Lord, It's Me - DJ
Lord, It's Me - DJ Sermon
Transcript
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.
01:08Almost everyone has considered how their life might be different if they knew when they
01:13would die.
01:15But Christians have an even more important appointment to consider, and that's the return
01:20of Jesus Christ.
01:21The same question applies.
01:23How would your life be different if you only had seven days until meeting Christ face to
01:29face?
01:30Hi, I'm David Jeremiah, welcoming you to a series of seven messages called Seven Days
01:37Until Christ Returns.
01:39Don't worry, this isn't about setting dates, for none of us knows when Christ will return.
01:46We only know that he will, and we know that we must live every day in anticipation of
01:52that great event.
01:55Today's message is called Lord, It's Me, about a young man who failed to live his life in
02:00light of eternal priorities and what it cost him.
02:05You'll learn how to avoid his mistake on today's edition of Turning Point.
02:13Drawing from decades of experience as one of the world's most respected scholars of
02:17Bible prophecy, Dr. Jeremiah brings his signature wisdom, depth, and compassion to the Book
02:22of Signs, 31 Undeniable Prophecies of the Apocalypse, his masterwork on prophecy.
02:28A must-have volume for anyone interested in end times theology.
02:32The Book of Signs will be sent to you in appreciation when you support this program with a gift
02:37of any amount.
02:38Also available, the Signs Set, containing the Book of Signs, the 31 Message Signs CD
02:44Collection with three correlating study guides, and the Revelation Prophecy Chart, plus the
02:49Prophecy Interview DVD, yours in appreciation of your generous gift of $135 or more, or
02:55three monthly payments of $45.
02:58The Book of Signs and the Signs Set, Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work on Bible prophecy.
03:04Contact Turning Point today.
03:08Thank you for watching Turning Point.
03:10Now here is Dr. Jeremiah with his message, Lord, It's Me.
03:16Live Like You Were Dying was the title song to one of Tim McGraw's albums.
03:22In part the lyrics go like this, I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter, I gave forgiveness I'd
03:29been denying, someday I hope you get to live like you were dying.
03:38Shortly after this was on the Hit Parade charts, a man by the name of Randy Posch who was a
03:46professor at Carnegie Mellon University was invited to be a speaker in an ongoing series
03:53asking thoughtful lecturers to assume that they were giving their last presentation to
03:58lecture as if they were dying.
04:01Well as it turned out, this was really the case with Posch who would be a victim of pancreatic
04:06cancer at the age of 47.
04:09He delivered an unforgettable talk that became a book with more than 10 million readers.
04:15Maybe you've read the book, it's called The Last Lecture.
04:19In 2007, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starred in a movie about two men whose lives
04:25were radically altered as the reality of their future came into focus.
04:30In the bucket list, Carter Chambers and Edward Cole meet in a hospital room after being diagnosed
04:36with terminal cancer.
04:38Keenly aware that their days are numbered, this pair writes a bucket list of things they
04:44want to do before they kick the bucket.
04:49What this movie, this book, and this song are about is the importance of living our
04:55lives on purpose.
05:00It's about realizing that no matter where we are in life, we have certain priorities
05:04that need our attention, and we best not put them off until it's too late.
05:12Now it's not my intention today to begin my sermon on a morbid note, but I do want to
05:16impress you with this thought, that there are some things we might do differently if
05:23we knew we did not have much time to do them.
05:27We begin today, as I mentioned, looking first of all within ourselves and asking ourselves
05:31the most important question any man or woman can ever ask, and that is, am I okay with
05:37God?
05:39Is everything all right between God and me?
05:42Am I going to be embarrassed if that happens, or am I okay with God?
05:46That's a good question to ask.
05:49And to help us answer this question, I want to tell you a story about a man who had everything
05:55in the world going for him.
05:57I mean, if you chart out life the way you maybe dream about it sometime, this guy had
06:02it all, but he realized when he was at the very top of his game that something was missing.
06:10The Bible speaks of this man in this term.
06:13He is called the rich, young ruler.
06:16Now you don't need to say much more about it than that.
06:18He was rich, he was young, and he was prominent.
06:23Let's begin this morning by telling the story of a successful man.
06:27The story of a successful man, Mark 10, 17.
06:31The Bible tells us that one day as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running up
06:37to him, knelt before him, and asked him this question.
06:41Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
06:48Now in the verses that follow here in Mark 10 and in Matthew's Gospel and in Luke's Gospel,
06:53we learn quite a bit about this man.
06:55First of all, we are told that he was young.
06:58Matthew tells us that in Matthew 19, 20, the young man said to him, now young, that's a
07:04good word.
07:06How many of you like young?
07:08All of us like young.
07:09If we're old, we want to be young.
07:11And we do all kinds of things to make ourselves look like we are younger than we really are.
07:18And the Bible tells us that this young man was also very respectful.
07:22Notice in verse 17 it says, as Jesus was going on the road, one came running, knelt before
07:27him, and asked him, good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
07:33Now the way Mark tells this story, not only did this man run up to Jesus, but when he
07:39got to Jesus, he fell on his knees before him.
07:43And this very emotional, but at the same time very passionate move on the part of this
07:47man shows his great respect for Jesus.
07:53He could not wait to ask this teacher the question that was burning in his heart.
07:58As young as he was, and as rich as he was, and as influential as he was, there was something
08:03missing in his life.
08:05He was young and respectful, and Luke is the one who tells us that he was a ruler.
08:10Mark 18, 18 says, now a certain ruler asked him.
08:14And the word for ruler in the New Testament is the word archon, a word that means a first
08:21one or a man of prominence.
08:24This is the word used to describe the ruler of a synagogue or an outstanding Pharisee,
08:31sometimes called a great man or a prince.
08:35This man was evidently a very important person in the Jewish community, which makes his
08:40action all the more remarkable because Jesus was not held in high esteem by the Jewish
08:46establishment.
08:47He was young, respectful.
08:49He was a ruler.
08:51And then we're told in all three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that he was rich.
08:57Mark says he had great possessions.
08:59Matthew says he had great possessions.
09:01Luke said he was very rich.
09:04And there's nothing wrong with being rich.
09:06Rich is okay.
09:08Wealthy is good.
09:09Unless your wealth begins to take the place of God in your life, which we will discover
09:14a little bit later on was this man's problem.
09:19He was young, respectful.
09:20He was a ruler.
09:21He was rich.
09:22And here's an interesting thought.
09:23He's coming to Jesus, but he was religious.
09:28There's an interesting interchange here in Mark chapter 10, in verses 18 through 20,
09:32where we read that Jesus said to him, why do you call me good?
09:35No one is good but God.
09:37You know the commandments.
09:38Do not commit adultery.
09:39Do not murder.
09:40Do not steal.
09:41Do not bear false witness.
09:42Do not defraud.
09:43Honor your father and your mother.
09:45And this young man answered to Jesus and said, listen to this, teacher, all these things
09:50I have done since my youth.
09:54And when he said that he had kept all the commandments from his youth and up, he was
09:57bearing false witness against himself.
10:01Because we all know that no one can keep all the commandments.
10:04Not for all the years since your youth.
10:06Not for one year.
10:07Not for one month.
10:08Not for one day.
10:10But notice, when he said that, Jesus did not correct him.
10:14Jesus didn't say, okay, now I know better than that.
10:17You've broken this.
10:18No, no, no.
10:19Jesus didn't correct him.
10:20His statement that he had kept the commandments since his youth would have meant that from
10:23the age of 13 he had practiced Judaism rigorously.
10:29But then Jesus stopped him in his tracks and Jesus asked him, in essence, this question,
10:33so you say you're good.
10:34Now, what kind of good are we talking about here?
10:37Are we talking about relative goodness as compared to other men?
10:41Or are we talking about absolute goodness as compared to God?
10:45And Jesus asked this man this question in so many words because he said there's only
10:51one good person and that's God.
10:54It is interesting to note that when this man addressed Jesus the second time in this conversation,
10:59he left the word good out.
11:01Good was a bad word for him.
11:02He didn't want to discuss good because he knew what Jesus was talking about, so he just
11:06called him master, not good master.
11:09Now in spite of all these things, this young man was searching.
11:13There was this emptiness in his life that he could not fill with all of his wealth and
11:17success.
11:19In spite of his high standing in men's eyes, he knew he did not have peace in his heart.
11:26Even the psalmist and the prophet spoke about the peace that you can have in God, and he
11:32recognized this man did a spiritual unfulfillment within himself.
11:38He knew he did not possess the life of God that satisfies now and gives hope for the
11:42future.
11:43This man had everything that money could buy, and yet he was empty.
11:48You ever know anybody like that?
11:53Over the years, I've met people like that.
11:56You look at what they have, you look at their lifestyle, their houses, their cars, and you
12:00think, man, if I had all that, I'd sure be happy.
12:03But then you get to know them, and you realize that happiness is not among their possessions.
12:13The story of a successful man.
12:15Now notice the search of a successful man.
12:19In Mark 10, 17, we hear the question this man asked Jesus when he ran up to him and
12:24knelt down before him.
12:25He said, good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
12:31Now, in asking that question, this young man was following an argument that would have
12:35been very much a part of his practice religiously.
12:40He thought he had to do something.
12:43What must I do to inherit eternal life?
12:45What good thing can I do to inherit eternal life?
12:49He did not understand that salvation is not about what you do for God, but it's about
12:52what God does for you.
12:56On one occasion, when Jesus was speaking to a multitude in Capernaum, a question was
13:02given to him, and Jesus answered it with these very clear words.
13:07Listen carefully.
13:08John 6, 28, 29, then they said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of
13:15God?
13:16And Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him
13:23whom he sent.
13:26The only work of God that is of value in terms of your eternal life is that you do the work
13:32which Jesus is talking about here.
13:34What is that work?
13:35Simply to believe in the one that God sent, who is Jesus.
13:41This man came successfully to the Lord.
13:43He came searching to the Lord.
13:45But all of a sudden now, the Lord is gonna take control of this conversation, and this
13:48man is gonna be backed into some silence.
13:53Notice, thirdly, the silence of a successful man.
13:57In the beginning of the story, this man was searching out Jesus for answers.
14:02From here on, Jesus is gonna search out this man.
14:05Jesus is gonna penetrate this man's heart and show him in an unbelievable way why he
14:11feels there's something missing in his life.
14:14He had come speaking.
14:15Now he has to listen and be confronted by the Son of God.
14:19Jesus begins by teaching him about Christ, the truth about Christ.
14:23In verse 18, Jesus said to him,
14:26"'Why do you call me good?
14:27No one is good but one, and that is God.'"
14:32Jesus wanted to see if this young man knew who he was talking to.
14:36Obviously, he did not.
14:38In essence, he was saying to him,
14:40"'You can't call me good if you don't call me God.
14:45Because there's only one who is good, and that's God.'"
14:48And interesting, in the irony of it, Jesus was God, and he was there, and it was a correct
14:53statement.
14:54He called him good teacher, but the rich young ruler didn't know that.
14:59And even though he did not acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah at this moment, he had
15:03come to the right person.
15:05You see, there isn't any way to get to God unless you come through Jesus.
15:10Acts 4.12 says,
15:11"'Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given
15:16among men whereby we must be saved.'
15:18Jesus said,
15:19"'I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through
15:24me.'"
15:25That's pretty clear in the Bible.
15:27So Jesus speaks to this young ruler about himself.
15:31He tries to help him understand the context of this whole conversation.
15:35And now Jesus moves from the truth about Christ to the truth about the commandments.
15:41And we're back again to those two verses, 19 and 20, where we read,
15:44"'You know the commandments.
15:45Do not commit adultery.
15:47Do not murder.
15:48Do not steal.
15:49Do not bear false witness.
15:50Do not defraud.
15:51Honor your father and mother.'
15:52And he answered, this man did, to Jesus and said,
15:55"'All these things I have kept from my youth.'"
15:59In Matthew's Gospel, we are told that this man asked Jesus what commandments he was talking
16:05about.
16:07And here Jesus cites just six of the Ten Commandments, the last six.
16:13How many of you know the commandments are divided into two sections?
16:15The first four have to do with our relationship with God, and the last six have to do with
16:19our relationships with each other.
16:22And the man looked at those six commandments and he said,
16:24"'Lord, I've been doing this ever since I was a little boy.'"
16:27Now it's obvious that he'd already broken the first commandment because the first commandment
16:30says, "'You shall not have any other God before me.'"
16:33And he'd elevated his riches into a God place in his life.
16:37Money was his God.
16:39He trusted it.
16:40He worshiped it.
16:41He got his fulfillment from it.
16:44His morality and his good manners were just a front for his own covetous heart.
16:49And that's the reason Jesus asked him about the commandments, because you see, the purpose
16:54of the commandments are to help us see that we need Jesus.
16:59The commandments are a mirror into which we look.
17:05And as we look into the mirror of the commandments, we see ourselves as we really are.
17:09Now listen, the mirror can show you that you're dirty, but the mirror can't wash you clean.
17:15The purpose of the commandments is to look into the mirror and see yourself as you measure
17:22up to the standard of holiness that is resident in the Ten Commandments.
17:28The Bible says that the commandments are given to us not because we can ever measure up to
17:32them.
17:33The commandments in the Old Testament are a standard against which we measure our own
17:37lives.
17:39And Galatians puts it this way, the law is our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might
17:45be justified by faith.
17:50The law can never save us.
17:52The problem with this young ruler was he was banking on the fact that he had done a relatively
17:57good job of keeping all the commandments, and that was going to make it okay for him
18:02to be with God.
18:04But he knew in his own heart, he knew that didn't work.
18:07That's why he came running to Jesus.
18:08He knew there was something wrong.
18:10And here's what's wrong.
18:11You ready for this class?
18:13God doesn't grade on the curve.
18:16He doesn't do that.
18:18God grades on an absolute percentage.
18:20Jesus says, be holy because I am holy.
18:24The only way you could get to heaven apart from going there by Jesus Christ would be
18:29to live a perfect life and never, ever sin one time.
18:34How many of you think you can make it that way?
18:37Yeah, right.
18:40So, because we can't get there by our own good works, here's what God did.
18:44God sent his perfect son, Jesus Christ, into this world to measure up in our behalf.
18:53Where we fall short, he fulfills the righteousness of God.
18:58And when Jesus came into this world, he went to the cross and paid the penalty for our
19:01sin so that we might believe in him and accept him as our substitute.
19:08And when we believe in him, God accepts us because of Jesus Christ.
19:12Here was the problem with this man.
19:15He was trying to get to God like he'd gotten every place else in his whole life,
19:20by his own initiative, by his own works.
19:24What can I do, he said, that will get me in the line for eternal life?
19:29What can I do?
19:32What's gonna happen in this next section is really interesting because you're gonna see
19:35how the Lord Jesus worked with this man.
19:38And first of all, this is the truth about Christ and the truth about commandments.
19:43Now, notice the truth about the condition of this man's heart.
19:48The Bible says that when Jesus looked at him, when he looked at this man, he loved him.
19:55I love that part of this story.
19:57Here's a man who's got a lot going for him, but he's frustrated.
20:00He knows something's wrong.
20:02He's missing something in his life.
20:03Maybe things aren't going good at home.
20:05And here's Jesus is in the area, and he just runs as fast as he can to catch up with Jesus.
20:12Falls down on his knees and asks him this question.
20:14And the Bible says this about that moment.
20:16Jesus didn't look at that like it was an interruption.
20:19The Bible says when Jesus looked at him, and apparently Jesus looked right through him
20:23and saw the emptiness of his life.
20:25The Bible says Jesus loved him.
20:30Did you know that's the way Jesus looks at all of us?
20:32He sees us in our pain, our frustration, our emptiness, our striving.
20:37The Bible tells us that when he sees us, he loves us.
20:40Could I say this to you today as a representative of the Lord God?
20:44Jesus loves you.
20:47This I know.
20:48He loves you.
20:50He loves me.
20:51Oh, how he loves you and me.
20:55The Bible says when Jesus saw him, he had compassion on him.
20:59And then out of his compassion, Jesus makes this little critique on this man's statement.
21:06Jesus looked at him and he said, son, I hear what you're saying.
21:09And I'm not going to dispute that you've been a good commandment keeper, but here's what
21:13you came and asked me what you needed to do to inherit eternal life.
21:16Here it is.
21:17You only lack one thing, one thing you need to do.
21:23One thing you lack, one thing you are missing.
21:27Matthew 19, 21 puts it this way.
21:29Jesus said to him, watch this, if you want to be perfect.
21:36And then Jesus gave him this command.
21:37He said, if you want to be perfect, if you insist on measuring up to the perfect standard
21:45of God, if you want to be perfect and go into eternal life based upon what you are capable
21:50of doing in your own works, here's what you need to do.
21:54Watch this.
21:55Go your way, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure
22:00in heaven and come take up your cross and follow me.
22:04Not the words he had hoped to hear.
22:09Was Jesus saying if you give all your goods away and you become poor, you'll go to heaven?
22:13No.
22:14Jesus was saying to this man, you can't get to heaven when you're trusting in all that
22:18you can do.
22:20And here's what you're trusting in and I'm going to prove it to you.
22:23This man heard the Lord.
22:26He was traumatized.
22:27And the Lord said, oh, and there's one more thing, I'm on the way to a place called Calvary
22:31to die on a cross.
22:32I invite you to come along with me.
22:34Take up your cross and follow me.
22:38Can you, I mean, even when I tell the story, I feel the awkwardness of the, of the awkwardness
22:44of that moment.
22:45That was a very awkward moment for this man.
22:46He came up to this point, he was cool.
22:50And all of a sudden Jesus got right into this man's heart and he showed him in this
22:54conversation what he was putting his trust in.
22:56He showed him what his God was.
23:00This man was trusting in his riches.
23:02And the Bible tells us that when Jesus was done, that this man went away sorrowful.
23:09Notice verse 22, but he was sad at Jesus' word and he went away sorrowful for he had
23:16great possessions.
23:17Why did he reject the plan of salvation?
23:20Because he already had put his trust in something else.
23:22What was the something else?
23:24His great possessions.
23:26He was unwilling to look beyond what he could see to what is unseen, to receive an immediate
23:33joy in exchange for eternal life.
23:38He went away sorrowful not because he heard the wrong message or even because he did not
23:43believe the message.
23:45He went away sad because he was unwilling to admit his sin, to forsake it and follow
23:51the Lord, his God.
23:54Would there be any reason you can think of why you wouldn't want today to make sure that
24:00you had put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, that you had bet eternity
24:06on him?
24:07They say, you know what, I've tried a lot of other things, but I need to trust God's
24:11plan for heaven and for my salvation.
24:15Here's his plan.
24:17Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you can never measure up to God's standard.
24:21And then in humility and repentance say, Lord God, I tried it my way and it's not ever going
24:29to work.
24:31I'm ready now to try it your way.
24:34And I just give you my heart and I give you my life and I ask you to forgive me and make
24:42me fit for heaven.
24:45And I promise you on the authority of the word of God, he will keep his end of the bargain.
24:52Dr. Jeremiah will return in a moment to close today's program.
24:56Right after this.
25:00Thank you for watching today.
25:01Dr. Jeremiah would like to offer you the book of signs, his masterwork on Bible prophecy,
25:07a must have volume for anyone interested in end times theology.
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25:36The book of signs and the signs set Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work on Bible prophecy contact turning
25:43point today.
25:47And now with one last word for today's program, here is Dr. Jeremiah.
25:52The image of the rich young ruler walking away from Jesus is a tragic one.
25:58He simply wasn't ready to join his life to Christ's.
26:03But are we any different?
26:05Is there anything in our life that is standing between us and Christ?
26:10If Jesus appeared seven days from now, or if he appeared today, would you be ready to
26:16meet him?
26:18How would your life be different?
26:21Confessing our sins and receiving God's gift of forgiveness and eternal life are the first
26:28steps to being ready.
26:29And I would love the opportunity to help you be ready by sending you to turning point resources.
26:36One is our monthly devotional magazine called turning points.
26:40And the other is a booklet called your greatest turning point.
26:44I will make sure you receive both gifts free of charge.
26:48If you will contact us today here at turning point.
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27:25Next time on turning point, the Bible says that almighty God will bring affirmation to
27:31your life.
27:33And some of the things you wondered about will fall into place and little by little
27:37as you go, you will begin to see God at work in your own heart.
27:41Because you see what you did was you just accepted the self-authenticating Christ.
27:47Thank you for being with us today.
27:49Join Dr. Jeremiah next time for his message.
27:52Jesus loves you here on turning point.
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