Participants: James Venegas
Series Code: 12HC
Program Code: 12HC000001
|
00:48 Well Danny, it's homecoming. It is.
00:51 It's great to be here. It's wonderful. We have 00:53 it each year. Yeah. Years ago we used to have one Camp Meeting. 00:57 Right. People started saying "Well how about in the Fall? " 01:00 And we said: "Well, not a lot of people can come. 01:01 You've got in school. People are back to work. " 01:04 Right. You know, all these things. 01:06 And they can only usually take one summer vacation 01:08 or time. But people said: "We really enjoy... " 01:11 So we said: "You know what? Where there be a few or 01:13 whether there be a lot, let's do it. 01:15 Let's organize it... put it together. 01:17 Let's have a great spiritual time in the Lord. " 01:19 And you know, we've got a good group here to start with 01:21 but we're going to have a fantastic group this weekend. 01:25 Um-hmm. I really believe that. A lot of people 01:26 are going to drive in. 01:28 You all are fantastic too. He just means - oh yeah - we'll 01:29 have more of you. Fantastic. More fantastic; more fantastic. 01:33 And they are going to drive in. 01:36 And you know, we've got even... this is unusual... 01:40 but we have some spots available for motorhomes 01:44 and trailers. So if you have one, bring it. 01:46 We'll find a place for you. 01:48 And hook-ups are free, right? 01:50 Yeah, absolutely. Just come. If you're watching 01:52 and literally on television wherever, you've got time 01:55 to show up. Now tomorrow we're going to have meetings 01:58 all day long. Yes. And all tomorrow night, 02:01 all day Sabbath. So we want you to... 02:03 those of you at home you know say: "Hey drive over. " 02:06 Maybe you're in 100 miles... 200. In fact, for Sabbath 02:08 you've got time to drive 1,000 miles if you want 02:11 if you get in tonight and get a good start. 02:13 Really do. And bring your kids with you 02:16 because we've got outstanding young people and children's 02:20 programs. Well, Maryann, of course, your daughter. 02:22 She's here but she has somebody special with us 02:25 this time. Well she does. She brought 02:27 several groups in. But one is the Knapps Group 02:30 that's here. Yes. All right! And they're working with 02:32 the teenagers I think it is. Yes... yeah. 02:35 And so these are fantastic young people 02:38 that have some experiences from around the world. 02:41 They will inspire your young people. 02:44 So be sure to bring them here for this weekend. 02:47 It's going to be just a really inspiring weekend. 02:51 Well it is. And we have as our special 02:54 speaker that's very... I mean, this was not easy 02:58 to get this guy scheduled here. 02:59 But Bro. John Carter. He's going to be telling us 03:02 some incredible stories of coming back from New Guinea. 03:05 Yeah. We just heard some of those. Amazing! 03:07 You don't want to miss this. No. 03:08 And he's going to be preaching after while. 03:10 We have another pastor we'll introduce in just a moment - 03:13 that's right - that's going to be here that you're going to be 03:15 blessed by this young man also. 03:17 That's right. And so we're just going to have a great time. 03:20 You all ready to have a great time in the Lord? 03:21 Everybody here? All right. I see some faces 03:24 that come every year, and we're glad that you are here. 03:26 Even twice a year some of you are coming back. 03:28 So praise the Lord that you're here! 03:30 So we're going to get ready for Camp Meeting. 03:31 I think we ought to just sing. We've got Jimmy Rhodes 03:34 over here. OK. We've got Jill Morikone over here. 03:36 And we kind of put them on the spot and asked them 03:39 to play What A Day That Will Be, just the chorus, 03:42 and we want you to sing it with us. All right? 04:20 Isn't that a beautiful song? It is! 04:22 What a day - glorious day - that will be! 04:25 How many is looking forward to that? 04:26 You all looking forward to that? 04:27 No more sickness. No more pain. 04:29 No more sorrow. Amen! And literally it's going to be 04:32 an amazing time. Elder Carter said something 04:34 earlier today. He said: "Well be sitting around 04:37 after... " What'd he say? "15 billion years. " Yeah right. 04:40 And we're like: "Wow! You don't really think about it. " 04:42 But he said: "Well that's what eternity's all about! " 04:44 That's right. Fifteen billion years from now 04:46 we'll be talking about - wow - the wonderful times 04:48 and the wonderful God that we serve. 04:51 We will. Right now we're going to 04:54 listen as Tammy sings for us. That's right. 04:56 Tammy Chance? That's right. You know her 04:58 pretty well, don't you? Well yeah. She's my baby sister. 05:01 All right. And brother Kenny's out here. 05:02 It's his baby sister. Yeah. 05:04 And this is... Tammy's going to come out. 05:06 She's actually doing a new project 05:08 over at the 3ABN Sound Center. 05:10 All right. Is it about finished? It's not finished. 05:12 Ooh, I didn't... it's your fault. 05:14 I started to say I wish I hadn't of brought it up. 05:15 I'm supposed... She asked me to sing one song 05:18 with her and I haven't had the chance this week. 05:20 So she keeps e-mailing me and says: "Get over there 05:23 and finish so we can have this album done. " 05:25 So, what are you going to sing tonight Tammy? 05:28 Father's Eyes. That's a real old one 05:30 about 20-30 years old. Amy Grant used to sing it. 05:33 A song with great meaning. All right. Amen. 05:45 I may not have been every mother's dream 05:50 for her little girl. 05:53 And my face may not grace 05:57 the minds of everyone in the world. 06:00 But that's all right. 06:03 As long as I can have one wish, I pray 06:08 when people look inside my life 06:13 I want to hear them say: 06:17 "She has her father's eyes. " 06:23 Her father's eyes. 06:26 Eyes that find the good in men 06:30 when good is not around. 06:34 Eyes that find the source of help 06:38 when help cannot be found. 06:42 Eyes full of compassion. 06:46 seeing every pain. 06:50 Knowing what we're goin' through 06:54 and feeling it the same. 06:59 Just like my father's eyes. 07:03 My father's eyes. 07:07 My father's eyes. 07:15 Just like my father's eyes. 07:24 On that day when we will pay 07:28 for all the things we have done. 07:32 Good and bad... they'll all be had 07:36 and seen by everyone. 07:39 But when you're called to stand and tell 07:43 just what you saw in me 07:47 More than anything I know 07:51 I want your words to be: 07:56 "She has her father's eyes. " 08:01 Her father's eyes. 08:05 Eyes that find the good in men 08:09 when good is not around. 08:13 Eyes that find the source of help 08:17 when help cannot be found. 08:21 Eyes full of compassion 08:25 seein' every pain. 08:28 Knowing what we're goin' through 08:32 and feeling it the same. 08:37 Just like my father's eyes. 08:42 My father's eyes. 08:46 My father's eyes. 08:53 Just like my father's eyes. 08:57 My father's eyes. 09:01 My father's eyes... 09:08 Just like my father's eyes. 09:16 Do do do do do. 09:23 Amen! Amen! Thank you, Tammy. 09:26 Well it's my privilege to introduce Pastor James Venegas. 09:30 And brought him out here because instead of just 09:34 the normal introduction he's kind of a new face to 3ABN. 09:38 Good looking young face, right? 09:40 And... Thank you. Yeah, he said "thank you" 09:42 and you all said "Yes. " You see that? 09:44 And he hails all the way from Down Under... 09:47 the great nation of Australia. 09:50 I know that's confusing for some people. 09:52 But yeah. We are now in Los Angeles, 09:56 and when I tell them that I'm Australian they kind of 09:58 scratch their heads a little bit. And I look like 10:01 every other "Los Angelene" around. 10:03 But I am Australian as you can hear with the accent. 10:06 Well you know, you don't have the accent that John Carter does 10:10 now... 'cause you don't say "lauer" do you 10:12 when you're talking about the law of God? 10:14 I think he says "the lauer of God" 10:16 and I'm always... "Oh, I know what he said. 10:18 The law of God. " Some are more broad than others. 10:20 Oh I see. OK. 10:22 All right. Well listen tell us a little bit about your past. 10:25 Were you born and raised in an Adventist home? 10:27 Yes I was. I was born and raised in Sydney, Australia 10:30 in the Adventist church. 10:32 My parents were immigrants from South America. 10:34 From Chile - OK - in South America. 10:37 So yeah, just... in a Spanish church 10:40 was where we started life. 10:41 And it was a very active evangelistic Spanish church. 10:44 Uh-huh. And I didn't move to an English church 10:47 until I became an adult. 10:49 And so... And I've been out of the Spanish 10:51 church for about 20 years now. 10:53 Wow. How long did you... 10:55 how old were you when you knew that God had a calling 10:59 on your life? Well it happened for me 11:00 I had the opportunity to sing in a group similar to 11:03 the Heritage Singers - OK - back in Australia. 11:06 And I was in that group and traveling around 11:08 speaking and singing to people that that penny dropped for me. 11:11 Just seeing the difference that was making in people's lives - 11:14 um-hmm - but also the difference that it was making in mine. 11:17 I moved away from the starry-eyed singer 11:21 to a real deep relationship. 11:22 And it started from there. That went to Avondale College 11:25 and then now pastoral ministry. 11:27 And speaking of pastoral, you're working with 11:30 Pastor John Carter. What are you doing there? 11:32 Tell us. Well, I've been on an amazing journey 11:34 this year. February 1 this year 11:36 we arrived for the first time in the United States. 11:39 My family: my wife Kaylene; 11:41 two children: Daniel, Leticia. 11:43 Um-hmm. We packed up from Australia and moved here 11:45 to pastor at the Carter Report Center 11:47 in Arcadia, California. 11:49 All right. So it's been a whirlwind for us. 11:52 And we've even gone to PNG to do an evangelistic campaign. 11:55 Now to here. It's just been an amazing year for us. 11:58 And we're going to be hearing a lot about PNG, I'm sure, 12:01 through both of you that have been there 12:03 and all of you because of some incredible 12:05 miracles that have taken place there. Elder Carter was sharing 12:09 some this evening. I said: "We've got to 12:11 get all of this out to the public. " 12:13 God is alive and well and He's still on the throne. 12:16 Can you say "Amen" to that? Amen! 12:17 Somebody excited tonight to be a Christian? Amen! 12:20 You glad that you've learned the truths of the Bible 12:22 through the Seventh-day Adventist church? 12:23 Many of you... our viewers that are watching... 12:25 We read a letter today... At the board meeting Jim did... 12:28 some guy said in the area... he said: "I used to deliver pizzas; 12:32 I had a rock band. " And he began to tell all about it. 12:35 And his band was starting to take off and do some things. 12:37 But he said: "I started watching and listening to 3ABN 12:41 television and radio and it's changed my life. 12:43 Everything in my life has changed. It's been godsend 12:46 literally. " Amen. So that's what's happening. 12:48 Tonight we're so happy to introduce to many of you 12:52 who don't know Pastor James Venegas. 12:54 It's a thrill for us to have you here 12:56 and we're looking forward to a great Camp Meeting 12:58 and we're asking God's blessings upon you. 13:01 Thank you for having me here, Danny. Thank you so much. 13:04 Well it is a real joy as I've said to be with you. 13:08 I know that when I arrived in the States, the very first 13:11 thing that I could read on people's minds was 13:14 "Hold on a minute. Is this guy truly Australian? " 13:17 And second to that is: "Boy... he looks young. " 13:22 And I've had to explain that we... we've been around 13:25 a little while. We've celebrated 20 years together with my wife. 13:29 My son is 14 years of age. 13:31 He's now in grade 9 here in the States. 13:33 And my daughter is 12 years of age. 13:36 So we've been around a little while. 13:38 But I guess I have to thank God for my South American 13:42 Hispanic skin. 13:45 Having been born and raised in the Adventist church 13:48 I have seen a lot in my time. 13:51 We've traveled a lot in the group that I've shared with you 13:53 about. And I really have come to the conviction 13:56 that in our church and in the Christian churches 13:59 there's a great need for Christians, for Adventists 14:03 alike, to be living a sanctified life. 14:08 I find that in the world that we live 14:11 we have Christians misrepresenting the character 14:15 of God every single week on the news. 14:19 And coming from Australia I guess we live in a country 14:23 that a little bit more along the atheist line. 14:26 And we have the major churches coming out these days 14:29 and misrepresenting God in ways you couldn't even imagine. 14:34 These days the leaders of these churches come out 14:37 on television interviews saying that the Bible 14:41 is just a made up story... that it's a myth. 14:45 These are religious leaders. 14:47 That the miracles of the Bible are just myths and that 14:51 the resurrection is again a myth. 14:53 We have people that misrepresent God in so many ways. 14:58 And so I believe that in our church - 15:00 in the Seventh-day Adventist church - 15:02 it's so important that we are living sanctified lives 15:06 so that the world can see the true character of God 15:09 through us. 15:12 My opening passage for this meeting and for my sermon 15:16 is found in Leviticus chapter 19. 15:19 And this is the launching pad for the sermon 15:21 that I'm going to share. Leviticus chapter 19 verse 2. 15:26 If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them up. 15:30 And Leviticus 19 verse 2 reads as follows: 15:36 From verse 1: "The Lord said to Moses: 15:39 'Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them 15:43 be holy because I, the Lord your God, 15:48 am holy. ' " 15:51 And with that in mind I'm just going to invite you 15:52 to bow your heads as we ask God's presence 15:54 and His anointing on the Word. 15:57 Father in heaven, we are discussing a broad 16:00 subject tonight. This is an important message for us 16:05 as Adventists. It's an important message 16:08 that the world needs to hear and see through us as Christians. 16:13 But Lord, this message is also fraught with danger... 16:16 it's a subject that the devil is attacking. 16:18 He is trying to distort and misrepresent. 16:21 And so we ask especially for Your Holy Spirit to be 16:25 with us, to anoint us, to speak through us. 16:28 To open our eyes to what You want to teach us. 16:31 To help us to start living the sanctified life... 16:36 the Christlike life that You would have us live. 16:39 Is our prayer in Jesus' name, Amen. 16:46 Now this passage in Leviticus chapter 19 16:50 is a very important passage. 16:52 It's spoken by God through Moses to the people of Israel. 16:57 These people are a new nation. 16:59 They have just come out of Egypt. 17:01 They have gone to Sinai. 17:03 They have received the Ten Commandments... 17:05 the law of God. 17:06 And now God is establishing His rules for life, 17:10 His guidelines for their living. 17:13 And He tells Moses to lay it out immediately 17:17 straight up to tell them that God's purpose for His people 17:21 is that they be sanctified. That they be holy people. 17:25 And then throughout the book He specifies what that means. 17:29 What holy means. What it means to be sanctified. 17:32 So the whole book of Leviticus is really surrounding 17:37 this key message of sanctification. 17:40 Of being holy... of being sanctified. 17:45 He wants His people - God wants His people - 17:48 to be a people that are different to the nations that 17:52 surround Israel. And the nations that will 17:54 surround Israel once they move on to the Promised Land. 17:57 He wants His people to be distinct to the pagan 18:01 worship that existed in those days. 18:04 He wanted them to be different. 18:06 He's calling them to obedience. 18:09 He's calling them to faithfulness. 18:13 He's calling them to be separate... to be holy. 18:17 But this concept of being sanctified and holy 18:21 like I said in my prayer is a topic that has been skewed. 18:24 It's a topic that has been debated, and there's been 18:28 a lot of misunderstanding and disagreement 18:30 as to what it means to be holy. 18:33 And it's such an important topic for us as Adventist Christians 18:37 that I can show you that the Bible is really bookended 18:40 by the whole concept of holiness from start to finish. 18:44 If we open up our Bibles to Genesis chapter 2 verse 3, 18:48 for example, at the very outset of scripture we find 18:52 the theme of holiness right there. 18:54 Chapter 2 verse 3 of Genesis. 19:00 And it reads as follows: 19:05 "Then God blessed the seventh day... " 19:07 And what did He make it? 19:09 "holy. " Or He sanctified it. 19:13 And He... "because on it He rested from all of the work 19:18 of creating that He had done. " 19:20 And so the very first thing that we find in the story of 19:23 creation is that we get to the Sabbath. God blesses it. 19:26 He sets it apart and He declares it holy. 19:29 Straight up the theme is introduced of sanctification... 19:32 holiness. 19:34 And then if we turn to the end of the scriptures 19:35 we find that it ends in the same way. 19:38 In Revelation chapter 22 verse 11 where the 19:44 the subject of holiness is the last broach 19:48 to the closing of the entire Bible. 19:51 Revelation chapter 22 verse 11. 19:58 And it reads: "Let the one who does wrong 20:01 continue to do wrong" is the declaration. 20:04 "Let the vile person continue to be vile. 20:07 Let the one who does right continue to do right. 20:10 And let the holy person continue to be holy. " 20:17 So as you can see it's the theme that is 20:20 right throughout the Bible starting at Genesis, 20:22 continuing through to Revelation. 20:24 And it permeates the whole of the Bible and yet 20:26 we live in a world that scarcely speaks of holiness 20:31 any more. That scarcely talks about sanctification any more. 20:35 It is a theme that is to be avoided by many 20:39 for many reasons. 20:41 And I believe it's a Satanic work 20:43 that is... because the devil knows that his time is short. 20:47 He knows that if he can sabotage the whole idea 20:50 of what it means to be holy, 20:51 if he can get in there and confuse the people, 20:53 get them arguing about the topic amongst each other, 20:56 get them thoroughly distorting the concept, 21:00 then he will have a whole group of Christians 21:04 who claim a form of godliness 21:07 and yet deny the power thereof. 21:10 And so holiness is something that is much needed in our 21:13 churches but yet we don't hear it preached very often 21:17 from our pulpits any more. 21:22 So God wants specifically a sanctified people. 21:28 Now we've been talking about this in our lessons in the last 21:30 few weeks when we studied I Thessalonians. 21:33 But I want to show you one other passage in the New Testament 21:36 where Peter is challenging the Christians 21:39 to be holy as well... just like Moses did in the days of old. 21:44 So we'll open up to I Peter chapter 1 verses 15-16 21:48 and we'll find Peter reiterating what Moses said 21:52 all those years earlier. 21:53 I Peter chapter 1 verses 15-16. 22:01 The whole section is on being holy, but I'm just 22:04 grabbing a small portion of it. 22:08 Verse 15 reads: "But just as He who called you 22:12 is holy so be holy in all that you do. For it is written... " 22:18 and he quotes from Leviticus... 22:20 "Be holy because I am holy. " 22:25 So now this is a concept that is not just a broad concept 22:29 that requires holiness from a day. 22:32 We are no longer talking about holiness of articles 22:35 in the sanctuary service or of the holy place 22:39 or the most holy place. 22:41 We are being taught very specifically here 22:43 that God's people are to be holy. 22:47 So if Moses said that to the people of Israel 22:50 and now Peter says it to the early Christian church 22:53 who is now scattered all around the world, surely 22:57 this is a concept that is important for us as God's people 23:01 also today. 23:03 So what does the word holy actually mean? 23:06 What does the word holy entail? 23:10 What does it mean to be sanctified? 23:13 If we look up the words in the original language 23:16 in Hebrew the word holy is "qodesh". 23:18 And some of you may know this: that the word 23:20 qodesh in Hebrew means to consecrate, 23:24 to dedicate to, to be hallowed, to separate, to set apart. 23:30 And so essentially this idea is where things or people 23:34 are consecrated to God and set apart for holy use... 23:38 for holy purposes. 23:39 That is what the Hebrew word qodesh means. 23:43 Holy; to set apart; to consecrate for holy use. 23:47 And that extends to people as well. 23:50 To priests... to God's people. 23:52 In the New Testament we have another word called hagios 23:57 which is a Greek adjective as opposed to the Hebrew verb. 24:01 And this one has a similar connotation 24:03 to the Hebrew but with a slight... 24:05 slightly different meaning. 24:07 So hagios in the Greek means distinct. 24:11 It means different from. 24:13 It means other; it means different from the world. 24:19 So if you put these two words together... 24:21 if you put qodesh from the Hebrew 24:24 and hagios from the Greek together you have a concept 24:28 that is about being separate, being consecrated, 24:31 being distinct from the world in which we live. 24:37 Notice there's no mention there of moral behavior at that point. 24:43 The words really just refer to being different 24:46 to the way of the world and being like God who is holy. 24:52 It is a distinction that we have that God's people need 24:54 to have from the world. And so hagios provides the root 24:58 for many different Greek words like holiness, 25:02 sanctification, to sanctify, and saint. 25:07 So in essence holy means separate, different, 25:10 devoted to, consecrated to. 25:12 In essence it means being Christlike. 25:16 In essence it means having the attributes of God 25:20 who alone is holy. 25:22 He is holy other and He's absolutely morally perfect. 25:29 And so we are to share those attributes, 25:31 but this is where the misunderstanding can come in 25:34 where people can carry that through to its full extent 25:37 and we get a distortion of this truth. 25:41 In reality, the word holy is not about absolute perfection. 25:47 The word holy is about separation. 25:51 It's about consecration which includes obedience. 25:58 Did you hear that? 25:59 The word holy is about separation. 26:02 Separation from sin? Yes. 26:04 Separation from the world. 26:05 It's about consecration to God... holiness. 26:11 And Bible-believing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists, 26:14 must be true believers... truly sanctified, truly holy. 26:20 And the process starts when we accept Jesus... 26:23 when we accept Christ and salvation. 26:25 But then it extends from there for a lifetime 26:27 and we are transformed, changed into the image of God. 26:31 And then we have the passages that we've been studying 26:33 lately. For example: John chapter 17 verse 17. 26:39 John 17 verse 17. 26:42 We are told that Christians are to be sanctified by God's Word. 26:49 Verse 17 reads: 26:53 "Sanctify them by the truth: 26:56 Your Word is truth. " 26:59 And then if we were to just review some of the passages 27:01 we've been studying in our lessons in I Thessalonians... 27:05 I Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3. 27:09 We'll just review a couple of these verses 27:11 because they're important to our theme. 27:14 I Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 3 to 7. 27:23 "It is God's will that you should be... " What? 27:28 "sanctified, made holy. 27:33 That you should avoid sexual immorality. 27:35 That each of you should learn to control your own body 27:38 in a way that is holy and honorable, 27:40 not in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God. 27:44 And that this matter no one should wrong 27:47 or take advantage of a brother or sister. 27:49 The Lord will punish all those who commit" these things. 27:55 I'll just turn the page. "who commit such sins 27:58 as we told you and warned you before. " 28:00 So in essence this is about being different 28:03 to the pagan cultures around us. 28:04 To living a life that is according to God's will 28:08 for our lives. 28:12 The only other verse that I want to share along this line 28:15 is in the next chapter. 28:17 I Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23 28:20 where it says: "May God Himself, 28:23 the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. 28:28 May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept 28:31 blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 28:35 The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it. " 28:39 So there's no question that in scripture we are told 28:42 that God's people need to be sanctified. 28:45 There is no question that the Bible teaches holiness. 28:48 It is from cover to cover. 28:50 It is throughout the Old Testament and New. 28:53 But the problem is the devil takes ahold of a theme like this 28:57 and he skews it to such a point 28:59 that he gets the church arguing amongst itself 29:05 over the... over the theme. 29:07 He so misrepresents the idea. 29:11 He creates such misunderstanding. 29:14 And so we get this pendulum swing of people that... 29:17 that go to extremes on the subject 29:20 and the whole idea gets swept under the carpet. 29:23 People avoid it; it doesn't get preached on. 29:26 And yet it's such a fundamental teaching for our times... 29:30 for the last days. 29:32 For example, on one extreme we have some people that... 29:36 don't want to take the full step 29:40 where we are basically going to resemble 29:43 the image of God in a complete sinless state. 29:46 And so some of the people that subscribe to this view 29:50 to an extreme... they end up being very judgmental. 29:54 Critical of everyone they find. 29:56 They can be very nasty people. 29:59 And yet we get people on the other extreme 30:01 where they are completely permissive 30:04 and they lead a free and easy existence. 30:07 Easy... easy goes. 30:09 There are no rules; there are no boundaries. 30:11 And we have people... It never ceases to amaze me... 30:14 people living together before marriage as if it's - 30:17 I'm talking Christians - as if it's something that is... 30:21 that is normal. 30:23 We have all sorts of things that happen in God's name 30:27 because there is a pendulum swing the other way 30:30 where people object to any talk of Christian perfection. 30:36 But then the majority of us sit somewhere in between. 30:38 And what's interesting to me is that there is a... 30:41 there is a lukewarm existence that happens in our churches 30:44 where we see ourselves as having a balanced view, 30:49 as having a balanced theology, 30:51 as understanding the concept of holiness 30:54 and yet in the churches that I have seen 30:57 in the places that I have been 30:59 we find a Christianity that is well and truly lukewarm. 31:05 That is not holy in the sense that the Bible teaches. 31:11 We find unsanctified Christians in our pews 31:17 who claim to have that form of godliness. 31:19 Claim to take the name of Christian 31:24 and yet the behavior is just not compatible 31:29 with the nature, with the person of Jesus Christ. 31:34 And I'm talking about the majority of us sitting here. 31:38 You and I. I'm not talking about anyone to any extreme now. 31:41 I'm talking about those of us who are regular church attenders 31:44 who claim to be practicing, active Seventh-day Adventist 31:47 Christians. 31:50 And yet where is the character of Christ? 31:54 I'm being very frank with you because to be honest 31:58 I have seen such behavior in my short years. 32:04 I've seen such bitterness. 32:06 I've seen such anger defending Christian truths. 32:12 I've seen a lot of knowledge where we can defend every single 32:15 fundamental that we believe and yet 32:18 when the rubber meets the road 32:20 our behavior just doesn't match up with the claim that we make 32:24 of being Christians... Christ-like, sanctified people. 32:30 And I ask myself: "What is going on? " 32:33 And I'm reminded that obviously we live in the last days 32:37 of this earth's history and the devil is attacking 32:41 like never, ever before. 32:44 The devil does not want the church sanctified 32:47 and representing Christ as it should be representing Him. 32:50 The devil is trying to do whatever it takes 32:54 to distort this concept and to have us misrepresent 32:58 the character of Christ. 33:01 And so we have people that indulge in all sorts of 33:06 entertainment. We have people that... 33:09 that happily drink and will happily do things 33:15 very similar to the world. 33:17 There is no difference; there is no setting apart. 33:20 The church is starting to look just like the world 33:24 in which we live. 33:28 And I believe that this is no coincidence 33:31 and we need to take stock of what is going on 33:36 in our churches. 33:38 I also believe that our leaders 33:40 need to be sanctified leaders. 33:43 I find that we are losing a sense of sanctity and integrity 33:49 in our leaders. The leaders need to be leading 33:52 by example. And this was the whole problem with the nation 33:55 of Israel. It was the high priest, 33:57 it was the leaders themselves, 33:59 that had lost that relationship with God. 34:01 That had lost their idea of sanctification. 34:03 And so they themselves were leading the nations astray. 34:09 And I believe this is what's happening in our world leaders. 34:12 Pastors, elders, as well as church members 34:18 have lost the idea of sanctification. 34:25 So what we need is a sanctified church... 34:29 a Christ-like church. 34:32 But what does... what does this take? 34:36 What has to happen? 34:38 I believe what has to happen is that we need to start 34:41 to see ourselves in the mirror of God's Word. 34:45 Because everybody that I've met 34:48 kind of justifies where they are at. 34:51 There are very few people that will admit 34:53 that they are living unsanctified lives. 34:57 I've rarely come across a person who has said to me 35:00 "Yes, look... I'm falling short. " 35:02 Most people will somehow... somehow 35:05 find that they sit somewhere in the middle, 35:08 somewhere close to Christ, 35:09 and everybody else is somewhere else. 35:13 Rarely do we see ourselves clearly in the mirror 35:16 of God's Word and in God's commandments 35:18 and realize that: "Hey... this is me! " 35:23 There's not some mysterious church out there that lacks 35:26 sanctification. It's not the Adventist church 35:28 or the leadership of the church. 35:30 We are the church! 35:33 And if sanctification is going to begin in our church 35:35 surely it begins with me. 35:38 Surely it begins with me. 35:46 A truly sanctified person, according to scripture, 35:49 is someone who never sees themselves as perfect 35:54 or good. 35:56 A truly sanctified person is someone who never 35:59 sees themselves as perfect or good. 36:05 A truly sanctified person is constantly dwelling on the 36:09 character of Christ. 36:12 Constantly dwelling on Christ's character... 36:16 not so much on me and my character. 36:19 A truly sanctified person is someone who 36:23 has subconscious Christlikeness. 36:28 Someone who's not even aware that they are Christ-like. 36:31 Someone who is Christ-like and other people can tell 36:34 but yet they don't have an awareness of it. 36:37 In fact, the person is more aware of their own sinful state 36:43 than anything else. 36:46 Being Christ-like is a conformity to God's will 36:51 in every area of our lives... 36:53 not just in the religious, church-going area. 36:57 It is taking God's will to every corner of our lives. 37:01 To every corner of our heart. 37:03 To every part, every segment, everything we do 37:06 from work to leisure to family to marriage. 37:09 Every aspect of our lives needs to be permeated by 37:13 this sanctification. 37:15 God's will needs to cover all of that. 37:18 Nothing should be hidden from Him. 37:23 Sanctification is also a progressive... 37:26 a progressive process. 37:30 We are called saints because it starts at salvation. 37:33 When someone comes to Christ they are justified 37:36 and sanctification begins at that point. 37:39 But it is a process that takes a whole lifetime 37:43 where God works through tough times, through good times. 37:47 He works on our character molding us and shaping us 37:50 into the image of Christ. 37:55 And you know, sanctification is always linked to evangelism 38:00 and to service. There is no such thing as being 38:04 sanctified and I guess just coming to church 38:07 and sitting in a pew and not living for anybody else 38:12 but ourselves. To just becoming fat Christians 38:16 where we just are fed and fed all the time 38:18 and we never serve, we never evangelize. 38:22 That's not sanctification. It can't be! 38:25 I mean the only reason we're on this earth still 38:28 is that there's a world out there that needs to be saved. 38:31 So surely sanctification also includes evangelism. 38:35 We can't just be sitting around on our hands 38:39 waiting for the second coming of Christ. 38:41 We need to be "sign-doers" not just "sign-watchers. " 38:44 So sanctification includes that as well: 38:48 service, evangelism. 38:54 I want to now kind of switch a little bit 38:56 'cause I've been showing you a bit of scripture and theology 38:59 and I want to share with you a little story that for me 39:02 really shows what sanctification looks like. 39:06 What it looks like in a person's life. 39:08 It is a Bible story that I think is an excellent 39:12 illustration of what it means to be sanctified. 39:15 I think it's full of lessons for us 39:17 to hold on to and to learn from. 39:20 And so I want to invite you to open up your Bibles 39:22 to Genesis chapter 37 39:25 which is the very beginning of scripture 39:29 to one of the most famous Biblical stories in the whole 39:33 of the Bible. Genesis chapter 37. 39:36 So in essence what we've done is we've laid down the foundation 39:39 theologically from scripture the passages that talk about 39:42 holiness and sanctification. 39:44 But now I want us to see what it actually looks like 39:47 in real life... in a person's life. 39:50 So Genesis chapter 37 39:54 and I want us to read from verse 3. 40:02 And it says: "Now Israel loved Joseph 40:05 more than any of his other sons 40:08 because he had been born to him in his old age. 40:13 And he made an ornate robe for him. 40:16 When his brothers saw that their father loved him 40:18 more than any of them they hated him 40:22 and could not speak a kind word to him. 40:26 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers 40:30 they hated him all the more. 40:32 He said to them: 'Listen to this dream I had. 40:36 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field 40:38 when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright 40:41 while your sheaves gathered around mine 40:45 and bowed down to it. ' " 40:48 This is a young man... We all know the story. 40:51 I want to just give you a little bit of background on this 40:53 story and why I like it so much. 40:55 This story is the longest Biblical narrative - 40:58 Biblical story - in the entire Bible. 41:00 It is so full of lessons for us to learn 41:04 on the subject of sanctification. 41:07 What I need to also share with you is that 41:09 Hebrew narrative needs to be understood in a different way 41:12 to the way we think in the Western world. 41:15 I need to tell you that Hebrew narratives 41:18 are very compact in the sense that they 41:21 don't give a lot of descriptive words for characters 41:23 or for places. They are very compact 41:26 because the Hebrew language was a very small language. 41:30 In fact, it only had 5,000 words 41:34 in its whole vocabulary. 41:37 And that was 5,000 but only 2,000 of them were 41:42 root words. So 2,000 root words 41:44 extended to 5,000 words is all they had to use 41:48 to explain their stories. 41:50 And so they would have to use a lot of different conventions 41:54 to try to get their point across. 41:57 I tried to find out how many words we have 41:59 in our English language. And it's very hard to determine 42:02 but they say it's about 250,000. 42:05 A quarter of a million words in our language 42:08 to explain what we need to explain. 42:11 So you can imagine the difference. 42:12 Where I can break something up and I can give you adjectives 42:16 and really pull something apart 42:18 whereas the Hebrews had just the stories. 42:21 And they had to use things like repetition, 42:23 they had to use things like dialogue 42:27 to get the character across. 42:29 They would often place stories side by side 42:33 without any comment, and what you would have to do 42:35 is compare those two stories to see what lesson the author 42:39 wanted to get across. 42:42 And the characters were rarely described. 42:46 Their motives are rarely described. 42:48 We have to really try to understand and hear 42:50 the dialogue and try to see their actions to work out 42:54 who's the good guy and who's not the good guy 42:56 and try to find out what the story is about. 42:58 And so with that in mind 43:01 I want us to just notice a few things about the story 43:04 of Joseph and what we can learn 43:07 about sanctification from his life. 43:10 I need to tell you that this young man grew up 43:12 in a dysfunctional home with many step siblings. 43:18 And this was the result of Jacob's unfaithfulness 43:21 in a time in his life where he lacked the faith 43:25 to trust in God. 43:26 And so he had all of these children to different wives 43:30 and it was a really difficult family to live in. 43:35 And out of this dysfunctional family comes this young man 43:41 with a difference. He stands out. 43:43 He's got a pure heart and a pure mind. 43:49 He's very honest 43:51 and he enjoys a close relationship with God. 43:54 Ellen White talks about him sitting at the feet 43:57 of his father, hearing the stories of all of how God worked 44:00 in the lives of his father and his great-grandfather. 44:04 He had a real interest in God and the Word of God. 44:09 There's no coincidence that he was receiving 44:12 prophetic visions from God at such an early age. 44:16 This young man must have been an exceptional, 44:19 godly, sanctified young man. 44:25 And you know, his pureness of heart 44:28 and his character really accused 44:34 the characters of his brothers. 44:37 You may notice early in the story he doesn't actually 44:39 say any more than he has to. His words are very brief. 44:42 He describes his dreams in a kind of naive way 44:47 and when they get upset he doesn't answer back. 44:50 He doesn't elaborate. 44:52 He doesn't actually say: "Yes, one day you're 44:54 going to all bow down to me. " 44:56 He's kind of perplexed just like they are 44:58 trying to work out this dream. 45:00 So it's a naive thing that he's sharing these dreams 45:03 with his brothers. 45:06 And his character stood out and made them look bad. 45:10 And so it wasn't only Jacob's favoritism that made them angry. 45:14 It was his life... it was his sanctified life 45:18 that made them angry because it showed them up. 45:24 And so we have the story. 45:26 You know it well, many of you, 45:28 where the brothers plot to kill their younger brother. 45:32 And they wait for him. They see him from afar 45:35 and they are prepared. They're so angry they want to... 45:38 they want to murder him in cold blood. 45:42 But Reuben - the oldest brother - says: "No, 45:44 let's just throw him in an empty well. " 45:46 And they do that. 45:51 But the anger is so great 45:55 that they can't... they can't keep him there. 45:59 They end up selling him to Midianites - Ishmaelites - 46:02 on their way to Egypt. 46:04 You know, the interesting part of the story - 46:07 and Ellen White talks about this too - 46:09 is that after they manhandle him in anger 46:14 and they sell him off to the Midianites, and he finds himself 46:17 alone without his father, 46:20 he finds himself afflicted on the way to a strange land, 46:26 his mind goes back to the angry eyes and the hatred 46:30 that his brothers had displayed towards him. 46:36 And you know, in that moment Ellen White tells us 46:39 that he had a moment of uncontrolled grief. 46:44 He had a moment of deep terror for a time. 46:49 Which implies to me that this young man - though sanctified - 46:52 was not perfect. He had a moment where he... 46:54 he distrusted. He didn't know what we going to happen 46:57 in this foreign land. 47:01 But on that trip he takes a moment to take stock. 47:05 He takes a moment to recognize his own faults. 47:11 He comes to the conclusion that yes, he has been 47:14 self-sufficient, he's been demanding. 47:16 He recognizes that he's fallen short. 47:21 And then he's reminded of the God of his father, Jacob, 47:25 and he's reminded of the stories that he heard at the feet of his 47:28 father. Stories about how when his father was far from home 47:32 felt the presence of God and the presence of angels. 47:35 And how his father had trusted in the promises of God 47:40 and God had never let him down. 47:42 And so it's at that point on the way to Egypt that... 47:47 that young Joseph makes a decision 47:50 that will be the turning point in his life. 47:54 At 17 he makes a decision that 47:58 would change his life forever. 48:03 He decides that he will be faithful to God 48:08 no matter what would come in his future. 48:13 He decides that he would lead 48:19 a sanctified, God-pleasing life 48:22 regardless of the trials that may lay ahead 48:25 and even the temptations. 48:29 And so he has a moment with God 48:33 that completely shapes the rest of his life. 48:38 And we know the remaining part of the story 48:41 where he well and truly encountered deep, deep trials 48:46 and major temptations 48:49 and he stays faithful. 48:51 And as a result of that faithfulness we find an increase 48:55 in his blessings... for him and for those around him. 48:59 And I have a couple of examples. Verses that I want to 49:02 just show to you that the blessing of God 49:04 as it increased as he went along. 49:07 In chapter 39 verse 2 we have the first example 49:13 where it says: "The Lord was with Joseph 49:15 so he prospered. And he lived in the house 49:18 of his Egyptian master. 49:20 When his master saw that the Lord was with him, 49:22 that the Lord gave him success in everything that he did, 49:26 Joseph found favor in the eyes of his master 49:30 and became his attendant. " 49:31 Potiphar put him in charge of his household. 49:34 He entrusted into his care everything that he owned. 49:37 From that time on he put him in charge 49:40 of everything that he owned essentially 49:43 as Potiphar recognizes in this young man something different. 49:48 Something that separates him from the rest. 49:53 And then we build on this. 49:54 There's repetition that goes on in this story. 49:56 In verse 20 of that same chapter 49:59 we read a very similar passage 50:01 where he is now in prison and it says: 50:04 "Joseph's master took him and put him in prison - 50:07 the place where the king's prisoners are confined - 50:10 but while Joseph was there in prison the Lord was with him. " 50:15 We've heard this before. 50:16 He showed him kindness, granted him favor 50:19 in the eyes of the prison warden now. 50:22 And so the prison warden puts Joseph in charge 50:25 of all of those held in the prison. 50:27 Makes him responsible for everything there. 50:30 He continues to be blessed 50:32 AND whoever comes into contact with this young man 50:35 is blessed as a result. 50:38 And so this blessing increases. 50:41 And we have another verse in chapter 41 in verse 39 where... 50:45 where it says on a bigger scale now. 50:48 Now we are seeing Pharaoh - who is essentially the king 50:53 of Egypt... "Then Pharaoh said to Joseph 50:55 'Since God has made all this known to you 50:58 there is no one so discerning or as wise as you. 51:02 You will be put in charge of my palace 51:04 and all my people are to submit to your orders. 51:08 Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you. ' " 51:11 So we've gone from the house of Potiphar 51:14 to the prison of the king 51:16 now to the whole nation of Egypt. 51:19 And it's doesn't even stop there. 51:20 There's another verse in that chapter - verse 56- 51:23 where we are told it extended to the whole world. 51:27 When the famine was spread over the whole country 51:30 Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain 51:34 to the Egyptians. We're talking about a vast region 51:37 of people that he was responsible for 51:40 and were blessed as a result of his commitment 51:43 and faithfulness to God. 51:46 And so we kind of know the story. 51:48 We kind of know that this young man was different 51:51 and that God blessed him as a result. 51:53 What I'd never realized before in this story 51:55 when I was younger and I've found out in recent years 51:58 as I've studied it more 52:00 was that there is a comparison made in this story 52:02 that the author - Moses - wants us to see. 52:05 And I didn't see it in Sabbath School. 52:07 I didn't see it when I was a young man. 52:09 And I quickly just want to show you that comparison. 52:12 It's found in chapter 38 of Genesis. 52:18 Chapter 38 of Genesis. 52:20 There is a bit of an interruption in the flow 52:22 of the story. And I don't know why I hadn't noticed it, 52:27 but it is there and it is significant. 52:29 In chapter 38 we no longer have the story of Joseph. 52:33 Joseph starts in 37 52:36 and then it continues 39, 40, 41, up to 45. 52:40 Chapter 38 is different. 52:42 There is like a change in scene there 52:47 and we talk about... we learn about Judah, his brother. 52:52 And what we learn in the story, just to be brief 52:54 because we don't have a lot of time, 52:56 is that just as Joseph left his father's home 52:59 Judah also left his father's home. 53:02 Joseph was taken without his consent 53:07 but Judah decided to leave of his own volition. 53:10 Judah heads out to Canaan. 53:13 We are told that Judah marries a Canaanite woman. 53:16 We are told that he has three boys to this Canaanite woman 53:20 but everything goes wrong with Judah. 53:25 He loses his firstborn. 53:28 He loses his second born, and God calls them both 53:31 "wicked... " these two boys of Judah. 53:34 Then Judah loses his wife. 53:38 And then eventually he fails to trust God 53:41 and he ends up committing a grievous sin of adultery 53:47 with Tamar, his eldest son's daughter, 53:50 thinking that she's a prostitute. 53:51 She was veiled. And he solicits her 53:55 and has intimate relations with her 53:57 and ends up destroying everything. 54:01 And so the contrast is clear. 54:04 Where one son's - Joseph's - life is up and up 54:07 as a result of his faithfulness, 54:09 the other son's life is on the slide as a result 54:14 of his unfaithfulness. 54:16 His unsanctified life. 54:19 I believe that Moses put that clause there 54:22 for us to see the contrast between what it is to live 54:26 a sanctified life versus an unsanctified life. 54:31 Joseph and Judah. 54:34 What's amazing to me is that Joseph is the hero 54:38 of the story and yet it is Judah 54:40 who ends up being the great great grandparent 54:43 of King David. 54:45 And it is Judah and through his line 54:48 that Jesus Christ comes... not Joseph. 54:52 And I believe that Moses put that chapter in there 54:56 to show the people of Israel who needed to come back to God, 54:59 that needed to be a holy nation, 55:01 he wanted them to see one example of Joseph 55:03 who was always faithful to God and who hardly ever 55:07 made an error but he also wanted to tell them 55:13 that Judah - who took a different journey, 55:16 he almost took the long way around, 55:18 whose life was unholy and unsanctified at one point 55:22 but who hit such a rock bottom in his life 55:25 where he realized the error of his ways - 55:28 and he, too, came back to a sanctified experience. 55:33 And for me the clincher of the story - 55:35 and I've only got a few moments to finish - 55:37 is found in chapter 44 verse 18. 55:46 44 verse 18. 55:59 We find Judah entering into the presence of Joseph 56:02 at the end of the story. 56:04 And for many many verses on we find Judah pleading 56:08 for the life of his younger brother Benjamin. 56:11 Something has changed in the life of Judah. 56:15 Something has changed. 56:17 And we don't have time to read the whole section 56:19 so I'm just going to grab the ending of it 56:21 where Judah is pleading for the boy. In verse 30 it says: 56:25 "So now if the boy is not with us 56:27 when I go back to my father, 56:29 if my father - whose life is closely bound up with the 56:32 boy's life - sees that the boy isn't here, he will die. " 56:35 And then verse 33 says: "Now please, 56:37 let your servant remain here as my lord's slave 56:40 in place of the boy. Let the boy return home. " 56:43 And then in verse 34 he says: 56:45 "How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? 56:48 No. Do not let me see the misery that would come 56:51 to my father. " Essentially 56:54 Judah had just offered his life for his younger brother 56:58 and he has just pleaded for the father that he once 57:01 didn't care at all about. 57:04 So the Israelites heard this 57:06 and they realized the importance of turning back to God. 57:09 And I think we, too, must learn the importance 57:14 of a sanctified life 57:17 and coming back to God even if we've strayed. 57:20 And it's not about absolute perfection. It is about... |
Revised 2014-12-17