In Luke 17 the story of the ten lepers – and the one who returned to give thanks – is recorded. In this message Pastor Clark breaks down the story into five easily applicable principles that are relevant for the time of Thanksgiving – or any time of the year!

<p>In Luke 17 the story of the ten lepers – and the one who returned to give thanks – is recorded. In this message Pastor Clark breaks down the story into five easily applicable principles that are relevant for the time of Thanksgiving – or any time of the year!</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Dalton SDA Church

The Characteristics and Titles of Jesus

Chester Clark

Jesus: The Creator

Recently, several very intelligent people made some headlines as they spoke of some of their fears for the future of humanity.

Stephen Hawking, the British scientist, was 1 as well.

He told the British Broadcasting Corporation, The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.

The development of full artificial intelligence, if we could create robots who actually thought and planned full artificial intelligence, it could spell the end of the human race.

1 of the things he said in his statement, he said that humans who are limited by slow biological evolution, this is his opinion, couldn't compete and would be superseded.

In other words, these intelligent devices would be able to improve themselves at a rate that we can't improve ourselves.

Because in Hawkins' mind, we are here because of evolution, and evolution is a very slow and tedious process in which we would not improve nearly as fast as the artificial intelligent devices would improve.

It raises a very interesting set of questions in my mind, this question of artificial intelligence.

If a device created by mankind, then with its own intelligence creates crimes, who is responsible?

I mean, we know that if you create an unintelligent device, such as a bomb, or, you know, some sort of a destructive device that would cause harm, that the creator is responsible, right?

In fact, if you even just create a faulty device that creates harm or harm someone.

The creator is responsible, the builder, the maker, the manufacturer.

It raises a whole set of questions in our minds.

I don't know the answers to all those questions, but it reminds me a little bit of some of the differences that I have with Stephen Hawking.

First of all, I'm probably not nearly as intelligent as he is.

I definitely am not recognized as a preeminent scientist.

But on the other hand, I also have a belief and a faith system that is different than Hawkins.

Now, 1 of the things that's been very interesting to me as I've read some of his work is that he has recently gone on record as saying, you know, really it's not very probable that life as we know it, life, the amazing, I would say miracle, but he would say chance that life happened.

It's not probable that it would happen in our universe.

The likelihood is so small of all the factors coming together.

The Hawking recently theorized that in fact, we must be a part of not just a universe but an infinite number of universes.

It's a de facto admission that evolution is very, very unlikely.

We must have an unlimited number of universes in order for this explosion in a paint shop, a print shop, to actually have created a Webster's Dictionary.

It's very, very unlikely, so there must be many, many more side by side happening to happen at the same time.

I believe, friends, instead that God, a creator God, an intelligent God, designed us, fashioned us, made us, and sustains us as human beings here on this planet.

Now I understand that there are many, even in the Christian world, who have a problem with the concept of creation.

This summer at the church gathering in San Antonio, the general conference session, there was a slight amendment made to our fundamental belief number 6.

Now I want us to be very clear here, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we believe the Bible is our creed.

So our fundamental beliefs are simply things that we as a world family have agreed upon.

We've come together and said, yes, these are things that we see as abundantly clear in the scriptures.

Now in 1980, when these were first written, the fundamental beliefs in the similar format as they have today, the church had number 6.

Now there's some in our midst, and unfortunately in any group of people, there are gonna be some who are sort of pushing the edges of our belief or practice, right?

At some point we have to say, why are you part of this family?

Because you don't really like the definition of our family.

If you want to change all of our beliefs and practices.

But there are some, even in the sub-theavenous persuasion, who have come to see that that fundamental belief, 6, was actually written in a way that would allow them to believe a variety of things.

They could believe, for example, that when it said God created the world in 6 days, they could say, well, you know, those could have been symbolic days, couldn't they have been?

Those could have been, you know, the Bible says a day is as a thousand years under the Lord.

It could have been a long time that God used an evolutionary process to create.

After all, we weren't there, so how can we argue?

The point is, in 1980 when this was written, that was not what was intended.

We believe that God created, and we'll look at some of the Bible's testimony of that here this morning.

We believe he commanded, he spoke, and it was done.

We believe in what we call fiat creation, which does not require long ages of evolutionary processes.

We believe that evolution happens, yes, microevolution within species and so forth, but we don't believe that tadpoles become humans.

We don't believe that the macroevolution takes place on this scale.

And so there was within us, especially, unfortunately, among some of our educational institutions and others, there was a group of people who were pushing those edges.

And so this summer it was voted that we would add a couple words.

That's similar to the week we have today.

We weren't there, we can't define everything, but that's what the Bible says.

The Bible says the evening and the morning were the first day.

The nighttime and the daytime, that's what makes up a day, that still is what makes up a day, right?

The nighttime and the daytime, that was the first day.

Now if he hadn't said that, maybe we would have some room to cavil over it, but we don't have that room.

And so we made those changes, and the statement was made that we are trying to be very clear here that we as Seventh-day Adventist Christians believe in God creating the earth.

Now, some have argued, they've said, you know, you really can't be an Adventist and believe in evolution, even theistic evolution, because, because if you're an Adventist and you believe in theistic evolution, what is the real import or meaning of the seventh day Sabbath, right?

Because God, the creation story says, worked in creating the world for 6 days and he rested the seventh day and he blessed it and he made it holy.

That's what Genesis 2, verses 1 and 2 says.

The fourth commandment, when it says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, it goes right on and it says, for in 6 days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.

Wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

So here you have a very intrinsic part of the Seventh-day Adventist faith, the Seventh-day Sabbath.

It is founded upon the concept of creation.

But I'm going to go 1 step further this morning.

I'm going to make an argument that you may find to be controversial, but I think it's true, that if even a theistic evolutionist is an oxymoron, what does theistic mean by the way?

It's coming from God, it's God performed, right?

And so, theistic evolution, it says that God used evolution to bring us to where we are today.

Now, there's those 2 terms, Theistic and evolution really are oxymoronic.

You cannot combine them together and make any sense.

In reality, I'm going to argue today that it is not possible to be intellectually honest and consistent and to be a Christian and an evolutionist.

Now please, don't go out and tell all of your friends who happen to believe in evolution that they're not Christians.

My point is for us to examine our own hearts, right?

My point is for us to examine what is logical.

And if we're going to accept a belief structure, a philosophical structure, we should at least be honest and see that it's consistent and coherent, right?

And so these are the problems with theistic evolution as I see it.

I believe that God, in fact, is the 1 who created heaven and earth.

And we'll come back to that in just a minute.

But I wanna look at the problems with theistic evolution.

What's the impact of theistic evolution on our various beliefs?

This is not just the seventh day Sabbath.

I'm assuming that as some of the Adventist Christians we understand that creation, long age creation, long age evolution would impact the meaning and the importance of the Sabbath.

Jesus: Prince of Peace

Perhaps 1 of the longest periods of peace, relative peace I might add, this world has ever known, is what has been termed by historians the Pax Romana, the Roman peace.

You see, Rome was such a powerful empire that after it had sort of established itself and strategically distributed its military around the world where areas of resistance might rise, There came upon that part of the world a period of peace that lasted for more than 200 years.

The Roman peace, a peace that was purchased through a rise to power of bloodshed and strife.

Now, there was a very special ceremony that took place when Caesar Augustus had defeated Antony and Cleopatra in Egypt.

Caesar Augustus was now going to preside over a new era of peace.

And in order to let the empire know that there was this new era of peace, that his enemies had been defeated, Antony and Cleopatra, Caesar Augustus initiated a very, very dramatic ceremony in Rome.

You see, we have to go back quite a few years, over 700 years prior to this, to the second king of Rome, Numa, Caesar, who had inherited the kingdom from his father.

In fact, when his father died, and actually, I don't think he was dead yet, but they were looking for a successor to the kingdom, as I recall.

Numa was chosen as the 1 who should be the next Caesar, the next king of Rome, not the empire yet, but the city of Rome that was growing and expanding.

And Numa was approached and Numa said, no, I'm not going to.

Now, if you've noticed politics today, most people, or the people who are going to be selected to be the world's leader are usually wanting the job, right?

By the way, this is an aside, not related to Roman history, but do you know 3 times George Washington had to be approached to be convinced to accept the presidency of the United States.

Things have changed a bit since then, but we won't get into that today.

Numa said, I don't really want to be the emperor or the Caesar, the king of Rome, But he said, let's see what the people say.

He was asked by the people then to be the king, and he said, let's see what the gods say.

Of course, not a worshiper of the God of heaven, but a pagan worshiper.

He asked the various deities for signs and became convinced that in fact he was the 1 who was called to be on the throne at that time.

He was a peace loving man and 1 of the first things that he did is he dissolved the guard that his father Romulus had had around him at all times, 300 soldiers that had been his bodyguard, the secret service basically.

Numa said I don't need these, I'm going to be at peace with the people.

And right there on the main road coming into the Forum from the northeast, there he built this temple.

And the Temple of Janus, Janus is an interesting deity, or I put that in quotation marks, you understand, a Roman god, because Janus was 1 of the few gods that didn't come from the Greeks.

He's the god of beginnings and doors, of gates and openings and borders.

And this god was the god who was, in Numa's mind, would be the god of peace, I guess you might say, having established borders there would be no more controversy so in the temple of Janus there were 2 doors 2 gates and what What the ceremony became is that when the Roman soldiers went out to war, they would have to go through the Temple of Janus, in 1 side and out the other, otherwise they wouldn't have Janus' blessing.

Now you understand I don't believe in all of this, any of this, this is historical data.

The soldiers would have to go through the Temple of Janus and those doors would remain open as long as they were out fighting.

But if the doors of the temple were closed, that meant the empire was at peace.

The soldiers weren't out doing the business of war.

Do you know during Numa's reign, those doors remained shut.

1 of the first things he did besides dissolving the secret service, he also made peace with his neighbors.

In fact, the temple was inscribed, it's of course gone today, part of the ruins of the Roman Forum, but here's 1 of the coins that I believe it was Caesar Nero, yeah, Nero had made and here you have a picture of the Temple of Janus with the gates of Janus closed.

A number of Caesars used this as sort of a propaganda thing, but Caesar Augustus, after defeating Cleopatra, closed those doors for 1 of the first times, only the second time, since the end of Numa's reign.

They were closed again in 26 or 27 AD by Caesar Augustus.

And many people believe that it's Janus, the God of Beginnings, which is the namesake for the first month of the year, January, the beginning of the year, which still comes to us in English today.

Janus, the god of peace, chosen by the peaceful second king of Rome.

But today that's not what we're talking about.

We want to talk today about the Prince of Peace.

Jesus is called here in Isaiah 9, verse 6.

The last title that is used to describe him is the Prince of Peace.

In fact, there are many titles that are given here of Jesus, but it ends with this Prince of Peace.

And if we read verse 7, it says, of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.

We skip down and it says towards the end of that sentence, is from that time forward, even forever.

Peace that continually grows and expands like the waves of the sea rolling across the sand, a peace that knows no end.

Well, the Bible's clear that it's not now that there's that Prince of Peace.

Not even in Isaiah's time was he at peace.

If we turn to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7, we're going to read here for just a few moments in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.

We're going to see how Jesus is described and it's not exactly peaceful, the picture that we find here in Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7 it says, war broke out where?

Of all places, the last place that you would expect war to be found is in heaven.

The place that should be the most under the control of the God of heaven, the Prince of Peace.

But the Bible says the war broke out in heaven.

Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

Now I want us to just establish something here.

Do you wanna just see why I believe that real quickly?

Can you keep your finger right here in Revelation chapter 12?

I do not believe, and I think we made it clear last week in our sermon about Jesus the Creator, I do not believe that Jesus is a created being.

And yet He is described in the Bible as being over the angels or the archangel.

Let's just keep a finger here in Revelation chapter 12 and look back in John chapter 5.

We're going to look at 3 verses that together are going to show us that Jesus is Michael.

So we're going to look at John chapter 5 first of all and we're going to read the prophecy of the resurrection that Jesus gave here in John chapter 5 and verse, we'll begin with verse 25.

Most assuredly I say to you The hour is coming and now is in which the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

Look with me now to 1 Thessalonians, the writing of the Apostle Paul.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, as he describes the first resurrection in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and we're going to see that at the second coming of Jesus, there is a voice, just like Jesus said, that wakes the dead, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

And we're going to look at, let's see what verse is it here?

Verse 16, let's start with verse 15, For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a what?

Shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise." So whose voice on that resurrection morning is going to awaken the dead?

Jesus: The Promise Keeper

In February of 1942, as Japanese forces tightened their grip on the Philippines, President Roosevelt ordered Douglas MacArthur to relocate to Australia.

So on the night of March 12th, MacArthur and a small group of people, including his wife, his son Arthur, some of their family attendants, as well as some of the leaders of the Philippines and some of the military leaders traveled in 4 patrol torpedo boats to the southern island of Mindanao, and there they were met by B-17 bombers that flew them to Australia.

MacArthur had organized their forces trying to defend them against the Japanese invasion.

In fact, he was already recognized as a hero of sorts.

The president recommended that he be given a medal of honor for the work that he had already done.

And General George Marshall, in fact, wrote the text of the medal of honor.

For conspicuous service or leadership in preparing the Philippine Islands to resist conquest.

For gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against invading Japanese forces and the heroic conduct of defensive and offensive operations on the Bataan Peninsula.

He mobilized, trained, and led an army which has received world acclaim for its gallant defense against a tremendous superiority of enemy forces and men in arms.

His utter disregard of personal danger under heavy fire and aerial bombardment, his calm judgment in each crisis inspired his troops, galvanized the spirit of resistance of the Filipino people, and confirmed the faith of American people in their armed forces.

MacArthur became the first to receive a Medal of Honor, the first son to receive a Medal of Honor, whose father had also received a Medal of Honor.

And Douglas MacArthur was looked up to by the American people.

In fact, he was voted that same year as Father of the Year, 1942.

This was the text that he, the statement that he gave after being voted Father of the Year, he says, by profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact, but I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father.

A soldier destroys in order to build, but a father only builds and never destroys.

The 1 has the potentialities of death, the other embodies creation and life, and while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still.

It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me, not from battle, but in the home, repeating with him our daily prayer, our Father, who art in heaven." It was in a train station in Australia that Douglas MacArthur first gave a speech in which he said these words, I came through and I shall return.

At this point the Philippines were completely occupied by the Japanese and The Filipino people were looking for hope, they were looking for some future, what their future would hold, and when they heard that MacArthur had uttered these words, I shall return.

In fact, I came through and I shall return." In fact, this gave hope and it inspired confidence that he indeed would return.

You see, MacArthur had such respect in the world, not only in America but also in the Philippines, that when MacArthur said, I will return, I shall return, the Filipinos said, he will return.

He will come back and give us our freedoms.

In fact, the Filipino people today still respect MacArthur probably more than almost any other, even Filipino, hero.

When I used to travel a lot to the Philippines, I lived in Arkansas, I grew up in Arkansas, and all I needed to do to raise my stock with the Filipino audience was to remind them that I came from Arkansas and so did Douglas MacArthur.

In fact, 1 time I was in MacArthur's boyhood home in Little Rock and I met the Korean ambassador to the United States.

He and his entourage were coming to tour MacArthur's home because later, of course, as students of American history will remember, world history I suppose, MacArthur got in a little bit of a struggle over the defense of Korea and how we should handle the Chinese.

And Truman actually removed MacArthur from his position.

And the result was that Truman suffered the lowest approval rating of any sitting president in American history.

MacArthur was so popular that they felt this was a political move and not an expedient 1.

MacArthur had kept his promise, and if you go to the little village there on the Leyte Landing Memorial Park, it's a national park in the Philippines, and there you'll see these bronze statues of MacArthur and his fellow leaders waiting ashore.

The battle was still going on and he asked for a landing craft to bring him from the landing vehicle to the shore, but they were so busy that they didn't have time to bring him, so he said, I'm going anyway, and he waited.

He jumped into the water and he waited ashore along with his men.

And when he got on the shore, he had this to say.

Really quickly, I'll go back to the last slide.

He said, this is what he said, he said, people of the Philippines, I have returned.

By the grace of the almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil, soil consecrated in the blood of our 2 peoples.

We have come dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength the liberties of your people." Can you see why people love MacArthur?

He was not only an able general who had sacrificed much in the defense of his country.

In fact, when he was called back to give his farewell speech in front of Congress after he was removed from power, it had been the first time that his 13-year-old son had ever been to the United States.

It had been some 37 years since he and his wife had stood on this continent.

So busy had he been in defending the interests of freedom and America around the world.

And so this was a man who had sacrificed much and when he made a promise, he kept his promise.

But today we're talking about a different promise keeper.

Today we're going to be talking about 1 who is the promise keeper of promise keepers.

Any human illustration of a promise keeper falls short when we compare it to the promise keeper that we find in Jesus.

We're going to look at why in just a minute.

Father in heaven, I just want to ask that you would help us today.

Series

The Characteristics and Titles of Jesus

Jesus: One of Them

Transcript

Description

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