:59 It's called, "fornication." 29:00 And we're going to look at the verse again. 29:14 Now this word in Scripture describes an illicit 29:18 relationship outside of marriage. 29:21 That's what it describes. 29:22 You could boil it down this way, you could say that 29:26 fornication is when two parties who are not 29:28 suppose to merge, merge. 29:31 Alright? 29:33 I could describe it to you this way. 29:36 I love it when my wife makes homemade bread. 29:39 I just love it. 29:40 And there's nothing like coming home and walking into the house 29:45 and smelling that aroma of fresh bread popping 29:50 right out of the oven, you know. 29:52 And I go over there and I look at it sitting there cooling. 29:55 And I'm sniffing at it, and I'm thinking about 29:58 how I've been told that, you know, you shouldn't put 30:00 butter on hot bread. 30:02 But you know, I have to confess to you. 30:04 I have put my life at risk more than once 30:06 with that sort of very combination. 30:09 And almost regretted it, but not quite, you know. 30:15 And so anyway, sometimes I'll go to slice myself 30:21 a piece of this fresh bread and put a little butter on it. 30:25 Get that kind of melting down a little bit, you know. 30:27 Soften the center just a bit more with that butter. 30:31 And Marji will say, "Would you like a little peanut butter 30:34 or anything else? 30:35 Maybe some, you know, almond butter or peanut butter." 30:37 And I'll say, "Marji, Marji, I can't believe, 30:40 I can't believe I just heard you ask that question. 30:43 That would be fornication. 30:45 Fornication. 30:46 You don't put peanut butter on top of fresh bread. 30:50 A stronger flavor to drown out this wonderful taste. 30:54 No Marji, no please. No fornication in this house." 31:01 Well, maybe you don't think of that as fornication. 31:03 But the point I'm trying to make is that it's the merging 31:06 or attempted merging of things that aren't suppose to merge. 31:09 And in our house, I don't think peanut butter should 31:11 merge with fresh homemade bread that's still piping hot. 31:14 I just don't. So that's my opinion. 31:17 Well theologically, there's a form of fornication 31:20 call syncretism. 31:23 Syncretism. 31:25 Syncretism is the merging or attempted merging of 31:29 two antagonistic principles or ideas that are not compatible. 31:36 So that's what syncretism is. 31:38 Trying to get some things together that aren't compatible. 31:40 They shouldn't be trying to put them together. 31:42 You know, oil and water. 31:44 They don't go together. 31:46 It's very difficult to mix oil and water. 31:48 Well syncretism is like that. 31:50 Theologians use this word to describe a strange concoction 31:53 of salvation that's based partly on works and partly on faith. 32:01 These are terms that are mutually exclusive actually; 32:03 salvation partly on works and partly on faith. 32:09 In a little book entitled, Selected Messages, 32:11 there is this interesting comment. 32:24 Now we need to be easy on these people. 32:26 These are conscientious souls. 32:28 These are not reprobates. 32:29 These are not rebellious, hard hearted, indifferent people. 32:32 These are conscientious people. 32:33 These are people who probably attend church. 32:35 They probably care a lot about the things of God. 32:38 And they're conscientious. 32:39 And I don't want to be too hard on them, because they might 32:41 end up looking too much like me. 32:44 But these conscientious souls are trusting partly to God 32:48 and partly to themselves. 32:50 They're actually syncretists, whether they know it or not. 33:05 They've got those gimmicks, you know, I was talking 33:08 about a few minutes ago. 33:09 You know, you strengthen your, you know, your resolve. 33:12 You stiffen your backbone. 33:14 You take the cold shower. 33:15 You sign the hymn. You do whatever. 33:17 You depend on a gimmick. 33:18 They depend on some sort of watchfulness against temptation 33:22 and the performance of certain duties. 33:41 See we're looking for Jesus in the three angels' messages. 33:44 We're looking for Jesus in the book 33:47 that bears His name; The Revelation of Jesus. 33:52 See, trusting partly to God and partly to myself 33:56 would actually be spiritual fornication. 34:01 Partly to God and partly to man; spiritual fornication. 34:05 Furthermore, consider this. 34:08 Fornication is an attempt to obtain some of the fruits 34:14 of marriage outside of marriage. 34:20 Are you with me? 34:22 Okay? 34:23 Now, some of the fruits of marriage outside of marriage; 34:27 that's fornication. 34:29 Now I want you to notice something in a little 34:31 verse that you're familiar with, a couple of verses, 34:33 in the book of Galatians. 34:35 Notice this... 34:44 Forbearance, which is another word for patience. 34:51 And even self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. 34:57 Isn't that interesting? 35:00 Would you say, if you look at those characteristics, 35:03 would you say that those would be good descriptions 35:05 of a Christ-like character? 35:07 I would say so. Yeah. 35:09 And did you notice that the Christ-like character 35:12 is the fruit of the Spirit? 35:14 Not the fruit of the person. 35:16 A Christ-like character is not something I produce for God, 35:20 it's something that God produces in me through the 35:22 power of the Holy Spirit. 35:23 It is the fruit of the Spirit. 35:26 Now, if I am trying to produce a Christ-like character 35:29 outside of the relationship with Jesus, 35:34 then I'm attempting to acquire the fruits of a relationship 35:38 without the relationship. 35:39 And that's spiritual fornication. 35:42 Spiritual fornication. 35:47 Still the remnants of Babylon... 35:51 ...even in conscientious souls who are well intended. 35:59 Still part of the wine of Babylon. 36:03 It is possible to be involved in Babylon even in a church 36:08 that has figured out who the beast power represents. 36:13 Are you hearing me? 36:16 Well, studying Babylon would have to include 36:18 its most famous king; Nebuchadnezzar 36:23 He was a giant king of a giant nation. 36:28 The time that he was king, he was king of the world. 36:32 King of the known world. 36:34 His kingdom dominated the entire planet, in terms of 36:38 what was populated at the time. 36:41 He was a big man, he was somebody. 36:47 And he thought so. 36:51 And in Daniel 4, he was standing out on the veranda 36:55 looking out over the city; Babylon. 36:58 And he said these words... 37:18 Whoa. 37:21 King Nebuchadnezzar was a victim of "do it yourself" life. 37:26 "Do it yourself" life. 37:28 You know, most of us transfer fairly easily into 37:31 "do it yourself" religion, because most of us 37:34 have been raise on "do it yourself" life. 37:37 Really. 37:39 Are you thinking about it? 37:40 Even from a small child, what do we do? 37:42 You know, look at this, "Johnny learned to tie his shoe 37:47 all by himself." 37:49 "Oh Johnny, no kidding. You did it by yourself?" 37:51 "I did it all by myself, yeah." 37:52 "Listen, would you like me to help you 37:54 do the zipper on your coat?" 37:55 "No, I'll do it all by myself." 37:57 "Well Johnny, I'm so proud of you doing it all by yourself." 38:00 "Oh look here, Mary drew this picture all by herself. 38:03 Nobody helped her. Nobody. 38:05 She didn't trace it, she didn't stencil it, or anything. 38:08 She did it all by herself." 38:10 "Oh Mary, I'm so proud of you. 38:12 Really, you did it all by yourself? 38:14 That's great." 38:16 We just reinforce this concept; all by yourself. 38:21 Santa Clause tells little boys and girls, 38:24 "I'm going to give you goodies if you have been good. 38:29 If you behaved, if you have stayed out of trouble, 38:32 if you have had self-control, self-discipline, 38:35 we give you presents. 38:37 But if you haven't, oh, bags of switches and lumps of coal." 38:42 We give children allowances if they do their chores. 38:46 If they don't do their chores, well not so much allowance. 38:49 At school you can get extra credit for extra work 38:54 as long as you did it all by yourself and you didn't cheat 38:59 or borrow from anybody else. 39:01 You need to do it all by yourself. 39:07 You get what you pay for, you pay for what you get. 39:11 You deserve it, you earn it, you work at it. 39:14 You are responsible. 39:16 You are the master of your own ship. 39:21 You know what the unspoken message is in all of this? 39:24 It's that charity is good to give, but it is bad to receive. 39:31 Something that's a gift? 39:33 "Oh no, no. No." 39:38 There's a wonderful friend of ours who use to do our taxes. 39:45 Her name is Ruby. 39:47 And the first time she did our taxes for us, 39:51 I was frustrated because when she handed them back to me, 39:55 she said, "There will be no charge." 39:57 And I said, "Ruby, I didn't bring them to you 40:00 thinking you were going to do this for free." 40:02 She said, "No, no. I want to do this for you. 40:04 Now don't give me trouble. 40:06 I want to do this for you." 40:07 She said, "Pastor Venden, are you a legalist?" 40:12 She said, "Can you accept a gift or do you feel like 40:14 you have to earn it? 40:16 See, I'm doing this because I'm just grateful for 40:20 what you've been sharing with us. 40:21 And I just want to do this, I just want to do this. 40:23 So don't be a legalist." 40:26 Well, we moved away from that town after having 40:29 become very close to her. 40:32 She did our taxes several times for free, and I began to feel 40:35 more and more indebted to her, see. 40:39 Because you don't accept something for nothing. 40:43 That's the way we grow up. 40:44 There's no free lunch. 40:46 If it is, it's charity. 40:48 And charity is good to give, but bad to receive. 40:51 That's the way we communicate. 40:53 So we moved away and I got this great idea. 40:57 She lived alone, and so we bought an airplane ticket 41:00 for her to come and spend a holiday week with us. 41:04 And I remember her telling me on the phone, 41:07 "Now I'm planning to pay for that ticket. 41:09 I am very upset with you that you already 41:11 purchased it and sent it to me. 41:12 Because I am glad to come to your place, but I know. 41:15 I do your taxes and you can't afford to buy 41:18 an airline ticket for me. 41:19 So I'm paying for my own ticket." 41:21 I said, "No, no, no. 41:22 I said to her, "Ruby," I said, "are you a legalist? 41:26 Can't you accept a gracious gift?" 41:29 She said, "Oh man." 41:33 So she came and she spent a week with us. 41:35 And we went to take her to the airport at the end of the week. 41:38 Had a great time. 41:39 When we came back to our house at the end of the airport trip, 41:42 our children, who were elementary school age, 41:46 went to their respective rooms, whatever, 41:48 to play or do whatever. 41:49 And before you know it, they're both coming back. 41:51 They have an envelope. 41:53 Under their pillows was an envelope. 41:55 Each of them had a hundred dollar bill, and it said, 41:58 "Now you tell your parents that unless they're legalists, 42:00 this is for you to use for school clothes. 42:03 And you just tell them that they can't mess with that." 42:06 And I called her and I said, "Ruby." 42:13 But there's something difficult about accepting a gift. 42:16 See, we grow up on the notion that you have to put in some 42:19 effort if you expect a benefit. 42:22 There's some self-dependence going on here. 42:29 We applaud the singers that sing, "I did it my way." 42:34 We applaud them. 42:35 I know the song. I mean, I could sing it. 42:38 And yet, the message of the song, "I did it my way." 42:46 And then after all of this growing up on 42:48 "do it yourself" life, we struggle. 42:51 Because we're trying to pour grace theology 42:55 into old wine skins. 42:59 And you remember what Jesus said about old wine skins. 43:02 They can't hold the new wine. 43:04 The grace theology is like new wine, 43:06 and it bursts the old wine skins. 43:10 And it bursts them because self-made men 43:13 tend to what to worship their maker. 43:17 Nebuchadnezzar said, "Is not this great Babylon 43:22 that I have built." 43:26 The words were barely out of his mouth, 43:30 and God passed a judgment upon him. 43:34 Zonk. 43:36 And he became the first hippie. 43:38 Did you know that? 43:39 Because the Bible says that he was on grass and grew long hair. 43:42 He was the first hippie. 43:44 Daniel 4, "While the word was still in the king's mouth..." 44:07 God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know who kept his heart beating. 44:13 Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the Lord..." 44:26 It's not about what I do. 44:29 It's about what He does. 44:32 And what He does is promise to work in us 44:36 both to will and to do of His good pleasure. 44:40 No syncretism here. 44:42 He says, "I will, both, will and do. 44:46 I am the responsible party for the whole package." 44:50 Philippians 2:13... 44:57 Well if that's what He wants to do, 44:59 if that's what He wants to do, what is He waiting for? 45:05 What is He waiting for? 45:08 You know what He's waiting for? 45:10 He's waiting for us to surrender. 45:13 That's what He's waiting for. 45:15 But surrender is difficult for us. 45:18 Because we are born with this independent drive. 45:24 It's part of our genes and chromosomes ever since 45:27 Adam and Eve blew it in Eden. 45:31 Independence is just the way we are wired. 45:34 It's the way we're put together. 45:36 Here in America, we even celebrate Independence Day. 45:40 You know. 45:41 Independence. 45:43 We have trouble with that word, "surrender." 45:48 For most of us, we think of the word, "surrender," 45:50 as a bad word. 45:51 Surrender is what losers do. 45:54 In a war, the people who surrender are the losers. 45:59 In a game, the people who surrender are the losers. 46:04 And then we come along and we read in Scripture that 46:09 God is looking for us to depend upon Him 46:14 and to surrender to Him. 46:18 And that this actually is a good thing? 46:20 A good thing? 46:22 It just seems to go counter to the way we think. 46:28 But you know what? 46:29 In the heavenly economy, much of what we think 46:32 is just opposite from the way the heavenly economy goes. 46:36 You know, in the heavenly economy, if you want to 46:38 be the greatest, you would be what? 46:40 The servant of all. Right, you know? 46:42 In the heavenly economy, if you cast your bread on the waters, 46:48 it returns to you, see. 46:49 In the heavenly economy, the first are last 46:53 and the last are first. 46:54 In the heavenly economy, when you surrender, you win. 46:59 It's just the opposite of the way we think. 47:01 Just the opposite. 47:03 Many years ago when I was a teenager, 47:05 some friends of mine took me scuba diving. 47:07 I wasn't certified, but they were. 47:09 And we did this buddy dive so that I could learn about it. 47:11 I thought it was so cool. 47:14 Another world. 47:15 I came home... 47:17 Remember, I'm a teenager. 47:18 And it was during that time... 47:19 Many people understand this. 47:22 There's a time in your life when, as a teenager, 47:24 you don't seem to think your parents are all that cool. 47:27 And I was in that stage. 47:29 And when you don't think your parents are all that cool, 47:31 your parents feel this estrangement, 47:33 and it kind of hurts them, you know. 47:35 Mark Twain, I think it was, who said, 47:36 "When I was 14 years old, I couldn't believe 47:39 how stupid my dad was. 47:42 But when I became 21, I couldn't believe 47:44 how much he had learned in just seven years." 47:48 Well I was this teenager, right. 47:50 And I come home from scuba diving, I said, 47:54 "Dad, you should try this. 47:58 My friends took me out as a buddy dive, 48:01 and I'll bet you they'd take you." 48:03 My dad said, "Oh, that wouldn't be necessary. 48:05 I wouldn't want to be a burden." 48:06 I said, "I don't think they'd think it was a burden, dad. 48:08 Let me give them a call." 48:09 He said, "No, no, no, no. Don't, don't call. 48:10 No, don't trouble them. I don't want to be a burden." 48:12 I said, "You know, I don't think they'll think it's a trouble." 48:14 I dialed their number. 48:15 I said, "Would you guys take my dad 48:16 scuba diving like you did me?" 48:18 They said, "We'd love to. That's great." 48:19 I said, "Dad, they said they'd love to." 48:22 And my dad said, "Uh, wonderful." 48:27 Truth was, he didn't want to go scuba diving because 48:29 he was afraid of scuba diving. 48:31 But he chose to go because he wanted to bond with his 48:35 teenage son who actually offered to do something with him. 48:38 You know. 48:40 So we put him in a swimming pool and got the wet suit on him, 48:44 and the whole bit, you know. 48:45 And the tank, and the regulator, and that little thing 48:49 you blow up, you pull on it. 48:50 If in an emergency, you pull a little cord and it goes, poof, 48:52 and it will float you out of trouble. 48:54 And the fins, and the mask, and the whole thing. 48:56 Put him in the swimming pool. 48:57 I said, "See piece of cake, dad. Piece of cake." 49:00 He said, "Yeah, this isn't too bad." 49:01 He sat on the bottom of the pool blowing bubbles 49:03 and you know, "It's not bad." 49:04 So the next day we took him to off the shore of San Diego. 49:08 California. 49:10 It happened that the night before, it had stormed. 49:12 And so the water was murky and the waves were large. 49:17 But we said, "Not to worry, dad. 49:18 Not to worry. 49:20 Because you have the mask on your face, 49:22 no salt gets in your eyes. 49:23 You have the regulator in your mouth, 49:24 no water is going to get in. 49:25 You can breathe air, it's not going to be a problem. 49:27 And you know, we're just going to walk out 49:29 and go under the turbulence of those waves. 49:31 And it will be fine, it'll be another world. 49:32 You'll just love it." 49:33 So we started walking out into the ocean together. 49:36 And as we were walking out into the ocean, 49:37 I turned and looked at my dad and he looked at me. 49:39 And I saw behind the glass, I saw terror in his eyes. 49:43 And he began shaking his head vigorously from side to side, 49:46 like, "No, no. Not now, not ever. 49:47 Forget this. This is nonsense. 49:49 I'm not going to do this." 49:51 So we said, "Ok dad, we're close enough to shore. 49:53 You just go ahead and go back. 49:54 But we're going to dive, and we'll see you 49:56 in 30 or 40 minutes." 49:58 So he turned around and we went out and we went under. 49:59 When we came back, my dad, still in his wet suit, 50:04 still with a tank on his back, was lying on the beach 50:08 on his back with the fins sticking up, 50:10 right where the waves were coming up 50:11 and crashing onto his feet. 50:15 And he's lying there like this. 50:16 He looked kind of like a beached whale with the 50:18 black outfit and all of that, you know. 50:19 And I came up to him and I looked down at this face, 50:22 I said, "Dad, what are you doing?" 50:24 He said, "I thought I was going to die." 50:26 I said, "What do you mean, thought you were going to die?" 50:29 He said, "I turned around to swim in, 50:32 and there was a riptide of some kind coming out." 50:34 Some kind of under current. 50:36 It was kind of like getting on a treadmill, an exercise thing. 50:39 And he said, "The harder I swam, the less distance I made. 50:44 And the shore just kept standing off from me. 50:47 And I'm working trying to get there. 50:48 And I can't get there, can't get there." 50:49 And he said, "I started panicking." 50:51 Well when you panic, you don't think clearly. 50:52 It never occurred to him to pull on the little cord, 50:54 poof, float that thing out. 50:56 And just float until he got out of the 50:57 current and then come on into shore. 50:58 Never occurred to him, when you panic. 51:00 So he just worked like a... You know. 51:03 And he was running on adrenaline. 51:05 And adrenaline only lasts so long. 51:08 And finally, he runs out of adrenaline. 51:10 And now he can't even swim anymore. 51:11 And he said to himself, "I thought I was going to die. 51:13 I thought, so this is how I'm going to die. 51:15 I'm going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. 51:17 And I'm going to breathe the air in my tank 51:20 until it runs out. 51:22 And then I'm going to drown. 51:23 And tomorrow in the newspaper in San Diego, it's going to say, 51:25 'Morris Venden died while trying to bond with his son 51:28 off shore in San Diego.'" 51:30 And he said he actually gave up and sank all the way 51:35 to the bottom of the ocean. 51:38 And as his knees hit the bottom of the ocean, 51:40 he realized he was only chest deep in water. 51:44 And he crawled out and flopped. 51:47 And that's how we found him. 51:48 But you see, when he surrendered, 51:51 when he gave up on himself, he won. 51:55 He won. 51:56 And that's the way it is with Jesus. 51:59 Nebuchadnezzar had to lose everything before he surrendered 52:04 and acknowledged his need. 52:06 He had to come to the end of his own resources. 52:10 It is incredible how stubborn some of us are. 52:16 It's just incredible how much we will put up with 52:19 before giving up. 52:22 I once did arm wrestling with a classmate in college. 52:26 He was way stronger than me. 52:27 He had grown up as a block layer, and a surfer. 52:32 You think about that. 52:33 Surfer and a block layer. 52:35 This guy had muscles on his muscles. 52:37 I was a fool to even think I was going to go up against him. 52:40 But I remember trying. 52:42 I thought, "I've got to try, I've got to try." 52:44 I worked so hard. 52:45 People were watching us, they said, 52:47 "Lee, your face is so red. 52:49 I can't believe how red your face is." 52:51 And I'm working and I'm working, and I get like here. 52:53 And then I come back up a little bit. 52:54 And I start to think I'm going to make some progress. 52:56 And then... 52:58 And I try again. 52:59 And finally, I mean I'm hyperventilating. 53:05 And crash, I lose. 53:07 The next morning when I was brushing my teeth, 53:09 I looked in the mirror and I had red polka dots 53:12 all over my face. 53:13 Seriously, little red... Looked like measles. 53:16 And I thought, "What's gone wrong?" 53:17 I thought, "I have some incurable disease. 53:20 I'm probably going to die. 53:21 I probably won't even graduate from college." 53:24 And I went to the nurses station and I said, 53:26 "Weirdness, I woke up, I've got all this stuff all over me. 53:30 What do you think it is?" 53:31 And she said, "I don't have any idea. 53:32 I've never seen anything like it." 53:34 I said, "Oh man, it's probably serious. 53:36 Probably very serious." 53:37 She said, "Well you know what, as I look at it, 53:39 it looks almost like you were straining and your blood 53:43 pushed out into the outer capillaries 53:45 and then they closed up and it couldn't get back in. 53:47 That's what it looks like; have you ever strained recently?" 53:50 Oh, have I ever strained. 53:55 We are stubborn about surrendering 53:59 and giving control to Jesus. 54:03 We are sick. 54:06 We are drunk on the wine of Babylon, 54:10 which is self-dependence. 54:13 And it doesn't matter what denomination you belong to, 54:17 this is a problem for everyone. 54:19 You notice it said, all nations drink of this stuff. 54:24 They all do. 54:27 Nebuchadnezzar had to lose everything before he 54:28 surrendered and acknowledged his need. 54:30 He did not understand that surrender was the way to win. 54:32 But God was patient with him. 54:34 And He's patient with us. 54:35 Aren't you glad He's patient with us? 54:38 Long suffering. 54:39 And in the end, He prays one of the most tremendous 54:41 prayers in all the Bible. 54:42 Have you read it recently? 54:43 It is an awesome prayer. 54:44 Daniel 4, notice who gets the credit and the glory 54:47 in this prayer. 54:57 There's something about looking to Jesus that 54:59 gives you new understanding. 55:13 "All the people of the earth are nothing compared to Him..." 55:48 Well quite frankly, I'm thankful that He's able to humble. 55:53 You know, last night Jim Gilley was talking with a group of us 55:55 over here, and he said, "Sometimes I almost, 55:58 almost, thank God for a weakness that forces me 56:03 to realize I can't do it all." 56:06 Sometimes I... 56:07 It's a blessing in disguise, perhaps, huh? 56:10 A blessing in disguise. 56:12 Well if God could bring that heathen king to his senses, 56:15 He can do something for you and for me. 56:17 And that's good news. 56:18 That is good news. 56:19 And one day we're going to join that group of people 56:23 who, according to Revelation 15:3, 56:25 are going to sing together... 56:39 I want you to pray with me, so let's just bow our heads. 56:41 Lord Jesus, please, please keep doing the good work 56:47 that You've begun in our lives. 56:48 Crowd this self out of us. 56:52 Replace it with Your self. 56:54 Fill us with Your Holy Spirit. 56:57 Enable us to recognize that surrender is the way to win. 57:02 Surrender is the way to victory. 57:05 That You are safe to surrender to. 57:08 We thank You for offering us that invitation. 57:10 We thank You for Your patience and Your long suffering. 57:13 We thank You that You haven't written us off 57:15 even though we're slow learners. 57:18 And we thank You that You promise to complete 57:20 the work You have begun. 57:21 In Jesus name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17