Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000169A
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00:19 Hello friends, welcome to our Wednesday night Bible study
00:22 here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:24 We thank you for taking the time to tune in, 00:26 and we welcome you with a hearty amen. 00:28 Amen. 00:29 We are going to continue our study in the Word of God. 00:31 We're talking about man's greatest need. 00:36 Now, right now we're living in a world where there are 00:38 many needs. 00:40 Not only needs for physical needs and spiritual needs, 00:44 but the world is in turmoil and disaster. 00:48 And there are people that are thinking about 00:50 the basic necessities of life. 00:53 Well, when the basic necessities of life are supplied, there's a 00:57 need even beyond that. 00:58 And we're going to be talking about that. 01:00 So thank you for taking the time to tune in to join us. 01:03 In just a moment I'll tell you how to get a copy of the lesson, 01:06 but before we do anything, before even our theme song, 01:09 we open with a word of prayer. 01:12 Loving Father in heaven, we thank You that we can 01:15 come to You, and You are our ever present help 01:19 in time of need. 01:21 Tonight, Lord, what we need is to turn our hearts away from 01:24 the distractions around us to the God who is calling 01:29 to develop character within us. 01:31 And so be with us tonight, Lord, as study this very vital lesson. 01:36 Furnish our minds with not only understanding, 01:39 but with strength to be dedicated to Your cause 01:42 and Your will. 01:43 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 01:47 Now each of you should have a lesson with 01:48 fifteen questions on it. 01:50 Check to make sure you do have that. 01:51 And those of you joining us, go to this following website 01:55 to download your lesson. 01:58 Go to asf.3abn.org. 02:04 And download lesson number 39. 02:07 What lesson did I say? Number 39. 02:11 And then if you have that, you can follow along with us. 02:16 Before we do anything else though, we're going to 02:17 sing our theme song. 02:19 And our theme song is, Victory in Jesus. 02:22 So join us as we sing our theme song together. 02:33 I heard an old, old story, how the Savior came from glory, 02:40 how He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me. 02:48 I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning. 02:55 Then I repented of my sins and won the victory. 03:03 O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. 03:10 He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. 03:18 He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. 03:25 He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. 03:33 I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory, 03:41 and I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea, 03:48 about the angels singing and the old redemption story. 03:56 And some sweet day I'll sing up there the song of victory. 04:03 O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. 04:11 He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. 04:18 He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. 04:26 He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. 04:34 He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. 04:44 Amen. Amen. 04:47 Tonight our topic is, The Truth About..., 04:50 together with me, ...Our Greatest Need. 04:55 Now go with me to the book of Philippians very quickly 04:59 as I lay some foundation. 05:02 The book of Philippians. 05:04 It's become one of my favorite books in the Bible. 05:06 I call it, the Olympic book. 05:09 The Olympic book. 05:11 Alright, Philippians. Philippians. 05:18 And we're going to look at the promises that the Lord 05:25 has made to us. 05:27 We're going to go to chapter 4 of Philippians 05:31 and look at verse 13 together. 05:34 Now since we talk about our greatest need, 05:37 we need to know something about our greatest need. 05:40 Look at the promise that the Lord has made. 05:43 And the Bible says in Philippians 4:19. 05:47 I said 13? I mean 19. 05:50 The Bible says, "And my God shall supply..." What? 05:54 "...all your need according to His riches 05:59 in glory by Christ Jesus." 06:02 Now a lot of times we read that verse, 06:04 we think of money right away. 06:06 Because the word, "riches," is in that. 06:08 We think, "Well, I need money, so God is going to supply 06:11 all my needs because He's rich." 06:13 And we start saying, "Well, how much do I need?" 06:15 And we start calling on God for money. 06:18 But that's not what that text means. 06:20 Because it says, "according to His riches in glory 06:24 by Christ Jesus." 06:26 And the Bible says, "Fear God and give glory to Him." 06:29 Now the riches is the riches not only of His provision, 06:34 but the riches of His grace. 06:36 And is God rich in grace? 06:39 Yes He is. 06:40 But not only the richness of His grace, and the riches of glory, 06:44 and the riches of His provision, but also God is rich in mercy. 06:50 God is rich, period. 06:52 But when we read that text, in order for us to understand 06:56 the benefit of this lesson about our greatest need, 06:59 we need to know that whatever that need is, 07:02 "My God shall supply..." What? 07:04 "...all our need according to His riches in glory 07:09 by Christ Jesus." 07:11 So when you get stuck on the financial needs, 07:14 don't pause there, because God can provide 07:18 every need that we have. 07:19 And sometimes we have the need of forgiveness. 07:22 Sometimes we have the need of Him leading us 07:24 to the place of repentance. 07:26 Sometimes we have the need of comfort. 07:28 And sometimes we have the need of just 07:30 knowing that we count. 07:32 And the Lord will provide all of our need according to 07:34 His riches in glory. 07:37 Now in order for us to even benefit further from this, 07:40 we need to understand a few things that's true about us. 07:43 Go with me to the book of Jeremiah. 07:46 Jeremiah. 07:48 Because when we were born into this world, 07:50 we were not born rich. 07:52 I'm not talking about financially. 07:54 Because some people inherited money from their relatives, 07:57 some people were beneficiaries, some people were executors. 08:03 Some people didn't know how much was laid up for them 08:07 until their loved one died or they inherited something. 08:11 Well you know, we are inheritors. 08:13 We are inheritors of the grace of God, the salvation of Jesus. 08:19 But we ought to understand something about our condition. 08:22 I said Jeremiah what? 08:24 Seventeen, and let's look at how we were born. 08:30 This is kind of a depressing text. 08:32 I think that's an understatement. 08:35 Jeremiah 17, and let's look together at verse 9. 08:41 Wow! 08:43 Now the reason why this passage is there, 08:45 you only have to understand it in context of 08:48 what the Lord said in verse 7. 08:50 Because we often read Jeremiah 17:9, 08:53 but we don't really read before that. 08:56 The context of this is, you can trust the Lord's heart 09:01 but you can't trust man's heart. 09:04 Look at verse 9. Look at verse 7. 09:06 The Bible says, Jeremiah 17:7, "Blessed is the man..." 09:11 Who does what? 09:13 "...who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord." 09:19 And I'm going to continue reading verse 8, 09:20 and then to verse 9. 09:22 "For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters..." 09:25 Sounds like Psalm 1, right? 09:27 Planted by the waters. 09:29 "...which spreads out its roots by the river, 09:34 and will not fear when heat comes; 09:37 but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious 09:41 in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." 09:46 Now that's the context of it. 09:48 In other words, you can trust God. 09:49 Whatever you commit to God, He's going to make it prosper. 09:52 But he says, "But what about man?" 09:54 So if you now try to put your trust towards man, 09:56 what's going to happen? 09:58 This is where verse 9 comes in. 10:00 The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above..." 10:03 How many things? 10:04 "...all things..." And what else? 10:06 "...desperately wicked." 10:07 And here's the question. "Who can know it?" 10:10 We can know God's heart because He's made promises. 10:12 He says, "You'll be like a tree planted. 10:14 Your leaves won't wither. 10:16 Whatever you plant is going to come to fruition." 10:18 And the tree doesn't even have to be anxious when it's hot. 10:21 And the context there is, when drought comes, 10:24 whatever you plant God will bring to fruition. 10:29 So God is able to supply all of our need. 10:32 He's able to prevent drought from causing our crops to fail. 10:37 God is able to provide all of our need. 10:40 But he said, "But don't trust your heart. 10:43 Because your heart may make a promise, but it can't keep it." 10:48 But God wants to provide all of our need. 10:50 And now I want to go to Jeremiah... 10:52 I'm going to go to question number five. 10:54 Since we are in Jeremiah, we're going to begin at 10:55 question number five tonight. 10:57 And let's look at this, because we have to understand 10:59 in order to benefit from the needs that God has provided. 11:02 And I think I mentioned this at the beginning of this lesson 11:05 last episode, was that we're going to talk about 11:09 not just our greatest need, we're going to talk about 11:11 repentance, we're going to talk about confession, 11:16 we're going to talk about what it means to repent. 11:18 What is conversion? 11:20 A lot of people join churches, but not very many people 11:22 repent of anything any longer. 11:25 They say, "I want to be a member, but I don't want to 11:26 repent of anything." 11:27 We're going to talk about, what is repentance? 11:29 What does it mean to repent? 11:31 What does it mean to have a heart of repentance? 11:33 Let's look at the continual picture that develops here. 11:36 Question number five, here it is. 11:45 Go to Jeremiah 13. 11:48 Just four chapters earlier. 11:52 Jeremiah 13, and we're going to look at verse 23. 11:57 Jeremiah 13:23 12:00 And look at this passage. 12:02 You may be familiar with it. 12:03 But I'd like you to read it with me. 12:06 The Bible says, together... 12:19 Now the reason why this passage is included in there, 12:22 because while people... 12:24 Let me use a story to illustrate this point. 12:27 A number of years ago I saw a picture of a man 12:29 who had during the Christmas season gone from 12:32 one orphanage to the other and he had a stack of 12:34 one hundred dollar bills. 12:36 And he was giving out hundred dollar bills 12:39 to people in the orphanages. 12:41 He went from one orphanage to the other. 12:42 He had a stack and he continued doing that until, I guess, 12:45 whatever he allotted had run out. 12:48 Now somebody said, "What a good heart!" 12:51 And they found out that the man was an atheist. 12:55 Didn't even believe in God. 12:57 So what somebody concluded was, it doesn't take a good heart 13:00 to do a good deed. 13:03 It doesn't take a heart that believes in Christ 13:05 to give away money. 13:07 But money is not the measurement of our salvation. 13:11 Finances is not the measurement of our salvation. 13:14 So here is what the person said. 13:15 And I want to make sure I get it right. 13:18 It doesn't take a good heart to do a good deed, 13:21 but a good heart will do a good deed. 13:24 But the deed we do does not change our heart, 13:28 and the heart does not change our deed. 13:30 Did you get that? 13:31 The deed we do doesn't change our heart, 13:33 and our heart is not changed by the deed. 13:36 It's just a deed. 13:37 So you could do a good thing, but the heart is deceitful and 13:40 desperately wicked. 13:42 And we cannot change it. 13:43 So the deed does not change our heart, 13:45 and our hearts cannot make our deed good. 13:49 So we need a good heart. 13:51 Amen? We need a good heart. 13:53 So write the answer down. 13:55 How capable are we of changing our condition? 13:56 And what is the answer? 13:58 We cannot. 14:00 An Ethiopian cannot change his ethnicity, 14:03 he can't change his skin color. 14:04 And the leopard, I have not seen a leopard change his appearance 14:08 to a zebra. 14:09 Can't do it. 14:11 Cannot change his spots. 14:13 Alright, that's the incapability. 14:15 But now let's look at the other one. 14:17 We're going to transition now. 14:19 Question number six. Question number six. 14:24 I like this. 14:25 Because we talked about a lot of conditions last week, 14:28 or in our last episode if it was not last week. 14:30 We talked about a lot of conditions. 14:32 But now when you know your condition, 14:34 when you know your condition, 14:37 when you acknowledge your condition. 14:39 Now there's one thing to know, but there's something altogether 14:42 to acknowledge. 14:43 When you go to a doctor, the doctor says, 14:45 "What's bothering you?" 14:47 You say, "Well, actually I'm just here for a check-up." 14:49 "Well, what made you come here?" 14:51 "Well, I'm not doing too bad, but I'd just like a check-up, 14:54 an overall check-up." 14:56 Well something has to urge you to go to a doctor. 14:58 If you go feeling you need to go, you need to 15:01 let the physician know what kind of symptom is showing up 15:05 so that he can somehow diagnose it 15:08 and see if there's anything wrong. 15:09 When we acknowledge... 15:11 Notice the difference between know and acknowledge. 15:13 When we acknowledge our condition, then we can 15:16 turn to the one who can make that change. 15:18 Now let me ask a couple of questions. 15:21 Can money change our condition? 15:25 No, money can't change our condition. 15:28 Can education change our condition? 15:30 No. 15:32 Can status in life change our condition? 15:36 What about our standing in the community; change our condition? 15:39 No. 15:40 Can we be saved by money, status, education? 15:45 No, absolutely not. 15:46 Nothing can change our condition. 15:49 Yet in our world today, it's amazing to me 15:52 how so many people turn away from Christ 15:54 when He is, in fact, the only... 15:56 What word did I just use? 15:58 ...the only one that can make a difference in our standing. 16:02 Not just before the world, but before God. 16:06 So let's ask the question. 16:08 What options do we have in searching for salvation? 16:12 Let's look together at Acts 4:12. 16:15 Options. 16:17 What options do we have? 16:20 Okay, you all turning there? 16:21 I guess you already turned there. 16:23 Wow, that's pretty good. 16:25 I guess you know where we're going. 16:26 What options do we have? Acts 4:12 16:29 And the Bible says... 16:48 So we live in a world today where people 16:51 call on different gods. 16:54 You know. That's right. 16:56 Muhammad, Buddha, Hare Krishna, 17:03 the millions of gods that are worshiped all throughout 17:06 various Asian countries. 17:08 In America we have a lot of gods too. 17:10 Somebody said, "To find out a person's god," 17:12 now there was a time when they said, "look at their checkbook," 17:14 but now it's, "look at their credit card statement." 17:17 Or look at their cable bill. 17:21 People find money for things that are important to them. 17:24 But when you look at this text, what our greatest need is 17:30 is right in this text. 17:31 What is our greatest need that you see in this text? 17:33 What is our greatest need? 17:35 Come on, say it again. 17:37 Salvation. 17:38 Salvation from. 17:40 Because reality is, the world is like a conveyor belt. 17:44 Anyone in the world that does not see his or her need of Jesus 17:48 is on a conveyor belt already to destruction. 17:52 I mean, that's just the way that they're going. 17:54 There's no turning left, there's no turning right. 17:56 And so when you think about, well where can I find answers 18:00 outside of Jesus? 18:02 I think somebody said it this way. 18:04 "People don't like Jesus for the same reason 18:08 they don't like certain restaurants. 18:11 Because they don't like what's on the menu." 18:14 Where's the menu? 18:15 In God's Word. 18:17 And usually people often compare, 18:20 "Well the Bible is a good book, 18:22 but I don't necessarily read the Bible." 18:25 We had a recent tragedy here in America. 18:28 A very terrible tragedy. 18:30 And a person that was, after this atrocity of 18:33 shooting and killing fifty something people in Las Vegas... 18:38 I'm trying not to date this show, but this is 18:39 important for this story. 18:42 ...they began to search his background and they said 18:45 he did not attend church, he had no religious affiliation. 18:48 He never claimed to be a Christian. 18:50 And I thought, and he died that way. 18:54 And I thought, I kind of have an idea where he 18:56 might be ending up. 18:59 Yet there is this mindset in the world today 19:02 that everybody who dies goes to heaven. 19:05 "Oh, he's in heaven now." 19:08 No, I could say for certain... 19:10 Well I'm trying to be kind. 19:12 Because I'll be very candid with you. 19:14 When you're blowing people away with an automatic weapon, 19:17 or with any kind of weapon, when you're killing people 19:20 and then you end up taking your life, 19:21 there's no split second, "Oh by the way, Lord, 19:23 I just killed fifty-four people. 19:24 Will You save me? Thank You." 19:27 No. Come on, now. 19:28 You don't get there in a split second. 19:32 And the trend of your life tells a whole lot 19:35 about where you're headed. 19:36 And what we need to know, if a person doesn't have 19:39 an opportunity, that's one thing, but the trek of your life 19:44 is a determining factor in your saving or being lost. 19:48 It's the trend of your life. 19:50 Not a momentary deed or a momentary misdeed. 19:54 So some people might say, "Well hey, that person needs 19:57 to be saved because they gave two million dollars 20:00 to the local gymnasium." 20:03 Or they donated money to build a building. 20:05 You can't build enough buildings to be saved. 20:09 There is no salvation in any other name 20:13 other than the name of Jesus. 20:16 So write that down. What are the options? 20:17 The only option is who? 20:19 The only option is Jesus. 20:22 Now here is the reason why. 20:24 So write that down for number six. 20:26 Here is the reason why the only option is Jesus. 20:29 Question number seven. 20:31 Let's look at that together. 20:33 Question number seven. 20:43 Or I should have said, what glorious benefit 20:45 do we also receive? 20:48 Acts 10:34 20:52 Acts 10:34 20:56 Sorry, forty-three. I'm looking right at it. 20:59 And I just had a, what do they call that moment? 21:01 What do they call those? Dyslexia moments. 21:04 It just, everything flipped on me. 21:06 Acts 10:43 21:08 So you're looking at it correctly. 21:10 Acts 10:43 21:13 Let's look at that together. 21:14 And the Bible says, here it is... 21:31 You know what remission is. 21:33 Remission is a medical word. 21:35 You know, it's often referred to with what disease? 21:38 Cancer. 21:39 His cancer is in remission. 21:41 Or somebody might use it for other terms. 21:43 But in the most part, the word, "remission," is used for cancer. 21:47 Or you don't often say, "His cold is in remission." 21:52 You say his cold has gone away. 21:54 Or he's almost over his cold or her cold. 21:56 But when the Bible talks about remission, 21:59 if you think of the only thing that can destroy us, 22:02 the only thing that can guarantee us being lost 22:04 is what? 22:06 Sin. It's right there at the end. 22:08 Is what? Sin. 22:09 So if Jesus now, and it talks about here, 22:13 the remission of sin comes not to those who just know His name, 22:17 but to those who do what? 22:19 Believe in Him. 22:21 And belief, let me make this very clear, belief is not just, 22:24 "Oh, I believe in Jesus." 22:26 Because the devils believe. 22:28 James said the devil believes, and the belief that he has... 22:31 As I said to somebody, there are no atheists among the demons. 22:35 Right? 22:37 They are so convinced that there is a Jesus 22:39 that the Bible says it makes them tremble. 22:42 You read some stories in the Bible when Jesus cast the 22:45 demons out of the demoniac and He cast them into a pig. 22:50 The demon said, "Have you come to torment us before our time?" 22:53 They knew it. And the devil knows. 22:54 The Bible says he knows he has a short time. 22:56 So there are no atheists among demons. 22:59 But for some reason people say, "Well, I believe in Jesus." 23:03 "Well, I believe there's a God." 23:04 "Well, I believe..." 23:05 Well no, you have to not only believe in Him. 23:07 But the word there, "believe," means, lean upon, rely upon, 23:10 commit yourself to. 23:12 When you really believe something, 23:13 you commit yourself to it. 23:15 You don't just intellectually accept it, 23:16 or give this intellectual assent. 23:18 When you believe in something, you commit. 23:21 You wholeheartedly, you lean, you summit. 23:25 And then when you do that, 23:27 all of a sudden He begins to reverse. 23:29 Now when it says, "remission of sin," 23:31 it doesn't mean just take away your sin. 23:34 Because if that's the case, He can easily do that. 23:37 That's what 1 John 1:9, says, "If you confess, 23:40 He's faithful and just to forgive you." 23:43 But this says, "remission." 23:44 Now there's a difference between forgive and remission. 23:47 If somebody could... 23:49 And I think I like the way that they use this 23:51 in the context of cancer. 23:53 Remission meaning, it's reversing. 23:55 What is reversing? 23:58 The effect. 23:59 The cancer itself, it's going away. 24:03 The cancer's impact on you is reversing. 24:07 What remission means is, the impact of sin on you is 24:11 being reversed. 24:14 So building on that for a brief moment, 24:17 when it says the impact of sin on you is being reversed, 24:20 it means what you use to be you are no longer that. 24:24 You are becoming what you... 24:26 You are becoming less of who you were 24:28 and more of who Jesus is. 24:32 That should have been an "amen" right there. 24:34 You're becoming less of who you were 24:36 and more of who Jesus is. 24:38 So that remission point, 24:39 so what is the point of remission? 24:42 Another word for, "remission," here is, 24:44 whatever has impacted you is being reversed. 24:47 It's being turned around. 24:48 You could use the word loosely, "repent," 24:50 but repentance and remission is not the same thing. 24:52 Repentance comes before remission. 24:55 The remission, the impact of sin on your life is being reversed. 24:59 So let's write that down. 25:01 Acts 10:43 25:03 When we receive Jesus, what glorious benefit do we receive? 25:08 Write that down. 25:10 Remission of sins. 25:13 Remission of sins. 25:14 The reversal of the impact on our lives. 25:17 The reversal of the impact. 25:19 That's why when you look at the man who received his sight, 25:22 you saw a man who was made to see. 25:25 The impact of his sin was reversed. 25:29 When the paralytic who was let down through the roof, 25:32 the Lord said, "Your sin be forgiven you." 25:36 And then He said, "To show you that I am the Lord..." 25:39 What? 25:41 "Get up." 25:43 He first forgave him before He healed him. 25:46 And some of us need to be forgiven, 25:49 and when we accept the forgiveness of God... 25:51 I want you to follow me carefully. 25:53 Some of us, when you don't accept the forgiveness of God, 25:56 the impact of the sin is not going to be reversed. 26:02 Follow that. 26:05 When you don't accept the forgiveness... 26:07 If the Lord just said to that man, 26:08 and He knew his condition... 26:10 We don't really have any insight as to what the Lord meant about, 26:12 "Your sins be forgiven you." 26:13 We just know He said, "Your sins are forgiven. 26:15 But to show you that I am the Son of God, 26:18 get up." 26:23 The healing came after the forgiveness. 26:26 Look at a couple of examples in the Bible. 26:28 When the Lord spit in the man's eye, He said, "Go wash." 26:33 The Bible says, and when he went, as he went, what happened? 26:39 His sight returned. 26:41 The Lord sends him on a process. 26:43 See, when we receive forgiveness from God, 26:46 the impact of the sin begins to be reversed. 26:50 And then the Lord says, now He gave him the capacity 26:53 to stand up. 26:54 Whatever was happening in that man's life, I think Ellen White 26:56 talks about the way he lived caused him to be 26:59 in the condition he was in. 27:01 But the remission of the sin took him out of the condition 27:05 after he accepted the forgiveness of the Lord. 27:12 Remission of sin. 27:13 Go back to that. 27:14 The impact on your life will not continue. 27:17 Now let me ask you the question, how many of you 27:23 would like to be forgiven of anything? 27:28 How many of you would like the impact of your sin to remain? 27:35 Now in some cases it does. 27:40 And the Lord decides. 27:42 But when it comes to healing, when it comes to restoration, 27:46 when it comes to forgiveness, 27:48 when it comes to making a person whole... 27:50 Now if you lost your foot because of something 27:54 you did foolishly, the Lord is not going to give you back 27:57 the foot and say, "Now go ahead and run a race again." 28:00 Sometimes the impact is there to remind you 28:02 of the decision you made. 28:05 But when it comes to... 28:06 If you look at Isaiah... 28:08 Okay, go with me to Isaiah. 28:09 Let me give you an example of remission. 28:13 Where are we going? Isaiah. 28:17 And when I get there I'll tell you exactly... 28:19 I believe it's Isaiah chapter 61. 28:23 Okay. 28:27 Yes, okay. 28:29 This is a beautiful example of remission. 28:33 Isaiah chapter 61. 28:36 Now you're going to notice a lot of conditions here. 28:40 And each of these conditions is the result of sin. 28:43 Now watch this. 28:44 Isaiah 61:1 28:47 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, 28:51 because He has anointed Me to preach..." What? 28:55 "...good tidings to the poor..." 28:57 That's not talking about people that are financially poor, 28:59 but the poor in spirit, as He talks about in the beatitudes. 29:02 Those whose spirits are broken. 29:05 "He sent Me to..." What? 29:07 "...heal the brokenhearted..." 29:10 Notice, a person who is broken is now being healed. 29:13 Look at the remission. 29:15 "...to proclaim liberty to the..." What? 29:16 "...captives..." 29:18 A person that was captive by sin, vice, whatever it was, 29:22 He can proclaim liberty; the reversal. 29:24 "...and the opening of the prison to those who are..." 29:26 What? "...bound..." 29:28 Those who are bound in the prison house 29:30 of sin, He does what? 29:31 Opens the doors. He's reversing. 29:34 He's not saying, "I forgive you, but stay in prison. 29:38 I heal you, but stay brokenhearted. 29:40 I come to proclaim liberty, but stay in the jail." 29:44 No, He proclaims liberty and He sets the captives free. 29:48 Let's keep going. 29:49 Verse 2, "...to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, 29:54 and the day of vengeance of our God..." 29:56 But look what He continues; the remission. 29:58 "...to comfort all who..." Do what? 30:00 "...mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion..." 30:04 Look at the reversal. 30:06 "...to give them beauty for..." What? 30:07 "...ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 30:11 the garment of praise for the spirit of..." What? 30:14 "...heaviness..." 30:15 And look at all the results. 30:17 "...that they may be called trees of righteousness, 30:21 the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." 30:24 Now here's the point. 30:26 Are you ready for it? 30:28 Unless a person sees what God's remission of sin has done 30:33 in your life, they don't really want, 30:35 they don't want what you don't have. 30:37 If they said, "Well Dan, weren't you that guy who use to 30:40 smoke and drink? 30:42 Is that the same Dan Giguere?" 30:44 And you say, "Sure is. But I'm not the same guy. 30:47 I'm not who I use to be." 30:50 And they say, "Well, how is that?" 30:51 "I accepted Christ into my life." 30:53 Then they see the change, the remission in your life, 30:56 then that's what they want. 30:58 But if somebody says, and I think somebody mentioned once, 31:01 I forgot what church they were going to, but they said, 31:03 "You know, I went to a particular house of worship, 31:05 and I saw that while people were rejoicing and praising God 31:09 on the inside, when they came outside they were 31:11 cussing and smoking and drinking. 31:13 And I thought, 'Man, they were just in there praising God, 31:16 but I don't see any difference in their lives.'" 31:18 And that's why the Lord is saying, "I want to not just 31:21 forgive you, but I want to reverse the impact 31:25 of that sin on your life." 31:26 So when you think about remission, don't think of it 31:28 as just, "Well, the sin is being wiped away." 31:30 No, the impact of the sin is being reversed. 31:34 Amen? 31:36 And that's why it says in verse 4, 31:38 "And they shall rebuild the old ruins, 31:41 they shall raise up the former desolations, 31:44 and they shall repair the ruined cities, 31:46 the desolations of many generations." 31:49 He's talking about, "How long has this condition existed? 31:53 I could restore it, I could bring it back." 31:56 And you know, when you talk about that, 31:57 sometimes you talk about generational sin. 32:00 Generations, generations, generations. 32:02 Somewhere along the way could be broken. 32:03 "I could raise it up, I could reverse it. 32:06 Things that were desolate, I could rebuild them. 32:08 The things that need to be repaired, I could restore them." 32:12 He's talking about remission of sin. 32:14 I wanted to spend a little time on that, because 32:16 remission of sins is what every one of us is in need of. 32:19 Amen? 32:20 Not just the forgiveness, but the reversal of it, 32:23 and not allowing the impact on us to continue. 32:27 Wow! 32:28 Question number seven. 32:30 Sorry, question number eight. 32:32 Question number eight. 32:33 So if you want to put a further note on number seven, 32:36 don't just put, "remission of sin," 32:38 put, "reversal of its impact." 32:42 Reversal of its impact. 32:47 Reversal of its impact. 32:48 The Lord didn't say to the blind man, "I forgive you," 32:51 and he's still bumping into trees. 32:54 No, really. I don't want to be cynical. 32:55 But the Lord changed the condition of that person's life. 32:59 That's why the blind man, they had a hard time convincing 33:02 the religious leaders, "Is he the one that was born blind?" 33:08 "Well then, which one sinned, his mother or him?" 33:10 "Neither." 33:12 "Well, how were you made to see?" 33:20 He told them the process. 33:22 And they said, "But how?" 33:26 "So since we don't want to accept your explanation, 33:28 would you tell us how your son was healed?" 33:30 "He's old enough. You ask him." 33:34 And then he said, "Do you also want to become His disciples?" 33:38 Then he narrowed it down, and I like this. 33:40 He was so completely remiss, the remission was so clear, 33:46 he said, "All I know is, I once was blind, but..." What? 33:50 "...now I see. 33:53 So I'm out of here." 33:56 And he went on rejoicing and praising God. 33:59 And there were sometimes that Jesus healed people, He said, 34:01 "Don't tell anybody." 34:03 What happened? Everybody found out. 34:05 The woman at the well. 34:08 She was so excited that she met Jesus. 34:11 And she went to the town and told people, 34:13 and they came back and they all believed on Him 34:14 because of her testimony. 34:16 The remission of sin. 34:17 They saw a changed person. 34:19 They didn't just see a person that met another man, 34:22 they saw a changed person. 34:23 The remission of sin. 34:25 Here's the point of the story. 34:26 What is our greatest need? 34:27 Our greatest need is not just the forgiveness of sin, 34:29 but our greatest need is the reversal of the impact 34:32 of sin on our lives. 34:36 And I heard all these people say "amen" through the camera. 34:40 We all need the reversal of the impact of sin on our lives. 34:45 Yes. Not just forgiveness. 34:47 Forgiveness is like, okay, it's almost like to some people, 34:51 "You're forgiven." 34:52 But the Lord said, what did He say to the woman? 34:54 "You're forgiven, but go and sin no more." 34:56 The reversal of the impact on your life. 35:00 Okay, now let's go to number eight. 35:03 Number eight, here it is. 35:05 Okay. 35:13 Hebrews 7:25 35:15 When we receive Jesus, to what degree are we saved? 35:18 I'm going to go right to that very quickly, because 35:19 I want to jump into some other ones. 35:21 And I think we covered this before, but this is amazing. 35:23 Alright, Hebrews 7:25. 35:25 There are a lot of good 7:25's in the Bible. 35:28 Like Daniel 7:25. 35:30 Here it is. Let's read this together. 35:50 Let me encourage you. 35:51 Tonight there is somebody interceding for every one of us. 35:59 I don't know, in this day and age even with cell phones 36:02 sometimes you get busy signals. 36:05 Isn't that right? 36:07 Or sometimes you don't get through. 36:08 Or sometimes it's, "Leave a message after the beep." 36:12 But when we call on Jesus, there's somebody who ever lives 36:15 to make intercession for us. 36:17 Which means, He's an ever present help in time of need. 36:22 You've got to really understand the impact of that. 36:24 That means, when everything else around you and 36:26 everybody else around you is not accessible, 36:28 He ever lives to make intercession. 36:30 What does that mean? 36:31 That means, Jesus is always our direct line to the Father. 36:36 Always our direct line. 36:39 No storms of life could break that direct connection between 36:41 the Father and the Son. 36:43 So He intercedes. 36:44 What does that mean? 36:46 When I ask for forgiveness, His blood is applied to my life. 36:49 And before His Father, He sees me as He sees His Son. 36:53 Amen, somebody? 36:55 I mean, that's huge. 36:56 I don't want to just say, I've read this text all my life. 37:01 But He doesn't save us. 37:02 He saves us to the... 37:05 Say it again. 37:07 He saves us to the uttermost. 37:09 We always said in New York, "From the guttermost 37:12 to the uttermost." 37:14 I couldn't resist that; I've said that a thousand times, 37:16 but it just fits. 37:17 He goes all the way down and brings us all the way up. 37:22 And He does it like the guy that is standing at the toll booth 37:27 waiting to pay for the next vehicle to pass through. 37:31 A number of years ago we were driving in a caravan of people. 37:35 And we got to the toll booth and the lady went like this. 37:41 She said, "Go ahead." And I said, "But..." 37:45 "Somebody already paid. Just go right straight through." 37:47 You know, one day we're going to be able to walk through the 37:49 gates into the New Jerusalem because somebody paid ahead. 37:55 Somebody paid ahead. 37:58 And it's important for those of us who have heard this story 38:01 so many times to pause and remember the beauty of it. 38:06 Because one of the dangers of being a Christian 38:08 for a long time is, you've heard the story. 38:11 It's like watching the same movie. 38:14 You walk away when somebody else is watching it. 38:17 Have you ever done that? 38:19 Have you ever done that? 38:20 "Ah, I know what's going to happen. 38:22 I've already seen it." 38:24 That's the complacency. 38:25 We should never allow ourselves to hear the gospel, 38:28 which is the good news, and say, "I've heard this story before. 38:32 You can... I've heard it. 38:34 I know what... 'For God so loved the world...' 38:36 Yeah, I've heard it before." 38:38 Don't ever lose, don't ever lose appreciation 38:43 for the good news of salvation. 38:46 Wow! 38:53 Ever lives. 38:56 Number nine, number nine. 38:57 Write that down. He ever lives. 38:59 When we receive Jesus, to what degree are we saved? 39:02 To the uttermost. 39:04 He ever lives. 39:05 Wow! 39:07 What other religious leader can say that? 39:10 Not even the pope. 39:14 And unfortunately, not even Mary. 39:18 Amen. 39:19 Because Mary is not alive. 39:21 You can pray to a wooden statue, a golden statue, 39:23 a plaster statue, a painted statue, a manufactured statue, 39:28 you're praying to plaster of Paris. 39:31 As my dad use to say. 39:35 Right now there's a factory just mass producing 39:38 images of Mary. 39:40 Don't forget to paint the eyes blue and hair brown and 39:43 the skin, you know, whatever color. 39:46 They just mass produce. 39:47 They put them in a mold. 39:48 Let me walk you through the fakeness of this. 39:50 They put all the plaster in a mold, shapes it, 39:53 it comes out just a big ole white statue. 39:55 Then they paint it and polish it up, and 39:57 make it look all colorful, and they sell it, 39:59 and somebody bows down before it. 40:02 That's not what you need to do. 40:04 You need to bow down before the one who ever lives. 40:06 Can we get an amen? 40:07 Ever lives. 40:09 Not an idol on your dashboard, not a crucifix around your neck, 40:13 not a, and for the new-agers, not a gem 40:17 that's glittering in the sun. 40:20 Not even an heirloom that your grandma passed down. 40:26 But you've got to bow before Jesus. 40:29 Because so many people have substitute gods 40:32 that can't do a thing for them. 40:34 I've seen people... 40:36 I was just looking at a video recently, 40:37 actually a documentary, when Pope John Paul II 40:41 visited South America and they were at the temple of 40:47 Our Lady of Guadeloupe. 40:49 This was an experience years ago. 40:50 Our Lady of Guadeloupe. 40:52 That's the apparition that appeared. 40:54 An apparition. 40:56 Meaning, a demon appeared in the form of a lady 41:00 who had already died. 41:01 And everybody, those who saw it, said that God sent a sign. 41:04 An apparition of a dead person. 41:07 Which is what a demon does. 41:09 And so this temple where Pope John Paul II went in 41:13 and bowed before this statue and kissed its feet, 41:18 and vowed his allegiance to Our Lady of Guadeloupe. 41:24 And people were walking... 41:25 I don't want to do it now because the 41:26 cameras can't catch it. 41:28 But they were kneeling and they were crawling their way 41:29 to the temple on their knees to please Our Lady of Guadeloupe, 41:34 when all they had to do was call on Jesus. 41:38 And there's so many people today that are bound 41:40 in form and ceremonies when all they really have to do 41:46 is call on Jesus. 41:48 Number nine, number nine. 41:50 Let's move a little quicker. 41:52 To those who receive Jesus, what promise has He made? 41:55 Let's go to 2 Timothy 4:18. 41:59 To those who receive Jesus, what promise has He made? 42:06 Let's look at that. 42:08 Here it is. 42:11 The Bible says... 42:30 Have you notice, not only does the Bible say, 42:32 "The Lord will deliver me," but the Bible says, 42:34 "He will deliver me from every evil work, 42:36 and then He will preserve." 42:38 He will preserve. 42:39 But have you noticed, in many of the Bible verses 42:42 the word, "glory," keeps appearing. 42:44 The word, "glory," keeps appearing. 42:46 Because you know what? 42:48 Let's go now to Jude. 42:51 Let's go to the book of Jude. 42:53 Write that down. 42:54 To those who receive Jesus, what promise has He made? 42:56 He will deliver us and preserve us. 43:00 Amen to that? 43:02 He will deliver us and preserve us. 43:04 But you know what? 43:05 You have to want to be delivered. 43:07 You have to want to be preserved. 43:09 He's not going to yank you by your collar and say, 43:10 "What are you doing, Yannick?" 43:12 I pick on Yannick because he's a nice guy. 43:15 He's not going to force you. 43:17 But when you call on Him, He will deliver you. 43:19 "Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord 43:22 shall be saved." 43:23 Now I talked about the word, "glory." 43:25 Let's look at Jude. 43:27 There's only one chapter in Jude. 43:29 I keep seeing the word, "glory," keeps showing up. 43:33 Wow! 43:35 Okay, look at this. 43:37 Verses 24 and 25. 43:41 This is the passage here. 43:43 This goes along with 2 Timothy 4:18; 43:46 He will deliver us. 43:48 "Now to Him who is able to keep you from 43:51 falling," or stumbling, "and to present you..." How? 43:56 Come on, say it. 43:58 "...faultless before the presence of His 44:04 glory with exceeding joy." 44:07 I don't want to run past that verse. 44:08 That means, one day Jesus is going to say to the 44:10 heavenly angels... 44:12 And right now one of the reasons why this is so 44:14 significant is because the great controversy has 44:17 disabled humanity from entering into heaven 44:20 in their present condition. 44:22 So I could imagine angels sometimes saying, 44:24 "Lord, I mean, we just got back from earth 44:27 and I've got any list of sins that I've recorded today 44:30 in the lives of Your children. 44:32 Are You sure You want them up here?" 44:35 I mean, you think about it for a moment. 44:37 Because Satan got expelled and his angels got expelled 44:39 for rebellion. 44:40 And then you look at the world and the condition that it's in. 44:43 I know the angels understand, but the plan of salvation 44:47 is far greater than even angels can comprehend 44:50 because they haven't experienced the saving grace of Christ. 44:53 But just imagine for a moment, they're saying, 44:55 "Are You sure You want them up here?" 44:56 And then it comes to the point where we are saved and sealed, 45:00 and then Jesus presents us before the presence 45:04 of His glory with what? 45:05 What kind of joy? 45:08 Can I get an expression of exceeding? 45:09 What kind of joy? 45:11 Exceeding joy. 45:12 He's happy that... 45:14 He says, "Father, look. 45:16 The work I began, did I finish it?" 45:18 "Yes." 45:19 "The work I began, I finished it. 45:21 And now I can present them before You with exceeding joy." 45:24 The word, "exceeding joy," means, a joy that continues 45:27 to be joyful. 45:29 A joy that continues to be joyful. 45:31 We don't have exceeding joy. 45:33 We have joy. 45:34 And then it lasts for how long? 45:37 "I'm so joyful that you came over. 45:41 Even more joyful that you left." 45:44 You know. Our joy. 45:46 Our joy transitions when... You know. 45:49 Anyway, let me leave that alone. 45:52 But, you know. 45:54 But it's true though. 45:55 That's human nature. 45:57 We're joyful that some people come over. 45:58 We're joyful that some people leave. 46:00 It's true. That's human nature. 46:02 But when Jesus presents us before the Father, 46:04 He's going to be joyful that all of His children 46:07 that were bound, that needed deliverance, 46:09 that needed preservation, that needed joy, 46:12 that needed hope, that needed salvation, 46:14 He's going to present them in a retinue of redeemed 46:18 from all the ages and He's going to present them 46:20 before the heavenly angels and before His Father. 46:22 With what kind of joy? Say it together. 46:24 Exceeding joy. 46:28 And I know why. 46:30 Because He's going to be glad that the great controversy 46:32 is finally over. 46:34 And I want to tell you something. 46:35 So will we. 46:37 That's why verse 25 says, "To God our Savior, 46:41 who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, 46:47 dominion and power, both now and..." How long? 46:50 "...forever. Amen." 46:53 Thank You, Lord. 46:55 Glory. Always. 46:57 "Fear God and give glory to Him." 46:59 Because the glory that He has will be revealed through us. 47:03 I want the glory of Christ to be revealed through me. 47:06 But only as we are redeemed and as we are saved 47:08 from sin and the impact that it once had on our lives. 47:13 Question number ten. 47:14 Let's move right along. 47:15 Question number ten. Here it is. 47:26 Hebrews 10:25 Hebrews 10:25 47:29 What did Jesus do to prepare for His mission of salvation? 47:33 Hebrews 10:5 47:35 I said 25? 47:36 I thought I said that. 47:37 I don't know what's happening to me today. 47:39 I'm having all these short circuits. 47:41 I worked so hard today, I'm trying to get my brain together. 47:43 Hebrews 10:5 Yes, here it is. 47:46 Here it is. 47:47 Now this is important. 47:49 Now as I turn there, I want you to pay particular attention. 47:52 Jesus could have easily... 47:58 Well, let me make the point after we read the text. 48:01 Here it is. Here's the text. 48:16 Okay, now watch this. 48:17 Let's go to the next verse. 48:19 Because we want to add John 1:14 there too. 48:23 Go to the next passage. 48:24 Here it is. 48:41 Notice what shows up again. 48:42 Glory. 48:45 I want us to take a moment and fathom what is 48:47 actually happening here. 48:49 "We beheld His glory, 48:52 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 48:54 full of grace and truth." 48:55 What would people have done differently 48:58 if they looked at Jesus and they said, 49:00 "He is the Son of God"? 49:03 Did it make an impact on those who believed? 49:05 Yes or no. It did. 49:06 But on those who did not believe, 49:07 it make absolutely no impact. 49:10 But what I want to bring out here is, Jesus risked everything 49:14 to give us everything. 49:17 Because the Bible says, sacrifice and offerings, 49:19 He could have easily done that. 49:21 But if you look at the verse, "Sacrifice and offering 49:23 You did not desire." 49:24 In other words, all those animals that were killed 49:27 through the Old Testament times, He says, "That was not what 49:32 the Father desired." 49:34 That was just a prefiguring of what Jesus would do. 49:36 That's why there's no need today to sacrifice animals. 49:40 Can you imagine what would happen 49:41 if here at Thompsonville church, "Where is Dan going?" 49:46 "Oh, he'll be back in a moment. 49:47 He's going to get two lambs and a dove." 49:54 And then you see him carrying his bucket of blood. 49:57 "Where's he going?" 49:58 "To the temple." 50:00 "For what?" 50:01 "To have the blood sprinkled on the horns of the altar." 50:05 "What is that smell?" 50:07 Now watch this. 50:09 The reason why the temple didn't have a stench 50:17 is because of what? 50:22 Say it again. 50:24 What did the incense represent? 50:29 The incense that continually rose represented what? 50:34 The prayers of the saints. 50:35 Which was right in front of the Most Holy Place, 50:41 which represented the continued ministration of Christ. 50:44 The mercy seat, the Ten Commandments, the law: 50:47 the glory of God represented there. 50:50 In the presence of God, if the people of God 50:53 would remain in prayer, I want you to get this, 50:56 the stench of their sin, 51:01 the stench of their sin would not be sensed 51:05 by others if we remain before God in prayer. 51:11 If they cease to use that incense, what would you smell? 51:17 The coagulation of blood that had been spilled 51:20 day by day, by day, by day. 51:23 But the scent of that incense 51:25 represented the prayers of the saints. 51:27 What the Lord is intending for us to do is that, 51:29 through His veil, that is, His body, that is, His flesh, 51:33 He became flesh and dwelt among us. 51:36 That's why when Jesus died, the veil of the curtain was torn. 51:41 The veil representing His flesh. 51:44 His flesh was torn. 51:45 Communion service. 51:46 The Bible talks about, this is His body that was broken for us. 51:51 The temple curtain was torn. 51:54 His flesh was torn. 51:56 It did not cost Him a little thing. 51:58 To save us, it cost Him everything. 52:03 So when you think about indulging in sin, 52:09 think of the fact that Jesus sacrificed Himself. 52:13 He put everything at risk 52:16 to give us everything that we don't deserve. 52:19 So I'm glad, Bonnie, that when this is all over, 52:23 we'll be able to not only behold His glory, 52:26 but we'll be able to reflect His glory. 52:28 Amen? 52:30 Oh, but I want to add something else. 52:32 He wants us to reflect His glory even now. 52:39 Our lives are called to reflect the glory of God even now, 52:43 "that they may see your good works." 52:47 The glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 52:49 And when God's glory is seen upon us, 52:52 then He receives the glory. 52:56 When they see your works, they glorify your Father 53:01 which is in heaven to give glory. 53:03 So our greatest need is not just the remission of sin, 53:06 not just for forgiveness of sin. 53:08 But one of our greatest needs is to be a continual walking 53:13 reminder to the world of what Jesus can do to a life 53:16 that's submitted to Him. 53:18 Amen? 53:20 What's different in that person's life? 53:21 What's different in her life and his life? 53:23 That's what happens to a person whose life 53:25 is submitted to Christ. 53:27 The glory of God is seen. 53:28 Amen? 53:30 Let's look at question number eleven. 53:31 I think we can do a few more before we get going here. 53:34 Question number eleven. 53:36 Okay, this is powerful. 53:38 Now He became flesh. 53:40 Could Jesus have failed? Yes or no. 53:43 Yes. 53:45 Because He was subject to every temptation just as we are. 53:48 He put Himself on disadvantaged ground. 53:54 He took on flesh. 53:56 The flesh of His mother through whom He was born. 53:59 So He had the flesh. 54:00 He had the nature of Adam after the fall. 54:04 So had He yielded in the slightest, all of us 54:08 would have been forever captive to the power of darkness. 54:11 But why? Question number eleven. 54:19 Wow! 54:21 Powerful question. 54:22 Go to Hebrews 2:14-15. 54:26 Why did He take on the form of human flesh? 54:28 Someone asked me once, "Couldn't He have just 54:30 saved us from heaven?" 54:32 Could He have? 54:33 Yes He could have. 54:35 But then would He have known what we go through? 54:38 Huh? What do we say? 54:40 "You don't know what I'm going through unless you 54:41 walk in my shoes." 54:44 That's right. 54:46 He could have easily said, "You're saved. 54:49 I ain't coming down there." 54:52 But to be our Savior, He had to be tempted just like we are. 54:59 But there's another reason why Jesus took on human flesh. 55:02 Look at Hebrews 2:14. 55:04 This is amazing. 55:05 Here it is. 55:07 The Bible says... 55:19 Meaning, so when you think that you're by yourself, 55:21 no, He shared in the same. 55:35 Not only did He destroy him, but look at the other part. 55:37 The remission here. 55:55 The devil could kill us. 55:57 And the Lord knew we knew that. 55:59 So it kept us in bondage to fear and death. 56:03 So Jesus now takes on our flesh, 56:07 comes and faces the same adversary, 56:10 He defeats that adversary, then He releases those 56:13 who are in bondage of fear and death. 56:17 And how long did He say? 56:19 Some people, all their lifetime. 56:22 And by the way, all their lifetime they were subject 56:25 to bondage until they met who? 56:28 Until they met Jesus. 56:30 Amen? 56:31 But until He took on that form that we have, 56:35 until He faced the temptations as we do, 56:38 until He was victorious as we would have to be, 56:41 He could never offer us what He didn't say... 56:44 Let me rephrase that. 56:46 ...what He did not experience. 56:48 He could never say, "Tracy, I know what you're 56:51 going through, because I faced it and I overcame it 56:54 in your behalf." 56:55 He could never say, "Larry, I know where you are. 56:59 Because that same temptation came to Me, 57:02 and I overcame it." 57:03 Now let me make something very clear before we close tonight. 57:06 Some people say, "Well, this kind of temptation 57:08 did not exist in Jesus' day." 57:10 There are only three types of temptation. 57:12 Lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, 57:15 and the pride of life. 57:17 You look at Genesis; three temptations. 57:21 Pleasant to the eyes, a tree desirable to make one wise, 57:24 looked good for food. 57:26 Three temptations. 57:27 Jesus was tempted in three areas. 57:29 And it says, "All that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, 57:32 the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." 57:34 All that is in the world is in those three categories. 57:37 He faced them all. 57:38 And He was victorious in every one of them. 57:40 Praise God for that. 57:42 So the next time you face temptation, 57:44 know that Jesus put everything on the line, 57:47 not just to save you, but to experience where you walk, 57:51 to know where you walk, to feel what you feel, 57:54 and to be victorious where you sometimes fail 57:56 to experience victory. 57:58 If it doesn't make sense, friends, keep studying. 58:00 One day it will come into a sharper focus. 58:03 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-02-28