Participants: Charles W. Drake, III
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000868
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01:00 Isn't God a great God? Amen. He is good enough
01:04 to bring us together on Sabbath morning at this 01:08 great place, amen. I am grateful today, 01:13 and appreciative to the officers of the Oklahoma 01:18 Conference for inviting me to come and share 01:22 these last few days with you. I account it a 01:27 privilege to be here, and a privilege to share 01:32 God's word and to meet new people and to 01:38 renew old acquaintances. 01:41 A few years ago I had the privilege of going to 01:45 Ghana in Africa and there were several persons 01:49 from the Oklahoma Conference 01:51 that were there, we went and built a dormitory, 01:55 for, a Girls Dormitory there and an academy 01:58 and it was good to see folk here at 02:01 Camp Meeting that we have been there, 02:04 to spend several days with over there in Ghana. 02:08 I bring you greetings from the 02:11 Mid America Union Conference, 02:14 where I am blessed to serve as 02:17 secretary of the union. We are 60,000 strong and 02:22 500 congregations and we have the same goal that 02:27 you have and that is to finish the work of God 02:31 so all of us can go home, amen. 02:33 And we ask that you would pray for us 02:36 as we seek to do God's will in the territory that 02:41 he has given to us. We have one of the largest, 02:45 in fact we have the largest outside of the 02:47 Canadian Union, we have the largest 02:49 Union Territory of any other union. 02:53 There is only I think one other Union in 02:56 our division where we don't touch their border 03:00 some place. So, we're quite a large landmass 03:06 there, we've got a lot of people to deal with and 03:08 we pray that you would, we ask you for your 03:12 prayers. I also want to bring you greetings from 03:15 Union College, I know you have a great college 03:18 here but I just want to ask a question, 03:21 how many of you have attended or 03:23 graduated from Union College? 03:26 Wow, look at there, look at there. Well, 03:29 I welcome you and hope that you will remember 03:33 your Alma Mater and I will report to 03:38 the president there Dave Smith that I brought 03:41 greetings to you from Union College. 03:48 This morning I want to draw your attention 03:52 to the Book of Genesis, if you were here on 03:55 last night and in sabbath school this morning 03:59 you will notice that there was a continuum here, 04:03 planned by God Himself. 04:06 Genesis 22, and beginning in verse 9, 04:20 and then they came to a place of which God 04:24 had told him, and Abraham built an altar there 04:28 and placed the wood in order, and he bound 04:31 Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, 04:34 upon the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand 04:38 and took the knife to slay his son. 04:42 But the angel of the LORD called to him from 04:45 heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" 04:49 So he said, "Here I am." And He said, 04:53 "Do not lay your hand on the lad 04:55 or do anything to him, for now 04:59 I know that you fear God, since you have not 05:03 withheld your son, your only son from me." 05:08 Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, 05:10 and there behind him was a ram, 05:12 caught in a thicket by his horns. 05:15 So Abraham went and took the ram 05:17 and offered it up as a burnt offering 05:20 instead of his son. And Abraham called 05:23 the name of the place, The King James it says, 05:26 Jehovah Jireh: the Lord will provide as it is said 05:32 to this day, In the mount of the LORD 05:35 it shall be provided. 05:39 There is a lot of talk today about faith. 05:47 Particularly in the secular world there is a 05:52 lot of talk about faith. People are being 05:58 taught to trust and have faith in themselves 06:04 before they have faith and trust 06:08 in anyone or anything else. 06:12 One of the blessings of church school is that 06:20 church school our schools concentrate and teach 06:25 our students that God must, 06:28 we must have faith in God first. All the way 06:34 through school I was in our schools until I did my 06:38 doctoral work and then I went to a 06:41 Secular University and there it was pushed 06:44 in my head and pushed in my head 06:47 and pushed in my head to doubt 06:50 everything but myself. And the world is 06:57 teaching folk to trust self before anyone 07:03 or anything else. Right now our nation 07:08 is in a quandary for the president of the 07:13 United States is asking us to trust him, 07:18 to have faith in him that things 07:21 will work out in Iraq. 07:26 And then there are others there around 07:29 the beltway, who are saying we cannot have 07:32 faith in the President's plan, have faith in 07:35 their plan, our troops must come out of Iraq. 07:41 They're asking us to have faith in them, 07:47 they are asking us to have faith in the security 07:50 of this nation so that when we get on airplanes 07:56 or we travel, we have to have all kinds of papers 08:02 now to get in and out of the country and 08:05 there are certain things you can't take on an 08:08 airplane and being a heavy traveler, 08:13 I can tell you it's not safe, 08:16 I can tell you it's not safe, 08:19 because there are places you could just walk 08:21 across the border into the United States 08:24 you don't have to go through a border check. 08:27 There are times when I have forgotten and put 08:30 the wrong thing in my suitcase and went 08:33 right on through, it's not safe. 08:37 So don't have trust and faith in man, man will. 08:43 If you turn on your television sets, 08:46 you will hear a lot of faith healers, 08:52 and blessers on the TV, I turned on TV 08:56 the other night after I left the meeting and I 08:58 heard this beautiful, beautiful music just 09:03 I mean I'm saying this is awesome music and as 09:06 I listened to it and the music ended and the 09:10 speaker, a well known international speaker 09:13 came forward and he began to preach, 09:16 he began to talk about healing and he said 09:19 you're healed and you're healed and you're healed 09:22 and then he said if you're not here you could be 09:25 healed also and he talked and he talked 09:28 and he talked and he talked and then he start 09:31 talking about the number and he said the number 09:34 58 and we didn't scripture, I lost in 09:36 how he came up with this 58, and 58 and he kept 09:40 talking about 58 and 58 and 58 I kept saying to 09:43 myself you know where is he going with 58 09:46 finally he said if you will send me $58 09:50 a month for 12 months you can get the same healing. 09:53 Amen! Strange theology, for some folks 10:03 faith is simply a con game, 10:08 others confuse faith with trust, 10:15 trust is based upon past experiences. 10:22 Trust is based upon what? I am not asking you, 10:28 it is a statement. Trust is based upon the what, 10:35 faith is based not on past experiences but faith is 10:42 based upon who not a question but a statement. 10:47 Trust is what faith is who. When I knew 10:55 I was coming to Oklahoma Camp Meeting 10:57 one of my good friends is Rodney Glove, 11:02 and we were together a few weeks ago 11:04 and I said to him tell me 11:06 how is Oklahoma Camp Meeting. 11:10 I had already agreed to come and I don't like 11:13 coming to dried up places. 11:20 And so I wanted to get myself ready, 11:23 I wanted to know what it's like and so Rodney, 11:26 he said to me you're going to love it. 11:29 they are great people, you'll have a good time 11:34 and it's in an air-conditioned pavilion 11:38 and so when I came, I came not in faith, 11:44 I came trusting because my friend who is 11:49 trustworthy had told me what it's all about, amen. 11:54 When I walked out on this platform on the 11:57 Wednesday night I had no doubt it would hold me 12:01 up because I trusted that the brethren 12:08 had built it well, but if the president had said 12:14 to me when you preach you must stand on 12:19 this and walk out, that would be faith, amen. 12:32 Are you following me, amen? 12:34 Trust is based upon what, but faith is 12:41 based upon whom. Amen. 12:45 I can trust you because I know what has happened 12:50 in the past, but there comes a time in our 12:54 experience when past experiences cannot show 12:59 us what's gong to happen next and so instead of 13:03 trusting in man we have to have faith in God 13:07 and step out on nothing, amen. 13:13 And there are many of us who say we have faith 13:17 but we only have trust. Shall I say it again? 13:23 There are many of us who think we have faith 13:28 but we only have trust. When we talk about faith 13:37 we cannot talk about faith 13:41 without talking about Abraham. 13:44 In Hebrews 11 that hall of fame of faith 13:48 more verses are dedicated to Abraham 13:51 than anyone else. Abraham was God's man, 13:59 can you imagine that God thinking so much of you 14:04 until God himself comes to your house just to sit 14:09 and have conversation with you. 14:13 Can you imagine that God is going to destroy 14:17 one of the major cities of the world and 14:22 God comes to your house first and says 14:25 I am thinking about destroying? 14:29 And you begin to say Lord, Lord, 14:33 there must be somebody in that city 14:35 that's righteous and you begin to bargain with God 14:41 and God bargains with you until you and God 14:45 have an agreement that if they have 14:46 ten people God will spare it. 14:49 Can you imaging having that kind 14:52 of relationship with God? 14:57 Yet, in our text here he is 15:03 on this mountain about to kill His only son, 15:10 and the Bible says God was testing Him. 15:19 At first glance I'm astonished, 15:22 I'm amazed at God's attitude, 15:24 I'm horrified at the length God will go 15:28 to test a person I wonder to myself 15:32 if God doubt Abraham is there any hope for me? 15:42 I must confess, I am also a little afraid 15:48 because there are some persons in this world 15:51 who are precious to me and I would not want God 15:55 to ask me to take my own hand and take their lives. 16:02 It's one thing to give up a loved one in death 16:06 it's quite another to slay them with your own hands, 16:10 but as I continue to read the narrative I began to 16:14 understand that Abraham has some understanding 16:21 of what is happening here, when the test was over 16:26 Abraham memorialized the place 16:30 for future generations. 16:33 When Moses wrote this chapter he called 16:38 the name of the place Jehovah-Raah. 16:46 Follow me now, years later when the translators 16:51 translated Jehovah Raah they translated 16:58 it into the common name of Mount Moriah 17:02 for that time which was Jehovah Jireh. 17:09 Jehovah Jireh is a powerful name. 17:14 God will provide, if you haven't thought about it 17:19 we are here today only because God has provided, 17:25 can you say amen out there, amen. 17:27 He woke you up this morning, amen. 17:31 He gave your safe passage here. 17:34 God has provided and I'm so glad 17:39 that he still provides, 17:41 come on say amen out there, but Jehovah Jireh 17:46 is not what Abraham called the place,. 17:52 Abraham named it Jehovah-Raah, which means 18:00 God can see, and we'll see to it, amen, amen. 18:13 There is a difference in providing 18:19 then and seeing to it. 18:24 The difference is you have a food pantry 18:29 in your church and you give out 18:32 25 baskets every Wednesday and folk line up 18:37 and as they come by you just simply say here, 18:41 here, here, here that's providing, 18:47 when you see to it you bring them in 18:51 sit them down, find out what happened, 18:54 why it happened, how can I fix it. 18:59 Jehovah Jireh is God will make sure you get 19:04 what you need, Jehovah-Raah is God 19:08 sees beyond what you need, 19:10 knows where you came from, 19:12 knows what you're facing and say 19:15 I will take care of your future. Amen. 19:22 I'm glad that God cares enough about me 19:29 to see me God saw Abraham and God saw 19:38 that even though Abraham was faithful, 19:42 even though Abraham and He had 19:46 this wonderful relationship yet 19:49 there was a glitch in Abraham's faithfulness 19:54 and God needed to deal with that glitch. 20:00 When God called Abraham, God said to Abraham 20:05 leave the Ur of the Chaldees, 20:08 leave your country, leave your kinfolk, 20:11 leave your ancestral home. 20:14 God commanded Abraham to leave, 20:18 the keyword here is God called Abraham, 20:25 Bible writer says that God wanted Abraham 20:29 to be a keeper of the sacred law 20:32 for future generations. 20:34 Therefore Abraham must be separated 20:38 from the associations of his early life. 20:42 The influence she says of kindred and friends 20:46 would interfere with God's plans. 20:51 So God said Abraham leave, God saw that sometimes 20:59 environment affects faith, if you look back at 21:04 Genesis 11, you will discover that when 21:08 Abraham said to his family I'm leaving town, 21:14 God has called me Genesis 11, says that 21:17 Terah Abraham's father said I will lead you, 21:27 are you following me, amen. 21:31 Terah knew how to take things in this own hands, 21:38 Terah, Abraham's father was a man who served 21:43 many Gods and the main God he served 21:48 was the moon God. 21:51 Terah from the Ur of the Chaldees which was 21:56 the center of worship of the moon God 21:59 took Abraham and locked and their families, 22:05 headed toward Canaan but got stuck in Heron. 22:12 Heron is half way between Ur of the Chaldees 22:19 and Canaan. God said Abraham leave, 22:26 but Abraham followed Terah his father. 22:33 There are times my brothers and sisters 22:38 when God says leave we have to leave 22:43 who he says leave, come on say amen out there, amen. 22:47 There are times when our environment 22:50 can reduce our faith, if you are wrong, faithless 22:56 people you need to let them alone, amen, amen. 23:05 If someone is always downing your faith and I'm 23:09 not talking your religion or your denomination, 23:12 I am talking about relationship with God. 23:15 If someone, whoever it is, is always telling you 23:19 trust and not faith or always laughing 23:22 at your faith there comes a time when you 23:25 have to separate yourself from them, amen. 23:32 When God sees, God sees my path, 23:37 God sees my family, God sees my family influence. 23:42 There are some folk who have been mentally abused, 23:46 who have been cursed out, who have been told 23:49 that they never would be anything they have been 23:52 always criticized and never praised and as a 23:56 result some folk have self esteem problems, 24:00 some folk can't stay in relationships 24:03 because they don't love themselves, 24:06 some folk are cold and hard harded because 24:09 it is a defense mechanism against pain, 24:12 some folk gossip about everybody 24:15 because it's easier to talk about you 24:18 then it is to talk about me. 24:20 Well God knows my roots, 24:22 God sees where I came from, 24:25 God understands where I came from, 24:29 when we understand then we understand 24:33 that when Abraham took Hagar to have his child, 24:37 he was just doing what his daddy would do, 24:40 taking things in his own hands. 24:47 But I'm happy to report to you today that 24:52 family influences and DNA is no match 24:58 for my Lord Jesus Christ, amen. 25:01 He who created DNA can look at me and recreate me 25:06 in his image, would you say amen out there, amen. 25:09 I am not stuck where I am, I am not stuck with who 25:15 somebody else wants me to be, 25:17 my God can change me from the inside out, amen. 25:25 Now, Drake has powerful blood. 25:35 My father is the only male Drake. 25:44 He was Charles the second, he had 13 sisters, 25:48 amen and he was 12th of the 13 children, 25:57 and he had two sons myself, Charles the 3rd 26:05 and a brother that I had. Everyone of my aunt's 26:12 children look like me. Everyone male children, 26:24 everything God just male children. 26:34 Everyone of my father's cousins or my 26:39 father's nephews if we were to parade in here 26:43 tonight this morning you see you know all of us 26:48 our family because we all look alike, 26:52 my children look like me, my grandchildren 26:59 look like me. Folk will always say to my wife, 27:03 where were you? I cannot change 27:12 what I look like on the outside. 27:14 God does not expect me to change 27:18 what I look like on the outside but God said 27:21 regardless of who you look like on the outside 27:25 I can change you on the inside, 27:27 you don't have to be the way of others are, 27:31 you are my child, amen. 27:37 So they leave Ur and they journey 27:40 to Haran and sometimes because they only 27:46 go half way, they only went half way 27:49 sometimes we don't receive 27:52 the full blessings of God because we don't 27:56 follow his will all of the way, 27:59 we let someone else hold up our blessing. 28:07 The Bible writer says we will never enjoy 28:10 the full blessings of the Lord until we understand 28:15 that the power of God is stronger than 28:19 the naturally inherit tendencies of man. 28:24 If you look at the Lord's family, 28:26 there were murderers and liars and adulterers 28:30 and prostitutes and thieves 28:32 in the Lord's family. And the Lord said 28:35 I over came therefore you can overcome. 28:41 Now Abraham is 75 years old, 28:47 it's time to settle down, it's time for him to 28:52 enjoy his grandchildren, it's time for him 28:57 to enjoy his wealth, but his problem is 29:01 he don't have any children, 29:03 he is 75 years old without chick no child 29:08 and God comes again with the command 29:11 in the chapter 12, leave your country, 29:14 leave your kinfolk, leave your father's house. 29:16 Lord, where shall I go, 29:19 just leave and I will tell you where to go. 29:26 Can you imagine someone come unto and saying 29:31 pack up your house, put everything you have on a 29:35 moving van and just start moving down the street. 29:40 Abraham was a rich man you read in other places, 29:44 where Abraham had close to a thousand servants. 29:48 So what in like okay yeah 29:49 let's gets up this morning 29:50 pack a suitcase and go. It was a huge move 29:57 and I see Abraham walking down the street 30:00 with a parade of people and the neighbors saying, 30:06 Abraham, where are you going? I don't know, 30:12 I hear him saying Sarah, have you had a talk 30:15 with Abraham. You know Abraham, Eleazar 30:21 his main head servant, Eleazar had to have 30:26 a talk with Abraham, Abraham knows what 30:29 he's doing because Abraham is walking 30:31 out in faith Abraham is a rich vagabond, 30:37 Abraham knows that somewhere God is 30:42 moving for him, there God saw that he needed 30:47 to increase Abraham's faith. Sometimes it is 30:52 possible to be faithful in some instances 30:56 and faithfulness in other times. 31:00 There are times when we maybe faithful in tithe 31:07 and offering and faithless in how we keep the 31:11 Sabbath day. There are times when we maybe 31:19 faithful in our diet and faithless in our attitude. 31:26 There are some folk and you've heard this over 31:29 and over and over again, but I'm gonna say it 31:31 again there are some folk who would rather 31:34 shoot themselves before they put a piece of meat 31:37 in their mouth, but they eat people all the time. 31:51 I was supposed, this is supposed, subposition 31:54 by Drake. I will suppose that God would rather 31:59 have you wrap your lips around a chicken thigh 32:02 then wrap you lips around words that hurt 32:05 other people, amen. Faithful in learning, 32:13 faithful in study, every morning you get up 32:17 and you have your devotions but faithless in 32:21 obeying what you've read, amen. 32:24 Making a decision that well I know what the 32:29 Bible says but I, I know what the Bible says. 32:39 We ought not be unequally yoked together. 32:43 But she's a Christian, she goes to church 32:48 every Sunday morning, and I just don't believe 32:54 that God wants me to be single all the rest 32:57 of my life, amen. In chapter 15, God comes 33:14 back to Abraham, because Abraham is 33:17 complaining now. Abraham is saying God 33:21 you told me, my seed is gonna be like the sand 33:25 of the sea, like stars of the sky, no one 33:29 could count them and here I am seventy five 33:32 years old I have nobody and I don't have a 33:35 place to call home, I am a vagabond. 33:38 God comes back to him and God says 33:43 I will make a new covenant with you Abraham, 33:47 he says look now towards heaven count 33:52 the stars if you can, I will renew the covenant 33:55 and say to you your seed will be like the stars 34:00 of the sky. Abraham said, Lord I need you to 34:06 show me a sign, and so the Bible writer says 34:10 that God gave Abraham a dream and showed 34:15 him from his time all the way up through 34:20 the echoes of time and he saw the saints of 34:24 God standing in the new Jerusalem, amen. 34:28 What a vision, what a site, 34:34 but still nothing happened. 25 years later 34:45 God comes back to Abraham. Now Abraham 34:51 is a 100 years old. Now Sarah is 90 years old 34:58 God comes back and God says Abraham, 35:02 you're gonna have a baby. 35:15 Sarah's walking around, she's got a little pouch 35:19 and folks say Sarah you're putting on 35:21 a little weight aren't you. She says no, 35:24 I'm with child, folks says you're 90 years old, 35:28 you can't have a child, you're 90 years old 35:33 you lost your mind somebody needs to examine 35:35 she has a psycho problem. Abraham walks around 35:41 and say yeah I might old but I still got it. 35:51 Listen to this, Bible writer says faith maybe 35:58 genuine and strong, yet prove weak in moments 36:03 of stress and perplexity. There are times when 36:10 faith, we have a lot of faith and there are times 36:13 when that great faith fails us. We must remember 36:19 that faith grows through experience; 36:25 experience is what gives us faith. 36:29 God does not require us to have great faith. 36:35 He says if you have enough faith the size 36:38 of a mustard seed you could move a mountain. 36:42 Have you ever seen a mustard seed 36:44 if you put it on your finger you could barely 36:47 see it, God says you don't have to have a 36:50 whole lot of faith if you just got a mustard 36:52 seed faith, you can say to this mountain get 36:56 out of here and the mountain will move. 36:59 Our problem is, we want great faith without 37:04 going through faith's experiences, amen. 37:08 You got to start small and God builds it 37:13 little by little by little by little. 37:16 We were in school there came a time 37:22 when we ran out of money, and ran out 37:27 of food, my wife and I, all we had left was 37:34 a pot of beans, we ate beans for lunch, 37:39 beans for dinner, we had beans for breakfast 37:46 the next day. The beans we had for breakfast 37:50 were the last beans we had. I didn't have a job, 37:57 she didn't have a job, we couldn't find jobs, 38:01 out of money, in school, trying to get ready 38:05 to do the Lord's work, mail man came, 38:10 in the mail was a letter from my mother, 38:14 saw the handwriting oh mom's encouraging us, 38:18 open the letter, out of the letter a check 38:22 falls out, a check for a $100, now $100 may 38:29 not be much now but in the 60s 38:32 it was a week's wages my mother said, 38:37 got this letter the other day forwarding 38:42 it on to you three years before 38:47 I had worked for a company in the summer time, 38:52 three years later they are auditing their books 38:56 and they discovered that they forgot to pay 38:59 me vacation time. You think they forgot to pay me, 39:07 I think God hid it and God knew three years down 39:14 the road when Drake was out of everything, 39:17 he was going to come through, there have 39:20 been time since then when the cupboard has 39:23 gotten lean and I don't worry about it because 39:26 I know God will come through every time. 39:33 But I had to go through that, to have faith 39:37 that God is gonna provide for us, amen, 39:40 you can't just wake up one morning and say 39:42 I've got enough faith to move a mountain, 39:45 mountain be though removed and the 39:48 mountain moves, you've got to go through 39:50 faith experiences, amen. I was a young preacher 39:56 and a sister was sick in the hospital 40:03 and asked for anointing. So I took the elders 40:12 on Sabbath afternoon we went to the hospital 40:17 put on my black suit, had on my black tie, 40:22 my white shirt, many elders strode down 40:27 the hospital corridor, I had my Bible just 40:31 like that. I was Holy man, I was holy. 40:36 I am going in to anoint a sister, 40:37 stood at the, stood at the foot of her bed, 40:41 talk with her about James chapter 2, 40:45 you know if there be any sick read some 40:48 scripture getting ready to pray Holy 40:52 you know the holy, the elders surrounded the bed, 40:56 we were gonna hold hands and I was gonna 40:59 to rub the oil on her head while I had a little 41:01 talk with Jesus, suddenly the door flew open 41:07 and a member of my church she's gone now. 41:11 Sister Turnie was her name so the Turnie 41:15 always wore hats, she always wore them 41:18 crooked on her head. Sister Turnie came 41:23 through the door like a Sherman Tank, bang, 41:27 came in the room, we're standing there Holy, 41:30 she walked right up to bed ignores the fact 41:32 that we are there and she says to the sister, 41:35 honey, where does it hurt she says right here 41:38 she laid her hands right there, she began to 41:41 pray ignoring all of us, she began to pray. 41:44 I'm standing there saying, wait a minute now, 41:46 I'm the pastor and she you know but 41:48 she started praying and she pray and 41:52 when she got finished prayer and she walked 41:54 turn around and started toward the door, 41:56 and said get up. And I am saying to myself now 42:02 they already said you can't get up, they already 42:05 said she's almost gone, that's why we're here, 42:09 but the sister got up, walked out the room 42:15 herself nurses came from everywhere, 42:18 bells went off, alarms went off and I learned 42:24 that having a degree and having pastor 42:27 before my name did not mean that I was the 42:31 only one that had enough faith to heal 42:35 somebody. You've got to go through faith 42:40 experiences before you reach the mountain 42:43 top, amen. Why did God wait so long for Isaac, 42:51 Bible writer again, God often allows circumstances 42:56 to reach a point where human impotence 42:59 stands forth in striking contrast to his 43:03 omnipotence, amen. God says I want Isaac 43:07 to be born but I want the world to know that 43:11 Abraham and Sarah didn't do it, 43:14 I want the world to know that I did it, 43:18 the birth of Isaac was contrary to the course 43:22 of nature, amen. At last, our dream is fulfilled, 43:32 for 20 years there is contact from God, 43:37 Abraham loves this boy Isaac. Its his only, 43:44 its his only begotten son I know he had 43:50 another son, but this was the only begotten, 43:56 the only chosen one, right, then because 44:02 the God who sees also sees now God comes 44:11 in the night sees him and he says Abraham, 44:15 Abraham and Abraham knows that it's God talking. 44:22 If you look through scripture you will discover 44:24 that every time God calls, he calls twice Adam, 44:29 Adam. Abraham, Abraham, take now your 44:38 only son, what's the matter God? 44:43 What happened? Again from the pen of inspiration, 44:48 Abraham failed the first test by not waiting on 44:55 the promise, if he had waited he would not 44:59 have had to go through this test, some of the 45:04 stuff we're going through is our own fault, amen. 45:10 We can't blame anyone for our foolish decisions, 45:15 come on say amen out there, amen. 45:16 We've made some mistakes but God does not abandon 45:21 us and our mistakes praise His Holy name. 45:23 Satan accused God of making an exception 45:26 to Abraham's faith. Satan said that Abraham had 45:30 broken the covenant and was unworthy 45:33 of the blessings. And Abraham, Bible writer says, 45:39 and Isaac's relationship began to replace 45:45 Abraham's relationship with God. 45:48 And so God said take this thy son. 45:54 Abraham wrestled with this thing, 45:58 Satan told him it can't be true. 46:02 God said this son was gonna be like the stars 46:07 of the, his children like the stars of the sky. 46:11 God would give you this son and then take 46:13 him away. Abraham labored with this thing, 46:16 Bible writer says, he went to the bed of Isaac, 46:20 look at him, couldn't say anything to him 46:24 and walked out of this bedroom went over 46:26 to Sarah, watch Sarah sleeping knowing that 46:30 if he told Sarah what was going to happen 46:32 she might try to stop it, he knew God was 46:36 talking to him, he knew God was testing him, 46:39 he knew he had to obey God. 46:42 But we didn't understand it, so he got 46:47 Isaac up took two man servants, 46:51 said we're going to the mountain to worship, 46:56 it was a three day journey, every night 47:00 they stopped. Isaac and the servants slept, 47:03 but Abraham stayed up all night long talking 47:06 to the Lord he is a 125 now and he's up all 47:13 night long, his body is weary but he's pleading 47:17 with God saying, Lord, tell me, tell me, 47:21 show me something but God would not show him 47:25 anything. He had to walk by faith, and then 47:32 on that third day he sees the cloud hanging 47:37 over Mount Moriah and he knows this is the place, 47:42 he knows God has not changed his mind, 47:47 at the foot of Mount Moriah. Abraham says 47:53 to the servants, words of faith, he says you 47:58 wait here and we the boy and I, 48:03 we will go up, we will make the sacrifice 48:08 and we will come back down, amen. 48:11 Abraham, how do you know if we go up 48:15 we can come back, I know because I know 48:19 Jehovah-Raah, God can see and God's going 48:24 to take care of it. Amen. Climbing up one side 48:29 of the mountain is Abraham and Isaac, 48:34 climbing up the other side is a lonely ram, 48:40 just eating himself up the side of the mountain, 48:46 the whole universe is watching the drama 48:50 because they understand that what's taking place 48:53 there is a foretaste of what's going to take place, 48:57 because a few yards from Mount Moriah 49:00 stands Golgotha's heel, up one side of 49:03 it's mountain the Lord cries out for justice 49:07 but coming up the other side of its mountain 49:10 is a wounded, broken Jesus. On Mount Moriah 49:17 Isaac carries the wood, on Mount Calvary Jesus 49:24 carries the cross, on Mount Moriah Abraham 49:29 builds an alter. On Mount Calvary cross is laid 49:34 out on the ground, on Mount Moriah Isaac 49:39 asks father, where is the lamb on Mount Calvary 49:43 Jesus cries out my God, my God, why have you 49:48 forsaken me, on Mount Moriah Isaac is laid out, 49:53 on Mount Calvary Jesus is stretched out. 49:58 On Mount Moriah Abraham raises the knife, 50:03 on Mount Calvary the Father hides His face 50:07 from his Son and Satan and death begins 50:11 to make his move, on Mount Moriah Abraham 50:15 brings down the knife and suddenly on 50:19 Mount Moriah Abraham hears the voice Abraham, 50:23 Abraham hold on Abraham you don't have 50:27 to slay your son, there is a ram in the thicken, 50:31 where is the ram Lord, the ram is on 50:35 Mount Calvary. Jehovah-Raah, 50:44 God has seen to it. God says Abraham, 50:51 I know, I know where your allegiance is now, 50:56 I know that you serve me above everybody 51:01 else. Abraham gave up Isaac, God gave up Jesus. 51:08 Abraham had faith in God, but God had faith 51:15 in Abraham, because while Abraham was 51:20 offering up Isaac God had Abraham's nephew 51:25 raising Rebecca to be Isaac's wife. 51:29 There was no plan B, somebody says what 51:37 if Abraham had failed. Bible writer says, 51:43 Abraham could not fail, God made a covenant 51:49 and if Abraham's faith had waned, 51:53 God would have increase his faith. 51:58 So he would have passed the test. 52:00 Somebody said that's not fair, 52:02 but I want to suggest to you this morning 52:05 that God has made a covenant with us. 52:08 First John 1:9 if we confess our sins 52:12 his faithful and just to forgive us our sins. 52:16 First John 2, if we sin, if you sin and 52:21 make a mistake and sin we have an advocate 52:24 with the father, who will stand there 52:27 and say my blood father will shed for this man, 52:31 my blood father will shed for that woman 52:34 and then First John 3 now we are the sons of God. 52:41 But that not yet appear what we shall be 52:44 but this we know when he comes we shall be like 52:49 him Jesus says I've got a covenant with you, 52:53 if you confess your sins I guarantee you, 52:56 you will make it into the kingdom. 52:58 Jehovah-Raah God can see and will see to it. 53:08 I began Wednesday night, talking about one word 53:13 and that word is surrender. And that's what faith is, 53:20 faith is surrendering and the problem with 53:27 surrender is us, we get in the way. 53:32 Lord I want to stand up on my own feet. 53:37 No, no God says you gotta let go you gotta 53:42 let me do it. Now I want to ask you today, 53:45 do you want faith do you know that only faith 53:51 will take us into the kingdom, amen? 53:54 You've never heaven; you've never seen a 53:58 street paved with gold, you've never seen a 54:01 pearl big enough to be a gate, you've not only, 54:05 you have, you, you have not even seen Jesus. 54:09 All you've done is read a book, that's talked 54:13 about him. All you've done is talk to people 54:17 who testified what the book has done 54:20 but you don't know for sure except through faith. 54:28 If you're gonna get to the kingdom 54:31 we gotta have faith, if you're gonna have 54:35 faith you gotta let go. You have to surrender, 54:40 some stuff in your life you gotta let go some 54:45 problems you've been trying to figure out 54:47 you've gotta let go, amen. So I wonder today in 54:52 the next couple of minutes we have finish up here, 54:54 if you're ready to surrender, listen as 54:59 the pastor sings, every head bowed, 55:02 every eyes closed, it's your time with God. 55:08 God said your time now, he's talking to you now, 55:13 he's making a new covenant with you now, 55:16 and all he's asking you to do is 55:18 surrender, are you ready. 55:21 All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; 55:38 I will ever love and trust Him, 55:45 In His presence daily live. 55:54 I surrender all, I surrender all. 56:08 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. 56:23 And I am gonna to ask you to do 56:24 something that some of you maybe a 56:25 little uncomfortable with. A little accustomed 56:29 too. But we're living in the last days, 56:33 the last breaths of earth's history. 56:37 Jesus is about to come, amen. Even folk 56:42 who don't believe in Jesus know something 56:44 is about to take place in this world. 56:47 Something has to take place or the world will 56:50 implode upon itself. It's time to stop 56:54 playing games, that's right. it's time to stop 56:57 talking about it, it's time to do something 57:00 about it, amen. It's time to stop just say Lord 57:03 I promise, it's time to surrender if today 57:07 you're ready to say all to Jesus I surrender. 57:12 All to Him I freely give. Now I'm gonna ask 57:17 you to stand from where you are, 57:19 make your way down front foot altar, 57:22 a special prayer gonna ask the president 57:24 to come and pray for us. 57:26 And just all to prayer and make your way 57:29 down front while he sings the next stanza, 57:31 don't be afraid, just come on down. 57:34 All to Jesus I surrender, 57:41 Make me, Savior, wholly Thine; 57:48 Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, 57:56 Truly know that Thou art mine. 58:03 This is your day. This is surrender time. 58:05 I surrender all, I surrender all. 58:17 All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all. 58:32 Now before we close I want to ask you 58:35 another question, there maybe someone here 58:38 who is not a member of the Seventh-Day 58:40 Adventist Church. You may have been born 58:44 into the family of Adventist but you've 58:45 never full surrendered and said yes I want to 58:48 be baptized in the church. Maybe this 58:50 is your firs time at camp meeting, 58:52 maybe you've been attending church but 58:54 never joined the church. I've come today to 58:59 invite you to become a part of God's 59:01 remnant people, amen. If you're here today 59:04 you're not a member of the church but 59:07 you want to join God's church, so you just 59:09 slip you hand up where you are, just slip your 59:12 hand up where you are. Heaven is here, 59:15 Holy Spirit is speaking. God is moving on 59:20 someone's heart. Where are you now, 59:22 just say yes to the Lord Jesus Christ. 59:25 He bought you here for this moment, 59:28 this is your Mount Moriah moment, 59:31 God is saying what more do you need, 59:33 God bless you my brother, God bless you. 59:36 Anybody here, God bless you over here, amen. 59:39 Anyone else God is waiting on you now. 59:41 We've got equipment, this is important. |
Revised 2014-12-17