Participants: Frank Gonzalez
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000119
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:22 Well it's a beautiful Sabbath morning here in 00:26 southern Illinois. 00:27 And one more reason... 00:30 We don't really live here for the weather, you know that. 00:32 We live here to serve the Lord. 00:35 But Camille and I have really come to love southern Illinois. 00:40 And I'm going to tell you the truth. 00:41 We can't think of any other place we'd rather be 00:44 than right here. 00:46 And especially with the team that God has given us 00:50 the privilege to work with. 00:52 This morning we continue with our Anchors Of Truth series, 00:58 and we have a very special speaker; 01:01 Frank Gonzalez, Pastor Frank Gonzalez. 01:04 Pastor of the Avon Park Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:07 For 17 years, he was the speaker/director of La Voz, 01:12 which is the Latino Voice of Prophecy. 01:16 It's called The Voice of Hope. 01:19 And what a tremendous privilege it is to have Pastor Frank here. 01:24 Now he is dealing with seven sayings that Christ 01:28 did from the cross, seven words that are very important 01:32 to each one of us. 01:33 Now this is a five part series, so it's important that 01:37 he cover two this morning. 01:40 And then he'll cover two words this afternoon. 01:44 So he's going to preach two sermons this morning. 01:47 You're going to hear two. 01:49 There will be a song in between by Pastor John, 01:52 and then Pastor Frank will preach a second sermon. 01:56 And he'll do the same this afternoon. 01:59 May God bless each one of you as we join in the spirit 02:04 of reverence and worship through this series. 02:19 Hello. 02:21 Thank you for coming. 02:23 And thank you for tuning in. 02:26 We are looking at the gospel of Jesus Christ. 02:33 Paul said that he was not ashamed of the gospel, 02:38 because it... 02:39 By the way, it and only it, is the power of God 02:45 unto salvation. 02:47 And the place where this gospel was manufactured 02:52 was the cross of Christ. 02:55 At least that's where we saw it. 02:58 Because that's where the Lamb of God was taking away 03:03 the sins of the world. 03:05 And we are asked to behold, to see, to watch, to listen, 03:13 and something will happen in our hearts when we look. 03:18 All you've got to do... 03:19 I know some of you are tired, 03:22 some of you have gone through something. 03:24 You are emotionally drained. 03:25 I've got good news for you. 03:27 All you've got to do is lay back, sit down... 03:33 If you want to lay, go ahead, but don't sleep. 03:38 ...and watch, and listen, and let the power of God 03:43 do the work. 03:45 Let Jesus, just watch Jesus. 03:48 He'll make all the difference. 03:50 He'll make all the difference. 03:53 And we've been looking from the cross at the seven short 03:57 sermons, so to speak, that Jesus preached from the cross. 04:03 He said His words are life and spirit. 04:06 And of everything He said, there's nothing to compare 04:11 with these seven words that come right from the Source 04:16 of power, of life, and spirit. 04:20 And today... 04:22 By the way, I want to clarify that in the same allot of time, 04:28 we're not doubling up on time. 04:30 I'm just dividing my time so we can cover two words; 04:36 number four and number five. 04:38 But I need God's help. 04:40 If you don't mind, I'm going to ask for it right now. 04:45 Heavenly Father, may the meditation of 04:48 Your servant's heart and the words of his mouth 04:54 be acceptable unto You. 04:57 And we'll give You the honor, the glory, and the praise. 05:02 And we'll do it in Jesus' name, amen and amen. 05:11 How close has God Himself come to us here 05:17 in our earthly darkness? 05:20 You know, you can be in a great multitude of people 05:28 and be lonely as all get out. 05:33 You know that being alone is the most painful 05:36 of all the human feelings? 05:41 As a pastor, I see sometimes a lot of lonely people. 05:47 You know, a bright spring morning with flowers everywhere, 05:52 it can seem very dark if there's no one around to share it with. 05:59 Painful as it may be, try to imagine this. 06:05 You are alone in total darkness. 06:10 And then after that pain, the realization that your dark 06:14 loneliness is forever and ever. 06:18 Then add on top of that a sense of guilt that 06:22 shuts you out from the very presence 06:25 and the smiling face of God. 06:29 His only face is anger and abhorrence. 06:35 In addition, you sense your own self condemnation. 06:40 God condemns you and you condemn yourself. 06:44 What kind of word could describe such a horrible situation? 06:51 Yeah, someone said it. 06:53 There's only one word. 06:55 Hell. 06:58 For people who lived 2000 years ago, 07:01 death on the cross was precisely what the word, "hell," means. 07:09 You see, God had told Moses that if the judges had found 07:14 a criminal guilty of a capital crime, 07:18 and he's executed by death on a cross or on tree, 07:23 Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says, "He that is hanged on a tree 07:31 is accursed of God." 07:35 Or as the Hebrew says, "He is the curse of God." 07:41 Everybody believed this. 07:44 This is the reason why when Absalom rebelled against 07:51 his father, King David, and lost the war 07:55 and went fleeing on a donkey... 07:57 You know the story. 07:59 ...and his head got caught in a tree by his hair... 08:05 I don't think he had short hair. 08:08 ...and he was left hanging in the tree while the 08:12 donkey ran off, Joab, the general of David, 08:17 knew the truth immediately. 08:20 God has cursed Absalom, see. 08:24 For that reason, he had no hesitancy about planting arrows 08:30 in the rebels heart, even though the king had begged him 08:34 to be kind to his son. 08:37 But he felt that a higher Authority had spoken. 08:42 And he had no misgivings about killing the son of the king. 08:50 This teaching of Moses was the reason why the Jewish rulers 08:56 in Pilate's courtyard begged him to crucify Jesus. 09:02 It wasn't that they wanted Jesus to suffer more. 09:06 They had something in mind. 09:08 It was this teaching. 09:10 They wanted to discredit Jesus forever and ever. 09:14 No one could believe in a Messiah that had been 09:21 cursed by God. 09:23 Do you see that? 09:27 And the crowds of people who came to His cross 09:30 to laugh and jeer at Him and taunt Him 09:34 were motivated by this general belief. 09:38 Any human hung up to die on a cross 09:40 was a human write off. 09:42 A piece of human junk like an old wrecked car in the bushes 09:47 that kids throw stones at, you know. 09:51 If you worship and reverence God, then you must 09:54 treat the wretch like God does. 09:58 See? 10:01 Well, those people were not necessarily 10:04 more wicked than we. 10:08 They thought they had biblical support for 10:09 what they were doing. 10:14 So you could spit on this wretch, 10:18 you could throw rotten eggs and tomatoes at him, 10:22 revile him, curse him. 10:24 Prove your loyalty to God by your inhumanity 10:28 to this lost human being. 10:31 Wow. 10:34 Now let's not kid ourselves by a wrong idea 10:37 that Jesus was too wise to assume that He could not 10:42 feel this condemnation. 10:46 Don't forget that Jesus had humbled Himself 10:49 to become one of us. 10:52 When He was on the cross, the Scripture says that the 10:55 Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 11:00 He experienced something that no other human being 11:03 had ever tasted or has tasted since. 11:08 2 Corinthians 5:21, says, "God hath made Him 11:13 to be sin for us..." 11:16 Sin. The embodiment of sin. 11:20 "...who knew no sin." 11:22 Wow! 11:24 That means that Jesus felt to the full the curse 11:31 that being crucified entailed. 11:34 Isaiah says that His anguish was such 11:38 that it distorted His face so terribly. 11:42 That if we could have looked at him, 11:45 we would have thought that He wasn't even human. 11:49 This is found in Isaiah 52 verses 13 and 14. 11:56 In the midnight-like blackness that enveloped the cross, 12:01 Jesus couldn't help but cry out in the most awful of curdling 12:06 screams, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 12:16 Matthew 27 verse 46. 12:20 This cry of dereliction is the fourth of the seven words 12:26 that we are studying together. 12:29 I want you to notice He couldn't even say, "Father, Father." 12:33 He could only say, "God, God." 12:37 How could a sinless man, yes even the sinless Son of God, 12:43 ever utter such a cry of despair? 12:48 My friend, the reason is that the collective guilt 12:53 of mankind, the guilt of every human being in the world 12:57 for all time, was pressing like tons of weight 13:01 upon His heart. 13:04 Oh. 13:06 No one has ever felt such a burden before. 13:12 Nor has anyone felt it since. 13:15 Not even the vilest of criminals has as yet 13:20 died the second death. 13:24 That comes only when? 13:27 At the end of what? 13:29 The thousand years of Revelation 20, 13:33 at the end of the final judgment. 13:36 In fact, you can honestly say that no one has really died. 13:41 Jesus is the only one. 13:43 Hebrews says that Jesus tasted death for every man. 13:47 He's the only one that has tasted the real thing. 13:54 What passes for death the Bible calls, sleep. 13:59 I assure you Jesus did not sleep at the cross. 14:05 What He suffered was the second death. 14:09 I've got good news for you. 14:11 Because He did it for you, you won't ever have to 14:15 if you believe in Him. 14:18 Praise God. 14:23 The Bible speaks of two kinds of deaths. 14:25 Let me touch this a little bit more. 14:28 That one that Jesus died is the real thing; 14:31 the second death. 14:33 It's mentioned in Revelation 2:11 and 20:12. 14:40 It talks about "second death." 14:43 No other human being has of yet every died the second death 14:47 except the Savior, Jesus, the Lamb of God. 14:56 You know, there's only one Lamb of God, people. 15:01 There were lambs before. 15:04 The rivers of blood. 15:07 But not a single one of those lambs could take away any sin. 15:12 They pointed to the Lamb of God. 15:15 They were a type. 15:18 Their blood could not wash anything. 15:21 But the blood of Jesus can wash everything. 15:26 There is nothing that it cannot wash. 15:30 There isn't a problem that you face that it cannot straighten. 15:35 There isn't anything that He can't rebuild. 15:38 There is power, wonder working power, 15:43 in the precious blood of the Lamb. 15:48 The Lamb of God. 15:52 But it came at a cost. 15:54 It came at a horrific cost. 15:59 Now praise the Lord, His sacrifice pays the penalty 16:03 of the broken law. 16:06 But listen, get this right. 16:09 We are left as selfish and sinful as we always were 16:14 unless something else happens. 16:18 And that's been the scandal of apostate Christianity 16:21 for 2000 years. 16:23 Here's what needs to happen. 16:24 Our sinful human heart must be changed. 16:29 And here's how it happens. 16:31 Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 16:38 even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 16:43 that whosoever..." 16:45 Oh, do you know that your name is "whosoever?" 16:50 My name is "whosoever." 16:52 I love "whosoever." 16:55 I almost wanted to name my child, "whosoever." 16:59 But my wife vetoed that. 17:07 "...whosoever..." 17:09 You don't have to worry, "Is it me, Lord?" 17:12 "Yes, it's you." 17:16 It's you. 17:17 In terms of guilt, yeah you took Him to the cross. 17:21 I showed you that. 17:22 We talked about it. 17:24 Yes, we were complicit. 17:28 Yes, our sins put Him there. 17:31 Yes. 17:32 But, what He did there is for you and for me. 17:38 But see, He's lifted up. 17:41 And we need to behold. 17:43 That's why I did this series. 17:45 You see? 17:46 You get it now? 17:48 He said, "If I be lifted up..." 17:51 "If I be lifted up..." 17:52 Well, He was lifted up. 17:54 But we also need to lift Him up. 17:57 We need to look at that cross. 18:00 My favorite writer says we need to look at it every day. 18:04 For an hour every day. 18:06 Why do you think she says that? 18:09 Because the power is there. 18:11 The power of God is there. 18:13 Because it will change your heart. 18:16 And what you need more than anything is a change of heart. 18:21 Paul says that, "We need to comprehend with all the saints 18:26 what is the breadth and the length and depth and the height 18:30 of the love of Christ, which passes knowledge 18:33 so that we can become," listen to this, 18:36 "filled with all the fullness of God." 18:42 Don't you want to be filled with all the fullness of God? 18:46 Who can be defeated who is filled with all 18:50 the fullness of God? 18:54 Think about it. 18:56 And Paul says that it comes from comprehending. 19:01 Comprehending what? 19:03 Comprehending agape. 19:05 And the full measure of agape. 19:07 It was distilled in all it's pure power 19:12 there at the cross of Christ. 19:16 By the way, that's Ephesians 3 verses 18 and 19. 19:21 I like what this very wise man wrote once, 19:24 "When I survey the wondrous cross 19:26 on which the Prince of glory died, 19:28 my richest gain I count but lost 19:31 and pour contempt on all my pride." 19:34 Well, there is a song that reveals to us 19:45 what Jesus went through at the cross, 19:48 amazing, 19:50 a thousand years before it happened. 19:54 God gave this insight to David. 19:57 The psalm is Psalm 22. 20:00 And here we see the psychological progression 20:04 that Jesus made at the cross. 20:07 Remember, Jesus is relegated to His humanity. 20:12 He is struggling. 20:14 He is manufacturing brick by brick what the Bible calls, 20:18 the faith of Jesus. 20:22 Not to be confused with faith in Jesus. 20:25 And that's the faith we need at the end of time. 20:28 Oh, you need faith in Jesus. 20:30 I'm not saying you don't. 20:31 But you need faith of Jesus. 20:34 He is the author and finisher of that faith. 20:37 And He manufactured that faith. 20:39 He authored it at the cross of Calvary. 20:42 And in Psalm 22, we see the progression He made. 20:48 I'm calling this, a song in three stanzas. 20:53 Because a psalm is a song. 20:56 And even though the experience of Jesus is unique, 21:02 not to be repeated, but we can learn something from it. 21:07 And these three stanzas teach us also how to 21:13 come out of our dark night of the soul. 21:17 "Oh, I don't have any dark night of the soul." 21:19 Give yourself some time, darling. 21:22 Just give it some time. 21:25 Give it some time, you're going to experience 21:27 a dark night of the soul. 21:30 And you need to know how to come out of it. 21:33 What did Jesus do? 21:35 First thing He did, this is the first thing you need to do 21:38 when you're going through that darkness, 21:40 tell God your true feelings. 21:44 We try to adorn them, we try to dress them up. 21:47 Or we don't talk to God until we feel we're in the 21:49 right frame of mind. 21:51 There is no right frame of mind to talk to God. 21:54 Any frame of mind is good to talk to God. 21:58 Let me tell you this, people. 22:00 God is only interested in the truth. 22:04 Would you agree with that? 22:06 He's only interested in the truth. 22:09 That also means your truth. 22:12 That also means your true feelings. 22:15 If you read the psalms, you can't come 22:17 to any other conclusion. 22:19 In the psalms, people felt that they could tell God their truth. 22:23 Whatever they were going through. 22:25 If they were angry, they told God. 22:29 If they felt forsaken, they told God. 22:33 Jesus said, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken?" 22:40 Now occasionally we might feel that way. 22:42 But it is a feeling. 22:44 For us, it is a feeling. 22:47 Because Jesus promised all of us that He would never... What? 22:52 ...leave us nor forsake us. 22:55 Hebrews 13 verse 5. 22:58 But let me tell you, people. 23:00 In the case of Jesus, it wasn't a feeling. 23:05 It was a horrendous reality. 23:08 He's been, He was the only man ever forsaken of God. 23:14 God had to forsaken Him for our sake. 23:18 He was bearing our sins. 23:21 The condemnation that was ours was on Him, you see. 23:27 In the midnight-like blackness that enveloped the cross, 23:31 Jesus couldn't help but cry out in the most awful 23:35 of curdling screams, "My God, my God, 23:39 why hast thou forsaken me?" 23:43 It was real, people. 23:45 He wasn't an actor reading a script that He had to read. 23:49 This was real. 23:50 This was visceral. 23:52 This was what He was experiencing. 23:54 This was His true feelings. 23:57 He didn't know why. 23:59 But He had to think about it. 24:02 He had to go through that experience. 24:06 In verse 2, remember we're looking at Psalm 22. 24:11 By the way, verse 1, you notice that's the same, 24:16 that's the same cry that Jesus cried from the cross. 24:20 In verse 2, He cries out in prayer for His Father. 24:23 I'm going to summarize it because the time is flying. 24:27 He cries out in prayer for His Father to deliver Him. 24:30 But it seems His Father does not hear, 24:35 or care to answer. 24:40 And Jesus continues to bear His soul. 24:42 In verse 6 of Psalm 22, it says, "But I am no good." 24:46 Jesus cries, "I'm just a worm." 24:48 Imagine, the Son of God feeling like a worm. 24:53 Wow. 24:55 Imagine any man feeling like that. 24:59 Listen people, Jesus knows what it is to feel down and out. 25:06 Doesn't He? 25:08 When we go through our own dark night of the soul, 25:11 we too need to tell God the truth, our true feelings. 25:16 Verse 7, you see there everyone is laughing 25:19 at Jesus on His cross. 25:21 On verse 8, they mock Him. 25:23 "He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him." 25:27 Ha ha, big joke. 25:29 "If He's the Son of God, let God deliver him." 25:32 This was the cruelest cruelty. 25:38 The second stanza, the second thing, that you must do. 25:42 The first one is what? 25:44 Tell God your truth, your true feelings. 25:49 Number two, here's how you start coming out of it. 25:53 Here's how you turn the corner, people. 25:56 Bring to memory the good times. 26:00 The times when the Lord did deliver you. 26:05 The times when you know for certain that He did deliver you. 26:09 "Well I don't know what's happening now. 26:11 I don't understand it, but I know He delivered me then." 26:18 Jesus begins to do this. 26:21 Look at verse 9 and 10. 26:23 Jesus begins to do something important. 26:26 He reviews His own life history from His birth in Bethlehem 26:32 when He was only a baby. 26:34 God delivered Him. 26:35 He would have died as a baby if His Father had not saved Him. 26:41 When you are discouraged, my friend, remember the times 26:45 when the Lord has delivered you. 26:48 But this is spiritual warfare, you have to persevere. 26:51 Note verse 11, He prays, "There is none to help Me." 26:56 He dreadfully alone. 26:58 Look at verse 14. 27:00 He's suffering what we would call the essence of 27:03 a nervous breakdown. 27:05 But He cannot give into it. 27:07 He can't close His eyes and sleep. 27:09 He must endure the horrors of the second death. 27:12 Look at verse 16. 27:14 "They pierced My hands and My feet." 27:16 Look at verse 18. 27:17 "They divide My garments among them, 27:20 and for My clothing they cast lots." 27:23 That's just the Holy Spirit giving you evidence 27:26 that this is about Jesus and not about David. 27:30 This is about Jesus. 27:32 This Psalm 22 is about Jesus. 27:35 So what does Jesus do? 27:38 The last stanza, here's what you need to do. 27:44 You tell God your true feelings. 27:47 Then you remember the good times. 27:50 Then you've got to do something else. 27:53 He turns His attention and His sympathies to others. 28:00 You know, we can turn our eyes upon Jesus 28:03 whenever we have troubles. 28:05 But when Jesus had this trouble, He couldn't 28:07 turn His eyes upon Jesus. 28:10 He had to turn His eyes upon other people. 28:13 And you remember how He prayed for His torturers. 28:18 You remember we saw how He prayed for the penitent thief. 28:21 You remember how He made provision for His mother. 28:25 He's beginning to come out of His emotional shell. 28:31 He's beginning to look at other people. 28:34 He is situating Himself as the Savior of the world. 28:39 And He thinks of someone else. 28:41 This time is flying. 28:43 Look at verse 20. 28:45 "Deliver my soul from the sword; 28:48 my darling from the power of the dog." 28:53 Uh, the New King James says, "My precious." 28:58 "Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling, 29:01 from the power of the dog." 29:02 Who is His precious? 29:04 Who is His darling? 29:07 Let me suggest to you that we, we, are His precious. 29:15 You and I are His darling. 29:20 When Jesus was on the cross, He remembered you. 29:24 He remembered me. 29:26 He remembered His precious church. 29:29 He remembered. He knew. 29:32 And verse 22 says, just in case you have any doubt about this, 29:38 "I will declare thy name unto my brethren. 29:41 In the midst of the congregation I will praise thee." 29:46 He was thinking of you and me. 29:49 And because He was thinking of you and me, 29:51 He did what He did. 29:54 You need to do the same 29:55 when you're going through a hard time. 29:58 There's always somebody who needs your help. 30:00 There's always somebody who needs your attention. 30:04 So turn to others. 30:07 Well you know, we're about to transition into the next Word. 30:12 And the best setup I can make for this next word 30:18 is actually in the song that Pastor John 30:22 is about to sing for us. 30:25 So listen very carefully. 30:27 This will prepare your heart and your mind for the next word 30:31 from the cross of Christ. 30:56 There is a river, 31:06 and it flows from deep within; 31:16 there is a fountain 31:26 that frees the soul from sin. 31:36 Come to this water; 31:46 there is a vast supply. 31:56 There is a river 32:06 that never shall run dry. 32:16 There was a thirsty woman; 32:26 who was drawing from a well. 32:36 You see, her life was ruined and wasted; 32:46 and her soul was bound for hell. 32:56 Oh, but then she met the Master 33:06 and He told about her sin. 33:16 He said, "If you drink this water, 33:26 you'll never thirst again." 33:35 Oh there is a river, 33:46 and it flows from deep within; 33:56 yes there is the fountain, amen, 34:06 that frees the soul from sin. 34:15 So come to this water; 34:26 there is a vast supply. 34:36 There is a river 34:46 that never shall run dry. 35:05 Amen. 35:09 If your worst enemy was thirsty, would you give him a drink? 35:16 I hope so. 35:18 I hope so. 35:20 Because it's a fundamental courtesy. 35:24 The reason is that thirst is far more difficult 35:27 for any man or animal to bear than hunger. 35:34 You can go without food a long time. 35:38 You can do 40 days... 35:42 ...if you've got water. 35:45 But it would be hard to do it without water. 35:48 I've got people in my congregation at Avon Park, 35:52 a number of families, who were missionaries to Africa. 35:58 And they tell me that animals in Africa 36:03 will go hundreds of miles to just get into some 36:08 mud that's a little wet to get a little bit of water. 36:15 To just extract a little moisture. 36:19 All creatures on earth must have water. 36:25 But be careful where you get it. 36:32 My predecessor at La Voz, Elder Milton Peverini García, 36:38 and myself, we were doing evangelistic meetings 36:44 in Mexico City. 36:47 He had one end of the city and I had the other end of the city. 36:53 And praise God, the Lord was good. 36:57 The Lord is always good, bountiful. 37:01 And the Word of God is powerful, and the Spirit works. 37:05 And we had over 1200 people, souls, that came to Christ. 37:11 Isn't that wonderful? 37:13 But, we almost lost a soul. 37:19 Elder Peverini. 37:21 Because he drank the water. 37:26 The tap water, you know. 37:28 He forget, he just forgot. You know. 37:31 He was invited to a home and just kind of 37:36 forgot where he was. 37:39 And he was so thirsty, and he asked for water, 37:42 and they gave him tap water. 37:43 I'm telling you, he spend a few days in the hospital. 37:47 He was touch and go. 37:50 Touch and go. 37:51 God delivered him. 37:52 Praise the Lord. 37:56 Has God ever known what it is to be thirsty? 38:01 We know the Son of God has been thirsty. 38:06 Ah, John just sang about it. 38:11 One hot day as He was walking on a journey 38:13 of some 80 miles... 38:16 Imagine walking 80 miles. 38:19 I need to start doing that. 38:21 I mean, look at me. 38:23 I need to walk. 38:25 These cars that we have, they don't help us. 38:32 Jesus passed through the village of Sychar, 38:36 where the Samaritans live. 38:39 And they thought they were the enemies of the Jews. 38:44 He rested at lunch time by Jacob's well 38:47 while the disciples went to the local 7-Eleven... 38:54 Well, something like that. 38:56 ...to buy some groceries. 38:59 Jesus was thirsty. 39:00 Jesus wasn't as hungry as He was thirsty. 39:05 He had nothing to which He could draw from the well. 39:08 Ah, He could have spoken a word and angels would have 39:11 come down with gallons of water. 39:16 But the rules He was working under made it impossible 39:20 for Him to take any advantage of a situation like that 39:24 which we couldn't take advantage of, you see. 39:27 So think of it, people. 39:29 The Creator of the world and the world's water 39:33 sat there hopeless hoping someone would come along 39:41 with a generous spirit, 39:43 and something to draw the water from. 39:47 Yes, the Son of God knows what it is to be thirsty. 39:55 Incidentally, even though a woman came 40:00 and drew water, and He asked her for a drink, 40:06 and she drew the water, He stayed thirsty. 40:12 Because He got involved with something else. 40:16 You see, Jesus had a physical thirst, but Jesus' main thirst 40:22 is for us to be quenched spiritually and emotionally. 40:29 That's what makes Him thirsty. 40:33 The second time we read that Jesus was thirsty 40:36 was when He was on His cross about to die. 40:40 He had suffered, as we saw before, the most 40:42 excruciating pain; mental and physical, 40:48 that any person has had to endure or will have to. 40:53 When they nailed His wrist bones and ankles to the 40:57 wooden beams of the cross, some people with an ounce of piety 41:05 in their souls offered Him some wine 41:10 that apparently had a painkiller drug mixed in with it. 41:16 That's what we know if you study what they use to, you know, 41:19 the concoction they use to give these people 41:22 dying on the cross. 41:25 The Roman historian tells us that this was the custom 41:27 when criminals were executed. 41:30 Apparently, some ladies aids group felt moved 41:33 by human pity to do this. 41:35 And so this was the practice. 41:37 When they offered it to Jesus, Jesus refused it. 41:42 It was an enormous temptation. 41:45 He knew the pain would be intense. 41:47 It already was. 41:49 It would have been so refreshing 41:52 just to gulp this thing down, 41:54 the wine and the painkiller, and go to sleep. 42:00 But Jesus had work to do even now. 42:03 He's about to become the sacrifice for the sins 42:06 of the whole world. 42:07 The salvation of untold millions is hanging in the balance. 42:13 That's why in this fearful hour Jesus resists 42:17 this awful temptation. 42:19 And He says no to the kind offer of the painkiller wine. 42:26 Now let me tell you. 42:28 We've got to keep our heads together as well. 42:33 This is a fearful hour as well. 42:36 We've got to keep our heads clear. 42:38 And so Luke 21 verse 34, I'm going to use here 42:44 the New English Bible. 42:46 I like the way they put it. 42:48 "Keep watch on yourselves. 42:50 Do not let your minds be dulled by dissipation and drunkenness 42:57 so that the great day closes upon you suddenly, like a trap." 43:02 See? 43:05 That's the main reason for the health message, let me tell you. 43:08 It's not so you can lose a few pounds. 43:13 It's so your mind can stay clear. 43:17 It's so that your spirit can be sharp. 43:20 So that you can be ready for what's coming. 43:24 The next time that we read of Jesus being thirsty 43:27 is when He's near the end of His sufferings on the cross. 43:31 He had just endured the terrible sense of loneliness 43:34 in being forsaken by His Father, of all people. 43:38 He had born the almost impossible burden 43:41 of the sins of the whole world. 43:44 Think of it, people. 43:46 I don't want to be too crass and too crude, 43:48 but He saw all the sins. 43:51 He saw all the violence, the molestations, 43:56 the rapes, the massacres, the Holocaust, the Kosovo massacres, 44:03 the killings in high school. 44:05 He saw everything. 44:07 Do you understand that? 44:08 It went through His spirit. 44:11 Oh. 44:13 But He has kept His mind clear. 44:16 He has said no to every temptation of Satan. 44:19 By faith He has broken through the darkness. 44:24 He has won the great victory. 44:26 He is exhausted, though, by the conflict. 44:29 And now His human body cries out for some relief. 44:32 He says in John 19:28, "I thirst." 44:36 This is the fifth word from the cross. 44:39 "I thirst." 44:42 Oh how He would have loved a drink of cool 44:45 fresh water from a spring. 44:47 What we enjoy every day, sometimes without even 44:52 thanking God for it. 44:55 Oh we thank God for the food, but not sometimes for the water. 45:01 This was the fifth of the seven words that 45:03 we've been looking at. 45:05 And right here we find a bit of good news. 45:10 Someone chose to respond in kindness to Jesus' needs 45:13 as a human being. 45:15 Sorry, but it was none of the religious leaders of His day. 45:19 Sorry, but it wasn't one of the disciples. 45:22 Not a one. 45:27 It was one of the pagan soldiers. 45:32 Go figure. 45:34 A pagan soldier. 45:40 There's goodness in people, people. 45:44 That's why we have to be slow to judge. 45:49 Because God is working on everybody. 45:54 Jesus Christ is knocking at the door of every man. 45:58 He is the light which shineth and enlighteneth every man 46:02 that cometh into the world, John 1:9. 46:06 Everyone is receiving the light that emanates 46:10 from the cross of Calvary. 46:15 And so verse 29 says, "There was set a vessel full of vinegar. 46:21 And they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop, 46:25 and put it to his mouth." 46:27 This time there was no painkiller drug mixed in it. 46:33 See? 46:35 And we read that Jesus received the vinegar. 46:40 His work was done. 46:41 Now He could rest. 46:44 I wish we knew the name of this soldier... 46:47 We don't know. 46:49 ...that brought Jesus this, had this kindness with the Lord. 46:55 But, you know that every kindness that we do 46:59 receives a blessing from God. 47:02 Mark 9:41, Jesus had said, "Whosoever shall give you a 47:06 cup of water to drink in my name, 47:09 because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, 47:13 he shall not lose his reward." 47:16 See that? 47:18 Now I'm not saying the soldier earned his salvation 47:21 because he gave water to Jesus. 47:24 But his giving a drink to Him proved that his heart 47:27 had something in it that was warm and tender 47:31 in spite of the horrible job he had. 47:34 Wow, what a bad job. 47:38 We don't know if he had begun to believe in Jesus, 47:41 but there's going to be a lot of surprises in heaven. 47:48 Listen people, whoever you are, wherever you are, 47:53 there are people all around you thirsty 47:57 for the living water of life. 48:02 They thirst. 48:05 They gather around the world's wells seeking 48:09 to satisfy their thirst. 48:12 And nothing does. 48:14 Only Jesus can satisfy your thirst. 48:20 And here's the good news that we learned 48:23 from the Samaritan story. 48:25 Even if you go to the wrong well, even if you go 48:28 to the wrong place, Jesus is close by. 48:34 All you've got to do is turn from that substitute, 48:37 that cheap substitute, that broken well 48:40 that won't do anything... 48:41 It won't quench your thirst. 48:43 Money won't quench your thirst. 48:45 Things won't quench your thirst. 48:47 A better job won't quench your thirst. 48:50 A prettier wife won't quench your thirst. 48:58 I'll tell you who quenches your thirst. 49:01 Can you tell me? 49:03 Jesus. 49:05 Jesus, people. 49:06 Jesus will. 49:07 Have you tried Jesus? 49:09 I mean, really honest to goodness tried Jesus? 49:12 I know you've heard about Him, but have tried Him? 49:16 Have you taken a gulp of that water? 49:21 He's there for you. 49:23 He says in John 7 verse 37 through 39, 49:28 "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. 49:34 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, 49:38 out of his inmost being shall flow rivers of living water." 49:45 There it is. 49:46 Rivers of living water. 49:52 It means that if the Lord is the Lord, 49:56 if the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not want, people. 50:01 He will satisfy your soul, 50:06 the depths of your soul. 50:09 Paul once said, "Take everything, take everything. 50:11 I don't care what you take. 50:12 Take whatever you want. 50:14 I've got something you can't take. 50:18 The agape of God that He's poured into my heart. 50:23 All I've got to do is think about that." 50:27 Does Jesus mean that to you? 50:30 I hope He does. 50:32 Because that's what He is. 50:34 That's what He is. 50:36 I think I have time for a story. 50:40 His name was Reuben. 50:42 New York City. 50:44 A young man. 50:45 Grew up there. 50:47 A single mom. 50:50 You get the picture. 50:52 Tough, tough. 50:55 Now New York City is a wonderful place. 50:58 By the way, one of the last crusades the Lord gave me 51:02 the grace to do was in the Lincoln Center. 51:07 Avery Fisher Hall, people. 51:09 I wish I could tell you the story how God did that miracle. 51:13 Lincoln Center honors governors, presidents, 51:19 musicians, artists. 51:23 Well, we honored Christ. 51:26 For the first time in the history of that place 51:28 we honored the Lord. 51:31 And for several nights we had two sessions per night full. 51:36 The last night, we had 400 people that couldn't come in. 51:43 We worked for a year and a half with 284 small groups 51:49 that we formed. 51:51 Giving Bible studies to people, preparing people. 51:54 And then we just called them to a decision. 51:58 1033 souls gave their lives to Jesus. 52:03 Praise God. 52:05 Do you know that the blood of Jesus still has power? 52:09 Do you know that when you lift Him up... 52:11 And do you know what I preached those nights? 52:15 What I'm preaching to you. 52:17 That's how it started; the seven words of hope. 52:21 Oh, there's power in the cross of Christ. 52:24 Well Reuben, this was a few years ago, was growing up. 52:32 And poor Reuben, boy, he was finding everything that was 52:37 naughty and bad. 52:39 Somehow, he found his way to it. 52:44 He was like a magnet to those things. 52:48 Just bad, bad, bad. 52:51 His life went from bad to worse. 52:54 Joined gangs, got into drug addiction. 53:01 It got so bad that the voices, you know, from the chemically 53:06 induced schizophrenia... 53:09 Thank you, you know. 53:12 He was listening to voices. 53:15 And they weren't saying any nice things, those voices. 53:21 And the moment came where he not only had troubles with 53:28 other gangs, he fell out of favor with his own gang. 53:33 And they were looking for him. 53:39 And his mother, his mother had been praying for him. 53:43 His mother had been listening to our broadcast, 53:46 The Voice of Hope, for decades. 53:51 Decades. 53:53 And she would write to our circle of prayer, 53:55 "Please pray for Reuben, Reuben cito." 53:57 You know, Reuben cito. Little Reuben. 53:59 Reuben cito. Pray for Reuben cito. 54:01 Oh in every letter, Reuben cito was getting worse 54:05 and worse and worse. 54:06 We were praying, but he just seemed to be getting worse 54:09 and worse and worse. 54:11 And finally Reuben cito himself, he decided that he had enough. 54:17 And he wasn't going to fight these voices anymore 54:23 that were telling him, "You are no good. 54:26 Do the world a favor and your mother and yourself, 54:30 and take your life." 54:33 So he found the sharpest knife and he got into the 54:41 bathroom, filled the bathtub with water. 54:45 Mom didn't know what was going on. 54:47 But she was going out to work. 54:50 It's Sunday, but she still had to work on Sunday. 54:53 And just before she closed the door, she remembered that 54:59 our program, The Voice of Hope, was about to come on. 55:02 And normally he would turn it off. 55:04 But she heard that the bathtub and all that, 55:07 she said, "Oh, this is my opportunity." 55:09 And so she left the thing on full blast. 55:12 And there he was. 55:14 He said he was thinking of himself as Judas. 55:18 That came to his mind, he said, because so many people 55:21 had tried to help him and he had turned everything down. 55:24 He had been a traitor to all that his mother stood for, 55:31 and so forth. 55:32 And he had that thought. 55:35 And all of a sudden, the program comes in and it announces 55:37 the title of the program. 55:39 And the title of the message was, The Suicide of Judas. 55:45 And he says, "These people don't leave me alone. 55:48 I can't even take my life without them... oh. 55:52 All my life, these people." 55:55 And he said, "Well, I can kill myself now or 15 minutes later." 56:00 That's the... 56:01 And so he listened to the program. 56:03 And, people, the program talked about the love of God. 56:09 It talked about how Jesus loved Judas. 56:12 How He died for him. 56:14 How he would have been, you know, like Peter 56:16 and the other disciples. 56:18 That He had a great plan for him. 56:20 And He said to himself, "I'm not going to be like Judas." 56:23 And he dropped the knife. 56:26 And he called the ministry. 56:28 And he took the Bible courses. 56:31 We've got five, he took all five of them. 56:35 And then he went searching for an Adventist pastor. 56:40 And he got baptized. 56:43 And today, Reuben is a minister and an evangelist 56:48 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 56:52 Yes, let's give Jesus that applause. 56:57 And he is working as a counselor for kids, young people, 57:03 who have drug addictions, you know. 57:05 Same thing he went through, see. 57:07 He's turned his attention to other people. 57:10 And God is using him. 57:12 Wherever you are, even if you're thinking, 57:16 if you should be thinking about taking your life, don't. 57:19 Jesus died for your life. 57:21 Your life is precious. 57:23 You are His darling. 57:25 Give yourself to Him right now. 57:28 Do it now. |
Revised 2014-12-17