Participants: Justin Torossian
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000160A
|
00:14 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:16 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:23 Well we welcome you to our last of the Anchors series here 00:28 with Justin Torossian. 00:30 And it has really been a blessing. 00:34 This afternoon's topic is, Overcome. 00:39 And we're looking forward to this. 00:42 It's been a series involving the Laodicean church, 00:46 of which the Bible tells us we are. 00:49 But it does tell us that this church is victorious. 00:53 And that's the great message that we hear today from Justin. 00:59 I'd like to tell you a little bit about Justin. 01:01 In addition to the fact that he is the great great great 01:06 grandson of James and Ellen White, this young man 01:10 has a real passion for evangelism. 01:13 He's still in seminary, but he has taken leaves 01:17 to hold evangelistic meetings. 01:19 He's held meetings in nine countries around the world 01:23 working with Share Him and other groups 01:25 and presenting the gospel. 01:28 When a young man that has that kind of love for this message, 01:31 you know that he loves the Lord and that the Lord is using him. 01:36 He loves working with young people in a very special way. 01:40 And God has given him a real gift in that way. 01:45 And he also is a normal person. 01:50 Loving the mountains and the outdoors, and loves to hike 01:53 and get out in nature. 01:55 And this just gives you a little background for Justin. 02:00 Currently he's at Andrews University where he is 02:03 a research assistant and a graduate assistant 02:06 for Dr. Jerry Moon who is in the history area there, 02:12 church history department, of Andrews University. 02:16 And he is working, Justin is, on his Masters of Divinity degree. 02:24 I know that many of you have really been 02:27 impressed with this series. 02:29 Last night I got a call from Kenneth Cox. 02:32 "Who is this young man," he said. 02:34 And he wanted to know more about Justin. 02:38 So I was able to share a few things with him. 02:41 So this is an exciting time. 02:43 We love Anchors. 02:45 Anchors, normally, we've had some of our 02:48 more experienced speakers. 02:51 But this time we said we wanted a couple of younger speakers 02:55 to come and to present to us. 02:58 And Justin was one of those that was chosen. 03:01 There will be another one in December. 03:03 And you'll be able to get acquainted once again 03:08 with one of our younger speakers. 03:10 Before Justin comes, our friend and our pastor, 03:16 and a man that we love so much, John Lomacang, 03:18 is going to come sing a song that we all love, 03:22 at least I do, Wonderful Merciful Savior. 03:42 Wonderful, merciful Savior, 03:48 precious Redeemer and Friend; 03:54 who would have thought that a Lamb could 04:00 rescue the souls of men. 04:05 Oh, You rescue the souls of men. 04:16 Counselor, Comforter, Keeper, 04:22 Spirit we long to embrace; 04:29 You offer hope when our hearts have 04:35 hopelessly lost our way. 04:40 Oh, we've hopelessly lost our way. 04:48 You are the One that we praise, 04:54 You are the One we adore; 05:00 You give the healing and grace our 05:07 hearts always hunger for. 05:12 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 05:19 You are the One that I praise, 05:26 You are the One I adore; 05:32 You give the healing and grace my 05:38 heart always hungers for. 05:43 Oh, my heart always hunger for. 05:54 Almighty, infinite Father, 06:00 faithfully loving Your own; 06:07 here in our weakness You find us 06:13 falling before Your throne. 06:18 Oh, we're falling before Your throne. 06:26 You are the One that we praise, 06:32 You are the One we adore; 06:38 You give the healing and grace our 06:44 hearts always hunger for. 06:49 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 06:57 You are the One that we praise, 07:04 You are the One we adore; 07:10 You give the healing and grace our 07:16 hearts always hunger for. 07:21 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 07:42 Praise God that Jesus is our wonderful, merciful Savior. 07:49 It's been a blessing to be here with you at this 07:51 Anchors Of Truth. 07:52 And it's hard to believe that we're already at our fifth 07:55 and final message together. 07:57 It's really flown by, and you know, I have been 08:00 tremendously blessed to be able to be here with you 08:03 sharing the Word of God. 08:04 And in doing so, the Lord has spoken to my own 08:07 heart once again. 08:09 We've been examining Jesus' message together to the 08:12 church of Laodicea. 08:14 And our series, Called, Chosen, Faithful, 08:20 has been pointing us as to how to be just that. 08:24 Not just called, not just chosen, 08:26 but faithful until Jesus comes again. 08:29 Before we begin, I'd just like to invite you to 08:32 join me one more time as we ask God's presence here in prayer. 08:40 Our Father in heaven, we thank You so much 08:44 for the privilege of prayer. 08:47 And that because of Jesus we can boldly come 08:50 before the throne of grace. 08:52 Lord, we ask that You would speak to our hearts and minds 08:56 once again in the way that only You can. 08:59 We pray that as we examine the last words of Jesus to Laodicea, 09:04 that beautiful promise to overcome, 09:07 that we would not only be inspired, but Lord, that 09:10 we would be transformed. 09:12 May we not just hear information, but experience 09:16 life transformation just now. 09:18 We pray in Jesus name, amen. 09:23 It was a few years ago, and I was driving 09:27 in Fresno, California where I lived and was 09:29 working as a pastor. 09:31 And I was listening to a radio station. 09:33 And I loved the beautiful Christian music on this station. 09:38 But as I was listening, there was an advertisement 09:41 that came on for a book. 09:43 And this particular radio station believes and teaches 09:49 that God has foreordained a certain amount of people 09:54 to be saved and the rest of humanity to be lost. 09:57 And that we have no choice in the matter. 09:59 So they were advertising for this book. 10:01 And I'll never forget, they said, "To buy your copy of, 10:05 'I Hope God Saves Me,' call 1-800-da da da - da da da da." 10:11 And I though, "I hope God saves me?" 10:14 How many of you would want to read a book called, 10:16 "I Hope God Saves Me"? 10:19 Do we have to wonder, is God just picking and choosing 10:23 who's going to be saved and who is going to be lost? 10:27 Our message today is entitled, Overcome. 10:31 And we're going to answer the question, 10:34 do we have to wonder and be in fear and doubt 10:38 as to if we are in a saving relationship with Jesus 10:41 or can we be assured of salvation right now? 10:47 In our series together we've been taking a look at 10:49 Jesus' message to the church of Laodicea. 10:52 And we know that besides applying to the first century 10:56 local literal churches there in Asia Minor, 11:00 these churches were symbolic of seven time periods of 11:03 church history down through time 11:06 until Jesus comes again in the clouds of glory. 11:08 And this has been believed and taught by many of the great 11:13 Protestant reformers who held to the historicist 11:15 view of Bible prophecy. 11:17 And we today know that these seven churches 11:20 are representative of seven time periods of church history. 11:23 So the last church on the list, Laodicea, is the time period 11:29 in which we find ourselves today. 11:33 We've seen that the Laodicean message, the message from 11:36 Jesus Himself, is a strong message. 11:39 But it's a message given out of love. 11:42 He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." 11:46 Or, "I discipline and correct." 11:48 And we know that God, our Father, our heavenly Father, 11:51 loves us so much that like a loving parent, 11:54 when we need discipline and correction, 11:56 He doesn't just let us continue on in our mistakes. 11:59 But He warns us of our danger. 12:02 But as we've seen, Jesus, the heavenly Physician, 12:05 does not just diagnose our disease of sin, 12:08 but He offers us the solution. 12:11 And that is the kind of God we serve. 12:13 He doesn't just point out our problems, 12:15 but He provides the solution for us. 12:18 Praise God for that. 12:20 We've seen that Jesus, the heavenly Physician, 12:23 to provide this spiritual prescription, 12:27 had to give His own life to pay the price. 12:31 And we've seen together what that prescription is, 12:34 that spiritual solution to our problem of being 12:38 wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 12:41 We've seen that Jesus Himself received the victory 12:44 over sin in His life, and the victory over death. 12:48 And He can offer that to us as well. 12:52 We've learned together that the meaning of the name, Laodicea, 12:55 contrary to what many people believe, 12:59 as they commonly think that it means, lukewarm, 13:02 we saw that lukewarm was a description of Laodicea, 13:05 but not its definition. 13:07 The definition of Laodicea is, people of the judgment. 13:12 This message is a message for God's church 13:16 during the time of God's pre-advent 13:18 or investigative judgment. 13:21 Now contrary to what many of us believe, 13:26 when we hear the word, judgment, do we think of something 13:29 negative or positive? 13:32 Something negative. 13:33 Now contrary to this, in the Bible, "judgment," primary 13:38 meaning is actually a positive one. 13:41 Did you know that? 13:42 Some people who have thrown away the idea of the 13:44 investigative judgment, the biblical teaching of the 13:47 pre-advent or investigative judgment, have done so 13:50 because they could not reconcile assurance of salvation 13:53 with the judgment. 13:55 But friends, rather than being a threat to our 13:59 assurance of salvation, the teaching and the biblical truth 14:03 of the investigative judgment establishes 14:06 assurance in our salvation. 14:08 The Bible's primary meaning when it comes to judgment 14:12 is a positive one. 14:13 Let's take a look at it together. 14:15 I hope you brought your Bibles. 14:16 I see many of you did here today. 14:18 And if you're at home, go ahead and grab your Bible. 14:20 We're going to be using it. 14:22 Let's look at Psalm 76:8-9. 14:27 Psalm 76:8-9 14:29 Here, David speaks of judgment. 14:34 And we're going to see it is a positive statement. 14:39 Verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 76. 14:42 I'll be reading from the New King James Version. 14:45 "You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; 14:48 the earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment 14:53 to deliver all the oppressed of the earth." 14:56 So here David says that God arose for judgment, 14:59 but he doesn't say it was some negative thing. 15:00 God arose to judgment in order to deliver the oppressed. 15:05 Let's look now at Psalm 35:24. 15:08 The biblical picture of judgment is primarily a positive one. 15:13 Psalm 35:24 15:16 Here David says, "Vindicate me, O Lord my God, 15:19 according to Your righteousness; 15:21 and let them not rejoice over me." 15:24 This word, "vindicate," is also translated in many versions, 15:28 "Judge me, O Lord." 15:30 So David was actually praying, "God, judge me." 15:34 When God judges us, and our lives are in Christ, 15:38 it means that He is justifying us. 15:40 Every time that we are cleansed from our sins, 15:43 we pass through judgment. 15:45 And God decides that we are righteous. 15:49 And you know, God doesn't just say that we're righteous. 15:53 There is, in theological circles, dispute as to 15:56 whether the robe of Jesus' righteousness is imparted 16:00 or imputed, and whether it's given to us 16:03 and whether it transforms us right away. 16:07 And this is discussed in theological circles. 16:10 And friends, it's because God's robe of righteousness 16:13 is both imputed and imparted to us. 16:17 God cannot lie, Titus 1:2. 16:20 God cannot lie. 16:21 So when He declares that you are righteous, 16:24 the creative power of His word makes that a reality. 16:29 God's righteousness, His robe of righteousness, 16:33 justifies and cleanses us. 16:35 Justification and sanctification. 16:39 You know, the New Testament also echoes this 16:41 positive view of judgment. 16:44 Positive at least for those who are in Christ. 16:46 Let's turn to 1 John 4:17. 16:50 1 John 4 and reading in verse 17. 16:58 Here, John says to the church, "Love has been perfected 17:02 among us in this: that we may have boldness in the 17:05 day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world." 17:10 John is saying, "We can have confidence, boldness, 17:13 in the time of judgment if our lives have been 17:16 surrendered to Jesus Christ." 17:18 One last verse in the New Testament to establish this. 17:22 Romans 8:1 17:24 Beautiful chapter we mentioned the other night in our message, 17:27 Wretched, Miserable, Victorious. 17:30 This chapter is all about the indwelling and infilling 17:33 of the Holy Spirit. 17:34 There in verse 1 Paul says, "There is therefore..." 17:37 Now, how much condemnation? 17:40 "...no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus; 17:44 who do not walk according to the flesh, 17:46 but according to the Spirit." 17:49 Friends, if we are in Christ, there is no condemnation. 17:52 And judgment is good news. 17:57 In the Old Testament times, things were different than the 18:00 judicial system we have today. 18:02 We often, when we hear the term, investigative judgment, 18:07 or God's judgment, we have a picture of God on His throne, 18:13 and a person standing there and Jesus with His arm around them, 18:18 and God the Father as the judge behind 18:21 maybe a desk of some sort. 18:23 And the person has their head and they're hanging 18:26 their head in shame. 18:27 Jesus has His arm around them and He's pleading their cause. 18:31 But friends, in the Old Testament, the picture 18:33 of judgment, a court of justice, was very different 18:36 than what we have today. 18:38 You see, in the Old Testament times, the judge 18:41 was also the advocate. 18:44 So the person who is making decisions in judgment 18:47 was also looking for a way to acquit the person, 18:50 to justify them, to declare them as indeed righteous 18:54 and able to go free. 18:56 This is why in John chapter 5 Jesus says the Father has 18:59 committed how much judgment to the Son? 19:01 All judgment to the Son. 19:03 1 John 2:1 says that we have an Advocate with the Father. 19:06 Jesus Christ the righteous. 19:09 That is good news. Amen? 19:11 Jesus is not only our Advocate, but He is also our Judge. 19:17 The primary meaning of God's judgment in Scripture 19:21 is a positive one. 19:22 To those who are in Christ it means vindication. 19:26 It means justification. 19:28 Judgment means salvation. 19:31 But if we haven't given our lives to Christ, 19:33 it means condemnation. 19:35 But friends, if we have surrendered to Christ, 19:38 we can have peace and assurance even in this time of God's 19:43 investigative judgment. 19:45 Praise God for that. Amen? 19:47 And through His people, in this judgment, God will display 19:51 His character of love to the world. 19:53 And not only the world, but to the on looking universe. 19:56 In this great controversy between good and evil, 19:59 God's character will be vindicated. 20:02 It will be seen that indeed He is a God of love. 20:05 And His people will perfectly reflect that picture. 20:10 Judgment to those in Christ brings joy, not fear. 20:15 Now out there floating in the unbiblical waters of doctrine 20:20 is a teaching called, "Once saved always saved." 20:24 It's a teaching that teaches, at one little point in time 20:29 in the past, if you gave your life to Christ 20:32 then you're covered. 20:33 No matter what you do from that point on, 20:36 you can't lose your eternal salvation. 20:39 You'll be fine no matter what. 20:41 But friends, the Bible doesn't teach that this is the case. 20:45 Can a saved person choose to be lost? 20:48 Absolutely. We see some biblical examples. 20:50 King Saul is one example. 20:52 We see Judas who literally walked with Jesus, 20:55 he was His disciple, but Judas chose to be lost. 21:00 Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10:12. 21:03 There, Paul expresses this reality. 21:13 Hebrews 3:12 is another place where the Bible 21:17 communicates this, that it's possible for us to choose 21:21 to give our lives to Jesus, but then to turn from Him 21:25 and to go the opposite direction. 21:27 A saved person can choose to be lost. 21:30 Hebrews 3:12, Paul says... 21:41 Paul was talking to believers here, and he said, 21:44 "Look, be careful. 21:45 If there's an evil heart, a doubting heart 21:47 of unbelief in you, you can depart from the living God." 21:51 Friends, God wants us to ask good questions. 21:55 But He wants us to ask questions and seek for the answers. 21:59 Not to ask doubting questions. 22:02 You know, the difference between essentially doubting 22:04 and asking good questions is that when we ask 22:07 a question, we really want to know. 22:09 When we're doubting, we're not even really asking 22:12 or desiring to know. 22:13 We've already almost made up our minds. 22:17 Now friends, the opposite of this one extreme of 22:20 once you're saved you're always saved, 22:23 is another ditch. 22:24 It's like, on the Christian journey we're walking on a road. 22:28 And as we're walking this pathway to heaven, there are 22:30 ditches on both sides of the road. 22:33 One extreme and the other extreme. 22:35 And the devil is happy for us to be in either ditch 22:38 off of the road, because it means we're no longer 22:41 continuing effectively on the journey to heaven. 22:44 The opposite of this teaching is that you can never 22:48 really be sure of your salvation. 22:52 And this is also a deception from Satan. 22:54 Let's turn together to Jesus' words in Luke chapter 10. 22:59 He had just sent His disciples out. 23:02 They had returned from their first missionary journey. 23:05 They were so excited. 23:07 God had worked miracles through them. 23:09 And they came back and they said, "Lord, even the demons 23:12 are subject to us in Your name." 23:15 Friends, look at what Jesus had to say to them. 23:18 Luke 10:12 says... 23:21 Excuse me. 23:23 Luke 10:20 23:25 Here, Jesus tells them... 23:37 Friends, you know, when the Bible teaches 23:39 when we give our lives to Christ in baptism, 23:42 our names are entered into the Book of Life in heaven. 23:46 Every time that we sin, the Bible teaches as well that 23:49 our sins are written in the book of record. 23:52 And in God's judgment at the end of time, 23:55 one of two things will be blotted out. 23:58 If we have not confessed those sins, 24:00 our names will be blotted out of the Book of Life. 24:03 But the good news, the good news of the gospel is that 24:07 if we confess those sins and repent of them, 24:10 God will blot out our sins with the blood of Jesus. 24:14 Praise God that to those in Christ, 24:17 no one need fear the judgment; but it can bring joy. 24:21 Now Jesus here said that, "You should rejoice," 24:25 He told His disciples, "because your name is..." What? 24:29 "...written in heaven." 24:30 Simply question, could the disciples rejoice 24:35 if they didn't really know their names were written in heaven? 24:38 Yes or no? 24:40 They couldn't. 24:41 Jesus was saying here, "You can be sure, 24:44 you can rejoice, that because you've given your lives to Me 24:47 and you're following Me, that your names 24:49 are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 24:52 Your names are written in heaven." 24:53 They could be sure of that. 24:55 Another place where the Bible communicates 24:57 this beautiful truth is 1 John 5:12-13. 25:04 1 John 5 talks about the good news that we can be sure 25:10 of our salvation when we've given our lives to Christ 25:13 and surrendered our all. 25:14 1 John 5:12-13 25:19 There John says, "He who has the Son has life. 25:23 He who does not have the Son does not have life. 25:26 These things I have written to you who believe 25:28 in the name of the Son of God that you may know that 25:31 you have eternal life, and that you may continue 25:34 to believe in the name of the Son of God." 25:37 Friends, He said, "I have written these things 25:39 to you so you can know, not wonder, 25:42 but know that you have eternal life." 25:45 We can be sure of our salvation, friends, 25:48 if we've given our lives into the precious hands of Jesus 25:51 and we're surrendering to Him moment by moment. 25:55 Ellen White echoed this when in a talk to the General Conference 25:59 in 1903 she said, "We must not base our salvation 26:03 upon supposition..." 26:26 Friends, as Christians God wants to share the gospel through us. 26:31 Matthew 24:14, Jesus there says that when the gospel 26:36 of the kingdom is preached in all the world as a witness 26:39 to all nations, then shall the end come. 26:42 And the word, "witness," there is the Greek word 26:44 of which the root is, "martureó." 26:47 It's the word from which we get martyr. 26:50 In other words, this word does not just mean a profession. 26:54 You know, we need to preach the gospel and to 26:56 share the gospel, amen? 26:57 But God wants to give a living demonstration to the world 27:01 of the power of the gospel when it transforms our lives. 27:05 A witness. 27:07 Witnessing is not just something we do. 27:08 A witness is something that we are. 27:11 A friends, every one of you in this room and within the 27:14 sound of my voice has a sphere of influence 27:17 that no one else has. 27:19 You know, you can reach people that certain preachers 27:22 and teachers cannot reach. 27:24 And God has given all of us the privilege 27:26 of sharing the life changing power of His gospel. 27:31 You know, we can walk so closely with God 27:36 that we can be like Enoch. 27:38 Genesis 5:24 tells us a little bit about Enoch. 27:42 There's not a lot said in the Bible about him, 27:44 but what is there is incredibly powerful. 27:47 He's mentioned in the New and the Old Testament. 27:50 Genesis 5:21, "Enoch lived sixty-five years, 27:54 and begot Methuselah." 27:55 Excuse me, verse 24. 27:57 "And Enoch walked with God..." 28:03 Enoch walked so closely with God that one day, I imagine, 28:08 that as Enoch was walking with God, God said, 28:11 "Enoch, why don't you just come to My house. 28:13 It's closer." 28:15 Friends, we can walk and talk with God in the same way. 28:18 Enoch walked with God through prayer. 28:21 And you know, we can train, by God's grace and by His strength, 28:24 we can train our very thought processes to be prayer. 28:28 You know how you think to yourself, "Oh, I need to 28:29 remember to write a 'to do' list. 28:31 I need to write this. I need to..." 28:32 And you're thinking to yourself, and there's that voice 28:35 that you're thinking, speaking to yourself, so to speak. 28:38 We can actually train that to be conversation with God 28:42 where we're constantly praying. 28:45 And this is what Paul meant when he said, 28:46 "Pray without ceasing." 28:49 We can constantly be praying to Him 28:52 and in conversation with Him, 28:53 and walking and talking with Jesus. 28:57 Louis Pasteur was looking into a microscope 29:02 by one of his lab assistants. 29:05 And he was so still that the man decided not to say anything, 29:11 and he just walked out. 29:13 But as he was walking out, Louis Pasteur said, 29:15 "Yes, do you need something?" 29:18 And the man said, "Oh I'm sorry. 29:19 I thought you were praying." 29:21 And as he was looking into that microscope, he said, 29:24 "I was." 29:26 Friends, in everything that we do, every aspect of our lives, 29:30 we can be in communion with God. 29:33 He wants to walk with us. 29:35 He wants to talk with us. 29:37 He wants to spend time with us. 29:39 And praise the Lord for that. 29:41 And as we walk and talk with Him, as we spend time 29:44 in communion with Him day after day, moment by moment, 29:49 it is possible for Him to keep us from stumbling, 29:53 to keep us from falling. 29:55 To keep us from falling into the sins that have bound us 29:59 or pulled us down for so long. 30:01 Jude verse 24. 30:03 There's only one chapter in the book of Jude. 30:06 But it's a powerful little book. 30:08 Right before Revelation. Jude verse 24. 30:24 I just want to finish it. 30:25 I'll finish it in the New King James. 30:27 "...to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, 30:31 dominion and power, both now and forever, amen." 30:37 Friends, God is able to keep you and I from falling. 30:41 This is possible through constant communion with Christ. 30:46 You know, victory over sin is not possible by us 30:50 focusing on victory over sin. 30:53 Did you catch that? 30:55 Victory over the sins that hold us is not possible 30:58 by focusing on them. 31:00 Victory over sin is only possible as we focus 31:02 our eyes on Christ. 31:04 And as we do, in the words of the song, 31:07 "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, 31:11 and the things of earth will grow strangely dim 31:15 in the light of His glory and grace." 31:18 Friends, when we turn our eyes upon Christ, 31:21 the things of this world, as we focus on Him, 31:24 and as we fall in love with Him more and more 31:26 and are grateful for the infinite sacrifice 31:29 He paid for our eternal salvation, 31:32 friends, in our hearts we'll develop a hatred for sin, 31:36 a disgust for the sins that crucified our Savior. 31:40 We will want to stay as far away from those as possible. 31:44 And you know, rather than praying in the negative, 31:48 and praying, "God, help me not to swear." 31:50 "Help me not to lie." 31:52 "Lord, help me not to..." fill in the blank, 31:55 we should pray in the positive. 31:57 We should focus on Christ and say, 32:00 "Lord, help me to tell the truth." 32:03 "Lord, help me to have pure language like Jesus had." 32:07 "Lord, help me to have self-control like Jesus did." 32:10 And as we pray in the positive and focus our spiritual 32:13 eyesight on Christ, He'll grant us victory through the 32:16 indwelling of His Holy Spirit. 32:20 You know, there's what I like to call, a divine paradox, 32:24 in the Christian walk. 32:26 And that is that the closer you come to Jesus, 32:29 the closer we come to Him, the more we recognize 32:33 our own unworthiness. 32:36 The closer we come to Him, we recognize all the more 32:41 how sinful and filthy spiritually we are. 32:45 So friends, know that as you're drawing closer to Christ, 32:48 you'll recognize how bad you are. 32:51 But don't be discouraged by looking at yourself. 32:54 I love the way Martin Luther, the great 32:56 Protestant reformer put it. 32:57 He said, "When I look at myself, 33:00 I don't see how I could be saved. 33:02 But when I look at Jesus, I don't see how I could be lost." 33:06 Keep your eyes on Christ. 33:09 Philippians 1:6 gives this beautiful promise. 33:13 One of my favorite in all of Scripture. 33:26 You know, I'm really good at starting projects. 33:30 Whether it's writing a song, or maybe writing a book, 33:34 or building something, I'm great at starting stuff. 33:39 My problem is finishing them. 33:42 And friends, I am so glad that God doesn't have that problem. 33:45 When God starts something, He finishes it. 33:49 And He's promised us that the good work that He's begun 33:52 in your heart and in my heart will be carried forth 33:56 to completion when Jesus comes in the clouds of glory. 33:59 At that day when we're not only free from the sins 34:04 that He's broken us free from here as we've walked with Him, 34:06 but we'll be free from even the sinful nature that 34:09 leads us to be tempted. 34:11 We'll be even free from the presence of sin. 34:14 No more temptation. 34:15 And you know, it's not a sin to be tempted. 34:18 Christ Himself was tempted. 34:20 And in the same way that He overcame, Revelation 3:21, 34:23 He tells us that we are to overcome. 34:25 How did Christ overcome? 34:27 Through Scripture. 34:29 He said, "It is written..." 34:30 And friends, you and I can't stop temptations from coming 34:34 sometimes, but we can answer with Scripture, 34:37 quote a Bible verse, sing a song, and that will disappear. 34:41 It will melt away. 34:44 You know, we can't stop the birds from lying over our heads, 34:47 but we can stop them from making a nest in our hair. 34:50 And that is what God would have us do; 34:51 answer with Scripture. 34:54 You may be thinking, "This sounds great, you know. 34:59 It sounds beautiful, but I'm too messed up. 35:04 My life is too bad for God to fix." 35:08 Friend, you know, God's promises in His Word, 35:13 the one we just read, Philippians 1:6, 35:16 all of them, they're for you. 35:19 They're for you and they're for me. 35:22 No matter what your background, no matter what your walk 35:25 has been, God can transform your life. 35:29 I love this quote, and we're going to share a few quotes 35:31 from this book, Steps To Christ. 35:33 It's one of the best books you'll ever read 35:35 outside of the Bible. 35:36 And if you call the team here at 3ABN, 35:39 they'll send you a free copy of this book. 35:42 Here in page 52, it says... 35:58 How many believing souls? 35:59 Every believing soul. 36:18 Friends, God's promises, every last one of them, 36:21 are for you. 36:23 And they're for me. 36:25 The Faith I Live By, page 102, another beautiful promise. 36:29 A beautiful statement. 36:41 Friends, we can have assurance if we've 36:43 given our lives to Christ. 36:45 It's a necessity. 36:47 And here's why it's a necessity. 36:48 As God wants us to share the gospel with the world, 36:51 can you share something you don't have? 36:54 Of course we can't. 36:55 If we don't have the assurance, the biblical assurance, 36:59 that we are in a saving relationship with Jesus, 37:02 then we can't share anything of eternal value with anyone. 37:06 But friends, we can rest assured, we can know 37:10 that Christ, if we've surrendered our hearts to Him, 37:13 Christ, would He return in this moment, 37:16 we would be saved by His grace. 37:19 One preacher put it this way: Justice means we get 37:24 what we deserve. 37:25 Mercy means we don't get what we deserve. 37:29 But grace means we get what we don't deserve. 37:32 And friends, God's grace offers us what we don't deserve. 37:36 And that is the gift of eternal life through Christ. 37:40 You know, the devil often gets us to look at ourselves 37:43 and become discouraged. 37:45 Isaiah chapter 6 is one example of this. 37:47 And as we said, part of it is the divine paradox. 37:51 Because the closer we come to Christ, the more we recognize 37:54 our desperate need of Him. 37:55 Which is a good thing. 37:57 We cast ourselves upon the Savior for His help. 38:00 In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah was in vision 38:03 and he saw God in His holy temple. 38:07 He said in verse 5, "Woe is me, for I am undone. 38:12 Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the 38:15 midst of a people of unclean lips; 38:17 for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." 38:23 Friends, when we recognize our own sinfulness, 38:27 it's that very thing that we recognize, if we could 38:30 surrender it to God, that He cleanses us from. 38:33 Let's continue reading. 38:34 "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand 38:37 a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar." 38:41 Verse 7 of Isaiah 6, "And he touched my mouth with it, 38:45 and said, 'Behold, this has touched your lips; 38:48 your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.'" 38:52 Where did that coal touch Isaiah? 38:55 His lips. 38:56 What did Isaiah say was his problem? 38:58 "I'm a man of unclean lips." 39:01 Friends, God will transform us in the areas where we 39:04 recognize we have problems and come to Him 39:07 and say, "Lord, please transform me. 39:09 Because I can't do it on my own." 39:12 But Isaiah looked at himself and he was discouraged. 39:16 God didn't let him stop there. 39:18 He sent an angel to encourage him. 39:21 You know, the devil wants us to look at ourselves 39:24 and become discouraged and believe that there is 39:27 no hope for us. 39:28 Steps To Christ, page 71, this beautiful quote says this... 40:09 Amen, praise the Lord for the mercies of Jesus. 40:12 And that we need not look at ourselves and become 40:15 so discouraged that we have no hope. 40:18 Friends, it's good to look at ourselves, 40:21 to recognize our own sinful as we're in Christ's presence, 40:24 because it leads us to look to Christ; 40:27 the One who is our hope. 40:31 Micah 7:19 gives the beautiful promise. 40:35 You know, God's Word is so full of promises. 40:41 And we can praise Him that all of them are for us. 40:45 Micah 7:19, there he says... 40:58 You know, there are some places in the sea, 41:00 like the Mariana Trench, that we have not 41:02 even been able to explore. 41:05 It is so deep, the pressure down there is so strong, 41:09 that we haven't even been able to send machines down there. 41:13 Friends, the ocean is a symbol of what God is 41:16 going to do with our sins. 41:17 He's going to cast them away, they'll be gone, 41:20 if we confess them to Him. 41:22 We turn from them. 41:24 God takes those and it is as if they have never existed. 41:29 But you know, sometimes we act like that's not the case. 41:34 We've confessed our sins, but we feel 41:38 like we haven't been forgiven. 41:40 And based on that feeling, we keep asking God for forgiveness. 41:44 You know, some time ago I was praying, and the Lord 41:47 really convicted me on this. 41:49 I was praying, and a few days before there had been something 41:52 that I had confessed to the Lord and repented of. 41:55 And I found myself two days later confessing that sin again. 41:59 And it was as if the Holy Spirit told me, 42:00 "Justin, why are you confessing that? 42:03 I've already forgiven you. 42:05 It's gone, why are you bringing it back up?" 42:08 Friends, the devil wants to point us to our past sins, 42:11 even the ones that have been forgiven and cleansed 42:13 by the blood of Jesus, to discourage us 42:15 from moving forward. 42:17 But we can have confidence and assurance 42:20 that when God has forgiven our sins, they are blotted out. 42:23 They are in the deepest end of the ocean. 42:26 They are as far away as the east is from the west. 42:29 Friends, they are gone. 42:31 And we can trust Him by taking Him at His word. 42:35 There was a man who was teaching his daughter to drive. 42:41 And as he was, they were driving past their neighbor's house 42:45 and the neighbor's cat ran out in front of them. 42:48 And rather than hitting the breaks soon enough, 42:50 she ended up hitting the cat and they killed the cat. 42:54 And she felt terrible, she was in tears. 42:57 And they took the cat to the neighbor's door, 42:59 they rang the door bell, and they said, "We're so sorry. 43:01 I'm so sorry I killed your cat." 43:04 And they shed some tears and they said, 43:06 "Well, we'll bury Fefe in the back yard." 43:09 And the cat was buried, and they said, 43:11 "You know, we forgive you. Mistakes happen." 43:14 And some time went on. 43:16 It was the next day, actually. 43:17 And the family received a knock at their door. 43:21 And they answered the door and they were kind of perturbed, 43:24 because this girl had dug up the cat, and said, 43:27 "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." 43:29 They said, "You know, that's okay." 43:32 And they buried the cat together again. 43:34 The next day, a knock on the door. 43:37 The girl is there with the cat again, 43:38 "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." 43:41 They said, "Look, leave the cat buried." 43:44 Friends, this is a good illustration of what we do 43:46 sometimes with our sins. 43:47 They're gone, but we keep bringing them up 43:50 as if Christ has not cleansed us. 43:52 And this is often because if you have confessed your sin to God 43:57 and repented of it, it doesn't necessarily mean that 44:00 you feel okay. 44:02 It doesn't necessarily mean that you feel good about it. 44:05 And those feelings of guilt can continue on. 44:08 Friends, I love this quote from, Steps To Christ, page 52. 44:13 paragraph 1. 44:14 Listen to this and quote this, memorize this little quote. 44:18 It is beautiful. 44:19 And when you don't feel like your sins have been forgiven, 44:24 but you want to take God at His word 44:26 that you are cleansed, quote this 44:30 along with 1 John 1:9. 44:33 She says to say, "I believe it, it is so; 44:38 not because I feel it, but because He has promised." 44:43 Friends, we can know that if we've confessed our sins to Him, 44:47 repented of those sins, that He has cleansed us. 44:50 He's forgiven us of them. 44:52 Even if you don't feel it, it is so. 44:55 God has promised, and He is a God who cannot lie. 45:01 Steps To Christ, page 64, another beautiful quote 45:04 expressing this biblical beautiful truth. 45:59 Friends, if we have given our lives to Christ, 46:02 even in the times that we may fall and we may mess up, 46:05 we can have assurance that God doesn't reject us. 46:08 He doesn't cast us off. 46:10 But He helps us up by His righteousness 46:13 to confess those sins, to repent of them. 46:15 And He helps us to walk with Him in victory. 46:20 Praise the Lord for that. 46:21 We need not be discouraged. 46:23 We can have confidence and assurance, blessed assurance, 46:27 that Jesus is ours. 46:30 Christ, who is dwelling in our hearts once we've 46:33 surrendered to Him, is our Advocate 46:36 as well as our Judge. 46:38 And He's dwelling in our hearts by faith. 46:40 We have nothing to fear for God's judgment. 46:44 I want to invite you to turn with me to 2 Timothy. 46:51 The book of 2 Timothy. 46:53 Paul here is sharing with Timothy, a young pastor. 46:59 And as he is, he's knowing that he's heading 47:03 toward the end of his life. 47:05 And in 2 Timothy 4:6, some of his last words, he says, 47:08 "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, 47:11 and the time of my departure is at hand. 47:14 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, 47:18 I have kept the faith. 47:20 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, 47:23 which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 47:25 will give to me on that Day, and not to me only 47:29 but also to all who have loved His appearing." 47:33 Friends, Paul said, "I have confidence, not because 47:37 I'm confident in myself, but because I'm confident 47:39 in Christ that I will have that crown of life, by His grace. 47:43 Because Christ has overcome in my life." 47:47 Friends, all of us will either be overcome 47:51 or we will overcome. 47:54 And if we've given ourselves to Christ and we continue to do so, 47:57 we need not be overcome, but we can overcome. 48:02 What is the key? What is the key? 48:06 Revelation 3:20, Jesus' last words to the Laodicean church. 48:11 Revelation 3:20, the invitation of the Savior, He says... 48:26 Friends, Jesus wants to dine with us. 48:29 You know, it's very interesting. 48:31 In the Greek language, there are three words for 48:34 three different meals of the day. 48:36 Just like we have in English and most languages. 48:39 The New Testament was written in Greek. 48:40 And the first word is akratisma, which means breakfast. 48:45 And this was usually just a little piece of bread, 48:48 some juice. 48:49 And you would eat it quickly, on the rush. 48:52 Different people would eat it on their own. 48:54 Then there was ariston, which was lunch. 48:56 And it was usually by the working men. 48:58 They would go aside in kind of a picnic style lunch. 49:01 They would just eat their meal together. 49:03 But deipnon was dinner. 49:06 Deipnon was supper, that evening meal when the family 49:09 would gather together, when they would spend time 49:11 with each other, when they would commune with each other. 49:14 This is the word that Jesus uses here. 49:16 He says, "I will deipneo with you." 49:19 Christ wants to dwell with us. 49:21 He wants to spend time with us, friends. 49:23 Not just a, you know, Pop Tart devotion in the morning. 49:27 A quick breakfast, a quick spiritual 49:29 breakfast devotional time. 49:31 He wants to remain with us. 49:33 He wants to spend quality time with us. 49:36 And friends, when we do, Christ will enable us to 49:40 be faithful, full of faith. 49:43 Because we've spent time with Him and we've spent time 49:47 in His Word. 49:48 Revelation 17:14 gives us the key of how not to be overcome, 49:55 but how to overcome. 49:59 Revelation 17, speaking of the forces of earth that will 50:03 make war against Christ, the Lamb. 50:06 There it says, "These will make war with the Lamb, 50:09 and the Lamb will..." What? 50:11 "...overcome them. 50:13 For He is Lord of lords and King of kings. 50:16 And those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful." 50:22 Friends, what's the key there? 50:24 Those that are what? 50:26 Those that are with Him. 50:28 Friends, the key to victory, the key to overcoming 50:30 rather than being overcome, is to be with Jesus. 50:34 He wants to spend time with us. 50:37 He wants to enter our hearts by faith and transform our lives. 50:41 They key is spending time with Jesus. 50:44 You know, I praise the Lord for media ministry. 50:47 You know, God raised up the media to finish the work 50:50 of taking the gospel to all the world. 50:52 You know, the devil may have hijacked it in some 50:55 different ways, but it is what God has raised up as His tool 50:58 to help finish the work. 51:01 But you know, Laodicea, as we learned, 51:04 they plumbed their water supply in from Hierapolis. 51:08 And by the time it got there, it was lukewarm. 51:10 They didn't have a water source of their own. 51:13 Friends, you know, I praise the Lord 51:16 for the preaching of the gospel. 51:18 And sermons are an excellent resource 51:20 to listen to, to watch, friends. 51:22 They can strengthen us in our spiritual walk. 51:24 But there is nothing like the source of water that 51:27 God wants to give us as we personally study His word. 51:31 It cannot stop, it cannot be completely watching sermons 51:35 and learning things that God has revealed to others 51:37 as they have spent time with Him. 51:38 Friends, we ourselves must drink from the waters of life. 51:42 I love what someone said, they said the Holy Spirit 51:44 is not symbolized as a waterfall, 51:47 something beautiful to be admired, 51:49 but as water to be drank and to become a part of us. 51:53 As we spend time in God's Word, His promise to that 51:56 Samaritan woman in John 4 is the promise to us. 52:00 That we will have waters of life, a river of life, flowing 52:05 out from us. 52:07 The Holy Spirit will fill us. 52:09 And friends, we will be able to share the good news of 52:12 what Christ has done in our lives with those around us. 52:16 The key to not be overcome but to overcome in this 52:20 great controversy is to be with the Lamb. 52:24 This is how we can be called, chosen, and faithful. 52:29 To be with Christ, the One who has overcome. 52:34 If the devil discouraging you about your past sins, 52:38 he's pointing you to the past, then take heart. 52:41 Turn your eyes upon Christ. 52:43 If you have confessed those sins, know that they are 52:47 forgiven of you. 52:49 Friends, they are cleansed. 52:51 And you can trust that you're transformed. 52:56 Martin Luther had a dream. 52:59 In Martin Luther's dream, the devil was standing there. 53:05 And he had a long roll, a scroll, that he just rolled out. 53:10 And it continued going and going as far as 53:12 Martin Luther could see. 53:15 Martin Luther looked at that scroll. 53:18 And in detail were a list of his sins. 53:22 The devil, his arm on that scroll, said, "Martin Luther, 53:26 are these your sins?" 53:29 And he said, "Yes." 53:31 But he saw something light emanating 53:33 from behind the devil's hands. 53:35 And he said, "But move your hands." 53:38 The devil said, "No. 53:40 Martin Luther, are these not your sins?" 53:45 And Martin Luther said, "Yes, but move your hands." 53:48 The devil said, "No. 53:50 Martin Luther, are these your sins?" 53:54 Martin Luther said, "Yes, but in the name of Jesus 53:57 move your hands." 53:59 And at the name of Jesus, Satan fled. 54:02 And there, what Satan had been covering up 54:05 in words written in light were, "The blood of Jesus 54:11 cleanses Martin Luther from all his sins." 54:16 Friends, we can take courage, if our lives are in 54:20 Christ's hands, He has cleansed us from our sins of the past. 54:27 Today, maybe when it comes to thinking about 54:31 the time of God's judgment, you don't have peace 54:35 in your mind. 54:38 And that's for one of two reasons. 54:41 It's either because the devil is discouraging you 54:44 even though you've given your life to Christ 54:45 and the judgment can mean peace and joy, 54:49 or because your life is not in God's hands. 54:53 Friends, we have reason to be afraid of the judgment 54:56 if our lives are not in the hands of Jesus. 55:00 Today, we've heard God's voice and we've seen it 55:04 clear from His Word that God, our Judge, is also our Advocate. 55:12 He wants to justify you through His grace. 55:15 He wants to change your life and mine 55:19 so that the judgment can bring joy and assurance of salvation 55:22 and not fear. 55:25 And just now, if you want to say, "Lord, I fear the judgment 55:29 because I haven't given myself to You. 55:32 But in this moment, I want to surrender my all to You." 55:39 If that's your desire, I want to invite you 55:41 to raise your hand. 55:43 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 55:47 Now maybe you are afraid when it comes to 55:51 hearing about the judgment, but you've given your 55:53 life to Jesus already. 55:55 You've surrendered to Him, 55:56 you've walked with Him moment by moment. 55:58 Yes you've fallen, but you've confessed those sins. 56:03 And you want to say, "Lord, I recognize 56:05 that those sins that the devil is pointing me to, 56:08 You've forgiven me of those. 56:10 Please, Lord." 56:11 You want to pray, "Please, Father, give me the joy 56:15 and the peace, the assurance that comes 56:18 in walking with Jesus," I want to invite you 56:20 to join me in standing. 56:23 Standing to say, "Lord, give me the peace, the assurance 56:26 that comes by Christ living in my heart." 56:30 Amen, amen. 56:32 Let's sing together through song, and let us invite God 56:35 one more time to come into our hearts. 56:41 Into my heart, into my heart, 56:49 come into my heart, Lord Jesus. 56:58 Come in today, come in to stay; 57:08 come into my heart, Lord Jesus. 57:18 Father in heaven, this is our prayer. 57:20 Come into our hearts, Lord. 57:23 Transform us. 57:24 Give us the peace and assurance You want to offer us. 57:28 We thank You for Jesus. 57:30 In His name we pray, amen. |
Revised 2016-01-19