beautiful music
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Hello and
welcome to Faith Chapel.
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My name is Tim Riesenberger
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and I am going to be
sharing the only question God
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asks you in the
judgment. Let us pray...
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Loving Father in
heaven thank You so much that
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You are our Judge at the end
of time. We ask that you would
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bless now as we share
that question that You will ask
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everyone of us.
In Jesus name. Amen.
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When I was on my way here I met
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an airline steward named Charlie
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and as he was walking by
he asked me a question that
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I enjoy hearing from people,
he said, "Why are you so happy?"
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Of course, that's a wide open
door. So I shared with him that
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I am a Christian. He said,
"I knew that you were, I could
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tell. " And then he began to
ask me why I was a Christian?
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How did I come to Know God?
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And I shared with him
that I was a junior in college,
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I had studied with
different denominations.
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And many denominations will say,
if you don't join their church
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then you will be lost! They are
the only ones that are saved...
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and that everyone else is in
error and is going to be failed
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in the judgment.
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I told him that there
is one denomination that
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that did not say that.
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I was rather surprised in
fact. This denomination told me
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that the majority of the people
that will be saved are not in
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their denomination.
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I was shocked! I said,
"Really? Are you sure?"
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Charlie asked me, "Well,
what church did you join?"
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I said, "I became a
Seventh Day Adventist. "
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And he said, "Really?
Is that what they believe?"
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I said, "Yes, that
is what they told me. "
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And I started to question
it because I didn't believe it.
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I said, "You're a Seventh
Day Adventist, surely you think
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that the people who aren't
keeping the Sabbath are lost. "
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And they said, "No. As a matter
of fact we don't believe that. "
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I said, "I can't understand.
Isn't that the main issue
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at the end of time?" They said,
"Yes, we believe it will be. "
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"But God looks at
people for what they know...
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not for what they don't know. "
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In your Bibles we
can read in James 4:17
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So these people
didn't know about the Sabbath
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and therefore
wouldn't be accountable for it.
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When they did learn the
truth then they would be.
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I began to question them further
I said, "Well wait a minute...
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maybe the issue is
if you know Jesus. "
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They said, "Absolutely!
It is very important that you
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know Jesus. But that isn't
even the question either. "
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I said, "Are you kidding, that
doesn't make any sense to me. "
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And they said, "Well, if
you look at Romans you can read
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that the Gentiles who
don't even know about God's law
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will be saved because they have
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the law written
in their hearts. "
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There are some people
who don't know about Jesus
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but they are following
the light that they have. "
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I began to think very carefully
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as these arguments
were presented to me
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and then I realized what was
the only question God would ask.
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But before I reveal that,
I want to share a passage in
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the Bible that comes at the
end of the Mount of Blessings.
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When Jesus speaks to the
multitude He ends with a verse
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Matthew 5:48
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What does it mean
to be perfect though?
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What is that text telling us?
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We'll see at the end
of this presentation.
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I can tell you that I shared
with Charlie on the airplane
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why I became a
Seventh Day Adventist.
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Because it was so clear to
me what the main issue was.
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Not only from what
these people were telling me
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but the teaching
from the Bible itself.
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And I'm going to
share that with you.
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What is the only
question that God will ask you?
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Well, let's turn in our
Bibles to Matthew 25:34-36, 40
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In this passage from the
Bible it is unbelievable...
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God talks nothing of doctrine
He talks nothing of creed...
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He doesn't even list
the Ten Commandments!
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It didn't make sense
until I began to realize
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what the issue is.
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I shared with Charlie on
the plane the reason I became a
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Seventh Day Adventist.
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And I'm going to be
sharing that with you today.
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It wasn't merely that they were
the only denomination that said
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that other people
are saved besides them.
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But that they
followed the Bible.
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And this is what
Jesus said in His Word.
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That the
question in the judgment
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is not a matter of creed.
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It is how you
treat other people.
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The people who are
commended in the judgment
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say to Jesus, "We
never saw you hungry"
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"we never saw you thirsty,
we never saw you naked. "
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"We don't understand. "
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Jesus said, "When you did
it to one of my children... "
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"... you did it to Me. "
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Now I think a
more important question
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is not only what God
asks you in the judgment
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...but why. Why can
He ask you those things?
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Why is that the only question?,
"How you treated other people?"
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Well, I'm going to share
some illustrations with you
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of how we do treat people.
Perhaps they'll be things that
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you've never heard
of. Perhaps they're things
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that are very common.
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But I can tell you
that these are things
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that we as
Christians tend to forget
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about how we treat others.
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But they are vital to our
salvation and the judgment.
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Can you imagine
working in a hospital?
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That's what I do. I work
in the emergency department.
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And I can tell you, in the
ER something that many of my
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students and
residents enjoy is something
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that is life threatening!
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Not because they are
merely adrenaline junkies
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but they like to save people.
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They like to make a difference
where it matters most.
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There is something
that is so deadly it is the
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number one cause of death
especially for young people.
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But unfortunately
it is very common too.
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Ten percent of men will be
afflicted by this disease...
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twenty percent of
women will have this
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at some time in their life.
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A woman came into the ER one day
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and after I talked with her
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after I examined her I
realized she had this disease.
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I was going to
recommend not only treatment
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but admitting her
into the hospital.
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Now unfortunately not everyone
follows the doctor's advice.
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Some patients ask
for a second opinion.
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And that is what she wanted.
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She said she
didn't want the treatment.
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She said she was fine.
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She said she didn't
want to be in the hospital.
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She wanted to go home.
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Now in her country
it was legal to do that.
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But in the
United States of America
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this problem is so serious
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that I as a
physician have the legal right
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to force this treatment
on you against your will!
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I can keep you in the
hospital against your will.
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What is it? I've had people
ask me if it is tuberculosis.
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Is it AIDS? No it is not.
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It is something much
more common than that.
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I am going to share with you a
note that a patient might write.
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They might say,
"Doctor, I am sorrowful"
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"I am deeply distressed"
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"My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful even unto death"
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"Stay here with me, stay near"
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"I am afraid of being alone. "
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I think you'd take
that patient very seriously.
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but you see I have just
paraphrased from the Bible.
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I have just
paraphrased Matthew 26:37, 38.
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These are the
words of Jesus, Himself.
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Jesus who
committed no sin said that He
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was sorrowful even unto death.
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What is this medical condition
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that I can force the treatment
on you against your will?
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It's depression and suicide.
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They're so common in our society
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Now this woman was
actually from Japan
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where it is legal
to refuse treatment
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for depression or
suicidal thoughts.
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But in the US I can admit you
for 3 days against your will.
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Amazingly enough most
of us ignore this problem.
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I'm sure that you've known
a friend or a family member
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who's been depressed.
And what do we say? We say,
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we say, "Well have
you prayed about it?"
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"Brother, did you have
your devotions this morning?"
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"I think you need
to focus in on Jesus. "
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I don't know if
that is the right answer.
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For Jesus Himself said that
He was sorrowful unto death.
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When you're going
through hard times
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when you see
someone else who's depressed
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perhaps the best thing is
to do what Jesus asked for.
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Stay with them, pray
with them, encourage them.
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Don't try to point the finger.
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Do what you can
to just support them.
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Many times in our lives when we
haven't gone through something
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we don't understand
how someone is feeling.
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But I can tell you
that there are many people
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in our society that are
depressed, that are sad.
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Does Jesus understand
how they feel? Yes He does.
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Does Jesus
condemn? No He does not.
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Jesus is there to be
with you, to pray with you.
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Even though none of His
disciples stayed up with Him.
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Even though none of His
disciples were able to stay
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awake for an hour, Jesus
stays awake all night with you.
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And I pray that you would
do the same for other people.
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"Dr. Riesenberger you
have a patient in room 9."
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"Ooh, another
patient... I'm so tired. "
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I listen to one of
the other doctors say,
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"Why do they keep
sending us these patients?
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this is the third
one this afternoon!"
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The charge nurse
comes over with the chart...
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She said, "are you the lucky
one who has the beached whale
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in room 9? there you
go. " Now the beached whale
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she was referring
to was a human being.
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But the sad part of this was the
gentleman was over 450 pounds!
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He was complaining of
severe pain in his abdomen.
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And I determined he was
going to need a CAT scan.
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Unfortunately there was a weight
limit on our scanner and he
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exceeded it. And so I got
on the phone to the local Zoo
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to see if I could
use their CAT scanner.
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They
unfortunately told me, "No. "
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Now there are many people in our
society who because of the way
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they look are shunned by people.
Now many of us come to them and
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say, "Well, maybe you need to
change your diet. Maybe you need
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to exercise more. Do you think
that's what I told this patient?
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I didn't. He already knows!
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I'm calling the Zoo to see
if he can go on the CAT scanner
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He knows there's a
problem. There have been no
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times during my training as a
physician where I openly opposed
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one of my attending physicians
but this was one of them.
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As one of the doctors was going
on and on and on and saying,
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"Ooh! this guy is so big! why
do these people come here"...
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I looked down in sadness,
and I turned to him and I said,
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"You know, what if
this guy was your brother?"
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And he said, "Well
excuse me Father Riesenberger"
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And I said under my breath, "you
know what he is my brother. "
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No matter what a person looks
like God loves them the same,
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and so should we.
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You know I
remember a friend of mine
00:14:21.77\00:14:23.64
who came to a
clinic where I was working
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He was a food service director
for an Adventist hospital.
00:14:25.89\00:14:29.56
And I can tell you he was over-
weight. He had diabetes and high
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blood pressure. But I can tell
you that instead of criticizing
00:14:33.56\00:14:37.14
him, when I finished my under-
graduate work I went to that
00:14:37.17\00:14:40.78
hospital. I lived with
him and I did my internship
00:14:40.81\00:14:43.82
in their department of
Cardiac Rehabilitation.
00:14:43.85\00:14:46.49
As I stayed with he and his wife
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he and I got up at 5
am every morning to walk.
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When you look at that person
who may not fit in to society,
00:14:53.44\00:14:56.83
maybe they're overweight, you
don't see them getting up at 5.
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But I did. I can tell you,
instead of criticizing someone
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why not help them. Why not be
the one who lends a helping hand
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to help them better their lives
instead of criticizing them.
00:15:07.89\00:15:11.90
Something I enjoy very
much is going to church.
00:15:11.93\00:15:16.74
and I can tell you
that the things after church
00:15:16.77\00:15:19.48
are just enjoyable sometimes.
00:15:19.51\00:15:21.95
Something we had
every Sabbath was a potluck.
00:15:21.98\00:15:25.58
And I as a poor starving student
00:15:25.61\00:15:27.92
didn't have a whole lot
of money I didn't have things
00:15:27.95\00:15:29.99
in the refrigerator. But
I always got invited home.
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People were always warm, they
were always welcoming to me.
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Unfortunately, the problem
was that many times I'd have a
00:15:36.96\00:15:41.28
parent following
me in the potluck line
00:15:41.31\00:15:42.92
wanting to give me their
daughters cell phone number!
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A young student, A
young single guy like myself
00:15:45.70\00:15:49.43
gets invited
easily to people's homes.
00:15:49.46\00:15:52.44
But I had a friend who
was never invited home.
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She was a single mom. She
had a child out of wedlock.
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She was in her
40's, she was in her 50's
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She never got invited home.
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There would be excuses
like, "Well I want to protect
00:16:05.59\00:16:09.02
my marriage. I don't
want this woman in my home. "
00:16:09.05\00:16:11.07
But I can tell you that
anyone who can understand
00:16:11.10\00:16:16.76
what it is to be a human being
00:16:16.79\00:16:18.58
knows that we all
need companionship.
00:16:18.61\00:16:21.52
We all need people around us.
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She never got invited because
of the problems in her life.
00:16:23.25\00:16:27.73
It's amazing in our society
that some sins are so severe.
00:16:27.76\00:16:32.81
Some sins cause people to
be avoided like the plague.
00:16:32.84\00:16:36.03
But there are others
that are just glossed over.
00:16:36.06\00:16:38.72
Many sexual sins, perhaps
divorce, perhaps adultery
00:16:38.75\00:16:43.53
homosexuality,
people are shunned,
00:16:43.56\00:16:46.97
people are viewed as outcasts.
00:16:47.00\00:16:49.37
But I can tell you that Jesus
doesn't treat them that way.
00:16:49.40\00:16:52.82
Jesus hates the sin but he loves
the sinner and so should we.
00:16:52.85\00:16:58.82
Back to the question...
00:16:58.85\00:17:01.57
what is that question
00:17:01.60\00:17:03.97
in the judgment?
00:17:04.00\00:17:05.50
It's going to be how
you treat other people.
00:17:05.53\00:17:09.29
I can tell you that
there is no question in my mind
00:17:09.32\00:17:12.71
how Jesus treats
people. He treats them
00:17:12.74\00:17:15.78
as they want to be
treated. And we should too.
00:17:15.81\00:17:20.08
I can tell you that as
we go back to that verse
00:17:20.11\00:17:23.79
in Matthew 5:48, it says,
"Be ye perfect as your Father
00:17:23.82\00:17:30.13
in heaven is perfect.
" Think about it this way
00:17:30.16\00:17:34.69
look at Luke 6:36
00:17:34.72\00:17:43.44
You see the Bible
interprets itself.
00:17:52.00\00:17:54.39
What does it mean to be perfect?
It means to be merciful...
00:17:54.42\00:17:59.50
just as God is merciful.
The same words in the passage
00:17:59.53\00:18:03.69
..."Be ye perfect" are
used in the passage in Luke.
00:18:03.72\00:18:07.57
The same Sermon on the Mount
comes just before that verse
00:18:07.60\00:18:10.98
in Luke just as well as Matthew.
00:18:11.01\00:18:13.00
I can tell you that I
don't think those words
00:18:13.03\00:18:16.84
were used by chance.
00:18:16.87\00:18:18.60
What it means to be perfect,
is it means to love people
00:18:18.63\00:18:22.53
the way God does.
00:18:22.56\00:18:24.55
Why does God get away with only
one question in the judgment?
00:18:24.58\00:18:29.58
Well, I'll tell you why.
If you look at 1 John 4:7
00:18:29.61\00:18:37.67
1 John 4:7
00:18:37.70\00:18:40.64
That's a pretty simple statement
if someone loves, they know God!
00:18:54.10\00:18:58.43
they're born of God,
no doctrines, no creeds
00:18:58.46\00:19:02.76
very simple. God
understands what's in your heart
00:19:02.79\00:19:07.56
by the way you
treat other people.
00:19:07.59\00:19:10.86
I can tell you everyone under-
stands this whether or not you
00:19:10.89\00:19:14.73
understand about a
doctrine or a creed.
00:19:14.76\00:19:18.16
Whether or not you
under- stand about prophecy.
00:19:18.19\00:19:20.38
We can all understand what
it means to treat people well.
00:19:20.41\00:19:24.48
Or not.
00:19:24.52\00:19:26.17
Even a child knows
what it is to be nice
00:19:26.20\00:19:31.81
and what it is to be mean.
00:19:31.84\00:19:33.92
Whether or not we can even speak
we understand this concept.
00:19:33.95\00:19:39.86
It is familiar to young
and old, educated and ignorant.
00:19:39.89\00:19:45.33
And why can God do
this? It's very simple.
00:19:45.36\00:19:48.98
1 John 4:20
00:19:49.01\00:19:53.65
God knows that we will treat Him
00:20:17.44\00:20:21.28
just like we treat
the people around us.
00:20:21.31\00:20:24.37
It's so simple to Him.
Perhaps someone doesn't know
00:20:24.40\00:20:29.35
about tithing, about giving
ten percent of their income.
00:20:29.38\00:20:33.35
But God knows how
you are going to respond.
00:20:33.38\00:20:36.48
When you learn about that truth
00:20:36.51\00:20:38.89
He already has an indicator
of your response to Him.
00:20:38.92\00:20:42.77
We will treat
God in the same way
00:20:42.80\00:20:46.08
we treat the
person right next to us!
00:20:46.11\00:20:48.65
Perhaps you don't
know about the Sabbath...
00:20:48.68\00:20:51.07
but God knows what
your response will be
00:20:51.10\00:20:55.11
depending on how
you treat other people.
00:20:55.14\00:20:57.23
You see, someone
who is truly loving
00:20:57.26\00:20:59.97
someone who treats others well
00:21:00.00\00:21:02.20
knows more
about God than someone
00:21:02.23\00:21:05.45
who has
memorized the whole Bible.
00:21:05.48\00:21:07.83
God knows that the
treatment vertically to Him
00:21:07.86\00:21:12.40
is dependent on the horizontal
00:21:12.43\00:21:14.61
relationship we
share with others.
00:21:14.64\00:21:17.55
I'm going to share with
you a very moving passage
00:21:17.58\00:21:22.47
from a book,
"The Desire of Ages. "
00:21:22.50\00:21:24.40
It's on page 640 and it
talks about this very thing
00:21:24.43\00:21:28.43
that we're discussing.
00:21:28.46\00:21:29.64
Desire of Ages tells us,
"Love to man is the earthward
00:21:29.67\00:21:37.34
manifestation of the love of
God. It was to implant this love
00:21:37.37\00:21:42.90
to make us children
of one family that the
00:21:42.93\00:21:45.94
King of Glory became one with us
and when His parting words are
00:21:45.97\00:21:51.23
fulfilled, "Love one another
even as I have loved you. "
00:21:51.26\00:21:56.18
When we love the
world as He has loved it
00:21:56.21\00:22:00.60
then for us His
mission is accomplished
00:22:00.63\00:22:03.67
we are fitted for heaven for
we have heaven in our hearts. "
00:22:03.70\00:22:08.36
I can tell you the airline
steward was very impressed.
00:22:08.39\00:22:15.64
with what I shared with
him. But it is so simple.
00:22:15.67\00:22:18.92
It's something
directly from the Bible.
00:22:18.95\00:22:21.51
Whether you are white or black,
red or yellow, male or female
00:22:21.54\00:22:26.57
ignorant or not. Whatever
culture or race you are from,
00:22:26.60\00:22:30.33
no matter what you
understand about the Bible.
00:22:30.36\00:22:33.25
Whether you know it all
or whether you know nothing
00:22:33.28\00:22:36.12
this concept never changes.
00:22:36.15\00:22:39.40
How you treat other people,
that is what matters more
00:22:39.43\00:22:43.94
than anything else.
00:22:43.97\00:22:45.70
Because God knows your
response to Him is dependant
00:22:45.73\00:22:49.26
on your response to others.
00:22:49.29\00:22:51.72
I'm going to share
and close with a testimony
00:22:51.75\00:22:55.17
from my own life.
00:22:55.20\00:22:56.81
I love my family
00:22:56.84\00:23:01.23
more than anything
00:23:01.26\00:23:02.23
else on this earth.
00:23:02.24\00:23:03.64
But sometimes families
00:23:03.67\00:23:05.88
have problems. I can
tell you that my sister
00:23:05.91\00:23:10.89
is probably the most precious
member of my family to me.
00:23:10.92\00:23:14.95
She's the youngest.
She's the only girl.
00:23:14.98\00:23:18.15
When she was just 19, she
had a massive bleed in her brain
00:23:18.18\00:23:23.59
from something called an AVM.
00:23:23.62\00:23:26.15
They called me from school
00:23:26.18\00:23:29.46
They asked me are you Tim
Riesenberger? I said, "Yes. "
00:23:29.49\00:23:33.09
"Is your sister
Diana Riesenberger?"
00:23:33.12\00:23:35.95
I said, "yes... " "I
have some bad news for you. "
00:23:35.98\00:23:40.32
"She has had a
massive bleed in her brain...
00:23:40.35\00:23:42.97
"she is in critical condition.
Can you come be with her?"
00:23:43.00\00:23:48.13
I was on the other
side of the country.
00:23:48.16\00:23:49.93
She was in the northwest.
I was on the east coast.
00:23:49.96\00:23:53.49
I shot out there
as soon as I could.
00:23:53.52\00:23:57.86
My sister was so serious that
at one point she could not move
00:23:57.89\00:24:02.62
The right side of her
body. She was paralyzed.
00:24:02.65\00:24:07.02
Can you imagine as a
teenager not being able to move?
00:24:07.05\00:24:11.46
She went to one of the
best places to be treated.
00:24:11.49\00:24:17.17
They did all that
they could to try to shrink
00:24:17.20\00:24:20.65
this malformation in her head.
00:24:20.68\00:24:22.63
And then finally to take it out.
00:24:22.66\00:24:25.07
But they failed. They were not
able to get it out of her head.
00:24:25.10\00:24:28.94
So they had to resort to a
radiation called Gamma Knife.
00:24:28.97\00:24:33.70
The problem with this is that
it takes 2 to 5 years to work.
00:24:33.73\00:24:40.54
And I said, "What's going
to happen during that time?"
00:24:40.57\00:24:43.34
They said unfortunately
she has a 10 percent chance
00:24:43.37\00:24:47.34
of bleeding again, and
that chance will multiply
00:24:47.37\00:24:51.09
every single year.
00:24:51.12\00:24:54.41
I of course was very
worried. And I immediately moved
00:24:54.44\00:24:58.11
to the Pacific Northwest.
00:24:58.14\00:24:59.82
I lived with my
sister. I stayed with her.
00:24:59.85\00:25:03.19
I did everything I
could to support her.
00:25:03.22\00:25:06.48
Because I didn't know
if tomorrow was going to be
00:25:06.51\00:25:11.14
her last day. Well thank
God she ended up being cured.
00:25:11.17\00:25:16.50
She ended up being healed.
00:25:16.53\00:25:18.56
But unfortunately some
very hard times came upon her
00:25:18.59\00:25:22.94
during this moment.
00:25:22.97\00:25:24.55
You see because when she
had this bleeding in her brain
00:25:24.58\00:25:28.46
she got into some
arguments with my parents.
00:25:28.49\00:25:32.08
My parents loving though as
they were did not understand
00:25:32.11\00:25:36.69
the seriousness
of her condition.
00:25:36.72\00:25:39.10
And at one point they
got into such a bad argument
00:25:39.13\00:25:43.23
that my parents said,
"Look, you are on your own. "
00:25:43.26\00:25:46.30
And I reasoned with
them. I said, "Look, she is 19
00:25:46.33\00:25:50.89
she's 20 she's
a college student.
00:25:50.92\00:25:53.41
She cannot get a job to
support an insurance payment.
00:25:53.44\00:25:58.09
And if she loses that
insurance no one will touch
00:25:58.12\00:26:01.84
her with a 10 foot pole. " We
calculated the amount of money
00:26:01.87\00:26:06.70
that would have been
paid for my sisters treatment
00:26:06.73\00:26:09.07
if it was all out of
pocket. It was over $1 million!
00:26:09.10\00:26:12.90
I wasn't making very much money
I had just graduated from school
00:26:12.93\00:26:17.56
and so I did the best I
could to try to help my sister.
00:26:17.59\00:26:22.35
I told her, "Look, sis. We're
going to get you through college
00:26:22.38\00:26:26.32
we're going to get you
through this thing in your head
00:26:26.35\00:26:28.02
and you're gonna be alright. "
00:26:28.05\00:26:29.85
I paid for her insurance,
I paid for her tuition.
00:26:29.88\00:26:33.55
I paid for her
housing, I did what I could.
00:26:33.58\00:26:36.47
to keep her alive because
I didn't know how much longer
00:26:36.50\00:26:40.39
I would have her.
00:26:40.42\00:26:41.39
My sister was not a
Christian at that time.
00:26:41.40\00:26:48.68
She was an atheist.
00:26:48.71\00:26:49.68
Whenever I would
even pray over my meals
00:26:49.69\00:26:52.14
I would invite her
to pray and she'd say,
00:26:52.17\00:26:53.65
"Well Tim, that's ok
for you, but not for me. "
00:26:53.68\00:26:57.28
But something
changed during those years.
00:26:57.31\00:27:01.78
And eventually my sister called
me seemingly out of the blue.
00:27:01.81\00:27:06.96
She said, "Tim, can you teach me
to study the Bible and to pray?"
00:27:06.99\00:27:13.28
I said, "Of course! Sure I
will. I'll be right over. "
00:27:13.31\00:27:16.85
And I went over and we prayed.
00:27:16.88\00:27:19.13
I taught her how to give
her heart to Jesus and she did.
00:27:19.16\00:27:23.42
All of her
depression, all of her anxiety
00:27:23.45\00:27:27.26
all of her
problems seemed to melt away
00:27:27.29\00:27:30.11
when she gave her heart to Jesus
00:27:30.14\00:27:31.55
But the thing that was
important to me was, 'Why. '
00:27:31.58\00:27:34.86
I said, "Diana
what turned you around?"
00:27:34.89\00:27:37.42
I don't understand and
she said, "Tim don't you see
00:27:37.45\00:27:40.71
I saw God, I knew
about Him through you.
00:27:40.74\00:27:45.69
The way you treated me
00:27:45.72\00:27:47.31
was how I saw God
would love me as well. "
00:27:47.34\00:27:50.79
That is the most
important question in our lives
00:27:50.82\00:27:54.12
and in the judgment.
00:27:54.15\00:27:56.10