Nick O'Conner 4-6-24 Look and Live

The speaker begins by reading Hebrews 12:1-2 and mentions that it is one of their favorite passages. They then discuss their struggle to find a message to share and how they were inspired by a comment on Hebrews 12 in the book Acts of the Apostles. The main focus of the message is on the cross of Christ and its significance in demonstrating God's love and saving humanity. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the cross and how it brings us closer to God. They also discuss the need for humility and the work of the Holy Spirit in understanding the beauty of the cross. The speaker then goes on to read and discuss various scriptures that highlight the love and power of the cross, emphasizing the transformation that occurs when we behold the cross and become like Christ. The message concludes with a reminder to behold the love of Christ and the potential for us to become children of God through faith in His sacrifice. If you want to turn to Hebrews 12 1 & 2, this is our scripture, 12 1 & 2, and then after I read this Nick will come up and give us our message. Hebrews 12 1 & 2. Hebrews 12 reads like this, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the 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 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. Good morning everyone. So the passage we just read, Hebrews 12 1 & 2, is one of my favorites in the Bible and I was struggling a little bit with what to share with you guys and just kept having different ideas and nothing really stood out and kept praying about it, kept thinking about it and I went to this verse in Hebrews 12 and the Bible that I have also has some of the Ellen White comments in it and I read this verse and then there was a comment on it on the next page that just like really struck me and I was really blessed by this verse and then the comment on it and so that's kind of the inspiration for today's message and before I, because we just read the verse, but before I read the comment on it I'll just invite you to to bow your heads with me as we pray. Father in heaven, Lord, it's a privilege to be able to share your word and to just study your word together and Father, we invite just the presence of your Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and our minds and our hearts as we search your scriptures and as we, Lord, just reach out to you in faith and I pray, Lord, that you would prepare the soil of our hearts that we may receive the good seed of your word and that it may bear fruit in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, so Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 and then the commentary that kind of went along with that is found in the book Acts of the Apostles. So Acts of the Apostles and this is from page 209 but I'm going to read the quote and then we'll discuss it a little bit and today is going to be not as much of a sermon, although it is a sermon, but it's more of a Bible study. So I may ask for your participation just to forewarn you. So please have your swords ready, your Bibles ready, whether it's in hand or digital, but preferably the physical copy because I may ask you to participate. All right, so Acts of the Apostles commenting on Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says, If those who today are teaching the word of God would uplift the cross of Christ higher and still higher, their ministry would be far more successful. So what do you think our subject is going to be today? The cross of Christ. If sinners can be led to give one earnest look at the cross, if they can obtain a full view of the crucified Savior, they would realize, one, the depth of God's compassion and two, the sinfulness of sin. And that's really powerful, the effect that the cross has in those two categories there, showing us not only God's compassion, but also the sinfulness of sin. And anyways, I pray that that will have its effect upon us as we study today, that we can see more of God's compassion and also see more of the ugliness of sin, that we want to avoid it. All right, the passage continues on. It says, Christ's death proves God's great love for man, or it demonstrates or shows God's great love for man. It is the pledge of our salvation. To remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky. When I read that, I immediately thought of April 8th would be the eclipse. So hopefully you guys can enjoy that this Monday when the moon is passing between the sun and the earth. And the sun, in a sense, will be blotted out momentarily. There's a lot of crazy theories and stuff that I've heard around April 8th. But yeah, solar eclipses are actually pretty common. They're not very common to happen in the same place. I don't think we're going to have another one sweep through Vermont, New Hampshire for maybe like hundreds of years. I'm not sure. But they're not that common in that sense. 54 years? But they do happen in some part of the world quite often. So anyways, don't believe everything you hear out there on YouTube videos regarding the April 8th solar eclipse. But anyways, getting back to this quote, to remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky. The cross, in other words, it's absolutely central. The cross of Christ brings us near to God, reconciling us to him. With the relenting compassion of a father's love, Jehovah looks upon the suffering that his son endured in order to save the race from eternal death and accepts us in the beloved. Without the cross, man could have no union, no connection with the father. On it depends our every hope. From it shines the light of the Savior's love. And when at the foot of the cross, the sinner looks up to the one who has died to save him, he may rejoice with fullness of joy. For his sins are pardoned. Kneeling in faith at the cross, he has reached the highest place which man can attain. That's a powerful verse. A powerful thought and quote. Kneeling in faith at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which man can attain. Now, that's incredible because the Bible says that to some, the preaching of the cross is foolishness, but to others, it is the power of God unto salvation. And it takes the Holy Spirit to do a work in our hearts, a work of humility to allow us to really appreciate the work of Christ on the cross. Otherwise, if we approach Jesus, if we approach the Bible in our own just kind of carnal condition, we don't see its beauty. And to us, it's foolishness. But when we come to the cross in faith, we reach the highest place that we can attain. All right, now we're going to go through some scriptures. Romans chapter five, and we're going to look at verses six through eight. Romans five, verses six through eight. So, we're studying the scheme of the cross and really pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to us because when we study the cross of Christ, it's not something that man can really do justice. You can't just stand up here and explain the cross of Christ in an intellectual way because there's such a depth of love, there's such a depth of mercy and compassion that is beyond human. It is divine. So, as we go through this study, let us really pray for let us really pray in our hearts for the Holy Spirit to speak to us through these words and that we can really get a glimpse and get a better understanding of God's great love for us demonstrated through the cross. All right, Hebrews five, six through eight. I'm sorry, Romans five, six through eight. Verse six, for when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. That's you and I. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Amen. I want to continue the quote actually in Acts of the Apostles that kind of sparked the study. It says, through the cross we learn that the heavenly Father loves us with a love that is infinite. Can we wonder that Paul exclaimed, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's Galatians 6 14. It's our privilege to glory in the cross, our privilege to give ourselves fully to him who has given himself for us, and then with the light that streams from Calvary shining in our faces, we may go forth to reveal this light to those in darkness. All right, let's continue our study on this theme here. Let's go to Gospel of John chapter 12, and I'm going to ask for a volunteer to read for us verses 32 and 33. So Gospel of John 12, 32 and 33. So yeah, don't be shy. Anybody can read it. Go ahead. Amen. Powerful. So Jesus said by the crucifixion, he would draw all men or all peoples to himself. So there's a there's a power. There's a there's a drawing power as we behold the cross. And there's a there's another Bible verse that says by beholding we become changed. Paul said that by beholding we become changed. And that's actually a principle that is true back then and true today. What our eyes see, what our ears hear, has a big impact on our thoughts, on our feelings, and therefore our words and our actions. So if by beholding the world, we're going to become like the world. If by beholding God, if by beholding Jesus, we'll become more like him. By beholding we become changed. John 1. Let's go to same book, John chapter 1 and verse 29 and 30. If somebody could read that for us in a loud voice. Go for it. Amen. By beholding, we become changed. So we want to behold Jesus, the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world. 1 John chapter 3. Let's go to 1 John 3. And we're going to read verses 1 through 3. And again, I'll ask for somebody to read that for us. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise God. So again, we're admonished to behold the love of Christ, that we may become like him. Steps to Christ says, the price paid for our redemption, the infinite sacrifice of our heavenly Father in giving his son to die for us, should give us exalted conceptions of what we may become through Christ. As the inspired apostle John beheld the height and the depth and the breadth of the Father's love toward the perishing race, he was filled with adoration and reverence and failing to find suitable language in which to express the greatness and tenderness of this love. He called upon the world to behold it. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. What a value that this places upon man. Through transgression, the sons of man became subjects of Satan. Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the sons of Adam become the sons of God. By assuming human nature, Christ elevates humanity. And I underline that, by assuming human nature, Christ elevates humanity. And it brought me to Hebrews chapter 2, and I'm going to read that for us real quick. Hebrews 2, 14 through 18, says, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, that's you and I. Therefore, in all things he had to become like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. In verse 18, this is very comforting, in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. So, let's remember this passage, that when we're tempted, when we're discouraged, when we're feeling down, when we're feeling discouraged, we know that Jesus has took upon humanity. Jesus knows what it's like to be tempted. Jesus knows what it's like to suffer, to be insulted, to be misunderstood. All of our human experiences and emotions, Christ has felt them. Christ knows. And the Bible says that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So, continuing in this passage from Steps to Christ, it says, such love is without a parallel. Children of the heavenly King, precious promise, theme for the most profound meditation, the matchless love of God for a world that did not love him. The thought has a subduing power upon the soul, and it brings the mind into captivity to the will of God. The more we study the divine character in the light of the cross, the more we see mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness, blended with equity and justice, and the more clearly we discern innumerable evidences of a love that is infinite, and a tender pity surpassing a mother's yearning sympathy for her wayward child. It's powerful. So, this study that we're doing right now is extremely important to keep us grounded in the love of God, because if we have a misconception of who God is and how God views us, then it's more likely that we can go astray. It's more likely that we can allow ourselves to drift into foolishness. But when we're grounded in the love of God, when we're grounded in the value and the estimate that he puts on us, it puts everything else in the right perspective. That was page 15. It's kind of the end of the first chapter. All right, Isaiah 53. Let's go to Isaiah 53. So, we're trying to catch a clearer view of the love of God that we may be drawn out more in faith to him. Isaiah 53 is a very powerful description of the Messiah's work and a sacrifice for us. All right, I'll read a little bit, and then I might ask somebody else to read some, too. But starting in verse 1, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness that when we see him, and when we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs, he's carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. By his stripes, we are healed. Somebody want to read verses 6 through 8? And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, by his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he's poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Amen. Amen. Powerful. Isaiah 53, again, one of those passages that we should frequently revisit. And that's why Paul could say in Galatians 6.14, I'm going to read it again. Galatians 6.14, but God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. And I was thinking after I read this passage in Galatians, that this wasn't always the case for Paul. He didn't always think this way. And if you go to Philippians 3, there's actually, there's a lot of areas where Paul kind of shares a portion of his testimony. And Galatians 3 is one of those spots, but I'm going to read verses 3 through 8. Because there was a time, like in all of our lives, when our boasting is in ourselves. And that was certainly the case for Paul. Starting in verse 3 of Philippians 3, it says, For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted, loss for Christ. And it goes on. But we see, we catch just a little glimpse that Paul once had his boasting in his own flesh, in his own works, in his own righteousness. But when he came to the foot of the cross, that all changed and his boasting was in the Lord. And Jeremiah had this experience as well. This is another beautiful verse, Jeremiah chapter 9. And we're going to look at verses 23 and 24. So Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. Somebody want to read that for us? That he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, which exercises loving consciousness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For these things I have the legacy of the Lord. Amen. Powerful. I'm going to share a short testimony given by an Adventist teacher. And anyways, I think it's a, it's kind of a grounding, good testimony that he shares. So this is from an Adventist teacher who said, one of my favorite quotes from Ellen White says, this is quoting from Desire of Ages, where it says, it would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point. 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 that's from Desire of Ages. And I believe that really captures kind of the essence of our study this morning. But it urges us that we should, we should really study the life of Christ each day. And says, especially the closing scenes, which is of course, I consider the closing scenes that from Gethsemane, Gethsemane in the garden to before the judgment and Pilate and the crucifixion, but also the resurrection as well. And it says that as we 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. All right. So continuing on on what the Adventist teacher said in reference to this quote, he said, breaking down this passage, we realize this life was already bought and paid for. When I take in the life of Jesus point by point, I'm left feeling nothing but cherished, important, loved, and valued. I'm in awe of the creator of the universe. I still can't believe that he left all the splendor of heaven to save me. The type of love that Christ has for us is overwhelming. When we process it, you can't help but feel completely humbled. Jesus was the master teacher. When I read about his life, I realize over and over again that he is the master teacher. I've taken this quote literally during my time as a teacher. I use it as my benchmark for focus and call upon it often when my mind starts to wander from the Lord. I've noticed that when I start to fixate on complaining, whining, and grumbling, I feel very far from our redeemer. I just see my anxieties, frustrations, and worries in front of me. However, when I draw closer to Christ's walk on this earth, I'm left feeling humbled. I've made it a life goal to weave Jesus into my whole day. I don't just have worship and Bible class with my students. When I teach this way, it's like I've checked Jesus off of the to-do list. I taught worship, check. Bible completed and graded, check. And then it's on to other tasks that need checking off as well. But Jesus is so much more than just a part of my day. He is my everything. Amen. It's a powerful testimony that I pray that we take that to heart as well. And I just want to close with Philippians chapter 2, another beautiful verse that just kind of summarizes what we've been studying this morning. Philippians chapter 2, and we're going to look at verses 5 through 11. But before I do that, I think we have time. Is there anybody that has a particular favorite verse or passage that maybe you'd like to share that you often go to when you need encouragement? Just a passage that really draws you close to God and kind of reminds you of his love for you. Like for me, it was Hebrews 12. Do you want to share it? I don't know why I can't find Philippians. There it is. Amen. So why is that passage so special to you? Because I saw this, I read this, three weeks before I heard the voice of Jesus and I was in work, praying on the bathroom floor because my daughter, I was told, was a heroin addict. And I prayed to God, I was crying, and I heard Jesus say, do not do it. And I was just reading this just 10 minutes before I heard it. Amen. Thank you. Anybody else have any favorite verse or passage that they want to share? Kevin? Just in the last year, this has become a favorite passage and you read it in Jeremiah 9, 23, 24. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Yeah. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Psalms 19. That was powerful. Anybody else that has a favorite passage or verse that they wanted to share? All right. Thank you so much for participating. All right. So I was going to end with Philippians 2 and verses 5 through 11, where it says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance of the man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth, of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. Amen. Powerful.