We're glad to welcome
you to our program today,
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and I trust that you like
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I will enjoy talking
about Jesus once again.
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Let's pray
together before we do.
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Father in heaven,
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once again we want to take
a fresh look at Jesus Christ.
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We want to learn from
Him and become like Him,
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and we pray that
You will work that work
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in our hearts and lives,
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in His name, amen.
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My name is Dennis Uffindell,
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and I'd like to
share with you a subject
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that I always
enjoy talking about
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and that is another
picture of Jesus Christ.
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When I was a young teenager,
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I used to enjoy
going to summer camps,
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and I well remember
that at this summer camp
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I used to go to,
there was a young man
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who was older
than the rest of us,
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physically that is,
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and he was very proud of himself
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because he was the
only one of the campers
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who had a certificate to
prove that he was normal.
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You see, he'd had some problems
but he had been cleared,
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and it illustrates
a very important truth
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and that is, we
all like to be normal.
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We don't like to
be considered abnormal
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in any way whatsoever.
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Which brings me to
an important thing,
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what do we mean by normal?
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Have we ever stopped
to think, for instance,
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what a perfectly normal person
would look like or behave like?
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What is normal anyway?
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Well, I suppose
in common parlance,
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it would be what
we're talking about
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when we talk about somebody
having a normal temperature,
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or behaving normally,
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or restoring a difficult
chaotic situation to normality,
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things of that kind.
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That's the way
we normally use it.
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It means to conform
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to the average
pattern of those around us.
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No one likes to be abnormal,
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so when we run a
high temperature,
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what do we do?
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We want to get it back to normal
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as quickly as
possible and so and so forth.
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We conform to what
we consider to be normal
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which leads me to a
very important issue.
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What I consider to be normal
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will have a powerful
influence upon my thinking
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and upon my behavior
and therefore inevitably,
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my destiny.
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It reminds me of what
happened in conversation
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with a young man one time.
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He said, "Well,
it's perfectly normal
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to get angry when
someone is nasty to you,"
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and he was a
sincere young Christian,
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but do you see what the
idea of normal had done to him?
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It had cost him
to forget entirely
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what Jesus had said
about a situation like that,
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because in Matthew 5:44,
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he says this, "I say
unto you, love your enemies,
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bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
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and pray for them
which despitefully use you,
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and persecute you."
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So you see, it had
completely cancelled out,
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the idea of what was normal
had completely cancelled out
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the words of
instruction of Jesus for him.
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And that's a pretty
serious thing I would think.
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It had made him
decide that to be normal
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was the right thing
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and Jesus' words would be
asking him to be abnormal.
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Another illustration,
are there ever times
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when in truth, you
are a little bit ashamed
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to be pinpointed as a Christian?
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Now where I come
from, back in Britain,
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it would be almost unheard
of to be sitting in a restaurant
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and see a family
join hands and say grace
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before their meal.
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And I know that there
were times as a young person
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when I felt
very awkward doing it
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because I knew
that people would think,
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well, "Is there
something wrong with him?"
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You know, normal morality
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has done the same
sort of trick on people.
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There was a time when
morality all around us was such
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that certain things
were completely taboo
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and they
strengthened us in our decision
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to do what was right.
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But today, normal
morality is so loose
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and perverse
that it only leads us
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in the wrong direction
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rather than in the right one.
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It reminds me of a
trainee at a clergy session,
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as she told me afterwards,
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and this was a
mature Christian woman.
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She said to me,
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they were talking in
this session about sexuality
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and the leader
was asking individuals
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in the group about
their personal sexuality,
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and she refused
to talk about it,
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and he turned on her and said,
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"Why, are you
ashamed of your sexuality?"
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You see, how
even in clergy circles
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things have changed so much
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so that what is
correct to talk about
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is what was
incorrect not very long ago.
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But now before
we go any further,
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let's look at the
dictionary definition of normal
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because it just so happens
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that the dictionary definition
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is a rather different definition
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than what we normally use.
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It says here, from
the Oxford dictionary,
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excuse me,
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"from norm which means standard,
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pattern, or type, or
that which is perpendicular."
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Abnormal is
deviating from the type
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and the type is a personal thing
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to which
everything should conform.
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So then to be truly normal
is to be like the normal man,
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and scripture
makes it very clear
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who the normal man was,
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because in
Philippians 2:5, for instance,
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the Apostle Paul says,
"Let this mind be in you,
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which was also in Christ Jesus."
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So think like
Jesus, He is the pattern.
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Or John 13:15,
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"For I have
given you an example,"
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Jesus said, "that you should
do as I have done to you."
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So behave like Jesus.
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So I'm now gonna say something
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that sounds
really crazy at first.
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"To be normal is
to be like Jesus."
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Does that come
as a radical idea?
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It certainly did
sound a little different
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when I first came
to that conclusion.
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But I'd like you
to take a picture
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of what the normal man,
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Jesus, would do.
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The story is told in Mark 7,
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of how Jesus took
with His disciples
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a 40 mile hike one day.
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Now I don't know
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whether you've ever
walked 40 miles in a day,
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very few people
have, I certainly haven't.
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And you know what He did it for?
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Because way up there
near Tyre, Sidon, was a lady,
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who desperately needed His help.
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And so in the hot sun,
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over those rocky
hills and stony pathways,
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Jesus hiked for 40
miles there and back,
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to heal one person.
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That's what the
normal man was like.
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It tells us in 1 John
2:6, "He that saith," sorry,
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"he abideth in him,
ought himself also to walk,
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even as he walked."
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Or in 1 Peter 2:21 and 22,
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"For even here
unto were ye called:
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because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example,
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that ye should follow his steps,
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who did no sin,
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neither was guile
found in his mouth."
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So Jesus according to the Bible
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is one
unquestionably the normal man,
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or the type, or the pattern man.
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Now this brings us
to an important point
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and I believe it's a
staggering fact for many,
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"it is not normal to sin."
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Oh, the Bible makes it
clear that everybody sins,
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but it never says
it is normal to sin.
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It says it is abnormal to sin.
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And to see it that
way is very important,
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it's in fact a
very valuable insight,
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because it changes our
whole attitude toward it.
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God created a perfect world,
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with perfect human beings in it.
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What happened?
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The devil came
along and persuaded them
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to depart from
God's instruction,
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and as a result we
have all these sickness,
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and death, and pain,
and misery, and hatred,
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and so on that we
have in our world today.
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Does that sound good?
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Sure, doesn't to me.
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Now the truth is,
sin is a perversion
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and abnormality is destructive.
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And you know, in nature,
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it's an interesting thing
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that everything that is abnormal
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has a greatly
lessen chance of survival.
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The Bible certainly teaches
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that the abnormality of
sin does that to human beings.
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That's why God
speaks of it in Isaiah 5:20,
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in very strong terms,
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he says, "Woe to them
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who call evil
good, and good evil."
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Because he knows
what a powerful influence
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that'll have upon
people in the wrong direction,
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it's a lie.
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Actually, and this
is encouraging I think,
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there are far more beings
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who are like Christ
than like the devil.
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Two-thirds of the
angels remained loyal
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and all the
beings in other worlds
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have remained loyal.
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It's only the people down
here in this little world,
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along with Satan
and his following angels
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that have the
abnormality of sin.
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So we're really
with the majority anyway
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which is to my mind a good news.
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And the value of seeing
it all this way is this,
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I want one to confirm
to the norm around me,
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if I know it's an abnormality,
that is destructive,
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it won't sound very attractive,
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when sin is
seemed to be a perversion
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and destructive.
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The Bible talks about sin
as a disease, in Isaiah 1:5,
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it said, "The
whole head is sick,"
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speaking about Israel.
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Well, I don't know about you,
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I don't like to
have any part of me sick,
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but the last place I
want is to have my mind sick,
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and that's what sin
does according to the Bible.
00:12:42.36\00:12:45.29
I'd like you to,
in your imagination,
00:12:45.33\00:12:48.06
come with me to a leprosarium.
00:12:48.10\00:12:51.60
I've had relatives
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who'd gone to
leprosariums in Africa,
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because all my relatives
on both sides of my family
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except my mother and father,
00:13:00.08\00:13:01.94
all my aunts and uncles
were missionaries in Africa.
00:13:01.98\00:13:04.95
And of course, there have
been a lot of lepers in Africa,
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sad to say.
00:13:09.15\00:13:10.75
And of course, it
disfigures their faces,
00:13:10.79\00:13:13.22
and their hands, and
their feet, and so on.
00:13:13.25\00:13:16.93
And so as we look around,
00:13:16.96\00:13:18.29
we see everybody
there has leprosy.
00:13:18.33\00:13:24.03
Can you imagine
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after being there
for two or three weeks,
00:13:25.43\00:13:27.87
crying out, "Oh, I
want to be a leper,"
00:13:27.90\00:13:30.61
just because
everybody else has leprosy?
00:13:30.64\00:13:36.01
No, because we
know, it's a deformity,
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it's an abnormality and
we don't want to have it,
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and that is
precisely what sin is.
00:13:43.52\00:13:47.59
And so just
because everybody does it,
00:13:47.62\00:13:50.56
surely no sins make it desirable
00:13:50.59\00:13:55.26
and there's no excuse.
00:13:55.30\00:13:57.67
Now when Jesus
started His ministry,
00:13:57.70\00:14:01.04
we are told that He came
with a specific purpose in mind
00:14:01.07\00:14:07.01
and He talks
about it in Luke 4:18,
00:14:07.04\00:14:13.05
He says, "The spirit
of the Lord is upon me,
00:14:13.08\00:14:15.88
because he hath anointed me
00:14:15.92\00:14:17.32
to preach the
gospel to the poor,
00:14:17.35\00:14:19.95
he sent me to
heal the brokenhearted,
00:14:19.99\00:14:22.72
to preach
deliverance to the captives,
00:14:22.76\00:14:25.06
and recovery of
sight to the blind,
00:14:25.09\00:14:27.73
to set at liberty
them that are bruised,
00:14:27.76\00:14:30.43
to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord."
00:14:30.47\00:14:35.70
So recreation,
the remaking of us,
00:14:35.74\00:14:39.71
is the restoration to normality,
00:14:39.74\00:14:43.61
that's the good news,
00:14:43.65\00:14:45.35
and that tells me
something else important
00:14:45.38\00:14:47.12
as it's often
forgotten and that is this:
00:14:47.15\00:14:50.22
the church is the
right place for sinners.
00:14:50.25\00:14:54.12
You know,
sometimes, church people
00:14:54.16\00:14:55.86
look down on sinners
00:14:55.89\00:14:57.43
who don't
conform to their pattern,
00:14:57.46\00:15:00.20
as though they
had no place there,
00:15:00.23\00:15:02.33
but the church should be
the hospital for sin-sick souls
00:15:02.36\00:15:05.43
to be healed, should it not?
00:15:05.47\00:15:07.40
So we don't need to keep away
00:15:07.44\00:15:09.27
just because our
lives are not right.
00:15:09.30\00:15:12.41
Now I'd like us to take
a look for a few moments
00:15:12.44\00:15:15.34
at the typical
attributes of the pattern,
00:15:15.38\00:15:19.71
Jesus Christ, to see what a man
00:15:19.75\00:15:24.32
who has no
abnormalities is really like.
00:15:24.35\00:15:28.92
How can you adequately
describe for instance,
00:15:28.96\00:15:33.76
the Creator
God, coming to earth,
00:15:33.80\00:15:38.70
taking upon Himself human flesh,
00:15:38.73\00:15:41.44
living the life
of a poor peasant,
00:15:41.47\00:15:44.51
then being crucified,
00:15:44.54\00:15:48.21
despised, and hated,
00:15:48.24\00:15:51.58
dying on the cross?
00:15:51.61\00:15:53.75
Why?
00:15:53.78\00:15:55.18
Just because His total
unselfish love demanded
00:15:55.22\00:16:00.26
that He do something
about our lost condition.
00:16:00.29\00:16:03.79
Well, how do you describe
the sinless purity of a man
00:16:03.83\00:16:09.40
like Jesus,
00:16:09.43\00:16:11.83
when He could honestly say,
00:16:11.87\00:16:13.23
"Which of you
convicteth me of sin?"
00:16:13.27\00:16:16.37
John 8:46, or in John 14:30,
00:16:16.40\00:16:20.61
"The prince of this world cometh
00:16:20.64\00:16:23.68
and hath nothing in me,"
00:16:23.71\00:16:25.18
that is, he will
find no response in me
00:16:25.21\00:16:29.08
to the
temptations that he brings.
00:16:29.12\00:16:32.32
There's no such thing as even
the slightest response to it
00:16:32.35\00:16:37.93
or his total devotion
00:16:37.96\00:16:41.03
to serving others is normal.
00:16:41.06\00:16:45.57
He possessed the
power and the means
00:16:45.60\00:16:48.60
to relieve people
of every kind of pain,
00:16:48.64\00:16:51.44
and affliction, and
misery, and heartache.
00:16:51.47\00:16:54.68
But He was so totally
devoted to serving others,
00:16:54.71\00:17:00.18
that while He was being treated
as we have just described,
00:17:00.22\00:17:05.89
and He could have
called down angels from heaven
00:17:05.92\00:17:08.22
to deliver Him from it.
00:17:08.26\00:17:11.03
He preferred to
continue His work of salvation
00:17:11.06\00:17:16.53
and He did to
find personal relief
00:17:16.56\00:17:20.27
and left angels to weep
00:17:20.30\00:17:24.01
as they beheld His agony.
00:17:24.04\00:17:27.68
What a man!
00:17:27.71\00:17:29.04
What a majestic pattern!
00:17:29.08\00:17:31.25
Could you ever be satisfied
with anything less than that?
00:17:31.28\00:17:35.15
I must confess
that I couldn't anymore.
00:17:35.18\00:17:39.55
I'd like to share with you,
00:17:39.59\00:17:41.82
how the Apostle
Paul described his love.
00:17:41.86\00:17:45.19
Only, I'm going to read it
from a different translation
00:17:45.23\00:17:48.16
because I happen to
love what Moffatt says here
00:17:48.20\00:17:51.57
in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,
00:17:51.60\00:17:57.01
"Love is very
patient, very kind,
00:17:57.04\00:18:01.64
love knows no
jealousy, love makes no parade,
00:18:01.68\00:18:06.38
gives itself no ace, is
never rude, never selfish,
00:18:06.41\00:18:12.62
never
irritated, never resentful,
00:18:12.65\00:18:16.49
love is never glad
when others go wrong,
00:18:16.52\00:18:19.79
love is gladdened by
goodness, always slow to expose,
00:18:19.83\00:18:24.83
always eager to
believe the best,
00:18:24.87\00:18:27.44
always hopeful, always patient,
00:18:27.47\00:18:31.51
love never disappears."
00:18:31.54\00:18:35.18
That, my friend, is the pattern.
00:18:35.21\00:18:38.95
Can you honestly be
satisfied with anything less?
00:18:38.98\00:18:44.52
Like you, there have been times
00:18:44.55\00:18:46.96
when I've been disappointed
bitterly with myself,
00:18:46.99\00:18:50.59
because I was a long
way from the pattern.
00:18:50.63\00:18:55.66
And I can remember well
the devil whispering in my ear,
00:18:55.70\00:18:59.17
"What's the use, Dennis,
00:18:59.20\00:19:01.80
why pretend that you
can ever become like Jesus?"
00:19:01.84\00:19:07.21
But then I thought to myself,
00:19:07.24\00:19:10.61
but could I ever be
happy turning to the other?
00:19:10.65\00:19:14.58
Why, no.
00:19:14.62\00:19:15.95
Could I ever be happy
having abandon Jesus Christ?
00:19:15.98\00:19:19.39
Why, no.
00:19:19.42\00:19:21.39
Could I ever be happy
reaching anything else
00:19:21.42\00:19:23.63
but my highest
potential in Christ Jesus?
00:19:23.66\00:19:26.70
Of course not,
00:19:26.73\00:19:28.73
and so I want to
follow the pattern.
00:19:28.76\00:19:34.24
And do you know what,
the wonderful thing is that
00:19:34.27\00:19:37.47
while we may not see
changes taking place in us
00:19:37.51\00:19:41.38
because the changes that
Jesus brings are gradual,
00:19:41.41\00:19:45.15
brought about by His
loving presence in our lives.
00:19:45.18\00:19:48.45
They do become
evident to other people.
00:19:48.48\00:19:51.65
And I think one
reason why He does it slowly.
00:19:51.69\00:19:57.13
And thus it often
can steal from ourselves
00:19:57.16\00:19:59.76
is that the tragic
thing about human nature
00:19:59.79\00:20:03.87
is we're so quick to
crow about our achievements,
00:20:03.90\00:20:07.27
have you noticed that?
00:20:07.30\00:20:08.80
You know, there
was a man one time
00:20:08.84\00:20:10.87
who was brought to a
church I was pastoring,
00:20:10.91\00:20:13.84
by a friend who'd
also been in the hippy
00:20:13.88\00:20:16.81
and the drug movement,
and he was filthy, dirty
00:20:16.85\00:20:21.82
and he had one
of these big afros,
00:20:21.85\00:20:24.55
but the interesting thing that
I wanted to mention was this.
00:20:24.59\00:20:28.09
He would boast about
00:20:28.12\00:20:30.16
how many lice he had in his hair
00:20:30.19\00:20:31.89
and on his body.
00:20:31.93\00:20:33.83
I said, well, how
can anybody be so crazy?
00:20:33.86\00:20:36.00
I really don't understand.
00:20:36.03\00:20:38.43
But I'll tell you
one thing I do know that
00:20:38.47\00:20:40.80
in every country of the world
00:20:40.84\00:20:43.17
society has demanded
ludicrous things of people,
00:20:43.20\00:20:49.44
so that they could
conform to the pattern
00:20:49.48\00:20:51.98
and be considered something.
00:20:52.01\00:20:56.69
Are you conforming to a pattern
00:20:56.72\00:20:59.49
that actually is
bringing you no real happiness?
00:20:59.52\00:21:03.16
And oftentimes a lot of pain?
00:21:03.19\00:21:06.03
And to others too?
00:21:06.06\00:21:07.76
Just simply because it's nice
to conform to those around us
00:21:07.80\00:21:13.13
at least to some extent.
00:21:13.17\00:21:15.77
I want to tell you something.
00:21:15.80\00:21:18.91
When we fix our eyes
upon the typical man,
00:21:18.94\00:21:22.94
the only normal man,
00:21:22.98\00:21:26.48
nothing like that
seems attractive anymore.
00:21:26.51\00:21:29.08
So although, we
sometimes slip and fall,
00:21:29.12\00:21:32.09
our goal remains the same.
00:21:32.12\00:21:36.56
We want to be like Jesus.
00:21:36.59\00:21:40.03
And if we truly
want to be like Jesus,
00:21:40.06\00:21:42.56
if that is our total commitment,
00:21:42.60\00:21:45.97
He has promised that
He will accomplish it.
00:21:46.00\00:21:50.54
One of my favorite texts
00:21:50.57\00:21:52.47
is in the little
book of Philippians,
00:21:52.51\00:21:55.11
and I love it dearly
00:21:55.14\00:21:56.64
because it's
something I can hold on to,
00:21:56.68\00:21:59.81
when I don't always make it
in harmony with the pattern.
00:21:59.85\00:22:05.09
It says, "Work
out your own salvation
00:22:05.12\00:22:08.82
with fear and trembling,"
00:22:08.86\00:22:10.19
and that scares me.
00:22:10.23\00:22:11.56
Because I don't
do that very well
00:22:11.59\00:22:14.13
but then he goes on to say this,
00:22:14.16\00:22:16.10
"For it is God
which work within you,
00:22:16.13\00:22:19.57
both to will and to
do of his good pleasure."
00:22:19.60\00:22:22.67
And the good news
is, God is all powerful,
00:22:22.70\00:22:26.47
He can do
anything He wants to do
00:22:26.51\00:22:29.58
but the one thing He
won't do is force our wills
00:22:29.61\00:22:33.05
because God is love
and love does not force,
00:22:33.08\00:22:36.79
only the devil does that.
00:22:36.82\00:22:39.42
God allows us to
make our own choices.
00:22:39.45\00:22:44.69
And so He says often
in various ways to us,
00:22:44.73\00:22:50.67
"come, follow
me, rest assured that
00:22:50.70\00:22:54.27
if you do, follow me,
00:22:54.30\00:22:56.30
it'll be a good road,
it'll be a happy road,
00:22:56.34\00:23:01.18
it'll be a road you will
never regret having taken,
00:23:01.21\00:23:05.75
because it's the road
00:23:05.78\00:23:08.42
that leads
closer and closer to me,
00:23:08.45\00:23:11.55
and the road that
leads to eternal life."
00:23:11.59\00:23:16.06
So today I appeal to you
00:23:16.09\00:23:21.06
when
opportunities for service come,
00:23:21.10\00:23:25.10
don't look the other way
because it's inconvenient,
00:23:25.13\00:23:29.10
you follow the pattern.
00:23:29.14\00:23:32.17
When everybody
else quits some project
00:23:32.21\00:23:35.91
for not very good reasons
00:23:35.94\00:23:37.55
or at least
even for good reasons
00:23:37.58\00:23:39.71
as far as they're concerned,
00:23:39.75\00:23:42.58
don't you just
follow the pattern.
00:23:42.62\00:23:47.06
When you hear of
somebody's mistakes
00:23:47.09\00:23:49.56
and people are
gossiping about that individual
00:23:49.59\00:23:52.59
and it's easy to
laugh about them.
00:23:52.63\00:23:57.30
Don't do that,
follow the pattern,
00:23:57.33\00:24:02.17
who never hurt
anybody in his life.
00:24:02.20\00:24:05.67
And when someone
spits in your face
00:24:05.71\00:24:10.08
and the inevitable thing is
that you would want to rise up
00:24:10.11\00:24:12.71
and wroth and retaliate,
00:24:12.75\00:24:16.72
follow the pattern.
00:24:16.75\00:24:20.36
One time my Brother told me
about an experience that he had
00:24:20.39\00:24:24.56
when he was a
landscape gardener,
00:24:24.59\00:24:26.46
running his own business.
00:24:26.49\00:24:28.96
And they had some
turf that was delivered,
00:24:29.00\00:24:32.30
a whole truckload of it,
00:24:32.33\00:24:34.74
and when he came he
found the trucker unloading it,
00:24:34.77\00:24:41.64
and he had driven
right across some turfs
00:24:41.68\00:24:45.55
that they had already
laid and completely ruined it.
00:24:45.58\00:24:48.72
And he was upset about it
00:24:48.75\00:24:50.75
and he told the trucker
00:24:50.79\00:24:52.45
that they would have to
pay for it being parried,
00:24:52.49\00:24:56.46
and so he was a big
man, was the trucker,
00:24:56.49\00:24:59.46
and he came with
his fists all screwed up
00:24:59.49\00:25:02.96
and he was going to
punch my brother out.
00:25:03.00\00:25:05.53
Now my brother
happens to be tall too,
00:25:05.57\00:25:07.80
he is 6'2" and
with great big fists.
00:25:07.84\00:25:10.71
I wouldn't want to
get into a fight with him
00:25:10.74\00:25:12.61
but anyway,
00:25:12.64\00:25:14.01
and he instinctively
pulled up his fists too
00:25:14.04\00:25:18.81
and then he remembered Jesus.
00:25:18.85\00:25:21.42
And he said to himself,
00:25:21.45\00:25:23.28
"This is not
right, I can't do this."
00:25:23.32\00:25:27.79
And so do you know what he did?
00:25:27.82\00:25:29.82
He let his hands go down
00:25:29.86\00:25:31.79
and he stripped there
in front of that angry man
00:25:31.83\00:25:33.90
who was about to punch him.
00:25:33.93\00:25:35.66
And he simply
said this, he said,
00:25:35.70\00:25:38.40
"You could hit me if you like
00:25:38.43\00:25:41.27
but that will not alter the fact
00:25:41.30\00:25:45.04
that these turfs
have to be replaced
00:25:45.07\00:25:48.41
at the expense of your firm."
00:25:48.44\00:25:50.48
In other words,
instead of fighting back
00:25:50.51\00:25:52.28
he just stood for what was right
00:25:52.31\00:25:55.18
but he said it
in the right tone.
00:25:55.22\00:25:57.85
The other man's
hands dropped down,
00:25:57.89\00:26:01.32
he no longer
wanted to fight either.
00:26:01.36\00:26:04.23
And a very nasty
situation was averted, how?
00:26:04.26\00:26:08.73
Because that time my
brother followed the pattern.
00:26:08.76\00:26:14.40
My brother or sister,
00:26:14.44\00:26:16.50
Jesus Christ became your brother
00:26:16.54\00:26:20.91
in order that's
standing beside you.
00:26:20.94\00:26:23.75
He may live His life
afresh in this world today.
00:26:23.78\00:26:27.62
To the glory of God the Father
00:26:27.65\00:26:29.88
and to your blessing
00:26:29.92\00:26:31.99
and the blessing
of those around you.
00:26:32.02\00:26:35.42
Will you allow Him to enable you
00:26:35.46\00:26:40.40
to follow the pattern?
00:26:40.43\00:26:44.17
Let the pattern be so
embossed upon your heart
00:26:44.20\00:26:49.24
and upon your life
00:26:49.27\00:26:51.17
that your life becomes
one of total unselfishness,
00:26:51.21\00:26:56.38
of sinless
purity, and utter devotion
00:26:56.41\00:27:00.05
to the service of
others, a life of love.
00:27:00.08\00:27:05.09
And never forget, the
Bible says in Romans 8:29,
00:27:05.12\00:27:10.89
"For whom he did foreknow,
00:27:10.93\00:27:13.09
he also did
predestinate to be conformed
00:27:13.13\00:27:17.47
to the image of his son."
00:27:17.50\00:27:20.77
What a wonderful
miracle that God can take weak,
00:27:20.80\00:27:24.51
sinful Dennis Uffendell,
00:27:24.54\00:27:28.24
and so transform
him that in the end,
00:27:28.28\00:27:32.41
he will truly be like Jesus.
00:27:32.45\00:27:36.69
It's not just His call for
me it's His goal for you too.
00:27:36.72\00:27:42.62
And He's the only one
who can make it a reality,
00:27:42.66\00:27:45.86
not by you gritting your teeth,
but by you looking to Jesus,
00:27:45.89\00:27:51.77
the author and the
finisher of your faith.
00:27:51.80\00:27:56.54
Amen.
00:27:56.57\00:27:57.91