Participants:
Series Code: HCAU
Program Code: HCAU200009S
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00:11 And this is the record
00:13 that God hath given to us eternal life, 00:16 and this life is in His Son. 00:20 Welcome to 3ABN Australia Homecoming. 00:30 Thank you for joining us again 00:31 for our 3ABN Australia Homecoming. 00:34 The theme is preparing for eternity. 00:36 You know, eternity is not an instant thing. 00:39 It's a process step by step. 00:41 And we've been going through this series 00:44 with the last speaker was Pastor Geoff Youlden. 00:47 And he was talking about growing up into Christ. 00:50 That was chapter eight of the book Steps to Christ. 00:53 Justification by faith is being forgiven 00:57 and accepted by God as if we had never sinned. 01:01 Sanctification by faith, where we walk with God 01:04 and experience the joy of victory over sin. 01:08 All three are exceedingly good news 01:10 and part of the final message being proclaimed around 01:13 the world in the last days. 01:15 You know, we're living in an interesting time. 01:17 God wants us to be ready and be prepared. 01:21 For our special item, Rosemary will be singing, 01:23 "Mending Broken People." 01:25 And you know what? 01:26 That's a song that you often hear on 3ABN, 01:29 it's a beautiful song. 01:30 And straight after Rosemary, 01:32 you will hear the voice of Pastor Lyle Southwell. 01:35 He's an evangelist 01:36 and he's also a radio announcer. 01:38 Thank you Rosemary. 01:58 When I see my brother stumble 02:04 And all his dreams crumble 02:10 Let me be there for 02:13 I, too, fell 02:19 And when I see 02:22 His heartbreaking 02:26 From a wrong turn 02:29 he's taking 02:32 Let me there 02:35 for I remember well 02:40 I want to spend my life 02:47 Mending broken people 02:52 I want to spend my life 02:58 Removing pain 03:03 Lord, let my words 03:09 Heal a heart that hurts 03:14 I want to spend my life 03:20 Mending broken people 03:34 When I see a life that's broken 03:40 Lord, give me words 03:42 That should be spoken 03:45 For I 03:48 Well remember the pain 03:54 And when I see teardrops falling Lord 04:01 Remind me of my calling 04:07 Help me 04:10 Restore their faith in You 04:15 I want to spend my life 04:21 Mending broken people 04:26 I want to spend my life 04:33 Removing pain 04:38 Lord, let my words 04:44 Heal a heart that hurts 04:48 I want to spend my life 04:54 Mending broken people 04:59 I want to spend my whole life 05:05 Mending broken people 05:30 Was so good to be with you here today in the 3ABN Studio. 05:36 I do kind of feel a little bit at home here. 05:38 Sometimes it feels like I've got the North studio 05:41 and the South studio, where we have, of course, 3ABN, 05:45 which is doing a great work in media for God. 05:47 And just a few minutes up the road, 05:50 we've got the Faith FM Studio 05:51 where we are broadcasting on the radio there. 05:54 But it's great to be with you all 05:56 and particularly those of you who are listening at home. 05:58 We're glad that you can join us here 06:01 for the 3ABN Homecoming. 06:03 As we begin today, and as we open the Word of God, 06:06 let's start with prayer. 06:08 Father, we thank You so much for the privilege 06:10 of being able to spend this time 06:11 reading and sharing 06:13 and studying Your Word together, 06:15 particularly as we look at this important chapter, 06:17 the life and the work. 06:19 Father, we pray that 06:20 You will just guide us as we work our way 06:22 through the instruction that is given to us here 06:25 that we will be drawn close to you, 06:27 that we will receive a very special blessing 06:29 and an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit 06:31 that we will not just learn, 06:33 but that we will put into practice 06:35 the things that are shared here in these passages. 06:39 And so we ask this now in Jesus' name, 06:41 amen. 06:43 As you begin this subject, 06:45 I'd like you to turn in your Bibles to Acts Chapter 10. 06:48 We're going to be spending a little bit of time here 06:50 in Acts Chapter 10 today, 06:52 and considering the story of Cornelius. 06:57 And you might wonder, well, what that's got to do with 07:00 Steps to Christ, Chapters 9, The Life and the Work, Well, 07:03 we're going to find out what it has to do with it 07:05 as we work our way through this chapter. 07:08 We're simply going to start in verse 1. 07:10 The Bible says, "There was a certain man 07:11 in Caesarea called Cornelius, 07:15 a centurion of the band called the Italian band. 07:21 A devout man, and one that feared God 07:23 with all his house, which gave much gifts 07:26 to the people, and prayed to God always. 07:28 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day 07:31 an angel of God coming in to him, 07:34 and saying unto him, 07:35 Cornelius. 07:36 And when he looked at him, 07:38 he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? 07:40 And he, that's the angel, said to him, 07:44 Your prayers and your alms have come up 07:46 for a memorial before God. 07:49 And now send men to Joppa, 07:53 and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 07:56 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, 07:57 whose house is by the sea side: 07:58 and he will tell you what you ought to do." 08:01 You know, as we begin this particular passage 08:04 right here, we have Cornelius, 08:06 and this is a little bit unusual, 08:08 particularly at this point in history, 08:11 in the history of the Christian Church. 08:13 The Bible makes, mentions, specific mentioned 08:15 that this man was an Italian, 08:17 he was in charge of an Italian band, 08:19 an Italian regiment 100 men that he was in charge of, 08:23 and he has a visit from an angel. 08:27 As he has this visit from an angel, 08:30 the angel instructs him to go 08:32 and find Peter. 08:34 And Peter is going to come and tell him what he needs to 08:36 answer his questions. 08:37 Cornelius has been praying to God, 08:40 and he's been praying to the true God, 08:42 because he has questions about God 08:45 that are unanswered. 08:49 Now I want you to think about Peter 08:50 at this particular instance. 08:52 And we don't have time here today 08:54 to read the whole chapter. 08:55 So I'm going to assign it for you for homework. 08:57 Your homework for today 08:59 is to go and read Acts Chapter 10. 09:01 Read the whole story through. 09:03 But let's think about Peter for a moment. 09:05 Peter is in a bit of a... 09:06 is going to be in a bit of a difficult situation here, 09:09 because for the very first time in his life, 09:14 he is going to be called to minister to, 09:18 to go into the home of somebody 09:22 who is a Gentile. 09:25 Now we sort of, you know, we might kind of laugh 09:27 a little bit of that today. 09:29 You know, what would be the problem with that? 09:30 I mean, after all, 09:32 we're probably most of us Gentiles here, 09:34 listening to the show. 09:35 Most of us would fall into that category, 09:37 and how could that be a problem? 09:40 But what we need to recognize that for Peter, 09:42 this was a massive problem. 09:44 He would have to enter the house of a Gentile. 09:46 He would get Gentile on his fingers. 09:50 He would get Gentile on his clothes. 09:52 He would sit on a chair 09:54 that had been set on by a Gentile. 09:58 He would have a Gentile roof over his head. 10:00 He might get Gentile dust on him. 10:04 Not only that, 10:05 but if he's going to minister there, 10:07 then he's going to eat food 10:09 that was prepared by Gentiles 10:13 in the Gentile kitchen. 10:17 Imagine the thought, now, for us, of course, 10:22 is, you know, there's kind of no issue with that at all, 10:25 we would, we wouldn't even blink it 10:26 at such a thought. 10:28 But for Peter, this was a massive issue. 10:34 This was something incredibly radical. 10:36 And as you go down through the story, 10:38 you're going to find that 10:39 this was such a radical thought for Peter 10:42 that God has to send a vision. 10:44 So God's doing some big stuff right here. 10:47 God is sending an angel to Cornelius. 10:51 And an entire vision, 10:53 of course, you remember the vision 10:55 of the net that is let down, 10:56 he's sending entire vision to Peter, 10:59 just so that they can cross this gap 11:03 of going into the home of a Gentile. 11:07 This was no small thing. 11:09 When God is acting like that, 11:11 you know that big things are happening and for Peter, 11:15 this was going to be massively challenging. 11:21 So what does this have to do with us today? 11:25 And how does it apply to us today? 11:28 What lessons can we learn from this? 11:30 Is there ever any circumstance 11:33 in which it may be similar for us in our experience? 11:39 Who are the Gentiles in our society? 11:43 In Steps to Christ, 11:46 The Work and the Life, page 77, 11:50 we find this, "Angels are ever engaged 11:55 in working for the happiness of others. 11:59 This is their joy 12:01 that which selfish hearts 12:03 would regard as humiliating service, 12:07 ministering to those who are wretched 12:09 and in every way inferior in character and rank, 12:17 is the work of sinless angels. 12:19 The spirit of Christ's self sacrificing love 12:23 is the spirit that pervades heaven, 12:26 and is the very essence of its bliss. 12:30 This is the spirit that Christ's followers 12:32 will possess the work that they will do." 12:37 Why don't you think about that for a moment? 12:38 There was a key thought 12:39 right in the middle of this that jumped out to me 12:41 as I was reading through 12:42 and preparing for this presentation. 12:44 Ministering to those who are wretched 12:49 and in every way inferior in character and rank, 12:54 is the work of sinless angels. 12:57 And so we ask ourselves the questions, 12:58 who are we superior to? 13:02 Now our natural reaction is to sit here and say, 13:04 well, yeah, I'm not superior to anyone. 13:06 You know, that's how we respond as Christians, isn't it? 13:09 That is even a part of our culture. 13:13 And the reason that is become a part of our culture 13:16 is for one reason only 13:17 is the influence of this book right here, 13:19 because it never used to be 13:22 a part of the culture of the world. 13:25 In fact, if you go back to Peter's day, 13:28 the Jews considered themselves to be every way 13:32 superior in character and rank to everybody 13:36 that was around them, 13:38 which is why they couldn't bear the thought 13:39 of contaminating themselves with Gentile. 13:44 They had to stay clean and separate from Gentiles 13:47 and everyone, because they consider 13:48 themselves to be superior. 13:50 And we say, well, you know, we're just, 13:51 we're just like everybody else. 13:53 We're not superior to anybody else. 13:54 But the reality is that there are many things 13:58 that make us superior to other people, 14:01 whether we like it or not. 14:04 You see, simply by the fact that we live here in Australia, 14:08 we are superior to the vast population, 14:11 the vast majority of the population of the world, 14:13 isn't that so? 14:15 We have the highest income, the highest education, 14:19 the highest quality of housing, the highest health care, 14:22 and, you know, 14:23 just the highest stuff in general, 14:27 because we live in a developed country. 14:29 We have more stuff 14:31 than so much of our world today. 14:37 And that makes us superior, 14:39 whether we like it or not. 14:40 Now, we might not think that we are superior 14:42 in who we are, as you know, 14:47 we might see all people as being equal, 14:49 and that's a good thing because that's what the Bible teaches. 14:51 And that's the lesson that is being drawn 14:53 out in this passage 14:54 that we're looking at right now. 14:58 But then again, let's come to Australia. 15:02 And let's ask ourselves the question. 15:05 Are there people 15:06 that we feel superior to in Australia? 15:08 Now, I've traveled and, you know, in ministry, 15:10 sometimes you travel, and when you travel, 15:12 you have all kinds of adventures. 15:13 I'm going to share a few different adventures with you. 15:15 I traveled once one time to a developed country. 15:19 And arrangements had been made for accommodation, 15:23 I made some arrangements before I left. 15:25 When I got there, I was a little bit surprised. 15:29 Because I found myself staying with a family 15:31 from a low socioeconomic environment and it was, 15:37 you know, sort of immediately apparent, 15:40 but as is generally the case, 15:43 people that come from 15:45 a low socioeconomic environment, 15:46 they're just super friendly, 15:48 and give you the shirt off their back. 15:50 And they're super generous, and they do anything for you. 15:53 But you know, you walk into their home, 15:54 and it's just, it was just a little bit different from 15:57 what I'm used to. 15:59 You know, they'd pull out the, out the, 16:03 you know, the couch that folds out into a, 16:05 into a bed for me, so that was kind of nice. 16:08 And so I've climbed into the bed, but then, 16:10 you know, well, I should say this. 16:15 That kind of when I ended the home, 16:20 it sometimes you just get hit with that smell. 16:23 Like this is not a clean home. 16:26 And I'm gonna be staying in this home. 16:27 Yeah. 16:29 And then I climb into bed, 16:30 and there's a half chin dog burn in the bed. 16:34 And then there's a couple of dogs 16:36 that decide that, you know what? 16:38 There's a visitor here, this is amazing as dogs do. 16:41 You know how dogs do that, 16:42 that they love to meet new people. 16:44 It's like, well, we will sleep with the visitor, 16:47 so they climb in bed as well. 16:49 I'm the kind of person that comes from 16:50 a background of, you know, our dogs were working dogs. 16:53 And so they were outside dogs. 16:55 And so the dogs that I have right now, 16:56 he's an outside dog, he lives outside. 16:59 So this was very unusual for me. 17:01 It was the kind of place that you know, 17:02 you go to the fridge, and it's like, 17:04 you don't want to go to the fridge. 17:08 It's quite tempting in that kind of environment 17:11 to suddenly feel superior. 17:18 Another time I stayed in a home, 17:22 where in fact, I've had this happen 17:24 on a couple of occasions. 17:26 One home I stayed in, there was no walls. 17:30 It was just like one big shed 17:33 with a big open fireplace in the middle of it 17:35 and the whole family lived in it. 17:37 No walls whatsoever. 17:41 Another one, I had a similar, a similar one to that 17:43 that was in a, in an undeveloped country. 17:46 And it also had, like it kind of had walls, 17:49 it had studs. 17:52 But that was all, there was no covering 17:54 on any of the walls 17:55 and no nothing in any of the windows, no glass, 17:58 no louvers, no fly screens, nothing to keep 18:02 the mosquitoes out, nothing like that. 18:05 My most recent traveling adventure was 18:09 traveling in one, 18:11 probably one of the most undeveloped countries, 18:12 and I'm not naming any countries here because, 18:15 you know, I don't want people to go, oh, 18:16 that was that experience right there. 18:19 But a very, very undeveloped country 18:21 and being invited home to a meal 18:25 by, you know, a non, somebody not of our faith. 18:30 But being invited home to this meal and explaining, 18:32 well, you know, I'm a vegetarian, 18:34 and so they've gone out of their way. 18:36 But their home was basically one small step 18:40 above being a mud hut. 18:43 And when you eat in that kind of environment, 18:45 you know, being a Westerner 18:47 and coming from where I come from, 18:50 you know, the thoughts sort of go through your mind 18:52 is I'm on the other side of the world, 18:55 don't have, you know, a hospital here that 18:58 I would feel comfortable in, you know. 18:59 You see the hospital, it's like, woo, really. 19:02 I really don't want to get sick 19:04 at this particular time and in this particular place. 19:07 And so, you know, how do we feel 19:10 in those kind of environments? 19:14 And the reality is that even here in Australia, 19:16 there are many, many people 19:18 where we can go and visit their home. 19:20 And we can feel incredibly uncomfortable. 19:22 We can feel uncomfortable just sitting on their furniture. 19:26 We can feel uncomfortable by the smell that assails us 19:30 when they open the door. 19:32 We can find, feel incredibly uncomfortable 19:34 when they offer us a hot drink and we have 19:36 you know that we have that good cup of herbal tea 19:40 that hopefully that they've got in their cupboard. 19:44 And you sort of wonder, you know, 19:45 how well and when was the mug last washed. 19:50 Now maybe you're sitting there, 19:52 maybe you're sitting there back at home and saying, well, 19:53 I've never had that kind of experience. 19:56 Well, if you've never had that kind of experience 19:59 then maybe you haven't been challenged enough 20:05 in the work and the life. 20:07 Because I will guarantee 20:10 that if you go out to the community, 20:13 and you start to share Jesus 20:15 with people in an intentional way, 20:19 you will have these kinds of experiences. 20:21 And it won't be that rare. 20:28 How should we act? And how do we respond? 20:31 What does it say here? 20:34 That this, where are we, 20:37 the Spirit of Christ's self sacrificing love 20:40 is the spirit that pervades heaven, 20:43 and is the very essence of its bliss. 20:48 And so here is the first challenge 20:49 that I find in this chapter right here, 20:51 the essence of heaven's bliss. 20:53 Are you experiencing the heaven, 20:54 the essence of heaven's bliss? 20:57 You know, the chapter goes on, 20:58 and it continues to be very, very challenging 21:01 all the way through. 21:02 Says the Savior, this is from page 78. 21:04 So we go to the next page in here. 21:05 The Savior's life on earth was not a life of ease 21:08 and devotion to Himself, 21:09 but He toiled with persistent, 21:10 earnest, untiring effort 21:12 for the salvation of lost mankind. 21:15 From the manger to Calvary 21:16 He followed the path of self-denial 21:18 and sought not to be released from arduous tasks, 21:21 painful travels, exhausting care and labor. 21:24 This was the one great object of his life; 21:27 everything else was secondary and subservient. 21:30 It was his meat and drink to do the will of God 21:33 and to finish his work. 21:34 Self and self interest had no part in his labor. 21:40 Now we read that right there, we read that passage. 21:42 And these kinds of passages, you know, 21:44 they give us that nice, warm fuzzy inside, don't they? 21:48 Like, oh, yeah, self sacrificing love, 21:49 we should be self sacrificing. 21:51 That's who we are as Christians. 21:54 But I want you to notice here, it says that this was the focus 21:57 of the Savior's life on earth, 22:00 and that it was not a life of ease, 22:05 but a life of sacrifice. 22:07 Yeah, it's very interesting, 22:08 very easy way for us all to test 22:12 whether or not we have a life of ease, 22:15 or a life of sacrifice. 22:18 Here's a test that I want to challenge you 22:20 all with right now. 22:23 What kind of life do you have? 22:25 And that is, simply ask yourself 22:28 the question right now. 22:32 How did COVID 22:35 affect your plans this year? 22:39 What was it in your life 22:43 that was canceled as a result of COVID this year? 22:49 Did you have opportunities for sacrifice 22:54 and toil and labor 22:58 that were canceled this year? 23:01 Or was it your cruise? 23:05 You know, it kind of cuts 23:07 a little bit close to home, doesn't it? 23:08 We have to stop 23:09 and ask ourselves this question, 23:11 what was the focus of the Savior's life? 23:15 Persistent, earnest untiring effort 23:19 for the salvation of others. 23:22 Now, I'm not saying and you know, I'm not saying, 23:24 there is not a time and a place 23:27 for witnessing for Jesus in all kinds of environments. 23:32 And there's not, I'm not saying there's not a time and a place 23:34 for taking some time off and having a break. 23:38 Jesus did that as well. 23:40 But was that the focus of His life? 23:44 Was He living a life where He lived from, 23:48 you know, kind of, from one experience 23:52 of ease to another. 23:56 Sometimes I meet people, and the reason 24:00 that they go to work, 24:01 they just simply go to work to earn money, 24:03 so that they can have a holiday somewhere and sit back 24:06 and relax and take like easy. 24:09 Why do you go to work? 24:11 Why do you earn money? 24:12 What is the focus of your life? 24:14 Is it so that you can have 24:16 those times of ease and relaxation? 24:19 Or is it do you work, 24:22 so that you can share Jesus with others? 24:27 Let's think about the example 24:28 that Jesus has given to us right here 24:31 and is highlighted to us 24:33 in this particular passage. 24:35 Let's go to Matthew Chapter 20. 24:39 Matthew 20, 24:41 and we are going to read verse 28. 24:45 Matthew chapter 20 24:51 And verse 20:28, the Bible says, 24:52 "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 24:56 but to minister 24:58 and to give His life a ransom for many." 25:02 You know, when we truly understand 25:03 the sacrifice of Christ, 25:05 isn't that what motivates us in service? 25:07 And if we are not motivated in and service 25:09 and when if we ask ourselves that question, 25:11 what we are cancelled as a result of COVID. 25:13 And if we suddenly realized that, you know, 25:15 most of what we have cancelled has been, you know, 25:18 things to bring us pleasure and to bring us a life of ease. 25:24 And if that is the major impact that COVID has had on our life, 25:28 then maybe we need to relook at our lives 25:30 and relook at our relationship with Jesus Christ 25:33 because maybe this is where the challenge comes in. 25:39 Steps to Christ, Chapter 9, 25:41 The Life and the Work, it's full of challenges. 25:43 That's what it's there for. 25:46 And it simply goes on from one challenge to another. 25:48 We talk about ease and sacrifice, 25:50 but let's talk about our highest honor. 25:53 What is our highest honor? 25:56 I want to come back to the story 25:57 of Cornelius right here. 25:59 And I want you to think about Cornelius for a moment. 26:02 Cornelius is in his house. 26:04 He's had lots of questions for a long time. 26:06 We know that is the case. 26:09 Because he's in his house in the middle of the day, 26:11 and he is deep in prayer, 26:13 He has, you know, been assigned, 26:15 he's been sent by the empire to the Jewish nation. 26:19 And somewhere along the line, 26:21 he has discovered Yahweh, 26:24 the Jewish God, a very, very different God 26:28 from the gods that he is used to worshiping. 26:31 Somewhere along the line, he has given his life 26:34 to the service of Yahweh. 26:37 We know this because the Bible says 26:38 that he is a very devout man. 26:41 And, of course, as a devout man, 26:43 he's right there. 26:44 He is deep in prayer. 26:49 And so God decides to do something for Cornelius 26:51 that He has done for very, very few people. 26:53 He's probably not done it for us. 26:55 I don't know. I don't know your experience. 26:57 There would be some of you who have had this experience, 27:00 I'm sure but very few. 27:03 God in heaven hears Cornelius' prayer, 27:05 and commissions an angel to fly from heaven. 27:10 And so the angel leaves heaven. 27:11 He flies down to this earth and he stands there 27:15 in Cornelius' house. 27:18 Now, if I was Cornelius at this particular time, 27:20 I would be like, great. 27:23 This is fantastic. 27:24 Definitely intimidated and you can tell that Cornelius 27:27 was definitely intimidated by the presence of an angel, 27:30 but I would also be super excited 27:33 that someone had come 27:35 to share the gospel with me, 27:39 and not just some ordinary person 27:43 but an angel from heaven was there 27:45 present in my house 27:48 to share with me the gospel message. 27:52 And so you can imagine Cornelius 27:54 at this particular point, 27:55 he's super excited and he's ready. 27:57 He's ready now to hear the gospel message. 28:02 But does the angel share the gospel with Cornelius? 28:06 Is that what happens? 28:08 Does the angel stand there and say, okay, 28:10 you had all of these questions. 28:12 Let me answer these questions for you. 28:16 Is that what the angel does? 28:18 No, not at all, not at all. 28:21 The angel comes all the way from heaven, stands there, 28:24 grabs his attention, 28:27 and says, okay, send people to Joppa, 28:29 and find somebody by the name of Peter, 28:33 and he will share the gospel with you. 28:38 Wow, really? 28:43 Peter. 28:46 Peter is going to share the gospel. 28:48 Seriously? We all know Peter, right? 28:53 So you've got a choice now, 28:54 you can hear the gospel from an angel. 28:57 So the angel is a perfect, sinless being, 29:00 and you can imagine that that angel would give 29:03 a flawless presentation of the gospel message, 29:07 isn't that so? 29:09 Perfect. Not a word out of place. 29:17 You know, this is somebody, this is, 29:18 an angel has been standing there 29:20 with God in the courts of heaven. 29:24 But the angel's like now you gotta get Peter. 29:26 All right, so we know about Peter, right? 29:28 Peter, who always seemed to open his mouth, 29:31 and before he did anything else he put his foot in it, right? 29:35 Is pretty much the experience of Peter? 29:37 He was the one who always seem to be getting himself 29:40 into all kinds of trouble. 29:46 Yes, Peter, 29:49 who in Matthew 16:23, 29:54 Jesus calls him Satan. 29:58 You know, there are not too many people 29:59 in the Bible that have been 30:03 referred to as Satan. 30:05 You can think of Peter 30:06 and you can think of maybe you know, 30:08 the king of Babylon, the king of Tyre, 30:09 one or two others, 30:10 Peter is called Satan, doesn't he? 30:12 Then you go over. 30:13 Let's go over this passage in Luke, Luke Chapter 22. 30:15 Because this is right down 30:17 near the end of Jesus' ministry. 30:21 Luke 22:31, 30:24 "The Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, 30:26 behold, Satan has desired to have you 30:27 that he may sift you as wheat. 30:29 But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not 30:33 and when you are converted, 30:37 strengthen your brethren.'" 30:38 This is the night before Jesus dies. 30:41 Peter's been, you know, 30:42 three and a half years with Jesus 30:45 and Jesus is like yeah, okay. 30:47 When you are converted, 30:50 I've got a work for you to do. 30:52 Imagine spending three and a half years with Jesus 30:54 and Jesus turns around says, 30:56 "Yeah, okay, you're not yet converted." 30:57 Of course, Peter was converted that night 31:00 in the Garden of Gethsemane. 31:03 But under pretty terrible circumstances, wasn't it? 31:06 You know, when you think about it, 31:07 he was converted after having denied Jesus. 31:11 What a disaster? 31:13 So this is Peter. 31:15 Yeah, the story of Peter doesn't stop, 31:17 you can go to Galatians Chapter 2, 31:18 and you'll remember what happens 31:20 in Galatians Chapter 2, right? 31:23 The Bible says that in Galatians Chapter 2, 31:26 Peter dissembled. 31:28 Now there is an old English word for you. 31:31 You'll find that in the King James Version, 31:33 it says it means to act hypocritically to deceive 31:37 and to speak under a false part. 31:41 Because Peter was hanging out with all the Gentiles, 31:42 he'd learned how to do that. 31:44 And then the Jews from Jerusalem turned up 31:46 and suddenly is like, Oh, no, 31:49 can't be hanging out with Gentiles anymore, 31:51 because that would make me look bad 31:53 to the churches back in Jerusalem. 31:55 And Paul had to call him out and said Peter, 31:57 you know, Peter, the picture we get of Peter 32:00 is a weak failing human being bumbling his way along, 32:06 but at the same time being used by God 32:09 to do tremendous things. 32:13 That's the picture we have of Peter. 32:15 And so this bumbling, stumbling individual 32:19 who always seems to say the wrong thing 32:23 at the wrong time, 32:25 is who Cornelius is directed 32:28 to and so why? 32:32 Why send Cornelius to Peter? 32:37 What do that? 32:38 The angels made the effort come all the way from heaven 32:42 is already here. 32:43 Why not just share the gospel? 32:45 Why get Peter to do it? 32:47 There's an incredibly important lesson for us, right here. 32:51 And the simple reality is 32:54 that God could have reached 32:55 His object in saving sinners without our aid. 33:00 But in order for us to develop 33:04 a character like Christ's. 33:09 Now, isn't that the object 33:11 of what Christianity is all about, 33:13 to develop a character like Jesus. 33:17 In order for us to develop a character like Christ, 33:20 we must share in His work, in order to enter into His joy, 33:25 the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice, 33:28 we must participate in His labors 33:32 for their redemption. 33:34 That's Desire of Ages, page 142. 33:35 Let me read it to you 33:37 from Steps to Christ, Chapter 9. 33:40 That's the chapter that we are studying right here, 33:42 the best, no, that's not the right one. 33:44 Here is up here, page 79. 33:49 God might have committed the message of the gospel 33:52 to the heavenly angels. 33:54 But in His infinite love, 33:56 He chose to make us co-workers with Himself 34:00 that we might share the blessing, 34:02 the joy, the spiritual uplifting, 34:06 which results from this unselfish ministry. 34:11 God did not give the work to the angels. 34:13 He could have given to the work to the angels, 34:14 and the work would have been done 34:16 so much faster, 34:17 simpler, and easier. 34:19 But He gave the work to us, 34:22 He entrusted it to us. 34:23 And this is our highest honor. 34:26 And particularly ours as Seventh-day Adventists 34:28 have been committed to us 34:30 the most solemn message 34:32 ever entrusted to mortals, 34:35 think about that. 34:37 Think about the honor of that. 34:41 Hasn't given it to the angels, He's given it to us, why? 34:45 Because He knows, God knows, there is a blessing 34:49 that we can receive in sharing the gospel message 34:51 that we can get in no other way. 34:56 And unless we receive that blessing, 34:58 we can never experience the joy of seeing other save. 35:01 We can never experience the joy 35:03 that God experiences. 35:05 And He wants us to enter into that joy. 35:08 Not only that, we can never have 35:10 our characters formed, 35:11 like the character of Jesus Christ. 35:13 God has granted, 35:15 this is Steps to Christ, page 79. 35:18 God has granted men the privilege of diffusing 35:22 blessings to their fellow men. 35:24 This is the highest honor, 35:27 the greatest joy that it is possible for God 35:30 to bestow upon men. 35:33 I want you to think about that. 35:36 The highest honor 35:40 that God can give. 35:44 We all like to receive honor on occasion, isn't that so. 35:48 And here God has come along and says, Okay, 35:50 I'll give the highest honor. 35:52 The highest one out of all of them. 35:55 What is that highest honor? 35:57 It's the joy of sharing Jesus with other people. 36:00 And if we are not actively doing that, 36:03 in our life, in our work, in our experience, 36:06 in whatever it is that we are doing, 36:08 we are missing out on the joy of heaven. 36:12 We've only got half the Christian experience, 36:13 you know, so often people come to me and you know, 36:15 and I've heard this 36:16 over and over again, they're like, yeah, 36:17 I've tried Christianity, didn't work. 36:19 It's not for me, you know, been there done that. 36:21 It didn't work. 36:22 I'm like, what do you mean you tried Christianity? 36:23 Like yeah, used to go to church, 36:25 used to reading the Bible used to, 36:26 used to pray, used to study, 36:28 used to go small group, all of that kind of stuff. 36:30 But it just, it just didn't work for me. 36:34 You know, there's more to being a Christian 36:37 than just taking in the spiritual blessings of God. 36:43 It's a little bit like eating, in fact, 36:44 it's a lot like eating if all you ever do 36:47 is take in and you never exert any of the energy 36:51 that you are taking into yourself, what happens? 36:55 You become very, very unhealthy, 36:57 and you're going to die. 37:03 It will kill you. 37:05 That's what happens to us as Christians, 37:06 we become fast food Christians where we're like, 37:08 yeah, I'm a Christian, 37:09 and I'll spend some time reading the Bible, 37:10 da-da, done. 37:12 Move on into the rest of the day, 37:13 you know, drive through Christianity, 37:15 have a drive through experience with Jesus in the morning, 37:17 launch off into the day and think that that's going 37:19 to get us through the day somehow. 37:20 And then as we go through the day, 37:23 we never ever share, 37:24 we never ever burn off all of that, 37:26 you know, that energy that we have, 37:29 you know, taken in whatever it might be. 37:32 It's a lethal combination, it will kill you spiritually, 37:34 you will die as a result of it. 37:36 And God has given to us the highest honor, 37:39 and that is sharing Jesus with those people around us. 37:45 You know, often we get intimidated by the concept 37:48 of sharing Jesus with others, 37:50 and we look out at the whole world 37:51 and we look at the big field that there is. 37:56 And all of the needs that there are in our world 37:58 and we say to ourselves, well, you know, 38:00 we can't sort of meet all of those needs, 38:01 what can we? 38:03 What can we, you know, and we just kind of give up, 38:05 or we say, you know, I'm not really qualified, 38:09 you know, what do I do? 38:13 I got to tell you that when I was young person, 38:17 just a teenager, I had opportunity 38:20 to share the Bible with some people 38:22 and to study the Bible, you know, 38:24 some other young folk that were about 38:25 the same age as me. 38:26 And I just went and gave Bible studies. 38:32 They were terrible Bible studies. 38:36 In fact, I teach people how to do Bible studies today. 38:40 And when I teach people how to do Bible studies, 38:42 I teach them how to do everything 38:46 completely the opposite of what I did 38:48 in those first Bible studies. 38:50 I'm like, these are all the mistakes you can make. 38:52 You know, this is a mistake, this is a mistake, 38:53 this is a mistake. 38:55 And when I was giving those first Bible studies 38:56 as young person, 38:58 I was going down the tick box of mistakes. 39:00 Yep, made that one, yep, made that one, 39:03 yep, made that one, yep made that one. 39:04 I didn't know I was making mistakes 39:06 I was just enthusiastic in sharing Jesus. 39:09 And you know, young people gave their life 39:10 to Jesus Christ as a as a result of that. 39:12 And they are still followers of Jesus Christ 39:14 as a result of those Bible studies today, 39:16 even though I broke every rule 39:19 that there was in the book 39:20 in relationship to giving Bible studies, 39:22 I'm gonna turn up, I'd be on fire. 39:24 I'd stay there for like three hours. 39:29 You know, you ever been in a three hour Bible study 39:31 can be pretty heavy going 39:34 and I held them with the Bible, you know, like, 39:38 it's kind of what people do 39:39 when they're just new young Christians. 39:41 It's not the a... 39:42 It's one of those things that we need to, 39:44 to figure out is that, yeah, as new Christians. 39:50 We need to train our new Christians, 39:51 so they can be super effective 39:53 because I let harness that energy. 39:55 But let's find that energy for ourselves. 39:57 If you go to work as Christ designs, 39:59 you will feel the need of a deeper experience. 40:02 What do you think about this for a moment? 40:03 Think about the disciples 40:04 as they gathered in the upper room? 40:07 You've got 120 disciples that gather together 40:09 in the upper room after the resurrection. 40:15 Now there's two gatherings in that upper room. 40:17 There's one before the crucifixion, 40:20 there is one after the resurrection. 40:24 Now those two gatherings have very, very different 40:26 atmospheres, don't they? 40:28 Let's think about it. 40:30 What was it they were talking about 40:34 in the upper room before the crucifixion? 40:38 They're all talking about who's gonna be greatest 40:39 in the kingdom, aren't they? 40:42 They've been with Jesus for three and a half years 40:45 and this is still where their heads are at. 40:50 It must have broken Jesus' heart. 40:54 But then when they gathered together 40:56 after the resurrection, 40:59 they've now received the Great Commission, 41:01 go and take the gospel to the whole world, 41:03 begin at Jerusalem, and then Judea, 41:05 and then Samaria and then the whole world. 41:11 They were completely 100% divided 41:16 before the crucifixion, and completely 100%. 41:21 United after the Great Commission. 41:26 What made the difference? 41:27 And I've got to challenge them with a big job. 41:31 He commissioned them 41:33 with a massive mission. 41:35 And they unified around the mission, 41:38 because the mission became so big 41:42 that all of the little differences 41:44 that had divided them and split them up 41:46 before that just seemed 41:48 to fade into the background. 41:52 They just didn't seem to be relevant anymore. 41:55 Once you think about our churches today, 42:00 think about your church today. 42:04 And you can travel to all kinds of different churches, 42:06 big churches, small churches, 42:08 different churches all over the place, 42:10 and you find people who are divided 42:14 and they are, you know, they're kind of having these 42:16 little bit of squabbles over things. 42:19 And when you come in as an outsider, 42:21 you sort of think, you know, this is a really small issue, 42:24 you know? We have that saying, our first world issues. 42:28 This is definitely first world issues, 42:29 I can't believe that you're arguing over that. 42:35 Why is it that our churches like that? 42:38 Doesn't matter where you go, you're gonna find it. 42:40 Why? Because we don't have enough to do. 42:47 If you go to work as Christ designs, 42:49 you'll feel a need of a deeper experience, 42:51 and a greater knowledge in divine things, 42:53 and will hunger and thirst after righteousness, 42:56 you will plead with God 42:58 and your faith will be strengthened, 42:59 and your soul will drink deeper drafts 43:03 of the well of salvation. 43:07 I want you to think about that. 43:08 We all want to drink those deep drafts 43:11 of the well of salvation, isn't that so? 43:14 And here, we find out exactly how to do so, 43:18 by simply going to work as Christ designs, 43:20 because when you go to work as Christ designs, 43:22 and when you're studying with somebody, 43:24 and when, you know, real life great controversy 43:27 is happening right there, where I, you can 43:31 see it taking place around and you see people wrestling 43:33 with decisions, wrestling with decisions 43:36 to give their life to Jesus Christ, 43:38 wrestling with their addictions, 43:39 wrestling with, you know, all of the things in their life 43:42 that are holding them back from God, 43:44 and you have a burning desire in your heart 43:47 to see the transforming power of God's grace in their life, 43:51 it's going to drive you to your knees. 43:55 And as you go to your knees, 43:57 that's where you're going to find that deeper experience. 44:00 Because you're going to recognize 44:01 your total inability to convert anybody, 44:05 your total inability to be able to change another person's life 44:10 and then you'll see the Holy Spirit at work. 44:13 And I've often said, 44:15 being a Bible worker, being a pastor, 44:18 or sharing a Bible study, 44:20 and leading someone to Jesus Christ 44:23 is kind of like being a spectator. 44:26 You know, I've been in ministry for 44:28 full time ministry for 26 years. 44:31 And during that time, I've always wanted 44:34 to lead somebody to Jesus Christ. 44:37 Got to tell you, I've seen it happen a lot. 44:40 And I've seen their life change. 44:41 And every time it happens, 44:43 you kind of have this human thing where you feel like 44:45 you want to be able to take some credit somewhere for it. 44:52 But you never feel like you can. 44:54 Because you always sit back and say, wow, 44:57 what just happened in that person's life? 44:59 How did that change happen so dramatically? 45:04 This is the joy of sharing Jesus with others, 45:07 and seeing God at work in people's lives. 45:14 The Church of Christ 45:17 is God's is to Steps of Christ now page 81 45:19 is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men. 45:24 Its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. 45:26 And we talk about the divisions that come into our church 45:28 and all those petty little things that come up. 45:30 In fact, I've another quote here somewhere, 45:32 where did it go? 45:33 I was going to share it, was a really good one. 45:36 But it's disappeared. 45:38 But it talks about, you know, how we get all of these petty 45:40 little differences that come in, 45:41 and that try and divide us up. 45:43 And the best medicine for the church 45:46 is to set the church to work. 45:49 Simple as that. 45:50 That's the best medicine you can give any church. 45:53 Because when they realize the bigness of the mission 45:57 and when they realize and they see real issues. 46:02 You know, when you're studying the Bible with somebody, 46:05 that's struggling with an addiction in their life 46:08 that is just absolutely controlling them. 46:10 And when you're seeing that great controversy 46:12 between Christ and Satan, 46:14 that battle for that person's 46:15 soul being waged in front of you, 46:18 suddenly realize that this is actually a real issue. 46:23 And the things that we so often 46:24 fight over in our churches, 46:28 they're not real issues. 46:29 This is a real issue, 46:31 because this is life and death. 46:38 Bible says the church is weak and failing as it is, 46:41 and let's be real. 46:43 We're all human beings, and we all bring our humanity 46:46 into the experience of the church, 46:50 is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men. 46:52 So often I find that people like, yeah, you know, 46:55 I don't need to be a... 46:57 I don't need to go to church to be a Christian. 47:00 Yeah, in COVID everybody's going to church on Zoom. 47:02 Yeah, I'm doing fine. 47:05 No, you're not. 47:08 It's not what God designed. 47:10 It's not what God called us to. 47:11 God invented church for a reason. 47:14 Describe that as a holy convocation 47:16 that the children of Israel were to do every Sabbath, 47:18 the holy gathering together every Sabbath. 47:24 Church is God's means of salvation for the world. 47:28 You can do things on your own. 47:33 But you're going to be limited, incredibly limited. 47:37 It's as we draw together as a church 47:39 and as we gain strength from each other. 47:42 And as we form a body where you become one part 47:45 and somebody else becomes another part. 47:47 And we recognize that, okay, 47:49 there's differences in our church right here. 47:52 But those differences can be strength, 47:55 because this person can reach someone I can't. 47:57 And this person could do something I can't. 47:59 That is when we can see big things happening. 48:04 You go through the Book of Acts, 48:06 and we've been looking at the story of Cornelius 48:07 and we find the conversion of Cornelius 48:09 in his whole household. 48:12 But I find the Book of Acts incredibly exciting. 48:15 You know when the church realized the bigness 48:17 of their mission, and when they united together. 48:20 And when they became active for Jesus Christ, 48:25 big things happened. 48:28 You know, they united at Pentecost, 48:31 all the petty differences faded away 48:33 because they saw the bigness of the mission, 48:36 the Holy Spirit filled. 48:38 What does the Bible say? 48:39 Acts 2:41, 3000 people 48:41 gave their lives to Jesus in one day. 48:45 Acts 4:4, 48:48 5000 people, no, not 5000 people, 48:54 5000 men gave their lives to Jesus Christ, 48:57 that's at least, 48:59 if you're counting women and children, 49:01 that's at least 15,000 people 49:04 baptized that day and I would say closer to 20. 49:07 And maybe a lot more. 49:09 There had been families back in the day. 49:12 And then you go to Acts Chapter 5. 49:14 So you got Acts 2, then you got Acts 4, 49:15 then you got Acts 5. 49:17 Bible simply says, multitude, both men and women. 49:21 By the time you get to Acts 5, 49:23 there are so many people coming to Jesus Christ. 49:25 They couldn't count them anymore. 49:27 They could count them in Chapter 2. 49:29 In Chapter 4 they couldn't, so they just counted the men. 49:31 In Chapter 5, they couldn't count them anymore. 49:33 That was the result of the outpouring 49:35 of the Holy Spirit. 49:36 And that is what we can see happen in our lives 49:40 and in our churches today 49:41 under the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 49:46 Steps to Christ, page 81 49:50 of Chapter 9, The Life and the Work. 49:53 The greater part of our Savior's life on earth 49:54 was spent in patient toil. 49:56 This is interesting. 49:58 Because a lot of people at this particular point, 50:00 they come to me and say, "Well, you know, 50:01 maybe I need to do this or do that or do the other." 50:04 You need to do all of these things. 50:05 I need to... 50:07 I can't be a witness for Jesus, 50:08 because you know, I haven't studied ministry, 50:10 or I haven't studied how to be a Bible worker. 50:12 How am I going to share Jesus? 50:17 We share Jesus by following the example of Jesus, don't we? 50:21 Jesus was the master evangelist, 50:22 the greatest of them all. 50:24 We talk about Christ's method and we studied Christ's method. 50:26 But there are certain aspects 50:29 of Christ's method that we kind of leave out. 50:34 And the greater part of Christ's life, 50:39 we don't stop to think about. 50:43 The greater part, this is Steps to Christ, page 81. 50:47 The greater part of our Savior's life on earth 50:49 was spent in patient toil 50:52 in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. 50:57 Where was the bulk of Jesus' earthly ministry? 51:01 The bulk of Jesus' earthly ministry 51:04 was not in those last three and a half years, 51:07 was 30 years before that, working in a carpenter's shop. 51:12 Now there would be a lot of people 51:13 who would look at that situation 51:15 and to say if you come into this earth 51:16 to make a big impact and have, 51:19 you know, start a new global religion, 51:21 then you need to dedicate your entire life to it. 51:23 Jesus go three and a half years to that. 51:26 He gave 30 years to working in a carpenter shop 51:28 and growing up as a child, 51:33 spending patient, 51:34 toil in the carpenter shop at Nazareth, 51:36 He was as faithfully fulfilling His mission 51:40 while working at His trade 51:43 as when He healed the sick. 51:46 Won't you think about that? 51:49 Is there anybody 51:52 who doesn't have that opportunity 51:55 to simply share Jesus 51:57 in what we're called to do day by day. 52:00 Now God calls many of us 52:01 and He might be calling you, I don't know. 52:03 You can go out and do great things for Him. 52:05 But I do know this, 52:07 that God called every single person 52:12 whatever their circumstances. 52:14 Some people come to me and they're like, "Oh, 52:15 you've got a son who follow in your footsteps. 52:16 You're proud of your son 52:18 who's following in your footsteps." 52:19 He has gone and done ministry and, of course, 52:20 I'm enormously proud of my son who's doing ministry. 52:24 But I like to remind people that I have two sons 52:26 that are in full time ministry. 52:29 One son who's in full time ministry as a pastor, 52:33 the other son who is in full time ministry 52:35 as a panel debater, 52:39 and both of them are just as qualified for ministry 52:42 and both of them are just as active in ministry, 52:46 because both of them have given their life to Jesus Christ, 52:49 and use their opportunities, wherever those opportunities 52:52 might be to share Jesus. 52:54 You know, you think about Peter, 52:55 and he comes to Cornelius 52:57 and he could feel intimidated by that. 53:00 You know, here you've got Cornelius, 53:01 who is, he's centurion. 53:04 He's a Roman officer. 53:06 He's highly trained and highly skilled. 53:08 He's got 100 servants who will do anything he asks, 53:12 without question. 53:14 And who's Peter? 53:16 What's Peter's background? 53:18 What's his training? 53:20 He's a fisherman. 53:22 That's superior he is. 53:24 And Peter could at that particular point 53:25 say I will, I can't really do this. 53:27 How am I qualified? 53:28 I'm just a fisherman, 53:30 but Peter was qualified, 53:32 because he spent time with Jesus. 53:34 Isn't that so? 53:36 Have you spent time with Jesus? 53:38 If you spend time with Jesus, 53:40 you're qualified as well. 53:43 Just as qualified as Peter. 53:46 Finally, we have the unlimited joy 53:50 of service to Jesus Christ. 53:54 Steps to Christ, page 83. 53:56 You are workers together with God in this life, 53:59 and are thus fitting for the higher work 54:01 and unshadowed joy of the life to come. 54:05 And we might say 54:06 the unshadowed joy of eternity 54:10 with Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2021-04-29