Lift up your heart in faith
00:00:26.29\00:00:32.14
For God is ever nigh you
00:00:32.17\00:00:38.47
Eager to bless his children
00:00:38.50\00:00:44.13
Mindful of every child
00:00:44.16\00:00:49.09
Lift up your heart in prayer
00:00:49.12\00:00:54.52
For God will ever heed you
00:00:54.55\00:01:00.76
Seek Him in every sorrow
00:01:00.79\00:01:06.60
Find Him in every need
00:01:06.63\00:01:11.39
Lift up your heart
through tears of grief
00:01:11.42\00:01:17.57
He will give you peace
00:01:17.60\00:01:22.53
And heal you
00:01:22.56\00:01:28.22
Lift up your
heart in praise of Him
00:01:28.25\00:01:35.39
who hath redeemed you
00:01:35.42\00:01:39.85
Praise His unfailing mercy
00:01:39.88\00:01:45.30
Praise His unchanging love
00:01:45.33\00:01:49.89
Lift up your
heart, for by His might
00:01:49.92\00:01:56.07
He doth guard your path
00:01:56.10\00:02:00.71
And guide you
00:02:00.74\00:02:07.18
Lift up your heart unceasing
00:02:07.21\00:02:12.33
Praising the Savior's name
00:02:12.36\00:02:16.75
Lift up your heart
for He hath ransomed you
00:02:16.78\00:02:22.27
Lift up your heart
for He doth succor you
00:02:22.30\00:02:27.74
Lift up your heart
for He doth offer you
00:02:27.77\00:02:33.95
A crown of everlasting life
00:02:33.98\00:02:41.95
A crown of everlasting life
00:02:50.43\00:02:58.43
Amen. Good evening.
00:03:15.45\00:03:16.75
Good evening.
00:03:16.78\00:03:19.41
Good evening GYC.
00:03:19.44\00:03:21.30
Good evening.
00:03:21.33\00:03:23.37
I have the
privilege of attempting
00:03:23.40\00:03:27.86
to preach on this awesome
theme before men and angels.
00:03:27.89\00:03:32.40
And I have to say that
00:03:32.43\00:03:34.18
thinking about this huge theme
for this year's conference,
00:03:34.21\00:03:39.50
it's almost impossible to use
language to capture the thing.
00:03:39.53\00:03:43.14
Amen.
00:03:43.17\00:03:44.34
Beside over that truth is
even stranger than fiction.
00:03:44.37\00:03:49.01
The story, this idea
00:03:49.04\00:03:52.62
that you and I are living in
this cosmic context is just--
00:03:52.65\00:03:58.21
it's beyond my
ability to explain.
00:03:58.24\00:04:03.23
As you know our
passage is based on this phrase
00:04:03.26\00:04:08.19
from the Apostle Paul,
the statement that Paul makes
00:04:08.22\00:04:11.22
as he is writing to
the Church at Corinth
00:04:11.25\00:04:14.48
and what I want to do tonight,
is I want to set a frame,
00:04:14.51\00:04:19.36
I want to set a
context, the foundation
00:04:19.39\00:04:23.37
to talk about
what does this mean.
00:04:23.40\00:04:25.53
What does this statement mean?
00:04:25.56\00:04:28.45
How does this
statement have the potential
00:04:28.48\00:04:31.86
to totally give us a paradigm
shift on how we view everything?
00:04:31.89\00:04:35.70
How we view
ourselves and how we view God.
00:04:35.73\00:04:39.85
So I want to lay
a foundation tonight
00:04:39.88\00:04:42.16
and then for
the next two sermons
00:04:42.19\00:04:43.68
what we are going to
do is we're going to--
00:04:43.71\00:04:45.33
we're going to take the
lens and we're going to zoom in
00:04:45.36\00:04:48.03
and I trust and I hope
and hope you're praying for me
00:04:48.06\00:04:50.57
and I hope that God would
give us a vision of His dream.
00:04:50.60\00:04:56.03
Just to capture a
glimpse of His dream
00:04:56.06\00:05:00.32
and the
implication for our generation
00:05:00.35\00:05:03.02
as young Adventist Christians
00:05:03.05\00:05:05.58
and the
opportunity that we have.
00:05:05.61\00:05:08.28
That's my hope, that's my prayer
00:05:08.31\00:05:10.14
for a huge
paradigm shift this weekend.
00:05:10.17\00:05:12.83
Can you say amen to that? Amen.
00:05:12.86\00:05:14.55
I am hoping for a huge
paradigm shift this weekend
00:05:14.58\00:05:17.65
even as the one
who's going to attempt
00:05:17.68\00:05:21.49
to put these things into words.
00:05:21.52\00:05:22.55
I'm going to kneel for prayer,
00:05:22.58\00:05:24.20
I invite you guys
to just remain seated
00:05:24.23\00:05:25.86
and just bow your
heads as we ask God
00:05:25.89\00:05:28.89
to make our time
together, to make it productive,
00:05:28.92\00:05:32.28
challenging and inspiring.
00:05:32.31\00:05:34.86
Pray with me.
00:05:34.89\00:05:37.42
Father in Heaven, we thank
you for the breath of life.
00:05:37.45\00:05:40.58
We thank you for the
privilege of being alive today.
00:05:40.61\00:05:46.82
And tonight as we
come together to open
00:05:46.85\00:05:50.08
the Holy Scriptures,
to crack open your word,
00:05:50.11\00:05:52.48
my humble payer is that
You would show up tonight.
00:05:52.51\00:05:58.27
And I pray that the same
spirit that inspired these words
00:05:58.30\00:06:01.49
would be here to
interpret the words
00:06:01.52\00:06:04.24
and to press them
deep on our conscience.
00:06:04.27\00:06:10.80
That you would broaden
our scope of the potential
00:06:10.83\00:06:13.89
that You see in us.
00:06:13.92\00:06:17.90
That You would give more
clarity to how awesome You are.
00:06:17.93\00:06:22.37
But we pray for
the spirit of God
00:06:22.40\00:06:23.69
to make all this
possible tonight,
00:06:23.72\00:06:25.62
in Jesus name we
thank you and we pray, amen.
00:06:25.65\00:06:31.91
Our theme as I mentioned
and as you probably know
00:06:31.94\00:06:35.08
comes from this
phrase, the statement
00:06:35.11\00:06:38.77
that Paul makes in
the book 1st Corinthians.
00:06:38.80\00:06:41.01
I'm going to invite you to--
00:06:41.04\00:06:43.20
to journey with me
to 1st Corinthians,
00:06:43.23\00:06:45.36
Paul's first letter
to the Church in Corinth
00:06:45.39\00:06:48.44
and there is a
whole lot going on
00:06:48.47\00:06:50.03
in the book of 1st Corinthians.
00:06:50.06\00:06:52.56
In fact the church in
Corinth is the messiest church
00:06:52.59\00:06:57.27
in the entire New Testament.
00:06:57.30\00:06:58.39
There is all kinds of craziness
00:06:58.42\00:07:01.08
happening in the
Church of Corinth
00:07:01.11\00:07:03.47
and Paul is sort of
just getting warmed up,
00:07:03.50\00:07:07.08
1st Corinthians Chapter 1, 2, 3.
00:07:07.11\00:07:08.93
He is setting the stage
for these two huge letters
00:07:08.96\00:07:12.42
that he's going to
write to this little church
00:07:12.45\00:07:13.98
and then when you
get to Chapter 4:9,
00:07:14.01\00:07:16.70
this is where we get
this crazy phrase from,
00:07:16.73\00:07:19.97
before men and angels.
00:07:20.00\00:07:21.60
And first
Corinthians Chapter 4:9,
00:07:21.63\00:07:25.31
my Bible says this,
"For I think that God has,"
00:07:25.34\00:07:29.87
what's that next word?
00:07:29.90\00:07:31.55
Okay, "displayed us."
00:07:31.58\00:07:32.83
I want you to put
that in your pocket
00:07:32.86\00:07:34.18
because that's my
word, that's my word display.
00:07:34.21\00:07:37.85
Okay, I'm going to be dropping
that word over and over again
00:07:37.88\00:07:40.26
through out the
course of this weekend.
00:07:40.29\00:07:42.01
"God has
displayed us the apostles
00:07:42.04\00:07:45.45
last as men condemned to death.
00:07:45.48\00:07:48.22
For we have been made"
and there's our second word
00:07:48.25\00:07:52.30
"a spectacle".
00:07:52.33\00:07:55.25
We have been made a spectacle,
00:07:55.28\00:07:57.40
a spectacle to who?
00:07:57.43\00:07:59.40
Bible says before
angels and to men.
00:07:59.43\00:08:04.10
There we go
before men and angels.
00:08:04.13\00:08:07.45
This idea of
God taking something
00:08:07.48\00:08:11.80
and putting it on
display is deeply profound.
00:08:11.83\00:08:15.37
In Paul's theology,
00:08:15.40\00:08:18.42
the people of
God are in exhibit.
00:08:18.45\00:08:21.93
A spectacle after all,
it's something that you look at,
00:08:21.96\00:08:24.25
a spectacle is
something people look at.
00:08:24.28\00:08:26.90
The purpose of a
spectacle is for it to be seen,
00:08:26.93\00:08:30.15
for it to be watched,
for it to be analyzed, right?
00:08:30.18\00:08:33.78
According to Paul,
that's what we are,
00:08:33.81\00:08:35.70
he is speaking
of the Church, okay?
00:08:35.73\00:08:40.65
The display is put before two
totally different dimensions.
00:08:40.68\00:08:45.38
The display is
put before the angels
00:08:45.41\00:08:47.63
and it's also put before men.
00:08:47.66\00:08:49.79
Now this idea, we'll
be exploring more of this
00:08:49.82\00:08:52.40
throughout the weekend
but this idea, it's not--
00:08:52.43\00:08:55.17
it's not unique to
this particular book,
00:08:55.20\00:08:57.66
you find Paul using
this type of language
00:08:57.69\00:09:00.72
in the different
letters that he wrote.
00:09:00.75\00:09:02.25
You find this type
of-- this type of idea
00:09:02.28\00:09:04.62
in the different
epistles of Paul for example,
00:09:04.65\00:09:07.53
from 1st
Corinthians if you hang a write
00:09:07.56\00:09:09.48
and go to Ephesians Chapter
3, turn with me quickly here
00:09:09.51\00:09:13.21
as we set some foundation.
00:09:13.24\00:09:15.85
In Ephesians Chapter
3, now Paul is writing
00:09:15.88\00:09:17.81
to an entirely
different Christian community
00:09:17.84\00:09:20.30
and he uses the same
concept in order to try
00:09:20.33\00:09:24.92
to bring into focus
what these people should,
00:09:24.95\00:09:28.64
how these people
should think about themselves
00:09:28.67\00:09:32.51
and how they should
think about God, okay?
00:09:32.54\00:09:36.27
These are ingredients
that Paul is throwing out there
00:09:36.30\00:09:39.72
in order to help
bring-- to fine tune the way
00:09:39.75\00:09:44.08
the community
thinks about itself
00:09:44.11\00:09:46.57
and the way it thinks about God.
00:09:46.60\00:09:47.97
In Ephesians Chapter 3,
00:09:48.00\00:09:49.32
we're there, can
you say hallelujah?
00:09:49.35\00:09:50.86
Hallelujah.
00:09:50.89\00:09:52.78
Okay, the Bible says this.
00:09:52.81\00:09:55.80
Now I am jumping
right in the middle of this,
00:09:55.83\00:09:57.62
this powerful, powerful
argument that he is presenting.
00:09:57.65\00:10:00.50
But in verse 10 it
says and the context is
00:10:00.53\00:10:03.91
what Jesus has
been up to in this world
00:10:03.94\00:10:08.48
and Jesus being the fulfillment
of the promises of God
00:10:08.51\00:10:12.54
to humanity, verse 10,
00:10:12.57\00:10:14.63
Ephesians
Chapter 3, to the intent.
00:10:14.66\00:10:18.73
Another way to say that would
be for the purpose of, okay?
00:10:18.76\00:10:23.97
That now the
manifold wisdom of God
00:10:24.00\00:10:28.64
might be made
known by the Church
00:10:28.67\00:10:32.79
to the principalities and powers
in the heavenly places, okay.
00:10:32.82\00:10:39.61
In that statement
according to Paul,
00:10:39.64\00:10:43.64
the biggest concern that
is weighing on God's heart
00:10:43.67\00:10:47.08
is to make his
manifold wisdom understood,
00:10:47.11\00:10:52.72
to make it available, okay?
00:10:52.75\00:10:55.02
Now if you look at
the text who is God
00:10:55.05\00:10:57.28
trying to make His
wisdom available to?
00:10:57.31\00:11:00.43
The Bible tells us here
that he is trying to make it
00:11:00.46\00:11:03.40
available to the
principalities and powers
00:11:03.43\00:11:05.68
in heavenly places, okay?
00:11:05.71\00:11:08.63
And the agent-- the
agent of that revelation
00:11:08.66\00:11:12.56
is not some big magic
trick that Jesus came to do.
00:11:12.59\00:11:16.84
It's not some
big aabra ka daabra
00:11:16.87\00:11:18.87
that Jesus does on
this-- in this world.
00:11:18.90\00:11:23.09
The magic trick is
basically the church.
00:11:23.12\00:11:30.16
Through the church,
00:11:30.19\00:11:32.32
God is putting
something on display
00:11:32.35\00:11:36.14
that according to God
when this thing gets on display
00:11:36.17\00:11:40.91
the entire universe
will see something about God
00:11:40.94\00:11:45.93
that it would
otherwise never be able to see.
00:11:45.96\00:11:50.43
Okay the manifold wisdom of God
00:11:50.46\00:11:53.98
made known to the principalities
00:11:54.01\00:11:55.90
and powers in
the heavenly places
00:11:55.93\00:11:57.49
by the church,
that's Ephesians 3:10.
00:11:57.52\00:11:59.70
Guys, if you're thinking,
00:11:59.73\00:12:00.87
if you got your
thinking caps on,
00:12:00.90\00:12:02.23
that should blow
your mind, that is crazy.
00:12:02.26\00:12:05.65
We were to digest those words,
00:12:05.68\00:12:08.58
it is amazing what
the implications are.
00:12:08.61\00:12:11.84
Basically you and I, the church,
00:12:11.87\00:12:16.56
nobody is down
here on this earth.
00:12:16.59\00:12:19.57
We have the potential to
make something about God.
00:12:19.60\00:12:23.43
To make some detail about God,
00:12:23.46\00:12:25.67
some dimension about who
God is and what God is like?
00:12:25.70\00:12:30.25
We have the potential of making
00:12:30.28\00:12:31.90
that mysterious
dimension available,
00:12:31.93\00:12:35.67
making that known,
giving access to that,
00:12:35.70\00:12:39.08
to that
dimension of God that would
00:12:39.11\00:12:41.91
otherwise not be
available to the whole universe.
00:12:41.94\00:12:44.33
So in essence this is why
you read these weird verses
00:12:44.36\00:12:47.34
for example, 1st Peter
1:12 if you're taking notes.
00:12:47.37\00:12:49.54
It says that the
angels of God are interested
00:12:49.57\00:12:53.64
and they're
looking into the outplaying
00:12:53.67\00:12:57.41
of the plan of salvation
of what Jesus accomplished
00:12:57.44\00:13:00.84
with humanity, with
the human race, okay?
00:13:00.87\00:13:04.22
Peter tells us that the angels
are so intensely interested
00:13:04.25\00:13:07.48
that they are
just-- basically they got
00:13:07.51\00:13:09.09
their nose on the
window and they're just like
00:13:09.12\00:13:10.55
watching what's
happening down here.
00:13:10.58\00:13:13.08
This is why Jesus says
things like in Luke 15,
00:13:13.11\00:13:16.39
I think it's
verse 10 that whenever
00:13:16.42\00:13:18.60
something powerful
takes place with a human being
00:13:18.63\00:13:21.95
on this planet, there is a party
00:13:21.98\00:13:24.47
among the angels in
heaven, isn't that what it says?
00:13:24.50\00:13:27.61
In other words
there is this picture
00:13:27.64\00:13:28.90
that heaven is very intimately,
00:13:28.93\00:13:32.36
what do I want to say
involved with what's happening
00:13:32.39\00:13:35.46
on earth in the lives of
apparently insignificant people.
00:13:35.49\00:13:39.42
It's powerful, it's amazing.
00:13:39.45\00:13:40.98
And I would want
to go as far as to say
00:13:41.01\00:13:42.98
that human beings
now are able to come
00:13:43.01\00:13:46.45
into a closeness with God
00:13:46.48\00:13:48.85
that even the angels themselves
will never experience.
00:13:48.88\00:13:52.94
Think about that.
00:13:52.97\00:13:54.00
You looked-- you
looked at yourself
00:13:54.03\00:13:55.21
in the mirror this morning,
00:13:55.24\00:13:56.70
you think about
your life, who you are.
00:13:56.73\00:13:59.01
You think about
what is worthy of example
00:13:59.04\00:14:01.81
in your life and what isn't.
00:14:01.84\00:14:02.98
You, simple "ou"
apparently insignificant you,
00:14:03.01\00:14:08.11
the angels will
learn something about God
00:14:08.14\00:14:11.27
through you that they would
otherwise have no access to,
00:14:11.30\00:14:13.42
is that powerful or what?
00:14:13.45\00:14:16.12
That's the ultimate.
00:14:16.15\00:14:17.29
That's the ultimate--
that's the ultimate compliment,
00:14:17.32\00:14:21.18
so backing on to
this big picture,
00:14:21.21\00:14:23.92
this is what Paul
sets the stage as.
00:14:23.95\00:14:26.36
He want's the
Christian community
00:14:26.39\00:14:28.20
to operate with his paradigm.
00:14:28.23\00:14:30.42
This is what's happening.
00:14:30.45\00:14:32.33
This little
planet in the vastness
00:14:32.36\00:14:34.37
of God's endless universe,
00:14:34.40\00:14:36.94
this is a little
speck in God's universe.
00:14:36.97\00:14:40.07
And it's this little planet,
00:14:40.10\00:14:41.52
this little
corner of God's universe
00:14:41.55\00:14:43.52
that has rebelled
against its own creator.
00:14:43.55\00:14:45.89
CS Lewis calls it enemy
occupied territory, right?
00:14:45.92\00:14:48.66
Now think about
this the one single--
00:14:48.69\00:14:50.91
the one little
speck in the universe
00:14:50.94\00:14:52.59
that has rebelled against
God will eventually become
00:14:52.62\00:14:55.55
the headquarters
for the kingdom of God.
00:14:55.58\00:14:57.39
Revelation tells us
that the New Jerusalem
00:14:57.42\00:15:00.36
comes down and where does
it-- where does it settle?
00:15:00.39\00:15:04.20
It doesn't settle on
Mars or in Saturn, right?
00:15:04.23\00:15:07.03
It settles on this planet.
00:15:07.06\00:15:08.35
This planet
becomes the headquarters
00:15:08.38\00:15:10.15
of God's kingdom.
00:15:10.18\00:15:12.13
Your backyard
becomes the capital
00:15:12.16\00:15:16.03
of the kingdom of God.
00:15:16.06\00:15:17.29
This is the grand scope of
what Paul is talking about.
00:15:17.32\00:15:21.83
And his burden is if the church
00:15:21.86\00:15:24.79
can even begin to grasp
the significance of that.
00:15:24.82\00:15:28.73
What would happen?
What would be the potential?
00:15:32.87\00:15:34.70
Okay, so let's get to work.
00:15:34.73\00:15:37.95
Paul wants you to
know you're on display.
00:15:37.98\00:15:41.46
He wants you to know
that the world is watching
00:15:41.49\00:15:45.62
and the question that begs
is, what does the world see?
00:15:45.65\00:15:51.32
If the world is watching
00:15:51.35\00:15:53.13
and if we're
supposed to be in tune
00:15:53.16\00:15:54.97
with the fact
that we're on display
00:15:55.00\00:15:56.77
and the world is
watching the question is,
00:15:56.80\00:15:58.96
what does the world see?
00:15:58.99\00:16:00.79
I'll be honest with
you, this whole business
00:16:00.82\00:16:02.35
about angels watching us,
I don't really have access
00:16:02.38\00:16:05.16
to that stuff, I can't
really grapple with that,
00:16:05.19\00:16:07.20
that's a mystery to me.
00:16:07.23\00:16:09.45
But what we could prayer
on is this whole concept of
00:16:09.48\00:16:11.96
"We are on display before
men" because that we can--
00:16:11.99\00:16:15.22
we can get farther with that.
00:16:15.25\00:16:17.00
What is it that Paul
wants us to walk away with,
00:16:17.03\00:16:20.35
with this idea that we
are on display before men.
00:16:20.38\00:16:23.48
He wants us to know
that the world is watching.
00:16:23.51\00:16:28.04
Now I am going to argue tonight
00:16:28.07\00:16:29.25
that the entire
scope of scripture
00:16:29.28\00:16:31.95
is this one single story
of this significant idea.
00:16:31.98\00:16:35.41
Listen to what I am saying guys,
00:16:35.44\00:16:36.47
some of the stuff may
be-- may sound a little weird,
00:16:36.50\00:16:39.22
but listen to what I am saying.
00:16:39.25\00:16:42.71
Some of us may be prone to feel,
00:16:42.74\00:16:45.45
to assume this attitude, I
am going to be faithful to God
00:16:45.48\00:16:49.43
and I don't care what
the world thinks of me.
00:16:49.46\00:16:54.90
Can somebody say
you meant to that?
00:16:54.93\00:16:56.29
You probably won't 'cause
you think it's a trap, right?
00:16:56.32\00:16:58.57
It is a trap, all right.
00:16:58.60\00:17:01.46
This idea I'm going
to be faithful to God
00:17:01.49\00:17:04.39
and I don't care how
the world perceives me.
00:17:04.42\00:17:10.09
I'm going to argue tonight
that, that doesn't capture
00:17:10.12\00:17:15.17
God's greater vision.
00:17:15.20\00:17:17.22
That that is in
fact an unbiblical way
00:17:17.25\00:17:19.61
to perceive yourself and to
perceive how God perceives you.
00:17:19.64\00:17:23.78
Hey, the element of
scripture that tells us
00:17:23.81\00:17:26.66
repeatedly over and over
again in different threads
00:17:26.69\00:17:30.26
throughout the entire
Bible is this simple truth.
00:17:30.29\00:17:35.20
God is concerned with
how the world perceives us.
00:17:35.23\00:17:41.20
I got two amen on that.
00:17:41.23\00:17:43.02
God is concerned with
how the world perceives us.
00:17:43.05\00:17:46.50
Why is God concerned with
how other world perceives us?
00:17:46.53\00:17:49.02
Because how the
world perceives us
00:17:49.05\00:17:51.39
will effect how the
world perceives Him.
00:17:51.42\00:17:54.66
Amen.
00:17:54.69\00:17:55.72
Are you with me? Yes.
00:17:55.75\00:17:57.41
And how the world perceives God
00:17:57.44\00:17:59.46
determines how the world
relates to God, yes or no?
00:17:59.49\00:18:03.99
And this whole
business of relating to God
00:18:04.02\00:18:06.11
is what the whole
show is about, right?
00:18:06.14\00:18:10.43
God wants us to operate
with a high sense of awareness
00:18:10.46\00:18:17.13
that the world is watching.
00:18:17.16\00:18:21.87
And in fact, when you
think of the foundation
00:18:21.90\00:18:25.69
of the Great Controversy theme,
00:18:25.72\00:18:28.15
after all this is what
the whole weekend is about.
00:18:28.18\00:18:29.94
We're in this Great Controversy,
00:18:29.97\00:18:31.70
we use that language that
just rolls off of the tongue,
00:18:31.73\00:18:34.94
it becomes cliché if
we're not careful, yeah?
00:18:34.97\00:18:38.13
What's the whole Great
Controversy thing about?
00:18:38.16\00:18:41.68
The age old question, why
didn't God destroy the devil
00:18:41.71\00:18:45.64
before we got
into this big mess?
00:18:45.67\00:18:49.18
I mean in public evangelism you
get that question thrown on you
00:18:49.21\00:18:51.76
every single, every
single opportunity, right?
00:18:51.79\00:18:55.07
Why didn't God just
blow the devil away?
00:18:55.10\00:18:59.93
The simplest way to put it,
00:18:59.96\00:19:02.80
is because were God to do that
00:19:02.83\00:19:08.20
it would look bad.
00:19:08.23\00:19:10.04
Is that true, yes or no? Yes.
00:19:13.29\00:19:14.84
The reason God
could not eliminate
00:19:14.87\00:19:17.97
this
controversy at its inception
00:19:18.00\00:19:21.31
is because were God to
step into that situation
00:19:21.34\00:19:24.18
and take care of
business just like that,
00:19:24.21\00:19:27.81
immediately there
would be false perceptions
00:19:27.84\00:19:30.25
of who God actually is.
00:19:30.28\00:19:32.83
And so the controversy
continues, because guys,
00:19:32.86\00:19:35.29
at the end of the
day listen to this.
00:19:35.32\00:19:37.38
The essence of
the Great Controversy
00:19:37.41\00:19:39.86
is essentially centered
on how God is perceived.
00:19:39.89\00:19:45.88
That's what the
whole thing is about,
00:19:45.91\00:19:47.51
how God is perceived.
00:19:47.54\00:19:49.06
God knows that he is love.
00:19:49.09\00:19:52.75
God knows that the essence
of his character is beauty
00:19:52.78\00:19:55.72
just his righteousness
and love, He knows that.
00:19:55.75\00:19:58.62
The problem is does
everybody else know that?
00:19:58.65\00:20:01.93
You with me?
00:20:01.96\00:20:03.59
The whole thing
is about perception,
00:20:03.62\00:20:05.45
the whole thing is
about what will God look like.
00:20:05.48\00:20:08.94
The whole thing is about,
will God be understood to be
00:20:08.97\00:20:13.21
who He is and what He is like.
00:20:13.24\00:20:16.57
That's the story of the Bible,
00:20:16.60\00:20:17.84
that's the story
of the controversy.
00:20:17.87\00:20:19.90
Tonight I want to
say that this idea,
00:20:19.93\00:20:21.76
Paul didn't just pull
this out of a hat one day.
00:20:21.79\00:20:23.82
He didn't just wake
up one morning and say
00:20:23.85\00:20:25.55
"before men and angels"
that's the catch you want,
00:20:25.58\00:20:27.41
that's the catch you
want, after the mail to Corinth.
00:20:27.44\00:20:32.22
He didn't just
pull that out of a hat.
00:20:32.25\00:20:33.47
When Paul-- when Paul
breaks down this big picture,
00:20:33.50\00:20:36.65
this cosmic context,
He is basically borrowing
00:20:36.68\00:20:40.02
from the entire Old Testament.
00:20:40.05\00:20:42.40
This ideology is
Old Testament ideology.
00:20:42.43\00:20:45.89
It's what the
whole thing is about.
00:20:45.92\00:20:48.54
Think about this.
00:20:48.57\00:20:50.01
When you read the Old Testament
00:20:50.04\00:20:51.44
you're basically
encountering a people, okay?
00:20:51.47\00:20:55.99
You're encountering a
people who are struggling
00:20:56.02\00:20:58.70
to figure out the
significance of this
00:20:58.73\00:21:00.20
and you're encountering God
00:21:00.23\00:21:04.09
who realizes that
the stakes are high
00:21:04.12\00:21:06.51
for these
people to realize this.
00:21:06.54\00:21:07.99
Think about this,
think about Israel,
00:21:08.02\00:21:09.61
I am speaking about Israel.
00:21:09.64\00:21:11.24
Your Old Testament it
basically made up of books
00:21:11.27\00:21:15.18
of the prophets, right?
00:21:15.21\00:21:16.58
The prophetic
writings, think about this.
00:21:16.61\00:21:18.11
Every prophet that was sent,
that is in the Old Testament
00:21:18.14\00:21:21.37
was sent not to
the heathen world,
00:21:21.40\00:21:23.86
the prophets were
sent to who everybody?
00:21:23.89\00:21:28.02
To who everybody? Israel.
00:21:28.05\00:21:29.93
To the people of God, right?
00:21:29.96\00:21:31.63
And the prophets were
sent, sent to the people of God
00:21:31.66\00:21:34.73
with one overwhelming
burden and here's the burden.
00:21:34.76\00:21:38.62
Ah, what are you doing?
00:21:38.65\00:21:41.61
The gentiles are watching.
00:21:45.50\00:21:49.60
What are they
going to think about God?
00:21:49.63\00:21:54.96
Is that oversimplification
00:21:54.99\00:21:56.29
of the message of
the Old Testament?
00:21:56.32\00:22:00.39
It just blows my
mind, it's kind of like--
00:22:00.42\00:22:02.07
now I drive a
Ford Focus, you know
00:22:02.10\00:22:03.70
and now I see them everywhere.
00:22:03.73\00:22:06.19
But I didn't see them anywhere
before I drove one, right?
00:22:06.22\00:22:08.71
It's once you see something,
once you get in something
00:22:08.74\00:22:10.97
you see it everywhere.
00:22:11.00\00:22:12.04
I see this concept
now all through scripture,
00:22:12.07\00:22:14.23
I can't even get my
eyes out of this concept.
00:22:14.26\00:22:16.07
Everywhere I open up it's
right there staring at me.
00:22:16.10\00:22:19.33
The whole message of the Old
Testament was essentially that.
00:22:19.36\00:22:21.65
Think about the
biblical narrative.
00:22:21.68\00:22:23.60
Think about all
the mighty nations
00:22:23.63\00:22:25.28
and historical figures that
poke their head up in scripture.
00:22:25.31\00:22:29.44
Think about the
ancient kingdom of Babylon.
00:22:29.47\00:22:32.07
Think about Cyrus.
00:22:32.10\00:22:33.59
You know, all
these names that come up.
00:22:33.62\00:22:35.09
Think about Nebuchadnezzar,
think about Caesar in Rome.
00:22:35.12\00:22:39.89
Why are these
nations and big figures
00:22:39.92\00:22:42.73
in history even
in your Bible at all?
00:22:42.76\00:22:45.99
Why?
00:22:46.02\00:22:48.03
For one simple
reason, because they just
00:22:48.06\00:22:50.20
so happened to rub
shoulders and bump into who?
00:22:50.23\00:22:55.05
The Jews.
00:22:55.08\00:22:56.79
They bumped into
Israel and therefore
00:22:56.82\00:22:58.75
they made the cut, right?
00:22:58.78\00:23:01.07
That's the only
reason Caesar's in there,
00:23:01.10\00:23:02.87
that's the only
reason Rome is in there.
00:23:02.90\00:23:04.58
Because Israel happens to
be rubbing shoulders with Roman
00:23:04.61\00:23:07.42
therefore Caesar
is worthy of mention
00:23:07.45\00:23:09.79
in the biblical narrative.
00:23:09.82\00:23:11.51
Do you
understand what I am saying?
00:23:11.54\00:23:12.57
The implication
here is, yes he is--
00:23:12.60\00:23:15.21
Rome, the greatest
empire of its time.
00:23:15.24\00:23:17.45
Yeah, that's
important. Egypt, the pharaohs.
00:23:17.48\00:23:19.91
Yeah, that's important.
Only because Israel is involved.
00:23:19.94\00:23:25.16
Isn't that a beautiful thing?
00:23:25.19\00:23:27.40
It shows that the whole--
the whole story of scripture
00:23:27.43\00:23:30.30
is just wrapped around
God's deep impressing concern.
00:23:30.33\00:23:34.98
That he has
these people on display
00:23:35.01\00:23:38.50
and that the
gentiles are watching
00:23:38.53\00:23:40.10
and what they see will
affect how they see that
00:23:40.13\00:23:42.81
and how they
see that will affect
00:23:42.84\00:23:43.89
on how they relate to that
00:23:43.92\00:23:45.28
and that's what's
breaking God's heart,
00:23:45.31\00:23:49.19
how they relate to Him.
00:23:49.22\00:23:52.03
So we have
statements that tell us
00:23:52.06\00:23:54.66
that the journey of
the children of Israel
00:23:54.69\00:23:57.65
throughout scripture
is essentially parallel
00:23:57.68\00:24:04.33
to the journey of
God's people in the end time.
00:24:04.36\00:24:06.96
We're familiar with
this, the attitude of Israel
00:24:06.99\00:24:10.13
before the first coming of Jesus
00:24:10.16\00:24:14.61
gives us a glimpse of
the attitude of God's people
00:24:14.64\00:24:16.40
before the
second coming of Jesus.
00:24:16.43\00:24:17.99
The Jews going through--
the Israelites going through
00:24:18.02\00:24:20.22
the wilderness
towards the Promised Land
00:24:20.25\00:24:22.63
is a lesson book
for the people of God
00:24:22.66\00:24:24.73
going through the
wilderness to heavenly king.
00:24:24.76\00:24:27.75
Amen, are you with me? Amen.
00:24:27.78\00:24:29.14
Familiar stuff, yea?
00:24:29.17\00:24:32.30
What was God's dream for Israel?
00:24:32.33\00:24:36.04
What was God's dream for Israel?
00:24:36.07\00:24:38.72
We know already that
Israel being God's people
00:24:38.75\00:24:41.57
throughout the Old
Testament that the essence
00:24:41.60\00:24:44.14
of their existence
was to be put on display.
00:24:44.17\00:24:48.09
Let's go back,
let's go way back.
00:24:48.12\00:24:51.80
Let's look at Genesis Chapter 12
00:24:51.83\00:24:55.91
and in a few strokes
here we're going to basically
00:24:55.94\00:24:59.56
paint the picture
00:24:59.59\00:25:02.23
of this bumpy and
messy journey of Israel.
00:25:02.26\00:25:09.30
And how by looking at Israel
00:25:09.33\00:25:11.20
we are basically
staring in the mirror
00:25:11.23\00:25:14.84
and we're
looking at the potential,
00:25:14.87\00:25:18.96
the potential of
God's dreams be naturalized
00:25:18.99\00:25:24.19
in our very generation.
00:25:24.22\00:25:25.73
Are you in Genesis
12? Can you say, amen?
00:25:25.76\00:25:27.75
Amen. May I read?
00:25:27.78\00:25:29.09
Yes.
00:25:29.12\00:25:30.15
All right, here we
go Genesis Chapter 12.
00:25:30.18\00:25:32.60
By the way what comes
before Genesis Chapter 12?
00:25:32.63\00:25:35.31
Don't say Genesis Chapter
11, don't be a smarty pants.
00:25:35.34\00:25:39.40
Genesis Chapter 11, what's
going on in Genesis Chapter 11?
00:25:39.43\00:25:43.80
In Genesis Chapter 11
you have the tower of --
00:25:43.83\00:25:48.88
Amen. Am I right?
00:25:48.91\00:25:49.94
Did I get that right?
00:25:49.97\00:25:51.01
The Tower of
Babel, and what's going on
00:25:51.04\00:25:52.62
in the Tower of Babel?
00:25:52.65\00:25:53.85
What's going on?
00:25:53.88\00:25:57.74
You have the world in a global
state of darkness so to speak.
00:25:57.77\00:26:02.00
Genesis 11 in the
picture that it shows,
00:26:02.03\00:26:03.72
it shows a unified
rebellion against God.
00:26:03.75\00:26:07.99
A unified determination to move
00:26:08.02\00:26:12.80
through human civilization,
to establish human civilization
00:26:12.83\00:26:16.90
without God in
the picture, yeah?
00:26:16.93\00:26:19.38
The world is in
unified darkness,
00:26:19.41\00:26:22.93
gross darkness
covers the people,
00:26:22.96\00:26:25.24
there is a mess.
00:26:25.27\00:26:26.30
We have a problem,
ladies and gentleman, yeah?
00:26:26.33\00:26:29.51
How is God going
to solve this problem
00:26:29.54\00:26:32.77
as God is looking for
His choices of solutions,
00:26:32.80\00:26:35.93
what is He going to
pull out of his pocket?
00:26:35.96\00:26:37.24
What will He pull
out of his pocket?
00:26:37.27\00:26:38.79
What is the thing?
00:26:38.82\00:26:40.86
What is the magic trick
that God is going to use
00:26:40.89\00:26:44.14
to recover human
civilization from the darkness
00:26:44.17\00:26:49.11
of the Tower of Babel?
00:26:49.14\00:26:50.52
What will God do?
What's the magic trick?
00:26:50.55\00:26:53.24
Genesis Chapter 12
00:26:53.27\00:26:55.05
and what's in
Genesis Chapter 12?
00:26:55.08\00:26:56.85
May be we should read it.
00:26:59.40\00:27:01.99
"And God said to a man,
some man, some guy, all right?
00:27:02.02\00:27:08.77
Some guy will be
part of God's magic trick
00:27:08.80\00:27:12.48
and God and the
Lord God says to Abraham
00:27:12.51\00:27:16.50
"Get out of your
country, from your family,
00:27:16.53\00:27:18.87
from your father's house to
a land that I will show you"
00:27:18.90\00:27:21.25
verse 2, "I will
make you a great nation,
00:27:21.28\00:27:24.30
I will bless you and
make your name great and you--
00:27:24.33\00:27:27.56
what does that say?
You shall be a what?
00:27:27.59\00:27:30.88
You shall be a blessing,
00:27:30.91\00:27:33.88
I will bless those who bless you
00:27:33.91\00:27:36.45
and I will curse
him who curses you
00:27:36.48\00:27:38.52
and in you, what
does the text say?
00:27:38.55\00:27:40.80
All the families of
the earth shall be blessed.
00:27:40.83\00:27:44.23
The magic trick
that God comes up with,
00:27:44.26\00:27:46.65
to solve the Genesis 11 problem.
00:27:46.68\00:27:48.98
To solve the
darkness on earth problem.
00:27:49.01\00:27:51.80
To solve the
problem that the concept,
00:27:51.83\00:27:54.83
the character of God.
00:27:54.86\00:27:55.89
The perception of who
God is and what is he like
00:27:55.92\00:27:58.21
is in total darkness.
00:27:58.24\00:27:59.95
And the way that God
is going to figure out
00:27:59.98\00:28:02.11
how to solve that
problem is by calling Abraham
00:28:02.14\00:28:06.30
and electing Abraham
to be the representative
00:28:06.33\00:28:10.91
of a new culture that God
will introduce on planet earth.
00:28:10.94\00:28:15.17
So that through
this new culture,
00:28:15.20\00:28:18.80
the world would be
exposed to who God is
00:28:18.83\00:28:24.01
and what He is actually like?
00:28:24.04\00:28:27.87
The call of Abraham is
God's epic intervention,
00:28:27.90\00:28:32.08
epic cultural intervention.
00:28:32.11\00:28:35.18
This is the beginning
here of what will be traced
00:28:35.21\00:28:38.42
from Genesis Chapter
12 all the way through
00:28:38.45\00:28:40.51
to the end of your Old Testament
and folks look at the Bible,
00:28:40.54\00:28:43.51
look at your Bible.
00:28:43.54\00:28:44.68
That's a whole
lot of ground, right?
00:28:44.71\00:28:47.57
That's a lot of
ground to cover from Genesis
00:28:47.60\00:28:49.79
to all the way
through to the end of Malachi.
00:28:49.82\00:28:51.67
The story is very, very linear.
00:28:51.70\00:28:55.97
And the story is essentially
the history of the bumpy,
00:28:56.00\00:29:01.21
messy journey of this Church
that would come out of Abraham,
00:29:01.24\00:29:05.47
to figure out the significance
that they are on display,
00:29:05.50\00:29:10.54
they are in
exhibit, they are a spectacle
00:29:10.57\00:29:12.80
and that the world
is watching and that--
00:29:12.83\00:29:15.20
listen carefully
to what I'm saying,
00:29:15.23\00:29:16.26
listen carefully and
put this in your pocket.
00:29:16.29\00:29:18.35
That God's
reputation is in their hands.
00:29:18.38\00:29:23.02
God's reputation
is in their hands
00:29:23.05\00:29:27.81
and that means that the
stakes are really, really high.
00:29:27.84\00:29:33.23
What the Jews bring to the table
00:29:33.26\00:29:35.59
is that the Jews
bring the greatest gifts
00:29:35.62\00:29:37.67
this world has ever seen.
00:29:37.70\00:29:39.92
The Jews bring it to the table,
00:29:39.95\00:29:42.97
the Jews bring
the two gifts, right?
00:29:43.00\00:29:45.14
The written word, right?
00:29:45.17\00:29:48.54
And the living word
00:29:48.57\00:29:49.80
and the person of
the Messiah will come.
00:29:49.83\00:29:52.11
Those are the two greatest gifts
00:29:52.14\00:29:53.72
humanity has ever
received, yes or no?
00:29:53.75\00:29:56.48
The Jews are the ones that are
designated to bring this thing
00:29:56.51\00:29:59.35
to the table but here are
the beginning stages of it.
00:29:59.38\00:30:02.62
The Jews are basically
the ones that introduced
00:30:02.65\00:30:05.59
the idea of monotheism,
that there is only one God
00:30:05.62\00:30:08.21
and I know we
can appreciate that
00:30:08.24\00:30:09.50
'cause we're in
Orlando, Florida.
00:30:09.53\00:30:11.65
That seems a bit
obvious to some of you
00:30:11.68\00:30:13.78
as you look around you.
00:30:13.81\00:30:15.41
But the Jews bring this
innovation to human experience
00:30:15.44\00:30:18.80
and they change the game.
00:30:18.83\00:30:21.11
They bring meaning
00:30:21.14\00:30:22.17
and significance
back into humanity.
00:30:22.20\00:30:24.52
That the way we view ourselves
is that history is linear,
00:30:24.55\00:30:27.99
it's not cyclical, it's
not just some vicious cycle.
00:30:28.02\00:30:35.99
The future is real
and the past is real
00:30:36.02\00:30:39.19
and individual decisions
actually mean something.
00:30:39.22\00:30:42.64
So in Genesis Chapter 12
you have the beginning here
00:30:42.67\00:30:44.83
of this culture
being formulated.
00:30:44.86\00:30:46.49
Now what is a--
what is a culture?
00:30:46.52\00:30:49.76
I mean sociology tells
us that culture is basically
00:30:49.79\00:30:52.53
the ideals, the norms,
00:30:52.56\00:30:56.58
the customs and traditions
of a group of people, right?
00:30:56.61\00:31:00.07
That's a culture.
00:31:00.10\00:31:01.51
And that finds expression
through their literature,
00:31:01.54\00:31:04.26
through their
music, through their food.
00:31:04.29\00:31:08.00
A culture is the ways
of a people, their ideals,
00:31:08.03\00:31:10.40
their customs, their traditions.
00:31:10.43\00:31:11.91
Something would
happen through these people
00:31:11.94\00:31:13.51
that when the
world is exposed to it
00:31:13.54\00:31:16.33
they will think
that God is awesome
00:31:16.36\00:31:18.06
and that God is beautiful
and that whole encounter
00:31:18.09\00:31:21.86
has everything to do
with solving the problem
00:31:21.89\00:31:24.92
of the Great Controversy
between good and evil,
00:31:24.95\00:31:27.86
an unlikely solution.
00:31:27.89\00:31:29.50
So Genesis Chapter 12 we
go, the Jews come on the scene
00:31:29.53\00:31:32.15
and the story unfolds and
Moses comes into the picture.
00:31:32.18\00:31:35.51
Now we're in the Deuteronomy.
00:31:35.54\00:31:37.28
Now we're in Deuteronomy
where they're being reminded.
00:31:37.31\00:31:41.20
If you can
follow me here quickly
00:31:41.23\00:31:42.61
through this very
short history of the Jews.
00:31:42.64\00:31:44.47
Now they are in
Deuteronomy and the people
00:31:44.50\00:31:47.26
have been journeying, the
people have been delivered
00:31:47.29\00:31:49.69
from bondage and now they are
trying to recalibrate themselves
00:31:49.72\00:31:53.49
and figure out who they
are, what their purpose is
00:31:53.52\00:31:56.59
and what will their contribution
be to society, right?
00:31:56.62\00:31:59.73
So in Deuteronomy if you
will, Deuteronomy Chapter 4,
00:31:59.76\00:32:04.41
listen to what happens
here in Deuteronomy Chapter 4
00:32:04.44\00:32:06.90
where the people are
now reminded to get in tune
00:32:06.93\00:32:10.78
with what God's
original purpose was.
00:32:10.81\00:32:13.15
If you are in
Deuteronomy 4, say amen.
00:32:13.18\00:32:14.79
Amen. Are you sleepy, yet?
00:32:14.82\00:32:16.64
No. Jetlag?
00:32:16.67\00:32:18.99
No, you are with me? Yes.
00:32:19.02\00:32:20.78
Okay, we're in
Deuteronomy, what Chapter?
00:32:20.81\00:32:23.45
Four. That's the
big test, isn't it?
00:32:23.48\00:32:26.33
Four, Deuteronomy Chapter 4
and I'm reading from verse 6.
00:32:26.36\00:32:28.55
Follow with me here.
00:32:28.58\00:32:31.38
It says this, "Therefore
be careful to observe them."
00:32:31.41\00:32:35.88
To observe them,
he is talking about
00:32:35.91\00:32:37.25
the whole cultural paradigm
of who they are as a people,
00:32:37.28\00:32:42.61
including every aspect of their
sociological existence, okay.
00:32:42.64\00:32:46.07
"So be careful to observe
them for this is your wisdom
00:32:46.10\00:32:50.44
and your understanding
in the side of the peoples
00:32:50.47\00:32:55.05
who will hear all these
statues and say, surely."
00:32:55.08\00:32:58.56
What are they saying?
00:32:58.59\00:32:59.62
"This nation is a wise
and understanding people."
00:32:59.65\00:33:03.93
And then he cuts back
to, to addressing them.
00:33:03.96\00:33:06.93
"For what great nation is there
that has God so near to it.
00:33:06.96\00:33:10.51
As the Lord our
God is near to us.
00:33:10.54\00:33:14.30
For what ever reason
we may call up on Him,"
00:33:14.33\00:33:16.60
verse 8, "And what great nation
is there that has such statues
00:33:16.63\00:33:19.50
and righteous
judgments as our in all this law
00:33:19.53\00:33:22.45
which I set before you this day.
00:33:22.48\00:33:24.54
Only take heed to yourself,
and diligently keep yourself,
00:33:24.57\00:33:28.20
lest you forget."
00:33:28.23\00:33:30.17
Lest you forget, so
listen to what I'm saying here.
00:33:30.20\00:33:32.68
In Deuteronomy Moses now
has assembled the people,
00:33:32.71\00:33:37.45
okay, this is a
new generation now.
00:33:37.48\00:33:39.91
This is a new generation
and the new generation
00:33:39.94\00:33:42.77
needs to be reminded of
what the whole thing was about.
00:33:42.80\00:33:46.25
And as they receive the reminder
00:33:46.28\00:33:48.28
it sounds a
little bit like this.
00:33:48.31\00:33:49.87
Everything you have
received, all of your statues,
00:33:49.90\00:33:53.96
all of your decrees,
your whole cultural blueprint,
00:33:53.99\00:33:57.75
everything you have received
is for the simple purpose.
00:33:57.78\00:34:01.96
So that the nations around
you may look at you and say...
00:34:01.99\00:34:05.99
wow.
00:34:07.71\00:34:10.62
We've never seen a
nation on this planet like this
00:34:10.65\00:34:14.08
whose God is so close to them.
00:34:14.11\00:34:16.24
In other words,
that's what the gentiles
00:34:16.27\00:34:18.33
are supposed to
be reacting like.
00:34:18.36\00:34:21.44
Amen. Amen.
00:34:21.47\00:34:23.96
That is the intended reaction,
00:34:23.99\00:34:26.50
that is the intended
result of Israelite culture.
00:34:26.53\00:34:31.74
When people get exposed to
it, it will blow their minds.
00:34:31.77\00:34:37.42
They will see something
so beautiful, so sublime,
00:34:37.45\00:34:40.71
so awesome that the
logical question is,
00:34:40.74\00:34:45.33
who in the
world are these people
00:34:45.36\00:34:47.46
and who is their
God that is so amazing?
00:34:47.49\00:34:50.37
Amen. That was
the intended result.
00:34:50.40\00:34:52.84
That's what solved,
00:34:52.87\00:34:54.27
that is part of
God's magic trick
00:34:54.30\00:34:56.93
to wrap this thing up, we
call The Great Controversy,
00:34:56.96\00:35:00.12
this chaos, this hell
that you and I live in
00:35:00.15\00:35:04.33
on this planet,
this great battle
00:35:04.36\00:35:06.32
between the forces of
good and the forces of evil.
00:35:06.35\00:35:09.25
The way that that
thing get solved is by
00:35:09.28\00:35:11.91
putting on display
something beautiful,
00:35:11.94\00:35:15.29
something compelling,
something incredibly relevant
00:35:15.32\00:35:18.85
that meets the direct
needs of the nations around them
00:35:18.88\00:35:23.49
and all they have to do
is bump into these people
00:35:23.52\00:35:27.14
and the people will marvel.
00:35:29.41\00:35:30.63
So essentially they
were supposed to demonstrate
00:35:30.66\00:35:32.53
that the ways of
the God of Israel
00:35:32.56\00:35:33.88
was the most beautiful
and fulfilling way to think,
00:35:33.91\00:35:37.18
to feel and to
experience reality.
00:35:37.21\00:35:40.64
So now we get to
things like Prophets and Kings
00:35:40.67\00:35:43.55
and these
beautiful statements you read
00:35:43.58\00:35:46.32
from the pen of Ellen White.
00:35:46.35\00:35:47.92
These beautiful statements
that summarized God's dream
00:35:47.95\00:35:50.33
and she says things
like, "It was in order
00:35:50.36\00:35:52.97
that the Israelites might
be a blessing to the nations
00:35:53.00\00:35:56.44
that God's name may be made
known throughout all the earth
00:35:56.47\00:36:00.18
that they would
deliver from Egyptian bondage.
00:36:00.21\00:36:03.91
They were to be placed far
in advance of other peoples
00:36:03.94\00:36:10.00
in wisdom and understanding
so that their supremacy
00:36:10.03\00:36:15.27
was to be reached and maintained
00:36:15.30\00:36:16.89
only in order that
through them the purpose of God
00:36:16.92\00:36:20.51
for all nations of the
earth might be fulfilled."
00:36:20.54\00:36:24.71
She continues,
"that they were to be made
00:36:24.74\00:36:27.26
marvels of prosperity."
00:36:27.29\00:36:29.53
What do you
think of that language?
00:36:29.56\00:36:31.59
The church was intended
to be a marvel of prosperity.
00:36:31.62\00:36:35.98
Why?
00:36:36.01\00:36:38.13
So we can walk around
padding ourselves in the back.
00:36:38.16\00:36:42.01
Marvels of prosperity--
00:36:42.04\00:36:45.33
so that attention would be drawn
00:36:45.36\00:36:47.43
to the beautiful
character of Jehovah.
00:36:49.20\00:36:51.48
Amen.
00:36:51.51\00:36:52.85
And here's the last one
line I'll give you there.
00:36:52.88\00:36:54.56
Even the heathen would recognize
00:36:54.59\00:36:56.16
the superiority of those who
served in worship, the holy God.
00:36:56.19\00:37:01.10
It was never about them. Yes.
00:37:01.13\00:37:04.16
Never.
00:37:04.19\00:37:05.85
And every time you see
the prophets go in there
00:37:05.88\00:37:07.92
and smack them up a little
bit is because they lost focus.
00:37:07.95\00:37:11.82
They began to think
it was all about them
00:37:11.85\00:37:13.64
because they had the truth
00:37:13.67\00:37:14.70
and because they had the message
00:37:14.73\00:37:15.76
because they had
proper conceptions.
00:37:15.79\00:37:17.95
And I'll get to
that in a second,
00:37:17.98\00:37:19.18
it was never about them,
00:37:19.21\00:37:20.51
it was always about
mirroring something awesome.
00:37:20.54\00:37:25.54
It was always about living
with a high sense of awareness
00:37:25.57\00:37:28.93
of what are the
gentiles thinking
00:37:28.96\00:37:32.05
because that's what
the controversies about
00:37:32.08\00:37:34.78
how God is perceived?
00:37:34.81\00:37:36.08
So check this out.
00:37:36.11\00:37:37.46
As you continue through,
you get to the Major Prophets,
00:37:37.49\00:37:39.97
into the Minor
Prophets and you just run
00:37:40.00\00:37:42.04
into little
glimpses of God's dream.
00:37:42.07\00:37:44.97
God is just dreaming.
00:37:45.00\00:37:46.48
When these prophets were done,
00:37:46.51\00:37:47.54
they were writing down
God's dreams for Israel.
00:37:47.57\00:37:51.00
God was dreaming
on paper, for example.
00:37:51.03\00:37:54.04
What do you make of Zechariah,
00:37:54.07\00:37:55.74
can you follow me there?
00:37:55.77\00:37:57.32
Zechariah, probably thinking
where in the world is that?
00:37:57.35\00:38:03.70
You can find Malachi right
at the end of the Old Testament.
00:38:03.73\00:38:06.73
You find Malachi at the
end of the Old Testament
00:38:06.76\00:38:08.79
hang a left and
you run into Zechariah.
00:38:08.82\00:38:13.44
Remember Zechariah Chapter 8,
00:38:13.47\00:38:15.26
I'm gonna read this
because the clock is ticking.
00:38:15.29\00:38:17.44
Zechariah
Chapter 8, listen to this
00:38:17.47\00:38:20.62
and tell me how awesome this is.
00:38:20.65\00:38:23.86
Zechariah 8:21, again
this is God just dreaming.
00:38:23.89\00:38:27.60
He's just dreaming on paper.
00:38:27.63\00:38:29.74
Verse 21, Zechariah Chapter 8,
00:38:29.77\00:38:32.14
"The inhabitants of one city
shall go to another, saying,
00:38:32.17\00:38:36.78
'Let us continue to go
and pray before the Lord
00:38:36.81\00:38:39.06
and seek the Lord of
host, I myself will go also.'"
00:38:39.09\00:38:43.00
Verse 22, "Yes, many
people and strong nations
00:38:43.03\00:38:47.01
will come to seek the
Lord of host in," where?
00:38:47.04\00:38:50.60
"In Jerusalem."
00:38:50.63\00:38:52.49
That's like Loma Linda, right?
00:38:52.52\00:38:54.76
At the headquarters
they are gonna be flocking
00:38:54.79\00:38:58.58
to come to the headquarters.
00:38:58.61\00:39:00.70
Why are they coming
to Jerusalem, folks?
00:39:00.73\00:39:03.68
They heard some rumors.
00:39:03.71\00:39:05.61
They heard
rumors that God is there
00:39:05.64\00:39:07.81
and the beauty of God
can be encountered there.
00:39:07.84\00:39:10.66
Can you say amen to that? Amen.
00:39:10.69\00:39:12.57
Verse 23,
skipping down, verse 23,
00:39:12.60\00:39:15.17
"Thus says the Lord of
host, 'In those days ten men
00:39:15.20\00:39:18.03
from every language
of the nation shall,'"
00:39:18.06\00:39:19.96
I love this,
00:39:19.99\00:39:21.28
"They shall grasp the
sleeve of a Jewish man.
00:39:21.31\00:39:25.39
And they'll say, let us
go if you for we have heard
00:39:25.42\00:39:27.91
that God is with you."
00:39:27.94\00:39:30.40
How awesome is that? Amen.
00:39:30.43\00:39:33.02
That's what the whole
point, that was the whole point
00:39:33.05\00:39:35.78
of the whole thing.
00:39:35.81\00:39:37.64
Think about that guys, think
about that God is dreaming.
00:39:37.67\00:39:41.42
There's supposed to be
people pulling on your clothes
00:39:41.45\00:39:43.78
on your way to Sabbath?
00:39:43.81\00:39:46.50
You shouldn't be able to
get from your door to your car
00:39:46.53\00:39:48.64
without people
grabbing your clothes, right?
00:39:48.67\00:39:52.45
They shall grasp the
sleeve of a Jewish man and say,
00:39:52.48\00:39:54.59
take us with you.
00:39:54.62\00:39:55.92
This is the type of
impact that God intended
00:39:55.95\00:39:58.43
the church to have.
00:39:58.46\00:40:00.36
What about the Queen of Sheba?
00:40:00.39\00:40:02.80
What about the Queen of Sheba?
00:40:02.83\00:40:04.11
She comes, she travels
why is she traveling to see--
00:40:04.14\00:40:07.21
to see the great Solomon,
00:40:07.24\00:40:08.34
the great Jewish
king, the great--
00:40:08.37\00:40:10.71
Why?
00:40:10.74\00:40:11.84
Because she's heard
rumors, rumors have traveled
00:40:11.87\00:40:14.05
all the way to her
empire that there is a people
00:40:14.08\00:40:17.48
called the
Israelites and they have access
00:40:17.51\00:40:20.21
to some amazing things,
00:40:20.24\00:40:22.20
she comes, she
sits at Solomon's feet.
00:40:22.23\00:40:24.21
When you read
1st Kings Chapter 10,
00:40:24.24\00:40:26.41
it will blow your mind.
00:40:26.44\00:40:29.27
She opens her heart
and shares all the dilemmas
00:40:29.30\00:40:31.68
and the perplexes,
every question she had
00:40:31.71\00:40:33.64
and Solomon was able to answer
00:40:33.67\00:40:35.52
every single
one of her questions
00:40:35.55\00:40:37.00
as she says the rumors I heard
00:40:37.03\00:40:38.42
they are not even half.
00:40:38.45\00:40:42.50
They are not even half of
what I've experienced here,
00:40:42.53\00:40:44.84
she goes back to
her-- to her country
00:40:44.87\00:40:46.93
and she takes back some
a piece of Jewish culture.
00:40:46.96\00:40:51.06
Can you say amen to that? Amen.
00:40:51.09\00:40:52.61
All through scripture, guys,
you see it over and over again
00:40:58.19\00:41:02.00
for the sake of God's name,
00:41:02.03\00:41:03.74
for the sake of God's name,
00:41:03.77\00:41:05.09
for the sake of God's
name so that the gentiles,
00:41:05.12\00:41:11.55
so that the
gentiles won't get it wrong,
00:41:11.58\00:41:13.59
that's what the thing is about,
that's what the thing is about.
00:41:13.62\00:41:18.67
You get that over and
over again, Ezekiel 36:21,
00:41:18.70\00:41:21.19
we're told that
God has a concern
00:41:21.22\00:41:23.53
for what the gentiles
think, it's right there.
00:41:23.56\00:41:27.30
In Ezekiel
Chapter 20 there is a--
00:41:27.33\00:41:29.32
there is a historical sweep
giving of the history of Israel.
00:41:29.35\00:41:33.09
Their entrance
into bondage in Egypt,
00:41:33.12\00:41:34.93
their deliverance from Egypt,
their time in the wilderness,
00:41:34.96\00:41:37.32
they enters into
the Promised Land
00:41:37.35\00:41:38.66
and you know what
the summary there is?
00:41:38.69\00:41:40.17
Four different
times, Ezekiel says,
00:41:40.20\00:41:42.14
"God did this,
00:41:42.17\00:41:43.99
so that His name would be
glorified among the gentiles."
00:41:47.65\00:41:51.85
Over and over again you
get the same picture, guys.
00:41:51.88\00:41:56.15
You trace that other
way too and you boom,
00:41:56.18\00:41:57.70
you run into the
dead-end at the end of Malachi.
00:41:57.73\00:41:59.60
And you turn the
page and now you're back
00:41:59.63\00:42:01.91
in the New Testament and now
we are back at the feet of Paul.
00:42:01.94\00:42:07.21
The same Paul that
painted this crazy picture
00:42:07.24\00:42:09.50
that the church is on displayed
that the church is respected
00:42:09.53\00:42:11.99
whether the church is an exhibit
00:42:12.02\00:42:13.82
where the world is
supposed to encounter
00:42:13.85\00:42:16.05
some rich culture that
shows God to be awesome
00:42:16.08\00:42:19.61
and beautiful and amazing.
00:42:19.64\00:42:20.97
Now you are back to Paul himself
00:42:21.00\00:42:23.75
and I'm wrapping this thing up.
00:42:23.78\00:42:24.93
You're in Romans Chapter 2.
00:42:24.96\00:42:27.44
Turn quickly with, to
Romans Chapter 2, please.
00:42:27.47\00:42:31.91
Romans Chapter
2, listen to this,
00:42:31.94\00:42:33.52
this is amazing, okay?
00:42:33.55\00:42:34.98
This is amazing.
00:42:35.01\00:42:36.04
Now we are in
New Testament times.
00:42:36.07\00:42:40.55
All this historical
heritage is behind us now,
00:42:40.58\00:42:43.46
now we are into days of Paul,
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and now we get a picture
of why Paul paints this--
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this grandiose picture so
that the church can figure out,
00:42:49.03\00:42:52.41
oh, that's what it's
about, that's what it's about.
00:42:52.44\00:42:56.30
Romans 2:24, we get
this devastating indictment
00:42:56.33\00:43:01.74
from the pen of Paul.
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Romans 2:24, what does it say?
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It says, he's
quoting by the way,
00:43:06.59\00:43:09.19
it says this, "For the name
of God is," what does it say?
00:43:09.22\00:43:14.27
"Blaspheme among the
gentiles because of you."
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As it is written he's
building this huge case
00:43:20.01\00:43:24.43
and why the Jews failed?
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Why did the plan
go off the rails?
00:43:26.16\00:43:29.05
Why is it that by the
time we get to the times
00:43:29.08\00:43:31.67
when Jesus is
supposed to make a safe landing
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into this world?
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Why is that when--
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when the runway was
supposed to be smooth out,
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that the hills where supposed
to be lowered and flattened
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and the ditches were
supposed to be raised.
00:43:44.12\00:43:46.11
So that when Jesus comes
and he lands on the shore,
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it's a smooth landing and
the world is ready for Him.
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What you have in scriptures
is the exact opposite.
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When Jesus
shows up to this world
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it's a crash landing, isn't it?
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It's mayday, mayday, emergency,
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the world's not ready
to receive Him, right?
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And Paul says,
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"The name of God is
blasphemed among the gentiles."
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And for you, guys,
we just went from--
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from the beginning
all the way through
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back to Paul and
it's the same old story,
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this is what the thing is about.
00:44:16.95\00:44:18.34
Actually I read this
in a modern translation,
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though I'm not a huge fan,
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I read this in
the modern translation
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and it's pretty compelling.
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I want you to listen to this,
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this is from the message
translation and this is--
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this is the big
chunk of Romans Chapter 2.
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And this is what
it essentially says.
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It may even come
up on your screen.
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In Romans Chapter
2, this is what it says
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from verses 17 onward, it says,
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"If you're bought
up Jewish, don't assume
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that you can lean back
in the arms of your religion
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and take it easy, feeling
smug because you're an insider
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to God's
revelation, a connoisseur
00:44:53.57\00:44:55.40
of the best things of God,
00:44:55.43\00:44:57.12
informed on the
latest doctrines!
00:44:57.15\00:45:00.85
I have a special
word of caution for you
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who are sure that you
have it all together yourselves
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and because you know
God's revealed Word inside
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and out, and feel
qualified to guide others
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through their blind
alleys and dark nights
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and confused emotions to God.
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While you are guiding others,
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who is going to guide you?
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I'm quite serious.
While preaching 'Don't steal!'
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Are you going to
rob people blind?
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Who would suspect you?
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The same with adultery.
The same with idolatry.
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You can get by
with almost anything
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if you front it with eloquent
talk about God and His law.
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The line from scripture,
'It's because of you Jews
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that the
outsiders are down on God,'
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shows that it's an old problem."
00:45:44.12\00:45:49.85
The whole thing that
Paul is drawing here guys
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is he is trying to
draw attention back
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to where the
thing is supposed to be.
00:45:54.99\00:45:57.06
Devastating failure,
first century Christianity,
00:45:57.09\00:46:00.77
the days of Jesus, Jesus now,
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Jesus now enters into the story,
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Jesus now enters into the frame
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and the purpose for
Jesus now as He enters
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into this crazy complex world
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where most people have a
word concept of who God is,
00:46:14.90\00:46:18.53
Jesus purpose is now
to correct the picture,
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to paint a better picture,
to carry--to carry a portrait
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and to tell
people no, no, no, no
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this is what God is like.
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Jesus is
constantly going head to head
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with a religious
establishment of his day.
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Jesus' great burden is
to paint the right picture
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every point that,
that the Jews fail,
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that Israel failed,
Jesus comes into the picture
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to pick up where Israel fell.
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You see this all
through His life,
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you see through
the story of Jesus
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so, you see this in subtle ways,
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you see this in explicit ways.
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The Jews, the Israelites
pass through the Red Sea
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in their 40 years
in the wilderness,
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Jesus gets
baptized in the Jordan
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and he spends how many days?
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40 days in the wilderness.
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As the Israelites
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were journeying
through the wilderness
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they receive the
Book of Deuteronomy.
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That refocuses the
whole point of why they exist,
00:47:16.12\00:47:20.36
Jesus is in the wilderness
and He quotes scripture
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to defend himself
against temptation
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and what book
does He quote from?
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He quotes from the
Book of Deuteronomy.
00:47:28.13\00:47:29.39
Jesus is trying to
say in very clear tone,
00:47:29.42\00:47:32.46
very loudly that
He is the true Israel
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because Jesus, young people,
00:47:35.76\00:47:38.25
Jesus succeeded
where the church failed.
00:47:38.28\00:47:41.94
Amen.
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Jesus came to this
world to pick up the mess,
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to pick up the misconceptions,
00:47:47.50\00:47:50.18
to pick up the word
perception of who God is
00:47:50.21\00:47:53.11
and what He is like, Jesus
came and he pick that thing up
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and He put it on His
shoulders and the brokenness
00:47:55.67\00:47:58.56
of Israelite
culture, every thing.
00:47:58.59\00:48:01.95
Jesus took all
of that to the cross
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and He flipped the page to
begin a new page, a new story.
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Amen. Amen.
00:48:08.54\00:48:10.67
Enter Adventism,
enter the here and the now.
00:48:10.70\00:48:16.85
Brothers and
sisters, I'm hugely burdened.
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It seems to me
that we are sitting
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on an amazing
responsibility and opportunity
00:48:25.00\00:48:28.89
to paint a
beautiful picture of what,
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of who God is and
of what God is like.
00:48:31.41\00:48:34.28
Enter Adventist
culture, enter our ideals,
00:48:34.31\00:48:40.74
our philosophy of life,
00:48:40.77\00:48:44.32
our perspective on
every aspect of living,
00:48:44.35\00:48:49.45
think about our
customs, our traditions,
00:48:49.48\00:48:51.71
the whole point of all of that
00:48:51.74\00:48:54.35
instead of when
people get exposure to it,
00:48:54.38\00:48:57.17
they're supposed to
walk away thinking, wow.
00:48:57.20\00:49:01.77
God is awesome
and God is beautiful.
00:49:01.80\00:49:04.18
Amen.
00:49:04.21\00:49:05.24
Amen. Amen.
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Tonight I'm gonna
be a party pooper.
00:49:07.80\00:49:11.62
Well this is, I
feel a huge burden.
00:49:11.65\00:49:15.03
And I want to
raise a question here
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I'm not coming to the table
to provide a list of answers,
00:49:16.36\00:49:19.44
I'm coming here
to raise a question?
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Are we doing that?
00:49:22.21\00:49:24.52
When the world looks at
us what does the world think?
00:49:24.55\00:49:29.73
Is it possible that we
have deceived ourselves
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into thinking we're just
gonna be faithful to God,
00:49:32.18\00:49:35.75
we're gonna be loyal
to God and we don't care
00:49:35.78\00:49:37.65
what the world thinks about
and all along we didn't realize
00:49:37.68\00:49:40.60
that
faithfulness to God includes
00:49:40.63\00:49:44.85
in awareness and a concern
for how the world perceives us.
00:49:44.88\00:49:48.62
Amen.
00:49:48.65\00:49:49.93
They're not two separate
things as part of the package.
00:49:49.96\00:49:52.51
Amen.
00:49:52.54\00:49:54.24
Because to love God supremely.
00:49:54.27\00:49:57.64
To love Him dearly is to
care about how He is perceived.
00:49:57.67\00:50:02.64
Can you say, amen to that?
00:50:02.67\00:50:03.70
Amen. Okay.
00:50:03.73\00:50:04.88
To care of how He is perceived
00:50:04.91\00:50:08.41
is to care how
you are perceived?
00:50:08.44\00:50:11.71
Not so anxious to
give it amen to that one.
00:50:14.43\00:50:16.69
To care how He is perceived is
to care how you are perceived.
00:50:16.72\00:50:19.88
Why is that the case?
Because how you are perceived.
00:50:19.91\00:50:24.87
And somebody finish it for me.
00:50:24.90\00:50:26.43
How you are perceived will
determine how He is perceived.
00:50:26.46\00:50:30.49
Are you with me? Amen.
00:50:30.52\00:50:32.28
True faithfulness
to God to be sold out
00:50:32.31\00:50:36.98
is to live with the
higher sense of awareness
00:50:37.01\00:50:38.85
that you that is
not just about you.
00:50:38.88\00:50:41.41
Yes.
00:50:41.44\00:50:42.47
It's not about you that
the gentiles are watching
00:50:42.50\00:50:46.08
and we need to
wake up every morning
00:50:46.11\00:50:48.04
with the deep sense
of burden in our hearts,
00:50:48.07\00:50:50.66
with this pressing
question, what do they see?
00:50:50.69\00:50:54.56
Does God look
awesome to the world
00:50:54.59\00:50:56.93
because of Adventist culture?
00:50:56.96\00:50:59.07
Does God look attractive?
00:51:01.00\00:51:02.60
Is God beautiful because of us?
00:51:02.63\00:51:09.39
Or are we perceived as weird
00:51:09.42\00:51:11.63
just for the
sake of being weird?
00:51:11.66\00:51:15.19
Are you with me?
00:51:15.22\00:51:16.59
When will the day come
where our public evangelism
00:51:16.62\00:51:19.56
will not necessitate
thousands of handbills
00:51:19.59\00:51:22.37
and flyers but when we
see in Zechariah Chapter 8,
00:51:22.40\00:51:25.63
where people
will be coming to us?
00:51:25.66\00:51:27.40
Yes. Amen.
00:51:27.43\00:51:29.05
I almost wonder if the great
commission to go, go, go, go, go
00:51:29.08\00:51:31.99
I wonder if that's-- if
that's more of a plan B.
00:51:32.02\00:51:37.05
Are you with me?
00:51:37.08\00:51:38.29
I wonder if plan A
00:51:38.32\00:51:39.79
is to show that
God is beautiful.
00:51:39.82\00:51:42.06