Participants: Justin Torossian
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001034
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01:00 Good afternoon Witness.
01:03 How're you all doing this afternoon? 01:06 Have you been blessed thus for today? 01:09 What a beautiful song. Amen. 01:11 Do you want to know Him more? Amen. 01:13 So do I and that is why I'm happy to be here 01:17 with you today at Witness, 01:19 looking forward to getting into the Word together. 01:22 You know, when I got here to Queensland, they said, 01:25 "Oh, you should have come during the summer. 01:26 It's so cold right now." 01:28 And I was thinking, Man, this is great. 01:31 If this is winter, 01:32 this is the kind of place I'd want to live. 01:35 I'm currently living at Andrews University 01:37 in Berrien Springs, Michigan, 01:38 doing my Masters of Divinity before returning to 01:41 Pastoral Ministry in California. 01:43 And the weather there is cold. 01:47 In fact we just had our coldest winter 01:49 in 30 years of record. 01:51 So after this winter Nothing's gonna be too harsh. 01:56 But praise the Lord for the wonderful weather, 01:58 for the transformative workshops 02:00 that we've had so far. 02:01 And, guys, it's just beginning. 02:04 The Sabbath is nearly up on us. 02:08 Before we dive into the Word of God this morning, 02:10 I'd like to ask you to bow your heads with me 02:14 for a word of prayer before our message The Motive Motif. 02:18 Let's pray. 02:22 I love you, Lord 02:27 And I lift my voice 02:32 To worship You 02:38 Oh, my soul rejoice 02:44 Take joy, my King 02:50 In what You hear 02:56 Let it be a sweet 02:59 Sweet sound in Your ear 03:09 Father in heaven, this is our prayer. 03:12 We ask that this afternoon You would speak to our hearts 03:15 in a special way. 03:18 We thank You for leading each of us here. 03:20 We know that none of us are here by coincidence, 03:22 but by Your providence. 03:25 We thank You for bringing us here. 03:27 We ask that You would push any distractions, 03:31 anything out of our minds that would prevent us 03:33 from hearing Your word to us. 03:37 Lord, we do not want to hear a man this afternoon, 03:41 we want to hear from on high. 03:44 We want to hear from God. 03:47 We thank You in advance for speaking, 03:49 for we have asked that in Jesus' name. 03:51 Amen. 03:54 There he stood, frozen on his front porch. 04:00 His hands wouldn't stop shaking. 04:03 There on the grounds was the club 04:06 that had just fallen from his hands. 04:09 Next to the club that was on the grounds, 04:12 lay the breathless body of a 26 year old man. 04:20 Why had he hit this man in the head, killing him? 04:24 Why did this man lay dead on this front porch? 04:29 What was the story? 04:31 Was he a thief caught breaking into the house 04:34 where the owner of the house was defending his family, 04:38 his wife and his children from a crazed mad man, 04:42 took his life in self-defense? 04:46 Or was he a thief who got caught breaking into a home 04:51 and met the end of his life? 04:54 As the sirens grew louder and louder 04:57 from the police cars and the ambulance, 05:00 soon the police would be asking these questions. 05:05 And as the police arrived and investigated, 05:07 the answer to the question of the killer's motive 05:11 would make all the difference in the case. 05:16 Friends, in our human legal systems, 05:19 when things are done right, the motive of the individual 05:23 who committed the crime is taken into consideration. 05:27 And when we take a look at God and His dealings with mankind 05:31 as we find in His holy word, we see that God operates 05:35 upon the same principle. 05:38 God also says that motive is of paramount importance. 05:44 If motives are important to God, 05:46 they should be important to us. 05:47 Amen. 05:49 This morning, we're going to examine in our message 05:52 The Motive Motif. 05:54 We're going to see that throughout scripture 05:56 we find over and over that people's motives 06:00 made all of the difference. 06:02 People's motives made all of the difference 06:06 when we find God's dealing with them in the Bible. 06:10 What does the word motif mean? 06:13 A motif is defined as the following, listen to this. 06:19 A motif is a usually recurring salient thematic element 06:24 or a dominant idea or central theme. 06:28 The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a motif as such. 06:32 So we see that a motif is something 06:34 that repeats over and over again. 06:37 Something that is laced throughout a story or a song 06:42 and in this case, the case of our message this morning, 06:46 the motif is found throughout God's word. 06:51 A record of God's dealing with us 06:54 and mankind throughout the history of our race. 07:00 This morning we're going to, 07:02 to dive into the word-- the Lord's Word, 07:05 but before we do I want to answer the question 07:07 that might be in your mind, what exactly is a motive? 07:10 What's a motive? 07:12 Well, a motive is very simply defined 07:15 as something that actuates someone's principle. 07:19 Something that causes a person to act. 07:23 And if you look at the word motive in the dictionary 07:26 you'll also find just after it that the phrase or the word 07:31 motive force is there. 07:34 You may wonder, what's a motive force? 07:37 If you really want to know what a motive is, 07:39 the best way to understand is to understand 07:41 what a motive force is. 07:43 Listen to the definition of a motive force. 07:47 A motive force or excuse me, motive power, 07:50 a motive power is an agency such as water or steam 07:54 used to impart motion, especially to machinery 07:58 or something as a locomotive or a motor 08:02 that provides motive power to a system. 08:06 So motive power, if you're in a locomotive, a train, 08:10 at least in the old days would be steamed. 08:14 The water causes steam when it's heated of course 08:17 and that would fuel the locomotive. 08:20 It would propel it forward 08:21 and that is the motive power of a train. 08:25 What's the motive power of a car? 08:29 If there would be steam for a train, 08:31 what do we put in our cars to make them go? 08:34 Gas or petrol, right? 08:36 So the motive power for a car is fuel, it's petrol, it's gas. 08:42 So a motive power gives us a deeper understanding of what 08:46 motives really are. 08:48 A motive is something that fuels you, 08:51 something that drives you forward. 08:53 It's your reason for action. 08:56 It's the reason behind what we do. 09:01 It's the inner force that enables 09:03 and determines our course of action. 09:07 The Bible is full of examples 09:12 of times when motive 09:15 made all the difference in the world. 09:17 And you may wonder what's so important about motives? 09:20 What's the big deal? 09:22 Well, the reason that motives are so important 09:25 is because when we see our actions, 09:30 it's simply the fruits 09:32 but the motives, our motives are reason, 09:35 that's the roots, the root cause. 09:38 I like what's, one theologian, Charles Hodge said in the, 09:43 his systematic theology commentary, 09:46 he didn't have everything right of course, 09:48 but he had this solidly nailed down, 09:51 speaking of motives he says, 09:53 "In every rational volition the man is influenced to decide 09:57 one way rather than another, by something within him. 10:01 So that the volition is a revelation 10:05 of what he himself is." 10:09 See, friends, what's going on inside of our hearts and minds 10:14 are motivation, the reason behind what we do. 10:18 The reason behind our actions 10:20 is actually a revelation of who we are. 10:23 It's a revelation of our character and that is why 10:28 we need to understand 10:30 what's the significance of our motives really are. 10:34 Jesus put it this way. 10:36 He said, "Out of the abundance of the mouth," what? 10:40 "The heart speaks." 10:42 "Out of the abundance." 10:43 excuse me, "Out of the abundance of the heart 10:45 the mouth speaks." 10:47 So not only are our inner reasons 10:51 for doing things are motives 10:53 determined by our outward actions, 10:56 but they are reflected upon the root of our motive, 10:59 our reason is reflected in our words. 11:03 The words that we use, the things that we do 11:07 are the outward fruit that reflect upon the root 11:10 of our motives, our actions, our driving force. 11:16 So examining our motives is very important. 11:19 Very important as Christians to search our own hearts 11:22 and ask why we do the things that we do? 11:25 Why we say the things that we say? 11:28 Now it's natural for us, it's human nature 11:32 to just do the bare minimum, isn't it? 11:36 How many people here are students? 11:37 Raise your hand high, if you are a student. 11:39 All right, we've got a lot of students here. 11:41 Let me ask you, how many of you have had to do lectures for-- 11:44 excuse me, essays for a class, you've had to write an essay 11:49 and how many of you have had some questions 11:51 about that essay? 11:52 If you have ever written an essay you have to know 11:55 what's expected of you, right. 11:56 Now have you ever heard a student raise their hand 11:59 and say, professor, what is the maximum number of words 12:04 that I can write in this essay? 12:07 I mean, how much can I write? 12:09 When will you just reject and stop reading 12:12 if I just write and write and write? 12:14 How many people want to do the maximum possible? 12:17 Have you ever heard someone raise their hand 12:18 and ask that in class? 12:19 Yes or no. Probably not. 12:22 We want to know, what's the bare minimum. 12:25 And this is human nature. 12:27 What is the minimum that I can do? 12:29 How many words does that have to be? 12:31 Does that have to be 600 words? 12:34 Well, how many spaces, 12:37 I mean, how many pages does it have to be? 12:39 Oh, it needs to be about four pages. 12:41 Well, is that single space or double space? 12:43 All right. 12:44 Is that 12.5 or, can we do 12.5 or 13? 12:49 We want to know what the bare minimum is 12:52 and often it's the natural tendency for us 12:55 to want to know what the bare minimum is. 12:58 And what the least possible 13:00 that we can get away with doing is? 13:03 Is our motive in our Christian walk? 13:06 Is our motive in life to do the bare minimum? 13:10 Just what's expected of us? 13:12 One person put it well, they said, 13:14 "Do only what is required of you and remain a slave. 13:19 Do more than is required of you and become free." 13:24 Friends, we shouldn't be asking the Lord 13:27 what's the bare minimum I can do, Lord? 13:30 What's the minimum that I can do for you 13:31 and still squeeze into heaven? 13:34 We should be saying, Lord, how much can I do for you? 13:38 How much can I do for you? 13:40 Please show me, teach me what you would have me do. 13:45 This afternoon we're going to exam-- a few biblical examples 13:49 of when people had right motives, 13:53 their hearts were right, their desire was right 13:57 but their actions were wrong. 14:00 And then after we're done with that 14:01 we're going to examine some stories of people 14:04 whose hearts were wrong, their motives were wrong, 14:09 but their actions were right. 14:12 First I'd like to invite you to turn with me 14:14 to Joshua Chapter 22. 14:17 Here we find a story where people's motives were right. 14:22 Their desires were right, their reason for 14:24 moving in the direction that they did was right, 14:27 but their action was hasty and their action was wrong. 14:31 Joshua Chapter 22 and we'll be starting in verse 11. 14:37 Here the Bible tells the story of when the children of Israel 14:41 had established their dwelling in the Promised Lands 14:47 and you remember the two of the tribes of Israel 14:49 stayed on the other side of the Jordan. 14:51 They wanted to stay in the land there. 14:53 Well, the Bible tells us that what took place 14:56 was that those two tribes being so far from the Israelites, 15:00 the rest of the tribes, they wanted to-- 15:06 they wanted to make a way for their children 15:08 to remember God. 15:10 A way for them to be able to be reminded of God 15:12 and His leadings, so that they would not have to 15:16 take their children all the way 15:17 to the center of the sacrificial system 15:20 where the altar was in order for them 15:22 to remember the Lord. 15:24 So picking up in Joshua 22:11 15:26 we see what took place, the Bible says, 15:29 "Now the Children of Israel heard someone say, 15:31 Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad 15:34 and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar 15:38 on the frontier of the land of Canaan, 15:40 in the region of the Jordan, 15:42 on the Children of Israel side." 15:46 Now the Bible says in the next verse, verse 12, 15:49 "And when the children of Israel heard of it, 15:50 the whole congregation of the children of Israel 15:53 gathered together at Shiloh, to go to war against them." 15:58 You may be wondering why in the world 16:00 would the rest of the tribes of Israel 16:02 gather together to go to war against them, 16:04 when they erected an altar in order to worship God. 16:09 What's the deal? 16:10 Well, the Children of Israel 16:12 when they marshaled their forces together 16:14 to attack these other tribes, 16:16 their motive was actually right. 16:18 You see, they thought that by this action, 16:21 by this building of this altar 16:23 that they were setting up another place of worship. 16:26 That they were actually setting up 16:27 worship to other gods. 16:30 You see they had one sanctuary, one place of worship. 16:34 And they had been through times in the past 16:38 where challenges had come in, challenges with idolatry 16:41 and difficulties when it came to the worship of demons. 16:46 So these tribes as they gathered their forces together 16:48 to go to a war with the rest of the tribes, 16:51 those three tribes on the other side 16:53 who'd erected this altar, 16:55 they went and they shared with them. 16:58 You can read the verses in the rest of this chapter here. 17:02 We'll just jump down to want-- 17:04 to find the conclusion of the story in just a moment. 17:07 But to summarize what they told them, 17:09 they pointed them back to the issues 17:11 that they had had with idolatry. 17:13 They pointed them back to Baal-peor, 17:15 which is found in Numbers Chapter 25. 17:18 They pointed them back to that time 17:20 when they were on the edge of the Promise Land. 17:23 And they had been sent, harlots from the tribe 17:28 or from the people of Midian. 17:31 They have made this feast and they had tried to attempt 17:35 and seduce the Israelite men. 17:37 Just as they were on the edge of the Promised Land, 17:39 the devil sent a bunch of people 17:43 to seduce the men into idolatry. 17:46 We read the story that a plague broke out. 17:49 God was displeased as not just many of the people of Israel 17:53 but even the leaders in Israel 17:55 fell into this temptation of lust and sin. 17:58 And, friends, you know, just as we are on the edge 18:01 of the Promised Land, the devil is hammering us. 18:05 He is hammering this generation with the temptation 18:08 of sexual desire and lust. 18:11 More than any generation before us, 18:14 we are surrounded by pictures of half naked people, 18:18 or half clothed people, 18:20 depending on how you want to look at it. 18:22 And sometimes even less. 18:24 You know, I'm not a father 18:26 and if the Lord tarries-- nor am I married, 18:29 but if the Lord tarries that may happen. 18:31 And I pray that if that does happen, 18:34 God gives me wisdom to know how-- 18:36 when I take my child through the line in the store. 18:41 The grocery store, when I get to the front 18:43 how to shield their eyes or explain to them 18:46 not to look at these magazines that are surrounding them. 18:49 Friends, we live in a time where the devil is throwing 18:52 every temptation at us possible. 18:55 This happened to the Children of Israel at Baal-peor, 18:59 right when they were on the border 19:00 of the Promised Lands and it led them into idolatry. 19:06 The tribes, the nine tribes 19:08 reminded those three tribes about this and they said, 19:11 "Do you want that to happen again?" 19:13 This is why we've marshaled these forces, 19:15 this is why we've come to war against you. 19:19 Their motives were right. 19:20 They didn't want idolatry to take place. 19:23 But their actions were hasty. 19:26 Listen to what the tribes tell them in verse 26, 19:29 what was the reasoning behind building this altar? 19:32 Verse 26, "Therefore we said, 19:35 let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, 19:38 not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice." 19:42 You see, these tribes were misunderstood. 19:46 This altar was not built in order to create 19:48 a secondary place of worship 19:51 against what God had commanded them. 19:53 It was built for another reason. 19:56 They weren't doing the wrong thing, 19:58 they were just misunderstood. 19:59 Look at verse 27, they explain, 20:02 "We built it that it may be a witness between you and us. 20:06 And our generations after us, 20:08 that we may perform the service of the Lord 20:11 before Him with our burnt offerings, 20:13 with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, 20:15 that your descendants may not say 20:17 to our descendants in time to come, 20:19 you have no part in the Lord." 20:22 So the Bible says, that happily they withdrew their armies. 20:27 They realized that they had misjudged and misunderstood 20:32 the conversation, the issue what had taken place. 20:37 You know, sometimes we can have right motives 20:40 and we can misunderstand and we can be misunderstood, 20:44 isn't that right? 20:47 You know, sometimes this takes place in marriage. 20:51 A husband can think to himself, 20:53 "You know, my wife is so selfless. 20:56 She's always saving money. 20:58 She's always thinking of herself. 21:01 She's always guarding our spending habits 21:05 just so that we can give to missions, 21:07 so that we can give to our children." 21:10 And he comes home and he says, "You know, sweetheart, 21:12 I've been thinking, you're so generous with our money, 21:17 you're so careful with our expenditures. 21:20 I've been thinking why don't you take 21:21 some extra money and I don't know, 21:24 do something nice with it for yourself for a change. 21:27 You know, like, get your hair done 21:28 how you like it done or..." 21:31 And she says, "Why, don't you like my hair?" 21:34 His motives were good. 21:36 But his words could've been chosen a little better, right? 21:40 Sometimes we misunderstand others and their motives. 21:45 Sometimes when we have the right motives, 21:48 our actions don't always fall 21:50 in place like it did, like what happened 21:53 with the Children of Israel in this story. 21:55 You know, we see the same thing happened 21:57 with Joseph, Mary's husband. 21:59 Let's go to Matthew Chapter 1. 22:02 Matthew Chapter 1, the Bible tells us that 22:04 Joseph was a righteous man, he was a good man. 22:09 And when Mary was found with child, 22:11 naturally, he thought, well, she's cheated on me. 22:15 You know, if you study the Jewish marriage process 22:18 you'll realize that Joseph and Mary were not yet married 22:22 but they were betrothed. 22:24 You see, when you were engaged in Hebrew culture, 22:26 it meant that you are virtually married in every way 22:30 except the consummation of the marriage. 22:32 So in order to split ways after you were betrothed 22:36 or engaged to each other, 22:37 you actually had to get a certificate of divorce. 22:41 So the commitment of engagement in this time, 22:44 in this day was incredibly close. 22:48 This is why the Bible says in Matthew 1:19, 22:52 that when Mary became pregnant, Joseph thought that 22:55 she had cheated on him and look what it says, 22:58 "Then Joseph, her husband being a just man 23:01 and not wanting to make her a public example 23:04 was minded to put her away secretly." 23:07 You see, Joseph had a right motive 23:10 but he had a misunderstanding. 23:13 And it was going to result in a wrong action. 23:15 But God stepped in, verse 20, 23:18 "But while he thought about these things, behold, 23:22 an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 23:24 "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid 23:28 to take to yourself Mary your wife, 23:30 for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 23:34 And she will bring forth a son, 23:36 and you shall call his name Jesus, 23:39 for He will save His people from their sins." 23:44 Friends, when our actions are wrong, 23:47 but our motives are right, God can honor that, 23:50 God can bless that. 23:52 The Lord can step in and He can change our direction. 23:58 He can reveal to us the right thing to do. 24:02 It's easy for God when our motives are right, 24:05 but our actions are wrong. 24:07 He can easily correct us, 24:08 if our heart is in the right place. 24:10 The challenge and the problem is when our motives are wrong, 24:14 but our actions are right. 24:17 We're gonna talk about that in just a moment. 24:19 But I like to share with you briefly a story 24:22 that took place about a month ago. 24:25 I was flying from Chicago to San Francisco 24:28 and I sat down on the airplane next to this lady 24:33 and she's a young professional 29 years old. 24:36 She and her husband both owned different companies 24:39 that they started up through their Ph.D research in science. 24:42 They're both scientists. 24:44 And we had a wonderful conversation. 24:46 She was going to San Francisco for the funeral 24:49 of her grandfather, unfortunately. 24:51 She was half Chinese and half Jewish ethnically. 24:56 And we had a long conversation. 24:59 She started asking me questions 25:00 and I started giving her answers from the Bible. 25:03 And she said, "So what do you believe 25:05 or what does your church teach and believe about this." 25:08 And she asked about, you know, the devil and angels 25:12 or modern day prophets. 25:13 So we went to all of these different verses. 25:16 And we were going through a Bible study together 25:19 and after about two-and-a-half hours of conversation, 25:22 I learned that she happened to be an atheist. 25:26 And as our conversation continued, 25:28 it was such a blessing and I wish I had time 25:29 to share more about it, 25:31 the Lord struck me with a realization. 25:34 You see, she had told me that 25:36 there were people at the gym that she goes to 25:39 who are on a diet together and they eat nuts and seeds 25:44 and this is a majority of their diet. 25:46 So one day she said that 25:50 they were sitting around talking 25:51 and someone said, "You know, I love macadamia nuts, 25:53 but they are so expensive. 25:55 So sometimes I just switch the code 25:58 and I save from the bulk food section 26:00 that it was something else, so I can save some money." 26:04 And she said, she thought to herself, 26:05 "What in the world? 26:07 They were stealing macadamia nuts, 26:09 for a couple of dollars? 26:11 Where are their morals?" 26:12 And then she said to her surprise 26:14 someone across the way piped up and said, "Yeah, yeah, me too. 26:17 You know, sometimes I pick it up off the scale 26:20 so it doesn't weigh as much and they charge me less." 26:24 And as she shared this and as she shared, 26:27 you know, her shock at what had happened, 26:29 and as she shared that when her brother was in a car accident, 26:33 she-- Part of her wished that 26:35 she could pray in all genuineness of heart, 26:38 but couldn't honestly do it. 26:40 As she shared these things I realized that 26:43 this was a really honest person. 26:46 We had a wonderful conversation. 26:48 And the Lord struck me with the realization 26:50 and I told her this, I said, 26:52 "You know, I believe that in God's eyes, 26:55 He can smile and look more kindly upon you 26:58 who in all honesty are an atheist 27:01 simply because you have never studied the Bible 27:03 and because you've never learned anything else, 27:06 rather than the person who is just in church 27:09 because their family is in church." 27:12 Just in church because their sister 27:15 has been nagging them to come or claiming to be a Christian 27:20 while only having a semblance of Christianity. 27:23 Just because it's what you're familiar with. 27:25 Friends, God looks upon the heart. 27:29 God weighs our motives. 27:31 And, you know, when someone is honest in heart, 27:35 God can bless that. 27:37 When someone is genuine in their motives, genuinely, 27:43 even if they are genuinely doing the wrong thing, 27:46 God can bless that and He will turn them around. 27:48 Just like He did with Joseph, and just like He did 27:51 with those tribes that we have just read about. 27:55 You see, God looks at the heart. 27:57 Turn with me to Proverbs 16. 27:59 Proverbs Chapter 16. 28:05 Proverbs Chapter 16 28:07 and we're going to be reading together verse 2. 28:12 Proverbs 16:2. 28:15 "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, 28:18 but the Lord weighs the hearts." 28:22 The Lord weighs the hearts. 28:23 Friends, scripture is full of examples of people 28:26 who were not quite there. 28:29 Their hearts were genuine, 28:30 but they didn't have their theology all straight. 28:33 Think of the woman at the well. 28:35 She didn't have her understanding 28:37 of the coming Messiah 28:38 or her understanding of the Bible 28:39 or worship correct, but her heart was open. 28:43 And when she met Jesus, she was willing to follow Him. 28:47 We think of Cornelius in Acts Chapter 10, 28:50 that gentile, the soldier, the captain actually 28:54 who the Lord gave a dream to 28:57 and gave Peter a dream simultaneously. 28:59 Cornelius who is seeking God with all of his heart. 29:02 God honored that and He could bless him. 29:06 We think of Paul or the Apostle Paul 29:09 who was Saul of Tarsus, 29:11 Saul who was persecuting Christians 29:15 and having them put to death. 29:17 You know, he thought that he was right. 29:19 He was genuinely convinced that 29:21 as he was putting these people to death 29:23 that he was doing God a favor. 29:26 But then the Stoning of Stephen took place. 29:30 The Stoning of Stephen and then Jesus miraculously 29:33 appearing to him as he was writing to Damascus, 29:36 knocked him off of his horse. 29:39 And praise the Lord, those two events, 29:41 the Stoning of Stephen going through his mind 29:43 over the next few days. 29:44 Jesus saying Paul-- Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 29:48 This turned Saul around and Saul became Paul. 29:53 Friends, his motives were right. 29:55 He was deceived into thinking he was doing the right thing 29:59 and his actions were wrong and God could honor that. 30:02 And when He turned him around, 30:03 he became the most powerful missionary 30:05 the church had ever seen. 30:08 If our motives are right God can work with that. 30:13 It's when our motives are wrong and our actions are right 30:18 that we have a problem. 30:20 We find this takes place a number of times in scripture 30:25 and we can see some examples together. 30:29 But, you know, sometimes we do this as people, don't we? 30:34 You know, you'll run across-- And probably any country, 30:39 but sometimes a parent might come home 30:41 and I can just see it happening, 30:43 a mother comes home and the dishes are all done. 30:47 The kitchen is mopped, 30:49 the entire house is vacuum cleaned 30:53 and she's thinking, "This is strange." 30:56 And then her daughter walks around 30:57 the corner with a big smile 30:59 and she says, "Hi, Mom, welcome home." 31:02 She gives her a big hug and her mom is thinking, 31:05 "This is different." 31:08 And then after a few minutes of listening kindly 31:12 and attentively to how her mother's day has been, 31:14 the daughter says, "You know, Mom, 31:17 there is this iPad on sale, 31:21 and I could really use one for school and, 31:25 you know, I could really use this iPad. 31:27 What do you think?" 31:30 Friends, sometimes we do things for the wrong reasons. 31:34 We do the right thing for the wrong reasons, 31:36 for selfish motives rather than doing these things selflessly, 31:41 she was doing them selfishly. 31:44 And if our motives or if our motives are wrong, 31:49 it doesn't necessarily mean that our actions are wrong. 31:55 Now speaking of this, did you know that 31:58 legalism falls into this category? 32:01 What is legalism? 32:03 Trying to be saved by what? 32:06 Keeping the law. Let me ask you. 32:08 Is the outward act of keeping the law good? 32:10 Yes or no? Yes. 32:12 Keeping God's law is good and it's a necessity. 32:15 But legalism is trying to be saved by keeping the law. 32:19 And did you know that legalism itself 32:22 is actually breaking the law? 32:26 In Romans 13:11, the Bible says 32:28 that love is a fulfilling of the law. 32:32 And if love is selflessness, 32:35 if love is on the first for love toward God 32:39 in the last six commandments, love toward our fellow men. 32:42 If that is the crux of the law, selflessness, 32:46 then to keep the law to try to be saved 32:48 to earn our salvation ourselves is selfish. 32:52 So it's actually breaking the law 32:54 that we are trying to keep. 32:56 You see, if we do not keep the law in spirit 32:58 for the right reason, genuinely and selflessly 33:02 for the care of others, 33:03 then we're not keeping it at all. 33:05 Legalism isn't actually keeping the law. 33:08 In spirit, it's breaking the law. 33:12 We see in scripture there are times where 33:14 people had right actions, but wrong motives. 33:20 Turn with me to John 6:24-26. 33:26 John 6:24-26, here we find that 33:31 Jesus has just fed the 5,000. 33:36 John Chapter 6, he's just fed the 5,000 33:40 and let's actually start back at verse 22. 33:43 "On the following day." 33:45 This was after He had fed the 5,000. 33:47 After He had walked on the stormy sea 33:50 to meet His disciples there and gone to the other side. 33:53 "On the following day when the people 33:56 who were standing on the other side of the sea 33:58 saw that there was no other boat there, 34:01 except the one which His disciples had entered 34:04 and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, 34:07 but His disciples had gone away alone. 34:09 However, other boats came from Tiberius near the place 34:12 where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks." 34:15 Verse 24, "When the people therefore 34:17 saw Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, 34:20 they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, 34:23 seeking Jesus." 34:26 What were they doing? 34:28 Seeking Jesus. Let me ask you. 34:30 Is seeking Jesus a good thing? Yes. 34:34 Seeking Jesus is the best thing that we can do. 34:36 Amen. 34:38 They were seeking Jesus. 34:40 But let's continue on. 34:41 We see that their actions were right. 34:44 Continuing on, verse 25, 34:48 "And when they found him on the other side of the sea, 34:51 they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here?" 34:54 You see, they were waiting for Jesus to come back 34:57 down from the mountain. 34:58 You remember that they wanted to take Jesus by force 35:01 and make Him king. 35:03 They realized this miracle was huge to feed 5,000 people. 35:09 Imagine what He could do 35:11 against the Roman armies they fought. 35:13 He could heal our sick, our wounded men, 35:15 He could heal immediately 35:17 and they could get up and keep fighting. 35:19 We would never go hungry, 35:20 we would never need to bring food with us 35:21 because He could just multiply a few loaves. 35:24 They wanted to take Jesus by force 35:27 and make Him an earthly king. 35:30 So Jesus strongly commanded His disciples 35:33 to get into a boat and go to the other side. 35:36 Jesus went Himself up into the mountain and prayed. 35:40 This was a significant time in His life and ministry 35:43 and that's why it is one of the only stories 35:46 mentioned in all four gospels. 35:49 Continuing on, we see that, Jesus, after He met this crowd 35:54 on the other side of the sea, He answered them and said, 35:58 verse 26, "Most assuredly I say to you, You seek me," 36:02 good thing, yes or no? 36:05 Is seeking Jesus good? Yes or no? 36:07 Yes, absolutely. 36:09 "You seek me," He said, "Not because you saw the signs, 36:15 but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled." 36:19 Jesus says, look, right action, wrong motive. 36:23 You seek me, but for the wrong reasons. 36:26 Do not labor for the food which perishes, 36:29 but for the food which endures to everlasting life, 36:33 which the son of man will give you 36:35 because the father has set His seal on him. 36:40 Friends, we can seek Jesus for the wrong reasons. 36:45 We can actually do the right thing 36:48 for the wrong motive. 36:51 And you may be here at Witness and I want to say this, 36:53 of all the places to meet your future life partner, 36:56 this is one of the best. 36:58 But I want to say this, you're in a youth conference 37:02 where other people are here seeking after Jesus, 37:05 but if the reason you are here 37:07 is to meet your future life partner, 37:10 you're in the right place for the wrong reason. 37:15 Why do you want to go on outreach? 37:17 Is it 'cause that that cute boy who loves Jesus is coming? 37:23 Or is your motive to serve those in the community, 37:26 to share with them the bread of life 37:28 that can transform them, that can break them free 37:31 from the chains that are holding them? 37:35 Is our reason for coming to church 37:38 or attending that evangelistic series 37:40 or doing music in order to get close to that 37:45 nice, single Adventist girl or because our parents 37:50 are offering us money if we actually go to church, 37:54 which happens sometimes. 37:56 We might be in the right place, 37:58 but God says, right action, wrong motive. 38:03 Friends, what is our motive? 38:06 What is the reason that we are here? 38:07 What is the reason that we do the things 38:09 that we do, that we serve? 38:12 What is our motivation? 38:15 This is what God is asking us? 38:19 This is what God wants us to do in checking our hearts. 38:23 As we see, throughout scripture, the motif, 38:26 that motives made all the difference in the world. 38:29 Motives made all the difference. 38:33 And if our reason for service, if our motivation for worship, 38:38 if our inspiration for evangelism 38:41 is for any other reason than 38:42 from our heart filled with love for God 38:45 and love for our fellowmen, a passion to see lost souls 38:49 saved in His kingdom, then God looks at our deed 38:52 and He says, right action, but wrong motive. 38:58 You know, if you have come to Witness 39:02 and you have mixed motives, know this 39:06 that we serve such a powerful God. 39:09 And we serve such a loving God that He can take those actions 39:14 even when our motives are wrong. 39:17 And He can bring blessings out of that. 39:20 I can stand here all day 39:23 and I know that you could share, too, 39:25 countless stories of people who have showed up 39:27 at an evangelistic series to heckle the preacher. 39:31 People who have showed up to shout and be disruptive 39:35 and they have been converted. 39:37 There are countless stories of people 39:39 who have sat in the back of an evangelistic series 39:41 and taking very close notes. 39:43 Listening to everything that the pastor has to say, 39:47 so that they can find some fault with it. 39:50 And by studying the Bible they were one to Christ. 39:53 My dad's aunt, who is the reason 39:55 that he is a Seventh-day Adventist 39:57 is one of those people. 39:58 Zeb Hourigan, the leader 40:01 and one of the founders of Witness, 40:03 one of the ways that he was brought to the Lord, 40:05 powerful testimony. 40:07 One of the ways was that he wanted to disprove 40:10 part of scripture if I'm not mistaken. 40:12 And that led him to a deeper study 40:15 in combination with many things 40:16 that were happening in his life. 40:18 We look and see through history that there were people 40:22 who tried to disprove the Bible. 40:24 They set out to prove that the resurrection of Jesus 40:27 was false and they ended up writing books 40:30 proving that the resurrection of Jesus took place. 40:34 If you are here or you're serving God 40:37 for wrong motives, 40:39 know that even if you are in the right place 40:41 for the wrong reason, God can bless that. 40:44 But He wants our hearts to be in the right place, amen. 40:48 The Lord wants our hearts to be in the right place 40:51 and that place is in His hands. 40:58 You know, we sing songs together 41:01 and I love many of these songs. 41:04 We sing songs like, "I've got a mansion 41:07 just over the hilltop," and we song songs like, 41:11 "In the sweet by and by." 41:13 And that is one of my favorite hymns. 41:15 Did you know that was one of Ellen White's 41:16 favorite hymns, too? 41:18 We sing these songs like, 41:20 "I've got a mansion just over the hilltop," 41:22 and it's good to imagine and tell our children 41:26 to focus on the times in heaven 41:28 when we are going to get to play with lions, 41:30 when we are going to get to ride elephants. 41:33 It's gonna be a blast 41:34 and it's good to focus on the times 41:36 when we can slide down the neck of a giraffe, 41:39 when we don't have to be afraid of the snakes 41:42 or anything that's poisonous. 41:44 Friends, it's good to look forward to those times, 41:47 it's good to look forward to having 41:49 a dwelling place in heaven. 41:52 But if our motive is going to heaven for the mansions, 41:58 if it's going to heaven for the streets of gold, 42:01 even if it's going to heaven so we can be with our families 42:04 which is not a bad thing in and of itself. 42:07 Friends, if this is our primary motive 42:10 that is fueling our direction heavenward, 42:13 if it's anything besides spending eternity with Jesus, 42:18 then it is for the wrong reason. 42:20 Don't get me wrong. 42:21 These are good things, but these are not the reason, 42:25 these are the results, 42:27 the real focus is being with Jesus, amen. 42:30 Those things are just side benefits and bonuses. 42:34 Those are the side blessings, 42:36 but those should not be our reason, 42:38 not be our motivation alone for being there. 42:43 What is our motivation for heaven? 42:47 You know, fear of hell, neither fear of hell 42:52 nor a desire for the streets of gold 42:55 is strong enough to keep us in the hands of God. 42:59 The love of Jesus, a passion for spending time with Him, 43:04 for spending eternity with Him 43:06 is the only thing strong enough to keep us in His hands. 43:11 And, friends, He wants to put that love in our hearts. 43:15 God sees our hearts, He reads our hearts. 43:19 He looks at our motives. 43:22 And, friends, when our motives are right, 43:24 then He can lead and bless in every other way. 43:29 There was a little girl who wanted to do something 43:33 nice for her mother. 43:36 You see, her mother had recently 43:39 wanted to teach her daughter how to do something helpful 43:42 and practical around the house. 43:45 And she had had her daughter get a pair of scissors 43:48 and she said, "Okay, sweetheart, 43:49 I want to teach you how to care for things around our home." 43:54 And she had noticed that the strings of their curtains 43:57 were starting to hang low. 43:59 They had some loose threads. 44:01 And she said, "All right, sweetheart, 44:02 we want to cut off all these threads, 44:03 just a four-year-old girl, 44:05 and she said, "All right, mommy." 44:07 And she started cutting the threads 44:09 and they swept them up and put them in the trash. 44:12 And then a few hours later, her mom heard a knock 44:17 in her bedroom door, she said, "Yes." 44:21 She came out and her daughter said, "Mommy, I did some more. 44:26 I did something nice for you. Look." 44:28 And in her hands her mom was horrified to see the tassels 44:34 from their genuine Persian rug. 44:37 This little girl had wanted to do 44:40 something nice for her mother, but Persian rugs, 44:42 when the tassels of the ends are cut, 44:44 they decrease in value, incredibly so. 44:48 And this little girl had that the tassels in her hand 44:51 and her mom thought, "Oh, no, 44:52 don't tell me those are from our rug." 44:55 So she went out and she looked and sure enough, 44:57 all of the tassels on the ends, 45:00 both ends of the Persian rug were gone. 45:04 Her daughter had done the wrong thing, 45:07 but her heart was right. 45:09 Her desire was right and her mother knew that. 45:13 Her mother looked at her and she said, "Sweetheart 45:15 that was so thoughtful of you. 45:18 That was so sweet of you. 45:20 I know you wanted to do the right thing. 45:22 I know you wanted to do something to help me 45:24 and I want to thank you for that. 45:26 But next time you want to do something with scissors, 45:28 let mommy know ahead of time." 45:32 Friends, when our actions aren't all right, 45:36 but our motives are genuinely pure and correct, 45:40 God can bless that. 45:43 It's when our actions are right 45:48 and our motives are wrong, that we are in danger. 45:53 You know, we are told in Jeremiah 17:9, 45:56 that "The heart is desperately wicked 45:58 and deceitful above all things," 46:00 the Bible says, "Who can know it?" 46:03 You know, we can't even assess correctly 46:05 what's going on in our hearts and minds. 46:07 Sometimes, we are doing the right thing 46:10 and we think we're doing it for the right reasons. 46:12 But upon deeper inspection, 46:15 we realize that our motivation was mixed. 46:19 Our motivations were not pure. 46:24 Friends, we need God to do a heart check on us, amen. 46:30 Today, I don't know 46:31 what you may be going through in your life. 46:33 I don't know what you may be doing that's right. 46:37 But if you want to say, "Lord, 46:39 I want you to reveal to me my motives. 46:42 Reveal to me my reasons for my right actions." 46:46 If you want to say along with David 46:48 as he did in Psalm 139:23, 24. 46:54 "Search me, O Lord, and know my heart. 46:58 Try me, and know my understanding, 46:59 and see if there be any wicked way in me, 47:03 and lead me in the way everlasting." 47:06 If that's your desire, I want to invite you to stand. 47:09 If you want to say, Lord, reveal to me the reason 47:12 behind the actions that I am doing. 47:16 I don't want to just have 47:18 right actions and wrong motives. 47:20 Nor do I want to have right motives, but wrong actions. 47:24 I want to have right actions and right motives. 47:28 Reveal to me what's going on in my heart and mind, Lord. 47:31 And give me a heart single for your glory. 47:35 Give me a heart and mind that desire to lift You up 47:38 more than anything else in this world. 47:47 That's your desire, I'd like to ask you to pray with me, 47:51 we're told that many a song is a prayer. 47:55 Let's bow our heads. 47:58 Lord, I want to be a Christian 48:04 In my heart, in my heart 48:11 Lord, I want to be a Christian 48:17 In my heart 48:21 In my heart 48:26 In my heart 48:32 Lord, I want to be a Christian 48:38 In my heart 48:43 Father in heaven, we want to be Christians in our hearts. 48:49 Not just in our outward actions, 48:52 but in our inward motives. 48:55 Fill us with the love of Jesus. 48:58 And may our primary motive, our reason for action, 49:04 the reason behind every good in godly action 49:07 be to share Your love with the world. 49:11 May our motivation for heaven not be the streets of gold, 49:16 the long missed family members 49:20 or the animals that we'll get to play with, 49:22 that will be tamed, Lord, those are bonus blessings, 49:26 but may our motivation for heaven 49:28 be to be with Jesus. 49:31 We love You, Lord. 49:32 Thank You for the Sabbath when we can spend time 49:35 in Your presence, a foretaste of heaven. 49:38 And as it is soon to be upon us, 49:41 we pray that You would anoint our hearts and minds 49:43 with Your Holy spirits 49:45 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17