Participants: Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP170311A
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00:10 [ "Holy is the Lord" plays ] 00:22 [ Congregation sings ] 02:27 ♪♪ 02:40 >> How awesome is it to stand in the presence of a God who is so 02:45 mighty that we can't help but fall on our faces and worship 02:49 Him? 02:50 And yet this is the same God that daily calls us to a relationship with Him, whose 02:56 heart jumps for joy when we freely accept His love, allowing it to transform us from the 03:03 inside out. This is a God that is worthy of all of our praise. 03:09 So let us sing to Him. Holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. 03:15 Sing with me. 03:39 Let's sing it again. 06:07 Amen. You all may be seated. [ "I Give You My Heart" plays ] 09:02 [ "How Great is Our God" plays ] [ Congregation sings ] 09:53 [ "I Give You My Heart" plays ] 10:25 As we sing our next song, I invite those of you that have something on your hearts to come 10:31 forward as we begin our prayer appeal. [ Speak, O Lord" plays ] 10:41 [ Congregation sings ] 13:59 Let's sing that again. 14:28 ♪♪ 17:30 ♪♪ 18:29 >> Speaking of storm, may I just blurt this out? 18:32 We are living in a crazy and convoluted time. 18:34 Have you noticed? I mean, people don't know what 18:39 to think. People don't know whom to 18:43 believe. We can't trust our politicians. 18:46 We can't trust the news. It may be fake news. 18:50 We can't trust each other for some crazy reason. 18:55 Convoluted confusion. In fact, of late, I've been saying, you know, it feels 19:01 like -- it feels like controlled chaos, that somebody's actually running this thing. 19:09 And all these bloopers are actually designed to keep us off sync to throw us off of our 19:15 game. Confusion. Moral confusion, let alone 19:21 emotional and psychological confusion or all of the above. My friend Gordon Bietz, in his 19:30 last editorial before he retired as president of Southern Adventist University, in the 19:37 Southern Columns, which is a little magazine sent to us Southern grads and alum. 19:43 In the Southern Columns, he quotes James Hunter. This is so dynamite, I have got 19:47 to share it with you. James Hunter, who wrote the book "The Death of Character: Moral 19:53 Education in an Age Without Good or Evil," he provocatively identifies this age in which you 19:59 and I are living. Put the words on the screen. There's a study guide not for 20:03 fill in, but you just get to keep it, and it'll have all these quotes on it. 20:06 Didn't get one, here come our friend, the ushers, your way, but I'm going now. 20:10 So let's put Hunter's words on the screen. 20:32 Now hit the pause button right there. Here's what he's saying. 20:34 I know it's a lot of big words right there, but hold on. In order to find strength of 20:39 character -- here's what he's saying. In order for us to find strength 20:42 of character -- By the way, the very opposite of the food fight we're experiencing right now 20:45 with the news media and presidential politics, all right, the very opposite of 20:48 that. We're talking about news, we're talking about social media, 20:51 we're talking about politicians, we're talking about entertainers, this business of 20:58 trash-mouth trash talk. Everybody's gone crazy. You want moral sanity and moral 21:05 order? This is what Hunter is saying. If you want moral character, 21:11 we're gonna need moral creed, we're gonna need moral codes to -- how did he put it here? -- 21:16 to constrain us, bind us, obligate us, compel us. But we're deciding -- apparently 21:20 as a society, we're deciding that the price is too high to pay. 21:23 No, no, I'm not gonna pay that high a price. Now he goes on. 21:26 Back on the screen. Here's us -- 2017. 21:50 Boy, this is good. 21:55 Don't you tell me what I can't do. I can do anything I want, but I 21:58 also want moral community. You can't have it. 22:10 Hmm. For such a time as this, how then shall we live? 22:18 I want you to open your Bible right now. I want you to see this for 22:22 yourself, one of the most tantalizing lines in all of Holy Scripture. 22:26 I'm telling you the truth. Open your Bible. It's not gonna be hard to find 22:29 this verse because it's in the Book of Beginnings, the Book of Genesis. 22:32 Go back to Genesis Chapter 5, please. Didn't bring a Bible, grab the 22:35 pew Bible in front of you. Easy page to find. Beginning of Genesis. 22:38 Genesis Chapter 5. Take a look at this. Let's pick it up in verse 21. 23:02 Verse 23. 23:07 Verse 24. 23:19 There it is. What a line. Enoch walked with God. 23:24 So tantalizingly simple. So matter of fact. Enoch walked with God. 23:30 I love going on long walks with people I like. Right? 23:34 Why? Because we have time together. I just love it. 23:37 We have time together. What do we do? You just walk and talk together. 23:40 You just walk and talk, walk and talk. Doesn't matter how long. 23:45 You're together. Walk and talk. Walk and talk. 23:48 Sometimes you walk in silence. You don't say a word because it's just being in each other's 23:52 presence. That's all that matters. Walk and talk. 23:56 Enoch walked with God. And you know what? I know your heart. 24:00 There's something deep inside all of us that when we read or hear those words, something just 24:06 kind of leaps and we wonder. Man, could I do that? Could that happen to me? 24:14 Could I walk and talk with the Almighty God of the universe? Why not? 24:23 "Yeah, but, Dwight, I'm just not -- Yeah, but I'm not sure." How would you do it? 24:29 You're not gonna believe this. It is exceedingly simple. The only other major passage on 24:35 Enoch in the Bible is at the end of the Bible, Hebrews. So go to the Book of Hebrews 24:39 now. We were in Genesis. Now we go to Hebrews. 24:41 Let's go the Bible hall of faith, hall of fame chapter. This is the hall of fame. 24:46 These are the people exactly like you and me but became known because of how they lived. 24:52 This is Hebrews 11. Okay, so you found Hebrews 11? Drop down to verse 5. 25:15 Enoch walked with God. How? By faith. Not by sight. No. 25:20 Not by sound. Not by touch. He walked only by faith. "By faith Enoch walked with 25:26 God." Plain and simple. By faith. 25:30 And what makes this all so tantalizing? I mean, come on. 25:32 Let's be honest. What makes this so tantalizing? I mean, you think of the life of 25:37 this man, walking with God from the age of 65 to 365 years. That's 300 years of walking day 25:45 after day after day after year after year after year after year. 25:50 Those of us who despair of walking with God even for one day. 25:53 300 years? Until one day, Enoch and God are walking and talking together, 26:00 and this is the way I kind of imagine it. God must have said to him, "Yo, 26:04 Enoch, looks like you're closer to my house than your house. You want to come home with Me?" 26:13 And with a smile, God throws wide a door, and Enoch steps into heaven without dying. 26:21 Without dying. Wow. 26:31 And what's making this so tantalizing is a single line written a century ago. 26:36 I got to share this with you. Unbelievable. This is from the classic 26:41 "Christ's Object Lessons." Put the words on the screen. "In every phase of your 26:46 character building" -- I like that, because character building is in phases. 26:49 It's like growing flowers. Mr. Roy knew the trick. You got to just stay through the 26:53 phases. You'll eventually get this beautiful blossom, but stay 26:57 through the phases. "In every phase" -- How does it go here? -- "In every phase of 27:02 your character building" -- Obviously growth is taking place -- "you are to please 27:05 God," just like Enoch. "This you may do; for Enoch pleased Him though living in a 27:11 degenerate age." Yo, Enoch, welcome to 2017. Degenerate age. Come on. 27:18 But here comes the line. The italics are mine. "And there are Enochs in this 27:25 our day." Did you catch that? "There are Enochs in this our 27:34 day." Right now. Maybe right here. 27:39 Don't look around. Don't look around. 27:47 I've known some Enochs in my lifetime. 27:51 I've known some men, I've known some women, I've known some 27:54 young adults on this campus. I've known some teens. 27:58 I have known human beings in my lifetime who were Enoch in our 28:03 midst. You know why? 28:05 Because they have such a walk with God. 28:07 It's written all over their faces. 28:08 I came to the early morning prayer meeting this last week. 28:11 7:00 at night, 7:00 in the morning, 7:00 at night, Wednesday I went to both, and 28:17 there was this co-ed. She's praying. I can hardly hear the circle. 28:21 I'm on the opposite end. But she's praying, and I open my eyes to look at her, and her 28:27 face is just like she's talking to God right now. And I'm like, "Whoa." 28:37 "By faith Enoch walked with God." Question -- Can we have that 28:42 same faith? Answer -- I do believe we can. I do believe we can. 28:46 You want to be one of them? In this morally corrupt and confused and chaotic age, would 28:51 you like to be one of God's Enochs in this our day? I know you would. 28:56 So I want to share with you the secret to Enoch's life. He didn't know it, but it's 29:01 John 15:5. That's the secret. Take a look at this. 29:04 This has been our theme text for this entire "Storm" series. We kept touching base with it, 29:10 touch base with it, go back to John 15:5. We're doing the same. 29:13 I want you to see it in your own Bible, bright red letters. Jesus has left the upper room. 29:18 You'll see at the end of Chapter 14, it says, "Let's get out of here." 29:22 So that's Jesus telling his 11 now that are left. He says, "Let's go." 29:25 And they go, and he stops, and the silver light of the Passover full moon -- always full on 29:30 Passover -- he stops by a trellis, a vineyard vine trellis, and he speaks these 29:38 words while he's holding the fruit. He speaks these words. 29:41 Verse 5. 30:01 Zero. Nada. Nothing. You can't. And what's very interesting to me is that this is precisely how 30:10 Jesus himself lived. No kidding. Let me just run these -- Don't 30:13 even look them up. They're in John, but just put them on the screen, please, for 30:17 us. El presto. John 5:19, Jesus speaking. 30:23 There's this little incident, and he makes this statement. "I can do nothing by myself." 30:27 Yo, timeout, Jesus. Are you saying you could not do any healing by yourself? 30:30 "That's what I'm saying, boy." Are you saying the teachings that you came up with, you could 30:34 not do by -- "I'm just telling you." The people's lives that you 30:38 radically transformed, you didn't do that by -- "No. 30:41 I could do nothing by myself. And by the way, I could do nothing, and neither can you. 30:46 You can do nothing by yourself. As I needed the Father, you need me." 30:51 Wow. In fact, that point is so important that before the 30:53 incident is over in John 5:30 -- put it on the screen -- he repeats it just to make sure we 30:57 got it. "By myself, I can do nothing, for I seek not to please" -- 31:04 Ooh, isn't that something? -- "I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." 31:10 Looks like Jesus was just like Enoch. He walked with God by faith just 31:14 like Enoch. He pleased God by faith just like Enoch. 31:21 Apparently Jesus did not have some sort of inside track to the omnipotence of heaven. 31:27 Nope. "I couldn't do a thing. I could not do a thing." 31:31 [ Scoffs ] Wow. In fact, he really nails it here in the upper room. 31:35 So they've left the upper room. They're down by the vines now. But look at John 14:10. 31:40 Put it on the screen for you. "Don't you believe" -- Jesus 31:42 speaking to this disciples -- "that I am in the Father, and 31:44 that the Father is in me?" "Look, I'm asking you to be in 31:46 me. I want to be in you. 31:47 But I'm in the Father. The Father's in me. 31:49 Don't you believe?" 31:58 Lo and behold, what Jesus asks us to be with him, the Gospel 32:02 truth is, he was that with the Father. 32:05 "Abide in Me and I in you. Abide in Me and I in you." 32:08 It's the same. That's how Jesus walked with 32:12 God. That's how Enoch walked with 32:14 God. That's how you and I will walk 32:16 with God. Same way. 32:18 Because the great credo of Jesus' life was the great credo 32:23 of Enoch's life. 32:24 And it must become the great credo of your life and my life. That's only seven words long. 32:29 Here's the other verse that we've been going back to every part of this series. 32:32 I'll put it on the screen for you, and let's read it out loud together. 32:35 Hebrews 2:13 Jesus said -- Now let's just read the words he said. 32:46 Seven words. I will live by this. I will put my trust in Him. 32:51 You know what? It was during this series that God came to me and said, 32:55 "Dwight, guess what? This one was for you. I'm asking you, Dwight, now for 33:03 the rest of your life till I come to live by those seven words. 33:08 It was my credo when I was here. I give it to you." I've read these words throughout 33:14 my life, my ministry, but never as they have sunk into this tiny, little brain in this 33:21 seven-part series. "I will put my trust in Him." Which means, by the way, that 33:32 when you walk by faith, you will be like Jesus. Because he walked by faith, so 33:39 you'll be like him when you walk by faith. Does that make sense? 33:41 Yeah, in fact, let me show you this. Put it on the screen. 33:44 This is amazing. "By faith Enoch walked with God." 33:46 We just read that in Genesis 5. What did we read in Hebrews 2? "By faith Jesus walked with 33:50 God." Here's another one. "By faith Enoch pleased God." 33:53 Hebrews 11. What did we just read? John 5:30. 33:56 "By faith Jesus pleased God." Enoch was like Jesus. Jesus was like Enoch. 34:01 And we've been called to be like them. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:9. 34:05 Not gonna put it on the screen for you. 2 Corinthians 5:9. 34:11 "We make it our aim," Paul writes, "to please Him." That's what we live for. 34:17 We live to please Him. When you walk by faith, you will be like Jesus. 34:23 And guess what? The longer you walk with him, the more you will be like him. 34:30 I love elderly people. I know what you're thinking. "Yeah, you ought to love them. 34:35 You're getting close." [ Laughter ] That was really mean of you to 34:37 say, by the way. You were thinking that. I could see that. 34:41 Just erase that from your mind. I love elderly people. Truly, truly, I just love them. 34:47 So when we came as this kid pastor and a beautiful wife to this parish, when I wanted to 34:53 start getting acquainted with the congregation, in the afternoons, if I was gonna meet 34:57 anybody, I would have to meet people who were already retired. They're living at home. 35:00 They're of age now, and they're living at home. So one afternoon -- Oh, this is 35:03 incredible -- One afternoon, I'm out here on Campus Drive, which is this circle -- It's the drive 35:08 that goes around the campus, okay? There's a little house there. 35:11 I knock at the door. They come to the door. I'm talking about the residents 35:14 of this house. Who are they? They are Alma and 35:17 Victor Campbell. Now, Victor Campbell, for years, was the head of the farm. 35:22 The agriculture department at Andrews University. By the way, do you know this? 35:26 We are one of the rare universities in the United States that still has a 35:33 farm and dairy program, okay? So he was the head of the dairy for years. 35:37 Put their picture on the screen. He was the head of the dairy for years. 35:41 And that's his wife, Alma. She taught at Emmanuel Missionary College -- Academy. 35:45 Used to be called -- It's Andrews Academy now. And then she graduated from 35:49 Academy and she taught English at Emmanuel Missionary College. A lovely couple. 35:55 So we sat down together as pastors do when they make calls. We sat down together, and, of 35:59 course, I started asking questions like who the children in those pictures and "oh, my, 36:03 did you embroider this yourself? Whoa. It's beautiful." That's what pastors do. 36:07 They just ask questions. And so then I say, "Yeah, listen, I need to find out about 36:11 you two. Tell me your story. How long you been here at 36:14 Andrews University?" Yeah, it was Andrews University at that time. 36:17 And something began to happen. I'm noticing an intriguing pattern, and I could not help 36:23 but smiling inside of me. I would not smile out loud. I smiled inside. 36:28 And that was every time I asked her a question, she would start the answer, and he'd butt in and 36:35 finish it. [ Laughter ] So I said, "You're not getting 36:38 this. I'll ask her another one." [ Snaps fingers ] Same thing. 36:41 I said, "I'll reverse it. I'll ask him." So I asked him a question. 36:44 He'd start it, pssh, she'd slip in. She'd slip in and answer it. 36:49 I suddenly realized what was going on. Here are these dear saints. 36:52 Here are these dear lovers who have lived so long together that they practically know each 36:57 other's mind before the words are even spoken. And when the words are spoken, 37:01 they can finish them. That's what we're talking about here. 37:06 Walk and talk and walk and talk. The time will come when the more you share life together, the 37:15 more you will share likeness together. I saw it. 37:21 Which is why when you walk by faith, you'll be like Jesus. Because that's how it works. 37:27 In fact, let me tell you really technically how it works. Great music, Matt, on a lot of 37:32 this on the Trinity, and I'm so glad you did that. I want you to see this in 37:37 John 14. We won't go back there. We'll put it on the screen. 37:41 Jesus makes a very interesting statement. Watch this. 37:43 He's talking to the 11 who are left. 37:45 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another 37:48 advocate" -- or comforter or counselor, depending on your 37:50 translation -- "to help you and" -- look at this -- "be with 37:53 you forever." Keep reading. 37:55 Who is this? Who is this, Lord? Ah, he's the spirit of truth. 37:58 He's talking about the Holy Spirit. 38:08 One more line. 38:15 "He will be me." We're different. You understand? 38:22 "But I got five fingers on each hand now, and I can be in only place at one time. 38:27 But I'm not gonna leave the orphans. I will come to you. 38:31 The Holy Spirit will be the one who is with you. The Holy Spirit will be the one 38:35 you will walk with. The Holy Spirit will be the one you talk with. 38:38 And the Holy Spirit will only talk about me," because he says at the end of Chapter 15, "he 38:43 will testify on me." The Holy Spirit never comes into your life and says, "Yo-ho! 38:47 Whoo-hoo! I'm here!" Never says it at all. When he comes in, you know what 38:52 he says? "Jesus is here. You called. 38:55 You called. I'm here." And it's always a sense of 38:59 Jesus. And when the Holy Spirit speaks, ooh, boy, when the Holy Spirit 39:06 speaks the omnipotent word of the Word made flesh, in half a nanosecond -- you remember how 39:11 this goes? -- in half a nanosecond, the God who says, "Let there be light," in half a 39:15 nanosecond when you read the beatitude "blessed are the pure in heart," and there's something 39:18 inside of you that says, "Amen, God. 39:20 I want to be the pure in heart. Make me like Jesus. 39:23 Let me be pure in heart." When you say amen, and then in 39:26 half a nanosecond, God says, "Let the purity of Christ be in 39:29 her," boom! And you got it. 39:31 "Let the purity of Christ be in him." 39:32 Boom! You got it. Almighty, omnipotent word. 39:38 And when He hears you speak His word back to Him and you say "amen," boom! 39:43 You got it. Man. "Blessed are the meek." 39:48 Oh, God, I want to be meek. I want to be humble like Jesus. Please. 39:52 In less than half a nanosecond, if you say "amen" when you read the word, "amen," boom! 39:56 You've got it. If any woman is in Christ, if any man is in Christ, she, he is 40:02 a new creation just like that. Remember, the spirit hovers over the waters at the beginning of 40:06 creation. Don't kid yourself. All three were there for that 40:09 creation. The spirit was there. Boom! 40:14 Wow. "By faith Enoch walked with God." 40:22 Ellen White back in 1891 described Enoch this way. This is just beautiful. 40:26 You'll take this home in the study guide. Put her words on the screen, 40:31 please. 40:37 Yeah, we just read that. "He made Christ" -- now here you go -- "He made Christ his 40:42 constant" -- what? what? -- "companion." Hit the pause button right 40:46 there. Walk and talk. That's what he's doing. 40:49 Walk and talk. Walk and talk. By faith. 40:53 He didn't see a face. He didn't hear a voice. He didn't feel a touch. 40:57 It was all by faith, exactly as you and me, exactly as our Lord. "By faith Enoch walked with 41:05 God." And this is what gets me. "And there are Enochs in this 41:10 our day." Put the quotation back up. Let's keep going. 41:16 "He" -- Enoch -- "was in the world, and performed his duties to the world." 41:19 So he has a job. Look. He's got to earn a living. He's got a job. 41:22 He's in the world. It's okay. You can still walk with God. "But he was ever under the 41:26 influence" -- talking about driving under the influence. There it is. 41:30 "He was ever under the influence of Jesus. 41:33 He reflected Christ's character," like Mr. Roy. 41:42 "His association with Christ day by day" -- Oh, here it goes -- 41:46 "day by day transformed him into the image of Him with whom he 41:50 was so intimately connected." 41:53 "Abide in Me and I in you." By faith. You don't feel a thing. 41:57 By faith. I'm there. You're here. "Abide in Me. 42:02 Walk with Me. Girl, boy, talk back to Me. Talk to Me. 42:08 I want to hear from you. Are you listening to Me? I'm talking to you." 42:14 Just like Enoch. Wow. Because when you walk by faith, 42:19 you'll be like Jesus. People start seeing it. Well, what's up with that? 42:25 I couldn't tell you what these plants looked like, these flowers looked like yesterday, 42:28 but I can tell you what they look like today. I don't know how much growth 42:31 took place between yesterday and today, but they sure are beautiful. 42:33 And it looks like these petals just continue to open. You can't see it. 42:38 Only the people that see you and then come back and see you later say, "Whoa, something happened 42:43 here." "And there are Enochs in this our day." 42:49 One more line from this quotation. 43:03 Do you remember when we used to wear these little bands that had 43:05 WWJD on it? 43:06 Remember that? WWJD. What'd it stand for? "What Would Jesus Do?" 43:10 You remember that? It was a big craze. That's how Enoch lived. 43:13 He would keep asking this question. Circle it in your study guide. 43:17 Keep it in your mind. Is this the way of the Lord? God, God, God, God. 43:22 I'm getting ready to walk into that boardroom. Is this Your mind on this? 43:28 Am I okay with this? I'm getting ready to ring a doorbell. 43:33 I'm getting ready to make a call. God, do I have Your mind on 43:36 this? Is this the way of the Lord? 43:38 And then the last line. Oh, this is beautiful. 43:52 He walked with God. He walked with the Father and he 43:54 walked with the Son, and he had the Holy Spirit in him. 43:57 The whole Trinity was engaged in Enoch's life. And by the way, the whole 44:01 Trinity is engaged in your life. You may be thinking that you're walking all alone. 44:05 You may be thinking that nobody's caring about me in heaven right now. 44:08 You got 1/3 of the Trinity in your heart. You have the other two are 44:12 connected with you as if there were no other living human being on this planet. 44:16 God is so able to focus His mind that He is only with you, exclusively yours. 44:22 "Talk to Me. Come on. Talk to Me. What do you want? 44:27 What can I do for you? I'm not a genie in a bottle. I'm your friend. 44:33 Abide in Me and I in you." Ladies and gentlemen, it's that simple. 44:43 God is raising up a generation of Enochs who will keep the faith of Jesus. 44:56 The storm generation. And I do believe I can say this with all the integrity of my 45:01 soul. I do believe He's calling you. No kidding. 45:04 I do believe He's calling you. The big question is -- Come on, come on. 45:08 The big question is, do you hear Him calling you? I know He's calling you. 45:13 Do you hear Him calling you? I want to end with a story. It talks about how you can hear 45:22 Him. The story's preceded by a quotation. 45:26 It's from Mark Labberton, who is the president of Fuller Theological Seminary. 45:30 He wrote a piece in the latest Christianity Today magazine in which he describes how when he 45:35 believed in no God at all, he picked up the Bible one day and said, "I'm gonna read this just 45:41 like a plain, old book." So what you're gonna hear now is a first-person testimony, okay? 45:45 Put his words on the screen. "I started to read the New Testament just as I was 45:48 about to enter college," like some of you. 46:14 There's some of you who've walked into church today. You weren't here for parts 1, 2, 46:17 3, 4, 5, and 6. You're not even sure why you're here today, but you're here, and 46:20 there's something happening inside of you right now that's saying, "Man, this is more than 46:25 just a cutesy, little picture. There's something going on with those words, 'And he walked with 46:31 God by faith.'" Some of you who are channel surfing and you just happened to 46:39 land on this moment. Some of you are at our website. You're looking for some archived 46:43 video, and you happen to pick this one, and boom, suddenly the Eternal is speaking to you. 46:52 What would happen if you picked up this book and just started reading it like a book? 46:56 You can start with the Gospels if you want. You can start with Genesis. 46:59 Be my guest. But what would happen if you just picked this up and started 47:02 reading? Could it be that the Eternal of the universe would start 47:11 whispering to you? Mark Labberton did that. He describes how his reading 47:15 expanded. Put his words back up on the screen. 47:23 The kingdom of God is the antidote. 47:25 It's huge. 47:52 Could it be that God has -- Hit the pause button there. Could it be that God is calling 47:57 you out of your smallness right now? Your life feels small. 48:01 It just doesn't feel like it has any nobility and destiny and purpose to it. 48:06 Could it be God is calling you out of your smallness right now? "Come talk to Me. 48:14 Come on. Let Me talk to you. And then talk back to Me." 48:22 Mind -- with capital M -- Mind Intellect -- with capital I -- Intellect connect. 48:30 Labberton... 49:01 "By faith Enoch walked with God." And by the way, he didn't have 49:07 this. All he had was what was passed from father to child, father to 49:11 child. The maker of all things loves and wants you. 49:13 That's what I want you to remember. The father would tell his 49:16 children, "The maker of all things loves and wants you." And one day he reached out to 49:22 this maker and connected. [ Sighs ] 49:28 "However," his words to end here. 49:57 That's what we've been talking about -- a life that begins to 49:58 look like the Word made flesh. 50:04 I like this. 50:12 "This is the perspicuity" -- Yeah, I'd never seen that word, 50:16 either. Had to look it up. 50:17 Means transparency. 50:28 In other words, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. 50:29 Something begins to happen to you when you pick up this book 50:36 and daily you read the narratives, you read the poetry, 50:38 you read the prose every day. 50:41 We walk and talk. We walk and talk. That's it. We walk and talk. 50:44 We walk and talk. Something is happening. There's a conversation that's 50:48 developing. There's a connection that is deepening. 50:53 Labberton's point -- "Can people read our lives and see the life 50:58 of God in us?" And then he ends with this 50:59 sentence. "The clarity of our faithful 51:02 Bible reading is meant to show up in the clarity of our 51:06 faithful lives." And as soon as he writes that 51:09 sentence, he tells a story. And I end with a story right 51:12 here from Christianity Today. 51:14 "I was converted again" -- to this conviction that we just read -- "one night in northern 51:19 Uganda." Okay? So he's in Africa. At that time, the Lord's 51:23 Resistance Army" -- that's some kind of terrorist army -- "was still at its evil games, and 51:30 children slept in night commuter camps to stay alive and to avoid being captured and tortured into 51:36 becoming child soldiers. This particular night, as every night, hundreds of children came 51:41 to sleep together in the rough of an empty school. Only one adult was present, a 51:47 middle-aged woman available to help and comfort any who might have need. 51:51 Her husband and children were at their home just a few blocks away. 51:55 She explained that she came each night as a volunteer to be of help. 52:00 I asked her why she was doing this. She talked about the children's 52:04 need and her desire to do what she could under such difficult circumstances in the face of 52:08 such fears. Still, wanting to know more, I pressed. 52:11 Yeah, but what motivates you to care? Why do you do it? 52:16 She looked me up and down and finally said, 'Well, I am what you call a Christian. 52:24 I read my Bible every day, and every week I go to a church where we eat something called 52:29 The Lord's Supper. I can't imagine doing those things all my life and not 52:34 coming here. Where else would it lead?'" The lady got it. 52:40 She got it. "Abide in Me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit." 52:44 And the world will be a different place because of you. When you walk by faith in the 52:51 Word, you will live by faith in the world. And they will take note that 53:00 these men, that these women, that these children had been with Jesus. 53:05 What do you say? Yeah, no, what do you say? Yeah. 53:11 You know what I wish if I could, just one prayer for you? One prayer. 53:16 One gift from God to you. Here's what I wish. I pray that whoever you are and 53:26 whatever you do and however old you are or aren't, I pray that this gift of a walk with God 53:38 will be yours. It's yours for the asking. You don't have to get a letter. 53:45 It's not air-mailed to you. Walk and talk. Walk and talk. 53:56 You'll bear much fruit. There will be a generation of Enochs at the end, and the world 54:02 will say, "Whoa. Who are these people?" Walk and talk. 54:09 That's what I wish more than anything else for you. In fact, let me pray with you 54:16 right now. Oh, God, please, for these dear sons and daughters of Yours, 54:23 You've loved them from the first day they breathed. You've never given up on them. 54:28 You have always been tugging at their hearts, their minds. And there's somebody here, 54:32 Father, who's saying, "I'm not sure. I never thought about this 54:35 before," but, Father, for that heart, the Holy Spirit who's speaking, assure him, assure her 54:45 it's for real. Mr. Roy reflected somebody special. 54:53 It works. So call us and empower us. Encourage us. 55:02 Take us by the hand and walk and talk, and walk and talk, and walk and talk until that day 55:09 when You look down with a smile and say, "Hey, you know what, guys? 55:14 You're closer to My house than yours. Why don't you come home with 55:18 Me?" And that door flings open. And we walk in. 55:24 Till then, walk and talk. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 55:32 [ "I Would Be Like Jesus" plays ] 55:45 [ Congregation sings ] 56:35 And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Father and the fellowship 56:42 of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 56:47 [ Organ plays ] 56:58 >> I want to take an extra moment to thank you for joining us in worship today. 57:02 It's by the continued support from viewers like you that we're able to bring this telecast. 57:07 Today I want to invite you, though, to share with us how this ministry has blessed you. 57:11 Truth is, I get inspiring notes, e-mails, letters from viewers literally all over the world 57:16 sharing with us how God has blessed them through this program, and I'd love to hear 57:20 from you, as well. 57:22 It's not that hard. Simple, really. 57:24 Just visit our website, newperceptions.tv. 57:26 That's one word. Newperceptions.tv. 57:30 And click on the "contact" link at the top of the page. 57:33 Shoot me that e-mail. Once again, thank you for being 57:36 with us. Thank you, by the way, for your 57:38 own support. That support is what keeps this 57:41 telecast week after week reaching America, reaching 57:44 North America, and reaching the planet. 57:47 That kind of generosity that you share is a huge boost and 57:51 blessing to us. And I hope you'll join us right 57:53 here next time, 'cause we'll be here. 57:55 In the meantime, God be with you and bless you real good. 58:02 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-03-23