AMEN 2014: Joined Together

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Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

Morning Devotional

Brian Schwartz

The Faith of Jesus

Our Father in Heaven, as we deal with this most powerful topic, the faith of Jesus Christ, I just pray that Your Holy Spirit will be here.

Give me faith to believe that you can use me at this time.

May your Holy Spirit be poured out on each 1 here.

May we see in this topic the power to transform our lives, our practices, our families.

This is a little bit of a theological topic.

It will be far more intensely practical with stories from my own practice, how I've implemented some of these concepts into my practice and some of the responses that we've seen.

But if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn to Romans 1, and I'm gonna be looking at verses 16 and 17.

You know, we're reminded that the latter rain power is not going to go forward until it's united with the right arm that gives it the strength in the last days to go forward.

But also, the flip side of that is, our medical ministries will never be powerful until it's united with the gospel.

And So I think this morning we're going to look at the very essence of where the power comes from in the gospel.

Romans chapter 1 verse 16, Paul is speaking, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Many think of Paul as a theologian, but Paul is overlying theological principles on the gospel story.

And 1 of the code words that Paul uses for what happened in Christ's life is the word gospel.

Paul is talking about what Jesus Christ did as that 1 righteous act in saving every last 1 of us.

The fact that Jesus lived and died for your sins and for my sins.

The gospel, the gospel at this time and Christians were third-class citizens, they were looked down on, they weren't respected.

I don't think I should have given up my phone because now I'm not sure what time it is, but I'm 3 hours off, but that'll work.

So the gospel, people were looked down and Paul comes out and says, I am not ashamed of this event that Jesus Christ, our Savior, hung on a cross for your sin and for my sin.

Paul is using this word gospel to summarize and to grasp hold of that whole picture of what Jesus did.

It is the power, The very dynamite of God to salvation.

The gospel story has the power to change your life and my life and our patient's life.

In verse 17, it is the righteousness of God, or for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

And it is written, the just shall live by faith.

Now as we begin this talk, it's titled The Faith of Jesus.

This is a topic that has been obscured among almost all modern Christians and even Seventh-day Adventists.

We'll come back to this, but the question is whose faith is this?

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

Does my faith reveal God's righteousness?

The problem we have is that modern scholars and modern translators of the Bible could not conceive of the idea that God could have faith and that Jesus, who was God, could have faith.

After all, He knows the end from the beginning.

Turn over to Romans chapter 3 verse 21, And we'll come back to Romans 1.

Romans 3, verse 21, Now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed.

How is the righteousness of God apart from the law revealed?

In Jesus Christ, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

Who did the law and the prophets testify of?

Even the righteousness of God which is through the faith, what does your Bible say?

So it depends on what translation you have.

James, who did our morning devotions last year, talked about the authorized version, the King James version as having so many advantages theologically that he encouraged us to go back and look at that.

Most every modern translation, including the 1 I'm reading from, the New King James reads this, that the righteousness of God, which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference, makes this a redundant passage.

This is those who have faith in Jesus and believe in Him.

But the King James Version of the Bible translates it, the righteousness of God which is through the faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe.

You know, it's not wrong to have faith in Jesus, but the power comes from the faith of Jesus.

We have it turned around 180 degrees and I believe the devil has tried to hold his hand over the Bible and even change it in our modern translations so that we will miss out on this aspect, the faith of Jesus.

Back to Romans chapter 1 verse 17, for the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

There is a faith that God gives us that generates faith in us.

It's the faith of God that causes our faith to take hold.

The power is 180 degrees apart from how we've normally portrayed it.

It's the goodness of God that draws us to repentance.

In everything in our spiritual life, God is always the initiator.

It turns it around to where the focus is on us.

If I just have enough faith, then I can be saved.

If I depend on my faith for my salvation, I will always be doubting myself.

But if I depend on the faith of 1 whose faith has never failed, the very faith of Jesus, a faith that justifies God and shows that He is just, that's a faith that can never fail.

And so as we look today, I want to make the case that Jesus all of his life lived by faith.

We don't have that faith in ourselves, but he gives it to us.

And it's by hearing the gospel over and over, by spending that hour every morning contemplating the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes.

That faith is created in our lives and that faith response begins.

Well there is a theologian, not a Seventh-day Adventist, and someone who's not embraced by the evangelical community, Richard Hayes, who's a professor of New Testament at Duke University.

He's written his dissertation on the faith of Jesus, and you can buy his book.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to delve into this in a very deep way.

But a quote from his book that I just think is powerful from Richard Hayes, faith of Jesus should be understood as a concentric expression, which begins always from the faith of Christ Himself, but which includes necessarily the answering faith of the believer who claims that faith as their own.

God is always the initiator of everything in our spiritual life.

It's his faith that he bestows on us, and that is a perfect faith.

The faith of Jesus proves God's faithfulness toward us.

Well actually let me, I was going to put up 1 slide which diagrams a story.

And I didn't think it was really probably right for me to go through a diagram of a story, because the last thing in the world I was was an English major.

But in every good story, there is a battle going on.

And it's no different in the story of the plan of salvation.

In fact, God wants to accomplish the very securing of the whole universe.

God's agent is Jesus Christ, who is in this epic battle to accomplish the purposes of God.

And in accomplishing our salvation, he has an adversary.

Lyndi Schwartz

My Jesus, My King, My Life, My All

As we get started, I want to ask you a question.

I would like, if you have had, if anyone in the room has had ministerial training, I'd like you to stand.

I want you guys to look around the room at those who have stood for ministerial training.

If you are a minister of a pastor or an evangelist or a Bible worker, please sit.

Okay, so those who are standing are not pastors, evangelists, or Bible workers.

The next thing is, how many of you would like Jesus to come very soon?

Father in heaven, You've seen the hands of those who have raised them, desiring your soon return.

As we approach this message today, we ask the outpouring of your Holy Spirit on each 1 of us.

We know that the Holy Spirit is already here, because your word has said that where 2 or 3 are gathered together, there you are in the midst of them.

Open our hearts to receive the word that you have for us today.

First of all, My title is My Jesus, My King, My Life, My All.

On October 30, excuse me, that was on August, on August 8, 1934, the U.S.

Army Air Corps tended a proposal for a multi-engine bomber to replace the Martin B-10.

The Air Corps was looking for a bomber capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama, and Alaska.

The requirements were quite specific and fairly huge.

That particular bomber had to be able to carry a useful bomb load at an altitude of 10, 000 feet for 10 hours with a top speed of at least 200 miles per hour.

They'd have a range of about 2, 000 miles.

The competition for the Air Corps contract would be decided by a fly-off between Boeing's design...

Between Boeing's design, the B299, the Martin model and a Douglas at...

Does anybody know where it was supposed to be?

It was supposed to be at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio.

Ohio, especially specifically Dayton, Ohio, has some value.

The prototype B-17 designated the model 299 was very cool plane.

This plane, now from this distance, I can't read the dimensions, but the wingspan was huge.

Its armament consisted of up to 4, 800 pounds of bombs on 2 racks in the bomb bay behind the cockpit.

It was powered, and I like this, it was powered by 4 Pratt & Whitney R6090 Hornet radial engines.

Each was producing 750 horsepower at 7, 000 feet.

It could fly faster, fly twice as far, and set flight distance records of greater than 3, 000 miles.

If you noticed in the beginning, there were 3 planes.

2 of the planes, the Martin and the other 1, had 2 engines, but the Boeing had 4 engines.

Clearly, the Boeing was going to have a significant advantage.

Richard Williams, a reporter for the Seattle Times, coined this aircraft the Flying Fortress.

When the aircraft rolled out, bristling with multiple gun installations, The most unique gun emplacement was the nose installation.

By the way, I had such an incredible privilege of touring this aircraft in Dayton, Ohio this summer.

Boeing held on to the name the Flying Fortress and had it trademarked for this aircraft.

It was the first combat aircraft that could continue its mission if 1 of its 4 engines failed for any reason.

The Army Air Corps was ready to buy 65 of this model Boeing aircraft.

On October 30, 1935, the day of the fly-off, the captain of this aircraft was Major Ployer Peter Hill.

Ployer is an interesting name, but that was his name.

It turned out that Major Ployer Peter Hill was the most incredible pilot in aviation at that time.

In addition to Major Ployopeter Hill, there were 4 other crew on this aircraft.

That would be called some equipment malfunction.

The plane taxied onto the runway, roared down the tarmac, lifted off smoothly, and climbed quickly to 300 feet.

It stalled, turned on 1 wing, and crashed in a fiery explosion, killing Major Ployer Peter Hill and 1 other crew member.

I need to walk over here so I can see what went wrong.

This aircraft was substantially more complex.

It had 4 engines, retractable landing gear, new wing flacks, electric trim tabs, constant speed propellers whose pitch had to be regulated constantly.

Major employer Peter Hill got this all right.

However, prior to takeoff there was a new stabilizer on the rudder controls and the crew member forgot to disengage this particular stabilizer.

The next day, the newspaper The next day, the newspaper report said that it was too much plane for 1 man to fly.

The army bought smaller, easier to operate planes, and Boeing almost went bankrupt.

And I say almost, because importantly, Boeing instituted some course corrections.

Those course corrections were so efficient that that B-299 became the B-17 bomber.

It became the most significant weapon of World War II for the U.S.

It was involved in strategic bombing campaigns in World War II against German targets, dropping more bombs than any aircraft in World War II.

It was noted, and I love this part, it was noted for its ability to absorb battle damage.

It could be cut and slashed and still reach its target, bringing its crew home safely.

In fact, it was reported that 1 such bomber suffered such incredible damage it had been reported shot down.

But indeed, the plane survived and brought its crew home without injury.

For many reasons, the B-17 Flying Fortress became an icon of American power and the symbol of the Air Force.

I want us this morning to open our Bibles.

We're going to look at 3 passages of scripture.

The first is in Numbers, the book of Numbers.

We'll be going to Chapter 14, although we are going to do a little review in Chapter 13.

The text we were going to be focusing on is Numbers Chapter 14, verses 20 and 21.

Building Faith in our Patients and Families

Our Father in heaven, just so grateful for the blessings that we've received these past 3 days as we've fellowshiped together.

As we come to the final meeting, there's always a knot in my stomach as we realize that this is coming to a close.

And as we separate from the sweet fellowship that we've enjoyed, I just pray that you would be with each 1.

Each 1 here as they travel, but more so each 1 here As we go back to our daily work as physicians, dentists, health care workers, as spouses and family that supports that work, I just pray that we will be inspired to learn more from the master physician and the master teacher about what true medical missionary work will look like in these last days.

Remove the impediments in my mind this morning that your Holy Spirit may have complete access to speak to each heart today.

Well just as a way of review, on Friday morning we talked a little bit about the faith of Jesus Christ.

In the Greek that is, Pistas Iesu Christos, the faith of Jesus.

Translators have wrestled with the idea that if it's even possible for God who knows everything, the beginning and the end, to have faith.

Because faith is seeing what does not now exist.

And we realized and we studied the fact that Jesus lived every single moment and every single day of his life by faith, by faith in his Father.

And the ultimate demonstration of faith was when Jesus submitted even to the death of the cross.

And as he held out on the cross, feeling forsaken of his father, did his father forsake him?

No, But he felt forsaken because of the weight of sin that was causing the separation that caused him not to be able to feel his father's presence.

He hung on to realizing in his past experience that God had never forsaken him before, and he hung on to the prophecies in God's Word that stood true.

That even though his experience told him that he was not coming through this alive, that he was not gonna see through the portals of the tomb, as Ellen White said in Desire of Ages, page 753.

And there has only been 1 truly just righteous person that has lived in this world, that's Jesus Christ.

And the faith that he wrought out on the cross that day is the only perfect faith.

And He offers that faith to you and to me.

And so we talked, we looked at Romans, and we looked at various places where most of our modern translations interpret that if we have faith in Jesus, we justify God.

No, it's the faith of Jesus that justifies God.

And there's nothing wrong with putting your faith in Jesus, but if we're relying on my faith, it's a shaky faith.

It's not the tested, true faith of Jesus that He gives to each 1 of us.

And so if we can just turn the formula around 180 degrees and claim the faith of Jesus working in my life, that's a powerful faith.

That takes my eyes off of my own weakness and it puts it on who?

Jesus Christ, the source of true faith that was demonstrated on the cross.

All right, if I can put my cards back together here in a little bit of an order, I'm going to tell you a story early in my practice.

Early in my practice, before I came to the first AMEN meeting, I had a patient I'll call Tammy.

Those of us with a little bit of health care knowledge, it's a scary thing sometimes.

Tammy had started off in Cincinnati being convinced that she had a cardiac illness.

Tammy would pass out frequently, just come on her all of a sudden she would just suddenly pass out.

She had convinced somebody that she needed a pacemaker and the pacemaker was placed in Cincinnati and within just a few months of having the pacemaker placed it became infected.

She had a long, prolonged course of antibiotics, ultimately had to have the pacemaker taken out.

She was such an annoying person that she had bounced from practice to practice to practice.

She had been to 3 different practices in Cincinnati and now before she came to see me, she had been in 4 different groups in Dayton.

She had been in between everything between Cincinnati and Dayton.

Finally, again, somebody put a heart monitor on her, and she was passing out, and you can jiggle the monitor in such a way that it looks like you're having ventricular tachycardia.

She'd had 3 heart casts that were all normal.

She'd had multiple echocardiograms that were all normal.

But Through whatever she did, she convinced somebody to put a defibrillator in her.

6 months later, it became completely infected.

While she had the defibrillator in, she never had an arrhythmia, Never had a problem, continued to pass out.

1 of the internists in our town, who's an AMEN member, saw her.

He didn't think it was really a cardiac problem either, but he asked if I'd see her, and so she wound up coming to my practice.

This is like 7 practices in the last 4 years.

She'd been kicked out 1 after another after another after they'd tried and did things, but because she was so annoying.

Within the first day of visiting, I was a little bit skeptical of her story, but I wanted to get all the records and see what exactly had happened.

By the way, she now had a loop recorder that was implanted under the skin.

The loop recorder can stay in for 2 to 3 years.

That had been in for the last 2 years, and it had never, that had never recorded an arrhythmia.

But she still gave a history of, oh yeah, she passes out almost every day.

And I was beginning to think that she probably had psychogenic syncope.

She started calling my nurse 2 to 3 times a day, every single day.

Every 1 of you that's in practice has encountered somebody like this.

My nurse, within just a couple of weeks, said, you've got to get rid of this lady.

It's all little annoying nitpicky things.

And so I got her records, I looked over everything, and I'm usually a fairly patient person, but my nurse was starting to drive me crazy.

Series

Morning Devotional

Building Faith in our Patients and Families

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

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