Participants: Frank Gonzalez
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000116
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:21 Well we just welcome you to beautiful 00:25 West Frankfort, Illinois and the home of 00:28 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 00:31 We're coming to you from our Worship Center 00:33 which is located right at almost the line between 00:38 West Frankfort and Thompsonville. 00:40 And we are so thankful that you are able to be with us tonight. 00:46 And those that are here with us live, we're so thankful 00:49 that you're able to be here as well. 00:51 We're just talking about what a cold winter we've had. 00:55 But it's starting to warm up. 00:56 We had some real nice weather yesterday, 00:59 and not too bad today considering all things. 01:04 But we are looking forward to spring time and summer. 01:10 I never thought I would look forward to summer so much. 01:15 Because last year we kind of went from winter to summer 01:18 without a spring. 01:19 Maybe this year we will have a little spring. 01:23 Well we're so happy to have Pastor Frank Gonzalez 01:26 with us for this very special Anchors Of Truth. 01:31 Pastor Frank Gonzalez is a man that I've known for many years. 01:36 In fact, the first time I ever saw him, he was being 01:39 interviewed on 3ABN. 01:42 He was the member of a panel, and he had just become 01:45 the speaker for La Voz de la Esperanza. 01:51 We just call it, La Voz. 01:52 Because I can't get all those other words in there. 01:55 But he was the speaker/director for about 17 years. 02:00 And I realized then that this was just the 02:05 Latino Voice of Prophecy. 02:07 That this was a man that had very special gifts 02:12 that God had given to him. 02:14 He is currently pastor of the beautiful and large 02:21 church at Avon Park in Florida. 02:23 We've been there many times with 3ABN. 02:27 The last time about 2 years ago. 02:29 And they welcomed us with open arms. 02:32 We say hello again to the members of the Avon Park church. 02:37 We know that you're watching tonight. 02:39 And thank you for sharing your pastor with us. 02:44 We are so happy that we could have him here. 02:48 Pastor Gonzalez is summa cum laude 02:51 graduate at Andrews University. 02:54 He has received many, many awards in preaching 02:58 and oratory, but mostly we're talking about a man of God. 03:04 I think before the series is over, he will share with you 03:09 something about his youth in Cuba, 03:12 something about his father and the persecution 03:16 that he suffered. 03:17 I'm hoping that he will, and I believe that he'll share 03:21 some of those things with you. 03:23 And then he came to this country. 03:25 And he has become a master of English 03:30 as well as Spanish. 03:32 And he is able to preach in both languages, 03:35 which not very many people can do that. 03:39 He's doing a series for us in Anchors called, 03:42 Seven Words of Hope. 03:46 Tonight's word is, Forgiven. Tomorrow night, Remembered. 03:51 Friday, Sheltered. 03:53 Sabbath morning, Delivered and Fulfilled. 03:57 Sabbath pm, Saved and Accepted. 04:02 I'm just looking forward to every single one 04:07 of these messages. 04:08 And I know that you are as well. 04:12 We appreciate very much his wife, Evelyn. 04:16 And they have three adult children; 04:19 Sergio, Benjamin, and Bianca. 04:22 And I am not going to take too much more of his time. 04:27 Before he comes to speak, though, we're going to invite 04:31 our pastor here, Pastor John Lomacang, 04:34 to come and to sing, Wash Me, Lord. 04:59 I thought I was so clever, 05:04 thought I was so wise; 05:07 surely You could never see inside this darkness. 05:16 I thought that I had fooled You; 05:20 now I see I was the fool 05:24 thinking that I could hide this darkness in my heart. 05:32 So wash me, Lord, 05:39 in Your presence. 05:42 Wash me, make me clean. 05:50 There is a stain in my heart that only You can see. 05:59 Wash me, make me clean. 06:20 I brought You sacrifices, 06:24 my silver and my gold. 06:28 In my selfishness I tried to buy Your pleasure. 06:35 But Your holiness requires, 06:41 the offering You desire, 06:45 is that I bring to You my broken humble heart. 06:53 So break me, Lord, 07:00 in Your presence. 07:03 Break me, set me free. 07:10 There is a stain in my heart that only You can see. 07:20 break me and wash me, Lord, 07:30 in Your presence. 07:33 Wash me, make me clean. 07:40 There is a place in my heart that only You can see. 07:50 So wash me, make me clean. 07:59 Break me, set me free. 08:06 Lord, wash me and make me clean. 08:40 Heavenly Father, may the meditation of Your 08:44 servant's heart and the words of his mouth be acceptable 08:50 unto You and be of some help to somebody. 08:57 And we'll give You the honor and we'll give You the praise, 09:00 and the glory. 09:02 And we'll do it in Jesus' name, amen and amen. 09:08 I want to say something about my amigo, Jim. 09:15 Because I'm uniquely qualified to say something about him 09:24 that perhaps others haven't said. 09:30 I happen to know that Elder Gilley, I know it with 09:34 scientific certainty, that Elder Gilley was for 3ABN 09:41 before he was in 3ABN. 09:45 You get my drift? 09:47 Because when we, the speakers, of the different media 09:53 ministries of the church at the Media Center, 09:57 when we wanted to collaborate and work with 3ABN, 10:03 he always had our back. 10:05 And so I want you to know that. 10:10 He always supported us. 10:12 And always was very, very positive about 3ABN. 10:19 So it doesn't surprise me that he ended up here. 10:23 And I want to say something about Brother Danny Shelton. 10:34 When God did a miracle and this son of a 10:41 political prisoner in Cuba, who spent 16 years 10:48 in a Cuban prison, my father did, 10:54 when God worked a miracle... 10:56 And I don't have the time, because it's not part of the 10:58 message today, to tell you all the miracles that God did. 11:04 But when He prepared the way for this son of a 11:09 political prisoner to go to Cuba and preach the gospel. 11:13 And not only that, but to do it for the first time 11:17 in revolutionary Cuba at a public theatre in Havana, 11:21 Teatro Mella; it hadn't been done before, 11:26 it hasn't been done again since. 11:30 And I needed... 11:32 I had the opening, but I didn't have the dinero. 11:38 I didn't have the means. 11:40 What am I going to do? 11:42 And in my desperation, the Lord said, 11:46 "Go talk to Brother Danny Shelton." 11:49 And I did. 11:51 I thought I was going to have to talk to him for hours. 11:54 I had prepared long speeches. 11:58 The first 30 seconds, he said, "Yes, we'll go." 12:02 And we had an amazing event. 12:09 Let me tell you something a little bit about it just quickly 12:12 just to thrill your heart. 12:16 We had so many people that had taken Bible studies. 12:20 We had 18,000 individuals who had graduated 12:26 from at least one of our Bible courses. 12:29 We've got five. 12:31 And some of them have taken all five. 12:35 And the seating only allowed for 2700. 12:42 And we figured we've got to let at least 700 church members 12:46 go every night or we're going to have a revolt. 12:49 A second revolution. 12:51 And so we set apart 2000 seats every night 12:56 for the Bible students. 13:00 We had to give a one night attendance ticket 13:07 to these people because we had 18,000. 13:09 And it was nine nights. Do the math. 13:14 Do you know, the Lord gave us within a year or two 13:21 over 7000 souls. 13:26 It wouldn't have happened without 3ABN 13:29 and without the generosity of Danny Shelton. 13:35 So when 3ABN calls, I get a moving. 13:42 I drop everything. 13:45 And it's not because of television. 13:47 I've been on television. 13:49 It's because I have a great moral debt with this ministry. 13:55 And I believe with all my heart that God uses 3ABN powerfully. 14:01 And I can't tell you... 14:03 I just did a little bit, but that's just one event. 14:09 Imagine 17 years of that collaboration with 3ABN. 14:13 I can't even count the souls that the Lord has brought in. 14:17 So, thank you 3ABN. 14:20 God bless you. 14:22 And I hope I can not disappoint you in these days. 14:31 Now I want to ask you a question 14:33 that you hear all the time. 14:36 But I'm going to ask it on the serious side of it. 14:40 How are you? 14:42 That's the question. 14:44 How are you? Really, how are you? 14:46 Is your energy bank full? 14:49 Is your courage up? 14:51 Is your spirit high? 14:54 I hope you are in that proverbial cloud nine. 14:59 I really do. 15:00 I hope if you're listening that you're there. 15:03 But if you're not, I understand. 15:06 Life is difficult. 15:09 And to the best of us and in the best of times, 15:14 well that cloud can come in for a forced landing. 15:19 Sometimes for a crash landing. 15:22 And it leaves us in sort of a spiritual and emotional fog. 15:29 It drains us emotionally. 15:32 That's why we need more than just counsel. 15:36 I don't have counsel for you. 15:38 But that's a good thing. 15:39 Now don't get me wrong. 15:41 Counsel is great if it's good. 15:49 But there's a problem with counsel. 15:50 Actually, two of them that I could mention. 15:55 I love to read about our founding fathers, 15:59 this country. 16:01 And they say that people wonder why it was 16:09 that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, 16:14 who were head and shoulders above everybody 16:16 with the possible exception of George Washington... 16:20 And I don't mean in size. 16:22 I mean in intellect, in accomplishment, 16:27 in wisdom. 16:29 ...and why it was that whenever there was a meeting of them, 16:33 whenever they got together, Thomas Jefferson and 16:37 Benjamin Franklin didn't say a peep. 16:41 They were quiet. 16:43 Everybody else was talking, talking, talking, 16:45 and they didn't say anything. 16:48 And finally, somebody inquired. 16:53 And I don't think it was the two of them, but somebody 16:56 speaking for them said, "You know why they 17:00 don't give counsel? 17:02 Because the wise don't need it, and the fools won't take it." 17:11 Now I can tell you from somebody who's done a little counsel; 17:17 that sounds correct to me. 17:21 But there's another problem, people, with counseling. 17:24 I call it, the counsel of paradox. 17:27 And it is this... 17:29 The more you need the counsel, the good counsel, 17:34 the least prepared you are to put it into practice. 17:38 Because you find yourself emotionally drained, 17:43 emotionally wasted. 17:46 So you need something more than counsel. 17:49 You need counsel, with the batteries included. 17:54 You need counsel that is able to accomplish 18:02 what it declares. 18:04 You need something that has the power in it. 18:10 Well, what I'm going to share with you 18:15 are the words of Christ Himself. 18:19 And He said about His words, He said, 18:24 "The words I have spoken to you, they are spirit 18:29 and they are life," John 6:63. 18:36 You know, Paul, speaking about the words of Christ, 18:42 he said he preached Christ and Him crucified. 18:45 Didn't he? 18:48 He said to the Thessalonians... 18:51 They were Bible students of the day. 18:54 They had taken the Voice of Prophecy lessons of the time. 18:59 And he said to them, "I'm so pleased with you." 19:02 In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, he says, "I thank God 19:06 without ceasing when I think about you. 19:09 Because when you received the word of God 19:12 which ye heard of us, ye received it 19:15 not as the word of men," that's counsel, 19:19 "but as it is in truth, the word of God, 19:22 which effectually worketh in them that believe." 19:28 You see, the Word of God has the power in it. 19:33 The Word of God comes with the batteries included. 19:36 And the verb there, "worketh," in the King James, 19:41 in the original do you know what the word is? 19:44 Ah, you'll get it. 19:45 Normally I don't get into the Greek too much. 19:47 But you'll like this one. 19:50 You know what the word is? "Energeo." 19:53 Where we get what? 19:55 "Energy." 19:58 No wonder my favorite writer, she said, "All of God's 20:04 creative energy is in His word." 20:09 That's why it's silly as all get out for someone to say, 20:14 "You can't keep the commandments of God." 20:17 Because the Word of God, the commandments of God, 20:21 has within it the energeo, the energy, of God. 20:26 Whatever God declares, He can accomplish. 20:28 You have to believe it. 20:30 When you believe it, you unleash the power 20:35 of the energy of God. 20:36 You see that? 20:37 So when you believe in God's Word; a commandment, 20:40 a this, a promise, a that, you are hooking up yourself 20:45 to all the energy of God. 20:47 And He brings it about. 20:50 What you've got to do is believe. 20:52 Enter into it by faith. 20:55 That's why it's the faith of Jesus that keeps 20:56 the commandments of God. 20:58 Well, of everything that Jesus said, in my opinion, 21:04 nothing quite has the power of what He said 21:08 while He was dying for us on His cross. 21:14 Jesus, essentially, preached seven short sermons 21:20 from the cross. 21:22 Now we're going to take the time tonight and in the 21:26 next nights to listen, 21:33 to listen to these short sermons from the Lord. 21:38 So, this series is not going to come from this pulpit. 21:43 It's going to come from the universe's tallest pulpit; 21:46 the cross of Christ. 21:50 And no matter, dear, whoever you are, 21:54 no matter who is listening... 21:59 Listen, no matter what your condition, 22:01 like somebody has said, "No matter what condition 22:04 your condition is in," I'm telling you... 22:08 I'm not going to tell you to do anything. 22:10 So relax. 22:11 I'm going to tell you to listen. 22:14 I'm going to tell you to believe these words. 22:17 And you're going to get the energy, the all powerful energy, 22:23 of the loving God. 22:24 It is wrapped into His word. 22:28 That's all you have to do. 22:33 Jesus' first sermon He spoke on the cross 22:38 has startled everybody, because it was so different 22:43 than what any person being murdered has ever said. 22:49 It's the point of greatest amazement 22:52 in all of human history. 22:55 Jesus prayed for the people who were crucifying Him. 22:59 Can you imagine that? 23:02 This was a total reversal of normal human nature. 23:07 He prayed, listen people, at the very moment 23:12 that the soldiers were nailing His wrist bones and feet 23:17 to the wooden beams, He said, "Father, forgive them. 23:21 For they know not what they do." 23:25 Luke 23 verse 34. 23:32 You want a practical definition of Christianity? 23:34 Here it is. 23:37 It is the religion that forgives enemies. 23:41 Do you want to know if you're truly Christian? 23:44 Take this practical test. 23:47 Can you forgive the person who hurt you? 23:50 Your abuser? 23:52 The person who came into your life with a huge wrecking ball 23:55 and left you in emotional shambles. 23:59 If you can forgive him or her, you're a Christian. 24:05 And if you can do that, you are also superhuman. 24:09 Because that forgiveness is not of human origin. 24:15 It is not factory installed. 24:19 We do not come into the world with it. 24:22 We are not hard wired to produce it. 24:25 It can't be mapped in our human genome. 24:29 It was manufactured by Jesus brick by brick 24:33 on the cross of Calvary. 24:36 He is the author and finisher of it. 24:39 And He is in the business, thank God, of dispensing it 24:45 over the counter to all of us. 24:50 The Bible says it in Romans 5:5 24:56 that He can pour it into your heart. 24:59 This agape love of God can be poured into your heart. 25:04 And let me tell you, sooner or later, my friend, 25:08 you're going to need it. 25:10 You're going to need it. 25:13 I know I do. 25:17 And you know, it's a good thing that Christianity 25:20 is in the business of forgiving enemies. 25:24 Because the Bible says that all of us were the "enemies" 25:31 for whom Jesus prayed. 25:34 Oh yeah, I can prove it to you. 25:36 Romans 5 verse 10. 25:39 Paul says, "For if when we were..." What? 25:43 "...enemies, we were reconciled to God..." 25:47 When were we reconciled to God? 25:49 What does Scripture say? 25:51 When we were what? 25:53 Enemies. 25:55 Oh, I don't remember that. 25:58 I remember other people there who were enemies, 26:01 but we, Lord? We? 26:03 It's like Peter, you know. "Me? Is it I, Lord?" 26:08 "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God 26:11 through the death of his Son, much more, having been 26:15 reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." 26:21 Praise God. 26:23 This means that when Jesus prayed that prayer on His cross, 26:27 He was praying for you and me, 26:29 and not just those pagan Roman soldiers. 26:33 Oh, He was praying for them as well. 26:36 The entire human race was involved in the crucifixion 26:41 of the Son of God. 26:46 This is a solemn and sobering truth, I've got to tell you. 26:51 But we are no better than those men. 26:54 As Luther, the great reformer, once put it, he said, 26:58 "We are all made from the same dough." 27:01 He had a way of saying. 27:04 We were lucky not to be alive then, 27:09 and to have been in that place. 27:12 Or we might have done exactly the same thing. 27:17 Because this isn't any better than there's, you see. 27:22 It's the reason why Isaiah, speaking prophetically 27:26 about the cross of Christ, repeatedly uses the 27:30 first person plural, "We." 27:34 Let's go to that. 27:36 Isaiah 53. 27:39 That, "we," includes us. 27:43 In fact, he included himself. 27:46 Verse 3, in the last part of the verse, it says, 27:51 "And we hid as it were our faces from him. 27:55 He was despised, and we did not esteem him." 28:01 And in verse 4, the last part says, "We esteemed him stricken, 28:07 smitten by God, and afflicted." 28:10 Yes, my friend, we are all guilty of the crime 28:17 of crucifying our Lord. 28:20 But there's good news. 28:22 We are also the beneficiaries of what He accomplished today. 28:27 Because in verse 5 it says, "But he was wounded 28:32 for our transgressions," you see. 28:35 "He was bruised for our iniquities. 28:39 The chastisement for our peace was upon him; 28:45 and by his stripes we are healed." 28:51 Amen. 28:52 No matter who you are, yes you were there. 28:57 You know, I am amazed, John, at the wisdom of these spirituals. 29:05 You know, these African slaves who embraced Christianity. 29:12 Think about it, think about how they were treated 29:15 by their Christian masters. 29:19 They should have had nothing to do with that religion. 29:23 But they understood what, I think... 29:28 In fact, I have a theory. 29:30 I think that they preserved Christianity for all of us. 29:34 I think they preserved the purity of Christianity. 29:39 I'll tell you why. 29:41 Because people could have dismissed. 29:45 They had every right to say, "Oh, these are all hypocrites 29:50 and this religion doesn't work. 29:53 And why should we embrace a religion of our masters?" 29:57 And all of that. 29:58 But they looked at the cross. 30:00 They focused in on the cross. 30:02 That's why there is this one particular song... 30:07 I should have thought about asking John to sing it 30:11 right now, I would have loved it. 30:15 "Were You There" 30:17 Were you there... 30:19 Let's sing it together. 30:20 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 30:26 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 30:33 Oh, sometimes it causes me 30:41 to tremble, tremble, tremble. 30:48 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 30:59 What is the answer to that question? 31:02 Were we there? 31:04 Yes we were. 31:06 You see, they realized the collective guilt of 31:10 humanity in this, and their complicity in the greatest crime 31:15 of human history. 31:16 And therefore, they could be forgiving of their masters. 31:21 That's my theory. 31:24 But I think that's how they were able to save Christianity 31:32 and embrace Christianity. 31:35 Yes, we're all guilty of the crime. 31:38 But we are all recipients of what happened there. 31:44 Praise the Lord. 31:47 You know, I believe there are three reasons why Jesus prayed 31:53 this remarkable prayer. 31:56 And the first reason is going to surprise you. 31:59 And I've got to tell you, I've never heard 32:01 another preacher in all my life say this. 32:05 And if I'm wrong, I will apologize. 32:11 But I don't think so. 32:12 I've thought about it long and hard. 32:15 I think one of the reasons, perhaps not the main one, 32:19 but I think one of the reasons why Jesus prayed this prayer 32:22 was for His own benefit. 32:26 Now let me explain. 32:28 The greatest battle that has ever been fought 32:34 was fought in the mind of Jesus. 32:37 Would you agree with that? 32:39 It started in Gethsemane. 32:41 Well before that, but Gethsemane. 32:42 That's when it got really tough. 32:47 And Jesus had to keep His soul temple clean. 32:52 Because that's where the victory was being won. 32:56 There could be no resentment there. 32:59 There could be no harboring of any ill will. 33:05 Jesus had to cleanse Himself. 33:11 Would you agree with that? 33:12 Now, I brought this other brain. 33:17 Because my wife says that the one I have 33:21 doesn't work quite right. 33:24 So I have a second one here. 33:27 But actually I want to show you something. 33:33 I want to show you a little bit about the 33:36 pathology of forgiveness, and equally of unforgiveness. 33:42 Why it is, why do you think... 33:46 Listen, is God trying to torture us? 33:49 Is that what He tries to do? 33:52 No. 33:53 When the Bible is so insistent that we should forgive... 33:58 It's even in the Lord's prayer. 34:00 Right? 34:02 Again and again, the Lord calls us to forgiveness. 34:06 Forgiveness seems to be the cornerstone, the keystone, 34:16 the foundation of Christianity. 34:20 Forgiveness. 34:22 Why does the Lord want us to forgive our enemies? 34:28 It's not what clinical psychologists would have you do. 34:35 This is unique to Christianity. 34:38 Why? 34:41 I want to show you something. 34:43 I only need half a brain to show you this. 34:48 There is a region, this is called the hypothalamus. 34:54 By the way, people say, "Well you're not a doctor. 34:57 Why are you talking about these things?" 35:01 Well you know what? I got interested in it. 35:03 And I've been studying it for years. 35:06 I think a Christian ought to study three disciplines, 35:09 because they never change. 35:11 We ought to study the things that don't change. 35:13 First is the Word of God. 35:15 The Word of God is not going to... 35:17 You're not going to get up one morning and there's 35:19 going to be another book in it. 35:21 Or some word is going to fly out of it. 35:24 No, you're going to have the same word. 35:27 You can take it to the bank. 35:29 That Word is eternal. It's right there. 35:32 You can study it, you can memorize it. 35:34 Praise God for His Word. 35:37 His Word is eternal. 35:41 There's anything thing that doesn't change 35:42 that I like to study, and it's anatomy. 35:46 You're not going to get up one morning with one extra bone. 35:50 Anatomy is what it is. 35:53 And the other science I like to study is math. 35:56 Because that's also certain. 36:00 2 + 2 is going to be 4 today, it's going to be 4 tomorrow, 36:06 and the next day. 36:08 So I like to study these three sciences. 36:12 Well, let me tell you what happens in this section 36:17 called the hypothalamus. 36:20 This hypothalamic region of the brain is where our emotions go. 36:27 In fact, when the Bible talks about the heart, 36:31 "Love your God with all the heart," 36:32 it's really talking about the brain. 36:34 Because this organ here has no feelings. 36:38 It doesn't think, it's just a pump. 36:40 But this is the heart. 36:44 And the heart of the heart, the heart of the brain, 36:48 is this section here. 36:50 It's inside, you've got to get in here. 36:51 This is where the emotions go. 36:55 This is the seat of the emotions. 37:01 So when there is hatred, when there is unforgiveness, 37:11 when there is anger, when there is any sort of feelings 37:20 of recrimination and the like, they go here. 37:24 They go here. 37:27 They either go to the conscious section or they go to the 37:30 subconscious, and even the unconscious. 37:33 It's all here. 37:36 This is also the area... 37:38 Listen to this. 37:39 You're going to make this connection before I tell you. 37:42 This is also the area where the autonomous central 37:47 nervous system is controlled. 37:50 This is the area that controls all the 37:52 inner organs of your body. 37:55 This is the area that tells your heart to 37:59 get to work, to beat. 38:00 And that's why you don't have to send orders 38:08 to your inner organs to work. 38:10 It's taken care of here. 38:12 This controls sleep. 38:14 This controls the sexual impulses. 38:17 It's all here. 38:19 Well see, you can see that if you build this area 38:26 with the toxicity of bad emotions in the same area 38:33 that controls the health of your inner organs, 38:38 what's going to happen? 38:39 You tell me. 38:43 That is why one of our favorite writers 38:48 says that, what is it, 84 or 90% of our diseases 38:55 have a psychosomatic foundation to them. 39:02 It doesn't mean we make them up. 39:04 No, that's not what it means. 39:05 But it means that if this area becomes toxic, 39:13 then we are in danger of doing harm to the inner organs. 39:20 You see that? 39:22 So Jesus had to keep His heart clean. 39:30 And so when He forgave, and when you forgive 39:36 that person who has hurt you, the main beneficiary 39:41 of you forgiving is not that person, it's you. 39:48 Is that clear? 39:52 Now the second reason why Jesus prayed this prayer 39:58 was for the benefit of the soldiers who needed to hear it. 40:02 Can you imagine living the rest of your life 40:07 with that on your conscience? 40:11 No matter who would come and talk to you and try to 40:13 counsel you and try to say, you know, explain it to you 40:17 theologically, it would be hard. 40:19 But they heard it, they heard it, from Jesus. 40:22 You need to hear it too. 40:24 By the way, Jesus said, "Thou art clean," or cleansed, 40:33 "by the words that I've spoken to you." 40:36 And no word cleanses like the word of forgiveness. 40:45 Do you know that some people are living in terrible 40:53 shape emotionally, maybe even physically, because they 41:00 haven't been able to forgive themselves. 41:04 They haven't been able to forgive themselves. 41:06 My friend, if that's your situation, listen, 41:10 you need to hear this. 41:12 You need to hear, it's for you, Jesus said, "Father, 41:17 forgive them, for they know not what they do." 41:21 He's saying that to you. 41:26 Tradition says that a number of those soldiers came to Christ. 41:32 And one of them in particular, that centurion. 41:36 And it is said that his name was, Longinus. 41:41 He became a very strong Christian. 41:45 What would have happened if they had not heard 41:47 Jesus say, "Father, forgive them." 41:51 And number three, I think Jesus prayed this prayer 41:55 for all of us who are no less guilty. 42:00 You know, there was a Christian writer. 42:06 And when I was preparing this, man, I tried to remember 42:10 and I could not remember the name. 42:13 But there's a Christian writer, famous one in history, 42:17 a 19th century writer I think, who tells a story of how 42:23 he was trying to teach a neighbor this truth; 42:27 the truth that we are all complicit 42:29 in the death of Christ. 42:31 And on the positive side, that we are all beneficiaries 42:36 of that death. 42:38 But that we need to understand that. 42:42 And his neighbor would have nothing to do with it. 42:48 He just did not believe that he had anything to do. 42:52 "No, they did it. 42:54 Maybe others, but not me." 42:57 He was kind of like Peter, you know. 42:58 "Not me, not me." 43:01 Well, the writer says that his neighbor 43:05 went to bed that night and had a dream. 43:09 And in the dream, he was taken to the crucifixion. 43:12 And he is just horrified by what he is seeing. 43:19 And in his dream he goes to a soldier, 43:23 the one who is raising the hammer to hit the nail 43:27 that's going to go through Jesus' wrist bones and feet. 43:33 And he grabs the guy from the back, he grabs him, 43:36 shakes him up, "Why are you doing this?" 43:39 And the soldier turns around. 43:42 And what did he see? 43:44 I think you know where this is going. 43:46 He saw himself. 43:48 It was himself. 43:52 And the next day he said to the Christian writer, 43:56 "You're right, you're right. I was wrong." 44:00 I've got time for a story. 44:05 This lady had stopped attending church 44:11 for, what I remember, was like a couple of years. 44:17 Now I've got to tell you, she had been a 44:20 strong Adventist Christian. 44:26 Because I remember talking to her afterwards. 44:29 She was a vegan. 44:31 She was into all the things you would expect 44:35 a strong Adventist to be. 44:40 But life had dealt her a very hard blow. 44:44 I'm telling you people, it can happen. 44:47 It can happen. 44:49 Life has a way of sometimes doing a number on you. 44:56 But she heard that La Voz de la Esperanza was coming, 44:59 and she had heard the program since she was a little girl. 45:03 And so she said, "Okay, I'm not ready to go back to church, 45:08 but I can go and be at this event 45:11 of La Voz de la Esperanza." 45:13 When she got to the place, she arrived a little late. 45:19 And her heart sunk and her shoulders dropped 45:23 when she saw the place was full to the rafters. 45:28 There didn't seem to be a single seat available. 45:33 She was about to go home 45:38 when all of a sudden a good usher... 45:43 If you're going to usher, be a good one. 45:47 And he had made an inventory of every seat. 45:53 And he came to her and he was happy that he could 45:55 report to her and say, "Oh no, don't go." 45:58 "Don't go." he said. 45:59 "I know where there is one seat in the whole place. 46:03 There's one seat. 46:05 I can take you right to it." 46:07 She said, "Really?" "Yes." 46:09 And so this good usher took this lady to this only seat 46:16 available in the whole place. 46:22 Well, she would soon come to regret it. 46:26 As she took her seat and turned to greet the person next to her, 46:32 you know, the common pew courtesy, 46:37 a look of horror and a feeling of disgust came over her. 46:43 It turns out that the lady that had "stolen" her husband 46:53 was sitting right there. 46:56 Of all places. 46:59 One seat in the whole place and it's got to be 47:02 right next to this woman? 47:04 This woman? 47:07 Now, the truth is that her former husband 47:12 had long moved on to newer conquest and greener pastures. 47:18 But she still held this woman as more culpable 47:22 because she "initiated" him in his womanizing ways. 47:27 That's the way she saw it. 47:30 But, you know, she wanted the earth to open and just 47:35 swallow her up, or get up and leave. 47:37 But it would call too much attention to herself. 47:44 So she decided to stay and give the lady her coldest shoulder. 47:55 The sermon that day recounted the story of Mary Magdalene. 47:59 You know, when I stay in a place any kind of time, 48:04 I like to tell the story of Mary Magdalene. 48:07 Because Jesus said, "Wherever you tell My story, 48:10 tell also the story of what this woman has done." 48:14 Didn't He say that? 48:15 We don't do that too often, but I like to do that. 48:18 I've got 10 or 15 sermons on Mary Magdalene. 48:24 And the sermon noted how Mary's encounter with Christ 48:27 had given her the strength to forgive her abuser. 48:31 Remember that Simon guy? 48:34 The preacher went on to say that if the victim harbors hatred 48:38 and resentment in their heart... 48:40 Really that hypothalamic region of the brain 48:43 where the seat of the emotions is found. 48:46 Where the autonomous nervous central system is. 48:50 ...that such resentment and bitterness cannot but 48:53 bring injury and disease. 48:57 She didn't need me to tell her she was a physical 49:01 and emotional basket case. 49:04 And she knew it. 49:09 At the end of the service, the lady of our story 49:14 would turn to her former enemy and say, 49:19 "Go in peace, my sister. 49:21 Christ has forgiven us both, and we should do the same." 49:31 The two women held each other in a long embrace 49:36 as tears and grace flowed freely. 49:42 It must have brought a smile to Jesus Himself. 49:47 There's a wonderful Christian song that best summarizes 49:53 what we tried to say, albeit poorly. 49:57 It says, "Those nails, they were mine; 50:03 those nails were mine. 50:06 By my sins I swung the hammer, 50:11 pierced those hands of love divine. 50:15 Those nails of shame, my sins acclaim; 50:21 but by His grace I have forgiveness. 50:25 Praise His name. Praise His name." 50:31 Now, I've still got about seven minutes. 50:34 So I'm going to tell you about the power of forgiveness. 50:38 When I was doing auditions for La Voz, 50:44 you know, there were 26 candidates at first 50:47 from the three divisions. 50:48 Because back then the Media Center was under 50:51 the General Conference. 50:52 And so the three divisions, each president of the division 50:55 presented eight candidates. 50:57 And I was one of the 26. 50:58 I got a letter saying, "Congratulations, 51:00 you're one of 26." 51:02 I said, "Whoa, whoop-de-doo." 51:08 But you know, I was praying, "Lord, take me out 51:13 in the first slice, the first time they..." 51:15 Because I don't want to go through that 51:17 whole agony, you know. 51:18 But every time they cut it, I was still in it, in it, in it. 51:22 And finally, we were five. 51:24 And when we were five, we were invited to go and do auditions 51:28 and so screen tests, and all of that. 51:31 Well, the first thing that I had to read from the teleprompter 51:38 was this sermon called, "Forgiveness and the Power." 51:46 And it said that, you know, forgiveness is wonderful 51:49 and it's great. 51:51 But it needs power added to it. 51:55 It's like it doesn't have the batteries, you know. 51:57 You've got to go fetch the batteries later. 52:00 And then you've got the whole package. 52:03 That was the sermon. 52:05 Oh I had to, sort of, bite my tongue and swallow hard, 52:10 because I didn't believe it. 52:12 I did not believe it. That's not my theology. 52:15 I don't believe in forgiveness and the power. 52:19 I believe in the power of forgiveness. 52:22 And I'll show you in a minute. 52:26 You know, when Jesus said to that man... 52:30 Remember the story, he was brought in by friends. 52:35 And they did a hole in the roof of Peter's house. 52:41 Peter must have been fuming. You know Peter. 52:44 And they brought the guy to Jesus. 52:48 Now what they wanted was the physical healing of the man. 52:51 Right? 52:52 That's what everybody wanted. 52:56 But Jesus didn't go there. 52:58 What did He say? What did Jesus... 53:01 The man comes in for physical healing. 53:04 And Jesus says to him what? 53:06 You remember? 53:07 "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee." 53:12 What? 53:13 Wait a minute. 53:15 "Jesus, wait a minute. 53:16 That's fine and dandy, that's great stuff, you know. 53:19 But he could have asked God that in his own home. 53:22 We didn't have to make this mess and come all the way here 53:26 to do that." 53:28 Now they didn't say it, but they were thinking it. 53:31 It didn't make anybody happy. It didn't make anybody happy. 53:34 The religious people said, "Who does this guy think He is? 53:38 Only God can forgive sins." 53:40 I mean, everybody... 53:41 Have you ever preached and made everybody angry? 53:44 I hope I didn't do that tonight. 53:46 But it can happen. 53:49 Now, everybody was angry... 53:53 ...except for the man. 53:57 If you want to read more, read a little bit about this, 54:00 read the Desire Of Ages chapter on this. 54:02 Oh, it tells you he knew why Jesus said what he said. 54:09 He had been carrying guilt all his life. 54:14 He need to... It had sickened him. 54:18 He was paralyzed because of his emotional 54:24 and spiritual sense of guilt. 54:27 There's nothing heavier, people, there's nothing heavier, 54:32 my friend, that you can carry around than guilt. 54:39 And it had crippled him. 54:41 It had him. That bed had him. 54:45 But Jesus said, "What is easier? 54:47 To say, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee,' 54:49 or to say to this man, 'Rise up, take up your bed, 54:54 and walk.'" 54:56 You see, the bed had him. 55:00 But when Jesus forgave him, and when he received 55:04 the word of forgiveness, there was power in that word. 55:09 Because Jesus said, Jesus only said it twice 55:12 because they didn't get it. 55:15 Jesus meant to say, "By the forgiving of your sins 55:20 you should be getting up, my friend." 55:24 So He made it plain. 55:27 But Jesus was clear, there is power in forgiveness. 55:33 There's power, wonder working power in the blood. 55:37 Colossians 1:14 says we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. 55:41 And let me tell you why this is so powerful. 55:45 Because the blood is what? 55:47 What does the Bible say the blood is? 55:49 Life. 55:51 Right? Numbers, Leviticus, etc. 55:53 Life, life is in the blood. The blood is in the life. 55:55 So here's the thing, my friend. 55:57 When God forgives you, He gives you the blood of Jesus. 56:02 The blood of Jesus is the life of Jesus. 56:05 So when you are forgiven by Jesus, you not only 56:10 get some book in heaven cleared... 56:12 That's good, that's great. 56:13 I'm glad for that. 56:15 ...but you get the very life of Jesus infused into you. 56:21 He is the Lamb of God that taketh away 56:26 the sin of the world. 56:27 He takes it away. 56:30 He doesn't just put a little rag on it, 56:33 a little dressing on it, 56:38 a little lipstick on it. 56:40 He takes it away. 56:42 He can take it away at this very moment. 56:46 You have been carrying too long, my friend. 56:50 Way too long. 56:51 This is the time for you to get up. 56:54 This is the time for you to receive the forgiveness. 56:58 This is the time for you to rise up and live up 57:04 to the life and the destiny that you have in Christ. 57:10 This is the time, this is your deliverance, today. 57:14 Jesus says, "I forgive you. 57:17 Rise up, take up your bed, and walk. 57:22 I will make you a productive human being with the power 57:27 of God in you." 57:29 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17