3ABN On the Road

Worship Service

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Danny Shelton

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000828


01:27 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
01:37 Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
01:48 Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
01:58 God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
02:09 Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
02:20 Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea,
02:31 Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
02:41 which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
02:53 Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
03:04 Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
03:15 Only thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
03:25 Perfect in power, in love and purity.
04:24 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
04:36 All thy works shall praise thy name,
04:41 in earth and sky and sea.
04:47 Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
04:59 God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
05:21 Amen! Thank you choir, beautiful.
05:24 Holy, holy, holy! I'm thankful that we serve
05:28 a holy and righteous and just God, aren't you?
05:32 Once again for all of you viewing
05:35 on 3ABN around the world.
05:37 Thank you for joining us here
05:38 at the Shiloh Seventh-day Adventist Church,
05:41 the great city of Chicago, Illinois.
05:45 I'm also from Illinois for some of you who don't know,
05:48 but somebody said I talk a little bit different
05:51 than you do around Chicago.
05:52 So I don't know I guess it's because
05:53 I'm several hundred miles south,
05:55 we have a little bit of different accent.
05:57 And, what I always say is I notice some of you
06:00 have accent so in the Chicago area.
06:02 But I was born and raised about 300
06:06 and whatever 20 miles south here
06:07 in a little place called West Frankfort, Illinois.
06:10 And so it's good to be in our home state.
06:12 We travelled around the world
06:13 Last week, Brandy and I were over in Sweden and Denmark.
06:18 And weeks before that we were in many, many states,
06:20 so it's nice to be in our own home state
06:22 here today of Illinois.
06:24 And once again thank you for letting us
06:27 come here to the Shiloh Church.
06:29 I was thinking just a little bit ago.
06:31 Now I'm not a... I will tell you upfront
06:32 since you already here, not likely to leave
06:34 till after the church service.
06:37 I'm not a preacher, nor the son of preacher,
06:40 I'm just a person, a lay person who loves the Lord.
06:43 And I have a testimony to share
06:45 what Jesus has been doing in my life
06:47 over the last many years.
06:48 And so today I just want to share some things with you.
06:51 I made a few notes, I'm not normally a person
06:54 who writes down notes, but a little while ago,
06:56 the Lord was giving me some things this morning,
06:58 whether He changes my course, I don't know.
07:01 But what I was trying to think about
07:03 and what hit me last night and this morning
07:06 is the difference in the early church,
07:09 the Christian church and the church of today.
07:12 Now the early church as you know they came together,
07:16 Acts, we won't go through all of it.
07:17 In Acts, the 2nd Chapter says,
07:19 they all came together in one accord,
07:21 daily they were breaking bread together.
07:24 And I mean people were dividing up their possessions
07:27 and giving and sharing among.
07:29 You know the story right.
07:31 And then I go over to the 4th and 5th Chapter,
07:34 and I see that the disciples were arrested,
07:37 because they were bold, it says.
07:39 Peter and John, they spoke with boldness
07:41 and so the leaders were getting upset.
07:44 So they were arrested and jailed.
07:46 And I saw a movement, where Jesus said,
07:51 "Go ye into all the world", Mathew 28:18-19-20,
07:57 "Go ye into all the world
07:59 preach the Gospel into all the world."
08:00 We see a movement of lay people,
08:03 coming from all different walks of life,
08:06 coming under the annoying of the Holy Spirit,
08:08 and we are seeing blind eye is opened,
08:10 we are seeing the lame to walk again.
08:12 We are seeing many, many tremendous things
08:14 happening under after the day of Pentecost,
08:17 Pentecost under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
08:21 And so now we believe as church members,
08:24 that we are going to see a latter rain,
08:25 an outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
08:28 and this is going to be the first rain,
08:31 it's going to be like a little one compared
08:33 to the big one, right.
08:34 I mean there are more profess Christians
08:36 I believe in the world today
08:38 than they were people total back then.
08:42 And so I'm told that including all the Christians,
08:45 there must be something like a billion people
08:47 on this earth they claim to be Christians.
08:49 So I say, well, if the latter rain is going to come
08:53 and this earth is going to be lightened
08:54 with the glory of God.
08:56 Jesus said 200 years ago,
08:58 Go ye into all the world and yet the Gospel
09:01 is still not into the all the world.
09:02 What's the difference in the early church
09:05 and the church of today?
09:07 The early Christians it says, they were arrested.
09:10 They were arrested for going out
09:12 and giving the Gospel with such boldness.
09:14 And it hit me just while ago,
09:16 I sat in the pastor's office and I said,
09:18 Lord, what is the difference
09:19 between that church and us today?
09:21 What could this church?
09:22 What could our church to Christian church
09:24 of today get arrested for?
09:26 The first thing that popped in my mind was loitering right,
09:31 and by with me. That's about the only thing
09:35 most of us would get arrested for,
09:37 it's just sitting around doing nothing right,
09:39 loitering on a street corner somewhere.
09:42 And I said this is no good, I mean Jesus said,
09:45 take the Gospel into all the world.
09:47 These few handful of people began to take it
09:50 to the then known world and great science
09:52 and wonders followed after them.
09:54 And yet today 2000 years later,
09:57 we have technology that,
09:59 well, as we are speaking here today in Shiloh,
10:01 there are people in Russia, India, China,
10:05 just went on China, just a few weeks ago
10:07 reaching much of China, India, Asia,
10:10 countries around the world.
10:11 We get emails and letters from Afghanistan
10:15 as mentioned this morning,
10:16 from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia.
10:19 People are watching this program around the world,
10:24 we are going up to 8 satellites.
10:26 22,300 miles to space down to earth back up,
10:30 back and forth continually around the earth
10:32 all doing it in a split second traveling
10:35 at a speed of 186,200 miles per second.
10:39 And yet it seems like the old saying
10:40 the further we go as Christians, behind we get.
10:44 Something is wrong and something has to happen
10:47 within God's church for Him to come back
10:51 for the second coming to the earth,
10:52 or should back and to see a great and mighty,
10:55 marvelous things happen.
10:56 Revelation 18 says,
10:57 "And the earth will be lightened
10:58 with the glory of God."
11:00 And I'm here today to say to you,
11:02 I believe one of the problems that we have today is that
11:06 we don't take personal responsibility
11:09 for God's great commission of Mathew 28:18-19 and 20.
11:13 As church members, as Christians today
11:15 we depend on our pastors to do it.
11:18 We depend on our church outreach to do it.
11:20 We depend on ministries like 3ABN
11:22 or It Is Written or Breath of Life to do it
11:25 and somehow we think that releases us.
11:28 We can buy somebody a satellite dish
11:30 and think that's all we are supposed to do,
11:31 so they can watch 3ABN, right.
11:34 But see God wants us to get personally involved,
11:37 but it's hard to get personally involved
11:39 if we don't have a personal relationship
11:42 with the Creator of The Universe.
11:44 All right, you are with me so far, okay, all right.
11:47 We are going to take this track
11:49 and we are going with it pretty fast.
11:51 What I call this thing and today
11:53 I didn't know really because I'm not a,
11:55 I don't refer to these sermons.
11:57 I'm just a talker, so today,
12:00 several things come into my mind.
12:02 I didn't know whether to entitle this little talk,
12:05 the devil doesn't fight fair
12:08 or the three L's like H I J K L M N O P,
12:13 I decided let's make it, the thee L's today.
12:16 I'm writing new little book
12:17 it's called the Church Rumor Mill.
12:19 And it talks about how the rumor mill started in heaven.
12:23 You remember he perfect world,
12:25 perfect heaven, but Satan for some reason,
12:28 we will know this when we get to heaven.
12:31 But for some reason he began
12:32 to covet God's position, didn't he?
12:34 And he wanted to be, he says,
12:36 I should be like the Most High God.
12:38 We could read about this in Revelation
12:40 and also back in Isaiah.
12:41 But I should be like the Most High God.
12:44 Well, in order to be the Most High God,
12:47 he has to get some support and he has to build an army.
12:50 So what does he do? He begins to go, talk, talk,
12:54 using his mouth to try to bare false witness against God.
12:58 That's breaking another commandment, isn't it?
13:00 So he covered it and now he began
13:02 to bare false witness, so he could gain supporters,
13:06 so he could overthrow the Creator God of the Universe.
13:08 Now what was he thinking?
13:11 Huh, What was he thinking?
13:13 Wasn't thinking at all was he, he was selfish.
13:16 Now some people say, well, the Ten Commandments
13:19 they only came into effect when God gave them to Moses,
13:23 and the children of Israel, and God gave them
13:25 to Moses on Mount Sinai.
13:26 But I have to tell you the Ten Commandments
13:28 have been here from the beginning of time,
13:30 because the Ten Commandments
13:31 are nothing more than transcript
13:33 of God's own character.
13:35 And the Bible says, in John that God is a God of love,
13:39 that God is love.
13:40 So here we have Satan up here
13:43 and he is breaking the Ten Commandments.
13:45 Well, if there is no sin, if there is no law,
13:47 there is no sin, right?
13:49 If they were no Ten Commandments,
13:50 and he didn't do wrong by coveting,
13:52 by baring false witness, but what happened is,
13:55 as you know and I won't go through the whole story.
13:57 It says in Revelation that Satan,
13:59 that old serpent, the dragon,
14:01 was cast out and a third of the stars of heaven
14:03 went to him to this earth.
14:05 And what happens is Satan began to work
14:07 on this earth to destroy everybody that he could,
14:10 everybody they can? So during...
14:12 what we call the dark ages he began to use
14:16 churches as it will, powers, religious powers
14:19 to kill millions of people.
14:21 Now, I wrote down something that hit me while ago,
14:23 nothing hurts Christianity worse
14:26 than professed Christians not living
14:28 according to the great Gospel commission
14:30 of "Go ye into all the world". Nothing hurts.
14:33 We don't have to worry about what's on the outside.
14:36 Who cares what an atheist thinks, right about God.
14:38 They don't have any right, right.
14:40 I mean, they say or an agnostic.
14:42 Well, I don't believe in God or whatever.
14:44 We don't care what they say,
14:46 because no matter what anybody tells me and says to me.
14:49 I know that God is alive and well because
14:51 he lives in my heart. He is in my mind.
14:53 You can't take Jesus away from me.
14:56 Nobody can influence me on that.
14:58 So we don't have to worry and spend
15:00 all of our time worrying about what the enemy is doing.
15:02 We need to concentrate on God and what he is doing?
15:05 What he has done for us? And what he called us to do?
15:08 So Satan went out and through the church,
15:10 called the Church of Rome at the time began to persecute
15:13 and kill millions and millions of people.
15:15 Now that was his tactics.
15:16 I want to just get rid of all the Christians.
15:18 It's okay to do that back then.
15:19 It was politically correct, right,
15:21 when you are in charge of everything.
15:23 So I can do what I want to.
15:25 So Satan goes out and he says, I will just kill
15:27 all the Christians, but, you know, the story.
15:29 It only spread Christianity as people began to flee,
15:33 you can't put the light out.
15:35 See Jesus is the light of the world,
15:36 so Christianity began to spread.
15:38 So later on after many, many years
15:41 and Satan is not too smart,
15:42 because it takes him a long time
15:43 to figure out some of these things.
15:45 He decided, you know, what I got to quit this,
15:48 this just isn't working.
15:50 All I'm doing is spreading the Gospel.
15:52 What can I do? I mean these early church people,
15:55 they were dividing up their possessions.
15:57 They were sharing with each other.
15:58 They were really coming together
16:00 in one accord and the great
16:03 and mighty and marvelous things was happening.
16:06 But these people today, they don't seem,
16:08 you know, what I think I'll go inside the church now.
16:11 I think I'll go work, I start quit...
16:15 as they say preaching gone to meddling, right.
16:18 He says I think I'll go into the church now
16:20 and I'll start working with people.
16:22 So he likes to come in and deal inside the church
16:26 and so today I believe
16:27 that we are looking at some problems
16:29 and the reason the Gospel is not gone into all the world.
16:33 Satan's tactics are the same,
16:34 but John 10:10 says he is ought to steal,
16:37 kill and to destroy. But we have to remember
16:40 Jesus says I'm come to give you a life
16:42 and give it more abundantly.
16:44 But what Satan did in heaven
16:46 he is now doing today within the church.
16:49 The rumor mill is alive and well,
16:51 I'm sorry to say within the Christian church.
16:53 I know that it's alive and well,
16:55 I've been a victim of it.
16:56 And I've victimized people about it.
16:59 All right, confession is good for the soul,
17:01 yet hard on the reputation, right.
17:03 All right, because I can't stand here
17:05 and point any finger at you all without
17:06 three of them pointing back at me.
17:08 So I've been guilty,
17:11 I've been guilty of doing that myself.
17:13 Oh, what she thinks she is doing up there,
17:15 she can't sing? Oh, did you hear what this person's did?
17:20 No, what they hear.
17:22 And the rumor mill to continues to go.
17:23 See what Satan found out
17:25 he could not physically since God is the spirit,
17:27 he could not physically kill God and take over heaven.
17:31 So he tried to assassinate his character.
17:34 And so many times Satan uses
17:36 Christian people to assassinate each other.
17:40 They are character. No, it's not politically
17:42 correct to kill somebody,
17:44 you know, today and there is laws against it.
17:47 So what we do is as we began to say things
17:50 about people and then act like
17:53 we don't know what happened.
17:55 When it all comes out we don't know
17:56 where that came from? Somebody told me once,
18:00 he said you know how I stop it
18:01 when somebody brings me something,
18:03 they say listen I got to tell you something.
18:06 Did you hear about brother so and so.
18:08 No, I didn't hear about it.
18:10 I want to tell you about it.
18:11 Really. And yeah, can, let me tell you what happened.
18:15 Oh good, that's fine you can tell me?
18:17 But now I can quote, can I?
18:19 Well, that will shut off most people
18:21 they don't want to be quoted, right.
18:23 When people are bringing you something
18:24 and talking about things they shouldn't be,
18:26 they want to be silent,
18:27 they want to be behind the scenes.
18:28 Nobody wants to be quoted on things like that.
18:31 So here we have Satan has learned
18:33 to work within the church.
18:34 A house divided against itself cannot stand, right.
18:38 Satan begins to work on other things
18:40 within the church. There is the thing
18:41 that I call the three L's, one of them is Legalism.
18:46 You probably haven't heard of that before?
18:48 But I want to tell you something
18:49 Legalism is dangerous.
18:50 Legalism crucified Christ.
18:53 Somebody with me, am I telling the truth?
18:56 All right, Legalism crucified Christ.
18:58 Here are the people, the God's chosen people
19:01 preaching the Messiah for hundreds of years,
19:04 waiting for the Messiah to come.
19:06 The Messiah comes in the midst of them.
19:08 They don't have time for Him.
19:09 They don't even recognize Him,
19:11 because they have taken their eyes off of God.
19:13 And they put their eyes on themselves
19:15 and on man and began to put out so many laws,
19:18 man made laws that who could even remember them,
19:21 who could know all of them?
19:22 They didn't even recognize the savior of the world
19:26 and they cried crucify Him, crucify Him.
19:29 Let me explain to you now,
19:30 I'm not a theologian, so you have to forgive me.
19:32 If I'm a little bit CA and both Pastor Murray is here.
19:36 I'm just going to give it thus says Danny, right.
19:38 What it is to Danny this morning?
19:41 Well, let me tell you a little bit
19:42 about Legalism within the Christian church.
19:44 And I'm talking about you Baptist too,
19:46 and you Methodist and Pentecost and all those,
19:49 because I've been to your churches too.
19:51 We are no different, right. We are alike.
19:54 We are sinner saved by grace.
19:56 We all have problems.
19:58 And today what we need before
20:00 the latter rain can be assured in?
20:02 We need to see a revival and reformation
20:05 taken place within our hearts and minds.
20:08 Not so much our church service.
20:09 I'll talk about that just a little bit later on.
20:12 But God wants our hearts, that's really all He wants.
20:14 We need to develop a relationship.
20:16 Now the legalist, I grew up somewhat of a legalist.
20:19 Anybody grow up legalistic Adventist family
20:22 or some other family.
20:24 Oh, now common you are being honest with me.
20:26 I'm the only one here,
20:27 say in this entire auditorium, filled with people.
20:31 Legalism, let me explain to you?
20:33 Legalism has lot of do's and don'ts.
20:36 You don't do this, you don't that.
20:37 You don't do this and you don't do that.
20:39 My parents said, you do it because I told you so.
20:42 And if you don't, you get a whipping,
20:43 my dad use to say.
20:45 He didn't say whipping, he said whipping
20:46 and there is a difference.
20:47 If he hadn't had whipping,
20:49 then you don't what a whipping is?
20:51 It's different than whipping, I guarantee you?
20:55 You remember the whipping, all right.
20:57 So my dad was from Arkansas,
20:59 and he knew how to get say
21:00 and give good whippins for sure.
21:02 So there is a difference,
21:03 but they have said and a lot, I'm thankful to my parents,
21:07 they were great Christians They love the Lord.
21:09 But I grew up, now I like to play ball,
21:11 I didn't care what kind of ball?
21:12 If its basketball, ping-pong, football,
21:15 anything that was a ball, softball,
21:17 baseball that you could have. I liked to play it.
21:18 Now Sabbath's would come along
21:21 and I always wished I was outside
21:23 with my friends playing ball instead of being in church.
21:26 I'm the only one like that, aren't you?
21:28 Okay, yeah, that's amazing.
21:30 I'm talking to you folks there,
21:31 because these folks they don't have
21:33 these problems, all right.
21:35 We all, we found a heaven on earth, right here.
21:38 Everybody has got it all together, all right.
21:41 So I wanted to be out see playing ball
21:44 and having a good time.
21:46 But even when I got out of school
21:48 and ended up getting married away from my folks,
21:52 I still kind of really want to play ball on Sabbath,
21:54 but I didn't because I knew it's wrong, now why?
21:57 I wanted to go to heaven, I wanted to go to heaven,
22:01 so I said well, I want to go to heaven
22:04 more than I want go play ball for instance on Sabbath
22:07 or more than I wanted to do this or that,
22:09 but I didn't do it with a big smile on my face.
22:12 I was willing to sacrifice something I love,
22:16 just so God could see I want to go to heaven.
22:18 Now there is something missing in this,
22:21 what I'm telling you.
22:22 It's called relationship. I didn't really know Jesus.
22:27 I didn't really know Jesus, because I was trying
22:30 to do all the right things,
22:32 as they say for wrong reasons
22:34 trying to do all the right things.
22:36 Though I was doing it because I was taught
22:39 and it wasn't a lack of knowledge.
22:41 I learnt a lot about the Bible growing up.
22:44 My mother was a praying Christian,
22:45 my father they love the Lord,
22:47 we studied the Bible together.
22:49 I knew a lot about the Bible,
22:51 but I did not somehow develop this relationship.
22:54 So now I never went out, lot of you got testimonies.
22:57 I never went out and drink and smoke
22:59 and did all the things and drugs and parties,
23:02 because I want to go to heaven, I want to be saved.
23:06 But that's not what God is wanting?
23:08 It's not my actions,
23:09 I can't work myself into heaven, can I?
23:12 So what I need is a relationship,
23:14 so what happens, many people who were raised
23:16 like I was back in the 50's and 60's.
23:19 Some of you don't even have any idea,
23:21 that's a long ways back to you, right.
23:23 But you raised like I was,
23:25 what I noticed happening in the America in the 60's,
23:28 I was in the high school in the 60's.
23:30 In the 60's in America, we got the hippy movement,
23:33 anybody remember the hippies, all right.
23:36 We had the hippy movement
23:38 and all of a sudden it was a free everything, right.
23:40 And the saying was if you feels good, do it.
23:44 Well, somehow that began to creep into the church.
23:47 Hello, somehow it began to creep into the church,
23:50 because people began to say, well, you know what,
23:53 I don't like all these do's and don'ts.
23:55 I was raised in that, I don't like these do's and don'ts,
23:58 that's Legalism. I hate do's and don'ts,
24:01 I want to get that out of my life.
24:03 So all of a sudden is born the same movement
24:06 if you feels good do it kind of within the church
24:09 to rebel against to me a liberalist,
24:12 is when you rebel against Legalism.
24:14 You didn't like the Legalism,
24:15 so know you want to go the other side.
24:18 See Legalism falls off the boat here,
24:20 Liberalism falls off the boat on this side and by with me.
24:24 So now we start saying, well, you know
24:27 that's not really that important.
24:28 I mean, we don't have to do it this way.
24:31 And you know we have done things
24:32 so long that way, I think it's okay.
24:35 What difference does it make if we do this
24:38 or if we do that?
24:40 And the liberalist, he doesn't mind
24:43 making your church service, your worship service
24:46 look and dress it up like a Hollywood movie set, right.
24:49 I was at a church one time in the south,
24:52 and I was talking there with a conference president
24:55 and one of the people there said,
24:56 you know, I'm really upset because
24:59 our church's celebration churching
25:01 and our church doesn't.
25:03 So this conference president,
25:04 he said, I don't think that's a celebration church.
25:06 I thought it was a very conservative
25:09 right down the line Adventist Church.
25:11 And the lady said well, she is a little old lady,
25:15 she must have been 90 years old about this tall,
25:17 she goes, well pastor, I don't what you call up
25:20 when superman jumps out the baptismal tank
25:23 during church service,
25:24 but that's not what I'm used to, you see.
25:26 But on the liberal side of things,
25:29 we think its okay to start backing away,
25:31 because we don't want our kids raised like we were.
25:34 Now, the liberals wants to go to heaven, right.
25:37 I want to go, he wants to go to heaven,
25:39 but he just don't see the importance,
25:41 because he was turned off by all the do's and don'ts.
25:44 Now you see why I'm calling this,
25:45 does say Danny pastor because this may not fly
25:48 with some of your theology.
25:49 But for me this is what I see and I meet a lot of people.
25:53 So here you got people on one side
25:55 of the boat falling out, because Legalism is not right.
25:57 God wants a relationship and he wants us to serve him,
26:00 because we love Him, and because He first loved us.
26:04 Then on the liberal side of things,
26:06 people still want to go to heaven,
26:08 but we are tired of the old do's and don'ts,
26:10 so now, everything is okay to creep in.
26:14 Well, you know, we don't wear jewelry,
26:16 but now, well, we can just wear a little bit of this.
26:18 Well, if you wear that, maybe a little this
26:20 or hurt or little of that don't hurt
26:22 and the dress doesn't really make any difference.
26:24 God's just looking at your heart.
26:26 We don't care how people dress?
26:27 And you know what I don't think
26:30 it hurts to go to the movies.
26:31 I don't think it hurts to rent videos and CD's
26:34 and some of them maybe though they are rated
26:36 PG or R or whatever. I'm starting to step,
26:39 I'm getting on your nerves now or not.
26:42 All right, I'm getting on your nerves.
26:44 Somebody said only one man said go ahead, come here.
26:49 All right. All right. That's all I needed right there.
26:53 I just needed that one man to say all right.
26:56 All right, he says I can keep going,
26:59 so we have that problem within the church.
27:02 All right, we are not all together,
27:04 somebody is over and somebody is on the left side
27:07 and somebody is on the right side of the church,
27:09 somebody is in the middle, who is in the middle?
27:11 Well we got Legalism as one L, Liberalism as the other L,
27:15 and the third L that's really hurting this,
27:18 I believe keeping the Gospel from going
27:21 into all the world is Lazyism, all right.
27:25 Legalism, Liberalism and Lazyism, all right.
27:31 The lazy guy, he wants to go to heaven too, right.
27:34 He wants to go to heaven too,
27:36 but all he wants to do is he wants to show up
27:38 at the board meetings or business meetings.
27:40 And when they say we need an evangelistic series.
27:42 He is like we don't have the money for that?
27:45 We don't need to do that?
27:46 We need to have a good bank account
27:48 and we need some security here in the church.
27:50 Well, we need to go out and pass out.
27:52 Oh! Well, you know, I don't think we need to do.
27:55 People around here know what we believe
27:57 and I don't believe.
27:58 The Lazyism gets bed sores basically, right,
28:02 because he is willing to just lay around and do nothing.
28:05 But the sad part is I want you turn with me.
28:08 We will go through this very quickly Revelation.
28:12 Revelation, the 3rd Chapter.
28:14 Some of you know where I'm going to go to,
28:16 Revelation 3:14. And it says,
28:20 "And unto the angel of the church
28:21 of the Laodiceans write,
28:23 These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
28:27 the beginning of the creation of God,
28:29 I know thy works, that thou art neither,
28:32 what? cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot.
28:38 So then because thou art lukewarm,
28:41 and neither cold help me, nor hot, I will do what?
28:45 I will spew you out of my mouth.
28:47 Now this is God almighty speaking
28:49 and in my Bible its read this is Jesus speaking
28:52 that He says that He is going to do what this?
28:55 If we are Laodicean, which I call the lazy Christians,
28:59 that's all right to do, that fit into theology,
29:01 okay pastor. All right,
29:02 the famous Murray says yes,
29:04 the other one is thinking about it. Okay, all right.
29:08 The other Murray is thinking about it.
29:10 He is kind of given a nod.
29:12 Okay, so what happens is the lazy Christian,
29:15 that's really what we are?
29:17 It's not a matter of not having
29:18 technology to go to the world.
29:20 It's not a matter... we have got the Internet,
29:23 we can get the Gospel of the world.
29:24 We've got printed page, we've got radio,
29:26 we've got Television, we've got shortwave.
29:29 I mean we can get the Gospel into all the world.
29:33 But the lazy guy says, well, you know,
29:36 I would really like to get out and do something for God,
29:39 I liked to witness but I don't have the gift of gab,
29:42 like CA Murray does. I don't have the gift of singing,
29:46 like John Lomacang does. I just can't talk?
29:49 And I always think to myself,
29:51 really I have seen some of those folks.
29:53 When they go to town and if they go to restaurant
29:56 and somebody doesn't cook the food
29:58 just the way they want they know how to talk pretty well
30:00 and say look this is what I want?
30:02 Somebody goes to buy a car, and this same person
30:05 that says I'm just too quite.
30:07 He sure knows how to negotiate,
30:08 when it comes to getting
30:09 a good deal on a car, doesn't he?
30:11 See, people do what they want to do?
30:13 I must say that again,
30:15 that's a statement that I grew up
30:16 hearing around my house.
30:17 My dad said, used to tell my mom
30:19 all the time when I was kid,
30:21 people do what they want to do.
30:23 I didn't understand all of it at that time,
30:25 but for instance one time I heard my mother,
30:27 she was on the telephone.
30:28 Somebody had died that we knew was in acquaintance
30:31 not a real close family member or a friend
30:34 but an acquaintance.
30:35 That we knew and she was telling this
30:36 other woman on the phone, you know,
30:38 I really wanted to go to that funeral,
30:40 but I just couldn't, you know, I really want to go.
30:42 She hung up the phone and my dad said honey
30:45 why did you tell her you want to go to the funeral,
30:47 but you couldn't. Well, I didn't want to go,
30:50 he said no you didn't want to go.
30:52 We got a car with some gas in it.
30:53 I was here with the kids,
30:55 I mean if you really wanted to go,
30:57 you would have gone.
30:58 People do what they want to do, right.
31:00 We make excuses, there is a song says,
31:03 Excuses, excuses, I hear them every day.
31:07 The devil he will supply them
31:08 when from church you will stay away.
31:10 Right, there is a song is entitled "Excuses."
31:14 It says you come you say all this.
31:16 You know, the reason I don't
31:17 sit through Sabbath school and churches,
31:19 the pews are too hard.
31:21 But the song says you go to that ball game
31:23 and sit on those old bleachers for hours
31:25 and you don't complain.
31:27 Well, you know, I just don't get excited in church.
31:31 I just think it's wrong too, you know, I like quietness,
31:34 I don't get excited about,
31:35 you know, and show my emotions.
31:36 No! Go to that ball game again, right.
31:39 Let's see how excited you are
31:41 when it comes to something like that?
31:42 Somebody give you a check for million dollar,
31:44 you won't get excited?
31:46 All right, how about the salvation?
31:49 Getting salvation from Jesus
31:50 isn't that worth a lot more than a million dollars?
31:53 People do what they want to do.
31:55 And so therefore the Laodicean,
31:57 the lazy Christian, he just is like,
32:00 you know, everything is okay.
32:03 Don't worry about it,
32:04 I don't think we really have to go do all of this?
32:07 If I understand the Bible right you and me
32:11 when we take on the name Jesus Christ,
32:13 as Christian, we represent Jesus Christ
32:16 and when Jesus says, "Go ye into all the world."
32:19 He commanded it. He didn't ask it.
32:21 He wasn't asking our opinion about it?
32:23 He gave us an order. He said, "Go ye into all the world."
32:26 Now he says, well, some of these people
32:28 just in case they doubt that I said to them
32:32 to go into all the world.
32:34 You look at Mathew 28:18 before you get to 19 and 20
32:39 and Jesus says all power is given me,
32:43 all power is given me,
32:45 go ye there therefore into all the world.
32:47 So what He just said is
32:49 now any time you sinned, man I don't know how to do?
32:51 We can't do that? What are you talking about?
32:53 If you are a Christian,
32:55 Jesus is saying if you are Christian,
32:57 you submit and commit your lives to me.
32:59 And you want to go and do what I have told you to do?
33:02 I have counted my resources in advance
33:04 and found that I'm not wanting.
33:05 And is what one of my board members
33:07 doctor Thomson always says.
33:09 When Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world",
33:11 He counted His resources and surely found in advance
33:14 that he is not wanting right?
33:16 So He says, "Go ye into all the world
33:18 all power is given me."
33:20 So there is nothing that can stop you from getting
33:23 the Gospel into all the world, except for yourself.
33:26 Folks we are our own greatest enemy.
33:28 You heard that before, that's nothing new, right.
33:32 Maybe a little different way you are hearing it,
33:34 but it's nothing new, we are our own greatest enemy.
33:38 Jesus says here in Revelation,
33:42 He says because thou sayest that I'm rich,
33:45 and increased with goods and have need of nothing,
33:48 and known its not, that thou are what?
33:50 Wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,
33:57 He says I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
34:01 that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment,
34:04 that thou mayest be clothed,
34:06 and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,
34:09 and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
34:12 that thou mayest see.
34:13 And as many as I love I do what,
34:16 I review can I chase them be zealous therefore and do what?
34:20 Repent. Folks if we want to see Jesus coming back,
34:24 there is going to be an awful lot of repenting going on,
34:26 I want to tell you.
34:28 We got to quit looking at everybody around us.
34:31 We got to start looking to Jesus to the Cross of Calvary.
34:34 We need to start developing a relationship
34:37 that's built on Him,
34:38 that nothing else can discourage us.
34:40 You see, I'm like everybody else,
34:42 I don't like when people about me, but they do it.
34:45 And especially if they say things that aren't true.
34:48 And then some things are true,
34:50 maybe you didn't want somebody to know, right.
34:53 So it's no fun, but that shouldn't stop me
34:56 from being a Christian and going into all the world
34:58 and it shouldn't stop you, right.
35:00 You see we don't need to focus
35:01 so much on what the enemy is doing?
35:03 We need to focus on what Jesus says?
35:06 Jesus says that when we come to Him,
35:08 we submit ourselves to Him, we confess our sins,
35:11 He is faithful and just to forgive us from our sins,
35:14 and He will cleans us from all unrighteousness.
35:17 And when He does that,
35:19 God equips you where God guides He provides.
35:22 If He calls you to do something,
35:25 He will equip you to do it.
35:26 If people would have done what Jesus has said to do,
35:30 "Go ye into all the world."
35:32 There wouldn't be a need for us,
35:33 Television and radio, right.
35:35 Because, we could do it word of mouth.
35:38 We could do it word of mouth, but yet we don't.
35:41 So God says I'm going to give you every available tool.
35:44 In fact, He says greater things
35:45 shall you do then I have done. Well that's amazing.
35:49 What greater things can we do than Jesus?
35:51 Well, when He was on earth,
35:52 He spoke to a crowd who just heard him?
35:54 We are speaking to an audience around the world.
35:57 When He went from place to place,
35:58 He walked or took a little boat, right.
36:00 With us we can fly half way around the world
36:03 in a just a matter of hours.
36:05 God is saying I'm going to open up
36:07 all the tools of the universe to assist you
36:10 in getting the Gospel to the world.
36:12 But what happens, folks,
36:13 as you and me have gotten uncomfortable.
36:15 Yeah. I heard almost certain amen,
36:18 I heard a couple umm... you and me have got uncomfortable.
36:21 Come on now don't be afraid to admit it.
36:25 Because the problem is, some people are saying,
36:28 well, I'm not that way, I don't fit that description,
36:31 of course, it says here, that we are poor,
36:33 naked and blind and miserable and wretched,
36:35 but we don't even know it?
36:37 It says I have need of nothing
36:39 and if you look at a Christian church today,
36:41 that's basically the case.
36:43 We have beautiful churches, we have beautiful,
36:46 I mean, whatever we need, we've got what we need?
36:50 But sometimes we are so busy in our religion
36:53 that we forget about our relationship.
36:56 Am I right? You see here's what happens
36:59 and I have told this before,
37:00 so bare with me on the audience.
37:01 But people say, I'll talk to people.
37:04 How long you been a Christian?
37:06 Oh, I have been an Adventist.
37:07 I'm a fourth generation Adventist.
37:09 I say, yeah, but, how long you been a Christian?
37:11 Well, I have been a, you know,
37:13 my grandmother, my great... I've had people say
37:17 I go back to Ellen White.
37:19 You know, well, that's good, that's great.
37:21 How long have you been a Christian?
37:23 And I have people tell me, oh, I'm very religious.
37:27 They will say, oh, my husband,
37:28 he is the most religious man I know.
37:30 I say really have you ever seen
37:32 a Wino how religiously he drinks?
37:37 Have you seen a drug addict how religiously he does drugs?
37:41 People, who smoke, smoke religiously, right.
37:46 You see there is nothing about being religion,
37:48 that's of any spiritual value at all that I can think of.
37:52 What God is wanting from his people is a relationship.
37:56 He wants us to submit and commit lives,
37:59 but He says here as many as I love,
38:02 I rebuke and I chasten.
38:04 God says, He chastises those
38:06 whom He loves, be zealous therefore, and repent.
38:10 You know, we need to as a Church
38:12 and I'm praying for this,
38:13 I'm thankful for Ivor Myers
38:15 and some of the others who started this,
38:17 they were on 3ABN recently.
38:19 A prayer for ushering in the latter rain,
38:21 don't you think, it's time folks?
38:23 Amen. Don't you think, it's past time?
38:25 I mean, honestly its past time
38:27 that God's people reflect His character within our lives.
38:32 The Lord is coming back for a purified church,
38:35 a purified bride, and therefore,
38:37 that means folks that though we look good,
38:40 we dress good, we drive nice vehicles,
38:43 we live in nice homes, we have beautiful churches,
38:46 it doesn't mean that we are doing
38:48 what God called us to do?
38:49 Yes, there is 3ABN Television, there is Hope Channel,
38:52 there is Adventist Radio, there is all of these things
38:55 and it's great and I'm glad,
38:56 that you support all of these.
38:58 But what are you and me doing personally?
39:00 When it comes to the bottom-line,
39:02 God is going to ask us what have we done
39:05 to get the Gospel to the world?
39:07 Everyone one of us, you all sound great,
39:10 but it's not enough just to be up here
39:11 and sing in a choir, right.
39:13 The fields are wide in the harvest,
39:16 but the reapers where are they?
39:18 The Lord is calling each and every one of us,
39:20 but we don't even know what at this point.
39:23 So, you know what I am praying,
39:25 Lord, lot of us look this and say, boy,
39:27 there are people like this in the world.
39:30 We don't even know it's us,
39:32 so I'm saying Lord, if you said, Laodicean people
39:36 are wealthy and have need of nothing,
39:39 they are poor and naked and miserable and blind,
39:43 I'm gonna take your word for it.
39:44 Though I don't think on that way,
39:46 I'm gonna except by faith that I am.
39:49 Now I am going to ask you to come in my life
39:51 and bring me Eyesave to put on me, right.
39:54 On my eyes, so that I can see for myself,
39:58 what I really am.
39:59 You see, if we could see ourselves as we are,
40:02 we wouldn't be very happy, would we?
40:04 We would not to stand up
40:05 in front of people or do anything,
40:07 if we could see how wretched and miserable
40:09 and poor and blind we are?
40:10 But I'm encouraging people don't go by how you feel,
40:14 or how you think, or how you feel what...
40:18 This says Laodicea which includes us,
40:21 I believe that's right with the end church,
40:24 Laodicean Church, the pastors are confirming this.
40:26 If so, there is a problem, we have a huge problem
40:30 and we don't even know it.
40:31 So how do we correct it,
40:32 I'm asking people around the world to go
40:34 by faith and say God, I don't even see how poor,
40:38 naked, blind and miserable,
40:40 I don't even know how bad I am,
40:42 I am asking you to forgive me from those sins,
40:45 to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.
40:47 I'm asking for Eyesave on my eyes,
40:49 that I can see now sin for what it really is.
40:53 You see, if we saw sin for what it really is,
40:57 we wouldn't want it. we wouldn't be tempted by it.
41:00 Amen. The reason we are tempted
41:02 by sin is we are in delusion.
41:05 Because sin looks good. Amen.
41:07 Somebody say Amen. Amen.
41:09 Sin looks good, all right, that ought to come
41:11 and sense ought to tell us sin.
41:13 We fit right into this description,
41:15 because here we are sinning,
41:17 and yeah, we think we are okay and we can say,
41:20 yeah, sin looks good.
41:22 No, sin doesn't look good when you put it up
41:25 against God and His character and His nature.
41:28 I said something one time, sometime ago,
41:31 that people in the church what we to tend to do is,
41:34 is do what I was talking about earlier,
41:36 we look over here and we say,
41:37 well, I would really like to be out in the world
41:39 and I would really to do those things,
41:41 but I do want to go to heaven,
41:42 so I'm gonna quit all those things.
41:45 But you over here wishing, you were over there.
41:50 Wishing you were over there,
41:51 because that really looks more appealing,
41:53 but, well, Lord I hope you see,
41:55 I went to prayer meeting tonight
41:56 and stayed out there where I really would look to be.
41:59 Now we don't say it that outward way,
42:01 but we always got this yearning
42:03 for something over here.
42:05 And so we see sin as a piece of chocolate cake
42:10 that is up there and we can see, but we can't have.
42:15 I need to say that again, somebody didn't get that.
42:19 We too often view sin as a piece of chocolate cake
42:23 that we can see but we can't have. Amen.
42:27 I mean, most people here, anybody like chocolate cake?
42:30 All right, now you raised your hands, okay,
42:33 that's all right, that's okay, that's all right, okay.
42:38 So we see sin as a piece of chocolate cake,
42:40 we desire but we can't have.
42:43 But what happens is, now that's not what God
42:47 really wants in our lives.
42:48 Now you have somebody,
42:49 who has been out there in the world,
42:51 they really submit and commit their lives to Jesus,
42:55 and all of a sudden when we look to Jesus
42:57 and get a reflection of who we are,
43:00 we look like an excuses,
43:02 but instead of seeing sin as something beautiful,
43:04 it looks like a pile of dung.
43:08 All right, don't anybody write me
43:09 and tell me I'm talking dirty, okay.
43:11 All right, I'm not, I'm trying to make a point,
43:14 I'm trying to make a point.
43:15 You see sin should not look attractive to us
43:19 and should not beautiful, it should like a dunghill.
43:25 And if it looks like a dunghill,
43:27 you're not gonna to be tempted to eat it, right.
43:30 Somebody say yes, now look at
43:31 all the hands going up, all right,
43:33 sure, you are following me now.
43:35 All right, so that's way it's got to be a now,
43:36 how do we get to that point?
43:39 The way we get to that point is to say Jesus,
43:42 help mine unbelief. Amen.
43:45 We can't just say, okay, all right,
43:48 sin no longer, now is going to be
43:49 a piece of chocolate cake to me,
43:51 it's just going to be a pile of dung.
43:53 No, that's not going to happen that way,
43:56 what's going to happen is, least in my own life is,
43:59 I have to say Lord, help thou mine unbelief.
44:02 I don't want to see that,
44:04 show me sin for what it really is.
44:07 Sin is the transgression or the breaking of your law
44:10 and when I do that, I'm in the hands of Satan. Amen.
44:13 Because Satan is the one who invented sin, all right.
44:18 So when I follow that, I'm not even controlled by you,
44:24 take away my desires for sin in this life,
44:27 only God can do it. Now, if you want God
44:31 to take away your sin in your life.
44:35 Now you are going to have to... I'm gonna say all of us,
44:36 we need to make some changes.
44:38 One of the things that we've done in our house,
44:40 some of you aren't going to like it,
44:42 we've done it this past year,
44:43 it's the best thing that I ever did in my house,
44:45 I got rid all of Television. Amen.
44:50 Got a rid of all Television for a year, you know, why?
44:53 Because I said, Television don't control me,
44:56 I control it. Amen.
44:59 And I don't watch ugly stuff on there,
45:02 but you get gun smoke on there
45:04 and I'd like that pretty well, I had to admit.
45:06 I mean, you know, the cowboys and I like horses,
45:09 I got a few horses and I always say,
45:11 I just like the horses.
45:12 You know, bang, bang, bang,
45:14 we are shooting and we are killing.
45:17 So I get rid of it, because sometimes,
45:20 something like that comes on and you want to watch it.
45:23 And so what I'm learning about is this,
45:26 now the...I have not seen Television,
45:30 basically for a year.
45:31 Now I watch 3ABN, I get the 3ABN channel, right.
45:35 Okay, but I haven't seen Television
45:37 in my home for a year, regular Television.
45:40 Now, if I go anywhere and even a commercial comes on,
45:44 I'm...sometimes almost blushing
45:46 and I'm embarrassed, there are some of the things
45:48 that I see on commercials. Amen.
45:51 I mean, I saw once some lady was stepping on a guy
45:53 and she had hardly no clothes
45:55 and I'm like this is on ABC or something,
45:58 you know, it wasn't on some movie channel,
46:00 and a year or two ago, that might have not affected me.
46:04 But right now I'm almost was embarrassed
46:06 and I'm like that's awful.
46:08 And now anytime, I go somewhere
46:10 and I see stuff on Television,
46:12 my mind is how can people watch that?
46:17 I didn't know till I got away from it,
46:18 what I'm telling you,
46:20 I can just tell you about my own life,
46:22 right now, you have to decide about your own.
46:24 Now I'm not the one who did it,
46:26 I didn't just say, okay, I'm poor,
46:28 naked, miserable and blind.
46:30 But my wife Brandy, who said when we were married.
46:34 you know, I really think, we should get rid of Television,
46:36 we don't need Television in our...I said,
46:38 but I love the news, she said why?
46:42 It's awful, right. Somebody said this morning,
46:46 news is awful and I said why I want to keep up.
46:48 She said, oh, you'll hear from people,
46:49 they will tell you. Amen.
46:52 You won't miss out anything,
46:53 if there is something big going on,
46:55 you will hear about it.
46:57 And so I almost thought it,
46:58 because I'm like wait a minute,
47:00 that's a little bit ridiculous, on Television.
47:02 I mean, we can control it, but I said, all right,
47:05 let's try it, and you know what?
47:07 Now I've learned from that, how much difference
47:10 it makes in my own life when I'm see stuff
47:13 go somewhere else and I am thinking that's terrible,
47:16 I watched that before, I wouldn't have
47:18 thought anything about it.
47:19 Now it looks like the pile of dung
47:21 rather than the chocolate of cake.
47:25 Did I loose anybody, anybody with me still yet?
47:27 Now I'm not gonna to tell you all to go home
47:30 and get rid of your Television,
47:32 I'm not going to tell you to do that.
47:33 But I'm going to tell you,
47:35 if you are serious about the latter rain,
47:38 if you are serious about being a part of giving
47:41 an end time's message to an end time world.
47:43 Do you realize do we realize folks,
47:46 as Seventh Day Adventist Christians,
47:48 the message of the three angels
47:49 that we have to get into the world?
47:51 It is present truth. Amen.
47:55 This is the message, yes, I'm glad,
47:57 God has people in all churches.
47:59 I'm glad, there are many Christians out there.
48:01 But Jesus is coming back
48:03 for a purified bride or a purified church.
48:06 He is coming back for a people,
48:08 who keep the commandments of God?
48:09 And have the faith of Jesus,
48:11 and He has entrusted this solid message,
48:14 the first, second and third angels' messages
48:16 to Seventh Day Adventist Christians,
48:18 to herald it to the world.
48:20 But if we look like the world
48:22 and if we act like the world,
48:24 if we don't see have any more spiritual eyes
48:27 than those around us,
48:29 all we are doing is misrepresenting God
48:31 and His character and people won't want any part of it.
48:35 You see what I found out about probably
48:37 ten or twelve years ago, I was amazed,
48:39 you ever wakeup sometimes
48:41 and just as thought pops in your mind,
48:42 it's like the wildest thing you've ever thought about.
48:45 Now why would I wake up in the morning
48:47 and think of something like that?
48:49 Am I the only one ever done that I figured so,
48:51 okay, all right.
48:52 This audience, I'm the only one that ever did that.
48:55 Okay, one morning, I woke up nothing on my mind,
48:59 I woke up and I quickly grabbed a pencil and paper
49:03 and I wrote this down.
49:05 The Antichrist is nothing more than the spirit of Satan
49:10 garbed in the cloak of Christianity, is that deep?
49:15 Amen. I'm going to say that again,
49:17 The Antichrist is nothing more than the spirit of Satan
49:22 garbed in the cloak of Christianity.
49:26 And I began to think about that and look back
49:28 and I said all through history that's the way it's been.
49:33 War over between religions have killed,
49:37 I've been told more people than any other kind of war,
49:40 religious wars, look at the crusades,
49:42 and all through history.
49:44 Religious crusades have been responsible
49:47 for millions and millions and millions
49:50 of deaths, am I right? Amen.
49:53 So folks, I've only got a few minutes here
49:56 and I want to close this out.
49:59 What is going to happen here
50:00 in order for the latter rain to go
50:03 into all the world that has to start with you and me.
50:07 Don't be in a position where you hear about it,
50:10 if you hear about it something's wrong, all right.
50:14 We don't want to have to hear about it,
50:15 we want to be a part of it. Amen.
50:18 And that means relooking at our values,
50:21 relooking at what we do.
50:23 Though we may look like Christians,
50:25 though we may have all the knowledge.
50:29 If we don't have the love of Jesus in our heart
50:31 and burden for souls,
50:33 we are like the tinkling cymbals and brass
50:36 we are really doing no good
50:37 because we don't really love our fellowman.
50:40 And if we don't love our fellowman,
50:42 we are not going to end up in the kingdom
50:44 with Jesus forever.
50:49 Verse 20 says, Behold I stand, of Revelation 3,
50:55 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock,
50:58 if any man hear my voice, and open the door,
51:02 I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
51:06 and he with me. Jesus is talking here folks,
51:10 To him that over cometh will I grant
51:13 to sit with Me on My throne.
51:16 Even as I also overcame
51:18 and I'm sat down with my Father on this throne.
51:22 He that hath an ear let him hear
51:24 what the spirit saith unto the churches.
51:28 Folks this is some heavy, heavy stuff right here.
51:32 What we need to do?
51:33 We have the knowledge to understand where Laodicean.
51:36 But we don't have the spiritual eyesight
51:39 to understand our own personal condition,
51:42 because we are too much like the world around us.
51:45 You see we are to be in the world,
51:47 but not we are of the world, but not in the world right.
51:50 We are not to be like the world,
51:51 we are to be like Jesus, and to be like Jesus,
51:54 we are going to be different.
51:56 If you are like Jesus, the Bible says,
51:58 and this has been tough for me.
52:00 Oh, who lived Godly shall suffer percussion,
52:03 now how many enjoy that?
52:04 All right, now good, not very many hands went up.
52:08 Okay, how many love... I don't love that,
52:11 but the Bible says, we need it,
52:13 we need it to be tried as gold in the fire,
52:16 so when the heavy things come your way,
52:18 we can say thank you, Jesus praise God.
52:22 Let them do and say what they want to say,
52:25 but I'm just going to keep serving you, right.
52:28 I'm just going to keep serving you,
52:29 I won't be detained to the left or to the right.
52:33 Another little illustration I have used for years,
52:36 how we understand that people say,
52:37 but how do you do it?
52:38 I have people write me, everywhere I go to Churches,
52:40 people ask me questions,
52:42 and how do you keep going all the time?
52:45 I mean, they'll say to me,
52:47 you don't understand my situation,
52:49 my husband died not too long ago, my child is sick.
52:53 One person said, I lost my husband
52:55 and a child in the same year,
52:58 I'm having financial problems,
52:59 I'm having every kind of problem in the world,
53:02 there is no reason for me to keep going,
53:04 and where is God when I need him?
53:07 He is not helping me, I've dedicated my life to God
53:10 and I've worked for God, but right now,
53:12 where is He when I need Him?
53:15 Now, how do you answer that?
53:17 And I have told people, you know what?
53:19 Here is the way, I look at it,
53:21 I looked at it a years ago
53:22 Lord gave me this illustration,
53:24 I think He did, it's help me at least.
53:26 People always say, people go to the store
53:29 and they buy a novel for instance.
53:31 Well, they buy the book
53:33 and what they do is they turn to the back cover
53:36 and read it little bit.
53:38 And the back cover of this book says,
53:40 John and Mary rode off into the sunset,
53:42 happily ever after.
53:44 Two hundred page book, now they say that sounds good,
53:48 I like it good positive story, right.
53:50 Nobody got killed or named or hurt real bad,
53:53 so that's sounds like a good story,
53:55 I'm going to read that story about John and Mary
53:57 riding off into the sunset, happily ever after.
54:00 So what happen is one hundred pages into the book,
54:04 John and Mary fall off not only their horses,
54:08 but fall off a cliff, they are hanging on a limb,
54:11 and the limb is cracking and below them
54:13 is two thousand feet to the bottom.
54:16 Now how many of these folks go,
54:19 oh, I'm going to stop this,
54:21 because they are going to die.
54:24 Hello, how many folk who read the back of the book,
54:28 believe John and Mary is going to die?
54:29 Now, instead of getting discouraged,
54:33 instead of getting discouraged and quitting
54:35 and wanting to give up.
54:36 They are going to say, man, I remember reading
54:39 the back of the book and it says,
54:40 John and Mary rode off into the sunset,
54:42 happily ever after.
54:44 Now they get excited even, anticipation,
54:48 I can't wait to read the next few pages
54:50 and see how the author
54:52 is going to get them out of this jam.
54:55 Is there anybody me you know where I'm going?
54:56 Amen. All right, we have read
54:59 the back of the book. What book?
55:02 This book what's the back of the book say.
55:05 The back of the book says,
55:06 say it with me and they overcame him Satan
55:09 by the blood of the lamb.
55:11 And, oh, come on we can do better than that.
55:13 And they overcame him, by the blood of the lamb
55:16 and the word of their testimony, right.
55:19 The back of the book says, let's put it in one word,
55:23 two words, we win, we win.
55:27 Now anybody don't understand that one,
55:29 it's not hard to understand, is it?
55:33 The back of the book says, we win,
55:35 so I want to talk to you and those of you at home
55:38 for just a few minutes, we have left?
55:40 It doesn't make any difference
55:42 what are you going through, right now in your life.
55:44 God was never left you, we leave Him from time to time.
55:49 And we can't go by how good we feel or who died?
55:52 Hey, on planet earth, everybody dies, right. Amen.
55:56 How many people are here that was here 150 years ago,
55:58 raise your hand? All right, good,
56:00 nobody is raising their hands,
56:01 it's a good time not to raise your hand.
56:03 See, everybody, the Bible says,
56:05 it is appointed once a time for every man to die.
56:08 Once a time... Then it says,
56:10 Precious in the sight of the Lord
56:12 or the death of His saints.
56:13 So then we have people saying,
56:15 no, the Lord took my husband, the Lord took my wife.
56:18 Well, it's all right to mourn,
56:20 it's all right to be lonely, and it's all right,
56:23 but we don't blame God,
56:24 because God's not in the business
56:26 of killing your husband. Amen.
56:28 Satan is in the business to steal, kill and to destroy.
56:31 God is here, Jesus came to give us life
56:34 and give it more abundantly. Amen.
56:35 So what we need to be doing as looking at
56:38 the back of the book.
56:39 And I know what it's like to lose loved ones
56:41 and to lose friends, and I know what it is like
56:43 to go through things just like you all do.
56:46 But I'm learning every day, it's not how I feel?
56:49 The Bible says, the rain falls
56:51 on the just as well as the unjust.
56:53 God is not going to say, okay, so you are Christian,
56:55 so nothing bad is going happen to you.
56:58 No, what happens is every day
57:00 that I'm in this old sin sick sinful world,
57:04 I understand how bad I need a savior. Amen.
57:07 And when I understand to how bad I need a savior?
57:10 It helps me concentrate on the spiritual
57:12 rather than the physical.
57:14 It helps me go to word of the God and say God,
57:16 show me sin not as a piece of desirous chocolate cake
57:20 that I want, but show it as that pile of dung,
57:23 because I won't want it and I'll hate it
57:25 and I want to be separated from it.
57:27 Only Jesus can help us overcome sin
57:30 in our life today. Amen.
57:31 Now does that mean anybody here is perfect,
57:34 I'm sure not, that's for sure.
57:36 You are not either, none of us are perfect,
57:39 but it does mean that we can become more like Jesus,
57:42 every day through a process of sanctification.


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Revised 2014-12-17