Participants: Pr. Louis Torres
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000734
|
01:00 Hello and welcome to "Digging Up the Future"
01:03 Bible prophecy exposed. 01:04 We are glad that you are with us 01:05 and we have been exposing 01:07 or should I say our speaker Louis Torres has been exposing 01:10 God's truth night by night as we're been coming. 01:13 And we are actually to the last presentation. 01:19 I can't believe it but this is the end. 01:21 And you know there is one thing we need to talk about 01:23 before we conclude these meetings 01:24 its something that many people have asked over the years. 01:27 In fact, I was just talking during the break, 01:29 heard someone talking and they said, you know, 01:31 a question my grandfather always had was, 01:34 what is the unpardonable sin? 01:36 And tonight we are gonna be dealing with that subject. 01:38 It's an important subject and it is something 01:41 that lot of people have questions about 01:43 but we can learn some really practical truth 01:45 and so I'm glad that you are watching this evening. 01:47 Let's just invite God's presence 01:49 before we open His word. 01:51 Let's pray together. 01:52 Father in heaven, we are thankful 01:55 that You have come to seek and save the lost 01:58 both in the Old and New Testaments 02:00 that which You promised. 02:01 That's Your missing statement. 02:03 And so You are in the business of getting us 02:06 into heaven not keeping us out. 02:08 And tonight as we consider this topic 02:10 we ask that Your spirit would draw near and we thank You 02:14 and we come in Your all powerful name 02:16 in the name of Jesus, amen. 02:19 Well, tonight as we close this series, 02:24 what a wonderful piece to consider on this last evening 02:29 and that name of that piece 02:30 that we are gonna be hearing from Christ 02:32 and Anthea Hii is, "It Is Well With My Soul." 02:37 I hope your soul will be blessed 02:39 as we share in this special music together. 06:43 That was a blessing wasn't it, 06:45 and it's been a blessing to be here each night. 06:47 I want to invite our speaker Louis Torres to come up. 06:51 Louis Torres and I just want to personally thank him 06:53 for being here night after night, day after day. 06:57 You know, the people watching may not understand 07:00 that this is a real series of meetings 07:02 and there's a lot of things 07:03 that happen off the camera that we don't see. 07:06 You know, on camera and lot of people 07:08 and they value decision here 07:10 as we've gone through this series 07:11 and the Lord's been leading and blessing. 07:13 And I want to thank you for coming. 07:15 I'm thankful for the privilege. 07:18 And you know another thing I just want to mention here 07:21 I can tell, you know, over the years 07:24 Louis and Carol your wife, 07:26 you've been involved in training people 07:28 and I can tell why you are trainer 07:31 and I can tell that its a real blessing 07:33 to be involved in that kind of ministry. 07:36 And I would encourage anybody to go to your school 07:40 and if the Lord has used you in so many ways 07:43 with so many people 07:44 I'm just glad you're doing what you're doing 07:46 and I'm just felt privilege that 07:47 we hear the three angels can work with you. 07:50 Thank you so much, it's been a real joy. 07:51 And by the way about our school, 07:53 if anyone wants to go on the website 07:54 it is mission-college.org. 07:59 All right, great. 08:00 Well, I'm just so glad that you are with us 08:02 and we're looking forward to this last message 08:04 and important message 08:05 and I know you need all the time you can get. 08:07 So let's give the time over to you. 08:09 Thank you again for coming. 08:19 There's a man who was walking down the sidewalks 08:26 and came across a storefront 08:30 and it happened to be a gallery of pictures. 08:34 He began to look at each one and there in the middle 08:37 was a painting of the crucifixion of Christ. 08:43 And as he stood there it seemed like 08:46 thoughts from long ago were welling up in his mind 08:53 and he was reflecting upon his life 08:56 when all of a sudden he felt 08:58 as if though there was somebody next to him. 09:01 And sure enough as he looked over 09:02 there is a little boy standing right next to him. 09:05 And the little boy began to say, 09:07 mister, do you know who that is 09:09 over there on the right end side? 09:11 That's the Roman centurion and you see 09:14 that lady over there that's the mother of Jesus 09:18 and you see that lady over there that's Mary Magdalene 09:23 and the one on the cross is Jesus. 09:28 Well, the man felt a knot welling up in his throat 09:33 and he couldn't take it any longer 09:35 so he just properly turned around 09:39 and walked away 09:41 leaving the boy standing there and talking to himself. 09:46 As he was walking down the street 09:48 all of a sudden he felt the tugging on his coattail 09:52 and he turned around it was the little boy. 09:55 And the little boy said mister, 09:57 I forgot to tell you He died for you. 10:02 Oh, friends, we are to remember that Jesus died for you. 10:09 As we study this subject tonight the unpardonable sin 10:13 shall we ask God to bless us? 10:15 Father, we pray that Your spirit 10:17 will truly speak to our hearts 10:19 and that you will open up our understanding 10:22 and lead us into a closer walk with thee 10:24 is our prayer in Jesus name, amen. 10:29 Since we have been digging up the future 10:31 in the Book of Revelation 10:33 it gives us a picture of the future 10:35 and it tells us that after the holy city in chapter 22 10:42 if you have your Bibles chapter 22 10:44 and verse 14 and 15 10:46 the scripture gives us a very sad picture there. 10:51 Before the grand climax of the Book of Revelation 10:56 it gives us a sad picture. 10:58 I want you to know this what it says. 11:00 First of all it says 11:01 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, 11:05 that they may have right to the tree of life, 11:08 and may enter in through the gates into the city." 11:12 Now do you remember in Revelation 2:7 11:15 the Lord said that "To him that overcometh 11:18 will I give to eat of the tree of life, 11:21 which is in the midst of the paradise." 11:23 So obviously the decide that God has is to than you and I 11:26 can actually be with Him 11:29 and be able to partake of that tree. 11:31 Now forward to ask you how many of you 11:33 would like to partake of that tree? 11:34 I think all the hands would go up. 11:37 But the next passage is the one that brings sorrow 11:40 to the heart and verse 15 says 11:42 "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, 11:45 and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, 11:48 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." 11:51 Our friends, so be people inside 11:54 but unfortunately they will be people outside. 11:58 And those that are outside are lost. 12:00 By the way I should add this, 12:01 one time a dear sweet lady came up to me 12:05 and she had tears in her eyes 12:06 because she had just read this particular passage 12:08 and she was very concerned 12:10 that her dog would not be with her in heaven. 12:12 And so she said, pastor, will my dog be in heaven? 12:17 And I said my sister, that is not talking 12:20 about an animal that's talking about a quality. 12:23 What a-- characteristic. 12:25 A what? I said the characteristic. 12:27 Notice it is combined there with sorcerers, 12:31 whoremongers, idolaters 12:35 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 12:38 So these are characteristics of people who do evil 12:41 and dogs is included in that. 12:43 Now you may ask a question, oh, what is a dog then? 12:46 We know what a whoremonger is, we know what a sorcerer is, 12:49 we know what a murderer is, 12:51 we know what a liar is but what is a dog? 12:56 Well, in Isaiah Chapter 56 12:59 you could find the answer there in verse 10, 13:01 you'll find that the Bible says that a dog is a minister 13:05 or preacher or shepherd who does not bark. 13:08 In other words, those who have sick responsibilities 13:12 but who are not warned to people about their dangers 13:15 are considered to be dumb dogs who do not bark. 13:20 And so there you have it the Bible is revealing then 13:22 that there will be people outside of the city 13:25 who will be lost. 13:26 Now why are they lost? 13:28 Because they have committed this thing 13:30 which we are studying tonight called the what? 13:33 The unpardonable sin. 13:36 But listen, did they hear the invitation? 13:40 Yes, if you know this in verse 17 of that same chapter 13:44 you will discover that there is an invitation. 13:47 Verse 17 of chapter 22 says 13:50 "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come." 13:53 And then it says, "And let him that hear likewise say, Come. 14:00 And let him that is a thrist come. 14:02 And whosoever" now notice what it says what? 14:07 "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." 14:11 My friends, all of us have an open invitation to come, 14:15 what do you say? 14:16 There's not one of us 14:17 that needs to be left out, outside the city. 14:21 All of us can respond, 14:23 you can respond tonight if that is your desire. 14:27 The invitation is open, it's not a close invitation. 14:30 It says whosoever and I'm glad to hear that. 14:35 One time I had a Presbyterian friend 14:38 who was trying to convince me that 14:40 I was locked into a mold as you know some of our 14:43 Presbyterian friends believe that, 14:45 that you are predestined. 14:47 And so he showed me a text showing me 14:49 that I was Presbyterian. 14:50 And I said I can't believe that. He said why not? 14:52 Because I like to think when Jesus says, 14:55 "For God so loved the world, 14:57 that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever" 15:00 I would like to think I'm one of those whosoever 15:03 and I would like to believe that God gives me 15:07 the opportunity just like He gives it to everyone. 15:10 The challenge is that the Bible does speak about predestination 15:14 but it speaks about it in this wise. 15:16 If you were to buy a ticket right now you got on the train 15:19 that suppose you are in Germany 15:21 and you got in the train in Frankford 15:24 and that train was destined to go to Nuremberg. 15:28 As long as you stay on that train you are predestined. 15:31 You're predestined to get to Nuremberg. 15:33 If you get off that train then you are predestined 15:35 wherever you get off at. 15:37 And so the Bible reveals to us 15:40 that God has made a way to salvation 15:42 and if you get on that way to salvation guess what, 15:45 you are predestined to get because God has provided 15:48 everything necessary in that track 15:51 to make sure that you get there. 15:53 But friends, if you do not get on that track 15:55 and you decide to get on the other row 15:57 which is broad and wide as Jesus said 16:00 then you are predestined to go there as well. 16:03 And so it is your choice and my choice. 16:05 Aren't you glad that God gives us choices? 16:08 What do you say? All of us have the opportunity. 16:11 Listen, it doesn't matter how poor you are, 16:13 it doesn't matter how limited you are, 16:15 it doesn't matter how illiterate you are, 16:17 it doesn't matter how rich you are 16:18 the important thing is that there is a way open 16:22 and whosoever includes you. 16:25 What do you say? Now, what about this sin then? 16:31 If the doors are open then why is that people are left out? 16:35 Why is that people are lost? Well, Jesus made a statement. 16:38 In Matthew 12:31, 32 it says, "Wherefore I say unto you, 16:43 All manner of sin and blasphemy" all manner of what? 16:47 "Of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men 16:53 but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost 16:55 shall not be forgiven unto men." 16:58 Notice it says, all manner 17:00 except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. 17:02 Now why does it say that? 17:04 I want you to notice the next part. 17:06 "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, 17:09 it shall be forgiven him, 17:12 but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, 17:14 it shall not be forgiven him, 17:16 neither in this world, nor in the world to come." 17:19 Now you understand why it is 17:20 that some are inside the city and some are outside. 17:25 In other words, my friends, those are inside 17:28 have not committed this thing called the unpardonable sin 17:32 but those who are outside have already committed 17:35 that thing called the unpardonable sin. 17:38 Well, then what it is and what does it mean? 17:41 First of all I should remind you all of this 17:44 that in the Book of 1 John 1:9 that wonderful promise 17:48 the Bible says, "If we confess" what? 17:51 "Our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 17:57 and to" do what else? 17:59 "To cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 18:01 My friends, if you take nothing else with you from this seminar 18:05 then just that promise you have taken with you 18:07 a wonderful think, what do you say? 18:09 And so the Bible says that if we confess, 18:12 that's the condition, if we what? 18:15 If we confess our sins He will then do the rest. 18:19 What do you say? 18:20 He is faithful and just to forgive us 18:22 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 18:25 But so what is the sin then that God can't forgive? 18:28 If you confess and He forgives it 18:30 and there is a sin He cannot forgive then what is it? 18:34 Well, I should tell you first of all 18:36 that the unpardonable sin is not murder or killing. 18:41 The reason for that is, 18:42 we know that Moses and Paul himself both murdered someone. 18:48 We know that Moses murdered the Egyptians. 18:50 We know that Paul was a zealot taking Christians 18:54 and taking them to prison and having them execute it. 18:57 So we know that these both men who became godly men 19:02 both have murdered yet they were forgiven. 19:04 And we understand for example that Moses himself 19:09 was the one who appeared to Christ 19:11 when Christ was struggling about the decision 19:13 to go through to die for you and for me. 19:17 So we know that Moses was there, 19:19 we know that Paul who murdered people, 19:23 we know that he said that he longs to see the Master come. 19:27 Well, what about the adultery? 19:29 It cannot be adultery aided because we know that 19:32 David committed adultery and yet God forgave him. 19:35 What do you say? So can God forgive adultery? 19:38 What's the answer? Yes. 19:40 Well, then what about for example cursing? 19:44 Some people think is a horrible cursing 19:46 that you do against God and God can't forgive you. 19:49 Well, the scripture says that Peter 19:53 in order to distance himself at that moment 19:57 where he was tested of his filthy 20:00 and his faithfulness to Christ the scripture says 20:04 that Peter buckled under the pressure and began to curse. 20:09 And when he began to curse 20:11 he did that with that intent of making a distinction, 20:15 separation between him and the Savior. 20:18 And then the Bible reveals that Peter 20:22 when he realized hearing the rooster crowing 20:26 the scripture says that he went out 20:28 into the darkness and wept bitterly. 20:33 But we know then that after that experience 20:36 that Jesus appeared to all the disciples 20:40 and when the angels are spoke of the resurrection 20:44 they said, go and tell the brethren 20:46 and Peter, it's interesting and who and Peter. 20:50 And we know later on Peter became that great preacher 20:54 on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost came upon them 20:57 and through his preaching God mightily shook that nation 21:01 and thousands of people responded to Christ. 21:04 And we are told that 3,000 were baptized in that day. 21:07 That was a glorious experience. And who was it that God used? 21:10 Boy, it was Peter. Who was Peter? 21:13 He cursed like a sailor. He was a fisherman. 21:16 But God can change even the cursing person. 21:18 What do you say? 21:19 God can convert the murderer 21:22 and also God can covert the adulterer. 21:26 Wonderful thing friends, is to remember 21:27 that there is hope in Christ. 21:32 And now I said then if it isn't this how I say 21:35 that one commits this particular sin 21:38 and how can we understand it 21:40 so that we are not falling in the same predicament. 21:45 I should let you know one more thing. 21:49 I've had a person come up to me telling me 21:51 I'm afraid I've committed the unpardonable sin. 21:54 And they were very troubled. 21:56 And I asked him, I said are you really worried about it? 21:59 Oh, yes, I'm worried about it. 22:02 And I said well, you don't need to worry about it then. 22:04 He said why not? 22:06 I said the fact that you are concerned means 22:09 that you are still yielding to the voice of conviction. 22:17 What is that the voice of conviction? 22:20 Let's look at the scriptures to see 22:22 what the work of the Holy Spirit is. 22:25 And as we understand his work 22:26 we will understand what the sin is. 22:29 Notice John 16:8, notice it says 22:33 "When he is come, 22:35 he will reprove the world of" three things. 22:37 Now I want you to notice this. 22:38 "He will reprove the world of sin," number one, 22:41 number two of "righteousness," 22:43 and number three "of judgment." 22:46 Now I should help you to understand 22:48 that by saying this sin what is wrong, righteousness, 22:53 what is right, judgment the choice 22:56 that one has to make between what's right and wrong. 22:59 So the Holy Spirit when he convicts you of something 23:02 that you have done he doesn't leave you 23:05 with just knowing that you done something wrong. 23:08 I'm thankful that God doesn't just point out 23:10 the bad things in us, 23:12 I'm thankful that God also reveals what is right 23:15 so that we know which course to take. 23:16 What do you say? 23:17 And then you and I have the option 23:20 to make that decision which way we will go. 23:23 Hopefully when God reveals to us 23:25 that we have done something wrong, 23:26 hopefully we repent which means of course the solve for sin 23:29 and a turning around 23:31 and going 180 degrees in the opposite direction. 23:36 So we see then that the spirit of God reproves. 23:41 The other word for reprove is convicts. 23:43 What is it? Convicts. What is conviction then? 23:47 Well, conviction is the voice of God 23:50 speaking to the conscience, what is it? 23:52 It is the voice of God speaking to the conscience. 23:56 In other words, when a person does something wrong 24:00 the spirit of God brings an uncomfortable feeling to you. 24:05 You recognize that you done something wrong. 24:08 That is called conviction. 24:13 Some people do not know what conviction is 24:16 and some people don't even know there's a Holy Spirit. 24:19 For example in the scriptures you will find an example 24:23 of Paul coming across certain disciples 24:26 and when he came across these disciples 24:28 that were disciples of John, Paul asked the question. 24:31 Have you received the Holy Ghost? 24:32 And she believed and their response was 24:35 we never even knew or heard any such thing as a Holy Ghost. 24:39 So let me ask you a question, 24:41 is it possible to you to be religious 24:44 and still not even know that such a thing as a Holy Ghost? 24:48 Is it possible? 24:49 Nicodemus did not know there was a Holy Spirit 24:52 and Jesus said to him, 24:54 except the man be born of water and of the spirit. 24:57 Nicodemus said, what are You talking about? 24:59 He did not know that how the spirit work 25:02 and that there was a Holy Spirit. 25:04 So there are lot of sincere religious people over there. 25:07 I remember as a little boy 25:08 I used to cross myself as a catholic 25:10 and used to say in the name of Father, 25:12 the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 25:13 I had not the far guess I knew 25:15 what the Holy Ghost was but people do that. 25:18 In the name of the Father and the Holy Ghost 25:20 and it's just a phrase that they say. 25:23 It's a holy phrase. 25:24 It's almost like a mantra something that protects you. 25:28 But my friends, it's important for us 25:30 to know what we are saying. 25:32 What do you say? 25:33 And so if we claim the Holy Spirit 25:35 then we should know how he works. 25:37 I remember one time I was holding a meeting 25:39 in a certain place 25:41 and I presented a message one night 25:43 and a lady got pretty upset. 25:46 She was one of those ladies and the amen corner. 25:49 She was on amen, brother. Amen, brother. 25:52 She has loved the seminar. 25:53 She was learning so much until this particular night 25:56 she wasn't saying amen anymore. 25:59 And so when I got down and was walking to the foyer 26:04 to greet people and say good night to them, 26:07 a lady stopped and she said 26:09 I can't tell you how thankful I'm for that message. 26:12 I've been addicted to those things 26:14 and thank the Lord, tonight I'm free. 26:17 Well, she detained this by the time 26:18 I got to the door my Bible worker said to me, 26:21 I'm glad you didn't come any sooner. 26:23 I said, why not? 26:24 And then he told me that the lady was upset. 26:27 I said, how do you know she was upset? 26:29 Well, he said, here's what she said. 26:32 When I get a whole of that black hair beady eye preacher 26:36 I'm gonna smack him in his face. 26:39 She was not very happy with me, was she? 26:42 And so I determined I go visit the lady. 26:45 When I went in the morning and knocked on the door 26:47 to visit with her the husband opened the door 26:51 and he said, what are you doing here, Pastor Torres? 26:53 And I said well, I came to see your wife. 26:55 He said, you're crazy? 26:56 I said, well, I need to see her. 26:58 He said, okay, you are on your own. 26:59 He opened the door went off some place 27:02 and left the door open and me standing there by myself. 27:05 Well, I walked inside the home and I noticed the lady then 27:09 was wiping the counters in her kitchen 27:12 and she did not know I was there. 27:14 Then somehow as she was wiping she came around 27:17 and who do you think she saw? 27:18 And I remember her big blue eyes open up 27:20 and I remember what she did. 27:22 You! That's what she said. 27:24 And then she began to scream at me and yell at me. 27:27 And I said, what are you so upset about? 27:29 She said how could you do that to me? 27:32 How could you embarrass me in front of all those people? 27:34 I said, now sister, how did I embarrass you 27:36 in front of all those people? 27:38 She said, you knew I was the only one doing those things. 27:41 I said, I did? 27:43 And I asked her, I said, did I called you out? 27:46 She said, no. I said, did I point at you? 27:48 She said, no. 27:49 Then I said, why do you think then 27:51 I embarrass you in front of all those people? 27:55 I said really was it me? 28:01 Then I asked her the question, do you suppose that it was God? 28:06 And you know, the anger turned to a kind of a look of fear 28:12 and awe and then she said it must have been. 28:19 And I said my sister, the problem is 28:21 that you don't know how the Holy Spirit works. 28:24 When the Holy Spirit convicts the heart 28:28 people who do not know there's a Holy Ghost 28:31 think that they are being harassed 28:33 or they being singled out. 28:35 In reality, it is the sprit of God bringing to the heart 28:39 conviction about a particular sin 28:41 that the person is to give up. 28:44 Some people begin to fight against themselves 28:48 and you to the spirit. 28:50 Some people begin to fight against the truth 28:52 they have heard to reject it. 28:54 My friend, the choice is yours. What do you say? 28:57 You could either begin to fight and wrestle with yourself 29:00 and yell to that which the spirit of God has spoken to you 29:04 or you can begin to fight against what you've understood, 29:06 what you've heard and reject it completely. 29:08 Now we are getting closer to what is the unpardonable sin. 29:12 In other words, when that lady realized 29:16 that I had not pointed at her, 29:18 I had not called her name in public 29:21 and she realized then that there was spirit of God 29:23 that had put His finger on her particular sin. 29:26 That woman then realized 29:28 that she wasn't dealing with me anymore, 29:29 she was dealing with whom? 29:31 With God. 29:33 Well, friends, you might have heard a lot of messages, 29:36 you might have been troubled by some things you've heard. 29:38 You might have even gone upset but please remember that 29:41 when the spirit of God works on the human heart 29:43 He doesn't leave you at peace if you are in sin. 29:45 Why? 29:47 Because as long as you are in sin 29:48 you are in the lost condition. 29:50 Does God want you to be lost? What's the answer? No. 29:53 God wants you to saved and so the spirit of God 29:55 then works in the heart to bring to light what is right 30:00 and to bring to light what is wrong. 30:02 And so it is called conviction. 30:06 In fact, in John 16:13 the spirit of God is revealed 30:13 "That he is the Spirit of truth, 30:16 and he will guide you into " how much? 30:19 Into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself 30:26 but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak 30:29 and he will shew you things to come." 30:32 In other words my friends, you and I 30:35 do not have the ability to understand the things of God 30:38 unless the spirit of God reveals it to you. 30:41 Spiritual things is spiritual listen. 30:44 So when you are able to understand 30:47 the message of salvation, 30:48 when you are able to understand spiritual truths 30:51 who was to that reveal to you? Was it you? 30:54 By your own savvy? No. 30:56 It is the spirit of God that reveals truth to you 31:00 and when you see it, I've often times seen people 31:04 who are in my seminars and all of sudden 31:08 I can see the opening of the eyes 31:10 which means the message hit. 31:13 You understand what I'm saying? 31:14 And so when a person sees the light, they see the light 31:19 because the spirit of God has come to them 31:22 and has spoken to them about the truth. 31:25 And God desires to guide you into all truth. 31:28 Into how much? Into all truth. 31:33 Well, the spirit of God convicts of sin. 31:36 Why does he convict of sin? 31:37 He convicts of sin so that 31:39 you are brought to a position or a place 31:43 where you can sense that the thing that you are doing 31:47 is not pleasing to God. 31:51 Friends, we know that sin destroys. 31:53 We know that sin has brought the world 31:55 in misery on this planet. 31:56 We recognize friends, that as sin enter into the world 32:00 there is death and there is pain 32:02 and there is suffering and there is misery 32:03 and there is hunger, there is envy, there is hate, 32:07 there is violence, there are disasters. 32:10 All sorts of things have come. 32:13 Families have broken up 32:17 all because of this thing called sin. 32:24 Does God want to get rid of sin? 32:26 Yes. 32:27 And as we study several nights ago 32:30 God has provided the transfer 32:32 so that you can give up your sins 32:35 and Jesus can take them for you 32:37 and Jesus then can wipe them away. 32:41 But let supposed the spirit of God 32:43 is speaking to you and you choose not to turn to the Lord. 32:48 Well, it's your choice. God does not force to will. 32:51 God simply reveals the way of salvation to us. 32:56 It's up to you and for me to make the determination 32:58 which way we are gonna go. 33:00 And so the scripture says in Luke 13:5 33:04 "I tell you, Nay, but, except ye" what?" 33:08 "Repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 33:11 But the problem is friends, that you and I 33:13 cannot repent of ourselves. 33:16 There are some people for example 33:17 who become convicted about something 33:19 that they are doing wrong 33:21 and they decide not to yield to that conviction. 33:24 They continue to do what's wrong all along. 33:27 And the spirit of God continues to speak to the heart 33:30 and they decide that they do not want to give it up. 33:32 So they do not want to quote repent. 33:35 Because repent will mean to leave what you are doing 33:40 and turn away from it and chose not to do it again. 33:44 But the problem is this friends, 33:46 that if you think and there are people who think this way, 33:49 well, I'll continue to do it and then I'll change later. 33:53 Have you ever heard people say that, I'll change later? 33:55 My friends, here's the problem, 33:57 repentance is something that God gives. 34:00 Who gives it? 34:02 It is God that gives repentance. 34:04 It isn't something that you can just muster up all of a sudden 34:06 and feel bad about something. 34:08 How many of you have done things in your life 34:10 that that you didn't feel bad about? 34:12 And then if you want to feel bad about it 34:15 you can just muster up and start crying 34:17 and say I'm sorry about it. 34:18 Well, repentance isn't something 34:22 that God must give. 34:24 I want you to notice what is says in Acts 5:31. 34:27 "Him have God exalted with his right hand 34:29 to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give" what? 34:34 "To give repentance to Israel," and what else? 34:37 "Forgiveness of sins." 34:38 So can you muster up repentance on your own? 34:41 What's the answer? No. 34:43 Who can? Well, it's the Holy Spirit. 34:46 Now since it is the Holy Spirit then 34:48 that brings conviction and since it is the Holy Spirit 34:52 that brings repentance then it is up to us to decide. 34:56 Now notice then that God does not force you to repent, 35:00 He simply brings it before your attention 35:02 so that you can then make a choice. 35:04 But I want you to notice 35:06 what it says then in Romans 2:4, 35:11 "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness 35:12 and forbearance and longsuffering 35:14 not knowing that the" what? 35:16 "The goodness of God leadeth thee to" what? 35:20 "To repentance?" 35:21 My friends, God wants us to sense our need 35:26 of changing our lives of forsaking our sins 35:30 so He can save us. 35:32 But as I said before you cannot determine or decide 35:38 when it is that you're going to choose. 35:41 I know that when I became convicted 35:43 about my past life, you remember my testimony 35:46 when I was sharing with you about becoming a Christian. 35:49 I remember my friends, thinking this is not 35:52 the best time to have these convictions. 35:55 In other words, I was about to go on a world tour 35:58 to compete with the Beatles and how anxious you think 36:01 I was to begin to feel convicted 36:03 that what I was doing was wrong. 36:07 No, I was trying to shirk at him. 36:08 Put it aside and think 36:10 there must be someway to escape this 36:12 but my friends, you can't decide 36:14 when is the best time. 36:15 Let me say this to you, God knows 36:18 when it is best to convict you. 36:21 Who does? God knows. 36:23 You cannot decide when is the best 36:25 because you don't know your own hearts. 36:27 In fact the Bible says 36:28 that the heart is deceptive and desperately want? 36:32 Wicked and who can know it. 36:34 My friends, we do not know ourselves 36:37 and so we must depend upon the spirit of God 36:41 to bring to us that conviction when God sees that 36:46 it is the optimum moment to be able to yield. 36:51 God will never convict you 36:53 when it is impossible for you to yield to that conviction. 36:57 God looks at the best moment 36:59 and then He brings the conviction. 37:01 Now to you, you may think that God's timing is bad. 37:05 But if you yield yourself to God, 37:08 if you are to yield yourself to His truth, 37:10 many of you have heard about the Sabbath for example. 37:13 You being to feel convicted 37:15 that maybe you're to keep the Sabbath. 37:16 Then you begin to think about all the problems 37:18 that you would have if you kept the Sabbath. 37:20 My friends, as long as you look at the challenges 37:23 you will never make your decision. 37:25 You will never yield to the convicting power of God. 37:28 Don't look of the challenges if God is convicted you 37:32 remember this all His biddings and enabling. 37:35 In fact, and the Bible says 37:36 all His promises are yeah, yeah, and amen and amen. 37:41 God never asked you to do something 37:43 without providing the ability for you to do it. 37:46 That's good news what do you say? 37:48 And so when a person however 37:51 determines that they are not going to yield 37:53 that's where the problem comes in. 37:55 You can refuse, you can refuse to yield to the spirit of God. 38:01 The scripture has many examples of this. 38:05 We know the example of Judas. 38:07 What about King Saul. 38:09 King Saul was the first king of Israel. 38:13 God had put in upon his heart the Holy Spirit. 38:17 The Bible says even that God gave him another heart 38:21 the spirit of God changed the man 38:23 so that the man could do the work 38:26 that God wanted him to do 38:29 is to lead the people of Israel. 38:31 But unfortunately King Saul decided 38:33 he was not going to yield and placed obedience to God. 38:38 It was important for him to follow the promptings of God 38:41 because God knows what is best. 38:43 What do you say? 38:45 Sometimes you try to take the things into your own hands 38:48 and you think this is the way it's gonna work. 38:50 But my friends, it doesn't work that way. 38:52 When we decide to alter our future 38:56 we find that we completely mess things up. 39:00 When we look back and realize that we've made mistake 39:04 we can always turn to God because He does forgive us 39:07 but He can't change the things that we've done. 39:09 What do you say? 39:10 So we need to learn to yield to His promptings. 39:14 Well, King Saul would not do that. 39:15 He would always have half obedience. 39:18 He would do things half way. 39:19 God will say do this 39:20 and it would do it part way but not fully. 39:23 And God continued to speak to him, 39:25 continue to speak to him, continue to speak to him, 39:28 until the scripture says 39:31 "That the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul." 39:34 Oh, friends, it is a terrible thing 39:38 to discover that the Spirit of Lord 39:40 has departed from you. 39:42 What do you say? 39:43 It is a sin that we never want to commit. 39:47 So the Bible says that Saul, 39:50 the spirit of God could no longer speak to him. 39:53 Now what is it then happens? 39:55 Well, happens is that we all have our conscience 39:58 but you consider your conscience 40:00 the Spirit of the Lord can be speaking to you 40:02 and you hear His voice, you feel His promptings. 40:05 You know what you ought to be doing right, 40:07 or you know that you ought to forsake something. 40:09 But you begin to linger or to justify. 40:14 Why it is that you can't give it up 40:16 or why it is you can't follow this truth? 40:18 Why is this you cannot follow this way? 40:20 My friends, when you begin to try to rationalize 40:24 you always get yourself in trouble. 40:26 And so King Saul began to rationalize 40:30 and in his rationalization he found himself 40:33 without the promptings of the Spirit of the God 40:35 and now he was the leader nation 40:37 without the counsels of God. 40:40 What a terrible position to be in. 40:42 What do you say? 40:45 Well, he knew he need counsel and so what did King Saul do? 40:51 Rather than yielding to the Spirit of God 40:53 he chose to yield to spirit of the devils. 40:57 And the scripture says in 1Chronicles 10:13 41:02 "Saul died for his transgression 41:04 which he committed against the Lord, 41:06 even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, 41:09 and also for asking counsel of one 41:12 that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it. 41:14 " Notice it says, 41:16 "Even against the word of the Lord, 41:19 which he kept not." 41:20 And so he did not keep the word of the Lord 41:23 and "he enquired not of the Lord." 41:26 He enquired not of who? Not of the Lord. 41:29 "Therefore he slew him, 41:31 and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. 41:35 "All Friends, Saul went into a dark, dark grave. 41:40 When God tried to lead him, when God tried to speak to him 41:43 and he would always make some excuse, 41:46 some reason why he could not be faithful. 41:48 Some reason why he could not carry things through. 41:51 He was always blaming others 41:53 for the failures of his own life 41:55 and never took responsibilities for himself. 41:58 And finally came to a time 42:00 when God could no longer lead him. 42:02 Saul hardened his heart against the Lord 42:06 so did Pharaoh hardened his heart against the Lord. 42:09 And in the scriptures you'll find 42:11 many sad terrible experiences of people 42:14 who have hardened themselves against the spirit of God 42:16 and God can no longer reach them 42:18 because they have seer their conscience. 42:21 And so what is the unpardonable sin? 42:23 Is the continual rejecting of the voice of God 42:27 speaking to your conscience. 42:29 The hardening of your heart, the unwillingness to yield 42:32 to the promptings of the spirit of God 42:34 that is when a person finally gets to the place 42:37 where he can commit that sin 42:40 which is considered to be the unpardonable sin. 42:42 He can no longer hear the voice of God. 42:46 Ephesians Chapter 4 tells us, 42:49 "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God." 42:51 Now the word grieve comes from a relationship 42:56 that you may have with the father or mother. 42:59 Have you ever done something in your life 43:01 that brought pain to your parent's hearts? 43:03 That's shat the word grieve means. 43:05 Which means then that the spirit of God 43:08 senses can be-- we can inflict grievances upon 43:15 or we can inflict pain to his heart. 43:19 I should let you know also that the spirit of God 43:21 is not just some ethereal thing that floats around. 43:24 The Bible says that the spirit of God is a person, 43:28 in fact, its a being just like Christ 43:31 is the spiritual being and just like the father. 43:33 Now you may ask how you know that? 43:35 Well, Jesus says when He has come He will comfort. 43:38 You cannot comfort without having 43:40 the ability to sense. 43:41 Is that true? It says, He will teach. 43:44 You cannot teach unless you have a thinking process. 43:46 It said He will guide. 43:47 You cannot guide unless you know the way. 43:50 It says that He will convict. 43:53 It says that He teaches. It says that He will instruct. 43:58 And the Bible says that it is He 44:01 when He has come He shall comfort, 44:03 He shall teach, He shall guide, 44:05 He shall instruct, He shall convict. 44:08 In fact, when peter had that dream that we talked about 44:12 where he saw the unclean vision all that 44:15 the spirit of the Lord came to him 44:17 and Acts Chapter 10 and said, Peter arrives 44:20 and go doubting nothing, for I have sent them. 44:25 That was the Holy Ghost speaking to it 44:27 in essence of the spirit of the Lord sent to Peter, 44:30 arise, go doubting nothing for I have sent him. 44:34 Obviously if its an I a personal pronoun 44:37 then it cannot be some current 44:40 or some ethereal thing that falls around. 44:42 It must be somebody who can command. 44:45 What do you say? 44:46 And so throughout the scriptures you see that 44:48 the Spirit of God is a person. 44:51 When then we reject the spirit 44:55 we bring pain to His heart, we grieve the spirit. 45:00 And so the admiration is don't do it. 45:03 Do not grieve the Spirit of God. 45:05 How do we grieve the Spirit of God? 45:06 By doing things that we know will hurt His heart. 45:11 Well, Paul also says 45:16 "quench not the spirit." 45:19 Now how do you quench the spirit? 45:22 Sometimes you are thirsty, how do you quench your thirst? 45:25 You put water. 45:27 How do you quench a fire? You put water. 45:31 And so how do you quench the spirit? 45:33 In other words to douse is what it means 45:35 to douse the spirit. 45:37 Sometimes for example you may as a Christian 45:39 be walking down the street and you begin to feel convicted 45:44 that you should help somebody 45:45 or talk to somebody and encourage somebody. 45:48 But because of your own fears and all that you decide 45:51 that you don't want to hear that 45:53 and so you try to figure other way 45:54 to walk away from doing 45:56 what the Spirit of God has told you. 45:58 That is quenching the spirit. 46:00 You can douse the spirit 46:02 and make us going softer and softer and softer 46:05 until you no longer hear his voice. 46:08 Listen, a scientist wanted to know 46:13 how hot water would have to get 46:16 before a frog would jump out. 46:18 As you know frogs temperatures change depending-- 46:21 their body temperatures change depending on where they are. 46:24 If they are in cold water their body temperature changes 46:26 to the temperature of that water. 46:28 And so he began to, he put a frog inside a pan 46:32 and put water in there and then ever 46:35 so slowly began to heat up the water. 46:38 And as the water heated the frog began to feel 46:40 comfortable nice warm water. 46:42 You know, what's interesting is that the frog 46:46 never jumped out when the water was boiling. 46:49 In other words, the frog got so used to the temperature that 46:53 when the water got hot the frog remained 46:57 in that water that actually destroyed him. 47:02 The same that was can do with our consciences. 47:05 We can seer our consciences. We can what? 47:08 We can seer our consciences 47:11 and therefore be in a lost condition. 47:14 So there is a sin of commission, 47:19 in other words, things that we do wrong 47:21 and also there is a sin of omission. 47:23 There are things that we know we ought to do 47:25 and we chose not to do them. 47:26 The Lord says to you do this. 47:29 You remember Jonah, God said to Jonah go and preach to Nineveh. 47:32 What did Jonah decide to do? 47:34 He decided to go the opposite way. 47:35 No, I'm not gonna do it. 47:37 And so many times the Lord speaks to us 47:39 and tells us to do something and we don't want to do it. 47:42 Sometimes the Christian, 47:43 God says that person needs help. 47:45 No, I'm not going. 47:47 Sometimes God says you need to do this. 47:51 You need to keep God's commandments. 47:53 And you say, well, its not-- cool to keep the commandments. 47:57 It's not the best thing, 47:59 it would jeopardize my business. 48:01 Sometimes the Lord say keep the Sabbath. 48:03 Well, if I keep the Sabbath 48:05 I'll lose all my friends and all that. 48:06 Sometimes the Lord will lead you like Abraham into a place 48:10 that you don't know where you are going. 48:11 The important thing is this friends, 48:13 when you follow the Lord he will never lead you wrong. 48:17 What do you say? 48:18 And so how important is then 48:19 for us to yield to the Spirit of God, 48:22 to do that which we ought to do or to quit doing that 48:25 which we ought not to be doing. 48:27 In Acts 7:51 the Bible speaks about 48:33 the fact that the Holy Ghost can be rejected. 48:36 Notice it says, Stephen speaking 48:39 when he was about to be stoned. 48:41 He said to the people, "Ye stiffnecked 48:43 and uncircumcised in heart and ears, 48:45 ye do always" do what? 48:47 "Resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye." 48:51 In other words, the people would not yield 48:54 to the Spirit of God, it was not the thing to do. 48:57 It was not the popular thing to do. 48:59 And so because they would not yield 49:01 they harden their hearts 49:02 and finally they even were brought to place 49:05 where because they hardened themselves against God 49:09 they took this man who was a godly man and killed him. 49:14 So Christ wants us and tells us that is important 49:19 for us to yield to the Spirit of God. 49:21 In fact, here's what he says in the Book of John 12:35, 49:27 "Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while" a what?" 49:32 A little while is the light with you. 49:36 Walk while ye have "what?" while ye have the light, 49:40 lest darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness 49:44 knoweth not whither he goeth." 49:46 Walk while you have the light. 49:50 The Spirit of God brings conviction, 49:52 the Spirit of God has brought you light in turning His truth. 49:56 You understand now that God expects 49:59 to do walk in that light that you received. 50:01 God has privileged you, 50:03 God has honored you with that wonderful light. 50:06 Now in turn you need to share that light. 50:08 Remember the text that we read 50:09 to begin with in Revelation 22:17. 50:12 It says, "And let him that heareth say, Come." 50:16 If you heard the truth, 50:18 if you heard the counsels of God 50:20 then God want's you to go and share the words with others 50:23 and others as well may have hope. 50:26 And so the scripture reveals then 50:28 that God wants us to walk in the light. 50:32 There was a young man who became desperately ill 50:35 and the mother call for a physician. 50:40 The physician came and after examining the young man 50:44 came outside and told the mother 50:47 your boy has a failed diseases 50:50 and there's nothing we can do for him. 50:52 In fact he only has some six to eight hours to live. 50:56 The mother being very concerned went to the boy 50:59 and after cleaning her tears up and said to him 51:05 the doctor just told me that you don't have long to live. 51:10 And she said I called a pastor 51:13 and asked him to come to talk to you. 51:16 Well, the young man said, I don't want to see the pastor. 51:21 I don't want to talk to him. 51:24 And then he said this to his mother. 51:27 I'm lost and I don't care. 51:32 Friends, never allow yourself to come to the place 51:39 where you are lost and you don't care. 51:43 Yield to the Spirit of God. 51:45 Allow the Spirit of God to do its work in you. 51:49 And if you do you will find 51:51 that your night will turn to day. 51:53 The Bible says "He that covereth his sins 51:56 shall not" what? 51:58 "Shall not prosper but whosoever confesseth" 52:02 and what else? 52:03 "And forsaketh them shall have" what? "Mercy." 52:07 My friends, there is not a sin 52:09 that you have committed that God can't forgive from. 52:13 If you will open your heart to Him 52:15 and let Him come into your life. 52:17 Listen, one day I was preaching in a particular church 52:22 and I noticed a man walk in, big bushy red hair, 52:27 big bushy beard, sat down in the pew 52:30 and as soon as I finished he disappeared, he left. 52:33 I didn't know who he was 52:34 and I asked the deacons that they saw the man? 52:36 They thought I was hallucinating 52:37 because they didn't see anybody. 52:39 Well, the next week what do you suppose happen? 52:42 As soon as I begin to preach the man slipped into the pew 52:45 and listened to the sermon 52:47 as soon as I finish he slipped out and disappeared. 52:49 This time the deacons saw him 52:51 so they knew that the pastor was not hallucinating. 52:54 Well, the next week 52:56 then I thought oh, God, bring him back. 52:58 I want to know, that obviously the man must be seeking. 53:01 There must be something about his life that he seeking for 53:05 but he doesn't want anybody to catch him. 53:06 So Lord, bring him back one more time. 53:09 And so what I did was I prepared two messages. 53:11 One for him in case he came back, you understand. 53:14 And so that Sabbath morning the man slipped in 53:17 and did the same thing and this time I slipped the other sermon 53:20 and began to preach and I made an appeal. 53:22 And when I made an appeal that man came forward 53:24 and he was weeping. 53:26 And I said, tell me about yourself. 53:30 And he unveiled this. 53:32 He said, he had been a Christian 53:34 when he was a young man and finally as he got married 53:40 and after he got married they have two children. 53:42 But he was very restless, 53:45 wanted to do something more exciting. 53:48 And pretty soon he got into rock and roll music. 53:50 Before long he got into a band 53:53 and before long he abandoned his wife and his children. 53:57 And got into rock and roll music 54:00 and went with the band and began to travel. 54:02 Went with this woman, went with another woman 54:05 and so he abandoned his family. 54:12 As I was preaching there in Jacksonville, Florida 54:15 and that man finally came, he told me what had happened. 54:19 He said, that he had been performing 54:22 about ten years already since he had left his family 54:25 and left God and turn his back on everything. 54:28 He began to feel there was no hope for him. 54:32 He knew what was right 54:34 and he knew what he had done wrong 54:37 and he made me felt that he had committed the unpardonable sin. 54:41 But every time he performed he found himself 54:44 going deeper and deeper, lower and lower. 54:46 And finally he began to think 54:49 that nothing seem to satisfy his soul. 54:52 So one day he thought if I could just go, 54:54 go and hear something that could water my soul. 54:57 Maybe I will go to church and so... 55:00 he said I had no intention to coming back to God. 55:02 I didn't think God will accept me but all I wanted to do is 55:05 just hear something that could speak to my heart. 55:08 And he said when I heard the first day the next week 55:12 all I could do is think about what I heard. 55:14 And then I couldn't stay away and I had to come back again. 55:18 I had such peace when in sat in the sanctuary 55:22 and when I left all I could think about was that sermon 55:25 and then the next day I went back into show business again 55:29 and performed and I could see the plastic life 55:33 and all that and I longed to come back again. 55:36 And then he asked the question. 55:39 I've done so much against God will God ever accept me again? 55:44 Friends, remember this, the Bible says 55:47 "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." 55:54 I said, Earl, if you want to give your heart 55:57 to the Lord he will accept you. 55:59 Well, Earl was delighted to hear that and praise God 56:04 we baptized him and finally at last Earl reunited 56:08 with his family and are still living a Christian life. 56:14 But friends, listen, where are you today? 56:17 How is your heart with God? 56:22 Don't commit that sin. Don't turn your back. 56:27 Don't shy away from what you know you ought to do. 56:31 Ask God for strength to obey Him. 56:34 If you're afraid about losing your job remember this, 56:38 God will give you something better. 56:40 Remember, God wants to save you. 56:44 And I want you to be among those 56:47 that will be in the inside of the city 56:50 rather than find yourself on the outside. 56:53 How many of you tonight want to commit your life to Christ? 56:58 And how many of you are thankful 57:01 that the Spirit of God is still working in your heart? 57:04 And how many of you want to ask the Lord 57:06 to continue to be that working in your heart until He comes? 57:10 Shall we pray? 57:11 Our Father, thank You for Your spirit working on us. 57:15 Oh, God, help us to yield to You. 57:17 We pray in Jesus name. |
Revised 2014-12-18