Spring Camp Meeting

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: SCM

Program Code: SCM180003A


00:41 Welcome to the 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting:
00:44 The Three Angels' Messages.
00:50 And we do welcome you all back to the second sermon
00:54 in these three angels' messages.
00:57 In just a few minutes Pastor Bradshaw is going to
01:01 come back. Did you enjoy that first message?
01:03 That was amazing!
01:06 And I thought... There's like electricity in the air.
01:11 But you know what that is? That's God's holy presence.
01:15 That is the anointing of Almighty God in this place.
01:18 And Pastor Bradshaw is going to bring us the next message
01:22 which is The Everlasting Gospel.
01:24 So let's prepare ourselves to be blessed again.
01:28 But before he comes Yvonne Lewis-Shelton
01:32 is going to come and minister a beautiful song to us.
01:35 You know, she and Tim Parton wrote this song together.
01:38 And I'm going to ask that she tell you all about it.
01:42 Sr. Yvonne and Tim. Thank you Mollie.
01:46 So about three months ago Danny and Tim and I
01:50 were coming back from a ministry event
01:52 and Danny said to Tim and me
01:56 that we should write a song together.
01:58 And so... bless his heart, Tim - he's a great writer
02:02 and I'm really not... And so the next morning
02:06 I was in my worship room and I asked the Lord for a song.
02:10 I said: "Lord, would you just give me a song? "
02:13 And He gave me these lyrics
02:16 and so... and they just came... it was amazing!
02:20 And so I sent them to Tim
02:23 and in about two hours
02:26 this is the song that Tim sent back to me.
02:30 And so we're sharing it with you.
02:32 Your Love Will Lift Me Up.
02:39 Lord, I come to You with a heavy heart
02:44 'cause I know I've let You down.
02:48 All that sparkle and amusement
02:53 caused me to lose my ground.
02:58 I've lost my moral compass
03:02 and all sense of direction.
03:08 Please lead me to the path
03:11 of Your perfection.
03:16 Love will lift me up;
03:21 Your love will fill my cup.
03:26 No more emptiness or vain regrets...
03:31 no shame or guilt or secrets.
03:35 Your love will
03:38 lift me up!
03:45 All the clouds that now obscure my heart
03:50 will start to disappear.
03:54 All the anger, hurt, and pain will leave
03:59 along with doubt and fear.
04:04 I trust that You will guide me, Lord,
04:08 through all life's twists and turns.
04:13 Please take my hand
04:15 and hold me close
04:18 for You my spirit yearns.
04:23 Oh, love will lift me up;
04:28 Your love will fill my cup.
04:33 No more emptiness or vain regrets...
04:38 no shame or guilt or secrets.
04:43 Your love will
04:45 lift me up!
04:50 Oh, love will lift me up;
04:56 Your love will fill my cup.
05:00 No more emptiness or vain regrets...
05:05 no shame or guilt or secrets.
05:10 Your love will
05:13 lift me up!
05:20 Your love will
05:23 lift
05:26 me up!
05:37 Amen!
05:46 Good evening everyone. Good evening!
05:53 I mean this... I mean this with all my heart:
05:56 Yvonne Lewis-Shelton is one of my favorite singers
05:59 in the world. Amen! She just is.
06:02 In fact, if you compiled a list of my favorite people,
06:06 she'd be somewhere right up near the top.
06:07 She's wonderful! Hope she didn't hear me say that.
06:11 Wonderful! Welcome to Camp Meeting.
06:16 I'm glad you're here... I'm really glad you're here.
06:18 Hope you got here without any issues and that
06:22 you are planning on... Someone laughed when I said that.
06:25 All right... I take that to mean you probably did.
06:29 I expect that you've come expecting to be blessed.
06:33 Amen!
06:35 You know, when you open up the Bible you ought to expect
06:40 to be blessed. Amen!
06:43 And the blessings aren't always super evident at the time.
06:48 You know. Sometimes you open up the Bible
06:52 and you read the Bible and you close the Bible
06:53 and you can go away kind of feeling much the same as you did
06:56 before you opened up the Bible.
06:58 But it's important to remember we are saved by faith
07:01 and not feeling.
07:03 And the Bible isn't given to us for the purpose of ecstasy.
07:06 It's given to us for the purpose of intimacy with God
07:11 so that we can know the mind of God
07:13 and know Jesus
07:15 so He can possess us more and more and more.
07:18 So we'll open the Bible this evening.
07:22 We are going to talk about the three angels' messages.
07:26 Now as you get through Camp Meeting
07:30 what you're going to discover is that you're going to start
07:32 drilling down kind of deep
07:35 into various aspects of the three angels' messages.
07:39 My privilege tonight is to look at the three angels' messages
07:41 in an overview form... an overview form.
07:45 And after this this is where you start to do the real digging.
07:49 You're going to start to focus in on various aspects
07:53 of the three angels' messages: the messages of three angels
07:56 in Revelation chapter 14.
07:59 Particularly important.
08:02 So let's begin by praying
08:04 and anticipating that God would come very close
08:08 to us as we study His Word tonight.
08:10 Let's pray.
08:13 Our dear heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of
08:16 Jesus.
08:20 We believe that it is Your desire to bless us.
08:28 As we open Your Word we know it is Your desire
08:32 to speak to us.
08:33 You have said - Your spokesperson said - that
08:37 Your Word would not return to You void
08:41 but it would accomplish what You sent it to accomplish.
08:44 It would prosper in the purpose for which You sent it.
08:50 We believe that.
08:51 Now we don't trust ourselves to be able to squeeze the Bible
08:56 and make the good stuff come out.
08:58 But we trust You to be able to feed us
09:01 with the bread of heaven. We don't want this to be
09:04 and intellectual or a human endeavor tonight.
09:09 We pray that something supernatural would happen.
09:12 We pray that we would see Jesus.
09:14 We pray that Your Word would be alive and powerful.
09:19 So speak to us, dear Lord, we pray
09:23 in Jesus' name - please, would you say with me -
09:28 Amen! Amen... Amen.
09:35 It was 1940... World War I was a year old.
09:39 America had not yet joined...
09:42 Did I say World War I?
09:44 If World War I was a year old in 1940,
09:46 then we all have trouble... we really do.
09:51 Everything we believed has just gone out the window!
09:58 In 1940 World War II was a year old.
10:04 United States had not joined World War II
10:06 until a little later.
10:10 But in 1940 it was progressing furiously.
10:17 In France British troops found themselves
10:23 surrounded. Wasn't good.
10:27 Germany was gaining the upper hand,
10:29 and so you had thousands of British and Belgian
10:32 and French troops that had been pressed back up against
10:35 the English Channel.
10:38 Germany had 'em on three sides...
10:40 the ocean had 'em on the fourth.
10:44 British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill
10:46 said this was a "colossal military disaster. "
10:51 The commander of the British expeditionary force
10:54 realized there was only one option: that was to evacuate.
10:57 How do you get almost 350,000 men
11:01 out of France when your only way out is the water?
11:06 When the enemy is pressing in on you
11:10 in a desperate fashion, how do you do that?
11:14 It was 390,000 men.
11:18 It was hoped that they'd get 50,000 out.
11:24 That was the hope.
11:26 What would become of the other 340,000?
11:30 Maybe you wouldn't want to think about that.
11:33 But for reasons that to this day are still unclear
11:36 Hitler took his foot off the Allied throat.
11:42 No one's really sure why.
11:45 It has been said that he was confident
11:48 that the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe,
11:50 could do the job all on its own.
11:52 So there was a reprieve.
11:55 I don't know if Hitler anticipated what Churchill
11:57 was going to do, but Churchill issued a call
12:01 for anyone in England with a boat
12:05 to send it across... well, to pilot it across the channel
12:10 and get the Allies out of there
12:14 back to England and safety.
12:16 It's a very interesting thing: in the 1940's
12:20 England was still a very class-aware country.
12:24 Great Britain is the country.
12:26 Great Britain was a very class-aware country.
12:30 Not the caste system that you find in a place like India
12:34 but very much the upper class
12:38 and the lower class. And frankly never the twain shall meet.
12:43 Very much like that.
12:45 And yet in response to the call
12:50 issued by Britain's Prime Minister
12:55 people responded.
12:57 They crossed the channel - not a wide body of water -
13:00 in ferries and fishing boats and pleasure craft
13:05 and sloops and yachts and everything you could imagine.
13:11 Bankers and longshoremen
13:15 and taxi drivers and fishermen
13:18 and accountants and teachers, men and boys.
13:24 It was easy for the people in the boats to find out where
13:26 they were going. At night they could see the glow of the flames
13:30 and by day they could see the rising smoke.
13:31 They knew where to go.
13:33 Dunkirk was obviously just over there.
13:38 Many of the boats were tiny, and so the tiny boats
13:41 would go into shore, get the men, take them out
13:42 to the bigger boats. They'd go backwards and forwards
13:44 like taxis... water taxis if you like.
13:49 With the beach at Dunkirk under attack
13:52 from German artillery, bombers, and fighting planes
13:58 or fighter planes this rag-tag rescue force
14:03 managed to rescue 340,000
14:08 Britain's, French, and Belgians.
14:12 It was an incredible rescue mission.
14:17 You might say it was a miracle!
14:20 Few people would dare to say
14:23 that God had nothing to do with that.
14:26 You can't get that lucky.
14:29 Just isn't important. Nine days!
14:34 Historians look back at that time with utter amazement.
14:41 But when the chance to be rescued from calamity
14:45 from certain death comes along
14:49 analysis is probably best left for another day.
14:54 You accept the lifeline that's thrown to you.
14:58 Graciously... gratefully
15:01 you grab hold of it. How it came about
15:05 doesn't really matter.
15:08 But when somebody shows up to rescue you
15:13 you avail yourself of the rescue
15:16 and you get out of there alive.
15:21 You go back to the beginning of this earth's history
15:25 God created a beautiful world.
15:28 He started off by saying on day one -
15:31 on 24-hour period number one -
15:34 "Let there be light. "
15:37 And as He progressed through the six days of creation
15:41 He got to the place where He had made a beautiful
15:44 and a perfect world and placed in it
15:47 beautiful and perfect creatures, beautiful and perfect vegetation
15:51 and beautiful and perfect people.
15:54 And then on that first seventh day you can imagine God
15:57 fellowshipping with Adam and Eve and thinking
16:00 "This is great! "
16:02 And Adam and Eve must have thought the same thing.
16:04 And God in His wisdom realized He had to warn
16:07 Adam and Eve because He was aware
16:09 that there was a great controversy raging.
16:12 He knew that a high-ranking angel named Lucifer had
16:15 been evicted from heaven. He knew that Adam and Eve
16:17 were not out of danger. And so He said to them: "Listen,
16:20 when you get in that garden you can eat anything you want.
16:22 Take it; enjoy it... it's for you. EXCEPT...
16:25 EXCEPT for the fruit that grows on one tree.
16:30 Don't eat that... just don't. "
16:34 And so wandering through the garden they went, and Eve
16:37 got close to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
16:39 and there was a s-s-s-s-nake
16:43 who s-s-s-s-aid to her
16:47 "Doesn't thi-s-s-s-s look s-s-s-s-uper? "
16:56 And Eve, God bless her, answered by saying:
17:00 Yessssss.
17:04 And before long the human family
17:07 was hedged in on three sides by an advancing enemy.
17:11 Behind them was the water.
17:13 There was no way out
17:15 and there was no point trying to swim.
17:19 They - we - were stuck.
17:23 There was no hope... there was no way out.
17:27 We needed rescue.
17:32 Friend, today we still need rescue.
17:37 We just do.
17:39 The Bible says all have sinned and come short of
17:42 the glory of God. But what do you do
17:47 to rescue a sinner?
17:50 What do you do for somebody with a broken...
17:53 yea, verily... with a defiled heart?
17:57 What do you do for somebody who is out of sync
18:01 with the God of heaven and therefore out of sync
18:05 with life itself? For in God is life.
18:09 What do you do?
18:12 Well, let's turn in our Bibles to Revelation chapter 14
18:17 and let's see.
18:19 Revelation chapter 14
18:22 and we're going to begin in verse 6 as we look tonight
18:26 at the everlasting gospel.
18:29 Revelation chapter 14 and verse 6
18:35 where John writes: "Then I saw another angel
18:40 fly in the midst of heaven hav- ing the everlasting... " What?
18:45 Gospel! "having the everlasting gospel
18:49 to preach to them that dwell on the earth. "
18:52 There's a word that's not there but I think
18:54 we can put it there - I hope you won't mind me doing this -
18:57 "having the everlasting gospel to preach to ALL them... "
19:02 Right? "to them - all of them - who dwell on the earth
19:09 and to every nation, kindred,
19:13 tongue, and people
19:17 saying with a loud voice
19:20 'Fear God and give glory to Him
19:24 for the hour of His judgment is come.
19:27 And worship Him that made heaven and earth
19:30 and the sea and the fountains of waters. ' "
19:34 There's plenty of time throughout Camp Meeting
19:37 for thorough analysis of these words, phrases,
19:40 and verses. For now... an overview.
19:44 But here humanity is alerted to the fact
19:47 that there is an everlasting gospel.
19:50 An eternal gospel.
19:52 A final gospel message to go to the world.
19:57 And the angel starts by sayin: "Fear God. "
20:00 Fall down before God; kneel before God;
20:04 love God; reverence God; fear God.
20:08 Give Him glory! Judgment time is come.
20:12 Wouldn't it sober you up if you knew that judgment
20:17 time was taking place? Wouldn't that be a sobering thought?
20:20 We ought to be sober tonight, what do you say?
20:23 Amen! We ought to be sober.
20:25 And then there's this call to worship Him who made,
20:29 to worship the Creator.
20:32 We all worship something.
20:34 We all worship someone.
20:37 You might worship the Yankees or the Red Sox.
20:41 Now me, I would recommend the Red Sox over the Yankees
20:44 but it doesn't matter any.
20:47 Because I believe if Solomon was writing Ecclesiastes
20:50 today he'd say: "MLB, NBA... the whole thing
20:52 is vanity. " I'm sure he would... I'm sure he would.
20:56 But you might worship a sports team
20:58 or a sports person, a celebrity or a family member
21:04 or spouse, a thing, a job, a possession...
21:07 money. You might worship these things.
21:13 The Bible calls us in earth's last days to worship God.
21:17 Yeah, that's an easy thing for believers.
21:18 But not just to worship God... to worship the Creator God.
21:22 The Creator God: the One who made.
21:25 We're going to learn more about this as we go through
21:27 this Camp Meeting. That's so important
21:28 I feel like stopping and diving into it now.
21:30 But it will be done more thoroughly at a later time.
21:33 "Another angel followed saying: 'Babylon is fallen,
21:37 is fallen...that great city
21:38 because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
21:41 of her fornication. ' " You know when John wrote
21:43 Revelation he was like a magpie. He went through
21:46 the Old Testament gathering bits and pieces
21:48 from here and there.
21:50 And he was gathering imagery and symbolism
21:53 and words and phrases from the Old Testament so that
21:56 when his New Testament readers read the book of Revelation
21:59 with that frame of reference they would say: "Ah, we know
22:01 what he's talking about... we know what he's talking about. "
22:04 You know that Babylon fell once before back in the time...
22:06 after Nebuchadnezzar's grandson Belshazzar,
22:11 you understand a man whose knees started having fellowship
22:13 with each other when the writing appeared on the wall.
22:15 Babylon fell!
22:17 Gave way to the Medes and the Persians.
22:20 And we understand that Babylon was thoroughly wicked
22:23 and completely pagan and involved in false worship.
22:27 The word Babylon comes from that root word meaning
22:30 confusion. And so God is speak- ing about religious confusion
22:33 in earth's last days.
22:35 And He wants us to know there is no hope
22:39 in religious confusion... only in religious fidelity.
22:43 Only in spiritual clarity; only in true worship of the true God.
22:49 True worship.
22:50 And what a privilege to be able to worship God in spirit
22:53 and in truth. This was what Jesus recommended.
22:56 And then in verse 9: "A third angel followed them
22:59 saying with a loud voice: 'If anyone worships the beast
23:01 and his image and receives his mark in his forehead
23:03 or in his hand the same shall drink also
23:05 of the wine of the wrath... ' Ooh, this is serious, isn't it?
23:08 'The same will drink also of the wine of the wrath
23:11 of God which is poured out without mixture
23:14 into the cup of His indignation.
23:16 He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
23:19 in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence
23:21 of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
23:23 ascends up forever and ever. ' "
23:25 Oh my goodness!
23:26 "They have no rest day nor night who worship the beast
23:29 and his image, whosoever receiveth the mark
23:31 of his name. " And then we get into verse 12
23:33 and God wraps this thing up with hope and promise.
23:35 He says: "Here is the patience of the saints;
23:38 here are that that... " Do what? Tell me: there are two things
23:40 at least. Keep the commandments of God.
23:43 How many are there? Ten! Amen... that's right.
23:44 And the? Faith! Faith of Jesus.
23:47 They keep the commandments of God
23:49 and the faith of Jesus.
23:52 Now we are going to take the time
23:55 over the next few presen- tations in this Camp Meeting
23:58 to really get into "the hour of His judgment is come. "
24:01 What's that all about?
24:03 To get into worshiping Him "who made heaven and earth
24:06 the sea and the fountains of water. "
24:07 We'll identify and explore the idea of Babylon
24:11 and the fall of Babylon.
24:13 We'll discuss the wine of the wrath of her fornication
24:16 and the mark of the beast and keeping the commandments of God
24:19 and the faith of Jesus.
24:21 But as we embark on this journey
24:25 we're going to look at something so basic
24:29 there is a danger we might look right over the top of it.
24:33 We are here in this moment
24:36 to talk about the everlasting gospel.
24:41 And I fear
24:44 that if some of God's people were asked to explain
24:48 the everlasting gospel they would say: "Oh, oh, wait
24:51 a moment now... wait, wait.
24:53 That's fear God; give glory to Him.
24:55 The hour of His judgment is come. "
24:57 "Worship Him who made... "
25:00 "Babylon is fallen.
25:01 Let me tell you about the mark of the beast. "
25:03 "That was the everlasting gospel. "
25:06 I understand it; I get it...
25:09 but I don't entirely agree.
25:12 If that's our definition of the everlasting gospel,
25:16 we're overlooking something.
25:18 We're overlooking the gospel.
25:22 The everlasting gospel is the everlasting gospel.
25:27 And when God had John write out
25:30 Revelation chapter 14 verses 6 through 12
25:34 and speak of the everlasting gospel
25:36 He was not asking John to sidestep
25:39 the gospel part of the everlasting gospel.
25:44 He was hoping that we would read this and understand that
25:48 oddly enough the gospel
25:51 is the key component in the everlasting gospel...
25:57 not an afterthought.
25:59 Not an addendum; not optional
26:03 but it is the crux, the heart
26:09 of the matter: the everlasting gospel.
26:13 Yes, we ought to be familiar with the idiosyncrasies
26:17 of those verses. We ought to be familiar
26:19 with all of the details. We must... we ought to be.
26:21 They're there for a reason... we ought to study them,
26:23 know them, claim them, proclaim them!
26:25 There's no question about that.
26:28 But we are living too close to the return of Jesus
26:32 to be minoring in the gospel itself
26:36 and majoring in the details about earth's last days.
26:41 We would be tremendously unbalanced as believers
26:45 in Jesus if our first love wasn't Jesus.
26:50 Amen! If we couldn't give a gospel presentation.
26:54 I tell you what: there is a very real temptation
26:58 so much so that in many experiences it's a reality.
27:01 People don't feel like they have witnessed
27:03 until they've gone deep into Revelation chapter 14.
27:07 Sometimes that's necessary; sometimes that's appropriate.
27:11 But if you were to start on a journey someplace
27:14 you would start at the beginning.
27:15 And the beginning of the journey to heaven is Jesus.
27:18 Amen! And we must acquaint ourselves
27:21 with the gospel... with the eternal gospel.
27:25 What's it all about? Jesus came to this earth
27:30 and preached the gospel.
27:32 Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, Matthew 11:5,
27:36 Matthew 26:13.
27:38 Jesus came and preached the gospel.
27:41 The gospel simply put is the good news or the good tidings.
27:46 It's the story of what God has done through Jesus
27:49 to reconcile the lost to Himself...
27:52 what God has done to save undeserving,
27:57 sinful, alienated human beings
28:00 who didn't even know they needed or wanted to be saved.
28:04 It's what God has done to take our sins
28:08 and give us His righteousness.
28:11 And don't ever make the mistake of saying:
28:14 "Oh the pastor at our church, all he ever does
28:16 all he ever does is preach about the gospel.
28:18 He never gets into the 'real' stuff. "
28:20 I hear people say that.
28:23 The gospel IS the real stuff.
28:25 Amen! Now I understand what you mean.
28:27 You don't want to hear every time you go to church
28:30 "God loves you; repent of your sins. "
28:31 "God loves you. " You want to hear more than that.
28:33 I understand that 'cause so do I.
28:35 I understand that. You want to be reminded
28:37 about the times in which we live.
28:39 You want to be reminded; you want to be challenged.
28:41 You want somebody to present the present truth.
28:44 Understood. You want to hear the pillars.
28:46 Amen! You ought to want to hear that!
28:49 But my brother, my sister: don't ever grow tired of
28:53 hearing the old old story
28:55 'cause it's the greatest story ever told.
28:57 It's the story of God's love for sinners.
29:00 It's the story of a God who so loved the world
29:03 He gave His only begotten Son
29:06 for a world that didn't care.
29:10 "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us"
29:14 and commended or demonstrated His love to us.
29:18 Amen! Jesus said: "This gospel of the kingdom
29:21 shall be preached in all the world for a witness
29:23 to all nations. " Now I'm not trying to set up
29:25 opposing sides here. I'm not trying to tell you
29:28 it's the story of Jesus and the cross
29:30 OR the story of Babylon and the beast
29:33 and the judgment and worshiping the Creator God.
29:35 Oh, no, no, no, no.
29:37 It's both and.
29:38 It's one AND the other.
29:40 It's put them together.
29:42 But for goodness' sake... put them together!
29:45 Amen! Because if you've got a gospel
29:48 that just talks about beasts and antichrist
29:51 and horns and days that mean years
29:54 man, oh, man... you are going to just upset people.
29:59 Because the message that's going to get people to heaven
30:02 is the message of Jesus.
30:04 It's the message of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
30:07 And don't be thinking: "Oh, everybody in my town
30:11 knows Jesus and knows the gospel. "
30:12 No they don't!
30:14 And even if they do they need to hear it again!
30:18 Amen! And unless they know that you are a Christian
30:21 who is sold out to Jesus
30:23 why in the world would they want to hear about
30:24 your prophetic scenario?
30:26 Why would they even want it?
30:27 They shouldn't want it if they can't be certain
30:30 you are a Christian who lives and breathes
30:33 and loves Jesus who died on that old rugged cross.
30:38 Gospel... euangelion or evangelion.
30:42 It's derived from the word angelos
30:43 which means messenger.
30:45 The word gospel - the Greek word for gospel -
30:48 is where we get the word evangelist from.
30:52 Strictly speaking, if you want to look at a definition,
30:55 an evangelist is a bringer of good news.
31:00 In classical Greek an evangelist was one who
31:04 brought a message of victory or other political or personal
31:07 news that caused joy.
31:08 Let me slow that down.
31:10 An evangelist was a message who...
31:12 An evangelist was a messenger
31:15 who brought a message of victory
31:19 or of other political or personal news
31:21 that caused joy. Come on, now...
31:24 when you share your faith are you causing joy or angst?
31:29 Better be joy.
31:31 You don't want to go to your neighbor and say:
31:33 "Ah... you've got the wrong day, man! "
31:35 "You've got the wrong church leader. "
31:37 "Oh, you don't understand the way to interpret prophecy. "
31:39 No, no, no! You're going to be like smoke getting in somebody's
31:42 eyes. It ought to be like honey to their taste.
31:45 And if it isn't, try to make it as sweet as you can.
31:51 There will be a time to come along with the big guns.
31:55 There will be a time!
31:56 And there are odd times when that might be the right
31:59 first-off approach. Most of the time it ain't
32:03 because you've gotta convince someone if you are a Christian
32:06 you've gotta tell them what's MOST important.
32:08 And that most important is God is love.
32:13 Jesus died for you.
32:15 It is good news.
32:19 So that now became a technical term for the message of victory.
32:24 So if you are bringing the gospel message,
32:27 you are bringing a message of victory
32:31 and a message that causes joy.
32:33 And there's nothing that brings as much joy
32:36 as knowing that Jesus died for your sin.
32:39 I am promising you there are people here tonight
32:44 who desperately need to hear more than anything else
32:48 Jesus died for your sins.
32:50 God loves you.
32:52 You can confess your sins tonight
32:54 and know that God will give you a new heart
32:57 and you have hope in this world.
32:58 You can leave this place tonight...
33:00 In fact, right now you can reach out to God,
33:04 accept what He is offering you,
33:06 and have the assurance of salvation NOW!
33:10 NOW! Amen! Assurance!
33:13 And that's not license; that's not going easy on somebody.
33:17 That's lighting somebody up with the hope that Jesus gives to us.
33:22 That's setting somebody's feet on the pathway that leads
33:25 that person to heaven.
33:26 Victory... good news. How good is the good news?
33:30 We had friends contact us: "Pray for our son. He's 15. "
33:32 "Oh, he's a good boy; I know that boy.
33:34 He's been with us on It Is Written mission trips. "
33:37 "Pray for him. " "Why? " "He has cancer. "
33:41 You don't want to hear that your 15-year-old kid has cancer.
33:45 You don't want to hear anybody has cancer.
33:47 Fifteen years old... these are healthy people.
33:50 I mean, how could this even happen?
33:52 They had the tests done: cancer.
33:54 "Whoa, what do we do now? "
33:55 "We've got to go to the doctor and talk about treatment. "
33:57 "Well... we've got to pray first. "
33:59 And they sent the message out: "Pray... pray for our... "
34:02 We prayed! Man, we prayed all right.
34:03 People prayed. I'm sure there were people all around the world
34:05 praying for this boy.
34:07 And so they take him to the doctor.
34:09 "Doc, what are we going to do? "
34:10 "Help us to understand what you recommend would be
34:12 the best course of treatment. We need to start
34:14 weighing up our options. "
34:15 And the doctor said: "Allow me to do some tests. "
34:17 And when the doctor got back to the family he said: "Listen,
34:19 we need to do some more tests. "
34:21 "Oh, man, we had tests, tests, and more tests
34:23 and now it's time for even more tests. "
34:24 He said: "No, no... you're going to like these tests. "
34:26 And he did some more tests and the doctor said:
34:28 "I have looked and I've looked again.
34:30 When we first looked your son had cancer.
34:33 We've looked again: we cannot find cancer! "
34:36 "It's GONE! " Amen!
34:38 Now I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking.
34:41 You are thinking the boy never had cancer in the first place.
34:43 Even if that's true I'm saying "Praise the Lord! "
34:46 Amen! But they were convinced he had it
34:48 and then they were convinced he didn't have it.
34:51 He didn't have it 'cause God took it away!
34:55 Amen! It's what God does in answer to prayer at times.
34:59 Is that good news? Amen!
35:02 The gospel is better news.
35:04 The gospel is BETTER news.
35:06 We celebrate better news.
35:10 It's profoundly good news.
35:13 It's great news!
35:15 It ought to cause us to worship God
35:17 and have a lifestyle of worshiping God.
35:18 By the way this is a hobby horse now.
35:20 This is a little hobby horse.
35:21 You know it's very interesting. You go to some church services
35:24 and you have prayer and maybe you have an offering
35:26 and maybe a children's story...
35:28 And then they say: "Hey, let's bring out the musicians
35:30 because now we're going to worship God. "
35:37 Yes, the man with less red hair than he used to have:
35:40 go ahead... go ahead. Me? Yes, you.
35:43 "Are we about to worship God now? " "Yes, it's time
35:45 for praise and worship. " What have we been doing
35:48 up until now?
35:49 Have we not been worshiping God?
35:52 Uh... isn't that interesting?
35:55 When worship begins... If worship begins
35:58 when the band comes out, then you're doin' it wrong.
36:01 That's right!
36:03 You're doin' it wrong!
36:04 You could say worship begins when your eyes open
36:08 in the morning, but when it comes to church
36:10 worship begins when you walk in the door.
36:11 Yeah. No matter if the band is playing or not.
36:14 No matter who's at the piano.
36:15 Worship begins when you walk in the door!
36:17 And when you know that Jesus has died for you,
36:20 set you free, worship comes easy.
36:23 It's good news.
36:24 The Bible is built on the idea of good news.
36:28 The word gospel appears in the Bible about 100 times.
36:31 Why is it such good news?
36:33 Paul wrote about the gospel in every book...
36:36 explicitly about the gospel...
36:37 in every book that he wrote with the exception of Titus.
36:40 But if you read the book of Titus you find the message
36:43 of the gospel all the way through the book of Titus.
36:45 The New Testament is founded on the idea
36:48 of actual good news. The Old Testament is founded
36:52 on the idea of the promise of Jesus
36:55 who was going to come and make that good news a reality.
36:58 The Bible is all about good news.
37:00 I would like to take a moment with you
37:02 because you're going to hear all about the everlasting gospel
37:04 over the next "x" presentations.
37:07 So let's look at a passage that spells out for us
37:11 exactly what the gospel is.
37:14 We are going to I Corinthians chapter 15.
37:16 We're going to pick it up in about verse 1.
37:19 I Corinthians chapter 15
37:22 and we'll start in verse 1.
37:25 I Corinthians 15 verse 1: "Moreover brethren,
37:30 I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
37:34 unto you which also ye have received
37:37 and wherein ye stand. "
37:38 So here it is: the gospel.
37:41 He says in verse 2: "By which also ye are saved
37:45 if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you
37:48 unless you have believed in vain. "
37:50 One of the problems we have
37:52 that we don't get up for the gospel when we should
37:55 one it might be that the person sharing the gospel
37:59 message shares it like it's bad news.
38:01 It might be that.
38:03 But the other thing is maybe we've forgotten what it's like
38:06 to be lost. If you've ever been lost,
38:10 then you can be really happy that you're saved. Amen!
38:14 I did not become a Bible-believing Christian
38:16 until I was 23 years old.
38:18 I knew what it was to be lost!
38:22 I knew what it was to be searching desperately
38:26 for the Bible. I knew what it was like
38:28 to be marinating in sin.
38:31 I understood that.
38:32 And so when my eyes were opened and I came in out of the dark
38:36 and into God's marvelous light
38:38 I was thrilled. I still am! Amen!
38:43 I was going to hell...
38:46 now I'm going to heaven. Amen!
38:49 By the way, I've been to hell.
38:51 I've been to hell and back. Some of you all have, too.
38:54 This past weekend my wife and I
38:56 we went to hell together.
38:59 It's quite the experience.
39:01 You know what I'm about to say, don't you?
39:04 You know on the island of Grand Cayman... I was down
39:06 in the Cayman Islands for some evangelism
39:07 and evangelism training. And on Grand Cayman
39:10 there's a little part of Grand Cayman called Hell.
39:13 Someone looked at the landscape. It's all rocky and awful
39:16 and said: "This is what hell would be like. "
39:17 And so they named it Hell, and you can go to the
39:19 Hell Post Office on Cayman Island.
39:22 I was there on Sunday.
39:24 I've been to Hell and back!
39:29 Yeah, I mean literally if you like. I think literally.
39:33 I know what it's like to be looking into the future
39:37 and seeing flames.
39:40 I know what that's like.
39:42 And now I know what it's like to turn away from that
39:45 and look into the future and see Jesus.
39:47 Amen! I'm excited by that.
39:50 And when I dig deep into the book of Revelation
39:53 you know what it helps me to see?
39:54 It helps me to see Jesus more clearly.
39:56 If you want to dig into Revelation chapter 13
39:59 and talk about the beast that rises up out of the sea
40:01 I'm saying: "I see Jesus more clearly
40:02 because I've seen that. "
40:04 And if you want to talk about Revelation chapter 13
40:06 and the second beast that comes up I'm saying: "Hallelujah!
40:08 I'm seeing Jesus more clearly because I'm reading
40:12 here in the book of Revelation. "
40:14 So let's not lose focus.
40:16 Let's not lose a clear view of the beauty of the gospel.
40:22 We are saved by this Paul says.
40:25 This is vital. We are looking in verse 3 now.
40:28 "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
40:32 received: how that Christ died for our sins
40:37 according to the scriptures. "
40:38 Your sin will drag you with it into the lake of fire.
40:42 But Jesus says: "No, no... I will save you from that. "
40:46 I told this story before. There was a young man.
40:48 He was in the military in the United States
40:50 during the second world war and he was flying in an aircraft.
40:53 And they were flying over I believe it was Idaho.
40:56 I've spoken to this man. He was a wonderful man.
40:59 Died just a few years ago.
41:01 And suddenly the plane in which he was flying
41:04 hit a bump - turbulence of some kind -
41:08 and it was so severe it threw him... thump,
41:10 against the door of the plane.
41:12 He was sitting right up next to the door.
41:14 The door flew open and he went out.
41:17 Out. Swooh...
41:20 Except umm... got stuck... because the lace on his boots
41:24 somehow got anchored on something inside the cockpit.
41:28 This is not a joke... it's a true story.
41:30 I said to him one day... I called him about something
41:33 and the I said: "Listen, I hope you don't mind me
41:35 asking this but is that story true? "
41:38 And he just chuckled. He said: "Yep, it is. "
41:41 "Would you tell me that story? "
41:42 And there he was... 20,000 feet above
41:45 I believe it was Idaho looking down at the earth
41:48 hanging by a shoelace... a bootlace.
41:53 And he said to God: "God,
41:56 if You get me out of this alive,
41:59 if You get me down to the earth in one piece,
42:02 I will serve You for the rest of my life. "
42:06 He prayed that prayer and then somehow
42:09 "thoomp... " he went up into the plane
42:11 back in the seat. The door slammed shut behind him!
42:18 Absolutely true!
42:21 And he got down to the ground
42:23 and he decided he was going to study for the ministry.
42:26 And he did! And he served God as a faithful
42:29 soul-winning minister for the rest of his life.
42:32 He's one of these pastors - and they're everywhere -
42:34 after retirement he just worked harder.
42:36 Twice as much work; not even half the pay.
42:41 You know, when God does something like that for you
42:43 don't you think it would affect you?
42:47 But He HAS done something like that for you.
42:49 Just like that.
42:50 You may not have been dangling at 20,000 feet
42:52 looking down at Idaho
42:54 but you were dangling between life and death
42:57 looking down at the lake of fire!
42:59 And when Jesus stepped into your life
43:01 He saved you and you didn't deserve it.
43:04 And you can't deserve it.
43:05 And you can't earn it.
43:07 And you can't warrant it and you can't bargain with God.
43:10 And you can't, you know, do a deal with God.
43:13 All you can do is accept it from God
43:16 by the grace of God
43:18 salvation to the glory of God.
43:23 And so we pick it up in verse 4:
43:25 "And that He was buried, that He rose again the third day
43:28 according to the scriptures.
43:29 After that He was seen of Cephas then the Twelve.
43:31 After that 500 at once of them the greater part remain
43:34 some are dead. After that He was seen of James
43:36 then the apostles and last of all He was seen of me also
43:41 as one born out of due time.
43:43 For I am the least of the apostles
43:44 and am not meet to be called an apostle because
43:46 I persecuted the church of God. "
43:48 That's true, you are not worthy of being called an apostle.
43:51 "But by the grace of God I am what I am.
43:56 And this grace which was be- stowed upon me was not in vain.
43:59 But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I
44:02 but the grace of God which was in me.
44:03 Therefore whether I or they so we preached
44:07 and so ye believe. " And you are not going to find
44:10 a more succinct, clear definition of the gospel
44:15 in all of the Bible I don't think.
44:17 You see, it's phenomenal. Listen!
44:19 Jesus died for our sins.
44:23 Why is it? Ask a... meet a Baptist.
44:27 Baptist is going to say what?
44:30 "Are you? " Saved.
44:35 Someone bumps into you on the street...
44:36 what are you going to say? "Hey, you know what the mark
44:38 of the beast is? "
44:41 "You worship on the right day, bro? "
44:44 "Let me tell you about that Pope. "
44:47 Why is it that the people with the most light
44:52 are most unlikely to start with the good news?
44:58 How about we start a revolution?
45:00 Amen! Turn that around.
45:02 I know I speak generally... I know that.
45:06 But you know that generally what I say is accurate.
45:12 Why is it that our first contact
45:16 our first impression is to find the sharpest,
45:19 hardest-hitting tract and give it to everybody.
45:23 I remember walking down the main street of the capital city
45:25 of New Zealand. I was walking minding my own business.
45:28 Walking on Lambton Quay in Wellington.
45:30 And there was a man standing out there
45:31 and he was standing with his arm out with tracts.
45:34 Just standing like that.
45:37 As people went by he would just hold it out
45:39 and they'd take it or they wouldn't.
45:40 And so I walked by and I said: "I've got nothing
45:42 to lose. I'll look at it. "
45:44 I took it. "Thank you, man, thank you for that. "
45:46 I walked on. What is this? I didn't even understand it.
45:49 It's not English. Vicarius Filii Dei.
45:54 All right. Ahh, it's Roman numerals.
45:58 And so you do the math and the little tract
46:02 did the math for you...
46:03 you got Vicarius and then Filii
46:08 and then Dei which adds up to 501
46:10 and you put it all together and guess what it comes to?
46:12 Six hundred and sixty-six.
46:14 And the brother who handed it out
46:16 was gracious enough to put right on the tract
46:18 who that was talking about.
46:22 Sunday before I'd been to mass and received holy communion.
46:27 I'm minding my own business walking down the street
46:29 and this guy "Boom! " punches me right in the
46:34 spiritual face. Said nothing about Jesus.
46:38 Just handed me a tract designed to enlighten me.
46:43 I stood on the street; I stopped.
46:47 What am I going to do about this?
46:49 I considered my options.
46:52 I said: "I should go back and punch him right in the face.
46:56 That's what I think I'll do. " And then I thought:
47:00 "It's the main street of the capital city.
47:02 I could get arrested! " So I didn't punch him
47:07 just so I wouldn't get arrested.
47:09 That's the only reason. I thought: "OK...
47:12 that's what a ruffian would do.
47:14 I wouldn't want to be seen to be a ruffian.
47:16 I wouldn't mind being one... I just don't want to be seen
47:19 to be one. So I shall go back...
47:22 I shall go back and I shall castigate him.
47:25 I shall excoriate him. "
47:27 I'll say: "Who do you think you are, man,
47:30 handing this stuff out? What in the? " That's what I would do.
47:34 So I said: "Really? I have to go back; I have to walk
47:39 25, 30 meters to go back and really? "
47:43 I looked over and there was a rubbish bin,
47:48 trash can, right... right there.
47:51 And so I said: "I know what to do. Drop it. "
47:56 Now, now... years later
48:00 God would use that experience to cause me to say:
48:03 "I've seen that before. "
48:05 So it wasn't all negative.
48:08 But I will say this: this brother from a certain
48:12 denomination that you may or may not recognize -
48:14 not one that you are connected with -
48:17 he was doing his missionary work and telling me about Jesus.
48:23 No, no, no... he wasn't doing his missionary work
48:25 and telling me about Jesus. He was doing his missionary work
48:28 and telling me how wrong I was
48:30 and how my spiritual leader was the devil and not a good guy.
48:35 It didn't matter how much of that was true.
48:37 What mattered was that wasn't the gospel.
48:40 Now... is there a time for sharing that?
48:43 Yes there is.
48:45 Might God ever impress you to share that with somebody
48:48 at a time that others of us might thing: "Oh, that's an odd
48:51 time! " Yes, because the Spirit moves in ways that we don't.
48:54 I don't mean to give you that as a great escape hatch.
48:57 I've had people tell me: "We did this very offensive
49:01 outreach in our community against the wishes of our church
49:04 because God told us to. "
49:08 I said: "Man that was not God. " "Oh! It was God! "
49:11 What are you going to tell a person like that?
49:14 The gospel is really good news.
49:18 And you can't go wrong when you introduce somebody
49:21 to Jesus and take it from there.
49:24 Take it all the way, perhaps, to Vicarius Filii Dei.
49:28 But when you taught your kid the alphabet you didn't start
49:30 with Q. Q... G...
49:36 Zed... Z... Zed... Z.
49:40 B... H... What in the world?
49:43 Poor child is going to be confused.
49:45 You started at the beginning.
49:47 In the alphabet Zed - pardon me -
49:50 Zed is as important as A. Is that not right?
49:55 Sure! It's just as important.
49:57 But you start with A and then you work down to Zed...
50:03 not the other way around.
50:05 The gospel... we can celebrate the gospel.
50:10 Jesus died for our sins.
50:12 He was placed in a tomb a dead man.
50:15 Buried... but I want to tell you something:
50:17 the grave couldn't hold Him.
50:18 How's that possible?
50:20 It's possible because He was pure, perfect, sinless.
50:24 He was the divine Son of God
50:26 and He came up from that grave, out of that tomb,
50:30 so that He could confer on any who have faith in Him
50:34 everlasting life. Man, it's good news!
50:37 Man, it's good news! We were stuck; we were lost.
50:40 We were heading to hell. Jesus: "Unh-uh...
50:42 I'll go. You stay here; You be safe.
50:45 I'll take the hit. " "Why would You do that? "
50:47 "Because I love you. "
50:48 "Oh, I thought I understood a lot
50:50 but I guess I don't. " "That's all right, you'll learn.
50:51 I love you... just accept it. "
50:54 And we accept the gospel. It is good news.
50:57 God said: "Don't eat the fruit...
50:59 don't eat the fruit. " They at the fruit.
51:01 If you were God, you would have said: "That's it!
51:03 I'm done with this world. I'll go create me another one.
51:06 I'll keep creating Me worlds until these folks get it
51:09 straight. " God wouldn't do that.
51:10 He understood the great controversy obviously
51:13 and that's a very important aspect of this.
51:15 But God would demonstrate to the human family
51:17 that He is love - LOVE - and love acts a certain way.
51:22 Love gives; love sacrifices.
51:24 God is love, and we are to look at God
51:26 and say: "I want Him to be my God. "
51:28 "I want Him to be my God
51:29 not simply because He helps me understand the ins
51:34 and outs of the prophecies of the book of Revelation
51:36 but because He saved me from my sins
51:40 and He set my feet upon a Rock.
51:42 And irrespective of what happens to me tonight
51:46 I am going to heaven. I have everlasting life.
51:50 I have joy in my heart because I have faith in Jesus.
51:54 I'm holding onto His hand. I looked at His hand.
51:56 "Whoa, a nail scar there... that was for me. "
51:59 Our names are engraved on the palms of His hands.
52:02 This is good news, man! The gospel! Amen!
52:05 And if you can get excited about the antichrist
52:07 more than you can get excited about Jesus Christ
52:10 then you've got some work to do.
52:13 You just do!
52:15 In fact, God has work to do.
52:17 And it's time you quit preventing Him from doing it
52:20 and you let Him do it and you let Him turn you into
52:23 a Christian with a beating Christian heart.
52:27 You know something, friend? We don't see it,
52:29 but we are broken
52:31 and God makes us whole.
52:34 I've left myself no time
52:36 to cover the most important part of this message
52:39 so let's go like there's no tomorrow.
52:41 I Peter chapter 2... there is more!
52:45 And we'll start in verse... I believe it's verse 22.
52:48 "Jesus committed no sin nor was deceit found in His mouth.
52:52 Jesus was holy, perfect, undefiled.
52:55 Who when He was reviled reviled not again.
52:58 When He suffered He threatened not
52:59 but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. "
53:03 Jesus lived an entirely perfect life
53:05 like Adam and Eve should have and could have lived
53:07 but they did not.
53:08 "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body
53:10 on the tree that we... " Ooh, here we go...
53:12 Now this is the gospel as well.
53:17 "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree
53:22 that we - having died to sin -
53:26 might live for righteousness
53:29 by whose stripes you were healed. "
53:33 Now follow this through... follow it through:
53:36 Jesus bore our sins on the cross.
53:38 Is that the gospel? Yes or no?
53:40 That's right. And then he said:
53:43 "by whose stripes you are healed. "
53:45 Is that the gospel? Yes or no?
53:47 Yes that's the gospel!
53:49 "that we - having died to sin - might live for righteousness. "
53:54 Is that the gospel? Yes!
53:56 Come on, now... let's have a complete picture here.
53:57 Jesus died for you. Hallelujah!
54:00 So that you might live for Him. Amen!
54:05 The gospel is not a gospel experience
54:07 if all you're doing is standing on the sidelines
54:09 cheering Jesus on: "Yea! Go Jesus! "
54:12 You're going to go to Facebook and like Jesus.
54:14 You're following Jesus on Twitter.
54:17 Is that all you're doing? Are you just a fan?
54:19 Or are you a disciple?
54:20 The gospel is what Jesus did for you
54:22 and - I don't believe you can separate it -
54:25 what Jesus does in you.
54:27 And so, friend, if we celebrate the gospel
54:29 we are not just celebrating this objective fact
54:32 Christ saved us but the objective fact...
54:35 the objective fact that Jesus LIVES in us.
54:39 He completes the work. He died on the cross
54:41 and then He lives His life in us to make us living
54:44 breathing Christians who are leaving this world one day.
54:48 We are not just filling pews.
54:51 We are not just filling churches...
54:53 we one day are gonna fill heaven
54:56 because Jesus died for us, rose for us,
55:00 ascended to heaven, and now through the Holy Spirit
55:04 lives His life in us. Amen!
55:08 Verse 25: "For you were like sheep going astray. "
55:11 This is Isaiah 53 again.
55:13 "But now you have returned to the Shepherd and the overseer
55:15 of your soul. " Man, it's good news!
55:18 It's good news! I was driving in here tonight.
55:20 I saw gasoline at $3.03 a gallon.
55:24 I'm like really really empty on gas.
55:27 I'm not even sure I can make it to a gas station.
55:29 I'll give it a shot... it's all right.
55:31 But if you were to tell me: "Oh, man, just drive that way
55:33 it's $2.85 or $2.90 I would say: "That is good news! "
55:37 And you would tell me and I'd tell somebody else.
55:40 This is better news... let's tell somebody!
55:42 Let's tell somebody! You find peanut butter on special
55:44 you're calling your neighbor. "Hey, you ought to go to Buy-Low
55:46 because it's on special. "
55:49 You ought to be telling... You ought to go to heaven...
55:51 "You ought to go to church 'cause heaven's on special
55:54 this week... they've got a great deal. "
56:01 We've been rescued! Everlasting gospel.
56:05 Sometimes we look at that and we can't see the forest
56:07 for the trees. We don't see Jesus 'cause
56:10 we're too busy looking at at days and dates and times
56:12 and years. I love them all! As an evangelist I preach it.
56:16 I believe it!
56:18 But the everlasting gospel is the everlasting gospel.
56:21 You remember Baby Jessica? Do you remember her?
56:24 Midland, Texas. She went down a well.
56:25 It was about this wide.
56:27 A baby... She went what? 23 feet, stuck.
56:29 "How in the world are we going to get her out? "
56:31 The whole world was spurred to action.
56:33 It was wall-to-wall news coverage.
56:35 Baby Jessica... got to get her out, got to get her out!
56:38 'Cause you've got to get a baby out. Babies die every day
56:41 and you don't know you don't care. You don't know.
56:43 But we knew about Baby Jessica. We knew her name.
56:45 We knew what happened. "You've gotta get her out!
56:46 She's in the well. Get her out! Get her out! "
56:50 Got her out.
56:51 You know today Baby Jessica -
56:54 Jessica Morales I think her name is -
56:56 lives about two miles away from that well.
57:00 They amputated a toe and she's got a little scar
57:03 on her forehead. That's all.
57:05 Every time she looks in the mirror and sees that scar
57:08 what does it tell her?
57:09 "Jessica, you were saved. "
57:11 "Jessica, you were lost and help came to you from above. "
57:16 Friend, the scars on Jesus' hands say the same thing
57:20 to you and tonight you can know
57:22 you've been saved... you are heading to heaven.
57:26 That's really good news.
57:28 That's the everlasting gospel.


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Revised 2018-06-28