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00:00No one knows when Christ will return, but imagine if we did.
00:11Imagine if you only had seven days until he comes back.
00:15One week, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, 600, 4,800 seconds.
00:26What would you do?
00:27How would you change the way you lived?
00:30What would you say to God?
00:33Who would you tell about him?
00:35What relationships would you make right?
00:39What good would you stop putting off?
00:42We don't know the day or hour of his return, but we should live as if today were the day.
00:51Imagine if we did.
00:53You would turn the whole world upside down, up for the challenge.
01:08Here's a question none of us likes.
01:11What items do we have on our to-do list that we've been putting off for way too long?
01:18We all usually have a couple of things hanging over us, and sometimes it's not a serious
01:23matter, but other times it is.
01:27I'm David Jeremiah, inviting you to join me as we consider how our lives might be different
01:33if we knew we only had seven days until Christ returns.
01:38That's the title of our current series, and even though we don't know exactly when Christ
01:42will return, we must live as though it might be today.
01:48Today's message is called, What Can I Do?, a biblical look at what it means to be the
01:54kind of person who's responsible and accountable for doing what's right.
01:59I hope you'll join me for today's edition of Turning Point.
02:06Drawing from decades of experience as one of the world's most respected scholars of
02:09Bible prophecy, Dr. Jeremiah brings his signature wisdom, depth, and compassion to the book
02:15of Signs, 31 Undeniable Prophecies of the Apocalypse, his masterwork on prophecy.
02:21A must-have volume for anyone interested in end-times theology, the book of Signs will
02:26be sent to you in appreciation when you support this program with a gift of any amount.
02:31Also available, the Signs set, containing the book of Signs, the 31-message Signs CD
02:36collection with three correlating study guides, and the Revelation prophecy chart, plus the
02:42prophecy interview DVD, yours in appreciation of your generous gift of $135 or more, or
02:48three monthly payments of $45.
02:51The book of Signs and the Signs set, Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work on Bible prophecy.
02:57Contact Turning Point today.
03:01Thank you for watching Turning Point.
03:03Now here is Dr. Jeremiah with his message, What Can I Do?
03:09I came across this story told by New Testament scholar D.A. Carson in his book, Scandalous,
03:15The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.
03:18In the book, he asked this question, did you see the film Titanic?
03:22The great ship is full of the richest people of the world, and according to the film, as
03:27the ship sinks, the rich men start to scramble for the few and inadequate lifeboats, shoving
03:35aside the women and children in their desperate desire to live.
03:39British sailors draw handguns and fire in the air, crying, stand back, stand back, women
03:45and children first.
03:48The problem with all of that is that in reality, nothing like that ever happened aboard the
03:53Titanic.
03:55The universal testimony of the witnesses who survived that disaster is that men hung back
04:01and urged the women and the children into the lifeboats.
04:05John Jacob Astor was there at the time the richest man on earth, the Bill Gates of 1912.
04:13He dragged his wife to a boat, shoved her on the boat, and stepped back.
04:19Someone urged him to get into the boat himself based upon who he was, and he refused.
04:25He said the boats are too few and must be for the women and children first.
04:29So he stepped back and he drowned.
04:33There is not a single report of one rich man displacing women and children in the mad rush
04:39for survival.
04:42When the film was reviewed by the New York Times, the reviewer asked why the producer
04:47and director of the film had distorted history so flagrantly in this regard.
04:52Why this willful distortion of history?
04:55And then the reviewer answered his own question.
04:58If the producer and director had told the truth, he said, no one would have believed
05:04them.
05:06One hundred years ago, there remained in our culture enough residue of the Christian virtue
05:12of self-sacrifice for the sake of others that Christians and non-Christians alike thought
05:18it noble, if unremarkable, to choose death for the sake of others.
05:26Just one century later, such a course is judged so unbelievable that the history has
05:34to be distorted to make a popular movie.
05:38Today, our question is, what can I do?
05:45I believe Jesus is coming back.
05:47What can I do?
05:49And the answer is simply this.
05:50You can serve others.
05:53You can put others first.
05:56You can live out the Spirit of Jesus in a world that more and more has less and less
06:01of an idea what the term service is all about.
06:07Servanthood was the key to the life of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, and it has been the
06:11key to the lives of all great leaders from that time until this.
06:16But service is not just a characteristic of leaders.
06:21Service is the core value of Christianity.
06:25If you open your Bibles to study the subject, you will discover that the word serving is
06:30found over 300 times in the New Testament, 130 times in the Gospels, 170 times in the
06:39epistles.
06:40The Lord did not save us to be sensations.
06:45He saved us to be servants.
06:49In Ephesians chapter 2, in the NIV translation, we read these words,
06:54For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
07:02in advance for us to do.
07:07God has a purpose for your life.
07:08He has a design for your life.
07:10He's given each of you a gift of service.
07:13He's called you to himself, not just so you can be saved, but so that you can serve.
07:19He wants you to know the joy that can come only from being actively and fully and completely
07:25and joyfully employed in the service of Almighty God.
07:31I don't know what the exact specific purpose of your life might be, but I do know that
07:37we have all been saved to serve.
07:41First Peter 4.10 says, As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good
07:48stewards of the manifold grace of God.
07:54What an intriguing thought that we have been called to serve just as our Lord and Savior
08:00was called to serve.
08:03The Bible tells us in Matthew 20, 28, that as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
08:09but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.
08:15Think of that for a moment.
08:17The Lord Jesus is not asking us to do anything he does not do.
08:20He came from heaven.
08:22He could have been served.
08:24He could have called the host of the angels and all of humanity to do everything for him,
08:30but he came rather as a servant.
08:35And now he says to us, As I have been sent into the world, so I send you into the world.
08:41I want you to follow me.
08:43As I have become a servant, I want you to be a servant.
08:46And the psalmist put it this way, serve the Lord with gladness and enter into his presence
08:53with singing.
08:55Some years ago, someone gave me a little statement that I actually wrote in my, I keep a little
08:59notebook where I write down important things, and they're important to me.
09:04They might not be important to anybody else, and if you got the notebook, it probably wouldn't
09:06make any sense to you, but it makes a lot of sense to me, and I know where everything
09:09is in this little notebook, and here's one of the things I wrote down.
09:13Somebody gave me this little statement, impression without expression leads to depression.
09:20And what that means is this, if you're always taking in and never giving out, pretty soon
09:27you will be giving up.
09:29God has wired us men and women in such a way that we are built to reach out and to serve
09:37one another, not to absorb it all like the Dead Sea, but to constantly flowing out to
09:45other people, making a difference in their lives as they are doing the same for us.
09:51So I wanna give you quickly a little outline I have created called the seven secrets of
09:56serving, and you almost have to say that carefully because that's a hard thing to say.
10:01Say it with me, the seven secrets of serving.
10:05Here's the first one, the secret of availability.
10:08The secret of availability.
10:09My father was a pastor.
10:12We used to have all these gift seminars when I was growing up.
10:14It was kind of a big thing.
10:15Everybody was into spiritual gifts, and my dad, he wasn't too sure about all the spiritual
10:20gift stuff, you know, just preach the Bible and don't get off in all these sidetracks.
10:24Then one day I heard him say this in front of the whole congregation.
10:27He said, the only gift I really worry too much about is the gift of availability.
10:32Are you available?
10:33If you're available, God will take care of the rest of it.
10:36The Bible tells us that if we're gonna serve God, we have to make ourselves available to
10:41God.
10:42God isn't gonna grab you by the scruff of the neck and push you in some direction.
10:45He's waiting for a willing heart.
10:47That is so demonstrable in the stories of the Bible.
10:50For instance, in the life of Isaiah, we read, I heard the voice of the Lord say, whom shall
10:56I send?
10:57Who will go for us?
10:58And Isaiah said, here I am, Lord, send me.
11:02I'm available.
11:04It's illustrated in the life of Mary, the mother of our Lord.
11:07After she had received the revelation, Mary said, behold, the maid servant of the Lord,
11:13let it be to me according to your word.
11:16It's in the life of Paul, the apostle, who was saved on the road to Damascus, and in
11:20the same chapter recording his salvation, we read that he was trembling and astonished
11:27and he said, he just came to Christ.
11:30He said, Lord, what would you have me to do?
11:34And the Lord said to him, arise, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.
11:38The thing about all three of these people and others in the Bible I could have chosen
11:42was this.
11:45They weren't fighting the Lord, they were available to the Lord.
11:48They were just saying, Lord, what is it you want me to do?
11:52Have you ever prayed this prayer, my friends?
11:54Here's where this whole bit of serving the Lord begins.
11:56Here's where it starts.
11:58Lord, I don't know what you might have for me to do in your kingdom, but I want you to
12:02know that I am willing and available to do it.
12:06Usually, our willingness and our availability come first, and the assignment comes second.
12:13Here's how it works, folks.
12:14Here's the blank sheet of paper.
12:17Sign your name at the bottom and say, Lord, you fill in the details, I'm ready.
12:22I've signed the contract, you fill in the provisions.
12:27That sounds easy, but it's where the struggle is for most people.
12:31I remember when I was coming up in the faith and going to all these youth meetings and
12:37being called to, you know, commit your life to the Lord.
12:41I heard Romans 12, 1, and 2 about 50 times when I was growing up, you know.
12:47I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies
12:50of living sacrifice to God, and I wanted to serve God.
12:53There's one thing that got in the way.
12:56I was absolutely convinced that if I gave my life to Christ, he would send me to Africa.
13:00Man, I didn't want to go to Africa.
13:04I didn't know anything about Africa, but it didn't sound like the place I wanted to go.
13:08And you know, there are a lot of people that grow up like that.
13:10They think if I give God absolute permission to take control of my life, he will give me
13:14something to do that I don't want to do.
13:18But you're missing it, friends.
13:20He knows better than anyone what makes you tick.
13:25What is gonna wire you with joy and excitement and adventure, and if you'll let him have
13:29control of your life, he will give you the desires of your heart.
13:33The Bible says, commit your way unto the Lord.
13:36What's the rest of it?
13:37And he will give you the desires of your heart.
13:41Do you know what I'm doing today?
13:43I'm doing what I love to do with all my heart, what I would do if I could choose what to
13:50do.
13:52But I didn't know that at the beginning.
13:55God called me to do what I love to do, the gift of availability.
14:04Notice secondly, the secret of authority.
14:09Everyone who is serving is under the authority to someone else.
14:14You don't serve out of your own heart.
14:16You serve others under the direction, and that's the characteristic of the Scripture.
14:21Listen to the Word of God.
14:22Jesus came and spoke to them, Matthew 28, saying,
14:26all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
14:30I have all authority, now here's my command, go into all the world and preach the gospel.
14:36When you serve, you serve under the authority of someone.
14:40When Jesus was at the first miracle that he performed in John 2, Jesus' mother said to
14:46the servants, whatever he says to you, do it.
14:51That's a perfect illustration.
14:54Matthew 7, 21 says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
14:59of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
15:04And Luke 6, 46 says, why do you call me Lord and do not the things that I say?
15:09If you're gonna be a servant, you're gonna serve someone.
15:12You're gonna be under the authority of someone.
15:15And I wanna ask you, is that an issue for you?
15:19There are a lot of folks today who don't wanna be under the authority to anyone.
15:23They don't want to answer to anyone.
15:25My friend, if you're gonna serve the Lord, you will be under his authority.
15:28You will do what he says.
15:30Now, you don't have to fear that.
15:32To serve under the authority of the living God is not a sacrifice, it's a privilege.
15:40Most of the people I know who are doing that are joyful, happy, fulfilled individuals.
15:46And we see it often when they come home from the mission field to do their little furlough.
15:51When you talk to them, all they talk about is they can't wait to get back.
15:56Coming home is a real irritation to most of them.
15:59They wanna go back and serve the Lord who has called them into service.
16:04The secret of availability and authority.
16:08And let me talk with you for a moment about the secret of humility.
16:13Jesus taught us how to serve.
16:15And I don't want to read this passage because it's rather extended and you know the story.
16:19It's the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
16:23The Bible tells us that on an occasion, listen to this, when his disciples were arguing with
16:28themselves over who was the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus walked in and without saying
16:34a word, took off his outer garment, wrapped himself with a towel, got down on his knees
16:39and watched all of their stinking, filthy feet.
16:43One after the other.
16:46Wouldn't you have liked to have been there for that moment?
16:48I mean, just to see the contrast between these arrogant disciples arguing over their place
16:53of prominence and then the one who had called them to serve, bowing before them, taking
17:00the place of a servant and washing their feet.
17:02And when he got all done, he said, as I have done this, you should do it also.
17:07What was Jesus telling them?
17:09He was telling them, a servant serves.
17:14Jesus came into this world to serve.
17:17The problem with being a servant is that some of it is not easy.
17:26Serving isn't always a walk in the park.
17:30Going to Africa has its issues.
17:33I couldn't help but wonder what the lack of conveniences was he was talking about in his
17:38little paragraph.
17:43Ray Steadman writes, loving people is about the most difficult thing that some of us ever
17:47do.
17:48We can be patient with people and even be just and charitable, but how are we supposed
17:52to conjure up in our hearts that warm, effervescent sentiment of goodwill, which the New Testament
17:58calls love?
18:00Some people are so miserably unlovable.
18:07We all know what that means, don't we?
18:10You say, well, I'll serve God as long as it's in a nice place with nice people and no issues.
18:19Don't sign up.
18:21There is no such place.
18:23Every place has its own issues.
18:24I mean, you may say, well, look what you do, pastor, or look what you do.
18:29Oh, yes, I have a lot of wonderful things that God has done for me, but I have my issues,
18:36just like you do.
18:38Serving God has its issues, and if you're going to serve God, you've got to have a spirit
18:43of humility.
18:44That's such an interesting word, isn't it, humility?
18:47Nobody wants to talk about it because as soon as you talk about it, people think you have
18:50it and then you're not humble anymore, you know?
18:54You heard about the book the guy wrote, Humility and How I Achieved It, you know?
19:00I don't think so.
19:05True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but it's thinking of yourself less.
19:12C.S.
19:13Lewis wrote, do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man, he will be what most
19:16people call humble nowadays.
19:19He will not be a sort of greasy, swarmy person who's always telling you that, of course,
19:24he is nobody.
19:26Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed like a cheerful, intelligent chap
19:30who took a real interest in what you said to him.
19:33If you do dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems
19:37to enjoy life so easily.
19:39He will not be thinking about humility.
19:41He will not be thinking about himself at all.
19:43He will just be who he is, loving people and being himself, the secret of humility.
19:49So far, we have availability, authority, humility.
19:52Here's the fourth one.
19:53The secret of responsibility.
19:56There's a parable in the New Testament called the Parable of the Talents where Jesus talks
20:00about a certain nobleman who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and
20:04to return.
20:05And he called ten of his servants and delivered unto them his treasure and said to them, do
20:10business till I come.
20:12And this is a true parable for our situation today, is it not?
20:16The Lord went back to heaven after his crucifixion.
20:19He went back to heaven and he has given to each of us a stewardship of service.
20:25And we are to serve knowing that one day he's coming back and we will give an account of
20:32our service.
20:34The secret of availability, authority, humility, responsibility.
20:37Here's number five.
20:38The secret of ability.
20:39Oh, yes, ability.
20:42Matthew 25, 15 says, to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according
20:48to his own, what's the word, class, ability.
20:53Almighty God gives to each of us a gift.
20:56He gives us an ability.
20:58A gift is something he gives us when we're saved.
21:02Every one of us has a special gift.
21:05And you should figure out what that gift is.
21:08Romans says, through the grace of God, we have different gifts.
21:12If our gift is preaching, let us preach to the limit of our vision.
21:16If our gift is serving, let us concentrate on our service.
21:20If it is teaching, let us give all we have to our teaching.
21:23And if our gift be the stimulating of the faith of others, let us set ourselves to it.
21:28Let the man who is called to give, give freely.
21:31Let the man in authority work with enthusiasm.
21:34And let the man who feels sympathy for his fellows in distress help them cheerfully.
21:38Here is the book of Romans telling us that God gives us every one an ability.
21:43You say, well, pastor, I, you know, I'm not, I can't do anything.
21:47Well, yes, you can.
21:49I don't know you.
21:50I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God.
21:52If you're a Christian, you have a gift that God has given you to serve.
21:57And if you don't know what it is, it's not God's fault, it's yours.
22:01You can figure it out if you want to.
22:04The secret of ability.
22:05Then there's the secret of accountability.
22:09Accountability says that when the Lord comes back, you're gonna give an account of what
22:12you've done.
22:13Now, if you're a Christian, you will never again face your sin.
22:16The Bible says that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ
22:20Jesus.
22:21When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, He forgives all your sin, past, present, and
22:26future.
22:27You have to stay in fellowship with Him, but you will never face the penalty for your sin.
22:30But the Bible tells us one day we're gonna stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ
22:35to give an account of the works we have done in the flesh.
22:38What does that mean?
22:39You're giving an account to the Lord of how we've used our gifts.
22:43And I don't want to stand before the Lord someday and have Him say, well, Jeremiah,
22:46I gave you this gift and this gift.
22:48What did you do with it?
22:50Well, Lord, I hid it because I was afraid somebody wouldn't understand.
22:55Or Lord, I just never got around to using it.
22:58Or Lord, I just felt so inadequate.
23:00No, whatever the Lord gives you to do, you need to do it because one day you're giving
23:06an account for what you've done with the gift the Lord has given you.
23:10Finally, there's the secret of fidelity.
23:12I love this.
23:14The Bible tells us that fidelity is a two-way street.
23:17First of all, there's our faithfulness to God.
23:20The Bible tells us that if we serve the Lord, we are to serve Him with all of our hearts,
23:27Hebrews 6.10, John 12.26.
23:31The Bible tells us that God is gonna be faithful to us, that He will say to us one day, well,
23:36well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.
23:40It says in 1 Corinthians 4.2 that it is required of a servant that we be faithful.
23:44I've always thought about that.
23:46You know, God hasn't called me to be successful, He's called me to be faithful.
23:50That may mean that sometimes I am successful, but I'm not always successful.
23:55I need to always be faithful, to do what God's called me to do regardless of what happens
23:59or who appreciates it or who applauds it or who criticizes it, to be faithful to God.
24:05That's my calling.
24:07I know I'm a Christian.
24:09I know I'm on my way to heaven, and thank God, I know what I'm supposed to do on the
24:16journey.
24:17If you aren't there, if you haven't arrived yet at the knowledge of what God has called
24:22you to do, make it your quest for life.
24:27You can find it out if you want to know.
24:29Some of you will never go there because you don't want to find out what God wants you
24:32to do, because then you'll feel obligated to do it.
24:36But for most of you, if you will just put your heart in this issue and ask God to help
24:41you, He will show you what He wants you to do, and you can start doing it immediately.
24:46Dr. Jeremiah will return in a moment to close today's program, right after this.
24:55Thank you for watching today.
24:56Dr. Jeremiah would like to offer you the book of signs, his masterwork on Bible prophecy,
25:02a must-have volume for anyone interested in end-times theology.
25:05The book of signs will be sent to you in appreciation when you support this program with a gift
25:10of any amount.
25:12Also available, the signs set containing the book of signs, the 31-message signs CD collection
25:18with three correlating study guides, and the revelation prophecy chart, plus the prophecy
25:23interview DVD, yours in appreciation of your generous gift of $135 or more, or three monthly
25:29payments of $45.
25:31The book of signs and the signs set, Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work on Bible prophecy, contact Turning
25:38Point today.
25:42And now with one last word for today's program, here is Dr. Jeremiah.
25:47There may be some items on your personal to-do list that you failed to get done before Christ
25:53returns, but there is one thing you must not leave undone, and that is accepting God's
26:00free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
26:04Once that opportunity is gone, it is gone forever.
26:10If you would like more information on what it means to put your faith in Christ and grow
26:14in your relationship to Him, please allow me to send you two of our Turning Point resources.
26:21One is a booklet called Your Greatest Turning Point, and the other is our monthly devotional
26:26magazine called Turning Points.
26:29Both of these resources have helped many understand what it means to know Christ, and
26:35they will help you as well.
26:37We will gladly send them both to you free of charge if you will contact us today here
26:43at Turning Point.
26:47In addition, you can order Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work, the Jeremiah Study Bible, a beloved
26:53study Bible, and the culmination of Dr. Jeremiah's decades of teaching, helping you to answer,
26:58What does the Bible say?
27:00What does it mean?
27:01And what does it mean for me?
27:03Available in multiple translations and formats, there is a Jeremiah Study Bible for everyone.
27:09Also available for children, Dr. Jeremiah's Airship Genesis Kid Study Bible.
27:14Order yours today.
27:17Next time on Turning Point.
27:20And one day when we stand before God and He says to us, David Jeremiah, why should I let
27:24you into my heaven?
27:26I can say, Lord God, it's not me.
27:29I've got nothing to offer, but one day I put my trust in your Son.
27:33So I am in heaven today, and my appeal to heaven is in Jesus' name.
27:37I come in Jesus' name because only in Jesus can I come to heaven.
27:42And the only way you can get to heaven and know forgiveness and become a Christian is
27:46to put your trust alone in Jesus Christ.
27:51Join Dr. Jeremiah next time for his message, Even So, Lord, Come Quickly.
27:57Here on Turning Point.
27:59Dr. David Jeremiah is delivering the unchanging Word of God every month to more than half
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