GYC 2021: Nothing

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Laodicea Study

Justin Kim

Gold Tried in the Fire

For the next about 30 minutes or so, maybe 20, maybe 40, depending on our time, how elastic it is, I'll be giving a recap from this day, and then tomorrow we'll be going through a similar format, but with Pastor Chester Clark on the White Raiment.

Before we start, I'd like to ask that you bow your heads and we'll get started for this recap part.

This is the official conclusion of this seminar portion of this day.

So if you can Bow your heads, please, let's pray together.

Gracious Father, we're experimenting with the format and we thank you for your goodness.

And we thank you that you have been in the midst of us, speaking to us and using small groups.

Father, Lord, we ask as we focus and concentrate for the next 30 minutes or so, we ask once again for your Holy Spirit to speak to us in a way that you've never spoken to us before.

Once again, please open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 3, verse 14 through 22, where we see the message to Laodicea.

I want to give you 5 points on this gold that we've talked about, this faith.

In verse, let's see, verse 18, I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire.

This book of Revelation gets all of its cues from the rest of the Old Testament and rest of the Bible.

I am good friends with Sebastian Braxton, who will be preaching later on today.

And I remember when he first took me to a Middle Eastern restaurant.

And there was, I forgot what we ate, falafel probably, or something, some kind of wrap.

And then there was this red spice on top.

And me, this is about what, 20, 25 years ago, and I don't know, I didn't know what this red spice was.

Hey, friend who is introducing me to this new cuisine.

And he looked over and with all seriousness and with all scholarly dignity, oh, that is a red spice.

And he did not realize the obviousness of that answer.

And he was convincing me that that was the real name, that was Red Spice.

On top of your hummus and your baba ghanoush.

You should have this with your inside group.

And so next time, from the next 25 or whatever years that we've been friends, every time we go out to eat, whether there's red spice or not, I just say the word red spice and he busts out laughing and those who know the inside joke know the inside joke.

And then when you're from you get together and be like, oh yeah, banana!

And everyone else who's not part of the inside are like, what are you talking about, banana?

Revelation will take all these motifs from the Old and the rest of the New Testament.

So Revelation in a sense is the pinnacle book to understand.

It is the the ultimate book that Seventh-day Adventist should understand especially in these last times.

But in order to understand the book of Revelation, you need to understand Genesis to Jude.

So here, when we see that Jesus is saying, by of me, verse 18, I advise you, and you can do that with every verse of Revelation.

It's taking red spice, it's taking bananas, it's taking French fries from all over the Old Testament.

You cannot impose meaning into the frogs.

We've got to find where frogs are described in the Old Testament.

Anyway, in verse 18, I advise you to buy from me gold.

If you have your Bibles, you can turn there.

But it gets it from Isaiah 55 where the Lord says, come, buy of me, and buy that which you cannot buy with money or with, and Isaiah's criticizing Israel, like hey, why are you buying things that money cannot buy?

And it goes into his prophetic element there.

The whole point is this, Jesus tells us that we need to buy faith and love.

The whole point of why we need to buy this from the Lord Jesus is we have to acknowledge we have no faith or no love to begin with.

Laodicea to a certain degree thinks they have enough merit, enough love, enough faith, so they don't need to abide.

They don't have to have a transactional interaction with the Lord Jesus because they think, I'm good.

We need to get to a point where we see this backdrop.

When I first saw this backdrop, I thought, this is really weird, it's very science fiction-y, it's a black hole, what is this a picture of?

And last night's message, The heart is desperately wicked.

Where every individual, not as a corporate entity, we need to come to a point where each 1 of us says the goodness in my heart looks like that black hole.

I have no faith, I have no love, And because I am in a state of nothing, I must go to the source who has that." Now, intellectually, theoretically, theologically, you may be all aware of this, but this needs to come out in the practical, spiritual life as affected in the holiness and sanctified living that we have.

Jesus says, buy of me, get it from Jesus Christ himself.

All it takes is you call him up and make the transaction.

You send it through, you know, Cash App or Zelle or whatever you want, get it to the Lord Jesus and there is no fee to get these things.

Number 2, the gold tried in the fire is faith that works by love.

This is Colossians and this is the quote that I mentioned in the question that you answered this afternoon.

Only this can bring us into harmony with God.

We may be active, we may do much work, but without love, such love as dwelt in the heart of Christ, we can never be numbered with the family of heaven.

Now I've used these terms faith and love and if we're not careful because of cliche Christianity we're like oh he's talking about faith, he's talking about love, oh we know this, I got this, I've learned that since I was in in cradle roll or beginner whatever.

Biblical faith is radically different from regular faith.

And when I talk about faith in the lowercase f, we can have faith in all sorts of things, right?

You can turn on your phone, you have faith in your phone, You have faith that Apple makes good products or you have faith that Samsung makes good products.

You have faith that you'll wake up in the morning.

You have faith that you know that when Marvel says we have the next 5 years of movies planned out, you have faith that Marvel will continue with that plan with the whole, you know, whatever.

When Facebook says we're going to change our name, you have faith that they will follow through and expect that.

Chester Clark

White Raiment Part 1

That's not really the answer I was hoping to hear.

You know, I mean, yeah, we always enjoy hearing God's Word preached, right?

But there's something about the Laodicean message which should make us uncomfortable.

I almost think that if the straight testimony of the true witnesses is being shared here in Houston this week, that some of these messages won't be that enjoyable, even if they are a blessing.

Today I believe that we are living too late in earth's history for smooth messages.

You know, the prophet Ezekiel was told by God, listen to what they're saying in the houses and in the streets about you.

They say, let's go hear this preacher, let's go hear these sermons, for your voice is as 1 who sings a song really well and plays well on a musical instrument." They loved preaching, but God continued and He said, they hear your words, but they don't do them.

Somehow, I think that in the last days, Laodicea, as we've heard last night, as we've been hearing in the morning, Laodicea needs to be shaken from its complacency, don't we?

Somehow, God's Word needs to come close and cut us to the quick.

Somehow, we need to be challenged and made uncomfortable.

I pray that the messages you hear, Not just from here on the platform, but as you study the Word of God, I pray that whether enjoyable or not, they will all be a blessing.

And they will challenge you and provoke you to search your heart and to think once again about your soul's condition.

At the risk of being accused of reductionism, I want to simplify the gospel this morning.

I think there are only 2 things that you and I need to know in order to be saved.

Now, I'm not saying that's all you're ever going to know, that you're not going to keep learning, but there's only 2 things you really need to know in order to be saved.

The first 1, you need to know who you are.

And the second, you and I need to know who God is.

I think that if we didn't have any other knowledge yet, if we didn't have any other knowledge about the last days or end times or doctrines or all those other things, If we simply knew who I am and who my God is, I would have enough, we would have enough knowledge in order to have a saving experience with Jesus Christ.

And the Laodicean message, beloved, the Laodicean message is calculated to show us those 2 things, who we are and who God is.

Let's have a prayer as we begin here this morning.

Father in heaven, we thank You that You've given us Your Word.

We thank You that Your Word is faithful, That You, the Living Word, have given us a straight testimony.

That You are the true witness, that You do tell us what we need to hear, even if it's not what we want to hear or like to hear.

And today, Father, I just want to pray that You will speak to my heart, that You'll speak to each heart here through Your Word, which is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword.

We ask for Your Spirit to be here, and we ask it in Jesus' name.

We're going to talk first about the first bit of knowledge, who we are, who I am.

There's a bit of a problem with the human experience.

In the human experience, we all know about it, we're going to study it more, you're going to study it more in your breakout sessions.

There was a problem called the Fall when mankind moved away from obedience to God and to His Word and the planet went into rebellion.

And because of that, we are broken people.

We are people in rebellion against the law of God.

We're not subject to the things of God, neither indeed can be.

Our heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.

We have a problem, a lost condition that is innate and inherent in our natural state.

And the problem for Laodicea is not a unique problem in that a human… the human circumstances, the human conditions are such that we want to have external, physical things that we can do in order to remedy our situation.

You hear Adventists being accused of legalism.

If you look at every false religion around the world, every religion around the world, except, I believe, the religion of salvation by grace through faith, If you look at every other religion, it is predicated upon man doing something in order to appease God or to earn credit or salvation or benefit with God.

That is a natural response of the fallen heart.

I want to share with you what Ellen White says in the book Desire of Ages, page 300.

She says, the proud heart strives to earn salvation.

To earn salvation, but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found, " where?

Toward the recovery of man until convinced of his own weakness and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the control of God.

Then he can receive the gift that heaven is waiting to bestow from the soul that feels his need." How much?

Here you have the 2 nothings that we should be getting excited about and learning about here at GYC.

The nothing that God can do until we realize how nothing we are, and the nothing that's withheld from us when We have realized our true condition and our need for Him.

The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until convinced of his own weakness and stripped of all self-sufficiency, He yields Himself to the control of God.

You see, we have a problem as religionists.

We have a problem as Seventh-day Adventist Christians.

And I want to tell you this morning, I'm unapologetically, unashamedly a Seventh-day Adventist Christian.

I love the message that God has given us, the 3 angels' message, to take to the entire world.

I believe that this is God's movement for this time, but I also believe that it's dangerous to be a Seventh-day Adventist.

It's dangerous – listen to me carefully – it's dangerous to be a good person.

Look with me in your Bibles in the book of Matthew.

We're looking at today specifically at the white raiment, the white raiment that is offered to the Laodiceans.

But I want us to sort of set the table here as we get into the study.

You're going to be looking at in much more detail at the symbolism and the meaning and the experience of the White Raiment as you study the Word of God together in your breakout rooms.

But here in Matthew chapter 21, we find the parable of the 2 sons, and Jesus says to His listeners, "'But what do you think?' A man had 2 sons." Matthew 21, beginning at verse 28, "'A man had 2 sons, and he came to the first and said, "'Son, go work today in my vineyard.' And he answered and said, "'I will not.' But afterward he regretted it and went.

Then he came to the second and said likewise, and he said, "'I go, sir.' but he did not go.

Which of the 2 did the will of his father?

And before they caught themselves, the Pharisees blurted out the obvious answer, the first.

Jesus said to them, "'Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you, for John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him.

But tax collectors and harlots believed him, and when you sought, you did not afterward relent and believe Him." I want you to understand a little bit of what Jesus was saying here in the context of that day.

If He were speaking today, He would be speaking to us as Sunday Adventist Christians, as Laodiceans.

He would be speaking to us perhaps even as GYC-ers, and He would be saying, the mafia bosses and the drug cartel kingpins will, and the prostitutes, will enter the kingdom of heaven before you." Now that should be an uncomfortable message for us, as it was for them.

What Jesus is here saying is that the person who is farthest from the kingdom of heaven – listen to me carefully – the person who is farthest from the kingdom of heaven is not the cartel kingpins or the prostitutes, but the good person sitting in the pew who is not converted.

Laodicea is in the worst possible condition.

You see, the most dangerous condition, The condition farthest from salvation is that of the professed but unconverted Christian.

Why is it better to be a drug pusher than a pew warmer?

There are benefits to living a good Adventist lifestyle even if you're not converted, right?

But we're talking about salvation here, aren't we?

Why would Jesus make this kind of a contrast between good religionists, who may just not be perfect, but they were good people.

White Raiment Part 2

And for coming early this evening and being a part of our recap for our latest CES study.

I hope that you were able to take part in those small groups and enjoyed studying the Bible and discussing those verses yourselves.

You know, when we think about GYC, When I think about GYC, I think a lot about how GYC began with a movement of young people passionate about studying the Bible.

And if I could just make a little bit of a confession here, I'm 1 of the old people around GYC now.

I have… I had the opportunity to be at the first GYC at Pine Springs Ranch in 2002.

I think I gave a sermon on how to plan mission trips for young people and how to maybe give Bible studies or something like that.

But in 19 years that have gone by, there's been a lot of GYCs.

There's been a lot of change in the world around us.

There's been… There's been a lot of, I guess you might say, a lot of change even within GYC and the Adventist church.

A lot of things have happened in our world.

1 thing is very, very much the same still though, and that is that we still look forward to Jesus coming soon.

And my heart is a little bit heavy when I consider the fact that that group of young people who in 2002 said, we want Jesus to come in our generation, almost 20 years on, it's really that mantle is falling on a new generation.

There's a… there's a new group of young people who need to become passionate the same way that that group of young people was to continue the work of the great Advent movement and to take the 3 angels' messages to the whole world.

Whether or not Jesus has come, the reality is, the reality is that your generation is the only generation that can reach the world during your generation.

And so this is a tremendous responsibility and a great privilege to be able to be a part of a movement of young people with a purpose, a purpose to take the 3 angels' messages to the world in our generation.

Well, we're going to do just a bit of a review this evening from the things that we have talked about this morning as well as the things that you studied in your discussion groups.

And I'm going to invite you just to bow your heads with me for a word of prayer as we begin.

Father in heaven, today we are grateful for the Sabbath.

We're thankful that we have the privilege on this Friday night of reflecting on 2021, thanking you and praising you for your goodness, thanking you and praising you for your grace, and also looking forward to a new year beginning.

As this is a high Sabbath, the beginning of a new year and the last day of GYC, we just want to commit our hearts and our lives to You.

I want to pray for each person here, each person that's still on their way to this auditorium, each person that's listening online or watching this video in the future.

Lord, I want to pray that they might be blessed by the study of Your Word, that they might be inspired and challenged as they consider the white raiment that You have offered for them.

We thank you and we ask for your presence in the name of Jesus.

This morning we talked about how salvation can really be simplified, at least the knowledge essential for salvation can be simplified to 2 pieces of information.

I realize that some might feel this is a bit of reductionism.

I'm not saying that's all you'll ever know.

God will continue to teach you, but in order to have that saving relationship with Jesus, you really only need to know 2 things.

The first, you need to know who you are, and second, you need to know who God is.

We talked this morning about how the Laodicean message is designed by God to give us those 2 pieces of information, who we are, which we focused on mostly this morning, and who God is, which we'll be focusing on a little bit more this evening.

I think some people might ask, well, Just because I know I'm a sinner, just because I know I'm lost, just because I know I have nothing in myself that can commend myself to God that I can't earn my salvation, just because I know who I am and I know now that God is love, does that necessarily mean that I'm going to choose to be saved?

The answer is no, because knowledge never never surpasses or never eclipses our freedom of choice, right?

Salvation still requires a choice, because in a paradigm where God is love, which I believe to be the truth, He cannot coerce or force Himself even to force salvation or eternal life on anyone.

It has to be a volitional act of the person entering into relationship with God in order to be a loving relationship.

And yet, Ellen White says in Desire of Ages, page 22, to know God is To what?

I think it's an inspired limb here, and I'm going to say that if you truly catch a glimpse of who you are, if you know who you are, and you actually understand who God is, If you understand something about the character of God, you are going to be drawn to Him.

We love Him because we see His character revealed in His Word, in His providences, in His actions and involvement in our lives.

So turn with me in your Bibles now to the Laodicean message.

We're going to spend just a few minutes to look in Revelation chapter 3 at the message to the Laodiceans and what we can see very briefly.

We don't have time to unpack or expound on any of these things, but I want us to look very briefly at a number of attributes of God which are found in the Laodicean message.

Revelation chapter 3 and we're going to begin at verse 15.

We've already talked about the characteristics in, Or I haven't, but Justin yesterday talked about the true witness.

Verse 15 says, I know your works, you are neither cold nor hot.

The first thing that we see about Jesus, the true witness, in this passage is that He knows all about us.

Well, it's important because not only does God know all about us, but He still loves us." You see, as Callie was talking about yesterday morning, she was talking about how, you know, you never know if someone really cares about you If there's something that you don't, haven't revealed that they don't know about you that might change how they feel.

The good news about God is He knows all about us and He still loves us.

In fact, Revelation chapter 3, the Laodicean message defines God as a God of love.

Look with me down at Revelation chapter 3 and verse 19.

In other words, this straight testimony that He's bringing to us that we are hopelessly lost and we think everything's fine, which is the worst, most dangerous condition a human being can be in regarding their salvation.

This message is a message that's coming from a heart of love.

God knows everything about me, and He still loves me unconditionally, completely and unconditionally.

So Jesus knows all about me, he knows all about you, and yet he loves us still.

Skip with me back 2 times here in this message.

I find another attribute of God, verse 18, Revelation Chapter 3 and verse 18, he says, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire.

Now we often take our eyes and we place them right on the gold refined in the fire, and we understand what that means.

But have you ever thought much about that phrase that precedes the gold tried in the fire.

This reveals something about the character of God.

The God who knows you completely, intimately, everything about you, and the God who loves you the same, the God who knows everything, who is always right, who knows the end from the beginning.

He could be the type that said, you know, you should do this, you have to do this, it's the only sensible thing to do.

But God comes to us and He says, I counsel you.

What does that tell us about the character of God?

Look with me down in verse 20, "'Behold, I stand at the door and' – what does it say – "'and knock.'" We're not talking about knocking with a battering ram.

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Laodicea Study

Laodicea Study Recap

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Parts

Gold Tried in the Fire

32m

White Raiment Part 1

35m

White Raiment Part 2

37m

Laodicea Study Recap

30m

Sound Doctrine