Participants: Jim Gilley
Series Code: 14SCM
Program Code: 14SCM000017S
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00:38 Good morning and Happy Sabbath!
00:41 Happy Sabbath! I've been waiting to say that all week. 00:45 As a Seventh-day Adventist minister of many years 00:48 when you see a group of handsome and beautiful 00:51 well-heeled people with ties and shirts and dresses 00:54 and pockets and purses sitting before you 00:56 there are 2 things you want to do almost automatically: 00:59 one... wish them Happy Sabbath 01:01 and the other is to lift an offering. 01:05 So we've taken care of the Happy Sabbath part. 01:08 The offering part I think is still to come. 01:10 We don't want to disappoint you in that, but we do 01:12 welcome you to Spring Camp Meeting 2014 01:16 as we take a closer look at the second coming of our Lord 01:19 and Savior Jesus Christ. That is the reason we are here. 01:23 That is the reason we have been called out of darkness 01:25 into light: to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. 01:28 Is that not so? Amen... amen. 01:30 And so we welcome you to this first service of a long 01:34 and exciting Sabbath that we have planned for you. 01:37 God is good, is He not? Amen! 01:40 I didn't say God is good all the time. 01:41 I can prove to you that God is not good all the time, 01:44 but we won't do that just now. 01:46 Our speaker for the morning is the president of this ministry, 01:50 my friend and colleague in ministry: Pastor Jim Gilley. 01:55 He came here I believe about the middle or end of 2007 01:59 and has been doing a wonderful job. 02:02 He is a tireless worker, and he is a person who likes to create. 02:06 You can see his eyes light up when he is creating and 02:09 innovating and doing new things. And I think that's why God 02:13 called him here because he has one of those facile minds 02:16 that likes to create. He is the husband of one wife: 02:19 the lovely lady Camille who we've all come to know and love. 02:22 Now I've got to get this right with the kids. 02:24 I'm doing this from memory. So we've got Mary Anne 02:27 and Kurt. Amen. We've got Jim Jr. who just had 02:31 Jim 3 graduate from academy. 02:34 We have John and Jerica. 02:38 We have Amy and Ethan, 02:40 and their little son is my forever friend Levi. 02:46 Levi came into my office - I think he was about 6 yrs. old - 02:48 and gave me 10 minutes of stimulating conversation. 02:52 And then he said: "Would you like to be my forever friend? " 02:55 I said: "Yes I would! " Just the most articulate little 02:59 six-year-old. He said: "OK, I've got ten days 03:02 to be here... ten... so I will come and see you tomorrow. " 03:05 I said: "Well we're closed tomorrow. " He said: "OK, I'll 03:07 come and see you the next day. " I said: "That's Sabbath. " 03:10 He said: "OK, I've got ten days... 03:14 I've got ten... and you've got to figure out a day for me 03:17 because we have to talk and seal our friendship. " 03:19 Just the most wonderful little guy! 03:21 He is going to own a company or a corporation 03:24 or be the greatest evangelist in the history of the church 03:26 because he's just a person that has never met an enemy. 03:30 But Jim Gilley and Camille have endeared themselves 03:33 to the 3ABN community. They are much loved! 03:36 He was a former North American Division 03:40 vice president... also a former conference president of the 03:43 Arkansas-Louisiana Conference. 03:44 We yanked him out of Texas. He was pastoring the 03:48 First SDA Church in Dallas when he was called to come to 03:52 3ABN, and I think he feels that was a call of God 03:55 as he is doing a very, very fine job. 03:57 We anticipate from him for you a message from the Lord 04:02 as we start this Sabbath Day journey together. 04:05 We ask you to give him your prayerful and undivided 04:07 attention. But before he does present his word 04:12 Tammy Chance is here to give us the message in song. 04:16 And she is going to be singing Healing In This House. 04:21 But ere Ms. Chance sings - thank you - we will have prayer. 04:25 Shall we bow our heads? Gracious Father, 04:27 we do praise You and thank you so very much 04:30 for the Sabbath Day. For this day where we can 04:34 turn off the cares of the world 04:37 and turn our minds and our hearts towards Jesus. 04:42 Father, now as we sit in this place, in this house 04:45 would You please be the honored guest? 04:48 Would You accept our prayers and our praise 04:52 and our songs? And in exchange for these 04:56 would You give us Your presence and Your power? 04:59 Teach us, Lord, those things that You would have us to know 05:02 and then give us the strength to do them 05:05 because it is in the doing that we are made like Christ Jesus. 05:09 Bless the man of God who shall preach. 05:12 Bless this woman of God who shall sing. 05:15 May we sit even for a little while in heavenly places. 05:19 And we praise You and thank you in Jesus' name, Amen 05:25 and amen. 05:46 When I walked into the room 05:50 my heart was heavy. 05:55 I had struggled just 05:58 to make it through the day. 06:05 Suddenly I felt 06:09 an awesome reverence 06:14 and the pain inside 06:16 began to slip away. 06:24 Right away I knew 06:27 that something happened. 06:32 Was reflected in 06:35 expressions on each face. 06:42 Taken by surprise 06:45 I felt His presence 06:51 and I knew that this would be 06:54 a holy place. 07:00 There is healing in this house, 07:05 there is healing in this house! 07:10 Manifested peace to calm 07:14 your troubled hearts with healing balm... 07:19 there is healing in this house. 07:23 Restoration in this place... 07:28 there is mercy, there is grace. 07:33 All ye heavy laden, come. 07:38 Bring your burdens one by one. 07:43 Leave them here where they belong. 07:46 There is healing in this house. 07:54 If you're heavy laden, 07:58 there is peace for troubled minds. 08:06 Oh... 08:10 there is 08:13 healing in this house, 08:17 there is healing in this house! 08:22 Manifested peace to calm 08:27 your troubled heart with healing balm... 08:31 there is healing in this house. 08:35 Restoration in this place... 08:40 there is mercy, there is grace. 08:46 All ye heavy laden, come. 08:50 Bring your burdens one by one. 08:55 Leave them here where they belong. 08:59 There is healing in this house. 09:10 There is healing 09:14 in 09:17 this house. 09:31 Thank you, Jesus. Amen! 09:36 Amen! Thank you, Tammy. 09:39 I always love to hear Tammy sing. 09:43 And she is one of those that I always ask if she will sing 09:49 before I preach because she has a song 09:52 that focuses always people towards the Lord. 09:56 Amen! And God has given her a voice. 10:00 And she grew up with an older brother, Danny, 10:05 and if you can survive that I think you have to... 10:09 She knows I'm... everybody knows I'm teasing. 10:12 They talk about my coming here. I will tell you this: 10:15 Danny Shelton is the easiest person to work with 10:18 that I've ever worked with in all my many years. 10:22 Where you work is not nearly as important 10:26 as who you work with. 10:29 Remember that... because a lot of times people say: 10:32 "Oh, I want to live in Oregon or I want to live in California 10:37 or I want to live here or there. " 10:39 You'd be surprised the good people we've invited to come 10:43 to us that: "No, I don't want to leave California. " 10:47 You know, when that place falls off... No... I'm just... sorry. 10:55 But I just want to tell you that 10:59 who you work with and the ministry you're involved with... 11:07 They mentioned all the different things I've been involved with, 11:10 and C.A. didn't have enough time to tell you all of the things 11:13 over the many years. 11:15 And as I look back I see that God was leading 11:19 giving experience to train me and prepare me 11:23 to just be here. Amen! 11:26 And that is so humbling and so sobering. 11:30 But I believe with all of my heart 11:33 that this is one of the primary spots and places 11:38 that God is going to use in the finishing of the work. 11:41 I really do believe it. Amen! 11:43 And boy, I'm just thrilled, honored and humbled. 11:49 And I get up some mornings and say: "Lord, no. Why me? 11:53 Why in the world have You got me here? " 11:56 And He says: "One more day, one more day. " 12:02 He gives us the grace, the energy for that day. 12:08 Let's pray together. Father in heaven, 12:11 as we open Your Word open our hearts, open our minds. 12:17 Focus us on Jesus. 12:20 May nothing else be seen 12:25 but Him. 12:27 May nothing be heard but His voice 12:29 speaking to our hearts, Lord. 12:33 Get me out of the way 12:36 and get the message forward we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen! 12:41 I've heard this text a lot during the week. 12:43 Every time I've heard somebody read it 12:46 I've said: "They're on my sermon! " 12:49 But you know something: there's no way that you can 12:54 talk about the second coming - 12:56 virtually every subject - with- out mentioning what Jesus said 13:01 when the disciples said to Him: "What will be the sign of 13:05 the end of the world and of Your coming? " 13:09 And He begins it by saying: 13:12 "But of that day and hour 13:15 no one knows... not even the angels of heaven... 13:18 but My Father only. " 13:20 And you know something? People will do everything in the 13:24 world to get around that one phrase. 13:27 You do not know how many people I have sat with 13:31 who have said: "Well, but He didn't say 13:33 we couldn't know the day or the week. 13:35 He said: 'The day or the hour. " I said: "Look, 13:38 He could have said: "The minute, the second. " 13:41 He could have backed it up to... all the way back. He just 13:44 gave you day and hour. 13:46 That just means you don't know when He's coming. 13:49 And then lately they've said: 13:52 "It says that no man, but maybe a woman knows 13:55 when He's coming. " 13:58 And no... it just says we don't know 14:02 when He's coming. 14:05 "But as the days of Noah were so also will be the coming 14:09 of the Son of Man be. For in the days before the flood 14:13 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage 14:16 until the day that Noah entered the ark 14:19 and did not know until the flood came 14:22 and took them all away. So also will the coming 14:27 of the Son of Man be. " 14:31 So we learn something from this. 14:34 He says: "Just like it was in the days of Noah 14:37 this is how it's going to be when Christ comes back. " Amen! 14:43 Let's take a look at Noah a minute. 14:44 He... very interesting man. 14:48 He was the great grandson of Enoch. 14:55 Boy, you have a heritage like that. 14:59 He had great parents and grandparents. 15:03 He was the grandson of Methuselah. 15:07 Methuselah lived 969 years. 15:12 And then Noah lived for 500 years before he had 15:18 Shem, Ham, and Japheth... before they were born. 15:21 Now I don't know a thing about that 500 years. 15:24 I've thought about that; I've looked at that. 15:28 There's no record. We have nothing that tells us about 15:31 500 years. Was Noah married several times? 15:35 Maybe lost that family? I don't know. 15:38 Maybe he saw the world was so bad he was afraid to have kids! 15:43 Waited 500 years. 15:45 I've known people who wish they'd waited longer than that. 15:52 But I will tell you.. And by the way, I'm not one of them. 15:54 Our kids have been the greatest joy in the world to us 15:58 and our grandchildren. You heard Levi being talked about. 16:03 I've got tremendous hope. His name is Levi James. 16:09 And I hate to tell you this, but I named Levi. 16:16 We found out he was going to be a boy 16:19 and I told... We were praying for the boy 16:23 and I told my wife: "We have to pray for a name. " 16:28 So we started praying for Levi James. 16:31 They hadn't named him yet. 16:34 And I talked to my daughter and I said: 16:37 "We're praying for your baby to be born 16:41 and I'm praying for him and I'm calling him Levi James. " 16:48 She said: "That's a good name! " 16:52 Then - being an idiot - 16:55 I messed it up. I said: "It's kind of like Levi jeans. " 17:03 She said: "That does it... it's out. " 17:07 So I thought: "Oh, I really blew it. " 17:09 You know, here I'm trying to be funny and I blew it. 17:12 And so I was shocked 17:16 when they did name him Levi James. 17:20 And I tell you... he is quite a kid. 17:23 He is number... Well, he's along the line. 17:27 We've got 10 and number 11 is on the way. 17:34 So keep number 11 in your prayers and our son John 17:37 and his wife... Oh, by the way I wasn't supposed to tell that 17:41 so you folks don't tell everybody about it, all right? 17:47 I just got a frown from the other section over here. 17:54 But I am looking forward to that. So Noah had great lineage. 18:00 He had a great family. 18:02 And God saw, the Bible says, that there was wickedness. 18:06 Now man lived a long time: 800, 900 years. 18:11 And one of the things God says is: "They can get into too much 18:14 trouble in that length of time. 18:16 They can cause too many problems. I'm going to reduce 18:21 the length of the time that man lives to 120 years 18:26 or less. " And that's what He did. 18:31 And then the Bible says: "Then the Lord... " 18:34 in Genesis the 6th chapter verse 5... 18:37 "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great 18:40 in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his 18:43 heart was only evil continually. 18:45 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth 18:50 and He was grieved in His heart. 18:54 And so the Lord said 'I will destroy man 18:58 whom I have created from the face of the earth. 19:01 Both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air 19:06 for I am sorry that I have made them. ' 19:11 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. " 19:17 Aren't we glad he did? Amen! 19:20 You know, people say: "Well, we're related back 19:22 through Adam. " Well we are... but it really 19:25 kind of goes back to Noah, doesn't it? 19:28 Aren't we happy that there was one person who was sincere? 19:32 Now I understand they've made a movie about Noah. 19:35 I haven't seen it... not gonna see it. 19:39 But I want to tell you, they tell me that they make him out 19:42 to be quite a rounder. 19:45 You know, we've got record here that he got intoxicated. 19:51 And you know that... you know that story. 19:54 Isn't it amazing how you save... God uses you to save the world. 19:59 You make a mistake, and all people can remember 20:03 is that you made a mistake. 20:05 Isn't that how we are? 20:08 Somebody can work all their life... they can mess it up 20:11 in two minutes and from then on 20:15 I don't care how good they do, how hard they work, 20:19 how dedicated they are, how repentant they are 20:23 somebody's going to remember that two minutes. 20:27 And Noah let his grape juice 20:31 get a little bit too sour or something another 20:35 and drank it just a little bit too much. 20:38 And that's what people remember 20:41 and try to make it out that he was just a drunk 20:43 that was preaching. And I don't believe that for a minute. 20:49 I believe Noah was a man of God. Amen! 20:52 I believe he was like Enoch and I believe he walked with God 20:56 and God used him in this mighty, mighty way. 21:02 Told him to build an ark 21:03 450 feet long, 75 feet wide. 21:09 A six-story building. Do you know that until the 20th century 21:14 man had not built another structure that big 21:18 because until they started using steel structure to build ships 21:23 nothing that big had ever been built before 21:26 that was floating... or built since. 21:30 I don't believe that God 21:35 was wanting to destroy the earth. 21:37 Ellen White says that... in Patriarchs and Prophets page 64 21:41 "Had the antediluvians believed the warning 21:43 and repented of their evil deeds 21:46 the Lord would have turned aside His wrath 21:49 as He afterward did from Nineveh. " 21:53 And I believe it. There's another thing I believe. 21:57 This pattern that He had for the ark... there could have been 22:00 thousands of arks built and there could have been 22:03 thousands of people saved but they did not believe! 22:07 Noah believed. Hebrews 11:7 says: 22:12 "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen 22:17 moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving 22:21 of his household by which he condemned the world 22:24 and became heir of the righteousness which is 22:28 according to faith. " Hebrews 11:7. 22:32 By faith he believed God. 22:37 Those other people did not believe God. 22:40 You know, one of these days... one of these days 22:44 another Hebrews 11 group is going to be listed. 22:48 Your name can be there. 22:51 By faith... fill in the blank... 22:55 believing God, trusting in Jesus 23:00 for life eternal. 23:03 By faith 23:05 accepting that person was saved. 23:10 Put your name there. 23:13 You have every bit as much right to be a part of Hebrews 11 23:18 as all of these very ordinary people 23:23 who were extraordinary because they believed - Amen! - 23:27 in Jesus and God and in His promises. 23:33 Now when we look at the ark and it says: "As it was in the days 23:36 of Noah... " I want to look at several comparisons 23:42 of Noah's day and the day in which we live now. 23:47 And I think that one of the biggest ones is the wickedness 23:50 because it says that: "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man 23:55 was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts 23:59 of his heart was only evil continually. " 24:02 Could the Lord look at the earth now 24:04 and not see wickedness? 24:06 One of the things that we have seen here 24:10 and has been so pointed out by several of our speakers 24:13 is that God is preparing a people. I believe with all of 24:17 my heart that the best people that have ever lived 24:20 on this earth are living on this earth right now. 24:24 The ones that are closest to resembling the Creator; 24:28 closest to resembling Jesus Christ and His character. 24:32 But at the same time, those who most resemble the devil 24:38 are also living on this earth. 24:40 The two extremes. And you know something, folks? 24:43 It won't be long... there won't be any land in between. 24:47 We're either on one side or we're on the other. 24:51 I know that some times some of us worry 24:53 "Am I really committed? Am I really? " 24:55 And there's nothing wrong with worrying about that. 24:58 we need to check ourselves often. 25:00 "Am I still holding on to Jesus? Am I still believing in Him? 25:04 Am I still trusting in Him? " 25:07 That we must always be checking ourselves. 25:12 Amen. 25:14 But then we've got to believe and rely and accept Him 25:18 for what He is. The wickedness of the world... 25:21 Listen: this is a wicked world. 25:23 I opened up a magazine. This is it right here. 25:27 It's the USA Today. 25:29 May the 22nd. I was on a plane and here this was. 25:33 And it says here... 25:36 it's talking about a child pornography bust 25:41 that they did. 25:42 Only investigated a few days. Did they come up with sleazy 25:48 guys hanging around a candy store waiting for kids? 25:52 No. Here's a police chief, here's a paramedic, 25:57 here's a rabbi. There's some ministers involved in this, too. 26:03 There is a Boy Scout den leader, Little League coach, 26:08 police officer. 26:10 People who are mainstays of the community! 26:15 Some of them selling the por- nography of their own children. 26:23 I tell you: this is the world that we're living in, folks, 26:27 that is just like Christ said this world would be. 26:34 He said that they were "evil only continually. " 26:40 There's enough evil going around today. 26:44 Then it says that they were "marrying and giving 26:46 in marriage. " Pastor Murray was just out in Manila and he had 26:51 a couple coming to his meeting. He was telling me about this. 26:54 Had a couple coming to his meeting. They wanted to be 26:58 members of the church but they were living together 27:01 but they were not married. 27:03 And he said: "Well, you have to get married. " 27:09 And they said: "Well, there's a little problem with that. " 27:12 "What is the problem? " 27:14 "Well, he's still married to somebody else. " 27:19 Marrying and giving in marriage. 27:21 But the amazing thing is that they would honestly believe 27:27 that they should be church members, see? 27:30 And come and ask for that. 27:34 Amazing thing that we run into people living together 27:38 all the time that don't want to get married. 27:42 And then we run into same-sex people who want to get married! 27:47 Those who ought to want to get married don't want to 27:50 get married; those who should not be getting married 27:54 want to get married. 27:57 Fifteen states it's now legal the last count I had 28:04 for same-sex marriage. 28:05 And the way the whole public thing has gone against this. 28:10 A few years ago 70% of the people in our nation 28:15 were against same-sex marriage. 28:18 Thirty per cent were for it. 28:22 Now that has switched in just a few years? 28:25 Only 30% are for it... 28:27 70% are... Sorry, only 30% 28:32 are against it; 70% for it. 28:37 It's... When they get down to the very specifics 28:42 it's something like 58%. But when you look at the general 28:45 situation involving the entire union thing it's 70% approve! 28:52 I tell you... what's going on in our world? 28:56 It's changed. 28:58 There is very much a resemblance 29:04 of the world of Noah's day. 29:10 It's sad. You know, the amazing thing is the thing 29:13 that concerns me more than anything else 29:15 is that people are starting to talk about 29:21 homosexuals being part of the church. 29:24 Now let me read some texts to you. 29:28 Leviticus the 18th chapter verse 22: 29:31 "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. 29:34 It is an abomination. " 29:35 Romans 1:26-27: 29:39 "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions 29:42 for even their women exchanged the natural use 29:46 for what is against nature. 29:48 Likewise also the men leaving the natural use 29:51 of the woman burned in their lust for one another. " 29:57 And then as it says in Jude 1 30:00 "As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar 30:03 manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual 30:07 immorality are gone after strange flesh 30:11 are set forth as an example suffering the vengeance 30:15 of eternal fire. " 30:18 Now listen: none of us are perfect. 30:23 You understand that. 30:26 We all are sinners. 30:28 The Bible tells us here in I Corinthians 6:9-10 30:33 it lists a group of people who are not going to be part 30:36 of the kingdom. "Do you not know that the unrighteous 30:40 will not inherit the kingdom of God? 30:44 Do not be deceived. " Now this is Paul. 30:47 This is the preacher of righteousness by faith. 30:50 This is not a legalist. This is not someone just making up 30:55 a list to keep people out of the kingdom. 30:57 He says: "Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators 31:01 nor idolaters nor adulterers 31:05 nor homosexuals nor Sodomites 31:10 nor thieves nor covetous 31:12 nor drunkards nor revilers... " 31:15 What is a reviler? 31:17 Isn't that a guy that just causes a lot of trouble? 31:19 We've got some of those around, too. 31:22 "nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. " 31:28 I'm a little confused because 31:33 not long ago a church conference was convened 31:37 in South Africa. Leaders brought from around the world. 31:42 And they discussed... the subject was Alternative 31:47 Sexualities. 31:50 Help me out with this. 31:54 They did not say anything about alternative covetousness. 32:01 You know, covetousness is a sin. By the way, 32:03 that's the one some of us have really got to watch. 32:07 It didn't say anything about alternative thievery. 32:13 Maybe you can steal this way but maybe you can't steal 32:17 that way. Alternative drunkards. 32:23 Alternative extortioners. 32:26 Didn't say that. 32:28 But alternative sexualities? 32:32 The Bible says that any sexual activity 32:37 outside of marriage is sin. 32:42 Now, somebody comes along and says 32:45 "We all make mistakes. " Yes, but that doesn't mean we 32:48 call our mistake OK. 32:50 You see, somebody comes to my church 32:53 and he says: "I want to join your church. " 32:55 "OK, fine, we want you. We hope that you'll join. " 32:58 "That's just great but I've got something I've got to 33:03 share with you. " "Well what's that? " 33:04 And so he reaches in his pocket and he brings out 33:07 a little idol. He says: "Now I want to be a part 33:12 of your church but I also bow down to this idol. " 33:17 We say: "Well that's OK; that's all right. " 33:20 Can... would we say that? 33:23 Not in my church. 33:25 That's not all right. 33:30 Somebody comes else to me and he says: "Look, I want to 33:32 belong to your church. " "I'd love to have you. " 33:35 "But let me tell you something. " "What's that? " 33:38 "I steal chickens. " 33:43 "Well you can give that up. " 33:44 "No, I'm going to keep stealing chickens. 33:48 I'm just going to keep it up. 33:50 I've been stealing them all my life and I want you 33:53 to accept chicken stealing as OK in your church. " 33:59 You going to accept that? No. 34:03 "No, " I said: "you've got to give that up. 34:06 You might slip and fall and actually find a chicken 34:08 in your car someday that you just accidentally picked up 34:13 a chicken somewhere, but you've got to... 34:16 We're not going to accept that as being right. " Amen! 34:20 We're not going to approve that. 34:22 We're not going to have alternative chicken thiefing. 34:26 You can't do it, folks. 34:31 You know, sin is sin. 34:34 I had a guy used to come to church 34:37 one of the places where I was. I won't identify it. 34:42 He identified himself as a male Mary Magdalene. 34:48 I said: "What in the world is that? " 34:52 He said: "I cannot resist women. " 34:56 He was a nice fellow... He was a doctor and a nice fellow 35:01 but he had the problem of chasing women. 35:04 It had already messed up a couple of his marriages. 35:08 It has a way of doing that, you know. 35:12 But he just wanted us to accept the fact 35:17 that he was chasing... 35:19 he would have a different woman every week. 35:22 You know, you can pray with a person like that. 35:25 You can love a person like that; you can... you can 35:30 have lunch with a person like that. 35:33 I didn't go to him as a doctor but you know... 35:38 But I will tell you this: you cannot approve. 35:43 You can't, folks. 35:49 Let's face it. I've always been very clear about the fact 35:53 that I've got a quick reaction. 35:55 It's called a temper. 35:58 I call it a quick reaction. 36:03 And I fight with that all my life since I was a kid. 36:07 You grow up in the family I grew up with 36:09 you'd better be quick or your were dead. 36:11 I mean... cause I had an older brother. 36:14 I told you the other night, he was sincerely trying to kill me 36:18 the day I was born. He was six years older than I was 36:22 and... at least that was my understanding of it. 36:27 We're best... We're so close now. 36:29 I hope he's watching today 'cause we're so close. 36:32 I love him so much. He's the only brother I've got left. 36:36 And there were five of us kids 36:40 and, anyway, he's the only one left. 36:45 But let me tell you: this world 36:50 I will not excuse by action. 36:55 I remember one time when I was a kid my pastor got mad. 36:58 He got mad as he could be. 37:00 And I looked at him and I said: "You're mad. " 37:03 And he said: "No... it's righteous indignation. " 37:06 I said: "All right, so it's righteous indignation when you 37:09 get mad and it's temper when I get mad. Is that right? " 37:14 Temper's wrong... it's not right. 37:18 When I'm driving down the road and... We always use that 37:21 as the illustration. You know, somebody cutting you off 37:23 in traffic. And that does, really... 37:26 Things like that in traffic do sometimes bother you. 37:30 I had a good friend who's a conference president, 37:32 and he got so upset when somebody cut him off 37:35 he ran in front of them and then he lost control 37:37 of the car. Turned his car over; wrecked his wife. Broke her arm. 37:42 Bless his heart. She wouldn't ride with him any more. 37:48 He's a good guy, too. He just had one of those bad moments, 37:51 you know. But he's not going to call it right. 37:56 Why are we even considering alternative sexualities? 38:01 Amen! Why? 38:04 I'm sorry, folks. When I was at another church 38:09 I had a group of alternative sexualities 38:18 who came and wanted to become members. 38:21 And they wrote me a long letter. I wish I had that letter - 38:25 it got away from me somewhere - 38:27 in which they went through the whole Bible. 38:30 And they had everybody in the Bible as an alternative. 38:35 They did! I mean, David and Jonathan weren't just buddies, 38:39 they weren't just friends, they weren't just loyal. 38:42 They made something else out of it. 38:45 And on and on. I even think they had Paul and Barnabas... 38:50 I mean, I'm not kidding you. It was unbelievable stuff. 38:55 And they wanted me to accept them in the church. 39:00 I said: "Look, you can come every week and be here 39:03 but unless you renounce that. " And there are plenty of 39:08 homosexuals that have renounced it, turned away from it. 39:12 I've had them tell me... I ask them: "Are you practicing? " 39:16 If they say "no" and they've given their heart to Jesus 39:19 Christ and they're looking for victory day by day in their life 39:23 I would bring them in the church just like I would the 39:25 doctor who was a male Mary Magdalene. 39:29 I would... In other words, you see what I'm saying? 39:32 We all have struggles and battles. 39:35 Mine may be temper. 39:37 Somebody else's may be something else. 39:41 But whatever it is, we don't just say: "OK, it's right, 39:47 it's right. " We don't do that. 39:50 We continue to come to the foot of the cross 39:54 and seek victory. And that was the world in which we lived. 40:00 You see, sympathy is a dangerous emotion. 40:04 You have to be very careful with sympathy. 40:07 I can be sympathetic with somebody 40:10 but I have to be careful that I don't take sympathy beyond 40:14 where it should be and take it to acceptance. 40:19 Somebody wrote something once. They said that 40:22 with life and sin and so forth, at first we are bored, 40:27 then we endure it, and then we embrace it. 40:31 And I'm afraid, my dear friend, that that is what is happening 40:36 on this situation. 40:38 Secondly I believe that in the time of Noah they had 40:42 the values turned upside down. 40:46 Upside down. 40:48 I love to go to Florida. 40:50 My wife was born in Florida and she loves Florida. 40:53 She loves Tennessee; she loves Florida. 40:55 We lived in Texas. I loved Texas. 40:58 My wife loves Tennessee; she loves Florida. 41:02 I didn't say anything about Texas, but... 41:07 But I will emphasize that she loves Tennessee and Florida, 41:12 all right? But she lived in Texas for a lot of years for me 41:17 and I appreciated that. I'm a Texan. 41:20 I don't believe that's the only place in the world to live, 41:23 I really don't... but I think it's the best! 41:28 When we go to Florida, I love to go down on the beach. 41:33 And there's a sign on the beach: 41:37 You disturb these turtle eggs 41:40 and there's a $15,000 fine. 41:48 Now I heard about people wanting to eat turtle eggs. 41:50 They were going to have to pay $15,000 apiece if they did. 41:55 Can you imagine that? $15,000 fine. 41:59 I just recently read about a man that's in trouble. 42:01 He's a photographer, and he has been taking pictures 42:05 of a bird down there. And this is a bird called the Snail Kite. 42:12 It's like a hawk. Beautiful, beautiful bird. 42:15 There are only 400 pairs of them in Florida 42:17 although they're all over Inter America and South America 42:21 and all there. But there are only 400 pairs. 42:24 I don't know who counted them, but there are 400 pairs 42:27 they say in Florida... so they're protected. 42:31 You cannot come with 500 ft. of one of their nests. 42:37 He came closer than 500 ft. 42:41 not to shoot them, not to get their eggs, 42:45 not to disturb their nests - 42:48 though they accused him of that - 42:50 but to take a picture. 42:53 He is facing the potential fine 42:56 of $100,000 43:01 and one year minimum in jail. 43:05 They said that he could get a suspended sentence 43:09 for taking the picture of a bird. 43:16 Let me... Did you know you can abort a child 43:21 and it's not only not against the law... they'll pay for it? 43:28 Folks, does that make sense to you? No! 43:34 Are we all messed up? Amen! 43:37 Are we thinking right? No! 43:39 What in the world is wrong with this world 43:42 that we have come to the place where we'll protect a turtle egg 43:46 but we will not protect a human egg? 43:49 What's wrong with us? 43:52 How can we reach a world with the message of Jesus 43:59 that's worried about turtle eggs - 44:02 I'm serious... and not worried about human eggs? 44:08 If there's anybody that should be standing up against abortion 44:12 it should be a Seventh-day Adventist. Amen! 44:16 We should stand up against it because it's wrong, folks. 44:19 People say: "Oh, what about this? " 44:21 Don't give me all of those situations. 44:24 You can worry about those later on. 44:26 Let's just face it, folks, that hardly ever happens. 44:29 That's not the reason that there have been 43 million 44:32 abortions since 1973 when Roe vs. Wade was passed. 44:38 Forty-three million in the United States alone! 44:42 Can you imagine? 44:45 And you think all of those were to save mothers' lives? 44:48 No... you know that. Very, very few. 44:51 Do you think all of those were? 44:52 Most of those were because people just didn't want 44:55 the child. My momma didn't want me! 45:03 And I know what some of you are thinking, too. 45:09 She had her family. 45:11 She had 3 children. Six years afterwards 45:15 all of a sudden I'm the surprise. 45:19 People tore her up. This was during World War II 45:24 and just at the beginning. 45:26 And they said: "You bringing a child into the world 45:27 at a time like this? " 45:30 And I think she probably kept saying: "I didn't mean to! 45:32 I didn't mean to! " 45:36 And then my little brother three years later. 45:39 And we were like a separate family. 45:43 People said: "You don't act like 45:47 the fourth child in a family. Your personality is like 45:51 a first born. " I was the first born of the third family 45:56 that mother had you might say. 45:59 My oldest brother was like a dad. 46:03 He was 13 years older than I was. 46:07 My sister 12 years older. Another brother 6 years older. 46:11 So they all did their own thing. 46:14 We had this little two family down there 46:19 my brother and me. Paul. 46:21 I miss Paul. Died a little over a year ago 46:26 and I miss him so very much. 46:31 But you see, things are turned upside down. 46:38 You know, people are looking at different things. 46:42 In fact, I was reading a study just this past week 46:46 by a psychiatrist and his name is Petronovich. 46:51 If I messed that up, I don't do too good with Murray so... 46:57 You can tell I didn't do very well last night 46:59 with Light Bearers, so... 47:05 And another one. Now he did what's called 47:07 The Trolley Problem. A trolley is coming down a hill 47:12 and there's a child and a dog there. Which one do you grab? 47:19 You'd be surprised how many people grab the dog. 47:24 If it's their dog, high percentage. 47:27 If it's just any dog, a higher percentage than it should be. 47:33 Then another psychiatrist by the name of Topolski, 47:36 he did The Runaway Bus. 47:39 Basically the same thing. 47:41 Read the graph. It makes a difference - 47:44 he did - like on the relation- ship, whether it was your child 47:49 or another child, a neighbor child. 47:52 Some neighbor children didn't do too good at all. 47:55 I mean, you know, they must have really been a problem. 47:58 But then this was a very serious study. 48:04 How people react; what they will do; the choice they will make. 48:11 Your dog is drowning, a child is drowning, 48:14 which one do you save? 48:16 And again, that's another study. 48:18 And it's amazing how many times people will 48:22 let the child go and take care of their dog. 48:29 Now I love dogs. 48:31 But folks, we have to put human life in a little different 48:37 strata than even animals that we love. 48:41 We have to do it. 48:44 We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. 48:46 We reward laziness and we call it welfare. 48:50 We kill our unborn and we call it choice. 48:53 We neglect disciplining our kids 48:55 and we call it building self esteem. 48:58 We abuse power... we call it politics. 49:01 We covet... we call it ambition. 49:03 We use profanity and pornography 49:05 and we call it freedom of expression. 49:07 We ridicule God's Word and we call it enlightenment. 49:10 And as a nation it seems that our politicians are shameless. 49:14 Our relationships are meaningless. 49:17 Our attitudes are careless. 49:19 Our babies are fatherless; our feelings are heartless; 49:22 our education valueless; our children mannerless; 49:26 our churches truthless; our religious leaders gutless; 49:30 our country Godless, and unless we repent, my friend, 49:35 we're hopeless. Amen! 49:37 We must come. Christ said: "If My people 49:41 who are called by My name 49:44 will humble themselves 49:47 then I will come. " 49:49 And then we find - number 3- that a lot of people are 49:53 obsessed with good things. 49:55 Good things. We can become so busy with good things. 49:59 It says in Luke's account of Christ's words 50:03 "As it was in the days of Noah... " He continues, 50:06 verse 28, "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: 50:10 they ate; they drank; they bought; they sold; 50:15 they planted; they built... but on the day that Lot went out 50:19 of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven 50:22 and destroyed them all. Even so will it be 50:26 in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. " 50:29 Now, you see, we're made in the image of God. 50:33 I believe God loves energy. 50:36 He loves for us to have passion about things. 50:39 He loves for us to be involved in things. 50:42 He loves to see us build. He loves to see us organize 50:47 and to plant. When I go down the road 50:51 and I see these great, massive farms. First of all, I 50:55 thank you farmers for being farmers. 50:59 I thank you; I envy you 51:02 because I just think it's a tremendous thing. 51:05 And when I look at all of the crops and all of the people 51:08 that are being fed by all of that, thank you for planting. 51:13 I look at people that are building, and I appreciate that. 51:17 Building... nothing wrong with that. 51:19 But you see, what the Lord is saying: "You get so wrapped up 51:23 in these things - good things - 51:26 that you forget spiritual things... " 51:28 I've had two good friends 51:32 who become so wrapped up in their ministries 51:36 that they lost their souls. 51:40 I mean that, and I say "lost their souls... " 51:42 I honestly believe that they eventually did. 51:47 But they became so wrapped up in evangelism... 51:51 in ministry itself. You see, we can get so into the mechanics 51:56 of all of this. And we have to remind ourselves 52:00 constantly: "Listen, we are here only to present a message. 52:04 Not to be in television but to present the message 52:08 of Jesus Christ to a world using this as a medium. " 52:12 Amen! It's the way we reach the world 52:16 and that is so important. 52:19 I've seen mothers get so busy working for everybody else's 52:23 child that they lost their own. 52:26 I've seen people get so busy in church work 52:30 that they lost their family. 52:33 You can get too busy in good things, 52:36 and I think that that is very true. 52:40 By the way, when Nominating Committee comes around 52:43 accept one office. Don't take a bunch of offices. 52:46 Don't let them talk you into it. 52:48 They're just looking for somebody that'll say "yes. " 52:50 You know that. I've been chairman of many 52:53 Nominating Committees and I used to warn the people 52:59 "Just don't offer them too much. " 53:01 Because some people can't say "no" and they'll say: 53:04 "Oh, I'm so busy but... " And the next thing you know 53:08 they don't have enough time with their spiritual life. 53:11 They don't have enough time with their family. 53:13 We've got to keep our spiritual lives in balance 53:17 and we must... Balance is so important. 53:20 So they were building... they were doing good things 53:25 but they were doing them to an extreme 53:30 and that is going to cost us. 53:35 Now... haven't left enough time for my last part. 53:38 Number four: they ignored present truth. 53:42 You see, the present truth at that moment was 53:45 that there was a flood coming. If Noah was here today, 53:49 he would not be preaching that there is a flood coming. 53:52 If John the Baptist was here today, 53:54 he would not be preaching that the Messiah is coming 53:56 for the first time. We have present truth. 54:00 You know from the studies we've had here 54:03 day after day and night after night 54:05 that we are living right down in the end of time. 54:08 Amen! We have a message to give, folks. 54:12 "The hour of His judgment is come. " When you go to 54:14 Revelation the 14th chapter and you find "The hour of His 54:17 judgment is come... " Babylon - the confusion of Babylon - 54:22 people go to churches they don't even know what the church 54:25 teaches. I'm serious. I asked a man, 54:28 I said: "What do you believe? " 54:31 He said: "I believe what my church believes. " 54:33 I said: "Well, what does your church believe? " 54:35 "My church believes what I believe. " 54:38 "Well what do you and your church believe? " 54:40 "We believe the same thing. " 54:43 But he doesn't know what he believes. 54:47 You see, they don't realize it. 54:49 They go there because of the building. 54:51 They go there because of the pastor or the worst reason 54:53 you can go to a church. 54:55 They go there because of some type of choir or... 55:00 I was talking to somebody the other day. They said: 55:02 "The most wonderful people go to that church. " 55:07 Well, I've had people tell me that there were wonderful people 55:10 down at the corner bar. 55:12 They said: "They're the friendliest bunch in town. 55:16 And I go to the Adventist church and nobody'll even speak to me 55:19 but I go down to the bar and they all speak to me! " 55:22 I had a man tell me that. 55:25 We ought to make sure we're friendly, 55:28 but we can laugh our way all the way into the fires 55:32 of hell, too. You know that. 55:35 So let me tell you: 55:37 as a person it is so important to respond 55:42 to present truth. 55:44 To accept present truth. 55:48 We're seeing some things happen right now. 55:50 "This miracle of unity has begun. " Bishop Tony Palmer 55:54 and Pope Francis posted the serious business. 55:58 Former Prime Minister of Britain Tony Blair 56:02 who was an Anglican minister has now become 56:05 a Catholic priest. 56:08 And what's happening folks: there is exactly what we are 56:14 told in Great Controversy page 588 56:18 that Protestants will reach over the abyss to clasp hands 56:23 with the Roman power. It's happening. 56:27 As it was in the days of Noah 56:32 it's going to be soon that Jesus Christ is coming. 56:38 We see all of the signs. 56:42 They are so clear. 56:44 He's coming soon. It's going to be quick. 56:48 It's going to happen. 56:51 I want to be ready. Amen! I want each of us to be ready. 56:56 And more than that Jesus wants us to be ready 57:01 to meet Him when He comes. Father in heaven, 57:04 I pray, Lord, that You will be with us. 57:07 That You will fill us with Your Holy Spirit, Lord. 57:12 That You will cover us with the precious blood of Jesus. 57:16 That we will have the assurance of salvation 57:20 not because we are good because we are so human, Lord, 57:23 so human, but because Jesus is a great Savior. 57:29 Thank you. Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2022-05-03