3ABN On the Road

God's Grace For The Millions

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Louis Torres

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000725


01:00 Welcome to Bible Prophecy Exposed.
01:03 We've been digging up the past
01:04 now we're looking to the future
01:05 and we're just glad that you're with us this evening.
01:07 Boy, it's been an exciting series
01:09 and as we gone further and further
01:11 with Pastor Louis Torres it's been exciting to me.
01:14 I am just glad that you can be part of it
01:17 and all of you are here and let's just ask the Lord
01:19 to bless us as we again have a very important study today.
01:23 Let's just bow our heads and pray together.
01:26 Father in heaven, today we're indeed grateful
01:28 that as we are digging up the future,
01:30 as we're looking at Bible prophecy
01:33 that You've promised to be with us.
01:34 You've said that your words are spirit
01:36 and that they are life and so we ask Your Holy Spirit
01:40 to be with us today
01:42 and be with our speaker Pastor Torres
01:44 as he opens the word to us and we thank You
01:47 and we come on the our power name of Jesus,
01:50 our master and our king, amen and amen.
01:55 We're delighted again to have another special number
01:58 and Chris Albrecht is going to be playing for us,
02:03 "He Giveth More Grace."
05:32 Thank you so much, Chris.
05:35 My wife a former concert violinist Carol
05:39 said to me that her favorite instrument was the trumpet.
05:43 And certainly I can understand why now.
05:48 This evening we are going to be studying the subject
05:51 God's grace for the millions.
05:54 But I like you to join me
05:55 with added word of prayer as we begin.
05:57 Our father, as we study Your holy word
06:00 we thank You for it.
06:02 You've promised Your spirit
06:03 to quicken our minds and impress our hearts.
06:07 We asked you to do that for us just now
06:10 in Jesus name, amen.
06:14 In the year 1794
06:17 the dungeons of France and Paris
06:21 in particular were filled
06:23 with people destined for the guillotines.
06:28 One particular night, an old man
06:30 was cast into the guillotine--
06:32 into the dungeons destined for the guillotines
06:35 and as he stumbled through the dark dungeons
06:41 he tripped over a sleeping form.
06:46 As he was about to rise
06:48 he caught the face of the individual
06:52 who was dead asleep
06:53 and it turn out to be his own son.
06:57 Not wishing to awaken him
07:00 he thought next to his son as he sat there
07:05 what could he do to deliver his boy
07:08 from the terrible fate that awaited him.
07:13 He sat there all night long
07:14 and just before dawn it struck him
07:19 and he thought I got it.
07:22 He and I have the same name
07:25 and so when the soldiers came in
07:28 and they called for Pear
07:32 he responded, here I'm John Pear.
07:37 Come with us.
07:38 And so he went with the soldiers,
07:42 they came to the registry
07:44 and there a soldier read his name again,
07:48 John Pear age 37.
07:52 Well the old man said the name was correct,
07:56 the age is incorrect 73.
08:00 Oh, the soldiers had done mistake
08:03 and scratched out 37 changed it to 73
08:07 and the old man was taken to the guillotines
08:10 where he lost his life.
08:12 Later on that morning,
08:14 the young man as he awakened
08:18 he wondered why his name had not been called
08:22 and finally somebody came close to him
08:25 and said last night an old man was sitting next to you,
08:30 he was thrown in here last night
08:31 and I see sat all night long finally
08:34 when your name was called he responded in your place.
08:41 That young man wondered
08:44 who in the world would take his place.
08:49 And he did not know until July 28th of that same year
08:54 Robespierre himself,
08:56 the leader of the reign of terror
08:58 was cast to the guillotines
08:59 and all the prisoners were set free
09:02 and when the young man arrived at home
09:04 is when he discovered
09:06 who took his place, his own father.
09:11 And my friends, 2,000 years ago
09:15 when your name and my name were called, Jesus responded.
09:22 what do you say? Amen.
09:27 Tonight as we consider this subject of grace,
09:31 perhaps I can ask you a question
09:33 if I would to ask you the question
09:35 what is grace what is to that most people
09:39 give as a definition?
09:41 Why most people say unmerited favor.
09:46 Well, that sounds like a wonderful definition
09:48 but let's consider that.
09:50 If I told you that I am giving you a gift
09:54 and you ask me what is it I--
09:57 and I say something you don't deserve.
09:59 Have I told you what it is? Yes or no?
10:03 Well the answer of course is, no.
10:06 Just because you give a nice definition to something
10:09 it doesn't mean you really have given the definition.
10:12 What is grace?
10:14 Is it just something you don't deserve?
10:17 Well, true we don't deserve but what is it?
10:20 If you ask me what is the gift something you don't deserve
10:24 or what is it something you don't deserve.
10:26 I still I'm not telling what is it is.
10:29 So what is grace?
10:33 The scripture says in the Book of Ephesians 2:8.
10:38 Ephesians 2:8
10:40 "For by grace have you been saved through faith
10:46 and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God"
10:51 Now notice the Bible says,
10:52 by grace have you been saved
10:55 and not of yourselves it is the gift of God.
10:59 Let's consider that.
11:02 God says that what saves us is something called grace.
11:07 And people just say it's unmerited favor.
11:10 But it still does not tell us exactly what it is
11:13 and therefore we must go into the Bible to discover
11:16 what this wonderful word really means.
11:19 So let's-- let's look at another text
11:21 in the Book of Acts 4:33.
11:25 Acts 4:33
11:27 notice what it says there, as you look at it.
11:30 Acts 4:33 notice in the screen it says
11:32 "And with great power gave the apostles witness
11:37 of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
11:40 and great grace was upon them all."
11:45 Now let's consider that text,
11:47 notice it says that they were able to give great witness
11:52 because they had great power.
11:55 But what was it that gave him the great power.
11:57 Well, it says great grace was upon them all.
12:03 So, let's consider that,
12:05 if great power was upon them all
12:07 then what gave them the great power?
12:08 Great grace.
12:10 Suppose they only have little grace
12:12 then how much power would they have had?
12:15 Little power.
12:16 And so, they had great power
12:19 because God had given them great grace.
12:24 Now its-- it's easy to understand
12:26 why Paul then said in Romans 1:16
12:32 notice what it says.
12:33 Romans1:16 the scripture says
12:38 "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
12:42 for it is the power," The what?
12:46 "It is the power of God unto salvation."
12:49 Notice here, the gospel has power,
12:53 the gospel is power.
12:56 So, the word here in the Greek,
12:59 by the way power is actually
13:04 comes from what we have to they as dynamite
13:08 and in the Greek is Dunamis.
13:09 So, the gospel is dynamite power.
13:15 Isn't that amazing? Amen.
13:17 And so you find then that grace
13:19 is not something that is abstract
13:22 but something that is real.
13:24 God gives real power.
13:29 God provides something called grace.
13:34 Paul himself understood the price of grace
13:38 when he said in 1 Corinthians 15:10
13:41 notice what he says,
13:43 "But by the grace of God" by what?
13:45 "By the grace of God I am what I am
13:49 and his grace was bestowed upon me"
13:54 that was bestowed upon me pardon me "was not in vain,
13:57 but I labored more abundantly than they all.
14:01 Yet not I, but" what does it say
14:03 "the grace of God which was with me."
14:07 In other words, Paul says
14:10 I am when I am and the reason I am when I am
14:13 is because I have received grace
14:16 and that grace has enabled me
14:19 to preach with far more power the good news of salvation
14:24 and that's why I am what I am
14:27 because God's grace has done wonderful things for me.
14:32 When you think of grace then
14:34 you think then of something that God provides
14:37 that you and I do not have.
14:40 In other words, the human agent
14:44 is not able to change himself,
14:47 he cannot accomplish things for God
14:50 without the power of God in him
14:53 and if a person is going to become godly
14:57 then that person needs that which comes from without
15:01 and somehow mysteriously enters within
15:04 and enables him to do that
15:06 which otherwise in his own strength
15:08 he could never accomplish.
15:09 And so, God then provides mysterious power
15:14 to take a human being and enable him
15:17 to accomplish great things for God.
15:19 Isn't that good news? Amen.
15:21 So, the divine grace is God's power.
15:26 But let me say this to you
15:29 grace also has with it forgiveness
15:33 and so it has the power to forgive
15:36 and the power to enable the individual
15:39 to live in harmony with that
15:42 which he had to be forgiven for.
15:44 In other words, as a sinner you and I
15:47 constantly sin against God.
15:50 We're told in the scriptures that all have sin
15:53 and come short of the glory of God.
15:56 Now since we have sin in order to escape from sin
16:00 we cannot do it by ourselves
16:01 and so God then must provide something
16:04 that you and I don't have and that is called forgiveness
16:07 and power to over come.
16:11 Now if God only provided forgiveness
16:13 as a lot of people think grace simply means
16:18 then you and I would have to be confessing,
16:20 confessing, confessing, confessing,
16:22 confessing all through eternity.
16:25 But I'm here to tell you tonight,
16:27 that there is good news, we are not stuck in a mud.
16:31 By God's grace you do not have to continue
16:35 the process of just confessing, confessing, confessing.
16:39 God is able through His grace to give you power
16:43 so that you can live above that which we call sin
16:47 and that is good news.
16:49 That's why Paul says,
16:50 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
16:53 Just think of it if Paul had preached
16:56 and Paul had never seen the drunkard become sober.
17:03 If Paul had preached and he had never seen
17:07 the wife beater become a loving husband.
17:11 If Paul had preached and he had never seen the liar,
17:15 become truthful.
17:16 If Paul had preached
17:18 and the sinner had not become a saint
17:20 then Paul could have been ashamed.
17:23 But Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
17:28 because it is the power of God unto salvation.
17:32 And you well now can understand
17:35 why Paul was so excited by this thing called grace.
17:38 But listen I hear a lot of people talking
17:42 about the grace of God
17:44 and I hear things like this on the radio
17:47 and on television preachers will say,
17:51 we are under the dispensation of grace here
17:56 and the people in the Old Testament
17:58 live by the law.
18:00 And so in the Old Testament people were saved by the law,
18:03 in the New Testament people are saved by grace.
18:06 And in fact, they quoted a statement that simply says
18:10 that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18:13 So, the assumption is that grace appeared
18:16 when Christ appeared on this earth.
18:19 But listen that is not exactly true
18:22 I'll tell you why,
18:24 because there are scripture that help us to understand
18:27 that grace is not just all of a sudden appeared
18:30 when Jesus Christ came to this earth.
18:32 Let me show you a few texts that will help
18:34 underscore what I have just said.
18:36 If we were to read in the scriptures
18:40 notice Ephesians 3:20
18:42 "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
18:44 abundantly above all that we ask or think,
18:47 according to the power that worketh in us.
18:51 The Grace-- the power of God,
18:53 which cooperates with the will of man
18:55 for the eradication of all sinful tendencies."
18:59 In other words, man has always been a sinner
19:02 and since man has always been a sinner
19:04 since the fall of mankind he has always needed grace.
19:10 Let me show you from the Book of Timothy what it says.
19:15 I'm gonna skip the slide right now
19:17 because I have already expressed that
19:19 but let me just share with you from 2 Timothy 1:9.
19:25 Notice what it says, "Who hath saved us,
19:30 and called us with an holy calling,
19:34 not according to our works,
19:37 but according to his own purpose and grace"
19:42 And notice it says that the Lord has saved us
19:45 and called us with a holy calling
19:48 not according to our works
19:50 but accordingly to His own purpose and grace
19:53 now notice the next part of this text
19:56 "Which was given unto us in Christ Jesus"
20:00 and what are the next few words "before the world began."
20:06 So, when was grace given to us?
20:08 Well, it says there before the world began.
20:13 Obviously grace is something that comes from the Lord
20:17 and the Lord always existed and therefore
20:19 He always provided that wonderful thing
20:22 called grace for mans needs.
20:31 Paul further states,
20:33 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
20:37 that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help" when?
20:42 "In time of need."
20:45 Can you see now tonight
20:48 as we consider this statement today
20:52 that the scriptures underscore the reality
20:55 that mankind isn't capable in his own strength
20:59 to accomplish that which God desires for him.
21:04 And because man is weak God then provides
21:07 that wonderful thing called grace.
21:10 And the scripture says, to help when?
21:14 In time of need.
21:15 Have you ever been in need?
21:17 Have you ever had conflicts in your heart?
21:19 Have you ever had challenges in your life
21:22 where you felt that you needed something beyond
21:24 what you could muster up in your own strength?
21:27 And the answer is of course, yes.
21:28 All of us have and that's why God provides
21:31 this wonderful mysterious thing called grace.
21:35 And it was given to us before the world began.
21:41 Speaking about grace I want you to notice
21:43 that the scripture says even Noah found grace.
21:48 Now notice it doesn't say anything
21:52 other than what Noah needed.
21:55 See, when Noah lived in his time,
21:58 Noah was surrounded the Bible says
22:00 with wickedness and fact that the Bible says that
22:04 there was so much wickedness
22:05 that God finally had to act and bring an end
22:10 to the wickedness of that antediluvian people.
22:13 But listen the Bible says, that God gave to Noah grace.
22:21 What did Noah need grace for?
22:23 Well, Noah needed the grace of God
22:26 the power of God to resist the tide of temptation
22:31 that was present in his day.
22:33 Noah needed the grace of God to enable him
22:35 to live in harmony with God's will
22:37 and the Bible says that Noah also needed grace,
22:41 you know, that to obey.
22:43 And so by faith the Bible says Noah obeyed.
22:49 God enabled them through faith
22:52 as we read in the Ephesians 2:8
22:54 for Noah to receive the grace that he needed
22:56 in honor for him to be true to God,
22:59 build an ark and finally land on a dry shore
23:04 after the tremendous flood that hit the earth.
23:08 Noah needed the grace.
23:09 Now, the question is this, when did Noah live?
23:12 Well, Noah lived back almost 2,000 years
23:17 after creation or about 4,000 years ago.
23:22 Did Noah need grace? Yes.
23:23 Did God provide it? The answer is absolutely so.
23:27 God provided grace.
23:28 Now we think of another time of earth's history.
23:31 It was a time for God's people
23:34 to be brought out of the bondage of Egypt.
23:38 When God decided to bring those people out of Egypt,
23:42 God had to provide for those people
23:45 the enabling power for them to obey
23:48 and by faith to do all
23:50 that we read about in the scriptures
23:52 concerning what God accomplished for them
23:54 during the wilderness.
23:55 But I want you to notice something interesting
23:57 in the Book of Jeremiah 31:2,
24:01 Jeremiah 31:2 notice what the scripture says.
24:05 "Thus saith the Lord,
24:07 the people which were left of the sword found"
24:11 what did they find?
24:12 "Found grace"
24:15 but where did they find that grace?
24:17 While it says, "They found grace
24:20 in the wilderness even Israel,
24:22 when I went to cause him to rest."
24:25 So, do you see my friends, no one has ever been saved
24:31 or shall ever be saved apart from the grace of God.
24:36 The people in the Old Testament needed God's grace
24:39 and the people in the New Testament
24:41 needed the God's grace.
24:42 And what do you suppose today,
24:44 do you and I need God's grace today?
24:46 What's the answer? Of course, amen.
24:49 And aren't you thankful that God is willing
24:53 to provide for you that thing called grace.
24:57 I am so thankful for that.
24:59 But listen let's continue
25:02 why is it then that God provides grace?
25:06 Well, the Lord says, He provides grace
25:09 because its something called sin.
25:12 In fact, in the Bible in the Book of Romans 5:20
25:18 notice that it says,
25:19 "Moreover where the law entered,
25:24 that the offence might abound.
25:27 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."
25:34 Think of it, it says then
25:37 that where sin abounded grace did much more abound.
25:43 Where there is sin God then provides what?
25:46 Grace.
25:50 You and I as sinners then need that wonderful element
25:56 that mysterious power that somehow
25:59 enters into the human fiber and enables us
26:03 to accomplish what we could never accomplish
26:07 in our own strength.
26:09 God provides that thing called grace.
26:12 And so Paul says where sin abounded--
26:16 where there is a lot of sin grace does much more abound.
26:20 In other words grace is far more powerful than sin.
26:24 Praise the Lord for that.
26:26 Good news what do you say?
26:29 But the question is this, what is sin?
26:32 According to the scriptures
26:33 sin is the transgression of the Lord God.
26:38 Notice what it says, in the book of John,
26:41 1 John 3:4, 1 John 3:4.
26:46 Notice it says there
26:49 "Whosoever committed sin transgresseth also the law
26:53 for sin is the transgression of the law."
26:58 Now consider that, the Bible says
27:02 then that when you and I sin,
27:05 you and I are transgressing the law of God
27:09 but what does it mean to transgress?
27:12 What does it actually mean?
27:14 Well, when you and I do something wrong
27:20 in actuality what we doing is violating the law of God.
27:25 Let me give you some example in the scriptures.
27:29 If we were to turn to the Book of Genesis
27:32 and read to them occasion
27:35 where Adam and Eve were tempted.
27:38 In the Book of Genesis Chapter 3,
27:40 I want you to notice something very interesting.
27:43 The scripture says in chapter 3 verse 1
27:46 if you're with me in Genesis 3:1.
27:49 "Now the serpent was more subtle
27:53 than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
27:56 And he said unto the woman,
27:58 Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat
28:02 of every tree of the garden?"
28:03 Notice it's in a situation that God really say that.
28:08 Really God didn't mean that in other words.
28:10 Well, the woman said aren't you the serpent
28:12 "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden
28:15 but of the fruit of the tree
28:18 which is in mist of the garden God have said"
28:20 Notice what it says.
28:21 "You shall not eat of it,
28:23 neither shall you touch it, lest you die."
28:24 There is a question, did this woman understand
28:27 whether she part took of the fruit
28:30 that she would die?
28:31 The answer of course is, yes.
28:33 Now notice then it says
28:35 the serpent said unto the woman,
28:36 "You shall not surely die.
28:40 For God does know that in the day you eat thereof,
28:42 then your eyes shall be opened,
28:44 and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
28:49 Then it says, "When the woman saw
28:51 that the tree was good for food,
28:52 and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
28:55 and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
28:58 she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
29:03 and gave also unto her husband with her
29:06 and he did eat also."
29:09 Now let's consider this,
29:11 I want you to know there's something interesting
29:13 number one, we already know that the woman understood
29:17 that if she violate what God said she would die.
29:21 Today we call that suicide
29:23 and so there is a scripture that tells us
29:27 a list of rules or commandments that God has given to us
29:32 concerning how we are to behave from reference to our God
29:35 and in reference to mankind.
29:37 And one of those commandments says,
29:39 "Thou shalt not kill."
29:42 But I want you to notice something also the Bible says
29:45 that this woman saw that the tree was good for food
29:48 and it was pleasant to the eyes and tree to be desire.
29:51 Now what commandment covers that?
29:53 Well the scripture says, "Thou shalt not covet."
29:57 In other words, Eve was violating
29:59 not just one commandment
30:01 now we discover she is violating two commandments.
30:04 Thou shalt not covet.
30:06 But wait a minute, did the tree belong to her?
30:08 Did the fruit belong to her?
30:10 And the answer of course is, no.
30:12 Who did the tree belong to? Well, it belonged to God.
30:15 And what the God say? Don't take it.
30:19 Did eve take something that didn't belong to her?
30:21 What's the answer? Of course she did.
30:24 What do we call that today when somebody takes something
30:27 that doesn't belong to them?
30:29 Well, it's called stealing.
30:31 Is there a commandment in the Ten Commandments
30:33 that addresses that issue?
30:34 The answer of course is what?
30:36 Yes, God says "Thou shalt not steal."
30:41 So we see now that there are three commandments
30:43 that have been violated
30:44 but then that the devil insinuated
30:46 you shall be as God so that the idea was pleasing to her.
30:51 And what is the first commandment
30:53 of the Ten Commandments?
30:54 Thou shalt have how many? No other God before God.
30:59 So let's me ask you question,
31:01 when Eve's sin what was she actually doing?
31:04 She was actually violating the commandments of God.
31:10 Now, we're told if you break one
31:14 you break how many?
31:16 You break them all.
31:17 So in reality Eve sin and the Bible says,
31:23 sin is the transgression of what?
31:26 Of love of God.
31:28 Can you see now why the Bible reveals
31:32 what really took place?
31:33 A lot of people think
31:34 well, all Eve did was just took that fruit
31:37 and boy, she suffered tremendous for just that fruit.
31:40 The reality is this there is far more
31:44 at stake here than just the fruit.
31:47 There was a violation of the transcript
31:49 of the character of God.
31:51 God had made man and woman,
31:53 perfect able to live forever in relationship with Him.
31:58 But when man chose to become a God himself
32:02 which God have said you should not do
32:05 man then fell into transgression
32:07 and become what we call today a sinner.
32:11 And that's why you and I then inherit
32:14 the natural tendencies of our forefather's
32:17 and that's why somebody usually says
32:19 I can't help it, my dad had a bad temper.
32:26 And so we inherit tendencies and those tendencies
32:31 have the ability of leading us into what is called sin.
32:38 Sin then is a transgression of God's holy law.
32:42 But listen now you see then
32:45 that the law was present there in the Garden of Eden
32:48 and the law has always been present
32:50 and that's why when man fell God provided
32:53 that wonderful thing called grace.
32:55 God forgave man and also gave him the ability
32:59 to come back into harmony with His perfect law.
33:03 And that grace was provided through Jesus Christ.
33:07 Man has always needed the grace of God after the fall
33:11 and man shall always need the grace of God
33:14 until the day that Jesus comes back.
33:17 It is through God's grace His keeping power
33:20 that you and I can live in harmony with God's will.
33:24 Well, listen, the Bible clearly says
33:28 that the law then helps us to understand what sin is.
33:31 Paul wrote in Roman 7:7 "What shall we say then?
33:36 Is the law sin? God forbid.
33:40 Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law
33:44 for I had not known lust" Which is what Eve did, correct.
33:49 "I would not have known lust, except the law had said" what?
33:53 "Thou shalt not covet."
33:54 You see, Paul clearly understands
33:57 that Eve herself lusted after the fruit
34:01 and therefore committed sin or violated the law
34:04 and Paul himself says, I would not have understood
34:07 that lusting was bad unless there was a commandment
34:10 that said thou shalt not covet.
34:14 Paul wrote often times about this Great War
34:20 that takes place in the flesh because of the tendency
34:23 to the desires of the heart.
34:25 But he also brings to light the reality
34:28 that man doesn't have to be stuck in the mud.
34:32 I remember when I was a young boy in New York City,
34:35 growing up in New York sitting in class
34:37 and the teacher making a statement
34:40 which kind of made me feel like
34:42 I was locked into a certain mode.
34:46 He said this, he said psychiatrists
34:49 and psychologists have just concluded
34:50 that if you happen to be born of a Puerto Rican family
34:54 and your father happened to be drinker
34:57 and he carry the switchblade in his back pocket
35:01 that you will also be the same.
35:05 Well, you then realize it but it so happen that
35:09 I was a Puerto Rican and number two,
35:12 that my dad was a drinker who abounded the family
35:15 and I tell you about that later
35:18 and also that he happen to be fighter
35:20 and did carry a knife around.
35:22 And I taught to myself
35:23 when the professor said that I am stuck.
35:29 And in fact it was that kind of thinking
35:33 that let me later on into getting into gangs
35:36 and fighting et cetera.
35:38 I thought well, if this is the way
35:41 I am gonna have to live for the rest of my life
35:43 I better make the best of it.
35:46 My friends, God provides grace.
35:50 What does He provide? Grace.
35:52 To get us out of those moles
35:55 that mankind and sin has set for us.
36:00 And He provides grace so that we can overcome
36:03 that terrible thing called Sin.
36:05 And so Paul very plainly makes it clear
36:09 that God's grace is an antidote for that thing called sin.
36:15 Now, let's consider what the law really is.
36:18 According to the scriptures
36:19 I am just gonna show you a few text here
36:21 and the scriptures so you can see.
36:23 It says that "The Law of God is perfect."
36:25 Psalms 19:7
36:27 In fact it says that the Law of the Lord
36:29 is perfect converting the sole.
36:32 It also says in Romans 7:12
36:34 "It is Holy, Just and Good."
36:38 It's it is the Law of Righteousness
36:41 Psalms 119:172
36:43 and same chapter verse 42, it says
36:47 it is Truth and of course Jesus himself said
36:51 I have not come to destroy the law or the prophets.
36:54 By the way, Jesus was actually referring to Psalms 119
36:59 which is the longest Psalm in the Bible
37:02 and that Psalm is divided up
37:04 into the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
37:07 Each eight verses begin with the first letter,
37:12 the second letter, the third letter,
37:13 the fourth letter.
37:14 If you have a Bible you could look at it right there
37:17 and you can see all the Hebrew alphabet
37:20 beginning with each eighth or ninth verse.
37:24 So you have eight verses then nine to sixteen
37:27 and then seventeenth and on.
37:29 Each one has the letter and when Jesus said,
37:32 "Not one jot or tittle shall be removed
37:34 from the law to all be fulfilled."
37:36 He was actually referring to the jot
37:38 is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet
37:42 and the tittle is an action mark.
37:45 And what Jesus was saying was
37:47 that not one of the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet
37:51 nor one action mark will be removed
37:54 from the law till law be fulfilled.
37:56 So here is the question,
37:57 when will this law come to an end?
37:59 Obviously the law cannot come to an end
38:02 because Jesus himself referring to Psalms 119
38:05 tells us that not the letter jot
38:08 nor the punctuation action mark
38:11 will be removed until all be fulfilled.
38:14 Well, that should help us to understand
38:17 the role that the law plays.
38:19 In fact, let me give you another illustration here.
38:24 The Bible says, "They that forsake the law praise" who?
38:28 Praise not pardon me, "praise the wicked
38:31 but such as keep the law contend with them."
38:33 In other words, if I am a person that turns away
38:40 from the law then I will do wickedness.
38:45 But if I keep the law I would contend against wickedness.
38:51 Not too long ago there was a certain judge
38:54 in the southern part of America
38:56 that wanted to put the Ten Commandments up
38:58 in the walls of his chambers.
39:01 And that began to become the great controversy
39:04 in North America over the Ten Commandments
39:06 and still its today.
39:09 But let me ask you a question.
39:11 If everyone in this town in Wichita, Kansas
39:15 were to keep just the letter of the law
39:18 what kind of city would you have?
39:22 You wouldn't have to have a police department.
39:24 You wouldn't have to have an army.
39:26 You wouldn't have to have a government.
39:28 In other words, you would have perfect citizens
39:31 and I am just talking about just the letter of the law
39:34 you wouldn't have locksmiths,
39:36 you wouldn't have to have locks on your doors.
39:38 You would be living in what? In heaven, on earth.
39:43 Just by keeping the what? The letter of the law.
39:47 But it is possible for us even to keep the letter of the law.
39:51 Where is the answer? No.
39:53 So the Bible says
39:54 that you and I need that thing called grace.
39:58 The law of God is like a mirror
40:01 many of you have gone to the mirror
40:05 before you came to the meetings.
40:07 You went and look there to see if your hair was in place,
40:10 you also wanted to make sure
40:12 that your face was clean or that you added sometime
40:14 to your face to make yourself more attractive.
40:17 But anyway whichever the case maybe
40:19 the mirror simply serves
40:21 to help you to see what you look like.
40:24 Now, you obviously don't take the mirror off the wall
40:27 if you discover that your face is dirty
40:29 and decide to try to clean yourself with the mirror.
40:32 That's not the place of the mirror,
40:34 the mirror simply reveals what you are like
40:37 but if you want cleansing you have to go to the water.
40:40 And so it is with the sinner.
40:42 When he see's himself
40:44 in contradiction of the law of God
40:46 and recognize his deformity where must he go?
40:51 He must go to the water of life to find cleansing.
40:54 And so the law simply reveals sin
40:58 and it doesn't provide power.
41:03 That's why the Bible says it is the grace
41:06 that gives you the power to come into harmony
41:09 with the law of God.
41:12 So the law actually points out sin
41:15 that's the function of God's law.
41:18 Now, the Bible says then Paul again writing,
41:27 he was having a struggle in his life.
41:31 And some commentators believe that the struggle
41:33 was that some how he had eye problem's
41:37 physically eye problems.
41:39 And he wanted God to remove this impediment
41:43 so that he could be more effective
41:45 and he asked God to remove it
41:47 but finally the Lord said to him,
41:50 my grace, my what?
41:53 "My grace is sufficient for thee."
41:56 Now, I want you to notice what it says there.
41:59 Notice that it first says, My grace is sufficient for you
42:03 then it says for My strength,
42:05 notice, first he says my grace and then he says
42:08 "my strength is made perfect in weakness.
42:13 Then it says "Most gladly therefore
42:15 will I rather glory in my infirmities,
42:17 that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
42:21 There you have it, you see
42:23 it says grace, straight, and power.
42:27 Three words they are just marvelous
42:30 which helps us to understand that Paul had this infirmity
42:34 and he wanted it to be removed
42:36 but God said to him it's all right Paul,
42:40 My grace My power sufficient for you
42:43 and Paul then was satisfy.
42:46 That God will give him the grace
42:47 to live with his infirmities.
42:49 There's some of you out there
42:51 who may be thinking to yourselves
42:53 oh, why was I born this way?
42:55 I'm handicapped or I have this problem why why oh, God.
42:59 Why don't You remove it?
43:02 I think friends that often times God permits things
43:07 to take place so that it could be a witness to others
43:12 as to what the grace of God can do in a human being.
43:16 In other words, I remember one time in Romania,
43:21 a man who used to come to my series of meetings.
43:24 There are rough 4,000 people in the audience
43:27 and this particular man had several fingers missing.
43:32 So he had three fingers in one hand
43:34 and these two fingers were missing in this hand.
43:36 So he had three fingers here
43:38 and there are these three fingers.
43:39 So, he had these three and these three.
43:44 And so he came in a motorcycle
43:49 and this man had no legs as well.
43:52 So he had several fingers missing,
43:54 no legs but he rode a motorcycle
43:57 and he came with his motorcycle
43:58 and back of his motorcycle he had a wheelchair.
44:01 So he would come and stop at the meeting
44:03 yank out his wheelchair put it down
44:06 pick himself up put himself in the wheelchair
44:08 and roll himself into the auditorium.
44:11 The wonderful thing is that this man was carver as well.
44:14 And such a carver that people from all over Europe
44:18 would come and visit him just by his works.
44:21 And I asked him how do you accomplish that?
44:23 He said by God's grace.
44:25 By what? By God's grace.
44:28 A wonderful testimony of the power of God
44:31 to enable people in this sin filled world,
44:35 with all the problem that it brings
44:37 that God provides us strength and fortitude
44:42 to be able to deal with the challenges of life
44:44 and over come where we need over coming.
44:47 So the grace of God.
44:51 Paul says my grace is sufficient for you.
44:54 Now, let me -- let me give you
44:56 some practical-- a practical illustration
45:00 concerning a thing called grace.
45:03 I was born in Puerto Rico back in the times
45:09 when it was very, very difficult in Puerto Rican
45:12 to live and my mother who was very poor
45:14 moved from her home town to San Juan to find work.
45:18 My dad who I discover later on was not poor
45:22 but just went on drinking left his home town
45:25 and went to San Juan also and my mother
45:28 and dad met together there.
45:30 After six children I was the number five,
45:34 then there was a little girl that came along
45:35 but when I was six months old
45:37 my dad decided to do something
45:43 about his relationship with my mother
45:45 and here's what happened.
45:46 One day, my mother was walking out in the streets
45:49 and she had a girlfriend and her girlfriend
45:53 happened to be without a place to stay.
45:55 So mother then invited that woman to move in with our--
45:59 with us and we have only have little shanty.
46:02 In fact not too long ago,
46:03 I met a man who was a sailor in Puerto Rico
46:06 when I was born
46:08 and when I was about five years old pardon me
46:10 and he says that he had never seen
46:12 such a poor place in all his life
46:15 as he saw there in Puerto Rico.
46:16 The place was called El Fanguito
46:18 which means literally the mud place.
46:21 And so all we had was a little shanty
46:24 and that where-- where we lived.
46:26 Well, that woman moved in with us
46:30 and I don't know how long it took
46:33 but before long my dad and that woman
46:36 ran off together.
46:38 And so my mother was devastated.
46:42 Here she had done a favor for her friend,
46:45 took her in out of the street,
46:47 out of the elements and woman repays my mother
46:52 with running off with her husband
46:53 and leaving her
46:54 with six children to raise by herself.
46:57 It punched my mother into greatest despair
47:00 and I remember from the time I was a little boy
47:05 and from the time I could remember,
47:07 my mother whenever something bad took place in the home,
47:11 she will always think of that woman
47:13 and she would say God curse that woman wherever she is.
47:19 Well, you can understand my mother's feelings.
47:20 Well, finally my little sister died
47:25 who my mother adored.
47:27 She always wanted a girl,
47:29 and every time she tried she had a boy.
47:31 Finally she had a girl and she was delighted
47:33 that she had a girl and then our little sister
47:36 because of our poorest condition dies.
47:38 And I remember my mother with a heart tears
47:40 again thinking of that woman and saying God curse her.
47:45 Finally, my mother got together
47:47 with another man and another child
47:49 came along what do you suppose it was another boy.
47:52 And so now were six boys
47:54 but my stepfather decided to move us to New York
47:57 because they had heard so much about,
48:00 the land of good in plenty.
48:01 People would say that you could find gold--
48:04 money in the streets of all that New York.
48:06 And so my mother and my stepfather
48:08 moved to New York but they could only afford
48:10 to take three of us boys.
48:12 So we went to New York City with mother and step dad.
48:15 He set us up in one of those small one room efficiencies
48:19 and then he went back to Puerto Rico to work
48:21 to get the other three boys to come
48:24 but unfortunately after several months
48:27 my mother received a telegram
48:30 and the telegram simply said your husband is dead.
48:36 We don't know what happened
48:38 we just know that he passed away.
48:41 It again plunged my dear mother and to great disperse
48:44 because three boys across the ocean,
48:50 no husband, she couldn't speak English
48:52 and three boys they're with her.
48:55 And I remember mother weeping again
48:58 and I remember my dear mother
48:59 remembering that woman and saying
49:01 God curse that woman wherever she is.
49:05 Now she find no rest to her soul.
49:08 Trouble her consciously oh, God curse her.
49:12 Well, mother
49:19 I don't know how she worked it out
49:21 but finally she got a job in the factory
49:26 we have to take care of each other
49:27 and she got enough money to bring one
49:30 and then the other and finally we are all together.
49:33 This is the picture of five of us
49:35 with my mother back in New York City
49:38 in Brooklyn, New York.
49:40 And so now we were together
49:43 and mother begins to rise us in the gallows
49:45 because all she could afford was gallows.
49:47 Well, she moves then to another place
49:50 and another gallows and finally she got sick.
50:00 She was told by the physician
50:01 that she had cancer and in those days
50:03 of course there was no remedy for cancer
50:06 rather than just try to cut off some parts from your body.
50:11 Mother again I remember her weeping.
50:16 She prayed Oh, God, don't take my life now.
50:19 Not for me but for my boys.
50:22 Lord, if I'm taken they will have no one.
50:25 Please let me live until they are old enough
50:28 to take care of themselves.
50:30 Oh, God, and then she would say but curse that woman.
50:37 While she's praying on the one hand for mercy
50:39 she also remembering that the terrible woman
50:41 that did what she did to her.
50:43 God curse that woman.
50:45 Well, while mother was sick a woman showed up
50:51 to help nurse my mother back to health.
50:54 We didn't know who she was to begin with
50:56 her name was Lolita.
50:57 This is her and Lolita spends time
51:01 with my mother in the bedside
51:04 helping her to get back into health.
51:07 The lady disappeared.
51:09 Later on I discovered who this Lolita was,
51:13 this Lolita was a wife of my dad's.
51:17 But here is the strange thing
51:19 my father without woman number two,
51:22 had left Puerto Rico and went to Chicago.
51:26 There in Chicago he left that woman number two
51:29 and found woman number three
51:31 and that woman number three was Lolita.
51:34 Lolita by God's grace heard a problem
51:38 called a voice of prophecy and began to study
51:41 the Word of God the grace of God
51:43 began to change her and through her influence
51:45 my dad also began to study the Word of God
51:48 and here is grace God's wonderful grace
51:51 began to make marvelous changes in my dad's life
51:55 and my dad and Lolita became converted
51:57 they were baptized and then decided
52:00 that they were go back to New York to reach us.
52:07 Well, finally God's grace began to change my life
52:12 I was in show business at that time
52:14 and I'll tell you more about it and I performed for eight years
52:16 in show business and the last group
52:18 I was performing was Bill Haley and the Comets,
52:21 the fame father of rock and roll.
52:23 But I left show business because of the grace of God
52:29 as God's grace began to work in my heart
52:31 I could see then that God had wonderful power
52:35 and through His power by His grace
52:38 I was able to leave the formal life
52:40 and take up a new walk in Christ.
52:43 Then my youngest brother and my other brothers
52:47 and to make a long story short, my mother herself
52:50 was transformed by the grace of God.
52:53 By the time then I was in show business
52:55 mother was into-- into spiritualism.
53:00 She had all sorts of idols and statues and things
53:02 around our house and at the same time
53:03 she would pray to the saints.
53:06 Mother was quite involved
53:08 in a lot of kind of interesting things.
53:11 Well, finally when the grace of God
53:14 began to work in our heart
53:16 my mother then gave up all those things,
53:19 accepted Christ and decided to follow His ways.
53:24 Well, here's what happens.
53:27 I become a preacher
53:29 and I'm asked to go to Chicago to preach in Chicago
53:33 and my brother then also my oldest brother
53:36 who became a minister moved to Chicago as well.
53:39 Well, I was visiting there my brother said
53:41 that I got a idea, because I discovered
53:44 that while he was knocking on doors
53:47 he came and across guess what?
53:49 Woman number two.
53:51 And so he taught it would be a great idea
53:54 to get that woman to come and listen to me preach.
53:56 Then he had another idea he thought
53:59 why don't we invite mother to come hear you preach?
54:02 And so, he and I worked it together
54:06 we paid the trip for mother to come
54:08 to hear me preach in Spanish
54:09 because my mother had never heard me speak in Spanish.
54:12 And so when she arrived my wife and I
54:15 and she were together with my brother.
54:17 My brother took us to the church
54:18 dropped us off in the foyer and said I'll be right back.
54:21 You see, he did not tell my mother what he was up to.
54:25 And so he takes off
54:28 and we're waiting there in the foyer
54:30 and people are coming in and finally,
54:33 finally the door opens and my mother
54:36 who was looking down at the floor looks up
54:39 and the door opens,
54:40 as the door opens and walks lady number two.
54:46 And when she entered that door she froze
54:51 because even though 35 years had transpired
54:56 she merely recognized my mother
54:58 and mother immediately recognize her.
55:02 And I wondered then what mother would do
55:04 after so many years of suffering
55:08 as a result of the treasury
55:10 that she suffered from her friend.
55:12 I wonder what mother would do
55:15 and I'll never forget my friends,
55:16 as I stood there watching this episode,
55:18 this woman frozen, turned pale
55:22 and my mother looking at her.
55:25 I remember what happened, her cheeks began to quiver,
55:29 tears began to come down her face.
55:32 And mother open up her arms and walk forward
55:35 and grabbed that woman and kissed her.
55:39 Oh, friends, listen, the grace of God
55:43 is able to accomplish that.
55:44 What do you saying?
55:45 Then we discovered that they were two girls
55:48 actually one girl that was born out of that relationship
55:52 and you can understand
55:54 now mother might have felt embittered
55:57 because what he wanted from dad of a girl, a daughter
56:03 was given to another woman.
56:05 And I wonder how mother would feel.
56:07 Well, we had a wedding
56:08 and my brother again invites the whole clad.
56:11 Lady number two, lady number three
56:13 and lady number one.
56:15 And they all come together and the wonderful thing is
56:20 then I saw my mother walking with my half sister
56:25 hand in hand as mother and daughter.
56:29 My friends, only the grace of God can do that for you.
56:32 What do you say?
56:33 Listen, you have bitterness in your heart
56:38 as somebody betrayed you,
56:42 as somebody done something wrong to you,
56:44 have you been unable to forgive?
56:47 Listen, the grace of God is sufficient for you.
56:52 God can give you strength and power
56:56 to overcome whatever sin you're dealing with.
56:59 How many of you here would like to say
57:02 oh God, I want that grace, give me that wonderful grace.
57:06 Let us pray.
57:08 Our Father, we thank You
57:11 for this miraculous wonderful mysterious power
57:13 that you provide Your grace.
57:15 Oh, help us we pray in Jesus name, amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17