Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000576
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01:24 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
01:36 the evidence of things not seen. 01:47 Without faith it is impossible to please God, 01:58 for those who come to Him must believe. 02:09 Dream, there's a bright tomorrow with hope. 02:16 There is no sorrow. 02:21 Heaven waits for you. 02:28 Peace like a flowing river. 02:35 Love, let it surround you. 02:42 Close your eyes and dream. 02:59 Be of good comfort, your faith has made you whole. 03:08 It has caused the mountains of life to move. 03:19 According to your faith all things are given. 03:30 With faith everything is possible for you. 03:39 Dream, there's a bright tomorrow with hope. 03:47 There is no sorrow. 03:53 Heaven waits for you. 04:00 Peace, like a flowing river. 04:07 Love, let it surround you. 04:14 Close your eyes and dream. 04:18 There's a bright tomorrow with hope. 04:24 There is no sorrow. 04:29 Heaven waits for you. 04:36 Peace, like a flowing river. 04:43 Love, let it surround you. 04:50 Close your eyes and dream. 05:10 Amen. Thank you, Melody. 05:12 My brother Tommy is over at the piano. 05:15 While you're there why don't we do, I Will Serve Thee? 05:28 I will serve Thee, because I love Thee. 05:41 You have given life to me. 05:53 I was nothing before You found me. 06:05 You have given life to me. 06:18 Heartaches, broken pieces, ruined lives are why 06:34 You died on Calvary. 06:41 Your touch was what I longed for. 06:51 You have given life to me. 07:03 Heartaches, broken pieces, ruined lives are why 07:22 You died on Calvary. 07:29 Your touch was what I longed for. 07:40 You have given life to me. 08:09 Okay, I'd like to ask Sister Lori Brown to come up at this 08:13 time, and we're going to call this a mission story. 08:18 Sometimes we think about missions of being... 08:20 Come right over here. 08:21 Some times we think about missions as the far away fields 08:25 around the world, but we can do mission work right at home, 08:27 can't we? That's right. 08:29 Okay. Hold your mike up real close; right there. 08:31 That's correct. There you go. 08:32 And I'm even going to give you a lesson. 08:33 Now we want to tilt it this way. 08:35 Alright, do you do television everyday? 08:39 No. No, okay. No. Well, don't be worried that there are 08:43 potentially millions of people watching right now, 08:45 and it's a live program. 08:46 Because if you think about that you could get nervous. 08:49 I have given that some consideration. 08:51 No you haven't. You're doing great. 08:54 You know why? because you're doing something for God, 08:57 and you came in the name of the Lord. 08:58 And when you come in the name of the Lord, 09:00 He provides every need. 09:01 I want you to tell the folks here what you are doing, 09:04 and how you got involved. 09:05 You're working with cable. 09:06 And how did you get involved working with cable; 09:08 getting 3ABN on cable? 09:09 Well, we went back, we've been to several of the camp meetings 09:13 at 3ABN, which we were so greatly blessed. 09:16 Penny Turner came to me and the minute she found out I was 09:21 from the Portland area, she wanted me to take this project 09:24 of getting 3ABN onto Comcast cable in my little church. 09:29 But we have such a small membership in Hillsboro 09:32 that I just felt like it would be a wasted effort. 09:35 And then you came to Sunnyside Church at the end of last year. 09:40 And we went, my husband and I, and the Lord laid the burden on 09:45 me, and I wasn't able to get around it. 09:49 I told the Lord there were those who were much more capable 09:53 than I: I'm retired, I'm older, you know? 09:58 But God thought that I was the one that should do this. 10:01 So was Moses, right? Yes. 10:04 He was even older than you, and kind of retired, 10:06 and all of that. Yes! Okay. 10:08 So then I began the project. 10:12 And what are you doing? 10:13 Well, in our Comcast cable area, which runs from Ridgefield, 10:18 Washington south to Albany, right down I-5. 10:23 Some of the churches off to the east and west aren't included 10:26 in this, but the I-5 corridor basically. 10:29 We have 44 churches in that area. 10:31 We started out hoping for 53, but we found that 10:35 some of them didn't have Comcast cable. 10:38 So we do have 44 churches in the Comcast cable area, 10:41 and of that 44 churches we have 33 coordinators selected. 10:48 They were adding to that number every day. 10:51 We've been working on this for five months. Alright. 10:54 It's just the ball is very slow in getting rolling here. 10:58 But we actually have 21 churches who have kicked off their 11:02 campaigns, and are working. Alright. 11:04 And what does that mean? 11:05 When they're kicking, what do they do? 11:06 Well, they get up in front of the church and they tell them 11:09 about the project. 11:10 They have their postcards in hand. 11:12 They pass them out to the congregation. 11:14 And our goal is two postcards per member, per week. 11:20 Okay, so they're writing to the Comcast cable letting them 11:24 know that they want to watch 3ABN. That's right. 11:26 Okay, that's wonderful. 11:28 So you've got people out and helping; 21 churches so far. 11:32 21 involved, there's 44, so that leaves us with a few more, 11:36 23 or so more. Well, we have some that maybe aren't going 11:40 to participate for one reason or another. 11:42 Oh no, they're going to participate. 11:43 Sure they're going to participate. 11:44 Let us know who. If they don't we'll tar and feather them. 11:47 Okay! Ha ha! Well, we'd do something to them. 11:49 It won't be hot tar, maybe we'll just... 11:51 We'll somehow encourage them. Right. How's that? 11:54 But the most of them are very anxious. 11:57 Lori Carmony is actually the coordinator 11:59 for this church here, and she's working very hard. 12:02 And I'm hoping to meet some of the other coordinators 12:05 that are here today. 12:06 So did you want me to encourage them to come after church today? 12:11 Well, of course. Yes. 12:12 Alright. For those coordinators who are here, I'd like to invite 12:15 you after the church service to meet right up here in front 12:18 so that I can get to know who you are. 12:20 I can put the face with the name. 12:22 And you can share with me where your church is in the campaign. 12:28 And I want you to know that God has worked some of the greatest 12:31 miracles. I've tried to get coordinators in some of the 12:34 churches, and it just didn't seem like they were going to 12:37 be involved at all. 12:39 And all of a sudden recently I've gotten several phone calls. 12:43 I heard about the campaign. 12:44 I belong to this church, and I'm going to take it on. 12:47 Amen! That's wonderful! 12:48 So God is working. It's marvelous. 12:50 The blessings on the go. 12:52 And we need to understand that as a people. 12:54 When we have an opportunity to... 12:56 Some people say, Well, I get 3ABN. 12:58 Why should I? I don't need to contact the cable station. 13:02 I get it on Sky angel, or I get it... 13:04 Well, you're not contacting them for yourself. 13:06 You're contacting them for someone else that needs to hear, 13:08 right? Yeh, the whole community around you that needs to watch 13:13 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 13:15 And because 3ABN has an end times message 13:18 for an end times people. 13:19 And if we believe that we need to get up and do something. 13:23 And God always says, when we move forward, 13:25 that He blesses us. 13:26 Now I want to encourage you, Lori, that you and God are 13:29 a majority, so you don't have to worry about that. 13:31 And each and every one of us are a majority. 13:33 I think of the little lady in Michigan, up in the Upper, 13:38 the UP they call it, the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. 13:40 A cable manager called me once and said, We're getting ready 13:45 to put on 3ABN this week. 13:46 And I said, Well, great. 13:47 How did that come about? 13:48 I assumed the church had a cable campaign like this. 13:51 And he said, Well, to tell you the truth, there's been one lady 13:54 in this area that writes me every week. 13:57 And she has for two years. 13:59 And he said, I haven't had a channel available. 14:01 And he said, She will call me every week. 14:04 Every time she pays her bill she puts her name, 14:07 and he said, I actually got where I avoid her because I 14:10 know she's going to say the same old thing: 14:12 You don't have 3ABN on. 14:14 He said, I finally have a channel available, 14:18 and I didn't even consider putting anyone else on. 14:19 So I'm putting 3ABN. 14:20 So one person... I want to say one more thing. 14:24 Oh, go ahead. We want to encourage, and Penny urged 14:28 me to tell everyone this, Penny Turner, who works for 3ABN, 14:31 and is encouraging me all of the time. 14:33 She's my encouragement. 14:34 And I hope to be yours. 14:36 But she said to be sure and remind people, 14:39 and this is what we've been urging them, to ask for not just 14:43 3ABN English, but also to include 3ABN Latino. 14:47 We are asking for both of those channels. Wonderful. Okay? 14:50 Thank you, Lori. Thanks for what you're doing. 14:52 Can everybody say, Praise the Lord for that? 14:54 Praise the Lord! I'm thankful for people like Lori, who... 14:58 You know, that's the amazing part of it. 15:00 A lot of times we get where we say, Well, you know, 15:02 I'm older now. I'm retired. 15:04 But there's nothing about retirement in the Bible. 15:06 Have you ever seen retirement in the Bible? 15:08 It is not in the Bible. 15:09 But I believe that God honors, and He blesses us when we go 15:13 forward, and we do something for Him. 15:15 It's not what we're doing for ourselves, 15:18 but what are we willing to do for the cause of 15:20 God on Planet Earth? 15:22 I'd like to introduce now Sister Shelley Quinn. 15:25 And Shelley comes from Southern Illinois. 15:28 Now this may bother her for a little bit. 15:30 She's so used to saying, I'm from Texas. 15:31 But she recently moved to Southern Illinois. 15:33 So now you're a Southern Illinois girl. 15:35 They grow them tall there in Southern Illinois, don't they? 15:38 There we go! Ha Ha! 15:39 And I should have been born in Texas. Ha ha. 15:42 That would have helped. Ha ha! 15:43 Shelley and her husband, J. D., they're wonderful people. 15:46 And they love Jesus so much. 15:49 And Shelley and her husband they have become full time 15:53 workers along with 3ABN. 15:55 And they've moved to Southern Illinois, as I just mentioned. 15:58 And Shelley has a burden for souls. 16:01 She's a tremendous speaker. 16:02 God has given her a gift: a teacher. 16:04 And she also, she and I, had the privilege of writing a book 16:08 together recently called, The Anti-Christ Agenda. 16:11 And, Shelley, I'm going to walk off, and I'm going to give you 16:13 just a moment or two to tell the folks a little bit about 16:16 The Anti-Christ Agenda. Okay. 16:17 What it is and why we put it together. 16:19 And then you'll have, right down at that clock, 16:22 when it goes down to zero you've got right to that time, okay? 16:25 I can handle that. 16:26 Alright, thanks so much. God bless you. 16:28 We were in Walla Walla two weekends ago, and I was so 16:33 careful throughout the whole time not to say Ya'll. 16:38 And I slipped and said Ya'll right toward the end. 16:41 And sure enough, about five people came up to me, 16:44 and they said, You gave yourself away. 16:46 The Anti-Christ Agenda; God is using this book 16:51 in such an incredible way. 16:53 And what the book is about is the differences, 16:58 it's a comparative study of the differences between 17:02 the old and new covenants. 17:03 And this is a study that the Lord led me in, 17:06 because I was brought up believing that the 17:10 Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross. 17:11 And when I came into ministry full time, in January of 2000, 17:16 the Lord impressed upon me, this upon my mind. 17:20 He said, Forget what you think you know. 17:23 Come sit at My feet and I will teach you. 17:26 And as I went through this study the Lord led me first in a study 17:28 the Lord led me first in a study of the temple, 17:31 and then on the old covenant, and the new covenant. 17:34 And I learned that the Ten Commandments are eternal. 17:38 And then I had one issue to deal with. 17:42 I was keeping nine of those ten, but you know which one 17:46 I was not honoring. 17:48 The very one that I had forgotten was the one the Lord 17:51 asked us to remember. 17:53 So this is an excellent study in comparing these two, 17:58 and proving the eternal nature of the Ten Commandments. 18:02 And then it takes you through the prophecies of Daniel 18:10 and Revelation talking about the beast power, 18:14 the mark of the beast, as well as how we can fully depend 18:19 upon God in the end times. 18:21 And that there's no need for us to be nervous about this. 18:24 We can rest in His everlasting arms. 18:26 And there's even a chapter the Lord really impressed upon me 18:30 to include about the return of Jesus Christ. 18:35 Because that was another area that I was absolutely lost 18:40 in my teachings. 18:41 Because I had been taught about the rapture, 18:44 the secret rapture. 18:45 So that is included, as well as how to celebrate our 18:49 sanctification; a way to celebrate the Sabbath. 18:52 And, you know, it's so funny because, as many of you have 18:55 probably heard, Danny had written this book called, 18:58 The Ten Commandments Twice Removed. 19:00 He handed it to me and said, If you have any suggestions, 19:03 please just feel free to mark in the margins. 19:06 Well, I had lots of suggestions. 19:09 And so we ended up co-authoring this together. 19:12 And it has been such a blessing. 19:16 There are people, actually we're getting reports of people 19:19 who've watched 3ABN, and they've been sitting on the fence, 19:23 not sure, you know, not convinced of the teachings yet. 19:27 They ordered the Anti-Christ Agenda and they're coming into 19:31 the church now asking to be baptized. 19:33 So we give God all the glory, and it's just an honor 19:38 to have this opportunity. 19:39 It's also an honor to speak for God. 19:43 And I take this as a very awesome responsibility. 19:48 So before we begin with our Sabbath School lesson today, 19:53 let's go before the Lord in prayer. 19:59 Loving Father God, we're coming now Lord to ask that Your 20:05 Holy Spirit would be our teacher. 20:07 Lord Jesus, You said that only the Spirit brings life. 20:11 The flesh counts for nothing. 20:13 I pray, Father, get my flesh out of the way. 20:17 Get the flesh out of the way for everyone who is 20:22 listening to this message. 20:23 I pray in the name of Jesus, Father God, that You will anoint 20:27 our minds, anoint my lips, anoint our ears, and our heart. 20:33 Let the Spirit come now, and let this message bring You glory. 20:39 We praise You, Father, and we thank You in Jesus' name, Amen. 20:44 Amen. I thought what we would do today is I would like to 20:50 concentrate on the title of this chapter, Jesus the Son of God. 20:58 It is so important for us daily to reflect on the character 21:05 and the nature of Jesus. 21:07 Do you know why? Number one it will help us to love Him more, 21:13 to appreciate Him more. 21:15 But there's even something more important, and that is the Bible 21:20 says in Romans 8:29 that you are predestined to be conformed 21:27 to the image of Jesus. 21:31 That is your destiny. 21:33 Do you stop and think about that often? 21:36 Let me have you open your Bibles, if you will, 21:40 to 2 Peter 1 and we'll start with verse 3. 21:45 And this is one way we are to be partakers of the nature of Jesus 21:54 Christ. It is part of our sanctification process that we 21:58 are growing in grace daily. 22:02 And in 2 Peter 1:3, 4, here's the answer to how we can become 22:12 partakers of His divine nature; one of the ways. 22:16 Verse 3 says, For His divine power, God's divine power, 22:23 has been bestowed upon us, or has bestowed upon us, 22:28 all things for a Godly life. 22:33 All things for goodness through the knowledge of Him who called 22:38 us by His own glory and excellence. 22:41 And by means of these, by means of what? in context it's by 22:47 means of God's glory, His character, and His excellence, 22:52 He has bestowed upon us His precious, and exceedingly great 22:59 promises, so that through them, through what? through God's 23:05 promises you may escape from the moral decay 23:10 that is in the world because of covetousness. 23:14 And you may become partakers of His divine nature. 23:20 It is through the transforming power of the word of God. 23:27 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 23:31 and the Word was God. 23:34 And it is through the life of His word in you when you grab 23:41 hold of God's promises, when you look at the nature of Jesus 23:46 Christ, who He was, that's when you say, Yes, Lord, I am who 23:53 You say I am in Christ Jesus. 23:56 And this is my destiny: I am conformed, predestined to be 24:02 conformed to the image of Jesus. 24:05 We've got to get God's word in our hearts. 24:08 We've got to claim His promises. 24:11 We've got to speak them back to the Lord, pray them back, 24:15 and trust that He who began a good work in you, 24:19 will be faithful to complete it until the end. 24:21 So we're going to look today at Jesus as the Son of God. 24:29 And, you know, I guess the best place that we can do this 24:33 at home in our studies is looking through the gospels, 24:36 right? We see the story of Jesus. 24:40 And in Matthew, Mark, and John, excuse me, Matthew, Mark, 24:43 and Luke are what we call the synoptic gospels. 24:47 They overlay. They're telling the same story, 24:50 but from a different perspective. 24:52 And very briefly, I wanted to take you through, 24:55 because have... How many of you have had someone say, 24:59 the Bible contradicts itself? 25:02 Matthew says this, but Luke says that. 25:04 Mark says this, but Matthew says this. 25:08 And they'll take it and they'll say, 25:11 they don't line up perfectly. 25:14 Well, of course they don't. 25:15 If I have heard a wonderful message, and I am coming to 25:20 tell this message to a little child, I will tell it in a 25:25 different way than I might share that message with a teenager. 25:28 Or if it's an older woman, I might share it differently 25:32 than I would with a young man. 25:34 The audience that I am sharing the message with, I will tell 25:40 the message to fit their needs. 25:43 It's not that I'm changing the message, 25:45 it's that my focus is different. 25:48 So very briefly, we're going to be going... 25:50 This is a study hour, a Bible study hour, right? 25:53 And we're going to be looking at a lot of 25:55 Scripture in just a moment. 25:56 We won't have time to look up every Scripture, but we're going 26:00 to spend a good deal of time in the Bible. 26:02 Toward the end I want us to really focus in on a passage. 26:05 Because there are such conflicting views of 26:10 Jesus in this world. 26:12 It seems that very few people question His existence. 26:16 History proves His existence. 26:18 But I wanted to give you, and if you're a note taker you might 26:22 want to jot down a few things here. 26:23 I wanted to help explain for you and for our worldwide audience, 26:28 why there are different focuses in the gospels. 26:32 Who was Matthew? Matthew was a tax collector, wasn't he? 26:38 And he, being the author of the first gospel that is in order 26:43 in our book, in the Bible, he was one of the inner twelve. 26:49 He was one of Jesus' disciples, or apostles. 26:52 So Matthew wrote from eye witness experience, didn't he? 26:57 I've had people argue with me and say, There were no 27:00 eyewitness accounts in the Bible. 27:02 And I say, Yes, there are. 27:03 Matthew walked for 31/2 years with our Lord. 27:07 But Matthew wrote, he was a Jew, and he wrote to the Jews. 27:12 So his focus in writing his gospel, he explains the Jewish 27:18 relationship of Christ, and he connects Christ to Jewish dogma. 27:23 Because he was trying to prove to the Jews who Jesus was. 27:28 He's the one that included the royal genealogy, 27:31 and the covenant position with Abraham. 27:34 He talked about Jesus' royal position to David, and he proved 27:39 that Jesus Christ was a Jew. 27:43 And so when he wrote his gospel, he used lots of Old Testament 27:50 Scripture, because the Jews were so familiar with the 27:54 Old Testament, and he wanted to prove all of the prophecies 27:59 that Jesus Christ fulfilled. 28:01 So his portrayal of Jesus is as the King of the Jews, 28:09 the promised Savior, the Messiah. 28:12 Now Mark: who was Mark? 28:15 Mark did not walk with Jesus for 31/2 years. 28:21 He was converted by Peter, and he was a close 28:26 associate of Peter's. 28:28 We see a lot of Peter's influence 28:31 in the writings of Mark. 28:32 He was the cousin of Barnabas, and he also traveled 28:37 with Paul and Barnabas. 28:39 Now I really identify with John Mark. 28:42 Let me tell you why. 28:43 Remember when Mark was a younger man, and he went off 28:46 with Paul and Barnabus, and at first everything was good 28:50 as he was serving the Lord. 28:51 But when it got rough, what did Mark do? 28:54 He went home. He had put his hands to the 28:59 plow and turned back. 29:01 And Jesus says, If you put your hands to the plow and turn back, 29:05 you're not fit for the kingdom. 29:06 Mark was not yet fit for the kingdom. 29:09 Shelley Quinn put her hands to the plows several times 29:14 in my youth, and I worked diligently for the Lord 29:18 for a year, or two years, but I turned back from that. 29:23 It's not something I'm proud of, but I'm telling you this because 29:27 don't ever think that God is going to give up on you. 29:32 When I accepted God's call to full-time ministry, 29:36 the Lord told me, and when I say that I mean He impressed 29:40 upon my mind by His still small voice. 29:43 You know what I'm saying, right? 29:45 He impressed this thought on my mind as I was praying, 29:49 journaling my prayers, and sitting at His feet to listen. 29:53 And this is what He said: Always before you have put your hand 29:58 to the plow and turned back, but not this time. 30:02 I will cup my hand over yours. 30:06 Isn't that precious? 30:09 And, you know, over the last five years there have been many 30:14 times when I had to rely on that promise. 30:18 When things got really rough, and I said, Lord, You said You 30:23 were going to cup Your hand over mine. 30:25 I will not turn back. 30:27 I am in this for the long haul, Father. 30:31 And so this was what happened with Mark. 30:34 At some point in time Mark turned back and he served 30:38 the Lord faithfully. 30:40 Now to whom was Mark writing? 30:44 Mark wrote, he was with Paul in Rome, 30:48 and he wrote his gospel to the Romans. 30:52 Now the Romans were very practical minded. 30:55 They were very concerned with actions and deeds. 30:59 They did not know a lot of Old Testament Scripture. 31:04 And as I said, their interest was more in action. 31:07 So the focus of Mark's writings; he didn't give genealogy. 31:12 Because the Romans weren't interested in the genealogy. 31:17 He was referring to Jesus as a servant. 31:23 Jesus said, As the Son of God... 31:27 Mark is going to prove He's the Son of God. 31:30 But Jesus said the Son of man did not come to serve, 31:35 or to be served, but to serve, right? 31:41 Let me ask you, Did you come today to be served, or to serve? 31:48 See, we've got to remember that every day. 31:53 Lord, don't let me think that I'm something special. 31:57 I pray this all the time. 31:59 You know, I don't even consider that God's got me on a worldwide 32:04 television ministry. 32:05 If I ever get to thinking that Shelley Quinn is special, 32:08 what did God promise He would do? 32:12 If I exalt myself what's God going to do to me? 32:15 He's going to lay me flat, isn't He? 32:18 He's going to humble me. 32:20 So we've got to realize that we are here to 32:23 serve, not to be served. 32:26 So what Mark did in his... 32:30 You know, often Mark's gospel is called the businessman's gospel. 32:35 And he focused on Jesus' accomplishments 32:38 in His early career. 32:40 He portrayed Jesus as a man of action: a worker, a servant 32:44 of God, the powerful Savior. 32:48 Then we come to the gospel of Luke. 32:51 Now who was Luke? Luke was an educated Greek doctor. 32:56 And he was a physician, and he possibly was a Gentile. 33:02 If he was he was the only Gentile writer of the Bible. 33:04 And besides writing the gospel of Luke, 33:09 he wrote what other book? Acts, which is the record of the first 33:14 thirty years of the church. 33:17 And he was really; he had an historians mind. 33:21 I think the Lord really anointed and called the right man 33:25 to write Acts, because he documented everything. 33:29 He researched everything. 33:30 And he had a historian's mind. 33:32 And he put in some dates and times by which we know 33:36 the birth date of Jesus, because we can calculate forward to 33:41 his baptism and anointing. 33:44 So when Luke wrote he was writing to the Greeks, 33:51 the Gentiles, if you will. 33:53 But he had that specific interest in the Greeks, 33:56 and he knew what the Greeks would like. 33:59 They liked poetry, they liked beauty, they loved music. 34:04 So the focus of his writing was he did not talk about royal 34:11 lines, but he connected the genealogy to Adam, 34:15 and he showed the humanity of Jesus as the ideal 34:18 man from Adam's line. 34:20 He focused on His birth and His childhood, and he recorded the 34:25 songs of Mary, and Zacharias, and the angels. 34:30 He recorded Jesus' compassion and love for man, 34:34 and His dependence upon God through prayer. 34:37 So what his portrayal of Jesus was the Son of man, 34:42 the perfect Savior. 34:44 Now John, John's gospel was possibly written, or we know 34:50 it was written last. 34:52 His is not one of the synoptic. 34:55 It is not an overlay. 34:57 The Holy Spirit impressed John to take a whole 34:59 different pattern. 35:01 Who was John? John was a fisherman. 35:04 He was one of the twelve apostles. 35:08 But he was also one of Jesus' inner circle. 35:12 John is another eyewitness. 35:16 Matthew and John are both eyewitness accounts 35:19 of the life of Jesus. 35:20 And he was called by... 35:23 Do you remember what Jesus called John? 35:25 the son of thunder, the son of thunder! 35:29 What does that make you think of? 35:31 Don't you think that John must have been a boisterous person? 35:35 one that might be... 35:36 You know, we think of Peter as being petulant, 35:38 but I'll bet John could explode if he was called 35:41 the son of thunder. 35:43 But he became known as the apostle of love! 35:47 Praise the Lord! He was also the disciple whom Jesus loved. 35:53 He had an intimate relationship with Jesus. 35:57 John was very young when he was with Jesus. 36:00 So to whom did John write? 36:03 John said he was writing to all men that they might believe. 36:08 Did you know the word believe is used 98 times 36:12 in the gospel of John? 36:13 So that's what his focus was is to get men to believe. 36:19 And he introduced Jesus as the Word, 36:22 the essence that was flowing out of God, the very nature of God. 36:28 And he told us about the divine relationships of Jesus 36:32 to the Father, and Jesus to us. 36:35 He recorded eyewitness accounts to explain the Deity, 36:39 and display the Deity of Christ that all might believe. 36:42 He also recorded the I Am statements that Jesus made. 36:47 I Am the bread of life. 36:51 I Am the resurrection, the light of the world, the door, 36:56 the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, 36:59 the way, the truth, and the life. 37:01 I Am the true vine. 37:03 So John's portrayal of Jesus was a personal Savior. 37:08 Now what do other religions believe about Jesus Christ? 37:12 Our friends who are Buddhists... 37:14 And if you're watching we welcome you to our broadcast. 37:18 They believed He was a prophet, excuse me, a teacher. 37:23 It's the Muslims that believe He was a prophet. 37:26 And then the Hindus believe that He was a good man 37:30 who was a good teacher. 37:31 Jehovah's Witnesses believe that He was a created being, 37:35 the Son of God, but not God. 37:39 Mormons believe that Jesus' birth was as natural 37:43 as any flesh and blood child. 37:45 So what we want to do is first let's ask our self, 37:49 was Jesus a prophet? Yes. 37:52 He said in Luke 13:33, It's not appropriate that a prophet 37:57 should die outside of Jerusalem. 38:00 He was making His way back. 38:02 He called Himself a prophet. 38:03 Was He a teacher? Absolutely! 38:06 And in Matthew 23:10 He says, don't be called teachers, 38:10 for there's only one that is your teacher, even the Christ. 38:14 Did He share in our humanity? Absolutely! 38:18 Hebrews 1:14 says, In as much then as the children have 38:22 partaken of flesh and blood, He likewise shared in the same. 38:26 And he says in verse 17, In all things, in all things He had to 38:33 be made like His brethren that He might be merciful, 38:37 and faithful high servant in things pertaining to God, 38:41 so that He could make propitiation for the people. 38:44 Let me tell you why I believe that Jesus was not only 38:49 the Son of God, but that He was God. 38:52 First let me ask you a question. 38:54 How would you answer that if this afternoon God has a divine 39:00 appointment for you, and someone comes up to you and says, 39:04 I know you're a Christian. 39:06 Why do you believe that Jesus is God? 39:11 How would you answer that? 39:12 Are you prepared in season, and out of season to answer 39:18 that type of question? 39:19 We've got to be prepared. 39:22 God is bringing people in from all different religions 39:27 who are beginning to focus on Jesus Christ. 39:31 He is making them have a keen interest. 39:35 So if a Muslim comes up to you and says, Why do you believe 39:40 that Jesus is God? 39:42 What would you say? 39:44 I listed some reasons; what I would say: 39:47 1. The fulfillment of prophecies. 39:51 That's why I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. 39:56 The miracles that are recorded that He performed; 40:00 that's why I believe He is God. 40:02 The resurrection. 40:06 I believe that that proves that Jesus was not only the 40:11 Son of God, but God. 40:13 The success of His teaching. 40:15 Just think,: He didn't have internet. 40:19 He didn't have cameras. 40:21 He couldn't fly from one area to the next. 40:24 He had just a small group of followers, but His teaching 40:29 has continued for nearly 2,000 years, and it is growing. 40:35 The power of His Word proves to me that Jesus Christ 40:41 is the Son of God, and the power of His Spirit. 40:44 And I want to say one thing here. 40:47 I came out of a non-denominational church. 40:52 And in this non-denominational church there was a great focus 40:57 on the Spirit, which I am very, very thankful that I learned. 41:02 I grew up in the Church of Christ, 41:03 studied my way out of that into a non-denominational arena, 41:08 and all I knew about was Jesus. 41:11 I really didn't understand the Father, 41:13 and I didn't understand the Holy Spirit. 41:15 But when I went into the non-denominational arena 41:18 I learned more of the Spirit. 41:20 It just was unbalanced. 41:22 Instead of the focus being on Christ, 41:24 the focus was on the Spirit. 41:26 Because the focus wasn't equal on the Word. 41:30 And I absolutely believe there's church's that I have gone to 41:35 where the focus is on the Spirit, 41:39 and the focus is on the word, or the Word. 41:43 Some churches really focus on the word, 41:46 with no focus on the Spirit. 41:48 Some focus on the Spirit with not much emphasis on the word. 41:52 I want to tell you one thing that I believe God is trying 41:56 to get into our hearts. 41:58 We will never be prepared until we have an equal focus 42:04 on the word and the Spirit, because they work hand in glove. 42:09 Those are the two transforming powers that operate in our life: 42:15 is the Holy Spirit of God, and the word of God. 42:19 So we need to have, we need not to be out of balance. 42:22 We've got to get that where it is balanced. 42:25 A balanced presentation on the Spirit of God, 42:29 and the word of God, the living word of God. 42:33 Now one other thing that makes me believe, because I do accept 42:39 the word as being inspired by God, is the testimony; 42:45 the testimony of God the Father, the testimony of Jesus Christ 42:51 Himself, the testimony of angels, the testimony of the 42:56 prophets, and the testimony of the apostles. 42:58 And we're going to look at a little bit of that today. 43:01 One thing that many people get confused, and I've recently been 43:06 receiving some e-mails about this, is people will say, 43:11 Please explain to me Deuteronomy 6:4. 43:14 Do you know what Deuteronomy 6:4 says? 43:17 Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One God. 43:24 The Lord, Yahweh, our God, Elohim. 43:31 Elohim is plural. 43:34 And when the Bible says that He is One God, the Hebrew word 43:42 is Echad. And it is a, that word means a combined oneness, 43:52 a compound unity. Let me give you some examples from Scripture 43:56 when the word One is used. 43:58 A man and a woman shall marry and become one; one flesh. 44:06 It is a compound unity. 44:09 There was day, and there was night, 44:13 and that was the first day; one day. 44:18 So it is a combination. 44:21 And when someone wrote and said, How can we explain the trinity? 44:27 The Oneness of God the Father, God the Son, 44:32 and God the Holy Spirit, as a compound unity... 44:36 I did a deep study on this many years ago, and it means, 44:39 let me give you an example, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, 44:43 that those who are united with Jesus Christ, 44:46 are one in Spirit with Him. 44:50 That one means that we share the same thoughts, 44:57 the same purposes, and the same actions. 45:01 God is One: Jesus the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit 45:09 are one in purpose, in thought, and in actions. 45:14 So it is easy enough to understand if we get beyond 45:18 the idea of thinking that one means a single entity. 45:23 So let's look very briefly... 45:26 And if you are a note taker, we're not going to have time 45:28 to look all of these up, so just jot some of these down. 45:31 And then we're going to open our Bible's and read 45:33 together in just a moment. 45:34 I wanted to look at the testimonies, because I hear 45:39 some strange things from time to time. 45:41 I hear people say, Jesus never claimed to be God. 45:44 Have you heard that? 45:45 There's people out there who say that. 45:48 And we want to look at the testimonies in Scripture 45:53 that declare the divinity of Christ; that He was 45:58 the Son of God, not a created. 46:00 He was the first born of God, and we're going to look at what 46:03 that word means, firstborn, in just a moment. 46:06 But that does not mean a natural biological birth. 46:13 He was fully God, and fully man. 46:18 So let's look at the testimonies. 46:20 And I wanted to start with the Father's. 46:22 One of the most probably well known testimonies of God 46:26 is in Matthew 3:16, 17. 46:28 When Jesus went into the water he was baptized. 46:32 The Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove. 46:35 The heavens opened. 46:37 And, by the way, did you know that the heavens were closed 46:40 for 400 years between Malachi, the time that Malachi was 46:44 written and the first, when Jesus started His ministry? 46:48 There was no word from the Lord. 46:51 But when Christ was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on Him 46:58 like a dove, and the heavens opened and God said, 47:03 This is My Son in whom I am well pleased. 47:09 But I think one of the greatest testimonies is found in 47:13 Hebrews 1:8-13, and let me read that to you. 47:17 But to the Son, He, God, says, now listen, Your throne O God 47:26 is forever and ever. 47:27 This is God the Father speaking to Jesus Christ. 47:34 God the Father refers to Christ as God. 47:40 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. 47:43 A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 47:46 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. 47:50 Therefore God, your God, has appointed You, or anointed You 47:55 with the oil of gladness more than all of your companions. 47:58 And He also, the Father says to Christ, You Lord, 48:03 in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. 48:07 We're going to look at some other Scriptures that shows 48:08 that Jesus was our Creator. 48:10 But this is God the Father saying to God the Son, 48:14 You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are 48:18 the works of Your hands. 48:19 They will perish, but You remain. 48:21 And they will all grow old like a garment. 48:24 Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed, 48:28 but You are the same, and Your years will not fail. 48:31 But to which of the angels did God ever say, Sit at My right 48:35 hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool? 48:39 You know, John wrote in 1 John: 5:9, If we receive the witness 48:44 of men, which we do, the witness of God is far greater. 48:49 For this is the witness of God, which He has 48:52 testified about His Son. 48:55 Now did Christ ever claim to be God? Yes! 49:02 There are many people who believe He did not. 49:04 But in Luke 22:70 they asked Jesus, Are You the Son of God? 49:11 And He said to them, You rightly say that I am. 49:16 Now see, most of your, or many manuscripts will read: you say 49:23 I Am. And people twist that and they'll say, Ah, Jesus didn't 49:29 claim to be God, or the Son of God, He just said to them: 49:33 You say that I am. 49:35 But you know what? You say was a Greek idiom, and it meant yes. 49:42 You say... And that's why the New King James Version 49:46 has added, You rightly say that I am. 49:54 In John 10:30 He said, I and the Father are One. 49:58 And in John 12:45 He said, He who has seen Me 50:02 has seen the Father. 50:04 One I like is John 18:58, Before Abraham was, I Am. 50:14 I Am. That is the name of God. 50:19 He is saying, I existed before Abraham. 50:23 And in John 10:36-38 He says, Do you say of Him, 50:30 whom the Father Sanctified and sent into the world, 50:34 in other words, Jesus is saying, Are you saying to Me, 50:37 God sanctified Me and sent Me into this world. 50:42 I wasn't born of the world; I was sent into the world. 50:46 And He said, Are you saying to Me that I'm blaspheming 50:49 because I've said I am the Son of God? 50:52 And He goes on to say, If You don't, If I don't do the works 50:57 of My Father, don't believe Me. 50:59 If I do the works, though you do not believe Me, 51:04 believe the works that you may know and believe 51:08 that the Father is in Me, and I am in Him. 51:11 And then John 17:5, this is Jesus' testimony, and He says, 51:18 Now Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory 51:24 which I had before the world was. 51:30 Jesus had to empty Himself of His glory to come to earth. 51:36 And we're going to look at some Scriptures in a moment, 51:38 so I don't want to get off on this too much here. 51:40 But He emptied Himself of His glory to come to earth, 51:44 and depend on God just like you and I have to depend on God. 51:48 He was fully God, but He did not draw on His own power. 51:53 He drew on the power of the Holy Spirit, and the word of God, 51:56 and communicating with the Father for His 51:59 instructions and directions. 52:01 Of course we know what the angels had to say. 52:05 The angels testified that He was the Son of God. 52:08 The example that I would like to use here is in Luke 1:34, 35, 52:14 when the angel came to Mary, and he said to her that she was 52:20 going to give birth to the Son of God. 52:23 And little Mary answered and said, How can this be? 52:26 I've never been with a man. 52:28 And he said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, 52:34 and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. 52:37 Therefore also the Holy One who is to be born will be 52:43 called the Son of God. 52:45 I want to say something here, and I want to be careful 52:48 how I say it, because words can be so easily 52:52 twisted out of context. 52:54 But I feel impressed to say this. 52:56 What would have happened if Mary had not 53:00 received the word of God? 53:02 When the angel told her what God said she eventually says, 53:10 I am the handmaiden of the Lord. 53:12 Let it be done to me according to His word. 53:16 What would have happened if Mary had not received the seed, 53:23 the Word of God? You see, when she received the word, 53:27 she received the seed. 53:29 Jesus said in the parable, the seed is the word of God. 53:34 Now what would have happened if she had said, Oh, I believe 53:40 that God said that, but He can't mean it for me. 53:42 He can't possibly mean that I'm going to be 53:46 the mother of the Messiah. 53:47 If she had refused that word, Jesus would 53:54 still have been born. 53:55 God would have found another handmaiden, 53:59 but Mary's history would have to be re-written. 54:03 We wouldn't even know about her. 54:05 You see, when she received the word, 54:09 she received the seed of God. 54:11 And when the Holy Spirit over-shadowed her, 54:15 she became pregnant through expectation. 54:18 She expected, she believed what God had to say. 54:22 And I want you to know today that God wants you 54:26 to receive the word. 54:30 And when you receive the word, and you really believe 54:33 what God has said, when you trust in the Lord, 54:37 leaning not on your own understanding, but you say, 54:40 God promised it. This is for me. 54:43 I receive it! Oh Lord, let Your Holy Spirit overshadow me. 54:49 You will become pregnant with expectation. 54:53 Hope, eager expectation that God is going to complete 54:58 the good work that He began in you. 54:59 Halleluiah! Somebody ought to should Amen! Amen! 55:04 This is exciting news! 55:07 We need to be pregnant with expectation 55:11 of what God is going to do. 55:13 We have such hope. Glory to God! 55:18 The prophets testified. 55:22 They said first, It says, behold the virgin shall be with child, 55:29 and bare a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel. 55:34 What does Emmanuel mean? God with us. 55:39 They also, in Isaiah 9:6... 55:44 I remember when I first discovered this Scripture. 55:47 I was confused for a little while. 55:49 Because listen to this: For unto us a child is born, 55:54 unto us a son is given. 55:57 And the government will be upon His shoulder, 56:00 and His name will be called Wonderful, 56:04 Counselor, mighty God... 56:09 Now hang on a second. here's the part that confused me. 56:12 Here's the part that confused me. 56:13 ...Everlasting Father. 56:18 Everlasting Father. 56:22 I want you to know I have researched this, and studied, 56:28 and prayed, and my finite mind cannot wrap itself around this 56:33 infinite concept that Jesus is both the Son, and the Father. 56:38 He is One with God. 56:40 Let's just accept it by faith. 56:44 We've got to, you know, we have to test everything 56:51 according to the Scriptures. 56:52 But sometimes we analyze life instead of living it. 56:57 Sometimes we over analyze things, and it's because 57:03 we don't have faith. 57:04 God wants us... When I get to something that I 57:08 don't understand in the Bible, I research it, and I pray, 57:12 and I say, God, Why? 57:14 But I finally say, I'm going to accept this by faith, 57:17 trusting someday that I'm going to understand this Lord. 57:21 And He has brought me very far in doing that, 57:24 and in teaching me things. 57:25 There's still some things that I need to learn. 57:27 And, you know, when I think I'll learn them? 57:29 Not when I'm sitting at His feet in prayer here, 57:32 but when I'm sitting at His feet in heaven. Amen! 57:38 He says also in Micah 5:2... 57:43 Oh, I've got to rush! 57:44 Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, 57:47 yet out of them shall come forth to me the One to be ruler in 57:51 Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. 57:56 Paul said, and now we're going to switch to the apostles. 57:59 In Galatians 4:4 he said, When the fullness of time had come, 58:03 God sent forth His Son. 58:04 What was the fullness of time? 58:06 It was the prophecies of Daniel 9:24-27. 58:11 Didn't Jesus even say, The time is here? 58:15 The kingdom of God is at hand. 58:18 The Time is fulfilled, Jesus said. 58:20 And John wrote in 1 John 4:14, We have seen and testify 58:27 that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 58:31 Now Philippians 2 is one of my favorites, verses 5-11. 58:36 Paul wrote, Let this mind be in you which was 58:40 also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God, 58:45 being God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. 58:50 There was nothing wrong with Him saying, I am equal with God. 58:54 He was not robbing God of anything. 58:56 He says, It's not robbery. 58:58 But He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form 59:05 of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of man, 59:11 and being found in the appearance of man, 59:14 He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, 59:20 even death on the cross. 59:23 God wants you and I to follow that pattern. 59:28 We've got to daily get up and pick up our cross, 59:31 and die to self, humble ourself, and let the 59:34 Lord work through us. |
Revised 2015-06-18