Dwayne Lemon Who Is Worthy

let me say good afternoon and happy Sabbath to everyone it is a privilege to be here with you all and I believe that the Lord definitely has a message for us what's going to be very important for us to receive the message and all the blessings that comes with it is that you make sure you have your swords in hand and that you have your Bibles because the goal of what God wants to accomplish today cannot be done by simply hearing what the preacher has to say it can only come from hearing thus saith the Lord I always tell people it's amazing how sometimes we can come to church and when we come to church we're looking for a blessing would you agree with that when we come to church we're looking for a blessing do you know it's possible to come to church looking for a blessing and leave with a curse and somebody says well how could that happen well the way I understand it is that in the Book of Jeremiah the seventeenth chapter it says in verse five thus saith the Lord curse it be the man that puts his trust in man and make it flesh his arm and sometimes we come to church and which is ready to hear whatever a man has to say and we walk out as if everything the man has said is right and if we put our trust in men you can actually come to church looking for a blessing and leave with a curse for curse it be the man that puts his trust in man but then two verses down in verse 7 it says but blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is and therefore I believe every single one of us stand in the midst of blessings and curses and the choice will be yours when you leave this place you want to make sure you heard thus saith the Lord and if you understand what the preacher saying thus far let me hear you say Amen it is a privilege to be here pastor Ross my dear friend I thank you again for this wonderful invitation as well as to the pastoral staff here at the Granite Bay seventh-day Adventist Church God has a message for us today and therefore what we want to do is prepare our hearts and I'm going to do that and I'm going to kneel and if you'd like to you can kneel with me and if you cannot kneel then just go ahead and bow your heads where you are but let's approach the Lord together as we prepare to hear God speak to our hearts let us pray our Father in heaven Lord I believe that what you want to accomplish today in this sanctuary cannot be done by might or by power but only by your spirit and so father we come availing ourselves asking you first for the forgiveness of our sins and then for the cleansing of your Holy Spirit that he may come and open our eyes and help us to behold wondrous things out of your law and father I pray that in a very special way as you are blessing all of my brothers and my sisters please do not pass me by there is more about Jesus that I too would learn there is more of his lovely face that I desire to behold and so lord I pray please take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee and may you speak to my mind and through my mouth to reach the hearts of my brothers and my sisters for we ask all these things in Jesus name Amen you know it's interesting I was uh prayerfully considering where do I start I'm talking to the Lord because I generally do not preach with notes so you know you're really relying on what God is putting in your mind to give to the people and as I was praying father where do I start what's the verse what's the best verse and here it is that our associate pastor went and quoted acts 17 6 and I said alright because acts 17 was one of the texts of Scripture I just didn't know if I should start with it and so I heard acts 17 I said father he just said acts 17 did he was that your way of communicating it to me and I said if it is then do me a favor ratified by giving me one more and then here it was that our children's story our sister quoted acts 17 24 through 26 and then when she did that I said alright Lord I got the message and so it is that I want you to turn your Bibles to the book of Acts the 17th chapter in acts the 17th chapter we're going to notice that the Apostle Paul he is meeting the Athenians these individuals who are in Greece and they are worshiping an idol with an inscription or that says to the unknown God and as Paul is making known who God is in this chapter he gets to a summarization of his sermon in acts the 17th chapter and we're going to go ahead and look at verse 30 and when you get there just let me know by saying Amen the Bible says in acts 17 and verse 30 it says this and the times of this ignorance what did God do he winked at it or overlooked it and I want you to pause right there if you don't mind we're gonna really study today we're gonna study the Word of God I read from a little book called evangelism page 363 that in place of so much sermonizing what God's people need to do is come together and study text by text to know what they believe I believe we're living in such a time how about you and therefore what we want to do is we want to study the Word of God which means we're going to take our time Paul meets people who are committing idolatry now is idolatry a sin yes or no it is a sin there's no question about it but at the same time Paul he meets a bunch of people who were doing the act of sin but he says to them in your times of ignorance what did God do he winked at it now I want to build on this keep your finger in acts 17 but let's go to John three I want to build on this thought because this is a good preface for the study we're gonna do today I want you to see what the Bible now says in John the third chapter keep your finger in acts 17 because we're gonna go back there in John the 3rd chapter now I want you to see what the Bible says as we build on this thought that in times of ignorance God does not hold us accountable for the things that we were doing as it relates to what the Bible defines as sin in Acts the 3rd chapter and if I'm sorry John chapter 3 if you're there please say Amen the Bible says in John 3 and verse 19 notice what the text says it says and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and what did men do they loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil the Bible literally explains how a person goes through condemnation from God a person is not condemned of God simply because they may have been doing something that was wrong but when the light comes to them and they see the light of what God says they understand the light of what God says the light is made clear to them that it is light from God and when they say I don't want that light I hate that light I reject that light if we do that the Bible says it is at that time that condemnation comes did you see that in the verse I saw that in the verse so when light comes to an individual and then they see the light and understand the light but they rejected they say that light makes me uncomfortable that light is inconveniencing it is when the light comes to us and we understand the light but we say I don't want it I reject it I am choosing darkness the Bible says that is when condemnation comes to an individual do we understand so far now the reason why this is important is because I want you to understand as we go through this men today this message is not a message of condemnation this message that you're gonna get today is not a message of condemnation it is a message of education I want to make that clear from the beginning I want to set the stage the message that God is going to give us today is a very serious and solemn message yet it is not a message designed to condemn it is a message designed to educate let's go back to Acts the 17th chapter in axis seventeenth chapter now Paul he was reasoning with these idolaters and they were committing sin obviously but God did not hold it accountable unto them because they were ignorant they did not know so notice now verse 30 let's look at it again in acts 17 again looking at verse 30 the Bible says and the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to do what to repent now repentance is replete throughout the Bible God has always had a problem with his family and his family is the issue is is that consistently God gives counsel he gives instruction and because of our love for sin and selfishness and so on we find ourselves getting off of the path of God hence God has to call us to turn back unto Him which is to turn away from the things that broke up the relationship between us and Jesus so therefore repentance is throughout the Bible you remember John the Baptist when he came on the scene in Matthew chapter 3 he came giving a message of repentance when John went in prison and his public ministry was put at a halt Jesus now rises up in mark chapter one 14 and 15 and Jesus grabs the baton from John as it were and he begins preaching the gospel calling people to repentance Jesus eventually he gets crucified he ascends up into the sanctuary above but he of course pours out his Spirit upon his disciples Paul was one of the recipients of that spirit and now Paul he's giving the same message that all the others were giving before him and now he's calling people to repentance but the question is this why why did Paul give the emphasis to repentance to these Athenians and there's a very specific reason why in verse 31 of Acts 17 notice what it says it says in verse 31 because he hath appointed what a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he has given assurance unto all men and that he hath raised him from the dead Paul wanted to call the people to repentance not simply for the fact that they should turn away from their sinful behaviors and unite with Jesus but Paul says in addition to that there is a day that God has appointed set aside of which he's going to do a work of judgment a work of judgment you know brothers and sisters sometimes we talk about this thing called judgment and depending on what religious persuasion we're a part of there's all sorts of different views about this ideology called judgment and as a result of that we need to understand what this judgment constitutes because I'm going to show you something about God right now many of times when we think about judgment we typically think about punishment is that right when you think about a judgment that's about to be given you think about punishment now question does God love punishment yes or no I believe that the God that I serve which is the God of the Bible does not love punishment do you understand that but watch this go to Isaiah 61 observe in Isaiah the 61st chapter let's notice what the Bible says here Isaiah chapter 61 and let's notice what the Bible says right here in verse 8 in Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 8 notice what the Bible says if you're there please say Amen the Bible says in Isaiah 61 and verse 8 it says for I the Lord what love judgment wait a minute God loves judgment we just agreed that God definitely does not love punishment is that right but the average interpretation of judgment today is that it equals punishment but here it is that Isaiah 61 in verse 8 God says for I the Lord love judgment and if God does not love punishment then that means there must be another understanding of the term judgment are we in agreement so far beautiful and so we find that God wants to make it clear that there's a day appointed in the future Paul was saying it there's a day appointed where God is going to do this judgment this incredible judgment work now I I can't wait to do this part of the study with you because I believe that this is something that is a blessing and a benefit to God's people to understand as it relates to judgment there are I found and if anybody has found anything additional please bless me with this information but I found there are only three groups that fall under judgment in the Bible only three groups that fall under judgment in the Bible and I think we need to identify these groups so that we can get a clearer picture of this day that was appointed and this thing that God loves so therefore I want us now to turn our attention to the screen because we're going to start trying to identify who are these groups that fall under judgment Paul calls people to repentance why because a day of judgment is appointed in the future now most of us understand judgment to mean punishment and definitely punishment is inclusive in the term judgment but there's more to it and therefore now what we're going to do is we're going to find out what who these groups that fall under judgment anyhow because I think it's worth looking at so we're going to point our attention to the screen and the first text of Scripture that we're going to look at is first Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2 Paul is reasoning with the Brethren in the Church of Corinth and they got to a point where they were having differences one with another that they were actually considering to sue each other to take each other to law can you imagine brothers and sisters in the church taking each other to court thank God we don't do things like that today amen amen amen well here it is that in first corinthians 6:2 the bible says do you not know paul was reasoning with them he says do you not know that the Saints shall judge the world and it says and if the world shall be judged by you are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters now notice that God in the verse he makes a contrast between the Saints and the world so the world is opposite of the Saints now the word Saint in the Greek means a most holy thing so whoever the world is they are definitely not a holy type of people this is why the Bible says in James chapter 4 by the way it says in James 4 and verse 4 it says if any man is a friend of the world he is the enemy of God so when we think of the world we're thinking of those who constitute the enemies of God yes so notice that the Bible says that one group that is going to fall under judgment is called the what it's called the world you can take the word world out and you can put wicked if you'd like if you're taking notes which I would recommend if you wanted to do that you could say the wicked so if one group is going to fall under judgment thus far we find it is going to be none other than the world or the wicked very good now let's look at another part of 1st Corinthians 6 it's actually I believe this is verse 3 maybe it shouldn't be verse 2 notice what it says here know ye not that we shall judge what else angels so that's group number 2 angels are also going to go unto judgment because remember we're trying to find out some more about this thing called judgment the Bible presents three groups that are going to fall under judgment so far we've identified how many we've identified two the first one is the world or the wicked and then the second one are the angels now let's find out some more about this in Revelation 20 in Revelation 20 verses 12 and 14 watch this one it says and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were open and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works and inhale were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death now do me a favor go to Revelation 20 there's something I want to show you in this text right now I'm speaking to your brains but in just a moment I'm going to speak to your heart let's notice what the Bible says in Revelation to 20th chapter in Revelation the twentieth chapter just get a little bit more clarity on this where in Revelation the twentieth chapter if we're there just let me know by saying Amen alright the Bible says in Revelation - twentieth chapter now what we're going to do is we're just going to go ahead and look at a few verses up from verses 12 and 14 and we're gonna look at verse 6 now look at this well verse 5 just just for context it says but the rest of the Dead lived not again until what period a thousand years ended a thousand years were finished and this is the first resurrection now verse 6 says blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and all reign with him a thousand years so notice when it highlights here this death and he'll were cast into the lake of fire and this is the second death the wicked that are being judged out of those books are going to end up where they're going to end up in that lake of fire is that right now the angels we are told here we're also going to be judged here we saw something about into the lake of fire let's notice here Matthew 25:41 let's find out who else goes in that lake of fire it says then shall he say also unto them on the left hand depart from me he cursed into everlasting fire prepared for who the devil and his angels another term for that would be demons so notice that the Bible has identified so far two groups that are going to go under judgment the two groups are number one the world or the wicked and the second group are the angels and these are referred to also as demons now I have a very important question for you very important question what according to what we've looked at thus far what do these two groups have in common this is actually an opportunity for you to talk to me what would you say these two groups have in common good let me know okay they're lost that's obvious what else do they have in common say again they're judged by the judge by the same group okay they're judged by the same group the Saints good good observation anything else what do they what else do they have in common going to the same place Lake of Fire that's true - anything else they loved evil okay that's a good observation did I hear boys here they hate God all right all of these points are correct can I give you just one more and I think it's very integral to this study you know these two groups also have in common watch this see again brother they worship themselves very true point as well but I'm gonna give you something else you know these two groups have in common both of their judgments take place post Second Coming right or wrong is that right now ladies and gentlemen the Bible shows that boast of their judgments comes post-second cunning but now I think we have a problem go to Revelation 14 in Revelation the 14th chapter let's notice what the Bible says here the Bible says in Revelation - 14th chapter notice what it says right there in verse 6 such a wonderful popular text of scripture that has been written in the minds of most seventh-day Adventists I would imagine it says in Revelation 14 and verse 6 John the Revelator says and I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth to every nation kindred tongue and people saying with a loud voice fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come wait a minute when the term is come is stated that means it's here right now but is this Herald pre or post second coming it's pre so watch this so then could that judgment hour message that is being heralded could it apply to the wicked no could it apply to the Fallen Angels no because their judgments happen post Second Coming so that means that whoever's falling under this judgment hour message must be the third group I wonder who that third group is one day I was in Boston Massachusetts and I was invited by one of our colleges to come speak to the youth and to the staff and the faculty it was called Atlanta Union College and when I went to that college they invited me to come and we boy I came there and I prayed I plead with God Lord do a miracle at this place and the Lord did miracles I mean all men many of those youth and adults and everybody was just coming to Jesus and people's hearts were broken by the message of God and and it was beautiful and then one day a brother came to me and he said brother lemon there's a man who wants to talk to you and I said okay and he says yeah he really wants to talk to he has a sense of urgency he's been listening to your messages and he wants to talk to you I said no problem so the next day I met him in the cafeteria and he was sitting all by himself in a little corner and I went over to him and I said hello brother how are you I understand you wanted to talk to me and I went to talk to him and as he started talking to me he says you know mr. lemon he says I used to be seventh-day adventists I said okay you know I have no judgment for anybody for that people people make decisions for different reasons so he said I used to be he wanted to make sure I heard used to be he says I used to be seven day Adventists and I said okay understood and he says and now I'm a Baptist and I said okay I said about this I used to be Baptists and he said okay says yes and I said so what's your question and he says well I have a question and he put this paper on the table and the paper had two names on it it was Desmond Ford so when I saw those two words there Desmond Ford I said okay I think I know where he may be going because some of you you may understand this whole thing with that name well anyhow he starts saying I know that the Bible teaches that God will judge the wicked he said that's clear he says but I have never found anywhere in the Bible where God says he will judge the righteous he said there's nowhere in the Bible where God says he will judge the righteous yet 70 Adventists believe this false doctrine and I said okay I said let me make sure you know I learned I learned this in marriage counseling always repeat back what you heard the person say so you can make sure that you're understanding let me tell you 16 years of marriage good counsel now I repeat it back to the brother I said okay I want to make sure I understand what you're saying so you're telling me that you no longer believe the message God gave to the Advent movement because of the pre-advent judgment message and apparently you feel like it is not grounded upon the Bible because there's a teaching that God judges righteous people while he also judges wicked people and angels and everything else and he said that's correct I said all right so if I could show you somewhere in the Bible where God says that he will judge the righteous would you recant your position he looked at me in the eyes and he said yes I said very good now how many of you believe that this there is a place in the Bible where God makes a clear he'll judge the righteous how many of you believe that I'm just curious a lot of hands you know all right how many of us don't believe that how many of us are too afraid to lift our hands up a lot of people don't necessarily believe that in fact that's probably one of the great points of the beliefs and teachings of the 70 adventist church that many evangelicals and others may not agree with because they don't believe is biblically found and so it was that this brother held the same position well sometimes how many of us were thinking this for those of us who raise our hands how many of us were thinking of the text of scripture that says judgment begins in the house of God raise your hands how many of you were thinking about that verse all right now let me tell you why I did not give him that verse can tell you why I didn't give it to him while I agree and as 1st Peter 4:17 in case you didn't know where it was but I'll tell you this while I agree with the verse I think depending on who you're talking to if they wanted to they could probably twist it let me give you an example if I would have said to him well sir don't you know that the Bible says that judgment begins at the house of God if he were a good student of Scripture he could say yes but Matthew 24 verses 44 to 51 clearly says that in the house of God Jesus will have two types of servants faithful and wise and wicked therefore judgment begins in the house of God with the wicked so I didn't want to go down that route one of the things we learned in our class and our training this week is we learn when people ask direct questions guess what they deserve a direct answer so therefore I didn't take him to first Peter 4:17 because that's gonna make me talk more and I don't want to talk if I don't have to so you know what I did I said my brother go to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 now let's look at this first in Ecclesiastes the third chapter I believe we're gonna find a direct answer to the direct question the Bible says in Ecclesiastes the third chapter and when you get there just let me know by saying Amen the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 notice what it says right there in verse 17 the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:17 I said in my heart God shall judge the who righteous and the wicked for there is a time there for every purpose for every work I think that's a direct question to the direct answer to the direct question can you say amen to that so therefore I said my brother do you see that the Bible shows that God will judge the righteous and I tell you that man was huffing and he was puffing he said I've never seen this before I said brother it was always there and he said I just can't believe this I said my brother I said there's many things that God has in his word that if we're willing to see it he can show it to us are you willing to recant your position and he said no and when he said no I said my brother you made a promise before God and man that you would receive that truth and the truth is right here in your face the light has come to you the light came to you and I said brother please don't hold that position he says I refuse to accept this I refuse to accept this and God gave me some little boldness at that moment and you know what I did I said my brother I'm gonna tell you something I said the servant of God you used to believe in wrote in the book testimonies to ministers and gospel workers page 108 the attitude that you approach the study of the scripture will determine whose attendant will be by your side I said if you're studying the Bible because you want to find all the error so that you can stay in your comfort zone all the demons in Hell will come next to you to deceive you and make sure that you are misconstrued in God's Word but I said but if you're studying the Bible because you love Jesus and you just want to follow him and serve him and honor him all the angels in heaven will come next to you and guide you through your study he said I refuse this I'm leaving and he left and my heart went out to that man because not everybody is searching for truth so we just identified group number three God will judge the world God will judge angels but their judgments post-second coming but there's a judgment going on right now and has been going on for quite some time and this judgement brothers and sisters is not pertaining to the wicked it's not pertaining to angels it's pertaining to everyone who has professed Christ as their righteousness it is pertaining to everyone who claims the name of Jesus and so it is that heaven is really focused on us at such a time as this in Earth's history and therefore knowing that we are under judgment right now this is where I believe it is now time to help you understand another term for judgment you see judgment yes it does equal punishment and I firmly believe that that's what's going to happen to the wicked and the fallen angels in fact let me show you what road do the Saints have in judgment anyhow I mean are the Saints going to determine whose wicked is that their role in judgment no because that's already been done when Jesus comes the second time whoever is alive that's wicked they're gonna be slain so that's it then whoever was wicked in the grave they're not gonna rise they're gonna stay in the grave until the end of the millennium so they're done so God has already made a decision as it relates to who's wicked and all of that that's not the role that the Saints play in judgment so what is the role notice in 1st Corinthians 4 in verse 5 the Bible says therefore judge nothing now Paul is talking to the Saints he says therefore judge nothing when before the time well what's the time he says until the Lord comes so we don't do any works of judgment this is another application of judge not lest you be judged we don't do any work of judgment right now you and I can't read the books in the hearts of people we don't understand their motives and that's why we are not called to judge individuals we can correct individuals if I see someone stealing from the grocery store I have every right to say my brother you just took something that doesn't belong to you that was wrong you need to return it that's called correcting but if I see somebody steal from the grocery store and I say my brother I just saw you steal from the grocery store and you know why you did that you never love Jesus you're nothing but a loser and you're always gonna be a loser and so now I'm judging you understand that so judging someone is when I'm trying to do one of two things either determine their fate or read their motives and you and I don't have the ability to do that right now we have no right to put anybody in heaven or hell neither do we have the right to tell people why they did what they did I can tell you what you did but I can't tell you why you understand that when I try to do that I am judging you you understand so this is not what the Saints are doing so notice what it says it says therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God so the Saints in judgment are going to be open to the counsels of men's hearts why is my mother not here there will be some children that will ask that and wonder that why is my husband not here why is my wife not here why is my favorite minister not here God in the judgment is going to open up books remember we saw that and in those books we're gonna read the counsels of men's hearts we're gonna have access to all the motives and everything that was done even in darkness at that time in the judgment now once we're exposed to that watch what the Bible says happens next 2nd Corinthians 5:10 look at what it says it says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may what receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or whether it be bad so notice that after the Saints understand why certain individuals are not there when they understand the council's of men's hearts then they actually play a role in saying this is the level of punishment that this person deserves they will receive what is done in the body and the reason why this is blew me away one day I'm sitting down and I was reading some little books here and I found the same statement right here in the book heaven page 119 it says during the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection the judgment of the wicked takes place the Apostle Paul points to this judgment as an event that follows the second Advent judge nothing before the time unto the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts notice it is at this time that as foretold by Paul the Saints shall judge the world in union with Christ they judge the wicked comparing their acts with the statute book the Bible and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body then though what portion which the wicked must suffer is meted out according to their works and it is recorded against their names in the book of death Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and his people so this is the work that Saints are going to be playing in the judgment in heaven towards the wicked and the fallen angels and I thought to myself I said that's a solemn thing to imagine that a son if the mother is not faithful will say father this is what level of punishment my mother deserves I thought to myself that's a solemn thing to think that a father if their son is not faithful will say father this is the level of punishment my son deserves and this is why family I'm telling you the truth we all have to learn now to press together to be strengthening one another in the Lord because I'm telling you right now the last thing that I could ever imagine in my mind is being in eternity without my bride and my four children they are my priority and brothers and sisters your family is your priority there's no way we can know that some of our family members may be on a road to perdition and not plead with God and say lord please save my family do you know brothers and sisters that my son Caleb and my son Jared they're just a couple of years apart in age and every time I look at them every time I look at them I just think of my relationship between myself and my brother because me and Vernon we were just a couple of years different in age and we hung out together played together did everything together and all that stuff in the same way caleb looks up to his bigger brother is the way i looked up to my brother caleb is the spittin image of me when I was a child so that you know it's like all this thing I get these reminders in my head and do you know my brother he started getting caught up in drugs started getting caught up with the wrong crowd getting caught up in the music industry and all these different things and he just started going away and we would try to reach him and try out try to share the gospel and he would just say yeah thanks and years would go by before I'd hear him again hear from him again and do you know that God gave a gift to me this week it was after I was having my morning mana and talking to the Lord and talking to Jesus and just learning of his truth in his ways and after that morning mana I decided to turn my phone on and I checked my text messages and do you know my brother text me my brother Vernon he said Dwayne he says man I got to tell you he says I've been listening to your messages on YouTube he said they are both stirring and encouraging and he says I have never heard anything like this and he says man these messages came right at a time in my life when I needed to hear it and do you know that he sent me another email yesterday and he said hey I have given my heart to Jesus and he says and I'm doing some things in music right now and so on and I want to make sure I'm doing what's right I listened to your sermon about music and glorifying God I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right here's what I put together please look at it and if I'm going on the wrong path please put me on the right one my brother my brother Vernon brothers and sisters the last thing I want to do is be in heaven and say this is what my brother Vernon deserves I want to reach out to my family members my friends everyone whom I love and say listen you need to understand this great gift of Jesus that God has given to us and that they may receive it in their hearts as well it's my prayer that you receive it as well but brothers and sisters because there's a judgment going on right now I need you to understand the other word for judgment you see the word judgment does not just simply equate to the execution of punishment you know another word for judgment in the Hebrew vindication vindication in other words accusations have been made a foul picture has been painted and now that name needs to be vindicated and God knows that there is an accuser of the Brethren God himself has been accused and in this judgment work that's going on right now God is going to do two things in one shot he's gonna vindicate his name through you and I and he has to allow a judgment work to take place for this to be done right and therefore the question is this if they're or since there's a judgment work going on right now that pertains to those who are professing the righteousness of God then the question is how does God determine who is worthy go to the Book of Luke the 21st chapter let's notice now Luke chapter 21 in Luke the twenty-first chapter we find that the Bible shows us right here this is what God must do this this is these are the only people that's gonna make it into eternity you and I must be counted amongst this number the Bible says in Luke the 21st chapter and when you get there let me know by saying Amen the Bible says in Luke 21 and verse 36 notice what the text says it says watch ye therefore and be and pray always that you may be what accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man God says he wants to account us worthy he wants us to be able to do what before the son of man he wants us to stand now brothers and sisters you know why that's important is because there's a great purpose of the third angels message pastor Ross came up here and talked about the support and wonderful things we're doing to get the three angels messages out to the world amen did you know there's a great purpose a great focus of the third angel's message I want you to see it here here goes these three angels we're certainly living in the time where this message getting ready to start swelling and here it is that in the time in the third angel's message we're told clear as day God's purpose in giving the third angels message to the world is to prepare a people to what stand true to him during this investigative judgment that's the whole purpose of the third angel's message is to show people to help people to assist people that they may know how to stand in this investigative judgment so that they can win you know brothers and sisters that touches my heart to think that God is on my side there are some ministers and some ministries that can make it look like Jesus is against us they can present the gospel in such ways that it makes it seem like it's impossible to be saved but I'm so thankful that Jesus made it clear he says be of good cheer oh man when Jesus says be a good cheer you can be cheerful Jesus says be of good cheer he says I have overcome the world and Jesus says if you let me in your heart I'll show you how to overcome it too and God gave a message to help people know how to enter into this experience and it's called the third angel's message it's designed to help people know how to stand true to God during this investigative judgment and therefore brothers and sisters it becomes imperative that we know how to do it you see God wants to account you worthy he wants to account me worthy he wants to account every one of us worthy he wants us to win but in order for God to account us worthy he can't do it because he says Dwayne was a nice suit he can't do it because he says pastor Ross has a beautiful accent he can't do it because you and I have great haircuts with nice cars or nice homes or we do various deeds that is not the standard there's a standard that everyone must rise up to in order to be accounted worthy and the question is what is that standard in the judgment the Bible says in James the second chapter go there with me in James chapter 2 the Bible makes it as clear as day what is the standard it's not our looks it's not our possessions there's nothing you and I can go ahead and try to recommend ourselves to God and say Lord look at me you gotta let me in it doesn't work like that God has standard of how we're gonna pass that judgment and you and I need to understand that standard this afternoon in James the second chapter I want you to see what the Bible says and if you're there just let me know by saying Amen the Bible says in James chapter 2 we're gonna start right there at verse 10 it says for whosoever shall keep how much of the law the whole law and yet offend in how many points in one point it says he is guilty of how much all it says for he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill now if thou commit no adultery yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the law so speak II and so do as they that shall be what judged by the law of Liberty what's the standard in the judgment Saints it is the law of God it is none other than those beautiful Ten Commandments now let's do this quick let's do a nice little rehearsal very quickly commandment number one were you taking very long command me number one should have no other gods before me command number two don't make any idols when bow down to them poor Mammon number three take the Lord's name in vain commandment number four altogether commandment number five commandment over six commandment number seven commandment number eight commandment number nine should not bear false witness the crowd is dying commandment over ten thou shalt not covet all right now these are God's Ten Commandments now this is the standard in the judgment so I would imagine that if this is the standard surely we should all be passing you clearly know it right here in your minds don't you but notice will everybody pass go to Matthew chapter seven in Matthew the seventh chapter I wonder if it's so simple shouldn't everybody pass but notice what the Bible says in Matthew the seventh chapter Matthew gives a different picture the Bible says in Matthew the seventh chapter and when you're there just say Amen Matthieu the seventh chapter in verse 21 not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity now this is an amazing statement that Jesus is saying to the world is that right he's not saying that to the world he's saying that to the church he's saying that to people who profess to follow him he's saying it to people who said we cast out demons in your name we've done many wonderful works in your name and Jesus is gonna have to look do you know that these are the saddest words to come from the lips of Jesus to have to look his creation in the eyes the ones that he has done everything for to make sure that they can be with him forever and he's gonna have to look them in the eyes and say not I don't know you but I never knew you and I thought to myself is he saying this to a minority or a majority question if I say here's a few pieces of candy and I give you a few pieces and then I go to and I say here's many pieces of candy question which one is the majority many isn't that something how we all agree I was wondering who Jesus said this too how many people did Jesus say this to and you know how many people he said it to look at verses 13 and 14 of the same book same chapter the Bible says in verses 13 and 14 enter ye in at what kind of gate the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat verse 14 it says because Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it according to Matthew chapter 7 is it the majority or minority in the church that will be lost it's the majority that means that somehow someway the majority of the professor dry ch's did not pass the judgment you understand that and that's why we have to look more carefully father how can we make it you see go to psalm 119 with me sound I told you we're gonna study text by ticks I forewarned you psalm 119 let's watch this now because brothers and sisters God wants us to win and I want you to win and I certainly want to win so let's notice what the Bible says in Psalms 119 'the division the bible says in psalm 119 96 I believe this is one of the reasons why we're gonna find that so many did not meet the mark you see there's a principle connected to God's law it's found in Psalms 119 Division and verse 96 and let's notice what the Bible says the Bible says in psalm 119 96 you there it says I have seen an end of how much perfection of all perfection but thy commandment is exceeding broad the word broad means wide or deep which means the commandments of God are a lot deeper than we think sometimes we just look at these Ten Commandments and we just say I got it but brothers and sisters you and I need to understand that God's commandments that standard in the judgment is a lot deeper than what you and I think I remember I was looking at that law of God and I thought about this solemn statement it says very clearly the law of Jehovah is exceedingly broad Jesus plainly declared to his disciples that this holy law of God may be violated in even the thoughts and feelings and desires as well as in the word and deed this is why Jesus was able to look those Pharisees in the eyes and he says it has been said that thou shalt not kill but he says but I'm telling you that if you hate your brother without a cause you're already a murderer because jesus knew what goes on in the mind is gonna come out in the actions as a man thinketh in his heart so is he yes and therefore I believe we would do well to consider the commandments of God a little bit more closely and I'm going to do it in two fashions this afternoon that I pray will open our eyes and help us to behold wondrous things out of the law of God the Bible says and I want you to think about this this is powerful the gentleman who got amazing facts started mr. Joe Cruz founder of amazing facts he wrote a book called reaping the whirlwind and he made a statement in this book that was so profound and I figured in an environment like this a nice amazing facts environment I said this is a great place to read this statement so look at this it says this what he said he said the most tragic thing about the worldly state of the church is that she doesn't recognize her own miserable plight it says she is comfortable with the way things are going platitudes and generalizations roll over the years of lauda scenes without making the tiniest impression books and articles have also been written about the need to repent of this loathsome attitude which God detests yet we see the situation almost growing worse why why hasn't the message been heeded I've analyzed many of the appeals in our publications and they are wonderfully presented but as I studied deeper I discovered that almost none of them spelled out what to repent of hold on to that look at what it says suddenly it became clear to me why there was little response those eloquent appeals to turn from sin bring no response because lauda sins cannot see look at what he says they are incapable of discerning sin vague terms like sin do not really register with them they need to have sin defined described and delineated we have assumed too often that the Holy Spirit will take over and teach the details if we just provide the general appeals the true message to loud Asiya will boldly declare that sins are being committed by the church members and even by the institutions of the church unless these evils which bring the displeasure of God are corrected in its members the whole church stands accountable for them serious brothers and sisters so what we need to understand is that the pointing out of sin you remember God said in Isaiah 58 cry aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people in the house of Jacob their sins and that transgressions to point out sin is a message of love to a men's to call sin by its right name is actually a message of love listen folks you can't give an effective message of repentance if you don't make clear what the people should repent from you can't do that it's impossible you they have to know what to turn if I just go to you and say hey turn away from that you're gonna say turn away from what so I have to identify that right there turn away from that and therefore it has to be defined I read a little statement you might be familiar with it it says the greatest want of the world is the want of men men who will not be bought or sold men who in their inmost souls are true and honest men who do not fear to call sin by its right name men who are as true to duty as the needle to the pole men who will stand for the right though the heavens may fall this is what the world is lacking and therefore brothers and sisters when I think about that commandment thou shalt have no other gods before me we look at that text of Scripture and we say all right is clear I should have no other gods in my life but brothers and sisters how do you know if you had one you ever thought about that sometimes we can peruse past the text but not understand it really how can I know if I have another God in my life you want to know how it's with one word right here thou shalt have no other gods when God made himself known to Israel what God did was he made it clear that I am the one that should govern your life man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God so God says I have to come first my instructions come first as an example there was someone who showed that they had a God in his life you know what his name is Adam you want to know how God gave instructions to Adam God made it clear of every tree that you want to desire to eat from have at it but he says but from this one tree don't eat from it his bride from his side went and she decided to take of it and when she partook of it she said honey this is good come eat and you know what he did he put Eve before God and when he put Eve before God he sinned and the manifestation of that was he ate the fruit today you have so many people that put their children before God today we have individuals who will put husband and wife before God there are times when God gives us counsel and he tells us that yes he wants us to understand every evening and every morning we should come together as fathers and we should lead the family as the priest of the home in worship and sometimes our job becomes our God because we will show up to our job on time while we will bypass morning and evening worship when we have a lifestyle like that your job has become your God your business can become your God and many of your father's today are neglecting the responsibility to be the husband you know we have abused that term that word husband there's another word for it that's better it's called house band the husband was supposed to rise in the morning meet with wife meet with children and bind them together at the altar that they can present themselves before God the question is where are those husbands today many of us have put our businesses our jobs sometimes the Lord tells us what to do but depending on if it'll please our wise or displease them sometimes we as husbands will not do specifically what God said what if Abraham did that what if a rain would have said Oh Lord if I if I take Isaac my Sarah is gonna get mad at me we understand that Saints we can make family members our God we are putting so many things before God family businesses jobs and then this goes on do you know that there's another God that sometimes we have we don't even know about it and this God is very close to our hearts go to the book of Philippians chapter 3 this is another God that's in many of our lives these things are being exposed brothers and sisters why so that we can open our hearts and let Jesus take it away notice what the Bible says in Philippians the 3rd chapter for the pians chapter 3 when you get there say Amen the Bible says in Philippians the third chapter notice what it says right there in verse 17 going down to 18 and 19 the Bible says in Philippians 3:17 brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are what the enemies of the cross of Christ is that good or bad that's bad now notice what the Bible says is a manifestation of being the enemy of a cross of Christ it says in verse 19 whose end is destruction and then what does it say next whose God is their bellies I told you there's a God in our life that's close to our heart our bellies right here in our hearts right here it's a God close to our heart we must understand Saints that when God gave us food he said I gave it to you so you can eat and drink to my glory not so that you and I can indulge in just what tastes good even though we know it destroys and defiles the temple of God God never wanted us to do that God says I always wanted my people to be temperate in all things 1st Corinthians 9 25 through 27 God says we are not supposed to live to eat we're supposed to eat to live and therefore many of us we find ourselves struggling with confused brain weak body debilitated thought processes which eventually affects our characters because of this other God called the god of appetite I've said it once I say it a thousand times the food that you and I eat gets broken down to blood that blood feeds our brain brain houses our minds our minds is what we use to think our thoughts produces our actions our actions repeated is what forms a habit our habits deter develop our character and our character determines our destiny I think that's worth repeating what do you say the food that you and I eat gets broken down to blood that blood has to feed our brain our brain houses our minds our minds is where we use our thoughts our thoughts is what produces our actions our actions repeated is what forms a habit our habits develops our characters and our characters determine our destiny food is a lot more important than you and I think and that's why God gives so much counsel in the Bible about eating and drinking to his glory so it is possible Saints that while we love Jesus while we profess to follow him we could have other gods in our lives and sometimes not even realize it and that's one of the reasons why God sends messengers so that he can help them see what they could not see before how about this one right here thou shalt not commit adultery now gentlemen I need to talk to you first thou shalt not commit adultery you remember that Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 through 28 he says that it is not so much that you you know commit adultery with a woman by touching but he says but if you look at her to do what to lust after her he says you've already committed adultery in your heart now gentlemen typically have something that we termed the neck problem the neck problem is simply this a man is walking and he sees a woman walking this way he sees the woman and curiosity sinful curiosity comes in his mind so the woman walks this way and eventually she walks past him and all of a sudden the neck problem manifests itself do you understand gentlemen do we understand the neck problem all right so we are not looking to find out if that's our old friend from high school we are not looking to find out oh is that that singer in the choir we're not looking to find things out we have a very specific purpose of why we look behind us the purpose is to lust that's it that's the only reason why we do it you understand that that's being real that's being honest so therefore God says unto his gentlemen God says you and I need to do what job did in job 31 let's go to job 31 and this is the counsel for the men drove 31 notice where the Bible says in job 31 because it's possible to commit adultery without even touching another person God wants to make it clear today and Jove the 31st chapter notice what the Bible says as we consider job 31 right there in verse 1 gentlemen this is what you and I need to do and live by and by the grace of God die by it notice what the Bible says it says in job 31 in verse 1 it says I made a covenant with mine eyes why then should I think upon a maid now that sounds so King James you might not get what it was saying so what I did was I put it up in a more plain English language in the world English Bible here's what Joe was saying I made a covenant with my eyes how then should I look lustfully at a young woman job says I made a covenant with my eyes and agreement that when I see that sister and she walks by and the temptation comes to go ahead and turn around that I'm gonna remember the Covenant and I'm not gonna look and I'm not gonna lust because I want to honor God even when no one else is looking you understand that so that's the Covenant gentleman I'm done with you sisters I need to talk to you sisters we have to talk my dear sisters let me tell you something most women do not understand how powerful they are most women do not understand how powerful they are let me tell you something sisters I want to tell you right now I apologize I apologize on behalf of every perverted man that made you think that your value is found in how much you reveal your flesh to the world I apologize to you on behalf of every perverted man that has made you think that your value is based on how much of your anatomy you reveal to this world when I study the Bible the Bible shows that the body was equated to the temple and I believe that the body is not just equated to the temple I believe the most holy place is very very typical of the human body why because the Bible says that the most holy place had the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Ten Commandments God said he wanted to write his law in our hearts the Bible shows that the Shekinah glory the very presence of God was in the most holy place God says that your body is a temple with the very presence of God wants to dwell and do you know that if the common man on the street were to try to peek and look at any part of the particulars of the most holy place you know what would happen to that brother the Bible says that he would die sisters don't let the common men in this world look inside of the particulars of your most holy place representations your body is more sacred than that the common man has no right to see the particulars of your bodies do you know that even the common priest was not allowed to go inside the most holy place and just peruse and look around did you know that and if the common priests were to do that you know what happened to him he would die do you know the Bible says in 1st Peter 2:9 that the church members are a royal priesthood so that means that even the common brothers in the church should not know what your anatomy looks like God wanted to teach us lessons through the sanctuary and sometimes you can have women that have an innocent heart but unfortunately they do ungodly act since and therefore I am not here again to judge but the point is is that if something is seen it should be addressed you see when the devil wanted to get to Adam he chose Eve when the devil wanted to get to Israel right at the bank of the Jordan he chose Moabite women Satan loves choosing sisters because in his mind he knows they're powerful in their influence and as a result of that knows what inspiration says it says Satan chooses women for he can use them more successfully than he can men we didn't even know that that was written that was written he knows that and that's why he tries to make our precious daughters and precious sisters the targets sisters you're more precious than you'll ever know think about it any time Satan chooses someone that means that's the one he's most threatened by did you catch that when Satan chooses someone that's the one he's most threatened by he knows that when a woman is under the hand of God she can be modern-day Abigail's you remember David acting like a fool he got so mad and he just lost his mind he just said man I'm gonna go and slay that brother neighbor and God had to use a woman and Abigail got on that horse and said round up the food and everything and they went and they intervened and she started reminding David of the king that he is God can use women in a mighty way but sisters you got to understand that Satan has chosen you he wants to attack you and as a result of that I believe it is relevant for the minister to tell the Brethren and to say listen sisters be careful and beware because if there's one thing that the devil is using right now to try to gain the sisters is that thing right there it's that thing right there I'm gonna show you a text of Scripture you probably never considered we're getting rid of the clothes I'm just going to take my time coming down the mountain go to proverbs 7 go to proverbs 7 I'm gonna show you something for the script you probably never saw before proverbs 7 I want you to look at this and I want you to look carefully at what the verse is because I believe that this is where many of our sisters can fall into if they're not careful notice what the Bible says proverbs the seventh chapter and I want you to see what the Bible says here proverbs 7 and we're looking at verse 10 now look at what the Bible says in proverbs 7 and verse 10 it says and behold there met him a woman with the what a tyre of an harlot now notice was the woman a harlot according to this specific verse no what was referred to as harlotry her attire you understand that so the Bible shows that clothing can have a personality clothing can give off a certain character you understand that clothing can do that it says she was wearing the attire clothing of a harlot a person can be innocent in person but wear garments that refer or reference to harlotry and God does not walk to his daughters to dare wear anything like that because you're the beautiful representations of God you see you and I need to understand do you know that woman is you know she is that is Mary Quant does that name ring a bell to anybody Mary Quant you know who Mary Quant is she is the originator of the miniskirt now when she made the miniskirt this is what she said she said many clothes are symbolic of those girls who want to seduce a man that was her own statements in other words she says I don't care what people try to do when they wear mini clothes when the legs and the everything is just showing showing showing all the thigh and this that any other she says it was designed to bring out a spirit of seduction this is is that the effect that you want to have is that the way you want to be viewed I don't believe that any woman who understands her dignity and understands who she is in Christ wants to be viewed as someone who just wants to go around seducing men and this is why we need to instruct our people and help them understand that God has given a standard even on the principle of dress because it's possible to commit adultery without even touching a person because I Messiah I'm gonna have to say it if God will condemn the man who looks at a woman and lust after her make no mistake about it God will condemn the woman who dresses in a manner that causes men to look at her and lust after her do you understand Saints and this is why I remember one time I was reading about this man you know who that is that's Muhammad Ali do you know that there's a story about Muhammad Ali that I believe sums up my point on this dress issue very clearly it says this boxer Muhammad Ali's advice to his daughter oh this is I want you to imagine this is not Muhammad Ali I want you to imagine that this is God himself talking to you watch the words an incident transpired when Muhammad Ali's daughters arrived at his home wearing clothes that were quite revealing here is the story as told by one of his daughters when we finally arrived the chauffeur escorted my younger sister Leila and me up to my father's suite as usual he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us we exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day my father took a good look at us then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget he looked me straight in the eyes and said Hanna everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to pay attention sisters it says where do you find diamonds deep down in the ground covered and protected where do you find pearls deep down at the bottom of the ocean covered up and protect it in a beautiful shell where do you find gold way down in the mine covered over with layers and layers of rock you've got to work hard to get to them he looked at me with serious eyes your body is sacred you're far more precious than diamonds and pearls and you should be covered too that's a father's counsel to his daughters and I believe that as that was his counsel to his daughters that's God's counsel to his daughters today Satan wants to try to use our precious sisters to try to make you instruments so that he can not only get you but he can get others in the process sisters you're worth more than that you're worth more than that and again I apologize on behalf of every man in the church and in the world that has made you think that the cleavage you show the more that your your clothing hugs against your body and reveals all your curvature the more high it is that those men made you think that that's where your value is found you are more precious than that when you cover yourself and understand that my body is preserved for the man who has found worthy to be your husband and he's the only one that has a right to see inside the secrets of the most holy place and so we find brothers and sisters that these are the council's of God now I just chose these two Commandments because I just wanted us to see that while many of us can think we're commandment keepers if we carefully search our hearts we can see where commandment breakers we have gods in our lives we have all these things in our lives and what's beautiful I'm gonna go past this is that there's another perspective that you can look at these same laws of God right now we just talked about the prohibitions the things where God says don't do it don't do it don't do it because obviously it's offensive but did you know there's another way another perspective that you can look at the law of God and I want to close on these thoughts right here one of the things that the law of God does is it reveals God's character can you say amen to that the law is holy God is holy the law is just God is just the law is good god is good well let me show you something about God's character in 2nd Samuel 24 14 and David said to God I am in a great straight let us fall now into the hand of the Lord for his what mercies are great look at what it says in Psalms 86 5 for you Lord are good and ready to forgive and plenteous in what mercy it says in Psalms 1 45 9 the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works Luke 6 36 be you therefore merciful as your father also is merciful if he's is to 4 but God who is rich in mercy for his great love with which he loved us not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he has saved us 1st Peter 1:3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy has God begotten us it was right there on the Mount when Moses wanted to see the glory of God that God says the Lord the Lord God merciful that was the first way that God revealed himself God is a God of mercy it is in the most holy place that above that law of God is placed something called a mercy seat God is synonymous to mercy and mercy is synonymous to God do you know another reason why God gave us his laws because brothers and sisters we have problems in our world today you know some problems we have in our world I probably have in our world is adultery is that a real problem yes how about sexually transmitted disease is that a real problem yes how about children growing up with our fathers is that a problem how about homicides over dating issues is that a real problem you better believe it how about rape is that a problem yes child molestation child prostitution homosexuality all of these things are problems that we see in our world today is that right did you know that God gave us something that if it was faithfully understood did you know not one of these would exist today you know what we want to know what God gave us he gave us a commandment of course pornography we know that's a major issue you know what God gave us that could alleviate all of these issues he gave us one commandment that says thou shalt not commit adultery do you know that if we could help the world understand the mercy of God in giving that commandment we would have no rape we would have no pornography we would have no none of these sexual none of these things would exist if people would just simply understand the beauty in this command thou shalt have thou shalt not commit adultery imagine that it's another way another perspective of looking at the law of God don't just look at the law of God as a prohibition look at it as a demonstration of God's love and mercy to us that God says I was trying to protect you I was trying to protect society adultery is tearing up homes Adventist homes and otherwise pornography is killing our youth today even in the church but if we could understand the beauty in this commandment God says that was an act of my mercy to protect you from falling into these traps another problem that we have in a world today is false worship materialism religious wars religious killings gluttony and slavery to fashion and you know what God gave us so that we don't have to fall a prey to these things he gave us that beautiful commandment that says thou shalt have no other gods before me you see the same Commandments we just looked at from a prohibition standpoint now we're looking at those same Commandments from a mercy standpoint God was trying to say it is in mercy that I gave you this commandment thou shall have no other gods God says if you would have stuck with me there'd be no religious wars today if you would have stuck with me there'd be no religious killings taking place people going inside of abortion clinics and gunning down individual none of that would exist if we understood have no other gods before me people kill babies and people kill other doctors and so on in the name of religion and that's exactly what John 16 told us that some people will actually kill in the name of God it was in mercy that God gave us these Commandments Saints and I started to understand it when it said the law of 10 commandments is not to be looked upon as much from the prohibitory side as from the Merseyside it's prohibitions are the sure guarantee of happiness in obedience you see that's why God gave us the law he gave it to us so that we could be happy not sad happy when a man does not commit adultery and he sticks only with his ones but that's a happy man when a person knows only one God of which he worships and lives for that's a happy woman this is why God gave us these things but the truth of the matter is many of us are not walking in the light of this love and therefore what Jesus is counsel to us we close with two verses we close with John 15:10 it is in John the fifteenth chapter in the tenth verse that Jesus tells us something that I pray we'll be encouraging to you in John 15:10 he is what the Bible says the Bible says in John 15 in verse 10 it says if ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have done what kept my father's Commandments and abide in his love did it you see I believe that as we looked at these Commandments just for these few moments I believe many of us saw ourselves as commandment breakers rather than commandment keepers is that right you start when you start looking at the magnifying power the law of God instead of seeing as keeping God's law we start seeing ourselves violating God's law some of us are adulterous some of us have other gods some of us are murderers some of us we have these issues many of us who even profess to keep the Sabbath are not doing that we talk about everything else except Jesus on the Sabbath we have this incredible struggle and yet this is the standard that the judgment and if many of us were to look at that holy standard we would say we're failing Lord how can we be found worthy but there is one who is worthy his name is Jesus and Jesus says hey I have kept my father's Commandments and because Jesus did it notice what Galatians 2:20 says that's our closing verse the Bible says in Galatians 2:20 this same Jesus this same Jesus who walked on this earth this same Jesus who said I did it I believe with all of my heart you're going to Galatians 2:20 I firmly believe brothers and sisters that one of the reasons why God magnifies the law the way he does is because he wants us to see without him it's impossible to keep his Commandments the more that you magnify that law of God you and I come in contact with a standard that is too high for the human mind to attain but when humanity blends with divinity we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and so Paul says in Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me did you know that the life that you live you can live by the faith of the Son of God God so often has told us to give our heart to him and many of times have you ever tried giving your heart and you see failure you have you gone through that am I the only one that's try have you ever tried giving God your heart and you just keep seeing failure how many of you've gone through this before you've seen that all right that's that's a great number of us isn't it brothers and sisters do you want to know one of the reasons why we have so much struggle giving God our hearts when we give God our hearts we're trying to give him a heart with strings attached that's the issue we give up we give God our hearts like we throw a yo-yo you know how you throw a yo-yo and it goes way out but we know how to pull it back don't we and one day as I'm praying I'm saying father how can I get to this point that Jesus could really live his life in me and the next thing you know I come across this it stays no outward observances can take the place of simple faith an entire renunciation of self it says but no man can empty himself of self we can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work that's all you and I could we could just consent Lord I can't do it the day that I learned how weak I am is the day that I became as strong as I am the day that we realized Lord I can't do this without you I need you and I don't need you even every hour I need you every moment within the hour we cannot overcome self by ourselves and do you know what you and I will say when we realize that we will start seeing then the language of the soul will be Lord take my heart why that's why you can't give God your heart I can't give God my heart and you can't either John never said behold the lamb of God that receiveth the sin of the world is that what the Bible says John 1:29 says behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world God says what he wants you to do is he wants you to consent God is a gentleman he doesn't force himself in nobody's heart but he knocks and he says I want to come in I want to come in I want to sup with you I want to become one with you that my mind becomes your mind because if my mind is your mind my actions will be your actions and so it says Lord take my heart for I cannot give it it is my property keep it pure for I cannot keep it for thee save me in spite of myself my weak on Christ like self mode me and fashioned me and raised me to a holy atmosphere with the rich currents of thy love can flow through my soul this power is available to you and I today you have the grand opportunity to pass the judgement you have the grand opportunity that God can look at you see God if God looks at Dwayne lemon God says unworthy but if God looks at Jesus in me he says worthy the life that I live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me he gave himself for me and with him in my heart there is no standard that I cannot reach by His grace and so brothers and sisters it's not that we need to minimize the standards of God's law what we need to do is open the heart to Jesus and say Lord come in and bring me up to your standard and with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible if there's anybody in here under the sound of my voice that says you know what I heard Jesus speak to me today oh you didn't hear some brother from New Hampshire come by to talk to you you heard Jesus speak to your heart if you heard the voice of Jesus today and Jesus has helped you see Lord there's some things wrong with me I thought that I was doing all right maybe I realized I'm all wrong maybe I see myself and I see Lord I don't love your Commandments I hate them I try to comply or fail I get tired of failing so now religion is just ceremonial to me I just show up to church because I show up to church because maybe I'm just second generation Adventist and this is what second generation and third generation Adventist are supposed to do the love is not there the fire started dimming it's become rules and regulations God has never asked that God has never presented it like that Oh to my friends who are visiting listen do you think the Lord wants you to come here to leave here the same God says no no he says I want you to pass that judgment - he says yeah he says I'm calling you to be obedient to my law and God says and with me this is possible Jesus says I've already done it let me in I'll do it in you I'll do it through you I'll need you to cooperate but I'll give you all the power that have an office and that's what's available to you and I today so if you have heard the voice of Jesus and you realize Lord my life has not been consistent with you if it were not for today I wouldn't be able to stand to this judgment but lord please I accept what you offer I accept what you offer and I want you to come into my heart in a very real way and we'll the first group that I would like to talk to if there is if there's anyone in this room anyone in this room and maybe you have never made that decision for Jesus Christ you've never really accepted the Lord as your Savior you kind of hung around Christianity you know how it is you hear about it you talk about it you got Christian friends and relatives and your family and all that you might even have some good ol Adventist friends friends who invited you here but at the end of the day you never made a decision for Christ yourself willing to walk in his love and his law and today you're saying you know what I've heard enough that I want to go deeper into this I want to study this out and I want to be settled in this so that it can be Jesus in me and that sanctuary and we can walk together I can receive that love in my heart and go home with him when he comes because I passed the judgement if there's anybody under the sound of my voice like that you haven't made that decision yet and today is gonna be your first time making it would you slip your hand up in the air and say hey that's me that's me that's me I never made that decision before but today I'm making it I'm just wondering if there's one I just want to pray with you I used to be a dancer and a choreographer in the entertainment industry I danced before thousands of people I was in hip hop and R&B and I used to dance for all the major artists that are on television today and I was bold in that life dare I come to Jesus and now be timid if I could stand for the devil and all of what he taught me in those industries I could stand for Jesus publicly before a couple hundred people and friends maybe you have that same experience you know how it is we're in the world we go to clubs we dance we party and we just we just think we own the world but now a point in time comes where now and appeal is for Jesus and we get timid don't be timid Saints stand for Christ I stood for Christ 21 years ago I'll never forget the day called my friend said hey somebody's gonna die today cuz I was going down in that watery grave and the old Dwayne lemon was gonna be buried and a new Dwayne Lemon was gonna come up God says he wants to do something special with us so therefore if there's one more person any person here that says you know what I've never given my heart to Jesus I've never made these kind of decision before and maybe you're going through that timidity that sometimes people go through I just want to let you know be of good courage Christ stands right next to you right now if you just focus enough you can sense his presence is there one person in this room that says that's me that's me I have not done it amen praise God praise God brother amen amen would there be another that says that's me I'm gonna stand for I stood for the enemy I stood for other things praise God you say that's me praise the Lord brother God has a special gift for you special gift for you and I want you to know that as you raised your hands jesus said a day's gonna come when he's gonna raise his hands and he's gonna say it is finished he's gonna take off those priestly garments and he's gonna put on kingly garments and those of you who raised your hands today he's gonna come especially for you in a very special way because you're dear to his heart today is a day that we just passed from death to life could it be that there are some today maybe we've named the name of Christ but maybe our religion has become just that just another religion to us something we do is part of the routine but it was not something genuine in our hearts and today God has spoken to you you're in the church yes you got baptized maybe even second third generation but you know what was going on in your heart you know Lord in my heart I don't love you and I need your love inside of me I need your love inside of me so that I can live a life that's really not my will but thy will be done and if it's your desire and you say yes Lord that's me I've been in the church and I've accepted many things but lord I've allowed maybe even my love to wax cold and you're saying I want Jesus to put his fire in me once again that it may never be put out and if that's your decision I'm gonna ask you to stand with me I'm asking you to stand you're saying that's me I've allowed it to wax cold I've allowed it to wax cold but I want you to recreate that fire inside of me praise God praise God praise God brothers and sisters you're so special to Jesus that when he made you there was nobody else on earth like you and if you were to be lost it would be as if they would forever be a void in the heart of Christ because there's a place in his heart that only you can fill God wants you to make it he wants you to pass and that's why you're standing there's some of us you might have remained seated not because of a spirit of rebellion but because as far as you're concerned you said I have given my life to the Lord I am seeking to do his will I believe his love is still in my heart and I just want you to remember me in prayer that I may be faithful unto death and if that's you then I'm inviting you to stand now I'm inviting you to stand you're saying I've given myself to Jesus I I don't know of anything that I'm doing against his well I'm giving myself to him and I just want him to keep me faithful on the path he has already put me on and that's why you're standing and as we stand saints of God I just want you to know that heaven is smiling upon each and every one of your hearts brothers and sisters it's a beautiful thing to please Jesus and do you know that if you please Jesus enough do you know actually what happens when you please Jesus enough have you ever studied it I challenge you when you go home read Hebrews 11 verse five it says by faith Enoch walked with God and it says and he was not because he was translated because before he was translated he had this testimony that he pleased God you please got enough you might find yourself translated just like Enoch did you know the Bible says there'll be a group like that in these last days I want to be counted Saints how about you why don't we see a lot decisions with prayer loving father we thank you so much for the work that your Spirit has done in this place today thank you for those four precious souls who raised their hands and have crowned you king of their lives for the first time thank you for both those youth and adults who did so father I praise you and thank you for my brothers and my sisters who realize hey I've allowed this thing to go cold in my heart but I want you to light that fire once again thank you Lord that you're not just to God who Kindles fires but you can rekindle them as well through revival and Reformation and father thank you for those who have already been on the race and they're running the race and they have given themselves to you and they just want to stay faithful Lord keep them keep them father thank you that you can keep us from falling abide with us today may we remember the experience we've had and thank you that because of Jesus we can be counted worthy in Jesus name Amen god bless you all you

Channel: MrMikeSacCentral

Views: 9,295

Rating: 4.8378377 out of 5

Keywords: God, Holy, Jesus, Dwayne Lemon, Spirit of God, Sermon

Id: vHCw3s0U4rw

Length: 94min 14sec (5654 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 07 2013