Participants: Pr. David Asscherick
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000918
|
00:59 We have a very special friend of 3ABN.
01:05 She's Danny's sister 01:08 and she always is a blessing to me. 01:10 I love the songs that she sings. 01:12 She sings the songs that I grew up on. 01:16 And she's-- Tammy, come on out. 01:17 She's going to minister to us a beautiful song this morning. 01:21 She's gonna sang, sing, 'This world is not my home.' 01:24 Mollie, I heard a rumor. 01:25 What rumor did you hear? 01:27 I heard that you were nervous 01:28 that you didn't know if I was here or not 01:29 and that you're just gonna have to talk a few more minutes. 01:31 Well, I was looking for you because I knew 01:34 that when they started playing the music 01:36 to, 'This world is not my home,' 01:38 that I could just snap my fingers or something. 01:40 But when God graced people 01:43 with the ability to carry a tune, 01:45 I must have been in another room. 01:47 I am so glad you're here. 01:52 I want to say a hello to a dear friend of mine 01:55 that lives in Walla Walla, Washington. 01:57 And you know, this world is kind of a struggle 02:00 and we have a lot of things that we have to endure. 02:03 And how could we ever do without friends? 02:06 We know that our heavenly Father 02:08 is our heavenly Friend, 02:10 but we need friends here on earth too. 02:12 And so I have a good one in her, 02:14 and I want to say hello to her 02:15 and I want to say good morning to you all. 02:17 And I hope you enjoy this song. 02:30 This world is not my home 02:35 I'm just a-passing through 02:40 My treasures are laid up 02:45 Somewhere beyond the blue 02:49 The angels beckon me 02:54 From heaven's open door 02:59 And I can't feel at home 03:03 In this world anymore 03:11 Oh Lord, You know 03:14 I have no friend like you 03:17 If heaven's not my home 03:20 Lord, Lord what will I do? 03:24 The angels beckon me 03:27 From heaven's open door 03:29 And I can't feel at home 03:32 In this world anymore 03:41 Just over in glory land 03:43 We'll live eternally 03:47 The saints on every hand 03:50 Are shouting victory 03:53 Their songs of sweetest praise 03:56 Drift back from heaven's shore 03:59 And I can't feel at home 04:02 In this world anymore 04:07 Oh Lord, You know 04:10 I have no friend like you 04:13 If heaven's not my home 04:16 Lord, Lord what will I do? 04:20 The angels beckon me 04:23 From heaven's open door 04:25 And I can't feel at home 04:29 In this world anymore 04:34 They're all expecting me 04:36 And that's one thing I know 04:40 My savior pardoned me 04:43 And now I onward go 04:46 I know He'll take me through 04:49 Though I am weak and poor 04:52 And I can't feel at home 04:55 In this world anymore 04:59 The angels beckon me 05:02 From heaven's open door 05:04 And I can't feel at home 05:08 In this world anymore. 05:18 Amen. 05:24 I always appreciate her soft gentle voice. 05:28 She just ministers the song and touches people. 05:31 You know, I've asked David to come on out 05:33 because I know 05:35 that he doesn't need much of an introduction. 05:37 Besides being seen on 3ABN 05:40 and everybody knows him and loves him, 05:42 I just wanted to mention to-- 05:43 Do you love me too Mollie? I do. 05:45 And there's not a thing you can do about it. 05:49 I just love him to pieces 05:51 and he touches and ministers to people 05:54 that others can't reach. 05:56 My son, Jeremy. 05:58 How many of you will pray for Jeremy for me? 06:01 You know, he is watching today. 06:03 And he, I told him 06:05 David Asscherick's going to be speaking at 10:30. 06:09 He said, "Oh, David! 06:10 Yeah, I'll come and watch David," 06:11 because this is one of the few people 06:13 that he really has ministered to God. 06:15 Keep Jeremy in your prayers. 06:16 He is a loved young man. 06:18 David not only is one of the mini-ministers 06:22 that we have here on 3ABN, 06:24 but he is the president and founder of ARISE institute. 06:27 ARISE institute is a training centre 06:30 for angelist. 06:31 Now occasionally, 06:33 we will be out at GYC or at other locations 06:36 and we will tape young men. 06:38 And we will watch them and we will say, 06:40 "Mmm, I know where he went to school." 06:43 Because something that we have found that is, 06:46 you know, the greatest form of flattery is what? 06:51 Imitation. 06:52 And so David, I want you to know 06:53 you're training up a group of young men and women 06:56 that are touching the whole world 06:58 with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ 07:00 and we appreciate you for that. 07:01 Praise God. Thank you, Mollie. 07:03 Well, don't you love her voice? 07:04 Yes! 07:06 Mollie, is that your voice 07:07 that's on the answer machine when you call 3ABN? 07:09 Yes, sometimes I call just to listen to it. 07:14 You have reached 3ABN. 07:16 I'm just-- 07:18 Now, lady, you know, 07:19 the lady will come on and say, you know, 07:21 "Is there anything that I can do to help you?" 07:22 No, just put me back on that answering machine. 07:26 I just, I absolutely love her voice, it is so sweet. 07:30 I just-- she should do like some, reading 07:32 of children's books or something. 07:35 I tell you, she just has the most lovely voice, 07:37 record them and make them available 07:39 for those of us with children. 07:40 My children would love that. 07:42 It's a great privilege to be with you here 07:44 again this morning. 07:49 Did I get that right? Yeah. 07:52 Good. 07:54 Have you recovered from yesterday's seminar? 07:56 Yes. Right. 07:58 I told you that yesterday 07:59 was just the setup punch, right. 08:02 The knock out punch is today 08:04 and it looks like some of you 08:06 are just absolute gluttons for punishment. 08:11 You have chosen to come knowing good and well 08:15 that you will be afflicted in your comfortability, right, 08:18 your comfortness. 08:20 And I am looking forward to our presentation today, 08:23 as I said you yesterday 08:24 and I say this with complete transparency 08:26 and complete candor 08:28 that I have a real burden on my heart. 08:30 I have a huge burden on my heart 08:33 about the condition of our churches. 08:35 And you all said amen to that yesterday 08:37 and then I quickly reminded you that you are the churches. 08:39 Amen. Amen. 08:41 I am not talking about a roofing problem 08:43 or a carpet color, 08:44 I mean, we have some real issues 08:46 that we need to address in our churches. 08:48 And I think from my study of the word 08:51 that fundamental to many of the issues 08:53 that we are encountering 08:54 is that we have left the missionary spirit 08:57 for a mere membership model. 09:01 And that's what we are talking about. 09:03 As I said yesterday 09:04 and I make no apologies for this. 09:06 You could throw a hand grenade into many of our churches 09:07 and hit many members 09:10 but you may not hit a missionary. 09:12 And I think that should be a cause for concern 09:14 because as we learned yesterday, 09:16 "Every true disciple 09:19 is born into the kingdom of God," 09:22 as a what? 09:24 As a missionary. "As a missionary." 09:26 So that means that our churches should be filled, with what? 09:30 Missionaries. 09:32 Missionaries. 09:33 So let's pray together and let's pray 09:35 that God will give us 09:37 the spirit of not just looking at others 09:40 and the problems that they have, 09:42 not just looking at the corporate church 09:43 or even our own local church. 09:45 Let's pray that God will give us the spirit 09:46 of looking at ourselves, right. 09:50 It's very easy to see the great big beam 09:52 in someone else's eye. 09:54 But may be, just may be, 09:55 God is going to give us 09:57 a new beginning in our understanding 09:59 of what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus 10:00 at this camp meeting. 10:02 Are you with me? 10:04 So let's pray for ourselves today. 10:05 I would ask you to kneel in your hearts 10:07 and all kneel here as we ask the spirit of God 10:09 to be with us in a very special way 10:11 as we commence with our presentation. 10:15 Father in heaven, we come to you just now, 10:19 thanking You and praising You that You are God in heaven 10:22 and we are but dust. 10:24 Father, yesterday we have learned 10:26 that You are a God of love, 10:27 infinite, unfathomable, immeasurable love. 10:31 And so we cast our helpless souls on You, Father. 10:34 We are looking to You for salvation, for grace, 10:36 for mercy, for victory. 10:39 And Father, we are looking to You 10:41 here today at camp meeting, 10:42 3ABN camp meeting for a new beginning. 10:46 Father, we don't want that 10:47 just to be a cute colloquial title. 10:48 We need a new beginning, 10:50 many of us in our spiritual experience. 10:53 Many of us have been satisfied oh, God to be mere members, 10:57 when You have called us each and everyone 11:00 to be mighty missionaries. 11:03 Father, today as we continue our discussion 11:05 of the interconnectedness and the interrelationship 11:08 between character and converts, 11:11 I pray that You would melt our hearts, 11:13 and Father, chasten us in our apathy, 11:16 chasten us in our indifference to lost souls. 11:21 Give us here today biblical clarity 11:25 that we may go from here in the strength of Christ, 11:29 believing that God has called us, 11:31 yes, even us to be winners of souls, 11:36 missionaries, and communicators 11:39 of the great good news of the gospel. 11:42 Revive us again, oh God, and give us a revival 11:45 of primitive discipleship evangelism and godliness. 11:52 In Jesus' name, let everyone say-- 11:55 Amen. Amen. 12:00 Say it with me if you would. 12:01 "Every true disciple 12:05 is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary." 12:10 And we asked a question yesterday, 12:14 "Why would Ellen White used the word 'true' 12:18 to modify disciple here?" 12:20 Right? 12:21 Every true disciple is born 12:23 into the kingdom of God as a missionary." 12:24 And the answer must be that she was setting apart, 12:28 disciples, regular, old run-of-the-mill disciples 12:31 from true disciples. 12:33 Now, I don't know about you 12:35 but I want to be a true disciple. 12:36 Are you with me, yes or no? 12:38 And so we learned yesterday 12:39 that we have a functional equivalence here, 12:40 we have a grammatical equivalence here. 12:42 If I am a true disciple, 12:45 then by definition, I am a what? 12:47 Missionary, and this gives us a litmus test 12:49 by which to gauge our own Christian experience. 12:53 Because we can ask ourselves, if you sometimes wonder: 12:55 am I really a Christian, am I really disciple, 12:56 am I a true disciple. 12:58 We can very easily ask ourselves, 13:00 "Am I a missionary?" 13:02 And if the answer to that question is yes, 13:05 then chances are you are, in fact, a true disciple. 13:08 However, if the answer to that question is no, 13:12 then what would be the answer to the question, 13:13 are you a true disciple? 13:15 The answer would be no because every true disciple 13:18 is born into the kingdom of God as missionary. 13:20 We also learned yesterday, 13:22 marvelous statement from the Great Controversy, 13:24 the Spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit, right. 13:29 The Spirit of Christ is a what? 13:31 Missionary spirit. 13:33 And we talked about the various attributes 13:35 that philosophers and theologians 13:37 attribute to God, right. 13:38 Omnipotence, and omniscient, 13:39 and omnibenevolence, omnipresence 13:41 and we were asking the question, 13:42 if we were able to peel back all of these properties 13:44 that God possesses and that theologians, 13:47 these labels that they attached to Him 13:49 and we were to get in to the very heart 13:50 of heart of the germ of the nucleus 13:53 of what makes God tick, 13:55 what did we say we would discover there? 13:58 Love. That's exactly correct. 13:59 And then we said, well, what is love? 14:02 Does anyone remember what is love? 14:05 Self sacrifice. 14:06 It is the principle of putting others first, right. 14:11 And where, does anyone remember where is that little verse, 14:14 where was that little phrase from a verse 14:17 that basically summed up the essence of what love is. 14:20 1 Corinthians 13:5, and what was the phrase? 14:25 "Love seeketh not her own." 14:28 And so here from this one little phrase 14:30 we establish a biblical president 14:32 for what real love is, not namby-pamby, willy-nilly, 14:36 fuzzy-wuzzy emotional fanciful love. 14:38 We are talking about real love. 14:40 And real love is not an emotion, 14:41 it's not a flight, it's not a fancy, 14:43 it's not a feeling. 14:44 Real love is a principle that says 14:46 others are more important than me. 14:48 Can you say amen? 14:49 And that was evinced, of course, 14:51 in the most marvelous demonstration of love 14:53 that the universe has ever seen 14:55 when God himself, 14:56 in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, 14:58 the incarnate God, went to the cross. 15:00 And the message of the cross was 15:02 that God would rather endure hell for you 15:04 than enjoy heaven without you. 15:07 Amen. 15:08 And so Jesus could say, 15:10 "Greater love has no man than this, 15:13 that a man would lay down his life 15:16 for his friends." 15:17 And God went even a step beyond that. 15:19 God laid down His life for his enemies. 15:22 And let's not forget to the apostle Paul says 15:24 in Romans 5:10, 15:26 "For if when we were enemies of God, 15:28 we were reconciled to Him by the death of his Son, 15:30 much more, having been reconciled, 15:31 we shall be saved by His life." 15:33 And so God goes above and beyond 15:34 not just laying down His life for his friends, 15:36 but even laying His life for His enemies. 15:40 And so we are asking the question, 15:41 if this what causes the heart of God 15:43 to beat, to palpate, to pulse, to seek and to save the loss. 15:47 That's what Jesus said in Luke 19:10. 15:49 And if the spirit of Christ is the missionary spirit, 15:51 I would be very comfortable saying 15:53 that God is the greatest missionary. 15:55 Amen. 15:57 All subsequent missionaries are simply feeding off 16:00 of the great love 16:02 and magnanimity and munificence of God 16:05 in going out to bring the message of salvation. 16:07 Jesus was the first missionary. 16:10 Are you with me? 16:12 And so we said, well, what is holiness, right. 16:15 We sometimes have these very weird 16:17 and I believe contrived and unfortunate 16:19 use of what holiness is. 16:20 Holiness is simply godlikeness. 16:24 Are you comfortable with that, yes or no? 16:26 God says, "Be therefore holy for I am holy." 16:30 So holiness is being like God and God is love. 16:36 Are you with me? 16:38 And so yesterday we talked 16:39 just about some of the wonderful, 16:41 beautiful, important things 16:42 that we as Seventh-day Adventists 16:44 hold to be true 16:45 and no one would take away things like returning tithe, 16:48 and being a vegetarian, and keeping the Sabbath 16:50 and being a member of the church. 16:51 Those are all important things. 16:53 Can you say amen? Amen. 16:54 But those things in and of themselves 16:56 do not give me enough in common with the God 16:59 who would hang bruised and bloodied 17:00 and beaten on a tree for me to reasonably expect 17:03 to spend eternity with that God. 17:06 Are you with me, yes or no? 17:08 God's heart beats to seek and to save the lost 17:10 and if at some fundamental level 17:13 my heart does not beat to seek and to save the loss, 17:16 I do not have that much in common with God. 17:22 That's basically a review of what we learnt yesterday. 17:24 And are we all on the same page up to that point? 17:26 Yes. Okay. 17:28 Now let's transition and begin to talk 17:30 about the two things that we closed on yesterday. 17:33 And that is the interconnectedness 17:35 of working for converts 17:37 and a Christ like character, okay. 17:39 There are only two things that you can take to heaven. 17:42 How many things? 17:44 Two things. 17:45 And those to things are character and converts, okay. 17:49 A Christ like character and converts. 17:50 And many of us have perhaps known that, 17:52 perhaps believe that, 17:54 may be you've heard me say that before. 17:55 Character and converts, 17:56 that's all you're taking to heaven. 17:58 But what I want to try and understand here today, 17:59 and the whole purpose of today's presentation 18:01 will be to show that it is not too unrelated 18:05 independent entities, character and converts. 18:08 It's not like, over one thing 18:09 that can go with me to heaven is over here 18:11 and that's a Christ like Character. 18:12 And over here is another thing that I can now- converts. 18:16 What we are going to see today 18:18 is that far from being independent, 18:20 these two things are interdependents. 18:24 Do you want a Christ like character? 18:29 Do you want a Christ like character? 18:30 There is more to that than being a vegan vegetarian. 18:36 Amen. Amen. 18:37 Important as that is. And you're looking at one. 18:40 So it's important as that is. 18:41 And I believe it's important. 18:43 Especially in this day in a, age on earth's history, 18:45 there is more to having a Christ like character 18:47 than simply being a vegetarian. 18:50 Christ's heart, His whole mission, 18:52 His whole passion was to seek in to save the lost. 18:55 And if I want a character like that, 18:57 I've got to be involved in seeking and saving the what? 19:02 The lost. 19:03 Now I was married April 4th 1999 19:06 and I had already made up my mind. 19:09 Before I was ever married, 19:11 before I had ever even met my future wife, 19:12 I already knew what the name of my first child 19:14 was going to be. 19:16 You know how that works? You just, I just-- 19:17 I had already decided 19:18 this will be the name of my first child. 19:20 And so after I was married 19:21 and lo and behold my wife got pregnant. 19:24 I love it when they said that, "well, she got pregnant." 19:27 You know, there is a cause effect relationship here 19:29 which some people don't seem to understand. 19:31 And so my wife just got pregnant. 19:33 You know those things just sometimes happen 19:35 with married couples. 19:36 And so my wife turns up pregnant 19:40 and I waited, I waited, I wanted to see 19:42 because my name was a boy's name. 19:44 And so we waited to do the little photograph, 19:46 you know, it doesn't look like anything to you 19:48 but it looks like something to the expert 19:49 on the other end of the camera. 19:50 They said, "It's a boy. Can't you see?" 19:52 and I am like, looks like a bunch of static on 19:53 and it screamed to me. 19:55 But okay, it's a boy. I'll take your word for. 19:56 And so, I knew it was a boy. So now I am in a dilemma. 19:59 You can appreciate men. 20:01 Some of you have this dilemma on other issues. 20:02 And that is, you've got this great idea 20:03 that you already made up your mind on. 20:05 But now you have to persuade your wife 20:06 that it's her idea. 20:13 Can anyone else relate to what I am saying here today? 20:17 "Sweetheart, I think it's a great idea 20:19 that we should get a new fishing bowl. 20:20 You know, I am glad you came up with that. 20:21 Brilliant." You know, that kind of a thing. 20:23 So here I've got this name and I've already picked it out 20:26 and, and my wife, I sort of-- to be honest, what I did is, 20:29 I started throwing out some sub par names. 20:33 None of which I will mention, by the way, 20:35 because invariably one of them will be in the audience, right. 20:37 So I started just, 20:38 I started just throwing out a few names, you know, 20:40 just to sort of soften her up to where she would say, 20:42 "No, my, no child of mine is gonna be marry that." 20:45 And I throw out another one, then she's, "No, no, no." 20:47 And I was softening her up 20:49 so I could spring on her my name 20:52 which would sound so wonderful in juxtaposition 20:54 to all of these bad names, right. 20:57 So the time came and I said, 20:58 "Well, what do you think about, Barnabas?" 21:08 You know the reaction that you are giving me 21:10 is identical to the reaction she gave. 21:15 I remember her exact words to this day 21:17 because my spirit was utterly crushed 21:18 because I've already decided 21:20 that was gonna be the name of my first child, 21:21 like four years before, right, Barnabas. 21:24 And she said, I'll never forget that she said, 21:27 "No son of mine is gonna be named Barney." 21:34 And at the time, 21:36 I have an uncle Barney and he is dear to me. 21:37 He's passed away now. 21:39 But at the time, you know, 21:40 he has this dancing purple dinosaur, 21:42 this ubiquitous dancing purple dinosaur 21:44 named Barney 21:45 and I had-- it never dawned on me 21:47 that Barnabas shortened to Barney. 21:51 Now you might be sitting there and thinking, 21:52 why in the world would you say? 21:54 Why had you made up your mind 21:56 that your son was going to be named Barnabas? 21:58 Right. 22:00 Incidentally that is not the name of my first son. 22:02 So mission not accomplished, okay. 22:07 Now why would you choose that name? 22:08 Now, let me tell you why I chose that name. 22:09 I was studying to the Book of Acts 22:11 and I came across Acts 11. 22:13 Now many of us are aware 22:14 that Barnabas was a biblical figure, right. 22:16 But if I say to you, 22:18 take out a piece of paper right now 22:19 and write down ten things about Barnabas. 22:23 Could you do it? No. Probably not. 22:26 But if I say for example take out a piece of paper 22:28 and write ten things about Peter. 22:30 Could you do that? Yeah, probably. 22:32 So we know great deal about Peter 22:33 but we don't know much about Barnabas. 22:35 We just do know that much about him. 22:38 But in Acts 11:24, 22:39 why don't you turn there with me? 22:41 In Acts 11:24, 22:43 we learn everything we need know about Barnabas. 22:47 And it is this verse that inspired me to make 22:50 what is probably in retrospect an irrational choice 22:52 to name my first son, before I had even met my wife. 22:55 But you will appreciate I think, 22:56 the strength of this verse. 22:59 Acts 11:24, describing Barnabas. 23:02 The Bible simply says, "He was a good man, 23:08 full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, 23:14 and much people was added unto the Lord." 23:19 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 23:21 Now beloved, if everything else in your life 23:24 was a complete failure by any worldly standard, 23:26 by any of your peer's standard, 23:28 if you could come to the end of your life, 23:30 to the end of your sojourn on earth, 23:32 and on your tomb stone, your epitaph 23:34 or whatever it might be, 23:35 if all that was said about you was, 23:36 she was a good woman, 23:38 full of the holy ghost and of faith 23:39 and much people was added unto the Lord, 23:41 would you trade in every worldly attainment 23:44 for just that to be said in truth about you, yes or no? 23:47 Of course. 23:50 "He was a good man, 23:52 full of the Holy Ghost and of faith 23:53 and much people was added unto the Lord." 23:55 Now let's just sort of unpack this. 23:56 He was a good man, character, 23:59 full of the Holy Ghost, character 24:04 and of faith, character. 24:06 This is describing you the kind of person that he was 24:09 and much people was added unto the Lord, converts. 24:16 Are you with me, yes or no? 24:17 There is an interrelationship, there is a interdependency 24:21 between these two notions of character and converts. 24:26 Do you want a Christ like character? 24:29 Yes or no? 24:30 Then you must work for converts. 24:35 So I am reading to this book, it's an old book. 24:37 You've probably never heard of it. 24:38 It's called 'The Desire of Ages.' 24:43 It wasn't written by Max Lucado either. 24:48 And on page 142, I come across this statement 24:51 and you and I are going to spend 24:52 a few moments on this statement 24:53 because we are going to understand it 24:55 whether you like it or not. 24:58 Amen? Amen. 24:59 Now, before I read to the statement, 25:01 again I want to do what I did yesterday. 25:02 I want to apologize to you 25:03 on behalf of-- in many instances, 25:05 the Seventh-day Adventist ministry 25:07 for not telling you 25:08 what I am about ready to tell you. 25:10 Because some of us start, "Oh, you know, 25:11 it's good to be a Christian, 25:13 and I stopped doing all those things. 25:15 I don't go to movies anymore, and I'm even working, 25:17 I'm even cutting meat out of my diet 25:19 and I'm just, I am feeling like a Christian. 25:21 And in the unlikely event that I ever get a chance 25:24 to actually witness, I am willing to do it." 25:27 Right. 25:28 We have somehow disassociated in our minds 25:31 being a Christian and being a witness. 25:34 It's the difference, it's the dichotomy 25:36 between being a member and being a missionary, okay. 25:40 So I want to apologize. That has been communicated. 25:42 I think it, it is been communicated, 25:44 if not overtly, covertly and you know it's the case 25:47 because that's why you go to many of our churches 25:49 and they are filled to the brim in many instances with members 25:51 but scarcely a missionary there. 25:55 So, Desire of Ages. 25:56 Page 142, and we are going to love this 25:59 whether we like it or not. 26:03 "God could have reached His object 26:04 in saving sinners without our help. 26:08 Right. That's the first sentence. 26:09 Now that seems to be axiomatically true. 26:11 Right. That seems to be the case. 26:13 "God could have reached His object 26:14 in saving sinners without our help." 26:16 Do you agree with that? Yes. 26:17 Very simple. 26:18 We have instances about it in the scripture, don't we? 26:20 On one occasion, 26:21 God used the donkey to speak to man. 26:23 On another occasion God used the great fish, 26:25 some translation say a whale to speak to man. 26:29 Jesus even spoke to Peter through a rooster, 26:31 so he's not averse to using chickens. 26:33 And on one occasion Jesus said, 26:35 if these should be quite, 26:36 if these should hold their peace, 26:38 even the very stones would cry out. 26:40 So God can use donkeys, God can use fish, 26:42 God can use roosters and God can use stones 26:45 but let me tell you something here. 26:46 There would be a huge causality. 26:50 There would be a tremendous causality, 26:54 a catastrophe if you will, catastrophe, 26:56 if God chose to reach sinners through chickens, 27:00 and donkeys and fish and rocks. 27:03 And do you know who that causality would be? 27:07 You are a smart group. 27:10 I am so pleased. 27:12 There is a spiritual IQ 27:14 that seems to be just a little higher here 27:16 at the 3ABN camp meeting. 27:17 And it thrills my soul. 27:19 You have got all the right answers so far. 27:22 Now, of course, at the end we will make an appeal for you 27:23 to actually do something with those write answers. 27:25 But at least you are giving the right answers. 27:28 Amen? Amen. 27:30 So God could have reached His object 27:31 in saving sinners without our help, without our aid 27:33 but-- now the word but, 27:39 an important word in the English language. 27:40 Yes or no? Okay. 27:42 It's a conjunction. 27:43 That's its grammatical use. It's a conjunction. 27:45 It's like the word, 'and' but it is very different 27:47 in some senses from the word 'and.' 27:49 The word 'and' is also a grammatical conjunction. 27:51 So you might say something like, I like pizza and pasta. 27:54 I like soup and salad. Are you with me, yes or no? 27:57 And, 'and' joins two ideas together, 28:00 two nouns, two phrases together 28:02 but it does not indicate a turn. 28:04 It's just, I like soup and salad, right. 28:07 Pizza and pasta, right. 28:09 Are you with me everyone? And, and. 28:10 Okay, now the word 'but is also a conjunction 28:12 but it indicates a turn of events, okay. 28:15 It is a conjunction, 28:17 it can join two clauses, two nouns, two ideas 28:20 but it indicates a change or a turn. 28:23 So for example, in the illustration, 28:24 I like to use this, If you applied for a job 28:27 and you filled out your application, 28:29 you sent in your resume, you went in for the interview 28:32 and you just answered every question deftly, 28:34 and you were just sure you got the job. 28:35 I mean, just sure and so. 28:36 You know, a week later or whatever it is later 28:38 you get a letter in the mail and it says 28:40 "Dear sir, dear madam, 28:41 thank you so much for coming into interview with us. 28:42 It was a pleasure spending the other morning with you 28:44 and we appreciate the time 28:45 you took out of your busy schedule 28:46 to come and meet with us but... 28:52 Do you need to read the rest of the letter? 28:54 You don't need to read the rest of the letter 28:56 because it's telling you 28:57 but we chose to fill this position internally 28:58 or whatever they say. 29:00 The moment that you encounter the word 29:01 but you know that we are like going this direction, 29:03 "Oh, yeah, it was good to see you too 29:04 and it was really. 29:06 And you ran up against the but, right? 29:08 Now you know you are not walking that way anymore. 29:09 Now you are walking this way, right. 29:11 So 'but' indicates a U turn, okay. 29:15 So now listen, God could have reached His object 29:18 in saving sinners without our aid but... 29:23 Are you with me? 29:25 Incase if we were walking this way, 29:26 "Oh yeah, God can use donkeys, 29:27 and God can use roosters, and God can use chickens, 29:29 and God can use stones, 29:32 but-- 29:36 Now we are walking this way, aren't we? 29:38 Are you ready for the 'but'? 29:40 "But 29:42 in order for us to develop a character like Christ's, 29:47 we must share in His work. 29:52 In order for us to enter into His joy," His joy, 29:56 "the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice, 29:59 we must participate in His labors for their redemption." 30:05 Are you with me, yes or no? 30:06 Now you will notice that she employs the phrase two times 30:09 "in order to." 30:11 Did you get that? "In order to," "In order to." 30:14 Now what does that phrase, 30:15 what is the function of that phrase? 30:16 Very simply, the phrase "in order to" 30:19 denotes a necessary sequence of events. 30:23 Are you with me? 30:24 Okay, in order for me to start my car, 30:27 I must turn the key. 30:30 In order for me to have a full stomach I must eat, right? 30:34 In order to, in other words if you want to get to B, 30:36 you got to go through A. 30:38 Okay, now I want you to listen to it again. 30:40 "In order for us to develop a character like Christ," 30:42 how many of us want to develop a character like Christ? 30:44 So that's B, that's over there, that's B. 30:46 I want B over there, right I'm headed towards B, 30:49 so in order for me to develop a character like Christ, 30:51 I must share in His labors. 30:55 So question, can I develop a character like Christ 30:58 without participating in His labors for their redemption? 31:02 Okay, in order to enter into His joy, 31:04 do I want the joy of Jesus? 31:06 She says it's "the joy of seeing souls 31:07 redeem by His sacrifice." 31:08 So that's over there, that's B. 31:10 I want to enter into that joy. 31:11 How do I enter into that joy? 31:13 I must share in His labors for their redemption. 31:18 Are you tracking with me? 31:20 Do you want to character like Christ? 31:23 You can not get it, 31:25 if you are not working for converts. 31:30 Clear enough? 31:31 All this is by the way is a recapitulation, 31:34 a restating of our opening mantra, 31:37 "Every true disciple 31:40 is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary." 31:45 It's simply a recapitulation of that idea, 31:47 if you want the character of Christ, 31:49 you must participate in the works of Christ 31:51 because how are you ever going 31:53 to identify with the God who would give everything 31:57 even His own existence for others, 31:59 if you are not giving something for others? 32:02 And what was our Bible study yesterday, 32:04 what was that phrase 32:05 that we looked at in the New Testament, 32:06 "He gave," what did He give? 32:08 "Himself." 32:09 "He gave himself," "He gave himself," 32:11 "He gave himself." 32:12 Do you want to spend eternity with the God that gave Himself? 32:16 Then you better start giving yourself for others. 32:20 Amen. 32:22 Otherwise it's just not reasonable for you to expect 32:27 that you have enough in common with God 32:29 to prepare you to spend eternity with Him. 32:31 You just don't relate. 32:33 Amen. 32:35 We will return to that point. 32:39 I love the fact that Tammy is saying 32:41 "my treasures are laid out somewhere beyond the blue." 32:45 Did you hear that? 32:46 "The angles backing me from heavens open to 32:49 my treasures are laid out somewhere beyond the blue." 32:51 How many of you have heard the phrase 32:53 "to lay your treasure up in heaven." 32:56 How many of you heard that, that notion? 32:57 Matthew Chapter 6, okay we've heard. 32:59 What is that what is the treasure in heaven? 33:10 What is the treasure laid up in heaven? 33:14 Well, can I show you from the Bible? 33:16 Is that fair? 33:17 Now we're going to do this 33:18 by looking at two parallel passages. 33:20 Okay, they're both in Matthew. 33:22 So go to Matthew Chapter 6, let's put our, 33:24 we'll, actually look at-- 33:27 well, yeah, let's go to Matthew Chapter 6, go there. 33:31 Matthew Chapter 6, 33:34 and if you got one of these ribbons 33:36 or a pen or a finger or your neighbor's finger 33:39 what ever you need, 33:42 just take that and put that right there, okay. 33:44 And then the other passage 33:46 we're gonna go to is Matthew Chapter 19. 33:48 Okay. 33:49 Matthew Chapter 19, 33:51 so we have one in Matthew 6 and one in Matthew 19. 33:55 All right, are we all together on that? 33:58 So let's read the passage in Matthew Chapter 6 first. 34:00 Matthew 6:19. Matthew 6:19. 34:04 This is the passage that we're familiar with. 34:06 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures," where? 34:09 "On earth where moth and rust destroy, 34:10 and where thieves break in" and what did they do? 34:13 "Steal." "But" there is the "but" right. 34:16 "But lay up for yourselves treasures," where everyone? 34:20 "In heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys 34:23 and where thieves do not break in and steal." 34:26 Okay, so far so good. 34:28 So Jesus says don't lay your treasures up on earth 34:30 because they are perishable. 34:32 But put your treasures in heaven 34:33 because they are imperishable. 34:35 Well, my question is what are those heaven, 34:36 what does that mean? 34:37 Sometimes we have these very powerful, very profound, 34:39 very robust Bible passages 34:41 and we turn them into cute little colloquial sayings 34:44 that we cross stitch 34:46 and then we hang above the toilet 34:47 in the guest bathroom. 34:49 Oh, isn't that nice you know, 34:51 though I speak with the tongues 34:52 of men and of angles in heaven, I love. 34:54 And we cross stitch 34:56 and we put that little blue birds 34:57 and we hang it up above the toilet 34:58 in the guest bathroom. 35:00 Beloved, when you read 35:01 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 and its context, 35:03 it is a scathing rebuke to the people of Corinth. 35:07 And we sometimes neutral the word of God 35:09 when we turn it to just cute little proverbial sayings. 35:12 Oh, I love that one, the treasures in heaven, 35:15 let's cross stitch that up 35:17 and I have nothing against cross stitching, by the way. 35:18 Nothing at all. 35:20 But let's cross stitch that up treasures in heaven 35:21 with a little blue birds and a flower and a sun shining 35:24 and the little, oh, perfect. 35:25 And we put it somewhere. Isn't that cute? 35:27 But what does it mean? 35:30 Are you with me? Yes or no? 35:31 What does it mean, treasures in heaven? 35:33 But look at Matthew 19. Okay. 35:36 You are there Matthew 6 Jesus counsels, 35:37 don't put your treasures on earth, 35:39 but put your treasure in heaven and look at Matthew 19:21. 35:43 Matthew 19:21. 35:45 Jesus here is speaking to the rich young, what? 35:48 Ruler. 35:49 Right, So "Jesus said to him, 'if you want to be perfect, 35:55 go and sell what you have and give to the poor 36:00 and you will have treasure'" where? 36:02 "In heaven." 36:03 And then He says something very interesting. 36:05 "And come and follow me." 36:09 Okay, now the rich young ruler was probably rich. 36:12 That's why we call him the rich young ruler. 36:13 Are you with me? 36:15 Okay, now I don't know how he got his wealth, 36:16 but lets just say for the sake of illustration 36:18 that he got his wealth from, he was a business man. 36:20 Let's just say he was a business man. 36:22 Okay, now I want you to look at that phrase there 36:24 "follow me." 36:26 What's the phrase everyone? "Follow me" Right. 36:28 "Follow me and you'll have treasure in heaven." 36:30 Okay. 36:31 That phrase "follow me," 36:32 you study that in the New Testament 36:34 and that is an invitation by Jesus to discipleship. 36:39 Are you with me? 36:41 It's not just an ordinary, it's not just, 36:42 this is not just an ordinary run-of-the-mill, 36:44 general invitation here. 36:46 When He says to the rich young ruler "follow me," 36:49 this is just exactly like what He said 36:51 to Levi or Matthew there at the receipt of custom, 36:53 he said "follow me." 36:55 And what he said to Peter, James and John 36:56 down by the Sea of Galilee? 36:58 Follow me. 36:59 So He says to the rich young ruler, "Follow me." 37:01 Are you with me everyone? Yes or no? 37:03 Now I want you to notice something very interesting, 37:04 let's talk about that phrase. 37:06 Let's talk about that invitation 37:08 that Jesus gave there to Peter, James and John. 37:09 Now follow this through. 37:10 We're goanna put, imagining in our minds eye, 37:12 we've got track one here and track two here, okay. 37:15 So Jesus is speaking to Peter, James and John. 37:17 What was their vocation? They were fishermen. 37:20 Okay, so watch this very carefully. 37:21 Jesus says to fishermen "follow me," that's right here, 37:26 "and I will make you fishers of men." 37:30 Tracking with me, yes or no? Follow me. 37:32 What was that an invitation to? 37:34 To be my disciple. 37:35 Come and be my disciple 37:37 and I'll teach you how to fish for men. 37:38 Okay, so Jesus is speaking to fishermen 37:39 and he says I'll make you fishers of men. 37:41 So now Jesus, that's track one, 37:43 now Jesus is speaking to a wealthy man, 37:45 perhaps a businessmen, right? 37:46 A man who is interested 37:47 in material possessions, treasures. 37:49 And He says "Follow me, 37:53 and you'll get treasure" where? 37:57 "In heaven." What is this invitation to? 38:00 It's an invitation to discipleship. 38:01 Now when you lay 38:02 both of these right down side, beside one another parallel, 38:05 it makes perfect sense. 38:06 Jesus says to the fishermen "follow me 38:08 and I'll make you fishers of men," 38:09 of course, He employ that kind of language, 38:10 He was speaking to fishermen. 38:12 But when Jesus was speaking to a businessmen, 38:13 He is giving the same invitation "follow me" 38:15 but he doesn't say I'll make you fishers of men 38:17 that may not have appealed to a man 38:18 is was a businessmen or a wealthy men. 38:20 He says follow me 38:21 and I'll give you an even better treasure 38:22 than the material good you could accumulate here on earth. 38:24 But in both instances, the invitation to discipleship 38:27 was an invitation to become a partner with Jesus 38:31 in the evangelization of the world 38:33 in the preaching of the gospel. 38:34 Amen. 38:36 When he speaks to fishermen he says you know what, 38:37 I got it, you will be fishers of men 38:39 and what he speaks to businessmen he says, 38:40 I give you treasures in heaven. 38:42 Well, what does it mean to the fishers of men? 38:44 It means to be a co-worker with God. 38:46 Are you with me, yes or no? 38:47 What does that mean to have treasures in heaven? 38:49 It means to be a co-worker with God. 38:53 Do you follow that? It's very, very simple. 38:55 So what is the treasure in heaven? 38:58 Well, it's two fold. 39:01 It's two fold. 39:04 It's souls saved 39:07 and the character that you develop 39:09 by working in partnership with God to save those souls. 39:12 It's character and it's converts. 39:16 Are you tracking with me? 39:17 Now you thing I made that up? 39:20 You thought I made that up? 39:22 I didn't. I didn't. 39:25 It's not original with me. 39:26 I think it's exactly 39:28 what the Bible is teaching in a variety of passages 39:29 and I think it's also exactly 39:31 what Ellen White affirmed in the book 39:33 Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 39:34 when she commented on the phrase 39:35 "do not lay up for yourselves treasures is on earth 39:37 "do rather treasures is in heaven." 39:39 So I'd like to read you part of that. 39:41 Are you tracking with me? And here it is. 39:45 The treasure which Christ esteems 39:47 as treasures above all estimate 39:50 is the richest of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. 39:55 Ephesians 1:18. 39:57 That's another way of saying the treasure is soul saved, 40:00 saints that will be in heaven. 40:02 The disciples of Christ are called His jewels, 40:04 His precious and peculiar treasure. 40:08 He says they shall be as stones of a crown, 40:11 "I will make a man more precious than fine gold, 40:13 even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir" 40:16 quoting from Isaiah 13:12. 40:17 "Christ looks upon his people 40:18 and their purity and perfection 40:20 as the reward of all His sufferings, 40:22 His humiliation and His love 40:24 and the supplement of His glory, 40:26 Christ the great centre from whom all radiates, 40:29 from which radiates all glory," second paragraph. 40:31 "We are permitted to unite with Him 40:33 in the great work of redemption 40:35 and to be sharers with Him in the richest, 40:38 which is death and suffering have won." 40:40 The apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians Christians, 40:42 "What is our hope or our joy 40:44 or our crown of rejoicing? 40:47 Are not even you 40:49 in the presence of the Lord 40:50 Jesus at His coming for you are our glory and joy?" 40:53 Paul was saying you are our treasure. 40:56 When we came there and we preached the gospel 40:58 and you where turn form the darkness and ravages 41:00 and superstitions of heathendom 41:01 and you put your faith in Jesus, 41:03 you have become 41:04 you are now in inheritance of God, 41:06 you are saint and you are our treasure. 41:11 Paul now has people 41:12 friends with who he will not just be friends 41:14 for a decade or two or three or several years. 41:17 These are eternal friends. 41:23 This is the treasure for which Christ bids us labor. 41:28 This is the treasure, what is the treasure? 41:30 Converts. Now watch. 41:31 This is amazing, 41:33 she says "every-I'm continuing on here, 41:36 "Character is the great harvest of life. 41:39 And every word or deed 41:40 that through the grace of Christ 41:41 shall kindle in one soul 41:43 and impulse that reaches heavenward, 41:44 every effort that tends 41:45 to the formation of a Christ like character 41:47 is laying up treasure in heaven." 41:49 It is inescapable in this one paragraph, 41:51 she says we work for converts 41:53 and those people are our treasure 41:55 and this gives us a character like Christ 41:57 and that is our treasure. 42:01 So this brings us back to Desire of Ages 142, 42:04 God could have reached his object 42:05 and saving sinners without our aid 42:07 but in order for us to develop a character like Christ 42:12 we must participate in His labors for their redemption. 42:17 Amen. 42:20 What does it mean to lay up treasure in heaven? 42:21 It's so cute, it's so nice when it's cross stitched 42:23 and hanging above the toilet in the bathroom. 42:25 What it means is be a missionary. 42:28 Amen. 42:30 You're not taking your SUV, you're not taking your house, 42:32 you're not taking your portfolio, 42:34 you're not talking your RV to heaven 42:36 but you can take a Christ like character to heaven. 42:39 Well, how am I going to get a Christ like character? 42:40 I am gonna stop eating pickles and I am going to return tithe. 42:43 Fine. Do it. 42:44 But start working for souls. Amen. 42:50 Do you want to resonate with the God 42:52 whose whole heart beats to seek into save that which was lost? 42:56 Your heart better start beating 42:58 to seek and to save the lost. 43:00 If it doesn't, disabuse your mind of the notion 43:03 that you have enough in common with God 43:05 to reasonably expect to spend eternity with Him. 43:08 Amen. 43:12 Are we together everyone? Yes. 43:14 So look at Luke 12 43:15 and I can utterly demonstrate biblically 43:18 that that is exactly what the treasure is. 43:20 Look at this Luke 12 43:21 and this will make very good sense to us now. 43:23 Luke 12:13. 43:26 Luke 12 and what verse everyone? 43:28 Thirteen. 43:30 "Then one from the crowd said to him--" 43:31 we'll, pick it up in verse 16. 43:33 "Then he spoke to parable to them saying, 43:35 'The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully." 43:38 Okay. He was making money. 43:40 It says, "Fields were bountiful." 43:43 Verse 17, "And He thought within himself saying, 43:45 'What shall I do, 43:46 since I have no room to store my crops?' 43:48 " Man, what am I gonna do with all this good stuff, 43:50 all this money, all this material possessions? 43:52 Verse 18, "So he said, 'This is what I'll do. 43:54 I will pull down my barns,'" 43:56 probably it's significant expense to himself, 43:59 "and build greater barns,'" 44:00 even greater expense to himself, 44:02 '"and I will store up all my crops and my goods. 44:05 And I'll say to soul, ah, soul 44:08 'You have many of goods laid up for many years. 44:10 Take your ease; eat, drink and be merry.' 44:15 '" Verse 20, 44:17 "But God said to him--" 44:18 what is the first thing that God says to that mentality? 44:20 Fool. 44:22 Now when God says fool, 44:23 He is not saying Na-na-na-na-na-na. 44:26 You're a fool. 44:27 You know, it's not-- 44:29 what He is saying is unwise choice. 44:31 That's what a fool is in the Bible by the way, 44:32 It's not name calling. 44:34 God is not being pejorative. 44:35 He is not saying nanny, nanny, boo, boo. 44:37 When God says you're a fool, 44:38 He says you're not making wise choices. 44:42 Are you with me? 44:44 He says, "Fool!" 44:45 Unwise choice. 44:47 Well, what was so unwise about the choice? 44:50 "Tonight your soul will be required of you." 44:53 It's very interesting, by the way, 44:54 for those of you who pay attention to these things. 44:55 God doesn't say I'll kill you to night. 44:57 What He says is 44:58 you didn't know that tonight was your night to die. 45:00 There is a big difference. Are you with me? 45:02 He says, "You fool! 45:04 Tonight your life will be required of you. 45:05 Then whose will those things be which you have provided?" 45:08 And that's what the whole Book of Ecclesiastes 45:10 is about, by the way. 45:11 Solomon says, "I accumulated all these goods 45:13 with vanity and vanities. 45:14 When I die, somebody else gets that 45:16 didn't have to work for it." 45:19 And that's when He says, He says, "You're a fool!" 45:20 Didn't you read the Book of Ecclesiastes? 45:22 You accumulated all these stuff, 45:23 but when you die what good is it to you-- 45:25 and then look at verse 21. 45:28 "So is he--" 45:29 Do you know what that means, "So is he?" 45:31 He is a fool. 45:35 Are you with me? 45:36 He is a fool, "Who lays up treasure for himself, 45:40 and is not rich toward God." 45:46 Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. 45:47 Let's understand that phrase, 'who is not rich toward God'. 45:50 And we might read that. 45:52 Somebody might stand up in an offering appealing 45:53 and saying you should be rich toward God. 45:55 You should give an appeal, "Fine. 45:56 Fine, fine, fine. 45:57 I have no problem with giving faithful offerings. 45:59 We should be giving sacrificial offerings 46:00 at these times in earth's history. 46:01 Can you say Amen? 46:03 I mean, listen, this thing is almost over, okay. 46:05 And a good friend of mine is quite a wealthy man. 46:07 I loved it one time when I was talking to him 46:08 and he said, "Hey, listen, 46:10 what do you think that price of real estate 46:11 was in the days of Noah when the rain started to fall?" 46:14 Right. This thing is almost over. 46:15 So if ever there was a time when we shall be making 46:17 sacrificial gifts to God, that time is now. 46:19 Can you say amen? 46:20 But that is not what this text is teaching. 46:22 When the text says to be rich toward God, 46:26 it means to give God what is truly His treasure. 46:29 You know what His treasure is? 46:31 It's you saved and those who are saved 46:34 by Him through your agency. 46:36 Amen. 46:39 Are you with me? 46:44 You see, when you start working for souls, 46:47 all of the things that you thought 46:49 were so difficult, so hard, 46:51 so whatever in your spiritual experience 46:53 suddenly disappears like dew before the rising sun. 46:57 Reason that we have some of the cantankerous curmudgeons 47:00 in our church that we do is, they are not doing anything 47:02 except cantankerous curmudgeons. 47:08 I like to say that the horse that is pulling right here-- 47:11 put a horse put a cart on the horse. 47:13 The horse that is pulling doesn't kick 47:16 because he is working. 47:18 We do a lots of time to kick 47:20 and argue about this, that and the other thing 47:21 into getting to little 47:23 theological foolishness over nothing 47:25 because we are not really winning souls. 47:27 We are not out in the contact with the people. 47:30 We are in our little Adventist parochial world 47:32 and we are insolated from the-- 47:34 we are basically like the Jews of their day. 47:36 Amen. 47:38 We are just insolated ourselves from people. 47:41 Oh, you want to be a part of our club? 47:44 Or you better talk the way we talk, I mean, 47:46 we may not say that but we communicate that 47:48 in just the way that we do, church. 47:54 Sometimes people say to me, "Well, pastor, I, I-- 47:57 " I mean, I'll tell you, I have a whole another seminar. 47:59 I have to do sometime here at 3ABN 48:00 call the 15 most common mistakes 48:02 made by new soul winners, right. 48:04 Listen, you want be a soul winner, 48:06 you get out there and people are just making mistakes. 48:07 But here is the good thing 48:08 and I'll just give you a quick recapitulation of that. 48:10 Can anyone in this room ride a unicycle? 48:17 Okay, there is one of you. Okay, good. 48:19 There are two of you, okay. 48:21 I am not one of them. I cannot ride a unicycle. 48:24 It seems like a very bad design to me to be honest. 48:28 I think the two wheels is a better 48:30 and I think even three wheels is getting a little farther. 48:32 I mean, you know, you just, you lose stability 48:34 because of the principle of triangulation. 48:35 A unicycle ride? Have you ever tried it? 48:39 It ain't easy. 48:41 Its last year at a rise-- two, two-- 48:43 a young lady and another young man brought unicycles 48:45 and just to watched them buzzer on the parking lot. 48:47 I mean, I am a healthy, young fit guy. 48:48 It was like, give me that thing. 48:55 You know. Oh! 48:58 You know, I-- 49:00 so I leaned on a big strong man, 49:01 here I lean, okay you got me, and... 49:04 You got me? Got you. 49:06 Okay, get ready, I am gonna let go, and, you know just, I mean. 49:09 The moment I-- I cannot ride a unicycle. 49:12 It's hard. Let me ask you this question. 49:15 Do you think I ever quit learn to ride a unicycle? 49:17 Yes. Do you think it's possible? 49:19 Yes. 49:20 You know what I asked to do in order to learn a motor cycle 49:21 or learn to ride a unicycle? 49:23 Let me tell what you have to do. 49:25 You're saying practice but you know what you're really saying? 49:27 You'd have to make some mistakes. 49:31 Are you with me? 49:32 Because what happens is, is you lean too far forward 49:34 and you think you're developing a battery of information 49:36 that basically says, "the last time you did that. 49:38 This resulted. 49:39 And that's an undesirable result. 49:40 Let's try this." 49:42 And the more mistakes you make, 49:43 you start to develop an encyclo... 49:45 a battery of information. 49:46 And the more mistakes you make 49:47 the more aware you will be of how to do it wrong 49:50 so that you can stop doing that and start doing it right. 49:52 Do you know what the most common mistake 49:54 made by new soul winners is? 49:56 They are not making enough mistakes. 50:03 I would love as a minister 50:05 to have a church member come to me and say, 50:07 "Oh pastor, 50:09 I was giving a Bible study this last week 50:10 to my friend, you know, Kathy. 50:13 It's Kathy friend and I said the wrong thing. 50:15 I said all the wrong things." 50:17 I would say, "Praise the Lord!" 50:21 Somebody would say, "Oh, you know, pastor, I went out, 50:22 I just decided I felt such a burden 50:23 that Jesus is coming soon. 50:25 I went out and I started knocking on doors 50:26 of my neighborhood and uh, I did it all wrong." 50:28 Praise the Lord!" 50:31 I would love to be inundated with tales of failure 50:36 from church members 50:37 because you know 50:38 that they are going to get it right eventually 50:41 but you are just not going to, you know, 50:42 become a Christian, 50:43 go into the proverbial phone booth and go... 50:46 Super soul winner! 50:49 It doesn't work that way. 50:54 Are you with me? 50:59 Listen, the first evangelistic series I ever preached, 51:02 the first evangelistic series I ever preached, 51:04 and I'll tell the story very, very quickly. 51:05 I was up preaching and, even I was, I do nothing. 51:09 I was praying, praying, praying new Seventh-day Adventist. 51:11 I've been an Adventist for about a year and half 51:12 and I brought up a stack of Time magazines about 25 thick. 51:15 It was on 'Science of the Times'. 51:16 I am like, puffff. 51:18 Open your bible to Mathew 24. 51:19 And I am sure you're blasting them 51:20 with all these news paper articles 51:22 and I was coming to the summary, 51:23 I wanted to tell them it's so obvious 51:24 that Jesus is coming soon. 51:26 It's so plain that Jesus is coming soon. 51:27 I said, "Jesus is coming soon! 51:29 It's as plain as "and my mind went just blank. 51:31 Just. 51:34 And for some reason this word just came 51:38 floating into my mind. 51:40 And here it came, and we will have that experience 51:42 for you're about ready to say something 51:43 and you know you're about ready to say it 51:44 but you don't want to say. 51:46 But, it's so, it's like... 51:49 I said "Jesus is coming soon and it's as plain as 51:53 cheese." 52:02 And I was, I was like... 52:06 I just kept preaching, I just kept preaching. 52:10 And even when I was preaching, I was thinking, 52:11 "Did you just say 'it's as plain as cheese?' 52:12 Anyway, we don't have time for that. 52:14 Keep preaching." 52:15 So, anyway, here is point, here is point. 52:16 When we got down to the end of that it 52:18 and I sometimes wonder, "Man, I just see the angels, 52:19 you know, the angels are just like, 52:21 they are sitting there, you know because, you know, 52:22 here is this new young preacher and they are behind the people. 52:30 Here he goes again. Nope. Okay. 52:34 Anyway here's the point. 52:37 Halleluiah! Sweet Jesus! 52:39 Seventeen people are baptized in that meeting. 52:41 Seventeen people. 52:43 And I said "plain as cheese." 52:45 And listen, I got short amount of time. 52:49 So don't clap. I got to get going. 52:52 Listen, listen, listen, here is the point, here is the point. 52:53 You want to know what? 52:55 I have never since said that in a sermon. 53:00 I've said many other stupid things 53:03 but I've never said that one. 53:05 Are you with me? 53:06 So I am learning from my mistakes 53:08 and the most common mistake made by new soul winners 53:11 is they are not out making enough mistakes. 53:15 It is better to do something for God 53:17 and to get it completely wrong 53:19 than to do nothing and to get it completely right. 53:25 What does it mean to have treasure in heaven? 53:26 It's very simple. 53:28 By the way, by the way, I've just got to tell you this, 53:29 write this time very quickly. 53:30 Mark 1:17. Mark 1:17. 53:32 When Jesus gives the invitation, Mark 1:17, 53:34 Mark records it differently. 53:36 He doesn't just say, "Follow me 53:37 and I will make you fishers of men." 53:39 In Mark, Mark records it this way. 53:41 He says, "Follow Me, 53:42 and I will make you to become fishers of men." 53:46 Oh, that is so beautiful beloved 53:48 because fishers of men are not born. 53:50 They are created as they work in partnership with God. 53:53 You might make mistake after mistake 53:54 and failure after failure 53:56 and all, listen, Jesus is making you 53:58 to become a fishers of men. 54:01 It's a process. 54:02 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 54:05 Lay up treasure in heaven. 54:07 Do you want Christ like character? 54:08 Do you want Christ like character? 54:09 Yes or no? Yes. 54:11 Let me tell you, if you don't have 54:12 a Christ like character, you will not see God. 54:17 I just don't know how I can say that anymore plainly. 54:19 Without holiness no man will see God. 54:22 "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." 54:25 Do you want Christ like character? 54:26 Do you? Yes or no? Yes. 54:28 Then you've got to get busy working with Jesus 54:30 for the redemption of other people. 54:32 Working for converts is the surest way 54:34 to develop a character like Christ. 54:37 Character and converts. Character and converts. 54:40 C.T. Studd, one of the great missionaries of yesteryear, 54:43 one of the Cambridge seven, 54:45 who dedicated his life to China. 54:47 In fact, he said in one occasion, He said, 54:48 "I've given my life to China." 54:50 And he said, "If God gave me a thousand more lives, 54:52 I give them all to China." 54:56 And as he was coming to the end of his life, 54:57 C.T. Studd, that marvelous missionary 54:59 that gave his everything 55:00 for the salvation of souls, he said, 55:02 "Some want to live 55:03 within the sound of church or chapel bell, 55:07 but me, I want to run a rescue shop 55:11 within a yard of hell." 55:17 Let me tell you, when he stands on the sea of glass 55:19 and Jesus comes walking to him, 55:21 he will have something in common with Jesus. 55:24 When Jesus says "do you know what I mean?" 55:26 C.T. Studd will be able to say, "Yeah." 55:32 Beloved when you stand on the sea of glass 55:34 and you look Jesus right in the eyes, 55:36 are you going to have something in common with Him? 55:39 Now I am not just talking about vegetarianism 55:40 or returning tithe or even keeping the Sabbath. 55:42 Here's a God who gave everything to save. 55:44 Are you gonna have anything in common with that God? 55:49 How is it with you? 55:51 Would you rather live within the sound of church 55:52 or chapel bell? 55:57 In the comfort of your little church environment 56:01 or do you, like C.T. Studd evolved 56:03 and like Jesus Christ himself, do you say no? 56:06 "Rather live within the sound of church 56:07 or chapel bell, I'd rather run a rescue shop 56:10 within a yard of hell." 56:14 God want's to save you. Can you say amen? 56:16 Amen. 56:19 He wants you to be laying up your treasures in heaven. 56:20 Can you say amen? Amen. 56:22 And those treasures are character and converts. 56:26 Do you want a Christ like character? 56:28 Start working for converts. |
Revised 2016-03-10