Participants: Lee Venden
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000125
|
00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:14 live from the 3ABN worship Center. 00:21 Well we're just so happy that each one of you could join 00:25 with us this afternoon for this the final 00:28 of the series, The Revelation of Whom, 00:32 with Pastor Lee Venden. 00:34 By this time you certainly know that Pastor Venden 00:37 is the fulltime Revivalist for the Upper Columbia Conference. 00:44 I had to stop and think for a moment 00:46 the name of the Conference. 00:48 And he's the fulltime Revivalist there. 00:52 Also that he has been a pastor for 30 years. 00:56 He is married to his wife, Marji. 00:59 And they have two adult children. 01:03 So we're just happy that Pastor Venden could be with us. 01:06 It's been such a blessing. 01:08 Today's subject, Come Out Wherever You Are. 01:11 We're looking forward to that. 01:13 This morning we were blessed so much with, 01:16 Mirror, Mirror On The Wall. 01:20 And we're looking forward... 01:22 By the way, if some of you who are watching live 01:26 did not get that, it'll be at seven o'clock central time 01:30 reshowing the message that was shown here live at eleven. 01:35 So that's if you're watching live. 01:39 We're so happy that we can all be together. 01:43 That we can enjoy this series and be blessed by it. 01:47 Before Pastor Venden comes, Danny Shelton is going to 01:51 join us at this time. 01:53 And he's going to sing, 01:54 Surely The Presence Of The Lord Is In This Place. 02:12 Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place; 02:22 I can feel His mighty power and His grace. 02:32 I can hear the brush of angels' wings; 02:38 I see glory on each face. 02:43 Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. 02:56 In the midst of His children the Lord said He would be; 03:06 it doesn't take very many, it can be just two or three. 03:15 And then I feel that same sweet spirit 03:21 that I felt oft times before. 03:26 Surely I can say I've been with my Lord. 03:37 Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place; 03:47 I can feel His mighty power and His grace. 03:56 I can hear the brush of angels' wings; 04:02 I see glory on each face. 04:08 Surely you feel the presence of the Lord, 04:15 for He's in this place. 04:21 There's a holy hush around us as God's glory fills this place. 04:31 I've touched the hem of His garment, 04:37 I can almost see His face. 04:41 And my heart is overflowing with the fullness of His joy; 04:51 for I know without a doubt that I've been with the Lord. 05:00 Sing it with me if you know it. 05:01 Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place; 05:11 I can feel His mighty power and His grace. 05:20 I can hear the brush of angels' wings; 05:25 I see glory on each face. 05:31 Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. 05:43 Oh, surely the presence of our Lord 05:51 is in this place. 06:02 Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. 06:20 Isn't it wonderful that He, you know, God Immanuel 06:28 with us, isn't it wonderful that He can be in this place? 06:32 And not just in this place, but in this place. 06:36 Let's have one more prayer. 06:41 So, Lord Jesus, I just echo as a prayer the words of that song. 06:46 Thank You. 06:48 Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. 06:54 Come into this place. 06:55 Come into each of our hearts. 06:56 And as we look together in Your direction, 06:58 I pray that You would stir us deeply. 07:01 May we be touched not just in our minds, 07:03 but also in our hearts. 07:06 We need the Holy Spirit for that, so I'm asking for 07:08 spiritual eye glasses and hearing aids to be 07:10 handed out to every person. 07:12 And I'm asking for that same Spirit to crowd whatever 07:15 needs to be crowded out of me so that I can 07:18 be a useful tool. 07:19 I just want to be a tool, and I'm asking for that 07:22 in Jesus' name, amen. 07:28 Well I want to begin by showing you a beautiful collection 07:32 of flowers. 07:33 Just check these things out. 07:36 Don't those look nice? 07:37 Look at the colors, the delicate petals. 07:40 Aren't they beautiful? 07:42 I have one more slide of a bunch of those same flowers. 07:45 Wouldn't you love to maybe have a whole bouquet of 07:48 those flowers, or maybe have an arrangement made 07:50 and have them sent to a friend of yours 07:52 with those beautiful flowers. 07:54 Oh, not so fast. 07:57 I want to tell you, these flowers are first cousins 07:59 to one more flower. 08:00 And here it comes next. 08:02 They are all, these flowers are carnivorous. 08:07 They are Venus Fly Traps. 08:10 There's one closing in right there. 08:11 Here comes another picture sequence. 08:13 We're going to show you another one. 08:14 There's open. 08:15 Kind of luring that insect in and then it comes down. 08:18 Here's comes the next one and one more. 08:20 And that insect is history. 08:22 See these plants, they look gorgeous on the surface. 08:29 But they are able to eat insects, small rodents, 08:36 and small children. 08:38 They are carnivorous. 08:42 They look like something they aren't. 08:44 They look better, but death lurks within. 08:48 We're going to look at a fourth angel. 08:52 And this fourth angel, we'll hear more about in a minute. 08:55 But the 17th chapter of Revelation begins 09:00 with an angel showing John a prostitute 09:03 riding on a seven-headed monster. 09:07 She is dressed in purple and scarlet, 09:11 and glittering with jewels. 09:13 And she sits on many waters. 09:17 John is instructed a little bit more about that later on, 09:19 but we're just told at the beginning 09:21 she sits on many waters. 09:22 Now her external beauty is enough to capture the attention 09:28 of the entire world. 09:30 External beauty. 09:32 Like those flowers. 09:33 She looks so good the entire world is mesmerized by her. 09:40 They are enchanted by her, she is so attractive. 09:46 Something that seems irresistible about her. 09:50 Though she looks attractive, this golden cup that she holds 09:56 is filled with abominable filth. 10:00 Try to say that seven times fast. 10:03 Abominable filth. 10:06 She's known by many names, but the one that is most 10:09 familiar to us and we have referred to already 10:12 in our series is, Babylon. 10:15 Babylon. 10:17 Now I want you to remember that Babylon 10:18 symbolizes pride and self-dependence. 10:24 It is a symbol of living life apart from Jesus. 10:30 Living life apart from God. 10:32 Now, she is in league with rulers and nations to destroy 10:38 God's faithful people. 10:41 This is all there in chapter 17. 10:44 She inspires rulers and nations to attack the Lamb. 10:49 But we have good news. 10:51 Early on in the chapter, Revelation 17:14, 10:54 the Lamb, even though they attack, the Lamb will 10:56 overcome them... 11:08 Okay, then chapter 17 ends with an angel explaining 11:14 that the many waters represent the people of the earth. 11:19 People of the earth. 11:21 Chapter 18 begins with another angel whose blazing glory 11:26 lights up the whole earth. 11:28 So think about a comet or something approaching 11:31 the planet and it's just blazing with glory, 11:35 and a tail of glory streaming back from it as it's racing 11:39 towards our planet. 11:41 It's not a comet, it's another angel. 11:43 And this angel is crying with a loud voice. 11:45 And so this angel is like shouting. 11:48 There must be a sense of urgency in this angel. 11:51 He is desperate that people on the planet hear 11:54 what he has to say. 11:56 He shouts with a loud voice that Babylon has crumbled 12:00 to ruins and become home to everything evil, detestable, 12:04 wicked, and unclean. 12:06 And then in verse 3 of chapter 18, 12:10 this angel observes that all nations... 12:14 Excuse me, not all nations. 12:16 ...that all have fallen for her seductions. 12:21 All. 12:22 It's important I make that distinction. 12:24 It was a Freudian slip to throw the word, "nations," in because 12:27 it says all have fallen for her seductions and tasted her wine. 12:32 Presidents, kings, businessmen, great and small. 12:36 Everyone has traded with her. 12:39 Everyone has traded with her. 12:42 Now regardless of what you think about prostitution, 12:46 based on this chapter all sucker for what she represents. 12:53 Regardless of what you think of prostitution, 12:55 all sucker for what she represents. 12:59 What she offers then must be extremely attractive. 13:04 Or all wouldn't sucker for it. 13:08 What is it? 13:09 What is it that crosses every geographical boundary? 13:14 Christian, non-Christian, it doesn't matter. 13:17 What is it that crosses every social economic group? 13:21 What is it that permeates every country, 13:24 every age, both genders? 13:28 All. 13:30 What is it? 13:32 What is the sin that doth so easily beset? 13:36 What is it? 13:38 Hebrews 12:1, Paul says... 13:53 I'm going to tell you what it is. 13:55 The sin that so easily besets that everyone is guilty of 14:01 on the planet is self-dependence. 14:05 Doing it myself. 14:07 Doing it my way. 14:08 Living my life, good or bad, apart from Jesus. 14:16 Self-dependence and pride are the commodities that 14:19 this harlot trades in. 14:21 I think self-dependence and pride are Siamese twins. 14:26 They go together. 14:27 They go together. 14:29 Siamese twins. 14:31 This problem of self-dependence and pride is so extensive 14:36 in the world and in us that only God can fix it. 14:43 We can't. 14:44 It is too deep rooted. 14:46 We cannot fix it. 14:48 And so in verse 4 of chapter 18 God calls us to come to Him. 14:53 He calls us, yes us, to come to Him for help. 15:00 Revelation 18:4... 15:07 Please note the last two words. 15:10 "...My people." 15:12 "...My people." 15:16 It is possible to be among His people and still be 15:20 struggling with pride and self-sufficiency. 15:30 Sometimes I'll preach a sermon somewhere, and as I'm out 15:33 greeting people afterwards they'll come up and tell me, 15:35 "That was just awesome. 15:37 That was tremendous." 15:39 And I think about what H.M.S. Richards use to say 15:42 to those kinds of comments. 15:43 "Yeah," he said, "the devil was telling me that 15:45 before I was half finished. 15:49 He wanted me to think, 'Oh, you're doing a great job. 15:53 Richards, you are on top of your game. 15:56 Man, they are going to wow about this sermon.'" 16:01 One person in one of my congregations realized 16:04 and knew that I didn't like that kind of stuff 16:11 because of what it does to me. 16:13 He came out one time and he shook my hand 16:15 and then he said to me, "Pastor Venden, 16:17 that was a masterful sermon." 16:22 And he said, "And do you know what I mean?" 16:24 And he pointed like that. 16:26 And I said, "Thank you for reminding me. 16:29 If it was full of the Master, then it couldn't be me." 16:33 It would have to have been Him. 16:35 But it is easy. 16:37 It is easy. 16:41 Pride and self-sufficiency; the sin that does so easily beset. 16:48 I was asked to do an early morning camp meeting 16:51 presentation with another fellow. 16:53 A good friend of mine. 16:54 He had been my associate pastor and he later followed me 16:57 in that church as the senior pastor. 16:59 And his name is Bill Roberts. 17:02 And they asked the two of us to each do half of the 17:07 morning meetings, the early morning meetings, 17:09 for camp meeting. 17:11 Well he was suppose to do the first half and I was suppose to 17:13 do the second half. 17:15 And I love Bill Roberts. 17:18 And I came to the first meeting that he did 17:22 and I sat in back. 17:24 And I had this thought go through my head, 17:28 "I wonder how many people will be here for Bill 17:30 compared to how many will be here for me." 17:35 And I hated it, as soon as that thought went through my head. 17:37 I said, "Lord Jesus, S.O.S. 17:41 I don't want to think that way." 17:43 But there it went, that thought went through my mind. 17:46 The next morning meeting, I sat on the front row 17:50 so that I couldn't see the number of people 17:52 that were there for Bill. 17:54 Because I didn't want that anymore. 17:56 But as the week progressed, I kept thinking. 18:00 Into my head it would come again, 18:02 "I wonder how the audience size will compare 18:05 between him and me?" 18:07 And finally it was my turn to speak 18:11 when the week was half over. 18:13 And I was sitting on the front row waiting for the pulpit. 18:18 And in my head the devil was going, "Turn around and look. 18:22 This place is fuller than it was with Bill." 18:26 And I said, "S.O.S., Lord Jesus. 18:30 I don't want this sin that so easily besets. 18:35 Pride and self-sufficiency. 18:38 Will You save me from myself?" 18:42 And all of a sudden as I'm there praying, 18:44 someone taps my knee. 18:46 I look over, it's Bill Roberts. 18:49 And he says, "Lee, could I just pray for you before you go on? 18:52 Can we just slip over to the side for a minute? 18:53 I just want to pray for you." 18:55 And I said, "Yes." 18:57 We went over to the side and Bill started praying for me 19:02 a prayer that was so self-effacing. 19:05 "Lord Jesus, I want you to use my friend, Lee, today. 19:08 I want Jesus to be lifted up." 19:10 And he just prayed this beautiful prayer for me. 19:12 And as he prayed, I wept. 19:15 And as he prayed, I felt the Holy Spirit 19:19 flush the toilet of my heart. 19:24 Free of all of that stuff. 19:26 I couldn't get rid of it. 19:28 But as Bill prayed, the Holy Spirit did it for me. 19:31 And when he finished, I said, "Bill, I'll tell you later 19:35 why that prayer meant so much to me. 19:37 But you will never know at the moment 19:39 how important it was." 19:42 It is the... 19:44 I was talking to James Rafferty at the Arizona camp meeting. 19:48 We were there together. 19:49 And I told him, "Man, man, I just don't want people 19:53 to tell me they liked it. 19:55 I just can't seem to handle it." 19:57 He said, "Yeah," he said, "It's the final frontier. 20:02 It's the one that's just hanging out there for us. 20:06 Hanging out there." 20:14 It is possible to be among God's people and to still be 20:18 struggling with pride and self-sufficiency. 20:22 You see, you would have to be in her before He could call you 20:27 out from her. 20:30 Right? 20:32 Have to be in her before you could be called out from her. 20:34 God's people have been in Babylon far more frequently 20:41 and for far longer than the Jews were held captive. 20:47 God's people have been in Babylon for 6000 years. 20:53 God's people. 20:56 God's people. 21:03 In 1 Kings 2 verse 2, King David says... 21:13 Now he was talking to Solomon. 21:16 And I'm sure that he was talking about the fact that 21:18 he was going to be dying soon. 21:20 He was getting on in years, he didn't know how many 21:22 he had left, and he was telling him, "It's not long from now 21:24 and I'm going to be dying." 21:27 But as I read that verse, I thought, "Yeah, David, 21:31 I'm about to go the way of all the earth." 21:34 Other translations say, "I'm about to go the 21:36 way of all men." 21:38 All men. 21:39 You know what the way of all men is. 21:41 It is not death. 21:44 It is pride and self-sufficiency. 21:46 That is the way of all men. 21:48 And it happens even to God's people. 21:52 David starts out humbly, dependent upon God. 21:55 You go up against Goliath with a few smooth stones 21:58 and you know, you know, that you are outclassed. 22:05 Humanly speaking, you know you are outclassed. 22:07 You don't even come up to the guy's naval, you know. 22:13 But David says, "I come to you in the name of 22:16 the Lord of hosts." 22:18 And God powers that slingshot and directs that stone, 22:22 and the giant falls. 22:24 And David knows who's responsible. 22:29 And David serves God with a pure heart. 22:32 But King Saul is impressed. 22:35 And he says, "David, I want to make you head of my army. 22:38 Go out there and win some more for us." 22:41 So David goes out. 22:43 And as he comes back, he is victorious. 22:46 Well you know what? 22:47 I use to think he was a mighty general, but actually 22:49 it doesn't take rocket science to know that if you go to God 22:52 first and say, "Shall we go up against this host," 22:55 and God says, "Yes, go up against this host 22:56 and I will give them into your hand," 22:58 then you're going to win. 23:00 So David wasn't like such a wonderful general 23:03 as he was such a quick guy to run to the Lord 23:06 and get his marching orders before he went to battle. 23:09 And God said, "Okay, go up against this one 23:11 and I'll give them to you." 23:12 And David goes. 23:13 And he comes back and the people say, 23:15 "Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed 23:19 his ten thousands. 23:21 Oh David, you do good work." 23:24 And David kept hearing that. 23:27 And he began to become independent and self-sufficient. 23:35 And he began asking God fewer and fewer times before going. 23:40 And he began taking more and more of the credit 23:42 until one day, in his distance from God, he sees Bathsheba. 23:49 And you know the rest. 23:51 He takes a horrible fall. 23:53 But horrible falls don't happen overnight. 23:57 What was going on was David had been neglecting 24:00 his walk with God. 24:02 And as time passed, he became more and more susceptible 24:06 to the devil. 24:09 David was a man of God. 24:12 David was a man of God. 24:16 His son Solomon, David calls him to him and he says, 24:19 "You know, I'm going to go the way of all men." 24:21 He says, "I've gathered all this stuff together 24:24 to build a temple and I want you to do it." 24:25 And then he says to him, "Remember now, 24:27 remember to seek the God of your father. 24:30 And if you seek Him, He will be found of you." 24:33 And Solomon starts out great. 24:36 God comes to him in a dream. 24:38 These are people who have communion with God. 24:42 God comes to him in a dream and says, 24:43 "Okay, so you're about to take the throne. 24:46 What would you like from Me?" 24:47 You know the story. 24:48 Solomon says, "I'm like a baby. 24:50 I don't even know how to come or go. 24:52 I mean, I am so inadequate and insufficient, 24:55 I just need wisdom from above. 24:56 I need strength from above. I need guidance from above. 24:59 I am a nobody." 25:00 And God says, "I am so glad that you see that. 25:03 And with that in mind, here's what I'm going to do for you." 25:07 And Solomon becomes known for being... 25:10 And he builds a temple for God's glory, 25:13 but what does he let them call it? 25:17 It's called, Solomon's temple. 25:21 Solomon's temple. 25:22 One of the wonders of the ancient world. 25:25 Something happened and Solomon began to drift 25:30 from dependence upon God to dependence upon himself 25:34 until he let them call God's temple, Solomon's temple. 25:38 And we know the fall. 25:40 For being the wisest man who ever lived, 25:43 he did a lot of stupid things. 25:45 He really did. 25:49 Moses. 25:51 Moses meets with God, talks with God. 25:56 Spends days talking with God, weeks talking with God. 26:01 Audible voice. 26:04 Comes back from time with God and his face is shining. 26:08 It's radiating. 26:09 People say, "Could you put on a veil? 26:10 We can't even handle looking at you, man. 26:12 You are too... You're just overwhelming us." 26:15 This is what happens; he's so close to God 26:17 that he radiates the glory of God. 26:21 Forty years with a pillar of fire at night and a 26:25 pillar of cloud by day. 26:28 He's seen miracle after miracle after miracle. 26:31 And finally at the end of this 40 years when it looks like 26:34 the children of Israel are going to murmur and complain 26:36 and get turned around again, he strikes the rock and says, 26:40 "Must we bring forth water from this rock for you rebels?" 26:48 "Must we..." 26:49 He knew good and well that he was no part of it. 26:53 He could hit that rock until the cows come home 26:56 and there's not going to be any water coming out of it. 26:58 But he said, "Must we..." 27:00 He took the glory, he took the credit. 27:02 That doesn't happen by accident. 27:03 You read the story and you find out that Moses had been 27:06 weary with labor for God. 27:10 And in his work schedule he had worn thin. 27:16 And his daily devotional life had worn thin. 27:19 It is possible to be a worker for God and find yourself 27:23 so immersed in trying to do His work that you find 27:26 less and less time to spend for Him and with Him. 27:29 And that's what happened with Moses. 27:31 And in that vulnerable stage he falls. 27:36 He takes glory that he knows good and well is not his. 27:39 And you know the rest of that story. 27:42 Abraham, he's given dreams. 27:44 God talks to him. 27:45 Jesus comes and meets him. 27:47 They walk face to face. 27:50 He is called by God, "My friend. 27:53 My friend Abraham." 27:56 I'm calling these people men of God. 28:00 These are God's people. 28:03 And he gets down there in Egypt and he says, 28:05 "Oh man, Sarah is so good looking. 28:07 They're going to kill me to get her." 28:10 So he lies to save himself. 28:13 Now who is he depending on? 28:15 Himself. 28:18 Then a little later, he and Sarah's figuring out 28:21 on the promise, you know. 28:22 "Well we were promise we'd have all these children. 28:24 We don't have any yet. 28:25 Maybe it is that God helps those who help themselves. 28:27 Maybe we need to do our part, we expect Him to do His part. 28:30 So you father a child with Hagar. 28:31 God will be so thankful we finally got a kid going 28:34 that he'll bless that kid and it'll take off from there." 28:37 And so they depend upon themselves. 28:42 They take things into their own hands. 28:45 And we still have trouble in the Middle East and around 28:47 the world with terrorism today as a result of what happened 28:51 when Abraham tried to do it himself. 28:55 Do it himself. 28:56 This is a man who walked and talked with the 29:00 Lord Jesus Christ in person. 29:06 Jacob, he's given dreams. 29:09 He sees a ladder from earth to heaven. 29:11 He sees angels coming up and down. 29:14 He talks with God. 29:16 God protects him. 29:17 Oh there's angel bands commissioned to watch over him. 29:21 He has family worship. 29:24 He builds altars to God everywhere he goes. 29:27 And yet, he tried to get the birthright by deception. 29:33 He tried to help God out. 29:37 He comes back with his family, his brother is coming for him. 29:41 He's doing everything he can on his own to save his skin. 29:46 Finally he comes to the point where he divides his group. 29:49 I mean, this is a guy who is working as best he can 29:52 to save himself. 29:55 And yet, he's a man that God had spoken with and given dream to. 30:03 He spends 20 years trying to learn the lesson 30:10 of absolute surrender. 30:12 Which he finally learned at Jabbok. 30:16 But up until then, God's man struggling with self-dependence. 30:22 Joshua goes to Jericho. 30:26 He follows God's instruction. 30:28 He meets with Jesus in person. 30:31 The Caption of the Lord of hosts gives him the battle plans 30:34 and says, "This is what we're going to do. 30:36 And I'm going to take care of it and you're going to 30:38 see a great victory." 30:39 And Joshua goes forth in the strength of that promise 30:42 and under those guidelines and under that battle plan. 30:45 And it happens to Jericho just like Jesus told him it would. 30:49 And Joshua comes from Jericho and he says to his men, 30:53 "We did good. 30:56 Man, we kicked those people so... 30:59 Tell you what, Ai, just a little place over here, 31:03 we'll just go over there and take a small group. 31:05 We'll clean them up too. 31:06 Let's just go mop the floor with them. 31:09 You saw what we just did to Jericho, we can do that... 31:11 We don't even need to take the army out. 31:12 Just take a handful. Let's just go over there." 31:14 And you know what happened. 31:16 3000 men, or whatever, died because Joshua, 31:19 a man of God who has just met with Jesus, who... 31:25 I'm calling that God's people. 31:28 Someone who's talking to Jesus person to person; 31:30 that's God's people. 31:33 And God's people goes to Ai depending on himself 31:38 just a few days later. 31:39 Depending on himself. 31:41 Slips into self-dependence. 31:46 Elijah is up on Mount Carmel. 31:49 Have mercy. 31:50 This is a guy... 31:51 On Mount Carmel he's the Lone Ranger. 31:55 He prays for fire to come out of the sky. 31:58 It does; it consumes the altar, it consumes the sacrifice, 32:01 it consumes the water around the altar. 32:04 Then under God's direction he asks for the 32:07 false prophets to be killed. 32:08 They are. 32:09 Then he calls for rain, and it comes 32:12 in such torrents that they can't even see the road. 32:15 And the king's horses can't find their way. 32:18 So then under God's power and under God's direction, 32:21 Elijah runs in front of the horses for 18 miles 32:25 through the rain, the torrential rain, 32:27 and guides them all the way back to the palace. 32:29 I would call that a high day. 32:32 You know. 32:33 That's a pretty high day. 32:34 And he's sitting outside the palace with his back 32:36 against the wall, and Jezebel says, "You tell that guy 32:39 I'm going to have his head by this time tomorrow." 32:41 And someone comes out and tells him, 32:43 "Jezebel says she's going to kill you by tomorrow." 32:45 And just like that, this man of God who has had 32:49 heaven at his beck and call, if you will, 32:53 runs, takes off running from the head of women's ministries. 32:58 Bam. 33:00 He goes racing across the desert to save himself. 33:06 You see it again. 33:08 Save himself. 33:09 Hezekiah, he's dying. 33:12 The prophet comes to him and says, 33:13 "God says that, you know, He's heard you pray 33:15 and He's going to heal you. 33:16 But if you want to make sure, you know, 33:18 if you want to see a little promise that He's going to 33:20 come through, He's willing to give you a sign. 33:23 So what would you like; you can have the sundial go forward, 33:25 you know, 10 degrees, or it can go backwards, 33:27 you know, 10 degrees." 33:28 And Hezekiah says, "Cool, man." 33:33 So he asks for the sundial to be moved. 33:36 And God moves the earth. 33:38 Moves the earth so that Hezekiah can have a little sample 33:42 that God's going to do what He says He's going to do. 33:44 He moves the earth and scientists in Babylon 33:50 see the earth going whoa, and they say, 33:52 "What's going on here?" 33:54 And then someone says, "We heard that there's a 33:56 king over in... Hezekiah. 33:58 God did something for him." 33:59 And they go, "Really? 34:00 That must be some God. 34:02 Let's go meet him and find out about his God." 34:04 They come to meet him and find out about his God. 34:06 And what does he say? 34:07 "Whoa guys, let me show you some of my treasure. 34:09 Okay, I have over here I've got this, 34:11 and over in this room I've got this. 34:12 And guess what, I own all of that right over there. 34:15 And right now I'm trying to acquire this piece of property, 34:17 and I think I'm probably going to get it. 34:18 And do you know how much it's worth, by the way? 34:19 Did I tell you how much that's worth?" 34:21 And this and that and the other thing. 34:23 He shows them all his treasure, "I am somebody." 34:27 Doesn't even tell them about God. 34:29 Doesn't even tell them... This is a man of God. 34:32 A man of God. 34:35 Peter walks on water. 34:38 Turns around, looks at the rest of the disciples in the boat, 34:42 "Check it out. 34:43 Wimps. 34:45 Cowards." 34:47 Voom. 34:49 He's taking some pride. 34:51 He's starting to feel for just a moment that he somehow 34:53 was in charge of all that. 34:54 It was him that was doing it. 34:56 Not. 35:00 By the way, where's Elijah and Moses right now? 35:06 Isn't that encouraging? 35:08 Isn't it encouraging to you to realize that you can be 35:12 God's people and still be struggling with independence 35:16 and pride, Babylon, and end up in heaven one day 35:22 because of the mercy and grace of God. 35:24 Isn't that wonderful how He's patient with us? 35:28 These folks are the cream of the crop, friends. 35:33 I'm talking about the cream of the crop. 35:38 David says, "I go the way of all men." 35:42 The cream of the crop. 35:44 All men. 35:48 This is a message that we are slow to 35:50 learn and quick to forget. 35:51 But the loud cry message of the fourth angel 35:55 is not a warning to stay away from some particular 35:59 denomination with headquarters in Rome. 36:02 The loud cry message is that Babylon is not next door. 36:07 Babylon lives in me. 36:10 It lives in me. 36:14 And Jesus shouts to us in His book, 36:19 "Babylon is going to fall." 36:22 Remember the tower of Babel. 36:24 It crumbled. 36:26 And so He says, "It's going to fall. 36:28 My people, My people, in every denomination, 36:33 My people, even in non-Christian worlds, 36:39 countries, nations, My people come out. 36:42 The tower is about to crumble. 36:44 And I don't want you destroyed with it when it goes down." 36:47 That's what He's saying. 36:48 "We can fix this," He's saying. 36:51 "I see the problem. 36:53 The cream of the crop had the problem. 36:56 I see it in you. 36:57 But we can fix this. So come, come, come. 37:01 Come out of her, My people. 37:04 Come out of Babylon, My people." 37:07 Friends, we have to recognize the personal application 37:11 of this book or we miss the point. 37:14 We miss the point. 37:16 We don't want to miss the point. 37:18 I don't want to be destroyed when the tower comes down. 37:22 Revelation 18:4-5, "Come out of her, My people." 37:25 Can you hear Him shouting? 37:27 He's got His hands cupped around His mouth. 37:35 "Come out of her, My people." 37:37 The limit has been reached. 37:39 God is about to destroy her forever. 37:41 Come out, come out, wherever you are. 37:44 Come out while there's still time. 37:56 9/11. I'll never forget 9/11. 37:59 We were moving the day that 9/11 happened. 38:02 They were loading our moving van. 38:05 And everything was packed. 38:07 And all of a sudden, neighbors came running out and they 38:09 started shouting at us, "Turn on the TV, turn on a radio. 38:12 You're not going to believe what's happening." 38:14 We said, "We don't have a TV or a radio 38:15 we can turn on; everything is packed." 38:16 "Oh," they said, "well the twin towers," you know. 38:18 And they started telling us what was going on; 9/11. 38:21 And then of course you remember that they suddenly shut down 38:24 all the airspace over the United States and all planes. 38:27 That was something. 38:28 We just lived 18 miles by air, by crow, from Sea-Tac, 38:32 Seattle Tacoma International Airport. 38:35 So air traffic always, always, always. 38:37 All of a sudden the sky is empty and quiet for the whole day. 38:40 9/11 38:41 I couldn't watch it because we loaded up and then we moved. 38:45 So we're driving all day on 9/11 and I never did. 38:47 We got to the motel that night as we were in route 38:50 to where we were going to go, move, 38:52 and then we turned on the television in the motel. 38:56 And suddenly I see the stuff that most people had been 38:58 watching all day long. 39:00 The re-runs of the towers coming down and the people running. 39:04 Then the bodies falling as they jump to try and avoid, 39:07 you know, being burned. 39:09 Horrific, America will never forget 9/11. 39:12 Are you aware that there were a number of people 39:16 who didn't die in 9/11 who should have? 39:20 Who could have. 39:22 But the reason they didn't was because they had, 39:25 for one reason or another, not gotten to work that day. 39:30 One man was late because his son had just started kindergarten 39:35 and he went to take him to that first day, 39:38 and stayed and lingered to make sure everything was okay. 39:41 Another fellow was alive because it was 39:43 his turn to bring doughnuts. 39:44 And he stopped to get the doughnuts at a bakery 39:45 and there was a long line. 39:46 By the time he got done, there was 39:48 no place to take the doughnuts. 39:51 One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off 39:54 that morning and she slept past and had to get to work late. 39:57 And by the time she got there, there was no work. 40:01 Another one got stuck in the New Jersey turnpike 40:04 because of an auto accident that slowed down traffic to a halt 40:07 and they sat there waiting to get to work, 40:08 stewing about, "I'm going to be late. 40:10 I'm going to be late. I'm going to be late." 40:11 Voom. 40:13 "I'm glad I was late. I'm glad I was late." 40:17 Another one missed the bus. 40:20 And by the time the next one in the route came by 40:22 it was too late to get to work. 40:25 Because there was no work left. 40:27 Another one spilled food on her clothing and had to take time 40:30 to go back in and change and clean up the mess. 40:33 Another one's car wouldn't start. 40:35 Another one went back to answer the telephone 40:37 and ended up having a conversation that delayed them 40:39 such that they were late. 40:42 One had a child that dawdled and wouldn't get ready for school. 40:46 And by the time they finally got the kid ready for school 40:49 it was too late to get to work on time. 40:52 Another one couldn't get a taxi. 40:54 Another one's shoes were brand new that day and they were 40:57 walking to work and they were getting blisters. 40:59 And so they went to a drug store to try and find Band-Aids 41:02 so they could put them on so their feet 41:03 wouldn't hurt so much. 41:04 And they couldn't find a drug store with Band-Aids 41:06 and so they kept looking until they found one. 41:08 And in the time it took them to find Band-Aids 41:09 there was no place to go to work. 41:15 They didn't perish because they came out of the tower, 41:20 so to speak. 41:21 They weren't in it when it collapsed. 41:24 And the angel with the loud cry saying, "Come out. 41:28 Come out so that you're not in it when it collapses. 41:32 Come out of her, My people. 41:34 Come out of Babylon, My people. 41:37 In every church, come out of Babylon, My people." 41:43 Well the only way you can come out of her, "My people," 41:47 is by coming to Jesus. 41:50 Coming to Jesus. 41:53 All people have this problem. 41:54 That's what the Scripture said. 41:55 All people have this problem. 41:59 The difference between Christians and non-Christians 42:02 is that Christians do something about it. 42:04 What they do is they come to Jesus. 42:06 "Just as I am without one plea, 42:10 except that Your blood was shed for me. 42:13 Just as I am, I come. 42:15 Oh Lamb of God, I come." 42:16 They come to Jesus to have it removed. 42:20 When I was having my ordination into ministry 42:23 my father was the man who had been asked to speak 42:27 for my ordination service. 42:28 I didn't know he was going to be there. 42:30 And Don Schneider had arranged for it. 42:32 And it was a wonderful treat and surprise to find my dad 42:35 showing up at my ordination. 42:38 I'll never forget what he said to me and the other pastor 42:41 who would be ordained that day. 42:43 He said, "I'm going to tell you a story about Aunt Zelda. 42:47 So, Lee, when you're uncle, my brother, and I 42:51 were just kids, we use to love to go to Aunt Zelda's house. 42:55 Because Aunt Zelda made some of the best homemade bread 43:00 you could ever want to eat. 43:03 Oh my, and she knew that whenever we came that 43:05 we would want to eat it. 43:06 So she would make it so that it would be timed just as we were 43:08 getting there, she'd know when we were going to get there, 43:10 she'd be pulling a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven. 43:13 And we'd smell it as we would walk in. 43:14 And she had her own garden with raspberries and strawberries, 43:18 and she made her own preserves fresh out of the garden. 43:21 And she had a cow, and they had their own butter and cream. 43:25 And she would smear some real butter onto that fresh bread, 43:29 and she'd put some jam on there." 43:31 And then he said, "It would have been terrible if she had just 43:34 eaten that in front of us. 43:38 Well she didn't do that. 43:39 No, she gave us slices. 43:42 That was good, that was better. 43:45 It would be even better if she gave us the whole loaf." 43:49 But he said, "There was something that Aunt Zelda 43:51 could have done to be even better than that. 43:53 She could give us the recipe for the bread 43:57 so that we don't have to wait to come to Aunt Zelda's 43:59 in order to have it." 44:01 And then my dad said, "Preacher, every time you stand behind a 44:06 podium, remember to talk about the Bread of life. 44:14 And talk about Him with such a fresh experience 44:16 you've come from the oven. 44:18 You've just pulled this loaf out because you just spent 44:21 fresh time with Him. 44:23 And you come and you describe what the bread tastes like 44:26 so beautifully, by the grace of God, that people start 44:29 salivating for Jesus. 44:32 And then after they've been attracted to them, 44:35 don't forget the second part. 44:37 Here's the second part. 44:38 Now give the recipe. 44:40 Give the recipe every time. 44:42 Never preach about the matchless charms of Jesus 44:46 without reminding people how they don't have to wait 44:49 until the next weekend in order to taste the bread. 44:52 And take them through it again, take them through it again." 44:55 Well, I haven't honored my dad's admonition 44:59 because we've been kind of going on a subject that 45:03 includes Jesus, but we haven't given much recipe. 45:06 We have talked about spending time with Him. 45:08 We have talked about being in daily fellowship with Him. 45:11 We have talked about the need for communion and union. 45:14 We've talked about an intimate personal relationship with Him. 45:17 But we haven't actually given the handles for it 45:21 to pick it up and run with. 45:23 And that's what I do full time. 45:25 We do a 13 part seminar. 45:27 It's called, All About Jesus, revival seminar. 45:31 And we unpack the handles and how to carry that relationship 45:35 into a personal experience that is tangible and real and solid. 45:38 But I have 11 minutes until we're going off the air. 45:40 And so what I'm going to do for you is I'm going to give you 45:43 a synopsis of a 13 part seminar in less than 11 minutes. 45:48 Because I want you to have the recipe as well as the bread. 45:51 Okay? 45:52 So we're going to put a little picture up 45:53 of a three legged stool. 45:55 That three legged stool represents a 45:57 personal relationship with Jesus. 45:59 There are three legs on the stool. 46:01 And each of those legs represents the ingredients 46:04 or the building blocks for a personal 46:07 relationship with Jesus. 46:09 Alright, in the seminar we have a special presentation 46:12 for each of the legs and some other stuff on top of it. 46:14 But in a nut shell, the first leg is Bible study. 46:18 But there's a very important caveat. 46:20 It is Bible study for the purpose of 46:23 getting to know Jesus. 46:25 This is huge. 46:27 I can't over emphasize how huge this is. 46:29 He told us, "I'm giving you this Book." 46:31 Remember, "You search the Scriptures because 46:33 in that you think you have eternal life, 46:34 but these are they which testify of Me. 46:36 And yet you don't come to Me that you find life." 46:38 See, He's saying, "This Book is a love letter 46:40 from My Father and Myself. 46:42 This is what We use to commune with you, 46:44 to fellowship with you, to grow in a personal 46:46 intimate walk with you. 46:47 I didn't give this to you so you could prove that 46:49 you're on the winning side of the debate. 46:50 I gave this to you so that you and I 46:52 can become better friends." 46:54 So it's Bible study for the purpose of getting to 46:57 know Jesus better. 46:58 On a daily basis. 47:00 Okay, this is the recipe for bread. 47:01 This is the recipe. 47:03 The second leg of the stool is prayer, 47:07 for the purpose of communion with God. 47:12 This is hugely different from prayer because I'm in trouble 47:14 and I need help. 47:16 This is not 911, this is not the emergency number. 47:20 Jesus is good about being there for help. 47:23 He's good, He's okay with that. 47:25 But He wants to do far more for you and me than simply 47:28 answer our troubled needs. 47:30 He wants to be our friend. 47:32 He wants us to experience the joy of friendship with Him. 47:37 He wants us to know Him. 47:43 And so He says, "Could we talk? 47:46 Could we talk? 47:48 Let's talk." 47:49 And begin talking with Jesus as one would talk with a friend. 47:55 When I talk to my friends, I don't spend the conversation 47:59 asking for favors. 48:02 When I talk with my friends, I say, 48:04 "So, you know, what's been going on? 48:10 What do you have to share? 48:11 Here's what I have to share. 48:13 Oh, I love that story. 48:15 Tell it to me again." 48:17 And as you use the Word of God while you're in prayer, 48:20 you'll discover that you'll hear His voice speaking 48:22 to you through these pages. 48:23 He says, "My sheep know My voice." 48:26 And we've been told that the Bible is as surely 48:31 the voice of God as if we could hear Him with our own ears. 48:36 That's a direct quote. 48:38 So there He is. 48:39 And He's waiting to talk to you and to talk to me. 48:41 So prayer becomes an interactive experience 48:44 with God and His Word. 48:46 That's the second leg of the stool. 48:47 This is called, a relationship with Jesus stool. 48:49 The third leg of the stool is share. 48:52 As you begin to get more excited about a friendship with Jesus, 48:55 you have something to share. 48:56 Now you have something to share. 48:58 If you don't know Jesus, you don't have anything to share. 49:00 If you don't know Jesus, all you have to share 49:02 is information and facts. 49:03 That's all you have. 49:04 You have to know Jesus before you can share Jesus. 49:09 Sharing Jesus is something more than 49:11 giving out a piece of paper. 49:13 Sharing Jesus is saying, "Let me tell you what 49:15 Jesus means to me." 49:17 Remember those demoniacs? 49:20 Jesus cast them out into the pigs and then the people come. 49:22 And you know that story. 49:24 And then they say, "Would You leave us, 49:25 because You're hard on the local economy." 49:27 So Jesus is leaving and the demoniacs say, 49:29 "Could we go with You," and Jesus says to them... 49:31 I believe this is witnessing 101 taught by Jesus. 49:35 The book of Mark. 49:37 And He says, "No, I want you to go home to your friends 49:41 and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you." 49:45 That is witnessing 101. 49:47 And you know what? 49:48 When you tell people what great things the Lord has 49:50 done for you, nobody argues with you. 49:52 This is amazing. 49:54 If you try to prove to someone that you are more correct 49:57 than they are, they dig in and they come back with their 50:00 counter arguments. 50:01 But if you tell someone what Jesus means to you, 50:04 what He's doing in your life, the transforming power 50:07 of His grace, how He has given you victory in this or that, 50:10 besetting sin, and you share this fresh experience 50:14 of release and freedom and joy in Christ, 50:16 they don't argue. 50:17 They go, "Really? Is that real? 50:21 I mean, you can have that kind of walk with God?" 50:24 I was doing a seminar in Oregon and I said this. 50:30 I said, "You know, when you tell people what Jesus 50:32 means to you, they don't argue," and there was a young man... 50:34 Well I call him young now that I'm almost sixty. 50:36 I call him young. 50:37 It's amazing how that young looks like as you get older. 50:39 And he was a young fellow, he was probably about 35 or 40. 50:43 And he had a family sitting there with him. 50:47 And when I said, "You tell people what Jesus 50:49 means to you and they don't argue," he said, 50:51 "Got that right. 50:53 Eighteen years on crack, Jesus set me free. 50:57 And when I tell people what He's done for me, 50:59 they don't say, 'I would disagree with that point.' 51:02 They say to me, 'How can I know your Jesus?'" 51:05 They are attracted to a Person who has 51:08 power to transform lives. 51:12 So the third leg of the stool is you start spilling over 51:15 about what Jesus means to you. 51:18 That's the third leg. 51:19 This isn't rocket science. 51:21 This is three things; Bible study, prayer, and share. 51:23 But you know what? 51:24 It's the three things that most of us find very difficult to do. 51:28 It is simple to describe, it is difficult to do. 51:31 And the reason it's difficult to do is because every time you 51:33 get serious about spending quiet time alone with God, 51:36 the devil is going to get serious about 51:37 giving you some distraction. 51:38 Because he knows when you're doing that, 51:40 you're doing the one thing that's needful. 51:42 Remember what Jesus said to Martha? 51:44 He said, "What Mary is doing is the one thing that's needful." 51:46 That's the one thing that's needful. 51:49 And so when you go after the one thing that's needful, 51:51 the devil goes after you. 51:53 And he will use stuff... This is amazing to me. 51:56 I use to think the devil was all about trying to get us to be 51:58 evil, wicked, mean, mad, and nasty. 52:00 Actually, the devil doesn't care whether you're naughty or nice. 52:03 Doesn't matter to him. 52:05 He's perfectly happy to have you nice, 52:06 as long as you are not in friendship, fellowship, 52:10 relationship with Jesus. 52:11 You can be as nice as you want, because one day 52:13 you're going to be lost for eternity being nice. 52:17 You'll be one of the nicest people who are destroyed. 52:20 "Well isn't he nice." 52:23 We're not saved for being nice. 52:25 We're saved for being in relationship with Jesus. 52:27 John 17:3, "This is life eternal, that they know Thee, 52:31 the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." 52:34 This is life eternal. 52:35 It's who you know. It's who you know. 52:38 Jesus is saying, "You want to go to heaven? 52:40 I'll tell you how to get eternal life. 52:42 You've got to know the right people. 52:43 You have to have friends in high places." 52:48 A policeman stopped a woman for speeding and 52:50 he's looking at her driver's license. 52:53 He said, "Ma'am, it says on your license that you're 52:54 suppose to wear you glasses to while you drive. 52:56 So we have two infractions; you're speeding 52:58 and you're not wearing your glasses." 52:59 And she said to him, "I have contacts." 53:03 And he said, "Lady, I don't care who you know. 53:04 You are suppose to wear glasses." 53:07 Well he had a different conception of "contacts" 53:09 than she had. 53:10 You want to go to heaven, you're going to have to have contacts. 53:14 And now I'm not talking about eye wear. 53:16 You have to know Jesus, you have to know His Father. 53:18 And that doesn't happen by accident. 53:20 It happens by the three legged stool experience 53:22 very deliberately and very intentionally on a daily basis. 53:25 That's how it happens. 53:26 And we people who work for Jesus... 53:28 I'm talking now about a preacher here. 53:30 I'm talking about myself. 53:31 The devil is going to do everything he can to 53:33 make that difficult for me to do, because he knows 53:36 if I don't have that going... 53:40 ...it's curtains, man, it's curtains. 53:43 So he will get me so distracted with trying to work for Jesus, 53:49 visit for Jesus, call for Jesus, preach for Jesus, 53:53 study for Jesus, that I don't take time for Jesus one on one. 53:58 The three legged stool. 54:01 It's not optional. 54:03 It's the basis of the Christian life. 54:07 You're never going to know someone 54:08 you don't spend time with. 54:10 And knowing Jesus is what eternity is based on. 54:16 Well, I'm going to end on a little trinity of quotations. 54:27 The first one comes from a book called, Faith I Live By. 54:30 "I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend 54:32 to the earth to unite his voice with the third angel's..." 54:35 Now we're talking about this fourth angel that says, 54:37 "Come out of her." 54:39 "...to unite his voice with the third angel and give power 54:42 and force to that message." 54:44 So this voice, this shouting angel, is giving power 54:48 and force to the three angels' message. 54:51 See this is... 54:52 I'm here at 3ABN. 54:54 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 54:58 And this angel is bringing his voice to add power 55:02 to the three angels. 55:05 This broadcasting network is determined to declare it 55:07 before the world. 55:09 He adds his voice to give power to their message. 55:11 "The work of this angel joins in the last great work 55:14 of the third angel's message as it swells to a loud cry." 55:17 That was the first one. Here's the second one. 55:19 Testimonies, volume 6, "The message of Christ's 55:21 righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth 55:24 to the other to prepare the way for the Lord. 55:27 This is the glory of God. 55:28 This is what's going to close the work of the third angel." 55:31 The third angel's message gets closed by a focus 55:35 on the righteousness of Christ and His matchless love. 55:39 That's what closes the work. 55:40 And one more, Letter to Battle Creek. 55:55 He crowds out the self in me and creates in me 55:59 a Christ-like dependence and character. 56:03 "Many have lost sight of Jesus." 56:06 Oh dear, how could we let that happen? 56:28 I'm helpless to rid myself of Babylon. 56:32 But one of His priceless gifts to the helpless human agent 56:36 is His own righteousness, His own power, 56:38 Hs own transforming love. 56:44 Which is to be proclaimed from 56:46 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 56:50 And I thank God for the proclamation that 56:52 goes forth from this place. 56:58 Praise You, Jesus. 57:00 He's going to get it done. 57:01 And when He gets it done, we're going to go home. 57:03 When we go home we're going to go, "I know You." 57:06 And He's going to say, "I know you too. 57:09 And I came for My friends, and I'm so glad you're one of them." 57:12 Lord Jesus, I've got ten seconds to say 57:15 thank You for being our friend. 57:18 We want to be friends with You from now until You come. 57:22 Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17