Participants: Pr. David Asscherick
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000882
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01:00 Our presentation this morning is titled
01:02 "The Single Secret to Succeeding in the Christian Walk." 01:07 Is there anyone here this morning 01:08 that wants to succeed in the Christian walk? 01:10 Amen. Okay. 01:12 Then this presentation is for you. 01:15 I want to go on record of saying 01:17 that the Christian life is a wonderful life. 01:22 I have been walking this walk now for 10 years 01:24 and I have no regrets. 01:26 I love the Lord. I love the truth. 01:28 And by His grace I'm growing daily to love Him more. 01:33 Amen. Amen. 01:35 One of the things about the Christian walk 01:38 that I so love and so appreciate 01:41 is that it is the Christian walk. Amen. 01:45 Emphasis, there on walk. 01:49 I have never yet heard anyone referred 01:51 to the Christian walk as the Christian leap. 01:56 Amen. Amen. 01:59 Our presentation is 'The Single Secret 02:00 to Succeeding in the Christian Walk." 02:04 If I asked you to come up here and give a demonstration 02:07 of how far you could jump or how far you could leap 02:10 probably, some of you the more athletic among us 02:12 could jump may be even 10 or 15 feet. 02:16 Perhaps, even more but you could walk much further. 02:23 Even the most robust among us, 02:25 even the most athletic among us 02:27 could probably leap over may be 15 to 20 feet 02:30 but there're people that walk for 100s even 1000s of miles. 02:37 The Christian walk is not something that 02:40 takes place in one fell swoop. 02:43 It is something that takes place over time. 02:45 You can cover vast distances 02:48 walking, the Christian walk. 02:54 I want you to know that 02:55 even though I have been a Christian now for 10 years, 02:58 I don't think I really learned the lesson 03:01 that I want to present to you today 03:03 until about the last two. 03:06 It's amazing--have you ever had the experience 03:08 where you know you're walking with the Lord, 03:10 you know you're strong with Jesus 03:12 and you want to be more with Jesus 03:15 and stronger with Him. 03:16 But do you ever have these epiphany moments, 03:17 these eureka moments where you realize 03:19 that something so simple and so basic has eluded you 03:22 from much of your Christian experience. 03:25 Has anyone else ever had that? No. 03:28 I have been a Christian for the better part of eight years 03:30 and I stumbled upon this lesson 03:32 I'm going to share with you today 03:34 and it has literally transformed 03:36 the way walk with Jesus. Amen. 03:40 Today, there will be not be 03:41 three or four or five or ten points to remember. 03:46 There will be just one. 03:49 And I'm going go so far as to say that 03:51 if you can remember and internalize and inculcate 03:55 and put this one simple truth into your Christian experience 03:59 it will change your life 04:01 and you will be saved. Amen. 04:07 Open your Bibles with me 04:08 to the Book of Luke, if you would. 04:10 That's the third book of the New Testament. 04:11 Matthew, Mark, Luke. We're going to Luke Chapter 5. 04:15 Luke, what chapter everyone? Luke 5. 04:17 Luke Chapter 5, we're talking about the Christian walk 04:20 as opposed to the Christian leap. 04:24 We're talking about the face 04:25 that you can cover vast distances given sufficient time. 04:30 In Luke 5, Jesus tells three parables. 04:33 How many parables, everyone? Three parables. 04:35 Three parables, we're going to read all three of them 04:38 but we're going to hone in on the last. 04:41 All of these parables have to do 04:43 with the mingling of the new and old. 04:46 Luke 5 beginning in verse 36. 04:50 "Then He spoke a parable to them saying, 04:52 'No one puts a piece from a new garment.'" 04:54 On what kind of a garment? 04:55 "'On an old one, otherwise the new makes a tear, 04:58 and also the piece that was taken out of the new 05:00 does not match the old.'" No one does that. 05:03 Verse 37 "And no one puts new wine into" 05:06 what kind of wineskins? Old wineskins. 05:07 "Old wineskins, or else the new wine 05:10 will burst the wineskins and will be spilled, 05:13 and the wineskins will be ruined. 05:14 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, 05:17 and both are preserved." And finally. 05:21 Verse 39, "And no one" I want you to notice 05:24 that Jesus begins all three parables, 05:27 by telling us this is something that no one does. 05:31 He says, no one does this, 05:33 no one does this, no one does this. 05:35 Jesus here is appealing to our commonsense. 05:40 In the first parable, no one takes a new patch 05:43 and puts it on an old garment 05:44 because when that new patch shrinks 05:46 it will tear the garment. 05:48 Jesus is concerned here 05:49 about the inappropriate mingling of the new with the old. 05:55 And no man takes new wine and puts it into old wineskins 05:58 because of the process of fermentation 06:00 that takes place in those wineskins 06:02 the new wine can burst the wineskins. 06:04 And no one does that, Jesus says. 06:07 Again concerned about the inappropriate mingling 06:10 of the new and the old. 06:13 And then verse 39. 06:14 This is the parable that we're really after this morning. 06:17 Jesus says, "And no one having drunk old wine 06:22 immediately desires the new, 06:24 for He says, 'The old is better.'" 06:29 No one having drunk, what kind of wine? Old wine. 06:32 Old wine, immediately desires the new. 06:35 Because, he says, "The old is better." 06:37 Now Bible students I want to ask you a question this morning. 06:39 What is the operative word in that verse? 06:43 What is the word in verse 39, 06:46 that the whole verse hinges on? 06:49 Immediately. 06:51 In fact, if you take the word immediately out 06:54 the verse actually says the exact opposite 06:56 of what Jesus is trying to say. 06:57 In fact, let's just do that together. 06:58 Look at verse 39. 07:00 "And no one having drunk old wine, 07:01 desires the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'" 07:06 That's the exact opposite of what Jesus is trying to say. 07:08 Jesus is not saying that if you've drunk the old 07:10 you never could like the new. 07:12 What He is saying is, 07:13 "It doesn't happen immediately." Amen. 07:17 That means then that it would take time. 07:22 It would take what everyone? Time. 07:24 It would take time. 07:25 The transition from the old wine 07:28 to the new wine would take time. 07:31 Could someone who is accustomed to the old wine, 07:33 come to appreciate and enjoy the new. 07:35 Yes or no? Yes. 07:36 Yeah, but it doesn't happen immediately. 07:40 Now this parable here, these parables, 07:43 the mingling of the new and the old-- 07:44 and Jesus concerned with that 07:46 actually have at least two applications. 07:49 The first application understood by most scholars 07:51 is that the new wine of Jesus messianic identity 07:57 could not fit into the old wine of the Pharisees view 08:02 of who the Messiah was. 08:04 So Jesus comes on the scene 08:06 and because of their expectation of who the Messiah was 08:08 and frankly what, what the Jewish faith was 08:11 because Jesus was so new, so radical and so fresh. 08:14 They were going to have to totally throw the old out 08:17 in order to except the new. 08:18 Are you with me, yes or no? 08:20 So in one sense this parable has to do 08:22 with the transition in Judaism 08:25 to the post messianic economy from the pre-messianic economy. 08:29 But that's not really what we're going to talk about today. 08:34 The second element that this parable teaches 08:37 is that there is a transition 08:40 from the old life to the new life. Amen. 08:43 From the old lifestyle and the old choices 08:46 to the new lifestyle and the new choices. 08:50 Now when Jesus says in verse 39, 08:52 "No one having drunk old wine, immediately desires the new." 08:55 The old wine was fermented wine. 08:59 It was what everyone? 09:00 Fermented wine. Fermented wine. 09:01 It was alcoholic wine. 09:02 And what Jesus is saying here makes such a good sense. 09:06 It appeals to our commonsense. 09:07 If we would go to find a man in downtown Detroit 09:10 and who was drunk there on the sidewalk, 09:13 who is inebriated there passed out. 09:15 And we were to rouse him from his stupor 09:17 and sit him upright and say, my friend, 09:20 we have some good news for you. 09:21 You've been drinking the rotten stuff all these years. 09:24 We've brought you some ta-da Welch's. 09:31 And here, what-what, what. Ah. 09:33 And we were to pour in nice cool fresh glass 09:37 of Welch's grape juice and he were to drink it. 09:42 It is unlikely that he would say, wow. 09:47 Where did you get this? 09:51 All the while I have been drinking the rotten stuff. 09:54 I've been drinking the bad stuff, 09:56 the old stuff and now I find the new. 10:00 His response would likely be quite the opposite. 10:06 Now the question is could that man 10:09 come to enjoy the Welch's? No. 10:13 Could he come to load the old wine? 10:17 But what would it take? Time. 10:20 It would take some time. That is Jesus hope on. 10:25 "No man having drunk old wine, immediately desires the new." 10:30 Because, he still thinks the old is better. 10:33 If it takes time but it can still be done. 10:36 This means that it involves a process. 10:42 It involves what everyone? 10:43 Process. A process. 10:44 So we're going to deduce-- 10:46 I think very fairly, very legitimately, 10:49 very consistently from this passage of scripture 10:52 that the transition from old to the new involves a process 10:57 but it can't be done. Yeah. 11:03 Open your Bibles with me. 11:05 Keep your fingers here in Luke. We'll stay there. 11:08 I want to show you three passages 11:10 from the writings of Paul 11:13 that are central passages in Paul's theology. 11:19 Now what I mean by that is 11:20 that these are not obscure passages of scripture 11:23 that we're going to interpret in some obscure, nebulous, 11:27 you know, extremely, theological way. 11:30 We're going to look at three passages 11:32 that are very central to Paul's whole view. 11:35 His whole theology. 11:38 And the first is in Romans Chapter 1. 11:39 In fact in some regards this might be the best known 11:42 Pauline passage of all time. 11:45 Romans Chapter 1. 11:46 What chapter everyone? Romans 1. 11:49 Romans 1 and notice with me verse 16. 11:54 In fact, if I started this you'll probably finish it. 11:58 "For I am not ashamed." 12:03 See you know what? 12:05 This is not an obscure passage. This is not an unknown passage. 12:08 This is not an unusual passage. 12:10 Now why are you bringing that point out, David? 12:11 The point is this. 12:12 We're going to show that central to Pauls 12:14 understanding of the gospel 12:16 was that it involved this idea of a process. 12:20 So Paul says, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." 12:25 Can someone say, amen? Amen. 12:28 "For it's the power of God unto salvation 12:30 for everyone who believes." 12:31 Can someone say, amen? Amen. 12:33 "For the Jew and also for the Greek. 12:35 For there in is the righteousness of God revealed 12:38 from faith to faith, 12:40 as it is written the just shall live by faith. " Amen. 12:45 One of the central passages of the protestant reformation. 12:49 But I want you to notice something very interesting now 12:51 in verse 17. 12:54 Paul inserts this phrase "from faith to faith." 13:00 He has told you that this marvelous salvation, 13:03 this marvelous gospel is by faith. 13:06 I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ 13:07 for it is the power of God unto salvation 13:08 to all who believe. 13:10 But then he says, it happens from faith to faith. 13:14 Now Bible students, English speaking peoples, 13:18 let me ask you a question. 13:19 What function does the phrase 13:23 "from faith to faith" serve in this passage? 13:29 What does it mean? 13:30 Why does he say "from faith to faith" 13:32 as it is written to just live by faith? 13:34 What is the phrase "from faith to faith" mean? 13:38 What you think it might mean? 13:42 It involves a process. 13:45 What he is saying is 13:46 that salvation is communicated to us 13:48 from one level of faith, to the next level of faith, 13:52 to the next level of faith. 13:54 In fact, the idea that's been connoted here, 13:56 Paul could just as easily have said, 13:57 if space would have allowed "From faith to faith, 14:00 to faith, to faith, to faith." 14:03 Salvation is always from beginning to end 14:05 and right through the middle sections 14:07 always by faith but it still involves a process. 14:14 What did Jesus say? 14:17 "No man having drunk old wine." 14:19 What was that word? What was that word? 14:21 "Immediately desires the new." 14:24 He has still persuaded that the old is better. 14:27 Jesus here speaks of a process of transition 14:30 from the old to the new. 14:31 Paul here says, that we're saved by faith. 14:34 But it's always "from faith to faith." 14:39 Notice with me the second passage, 14:40 2 Corinthians. 14:41 You're there in Romans the next book would be 14:43 1 Corinthians followed by 2 Corinthians 3:18, 14:49 another central passage 14:51 to Paul's whole view of the gospel. 14:54 Well known passage. 14:58 Many of you no doubt have committed 14:59 this very passage to memory. 15:03 And here again we find a little phrase. 15:05 That is inserted right into the guts of the passage 15:09 that make the passage accessible to those of us 15:13 who are walking the Christian walk. 15:17 Verse 18 says. 15:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, 15:20 beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 15:25 are being" what's the next word? Transformed. 15:28 "Transformed or changed into the same image 15:32 from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the Lord." 15:38 Paul here envisions a transition 15:40 from the character that you are in 15:42 transforming into the character likeness of Jesus Christ. 15:47 Can you say, amen? Amen. 15:48 That's why we call ourselves Christians. 15:50 We are followers of the Christ. 15:52 But he inserts that phrase there 15:54 "from glory to glory." 15:58 Now question, what function does the phrase 16:01 from glory to glory serve in this verse? 16:06 To communicate a process, that's exactly right. 16:08 It does not take place in one fell swoop. 16:10 It takes place through a process. 16:12 It takes place through time. 16:13 So that we advance 16:14 from one level of glory to the next level of glory. 16:17 Always reflecting-- never having our own glory 16:20 but reflecting more and more still fully, 16:22 the righteousness of Christ from glory to glory to glory 16:25 from one level of Christian 16:27 character development and advancement, 16:29 to the next, to the next, to the next. 16:31 It's a process. 16:35 Are you with me, yes or no? Amen. 16:39 Now look at the next one. 16:40 We're right there in 2 Corinthians. 16:41 Stay in 2 Corinthians 16:43 look in chapter 4 and verse 16, with me. 16:46 2 Corinthians 4:16. 16:50 2 Corinthians 4:16. 16:54 "Therefore we do not lose hearts." 17:02 Amen. Amen. 17:03 Don't loose heart. 17:05 Don't throw in the towel. 17:06 Don't give up faith. 17:09 He says, "Therefore we do not loose heart." 17:12 He continues, "Even though our outward man 17:16 is perishing our physical material body is perishing 17:21 yet the inward man the spiritual man 17:24 is being renewed day by day." Amen. 17:30 The root word renewed. 17:31 What's the root word of renewed? New. 17:35 So even though the outward man 17:36 might be perishing in Paul's case, 17:38 in the context he is talking about persecution. 17:40 Even though the outward man might be falling apart. 17:42 That doesn't just happen with persecution 17:43 by the way it happens with age. 17:50 Getting older, getting greyer. 17:53 They get calls to go to week of prayers 17:55 and you show up and you look at all of these kids 17:59 who couldn't possibly be in high school 18:04 and yet they are. And you're saying. 18:05 Wow, they look so much younger than when I was. 18:07 It's just that you're getting older. 18:12 Even though the outward man is ageing. 18:14 The outward man is perishing day by day. 18:16 The inward man-- the spiritual man 18:19 is being made new. Amen. 18:22 But how was he being made new? 18:25 Day by day 18:27 but let me think about these three phrases here. 18:29 Central to Paul's understanding of the gospel. 18:31 I mean these are not obscure passages. 18:33 These are central Pauline text. 18:35 He says, "from faith to faith, 18:37 from glory to glory, day by day." 18:39 Paul is saying that gospel 18:41 of righteousness by faith in Christ 18:44 is communicated in a process. Amen. 18:49 Communicated in what everyone? 18:50 Process. Process. 18:51 Now I have purposefully awarded the word 18:54 up to this point sanctification. 18:58 Because sometimes when we introduce theological jargon, 19:01 theological vernacular-- 19:03 we actually muddy the waters rather than clarifying them. 19:08 The process of sanctification is little more 19:11 than the process of growing to be more like God. Amen. 19:17 And no one jumps from being a sinner 19:20 to being like Jesus in one fell swoop. 19:24 It takes time. 19:25 It involves a process. Amen. 19:31 Ellen White understood this. 19:34 That should not be a surprise to us 19:37 since what Ellen White said as a true prophet of the Lord 19:40 would be consistent with what Paul said. 19:42 Can someone say, amen? 19:44 There is no contradiction here. 19:45 There is no contradistinction here. 19:47 They agree-- and I'll give you three 19:52 very short sentences to that affect. 19:55 Its three very short statements-- 19:57 statements that affect. Listen, to this. 19:58 The faith I live by-- page 116. 20:02 "There is no such thing as instantaneous sanctification." 20:09 There is no such thing as what? 20:12 Instantaneous sanctification, 20:13 true sanctification is a daily work-- 20:15 lasting as long, as life shall last. 20:18 Amen. Question. 20:19 Is there such a thing as sanctification? 20:21 Yes. Yes. 20:22 But there is no, such thing as instantaneous sanctification. 20:30 It's a daily work continuing as long as life shall last. 20:34 Day by day, from faith to faith, from glory to glory. 20:41 Third selected Messages page 193, 20:44 "You do not at one bound reach perfection, 20:50 sanctification is the work of a lifetime." 20:54 Now, she uses the word bound here. 20:56 You do not in one-bound reach perfection. 20:58 What's another word for bound? 20:59 What's she is saying here? Yeah, in one-leap. 21:02 She is making the very same point that we're making. 21:04 It's a Christian walk, not the Christian leap. 21:07 She says, "You do not in one-bound, 21:09 in one-fell-swoop, reach perfection." 21:13 Sanctification is the work of a lifetime. 21:17 Sanctification growing into the likeness of God, 21:20 growing into the character likeness of Jesus 21:23 is the work of a lifetime. 21:26 And finally, Third Selected Messages, 202. 21:29 "Sanctification is the progressive work of a lifetime." 21:34 It's the progressive work of a lifetime. 21:38 In other words, we should be making progress in this process. 21:46 Now I want to ask you a question 21:48 and do not feel 21:50 that you have to agree with me on this at all. 21:53 But I'm genuinely interested. 21:56 If my experience is anything at all 21:58 like your experience in this regard. 22:02 When I first became a Christian ten years ago, 22:06 I recognized immediately 22:07 that there were certain lifestyle practices 22:09 that I was enjoying and accustomed to 22:11 and participating in that I was going to have to leave off 22:15 in my transition to the new life with Christ. 22:17 Are you with me, yes or no? 22:18 Okay and by the way that goes 22:20 for those of you who were raised in the church 22:21 and who weren't raised in the church 22:23 because we all have to come to conversion. 22:25 God has no grandchildren only children. Amen. 22:29 So you recognize that there is a transition process here 22:32 where you are going from unconverted to converted, 22:35 from no faith to faith, from the old to the new. 22:38 Now in my personal experience 22:40 and I'm not trying to force you into my mold. 22:42 But just tell me if you resonate with this 22:44 and be honest with me here, be honest with the Lord. 22:46 There were things in my life 22:48 that God took away from me immediately. Amen. 22:53 The first was my language. I swore like a sailor. 23:00 In fact, my swearing was so bad and so consistent 23:05 that it was proverbial among my friends 23:08 who themselves swore like sailors. 23:12 Every other word was a cussword. 23:16 And even as an unconverted person 23:18 I use to think to myself this sounds unintelligence. 23:23 I didn't even like the way it sounded. 23:25 It sounded so stupid, it sounded so foolish, 23:28 it sounded so ignorant. 23:29 And so with no other religious motivation 23:33 or any other such thing the only motivation being 23:35 I just didn't want to sound like an ignorant person. 23:38 I tried to quit swearing many, many times. 23:44 Sometimes, it would last for about an hour 23:48 and sometimes it would last for maybe a day 23:51 but just it was like you know 23:53 you have a screensaver on your computer. 23:55 Right, you have a screensaver on your computer and if you're, 23:57 you're typing away the screensaver doesn't come up. 23:59 But the moment that you go to do something else 24:01 and you come back 24:02 the screensaver reverts back to the default mode. 24:06 Right, if I was thinking I'm not going to swear. 24:09 I'm not going swear. I'm not going to swear. 24:11 I'm not going to swear. 24:13 I'm not going to swear 24:14 and then I would see one of my friends and say, 24:15 "Hey Travis, how are you doing?" And a beep. 24:17 Oh, the moment I would stop, 24:20 the moment I would stop actively thinking 24:21 I'm not going to swear. I'm not going to swear. 24:23 I will not swear. I wasn't anything. 24:25 I'm just not going to swear. 24:27 But the moment then I wasn't paying attention 24:29 my computer would just reset 24:30 to the default mode and I got-- 24:34 And I wanted to stop. 24:37 I hated the way it sounded 24:39 and I thought it was something 24:40 that I should just be able to do 24:42 and I never could stop. 24:46 In June 6, 1996, I was baptized. 24:53 I gave my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. 24:58 Confessed that the death that He died 25:00 was the death I deserved in the life 25:02 that I need in order to get me access to God 25:04 is the life that he lived. 25:05 And so I put my faith in a Savior 25:08 and from that moment to the present 25:11 nearly ten years or more than ten years now 25:14 I have sworn exactly one time. 25:18 Now the amazing thing about it is, 25:20 is that I didn't even think to myself 25:22 as I came out of the baptistery there 25:24 now I'm a Christian. I cannot swear anymore. 25:26 I'm not going to swear. I'm not going to swear. 25:28 I'm not going to swear. It was gone. 25:34 It was as though God reached into my experience 25:37 and he said, you know, 25:38 this is a little repugnant to me. 25:39 I don't like the way this sounds. 25:41 Let me take that one. And it was gone. 25:46 It was just gone. Amen. 25:51 Two years after I was baptized, 25:53 I was rock climbing 25:54 in the Black Hills of South Dakota 25:56 and I was, oh, I don't know 25:57 may be 15 or 20 feet up this particular boulder 26:00 and I was climbing with my friend Greg Parker, 26:03 who was a not a Christian still to this day 26:04 as far as I know he was not a Christian. 26:06 We're rock climbing together and he knew I was a Christian 26:08 and all of my before Christian friends were a little, 26:11 you know, leery of me. 26:12 You know, David has been brainwashed that whole thing. 26:14 You know, they were little uncomfortable. 26:15 But we still went rock climbing together 26:17 and I was rock climbing with him. 26:18 And I went up and I grabbed to this hold. 26:20 We were just warming up, beautiful sunshiny day, 26:22 nice fall day just like this. 26:24 Grabbed this little hold and as I begin to weight to hold 26:26 the hold breaks off in my hand 26:29 and I go hurdling through the air. 26:32 Right, just hurdling through the air. 26:34 And I said "oh bleep." 26:41 And I was in the air long enough 26:43 to think to myself I hope I don't die. 26:50 Because I would not want that 26:51 to be the last thing I ever said. 26:58 I hit the ground sort of tumbled, 27:00 rolled went immediately around the bolder 27:02 and I said Greg, I'm sorry for that. 27:05 I don't swear anymore. I'm a Christian. 27:06 And I'm sorry. 27:08 And he just looked to me like. 27:12 You're crazy. 27:14 Right that was it that was it. 27:17 The Lord took it from me. 27:20 He washed my mouth out 27:21 with the soap of the Holy Spirit. 27:23 It was God. I didn't think about it. 27:27 I didn't have to work at it. It was God. 27:31 I wish I could report to you to today men 27:36 that every struggle in my life has been like that. 27:42 I wish I could standup here today 27:43 and tell you that they were gone. 27:46 And in the last ten years I have sinned once. 27:50 And I just told you about it. 27:54 Now you tell me, can you resonate with this at all. 27:57 I mean in your conversion experience 27:59 did you have something's 28:00 that God just took from you very quickly, 28:01 very easily almost without efforts. 28:03 And other things that dogged you 28:05 and haunted you and disturbed you 28:08 perhaps even to this day. 28:09 Can you resonate with that, yes or no? Yes. 28:11 It's a process. 28:15 If you find that you were involved in a process 28:20 of growing to be more like Christ 28:23 you should not be discouraged with that 28:25 you should be encouraged 28:26 you're doing the right thing. Amen. 28:32 I hear people say, I'm struggling 28:34 in my Christian experience. 28:38 As if that's a negative thing. 28:43 Oh, I'm-- how are doing? 28:44 I'm struggling. 28:46 You're struggling. With what? 28:47 Well, with just issues, sin, struggling. 28:50 Beloved, let me tell you something. 28:52 Let's pretend we're going canoeing. 28:54 We're gonna canoeing together. 28:55 And we're out canoeing 28:58 and we can see one of two things. 29:00 We can have option A or option B. 29:02 I will paint them for you here 29:03 and you decide which one you like to see. 29:04 Option A, we're out canoeing here in beautiful, 29:07 Michigan, Northern Michigan and its beautiful fall day. 29:11 As we go-- we are canoeing 29:12 and we look out just on the horizon there 29:13 but perhaps there a lake of foggy beautiful misty lake 29:16 and we see this-- 29:22 Someone is, someone is drowning. 29:26 That's option A. 29:27 Okay, option B, same scenario. 29:30 We're canoeing it is beautiful, we're looking at the colors. 29:33 Oh, listen for the loon. Oh, yeah, yeah. 29:36 And that all the sudden we hear-- 29:40 And what was that? 29:41 And we look and to our horror 29:44 and amazement there is a dead body. 29:49 Just ruined the whole afternoon bumped right up against us. 29:55 What's that? Right. 29:58 Now here is my question. Option A or B? 30:02 You can see we're all canoeing what do you want to see? 30:05 You want to see A or B? A. 30:08 Why do you want to see A? There's still a chance. 30:14 Because there's still a chance. Amen. 30:18 Beloved, never forget this as long as you live, 30:20 the struggle itself is a sign of life. Amen. 30:27 The struggle itself is a sign of life. 30:31 I never struggled with my sin, 30:34 as sin while I was a sinner. 30:38 Sinners don't struggle with sin. 30:41 Unrepentant sinner's sin 30:42 and they don't struggle with it, they love it. 30:46 Any formers sinners here want resonate with that? 30:48 Yeah. Amen. 30:50 Hey, you didn't go home and as an unrepentant sinner, 30:52 you didn't go home and said, oh I have done again. 30:54 You in a moment say, when can I do it again? 30:59 You know, something fascinating happened 31:00 in my Christian experience. 31:01 My struggle with sin began 31:03 when my life with Jesus began. Amen. 31:08 So someone says to me, oh, I'm struggling. 31:11 As if that's a negative thing. You better praise the Lord. 31:13 You're struggling. Amen. 31:16 There is something in you that is fighting 31:18 and wrestling against that old cantankerous human nature. 31:28 Some sins God takes from us immediately 31:30 and others take time. 31:33 It involves a process, it's called the Christian walk. 31:37 No man having drunk old wine immediately desires the new. 31:41 He still thinks the old is better. 31:42 You can come to love the new 31:44 but it's going to take sometime. 31:50 It is highly likely. 31:52 No no, no, no it is inevitable 31:57 that in this Christian walk you're going to fall. 32:04 You're going to fall and stumble. 32:07 Do you hear what I'm saying" 32:09 You're walking, you're upright. 32:11 You're bi-pedaled creature. 32:13 You're an upright creature. 32:15 You're going to fall. 32:17 I mean how many people in this room 32:19 have never fallen walking physically. 32:20 You've never fall. Well, give me a break. 32:21 Every one of us has fall. 32:23 The reason that you fall is that you were standing up. 32:30 Keep your mind raftered on that one. 32:32 You can't fall if you weren't standing. 32:37 Amen. Amen. 32:39 And half the guys are like what. 32:45 Let me give you a Bible text for this. 32:47 Come with me to the Book of Proverbs. 32:48 Proverbs Chapter 24. 32:51 Proverbs Chapter 24 and here we find 32:52 a passage of scripture 32:54 that is frankly a little scary to many 32:59 but very encouraging to others. 33:02 Proverbs Chapter 24 and we're going to verse 16. 33:05 What verse everyone? Verse 16, Proverbs 24:16. 33:11 Proverbs 24:16, I want you all to be there. 33:14 I hear those pages turning you got to see this. 33:19 Proverbs 24:16, it says, 33:22 "For a just man falleth seven times, 33:28 and rises up again 33:31 but the wicked shall fall by calamity." 33:36 The just man falls 33:37 how many times according to that verse? 33:39 The just man falls seven times. 33:41 You know, in the Bible I don't have to tell you this 33:42 that seven is not necessarily an actual chronological figure. 33:46 What it saying is, seven is the number 33:49 that means perfection. He is good at falling. 33:59 A just man falls seven times 34:00 but notice with me that in this passage 34:04 there is also an another man that falls. 34:07 Both the righteous and the wicked fall. 34:12 Who falls more? 34:15 According to the verse, according to the verse, 34:16 who falls more, who falls more. 34:17 Righteous. Yeah, the righteous. 34:18 Do you know why he falls more? 34:21 Because he keeps getting up. Amen. 34:29 The righteous man falls more 34:30 because he keeps getting up, beloved. Amen. 34:37 That makes some people uncomfortable. 34:38 They say, did he just say that 34:39 the righteous fall more than the sinner. Yeah. 34:44 Because the sinner falls down and stays there. Amen. 34:48 He doesn't' continue to fall because he doesn't get back up. 34:51 The just man falls seven times. 34:52 The reason he falls seven times, 34:53 he keeps getting back up. Amen. 34:57 I would like to ask the question this way. 34:59 Think of this. There are two scenarios here. 35:01 We have got Peter here 35:02 and we have got Judas Iscariot here. 35:04 Both of whom denied their Lord in those critical hours. 35:07 Both of whom said that 35:10 they denied their Lord Jesus, both of them. 35:12 Now I want you beginning there in the Garden of Gethsemane, 35:15 experience the hours just before that. 35:17 Here is Peter, here is Judas and from that time-- 35:21 if we were to plot the number of times that Judas would fall 35:26 and that Peter would fall 35:27 over the course of the rest of their lives 35:30 who would fall more? 35:31 Peter. Peter by far. 35:34 Because Judas fell once and never got back up. Amen. 35:42 Peter at the rest of his life to make a fool of himself 35:46 and to learn and to grow 35:49 and grow more into the lightness of Christ, falling 35:52 and then getting back up always-- 35:54 getting back up for Jesus. Praise God. 35:59 The difference between the righteous and the wicked 36:01 is not that the righteous doesn't fall. 36:06 But that he keeps getting up. Amen. 36:11 The single secret to succeeding in the Christian walk 36:14 three words that can change your life 36:17 and save you for eternity, 36:19 "Keep getting up." Amen. 36:24 Now say it together. Keep getting up. 36:32 One day Peter is feeling very magnanimous 36:34 and he said to Jesus, "Jesus if someone sinned against me, 36:37 seven times I would forgive him." 36:39 And Jesus said "you're just getting started 36:40 how about seventy times, seven." 36:43 That's 490, beloved. 36:44 And now there is no question that this is a direct elusion 36:46 to the prophecy of Daniel 9 but Jesus points still remains. 36:50 The question I like to ask 36:52 is if Jesus expected Peter sinful, 36:55 fallen Peter to be able to forgive 490 times 36:58 in a single day for an infraction against his person 37:01 how much more will our God forgive us? 37:05 Who is better, Peter or God? God. 37:08 Who is more merciful? Who is more gracious? 37:11 If God expected Peter 490 times in a single day 37:14 then, God would forgive you even more. 37:21 You know, there is one time that you won't be forgiven. 37:27 It's the time you don't ask to be forgiven. 37:32 I cannot tell you, beloved, bearing my soul to you, 37:34 bearing my heart to you as a minister and as a man. 37:40 How many times I have gone down into my basement? 37:43 That's why I have my devotions. 37:45 You should have a place where you meet Jesus. 37:48 Have a place, a special place. 37:51 Mine is in the corner of our basement 37:53 and I go down there 37:54 and I need to meet with my Lord. 37:56 And sometimes I can't wait 37:58 to get downstairs and meet with Jesus. 37:59 In other times 38:04 I got to walk down those stairs a little slower. 38:07 I know I have let the Lord down 38:08 and know I have let myself down. 38:10 And I'll get down and I will have Bible. 38:12 I like to kneel on a chair and my Bible 38:14 and my devotional Bible, sitting right there 38:16 and I cannot tell you, beloved, 38:17 how many times with trembling hand 38:22 and a trembling heart I have fallen to my knees 38:25 and opened up the word. 38:28 Hoping, praying 38:34 that that verse is still there. 38:37 And I opened it up. And there it is. 38:43 1 John 1:9. 38:46 It's never gone from verse 8 to 10. 38:48 It's always-- every time I've opened this 38:50 it's always been there. 38:53 And I read it again and it says. 38:54 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful 38:59 and just to forgive our sins 39:01 and cleanses of all unrighteousness." 39:04 The verse is still there, beloved. Amen. 39:08 And if it's still in there. It means it's still true. Yeah. 39:16 Now I lift my heart and my hands to God 39:18 and I say, oh, God. This here it is. I fell." 39:23 I fell again. 39:26 Vomited allover myself. Made a fool of me. 39:29 Let myself down. Let you down. 39:30 Oh, Lord I fell again 39:32 but the verse says that you will forgive me. Amen. 39:42 And Jesus says, "Get up. 39:50 Get up and stand in confidence in my grace 39:55 let's try that one again." Amen. 40:01 Now I walk with Jesus through another day. 40:03 By His grace may be just may be 40:05 I don't make fool out of myself. 40:08 And all I have to bow down 40:09 the next morning on my knees and say, 40:10 "Thank you Jesus that you'd got me through that day. 40:13 And even though I know I did things 40:14 I shouldn't have done. 40:16 Lord, you got me through 40:17 without making a huge fool of myself." 40:19 And by the grace of God, 40:21 I'm walking and walking and walking 40:24 and if I fall again, heaven forbid. 40:26 I'm going to keep getting up. Amen. 40:31 Beloved that's the trick. You keep getting up. 40:34 And if you keep spending time with Jesus, 40:38 He will do something supernatural, beloved. 40:40 He will do something for you 40:41 that you could never do for yourself. 40:43 He will create within you 40:44 a supernatural repugnancy for sin. 40:48 Don't try to manufacture that. 40:50 Your nature love sin. 40:53 If you go into your bedrooms, 40:54 I'm going to hate sin whether it kills me. 40:56 You cannot manufacture a hatred for sin. 40:59 God puts a hatred for sin into your heart. 41:01 That's Genesis 3:15, 41:03 "He will put enmity between the serpent and you." 41:06 It's God given. Amen. 41:08 And if you keep getting up 41:09 and you keep coming to the Lord 41:11 the distances between those feelings, 41:15 the distances between those fallings will increase 41:19 because God will give you a supernatural repugnancy for 41:23 and a hatred for sin. Amen. 41:27 As long as you keep getting up, 41:33 keep getting up. 41:38 Dust yourself off. 41:40 Trust in your Savior 41:43 and keep walking the walk. 41:48 In closing, Steps to Christ-- marvelous book. 41:53 I want to think you about the title of that book. 41:59 The leap to Christ. 42:06 Steps to Christ. 42:09 I'm reading on page 64 42:11 and I'm going ask you to raise your hand 42:13 at each interval here if this applies to you. 42:17 "There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ." 42:21 Anyone here known the partnering of love Christ? 42:26 "Who really desire to be children of God." 42:29 Anyone here who really desire to be child of God? 42:33 "Who realize their character is imperfect 42:41 their life faulty." 42:48 Now listen to this one. 42:50 You don't have to raise your hand here 42:51 if you don't want. 42:53 But tell me if the devil doesn't pull this one on you. 42:56 And they are ready to doubt 42:58 whether their hearts have ever 43:00 been renewed by the Holy Spirit. 43:03 Devil ever tried that one on you. 43:06 It works great for everybody else 43:07 too bad if don't work for you. 43:10 In fact may be it has never worked for you-- 43:13 may be you've never. 43:16 What was the very first thing that Satan said to Jesus there? 43:18 He said if you're the Son of God 43:21 in the highly unlikely event that you were the Son of God. 43:26 Don't tell me that Satan doesn't try 43:27 that very same thing on you 43:29 if you were a Christian come on. 43:33 "There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ. 43:35 Who really desire to be children of God. 43:38 Who realized that their character is imperfect 43:39 and their life is faulty and they're to doubt 43:41 whether their hearts have ever been 43:42 renewed by the Holy Spirit. 43:46 To such I would say." 43:50 And beloved, to me this is not the pastoral counsel 43:52 of a Max Lucado or a Philip Yancey. 43:54 When I read the writings of Ellen White, 43:56 I'm hearing the voice of God to my soul. Amen. 44:00 To such I would say do not drawback in despair. Amen. 44:07 I'm so glad she says, do not drawback in despair 44:09 because that's the very thing I'm intended to do 44:10 when I've known it. 44:13 I think she knew that. Amen. 44:16 Then she says these words precious words, golden words. 44:22 "We shall often have to bow down 44:25 and weep at the feet of Jesus 44:27 because of our shortcomings and mistakes 44:31 but we are not to be discouraged." Amen. 44:35 We shall often have to bow down 44:36 and weep at the feet of Jesus 44:37 because of our shortcomings and mistakes. 44:39 We shall often have to bow, hallelujah. 44:45 If you're bowing down and weeping at the feet of Jesus 44:46 because of your shortcomings and mistakes 44:48 you are in the process. Amen. 44:52 I heard a preacher one time an Adventist preacher. 44:54 I won't tell his name it doesn't matter what his name was. 44:56 I heard a preacher say. 44:57 Yeah, but in this verse and this paragraph 45:00 she doesn't say sins. 45:03 She says "shortcomings and mistakes." 45:06 We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus 45:08 because of our shortcomings and mistakes. 45:09 She didn't say, sins. 45:13 I thought to myself I wondered what that would look like. 45:16 So I thought of a couple of shortcomings and mistake. 45:19 I'd like to bring your attention 45:20 and like to imagine your wife invites me over for potluck 45:23 and my family is coming over. 45:24 And your wife is cooking marvelous meal 45:26 anything but haystacks. 45:28 And we are sitting in the kitchen 45:30 and we are talking and we're enjoying 45:33 one and another's company. 45:34 And as we are enjoying one and others company 45:36 you're wife has cooked us marvelous meal 45:38 and yet the aroma begins to whooped into the living room 45:43 where we're sitting and conversing. 45:44 It is the aroma of burnt tofu. 45:53 Your wife has burnt lunch. 45:59 Question. Is that a mistake? 46:02 Yes or no, is that a mistake? Yes. 46:04 Is it a mistake to burn the meal? 46:07 Yeah, but it is highly unlikely that she bows down 46:10 and weeps at the feet of Jesus for burning that tofu. 46:19 We shall often have to bow down and weep of Jesus. 46:22 Look at our shortcomings and mistakes, our shortcomings. 46:24 Man, I want you to imagine with me 46:26 that you've got a dog. 46:29 I just got two dogs last night. I'm baby sitting them. 46:31 Two huge German Shepherds, 46:33 sure to be at my house last night. 46:36 That's why I'm crabby today. 46:38 I didn't get much sleep. 46:42 Just barking, barking, barking. 46:44 It was more like-- 46:46 but just pretend for a moment that you've a dog 46:48 and you're really happy about it. 46:50 And don't get me wrong I'm happy about these dogs 46:51 it's just a whole new transition for me, okay. 46:54 And you're going to build a doghouse. 46:58 And so you go to doghouse.com 47:03 and you download the PDF. 47:06 And you go and you cut the boards measure them up. 47:10 Four boards, 3' 1" 1/4. 47:13 Yep, there it is. 47:15 One, cut, second. 47:18 Board, 3' 1" 1/4 and the third. 47:22 3' 1" 1/4. So I to get the fourth out. 47:27 Ubiquity cell phone, hello what can I do for you. 47:29 And you're talking on the phone. 47:31 You get off the phone you go back 47:32 you measure up your board. You cut it. 47:34 You go to assemble the doghouse. 47:38 And you're putting together the-- 47:41 you're putting it together, 47:44 and you've put your first board in 3' 1" 1/4, 47:46 you've put your second board in 3' 1" 1/4, 47:48 you put your third board in 3' 1" 1/4 47:49 and put your fourth board in and it looks short. 47:55 So you measure it. 47:57 Three foot and a quarter you forgot the one. 48:02 Beloved, would that be a shortcoming? 48:12 Will that be a shortcoming? Yes. 48:14 Do you think you would bow down 48:16 and weep at the feet of Jesus over that? 48:19 Likely, you just go cut another board. 48:22 When she says "We shall often have to bow down 48:24 and weep at the feet of Jesus 48:25 because of our shortcomings and mistakes." 48:26 Of course, she is talking about sins. 48:32 Notice what she says 48:35 but we are not to be discouraged 48:40 even if we are overcome by the enemy. 48:43 I suppose that it doesn't hurt to read the context. 48:47 Overcome by the enemy that sounds like a sin to be. 48:52 I want you to listen to these words men 48:54 as the voice of God to your souls today. 48:59 Even if you've been overcome by the enemy listen to this, 49:03 "We are not cast off." Amen. 49:10 Praise the name of Jesus. 49:14 "We are not cast off." 49:17 She goes on, "Not forsaken and rejected of God." 49:25 Tell me how you feel when you've left yourself down 49:27 when you've done that very thing 49:28 that you said you wouldn't do again. 49:30 You've fallen, you've sinned, you've made a fool of yourself, 49:32 you've vomited allover yourself 49:34 and it's a great big humiliating mess. 49:36 How do you feel? I'll tell you how will feel. 49:39 You're discouraged. You're despairing. 49:41 You feel cast off. 49:42 You feel forsaken and rejected of God. 49:45 And isn't that fascinating that she says 49:47 "That is exactly what you're not." 49:55 Not forsaken, not rejected of God 49:57 and then she says, one word. 50:01 She says, no. 50:06 No, semicolon it's a whole sentence. 50:12 She says, no. 50:15 I guess that's her way of saying that 50:17 that's not what happens. 50:23 "Christ is at the right hand of God 50:25 who also makes intercession for us. 50:29 Said the beloved, John, 50:30 'These things are right unto you, 50:31 that you sin not. 50:33 And heaven forbid in the highly unlikely event 50:35 that you do sin. 50:36 We have an advocate 50:38 with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous.'" 50:43 Hallelujah, keep getting up. Amen. 50:52 Two appeals this morning man. 50:57 As a man here today, there are men here today 51:03 who have struggled with the same thing 51:10 or may be a new thing and this thing it got you. 51:18 And you've tried to shake it off 51:19 but it got you again and you shook it off 51:21 and it got you again. 51:25 And the thought dawned on you. 51:29 In the thick of the battle the thought dawned on you 51:32 as you were overridden with guilt 51:34 as you were overridden 51:35 with the sense of your unworthiness, 51:36 the thought dawned on you that it might be easier 51:39 to just stop doing the religion thing. 51:47 It appears as though religion is working 51:49 for other people in the church 51:51 but surely this thing that is chasing you around 51:53 is not chasing the other holy saints around. 51:56 And the thought came into your mind that may be, 51:59 may be you should just throw in the towel. 52:03 You fell down and the thought came to you. 52:05 You know, it might be easier to just stay down. 52:14 And today God has spoken to you 52:20 and you have heard the voice of Jesus, 52:22 through His Holy Spirit saying to you personally. 52:26 Mark, John, Luke, Jerry, Patrick, 52:31 Ron, Louis, keep getting up. 52:37 And today you want to say 52:39 responding to this first appeal, 52:41 Lord Jesus I was tempted to throw in the towel 52:44 but hallelujah today You rescued me 52:46 and by You're grace I will get up again. Amen. 52:50 So somebody that wants to stand at their feet 52:51 and say that applies to me. 52:54 So someone wants to stand at their feet, 52:55 God bless you my techniques. 52:58 Who wants to rise at their feet and that's me. 53:05 Second appeal, 53:08 Jesus said "No man having old wine 53:10 immediately desires the new." 53:11 Because he says "the old is better." 53:17 I'm one of those old fashioned preachers 53:18 that believes that you really can 53:23 get the victory over sin. 53:27 If I didn't believed that I wouldn't be a preacher. 53:31 God doesn't just forgive us 53:33 to allow us to wallowing our vomit. 53:35 God has a plan for your life 53:36 and that plan is holiness. Amen. 53:42 We're not going to be sinning in heaven, beloved, amen. 53:46 And you have got some old wine in you life. 53:51 I want you to get your mind on a specific thing. 53:57 Something in your life may be that that God 54:01 has been putting the finger of the Holy Spirit on 54:04 and then saying but what about this one. 54:08 This is something you've wrestled through 54:09 and you've been through and you were almost past it. 54:12 But may be you went back to 54:13 and then you were almost done with it 54:15 and then may be you went back to it. 54:16 You've got some old wine in your experience. 54:19 I want to ask you a question here today. 54:21 Men, what does it look like 54:26 for you to take that specific thing whatever it is? 54:29 What does it look like for you to take that thing 54:33 and bring it here to the altar and leave it here? 54:40 What does it look like 54:41 for Jesus to take that thing away from you today? 54:47 You believe Jesus can do that? Amen. 54:51 Is there a man here today 54:52 who says I have some old wine? I know what it is. 54:56 The Lord has told me what it is 54:58 and by His grace 55:01 I want to leave this one here in the Great Lakes 55:03 Adventist Academy gymnasium 55:05 and when I drive back to Mio, 55:06 when I drive back to Gladwin, 55:08 when I drive back to Sterling Heights or Warren, 55:10 when I drive back to the UP, 55:12 that thing is still gonna be here. 55:13 This one is not going to follow me home 55:15 by the grace of God. 55:16 I need to leave some new wine here in this gymnasium. 55:20 Some old wine. Who has got some old wine? 55:23 Come right here and just leave it right here. 55:26 You bring that old wine right here. 55:28 Come all the way and if you have some old wine 55:30 some specific thing, 55:32 bring it right here to the front. 55:33 Let's leave it here. 55:38 Come on man plenty of room, push to the front. 55:42 Everybody's got to get their stuff up here. 55:44 So let's bring it up here. 55:45 What does it look like for you to leave it here? 56:03 I want to emphasize here 56:04 that this is not just a general appeal 56:09 but this is the spirit of God speaking to you saying 56:11 there is that thing that, that thing. 56:16 And that thing we're going to bring it here 56:23 and by the grace of God we're going to leave it here. 56:29 Let us pray together. 56:30 Father, in heaven you're God 56:36 we're sinners in need of a Savior. 56:42 We confess that we have fallen 56:44 short of the glory of God. 56:50 At the same time we confess 56:51 that Jesus is the expressed image of the glory of God. 56:58 And we're putting our faith in Him, 57:02 Him who is mighty to save. 57:05 Father, we confess that 57:10 we have some old wine in our lives. 57:13 Those who of us who come forward 57:14 and we want to leave it here. 57:19 Father, we don't believe for a moment 57:21 that we can shake this thing off by our grace, 57:23 by our power and by our strength 57:24 but by your grace we believe 57:26 that today miracle of miracles, glory of glories 57:30 that we could leave it here, Father. 57:39 So, Father, we come to You 57:42 presenting ourselves as sinners. 57:49 But not just any ordinary sinners 57:53 as sinners redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ. 57:59 As sinners who are tired of being sinners. 58:04 As sinners who long to be saints. 58:12 Father we don't know how You're going to get us 58:14 from A to B, from here to heaven 58:21 but we believe Your word 58:25 that if we keep getting up 58:29 You will complete the work that you have began. 58:41 And the mighty 58:43 powerful saving name of Jesus. 58:49 That all of God's man say, amen. Amen. 58:52 And men, I talk to you real quick here. 58:56 We have covenant commitment with the Lord. 59:00 God has been honored today. 59:04 But if you go home and you fall 59:09 and into your utter amazement 59:10 this thing that you've just left right there, 59:12 followed you home. Please encourage me. 59:17 What you're gonna do. Amen. 59:20 Keep getting up. 59:22 Give the brothers standing next to you some courage. 59:24 Tell them that Jesus is coming soon 59:26 and you want to see Him on the sea of glass. |
Revised 2014-12-17