"Spiritual
Things… Are Spiritually Discerned"
1
From
Glory to Glory
Character
development is said to be the most important work ever entrusted to
human beings. During the next hour we will explore both our privilege
and our responsibility to become Christ-like in character. Join us
now for this powerful time of personal renewal as Pastor Stephen
Wallace takes us
"From
Glory to Glory."
Good
to have you here, I appreciate so much your presence. I've been
looking forward to this time with you ever since we first started
talking about it, which has been several weeks. It's a privilege to
be here. I am so glad that you have chosen to come tonight and I
hope, and pray that you will choose to keep coming. We launch tonight
a very intensive seminar entitled "From Glory to Glory,"
and you can tell that, if you have your binder there with your
inserts and lined paper for notes.
We
are going to be studying together the most important work ever
entrusted to human beings. What is it that we are going to be
studying? The most important work ever entrusted to human beings.
What is that? What is the most important work ever entrusted to human
beings? ...with the notebook in hand, I hear the answer: "Character
Building;" and that's a good logical answer to give. But you
know, typically when we ask that question people respond:
"Soul-winning." "Sharing our faith,"
that's the most important work; and I would guess that that's what
went through many of your minds, when I asked the question. But is
that really the most important work? Question: Can we be successful
soul-winners if we are not Christ-like in character? Can we? No, we
cannot. My dear friends, that which makes us effective soul-winners
is being loving and lovable Christians. Amen? How does Paul put it?
"Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have no love, I am
a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal."
{1
Cor 13:1}
Please
know, dear fellow-believers, that we might be able to argue someone
into the corner on all 27 fundamental beliefs. No, it's 28 now, isn't
it? All 28 fundamental beliefs with all key texts recorded in our
memory bank, and in the process drive them away from Jesus Christ.
Come on now... will you admit that? Is that possible? I'm afraid it
is. Please know that that which truly brings people into a saving
relationship with Jesus Christ, is not so much convincing the mind as
it is capturing the heart. Amen? Yes, the mind needs to be convinced
regarding the truth but the heart has to be captured by Him, who is
the Truth. Amen? Only then, is the will, the governing power, the
power of choice, conquered by the Lord of Love, and that leads to
genuine conversion. My dear friends, to bring someone into that kind
of an experience, we need to be able to do more than just convince
them that we have the truth. We have to let Him, who is the Truth,
love them through us. Amen? That's precisely why there is an even
more important work than soul-winning. Precisely because it is an
essential prerequisite to effective soul-winning.
Let's
turn to lesson one, it's actually called
"Introduction"
in your printout, and I want to read an inspired answer to the
question I asked: What's the most important work ever entrusted to
human beings? It's found in the book Education,
page 225 first
entry, page 3. Quote: Listen closely!
"Character
building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings;
and never before was its diligent study so important as now."
What
is the most important work, my friends?
What
is it? Character building. Character building is the most important
work ever entrusted to human beings; and please note that last
phrase: "and
never before was its diligent study so important as,"
when? "now."
Why so important now? Because the King is coming soon. I heard two, I
think, very faint "amens." I'm going to give you a second
chance on that one. Why is the diligent study of character building
so important now? In fact never more important than now. Because, get
ready: the King is coming soon. {Amen!} Yes! I thought we had some
Adventists here tonight, those that believe in the imminence of the
return of Jesus Christ. My dear friends, with my whole heart I
believe that Jesus is coming soon, with my whole heart.
In
fact I insist, please hear me on this! I insist that it is impossible
to have an intelligent understanding of prophetic end-time events
combined with an understanding of current events, without coming to
the conclusion that Jesus is coming very, very soon. The signs of the
times are loud and clear. Are you aware of how little time there is?
And yet there's much to be done. There's much to be done.
There's
a world to be warned. A
Gospel to be taken to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
{Rev
14:6}
A
special message. It's called the "Three
angels' messages".
A message that this Church was
raised
up to proclaim as the last merciful call into a saving relationship
with Jesus Christ. That work has got to be done. That message has got
to be taken to the whole world; and our own lives must be prepared,
to go home with Jesus when He comes. That essentially is the job that
we have to do. We have the gospel to take to every kindred, tongue,
and people {Rev
14:6};
and we have our own lives to prepare {Rev
14:7}.
But please hear me my dear friends. Please hear me! The successful
accomplishment of both of those tasks depends upon the very same
thing, and what is that? ...the development of a Christ-like
character. Amen? Why? Because we can be neither effective witnesses
for the King nor fit citizens for the Kingdom, unless we have a
Christ-like character. I want to repeat that, and you'll probably
hear that again as the series goes on. We can be neither effective
witnesses for the King nor fit citizens for the Kingdom, unless we
have a Christ-like character. And because the King is coming soon, my
dear friends, and because it takes time, it
takes time to develop a Christ-like
character
{5T 618.1}; *(1) I
insist on the truthfulness of that opening statement,
Education,
page 225:
"Character
building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings
and never before was its diligent study so important as now."
So
important as now, and that is precisely what we are
going
to be doing these next several days together.
We
are going to be diligently studying what saith the Lord on this
ultimately important topic; and I want to assure you right off the
bat, that I have not come all the way from Montana to share with you
my own personal theories or opinions regarding character building.
God forbid! My dear friends when you are dealing with something as
important as character building, you need something a whole lot more
dependable and trustworthy, than the opinions of some poor mortal.
Amen? {Amen.} When you're dealing with a subject that you must
understand - in order to be effective witnesses for the King and fit
citizens for the Kingdom - you need to have something much more than
just somebody's philosophy. You need to know what saith the Lord on
the topic, and I want to assure you that that is what we have come to
share with you: What saith the Lord on the topic.
As
you have looked at your handout, you might have noticed something
rather unique: there is nothing from Steve Wallace in here. Well,
with a few minor exceptions, little notes slipped in, once in a
while, but it is almost entirely what inspiration has to say about
this topic; and you see, that is what we want to base our study on. I
am simply going to serve by God's grace, as a tour guide, to consider
with you what saith the Lord on this ultimately important topic.
Would you let me do that? I am earnestly praying, that the Holy
Spirit will guide and direct me, as I guide and direct you to
consider what saith the Lord on this topic.
We
will be using as our primary textbook, the Bible, Scripture. I will
be using, and I hope this doesn't upset anyone. I will be using the
New King James Version of the Bible. Now, I appreciate the King
James, it is the people's Bible, it is the Bible that this Church was
born and raised on, and it is the Bible of preference for many;
particularly the silver-haired saints amongst us. But the Elizabethan
English is getting increasingly difficult for the younger generation,
and for that reason, I have selected the new King James. It has
exactly the same manuscript heritage behind it as the King James. It
is so
similar,
that if you have the King James, you probably won't have any trouble
following along as I read from the New King James, and actually, in
certain instances - and we will be pointing out some of these. The
New King James has rendered more precisely, some of the original
language. So, I really appreciate the New King James, and I recommend
it as an excellent study Bible.
I
need to let you know right from the onset as well, that we will be
supplementing and I underscore that word "supplement",
we
will be supplementing our study of Scripture, with the study of the
inspired commentary on Scripture, that we enjoy as a people, known as
the: "Spirit
of Prophecy".
Now, I want to go on record right from the onset, as one who has been
profoundly affected, positively influenced, and blessed, by the
writings of the "Spirit
of Prophecy".
My dear friends, I wouldn't be here without that gift, I don't think.
The Lord has tremendously blessed me through the study of those
wonderful books; and I value tremendously, the insight that they give
in the study of Scripture. and that's the way we will be using them,
not to supplant Scripture, but to supplement the study of Scripture.
We will be referring to the Spirit of Prophecy, as inspired
commentary on the biblical passages that we will be studying; to help
us better understand the principles enfolded in Scripture, and to
help us practically apply those principles to the daily life; and
that, by the way, is where the Spirit of Prophecy really shines; it's
in practical application of biblical principle, and I could not
possibly deprive you of those precious insights. Therefore, we will
be referring to them frequently and you see that, in your handout as
inspired commentary on the Scriptures. I have your permission to do
that, do I? {Yes.} Good, thank you.
There
is another point that I must very, very emphatically underscore in
this introductory study, and that is, as our title summarizes it,
spiritual
things are,
what? ...spiritually
discerned. {1
Cor 2:13-14}
My
dear friends, what does that mean,
"...spiritual
things are spiritually discerned"?
Well, basically that says, that without the help of the Holy Spirit,
we simply don't have what it takes, to come to understand the truth
to the point of experiencing its liberating, sanctifying power, in
our lives. Did you hear what I've just said, there? The passage from
which we take the title. Let's read it. It's found in 1
Corinthians 2:13-14:
"These
things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom
teaches,
but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual."
But Paul
is
warning
us here,
"...the
natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are
foolishness
to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned."
Now,
the
natural man,. who is that? Well, that's all of us except for the
supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That's human
nature without Divine help, that's the natural man; and please
notice, to the natural man the things of God are what? Foolishness,
they're foolishness. Why? Because they are only spiritually
discerned. Now that word, "discerned",
in the Greek is an interesting term, it not only means "rightly
understood"
but it, more particularly, means "rightly
valued," "rightly
appreciated."
You
see, it takes the power of the Holy Spirit, my dear friends, not
only to make it
possible
for us, to understand with the intellect the truth; but it takes the
power of the Holy Spirit for us, to rightly value the truth, and
appreciate it with our hearts, and choose to apply it to our lives.
Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we cannot possibly experience, I
repeat, the liberating, sanctifying power of the truth.
And
you do know, that there is liberating and sanctifying power in the
truth, don't you? Jesus puts it this way: John
8:32:
"And
you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
Is
there power in the truth to set us free from the natural bondage,
that we are all under? Bondage to sin, self, and Satan, that unholy
trinity that tyrannizes the natural man? Yes, there's power in the
truth to set us free. But my dear friends, we cannot experience that
liberating power, unless we receive the truth under the influence of
the Spirit of truth; and in the power of the Spirit of truth, choose
to incorporate it into our lives. There's also sanctifying power in
the truth. Look at the next verse. John
17:17:
"Sanctify
them
by Your truth. Your Word is truth."
Does
the truth have power to sanctify us? To make us
holy?
Yes, it does. But my dear friends, we cannot possibly experience the
sanctifying power of the truth,
unless again, we study it, and receive it, and apply it by the power
of the Spirit of truth. That's the only way; that is the only way.
You see, there's a vast difference between knowing the truth
intellectually, and knowing it to the point of experiencing its
liberating, sanctifying power in our lives, isn't there? Is it
possible to have a head knowledge of the truth and not be set free or
sanctified by it? Is it possible? Oh, you know that's the case. You
know that's the case, it's very possible! It's frighteningly possible
to know a whole lot of truth and not have any experience of its
sanctifying, liberating power in the life. You see, to know the truth
then, requires much more than just giving intellectual assent to it.
You can give intellectual assent to the truth and not be transformed
by it.
What
does it mean then, to know the truth to the point of experiencing its
liberating, sanctifying power? Let me just give you three steps
involved. Jot them down, they're very important. To know the truth to
the point of experiencing its liberating, sanctifying power in the
life you must, number
1:
grasp it with the intellect. You must what? Grasp it with the
intellect. You must, yes, give intellectual assent to the truth. You
must understand it. Comprehend it. This is essential. I'm not saying
it's not essential to grasp the truth with the intellect, but I'm
saying it's not enough to just grasp the truth with the intellect.
What's the second thing we must do? Number 1, we must grasp it with
the intellect. Number
2,
we must embrace it with the affections. In other words, we must come
to love the truth, to appreciate the truth, to value the truth, to
count it the most precious thing in our lives; to recognize, that it
is the pearl of great price. Amen? Now, right here is where we have
to have supernatural help. But before I explain that, let me take you
to the third step that we must take, if we are going to know the
truth to the point of experiencing its liberating, sanctifying power
in our lives. Number 3, we must submit to the truth with the will.
Did you get those three? Number 1: We must grasp it with the
intellect Number 2: We must what? Embrace it with the affections.
Number 3, and most importantly. We must what? Submit to it with the
will. We must yield to the truth, we must obey the truth. We must
choose to live our lives in harmony with the claims of Him, who is
the Truth. When we do that, my dear friends, but, not until... when
we do that, we will experience its liberating, sanctifying power in
the life. Amen?
You
see, I like to put it this way: We must not only understand the
truth, we must stand under the truth. Is there a difference between
understanding the truth, and standing under the truth? Yes! To
understand the truth is to give intellectual assent to it; to stand
under the truth, is to submit to it, to yield your will to it, to let
it have its way in your life. My friends, what is going to take you
from understanding the truth, to standing under the Truth? It's the
middle step. What's that? Embracing the Truth, loving the Truth.
Amen? You see, when we recognize that the Truth is not just an
abstract concept, but a person, namely, who? Jesus Christ; and we
come to love Him - that's when we will choose to yield our wills to
Him, without reservation. Amen?
And
it is not until we take that third step, my dear brother, sister that
we will ever experience in our lives, the sanctifying, liberating
power of the truth. We've got to take that third step. But here is
the key point. Don't miss it! Though we can take step
number 1,
give intellectual assent to the truth; without the help of the Holy
Spirit to a significant degree, you can comprehend, you can
understand the truth, not fully, not deeply, not to the degree that
Holy Spirit can enable you to do so; but to a significant degree, you
can do that without the help of the Holy Spirit. You can give
intellectual assent to the truth. But, my dear friends, what you and
I cannot do, is take steps 2 and 3 without the help of the Holy
Spirit. Why? Romans 8:7 It's not there but jot it down in your notes.
What does Romans
8:7,
say?
"The
carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of
God nor indeed can be!"
Really?
Yes, really. Let's make sure we understand, what Paul is
telling
us here. First of all, what is the "carnal
mind"?
What is the carnal mind? You know, I used to think that. If the
carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the law of
God nor indeed can be. Then, that must be someone who's really gotten
serious into sin. That's a mature rebel. Is that the case?
No
my dear friends, that's what we all are by nature. Really? Yes. You
see, whatsoever
is born
of
flesh is flesh
{Jn 3:6},
and
we are carnally minded until we are, what? Born of the Spirit, born
again.
Then, we become spiritually minded. But until conversion we are all
by nature, what? Carnally minded. Are you with me on this? And as
such, we naturally what's our attitude towards God? The carnal mind
is what? Enmity against God. What does "enmity"
mean? You can understand it by the word "enemy".
The carnal mind has an "animosity",
a "hatred"
towards God. Now, some of you might be saying: "Well,
wait a minute! You know, that's a little strong, isn't it?"
I know people, who don't make any claims to be converted, to be born
of the Spirit, who would never claim to hate God. My dear friends,
please hear me.
If
you really want to know, what the natural man thinks towards God,
then, you need to go to Calvary. What will the natural man do to God,
given a chance? He will murder Him. You see, Calvary not only reveals
the character of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, it reveals the
character of man, in the person of those who are nailing Him to the
cross. Pretty scary what we see about ourselves there, isn't it? We
hate God naturally so much, that given a chance, we will eliminate
Him. This is precisely why, dear friends, if we're going to be able
to take step
2:
embrace the Truth with the affections and remember, the Truth is
ultimately, who? Jesus. If we're going to embrace Him, rather than
crucify Him; we've got to have something supernatural happen. Amen?
We
have got to have a new heart, a heart to know Him, with supernatural
capacities to love Him, whom we naturally hate. Does that make sense?
And if you can't take step 2 by the power of the Holy Spirit, and
come to love the Truth; we're never going to take step 3. It's
the
love of Christ that constrains us.
{2 Cor 5:14} When
I submit my will to Jesus, if it's truly
submitted
to Him, it’s because I love Him and I know He loves me. By the way,
I
can only love Him,
because
He first loved me.
{1 Jn 4:19}
Amen?
And where do I discover how much He first
loves
me? At the Cross again, Calvary. See, you find out an awful lot about
not only yourself but about Jesus at the cross; and about the Father
at the cross.
We're
going to be spending a lot of time this seminar, taking you to the
cross, my dear friends. See, I have the same obsession that the
apostle Paul had. I
am determined to know nothing among
you,
save Christ and Him crucified.
{1
Cor 2:2} That's
where the transforming power is.
It's
beholding the Lamb... slain.
{Rev
5:6}
That's
where the power is. That's where the heart is captured,
and
that's where the will is conquered. Amen? See, there are all sorts of
things that happen at the cross. The conscience is convicted, the
mind is convinced, the heart is captured, the will is conquered, and
the life is converted. It all happens where? At the cross, at the
cross. Please, let me bring you, let me bring you frequently as we
study together, to the foot of the cross. That's where it happens, my
friends. God help us realize though, that if we are going to know the
truth, - to the point of experiencing its liberating, sanctifying
power in the life - we have got to have supernatural help. Because,
not only is the carnal mind enmity against God. What does that same
verse go on to say? The carnal mind being enmity against God keeps us
from taking step 2. Naturally. But what does the verse go on to say?
"It
is not subject to the law of God nor indeed..."
what? "...can
be!" {Rom
8:7}
That
keeps us from taking, what?
Step
3!
Yielding your will, choosing to obey the Truth. You and I can't do
that, my dear friends, without the power of the Holy Spirit. We
can't! It's impossible! Now, I've got to put a little qualifier in
there, and don't miss this, we're going to be harping on this point
as the series goes on. Please know, that though the carnal mind
cannot subject or submit itself to the spirit of the law; the carnal
mind can do a remarkable job of submitting the behavior, to the
letter of the law. Did you hear that qualifier? Is that significant?
You better believe it is significant. Let me repeat it. Though the
carnal mind cannot subject itself, its own processes, your thoughts
and feelings, and your motives and desires to the spirit of the
law, what can the carnal mind do to a frighteningly remarkable
degree if ego motivation is sufficient? What can the carnal mind do?
It can subject your behavior to the letter of the law, and precisely
therein, lies its remarkable capacity to fool us into thinking we're
something we're not. Do you hear me, dear friends?
You
see, this is precisely what hypocrisy is. It's conforming to the
letter of the law, and putting on a real good show. Behaving well,
and fooling others, and perhaps even yourself, into thinking that you
are... a what? A Christian. After all, you behave so much better than
most people do. What does Scripture say about this natural heart? It
says, it's
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
{Jer
17:9} But
the scary thing about it, is that it can hide the wicked interior
with a fancy exterior. Jesus
called
it a "whited
sepulcher."
{Mat 23:27}
Are you with me? A white-washed tomb, and what did He go on to say
about the white-washed tomb? He said it's beautiful,. where? On the
outside. Oh, it looks real good. But inside, what's going on? Dead
men's bones and all corruption. There's a vile, dead, selfish, old
man behind all that white wash; doing all the right things for all
the wrong reasons. Bless your hearts, is it just possible, that some
of that might be going on even today, in God's church? Did the
scribes and Pharisees, have an exclusive experience with hypocrisy or
is that human nature to be hypocritical? I'm here to tell you it's
human nature, and please, bear with me here. Okay? What I'm going to
say at this point, is not going to make you very comfortable or happy
with me, but bless your hearts... I've got to love you enough to do
that anyway. Okay? I'm going to have to be coming back over and over
again through this seminar to this hypocrisy issue. Why? Because
according to the verdict of the True Witness, it happens to be a very
predominant problem in the end-time church.
Come
on now, work with me on this! What in Revelation is the end-time
church, called? The last one... Laodicea. Are we at the end of time?
{Yes.} That means that we are what? The Laodicean Church. Now
granted, there are aspects of all the seven churches that exist in
all periods of time. But there are predominant characteristics that
exist at a certain period of time, and the predominant characteristic
of the end-time church, according to the True Witness is what? We are
what?
Lukewarm!
We are what? Lukewarm. Now what, pray tell, would it mean to be
lukewarm? Well, the True Witness says you're neither hot nor cold.
You ought to turn with me there. It's found in Revelation
3:16.
Well, we should probably pick it up a little earlier, verse
14:
"And
to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says
the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the beginning of the
creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor
hot. I could wish you were cold or hot."
Pause.
Isn't that a remarkable statement? The True Witness would actually
rather have us even
cold
than... what? ...lukewarm! More on that later... Verse
16
"So
then, because you are lukewarm,
and
neither cold nor hot, I will, spew you out of My mouth. Because you
say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' - and
do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked."
Some
very frightening self-deception going on here, isn't there? Why is it
that the Laodicean Church is so terribly self-deceived? Why is it
that they think they are rich, increased in goods, and have need of
nothing, and don't know that they are actually wretched, poor, blind,
miserable, and naked? Why?! Because, my dear friends, they have a
FORM
of godliness.
{2
Tim 3:5}
Did you hear what I said? They have a what? They have a form of
godliness. They have a carnal heart that has brought their behavior,
in compliance with the letter of the law. Did you hear what I just
said? Are they truly converted? No! Do they think they're truly
converted? Yes! They think they're rich, and increased in goods, and
have need of nothing. Why are they so self-deceived? Because they've
done such a remarkable job of putting white wash on the tomb. Amen?
Little quiet out there tonight. They are so beautiful on the outside
that they have themselves, and others, fooled into thinking that they
are what? Christians.
My
dear friends, please, please understand that it's quite possible that
some of us might be in this trap; and if you resent me for even
suggesting that, I'm sorry but I've got to suggest it because this is
what the True Witness says. I'm not judging you, I'm simply sharing
with you His verdict; and does He rightly judge us? Does He? Yes!
Why? Because He doesn't see as man sees. Man
looks on the outward
appearance
but He looks... where?
Come on, He looks where?
He
looks at the heart! {1
Sam 16:7}
And
you see, He observes not only what we do, and what we don't do, but
He observes more importantly, why we do it, and why we don't do it.
He looks at the spirit behind the behavior. We're typically just
analyzing behavior, but He's looking at the motives. And my dear
friends, it's precisely what lukewarmness is all about. You see...
work with me here. To be cold, that's to do the wrong things for the
wrong reasons. Does that make sense? You're outwardly godless because
you're inwardly godless. What's hot? To do the right things for the
right reasons. You're outwardly living in compliance with the letter
of the law, because your heart is in harmony with the spirit of the
law. You're doing the right things for the right reasons. Are you
with me? What do you suppose lukewarm is? It's doing the right things
for the wrong reasons. Amen? It's
having a form of godliness but
denying
the power thereof {2
Tim 3:5};
and
what's
the power of the gospel? It is to transform us by the renewing of our
minds. {Rom
1:16 & 12:2} Amen?
You
see... true Christianity involves just a whole lot more than behavior
modification. True Christianity involves heart transformation. But
there's an awful lot of hypocrisy going on, where we are trying to
"play
church."
Pretend that we're Christians by keeping our behavior in compliance
with the letter of the law. And the scary thing about it, is that
we've gotten so good at it, that we've got ourselves fooled, and
we've got others fooled. But who's never fooled? Come on, who's never
fooled? God is never fooled. Brother, sister, please, do some heart
searching with me these next weeks. Is it well with your soul? See?
That's the question. Is it well with your, what? Your soul. Are you
genuinely a Christian? Or are you just pretending to be one? And if
that offends you, that I'm asking you that. You know, some of you
silver-haired saints, have been in the church for "umpteen"
years,
and you know, you might take offense that I'm even having the nerve
to ask you that question. But, bless your hearts, you can have been
in the church for your whole life, and not even be converted. You
know that... I hope. Not even be converted! And you can be performing
very well, and putting on a real good show, and being honored and
respected by your fellow church members. You can be holding down an
office in the church and not even be converted.
So
back to what we were saying, when I say the carnal mind can't take
step three- submit to the Truth- I am not saying that the carnal mind
can't do a remarkable job of bringing your behavior into compliance
with the letter of the law. But I am saying that the carnal mind
cannot possibly bring thoughts and feelings, your desires and
motives, into harmony with the spirit of the law. That's what I am
saying. Are we all clear on this? Therefore, if we are going to come
to know the Truth to the point of experiencing its liberating,
sanctifying power in our lives my dear friends, what must we have?
What must we have? We must have the help and the power of the Holy
Spirit in our studies. Amen? You know, with my whole heart, with my
whole heart, soul, and mind, I want this to be a life-changing
experience for everyone of you. God forbid that we just have
intellectual exercises. Oh yes, we're going to be challenging your
intellects. We're going to be dealing with deep, profound truths.
We're going to be rolling up our sleeves and studying diligently, the
Word of God. Are you prepared for that? {Amen. Yes.} I'll ask that
again. I need a little more enthusiastic response. Are you prepared
for that? {Amen!} Is that what you want? {Yes.} I’m here to tell
you, my dear friends, I haven't come to entertain you. I haven't come
here to share with you sensational ideas of a human devising. I have
come, by God's grace, to roll up my sleeves and dig deep in the mine
of truth, with you. To come to have a life-changing knowledge of the
Truth. Is that what you desire? Good. Good. Keep coming then, please,
and let's diligently study together.
Let
me read a statement that talks about this whole difference between
having the truth, and letting the Truth have us. Is there a
difference there? Do we as a people have the truth? Do we? My
friends, I have no question about that. God has entrusted us with the
truth. But there's a problem. What is it? We haven't let the Truth
have us. What gives me the nerve to say that? Well, bless your hearts
we're still here. We shouldn't even be here still. I want to hear
more than one "amen". We shouldn't even be here still.
{Amen!} We should have been in the Kingdom by now. {Amen!} We should
have long ago become effective witnesses for the King, and fit
citizens for the Kingdom. Amen? A long time ago! But we're still
here. Why? Because we don't have the truth? No, we have the truth.
What's the problem? We haven't let the Truth have us! That's why
we're still here, and we are going to stay here until we let the
Truth have us. Bless your hearts, if I sound angry, I'm not. I'm just
earnest. There's a difference. My dear wife tells me every once in a
while, "Steve,
you come
across
like you're angry with the people." I'm
not. I love you. By God's grace, I can't naturally do that,
and
I want to see you in the Kingdom. But I know, from personal
experience, that just having the Truth, isn't going to get you there.
You've got to let the Truth, have you. You've got to be transformed
by the Truth from the inside out. You've got to be made a radically
different person. You can't just get to Heaven by keeping your act
together.
Jesus
Christ has purchased eternal life for everyone of us. We can't earn
eternal life. But, my dear friends, I'm here to tell you that we have
got to get ready if we are ever going to enjoy eternal life. Amen?
You can't buy Heaven, but you've got to learn to be happy there. And
no one is going to be happy in Heaven, unless they've learned to be
holy. Because happiness is the by-product of holiness. Did you hear
what I said? Happiness is the by-product of holiness; and this is
precisely why so few people are truly happy in this world. Why?
Because they're seeking happiness, and if you're seeking happiness,
you'll never find it. Is that true? Yes, that's true. If you're
seeking to make yourself happy, you will never truly find happiness.
Yes, you might find the
pleasures of sin for a season. {Heb
11:25}
But
you better believe, and you better know, that it's a real short
season; and you are going to end
up
more miserable after having messed with it. Amen? I'm talking
straight to you folks! If you really want to be happy, then learn to
be holy. Learn to live your life wholly, entirely for God and for
others; therein, is happiness, and that's how you get ready to be
happy in Heaven, because that's all they do in Heaven. They don't
live for themselves. They live for everyone else. By the way, I'm
looking forward to living in a place where everyone is placing my
happiness, before their own. Think of it! Think of it! What a
wonderful place that would be! What's it like here? Just the
opposite. Who's really looking out for your happiness? You are,
naturally. You're looking out for number one, and everyone is looking
out for themselves; and if you get in my way, and threaten my
happiness, then I've got to deal with you - and that's the way the
world operates. Are you hearing me? That's why it's such a miserable
place.
But
we, by God's grace, one of these days, are going to live in a place
where absolutely everyone else, puts your happiness - my happiness,
before their own. Can you imagine what a wonderful place that would
be to live in? But, my dear friends, if you and I are going to be
ready to live in such a place, we have got to learn to live that way
here and now. Amen? This is where we become fit citizens for the
Kingdom. This is where we learn to be holy. To live entirely for God
and for others, and not for self. God help us experience this kind of
transformation, that is so radical, that the Bible calls it "being
born again,"
- becoming a new creature. Listen! Review
and Herald, September 25,
1888:
"...unless
those who profess to believe the truth are sanctified through it and
exalted in thought and character they are not in as favorable a
position before God as the sinner who has never been enlightened in
regard to its claims."
Wow!
Really? Yes. God would rather have us cold than
lukewarm.
You see, if you have the truth, you think that you're, what? Rich,
and increased in goods, and
have need of? Nothing. - And you're a whole lot less likely to be
reached by the truth - if you think you have it. Reading on:
"We
are rapidly approaching the close of this world's history. Every
moment is of the most solemn importance to the child of God. The
questions that should come to every heart are, 'Am I a Christian?'"
"'...Am I a Christian? Is the Word of God my study? Is Christ
dwelling in my heart by faith? Is the law of God the rule of my life?
Do the searching truths I profess to believe, penetrate into the very
secret places of my life? Do I carry out its principles in my
business life? Is the influence I exert, having a saving power on
those with whom I associate?' Unless the truth does have a marked and
decided influence upon the character and life of its recipient, it is
not doing its work in the life as it should be; and those who are not
being sanctified through obedience to the truth must be converted, or
they will be lost!"
Brother,
sister... we have the truth. God grant, that we let the Truth have
us, and be converted thereby; and how is that going to happen? By the
power of the Spirit of Truth. Therefore, it will be our practice,
before we proceed with any of our studies, to earnestly, personally
invite God's Spirit into our hearts. Now, we're going to do it right
now, in closing of this introductory study; and then, after a short
break, we're going to continue. But I want you, my dear friends, to
take a moment to get up from the table, that we are gathered around,
and go to the door. What does the True Witness say to the Laodicean
church?
"Behold
I stand at the door and knock."
{Rev
3:20}
He
wants to come in and what? Sup with us. We are gathered around the
table to open the
Bread of Life {Jn
6:48} and
feed ourselves. But what must we do if we are going to be nourished
and strengthened by
the
meal? What must we do? We must invite the Holy Spirit to come in and
what? Sup with us, sup with us. Would you kneel with me for just a
few moments of silent prayer in closing? Personally inviting God's
Spirit to come in, and sup with you.
My Father in
Heaven, ours is a precious opportunity, we want to make the most of
it. We are gathered around Your table this evening, for the purpose
of feeding on the Bread of Life; but we must have the Holy Spirit to
join us just now. We hear the knock at the door of our heart and we
choose to open that door and say, "Come in, come in Heavenly
Guest. Come in, and sup with us. Give us that hungering and thirsting
that we don't naturally have. Give us an appetite for spiritual food
and then, most importantly, give us the supernatural capacity to
digest and assimilate the Bread of Life, that we might be nourished
by it." Please grant this prayer, for I ask it in Jesus name.
Amen.
Original
English Video on the home-page of "Revival Seminars"
