Participants:
Series Code: HCAU
Program Code: HCAU200002S
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00:11 "And this is the record
00:13 that God hath given to us eternal life, 00:16 and this life is in His Son." 00:20 Welcome to 3ABN Australia Homecoming. 00:31 Welcome to today's program. 00:35 It's the Homecoming of 3ABN Australia 2020. 00:39 And it's called Preparing for Eternity. 00:43 Preparing for Eternity involves knowing Jesus 00:46 and we're going through the book Steps to Christ, 00:49 so that we can know Jesus and be ready for eternity 00:53 because without knowing Jesus, we won't be there. 00:56 So I'm Rosemary Malkiewycz. I'm the host for this program. 01:00 And I welcome the people who are here to watch this 01:03 and to listen to Pastor Mike Browning. 01:06 You know, Pastor Mike, from our Let God Speak series. 01:10 He's our main host 01:12 and the producer for that program. 01:15 And he does an wonderful job 01:16 and he's been doing it for many years. 01:18 He's gonna be leading us through 01:20 Chapter 2 of Steps to Christ, 01:22 The Sinner's Need of Christ, 01:25 but in our previous program, 01:28 we listened to Dr. Sven Ostring, 01:31 who helped us with Chapter 1, God's Love for Man, 01:35 and he somewhat summarized it this way. 01:39 One, people are engineered for a type of love 01:41 that cannot ultimately be found in this world. 01:44 Two, God is the greatest being in the universe, 01:48 and love is His greatest quality. 01:52 Three, we catch glimpses of God's love 01:55 in the world around us. 01:56 Four, the Bible is the record of the history of God's love. 02:00 And five, the clearest picture that we have of God's love 02:04 is in the person of Jesus Christ, 02:07 in His life, death, and resurrection. 02:10 But before we hear Pastor Mike Browning, 02:13 we have Dr. Kevin and his wife Jennifer, 02:17 Dr. Kevin Petrie and Jennifer Petrie. 02:20 And they're gonna sing a song for us this day 02:23 on this program called Hide Me Lord. 02:44 Into His presence 02:48 I run to hide 02:51 Though the storm clouds may gather 02:55 And the tempest are wild 03:00 There's not a darkness 03:03 Or a wind that can blow 03:07 But my Heavenly Father already knows 03:18 Hide me Lord 03:22 Until the storm is passed 03:26 Take me to the shelter of your wings 03:34 Hold me Lord 03:37 For the night is lengthy, Lord 03:42 Hide us in the shadow of Your wings 03:54 There is no sorrow 03:57 That ye had not seen 04:02 And when there's a burden 04:05 He shares it with me 04:09 You test us Lord 04:13 And refine us like gold 04:17 But You never reject us 04:21 You never let go 04:27 Hide me Lord 04:31 Until the storm is passed 04:35 Take me to the shelter of Your wings 04:43 Hold me Lord 04:46 For the night is lengthy, Lord 04:50 Hide us in the shadow of Your wings 04:58 Hide me Lord 05:02 until the storm is passed 05:06 Take me to the shelter of Your wings 05:14 Hold me Lord 05:17 For the night is lengthy, Lord 05:21 Hide us in the shadow of Your wings 05:29 Hide us in the shadow 05:32 Of Your wings 05:57 Well, thank you, Kevin and Jennifer, 05:59 that was an absolutely beautiful song. 06:01 And it was very touching. 06:02 And I appreciate that. 06:04 And welcome to those who have come 06:06 to share with us today. 06:07 We'd like to invite you to bear with us in prayer 06:09 as we seek God before we open the Scripture. 06:11 So please join us. 06:14 Father in heaven, we thank You, Lord God in heaven, 06:17 for the privilege of being alive today. 06:21 We're talking about life today and what it means, 06:25 its value and how it can be extended. 06:27 And I pray that You'll guide us through Your Holy Spirit today. 06:30 Guide the words of this preacher 06:32 and touch every heart listening please, 06:34 Lord, I pray this in Jesus' name. 06:37 Amen. 06:39 Now I think we all know, folks, that death is so final. 06:45 And it can come as a tremendous shock 06:48 and can turn us right off. 06:51 All of we thinking, my dad, when he was getting old, 06:56 was getting more frail as people do, of course, 06:58 and then I got a call, 07:01 we were living on the Gold Coast, 07:03 which is in Queensland in Australia, 07:05 and we got the call. 07:07 Dad's failing, you probably should come down. 07:09 He was living in Sydney, 07:11 which is about 9 hours drive away from us. 07:14 And I was out at the time got home, 07:17 and my wife Anne says, "Had this call. 07:19 I did ring the airport, 07:21 there's just two seats left on the last plane tonight. 07:24 We could get on that 07:25 or we can drive down in the morning." 07:28 And I thought, "Oh, what are we going to do?" 07:30 They were expensive seats, you know, 07:31 you buy them off the cuff. 07:33 And yes, they're usually pretty deep. 07:35 And anyhow, 07:36 I wanted my car down there in Sydney. 07:39 So I said, "Ah, we've got to pray. 07:41 We've got to know from God, should we go on this, 07:43 take these two seats on the plane 07:46 and go or should we drive down in the morning?" 07:50 So we just got on our knees 07:52 and we prayed and we prayed 07:53 and we didn't have long to make a decision. 07:56 And I said, "Lord, I know this is unusual. 07:59 And you don't often do this, 08:01 but I'd like you to speak to me through the Bible." 08:05 We've got to know now because we've only got 08:07 a few moments to make our decision. 08:09 So I said, "Lord, please speak to me through the scriptures." 08:12 And so I opened up the scriptures. 08:14 And I read Psalm 130:6. 08:17 Now I wanna read it out to you 08:18 because it's just amazing what it says. 08:21 "My soul waits for the Lord 08:23 more than those who watch for the morning. 08:25 Yes, more than those who watch for the morning." 08:28 And I knew God had spoken. 08:30 Now I must hasten to say here 08:32 that I've sought God for direction 08:35 through the scriptures like that before. 08:36 And God has not chosen to do that. 08:39 So I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea here, 08:41 but I would like to pose the question, 08:43 why did God answer that question so directly 08:47 through the scripture on that occasion? 08:50 And I think the answer is pretty obvious, folks. 08:52 Death is a very big deal to us, isn't it? 08:55 Somebody close to us is passing away, 08:58 or even if it's us, 09:00 when the time comes, it's a very important thing. 09:02 And because of that, 09:04 it's very important to go out as well. 09:06 And perhaps you've had that experience. 09:07 I've seen so many people's lives, 09:09 in their lives when death is approaching 09:12 to someone in the family. 09:14 God really goes out of His way to help people 09:16 because He is very compassionate 09:19 towards us at such a time because death, 09:22 dear folks, brings to the end, the greatest gift that we have, 09:25 which is life. 09:27 And by the way, 09:28 we took those two plane tickets down to Sydney. 09:32 We got down there, 09:34 about 9 o'clock in the evening 09:36 and by 1 o'clock in the morning, 09:38 dad, breathe his last. 09:42 Had we not gone? 09:43 When we did I wouldn't have said 09:45 my goodbyes to him 09:47 and being able to just communicate with him 09:49 briefly before he went. 09:51 So God knew what He was doing. 09:52 A tenderness of God is just remarkable, 09:55 that such a time as this death is the cessation of life, 10:00 and life is our greatest gift. 10:02 If you don't have life, you don't have anything. 10:05 And so how important it is. 10:07 All right, so I'm going to talk more 10:08 about life today than death, you'll be glad to know. 10:12 Well, I want to talk about physical life. 10:15 Now everybody here, 10:17 at this point in time has physical life 10:20 or natural life, as the Bible puts it, 10:22 saint and sinner, 10:24 we're all the same, we possess life. 10:27 That's the thing that God has given us. 10:30 We are born and we live, 10:31 that your conception 200 million 10:34 would be humans took to the racetrack, 10:36 your little champion got there first 10:38 and here you are. 10:40 You're alive, and you're enjoying natural life. 10:45 And that's amazing. 10:46 Initially, of course, the human race was born 10:49 a little differently from the way it is today. 10:52 Adam and Eve, our first parents were pure, 10:55 and happy, and holy in every sense of the word. 11:00 And I'm going to read to you from Steps to Christ Chapter 2, 11:03 the chapter we're looking at today 11:05 because I want to just make clear 11:07 what sort of a person Adam representing 11:10 each one of us as guardian, potentially wanted us to be. 11:14 And it says this, "Adam was perfect in his being, 11:18 and in harmony with God. 11:20 His thoughts were pure, his aims were holy." 11:25 So it was a beautiful, 11:26 holy happy being that God had made, 11:29 but unfortunately, didn't stay that way. 11:32 And without going into the detail 11:33 of Adam and Eve's fall, 11:35 and their disobedience to God, I'm just gonna read 11:38 very briefly still in Chapter 7, 11:40 verse, I'm sorry, page 17 of Steps to Christ. 11:44 "But through disobedience, 11:46 he is that Adams powers were perverted, 11:49 and selfishness took the place of love sadly. 11:54 As a result, it was impossible for him, 11:57 in his own strength, to resist the power of evil." 12:01 And so mankind moved into a very difficult time, 12:05 in your experience, in our experience, 12:08 sin definitely marred humanity. 12:11 And one of the worst, and most damaging emotions 12:14 that we can experience which is fear, 12:17 was immediately coming into their lives. 12:19 And amazingly, they were afraid of God. 12:23 And I thought, well, that's tremendously sad. 12:26 Not only that, they were denied access to the tree of life. 12:29 And so therefore, they were doomed, 12:32 there's no other word to describe it, 12:34 the wages of sin is death, and that's what they faced, 12:37 and ultimately experienced. 12:39 I'm going to read to you 12:41 1 Corinthians 15:44, 12:46 which says this, talking about death, 12:50 "It is sown as in buried, a natural body. 12:55 It is raised a spiritual body." 12:57 So that's the kind of body you have in the resurrection, 12:59 a spiritual body. 13:00 "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." 13:04 Now that's interesting, 13:06 and he makes that difference there. 13:07 We'll talk about that some more. 13:09 Next, verse 45, says, "And so it is written, 13:13 'The first man Adam became a living being.' 13:16 The last Adam became a life-giving spirit," 13:19 reference to Jesus here. 13:21 Verse 46, "However, the spiritual is not first, 13:24 but the natural." 13:26 So you have natural life now, but the spiritual, and he says, 13:29 "afterward the spiritual," the spiritual life, 13:32 is what God is going to give us, 13:34 the spiritual body. 13:36 The spiritual body, folks, 13:38 don't think in terms of disembodied spirits floating 13:40 about without bodies, a spiritual body. 13:43 And it's quite different. That's really interesting. 13:45 So how is God going to respond to us? 13:48 Well, in Galatians 4:4, 13:53 Paul, the Apostle Paul clearly explains 13:55 what happened, what God did. 13:58 Verse 4, "But when the fullness of the time had come," 14:02 the fullness of the time 14:04 with reference to Daniel Chapter 9, 14:05 which gives the exact time for the Messiah, 14:08 the Son of God to appear on the earth. 14:11 "When the fullness of the time had come, 14:13 God sent forth His Son, 14:16 born of a woman, born under the law." 14:18 So He sent forth His Son to save us from death. 14:23 We faced a terrible dilemma. 14:26 None of us can stop the march toward the grave, can we? 14:30 Some of us here are further along the way than others, 14:34 but we're on conscious of that fact. 14:36 And that's not a bad thing, 14:38 but it's, God has a plan, however, 14:40 to deal with this, and He sent His Son. 14:43 And once again, I'm appealing to the writings of EGW here, 14:46 Ellen White in 1 Selected Messages, page 296. 14:51 And it makes this statement, "In Him was life," 14:55 talking about the nature of Christ now, 14:57 "In him was life, 14:59 original, unborrowed, underived." 15:03 Original, unborrowed, this is underived, 15:06 this is a tremendously profound statement, dear folks. 15:11 Jesus had life, not just physical life, 15:14 which He did have, just like we have, 15:16 and not just immortal life, 15:18 which is what we are aspiring to. 15:20 He also possessed life. 15:22 Now there's a difference, no other human being has ever 15:25 or will ever have that power, only God possesses life. 15:29 There is therefore able to give life, 15:31 no other human will have that. 15:34 I'm going to read from 15:36 1 John 5:11 there. 15:41 1 John 5:11. 15:47 A beautiful statement by 1 John 5:11. 15:52 This is what he says, "This is the testimony. 15:57 God has given us eternal life," that's good to know, 16:01 "and this life is found in His Son. 16:06 He who has the Son has life, 16:09 he who does not have 16:10 the Son of God does not have life." 16:13 So Jesus is the source of life. 16:15 And if we come to Him, 16:17 we find the life that we are looking 16:20 and inspiring to have that is immortal life. 16:23 Remember that. Remember that word. 16:27 Remember, life was not gifted to Jesus, 16:29 He possessed life. 16:31 And that's why we need Jesus, folks. 16:35 We need Him more than anything else. 16:37 And we may have all that He offers, 16:39 and He's prepared to come into our lives. 16:41 I'm going to read to you 16:43 from the gospel of John Chapter 10. 16:46 John understood 16:47 some of the most profound aspects of Jesus' life, 16:51 and His possession of the life principle. 16:53 John 5, sorry, 10:17, 16:58 John 10:17, 17:01 Jesus is talking and He says, "Therefore My Father loves Me, 17:07 because I lay down My life that I may take it again." 17:10 Now some of you have been quite familiar 17:12 with this statement, then this one. 17:14 "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. 17:19 I have power to lay it down, I have power to take it again. 17:23 This command I have received from My Father." 17:26 Jesus lay down His life when He died on the cross. 17:30 Folks, no one, He says, takes it from Me. 17:33 He laid it down willingly. This is amazing. 17:36 And what an incredible thing to say. 17:38 So He lay down His physical life, 17:42 not His divine life, 17:43 if you like because in His divine life, 17:49 He was immortal, 17:50 which by definition means not subject to death. 17:55 And so Jesus divine life was immortal, 18:00 and, of course, could not be lay down, 18:02 could not be lost. 18:03 And this is no wonder, folks, 18:05 when Jesus came out of the grave, 18:07 as described in Revelation 1:18, 18:10 He says that He holds the key to death and the grave. 18:15 And how exciting that is. 18:17 Dear friends, He is the one that we need, 18:19 we need Him more than we need anything else. 18:23 No other human being has what Jesus has, 18:26 and He alone can give it to us. 18:28 Now look, here's a profound statement. 18:29 Once again, it comes from the writings 18:31 of Ellen G. White. 18:33 And it's found in the book, Great Controversy, page 652. 18:38 It's a simple statement. 18:40 And this is what it says, 18:42 "The Mystery of the cross explains 18:45 every other mystery." 18:47 Because I've just been talking 18:48 about a mystery here, haven't I? 18:50 How the Son of God 18:52 in His humanity could lay down His life, 18:55 His natural life, and then take it up again. 18:58 Now if that's not a mystery to you, 19:01 then you have a spiritual mind that I don't have. 19:04 It is a huge mystery, folks. 19:06 And this scripture, 19:07 this statement rather by Ellen G. White 19:09 that the mystery of the cross, 19:11 which is what we've just talked about, 19:13 that mystery, explains all other mysteries. 19:17 What is the mystery that the cross explains? 19:20 Now I know I'm only going to touch the surface 19:22 on such a profound statement, 19:24 but I'm going to do my best today. 19:27 In Romans 3:26, 19:32 Romans 3:26, the Apostle Paul, again, 19:36 raises something that's going to help us here. 19:39 Romans 3:26. 19:43 Romans 3:26, which says, 19:49 "To demonstrate at the present time 19:51 His righteousness, that He might be," 19:54 now listen carefully here, 19:55 "that He might be just and the justifier 19:59 of the one who believes in Christ 20:02 or has faith in Christ." 20:04 Both just and justify, He's just in that, 20:09 He met the demands of the broken law of God, 20:11 the eternal law of God. 20:13 At the same time, He's able to justify the people 20:17 who come to Him in faith. 20:18 And as you know that we're justified as a play on, 20:21 we can use a play on the word just as if I'd never sin, 20:24 you're accounted as you have never sinned 20:26 if you've been justified, 20:28 and God is able to do on the cross, 20:31 be both just, 20:32 and justifier of those who believe. 20:35 And it's pretty exciting when you think about it, folks, 20:38 that He is able to do that. 20:40 It's remarkable really. 20:42 I want to just go over Chapter 6 of Romans as well. 20:46 This is 6:8 now, where it says, 20:50 "If we died with Christ, 20:52 we believe that we shall also live with Him." 20:55 Now this is on the tail end of a statement 20:56 that begins in verse 6, 20:58 which I'm now going to read, still Romans 3, sorry, 21:01 Romans 6:6, "Knowing this, 21:05 that our old man was crucified with Him," 21:07 that is, our sinful nature, folks, and our sins, 21:09 "we're crucified with Him." 21:12 When Jesus died, we were deemed to have died. 21:17 This is the mystery of the cross, 21:19 "that the body of sin might be done away with, 21:21 that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 21:24 For he who has died has been freed from sin." 21:27 That's clear. 21:28 And then he goes on to say what we read before, 21:30 "If we die with Christ, 21:31 we believe that we shall also live with Him." 21:34 It's a very interesting thing. 21:36 When John was talking, 21:38 or quoting Jesus talking about His coming death on the cross. 21:43 In John 12:31, 21:47 Jesus makes this profound statement. 21:50 "Now is the judgment of this world, 21:53 now the ruler of this world will be cast out." 21:55 As He faces the cross, He recognizes, dear friends, 21:58 that He is being judged as guilty for the sins 22:02 of the entire world. 22:04 And because you are in Christ, then the judgment 22:08 was placed on you of guilt, you're guilty. 22:11 There's no question about it, but Jesus, 22:13 as our representative was going to pay the price for our guilt. 22:17 Praise God for that. 22:19 Then he goes on to say in verse 32, 22:21 and give us the context. 22:23 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, 22:25 will draw all people to Myself." 22:28 So it was the cross he was talking about 22:30 being lifted up on the cross when he said, 22:32 "Now is the judgment of this world." 22:34 So the world, the whole world, every human being, 22:38 dear friends, was with exception of Himself, 22:41 the one who paid the price for our sins. 22:43 Isn't that incredible? That He should do that. 22:46 So what a blessing it is that we have a Savior, 22:49 who was judged as guilty for our sins, 22:52 in order that He might be justifier 22:55 of those who believe in Christ. 23:01 Jesus tried to explain the fact 23:04 that He possessed life, 23:07 to the Sanhedrin, 23:08 the rulers of the Jewish people, 23:10 they didn't want to hear it, but he told them anyway. 23:12 And I'm going to read 23:13 some of the things that 23:15 He said to them in John 5:21. 23:20 "As the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, 23:24 even so the Son gives life to whoever He wills." 23:30 The Son gives life, dear friends, 23:32 to whomever He chooses to give life to. 23:35 Verse 22, "For the Father judges no one, 23:38 but has committed all judgment to the Son." 23:41 It's rather encouraging to me, 23:43 as I'm sure it is to you to know that 23:45 the one who gave His life for us 23:46 and as our Savior is also our judge. 23:50 Again, he goes on to say something 23:51 more about that, actually. 23:53 I'm going down to verse 24. 23:55 Still John Chapter 5. 23:56 "Most assuredly, I say to you, 23:59 he who hears My word and believes in Him 24:03 who sent Me has everlasting life, 24:07 and shall not come into judgment, 24:10 but has passed from death to life." 24:12 That's an interesting statement that Jesus is making here. 24:15 Those who believe in Him do not come into judgment. 24:19 Dear friends, those who trust in Jesus 24:22 do not stand trembling before the power of God. 24:26 They are to give account for their sins. 24:27 They don't have to do that. 24:29 We don't have to do that 24:30 because we were judged as guilty already. 24:32 So we don't come into judgment. 24:35 And the price has already been paid. 24:37 And we are now justified. 24:40 And he goes on to say in verse 24, 24:41 "But has passed from death to life." 24:45 So a huge transition has been made. 24:48 When we receive Jesus, dear friends, 24:50 when we accept 24:51 what He's done on the cross for us, 24:53 we pass from death to life. 24:57 Death is no longer our destiny as sinners, 25:00 life is our destiny. 25:03 What a brilliant thing 25:04 God has done in arranging such a wonderful thing. 25:08 And let me go over to back to the letter of John, 25:10 1 John Chapter 5, 25:11 where he spoke quite a lot about this. 25:14 1 John 5:13. 25:19 He says, "These things I have written to you 25:22 who believe in the name of the Son of God," 25:24 and that would include us all. 25:26 If we believe in Jesus, this is us, 25:29 "that you may know that you have eternal life, 25:33 and that you may continue 25:35 to believe in the name of the Son of God." 25:38 That you may know that you have eternal life. 25:41 So you have eternal life at the moment you believe. 25:44 Your sins have already gone to judgment. 25:46 The price has been paid for your sins already, 25:50 and you are now justified, 25:52 you are now a son or a daughter of God. 25:55 And heaven is your destiny. 25:59 Not yet, have we? 26:02 Because you don't have eternal life at... 26:04 Sorry, you don't have immortal life at the moment, 26:06 you believe you have eternal life. 26:09 Now eternal life can be interrupted by death. 26:13 And for most of God's people throughout history, 26:16 that has happened. 26:18 And death has been the interruption. 26:20 And the resurrection, 26:22 of course, we will deal with that, 26:24 but we still die even though we have eternal life. 26:30 Do we lose eternal life because we die? 26:32 Of course, we do not. 26:34 Thank the Lord for that, 26:35 what an arrangement He has made. 26:37 In the book Maranatha, 302 is the page number. 26:42 A statement I want to read out, it says this, 26:45 "We become one with Him, and our will is brought 26:49 into harmony with the divine will. 26:52 We become partakers of the life of Christ which is eternal." 26:57 You actually become a partaker of His life. 27:01 How wonderful it is that God 27:03 has made such an arrangement for us, 27:06 that we are thus taken 27:09 from death as our destiny to life, 27:13 as our experience and, of course, our destiny too. 27:15 Now this is a process. 27:17 Dear friends, 27:19 it's a process that we go through. 27:21 And I'd like to suggest to you now 27:22 that as we talk about this together, 27:26 that we realize, dear friends, 27:28 how important our relationship with Jesus is 27:31 because our privileges, we may get to know Him 27:36 who to know is life eternal. 27:39 It is our privilege to actually come 27:40 into communication with Him. 27:43 Jesus made some astounding promises, you know, 27:47 it's worth just going through 27:49 and looking at the promises He made, 27:51 writing them down in a book somewhere. 27:52 So you've got them all together 27:54 because He said some things that well, 27:57 we need to keep in mind that very encouraging, 28:00 very encouraging indeed. 28:02 I want to read you one out of, 28:06 let's see, John 14:21, 28:10 where Jesus gives us this beautiful promise, 28:12 He says, 28:13 "He who has My commandments and keeps them." 28:16 In other words, you're faithful, you're loyal, 28:19 you're a commandment keeper because you're loyal to Jesus. 28:22 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, 28:24 it is he who loves Me," right? 28:26 Obedience was always a demonstration of love to God. 28:30 "And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, 28:34 and I will love him," and then this, 28:36 "and manifest Myself to him." 28:39 That word manifest 28:40 is sometimes translated, reveal myself. 28:43 He will reveal Himself to us. 28:47 Now I'm going to put it to you that 28:49 if you rush into His presence, 28:50 first in the morning, and you spend 30 seconds, 28:53 that's giving your life to Christ, 28:54 and moving on with your life, not a bad thing to do, 28:57 but if that's all you do, 28:58 in terms of your communication with God, 29:00 you are not going to sense Him 29:02 revealing Himself to you. 29:04 How does God reveal Himself to us? 29:05 How does Jesus manifest Himself to us? 29:09 He said it a lot of times, He manifest Himself 29:12 through the peace that He brings. 29:15 If you take time in prayer, 29:17 you will sense His presence 29:18 through the sense of peace that He brings into your life. 29:22 Many of us are too busy to experience that privilege, 29:25 but all of us may, just take the time 29:28 and claim this promise and say, 29:30 "Lord, You promised to reveal Yourself, 29:32 manifest Yourself to me. 29:34 Today, may I have the peace of Your presence." 29:37 And God will do that. 29:39 And we're encouraged 29:40 by the little lady to spend time, 29:42 not rushing into His presence and rushing out again, 29:45 but taking time to wait for counsel. 29:49 And I believe many more of us 29:50 would be hearing the voice of God 29:52 if we were to do that in prayer. 29:54 So prayer is an absolute essential. 29:58 It draws us into the presence of Jesus 30:00 gives us confidence in Him, 30:03 confidence that we may rest in Him 30:06 for our forgiveness of our sins. 30:08 Not only that, the hope of eternity. 30:11 Prayer does something really remarkable. 30:14 Now Paul knew about this, the Apostle Paul, 30:16 and in 1 Corinthians Chapter 2, 30:19 I'm going to read you what he said about this. 30:22 And this is a very profound statement. 30:24 I don't claim to fully get what he is saying here, 30:28 but I'd like, I'd like to read it. 30:30 1 Corinthians 2:16, 30:33 "For 'who has known the mind of the Lord 30:36 that he may instruct Him?' 30:38 Then he says but we have the mind of Christ.'" 30:44 Through prayer, dear friends, we become like Him. 30:48 The Holy Spirit is able to move in our minds 30:51 and make us like Jesus as we spend time with Him 30:55 because as we focus in on Him, 30:57 and as we read this amazing book, 31:00 and as the Holy Spirit impresses things 31:02 upon our minds, 31:04 we become like Christ, we have the mind of Christ, 31:07 you begin to love the things that He loves, 31:11 and hate the things the world loves. 31:13 And you begin to become like Jesus, I just think, 31:16 well, what a privilege we have, that He should do that. 31:20 We have the mind of Christ. 31:25 People struggle with temptation. 31:27 Christians struggle with temptation, don't they? 31:31 And it can spoil your relationship with Christ, 31:34 seen as an enemy, whichever way it comes at you. 31:37 And temptation is not a happy experience 31:39 for any of us, but what do we do about it? 31:43 Does having the mind of Christ help us to deal 31:46 with temptation to sin? 31:47 I'm going to suggest that it definitely does. 31:49 I am going to show you now, 31:51 what I consider to be the most powerful promise 31:54 in the entire Bible 31:56 when it comes to making sure 31:58 you live the life of obedience to Jesus Christ 32:01 that you want to live. 32:02 I'm going to read to you from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. 32:07 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, please write it down. 32:10 Don't forget this. 32:12 This is going to help you 32:13 in your walk with Christ in life. 32:16 2 Corinthians 10:4, 32:18 "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal," 32:21 that is to say not things of this life, 32:24 "but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." 32:28 And then listen to this next verse, verse 5, 32:30 2 Corinthians 10:5, 32:32 "Casting down arguments and every high thing 32:36 that exalts itself against the knowledge of God," 32:39 and then this point, "bringing every thought 32:42 into captivity to the obedience of Christ." 32:46 Now, folks, this is where it all happens 32:48 in between your ears, isn't that correct? 32:50 Right? 32:51 That's where your relationship with God occurs, 32:53 your decisions are made there, 32:55 that's where you really live your life. 32:58 And that's where we get tempted. 33:01 And what is this saying, 33:03 "Bringing every thought into captivity 33:05 to the obedience of Christ." 33:07 And I'm going to suggest to you that 33:08 you can't do that on your own, and neither can I. 33:12 And this is where the indwelling 33:13 Holy Spirit brings the mind of Christ into us, 33:17 brings Jesus into our lives, 33:19 so that He is able to bring every thought into captivity, 33:24 to the obedience of Christ. 33:25 So this is what I do. 33:27 I just explained to you briefly how I deal with this. 33:30 If I'm tempted, and that happens too often, 33:34 then I pray like this, Lord, 33:38 please fill me with Your Holy Spirit, 33:39 and bring my thoughts 33:41 into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 33:45 I know He never fails me. 33:47 It can be many times a day, 33:49 and I just become aware of an hour or two later, 33:52 that I haven't thought that thought since. 33:55 So I'm encouraging you, folks, take advantage of this. 33:57 This is a powerful promise, and God will never fail you. 34:02 All the resources of heaven, dear friends, 34:04 are geared up to help human beings deal 34:06 with the sin problem. 34:09 And if you ask for help, you get it. 34:12 And this promise is the best and most powerful promise 34:14 I know in order to deal with the problem of sin. 34:19 It's fantastic really, 34:21 because on our own we cannot deal with sin. 34:25 I'm sure we all know this. 34:27 I'm going to read to you from Steps to Christ, page 18. 34:30 This is once again that second chapter 34:32 that we're looking at, at the moment. 34:34 This is what it says, "Education, culture, 34:39 the exercise of the will, human effort, 34:42 all have their proper sphere, but here," 34:45 that is dealing with sin and temptation, 34:47 "here they are powerless." 34:51 Isn't that true? So it's good to know that. 34:54 That's why God hasn't left us alone 34:56 because alone we're doomed. 34:57 We're done for, we haven't got a hope, 34:59 but in Jesus, dear friends, it's all under control. 35:03 Jesus has made every provision for us. 35:07 If necessary, every angel 35:09 in heaven would come to our assistance. 35:11 By the way, I also pray that 35:13 and I asked that God will surround me 35:14 with holy angels and banished the demons. 35:17 They love to spoil your life and give you, and harass you, 35:20 don't let them. 35:21 Ask God to send His angels to protect you, 35:24 and give you a break. 35:25 Everybody needs a break. 35:27 And we need breaks from the harassment 35:30 and temptation that comes in this life. 35:32 And so please remember that fantastic promise 35:37 because on our own, we can't do a thing about it, 35:39 but in Christ, we can. 35:41 What a wonderful thing. 35:44 All right, to back up, where were we? 35:46 We have eternal life, 35:48 but we don't have immortal life. 35:51 Have you got that? 35:53 When we believe in Jesus, 35:54 we are given the gift that says eternal life, 35:56 but you don't have immortal life yet. 35:59 None of us have it. We know that, don't we? 36:02 We wouldn't die if we had immortal life, 36:05 but you don't get to heaven without immortality. 36:08 So how is God going to deal with this? 36:11 Well, I'm going to read to you again 36:12 from 1 Corinthians 15, 36:15 because it's such a wonderful statement 36:17 that Paul is making here 36:18 about the necessity 36:22 of immortal life. 36:24 And so he says in verse 50, "Now this I say, brethren, 36:30 that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 36:35 nor does corruption inherit incorruption." 36:38 Notice the connection between corruption here, 36:40 and flesh and blood. 36:42 Specifically, 36:44 this is dealing with our sinfulness, 36:46 our sinful nature, if you like, but not only that, 36:48 it's dealing with our natural life. 36:51 Natural life and the sin that 36:53 we battle within it cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 36:57 you can't go there. 36:58 So even though 36:59 you have eternal life, by faith, 37:02 the hope of eternal life, dear friends, 37:04 you don't have immortality. 37:05 We are not yet fitted for heaven. 37:07 We are not. 37:10 What are we going to do about it? 37:13 Well, the sin infection must go. 37:15 That's the problem. 37:17 That sin infection must go. 37:19 I once talked to a young fellow, 37:21 young man about this. 37:24 And he said to me, "I know that, 37:27 I know we can't go to heaven the way we are." 37:30 He said, "That's why we've got to go to purgatory." 37:32 You've got to go to purgatory for a time, 37:35 so that the sin is purged out of you in purgatory. 37:38 And I said to him, "Well, look, you're on the right track. 37:42 You can't go to heaven with that sin on your shoulders 37:44 and that sinful nature, 37:46 but I've got good news for you." 37:48 You don't have to go over the flames 37:49 to have it dealt with, dear friends. 37:51 We have it dealt with already by Jesus Christ. 37:55 He was the one who suffered. His blood was shed. 37:58 He died on the cross that we wouldn't have to. 38:02 What a bargain. 38:03 Why wouldn't you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior? 38:06 It's the biggest bargain you've ever heard in your life. 38:09 Some people love bargains. 38:11 I've got a friend who loves bargains. 38:14 And if ever I wanted anything, 38:16 or need anything to be bought in life, 38:18 I talk to him and I say, I would not give his name. 38:21 You might all want to talk to him. 38:23 He might get nothing else done. 38:24 And I say, "Do you reckon you can find me thus and thus," 38:26 and he never forget. 38:28 And he always finds it for me. 38:30 He's amazing. He just loves a bargain. 38:33 Oh, dear friends, most of us, I guess, love a bargain, 38:37 but you never heard a bargain like this one. 38:40 Right? You're off scot-free. 38:43 There's to be no suffering, specifically, no suffering. 38:46 When you come to Jesus, 38:48 how do you publicly demonstrate the fact 38:51 that you have accepted Jesus into your life? 38:54 What do you do? Walk on hot coals? 38:57 There are some religions who believe you should do that. 39:01 What about it? 39:02 Do you flagellate yourself with whips? 39:05 Is that how you demonstrate that you? 39:06 No. You're baptized. 39:10 And it's very specifically 39:11 a gentle experience as you go under those waters. 39:15 I guess our audience here have all been baptized 39:18 at some point in time. 39:20 Was it painful? Did it hurt? Of course, it didn't. 39:22 You can't imagine anything more soft and gentle 39:25 and just being swamped with water, 39:27 and then you come out of the water. 39:29 Why is it so easy? It's specifically like that. 39:33 God wants us to draw the contrast 39:37 between our baptism in water 39:40 and the cross and the blood of the cross, 39:43 which was a terrible experience. 39:48 What a wonderful thing God has done 39:50 in making such a provision for us 39:54 to have life endless life 39:58 so grateful that he does that. 40:01 So grateful. 40:02 I should read on here in 1 Corinthians 15, 40:05 I read verse 50, where it says, 40:07 "That flesh and blood 40:08 cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 40:10 So we're not quite ready for it for heaven yet. 40:13 Dear friends, we're not. 40:15 What else is going to happen? 40:17 Verse 51, "Behold, I tell you a mystery." 40:20 The Bible is full of mysteries. 40:22 Most of them are explained, at least partly, 40:26 "I tell you a mystery," 40:27 and he's going to tell us the mystery. 40:29 "We shall not all sleep," 40:30 referring to the sleep of death, 40:31 of course, "but we shall all be changed," 40:34 because we need to be changed, we must be changed. 40:39 He goes on to say in verse 52, "In a moment, 40:42 in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 40:47 For the trumpet will sound, 40:49 and the dead will be raised incorruptible, 40:51 and we shall be changed." 40:53 Okay, so there's a change comes when the trumpet blasts, 40:57 and that trumpet blast 40:59 when Jesus comes the second time, 41:01 and we know that He comes 41:03 to gather together His children, 41:05 and call us out of the graves, what's it going to be like? 41:09 "The dead will be raised incorruptible," 41:11 He says, and we that is those still alive, 41:14 the last generation will still be living, 41:16 we shall be changed. 41:18 "For," verse 53, 41:21 "this corruptible must put on incorruption," 41:24 and then what comes next? 41:26 "This mortal must put on immortality." 41:30 The word must is very significant there. 41:33 No options here, folks, 41:34 it must happen because no one goes to glory 41:37 without becoming immortal first. 41:40 I like the fact that it's two things happen there. 41:44 One of them, our corruption is taken away, 41:48 and at the same time, we are given immortality. 41:51 No corruptible sin infested person 41:54 receives immortality. 41:55 And that makes good sense as to why not, but now we do. 42:00 We receive more immortality, 42:03 never subject to death. 42:09 Well, what an amazing offer 42:11 God makes, an incredible offer. 42:16 Our natural body is doomed. 42:18 That's the one we have now, we all know it, 42:20 but in the resurrection, we have a spiritual, 42:24 immortal body. 42:28 What's it going to be like? 42:29 It's going to be fantastic, folks. 42:31 We don't know how magnificent it is going to be. 42:35 We only know and I tell that out, 42:38 we are going to be like Him in our resurrection. 42:41 So as Jesus was in His resurrection, 42:44 so we will be in ours, 42:46 because Jesus still retains His humanity, doesn't He? 42:51 He is still the God Man, Jesus Christ. 42:54 So what He experienced in His humanity, 42:56 we will experience. 42:57 And I tell you what, 42:59 it was definitely a new improved version 43:01 of humanity that Jesus had after His resurrection, 43:04 a spiritual immortal body. 43:07 And we are going to experience that. 43:09 With that immortal body, and folks, 43:12 we are going to transition 43:13 from earth to heaven because the resurrection 43:15 takes place right here on earth. 43:17 And Jesus takes us back to the glory land. 43:20 And we can look forward to that 43:22 because that is going to be such a wonderful experience. 43:25 You're going to be able to go to a place 43:27 where there's no temptation, 43:30 where there's no pain and sorrow. 43:32 And plenty of us have had those sort of experiences 43:34 that are not pleasant, 43:36 but it won't happen again, dear friends. 43:39 And when we get there, 43:40 we're going to say heaven was cheap enough. 43:44 Trials of this life will just fade 43:48 into the distance, and be as nothing 43:51 when we compare them with the beauty of immortality. 43:54 I'm going to read again from Maranatha, page 302, 43:59 which says this, 44:01 "We derive immortality from God, 44:05 by receiving the life of Christ," 44:07 that's how you get it, 44:09 "by receiving the life of Christ," 44:10 so that's where we start right now, 44:12 "for in Christ dwells 44:14 all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." 44:16 That's trying to say to us there, 44:19 that He has the authority to do this. 44:24 He has the fullness 44:25 of the Godhead in His human body, 44:27 is the fullness of God. 44:29 So that's the thing that He's trying to say to us. 44:34 Paul summarizes how we are to live, 44:37 now that we have eternal life. 44:41 And I'm going to just read to you 44:43 a couple of scriptures. 44:45 The first one is found in Galatians 2:20. 44:50 Galatians 2:20. 44:53 And Paul says this. 44:57 "I have been crucified with Christ." 44:59 Now I mentioned a moment ago, didn't I? 45:01 When Christ died, we died, we're deemed to have died. 45:06 "I have been crucified with Christ." 45:08 We are deemed to have been crucified with Him. 45:11 Dear friends, we are deemed to have paid the full price 45:14 for our sins, and our breaking of God's law. 45:18 When Christ died because we were in Christ. 45:22 "It is no longer there for I who live, 45:25 but Christ who lives in me, 45:28 and the life which I now live in the flesh, 45:31 I live by faith in the Son of God, 45:33 who loved me and gave Himself for me." 45:37 Now I don't pretend to understand 45:39 the closeness of the experience 45:41 that has been described for us here, 45:43 where he said, "It is no longer I who live, 45:46 but Christ lives in me, 45:48 and the life which I now live in the flesh 45:50 I live by faith in the Son of God." 45:52 It's just so profound. 45:55 We may have an experience with God 45:57 and Jesus that escapes most of us, 46:03 but is available to all of us. 46:06 We may have such an experience. 46:09 And it's our privilege to do that. 46:13 Crucified with Christ, 46:14 that is we're put to death ourself 46:17 and our desire for anything that is not like Christ. 46:21 And now we want to live for Him. 46:23 Paul also writes 46:25 in Colossians 1:27, 46:30 this statement, Colossians 1:27. 46:35 And he says this, "To them," the saints, 46:39 "God willed to make known 46:41 what are the riches of the glory of this mystery," 46:44 here is another mystery they made plain. 46:47 "The glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, 46:52 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 46:58 Christ in you, the hope of glory. 47:00 If you have Christ living in you, 47:02 dear friends, you have His life. 47:05 And you have the promise of immortal life. 47:08 God couldn't do any more than that for us. 47:11 We have been so blessed to have this, 47:13 so blessed that we're able to do that. 47:18 Back in 1:19, it says, 47:20 "For it pleased the Father that in Jesus, in Him," 47:24 it says, but it's talking about Jesus, 47:26 "in Him all the fullness should dwell." 47:30 Folks, He came behind in none of the powers of the divine, 47:34 when He walked this earth in His humanity, 47:38 and when the promise is made to you 47:39 and to me of life, and its immortal life, 47:43 we may have confidence that it is ours, 47:46 and it is ours to keep. 47:49 So that's our goal to lose sight 47:52 of ourselves live for Jesus, lose sight of the world, folks, 47:55 we've got to turn our back on the things of the world, 47:58 particularly the pressures 48:01 that the world puts on everybody 48:03 to follow the standards and the behavior of the world. 48:06 It's so powerful now, isn't it? 48:08 I don't know how young people cope 48:09 with a television 48:11 and the constant bombardment 48:13 of basically a sinful lifestyle. 48:16 It's demonstrated there for everybody to see 48:18 and it goes on and on and on. 48:21 And I really fear for our children. 48:23 Our children need our prayers. 48:25 And I'm going to suggest to you 48:26 that you do something for your children 48:27 and grandchildren, and for yourselves. 48:31 My wife and I set aside Fridays, 48:34 and we've been doing this for some months now. 48:36 And we have a Friday of prayer and fasting, 48:39 we don't do a complete fast. 48:41 It's just a simple food fast. 48:44 And we pray every hour on the air. 48:47 So when we together, we pray together. 48:49 And if we happen to be off doing something else 48:52 because we don't stop doing our regular things. 48:54 We know that every hour on the air we're both praying, 48:58 but I'd encourage you to do that. 49:00 That didn't come with me. 49:02 When we were in Tasmania ministering years ago, 49:06 we had some friends who lived down south of Hobart, 49:10 who went to a little Glen Huon Church there, 49:12 and their boys had gone astray. 49:14 And so they told me, "Well, we've set aside, 49:18 I think they set aside Fridays too. 49:20 We set aside every Friday to fast and pray for our sons." 49:23 Now I'm telling you that was, that's a wonderful thing to do. 49:26 The first boy came to Christ within months, short months. 49:31 And I don't know how the other boy's gone, 49:32 but I do know this. 49:34 There's power in that kind of praying. 49:36 So I wanna encourage you to do that. 49:38 Every Friday, Anne and I will be doing it. 49:40 We'll be doing it again tomorrow. 49:42 And we've got a lot of things to pray about. 49:44 And I guarantee you have too, people, 49:46 put them to God in prayer. 49:49 Pray for yourself. 49:51 Someone said to me, 49:53 "Oh, well, I feel a bit selfish praying for myself." 49:54 Well, I said, "Well, that's fine, 49:55 as long as everyone knows 49:57 what your needs are and can pray for you." 49:58 If not, you'd be praying for yourself 50:01 because you need that help yourself. 50:03 We're gonna put aside flirting with sin. 50:06 Folks, it's a dangerous thing. 50:09 There's so much to lose, remember the bargain. 50:12 You can lose the bargain, don't do it. 50:15 The rewards, the rewards of following Christ 50:17 are sensational, people. 50:19 Absolutely sensational. 50:21 I want to read you a couple of statements, 50:24 Ellen White makes in the book Great Controversy. 50:27 Both these statements come from page 675. 50:31 And this is going to warm your heart, I'm sure. 50:34 This is what she says, 50:36 "Human language is inadequate 50:39 to describe the reward of the righteous." 50:41 Remember I said the rewards are sensational. 50:44 He just wants your heart now. 50:47 "Human language is inadequate 50:48 to describe the reward of the righteous. 50:51 It will be known only to those who behold it. 50:55 No finite mind can comprehend 50:58 the glory of the paradise of God." 51:01 I'm willing to give it a try, 51:03 but I'd like to know I want to see it, don't you? 51:05 I want to be there. You know what a bargain. 51:08 The bargain is ours, and it's just as gentle 51:12 as a covering of water 51:14 when you're baptized, no pain, no blood, no purgatory. 51:19 No, just reach out to Jesus, give Him your life. 51:23 Then she makes this statement. 51:24 This is page 675 of Great Controversy still. 51:29 "There are ever-flowing streams," 51:31 look at this, "clear as crystal, 51:34 and beside them 51:36 waving trees cast their shadows 51:38 upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. 51:42 There the wide spreading 51:44 plains swell into hills of beauty." 51:46 Now I hope you're getting a mental picture of this. 51:48 I would be. I read this often. 51:50 I keep the book Great Controversy 51:52 beside my bed. 51:53 And I read it often, 51:54 especially those last few chapters 51:56 because they're so exciting. 51:57 And such a wonderful picture of eternity comes to us. 52:00 Where did we get to? 52:02 Oh, yes, "There the wide spreading plains 52:05 swell into hills of beauty, 52:07 and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. 52:13 On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, 52:18 God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, 52:22 shall find a home." 52:25 You know, you could end your life 52:28 in a little caravan on the side of a hill, 52:31 and doesn't matter. 52:33 If that's all you possessed, who cares? 52:35 Look at this 52:37 that we've just been reading about difference. 52:39 It's just so exciting to think about. 52:42 Now I just think, you know, I would love I've always loved 52:44 the thought of some beautiful land 52:46 with lovely soil because I'm a keen gardener. 52:49 I have an orchard at home and I love to see things grow, 52:53 they're just the miracle, it just is amazing. 52:55 And I'd love to have 52:57 a stream going past my place, wouldn't you? 53:00 A crystal clear stream. 53:03 There is nothing like pure water. 53:05 I don't know if you've ever tasted pure water. 53:07 In the mountains of Tasmania, 53:09 I have tasted pure water 53:11 without anything at all to pollute it, 53:15 of any kind, not even mud. 53:17 And it, folks, it has a taste. It has a flavor. 53:21 It's absolutely beautiful. 53:22 Well, that's the kind of stream we're going to have there. 53:26 You might never have it on this earth, 53:27 but you're going to have it there 53:29 because God has arranged it for you. 53:31 So I'm asking you, 53:33 inviting you to make your commitment to Jesus today. 53:38 Folks, if you're watching this on television, 53:42 and you know that this is the moment, 53:44 then don't wait, do it. 53:47 Now is the time they will never be 53:48 a better time to come to Jesus, 53:51 and I'm going to pray for us now as we close. 53:53 So would you join with me in prayer? 53:56 Father in heaven, we thank You that Jesus 53:58 is the source and the author of life. 54:02 That by His amazing death on the Cross of Calvary 54:05 He purchased life for us. 54:08 Father, we embrace it again today. 54:11 We pray that Your Holy Spirit will come 54:13 and fill us and that the blood of Jesus 54:17 will cover every person 54:19 who earnestly desires that today. 54:21 Please we pray in Jesus' name. 54:24 Amen. |
Revised 2021-01-22