Participants: Wes Peppers
Series Code: 12GYC
Program Code: 12GYC000012
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00:12 Have you been blessed this week?
00:14 Amen. 00:16 This morning we're gonna have Wes once more. 00:19 And I just want to tell you a little about him. 00:22 When I was in AFCOE in 2009, he was actually-- 00:27 he actually had cancer at the time 00:29 and it was at that time that I really got to see a man 00:33 who loves the Lord with all of his heart. 00:35 He was witnessing to the people in the hospital 00:38 and it was just phenomenal to seeing someone, 00:42 a man who loves the Lord that much. 00:43 And it's just been a blessing to me 00:45 to know him over the last few years 00:47 and to just see his ministry progress 00:50 as he has gone on. 00:54 Good morning GYC. Good morning. 00:56 Happy New Year. Happy New Year. 00:59 Praise God. 01:00 GYC, you have been trained, you have been equipped, 01:04 you have been prepared 01:05 and now it is time to go back home 01:08 to your individuals churches, to your individual campuses, 01:11 to wherever you may be 01:13 and start putting these things into action. 01:16 Have you sense God calling you to something 01:19 higher in your life this weekend? 01:21 Have you sensed God calling you to action 01:24 in your life this weekend? 01:26 Praise God for that. 01:28 I believe this morning 01:30 that God is going to bless us in a special way. 01:32 I'm looking forward after this meeting 01:35 to Pastor John Bradshaw 01:38 and you're gonna be excited, you're gonna be inspired, 01:40 one of my favorite preachers John Bradshaw. 01:43 And don't idolize him 01:46 but he's one of my favorite preachers. 01:48 And so I'm looking forward to after preaching 01:50 getting to hear a good sermon. 01:52 Now I need-- I need your help with something. 01:55 Can you guys-- are you guys willing 01:56 to help me this morning? 01:58 Amen. 01:59 I'm flying home today 02:02 and tomorrow is my 8th wedding anniversary. 02:07 Eight years with my beautiful wife 02:10 and I'm so excited about it. 02:12 And I'm wondering if you all would be willing to wish her-- 02:17 I guessing me too, a happy anniversary. 02:21 She's watching right now on the GYC website. 02:24 How many of you be willing to help me with that this morning? 02:26 So on the count of three I'm gonna say-- 02:28 I ask you to say happy anniversary Marion. 02:32 Can you do that? 02:33 Ready? All right, dear. 02:35 I hope she's watching online. One, two, three. 02:40 Happy anniversary, Marion. Amen. 02:45 I wish you guys were that loud 02:46 when you said amen during our-- praise God. 02:50 Thank you for that so much. You guys did fantastic job. 02:54 I'll invite you wherever you are. 02:56 We have a lot to cover this morning. 02:57 I want to invite you wherever you're to just bow your heads 03:01 and I'm going to kneel this morning 03:03 and ask God's blessing to be with us. 03:06 Father in heaven, 03:07 we're delighted to be here on this final day of GYC. 03:12 It is bittersweet. 03:14 We're sad to see it go 03:16 but we're excited at the prospect 03:18 of what you're going to do in us 03:21 and through us in 2013. 03:24 Lord, we want Jesus to come. 03:27 We want the Holy Spirit to be poured out in a marked way, 03:30 the latter rain. 03:32 And we pray to today 03:33 that our hearts would be surrendered to You. 03:37 We pray that our minds would be committed to You, 03:41 that our lives would be passionate 03:43 about serving You and knowing You. 03:46 And we pray today one final time 03:47 that You would bless us with Your presence 03:50 and that You would draw close to us. 03:53 And we ask all this things in Jesus name, amen. 03:59 This weekend we've explored the roots of the revolution, 04:02 the driving force of the revolution 04:05 and the life of the revolution. 04:07 We've seen how the word revolution 04:10 is really a word that means "Revival and Reformation." 04:14 Amen. 04:15 That is what revolution really is. 04:18 Christ centered, God centered revolution 04:20 is nothing more then Revival and Reformation." 04:24 How many of you experienced that 04:26 during your time at GYC this weekend? 04:28 How many of you want that to continue 04:30 as you go back home? 04:31 Praise God. 04:33 Every revolution that in history 04:35 always has one of two faiths. 04:39 One of two what? One of two faiths. 04:42 First it will either die because the next generation 04:46 is unwilling to sacrifice 04:48 what the previous generation did 04:50 or it will continue and grow 04:53 because that same generation is willing to sacrifice 04:56 not just the same amount as the pioneers did 05:00 but even more. 05:02 One of two faiths. 05:04 No revolution can continue in its strength 05:07 without that generation being willing to sacrifice 05:11 not the same but more. 05:14 The day finally came in the Book of Acts 05:17 when the original revolution was drawing to a close. 05:21 The apostles, Peter, James, John, 05:25 all these brethren were getting up in age. 05:29 The time would come when they were ready 05:31 to lay down their lives. 05:33 Paul stood in Rome standing erect with heavenly dignity 05:38 and preached the gospel unflinchingly 05:41 to the Emperor Nero, 05:42 the most powerful man on earth in that day. 05:46 And soon after Paul was beheaded 05:49 for his faith in Christ not long after that, 05:52 Peter was crucified upside down. 05:55 And many of the other apostles were murdered 05:57 and killed in various ways. 05:59 John was sent to the isle of Patmos. 06:02 And the revolution began to draw to a close 06:05 and it was time for a new generation to rise. 06:08 A new generation to take over were those 06:11 who had faithfully served were now gone. 06:15 There was a young man in the Book of Acts, 06:17 his name was Timothy. 06:19 How many of you remember Timothy? 06:22 The Bible tells us that Timothy was like 06:24 a son to Paul and he was the one 06:26 that Paul had selected among many others 06:28 to continue that revolution that had begun. 06:33 And it would be up to Timothy 06:34 to continue that flame of the Holy Spirit. 06:37 And before Paul's death he charged 06:40 Timothy to be faithful and carrying on that flame. 06:45 As my brother Adam pointed out this past Sabbath morning. 06:49 God has said faithful men and women down through time, 06:53 who have been willing to pickup where the others have left off. 06:59 Now we sit at the edge of eternity, 07:03 in the midst of Laodicea. 07:06 A Laodicean Church with the hopeful promise 07:09 that one final time God is going to do it again. 07:14 Amen. Amen. 07:16 We read a very powerful quote from the book 07:18 Christ Object Lessons, page 121. 07:21 I want you to notice this. 07:23 They are gonna be putting it up on the screen for you. 07:25 It says, "These scenes are to be repeated." 07:29 To be what, everyone? 07:30 "To be repeated and with greater power. 07:34 The outpouring of the Holy Spirit 07:36 on the day of Pentecost was the former rain, 07:39 but the latter rain will be more abundant. 07:43 The Spirit awaits our demand and reception." 07:48 Imagine that, friends. 07:50 God is not waiting for some cataclysmic event 07:54 to happen on earth. 07:55 God is not waiting for the pope to pass the Sunday laws. 07:58 But God is waiting for His people 08:00 to get serious about a revolution 08:03 to get serious about being on their knees 08:06 and surrendering their hearts and their lives to Him. 08:09 God is ready, willing and able to pour out 08:13 the Holy Spirit on us today if we're willing to receive it. 08:19 Amen. Amen. 08:21 In the final revolution more must be done 08:23 than was ever done before. 08:25 More surrender, more prayer, 08:28 more confession of sin, more Bible study, 08:32 more sacrifice than any generation before, 08:36 that is what must taken place in the final revolution. 08:39 We must receive the Holy Spirit 08:42 as if we've never had it like in times past before. 08:47 Brothers and sisters, today I'm more desirous 08:50 to end this revolution than to continue it. 08:55 I'm more desirous to end this revolution than to continue 08:59 and I want it to be ended 09:01 because I want to see Jesus come. 09:03 I had a friend who just recently-- 09:07 he just recently lost his mother. 09:08 He's a pastor in Michigan. 09:11 And I said to him, brother, what can I do to help you? 09:17 And he said get to work 09:18 because I want to see Jesus come. 09:21 Get to work. 09:26 Few people have displayed more love for God's church 09:29 than Paul did in his day. 09:32 He sacrificed everything in his life, everything. 09:36 I can assure you that if Paul was here today 09:39 he would be excited to attend GYC. 09:42 How many of you think that might be so? 09:43 And if Paul were here today I can assure you 09:46 that I would sit down quick fast and in hurry. 09:49 I would sit down at his feet and listen to his words, amen. 09:53 How many of you think you might do that? 09:54 We wouldn't idolize him 09:57 but we would listen to his words. 10:01 By the way, let me say something else about that. 10:04 You know, in Acts Chapter 10, Peter, 10:07 the Cornelius came and bow down to him 10:09 and he said stand up for I myself I'm also a man. 10:14 He refused to the praise. 10:16 In Acts Chapter 12, 10:17 King Herod sat on his throne and he accepted the praise 10:22 and he was killed and eaten by worms. 10:26 Brothers and sisters, 10:27 you can ruin your preacher by puffing him up, amen. 10:31 Love him, appreciate him and encourage him 10:35 but don't puff him up. 10:38 We're told that the scenes of Pentecost 10:40 and the advent movement 10:42 will take place again with greater power. 10:46 This is what we're told by our prophet through inspiration. 10:49 Where do we find this power? 10:51 Through surrender of Christ first. 10:53 But what about the pillars of continued revolution? 10:56 Do they change overtime? 10:59 Do the pillars of revolution 11:01 that took place in the Book of Acts, 11:03 do they change with our generation? 11:06 Do we have revolution, evolution? 11:11 I believe the answer to that today 11:13 is astounding no. 11:16 The same pillars, the same principles 11:19 that they experienced to receive 11:22 and experienced revolution, 11:24 we must have the same today, amen. 11:27 And Paul charged these with Timothy before he left. 11:31 And we're gonna find today. 11:32 We're gonna take a look at those things 11:34 which Paul charged Timothy with to keep the revolution alive. 11:39 And I believe that these are things 11:40 that will not just keep the revolution alive 11:42 but that will end the revolution, amen. 11:45 How many of you want that to end? 11:47 We're gonna look this morning at this very powerful passage. 11:51 I'm gonna invite to turning your Bibles with me 11:52 to the Book of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy. 11:56 If you read through the Book of Acts, 11:59 Timothy is talked about multiple times. 12:02 And this at the end of the time of the Book of Acts, 12:05 Paul gives his charge to Timothy 12:08 to keep the flames going. 12:11 What is the power behind the power of the revolution? 12:15 First-- Oh, I'm sorry 2 Timothy 12:17 and we're gonna begin in chapter 1 12:20 and we're gonna start in verse 7. 12:22 Are you there? Amen. 12:25 The Bible says, 12:27 "For God has not given us a spirit of" what? 12:30 "Of fear, but of power and of love 12:34 and of a sound mind." 12:36 Ellen White says, that those things 12:37 will be repeated with great power. 12:39 Verse 8, "Therefore do not be ashamed 12:42 of the testimony of our Lord, 12:43 nor of me His prisoner, 12:45 but share with me in the sufferings 12:47 for the gospel according to the power of God." 12:50 The what of God? 12:52 The power of God it says, 12:54 "Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, 12:57 not according to our works, 12:59 but according to His own purpose 13:01 and grace which was given to us 13:03 in Christ Jesus before the world began." 13:07 Paul says that there is power in the, what? 13:12 Hello? 13:13 The power in the gospel, Paul says. 13:16 The everlasting gospel, the same gospel 13:19 that we find in Revelation 14:6 and on. 13:22 And, friends, Paul says, do not be ashamed of what? 13:27 Do not be ashamed. 13:28 If you're not ashamed of something, 13:30 it means that you're proud of it. 13:32 Yes or no? 13:33 Not proud in a wrong way but in the right way, 13:37 that you're happy, you're proud, 13:39 you're thankful to be called a Christian. 13:42 You're thankful, you're proud to be called 13:45 a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. 13:48 Amen. Amen. 13:49 We don't have to hide it, brothers and sisters. 13:51 Paul says, do not be ashamed. 13:55 There is revolutionary power in knowing 13:58 who you are and who he is, 14:00 understanding our identity as God's last day people. 14:04 Paul says that there is power in that. 14:07 There is power in centering Christ 14:09 in everything that we teach. 14:12 Some people want to teach today 14:14 that it's all just about the cross. 14:16 And we don't need to focus on anything else. 14:19 Have you ever heard somebody say that? 14:21 But let me tell you what, friends. 14:23 Everything that we believe as Seventh-day Adventist 14:26 is centered in the cross 14:28 but it's not only about the cross 14:30 it's about the everlasting gospel, amen. 14:33 The three angels' messages 14:36 which is more than just a cross, 14:38 but it is centered and routed in the cross. 14:41 How many of you thankful today for the everlasting gospel? 14:44 How many of you won't want to not be ashamed 14:47 of the everlasting gospel? 14:48 Amen. 14:50 Where there is revolutionary power 14:51 when the gospel takes route in our lives 14:54 we will experience apostolic power 14:57 and apostolic love. 14:58 We need to return to apostolic love. 15:00 How many of you believe that to be true today? 15:03 Paul says that we're called with a holy calling, 15:06 a sacred calling, 15:08 a calling that it can only be given by heaven 15:11 and it's time that as a group of young people 15:14 it's time that as a generation living in the last days 15:18 that we step up and rise to that holy calling. 15:25 We must never be satisfied with being ordinary 15:30 as Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 15:33 God is not accepting ordinary things, 15:39 ordinary commitments. 15:41 We must be extra ordinary by His grace 15:44 and by His power, amen. 15:46 You may be ordinary without Christ 15:49 but you're extra ordinary with Christ, amen. 15:53 Secondly there's power in faithfulness. 15:55 I want you to continue with me 15:57 we're gonna look at several points through here. 15:59 Verse 12 through 14. 16:02 Paul says, "For this reason I also suffer these things, 16:06 nevertheless I am not ashamed, 16:07 for I know whom I have believed 16:09 and am persuaded that He is able to keep 16:12 what I have committed to Him until that Day. 16:15 Hold fast the pattern of sound words 16:17 which you have heard from me, 16:18 in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 16:21 And that good thing which was committed to you, 16:25 keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." 16:29 Paul challenges Timothy. 16:31 He says, if you want to keep the revolution alive, 16:35 there is revolutionary power in faithfulness today. 16:39 How many of you believe that to be so? 16:41 Faithfulness to Christ. 16:42 Reflect back on your life 16:44 how God has led you in times pass. 16:47 Remember how He answered divine prayers 16:50 just at the right moment. 16:52 Remember when God answered your prayer in the way 16:55 that you didn't think He should, 16:57 but when you looked back you realize 16:59 that it was His leading and it was His will 17:02 and His will turned out to be the best, 17:04 not what you wanted. 17:05 Remember the divine interventions 17:08 and providences and moments in your life 17:11 when God answered those prayers. 17:13 Do not forget these things. 17:15 Do not forget what Christ has done for you. 17:18 Do not forget how God has been faithful to you 17:21 down through your years. 17:23 Be faithful to God's faithfulness. 17:27 Amen. Amen. 17:28 Do not turn back, do not be discouraged. 17:32 Be faithful to God even when others in the church are not. 17:36 Be faithful to God when even your own family members 17:40 may turn against you. 17:42 Be faithful to God when you're by yourself 17:44 and no one else is around just as much as you would, 17:48 when you're in the crowd of GYC. 17:56 Only a faithful church can win sinners 18:00 to God's last day church. 18:02 History is littered with churches 18:05 who have tried to compromise their faith, 18:10 compromise their message, compromise their identity. 18:16 History is littered with these churches 18:18 at failed attempts 18:19 to truly win the world to Christ through compromise. 18:24 Do not compromise yourselves, young people. 18:26 Do not compromise your Savior. Do not compromise His church. 18:30 Do not compromise His message, but be faithful in all things. 18:35 Amen. Amen. 18:38 Youth are going to have to provide something 18:42 that the older generation did not. 18:47 The older generation as much as we love them 18:51 have only gone halfway in revival and reformation. 18:55 God will never accept half hearted commitments. 18:59 Did you hear what I said? 19:01 God will never accept half hearted commitments. 19:04 He wants your whole heart, young people. 19:07 He must have all of your energies, 19:09 all of your strength, 19:10 all of your mind and all of your hearts. 19:13 He will not accept half hearted commitments. 19:15 It's the halfway stuff 19:18 that is sabotaged our church through the ages. 19:20 It is the halfway commitments 19:23 that is the reason we're still here today. 19:26 I want you to notice the statement, 19:27 very powerful from the book Prophets and Kings, page 148. 19:32 Very, very powerful statement here. 19:34 It says, "The whole universe 19:36 is watching with inexpressible interest 19:40 and the closing scenes of the great controversy 19:44 between good and evil. 19:46 The people of God are nearing 19:48 the borders of the eternal world, 19:51 what can be of more importance to them 19:54 that they be loyal to the God of heaven? 19:57 All through the ages, God has had moral heroes, 20:01 and He has them now, 20:02 those who are not ashamed to acknowledge themselves 20:05 as His peculiar people." 20:09 Brothers and sisters, today be faithful to Christ. 20:13 We're nearing eternity. 20:16 And we do not have time to be messing around anymore. 20:21 By His grace be faithful. 20:23 Do not turn back because where in the world 20:26 are you going to go but back to the world. 20:31 It's up to you today. It's up to you today. 20:35 It's in your hands. 20:37 Thirdly, there is power in training 20:40 and being trained by others. 20:42 Please look with me in chapter 2 of Timothy. 20:46 This is something that was very powerful 20:49 throughout the Acts moment, throughout the Book of Acts. 20:52 2 Timothy 2:2. Paul says. 20:57 Let's read verse 1 also. 20:59 "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace 21:01 that is in Christ Jesus. 21:03 And the things that you have heard from me many witnesses, 21:06 these commit to faithful men 21:09 who will be able to teach others also." 21:15 There is power in discipleship in your local church. 21:20 Young people, you must get involved in your local church. 21:26 You must train and be trained. 21:29 I talk to many young people today 21:31 and they say, the church isn't relevance anymore. 21:34 You ever heard that argument? You ever heard people say that? 21:37 The church is just not relevant anymore. 21:40 It does not do anything for me. 21:45 Maybe you said that. 21:49 If you say that the church is relevant, 21:52 what you're really saying is that you're not relevant. 21:57 Why? 21:58 Because the church is the bride of Christ. 22:02 You are the bride of Christ. 22:05 And if the church isn't relevant anymore 22:07 than you're not relevant. 22:10 It is God who decides the relevancy of His church, 22:15 not you and not me. 22:17 And let me say-- tell you what friends, 22:19 God has placed, we're told the highest esteem 22:23 upon His church on this earth. 22:25 Amen. Amen. 22:26 How many of you can say-- 22:27 it needs to be louder than that, friends. 22:29 Amen. 22:31 The more you invest yourself in the local church, 22:34 the more relevant it will come, become to you. 22:38 Ask not what your church can do for you, 22:42 but ask what you can do for your church. 22:46 Amen. Amen. 22:48 That is when relevancy begins to take route in our hearts. 22:53 When we invest ourselves in the local church asking 22:58 what the church can do for us 23:01 instead of what we can do for the church 23:03 or like the 12 disciples standing there 23:06 when Jesus ascended into heaven, 23:08 gazing up into heaven 23:10 and the angels had to bring them 23:12 back to attention and they said, 23:13 why do you stand there gazing? 23:16 They didn't say this but what they meant was, 23:18 get yourselves to work. 23:24 Some of us are just standing there 23:25 gazing into heaven saying, oh, the church 23:29 is just not relevant to me anymore, 23:32 it's because you have not invested yourself in it. 23:35 The more you invest yourself in it, 23:37 the more you will come to love it as Christ loves it. 23:41 It is His bride 23:43 and He will see it all the way through. 23:47 The way that church functions the best 23:49 as when people are investing themselves 23:52 in a sacrificial way. 23:53 And we've start taking the focus off Christ 23:56 and off His church and start putting on ourselves, 23:59 that's when problems begin. 24:02 So why is it that so many of our churches have 24:05 so many problems? 24:07 Because we put the focus on ourselves 24:10 and not on Him and not on His church. 24:14 If young people cooperate with the church, 24:17 some people think it's too stiff to cooperate 24:21 with the leadership of the church. 24:23 Some people think that they need to do it 24:25 their own way. 24:26 But let me tell you something, when God's body meets together, 24:30 Ellen White says, it is as though God's voice 24:33 is speaking on earth. 24:34 And if it's the church body 24:36 that has elected the church leadership 24:38 than it is our duty to work with that leadership 24:42 and to come under its authority. 24:45 Some people think that they need to go off 24:47 and do their own thing. 24:49 Some people thing that we need to take action 24:51 and guess what, friends, 24:52 it may sound good on the outside 24:54 but that's exactly what Lucifer thought in heaven. 24:59 We need to do things differently. 25:01 We don't need to follow the current leadership. 25:05 God has placed leadership in that position. 25:08 King David said, I will not touch Him 25:12 but so was seeking to take his life 25:14 and we think that we're going to rebel 25:17 or go against the church leadership 25:20 to criticize them to be negative. 25:23 Some people in the church are more rebellious 25:27 against the church and its leadership 25:30 than they are against the world 25:32 and the wickedness in their own hearts. 25:38 Young people, work together with your pastors, 25:42 elders and church leadership. 25:44 Get yourself involved. 25:46 Don't expect someone to hold you accountable 25:49 but you hold others accountable. 25:51 Amen. In a loving, respectful way. 25:55 Don't be afraid to hold godly people 25:58 in the older generation accountable to mentor you. 26:02 Go to them and say, I want you to mentor me. 26:05 I want you to teach me what you know 26:07 and how to avoid making mistakes. 26:09 If there's one thing that older people know how to do, 26:12 its avoid making mistakes 26:15 because they have made a lot in their lifetime. 26:17 That's the best way to learn, amen. 26:19 Don't be afraid. 26:21 If you don't know what to do in your local church, 26:24 do the work that lies the nearest. 26:26 You go into your local church and you find that 26:29 there is no greater that Sabbath, 26:31 grab those bulletins and start reading. 26:35 You find that there's nobody in the Sabbath school 26:37 making comments, make comments in the Sabbath school. 26:40 You find that there is a Sabbath school teacher 26:43 who is overwhelmed 26:44 because she's got twice as many kids that day, 26:46 go in there and help her. 26:48 Do the work that lies the nearest 26:50 and then God will begin to use you 26:52 more powerfully and more efficiently, amen. 26:57 If your pastor-- pastor sometimes get busy, 27:01 go to him and say I want to do something 27:05 and ask him to teach you, 27:06 ask him to help you and put you to work. 27:08 And remember sometimes pastors get busy, 27:11 so you may have to be like that persistent widow. 27:14 And if you're pastor still won't put you to work, 27:16 move to Michigan, transfer your membership to my church 27:20 and I'll put you to work. 27:25 Get involved, young people. 27:28 Many of you're called to be leaders. 27:30 There was a young lady in my church. 27:33 I got to my church just this year 27:36 or last year now, February of last year. 27:39 And about a week after I was in my church 27:42 I got an email from a young lady, 27:44 22 years old and she said, 27:46 the church is not relevant to me anymore. 27:48 I've been studying, I don't think 27:50 that the Adventist message is valid and I'm wanting, 27:53 asking you to drop my church. 27:54 She says, I know what you're job 27:55 as a pastor to pursue me. 27:57 She says, but please don't. 27:59 I just want my membership to be dropped. 28:02 And I called her and I said, look, 28:04 why are you doing this? 28:05 She says, I just have been studying 28:07 and I don't think that these things apply. 28:10 We're free in the gospel. 28:13 And I said, sister, I'd like to meet with you 28:15 and she says, no I don't think so. 28:16 I said, listen, and I prayed in that moment, 28:18 God gave me wisdom in that moment. 28:21 I said, sister, if you found something 28:24 that is the truth 28:25 and if the Adventist Church is not the real church 28:28 then I also need to know so that I can leave to. 28:31 Please meet with me and let's discuss this. 28:35 And she said, okay, we'll meet. 28:38 And so we met, she and I and my wife 28:40 met for three hours. 28:42 And at the end of that meeting the Holy Spirit led, 28:46 I give no credit to myself and all credit-- 28:49 I only give credit to myself when it doesn't work. 28:53 If it works God gets the credit, amen. 28:57 And by the end of that time period 28:59 that young lady was in tears and she said, 29:01 I'll never leave the Adventist Church. 29:04 She became our youth leader and she's sitting right there 29:07 on the fourth row at GYC here today. 29:09 Amen. Amen. 29:14 You're called to be leaders, young people. 29:16 You may be busy with school, you maybe busy with work, 29:20 but remember the sacrifice, remember the sacrifice. 29:23 Don't take on so much that you lose your mind 29:26 but take on more than you think 29:28 you're comfortable with and watch God work. 29:31 He will do something great in you and through you. 29:35 You think God can't use you? 29:37 You should have heard my first sermon. 29:44 I wrote this sermon out and I stood up to preach 29:48 and I thought I was gonna collapse. 29:50 When it was time for me, I was praying, 29:52 I was like Lord, let the roof cave in or something, 29:55 like during the children story. 29:56 I was like, don't hurt anybody 29:58 but like, let there be a fire or something. 30:03 And I finally got up to preach 30:04 and I went up and I set my notes down, 30:07 I looked up and I was like this. 30:11 And I sat there and I read the sermon 30:14 and every 15 to 20 seconds I would clear my throat, 30:17 I was like, I would say like two or three sentences. 30:24 And the whole time all I could do 30:26 is think about preachers like Mark Finley 30:29 and all these different guys, now they would stand up 30:31 and just preach to the people. 30:32 And as I was reading my notes I just kept having 30:36 that thought in my mind and I said, 30:37 I just want to preach like that 30:39 and I said, I'm going to look up 30:41 and I'm just going to say whatever comes to mind. 30:44 I'm gonna push my notes aside. 30:47 And so I looked up and my mind was totally blank. 30:54 And I sat there for 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds 31:00 and I was like nothing is coming to my mind 31:02 and everybody just, was just looking at me like. 31:06 And so I just went right back down 31:08 and starting reading my notes again. 31:11 Young people, God will use you. 31:17 You can only start where you're at, 31:20 but God will do something powerful through you, 31:23 if you're willing to let Him. 31:24 Go back home and tell your pastor. 31:26 Pastor, I know you're not here every week, 31:29 let me preach for you on a week that you're not here. 31:33 You may have never written a sermon in my life. 31:35 There are plenty of books to teach you how. 31:38 Don't be afraid, trust God, try God 31:40 and He will do something powerful. 31:43 He's not looking for your ability. 31:45 He's not looking for you eloquence. 31:47 He's not looking for your excellence. 31:48 He's just looking for your willingness. 31:52 Be willing, be willing. 31:55 Test Him, try Him, 31:56 God is looking for young people 31:58 who are not discouraged by lack of participation 32:01 in the church or flattered by a pat on the back, 32:04 but He's looking for people who are serious about having 32:07 His presence in their hearts and in their church. 32:10 Your local church, friends, is important. 32:14 Resurrect the church. 32:16 Complacency is the worst-- 32:19 it's like experiencing spiritual death. 32:22 It is a death blow to all spiritual growth. 32:26 Don't worry about what other people think. 32:28 What other people think is none of your business, 32:32 none of your business. 32:34 The only that matters is the God of heaven. 32:38 Number four, there's revolutionary power 32:41 in discipline and dedication. 32:43 Please look with me in verse 3. Paul says, chapter 2, verse 3. 32:49 "You therefore must endure hardship 32:52 as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 32:54 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself 32:58 with the affairs of this life, 33:00 that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." 33:07 Young people, it's not going to be easy 33:09 but discipline yourself. 33:12 There will be trials but discipline yourself. 33:15 There will be challenges but discipline yourself. 33:18 There will be discouragements but discipline yourself. 33:22 Look to Jesus. 33:23 There will be times when you will feel like 33:26 you're all alone, but look to your Savior 33:29 because He can give you more strength 33:31 than anyone else around you. 33:33 Look to Him, press through the darkness, 33:36 bust through the wall, 33:37 do whatever you have to do by the grace, 33:40 the power and the strength of God 33:42 but cling to Him and move forward. 33:45 Don't walk away from problems 33:47 that are bigger than your comforts. 33:49 There will be a temptation to walk away from the church. 33:57 Many people face this today. 34:00 There will be huge temptation to walk away from the church. 34:05 Remember how God has led you. 34:07 Remember the times He has done these things 34:10 and get on your knees and plead with God 34:13 until you've a breakthrough. 34:15 Do not walk away, discipline yourself. 34:20 I believe in God and His promise. 34:22 Many times I've felt like walking away, 34:26 but I trusted God and I pressed on 34:28 and I came out stronger by His grace on the other side. 34:33 And you can too. 34:35 Every disappointment is always God's divine appointments 34:39 if we're willing to stick with Him. 34:43 Stick with Him, young people. Stick with the church. 34:46 It may seem rocky at times 34:48 but God's going to see it through. 34:50 Discipline yourselves to walk step by step with Jesus 34:53 through that with prayer and fasting, 34:55 He will bring you out on the other side. 34:58 You must be disciplined, you must be focused. 35:02 There is revolutionary power in Christ centered holiness. 35:07 Look with me in verse 19. 35:11 We're gonna look only at verse 19. 35:13 "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, 35:17 having this seal, 35:19 'The Lord knows who are His,' and, 'Let everyone 35:22 who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'" 35:28 Brothers and sisters, today any concept of grace 35:33 that is introduced into our church 35:36 that makes us feel comfortable about sin 35:40 is not biblical grace. 35:45 Sin is not just breaking the law of God, 35:48 it is breaking His hearts 35:51 and He pleads with us today to lay it down. 35:56 I want to love Jesus enough to say no to sin. 36:00 How about you? 36:02 We're not merely called to preach 36:04 the character of Christ through the three angels' messages 36:08 but we're called to possess it. 36:10 Amen. Amen. 36:12 And by the grace of God we can, 36:14 not in our own strength but in His strength. 36:16 I don't want to just be more like Jesus, 36:18 I want to be just like Jesus. 36:21 Don't beat yourself up, friends, 36:24 when you fall but get up and run to Jesus. 36:28 Get up and run to Jesus. 36:31 The deeper we fall in love with Jesus, 36:34 the more we'll fall out of love with the world. 36:39 If you want to know Jesus, you have to know all of Him, 36:44 not just the part that you want to. 36:48 He is the author and finisher of our faith. 36:50 He will complete the work that He has done in us 36:52 and the battle is not to the swifter 36:54 through the strong 36:56 but to the one who gains the mastery over himself. 37:00 Young people, Christ wants to remove the sin of your life. 37:05 He wants to give you power over it. 37:08 Christ life is our righteousness. 37:11 Christ death is our pardon, 37:13 but Christ in the heavenly sanctuary 37:16 is our power over sin and if you will come to Him 37:20 day by day, moment by moment, 37:23 He will give you power, He will make you holy, 37:26 He will make you like Himself. 37:30 Somebody once wrote "I would like to buy about 37:33 three dollars worth of gospel, please. 37:37 Not too much, just enough to make me happy, 37:41 but not so much that I get addicted. 37:44 I don't want so much gospel 37:46 that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust. 37:49 I certainly don't want so much 37:51 that I start to love my enemies, 37:53 cherish self-denial, 37:54 and contemplate missionary service. 37:58 I want ecstasy, not repentance, 38:00 I want transcendence, not transformation. 38:04 I would like to be cherished by some nice, 38:06 forgiving, broad-minded people, 38:08 but I myself do not want to inconvenience by the same. 38:14 I would like enough gospel to make my family secure 38:17 and my children well behaved, 38:19 but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected 38:22 or my giving greatly-- too greatly enlarged. 38:25 I would like about three dollars 38:27 worth of the gospel, please." 38:32 Does that fit some of us here today, brothers and sisters? 38:37 Christ wants your whole heart. 38:41 I want the whole Bible to be my book. 38:45 I want the whole Christ to be my Savior 38:48 and I want Him to have my whole heart. 38:52 How about you this morning? 38:55 There is power, revolutionary power, 38:58 in servant, leadership. 39:00 Look with me in chapter 2 verse 24. 39:05 The Bible says, 39:06 "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel 39:10 but be gentle to all, able to teach, 39:13 patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition, 39:18 if God perhaps will grant them repentance, 39:20 so that they may know the truth, 39:22 and that they may come to their senses 39:24 and escape the snare of the devil, 39:26 having been taken captive to do his will." 39:29 The Bible talks about what it takes to be a leader, 39:32 not somebody who is bossy, not somebody who is directing, 39:36 not somebody who is pushy 39:37 but somebody who is gentle and patient 39:40 and able to teach all, amen. 39:43 Somebody who is able to be compassionate and loving 39:46 but at the same time unflinchingly, 39:49 unwilling to compromise principle. 39:54 God is calling you to be a leader. 39:56 True leadership trains leaders. 39:58 It does not suppress others for its own advancements. 40:02 It is not threatened by talent, 40:04 success or ideas of other people. 40:08 True leaderships surrounds itself with those 40:11 who have the potential to do greater things than itself 40:14 because Jesus said, greater things will you do 40:18 than what you've seen Me do. 40:22 It is not view itself as the only one 40:24 who can do anything because Jesus himself said, 40:27 I and Myself can do nothing. 40:31 It is willing to step down when God's will shows it 40:35 and willing to step up when God's will calls for it. 40:40 It is patient and loving, leading with gentleness, 40:44 yet holy firmness and determination. 40:48 Godly leadership leads others upward in its decisions. 40:53 There is no honor in higher position, 40:56 young people, only a greater responsibility to serve. 41:01 Do not think that you're something 41:02 because God's church elects you to an office. 41:05 Do not think that you're something 41:07 because you're a GYC officer. 41:10 Do not think that you're something 41:11 because you are in some leadership position 41:14 that God has called you to. 41:16 When you rise to higher leadership, 41:18 you're called to higher servanthood. 41:22 Amen. Put others above yourself. 41:28 Be godly leaders 41:30 even when you're not called to be a leader. 41:34 Much of the older generation, young people, 41:36 do not expect much from you and I would say for good reason 41:41 because many of us have lived up to the lower expectation. 41:45 Do not satisfy-- be satisfied with mediocrity 41:49 but rise to the call of God in your life. 41:54 Prove them wrong. Live for the higher calling. 41:57 Live for the higher expectation, be leaders. 42:00 Young people, not followers. 42:03 The world needs leaders to lead them to Christ. 42:07 The church needs leaders 42:09 who will lift Christ and Christ alone. 42:13 Be that leader, God is calling you. 42:19 Number seven, we're going to pass by 42:22 because we've already talked about it 42:23 but you can write the text down. 42:24 2 Timothy 3:14-17. 42:28 There's revolutionary power and the commitment to scripture 42:31 and your devotional life. 42:33 This was crucial and the life of the Acts of the Apostles. 42:39 Paul said, I die how often? 42:41 I die daily, 42:43 those who are willing to be crucified each day. 42:47 We're gonna move on to the last one, number eight. 42:50 There's revolutionary power in proclaiming 42:52 God's last day message. 42:55 Timothy Chapter 4, 2 Timothy 4:1-5. 42:59 The Bible says, "I charge you therefore before God 43:03 and the Lord Jesus Christ, 43:05 who will judge the living and the dead 43:07 at His appearing and His kingdom. 43:09 Preach the word!" 43:16 I thought you would say, amen. 43:17 Amen. 43:19 I thought it would be louder than that. 43:21 Amen. 43:22 I still thought it would be louder. 43:24 Amen. "Preach the word! 43:27 Be ready in season and out of season. 43:29 Convince, rebuke, exhort, 43:32 with all longsuffering and teaching. 43:33 For the time" Let me just, 43:35 I'm not changing the Bible, friends. 43:38 But let me just make a little adjustment here. 43:41 The time has come. 43:44 "When they will not endure sound doctrine, 43:46 but according to their own desires, 43:48 because they have itching ears, 43:49 they will heap up for themselves teachers 43:51 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, 43:54 and be turned aside to fables. 43:56 But you be watchful in all things, 43:58 endure afflictions, 44:00 do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry." 44:04 You have a calling to ministry. 44:06 And God has called you to preach the word 44:08 not just from your lips but in your lives. 44:14 Preach the word. Be a living word. 44:16 Be a living epistle like Paul says. 44:20 Do not fluff up the truth. 44:22 Do not puff up the truth 44:24 but preach the truth with power. 44:28 Do not puff it up or let me just see what I said. 44:31 Do not fluff it up or puff it up but lift it up. 44:34 Amen. 44:35 That is what we're called to do. 44:37 Be faithful young people, 44:39 and you will receive a crown of life. 44:42 God is fulfilling prophecy through GYC. 44:48 And He has called you to come along for the ride. 44:55 But He doesn't just want to fulfill prophecy at GYC, 45:01 He wants to fulfill it in your life 45:05 wherever you're at home and your local church, 45:10 at your university, in your home, 45:14 wherever you are. 45:19 Very powerful statement here. 45:22 It says, "There is no limits to the youthfulness of one 45:27 who put himself aside, 45:29 makes room for the working 45:31 of the Holy Spirit upon his heart 45:34 and lives a life holy consecrated to God, 45:38 enduring the necessary discipline imposed by the Lord 45:41 without complaining or fainting by the way." 45:45 I said it yesterday and I'll say it again today. 45:48 If you're willing to get yourself out of your life, 45:52 God will fulfill the Book of Acts through your life. 45:57 He will finish the revolution in you 46:01 and then through you. 46:04 Philip Brooks said, "Do not pray for easy lives. 46:09 Pray to be stronger men. 46:11 Do not pray for task equal to your powers 46:14 but pray for power equal to your task." 46:19 Amen. Amen. 46:20 God wants to use you today young people, 46:24 in a remarkable way and in most powerful way. 46:28 He wants to end the revolution. 46:31 He wants to end the great controversy. 46:33 He wants to end the sickness 46:36 of this world through your lives. 46:40 Will you not stand and be the light? 46:43 Will you not stand and show Christ to the world? 46:46 Will you not stand and carry His gospel into all the world? 46:50 Will you not be filled with His Holy Spirit? 46:52 Will you not be completely surrender to Him? 46:55 Will you not be completely committed to His will for you? 47:02 I want to tell you a story as we close. 47:04 We've a picture here. 47:05 I believe if they can put it up there. 47:09 When I was in Ukraine just a few years ago, 47:11 there was a young lady who was coming to my meetings. 47:15 Her name was Vera. There she is. 47:20 Vera was 17 years old, 17 years old 47:24 and she was ready to give up on God. 47:27 She was going to leave God and the concept of God, 47:31 she was gonna move to another town 47:33 and she was going to get a boyfriend and get a job 47:35 and she was just gonna live life for herself. 47:39 And she had some kind of back injury 47:41 and she had to come to the particular town 47:44 where we were at to receive treatment. 47:46 And the doctor said, I cannot treat you 47:48 until four months because I've so many patients. 47:51 And so she had to wait for four months. 47:53 At the end of those four months 47:55 she was in town for a doctor's visit 47:57 and our meetings were starting that Friday night. 48:00 Isn't amazing how God will arrange things, friends? 48:04 As she was walking down the street 48:06 to her doctor's appointment, 48:07 one of our students came by 48:09 and gave her an invitation to the seminar. 48:13 She looked at it and she said, 48:15 huh, since I'm going to be in town anyway, 48:19 maybe I should go ahead and attend these meetings 48:22 and I'm going to give God one final opportunity, 48:27 one final opportunity. 48:28 And so she came to the meetings 48:30 and she came every single night, 48:33 every single night 48:35 and her life was radically changed. 48:38 There was one particular night 48:39 when she was walking across the street 48:42 and there was a car coming at her 48:46 and she looked up just in time to see it almost strike her 48:49 and she said, Lord Jesus, please help me. 48:51 That's all the time she had and she said, 48:53 that car stopped right in front of her, 48:57 one inch from striking her. 49:00 That night she gave her heart wholly to Jesus. 49:03 And she was baptized, you saw the picture, 49:05 but she didn't stop there. 49:07 She was traveling 50 kilometers 49:10 back and forth to the meetings by bus every night. 49:14 The next day she came 49:15 and she brought her mother with her 49:17 and her mother attended the meetings 49:20 and she was also baptized. 49:22 She went and knocked on the door, 49:24 we've a picture of this as well. 49:25 She went knocked on the door 49:27 and actually met a man who was elderly man, 49:31 you see there's name is Eugene 49:33 and he's holding a newspaper in his hand 49:35 and this man was declared to have deadly cancer. 49:39 And the doctor said to him, go home and get prepared to die 49:43 because we can't do anything for you. 49:46 He said that's not good enough for me. 49:48 He went home and he opened his Bible 49:50 and he began to pray. 49:52 And they said, he would be dead in three months 49:56 and that picture was taken 15 years later. 50:00 That newspaper clip he held in his hand 50:02 was an article that they wrote about him. 50:04 She brought him to the meetings 50:07 and he gave his life to Christ and was baptized 50:09 into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 50:12 That fall she came to our school as a student 50:16 and she brought her sister to the meetings 50:19 and her sister was baptized. 50:22 Seventeen years old this girl. 50:24 Then after she finished the school 50:26 she went back to her local church 50:29 and she began to teach classes on how to give Bible studies 50:32 to about 40 young people. 50:35 And to this day 50:36 she's a faithful worker in Ukraine. 50:38 If God can do that through a young person, 50:42 what can He do through you? 50:45 What can He do in you, young people? 50:48 Don't go home and just be the same. 50:52 You've received the training at GYC, 50:54 you received the message, you received the inspiration, 50:57 go home and do something. 51:01 I've to close, but I've to read this quote. 51:04 It is so powerful and this is my appeal to you today. 51:09 We're gonna ask to put it on the screen. 51:11 Acts of the Apostles page 507. 51:15 It says, "What the church needs in these days of peril 51:19 is an army of workers who, like Paul, 51:22 have educated themselves for usefulness, 51:25 who have a deep experience in the things of God, 51:28 and who are filled with earnestness and zeal. 51:31 Sanctified, self-sacrificing men and women are needed, 51:35 men who will not shun trial and responsibility, 51:39 men who are brave and true, men in whose hearts 51:43 Christ is formed 'the hope of glory,' 51:46 and who with lips touched by holy fire 51:49 will 'preach the word.' 51:52 For want of such workers the cause of God languishes, 51:55 and fatal errors, like a deadly poison, 51:57 taint the morals and blight the hopes 51:59 of a large part of the human race." 52:01 Notice this last paragraph. 52:03 "As the faithful, toil worn standard-bearers 52:07 are offering up their lives for the truth's sake, 52:10 who will come forward to take their place? 52:16 Will our young men accept the trust, 52:21 holy trust at the hands of their fathers? 52:24 Are they prepared to fill the vacancies 52:28 made by the death of the faithful?" 52:32 Will you rise, young people? 52:35 Amidst, will you answer the call to duty? 52:39 Amidst of world that is perishing. 52:42 Will you answer the call? 52:43 Will you end the revolution, not continue it? 52:49 It is up to you today. 52:51 My appeal this morning is very simple. 52:54 If you want to end the revolution 52:57 and enter into eternity with God, 53:01 surrender your life to Him today. 53:04 Answer the call of duty. Answer the call of service. 53:08 Answer the call of holiness and righteousness 53:12 and let nothing stand in your way. 53:15 Maybe this weekend there's been something 53:18 that God has been pricking in your heart all weekend. 53:22 And you've continued day after day, 53:24 appeal after appeal to resist that thing in your hearts. 53:30 Maybe you've said no God, maybe tomorrow, 53:33 maybe tomorrow but today is the last day. 53:35 This maybe the last sermon 53:36 that some of you will ever hear. 53:41 Would you not surrender 53:43 that thing to God in your heart today, 53:46 and answer His call to end the revolution? 53:51 My sister is going to sing and as she sings-- 53:57 if you want to make that commitment with your life, 54:00 if you want to lay down all, 54:03 I'm going to invite you 54:04 wherever you're to get up out of your seats 54:08 and comedown right here and say Jesus, 54:13 the answer is yes. 54:15 Today Jesus, my life is Yours. 54:19 Today my heart is consecrated to You. 54:22 Young people, will you rise? 54:24 Will you answer the call of those 54:27 who have gone before you? 54:51 Time just drifts away and I look back on the years 54:58 With memories of happiness and bitter tears 55:06 Through it all there is a common thread 55:10 That cannot be ignored 55:13 You were there 55:15 Teaching me to be Your servant, Lord 55:22 All along Your hand 55:27 Has been guiding me 55:30 Shaping my life to be a beautiful song 55:38 All along You've led me through 55:45 Things that You knew 55:48 Would make me strong 55:54 Your love has been there all along 56:06 Every joy and pain had a reason of its own 56:13 Now I realize that I was not alone 56:20 The changing seasons of my life 56:24 Were not left up to chance 56:27 Lord I know You were working 56:30 To fulfill Your plan 56:35 All along Your hand has been guiding me 56:42 Shaping my life to be a beautiful song 56:49 All along You've led me through 56:56 Things that You knew 56:59 Would make me strong 57:05 Your love has been there all along 57:12 Tomorrow when I turn around 57:15 And look back at today 57:18 I will understand Your purpose 57:22 And my thankful heart will say 57:26 All along Your hand has been guiding me 57:33 Shaping my life to be a beautiful song 57:40 All along You've led me through 57:47 Things that You knew 57:50 Would make me strong 57:56 Your love has been there all along 58:06 Your love has been there 58:12 All along |
Revised 2015-02-12