Relationships Have Rules - Randy Skeete Sermon ( Day 5 )
Relationships Have Rules - Randy Skeete Sermon
Transcript
00:00Our subject for today, relationships have rules.
00:08Relationships have rules.
00:11Let not your heart be troubled.
00:14You believe in God, believe also in me.
00:18In my father's house are many mansions.
00:21If it were not so, I would have told you.
00:24I go to prepare a place for you.
00:27And if I go and prepare a place for you,
00:31I will come again and receive you unto myself,
00:36that where I am, there you may be also.
00:39And whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know.
00:43Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest,
00:48and how can we know the way?
00:51Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
00:56No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
01:00If ye had known me, ye should have known my father also.
01:04And from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
01:08Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father,
01:12and it sufficeth us.
01:14Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you,
01:19and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
01:22He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
01:26And how seest thou then show us the Father?
01:30Believest thou not that I am in the Father,
01:33and the Father in me, the words that I speak unto you?
01:37I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me,
01:42he doeth the words.
01:43Believe me, or else believe me for the very work's sake.
01:47Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me,
01:51the works that I do shall he do also,
01:54and greater works than these shall he do,
01:56because I go unto my Father.
01:58And whatsoever he shall ask in my name, that will I do,
02:03that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
02:06If he shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.
02:11If you love me, keep my commandments.
02:15I thank God again, and always will,
02:18for the privilege of speaking for him.
02:22It is a high, high privilege,
02:24and I ask him to grant me his spirit.
02:26As the Bible says, we have this treasure
02:28in earthen vessels, and I am an earthen vessel,
02:33a vessel of clay, a vessel of dirt.
02:35Therefore, the glory must be to God,
02:39because there is no glory in dirt of itself.
02:42And so I'm grateful to Pastor Jevan for the invitation,
02:45and for the honor and the pleasure
02:47of fellowshipping with his church family.
02:50I enjoy all the music.
02:52May the Lord bless you, those of you who sang,
02:54those of you who read the scripture.
02:56May God always work in your lives
02:59to draw you closer to him,
03:01and may God be so close to you
03:04that those who see you will somehow
03:07get a glimpse of Jesus Christ.
03:09I welcome the little boys and the little girls
03:11who are watching.
03:12I'm always delighted when children
03:14listen to the word of God.
03:16God is pleased, my little brother.
03:19God is pleased, my little sister,
03:21when we give, or children give their lives to him.
03:26And God can use you as powerfully as he can use an adult.
03:31You can obey God, because God will provide
03:33the power for you to obey him.
03:35To those of you watching who are not
03:37seven of the Adventists, thank you very much
03:41for joining us, and I ask the God of heaven and earth
03:45to bless your lives, to touch you,
03:49to protect you, to provide for you, sustain you,
03:52to doubly bless your children,
03:54and to save you in his kingdom when he comes,
03:57and he is coming.
04:01Thanks again for joining with us.
04:04I understood on one occasion that the vice chancellor
04:08of Spicer was present.
04:10May the Lord bless him.
04:11Leadership is not easy.
04:13May God grant him wisdom so that that school
04:16may be a lighthouse of God's glory.
04:19All the church leaders who are watching,
04:20may the Lord give you the wisdom he gave to Solomon,
04:24that you may guide his people as faithfully
04:27as Moses led the Israelites.
04:29Our subject for today, relationships have rules.
04:35Relationships have rules.
04:39Before I get into the message,
04:40I call upon you as always, preserve reverence where you are.
04:45The Bible says in Malachi chapter three, verse six,
04:48I am the Lord, I change not.
04:51God is as holy on Monday as he is on Sabbath.
04:54The Sabbath is holy, Monday is not,
04:57but the Sabbath does not make God holier on that day
05:00than he is on Tuesday.
05:02I say that to say this, God is holy
05:04whether we worship him in the church or on Zoom.
05:07Keep in mind the absolute holiness of God
05:11and preserve reverence where you are.
05:14Imagine you're sitting in a courtroom
05:16in the presence of a judge, an earthly judge,
05:19you will be quiet, you will not use your phone,
05:21you will not chat, you will not whatever.
05:24You won't do these things
05:25in the presence of an earthly judge.
05:27We are in the presence of the judge of all the earth.
05:31Let's grant to him the reverence that he deserves.
05:34Favor number two, while I'm speaking, pray for me
05:37and say, Lord, put your words in that man's mouth.
05:43When God sent Moses to speak to Pharaoh,
05:45Moses did not want to go.
05:48He said he was slow of speech.
05:50God made a promise to him in Exodus 4, verse 12,
05:54which says this, now therefore go
05:58and I will be with thy mouth
06:00and teach thee what thou shall say.
06:02I want God to do that for me.
06:04Second Samuel 23, verse two,
06:07the spirit of the Lord speak by me
06:10and his word was in my tongue.
06:13I want God to do that for me.
06:15And finally, Jeremiah chapter one, verse nine,
06:19then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth.
06:24And the Lord said unto me, behold,
06:25I have put my words in thy mouth.
06:28So ask God seriously to put his words in my mouth.
06:34And favor number three, think as you listen.
06:37Isaiah 118, come now.
06:39Let us reason together, said the Lord.
06:42The God of the universe will take time to reason with you
06:46as an individual, a remarkable consideration
06:49that God is willing to reason.
06:51He came down into the garden of Eden to reason with Adam.
06:55He spoke to Cain to reason with him.
06:58God is willing to listen to us, to reason with us.
07:02He calls upon us, let's reason together.
07:05Let us pray.
07:06Father in heaven, thank you for this moment of worship.
07:13Thank you for your love.
07:15Thank you for life.
07:17Thank you for the constant convictions of the Holy Spirit.
07:21Thank you for the protection of your angels.
07:24Thank you for the friendship
07:25and fellowship of fellow believers.
07:28Thank you for the knowledge of Jesus.
07:32Thank you, dear God, that wherever we are,
07:35we still enjoy some degree of freedom
07:38of religion and worship.
07:41As we bow in your presence, Father,
07:44if we have sinned against you, forgive us, dear God.
07:48Micah 718 tells us, who is a god like unto thee
07:52that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression
07:56of the remnant of his heritage?
07:58Father, there's no one who forgives the way you do.
08:01If we have sinned, forgive us.
08:04And cast our sins into the depths of the sea.
08:07I humble myself before you and I ask you, dear God,
08:10to take absolute control of my mind, my mouth,
08:14all of me, dear God, that I may simply be an instrument
08:18that proclaims your glory by proclaiming the word of truth.
08:21Suppress my carnal nature that my only concern
08:25will be to lift you up before your people.
08:28Wherever your people are gathered to listen
08:30to this program, bless them in whatever country
08:32they may be.
08:34Father, bless the leaders of those countries,
08:36as I always say, particularly the host country of India.
08:39May their decisions allow the gospel to go forward,
08:42dear God.
08:43Father, place a special blessing on all the little boys
08:46and little girls, protect them from harm and danger,
08:48protect them from sickness and diseases, dear God,
08:51and let them grow up to love Jesus and to love his church.
08:55Bless the visitors, dear Father,
08:57those who are not settled in their villages.
08:59Touch them very, very personally, God,
09:01and bless them abundantly.
09:04And for those who are sick with COVID-19
09:06and any other ailment, touch them with your hand
09:08of mercy, God, and deliver them from their afflictions,
09:12I pray, in Jesus' name, amen.
09:16Relationships have rules.
09:20In John 14, reading from verse one,
09:24and we know it very well.
09:26Let not your heart be troubled.
09:28Ye believe in God, believe also in me.
09:32In my Father's house are many mansions.
09:36If it were not so, I would have told you.
09:39I go to prepare a place for you.
09:42Observe the words of Christ.
09:44I go to prepare a place for you.
09:48And if I go and prepare a place for you,
09:52I will come again and receive you unto myself,
09:55that where I am, there ye may be also.
09:58It's I and you, I and you, I and you in John 14, one to three.
10:04Now, Jesus says he's preparing a place,
10:07and then he'll come back and take us to him
10:10so that we can be where he is.
10:12But I ask the question, isn't he with us now?
10:16The answer, excuse me, is yes.
10:20But he is not with us the way he absolutely desires to be.
10:25He is with us through the Spirit.
10:28Yes, Jesus, when he rose from the grave
10:31and went back up to heaven, he took his humanity with him,
10:34a glorified body, Philippians 3, chapter verse 20 and 21.
10:39Christ took a glorious body when he came from the grave,
10:43the very same body we will have, but it is still physical.
10:46Because Christ is still physical,
10:49while he is also God, a great mystery,
10:52he cannot be with us and in us
10:54the way the Holy Spirit can be.
10:57And so he has prepared a place,
10:59and he's looking forward to that day
11:01when we will be with him physically where he is
11:05so that we might be able to touch him
11:07and look right into his eye and lean on his shoulder
11:10and listen to his voice personally.
11:13That has not yet come.
11:16Why does Jesus want that?
11:18Because Christ believes in close
11:21and personal face-to-face relationships,
11:25but relationships have rules.
11:29Let us go to Genesis chapter one
11:31and see God's desire for relationships.
11:34Genesis one, let's read from verse 26 or just verse 26.
11:39And God said, let us make man in our image
11:43after our likeness.
11:45I want to create beings that are just as I am
11:49in character, in thinking.
11:51Let us make man in our image.
11:54Why?
11:55So that God can have a relationship with his creation.
12:00Elowite writes in Signs of the Times,
12:03April 22, 1903, paragraph five.
12:06We were brought into existence because we were needed.
12:11Remarkable statement, Signs of the Times,
12:13April 22, 1903, paragraph five.
12:17Elowite writes, we were brought,
12:19of course, Adam and Eve,
12:20into existence because we were needed.
12:24God decided I needed someone to love,
12:26some beside the angels in the unfallen world.
12:29And so he made humanity.
12:31Why?
12:32To love us that we might love him.
12:34Along with that, we read in Bible Commentary,
12:37volume one, page 1081, paragraph two.
12:40God made the world to enlarge heaven.
12:45Two remarkable statements.
12:47We read in Signs of the Times,
12:49April 22, 1903, paragraph five.
12:53We were brought into existence because we were needed.
12:57And then we read in Bible Commentary,
12:59volume one, page 1081, paragraph two.
13:03God made the world to enlarge heaven.
13:08So that we, by our lifestyle,
13:10should represent the lifestyle of heaven
13:13because God's original desire
13:15was that the world would be an extension of heaven.
13:20No wonder in the Lord's Prayer,
13:23Jesus said, our Father which art in heaven,
13:27hallowed be thy name.
13:29Thy kingdom come,
13:30thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
13:35Why?
13:36Because God made the world to enlarge heaven.
13:40I'm saying all of that to say
13:42God has always desired a close relationship
13:46with his creation.
13:48Intelligent creation and also the animal creation
13:51and the vegetable creation, you name it.
13:55God has always desired a relationship,
13:59particularly with those made in his image.
14:03But as I said, relationships have roots.
14:07Before I go any further, let me pray again.
14:10Father in heaven, instruct me, teach me,
14:14direct me as I try to represent you
14:18by presenting truth in Jesus' name, I pray, amen.
14:22Let us go to John 15.
14:24As we continue, relationships have roots.
14:28John 15, we shall read from verse 12 of John 15.
14:35This is my commandment, that you love one another.
14:40Notice it is not a suggestion.
14:43It is not a recommendation.
14:45It is not advice.
14:47It is a command, which means it makes no difference
14:51how you feel about that neighbor
14:53who steals your produce from your garden.
14:57It makes no difference how you feel
14:59about your political leader.
15:00The Bible says, excuse me, this is my command.
15:06Biblical love is not based necessarily on feeling.
15:09It is based on a response to God's command
15:12and we love God by obeying his command.
15:15This is my command, that you love one another.
15:20Greater love hath no man than this,
15:22that a man lay down his life for his friends.
15:26Now listen to Jesus.
15:28Ye are my friends.
15:31If ye do whatsoever, I command you.
15:37If I were to ask in person,
15:38if I were present where you are in Hyderabad
15:41and I were to ask the congregation,
15:42how many of you are friends of Jesus?
15:44I imagine all hands would go up.
15:47Some would put up two hands.
15:49Listen to Christ as he defines what a friend of God is
15:54or how a friend of God lives or behaves.
15:58Ye are my friends.
16:00If ye do whatsoever, I command you.
16:05Relationships have rules.
16:08The fundamental rule of a relationship,
16:11a friendship with God is obedience to God.
16:16You and I may say whatever we like,
16:18if we're not obeying God,
16:20as he has revealed his will to us.
16:23We may be members of the church.
16:25We may be officers of the union,
16:27the conference, the division, the GC.
16:29We are not a friend of God
16:31if our lives are expressions
16:33of deliberate disobedience to God.
16:36Jesus Christ, who cannot lie, he said,
16:39ye are my friends if, condition,
16:45if ye do whatsoever, I command you.
16:48Henceforth, I call you not servants,
16:51for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth,
16:53but I have called you friends
16:55for all things that I have heard of my father,
16:57I have made known unto you.
16:59A friend of God is someone who has access
17:02to the inner secrets of God.
17:03He said, the servant does not have that privilege,
17:06but you are my friends.
17:08And I call you friends
17:10because I've let you know what God told me.
17:13A benefit of being a friend of God
17:14is God gives us revelations
17:17he does not give to anyone else.
17:20Special information, privileged information, why?
17:25When you are a friend of God,
17:27but the condition for friendship with God is obedience.
17:33Excuse me, ye are my friends.
17:36If ye do whatsoever, I command you.
17:41Look at verse 18 and verse 19 of John 15.
17:46If the world hate you,
17:48meaning you're not a friend of the world,
17:49ye know it hated me before it hated you.
17:54If ye were of the world, the world would love his own.
17:57In other words, if you were a friend of the world,
18:00the world would love you.
18:02But because you're not of the world,
18:04I have chosen you out of the world,
18:06therefore the world hated you.
18:07In other words, because you're not a friend of the world,
18:11but you're a friend of God, you're my friend.
18:15There are two friendship situations in this world.
18:19Friend of God or friend of the world.
18:23Let's go to James chapter four.
18:25We read verse four.
18:27James four, verse four.
18:30Ye adulterers and adulteresses,
18:33know ye not that friendship with the world
18:36is enmity with God.
18:38Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world
18:41is the enemy of God.
18:46Let me say that again.
18:47We'll let James say it again, let the Bible say it again.
18:50Ye adulterers and adulteresses,
18:55know ye not that friendship with the world
18:59is enmity with God.
19:02Which means you and I are either friends of God
19:07or we're friends of the world.
19:10We cannot be friendly with both.
19:14Jesus said, he that is not with me is against me.
19:18We're told from scripture, we're either sheep or goats.
19:21A person who's a friend of God
19:25cannot be a friend of the world.
19:28Or vice versa, he or she who is a friend
19:31of the world cannot be a friend of God.
19:33But let us make an application,
19:35observe what Jesus said about the basis
19:38of friendship with him or friendship with God.
19:41Yeah, my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you,
19:45that also applies to the world.
19:47To be a friend of the world,
19:49we must do what the world says.
19:53In the way we dress, we do what the world says.
19:55In the way we eat, we do what the world says.
19:57In the way we spend our money, we do what the world says.
20:01In the way we raise our children,
20:02we do what the world says.
20:03In the way we engage in recreation,
20:06we do what the world says.
20:07In the way we pursue romantic relationship,
20:10we do what the world says.
20:11Consequently, we are friends of the world
20:13because to be a friend of the world, you obey the world.
20:16To be a friend of God, you obey God.
20:20Simple.
20:23Yeah, my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you
20:29and to be a friend of Jesus is to be an enemy of the world.
20:36And so I give you James 4, 4 again.
20:39Know ye not that friendship with the world
20:43is enmity with God.
20:44In other words, obeying the rules of the world
20:47or differently said, living by the principles of the world.
20:51This is active obedience.
20:53That makes that person an enemy of God.
20:57Now, the Bible doesn't say that God is an enemy
20:59of that person.
21:00That person is an enemy of God.
21:02God doesn't hate people.
21:05Question for you, which I asked earlier,
21:08are you a friend of God?
21:11Do you understand the rules of the relationship
21:15and the rules of the relationship
21:17may be condensed into one word, obey.
21:23I am not promoting legalism.
21:26Legalism is the attempt of a sinner to save himself
21:31or herself by doing A, B and C.
21:34You cannot work your way into heaven
21:36or you can work your way into hell.
21:38You cannot work your way into heaven.
21:40Obedience is not legalism.
21:44Let me explain that.
21:46Inmates in prison, biblically they don't obey.
21:50They comply because there's a punishment
21:53hanging over their head.
21:54They comply.
21:56They're not in love with the prison system.
21:58They're not in love with the warden of the prison.
22:00So they comply.
22:02The obedience God recognizes must be an expression of love.
22:06Listen to these words,
22:07Christ's object lessons, page 97, paragraph three.
22:11The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God
22:14from a sense of obligation merely
22:17because he is required to do so
22:19will never enter into the joy of obedience.
22:23He does not obey.
22:25When the requirements of God are considered a burden
22:28because they cut across human inclination,
22:31we may know that the life is not a Christian life.
22:35True obedience is the outworking of a principle within.
22:39It springs from the love of righteousness,
22:42the love of the law of God.
22:45The essence of all righteousness is loyalty to our Redeemer.
22:49This will lead us to do right because it is right,
22:52because right doing is pleasing to God.
22:54The obedience God accepts is that born out of love for him.
22:58The person just loves to do what's right.
23:00Psalm 106, verse three, the Bible says,
23:03blessed are they that keep judgment
23:05and he that doeth righteousness at all times
23:09because that person loves to do it
23:11because right doing pleases God.
23:14When Jesus says, hear my friends,
23:17if ye do whatsoever I command you,
23:20we combine that with the previous chapter,
23:22John 14, verse 15.
23:24If you love me, keep my commandments.
23:28And in John 15, verse 14, if you are my friends,
23:31keep my commandments.
23:32Combine the two.
23:33If you say you're my friend who loves me,
23:37keep my commandments.
23:38And the half brother of Jesus who wrote the book of James,
23:41he was the half brother of Christ.
23:43He tells us a relationship with the world
23:47simply means there is no relationship with God.
23:51No saving relationship with God.
23:54All people have a relationship with God.
23:56The devil has a relationship with God,
23:58but it is a hostile relationship.
24:00The outright flagrant sinner has a relationship with God.
24:04It is a hostile relationship where you and I,
24:07we desire a relationship based on love.
24:12Relationships have rules.
24:15Let us go to James chapter two.
24:18We'll read from verse 21.
24:20Let me pray again.
24:21Father, as I continue in my weak way to preach the truth,
24:26help me, strengthen me, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
24:31James chapter two, we'll read from verse 21.
24:36Was not Abraham our father justified by works
24:41when he had offered Isaac his up on the altar?
24:44Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
24:47and by works was faith made perfect,
24:49and the scripture was fulfilled with saith,
24:51Abraham believed God,
24:53and it was imputed unto him for righteousness,
24:56and he was called the friend of God.
25:00So we have, he believed God,
25:02and the Bible said he was called a friend of God,
25:04but we know that Jesus tells us
25:06friendship with God requires obedience.
25:09So when we read in James 2, 23,
25:11that Abraham was called a friend of God,
25:13and he believed God,
25:15that belief is the belief that is expressed in obedience,
25:19because James says in the same chapter, verse 26,
25:22that for the body without the spirit is dead,
25:24so faith without works is dead.
25:26Abraham obeyed God.
25:28That's how he expressed his belief.
25:30In consequence, he was called by God a friend of God.
25:36And so Abraham was a friend of God
25:38hundreds and hundreds of years ago
25:41before Jesus said in John 15, verse 14,
25:44ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you,
25:48and God himself was a witness to the obedience of Abraham.
25:51Abraham kept my charge, my commandments,
25:54my statutes, and my laws, Genesis 26, verse five.
25:59Rule relationships have rules.
26:03What is the rule?
26:05Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
26:12The wisest man who has lived, Solomon,
26:16the son of David, a relative or ancestor of Jesus Christ.
26:20Listen to what he tells us in Ecclesiastes 12, 13, and 14,
26:25or just 13.
26:27Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.
26:31Fear God and keep his commands,
26:35for this is the whole duty of man.
26:39Fear God, recognize who he is, keep his commandments.
26:45Express differently, obey him.
26:48Express differently, do whatever he says.
26:51Jesus said, ye are my friends,
26:53if ye do whatsoever I command you.
26:55Solomon says, your duty in life set out by God
27:02is to do whatever God says.
27:05In other words, your duty, my duty, as defined by God
27:10is to have a friendly relationship with God,
27:14and a friendly relationship with God
27:17is based squarely on obedience out of love.
27:24Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,
27:28meaning there are no exceptions.
27:31Excuse me, this is the whole matter.
27:35Fear God, keep his commands.
27:38This is the whole duty of man.
27:41The whole duty of man, mankind,
27:45is to have a friendly relationship with God,
27:50and that friendship is preserved
27:52as we live a life of loving obedience to God.
27:57Faith and works, page 100, paragraph one.
28:01Christ or God desires or demands or requires
28:06the entire surrender of the heart
28:08before justification can take place.
28:11And in order for man to retain justification,
28:14there must be continual obedience
28:16through active living faith that works by love.
28:22He requires the entire surrender,
28:24that's an act of obedience.
28:25Let me explain what I just mean.
28:28Salvation has a condition, that condition is obedience.
28:37But you may say, but how can I obey before I'm saved?
28:40Follow me closely.
28:41Salvation has a condition.
28:46No one is saved unconditionally.
28:49Everyone is loved unconditionally.
28:52No one is saved unconditionally.
28:55Let us recite the most popular Bible verse
28:58and say it microscopically.
29:00For God so loved the world,
29:04he loved us before we were born.
29:06He did not need our permission to love us,
29:09he just loved us.
29:11Remember, Christ is the lamb slain
29:15from the foundation of the world,
29:17before the foundation of the world, you see?
29:20Therefore, God loved before he actually created us.
29:24So he did not need our permission to love us.
29:28God's love is not based on our mission.
29:30Now, for God so loved the world
29:33that he gave his only begotten son.
29:35The gift of Christ was not based on human permission
29:40because love must be expressed.
29:42He loved, he gave.
29:44Now, whosoever believeth,
29:48that's my part and that's yours.
29:50Whosoever believeth, that's the condition.
29:55Whosoever believeth should not perish
29:57but have everlasting life.
29:59Everlasting life is given to those
30:02who obey God's request that we believe him.
30:07It is God who tells us to believe.
30:10When we believe, we have obeyed.
30:16Salvation is based on obedience, it's the condition.
30:21Sanctification, it's condition, is obedience.
30:25Then glorification, it's condition, is obedience.
30:28Look at the sanctuary service.
30:30We have the outer court, the holy place,
30:32the most holy place.
30:33In the outer court, we have the altar of sacrifice.
30:36That's Calvary.
30:37We put our faith in God.
30:39That's faith, that's belief.
30:41We believe, that's a condition.
30:42We come to the holy place, the candlestick,
30:45table of shrewd bread, the altar of incense.
30:48The bread represents the word of God.
30:51The candlestick, the light, which is the word of God,
30:53the spirit of God, the incense,
30:54the medicine of Christ's sacrifice.
30:56We eat God's word because he has told us to study his word,
31:00to live by his word, by every word, and so we obey.
31:05That's just, that's sanctification.
31:07Justification, the outer court,
31:09sanctification, the holy place.
31:11Now we come to the most holy place.
31:13What do we find?
31:14The 10 commandments.
31:16Justification, obedience.
31:18Sanctification, obedience.
31:21Glorification, obedience.
31:23Obedience is the condition from beginning to end
31:27of salvation, of redemption.
31:30For God so loved the world
31:31that he gave his only begotten son,
31:34that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
31:36but have everlasting life.
31:38My brothers and sisters,
31:39no enemies of God will enter God's kingdom.
31:42We enter God's kingdom as his friends.
31:45You yourselves would be very unwilling
31:48to allow an enemy into your home.
31:51You're not sure what that person may do,
31:53particularly if you have little children.
31:54You let the enemy stay outside
31:56and you speak through the doorway or through the window.
31:59No enemy of God will be admitted into his kingdom
32:02because the Bible says, Revelation 22, 14,
32:05blessed are they that do his commandments,
32:08that they may have right to the tree of life
32:10and may enter in through the gates into the city.
32:13Now, if blessed are they that do this commandment,
32:16blessed are they who are his friends,
32:18because his friends do whatever he said.
32:20Only friends of God will be admitted into that kingdom.
32:24But God sent Jesus to try to call us
32:27into a friendship with him.
32:30The Holy Spirit is constantly trying to nudge us
32:33into go to God.
32:35He is your friend.
32:36You are his enemy, but he's your friend.
32:39Now let's have friendship on both sides,
32:41with God and with you.
32:43And the spirit tries to bring us through Christ
32:45into a friendship with the father.
32:48And friendship with the father is friendship with the son.
32:52It's friendship with the Holy Spirit.
32:53It is friendship with all the angels.
32:56A friend of heaven is someone who obeys God.
33:02And so I say the words of Christ again,
33:05this is my commandment, that you love one another.
33:09And let me say quickly,
33:11this friendship will be severely tested.
33:15You know, we have some friends who are friends
33:17as long as everything is fine.
33:19When you get into trouble, those friends disappear.
33:22We call those fair weather friends.
33:25But when the rain comes and the snow comes,
33:27as it's right now outside my house,
33:29those friends disappear.
33:31Jesus is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
33:36Which means friendship with God
33:38is stronger than a biological bond.
33:42Now you try to imagine that.
33:43Now you have brothers and sisters, you had no choice.
33:47You see, family relationships aren't choices.
33:50They are imposed upon us in the sense,
33:53you know, I have three sisters, I didn't choose them.
33:55No, I love them.
33:55Yes, I didn't choose them.
33:57Are you following me?
33:58I didn't choose my mother.
34:00I didn't choose my father.
34:01They're all connected to me biologically.
34:05But I choose my friends.
34:07Let me tell you again,
34:09there's a friend that sticketh closer
34:11than a brother, the Bible says.
34:13A friendship with God is stronger
34:17than a bond between a mother and a child.
34:22Because friendships based on choice, not biology, choice.
34:26We've got to choose God.
34:28We've got to choose righteousness.
34:30We've got to choose.
34:32And when that choice is made,
34:34it establishes a connection that is stronger than biology.
34:40And so the Bible says,
34:42blessed are they that do His commandments,
34:45that they may have right to the tree of life
34:48and may enter the gates into the city.
34:50Everyone who enters that glorious city
34:54will be a friend of God.
34:57And what is a friend of God?
34:58Someone who lives a life of loving obedience to God.
35:03It does not feel forced.
35:06It is based on the fact that that person,
35:08to some degree, understands the tremendous demonstration
35:13of love that came from God
35:15when He sent someone equal with Himself, Jesus Christ,
35:19to die on that cross, to rise,
35:21and to intercede on our behalf.
35:24For God so loved the world
35:27that He gave His only begotten Son.
35:29You and I must say, for I so love God
35:32that I gave myself in friendship to Him.
35:36And the condition of that friendship is obedience.
35:40This is my commandment, that you love one another.
35:43Greater love hath no man than this,
35:46that a man lay down his life for his friend.
35:49Ye are my friends.
35:52If ye do, whatsoever I command you,
35:55and I said earlier,
35:56this friendship will be tested very soon,
36:00because in the time of trouble,
36:02we know that there will be a law passed,
36:06or just before the time of trouble,
36:08which will lead to the time of trouble.
36:09And the law will be,
36:11the official day of worship is Sunday.
36:14In Adventist, we believe that.
36:16When that law is passed,
36:19you and I will be confronted
36:21with an official command of man,
36:23Sunday's the Sabbath,
36:25opposed to the official command of God,
36:28the seventh day's the Sabbath.
36:29Now, we'll have to choose between friendship with God,
36:33obedience to God,
36:34friendship with the world,
36:35obedience to the world,
36:37and it's man-made laws.
36:41In order to stand strong when that time comes,
36:44and it's not far away,
36:45I'm no prophet,
36:46but you look at the times in which we live,
36:48it cannot be far away.
36:49And when it comes, it will come suddenly,
36:52which means preparation has to be now.
36:54Preparation to defend friendship with God must occur now.
36:58And so right now,
36:59you decide I will not take exams on Sabbath.
37:02Right now, I will not work on Sabbath.
37:04Right now, I will not associate
37:07with those whose lifestyles are worldly,
37:09no extended association,
37:11unless it is for their salvation.
37:13Right now, I will live my life
37:15by the principles of thus said the Lord.
37:17Right now, I will support the work of the gospel.
37:19You make those decisions right now,
37:21because each one of those decisions
37:23is an expression of friendship with God.
37:25So when that test comes,
37:29Sunday or Sabbath,
37:30the world or God,
37:31we ought to be a God rather than man.
37:33When that test comes,
37:34you will choose God's side
37:36because you've been practicing faithfulness to God
37:39and obedience to God.
37:40You've been practicing
37:41and expressing your friendship with God,
37:44which is based on do what I say,
37:47not because you feel forced,
37:49but because you love the one
37:51who issues the command, Jesus Christ.
37:53A test is coming,
37:55the test of friendship.
37:57And the test of friendship
37:59is based on the law.
38:02When Daniel was put in the lion's den,
38:04the reason for that was
38:05he did not pray to Darius.
38:07Read it in Daniel chapter six.
38:09And the princes and the presidents,
38:11they tried to find some reason
38:12to get Daniel in trouble.
38:14They couldn't.
38:14They said, we'll find nothing against Daniel,
38:16except we find it against his law.
38:19So they tried to get him on the law.
38:21And the world will try to get us on the law.
38:23And the law simply represents
38:25the rules of our relationship with God.
38:30My listening friend,
38:33when we were enemies,
38:35Christ died for us
38:37because he was not our enemy.
38:38God has never been the enemy of a sinner.
38:42God is the sinner's only true friend.
38:47Now he invites you
38:49to have a friendship relationship with him.
38:51And that relationship is based squarely
38:54on thus saith the Lord,
38:57clean and simple obedience.
38:59Now I ask you again,
39:01how many of you are friends of God?
39:03I presume all of you will raise a hand.
39:06Let me ask this.
39:07How many of us are obeying God?
39:10What you say is fine.
39:13It is what you do that really matters with God.
39:15That's why we're saved by faith.
39:17We are judged by works.
39:20We are judged by works.
39:22In other words, God is saying,
39:23well, you said you love me.
39:25That's what you said.
39:26That's your profession of faith.
39:27Let me see how you live.
39:30And the law judges that.
39:32You will say, I'm a friend of God.
39:34And I will ask you, do you obey God?
39:37If the answer is sometimes,
39:39that's a friendship that's in danger, serious danger.
39:42We need a friendship that the devil cannot separate.
39:45We need a friendship that the devil cannot damage.
39:48In other words, we need a friendship that is so strong.
39:51We prefer to die than to be unfaithful to that friendship.
39:56And Jesus said, greater love has no man than this,
39:58or there's no greater friendship
40:00that a man lays down his life for his friends.
40:05Because Christ was the friend of the sinner,
40:08he laid down his life for his friends.
40:12Because Christ loved his father so much,
40:15he died at the request of the father for sinners.
40:18So Jesus can say, therefore that my father loved me
40:21because I laid down my life that I may take it.
40:24John 10, 17.
40:25Actually, Elowat says, the love the father had for Christ,
40:28the love the angels had for him,
40:30the love the unfallen worlds had for him
40:32somehow got deeper when he actually gave up his life
40:36for sinners.
40:37And I can find that quotation,
40:39give it to Pastor Jeevan, he can give it to the churches.
40:41Never was the son of God more loved by the father,
40:45the angels, the unfallen worlds
40:47than when he laid down his life.
40:50Now, I can't understand that.
40:51How can God love more?
40:52I don't know.
40:53But that's what the Bible says.
40:54That's what Elowat tells us.
40:56And so I'm saying to you, my friend,
40:58you must value friendship with God more than your very life
41:04because Christ put your life ahead of his.
41:08He put your life ahead of his.
41:11He risked everything.
41:13Why?
41:14Because he is your friend.
41:17Now he tells you, I made that risk.
41:20I paid that price.
41:22Demonstrate your friendship to me by simply obeying me.
41:26And it's reasonable to ask,
41:28can I obey someone who dies for me?
41:32The answer is yes.
41:34Someone who has died for me does not mean me any harm at all.
41:38Anything he tells me I can do,
41:41he has proved his reliability by giving his life for me.
41:44I can trust that person.
41:48If you're my friend, keep my commandments.
41:51And those commandments include,
41:53remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
41:56And I'm talking to my friends who are not Seventh-day Adventists.
41:59Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.
42:02But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.
42:05In it, thou shalt not do any work.
42:08Thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
42:11thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
42:13nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gate.
42:17For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
42:19the sea and all that in them is,
42:22and rested the seventh day.
42:24Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
42:28Those of you listening who are not Seventh-day Adventists,
42:31ask God to give you the courage to obey him.
42:36And that includes the Sabbath commandment,
42:39the fourth commandment.
42:40Sunday is not the Sabbath of the Bible.
42:44It never was.
42:45It isn't now.
42:47It shall never be.
42:48The Seventh-day Sabbath, it was, it is,
42:52and it shall always be from one new moon to another.
42:55And from one Sabbath to another
42:56shall all flesh come to worship before me.
42:58And so as your distant friend from thousands of miles,
43:01I'm asking you now in the presence of a holy God,
43:04contact the Hyderabad SDA Church.
43:07Contact some SDA Church close to you and tell the leaders,
43:11I want to know more about the Seventh-day Adventist
43:14teachings.
43:15And you'll discover that the Seventh-day Adventist teaching
43:18are the teachings found in this book.
43:20Contact that church, ask for Bible studies,
43:23which will lead to baptism.
43:25It will put a smile on the face of God.
43:27Take the step towards becoming a friend of God.
43:31Obey God, keep his Seventh-day Sabbath.
43:34Little children, you're not yet baptized.
43:36Think about it.
43:37And when the spirit moves you, tell your mother,
43:39tell your father, I want to be baptized.
43:42And they will prepare you.
43:44And with the pastor, they'll set the date.
43:46Do not hold back or blot out that conviction.
43:48Anyone listening to me, deepen your friendship with God.
43:52Make a decision to be baptized if you have not yet been.
43:56If you have drifted from Christ, decide to be re-baptized.
44:00Evangelism, page 375.
44:02When a soul is truly reconverted,
44:05let that soul be re-baptized.
44:07Let him renew his covenant with God
44:10and God will renew his covenant with him.
44:13You've drifted from God.
44:14You've lived the life of the world.
44:16You've been in church physically,
44:17but spiritually, you've been a friend of the world.
44:20Make a decision to be re-baptized.
44:22Inform the leaders.
44:23Make that choice.
44:24Re-establish that friendship with God.
44:27I say again, hear my friends.
44:30If ye do, whatsoever I command you.
44:33And all he refers to is the decalogue of the 10 commandments,
44:38which includes commandment four.
44:40Remember the Sabbath day.
44:41God yearns to have a friendship with you.
44:44Return that yearning by developing a friendship with him,
44:48by yielding your life to him
44:50and allowing him to work in you.
44:52You make the decision and he will provide the power
44:56to preserve and strengthen that relationship.
44:59Relationships have rules.
45:02And Jesus says, the rule is to be a friend of mine,
45:06you must obey me.
45:08And I say again, it is easy to be a friend of someone
45:11who gave his life for you.
45:14Let's pray.
45:16Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.
45:19We thank you, God, for the simplicity
45:21of the essentials of the gospel.
45:25In the name of Jesus Christ, dear God,
45:27if I've said anything I should not have said, forgive me.
45:30Now, dear God, I ask you to send your spirit
45:33or direct your spirit to target that person
45:36who is in the valley of decision.
45:39That person who needs to make a decision to be baptized,
45:42to take that step towards a meaningful friendship with God.
45:47Touch that person who needs to resume that relationship
45:52because he or she has drifted from God
45:55and damaged the relationship
45:56and needs to come back through rebaptism.
45:59Speak to that friend, dear God,
46:01that visitor who's not an Adventist.
46:03Tell that person that your Sabbath has always been
46:07and still is the seventh day of the week.
46:09And move upon that person to make a decision to be baptized.
46:13Dear God, bless all those who listen.
46:15I mean every single person.
46:18Individually, bless each person
46:20as if that person alone is on the face of the earth.
46:24But in a very special way, bless the whole church.
46:27In an extra special way,
46:29bless all the little children I pray.
46:32Heal the sick, remove COVID-19,
46:35ease pain and suffering, dear God.
46:38Keep us faithful even unto death.
46:40Bless India, the host country, Father.
46:42Bless the leaders, bless them,
46:44guide them in their decisions and their deliberations.
46:47And Father, bless all countries
46:49represented by those listening.
46:50Thank you for loving us even when we were your enemies.
46:54And thank you for providing a path to friendship.
46:57That path is simple, obedience from the heart.
47:01Thank you, Father.
47:02We love you.
47:03We long to see you.
47:05Keep us faithful until that great day
47:07when we shall see his face.
47:09We pray in Jesus' name, amen.