OYC 2010: Awakened Hope

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Oregon Youth for Christ

Peter Chung: How Can I See Jesus in the Final Crisis?

Peter Chung

Following The Star At Night, Session 1 (Part 1)

And the first part of my study is titled, Following Jesus Through the Crisis.

You know, when we think about the final crisis, I remember when I was growing up, when I heard about a National Sunday Law, it brought fear to me.

And when we talk about the National Sunday Law and about the final crisis, and when we preach about elements of the third angel, there is a element even within our church that says you're scaring the people.

But when we study deeply on the pattern of Christ's life near the closing scenes of his life, we see a pattern how Jesus has already paved the way as a forerunner for us to have victory in a crisis hour.

So when we have Jesus in our lives, and when we follow Jesus, perfect love casts out all fear.

So before I begin, let's have a word of prayer.

We'll ask for the invitation of the Holy Spirit as we begin our study, following Jesus through the crisis.

Our Father and God in heaven, Father, we thank thee for waking us up here in a new morning to renew our commitments with thee.

We thank you for the forgiveness of sins.

And Father, as we study the life and pattern of your Son, and what he suffered in the closing scenes of his life, and that we have the assurance that through our own trials, be it in the present hour or in the future, we have assurance that we have a high priest that's mediating on our behalf, that we can go boldly to his throne of grace in our hour of need.

So Father, we ask for the Holy Spirit here to teach us your word.

May you use me, a erring, sinful man of dust, in a way that you see fit, that I may not be a curse but a blessing to your people.

A follower is a person or thing that follows.

A person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or belief, discipline or adherent, a person who imitates, copies, or takes as a model or ideal.

You know, we live in a culture of following.

I come from Southern California where there is a following of celebrities.

There is what's called cult followings where people follow rock stars from place to place.

There's that famous rock group I believe in the 60s called the Grateful Dead and you had those followings or those followers that would follow them from city to city.

So you have people that follow all around.

And recently there is a new phenomenon in the internet called Twitter.

And so all those that are assigned to Twitter follow the person or the celebrity trying to figure out what the celebrity's doing next.

But I believe that more than a Twitter, we could have our own spiritual Twitter with the word of God, amen?

And so 2, 000 years ago, there was another group of rich men, rulers, wise men, they sought to follow a star.

And those are the Bible says in Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew chapter 2, Matthew chapter 2, starting with verse 1.

Of a group of wise men that sought to follow a star.

Matthew chapter 2, starting with verse 1.

The Bible says, now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews?

For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him." And so just like in the present day many young people read about a star, they follow a star, they try to be informed and try to mimic and imitate the activity of a star.

These wise men read about this star in the Old Testament prophecies.

These wise men sought to follow the star and who is a star?

Who is the star as the Bible interprets itself?

And the Bible says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.

I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.

And so, they follow the superstar of superstars, Jesus Christ.

But what does it entail to follow Jesus, this star?

You know, many people say, yes, I'm a Christian.

We have t-shirts and what's this, you know, back then it was their rage, WWJD, what would Jesus do?

But what does it really mean to follow Jesus?

Notice the Bible says in Matthew chapter 16.

And the Bible says in Matthew 16 verse 24, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

So the Bible is saying, in order to follow Jesus, we must follow him with our own cross.

Now, have you thought about that, the cross?

Do you know that the cross is the most excruciating, most despiteful, disgraceful form of execution in the Roman Empire?

Roman citizens were not reserved for crucifixion.

Only those that committed high treason against Caesar were crucified if you're a Roman citizen.

Crucifixion was reserved for the lowest of the low.

And so Jesus is saying in order to follow him, we must carry our own cross.

We should not be afraid to lose our life or our worldly gain for what profit is us To gain the whole world but lose our soul Friends we have mansions in heaven that God has built for us with no mortgage debt amen And it's free It was paid by the blood of Jesus.

And as we, many of us, are caught up in the cares of this life, Jesus built mansions in heaven.

He has built us country property in the outskirts of heaven, in the grassy knolls that is tinged with gold and silver as inspiration says.

But we must go on that straight path of carrying our cross.

And for the Bible promises that when the Son of Man shall come in glory of his Father and his angels, then he will reward us that is faithfully carrying our cross in the straight and narrow path.

Notice what the Bible says in John chapter 15.

The Bible says, if ye were of the world, the world would love his own.

But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is no greater than the Lord.

If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

In other words, When you follow Jesus, you will expect persecution.

You see, right now, Christianity's popular, you know, because people think, oh, I could just praise it up and I love Jesus, but Christianity comes with commitment.

You see, true love is shown through a crisis.

You know, you can love somebody all you want when things are going well and things are flowery and you have that nice house, but when that house is about to be foreclosed, when your business is about to fail, when your job is going so bad and your finances are low, are you still going to be tender to your wife?

Are you going to be still tender and soft-spoken to your children?

You see, that is where we reveal if we truly love someone or not.

And so the reason why there's gonna be a crisis in the last days is to demonstrate to the waiting universe If there is a people on this earth in the most excruciating crisis in the earth's history that will love Jesus so much that they would rather love Jesus than that of the world.

Now I wanna read to you from Great Controversy, page 649, paragraph 1.

In all ages, the saviors chosen have been educated and disciplined in the school of Trial.

They were purified in the furnace of affliction.

For Jesus' sake, they endured opposition, hatred, calumny, they followed him through conflict sore, they endured self-denial and experienced bitter disappointments.

But their own painful experience, they learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe, and they looked upon it with abhorrence.

Sleepless Weeping, Session 1 (Part 2)

Our Father in God and Heaven, Father, we thank Thee for allowing us to study Your Word.

We ask for Your Holy Spirit here in a mighty way.

Father, time is limited, so Father, lead my mind and lead my heart in your way, Father, in covering the pertinent points.

And may your people be touched by your Holy Spirit with mind, heart, and deed to be workers for you in this crisis hour that's soon to come.

Last presentation, we have established that Jesus in the closing scenes of his life set up a pattern for those that are living in the last days that will follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

And what is that special group of people called?

They follow in the steps of Jesus, who is an example for us, even in his suffering.

And so we've examined the first session of the various foundational principles that what Christ did from Gethsemane on forward to the cross is a pattern for what God's people, this final generation, must go through as a pattern of what we are to go through in a spiritual experience here in the last days.

And I find it by no happenstance that Ellen White counsels us in Desire of Ages page 83, paragraph 4, she writes, it would do well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ.

We should take it point by point and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.

As we thus dwell upon his great sacrifice for us, our confidence in him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His Spirit.

If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.

So she says that we should spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplating the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes.

You know, we could spend a whole hour on television, can't we?

We could spend a whole, young people could spend 4 or 5 hours on video games.

And God is only asking us an hour to contemplate the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes.

That we could spend 3 hours in foolish movies and video games, but God is saying, my child, spend 1 hour in thoughtful contemplation in the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes.

So it'll prepare you and I to face the crisis hour that's soon to come as an overwhelming surprise.

Now did you know that Jesus, way before Gethsemane, way before the Passover time when he gave the ordinances Did you know that Jesus?

Warned the disciples that he would die that there was a crisis that was soon to come for the disciples Notice that the Bible says in Matthew 20 Matthew 20 Matthew 20 verse 17.

The Bible says, And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the 12 disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, Now this is very significant.

Crucify him and the third day he shall rise again." Now this is very significant.

Jesus is saying that there's gonna come a time when the chief priests, the scribes, shall condemn him to death." Now, who do the chief priests and the scribes represent?

Now, question, in today's society, does the church or does any church in this nation have the authority to institute a death penalty or execute anybody in this country?

In the time of Jesus' life in Judea, the Jewish nation had no authority to execute anybody.

Condemn is to cast judgment on someone to die.

And Jesus said in verse 19, He shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him.

And the third day he shall rise again." Now question, who was the ruling power in Judea?

Who were the Gentiles that Jesus was talking about at that time?

They were a political or a government or state authority.

So in other words, Jesus was prophesied to his disciples that church and state will collaborate and kill Jesus.

You see, the Roman authorities have the power and authority to execute anyone in Judea.

It was not reserved for the Jewish religious leaders.

Likewise in the last days it is not the church authority that's gonna kill or try to destroy God's people, but it's the governmental civil authority that is gonna Listen to the church and collaborate with the church and the church will influence the state to persecute God's people here in the last days.

And so, Jesus warned his disciples that church and state will unite.

Well, remember, going down to verse 20, it says, Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, that's James and John's mom, worshipping him and desiring a certain thing of him.

She saith unto him, grant that these my 2 sons may sit, the 1 on the right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom.

Now Jesus has just given a prophecy that church and state will merge to kill him.

Now here he comes, John and James' mom, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, saying, you know Jesus, when you establish your earthly kingdom, when you restore the superpower political authority of the Jewish nation, can my sons be in your high cabinet office?

You see, the disciples did not get that a crisis was soon to come.

And how did the disciples react to the message of the crisis approaching?

Notice what the Bible says in Matthew 17.

And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him.

And the third day he shall be raised again.

And they, which is the disciples, God's church, were exceeding sorry.

Are we, when we hear our end time message, are we, when a man of God, a watchman of Israel, is preaching with power, saying, a crisis is coming, we must prepare.

Are we reacting by being exceedingly sorry?

You see, the condition of the disciples is the condition of God's last day church.

I wanna read you a statement from Great Controversy, page 594, paragraph 1.

Before his crucifixion, the Savior explained to his disciples that he was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and the angels were present to impress his words on minds and hearts.

But the disciples were looking for a temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not tolerate the thought that he in whom all their hopes centered should suffer an ignominious death.

The words which they needed to remember were banished from their minds, and when the time of trial came it found them unprepared.

The death of Jesus has fully destroyed their hopes as if he had not forewarned them.

So in the prophecies the future is open before us as plainly as it was open to the disciples by the words of Christ.

The events connected with the close of probation and the work of preparation for the time of trouble are clearly presented, but multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths than if they had never been revealed.

Satan watches to catch away every impression that would make them wise to salvation, and the time of trouble will find them unready.

So like the disciples were amply warned of what Christ was gonna suffer in this crisis hour, so too we are warned amply in clear distinct lines of what's gonna happen in a time of trouble.

And like the disciples, they were unprepared and many in God's church were unprepared in that crisis hour.

Now, what was the feelings of Jesus when he approached his crisis hour?

Notice what the Bible says in Matthew 26 Matthew 26 Matthew 26 verse 36 Matthew 26 verse 36, as he approached Gethsemane, the Bible says, Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.

And he took with him Peter and the 2 sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

And said he unto them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, tarry ye here and watch with me.

So what was the emotion of Jesus when he was entering Gethsemane?

And remember, we read the statement before in our previous presentation in Desire of Ages, page 687, paragraph 1.

Remember when he was praying, that it was taken to his mind that his own people would reject him.

That his own people that he lovingly prepared to sacrifice the fulfillment of the Passover to take away the sins of his people, the very people he came to save will kill Jesus.

And so he was exceedingly sorrowful knowing the prospect that his very brothers whom he ministered with, the very church that he so sought to reform at that time was going to kill him for doing good in behalf of them.

You see in Isaiah 53 verse 3 the Bible says, He's despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him.

He was despised and we esteemed him not." So Jesus is described as a man of sorrows and that was fulfilled in Verity in Gethsemane when he said that my soul was exceedingly sorrowful.

He was sorrowing after the rejection of his own people.

You see, God's last day people will be also sorrowful.

In fact, notice the Bible says in Ezekiel chapter 9, Ezekiel chapter 9, of those that will be sealed with the seal of God in the time of trouble.

Shaken But Not Stirred, Session 2

Our Father in God in heaven, Father, we are in need of your Holy Spirit here today.

And so Father, I ask that you subdue me behind your Son's cross.

And Father, may none of me be manifested, and all of your Son be reflected from the sacred desk.

And so, Father, we ask for the power of the Holy Spirit here in a mighty way to bless your people.

Father, in spite of myself, may your people be thoroughly blessed and encouraged and stirred to do the great work in the little time that we have.

And Father, as we study this all-important subject, shaken but not stirred, may we be encouraged that your Son has already paved the way for us for victory through this crisis hour.

[♪ piano music playing ♪ The Bible says concerning the 144, 000, These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goest.

And so the 144, 000 follow Jesus wherever he goest.

We know from Revelation chapter 7 that the 144, 000 comes out of great tribulation.

And that great tribulation could be found in Matthew 24 where Jesus gives an exposition of last day events that there will be a great tribulation that was never known in the history of the world.

And so the 144, 000 comes out of this experience of great tribulation and they follow Jesus wherever he goes.

So how do they follow the Lamb wherever he goes?

Notice the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 21.

What is the pattern of the 144, 000 following the lamb wherever he goest?

The Bible says in 1 Peter 2, verse 21, for even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps.

So what is the example that Christ gave for us in his?

What is the example in his suffering that we should follow his steps?

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." And we find that in Revelation 14 verse 5 and 6 that the 144, 000 has no guile in their mouth and there are faultless in the throne of God.

Who when he was reviled, reviled not again.

When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.

And so, Christ gave a pattern of his suffering, and we see that pattern of suffering at the example in the closing scenes of his life from Gethsemane to the cross.

That's why Ellen White writes in Desire of Ages, page 83, paragraph 4, It would do well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ.

And so Ellen White tells us 1 hour each day to contemplate the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes.

You know, we could watch 4 hours of television at a time.

For those that like professional sports, we'd even wish the games to go overtime.

But Christ is asking just 1 hour each night to meditate about the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes.

Notice what the Bible says in Matthew 26.

And the Bible says in Matthew 26 Verse 31, then saith Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

We've established from various texts and before in the previous presentations that night represents a time of trouble.

Terror by night, this is 91 Division of Psalms.

And also, as Jesus approached those closing scenes, he was going to Gethsemane.

In Desire of Ages page 685, paragraph 2, it states this, Jesus had been earnestly conversing with his disciples and instructing them, but as he neared Gethsemane, he became strangely silent.

He had often visited this spot for meditation and prayer, but never with a heart so full of sorrow as upon this night of his last agony." We've established in the previous presentation that Jesus realized that His church will reject Him, that His disciples will forsake Him, that all those He labored for earnestly with love, that He healed, that He guided, He preached to, will be forsaking him in the Christ's hour, and he was sighing and crying for the condition of the church.

So too in the last days, according to Ezekiel chapter 9, those that will be sealed will be sighing and crying for the condition of the church.

That's what the Bible says in Isaiah 53 verse 3, he was despised and rejected a man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him.

Now in the Gethsemane's account in Matthew 26, we have found that when Christ was praying and he came back to his 3 closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, what were they doing?

And those sleeping disciples represent something very important here in the last days.

Volume 2 of the Testimonies, page 205, paragraph 1.

But these sleeping disciples represented a sleeping church.

When the day of God's visitation is nigh, it is a time of clouds and thick darkness when to be found asleep is most perilous.

And so the disciples sleeping represents the sleeping Laodicean Church here at this present hour.

And even though his disciples were asleep, Jesus still prayed.

Jesus prayed the prayer, Father, nevertheless not my will, but thy will.

Jesus in his humanity did not want to be rejected.

It is natural for us to be liked by people, amen?

But the Bible says there's gonna come a time when we'll be hated of all men.

Series

Peter Chung: How Can I See Jesus in the Final Crisis?

Sleepless Weeping, Session 1 (Part 2)

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

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