NOTHING WITHOUT

In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen

JESUS
INTRODUCTION
SANDS, 10/03/2007 Honestly speaking when I was asked to preach here today I felt a little bit afraid
because as a matter of fact I still have serious problems with expressing myself in
English. But in spite of this I accepted the invitation because I thought: “if pastor
asked me to do so, then may be it is according to God’s will?” And it is good to
obey the Lord.
Anyway, it is a privilege for me to have the opportunity to speak to you today and I
hope Holy Spirit is going to bless us all when we will be studying the Word of God
together.
SONG 1: TO GOD BE THE GLORY

SONG 2: ALL TO JESUS I SURRENDER

Thetitle of this sermon is “NOTHING
WITHOUT JESUS”. And I am sure that Satan
himself knows that without Jesus we are nothing and
Good morning and happy Sabbath to everyone. we can do nothing so he is doing everything to keep us
If you have your Bibles with you, please open with me 2 letter of Ap. Paul to Tym.
And we are going to read chapter 4, verses 6,7 and 8. away from Jesus.
2Tym 4:6-8 One day I received very interesting letter which I want
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink to read for you now. It will show us how Satan tries to
offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. separate us from Christ. The title of this letter is “THE
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the STRATEGY OF SATAN”:
race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not
to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
STRATEGY OF SATAN
One day Satan gathered all his army and said
to his angels:
Let us pray. We all know that the best weapon Christians
Dear Father,
Thank you very much for Your Word and that in it we can find everything what we have against us is their daily communion with
need to receive forgiveness and salvation and to be able to follow Jesus in our daily
life.
Jesus. Therefore we have to do our best to
Also today we want to study this wonderful Book but we don’t want to do it without destroy their relationship with Him because
Holy Spirit because only He is able put creative power into those words we are
going to read. only if we reach this goal we will be able to
So we are standing before you like little children with open and humble hearts
asking for the Holy Spirit to be our only Teacher. take control over them.
So I command all of you to do your best to
make them very busy so that they won’t have
enough time to pray and read their bibles. I
assure you that this is the best and most
reliable way to destroy their faith and deprive
them of eternity!
But how are we supposed to do it? – asked
demons.
Engage them in many insignificant matters and
use all ways of absorbing their minds.
Encourage their wives to overwork, to worry
about worldly things and to complain often so
that other women could be more attractive for
their husbands.
Let their husbands be always busy and work
very hard because later they won’t have
enough time for their families. And… by the
way, don’t forget to use mothers in law and I
am glad I don’t have to tell you how to do it…
If you stick to this plan and do your job you will
eventually cause them to hate one another,
make them upset or discouraged and weaken
their faith in Christ.
Encourage them to listen to any kind of worldly
music. Inspire producers to make smaller and
more comfortable players so that Christians
would be able to listen to this music
everywhere. Let them listen to it at homes,
schools, work and in their cars because after
certain time you will be able to control their
minds through our music.
Make sure that in their houses there is at least
one TV set and DVD player. Inspire some
people to create even more attractive
programs and channels especially with movies
and sport. Help them also to produce most
exciting films with a lot of violence and bad
words because in this way our enemies will get
used to evil and depravation and be more
prone to sin.
You are doing very well using pornography and
already caught so many Christians in this most
powerful trap but let entire families including
children watch the telly all the time. Let the
most interesting programs be shown at night
and then tempt them to worship the TV for
even whole night because in this way the next
day they will be tired, irritated and unable to
pray and read their books.
Make sure that there are computers with
internet access in all of their houses and tempt
them to watch pornography and to play all the
games inspired by us. Put a lot of bad staff on
the internet and try to control their minds
through this most powerful agent. Let the
computer become their god.
Through all this you will deprive them of the
time they are supposed to spend for the
communion with Christ. This will make them
powerless and they will be yours.
Some of them prefer reading so make sure
their houses are full of worldly books,
magazines, catalogues and newspapers. Let
they read everything accept their bibles or
those disgusting books by E. White which
encouraged so many to study the bible and
destroy all our effort.
Never let them go for a walk because when
they see some nature it will inspire them to
think about God or to pray.
Remember that also through our diet you can
weaken their mental powers. So encourage
them to consume a lot of fat, sugar, chocolate,
cola drinks, coffee and other good staff but
keep them away from those disgusting fruits or
vegetables. In this way our diet will fill their
blood vessels with cholesterol and toxins and
deprive their nervous system of vitamins or
minerals and make them constantly tired weak,
irritated or sick and unable to spend time with
Christ.
It would be better if they don’t participate in
their worship services and prayer meetings but
if they resist your temptation end go there
anyway, inspire them to think there about
worldly things, problems and corrupted desires.
Try to inspire those who speak in the church to
deal with every topic but not with Jesus. If they
come to their church let they think about
everything accept Christ. Encourage them to
complain, criticise and gossip in the church.
It won’t be difficult because during the whole
week they didn’t spend enough time for the
communion with Christ.
This is the strategy of Satan. His plan is very
simple. He is doing everything to keep us away from
Christ because He knows that if we constantly look at
Jesus we are safe.
In the book “Steps to Christ” we read about it:
“When Christ took human nature upon Him,
He bound humanity to Himself by a tie of love
that can never be broken by any power save
the choice of man himself. Satan will
constantly present allurements to induce us
to break this tie--to choose to separate
ourselves from Christ.
Here is where we need to watch, to strive, to
pray, that nothing may entice us to choose
another master; for we are always free to do
this.
But let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ,
and He will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus,
we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His
hand. In constantly beholding Him, we "are
changed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2
Corinthians 3:18.
(Page 72, Ellen G. White)
So, how can we maintain our spiritual balance?
We can’t do it by looking down on ourselves because it
causes only discouragement,
but we can maintain the balance only by looking up to
Jesus.
Have you ever tried to balance a stick on one
finger looking to the lower end of it?
Is it possible? No.
If you don’t believe let’s try it….
…………………………
Now, try to balance the stick looking to it’s upper end.
…………………………
Now you win. Now you can work in a circus.
So as it is impossible to keep the stick in a vertical
position looking to its lower end it is also impossible to
preserve spiritual balance looking down to ourselves.
We can balance a stick only when we look to its upper
end. And in the same way if we want to be safe we
have to look up to Jesus.
Open with me the book of Colossians and see what the
Bible says about it.
Colossians 3 (New King James Version)
Let’s read it from verses 1-3:
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the
right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the
earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in
God.
The devil is like a fanatical terrorist, like Osama
ben Laden.
No one knows where he is and we don’t know when he
is going to attack again.
So through all our lives he will always try to damage
our airplane,
He will try to frighten us.
He will cause turbulences (te:bjulensys) of our
airplane.
He will cause a terrible weather and all kind of
problems to make our flight terrible.
And I am sorry but Lord Jesus never promised us a
peaceful and comfortable flight but He promised us
that if we keep on flying and believing in Him in spite
of Satan’s terrorism until the end then we can be sure
that our lending will be safe.

Let us read now 2Tym 4:6-8
This passage of the Bible will tell us what was the life
of Apostle Paul like:
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink
offering, and the time of my departure is at
hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to
me only but also to all who have loved His
appearing.
The life of Apostle Paul was not a holyday in
Jamaica it was a fight a war with his and ours
deadly enemy who hated Paul so much that cut off
his head.
Why head?
If we are acquainted with the book of Romans or
Galatians than we should know why.
Satan hated Paul’s head because Paul’s mind was filled
with the most beautiful gospel about our righteousness
and our death in Christ. And Satan doesn’t want
anyone to hear about it.
Famous German theologian and martyr who was also
killed by Satan through Hitler at the end of World War
Two – Detriech Bonhoeffer said:
When God calls you He calls you to die.
First – God calls you to accept your death in
Christ which took place 2000 years ago.
Second – He calls you to die daily to self
through the power of Holy Spirit living in you.
And third – He also calls you to die physically
as a martyr when the time comes.
Cassius Clay
Famous American boxer and heavy weigh champion - Cassius Clay (Mohamed Ali)
one day got into the aeroplane and just before the aeroplane started a flight
attendant came to him and asked him to put on the safety belt. But the famous
boxer said that he was considered to be a superman and superman does not need
any safety belt.
But the flight attendant was quite smart and she answered:
“Well sir, if you really are a supermen then you really don’t need a safety belt, but
in this case you don’t need any airplane as well. So please get off the plain and fly
by yourself. But if you decide to change your mind and consider yourself to not be
a superman please do not try to fly by yourself but stay with us and in this case
you have to put on the safety belt please.
When she finished the boxer felt quite embarrassed and he decided to obey her
request because he realised he was not a superman.
Sometimes we Christians also consider
ourselves to be a supermen or
superwomen and we think that we can fly without
the aeroplane. Sometimes we behave as someone who
believes he is able to live a holy life outside of Holy
Spirit. But it is impossible and because of this Jesus
said: “My Father is looking for those who will walk in
Spirit”.
But even if we are in the aeroplane of Holy Spirit then
because we fly in the territory of Satan our enemy will
do his best to get us of the plane and because of this
we need also the safety belt.
And what is our safety belt?
It is the Word of God and prayer, another words, our
safety belt is our daily communion with Christ.
John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who
abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
for without Me you can do nothing.”
Certain 11 years old boy thought that he should be
paid for doing his duties by his mother. So one day he
took a piece of paper and wrote the list of duties for
which he wanted to be paid and then he gave the list
to his mother. So she took it and started to read
following words written by her son:
- for cleaning my room – 2 pounds
- for shopping – 2 pounds
- for good grades in the school – 5 pounds
- for removing rubbish – 2 pounds
- for watching my younger sister – 3 pounds
- Altogether – 14 pounds
When his mother red it she smiled, took a pen and
below her son’s list she wrote something and gave it to
her son who took it and started to read the words his
mother wrote:
- for carrying you in my womb for nine months – 0
pounds
- for many sleepless nights because of your crying
and sicknesses – 0 pounds
- for years of washing you and changing yours
diapers – 0 pounds
- for all meals prepared for you during 11 years – 0
pounds
- for washing and ironing your clothes – 0 pounds
- for the time I sacrificed for your education – 0
pounds
- for everything else – 0 pounds
- Altogether – 0 pounds
When her son red it he got embarrassed so he took a
pen and below the list he prepared earlier he wrote:
All paid. Than he gave it to his mom, hugged her
and said “I am sorry Mom”.
Unfortunately we also like this boy
consciously or subconsciously have a
tendency to make similar lists of our works
for which we want God to pay us.
We suspect that God will answer our prayers and bless
us because we are good people, because we try to
keep Sabbaths, pay tithes, go to the church or share
the Good news with others.
And when we do this, our good loving Father in the
same way as this mother, could give us His list of
everything He’s done for us because He loved us.
And I believe God’s list would look like this:
 - for creating you in mothers womb – 0 pounds
- for the sunlight, water, air and food – 0 pounds
- for the constant flow of my invisible energy
which sustain your life – 0 pounds
- for the humiliation, sufferings and death of my
beloved Son – 0 pounds
- for justification from your sins – 0 pounds
- for salvation from eternal death – 0 pounds
- for the gift of eternal happiness – 0 pounds
- for the service of my angels and the gift of Holy
Spirit – 0 pounds
- for everything else – 0 pounds
- altogether – 0 pounds
We should never make any lists of
our works especially if we expect
God to reward us for it.
Let us always remember God’s list, kneel down before
Him and say: “All paid” which means that we don’t
expect any reward for our obedience but we want to
obey Him out of love.
Ellen G. White
Faith and Works (1979), page 18
“All who are baptized are to give evidence
that they have been converted. There is not a
point that needs to be dwelt upon more
earnestly, repeated more frequently, or
established more firmly in the minds of all
than the impossibility of fallen man meriting
anything by his own best good works.
Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ
alone.” 2x
But to be able to obey God out of love we need to
know, understand and remember how much He loved
us.
Last year I was told a very interested and quite funny story about certain
Russian couple who came to US from Russia. And
because it was just before Christmas they wanted to buy Christmas presents for
one another. Yet the problem was that they were poor and didn’t have money. But
anyway they were determined to buy gifts because they loved one another very
much.
So the husband thought that his wife had beautiful, long hair but she didn’t have a
hair comb to bind her hair. So he decided to sell his pocket watch to be able to buy
the comb for his wife and he did so.
In the same time his wife thought that her husband had a pocket watch but he
didn’t have a chain for this watch so she decided to cut her beautiful long hair to
get some money to be able to buy the chain for her husband’s watch and she did
so.
And then when the time of Christmas Eve came they washed themselves, changed
their clothes, packed their gifts and at the dinner they exchanged their gifts. But
when they did it they were very surprised because the husband realised that he
bought for his wife a comb for her hair but she didn’t have long hair anymore
because she wanted to buy a present for him. And his wife noticed that she bought
for the husband a chain for his pocket watch but he didn’t have his pocket watch
anymore because he sold it to buy a present for her.
And when they realised what happened they were not disappointed or discouraged
but they started to laugh and they were very happy because in this way they
proved how much they loved one another.
In the same way our heavenly Father showed us His
love toward us. He proved that he loved us by giving us
the gift – the greatest gift of all, the gift of His one and
only Son:
John 3:16…
How much did God give us in the gift of His Son?

We find the answer in the book
(Ellen G. White, page 49):
“Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His
position in the courts of God. He hated Him
the more when he himself was dethroned. He
hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a
race of sinners. Yet into the world where
Satan claimed dominion God permitted His
Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the
weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to
meet life's peril in common with every human
soul, to fight the battle as every child of
humanity must fight it. (and now listen carefully please)
God permitted His Son to fight this battle at
the risk of failure and eternal loss.” (2x last
sentence)
Dad, there is also one light in Gods window which of course means that in God’s
Family one Son died as well.”
Desire of Ages
In the book of Hebrews 1:9 we read that the Son
of God “tasted death for everyone”.
Which death did He taste for all, first or second?
Did Jesus save us from the first death?
No, because Christians die with the first death!
Rev. 20:6
“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first
resurrection. Over such the second death has no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
If not first but second death have no power over
believers so which death did Christ have to taste to be
able to save us?

In the book The Desire of Ages we find the

answer (page 753):
LIGHTS IN WINDOWS “Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the
I don’t know if you heard a story about certain father who just after World War Two
took his small son and went from Europe to New York for Christmas to visit his
relatives.
heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see
And at Christmas Eve when it was getting dark, he took his son for a walk. And through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not
when they were walking along the New York streets the boy noticed that in many
houses there were small lights placed in windows. In one window there was only present to Him His coming forth from the
one light and in another window 2 or three lights and sometimes there were no
lights. Because of this the boy asked his father what did it mean? Then the father
grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's
answered that after World War Two every time the Christmas came, people in New
York had a custom of placing lights in their windows if they lost someone during
acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin
the war. So if you see only one light in the window – said the father – it means that was so offensive to God that their separation
in this family one son died during the war. If you see two lights you can be sure
that in this family two sons were killed, but when there are three lights in the was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish
window it means that three sons died in this family during the war and so on.
But when they kept walking they passed those houses and then the boy looked up
which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no
to heaven and he saw one star shining in the sky so he said to his father: “Look longer plead for the guilty race.”

pastor who
Certain worked in Africa as
missionary one day asked a group of believers
living in a village in Africa:
- What do you think, how many people have died
till now from the beginning?
- O pastor – they answered – you should know.
Millions and millions. Who can count them.
- No – said pastor – you are wrong. All those
people only got asleep. There is only one Person
who truly died till now. It is Jesus Christ.
The Son of God gave all--life and love and
suffering--for our redemption. And can it be
a that we, the unworthy objects of so great
love, will withhold our hearts from Him?
He became sin for the race!
But what do we give up, when we give all? A
sin-polluted heart, for Jesus to purify, to
cleanse by His own blood, and to save by His
matchless love. And yet men think it hard to
give up all! I am ashamed to hear it spoken
of, ashamed to write it.

Amen.

close this sermon and I want to do it with

It’s time to
a very important question: TEXT BEFORE PRAYER:

If we know that Jesus coming into this world in the

PRAYER
likeness of sinful flesh took a risk of loosing His eternal
life for us. If we know that on the cross He decided to
say goodbye to life for ever so that we could live for
ever.
If we know all this, is it too much if we decide to give
Him all our hearts? Is it?

STEPS TO CHRIST (chapter 5)

Do you feel that it is too great a sacrifice to
yield all to Christ? Ask yourself the question,
"What has Christ given for me?"