Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001842A
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00:04 Many revolutionaries have changed nations with guns,
00:08 tanks, bombs, and execution squads, 00:12 but amazingly there was a gentle revolutionary 00:15 who changed the world with words of peace and love. 00:19 While the bloody revolutionaries are dead 00:22 and for the most part forgotten, 00:24 this man lives on and His revolution continues. 00:30 Welcome back, my friend. 00:32 We're talking today about the gentle revolutionary, 00:35 whose teachings have saved 00:37 the lives of millions and millions of people. 00:41 And we're going to pick up 00:42 from where I left off just a little while back. 00:45 I want you to come in the Bible to Matthew 5:7. 00:48 Matthew 5:7. 00:51 Jesus said this, "Blessed are the merciful, 00:55 for they shall obtain mercy." 00:57 Many people would say, 00:58 "These are just crazy teachings." 00:59 But Jesus said, "If you want to be happy, 01:02 if you want to have peace, 01:03 if you want to have security, then be merciful." 01:07 Have you heard of Corrie ten Boom, 01:10 heard of that lady? 01:12 She was a Dutch Christian. 01:14 During the German occupation, she saved the life... 01:16 with a family, with a father 01:18 and the other members of the family. 01:20 She saved the lives of many, many Jews. 01:23 She hid them in her own house. 01:26 And in the end, they were caught by the Nazis, 01:29 and they were put in a concentration camp. 01:31 You know, that was just sort of hell. 01:34 The old man froze to death, he starved to death. 01:36 Other members of the family died. 01:38 And after the war, 01:40 Corrie ten Boom was giving a lecture 01:42 on the grace of God. 01:45 And a man came down the front, 01:47 he said, Corrie, do you remember me? 01:49 She said, "Oh, dear!" 01:52 He was one of the guards. 01:54 One of the murderers. 01:55 He said, "Are you going to forgive me?" 01:57 What would you do? 01:59 Now let me ask you, what would you do? 02:01 What would you do with a Nazi 02:04 who had killed your father and murdered other people? 02:07 What would you do? 02:08 Well, she forgave him. 02:09 Was it easy? 02:11 No, very, very hard, 02:12 because it is hard to follow 02:16 the teachings of Christ. 02:19 Remember, 02:20 these are the transforming teachings 02:23 of the gentle revolutionary, Jesus Christ. 02:27 After the war, America forgave the Germans. 02:32 Amazing. 02:34 America forgave the Germans, 02:36 and then America rebuilt Germany. 02:40 Let me tell you, folks, something. 02:42 America was at her best 02:45 when America was showing grace and forgiveness. 02:50 That was the greatness of America 02:52 when she forgave the Germans 02:54 and rebuilt the desolate cities. 02:58 Look at Matthew 5:8. 03:02 Matthew 5:8. 03:03 Jesus said, "Blessed, happy, are the pure in heart, 03:08 for they shall see God." 03:13 Now, you know it, I know it, 03:14 we live in an age 03:16 of porn and pornstars, 03:21 a world leaders, politicians in America 03:25 and in other countries 03:27 engage in acts of sexual depravity. 03:33 The Roman Catholic Church, the pope says, 03:35 is facing the greatest crisis since the Reformation. 03:41 You know why? 03:42 Thousands of priests and members of the hierarchy 03:47 have been abusing children. 03:49 You say these people are Christians. 03:51 No, these people are counterfeit Christians, 03:53 I'm telling you. 03:54 A true follower of Jesus is never a pedophile. 03:57 Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, 04:00 they shall see God." 04:02 When you read of this terrible pedophilia, 04:05 it shows the great depravity of the human heart. 04:09 There's only one solution, 04:11 the healing and transforming grace of God. 04:14 Remember the famous television evangelists 04:17 who went with a prostitute and he was caught. 04:22 Then he went on television and he said with tears, 04:24 "I've sinned, I've sinned." 04:26 And lot of people laughed at him. 04:30 I wasn't laughing. 04:32 That's what a person ought to do 04:33 when a person has sinned against God, 04:37 when a person has been impure. 04:39 Come with me to Psalm 51:1-4. 04:42 And come over here to the words of King David 04:46 who also committed adultery. 04:48 Psalm 51:1-4. 04:50 "Have mercy upon me, O God, 04:52 according to Your loving kindness, 04:53 according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, 04:56 blot out my transgressions. 04:58 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 05:01 and cleanse me from my sin. 05:03 For I acknowledge my transgressions. 05:06 And my sin is always before me. 05:08 Against You, You only, have I sinned, 05:11 and done this evil in Your sight, 05:14 that you may be found just when you speak, 05:16 and blameless when You judge." 05:19 Now, he committed a great sin, 05:23 but he committed a great repentance. 05:26 "Blessed are the pure in heart." 05:28 You see, you need God inside you 05:31 to live out these teachings of Jesus. 05:35 Matthew 5:9. 05:36 The peacemakers, Matthew 5:9. 05:41 "Blessed are the peacemakers, 05:45 for they shall be called the sons of God." 05:49 Bless are the... 05:51 Oh no, no. 05:52 Blessed are the warmongers. 05:55 Blessed are the makers 05:59 of the weapons of war. 06:03 I've heard people say in the last couple of years, 06:06 the best thing that we can do is to nuke North Korea. 06:12 Just nuke them. 06:14 What's going to happen then? 06:15 I said, "Well, yeah, well, we got to do it." 06:18 How many are going to die? 06:20 "Well, probably millions." 06:24 I think personally, 06:27 it's a great thing and a good thing 06:29 that President Trump is reaching out to Kim 06:32 whom he once called rocket man. 06:38 Oh, some people I know, let's get over there. 06:40 Let's kill them. 06:43 Hey, they got kids and grandkids like you. 06:47 They may have a rotten government 06:48 than of the any country that does. 06:50 It's a really bad government. 06:52 It's an atheistic government. 06:55 But the president of this country 06:58 in a display of grace has reached out to Kim. 07:03 That's good. 07:05 Blessed are the peacemakers 07:06 because grace is stronger than guns. 07:10 Now, I'm going to say something 07:11 that I don't want anybody to be offended by this. 07:14 But a lot of people agree with me. 07:16 Just, just hear me out. 07:19 Look at our recent attempts to bring peace to the world 07:23 through guns and bombs. 07:27 The Korean War. 07:29 The war in Vietnam. 07:32 How many were killed? 07:33 Millions. 07:35 Fifty five thousand American soldiers 07:38 and some Australians. 07:40 The war in Iraq. 07:43 And now commentators are saying, 07:46 the war in Iraq bred ISIS. 07:50 That worked out well, didn't it? 07:52 The war in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Yemen. 07:56 Where I read in a magazine, The Economist yesterday, 08:00 there are now millions of refugees in Yemen. 08:05 Ever heard of that war? 08:09 This is not to detract from the courage 08:12 of our brave soldiers. 08:18 Politicians make the decisions 08:20 and the young men and young women 08:22 marched off to war. 08:26 Jesus said to Pilate, 08:28 "My kingdom is not of this world. 08:30 Blessed are the peacemakers." 08:33 "I don't want to believe this," you say. 08:34 Well, you'd really be arguing with God, wouldn't you? 08:40 Because God said it. 08:42 And He is called the prince of peace, 08:45 and his kingdom will endure 08:47 after earthly nations have turned to dust. 08:52 When we are simply memories in the mind of God, 08:55 the kingdom of God goes on. 08:58 Compose to the peacemakers. 09:01 Then he said, 09:03 "Happy are the people who are persecuted." 09:06 Crazy, eh? 09:07 Matthew 5:10-14. 09:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted..." 09:13 Ouch, I don't want that. 09:15 "Persecuted for righteousness' sake, 09:17 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 09:19 Blessed are you when they revile you 09:21 and persecute you,' 09:23 and say all kinds of evil against you 09:25 falsely for My sake. 09:26 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, 09:28 for great is your reward in heaven, 09:29 for so they persecuted the prophets 09:31 who were before you. 09:33 You are the salt of the earth..." 09:36 Wow, tremendous. 09:37 "But if the salt loses its flavor, 09:39 how shall it be seasoned? 09:41 It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out 09:45 and trampled underfoot by men. 09:47 You are the light of the world. 09:49 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.'" 09:51 Jesus said, "You're happy and you're blessed 09:57 when you're persecuted for righteousness." 10:02 I have a friend over in Moscow. 10:05 We call him Paul the prisoner. 10:08 He's a dear friend of mine. 10:11 During the times of the Soviets, 10:13 he was betrayed by his own church members, 10:17 in his own little church in Moscow. 10:21 They turned him into the KGB. 10:25 The communists put him in a cell 10:28 in a great prison in Moscow. 10:32 Here he is, Paul the prisoner. 10:36 A refrigerator cell. 10:38 You know what it is? 10:39 They freeze you up. 10:42 Then when you're just about death, 10:43 they take you and warm you up. 10:46 Freeze you up. 10:47 His teeth rotted and fell out. 10:51 He's a man, I salute him. 10:53 He's not a crybaby. 10:58 No, he's not, not a namby-pamby, not a wimp, 11:02 a man of God with fire in his belly. 11:07 I feel humbled 11:10 to stand in his presence. 11:15 Then when he got out of prison, 11:17 his wife got cancer. 11:21 But he has an inner peace. 11:23 He's the salt of the earth. 11:25 I salute him as my friend. 11:29 I've helped him. 11:31 I've helped him to survive. 11:34 I was in Moscow in 1971, my first trip. 11:39 I was talking to an old communist, 11:41 he started to laugh because I was a Christian. 11:44 Hey, don't push me. 11:49 I took out my Bible. 11:50 I read to him the teachings of Christ. 11:54 I said, "These teachings are far more revolutionary 11:57 than anything Lenin came up with or Stalin. 12:02 These are the teachings that overthrew 12:04 the Roman Empire." 12:05 He says, "It's powerful, isn't it?" 12:07 Said, "Have you ever read the Bible?" 12:09 "No, of course not." 12:10 Most atheists have never read the Bible. 12:12 They can only criticize it, most of them. 12:15 I had only one Bible. I gave him my Bible. 12:19 That was a big thing, I was traveling. 12:21 I read my Bible every day. 12:22 I can't survive without my Bible, 12:24 but he needed it. 12:28 There is a power in the Word. 12:29 This is the great power of God. 12:32 Grace is greater than guns. 12:37 I got a pastor friend down in El Salvador 12:40 where we've run a huge evangelistic campaign. 12:42 It's probably the most dangerous country in the world. 12:46 He went out recently to visit 12:49 some of the folks we're helping, 12:52 and he went into a gang infested area. 12:55 It's dangerous, my friend, he came with a Bible 13:00 when the gang leaders came out to see him. 13:03 Firstly, they were going to kill him. 13:07 This pastor who has served 13:08 as my translator is not a crybaby. 13:13 He's not crying in his bed. 13:15 He's not hiding up the back of the auditorium saying, 13:18 "Oh, what am I gonna do? 13:20 There's a lot of people here." 13:21 Come on! 13:23 Toughen up. 13:25 When the gang leaders met him, 13:27 and said, "What are you doing here?" 13:28 He said, "I've come to preach the Word of God." 13:30 He took out his Bible and they said, 13:33 "Then we're outgunned." 13:36 This is what they said to him, "We're outgunned." 13:39 They were bristling with guns. 13:41 They said, "You got the heavy artillery." 13:47 We're talking today, the heavy artillery. 13:50 Most religion that we hear about my friend 13:52 isn't worth a dime 13:54 because it's not the religion of God. 13:55 Only the religion that came from God can lead us to God. 13:59 And some of you will say rightly, 14:01 "But you know this, this is too hard. 14:03 We can't do this. 14:04 I can't forgive my enemies, I can't. 14:07 Can't even forgive my friends." 14:11 That's why you need grace. 14:13 This is why you need Christ in you. 14:16 We're not talking here about religion. 14:19 We're talking here about the power of God. 14:22 Is anybody listening to me? 14:24 Matthew 5:21-22. 14:26 Matthew 5:21-22. 14:28 "You have heard that it was said 14:30 to those of old, 'You shall not murder, 14:32 whoever murders 14:33 will be in danger of the judgment.' 14:35 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother 14:40 without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 14:44 And whoever says to his brother, 14:47 'Raca' shall be in danger of the council. 14:51 But whoever says, 'You fool!' 14:55 shall be in danger 14:57 of the fire of hell." 15:03 Now Jesus didn't do away with the Ten Commandments. 15:06 I met some people who were very naive, and they say, 15:09 "We just follow the New Testament 15:11 because it's a lot easier than the Old Testament." 15:13 Are you kidding? 15:16 The Old Testament says, "Don't kill." 15:19 That's not Moses said. 15:20 God said through Moses in the Ten Commandments, 15:21 don't kill. 15:23 Jesus said, "Hey, you can't even get angry." 15:26 You say, "It's impossible?" 15:28 Yes, it is. 15:29 That's why we need the grace of God in our hearts. 15:34 Today in the world and this land in Australia, 15:37 other countries, 15:38 there's terrible domestic violence. 15:41 Domestic violence usually is the sin of cowards, 15:44 because only a coward would beat up 15:46 somebody smaller than you are. 15:51 Jesus said, "On a case of violence, 15:54 don't even get angry." 15:56 You say, "It's impossible." 15:57 We need grace in the heart. 15:59 We need grace in the soul. 16:01 This is a revolution, 16:03 it is foreign 16:05 to the vast majority of us. 16:09 "The Sermon on the Mount doesn't show you 16:11 how to be saved." 16:14 That'll be a comfort. 16:16 "It describes those who are being saved." 16:20 You don't have to be good to be saved, 16:22 but you do need to be saved 16:27 to be good and to do good." 16:30 When you read these teachings, 16:31 it doesn't make you into a Pharisee. 16:33 It makes us want to run to Jesus 16:36 and be cleansed from all of our filth. 16:38 Look at Matthew 5:27, 28, 29. 16:41 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 16:43 'You shall not commit adultery.' 16:44 But I say to you that 16:46 whoever looks at a woman to lust 16:48 for her has already committed adultery 16:51 with her in his heart." 16:55 Look at verse 29. 16:56 "If your right eye causes you to sin, 16:58 pluck it out." 16:59 A lot of people would be walking around 17:00 with only one eye. 17:02 "Pluck it out and cast it from you, 17:03 for it is more profitable for you 17:06 that one of your members perish, 17:08 than for your whole body to be cast into hell." 17:13 Goodness, there's nobody read the Bible. 17:18 We live in a time of sexual sins, 17:21 adultery, fornication, pornography 17:23 and all kinds of sexual perversions on television, 17:29 put there by the liberals who are warring against God. 17:34 Jesus said, "Don't even think lustful thoughts." 17:38 You say, "It's impossible." 17:40 We need Christ in the heart. 17:42 Think what Jesus did for Mary Magdalene, 17:44 the prostitute, He redeemed her. 17:48 Christ is in the business of not just all religion, 17:51 Christ is in the business of redeeming souls, 17:55 cleaning us up inside. 17:58 Matthew 5:37. 18:00 Matthew 5:37. 18:03 "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No,' 'No.' 18:08 For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." 18:13 The devil. 18:14 Jesus did say, 18:16 "Yes for yes and no for no. 18:21 In other words, no lies. 18:24 Oops! 18:25 Ouch! 18:27 There is a book that you can get called 18:29 "The Day America Told the Truth." 18:33 It's a great study 18:34 on the morality of us Americans. 18:38 It tells us that the vast majority of us 18:41 are liars. 18:44 Oh, no! 18:46 Yes. 18:47 Read the book. I have a friend. 18:50 I've had a friend, this man, who is a great scholar, 18:54 known him for more than 50 years. 18:59 I can say, 19:01 like Dr. Graham Bradford never would tell a lie, 19:04 would die rather than tell a lie. 19:06 He lives close to God, and he's a good person. 19:10 A person who is a liar 19:14 will not be saved. 19:16 He needs to be redeemed and changed. 19:24 H.M.S. Richards, 19:25 the dean of Adventist Preacher said, 19:28 "There are two things 19:29 that true minister shouldn't do 19:32 and will not do. 19:35 He can't retire if he's a true minister. 19:40 And he will not tell lies." 19:44 Lying is a filthy sin. 19:48 Matthew 5:40. 19:51 If you keep in company 19:52 with a person who is telling lies, 19:53 young people, drop that person, drop them cold. 19:57 "If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, 20:01 let him have your cloak also." 20:03 Ouch! 20:06 Did you know when Jesus said no lawsuits, He meant it. 20:10 We have more attorneys 20:12 than any other country in the world. 20:15 Probably as many attorneys 20:16 as the rest of the world put together. 20:18 A million attorneys. 20:20 You know why? 20:21 We're so greedy. 20:25 So greedy. 20:27 Let me tell you, God will take care of you. 20:30 Look at Isaiah 41:14-15. 20:32 "Fear not, you worm Jacob. 20:34 You men of Israel, I will help you,' 20:36 says the Lord and your Redeemer, 20:37 the Holy One of Israel. 20:39 'Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge 20:42 with sharp teeth, 20:43 and you shall thresh the mountain 20:45 and beat them small, 20:46 and make the hills like chaff.'" 20:48 Don't worry about people, 20:50 God is going to make you strong. 20:52 Look at this text. 20:53 "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, 20:57 and every tongue which rises against you 20:59 in judgment You shall condemn. 21:02 This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, 21:05 and their righteousness is from Me,' says the Lord.'" 21:08 I could tell you stories. 21:09 Look at me. 21:12 I got some good attorney friends, 21:14 but I don't want to be using them too much, 21:17 because I don't believe in suing people. 21:20 Oh, but everybody. 21:21 No, suing is bad. 21:25 Paul in Corinthian says, 21:28 "It is a sin to sue your brother." 21:33 Oh, well, well... 21:34 Yeah, that's in Corinthians. 21:37 I've had people come against me try to destroy me. 21:41 I'm not going to tell you about it. 21:42 But God took care of me 21:45 and no weapon formed against me prospered. 21:48 This is the truth. 21:49 Matthew 5:41 now. 21:51 Matthew 5:41. 21:55 "Whoever compels you to go one mile, 21:57 go with him two." 22:00 Oh, it even gets harder. 22:04 This refers to the custom in the days of Jesus 22:07 that a Roman soldier could say to a Jew, 22:11 carry my baggage for a mile. 22:15 And then at the end of the mile, 22:17 the man would throw it down preferably in a heap of mud. 22:20 Jesus said, "After you've gone a mile, carry it another mile. 22:25 If you're told to do something by an enemy, do it twice." 22:29 You say, "I can't do that, can't do that." 22:33 Well, Jesus here is describing His disciples. 22:38 No hate, it's easy to be saved, 22:41 but it's not easy to stay saved. 22:44 Look at Matthew 5:43, 44 and 45. 22:48 Matthew 5. 22:50 "You have heard that it was said, 22:51 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 22:54 But I say to you, love your enemies, 22:56 bless those who curse you. 22:58 Do good to those who hate you, 23:00 and pray for those who spitefully use you 23:02 and persecute you, 23:04 that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven, 23:06 for He makes His sun 23:08 rise on the evil and on the good, 23:09 and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." 23:15 Love your enemies? 23:16 No, let's shoot them. 23:20 Well, this shows 23:21 whether you're a Christian or not. 23:23 The word here in the Greek is agape. 23:26 It refers not to just human love, 23:29 but a love that comes down from God. 23:32 For God so loved the world, agape. 23:35 The love in 1 Corinthians 13, agape. 23:39 Love your enemies. 23:40 Love the people who are criticizing you. 23:42 Love that crooked attorney, 23:46 so that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven. 23:50 It takes a miracle. 23:53 Now, this is not bogus religion we're talking today. 23:56 We are talking about genuine Christianity. 24:02 The story of Will is one of my favorite stories. 24:04 Will was a young man who was given a gift of land 24:07 from the king. 24:09 The king said, "I want you to plant some trees 24:11 and build a house. 24:12 Fence it and put a big gate up." 24:15 And he said, "Here's a warning, 24:16 there is someone out to get you. 24:18 The mysterious stranger. 24:20 If he comes, he will destroy 24:23 your peace and your happiness." 24:26 So Will got the house everything free, 24:31 happy days. 24:33 He planted trees, peace, joy, love, purity. 24:37 You know about those trees? 24:39 Oh, they're hard to grow. 24:41 They grew so slowly, 24:43 but he'd eat and he was happy, and happy, and happy. 24:47 On one evening there was a knocking down at the gate. 24:52 And he went down 24:53 and there was the mysterious stranger. 24:55 He said, "Let me in Will, 24:56 I'm going to make you even more happy. 24:58 Let me in." 25:00 And Will, 25:02 being an inexperienced Christian said, 25:04 "Come on in." 25:07 And the first thing the evil stranger did 25:10 was to start to uproot these trees. 25:12 He got rid of them. 25:15 And then he said, 25:16 "Will, we're going to do something else. 25:18 We're going to put in some more trees." 25:20 And so he started to plant more trees. 25:23 And he put in trees that were called... 25:27 Wait for it, lust, envy, 25:30 hate, jealousy, anger. 25:35 The other trees took a long time to grow. 25:36 These came up almost straight away. 25:38 That's how it is. 25:40 Not hard to grow them, is it? 25:43 And then he started to eat those trees, 25:45 he ate them, oh, it's good. 25:48 It was great to eat those trees, 25:51 but soon he was feeling sick. 25:54 Then he was vomiting, but then he wanted some more. 25:58 And so he was wanting more, eating more, feeling sick, 26:04 vomiting, that was his life. 26:07 That's the life of the sinner away from the grace of God, 26:11 eating, vomiting, 26:15 wanting more, 26:17 and at last when he was completely desperate, 26:20 wanted to die. 26:22 One evening he heard a voice from the gate, 26:27 he went down to the gate, 26:32 and there was a tall, handsome Prince, 26:34 who looked a lot like the king. 26:38 He held up the lantern and said, 26:39 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 26:43 If anyone hears my voice..." 26:47 The stranger cried out, 26:48 "Don't let him in, Will, he will destroy all my work." 26:51 That's the best news, Will had heard. 26:53 He let him in. 26:55 When the Prince came in, 26:56 the evil stranger left and he said, 26:59 "We got to get rid of these trees." 27:01 Hard to get rid of them. He didn't want to die. 27:05 And then he helped build to plant some new trees 27:09 and they were hard to plant, 27:11 and he planted new trees like love, 27:16 and joy, and longsuffering, 27:19 and peace, and he was eating, 27:23 but he wasn't vomiting. 27:27 And one evening they were sitting together 27:28 in the cool of the evening on the veranda, 27:31 Will said, "I'm so happy," he said to the prince. 27:34 "But what save you should leave me?" 27:37 And the Prince said, 27:39 "Will, I will never, never leave you 27:44 nor forsake you." 27:48 And the good news, He never did. 27:53 And what we need in our hearts 27:57 is the Lord Jesus Christ 28:00 who will give us the trees of righteousness. 28:05 I commend to you today, 28:09 the greatest and the most gentle 28:12 of all revolutionaries, 28:16 the Lord Jesus Christ. 28:17 Amen. Amen. 28:25 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:29 at P.O. Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, 28:32 California 91358. 28:35 Or in Australia, contact us at 28:38 P.O. Box 861, Terrigal, 28:41 New South Wales 2260. 28:45 This program is made possible 28:46 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:49 We thank you for your continued support. 28:52 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2019-01-21