Participants: Adam Ramdin
Series Code: 14GYC
Program Code: 14GYC000002A
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00:12 Nothing preventing the least of His favor
00:19 Keep the way clear! 00:22 Let nothing between 00:28 Nothing between, like worldly pleasure 00:34 Habits of life, though harmless they seem 00:41 Must not my heart from Him ever sever 00:48 He is my all! There's nothing between 00:55 Nothing between my soul and the Savior 01:01 So that His blessed face may be seen 01:08 Nothing preventing the least of His favor 01:14 Keep the way clear! 01:17 Let nothing between 01:22 Noting between, e'en many hard trials 01:29 Though the whole world against me convene 01:35 Watching with prayer and much self denial 01:42 Triumph at last, with nothing between! 01:49 Nothing between my soul and the Savior 01:55 So that His blessed face may be seen 02:02 Nothing preventing the least of His favor 02:09 Keep the way clear! 02:12 Let nothing between 02:19 You know at the cross is where we see 02:22 God's greatest sacrifice for humanity. 02:25 But also at the cross is where we ourselves 02:29 can also make a great sacrifice, our lives. 02:32 So join as we sing at the cross, 02:34 our theme song for this GYC, 02:36 also found in your program book list this morning, 02:39 "At the cross." 02:44 Alas, and did my Savior bleed? 02:49 And did my Sovereign die? 02:55 Would He devote that sacred head 03:01 For someone such as I? 03:07 At the cross, at the cross Where I first saw the light 03:13 And the burden of my heart rolled away 03:18 It was there by faith I received my sight 03:24 And now I am happy all the day! 03:30 Was it for crimes that I have done 03:35 He suffered on the tree? 03:41 Amazing pity! 03:45 Grace unknown! And love beyond degree! 03:52 At the cross, at the cross Where I first saw the light 03:58 And the burden of my heart rolled away 04:03 It was there by faith I received my sight 04:09 And now I am happy all the day! 04:15 But drops of grief can ne'er repay 04:21 The debt of love I owe 04:26 Here, Lord, I give myself away 04:32 'Tis all that I can do! 04:38 At the cross, at the cross Where I first saw the light 04:43 And the burden of my heart rolled away 04:49 It was there by faith I received my sight 04:55 And now I am happy all the day! 05:01 It was at the cross, at the cross 05:04 Where I first saw the light 05:06 And the burden of my heart rolled away 05:12 It was there by faith I received my sight 05:18 And now I am happy all the day! 05:33 Good morning GYC. 05:36 You can do better than that. Good morning GYC. 05:38 Morning! 05:40 There we go, I know it's early, but you guys are here 7:45, 05:43 the few and faithful to morning devotional. 05:45 And I want you to do me a favor, 05:47 how many of you have a friend here at GYC 05:49 who is not in this auditorium this morning. 05:52 Yes, a lot of you guys, all right. 05:54 Your goal is sometime today to tell them, 05:57 you need to be here tomorrow morning at 7:45. 06:01 And the reason why is this is 06:02 because we have the opportunity 06:03 to listen to a powerful speaker. 06:05 Each morning Adam Ramdin has come all the way 06:07 from England to be with us. 06:09 He is the director of the Peace Bible College. 06:13 In addition to that, he is the youth director 06:15 for that conference. 06:16 And we're really excited about been him, 06:18 being here, he is a powerful speaker, 06:20 he's gonna speak from God's word. 06:21 And I know, I've been blessed by Adam, 06:24 and so we want to go ahead and bow our heads 06:26 and ask God to be with us and bless this time. 06:29 Let's pray. 06:31 Father, we want to thank You so much for this opportunity 06:38 to come and here the word of God, 06:41 and we pray that Your Holy Spirit 06:43 would be poured out this morning. 06:46 We have hearts that are open 06:49 and willing and wanting to hear Your word, 06:52 and I pray that you would speak through Adam. 06:54 We dedicate this time to you, we pray these things, 06:57 and all of God's people say it, amen, amen. 13:17 Good morning. Good morning! 13:20 And Happy New Year. 13:35 Apple Computers used to have a logo 13:39 around the end of the 1990s that said, 13:42 "Think Different," and it quotes on, 13:48 they struck a chord with society. 13:51 For we have a cultural affinity today 13:54 in the western world in particular 13:57 to value change over tradition. 14:01 So when they said think different, 14:03 it struck a chord with us. 14:06 We put merit in something that is new 14:09 as opposed to what is old. 14:12 And if when we're hearing something, 14:13 if we've heard it previously, 14:15 we consider it to be a waste of time 14:18 and meaningless. 14:20 Youth conferences in the Adventist church, 14:22 sometimes are affected by this mindset, 14:24 where committees will spend hours literally 14:28 thinking up a theme for the youth conference 14:31 that is new, that is different, 14:33 that is catchy, that is memorable, 14:36 because we value what's new over what's old. 14:43 I'd like to congratulate GYC 14:44 this year on a great theme, amen. 14:48 And I pray that myself 14:49 and either speakers here and in the workshop 14:51 are able to do justice to this theme. 14:53 You see, it is not a new thought, 14:56 it takes us back to the heart of Christianity 14:58 2,000 years ago, 15:00 the event that changed the universe 15:02 and the event for which history evolves at the cross. 15:08 You see, today as Laodiceans we have a problem as Laodicea, 15:12 the Adventist church is Laodicea, 15:13 we have a problem where 15:14 we have an endless pursuit of knowledge. 15:18 In fact, Laodicean doesn't necessarily need 15:20 more knowledge, 15:22 but they want more knowledge. 15:23 We want to know something new, 15:25 we want to know something fresh. 15:27 How many times have you been 15:29 in a prayer meeting or in a Bible study 15:31 and the person kneeling down, 15:32 he said, "Lord, teach us something new from Your word, 15:36 we want to hear something fresh, 15:38 something different, 15:40 something that we have not heard before. 15:42 The problem with us is Laodicea is we want knowledge. 15:46 Some of us have downloaded 10 gigabytes worth of sermons 15:49 on to our mobile phones. 15:51 Some of us have got our favorite sermons, 15:53 and we've heard them over and over so many times, 15:56 we can recite them word for word. 15:58 We want something fresh, we want something new. 16:02 I was talking to a young man in England one time, 16:04 he came to evangelistic campaign 16:06 that I was doing, 16:07 and he came all the way through, 16:08 did not get baptized. 16:10 Two years later, I met him at a youth event, 16:11 and I was talking to him about his walk with the Lord. 16:14 And he said, "Yeah, you know, things are going well," 16:16 and then he said something to me, 16:18 he told me the certain Bible prophecies 16:20 that he was studying. 16:22 And he said something to me, 16:24 he said, after he told me what he was studying, he said, 16:27 "Yeah, I'm at that level now, 16:32 that I'm studying these things, and I'm at that level now." 16:35 In other words, what he was saying was, 16:37 "I'm not dealing with the Psalms anymore, 16:39 I'm not dealing with the Proverbs anymore, 16:41 I've gone past the gospels, I'm at this level now." 16:45 You see, sometimes that's the way we think, 16:47 we got to graduate from the easy stuff 16:48 and gets to the deep stuff, 16:50 and then we really are immature Christian. 16:53 The problem with us as Adventist is 16:55 when we think about the gospel, 16:56 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, all too often we say, 16:58 "Yeah, I've read that already," 17:00 the cross, "Yeah, I checked, 17:02 I've already heard a sermon on the cross. 17:05 I've read the last 10 chapters of Desire of Ages, 17:07 yes, I know that. 17:11 I know that, I've heard it before, 17:13 I've seen it already. 17:14 It's time for me to move on in my Christian experience." 17:18 Well, you see, this weekend, there is no moving on, amen. 17:24 In Matthew 13:52, the Bible says that, 17:28 "Every scribe that is instructed 17:31 in the kingdom of heaven 17:32 is like a man, that is a householder, 17:35 which brought forth from the treasure, 17:37 things new, and things that are old. 17:41 You see, this weekend, long weekend, 17:44 we are discussing an old theme, 17:46 but I pray for myself and for yourself 17:49 that we're able to pull new things 17:51 out of the old theme, amen. 17:54 That what is old will become new, 17:56 what is old may become fresh 17:58 and that though it maybe an old theme At the Cross, 18:01 we may gain a new experience by encountering Jesus Christ. 18:06 Was as an Adventist, 18:08 you may be familiar with the cross, 18:11 you may have heard sermons on the cross, 18:13 you may be familiar, but what happens around it, 18:16 you may be familiar with the Ellen White quotation, 18:18 we need to spend the full flourish day 18:20 in silent mediation on the life of Christ 18:22 especially the closing scenes. 18:23 You may remember all of that, but I pray here at this GYC 18:29 through the course of what we discussed together 18:31 that we may not just know something new about the cross, 18:34 but that we may come to the foot of the cross. 18:39 Let's bow our heads as we start with the word of prayer. 18:43 Father in heaven, 18:46 Lord, truly it is a honor to open Your word. 18:52 As we spend the next few moments 18:54 in the pages of scripture, 18:56 Lord, I pray that You would speak to our hearts. 19:02 Teach us Lord today from Your word. 19:07 I pray Lord that the experience 19:09 that You went through on the cross, 19:11 we may see in the vividness today 19:16 that we can apply to our own personal lives. 19:21 I pray Lord that you would speak 19:22 through me at this time, 19:24 in Christ name we pray, amen. 19:29 If you go to the west coast to San Francisco, 19:31 there is a bridge there called the Golden Gate Bridge. 19:36 If you go to the east coast, as you go I-95, 19:39 when you head towards New York City, 19:40 there is another bridge there called 19:42 the George Washington Bridge. 19:46 Wouldn't say amen too quick. 19:49 For the problem with both of those bridges is, 19:51 when you cross those bridges, 19:52 you have to pay money before you go over the bridge. 19:55 In fact, as you're driving to the bridge, 19:57 you'll see a sign up there 19:58 that will say, last exit before what? 20:02 Last exit before tolls. 20:04 Now every time that I approach a bridge like that or a tunnel, 20:07 and you see that sign "Last Exit before toll," 20:10 I don't know what it is, 20:11 but this is what happens in my mind. 20:12 Even though I know I'm driving over the bridge, 20:15 even though I know I'm going on to my destination 20:17 that may be one, two, or three hours away. 20:20 Every time the thought comes into my head, 20:23 "Shall I get off the multi way before I have to pay a toll?" 20:27 You see, when you think about this, 20:30 Gethsemane represented to Jesus, 20:33 the last chance he had to get off the road 20:39 before He got to Calvary. 20:41 Gethsemane represented 20:43 the last opportunity that Jesus had, 20:45 the last chance to get off that road. 20:47 It was the last time in His earthly ministry 20:51 that Jesus had a chance to get off 20:53 before He had to pay the price. 20:57 If you have your Bibles this morning, 20:59 I like to invite you to turn to Matthew Chapter 26, 21:02 and we're gonna read one or two verses 21:03 as they relate 21:05 to the closing scenes of Christ life. 21:07 Matthew Chapter 26... 21:14 Gethsemane, the name or the word Gethsemane, 21:18 it means oil press, 21:21 it was the name of an olive yard 21:24 that sat at the foot of the Mount of Olives. 21:27 If you're privileged to go to Israel today, 21:30 if you'd count it such, 21:32 you can go to where they say Gethsemane was. 21:35 There are eight olive trees there 21:37 in the Garden of Gethsemane 21:39 that they may take you to, 21:41 but the orthodox churches know 21:42 that's not the garden of Gethsemane, 21:43 they have one across the road, 21:45 and they say that's the Garden of Gethsemane. 21:47 But if you talk to certain Bible scholars, they will say, 21:49 none of them are the Garden of Gethsemane. 21:51 It was probably several 100 yards away. 21:53 Be that as it may, Gethsemane, 21:57 this is where Jesus came often times to pray we're told, 22:00 and we're told that in Gethsemane, 22:01 He took all His disciples there to the Garden of Gethsemane. 22:05 He told some of them to wait there. 22:07 And then He took His three... 22:11 favorite disciples, 22:13 and He took them a little further 22:14 and He said, "You wait here." 22:15 And then He went a little bit further from them, 22:19 not out of eyesight, 22:21 but He laid there on the ground, 22:23 and there He started to pray to His heavenly Father. 22:26 And in Matthew 26:29, the Bible says, 22:30 "And he went a little further, and fell on his face 22:33 and prayed, saying, 'Oh my Father, 22:39 if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, 22:43 nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." 22:46 Now what I want to do, we're gonna take this verse 22:48 and look through it step by step. 22:50 He starts of the Bible, says, He went a little bit further, 22:52 but the words of Jesus in red, let's focus on these. 22:55 The Bible says, "Oh, my Father." 23:01 Another word "Oh Father," 23:04 to me that signifies closeness in a relationship. 23:08 Today you would say that as a term of endearment. 23:11 If my wife said to me, "Oh, Adam," 23:14 and then she went on to say something else, 23:15 it would probably mean that 23:17 I was in her good books at that time, amen. 23:21 "Oh Father," Jesus is closed to His father, 23:24 and the phrase signifies such, 23:26 it goes on and it says, "If it be what possible." 23:32 So he is asking this question, he says, "If it is possible, 23:35 is there anyway, is there any possibility 23:38 about what I'm about to ask." 23:40 See, Jesus, when He came to this point, 23:42 He was looking at death, He was looking at the cross, 23:44 straight in front oh Him, and as He took one look at it, 23:47 He said, "Father, is it possible, 23:49 is there anyway, 23:51 is there anyway around this?" 23:53 It was almost like a rhetorical question, 23:55 'cause Jesus knew that when He came down to earth, 23:57 He was gonna have to die in the cross. 23:59 But as He comes to the cross and sees it in front of Him, 24:02 He says, "Is it possible, is there any other way? 24:09 I was reading the story about a young man 24:10 that was hiking in the mountains, 24:12 and he was hiking in the mountains, 24:13 and the boulder fell on him. 24:16 And as the boulder fell on him, it almost hits him on the body, 24:19 but he managed to move his body out just in time 24:22 that the boulder only hit his arm. 24:24 The problem was, the boulder was 800 pounds, 24:27 and it stopped on his arm and crushed his arm. 24:30 He is there in the mountains in the Canyon. 24:31 No one knows he is there. 24:33 And he is there, and he tries initially 24:34 to push against the boulder and get off him. 24:37 Ridiculous, it's 800 pounds. 24:39 He realizes he needs to save his energy 24:41 for something more intelligent. 24:43 And later on that day or the next day, 24:45 he gets his ropes, 'cause he was a climber, 24:47 I'm not exactly what he did it or how he did it, 24:49 but he tried to make the hoist to around the rock 24:51 so that he could pull it and dislodge it. 24:54 Didn't work, plan failed. 24:55 Next plan, he pulls a knife out of his pocket, 24:57 and he start to stab away at the rock, 24:59 as if he can dig a tunnel in the rock 25:01 and pull his arm out, 25:03 plan doesn't work, knife is blunt. 25:05 Next thing he tries to do, he gets the knife, 25:07 now you need to get out of the Canyon, 25:09 he know he's gonna die. 25:12 He gets the knife, and he tries to cut his arm, 25:15 the knife was so blunt, 25:16 it wouldn't even puncture the skin. 25:20 He waited another day, now on day six. 25:23 He's been in the Canyon for six days, 25:25 he's gonna starve to death soon 25:26 he's gonna die of dehydration soon, 25:28 but he needs to get out. 25:29 What can he do to save his life? 25:31 He takes the terrible decision. 25:33 His name was Aaron Ralston, 25:34 maybe you read about him in the news in Utah. 25:36 And he takes the terrible decision, 25:38 he twists himself to break the bones in his arm 25:42 with no anesthetic. 25:45 And then after the bones were broken in his arm, 25:47 he took out the knife 25:49 that wasn't able to cut his skin before. 25:50 And he managed to hack off his arm, 25:54 took an hour or two. 25:57 Then he walked six miles out to the road, 26:00 where he found himself... 26:02 some of the tourists, and they took him out there. 26:04 The point is, the hardest thing he saved and did it last, 26:09 that I don't want to cut my arm off, 26:10 let me try and move the rock, 26:12 let me try and you know, cut the rock away, 26:14 let me try everything except having to cut my arm off. 26:16 When Jesus came to Gethsemane, it's like He looked at, 26:19 He's like is there any way, is there anyway around this, 26:23 is it possible? 26:25 And the text goes on and it says, 26:26 "Let this cup pass from me." 26:30 See, the cup that Jesus was asking to pass from Him 26:33 was two things, it was the cup of suffering. 26:36 Jesus was about to go 26:38 through an experience of suffering 26:40 unlike anyone has seen before or since. 26:42 In fact, Ellen White says, 26:44 that no criminal was ever treated as bad as he. 26:48 That cup of suffering, the pain and the agony, 26:51 he looked at that and he said, "No... 26:54 is it possible?" 26:55 The other thing in the cup that He saw 26:58 was this cup of death, 27:00 the cup of eternal separation from His heavenly Father. 27:03 And when He looked at that, and saw what it was, 27:06 that deep, black and dark hole of death, 27:09 he said, "No, is there any other way?" 27:13 You see, part of the problem that we have today with sin, 27:15 I believe. 27:17 Our love affair with sin 27:19 is because we really don't understand 27:22 what death is. 27:24 Jesus saw what death was, 27:26 and in that moment of seeing what death was, 27:28 He says, "Is there any way around this? 27:31 Is there anyway around it?" 27:37 Is there anyway around this problem. 27:41 Friends, if we can get a glimpse of what it was, 27:46 too often we have a misunderstanding 27:47 of God's goodness that leads us to misunderstand His wrath. 27:51 Now, I'm not suggesting that we should be scared 27:53 into following God, amen. 27:55 But all too often, we misunderstand His goodness 27:58 forgetting that the Bible says, 27:59 the rain falls on the just and the unjust. 28:01 And we misunderstand His goodness, 28:03 and we see evil people prospering, 28:05 and we think, "Well, God's not too serious 28:07 about what He says about sin." 28:09 When Jesus was on the cross, 28:10 He saw death right in front of Him, 28:12 and he said, "Is it possible, 28:13 is there any other way I can get around this?" 28:16 Now He knew that it wasn't, He knew that it wasn't, 28:20 but He wanted to be spared its wrath. 28:22 You know, in John 12:27, in John 12:27, 28:26 there's a very similar verse to this one, 28:28 where the Bible says, "Father," 28:30 John 12:27, if you're there, 28:32 turn your Bibles, John 12:27, the Bible says, 28:36 "Father save me from this hour, 28:39 but for this cause came I into this world," 28:42 it's a very similar verse to Matthew 26. 28:45 John says, "Father, save me from this hour, 28:47 but this is the reason I came into the world." 28:50 Matthew says, "Is it possible, 28:52 nevertheless not my will, but yours be done." 28:56 You see, both of these two verses, 28:58 they have in them, what we would call, 29:00 a conjunctive adverb, a conjunctive adverb, 29:05 the word "but" and the word "nevertheless." 29:08 You see, the verse in Matthew 26, 29:10 if you turn back to Matthew 26, 29:12 that verse is hinged on that one word, 29:15 nevertheless. 29:18 See, a similar word to this could be 29:20 something like nonetheless, it could be however. 29:23 Now a conjunctive adverb, 29:25 their function in a sentence is to do this, 29:30 is to connect two independent thoughts 29:33 or clauses together. 29:35 Now when adverb, you know, looks at a word, 29:40 but a conjunctive adverb, it looks at two sentences 29:44 that could be two complete separate independent thoughts 29:48 and it puts them together. 29:49 And depending on the adverb in the middle, 29:52 where there is one that compares, 29:53 where there is one that contrast 29:55 or whether there is one that emphasizes 29:59 the sentence has different reading. 30:02 Now this word here is nevertheless. 30:05 Nevertheless is more formal and it's more emphatic 30:09 than the one we more often use which is however. 30:12 It's not too often that you and I 30:14 in our daily conversation use the word nevertheless, 30:16 because it's very, very emphatic. 30:18 Most of the time, we would say, however. 30:21 And what this conjunctive adverb nevertheless 30:24 or however does is this. 30:27 It compares two sentences 30:29 and it puts, listen carefully, 30:31 more emphasis in the second sentence 30:35 or the second half of the sentence 30:37 than the first half of the sentence. 30:40 More emphasis when we thought, 30:42 the second half as opposed to the first half. 30:45 So let's re read the sentence, 30:47 "Oh Father, is it possible, let this cup pass from me." 30:50 Now that can stand alone as a sentence. 30:52 Then it says, nevertheless. 30:54 And he goes on and says, "Not my will," but what? 30:58 "Your's be done." 30:59 So the more important emphasis is that, 31:01 it's not what I want, but it's what you want. 31:04 Even though I don't want it, I will be willing to do this, 31:06 because you wanted. 31:08 You know, in daily conversation, 31:10 we may use these words in different ways, 31:13 for example, we could say something here at GYC, 31:16 we could say something like, 31:19 the food at GYC... 31:24 is not exactly gourmet. 31:30 Now that can stand alone as a sentence, 31:33 however, used the wrong word, 31:36 the food at GYC is not exactly gourmet, 31:39 nevertheless I will be thankful... 31:45 I will be happy, and I will not complain. 31:51 Amen. 31:53 So the more important thing is that 31:55 you're not going to complain, you're going to be thankful, 31:57 and you're going to enjoy as best as you can, 31:59 the food here, 32:01 as opposed to talking about its various taste. 32:07 You see, it signifies the second half of the sentence 32:10 is more important than the first half. 32:12 Too often though in our praises 32:13 and can be too often in our prayers, 32:15 in our communication and relationship with God. 32:17 Our experience is that 32:19 the second half of the sentence holds less weight 32:21 than the first half of the sentence. 32:25 We tell God what we want. 32:27 We tell God everything that He already knows, 32:29 and then at the very end, we might just tack on 32:32 like a spare wheel on the back of the car, 32:34 yup, whatever your will is God. 32:38 We tell God what career we've chosen, 32:40 we tell God where we're gonna study, 32:41 we tell him what we're gonna study, 32:43 and then we say, "Oh Lord, please guide me." 32:47 We tell God who we're gonna marry, 32:49 we tell God why we're gonna marry them. 32:51 We give Him all the list of reasons 32:52 that He already knows and then we say, 32:54 "Oh, but please guide me, give me Your will." 32:58 You know, two weeks ago, 33:00 I've got an email from my grandmother-in-law, 33:05 my wife's grandmother. 33:07 She's 98 years old, 33:11 fit, healthy, and strong, 33:16 and she has an email address. 33:21 Now when 98 year old grandmother-in-law 33:24 say anything, you pay attention, 33:26 when they send me a personal email, 33:30 I take attention. 33:31 I tell my wife, "Hey, look, your grandmother wrote to me." 33:34 So I start to read the email, 33:36 what does my grandmother-in-law say, 33:37 she says, "I understand you're coming 33:39 to see us in California soon, 33:42 I have spoken to the head elder of the church, 33:46 and he would like you to preach." 33:49 The email went on to say, 33:50 "I have spoken to both the pastors of the church, 33:53 they also would like you to preach." 33:56 Then she said a few other things 33:57 and then she said these words, 33:59 she said, "Please respond to this email with a yes." 34:11 What am I supposed to say? 34:12 Please respond with a yes. 34:16 Needless to say, I responded with a yes. 34:18 When your grandmother-in-law who is 98 years old, 34:21 writes to you and says, please respond with a yes. 34:23 Well, okay, I'll respond with a yes. 34:27 Now I'm about one third of her age, 34:30 just a bit more. 34:33 It's okay in human term for her to tell me, 34:35 "Listen, I like you to keep on, 34:37 the pastors would like you to preach, 34:39 and please say yes." 34:42 Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot so to speak, 34:45 and I am writing her an email, telling her what to do. 34:51 "Yeah, I know, you're 98 years old, 34:53 fit, healthy, and strong, 34:54 but listen, you need to do this, this, and this." 34:57 It will be seen as utter disrespect. 35:00 And yet all too often, in our relationship with God, 35:03 we're like myself, in a sense God is up there and we tell, 35:07 "God, can you do this, 35:08 and by the way, please say yes." 35:12 And I'm only saying please 'cause I'm being polite, 35:14 really I'm saying say yes. 35:20 Nevertheless in our prayers stands there, 35:25 and signifies that 35:26 we're surrendering our will to God, 35:28 as opposed to us telling God what to do. 35:32 It's paramount in our lives that in our prayer life 35:35 that we recognize the second half of the sentence 35:37 is more important than the first half. 35:39 And that we're willing to submit, 35:41 we're willing to surrender 35:42 whatever it might be to God and claim His victory, 35:46 'cause we come to God with our prayers. 35:47 And all too often we tell God, 35:49 and we don't claim the power and the strength 35:52 that is found at the cross. 35:55 See, when Jesus came to the cross, 35:56 He was willing to surrender and submit Himself 35:58 as He came to the cross. 36:00 How is it with us? How is it with us? 36:03 Do we say to God, we should say to God, 36:05 "Lord, I've chosen this career, I know, it's only because 36:10 I want the comfortable life and wage packet 36:12 that this career brings, 36:14 nevertheless I know God wants me to change now, 36:18 and I'm willing to change. 36:21 I've chosen to marry this person, 36:23 nevertheless I know 36:24 the Holy Spirit is tugging my heart 36:26 that it's not the person I should marry 36:27 and even though I've set a date... 36:32 I'll change. 36:34 I have decided not to go into ministry 36:36 due to my family pressure, 36:37 my mom, my dad, they tell me, don't go to ministry, 36:40 be a doctor or dentist or lawyer or something else. 36:43 I decided not to go into ministry 36:45 even though God is calling me, 36:47 nevertheless I will risk my family's displeasure 36:51 and go into ministry, 36:54 'cause I know it's the path that God has for me. 36:58 I do not like the person I am married to. 37:05 In fact, I hate them. 37:12 Nevertheless, I recognize, I vow till death do us part. 37:19 I am addicted, I am addicted to sex, 37:23 and I am not married. 37:28 Nevertheless, I will claim God's victory on my behalf. 37:32 I feel attractions to the same sex. 37:34 Nevertheless, I claim God's power, 37:36 as it gives me victory 37:38 and to keep those things under subjection. 37:41 I don't value my body, 37:42 I want to harm my body, nevertheless, 37:45 I will take hold of the promise, 37:46 but I'm valuable in the sight of God. 37:49 I enjoy the secret sin. 37:51 No one else knows about it. 37:53 Nevertheless, I will claim the promise 37:55 that God is able to give me victory 37:57 over every secret sin that let me lay it aside. 38:01 I have dreams and desires, 38:03 I could be the first one in my family 38:05 to have a masters or a PhD. 38:10 My parents, my uncles, 38:12 my grandparents, none of them have it. 38:13 I could be the first in my family. 38:15 Nevertheless, I recognize God is calling me to drop it now, 38:19 and go to the mission field. 38:22 I'm addicted to watching pornography... 38:32 on my Smartphone, 38:34 only I have the fingerprint to open it, 38:37 so no one can check my history. 38:40 Only I have the four-digit code, 38:43 no one else can check it, no one knows. 38:49 Nevertheless, I know it's destroying my character, 38:53 changing my view of the opposite sex, 38:55 eroding my morals and I will 38:59 and I know God is able to deliver me. 39:02 And I'll get rid of my Smartphone 39:03 and give a dumb phone too to take the temptation away. 39:10 I like sin, nevertheless, I won't allow righteousness. 39:13 I like enjoying the pleasures of sin. 39:15 Nevertheless, I want to enjoy purity. 39:19 You see the way they're phrased, 39:21 we're giving God ability to be victorious on our behalf. 39:25 Jesus went on to say, let's go back to Matthew 26, 39:28 Jesus went on to say in Matthew 26, 39:30 He went on to say, "Nevertheless, 39:32 he said, not as I will, but as" what? 39:36 "But let your will be done." 39:37 He said, "Nevertheless, not as I will." 39:39 Now this passage has always given me 39:41 some kind of, you know... 39:45 isn't the will of God and will of Jesus the same. 39:48 Don't we teach that Jesus and God 39:50 while different persons are the same in thought, 39:52 purpose, character, desires, and motives. 39:56 Jesus and His father were one. 39:58 John says it in John 4:34 and John 5:30, 40:03 where Jesus says, "I seek not mine own will," 40:05 and Matthew says, 40:06 "But the will of Him who," what? 40:08 "Sent me." 40:10 You see, when Jesus said, not as I will, 40:12 I believe this was the humanity of Jesus speaking through, 40:16 where Jesus came down here on to earth, 40:18 He took on Him the form of man, 40:19 He took on Him the character of man, 40:23 He took on human nature 40:24 that had been degraded by 4,000 years of sin. 40:27 And he took this on, 40:28 so you and I can identify with Him. 40:30 And so He can identify with us. 40:33 Hebrew says that He was touched 40:35 with the feelings of our infirmity 40:37 was on old points tempted like as we are, 40:39 yet without sin. 40:41 See, Jesus had the same struggles 40:43 you and I had and even more when he said, "Not as I will." 40:48 Not as I will. 40:52 See, too often, when we come to God, 40:55 we don't put the emphasis 40:57 on the second half of the sentence. 40:59 The main point of Jesus was not His personal will, 41:02 to preserve His life without pain and suffering, 41:03 but it was the Father's will 41:05 in the plan of salvation which... 41:09 How is it with us when we pray to God, 41:14 in the mundane situations of life? 41:17 See all too often we pray for God's will 41:19 only when we get to a crisis. 41:23 Jesus had a connection with His Father 41:25 throughout all the mundane situations of life, 41:27 so when He got to Calvary, 41:28 it was no big deal when he said, 41:29 "Not my will, but yours be done." 41:31 I mean, obviously, it was a big deal, 41:32 but it wasn't like He was a change of character of Him, 41:34 it wasn't like He was out of character. 41:36 See, Jesus, everyday of His life, 41:38 asked what the Father's will is, 41:39 when he woke up in the morning what shall I wear, 41:41 when He was thinking about spending money, 41:42 what shall I spend my money on, 41:44 when he thought, where shall I go, 41:45 God was guiding him. 41:47 All too often in our lives though, 41:48 we separate the natural from the supernatural, 41:51 and so we can handle the natural world, 41:53 we can handle where we work, we can handle where we study, 41:56 we can handle all these other things, 41:57 and only if a crisis happens, do we come to God. 42:03 We don't pray to God all semester long, 42:05 and when we come to exams, "God, guide me." 42:09 Now God may be merciful, 42:11 and He may get you through that, 42:12 but God wants to be with you there 42:14 all the way along. 42:17 We don't pray to God, 42:18 "Lord, guide me how to spend my money 42:19 when I go to the shopping mall." 42:21 No, we just spend our money how we want. 42:22 And when we get into debt, we then want God to release us. 42:27 Crisis, God says no, 42:29 I want to be in every aspect of your life. 42:32 I want to be in the small, and the little things. 42:34 Jesus went on to pray, "Not as I will," but as what? 42:39 "You will." 42:41 See, in John 18:11, the Bible says, 42:44 I'll just quote it, you can check it later on. 42:46 The Bible says, "The cup which to father has given me, 42:49 shall I not drink it." 42:53 See, the cup of death and sin, Jesus was willing to take. 42:57 The will of God was the most important thing, 42:59 and He was willing to surrender to it. 43:01 You see, Jesus had total submission to His father 43:04 and in total submission, first of all, 43:06 there has to be the desire 43:08 and the willingness to be obedient to God. 43:11 He was willing to be obedient, and He submits. 43:16 Sometime in our relationship with God, 43:19 when we said, not as I will, but as you will, 43:20 we don't have that desire, that willingness to surrender. 43:23 And we don't even have the desire 43:25 to be obedient either. 43:28 The two of them go hand in hand. 43:31 When Jesus surrendered, 43:33 He had total submission to His father's will. 43:36 Today, the theme of the day 43:37 is total submission in the context of the cross. 43:41 See, a key aspect of Christ attitude 43:43 was His willingness to complete what He had started, 43:46 to be obedient to the task at hand, 43:48 and one of the key questions for us, 43:50 in the question of submission is, 43:52 are we willing to be obedient to what God's will is. 43:57 You may have heard the story. 43:59 A little boy was sitting on the stool, 44:02 and his mom told him, "You've got to sit there, 44:03 'cause you've been a naughty boy." 44:05 And after he sits there for a few minutes, 44:06 he says to his mom, he says, 44:08 "I may be sitting on the outside, 44:10 but I'm standing up inside." 44:15 Too often our obedience, "to God" is often like that. 44:19 We may externally comply, 44:21 but internally we're not really submitting 44:24 everything to the Father. 44:26 We're not submitting all of who we are to God. 44:30 You see, today, 44:31 we are called to deny ourselves. 44:34 And listen, one of the motivating factors 44:36 in denying ourselves 44:37 that we have given to us in the Bible is, 44:39 you deny yourself, 44:41 because Jesus denied for you, make sense? 44:45 Jesus denied for you, so you deny for Him. 44:48 And the way it goes is this, 44:51 you deny what's bad, 44:54 you deny yourself what's bad so you can gain what is good. 45:01 Deny yourself sin, and you can gain heaven. 45:03 Deny yourself all these terrible things down here, 45:06 and you can gain eternity with God. 45:08 Deny what's bad, 45:09 so you can gain back what's good. 45:11 When Jesus was denying Himself, He was not denying anything 45:15 that was bad to gain what was good. 45:18 It was the reverse with Jesus. 45:19 He was denying what was good, because of what was bad. 45:25 He denied a place in heaven because of sin, 45:28 is different to the denial that God calls us to deny. 45:31 In many ways, Jesus denial was like a level 10, 45:36 I'm denying eternity, 45:38 because the wages of sin is death. 45:42 We though are just called to deny what's bad. 45:47 So we can get back what is good. 45:52 It's almost like the diet version 45:53 of self-denial. 45:56 Now I'm not negating this many, many big things here 45:58 that God is calling you, you made to deny this week. 46:02 Things that have a hold on you that you just can't let go. 46:07 What I'm trying to say is 46:08 that the self-denial Jesus went through, 46:10 those are same in many ways, but slightly different. 46:14 He denied what was good, 46:16 He denied what was good to get something bad. 46:19 It's kind of like when you are buying something 46:22 that you don't need. 46:24 Can anyone relate to this? 46:27 You buy something you don't need 46:30 and you don't use it properly 46:31 and few months or years later 46:33 you finally come around to the point, 46:35 where you sell it on eBay or something 46:37 and you sell it for a fraction of the cost 46:39 that you bought it for. 46:40 It does not give you a good feeling. 46:43 eBay only is a good feeling when you buy it for a low price 46:46 and sell it for a higher price and you say praise the Lord. 46:49 You know, one time, a few years ago, 46:51 I bought myself a boat. 46:55 You're probably looking at me wondering, 46:56 why did he buy a boat. 46:58 Well, I don't know either. 47:01 The way I try to explain is 47:02 I think I had a midlife crisis early when I was 30 years old. 47:07 It's supposed to be 40 or 50, 47:08 but I think I had mine earlier, I had mine already. 47:12 So when I'm 30, I go and buy a boat, 47:14 for who knows what reason. 47:16 I had all these dreams of driving this boat and being, 47:19 you know, an accomplished water skier 47:20 or wakeboarder or whatever, 47:21 so I buy myself a boat, only used it twice. 47:28 Once in Wales, when we took it 47:29 on the youth trip down to Croatia to the Adriatic Sea 47:32 and we used it down, they had a great time. 47:33 Anyway the boat broke down... 47:36 in 2008, 47:41 brought it back to England, 47:43 finally got it fixed after five years. 47:47 My uncle who is a mechanic fixed it, 47:48 and when your uncle who the mechanic 47:50 fixes it for you for free, you can't push him. 47:52 And if he wanted to take five years, 47:54 then he has to take five years. 47:56 And in the end of fixing after five years, 47:57 it looked very good, he had done a very good job. 47:59 The engine was nice. 48:01 He had rebuilt it, whatever. 48:04 So I put it back on eBay to sell it 48:07 for the same price I bought it and some. 48:13 Boat doesn't sell. 48:15 I lowered the price by few 100 pounds, 48:18 boat doesn't sell. 48:20 I lower it again by few 100 pounds, 48:21 boat doesn't sell. 48:22 I lower it again by few 100 pounds, 48:24 boat doesn't sell. 48:25 I lower it now to half the original price, 48:27 boat doesn't sell. 48:28 I won't even tell you what I bought it for, 48:29 and I what I sold it for. 48:31 It's too painful for me to still say it. 48:36 I'm now thankful I have a very good wife, 48:38 who is very patient with me. 48:40 But it's also there for me now 48:42 that I'm married to stop me doing such silly things again. 48:47 Needless to say, 48:49 I believe encapsulate a little bit. 48:54 Jesus gave up something good, and got back crumbs in return. 48:58 But God calls us to deny something that is bad 49:01 in order that we can get something good back. 49:03 He calls us to live a life of self-denial, 49:06 to deny something. 49:07 What is God calling you to deny today here 49:10 while you are here at GYC? 49:12 See, people talk about sacrifice. 49:15 Jesus gave up something good to get something bad. 49:17 But my question to you this morning is, 49:19 what is God calling you that is bad to give up 49:22 in order to get back something that's good. 49:24 What is that nevertheless in your life this morning 49:27 that God is calling to, yeah, I know that. 49:30 Nevertheless, I will give you power here 49:33 to give you victory. 49:35 What is holding you down 49:36 with seemingly unbreakable chains. 49:38 Maybe you're struggling with pride 49:40 that's so deadly of sin that we cloak and hide away. 49:45 That sin that we hide under words like, 49:47 I want to be the best for God. 49:49 I want to be all I can be for God. 49:51 God calls us to be the head and not the tail. 49:53 And we cloak it in things like that. 49:54 And while those words are true, 49:56 we know in ourselves, it's just pride. 49:59 We just want to be the best for our self. 50:03 And God calling you, surrender your pride, 50:06 maybe it's your ambition 50:07 that God is calling you to surrender today. 50:11 Maybe you've always dreamed 50:12 of being certain career in your life, 50:14 and God is calling you to lay that aside. 50:17 Maybe it's your dream to be a pastor, 50:19 maybe it's even your dream to be a doctor, 50:22 maybe it's ambition that drives you in this world 50:25 from day to day, 50:26 each day ambition drives you, it drives you, it drives you. 50:29 You have earthly ambition, 50:30 but you know not yet what a heavenly ambition is. 50:34 Maybe even elected 50:35 to a position of leadership in your church 50:37 or your community or your youth group, 50:38 and the only reason why you've been elected 50:40 to positional leadership is could you drive a nice car 50:42 and you have a, you know, 50:44 seem to do well in life successfully. 50:46 And you still don't know what spiritual ambition is, 50:49 you're bankrupt. 50:52 And you want to say to God, 50:54 nevertheless, even though I have these ambitions 50:55 I'm struggling with, 50:57 I want Your power in my life to give me heavenly ambition. 51:01 Turn in your Bible to Luke 5:5, 51:03 it's our last text 51:04 that we're gonna look at this morning. 51:06 Luke Chapter 5:5... 51:10 and there in Luke 5:5, we have a verse 51:13 that kind of sums up and encapsulates 51:15 what we've been looking at today, 51:17 Luke 5:5. 51:23 What is God calling you to surrender today? 51:27 What is God calling you to submit today? 51:31 Luke 5:5, the Bible says, 51:34 "And Simon answering said unto him, 51:40 Master, we have toiled all..." 51:43 What? 51:44 "We have toiled all night, 51:47 nevertheless at your word I will let down the net." 51:53 He says to Jesus, "Look, we've worked all night, 51:55 we are fisherman, we've toiled," 51:57 or I like the word they toiled, 51:58 we have toiled all night. 52:02 How many of you this morning, 52:03 you feel that in your relationship with God, 52:05 as you're struggling with something, 52:06 as you've come here to GYC, 52:08 there's something that you've toiled 52:10 all night against. 52:12 You're struggling against some sin, 52:14 you're struggling against some vice, 52:16 you're struggling against some addiction. 52:23 Addiction, that's holding you down, 52:30 a vice that's holding you down. 52:34 Addiction to wasting your hours, 52:37 and hours, and hours on the internet. 52:39 Addiction to scrolling your Facebook 52:41 and Twitter and Instagram 52:43 time and over and over and over again. 52:50 Addicted to pornography, to sex, to whatever it maybe. 52:56 Addicted to pride... 53:00 addicted, you can't let it go. 53:04 But you want to say to God, 53:05 "Lord, today, I have toiled all night, 53:08 I have struggled with this thing 53:09 over and over and over again." 53:13 I went forward for an appeal at last year's GYC, 53:16 but it still didn't work for me. 53:19 I have toiled with this one. 53:20 And you want to say this morning, 53:22 nevertheless, at your word, 53:25 I will let down my net on the other side. 53:29 The emphasis is on at your word, 53:32 I will let down my net. 53:33 The emphasis is not that we have toiled all night, 53:36 the emphasis is not that you've struggled 53:38 for one week, for one month, for one year, for one decade, 53:40 for two decades with this sin, that's not the emphasis. 53:44 The emphasis is at Your word, we will let down the net. 53:49 And this morning you want to say to God, 53:51 "Lord, at Your word, 53:53 I want to let down my net on this side." 53:56 This morning before we come to a close, 53:58 before you go your various ways to workshops, 54:00 I want to make a quick appeal as we come to a close. 54:04 It's not for everyone. 54:05 The appeal this morning is this. 54:07 Are you struggling with some vice 54:09 that's holding you captive? 54:11 Is there some secrets in there that no one else knows about 54:14 in your family, your church, anyone knows about... 54:17 the one that you just enjoy? 54:22 Do you have some addiction that you are struggling with? 54:25 Is there some poisonous attitude 54:28 that you have in your heart to your fellow brethren. 54:34 Vice, secrecy, addiction, poisonous attitude. 54:40 And you want to say to God today, 54:41 this morning on New Year's Day, 54:44 I want to lay these at the foot of the cross, 54:47 I have toiled all night with these, 54:49 nevertheless, I want to take Your word, 54:51 and believe in Your grace and Your power 54:53 and Your victory in my life to give me strength. 54:57 Too often I've been talking on that side. 54:59 But today I want to say, nevertheless, at Your word 55:03 I will let down my net on this side. 55:08 This morning, if you feel the Holy Spirit 55:11 pricking your heart, 55:13 there's a sign to heaven, to yourself, 55:15 to whoever maybe here, you just want to say, 55:17 "Lord, give me strength, give me victory. 55:19 I'm tired of toiling on that side. 55:20 I want victory on this side." 55:24 I'm not naming anything specific, 55:26 but there is something vice, 55:28 secrecy, addiction, poisonous attitude 55:30 that's holding you down. 55:32 You want to surrender it this morning. 55:34 If that's your desire, 55:35 I want to invite you to come to the front 55:38 before we close with the word of prayer. 55:41 Come quickly, we don't have too long. 55:53 Come quickly. 55:56 You want to surrender to God. 55:59 Say, I've been toiling over there, 56:01 but now I want victory over here. 56:06 I'm tired, I'm tired of fishing on that side, 56:09 I want victory over here. 56:13 I want victory over here. 56:16 Lord, grant me victory. 56:23 Let's bow our heads as we close with a word of prayer. 56:27 Keep coming. 56:29 Let's bow our heads as we close with the word of prayer. 56:32 Father in heaven... 56:35 Lord, as the people still come, and those who have come, 56:39 Lord, you know what it may be, 56:42 what it is... 56:43 that those who have come forward to the front 56:46 or into the aisles are struggling with. 56:50 Lord, you know what's holding them down, 56:54 you know, what they have prayed about before 56:57 and they have asked for Your will to be done, 56:58 but it's not with the strength of conviction, 57:01 in really believing that the power is there. 57:04 Lord, you know what these people have been toiling with, 57:07 what secret sin or addictional... 57:11 bad attitude that is holding them down. 57:15 Lord, I pray this morning that You'd attend to 57:20 the earnest plea of their hearts, 57:24 that this morning that you would read their hearts 57:27 as you know what's best. 57:30 You would see their desires, and as they say to you today, 57:36 nevertheless, at your word, 57:39 I let down my net 57:43 into the endless well of Your grace and power. 57:48 Lord, grant strength where we are weak, 57:53 grant victory, we pray. 57:59 May your spirit Lord, tabernacle with us, 58:04 as we go our various ways 58:06 and it's in Jesus' name we pray this prayer. 58:10 Amen and amen. 58:15 God bless you. |
Revised 2016-07-11