Free Indeed

He Saw the Best in Me

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Bryant Clark, John Hairston, Lemuel Vega, Robert Hairston, Santiago Valdez, Susan Hairston, Troy Sandifar

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Series Code: FIN

Program Code: FIN000016


00:03 Well, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
00:06 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
00:08 and with the trumpet of God.
00:09 And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
00:12 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up
00:15 together to meet them in the clouds
00:16 and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
00:20 Those words that come from 1 Thessalonians 4:16
00:23 are very, very important.
00:25 I have been spending some time here
00:27 behind the penitentiary here at Michigan City.
00:31 These graves are the final resting place for men
00:35 who are unclaimed when they died.
00:38 No one came to look after the body,
00:40 no one claimed to take it home.
00:42 So they were simply cremated and then planted here.
00:47 Their names like Guthrie here
00:50 have been long since forgotten about.
00:52 But they are not forgotten about by God.
00:54 Each grave is marked and on that day when Christ comes,
00:57 Solomon says each man will receive his reward,
01:01 be it for good or for ill.
01:04 Christ one day will give to each their reward.
01:08 Our job is to make sure that
01:10 as many as possible know of his sacrifice,
01:13 are given a chance to accept that sacrifice.
01:16 So that day can be a day of rejoicing
01:18 for men and women all over the world.
01:34 I'm free indeed.
01:38 Father God, we come to You, in the precious name of Jesus.
01:41 Thanking You Lord for this opportunity
01:43 to see a need for a Savior.
01:46 I plead to blood of Jesus
01:47 over every spirit, soul and body here.
01:50 And I ask You Lord to give each soul rest here
01:54 from their habits of sin including mine.
01:57 I ask You Lord to pullout Your mercy, Your grace,
02:01 Your power, Your might and Your spirit
02:03 and to impart it to each and every soul in this room.
02:07 That you Father God would allow us to be able to do
02:11 Your good purpose and Your will and in Jesus name,
02:15 I ask You Lord to illuminate our minds to see the truth
02:18 and give us the strength to follow it, in Jesus' name, amen.
02:26 Lord Jesus, I'd like to ask You to bless
02:28 everybody's families tonight and make sure
02:31 they stay safe and unharmed from many other people
02:35 out there who wants to hurt them.
02:37 And do any other kind of crimes towards anybody's family,
02:40 just because they're locked up and can't do nothing about it.
02:44 Until they get out to make sure that they can take care of them.
02:48 And I say that because my wife is out there
02:51 and I can't do none about it.
02:53 And I felt like I needed to come up here
02:54 and speak on everybody's behalf on that.
02:57 So Jesus please make sure everybody's families are okay
03:00 because I hope mines.
03:02 I don't believe in excuses,
03:06 however I believe in understanding.
03:10 I was raised in a holiness home. Amen.
03:14 Both of my parents are ministers
03:17 and they raised me in the love of Christ.
03:21 And I had some bad experiences in church though.
03:25 Church member molested me, I was violated.
03:30 So my view of God was distorted.
03:34 When he told me about the bus driver
03:37 at my church molested him.
03:40 I said John, if you'd told me at 10-20 years ago,
03:45 if you'd told me you'd been coming to prison to visit me.
03:51 So I see God's mercy that dad is not in jail
03:56 for killing this rascal that I trusted.
04:01 See and so he did something for me by not self disclosing
04:09 and shame that he battled with came out
04:14 with misplaced aggression in all the battles he fought.
04:21 He was frightened inside that he couldn't share with nobody.
04:25 So he turned to drugs and things
04:29 that keep you in attained in another sphere.
04:35 And that's where he went, that's the way he went
04:38 and that's where a lot of young people go.
04:42 It killed my spirit and I began to not have any love
04:49 for myself, I had low self esteem.
04:51 And I had problems with authority immediately.
04:55 I couldn't trust nobody.
04:57 I couldn't understand the emotions
05:00 would have been abused like that.
05:03 And you know, so I grew up
05:05 full of rage and anger for many years.
05:09 You see, that I was bound by rage, I was bound by lust
05:14 because that experience produced a lust in me, man,
05:18 that was so fire. Amen.
05:21 And I started manipulating women,
05:23 I start running gang, playing myself.
05:27 You know, I got addicted to drugs, alcohol
05:31 and those things were my god. I feel you.
05:34 My pistols, my Hennessey, my drink, my drugs,
05:40 the women, those were my god. Jesus wasn't my God.
05:45 And I was raised that Jesus is God.
05:48 He ain't part God, He all God.
05:51 My anger was towards Christians whoever, man.
05:56 I had no peace in me.
05:59 I had no sense of calmness in me.
06:04 But keep in mind I had loving parents.
06:07 So I've witnessed many good moments
06:11 with having six sisters and three brothers.
06:14 And you know, I saw a lot of love.
06:17 I saw a lot of good times but only inside it was just chaos.
06:23 He was locked in a way he was going.
06:28 And it almost look like he wasn't going to change.
06:33 But prayer, how many know prayer changes things.
06:37 Prayer changes things. Brother, my testimony is this.
06:41 I shot a Christian in the head.
06:45 The Christian lived and said I'll forgive you.
06:50 I was so against God, brother. It was powerful.
06:53 We were devastated, we never had anyone
06:57 in our family in prison before or in jail
07:01 or in that type of trouble before.
07:03 So we were totally-- even though we're Christians
07:06 we were devastated. Didn't know how to handle that.
07:10 So filled and bound with rage, man, anger.
07:15 You see, God allowed, He didn't do it.
07:19 But He allowed me to make those bad choices, man,
07:23 because He created us with freewill. Amen.
07:27 I felt like a failure,
07:30 I felt like somewhere I failed.
07:37 I didn't know where it was
07:41 but I just felt like I had failed my son.
07:46 And then I was afraid
07:49 and then the police came to our home.
07:55 And they want to know if I knew where he was.
07:59 And I told them yes, I think he's gone back
08:01 to West Virginia where his grandmother lived.
08:04 And I was praying Lord, please don't let them hurt my son.
08:10 And he made it to West Virginia
08:13 and he was just where I told him he was.
08:16 You know, what they did, they had like a SWAT team
08:19 and they were ready for him.
08:22 But God didn't let them hurt him.
08:25 So they bought them back to Indiana
08:27 and it was quite a while before we saw him, quite a while.
08:32 But the good part, that's the sad part,
08:36 that's the tear jerking part but the good part is that
08:41 he began to change in prison.
08:43 See so the thing is I made choices, man,
08:46 that I live with regret to this day.
08:49 It took me five years to forgive myself
08:51 by God's grace. Amen.
08:52 But I want you to know that victim
08:54 that Christian said to me, I'll forgive you.
08:58 Amen. Praise God. The light came on.
09:00 For real. The light came on.
09:02 When you get broken, your ears come open for help.
09:07 And you can hear the still small voice of God.
09:11 When I was told I forgive you, man, it broke me.
09:17 Amen. I realized I deserve hell, man.
09:21 I deserve hell. Jesus want me.
09:25 Jesus want to forgive me. Amen.
09:28 You know I couldn't understand that.
09:31 But I got on this with myself in the county jail.
09:34 I said I can't blame my parents.
09:37 I can't blame people that abused me
09:40 when I was seven years old.
09:42 I can't blame anyone, man. It's me.
09:46 It's my fault and when I did that,
09:49 God began to mature me.
09:51 You know, God began to show me more about His love for me.
09:56 And you see I want to encourage people to believe
09:59 beyond your feelings. Amen.
10:01 See I want to, I want to encourage people
10:04 to confess beyond your feelings.
10:06 We walk by faith, not by sight.
10:07 Thank you, brother. Amen.
10:08 Because I'm gonna tell you something,
10:09 if I walk by feelings, I won't be here.
10:13 When I didn't see the best in myself.
10:17 When I couldn't see, when I was blind,
10:20 Jesus always saw my potential.
10:24 He always saw me on the mountain top.
10:29 He always saw me in victory. All though I was in the valley.
10:34 All though I was a lost soul, I was living in sin.
10:39 He saw me better than that. And I thank Him for that, man.
10:43 I thank Him because even when I didn't see Him
10:49 through the years He gave me hints
10:52 that you're better than this,
10:56 even though I didn't come out of it.
10:57 There was times I was drunk, man,
11:00 and I would just start crying,
11:03 crying and crying and crying, man,
11:06 knowing that I needed Jesus.
11:09 But I can't talk about this shame.
11:13 I can't talk about this secret. He saw the best in me.
11:19 My son sings a song entitled, He saw the best in me,
11:27 when others saw the worst in me.
11:29 Anyone that feels like they're damaged goods,
11:33 like nobody cares I've ruined my life,
11:37 I have been told that I'm no good, I'm stupid,
11:39 you can't do anything right. That Jesus sees the best in you.
11:46 That's why He created you. You're worth something to Him.
11:51 You're worthsomething to Him. Hallelujah.
11:53 How many believe that God saw the best in you
11:55 while you was in your sin? Amen.
11:59 Hallelujah Jesus. Hallelujah.
12:01 I get stirred up about that. Yeah.
12:03 Hallelujah because I know what he has done for me.
12:06 Hallelujah, hallelujah, my soul buzz out.
12:12 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You Jesus.
12:17 He saw the best in me
12:23 When everyone else around
12:28 Could only see the worst in me Say it.
12:34 Come on John, take your time, take your time.
12:36 Oh Lord, my Lord,
12:40 He saw the best in me. Yes, He did.
12:45 Hallelujah. Yes, He did.
12:47 When everyone else around
12:52 Could only see the worst in me
12:58 Oh, my Jesus,
13:03 He saw the best in me. Yeah, hallelujah.
13:10 When everyone else around
13:14 Could only see the worst in me
13:20 Oh, help me seeing What did he see?
13:25 He saw the best in me
13:29 When everyone else around
13:31 Everyone else around Oh my, my, my, my, my God
13:35 Could only see the worst in me
13:39 Oh, Jesus saw the best in us Oh, yeah
13:45 He saw the best in me
13:48 When everyone else around
13:51 Everyone else around Oh my, my, my Lord.
13:55 See the worst in me
14:06 See He's mine, and I am His
14:12 It doesn't matter what I did
14:16 He only sees me for who I am
14:22 Oh, my Jesus
14:26 See He's mine and I am His
14:31 It doesn't matter what I did
14:36 He only sees me for who I am
14:42 Oh, let me sing
14:46 He's mine I'm His
14:50 It doesn't matter what I did
14:55 He only sees me for who I am
15:03 He's mine, I'm His It doesn't matter
15:10 It doesn't matter what I did
15:12 He only sees
15:14 He only sees me for who I am
15:21 He's mine all mine My Lord, my Savior
15:28 It doesn't matter what I did
15:31 He only sees me for who I am
15:35 Oh my Lord Oh
15:40 He's mine I'm His
15:46 It doesn't matter what I did
15:48 He only sees me for who I am
15:56 He saw the best in me
16:01 When everyone else Everyone else around
16:07 Could only see the worst in me
16:09 You see my elementary teacher told me
16:11 that I'm gonna be nothing.
16:13 She told me that ain't no hope for me
16:16 But Jesus saw. Hallelujah. He saw the best in me
16:20 What I didn't see, Jesus saw. Hallelujah.
16:22 Everyone else around
16:25 Could only see the worst in me
16:28 I thank You, Lord. Hallelujah.
16:31 I thank You, Lord. I praise You, Lord.
16:33 You're worthy to be praised.
16:35 He saw the best Hallelujah, Jesus
16:40 The best, the best Hallelujah, Jesus
16:44 What did He see? The best
16:46 In the midst of the storm? The best
16:48 In the midst of your pain? The best
16:50 In the midst of you sin? The best
16:52 In the midst of your sin? The best
16:54 What did he see? The best
16:56 What did he see? The best
16:59 What did he see? The best
17:01 What did he see? The best
17:03 What did he see? The best, the best
17:09 Oh, my Lord He saw the best in me
17:14 When everyone else around
17:16 Everyone else around
17:19 Could only see the worst
17:23 Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
17:25 I give God much praise, much glory and honor
17:29 for taking my son, turning him around,
17:34 give him a heart that's full of love for Jesus Christ
17:38 and caused him to care for others.
17:42 And it's just marvelous,
17:43 it's just we've visited him last Sunday
17:46 and as we were sitting there talking to him,
17:49 I didn't feel like I was in the prison.
17:52 Just talking to him, he is so upbeat,
17:54 he is so excited and just talking to him.
17:59 And it just seems like the prison walls melted away.
18:02 And we were just having, just a family discussion.
18:06 And I give God praise for that.
18:08 It's been 12 years that John has been incarcerated.
18:13 But I'm believing God to work a miracle for him
18:16 that he can get out while dad and I are still alive.
18:20 I'm 67 years old and I'm just believing God to work a miracle.
18:26 And I'm proud of him. I'm always just grateful.
18:32 It took this, he told his mother.
18:34 It took this to get him on the right track
18:37 and it's keeping in him in his lane.
18:40 So you can get in trouble if you get out of,
18:44 if you get out of your lane. But he is in his lane,
18:49 and Jesus is helping him to stay in his lane.
18:53 And so I'm proud of it, God bless.
19:00 We want to get you out and downstairs
19:02 and get your bags and it tell us
19:03 our time has really, really gone,
19:05 in fact I am looking at zeros all the way across me.
19:08 Technically I have no time.
19:10 But a preacher and a microphone are dangerous combination.
19:13 So for what I'm about to do to you, I apologize.
19:16 We're gonna do it in just two minutes.
19:17 I'm gonna bring you a message from the graveyard.
19:19 It won't be long, it comes from 2 Kings 13:20-21.
19:27 The Bible says, "Then Elisha died, and they buried him.
19:31 And the raiding bands of Moab invaded
19:34 the land in the spring of the year.
19:37 So it was, as they were burying a man,
19:39 that suddenly they spied a band of Moabite raiders
19:43 and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha.
19:46 And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha,
19:49 he revived and stood on his feet."
19:51 I want you to get the picture.
19:53 Spring was a time of year when the Moabites
19:58 who were first cousins to the Israelites
20:01 always invaded the land.
20:03 Every spring like clockwork they were coming and invading.
20:07 So you're always on the look out for Moabite raiders.
20:11 Evidently there is a funeral.
20:13 Now the great Prophet Elisha had just died.
20:18 They hadn't had a chance to close the tomb in
20:21 so you still got this open hole. It's a sad funeral procession.
20:26 Spring, flowers, sunny skies
20:29 but nobody is paying attention to that because it's a funeral.
20:34 So as they move along of in the distance
20:38 they spy a band of Moabite raiders.
20:40 I want you to get the picture.
20:42 These guys are coming to kill, the swords are flashing,
20:45 they've shields, they've got spears
20:47 and so the funeral train is thrown into this frenzy.
20:52 We got to run for our life.
20:53 So what do we do with this body? Well, here is a hole.
20:57 Let's throw him in a hole and run for our lives.
21:01 And that's precisely what they do.
21:04 But the Bible says when they throw
21:05 this dead body into the hole
21:08 and his body touches the body of Elisha,
21:14 he revives and stands on his feet.
21:19 Now you got to get the picture.
21:21 Because they just threw a dead body in a hole.
21:27 I have done 117 funerals at my last church.
21:30 My last church was 2,142 members in Manhattan, New York.
21:35 I did a 117 funerals.
21:40 And everyone adults people that I put down in a ground
21:44 is still in the ground. Amen.
21:48 That's the way it's supposed to be
21:50 until Jesus comes back and resurrects.
21:53 It is supposed to if you get put down,
21:55 you're supposed to stay down. Amen.
21:58 Amen. Amen.
22:02 Amen. Amen.
22:05 But the Bible says when this fellow
22:08 got put in the hole he jumped back up.
22:11 Now can you imagine the visual? That's like a sci-fi movie.
22:18 You got a band of Moabite raiders rushing into attack
22:23 a band of Israelites rushing away
22:26 and this guy jumps up out of the hole, "war over."
22:33 Amen Amen.
22:35 You know, when God got to raise up dead people
22:38 to fight against you, it's time to stop fighting,
22:40 don't you think? Amen.
22:42 But the message from the graveyard
22:44 really is this because my time is gone.
22:47 You're never too dead
22:51 to be revived by Jesus.
22:56 You may look at your life and say my rap sheet is pretty long.
23:04 I have sinned, you know, you ever do stuff,
23:09 you get on your own nerves. Come on tell the truth.
23:12 You know, sometimes you do stuff, you're so "What?
23:18 You know what was I thinking."
23:23 Can I spell stupid that I'm that stupid?
23:29 Ah, you just you know you make yourself sick.
23:34 How could I be so dumb?
23:38 You know, the Bible says in one of my favorite texts
23:40 Romans 8:1 "There is therefore,
23:45 now no condemnation to those who were in Christ Jesus."
23:51 Even though you're pointing your finger at yourself
23:55 when you come to Jesus, he says
23:58 "Finger pointing is done, no condemnation."
24:04 You can't be too dead for Jesus. Amen.
24:10 He can revive the deadest soul.
24:13 He says, "He that cometh unto to me, I will in no wise cast out."
24:21 Basically, Christ says, "If you've got enough sense,
24:24 if you've got enough sense to call,
24:28 I have got enough love to answer."
24:30 Amen. Amen.
24:33 So free yourself, free yourself from your own guilt.
24:35 Free yourself from your own past
24:37 because in Jesus you've only got a future.
24:40 Amen. Amen.
24:42 And you're never too far gone. You're never too dead.
24:45 You're never gone too far. You've not done too much.
24:47 He don't care where you've been,
24:49 what's you've done, how many times you've done it.
24:51 He says, I love you with an everlasting love.
24:58 And He didn't wait for you to get straight to come to Him.
25:01 He went looking for you.
25:03 Amen. Amen.
25:05 So give it to Jesus. Whatever it is,
25:07 give it all to Jesus, He can carry it.
25:10 And if necessary He can carry you
25:13 even if you're carrying a few extra pounds,
25:15 He can carry you. I guarantee you.
25:23 How long you've been in this maximum security prison?
25:27 Twelve. So you've been locked up
25:28 in here for 12 years? Correct.
25:30 In the street, did you ever find any true freedom?
25:34 No, in the street the only thing
25:35 I find was myself being absent from the Lord.
25:38 Being detained really locked up still.
25:41 So you were free by society standards but you were
25:43 in bondage out there. Right.
25:45 And how is it that you can come to a maximum security prison
25:48 locked down, locked up behind a wall
25:51 and now today you've got some,
25:52 you're able to be free indeed. That's pretty easy.
25:56 You know, you try to do everything
25:57 that you want to do on your terms.
25:59 You try to wake up in the morning saying
26:01 I'm going to do this, it fails.
26:03 So the next day you wake up in the morning
26:04 and you'll be like, okay, I'm gonna do this different.
26:06 Then there's road blocked there.
26:08 So the next day you wake up and try and do this again.
26:10 You're like hold up, man, I did everything else my way,
26:14 let me try God's way now. God's way.
26:16 What would you say to people in the world?
26:18 They are out there free by society standards,
26:20 but what do they got to do find to be free indeed?
26:24 You got to sit down, open your eyes,
26:27 its really just catch your own breath.
26:30 Don't worry about what the next person is doing.
26:32 Don't look in the mirror and say,
26:33 well, I want this what they get.
26:34 Well, I want what this person or the other person get.
26:37 You got to figure out what you want to do
26:38 with your own self when you pass away,
26:40 you go unto the heavenly gates.
26:42 And the Bible says, "To seek first
26:44 the kingdom of God in his righteousness."
26:46 Amen. Correct.
26:47 And, bro, you've made a commitment
26:48 to put God first in your life. Amen.
26:50 And you made a commitment to die to self
26:53 as a symbolism of dying with Christ
26:57 in the baptism of waters to be raised anew and everlasting bro.
27:00 He is going to empower you unto the gates of heaven
27:03 as long as we stay true and faithful.
27:05 Thank you very, very much. Amen.
27:06 God bless you.


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Revised 2014-12-17