Participants: Pr John Lomacang
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH000020A
|
00:32 He is ours and we are His; a subtle way to remind us this
00:40 morning of the reality of the gospel. 00:44 He is ours and we are His. 00:47 I'd like you to bow your heads with me this morning. 00:52 Plucked From the Fire. 00:56 Let us pray. Our loving Father in Heaven, as we bow before 01:05 Your awesome presence to recognize what You 01:12 have done to redeem us. 01:14 Lord we pray that You will speak to ours hearts today, 01:19 to see You for the price You have paid to redeem us. 01:28 We pray Lord that You will give us new eyes to see ourselves 01:33 the way that You see us, and to fill our hearts with the courage 01:39 to continue to trust You and to serve You. 01:41 In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:45 If you have your Bibles with you this morning, 01:49 go with me to Zechariah. 01:54 It's not a book that we often preach from, 01:57 but it's a powerful message. 01:58 The servant Zechariah, the prophet Zechariah, brings in to 02:07 view the worth of the Christian. 02:14 And if I could expand the phrase, the Christian, 02:17 allow me to personalize it. 02:20 Zechariah has been given a vision by God to bring us into 02:26 focus to help us to see ourselves 02:30 the way that God sees us. 02:32 And what a word picture He gives in this vision of Joshua 02:39 given to Zechariah; the fourth vision of Zechariah. 02:43 This one moves upon our hearts to help us to understand something 02:48 about our standing before God that we can sometimes forget. 02:53 Zechariah 3 beginning with verse 1. 02:57 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the 03:03 angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand... 03:10 The position of authority. 03:12 ...to oppose him. 03:28 And I love this passage. 03:43 Father help us to see ourselves the way You see us. 03:48 I heard a moving story about a young lady that was 03:53 attending a college. 03:54 She was in her freshman year in college, this college campus. 03:59 And she was an attractive young lady, which aroused the 04:05 interest of many of the young men. 04:06 But whenever they saw her walking the campus they 04:10 would see her arm in arm with a guy that was 04:13 considered hideous. 04:17 And they wondered what she could possibly see in this 04:23 hideously disfigured young man. 04:26 But she walked the campus proudly, arm in arm with this 04:30 young man until one day somebody brave enough to approach her 04:35 asked her the question, What do you see in this guy? 04:38 He's hideous! Look at him! 04:42 He's disfigured, not attractive. 04:48 What do you see in him? 04:51 And all the while as they challenged this young lady, 04:54 they looked at her face, and her face wouldn't change. 04:57 She just smiled right through all their 04:59 descriptions of this young man. 05:04 And she said to them, What I know about him, 05:07 and what you know about him is different. 05:10 This is not just another young man. 05:14 When I was four years old this young man during the time of a 05:23 horrendous fire in our home, put his life on 05:27 the line to save mine. 05:29 This hideous young man is my older brother. 05:32 And I will be forever grateful for what he did to save my life. 05:38 So what you see is not what I see. 05:41 I see a beautiful young man. 05:43 I see a man who loved me so much he was willing to put 05:48 himself in harm's way, risk his own life to save mine. 05:54 And she continued to telling the story. 05:56 And then her brother took over the story. 05:58 When my sister was four years old and our home caught on fire, 06:05 I walked through the flames, wrapped my sister in a blanket, 06:09 and this is her today. 06:12 You know, sometimes we look at the flaws in peoples characters 06:16 and we don't see them the way that God sees them. 06:23 It even goes deeper than that. 06:24 Sometimes we don't see ourselves the way that God sees us, 06:28 because we spend so much time on the flaws in our character. 06:35 You see, this fourth vision that God gave to Zechariah was to 06:39 help Israel understand that in spite of their stumbling, 06:43 their failures, their disappointing choices, 06:47 moving in the wrong direction, doing the wrong things, 06:51 God chose Joshua, the high priest, a man synonymous 06:58 with the Lord Himself, Jeshua, who is our high priest, 07:02 Jesus, who is our high priest. 07:04 Faultless and upright as Joshua lived his life, God said, 07:09 Let me choose a man that I can equate with My very mission, 07:14 Joshua, the high priest. 07:15 And He gave the vision to Zechariah. 07:19 And Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, 07:24 and was standing before the angel. 07:26 So this message is for you, if you have ever been discouraged 07:31 about the flaws in your character. 07:33 This message is for you if you have ever felt like giving up. 07:43 This message is for you if you have felt that you are 07:48 constantly reminded of your failures, and your fallings, 07:52 and your shortcomings. 07:53 This message is for you if you've felt that your trials 07:57 are too great to bear, or that temptations are greater than 08:01 your ability to resist, or you felt like your best is just not 08:05 good enough, or you think that you are solely responsible 08:09 for being victorious over sin. 08:13 This message is for every one of us. 08:22 Very few times though I ever go into my library 08:25 and recycle sermons. 08:26 Pastor C. A. knows that's the cardinal sin, to go back 08:30 and look at a past sermon. 08:36 I have about 700 or 800 sermons. 08:41 And what caused me to go back and look through these messages 08:44 is that I look at my sermons in 1996, 1987, 2001, 2011, 2015, 08:58 2017, and I read through it and I say, Who was that? 09:05 He didn't know what he was saying. 09:10 Because I'd go back to Bible verses that to me then were so 09:13 elementary, and were so shallow. 09:15 I was, as it were, a water skier just enjoying the harbor 09:20 when out in the depths of the ocean was undiscovered elements 09:25 of God's deep and abiding truth. 09:27 And I've discovered that as the grey begins to set in, 09:31 as the wounds begin to heal, as the scars remind me of my 09:36 journey, I go back to those places of my Ebenezer, 09:40 as it were, and say, Father show me what I missed. 09:45 Because that's not the message in this Scripture. 09:51 And I discovered that the Christian life is a journey 09:54 sometimes of apparent contradictions. 09:56 You know there are times that we have to close our 09:59 eyes to be able to see. 10:00 There are times we have to plug our ears to be able to hear. 10:04 There are times we have to learn to bow on our knees so that 10:09 we can learn to walk. 10:10 And sometimes it's not until we experience defeat that we can 10:16 appreciate a victory. 10:18 And this irony called Christianity is really not 10:24 designed to appeal to those that live their lives 10:27 in a logical world. 10:31 I mean who in their right minds would leave the courts of glory, 10:38 a perfect sinless setting, to put their lives on the line 10:46 for this small grain of sand called Earth in the vast 10:51 ocean of God's creation? 10:55 Who would risk even losing himself 11:06 to redeem a fallen world? 11:11 I've had a journey that has reminded me that though I'm a 11:20 speck, on a speck, in a speck, there's a God who was willing 11:28 to risk it all just to save me. 11:31 But before I go into the sermon, the heart of the message, 11:35 I want to spend a little time so that I can 11:41 destroy a gospel cliché. 11:47 This morning I want to destroy a gospel cloche that we have 11:52 adopted that insults the mission of Jesus. 11:57 And I'd like you to go to Romans 5:19 with me. 12:17 You've got two categories. 12:20 You have sinners. Let me put them on the left. 12:23 You have righteous on the right. 12:26 Let me methodically destroy this gospel cleche'. 12:34 The gospel changes our standing before God. 12:47 Before we accept Jesus... Hear me carefully. 12:50 ...we were sinners. 12:54 What word did I say? We were sinners. 12:59 But after we accepted Jesus, we are righteous. 13:06 Let me make that really clear. 13:10 And this thesis is not going to be supported by my ramblings, 13:15 but by the word of God. 13:17 Is that okay? Amen! 13:30 So now let's pause for a moment. 13:32 You either have to be the righteous one, who by God's 13:36 grace is scarcely saved, or you have to be the ungodly, 13:40 and the sinner who will not appear at all. 13:42 So if I were given two categories this morning, 13:46 can I declare I'd rather be the righteous one that's scarcely 13:49 saved than the ungodly, and the sinner that will 13:52 have no place to stand. 13:54 Come on, can I get an Amen? Amen! 13:56 But this is not just a point of choice. 13:59 You see, when Jesus comes into our lives we are no longer 14:02 sinners but saints. 14:04 We are forgiven and cleansed of our sins, 1 John 1:9, 14:07 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us 14:09 our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 14:13 Matthew 1:21... call his name Jesus, for He shall save His 14:18 people in their sins. 14:21 Did I misquote it? So if He saves us from our sins 14:28 and cleanses us from all unrighteousness... 14:34 Let's get this now. 14:36 You just got your car out of the carwash, 14:38 but this time it got detailed. 14:41 You can't find a speck of dust. 14:44 You bring it in the garage and you are afraid to take it out. 14:48 Because you know as it happens here in Southern Illinois, 14:52 all that you need to do for it to rain is to wash your car. 14:59 So you keep it there because you want to admire the beauty of 15:05 temporary perfection. 15:08 They have gone under the seats, in the glove compartment, 15:10 and in the trunk. They put it all together. 15:11 And you drive that car home ever so slowly, 15:14 just to maintain, as it were, the perfection that 15:17 you now are surrounded by. 15:23 That's a car that was cleaned by man. 15:27 If man can make an inanimate object spotless, 15:30 how much more can the blood of Jesus 15:35 make the sinner into a saint? 15:38 How much more can the blood of Jesus remove 15:41 the spots in our lives? 15:43 You see, when we receive Jesus we become children of God. 15:46 We are no longer alienated. 15:49 As many as received Him to them He gave power to become 15:53 the children of God. 15:54 This morning I, and you, if you have accepted Jesus 15:58 you are a child of the Most High God. Amen! 16:02 He took you out of the category of sinner, and He put you into 16:08 the category of saint. 16:09 Now let me pause for a moment on that word saint. 16:12 You know, we have been so messed up over the idea, 16:15 and I want to say in some religious circles saints have 16:19 been elevated to be perfect beings that have died 16:22 and gone to heaven. 16:23 That's not a saint. 16:25 And somebody is declared a saint because of a miracle 16:27 that was performed. 16:28 That's not a saint. 16:30 Not according to Scripture. 16:31 A saint is one who has been transformed from his fallen 16:34 condition to a son and a daughter of God, who has been 16:38 adopted into the family of a perfect heavenly Father, 16:42 and who is being molded and shapened so that one day he 16:46 and she can fit into a perfect environment. 16:50 You see, angels, and I could understand angels, 16:55 because, you know, there's some folk that are so bad 16:57 you don't want them in your house. 16:58 We're not talking about church members. 17:03 But sometimes you watch a story on television, 17:05 or you hear a movie, or you hear an account of somebody's life, 17:07 and you say, I don't want that person in my house. 17:10 But I could only imagine how the angels that did not fall must 17:14 feel at times because Jesus in preparing the kingdom for us, 17:18 which He's doing now, by the way, 17:20 I can imagine an angel walking up to Christ and saying, 17:23 Are You sure You want John up here? 17:29 Come on now! You know you, and God knows you. 17:32 Amen somebody. Amen. 17:34 Are You sure You want him up here? 17:39 And Jesus says, Yes, I'm building a mansion for him. 17:43 And the angel says, But I've been following him. 17:49 Are you sure You want him up here? 17:53 And the angel opens my record and turns back. 17:56 Ah, okay, now check this out. 17:57 Look at that Lord. Are You sure You want him up here? 18:01 And Jesus said, I ain't finished yet. Amen! 18:06 He who has begun a good work in you will complete it. 18:12 Hallelujah. It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, 18:18 but we do know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, 18:21 for we shall see Him as He is. 18:25 That's not a Scripture alone, but that's a promise from God. 18:31 You see, there's a division of Zachariah was to let the church 18:35 know, and you've got to use this. 18:36 You've got to get out of the, you've got to get out of the 18:38 I'm only human; I'm just a man. 18:40 I'm only human. I'm just doing... 18:42 I was listening to that song this week on Pandora. 18:44 I'm only human; I'm just a man. 18:48 And I started yelling back at the radio, No, you're not! 18:53 You're not just a man. 18:54 You have been extracted from the jaws of death, and you have 19:00 now been introduced into the fellowship of the saints. 19:04 You are not just a man. 19:06 You have been a recipient of a divine nature. 19:09 And God is working on you like he's working on me so that one 19:12 day we can fit into the environment of the sinless. 19:16 Amen, somebody. Amen! 19:18 But so often we say, Well, you know, I'm must a sinner. 19:22 Now let's listen to that song, too. 19:24 I'm just a sinner saved by grace. 19:28 And I thought, No you're not. 19:29 You're a saint walking in grace. 19:38 Because I tried my best to look through the Bible. 19:41 I went into the commentaries: Matthew Henry Commentary, 19:45 the Eastern Commentary, the SDA Bible Commentary, 19:48 the writings of Ellen White. 19:49 And I thought, Wait a minute, why are we not saying what they 19:53 all agree on? and that when you come into fellowship with 19:57 Jesus, you are no longer a sinner, but you are now a saint 20:01 who has been entered into a work that Jesus promises He 20:05 will complete, that we may be in a perfect kingdom. 20:08 Now we know this. We say it because we say that the saints 20:17 out to be equipped for the work of the ministry, right? 20:20 For we are equipping the saints. 20:22 We are not called to equip sinners for the 20:26 work of the ministry. 20:27 We are called to equip saints for the work of the ministry. 20:30 And then one of our favorite Adventist texts... 20:32 Are you Adventists ready? 20:34 Here is the patience of the sinners. 20:42 Here is the patience of the sinners. 20:44 Here are they... Sinners can't keep God's commandments. 20:50 Here is the patience of the saints. 20:55 So why do we walk around; I'm just a sinner? 20:59 And, you know, the longer you massage that, and the longer you 21:06 condition yourself in that way, you live like that. 21:10 Because you're just a sinner. 21:14 And we go on sinning, believing we cannot stop sinning, 21:18 because we're just, come on, sinners. 21:22 But that's not what the Bible teaches. 21:24 Ephesians 2:19. Go there with me. 21:26 Go there with me. 21:41 When you are a member of the household of God, 21:46 you are no longer a sinner, but you are a saint. 21:49 Now why do we have a hard time saying that? 21:53 Because our definition of a saint is perfect. 21:58 Are you ready? If you're covered by the righteousness of Jesus, 22:11 and when the Father looks at you, you've heard it, 22:14 when the Father looks at you, excuse me, when the Father looks 22:23 at you He sees His Son. 22:26 Now get the picture now. 22:27 You're covered by the righteousness of Jesus. 22:30 When the Father looks at you, He sees His Son. 22:42 His Son is pure and clean. 22:44 When He looks at me, who's covered by the righteousness 22:50 of His Son, and He sees His Son, what does He see? 23:00 Come on now! He sees His Son! 23:06 If we're covered by the righteousness of His Son... 23:10 Thank You, Jesus!... what does He see? His Son! 23:17 Now, His Son covers us with His righteousness. 23:23 So what's left? If you've ever seen a house covered before, 23:35 that they decide to refurbish, and rebuild, 23:38 you only see the covering. 23:41 You don't see the house. 23:43 But when they remove the covering, then you see what has 23:46 been done in the house. 23:48 You see, we are covered by the righteousness of Jesus so that 23:52 we appear before His Father as He sees His Son. 23:56 But where's the work still continuing? 23:59 The work is continuing where? in us, in us. 24:05 He's working on these clothes closets. 24:08 Come on, somebody! He's working on the junk room. 24:11 He's working on the movie room. 24:14 Come on! He's working on the attitude room. 24:17 He's working on the stuff hidden in the basement. 24:19 For it is God who works in us both to will and to do 24:25 of His good pleasure. 24:27 But while He's working in us, we are covered by the 24:35 righteousness of Jesus. Amen! 24:38 You see, some of you have been raised to think, 24:41 and this is the statement that's messed you up. 24:48 Sanctification is the work of a lifetime. 24:53 But then the thief on the cross ain't going 24:54 to be in the kingdom. 24:58 Let me say that for those of you who are grammatically correct. 25:01 The thief on the cross will not be in the kingdom. 25:07 The imputed and imparted righteousness of Jesus is 25:10 something that we've got to familiar ourselves with. 25:12 You see, when you wake up in the morning and you say, Lord, 25:15 I give You my heart, I give you my life. 25:17 Take my plans; change them. 25:20 Whatever is not like You, Lord, cancel it. 25:23 And we walk in the humble righteousness of Jesus. 25:28 And Christ is working in us. 25:30 I want to tell you what I like about our God is when He 25:33 begins work He is faithful to complete what He has started. 25:37 Amen! But until we see ourselves the way He sees us, 25:45 we will always embrace the title that we are just sinners. 25:56 So you have a new homework project. 26:00 You've got a new homework project. 26:01 Go home and read your Bible, and you tell me anywhere in 26:06 Scripture, where after we are redeemed 26:09 God still calls us sinners. 26:13 He calls us His saints. 26:17 Paul made it clear. 26:18 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, 26:21 as in all the churches of the saints. 1 Corinthians 14:33. 26:29 Now why this sermon? 26:30 And why the title, Plucked From the Fire? after the children of 26:35 Israel returned from Babylonian captivity. 26:37 When you're in captivity, and you live the life of a slave, 26:41 and you lose your standing before God, that is in your own 26:47 mind, you see yourself as nothing but a slave. 26:51 But when they returned and began to rebuild their cities, 26:54 began to rebuild their lives, in the process of their building, 26:59 in the process of their refurbishing, in the process of 27:02 getting their lives together, it concerned Satan that these 27:06 who were formally slaves, had been set free. 27:11 They were no longer in Babylonian captivity. 27:14 They were now free citizens of their own land. 27:17 In the restoration of God's deliverance they were getting 27:21 their lives together, and it concerned Satan. 27:26 And so, in the process, God gave Zachariah the vision, 27:31 chose Joshua as the perfect picture, as a substitute of the 27:35 righteousness of Christ. 27:37 And he said, I want you to see yourself the way that I see you. 27:46 If you're no longer in slavery, then you're no longer a slave. 27:50 If you've been extricated and delivered from battle, 27:52 and honor Egypt, you're no longer in Babylon, or in Egypt. 27:55 But God begins the work of restoring us to prepare us to be 28:00 all that He knows that we can be. 28:01 I'm in the process. 28:04 Amen somebody? But while I'm in the process, 28:08 I still rely every day on the righteous life of Jesus. 28:14 I cannot live my life from day to day. 28:17 You know, if you take your time and look at yourself, 28:22 if you spend all your time looking at yourself trying to 28:24 figure out whether or not you can make the kingdom, 28:26 you ain't going to make the kingdom. 28:28 Because there's nothing that you can do. 28:30 There's nothing that you can do. 28:32 There's nothing that you can do that can get you an inch off the 28:36 ground if you keep trying to fix you. 28:39 But if you look at Christ, if you allow Him to impart His 28:43 righteousness to you, when you keep your eyes on Him, 28:47 what happens? the contention, the lack of joy, 28:53 the lack of assurance. 28:55 That's why Jesus says often, Look unto Me, 28:58 the author and finisher of your faith. 29:00 Look unto Me and be saved. Isaiah 4:22, Look at Me. 29:08 Then the prophet says, He will keep us in perfect peace 29:12 whose mind is stayed on Him, because we what? trust in Him. 29:19 You see, the advancement of the Israelites caused 29:23 Satan consternation. 29:25 Ellen White says in Prophets and Kings, page 582, 29:28 The steady advancement made by the builders of the temple 29:32 greatly discomforted and alarmed the hosts of evil. 29:37 You see, to appreciate God they began to compare where they 29:40 were, where they are with where they used to be; 29:44 what they were to what they had become. 29:46 And sometimes God allows us, and I know this. 29:49 Historically this is a fact, and experience in my life. 29:51 I know that sometimes God has to allow us to face the trials of 29:56 disobedience so that we can experience the 29:59 blessings of obedience. 30:03 Sometimes you've got to go through the dark valley 30:05 to appreciate the sunlight. 30:06 Sometimes you have to go through the hard times to know that the 30:08 good times are just ahead of you. 30:10 God sees us as we are, but He also sees us in the 30:14 righteousness of His Son. 30:16 And what's so wonderful about the story of the vision of 30:18 Zachariah is, as we are told in inspiration, that the journey 30:22 of the children of Israel, the very same way that God freed 30:25 them from Babylon, and God freed them from Egypt, 30:28 and God began to work in their lives so that they could reflect 30:31 His glory to the world. 30:32 The same way that God worked on them. 30:35 And it upset the Devil then the same way God 30:39 is working on us now. 30:41 But there's a difference. 30:42 The fury of Satan is more intense as we're getting 30:45 toward the end of time. 30:48 The Bible says he's come down having great wrath because he 30:51 knows that he has but a what? but a short time. 30:55 So how do we boast? 30:57 Galatians 6:14. Notice the Scriptures. 31:22 God forbid that I should boast. 31:25 We cannot boast about who we are, what we have done, 31:29 where we have been, what we have, what we possess. 31:33 We can only glory in the cross of Christ. 31:38 And what does that mean? 31:40 That means when we begin to see ourselves the way that Satan 31:44 presents us before God, there'll be no reason to glory. 31:47 But when we see ourselves the way that God sees us, 31:51 there will be reason for glory. 31:54 Walk with me. Zachariah 3, Zachariah 3. 31:59 Let's go to verse 1 again, to verse 1 again. 32:08 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before 32:18 the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right 32:21 hand to oppose him. 32:23 Satan was not opposing God. 32:25 Satan was opposing Joshua. 32:28 Satan was not opposing God, because he could not. 32:32 But he was opposing Joshua. 32:33 He was saying of Joshua, Look at your condition. 32:36 Look at yourself. Look at what you've done. 32:40 Look at the people of Israel. 32:42 Look at how faulty they are. 32:43 Look at how broken they are. 32:45 Look at all their sins. 32:46 Look at, look at what they've done to get 32:47 themselves into captivity. 32:49 And I want to tell you Satan's job is to amplify our faults. 32:53 But Jesus' job is to erase our faults. 33:07 He discourages us by holding before us the 33:11 imperfections of our character. 33:14 But you say, Well, Pastor John, how could the imperfections 33:16 of our character, and the righteousness of Jesus even 33:21 correlate together? 33:22 How could we be imperfect, but be covered by the righteousness 33:25 of Jesus at the same time? 33:26 Well, that's simple. 33:28 The righteousness of Jesus covers our imperfection. 33:33 Amen! Have you ever seen Extreme Makeover? 33:36 And when the house is all done what do they say? 33:39 Move that bus! And we all, we always hate it when they say, 33:45 Move that bus. It goes to a commercial. 33:48 Do you know what I'm talking about? 33:49 Oh, we say! We cannot wait till the commercial is over, 33:56 because we, as everybody else, we say, Is that the same house? 34:05 And why the people are so excited is because they know 34:08 that it's on the same lot, but it ain't the same house. 34:13 God does not slap a new coat of paint on our outside and leave 34:17 the inside putrid, and spoiled, and rancid. 34:20 He's cleaning us on the outside, and He's 34:23 cleaning us on the inside. 34:24 Amen, somebody. And He's doing it in such a way that sometimes 34:28 you feel the filing, sometimes you feel the chiseling, 34:32 sometimes you feel the lapping of the flames burning away 34:35 the imperfections in your character. 34:37 Sometimes you know that the reason why that Scripture hurt 34:42 is because it reminded us that God is not finished with us yet. 34:46 But I want to tell you, He has invested Himself, not just to 34:49 forgive us, but to release us. 34:52 Hebrews 2:14, 15. Go there with me. 34:55 The mission. Hebrews 2:14, 15. 34:58 Notice, the mission of Jesus is not just to 35:01 forgive, but to release us. 35:02 And there are some individuals that based on their, 35:05 based on their estimate of themselves, 35:07 they, all their lives, they were held in bondage. Notice this: 35:34 And what does he do in verse 15? 35:44 You see, the plan of salvation is not just to change our 35:47 condition, but the plan of salvation is to break Satan's 35:51 hold on the human family, and rescue us from his power. 35:58 Now unless you know about his power that wouldn't 36:02 even make any sense. 36:03 Unless you've been where you don't want to be, 36:06 unless you've done what you don't want to do, 36:08 unless you can go back in your own record and say, 36:12 Please let that record remain sealed. 36:17 Unless you have seen yourself, and then seen Christ, 36:21 that statement would not even make any sense to you. 36:23 Satan comes to accuse the brethren. 36:26 Whenever we get involved, whenever we get involved in 36:30 giving our lives to Christ, whenever we decide that we're 36:32 going to live for the Lord, it upsets the forces of darkness. 36:36 Over every soul, Prophets and Kings, 585, listen to this: 36:40 Over every soul that has rescued from the power of evil, 36:43 and whose name is registered in the Lamb's book of life, 36:47 the controversy is repeated. 36:50 Never is one received into the family of God without exciting 36:54 the determined resistance of the enemy. 36:57 Have you ever felt it? 36:59 Have you ever tried to study your Bible and you can't do it? 37:05 Or while you're reading a Scripture you get discouraged? 37:07 Because the enemy whispers into your ear your faults, 37:10 your failures, your shortcomings. 37:13 And sometimes an experience comes back to your mind 37:15 and you wonder, Why am I remembering that now 37:18 at the time of my Bible study? 37:19 Because we feel ourselves in the faulty and failure places of our 37:24 lives, and we forget that when the Lord rebukes, 37:27 He rebukes completely. 37:29 I thank God today that when Satan reminds me of my past, 37:34 God tells him about His future. 37:41 So verse 2 is powerful to me. 37:43 Verse 2 is powerful for me. 38:05 Why does Zachariah say that? 38:07 You see, Matthew, the apostle Matthew, the disciple says, 38:13 that hell is prepared just for the Devil and his angels. 38:19 It's not for me, it's not for you. 38:20 Come on, somebody! Amen! 38:21 Hell is prepared for just the Devil and his angels. 38:25 So it does not make any sense. 38:27 You know, the older you get, do you ever have one of those 38:30 moments where you you've got to say to yourself, 38:32 What are you doing? 38:33 Do you ever have those moments when you talk to yourself? 38:35 Come on, get real! You're in the mirror. 38:36 I'm getting too old for this. 38:41 You've have those moments? 38:42 What was that all about? 38:44 Did I do that? You've had those moments? 38:49 You've got the, What was I thinking moment? 38:52 How did I get into that situation? 38:54 How can I get myself out? 38:55 You've ever had those moments? 38:57 But when God brings you out here's what the Devil does. 39:01 Remember those moments? 39:02 Remember when you did fall? 39:04 The accuser of our brethren. 39:07 He points to the transgressions of Israel as to the reason why 39:11 they should not be restored to the favor of God. 39:14 He claims them as his prey, and demands that they be 39:18 given into his hands. 39:20 It reminds me of the dream that I read about Martin Luther, 39:24 the great reformer. 39:25 Martin Luther had a dream. 39:27 He said that it frightened him. 39:29 He dreamed that his sins were written on a scroll. 39:37 Some of you may have heard the dream before. 39:39 And in the dream the Devil just rolled out his scroll, 39:45 and all along that scroll Martin Luther's sins were chronicled. 39:49 Everything he had ever done was chronicled on that scroll. 39:54 And Martin Luther said he fainted within himself. 39:57 He became weak and discouraged. 40:02 But he said he looked again at the scroll, and then he saw 40:06 over his sins, the blotter of Jesus over his 40:13 sins saying, FORGIVEN, PARDONED, BLOTTED OUT! 40:19 Come on somebody! FORGIVEN, PARDONED, BLOTTED OUT! 40:23 Had it not been for the grace of God, where would we be? 40:27 Where could we be? Discouraged by our faults. 40:31 But the Lord doesn't stop there. 40:32 He doesn't just rebuke the Devil, but look what He does. 40:35 Verse 3 and 4. Look what He does. Look what He does. 40:48 And, by the way, when you read the story clearly, 40:51 Joshua could not change his standing. 40:52 But he's standing before the angel almost 40:55 in a helpless setting. 40:57 Standing before the angel wondering what do I do next? 41:01 And the command comes: 41:33 Let's get our robes again. 41:36 By the way, it ain't your robe. 41:38 It's His robe. Somebody say Amen. Yes! 41:41 I knew I had a hankie for a reason. 41:45 Take away his garments, and clothe him with a rich robe. 41:54 He didn't say just get something and put on them. 41:57 See the righteousness of Jesus is rich! 42:03 We've got to study that. 42:04 That's our message; the righteous. 42:06 Our message is not the Sabbath. 42:12 Our message is not about... 42:17 I don't want to get some of the saints upset. 42:19 Because you ain't sinners, you're saints. 42:20 But saints can get upset. 42:23 Our message is about good health, but our salvation is 42:28 not based on good health. 42:32 It's based on the righteousness of Jesus. Amen! 42:37 So often when we meet people... I'm on a new kick now, 42:41 so bear with me for a moment. 42:43 When I did the sermon called Why? you know, Pastor C. A. 42:46 and I, we had a chance to, you know, 42:48 pow wow about this whole idea. 42:50 You see, when I meet somebody and they say, What are you? 43:00 I've learned that what I am, and how I do what I am, 43:04 is not as important as why I am what I am. 43:09 See, why do I need Jesus in my life is the question, 43:20 not are you a Baptist? 43:22 Are you a Pentecostal? 43:23 Are you a Presbyterian? 43:24 Are you a Catholic? 43:26 Are you a Methodist? 43:27 All of these categories; the people of God are 43:30 sprinkled everywhere. 43:31 But there's a message that calls them from a partial gospel, 43:35 from a partial truth to an abundant glorious light. 43:39 Amen somebody! Amen! 43:40 But as God works in their lives to lead them, we've got to know 43:48 why we are who we are. 43:51 And when I ask the question, Why do I need Jesus? 43:57 The answer always comes back, If it were not for Jesus, 44:01 I would surely be lost. 44:09 And so why was Satan so hard on Joshua? 44:13 Because he knew that if he could remind him of his failures, 44:19 he could not see the righteousness of Jesus. 44:23 If you remind him of where he was, he could not 44:27 see where he's headed. 44:28 And if you could get him to spend more time looking back 44:30 he wouldn't have the courage to to go forward. 44:32 He tries to crush and press. 44:34 And that's why she says continually, Satan knows that 44:37 those who ask for pardon and grace will obtain it. 44:41 Therefore he presents their sins before them to discourage them. 44:46 And I like the way she finishes this quotation, 44:48 But God is faithful. Amen! 44:57 Never indulge the feeling. 45:00 The what? The feeling that you are not 45:04 esteemed as you should be. 45:07 Some people say they don't like me. 45:10 Well, I'm not good enough. 45:13 Nobody pays attention to me. 45:15 I'll never be a part of that group. 45:20 Never indulge the feeling that you are not esteemed as you 45:23 should be, that your efforts are not appreciated, 45:27 that your work is too difficult. 45:29 But do this, let the memory of what Christ has endured 45:34 for us silence every murmuring thought. 45:39 And here's why. We were treated better than our Lord. 45:53 You might feel like you got nailed to a tree, but I haven't 45:55 seen anybody nailed to trees in Thompsonville. 45:57 I haven't seen anybody hanging from a tree. 46:08 But I want to go to another level. 46:09 Guard against self-pity. 46:11 But here's another one. 46:14 Don't live your life doing what Satan has pledged himself to do. 46:25 Let me go ahead and read it. 46:26 Christ's Object Lessons, 168 and 169. 46:31 The work of Satan as an accuser of the brethren began in heaven. 46:39 This has been his work on earth ever since man's fall. 46:44 And it will be his work in a special sense as we approach 46:50 nearer the close of this world's history. 46:52 As he sees that his time is short he will work with greater 47:01 earnestness to deceive and to destroy. 47:04 To destroy what? our faith in God. 47:08 He works to deceive us of our character before God. 47:10 He works to get us to fear that we've not worthy of anything. 47:13 He accuses us, but then he goes even further. 47:16 He uses us to accuse others. 47:19 He uses us to point out that persons fault, and that persons 47:23 fault, and that persons failure, and that person's shortcoming. 47:27 And somehow in the process we think that we have arrived 47:29 when in fact by doing his work, we ourselves fall short again 47:35 of the glory of God. 47:36 Don't allow yourself to be used by the enemy to accuse others. 47:41 You are standing on the same ground, under the grace of God, 47:44 as they are. Amen, somebody! Amen! 47:46 The Lord didn't stop there. 47:48 He didn't just change His garments. 47:50 He didn't just put on Him rich robes, 47:52 but He did something else. 47:54 Verse 5. Notice what He did. 47:58 Zachariah 3:5. 48:18 Now why did they end with the Angel of the Lord stood by Him? 48:25 I studied this a little bit last night and something that amazed 48:28 me... Summer if you could come. 48:32 Something that amazed me about that picture 48:35 that I had never seen before. 48:38 Couldn't wake up my wife. 48:39 I was going to rejoice. 48:41 I had to rejoice quietly. 48:49 I leaned back in my seat so fast I almost threw it over. 48:52 Yes! Why is the angel of the Lord standing by him? 49:08 Joshua just went through an extreme makeover. 49:13 The Lord cleaned up his character, 49:18 purified him of all of his sin, took off his filthy character, 49:25 put on the clean robes of Christ's righteousness. 49:31 Then he put on his head a turban. 49:36 The word there, turban, can also be synonymous to a crown. 49:42 So that Joshua's identity would be that of a 49:48 person of royal standing. 49:52 But why did the angel stand by his side? 50:03 He didn't just stand by Joshua's side. 50:08 If you look at the Hebrew there as Joshua walked he continued 50:13 to stand by Joshua's side, to present Joshua wherever he went. 50:19 This is the righteousness of the Lord. 50:22 Wherever Joshua went he presented, this man represents 50:27 the righteousness of the Lord. 50:29 And there was one more function that the angel had. 50:32 The angel prevented anyone from touching the righteousness of 50:40 the Lord. Come on, somebody! Amen! 50:41 Don't touch him! Don't mess with him! 50:46 God cleaned him up, filled him up, covered him, 50:52 changed his standing, forgave his sin, 50:58 robed him in righteousness, and He assigned an angel on one side 51:04 and the other. And the angel said, Don't touch him. 51:08 I wondered about that because I thought to myself, 51:11 Now I got an answer. 51:13 Because you know what? if the Devil could touch us after God 51:17 redeemed us, he would have killed us a long time ago. 51:20 But there's an angel, and I found the quote. 51:24 Prophets and Kings, 587. 51:28 The servant of the Lord says, Angels of God will walk on 51:33 either side of us in this world. 51:36 And they will stand at last among the angels that 51:41 surround the throne of God. 51:43 So when I walk out of here today, you ain't going to see 51:45 it, but I've got an angel over here, 51:48 and I have an angel over here. 51:50 Come on somebody! Amen! 51:51 You know what? You have one, too, Robbie D. 51:53 And Jim, you have one, too. 51:56 You have one, too, Irma. 51:58 I mean, pardon me, I called you Irma. 51:59 Irma, Adima, you have one, too. 52:03 Will, you have one, too. 52:04 Don't look! They're watching your back. 52:08 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about those that fear 52:15 Him, and deliver them. 52:17 How else can Jill and Greg reflect the 52:21 righteousness of Jesus? 52:23 How else can Jeff and Charletta allow God's glory to be seen? 52:29 How else? Because God cleaned them up. 52:33 And as the enemy is coming they said, Back! Don't touch him. 52:36 So today I want you to leave here knowing this, 52:41 my final quote: Nothing in the world is so dear to the heart 52:46 of God as His church. 52:51 It is not His will that worldly policy shall corrupt her record. 52:55 He does not leave His people to be overcome by 52:58 Satan's temptations. 52:59 He will punish those who misrepresent Him. 53:03 But He will be gracious to all who sincerely repent. 53:07 To those who call upon Him for strength, for the development 53:14 of Christian character He will give all the help they need. 53:21 Plucked from the fire. 53:24 Is there somebody here today that wants to 53:32 stand with their angel? 53:36 That wants to acknowledge that they have been redeemed 53:38 by the blood of the Lamb? 53:43 And they're going to walk out of here like those with divine 53:47 secret service protection. 53:50 And when the angel, when the enemy comes in like a flood, 53:53 God is going to lift up a standard against him. 53:56 So that as He's working on, as He's working in His children, 54:01 so that what's on the outside reflects what takes place on the 54:07 inside we need not walk this world fearful, 54:13 with intrepidation, and hesitation. 54:16 We need not walk this world thinking that somehow we are 54:21 just not good enough, for we are today the sons 54:28 and daughters of God. Amen 54:31 An angel on my right. 54:32 You know it's transformed the way I live my day. 54:37 Did you hear what I said? 54:40 If you know you've got an angel right here, and you know you 54:43 have an angel right here. 54:46 I don't know their names. 54:47 I'll meet them sooner or later. 54:50 And you're faced in a moment. 54:53 I'm living in this reality right now. 54:55 And you're faced with a moment of temptation, or tests. 55:01 Your angel said, Don't do it. 55:06 The angel said, Whatever he said: Don't do it. 55:12 Then I say, You guys with me? 55:15 We ain't going anywhere. 55:17 They're going to walk with me through this life. 55:20 And when we walk through the gates into the New Jerusalem, 55:23 I got a guarantee there are going to be at least twice as 55:28 many angels as there are people walking into the gates 55:32 of the New Jerusalem. 55:33 That day, that day, Mike, Pam, that day you're going to see 55:39 your angel walking into the gates with you. 55:42 Today I want to thank our Heavenly Father that He has 55:45 plucked every one of us by His grace from the fire that is 55:52 waiting to eradicate sin and suffering eternally. 55:58 Father in Heaven, it's hard to think that one day we're 56:09 going to be just as perfect as You see us: 56:11 spotless, sinless, glorified, clothed with Your righteousness, 56:21 redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, forgiven, in a perfect 56:28 environment where there is no sin and 56:30 suffering, no death, no pain. 56:32 Lord, there's nothing in this world that can offer us that 56:38 kind of eternal hope, that kind of eternal assurance. 56:44 There's nothing in this life that is worthy embracing and 56:51 trading for joy and peace forevermore. 56:56 But Father, the enemy wants to point our sins out. 56:59 He wants us to feel less than, unworthy, faulty, sinful. 57:06 He wants us to spend time rummaging through the records 57:10 of our past failures that we might lose courage for the 57:14 journey ahead of us. 57:16 But today, Lord, that's not the message. 57:17 Take off his filthy robes. 57:19 Put a turban on him. 57:21 Clean him up and stand by his side. 57:26 And so gracious Father today we accept the category of saint, 57:31 as you have redeemed us from the walk of a sinner. 57:38 Send us forth today, Father, from this place to reflect in a 57:42 powerful way Your glory and Your righteousness. 57:48 And when people hear us, and when they see us, may they hear 57:52 and see those who have been transformed by your grace. 57:55 May they see Christians, saints, under construction. 58:01 And, Lord, when You finish the project, oh what a day of 58:05 rejoicing that will be. 58:06 But keep us ever before Your throne of grace on our knees 58:10 that we may stand, on our backs that we may look up, 58:14 looking forward to find grace and strength, 58:17 and walking with Jesus every day. 58:19 This is our desire. 58:21 This is our prayer. 58:22 Accomplish it Father as only You can. 58:26 In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. |
Revised 2017-10-23