David Asscherick TRANSFORMED I --- WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS?- SecondComing.org

because one month with Christ one day with Christ one minute with Christ is better than a lifetime without we have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus and we have it in earthen vessels in our cellars the center of religion is not about my sacrifice but his sacrifice the essence of the gospel is not primarily about what you give up it's about what Jesus gave up those who have been redeemed and rescued by the power of his love are more precious to the Redeemer than himself the struggle itself is a sign of life Pete getting up all right good evening everyone how's your day going did anyone have a good day okay good come meet you I had a great day I went skateboarding where are the kids I went skateboarding with ya right there those are my skating buddies right there can i skateboard can I tell them I love to go skateboarding you know I basically started skateboarding when I was 11 years old my dad took me to a Kmart and he said I could buy anything I wanted in the store up to $50 and so I bought a skateboard and I think he regretted that day for the rest of his life and so basically I just did the skateboarding thing and I moved to California when I was 18 years old to become a professional skateboarder no joke and was there for two years and lived the pro skateboarder life and now of course I love the Lord Jesus Christ and that's the direction that my life has gone but I still love to skate and I'd love to go to the skateboard parks and just be cruising around and having a good time and introducing myself and and invariably you know I'm the oldest person there and it'll come up so you know people will say like how long have you been skateboarding like well I suppose the oldest one of who's the oldest of you how old are you Jeremy okay fourteen exactly that's my point so somebody will say so like how old are you or no they'll say how long have you been skateboarding that's what they say and I'll say like 21 years and as we sort of have this conversation then it'll come up that I'm a pastor and it's really kind of funny you can just see the word like spreading like people skateboarding around come up to the top of the ramp like are you really a priest so it's no not a priest pastor pastor at least not a priest in the Catholic sense so anyway I had a great day today I went skateboarding and it's really nice to be down here in Tennessee where the weather is warmer than where I'm from in Michigan it's been kind of cold in Michigan now I'm not from Michigan I'm actually from Wyoming and I don't lay any claim to Michigan not that I don't love it there but before I move to Michigan my two favorite things in the world we're surfing that is to say as far as recreational activities surfing and rock climbing and there are no oceans in Michigan and there are no rocks in Michigan the rocks that they do have in Michigan are the things that they used to pave their driveways with right you know in fact just the other day we were we were driving through Michigan with my two boys landing in Jabil and there's this little sledding hill and I said look boys a mountain yeah it's like it's like 50 feet high so I'm just thrilled to be here it's a great privilege for me to be here at southern Adventist University and I've already met several wonderful people and been introduced to many people and I want to thank you for welcoming well welcoming me so warmly and I'm looking forward to this evening's presentation it's entitled what wondrous love is this and that title of course comes from a well known him what wondrous love is this O my soul and it is I think maybe my current favorite presentation and I'd love to give this presentation because it ministers to my soul and when I began to pray God what do you want me to preach God what message do you want me to deliver he made it very clear early on that one of the presentations that I had to present was this one I'm going to give tonight and I'm really looking forward to it and I know the Spirit of God is going to move tonight not because of this man but in spite of this man and because of the holy spirit amen so let's begin with a word of Prayer that's what I like to do and just ask God to be with us I think that's the best way to go about any meaningful substantive Bible study and then we'll get right into the Word of God did you bring your Bibles tonight okay great praise the Lord okay let's begin with the word of Prayer father in heaven we come before you this evening we want to thank you for your goodness father we want to testify that you are good and we are but dust and we glory in your marvelous condescension and sending your son your only begotten Son into the world to save sinners of whom we are chief father tonight as we open your word we are going to ask that something supernatural will take place here that you will give us a super natural extraordinary experience with your spirit father I'm going to do my best tonight you made my mouth you made my tongue and so I pray that the words will be eloquent I pray they will be the right words the most piercing words but father at the end of the day and the final analysis we need your spirit to be here to pierce through hardened hearts to pierce through indifferent hearts and father for those hearts that are here that are receptive to give us a stronger more grounded sense of the love of God father be with us tonight say the kingdom of heaven is like it's like a mustard seed and the disciples would would say what did he what did he say like a mustard seed yeah yeah yeah and Jesus is on a roll now it's like a mustard seed and he would just start to explain it and the disciples are just like no Kingdom on earth is like a mustard seed so Jesus had this difficulty of explaining the celestial realities to people that had nothing to compare it with nothing no reference and so we would frequently begin as parables by saying things like the kingdom of heaven is like now look at Matthew chapter 13 Matthew chapter 13 now Jesus sometimes told very long parables like in Luke chapter 15 you have just three parables in the whole chapter very long parables like the parable of the prodigal son but some of Jesus parables were very short and here in just three verses we have two parables three verses two whole parables the first one is in verse 44 Matthew chapter 13 verse 44 look at the language again the kingdom of heaven is what the kingdom of heaven is what like yeah yeah the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and for joy over he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field one parable one verse verse 25 again the kingdom of heaven is what everyone like a merchant man seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and he bought it the kingdom of heaven is like this guy and he's walking through an out-of-the-way field and as he strolling through this out-of-the-way field he stubs his toe on something and it doesn't feel quite like a rock it doesn't feel quite like a tree root and so he looks down to investigate it and it looks unusual something about it grabs his attention and it begins to sort of excavate there and as he digs apart he's realizes it's something man-made it may be a box or a sack knee as he pulls it up he finds a treasure now this was not uncommon in the days of Jesus Jesus is describing something here that could have happened reasonably routinely in his days because today if you had a treasure you'd put it in a bank where he'd put it in the stock market you likely would not go hide it in a field but in those days Jesus himself said hey don't put your treasures down here on earth because a thief could take it or it could be rusted or a moth could eat it up and so if people had something that they wanted to keep secret they didn't want thieves to be able to get it they go and not uncommon ly to a you know out-of-the-way field they bury it that would be like their safety deposit box and it would remain there until they either went retrieved it but what happened if something happened to them and they died so the treasure is still there and so it was not at all uncommon in the days of Jesus for someone to find someone else's treasure and Jesus says hey the kingdom of heaven is like a man walking through an out-of-the-way field who stubs his toe on something looks down and finds a treasure then he goes home he tells his family and his friends he's going to liquidate all of his assets so he can buy that one field now let me ask you a question how do you think that looks how do you think the liquidating of all of his assets to buy one piece of property how does that look to those who were not there to see the treasure wise financial decision or unwise probably unwise right they say oh you know poor choice you need to diversify your your stock portfolio right now don't put all your eggs in one basket but he could try to explain to them what he had found but they might try to discourage him and dissuade him from making that decision now what does this parable mean well I think it's pretty simple really when we walking through this field called life encounter the gospel when we run into Jesus we are willing to liquidate all of our assets so that we can obtain Jesus can someone say Amen I mean listen Jesus has a way of turning your whole life upside down come someone say Amen Jesus is not like a little caboose that you nicely neatly add to the end of the rest of your life if you truly want a radical relationship with Jesus it changes everything yes or no and so so when you encounter Christ everything is everything is on the table everything is up for grabs I mean you are willing to do whatever you feel God is calling you to do and that can look very irrational to people who have not seen the treasure that you've seen yes or no okay so I've already described you that I was in the punk rock world and etc etc now in my community and my community rather you could have been anything and people would have accepted it you could have been transvestite you could have been a homo sexual you could have you could have been anything and people would have accepted you but in my community if you became a Christian this was like the highest form of treason so when I became a Christian my friends ceased to have an interest in me are you with me everyone yes or no okay and when I became a Christian even the direction of my vocation started to change and I started thinking that maybe God was leading me in a different direction everything was on the table my friends thought I was crazy in fact my friends used to say don't talk to David asterik to some of my other friends don't talk to David asterik he's been brainwashed to which I would always respond invariably respond my brain could use a good washing are you with me but all of my friends they didn't they could not understand because they hadn't seen the treasure that I'd seen my father couldn't understand my own brothers and sisters couldn't understand and so two of you if you really make a radical heart commitment to Jesus there is a very good chance that people around you are not going to understand the decisions that you're making someone say Amen but you are so smitten so taken with the treasure you lay it all on the line in that right so I think that's what the parables teaching I think when we encounter Christ when we encounter the gospel in the field we say it's all on the table my career is on the table my education is on the table my relationships are on the table my enjoyments and recreations are on the table everything is on the table Jesus what do you want me to do I believe that that is exactly what the parable is teaching but I also believe that this does not exhaust the interpretive possibilities apparently for this man the treasure was worth it was what everyone because notice the Bible says he goes and sells it for joy in other words we're not supposed to feel sorry for him we're not supposed to say Oh too bad for that guy he liquidated all of his assets just to buy that one field he's happy about it he cannot wait to do it even though people around him may or may not understand are we all together yes or no now with this framework in mind take one of these ribbons if you have it put it right here or a pen or a finger or whatever you have put it right here and go with me to second Corinthians chapter 4 remember I told you there were two basic principles in this presentation you've got one now let's go look at the other second Corinthians chapter 4 first principle is that worth is subjective that the one who is willing to pay a price for an object determines its worth and its value if that makes sense say Amen okay now check this out second principle it is nearly always the case it is nearly always the case that the contents of something is worth more than the container that it's in are you with me it is nearly always the case that the contents of something is worth more than the container okay so think about this a bank why do people rob banks right not because of the superior architecture right people rob banks because there's money in there right so what makes the bank valuable on the what's on the outside of what's on the inside it's on the inside that's exactly right think of think of a coffin right what's more valuable the outside of the inside yeah well what's on the inside right that person there's a person in there how about a box of candy now I love to say that one because like all the health reformers are like the box you know but but for the rest of us we'd say the candy right you go right you go right down the list and it is nearly always the case that the contents of something is worth more than the container then it's in if that makes sense amen okay so follow this analogy in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and notice with me verse 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 I'm in what verse everyone for 6 for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shown in our where hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ verse 7 but we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us simple analogy Paul says the same God who in the beginning said let there be light and there was light the same God who in the very beginning said let there be light and boom light flooded the then dark universe has now spoken into an equally dark equal avoided equally vacuous location except now he's not speaking literal light he's speaking the light of the knowledge of the glory of God we're into the sinned pardon sin darkened heart of mankind are you with me everyone so he says for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has showed in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God where where is it what's bad like how can we know what he's really like in the face of Jesus and then he says and we have this treasure what treasure Paul well of course the treasure in context is the light of the knowledge of who God is and we have it in this jar of clay Paul obviously is referring to himself as the vessel we have the light of the knowledge of who God is do you realize how totally privileged you are to know who God is can you say Amen I mean there are people in this world who are absolutely blinded by the darkness of superstition and all kinds of paganism they think that God is some austere vindictive exacting creditor we know who God is is that something important to know in the in this great enterprise called life yes or no that's the most important thing the most important thing is who is God and the second most important thing is Who am I you know who God is and Paul is basically rejoicing he says we have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus and we have it in earthen vessels in ourselves that the excellency may be of God and not of us so here's a good illustration they grab this thing alright so here's a juice container this would work really nice I have to hold it like this I think so they can't tell what brand it is okay so so so basically here's the analogy here's the analogy we're like this juice container but what's inside of the container is the knowledge of who God really is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God God's character in his essence can you say Amen okay and so so what would be more important than the juice or the container of course the juice would be more valuable and so - so - in this scenario you would think now remember that I said that it is usually the case that the contents of something is worth more than the container but I actually said that one time when I was preaching and I made the you know mistake as a preacher of saying it's always the case right as a preacher you learn to never say never or always because somebody invariably is gonna take you to task right and so I've got this guy that comes to my church he's a doctor he's a neurologist very intelligent man but thinks about things in a different kind of way and he's a great guy I love him very much dr. David Gaston and so anyway dr. Gaston he always you know he when he comes out he's got some little pithy thing to say to me you know about the sermon some little you know anecdote to sort of you know stick it to me a little bit and so I had said the first time I ever preached this presentation I said it's always the case that the contents is worth more than the container it's always the case so here comes dr. Jesse says pastor I thought of an example of where the the container is worth more than the contents I thought okay well here we go every Sabbath something every Sabbath so I said okay dr. Gaston what is it he's a doctor he's a neurologist he thinks very intelligent intelligently but very differently and he said your bladder are you with me and I was like I'll give you that one okay so now what I say is it's usually the case okay now watch this watch this the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that is who God is my Bible says God is love where was the love of God best shown most epitomized I'm hearing it on the cross that's right if you wanted to distill the essence of the Christian faith down to a single event it would be the cross amen what is the message of the Cross in a sentence this is the message of the Cross God valued sinful humanity more than his own existence that is the message of the cross when Jesus cried on the cross Eloi Eloi Lema sabachthani from jesus' perspective this was a terminal event as Ellen White says in that marvelous volume their desire of Ages she says that Jesus could not see through the portals of the tomb for Jesus this was a terminal event is that my God my God why have you forsaken me the message of the Cross is that God valued sinful humanity more than his own existence or to put it another way God would rather go to hell for you than live in heaven without you Paul says we have this treasure the light of the knowledge of the glory of who God is the essence of who God is and that is best exemplified there on the cross he said we have this in a jar of clay where the jar of clay so just think about that now remember what I told you it is nearly always the case that the contents of something is worth more than the container but the message of the Cross is that God value this this container more than what's in it what's in it is the character of God the very essence of who God is the message of the Cross is that God valued the jar of clay more than himself are you with me so I guess that's another example where according to God at least the container is worth more than the contents now with that in mind go back to Matthew chapter 13 let's go back to Matthew chapter 13 and let's look at that parable again let's just check it out again let's see if we couldn't find another gem in here I think there's one we've already discussed the man is walking through the field and he stubs his toe on a treasure and he looks down and he says what is the treasure he excavates it's some incredible awesome treasure so much so that he's willing to liquidate all of his assets to obtain that one thing we all in the same page everyone yes or no and we say well what is this amazing treasure it's the gospel it's the Lord Jesus Christ and when we find Jesus we're willing to give up everything for the Lord Jesus can someone say Amen but what if that's not all the parable is teaching what if there's something even better what if there's something deeper that undergirds this parable that's even more profound let's look at it again verse 44 Matthew 13:44 again the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and for joy over he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price he went and sold all that he had and he bought it something about that pearl something about that treasure caught his eye never seen anything like it before it was unique so I'm reading through this book called Christ object lessons it's an old book you've probably never heard of it and I'm reading on page 118 listen to this the parable of the merchant man seeking goodly pearls has a double significance oh really I'm all ears a double seek what kind of a significance what does double mean also it has two significances okay it applies not only to men as seeking the kingdom of heaven that's what we've already said but to Christ as seeking his lost inheritance Christ the heavenly merchant man seeking goodly pearls saw in lost humanity the pearl of great price in man in David defiled and ruined by sin he saw the possibilities of redemption hearts that have been the battleground of the conflict with Satan and that have been rescued by the power of his love are more precious to the Redeemer than in those then are those who have never fallen I could go so far as to add here if you would allow me that that those who have been redeemed and rescued by the power of his love are more precious to the Redeemer than himself now this parable gets a lot more awesome because the essence of this parable and I got a little secret for you the essence of the gospel is not primarily about what you give up it's about what Jesus gave up well that is a paradigm shift what what would what so the center of religion is not about my sacrifice but his sacrifice so here's Jesus Jesus is the man walking through the field Jesus is the man looking for that goodly pearl Jesus walks to the field and he stubs his toe he looks down it's not a rock it's not a tree it's not a root does a little excavation it's a treasure treasure lifts it up yeah it's looking at his treasure it's you he knows that treasure will cost him everything Jesus is the man walking through the market comes upon a man selling pearls so let me see your pearl collection he's looking through the pearl oh those are nice let me see that one oh Jesus this is a very expensive pearl no I'd like to see that pearl could I please see that pearl Jesus this is a very expensive pearl well what's the cost on that pearl the cost on that pearl Jesus is everything that will cost you everything including your life Jesus I'd like there's something about that guy see that pearl okay takes that pearl to you cost me everything up everything says I'll take it I'll take it what if the essence of the gospel is not about what you give up but about what Jesus has given up Jesus found you jesus paid an infinite if Jesus paid an infinite price for you then it must follow that you are worth an infinite amount ho ho but you protest no not me you don't know me you don't know everything about me I'm not worth that but wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute value is determined by the one who is willing to pay the one price you are not the determiner and arbiter of your value God is God has determined what you are worth and God looks at you and he says he/she is worth and infinite everything to me now we live in a society that tells you that you are worth such-and-such based on a variety of external things for you ladies if you look just right and have this certain figure in bla bla bla then you're worth more than those who perhaps don't right this is society and the guys you know you are worth your accomplishments in your career and what car you drive you can actually add to your value you can add to your worth and if you don't have the things that our society deems as important and essential then you don't possess the same kind of worth as those who do but God looks at you just as you are and he says he is worth everything to me she's worth everything to me I determine her value I set her value and I am willing to pay it all have you ever bought a lemon has anybody ever bought a lemon before not the citrus fruit a lemon you know a car that that broke down anyone or something else you bought a computer and it was a piece of junk he bought it on eBay you thought he were getting the deal of a lifetime it was a piece of junk go ahead raise your hands you consumer reports readers you know you've been gypped before now do you know why you bought a lemon [Music] you bought a lemon for one reason you didn't know you didn't know what was on him and that's why you bought it on the dealership lot it looks so good you drove it out it looks so good on eBay when you when you got it and then when you actually had it in hand it broke down you bought a lemon because you didn't know but wait a minute God knows God knows when God paid an infinitely high price for you beloved he knew exactly what he was getting he knew you were a lemon and he bought you anyway you are worth the very life of God that's the gospel God valued you more than his own existence that's the gospel don't try to add to it just accept it what are we gonna say to that you know what I think we're going to say I think we're gonna say what wondrous love is this what wondrous love is this what wondrous love is this that would cause the Florida bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul for me with all of my faults and fumbles failures hypocracy shortcomings what wondrous love is this enclosing there's a person here today who has never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior as a person here today at least one probably more who have never in their heart of hearts in the innermost core of their being understood the price that was paid for them and that they can't add to it they can only accept it that God knows you're a lemon he bought you and you're a lemon he knew what he was getting and he did it anyway stop trying to be what you're not and become a child of God what's God want to take you to he want to transform it as he want you to be obedient yes yes yes yes but all of that comes after you have a radical encounter with Jesus and you realize he laid it all down for that treasure he found in the field and that treasure is you so where's that person where's that person who wants to say tonight Jesus I accept the infinite price that you paid for me I don't add to it I can't explain it but tonight I accept it where's that person would you stand for me where is that person out I know you're here because I prayed about it there you are there you are sister where is that person there you are stand up that you know you're that person this would be the time to stand up god bless you sister god bless you sister who else stand up right now you accept it infinite price paid for you somebody else god bless you sister [Music] what wondrous love is this amen let's pray [Music] father in heaven we can't explain it but we believe it and we accept it for those who have stood a fresh new real tangible

Channel: SecondComing.org

Views: 15,501

Rating: 4.8122067 out of 5

Keywords: Second Coming, SecondComing.org, Davod Asscherick, Transformed, What Wondrous Love is This?, david asscherick, asscherick, wondrous, love, david asscherick sermons, david asscherick 2017, david, religious videos, christian videos, 5 good reasons, ty gibson, transformed david asscherick, 5 good reasons david asscherick, the golden rule, ty gibson 2017, david asherick, what wondrous love is this, light bearers, jesus christ, asscherick 2017, christian

Id: fsLPFnKkwJs

Length: 33min 2sec (1982 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 16 2017