Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: 15WAC
Program Code: 15WAC000014A
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00:16 You know, I think about this generation,
00:19 and this generation is quite a bit more technical 00:23 than the generation I was raised in... 00:25 We only had telephones when I was being raised. 00:28 We didn't have all these gadgets and devices nowadays... 00:31 And it is so easy, if you want to, to watch a movie 00:34 anytime you want to. 00:36 And so one day, I was sitting down reading my Bible, 00:38 and a thought came to my mind that will be revealed to you 00:42 in the sermon today. 00:43 The message is entitled: "The Script" 00:47 Let's open our Bibles to 1 John 3:1-2 00:51 The message is entitled: "The Script" 00:57 The Lord gave me a sermon for this modern generation. 01:03 1 John 3:1-2- The Bible begins with the word... 01:09 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, 01:15 that we should be called "The children of God. 01:19 Therefore, the world does not know us, 01:22 because it did not know Him. 01:25 Beloved, now are we the children of God." 01:29 Can you say Amen to that? 01:30 We are not becoming the children of God, 01:32 we are God's children now. 01:36 And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. 01:40 ...But we know that when He is revealed, 01:44 we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 01:51 Let us pray... 01:53 Heavenly Father, This is Your time, 01:55 I am your servant, I'm in Your hand, Lord, 01:59 do what I cannot do. In Jesus name... Amen 02:05 Thomas Jeffrey, you may not have heard about him before. 02:12 He was born in 1956, to be specific, July 9th. 02:18 Maybe I should use the name that most of you are 02:21 most familiar with... the man by the name of "Tom Hanks." 02:26 He was born in 1956; he is an American actor; 02:33 producer; writer and director. 02:37 Tom Hanks is best known for his roll in "Money Pit, 02:41 Big, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, 02:45 Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, You've Got Mail, 02:51 The Green Mile, Castaway..." 02:53 I did my homework - can you say, "Amen" 02:55 "The Da Vinci Code and the animated film, 02:59 The Polar Express, and Toy Story," 03:01 but the one that most people remember the most... 03:03 "Forrest Gump" 03:07 People think they know him because they have seen him 03:10 so many times in so many different roles, 03:14 but the fact of the matter is 03:16 most people don't know him at all. 03:18 Most people also don't know that when Tom Hanks 03:21 was a teenager, he was a Bible-toting evangelical. 03:26 One of the films that best describe the kind of 03:28 young man that he is is the film - "Forrest Gump" 03:32 The reason is, it best describes his youthful years. 03:38 He was interviewed by "Rolling Stone Magazine," 03:40 and list to what he said, Tom Hanks says, 03:43 "When I was young, I was a geek, I was a spaz, 03:48 I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. 03:51 At the same time, I was the guy who would yell out 03:55 funny captions during film strips, 03:58 but I didn't get in trouble. 04:00 I was always a real good kid, and pretty responsible." 04:05 People mostly identify the man with the role that he plays. 04:10 You see, he's so good at what he does. 04:13 But when you boil it down, Tom Hanks is just a good actor. 04:19 Tom Hanks could be whatever he wants to be. 04:21 He played the role of a pilot, a soldier, a prison guard, 04:26 an astronaut, and a stranded FedEx worker, 04:30 but truth be told, we don't really know Tom Hanks. 04:35 What we know about him is not what he 04:37 knows about himself. 04:39 We are not really sure if, in Tom Hanks' life, 04:44 that life is really like a box of chocolate. 04:48 The one thing that we can almost be certain of is this... 04:51 sooner or later, Tom Hanks will add another character to 04:55 his acting resume and he did not too longer after I 04:59 put this sermon together in the role of "Captain Phillips." 05:03 In studying for this message, and I hope you are following me, 05:06 this is very deep today, I know you are following me, 05:08 I appreciate that. 05:09 In studying for this message, I discovered that 05:12 Tom Hanks is really not in charge. 05:17 When he is on the set, the director is in charge. 05:21 Having said that, we ought to give the director 05:25 as much credit as we give to the actor 05:28 because it is the director's job to keep the actor 05:33 in character! 05:36 You see, the director envisions the character 05:39 before the actor can bring it to reality. 05:42 The actor trusts his character to the mind of the director. 05:48 You see, in movie-producing, the director calls the shots. 05:53 I mean literally calls the shots. 05:55 For that matter, "Robert Zemeckis" 05:58 is one that should be given the credit for the movie, 06:03 "Forrest Gump." 06:05 You see, "Forrest Gump," aka, Tom Hanks, 06:08 would have been a production failure had it not been 06:13 for that academy awarding winning director called, 06:16 "Robert Zemeckis." 06:18 And the fact of the matter is, you can have the most 06:20 esthetically-appealing movie set; the largest budget; 06:24 the best production team; but if the actor and director 06:29 are on different pages, the end result is a failure. 06:34 Continue to follow... So far, we've talked about 06:37 the actor, the character, and the director, 06:40 the production team and the movie set... 06:42 However, a key element is missing... 06:46 And here's the question, How can the same actor 06:50 transition from one character to another, 06:53 from one movie to another, and still capture his audience? 06:58 And the answer is simple... By following the script! 07:03 You see, without Eric Roth, 07:05 Tom Hanks would never have been "Forrest Gump." 07:09 Robert Zemeckis was the director, 07:11 but Eric Roth wrote the script. 07:14 Eric Roth, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, 07:18 authored the script for the movie, "Forrest Gump." 07:22 And what I've learned is... follow carefully.. 07:25 Before the actor accepts the role, he looks at the script 07:29 to see if it represents the character he wants to become. 07:33 If it does, then the actor commits himself; 07:37 he signs the contract with the author of the script, 07:40 which is an agreement to do whatever the author says. 07:47 Now allow me to add this scriptural component 07:49 to my description... 07:51 You see, the Bible says that God became the author 07:55 of salvation to all who will obey Him. 08:00 Can you say "Amen" to that? 08:01 You see, what I love about this story, 08:04 as God had given it to me, is that the Lord sees us 08:08 in a role that we are one day going to occupy 08:12 long before the character is fully developed. 08:15 God sees us in His kingdom. 08:18 God sees us as His sons and daughters. 08:21 God sees us on the streets of gold. 08:24 God sees us living a sinless life. 08:26 God sees us eating from the Tree of Life. 08:29 Do I need to keep going before I get an "Amen?" 08:32 I'm not African, but it does help for Americans too. 08:36 God sees in us long before we become what He sees. 08:42 He commits Himself to us, and get this, 08:44 only as we commit ourselves to Him - what do ya say? 08:48 The script has everything to do with who we become. 08:53 You see, the character that God wants to create in us 08:56 can only occur if we obey the Author. 09:01 And don't forget this, you cannot obey the Author 09:05 unless you follow the Script. 09:09 Years ago, when I joined the church, 09:12 and I should put that in the proper context... 09:14 when I came back to the church. 09:17 If Bible study had not become an indelible part of my life, 09:21 I would not be who I am today. 09:24 You see, when this conference is over, 09:26 we had so much Bible study, we've had conferences, 09:28 we've had seminars, and workshops and good sermons, 09:31 but if you don't continue studying your Bible 09:34 from day to day, committing yourself to the script of God, 09:37 a righteous script, you will never become who God 09:41 envisions that we can be one day. 09:44 God sees us in the final production. 09:46 And you know what, when you think about your life, 09:48 the Bible says, "It has not yet been revealed what we shall be." 09:51 In other words, if you're discouraged about 09:53 the things that you see in your life, 09:55 if you simply stay on the set, and commit yourself 09:58 to the director, and follow the script, you too, like Tom Hanks, 10:03 can become what you never envisioned - can be your reality 10:07 God sees us as His children. 10:10 God sees us in the final production. 10:15 The other thing I discovered, is that after signing 10:19 the contract, the actor then commits himself to the director 10:23 to produce a character that he sometimes is even 10:27 surprised by when he fulfills the role. 10:30 The actor submits to the work of the director. 10:35 Now let me make that very, very clear... 10:36 Some of us are good singers, some of us are good teachers, 10:40 some of us are good Bible students, 10:42 some of us are good Bible workers, 10:43 some of us have many gifts, but let us not ever forget as 10:47 Paul says in Philippians 2:13, When we think that we are 10:50 the ones in charge of doing the work, the Bible says, 10:53 "For it is God who works where? in us, both to will, 10:59 and to do of His good pleasure." 11:01 In other words, God is able to make us into whatever 11:05 He envisions, but we have to submit to His creative power. 11:10 My first point is this... write this down if you can. 11:12 We will never become what God envisions 11:15 unless we commit to the script. 11:17 We will never become what God envisions unless 11:21 we commit to the script. 11:23 You see, I repeat this again... 11:25 This is the only thing that the devil is really upset about, 11:28 the only Book that he's really afraid. 11:30 We've got to keep our scripts with us. 11:32 There are some young people I know... 11:34 My wife and I were coming... I can't remember where we were 11:37 coming from, but we were going to, I think it was, Oregon. 11:40 And what I discovered that, the more you study God's word, 11:43 the less ashamed about Jesus you will become. 11:50 Let me put that in context... 11:54 In the streets of New York, people will walk up to you and 11:56 give you flyers and pamphlets and invitations to things that 12:01 don't match our Christian character. 12:03 If they can do so boldly representing the world, 12:06 how much more bold should we be 12:08 in representing the God that we serve? What do ya say? 12:11 We should be bold, but the only way that you get the boldness 12:14 is in studying the script, getting to know the director, 12:17 getting to know the character that God wants us 12:19 to portray before the world. 12:21 As we got off the plane, I believe it was 12:23 in Portland, Oregon, when we were getting up, 12:25 we saw this young lady that was sitting in a seat right 12:29 across the aisle, and we made eye contact with her, 12:32 and she said, "Hello," and we said, "Hello," and we 12:36 exchanged our names and she said, "What do you do?" 12:38 I said, "I'm a pastor," and she said, "Well, I'm a 12:40 Christian," and we talked for a little bit but then we had to 12:45 exit the plane and we met again by the baggage claim area. 12:50 And this young teenage girl said to us, 12:52 "Can I pray for you before you leave?" 12:56 Amen... somebody? 12:58 Now what amazes me is that with this powerful message 13:01 that God has given to us, we should never be afraid 13:05 to pray for somebody in public... 13:11 because the world is living a sinful life in public. 13:14 The Lord wants us to shine. 13:16 But I firmly believe, that until we have an intimate 13:19 relationship with Christ, until we have such a connection 13:21 that cannot be broken, until we have such a 13:24 relationship that we are not ashamed of, 13:26 we really wouldn't be confident to represent Him in society. 13:30 I'm the kind of person that I don't mind who I run into. 13:33 As-a-matter-of-fact, I like to 13:35 run into people that are in public. 13:37 I like to share my faith. 13:39 I remember giving a Bible study to a young lady 13:41 that was working at my wife's job in Orlando, Florida, 13:44 she was a Jehovah's Witness... 13:46 And, in many cases, Jehovah's Witnesses 13:49 don't study with Adventists. 13:52 I mean, they know who not to mess with. 13:55 But this young lady, still not yet confirmed in what 13:59 she wanted to be... My wife said, "Hey, why don't 14:04 you let us give you Bible studies? 14:05 And so, she went ahead and contacted one of the elders 14:10 in her church, one of the elders that are Jehovah's Witness, 14:14 and we set the Bible study up, and when we walked into the 14:19 house where the Bible study was to be, 14:21 they had two seats set in the middle of the living room. 14:25 And, around the walls of that living room, we were surrounded 14:32 by Jehovah's Witnesses. 14:35 And the elder that was going to give the Bible study, 14:39 he sat in a big easy chair, a recliner. 14:43 And he had a kind of cocky, self-confident look, 14:46 but what he did not know, he was about to run into a 14:49 buzz saw called a "Seventh-day Adventist." 14:52 And he made the ground rules having done his homework, 14:56 he said, "Now we cannot use any other books." 14:58 He thought I was going to pull out "Ellen White." 15:01 I want to tell you this... 15:02 Ellen White says, "Our creed is the Bible, 15:05 and the Bible only." 15:09 If you study your Bible, you don't need 15:12 Ellen White in a public setting to convince somebody 15:15 about a "Thus saith the Lord." 15:18 Primarily, her writings are mostly for us. 15:22 Anyway, the Bible study began, and he started... 15:25 Well, let's talk about the nature of Christ - 15:28 he began with that one, and that's a favorite one. 15:31 You know, they say that Jesus is mighty God, 15:33 and that His Father is Almighty God. 15:35 They say Jesus is a lesser God, and His Father is a greater God. 15:39 So we began with that topic and he was meandering 15:42 in the maze of mediocrity, pondering at the political 15:44 popularity, negotiating at the table of the enemy, 15:47 and then he brought up scriptures that one by one by 15:50 using God's word, we were able to defend the fact 15:54 that Jesus is not mighty God, Jesus is Almighty God! 16:01 And then he said, "Well let's go to another subject. 16:03 Let's go to the commandments." 16:05 Lord have mercy! Let's go to the commandments. 16:08 Because they say that the commandments were nailed 16:10 to the cross, we don't have to really keep the commandments. 16:12 You don't want to mess with an Adventist when it comes to the 16:14 commandments... What do ya say? 16:16 So he's going down, going down, going down, going down, 16:19 and I don't remember, but I may have said something like this... 16:22 "If you say that we cannot keep the commandments, 16:25 which one are you breaking?" 16:29 "Let's go to another subject," he said. 16:33 So we went to the Sabbath. 16:35 Well it wasn't maybe 15 minutes into the discussion about 16:38 the Sabbath, that he called for one of the other 16:42 Jehovah's Witnesses to go and get another book... 16:44 I said, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, remember you said, 16:47 "No other books." 16:49 And surely as we predicted to that young lady, 16:54 "We said, "Now let me just tell you what's going to happen." 16:56 "They may have one Bible study with us, 16:58 but no sensible Jehovah's Witness will have more 17:02 than one Bible study with an Adventist that knows the Script" 17:07 And surely enough, they never met with us again. 17:11 We had a couple that joined our church about 2 years ago. 17:14 And we sat in the living room... I'm talking about 17:17 the beauty of God's Script, the power in God's Script, 17:22 the transforming power, the defensive power, 17:24 the exaltation power in God's Script. 17:27 My point again - We will never become what God envisions 17:30 until we commit to the Script. 17:34 Ellen White says in "Messages to Young People," 17:36 "Higher than the highest human thought can reach, 17:39 is God's ideal for His children. 17:43 Godliness is the goal to be reached." Amen somebody! 17:48 Godliness - and He said, "As Christ is, so are we." 17:53 He is godly, we ought to be godly. 17:55 He is holy, we ought to strive for holiness. 17:58 I was sitting down with this couple that had somewhat of a 18:02 nondenominational background, kind of a pseudo-Pentecostal 18:06 Church of God in Christ - you know, the loud music, 18:08 the shouting, the halleluiahs, the jumping over the pews 18:11 and all that emotionalism, and the Lord worked in a 18:15 powerful way to get them in contact with us, 18:18 but the young lady that was a part of that, 18:20 her uncle had his own church, and they committed themselves 18:23 to being baptized. 18:25 So a week before their baptism, she invited us to their 18:27 home on a Friday evening. 18:29 She invited her uncle, who is the pastor of the church, 18:32 and one of the elders or one of the deacons of the church 18:35 and when we walked in, I remember this very well... 18:37 I didn't understand until after the Bible study 18:39 what the actual body language meant, 18:41 but when we walked into their house to study the Bible 18:44 together, the deacon looked at the pastor, 18:47 and went like this... In other words, watch us 18:53 make mince meat out of this Adventist pastor... NOT 19:00 Like the young people say, "NOT" 19:03 So I sat there and I said, "What topic would you like 19:08 to begin with... And surely enough, he began to pull out... 19:10 He attacked those things that he knew were near 19:12 and dear to us... the Sabbath, the second coming, 19:14 the state of the dead... 19:16 And the Holy Spirit fell down on me and in about 19:23 10 or 15 minutes, the deacon started getting defensive. 19:27 And I began to open my Bible and go from one verse to 19:30 the other, from one chapter to the other, 19:31 and the pastor said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, 19:33 why are you going throughout the whole Bible? 19:35 Aren't you supposed to stick in one book?" 19:37 I said, "Oh no, "Line upon line, line upon line, 19:41 precept on precept, precept on precept," 19:44 and he sat there and he had to take it. 19:46 And when we got to the Sabbath, this cordial, nice God-loving, 19:50 smiling deacon got up and said, "I'm done! I'm outta here!" 19:55 I said, "Brother, this is exactly what I did not 19:57 want to happen... why don't we pray and ask for God's Spirit 20:00 to recover our attitude toward..." 20:02 He said, "I ain't praying with nobody!" 20:05 And he got up and left. 20:07 You know what? 20:08 They said, "Resist the devil." Come on now... 20:11 And he what? He'll get out of there. 20:13 "He will flee from you." 20:15 When you are standing on the power of God's word, 20:18 Satan will run. 20:20 Well, you gotta know this guy to understand this next gesture, 20:24 but the pastor sat there just to maintain pride, 20:27 and to be cordial to his family members... 20:28 He sat there and there was a text after text, after text 20:31 after text, and I got on my knee in front of them, 20:34 and I said, "Now pastor, let me make a point... 20:36 You're the pastor, you are a whole lot more 20:40 responsible than your members here. 20:41 You cannot say... you're the pastor and be ignorant of 20:46 God's word because God is going to hold you accountable!" 20:50 And he went like this... 20:58 Like "whatever." 21:01 I tell you what I like about God's word, 21:04 it will take the devil by the tail and, as the saying goes, 21:08 "turn him every which way, but loose." 21:12 The POWER of the script that is found in God's word. 21:16 You will also discover - we'll never know how badly 21:19 we need Jesus until Jesus is all we recognize that we cannot 21:23 have His character without being connected to Him. 21:26 The word of God connects us to the One who is 21:29 the author of salvation. 21:31 It connects us to Christ. 21:32 He says, "I am the vine... together - I am the vine what? 21:36 "Ye are the branches, abide in Me and I in Him. 21:39 When we do that, we bear much fruit for without Me, 21:43 you can DO nothing." 21:45 I was invited once to sing at a television station in 21:50 Northern California when I was pastoring in the 21:52 Northern California Conference, and I was invited to sing often, 21:56 but I knew that God had given me more than just the ability 21:58 to sing and during Thanksgiving, not Thanksgiving, 22:02 but Valentine's Day - it a celebration in the states, 22:05 they invited me to sing and they said, 22:08 "Just sing Christian songs about love - 22:10 you know, like "Yes, Jesus Loves Me, 22:12 the Language of Love, all those songs that had to do 22:14 with the particular theme of love." 22:16 Well that day... let me caveat and say this, 22:20 "You know, there are times when you know that God is 22:22 about to do something in your life that is not 22:25 going to be ordinary." 22:27 That day when I was singing, I was sitting in the green room 22:32 kind of like when Rosemary puts the makeup on you, 22:34 that room there... I was sitting in the green room, 22:36 and after they put the makeup on me, I went to the foyer 22:38 to wait for them to call me to sing, 22:40 and there was a little corner, a little dark corner in the room 22:45 I was waiting and I peaked outside and I looked 22:49 at the couch, the set where they have the guests 22:51 sitting down... it was a first-day station. 22:55 They believed everything that we did not believe, 22:57 and I said to the Lord, "Lord, I know that You have me 23:01 here for something other than just to sing. 23:03 And then I said this, "LORD, I want to be on that couch." 23:09 And I turned my head and went to the corner of that room 23:11 and I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed. 23:15 And I went and sat on somewhat of a high chair... 23:18 It looked like a director's chair. 23:19 I sat on the chair, right in the foyer, 23:22 and then they had a meeting in the foyer about a 23:26 new program they were starting called, "Coast-to-Coast." 23:30 That means from the north coast to the south coast in California 23:35 And then the question was asked by one of the employees, 23:38 "Well, what's going to be our first topic?" 23:39 Now, you gotta get this... this powerful. 23:41 It's a first-day station, they keep Sunday. 23:44 And the program director and the station's owner's son 23:48 said, "Our first discussion is going to be 23:52 "Sabbath versus Sunday" 23:57 And then they said, "What? Sabbath versus Sunday, 24:02 Where are you going to find somebody 24:05 to represent the Sabbath?" Laughter from audience... 24:11 He went like this... "John, John - he's an 24:17 Adventist pastor - we'll have him get two folk!" 24:21 Amen somebody! 24:23 So here I am, I'm bubbling like a kettle. 24:27 I'm saying, "Lord, I knew it!" 24:30 And so they set it up, "Sabbath versus Sunday" 24:33 Now there's going to be the discussion... 24:36 They set the date and they said "Invite two guests." 24:40 Well, I invited Doug Batchelor, and my good old Jewish 24:45 friend from New York City, Alan Reinach, 24:46 who is with "Religious Liberty" in the General Conference there. 24:50 Two Jewish guys and a fired-up Adventist! 24:55 As somebody once said to me just recently, 24:57 he said... I was preaching at a funeral in Oregon, 25:00 and he said, "I don't want anybody at my father's funeral 25:03 that's going to be a wet noodle in the pulpit. 25:05 I want a gun-toting, former gang member from 25:09 New York to preach at my dad's funeral." 25:12 He said, "I want somebody that's going to throw down." 25:14 So here I was, still had black hair, 25:18 and I had my Doug Batchelor, and Alan J. Reinach 25:21 and the guy began the program with this phrase... 25:24 to the television camera, he said, 25:25 "Hey, welcome to the first program of Coast-to-Coast. 25:29 On this show today, the topic is going to be 25:31 "Sabbath versus Sunday." 25:33 Now I could see all the evangelicals... 25:35 I could hear heads exploding from coast to coast. 25:39 He said, "Now here's what we want to do today." 25:42 He said, "We don't want to go to church on Sunday because 25:44 grandma said it, or because we learned that in Bible college, 25:48 or because that's our tradition, we only want to go to 25:51 church on Sunday because the Bible says it." 25:56 That sounded like Haman building a gallows. 26:00 He says, "Get your Bibles, get your pens, 26:03 and at the half-time, we will you know, field your questions." 26:06 It was a one hour program. 26:09 And then the war began... Laughter from audience 26:12 He was the moderator; he had 3 guys that were 26:15 representing his viewpoint, and Doug and I and Alan Reinach 26:18 were on the other side, and at the 30-minute mark, 26:21 they had a 3-minute break, and at the 3-minute break... 26:23 this is funny, at the 3-minute break, he got up from 26:26 the table where he was sitting, came down around the 26:29 front of the table where the other guys were sitting, 26:31 they looked like they were sheep without a shepherd, 26:34 and he leaned his head over and he said to his side... 26:38 "Guys, they're killing us." Laughter... 26:42 He said to them, "Give me SOMETHING..." 26:46 Well, you can't give what's not in the Script... 26:48 Amen somebody? 26:49 You can't find light and dark in the same Book. 26:51 You can't find sweet water 26:55 and bitter water at the same well. 26:59 When the program was over, 27:01 ... I heard about it about a week later- 27:03 He told me, and you know what, he was an honest pastor. 27:06 You know why, he said the thing that motivated 27:08 him to do that topic is he was preaching on the 27:10 Ten Commandments and when he got to the fourth, 27:12 he said to his congregation, 27:13 "I really don't know about the Sabbath, 27:15 so I'm just going to talk about the work ethic." 27:17 And that's what motivated him to have the topic about the Sabbath 27:22 The good news is he invited us back... Laughter 27:29 This time, he was smart, he invited me to defend 27:33 the position that he and I had in common... 27:35 Come on, say "Amen" somebody. 27:36 This time, he invited me to defend his position on the 27:39 Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit 27:41 because his former Assemblies of God pastor 27:44 believed in three manifestations of God, and we believe 27:48 in the scriptural teaching of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit. 27:54 And after the program... I never forgot this... 27:58 He pulled me aside and said, "Okay, okay, I need to ask you 28:02 some questions... Tell me about Ellen White." 28:11 Ellen White? 28:13 He said, "Tell me about Ellen White, I read about her. 28:17 You tell me about Ellen White." 28:19 All right, we got through that. 28:20 All right, "Tell me what you believe about diet, 28:25 about clean and unclean foods." 28:30 Clean and unclean... you want to know? 28:32 And I explained... He said, "Now I want you to know 28:35 my congregation and I don't agree on everything." 28:38 He said, "I was invited to one of their homes for a luau." 28:40 You know what that is... where the pig is put on a 28:43 stick and they roast it in a circle. 28:45 Don't you Adventists remember what that is? 28:54 Now I'm glad you don't know, 28:55 that means you don't eat pig. 28:58 But he said, "One of them, they cut the pig, 29:00 and they put a big chunk of pig in his mouth," 29:02 and he said, "I said the prayer, went to the bathroom, 29:04 and I spit it out." 29:06 Then he said, "Tell me about jewelry." 29:12 And his wife was sitting right next to him with 29:13 some of the most expensive jewelry, 29:15 and I said, "Now R.C. are you serious? 29:18 I mean, your wife... and he said this, 29:21 "My wife and I don't agree on a lot of things." Laughter 29:26 And she bumped into the conversation... 29:28 She said, "Now R.C." when it really got heated, 29:30 She said, "Now R.C., R.C., R.C., remember now, 29:33 it's our 7th anniversary..." and she got him back - 29:36 "And don't forget, 7 is God's number." 29:40 Brothers and sisters, when you stand on God's word, 29:43 you never have to be ashamed. What do you say? 29:45 You see, we can see God developing in us 29:47 all those things that represent Him, and like some of the 29:50 actors when they get their Academy Awards, 29:53 and their Oscars, I've heard them say, 29:55 "I did not think I could do it, but the director 29:59 saw in me something that I could never see." 30:01 You see, God sees in us things that He is yet developing 30:05 and you'll never know until the time goes by... 30:07 I listened to Pastor Taj last night and I sat there 30:11 marveled- can you say "Amen?" 30:13 I sat there marveled, I was ignited, 30:16 I was so excited, I said, "Now that's a young 30:19 man that I can identify with." 30:21 Because we had a similar prayer... 30:22 "Father, put me in the ministry, open the door, 30:24 take me from where I was to where you want me to be." 30:27 And I'm looking back now, 28 years in pastoral ministry, 30:31 to this knucklehead that was on the streets of Brooklyn 30:34 partying and gambling and pool hustling, 30:36 and to say that God has transformed my life 30:40 is a minimal statement. 30:42 To God be the glory... can you say "Amen" to that? 30:45 God can do anything with anybody! 30:47 As-a-matter-of-fact, somebody said, "God has done 30:49 so much with so little for so long, that God could do 30:53 anything with nothing! 30:55 Isn't that right? 30:57 He speaks and it happens... praise be to God! 31:01 When Paul the apostle talks about that, 31:03 you see this Witness Conference is good, 31:05 but it's only as good as our spiritual follow up. 31:10 If you dedicate yourself after this is done, 31:12 you'll see God do as Paul says, 31:14 "He can do things exceedingly abundantly above all that 31:18 you ask or think and how according to the power 31:22 that works in us." 31:25 Let me add another component... 31:27 It is not enough to just have God working in you, 31:31 but you have to participate with the process. 31:33 Go to Romans 12, very quickly. 31:35 Romans 12- It's not enough just to have God working in you. 31:39 This is not a puppet-master relationship, 31:42 God wants us to participate in the process. 31:46 Romans 12:1-2: Paul the apostle appealing to the Romans, 31:52 and now he appeals to us through the very same set of verses. 31:58 The Bible says, "I beseech you, therefore brethren, 32:02 by the mercies of God that you present your... your what? 32:06 Your body is a living sacrifice, that's your mind, 32:09 your heart, your activities... 32:11 ...holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service." 32:15 And get this, "And do not be conformed to this world, 32:19 but be transformed by the...what? 32:21 ...renewing of your mind that you may prove 32:25 what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." 32:30 A lot of people ask the question ... "What is God's will?" 32:34 Like we want a single answer! 32:37 God's will is that we commit ourselves to Him every day, 32:41 for it is God who works in us both to will and to do 32:47 of His good pleasure. 32:49 He wants us not to be conformed, 32:52 but to be transformed. 32:54 And what you need to know is that character development 32:57 requires sacrifice. 32:59 In other words, it takes time to read the Script. 33:05 I read the story about Tom Hanks. 33:06 He said, "When I was studying to be Forrest Gump, 33:09 he said, "There were days that I didn't feel like 33:11 reading the script." I was reading this in 33:12 "Rolling Stone Magazine," He said, "I didn't feel like 33:15 reading the script, but if I wanted to be ready 33:17 for the movie, I had to not go based on feeling. 33:21 I had to commit myself based on fact." 33:25 The movie was going to be filmed; they had the air date; 33:29 they had the production schedule... 33:30 He said, "I couldn't waste time, I had to commit myself. 33:33 It wasn't whether or not I was tired, 33:35 the question was... whether or not I really 33:38 want to be what the writer and the director 33:41 has envisioned me to be." 33:43 You see, God has a blueprint, 33:47 and He knows what He wants us to be, 33:50 but in order for us to be what God has envisioned, 33:53 we gotta find a way to get God's vision of us 33:57 from here to here. 34:01 Thus Paul says, "Let this mind be... where? 34:04 ... in you which was also in... where? 34:07 ... in Christ Jesus. 34:08 It's not enough for the word of God to be here... 34:10 because the character of God will never be developed 34:13 if we don't invest time in reading the Script. 34:16 In other words, before Tom Hanks became Forrest Gump 34:19 externally, he had to become Forrest Gump internally. 34:23 He had to think like Forrest Gump, 34:25 walk like Forrest Gump, be discombobulated 34:29 like Forrest Gump, act geeky like Forrest Gump! 34:33 And if you've seen in the movie, 34:35 he did a really good job, didn't he? 34:36 Aww come on, you know you saw it. Laughter... 34:41 Are you holier than thou folk... 34:47 You see, the last day battle is not just for 34:49 the condition of our minds. 34:52 The last day battle is also for the location of our bodies. 34:56 Let me say that again... 34:57 The last day battle is not just for the condition of our minds, 35:00 but the last day battle is also for the location of our bodies, 35:04 and this is where the church comes in. 35:07 I'm always amazed when people say, 35:09 "Do I have to join your church if I get baptized?" 35:13 Well, let's go to Tom Hanks... 35:15 Do I have to show up on the 35:17 movie set in order to be the actor? 35:21 Well see brethren, we are not only to commit ourselves 35:24 to the study of the word, but we have to be on the set. 35:29 We have to show up on the set. 35:31 How can an actor stay away from the set, 35:34 and say that he is in harmony with the director? 35:37 How can a Christian stay away from church and say that 35:42 they are in harmony with God? It is not possible. 35:47 In these last days, some of you folk that can't handle church, 35:49 I'm amazed, it seems like something is happening 35:52 in the Adventist Church. 35:53 People are getting antsy when the sermon is 5 minutes longer. 35:56 I was in a church once, when I first started there, 35:59 and at noon, I heard like 5 alarms go off. 36:04 Five alarms! A 5-alarm fire. 36:08 And I thought to myself, and I said this 36:11 from the pulpit, I said, "I heard of the midnight cry, 36:14 but I never heard of the midday cry." Amen somebody. 36:18 I said, "Would you please deactivate your alarms." 36:21 And I kept preaching past 12 o'clock 36:23 until they got used to it. Amen somebody. 36:25 Because here's my point... 36:26 If you cannot handle church just for one hour, 36:29 how are you going to handle heaven? 36:34 God ain't going to say, "Well, Sabbath's over, 36:36 go to the mall." Laughter... 36:40 Forever throughout eternity, we will be learning 36:42 the themes of godliness and righteousness. 36:46 Brothers and sisters, develop an appetite for Godly things 36:51 and for Godly time. 36:54 I don't know why people are rushing from church 36:56 to go home to do what? To read the mail? 36:59 We don't read mail on the Sabbath. 37:01 Some folk want to... what do you want to go home and do? 37:03 Smell your laundry? 37:05 What do you want to go home and do? 37:06 Clean the house? 37:07 We don't clean the house on Sabbath. 37:09 Some folk ought to get used to the idea... 37:11 As one of my board members once said... 37:13 One of my board members said... 37:17 Have we forgotten that Sabbath is 24 hours? 37:22 I think some people have. 37:24 That's why the writer of Hebrews tells us... 37:27 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, 37:30 as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another 37:33 and so much the more, as you see the day approaching." 37:40 And the other reason why we have to go to church is that... 37:44 ... this is powerful, are you listening, here we go... 37:47 You'll never know whether or not you're becoming like 37:50 the character that God has envisioned 37:52 unless there's some church member to test your character. 38:00 I had a church member that one day bought a baseball bat 38:03 to church. 38:05 The lady just came out of the Assemblies of God Church, 38:08 a black lady and the white deacon and she said to me, 38:12 ... as I was standing in the foyer, 38:14 "Happy Sabbath," and she had a baseball bat in her hand, 38:20 a small, little wooden baseball bat, and I said, 38:21 "Sister Hall, what are you doing with a baseball bat?" 38:23 She said, "I'm going to beat up the head deacon." 38:27 "Are you serious?" 38:28 She said, "I am sick and tired." 38:29 And she listed all these things 38:31 that she was sick and tired of him doing. 38:32 What I discovered is, she came out of the church 38:36 that was so involved in spiritualism, 38:38 that she started seeing spirits in her house, 38:40 and she associated one of the spirits to the head deacon. 38:45 And I said to her, "Can we pray?" 38:50 And I prayed and I prayed, 38:53 Lord, please chase the devil out of here." 38:56 I didn't say, chase Sister Hall out of here because 38:59 as one church member said, "If you can see them, 39:02 they're not your enemy." 39:04 Our battle is not against flesh and blood. 39:08 I prayed that prayer and praise God, 39:10 between Sabbath School and the sermon, 39:12 she went home and left the bat and came back. 39:14 But I want to tell you, that deacon kept his 39:16 eye on her all service long. Laughter 39:22 You'll never know whether or not God is really 39:24 working in you unless you're in church. 39:25 Some of us need to come to church... you know why? 39:28 Because iron sharpens iron! 39:31 There are some hard folk in the Adventist Church. 39:34 Somebody once said, "This is the hospital." 39:36 No, it isn't, it's an insane asylum. 39:38 There are some fruits and there are some nuts. 39:41 We are really vegetarian to the core. 39:47 Character will be tested, that's why the key of the sermon is 39:52 the script. 39:53 You see, the Holy Spirit is the director; 39:58 Jesus is the author, and unless the word of God 40:03 is hidden in your heart, you are on the battlefield 40:06 without the proper armor. 40:08 We got to follow the example of David, the psalmist... 40:11 "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not 40:14 sing against thee." Amen somebody. 40:17 And the other thing I want to also put together... 40:20 Because there are a whole lot of fruits and nuts in the church, 40:23 the other thing that you have to do - as God is developing 40:26 within you, the character that He envisions you to have 40:29 throughout eternity, you gotta stop looking 40:31 at the other actors... because there are some folk 40:37 in the church that are not where you are, and you are not 40:41 where some of the other people are. 40:43 One Sabbath, after church fellowship lunch, 40:47 or during church fellowship lunch, we had a person that just 40:51 started coming to church; not a member yet, 40:53 but they wanted to contribute something to potluck. 40:56 And we had one of our elders that was raised 40:58 in heaven and he came to earth to spend time with us. 41:01 ...You know, those godly people that never touch the ground; 41:04 no sin in their lives. 41:07 And he walks up to this guest in her second week of church... 41:10 She brought something for fellowship lunch, 41:12 and instead of looking at his own life, 41:15 he walked up to this lady who was just getting 41:17 excited about the Adventist Message, 41:19 and he said to her, "Is there any pork in that?" 41:24 Pork? Do you guys eat pork? 41:30 We ought to let... I'm gonna say it. 41:33 We ought to let God clean the fish. 41:36 God calls us to catch the fish. 41:40 Some of us want to do the work of the Holy Spirit. 41:42 You can never do the work of the Holy Spirit. 41:44 That's why I'm always amazed when we talk about 41:47 the unpurified church. 41:48 There are a lot of unbalanced folk in these last days 41:51 that they think that their job is to purify the church 41:54 when, in fact, God never appointed any human agent 41:56 the job to purify the church. 41:58 It's God's work! 42:00 Your job is to live by the Script. 42:03 Get your own mirror out and examine yourself 42:06 to see whether or not you're in the faith. 42:09 The fact of the matter is, I can't make it to heaven 42:11 for my wife and she can't make it for me. 42:13 We each have to battle through our own struggles in life. 42:16 Each one of us has to have our own relationship with Christ. 42:19 We have to allow God to clean each of us up. 42:21 She can't be clean for me, and I can't be clean for her. 42:24 I cannot examine where she is 42:25 and she can't examine where I am... 42:27 Because the Lord is the only one that knows 42:29 the issues of the heart. 42:31 So when you see somebody that is new to the church, 42:34 don't become an inspector. 42:36 Christ is the One - we have to look to Jesus the author 42:39 and finisher of our faith. 42:41 As-a-matter-of-fact, in "Christ Object Lessons," 42:43 Ellen White says, "Christ is waiting with longing desire 42:47 for the manifestation of Himself in His church." 42:50 This is powerful... now I have to put this in context. 42:54 Why do you think the enemy works so hard on keeping us 42:59 in our old character? This is powerful! 43:02 You see, if Tom Hanks was settled with his old character, 43:05 he'll never be known as the actor he is today. 43:10 We have to be just as discontent about our old character 43:14 as actors are about their former role. 43:17 He has played so many roles, and he could only 43:20 fit into the new role as he disconnects 43:22 himself from the old role. 43:25 Why does the devil work so hard on our character? 43:27 Ellen White says here is the reason why... 43:30 Here is the reason why he works so hard on keeping us 43:33 to be anything other than what Christ wants us to be. 43:36 She says, "When the character of God shall be perfectly 43:40 reproduced in His people, then He will come 43:43 and claim them as His own." Amen somebody! 43:46 You know why I'm excited about that - because one day 43:48 there is going to be an academy award... 43:50 it's called a crown of glory. Amen! 43:52 And I'm looking forward to that - I don't want an Oscar; 43:54 I don't want a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 43:56 where, you know, animals will ... you know what happens there. 44:00 I don't want any earthly crown. 44:02 I want that heavenly crown. Amen somebody? 44:05 But Christ is waiting for us to be reproduced 44:08 after His similitude, and how does that happen? 44:11 Points again - study God's word. Say that... "Study God's word." 44:15 That's the only way that He can develop 44:17 within you the character. 44:19 Secondly, stay on the set. Do what church? 44:21 Stay on the set! Stay in the church. 44:25 And finally, my closing story... 44:28 You know, I read another magazine article about a man, 44:31 an actor named "Rob Lowe," and you may have 44:34 or may not have heard about "John Fitzgerald Kennedy, JFK", 44:36 one of the famous American presidents that was 44:39 assassinated in 1963... 44:42 This young man by the name of Rob Lowe... 44:44 He told the story how he played the role of John F. Kennedy. 44:48 He said, listen to this... 44:51 When he received the call to play the role, 44:54 that he was highly honored to be like John F. Kennedy. 44:58 He said that all his life, he admired the 45:00 former President John F. Kennedy. 45:02 Rob Lowe said he read every major book written 45:06 by John F. Kennedy. 45:07 He said that he had all the knowledge that he needed, 45:12 but he did not yet have the character. 45:16 He read the books, but he did not have the character. 45:19 And then he said, "To become the president in character, 45:25 he studied the script every waking moment." 45:30 He studied the president's mannerisms, his smile, 45:34 the way Kennedy spoke, and the way he walked, 45:38 and when the day came for him to step on the set, 45:41 Rob Lowe said, "In my mind, I had become John F. Kennedy." 45:47 Now brothers and sisters, if an actor on a temporary set, 45:51 in a character that will be forgotten in eternity, 45:53 will do all that, to become a temporal president, 45:57 what must we do if we're going to become like Jesus? 46:00 Amen somebody. 46:02 He studied his mannerisms. 46:03 You want to be like Christ? Study! 46:06 It is not the fruits of the Spirit... 46:07 we gotta change - it's the fruit of the Spirit - one fruit 46:12 has in it love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, 46:17 meekness... You don't eat a patience fruit today, 46:20 and a longsuffering fruit tomorrow. 46:22 It's all in one fruit, come on somebody. 46:24 It's all in one fruit. 46:25 When you bite that fruit, you become loving, 46:27 kind, compassionate, gentle... it's in one fruit. 46:30 It took one fruit to plunge us into sin; 46:32 it's going to take one fruit to get us out of sin. 46:35 That one fruit - so I say again, the good news is that 46:39 God sees us in the final production. 46:42 One day, we're going to step out on set, 46:44 we're going to step on the set, we're going to step 46:46 into the set - the New Jerusalem and throughout eternity, 46:52 we're going to be actors in the eternal kingdom. 46:55 What do I mean by that? 46:57 We're going to go from one unfallen world to the other, 47:00 and tell them how God developed us into His own character. 47:04 For only us, only us, are familiar with what sin has done. 47:10 We're going to be telling our story... 47:12 So if you're going to tell the old, old story, 47:15 if you're going to proclaim the everlasting gospel 47:17 throughout eternity, you have to become familiar 47:22 with that everlasting gospel today. 47:25 We must commit to Christ, the Author of salvation; 47:28 commit to the Holy Spirit, the Director, 47:30 and commit to the Script, God's Holy Word. 47:35 Then finally, we will see Him as He is, the Director, 47:42 the Author, and finally, we will be everything 47:46 He always envisioned us to be. 47:48 So when you go home, your prayer should be 47:52 "I want to be like Jesus." 47:53 Can I hear somebody say that? 47:54 Come on - "I want to be like Jesus" 47:59 in the Word, on the set, and in the Lord. 48:03 Shall we pray... Heavenly Father, 48:05 These are your children. 48:07 These are the sheep of Your pasture. 48:09 These are the characters that You are developing 48:12 for eternity. 48:13 Lord, help us after this Witness Conference is done 48:17 to commit ourselves endlessly to the process, 48:20 allow the Spirit to direct us, the Word to mold us... 48:24 that one day when we stand before on the heavenly 48:28 academy awards and that crown of glory 48:31 is placed on our foreheads, we can thank You 48:34 for seeing in us something that one day 48:39 will amaze even us. 48:41 Strengthen us and make us into Your glory, 48:44 we pray in Jesus name... Amen |
Revised 2015-07-28