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by Pastor Donald J Gettys Jesus Visits a Strange Hospital Please open your Bible to John 5. I would like to read a story about Jesus' visit to a strange hospital. John 5:1-8 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had. - Not in NIV) One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. Praise the Lord for that. That's an exciting story, isn't it. Of course there's more to this story. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick it up and walk.'" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to puck it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jew that it was Jesus who had made him well. Basically, excitement filled Jerusalem. They were getting ready for a big feast. As they were getting ready for the celebration, everything was great except in one corner of town. There was a problem because there was this pool surrounded by sick people. People that should have been in a nursing home but they didn't have any nursing home, so that was it. They were all lying around or sitting there, sick. A place of unpleasantness, called the Pool of Bethesda. The pool was beautiful, but it was surrounded with gloom and death. And there beside this spring-fed pool on the northeast side of town was an open-air infirmary with a lot of people there with long- term disease, the blind, the lame, the dying. You've heard of "Granny Dumping" haven't you, here in the United States? Every year about a hundred thousand elderly are left on the doorsteps of hospitals by there so-called "loved ones," who then speeds away in the car and the hospital cares for them and then sends them to some trashy rest- home where they while away their remaining years. That's going on. The Pool of Bethesda was sort of like that. The location is between the temple and the sheep gate. The ancient Pool of Bethesda gets it water from the Bethesda Brook, which is spring-fed. And that's the water department of Jerusalem. That's their emergency supply. King Solomon had all that prepared and dug it up and made the lower sections of the brook where it enters Jerusalem in to pools. And Bethesda is the most famous of those pools. When my wife and I went there in 1985, we saw that and some of it had been crumbling and caving in. But the pool was divided into two rectangular pools, separated by one of those five porches. The other porches surrounded the pool. And Bethesda, I think, was undoubtedly used for washing sheep prior to the time they would take the sheep in to sacrifice them in the temple. That was one of the primary purposes. So, this immediately points us to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Can you see Jesus in all these verses? The name Bethesda came from the Hebrew "Beth Chesed." "Beth," if any of you are named 'Beth" your name means "House." Chesed means "mercy." It was a "House of Mercy," being merciful to these people that didn't have any place to go. But when Jesus visited this strange asylum, there was nothing reminiscent of mercy. It was a place of suffering and discouragement. Everywhere Jesus looked, He saw the sick, the blind, the lame, the deformed, all waiting for a miracle to happen. Obviously the miracle was not happening. Disease and exposure made many look like shriveled up old apples. They thought an angel would come and occasionally stir the water in the pool, and the first one to jump in would be healed. The ragtag bunch looked like helpless inmates at a concentration camp. All were waiting for a miracle that probably would never happen. No one seemed to care for them. It was like Auschwitz in World War II. During World War II the Allies never bombed the railroad tracks which led to Auschwitz. They knew thousands of Jews and Slovaks were being delivered to the death camp on those tracks but did nothing about it. But Jesus did something. Jesus knows about your impossible situation, too. Jesus cares for you. You may feel that you are in an impossible situation, marriage, finances. Jesus know about that. And He's going to help you. He will come soon and save you. Jesus arrived one day to Bethesda and found a man who had been waiting there for thirty eight years. You know, if I had been focussing for thirty eight years and the miracle had not happened, I think I would have given up. Would you wait thirty eight years for something to happen, and it never did happen, wouldn't you give up? You would be desperate. That lame man did not give up, and I want to tell you not to give up on Jesus, because he's coming. He wasn't even thirty eight years old when that man arrived there. Imagine that day. The lame man woke up just like on much like any other day. Did you wake up on Friday morning, by the way, and look out your window. Wow! What a sunrise! I ran back to the house and took a picture of it. It was wonderful! You never know what a day is going to bring. Something great could happen on that day. And today this man will met Jesus and that's the greatest thing that ever happened to him. And if you meet Jesus Christ, that's the best thing that could ever happen to you. He met Jesus. He will walk again. Today he will have his sins forgiven, he's going to be healed. And Jesus specializes in helping the helpless and hopeless. Yet he begins his day just as hopeless and helpless as ever. You never know what a day will bring. Your stock could shoot up or crash. The lab might call declaring that you have cancer. You never know what could happen. Or you might become a millionaire on that TV program. In this picture of misery, we see a microcosm of the condition of the world today. Because the world today is just about like the Pool of Bethesda we're all hopeless without Jesus Christ. It is a world which is lost; spiritually sick; dying in sin; unable to help itself out of its problem. There are many significant things we can learn from the Pool of Bethesda. 1. WE CANNOT HELP OURSELVES We are in the same condition as the lame man. Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. He died for what type of people? For bad people. He died for sinners, for ungodly people. He's not waiting until you get good enough to come to Him, to heal yourself and then come to Him and He'll kind of finish up the touches. He comes and dies for the ungodly. He comes to the sick to those who can't help themselves. You can't save yourself, any more than the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda could heal himself and walk. We are like this man, helpless to solve the problems, unable to lift ourselves out of the pit. But Jesus is able. He was unable, and you are unable without Jesus to break free from the habits that disable us. If you are smoking, can you stop cigarettes without Jesus? Can you break loose from the chains of habit that have you. You can't, not without Jesus. But with Him you can do it. So, we're unable to help ourselves. We're unable to heal our sickness. The world is sick. The Government cannot fix it; public programs can't do it. Only God can, but many in the world have not yet seen God, just as this man had not yet seen Jesus. Why did Jesus choose to help this lame man that day? There were probably a couple hundred people there. Why would He choose the one individual? I think maybe this person was the most helpless, the most hopeless. Jesus likes to do the impossible. Are you the most helpless person here today? Is your situation desperate? Jesus specializes in the most helpless and hopeless. You can be helped. Your situation does have an answer. That answer is Jesus Christ. Jesus specializes in helping those who don't think they can be helped. 2. NEVER GIVE UP. That handicapped man had not given up. He still stayed by the water. Let me ask you a question: if he would have stayed at home that day, would he have been healed? If you skip church will you get the blessing? It won't happen. The crippled man would not have been healed that day had he quit Bethesda and stayed at home. Don't quit church. Don't give up. Stay beside the water. Quitting is giving up. Jesus is the water of life. Do not leave the presence of Jesus. Stay in the presence of Jesus. You stay on the path where people are trying to go the direction you want to go. Don't get on that other path. They're going the wrong way. Without Jesus we are indeed hopeless. You need to stay near the water of life. This man dreamed of the time he would walk again, but each morning when he woke up he still couldn't walk. But his dream did not die! We must Keep dreaming! The day you quit dreaming you begin to die. Keep hoping. The most profane word we use is 'hopeless.' When you say a situation is hopeless or a person is hopeless, you are slapping God in the face. Is there anything hopeless with God? Nothing is hopeless with God by your side. Nothing at all. Things might be bad but they could be worse. A man by the name of Jones purchased his dream car on October 17, 1989, a fancy red Porsche. It's what he always wanted. He drove off the lot and headed straight to the third game of the World's Series at Candlestick Park in Oakland, California. During that historic game, an incredible earthquake hit the city of San Francisco. The game was called off. People came running out of the stadium for their lives. Not only was the game cancelled, but he went out there to his dismay, not only had an earthquake hit, but his car had been stolen, as well. A thief had taken his car. The car remained missing for several days as the police were preoccupied with the devastation of the earthquake. Finally they found his red Porsche. It was discovered underneath the collapsed Nimitz freeway. And the thief was still in it. He had died in the car he snatched. Mr. Jones had lost his car but he had not lost his life. Where there's life, there's hope, and it could have been him in that car. The insurance can replace the car. Things can always be worse. It could have been him who was crushed. So keep hoping. (Proclaim, Spring 1994, p. 8) The incurable man kept waiting. He had been waiting a long time - thirty eight years! This almost mirrors the productive extent of a person's life: thirty eight years! This is precisely the length of time the Israelites wandered in the wilderness after Sinai until they got out of the wilderness (Deut. 2:14). In Jesus' day, it's precisely the length of time that humans had waited for the Messiah to come. It had been about thirty eight centuries since the promise of a coming deliverer in Genesis 3:15. Humans had waited many centuries for the Messiah. Now Jesus had arrived, but the world was like the Pool of Bethesda. Just a fraction were ready for Jesus. Only a fraction of those living in the world accepted Him as Messiah and were saved. That day at the Pool of Bethesda only one man was saved. John 5:3 says there was a great multitude of feeble frail folk. In the same way, Jesus' coming is not very far off. We're all waiting for the Messiah to come. Y2K is coming and everybody is getting ready for that. That's a fixed date. Is everybody ready for Y2K right now? We don't even know what's going to happen, do we? The point is, they know when it's going to happen and not everybody is ready. If they knew when Jesus was coming, they wouldn't all be ready, not until the last minute. And you can't get ready at the last minute. So you need to be ready now. I wonder if the handicapped man kept his bed rolled up and ready to go every day. I wonder if this handicapped man had been praying for Jesus to come. I wonder if maybe Jesus came to him in answer to his prayers and his faith. I don't know. 3. JESUS CAME!! Jesus came to him. And you don't always have to come to Jesus. Jesus comes to you. Suddenly, the Lord was present. The divine Physician stood beside the maimed man. The creator of the world! The man looked up to the face of Jesus. Jesus issued a challenge to the man. He asked, "Do you want to get well?" Jesus still asks the same question today. Jesus offers an abundant life, rather than a life of misery and bondage. John 10:10 (KJV) ..."I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Ah! That's the kind of life Jesus want to give you. Jesus addressed this man with love. Jesus came to help the hopeless man. It was Jesus' passion to save. Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." It was in Jesus job description to save people. Jesus was the only hope of this man. Grace is the sinners only hope. This man cannot walk. Apart from Christ he is dead. Grace is unmerited favor, unearned, undeserved. Jesus came to save the paralyzed man. He asked, "Do you want to be saved?" 4. NEVER MAKE EXCUSES The man at Bethesda began to list excuses. John 5:7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." He had an arsenal of excuses. He started throwing out excuses, "Of course I want to be healed, but I can';t do this and I can't do that. It's just impossible. Poor me! No one cares, everybody hates me, I guess I will go eat worms!" Does anybody care? Jesus does! The man also lamented, "Someone else is quicker than me; while I am trying to respond, they get there before me." He was blaming his failure on someone else. Friends, until you stop blaming others you can't get help. Do you blame your failure on somebody else? Until you stop blaming others you can't get help. Stop blaming others for your crippled life. They say: I am not a faithful Christian because of what a hypocrite said to me one day in church. Or they say they haven't seen a good example of Christianity. Excuses. Excuses! Friend, you can be made strong today! Today can be the day when you can get the victory in your life. You came here to this church today looking for healing. You can leave here a different person. Christ has issued an invitation to all who will, come and drink of the water of life freely - Revelation 22:17 You can't exhaust the supply; the water of life is there. It's free. Don't turn it away. Jesus said in John 6:37 "...whoever comes to me I will never drive away." Are you yearning to be whole? If you are, Jesus is waiting to make you whole. John 4:14, "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Who can get this? Whoever, just whoever. That means YOU. You can be saved, today. You can get the victory. You can change your life. 5. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY REMEDY How many of those people there at the Pool of Bethesda could save themselves? Nobody. What was their only hope? The physicians couldn't do it. Nobody else could do it. Only Jesus. The lame man had hope in no one else. Today the only remedy for the problems of the world is Jesus. Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." No other name, only Jesus. 6. WE MUST ACT ON JESUS WORDS This man had been living a horizontal life. He hadn't been vertical in years. Jesus told him, "Get up. Stand up. Take up your bed and walk." He had to act on that. You have to act. You have to do something. You have to change your life to. To do that you have to leave behind you your old ways, the habits of your failure and you nave to take the first steps away from that life. And Jesus will empower you, but you have to act and have faith. 7. THE MAN WAS HEALED! The hospital crowd was stunned. The man had arrived at the pool with his back on his bed, but he left, with his bed on his back. That's what Jesus could do for you. Vigorous vitality vanquished his vexation. It came in to him through the Life-giver. You can't meet Jesus and be the same. Power comes to lift you up when you accept Jesus Christ. When the man obeyed the word of God he was healed. Scoffers there that day probably whispered to each other: "Obviously, Jesus doesn't know who He is telling to get up and walk. Why, that man has been here longer than any of us, and he has never been healed." But the scoffers did not share in the healing, did they. 8. When you begin the Christian life, CRITICISM WILL COME. As soon as you are baptized, you're going to get criticized. As soon as you set out on a new life, people are going to criticize you. Persecution hounds the righteous. John 5:9b The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." The Jews of Jesus day had thirty nine classifications of work. One of them stated that it was a sin to carry a burden on the Sabbath day. Then they had to define what a burden was. The Rabbis said that if a person carried a needle in his robe on the Sabbath he sinned. You can't do that. It's the Sabbath. There were theological quarrels as to whether a person could wear his artificial teeth on the Sabbath day. I doubt if the teeth were worth much anyway in those days. And about whether you could wear a wooden leg on the Sabbath. That's carrying a burden. And you can't walk with a crutch or a cane. What was the punishment of breaking these laws? It was death by stoning, so this was a serious matter. This man went ahead and carried his bed because Jesus told him to. You need to be brave. The pharisees were quick to criticize Jesus when they should have been rejoicing. Is there a Pool of Bethesda in your town? Is there a place of suffering, discouragement and affliction in this community that we need to go to? And as the arms and hands of Christ that we need to be helping someplace? Jesus is calling you to show the light of Christ to that darkened place. You can be Jesus' hands. John 5:14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." Where does Jesus meet the man? In Church! You know, it's a good thing for you, after Jesus has done something for you to be in church. Jesus expects His people to be in His house on His Sabbath Day. Jesus beseeches the healed man to stay on the path of life. He says, "Sin no more!" By the way, be careful if your King James Bible was printed in 1716. That particular year the printer made a flagrant mistake. In John 5:14, the final copy read "SIN ON MORE" rather than "sin no more." That must have been a good year for Bible sales, because it seems like a lot of people are still heeding the advice of that old edition. Houston Post, Sept. 21, 1993, p. B-7 Finally in John 5:15 the man left telling everybody about Jesus. That's the mark of a Christian, isn't it. You want to share your faith. No matter how dark the sin of yesteryear, your future is bright with Jesus Christ. He came to this world. He died on the old rugged cross. We celebrate His life at this season: we celebrate His birth. I am thankful that Jesus came, but it won't do any good for Him to have been born in Bethlehem unless He's born in your heart. So, I urge you to let Jesus come into your impossible situation and heal you. And He wants to, and He will if you will allow Him. Opening Hymn: #132, O Come All Ye Faithful Scripture: Responsive Reading 787. (John 5:1-16.) Closing Hymn: #118, The first Noel McDonald Road Sermons

by Pastor Donald Gettys Two Rocks on the Water (Matthew 14:22-33) 20,000 hungry people had just eaten supper. The disciples rounded up 12 baskets of leftovers. What a miracle that day! Jesus was better than a vast grocery warehouse. Everybody was fed. Jesus was better than the mayo clinic....every ailment had been healed.... These were the healthiest and happiest people in Palestine. What a leader they found in Jesus! This Zealous crowd set out to force Jesus to be their king. They would have a revolution. I imagine this was one of the biggest temptations Jesus ever had. Here He could avoid the cross. Why not be the Savior of the world and let them just crown Him. He was God. He could sit on the throne in Jerusalem. The Romans would be no challenge for this Super Man. He could Christianize the whole world. That is what He came to do anyway. But Jesus ever lived to please His Heavenly Father and so He immediately broke up the crowd. If temptation is ever to be conquered, we must act immediately. If the party crowd urges you to sin, send them home or leave yourself. Jesus knew that if the Leader-Disciples left, the crowd would also leave. It is hard to imagine Jesus sending anyone away isn't it? But He did. Matthew 14:22 - -"Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side", while he sent the crowd back to Bethsaida and ordered the Disciples to the other side of the sea of Galilee by boat. Omniscient Weatherman Jesus knew a terrible thunderstorm would strike the lake in a few hours. Killer waves would come up. The lake was notorious for that. But the trip His disciples would make was only 3« miles and the twelve would have plenty of time to arrive while the lake was safe. Jesus never sends us into danger. Quickly they loaded up the 12 baskets of angel food bread into their boat. It was a fine evening in April, 30 AD. How do we know it was spring? Because Jesus fed the crowds by making them sit down on the GREEN grass. The moon would be full that night because this was the passover season. If the disciples had immediately obeyed Jesus, both they and their oars could have rested while the wind and sail carried them to the other shore. Matthew 14:23 "After he had dismissed (the crowd), he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone," He had a lot to pray about. His cousin John had just been beheaded. He would die next. Verse 24 "but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it." KJV says many Stadia= 1/8 mile. Many would be 25-30, or 3+ miles. John 6:19. Obviously the great storm had carried them several miles South. - - Right in the middle of the sea where the waves were the worst. The 12 followers did not launch out immediately. (See Desire of Ages, p.379- EG White) Unhesitating obedience would have avoided the storm. The $64,000 question is... Why did they delay??? The winds were contrary and so were their hearts. They were headed East and the winds were going West. Bucking both wind and wave. They should have left earlier. Instead they stood and quarreled. Arguing won't move boats across lakes. Perhaps they should have argued and sailed at the same time. Now it was too late. They argued over Jesus unwise judgement and their possible loss of some high positions in His kingdom. "Why does He do what He does?" Eventually the procrastinators set out as Jesus wanted. Do you go where Jesus wants you to go? Let's be people of quick obedience. If today you feel the tugging on your heart, move out and follow Him. The one hour trip took over 8 toiling hours. Had they promptly followed Jesus' command they could have spent the night in prayer like He did. Instead of praying, they spent their night fighting for their lives. Life is hard when we don't put Jesus first. Both Jesus and His disciples stayed up all night long, but what a difference! Jesus was strengthened, the disciples were exhausted. They had taken time to gather food fragments but now had no time to gather spiritual fragments. Millions of tons of water were crashing all around them. Just one four foot wave hitting a one mile stretch of beach produces 35,000 horsepower! The person who figures out how to harness that will be rich. Verse 25 "During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake." It was the darkness just before dawn. Their little bobbing boat was like a lost cork- out there on that vast dark 60 square mile sea . But Jesus always knows where His lost sheep are. David said: "If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me and thy right hand will lay hold of me." Psalm 139:8-10. Jesus came to demonstrate that God will go to any length to rescue His lost children. You will never be where Jesus cannot find you. No blast is too brutal for Jesus to save us from it. No storm of life is so awful and no boat so frail and no night so dark and no problem is so deep that we go beyond the loving reach of our Heavenly Father. Why did Jesus wait so long before coming? It is when we are at the tail end of the rope, just barely handing on, that we become willing to trust in Him. Why do we have to suffer so long before the answer comes? If we could only trust quicker. Jesus did come! He always does. Despite their disobedience in leaving late, Jesus came. Sin does not drive Jesus away. He comes near. He knows our struggles. Jesus walked along as if He will pass by. He never forces Himself upon us. Do you feel that you are in a desperate struggle with the waves of debt, or temptations, sorrows, or pain? If the storms of life overwhelm you, call on Jesus. Suddenly here came Jesus walking on the waves! They were seeing a live first hand miracle. Have you ever seen one? Do miracles make you uneasy? We live in a world of relative physical predictability. If I drop a heavy ball bearing, I expect it to hit the floor. I expect the sun to rise. The disciples did not expect God to suspend the laws of physics on their account. You would think they would rejoice to see Jesus coming to save them. But..... Verse 26 "When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear." How often we fail to recognize our Deliverer. We think of Jesus as the problem and not the answer. What they thought was death coming to get them was actually their redeemer. They might have thought they were having a near-death experience. The Phantom of the lake came and spooked them. The disciples turned white as a sheet. Their hair stood on end. But when our hair stands on end in fear Jesus stands near! Verse 27 "But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.'" Notice that Jesus first quelled the squall that raged in their hearts before stilling the cyclone that raged without. They were in a panic. How could anybody walk on water? Do you believe things you can't understand? A youth came home from college and said: "I don't believe anything I don't understand." His father said: "Tell me how a black cow can eat green grass and give white milk from which we get yellow butter!" But Peter believed Jesus. Do you believe? Peter was the CEO of the Fishing business in which at least 4 disciples worked. Impulsive Peter spoke: Verse 28 "'Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.'" Are we as eager as Peter to step out in faith? Peter could later advertise on his evangelistic handbill the fact that he and Jesus were the only two people to ever walk on unfrozen water. I like Peter. Every time he fell he rose again. A saint is not someone who never falls, but one who comes to Jesus. Peter is ready to walk on the water. He is anxious to try anything. Good thing there were no drugs around in his day. Now Jesus did not come to teach the disciples how to walk on water. It is amazing that Jesus said Come to Peter. Peter said "IF it is YOU." I don't think Peter thought... Now, umm, that just could be a ghost out there?!? Peter would never risk his life to join an unidentified spook on the heaving sea. This life-long fisherman well knew the dangers of drowning in a Galilee tempest. To leave the still floating boat and step into the deep took faith. Peter risked walking on the waters of sure death because they were the only path to His Savior. He risked all for Jesus. Only when you surrender all, will you have all. It was better to be with Jesus on the water than to be without Jesus in the boat! Verse 29 "'Come,' he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus." Do you think maybe he slowly placed his foot out toward the heaving swells of the storming sea. The lake was over 100 feet deep. His foot did not go under. He was standing on the moving water! Then walking on the water! One small step for mankind and one giant step toward God. Let's step out for God! Knowing fast Peter, he probably jumped out of the boat and bounced off the water. He got up dusted himself off, got his sea legs and headed for Jesus! Faith is grows by attempting the impossible. Paying the Tithe you know you can't afford. Giving the offering you don't think you can do. And then watching God as He keeps you floating high! What a thrill! Like a boy showing off on a bicycle riding ... "Look mom! No hands! I'm on the water! But Peter made a terrible mistake. "The instant Peter withdrew his eyes from Christ, that instant he began to sink." - Vol 2 - Selected Messages p. 235. Like Lots wife, he looked back. Keep your eyes on Jesus! By beholding Jesus Peter was enabled. Beholding changed him. Beholding Jesus can change you! Don't focus on the waves. When we let the problems of life become the primary thing we begin to sink. So often the waves of vexation and strife eclipse our view of the Savior. Water in the Bible represents people! How often people come between us and Jesus and cause our loss. Verse 30 "But when he saw the wind..... (Peter had pretty good eyesight to see the wind!!!) He was afraid." It is true that what we look at determines our destiny. "Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw mud, one saw stars." Everything depends on our habitual outlook. What we see is what we get. Look at the waves and sink. Look at Jesus and live! Ps 34:5 - "Those who look to Him are radiant!" Matthew 14:30 "But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" Our human helplessness is the most laudable element we can present to the Savior. When you take your eyes off Jesus and look at people you begin to go down. Peter even chose good folk to look at... the disciples! You can't look to the deacon or even the Sabbath School Teacher. Rivet your eyes on Jesus. Verse 31 "Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him." Jesus did not wait even a split second. The water under Peters feet gave way. He started to sink like a rock. But before he went under, Jesus extended His powerful saving right hand and lifted Peter up. Instant Salvation! The buoyant Rock of Ages reached down to save Peter the Petros a sinking pebble! Peter needed more faith didn't he? Faith is not something that we hold but something that holds us up. Sometimes we are battered by terrible Storms. Sometimes we feel the darkness has won. Sometimes we feel helpless as a fish caught in a net. Sometimes we feel our best efforts are not enough. Sometimes we feel the end is near. BUT when you are near the hand of Jesus, all you have to do is call on Him. He will hear your sincere voice above the howling of the mightiest storm. Jesus hand became Peters life preserver. A Knowledgeable man noticed a farm girl draw water at the well. Before she lifted the brimming pail, the girl took a piece of wood out of her pocket and floated it on the water. He asked her why she did it. She said: "To keep the water from spilling!" When your heart is agitated, put the Cross in it's center to keep it steady. In every storm the presence of Jesus will bring quietude. If you are sinking today, turn your face to Jesus. Verses 31 and 32 - "'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?' And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Invite Jesus into your house and the hot winds of strife will cease. Notice that the instant Jesus boarded the boat two things happened. The wind blew out and instantly they arrived at the land. (John 6:21) They had been in the middle of the sea! When Jesus boards the ship of your life, you reach your destiny. You are saved! So many lessons in this amazing true story. Our walking can never take us all the way to Jesus. Our best efforts cannot make us float. But His power is more than enables us to walk on in the greatest storm. Notice that Peter was totally supported by the water of life. Jesus is the only way! Opening Hymn # 83 Scripture: Matthew 14:28-31 Closing Hymn: 512 Just When I need Him most. McDonald Road Sermons

Jennifer Jill Schwirzer Mary Magdalene's Portrait of Christ Suppose you were filling out an opinion poll and one question asked, "Who is the most famous woman of all time?" You might answer Princess Diana, Hillary Clinton, Cleopatra or Marie Antoinette. Jesus would answer, "Mary Magdalene." As far as He was concerned, she was a celebrity. No disciple heard from His lips anything close to the praise that she heard. Her act of anointing Him was to be published, "Wherever this gospel is preached." And where is the gospel to be preached? The great commission tells us to preach it to the whole world. It says that Christ will return when that job is completed. There will be a time, not far ahead, when the whole world will know about Jesus Christ. They will also know about Mary Magdalene. Why was Jesus so anxious to broadcast her deed? Certainly He would not tack anything on the message that would detract. It must affirm the gospel. It must drive home the message He has given us to preach. Remember the gospel is the story of Jesus-His life, death, resurrection and ascension. It means literally, "Good news." The story of Jesus is good news to everyone. The sermon of Peter at Pentecost set the tone for the whole ministry of the New Testament church. He told them the story of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. One author says that "hanging on the cross, Christ was the gospel." Mary's act of anointing Jesus was a portrait of the cross of Jesus. He had finally found a human being who had so understood and embraced His mission and message that she reflected it back to Him. Her Story-The Girl of Bethany Mary got her last name from the city of Magdala, where evidently she lived when she first came in contact with Christ. Jesus made a trip to Magdala after a long period of ministry in Galilee. (Matthew 15:39) Mary was not always from Magdala, though. She started out where she ended up, living with her brother Lazarus and her sister Martha in Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem. But she underwent a great transformation, didn't she? She was raised as a well-bred Jewish girl in Bethany. She became a harlot from Magdala. One is led to ask, "How did it happen? How did she get from A to Z?" The Family of Origin Lets explore their family situation. Mary anointed Jesus at a feast held at Simon's house. In John chapter 12 we see that Martha served and Lazarus was present. Simon must have been a relative in order to have Martha serving. I don't think Martha was a professional caterer. For some unknown reason there is no mention of the parents of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Where were they? Perhaps there was some tragic loss. It may have been a loss that was partly filled by the Pharisee Simon. Jewish girls were taught from the torah. Perhaps Simon became a mentor to Mary while she was young. He must have taken a paternal role in her life.. The Abuser-Simon the Pharisee At some point Simon became intoxicated with the power he had over this young woman. We don't know the details of how he led her into sin, but we do know that he was responsible for how she ended up. You remember that Simon began to question Christ's divinity when He saw what Mary was doing in anointing Him. Simon thought, "If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner" Luke 7. Jesus read his thoughts and gave him a message tucked away in a parable. It was a story of two debtors, one who owed ten times as much as the other. By the end of the parable, Simon knew that he was the greater debtor, and Mary the lesser. Jesus spoke in this parable to every man of power who uses that power to cater to his own desire. He speaks to every abuser. He says, your victim may go on to become a great sinner, but you will be ten times as guilty because you got them started. Mary was known outwardly as a great sinner, but Simon was the more accountable. Phariseeism Bred Secret Sin What made it possible for Simon to do such a thing? He was known as an upright and good man. He read the Bible every day! He prayed often and fasted twice a week like a good Pharisee. Evidently many Pharisees had the same problem Simon had of secret immorality. Look in John chapter 8 at the story of the woman taken in adultery. You remember what Jesus said to those Pharisees who threw that woman down and recommended that she be stoned. "He that is without sin among you let him be the first to throw a stone at her." vs. 7. That phrase, "without sin" is from the Greek "anemertetos" which means "particular sin." In other words Jesus said, "He that is without this particular sin among you go ahead and stone her. He that is without the sin of immorality, go ahead and stone her." And they did what? They all left, one by one. They were all immoral. But they were immoral in secret. Their sin was secret! One researcher named Patrick Carnes says that religious leaders are, "Always on display, always on call" and that "this makes them especially susceptible to a double life." This is how it happens. Wherever there is a standard of behavior held up without sufficient motivation given to reach that standard, people become hypocrites. When we preach the law without the gospel we manufacture hypocrites. The law tells us what we are supposed to be. Paul says in Romans 1:16 that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation." The law will tell you what you need to be, but it will not give you one iota of power to become what you need to be. The gospel will give you that power, but those poor Pharisees did not have the gospel. The Gospel came to them and they rejected Him. Therefore they had no power to overcome sin. They could only hide it. They could only go from being outward sinners to being secret sinners. We can see in the scandal that has made America the laughingstock of the world that it is very difficult for men of power not to use that power for their own perverted purposes. They abuse their power and rob vulnerable people of power in the process. I am so glad to know that the man Christ Jesus, who was a Man of power if there ever was One, never misused His power, but gave His power away so that we could have power. In Philippians we are told that "He emptied Himself" Jesus emptied Himself of power. Lets read it. "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the aform of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross." Philippians 2:5-8. Jesus gave up His power- emptied Himself of power so that we could have the power of God unto salvation. Such a welcome contrast He is to the men of power in this sick world. Mary of Magdala-A Bitter Woman But poor Mary. At a vulnerable time in her life her innocence was swept away. Suddenly she was isolated with her shameful secret. She thought that no one in Bethany would support her. She ran to Magdala, which was just about as far away as you can get from Bethany and still speak Hebrew. She tried to piece together what remained of her life. But there was no life to piece together. She lived in the past, bitter and angry at the one who had stolen her happiness. When you are bitter toward someone, you may remove yourself physically from them, but you still live with them. They follow you everywhere you go because they live in your memory. With every remembrance of Simon, Mary felt the pain of humiliation afresh. Finally she decided that she would not be the victim any longer. She would enter a profession that would make her successful, even wealthy. She would get power back by using the very thing that was used to take her power away. It's hard to conceive of how completely her innocence was lost. I used to work in New York city and I would walk by prostitutes on a regular basis. At times I felt the impulse to grab their shoulders, shake them and say, "You don't have to live like this! Christ died so that you can have a better life!" What held me back from doing that was fear. They were frightening to look at. They were obviously demon possessed like Mary. Devils Cast Out We don't know exactly when Mary and Jesus first met, but if it was on his trip to Magdala, it was toward the end of His public ministry. Mary recognized in Jesus the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies she had learned about as a girl. She saw Him healing, heard Him preach, and recognized Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners." Maybe Mary longed for freedom from her addiction, but feared coming close to Jesus. After all, He was a "man of power." What won her over must have been the respect that she saw He had for women in general, and specifically for her. She was accustomed to religious men treating women like less than human-Pharisees would not even talk to their wives in public. Along came this Jesus and He had women disciples who traveled with Him! Look at Luke 8:1-3. Mary eventually became one of those disciples. There is some discussion about how it all happened. We are told that Jesus cast "seven devils" out of Mary. (Mark 16:9) Some think that it happened all in one event. Others think it was gradual, with her falling back into sin six more times. I believe the latter, because I can think of no better way for Jesus to encourage those of us who keep falling than for Him to take the greatest joy in a woman who fell again and again and finally won the war! Overcoming Some people feel that overcoming sin is not an issue. It's true that overcoming all sin is not a requirement for salvation. Martin Luther was a terrible anti-Semite and apparently had a taste for beer. He had many character flaws. William Miller was closed to the Sabbath truth. Will they be lost because of their lack of perfection? Absolutely not. The reason I want to overcome sin is not because I think I will be lost if I don't. It's because I really want to reflect Jesus to the world. I also want to reflect Him back to Himself like Mary did. Jesus longs to see His love displayed in His people. Perhaps Jesus anticipated that some people would reason, "It's true that Christ lived a perfect life, but He had one less temptation than I have. He was never tempted to discouragement because of His failure." Well, that is not true, because Jesus was "tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin" as it says in Hebrews 4:15, but it is hard sometimes to understand how a perfect man feel like a failure. Jesus can remind us of Mary, who failed over and over, but like the Proverb says, "A righteous man falls seven times and rises up again." (Proverbs 24:16) Maybe there is someone here who had become discouraged with themselves because of repeated failure. Remember Mary. She failed so many times I presume the disciples told Jesus to give up on her. He didn't. He has not given up on you either. I will tell you how you can know for sure if there is hope for you. Take your hand and put it right under your nose. Do you feel breath coming in and out of your nostrils? If you do there is hope for you. The Last Demon What was the lingering problem that afflicted Mary? I think it was the demon of bitterness. She came to the place where she knew that she was capable of being just like Simon. He used her and now she was using others. Even beyond that, Mary saw how her sin broke the heart of Christ. I imagine it this way. She does well for a while, but at some point one of the disciples or someone offends her, and she gets those old feelings of powerlessness. She leaves in a rage and resorts to the old way of regaining power. Then she realizes what she has done. She assumes that Jesus is finished with her now, and she sits in a room somewhere with the shades pulled. A knock is heard. She opens the door to find Jesus standing there. He has sought her out like the little lost lamb. He sees the insanity etched on her face and drops to His knees. Listening to Him praying to God for her deliverance, she feels her heart melt within her. She just can't resist His love. Over and over this scene is replayed until the sixth time she cries out, "I just can't do it! I just can't be one of your disciples! I keep failing! Go on without me!" I can imagine Jesus speaking softly, "Mary, I will never give up on you. Please don't give up on Me!" Sometime after Jesus trip to Magdala but before the feast at Simon's house, we have Matthew 18, the chapter of Jesus' teaching on forgiveness, which we will be looking at in more detail this afternoon. Mary probably heard that teaching, and realized that God was leading her to forgive Simon. Mary struggled like all of us do to forgive, but finally she must have realized that Christ really was the Messiah and that He had come to die for her sins. Suddenly she was not the victim anymore, Jesus was the victim. The thought that she could cause Him such pain broke her heart. Out flew the last demon of bitterness. Forgiveness And in it's place grew forgiveness for Simon. Maybe she wrote him a letter or confronted him with what he had done to her, because Jesus had instructed His disciples to go to those who had sinned against them. Simon did not repent, because at the feast he is still looking scornfully upon Mary. Perhaps she shared her frustration with Jesus, and He assured her that He would deal with Simon. Jesus will deal with those who have hurt you as well. An Outrageous Idea Mary was a new person. No longer was she haunted by the face of a man who robbed her of peace and happiness. Instead she lived in the light of a God-man who had given it all back. How could she thank Him? Inspired with an outrageous idea, she took her savings, the equivalent of a year's wages, and walked to the apothecary. He showed her the $25 model, thinking he would have to go down from there. Boy was he in for a surprise! One after another bottle of perfume was rejected because it wasn't fine enough. Finally the man locked the front door of his shop and went into the safe for the finest bottle of ointment he had ever owned. It was an alabaster box, which once broken could never be resealed. It was designed to be given in one extravagant display of homage to a great king. It was exactly what she wanted. To the Feast, Uninvited Jesus had said that He would suffer and die. Mary was the only one who believed Him. She did not want Him to be buried without proper respects for who He was. Usually great Kings were anointed after death and before burying. Mary couldn't wait that long. Losing all self consciousness, she ran to the feast at Simon's house. None of the disciples wanted her there, especially Simon, but she went uninvited because she could not contain her gratitude to Christ any longer. Two gospels say that she anointed His head, and two say that she anointed His feet, so I think it's safe to assume that He was covered from head to toe with this precious ointment. No one took much note until the fragrance of spikenard filled the air. The disciples knew that smell, and perceived immediately that a huge amount of money had been spent, objecting to what they called "waste." They were hoping that Jesus would turn to Mary and say something like, "Mary, it's a very poetic idea you came up with here, but next time you want to do something like this, counsel with some of the more experienced brethren. Mary, you're a sweet girl but you lack judgement." Now what would we do if Jesus was coming to the McDonald road church and one of the board members recommended spending $20,000 on such a bottle of perfume? We would reject the idea as impractical, although we may but the perfume as an investment, sell it, and use the profit toward the new church organ. A Portrait of the Cross But Jesus had different ideas of what was practical. You see, He had come to die for the sins of every soul. To make one person understand His mission was more value in the context of eternity than all the money in the world. Finally here was someone who grasped His love, His gift, His character. Her sacrificial giving looked so much like His cross that in looking upon her people would see a reflection of Himself. There she was, a broken heart, with broken box in her hands. Never would this fountain be resealed. Soon Jesus would hang before the world, broken forever for our sins, wounds in His hands symbolizing His eternal sacrifice. There was Mary, surrounded by scorning men who could not comprehend her spirit. Soon Jesus would hang, surrounded by a mocking world. There was Mary, ointment flowing lavishly down the body of Jesus and soaking into the dirt floor. Soon Jesus would hang, His blood flowing in superabundance for every sin, even when that blood would never be appreciated by the majority of this world. There was Mary, fragrance pouring from her hand, filling the room with the evidence of love. Soon Jesus would hang, "an offering and a sacrifice to God as a sweet-smelling savor" Ephesians 5:1. Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel. . . . This is our message, our argument, our doctrine, our warning to the impenitent, our encouragement for the sorrowing, the hope for every believer . If we can awaken an interest in men's minds that will cause them to fix their eyes on Christ, we may step aside, and ask them only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God.-- Manuscript 49, 1898. Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel. Now we have a message, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." Will not our church members keep their eyes fixed on a crucified and risen Saviour, in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered? This is our message, our argument, our doctrine, our warning to the impenitent, our encouragement for the sorrowing, the hope for every believer. If we can awaken an interest in men's minds that will cause them to fix their eyes on Christ, we may step aside, and ask them only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God. They thus receive their lesson. Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. He whose eyes are fixed on Jesus will leave all. He will die to selfishness. He will believe in all the Word of God, which is so gloriously and wonderfully exalted in Christ. Openning Song - "Jesus Saves" p. 340 Scripture - Ephesians 5:1,2 Closing Song - "Because He Lives" p. 526 --------------------------------------------------------------------McDonald Road Sermons

Pastor Donald J Gettys Jesus is Unique I am happy to be a 4th generation Adventist Christian. I was brought up and trained in our system from the first grade through the seminary. I was told that to be saved I must eventually be perfect in every act and deed and word. I was taught that my good works would increase over the years and I would eventually need less and less of Jesus' righteousness. I was even shown stair-step type charts to prove this. I came to believe that salvation can be merited through good works. Of course, I believed that righteousness comes by faith, BUT my attitude toward God was structured in terms of do's and don'ts. Now you have to understand that I am very loyal. So over the years I tried hard to become perfect. I strived to be exactly like Jesus. I plodded along hoping that someday my efforts would bring this about. Each time I slipped I got discouraged and wondered if I was saved or lost. Deep inside I realized that I was not achieving absolute holiness yet. There were days that I felt saved. But other times I felt lost for sure. Several years ago while reading my Bible through again I saw some things I had never noticed before. It changed my whole life. Now I have the assurance of Salvation on good days and on bad days. Now my efforts seem to reflect more of God s character more than ever. My life abounds in more works today than when I was working to have more works. Let me share with you what happened. I thought my job description was to try to become exactly like Jesus. I believed that His makeup was identical to mine, and mine must be identical to His. Is Jesus like us? Yes, in some ways and NO in other ways. Can I ever be exactly like Jesus? 1. Jesus did NOT possess the passions of our human fallen natures; see - (EG White - Testimonies for the Church, vol 2 p. 509). Jesus did not possess the same fallen passions that I have. Passion means yearning, appetite, desire, obsession or craving. Not the same as me! 2. Jesus' very nature RECOILED from Evil. (EG White - Steps to Christ p. 93-94) My nature loves sin. Jesus' nature shuddered at the thought of sin. Babies are born with a fallen nature. I've watched two babies struggle over the possession of one pacifier. We are born selfish. We humans are attracted to sin. Jesus cringed at the sight of evil. Even though He was tempted in all points as we are, yet His nature recoiled from evil. We are allured to vice like flies to garbage. 3. Jesus had NO PROPENSITIES to Sin. Listen to this statement: "Do not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He (Jesus) is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. ... Because of sin (Adam's) posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. Jesus Christ...could have fallen----- but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity." Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1128. Jesus had zero propensity to sin. Definition of "Propensity": Inclination to sin (He did not have it. But I do), liking for sin, bent towards evil. predisposition, tendency ---Jesus had no tendency to sin. (I do). "Let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, SUCH AN ONE AS OURSELVES, FOR IT CANNOT BE." - Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1129 Jesus was not like us. Not at all. It cannot be. So if Jesus is not like us how can we ever be like him? The answer is that (this side of heaven) I can't be absolutely like Jesus. He was different than I am. Let me show you more of the differences. ---Jesus was both God and Man. John 10:30, John 1:14. I know several things. I am not God. And you are not God. That is New Age philosophy. Jesus was Perfect. Hebrews 4:15 - I am not. Jesus never needed to be born again. I do. Jesus was a Savior. I need saving. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5 p.1114-1118. Jesus never asked to be forgiven of any sin. I need to die daily. Jesus' Heart was sinless (EG White - Desire of Ages p. 700) The human heart is desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? The bottom line is this: Jesus was UNIQUE. If Jesus was not like me then in what way can He ever be my example? Is Jesus our example, then? Yes! How???? Jesus is my example, not in impeccable sinless performance, but Jesus is my example in SUBMISSION and TRUST, to the will of the heavenly Father. The striving and effort on my part is to stay surrendered to God's will. stay connected to Jesus feed my soul with spiritual things For years I was caught up in striving to be spotlessly, legalistically, perfect which I now know that I can never be this side of heaven. "We can never EQUAL the pattern but we may IMITATE and RESEMBLE it according to our ability." - Review and Herald February 5, 1895. So, I want to be as close to Jesus as I possibly can as a human being. I Corinthians 15:54 (speaking about resurrection morning)- "When this corruptible shall put on incorruption...." Until Jesus' coming, we are corruptible, Contaminate-able. Till then we are subject to stain, sin, and corruption. I John 3:2 Notice when we will be like Him... "When he appears we shall be like Him." Also Jude 24 "To Him who is able to keep you from Falling and present you FAULTLESS (where??) Before the throne!" There we will be faultless. If I can be perfect then why did Jesus have to die? Did Jesus die just for my past sins? Many early Adventist pioneers believed that Jesus died for our past sins only! And that we are responsible from the point of conversion for our own salvation. They were wrong. That is "New Theology". What I am preaching today is the old old story of Jesus and His saving love... Righteousness by faith. If they were right then, most Bible Characters will be lost. Take David: He sinned badly several times and was forgiven. Did David have willful sin after his conversion? Yes! Time and time again David fell. In fact just before David died he fell into sin. I Chronicles 21:1 - "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." This was heavy sin. So here David is being tempted just shortly before his death. Did he fall? Yes. I Chronicles 21:8 - "Then David said to God, 'I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.'" God considered it a major transgression because eventually 70,000 died because of David's sin. No one can stand up an claim to be sinless. I John 1:8 - "If we claim to be without sin (sinless perfection), we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Forgiven David will be in heaven. All his sins were covered by the Righteousness of Jesus. David was saved (not by his works) but by Jesus' perfect life. We all need a Savior from the moment we are born until the day we die. David did. We do. Romans 3:23,24 - "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." All have sinned and CONTINUE sinning and continue FALLING SHORT of God's perfect character. Romans 3:23 The Greek word is in the continuous tense. It means to continue coming short. We will fall short up till the day we die or the day Jesus comes. Then we will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. - I Corinthians 15:51-52. As I saw the beautiful truth here that I cannot make myself righteous....Not in a lifetime of trying....It changed my whole life. The only way any of us will walk on the streets of gold is courtesy of the righteousness of Jesus. I came to totally trust Him. My love for Jesus increased dramatically. EG White - Steps to Christ p. 62 - "It was possible for Adam before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen, and WE CANNOT MAKE OURSELVES RIGHTEOUS. Since we are sinful, WE CANNOT PERFECTLY OBEY THE HOLY LAW. ...But Christ lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness!" = the gospel! "If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Savior, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are ACCOUNTED righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned." - EG White - Steps to Christ p. 62. Instant Salvation! If you can once understand this, it will change your life! It changed mine. And what is my response to the beautiful gospel? I have more works in my life than I ever dreamed of having. Now, Verses like Galatians 2:16 are perfectly clear: "Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." The lost person sins and is not sorry for it. He does not ask for pardon. Sin does not wound his soul. He does not hate sin. The saved person occasionally could slip and fall but he hates it. He asks forgiveness. He asks for power to keep from sinning. A Legalist sees all this like a ladder to be climbed one step at a time. He says: with God's power I am going to climb clear to the top of this ladder. The gospel is not like a stairway to be climbed. It is more like an ELEVATOR. I chose to get in .... I surrender myself to it's power. Once inside I choose to go up. God provides all the power at all times. Every day I get closer to Him. The choice is always mine to get off or to stop advancing. I could even step out of it and jump out a window to my eternal death. But as long as I stay connected to Jesus I will become more and more like Him. That elevator keeps going up through eternity. I eternally grow more and more like Jesus. Jesus is my elevator. A Christian becomes more and more like Jesus. But he never ceases to need a Savior. There will never come a time in this life when we do not need to repeat the Lord's prayer - Forgive us our debts (sins). "If we claim to be sinless, we are self-deceived and strangers to the truth." - I John 1:8-10 NEB Romans 3:28 - "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." Romans 4:5 - "However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." When Paul says that God justifies the wicked, the corrupt and the evil, he is saying that God treats the ungodly person as if he were flawlessly perfect. This shocked the poor Jews to death! The Jew in Jesus day thought to treat a bad man as if he were a good moral man was the sign of a bad judge. Proverbs 17:15 - "He who justifies the wicked .. is an abomination to the Lord." Yet Paul is saying that is exactly what God does. When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and efforts as man's best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. (1 SM p.382) We are corporately linked with Adam by birth. We are corporately linked with Christ by new birth. What Adam did affected the entire human race. What Christ did affects every person who is born again. Christ's History becomes ours! The perfect life He lived is freely accounted to our record as if we had lived it ourselves. This is the mechanics of salvation. Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, described his personal experience with the battle of sin: Romans 7:14-17 - "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me." Paul admits he did not achieve perfect works: Philippians 3:12 - "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect..." EG White, in her Steps To Christ p. 64 describes this: "We shall OFTEN have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes... Even if we are overcome by (Satan) we are not cast off or forsaken... We do not lose our salvation by an occasional misdeed. Christ is our SUBSTITUTE. You are accepted right now, not because of your works but because of Jesus' perfect life. When our heavenly Father looks down at you He sees a perfectly forgiven saint. He sees the righteous robe of Jesus covering your life. Salvation does not come by willpower but by Jesus. Justification technically is not to be Made Worthy but to be Accounted Worthy. So despite our sins of yesteryear and despite our continuing sins God credits us with the perfect life that Jesus lived. This good news is the heart of Adventism. We are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and nothing else. I Peter 1:18-19 We are not flawless. What human has ever had perfect patience. What human has an absolutely perfect attitude. How many of you have totally perfect thoughts 24 hours a day? --Not until this corruptible puts on incorruption. Jesus is my role model and I try to live as close to it as I can. Am I always successful? NO. We live in an imperfect world. I am an imperfect man.... (Except in Jesus' sight). A legalist has a hard time maintaining the assurance of salvation because it is based on his daily works. Only the Gospel gives real assurance. Righteousness by Faith does not mean that the Christian no longer observes God's requirements. NO. He lives to please God in thankfulness for the salvation he has freely received. Some churches teach salvation by personal effort. Other churches teach that because of Faith the law of God has been done away with and anything goes! The beautiful balance is what Adventists teach and what you are hearing today which is the true gospel. Adventists have the balance. There are two truths that the devil hates most. The arch-deceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an Atoning sacrifice and an all powerful Mediator. (See EG White, Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan p.488) Jesus has the ability to both forgive sin and to empower the Christian to be more like Him. Misunderstand these and you fall into cheap grace, predestination, universalism, and once saved always saved and a host of other falsehoods. As Savior Jesus provides forgiveness of all sin. As Heavenly High Priest He gives power over sin. My goal is to overcome sin and to model the life of my Savior Jesus Christ. If you want assurance of salvation, Center your hope of heaven not on your efforts but on Christ alone as your substitute and assurance. (1 SM 363.) Accept Jesus as your Divine Elevator and stay on board. You will soon be in heaven. Opening Song: #1 "Praise to the Lord" Scripture: #762 - Responsive reading Closing Song: #303 "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" 980404Gettys434 --------------------------------------------------------------------McDonald Road Sermons

by Pastor Kent Crutcher The Holy Sofa One day a small boy was walking with his father. When they passed an unusual looking truck, he said, "What's that, Daddy?" "I don't know," his father said. Then they came to a large, old-fashioned warehouse. "What's in there, Daddy?" the little boy asked. "I don't know," his father replied. Then they saw a man using a pneumatic drill breaking up the pavement. "What's that man doing, Daddy?" the boy asked. "I don't know," was again the father's answer. After they had walked on a short way in silence, the little boy turned to his father and said, "Daddy, do you mind my asking you so many questions?" "Of course not," replied the father. "How else are you going to learn anything?" How are our children going to learn anything, especially about our faith? Our God? Our salvation? As Moses neared the close of his life, he longed to transfer to those who followed him the legacy of faith and trust in God which had become his. Inspired by God, the aging leader sought, like the runners of the Olympiad, to "pass the torch" to a new generation in the messages set down in the book of Deuteronomy. Did you ever watch the Torch Relay before an Olympic game. Technically, the Torch Relay does not represent the passing of a torch, but celebrates the passing of the flame from one torch to the next. The Olympic flame symbolizes the light of spirit, knowledge and life. By passing the flame from one person to another in stages, the Torch Relay expresses the handing down of this symbolic fire from generation to generation. How do we pass on the sacred flame with which God has entrusted us from generation to generation? What Moses faced is similar to what parents face as they ponder this need. Dr. John Youngberg states, "Great ideas don't live on just because they are true. They live on only when they are enshrined in the hearts of the young. Our most treasured religious ideals are always only one generation from extinction!" So Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy, the most comprehensive statement on religious education to be found in the Scriptures. This is Moses' inspired last attempt to pass on the Holy Flame to the next generation. Within this book we can find council from God that will help us today as we think about fostering faith in our families. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6. (It is found in the Old Testament after the book of Numbers and before the book of Joshua. Deut. 6:1-5 "These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your strength." Verses 4-9 has come to be known in the Jewish faith as the Shema, from the Hebrew word for "hear" in verse 4. The Shema is their basic and essential creed of Judaism and is used to open every Jewish service. It's opening line is the first Scripture that every Jewish child commits to memory. "The Lord our God is one." Amidst religions with many gods, this verse declares our God to be ONE. It also declares that our commitment to God must be single-minded. It s as if Moses were saying, "Put your priorities in order. One thing is primary your total love relationship with God. Everything else is secondary." Jesus also said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the rest will be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33. Elsewhere He underscored the instruction of Deut 6:5, proclaiming it the first and great commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment" - Matthew 22:37,38. So, according to Deuteronomy 6:4,5, our first step in our quest to pass on the holy flame is to Worship God Supremely. Let's look a verse 6. "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." God desires each one to experience His love in a personal way and to take the word of God into his heart. Heart means thought, emotions, the very center of ones being as far as the Hebrew scriptures were concerned. Though the religion of Jehovah affects the behavior and outer actions of a person, it is concerned first of all with the condition of the heart, the inner spirit of the believer. The highest level of motivation in life, in relationships and service occurs when God's Word has been accepted, appreciated and taken within the heart. The heart is preeminent in the words of both Moses and Jesus. External actions, such as talking, teaching and other behaviors, are not substitutes for the inner experience. Love of God's precepts in the heart is necessary before they can be effectively taught to others. Seventy-eight-year-old Aleida Huissen of Rotterdam in the Netherlands had been smoking for fifty years. For most of that time she had been trying unsuccessfully to give up the habit. Then something happened and she succeeded. The secret? She met seventy-nine-year-old Leo Jansen. The two fell in love and Leo proposed marriage. "I'll want you around for a long time," he said. "You must quit smoking before it kills you." Aleida said, "Will power never was enough to get me off the habit. Love made me do it." So, after we Worship God Supremely, we need to Receive God's Word Inwardly. Look at verse 7. "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." God's covenant with His people is intended to be a perpetual one. It was not intended for one generation only. Understanding of God's covenant with His people does not automatically transfer from one generation to the next. The individuals within each succeeding generation must be taught the meaning of the covenant and invited to enter that covenant relationship with God personally. Ellen White, in The Ministry of Healing, p.349 states: "The restoration and uplifting of humanity begins in the home. The work of parents underlies every other. Society is composed of families, and is what the heads of families make it." Deuteronomy also attaches importance to teaching within the family in a number of it's verses. The home is to be the center for conserving and propagating truth. Moses understood that the greatness of the nation depended upon the teaching of God's Word in the home. Well, how do you do that? Verse seven has the answer. "Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Instruction from the parents is to be a continual way of life with spontaneous instruction mingled with more regular times for teaching. Sitting, walking lying down and getting up describe the typical habits of daily life. Religious instruction can and should happen as a habit of our daily life! Religious instruction should be spontaneous. As you go about the business of the day, try to think of a lesson that can be taught about that activity and share it with your family. Pretend that you have been asked to tell the children's story this coming Sabbath in church and you must draw a lesson from what you are doing. It comes easier with practice. Religious instruction should also have regular times during the day. This is where I have the hardest time. My days are anything but regular! Maybe you can identify with that. But it is so important to have regular time with the family to worship God. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of me sitting on my Daddy's lap in the brown rocking chair in my bedroom just before bedtime. I don't know how many times I listened to Uncle Arthur's Bed-time Stories read through. Or Swift Arrow, or The Secret of the Cave, or The Last Escape, or Clever Queen, or The Bible Story. Notice, I remember these books. It didn't go in one ear and out the other. It was never boring! Yes, I learned the importance of family worship. But still have a hard time finding the time. Persistence is the answer. Do your best and don't give up! If something comes up and I miss that special time, I'm learning not to throw in the towel but to start again the next day and the next and the next. Don't let it be like the resolution you made at New Years, the first time you failed to keep it you ditched it. Keep trying to find that special time with the Family. The rewards are eternal. I know that getting small children to participate in the way you wish can be a challenge. My 20 month old daughter would not sit still long enough for a three sentence prayer. The toys she thought about held much greater attention than kneeling by the sofa. She would struggle, fuss and fume to have her way until we were about to give up! But one evening, just a few weeks ago, it happened! She joined us on her knees, with her head bowed, her eyes closed, her hands folded. Susan and I looked at each other in amazement, wishing we had our camera handy. The next night she did the same thing. I hope it is not irreverent but I took her picture while I was praying. Persistence has it's rewards. Now, when I say "It's time for the story," she makes a dead run for the sofa, snatching up her lesson quarterly off the shelf as she passes and waits impatiently for the rest of the family to arrive at the special place. Wouldn't it be great if our sofas were not the place to be mesmerized by what Hollywood has to offer. Wouldn't it be great if our kids saw this as a place of excitement because of a loving family worshipping a loving God! What ever place you decide to experience worship as a family becomes a holy place because God is there. As the children get older, our worship style will need to change. Worship should not become boring. It should always be fresh and interesting for every member of the family. A challenge? Yes! But I have the feeling that God will bless every effort if we have already followed the steps mentioned on passing the holy flame: Worship God Supremely, Receive God's Word Inwardly, and This third step: Teach God's Word Diligently. Manna IDEAS Let's look at verse 8 and 9: "Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates." Instruction was to be made real and practical in work, study, recreation, in family living and all aspects of life. These verses eventually lost their meaning when the rabbis interpreted it literally, actually fixing small bits of written material from the books of Moses on their arms and foreheads and on the door-frames of their houses. The counsel, however, is in figurative language. The truths of God's Word are to govern our actions, symbolized by the hands, and our thinking, symbolized by the forehead. Placing the Word of God on the door-frames of our homes indicates that God's truth is to be our identifying mark, just as blood on the door-frame of Israelite homes in Egypt provided an identifying mark so that the family within would be saved. On Foxly Lane, near Newbold College, the homes, like many throughout England, are designated by names rather than street numbers. Pastor and Mrs. Ernest Marter, a retired SDA couple, built a home on this street. To this residence they gave the name Gratitude and placed an attractive sign engraved with this name at their curbside. This name proclaims to all who pass or who enter in the gratitude that the Marter family feels toward Jesus. What do people remember when they enter your home? Let's look now down at verse 18: "Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers," The word of God is aware that individuals who are in need and in want require little incentive to turn to God and serve Him. What is needed are individuals who in the midst of abundance and plenty will continue to be faithful to Him, who will not be distracted by the gods of the popular culture. Children pick up the values that are lived constantly before them. Inconsistency creates confusion and doubt. A faithful Christian life as a parent does not mean a flawless life. Show me the perfect parent and I'll show you someone who has no children. God does not require us to be perfect parents, but in our brokenness and imperfection to direct our children to the perfect Savior we have found and to guide their feet along the path to find Him for themselves. Children Learn What They Live If a child lives with criticism, He learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, He learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule, He learns to be shy. If a child lives with shame, He learns to feel guilty. If a child lives with tolerance, He learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement, He learns confidence. If a child lives with praise, He learns to appreciate. If a child lives with fairness, He learns justice. If a child lives with security, He learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval, He learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, He learns to find love in the world. Dorothy Law Nolte So our last step is Live God's Word Faithfully. Our great purpose is to prepare the way for our children to make a covenant with their God as we have made a covenant with ourselves. We cannot coerce, we cannot force, but we can lovingly and patiently instruct them. We can live faithfully before them and we can invite them as did Moses who said, " Choose life, that both you and your children may live." -Deut 30:19. In order to pass on the Holy Flame, let's follow the steps of Deuteronomy 6: Worship God Supremely, Receive God's Word Inwardly, Teach God's Word Diligently, and Live God's Word Faithfully So that we can say like Joshua: "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." The prize is worth far more than a gold medal. It will be a golden crown cast at the feet of Jesus throughout eternity! (Quotes from Karen and Ron Flowers and Monte Sahlin and Ellen G. White and John Maxwell) -------------------------------------------------------------------- McDonald Road SDA Church