Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Pr. Wintley Phipps
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000166A
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
00:14 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:22 Good evening, and we do welcome you to our Anchors Of Truth 00:26 number 166. 00:29 We have done 165 Anchors Of Truth programs over the years, 00:33 and I suspect none more eagerly anticipated 00:36 than the one we're about to entertain this very evening. 00:39 Our speaker, our guest, is our friend Pastor Wintley Phipps 00:43 of the Palm Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Florida. 00:47 And when you are introducing someone whose résumé is 00:50 so long and so extensive, and who has done so many things 00:54 for the Lord and through the power of the Lord, 00:57 it can almost sound like hero worship. 00:59 Which is something I know that he does not want. 01:02 Because in the 40 plus years that I have known him, 01:05 I've always known him to be a person whose feet 01:07 are on the ground, who is humble, and who realizes 01:10 that the gifts that he has and the things that he has done 01:13 and the places he has gone has been at the behest of the Lord. 01:18 He's had just enough sense to serve the Lord, 01:20 and to serve Him faithfully. 01:22 And when you serve the Lord faithfully, 01:24 He takes those gifts that you have and turns them 01:27 into ministry. 01:29 And so Wintly Phipps has been blessed to minister 01:31 all over the world. 01:33 To sing for the last six presidents, 01:36 to sing for heads of states. 01:37 I don't know precisely how many CD's he has produced, 01:42 I don't know that 3ABN has his last seven 01:45 that you can purchase from us. 01:47 And I'll put in that commercial just now. 01:49 You can get them through 3ABN. 01:51 He would not do that for himself. 01:53 I will do that for him. 01:54 Because I have all seven. 01:56 And it's great listening. 01:58 God has blessed him on so many, many fronts 02:01 in so many, many ways. 02:02 He is a fine preacher. 02:04 He is an extraordinary singer. 02:06 One of the best of our generation. 02:09 But more than that, above and beyond all of that, 02:11 he's a child of God. 02:13 He loves the Lord and has given his life to the Lord. 02:16 We were talking today as we met, talking about 02:19 traveling with your wife. 02:21 And when you're going on extended trips, how good it is 02:24 to have your wife by your side. 02:26 And Wintley espouses that. 02:28 He practices what he preaches. 02:30 His wife Linda is here with him and is by his side. 02:35 And so he has his right arm with him as he preaches the gospel. 02:39 He takes her all around the world. 02:40 He's been on, I think, six continents just this year, 02:44 and she had traveled with him to all of those places. 02:47 So we have a man of God who practices the things of God, 02:50 who believes in the Lord, who loves the Lord, 02:52 who lifts up the name of Jesus, and who God has used 02:56 in a very unusual way over his lifespan. 03:01 God is so very, very good. 03:03 And I know He has a message for us this night. 03:06 So we don't have to worry about a guess singer. 03:09 Because we were teasing Wintley, we said, "Okay, 03:12 which one of us do you want to sing for you?" 03:14 And he looked and he smiled, because I think it would be 03:18 a criminal act if he did not come and sing for himself. 03:23 So we will hear from him before he preaches. 03:25 He will be singing for us each evening. 03:28 Tonight's message, The Son of God. 03:31 On tomorrow evening, The Salvation of Man. 03:34 Followed by, The Bride of Christ, 03:36 The Sabbath of the Lord, The Second Coming of Jesus. 03:39 So we're going to have basic, strong, good old Adventist 03:43 doctrinal messages that I'm sure not only will thrill your soul, 03:46 but will inspire you and form you as God speaks to us 03:51 through him. 03:52 I would ask you now to bow your heads 03:54 with me in a word of prayer. 03:55 And then without further adieu, after we shall have prayed, 03:58 we will turn the microphone over to Pastor Wintley Phipps, 04:02 pastor of the Palm Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church, 04:04 and also the founder and director of the 04:07 U.S. Dream Academy. 04:08 Shall we pray. 04:10 Father God, we thank You so very, very much 04:14 for this opportunity to sit in heavenly places. 04:18 We thank You, dear Lord, for one who has dedicated hand, 04:22 heart, head, voice, and talent to the service of Christ. 04:26 And we ask, Lord, that You would use him yet again 04:30 this night to sing a word for You, and then to speak 04:33 a mighty word for You. 04:35 Bless those of us who sit in this house. 04:38 Bless those who will listen on the radio around the world, 04:41 who will watch this on their computers, 04:44 who will watch this on their television sets, 04:46 the thousands, yea, millions who will listen and hear. 04:50 May they be inspired, informed, and enabled to take 04:54 one more step along that road that leads to glory. 04:58 Oh Father, give us Your presence and Your power this night. 05:02 And we thank You even now for Your promise to hear 05:05 and to answer the prayer of faith. 05:07 In the worthy and blessed name of Jesus, amen and amen. 05:13 God bless you. 05:48 O Lord my God, 05:54 when I in awesome wonder 06:01 consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. 06:13 I see the stars, 06:19 I hear the rolling thunder; 06:25 Thy power throughout the universe displayed. 06:36 Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. 06:48 How great Thou art! 06:54 How great Thou art! 07:00 Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. 07:11 How great Thou art! 07:17 How great Thou art! 07:33 And when I think of God, His Son not sparing, 07:42 gave Him to die; I scarce can take it in. 07:54 That on the cross, 08:00 my burden gladly bearing, 08:06 He bled and died to take away my sin. 08:23 When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation 08:31 to take me home; what joy shall fill my heart. 08:40 And I shall bow in humble adoration, 08:52 and there proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!" 09:02 Then sings my soul, 09:08 my Savior God, to Thee. 09:15 How great Thou art! 09:21 How great Thou art! 09:26 Then sings my soul, 09:32 my Savior God, to Thee. 09:38 How great Thou art! 09:42 How great Thou art! 09:54 How great, how great, how great, how great Thou art! 10:16 Let us pray. 10:19 Father, as we open Your holy Word, I ask that You would 10:25 cleanse me of all unrighteousness. 10:29 Fill my life with Your Holy Spirit's presence and power. 10:35 Speak to me, through me, and for me. 10:40 And I promise You God that I will always give You 10:42 the honor, the glory, and the praise. 10:47 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 10:53 Praise the Lord. 10:56 It is my honor to be here with you. 10:58 And I will be sharing with you a series of messages. 11:04 I call this series, The Perfecting of the Saints: 11:11 Preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus. 11:17 How many want to be prepared for the second coming of Jesus? 11:23 I know I do. Praise the Lord. 11:26 And I will share with you two scriptures probably each night. 11:32 And you can refer to them. 11:39 "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, 11:45 let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 11:49 of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness 11:55 in the fear of God." 11:59 And then Ephesians 4:11-13. 12:04 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; 12:10 and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12:17 for the perfecting of the saints, 12:22 for the work of the ministry, 12:26 for the edifying of the body of Christ: 12:30 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, 12:36 and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 12:43 unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 12:53 It was October 14, 1962. 13:00 And the world was sitting at the brink of what many believed 13:05 could be another world war. 13:10 Perhaps you already know that the super powers 13:13 of this world have enough weapons pointed at each other 13:19 with enough nuclear firepower to destroy human civilization 13:26 as we know it today. 13:29 In 1962, the world was perilously at war 13:35 at the brink of such a war. 13:39 America's CIA and their, I call it, super snooper spy plane... 13:45 Say that three times. 13:47 ...the U-2. 13:48 They had taken photographs that showed Russia was 13:52 building nuclear missiles in Cuba. 13:55 Missiles capable of wiping all of south Florida 14:00 off the map. 14:02 President Kennedy knew that if he attacked Cuba 14:05 to destroy those Russian missiles, that the world 14:09 would be dragged into a nuclear war; 14:12 and potentially millions of people, including millions 14:16 of Americans, could die. 14:19 He also knew that if he did nothing, the United States 14:23 would have to live with a menacing nuclear threat 14:27 not far from its borders. 14:29 The nation of Cuba is not very far from Florida. 14:31 Less than 500 miles. 14:34 And do you know how fast a nuclear missile flies? 14:36 More than 10,000 miles an hour. 14:39 That meant that in the blink of an eye 14:42 America could be engulfed in a nuclear holocaust. 14:46 The first thing President Kennedy did to face the crisis 14:50 was, he called a meeting of his National Security Council 14:54 to discuss how they would handle this Cuban missile crisis. 14:59 Friends, the National Security Council 15:02 was founded after World War II to deal with the management of 15:07 war and crises such as these. 15:11 And so President Kennedy called up his National Security Council 15:14 which included the director of the CIA, 15:17 the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 15:19 the undersecretary from the state and defense departments. 15:23 And as they met, they were well aware 15:26 that is was a very tense moment in the history of the world. 15:30 But thank God, because of the courage, the level headedness, 15:35 and the wisdom of President Kennedy 15:38 and his National Security Council, a world war 15:43 was averted. 15:46 A nuclear holocaust was averted and prevented 15:51 by the decisions made there in the National Security Council. 15:58 Well, one day in heaven in the great throne room 16:04 of the universe, God called His national security council 16:11 to a meeting. 16:12 They came together to deal with a crisis; 16:16 a crisis that had developed. 16:19 This crisis had begun in heaven. 16:23 It had spread to earth. 16:25 And now this crisis threatened to engulf 16:30 God's entire universe. 16:34 What was this crisis? 16:36 You see, Lucifer had led a third of the angels in rebellion 16:41 against the character, sovereignty, and law of God. 16:46 And this began what we now know as the great controversy. 16:53 You see, whenever anyone rebels against the character 16:57 of God, whenever anyone rejects the character of God, 17:04 that individual places himself in controversy or conflict 17:10 and contention with God. 17:14 In her writings, the servant of the Lord says, 17:17 "He who rejects the life and character of Jesus, 17:23 refusing to be like Him, declares himself 17:28 to be in controversy with God." 17:33 The rejection of the character of God 17:38 is at the root and source of the great controversy. 17:43 Brothers and sisters, the character of God 17:47 is at the foundation of the universe. 17:51 For us, the character of God is the axis 17:55 of our spiritual universe. 17:58 It is the center and circumference 18:00 of all we believe to be sure and certain. 18:04 Do you know that every truth we teach, 18:08 every doctrine we hold dear, all find their origin and anchor 18:14 in the character of God. 18:18 May I say that again? 18:20 Every truth we teach, every doctrine we hold dear, 18:25 all find their origin and their anchor 18:30 in the character of God. 18:33 For example, as Adventists, we believe that the law of God 18:38 is an expression, it is a transcript, 18:42 of the character of God. 18:45 And it is from the character of God that the law of God 18:51 draws its power. 18:54 It is from the character of God that the law of God 18:59 draws its prerogatives and power. 19:02 It is from the character of God that the law of God 19:06 draws its legitimacy and its certainty. 19:11 And that is why down through the ages, 19:14 Satan's most effective weapon in the great controversy 19:19 has always been the distortion and misrepresentation 19:25 of the character of God. 19:29 It was Lucifer in heaven who went to the angels and said, 19:32 "You all don't know God like I know Him. 19:36 He's bossy, domineering, He's dictatorial, He's a tyrant. 19:43 He says we're free, but we can't follow the will of 19:46 our own minds." 19:48 And friends, through this distortion and misrepresentation 19:53 of the character of God, a third of the perfect angels in heaven 19:59 were drawn into rebellion. 20:02 And then two of the most important verses 20:06 in all of Scripture. 20:08 You can find them in Genesis 1:26. 20:12 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, 20:21 after our likeness. 20:24 And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 20:27 over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, 20:31 and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 20:34 that creepeth upon the earth." 20:37 And verse 27, "So God created man in his own image, 20:45 in the image of God created he him; 20:49 male and female created he them." 20:52 Did you know that God's creation reveals the character of God? 20:59 And did you know that we were made in the image of God 21:04 to express, to resemble, to reflect, and to reveal 21:11 the character of God? 21:13 God's creation reveals His character. 21:18 Amen. 21:19 Psalm 19:1, "To the chief musician, a psalm of David. 21:23 The heavens declare the glory of God; 21:28 and the firmament sheweth his handiwork." 21:30 Psalm 97:6, "The heavens declare his righteousness, 21:35 and all the people see his glory." 21:38 So one purpose of creation was to make evident to all 21:44 the created intelligences of the universe 21:48 the glories of divine character. 21:52 Praise the Lord. 21:54 One of the purposes of all that we see, all the stars, 21:58 all the universe, is to reveal to the intelligences 22:03 of the universe the glories of His divine character. 22:09 Remember, the heavens declare the glory of God. 22:12 And the glory of God is His character. 22:20 But nature and creation, as impressive as they are, 22:27 cannot reveal the character of God in its fullness. 22:34 That's why a religion that looks to nature alone 22:39 will not get a clear picture of the true character of God. 22:45 To Eve in the Garden of Eden, Lucifer came to Eve and said, 22:50 "Eve, you know, I've know God a lot longer than you have. 22:56 And I can tell you He has an integrity problem. 23:03 He does not always tell the truth. 23:07 You won't really die." 23:12 And from the moment man doubted and rejected the true character 23:18 of God, sin entered the world. 23:22 So our God, in the midst of this crisis, convened the 23:29 national security council of the universe; 23:33 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 23:39 Lucifer was angry he was not invited. 23:45 The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost caucused behind closed doors. 23:52 The three principles of the Godhead met and came up 23:57 with a plan to fight sin. 24:01 Oh thank God, even before we knew we were lost, 24:05 the King of glory had a plan. 24:06 Amen? 24:08 Without hesitation or remorse, without pause or delay, 24:13 He flung Himself into the midst of our decadence and decay. 24:18 God, in the personage of Jesus, persevered 24:22 in His tender purpose towards us. 24:24 And what was that purpose? 24:26 To restore in us the moral image and character of God. 24:34 From Bethlehem to Calvary, the calling and ministry of Jesus 24:39 was to vindicate and reveal the true character of God. 24:46 Did you know that every parable Jesus taught, 24:51 every miracle He performed, was a living breathing 24:56 reflection of the true character of His Father. 25:01 And for us, the call of godly character is the righteous path 25:05 for our own lives and the foundation of our salvation. 25:10 Ellen White says, "Christ came to the world 25:15 to represent the character of God." 25:20 Amen. 25:21 And it is God's dream that His people be a reflection 25:28 of His perfection. 25:32 Praise the Lord. 25:34 When rebellion and sin spread from the mind of Lucifer 25:37 to the mind of man, it had to be addressed. 25:42 It had to be contained. 25:45 Or it could spread to the other billions who represent 25:50 unfallen worlds and the unfallen intelligences of heaven. 25:55 Friends, you must remember, sin began as rebellion 26:01 against the character of God. 26:06 Sin, you must remember, began with the distortion 26:10 and misrepresentation of the character of God. 26:15 And the only way you can fight sin, praise the Lord, 26:20 is by holding up to the universe the true character of God. 26:29 And the character of God is the foundation 26:32 upon which the kingdom of God is built. 26:35 Somebody say amen. 26:37 Throughout history, God's most powerful weapon 26:41 against sin was and is today the revelation 26:48 of His true character. 26:51 Praise God. 26:52 In heaven, the national security council made up of the 26:56 three members of the Godhead; Father, Son, Holy Spirit... 27:01 And praise God, aren't you glad they, praise God, believe in us 27:09 to meet over us? 27:13 We believe in one God. 27:14 We believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 27:17 make up the unity we know as God. 27:22 So when God wanted to communicate His character, 27:26 He knew He could not rely only on creation. 27:33 When He wanted to reveal Himself to us, He could not 27:37 rely on creation alone. 27:40 Nature alone could not reveal His character in its fullness. 27:46 Nature provided, and provides us today, only an imperfect vision 27:52 of the character of God. 27:54 God then presented to man His character 27:58 in the form of the written Word. 28:02 What we call today, the Bible. 28:04 Or the Scriptures. 28:06 The Bible consists of the Old and New Testament scriptures. 28:10 And in a more powerful way, it is God's written 28:15 self-revelation to man. 28:18 Praise the Lord. 28:20 The Bible is God's written self-revelation to man. 28:26 It reveals to man God's unimpeachable, 28:31 unassailable character. 28:33 And yes, in nature and the Word, you will find 28:37 one thing in common. 28:39 One thing that is common, really, to all God's weapons 28:44 to fight sin. 28:46 And that is a revelation of the true character of God. 28:51 There is one thing common to all the operations and 28:55 revelations that would be launched by heaven 28:58 in combating sin. 29:01 One thing common to all of God's success in combating sin. 29:06 Something that is common in all of God's strategies and plans. 29:11 And that is introducing to man and to the universe 29:16 an ever increasing and ever clearer vision 29:21 of the true character of God. 29:25 You see, because sin began with the distortion 29:28 and misrepresentation of the character of God, 29:32 it could only be fought and combated effectively 29:36 with a clearer vision of the true character of God. 29:40 Nature, as glorious as it is, is no longer the unspoiled 29:47 reflection of His character. 29:51 Look at what man has done to the earth. 29:54 Look at what he has done to nature. 29:56 He has spoiled it. 29:58 He has defiled it, he has polluted it. 30:02 It is still beautiful, 30:04 but less and less so with each passing generation. 30:08 God then gave to man the revelation of the written Word. 30:13 But look at what man has done with the Scriptures. 30:17 He has hidden it... 30:19 Somebody knows I'm right. 30:22 ...he has misinterpreted it, he has twisted it. 30:28 As the Scriptures say in 2 Peter 3:16, 30:30 he has wrested it to his own destruction. 30:35 I've got to tell you, throughout history 30:37 man has used the Scriptures to say and do almost 30:42 everything wicked you can imagine. 30:46 Many have used the Scriptures to teach and proclaim things 30:50 that are the very opposite of the true character of God. 30:55 Throughout the centuries, men even have used the Scriptures 30:59 to justify slavery and some of the worst in humanity 31:05 against their fellow man. 31:07 I'm sad to tell you, the Scriptures were even used 31:10 to justify racism and apartheid, and all kinds of abuse against 31:20 women and children. 31:22 And yes, the Scriptures have been used to justify 31:27 anger by some and revenge by others. 31:31 In short, there are those who have used the Scriptures 31:34 to justify what is really, in truth, rebellion 31:39 against the character of God. 31:41 Some even use God's grace and mercy in the Scriptures 31:46 as justification to continue to sin. 31:51 Oh, Romans 6:14, "For sin shall not have dominion over you. 31:56 For ye are not under the law, but under grace. 32:00 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not 32:04 under the law, but under grace? 32:06 God forbid!" 32:08 And as Peter in his epistle said, they have figured out 32:12 how to twist the Scriptures to their own destruction. 32:16 The servant of the Lord says, "Though the Jews 32:19 had the Scriptures, which testified of Christ, 32:24 they were not able to discern Christ in the Scriptures." 32:30 My God. 32:31 They were not able to discern the character of Christ 32:36 in the Scriptures. 32:37 "And although we have the Old and the New Testament," 32:39 she says, "men wrest and twist the Scriptures 32:43 to evade the truths of the Scriptures." 32:48 Whoa! 32:49 "And in their interpretations of the Scriptures, 32:53 they teach, as did the Pharisees, their own maxims 32:57 and traditions for the commandments of God." 33:00 She also says, "The self-righteous scribes 33:03 and Pharisees had so misrepresented God 33:07 that He was looked upon as a stern judge." 33:12 That's a misrepresentation of the character of God. 33:16 "He was looked upon as one who was incapable of compassion." 33:22 They used the Scriptures to present to the world 33:25 our God in this way. 33:28 They presented Him as incapable of affording and giving 33:32 mercy and love. 33:34 "They presented to the people endless traditions 33:38 as proceeding from God when they had no Scriptural 33:42 authority to do so." 33:44 So, as heaven's national security council 33:48 debated the situation, and whoa, what a situation, 33:55 it was clear that nature could not launch an effective attack 34:02 against the misrepresentation of the character of God. 34:07 Whoa! 34:09 It was clear that the Scriptures represented a most powerful 34:16 counterattack against the misrepresentation 34:19 of the character of God. 34:21 But even the Scriptures themselves were being misused 34:25 by religion and misused by religious leaders 34:30 to lead people down a path of destruction. 34:34 So that day in heaven's national security council, 34:40 Jesus stood up, and Jesus said, "I will go. 34:50 I will carry in the flesh the final and perfect revelation 34:59 of the character of God to man. 35:04 I will carry in the flesh a perfect revelation 35:10 of the character of the Father. 35:13 And so John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, 35:17 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 35:21 The same was in the beginning with God. 35:25 All things were made by him; and without him 35:28 was not any thing made that was made." 35:32 And then Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, 35:35 which was also in Christ Jesus." 35:38 And verses 6 and 7, "Who, being in the form of God, 35:44 thought it not robbery to be equal with God; 35:49 but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him 35:54 the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." 36:01 Friends, we believe that Jesus is God. 36:06 Somebody shout amen. 36:08 And just as much as the Father and the Spirit are God, 36:13 Jesus is God. 36:16 Before coming to earth, Jesus was never born. 36:25 If He was, He would in heaven have a birthday. 36:28 They do not celebrate His birthday in heaven. 36:32 He was never born. 36:34 We sing, "Happy birthday, Jesus," because 36:36 the eternal Word became flesh, and was born in a manger. 36:42 But in heaven, Jesus was never born. 36:47 Jesus has always been. 36:51 That's why the Jews wanted to stone Him when He said, 36:54 "Before Abraham was, I AM." 36:59 The servant of the Lord says it this way, she says, 37:01 "Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God." 37:11 Pre-existent. 37:12 Self-existent. 37:14 That means just as the Father takes the title of, Father, 37:17 and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, 37:19 Jesus has taken the title of, Son of God. 37:24 But that in no way says that Jesus, in heaven, 37:27 was ever born. 37:28 Before Mary, before Mary, I said, before Mary, 37:33 Jesus was pre-existent. 37:36 Before Mary, Jesus was self-existent. 37:40 That means He was before there ever was a was. 37:45 That's what pre-existent means. 37:48 And self-existent means He owes no one, 37:54 not even the Father or the Holy Spirit, 37:57 He owes no one for His existence. 38:02 Whoa, my God! 38:05 The theologians say it this way: 38:06 He was co-eternal with God, and co-existent. 38:12 "The existence of Christ before His incarnation 38:16 is not measured," Ellen White says, "by figures." 38:20 You can't measure it by dates. 38:23 Now the angels, the angels, they've been around 38:25 since their creation. 38:26 You can point to a moment when they came into being. 38:30 But not so with Jesus. 38:32 There is no moment you can point to when Jesus never existed. 38:38 Brothers and sisters, "It was for the purpose," 38:42 Ellen White says, "of giving to man..." 38:46 Get this. 38:47 "It was for the purpose of giving to man 38:54 a perfect representation of the character of God 39:01 that Jesus came to our earth." 39:07 Did you know that's why He came? 39:12 To give to us a perfect representation 39:16 of the character of God. 39:18 She says, "Jesus came to earth that He might 39:21 transform our character and develop in man," 39:29 what we call, "the moral image of God." 39:33 When the world was destitute of the knowledge of God, 39:36 Jesus came to impart this, she calls it, 39:40 "an inestimable blessing." 39:42 A knowledge of the paternal character 39:45 of our heavenly Father. 39:47 Friends, the character of God as represented 39:51 by His Son was God's greatest gift to our world. 40:01 The character of God as represented by His Son 40:07 was God's greatest gift to the world. 40:13 And in Christ, God was making every effort 40:16 to sweep away the misrepresentations of Satan 40:21 so that the confidence of man in the love of God 40:26 might be restored. 40:27 And so Jesus came to earth... 40:29 Somebody praise Him. 40:31 ...through the birth canal of a woman. 40:35 He came to seek and save the lost. 40:41 That's why I love that scripture, Isaiah 61:10. 40:44 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 40:47 my soul shall be joyful in my God; 40:50 for he hath clothed me..." 40:53 Oh, one of the greatest promises in the Word of God. 40:55 "...he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation..." 41:01 Jesus came to clothe us with the garments of salvation. 41:06 "...he hath covered me," the Scripture says, 41:08 "with the robe of righteousness, 41:11 as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments..." 41:14 Jesus came to earth, friends, to restore to us 41:18 the character of God; for all who are not in harmony 41:23 with the character of God are lost. 41:29 Jesus came to restore in man what Adam had lost. 41:34 And what was lost? 41:37 The moral image of God in man. 41:42 The character of God in man was lost. 41:46 Without the character of God, we are lost. 41:51 I said, without the character of God, we are lost. 41:57 Well, the Scriptures say that we are naked and lost. 42:03 And that's why it says we need to be clothed 42:07 in the garment of salvation. 42:09 We need to be covered with the robe of His righteousness. 42:13 Revelation 3:14, I love it, "And unto the angel 42:16 of the church of the Laodiceans, write, 42:18 'These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, 42:22 the beginning of the creation of God: 42:24 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. 42:28 I would thou wert cold or hot.'" 42:30 Revelation 3:16, "So then because thou art lukewarm, 42:34 and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 42:38 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 42:43 that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, 42:48 that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy 42:53 nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes 42:55 with eye salve, that thou mayest see." 42:59 Without the character of God, yes, we are naked and lost. 43:05 Oh, but what a promise found in Isaiah 61:10. 43:09 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 43:12 my soul shall be joyful in my God; 43:14 for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation," 43:19 praise the Lord, "he hath covered me 43:22 with the robe of righteousness..." 43:25 The righteous character of Jesus is the robe 43:30 of His righteousness. 43:32 Praise the Lord. 43:34 You see, our salvation depended upon 43:37 Jesus fashioning or creating a robe of righteous character 43:45 for us to wear. 43:48 Oh, did you get that today? 43:50 No sin can be tolerated in those who walk with Christ. 43:55 The filthy garments are to be removed 43:59 and Christ's robe of righteousness 44:02 is to be placed upon us, praise the Lord, 44:04 if we repent and believe. 44:07 Look at this, Jesus removes our filthy garments. 44:12 That means, our filthy character. 44:16 And He places upon us the robe of His righteous character. 44:23 Jesus came to earth not just to show us the character of God, 44:29 not just to show us the character of God, 44:33 but to do what nature could not do, 44:38 to do what the Scriptures could not do. 44:42 And that is, to fashion from His own perfect life 44:48 a righteous character for us to wear. 44:54 Praise the Lord. 44:57 Nature cannot do that. 45:00 The Scriptures cannot do that. 45:03 Jesus, through His righteous life fashioned, created for us, 45:10 for His righteous people, a righteous character 45:14 for His bride to wear. 45:15 Our heavenly Father promises that He will take from us 45:19 the garments defiled by sin. 45:22 Somebody say praise the Lord. 45:24 This robe, says Ellen White, and I love this, she says, 45:27 this robe of character that we are to wear, 45:30 she says it is "woven in the loom of heaven." 45:35 Praise the Lord. 45:37 "It has in it," she says, "not one thread of human devising. 45:46 This character that we are going to wear 45:48 that Jesus fashioned for us, nothing human is in it. 45:54 Praise the Lord. 45:55 Christ in His humanity worked out a perfect character. 46:02 And this character He offers to us. 46:06 And we all need His robe, for as we know, 46:09 all our righteousness' are filthy rags. 46:12 Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin. 46:17 But the Son came to earth and was manifested 46:23 to take away our sins. 46:26 And in Him is no sin. 46:29 How did Jesus fashion the robe that He promises to us? 46:35 How did Jesus do it? 46:38 He did it by being obedient to every requirement 46:46 of the law of God. 46:50 Perfect obedience. 46:52 That's how He created it. 46:53 He said of Himself, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God. 46:58 Yea, Thy law is within My heart." 47:01 When Jesus was on earth He said to His disciples, 47:04 "I have kept My Father's commandments." 47:08 And the first thing Jesus asks us to do 47:11 is to surrender to His purposes and submit to His will. 47:17 And when we submit ourselves to Christ 47:20 the heart is united with His heart, 47:23 the will is merged in His will, 47:27 the mind becomes one with His mind, 47:32 the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him. 47:37 You know, the Lord impressed me that our default consciousness 47:44 when we were created was a stream of constant 47:51 unbroken communion with God. 47:55 You know how some computers are made with an operating system. 47:59 That was our original operating system. 48:03 A mind that was in constant unbroken communion with God. 48:10 The thoughts were always captive to His will. 48:15 Oh, can you just not see the day when we'll be back to that? 48:22 And this is what is means to be clothed with the 48:24 garments of His righteousness. 48:27 And then when the Lord looks at us, 48:30 He sees not the fig leaves of our righteousness, 48:35 He sees not the nakedness and deformity of sin, 48:38 but His own robe of righteousness. 48:43 Which is, Ellen White says, perfect obedience 48:47 to the law of Jehovah. 48:51 "There's only one mediator between God and man," 48:55 says the Bible, "the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself 48:59 a ransom for all." 49:01 But for Jesus to become our High Priest, 49:04 He had to gain on our behalf a knowledge we ourselves 49:10 did not possess. 49:12 He had to show that it was possible to be obedient. 49:16 Even in suffering be obedient. 49:20 Even in temptation. 49:22 That through grace we could be faithful unto death. 49:27 For it behooved God, for through whom all things exist, 49:30 that the Author, the Captain of our salvation, 49:33 would be made perfect through suffering. 49:37 Oh, so today, we celebrate the breaking in of the divine 49:44 presence into history. 49:47 We celebrate that God came to earth in the flesh. 49:53 We celebrate, when Adam faulted and stumbled 49:57 into the pit of sin, 49:59 we celebrate, when sorrow became our sad portion, 50:04 that Jesus faced squarely the urgency of the hour. 50:09 He came to save us from ignorance and a lethal 50:14 combination of ignorance and arrogance. 50:18 He came to rescue us from lies and delusions, 50:23 from hypocrisy and contradictions. 50:26 I thank God He alone can lift the burden of sin and sorrow. 50:31 He alone can sustain us in our weakness and bear us up 50:36 triumphant through life's trials. 50:39 He alone can create the purpose, re-create in us, transform us, 50:46 so that we in our character can glorify God. 50:49 That we can finally again, through grace and His power, 50:54 resemble, reflect, and reveal the character of God. 51:01 That is the reason Jesus, the Son, came to earth. 51:09 And that's why I love Him. 51:13 And that's why I surrender to Him moment by moment, 51:21 day by day. 51:24 Thank You, Lord. 51:26 Listen to the message in the song. 51:35 Thank You God. 51:51 All to Jesus I surrender, 52:01 all to Him I freely give; 52:10 I will ever love and trust Him, 52:18 in His presence daily live. 52:26 I surrender all, 52:35 I surrender all. 52:44 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, 52:53 I surrender all. 53:07 All to Jesus I surrender, 53:16 humbly at His feet I bow, 53:25 worldly pleasures now forsaken; 53:34 take me, Jesus, take me now. 53:42 I surrender all, 53:52 I surrender all. 54:00 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, 54:09 I surrender all. 54:17 I surrender all. 54:32 All to Jesus I surrender, 54:41 all to Him I freely give. 54:50 I will ever love and trust Him. 54:58 All to Him I freely give. 55:06 And I surrender all. 55:26 Father in heaven, I thank You that when this planet was lost, 55:36 when our souls needed a Savior, 55:42 that Jesus came to earth, the Son of God came to earth 55:50 to restore in us the character of God. 56:00 I thank You for Your salvation. 56:05 I thank You for the garment of Your salvation. 56:12 And I ask, dear Father, in the name of Jesus, 56:17 that You would show us how every day to grow 56:23 to more resemble, reflect, and reveal 56:30 the character of God. 56:34 I thank You that this was Your purpose 56:38 for coming to the earth. 56:41 And I thank You that when You come again, 56:47 by Your grace we will be clothed in the garments 56:51 of Your salvation; 56:54 in the garment, the righteous robe, 56:59 of Your character. 57:01 We thank You. 57:03 In Jesus' name I pray this prayer of thanksgiving, 57:07 I pray this prayer of praise. 57:10 Amen and amen. 57:15 Praise God. 57:18 Praise God. 57:20 Aren't you happy what Christ did for us? 57:23 Came to earth so that we could be clothed in His salvation. 57:28 Amen. |
Revised 2016-02-22