Participants:
Series Code: AAO
Program Code: AAO000004A
|
00:13 We're going to pick up where we stopped
00:16 on our previous message. 00:18 We were talking about this mystery of godliness 00:22 which is Christ in us, the Hope of Glory. 00:26 If that's the mystery of godliness, 00:29 then we have seen that the mystery of iniquity 00:33 is Satan and fallen angels manifesting in people's lives. 00:41 One of the questions that has been presented 00:44 in my heart and my mind, as well as many others is, 00:48 why pantheism? 00:50 We've seen in the previous three messages 00:54 that the route of spiritual formation 00:58 is pantheism but why? 01:01 The word pantheism 01:03 literally means God is in all things. 01:08 He is in the chair, the floor, the tree, the rock, 01:15 the plant, the food you eat, the water you drink, 01:18 the air you breathe. 01:20 And he's also in every human being. 01:24 I can remember when I was in the martial arts, 01:27 and I was training, 01:28 especially as I was working higher levels, 01:31 you know, we were told to go out 01:33 and we would stand in front of a tree 01:37 that was a very strong tree, 01:39 like an evergreen or an oak tree, 01:41 or a hickory tree, 01:43 but you wanted one that was strong 01:45 that didn't have decay. 01:46 And you would stand there for hours in a certain pose, 01:50 and sometimes a pose would look like this, 01:53 and you would hold your hands up 01:55 and you would just meditate 01:58 and stay there in that position picturing in your mind 02:01 that you were absorbing this energy 02:04 from this tree and people go, 02:09 I mean, how could you do that? 02:11 That's foolish. 02:12 Well, after you do it, if you believe, 02:16 you begin to feel something. 02:20 Literally you would start feeling energized. 02:23 I mean you would feel like tingling, and strength, 02:27 and all this vitality coming into you. 02:31 But I did not realize it was evil spirits 02:34 that were causing those feelings. 02:37 It's not like people are just crazy 02:39 when they do that stuff. 02:41 There are manifestations. 02:44 But why pantheism? 02:48 Pantheism, when you say that God is in everything, 02:52 that also means that God is already inside 02:56 of every human being. 02:58 So now, instead of looking upward 03:01 for salvation, 03:03 instead of looking to God's Word 03:05 for the spirit and power, 03:08 you're being taught to look inward. 03:11 If God's inside there, 03:13 then why do I need to go to a book to find Him? 03:19 So we are... 03:21 People are being taught to look inward, 03:25 and there's a reason for that 03:27 because when people are taught to look inward, 03:30 they begin going to those religions 03:33 and those practices that focus inward, 03:36 which are all the eastern practices 03:38 that come along with spiritual formation. 03:43 I'm going to show you some quotes 03:44 and these are all from Buddhist, 03:46 or Hindu, or Daoist, or Shinto, martial artist 03:51 or internal artists like tai chi or qigong. 03:57 This is a man named Forest E. Morgan, 04:00 he's a military. 04:02 American military. 04:04 He said, "A true budo aspirant devotes himself to a system 04:09 of physical, mental and spiritual discipline 04:14 through which he attempts to elevate himself 04:19 in search of perfection." 04:22 We just read in the last message, 04:25 Isaiah Chapter 14. 04:27 Satan said, "I will exalt myself." 04:33 He says the same thing. 04:35 He said, this practice of Budo 04:38 or Bushido martial arts, 04:40 he said, it is an attempt to elevate oneself 04:45 in search of perfection. 04:49 Satan is using these eastern practices 04:53 as a counterfeit of the true. 04:56 He says, "Martial arts are legendary 04:59 for the seemingly mystical powers they teach. 05:03 You will learn what forces warriors really command. 05:08 More importantly, 05:09 you'll learn how to develop them yourself." 05:16 This is something that was startling. 05:19 You remember the very first message 05:21 and the second one, and the third one, 05:24 we talked about making a note of the word nature. 05:29 We really emphasize that. 05:31 Make a note of the word nature. 05:34 Zen Buddhism, 05:36 Zen is what it's called in Japan, in Okinawa. 05:39 In China, it's called Chan Buddhism. 05:42 Same thing, but that's a different pronunciation. 05:46 This is the actual definition 05:47 from the Encyclopedia Britannica. 05:50 "Chan Buddhism or Zen is a religious sect 05:54 derived from the Hindu word 05:58 meaning a process of meditation 06:01 that is used to achieve 06:04 an 'awakening' to the Buddha nature.'" 06:09 When people talk about Zen, 06:12 that's what the purpose of Zen is, 06:15 to enlighten you and awaken you to the Buddha nature. 06:21 Do you understand now 06:23 why those things are being used by Satan 06:26 and being brought into churches? 06:28 Even in our own denomination, 06:30 I cannot tell you 06:31 how many people have written to me and said, 06:33 "We've got... They're bringing tai chi classes 06:35 into our Seventh-day Adventist Church. 06:37 They're bringing karate classes, 06:39 and taekwondo classes, and qigong classes, 06:43 and yoga classes into churches." 06:48 And they don't realize what it is doing. 06:52 It's causing people to lose faith in God's Word. 06:55 It's opening the door of the house of God 06:58 to demonic power. 07:02 This was another Japanese master 07:04 in the 1500 and 1600s. 07:07 He said, "Once you have trained yourself well, 07:11 your body and limbs will move automatically 07:15 without any conscious effort." 07:18 That's scary. 07:20 You're talking about possession. 07:22 If your arms and limbs are moving 07:24 without you having to tell them to, 07:26 either there's a physical problem 07:28 like a disease, like epilepsy, 07:30 or where you're having a seizure, 07:32 or you have possession. 07:35 He said, "Your mind will not be overwhelmed 07:38 by your physical movements. 07:40 You will employ techniques unconsciously, 07:44 without having to 'think.'" 07:46 Would you want your son and daughter 07:48 or your husband and wife to come home 07:50 and do things without having to think about them? 07:54 I mean, what if you just reacted. 07:57 I mean, I can remember when I was in the martial arts. 08:00 I mean, somebody would come up sometimes and touch you 08:02 and you would react without thinking. 08:07 And you never want to do that. 08:10 You never want to do that, 08:11 because what if you react to the wrong person? 08:14 What if somebody came up and they touch you on the back 08:16 and you turn around and strike, and you find out that your mom, 08:19 or your dad, or your wife, or your child? 08:25 He said, "Once you have achieved this state, 08:27 not a single doubt or hesitation will arise. 08:32 Train yourself thoroughly, and then forget about it, 08:36 throw away your mind." 08:39 That's his exact quote. 08:41 What that means is, it's your conscious, 08:44 when you throw your mind away, 08:45 that's called emptying the mind. 08:49 That's right. 08:50 That means, 08:51 I step out of the driver's seat of the car, 08:54 and I let something else begin to steer my life for me. 09:00 "Throw away your mind. 09:02 You will then follow 'the way...''' 09:05 And that's what Bushido is. 09:06 They call it "the way." 09:08 Do you remember what Jesus said? 09:10 I'm the way, the truth, and the life. 09:13 He says, "Throw away your mind. 09:15 You will then follow 'the way' without being aware of it. 09:20 This is the mystery of Bushido.'" 09:24 That's his words. 09:26 That was in the 1500 and 1600s. 09:29 And I guarantee you that man had 09:31 probably never read the Bible. 09:37 Thomas White, he's the 10th Dan, 09:39 listen to what he said. 09:41 "Karate is not something that one does, 09:45 it is something that one becomes..." 09:49 The word karate in Okinawan or are in Japanese, 09:53 it means empty hand. 09:55 And I had a question that came to my mind one day. 09:58 Why did they say, it's empty hand? 10:00 And they say, was because you're not 10:01 using weapons. 10:03 Well, then why did they train with weapons? 10:05 They used swords, and staffs, and sais, and nunchucks, 10:11 and all kinds of weapons. 10:13 So it has to have another meaning besides that. 10:17 And then one day the Lord revealed it to me. 10:20 An empty hand means my mind is not controlling 10:23 the hand anymore. 10:25 It means something else is controlling the hand. 10:28 My mind is not there. 10:31 An empty hand means a hand that is possessed by another. 10:36 An empty mind is a mind that is possessed by another. 10:42 He says, "Although 10:44 and though the external mask of training 10:47 might be readily seen in the lighted arena, 10:51 the essence..." 10:53 Pay attention to that word. 10:55 "The essence of karate-do is ever, 10:59 the veiled 'presence' of being.'" 11:05 And that made me think, 11:07 Christ veiled His deity with humanity. 11:13 He said, "The essence of karate 11:16 is ever the veiled 'presence' of being.'" 11:21 The question I had was, of what being? 11:26 The veil presence of what being? 11:29 Who is it that is veiled 11:31 behind the flesh of those men and women that are, 11:35 you know, participating in this? 11:39 Listen to what the father of modern day karate said. 11:43 Gichin Funakoshi, "You may train for a long time, 11:48 but if you merely move your hands 11:50 and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, 11:53 then learning karate is not very different 11:56 from learning a dance. 11:58 You will never have reached the heart of the matter, 12:03 you will have failed to grasp the Quintessence of karate-do." 12:10 That word Quintessence. 12:11 I want to show you what that means 12:13 because we don't hear that word very often in our modern, 12:16 you know, age. 12:18 This is what Webster's dictionary says, 12:21 Quintessence. 12:22 "It is the 5th and highest element 12:25 in the ancient and medieval philosophy, 12:29 that is said to permeate all nature, 12:34 and it is the substance 12:35 composing all the celestial bodies. 12:40 In physics, 12:41 it is a hypothetical form 12:44 of 'dark energy.'" 12:48 That's Webster's dictionary. 12:51 "The 5th fundamental force, the 5th element. 12:57 By the ancient Greeks it was this force 13:00 which was thought to fill the universe 13:03 and hold all things together." 13:07 That's pantheism. 13:08 That's exactly 13:10 what we just heard from Star Wars the other night 13:13 when we were revealing this. 13:15 They say, "May the force be with you." 13:17 And you look at Star Wars 13:19 and the good guys, the Jedi, they used the force 13:23 and the bad guys, the Sith, they used the force. 13:27 So the same power is used by one group 13:31 for supposedly good things, 13:33 and it's used by another group for supposedly evil things. 13:39 Now, some people say, "I've never seen Star Wars." 13:42 Well, let me go back a few years. 13:44 Have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz? 13:49 I guarantee almost every American has seen it. 13:52 Almost. 13:54 Do you remember the Wicked Witch from the West? 13:56 She had a long crooked nose, and green skin, 13:59 and she was ugly, and have black hair. 14:02 And I mean, you know, she was evil, obviously. 14:07 And then you had the Good Witch of the East. 14:10 And she had a beautiful pink gown on, 14:13 and beautiful hair, blonde hair, and nice makeup. 14:19 But they were both witches. 14:21 They both depended on the same power 14:24 to do what they did. 14:26 They're both witches, 14:29 just because one dresses different than the other, 14:31 it doesn't make one better than the other. 14:34 They're both using witchcraft and sorcery. 14:40 Listen to what this master said. 14:43 He passed away just a couple of years ago. 14:45 He was a master in Australia named Erle Montaigue. 14:50 He said, "Some call this the power of God, 14:54 others call it Universal power, 14:57 and many a genius has talked 14:59 about the illusive other 90% of the brain 15:03 that we never use. 15:06 But it is my belief and experience 15:10 that 'the power' comes from other sources, 15:15 from around the body, but very close to it, 15:18 and attached to it. 15:20 In Traditional Chinese medicine, 15:23 this is called 'Shen or Spirit.' 15:27 And it is this power that we are able to tap into, 15:31 to change our physical circumstances, 15:34 to stop others from attacking us, 15:37 and to cause others to do what you wish them to do, 15:42 just as long as it is positive and good.'" 15:46 Well, who decides if it's positive or good? 15:51 He's using this power to cause other people 15:57 to do what he wants them to do. 16:00 And in the martial arts that was used heavily. 16:02 In yoga, in Traditional Chinese medicine, 16:06 in acupuncture, and qigong. 16:09 All of those eastern arts depend on this same power, 16:14 all of them. 16:16 They won't tell Little Johnny and Susie's parents 16:19 that when they first sign up at Taekwondo Plus. 16:23 But you talk to a man 16:24 that's a second or third degree black belt, 16:27 or talk to one of the masters, 16:29 and they'll tell you very clearly. 16:37 Listen to what Ellen White said. 16:40 "Our condition through sin is unnatural, 16:43 and the power that restores us must be supernatural, 16:48 else it has no value. 16:51 There is but One Power that can break the hold of evil 16:56 from the hearts of men, 16:58 and that is the power of God 17:02 in Christ Jesus." 17:07 The power of God. 17:09 Look that word God up when you get home. 17:13 The Greek word is Theos. 17:15 It means deity and divinity. 17:17 It's the only two definitions. 17:20 I'm not saying God is not a being, 17:22 I don't want to be misunderstood, 17:26 but it was the power of God in Christ 17:31 that sets us free. 17:33 Jesus said that in John Chapter 14, 17:37 when Philip came to Him, and he said, 17:39 "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." 17:44 And Jesus said, "Have I been so long time with you, 17:46 and you have not seen Me or known Me?" 17:50 And Philip, you know, looked at Him and he was like, 17:53 I don't understand. 17:54 And then in verse 10 and 11, Jesus said something. 17:58 He said, "The words that I'm speaking to you, 18:02 it's not Me speaking them, 18:04 it's My Father that dwells inside of Me, 18:08 He's doing the works." 18:11 Do you know that's all through the Old Testament, 18:13 even in Isaiah 26:12, I believe it's verse 12. 18:18 God actually says, 18:19 "He has wrought all of our works in us." 18:25 And there's something beautiful that I want to show you all 18:29 at towards the close of this series, 18:31 but we're going to wait to get there. 18:35 "Only through the blood of the crucified one 18:39 is there cleansing from sin." 18:42 Have you ever wondered how that's possible? 18:43 How does Jesus' blood cleanse me from sin? 18:47 I mean like, literally, 18:49 literally, 18:52 how does His blood cleanse me from all sin? 18:58 Leviticus tells us in Leviticus 17, 19:01 "We're not to eat blood because the life is in the blood." 19:06 So when Jesus poured out His blood for us on Calvary, 19:11 He was pouring out His life. 19:14 Romans 6:10 says, 19:17 "That when He died, 19:20 He died unto sin." 19:25 And the Bible says, 19:26 "That if we were in Him 19:30 when He died rather than sinning, 19:34 you and I also died rather than sinning." 19:39 And what He wants for us now 19:42 is to simply take hold of that and say, "I'm His." 19:49 Ephesians 1:4 says, 19:51 "We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, 19:57 so that we should be holy 19:59 and without blame before Him in love." 20:05 And we're gonna have... 20:07 We're going to have more quotes that we're going to show. 20:10 I'm not asking you to, 20:12 to just take this and then believe it 20:14 because I'm saying it. 20:16 But I want you to start looking. 20:18 Read the first two chapters of the Ephesians this week, 20:22 and highlight or mark down on a piece of paper 20:25 every single time you can find the phrase 20:28 in Christ, in Whom, or in Him, or in Me. 20:34 It's all through the Bible. 20:35 Once you read the first two chapters of Ephesians 20:38 and you mark it down, you'll see it everywhere. 20:41 Isaiah 45:22-25, 20:45 Jesus speaking, He said, 20:47 "Look unto Me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, 20:53 for I am God and there is none else." 20:56 And in the gospels, He said, 20:58 "I and My Father are one, we're one. 21:03 He is in Me, and I am in Him." 21:09 John 17, He said the same thing. 21:11 "Father, I pray that they all might be one 21:15 as I am in You, and as You are in Me, 21:19 that they also might be one in us." 21:24 Only through the blood of the crucified 21:26 one is there cleansing from sin. 21:29 His grace alone 21:31 can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies 21:35 of our fallen nature. 21:39 "The spiritualistic theories concerning God 21:43 make His grace 21:44 His divine influence of no effect. 21:48 For if God is an essence pervading all nature, 21:53 then He dwells in all men, 21:56 and in order to attain holiness, 21:59 man has only to develop the power within himself. 22:05 These theories, if followed to their logical conclusion 22:09 do away with the necessity for the atonement 22:13 and they make man his own savior." 22:17 And I want you to also look this up 22:19 at Ellen White's writings, 22:21 where she talks about atonement. 22:23 You will not believe how many times 22:26 she talks about the fact 22:27 that the atonement was made at Calvary. 22:31 Atonement, 22:33 at-one-ment, was made at Calvary. 22:39 Christ united humanity with God again. 22:45 Do you know the only thing 22:47 that ever separated us from God? 22:50 Sin, right? 22:54 When men would go into the Old Testament sanctuary, 22:58 there was a veil 23:00 and the sin of the sinner was placed upon an innocent lamb, 23:06 for example, there were other offerings, 23:08 but we'll use the lamb for now. 23:10 And that lamb, its throat was cut, 23:13 its blood was spilled, which now contained the sin. 23:18 That blood was taken into the sanctuary, 23:21 and it was sprinkled on different articles 23:23 depending on the circumstances, 23:26 but then it was sprinkled upon and before the veil. 23:31 Do you know that Sister White said 23:33 that the veil was torn down every single year 23:39 on the Day of Atonement? 23:41 And it had to be replaced. 23:43 Do you know why? 23:45 It smelled. 23:48 I mean, can you imagine what it would be like 23:50 if you left a steak or something 23:53 sitting out raw in the kitchen for three weeks? 23:59 It would, I mean, it would be terrible. 24:03 That's why the sanctuary had to be cleansed. 24:06 And on the Day of Atonement, 24:09 our Savior went through the veil 24:13 and He made atonement for the Holy place. 24:19 In the Old Testament, 24:20 the holy place also had another name, 24:22 it was called the Tabernacle of the Congregation. 24:26 That sanctuary which Desire of Ages 24:29 talks about was a picture of us. 24:32 You had the Holy place which was man, 24:34 and then you had the most Holy place 24:36 which was God, 24:37 and you had a veil that separated between us. 24:41 And then you read Hebrews Chapter 10 24:44 and see what it says, that veil was a symbol of. 24:49 It says it was Christ flesh. 24:52 It was His flesh. 24:53 Peter says in 1 Peter Chapter 2 24:57 that "He bore all of our sins in His own body upon the tree." 25:04 That's what Colossians talks about when it says, 25:06 "He nailed that 25:08 which was against us to the tree." 25:12 Taking it out of the way. 25:14 He took away our sins 25:17 so that now we could be united with God 25:21 and through the importation of His Holy Spirit, 25:24 we can have victory. 25:26 Amen. 25:30 We will cover more of that as we go, 25:32 because the devil is doing everything he can 25:35 to hide this. 25:37 "These theories regarding God make His word of no effect, 25:43 and those who accept them 25:44 are in great danger of being finally led 25:48 to look upon the whole Bible as a fiction. 25:52 They may regard virtue as being better than vice, 25:57 but, having shut out God 25:59 from His rightful position of Sovereignty, 26:03 they place their dependence upon human power, 26:07 which, without God, is worthless." 26:12 It says they shut out God 26:14 from His rightful position of Sovereignty. 26:18 When we say the phrase, the Lord Jesus Christ, 26:22 the word Lord in the Old Testament, 26:25 if it was capital L with a little o-r-d, 26:28 the word in Hebrew was Adhonay. 26:31 We're not saved by pronunciation, 26:33 or knowing the Hebrew language, okay? 26:37 But it's beautiful to understand what a word means 26:40 because it helps give us a better understanding 26:43 of what the scripture is really telling us. 26:46 It's like going to a friend of yours and then saying, 26:49 "Yeah, but it says, hell right here." 26:50 And you go, 26:51 "Yeah, but that word in Greek means the grave 26:54 or in Hebrew, it means the grave." 26:57 By you understanding what that word means, 26:59 it makes the passage become clearer 27:03 by understanding that the word Lord is Adhonay, 27:08 that word literally means the Sovereign King. 27:14 The Lord Jesus Christ means the King Jesus Christ. 27:20 That's why He looks to each of us and says, 27:22 I know you want to save your... 27:24 But are you willing to have a king? 27:28 A king saves people, a king fights for people. 27:33 He delivers people. 27:35 He sets captives free. 27:38 That's why Jesus said, 27:39 "All power in heaven and on earth is now given unto me. 27:44 Go proclaim the glad tidings. 27:48 All through the gospels when you read, it says... 27:51 I remember the first time I was reading 27:54 after I had come back to the Lord 27:56 and He had set me free and I was just like, 27:58 "Lord, I want to just start in Matthew, 28:00 and I want to go through the whole New Testament, 28:02 and then the whole Old." 28:04 And I started in Matthew and Mark and I got, 28:06 I kept seeing this phrase, John the Baptist said, 28:09 "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 28:13 And in my mind, I thought, now wait a minute, 28:15 the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 28:17 That was 2,000 years ago. 28:19 In my mind, 28:20 I thought the kingdom of heaven was Christ's second coming. 28:24 And I thought, 28:25 Well, John the Baptist was the greatest of prophets. 28:27 Was he just... 28:28 Did he just not see clearly? 28:31 And then the next chapter or two, 28:33 I read Jesus say the same thing. 28:36 After His baptism, 28:37 Jesus went proclaiming the kingdom of God. 28:42 And I thought, 28:43 "Well, I know Jesus wasn't mistaken." 28:47 And the Lord spoke to me like He has done a few times. 28:49 He was like, Eric, 28:50 you've never even looked the word kingdom up, 28:53 look it up. 28:54 And I looked it up, and you know 28:55 what the word kingdom means? 28:57 The Sovereign King or reign of God. 29:03 The kingdom is at hand. 29:06 That's the glad tidings that He wants for us 29:10 to go share with the world. 29:12 You don't have to be in bondage to sin. 29:15 Sin does not have dominion over you anymore. 29:18 If you will confess that 29:20 and give it to the Lord Jesus Christ, 29:22 He will take your sins and give you His righteousness. 29:27 Sin will not have dominion over you anymore. 29:31 Now, you have a new king on the throne of your life. 29:43 Now, I want you to hear this. 29:45 This is from Desire of Ages. page 311, 29:50 "God's ideal for His children is higher 29:53 than the highest human thought can reach, 29:57 for our Lord, our King has said, 30:02 'Be ye therefore perfect, 30:07 even as your Father 30:09 which is in heaven is perfect.'" 30:12 Now I want you to think about that for a minute. 30:15 Look at that phrase. 30:18 Be ye. 30:20 He didn't say try to be. 30:22 He didn't say strive with all your might. 30:27 And I've had people tell me, 30:28 "Well, it doesn't really mean that. 30:31 It means, 30:32 He knows you're humans, 30:34 to do the best you can as a human being, 30:37 like He does the best He can as God." 30:40 That's foolishness. 30:44 Jesus said, "Be ye." 30:47 Who was it that created everything in Genesis? 30:52 It was Christ. 30:53 It was God in Christ and through Christ, 30:56 but it was Christ. 30:57 What was the first statement of Genesis Chapter 1? 31:01 "Let there be light and there was." 31:07 He didn't say, let there be light 31:09 and a group of angels get together 31:11 and say we need to form a committee, 31:13 and we need to have some drawings made, 31:16 and we need to get together 31:17 the equipment to make this light, 31:19 and we need the raw materials 31:21 and okay, Lord, 31:22 it's going to take us five years 31:24 and we'll have light for You. 31:26 That's not what happened. 31:28 God spoke and it was. 31:34 And here Jesus says the same thing. 31:37 "Be ye therefore perfect." 31:41 And listen to what Ellen White says, 31:43 this is her words. 31:45 "This command is a promise." 31:49 That's what she said in Education 126. 31:52 Every command is a promise. 31:55 "This command to be ye therefore perfect is a promise. 32:00 For the plan of redemption 32:02 contemplates our complete recovery 32:06 from the power of Satan. 32:09 Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. 32:16 He came to destroy the works of the Devil 32:20 and He has made provision 32:23 so that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted 32:27 to every repentant soul, to keep you from sinning." 32:33 That's powerful. 32:35 We've not even gotten there yet. 32:38 We're only on the second night and you wait, 32:40 I cannot. I want to skip to the end. 32:43 If you all only knew how hard this is. 32:49 Listen to this. 32:52 "Study the Scriptures, 32:55 'for the words I speak unto you," Jesus said, 32:57 "they are Spirit, and they are Life." 33:00 Study the Scriptures, 33:02 "Know that the only thing in which we can safely glory 33:08 is that which will open to you the gates of the city of God." 33:13 That's the righteousness of Christ. 33:16 Now I'm going to pause there for a moment 33:17 because I want you to know something. 33:20 There's another statement Ellen White said, she said, 33:22 "The requirements for eternal life 33:25 under the new covenant 33:26 are the same as they were under the old. 33:29 They've always been the same. 33:31 The requirements for eternal life 33:34 are perfect obedience. 33:38 So you know what I thought growing up 33:40 even over the last 10 years, 33:43 I've got to be perfect. 33:44 I've got to dot every eye and cross every T. 33:48 And do you know what God revealed to me? 33:53 Eric, If you never sin again from this day forward, 33:56 you still don't have perfect obedience 33:59 because if you have ever fallen once, 34:03 you're out of the game. 34:07 Do you understand? 34:11 If you commit one, you're guilty of all. 34:14 It's not three strikes, 34:15 you're out. It's one strike. 34:19 If I go to get a job at UPS, and they say, 34:22 "Eric, have you ever gotten a traffic ticket?" 34:25 And in my mind, I go, "Man, I mean, 34:27 that was five years and I paid dollars." 34:29 No, I don't have any record of getting traffic tickets. 34:33 And they say, "Okay, well, give us a few days 34:34 and we'll get back to you about your, you know, your resume." 34:38 And they call me back and they say, 34:39 "We need you to come in." 34:41 And I came in, they say, "Listen, 34:42 everything else we checked out was perfect, 34:44 but you lie to us." 34:46 I'm like, "You know, well, I didn't." 34:48 They said, "You told us 34:49 you had never had a traffic violation." 34:53 I said, "I've paid for them. 34:56 They've been paid for. 34:57 I don't owe any debt." 34:59 And they're like, "That's not what we asked. 35:02 We asked if you have ever been guilty." 35:08 And I'm like, "Yeah, but I think 35:09 that's what you meant." 35:12 The requirements for eternal life 35:15 are perfect obedience with no failure. 35:20 Do you understand what happened in 1888, 35:23 while the majority of our church 35:26 rejected the message of righteousness by faith. 35:30 They had in their minds like many of us do, 35:34 I'm going to try really hard 35:36 and if I can get everything done perfectly, 35:40 you know, somebody comes along, they say, 35:41 you know, you need to be vegan. 35:43 You know, you need 35:44 to start keeping Sabbath earlier. 35:46 You know, you forgot about this, 35:48 and we make this list of things, 35:50 and we're striving for something 35:53 that we will never attain 35:55 because if you've already failed once, you're out. 36:01 The thief on the cross understood that. 36:04 That's why he cast himself on Christ. 36:09 All to you I bring, 36:12 simply to Your cross, I cling. 36:16 It's Christ and His righteousness alone. 36:20 Now, I'm not saying 36:21 that does away with us striving to obey. 36:24 I want to obey Him 36:25 because of what He's done for me, 36:28 not in order to gain Him doing something for me. 36:32 The Bible says 36:34 that when we were yet without strength, 36:36 when we hated God, 36:38 Christ died for us then. 36:42 When we were at our very worst, 36:44 and then Paul goes on and he says, 36:47 "If He did that for you, when you were at your worst, 36:50 what you think He would do less now 36:52 that you're striving to obey?" 36:57 "Learn from the Word of God how to form characters 37:01 fitted for the country you are seeking. 37:04 Know that Christ is to be set forth among you..." 37:09 That means in your midst, in your heart. 37:12 "And that all that was lost in Adam 37:17 the cross of Christ 37:19 fully restores to every believing soul." 37:24 I don't have this quote up here, I wish I had. 37:27 Ellen White said the moment 37:29 the sinner lays hold on Christ by faith, 37:32 that moment his sins are no longer upon him. 37:37 He stands guiltless before the law of God, 37:42 clothed in the righteousness of Christ. 37:45 That moment, the moment you believe what God's word said. 37:50 The blood of Jesus cleanses me from all sin. 37:54 Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, 37:57 but according to His mercy. 37:59 He saved us. 38:01 Past tense, 38:03 by the washing of regeneration 38:06 and the renewing of His Holy Spirit. 38:11 "The life of Christ that gives Life to the world 38:14 is in His Word. 38:17 It was by His Word that Jesus healed disease 38:21 and cast out demons, 38:23 by His Word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead, 38:28 and the people bore witness that His Word was with power." 38:34 Do you remember that man at the pool of Bethesda? 38:37 Read that story in Desire of Ages. 38:40 Read it in the gospels 38:42 and then read it in Desire of Ages. 38:44 She said that if he had told the Lord, 38:48 if You'll heal me, I'll get up and walk. 38:51 He would have stayed there until he died. 38:54 He believed what Christ said. 38:57 He believed the power in Christ word 39:00 and He willed to walk. 39:03 He made the decision, I'm going to stand up 39:07 because Christ has told me to and He cannot lie. 39:11 And because he believed the power was given to Him. 39:18 "The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, 39:21 and the Savior 39:23 desired to fix the faith of His followers on the Word. 39:28 When His visible Presence should be withdrawn, 39:31 the Word must be their source of power... 39:36 Like their Master, 39:38 they were, 39:40 'we are to live 39:42 by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" 39:51 What is justification by faith? 39:54 It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust. 40:01 Do you want to know what all these eastern practices do? 40:04 They teach you to glory in your power. 40:07 Look, what I can do. 40:09 Look, what I did. 40:10 That was the problem with the Pharisees. 40:13 While I did this, 40:14 and, you know, it's like, you know, okay, 40:16 I get victory over this one sin. 40:18 So I'm forcing that victory on everybody else. 40:23 I remember one time I had a lady that called me 40:25 and she had learned some truth in the Bible. 40:27 And she was like, you know, wow. 40:30 And she went to share it with a friend of hers. 40:33 And the gentleman he couldn't see it. 40:36 And she called 40:38 and she was like, I don't know what to do. 40:39 She said, I guess I just need to do it what the Bible says 40:41 and shake the dust off my feet and move on. 40:45 And I thought, and I have done the same thing, 40:47 but I thought, "Oh, Lord, 40:50 what if Jesus had done that to me?" 40:53 I'm shaking the dust off my feet. 40:54 I'm done with Eric. 40:55 I mean, I've tried, you know, 40:57 this is 49 times this month. 40:59 I'm not... 41:00 There's no 50. 41:05 Jesus said, "If you'd only understood what this meaneth, 41:08 I would have mercy and not sacrifice." 41:12 You know what I told that lady? 41:13 I asked God. 41:15 I said, "Give me the words to say to her." 41:16 I asked her a question, 41:17 I said, "How long did it take you 41:21 to fully understand and comprehend the truth 41:25 that you now have?" 41:27 And she said, "Oh, probably 16, 18 years." 41:32 I said, "Then be willing to give your brother in Christ 41:35 the same time to comprehend. 41:39 Be patient. 41:41 Pray instead of trying to force someone to believe. 41:45 Pray. 41:47 Prayer availeth much." 41:51 "When men see their own nothingness, 41:54 only then they are prepared to be clothed 41:57 with the righteousness of Christ. 42:00 When they begin to praise and exalt God all the day long, 42:05 then by beholding 42:07 they are becoming changed into the same image. 42:11 What is regeneration? 42:14 It is revealing to man, 42:16 what is his own real nature, 42:19 that in himself, he is worthless. 42:25 "That's scary. 42:27 Do you understand? 42:28 This is what was being proclaimed in 1888. 42:31 Men don't want to hear that. 42:34 Women don't want to hear that. 42:35 Nobody wants to hear that. 42:38 But Praise God, 42:39 I have never found more freedom than in knowing that. 42:45 God, I am filthy, and wretched, and poor, and blind. 42:49 You have got to cleanse me. 42:52 You have got to live inside of me. 42:55 We have got to fight, the fight of faith 42:57 and surrender every moment. 43:00 So that He can dwell and live and work in us. 43:06 "Nothing less than perfect obedience 43:09 can meet the standard of God's requirement. 43:12 He has not left his requirements indefinite... 43:16 The Savior took upon Himself the infirmities of humanity 43:21 and He lived a sinless life, 43:23 so that men might have no fear that because of the weakness 43:28 of human nature they could not overcome. 43:33 Christ came to make us 43:36 'partakers of the divine nature' 43:40 and His life declares that humanity, 43:45 combined with divinity, 43:48 does not commit sin.'" 43:52 That's John 1:3:9. 43:58 3:9. 44:00 That says the exact same thing. 44:03 It says, "He that is born of God 44:07 does not commit sin 44:09 because God's seed remains in him." 44:15 Hallelujah. 44:21 I want to share something with you. 44:26 I'm not telling you these things because... 44:33 Because it's up here. 44:35 I'm telling you these things because I was so far gone. 44:42 There was no rescuing me. 44:46 And I tried so hard 44:51 to make things right. 44:55 And the harder I tried, 44:58 the more, it seemed like I got behind. 45:02 And I kept searching, 45:04 especially trying to comprehend 45:08 what righteousness by faith meant? 45:12 And it was only within the last few years 45:15 that the Lord in His mercy helped to open my blind eyes. 45:21 God desires for each of us 45:25 to know who we are in Christ Jesus. 45:31 We say it with our mouths, 45:34 but often we don't believe it with our actions. 45:38 Often we don't understand what that means 45:41 to be in Christ Jesus. 45:44 The Bible says, "We are His body, 45:47 His flesh and His bones." 45:50 When He ascended on high, 45:52 He left us here as His representatives, 45:57 not to strive and to do in our own power, 46:02 but to surrender 46:03 and yield our lives completely to Him 46:07 so that He can work in us, 46:10 just like His Father worked in Him. 46:14 Every moment as we surrender 46:18 and by faith, 46:20 we say, "Your righteousness is mine." 46:24 Not because I feel it, 46:27 but because you've spoken it. 46:30 You may not feel victorious. 46:35 But God's Word says, 46:36 "We're more than conquerors through Him that loves us." 46:40 So do I believe what I'm feeling, 46:41 or do I believe what the Word of God says? 46:45 You may not feel healed 46:49 if you've got some type of a physical, 46:52 you know, affliction. 46:54 But God's Word says, 46:56 "By My stripes, I have healed you." 47:02 And a quick example when I was 14 years old, 47:08 I remember I woke up one morning, 47:12 I was supposed to be getting ready for school, 47:14 and I felt like I couldn't even move. 47:17 And I was burning up hot. 47:18 I mean, burning up, 47:20 and my mom finally came in there. 47:22 She was like, "Eric, what are you doing?" 47:24 I mean, "You got to leave. 47:25 I got to get you to school." 47:27 I said, "Mom, something's wrong." 47:29 And she knew then something really was 47:31 because I never stayed home sick. 47:33 And she came over and felt it 47:36 and she said, "You're burning up." 47:38 And she called... She's a nurse. 47:40 She called our doctor and she said, 47:43 "I've got to get him in there." 47:44 And he said, "What's wrong?" 47:45 And she told him 47:47 and they rushed me to emergency room. 47:49 While I was in the emergency room, 47:53 they were weighing me on the scale 47:55 and I passed out. 47:59 And while I was passed out, one of the nurses there, 48:01 she had the wisdom 48:03 that God had granted her and she said, 48:04 "Let's check his blood sugar." 48:06 It was 790. 48:09 It's supposed to be 92 to 102. 48:15 790. 48:17 And I hadn't said anything to my mom. 48:18 Because I mean, especially as a young man, 48:20 you kind of want to just ignore problems and say, 48:22 they'll go away. 48:24 I mean, you know, it'll go away. 48:25 I don't know what's wrong. 48:27 But you know, I was going to the restroom 48:29 every two or three minutes at school, 48:31 my vision was almost completely gone. 48:33 I couldn't even see the chalkboard at 14 years old. 48:36 I keep having to move closer to the front of the class 48:39 hoping nobody would ask 48:40 why I was trying to get closer to the front. 48:45 And I got there to the doctor's office 48:47 and when they woke me up, they told me something 48:49 and I know they were doing the best 48:51 that they knew how. 48:52 They said, "You're a diabetic 48:56 and it's juvenile and there is no cure. 49:00 And you'll never get over it. 49:02 But if you take this insulin, 49:05 we can keep you alive." 49:09 Well, they didn't realize 49:10 they were pronouncing a curse upon me. 49:16 There is no cure, you'll never get better. 49:19 And all of those sayings contradict the Word of God. 49:24 And so I lived under that 49:29 for a long, long time, the curse. 49:34 And one day I was speaking to a man, 49:36 and this was after the Lord 49:38 had brought me out of the bondage. 49:39 I was in on these things. 49:42 And he told me something. 49:43 He said, Eric, he said, "If you had cancer, 49:46 would it be okay if I called you cancer?" 49:49 I was like, "No, my name is Eric." 49:51 He said, "Well, why couldn't I call you cancer?" 49:53 I said, "Because it's just a disease. 49:55 It's something I have. It's not who I am." 49:57 He said, "Then why would you 49:58 allow people to call you a diabetic. 50:01 It's a disease. It's what you have. 50:04 It's not who you are." 50:07 And I thought, "Oh, wow." 50:11 The Bible says, 50:12 "If we speak life, we'll have life." 50:14 So we have the power of life and death 50:16 in our tongue. 50:18 Ellen White says, "If we speak faith, 50:20 we'll have faith." 50:21 And faith is the substance of things hoped for. 50:25 And the word hope in Greek does not mean, I hope so. 50:29 It means the things that you have confidence in 50:32 and the things you have been given assurance of. 50:35 Ellen White said, "If you speak faith, 50:39 you'll have those things that you have assurance 50:43 that you've been given the assurance of." 50:47 The Bible says that 50:49 "Christ is the high priest of our profession." 50:54 Profession means what you speak. 50:58 So what I speak, He takes to the Father. 51:03 So if I'm on my knees and I'm like telling God 51:06 about all the affliction I have, 51:07 and I'm telling God about how bad I feel. 51:11 And Lord, I woke up this morning 51:12 and my blood sugar was high. 51:15 And Christ is up there and He's going, "Oh, wow. 51:18 You know, if I could just get him to speak faith, 51:23 I would have a much better prayer 51:25 to offer to My Father." 51:28 Are you diabetic today? 51:31 So what I did was, I started, 51:34 I started reading God's promises out loud. 51:40 Out loud. 51:42 And I went in to a new doctor, 51:44 not going to get into that story, 51:46 but I went into a new doctor, 51:47 never seen her before, 51:49 she's brand new. 51:51 Anyway, she had to run blood work, 51:53 do all these tests 51:54 and she called me a few days later, 51:56 she said, "Eric, I need you to come back down 51:58 to the clinic." 52:00 And I said, "What's wrong?" 52:01 And she said, "I just want to run a couple of more tests." 52:04 And I thought, "Oh, no." 52:06 You know because here I'd had this problem for over 35 years. 52:10 And I got there and I said, "What's wrong?" 52:13 I said, "You know, just tell me." 52:16 And she said, "Well, Eric, she said, 52:17 all your paperwork says that you've had juvenile diabetes 52:21 since you were 14 years old." 52:23 She said, "But the blood work 52:25 I got when you came in here the other day, 52:27 I couldn't even say that you're juvenile diabetes." 52:31 She said, "This looks more 52:33 like sort of on the verge of diabetes." 52:36 She said, "Your hemoglobin A1C 52:39 is like 6.7, 6.8." 52:44 She said, "Normally to be juvenile, 52:46 it would have to be like a 7.1,7.2." 52:50 She said, "I want to run some more tests." 52:53 She ran some tests, and she came back and she said, 52:56 "Your pancreas is producing insulin again." 52:59 She said, "This is impossible." 53:01 She said, "You've had this for over 35 years. 53:05 I've never seen anyone come in here 53:09 whose pancreas was producing insulin after 35 years." 53:12 Amen. Praise God. 53:14 Now, before I stop on the story, 53:19 I still take insulin, 53:21 but I'm not taking nearly what I was back then. 53:26 And what I have found is, 53:28 as I speak God's promises out loud 53:33 every day that I do that, 53:34 my faith takes hold on those promises more. 53:38 Because now when I wake up in the morning, 53:41 and if I check and my blood sugar's 53:42 a little bit high, instead of me going... 53:45 And the devil whispers 53:46 and usually when he talks to us, 53:48 he talks in our voice because if he came in, 53:51 he talked in his voice, I'd be like what, 53:53 you know what was that? 53:55 And I'll go get on my knees and start praying. 53:57 Normally, when the devil 53:58 or one of his angels talks to you, 54:00 he'll talk to you in your own voice. 54:02 Because if he can make you think it's your thoughts, 54:04 you'll never fight him. 54:06 So if I wake up in the morning 54:08 and my blood sugar's a little bit high, 54:11 I'll hear a voice that sounds like mine say, 54:14 huh, not healed yet. 54:18 God's Word is not true. 54:21 And I'm like, "Okay, well, he's a liar." 54:24 Right? 54:26 Jesus said that. 54:29 So what I do is, I go to God's Word. 54:31 And I say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" 54:34 And all that is within me, bless and praise His holy name. 54:38 It is You who forgives all my iniquities 54:41 and heals all of my diseases. 54:44 And then I claim Isaiah 53, "By your stripes, 54:49 You said it not me. 54:51 You said it, I am healed." 54:54 And then I claim the same thing in Matthew 8:17-19. 54:59 And then 1 Peter says it three times 55:02 in the scripture 55:03 that out the mouth of two or three witnesses, 55:05 every word will be established. 55:08 By His stripes I am healed. 55:11 You know, it's funny, too, because the Bible says, 55:13 "The 1,44,000 55:14 will have their father's name written in their foreheads." 55:18 What's our father's name? 55:20 I am. 55:22 I am. 55:25 I am delivered. 55:28 I am saved. 55:30 Not because I feel it, 55:31 but because You said so in Your Word. 55:34 I am healed. 55:36 I am more than conqueror through Him that loves me. 55:40 As we speak faith, 55:44 God will work what He has promised in our lives. 55:48 And when we look at our loved one 55:50 that looks like they're so far gone, 55:53 that there's no hope of recovering them. 55:57 I always remember what my wife said about me 55:59 when I was so far gone. 56:02 And we have been divorced for five years. 56:04 And I was living in adultery with, 56:06 you know, somebody else. 56:08 My wife, the Lord told her speak faith. 56:11 And she told my children, "Daddy's coming home." 56:14 And people at church said, "You can't tell them that. 56:17 They're going to lose faith in God." 56:19 She said, "God's Word said so." 56:21 God spoke that to me in His Word. 56:25 Speak faith, and you'll have faith. 56:28 So when you look at a lost loved one, 56:30 or you look at someone you're praying for, 56:32 and it seems hopeless, find the promise in His Word. 56:37 Find the promise in His Word. 56:39 Sometimes... 56:43 I struggled with my children, my son and my daughter, 56:46 they're great, they're great children. 56:47 I mean, great children. 56:50 But sometimes, you know, as a parent, 56:52 what it's like when you see them 56:53 making mistakes that you go, 56:54 "Man, I've already done that. 56:56 Don't make that mistake." 56:57 So I would try to force them to do the right thing. 57:00 And my wife would say, 57:02 "That's not going to work. Just pray for them." 57:04 I was like, "Yeah, but that's not going to work." 57:06 And she's like, "Really?" 57:08 I'm like, "Okay." 57:11 So I start claiming promises. 57:13 God, You promised in Deuteronomy 30:6, 57:17 that You will circumcise my heart 57:19 and the heart of my children 57:21 to love You with all of our hearts, 57:23 our souls, our minds, and our strength. 57:25 You promised, and I will not let you go, 57:28 except you blessed me. 57:31 That's the only way that we're ever going to win. 57:36 There is no other way. 57:39 Let's close with prayer. 57:44 Father in heaven, 57:47 we thank You so much that You are not a man 57:49 that You should lie, nor the Son of Man 57:51 that You should change Your mind. 57:54 All of Your promises in Christ Jesus 57:57 are yay and amen. 58:01 Father, help each of us 58:03 as we open Your Word this week 58:07 to find who we are in Christ Jesus. |
Revised 2019-02-11