Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH000039A
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00:33 If you have your Bibles, go with me to John 14.
00:39 The very passage, 00:44 where Jesus was bidding farewell 00:46 to His disciples, 00:48 and the famous words that we find 00:50 in the beginning of this book is, 00:52 "Let not your heart be troubled." 00:59 He also understood that 01:01 His time of crucifixion was at hand 01:06 that His life was one of continual pursuit 01:11 of those that rejected Him, 01:14 those that denied His messiahship. 01:19 And He knew it was just a matter of moments 01:21 before His betrayers would come 01:26 to administer the final blow of arresting Him. 01:29 But He wanted to assure us 01:31 that His mission was not thwarted 01:33 and that what He was sent for was accomplished. 01:36 And so we read these words in John 14:30. 01:43 Jesus said, let's read it together, 01:46 "I will no longer talk much with you, 01:50 for the ruler of this world is coming, 01:53 and he has nothing in Me." 01:58 King James Version says the prince of this world. 02:02 Bow your heads with me 02:04 as I turn to the Lord in prayer. 02:06 Loving Father in heaven, 02:07 thank You for the privilege and opportunity, 02:10 the wonderful responsibility of communicating a message 02:16 to encourage Your people including me 02:19 that we have a God 02:22 whom the enemy never found a way in 02:27 to His life and to His heart. 02:32 And we pray now as we consider our own journey 02:37 where we stand and how we are 02:40 the focus of the enemy every moment, 02:43 every ticking of the clock, 02:46 every turn of another calendar day, 02:50 hell has an agenda for us. 02:54 We pray that as we embark on this New Year 02:58 that we would determine by Your grace 03:01 that when the ruler, the prince of this world comes, 03:05 he will find nothing in us, and I pray this in Jesus' name. 03:11 Amen. 03:15 Two years in a row, 03:19 we had our heating furnace serviced 03:24 because it would not ignite, for two years in a row. 03:29 On both service calls, we discovered that 03:35 the very thing that prevented our furnace from igniting 03:38 the year before during the cold months 03:41 was the very same thing that prevented our furnace 03:45 from igniting the following year. 03:47 Two years in a row, for same reason. 03:52 That kept it from firing up when the weather got cold 03:57 was the same reason that it would not ignite 03:59 to the following year. 04:03 As I stood over the shoulder of the servicemen 04:05 because I had tried everything I could to get it to ignite. 04:08 You know, those of us who are pseudo mechanics. 04:11 Come on, husbands, we try to fix stuff 04:14 and sometimes we ought not to try to do that 04:17 because the servicemen said, "I saw you try to fix it." 04:21 But he had the skill to do what I couldn't do, 04:23 and I stood over his shoulder 04:25 trying to gain access to his knowledge base 04:28 so that I could save myself the service fees 04:31 the following year. 04:34 And he showed me a small little seed, 04:40 small enough about a 16th of an inch wide, 04:44 small enough he said to clog a vacuum tube. 04:48 And when the vacuum tube was clogged or prevented 04:52 from allowing air to flow through it, 04:54 it wouldn't flip the switch 04:56 which would be the ignition switch 04:58 and the furnace wouldn't come on. 05:03 No ignition, no heat, no matter how expensive the furnace was, 05:09 a tiny little seed 05:13 could prevent that monstrosity from igniting. 05:17 Well, $168 later 05:22 I asked him what do I do to prevent it. 05:25 He said block the opening. 05:28 I said, "How do I do that? 05:29 Where is the opening?" 05:31 He said "Well, on the roof there is a vent 05:34 that feeds its way into this pipe 05:36 that graduates down 05:40 till it connects to this particular metal tube 05:42 that winds behind your furnace 05:44 that connects to this small rubber tube." 05:46 And on the roof, 05:51 these small seeds begin to manifest themselves 05:54 during the spring of the year 05:57 and when that tree begins to bud, 05:58 it drops these seeds from its leaves, 06:02 and in many cases, they get into that pipe, 06:05 and it takes time for the vacuum 06:07 to suck them through spring, 06:10 summer, fall, and by the winter 06:14 it's where it is, two years in a row. 06:17 It takes almost three seasons to get that tiny seed 06:21 from entrance to blockage. 06:28 And I thought about our relationship as Christians. 06:35 How when we fail to block the openings in our lives, 06:39 the seeds of trials may take months 06:43 to manifest their presence. 06:47 But eventually, they'll block the openings in our lives 06:52 and prevent us from igniting to the glory of God. 06:58 Little seeds, you never know when they get in, 07:02 the only thing you know is that 07:03 they eventually manifest themselves, 07:07 and they begin to show up, in the result in our lives 07:10 when we are no longer capable of reflecting the glory of God, 07:15 and how odd it is, how providential, 07:19 and how I would say how parabolic 07:25 that at the time of the year when we need heat the most, 07:30 is when that furnace chose not to ignite. 07:33 When we are at the pivotal places 07:36 in our walk as Christians 07:38 and we need the glory of God 07:40 to warm up our lives the most 07:42 it is often at those pivotal moments 07:44 that we discover that there is something 07:47 that has worked its way through our lives. 07:51 Week after week, day after day, 07:55 month after month, 07:57 and finally get to the place where they choke 08:01 the productivity of our Christian life, 08:04 and they are ever so small, little, little seeds. 08:11 Now I want to take my time with this morning. 08:14 Luis, I know I could only take my time but so long, 08:18 but I want to allow this to unfold in the way 08:21 that I believe God will be glorified by it. 08:24 Because what I speak of is not just the seeds in your walk, 08:29 but the seeds in my walk, the seeds in our walk, 08:35 we're all God seeds. 08:39 And they manifest themselves 08:41 at various intervals of our lives, 08:44 and we think that 08:45 they are insignificantly small when they bud, 08:48 but they show us that 08:49 they are really not insignificant 08:52 when they prevent us 08:54 from being productive Christians 08:57 at the most pivotal and needed times 09:00 in the cycle of our Christian walk with Christ. 09:06 But before you begin to blame yourself, 09:07 let me allow you that, 09:09 allow me to let you know that the story 09:12 has a twist in it 09:13 that in fact in some degree takes us off the hook 09:17 because we were, in fact, born with a nature 09:23 predisposed to allowing seeds to inhabit our lives. 09:29 Go with me to Romans 5:12. 09:34 We inherited the best that Adam could offer us. 09:39 And Romans 5:12. 09:41 I so much appreciate the Book of Romans, 09:43 anybody else? 09:45 It is a powerful book. 09:47 Every time you read it, 09:49 it's like something else was hiding, 09:50 waiting for another occasion to come out. 09:53 Romans 5:12 09:55 gives us an accurate picture of who we are, 09:58 and why we are predisposed seeds. 10:02 "Therefore, just as through," how many men, 10:05 "one man sin entered," that's the seed, 10:08 "sin entered the world, 10:10 and death through sin, 10:13 and thus death spread to all men, 10:17 because all sinned." 10:20 Notice, death, sin entered, the seed of sin 10:24 ever so insignificant when we think about it, 10:29 but very much impacting when we see its end result. 10:35 So in reality, sin is not a little thing. 10:41 Can I get an amen? Amen. 10:42 It's not a small thing. 10:44 It just appears to be small 10:45 because our nature is predisposed 10:47 to allowing the seeds to come in. 10:49 Adam opened the door, and the seed came in. 10:51 However, when you think about the seed called sin, 10:54 it even goes farther back than that of Adam. 10:57 Ezekiel 28:15, turn there with me. 11:01 The seed goes farther back 11:07 than just the Adam scenario. 11:11 Adam opened the door and the seed came in. 11:14 But notice where the seed manifested itself first. 11:18 Ezekiel 28:15, we read the Word of God. 11:22 Speaking of Lucifer, 11:24 the son of the morning, 11:25 this beautiful angel, 11:28 the Bible tells us, "You were," what? 11:34 "Perfect in your ways from the day you were created, 11:39 till iniquity was found," where? 11:43 "In you." There is the seed again. 11:46 Lucifer had a furnace 11:48 and he opened the door to the seed of self-exaltation. 11:54 He opened the seed 11:56 to one thing what God never ordained for him to have. 12:00 He opened the seed 12:02 for wanting to take the position that God 12:05 never appointed him to occupy, he opened the door, 12:09 and we wrestle with this passage 12:12 because the Bible further says in Ezekiel 28, 12:16 his heart was corrupted 12:18 for the sake of his splendor, 12:20 he was corrupted because of his beauty. 12:22 And people have said, "Well, if God knew that 12:25 his beauty was going to corrupt him, 12:26 why did God make him beautiful." 12:30 Let me tell you some, brethren, 12:32 God does not create sin. 12:38 If we take what God has so graciously given to us 12:42 in a beautiful package 12:44 and use it in the way 12:47 that our selfish hearts desire to use it, 12:50 don't blame God for a beautiful gift. 12:53 Amen somebody? Amen. 12:55 God made Lucifer to reflect the glory of divinity. 13:02 And we really wouldn't understand 13:04 the mystery of iniquity 13:06 until we get to the kingdom, the mystery of iniquity. 13:10 God doesn't create imperfection, 13:11 God did not create the circumstances 13:14 in which sin was going to naturally abound. 13:17 These things were born in Lucifer, 13:19 till iniquity was found in you, 13:22 that is in Lucifer. 13:24 You see the iniquity that was found in Lucifer, 13:27 and I want you to follow me carefully today 13:28 because this is a message that the Lord gave to me, 13:30 he packaged it very quickly and during the week 13:33 these nuggets of wisdom began to flow into my mind 13:39 and help me understand 13:41 how necessary it is for us to pay attention 13:45 to the openings in our lives. 13:49 The iniquity that was born in Lucifer 13:54 was found at the seed of his affection. 13:58 That's why I chose to put a heart. 14:01 The seed of his affection. 14:02 The heart is often the... 14:04 You know, when kids go like this 14:07 or people go like that, 14:08 they say I heart you, that means I love you, 14:11 that means it's coming from the seed of our affections. 14:13 And what affects the heart, affects the mind, 14:15 what affects the mind, affects the heart. 14:17 When the mind is fearful, the heart speeds up. 14:19 When the mind, when the eyes see something 14:22 that may challenge us physically, 14:24 it sends a signal to the mind, 14:25 the mind sends a signal to the heart, 14:27 the blood begins to pump, 14:29 we begin to get a different feeling, 14:30 the heart is very much the seed of our affections. 14:35 But we look at Lucifer and we say, 14:41 "Why would he do that? 14:44 When he was placed in such a perfect environment, 14:47 why would he mess it up?" 14:51 We often said if I could reverse 14:55 what happened, I would say to Lucifer, 14:57 you already have everything, 15:00 why are you going to mess it up? 15:03 And we think about Adam, 15:04 in the very same way we say to Adam, 15:06 "How could you trade so much for so little." 15:13 And when you think about the beginning of our own plight 15:16 both Lucifer and Adam had God's best. 15:21 You see the issue 15:25 that found a place in the heart of Adam and Lucifer 15:29 was the spark that led 15:31 to the forfeiting of God's best. 15:34 The issue were the issues of the heart. 15:37 Look at the Bible, 15:39 how it unfolds this in Isaiah 14. 15:41 Look at that very briefly. 15:43 Isaiah 14:12-14, 15:45 and I'm reading this in the King James Version 15:47 because I appreciate the way that it unfolds in verse 12. 15:51 If you have your Bibles, you can go there with me, 15:53 if not, it will appear on the screen. 15:58 But Isaiah 14:12 and although the statement 16:04 does not end with a question, it sounds like a question. 16:07 "How art thou fallen from heaven, 16:10 O Lucifer, son of the morning! 16:13 how art thou cut down to the ground, 16:15 which didst weaken the nations!" 16:18 And notice the seed of affection, 16:20 notice the very place that we all find our issues. 16:24 "For thou hast said in thine heart." 16:29 Notice all of a sudden the focus changes to self. 16:33 You got to be really careful when as a Christian 16:37 your focus all of a sudden changes to self. 16:42 "I will ascend into heaven, 16:44 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: 16:46 I will sit also on the mount of the congregation, 16:49 in the farthest sides of the north. 16:52 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 16:55 I will be like the most High." 16:57 I always try to resist it, but I must say it, 17:00 Lucifer had I trouble. 17:04 And you'll discover that the seed of affection, 17:07 the heart often finds its way in the maze of mediocrity 17:12 when we begin to focus on 17:14 what we want, what we desire, 17:17 what we believe should have happened, 17:20 what we believe should not have happened. 17:22 How things were dealt with in us, 17:26 what we believe we deserve, 17:28 what we believe we do not deserve. 17:31 When I gets on the throne... 17:39 the issues of the heart 17:41 begin to manifest themselves in our own lives. 17:45 And I'd hate to say on salvation... 17:48 When you think about salvation, 17:49 our salvation is not based on the issues 17:52 taken the world by storm, and I'll say that again. 17:55 What happens in Washington D.C. does not affect my salvation. 17:59 What happens in the Middle East 18:01 whether Jerusalem, whether Israel, 18:04 whether Jerusalem becomes 18:05 the capital of the next embassy... 18:07 It doesn't really affect my life. 18:10 Whether there's a war between Korea and United States, 18:12 it will affect us in a very detrimental way, 18:16 but it does not affect my salvation. 18:19 Salvation is not affected by the storms 18:22 that have taken the world, 18:24 but salvation is affected by the issues 18:29 that take our hearts by storm. 18:32 The issues that come in un... 18:36 unexpected, unprepared 18:41 and begin to take our hearts and our lives by storm. 18:43 That's why the wise man Solomon 18:45 at the intersection of eternal laws 18:47 and eternal gain, 18:48 he talks about the issues of life. 18:49 Look at Proverbs 4:23. 18:52 Look at Proverbs 4:23, 18:54 eternal laws on one side, eternal again on the other, 18:57 he says be careful 18:59 because this is a spring 19:00 that could have so much impact in your walk with God. 19:04 He says in Proverbs 4:23, notice what he says, 19:10 he says, "Keep your heart with all diligence." 19:16 Another word for diligence is be sober, 19:19 be vigilant, examine the heart, keep it with all diligence, 19:23 put a wall around it. 19:26 "For out of it springs the" what? 19:30 "The issues of life." 19:31 The issues of life. 19:33 When I thought about this, 19:35 I said, "Lord, what wonderful way 19:37 can we illustrate the issues of life." 19:38 Because, you know, you could just mention 19:40 the issues of life, the issues of life, 19:41 the issues of life, 19:43 the issues of life, you can mention finances, 19:44 you can mention work, family, you can mention relationships, 19:48 marriage, single people, 19:50 wars, conflicts, struggles, trials, 19:52 difficulties, tribulations. 19:54 But I like to allow God to give me different pictures 19:59 so that each one of us when we leave here today, 20:02 we could remember the picture that God drew in our minds 20:05 about how important the issues of life really are. 20:08 And the Lord gave me this example. 20:10 The issues of life affect the Christian life 20:13 in the same way 20:16 diseases of the heart affects the body. 20:19 The issues of life affect the Christian life, 20:24 in the very same way diseases of the heart 20:28 affect the physical body. 20:32 Now when I thought about that, 20:36 JD, I went ahead 20:38 and started praying for some good examples. 20:44 Because when you study the life of Jesus, 20:46 He used parables. 20:48 Where if you are a farmer, 20:49 and He said the sower went forth to sow, 20:52 you cannot forget that every time you go to sow 20:55 that you remember the parables of Jesus. 20:57 If you are fishermen, you cannot forget, 21:00 He says, "I will make you fishers of men," 21:02 you can't forget that because He took His time 21:05 to give us such a picture 21:06 that when you go to the ocean you say, 21:10 "Fishers of men." 21:12 So I said, "Lord, what do each of us have?" 21:15 What do each of us have 21:18 that I could use as an example 21:19 and illustration that we will remember in 2018, 21:23 how important it is 21:27 to keep our hearts with all diligence. 21:29 So the Lord said, "Talk about heart diseases." 21:35 Now you have to be patient with me, I'm not a doctor, 21:38 but I have done my homework. 21:41 And I believe that in these examples, 21:43 you will begin to see that 21:45 the Lord has many spiritual examples 21:47 that can help us understand 21:49 how important and how imperative it is 21:52 for us to guard our spiritual hearts, 21:55 as we are concerned about the health 21:58 of our physical hearts. 22:00 Nobody wants a bad heart. 22:04 And when you start feeling those pains 22:06 as sometimes when I'm going too fast 22:08 and moving too quickly and doing so much, 22:10 I go like this, my wife said, "What's wrong?" 22:12 I said, "Ooh, I felt the pain." 22:14 She says, "Where?" I say, "My heart." 22:17 She says, "You want me take you to Harran." 22:19 I say, "No, this is going away." 22:21 Because, hey, the issues of the heart 22:24 can take you out like that. 22:27 And medical science says 22:28 that women are less likely to have 22:30 pre-signs of a coming heart attack 22:33 than a man is. 22:35 And they also say that if the young you are, 22:38 as a male and you have a heart attack, 22:40 the less likely you are to survive it 22:43 because a person that's young and has a heart attack, 22:45 the issue is very critical. 22:49 But the older you get and have a heart attack, 22:51 the higher the chances are that you may survive it 22:54 because chances are it's something that has accumulated 22:57 through the course of time 22:59 that has eventually become an impact 23:02 to the function of your heart, like plaque, or diet, 23:05 or lack of exercise, or wrong eating habits, 23:08 or the way that you live, lifestyles, 23:10 congenital issues of your life. 23:13 So the Lord said, "Look at this list." 23:16 And I thank the Lord for the medical community 23:17 because we know more today than we knew a long time ago. 23:20 Amen, somebody? 23:22 But think about it in this way. 23:23 I chose four conditions of the heart, 23:26 let me begin with angina. 23:29 Angina, the primary cause of angina 23:33 is the accumulation of plaque in the walls of arteries, 23:38 which narrow down or restrict 23:41 the flow of blood to the heart muscles. 23:45 Spiritual angina does the same thing. 23:48 Look at this, spiritual angina does the same thing. 23:53 When we allow the issues to accumulate, 23:58 they restrict 23:59 the flow of Christ's blood to our hearts. 24:13 It gets even deeper than that. 24:16 Go to Hebrews 9:14. 24:18 Let's find out what I mean 24:20 by the flow of Christ's blood to our hearts. 24:29 Hebrews 9:14. 24:36 "When I think of the value 24:39 of the blood of Jesus being applied to my heart, 24:41 the value is inestimable." 24:45 You could never put a dollar amount 24:47 on the blood of Jesus Christ 24:48 but look at this, look at what sin tries to do, 24:53 restrict the flow 24:54 of Christ's blood to our hearts. 24:58 The apostle writes in Hebrews 9:14, 25:02 "How much more shall the blood of Christ, 25:06 who through the eternal Spirit 25:08 offered Himself without spot to God, 25:11 cleanse our conscience from dead works 25:15 to serve the living God?" 25:17 In other words, when we try to solve 25:19 the issues of our lives with our works, 25:22 what the apostle is saying to us, 25:24 if we rely on the blood of Christ, 25:27 the blood of Christ can resolve far more 25:30 than our human effort will ever be able to resolve. 25:38 I know that, I've had issues in my life, 25:40 I tried to resolve them myself. 25:43 If we try to resolve the issues of our lives 25:45 without applying the blood of Jesus Christ, 25:47 we are surrounding ourselves 25:49 and trying to cleanse our conscience with dead works 25:54 rather than trusting in the blood of the Living God. 25:59 You see, angina is an amazing disease, 26:02 I continued reading about it. 26:03 Angina symptoms are similar to those of a heart attack. 26:08 In other words, unless you get a check up, 26:10 you might think that you're having a heart attack 26:11 when you're not. 26:13 In other words, 26:16 the issues of life 26:19 are not always as critical as we think they are. 26:27 So why do we think they're critical? 26:31 Are you ready? 26:34 Because of our feelings. 26:36 What I just say? Our feelings. 26:39 Angina and heart attacks have the similar feeling, 26:43 the feeling in your chest. 26:47 When we begin to just 26:51 gauge our condition based on the feeling 26:55 rather than getting a check up, 26:59 we think we might have a heart attack 27:01 when, in fact, it's only angina. 27:05 But because we're basing it on our feelings, 27:10 we don't understand our true condition. 27:12 In other words, 27:18 the reason why we ought to get checked up 27:20 is because angina is not to be ignored 27:23 because when you ignore, 27:25 the condition of continually narrowing arteries, 27:31 the eventual outcome will be, Jim, a heart attack. 27:36 So when you have feelings in your life that you ignore, 27:40 you put them aside, you don't deal with them. 27:43 You allow them to be the focus of your life from day to day, 27:46 eventually your heart will get to the place 27:49 where you can't handle it, 27:52 and your spiritual life will self-destruct, 27:55 heart attack. 28:02 I thank the Lord for the servant of the Lord 28:05 because God gave Ellen White some beautiful insights, 28:10 and how important it is not to trust in feelings. 28:12 They're on the screen 28:14 because I think when you see it, 28:15 you can follow it better. 28:16 Listen to this, Our High Calling, page 124, 28:19 "A feeling of assurance is not to be despised, 28:22 we should praise God for it," but get this, 28:26 "but when your feelings are depressed, 28:29 do not think that God has changed. 28:32 Praise Him just as much, 28:35 because you trust in His," what? 28:37 "In His word, and not in feelings. 28:41 You have covenanted to walk by faith, 28:45 not to be controlled by feelings." 28:47 Why? 28:49 "Feelings vary with circumstances." 28:52 Do they not? 28:54 You know, people up in Michigan, 28:55 I look at the demographics, 28:56 and I'll have Mike bring the next one up in a moment. 28:58 I look at the demographics, 29:00 you know, that in places where the sun hardly shines, 29:02 the suicide rate is higher. 29:05 You know why? Because people feel depressed. 29:12 They trust their feelings. 29:15 If your heart's working, your mind's working, 29:16 you're breathing, you're walking, 29:18 you're thinking, you can eat, you can sleep, 29:20 you can function normally. 29:22 If you've got a job, you've got a car, 29:23 you've got a house, you have a place to eat, 29:24 a place to lay your head, you have a family, 29:27 you have all the necessities of life, 29:28 you are functioning, 29:29 why allow feelings 29:33 to rob you of the very present list of blessings 29:37 that anybody around the world 29:40 in less fortunate circumstances 29:43 would love to trade places with many of us. 29:49 We're in America, where America's so selfish 29:51 when you don't... 29:52 That's why I appreciate traveling sometimes. 29:54 You go to places when you say, "So where do you live?" 29:57 "In Iraq." "You live in Iraq?" 30:00 And they're happy, and they're smiling, 30:03 they don't really care about 30:05 what happens in Washington D.C. next. 30:07 I've gone places that if there's an earthquake, 30:11 they don't really care about it 30:13 because they sleep out under the stars. 30:17 If the mortgage rates go up, they don't care about it 30:19 because their houses are made of mud. 30:21 They're not worrying about what's on HBO 30:24 because they got a can 30:25 that they're rolling down the street. 30:28 And they don't go to bed with issues, 30:29 they don't worry about the next pair of shoes 30:31 because all they want is a T-shirt. 30:35 I've been in places of the world 30:37 where a T-shirt is more valuable 30:41 than a car for some people. 30:44 I remember giving a pair of socks to a young man 30:46 in Zimbabwe, and the man began to cry. 30:50 I said, "What's wrong?" 30:52 He says, "The first pair of socks I ever owed." 30:54 He's the head elder of the church there. 30:57 My wife and I sat in our room 30:58 when we went with Maranatha there. 31:00 Look at this young man... 31:03 And we went to the market, and we said, "How much?" 31:06 You know, they ask, "Do you have any T-shirts?" 31:10 They don't want your money, they want your T-shirts. 31:13 They said when you go 31:14 to this particular community next time, 31:16 you go back again, they said bring T-shirts and socks 31:19 that go farther than dollars and cents. 31:23 And here we are, got T-shirts and socks 31:27 and don't mean anything to us. 31:31 Don't allow your feelings to become the altar 31:33 on which your life takes away the blessings of God. 31:38 Here's another quotation. 31:40 I'm gonna try to move with expedition 31:41 because this is very important. 31:43 I want to get it all done today. 31:44 From the book, From the Heart, page 79, 31:47 paragraph 2, "We are not to make our feelings a test 31:50 by which to discern whether we are in 31:53 or out of favor with God, 31:56 whether they be what we consider 31:57 encouraging or not." 31:59 Some people say, "Oh, I feel good today, 32:00 I'm going to church." 32:02 You are not based whether you feel good 32:03 to go to church 32:05 or whether you feel good to serve God. 32:07 "As soon as we begin to contemplate feeling," 32:11 what does it say? 32:12 "We are on," what? "Dangerous ground. 32:16 If we feel joyous, we are confident 32:18 we are in a favorable condition, 32:21 but when a change comes, as it will, 32:24 for circumstances will be so arranged 32:27 that feelings of depression will make the heart sad, 32:32 then we will be naturally led to doubt 32:35 that God has accepted us." 32:39 Some people say, 32:40 "I don't feel that God loves me." 32:45 You just said that, which means if your mouth could work, 32:49 you're farther ahead than a lot of other people. 32:52 Here's another one in the Book Maranatha. 32:54 One of my favorite devotions, Maranatha, page 233, 32:57 paragraph 3, "Impressions and feelings 33:00 are no sure evidence that a person 33:04 is led by the Lord. 33:06 Satan will, if he is unsuspected, 33:10 give feelings and impressions. 33:13 These are not safe guides. 33:16 All should thoroughly acquaint themselves 33:20 with the evidences of our faith," 33:22 that's the Word of God, 33:24 "and the great study should be 33:27 how they can adorn their profession 33:31 and bear fruit to the glory of God." 33:34 Don't let feeling... 33:36 The devil will bring in feelings? 33:37 Feelings would change with the temperature. 33:40 I was up in Camp Akita the other day. 33:43 When I left up downhill it was like 18, 33:45 I went up there, it was minus 15. 33:48 I woke up and started working at minus 15 degrees. 33:56 Angie went with me to drive, and she said, 33:59 "I'll be upstairs later." 34:03 I started to go from the room downstairs. 34:05 I want to tell you that when I opened that door, 34:07 I saw a beautiful Chris winter morning, 34:10 the snow untouched, 34:12 not a footprint anywhere, beautiful. 34:15 But I took a deep breath very carefully 34:18 because when you breathe too quickly, 34:20 minus 15, your lungs know it. 34:25 Feelings change, feelings change. 34:29 That's why Jeremiah the prophet what he did. 34:31 In Jeremiah 17:9, let me move on quickly here. 34:33 He says, together, 34:35 "The heart is deceitful above all things." 34:38 The heart is what? "Deceitful above all things." 34:43 And what else? 34:44 "Desperately wicked, who can know it?" 34:49 If a tiny seed could cripple an expensive furnace 34:53 and miniscule pieces of plaque can clog the artery, 34:57 there are no such things as tiny and miniscule issues 34:59 of our lives, left unchecked, 35:01 they can weaken us as Christians. 35:07 That's why David prayed the prayer in Psalms 139. 35:10 A heart prayer, a heart prayer. 35:14 Read it with me. 35:15 "Search me, O God, and know my," what? 35:18 "Know my heart. Try me and know my," what? 35:22 "Anxieties of my thoughts. 35:23 And see if there is any wicked way," where? 35:27 "In me, and lead me 35:31 in the way everlasting." 35:35 So something wicked in you. You know what? 35:36 If there's something wicked in you 35:38 and you ask God to reveal it, 35:39 do you think He's going to reveal it? 35:41 He is going to show it to you. 35:42 You got to get ready for it because when He reveals it, 35:44 He shows us who we are. 35:46 And if we ask Him to reveal it, and He shows us who we are, 35:50 we are blessed and benefited the most when we make 35:53 the changes by His grace when God shows us. 35:57 Right now we are reading 2 Samuel together, 36:00 my wife and I, a fascinating story, 36:03 the triumphs and trials of David. 36:07 The choices that made God happy with David 36:09 and the choices that made God sick of David. 36:15 But the one thing that David had was a heart of repentance. 36:21 And when God dealt with David for his issues with Bathsheba 36:25 and their first child died. 36:28 David stopped mourning, when he washed his face 36:34 and went about business as usual. 36:37 And they said, "Your son died, 36:39 why are you not still mourning?" 36:41 I like the example, 36:42 "Why are you not still mourning? 36:44 David said, "He is dead. What am I going to do? 36:47 He can't come to me, I could go to him, 36:49 but he can't come to me. 36:51 I got work to do." 36:53 Some of us, when the Lord allows issues in our lives 36:56 to die, stop keeping them alive, 37:01 when God has already answered with a final answer, 37:07 which takes me to the second one, arrhythmia. 37:10 Arrhythmia, the primary cause of arrhythmia 37:15 typically includes damage 37:16 of the heart's electrical conductive system, 37:19 congenital or is often inherited heart defects 37:23 and other types of heart disease. 37:25 In this condition, the heart's electrical impulses 37:28 which coordinate heartbeats dysfunction 37:33 making it either be too fast, too slow, 37:37 or it starts beating erratically. 37:40 Spiritual arrhythmia is the same thing, 37:43 when our spiritual connection with God is dysfunctional 37:48 and damage to him image, 37:50 when it's dysfunctional and damaged, 37:53 we lack the power to stay in rhythm 37:57 with spiritual things. 38:00 Which means, Bible study or not, I really care less, 38:04 prayer meeting or not, I really care less. 38:06 We're out of rhythm with the spiritual things 38:08 that God has given to us to keep us in rhythm with Him. 38:13 But we are either going so fast, 38:15 we can't stop to have Bible studies, 38:16 or going too slow that Bible studies 38:18 don't really matter, or we can take it or leave it, 38:21 erratic behavior, arrhythmia. 38:27 And what happens when arrhythmia sets 38:28 in our spiritual condition lacks power, 38:31 the proof that our heart is spiritually damaged is, 38:35 watch this carefully, if your life is moving too fast 38:39 that you cannot keep up with it, 38:41 you are having spiritual arrhythmia. 38:45 Slow it down, what I say, slow it down. 38:49 If your life is so packed that you can't take time 38:52 to serve the Lord and study His Word, 38:55 you got to slow it down. 39:04 Another very telling symptom of arrhythmia 39:06 that's spiritual is also fainting, 39:09 there's people that have arrhythmia, 39:10 they could faint at any moment, they don't know 39:12 when they're going to faint, they're going to faint. 39:14 Look at Proverbs 24:10, they're going to faint, 39:16 they don't know what's going to happen, 39:18 but they're going to faint because arrhythmia 39:20 is manifesting itself in speeding up, 39:22 slowing down, erratic, 39:24 the heart is not getting the oxygen that it needs, 39:27 so they eventually faint without notice. 39:31 And look at the spiritual application, 39:33 "If you faint in the day of adversity," 39:35 what does the Bible say? 39:37 "Your strength is," what? "Your strength is small." 39:40 If you fail when adversity comes, 39:44 it is a sign that you are out of rhythm of heaven. 39:49 Because what did Jesus pray for Peter, He said, 39:51 "The devil will sift you as wheat, 39:53 but I pray that your faith will not fail." 39:58 Trials will come, but when the trials you face 40:01 cause your faith to fail, you are out of rhythm 40:04 with the promises of God's Word. 40:09 I don't know some of you probably hear 40:10 the sermon really well while you sleep, I don't know, 40:13 I'm not bothering you anymore because you might be 40:15 suffering from arrhythmia right now, I don't know. 40:20 But the challenge with many Christians 40:22 is that we don't recognize our weakness, 40:24 we don't recognize our weakness, 40:25 we don't recognize the arrhythmia in our lives, 40:28 therefore we fail to experience the blessings, the abundance, 40:35 the gifts of God, we fail to recognize our weakness. 40:41 We fail to recognize the arrhythmias 40:43 of our spiritual life, moving too fast, 40:45 moving too slow, erratic spiritual life, 40:47 we don't really care, and the blessings of God. 40:50 We don't say, "Lord, I'm weak, 40:52 I need your help." 40:53 That's why the Apostle Paul wrote what he did 40:55 in 2 Corinthians 12:9. 40:57 Go there with me. Look at it. 40:59 "He gave a perfect diagnosis for those who recognize 41:02 the weakness of their spiritual hearts." 41:05 "And He said to me." 41:07 The Lord said to the Apostle Paul. 41:10 Come on, let's read this together. 41:11 What He say? My what? 41:13 "'My grace is sufficient for thee, 41:15 for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' 41:18 Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast 41:23 in my infirmities, that the power 41:25 of Christ may," what? 41:27 "Rest on me." Because, you know what? 41:29 When we are weak, He is strong, Amen? 41:31 Amen. 41:33 But you can't get the blessings of God, young people, 41:36 unless you recognize that you're weak. 41:38 You can't get the blessings of God, elders, deacons, 41:41 deaconesses, leaders, husbands, wives, 41:44 you can't get the blessings of God, 41:46 lest you say, "I am weak." 41:50 Can't get the blessings. 41:55 I have learned in a very real way 41:58 when you try to handle things that only God can handle, 42:01 you will mess up. 42:06 This is another powerful one, high blood pressure. 42:09 Oh, I'm almost done. 42:11 What is high blood pressure? 42:13 The blood flows through the blood vessel 42:17 at a faster pace, which leads 42:19 to an increased pressure in the arteries. 42:22 If this condition persists for a long period, 42:25 then it might damage the arteries 42:28 or other blood vessels and increase the risk 42:30 of a stroke or a heart attack. 42:33 Main causes of high blood pressure are, 42:36 are you ready? 42:37 Lifestyle changes like, what? 42:41 Excessive consumption of salt, alcohol, 42:45 lack of physical activities, and being overweight. 42:50 But look at spiritual high blood pressure, 42:53 the symptoms are similar. 42:55 When we live a life at a fast paced 42:59 for long periods of time, it damages the avenue 43:05 of communication between us and God, 43:09 you know why, because we're moving too fast 43:13 to even think about God. 43:18 Spiritually speaking, lifestyle choices 43:21 should not be ignored because... 43:23 Are you ready? 43:24 The things that you consume 43:26 will eventually consume you. 43:32 Luke 21:34, go there with me. 43:36 The Bible says, what are the first three words? 43:39 "But," do what? "Take heed to," who? 43:42 "Yourself, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing," 43:46 that's too much partying, too much having a fun time, 43:50 "drunkenness," that's intemperance, 43:52 "and the cares of this life, 43:54 and that day come on you unexpectedly." 43:58 We as Christians must be doing everything we can 44:02 to be ready at any moment for the coming of our Lord. 44:06 We don't believe in the secret rapture, 44:08 He's not going to show up after lunch today, 44:11 but the situations of life and in the world politically, 44:14 economically, socially, militarily, 44:16 could change in the drop of a hat 44:18 without any prior notice. 44:20 And the question is, "Are we ready, 44:22 are we in pace with our God, 44:24 or are we living a life of great pressure? 44:28 And what many Christians don't understand is that 44:31 Satan uses the cares of this life 44:34 to lead us to ignore the eternal impact 44:37 of our decisions. 44:38 One of my favorite quotations, 44:40 I'm going to share with you right now 44:41 from Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 44:43 look at this one, and you've heard me 44:45 quote the beginning part, but from the word go, 44:47 I want you to follow carefully because from the word go, 44:50 God has given Sister White special insight 44:53 into how Satan thinks about us. 44:56 Listen to this, "As the people of God." 44:59 Testimonies to Gospel Workers and Ministers, page 472-474. 45:03 "As the people of God approach the perils of the last days, 45:06 Satan holds earnest consultation with his angels 45:11 as to the most successful plan of overthrowing their faith." 45:16 Here is the directive of hell. 45:19 "Go, make the possessors of land and money drunk 45:23 with the cares of this life. 45:25 Present the world before them in its most attractive light, 45:30 that they may lay up their treasures here, 45:33 and fix their affections upon earthly things." 45:37 The angels of darkness are saying, 45:38 "We must do our utmost to prevent those who labor 45:43 in God's cause from obtaining means to use against us. 45:49 Keep the money in our ranks." 45:50 The Devil says, "Keep the money in our demonic ranks." 45:54 "The more means they obtain, the more they will injure 45:58 our kingdom by taking from us our subjects. 46:02 Make them care more for money than for the upbuilding 46:06 of Christ's kingdom. 46:08 For we know that every selfish, covetous person will fall 46:13 under our power, and will finally," what? 46:16 "Be separated from God's people." 46:20 God has given us what He has given to us 46:21 to help the kingdom get advance. 46:24 The cares of this life affect the spiritual function 46:27 of our hearts and lead us to believe that our likes 46:29 and dislikes are more important than eternity. 46:33 What do you think internal wars come from, 46:35 contention, division among like believers, and suspicion, 46:38 these are all components and Satan's plan 46:42 to create a church that is fragmented and divided. 46:47 You know, during the time of King David, 46:49 we'll just listen to this again in Bible Lives, 46:52 we have this audio program, we listen to it together 46:53 on Sabbath mornings when we don't listen 46:55 to 3ABN music channel, plug for the music channel. 47:00 But during the reign of King David, 47:03 the Ammonites hated him and his army so passionately 47:06 that no matter what David did they always read into it, 47:11 follow me here, they read into what David did with suspicion. 47:15 Listen carefully, look at this quote, 47:17 Patriarchs and Prophets, 714, paragraph 2. 47:20 This is powerful. 47:21 That's why you have to be careful 47:23 how your mind thinks about other people. 47:24 "When Satan controls the minds of men, 47:28 he will excite envy and suspicion 47:32 which will misconstrue the very best intentions." 47:37 Has it ever happened to you? 47:39 Has somebody ever said to you? "I didn't like that." 47:41 And you said, "What are you talking about?" 47:43 And for the life of me, you cannot figure out 47:45 what they're talking about, but they are ready 47:48 to nail you to wall, am I right Luis? 47:51 He's gonna have a hard time nailing Luis to the wall, 47:53 but I'm saying. 47:54 They're ready to take you down the road 47:56 and do what they can to you 47:58 because they misconstrue the very best intentions, why? 48:03 It's not what you said, it's because Satan 48:05 was controlling their minds, 48:08 and they heard what you said 48:09 through the portals of their own likes 48:11 and dislikes and preconceived opinion 48:13 about you already. 48:17 That's why Satan knows that what takes place in me 48:20 is more important than what I profess, 48:22 that's why he focuses on keeping many of our hearts 48:26 towards one another in an avenue of suspicion. 48:29 We got to love one another. Come on, somebody say, amen. 48:31 Amen. 48:32 We got to love each other beyond our faults, 48:34 look at this quotation. 48:35 Review and Herald, May 14, 1895, 48:39 "Before passing unfavorable judgment 48:41 upon one another, 48:43 we should go to the one who we think has erred 48:47 and tell him our fears, having our own souls subdued 48:52 by the pitying love of Jesus. 48:55 It may be that some explanation can be made 49:00 that will remove our unfavorable impressions." 49:05 That means, sometimes you need to give people a chance 49:08 to explain themselves. 49:10 Before you say that I know you meant that, 49:13 I've been on the receiving end of that. 49:15 I got phone calls from people 49:16 that I had to hold the phone away, 49:18 they're cussing me out, Christians, Adventists, 49:21 here because they said I did it intentionally. 49:27 And after they cooled down, and I praise God, 49:30 "Lord, I give you the glory, I didn't unload on them 49:32 the same way they unloaded on me." 49:38 That's why Paul says, what he does, 49:41 in 2 Corinthians 13:5, look at what he says. 49:45 He says, "Examine yourselves," examine who? 49:48 "Yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. 49:52 Test," who? "Yourselves. 49:54 Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? 49:58 Unless indeed you are disqualified." 50:01 Notice in you, if Jesus is not in you, 50:05 you are disqualified. 50:09 Your service as human, it's not divine, 50:12 it's not from the heart of a Christ with compassion, 50:15 it's from the heart of a preferential person 50:17 that's arrogant and self-centered, 50:20 and that's not an individual 50:21 that's going to make it to the kingdom. 50:24 Which takes me to my last one, 50:25 and I'm going to go through this very quickly. 50:27 Heart valve problems, this condition arises 50:32 when the heart valves don't work 50:34 the way they supposed to. 50:37 Good valves ensure that blood flows unidirectional, 50:41 that means in one direction. 50:43 The blood flows in one direction, 50:45 it never goes backward. 50:48 The heart valve problem can be hereditary in nature, 50:52 it might have been developed before birth 50:54 or one might have obtained it in due course of time. 50:57 In some cases the cause of heart valve disease 51:00 remains unknown for a long period 51:04 or maybe a lifetime. 51:05 But watch this, but given time the symptoms are manifest. 51:12 Spiritual heart valve problems are the same. 51:15 Are you ready? 51:17 Christians that have 51:20 spiritual heart valve problems 51:24 don't work as they supposed to. 51:29 They take the office, but they don't work 51:32 as they supposed to. 51:46 Just like the heart you can't tell what's going on 51:49 because they look good on the surface. 51:52 But just like the heart valve problem, 51:54 the condition is hidden 51:56 behind the walls of their hearts, it's inside. 52:02 The same is true on a spiritual level, 52:03 spiritual functioning Christians, 52:06 and this is powerful, 52:07 spiritual functioning Christians 52:09 are unidirectional also, 52:12 they receive blood and they give blood. 52:15 I want this point to be very careful. 52:19 Spiritually functioning Christians give blood, 52:23 what did I just say? 52:24 They also receive blood. 52:27 They receive blood, they give blood, 52:29 what does that mean? 52:31 That means that spiritually functioning Christians 52:34 accept the fact that the blood of Jesus Christ 52:37 that forgave them can also forgive you. 52:44 They don't think that they themselves 52:45 are preferential. 52:47 They say, "If the blood of Jesus Christ 52:49 can forgive me, it could forgive you." 52:51 It's unidirectional. 52:53 The forgiveness of God does not stop with them, 52:56 but it flows through them. 53:00 This New Year, learn how to forgive one another. 53:03 Amen, somebody? Luke 6:37. 53:07 The Bible says, "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. 53:11 Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. 53:14 Forgive, and you will be forgiven." 53:18 Salvation is not just what you're in, 53:23 but salvation is what is in us, 53:27 forgiveness. 53:30 As I close, I bring out a very important point, 53:35 I go back to the scripture. 53:39 When Jesus was being pursued by the forces of darkness, 53:43 the devil, listen, the devil was disappointed 53:48 on every occasion when he came after Jesus. 53:52 Amen. 53:55 You know why? 53:56 Satan came to Jesus with a magnifying glass 54:01 to examine His fitness to be Redeemer. 54:05 And I am so glad that the results 54:07 of that examination 54:09 have been preserved for us today, Karen. 54:12 Look at John 14:30, when the devil came 54:16 to look at the life of Jesus, 54:19 look at what the Bible recorded for us today. 54:23 The Apostle John said, 54:25 "I will no longer talk much with you," 54:27 recording the words of Jesus, Jesus said, 54:29 "I will no longer talk much with you, 54:32 for the ruler of this world is coming." 54:34 See his magnifying glass, 54:36 he's coming to check My life out, 54:38 to see what's there, he's looking at my life, 54:42 "And he has nothing in Me." 54:44 Can the church say amen? 54:46 You see if he found anything in Jesus, we'd all be lost. 54:51 If he found anything in Jesus, we'd all be lost. 54:55 So let me ask you the question as I close. 54:58 Why is what's happening so much more important 55:03 than what's happening around us? 55:04 Why is it? 55:06 My last quotation, Christ's Object Lessons, 55:08 and the devil knows this. 55:10 Christ's Object Lessons, page 69. 55:13 Look at this familiar but powerful, 55:15 very timely quote. 55:19 Let's read it together. 55:20 "Christ..." Let's read it together. 55:22 "Christ is waiting with longing desire 55:27 for the manifestation of Himself," where? 55:30 "In His church. 55:32 When the character of the Savior 55:36 shall be perfectly reproduced," where? 55:39 "In His people, then He will come to claim His own." 55:45 Amen. 55:46 So my question to you today is what's happening in you? 55:49 What's happening in you? 55:51 What does that devil still have in you? 55:53 Greed, jealousy, anger, dissatisfaction, 55:59 what does he have in you? What does he have in you? 56:04 What's causing you to feel... What's causing you to feel... 56:09 What's causing you to feel that your life is not worth it 56:13 that the Lord has abandoned you? 56:15 'Cause somehow life's circumstances 56:18 are too great for you to bear. 56:20 What's happening in you? 56:22 I pray that as the moments of probation continue 56:26 to linger for each one of us, that we will examine our lives. 56:31 And whatever the Lord finds there, 56:35 we will submit it to Him that the only thing 56:39 that can be found in us, 56:42 the only one that can be found in us is Jesus. 56:48 Amen? 56:49 Christ in you is the hope of glory. 56:52 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 56:57 May the Lord find a place in you 57:02 that the devil cannot occupy, in your entertainment, 57:05 in your Bible study, in your prayer life, 57:08 in your devotional life, 57:09 in your church attendance life, 57:10 in your Sabbath school attending life. 57:14 I still don't know why on Sabbath morning 57:17 9 o'clock is little early 57:20 and during the week 7:30 is late. 57:22 I just can't figure that one out. 57:25 If we would have more spiritual activity, 57:27 we will find the strength for the journey 57:29 that still lies ahead of us, am I right? 57:32 Am I right? 57:33 Let's make that commitment this year 57:36 that the issues of our heart 57:39 will be in the hand of the Lord who loves us, 57:41 and the only one that can create in us, 57:44 this new heart and this right spirit. |
Revised 2018-05-17