Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY220074A
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00:04 I want to spend my life
00:10 mending broken people. 00:15 I want to spend my life 00:21 removing pain. 00:26 Lord, let my words 00:31 heal a heart that hurts. 00:36 I want to spend my life 00:42 mending broken people... 00:47 I want to spend my life 00:52 mending broken people. 01:07 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:10 We're so happy you're going to join us today. 01:13 We've got this wonderful program scheduled. 01:15 I can't wait to introduce you to our guest. 01:19 Have you ever desired a deeper relationship with the Lord? 01:25 More confidence in your relationship? 01:29 Well we're going to talk today about our compelling God. 01:32 And our guest... Welcome our guest today with me. 01:36 Our guest today is Clinton Meharry. 01:40 And you've been on here before, haven't you? 01:43 I have... yes. It's been a while. 01:46 Yes. We were here with our son when he played the piano 01:49 and then another couple of times. Um-hmm... yes. 01:51 Well we're happy to have you back 01:53 because we love your topic: the compelling love of God 01:57 because it's so important that we know how deep 02:03 and how incredible God's love for us. 02:05 And so many of us don't grasp that 02:08 as much as we're trying to work on our relationship. 02:11 Yes. It's what changed my life 02:13 and so I'm anxious to share it with others. 02:15 Well let's start off by telling our viewers a little bit about 02:18 who you are and what you're doing today. 02:20 I'm currently the pastor of the Moses Lake and Ritzville 02:24 SDA churches in Washington State. 02:27 I've been there for about 10 years 02:31 and excited to be able to share what the Lord has done for me 02:36 and how He can be a blessing to others. 02:39 I've been to Moses Lake and it's a beautiful area up there. 02:43 Gets a little too cold for me in the winter, but that's 02:46 more on the desert side, isn't it? That's correct. 02:48 Not quite so much rain. Yeah. 02:50 But it's a small area but a beautiful area 02:53 that God created. So you live in a beautiful place. 02:57 Earlier today you recorded a couple of poems. 03:01 In the book that he has: The Compelling Love of God 03:04 that you wrote, you put some beautiful poems in there 03:07 that I really enjoyed. 03:09 So before we listen to one of those poems, though, 03:12 I want to read a scripture that I want to start out with. 03:16 It's in... grab your Bibles... 03:18 it's in Corinthians - II Corinthians - 03:22 chapter 5 and it's in verse 14... 03:26 before we start talking about this compelling love 03:29 that God has. "For the love of Christ 03:32 compels us because we judge thus: that if one died for all 03:37 then all died and He died for all 03:40 that those who live should live no longer 03:43 for themselves but for Him who died for them 03:47 and rose again. " Amen! 03:50 So we're going to listen to one of your poems that you recorded. 03:56 It's actually called Honest With God. 03:59 That can be a little intimi- dating: to be honest with God, 04:04 right? So you enjoyed writing this, right? 04:07 Yes. Recording it for us? Yes. 04:09 So let's take a listen before we jump into 04:11 the main part of our program here. 04:14 I'd like to share the poem Honest With God from the book 04:18 The Compelling Love of God: 04:20 growing into maturity by finding security in Christ. 04:25 When we find security in Christ 04:28 we are able to be honest with God 04:32 which can help us grow into maturity. 04:36 Practicing fraud when dealing with God. How foolish it is. 04:40 All knowledge is His. 04:42 He knows the heart right from the start... 04:44 so why pretend with a loving Friend? 04:47 He knows our need... sees every deed. 04:50 He loves us still and always will. 04:54 Amazing grace for the human race; 04:57 amazing love from heaven above. 05:00 Just as I am He COULD condemn. 05:04 He could neglect; He could reject. 05:07 Instead He dies to save our lives 05:10 with forgiving grace upon His face. 05:14 The ground then shakes. Jesus awakes! 05:18 Enemies tremble; friends assemble. 05:21 Truth is revealed; people are healed. 05:24 Hope is revived for love has survived. 05:29 Joy will soon reign... peace without pain. 05:32 No tears in the eye. Death will then die. 05:38 This guarantee frees us to be honest with God 05:42 with no facade. 05:46 Isn't it interesting how we try to deceive God 05:50 or not be honest with Him? 05:52 Because I think we're embarrassed 05:54 or there's just so many human emotions that keep us 05:58 from being honest with God. 05:59 And yet we know that He knows everything. 06:03 So it's interesting to me that we still try to deceive Him. 06:07 Because I love... I don't know how you came up with the name 06:10 of this book but the compelling love of God 06:13 is something that we need to internalize. 06:16 How did you get so passionate 06:20 for this gospel and for God? 06:24 It came as a result of my own journey 06:27 of pain and not understanding the gospel. 06:31 I did grow up in a good Christian home. 06:35 Went to church regularly 06:37 and that was a positive experience. 06:40 But I'd have to say that sports 06:42 was what we really loved. 06:44 I was the youngest of four boys 06:45 and we as a family played a lot of different kinds of sports. 06:49 When I was a sophomore in high school 06:53 at a Christian boarding school 06:55 the sports leaders were also the spiritual leaders. 06:58 One of those was Jim Micheff who is currently the president 07:02 of the Michigan Conference. Yes. 07:04 And that impressed me. 07:06 And that year I began to read Desire of Ages 07:09 along with the gospels and began to fall in love with Jesus. 07:13 The next year I thought: "Well I'd like to be a pastor 07:15 and help others come to know Jesus as a Friend and Savior 07:19 rather than just going through the form. 07:20 You were quite young then. 07:22 At age 16. Wow! 07:24 But then the next thought was: "Well if I'm going to be 07:26 a pastor I'd better take this seriously. 07:28 How am I doing? " 07:30 And I fell into a trap of Satan. 07:33 I began to focus on me 07:35 and could always find fault with myself. 07:37 Shouldn't have done this; shouldn't have done that; 07:38 and should have done this. 07:41 And began to live with a constant nagging guilt. 07:45 There's a book Steps to Christ 07:47 where the author says that Satan desires to get our eyes 07:52 off of Jesus and mentions four ways. 07:54 The pleasures of the world; 07:56 life's cares, perplexities, and sorrows; 07:59 the faults of others; 08:00 our own faults and weaknesses. 08:03 And he got me on the last one. 08:05 And I didn't have a good understanding of the gospel. 08:10 And I did go on to Southern Adventist University 08:15 taking theology. 08:17 But I was struggling because I... because of this guilt 08:23 and the guilt and the shame. 08:26 I contemplated giving up. 08:30 You know, when you have guilt and shame that leads to 08:33 emotional and spiritual pain and you need a pain reliever. 08:37 Well, of course, the gospel is the pain reliever. 08:40 But if I didn't understand the gospel clearly 08:42 I didn't know what to do with that. 08:44 Should have gone to a pastor or a teacher or a counselor 08:48 but shame leads you to hide. Um-hmm... yes. 08:51 And so I didn't 08:54 and food became a temporary pain reliever. 08:59 Not purposely, but I began to binge on food. 09:02 And that leads to more guilt, more shame, more pain, 09:06 and more pain reliever. 09:08 And so I found myself in the cycle of addiction. 09:10 And out of that is when I kind of was contemplating... 09:14 "Well this isn't working for me. " 09:15 But I knew that Jesus was the answer. 09:17 I knew that going the other direction was not going to be 09:20 helpful. And almost all of us... 09:23 I shouldn't say almost. Satan has something for all of us 09:27 that we are tempted in one of those three ways. 09:30 We all deal with guilt of letting God down at some point. 09:35 Yes. And it's kind of like you say a roller coaster 09:37 or a bouncing ball: up and down, up and down 09:40 between trying to do our best for the Lord 09:42 and then disappointing Him. 09:44 And so it gets on like you say this cycle. 09:47 And we all find a way of self-medicating 09:51 whatever that might be. 09:52 And quite often it can be something good. 09:54 Working in the ministry... but it's a cycle of addiction 09:59 because there's that no under- standing the compelling love 10:02 of God. So my senior year 10:05 I remember hearing Ivan Blazen give a Week of Prayer. 10:11 And he referred to an article 10:14 in the magazine Christianity Today. 10:16 The article was called Perfectionism: 10:19 fraught with fruits of self-destruction. 10:23 Oh, dear! I thought: "That sounds like me. 10:25 I need to get that article. " I read the article 10:27 and it described me. 10:28 Someone trying hard to please God because I wanted to go to 10:31 heaven, be accepted, but you could never measure up. 10:36 And the answer of the article was: 10:38 Jesus accepts us just as we are. 10:41 Well, I knew that. 10:43 Had sung this song many times: How many times? Just as I am. 10:47 And then I'm justified. 10:49 But now I'm supposed to grow into sanctification. 10:52 Right. And that's where the problem was. 10:54 If I wasn't growing like I thought I should be growing 10:57 must be my fault. I knew it wasn't God's fault. 11:00 Maybe I don't have enough faith. 11:03 If I don't have enough faith for sanctification, 11:06 how do I know if I have enough faith for justification? 11:10 And so that cyclical thinking kept me insecure. 11:14 I didn't have an answer at that time, but just out of my own 11:18 sanity's sake I just held onto that truth 11:22 that Jesus accepted me just as I was. 11:24 Went on to Seminary; went on to be a pastor. 11:27 And I would still describe my Christianity as 11:31 performance-based. As long as things were going well 11:34 I felt good about myself 11:36 but if things didn't go well I'd blame myself. 11:40 Still working on that relation- ship, trying to have that 11:43 perfect relationship that we all want 11:46 but not sure how to achieve it. 11:49 Yes, yeah. I talked about righteousness by faith. 11:52 But then I went to a conference at Andrews University 11:58 in 1990... that summer... 12:02 and I heard someone share some Bible studies. 12:05 One of them was on II Corinthians 5:14-21 12:09 that literally changed my life. 12:12 I called my wife and I said: "I will never be the same. " 12:15 And it was that study there in II Corinthians 5 12:21 that really helped me to under- stand the gospel more clearly. 12:25 Paul said there as you read in the verse 12:27 "The love of Christ compels us 12:30 for we judge thus: that if one died for all 12:33 then all died. " 12:37 That's a perplexing statement 12:39 that doesn't make sense 'cause we haven't died. 12:42 And so oftentimes it just goes over our heads 12:45 and we go on. But the person who was sharing 12:48 helped me understand what Paul was meaning. 12:51 It's actually simple when you see it from God's perspective. 12:55 When God created the human race... 12:58 when God created Adam He was creating human beings. 13:00 Took a rib from his side and created Eve. 13:03 And before they had children, of course, they sinned. 13:08 They chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 13:13 And because we all were in him - 13:17 the seed was in him - 13:19 Paul says in Romans 5:18 that all of us were condemned. 13:23 That's the bad news. 13:25 Since Jesus created Adam 13:28 He could become another head of the human race. 13:32 He was the head of Adam. 13:33 And that's what He chose to do: He became a human being. 13:37 And Paul calls Him: "The last Adam. " 13:41 The Hebrew word Adam means mankind. 13:45 And so he represented all of us also. 13:50 And so the justice in the plan of salvation is 13:53 we were redeemed in the same way, we were lost: 13:57 by the choices of these two. 14:00 And so when Jesus went to the cross 14:02 God's perspective is we all went to the cross in Him. 14:08 With Him; in Him. In the Bible, there's a couple of 14:11 there's other illustrations, but a couple of Bible illustrations 14:14 that helped me understand that this is indeed the way 14:16 God thinks. In Genesis 25 he talks about the story of 14:24 Rebekah. She can't get pregnant 14:26 and Isaac and Rebekah prayed and finally, she does. 14:30 And during the pregnancy 14:32 all she knows is there's a lot of kicking going on. 14:34 Yes. She can't go down and have an ultrasound 14:37 and find out that there's twins. 14:39 But she goes to God and says: "God, if 14:42 all is well, if You've answered our prayer, 14:44 why am I like this? " 14:48 And God answers and says: "Two nations 14:52 are in your womb. " 14:54 Now of course literally it was just Jacob and Esau. 14:57 Right. But God sees the whole nation of Israel 15:00 in Jacob. And so God thinks in these terms. 15:06 One person representing a whole group. 15:08 In Hebrews chapter 6 and 7 15:12 Paul's trying to help the Jews accept Jesus 15:15 as our High Priest. 15:19 Well the Jews have a problem 15:21 because Jesus wasn't from the tribe of Levi. 15:25 He was from the tribe of Judah. 15:26 Yes. And so Paul says: "Well, He was like a priest 15:31 like Melchizedek 15:33 and he wasn't from the tribe of Levi. " 15:36 And then in chapter 7:9-10 15:39 he says: "We could say this: 15:42 that the Levites who received tithes 15:46 paid tithes in Abraham 15:51 for he was still in the loins of his father 15:54 when Abraham met him. " 15:55 And so Paul is saying: that the Levites paid tithe 15:58 to Melchizedek because they were in Abraham. 16:01 Now of course they weren't even alive. 16:03 Yes. But that concept 16:06 is what the gospel is based upon. 16:09 And so it's different than our Western way of thinking 16:11 so it's easy for us to miss it. 16:13 And so God sees all of us in Adam, and so when He 16:17 sinned we all were condemned and when Jesus lived a perfect life 16:22 and died on the cross we died in Him. 16:27 And so Paul says: "The love of Christ compels us" 16:30 motivates us, because we under- stand that if one died for all 16:34 then all died. Then verse 15: 16:38 "And He died for all that those who live 16:40 should live no longer for themselves 16:42 but for Him who died for them and rose again. " 16:45 And so what he's talking about is the motivation changes. 16:48 Um-hmm. That's exactly what happened to me. 16:52 Before my motive was I wanted to be a good Christian 16:56 because I wanted to go to heaven. Yes. 16:58 And that's a good desire 17:02 but the motive is selfish. Yes. 17:05 And so this freed me to be motivated by love 17:09 because in Christ I already died the death. 17:12 And then verse 19- my favorite verse in all the Bible because 17:17 it is very simple - yes - "God was in Christ reconciling 17:20 the world to Himself not counting their trespasses 17:25 against them. " That shouted the unconditional love of God. 17:29 No matter who you are or what you've done 17:31 God's saying: "I'm not counting your sin against you. 17:34 You're free to come just as you are. " 17:38 So wanting to... As a pastor you 17:42 need to be able to help others 17:45 find this compelling love of God. 17:47 And I'm sure you've been asking God for guidance 17:51 and understanding and you had a desire for truth. 17:54 Yes. And so by searching for truth 17:57 and praying and asking, God gave you an understanding 18:01 of some verses that you can share with others 18:04 to help them understand how to get out and off of this 18:08 cycle - yes - of condemning ourselves and also 18:13 to understand the joy of living in Christ. 18:18 Amen... amen... yes. 18:20 So understanding this helped me to understand why 18:24 and how God could forgive me. Um-hmm. 18:26 And before when I was still struggling 18:30 I begged God to forgive me: "Please forgive me. 18:34 Please forgive me. " And I'd get up and I wouldn't feel forgiven. 18:38 But after I understood what Jesus had already been... 18:41 He's not counting my sin against me. 18:43 I John 1:9 doesn't say to beg Him to forgive. 18:48 It says to confess... to be honest. 18:50 Simply ask and be honest... yes. 18:51 He said He's: "faithful to forgive. " 18:54 And so now if I happen to fall in some way 18:56 I don't pray: "Lord, please forgive me. " I say: "Lord, 18:59 I'm sorry. I failed... that's not the way I want to live. 19:02 Thank you for already forgiving me" - 19:06 yes - "based upon the promise. " 19:08 And so understanding that forgiveness 19:11 it broke the cycle in the area of the guilt 19:14 and so I was able to be freed from that cycle of addiction. 19:19 And yes, I love to share with people and help others 19:22 come to experience that freedom as well. 19:25 Because God loves us so much. 19:27 He doesn't want us to live in self-doubt 19:31 and not accepting what He's given us. 19:34 He has given us this incredible gift of love and forgiveness 19:38 wanting... That's His desire. What He created us for 19:42 is to be with Him. Yes. 19:44 So I do want to go to heaven but I want to go to heaven 19:48 because I finally realized and understood 19:51 what you've come to the conclusion of: 19:53 I want to be in heaven because I want to be with God. Amen! 19:57 I want to be with Jesus. Yes. 19:59 I want to be in that love, 20:03 that amazing life with God. And then everything else is just 20:08 frosting on the cake. Yeah. 20:10 But the desire to spend eternity with God 20:13 is where understanding the compelling love of God 20:16 comes from. And it DOES free you. 20:19 And having... I love this book. 20:23 I think we have a copy of it 20:26 called The Compelling Love of God. 20:29 And people can get this book and it helps us understand. 20:35 You wrote this book to help people understand 20:37 how to reach this level of relationship. 20:41 Yes. And the subtitle of the book is: Growing to maturity 20:45 by finding security in Christ. 20:47 And that's really the focus of the book 20:49 because I tried it the other way around: trying to find 20:53 security BY growing into maturity. 20:55 But I could never be good enough. 20:56 And so it's finding security in Christ. In His righteousness 21:01 and His perfect life and death that now we're able to live 21:05 for His glory motivated by love 21:08 because of the security He gives us. 21:10 The focus is on God and His love 21:13 and not on our own ability. 21:15 So this made a huge difference in your life: 21:18 understanding this gospel. Absolutely... yes... yeah. 21:21 It helps us to understand or have the assurance of salvation. 21:26 In I John 5:10-11 21:32 I'm just going to look it up 21:33 there and share it with us. 21:35 I John chapter 5. 21:37 Because it helps all of us to have a clearer understanding 21:41 of who God is in really understanding His gospel. 21:45 Yes. It says here: "He who believes in the Son of God 21:48 has the witness in himself. 21:52 He who does not believe God has made Him a liar 21:55 because he has not believed the testimony 21:58 that God has given of His Son. " 22:00 That's a pretty strong word. If I don't believe the testimony 22:02 I'm saying: "God, You're a liar. " 22:04 Well, what's the testimony? Verse 11: 22:06 "And this is the testimony that God HAS given us 22:11 eternal life and this life is in His Son. " 22:15 And so God has earned eternal life for everyone. 22:21 He qualified everyone for eternal life. 22:25 So he then says in verse 12: 22:28 "He who has the Son has life; 22:30 He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. " 22:33 Well God gave Jesus to the world 22:35 and He represented the human race. 22:37 So as I mentioned He qualified everyone. 22:40 But then we know that some people will be lost. 22:42 So the question is: why would anyone be lost 22:44 if He's already given us eternal life? 22:46 In John chapter 3 he talks about that. 22:51 Verse 16 reads - that's a very famous verse: 22:56 "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son 22:59 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 23:02 but have everlasting life. " Absolutely. 23:05 And He's not condemning us. 23:08 And those who are condemned... In verse 19 it says: 23:13 "they are condemned because they love darkness 23:17 rather than light. " 23:19 And so that... so if you love darkness, if you love sin, 23:22 what you're saying is you don't want a Savior from that sin. 23:26 And so when Jesus comes 23:29 you would rather not be with Him. 23:32 In fact, you'd rather die and cry for the rocks and mountains 23:35 to fall on you. And so Jesus is - out of love 23:39 and sadness - He honors our choice. 23:41 And that's the reason, anyone will perish in the end. 23:45 Because the compelling love of God 23:47 one of the components of that 23:49 has to be free choice. 23:51 Exactly. 23:52 Love IS free choice. 23:53 It can't be anything BUT free choice. 23:56 So God always gives us this free choice. 23:59 And it depends on what we choose to do with our life. 24:02 If we choose to try and follow God, 24:04 if we choose to accept this gift that He gave us 24:08 that He desires for us, 24:10 we have eternal life. But if we choose to... 24:14 to follow the world... if we decide others things 24:17 in our life are more important and that's what we want 24:19 and what we desire... If you love the things of the 24:23 world, you will be miserable with God. 24:26 You don't want to spend eternity with someone that you don't know 24:30 don't like and actually hate. 24:32 You would not be happy there 24:34 and it would ruin it for yourself and everybody. 24:37 So God's compelling love is free choice. 24:41 We will be in heaven if that's where we choose to be. 24:45 Amen... that's right. And if we don't, 24:48 that's our choice. 24:52 But a lot of people struggle because they don't understand 24:55 this compelling love. 24:57 Yeah. And I think it's helpful 24:59 to understand how Jesus is a complete Savior 25:02 from all aspects. 25:04 Well, there's like... You talk in the book about 25:07 three different aspects of sin. Yes. 25:09 What are those aspects? 25:11 There's the wages of sin is death. 25:15 OK. And then there's slavery to sin. 25:19 Jesus says if you practice sin you are a slave to sin. 25:23 We can't help but sin without a Savior. 25:26 And then there's all the evil effects of sin. 25:30 You know, there's the disease. 25:34 Being a paraplegic and all that, quadriplegic. 25:37 Can you imagine getting to heaven and God comes in 25:40 with a nice golden wheelchair. 25:42 "Here's this wonderful wheelchair! " 25:43 That's not what I'm expecting. 25:45 You expect a new body. 25:48 All the evil effects of sin are gone. 25:50 So all 3 of those are important. 25:52 And through the perfect life and death of Jesus 25:55 with us going through Him to the cross 25:58 He freed us from the wages of sin. 26:02 In Him, we did die. 26:04 And that's how and why God can qualify us for eternal life. 26:09 He pays all the wages for all of that sin. 26:14 Yeah. A little illustration: 26:16 when my daughter was three years old 26:18 and my son was about four 26:21 I took them both with me to a small Christian bookstore. 26:23 I was trying to find a greeting card. 26:25 After I found it I said: "OK kids, let's go. " 26:27 And my son was there but I didn't see my daughter. 26:30 Couldn't figure out where she went. 26:32 And I was looking all over and couldn't find her 26:35 and finally called the police. 26:39 And just then she came out from behind 26:42 this fake-looking fireplace that was a heater. 26:46 Oh... So relieved! I put her on my shoulders 26:49 and paid for the card and we go. 26:53 And I take her off, and I feel my hair sticking up. 26:57 And I come down and there's caramel on her face 27:00 and now on her blouse and now on my hair. 27:03 I realized she had taken some caramel 27:06 and at three years old felt like she needed to hide. 27:10 Well, I went back and as her parent 27:14 I took responsibility for her actions 27:19 and paid for the candy. 27:22 Because she couldn't... she has nothing to pay with. 27:25 And that's what Jesus did. As our heavenly Parent 27:29 He took responsibility for all our sin 27:34 and took that with Him to the cross. 27:37 But as adults we have a tendency to 27:40 feel responsibility for our own sin 27:45 and try to pay the price for our own sin. 27:48 And it doesn't work - no - be- cause we could never pay enough, 27:51 we could never earn enough, we could never be good enough. 27:55 You're right. And we feel like we fail Jesus. 27:58 If we do understand that He paid that price, 28:00 then it's like we failed Him when we didn't live up to 28:03 what we should be doing that we know to do. Yeah. 28:06 So again... guilt. 28:07 So understanding what He has accomplished for the human race 28:10 it's mine because I'm part of the human race. 28:13 And I can rest in that truth. 28:15 And then when I want Jesus as my Savior 28:18 the Holy Spirit comes in and He begins the process 28:21 of saving me from the slavery to sin, the transformation. 28:25 So we have to keep in mind that there's that song 28:28 I think of that says when Jesus was on the cross 28:31 He was looking down through time. 28:34 He paid our sin... He paid the wages for our sin forward. 28:39 Not just backward - yes - but forward because He saw 28:44 all these sins. Amen. So He already paid for that sin 28:47 that He knew we were going to commit 28:49 that we didn't maybe want to or desire to. 28:52 But that's all paid for, and it's hard to wrap our mind 28:56 around the fact that Jesus paid this price - 29:00 the wages of sin forward - yes - through the end of time. 29:05 Yeah, and by doing that... what it enabled Him to do is 29:09 be just when forgiving us, 29:11 qualify everyone for eternal life, 29:14 and restore our freedom of choice. 29:16 'Cause if He didn't do that all we'd have is condemnation 29:18 from what Adam brought. 29:20 And then the transformation that happens with the Holy Spirit 29:23 doesn't make us more qualified. 29:25 It enables us to bring glory to God, 29:28 be a blessing to others as the fruit of the Spirit is 29:31 growing out of our lives and enables us 29:34 to want to be with Jesus. 29:37 So if the transformation doesn't happen 29:39 we don't want to be with Christians 'cause we like 29:43 the things of the world. I remember vividly 29:45 before I became a Christian 29:46 that I did not want to "hang around" with Christians 29:50 because they just... even though I ignored it and tried 29:53 to act like that wasn't it but I just felt guilty 29:56 being around them because I knew my life wasn't 29:59 what it should be. So you do not want to be around 30:02 what makes you uncomfortable and makes you feel guiltier. 30:07 Yeah, yeah. And so as we come... surrender our lives to Jesus 30:12 the Holy Spirit comes in. 30:13 Romans 12:2: "Be transformed 30:18 by the renewing of our mind. " The peace. 30:20 Yeah. Well, we have believed a lot of lies. 30:24 Satan tells us lies; the world tells us lies; 30:26 we tell ourselves lies. Most of the Christian world 30:29 today believes Satan's first lie 30:32 "You shall not die. " 30:34 Yeah. There's so many people that 30:36 are Christians that believe there's some kind of eternal 30:40 life for everybody in one place or the other. 30:43 And that was Satan's first lie. 30:46 And so it's very hard for me to understand. 30:48 "How can you believe Satan's lie? " 30:50 It's right there in the Bible. Right... exactly. 30:53 Yeah, so the Holy Spirit's process is leading us into all 30:57 truth. And He will lead us as fast as we are willing 31:00 to surrender. He's very... patient? patient and careful 31:05 'cause if He showed us everything all at once 31:07 it would overwhelm us. 31:09 But little by little. One illustration of my life 31:14 and this is my story, not going to be in anyone else's story 31:19 but I grew up I mentioned with lots of sports. 31:23 And when I was in Green Bay... I should say when I was in 31:27 Wisconsin... I heard a lot about the Green Bay Packers. 31:30 Yes. And it's very popular there, 31:35 especially when they were doing well. 31:36 Getting excited about it. 31:38 And I remember the Holy Spirit tugging on me a little bit. 31:42 And I thought: "Well maybe I'd better not waste 31:46 too much time. " That's kind of what I thought. 31:47 And I'd struggle a little bit. I wasn't sure if I really 31:50 accomplished not wasting too much time. 31:53 And then we moved to Indiana 31:55 and I didn't hear about the Packers as much 31:57 but then I heard about the Indianapolis Colts. 32:00 And they were doing pretty good 32:02 and so I began to follow them. 32:05 And again the conviction came 32:07 and I'd: "OK... gotta not waste too much time. " 32:12 But it was more specific. It says: "The passion 32:15 for the sports was stealing the passion that belong to God. " 32:19 Those were the thoughts that came to my mind 32:21 as I tried to rationalize. 32:23 Well lots of people watch the sports and they seem to be OK. 32:26 But I knew that was rationalization. 32:28 I didn't want anything to come between me and God. 32:31 And the thought came again: "The passion for the sports 32:34 is stealing the passion that belonged to God. 32:36 It's poison to your soul. " 32:39 And when I heard that, I knew I had to make a decision. 32:45 But I didn't want to for two reasons: I enjoyed it. 32:48 OK... that was one. But the REAL reason: 32:50 I was afraid of failure 32:52 'cause I'd been wrestling with this. 32:54 Even sometimes I'd say: "Well I'm not going to watch it 32:56 any more" and then I'd get back into it. 32:59 Um-hmm. And so... But again I didn't want anything to come 33:02 between me and God and apparently, this was happening. 33:06 And I said: "God, I surrender. " 33:10 "I don't want this to steal the passion 33:14 that belongs to You. You're going to have to help me. " 33:21 And as soon as I said that the thought came 33:23 "Cancel the newspaper. " 33:25 And that made all the sense in the world 33:27 'cause what would I do? I'd get the newspaper 33:29 and first thing I'd do is go to the sports page 33:31 and read about who's playing who 33:35 and that would fuel the passion to want to watch the next game. 33:39 So I canceled the newspaper. 33:41 And not having that around that begins to die 33:47 and the passion and the love for the Bible began to be restored 33:51 to its rightful place. 33:53 And so that's an illustration of the Holy Spirit 33:56 bringing conviction. And I say that that's my story 33:58 'cause I don't condemn a person if they watch sports. 34:01 Each of us have our own journey. 34:02 Each of us have our own journey. Yeah. 34:04 Because I know that my passion was reading 34:10 because I learned that as a little girl as a way of escape. 34:14 So my passion was reading. 34:17 So I had to give up my library card 34:21 because I would do the same thing. 34:23 "I'll only get a couple of books or one book or whatever. " 34:26 But when you cut back from a passion 34:29 you can do it only for a little while 34:31 and then you get back into the routine again. 34:35 So each individual... Satan looks for... each person 34:40 has their own unique issues. 34:45 So your issue is YOUR issue. 34:47 And so you need to find out what your issue is 34:50 and then with prayer and the Holy Spirit 34:54 will give you an answer of how to... 34:58 what you need to do. What I needed to do 35:01 to change that passion from a worldly issue 35:06 even if it's nothing bad. It's not sinful to read. 35:09 It's not sinful to read sports. 35:11 But Satan has a way of tempting Christians with 35:14 something that's "not that bad" 35:16 and then stealing like you say their passion from the Lord. 35:20 Yes... yeah. And so as the Holy Spirit leads us 35:24 we grow to maturity and that enables us to be 35:28 a blessing to others and enjoy being with God. 35:31 Yes. And as I mentioned the evil effects of sin 35:37 that one He overcomes at the same timing when He gives us 35:40 brand new bodies and then eventually creates a new heaven 35:43 and a new earth. So as we understand 35:45 how He saved us from all three it helps bring perspective. 35:50 Because some people get very disappointed with God 35:53 when He doesn't heal a loved one. 35:57 Well He hasn't promised healing all the time. 36:01 When. He hasn't promised the healing when we may want it. 36:06 Right. But He has promised it at the second coming. 36:08 Um-hmm. And so we need to understand 36:10 how He saves. Now what are the three? Recap those 3 sins again. 36:16 The wages of sin is death. 36:18 The answer to that is embracing that Jesus is 36:23 the One who died for the sins of the world 36:26 and I went to the cross with Him. 36:28 So the debt HAS been paid. Yes. 36:30 Then the second one? 36:31 Slavery to sin. 36:33 Without a Savior we can't help but sin. 36:36 And so the Holy Spirit leads us into truth 36:39 and delivers us from the slavery to sin. 36:41 Um-hmm. And that enables us to bring glory to God 36:44 and be a blessing and enjoy being with God. 36:46 And the evil effects of sin. 36:49 And that is overcome at the second coming. 36:52 Yes... yes. So what part do we play 36:57 in this response? What is our... 37:01 We all want to "do something. " We want to be involved. 37:04 So what? Jesus had done it all. 37:07 God has a perfect plan. 37:09 It's all taken care of so what part DO we play 37:12 that is not works? 37:15 Our part is being honest with God. 37:17 Confession. Tough to do. Yeah... and 37:20 it's in the context of His love 37:22 that frees us to be honest 37:25 when we know that He doesn't condemn us. 37:29 And so then once we are honest with God 37:34 then confess that and then repentance. 37:38 Repentance is a Greek word metanoia. 37:42 Most people have heard of a different Greek word 37:44 metamorphosis. 37:46 Metamorphosis is a change of body. 37:48 Metanoia is a change of mind. 37:51 Paranoia is something gone wrong in the mind. 37:53 Metanoia: change of mind. 37:55 So I was going away from God 37:57 I choose to go God's direction. 38:00 I have no power to carry out that choice - 38:02 um-hmm - but that is my respon- sibility to make the choice. 38:06 And so when I choose to surrender the Holy Spirit 38:09 does that work within us of transforming us. 38:12 And then... So a lot of this is our own choice 38:16 and our own decision. The biggest part is making that 38:19 decision and then trusting the Lord to guide us 38:23 through how we accomplish that. 38:26 Yeah. But our CHOICE is just making that choice first. 38:30 Something that was helpful to me 38:32 in looking at some of the Bible verses 38:34 like I mentioned earlier in my struggle with time 38:38 I wasn't sure if I had enough faith or the right kind of faith 38:41 you know. And so how do I know if I'm really justified? 38:44 Looking at the Bible Romans chapter 3:23-24 38:48 says: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory 38:52 of God. Being justified freely by His grace 38:57 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. " 39:00 Now that word all is the noun for all three of those phrases. 39:05 All have sinned; all fall short of the glory of God; 39:07 all being justified freely by His grace. 39:12 So because Jesus represented all of us 39:15 and went to the cross 39:16 He justified the human race. 39:20 Yes. Romans 5:18: 39:22 "By Adam's choice all of us were condemned; 39:26 even so by the righteousness of One 39:28 the free gift came to all men resulting in justification 39:31 of life. " And so when I understood that He justified 39:36 the human race by His perfect life and death 39:41 I believed that truth because it was true... 39:46 not to make it true. 39:49 So before my faith: OK, that made me justified 39:53 which turned my faith into a form of merit. 39:59 And in the book Faith and Works 40:01 Ellen White says: "Be exceedingly careful 40:04 to not turn faith into a form of merit. " 40:07 And here's how it opens the door to legalism 40:10 because a lot of things are tied to faith. 40:13 So if I really believed then I'd be baptized. 40:16 So if that's my thinking then I would say: 40:19 "Well I'm really not justified until I'm baptized. " 40:22 Tithing is an expression of faith 40:25 so if I really believed I'd tithe. 40:27 So I'm really not justified until I tithe. 40:30 Sabbath keeping is an expression of faith 40:32 so I'm really not justified until I keep the Sabbath. 40:34 We don't say it in those terms 40:37 but when my faith is what makes me justified 40:40 but our thinking kind of goes that direction. 40:43 And so when we realize He created the truth 40:48 He justified us. 40:49 I believe that truth because it is true. 40:53 Now everything is a response to what He's already done. 40:58 Yes. I understand that and that makes a huge difference. 41:03 I relate some things to like marriage. 41:07 You do not marry someone and then fall in love with them. 41:10 When you fall in love with them and you marry them 41:12 you don't follow the rules because you marry them 41:15 and you have these rules. 41:16 You follow... You automatically 41:20 do what you want to do for this person because you love them. 41:24 Right. And that's what God is asking of us. 41:26 Yes. "Choose to be married to me. " 41:28 "Choose to have this relation- ship that I've already 41:31 done all this for you 41:32 and I just want you to grow in that love 41:35 and that relationship. " 41:37 And that frees us to respond. 41:42 Children. You know, if you do something for a child, 41:45 they run up, they throw their arms around you 41:48 and they just love on you because that's a response to 41:53 something that you did that they liked. 41:55 So... Understanding this concept of justification 42:01 helps understand the Sabbath - 42:03 oh yes - more carefully because God says 42:06 the Sabbath... How does the gospel relate to the Sabbath? 42:09 So the Sabbath is a sign that God created us 42:13 but it's also a sign that God is the One who sanctifies us. 42:18 Exodus 31:13. 42:20 And how He sanctifies us... 42:21 that's what the gospel's all about. 42:24 In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 it says: 42:27 "By that will" - the will of Jesus going to the cross - 42:30 "By that will we HAVE BEEN sanctified 42:36 through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. " 42:40 And then there's a balancing statement 42:42 in verse 14: "He has perfected forever 42:46 those who are being sanctified. " 42:50 And so these three aspects of the sin problem 42:53 He makes us holy in every way. 42:55 So legally He makes us holy 42:58 through the perfect life and death of Jesus. 43:00 He has made us sanctified 43:02 and we stand perfect in that 43:06 all the while we're growing. 43:08 So our assurance of salvation is based totally upon 43:11 Jesus' righteousness for us: 43:13 His perfect life and death. 43:15 But then we grow in sanctification 43:18 and we always have the freedom to stop that process. 43:22 You know if I had said to the Holy Spirit, to God, 43:25 "Lots of people watch football. I think it's OK" 43:28 and began to justify that and I pursued that 43:31 what I'm saying is: "I don't want a Savior from that. " 43:34 No matter what it is. And so when I'm saying that 43:37 I'm stopping the process. 43:39 And if I continue down that road 43:41 I will be like we talked about earlier 43:44 I'd cry for the rocks and mountains to fall on us. 43:46 But all the while I AM growing. Day by day surrendering - 43:50 by choice - by day-to-day choice I stand perfect in Christ. 43:55 And so the Sabbath is a constant reminder 43:58 of this everlasting gospel. 44:00 We have been made holy 44:02 through the perfect life and death of Jesus. 44:04 We are being made holy 44:06 through the indwelling Holy Spirit spiritually 44:09 and we will be made holy physically 44:11 at the second coming of Jesus. 44:13 On the Sabbath He wants us to remember 44:15 all of those things - yes - and to worship, spend time with Him. 44:19 People ask me you know, especially 44:22 family or non-Adventists: "Well what do you do 44:25 on the Sabbath? What is the Sabbath for? " 44:27 And I realize it's not a list of rules and regulations. 44:31 The Sabbath was created to spend time with God 44:35 and to grow my relationship. 44:38 So if I decide what I'm going to do or not do 44:41 the only question is: "Does this grow my relationship with 44:44 God? " Yes. "Is this good for the gospel? " 44:47 "Does this help someone else? " 44:50 In other words, outside of myself 44:53 looking out of myself and looking to God 44:56 and looking to Jesus is this something 45:00 that helps my relationship grow with Jesus? Yeah. 45:04 That's how I answer it. 45:06 And that answer can be different for everyone. 45:08 One thing may help you grow. 45:12 Something that you might do on the Sabbath helps you 45:14 grow your relationship but it may not help someone else. 45:16 So the Sabbath, what you do 45:19 or don't do, is very personal 45:21 but it's also very much focused 45:23 on God. Yes. With the Holy Spirit. 45:27 Go to the Holy Spirit and pray about something. 45:30 The Holy Spirit always answers us. 45:32 Do we listen? And do we choose to follow? 45:36 Yeah. When we understand the Sabbath in light of the gospel 45:39 it protects us from both legalism and lawlessness. 45:43 Oh absolutely! 45:45 Yes. Lawlessness being "I'm free from doing... " 45:50 Free to do whatever I want to do. Yes. 45:52 "It's not a big deal if I sin because He's paid it all 45:55 so I can just kind of relax and do whatever I want to do. " 45:59 There are two sides of the boat to fall out of. 46:00 Let's stay in the boat with the Lord 46:03 and our free choices. 46:04 Also, I think this gospel 46:07 relates to the three angels' messages too. 46:10 Absolutely. In verse 6 it says there 46:14 the everlasting gospel will go 46:16 to all the world. And so that's 46:18 how Jesus is saving us from all 46:20 3 aspects of the sin problem. 46:21 The healthy response to the gospel 46:24 is verse 7: "Fear God; give glory to Him 46:28 for the hour of His judgment is come; 46:29 and worship Him. " The unhealthy response 46:33 is verse 8: "Babylon is fallen because 46:36 she MAKES all nations drink. " 46:40 Or with verse 13 I mean chapter 13: 46:42 "He makes all nations worship. " The counterfeit system. 46:47 And so the opposite of the gospel is force. 46:52 And so the gospel goes forth 46:55 and people are called to respond one way or another. 46:57 And then 9 through 11- the third angel's message 47:00 is the call to decide. Everyone must decide. 47:03 And the Sabbath being a sign of the gospel 47:08 is basically an outward representation 47:14 of where your heart is. Have you embraced the gospel? 47:17 The counterfeit will be the opposite. 47:21 Sunday has become a counterfeit of it. 47:24 Now most people who keep Sunday they don't think of that. 47:27 They're worshiping God; they love God. 47:28 There's many devout, loving Christians - bros. and sisters - 47:32 who go to church on Sunday. I don't condemn them at all. 47:37 But the Bible talks about the Sabbath being the sign 47:40 of the everlasting gospel. 47:43 And Satan hates those who keep the commandments of God. 47:47 Revelation 12:17. 47:48 And God identifies those who keep the commandments of God. 47:51 And so there will be a commandment... there's always 47:54 and outward demonstration that shows where your heart is. 47:59 So my conviction is the Sabbath versus Sunday 48:03 will be an outward demonstration 48:05 as to - yes - are you embracing the everlasting gospel 48:08 or a counterfeit. 48:10 It's very hard for me to explain 48:13 that there is, because I've been a Sunday worshiper 48:16 and a Sabbath worshiper now from a conviction of what 48:20 the Word of God says. 48:23 And there's something about the Sabbath that is not explainable 48:26 that is different; it is unique. 48:29 It's like I step in to where God inhabits the Sabbath. 48:34 You know our time is running out. 48:36 I want us. There is a Signs of the Times thing 48:39 A Love Letter from Jesus. 48:41 I want people to be able to know about this 48:44 and to be able to get it. So if you would like to contact 48:48 Clinton, you can go to the website which is: 49:00 OR you can contact him through 49:03 e- mail which is: 49:13 'Cause we've covered a lot of things here 49:15 that might bring up questions 49:17 that people want. You know 49:20 there's... isn't there something special? 49:23 So people can order the book 49:25 or the Love Letters but we also have 49:29 an app that has been put together called: 49:40 And so we put The Compelling Love of God 49:43 on there - the first half - 49:48 That takes you to an app, right? 49:50 That'll take you to a website 49:52 where Troy, the one who developed the app, 49:56 will explain how they can get The Compelling Love 49:59 on their phone or tablet. 50:02 And they can also invite some people to join them. 50:06 And it becomes like a small group devotional virtually. 50:11 So it can be? A Bible study group 50:14 learning about the compelling love of God thru this app. Yeah. 50:18 And this is part one: the first half of the book 50:20 focused on finding security in Christ. 50:23 It's a great discipleship tool 50:26 if you want to introduce someone to Jesus. 50:28 And you can walk with them through the app. 50:31 You can TEXT each other through the app. 50:33 There's questions you can type 50:36 and both of you or whoever's on the group can see it. 50:39 And it also gives some encouragement 50:41 because when someone else is doing it with you 50:43 it helps you to stay on task 50:46 and do it on a daily basis. 50:48 It sounds like it's a two-way street... 50:50 a two-way thing here... 50:51 where the church members can do it to grow themselves first 50:54 as a small group and then go out with friends 50:59 and family. It's so hard. 51:01 Let's put that up on the screen one more time. 51:09 OK, that one right there: DevoteAbility.com/Love 51:13 That is a wonderful tool right there. 51:17 Yes. It's brand new. I think it will be an excellent way 51:20 for people to use it. Both the app and the material 51:23 on there is free. OK. 51:25 But also people like paper copies 51:28 and so some people would rather have a paper copy - 51:30 yes - and they can order that as well. 51:32 OR they can actually download all the lessons 51:34 on the website for free. 51:36 On the website. They can go to that website again 51:39 CompellingLove.org Yeah, CompellingLove.org 51:42 and get all of the things from there. 51:45 We are going to take... We're going to be right back. 51:48 Don't go away. We are going to take 51:50 a little short break here 51:51 and then we'll have some closing thoughts for you, OK? 51:55 So stay tuned... we'll be right back. |
Revised 2023-08-02