Where the Power Lies - Ty Gibson

[Music] Father in heaven we're under the impression Lord that you are beautiful beyond what we have perceived so far there are things we know about you and we're blown away there are things that we've seen in your character that have captivated us father show us more of yourself may we come to know you this evening for the good god that you are please father get into our minds get into our hearts help us to help us to see what you want us to see in Jesus name Amen well the message is best served this evening by asking you to engage with me in a little bit of wordplay so I'm going to say a word get your hand ready if you know what this word refers to I'm just going to ask you to raise your hand it's not embarrassing so go ahead get your hand ready okay you ready all right I'm going to say a word and if you know what this refers to just just raise your hand here's the word are you ready - are you ready all right Bugatti I see maybe 10 people and a crowd this size it's not an exotic Italian pasta I can tell you that just a few of you know okay eyes on the screen here's the Bugatti are you ready here's the Bugatti did you hear that kind of collective ah mostly male voices this is the Bugatti what is a Bugatti I heard someone say it a Bugatti is a car that is incorrect do not insult the Bugatti by calling it a mere car just look at this thing this is a work of art this is a driving machine this is not a mere car now I just happen to know somebody who owns a Bugatti I did not always know this person in fact I haven't known him very long I was at some meetings kind of like these and a friend of mine said hey I heard you're going over to Western Europe to do a series of meetings I said yeah going over there I think in May and he said are you aware that we have a brother over there by what she meant when he said brother he met a fellow seventh-day adventists are you aware that we have a brother over there who has a Bugatti and his voice modulated with passion I said no I'm not aware of that what's the Bugatti I didn't know I had a Prius at that point which which some people would say isn't even a car let alone a driving machine I said what's the Bugatti he showed me this picture and he told me some of the data the Bugatti according to Google and she knows everything Google says that if you want one of these it will cost you two million dollars if you want some some special amenities maybe like I don't know a C and a nice stereo system 2.2 million dollars to own one of these things amazing the Bugatti holds the distinction I think it still holds the distinction I don't know this is a competitions going on all the time and so maybe there's a different car that's in the lead right now but last I checked the Bugatti is the fastest street-legal car on earth it even has a little flipper thingamajigger that's the technical language for it on the back just to keep it on the ground because the Bugatti wants to fly fastest street-legal car on earth top speed two hundred and sixty seven point five miles per hour this is fast screaming fast the bugatti at top speed only gets three miles to the gallon you will be out of gas at top speed in 12 minutes which is fortunate for you because the engineers have designed it in such a way that you're out of gas in 12 minutes because your tires will be dangerously bald in 15 minutes and in order to get a new set of for $40,000 at Les Schwab no not at Les Schwab you have to put it on a truck and it has to go to the factory just to get the tires this is the Bugatti it's amazing and my friend said you're going to a country where one of our brothers owns one of these I said you are kidding me I said I'm going there and there's a seventh day evidence that owns that automobile he said yeah I said I'm telling you I'm driving that car he said no you will not drive that car it has gone through the adventists grapevine that nobody drives the Bugatti but the Bugatti owner I said listen very clearly to me is there a seventh day evidence on planet Earth that owns one of those he said yes I said I'm going to his neighborhood yes I said I'm driving it I'm driving that car he said it's not going to happen not going to happen and we placed a wholesome pure Adventist bet my wife and I flew to that country were picked up at the airport a day went by two days went by finally this brother and his wife emerged from the crowd and said hey we'd like to have you to our house for lunch I said alright well think about it sure we'll go we went to his house as we sat there with him in his living room they had just had a baby like two months earlier and they were so excited about their new baby boy their son look at our baby our baby so look it's amazing he's amazing I said oh what a beautiful baby where's the Bugatti dude he wasn't offended his wife was but he was not he quickly said do you want to see it I said sure I want to see it we went outside he pushed a button and a garage door opened one of them and there was a Porsche boxer said that's not it cool but that's not it he pushed another button and there was a Ferrari I said we're getting warm that's not it he pushed another button I have no idea why he has this a Rolls Royce I was just about to call this brother to repentance and give the nonprofit corporation information to him for making donations to light bearers but I said now I'm going to hold off until I see the Bugatti he pushed another button there it was he said you want me to pull it out I said yes he pulled it out into the driveway and we circled it then we stood there just looking at this beautiful driving machine and then I worked up the courage I said brother can I Drive the Bugatti and he said no he said you have any idea how much it cost I said yeah well I googled it he said no I said brother are you a seventh-day Adventist he said yes what's that have to do with it I said so am I you see that connection you're an Adventist I'm an Adventist he said you're not driving it I said do you believe the Bible he said of course I believe the Bible I said brother listen you're a seventh-day Adventist I'm a seventh heaven if you believe the Bible I believe the Bible all these commonalities you say you believe the Bible have you read Acts chapter two he said yes but I can't remember what it says I said I do remember I will tell you right now what it says in the Bible that you believe it says of the fellow believers you me fellow believers that they had all things common brother the fact is if you're going to be completely biblical your Bugatti is my Bugatti in fact in fact we have to refer to it really in order to be completely accurate we have to refer to it as our Bugatti so I'm going to ask again can I Drive our Bugatti he said no he said I'm a seventh-day Adventist and I believe the Bible but you are not driving that car I said listen if you let me drive the Bugatti I will use it in a Serban illustration make some really relevant points he said really I said yeah he said okay you can drive it it was that simple whoa I was amazed and then I realized my wife the whole time she was standing right behind me silently mouthing and giving sign language saying do not let my husband drive the Bugatti I cut her out of my peripheral vision and I thought this is a betrayal and I felt it and I said something to her I've never said to my wife before or since it was kind of bad I said silence woman can you believe I said that I said that and I repented later but not until I drove the Bugatti to make matters worse that was right before the San Antonio vote some of you know what that means some of you don't that's okay we got in the car he got in the driver's seat I mean he thinks it says so I let him go first we went out on the highway beautiful European country road and we're driving along 40 50 60 miles an hour just cruising along he looked at me and he said are you ready so I was born ready dude do it and he floored it and I could feel the g-force it was exhilarating he slowed down he pulled over he said it's your turn I said yes it is it is my turn so he got out of the driver's seat came over I got in the driver's seat he got in the passenger side he said this is strange I've never been in the passenger seat I said put your seat belt on so he did we began driving 30 40 50 60 miles an hour and because he thinks it's his I look to him for permission I said okay he said you really want I said yeah he said are you sure I said yes I'm sure he said go for it then and I floored it and when you're behind the wheel it was different than when he was the one flooring it we went so fast so fast you know what I mean by that we picked up speed with such rapidity that it freaked me out and we slowed down came back to the house I said well on the way should we stop and get some gas he said no this takes a very special high-octane fuel that you can't get at the petrol station I said okay that's fine and he explained more about that later why do I share this with you for one reason because I want you to remember something and never forget it we're about to make what I would regard as the single most significant theological spiritual human discovery if you're ready for it if I'm ready for it if your mind if your heart is open right now we can collectively and individually undergo significant paradigm shift and everything will begin to look different God yourself and others the Apostle Paul had something to say about power in Galatians chapter five verses five and six don't miss a word of it for we through the spirit eagerly waits for the hope of righteousness by faith this is the single time in all of Scripture Genesis revelation that the term righteousness by faith occurs I'm bringing this to you because this is the year which is the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation this concept righteousness by faith literally redirected history changed the course of human history more than once by the way this is the one time that the term righteousness by faith occurs in Scripture the single time that doesn't mean that it's a novelty in Scripture the concept is throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation with different language wrapped around it but this is the single time that the term righteousness by faith occurs now I want you to notice something first of all in Paul's thinking first of all notice that the Holy Spirit is two stimuli the Holy Spirit is involved in arousing in you and me and eager hope for righteousness by faith the Holy Spirit is pursuing you me and every person in the world seeking to arouse a desire a hope an eager desire for righteousness by faith now Paul's just getting started here the term is extremely powerful when understood as a relational dynamic of concepts and experience first of all what about this word righteousness let's understand something about righteousness righteousness is the part of the theological equation over which you and I have absolutely no jurisdiction you and I according to Scripture are morally bankrupt there's nothing you can tap into inside yourself to generate righteousness Jesus made this clear he was a storyteller so he is always telling a story so we can remember or giving an illustration jesus said it this way which one of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature it's a torkoal question what's the obviously implied answer nobody you can't get taller by thinking about it hard enough there's no mental or intellectual or emotional exertion that you can engage in that would make you taller it would be it would be in the same realm of possibility if I were to say to you this evening I'm extremely wealthy I'm going to buy you a Bugatti do you want it of course you want it if for no other reason to give it to your husband you want the Bugatti you can have it on one condition all you have to do is jump and touch the moon once not two or three or four times just one time here's the question how many of you would actually stand up and start jumping like just four or five very materialistic teenage boys and then they would come to their senses rather quickly that we're dealing with impasse you wouldn't even rise to your feet because you know that to jump and touch the moon to jump one time and touch the ceiling of this building is in the realm of impossibility that's what Jesus is saying Jesus is saying which one of you by taking thought by exerting any kind of internal resource you can draw upon which one of you by taking thought can add any height to your stature the obviously implied answer is no one righteousness is beyond the realm of possibility for you and me which drives us to a conclusion if you and I focus our attention on the effort to generate to produce to manufacture righteousness we're going to end up in one of two psychological and relational conditions we're either going to become pharisaical police policing everybody's behavior or we're going to give up and despair either you're going to create the illusion that righteousness is merely outward compliance with some list that you have composed and therefore lower the standards enough that you can imagine you're meeting it and try to make everybody else meet your imagined standard of righteousness you're going to become a self-righteous Pharisee or if you retain a realistic idea of what righteousness really is you're going to try and try and try and try and eventually you're going to give up and despair those are your options if you focus on righteousness righteousness is not a part of the theological or experiencial equation that God wants you and I to focus on and to try to produce there's no amount or quality of effort that you can apply to the achievement of righteousness that would actually produce it in your life so righteousness is a part of the theological equation that Paul is building but it's not primary objective he tells us that righteousness is by or by means of something else righteousness is by what did he say faith faith is the mechanism by which righteousness is produced but listen very carefully now the Bible tells us something about faith the Bible says that faith is a universal gift that every human being has whether they believe in God or not to each one Paul says in the book of Romans has been given a measure of faith it's there like a sleeping giant of potential awaiting a certain kind of kiss to wake up and to do what faith does but faith isn't something that you and I have power over merely to discipline into action so Paul is now going to blow our minds by building his theological equation out one more step he says here that we're because the Holy Spirit is stimulating this in us eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness which is by faith and then he says this for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love now the circumcision uncircumcision part you can just put an ellipses there just pull it out of the text if you want for our purposes tonight that has something to do with a big theological controversy at that time we're not having that controversy conceptually you can literally put anything you want in that place Sabbath keeping or Sunday keeping vegetarianism or meat eating doesn't matter what you put in there the truth of the matter holds true no matter what's there in other words let's say it this way for in Christ Jesus there literally isn't anything that avails for the production of righteousness by faith except for one thing there's only one thing one thing that avails and that is faith working through love so now he's built his equation the word working you're going to love this the word working in the text Paul is writing in Greek and he's using a word here that is energy or energy oh you hear an English word there don't you energy or energized Paul literally says follow him he literally says righteousness is by faith and faith is energized by love I can't produce or manufacture righteousness to pursue it as a primary objective is futile I can't arouse faith to action to do what faith does although God has given it to me as a dormant potential but Paul says here's what you need you need for your face to come into vital contact with the love of God and when you encounter God's love for you not your efforts to obey Him not your efforts at righteousness not your efforts at anything but if you shift your attention off of yourself and begin to process God's love for you in all its beauty Paul is saying that love is like an energizing power that will wake faith up inside of you to do things that you never thought possible you will begin to experience victories you never thought you could have you will begin to experience things in your life that have always eluded your grasp because now you're in love and love is powerful Ellen White for those of you who are familiar with her and her writings by the way if you're not a seventh-day Adventist and you're joining us here this evening welcome we're super glad that you're here and this message is for you as well as for the rest of us who are some cabins we're really glad that you're joining us here this evening some of us are familiar with an author named Ellen White and she received a letter at one point and in this letter somebody asked her hey Ellen what is righteousness by faith she responded not with a high sounding theological technical answer this is how she responded she said I'll tell you what it is it is the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit the question again what is righteousness by faith the answer it is the active principle of love imparted by the holy spirit in another place she talked about love in a way that we need to think about love our present popular culture has emasculated the word love we scarcely know what it means but here's something that Ellen said about love love is power intellectual and moral strength are involved in this principle love is a principle is intellectual and moral strength it's a principle and check this out not be separated from it love is power intellectual and moral strength are involved in this principle can't be separated from it she goes on love cannot live without something what is it can't live without action wherever there is love there is action otherwise it's just shallow sentimentalism or whatever you call it whatever you want but it's not love okay love cannot live without action and check this out every act of love every act increases strengthens and extends it love will gain the victory love apparently is an exponential reality it has no cap no ceiling no walls no floor you know this in your own human experience on kind of the micro level don't you you know that it's always possible to love somebody more than you've ever loved before you to be you could be in a friendship with somebody from elementary school and the next thing you know you've been friends with this person for forty years and one day you realize man I love that guy more than I ever have before you could be married for twenty years and realized one day she's more incredible than I've ever realized and love her more intelligently than you ever had before and love her more passionately than you ever have before love is an exponential reality it grows with exercise people come to me sometimes because I'm in ministry I'm sure that there are a lot of pastors here who identify for marriage counseling and almost always the people one of the two is saying I'm not feeling it anymore and almost always I respond by saying begin doing what love does and your emotions will catch up because love is an expanding being principal okay so this is what we're dealing with essentially this concept of righteousness by faith is getting at what it means to be a human being it's answering the question what is a human being and what is the fundamental power that fuels human flourishing what is a Bugatti a Bugatti is a driving machine that operates or is empowered or is energized by a very specific high-octane pure fuel source what is a human being well popular science would have us believe that you're merely a bipedal survival machine bent on consumption and reproduction and then your compost after that yeah what I'm here to tell you tonight is that you are not merely a biological survival machine you are a dignified creature of the divine image wired for experiencing for receiving and giving love of the highest order that's what you are that's what I am dr. Dean Ornish incredible if you're a seventh-day Adventist of you if you are into healthful living as I heard this evening you may have heard of dr. Dean Ornish he is New York Times bestselling author because he is the one who did a lot of the controlled studies to demonstrate unequivocally I mean you can't doubt it now that you can reverse heart disease by basically just moving your body and eating actual food it's not anything that groundbreaking when you think about it eat food and move your butt basically is the conclusion of his years and years of research ok but dr. Ornish had a first love in his scientific research and it had nothing to do his first love wasn't about heart disease and biological health the best book in my opinion that dr. Ornish ever wrote is love and survival please notice the juxtaposition of those two words love and what survival what dr. Ornish is getting at if he is exploring the scientific basis not the religious basis he's not a theologian he's not a pastor far as I could tell reading the book he's an unbeliever all together he's an agnostic at best he's probably an atheist but he's exploring the scientific basis notice the subtitle for the healing power of intimacy what is their healing biological healing in intimacy well dr. Ornish thinks though his studies have revealed that anything this is quoting the doctor anything that promotes feelings of love and intimacy is healing he says just wrap your mind around this anything that promotes feelings of love and intimacy of healing anything that promotes by contrast isolation separation loneliness loss hostility anger cynicism depression alienation and related feelings did you catch all that often leads to suffering disease and premature death from all causes now there's anybody in the medical profession here and certainly there isn't a crowd this size you know what this language means kind of in an inside sense and those of you who are laypeople medically you know what it means if you just stop and think about it when you go to the doctor to a doctor for the first time that doctor wants to know your family what why why your family history because there are genetic markers there are genetic factors that indicate that you whoever you are are predisposed to certain biological weaknesses and you are more likely to die of heart disease than osteoporosis whereas somebody else is more likely to die of diabetes than heart disease and we all have our particular biological wiring okay family history he's saying that whatever it is that you are predisposed to you're more likely to succumb to it prematurely if you live in an environment of isolation and anger and depression and hostility but yet you live in a social environment like a home a workplace a church family a social circle if you live in a social environment in which people like you and you like them and when there are failures there's forgiveness if you live in an environment in which there is kindness and love your immune system is going to give you an advantage over the things that you are predisposed to in fact recent studies that I've just been reading are revealing this is astounding to me that literally your social environment is more indicative of your health and longevity than whether or not you smoke that's not to say start smoking and have great relationships that's they have the most best of both worlds and put all the factors in place but my point isn't really about physical health dr. Ornish demonstrates beyond all question I mean literally he proves that that that if I look into your eyes right now and say hey how are you doing we have an encounter in the foyer and you reach out you take my hand and we just have a gentle friendly clasp of hand we shake hands I'm doing great how are you and if you just sense emotionally that I actually do want to know how you're doing your white blood cell count will go up to standing touch affectionate touch affectionate voice tone and eye contact increases immunity to disease so to my brothers it next time you feel a cold coming on the flu cancer heart disease ask your wife for a kiss bro you'll be okay you'll be okay all right so he goes on and he says this the scientific evidence leaves little doubt that love and intimacy are powerful determinants of our health and survival and then he says but why they have such an impact remain somewhat a mystery he has no I the evidence is revealing that that that we are better off as human beings with love and intimacy than we are with a kind of survival of the fittest relational dynamic all of this scientific evidence is running directly contrary to the evolutionary worldview that's what he's saying here he went around the world he entered interviewed 26 of the biggest brainiacs on the planet experts in their field and he had one question why are we like this we shouldn't be if we are merely survival machines then self-preservation should be the law the highest law of our existence he's saying it turns out that the scientific evidence is revealing that love is the highest law of our existence and this goes contrary to the prevailing worldview so check it out this is a summary from all the literature on this subject that I've read including Ornish and others essentially there's what I'm going to refer to as the malfunction region of human experience and then there is what we could call the optimization region of human experience by malfunction and optimization I'm talking about biological and emotional health the evidence scientifically not theologically is that where there are social dynamics of racism loneliness isolation Envy greed hate anger those kinds of things all of which have one thing in common they're all a sensory non-self to the hurt of others wherever those kinds of psychological and mental dynamics are going on the immune system gradually is depressed and a person becomes more susceptible to disease but where there's things like generosity and acceptance and kindness loyalty giving dr. Ornish demonstrates it's amazing if you have a bunch of stuff or you're well-off financially let's say you have a lot of money in your bank account you've done well materially the scientific evidence just give you one example in the area generosity dr. Ornish demonstrates scientifically that if you have a bunch of stuff and you give some of your stuff away to people who don't have stuff your white blood cell count goes up you are better off biologically by not hoarding but just being generous but just then you know what that lady in my local church can't pay her rent I've got enough to spare I'm going to pay her rent this month biologically your immune system goes off the charts and to the degree that you and I move in that direction we are better able to flourish as human beings so what I'm suggesting to you is this righteousness by faith is a relational dynamic it's not just a theological concept that people at universities and colleges sit in rooms and talk about and write papers about no righteousness by faith is for you it's for me righteousness by faith that works by love is a relational dynamic between us and God how does it work here's how it works here's the biblical truth of righteousness by faith God relates to me according to my potential and not according to my current reality you say wait a minute what is how did we do what does that mean that sounds like fiction well track with me God relates to you and me according to our potential not according to our current reality whatever that current reality be maybe so righteous my righteousness by faith I'm suggesting to you was way ahead of dr. Ornish and the scientific community righteousness by faith is in fact a high form of healing psychology watch this the Apostle Paul breaks it down says to him that's you mean whoever any human being to him who does not work this is amazing it's counterintuitive but let Paul talk to us to the one who does not work the one who does not exert effort toward righteousness that's this point to the one who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly his face will be notice the language accounted for righteousness just as David also describes the blessedness the blessedness that is the happiness quotient of the man to whom God notice the language again he imputes righteousness or just attributes it you're righteous no I'm not yes you are no I'm not yes you are I'm God and I say you are okay what would happen if I began to believe that what would happen if I began to see myself through God's imputed righteousness apart from works well he goes on he says blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin again this idea of attributing I'm a sinner but God's relating to me as though I'm not what's going on here this is a high form of healing psychology watch this so then he cuts to the chase in verse 17 it says probably the most counterintuitive thing any of us could ever process God calls those things which do not exist as though they did now if a human being does that what's it called lying but God does it and it's not lying and I'll tell you why because when God says something or regards something to be true the things that God says in regards to be true begins to become true that's the truth of righteousness by faith so then he goes on he says that remember God calls those things which do not exist as though they do what's that in the context he calls me or relates to me as innocent even though I'm guilty he relates to me as if I'm righteous even though I'm his sinner he relates to me as though I've never done anything wrong when in fact I have why is he doing that and then Paul throws us curveball and he says okay okay so likewise likewise you also reckon regard a tribute to yourselves regard yourself to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord do you hear anything he's saying begin to relate to yourself the way God relates to you begin to treat yourself the way God treats you begin to live within God's vision of your potential God says your righteous and innocent walk in by faith that righteousness and innocence this is so good in chapter 10 verse 8 he says that the Bible or the gospel specifically in this context but the whole of the word of God which is the gospel he says it's a Bible is basically a word of faith the Bible is a word of faith and we're preaching the Bible it's a word of faith if it's a word of faith whose face is it that we're encountering in Scripture it's the Word of God and if it's the word of faith it's whose faith that we're encountering God's face God is exerting faith the Bible is in fact a faith text the Bible is a Reis crypting of human identity it's a new story it's God saying I know you are completely dysfunctional and messed up from the word go but I still like you so I'm going to enter into relationship with you and treat you as if you're not dysfunctional and you've never messed up and in doing that I'm going to cast a vision of what you could be if you begin to believe me if you begin to believe me the love of Christ Paul says in another place second Corinthians chapter five the love of Christ which we've learned is the actuated force the love of Christ compels us it motivates us because we thus judge or discern that if one died for all then how many died all then all died there's a sense in which at the death of Jesus all of the human race died in Christ in some kind of representative sense so what is Paul derived from this and that he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again to believe in the love of God in Christ as the universal gift to all of humanity breaks the power of selfishness in your life and then he says this allow yourself to be blown away by this therefore from now on from the point at which I encounter and process the love of Christ for me and realize that when he died for me he died for everyone therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh that is we regard no one according to their natural carnality we don't relate to people anymore the lady at the grocery store the guy who just rebuilt your engine the person you pass on the street the person who babysits your kids we don't we don't relate we don't see we don't relate to people according to what they are we relate to them according to their potential in Christ they don't even know him yet but we know that if they did know him they would begin to rise we know that everything would begin to healing get better because we believe the gospel and the gospel says that God's love is an actual izing force it produces what it has in mind God is literally loving you and me out of sin into righteousness his love produces what it envisions Wow so here's the basic bottom line of this righteousness by faith idea the way I see God seeing me the way he relates to me in turn affects the way I see who myself which then impacts the way I see others listen every local sub day Adventist Church should be a place where people come and enter into a fellowship that believes in them not an incriminating environment not in an environment that is picking at exteriors when the heart's the real issue can you imagine if the seventh-day Adventist Church had the reputation somebody's marriage starts falling it man maybe we're not going to stay married much longer you're driving me crazy our marriage is falling apart we better go find us some seventh-day adventists to help us can you imagine if somebody naturally thought you know what I have sunk into an addiction to opioids I don't know what to do I better find myself at some damn inist Church they'll love me they'll help me somebody said to me recently ty we know there's somebody who smokes coming to your church because we could smell it I said well you probably shouldn't come anymore then see then I was being judgmental and self-righteous toward the judgmental and self-righteous so I pulled it back real quick and said no you can keep coming but please think and see and smell beyond that here's the point there's not a point Ellen White says that needs to be dwelled upon more earnestly repeated more frequently or established more fully and firmly in the minds of all are you ready for it here's it this is the thing that need to be on constant repeat from Adventist pulpit in Bible studies in everything this is it this is the point then the impossibility of fallen men meriting anything by his own best good works why because salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone that's the bottom line that gives me hope in God's eyes to begin to rise so here's the the close let's just let's just land the Bugatti so to speak according to the Apostle Paul there is what we could refer to as the objective facts of the gospel and then there is the subjective experience are you tracking with me so the objective facts of the gospel have the power to produce the subjective experience to the degree that we focus on the subjective experience what people are doing and not doing we will drain them of moral power to do anything and they will begin to receive and to run away eventually but the objective fact of the matter is that God loves you you can't do anything to earn God's favor for the simple reason that you already have it you can't make God love you more than he already does because he already loves you with the zenith of his love the objective redemption that is in Christ Jesus produces subjective experience in God's Way in God's time at God's speed depending on each individual's level of experience in life some people have been through some stuff calm down take a chill pill seventh-day adventists don't be noticing everything that's wrong let your love cover a multitude of sin think about it like this there's Abraham you remember him one of the cream of the crop he was a liar and a coward there was Isaac he was a dysfunctional father there was Jacob who was a manipulator and a thief these are the stars of the story there was Moses who was a murderer turned coward there was David a murderer and an adulterer there was Peter a loudmouth hothead there was James and John violent thugs let's bring fire from heaven Jesus and burn them all up there was in fact Matthew the worst of all he was an IRS agent there was Paul a self-righteous Pharisee and murderer and then there's you and me who I don't know you I don't know what goes in that blank but I do know this you're messed up I do know that you are in yourself a sinner but I do know that from God's perspective you're incredible and you have potential beyond anything you've ever imagined you are in Christ perfectly loved according to Scripture you are crucified and risen in Christ according to the Bible you are accepted this moment in the beloved you are forgiven and redeemed be at peace right now your sins are forgiven be at peace with your maker you are more than a conqueror you're not just a piddly little conqueror you're more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus you are in fact according to Paul enthroned at the right hand of God in Christ you are in other words you are in Christ what you are not in yourself and if you and I get our focus off of ourselves and we will begin to realize who we really are the bugatti is a driving machine operates by a very special high octane fuel source what are you what am i you are more than a biological survival machine you are more than anything you've ever imagined yourself to be God has cast a vision of what and who you are in Christ you're forgiven you're accepted the Bugatti is a driving machine you my friend you are a psychological emotional biological love machine created in God's image to experience the intake and outflow of a love that is of the highest order that's who you are that's what you are in Christ but stand as we sing in Christ alone my hope is found he is my light my strengths and my [Music] [Music] yes [Music] to God [Applause] this is about my righteous man scorned by the ones he day who Oh Oh why with my it [Applause] [Music] my god this person Gordon be one and [Music] yes I am his and he is mine what do the precious [Music] iq fine [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] let's pray dear lord thank you so much for the opportunity to just come together as a family and to worship you and learn more about you just continue to be with us as we rediscover how to love each other the way that you want us to love each other continue to bless us throughout this weekend and just thank you for everything you've done for each one of us amen thank you for coming have a great evening and we'll see you tomorrow morning

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Rating: 4.8536587 out of 5

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Id: 5HSMv0CXJ0k

Length: 54min 48sec (3288 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2017