Participants: Jim Gilley
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000020
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Thriving Faith In Difficult Times, with Jim Gilley. 00:22 We come now to the last sitting in our series 00:27 as we have looked at the practical aspects 00:30 of being a Christian in a modern world, 00:33 which is not always conducive to Christianity 00:37 and to Christian growth. 00:38 We have looked at fear, and how to deal with that. 00:41 We looked at worry, and how to deal with that. 00:43 We've also looked at the aspect of resting and abiding in Christ 00:51 in times that are really troublous. 00:54 We've looked at our world, and our speaker, Jim Gilley, 00:57 has given us answers to some of the questions 01:00 that we ask from time to time as we face the problems 01:03 that the world throws at us each and every day of our lives. 01:06 It is good to know that we are not alone in this world. 01:11 It is good to know that God has promised never to leave us 01:16 nor forsake us, and that on the other end of our prayers, 01:19 there is a God who hears and knows how to answer. 01:23 But more than that, is ready, willing, and more than 01:26 able to answer. 01:27 And so today, I like this title, 01:29 Applying God's Antidote for Anxiety. 01:33 You know, it's good to apply Jesus, they say, 01:37 "at the point of attack." 01:38 You always put Jesus up front and let Him, as they say, 01:42 "catch the bullets," because Christ is more than able to 01:44 protect us and to shield us. 01:46 My name is C.A. Murray and it is my privilege and pleasure 01:49 once again to welcome you to this last sitting. 01:53 And time goes by so very, very fast. 01:56 Just several nights ago, we began our walk together. 01:59 And here today, we end it with this most crucial assertment, 02:03 sort of the, dare I way, the cherry on the sundae; 02:07 applying Christ at the point of attack 02:10 in this world that attacks us so very, very much. 02:13 I like this, Applying God's Antidote for Anxiety. 02:18 We thank God for our speaker. 02:21 Jim Gilley is the president of 02:23 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 02:25 He comes to us with much experience, having served as 02:29 pastor, evangelist, conference president, 02:31 and also North American Division Vice President, 02:34 Having had a background in media management, 02:37 he comes to this pulpit with great experience. 02:40 But more than that, with the anointing of the Lord. 02:43 And so I ask from you for him, your prayerful 02:46 and undivided attention. 02:47 Before he speaks, our Pastor, our friend, John Lomacang 02:51 will be singing a song that is most fitting, 02:54 Sometimes It Takes A Storm. 02:56 And as he is making his way out, I ask you now to bow 02:59 your heads with me in prayer. 03:03 Gracious Father, we come to You now again, beseeching Your 03:09 presence and Your power. 03:11 We are thankful, Lord, that You are the honored guest here. 03:15 We are thankful that You have met with this speaker, 03:18 that You have given him words for us. 03:20 And now we ask that through Your power, 03:23 he may be emboldened, enabled, and anointed 03:27 to deliver that word with power. 03:29 But more than that, we ask for open and receptive 03:34 hearts and minds for those in this house 03:37 and for those who sit and listen and hear around the world 03:41 who expect to hear a word from the Lord. 03:44 May they indeed hear that word this day. 03:48 And we thank You for Your presence and Your power, 03:52 and for what we know You are going to do in answer 03:55 to the prayer of faith. 03:56 In Jesus' name, amen. 04:19 When your waters are so troubled 04:24 you don't think you count at all. 04:28 The waves may seem like mountains 04:33 and your boat seems oh so small. 04:38 But somewhere past the clouds 04:42 waits a new day to begin. 04:47 Sometimes it takes a storm 04:51 to calm the storm within. 04:59 Sometimes it takes a storm 05:07 to know you need a shelter. 05:16 When the anchors in your life 05:23 disappear without a trace. 05:32 Sometimes the winds will rage 05:40 before you sail calm waters. 05:48 Sometimes it takes a storm 05:57 to find your hiding place. 06:16 They were drifting in the darkness 06:20 and the sea was all around. 06:24 They cried out to the Master 06:28 "Please save us or we'll drown." 06:34 Jesus heard their cries 06:38 and with mercy stilled the wind. 06:42 Sometimes it takes a storm 06:46 to see the Son again. 06:54 Sometimes it takes a storm 07:02 to know you need a shelter. 07:10 When the anchors in your life 07:18 disappear without a trace. 07:26 Sometimes the winds will rage 07:34 before you sail calm waters again. 07:42 Sometimes it takes a storm 07:50 to find your hiding place. 07:57 Sometimes the winds will rage 08:05 before you sail calm waters. 08:13 Sometimes it takes a storm 08:21 to find your hiding place. 08:28 Lord, thank You for the storms 08:39 for You are my hiding place. 08:48 You are my hiding place. 09:06 Thank you, John. 09:08 He is our hiding place, isn't He. 09:11 He certainly is. 09:13 Praise the Lord for that assurance. 09:17 Because without it, we wouldn't have a whole lot 09:21 to hold on to, would we. 09:23 We certainly would not. 09:25 Shall we bow our heads for just a short added word of prayer. 09:28 Father in heaven, we pray for Your leading, Your guidance, 09:32 Your direction as we study Your word. 09:37 In Jesus' name, amen. 09:42 I'd like for you to take your Bibles and turn with me, please, 09:45 to 1 Timothy the 6th chapter and verse 11. 09:50 1 Timothy the 6th chapter and verse 11. 09:55 "But you, O man of God, flee these things..." 09:58 And it's talking about these things up ahead 10:00 that are mentioned before, which is the pursuit of money 10:04 and things of that nature. 10:06 "...and pursue righteousness..." 10:09 See, God wants us to be pursuing righteousness. 10:15 "...godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness." 10:25 These are things that God says we should be pursuing, 10:29 and not the things of this world. 10:31 You know, sometimes we get the idea that we ought to have... 10:35 You don't want a house any more with a two car garage. 10:39 You know, you want three. 10:41 You just got to have a little bigger place. 10:45 Oh, four. 10:47 Not long ago, Camille and I went to see some folks 10:50 and they had ten, was it, ten garages. 10:56 Wow, I hope they had cars in all of them because a lot of garages 11:01 you go to, it's everything but a car in the garage. 11:04 But ten garages. 11:08 You see, we are sometimes looking to add things. 11:12 But God says don't pursue those things. 11:15 He says, add to your character, 11:18 add to the change. 11:21 That's something that you can take with you. 11:23 And then it says in verse 12, and this is what we're 11:27 looking for here, "Fight the good fight of faith, 11:32 lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called 11:36 and have confessed the good confession in the presence 11:41 of many witnesses." 11:44 "Fight the good fight of faith." 11:50 You know, that word "fight" is the word "agon". 11:55 And so when it says, "fight the fight," 11:58 we get our word "agony" from this, 12:01 you might could say, "agonize the agony of faith." 12:07 If you think that faith is easy, you haven't tried having faith. 12:13 If you think that trust is just a second nature, 12:19 then you have really never entered into trust. 12:24 Because it's not, it's something that is far more difficult 12:29 for us to have in our lives than people would ever think. 12:35 "Fight the good fight of faith." 12:41 I remember, it was the summer between my freshman 12:44 and sophomore years in college. 12:47 In my freshman year, I had fallen in love. 12:51 I actually fell in love at the end of my senior 12:53 year in high school. 12:55 I probably wouldn't have even gone to college 12:58 if that girl hadn't been there. 13:02 And I loved that girl. 13:04 I fell for her. 13:05 In fact, somebody the other day said to me, 13:08 "You've really only loved one woman 13:10 in your life, haven't you." 13:12 And I said, "That's right." 13:14 One. 13:16 And it was the girl I had fallen in love with. 13:19 She's sitting on the front row intimidating me right now. 13:25 But that girl and I had broken up in the spring 13:31 of my freshman year in college. 13:34 I finished out that school year. 13:39 And then that summer, I was working as a salesman. 13:45 And I was selling sewing machines. 13:49 I had done all kinds of sales work. 13:51 I'd worked as a literature evangelist, 13:56 and I had sold pots and pans once for a while. 14:01 And I had found that I could make more money selling 14:05 than I could working by the hour. 14:07 I worked for my dad by the hour and he didn't pay all that much. 14:11 And finally, one day I said to him; he was complaining about 14:16 paying me minimum wage. 14:18 Minimum wage was not that much even then, believe me. 14:21 It was really minimum then. 14:24 And he was paying me minimum wage. 14:26 And I complained. 14:29 And he said, "Do you want me to pay you what you're worth?" 14:33 I said, "Yes, pay me what I'm worth. 14:36 I deserve to be paid what I'm worth." 14:39 And when I went and looked at the time clock, 14:41 it said 50 cents an hour. 14:44 Minimum wage was a dollar and a quarter, I mean, you know. 14:48 I said, "What in the.. What are you saying?" 14:51 He said, "Son, you've got food paid for, 14:54 you've got lodging paid for. 14:56 You drive my car and you burn my gas." 15:01 "I pay for all that," he said. 15:04 He said, "I wish I could net 50 cents an hour myself." 15:07 And he owned the business. 15:09 I said, "Are you kidding? It's that bad?" 15:12 He said, "It's pretty bad." 15:13 So I found that I could sell sewing machines or 15:16 anything else, and make more money than I could 15:18 working for my dad. 15:19 That was for sure. 15:21 And that summer, I was having a pretty good summer 15:24 selling sewing machines. 15:26 And the gentleman that was in charge of it, 15:30 there were 26 sales people. 15:32 And I did not work on the Sabbath. 15:35 That was the biggest day for sales. 15:39 But in spite of that, out of 26 sales people, 15:42 I was number two and I was very close to number one. 15:48 Number one told me, he said, "I don't know how in the world 15:50 you do it not working on the Sabbath." 15:52 I said, "Well, the Lord helps me." 15:54 By the way, if you're fighting with that decision, 15:57 the Lord will help you. 15:59 I have never seen any of God's people begging for bread. 16:03 And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. 16:06 The Lord takes care of them. 16:08 You think there's a whole lot of problems financially here? 16:12 You go out and look in this parking lot. 16:14 If it is, something is going on because there are some 16:18 awful nice vehicles out there in the parking lot. 16:21 God takes care of His children. 16:24 Well anyway, that summer I was at camp meeting. 16:29 And I was really, it was Friday night and I was waiting for 16:34 some of my friends to come. 16:35 And I was sitting out on the campus there at Southwestern, 16:39 and I was thinking about all these things. 16:42 And I was thinking about the fact that my girlfriend and I 16:45 were not together any more. 16:47 And I really didn't have much hope that we would 16:50 ever be back together. 16:51 It was about a year before we did get back together. 16:54 And I was thinking about my life. 16:58 What am I going to do with my life? 17:00 What am I going to be involved with? 17:02 I had loved baseball. 17:04 And right out of high school, I'd signed a contract with 17:06 the Giants to play baseball. 17:09 Not on the major league level, on the minor league level. 17:11 That's where you start out. 17:12 I don't know if I would have ever made it or not. 17:15 My dad was always telling me, "Son, you'll make it. 17:18 You're the luckiest human being I've ever seen in my life." 17:22 And he said, "Every team you've ever played on 17:24 has been a winner. 17:26 And every time, you've always led the team in hitting 17:28 and everything else." 17:30 And he said, "You're just lucky." 17:32 He said, "You could fall in a bucket of mud..." 17:35 Now he didn't call it that, but something else. 17:37 But he said, "You could fall in a bucket of mud 17:40 and come out smelling like perfume." 17:44 Now that was what he said. 17:46 He said, "You will make it to the major leagues." 17:49 But the year before, I had decided that there was no way 17:52 I could be a Sabbath keeper 17:54 and play major or minor league baseball. 17:58 There was no way, particularly in those days. 18:00 There have been one or two people that have done it, 18:03 but it was a strain for them. 18:05 They didn't do it until many, many years later. 18:08 But there was a player with the Minnesota Twins. 18:12 They called him The Sundown Kid. 18:14 He would play until 15 minutes before the sundown on Friday 18:20 and he would check out of the game no matter 18:22 when or where he was. 18:24 And then he would come back in at 15 minutes after 18:27 sundown on Sabbath. 18:29 And his nickname was The Sundown Kid. 18:32 I thought, appropriate. 18:34 So I was thinking about all these things. 18:38 Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? 18:40 What am I going to be? 18:42 And the thought came to me... 18:45 Because I had read Matthew 5, I knew what sin was. 18:51 I knew that I wasn't stealing, killing, committing adultery, 18:54 but that sin is something in the mind as well. 18:59 You may not actively be doing things, 19:01 but you are still a sinner. 19:04 And I knew that I would never be good enough for heaven. 19:08 Never. 19:10 And suddenly it hit me. 19:12 You know what's going to happen? 19:14 You're going to miss out on the good things of this world, 19:17 and you're going to miss out on heaven as well. 19:20 You're going to miss it all. 19:23 You need to take one way or the other. 19:26 There's no need of missing out on both. 19:30 Now that was a moment of truth in my life. 19:35 I was 18 years old. 19:38 And I remember that moment of truth very well. 19:43 I was sitting there thinking, there's no way that 19:46 I can be perfect. 19:47 There's no way that I can save myself. 19:49 There's no way that I will be saved. 19:55 Across the campus, a man by the name of Leon Strickland, 20:00 who was the Associate Pastor of the college church 20:05 at Southwestern, was walking across the campus 20:09 headed for the auditorium. 20:12 And he saw me. 20:14 And he said, "Jim, what are you doing?" 20:18 I said, "I'm just thinking about things." 20:21 We talked about a few things. 20:25 He even said to me, he said, "You know..." 20:28 I did a little singing in those days. 20:31 He said, "You've had your heart broken 20:35 and you're different. 20:37 Your music has got a depth to it that it didn't have before, 20:42 because your heart has been broken." 20:45 I said, "Well, I'm thinking about eternal life." 20:52 And I shared with him my thoughts that I would 20:55 miss out on both. 20:57 And he said, "There's no reason for you to miss out on both." 21:00 I said, "Elder Strickland, I cannot be perfect. 21:06 I know what sin really is. 21:11 I know what it is. 21:14 And I know that sometime in the heat of the battle, 21:19 I will have an angry thought. 21:22 And the Lord says, 'If you are angry with your brother.'" 21:27 I had brothers that I got angry at all the time. 21:29 I mean, you know. 21:31 I loved them, but we would certainly have a little 21:33 anger from time to time. 21:35 And that doesn't just mean your flesh and blood. 21:38 I said, "Lord, I know I can't be saved." 21:44 And then Leon Strickland began to share with me 21:48 righteousness by faith. 21:51 Now I'm going to tell you something. 21:54 You know, I believe so much. 21:56 And I believe in the three angels messages. 22:02 And we may end up there this afternoon. 22:04 Who knows, because I never know exactly where I'm 22:07 going when I get started. 22:08 My wife looks at me like, "Where is he going?" 22:11 You know, and I can see that. 22:14 Let me read you this. 22:16 Ellen white, in speaking about the three angels messages, 22:21 she says, "Several have written to me, inquiring 22:25 if the message of justification by faith is 22:30 the third angel's message, and I have answered, 22:35 'It is the third angel's message, in verity.'" 22:40 It is the third angels message. 22:43 The Review and Herald, April 1, 1890 22:46 and Evangelism, page 190. 22:50 I tell you, it is. 22:53 If you read the third angels message, 22:55 "the hour of His judgment has come." 22:57 Remember the commandments, it tells us. 23:00 It leads us to Jesus. 23:04 That's the message. 23:07 My friend, as Leon Strickland began to share with me 23:13 these thoughts, I said, "Oh, I wish I could believe that. 23:18 I wish I could believe that." 23:22 And he said, "It's true." 23:23 I said, "Our church doesn't teach that." 23:26 And I want to tell you something. 23:27 That in those particular days, those of you that were around 23:32 in those days know that the emphasis was on works first 23:38 and faith last instead of the other way around. 23:43 And I said to him, "Where did you get this?" 23:47 He said, "I got it from a book called, 23:49 Christ Our Righteousness. 23:52 It's a compilation by A.G. Daniells of the 23:56 writings of Ellen White." 23:58 And I said, "I've read the writings of Ellen White and 24:01 I just got more discouraged when I read them 24:05 because they uphold such a high standard. 24:08 And I know what a human I am. 24:11 And there's just no way." 24:14 And he said, "You read that book." 24:18 Well let me tell you, I went home that next week. 24:24 And when I went home, I realized that I needed 24:32 to read that book. 24:34 Now that book was not real popular at that time. 24:41 And so I asked my mother the next Friday night... 24:44 I was thinking about going out because hanging around our house 24:47 was not necessarily the thing you wanted 24:49 to do on Friday night. 24:50 The television was on. 24:52 Most of the members of our family were not believers. 24:56 And it was not necessarily the place to be. 24:59 Mother would be in the back room with her Bible. 25:02 And what am I going to do? 25:04 So usually I'd go get a friend or two and we would 25:07 just drive around. 25:08 We didn't do anything good, we didn't do anything bad. 25:11 We just went. 25:14 And I remember that particular night, I said to mom, 25:18 "Do we have the book, Christ Our Righteousness?" 25:22 And she said, "No, I've never heard of it." 25:26 Now we had one bookcase. 25:28 There were mostly spirit of prophesy books in it. 25:31 There were a few other books that were in it. 25:35 But that bookcase was right in the living room. 25:41 And I sat down in the chair next to that bookcase 25:45 and I started looking for something to read. 25:50 "Mom, we don't have it?" 25:52 "No, we don't have it. Never heard of it." 25:55 And then I saw on the bottom shelf, a book that was wrapped 26:00 in brown paper wrapping like they did in those days, 26:05 with the title that was stamped on the end. 26:09 I knew before I even reached for that book 26:13 that is was, Christ Our Righteousness. 26:16 I knew it. 26:18 When I picked it up and I saw it written across the end, 26:22 I was not a bit surprised. 26:25 And I asked mother, "Where did you get this book?" 26:28 She said, "I've never seen that book in my life." 26:30 Now I know that my mom must have bought it 26:33 at one of those book sales at camp meeting. 26:35 And they were probably selling it for 50 cents 26:38 or something like that. 26:39 And she just bought it, brought it home, 26:41 put it on the stack, and never knew where she got it, 26:44 didn't even know what she had. 26:46 But God had it there for me. 26:49 That very book that Strickland had told me about 26:53 the Friday night before. 26:56 And I opened it and I started reading it. 27:00 And I want to tell you something. 27:02 I read that book through eight times 27:07 before I picked up another book. 27:10 It has a message of righteousness by faith. 27:13 Now today when I read it, I say to myself, 27:15 "I don't know why this impacted me so much." 27:18 Because we've broadened so much, we've become so well versed 27:23 upon righteousness by faith. 27:25 But see, this was before the years of Heppenstall and 27:29 before the years of Venden, and before the years of Blazen, 27:33 and before the years of those who have championed 27:36 this message. 27:39 And it had been lost back at the time after 27:46 Ellen White passed away. 27:47 She was preaching it. 27:49 She preached it all along. 27:51 In fact, she preached it so hard, they sent her 27:53 to Australia because she was preaching the message so hard. 28:00 But she preached it. 28:02 And she believed it. 28:04 And it's right there. 28:05 Somebody said, "Well, what did you find there?" 28:07 Let me tell you. 28:09 There's one text that I found, one statement I'm going 28:11 to read to you and that's all. 28:12 If you want to read the book, you need to read it yourself. 28:15 It said that righteousness by faith, "Christ our righteousness 28:24 is the one sublime message set forth in sacred scriptures." 28:31 That's it. 28:33 "Christ our righteousness is the one sublime message." 28:39 From Genesis to Revelation, this is what it's trying to tell us. 28:44 "However varied the forms and phrases in which the message 28:49 may be unfolded..." 28:50 They'll be varied. 28:53 However they'll be unfolded and presented. 28:56 "...yet always from every point of the circle, 29:00 the central commanding theme is Christ our righteousness." 29:08 How will we survive in the future? 29:12 Through Jesus Christ. 29:15 And through Him alone. 29:17 There is no other way except through Him. 29:24 You see, there are a lot of good things about self discipline. 29:28 And yet there are some dangerous things about self discipline, 29:31 because sometimes we feel like that we are so good 29:36 and so discipline. 29:38 And if you don't watch it, we will actually sometimes 29:41 start to try to save ourselves, 29:45 or feel comfortable in ourselves, 29:48 by looking at ourselves and saying, "Well I may not 29:50 be perfect, but I'm sure a whole lot better than so and so. 29:55 At least I don't have his problems." 29:59 And so and so may be closer to the kingdom than we are 30:05 because of his total dependence upon the Lord 30:09 and his total feelings of unworthiness. 30:14 Some of you may have heard of the marshmallow test. 30:19 The marshmallow test was developed by Dr. Walter Mischel 30:26 at Stanford University. 30:28 It has been given for years to kids that, 30:31 I think, are around 3 years old usually. 30:34 And what they do is, they say that if a child is able to delay 30:40 gratification, that he has a great chance for a good future. 30:47 The longer he can delay gratification, the more likely 30:51 he is not to get into drugs, the more likely his is 30:56 not to get into certain habits that can come, 31:00 the more likely he is to finish school, 31:04 if he does well on the marshmallow test. 31:08 And they give the marshmallow test. 31:12 Now this test wouldn't have worked with me because 31:14 I never did care for marshmallows. 31:15 But if they'd had a Snicker bar there, 31:19 it might have been different. 31:22 Or a Little Debbie. 31:26 I haven't had either one in years. 31:27 I just want to let you know that, alright. 31:30 If I did, you'd see twice what you see now 31:34 if I ate like that. 31:36 But I was interested in the results of this test. 31:41 And they said that some of these children 31:44 would sit on their hands rather than to 31:46 reach out and eat that marshmallow. 31:48 Because they would put a marshmallow down. 31:50 I think it was two marshmallows, actually. 31:52 No, it was one and they said if you don't eat the marshmallow 31:57 until I get back, I'll give you two more marshmallows. 32:01 That made three. 32:04 I'll give you two if you don't eat the one. 32:07 And those kids, some of them... 32:09 Now others, before they even left the room had 32:11 already eaten it, you know. 32:15 And they judged a lot by the marshmallow 32:18 about the childs future. 32:19 And they've had enough years to study that study 32:23 to see that there are some real facts here about 32:28 delayed gratification and a child seemingly almost being 32:32 born with the ability to delay some of these things. 32:38 Hmmm, that's right. 32:39 Remember my little grandson that was here during 32:42 camp meeting, little Levi? 32:45 His mom, Amy, she was probably the one that told me originally 32:49 about the marshmallow test. 32:51 She recently gave Levi the marshmallow test. 32:56 Not with marshmallows because he doesn't eat marshmallows. 32:59 But at the health food store, there's a little 33:02 peanut butter cup that he really likes. 33:04 Totally healthy, and you can get them like at 33:08 Whole Foods or wherever. 33:10 And he likes those, and he gets those on occasion 33:13 as a little treat. 33:15 And so she put him in the room and she put one down. 33:18 And she said, "Now Levi, I'll be back." 33:21 And she left for 15 minutes. 33:23 She was secretly watching him. 33:26 And she said, "If you don't eat that, when I get back 33:30 I'll give you two more." 33:33 Well, she said he really kind of looked at it and 33:36 really kind of studied it. 33:39 But when she came back 15 minutes later, 33:42 he had not eaten it. 33:46 Now you know what he said then? 33:48 When she laid the other two down, he said, "Mother, 33:51 if I go 15 more minutes, will you give me three more?" 34:01 I suspect he'll be a PhD. I don't know. 34:05 But I tell you, we did get a real good laugh out of that 34:11 because he was negotiating with her for a little bit more 34:15 to get out of that. 34:16 You see, the marshmallow test, if we all had ability 34:20 to be victorious on our own, it wouldn't be fair 34:26 to all, would it. 34:29 Don Schneider is my good friend and I love him. 34:34 Don is German through and through. 34:36 If you ever want to have a real experience, go with Don 34:40 on the Martin Luther trip to Germany. 34:44 And you will enjoy that. 34:47 By the way, if you want to have another good experience, 34:49 go with me to Israel. 34:50 And I'm going again in November. 34:54 But Don, I tease him a lot. 34:58 I say, "You know, Don, if it was by discipline, 35:03 only German's would be in the kingdom." 35:07 They're the disciplined people. 35:10 The Irish and Scottish and English, 35:12 not necessarily so disciplined. 35:16 And neither are the Italians. 35:18 Neither are so many of the others. 35:21 You see, it's not by our blood line. 35:27 It's by the blood of Jesus. 35:29 That is the difference. 35:32 So how do we have victory in our life? 35:35 How does this take place? 35:37 I want you to go back with me to Deuteronomy the 20th chapter. 35:41 Deuteronomy the 20th chapter, and we find a technique here 35:46 that the Lord is talking about that I believe He wants 35:49 us to put into effect. 35:50 Because we are coming into difficult times. 35:53 Some people are telling me saying, "We are already 35:56 in difficult times." 35:57 And always, there are challenges that all of us face. 36:01 Every single one of us face these challenges. 36:06 And it's like we said in our meeting this morning; 36:09 the Bible says if you can't run with the footmen, 36:11 how do you expect to keep up with the horses? 36:14 Now that's a paraphrase. 36:15 But in other words, there are going to be 36:18 difficult times ahead. 36:20 We've got to run now with our Lord, totally. 36:24 This is Deuteronomy the 20th chapter beginning with verse 1, 36:27 and I'm going to read it. 36:28 It says, "When you go to battle against your enemies 36:31 and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, 36:35 do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you." 36:41 Now this was God talking to the children of Israel 36:44 before they went into war. 36:45 Every time they went into war, when He said He was with them, 36:49 they were victorious. 36:51 Every time they went into war by themselves, the lost. 36:54 Every time you and I go into war by ourselves, 36:57 we will be defeated. 37:00 When we go into a spiritual battle with the Lord, 37:04 we will be victorious because He is the one who is victorious. 37:09 "Do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, 37:12 who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 37:14 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, 37:17 that the priest shall approach..." 37:19 It doesn't say get a General or the President 37:21 or the leader of the country or anything like that. 37:24 It says bring the spiritual leader there. 37:26 "...the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 37:30 And he shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel: 37:32 Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. 37:36 Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid.'" 37:41 Why? 37:42 Because when we are afraid, we activate Satan. 37:47 When we have faith, God is able to work in our lives. 37:51 Because we're trusting in Him. 37:54 "And he shall say, 'Hear, O Israel: 37:56 Today you are on the verge of battle. 37:57 Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, 38:01 do not tremble or be terrified because of them.'" 38:04 And here it comes, verse 4. 38:06 "For the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you 38:13 against your enemies, to save you." 38:18 He says, "I will be there, the Lord your God." 38:23 He will go with you. 38:25 It has to always be a linking with us and with God. 38:30 No other way. No other relationship. 38:35 We have got to let the Lord be in us, 38:42 that He will take control of us. 38:45 This text says, don't be afraid. 38:48 It says that God fights for us and that the battle is His. 38:55 Now this is the way that God told Israel to go to battle. 38:59 I believe it's the way we should go to battle today. 39:02 Anytime you're going, and every day is a battle. 39:05 So write these texts down. 39:07 Deuteronomy the 20th chapter beginning with verse 1. 39:10 And I believe that every spiritual battle, 39:14 we should go with that. 39:16 Then we turn to 1 Samuel the 17th chapter. 39:21 And you will recognize this immediately as the story 39:26 of David and Goliath. 39:30 David is about 12 years old, probably. 39:35 There is no way on earth that he is a match for Goliath. 39:38 There is no way on earth that you and I are a 39:41 match for the devil. 39:43 He has too many tricks. He's been around too long. 39:47 Without Jesus, he can wipe us out so easily. 39:52 And he will without Jesus. 39:55 Now David, you remember that he came to, 39:58 he didn't even come to fight. 40:00 He came to be with his brothers to bring them some food 40:03 and some nourishment. 40:05 And then he comes and he sees Goliath. 40:09 And he's wondering why somebody doesn't do something. 40:12 You see, if Saul had known Deuteronomy 20, 40:16 Saul himself should have gone to meet the giant, 40:20 knowing that it wouldn't be Saul and the giant, 40:23 it would be Saul with the Lord against the giant. 40:29 But Saul, if he ever did know Deuteronomy 20, 40:32 had forgotten it. 40:34 He was focusing on his own powers, which he knew he 40:38 wasn't a match for Goliath. 40:40 But he did not realize that God would go with him. 40:44 But David did. 40:46 David, you'll see, that he understood Deuteronomy 20. 40:51 Wherever he had been, he wasn't out there with 40:54 the sheep all the time. 40:55 He was somewhere studying the word of God, 40:57 because he knew Deuteronomy 20. 41:00 He knew God would be with him. 41:03 And he had practiced that in little things. 41:05 You see, that's what we're coming down to now. 41:08 Is that in this life now, we're looking at surviving 41:12 the great controversy. 41:13 We're looking at surviving the end time 41:15 problems that are coming. 41:17 They are going to come. 41:19 How do you survive them? 41:20 The same way you survive these problems today. 41:24 And David talks about a bear that came. 41:28 And he talks about a lion that came. 41:31 And he didn't just kill them from a distance. 41:34 He actually went to them. 41:36 It says, "I went out..." 41:39 They had, the lion, each of them had a lamb in their mouth. 41:45 "I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb 41:48 from its mouth." 41:50 I mean, he was right in there fighting with these two animals. 41:55 "And when it arose against me..." 41:58 You take a meal away from a lion, it's going to 42:02 arise against you. 42:04 I had to take something away from a pit bull one time; 42:09 the neighbor's. 42:11 And boy, he arose against me. 42:13 But he had one of our little puppies and was 42:18 about ready to devour it. 42:21 Now I just thank the Lord I had on gloves 42:23 because that dog and I went to fifth city. 42:28 And he ended up back home and I ended up alright. 42:32 But David had something more than a dog. 42:39 He had a lion. 42:41 And then he had a bear. 42:44 But then he says, "Your servant has killed both lion and bear; 42:50 and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like 42:53 one of them, seeing that he has defied the armies 42:56 of the living God." 42:57 And they say if you can read all this in the Hebrew, 43:00 that he was using all kinds of profanities against God, 43:05 and saying all manner of things against God. 43:08 "And David said, 'The Lord who delivered me from the paw 43:12 of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me 43:15 from the hand of this Philistine.'" 43:17 David wasn't saying, "Hey, look at me. 43:19 I can really do this. Boy, I'm tough." 43:22 That's not what he was saying. 43:24 He said, "The Lord gave me that victory. 43:28 And the Lord will deliver me from this Philistine." 43:33 And he knew that would be the result. 43:38 I tell you, you'll want to take this home and read it. 43:40 And those of you that are home watching by television or 43:44 listening by radio, you'll want to read this whole chapter. 43:48 It is a remarkable chapter. 43:50 David, you remember all about the stones 43:53 and things of this nature. 43:55 And you remember that the giant looked at him and he said, 44:00 "'Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?' 44:03 And he cursed David by his gods. 44:06 And the Philistine said to David, 'Come to me, 44:09 and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air 44:12 and the beasts of the field.'" 44:14 And then David answered back. 44:16 I love the answer. I love it. 44:19 "You come to me with a sword and with a spear 44:22 and with a javelin. 44:24 But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, 44:27 the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." 44:31 When you're up against temptation, don't go in 44:34 your own strength. 44:35 Go in the name of the Lord. 44:38 Go in His name. 44:41 "This day," he said, "the Lord will deliver you into my hand." 44:46 He didn't say, "You know, I think I've got a pretty good 44:48 chance with you." 44:49 No, that's not what he said. 44:50 He said, "The Lord is going to deliver you into my hand, 44:57 and I will strike you and take your head from you." 45:01 "I'm going to take your head right off. 45:03 That ugly old head of yours is going to be severed 45:06 from that gigantic body of yours. 45:10 And I'm going to do it because God is going to be with me." 45:15 And then in verse 47, "Then all the assembly shall know 45:21 that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; 45:25 for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you 45:29 into our hands." 45:32 And then you know what happened. 45:34 You know the amazing things is, a lot of times 45:36 we don't realize it, but there were two things 45:39 that David kept from that experience. 45:44 One is, the skull of Goliath. 45:50 He grabbed it, I know he grabbed it by the hair. 45:52 How else would you carry a skull around 45:55 that you had just severed from the body? 45:57 He carried it to Jerusalem. 46:00 And the victory was the Lord's. 46:03 He gave the Lord the credit all the way. 46:06 People always try to give him credit. 46:08 No, he gave the Lord the credit. 46:11 Then he took his sword, and it says he put it in his tent. 46:17 And you know something? 46:18 Now you know what eventually... 46:20 By the way, that skull shows up later on in the Bible. 46:23 You look it up and you'll see where it shows up. 46:27 But I believe that David took that skull, once it was 46:34 just a skull and nothing else on it, put it in his duffle bag 46:40 along with that sword. 46:44 And sometimes when things were going tough, 46:48 I think he brought it out and looked at it. 46:50 "See that big old crack up here on the skull? 46:55 The Lord was with me in this battle. 46:57 He was there." 47:00 You know something? 47:01 You've got some things in your tent where God has won 47:06 victories for you before. 47:08 Bring them out every once in a while. 47:10 Take a look at them. 47:11 Remind yourself of how God brought you through this, 47:16 how He brought you through that. 47:17 How this illness looked like it would be the thing that 47:21 would do you in, but God brought you through. 47:24 Look at it. 47:26 Look at it. 47:28 And I believe that you will be just like David, 47:33 encouraged by it. 47:35 How many times, as I have looked at scripture, that I wished 47:40 that David had gone to that duffle bag one more time. 47:44 You see, there was another giant that got him, 47:50 bathing on top of a roof. 47:54 If he had just at that time called on the Lord, 47:58 it would have saved Israel so much pain. 48:02 It would have. 48:04 It would have saved his family. 48:08 If you really look at it, you'll find out that all the problems 48:12 with Absalom and with his family really surrounded this. 48:18 I don't think he would ever had a problem with Absalom. 48:20 Absalom was right in what he was saying, 48:25 he was wrong in lifting his hand against God's anointed. 48:28 Even though God's anointed was wrong, 48:30 God had not told Absalom to be the one. 48:33 He told the prophet to go to him, but he didn't tell 48:36 his son to go to him. 48:38 And He did not honor Absalom for that. 48:41 But you see, my friend, God always has a plan "B". 48:48 He could have scuttled David and said, "That's it." 48:51 But He didn't. 48:52 He used plan "B" and saved that whole situation. 48:59 And a child of that marriage, that union 49:03 that started off so wrong, became the one 49:08 God put on the throne and used to help write 49:13 a lot of the Bible. 49:15 You see, God can turn things around. 49:18 He can turn them around in your life. 49:19 Let's look at one more instance real quick. 49:21 And we'll go over to 2 Chronicles. 49:25 And here, we're at the 20th chapter as well. 49:28 2 Chronicles 20. 49:30 And it says, "It happened after this that the people of Moab 49:35 with the people of Ammon, and others with them 49:39 besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat." 49:43 Now Jehoshaphat; you remember the battle 49:46 that took place here. 49:48 Sometime, if you want to really read a beautiful prayer, 49:53 I'm not going to take time to read it today, 49:55 I want you to go and read the 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles 50:00 beginning with verse 6. 50:01 And this is a beautiful prayer. 50:03 In fact, if you're going through a trial, 50:05 you get this prayer. 50:07 Take this prayer and place your name and your trial 50:13 into that place and pray this prayer. 50:17 Because I believe that this is the word of God, 50:21 and it's so powerful. 50:23 And you know that these people were all lined up. 50:26 They were ready. 50:27 Now they could have taken maybe either one, 50:30 one of the three of these countries, and probably 50:33 could have handled them. 50:34 But all of them coming together, Jehoshaphat knew 50:38 there was no way that he could do it. 50:41 And he was amazed because he had been such a friend to them. 50:45 And now they had turned against him. 50:48 And so he prays. 50:49 The last part of that prayer was, "O our God, 50:52 will You not judge them? 50:55 For we have no power against this great multitude 50:57 that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, 51:01 but our eyes are upon You." 51:05 How many times have I prayed that. 51:08 Lord, I have no power. 51:11 I don't know what to do. 51:13 I don't know how to solve this problem. 51:16 But You do, Lord. 51:19 And He will never leave you nor forsake you. 51:23 He will bring the answer. 51:27 And then you'll remember that this young prophet jumps up. 51:29 Jahaziel, he jumps up and he says, "Listen, all of you Judah 51:34 and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, 51:36 and you, King Jehoshaphat! 51:38 Thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not be afraid, 51:43 do not be dismayed because of this great multitude, 51:47 for the battle is not yours, but God's.'" 51:53 And then he tells them how to go into it. 51:57 "The battle is not yours, but God's." 52:02 When you look at this whole scene, it's so beautiful 52:05 how that they went out and did everything they could 52:12 to praise God rather than lifting up 52:15 to do battle themselves. 52:17 Now they dressed for battle, don't misunderstand. 52:19 They didn't say, "You know, the Lord is fighting this battle. 52:22 We're going to sleep in." 52:23 They didn't say that. 52:24 The Lord has never done the battles without having 52:28 people be a part of that. 52:31 They got up, they dressed for war. 52:34 I've heard preachers that had the choir robes on them. 52:37 I'm sorry, that's not what it says. 52:39 They were singing and praising God, yes. 52:42 And we need to be praising God because that is where our 52:46 victory comes from; is through Jesus Christ. 52:49 And by saying these things verbally, the promises He has, 52:56 we begin to see that God opens the doors. 53:00 He opens the door. 53:02 And what a beautiful and wonderful and fantastic 53:06 victory that He brings and gives to each one. 53:11 But it has to be His victory, not our victory. 53:18 Oh my friend, He loves you. 53:22 He cares for you. 53:24 He really does. 53:26 I heard C.F. Weigle one time. 53:28 And he was telling about how he wrote that song, 53:32 and I'm going to ask John to come right now and sing it. 53:34 We'll barely have enough time to finish it. 53:37 No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus. 54:02 I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus, 54:07 since I found in Him a friend so strong and true. 54:13 I would tell you how He changed my life completely; 54:21 He did something that no other friend could do. 54:29 No one ever cared for me 54:36 like Jesus. 54:41 There's no other friend so kind 54:48 as He. 54:53 No one else could take the sin 54:59 and darkness from me. 55:06 O how much He cares for me. 55:23 Every day He comes to me 55:28 with full assurance. 55:34 More and more I understand 55:40 His words of love. 55:47 But I'll never know just why 55:52 He came to save me, 55:58 till some day I see His blessed face above. 56:09 For no one ever cared for me 56:16 quite like Jesus. 56:21 There's no other friend so kind 56:28 as He. 56:33 And no one else could take the sin 56:39 and darkness from me. 56:46 O how much He cares for me. 56:59 O how much He cares for me. 57:12 He does care for you, my friend. 57:14 He loves you. 57:17 He gave His life for you. 57:20 Now He asks that you trust Him, believe in Him; 57:25 for the battle is the Lord's. |
Revised 2014-12-17