3ABN On the Road

The Motive Motif

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Justin Torossian

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR001034


01:00 Good afternoon Witness.
01:03 How're you all doing this afternoon?
01:06 Have you been blessed thus for today?
01:09 What a beautiful song. Amen.
01:11 Do you want to know Him more? Amen.
01:13 So do I and that is why I'm happy to be here
01:17 with you today at Witness,
01:19 looking forward to getting into the Word together.
01:22 You know, when I got here to Queensland, they said,
01:25 "Oh, you should have come during the summer.
01:26 It's so cold right now."
01:28 And I was thinking, Man, this is great.
01:31 If this is winter,
01:32 this is the kind of place I'd want to live.
01:35 I'm currently living at Andrews University
01:37 in Berrien Springs, Michigan,
01:38 doing my Masters of Divinity before returning to
01:41 Pastoral Ministry in California.
01:43 And the weather there is cold.
01:47 In fact we just had our coldest winter
01:49 in 30 years of record.
01:51 So after this winter Nothing's gonna be too harsh.
01:56 But praise the Lord for the wonderful weather,
01:58 for the transformative workshops
02:00 that we've had so far.
02:01 And, guys, it's just beginning.
02:04 The Sabbath is nearly up on us.
02:08 Before we dive into the Word of God this morning,
02:10 I'd like to ask you to bow your heads with me
02:14 for a word of prayer before our message The Motive Motif.
02:18 Let's pray.
02:22 I love you, Lord
02:27 And I lift my voice
02:32 To worship You
02:38 Oh, my soul rejoice
02:44 Take joy, my King
02:50 In what You hear
02:56 Let it be a sweet
02:59 Sweet sound in Your ear
03:09 Father in heaven, this is our prayer.
03:12 We ask that this afternoon You would speak to our hearts
03:15 in a special way.
03:18 We thank You for leading each of us here.
03:20 We know that none of us are here by coincidence,
03:22 but by Your providence.
03:25 We thank You for bringing us here.
03:27 We ask that You would push any distractions,
03:31 anything out of our minds that would prevent us
03:33 from hearing Your word to us.
03:37 Lord, we do not want to hear a man this afternoon,
03:41 we want to hear from on high.
03:44 We want to hear from God.
03:47 We thank You in advance for speaking,
03:49 for we have asked that in Jesus' name.
03:51 Amen.
03:54 There he stood, frozen on his front porch.
04:00 His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
04:03 There on the grounds was the club
04:06 that had just fallen from his hands.
04:09 Next to the club that was on the grounds,
04:12 lay the breathless body of a 26 year old man.
04:20 Why had he hit this man in the head, killing him?
04:24 Why did this man lay dead on this front porch?
04:29 What was the story?
04:31 Was he a thief caught breaking into the house
04:34 where the owner of the house was defending his family,
04:38 his wife and his children from a crazed mad man,
04:42 took his life in self-defense?
04:46 Or was he a thief who got caught breaking into a home
04:51 and met the end of his life?
04:54 As the sirens grew louder and louder
04:57 from the police cars and the ambulance,
05:00 soon the police would be asking these questions.
05:05 And as the police arrived and investigated,
05:07 the answer to the question of the killer's motive
05:11 would make all the difference in the case.
05:16 Friends, in our human legal systems,
05:19 when things are done right, the motive of the individual
05:23 who committed the crime is taken into consideration.
05:27 And when we take a look at God and His dealings with mankind
05:31 as we find in His holy word, we see that God operates
05:35 upon the same principle.
05:38 God also says that motive is of paramount importance.
05:44 If motives are important to God,
05:46 they should be important to us.
05:47 Amen.
05:49 This morning, we're going to examine in our message
05:52 The Motive Motif.
05:54 We're going to see that throughout scripture
05:56 we find over and over that people's motives
06:00 made all of the difference.
06:02 People's motives made all of the difference
06:06 when we find God's dealing with them in the Bible.
06:10 What does the word motif mean?
06:13 A motif is defined as the following, listen to this.
06:19 A motif is a usually recurring salient thematic element
06:24 or a dominant idea or central theme.
06:28 The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a motif as such.
06:32 So we see that a motif is something
06:34 that repeats over and over again.
06:37 Something that is laced throughout a story or a song
06:42 and in this case, the case of our message this morning,
06:46 the motif is found throughout God's word.
06:51 A record of God's dealing with us
06:54 and mankind throughout the history of our race.
07:00 This morning we're going to,
07:02 to dive into the word-- the Lord's Word,
07:05 but before we do I want to answer the question
07:07 that might be in your mind, what exactly is a motive?
07:10 What's a motive?
07:12 Well, a motive is very simply defined
07:15 as something that actuates someone's principle.
07:19 Something that causes a person to act.
07:23 And if you look at the word motive in the dictionary
07:26 you'll also find just after it that the phrase or the word
07:31 motive force is there.
07:34 You may wonder, what's a motive force?
07:37 If you really want to know what a motive is,
07:39 the best way to understand is to understand
07:41 what a motive force is.
07:43 Listen to the definition of a motive force.
07:47 A motive force or excuse me, motive power,
07:50 a motive power is an agency such as water or steam
07:54 used to impart motion, especially to machinery
07:58 or something as a locomotive or a motor
08:02 that provides motive power to a system.
08:06 So motive power, if you're in a locomotive, a train,
08:10 at least in the old days would be steamed.
08:14 The water causes steam when it's heated of course
08:17 and that would fuel the locomotive.
08:20 It would propel it forward
08:21 and that is the motive power of a train.
08:25 What's the motive power of a car?
08:29 If there would be steam for a train,
08:31 what do we put in our cars to make them go?
08:34 Gas or petrol, right?
08:36 So the motive power for a car is fuel, it's petrol, it's gas.
08:42 So a motive power gives us a deeper understanding of what
08:46 motives really are.
08:48 A motive is something that fuels you,
08:51 something that drives you forward.
08:53 It's your reason for action.
08:56 It's the reason behind what we do.
09:01 It's the inner force that enables
09:03 and determines our course of action.
09:07 The Bible is full of examples
09:12 of times when motive
09:15 made all the difference in the world.
09:17 And you may wonder what's so important about motives?
09:20 What's the big deal?
09:22 Well, the reason that motives are so important
09:25 is because when we see our actions,
09:30 it's simply the fruits
09:32 but the motives, our motives are reason,
09:35 that's the roots, the root cause.
09:38 I like what's, one theologian, Charles Hodge said in the,
09:43 his systematic theology commentary,
09:46 he didn't have everything right of course,
09:48 but he had this solidly nailed down,
09:51 speaking of motives he says,
09:53 "In every rational volition the man is influenced to decide
09:57 one way rather than another, by something within him.
10:01 So that the volition is a revelation
10:05 of what he himself is."
10:09 See, friends, what's going on inside of our hearts and minds
10:14 are motivation, the reason behind what we do.
10:18 The reason behind our actions
10:20 is actually a revelation of who we are.
10:23 It's a revelation of our character and that is why
10:28 we need to understand
10:30 what's the significance of our motives really are.
10:34 Jesus put it this way.
10:36 He said, "Out of the abundance of the mouth," what?
10:40 "The heart speaks."
10:42 "Out of the abundance."
10:43 excuse me, "Out of the abundance of the heart
10:45 the mouth speaks."
10:47 So not only are our inner reasons
10:51 for doing things are motives
10:53 determined by our outward actions,
10:56 but they are reflected upon the root of our motive,
10:59 our reason is reflected in our words.
11:03 The words that we use, the things that we do
11:07 are the outward fruit that reflect upon the root
11:10 of our motives, our actions, our driving force.
11:16 So examining our motives is very important.
11:19 Very important as Christians to search our own hearts
11:22 and ask why we do the things that we do?
11:25 Why we say the things that we say?
11:28 Now it's natural for us, it's human nature
11:32 to just do the bare minimum, isn't it?
11:36 How many people here are students?
11:37 Raise your hand high, if you are a student.
11:39 All right, we've got a lot of students here.
11:41 Let me ask you, how many of you have had to do lectures for--
11:44 excuse me, essays for a class, you've had to write an essay
11:49 and how many of you have had some questions
11:51 about that essay?
11:52 If you have ever written an essay you have to know
11:55 what's expected of you, right.
11:56 Now have you ever heard a student raise their hand
11:59 and say, professor, what is the maximum number of words
12:04 that I can write in this essay?
12:07 I mean, how much can I write?
12:09 When will you just reject and stop reading
12:12 if I just write and write and write?
12:14 How many people want to do the maximum possible?
12:17 Have you ever heard someone raise their hand
12:18 and ask that in class?
12:19 Yes or no. Probably not.
12:22 We want to know, what's the bare minimum.
12:25 And this is human nature.
12:27 What is the minimum that I can do?
12:29 How many words does that have to be?
12:31 Does that have to be 600 words?
12:34 Well, how many spaces,
12:37 I mean, how many pages does it have to be?
12:39 Oh, it needs to be about four pages.
12:41 Well, is that single space or double space?
12:43 All right.
12:44 Is that 12.5 or, can we do 12.5 or 13?
12:49 We want to know what the bare minimum is
12:52 and often it's the natural tendency for us
12:55 to want to know what the bare minimum is.
12:58 And what the least possible
13:00 that we can get away with doing is?
13:03 Is our motive in our Christian walk?
13:06 Is our motive in life to do the bare minimum?
13:10 Just what's expected of us?
13:12 One person put it well, they said,
13:14 "Do only what is required of you and remain a slave.
13:19 Do more than is required of you and become free."
13:24 Friends, we shouldn't be asking the Lord
13:27 what's the bare minimum I can do, Lord?
13:30 What's the minimum that I can do for you
13:31 and still squeeze into heaven?
13:34 We should be saying, Lord, how much can I do for you?
13:38 How much can I do for you?
13:40 Please show me, teach me what you would have me do.
13:45 This afternoon we're going to exam-- a few biblical examples
13:49 of when people had right motives,
13:53 their hearts were right, their desire was right
13:57 but their actions were wrong.
14:00 And then after we're done with that
14:01 we're going to examine some stories of people
14:04 whose hearts were wrong, their motives were wrong,
14:09 but their actions were right.
14:12 First I'd like to invite you to turn with me
14:14 to Joshua Chapter 22.
14:17 Here we find a story where people's motives were right.
14:22 Their desires were right, their reason for
14:24 moving in the direction that they did was right,
14:27 but their action was hasty and their action was wrong.
14:31 Joshua Chapter 22 and we'll be starting in verse 11.
14:37 Here the Bible tells the story of when the children of Israel
14:41 had established their dwelling in the Promised Lands
14:47 and you remember the two of the tribes of Israel
14:49 stayed on the other side of the Jordan.
14:51 They wanted to stay in the land there.
14:53 Well, the Bible tells us that what took place
14:56 was that those two tribes being so far from the Israelites,
15:00 the rest of the tribes, they wanted to--
15:06 they wanted to make a way for their children
15:08 to remember God.
15:10 A way for them to be able to be reminded of God
15:12 and His leadings, so that they would not have to
15:16 take their children all the way
15:17 to the center of the sacrificial system
15:20 where the altar was in order for them
15:22 to remember the Lord.
15:24 So picking up in Joshua 22:11
15:26 we see what took place, the Bible says,
15:29 "Now the Children of Israel heard someone say,
15:31 Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad
15:34 and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar
15:38 on the frontier of the land of Canaan,
15:40 in the region of the Jordan,
15:42 on the Children of Israel side."
15:46 Now the Bible says in the next verse, verse 12,
15:49 "And when the children of Israel heard of it,
15:50 the whole congregation of the children of Israel
15:53 gathered together at Shiloh, to go to war against them."
15:58 You may be wondering why in the world
16:00 would the rest of the tribes of Israel
16:02 gather together to go to war against them,
16:04 when they erected an altar in order to worship God.
16:09 What's the deal?
16:10 Well, the Children of Israel
16:12 when they marshaled their forces together
16:14 to attack these other tribes,
16:16 their motive was actually right.
16:18 You see, they thought that by this action,
16:21 by this building of this altar
16:23 that they were setting up another place of worship.
16:26 That they were actually setting up
16:27 worship to other gods.
16:30 You see they had one sanctuary, one place of worship.
16:34 And they had been through times in the past
16:38 where challenges had come in, challenges with idolatry
16:41 and difficulties when it came to the worship of demons.
16:46 So these tribes as they gathered their forces together
16:48 to go to a war with the rest of the tribes,
16:51 those three tribes on the other side
16:53 who'd erected this altar,
16:55 they went and they shared with them.
16:58 You can read the verses in the rest of this chapter here.
17:02 We'll just jump down to want--
17:04 to find the conclusion of the story in just a moment.
17:07 But to summarize what they told them,
17:09 they pointed them back to the issues
17:11 that they had had with idolatry.
17:13 They pointed them back to Baal-peor,
17:15 which is found in Numbers Chapter 25.
17:18 They pointed them back to that time
17:20 when they were on the edge of the Promise Land.
17:23 And they had been sent, harlots from the tribe
17:28 or from the people of Midian.
17:31 They have made this feast and they had tried to attempt
17:35 and seduce the Israelite men.
17:37 Just as they were on the edge of the Promised Land,
17:39 the devil sent a bunch of people
17:43 to seduce the men into idolatry.
17:46 We read the story that a plague broke out.
17:49 God was displeased as not just many of the people of Israel
17:53 but even the leaders in Israel
17:55 fell into this temptation of lust and sin.
17:58 And, friends, you know, just as we are on the edge
18:01 of the Promised Land, the devil is hammering us.
18:05 He is hammering this generation with the temptation
18:08 of sexual desire and lust.
18:11 More than any generation before us,
18:14 we are surrounded by pictures of half naked people,
18:18 or half clothed people,
18:20 depending on how you want to look at it.
18:22 And sometimes even less.
18:24 You know, I'm not a father
18:26 and if the Lord tarries-- nor am I married,
18:29 but if the Lord tarries that may happen.
18:31 And I pray that if that does happen,
18:34 God gives me wisdom to know how--
18:36 when I take my child through the line in the store.
18:41 The grocery store, when I get to the front
18:43 how to shield their eyes or explain to them
18:46 not to look at these magazines that are surrounding them.
18:49 Friends, we live in a time where the devil is throwing
18:52 every temptation at us possible.
18:55 This happened to the Children of Israel at Baal-peor,
18:59 right when they were on the border
19:00 of the Promised Lands and it led them into idolatry.
19:06 The tribes, the nine tribes
19:08 reminded those three tribes about this and they said,
19:11 "Do you want that to happen again?"
19:13 This is why we've marshaled these forces,
19:15 this is why we've come to war against you.
19:19 Their motives were right.
19:20 They didn't want idolatry to take place.
19:23 But their actions were hasty.
19:26 Listen to what the tribes tell them in verse 26,
19:29 what was the reasoning behind building this altar?
19:32 Verse 26, "Therefore we said,
19:35 let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar,
19:38 not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice."
19:42 You see, these tribes were misunderstood.
19:46 This altar was not built in order to create
19:48 a secondary place of worship
19:51 against what God had commanded them.
19:53 It was built for another reason.
19:56 They weren't doing the wrong thing,
19:58 they were just misunderstood.
19:59 Look at verse 27, they explain,
20:02 "We built it that it may be a witness between you and us.
20:06 And our generations after us,
20:08 that we may perform the service of the Lord
20:11 before Him with our burnt offerings,
20:13 with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings,
20:15 that your descendants may not say
20:17 to our descendants in time to come,
20:19 you have no part in the Lord."
20:22 So the Bible says, that happily they withdrew their armies.
20:27 They realized that they had misjudged and misunderstood
20:32 the conversation, the issue what had taken place.
20:37 You know, sometimes we can have right motives
20:40 and we can misunderstand and we can be misunderstood,
20:44 isn't that right?
20:47 You know, sometimes this takes place in marriage.
20:51 A husband can think to himself,
20:53 "You know, my wife is so selfless.
20:56 She's always saving money.
20:58 She's always thinking of herself.
21:01 She's always guarding our spending habits
21:05 just so that we can give to missions,
21:07 so that we can give to our children."
21:10 And he comes home and he says, "You know, sweetheart,
21:12 I've been thinking, you're so generous with our money,
21:17 you're so careful with our expenditures.
21:20 I've been thinking why don't you take
21:21 some extra money and I don't know,
21:24 do something nice with it for yourself for a change.
21:27 You know, like, get your hair done
21:28 how you like it done or..."
21:31 And she says, "Why, don't you like my hair?"
21:34 His motives were good.
21:36 But his words could've been chosen a little better, right?
21:40 Sometimes we misunderstand others and their motives.
21:45 Sometimes when we have the right motives,
21:48 our actions don't always fall
21:50 in place like it did, like what happened
21:53 with the Children of Israel in this story.
21:55 You know, we see the same thing happened
21:57 with Joseph, Mary's husband.
21:59 Let's go to Matthew Chapter 1.
22:02 Matthew Chapter 1, the Bible tells us that
22:04 Joseph was a righteous man, he was a good man.
22:09 And when Mary was found with child,
22:11 naturally, he thought, well, she's cheated on me.
22:15 You know, if you study the Jewish marriage process
22:18 you'll realize that Joseph and Mary were not yet married
22:22 but they were betrothed.
22:24 You see, when you were engaged in Hebrew culture,
22:26 it meant that you are virtually married in every way
22:30 except the consummation of the marriage.
22:32 So in order to split ways after you were betrothed
22:36 or engaged to each other,
22:37 you actually had to get a certificate of divorce.
22:41 So the commitment of engagement in this time,
22:44 in this day was incredibly close.
22:48 This is why the Bible says in Matthew 1:19,
22:52 that when Mary became pregnant, Joseph thought that
22:55 she had cheated on him and look what it says,
22:58 "Then Joseph, her husband being a just man
23:01 and not wanting to make her a public example
23:04 was minded to put her away secretly."
23:07 You see, Joseph had a right motive
23:10 but he had a misunderstanding.
23:13 And it was going to result in a wrong action.
23:15 But God stepped in, verse 20,
23:18 "But while he thought about these things, behold,
23:22 an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
23:24 "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
23:28 to take to yourself Mary your wife,
23:30 for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
23:34 And she will bring forth a son,
23:36 and you shall call his name Jesus,
23:39 for He will save His people from their sins."
23:44 Friends, when our actions are wrong,
23:47 but our motives are right, God can honor that,
23:50 God can bless that.
23:52 The Lord can step in and He can change our direction.
23:58 He can reveal to us the right thing to do.
24:02 It's easy for God when our motives are right,
24:05 but our actions are wrong.
24:07 He can easily correct us,
24:08 if our heart is in the right place.
24:10 The challenge and the problem is when our motives are wrong,
24:14 but our actions are right.
24:17 We're gonna talk about that in just a moment.
24:19 But I like to share with you briefly a story
24:22 that took place about a month ago.
24:25 I was flying from Chicago to San Francisco
24:28 and I sat down on the airplane next to this lady
24:33 and she's a young professional 29 years old.
24:36 She and her husband both owned different companies
24:39 that they started up through their Ph.D research in science.
24:42 They're both scientists.
24:44 And we had a wonderful conversation.
24:46 She was going to San Francisco for the funeral
24:49 of her grandfather, unfortunately.
24:51 She was half Chinese and half Jewish ethnically.
24:56 And we had a long conversation.
24:59 She started asking me questions
25:00 and I started giving her answers from the Bible.
25:03 And she said, "So what do you believe
25:05 or what does your church teach and believe about this."
25:08 And she asked about, you know, the devil and angels
25:12 or modern day prophets.
25:13 So we went to all of these different verses.
25:16 And we were going through a Bible study together
25:19 and after about two-and-a-half hours of conversation,
25:22 I learned that she happened to be an atheist.
25:26 And as our conversation continued,
25:28 it was such a blessing and I wish I had time
25:29 to share more about it,
25:31 the Lord struck me with a realization.
25:34 You see, she had told me that
25:36 there were people at the gym that she goes to
25:39 who are on a diet together and they eat nuts and seeds
25:44 and this is a majority of their diet.
25:46 So one day she said that
25:50 they were sitting around talking
25:51 and someone said, "You know, I love macadamia nuts,
25:53 but they are so expensive.
25:55 So sometimes I just switch the code
25:58 and I save from the bulk food section
26:00 that it was something else, so I can save some money."
26:04 And she said, she thought to herself,
26:05 "What in the world?
26:07 They were stealing macadamia nuts,
26:09 for a couple of dollars?
26:11 Where are their morals?"
26:12 And then she said to her surprise
26:14 someone across the way piped up and said, "Yeah, yeah, me too.
26:17 You know, sometimes I pick it up off the scale
26:20 so it doesn't weigh as much and they charge me less."
26:24 And as she shared this and as she shared,
26:27 you know, her shock at what had happened,
26:29 and as she shared that when her brother was in a car accident,
26:33 she-- Part of her wished that
26:35 she could pray in all genuineness of heart,
26:38 but couldn't honestly do it.
26:40 As she shared these things I realized that
26:43 this was a really honest person.
26:46 We had a wonderful conversation.
26:48 And the Lord struck me with the realization
26:50 and I told her this, I said,
26:52 "You know, I believe that in God's eyes,
26:55 He can smile and look more kindly upon you
26:58 who in all honesty are an atheist
27:01 simply because you have never studied the Bible
27:03 and because you've never learned anything else,
27:06 rather than the person who is just in church
27:09 because their family is in church."
27:12 Just in church because their sister
27:15 has been nagging them to come or claiming to be a Christian
27:20 while only having a semblance of Christianity.
27:23 Just because it's what you're familiar with.
27:25 Friends, God looks upon the heart.
27:29 God weighs our motives.
27:31 And, you know, when someone is honest in heart,
27:35 God can bless that.
27:37 When someone is genuine in their motives, genuinely,
27:43 even if they are genuinely doing the wrong thing,
27:46 God can bless that and He will turn them around.
27:48 Just like He did with Joseph, and just like He did
27:51 with those tribes that we have just read about.
27:55 You see, God looks at the heart.
27:57 Turn with me to Proverbs 16.
27:59 Proverbs Chapter 16.
28:05 Proverbs Chapter 16
28:07 and we're going to be reading together verse 2.
28:12 Proverbs 16:2.
28:15 "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
28:18 but the Lord weighs the hearts."
28:22 The Lord weighs the hearts.
28:23 Friends, scripture is full of examples of people
28:26 who were not quite there.
28:29 Their hearts were genuine,
28:30 but they didn't have their theology all straight.
28:33 Think of the woman at the well.
28:35 She didn't have her understanding
28:37 of the coming Messiah
28:38 or her understanding of the Bible
28:39 or worship correct, but her heart was open.
28:43 And when she met Jesus, she was willing to follow Him.
28:47 We think of Cornelius in Acts Chapter 10,
28:50 that gentile, the soldier, the captain actually
28:54 who the Lord gave a dream to
28:57 and gave Peter a dream simultaneously.
28:59 Cornelius who is seeking God with all of his heart.
29:02 God honored that and He could bless him.
29:06 We think of Paul or the Apostle Paul
29:09 who was Saul of Tarsus,
29:11 Saul who was persecuting Christians
29:15 and having them put to death.
29:17 You know, he thought that he was right.
29:19 He was genuinely convinced that
29:21 as he was putting these people to death
29:23 that he was doing God a favor.
29:26 But then the Stoning of Stephen took place.
29:30 The Stoning of Stephen and then Jesus miraculously
29:33 appearing to him as he was writing to Damascus,
29:36 knocked him off of his horse.
29:39 And praise the Lord, those two events,
29:41 the Stoning of Stephen going through his mind
29:43 over the next few days.
29:44 Jesus saying Paul-- Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
29:48 This turned Saul around and Saul became Paul.
29:53 Friends, his motives were right.
29:55 He was deceived into thinking he was doing the right thing
29:59 and his actions were wrong and God could honor that.
30:02 And when He turned him around,
30:03 he became the most powerful missionary
30:05 the church had ever seen.
30:08 If our motives are right God can work with that.
30:13 It's when our motives are wrong and our actions are right
30:18 that we have a problem.
30:20 We find this takes place a number of times in scripture
30:25 and we can see some examples together.
30:29 But, you know, sometimes we do this as people, don't we?
30:34 You know, you'll run across-- And probably any country,
30:39 but sometimes a parent might come home
30:41 and I can just see it happening,
30:43 a mother comes home and the dishes are all done.
30:47 The kitchen is mopped,
30:49 the entire house is vacuum cleaned
30:53 and she's thinking, "This is strange."
30:56 And then her daughter walks around
30:57 the corner with a big smile
30:59 and she says, "Hi, Mom, welcome home."
31:02 She gives her a big hug and her mom is thinking,
31:05 "This is different."
31:08 And then after a few minutes of listening kindly
31:12 and attentively to how her mother's day has been,
31:14 the daughter says, "You know, Mom,
31:17 there is this iPad on sale,
31:21 and I could really use one for school and,
31:25 you know, I could really use this iPad.
31:27 What do you think?"
31:30 Friends, sometimes we do things for the wrong reasons.
31:34 We do the right thing for the wrong reasons,
31:36 for selfish motives rather than doing these things selflessly,
31:41 she was doing them selfishly.
31:44 And if our motives or if our motives are wrong,
31:49 it doesn't necessarily mean that our actions are wrong.
31:55 Now speaking of this, did you know that
31:58 legalism falls into this category?
32:01 What is legalism?
32:03 Trying to be saved by what?
32:06 Keeping the law. Let me ask you.
32:08 Is the outward act of keeping the law good?
32:10 Yes or no? Yes.
32:12 Keeping God's law is good and it's a necessity.
32:15 But legalism is trying to be saved by keeping the law.
32:19 And did you know that legalism itself
32:22 is actually breaking the law?
32:26 In Romans 13:11, the Bible says
32:28 that love is a fulfilling of the law.
32:32 And if love is selflessness,
32:35 if love is on the first for love toward God
32:39 in the last six commandments, love toward our fellow men.
32:42 If that is the crux of the law, selflessness,
32:46 then to keep the law to try to be saved
32:48 to earn our salvation ourselves is selfish.
32:52 So it's actually breaking the law
32:54 that we are trying to keep.
32:56 You see, if we do not keep the law in spirit
32:58 for the right reason, genuinely and selflessly
33:02 for the care of others,
33:03 then we're not keeping it at all.
33:05 Legalism isn't actually keeping the law.
33:08 In spirit, it's breaking the law.
33:12 We see in scripture there are times where
33:14 people had right actions, but wrong motives.
33:20 Turn with me to John 6:24-26.
33:26 John 6:24-26, here we find that
33:31 Jesus has just fed the 5,000.
33:36 John Chapter 6, he's just fed the 5,000
33:40 and let's actually start back at verse 22.
33:43 "On the following day."
33:45 This was after He had fed the 5,000.
33:47 After He had walked on the stormy sea
33:50 to meet His disciples there and gone to the other side.
33:53 "On the following day when the people
33:56 who were standing on the other side of the sea
33:58 saw that there was no other boat there,
34:01 except the one which His disciples had entered
34:04 and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples,
34:07 but His disciples had gone away alone.
34:09 However, other boats came from Tiberius near the place
34:12 where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks."
34:15 Verse 24, "When the people therefore
34:17 saw Jesus was not there, nor his disciples,
34:20 they also got into boats and came to Capernaum,
34:23 seeking Jesus."
34:26 What were they doing?
34:28 Seeking Jesus. Let me ask you.
34:30 Is seeking Jesus a good thing? Yes.
34:34 Seeking Jesus is the best thing that we can do.
34:36 Amen.
34:38 They were seeking Jesus.
34:40 But let's continue on.
34:41 We see that their actions were right.
34:44 Continuing on, verse 25,
34:48 "And when they found him on the other side of the sea,
34:51 they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here?"
34:54 You see, they were waiting for Jesus to come back
34:57 down from the mountain.
34:58 You remember that they wanted to take Jesus by force
35:01 and make Him king.
35:03 They realized this miracle was huge to feed 5,000 people.
35:09 Imagine what He could do
35:11 against the Roman armies they fought.
35:13 He could heal our sick, our wounded men,
35:15 He could heal immediately
35:17 and they could get up and keep fighting.
35:19 We would never go hungry,
35:20 we would never need to bring food with us
35:21 because He could just multiply a few loaves.
35:24 They wanted to take Jesus by force
35:27 and make Him an earthly king.
35:30 So Jesus strongly commanded His disciples
35:33 to get into a boat and go to the other side.
35:36 Jesus went Himself up into the mountain and prayed.
35:40 This was a significant time in His life and ministry
35:43 and that's why it is one of the only stories
35:46 mentioned in all four gospels.
35:49 Continuing on, we see that, Jesus, after He met this crowd
35:54 on the other side of the sea, He answered them and said,
35:58 verse 26, "Most assuredly I say to you, You seek me,"
36:02 good thing, yes or no?
36:05 Is seeking Jesus good? Yes or no?
36:07 Yes, absolutely.
36:09 "You seek me," He said, "Not because you saw the signs,
36:15 but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled."
36:19 Jesus says, look, right action, wrong motive.
36:23 You seek me, but for the wrong reasons.
36:26 Do not labor for the food which perishes,
36:29 but for the food which endures to everlasting life,
36:33 which the son of man will give you
36:35 because the father has set His seal on him.
36:40 Friends, we can seek Jesus for the wrong reasons.
36:45 We can actually do the right thing
36:48 for the wrong motive.
36:51 And you may be here at Witness and I want to say this,
36:53 of all the places to meet your future life partner,
36:56 this is one of the best.
36:58 But I want to say this, you're in a youth conference
37:02 where other people are here seeking after Jesus,
37:05 but if the reason you are here
37:07 is to meet your future life partner,
37:10 you're in the right place for the wrong reason.
37:15 Why do you want to go on outreach?
37:17 Is it 'cause that that cute boy who loves Jesus is coming?
37:23 Or is your motive to serve those in the community,
37:26 to share with them the bread of life
37:28 that can transform them, that can break them free
37:31 from the chains that are holding them?
37:35 Is our reason for coming to church
37:38 or attending that evangelistic series
37:40 or doing music in order to get close to that
37:45 nice, single Adventist girl or because our parents
37:50 are offering us money if we actually go to church,
37:54 which happens sometimes.
37:56 We might be in the right place,
37:58 but God says, right action, wrong motive.
38:03 Friends, what is our motive?
38:06 What is the reason that we are here?
38:07 What is the reason that we do the things
38:09 that we do, that we serve?
38:12 What is our motivation?
38:15 This is what God is asking us?
38:19 This is what God wants us to do in checking our hearts.
38:23 As we see, throughout scripture, the motif,
38:26 that motives made all the difference in the world.
38:29 Motives made all the difference.
38:33 And if our reason for service, if our motivation for worship,
38:38 if our inspiration for evangelism
38:41 is for any other reason than
38:42 from our heart filled with love for God
38:45 and love for our fellowmen, a passion to see lost souls
38:49 saved in His kingdom, then God looks at our deed
38:52 and He says, right action, but wrong motive.
38:58 You know, if you have come to Witness
39:02 and you have mixed motives, know this
39:06 that we serve such a powerful God.
39:09 And we serve such a loving God that He can take those actions
39:14 even when our motives are wrong.
39:17 And He can bring blessings out of that.
39:20 I can stand here all day
39:23 and I know that you could share, too,
39:25 countless stories of people who have showed up
39:27 at an evangelistic series to heckle the preacher.
39:31 People who have showed up to shout and be disruptive
39:35 and they have been converted.
39:37 There are countless stories of people
39:39 who have sat in the back of an evangelistic series
39:41 and taking very close notes.
39:43 Listening to everything that the pastor has to say,
39:47 so that they can find some fault with it.
39:50 And by studying the Bible they were one to Christ.
39:53 My dad's aunt, who is the reason
39:55 that he is a Seventh-day Adventist
39:57 is one of those people.
39:58 Zeb Hourigan, the leader
40:01 and one of the founders of Witness,
40:03 one of the ways that he was brought to the Lord,
40:05 powerful testimony.
40:07 One of the ways was that he wanted to disprove
40:10 part of scripture if I'm not mistaken.
40:12 And that led him to a deeper study
40:15 in combination with many things
40:16 that were happening in his life.
40:18 We look and see through history that there were people
40:22 who tried to disprove the Bible.
40:24 They set out to prove that the resurrection of Jesus
40:27 was false and they ended up writing books
40:30 proving that the resurrection of Jesus took place.
40:34 If you are here or you're serving God
40:37 for wrong motives,
40:39 know that even if you are in the right place
40:41 for the wrong reason, God can bless that.
40:44 But He wants our hearts to be in the right place, amen.
40:48 The Lord wants our hearts to be in the right place
40:51 and that place is in His hands.
40:58 You know, we sing songs together
41:01 and I love many of these songs.
41:04 We sing songs like, "I've got a mansion
41:07 just over the hilltop," and we song songs like,
41:11 "In the sweet by and by."
41:13 And that is one of my favorite hymns.
41:15 Did you know that was one of Ellen White's
41:16 favorite hymns, too?
41:18 We sing these songs like,
41:20 "I've got a mansion just over the hilltop,"
41:22 and it's good to imagine and tell our children
41:26 to focus on the times in heaven
41:28 when we are going to get to play with lions,
41:30 when we are going to get to ride elephants.
41:33 It's gonna be a blast
41:34 and it's good to focus on the times
41:36 when we can slide down the neck of a giraffe,
41:39 when we don't have to be afraid of the snakes
41:42 or anything that's poisonous.
41:44 Friends, it's good to look forward to those times,
41:47 it's good to look forward to having
41:49 a dwelling place in heaven.
41:52 But if our motive is going to heaven for the mansions,
41:58 if it's going to heaven for the streets of gold,
42:01 even if it's going to heaven so we can be with our families
42:04 which is not a bad thing in and of itself.
42:07 Friends, if this is our primary motive
42:10 that is fueling our direction heavenward,
42:13 if it's anything besides spending eternity with Jesus,
42:18 then it is for the wrong reason.
42:20 Don't get me wrong.
42:21 These are good things, but these are not the reason,
42:25 these are the results,
42:27 the real focus is being with Jesus, amen.
42:30 Those things are just side benefits and bonuses.
42:34 Those are the side blessings,
42:36 but those should not be our reason,
42:38 not be our motivation alone for being there.
42:43 What is our motivation for heaven?
42:47 You know, fear of hell, neither fear of hell
42:52 nor a desire for the streets of gold
42:55 is strong enough to keep us in the hands of God.
42:59 The love of Jesus, a passion for spending time with Him,
43:04 for spending eternity with Him
43:06 is the only thing strong enough to keep us in His hands.
43:11 And, friends, He wants to put that love in our hearts.
43:15 God sees our hearts, He reads our hearts.
43:19 He looks at our motives.
43:22 And, friends, when our motives are right,
43:24 then He can lead and bless in every other way.
43:29 There was a little girl who wanted to do something
43:33 nice for her mother.
43:36 You see, her mother had recently
43:39 wanted to teach her daughter how to do something helpful
43:42 and practical around the house.
43:45 And she had had her daughter get a pair of scissors
43:48 and she said, "Okay, sweetheart,
43:49 I want to teach you how to care for things around our home."
43:54 And she had noticed that the strings of their curtains
43:57 were starting to hang low.
43:59 They had some loose threads.
44:01 And she said, "All right, sweetheart,
44:02 we want to cut off all these threads,
44:03 just a four-year-old girl,
44:05 and she said, "All right, mommy."
44:07 And she started cutting the threads
44:09 and they swept them up and put them in the trash.
44:12 And then a few hours later, her mom heard a knock
44:17 in her bedroom door, she said, "Yes."
44:21 She came out and her daughter said, "Mommy, I did some more.
44:26 I did something nice for you. Look."
44:28 And in her hands her mom was horrified to see the tassels
44:34 from their genuine Persian rug.
44:37 This little girl had wanted to do
44:40 something nice for her mother, but Persian rugs,
44:42 when the tassels of the ends are cut,
44:44 they decrease in value, incredibly so.
44:48 And this little girl had that the tassels in her hand
44:51 and her mom thought, "Oh, no,
44:52 don't tell me those are from our rug."
44:55 So she went out and she looked and sure enough,
44:57 all of the tassels on the ends,
45:00 both ends of the Persian rug were gone.
45:04 Her daughter had done the wrong thing,
45:07 but her heart was right.
45:09 Her desire was right and her mother knew that.
45:13 Her mother looked at her and she said, "Sweetheart
45:15 that was so thoughtful of you.
45:18 That was so sweet of you.
45:20 I know you wanted to do the right thing.
45:22 I know you wanted to do something to help me
45:24 and I want to thank you for that.
45:26 But next time you want to do something with scissors,
45:28 let mommy know ahead of time."
45:32 Friends, when our actions aren't all right,
45:36 but our motives are genuinely pure and correct,
45:40 God can bless that.
45:43 It's when our actions are right
45:48 and our motives are wrong, that we are in danger.
45:53 You know, we are told in Jeremiah 17:9,
45:56 that "The heart is desperately wicked
45:58 and deceitful above all things,"
46:00 the Bible says, "Who can know it?"
46:03 You know, we can't even assess correctly
46:05 what's going on in our hearts and minds.
46:07 Sometimes, we are doing the right thing
46:10 and we think we're doing it for the right reasons.
46:12 But upon deeper inspection,
46:15 we realize that our motivation was mixed.
46:19 Our motivations were not pure.
46:24 Friends, we need God to do a heart check on us, amen.
46:30 Today, I don't know
46:31 what you may be going through in your life.
46:33 I don't know what you may be doing that's right.
46:37 But if you want to say, "Lord,
46:39 I want you to reveal to me my motives.
46:42 Reveal to me my reasons for my right actions."
46:46 If you want to say along with David
46:48 as he did in Psalm 139:23, 24.
46:54 "Search me, O Lord, and know my heart.
46:58 Try me, and know my understanding,
46:59 and see if there be any wicked way in me,
47:03 and lead me in the way everlasting."
47:06 If that's your desire, I want to invite you to stand.
47:09 If you want to say, Lord, reveal to me the reason
47:12 behind the actions that I am doing.
47:16 I don't want to just have
47:18 right actions and wrong motives.
47:20 Nor do I want to have right motives, but wrong actions.
47:24 I want to have right actions and right motives.
47:28 Reveal to me what's going on in my heart and mind, Lord.
47:31 And give me a heart single for your glory.
47:35 Give me a heart and mind that desire to lift You up
47:38 more than anything else in this world.
47:47 That's your desire, I'd like to ask you to pray with me,
47:51 we're told that many a song is a prayer.
47:55 Let's bow our heads.
47:58 Lord, I want to be a Christian
48:04 In my heart, in my heart
48:11 Lord, I want to be a Christian
48:17 In my heart
48:21 In my heart
48:26 In my heart
48:32 Lord, I want to be a Christian
48:38 In my heart
48:43 Father in heaven, we want to be Christians in our hearts.
48:49 Not just in our outward actions,
48:52 but in our inward motives.
48:55 Fill us with the love of Jesus.
48:58 And may our primary motive, our reason for action,
49:04 the reason behind every good in godly action
49:07 be to share Your love with the world.
49:11 May our motivation for heaven not be the streets of gold,
49:16 the long missed family members
49:20 or the animals that we'll get to play with,
49:22 that will be tamed, Lord, those are bonus blessings,
49:26 but may our motivation for heaven
49:28 be to be with Jesus.
49:31 We love You, Lord.
49:32 Thank You for the Sabbath when we can spend time
49:35 in Your presence, a foretaste of heaven.
49:38 And as it is soon to be upon us,
49:41 we pray that You would anoint our hearts and minds
49:43 with Your Holy spirits
49:45 in Jesus' name we pray, amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17