Participants: Justin Torossian
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001038
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01:01 Have you caught a glimpse of glory so far this weekend?
01:04 Amen! Are you longing for your heaven and home? 01:08 Amen! So am I. Do you know what this morning is? 01:12 Do you know what today is? What's the date today? 01:15 It's July 5. Do you know what that means? 01:19 In my home country it's July 4. Which is our Independence Day. 01:25 And you know for the first time, ever, 01:28 not only can I remember indepen- dence day that's going on in 01:31 my country right now, but I can rejoice with you here 01:35 in Australia because today is our independence day as well. 01:38 What else is today? Today is the Sabbath. 01:42 And the Sabbath is not only a reminder of creation 01:46 that God made us but that God set us free 01:49 from slavery to sin, Amen! 01:52 So Praise the Lord for today the Sabbath, our independence 01:56 day, and the independence day for all Christians, Amen! 02:00 Before we dive into the study of God's word this morning 02:04 I'd like to ask you to join me in prayer through song. 02:10 Into my heart, Into my heart 02:20 Come into my heart, Lord Jesus 02:30 Come in today, come in to stay 02:40 Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. 02:52 Father in Heaven, this is the prayer of our heart this morning 02:56 We ask that you would come into our hearts 02:58 That you would remove self and our selfish tendencies 03:03 And that you would fill us so full of your love 03:06 as we behold You upon Your cross and in Your Word 03:09 that we would be actuated by that love to serve others 03:14 Thank you Lord that we have not been saved unto ourselves but 03:18 that we have been saved for a greater purpose we've been saved 03:22 to serve. Bless us this morning as we study Your Word 03:26 and as we dive into the message that You have 03:30 for us, for we ask it in Jesus' precious name, Amen. 03:34 It's All About You. Our message this morning is entitled 03:40 It's All About You. Everyone has something 03:46 that they're willing to do almost anything for. 03:50 Some people will sell everything that they have 03:53 in order to buy a nice car 03:55 so they can drive this nice car around 03:58 and speed down the highway, show off to their friends. 04:02 For some people a car is worth selling 04:05 virtually everything that they have to obtain. 04:09 For others it's not a nice car they invest all their time 04:12 and money in their wardrobe. 04:14 They care so much about the way that they look 04:17 that they're willing to pay incredible prices 04:21 even giving up nearly everything that they have 04:23 to secure some designer clothes. 04:26 Others invest everything that they have in houses and property 04:32 in items, in technology. Others sell everything they have 04:37 to invest in the stock market, in promising investments. 04:41 There's something this morning 04:44 as we examine God's Word together 04:46 that a man was willing to give everything that he had 04:51 to obtain. And God's question to us this morning is 04:55 "what are you willing to give?" 04:58 He's asking "what are you willing to surrender to obtain 05:03 that which is of the most possible value?" 05:06 I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me 05:09 to the Gospel of Matthew, the book of Matthew 05:14 and our passage is found in chapter 13. 05:18 Matthew chapter 13, here Jesus tells a parable 05:22 And like many of His parables He said, the kingdom of heaven 05:27 is like. And here He illustrates to us some of the principles 05:31 that govern His kingdom. 05:33 Matthew 13, I'll be starting in verse 45. 05:38 One of the shortest parables that Jesus ever told 05:41 Reading in the NKJV, Jesus says "again, the Kingdom of Heaven 05:49 is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls 05:52 who, when he had found one pearl of great price 05:56 went and sold all that he had and bought it. 06:01 Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant 06:05 someone who's searching after precious pearls. 06:09 Someone who had an eye for value 06:12 And when he found that one pearl 06:14 that pearl he had looked for all his life 06:17 the size, the shape, the color, the tint, it was perfect. 06:24 And this merchant sold everything that he had 06:28 in order to buy this pearl. 06:31 And this morning I want to share with you 06:34 the secondary application that this parable has. 06:38 You see we often hear the primary application, 06:41 but the secondary application of this parable 06:44 is that God is that merchant man, the Lord is the one who 06:50 seeing us lost in sin, seeing our potential 06:53 not as beautiful pearls but as fallen sinful beings 06:57 He said, I need to give, I'm willing to give everything 07:01 that I have to secure them for myself. 07:04 This is the secondary application 07:06 and we find it throughout scripture. 07:08 For example in Zechariah 9:16 07:12 God likens His followers to stones, precious stones 07:17 of a crown. Come with me to Malachi 3:17 07:21 Malachi 3:17, the book just before Matthew. 07:25 And here we see another example of how this 07:29 secondary application of the parable comes out. 07:32 You see to God we are the pearl of great price. Malachi 3:17 07:40 Here, speaking of those who feared the Lord, 07:44 He says, they shall be mine says the Lord of hosts 07:48 on the day that I make them my what? my jewels. 07:53 A pearl is a precious item that is categorized with jewels. 07:57 And Paul similarly said to his followers, 08:02 to the people of the Christian church, he said 08:04 you are our joy, our crown of rejoicing. 08:08 So in God's eyes, you and I and lost humanity 08:14 is that precious, priceless pearl. 08:18 You know Ellen White picks up on this Biblical reality 08:21 of the secondary application of this parable 08:23 in Christ's Object Lesson, reading from page 118, paragraph 2 08:29 She says, Christ the heavenly merchantman 08:32 seeking goodly pearls saw in lost humanity 08:36 the pearl of great price in man defiled and ruined by sin 08:42 He saw the possibilities of redemption. 08:45 God looked upon humanity not as vile and worthless 08:50 He looked upon it in Christ, saw it as it might become 08:54 through redeeming love. He collected all the riches 08:59 of the universe and laid them down in order to buy the pearl. 09:05 You see God is the heavenly merchantman 09:08 seeking after precious pearls. 09:11 He did not look upon humanity as dark and ruined 09:14 and then vile or worthless, no! But He saw us not as we were 09:19 not as we are but He sees us as what we can be by His grace. 09:23 Before coming here to Australia I was in California. 09:27 back at my parents place, for a couple of weeks 09:30 helping them remodel their house. And, as I was there 09:34 I decided to help sort through some of my dad's things. 09:39 And as he was at work during the day, 09:42 I had been sorting through diff- erent things he had been saving 09:45 You see my dad is a craftsman by trade 09:48 He has done auto body, auto mechanic work, 09:51 generally construction, it's typically what he does 09:54 and because my dad can build anything and fix anything 09:58 and refurbish and beautify anything 10:01 he sees the value in everything. 10:05 And as I was sorting through these things, 10:07 I would put some aside and say 10:09 I'm sure he's gonna wanna get rid of that. 10:11 I'm sure he's gonna wanna get rid of this. 10:13 And then there were some that I said, 10:15 you know I think he might want that. 10:16 And when my dad would come home at the end of the day 10:19 inevitably there would be some things, a few things 10:24 that I thought he would want to keep. 10:26 But he would recognize that they weren't worth keeping. 10:29 That although they may have looked good 10:31 they either did not have any more purpose for him, or 10:35 were beyond the point of use. 10:38 But more often than not, the pile of things that I thought 10:42 to myself yeah he's gonna wanna get rid of this 10:44 this is nothing, me not knowing what these tools were 10:47 all used for, not seeing the potential 10:51 because I'm not the craftsman, I'm not the one 10:53 who can refurbish everything, I set them aside 10:56 as if they were gonna be thrown away, and he said 10:58 Oh do you know what this is? 10:59 you know what this tool can be used for? 11:02 And he would tell me. And that tool could be used for something 11:06 that no other tool could do. 11:08 And then he would say, Oh this chair, you see this? 11:12 All I have to do is sand this down, I can paint it 11:16 I can varnish this wood, put it there for handles 11:19 within an hour it will be a beautiful brand new chair. 11:22 You see my dad saw the value, he sees the value in things because 11:27 he does not see them as they are but as what they could be 11:32 through his work in them. And God is the same way with us. 11:36 He sees us not as we are with our broken lives 11:40 our sinful vile nature. But when He looks at us 11:44 He sees us as what we can be in Christ, Amen! 11:48 And because of this He alone can transform us, 11:52 and because of this the Lord gave everything he had 11:56 for you and for me. Now you may wonder to yourself 12:03 why did Justin start speaking this morning 12:06 and immediately jump into the secondary application of 12:09 the parable? Why did he go to the secondary point 12:13 rather than starting with the crux of the matter? 12:16 Why jump to the side note where one paragraph 12:21 talks about this in Christ's Object Lessons and 12:24 where the rest of the parable is focused on the 12:27 primary application? Well I want to suggest to you this morning 12:30 that this is exactly what we do in our Christian walk. 12:34 You see much of the problem with us is that we think 12:38 this entire great controversy revolves around us. 12:41 But there is a greater controversy going on. 12:45 There is a much greater, broader controversy than just us! 12:50 But in Christianity that's all we seem to hear about, right? 12:55 In different movements, in different sermons 12:58 and especially in movements of which music plays a large part. 13:05 Without naming any names, if you listen closely 13:08 to many of the songs, if you listen to the sermons 13:10 they all seem to be focused on us. 13:14 They all seem to be focused on me, I. 13:17 Look at the words in the songs 13:19 And don't get me wrong, I'm not the type of person who says 13:22 the only songs are the ones that are 120 years old 13:25 or older. Not at all. There are some beautiful new songs 13:29 that have been written. But I must say, that unfortunately 13:33 the vast majority of the newer songs 13:35 tend to be on the shallower side when it comes to deep theology 13:38 when it comes to meaning, and especially when it comes to 13:42 focus, focusing on God. You see the songs that we sing 13:47 should not just be about us and what we want and what we need. 13:51 No. But they should glorify God. 13:54 Through everything we do, every- thing we say, everything we sing 13:59 Our focus should be on Him. 14:04 Now God's focus, as we mentioned 14:08 and as we've seen through this parable 14:10 God's focus in this great controversy 14:13 His focus in the plan of redemption is upon you and me. 14:17 It's upon His creation. But our focus as His creation 14:22 should be upon the Creator. 14:24 We see it's all too easy to have our focus to become narrow. 14:34 If you've ever been on the internet for something 14:38 or working on a document in a word processor like MS Word 14:42 or pages, you know that if you are zoomed in too closely 14:46 if you're zoomed into the page 14:48 you can no longer really work effectively. 14:51 You can no longer see the big picture. 14:55 And because you cannot see the big picture, 14:57 you're missing the point and you're unable to really work 15:01 as you need to. The same thing happens if you're in a forest 15:06 You see many trees and the closer you get to a tree 15:08 that is all that you'll see right? 15:11 But by backing up and standing on the mountain from a distance 15:14 you look down and you see the entire forest. 15:17 And when it comes to the great controversy, 15:20 when it comes to the plan of redemption 15:22 this is the danger that we find ourselves in. 15:25 We find ourselves slipping down the slippery slope often times 15:30 of focusing on ourselves which was God's focus 15:34 in the great controversy! But as we slowly start to back up 15:39 this morning, to gain a broader clearer picture 15:43 of what the great controversy is really about 15:46 I want to invite you to be prayerful 15:50 and to open your mind and heart to the fact that 15:54 this great controversy is bigger than you and me. 15:57 Did you know that when Jesus died on the cross 16:01 that it was for more than humanity? 16:04 Did you know when Jesus died on the cross 16:06 it wasn't just for human beings. 16:08 When Jesus died on the cross, it actually provided 16:13 the eternal security of not just us humans, 16:17 but all of the heavenly angels 16:20 of all of the beings in the unfallen worlds. 16:23 Listen to this powerful quote 16:26 Desire of Ages, page 758, paragraph 2 16:30 "To the angels and the unfallen worlds, 16:33 the cry 'It is Finished' had deep significance. 16:38 It was for them as well as for us that the great work 16:43 of redemption had been accomplished. 16:45 They with us share the fruits of Christ's victory." 16:51 You see the great controversy is bigger than us on planet Earth 16:56 It's actually securing, Jesus' death on the cross 16:59 actually secured the eternal security and peace 17:03 of not just us but the heavenly angels. 17:06 Because when Satan's character was finally made manifest 17:10 on the cross and when God's love, His complete selfless love 17:14 was finally made clear to the universe 17:17 they all knew that Satan was wrong in this great controversy. 17:21 And that God was truly a God of love. 17:24 And this is the reality, this is the realization 17:27 that will keep us from sinning 17:29 throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. 17:31 The question may come, what was God's motive 17:38 in coming to save us? What was His reason? 17:42 What is His inward source of action? 17:47 What is it that has fueled Him in this great controversy? 17:51 Why did He come to die for us? It's bigger than you and me. 17:56 Listen to this and pick up your Bible, we're gonna go through 17:59 some verses together quickly. Isaiah 43:7 18:03 Isa 43:7, this actually talks about the reason 18:08 we were created. You're wonder- ing what the meaning of life is? 18:13 This verse coupled with some verses in Ecclesiastes 18:18 some of the last verses there will provide your answer. 18:22 Isa 43:7, God says everyone who is called by my name 18:27 whom I have created for my what? for my glory 18:33 I have formed him, yes I have made him. 18:36 So God here is saying I have created mankind 18:40 for my glory. It's not just about us 18:44 it's ultimately about God. So you may be wondering 18:47 to yourself how is it that God made us for His glory? 18:51 If God is a selfless God, a God of complete love 18:56 who is considering His creatures above Himself 18:59 doesn't that sound like a selfish statement? 19:01 I don't quite understand. Let's keep going. 19:04 Psalm 23:3. The famous Psalm many of us can quote it by heart 19:12 But let's go there to read it as well. 19:14 Psalm 23:3. Here David speaking in the pastoral psalm says 19:19 He restores my soul. Now why does He restore David's soul? 19:25 Listen, He leads me in the paths of righteousness 19:28 why? For His name's sake. So God's reason 19:34 for creating us, we've seen from Isa 43:7 is for His glory 19:39 The reason He leads us in the ways of righteousness 19:42 is not just for our sake but for His name's sake. 19:45 What does it mean to actually be led in righteousness 19:49 for His name's sake. What does God mean by His name? 19:53 Come over with me to Psalm 106:8 19:56 In Psalm 106:8 the picture becomes a little clearer 20:07 as we continue to zoom out so to speak. 20:11 Psalm 106:8, Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake. 20:18 That He might make His mighty power known. 20:21 Also in Exodus 9:16 God told Moses to go to Pharaoh, 20:27 and He said that by the great power 20:30 that He works through Moses that His name would be made known. 20:34 Now was this a selfish reason? 20:38 Is God's glory, is His name being known to the world 20:43 for His own sake? Is He doing it 20:46 so He can feel good about Himself? 20:48 How do we reconcile this with the fact that He's a God of love 20:52 Well it's very simple. You understand that a name 20:57 represents character. We find this in Exodus 34 and 21:01 throughout Scripture. A name represents who we are. 21:06 You see if someone knocks on your door 21:10 and you weren't expecting anyone and you answer your door 21:16 you have one of those screen doors, 21:18 I don't know if you have them here in Australia, 21:20 but they're a Literature Evangelist's nightmare 21:22 in the United States. A screen door that's heavy metal 21:26 that you can hardly see through. You can't tell who it is 21:29 then you say, who's there? Who are you? 21:33 They say, Oh, I'm Jim. You say Ok you're Jim I don't know you. 21:40 But when you get asked who you are 21:43 your first response is your name 21:46 The reason that you give your name is because 21:49 our name is a representation or a reflection of who we are. 21:54 See, when God's name is being spoken of in Scripture 21:58 it's a reflection on His character. 22:01 It's about who He is. His name is the very essence of His being 22:06 Who is He? He is Yahweh. He is Jehovah Jireh. 22:11 He is Adonai. Yeshua. El Shaddai 22:16 And that's why there are so many different names for God. 22:20 Because one single name cannot summarize the infinitude 22:25 of His character. He is the illimitable One. 22:29 And this is why He has multiple names so that we can 22:33 have a clearer picture of who He is. 22:36 You see every name, Jehovah Jireh the Lord provides 22:40 it reflects upon His character and gives us a glimpse 22:44 into who He is. Every name of God 22:48 is a reflection and represent- ation of His character. 22:51 So in reality, God's motive in the great controversy 22:56 is to bring glory to His name. To rightly represent His name, 23:01 and that means to really demonstrate to the universe 23:04 who He is. By saying that it's for His glory 23:08 and to make His name known. God is basically saying 23:12 I want the world to know who I am. 23:14 I've been accused in this great controversy of something 23:18 of being a God that is harsh and stern and unloving. 23:22 and through the cross, and throughout history 23:25 in God's dealing with mankind 23:27 His goal has been to make His name known His character cleared 23:32 to us so that we can understand who He really is. 23:35 so that we can realize this is a God 23:38 that I want to spend eternity with. 23:40 This God's desire and this is what He means when He says 23:44 He wants to make His name known. 23:46 Turn with me to Ezekiel 36 23:50 In Ezekiel 36 we see this made more clear in God's Word. 23:56 Ezekiel 36 starting in verse 20. Here it says, 24:00 When they came to the nations wherever they went 24:02 they profaned My holy name. When they said of them 24:07 or when they said of them these are the people of the Lord 24:11 and yet they have gone out of these lands. 24:13 But I had concern for My holy name 24:17 which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations 24:19 wherever they went. You see in the Old Testament 24:22 God had a people and He said, Israel you are my chosen people 24:26 I want you to reflect my character 24:29 to all of the pagan nations around. 24:32 I want you to reflect my character so that they know 24:35 they don't need to sacrifice children to their idols. 24:38 Which was in reality sacrificing their children to demons. 24:41 He said I want you to rightly reflect who I am. 24:46 So that they can come to know me 24:49 I want you to well represent my Name. 24:52 And God says at this point in history, 24:54 Israel had failed to do that. 24:57 The surrounding nations looked upon them and they said 25:00 Is this God's people. What kind of God is that? 25:04 They're just like us. They dress like us. They sound like us. 25:08 They sing like us. They walk and talk like us. 25:11 They watch what we watch. Is this a different people? 25:15 And friends may this never be able to be said of us, Amen! 25:19 May God always look down and say, Ah my children! 25:23 My children are rightly reflect- ing my character to the world. 25:27 They have decided to stand up and be different. 25:31 Not for the sake of showing that they are better in any way 25:37 because they're not, no. Because of the God that they serve. 25:40 Friends, God wants us to rightly represent His character. 25:45 Israel was not doing this at this moment in time. 25:48 Verse 22, therefore say to the House of Israel 25:53 Thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake 25:58 O House of Israel, it wasn't about them 26:00 but for My holy name's sake 26:03 which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 26:06 And I will sanctify My great Name 26:10 which has been profaned among the nations 26:12 which you have profaned in their midst 26:15 and the nations shall know that I am the Lord. 26:19 He continues on, and He says, when I am hallowed in you 26:25 before their eyes. So God says, I need to go to extra lengths 26:32 to make His character known to the people of planet earth. 26:36 and God says the way that I am going to do that 26:39 the way that they're going to come to know who I really am 26:42 is through you. He says when I'm hallowed in you 26:48 before their eyes. You see the Gospel, 26:52 the good news of salvation is about more than 26:55 sharing the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. 26:59 The Gospel is about more than freedom from the death 27:02 penalty of sin and the power of sin. The Gospel is about more 27:07 than the guarantee of spending eternity in heaven with God. 27:11 The good news of the Gospel is that God, to God 27:16 you are the pearl of great price In this great controversy 27:20 you were His focus, our eternal security 27:24 and the eternal security of the angels this was God's motivation 27:28 This was God's desire. He was willing to give everything 27:33 for us. We were the focus in the great controversy. 27:37 In the gospels, the beautiful reality that 27:41 as Jesus suffered in Gethsemane, as He was physically abused 27:47 and endured physical pain, anguish and mental torment 27:51 on the cross, as He thought of you and I, He pushed forward. 27:56 He said they're worth it. I will continue on, I will push forward 28:00 Jesus, until He breathed His last, His motivation was you 28:06 His motivation was me, His motivation was the eternal 28:08 security of all His creatures in heaven. 28:11 And friends, Jesus did not die on the cross 28:17 to win some ancient argument with the devil 28:19 and prove him wrong for His own sake 28:21 He did it because that's who He is. God could not 28:26 enjoy heaven without you and me. 28:29 Friends, He did because that is His character. That is who He is 28:35 And as a result, as a result of that Satan is proven wrong 28:41 in this great controversy. As a result of that 28:45 before the onlooking universe the enemy of souls was unmasked. 28:48 And he was truly unmasked for what he was. 28:51 Because of what Jesus did on the cross as a result 28:55 men and angels can be eternally secure. The great controversy 28:59 can be ended and eternal peace in heaven can be guaranteed. 29:04 These were the results of God's action in giving His life 29:10 for us on the cross in the plan of redemption. 29:13 He did it because that's who He is. Now we see that 29:23 throughout Scripture those who have followed God 29:25 have recognized that it's not about them. 29:29 That it's really about Him. One of those people is Joseph. 29:34 Why don't we turn together to Genesis 39. 29:38 Genesis 39. It's a familiar story. 29:41 Joseph was in slavery at Potiphar's house. 29:44 He was the head of all of the servants. 29:47 We're told that Joseph was a handsome young man. 29:50 Which was a blessing and a curse to him. 29:52 Genesis 39, we see that day after day 29:59 the temptation came. Potiphar's wife tried and tried 30:05 day after day to convince him to sleep with her. 30:07 But Joseph had made a commitment to be faithful to God. 30:12 Listen to what he says. Listen to how Joseph 30:15 lived to the glory of God. Listen to the fact 30:19 how we see that Joseph realized the great controversy 30:22 is not just about him. It says in verse 9, or starting at 8 30:29 he refused and said to his master's wife 30:31 Look my master does not know what is with me in the house 30:36 and he has committed all that he has into my hand. 30:39 He trusted Joseph, he had become his friend 30:41 Now listen to how he continues, Potiphar wasn't his main concern 30:47 He says there is no one greater in this house than I 30:50 nor has he kept back anything from me but you 30:54 because you are his wife. How then can I do this 30:58 great wickedness and sin against Potiphar? No! 31:04 How can I do this great wicked- ness and sin against God! 31:08 Joseph was mindful of the fact that when no one else 31:11 was watching God knew what was happening. 31:13 Joseph said I cannot do this because I love the Lord. 31:17 And I cannot break God's heart by breaking His commandment 31:22 like this. Joseph was willing to stand, stand his ground 31:28 and resist temptation and live for the glory of God. 31:32 You see he cared more about the heart of his Savior 31:36 the heart of his Lord and he was even will than himself 31:39 even more so than breaking the hearts of the people around 31:43 which be extension breaks the heart of God. 31:45 But Joseph was willing to endure suffering, 31:48 he was willing to go to prison and even to die 31:51 before he would break God's law. 31:54 And we need to realize something about Joseph 31:58 His primary concern was the honor of God 32:01 He didn't say no to Potiphar's wife for a selfish reason 32:06 He didn't resist because of the chance of an unwanted pregnancy 32:11 He did not resist because it was the risk of an STD 32:16 which existed in Egypt at that time, by the way 32:18 He did not resist this tempt- ation because of the 32:21 emotional emptiness and the broken hearts that would result. 32:24 Those are the negative results of sin. 32:27 You see friends, fear of sin, fear of sin's results 32:35 is not strong enough to keep us from sinning. 32:38 Fear of sin's consequences is not enough 32:44 to keep us in the hands of God. 32:46 It may be enough to keep you from sinning outwardly. 32:50 But it won't stop you from sinning up here. 32:53 Fear of what will happen to us if we gave in to the temptation 32:59 is not enough to keep us from sinning in our hearts and minds. 33:03 Friends the only thing that is strong enough 33:08 to keep us from sinning even in thought is the love of God. 33:13 The only thing that can keep us from sinning and breaking 33:17 the Lord's heart, the only thing that is powerful enough 33:20 to do that is a deep, true, burning, real love 33:27 for Jesus Christ. This is the only thing that can 33:31 push us forward in righteousness 33:33 is a love for our Savior stronger than anything else. 33:37 You see Joseph loved and cared for God 33:41 because he knew Him. And until you know someone 33:46 it's really hard to care for them. 33:49 You see it's easy. Once you have a friend who's gone to the 33:54 mission field, or you yourself have gone to the mission field 33:57 or you have a family member who is overseas 34:00 doing ministry and mission work it's easy to remember 34:03 missionaries in your prayer. 34:04 When your friend or a relative is a conference leader 34:09 a church leader or someone who's going out as a Bible worker 34:14 it's easy to remember them because you know them. 34:17 Knowing someone makes all of the difference. And when we know God 34:24 we come to love Him. And when we come to love Him 34:27 we desire to honor Him. 34:29 We desire to reflect His loving character in all that we do. 34:34 And in all that we say. Friends this is God's desire for us. 34:40 This is the Lord's desire that we reflect his character. 34:44 The great controversy is bigger than you and me. 34:48 When we think about what God has done for us 34:53 it's easy to have the focus turned inward 34:57 it's easy to think that the great controversy 35:00 revolves around us. For God the great controversy revolves 35:04 around you because you as His creature, His creation 35:08 are His focus. But for us as His creation, the same selfless love 35:13 is focused on us that comes from God. 35:16 When that love is in our hearts our focus will be upon Him. 35:20 When that selfless, unselfish love and compassion 35:26 that God expressed to us through Calvary 35:30 through His continuing ministry right now in the sanctuary 35:33 in heaven, when we grasp that when we actually 35:36 come to understand that in its richness and its fullness 35:39 our focus will no longer be here on us, our focus will be on God 35:47 and His glory. Our focus will be on living for Him 35:51 We'll desire for 1 Cor 10:31, to be reflected 35:57 in every aspect of our lives. Turn there with me if you would 36:00 1 Cor 10:31, this should be our motto as we continue our message 36:06 "It's All About You", 1 Cor 10:31 36:09 Paul says, therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do 36:14 do all to the glory of God. 36:18 Friends, this is our purpose for existence. 36:21 This is His desire for us. And this is our, not just our duty, 36:27 not our responsibility but our holy privilege. 36:30 to glorify Him by reflecting His character to the world. 36:34 You see the reason why there are so many religions out there 36:39 and if you look at all the religions that exist 36:42 you'll see that all of them have a misunderstanding 36:45 of God's character. You'll see that in paganism 36:49 the various gods are one aspect of God's character. 36:52 Just His justice put into one fictional god. 36:56 Or just His compassionate love put into one god. 37:00 And when you divide the aspects of God's character 37:03 it becomes polytheism and you actually get a skewed picture 37:07 of who God is and the Lord needs you and He needs me 37:12 to reflect His character to the world. It's amazing 37:16 that God, His name Yahweh, by the way we call it 37:22 Tetragrameton in Hebrew, it's the word, the name that is 37:28 Jehovah often times. If you have the King James version or 37:31 the New King James version every time in the Old Testament 37:33 that you see Lord in lower case or in capitals 37:36 small capitals, its actually translated from Yahweh 37:40 and the Word, the name of God Yahweh 37:45 actually means the Self Existing One. 37:50 The One who has no beginning, the One who has life in Himself. 37:56 He had no beginning, He has no ending. 37:59 And by the way, this just does not apply only to God the Father 38:02 but this applies to Jesus as well. 38:04 This applies to the Holy Spirit as well. 38:07 They are the Self-Existing Ones 38:09 the Ones who have always existed from eternity past 38:12 to eternity future. Wish we had time 38:15 to dive into that a little more together. 38:17 But I bring this up to say that God, His very name 38:21 means the Self-Existing One, the one who by nature does not need 38:27 something from anyone else. He does not need life. 38:31 And the most amazing thing is that, that God 38:34 Decided to become 'in need'. He became a baby 38:41 a helpless human baby that needed to depend on His parents. 38:46 In His ministry, the Bible tells us that some of the women 38:50 who followed Him provided for their needs He and His disciples 38:54 The God of all eternity, who by nature needs nothing 38:58 became in need and it was so that He could relate to you an I 39:04 And today He's in need of us to reflect His character. 39:10 For God you are the pearl of great price. 39:15 But for you and me the pearl of great price is Jesus Christ. 39:21 He is to be our focus, He is to be our joy. 39:25 He is to be the one we are willing to give everything 39:28 to receive. In His great contro- versy when we realize that 39:33 when we come to see that God was not born a man 39:37 to die the death that we deserve 39:39 and rise from the grave for some selfish reason 39:42 to win an argument with the Devil for His own sake 39:45 but to rightly reflect His character to the onlooking 39:48 universe, when we see this and realize that this is 39:52 the God that we serve, when we realize His motivation 39:57 His focus in the great contro- versy was not upon Himself 40:02 but upon us, upon His creatures, 40:06 our eternal security in His Kingdom, then, then we will live 40:13 to seek His glory. We will live to reflect His 40:17 character to the world around us and like that merchant 40:21 that merchant, who for the pearl of great price 40:26 who was willing to sell everything that he had 40:31 we will be willing to go to any lengths 40:34 in order to keep Christ in our hearts 40:37 and thereby bring glory to God. 40:40 When we behold and understand His matchless love for us 40:44 when we realize that His focus in the great controversy 40:48 was on His creation, then our focus will be upon the Creator. 40:54 And then we will truly reflect His character 40:59 to the world around us. 41:01 You may wonder, is the pearl worth it? 41:06 Was the pearl worth it to the man? 41:10 He gave up everything that he had. 41:12 Can a pearl provide food for him? 41:16 Can a pearl provide clothing for him? 41:20 Was it worth it to sell every thing that this man had 41:25 in order to obtain a pearl? 41:29 Well friends, I want to suggest to you that Jesus 41:36 is worth everything that we have and everything that we are. 41:40 You know when I was in high school 41:43 I went on my first mission trip, ever. 41:46 To a large country in Central America 41:48 And as I was there for the first time I came across 41:55 third world poverty. And the poverty in this barrio 41:59 this poor, poor neighborhood was just shocking. 42:03 And the children were just precious. 42:07 I'll never forget how happy they would be when just a simple toy 42:11 would enter their hands and their eyes would light up. 42:15 I'll never forget how we didn't have enough coloring books 42:19 and crayons so we ripped out individual pages 42:22 and gave each child one page and one crayon 42:25 and they were so happy! 42:27 I asked my professor, I said how is this possible? 42:32 how is it that they have nothing and they're so happy? 42:39 And I'll never forget what my professor told me. 42:42 He said, Justin when Jesus is all you have 42:48 it's then that you'll finally realize 42:51 that He's all you'll ever need. 42:54 Friends, when Jesus is all we have we'll realize that 42:58 everything that we can have counted but loss 43:01 just to gain Jesus Christ, that pearl of great price 43:05 Do you want to live for His glory? 43:08 Do you want to live to reflect His character to the world? 43:15 If, this morning, as you've been listening to the message 43:22 you thought to yourself you know so much of my life is about me 43:29 Even my Christian walk, so much of it is focused on me 43:35 but today I realize my focus needs to be on Him 43:41 It's all about you? For God it's all about you 43:46 But for you it's all about Him. 43:49 For us, we should be saying to God, Lord my life 43:52 my words, my actions, the way I spend my money 43:55 everything I want it to be to Your glory. 43:59 I want it to be about you. 44:01 This morning if you want to say Lord, 44:04 I don't want to live just for myself 44:06 I want everything that I do to reflect Your character 44:10 I want my life to be about You. I'd like to invite you to stand 44:16 Standing to say 'Lord I realize my life is not 44:20 just supposed to be about me it's supposed to be about You. 44:24 I want to reflect Your character in this great controversy 44:27 I want to demonstrate to the world that You are a God of love 44:31 who has given His everything for His creatures.' 44:35 Maybe this morning as the Lord is speaking to our hearts 44:44 you're thinking to yourself, you know I want to reflect 44:46 God's character. I want to represent Him to the world 44:51 but I've messed up. I really made some mistakes 44:56 and I don't think that I can reflect His character 44:59 Did you know friend, that those mistakes, those defeats 45:05 can be turned into victory? One of my favorite quotes 45:10 Christ's Object Lessons, page 332 45:14 If you have made mistakes, you certainly gain a victory 45:21 if you see those mistakes and regard them as beacons 45:26 of warning. Thus you turn defeat into victory, 45:34 disappointing the enemy and honoring your Redeemer. 45:39 Friend, this morning I don't know what maybe in your past 45:42 I don't know if you're thinking to yourself 45:45 you know I want to glorify God. But I've messed up 45:49 I made mistakes. Friend, know this morning that those defeats 45:52 can be turned into victories. If you can look back 45:55 to those defeats and look at them as beacons of warning 45:58 to shed light on your pathway God can use them for a blessing 46:03 You can disappoint the enemy and honor your Redeemer. 46:06 You simply need to give Him your past. 46:12 This morning if you want to say Lord there are things in my past 46:16 that I want to become beacons of warning 46:18 so that those defeats can become victories 46:21 I'd like to invite you to come down to the front. 46:25 Don't worry about what people may be thinking. 46:29 Don't worry about those who may be watching and wondering, no 46:33 Heaven is looking down in this moment, the angels 46:38 are watching and wondering what will your decision be? 46:41 Amen, Amen brother. Amen sister 46:45 I'd like to invite you forward if you'd like to say Lord 46:47 I've made mistakes and I want them to be beacons of warning 46:51 I want them to point me in the right direction. 46:55 I invite you to come forward. To say to the Lord, Lord 46:59 guide me in the right path, I surrender the past to you 47:03 The devil may be trying to discourage you and say 47:06 'no you've messed up too much, you've gone too far.' 47:08 That's a lie. There is no place that you can go past 47:13 if you are willing to turn around and come to Christ 47:16 that God cannot reach you, Amen! 47:19 Friends if you want to say today 'Lord, 47:22 I'm surrendering my past to you. 47:25 As the devil seeks to discourage me 47:28 I want you to encourage me and remind me that 47:32 I can tell the devil when he comes knocking at the door 47:34 of my heart, I can send you to the door Lord Jesus 47:38 When you answer the door, he'll say 47:40 Oh I'm sorry I have the wrong house. 47:43 Friends the devil does not have a right to discourage us 47:47 if we have given our past to Him 47:49 If you want to do that this morning, it's not too late 47:53 I just like to invite you to join us here at the front 47:55 to say 'Lord I want those mistakes in my life 47:59 to be a positive thing. Amen sister, Amen brother 48:03 You wanna say Lord make those defeats, make those defeats 48:10 victories, Amen. You wanna say Lord may I not hang my head 48:18 in defeat but allow you to win the victory |
Revised 2015-04-14