GYC 2012 Acts: The Revolution Continues

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

GYC 2012 Evening Devotional

David Shin

If I Had a Thousand Lives to Live

This message was presented at the GYC 2012 conference in Seattle, Washington.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

Thank you so much for that beautiful special music.

Before I forget, I'll try to remind you later, after we pray for the evening devotional and we close, programming has asked me to ask you to remain in your seats.

There is another part to the program after the evening devotional.

I'd like to invite you to bow your heads with me as we pray this evening.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for this opportunity that we have to come into your presence.

We recognize tonight that your strength is perfect when our strength is gone.

As we talk about revolution, As we talk about how you moved in the book of Acts, how priorities were shifted in the hearts of your people, we pray that you would speak to us.

We pray that Christ would be uplifted, that Jesus would be seen.

Cover us with your robe of righteousness here tonight.

May our hearts be drawn closer and closer to you.

This evening I'd like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Psalms chapter 90 verses 10 through 12.

The book of Psalms chapter 90 verses 10 through 12.

Revolutions, even though they are corporate events, always begin with individual change.

God always changes the world by changing me.

Revolutions, even though they are mass scale, always begin with an individual conversion.

A conversion is a reorganization of the thoughts and priorities of the hearts.

It's a radical experience, and as Pastor Wes Peppers mentioned this morning, it begins the process with repentance.

And this evening, I'd like for us to reflect on some scriptures that show us that there are certain times in our human experience when even unconverted individuals recognize heaven's values.

The Bible tells us what is important, what we should live for, but there are certain innate experiences that help us to recognize what is ultimately important in life.

In Psalms 90 verses 10 through 12, It's a reflection by the psalmist and he says, the days of our lives are 70 years.

And if by reason of strength they are 80 years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger, for as in the fear of you so is your wrath.

So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of understanding." The Bible tells us that life is short.

And he says here, even back in the days of the psalmist, he says they are 70 years and if by reason of strength they are 80 years.

The Bible is telling us that it is good for us to recognize our mortality, that we do not live forever.

So the psalmist goes on and says, so teach us to number our days.

We need to count, to calculate, to recognize that life is short and this helps us to gain a heart of understanding.

And so this morning, with your permission, I'd like to Have us meditate for a little bit about the brevity of life.

It says to number our days, so I want to take this literally.

Let's say that you live to 70, and I pray that you live longer if the Lord doesn't come, amen?

But just for the sake of illustration, let's use the psalmist's example and say you live to 70 years of age.

That comes to, if you multiply 365 by 70, 25, 550 days.

If you are 20 years of age, you have 18, 250 days left.

If you are 35, and you paid the penalty for being over 35, you have 12, 775 days left.

James says in James chapter 4 verse 14, "'Whereas you know not what shall be tomorrow, for what is your life?

It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.'" Life is short, life is finite.

I remember my grandmother telling me in 1 of those moments that I had that I treasure, she was sitting down with me at the table in my home, and she said, David, I want to tell you a reflection of my life.

She told me how she escaped from North Korea, went to Japan as a missionary, came to America, worked her fingers to the bone to provide an education for her family.

Finally, she said she got to the point in her life where she could breathe a sigh of relief and then she looked in the mirror and she was over 70 years of age.

And it's in this moment that the Bible tells us, reflecting upon our own mortality, that it shows us something about values.

It said for the average American who leaves college at 22 and lives to be 70, so average college student graduates 22, you live to be 70, It's 48 years from 22 to 70 the adult lifespan Can be broken down into a few key activities You'll spend 16 years working 16 years if you were to compress that time that 16 years non-stop without taking breaks for eating, sleeping, or vacationing.

The next biggest drain on your time, they say on average it's media.

They said you could spend up to 8 years watching television on the internet or other sources.

2 years commuting for the average American.

And when you subtract all these things, 16 years working, 15 years sleeping, 4 years eating, 8 years in media, 2 years commuting, you have less than 4 years to do what you actually like.

Time with a spouse or loved 1, time with the children and grandchildren, outings and vacations, it comes down to 1 12th of your life.

And tragically, most of that time will be postponed to a period called retirement, when many people no longer enjoy the health needed to live life to the fullest.

It is a vapor that lives and appears for a time and vanishes away.

Psalms 39 verse 5 says, indeed, you have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before you.

Certainly every man at his best state is but a vapor.

Psalms 103, 15 and 16, for as a man his days are like grass, as a flower of the field so he flourishes.

For as the wind passes over it and it is gone, and it remembers it no more." Billy Graham, that American evangelist, said, the greatest surprise to me is the brevity of life.

Life is short, so the obvious question is, how should I spend it?

If you only have a few moments to actually do, to actually be, to actually prioritize what should I do, how should I spend my life, how should I spend my time.

Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2, that great experiential chapter from the wisest man that ever lived, in a personal reflection upon life, says these words, Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 2.

He says, better to go to the house of what?

He says, better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart." Solomon is saying that it's better to go to a funeral than to a wedding.

If I had my choice, I would rather go to a wedding." Solomon is not saying that we should go to funerals because He's a melancholy individual.

He is saying that funerals, places of mourning, help the living to recognize their mortality.

And it's in this event that priorities and values are recognized.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of going to Africa on a mission trip.

And I noticed immediately that economic poverty does not equate spiritual lethargy.

People would stop me in the jungle and say, do you have any literature?

And it was an experience where I saw souls come to Christ.

There was an element of discomfort though, and it seems like even in the States, whenever I'm in a place that is more tropical, I don't know if it's because I'm Asian or because of my blood, but it seems like I can be in a place and no 1 else is getting bit by mosquitoes, but they're just swarming all around me.

I had multiple welts all over my body, but I said, hey, this is for missions, this is for the Lord.

Even a Glimpse

Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things.

And tonight, Father, we pray for your help.

We pray for your Holy Spirit to be poured out upon us here tonight.

We pray that Jesus would be seen, that Christ would be uplifted, that all of us would be drawn to the character of Jesus Christ, that we might become changed, transformed, reformed, that we would recognize that the world is changed by you changing me.

Tonight I'd like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians… Actually 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 22 through 27.

Second Corinthians chapter 11, verses 22 through 27.

I'll be reading from the New King James Version, you can follow along in whatever version you have.

Paul here is listing some of the sufferings and some of the challenges that he's had in ministry.

And he starts out in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 22 by saying, are they Hebrews?

In stripes, above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

From the Jews, 5 times I've received 40 stripes minus 1.

A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Paul is arguably the most influential apostle of the New Testament.

He wrote 13 out of the 27 books of the New Testament.

The majority of the second half of the book of Acts is devoted to Paul's missionary labors.

If anyone embodied the spirit of revolution in the New Testament, it was the Apostle Paul.

If it was anyone that was possessed of the mission, the gospel commission to take the gospel to the world in his generation, it was Paul.

He could write later with his own pen that the gospel had gone to every creature under heaven.

It has been said that Paul's influence on Christian thinking arguably has been more significant than any other New Testament author.

Yet we read here in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 22 through 27 that this revolutionary apostle paid a high personal price.

Let's not romanticize revolution here tonight.

Revolution is always born in personal sacrifice.

Not that there's any merit in sacrifice, not that we're saved through sacrifice, But sacrifice is a result of being a follower of Jesus Christ.

Revolutions always come at great personal cost.

It's easy to talk about and tough to live, and today in Christianity there is presented a crossless Christ for a crossless Christian.

It's estimated that he traveled over 10, 000 miles in the book of Acts on his missionary journeys.

Over 4, 000 of those miles probably on foot.

Here was an individual that was motivated to take the gospel to the world and as we have just read here tonight, the Apostle Paul whipped 5 times, beaten with rods 3 times, shipwrecked 3 times, Robbed, beaten by Jews and Gentiles, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, ultimately martyrdom.

And here our question tonight as we begin our study in Scripture.

What possessed an individual to ultimately give up his life for the sake of the cause of Christ.

What was it in Paul's psyche and thinking that drove him, that propelled him, that compelled him to keep on moving, even though there was difficulty, odds beyond measure that we cannot even imagine.

You remember in the book of Acts that John Mark came with Paul and Silas.

He was a young adult, a young person, and he couldn't handle it.

The cost was too great, and he had to leave.

That later became a subject of great contention between Paul and Silas.

Silas actually wanted to give him a second chance and Paul said no.

Later on he would recognize the ministry of John Mark, but Paul was an individual that was driven, that was compelled, that was motivated.

What was it that drove the Apostle Paul to such lengths to give everything that he had to take the gospel to the world?

I as a minister of the gospel have many times in my own personal reflection had to think about my motivations for service.

And I'll be honest with you that in my own introspection, the deeper I go into my own soul, I recognize that there are many times selfish motivations.

I find that it's possible to do the right things for the wrong reasons.

And here we see an unprecedented individual that literally was instrumental by the grace of God in changing the landscape of Christianity and taking the gospel beyond the borders of Judaism to the entire world in his generation?

What was it that drove the Apostle Paul to such lengths?

What impelled him to take the gospel to the world regardless of the cost?

What was the motivation in the book of Acts?

With this question in mind, I'd like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 12, we're given insight into the mind of the Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul, Hebrews Chapter 12, verses 1, 2, and 3.

Therefore, since we are Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, Let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

I'd like to spend a little bit of time in this passage, and it begins in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, with the words, therefore.

Now whenever you're studying the Bible and you come across the word, therefore, the word therefore is a concluding statement or concluding word.

You have the premise and then you have, therefore, 1 of my favorite subjects in school was geometry.

I didn't care so much for algebra, but I loved geometry.

Some of you may remember that from from your high school days And we would write down these proofs and we would list the reasons, the premise, and then we would come down to the end and there were those 3 dots therefore conclusion.

The word therefore, this is Paul's punchline.

This is his application of what he's trying to convey to the Hebrews.

So we have to go to what is before the word therefore.

The chapter before Hebrews 12 is Hebrews chapter 11.

I'm not going to read through the entirety of Hebrews chapter 11, but I just want to highlight a few verses that have kind of stuck out at me.

So, let's go to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1.

I promise I won't read the entire chapter.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Verse 4, by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying to his gifts, and through it being dead still speaks." Verse 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.

The Highest Honor

Let's bow our heads together as we pray tonight.

Father in heaven, it's the last night of 2012.

The unwritten pages of history are before us.

Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would be in this place, that we would get a glimpse of the sacrifice that Christ made for us on Calvary, and that that would compel us to respond.

Father, we pray tonight that you would grant us a divine passion to take the gospel to the world in this generation.

Lord, we recognize that before men and angels, that we are a spectacle unto the universe, and we pray tonight that you would be in this place, that your Holy Spirit would be poured out.

May Jesus be seen, may Christ be uplifted, For we ask these things in Jesus' name.

Tonight, before we open our Bibles, I want to be very clear from the beginning that tonight's message is in the context of last night's presentation.

As a minister of the Gospel, it's always been my passion and burden to always give us a picture of what God has done for us before presenting what we must do in response.

God never asks us to do anything, no matter the sacrifice, without first presenting to us what Christ did for us on Calvary.

And so I want us to remember tonight as We open our Bibles that it's in the context of Christ being our motivation.

That the subjective response is to the objective passion of God for us.

And so tonight, very quickly, I'd like to give us a panoramic picture of the rapid expansion in the book of Acts.

I pray tonight that you have brought your Bibles because especially tonight, in order for this message to be the most meaningful, you're going to need your Bibles.

Last night we spent the majority of our time in 1 passage, Hebrews chapter 12.

We're going to be going to multiple passages here tonight, and I'd like to begin in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2, a panoramic picture of the rapid expansion in the book of Acts.

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3000 souls were what?

Praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord what?

Added to the church daily those who were being saved.

How many of those who heard the word believed And the number of the men came to about 5, 000.

Rapid expansion, rapid growth, baptisms, churches being raised up.

And the believers were increasingly what?

I know it's been a long conference, but… And the believers were increasingly what?

Added To the Lord multitudes of both men and women.

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and great many of the priests were obedient to the faith." Acts chapter 9, verse 31.

29 verse 31, then the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, Samaria had peace and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and they were multiplied." The Word of God spread.

There were many people added to the church.

So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

So, the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Acts chapter 28, last chapter of the book of Acts, talking about Paul, Acts chapter 28, verse 30 and 31.

Then Paul dwelt 2 whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no 1 forbidding him." We're seeing rapid expansion in the Book of Acts, added, words like multiplied, increased, daily, spread, grew.

Paul alone traveled over 10, 000 miles spearheading unprecedented growth in the early Christian church.

Baptisms, church plants, miracles, They took the gospel to the world in their generation.

Paul could write with his own pen that the gospel had gone to every creature under heaven.

The landscape of the entire Roman Empire was dramatically changed in 1 generation.

The disciples were overjoyed and astonished at the greatness of the harvest of souls." Listen to this.

They did not regard this wonderful ingathering as the result of their own efforts." Let me read that again.

They did not regard this wonderful ingathering as a result of their own efforts.

They realized they were entering into other men's labors.

It would have been very exciting to live during the time of Acts.

But we need to recognize here tonight that these are the fruits of revelation.

And in order for us to understand the fruits of revolution, we need to understand the roots.

We need to understand the beginning and the origin.

And if you want to understand Seventh-day Adventism, biblical Christianity, we need to understand Genesis 1, Amen?

If we came from evolution, it dramatically changes our identity.

That's why children that are separated from their parents at an early age, when they get to a certain age, they want to find their parents.

Because in finding their parents, there's an element of finding themselves.

When we're looking at the results of revolution, rapid growth, rapid expansion, We need to recognize that these are the fruits and not the roots In order for us to understand the book of Acts we need to go to the DNA The origins of this revolution, what made it possible.

I'd like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 1, verse 12 through 22, we're able to see a hint into the roots of revolution in the book of Acts.

The disciples recognized that this was not the result of their own labors, that they were building upon the efforts of other men that had gone before them.

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Alaveth, which was near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day journey.

And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were standing, Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, the son of Alpheus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James, they all continued in 1 accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples all together, the number of the names was about 120, and said, men and brother, Scripture hath been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who were arrested, those who rusted Jesus.

For he was numbered with us and obtained a part of this ministry.

Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity, falling headlong, he burst open in the mist, all his entrails gushed out.

And it became known to those dwelling in Jerusalem so that the field is called in their own language a Kel-dama, that is, field of blood.

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let this dwelling place be desolate and let no 1 live in it, let another take his office." They were about to choose another apostle to replace Judas.

And I want you to notice in the next verse the qualification for being 1 of the original 12 apostles.

These were the building blocks of the early Christian church.

They were going to replace Judas, a very important selection.

These individuals were going to be the pioneers of revolution.

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GYC 2012 Evening Devotional

The Highest Honor

Transcript

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