Participants: Kenny Shelton
Series Code: 17HC
Program Code: 17HC000005A
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00:49 Hello and welcome to 3ABN's Homecoming
00:52 Fall Camp Meeting 2017. 00:56 Who would have thought? 00:57 I mean, really, who would have thought? 00:59 We thought 2000 was it, right? 01:01 And here we are 17 years later. 01:05 Well, I'm excited about this next hour. 01:07 I pray that you are, too. 01:09 I pray that you're praying for the Holy Spirit's 01:11 power and this next musical performance. 01:15 You see, my mother was a musician 01:17 and she could play. I wish I would just have inherited 01:19 some of that. I love music! 01:21 But I've always said once I get to the kingdom 01:24 I'm going to sing with the best of them. Sing with those angels 01:27 and the angel choir. But this next performer is 01:31 well known all around the world: Brother Tim Parton. 01:35 And isn't it neat how now you can write him 01:39 and request your own favorite song? 01:42 You know, last night when I found out I was going to have 01:44 the opportunity and the blessing to introduce him 01:47 I kept trying to think: "Boy, I know you guys come 01:49 for some juicy information. " You always want to know 01:52 behind the scenes, right? 01:54 You know, I was thinking about all those hours we spent on 01:57 the plane, Bro. Tim. And, you know, how you sat so quiet. 02:02 You didn't bother anybody. 02:04 In fact, he got his computer out and started working on music. 02:07 They were working on a big program at that time. 02:10 And he's just such a blessing. In fact, all you have to do 02:13 is look at his smile and you know he loves Jesus. 02:17 So back there I said: "Tim, I've been trying to think 02:19 of something. " And he says: "Just tell them 02:22 Timmy's gonna sing. " 02:25 Amen. He's going to sing to the King. Amen! 02:42 Sing to the King who is coming to reign. 02:49 Glory to Jesus, 02:52 the Lamb who was slain. 02:56 Life and salvation 02:59 His empire shall bring 03:03 and joy to the nations 03:06 when Jesus is King. 03:11 So come, let us sing a song: 03:14 a song declaring we belong to Jesus. 03:20 He is all we need. 03:24 Sing... lift up a heart of praise, 03:27 sing out the joyful praise to Jesus. 03:32 Sing to the King. 03:40 For His returning 03:43 we watch and we pray. 03:46 We will be ready 03:49 the dawn of that day. 03:53 We'll join in singing 03:55 with all the redeemed! 03:59 For Satan is vanquished 04:02 and Jesus is King! 04:07 So come, let us sing a song: 04:10 a song declaring we belong to Jesus. 04:16 He is all we need. 04:20 Lift up a heart of praise; 04:23 sing now with joyful voice to Jesus. 04:29 Sing to the King. 04:36 You are the everlasting God! 04:40 The everlasting God! 04:43 You do not faint... You won't grow weary. 04:49 You're the Defender of the weak; 04:52 You comfort those in need. 04:56 You lift us up on wings like eagles! 05:00 Sing if you know it. 05:02 You are the everlasting God! 05:05 The everlasting God! 05:08 You do not faint... You won't grow weary. 05:14 You're the Defender of the weak; 05:17 You comfort those in need. 05:21 You lift us up 05:23 on wings like eagles! 05:29 So come, let us sing a song: 05:32 a song declaring we belong to Jesus. 05:38 He is all we need. 05:42 Lift up a heart of praise; 05:45 sing now with voices raised to Jesus. 05:51 Sing to the King! 05:56 Oh, He loves to hear us sing! 06:07 Amen! 06:09 Amen! Thank you, Brother Tim! 06:12 You know, my mom always said music touches the heart 06:16 as nothing else can many times. I like that! 06:19 You know, I hear somebody behind me. 06:20 I haven't even introduced him yet but here he is. 06:23 I guess we'll just do this a little backwards. 06:25 Well I'm just used to coming out with you, honey. 06:27 I just didn't know. I just follow wherever she goes. 06:29 I just follow. It makes it hard to talk about you 06:31 when you're actually here. Well, don't do it then. 06:34 There's nothing to say. 06:36 But they want to hear all the behind the scenes. 06:37 How am I supposed to do that? 06:39 Well, do the best you can is all I know. 06:40 Well, Pastor Kenny of Behold the Lamb Ministries 06:44 is a warm and a loving part of 3ABN. 06:48 We love 3ABN! Amen! 06:50 And he has been in ministry over 33 years! 06:53 In fact, he's doing to one thing he said he would never do: 06:57 be a preacher. Maybe I should go back, right? Be a preacher! 07:00 He said: "Absolutely not! I'm not going to be a preacher. " 07:04 But praise God! I heard Pastor C.A. 07:07 say: "Isn't it wonderful that God never gives up on us. " 07:11 He never gave up on you; He hasn't given up on me. 07:14 Yes. He hasn't given up on any of us 07:17 and that is such a blessing. Amen! 07:19 You know, as we continue in our work for the Lord 07:21 and we see the angels as they're holding back the winds of strife 07:26 that's becoming looser and more loose 07:29 as time continues forward. And we see things happening 07:32 in the world as never before. 07:34 And it's time that we're raising that standard high. Amen! Yes! 07:38 And you know, as I was thinking about you 07:39 and all that you've done... In fact, I will tell you 07:41 a little tidbit... Oh, honey! Pastor Kenny... 07:45 Well, Behold the Lamb first of all was one of the first 07:48 programs to ever be aired on 3ABN. 07:50 And Pastor Kenny was the first Adventist pastor 07:54 to ever preach a Revelation and Daniel seminar on satellite TV. 07:59 That's awesome. And now, you know, we're just flooded 08:03 because knowledge is increasing and we've gotta get the message 08:06 out. But that's a neat tidbit. 08:09 And over the years he has helped... I said this before... 08:12 he's helped to keep me balanced. 08:14 And you know, we all shake and we all stumble once in a while 08:17 but I'll tell you one thing about this guy next to me: 08:19 Oh, honey, be careful... 08:22 even when he's preparing those sermons 08:25 and they're stepping all over his toes 08:27 and they step all over my toes 08:29 it brings me back to this verse as we find in I Cor. 15:58 08:34 where it reads: "Be ye steadfast, 08:37 unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord 08:41 for as much as ye know that your labor 08:44 is not in vain in the Lord. " Hallelujah! Amen! 08:47 It doesn't matter how much it cuts 08:49 because we're not to change the Word to fit us. 08:54 We're to pray that the Lord will mold us 08:56 to fit the Word. Let us pray together, shall we? 09:04 Most gracious heavenly Father, 09:06 as we bow before You 09:08 Father, I lift up Pastor Kenny right now 09:12 as a vessel of honor unto You, God, as he brings us 09:16 this next message of Artificial Embellishment. 09:21 Father, speak to our hearts. Speak in and through him. 09:23 And once again may we no longer see him 09:26 but may we hear the voice of heaven. Amen! 09:29 We ask for Your Spirit to come and just fill him to the brim 09:33 to overflowing. Even if he goes away from his notes 09:37 we just know that it's You speaking to us. 09:40 We need to hear Your voice here this morning, Father. 09:43 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 09:53 Praise the Lord! Good to fellowship! 09:56 What a message we just heard! 09:58 Praise God for that... and many more to come. 10:00 So we encourage those of you at home: keep tuned in 10:02 and we know more people's going to be coming. 10:05 We know we're praying more for the power of the Holy Spirit. 10:08 So it's always good to be together to study the Word. 10:11 And I love the Camp Meeting; I love Homecoming. 10:14 I love to get together with God's people 10:16 and especially the subject matter. 10:18 You know, sacrifice, you know. Ours or His. 10:22 And that could go a lot of different directions 10:23 so I'm sure you'll hear dif- ferent messages on them today. 10:26 Certainly glad to be here and the opportunity... 10:29 I know since I've been a little bit sick 10:32 that my brother always calls and he motivates me. 10:35 He starts scheduling me. I know for the Spring Camp Meeting 10:39 you know, just a few months after surgery saying: "Oh boy! " 10:42 "Well come on... you know you can do... " 10:44 And then for the Fall. So it's good to be motivated 10:47 and have things to do for Jesus so I'm grateful for that. 10:50 There's a story told of a man named George Atley. 10:53 He was an Englishman and he had the heart of a hero. 10:58 He went to Africa and he was working at a mission there 11:03 and he was attacked by natives. 11:06 And it didn't look good for him; it looked like it might be over 11:10 and he would not live through it, but 11:12 as the small party was getting ready to attack him 11:15 he had what they call a "Winchester. " 11:18 You know, the repeating rifle that had ten rounds in it. 11:22 And so he thought: "Maybe I can shoot my way out of this. " 11:26 And then he got to thinking. You know, he just... 11:29 The party that attacked him would be at his mercy 11:32 if he began to open fire. 11:34 But he was here at this mission, 11:36 and I would say he calmly and he quickly 11:40 thought over the options that he had 11:43 and simply concluded: "If I kill them, 11:47 would it do the mission good or would it hurt the mission? " 11:52 And - notice this - so as a lamb to the slaughter he was led. 11:58 And when the next day they found his body 12:02 in the stream. And there was his Winchester 12:06 with all ten rounds in it. 12:09 Very interesting thought. 12:11 He allowed them to take his life 12:15 because he was afraid it would hurt the cause of Christ. 12:18 That's one form of sacrifice for man. 12:23 Praise God that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ 12:26 our Lord and our Savior... So I'm very grateful and 12:29 thankful to be able to talk about this. 12:31 And maybe just an interesting title as it were 12:34 but still I think as we go along hopefully it will fit 12:37 for you and you'll be able to understand it a little bit 12:39 better as we go: Artificial Embellishments. 12:43 And so as we look, as we study 12:45 in keeping with the theme of this Camp Meeting, 12:48 this Homecoming about sacrifice, 12:50 I don't know about you but many thoughts came into my mind. 12:53 As I was praying about it and as you study a lot of thoughts 12:57 come into your mind. The Holy Spirit brings to mind. 13:00 And what would be just a good definition of sacrifice? 13:03 You know, what would really? 13:05 And if I talk to 10 of you here you may be 10 different things 13:08 that you say: "Well this is what it means to me. " 13:10 That's all right, but I was thinking about this. 13:12 "It's simply, to me, sacrifice is Jesus 13:16 and Him crucified. " 13:18 When you say sacrifice you've said it all when you say Jesus. 13:22 Jesus... and Him crucified. 13:24 This is I Corinthians 1:23. 13:27 You know, sacrifice from a human standpoint of view... 13:31 I don't know about you, but sometimes when you talk about 13:33 sacrifice people just don't want to hear it. 13:35 They don't want to deal with it; they don't really want to 13:37 talk about it. They don't want to dwell on it let alone do it! 13:41 But praise God Jesus wasn't that way. 13:45 And so, you know, a lot of times it's good to go to Webster's 13:47 and just kind of find out what Webster says about 13:50 the definition of sacrifice. But notice how it fits 13:52 spiritually with the Word of God. It says: 13:54 "Sacrifice is an offering of the life of a person 13:58 or an animal. " Well, that makes sense. 14:00 But notice: "To give up for the sake of someone else. " 14:06 That begins to fit Jesus. To give up His life 14:09 for the sake of someone else. Sacrifice here... 14:12 "Or selling something for less than its value. " 14:17 You know that's very hard to do. If we have a car for sale 14:19 or something else for sale we like to put the high... 14:22 high price on it and then we can maybe come down 14:24 a little bit. But notice: selling something 14:27 at less than value. And immediately in my mind 14:30 I thought of thirty pieces of silver. 14:33 Certainly a whole lot less than the value of Jesus Christ. 14:37 Absolutely... when we think about it. 14:40 I know that you understand as well as I somewhat understand 14:44 that the Word of God is powerful. 14:46 It's powerful... the Bible says that 'It's sharper than any 14:49 two-edged sword" the Bible says in Hebrews 4:12. 14:54 And I like the way that it cuts; I like the way that it divides. 14:57 And sometimes I believe we need to take that sword 14:59 and do a little more as it were. 15:00 But you know, we cut we do the wrong thing... 15:03 but the Holy Spirit doesn't. 15:05 Trims off what needs to be and cuts off with the less amount 15:08 of pain. Praise God for that. 15:10 But this passage of scripture I'm going to read here in just 15:12 a moment I think it simply tells a truth 15:15 that we need to understand. 15:17 I Corinthians 5:17 15:19 just simply says "Christ, our sacrifice. " 15:23 This is where it comes... this is what it boils down to. 15:25 Christ our sacrifice... because we need one. 15:28 We're in a bad way... we need Jesus. 15:32 Explains why He came... why He died. 15:35 Why He's promised to come back again. 15:38 Hebrews 9:26... read along with me if you will. 15:41 "For then must He often have suffered 15:45 since the foundation of the world. " Notice this. 15:48 "But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared 15:52 to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. " 15:56 How wonderful! When Jesus came, what did He say? 15:59 "I'm going to put an end to sin. " 16:00 "Going to put an end to the enemy. " Praise God! 16:03 That's wonderful! To me that was good news. 16:05 But notice what this verse really means to us. 16:08 If Jesus' offering had been temporary, 16:13 He'd have had to do it over and over and over 16:16 as the high priest, the earthly priest did. 16:19 You know, we'd have to have the incarnation; 16:21 we'd have to have His death over and over. 16:24 But the Bible said He's going to come once. 16:27 He's just going to come once and that's going to be sufficient. 16:30 The blood that's shed will be sufficient to cover 16:32 the sin of the whole world. 16:34 We just have to accept it. 16:36 How awesome that is! 16:39 He said: "I'll just come once. I'll give My life. " 16:41 How beautiful that is to know. 16:43 The Acts of the Apostles... I tell every time at Camp Meeting 16:47 or Homecoming I love Spirit of Prophecy. 16:49 I'm not embarrassed and I'm not ashamed about it 16:51 and I'm going to read from it. Some people say: "Well don't 16:54 read from it. " No... I'm going to read from it anyway. 16:56 Is that all right? Come on, somebody. 16:58 We're at church; we're going to talk about it. 17:00 This is one of the identifying marks of God's last-day church 17:03 and we need to be reading it more than we have been. 17:06 Some of you have all the books but you haven't cracked one 17:09 in ten years. By God's grace you'd better crack them open 17:12 or you're going to get cracked open. 17:14 OK. I think we've got that one already. 17:16 Can I go on with this here? 17:18 We need to get to the Word of God and get down right now 17:21 because the time is short. 17:22 Acts of the Apostles pages 246 and 247 17:25 makes it plain about the Redeemer. 17:27 Makes it plain. Says: "The One who through sacrifice 17:30 of His own life made an atonement for sin 17:34 one for all. It was... " Notice this: "was then... " 17:38 Now what was He doing? 17:39 "and then He's going to take up His ministry 17:41 in the heavenly sanctuary. " 17:44 Think about it: He wasn't done - like some say - on Calvary! 17:48 You see, He was not done when He was nailed to the cross. 17:52 You see, when He came out of that tomb as He went back to 17:55 glory, right? He's interceding for us right now. 17:58 He's working in our behalf. We'll talk more about that. 18:00 I love that thought! 18:02 He's ever interceding as the song says. 18:05 He's ever working in my behalf. Why? 18:06 Because I ever... I NEED it. 18:08 I need it day in and I need it day out. 18:10 I don't know about you. And in harmony with that 18:13 the book of Evangelism page 221 says this: 18:16 "The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly 18:21 sanctuary... " What does that mean? 18:22 That means the work that He's doing, doesn't it? 18:24 The ministration - "the work that He's doing 18:26 in the sanctuary is the foundation of our faith. " 18:30 And I wonder if maybe we've forgotten that. 18:32 We've forgotten what the sanctuary is all about. 18:35 It's the foundation, it says, of our faith. 18:39 It's the supporting part of the ministry, of this movement 18:44 that God has ordained in this world. 18:46 See, we need to be happy about that. 18:49 We need to understand God's called you and me 18:51 out of darkness into marvelous light. 18:55 He reached down and He tapped you on the shoulder, 18:59 wherever you were at, whatever's going on in life, 19:02 and He gave you a call to come and to give this message 19:05 to the world. So it needs to be a message that's going to get 19:08 the attention of the world. 19:09 Whether they like it or whether they don't like it; 19:12 whether they hear, right? or they forbear, the Bible says. 19:15 Think about it! Our job is to give this last 19:18 warning message to the world and certainly here at 3ABN 19:21 have that opportunity to do that. 19:23 I think about the sanctuary... 19:25 let me just make three quick points on the sanctuary 19:27 because we need to understand it's function and why 19:31 this message of the sanctuary is so important 19:34 instead of a lot of people saying: "We don't have to worry 19:36 about it any more. " Fussing and fighting and arguing 19:39 over things that just doesn't amount to anything. 19:41 We need to get down to what does the sanctuary do for us? 19:47 To me, the sanctuary keeps this movement steady. 19:50 You know, you need steady movement on that. 19:53 You don't need herky-jerky and running around 19:55 at every wind of doctrine. 19:57 So the sanctuary message keeps this movement steady 20:00 right down on the road. This sanctuary message 20:04 that God has given to this church, to this movement, 20:07 keeps us in position. 20:10 It anchors us in... this sanctuary message 20:14 that God has given to this church. 20:16 Listen, church... think about it... it proves our position. 20:20 The sanctuary does what? 20:22 Proves! It proves our position: 20:25 that God has ordained this movement. That's why the devil 20:28 hates it so much. That's why a lot of times: 20:30 "Well, we shouldn't study. We don't need to worry about. " 20:33 Yes... we need to study. We need to spend time. 20:35 We need to understand the importance of this subject. 20:39 Why? Christ is working for His people right now. 20:44 He's working for us right now at the present time. 20:48 Think about it. Where? Why? Because the hour of God's 20:51 judgment has come; we're in the judgment hour. 20:54 He's working for us; He's calling us. 20:57 He's giving us another shot! 20:58 Amen! He's giving us another opportunity to come to Him. 21:02 And you know what? We're talking... Present truth 21:04 needs to be presented to the world. 21:05 Not some stale, day-old message that we hear every day. 21:09 You know, you can hear it anywhere you go. 21:10 These should be startling to the ears. 21:14 It should make the ears tingle, Brother Lewis. 21:16 It should make the ears just tingle. Say: "Whoo! " 21:18 "Glory! " I'm hearing this... I may have heard it 30 times 21:22 but it still makes my ears tingle 21:24 when I hear it again because I know that it's true. 21:27 I know it's the foundation. 21:28 I know this movement HAS a foundation 21:30 and I know we want to be set right on that foundation. 21:33 IMMOVEABLE in the cause of Christ. 21:36 Friend, this is where we need to be today! 21:38 The sanctuary... just read it, you know, in Hebrews 8 and 9. 21:41 Just the two chapters. Many know that 21:43 but we're talking a lot of precious, wonderful people 21:46 who've never heard about the sanctuary. 21:48 They don't know where to find it in the Bible. 21:50 So we're talking to you, too. We love you, and we want 21:53 you to understand what's giving us peace and joy 21:56 and happiness and stability in this movement 21:59 when sometimes it seems like it's about to fall. 22:01 Somebody stay with me. 22:04 I think we need present truth. We need it powerfully. 22:10 We need to present it power- fully and we need it clear! 22:13 We need it sometimes cutting... you know. 22:17 The Lord has to get my attention sometimes. 22:19 Some of us are a little hard to get the attention. 22:21 And sometimes the truth has to be a little bit cutting 22:24 and there's demands on us... 22:26 decisions that have to be made. 22:27 And so therefore we do not need any artificial embellishments 22:32 the way that many are giving the message for today. 22:36 I've often said: "If you can't give the message right, 22:38 go get another job. " 22:40 Does that make sense? 22:42 Oh, some people just hate to hear that. 22:44 But you know what? I love to say it. 22:45 If you're not going to do it right, 22:48 right? go find something else to do. 22:51 Man, this message is too important! 22:53 This is life and death to the world... life and death issue. 22:57 And we act like up here we're going to get a little sugar 23:00 and a little spice and everything nice. 23:02 Listen: we need this truth. 23:04 Powerful, clear, and cutting is a good way to give the message 23:09 today. When I say "no artificial" I'm talking about 23:12 nothing that's simulated. 23:14 Somebody give a simulated message... oh, come on, now. 23:17 We don't need anything that's made up. 23:19 Do we? No! We don't need any trickery. 23:23 There's a lot of message people give that tricks you. 23:27 You know, this message God has given this church is clear 23:31 as a bell. No, we don't need to be any division. 23:33 We need to be together 100%. 23:36 We don't need anything fake. 23:37 We don't need "half-truths" people call them. 23:41 This is no time may I say for "tomfoolery. " 23:44 Anybody ever heard that old saying? 23:47 It's no time for that right now where we're at 23:49 in earth's history. We need no embellishments 23:53 of this message. God gave it clear. 23:56 We don't need to add anything; we don't need any decorations. 24:00 We don't need any ornaments placed on this message. 24:04 We don't need any improvements to this message. 24:06 Even though there's men, places that think they're smart enough 24:09 to improve the message that God has given. 24:11 I have a word for them: "You're not smarter than God! " 24:16 This is God's message. This is straight from the throne room 24:20 which makes it... Nothing! We don't need to add 24:22 details. Some people like to add details. 24:24 We don't need that. What we need is truth, 24:27 and the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 24:29 That's my opinion... I pray that it's yours. 24:32 We're past way time... You know what the truth 24:35 and the whole truth is? Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 24:38 Amen! That's what we need to know; this is where it starts. 24:42 And you might say: "Well why? Why do we need this? " 24:46 Because, my brothers and sisters, as you well know 24:49 and those of you at home maybe you don't know 24:51 we are in the great Day of Atonement. 24:54 Did we get it? We're what? 24:56 "Well, we're in... " You know, some of us times have... " 24:58 "Well, we're in the Day of Atonement. " Somebody wake up! 25:01 We're in the great Day of Atonement! 25:04 Names are coming up for the God of the universe. 25:07 Sentence is going to be pronounced. 25:10 Oh brothers and sisters, we need to be right 25:12 when our name comes up! 25:14 Great Day of Atonement. Where is Jesus? 25:16 Jesus is standing before God. 25:18 He's pleading our cases. 25:20 Oh, I praise Him for pleading my... 25:21 "Oh God, please... Jesus, plead my case. " 25:24 How many of us are really pleading with that? 25:26 This is no time to be putting on a robe of self-righteousness. 25:31 A robe of selfishness. 25:34 This is time to put on a robe of Jesus Christ... 25:37 the robe of self-denial. 25:40 We must be humble at this point in time. 25:43 Willing to get on our knees; willing to confess our sin. 25:46 Willing to say we are a sinner in need of grace. 25:49 You know, this is it. There's nothing wrong: I need a Savior. 25:53 I say that before the world: "I need a Savior. " 25:55 I am in a lost condition. I am a lost individual 25:58 without Jesus. There's no hope without Jesus. 26:01 We come to Him confessing our sins, 26:04 you know, and make sure that we're covered by the blood: 26:07 the blood over the doorpost. 26:09 We need that blood over there my brothers and sisters. 26:12 Make sure by God's grace that we are reflecting His 26:17 divine... His divine image. We must by faith 26:22 enter the sanctuary above. Notice what I said. 26:25 I say by faith do what? Enter the sanctuary above. 26:29 If we do not... let me throw this out... 26:32 you throw it back if you want to. 26:34 I'll throw it right back at you I guarantee... 26:38 till I can't do it any more. 26:42 If we do not by faith join with Him in the heavenly sanctuary, 26:46 we will be weighed in the balances and found wanting. 26:51 We WILL be weighed in the balances... 26:53 and that's not a pretty thing to even think about. 26:56 Oh... Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 27:00 Hebrews chapter 9 verse 28. 27:02 Notice... I always l like to say "Notice what the Bible says. " 27:07 Not what Kenny says. Not what Pete and Fred and Janice says. 27:11 It's what Jesus says, isn't that right? 27:13 The Bible says: "So Christ... " Hebrews 9:28 27:18 "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of... " What? 27:21 "sins of many. " Notice that. If you look up that word 27:25 in the Greek it says equivalent to all. 27:32 Notice. I've read it for years in there and it says, you know, 27:36 "sins of many. " I say: "Well praise God. There's gonna... " 27:38 Whoo! It gives me hope... "there's gonna be many 27:40 that's going to be in the kingdom! 27:42 There's going to be many that's going to be there. " 27:43 But really the way that it really reads is 27:46 that many is equivalent to all! 27:49 All who come to Him; all who confess their sin; 27:52 all who's willing to live in obedience to His commandments. 27:55 There's none of this slipping through the cracks business 27:58 or just come to Him and talk about get saved 28:00 and then go live the way you want to live 28:02 do what you want to do. Have mercy! 28:03 That's against Bible teaching is it not? 28:07 That's against Bible teaching. 28:09 Yeah, I want to be a little difficult to those who are 28:12 having an issue with that. 28:15 I want them to think just a little bit with me. 28:17 We love them. That's why we want to bring these truths out. 28:21 In fact, you can find a little more in Romans 5:15. 28:23 Just read about that. 28:25 "He bore the sins of many and to them... " I love this! 28:27 "to them that look for... " What? Well, see there's 28:31 nobody looking for Him. Notice what the scripture said: 28:35 "unto them that look for Him He came... " To do what? 28:39 He's going to bear the sins of many - notice - who are looking 28:43 for Him. If you're not looking for Him 28:45 you're not going to find Him. 28:46 If you're not looking for Him 28:49 He can't bear your sins as it were. 28:52 He can't work in behalf of your life. 28:56 He just can't do it because we're not looking for Him. 28:58 Why wouldn't we as a church, as a body, as an individual 29:02 say: "I'm looking for Jesus to come. " 29:05 Oh, my friend, if you're looking for Jesus... 29:08 What is that, Titus 2:13? That is the Blessed Hope! 29:11 That's what keeps me going when the world is as dark as it is. 29:15 It's a miserable world; the devil is running rampant 29:17 in there in lives in this world. 29:20 And that gives me hope and that gives me encouragement 29:23 because I'm looking for that Blessed Hope. 29:25 I go to the simplicity of the gospel. Not only am I looking 29:28 for the coming of Jesus but He says in John 14:3 29:32 as you well know, He says: "I will come again. " 29:34 I'm looking for Him because He said: "I'm going to come 29:37 and I'm going to come after you. " 29:39 Oh, take it personal my brothers and sisters! 29:41 Take it personal. He said: "I'm going to come after you. 29:43 If you're the only one, I'm still going to come after you. " 29:46 You know these things but we need to be revived 29:49 over and over. "I would have gone to Calvary. " 29:51 "I would have sacrificed My life 29:53 if it had just been for you only. " 29:56 That goes "choot" over my mind 29:58 but I know by faith it's the truth. 30:00 Amen! I know that it is. That's the love that the Father 30:03 has, that Jesus has, for us. 30:05 That's such an encouragement! I'm looking for His appearing. 30:08 "I will come again. " 30:11 One of the other reasons I'm looking for His appearing: 30:13 I think I John 3:2 says... 30:15 oooh! it says: "We shall be like Him. " 30:21 I may be the only one excited about it, but don't worry... 30:24 I'm going to go on with it. To me, that's exciting 30:26 to think this old miserable, pathetic body 30:29 as you get old, so on and so forth, we can have the body 30:32 as it were of Jesus. We can have the mind of Christ. 30:34 We're going to be like Him; we're going to see Him 30:37 as He is. That's exciting to me! 30:39 Amen! No death, sorrow. Oh... praise God! 30:43 Notice: he said: "We're looking... " No is anybody here 30:45 looking for His appearing? 30:46 Whoo! Glory! I see one. The rest of you are lost 30:49 I guess. Thank you on the corner. 30:53 You're gonna go two-hander, are you? 30:54 Bless your precious heart. 30:56 Now... is anybody looking for the coming of Jesus? 30:58 Absolutely! That's the way, church. 31:00 We've gotta get involved! 31:02 We are looking... 'cause it is our Blessed Hope. 31:04 Amen. Notice: "look for Him He shall appear 31:08 the second time without sin unto salvation. " 31:11 What a wonderful thought: without sin. 31:14 Living in a world without sin. 31:16 Peace and tranquility and being with Jesus. 31:19 You know, what does that mean? 31:21 He's going to come back without sin unto salvation. 31:26 Before He comes back the work that He came to do - 31:30 notice this my brothers and sisters - 31:32 is all completed. When He comes He brings His reward with Him. 31:35 Before He comes the second time 31:37 sin has been put to an end. 31:39 We realize that Calvary was a wonderful wonderful thing 31:42 and we praise God for Calvary. 31:44 We praise God for that blood that flowed so freely 31:47 for someone like me. I thank God for it. 31:50 But I want to encourage ministers and teachers 31:53 and leaders and laity 31:55 more... just get involved more than we ever have. 31:59 More hearts could be touched; more hearts could be revived. 32:03 More hearts can be changed if we would dwell a little bit 32:07 more on practical godliness rather than some of this... 32:12 a little bit less flair. 32:14 There's too much flair goin' on. Somebody didn't get it. 32:16 There's too much flair going on. 32:18 There's too much worrying about the looks of something. 32:20 We need to be focusing on practical godliness! 32:23 Getting right with God that we may one day be with Jesus, 32:27 be with the angels of heaven. Isn't that what it's all about? 32:30 Amen! We need to understand. 32:33 God bless. We need more of the blood of Jesus Christ. 32:37 We need more of the power of the Holy Spirit. 32:39 We need no artificial embellishments. 32:41 We just don't need them. 32:43 I'm thankful for the theme of this Camp Meeting 32:45 and sacrifice. I love the thought of sacrifice. 32:49 And certainly we realize it's not only Jesus 32:52 but there's sacrifices in our own life that you've been 32:55 hearing about we understand that need to take place. 32:57 Why? Why? Think about why sacrifice. 33:01 Why? Because it centers around Jesus Christ. 33:04 Think about the message. 33:06 Any message you give, right? Anything that you read 33:08 it needs to center around Jesus Christ. 33:10 There's our power; there's our strength. 33:12 There's our victory! Praise God for that. 33:15 I want a message that centers around Christ. 33:18 I want something that centers around Christ as it were 33:21 His sacrifice... nailed to the cross for our sin. 33:25 It focuses on Christ the risen Savior. 33:27 Isn't that wonderful? We serve a risen Savior. 33:30 He's in the world today, praise God. 33:33 I like to talk about it, look up passages of scripture 33:36 about sacrifice because it talks about Christ our righteousness. 33:41 Because we have none... "there's none good... no not one. " 33:44 It's time to get real in our Christian life 33:46 to look at... say: "We are a lost cause. " 33:48 We're not good... there's nothing good about us. 33:51 We're the dust of the earth. Oh, we need a Savior! 33:54 Can sit around saying: "Well, I'm good. I think I'm fine. 33:56 I think I'm gonna make it. " You're in trouble! 33:59 We need to realize where we are, where we're at in our 34:01 relationship with Christ. But we can focus 34:04 on Christ our Intercessor. 34:06 We can even focus on Christ's pre-existence 34:09 that many people have a hard time with. I don't know why. 34:11 We can focus as we mentioned about the second coming 34:14 of Jesus. We can focus about His holy law. 34:17 It's honorable; it's good. 34:18 We can focus on His victorious life. 34:21 Praise God for that. 34:23 There's power in lifting up the name of Jesus. 34:26 If you don't have any power, I guarantee you it's because 34:28 you're not lifting up the name of Jesus. 34:30 Do you want power in your life, church? 34:32 Amen! Yes we do! Then we lift up who? 34:35 Jesus! Now stop lifting up yourself. 34:37 Don't lift up... talk about ourselves. 34:41 "Well, we did... they did... " 34:42 What did Jesus do? 34:44 This is where the power is at my brothers and sisters. 34:47 We know we need to be reading more and more. 34:50 Lift up the name of Jesus. 34:53 Jesus said that, didn't He? In John 12:32. 34:56 He said: "I... if I be... " What? 34:59 "be lifted up will draw all men. " 35:02 That's... Ooh, glory! That's a promise! 35:05 That's a promise. Notice that word. It's so interesting. 35:09 "I will draw all men to Me. " 35:11 I thought: "Oh! Oh, what a word! " 35:14 Deserves a little bit of study and I looked on it 35:17 and He said, you know: "If I be lifted up 35:19 I'm going to take... " Notice: "I'm going to take for Myself 35:25 you and you and you and me. " 35:28 He's going to take for Himself us. 35:31 That's what the drawing... He's going to draw, certainly, 35:33 with His love, absolutely. Grace and mercy. 35:36 But He's going to take us. He's going to draw us to Himself 35:39 and going to take us. How beautiful that is! 35:41 John 3:14 the Bible is clear: 35:44 "So must the Son of Man be... " What? "lifted up. " 35:48 Son of Man has to be elevated. 35:51 The Son of Man has to be celebrated. 35:54 The Son of Man we realize needs to be exalted. 35:56 The Son of Man needs to be worshiped. 35:59 The call in the three angels' messages: "Go back and worship 36:02 the One who made heaven and earth. " 36:03 Get on the right side... worship the right God. 36:06 In the Bible: "In the beginning was God! " 36:08 We've got to get back to give glory to Him 36:11 and simply show the world what His character is all about. 36:14 Are you a good representative of the character of God? 36:17 Am I a representative of the character of God? 36:19 God have mercy on my soul. 36:24 Why would He let people like us 36:29 come to the point, as it were bottom line, to vindicate 36:31 His character? What a God! 36:35 I've often said I don't trust myself. 36:38 I trust Him. Now you say you trust yourself? 36:41 You're fooling yourself... take heed lest you fall. 36:44 Yes. See... I know. Now if that offended anybody here 36:47 we need to have a talk later 'cause we're gonna have to pray 36:50 because you need prayer. 36:54 Think about it. This is an awesome time. 36:59 Lift up the Son of Man. Not as the world has done. 37:04 That's different. We lift Him up not as the world has done 37:08 because they put Him down. They nailed Him to the cross. 37:12 Not only put Him down... they shut Him down 37:14 and then they gunned Him down. 37:16 That's what the world has done. 37:19 And somehow, maybe, we've helped to allow that. 37:22 God have mercy. We pray not, but sometimes 37:24 by our silence. It's pretty deadly. 37:28 We need to speak up for what is truth. 37:33 I'm convinced of this: when our precious Lord and Savior 37:36 came to this world, the devil said: "I've got it made. " 37:40 Until Jesus comes, he had it made. You know that? 37:42 He had the world just like he wanted it. 37:47 You've read that many times. He had the world... 37:49 When Jesus came to this world: in the time it was darkest 37:54 in the history of the world 37:56 that Jesus came. 37:59 Something had to be done. 38:01 The devil was saying: "I've got it made. " 38:03 "I've got all my victims. " 38:06 Well praise God Jesus came! Isn't that right? 38:09 He was willing to come and He wanted to what? 38:12 He wanted to win the world back. Praise God! 38:15 Because the enemy took it. And He wanted to put an end 38:20 to Satan. And you know what? I say Hallelujah! Praise God! 38:24 To put an end to the old devil. Don't anybody here just start 38:28 gettin' weepy and so on. "Well, the devil's gonna... " 38:30 He had his opportunity. Look what he has caused 38:33 in this world today. I'm thankful Jesus said: 38:36 "I'm going to come and I'm going to put an end to the old devil. 38:38 I'm going to put an end to sin. " 38:40 Oh how wonderful! Thank you, Lord, for doing that! 38:43 Praise God Christ came to this world, 38:48 lived a perfect life. Nailed to the cross of Calvary. 38:51 As He was nailed to the cross of Calvary between earth and 38:54 heaven the Father looked down and He saw His Son: 38:57 the suffering and the death. And as Jesus died 39:02 on the cross He said: "That is enough! That is enough! " 39:06 "Now the world can be reconciled back to God again. " 39:10 We could never have been reconciled back to God 39:12 if it were not for Jesus. Amen! 39:15 Wonderful, wasn't it? when God said: "That's enough! 39:18 There doesn't have to be anything else done. 39:21 The life of Jesus is sufficient. " 39:23 Oh, praise God. 39:24 And I see the passage more coming in Psalm 85:10. 39:29 You've heard it many times: "Mercy and truth have 39:32 met together; righteousness and peace 39:36 have kissed each other. " 39:38 Oh, we can see that in Jesus Christ. 39:41 You know, I love the song we talk about "In the Cross. " 39:44 "In the cross be my glory ever. 39:49 Till my raptured soul... " Oh, I'm telling you: 39:52 you could just sing those. You know, a lot of times 39:54 we don't sing those songs any more. 39:55 We've got a lot of those jumpy things going on. 40:01 You know what I'm talking about. 40:03 Tom-foolery. That's right. 40:05 A mess going on in some churches. 40:08 There's nothing that touches the heart when you talk about 40:11 in the cross... that's my glory. 40:14 Another one is: at the cross, at the cross... 40:17 where I first saw the light. 40:19 I can guarantee you there's no light if there's no cross. 40:22 Amen! First saw the light and the burden of my heart 40:25 rolled away. It was there by faith 40:28 I received my sight. There I'm gonna be happy. 40:31 Isn't that right? Is that the way it goes? 40:32 All the day. It's at the cross where 40:36 you find happiness. At the cross where you find 40:37 peace and contentment. Let me ask you a question. 40:40 Oh, I have 16 minutes left... who's... 40:43 who's been messing with the clock? 40:47 It's been fast for me... I don't know about you. 40:49 Yes! Here's a question... you think on it. 40:54 Where have we? Where did Satan go wrong? 41:00 Where did he go wrong? 41:01 Both men and Satan are sinners. Is that true? 41:07 Both men and Satan... both sinners. 41:10 But let me throw this out to you: 41:13 there's a difference. 41:15 What do you mean there's a difference 41:16 because you thought that I thought that sin is what? 41:20 Is still the transgression. I John 3:4. 41:23 Is the "transgression of God's law. " 41:25 So we say: "Well sin is sin. " 41:26 But I'm telling you there's a difference in the sin of Satan 41:29 and the sin of man. Let me try to explain that 41:32 just a little bit if you haven't read it before. 41:37 As sinners, then, man is in a different position 41:41 from Satan in that he made the wrong choices. 41:45 But remember: he made the wrong choices where? 41:49 In the full knowledge and the full light of God's glory. 41:53 He was there! 41:55 No other being had that light that the enemy - Lucifer - 42:00 had. He saw God in action. 42:03 He understood God. 42:05 He had the knowledge of it... notice that. So we know 42:08 that knowledge is not going to save you. 42:09 Are you still with me? But he was in the full knowledge 42:12 of God's glory. He understood God's love like no other. 42:16 He understood God's goodness like no other created being. 42:22 But, you know, in spite of this knowledge... 42:24 and we could relate maybe even to today... 42:27 he chose to follow his own will and his own ways. 42:31 Notice: once he did that... 42:34 once he did that there was nothing more that God could do 42:39 for him. Somebody listening? 42:42 Think about it. Once he decided 42:46 because he was in the full knowledge. 42:48 He had the understanding, he was there, and once he made 42:51 that final decision - notice that - there's nothing more 42:53 that God could do. So what's the difference? 42:55 We have Satan that sinned... we have man that sinned. 42:57 Quick look at man: man was deceived. 43:02 Man did not have the full knowledge and light 43:06 and love of God. He did not know and understand God 43:10 as Lucifer understood God. 43:13 Man did not understand the great love of God. 43:16 He was just maybe beginning to get a glimpse of it 43:18 and then things really "turned sour" we'd say. 43:21 For man, then, there was hope. 43:24 There was hope that something could be done. 43:27 There was hope that by beholding God's character - 43:31 notice that - or who He is 43:33 that changes could take place. 43:35 Moses said in Exodus 33:18, 43:39 he said: "Show me Thy glory. " 43:41 "Show me Thy glory. " 43:43 So for man there was what? There was hope when sin came. 43:48 And God was saying: "Oh, boy! There's hope. " 43:51 By beholding God's character man might be drawn back 43:55 to Him. Notice... what? We need to be drawn back. 43:58 We've sinned... we've fallen short, you know. 44:01 And some of the things in our life... they have scars. 44:04 Some of the sins and wrong choices... they bear scars. 44:07 I have scars that will last for eternity. 44:11 Wrong choices; wrong decisions. 44:14 Jesus' scars will last for eternity, too... 44:18 and that's certainly what counts. 44:22 By beholding His character we might be drawn back to Him. 44:26 Read that in II Corinthians 3:18... 44:28 certainly by beholding. 44:30 God was merciful to man. Do you believe it? 44:33 Yes! God was what? He was merciful to mankind... 44:36 He's merciful to him and He sent His Son. 44:40 His Son was willing to come and to die. 44:42 Now notice this: and through the life of Jesus Christ 44:47 that He lived that the human race could now see and know God. 44:52 Remember the importance of seeing and knowing God... 44:55 knowing His love. Now Jesus came. 44:58 Now we had the opportunity to see and know and understand 45:02 who God really is. Yes. Isn't that interesting how God 45:05 was so involved... just like Jesus. 45:09 How wonderful! What a God that we serve! 45:13 Jesus said in John 14:9... He said: "If you have seen Me... " 45:17 What? "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. " 45:21 That's pretty clear, isn't it? He emptied Himself of self. 45:24 He was filled with the Father. Who did He come to show? 45:26 He came to show us the Father, not Himself. 45:29 We can know God through Jesus Christ. Amen! 45:34 It's the only way the world can be reconciled back together 45:36 that I'm going to have a second chance and a third 45:38 and a millionth. 45:42 Isn't that wonderful 45:43 to know while the door of probation still lingers 45:46 and still is open there's hope. 45:48 There's hope for us... regardless of the life, 45:51 regardless of the activities, regardless of where you've been. 45:53 It doesn't matter to God... just come to Him. 45:56 Repent and forsake your sin... come to Him. 45:59 He'll make a new creation out of you and out of me 46:01 there's no doubt. We know the wages of sin is death do we not? 46:06 Romans 6:23... we know that. 46:09 But man sinned; man broke the law 46:12 and the law could not be changed. 46:14 Interesting how the world says it can. 46:17 But the law couldn't be changed 46:18 to meet man in his fallen condition. 46:21 Just like God's character cannot be changed. Is that true? 46:24 Malachi 3:6... unchangeable! 46:27 Notice: in this situation God did not change the law 46:32 but He... listen... but He sacrificed Himself. 46:35 Well you say: "Well He sacrificed Jesus. " 46:36 God sacrificed Himself in Christ 46:41 Amen - to save mankind. 46:42 How wonderful that is! Boy, you talk about working together. 46:46 You talk about unity, which the church needs desperately 46:49 instead of going in different directions or flaring out here 46:52 and flaring out there. But notice how They did. 46:55 You can't change the law. 46:58 But God sacrificed Himself through Jesus Christ 47:03 to save us. II Corinthians 5:19, you know it well. 47:06 "God was in Christ reconciling... " What? 47:11 "the world unto Himself. " 47:13 Ooh! Notice: God was who? 47:15 Where was He? He was in Christ 47:17 reconciling... bringing us back together again. 47:20 How wonderful! Oh... what a Savior... what a Savior! 47:24 Thank God for His mercy. 47:26 Thank God He extended it to mankind... 47:29 so undeserving as we are. 47:32 The law requires righteousness. 47:36 The law requires perfect character. 47:40 To live right... to do right... to be right 47:44 because it is right. Simply put, the law requires 47:48 a righteous life... but man doesn't have it. 47:53 Man has nothing to give, does he? 47:55 He's in trouble. The law requires it, does it not? 47:57 It requires it. 47:59 But we have nothing which to give. 48:03 Man cannot meet the claims of God's holy law. 48:08 Regardless of how hard he tries or how much he gives 48:11 or how much he works or how much is accomplished 48:14 he cannot do it... but JESUS came as a man. 48:17 JESUS lived a victorious life. 48:20 He developed a perfect character 48:23 and this He offers to us. 48:25 My brothers and sisters: He offers this free to us. 48:28 We know this... we need to be reminded. 48:29 He offers this a free gift! 48:32 When we buy something, man, we like to get a good deal. 48:35 Don't we? "They didn't give me a good deal 48:37 I'm not going to take it. " HERE'S the deal of a lifetime! 48:39 Here it is right now. You'll never get a better deal 48:42 than this: change an old piece of dirt and rag and filth 48:45 for the righteous robe of Jesus Christ! 48:47 You can have it today! YES! Think about it: 48:50 He did all of it, right? He took the beating. 48:53 He took the nailing to the cross. 48:55 But He did it for you because He wanted to put that 48:57 robe of righteousness around you. Oh, praise God! 49:00 Christ came... developed that perfect character. 49:03 He offers it to us. Why? So that we could be shaped 49:06 into His divine character. 49:09 Here we can see - really we can see - what most of the world 49:12 cannot see. We can see what maybe most of the world 49:16 doesn't even want to see... that they're rejecting. 49:19 Notice this: the righteousness of the law 49:22 which is fulfilled in the believer in and through what? 49:27 Christ. Romans 3:26 says: "God can be just 49:31 and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. " 49:35 Can He do that? Absolutely He can do that! 49:38 Praise God! The sacrifice of Jesus 49:41 is so broad and so deep I can't understand it. 49:46 Is it OK to say that? 49:48 When you're up there preaching you ought to know. 49:50 I don't know... it's too big for me. 49:53 It's so broad; it's so wide; it's so deep! 49:57 That sacrifice! Even the enemy could not understand it. 50:02 Stay with me, church. This is going to hit somebody. 50:05 Maybe somebody needs to be hit. 50:07 I know I do. 50:10 My wife does it every once in a while. 50:14 But it's good... she has my best interests at heart. 50:17 She has to rein me in sometimes. 50:22 We sang that song. You remember? Deep and Wide. 50:26 Deep and wide. There's fountain, is it? flowing deep and wide. 50:33 I sang the song many years and listened to it 50:36 but I never really understood. 50:39 I pray I'm understanding it better. 50:41 How deep and how wide... 50:43 whoo! is that fountain ever flowing. 50:47 Never running out. Wanting to cover us and wash us 50:50 and bring us to repentance. 50:52 Deep and wide. Amen! 50:54 Desire of Ages says this... listen carefully. 50:57 Six minutes... stay with me. Please somebody, stay awake 50:59 six more minutes. Maybe the wife has a gift for you 51:02 or something, I don't know what it is, but... 51:06 See, sometimes we forget how important... 51:09 Notice: "When God's Word was written... " 51:14 Notice: "when it was given Satan studied the prophecies 51:20 of the Savior's advent. " 51:23 When they were written by the Holy Spirit... men of God... 51:27 Satan sat down and he studied the prophecies 51:30 about the advent of Jesus. 51:32 He's doing a whole lot more than we are! 51:35 He understood he needed to study what was written 51:39 in the book. Because you know what? 51:40 I think he even believed that it was truth. 51:41 He believed, and he knew if he studied he'd try to figure 51:44 it out because he had a plan to try to get rid of the Savior, 51:46 didn't he. Think about the enemy sitting down 51:49 and studying scripture! 51:52 He sits down and studies you and he studies me. 51:55 He studies what will take you down. 51:58 Oh! We need to pray from day to day! 52:02 And so what did the enemy do 52:04 as he studied these prophecies which we should be studying? 52:07 We are people of the Book; we are students of prophecy! 52:10 We should be. The church is built on prophecy! 52:13 Our mission is to give prophetic utterance as it were 52:16 of the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel together 52:18 to warn the people that we're at the end. 52:21 We're in the toenails of it... Jesus is coming! 52:23 The Rock is coming. Yes! Are we ready for that? 52:26 If not, it will smash you asunder and me, too. 52:29 That's right! We need to be ready! Praise God! 52:31 But the devil said: "Oh, man! I know what's going to happen 52:34 now... I've studied the prophecies. " 52:35 In other words, He studied the Bible a lot more 52:39 than many of us are doing. God help us to study! 52:41 Be more faithful than the enemy. 52:44 This should help us to under- stand the importance of studying 52:47 scripture. So from generation to generation he worked 52:50 to blind mankind... the people to prophecy... 52:54 that they would reject Jesus when He came. 52:57 Did he... I want to be careful with this 53:00 but you know what? He did a pretty good job. 53:04 He blinded the leaders; he blinded those in top positions. 53:10 He blinded those in lower positions if you want to call it 53:12 that. "But the world knew Him not" is what the Bible says. 53:17 Why? Because the enemy knew He was coming 53:19 and he had a plan. 53:21 Oh, boy! Think about this with me. 53:25 Reading on... said: "The Son of God should come to this earth 53:27 as a Man filled... " Notice this: "as a Man 53:31 filled him - Satan - with amaze- ment and with apprehension. " 53:35 To think that Jesus - King of Kings - because he knew 53:38 who He was. He knew His position. 53:40 He knew what He was giving up. "He was filled," notice this, 53:43 "with amazement and ap- prehension. He could not fathom 53:47 the mystery of the great sacrifice. 53:49 His selfish soul... " Notice: "could not understand 53:53 such love for deceived man. " 53:55 He couldn't understand why He was willing to come down 53:57 for the likes of somebody like me. 53:59 He just couldn't figure it out! 54:01 Satan saw right then and there that he must fight. 54:04 He had to conquer or be conquered 54:06 and he was not going to give up easily. 54:09 Therefore the enemy knew this and he put a plan together. 54:12 And when Jesus was born and He came to this earth 54:15 all the demons of hell fought against Christ. 54:17 You will never be tempted... you will never go through 54:19 what Jesus went through! 54:21 He carried the weight of the world on His shoulders 54:23 and He did it with your name on His lips. 54:25 He did it with my name. Praise God! 54:28 "God so loved the world... " You know: "He gave His only Son. " 54:32 Think about this. Please think with me about this. 54:36 Until Christ... Until Christ, 54:41 no human being had ever been born that escaped the power 54:47 of the enemy. The whole world! You see, he had it... 54:50 Remember, we talked about it? He had it like he wanted 54:52 because no one until Jesus Christ had escaped the enemy. 54:55 Every person that had been born up to Christ did what? 54:58 They were deceived; they were sinners in need of a Savior! 55:02 Oh think about it my brothers and sisters! I can say this 55:05 because the Bible says all have sinned and what? 55:07 And there's been none since Jesus Christ! 55:10 Think about it: there's none! 55:14 That's an awesome thought! 55:15 You see why he kind of thought he had it... 55:17 he had it made? 55:19 Because for 4,000 years there wasn't one person 55:23 that lived a holy life. 55:24 We know the Bible says... but they confessed their sins 55:27 and He's faithful and just to forgive. 55:29 But no one had lived a perfect life. 55:31 4,000 years... he had everybody. Are you still with me, church? 55:35 Everybody! We think we're exception today. 55:37 Don't you kid yourself. No! NO! Lord have mercy on us! 55:42 And no one since. We've all sinned and we've come short. 55:46 Oh, I say: "What a Savior! What a sacrifice! " 55:50 Calvary is so wonderful. 55:53 I'll just close because our time has run out with this... 55:56 with this thought. Desire of Ages 123: 55:58 "He, Christ, was fitted for conflict by the indwelling 56:02 of the Holy Spirit. " There's a conflict going on 56:05 here. We need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 56:08 Notice this: 56:09 "Renouncing all self- dependence... " This is for you 56:12 and this is for me... "We need to denounce 56:14 all self-dependence. We may look to the cross of Calvary 56:18 and we may say... " Mmm! "in my hand 56:22 no price I bring. 56:26 Simply to the cross I cling. " 56:31 Amen! You know, that's my prayer 56:33 for each one of you as well as for my own self and my own life. 56:36 I've gotta cling to the cross. 56:38 I can't bring anything to Him. 56:41 I can't earn anything... I need Him! 56:44 And I pray that you feel today you need God. 56:47 You need Him in your life. I want to have prayer for you 56:49 before we close. You want to cling to the cross? 56:52 Yes! Now where it's possible if you want to you can kneel 56:54 or just pray right there. I'm going to kneel. 56:57 Let's pray together. 56:59 Our merciful heavenly Father, we thank you for 57:01 Your precious Word. We thank you for the power of the cross. 57:03 We're thankful that He said: "I, if I be lifted up 57:06 will draw all men unto Me. " 57:08 Thank you for that blood that flowed so freely. 57:10 Thank you You've given us another chance. 57:12 Thank you You showed us who God really is 57:15 through looking at Jesus Christ. 57:16 Thank you for that victorious life. 57:18 We thank you for loving us today. We thank you for the 57:20 promise for every precious hand that was raised up, 57:23 every precious person that's home listening, watching. 57:26 May there be conversion and conviction 57:28 and may there be some repentance, and may we 57:31 gather at the foot of the cross. 57:32 And here one day we'll be able to gather on the sea of glass. 57:36 I thank you in Jesus' name, Amen. |
Revised 2024-10-21