Revelation of Jesus Christ

New Earth

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox

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Series Code: RJC

Program Code: RJC000029


00:19 Good evening and welcome to
00:22 a continued study of the book of Revelation:
00:24 The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
00:27 We're very happy to welcome each of you.
00:30 Those of you that are joining us by television
00:33 we welcome you. If you're listening by radio,
00:36 we welcome you and those that are tuning in or -
00:40 how should I say? - patching in on the Internet,
00:44 we welcome you also and we appreciate you being here.
00:48 Well, we have come down to the last chapter
00:52 of the book of Revelation...
00:54 and the closing chapter.
00:56 And I hope that our journey through the book of Revelation
01:00 has been helpful to you and maybe given you some
01:04 insights into the book of Revelation.
01:07 And I hope above anything else
01:09 it has created in you a desire to be in God's kingdom.
01:14 Because He's done everything that's necessary
01:17 for you to be there.
01:19 There's not anything that is required
01:23 that Christ hasn't done for you
01:25 so that you can be in His kingdom.
01:27 And we're very glad that you've been here
01:30 and have been able to go through this time with us.
01:33 Tonight our subject is The Victory is Won.
01:39 We've come to the end and
01:45 the beast, the false prophet, the dragon:
01:49 all Babylon has been done away with.
01:53 She is not more, and God has come and set up His kingdom.
01:58 And so that's what we're looking at: The Victory is Won.
02:02 Christ is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings,
02:06 and He is ruling over and above it all.
02:11 And so we are thankful for the hope,
02:14 assurance - great assurance - that we have
02:17 in Jesus Christ that soon... real soon...
02:22 He's going to be coming back
02:25 and that you and I can have the privilege of being
02:28 in His kingdom.
02:30 We've been blessed having the His Voice quartet with us.
02:35 And I've enjoyed them being here very much.
02:40 One of the quartet members, Todd Spainhower,
02:44 was able to bring his wife, Tracy, along.
02:47 And we're just very happy that she's here.
02:50 Thank you for coming, Tracy. Appreciate that.
02:55 And they're going to sing for you tonight
02:59 and I'm sure you'll be blessed as they sing a
03:04 song called The Great Gettin' Up Morning.
03:07 And so I'm sure that you'll enjoy that very much.
03:11 Chuck Allgaier who has read the scripture for us
03:14 night after night is going to come and read
03:17 Revelation 22 verses 6 through 21.
03:22 And so we hope it will help you to take the admonition
03:27 God has. God bless you.
03:31 Good evening.
03:33 Again tonight if you have your Bibles
03:36 last time, please take them and turn them to the
03:39 book of Revelation chapter 22
03:41 and we want to read that together tonight.
03:43 So if you have your Bibles with you,
03:45 turn to the book of Revelation chapter 22
03:48 and let's read together:
06:29 In that great gettin' up mornin'
06:32 fare you well, fare you well.
06:36 I'm gonna tell you 'bout the coming of the Savior,
06:38 fare you well, fare you well.
06:41 I'm gonna tell you 'bout the coming of the Savior,
06:43 fare you well, fare you well.
06:46 There's a better day a-comin',
06:48 fare you well, fare you well.
06:51 Then you'll see my Jesus comin',
06:53 fare you well, fare you well.
06:56 In that great gettin' up mornin'
06:59 fare you well, fare you well.
07:01 In that great gettin' up mornin'
07:04 fare you well, fare you well.
07:06 Fare you well.
07:09 "Come and blow your trumpet, Gabriel, "
07:11 fare you well, fare you well.
07:14 "Tell the people come to judgment, "
07:17 fare you well, fare you well.
07:19 "Lord, how loud shall I blow it? "
07:22 Fare you well, fare you well.
07:25 "Loud as thunder... peals of thunder"
07:27 fare you well, fare you well.
07:30 In that great gettin' up mornin'
07:33 fare you well, fare you well.
07:36 In that great gettin' up mornin'
07:38 fare you well, fare you well.
07:41 Fare you well.
07:46 Then you see the world
07:50 on fire,
07:54 fare you well,
07:58 fare you well.
08:05 See the smoke a-risin'
08:10 higher,
08:15 fare you well,
08:19 fare you well.
08:27 See the elements a-meltin'
08:31 fare you well, fare you well.
08:34 And you hear the rumblin' thunder,
08:37 fare you well, fare you well.
08:40 In that great gettin' up mornin'
08:42 fare you well, fare you well.
08:45 In that great gettin' up mornin'
08:48 fare you well, fare you well.
08:50 Fare you well.
08:53 Now you raise your eye to heaven
08:55 fare you well, fare you well.
08:58 And you see the Christians risin'
09:01 fare you well, fare you well.
09:04 Then you see the righteous marchin'
09:06 fare you well, fare you well.
09:09 They are marchin' home to heaven,
09:12 fare you well, fare you well.
09:14 In that great gettin' up mornin'
09:17 fare you well, fare you well.
09:20 In that great gettin' up mornin'
09:22 fare you well, fare you well.
09:25 Fare you well, fare you well.
09:30 Fare you well.
09:36 Amen!
09:55 Heavenly Father, we come to You this evening
09:58 first, Lord, just opening our hearts to You.
10:04 Thanking you... thanking you for Your Word
10:08 that gives us guidance and direction for our lives.
10:13 Thank you, Lord, for the promises.
10:16 The promise that You're coming back
10:19 and that each of us can have a place in Your kingdom.
10:24 We pray for Your blessing tonight.
10:27 We ask that the Holy Spirit may come into this place.
10:33 That our hearts may be open and receptive to Your Word
10:38 and that we will purpose to follow You, to walk with You.
10:44 To prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord...
10:49 for this we look forward to anxiously.
10:52 In Christ's name, Amen.
11:00 Well the last chapter of the book of Revelation
11:04 has a lot of admonition about
11:09 the book of Revelation.
11:11 And that's... you'll find much in this chapter
11:14 is admonition that God has given to you and me
11:18 concerning how we are to relate to the book of Revelation.
11:22 That's really what's in this chapter,
11:24 and we're going to take a look at what the Lord has to say
11:28 about how we are to relate to it.
11:36 What words?
11:37 Well the words of Revelation... all that He's written here.
11:41 These words are faithful and true.
11:44 These are things that you can build your faith on
11:47 that it won't fail.
11:49 That it's there; it's solid; it's true
11:51 so we can believe it... we can follow it.
11:53 They're faithful and true.
12:05 Now he's reaching back clear to the first part
12:08 of the book of Revelation where he talked about that
12:11 and said that what he was showing were things
12:13 that were going to take place shortly.
12:16 Now he's ending the book and says "I've shown you
12:18 these things that are to take place shortly. "
12:22 So those who are seeing -
12:26 follow me - those that are seeing
12:28 these prophecies that he gave in the book of Revelation
12:33 those that are seeing those prophecies fulfilled
12:36 know that the Lord is coming shortly.
12:40 OK. The thing about it, folks,
12:42 is you're the ones that are seeing it.
12:44 Therefore the promise that the Lord will come
12:48 applies to you and to me
12:51 in a very, very strong and definite way.
12:54 OK.
13:02 Started out the book of Revelation,
13:05 and it started out by saying:
13:07 "Blessed is he that reads and he that hears
13:12 and he that keeps the words of this prophecy. "
13:16 He now ends the book by saying
13:20 "Blessed is the person that reads these prophecies. "
13:24 So dear friend, if you want to receive a blessing
13:27 study the book of Revelation
13:30 'cause there's a blessing that God pronounces upon it
13:33 to that person who reads and understands the book
13:36 of Revelation. And you and I
13:39 need to make it very, very clear in our lives
13:45 what is happening, what's taking place,
13:47 and what's going to happen.
13:49 Unfortunately, this is not the case.
13:55 Unfortunately, very, very few people
14:00 know anything about the book of Revelation.
14:05 If you were to go out here and stop the first 10 people
14:10 on the street and ask them about Revelation,
14:14 they can tell you nothing about it.
14:17 There is almost nothing said about it.
14:20 To most people the book of Revelation is a closed book.
14:25 They... I've talked to lots and lots of people.
14:27 They say: "Well I just don't understand it. "
14:30 "I just don't know what it's talking about. "
14:33 Well, I can understand that
14:37 but I will say this: "There is no reason for that
14:41 'cause God promises that He will bless you if you read it.
14:46 That He will help you understand it. "
14:49 But you find that there are many, many, many, folks,
14:54 false beliefs about the book of Revelation.
14:58 There's lots of things that are taught
15:01 that are absolutely false
15:05 concerning the book of Revelation.
15:07 And you and I cannot afford to not read it
15:12 and understand what it's saying
15:14 for our own sake to know what is truth
15:17 so that we can follow it.
15:19 Other people are told "It's simply not important.
15:23 Not important whether you understand it or whether you
15:26 don't. " Yes it is!
15:28 It's vital that you understand it
15:31 in this day and this age.
15:34 Where are we?
15:39 Those of us that have come this far in time:
15:43 where are we in the book of Revelation?
15:47 Well, to begin with we can see,
15:51 folks, we can see clearly the image to the beast
15:56 is being formed. All you've got to do is read the newspaper,
16:00 watch the television, read magazines,
16:03 and you can see that the image to the beast is in the process
16:08 of being set up... being formed.
16:10 So we know what that is and we know what is going on there.
16:15 We don't have to be in darkness.
16:17 We don't have to be in doubt.
16:19 We know exactly what's happening there.
16:21 Secondly, we can see Paganism,
16:26 apostate Protestantism, Catholicism
16:29 we can see that all coming closer and closer together.
16:34 Pick up the newspaper and read it
16:37 and we see where they're opening up and accepting
16:42 beliefs that are absolutely contrary to scripture.
16:47 And so Paganism and Protestantism
16:51 and Catholicism are coming together, joining hands.
16:55 We see that happening today.
16:59 So where are we? Well, we are living...
17:03 we are living in the time of the 17th and 18th chapters
17:09 of Revelation. If you want to know where we are,
17:12 that's where we are: the time of the scarlet beast.
17:16 We're living at the time in which this is all being set up,
17:20 where the 10 kings are being formed.
17:23 That's where we're living, folks.
17:26 That's the time that we're in.
17:28 So what I'm trying to tell you
17:30 is we're not in the first part of the book of Revelation.
17:33 We're in the latter part of the book of Revelation.
17:36 Very last part... it's running out!
17:39 In fact, after the 17th and 18th chapters
17:43 when you go to 19 and 20 you have the marriage supper
17:46 of the Lamb and the millennium.
17:49 That's what's next:
17:51 the marriage supper of the Lamb and the millennium.
17:54 So we're right there. And then after, of course, that
17:57 you come to what we're talking about tonight:
17:59 Revelation 21 and 22
18:02 which talks about the new heaven and the new earth.
18:06 So I don't know if you sense
18:11 or if you understand where you are
18:15 and the time in which you're living.
18:18 But I would say to you
18:21 that over and above anything else
18:27 you need to prepare to be in God's kingdom.
18:33 You need to get ready because I believe the time
18:38 is short; you don't have a lot of time left.
18:50 "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book. "
18:56 Don't close it up.
18:59 Well, let me tell you:
19:03 through the preaching of such men as Luther,
19:07 Knox, Zwingli, Calvin
19:13 and all these reformers
19:15 if you go back and read them, you'll find that they were
19:19 perfectly clear on the prophecies
19:23 as best as they could understand them in those days.
19:26 But they understood what was happening.
19:29 They understood much of what was being said
19:33 for their day and their age.
19:36 And they pointed their finger clearly at Catholicism
19:41 and said that it was not doing what God wanted them to do
19:45 and they needed to change their ways.
19:48 Let me tell you something: Luther, Knox, Zwingli,
19:51 Calvin... all those men... they were trying to get
19:55 Catholicism to change the way it was.
20:01 They were trying to get them to come back to
20:04 the Word of God and to build their faith on the Word of God.
20:08 This was what they were endeavoring to do.
20:11 They were not trying, folks, to move away from the church.
20:16 They were trying to bring about a revival
20:19 within the church.
20:21 They were trying to bring them back to God's Word.
20:24 But they rejected it.
20:27 They would not have anything to do with it.
20:30 They would not take their advice.
20:32 They would not look at what those men had to say
20:35 and so a schism or a breakaway took place.
20:42 And we find that Luther and Knox and Zwingli
20:47 and those men began to preach the Word of God.
20:50 They preached the prophecies in the book of Revelation.
20:57 And they pointed clearly and said: "That's the beast. "
21:03 And out of their preaching, thousands -
21:08 thousands upon thousands - left Catholicism
21:14 and came into that of the Reformation.
21:18 In fact, under Calvin alone
21:22 500,000 Frenchmen accepted the Reformation
21:28 by the preaching of God's Word and preaching the prophecies
21:33 in the book of Revelation.
21:35 It shook... it shook the Catholic church
21:41 to the very foundation.
21:44 So much so that they called...
21:49 they called what was known as the Council of Trent.
21:54 And in the Council of Trent,
21:57 that Council basically trying to establish
22:02 two things: whether they should build their belief
22:06 on the Word of God or whether they should
22:09 build their belief on the Word of God and tradition.
22:14 The pope called in two men:
22:19 one by the name of Ribera and one by the name of Alcazar -
22:24 two priests - and told them "Whatever you have to do,
22:29 do... to get the finger off of us. "
22:33 Those two priests developed two different concepts of
22:37 prophecy. One developed a concept of prophecy
22:43 called the Praeterist view which takes all the prophecies
22:47 in the book of Revelation and puts them in the past
22:51 and says: "They've all been fulfilled and they have no
22:54 reference to you and I at all. "
22:57 That never did catch on very much.
23:00 But another one developed a concept called Futurism
23:05 in which it took all the prophecies
23:09 from the 4th chapter of Revelation on
23:13 and said: "Those are all in the future. "
23:16 So you have the concept of Futurism coming in.
23:21 And follow me carefully now:
23:25 Everything from the 1st chapter
23:29 through the 3rd chapter had to do with the seven churches:
23:33 the seven churches of Asia.
23:36 And so they apply that as it is.
23:40 But when they get to the 4th chapter, they say all that
23:44 has to do with the future and takes place after
23:49 the coming of Jesus Christ.
23:51 Therefore, as believers and followers of Jesus Christ
23:56 we don't have to be concerned with it
23:58 because it doesn't take place while we're here.
24:02 This only takes place after the rapture.
24:05 And I don't know if you're understanding what I'm trying
24:08 to tell you tonight. I'm trying to tell you
24:10 they closed the book.
24:13 There's no interest in it.
24:15 Why should I read it if it has nothing to do with me?
24:19 And so you find today that churches
24:22 all across this country and around the world
24:26 don't know anything about the book of Revelation.
24:28 And they don't know anything about it because they have
24:32 been taught the Futurist concept.
24:34 They've been told that all that takes place
24:37 after the rapture. That you're not here during that time...
24:40 therefore it doesn't have anything to do with you.
24:44 And they have taken that very verse
24:47 where Christ said: "Be careful,
24:50 don't seal the words of the prophecy of this book"
24:53 and they have sealed it so that people do not understand it.
24:58 And that's what they're faced with today.
25:13 Here the angel has appeared to him.
25:16 He's showed him all these things.
25:19 Listen: there's something that takes place here
25:21 that's very vital because it says:
25:37 Now folks, if you take the book of Revelation
25:41 and you start through it,
25:44 the central theme all the way through the book of Revelation
25:50 is worship. That's the central theme
25:55 all the way through is that of worship.
25:59 And when it comes down to the very end
26:02 in which... the time you're living and I,
26:05 it's a matter of worship
26:07 and it will be that all the way through to the end.
26:11 The dragon, the false prophet, the beast...
26:18 you know what they want?
26:23 They want worship... that's what they want.
26:26 That's what the scripture says.
26:36 That is what they want is worship.
26:40 And worship belongs only to God.
26:45 Only to Jesus Christ.
26:47 Therefore I must give to Him
26:51 my allegiance. I must give to Him my adoration.
26:56 I must give to Him my praise.
26:59 I must give to Him my worship because it belongs to Him.
27:04 No one else.
27:06 But they're saying: "No, worship the dragon.
27:11 Worship the beast; do what he says. "
27:24 I should worship only Jesus Christ.
27:29 I hope... I hope that you take time
27:36 each day to worship the Lord.
27:41 Just take time
27:44 to offer to Him your praise,
27:49 your thanksgiving, your adoration.
27:54 Up to this point in the book of Revelation
27:57 John has been talking.
28:00 All of a sudden something at this point happens.
28:04 John has been writing different things but now
28:08 all of a sudden Jesus steps to the front.
28:12 And the rest of the 22nd chapter of Revelation
28:17 are Christ's words.
28:20 All before John wrote them down, recorded them, put it there.
28:24 But now as we're down to the end
28:27 Christ steps up and these are His words
28:31 to you and to me.
28:55 In other words, it's simply saying that it's over.
29:01 All come down.
29:13 Down to the end.
29:18 No change. As I said to you earlier,
29:21 you're not going to develop character
29:27 after Christ comes.
29:30 Your character will have been set and settled.
29:36 Going to be taken care of before Christ comes.
29:41 So when He says: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still;
29:45 he that is holy, let him be holy still, "
29:47 every case is settled and decided.
30:00 Christ is trying to assure you and me
30:07 that He is the beginning -
30:09 and He was the beginning of the book of Revelation -
30:11 and He is the end of the book of Revelation.
30:14 He is the beginning and the end
30:18 of the book of Revelation. The Alpha and the Omega
30:23 unto the end... to the very last.
30:36 No more. There is not any more, folks...
30:41 The door of mercy... How thankful I am
30:44 the door of mercy tonight is open.
30:47 But it's not going to continue to be open.
30:51 It's going to close.
30:55 And when it closes, it's going to close for all mankind.
31:09 You cannot... you cannot add anything to it.
31:15 You can't put something there. When it comes to salvation,
31:20 salvation is something that Jesus Christ has done for you
31:25 and me. And He gives it to us totally free.
31:30 All we can do is accept it.
31:32 Clear?
31:34 OK, but...
31:43 Salvation is a free gift. I simply accept it.
31:47 But when it comes to the judgment,
31:49 you and I will be judged by our works.
31:53 And our works should simply be
31:58 the results of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
32:02 That's what our works should be.
32:05 But we will be judged by them
32:08 because that is an indication of where we are
32:13 and what we believe.
32:26 Let me tell you something:
32:27 the commandments are the dividing line.
32:31 Follow me.
32:34 The commandments are the dividing line.
32:38 When it says: "Blessed are they that do His commandments
32:42 that they may have right to the Tree of Life, "
32:44 there's a reason for that,
32:46 because it says:
32:59 All that is outside there.
33:02 So we find that this is the situation:
33:07 there are two camps.
33:09 Are you clear? Two camps.
33:12 One: those who keep God's commandments...
33:16 and those that don't.
33:19 That simple, folks.
33:21 Those that keep His commandments
33:23 and those that do not keep His commandments.
33:31 You can cut it, you can slice it any way you want to,
33:36 but when it comes down to it
33:38 it's those that keep God's commandments because worship
33:43 is shown by obedience.
33:49 I cannot say: "Well, I love You, Lord, "
33:53 but I'm not going to do what You tell me. "
33:58 See, worship is shown by obedience.
34:03 If I love the Lord, then I'm going to obey Him.
34:07 And so when it comes to it, God says:
34:10 "Here are My people; these are the people that
34:13 have served the Lord, walked with Him and followed Him. "
34:15 These are His people.
34:20 All right.
34:36 This... when He says He is
34:41 the "root and the offspring of David, "
34:45 that's rather strange, isn't it?
34:47 Huh? How can He be the root
34:50 and the offspring? Two different things.
34:54 Huh?
34:57 By the way, He asked the Pharisees that
35:00 and that messed them up terrible.
35:02 They didn't know what to say or what concerning that.
35:07 But He is the root.
35:09 He's the root because before David was
35:15 He was.
35:17 That's right. He existed before David.
35:20 He's also the offspring because of the genealogy
35:25 in which He came through.
35:27 So He's the root and the offspring.
35:29 And contained in this with David is the very covenant
35:34 that He made and He promised and He said:
35:37 "I am carrying out that covenant that I have made
35:40 with you. " Therefore, to you and to me
35:45 He must be the Bright and the Morning Star.
36:02 There's the invitation.
36:06 Whoever desires.
36:09 Do you desire tonight?
36:12 "Let him come and let him take of the water of life freely. "
36:18 Oh, dear friends, please
36:22 drink... drink of the water of life.
36:27 Drink it and drink it abundantly.
36:32 Don't be stingy with it.
36:35 Drink it until your cup runs over and overflows.
36:41 Drink in the water of life. That's what God wants you to do.
36:46 It's given freely to anybody who wants it.
36:50 So there's no question; you don't have to miss life.
36:55 It's free to anyone who drinks of it.
37:14 You see, He's protecting what He's given.
37:18 He's saying: "Here... don't be adding
37:23 anything to what He has given. "
37:25 That you and I need to read and study the Word of God
37:30 to find out what God has given.
37:45 I don't want to add to it.
37:48 I don't want to take away from it.
37:52 I want to follow exactly what the Lord says.
37:58 That's the promise to you and to me.
38:13 Now this evening I want to share something with you,
38:17 and I hope by the grace of God I can help you see this.
38:23 That you will see how marvelous God is
38:29 and how wonderful He is. I'm going to go back
38:33 and pick up a little bit of what I talked about
38:37 in the last presentation
38:39 because I want you to see it and understand it.
38:43 Revelation 1 and verse 5. It says:
38:55 "Washed us from our sins in His own blood. "
39:00 How thankful I am that it reads that way.
39:05 He washed us from our sins in His own blood.
39:09 And it says: "To Him who loved us. "
39:13 I'm glad that God loves us
39:17 just exactly like we are.
39:23 See, it doesn't say He washes us and then loves us.
39:27 It says He loves us and then washes us.
39:32 I mentioned this before. I'm glad that God does not
39:35 love us like we love babies.
39:39 You know, if the baby has been bathed and powdered
39:43 and smells good, anybody will pick it up and love it.
39:46 But you let it have a snotty nose and a dirty diaper
39:50 and see how many people go the other way.
39:52 See? Well, that's... God love us just exactly like we are.
40:00 That's the way He cares for us.
40:03 And then He washes us and cleanses us from our sins
40:08 in His own blood.
40:10 How marvelous that is!
40:12 But now watch... because He does something for you.
40:16 The next verse says:
40:28 It says: "And He has made us
40:34 priests... kings and priests to His God. "
40:38 That does not say
40:41 if you do this, this, and this
40:44 you might become a king.
40:47 Doesn't say that.
40:49 That right there, dear friends, is the very heart
40:52 of Christianity.
40:54 The very, very heart of it.
40:56 God says He has "made us kings and priests. "
41:02 Therefore because you have accepted Christ
41:07 you have become a king and a priest.
41:10 Therefore, because you are one
41:13 you ought to act like you're one.
41:18 That should motivate me; that should move me;
41:21 that should be why I'm there.
41:22 He doesn't say: "Well if you qualify I'll make you that. "
41:26 No. He says: "I'll make you that. "
41:29 And then, He will in turn do those things within you
41:33 that are necessary for you to be what He wants you to be.
41:39 But what I want you to notice tonight
41:41 is it says that He'll make you
41:46 a king or a priest. Now you need to follow.
42:03 So He said He's going to make us kings and priests
42:09 to His God and we will reign on the earth.
42:13 Over and over and over in the scripture
42:17 He continually talks about making you a priest.
42:23 Did you know that?
42:43 So here again He says all those that have accepted Him
42:47 and followed Him... that they become priests of God
42:51 and will live and reign with Him for a thousand years.
43:17 Now here it says that God is going to come
43:21 and He's going to live here on this earth with us.
43:28 That this earth will become His home.
43:32 His headquarters. That He will live here with us
43:38 and that each one of you will be a priest.
43:46 That's what it says.
43:49 That He's going to live here
43:51 and that He will be our God;
43:54 we shall be His people;
43:57 and that each one of us will be a priest.
44:17 "You are a royal priesthood. "
44:23 Oh, not after the Aaronic priesthood
44:28 but after that of Melchizedek.
44:34 You are a priest.
44:37 Now you have a very definite reason for being a priest
44:40 because a priest does what?
44:42 Well a priest ministers. That's what the priest does.
44:48 See? He ministers to the needs of people.
44:52 Cares for them. And it says that all of you
44:57 will be priests.
45:09 So here it says that you are going to be
45:14 God's own special people.
45:18 For what purpose?
45:20 Hmmm?
45:24 Yeah. To proclaim the praises of Him
45:30 who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
45:36 OK. That's what you're going to do.
45:38 You're a priest and you are going to share
45:42 with others how He called you out of darkness
45:48 into His marvelous light.
45:58 Now, you see
46:04 when Christ told the parable
46:10 of the one lost sheep,
46:15 He was talking about this earth.
46:21 Out of all the universe - God's vast universe -
46:25 this is the only one that has ever sinned.
46:30 This is the only place there is sin,
46:35 and Christ came and redeemed us.
46:40 Died for us.
46:44 And so the vast universe is full
46:49 of unfallen worlds.
46:54 Beings that have never fallen.
46:58 But God makes His home
47:04 here.
47:07 This earth will become the center of the universe.
47:15 And unfallen beings will come
47:20 from everywhere in the universe.
47:24 And they'll come to this earth
47:29 and you know what?
47:31 You are going to be a priest
47:37 because you are going to tell them the marvelous story
47:42 of how God... or how Christ called you out of darkness
47:47 into His marvelous light.
47:50 You see, because you know some- thing that none of them know...
47:57 none of them have ever experienced...
48:00 none of them have ever known
48:03 the marvelous grace of God.
48:06 They haven't known the work that He did in your heart
48:10 to change you and make you different that pulled you out
48:13 of darkness and brought you into His marvelous light.
48:17 They don't know any of that.
48:21 You're the only ones that do.
48:24 And so you will be a priest
48:29 of God and you will serve Him
48:33 because you will be there to tell others
48:36 the marvelous story of redemption:
48:40 what God has done for you and for me.
48:45 Marvelous privilege
48:47 to be a priest or a king unto God.
48:51 That's what He did that we might be saved.
48:55 And so He says to you and to me:
49:03 Oh that will be a marvelous day
49:05 when Jesus Christ comes back!
49:13 John ended up the book saying:
49:21 Dear friend tonight
49:25 if you don't know the grace of God,
49:29 I hope that you'll accept Him.
49:31 I hope that you'll open up your heart
49:34 and give Him your life.
49:37 Because He loves you and cares for you
49:41 in a very special way.
49:45 Ranko Stefanovic in his book
49:49 called The Revelation of Jesus Christ
49:52 he tells the story of a couple
49:57 who went to Africa as missionaries.
50:03 They went there... They spent their life
50:08 in Africa working with the people there
50:13 bringing them the good news of salvation
50:16 ministering to them and caring for them.
50:19 All their life they worked there.
50:21 Now they have grown old.
50:24 Time has come to come back home.
50:29 Their health is broken.
50:31 They don't have any money.
50:34 And they've come to catch the ship - this is years ago -
50:38 catch the ship back to America.
50:40 And they get there and they find that there's a lot of noise
50:46 and a lot of things going on at the ship
50:49 and they find out that the ship they're taking back to America
50:54 that Teddy Roosevelt is on that ship.
50:59 That he's just coming back from a hunting trip
51:02 in Africa. And the people are all crowded around
51:06 to see Teddy Roosevelt and to praise him for everything.
51:11 And they get on the ship and they start across the ocean.
51:15 And all the hubbub and all the things that's going on
51:20 about Teddy Roosevelt and how all the people are so anxious
51:24 to see Teddy Roosevelt
51:25 and so anxious for what's going on there.
51:28 And this bothers the missionary,
51:32 and he says to his wife: "It's not fair. "
51:36 He said: "We have spent our life working in Africa.
51:41 We don't have anything.
51:43 There was nobody to see us off.
51:45 There's nobody expecting us when the ship docks.
51:49 It's not fair. "
51:53 They got across and arrived at the port.
51:59 And sure enough, here the band is playing
52:02 and all the people are shouting.
52:05 And all is going on about Teddy Roosevelt.
52:08 And he gets off the ship, and everybody's praising him
52:11 and all this, and it disgusts the missionary.
52:16 And he said to his wife: "It's just not fair. "
52:23 They finally found them a little flat in New York.
52:26 Found work where they could make a living
52:31 to care for them in their old age.
52:33 But the missionary couldn't get over it.
52:37 Kept telling his wife: "It's not right. "
52:40 And finally one day she said to him:
52:43 "You'd better go in the bedroom and settle that with the Lord. "
52:46 And he went in the bedroom and shut the door.
52:49 After a bit he came out composed,
52:52 and she said: "Well, what happened? "
52:55 He said: "Oh, I got in there and I told the Lord
52:58 how it wasn't fair and it wasn't right and all this
53:01 and there was nobody here to welcome us and all this. "
53:04 And she said: "Oh? "
53:06 He said: "Yeah. " She said: "What did He say? "
53:09 He said: "Oh, He just told me
53:12 'you're not home yet. ' "
53:16 And so you and I: we're not home yet.
53:21 We're not there.
53:23 But it's not far off.
53:26 Jesus is coming.
53:27 That you and I need to be ready to meet Him when He comes.
53:32 Let us pray.
53:34 Father, we thank you...
53:36 thank you for Your Word.
53:39 For Your admonition.
53:41 For the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
53:47 Lord, bless each one here.
53:50 May the Lord Jesus Christ be close to them.
53:54 May they hang on tenaciously
53:57 to the promises of Your Word.
54:00 May the Holy Spirit do its work in our hearts:
54:04 make us kind and gentle, forgiving and loving.
54:09 That we might demonstrate to those about us
54:15 the wonderful love of Jesus Christ.
54:18 That we might be ready,
54:22 prepared, to meet You at Your coming.
54:26 For these things we ask You in Christ's name, Amen.
54:32 May God bless you. Continue to be faithful...
54:37 spend time in this book.
54:41 In the heart of southern Illinois
54:43 lies a small town named after A. J. Mason
54:47 who came in 1923 with plans for a dream city
54:52 and the largest coal mine in the United States.
54:55 Surveyors laid out the streets and the sidewalk
54:59 and workers built the tallest smokestack in the country
55:02 complete with a Spanish turret
55:05 and decorative cathedral doors at the top.
55:08 Railroad tracks were laid,
55:10 and as word of this dream city spread
55:13 people flocked in by the thousands.
55:16 But as the black coal came out of those deep tunnels
55:20 miners came closer and closer to the end of the dream.
55:25 And after just three years of mining
55:27 an underground river flooded the shaft.
55:31 Suddenly the operations became very costly
55:35 and although Mr. Mason poured millions into his mine
55:39 eventually it was taken over by the bank.
55:42 People left the city in droves.
55:45 Some didn't even bother to take their furniture.
55:47 Soon the tracks lay dormant.
55:50 Weeds grew up around the beautiful train station,
55:53 and abandoned homes gave way to trees.
55:57 Today locals say that Mason is the only town in America
56:02 where you can hunt quail from the sidewalk.
56:05 Although other coal companies tried to revive it,
56:08 Mason's mine never again turned a profit
56:13 and today only a few hundred people are left.
56:16 Mr. Mason's dream went up in smoke.
56:20 All that remains is a beautiful smokestack,
56:24 an old train station,
56:26 and miles of deserted tracks.
56:30 The Bible says earthly treasures are easily stolen
56:34 by thieves and destroyed by moth and rust.
56:38 But our Heavenly Father is building a dream city
56:41 with streets of gold and mansions by a crystal sea.
56:45 He invites us to come live with Him for eternity
56:49 and never grow old.
56:51 The Bible also says that where our treasure is
56:54 there our heart will be also.
56:56 And in this day and age when stocks lose their value
57:00 in minutes and entire banking systems fail
57:04 God invites us to put our treasures in things of
57:08 eternal value.
57:09 Friends, nothing is more valuable than a human soul.
57:14 Won't you help us bring the good news of salvation
57:17 to those who are lost?
57:20 Please, ask the Holy Spirit what He would have you do.
57:26 Please consider what you can do for those who
57:29 still don't know about Jesus.
57:30 As the Holy Spirit impresses,
57:32 please send your tax-deductible gifts to:
57:48 Thank you for helping us spread the light of God's Word
57:51 through television. Your gifts bring the blessed hope
57:53 of salvation to millions around the world.


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Revised 2014-12-17