Participants: Sebastien Braxton
Series Code: 09GYC
Program Code: 09GYC000002
|
00:12 Good morning, let us kneel for prayer.
00:20 Dear heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity. 00:24 We thank you for waking us up this morning. 00:27 I ask that you will please bless those who are 00:30 traveling in today, give them traveling mercies. 00:33 Thank you so much that we are here at GYC where 00:36 we can receive a blessing. 00:38 I ask you to please empty us of ourselves and fill us 00:41 with your Holy Spirit. 00:43 I pray especially that you will be with Sebastien this 00:46 morning, anoint his lips and help him to speak Your word. 00:50 Let him be a vessel for You. 00:52 Thank you so much for loving us, and dying on the cross 00:55 for us and we can't wait for that great GYC reunion 00:58 in heaven, in Your precious name, Amen! 01:08 Sebastien: Oh GYC do you love Jesus? 01:11 Audience: yes we love Jesus. 01:14 Sebastien: Are you sure you love Jesus? 01:16 Audience: we are sure we love Jesus. 01:19 Sebastien: And why do you love Jesus? 01:21 Audience: here's why we love Jesus. 01:23 Audience and Sebastien: because He first loved me, 01:27 that's the reason we all ought to love Him. 01:31 Audience and Sebastien: oh how I love Jesus 01:36 oh how I love Jesus, oh I love Jesus 01:45 because He first loved me. 01:50 How many of you, that's what made you get 01:52 at 6 in the morning? 01:54 Because you love Jesus right? Amen! 01:57 This morning I am going to share a message with you 02:01 entitled "But Now". But Now! 02:05 Before we jump into the message, and while the rest 02:09 of the latecomers are strolling in, I'm assuming with 02:12 their Bibles, I just want to ask you guys four favors. 02:15 Is that okay? Just four! 02:20 This will be something to help set the tone for our 02:24 meetings throughout the mornings. 02:26 My first request from you at GYC this morning is to 02:33 pray and be intentional about this not being 02:37 a regular meeting. 02:39 As GYC has been in existence for about eight years. 02:44 As an organization we exist to help ourselves not exist. 02:51 That is the reason why GYC exists. 02:54 It is a movement, and GYC as a movement therefore means 02:59 it is not an event. 03:00 It is not something that happens for five days at a 03:04 Convention Center while we stay in nice hotels eating 03:07 food that needs a lot of prayer. 03:13 I believe we can give them a chance this morning, 03:15 we will see what they have for us. Amen! 03:17 GYC is a movement, and what that means is we must always 03:23 be moving towards our goal, which is to finish God's work 03:29 in this generation. 03:31 If that is the goal, and if GYC is a movement, 03:35 then you are GYC. 03:38 GYC functions all year long, as long as the feet of young 03:44 people are fast about their Father's business. 03:47 Then GYC is a movement. 03:49 It's when you stop moving that GYC dies. 03:53 It's not when the conference ends, that is not when 03:57 GYC dies, GYC dies when your feet, as young people, 04:00 stop moving about your Father's business. 04:05 Thus I need two requests as my second favor. 04:09 There are too kinds of attendees. 04:12 There are those who have come to GYC for the first time. 04:17 For you my challenge is, you came as you are, we welcome 04:22 you as you are, but our prayer is that you will not stay 04:26 as you are. Audience: Amen! 04:28 We must always be seeking higher ground. 04:31 As a result of that, if this is your first GYC, pray in 04:35 your heart and be intentional in your mind that this 04:39 will not be a regular weekend. 04:41 I'm not going to go back to do more of the same. 04:44 It is not a mountain top experience, this is actually 04:47 the bottom of the mountain. 04:49 It's when you leave GYC that you understand spiritual 04:52 mountain climbing to the true mountaintop. 04:58 For those of you who have come to GYC before. 05:01 I know that for many of us who have attended for many 05:04 years, you can become disillusioned. 05:07 How many more GYC's do we have to have? 05:10 How many more great speakers can we come up with? 05:13 How many more great and powerful seminars do we need 05:16 to continue you to go through, for every generation? 05:20 We must be improving as a movement and that means for 05:23 those of you that attended for years, we need your 05:26 presence as well because God does not just use speakers 05:31 He also uses attendees. 05:33 Our young people, here in this place, for the next five 05:37 days, four days, who may not make it to morning or 05:42 evening devotions, for whatever reason. 05:45 But you will see them in the hallway. 05:47 They may be living in the room next to you. 05:51 Therefore God needs you to be an agent of change. 05:57 So with the theme "Unashamed" we have to leave behind 06:02 all the political correctness that keeps us bound from 06:06 being true to the calling that God has upon our lives. 06:10 If we are truly that generation, that means we must 06:14 be what no other generation was. 06:16 Not even Paul's generation. 06:19 So my challenge is, if you see a brother or sister doing 06:23 something that does not represent the spirit of Christ, 06:28 tap them on the shoulder and call them out. 06:32 If you see a young sister a little too close to a young 06:35 brother, tap them on the shoulder. Amen? 06:39 Tap them on the shoulder. 06:44 My third request and favor is that I hope that you guys 06:48 bring a pen and paper when you come to listen to the 06:52 Word of God. 06:53 We have this mindset that I have heard everything that 06:56 has ever been preached. 06:57 We have this mindset that what else could come 07:01 from this book? 07:03 But the truth of the matter is lives are continually 07:06 changed by the power of the Word of God. 07:08 That means for us to think arrogantly that we can get 07:12 nothing from when the Bible as being opened. 07:16 This is in actuality the thoughts of God being 07:19 expressed to humanity. 07:21 You cannot exhaust Him, so as my recommendation always 07:26 is, you take out a piece of paper, pen or pencil and 07:30 ask yourself three questions about every sermon. 07:33 It helps me as a preacher, some sermons are hard to 07:36 listen to. Amen? 07:39 Maybe you guys don't know what I'm talking about. 07:41 Maybe your pastor is the most dynamic speaker in 07:44 North America. 07:45 Three questions you want to ask yourself. 07:48 Number 1. what is it that I heard in this sermon 07:52 that I have never heard before? 07:55 You are always going to learn something new. 07:58 Second question, where was my mind when the Word of God 08:04 was being preached? 08:06 Now you know sometimes you listen to the Bible being 08:09 preached and your mind starts wandering, yes? 08:11 You don't know why, maybe you ate that pizza too late. 08:14 Or you were hanging out with your friends strong last 08:18 night, but your mind starts wandering. 08:20 That is not a negative thing, you need to write that down 08:23 because even though the preacher may be talking about 08:26 "But Now", the Holy Spirit is trying to talk to you about 08:29 your relationship. 08:31 Where two or three are gathered, they He is 08:34 in the midst of them. 08:35 God has a message for every single person seated here. 08:41 Where was your mind when the word of God 08:43 was being preached? 08:45 And lastly, what am I going to do now, 08:49 that I've heard this message? 08:54 Specific action. 08:56 You know when you look at creation, which is in question 09:02 right now, we say that God created the world by His word. 09:09 That means that the Word of God always produces action. 09:15 Amen? So that means we live in a world right now that 09:20 when God spoke to a whale to swallow a man 09:23 and not digest him. 09:25 When God speaks to a donkey, it will open its mouth. 09:28 When God tells the Sun to stop while Joshua was fighting, 09:32 the sun stopped. 09:34 But there is one part of creation that keeps the power 09:39 that is within the Word of God captive. 09:41 That is humanity. 09:43 God can speak to us and we will do nothing. 09:46 Simply because He is bound by the will. 09:49 We must choose to surrender to the Word of God. 09:53 Everything that is in opposition to the Word of God. 09:58 So your third question is, what am I going to do now 10:03 that I have heard this message? 10:06 My last request is about a four letter word, anybody 10:12 know what I am thinking? 10:14 No, it is not to pray, but you should do that for me, 10:17 the entire time. 10:21 Okay, the four letter word starts with an A, M, 10:27 Oh, Amen! Oh Amen! 10:31 I want to reiterate something Justin said last night. 10:35 Amen is not a black word, Amen. 10:37 Audience: Amen! 10:38 I go to preach at black churches, and I just stand up. 10:41 Amen! I didn't say anything. 10:45 God bless my brothers and sisters, but it is important 10:49 for us to recognize that at the end, in the book of 10:54 Revelation, when the victory comes. 10:56 All creation black, white, Hispanic, Asian, whatever 11:00 you come from, before the flood, after the flood, 11:03 if you were righteous and you got the victory through 11:06 Jesus Christ there is one word that will come 11:08 out of every mouth, that will be Amen. 11:11 So that means it is not a cultural word. 11:14 Amen, the first time it is used in the Bible is in the 11:17 book of Numbers, chapter 5. 11:19 Unfortunately regarding a wife that was unfaithful 11:22 to her husband. 11:23 The priest was to take her to the gate of the camp, 11:27 pronounced a curse, and she was supposed to respond 11:30 by saying, Amen! which means so let it be 11:34 as you have said. 11:35 So if there is something that comes from the message that 11:41 resonates with your heart. 11:43 Something that you are saying, I want what that man or 11:46 that woman just said, so let it be unto me as they have said. 11:50 Then you say, Amen! 11:53 If there is something in the message that stepped on 11:55 your toes, and you are like oow, I'm going 11:59 to have to give that up. 12:00 You know you need to say, Amen, so let it be as you have 12:04 said unto your servant. 12:06 Amen? Audience: Amen! 12:09 so from the left, from the right, down the middle, 12:12 I'm a preacher that likes conversation. 12:16 So please do not withhold your Amen's. 12:19 Let's pray. 12:25 Mighty God, everlasting Father, we thank you for the gift 12:31 of life and we know it is not because we were so 12:35 righteous yesterday that You gave us life today. 12:39 But it is because Your Word says that Your mercies are 12:43 new every morning and great is Your faithfulness that 12:47 even when we do not believe, yet God abides faithful 12:51 for He cannot deny Himself. 12:53 Father your mercies endure forever and we are praying 12:58 for this one meeting that You will help us by the 13:03 power of Your Holy Spirit, that this will not be a 13:07 regular meeting. 13:08 That You will travel from heart-to-heart, and from 13:12 mind to mind impressing upon the soul the message that 13:16 You have for that one heart. 13:18 That we may all obtain higher ground and to develop 13:22 a Christ-like spirit that is unashamed. 13:29 Teach us Lord as we read Your word and take this Your 13:33 manservant, whom you know is but dust in Your sight 13:37 and breathe upon him the breath of God and 13:40 fill him with thy favor. 13:42 This is our prayer, and we ask You that it be our experience 13:49 for we ask in Jesus name, Amen! 13:51 If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to the book 13:55 2 Samuel chapter 12. 13:57 2 Samuel chapter 12, when you are there say, Amen! 14:01 If you are not there say, have mercy. 14:06 2 Samuel 12:1, are you there? Amen! 14:12 Audience: Amen! 14:15 This is what the word of God says, "and the Lord sent" 14:20 "Nathan unto David. And he came unto him and said unto" 14:25 "him, there were two men in one city; the one rich, and" 14:29 "the other poor. 2. The rich man had exceeding many" 14:34 "flocks and herds: 3. But the poor man had nothing, save" 14:38 "one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished" 14:41 "up: and he grew up together with him, and with his" 14:45 "children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his" 14:49 "own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him" 14:52 "as a daughter. " 14:54 Sounds like the way we treat pets in America, right! 14:56 I know some people do treat their pets better than their 14:58 children. I was like mercy. 15:02 But apparently it is not a new concept. 15:04 Verse 5, "and David's anger was greatly kindled against" 15:08 "the man; and he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the" 15:13 "man that has done this thing shall surely die. " 15:17 6. "And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he" 15:22 "did this thing, and because he had no pity. " 15:25 7. "And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. Thus" 15:29 "saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee King over" 15:33 "Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;" 15:37 Now we know that the situation that is coming by the 15:41 prophet Nathan has followed David's sin with Bathsheba 15:45 and his desire to cover it up. 15:47 We find now that Nathan comes, and this seems to be a 15:51 precedent in the life of David, that he gets rebuked 15:55 under stories, people tell him a story and he responds to 15:59 the story and then the prophet, or the person will say, 16:03 you are the person who is guilty of the very 16:05 thing in this story. 16:07 He comes and he says, you know David you were a shepherd 16:10 boy, there were two men in one city. 16:14 One man, a rich man, had many flocks and herds. 16:19 That means he had multiple groups of sheep, but at the 16:22 same token this one gentleman, a poor man, he only had 16:26 one lamb and that lamb was so precious to him that it 16:30 grew up as if it was one of his own children. 16:34 When a traveler came in, it was the custom of hospitality 16:38 in the Old Testament, they wanted to prepare 16:41 something for this wayward traveler. 16:43 The rich man looking over his many flocks and herds, 16:47 he said to himself, you know, I don't want to use any 16:51 of my sheep, I'm going to go get his sheep. 16:55 So he takes the one man's lamb, and as he takes this 17:00 man's lamb he kills it, and feeds the traveler. 17:03 And David's response is complete utter shock. 17:06 As a shepherd, we are talking about a man who will 17:09 fight a bear to defend his sheep. 17:11 We are talking about a young man who will wrestle down 17:14 a lion to defend his sheep. 17:18 So you can only imagine how precious and heartfelt 17:22 this is for David. 17:24 He responds with this condemnation in 2 Samuel 12. 17:28 David says, as surely as God lives, the man who did this 17:34 thing shall surely die. 17:36 Now it is interesting, the Old Testament, in the book of 17:40 Exodus, tells us that if you steal a man's lamb you only 17:43 have to restore fourfold, it is not worthy of death. 17:48 But yet we find that with David, he goes beyond the 17:51 condemnation of God. 17:53 He is harsher on this particular crime, 17:56 than God Himself is. 17:58 It is interesting because the next verse says David, you 18:01 saw just how you condemned this man, well guess what? 18:04 You're the man, you're the man. 18:09 We live in a time where you're the man doesn't have any 18:13 negative connotations. 18:15 They come up and say will brother Sebastien I heard your 18:18 preaching, you're the man, no Jesus is the man. Amen! 18:22 Jesus is the man, but in David's case I want to add a 18:26 different definition to, that your the man. 18:28 You see often times we are harsher upon the evil we see 18:32 in others then we are in our own lives. 18:35 We sit down and we watch CNN. 18:37 We open up the newspaper, we heard some stories from the 18:41 mission fields about the kinds of evil and wickedness 18:44 that exists in the world. 18:45 We sit back like David listening to the Jerusalem news, 18:49 a man stole another man's lamb. 18:52 We are like, man this guy should be killed. 18:56 Then the message comes back to you and immediately 18:58 says you're the man. 19:01 We read about the fact that this genocide that happened 19:05 in Rwanda, if you just pick up one book to read the 19:09 stories of what the men did to other men, men did to 19:13 other women, and you see the evil that was in 19:17 the heart of individuals. 19:19 They said they looked at the genocide as a 9-to-5 job. 19:23 Get up at 9 and go out killing till 5 PM and come back. 19:27 1 million people died in less than 100 days. 19:31 We look at that and say, look at this gross evil. 19:34 The fact that all these nations did not intervene, 19:38 we condemn the evil that we see around us, 19:41 but what do we do about the evil in our own hearts? 19:44 We are often harsher, and when you see the wickedness 19:47 in that man, when you see the wickedness in that woman, 19:50 do you see that you are the man? 19:52 You see friends what we are talking about is this, 19:58 what caused them to commit this genocide in Rwanda? 20:02 What caused the heart of Hitler to rise up and decide to 20:05 kill millions of Jews? 20:08 What caused Stalin to cause the death of these people? 20:10 It was a three letter word called sin. 20:12 If that is what sin leads to, and sin is in me, 20:17 then you're the man. 20:20 We think because our sins are not as gross, 20:23 God is showing His distaste for sin. 20:26 In our own hatred of the evil in others, every time we 20:30 look at the news, every time we cracked the newspaper, 20:33 He says gets what, he grew up in a good Christian 20:36 home just like you. 20:38 He went to a nice good Academy and school just like you. 20:42 What happened to him? 20:45 To me that is why Timothy McVeigh, blowing up this 20:50 building in Oklahoma city, with such a big deal to America, 20:53 because we thought terrorist are out there. 20:58 Terrorist are out there and that is exactly our 21:01 mentality in the church. 21:04 The greatest opposition that comes in the church, 21:07 tends to be within the church. 21:10 Can you say Amen? Audience: Amen! 21:13 Somewhere and someplace in some office sin has taken hold 21:16 of a man or a woman. 21:19 We may condemn the actions of a pastor, we may condemn 21:23 the actions of an elder or another church member, 21:25 but here comes back to you. 21:27 Be it a Nathan, 2009, you are the man. 21:31 You are the man. 21:33 I remember listening to this illustration about a wealthy 21:37 businessman, he was listening to an apologist, 21:39 Robbie Zacharias. 21:41 Him and Robbie had a meeting, and Robbie was recounting 21:44 this meeting, and he said he sat down with this wealthy 21:48 businessman, and Robbie's presentation was about the fact 21:51 in order for you to believe right and wrong, 21:53 you have to believe in God. 21:55 You can't ground morality without God. 21:58 So the wealthy businessman looks at Robbie across the 22:00 table and says, you know I want to believe there is 22:03 right and wrong, I want to believe that there is evil 22:06 in the world but I don't want to have to believe 22:07 in God to believe that. 22:12 As he is going on and on his assistant was sitting by. 22:15 His assistant looked at the wealthy businessman and he 22:19 said, I hear you're talking about the evils around you. 22:22 I hear you talking about the evils in society. 22:25 But what do you do about the evil in your own heart? 22:30 The man paused for a moment, and he said I guess 22:35 when I committed it is a victimless act. 22:40 Robbie, providing the proper logical kill, told the story 22:45 of a prime minister in Japan who had committed suicide. 22:53 When his wife woke up in the morning she saw a book open 22:56 on their table, De Profundis by Oscar Wilde. 22:59 He had these words underlined, "as terrible as it has" 23:05 "been, what I have done to others, nothing was as" 23:10 "terrible as what I had done to myself. " 23:13 Evil is not victimless, can you say Amen? Audience: Amen! 23:16 You may think that you can sit at your computer and watch 23:20 your pornography by yourself, but the Bible talks about 23:24 those who oppose themselves is in 2 Timothy chapter 2. 23:28 He talks about you that sin against me. 23:31 You are sinning against yourself. 23:33 Sin hurts God because it is self-destructive. 23:36 Are you hearing me? 23:39 So you have in this concept, we need to look at the evils 23:43 around us, this will change the dynamics of how we 23:46 interact as a church. 23:47 When we see a brother or sister make a mistake, 23:50 we see an individual having this weakness, we say oh, I look 23:53 at them and the fingers come back, you're the man. 23:57 Sin is in you. 24:02 My question is, is there a change that you are seeking in 24:05 your heart this morning? 24:07 Is there a change that you are seeking in your life? 24:11 And the most fundamental question, I believe, 24:14 to this generation of post-modernism, 24:16 how does one change the longings of the human heart? 24:20 We are a generation about being real. 24:23 We are generation about being open. 24:26 It's come to the place now where we are saying, you know 24:28 what, we're just honest, we are wicked inside. 24:31 And you know what we now give people virtue for being honest 24:34 about being sinful, well at least he is being real. 24:38 That is what we say, at least he is being real. 24:42 Yet he is being real, real wicked. 24:45 The fact that a person is being honest about their sin 24:49 does not justify it, it does not give it any merit. 24:52 Now we do need some more authenticity in the church, 24:56 but that is for another sermon. 25:00 My question is this, we have all these recommendations 25:03 for how we believe the human heart can be changed. 25:06 Are we really going to change the human heart by 25:10 education? Audience: no. 25:12 Is it really going to be sitting in a classroom listening 25:15 to someone teach me about the history of hatred, that is 25:18 going to make me stop hating? 25:19 Are you really going to deal with my lust by publishing 25:23 physiological books on sexuality? 25:26 Are you really going to do with my pride by talking to me 25:29 about Napoleon at Waterloo? 25:33 Friends, Jesus is the only cure for the evils in society. 25:37 And Ellen White says this, hanging on the cross Christ 25:41 was the gospel. 25:43 How can you be unashamed of the only cure for 25:47 the evils of society? 25:51 How can we be ashamed? 25:53 My belief is this, because we have not experienced that 25:58 change, deep down we don't really believe 26:02 Jesus can change people. 26:04 Deep down we don't really believe that Jesus can bring 26:08 a person from here to here. 26:11 From darkness to light, from blindness to sight, from the 26:16 power of Satan unto the power of God. 26:20 But the first place to start is within your own heart. 26:25 If there is a change that you are seeking this morning, 26:28 this is the time to get it changed. 26:32 Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of John 20. 26:36 Gospel of John chapter 20 when you are there say Amen. 26:42 Audience: Amen! If you are not there, say have mercy. 26:46 John chapter 20, are you there? Audience: Amen! 26:51 notice with me verse 30 and 31. 27:00 "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence" 27:03 "of his disciples, which are not written in this book:" 27:07 "but these are written, that you might believe that" 27:11 "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing" 27:15 "ye might have life through His name. " 27:18 Now it's interesting that John puts this at the 27:21 end of his gospel. 27:23 You pick up the Bible for the first time, someone tells 27:26 you that Ellen White talks about reading the Gospel John as 27:29 a good place to start. 27:31 You start reading the Gospel of John and as you are 27:33 plowing through one, two, three, four, five, all the way 27:36 to chapter 20 and now boom, he lays it on you. 27:39 Oh, by the way this is the point of my Gospel. 27:42 So now you have to go back and read the gospel with new 27:46 eyes, so you wonder why certain stories are not in John's 27:50 Gospel that are in Matthew's Gospel. 27:52 Why is it that certain accounts are not found 27:55 in John's Gospel? 27:56 Well John says in verse 30, he says and many other signs 28:00 truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are 28:04 not written in this book. 28:07 Which means my Gospel is not a historical account. 28:10 I wasn't trying to catalog history. 28:13 I wasn't trying to necessarily count from prophecy to 28:17 the fulfillment in the experience of Jesus. 28:20 The purpose of my Gospel, he says, but these are written 28:25 that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, 28:28 the Son of the living God. 28:30 If this is the purpose of John's Gospel, every single 28:34 story, every single passage, every single encounter in 28:38 Jesus' life, He is trying to say this is why you should 28:42 believe, this is why you should believe that Jesus is the 28:45 Christ and that in believing you and I may have 28:48 life through His name. 28:50 John says faith is not an intellectual assent alone. 28:54 Faith does not just belong in a dogma or doctrine. 28:58 Faith does not just belong in a creed. 29:01 Faith belongs in an individual. 29:03 Faith belongs in Christ. 29:06 And because faith is for a person, and I'm trying to get 29:11 you to believe in a person, John says. 29:14 I'm trying to get you to believe in a man who can flip 29:16 tables and receive children with the same hands. 29:19 That is what I am trying to get you to believe in, 29:22 that He is the Christ. 29:26 So that means that when you look at John's Gospel, he is 29:29 building a case in an argument from story to story, from 29:33 person-to-person, this is why you should believe it, 29:36 that Jesus is the Christ. 29:40 But I believe friends that more than any other gospel, 29:45 John records the ability of Jesus to change lives. 29:49 It has some of the most accounts of Jesus' one-on-one 29:53 encounters with individuals in His ministry. 29:57 Okay, just to do a quick overview. 29:59 We meet in Chapter 3 Nicodemus, the Pharisee. 30:03 Then we go and see that Nicodemus was wealthy and 30:07 well respected and knowledgeable. 30:09 You go to women of Samaria an outcast, the downtrodden. 30:13 You deal with the man at the pool of Bethesda, 30:15 completely hopeless. 30:18 Then the woman caught in adultery, the guilty. 30:20 The blind man, the helpless. 30:22 Lazarus, the apparently irreversible. 30:26 Jesus comes in and changes individual lives. 30:30 What we find here, this becomes the greatest argument 30:34 for Christ, His ability to change lives. 30:37 Because they can argue for post-modernism, 30:39 they can argue for evolution, 30:41 they can argue for all these different things in 30:43 theories, but the point is deep down every heart 30:46 seeks to change. 30:47 Every heart has habits they want to break, 30:49 evolution won't do it. 30:51 Every heart has something, you can get a PhD in 30:54 psychology and still not deal with your mental problems. 30:58 Because Christ, John says, is the One. 31:02 My question is, has God changed your life? 31:09 Would your story make it in the, these are written category 31:15 so that you might believe? 31:17 Are you an argument for the Messiahship of Jesus, 31:24 that He is the Christ? 31:29 Is there someplace in the diary of your experience where 31:33 God has changed your life? 31:35 I want to look at one story in the gospel of John, 31:38 which is where we are going to finish. 31:40 Go with me to John chapter 9. 31:47 John chapter 9 and we're going to start in verse one. 31:50 To me this is one of the most exciting 31:53 stories in the Bible. 31:58 When you are there say Amen! Audience: Amen! 32:00 Does anybody need mercy? 32:04 John 9:1, "and when Jesus passed by, he saw a man which" 32:12 "was blind from his birth. " 32:16 2. "And his disciples asked him saying, Master, who did sin, 32:20 " this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" 32:25 3. "Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned," 32:28 "nor his parents: but that the works of God should be" 32:31 "made manifest in him. " 32:34 Now I want you to follow this, John chapter 8 Jesus was 32:37 about to get stoned, He was passing out of the Temple 32:40 so they wouldn't kill Him. 32:41 So Here he is, the Savior is escaping for His life, 32:45 and while He is running for His life, He passes by a man 32:49 who was born blind. 32:51 Now let me ask you a question? 32:53 If you are running for your life, and you know there are 32:56 a group of people trying to kill you, would you stop? 33:02 Would you stop? Well that is the kind of Jesus we serve. 33:09 He is not afraid for His life, 33:11 He's afraid to pass you by. 33:13 Can you say Amen! Audience: Amen! 33:15 He is not afraid for His life, He is afraid to pass you by, 33:20 and He sees a man who has had an issue in 33:24 his life from birth. 33:25 Blind from birth, as Jesus passed by, He wasn't looking 33:30 for the blind man, that was not on His agenda. 33:33 He was just passing by, and while He was passing by, 33:38 they see this man who was born blind. 33:41 While they see the man the disciples are like, whose 33:44 fault is it? Did his parents mess up? 33:46 Did he mess up? I thought that was interesting, 33:48 can a man sinned before he was born? 33:50 That is interesting. 33:53 And Jesus says in verse 3. "Neither hath this man" 33:56 "sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God" 34:00 "should be made manifest in him. " 34:02 Now I want you to think now for yourself in your 34:04 personal life, I don't know what issues you and I have 34:07 been dealing with from birth. 34:09 There are some weaknesses in your life and mine that we 34:13 have had for a long time. 34:14 Can you say Amen! Audience: Amen! 34:15 There are some struggles we have been dealing with since 34:18 we came to know Jesus for ourselves. 34:21 There are some skeletons in the closet, some of our 34:24 darling sins that does so easily beset us. 34:29 You may wonder, why is it Lord that I had to go through 34:34 this from birth? 34:36 Why is it that I had this issue since I was a child? 34:39 Why is it that I am the one, when you talk about my 34:43 travels in ministry around this country and I 34:45 sit down with young people having been abused 34:48 by Seventh-day Adventists? 34:50 I sit down with young people, I was preaching at one 34:54 place and this story has never left my mind. 34:58 After I finished preaching this young lady came up and 35:01 said Sebastien I need to talk to you about your sermon. 35:04 I said yes how are you doing, how can I help you? 35:09 She started tell me about sexual abuse she was 35:14 experiencing, she said I don't know what to do. 35:22 So we pray together, we talked. 35:25 The next day I preached again, she came up with a friend. 35:30 Her friend looked at me and she looked at me and said 35:34 Sebastien, she has something she wants to tell you. 35:39 I said okay, so as we were sitting on the side people 35:44 are conversing and ready to leave the meeting. 35:47 The girl looks at me and immediately her face turns 35:52 bright red and she starts crying. 35:54 Her friend says go ahead just tell him, just tell him. 35:58 While she is trying to encourage her friend the girl 36:02 collapses on the floor and starts crying hysterically. 36:05 And I knew why, and I knew why. 36:11 Every one of us has a why question, why me Lord? 36:16 Why is this my struggle? Why is it so hard for me? 36:20 Sometimes we come into the church and feel like we are 36:23 the only one, Amen? 36:25 You are struggling with some thing and that's the Devils, 36:27 it has to be one of his best lies, just you. 36:31 No one else in GYC is struggling with this, just you. 36:35 We come here ashamed, we come here like we want to get 36:40 involved, I want to do this but we are ashamed. 36:42 Jesus says, friends, we don't have to be ashamed of what 36:45 has gone on in the past. 36:47 We don't have to be ashamed of where we came from. 36:50 What we have struggled with, deep down even if you were 36:53 born with the issue. 36:55 You are saying why me? Jesus says, so that the works of 36:58 God can be made manifest in your life. 37:01 God wants to show Himself strong in your behalf. 37:04 He wants to show the miracle working power of Jesus, 37:07 that there is more than power in the blood, there is 37:17 healing, restoration and for you and I to come back. 37:18 You know the Bible says that we are all born in sin 37:19 and shaped in iniquity. 37:21 We've all had a blindness from birth, 37:23 and Jesus doesn't pass by, He doesn't pass by. 37:29 And He says, why? So that the works of God could be 37:35 manifested in your life. 37:37 So notice what Jesus does, how He heals this man. 37:40 John 9, we read verse three, and went on to verse four, 37:45 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is" 37:50 "a day: the night cometh, when no man can work. " 37:53 5. "As long as I am in the world, 37:55 "I am the light of the world. " 37:57 6. "When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground," 38:00 "and made a clay of spittle, and he anointed the eyes" 38:03 "of the blind man with the clay," 38:04 I thought this was interesting. 38:08 The man is already blind, Jesus makes clay from dirt. 38:15 He puts it over the eyes of the blind man. 38:18 He is already blind and then He gives him these 38:22 instructions, in verse 7. "And he said unto him, go," 38:27 "wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by" 38:31 "interpretation, sent.) He went his way there for," 38:35 "and washed, and came seeing. " 38:37 Can you say Amen? Audience: Amen. 38:39 Now follow this, he anoints the eyes of the blind man 38:41 with this clay, He spits on the ground makes clay and 38:44 anoints the eyes of the blind man and says go find the 38:47 pool of Siloam and wash. 38:49 Wait a minute Lord, how come the blind man doesn't say 38:53 but I'm blind Jesus? 38:55 How am I going to find a pool of Siloam? 38:58 So his eyes, he is walking through the streets of 39:02 Jerusalem inside the temple with mud hanging off his 39:05 face looking for a pool to find his sight. 39:09 You can imagine he's groping around and talking to people 39:13 hey, am I near the pool of Siloam? 39:16 You have some people that help you on your journey to 39:18 Jesus to be healed, and some people that don't. 39:22 Some people thought this was a practical joke. 39:24 Oh yeah, there's the pool of Siloam, 39:26 leading him right into a wall. 39:31 But then you have other people say, 39:33 brother what are you looking for? 39:34 A man named Jesus told me to go find a pool of Siloam, 39:38 so I could wash. 39:40 They take this blind man by the hand, with this mud on 39:43 his eyes, and they say here's the pool of Siloam. 39:47 I can only imagine that as he goes down to the pool, 39:51 he stumbles in and falls into the water and kneels down 39:55 and start washing his face. 39:57 But this time when he opens his eyes, he can see. 40:02 The first thing the blind man sees is his own reflection. 40:07 I have never seen myself, he sees water dripping down 40:11 his face and looks up and the reflection of a bright 40:15 blue Jerusalem sky. 40:17 So as he is going out of the water, he sees blue for the 40:20 first time, he looks over to see red for the first time. 40:24 He looks over and sees a young child for the first time. 40:27 He sees a beautiful woman for the first time, have mercy. 40:34 As he is walking around he realizes and comes back seeing 40:39 and here we have the only person that we know he wants to 40:43 see is Jesus, but he only had heard His voice. 40:47 If he heard His voice he would know, but he never seen 40:51 Jesus, even if he saw Jesus he wouldn't know Him. 40:58 He wouldn't know Him. 40:59 You see friends, when Jesus works a change in your life, 41:02 the first thing that happens is you see yourself for 41:05 who you really are. 41:07 When your eyes come back, can you say Amen? 41:09 Audience: Amen. 41:11 You see yourself for who you really are. 41:12 He comes home and sees mom for the first time, it is as 41:17 if this is an entire new world for the blind man. 41:21 He is looking at the situation and everything he sees 41:24 is beautiful to him, but at the same token he doesn't 41:27 just get to see beauty, he doesn't just get to see colors, 41:30 and a sky and a man embracing his wife, or a child 41:34 running into the arms of his father for the first time. 41:37 He also gets to see evil for the first time. 41:39 He has only heard, he never saw, he never saw. 41:46 Of course you know what happens. 41:49 He comes back seeing in verse eight. 41:52 As soon as Jesus works that change in your life and mine, 41:56 notice what happens. 41:58 "The neighbors therefore, and they which had seen him " 42:00 that he was blind said, is not this he that sat and begged?" 42:04 9. Some said, this is he: others said," 42:08 "he is like him; but he said, I am he. 42:12 10. Therefore said they unto him, how were thine eyes opened? 42:15 "11. He answered and said, a man that is called Jesus" 42:19 "made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me," 42:23 "go to the pool of Siloam and wash: and I went and washed 42:27 and I received sight. " 42:28 You see friends as soon as you have a "but now" 42:31 experience people will always remind you of 42:34 what you used to be. 42:36 You'll come back from GYC with this holier than thou, 42:39 you came from GYC and have all this training. 42:41 You want to go out witness in the streets now? 42:43 I remember you. 42:45 I remember when I first became a Christian, 42:46 my mother she was a Seventh-day Adventist before I was born. 42:50 Left the church when I was probably one or two years old. 42:56 I remember as soon as I became a Seventh-day Adventist, 42:59 I came home to visit for Christmas holiday and was a 43:02 vegetarian, you know that didn't go over well. 43:06 My mom was like, I'm making your favorite. 43:08 I know you like salmon and filet mignon for Christmas 43:11 dinner, like mom I'm vegetarian now. 43:13 What! You're vegetarian, you're getting too much into 43:19 this Adventist thing. 43:20 Mom I'm not trying, I'm just saying that I'm trying to 43:24 be healthy and take care of the temple of God. 43:27 Boy, I was Adventist before you were born. 43:29 I know about the prophecies, I know about Daniel 2. 43:33 I know about Daniel 7, I'm okay mom that's great. 43:37 Don't try to come here like your boss. 43:39 No, I'm just vegetarian. 43:44 I remember when you used to eat double whoppers from 43:47 Burger King and I am like I'm sure you do, but now, 43:50 are you following me? 43:53 You see friends when people bring up your past it only 43:56 makes the change of God that much more powerful. 43:58 Audience: Amen. 43:59 Wait Sebastien, aren't you the guy that used to be out 44:01 there with the baggy jeans? With your hat cocked and 44:03 dressing like you're clothes were made for your big brother? 44:06 Yes that was me, but now. 44:10 So here comes the blind man now, he comes back and 44:13 everyone is like hey, aren't you the guy that sat and 44:17 begged on the side of the road? 44:18 Oh well, I can get a job now because I can see. 44:21 But now, this is what it is. 44:24 There is something about our past that makes us ashamed. 44:31 For many of us when we went out yesterday for outreach 44:34 no one responded, we are like, 44:36 Man, I'm a terrible canvasser. 44:39 Some of us were knocking on doors to do some outreach, 44:43 no Bible studies, I'm not good at this outreach thing. 44:47 Some of us are trying to get victory over sin, yesterday 44:50 I failed so therefore I am not going to 44:54 get victory today. 44:56 Jesus is all about "but now" experience. 44:59 That means that the present is a contrast to the past. 45:02 So you come and say yeah, the devil reminds you failed 45:06 yesterday, you're right, "but now. " 45:09 By the way brother, aren't you the girl that went to GYC, 45:11 messed up wearing your skirts too short, attitude too 45:15 strong? No sir, "but now," that is what this is about. 45:19 The reason why we are ashamed is because we haven't had 45:22 a "but now" experience. 45:24 You see the blind man, in order for him to deny Jesus, 45:29 he has to deny his own sight. 45:31 How can you make me ashamed, a man named Jesus told me 45:35 to wash and I can see now. 45:37 Well sir you know according to Socrates and Plato and 45:41 different philosophies, that's great but I can see. 45:46 Explain! Can you imagine that, philosophy class 101. 45:51 Blind Man can see, explain? Audience: Laughing! 45:56 This is where we are friends, this is where we are. 46:01 So he comes John 9, and I want to speed through 46:07 the story, the Pharisees are opposing him. 46:09 His parents won't claim him. 46:10 Here is your son who just got to see for the first time 46:14 and you can only imagine the discouragement in the mom's 46:17 heart, especially when people in Jerusalem are, what did 46:20 you do that your son was born blind? 46:24 Now Jesus heals your son and you don't want to stand for 46:27 Jesus? He is the one who gave your son sight. 46:31 Friends you have to believe your parents aren't always 46:34 going to receive what happens at GYC. 46:37 Even though they appreciate the change that Jesus has 46:41 worked in your life and mine. 46:44 Sometimes they are afraid to stand. 46:48 So the parents won't claim him, so now he is talking to 46:53 the Pharisees in John 9. 46:56 This is what happens and this is where we are closing. 47:03 Verse 24, "then again called they the man that was blind" 47:07 they called him, blasted him, and told them to come back. 47:12 "And said unto him, give God the praise: we know that" 47:17 "this man is a sinner. " They are talking about Jesus. 47:21 Verse 25, "and he answered and said, whether he be a" 47:26 "sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that," 47:30 "whereas I was blind, now I see. " 47:33 Amen! You see friends he is standing before the 47:36 Pharisees, men who have memorized the 47:39 Old Testament word for word. 47:41 Men who are strong to think. 47:43 Men who can reason, and the blind man says you cannot 47:47 reason me out of my faith in Jesus. 47:49 How can you reason, they are like look, 47:51 give God the praise, we know this man is a sinner. 47:54 And the blind man says, you know what I'm not interested 47:56 being intellectual, I'm not interested in being the 47:58 smartest apple in the bunch. 48:01 That is not my goal. 48:04 Whether He be a sinner or not I do not know, but there is 48:06 one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. 48:10 BUT NOW, but now. 48:16 You see friends we come to GYC, 48:18 you may not know many things. 48:23 I can't break down 2300 day prophecy. 48:25 I can't give a seminar on how to reach the 48:27 neighborhood for Christ. 48:29 I can't get up there and preach these devotional messages, 48:33 I can't be the one to run logistics. 48:35 Whether you be a sinner or not, whether Jesus is this, 48:40 whether you come break down the virgin birth, 48:42 whether you can break down the theological necessity 48:45 of the three Angels messages, whatever the case may be. 48:48 You need to know just one thing, are you following me? 48:52 Do you know one thing this morning at GYC? 48:56 You see when people try to attack the blind man, 48:58 when they try to disprove him, when they try to reason 49:01 him out of it, they cannot reason him to deny Jesus is 49:05 to deny my experience. 49:07 This is where we are lacking, and experiential knowledge 49:10 with the power of God. 49:12 When we know what it is like to be changed. 49:15 When we know what it is like to be delivered. 49:17 When we know what it is like to not buckle under temptation, 49:20 when the devil lays it on thick. 49:22 When your mom, who is not converted, lays it on hard. 49:25 You are like mom, I'm trying to keep the Sabbath, 49:28 why are you asking me to do all these things? 49:33 You may not know many things, but do you know one thing? 49:41 Do you know one thing? 49:46 Have you had a "but now" experience? 49:50 You see the man that wrote that hymn that we love so 49:53 much, John Newton, Amazing Grace. 49:59 How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me 50:04 I once was lost but now am found, 50:07 was blind but now I see. 50:10 John Newton used to be a wicked man. 50:16 He grew up under his father who was actually very 50:18 educated and John Newton, a very young age in his teens, 50:24 got into sailing, went out with his father and was a 50:29 rogue kind of child. 50:32 While he was in his little escapades doing the devil's 50:35 business, he ended up getting kidnapped and became a 50:39 slave in Africa. 50:41 He was held there captive for almost a year, and it just 50:45 so happened that one of his father's friends happened 50:49 to be passing by this particular port. 50:52 John was trying to send out signals so somebody can 50:55 help him, they caught the signal came and picked up 50:58 John Newton and on his way back to England 51:01 they hit this storm. 51:04 While they are in this storm, they thought for sure the 51:07 ship was going down. 51:09 We're going to be all lost, we are going to be destroyed. 51:11 He said everyone was manning their thing, pulling on the 51:14 ropes, trying to get buckets of water out of the ship. 51:16 While he is doing this he said it occurred to him, 51:19 he said, man where is God? God have mercy on me. 51:21 He said when he said that out of his mouth, it hit him, 51:27 why would God be merciful to me? 51:30 I run a slave ship, he takes female slaves from the 51:34 bottom of the ship rapes them and puts them back. 51:42 John says there is no reason for God to save me. 51:46 No reason! Right after he prayed this, in his heart, 51:51 he recanted and said God won't save me I'm a wretch. 51:55 I'm a wicked man, the ship survives. 51:59 He got converted and dedicated his life to ministry. 52:04 He wrote thousands of hymns. 52:06 His good friends of William Cowper who wrote, Oh For 52:10 A Closer Walk With God. 52:14 While John Newton came in, he wanted to pen the words 52:18 of this song, God's Grace, the story that 52:25 he turned to was John 9. 52:28 John Newton had a "but now" experience. 52:33 I remember reading about how he was 82 years old, 52:39 he was 82 years old and a man said, John how are you doing? 52:42 He said my memory is not that great, but I remember 52:46 two things, I'm a great sinner and Jesus is a great Savior. 52:50 That is what I remember, he says that's all, 52:53 I know two things for sure. 52:58 My question to us this morning at GYC is, do we know? 53:02 Do you know? 53:04 I remember my sister used to watch this show, 53:07 Extreme Makeover, maybe you have heard of it. 53:10 On this television show, my sister was telling me about 53:14 how they take ordinary people who apparently have no 53:18 style or fashion sense. 53:22 They bring them onto the show and redo their hair, 53:25 give them a new wardrobe, makeup, sometimes they do 53:27 plastic surgery on the person. 53:29 They do Liposuction and reduce their weight. 53:32 They put them on a weight program and a exercise regime. 53:35 They go through the whole 9 yards. 53:39 The whole point of the show is for the reaction of your 53:43 family and friends when you go back home. 53:46 That's the whole point, and the reaction is filmed on tape, 53:51 so the family is sitting there and you hear the 53:53 knock at the door. 53:55 They opened it up and you see the mom go crazy, 53:59 John you look great, he's got a nice suit on, nice shoes, 54:02 fresh haircut, whatever the case may be. 54:05 Then they say this is Extreme Makeover, they may have 54:09 shows to change your fashion. 54:11 They may have shows to change your hairstyle, your house, 54:16 but what shows do they have to change your life? 54:23 This morning some of us need an extreme makeover and 54:29 when you go back home the reaction of your friends and 54:33 of your family, every head is bowed, every eye is closed. 54:40 Every head is bowed, every eye is closed. 54:43 Maybe there is a person, a young person this morning who 54:48 says, Lord I need a "but now" experience. 54:52 I need my eyes opened. 54:54 I need the works of God to be manifested in my life. 54:59 I need you to break down the strongholds in my past. 55:03 I don't have to be ashamed. 55:05 If you want to say this morning, Lord I want a "but now" 55:10 experience and when I get that but now experience now you 55:16 know why you can be unashamed. 55:17 You can't get me to disbelieve in Jesus. 55:21 You can't get me out of creation because He's re-created 55:25 Today, if that is your wish say, Lord I want a "but now" 55:29 experience, I want you to stand to your feet. 55:31 I want a "but now" experience and GYC is just the pool 55:39 of Siloam so you can come and wash. 55:42 Then go back and see. 55:45 Now my last appeal is very specific. 55:49 There are some of us who may have never, ever gotten a 55:57 victory over particular thing. 55:59 It is just that one nagging sin, that one thing I have 56:04 been dealing with for a long time. 56:06 I went to Africa a young man he has been struggling with 56:09 masturbation for 10 years. 56:11 Young ladies have told me they are struggling with 56:13 pornography for years. 56:15 Young people dealing with anger and hatred, even racism. 56:23 You say, look Lord this struggle, 56:28 I need victory this week. 56:31 I need to have a "but now" experience and I want you to 56:33 come to the front so we can have special prayer for you. 56:36 I need specific, necessary victory over this 56:41 thing in my life. 56:45 I want you to come to the front because for many of us 56:49 this is where the rubber meets the road. 56:51 We can talk about Christ, we can talk about the power 56:55 of Jesus, but the point always boils down to do we have 56:58 victory and can we keep getting victory? 57:02 We are saying, Lord today, there is something in my life, 57:05 perhaps since I was born, I need victory today. 57:11 I need to have that "but now" experience. 57:13 Don't go back to the same. 57:17 Go ahead press in, let's make room. 57:19 Then we are going to pray, I want to make sure everyone 57:23 can come there is plenty of room in my Father's kingdom. 57:28 Saying, Lord, I need victory, I need victory this morning. 57:34 Every single day of my life and you want to come and say 57:40 Lord today, something very specific, I need You to break 57:45 this by the power of God. |
Revised 2014-12-17