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00:00No one knows when Christ will return, but imagine if we did.
00:11Imagine if you only had seven days until he comes back.
00:15One week, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, 600, 4,800 seconds.
00:26What would you do?
00:27How would you change the way you lived?
00:30What would you say to God?
00:33Who would you tell about him?
00:35What relationships would you make right?
00:39What good would you stop putting off?
00:42We don't know the day or hour of his return, but we should live as if today were the day.
00:51Imagine if we did.
00:53You would turn the whole world upside down, up for the challenge.
01:08Think about this difference between Christians and non-Christians.
01:12For a Christian, problems are temporary, but blessings are eternal.
01:18And for a non-Christian, it's blessings that are temporary, while problems are eternal.
01:25I'm David Jeremiah, welcoming you to a series of messages called, Seven Days Until Christ
01:32Returns.
01:33Each week, we're asking how our life might be different if we knew we would meet Christ
01:39in just seven days.
01:41I believe one important difference is that we would view our problems differently, knowing
01:46that they would soon be over.
01:49In light of that truth, my message today is entitled, Stay Strong.
01:54We'll study six characteristics of a believer who is staying steadfast in their faith and
02:00encouraging others in light of Christ's return.
02:03I hope you'll join me as we learn to stay strong together on today's edition of Turning
02:09Point.
02:13Drawing from decades of experience as one of the world's most respected scholars of
02:17Bible prophecy, Dr. Jeremiah brings his signature wisdom, depth, and compassion to the Book
02:22of Signs, 31 Undeniable Prophecies of the Apocalypse, his masterwork on prophecy.
02:28A must-have volume for anyone interested in end times theology.
02:32The Book of Signs will be sent to you in appreciation when you support this program with a gift
02:37of any amount.
02:38Also available, the Signs Set, containing the Book of Signs, the 31 Message Signs CD
02:44Collection with three correlating study guides, and the Revelation Prophecy Chart, plus the
02:49Prophecy Interview DVD, yours in appreciation of your generous gift of $135 or more, or
02:55three monthly payments of $45.
02:58The Book of Signs and the Signs Set, Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work on Bible prophecy.
03:05Turning Point today.
03:08Thank you for watching Turning Point.
03:11Now here is Dr. Jeremiah with his message, Stay Strong.
03:15Well, today I want to talk about the importance of staying strong, and I'd like to do this
03:22by teaching a portion of the Word of God this morning that's found in the twelfth chapter
03:26of Romans, Romans chapter 12, verses 9 through 16.
03:31Listen to the Word of God.
03:33Let love be without hypocrisy.
03:36Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.
03:41Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor, giving preference
03:45to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing
03:51in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the
03:56needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
03:59Bless those who persecute you.
04:01Bless and do not curse.
04:03Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
04:06Be of the same mind toward one another.
04:08Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.
04:12Do not be wise in your own opinion.
04:16Now, if you read with me the passage from the Book of Romans and you rightly understand
04:21the passage, you will know immediately one thing, that it is not possible to love God
04:25and not to serve God.
04:27If you love God, you will serve him.
04:30I've run into people over the years who say,
04:31well, I really love God, but don't ask me to do anything in the church.
04:34Don't ask me to serve.
04:36Well, if you love somebody, you will want to serve them.
04:39If you're a Christian, a genuine born-again Christian, if you really love God, and it's
04:43not just a spin thing you're doing, if you love God, you will find some way to express
04:47that love by serving others, by serving the Lord.
04:51So then how does a person who is committed to living a life of service to the Lord, how
04:56do they live?
04:58With what marks can we identify them?
05:01Well, Paul begins by telling us, first of all, that such a person is going to be marked
05:06by a compassionate love for God's people.
05:10Notice, in this brief section of Romans, Paul uses the words, one another, three times.
05:17He begins, first of all, with the commandment that we love one another.
05:22Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love.
05:28Now that is an interesting statement, coming as it does, where it does, in the book of
05:33Romans for this reason.
05:35If you study the book of Romans, you will discover that all the way through the first
05:39chapters of the book, all the way through the first 11 chapters, the word that is used
05:44for love, the love of God, which is a word we have come to know as the word agape, the
05:49love that God has for us.
05:51Through the first 11 chapters, that word is used exclusively of God's love for us.
05:57But beginning in the 12th chapter, Paul begins to use that same word to describe the kind
06:02of love that we are to have for one another.
06:05It's as if he is saying, with the same love that you have been loved by the Father God,
06:11take that very same selfless love and use it to love one another.
06:15Be kindly affectionate to one another.
06:19Now, it's not the kind of love that you hear about in the world today, the simple, little,
06:23easy, I love you.
06:25No, no, no.
06:26The Bible puts some teeth into this command.
06:29Notice the criteria for this love.
06:32Love is to be without hypocrisy.
06:36J.B. Phillips renders the phrase, let us have no imitation Christian love.
06:42Now the word hypocrisy is an interesting word.
06:44It's almost a direct transliteration from the Greek language.
06:48Hypocritos is the word, and it is a word that was used for a stage actor, for a person
06:53who was a play actor, who played a part on the stage.
06:58And what Paul is saying is that when it comes to loving one another, this is not theater.
07:02This is real.
07:04We're to love one another, not put on a show, not put on an act, but we're to love genuinely.
07:11Ladies and gentlemen, when we love one another, let's really love one another.
07:14Let's don't do it just by saying it.
07:16Let's don't put on a false front.
07:19The commandment that we love one another is followed by the criteria for our love for
07:23one another.
07:24But here's where the rubber meets the road.
07:26Here's the challenge.
07:27How do you know if you're really loving one another the way God wants you to love one
07:31another?
07:32Here it is.
07:33Romans 12.10, in honor, giving preference to one another.
07:40Whoops.
07:42The phrase giving preference is a Greek word which means to go before or take the lead.
07:47And here the meaning of the phrase is that when we love someone else, we put them ahead
07:52of ourselves.
07:53We place them in the place of honor.
07:56We don't climb up the ladder over them.
07:59We encourage them and strengthen them, and we love them and we prefer them.
08:04Listen to what Paul said to the Philippians.
08:06Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let
08:13each esteem others better than himself.
08:16Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests
08:21of others.
08:23Mark number one, we are to be marked by compassionate love for one another.
08:27Now notice secondly, Paul jumps right from love to hate, believe it or not.
08:35It's to be a life marked by clear standards of morality.
08:38Notice verse nine, abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.
08:44Two parts to this command.
08:46First of all, we're to hate evil.
08:48That's what the word abhor means.
08:50In fact, the word abhor is even stronger than hate.
08:52It means to passionately hate.
08:55We are to love God with all of our hearts.
08:58We're to hate evil with all of our hearts, not evil people, but evil itself.
09:03While at first these truths seem to be at odds with one another, when you put them together,
09:08you realize that they fit.
09:10For instance, Proverbs 8, 13 says, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
09:18Psalm 97, 10 says, you who love the Lord, hate evil.
09:24Why do we hate evil if we love the Lord?
09:27Because the Lord hates evil.
09:28It was evil that caused him to send his son into this world to die.
09:33God hates evil with a passion.
09:35And if we love God, we will love the things that God loves and we will hate the things
09:40that God hates.
09:43The Bible tells us that God hates evil.
09:45In plain words, in Hebrews chapter 1, but to the Son he says, your throne, O God, is
09:50forever and ever.
09:52A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
09:55You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.
10:02If we truly love the Lord, we will hate evil.
10:07And that's really the only safe defense we have against it, isn't it?
10:10To have a holy hatred for it.
10:12Unfortunately, in our day, we have forgotten this advice and rather than hating it, we
10:18tolerate it.
10:20And if we're not careful, we end up embracing it.
10:23We're to hate evil, but here's the part that is almost as hard for us to comprehend as
10:28the hatred of evil.
10:29We're to hold on to the good.
10:33We say, pastor, that's a no-brainer, sure, everybody who's a Christian wants to hold
10:36on.
10:37No, no, no.
10:38It doesn't say admire the good.
10:39It doesn't say be positive about it.
10:41No, it says hold on to the good.
10:43In fact, the word hold on is a word that means to be glued.
10:47It says be glued to the good.
10:49Hold on to it.
10:50Don't let it slip away.
10:53Why is it that we have to be concerned about that?
10:55I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that in this day, this may be one of the most important
11:00things we can major on, and that is how many of you, sometimes you look around and it seems
11:04like the good is slipping away, slipping through our fingers.
11:08It's, you know, every day, every week, and I hear it on the radio, I see it on television,
11:14good people, godly people are aware of the fact that because of our lack of vigilance
11:18and our unwillingness to take the stands that we should take sometimes, we've allowed so
11:23much that has been good to slip away.
11:27Now, listen, this very command of the Bible reveals that there is a tendency in all of
11:33life to allow the good things to gradually slip away from us, and Paul says don't do
11:40that.
11:41Hold on to those things.
11:42Hold them fast.
11:43The half world of the mediocre has many inhabitants, and the dim path of compromise is well-traveled.
11:50We must determine in our lives to hold fast to that which is good.
11:55I won't let that slip away.
11:59A life that's marked by compassion for God's people and by a clear standard of morality.
12:04Now, notice thirdly, your life should be marked, if you're going to make a difference, if you're
12:09going to be strong in this day, your life should be marked by contagious enthusiasm
12:13for God.
12:14Read verse 11.
12:15In verse 11, there are three kinds of enthusiasm to which we have been called.
12:20First of all, outward enthusiasm.
12:24Notice verse 11 says, not lagging in diligence.
12:28Now, this phrase could be translated, not lazy in zeal and intensity.
12:36God says, if you're going to make a difference, if anybody's going to be attracted to the
12:39God you say you serve, you better have some diligence about your life.
12:44Don't let life just sort of roll merrily along until it's over, but be diligent about it,
12:50and this is about outward diligence, and you know what?
12:53We can learn a lot from the secular world in this regard.
12:56They have diligence.
12:59Sometimes it goes too far to the injury of their family or their health.
13:05That's not the point.
13:06The point is, we as Christians should not be left behind in the outward diligence of
13:10that which we believe.
13:12Paul says, outwardly, there should not be any lagging in your diligence.
13:17But notice secondly, here's another term in this same little trilogy.
13:22Outwardly diligent, but inwardly filled with enthusiasm.
13:26Notice the next phrase is fervent in spirit.
13:30Say that out loud with me, fervent in spirit.
13:34And do you know the word there is the word zoe, and it means to boil.
13:38Have a boiling spirit.
13:39Have a spirit that's filled with excitement about what you have been called to do.
13:46Old translation has it this way, aglow with the spirit.
13:51I think that's a good rendering.
13:53We read in the New Testament about the man Apollos, who was a great preacher, and the
13:57Bible said he'd been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he was fervent in his spirit.
14:02Let me ask you this question.
14:03Are you fervent in spirit?
14:06You know, when we look around and we wonder why people aren't attracted to Christians,
14:10it's because we believe what we believe so quietly, so passively, so easily.
14:18So he talks about an enthusiasm outwardly, an enthusiasm inwardly, and then notice he
14:23finishes it off with an enthusiasm upwardly, serving the Lord.
14:29Once again, we're back to where we started.
14:32Don't give me any nonsense about how much you love God if you aren't serving God, because
14:36when you love God, you will serve God.
14:40And Paul reminds us of this importance of serving the Lord.
14:45So, our life is to be marked by a compassionate love for God's people, by clear standards
14:52of morality, abhor evil, cling to that which is good, by contagious enthusiasm outwardly,
15:01inwardly, and upwardly.
15:04And now notice, by a courageous faith under fire.
15:08Verse 12.
15:10These are interesting words for the day in which we live, because in this generation
15:15more people have been martyred for their faith than in all of the generations up to this
15:20one.
15:21And that surprises a lot of people, because we've all heard about Fox's book of martyrs
15:25and all of the martyrs that died in the early days of the church.
15:28Listen to me.
15:29In this generation, the one in which we live, more people have died in our generation for
15:33their faith in Jesus Christ than all of the rest of the martyrs from the beginning of
15:38history.
15:39More people.
15:40And the reason we don't know that is because it has not yet crossed our border and touched
15:44us a lot in our own country.
15:47But how many of you can almost see it coming?
15:50Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that probably before most of us go to heaven, we will have
15:55to take a stand for our faith in a much more pronounced way than we ever have before.
16:00So we best learn how to have courageous faith under fire.
16:04Now Paul tells us three things here.
16:06He says, first of all, learn how to praise God when you're in that situation, marked
16:10by the way we praise, rejoicing in hope.
16:16Now you say, how can you rejoice when you're going through pressure?
16:20Listen to the Word.
16:22Rejoicing not in my circumstances, but rejoicing in hope.
16:28When you're a Christian and you're under pressure, the thing that keeps you going is
16:31you know this isn't gonna last forever and you're gonna have a time of glory and rejoicing
16:37in heaven.
16:38You rejoice in hope.
16:39I've always loved this passage in the 42nd and 43rd Psalm where David is trying to deal
16:45with the discouragement that's in his life.
16:48His own son has betrayed him.
16:53David's sitting on the outside looking at this with terrible anguish in his heart.
16:59And then we read his words and he says,
17:01"'Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
17:04Hope thou in God.'"
17:07What did David do?
17:08Well, I always like to think about it this way.
17:11He had a little talk with himself.
17:12Did you ever have a little talk with yourself?
17:16He said, "'Self, why are you cast down?
17:22Hope thou in God.'"
17:24How many of you know that our hope is ultimately in God?
17:26No matter what's going on around us, no matter what kind of disappointment or betrayal or
17:30pressure we live under, the one thing we bring to the table that most people will never understand,
17:35that in the midst of it all, we have our hope in God.
17:40So it's not only how we praise God and how we persevere in the pressure, but notice thirdly,
17:45it's how we pray.
17:46He talks here about praying.
17:48He says we're to pray steadfastly and continuously.
17:55And this little phrase is interesting because it means to be devoted to or to continue to
18:00pray and it's a translation of a Greek word which means to be strong in the direction
18:05of something.
18:07It carries with it the idea of being steadfast.
18:11Then he says our life needs to be marked by a compassionate love for God's people, by
18:16clear standards of morality, by contagious enthusiasm for God, by a courageous faith
18:22under fire, and by a confirming ministry to others.
18:26Now, notice once again, here we are in a trilogy, these little triple phrases that he uses.
18:33First of all, he says we are to be marked by generosity, distributing to the needs of
18:39the saints.
18:40Notice, not only the ministry of generosity, but next is the ministry of hospitality.
18:45Hebrews 13, and I love this because this is not just hospitality.
18:49It says pursuing hospitality.
18:53How many of you know that hospitality is something we normally think of as, well, if somebody
18:56needs a place to eat and they let me know, I'll open my house for them.
18:59No, no, no.
19:00Paul says that's wrong.
19:01Paul says you should go look for people that you can bring home.
19:06Pursue hospitality.
19:08I love the passage in Hebrews 13 that says, do not forget to entertain strangers for by
19:12doing so, some have unwittingly entertained angels.
19:18So here it is, folks, take an angel to lunch.
19:21I know some of you guys have been hoping you could do that, but I just want you to know
19:25this is what we should do.
19:26We should be outward by all standards of the Scripture.
19:31Now that brings us to the final trilogy, which is made up of a bunch of other little things,
19:36but let me just go through this quickly.
19:38The ministry of generosity, the ministry of hospitality.
19:41Here's the third one.
19:43The ministry of mutuality.
19:44What is mutuality?
19:45It's the things we do back and forth with one another.
19:48Mutually we do this.
19:49Now watch.
19:50Bless those who persecute you.
19:52You got to be kidding me.
19:54No, that's what it says.
19:56Bless those who persecute you.
19:57Bless and do not curse.
20:00And if you think that's bad, let me make it even worse.
20:02The word bless is the word from which we get our word eulogize, eulogize those who curse
20:09you.
20:10Well, you say, I'll be glad to do that if it's at their funeral.
20:13No, that's not what God is talking about.
20:16Eulogize those who curse you.
20:19That means that as Christians, we just run against the grain.
20:24Somebody says something bad to us, we try to think of the good thing we can say about
20:28them.
20:29Notice, rejoice with those who rejoice.
20:32That's as hard as blessing those who curse us.
20:34For some of us, we can't get to the point where we can rejoice with somebody.
20:38Somebody in your company gets a promotion.
20:40Maybe it's one you thought you should get.
20:42What do you do?
20:43Do you go out and put your arm around them and say, boy, I'm so thankful that God has
20:46cared for you in this way.
20:48I rejoice with you in this promotion.
20:50No, we usually go sulk and we create an enemy out of the person who took the position we
20:56thought we deserved.
20:58The Bible says, no, if you're going to have the kind of difference-making character that
21:02you desire in this world that is looking for answers, here are some of the things that
21:07will set you apart.
21:09Bless those who persecute you, rejoice with those who rejoice, and then weep with those
21:16who weep.
21:17May I say to you, this church knows how to weep with those that weep.
21:20I'm so thankful for your compassion and your love.
21:23Something happens to somebody in this church and you just gather around like a bunch of,
21:28like just a bunch of people that want to put your arms around and help.
21:31Now, one last thing before we close our Bibles, a life marked by a continuing pursuit of unity.
21:39Romans 12, 16 is all about unity.
21:42Be of the same mind toward one another.
21:45That's the exhortation.
21:47Here's the example.
21:48Don't set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.
21:52Don't be an elitist.
21:54Do you know what an elitist is?
21:56Somebody who just hangs out with the elite.
21:59The Bible says, don't set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.
22:05Don't be class conscious.
22:07Don't say, they don't have as much as I have, so I won't eat with them.
22:10Or on the other hand, don't say, they have more than I have, so I won't eat with them.
22:15In the eyes of God, none of that matters.
22:17We're body of Christ members and we're not to be class conscious.
22:21We're not to be caught up in the things that run the world.
22:24We're not to let the world pour us into its mold.
22:27We are not to allow the class consciousness of the world to enter into the church because
22:32it destroys unity.
22:35Now, the exhortation to unity is there.
22:38The example of it's there.
22:40Here's the expression of it, the very last part of the text.
22:43Do not be wise in your own opinion.
22:46Doesn't say don't be wise.
22:48Everybody should try to be wise, but here's the difference.
22:51Don't be wise in your own opinion.
22:54Don't be the only person who thinks you're wise.
22:59If you're so full of who you are and what you know, God can never get your attention
23:03and fill you with the wisdom that really counts.
23:06So, if you take this passage, and I know this is kind of a lot of sort of seemingly disconnected
23:12phrases, but they all do fit together to give us a picture of the kind of life that God
23:16wants us to have, that he can use in a way that makes a difference in the world, helping
23:21others be strong.
23:23And what we have learned in this passage is we can have a life during these days that
23:29is marked by compassionate love for God's people, clear standards of morality, contagious
23:34enthusiasm for God, courageous faith under fire, a confirming ministry to other people,
23:39and a continuing pursuit of unity.
23:41When we allow those things to little by little take control of our lives, we become the kind
23:46of people God wants us to be.
23:49And did you know that God has given us everything in this book to help us be this way?
23:53If I thought I was on some kind of a self-help journey to make all this happen, I would be
23:56desperate.
23:58But the Bible tells me when I open this book and I commit myself to the ministry of the
24:01Holy Spirit and I say, Holy Spirit, build these characters in my life, these characteristics,
24:08show me the path of righteousness that I can walk in it.
24:13I want you to know something, dear friends.
24:15This Bible has everything in it you need to become the kind of person we talked about
24:19this morning.
24:20You don't need a self-help group, as important as they may be in some situations.
24:24You don't need anything at all except this book, the Holy Spirit, and your attention.
24:30You can become the person God wants you to be.
24:33As we embrace these words, we are reminded that God has equipped us and given us the
24:38strength that we need.
24:41That is the message of Romans 12, and that is the job that we have.
24:46In this age of skepticism toward the church, antagonism toward Christ, this may be the
24:53only way we will be able to reach our generation.
24:56It is no longer just by our words.
24:59It is no longer just by our lips, but it's by our life.
25:03Dr. Jeremiah will return in a moment to close today's program, right after this.
25:12Thank you for watching today.
25:13Dr. Jeremiah would like to offer you The Book of Signs, his masterwork on Bible prophecy,
25:19a must-have volume for anyone interested in end-times theology.
25:22The Book of Signs will be sent to you in appreciation when you support this program with a gift
25:27of any amount.
25:29Also available, The Signs Set, containing The Book of Signs, the 31-message Signs CD
25:34collection with three correlating study guides, and the Revelation Prophecy Chart, plus the
25:39Prophecy Interview DVD, yours in appreciation of your generous gift of $135 or more, or
25:46three monthly payments of $45.
25:48The Book of Signs and The Signs Set, Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work on Bible prophecy.
25:55Contact Turning Point today.
25:59And now, with one last word for today's program, here is Dr. Jeremiah.
26:04The Bible doesn't tell us exactly when Jesus Christ will return.
26:09It only tells us that He will, and that He could be at any moment.
26:15Our chief responsibility, then, is to be ready to live each day as if it might be the day
26:21we meet Him face to face.
26:25But before we can stay strong, we have to become strong.
26:29When we place our faith in Christ and live each day in dependence upon Him, we have His
26:34strength within us.
26:36I would love to send you, free of charge, two Turning Point resources that can help
26:42you become strong and stay strong in Christ.
26:47One is our booklet called Your Greatest Turning Point, and the other is our monthly devotional
26:52magazine called Turning Points.
26:55We will gladly send both of these to you if you will contact us today here at Turning
27:01Point.
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27:34Next time on Turning Point.
27:37Did you know men and women, when we serve the Lord, we glorify our Father.
27:43When we serve the Lord, we cause people to say good things about the one we serve.
27:51Join Dr. Jeremiah next time for his message, What Can I Do?
27:55Later on Turning Point.
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