Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM180006A
|
00:41 Welcome to the 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting:
00:44 The Three Angels' Messages. 00:49 Hello and welcome back to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 00:53 2018. Have you been blessed so far? 00:56 Amen! It's been an incredible experience 00:59 to sit under the anointed messages that have come forth 01:03 from the Word of God. We're in the middle of our 01:05 presentation on the three angels' messages. 01:08 And last message was the first angel's message: 01:12 Fear God and give glory to Him. 01:15 This message at this hour 01:19 will be "The Hour of His Judgment Has Come. " 01:21 And I'm just looking forward to what God is going to do 01:25 in and through our speaker of the hour: Pastor C. A. Murray. 01:29 Really he needs no introduction. 01:31 He's part of the 3ABN family for so many years. 01:34 We call him our "resident theologian. " 01:38 He's a man of the Word. He has a grasp of the Word of God 01:42 like few men or women I have ever met. 01:45 And we're so blessed that he is going to be presenting 01:48 the message for this hour. 01:50 He and his wife Irma are a blessing here 01:53 to the ministry of 3ABN 01:54 and I know at home they have ministered to your lives 01:57 as well. He's the general manager of 3ABN Proclaim! 02:00 And his message is titled The Hour of His Judgment Has Come. 02:05 Before he comes we'll be blessed by special music 02:08 from Celestine Barry-Dickens. 02:12 She got married since the last time she sang here 02:15 so she has a wonderful husband. 02:17 She is actually our church secretary 02:18 and she has an anointing on her 02:20 when she sings. I want to invite Celestine to come out. 02:23 She's accompanied by her daughter Farrah on the piano. 02:27 And the song that they will be doing 02:29 is Make My Life A Prayer To You. 02:32 After Celestine shall have sung the next voice you will hear 02:36 is that of our pastor and friend C. A. Murray. 02:51 Make my life a prayer to You 02:56 I wanna do what you want me to. 03:01 No empty words and no white lies 03:05 No token prayers, no compromise. 03:10 I wanna shine the light you gave 03:15 through Your Son You sent to save us 03:19 from ourselves and our despair 03:24 it comforts me 03:26 to know You're really there. 03:32 I want to thank You now 03:36 for being patient with me. 03:40 Oh, it's so hard to see 03:45 when my eyes are on me. 03:50 I guess I'll have to trust 03:53 and just believe what You say. 03:58 Oh, You're coming again... 04:02 coming to take me away. 04:11 I wanna die 04:13 and let You give Your life to me 04:17 so I might live 04:20 and share the hope You gave to me... 04:24 the love that set me free. 04:27 I wanna tell the world out there 04:32 You're not some fable or fairy tale 04:36 that I've made up inside my head. 04:41 You're God the Son, 04:43 You've risen from the dead. 04:48 Oh, I wanna thank You now 04:52 for being patient with me. 04:57 Oh, it's so hard to see 05:01 when my eyes are on me. 05:06 I guess I'll have to trust and just believe 05:11 what You say. Oh, You're coming again... 05:18 coming to take me away. 05:40 I wanna die and let You give 05:43 Your life to me so I might live 05:48 and share the hope You gave to me... 05:52 I wanna share the love 05:55 that set me free. 06:01 Ooh, ooh, ooh. 06:06 Amen... amen. 06:18 Just the devil. 06:24 "The hour of His judgment is come. " 06:30 And as you can see this morning we made a hard pivot 06:34 into the heart of the messages 06:37 of Revelation 14. 06:43 We could talk quite a while on all of these 06:46 but we want to hone in on and focus on 06:49 the hour of His judgment and what that has to do 06:55 with us as a people of the end time. 07:01 Shall we pray? Father God, 07:03 would You be pleased now to be our Teacher 07:08 and to instruct us into those things that You would have us 07:14 to know. Make up for the deficiencies of the human 07:19 instrument with divine grace 07:21 so that we may hear indeed a word from the Lord 07:27 so that we may prepare to take another step 07:30 along that road that leads to glory 07:34 that we may be informed and inspired 07:39 and educated in the things of God. 07:45 Teach us so that we know; lead us so that we follow. 07:50 And we thank you in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen! 07:55 The message of the three angels 08:00 and I choose to speak of them as a singular message. 08:06 Now it does not do violence to the text to call them 08:13 the messages of the three angels, 08:18 but I'm going to call them a message 08:20 just like I call the New York Yankees a team. 08:27 The three angels fly consecutively, 08:31 concurrently, and contiguously. 08:36 The Bible gives no indication 08:38 that one angel lands before the other takes off. 08:43 They are all flying at the same time. 08:48 So they carry a message. 08:53 It is divided into sections but it is one complete message. 08:58 So forgive me if I say "the three angels' message" 09:02 because this message is relevant 09:08 from the time they take off until the end of time. 09:14 Perhaps more precisely until the close of probation. 09:21 It is difficult ladies and gentlemen 09:24 to overstate the importance of the three angels' message. 09:32 It is crucially important to God's end-time people. 09:37 And I must tell you this: it is shocking 09:41 and it is a master stroke of the devil 09:47 that so few professed followers of Christ - 09:52 and I'm talking about the entire Christian fraternity, 09:56 not just Adventists... but I'm no excluding Adventists - 10:02 um-hmm - 10:07 can see through the fog 10:10 that Satan has blown over the book of Revelation 10:14 and the three angels' messages in particular. 10:19 There are many, many churches 10:22 who don't touch Revelation. 10:25 And since 1843- actually a little before - 10:30 no message is more pertinent or relevant or crucial 10:36 to God's end-time people than the three angels' message. 10:40 Amen! And I'm not overstating that. 10:43 And if truth be told, 10:45 the enemy of souls has blinded the people 10:49 to the importance of this message. 10:53 Most churches don't know it. 10:57 Most churches don't study it. 11:00 They don't follow it. Some churches even fear it. 11:06 I've had discussions with pastors who say 11:08 "God doesn't want us in the book of Revelation. " 11:15 And for many it's always been that way. 11:18 You're going to hear a testimony coming up 11:20 before this Camp Meeting is over 11:22 where someone is going to tell you: "We go to church 11:24 and just kind of dance around the book of Acts. 11:26 We never touch Revelation. " 11:30 Ellen White saw in vision 11:34 a very important message from the Lord. 11:38 She recorded it in the book of Early Writings. 11:43 She says that a mighty angel came from the Lord 11:46 Let's put it on the screen. Early Writings page 245. 11:52 Here's what she says: "All heaven was interested... " 12:07 Now, if God is going to commission an angel 12:11 specifically to warn us about the coming of the Lord 12:15 do you think He would hide that 12:17 in a book that nobody can understand? No! 12:22 She goes on to say 12:25 "That angel left the presence of Jesus 12:30 and an exceedingly bright and glorious light 12:34 went before him. " Now that's giving you the nature 12:38 of the message. One: the angels are flying. 12:41 They're up there because they need to get going fast 12:45 and they need to cover the whole earth. 12:49 This angel is preceded by a bright light 12:52 because that light indicates the importance - 12:56 the exalted nature - of the message. 12:58 Amen! This is not a little side issue. 13:01 This is a crucially important issue. 13:07 And from that day - the day of the launching of this message - 13:13 the purpose of Satan has been to blot out that light. 13:19 Satan doesn't want you to walk in that light. 13:23 That's right! Satan doesn't want the Christian community 13:25 to walk in that light. 13:27 He is pleased if you never open the book of Revelation 13:32 or if you are fooled into thinking you cannot understand 13:36 the book of Revelation. 13:40 So come now... let us reason together. 13:45 Here's the truth: 13:50 if you are in a church, 13:54 if you are part of a religious group 13:57 that professes or purports 14:02 to love Jesus and to be a fol- lower or a disciple of Christ, 14:09 and I agree with what John Bradshaw said last night 14:13 even if you're part of that confusion that is Babylon 14:19 the one redeeming grace that you have 14:25 or may have is your love for Jesus. 14:30 You see, there are those who are not in 14:35 the Adventist fraternity who love the Lord. 14:39 Amen! Do you believe that? Amen! Yeah! 14:44 Every Christian 14:49 is not a Seventh-day Adventist. 14:52 All right! At least not yet... 14:58 But it is also true 15:03 that every Seventh-day Adventist... 15:12 Um-hmm... 15:17 So if you're in a church that is not Adventist 15:22 and is part of what the Bible defines as Babylon, 15:29 the one redeeming grace that you have 15:33 is that you love the Lord. 15:35 Amen! So you may not know everything; 15:37 you may not be able to parse the 2,300 days, 15:41 you may not know who the 144,000 are, 15:44 all you know is "I love Jesus. " 15:47 Praise the Lord! 15:50 And for now that's enough. 15:59 You may not have all the doctrines right 16:02 and you may not know totally what happens when you die 16:08 but you love the Lord. 16:10 Now there comes to you an understanding, a message 16:15 that Jesus is coming soon. 16:19 You get the understanding that the Lord is coming soon. 16:23 My question then to you is: 16:25 what should your response be to that message? 16:30 Now mind you, this message comes with the impress 16:34 and the informator of Jesus Himself. 16:37 He's sending a message to the world 16:39 "I am coming soon. " What should your response be? 16:45 Your excitement, your joy, your anticipation 16:52 would, could, SHOULD 16:56 know no bounds. 16:59 You ought to be one happy individual. 17:02 Amen! I mean, if you love Jesus - 17:06 come on now - and you know He's comin' 17:09 you ought to be absolutely delirious. 17:12 All right! 17:15 You see, that's what drove the original Millerites - 17:19 our ancestral forefathers, our spiritual forefathers - 17:23 when they came upon the understanding 17:27 that Christ was going to come 1843. 17:30 Then after Samuel Sheffield Snow 1844. 17:34 They knew, and this message went around the world. 17:37 There were people South America, North America, 17:39 Inter America, London, Europe. 17:42 Even in Asia there were those who were studying 17:45 the Word of God and picked up an understanding 17:47 that something REAL BIG and REAL IMPORTANT 17:50 was going to happen about 1843, 1844. 17:55 And what was their response? They sold their businesses, 18:00 they paid off their debts, 18:03 I say they paid off their debts, 18:07 PAID their debts, 18:10 gave away their belongings, 18:13 left their crops unharvested in the fields, 18:18 settled all of their disagreements, 18:22 preached like they were possessed... 18:26 and indeed they were... 18:28 Amen! because they understood 18:32 that Jesus was coming soon 18:35 and they wanted nothing to encumber them, to hinder them. 18:40 They were gettin' ready to go! Amen! 18:44 Now the population about 1850 of the United States was around 18:48 23 million. 3.2 million of those were slaves, 18:54 and depending on who you listen to, what historian you read, 18:58 they say that the Millerites, those who were 19:03 above-board Millerites and the closet Millerites 19:09 were about 1 and 17. 19:11 About one out of every seventeen Americans 19:14 was looking for the second coming of the Lord and Savior 19:16 Jesus Christ. So this was no movement 19:20 that was being done in a corner someplace. 19:22 This was a public movement that even if you did not accept it 19:26 everybody knew about it. 19:29 And what shocked the angels of heaven 19:32 was that in the early 1840's 19:36 the churches of this country rejected that message. 19:43 They refused to teach it, 19:46 refused to preach it, refused to honor it, 19:49 refused to investigate it, refused to believe it 19:52 and they kicked out or expelled anyone who did. 20:02 Now the third angel's message which calls for 20:06 coming out was preceded 20:11 by an antipathy, an antagonism 20:15 to the first angel's message which revealed Babylon, 20:21 it's malignancy by kicking out the Millerites 20:27 who were preaching the second coming 20:30 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 20:32 That's why I Peter chapter 4 verse 17 says: 20:34 "Judgment must begin at the house of God. " 20:40 This treatment left the Millerites 20:43 and those early Adventists, not Seventh-day Adventists, 20:47 just Adventists saddened and distressed 20:51 and the messengers of heaven - the angels - 20:55 scratching their heads. 20:59 Ellen White writes Early Writings page 246: 21:21 So heaven now is looking to see 21:25 how this message is going to be received. 21:29 The angels are watching. 21:31 By the way... watching and writing. 21:35 Um-hmm. 22:08 You see, this was during the days of the great, second great 22:13 Reformation, and men and women were professing 22:17 a love for Jesus. 22:19 But the message of the first angel 22:22 revealed that maybe they didn't love Jesus as much 22:26 as they pretended to because when they heard the message 22:30 that Jesus was coming back to take His bride home 22:33 they didn't want to hear it. 22:38 "All heaven, " she says, "was filled with indignation... " 22:47 Heaven couldn't understand that reaction. 22:51 "You say you love the Lord; you say you want to serve 22:55 the Lord; and here comes a mes- sage that Christ is coming back 22:59 and you reject that message? " 23:04 Ellen White says this: 23:06 "The passing of the definite time... " that is, October 22, 23:11 1844, "the passing of the definite time 23:15 had tested and proved them 23:18 and very very many were weighed in the balances 23:23 and found wanting. " Judgment had already begun. 23:27 "They loudly claimed to be Christians 23:31 yet in almost every particular 23:34 they failed... they failed to follow Christ. " 23:40 You remember Revelation chapter 10 says that this 23:43 message would be sweet in the mouth and bitter in the belly? 23:47 That was for those who were looking for Jesus. 23:52 But evidently there were a whole lot of people 23:56 who were not looking for the Lord. 23:59 And when the message came that Christ was coming 24:04 they didn't want to hear it. 24:09 They were not interested. 24:13 Ellen White gives us a glimpse into the churches at the time 24:17 of the first angel's message. She says this... 24:19 again I'm in Early Writings 246: 24:21 "In those churches the pure and holy 24:26 were mixed up with the sinner in Zion 24:30 and the world-loving hypocrites. " 24:35 So one of the things that the first angel's message 24:38 was designed to do was separate the spiritual wheat 24:42 from the chaff. 24:44 It was a judgment hour message. 24:48 So those who loved the Lord were forbidden to even mention 24:52 His coming. And so the first angel's message is de facto 24:57 a judgment hour message. 24:59 It's got to be a judgment hour message because it is separating 25:03 those who really love the Lord from those who only say 25:07 they love the Lord. And that message is 25:09 still doing its work today. 25:11 Um-hmm? Everybody in this room... 25:20 Let me put it this way: let me assume something. 25:23 Everybody here is a sheep. 25:26 And forgive my pejorative English: 25:28 "we ain't got no goats. " 25:30 Amen! 25:38 So the first angel's message is a de facto 25:42 judgment hour message because it does a number of things. 25:46 We'll put it on the screen. 25:53 Ellen White says this: 25:55 "If you reject message #1 26:01 you're not ready for 2 or 3. " 26:04 Yeah, you've got to take #1 because it's a judgment hour 26:08 message. And the messages - and I heard it this morning... 26:13 You know, the key has always been, is now, 26:16 will always be worship. You know that. 26:19 Who to worship; when to worship; 26:22 how to worship; why to worship. 26:26 And the message of the three angels particularly #1 26:31 draws that into focus. Remember when Christ 26:34 was talking with the woman at the well there in Samaria 26:37 and He was kind of getting into her business. 26:39 "You're married; you've got 5 husbands. 26:40 None of them are with you. The man you're with now 26:42 is not your husband" and she was kind of feeling the heat 26:45 so she tried to change the subject. 26:46 "Well where should we worship? Should we worship on Mt. Gerazim 26:49 or down in Jerusalem? " Like she could dissuade Him, 26:51 you know. "Let's talk about something else. 26:53 let's talk about... " And she knew that John Hyrcanus 26:57 years ago had gone up to Samaria 26:59 and burned down the temple on Mt. Gerazim 27:03 so that wasn't there anymore. And Christ didn't get caught 27:05 with that. He said: "Listen lady, 27:06 here's what's happening. There's coming a time 27:10 and now is God wants worship in spirit 27:15 and in truth. 27:17 Not about where... it's who, what, when, how... 27:23 not where. " 27:24 God wants true worship. Where you do that doesn't matter. 27:28 You can do it in your home; you can do it in your car; 27:29 you can do it on your job. Not so much where 27:31 it's how and who you're worshiping. 27:33 Amen? Yeah. But the issue, the key is still 27:36 worship. Always has been, is now, always will be. 27:40 And so the first angel's message 27:42 prepares us for the other two 27:46 by defining who to worship, when to worship, 27:50 how to worship, and it's always been about worship. 27:54 Remember when Satan got through dancing with Jesus 27:56 when he got down to what he really wanted he said: 27:59 "Listen, all this I will give to You 28:00 if You will fall down and... " Worship. 28:02 Always been about worship. 28:06 Number two: it speaks of judgment... 28:14 When you talk about judgment 28:16 you're talking about drawing a dividing line. 28:19 Right from wrong; guilty from innocent. 28:32 Judgment always divides. 28:36 Number three: your response... 28:49 One of the things that the 1844 movement did: 28:54 it showed who was in and who was out. 28:58 Amen. Who was in in name only 29:02 and those who really loved the Lord. 29:06 Now hold onto that point because we're going to come back to it 29:08 in just a little bit. May I suggest then 29:12 that for the Christian, your response, your understanding, 29:17 your acceptance of the three angels' message 29:21 is a barometer of your allegiance to, your love for, 29:26 your loyalty to, and your fidelity to... 29:30 and it is an indication of your love for Jesus. 29:39 Perhaps not the sole indicator 29:41 but it is certainly an indication of how much 29:44 you love Jesus. And the reason I know that is so 29:48 because when you get further down into this 29:51 there is going to come a message that says 29:53 "Come out of her. " 29:56 That's a message that calls you to move. 30:01 Amen! And you can't say "Mama was a... that" 30:05 "Daddy was a... that" 30:07 "Pastor is a... that" 30:09 This message is for YOU to move. 30:12 You can't say: "I've been there all of my life 30:14 and I kind of like going this way" 30:16 'cause you just sat on a tack! 30:21 And when you sit on a tack you've got to move! 30:31 So the hour of His judgment IS come... 30:35 HAS come... is upon us 30:40 and it is very very crucial. 30:43 Christians who are not living in anticipation, 30:49 in expectancy of the coming of the Lord 30:55 excuse me. 30:59 What kind of Christian are you 31:02 if you're not looking for, living for, 31:06 living in anticipation of 31:09 the coming of the Lord? 31:12 Isn't that what it's all about? 31:18 We are called the people of the eschaton 31:21 which means theologically we start at the end 31:24 and work our way back. 31:28 Yeah. Everything we do is done in light of the fact 31:32 that this world is not going to be around forever. Amen? 31:35 Amen! And God is deciding now 31:41 who is and who ain't. 31:46 Amen. Amen. I heard John Bradshaw use ain't last night. 31:52 My wife tells me: "You use ain't too much. " 31:55 And when he said ain't I elbowed her: "See, he said ain't. " 32:05 We find ourselves now ladies and gentlemen 32:07 in the antitypical Day of Atonement. 32:09 This is the real deal. 32:12 We are just shy of 175 years since 1844: 32:18 the date that the brethren thought Christ was going to come 32:22 as prophesied in Daniel chapter 8 verse 14. 32:26 You know it well. 32:28 Christ did not return to the earth 32:31 but He moved from the Holy to the Most Holy Place 32:36 and active judgment began. 32:41 I'll put it on the screen. "And he said to me... " 32:50 They missed what cleansed meant 32:54 but God had a reason for that. 32:59 Now employing the year/day principle you know the numbers. 33:15 The beginning date was the day 33:19 that the Persian King Artaxerxes issued the decree 33:23 to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and its walls 33:27 the seventh year of his reign as mentioned in Daniel 9:25. 33:41 2,300 years later we come to the fall of 1843. 33:45 Remember there is no year 0. You go from -1 to +1. 33:49 Not through zero... around it. 33:52 And the cleansing of the sanctuary, the time of God's 33:55 judgment, has begun. 34:00 Now to truly understand this 34:04 in truth and in fact judgment is upon us. 34:10 And to truly understand the eschatological import 34:14 of what we are saying and what we see in Daniel 8:14 34:17 and as the Millerites saw it we have to draw a line 34:21 that connects the dots between Daniel chapter 8 34:25 and Leviticus chapter 16. 34:28 And it amazing to me that so few people understand 34:31 the importance of the sanctuary message. 34:35 You've got to combine the sanctuary message 34:38 with the judgment hour message 34:40 to truly understand where you are 34:43 and what's going on in heaven. 34:45 But when you put the two together 34:47 the blending is beautiful and gives you a very clear picture 34:51 of who you are, who God is, 34:54 where you are, how long the delay is, 34:57 and when this thing is all going to wrap up. 35:01 In Leviticus 16 we see an articulation 35:05 of the sanctuary service, most importantly 35:09 the Day of Atonement, the Yom Kippur, 35:13 which took place on the 10th day of the 7th month. 35:16 Now how do we get the 7th month? 35:18 The Jewish year began in the Spring... 35:22 roughly the month of March 35:24 called initially Abib: A-B-I-B. 35:28 After the Babylonian captivity 35:30 that names was turned to Nisan or Nisan. 35:34 March, April, May, June, July, 35:38 August, Sept - or 7- tember. 35:41 So the 10th day of the 7th month began the Day of Atonement. 35:48 I happened once a year. 35:50 The high priest went into the sanctuary 35:54 that one time to make atonement the Bible tells me 35:58 for the sins and to cleanse the sanctuary 36:02 from ritual defilement. You see, when those sins were 36:05 taken from the people they were warehoused in the sanctuary. 36:08 Symbolically. And this was taken care of 36:13 during the Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. 36:16 Now here are the key facts. 36:17 We need to run through these quickly. 37:39 You see, ladies and gentlemen, 37:41 heaven has no Plan B. 37:47 Amen. Amen. 37:49 There is no alternative salvation. 37:54 This ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, is it. 38:03 Um-hmm... this is it! 38:06 You've got this lifetime to get right with God. 38:11 There will be no other. 38:15 Amen. Amen. There will be no other chance. 38:19 There will be no secondary reality. 38:23 This, brothers and sisters, is it 38:29 and you've got to get right now. 38:34 So we are in the "getting right" time. 38:38 Now. Not tomorrow; not next week 38:44 because they are not promised to you. 38:48 All you've got is here and now. 38:55 Amen! Amen. 38:58 I said "Amen. " Amen! 39:00 Did I say "Amen? " Amen! 39:04 Irma and I have this thing when we're trying to make a point. 39:07 I'll say to her: "Do you know what I'm saying? " 39:11 And she'll say: "I know what you're saying, baby. " 39:13 And I'll say: "Well that's what I'm saying. " 39:21 Do you know what I'm saying? 39:23 This is it! 39:26 All we've got is here and now for Jesus. 39:33 So here then is the antitypical parallel. 39:36 This is what is happening here and now. 40:14 And so John can say 3 times in I, II, and III John 40:18 "He that is in Christ Jesus does not sin. " 40:24 Amen. Then in I John 2 he says: 40:28 "By the way, if you do sin 40:30 you've got an Advocate with the Father. " 40:32 Amen. Now how does that make sense? 40:34 You don't sin but if you do you've got an Advocate. 40:37 He's got it all worked out. Amen! 40:41 Sin in I John, II John, III John 40:46 is called sin in the imperfect tense. 40:52 The imperfect tense means an ac- tion that begins and continues. 40:56 What John is saying - 40:58 some people call it linear verb but it's the imperfect tense. 41:04 Once you come to the Lord 41:07 you don't continue in sin. 41:12 Yeah. Once you understand that sin 41:14 by the grace of God you cut it out. 41:18 Amen. And He's able to keep you. 41:22 BUT if you make a mistake 41:28 and you have a little slip, 41:31 you didn't intend to sin, 41:34 your mouth ran faster than your mind, 41:39 wasn't your intent to say that, 41:42 and you are genuinely sorry. 41:45 Um-hmm. 41:48 The Bible says for those little slips 41:53 you've got an Advocate with the Father. 41:55 Amen? Amen! Yeah... you've turned your life around. 41:59 You're walking with the Lord 42:01 but something got a... old man rose up on you. 42:06 And every now and again that happens. 42:08 You know, you try to serve the Lord 42:11 and old man will just jump up... 42:13 or old woman. 42:17 Yeah, you've got an Advocate with the Father 42:20 to take care of that. 42:22 And if the train ever jumps the track 42:24 God's there to put you right back on 42:26 and tell you: "Go and sin no more. " Uh-huh. 42:34 So He's got that taken care of 42:36 so that when you get to the judgment all that stuff... 42:40 Can I say stuff? 42:42 all that stuff is behind you. 42:45 Amen. Amen. Did I say "Amen? " Amen! 42:50 That's what I said. 42:54 So Christ is ministering the atonement... 42:58 the benefit of the atonement. Now, how do I know that? 43:02 Isaiah 53:5. 43:03 "By His stripes we are healed. " 43:05 Now let me just clear something real real fast. 43:09 That does not mean... does not guarantee... 43:12 your personal healing. 43:14 The context for that is spiritual healing. 43:17 Yeah. Any healing you get comes through Jesus. Amen! 43:21 Spiritual healing, personal healing, physical healing: 43:23 it all comes through Jesus. 43:25 But that's not a guarantee that every time you get a cold 43:27 God is going to step into your room and just clear up your cold 43:29 or anything else. 43:32 He... Christ has guaranteed you spiritual healing. 43:35 So when you make a mistake... when you make a mistake 43:38 Jesus cleans that up - Amen - 43:41 so there's nothing between your soul and the Savior. Right. 43:44 Amen? Amen! Now the truth is 43:46 there is one disease from which no one will recover. 43:50 Know what that is? That's your last one. 43:56 Um-hmm. 43:58 So the context is not physical healing. 44:01 We hear the word healing and... 44:02 No it's not... it's spiritual healing. 44:05 Christ went to the cross so that you can get to heaven. 44:08 Amen? Amen. So you've got a right to the Tree of Life. 44:13 Amen! Amen. So now I can boldly say 44:16 I love this text, Hebrews 13... 44:18 13:5-6. I can boldly say 44:22 "God is my Helper. " 44:25 Amen! I don't apologize for that. 44:28 Boldly say "God is my Helper. " 44:30 So that's what's happening in there here and now. 44:34 Christ is ministering the bene- fits of His death on the cross. 44:42 Number 3... Well let me add this to what I just talked about. 44:47 Let me add a couple texts to that. 44:48 We're not going to have time to read them but I want to add 44:50 them. Romans 12:1. 44:52 Number 3 tells me what my response ought to be 44:55 to what Christ is doing. That's why the sanctuary 44:57 doctrine is so important. 45:00 It tells us what's going on but it also lets us know 45:03 what our response ought to be. 45:05 I Peter tells me I need to be sober, 45:09 to be vigilant. I need to be on guard. 45:12 I need to gird up my loins. 45:14 I Peter 1:13. I'm not turning to all this stuff 45:16 or time is going to get away from me. 45:18 I need to gird up my loins; I need to be crucially aware... 45:21 aware of the times in which I now find myself. 45:25 Jesus is coming soon. 45:27 You know, if there ever was time to sort of lollygag 45:31 with the devil that time ain't now. 45:35 And there never really was. 45:37 But the stakes are too high now. 45:40 You know, I was telling Irma the other day 45:42 "I wouldn't mind knocking off a few years. " 45:47 I would mind being a few years younger 45:50 but I would never want to be a teenager or a 20-something. 45:52 Uhn-mmm. 45:56 Not now... it's too dangerous out there. 46:00 Amen! 46:01 You go to a party and someone gives you a drink 46:05 and you wake up and you're not the same person you were 46:08 when you closed your eyes. 46:11 It's dangerous out there! 46:13 And young people on the Internet and you've got it on your phone. 46:18 Your watch can get it... It's just dangerous! 46:22 And people trolling people and using fake names 46:26 and meeting in secret places and all kinds of stuff. 46:28 No, no, no, no, no! 46:32 Jesus is like American Express. 46:34 Don't ever leave home without Him. 46:44 So the sanctuary message and the message of the first angel 46:48 dovetail to let us know 46:51 what our response ought to be 46:55 to the times in which we live. 46:58 The Bible says: "Let a man - or woman - 47:01 examine himself 47:06 to see that you're in the Lord. " 47:08 You've got to check your compass every day - 47:12 EVERY day - 47:13 to make sure you're in the Lord. 47:17 II Peter chapter 3 verse 11: 47:20 "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved 47:27 what manner of person ought ye to be 47:32 in holy conduct and godliness? " 47:35 God's people ought to be serious 47:37 about the times in which they find themselves. 47:40 Now let me put in a little caveat 47:42 because I'm not saying you need to walk around like 47:45 you've been sucking on lemons. 47:48 I think Christians who really love the Lord 47:50 ought to be among the happiest, most joyful people 47:53 in the world. Your joy in Jesus 47:56 bespeaks the love you have for Him 47:58 and is the best PR for your faith. 48:02 Yeah, anybody can frown and get all bent out of shape 48:06 when stuff is going bad. 48:07 That's right. But if you can find Jesus 48:11 or enough Jesus to smile through the storm 48:15 that may be attractive to somebody. 48:17 Amen? Say: "Have a nice day" and mean it. 48:21 We talked about that yesterday in the "GO!" Evangelism. 48:24 Yeah. Your love for Christ ought to radiate in your face... 48:29 your face and your countenance. 48:32 Ought to be something special about you. 48:35 You know, II Corinthians chapter 2, is it 14 and 15, 48:39 it says: "Thanks be to God who always causes us to 48:41 triumph in Christ Jesus and through us diffuses 48:44 the fragrance of His grace. " It's either I Corinthians 48:47 or II Corinthians chapter 2 verses 14 and 15. 48:49 Look 'em both up... it'll do you good. 48:55 Your Christianity ought to be like perfume 49:00 to those around you. Amen! 49:03 People ought to want to walk up to you 49:05 and just inhale you. 49:11 That's the correct response to the troubles of the world. 49:14 This world is in bad shape, 49:17 but trouble won't last forever and Jesus is coming soon. 49:22 Amen! And we must live in the the understanding of that. 49:26 And the message of the first angel bespeaks that. 49:32 It tells us where we are but more than that 49:35 how we ought to respond 49:37 to the times in which we find ourselves. 49:40 It's late! But the lateness of the hour simply means 49:44 we are one step closer to the coming of our Lord and Savior 49:47 Jesus Christ. Amen! 49:49 Christ is coming soon, and we as His people must be prepared. 49:55 Now point #5: in our antitypical 49:59 Day of Atonement - the day that we find ourselves in now - 50:03 is that when it's all over 50:07 it's all over. Amen! 50:12 Revelation 22:11-12. Let's go to 12. 50:16 "Behold I come quickly and My reward is with me. " 50:21 Now that presupposes that when Jesus comes 50:27 with His reward those who are going to get that reward 50:32 have already been determined. 50:35 Amen. Amen! Do you follow the logic? 50:38 You follow the sequence. When Christ comes, He's not 50:42 coming to determine who gets the reward 50:45 He's coming to GIVE the reward. 50:48 The determination has already been made 50:53 which reaffirms that judgment is going on now 50:59 because at the end of the Day of Atonement 51:02 those who are saved are saved - sealed - forever 51:08 and those who are not are cut off! 51:16 No second chance; no Plan B. 51:20 "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout 51:22 with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God 51:24 and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are 51:26 alive and remain shall be caught up together 51:28 to meet Him in the clouds and so shall we ever 51:32 be with the Lord. " Amen! 51:38 So now is your time. 51:40 There will be no other time. 51:42 There will be no second chance. 51:45 The Bible teaches a pre-Advent judgment 51:50 which is why the Bible says "Today 51:54 if you hear His voice harden not your hearts 51:58 for the hour of His judgment IS come. " 52:04 HAS come. Is upon us. 52:13 I am so glad 52:15 that I serve a risen Savior. Amen! 52:22 And judgment is nothing to fear 52:27 if your sins are forgiven. 52:29 Amen! See, if you're innocent you can't wait for judgment - 52:34 Amen - because it vindicates you. Yes! 52:39 If you're guilty, the last thing you want is judgment 52:45 because it convicts you. 52:49 But your fate is in your hands. Amen! 52:56 An when you give your life to Jesus, when you put it 52:59 in His hands, your Lawyer is your Judge 53:05 is your Advocate is on your side. 53:11 How then can you lose 53:16 when the One who is judging you is on your side? 53:22 Solomon said this in Ecclesiastes 53:25 chapter 12 verses 13 and 14. 53:28 You know, Ecclesiastes was his diary. 53:31 It was his log of his experiment with life. 53:37 And after he had experimented with every aspect of life 53:40 he said this: 53:43 "Let us hear the conclusion... " 53:47 Let's put a period to this. 53:51 "fear God, keep His commandments 53:56 for this is man's all... 53:59 the whole duty of man. 54:02 For God will bring every work into... " What's that word? 54:06 "judgment including every secret thing 54:11 whether it be good or evil. " 54:19 Make no mistake about it, 54:21 and I almost want to touch on this in depth, but I've got to 54:24 just hit it and pass by. 54:26 We are not legalists 54:29 but the truth is: what you do matters. 54:34 Amen? Amen. Yeah. 54:36 What comes out of your mouth matters. 54:38 "For by thy words thou art justified 54:39 and by thy words thou art condemned. " 54:43 What you do matters. 54:45 What you do will meet you in the judgment 54:48 or go before you and Christ will take care of it. 54:52 We know you cannot work your way into the kingdom. 54:57 But you can work your way out! 55:04 Um-hmm. 55:05 Yeah... what you do counts 55:07 because what you do bespeaks who you are. 55:12 Amen. Amen. Did I say "Amen? " Amen! 55:18 Yeah. If Christ is in your heart, 55:21 righteousness flows from that. 55:26 If He's not, unrighteousness flows from that. 55:31 So what you do matters because it is an indication 55:36 of who you are but it also is an indication 55:41 of the God you serve. That's right... all right. 55:45 If you are a nasty person 55:49 carrying the name of Jesus, 55:52 then those watching you will assume 55:55 Jesus is a nasty person. 56:00 So you've got to represent Him rightly 56:04 and God's got to take that into account 56:07 when He looks at your life. 56:10 Does that make sense? 56:14 So He's going to judge you not only by what you say 56:16 but by what you do. 56:19 You cannot work your way in 56:21 but I dare say you can work your way out. 56:24 And I Peter 4:7 tells me... 56:27 4:17 tells me... 56:28 "Judgment must begin at the house of God. " 56:32 Peter is a pragmatic Christian. 56:35 He touches on the behavior of God's people. 56:37 We must then live for the Lord. 56:40 The three angels' message 56:43 is prophetic, pragmatic, 56:46 ecclesiological, and eschatological. 56:49 Now what does that say? 56:52 It is prophetic; it deals with your everyday life; 56:56 it deals with how you do church; 56:59 and it deals with how you are going to be at the end of time 57:03 when God is looking over all lives 57:06 and preparing to bring His reward back. 57:09 It encourages us... yea, it DEMANDS 57:13 that we live Christ-like lives 57:18 for it will insinuate itself 57:22 into everything we do today 57:26 and EVERY DAY until Jesus comes again. |
Revised 2018-07-23