Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM180018A
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00:41 Welcome to the 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting - The Three Angels'
00:45 Messages. 00:50 Yes; welcome once again to Three Angels Broadcasting Network - 00:54 3ABN broadcasting network's spring camp meeting for 2018. 00:59 And we have people that have come from all over the U.S. that 01:02 are here, some from other countries; and we praise the 01:05 Lord that we are hearing the undiluted 3 angels' messages. 01:10 Amen? Amen. The last time we were live, we heard a message 01:14 from the Lord through the president founder of Three 01:17 Angels' Broadcasting Network, Danny Shelton. How many were 01:20 here and how many were blessed? Would you raise your hand? 01:23 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. A message from the Lord. 01:26 We want to tell you that during this hour once again, we will be 01:31 centering on Jesus Christ. And every minute will be a blessing, 01:36 so we want you to be prepared to be blessed by cooperating with 01:41 the Lord; because you know what the devil's going to try to do? 01:45 Distract you. He's going to try and lead your thoughts in other 01:48 directions; but we have to cooperate with the Lord, and 01:51 say, "Lord, here I am; I'm here to hear a message from You. And 01:56 so please, help me to do my part and focus." So don't let those 02:00 text messages or little things that may try to distract you - 02:05 take your attention away from what God has for you during this 02:09 hour. We are talking about the 3 angels' messages. And like I 02:14 said before, this is historic; never before have we had in the 02:20 history of this world a live evangelistic series, I will call 02:26 it, on the 3 angels' messages - and the time has come. We are 02:31 living in the time of the end. Praise the Lord. During this 02:35 hour, Pastor Jay Gallimore will be preaching. And he has served 02:39 the Lord for many, many years - last being conference president 02:45 for the Michigan conference for over 20- about 27 years; retired 02:49 from there. Prior to that, he served in several leadership 02:55 positions in the Seventh-Day Adventist church. And even 02:57 before that - 18 years as a pastor. But most of all, he's a 03:02 servant of the Lord and a student of the Bible, and you 03:06 have seen him on several occasions presenting on 3ABN. 03:10 And you know that he is a Bible-based preacher. Amen? 03:14 Amen. Before that, we are going to have Brother Tim Parton with 03:19 us, and he will be interpreting on the piano; he will be 03:25 playing. He also told me he will be singing, "Jesus is the 03:29 Answer." But even before that, we want to invite you to stand 03:33 for prayer. Let's invite God to take over. Let us pray together. 03:42 Our loving, heavenly Father, we thank You so much that You 03:47 have blessed us with the opportunity to be here - to hear 03:51 a message You have for us. And so, we pray, Lord, that you will 03:55 bless Your servant, Pastor Jay Gallimore, with Your Holy 03:59 Spirit...that he may speak Your words. But also help us, Lord, 04:04 to do our part. We pray that this message will not return 04:09 unto You void; but that lives would be transformed - that 04:14 people will be drawn to Jesus, and that people will understand 04:19 that it is high time to awake out of sleep because our Lord 04:24 and Savior Jesus Christ is soon to return. We're going to hear a 04:29 message, "The Sharp Sickle Reaping." Help us, Lord, to be 04:33 among those that are reaped. We ask You, Father, for these 04:36 blessings. In Jesus' Name, Amen. Amen. You may be seated. I leave 04:42 you for Brother Tim Parton, and then the next voice you will 04:44 hear will be that of Pastor Jay Gallimore. God bless you. 04:53 If you know this, sing along. Jesus is the answer 04:58 for the world today 05:01 Above Him, there's no other 05:05 Jesus is the Way 05:09 Jesus is the Answer 05:13 for the world today 05:16 Above Him, there's no other 05:20 Jesus is the Way 05:25 Now, I'm sure you have some questions 05:28 in the corners of your mind 05:33 And traces of discouragement, and peace you cannot find 05:39 Reflections of the old past; 05:42 they seem to chase you every day 05:46 Well, this one thing, I know for sure; 05:49 my Jesus is the Way 05:52 Oh, yeah! Jesus is the Answer 05:56 for the world today 06:00 Above Him, there's no other 06:04 Jesus is the Way 06:07 Jesus is the Answer 06:10 for the world today 06:14 Above Him, there's no other 06:17 Jesus is the Way 06:22 Now, I know you have some mountains 06:26 that you think you cannot climb 06:30 And I know your skies have been so dark 06:33 You think the sun will never shine 06:36 But in case you have forgotten 06:40 Oh, the Word of God is true 06:44 And everything He promised 06:47 I know that He can do for you 06:50 So, His children sing! 06:51 Jesus is the Answer 06:54 for the world today 06:57 Above Him, there's no other 07:01 Jesus is the Way 07:05 Jesus is the Answer 07:08 for the world today 07:12 Above Him, there's no other 07:15 Jesus is the Way 07:20 The only hope for the world 07:23 is Jesus 07:27 The only help for the earth 07:30 is a touch from God 07:33 Oh, how we need Him 07:37 We must seek Him 07:41 with all of our heart 07:43 and all of our soul 07:44 There is no other help we know 07:48 than Jesus Christ; the only hope 07:51 for the world 07:53 So sing it one more time! 07:55 Oh, Jesus is the Answer 07:58 for the world today 08:02 Above Him, there's no other 08:06 Jesus is the Way 08:09 Jesus is the Answer 08:12 for the world today 08:16 Above Him, there's no other 08:20 Jesus is the Way 08:37 [Amen.] [audience applauds] 08:44 - Thank you, Tim Parton; Jesus IS the Answer. 08:46 There's no other answer. He's the only answer. "Sharp Sickle 08:54 Reaping." You have your Bibles? Very serious subject. 08:59 Revelation chapter 14- three angels' messages- all in that 09:03 chapter; we've been talking about it. Revelation chapter 14, 09:07 and I'm going to start with verse 15. I'm going to read 09:10 right through here. "Then the 7th angel..." I'm sorry. I'm in 09:18 cha- that's the wrong chapter. I was going to go there 09:20 too, but, uh... Alright, verse 14; chapter 14 verse 14. "Then, 09:24 I looked. And behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud sat one 09:29 like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in 09:34 His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the 09:38 temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, 09:42 'Thrust in Your sickle and reap; for the time has come for You to 09:49 reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' So He who sat on 09:57 the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was 10:02 reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple (which is in 10:07 heaven), also having a sharp sickle; and another angel came 10:12 out from the altar who had power over fire. And he cried out with 10:18 a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in 10:26 your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the 10:30 earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.' So the angel thrust in 10:39 his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth 10:42 and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God, and 10:48 the wine press was trampled outside the city. The blood came 10:52 out of the wine press up to the horses' bridles for 1,600 10:58 furlongs." This opens with the Son of Man. And that terminology 11:09 is loaded. 'The Son of Man.' Jesus applied that title to 11:15 Himself at least 80 times in scripture, calling Himself "The 11:21 Son of Man." Perhaps the first time, or at least the most 11:26 important time in the Old Testament when this is used, 11:30 'The Son is Man' is found in Daniel chapter 7; and I want to 11:36 go there because in this point.. When I was studying this, said, 11:41 "Is this the second coming of Jesus? Or is this something 11:48 else?" The Son of Man here is the connecting link to Daniel 7. 11:57 He's sitting on the cloud, the Son of Man; that certainly ends 12:01 in the coming of Jesus. But let's go to Daniel chapter 7. I 12:05 want you to see something. Daniel's chapter 7, and this is 12:09 the picture of the great apostasy. I won't get into all 12:13 of that. And...Daniel's troubled by it; he sees this terrible 12:17 beast with 10 horns, and he sees the saints of God being 12:21 persecuted. And he sees all of these things, and then he sees 12:26 the judgment in heaven. And he sees the great Ancient of Days. 12:34 The judgment is set. The books are open. The court is set. And 12:41 then he watches till the Ancient of Days renders judgment on this 12:47 terrible persecuting power in the earth. Verse 13 says, 12:53 chapter 7, "I was watching in the night season; and behold, 12:58 one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven." 13:02 Where is this taking place? On earth, or in heaven? It's in 13:07 heaven. So the Son of Man here is none other than the Savior 13:11 Himself, coming in the clouds of heaven. The Son of Man- this 13:17 projects us down to the end of time, because Jesus is not the 13:21 Son of Man until He BECOMES a man. So this is Jesus in 13:28 heaven, in the end of time, coming with the clouds of 13:32 heaven. Why is He coming with the clouds of heaven? Because 13:36 the Ancient of Days is about to do something marvelous. 13:45 Verse 14, "And then to Him (the One who's coming in the clouds), 13:51 was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, 13:57 nations, and languages should serve Him." And His kingdom, 14:01 of course, would never pass away. The picture here is if 14:06 the Ancient of Days delivers judgment. And He delivers to 14:15 Jesus dominion because the battle between Christ and Satan 14:22 has reached its final conclusion, if you please, on 14:27 planet Earth. There's a judgment going on in heaven because the 14:31 books are open. So what we're really seeing in the book of 14:35 Revelation is a reenactment of that in chapter 14 verse 14. 14:42 And so you have to understand what goes on before that. So 14:45 this sharp sickle is the close of human probation. God puts 14:54 His sickle in because He's going to reap. We now understand the 14:58 reapin.' Going to reap the wheat... I want to be part of 15:03 the wheat. [Amen.] And I don't want to be part of the grapes. 15:13 'Cause there's no appeal once the human probation is closed. 15:20 And that's why the angel is so urgent in chapter 14. That's 15:24 why you see those three angels open up in verse 6. "Then I saw 15:28 another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the 15:31 everlasting gospel to preach unto-..." The only cure is the 15:36 gospel of the Lord Jesus. He's the only cure for humanity, and 15:41 the Protestant Reformation got it right! We're saved by sola 15:45 scriptura - by scripture alone. We're saved by faith alone. 15:52 We're saved by Christ alone. We're saved by grace alone. 15:57 And it is all to the glory of God alone. [Amen.] It's the 16:03 gospel - the everlasting gospel. It's never changed. Never will 16:09 change. And then it's preached to the whole world. Every 16:14 nation, tribe, tongue, and peoples as an urgency? about-.. 16:18 So I praise God for 3ABN! That's the vision- God gave the 16:22 vision to dear Brother Danny! He wants to take the 3 angels' 16:26 messages to the whole world. We've got to ALL be doing that. 16:29 We got to use everything at our disposal: radio, television, 16:33 social media, our own personal witness, literature - whatever 16:37 we can do! We're ALL responsible for this; you can't just lean 16:40 on 3ABN to get this done. Somebody should've said amen. 16:44 [Amen!] That's right. And verse 7, "Saying with a loud voice, 16:54 'Fear God!'" By the way, the word mean there- means 16:58 exactly what it says it means. "'And give glory to Him.'" 17:02 We're going to talk about that a little bit more a little 17:04 later. Watchin' that time... "'Fear God and give glory to 17:08 Him for the hour of His judgment is come!'" That's the great Day 17:13 of Atonement - the REAL Day of Atonement. I don't keep the 17:18 old feast days; I don't need them in the mor- I'm in the 17:20 real thing, here! [Amen.] I'm not in the symbols. I'm in the 17:27 reality. You and I are living the reality. The great Day of 17:30 Atonement, the great Day of Judgment, is going on in 17:33 heaven right now; the books are open! And the promise is 17:39 that those who die during this time period, this judgment 17:45 period, who die in the Lord, there's a promise made to 17:48 them. You can go down and look at it in verse-...chapter 14, 17:53 verse 13, "Then I heard the voice from heaven saying to 17:57 me, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" 18:02 Why are they blessed? Well, I think... I think, maybe, they're 18:07 going to get...resurrected a little early so they can see 18:10 Jesus come in the clouds. Isn't that a wonderful thing? 18:13 That'd be a wonderful thing. "'Blessed are the dead who die 18:16 in the Lord from now on. Yes!' says the spirit. 'They may 18:22 rest from their labors, but their labors do follow them.'" 18:25 My mom and dad, sleeping. I lost my mother at the end in 18:29 December, the last year - is sleeping, waiting for Jesus 18:34 to come. And on their tombstone, my brother and I, we had put, 18:40 "Waiting for the blessed hope." [Amen...!] "Waiting for the 18:45 blessed hope." They died in the 3rd angels' message. [Amen.] 18:52 They died, expecting Jesus to come; and their works did 18:56 follow them. [Amen.] We're all building on the works of 18:59 those who've gone before us. That also tells us there's 19:05 time here. There's time- going to take time for this final 19:09 judgment- our God's judgment to get finished. Now what's 19:12 the issue in the final judgment? The whole world is being brought 19:16 to a final crisis! And that final crisis is the commandments 19:21 of God and the faith of Jesus! [Amen.] The final crisis is the 19:25 mark of the beast versus the seal of God! Let me just say 19:31 this: we have to understand something. And I get a little 19:38 worried when I hear some stuff that I hear. My dear brothers 19:42 and sisters, these are serious times; this is not a time to 19:45 play games. [Amen!] With your own personal salvation or MY 19:49 own personal salvation. This is time to be serious! This is time 19:56 to get ready for Jesus to come! [Amen.] This is time to get 20:02 ready for the close of human probation. [Amen.] Because 20:08 the whole world-the picture here is that the angel comes out of 20:12 the temple, out of the heavenly sanctuary, where the judgment 20:15 takes place, and says to the Lord Jesus who's sitting on that 20:20 cloud, "It's ready. It's ripe." Now, if you- I'm not a farmer; 20:28 I'm a gardener - but I talked to a farmer not too long just while 20:32 I was here a little earlier - but I like agriculture. But I 20:36 did a little looking about this grain. And, where I live in 20:40 Michigan, there are fields of grain, and I can just about 20:44 predict when the harvesters are going to come through. You 20:49 know 'cause you're from Michigan. You cannot harvest 20:56 that grain too soon. The moisture- in fact, the word- 21:01 the word 'ripe' here for the wheat is a different word than 21:06 the 'ripe' for the grapes. For the wheat, it means it- the 21:11 moisture's got to get out of it. They want it to be under 15% 21:18 before they're going to take it, and they don't want it if it's 21:22 not under 15- they want that stuff DRIED out. My dear 21:26 brothers and sisters, we got to get sin dried out of our lives 21:30 if we're going to be ready for the coming of proba- of the Lord 21:33 Jesus. [Amen.] Be ready for the closing of probation; you got to 21:36 get- so you can't play this game. I mean, you don't want 21:40 to be like the grapes; they just keep bringin' in the moisture! 21:50 Now, I worry about stuff that I hear sometimes. Not just in 21:57 the church; just out of the church - it's everywhere. 22:00 People want a chief gospel. 22:05 Listen, you're not going to be saved by your work; just to get 22:07 that clear. You know that; I know that. There's no merit 22:11 in anything that we do. But there is a surrender issue, 22:17 and there is a faith issue, and a trust issue. I heard an 22:23 Adventist minister, a pretty prominent one, not long ago say, 22:27 "Well, I'm just going to be sinning right up till Jesus 22:30 comes!" I said, "Whoa... That's not what MY Bible says..." 22:35 I mean, how is it that we can think that we're- the blood of 22:39 Jesus covers us, and we can just go on sinning, and that 22:45 when Jesus comes, we're just going to be sinning about that 22:49 time and expect He's going to fix everything. It's an 22:52 oxymoron; it doesn't make sense. If you're going to get ready 22:57 for Jesus to come, you got to get ready for Jesus to come. 23:00 [Amen.] 23:04 I want to give you some biblical understanding of that. If you 23:09 got your Bibles, just turn over to Revelation chapter 19. 23:12 It's a picture of the coming of the Lord here. It's a different 23:16 kind of picture; Jesus comes as a great warrior, if you 23:20 please. But there's what they call, in chapter 19... There's 23:23 the three hallelujahs. Or the three "allelujahs" that heaven 23:28 burst into singing before Jesus comes. You can read them 23:33 there in the first few verses. The last 'allelujah' is like 23:38 this; and let's look at it, if you don't mind. Looking at 23:43 verse... 23:47 Looking at verse 7. Actually, 6. "And I heard and there were 23:53 the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters;" 23:56 this is all of heaven opening up. "As the sound of mighty 24:00 thundering saying," what? "Allelujah!" Can you imagine 24:04 hearing all of heaven saying, "Allelujah"? I can't even 24:10 imagine it. But they're happy. What are they happy about? 24:16 What are they happy about? Now, let's notice what they're 24:19 happy about. "For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!" In other 24:25 words, Jesus has received dominion! You see dominion. 24:32 And then it says what they're glad about. Verse 7. "Let us be 24:37 glad and rejoice and give Him glory." Why? "For the marriage 24:45 of the Lamb has come, and His wife..." 24:51 "And His wife..." 24:55 "And His Wife..." 25:00 "...finally got it together." Ever been to a wedding when 25:06 everybody's waiting on the bride? Sorry, ladies; you'll 25:09 love me when I'm done here. 25:16 Everybody's waiting. All of heaven, brothers and 25:21 sisters, is waiting. They'd already liked to had the bride 25:26 walk down the aisle. I didn't make this up; this come right 25:31 out of scripture. And they're happy because 25:35 the bride, the wife of the Lamb, has made herself ready. 25:43 We're not talking about merit, here; she's finally done what 25:46 Jesus is warning her to do all along. 25:53 And then it makes it clear. "For to her was granted to be 25:58 arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright..." Didn't say 26:03 "partly clean." It didn't say "mostly clean." 26:13 I'm telling you; there's not going to be one spot on that. 26:24 For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 26:30 Just put that with "Here are they that keep the commandments 26:32 of God and the faith of Jesus." They're keeping all of God's 26:37 commandments. By the grace of God. And by the living 26:42 Christ. Now, just in case we missed that, let me go over 26:48 to chapter 22. 26:53 I want to look at verse 6 of book of Revelation. 27:00 Alright, let me start with verse 7. Verse 7. "Behold,"- Jesus 27:04 is speaking -"I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who 27:08 keeps the words of the prophecy of this book!" Who does what 27:13 with the words of the prophecy of this book? Who keeps them. 27:17 Here are they who keep the commandments of God in the 27:20 faith of Jesus. Now- then there's an interruption into 27:25 the speech that Jesus was making. And the interruption 27:28 is given by John. "Now I, John, saw," verse 8, "and heard 27:33 these things; and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship 27:38 before the feet of the angel who showed me these things." 27:41 Now what does the angel do? Listen. The beast of Revelation 27:45 chapter 13, and the great red dragon, and chapter 12! 27:49 They might accept the worship of men, but the angels of God 27:53 will not accept it. And they fall down to worship, and the 27:59 angel says to him, very quickly, "See that you do not do that; 28:04 for I am your fellow servant and of your brother and the 28:08 prophets." If you put that with Revelation chapter 19 verse 10, 28:11 it says that the Spirit of Prophecy is- I mean that the-... 28:17 I'm gonna go back and read it here really quick. Sorry. 28:21 "I'm your fellow servant." Verse 10, "I'm your fellow servant- 28:23 your brother- the prophets, who have the testimony of Jesus, 28:26 worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of 28:32 Prophecy." So the same picture is given here. So, he says, 28:37 "Look, I'm of your fellow brother and the prophets; 28:41 don't worship me." So that interruption, now, is over, 28:48 and I think the speech of Jesus continues, or- the angel 28:53 continues to give some instruction. "And he said to 28:56 me, 'Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for 29:00 the time is at hand.'" And then he gives those sobering, 29:03 sobering words. "He who is unjust - let him be," what? 29:10 "And he who's filthy, let him be filthy still! And he who is 29:14 righteous, let him be righteous still! And he who is holy, let 29:18 him be holy still." There is a time period between the close 29:23 of probation, the 7 last plagues, and the coming of 29:28 Jesus. And during that time, when Jesus is crowned - 29:33 as He's crowned, here- he wears a crown of gold. He's 29:36 crowned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in heaven. 29:40 He takes off His intercessory robes, and His intercessory 29:45 mediatorial work, and He puts on His kingly robes. Now, the 29:51 book of John- and you know this well. The- 1 John tells 29:55 us... He says, "If you belong to Jesus,"- I'm paraphrasing; 30:00 "If you belong to Jesus, you will not sin." 30:18 But then he says- hallelujah for that. "If any man sins, 30:24 we have a..." 30:28 "We have an Advocate right now." Now, if you've accepted Christ 30:32 Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that is not a license to sin. 30:35 [Amen..!] The grace of God is not writing you a check, 30:39 said- "Okay, you're saved now; you can just go sin." 30:43 It is true that our relationship with Jesus is not on-and-off, 30:47 and I don't have time to go into the book of Romans, and I wish 30:49 I did; and I wish I had time to go the book of Galatians, 30:51 and I don't. So you're going to have to take some of this from 30:54 me from paraphrase; is that okay? 30:58 We have an Advocate, but it's- we stand, and according to 31:02 Romans chapter 5, this grace... We STAND in this grace. It's 31:07 not an on-and-off, again, relationship. It's a unique 31:11 covenant between us and God. And yet, the grace of God is 31:16 not a license to sin. How many of you have taken 31:22 advantage of the Advocate since you gave your heart to Christ? 31:29 Thank God for the Advocate. [Amen.] But... But! 31:36 The time is coming when the Advocate is not going to be 31:43 available. 31:49 That's why John said, "Who will be able to stand in that day?" 31:56 I want to come back to that standing in the grace of God 31:59 for a moment, because some people- I mean, a lot of people 32:02 say, "Well, I'm not going to be able to make it, you know? 32:05 I..." And just hang on for a second. Standing in the grace 32:11 of God. I've heard... I've heard Adventist preachers get 32:16 up, and say, "You know..." And people always use this one, 32:23 seems like. "When King David did whatever he did- even though 32:28 he did it - he was still saved!" I said, "Really." 32:38 If David had died before his repentance, he'd have been 32:45 a lost man. [Amen.] 32:52 But behold...the grace of God. [Amen.] Behold the grace in 32:59 which we stand. It was the grace of God that kept David alive. 33:07 It was the grace of God that raised up Nathan the prophet. 33:12 It was the grace of God that sent the Holy Spirit to move on 33:16 David's heart. It was the grace of God who will not let you go 33:20 very easily. [Amen. Praise God.] It was the grace of God who 33:24 raised up Nathan and called David to repentance; and it was 33:29 the grace of God that moved him to repentance and put him back 33:32 into the good grace of God. [Amen.] Behold! 33:39 The grace of God. 33:46 But the time is coming... 33:50 ...when the Advocate takes off His intercessory priestly robes. 34:00 How do we stand during that time? 34:05 I want to know; don't you? And I want to tell you... 34:10 Let me make this clear... ...that the same Lord Jesus who 34:17 brought you to repentance and changed your heart and gave you 34:20 a new heart - He doesn't die! [Amen.] 34:25 The close of probation - the heavenly Father who loves you 34:28 and sent His only begotten Son to Calvary's cross - He doesn't 34:31 die at the close of probation, either. [Amen.] 34:33 And the Holy Spirit who moves and work and wholes us, 34:38 and keeps us from the hour of temptation - He's very much 34:41 alive at the close of probation. 34:46 So go with me to Colossians. I'll come back to this. 34:51 Colossians... That wonderful little book. 35:00 If you look at Colossians chapter 1, you'll find... 35:08 Pushed it fall open here... 35:12 There we go. Colossians chapter 1... Colossians chapter 1 verse 35:18 9. "For this reason," it says, "the day we heard of it, we 35:25 do not cease to pray for you." To do what? Should we pray for 35:29 one another? Do we need to pray? "And to ask that you may be 35:33 filled with the knowledge of His will." How many of you want 35:36 to be in the center of the will of God? [Amen!] I want to be 35:40 in the center of the will of God. "That you may walk worthy 35:46 of the Lord." How many you want to walk worthy of the Lord? 35:48 [Amen.] Do you think that, at the close of probation, there's 35:51 going to be a remnant people that are going to be in the 35:55 center of the will of God? [Amen!] 36:01 Verse 10, "That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully 36:05 pleasing to Him." Are we going to be fully pleasing the Lord? 36:09 Listen, though- I tell you what's happened here. 36:11 If the Holy Spirit is doing a work in your life and in my 36:13 life right now, and the Holy Spirit is working in us so that 36:18 we come to a place by the power of the living Christ? 36:21 That we will not sin because we don't choose to sin? 36:28 I - I - Before I come back to this, I got to straighten out a 36:31 few things. I don't know if I'll muddy it up or straighten 36:33 it out, but you can... I think it'll straighten out. 36:36 Every time you make a... Every mistake is not a sin. 36:42 I made a mistake - I left my windows cracked and it rained. 36:45 [audience laughs] 36:47 I'm not trying to be funny; it's the truth. 36:49 [more laughter] 36:51 We need to get stuff in the right drawer here. I-... Lord 36:57 knows I believe in the health message. I praise God for it. 36:59 I've been benefited from it, and we need to have that. 37:03 But you cannot eat a perfect diet in this sinful world. 37:10 Even if you try hard. 37:15 And...eating a chocolate chip cookie is not a sin. 37:23 Now, maybe eating a dozen of them are. [audience laughs] 37:32 It's the principle of healthful living that we want to apply 37:35 to our life; you understand what I mean? 37:36 I don't have time to elaborate that, but we just have to get 37:39 a little common sense here. 37:42 Sin is the rebellion against God. Now, if I'm rebelling 37:47 against the health principle, that's a problem. 37:56 But... 37:58 I don't want rebellion in my life. There was a Michigan 38:03 conference worship; one of our, he's sleeping - Dane Griffin. 38:08 I never will forget it. He said, "The only thing that 38:12 God cannot and will not tolerate is rebellion." 38:21 And he was right on. 38:22 I don't have any rebellion in my heart. 38:26 So, I want to come back to this next part. Look at verse 38:31 10 again. "Fully pleasing Him; being fruitful in every good 38:35 work, increasing in the knowledge of God,"- listen to 38:38 this. Verse 11, "strengthened with all might, according to" 38:43 whose power? His glorious power. You go through the close 38:47 of probation, not on your own power- somebody should've 38:50 said amen! You go through the close of probation and being 38:54 ready for Jesus to come because of the glorious power of the 38:58 Son of God! [Amen!] And Paul drives that home here. I mean, 39:05 to tell you- people who say, "Look, all I need's 39:07 justification!" No! Brothers and sisters, justification 39:11 always gives birth to sanctification! 39:14 Forgiveness of your sins always gives birth to holiness! 39:17 Holiness is a bad word in some circles! But let me tell you, 39:20 holiness is nothing more than pursuing Christlikeness! 39:23 [Amen.] 39:29 The glorious- I love verse 13! "He has delivered us from the 39:33 power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son 39:37 of His love!" Don't you love that? Verse 14, we have redeem- 39:42 redemption through the blood- His blood; the forgiveness of 39:45 our sins. Talk about the blood of Christ. Kind of like H.M.S. 39:49 Richards. Every time I run through there, there's another 39:51 sermon that waves at me; "See, you need to work on 39:53 this." And then it gives us a picture of this glorious Jesus! 39:59 This powerful Jesus. He's the image of the invisible God - 40:03 the Firstborn over all creation. Listen to verse 16; "For by Him, 40:07 all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the 40:10 earth, visible and invisible, were the thrones or dominions, 40:14 or principalities or powers; all things were created through 40:19 Him and for Him, and He is before all things; and in Him, 40:23 all things consist." That is a powerful picture of Jesus! 40:30 Listen! If He's the Creator of the worlds- He created all these 40:32 things - you think He can't take you to the close of probation? 40:38 Do you serve a weak Jesus? [No!] Or do you serve a powerful 40:43 Jesus? [Powerful!] Listen, temptation's a terrible thing; 40:47 it's very seductive. All of us go through it. 40:52 And there's plenty of times in my life- probably every day.. 40:57 ..I KNOW every day - that I cry out to the Lord and I say, 41:01 "Lord! That temptation is tempting!" [gradual laughter] 41:11 Listen- my only hope is to be connected with the living Power! 41:16 And to say to the Lord Jesus, "Lord, if You don't help me, I'm 41:20 not going to be able to do it! I'm not going to be able to-. 41:23 Listen, but if You help me, give me strength; Lord, I may 41:26 be tempted - it may be attractive; it may be pulling 41:31 me that way - but I don't choose it, by the grace of God!" 41:35 [Amen!] 41:40 It is that living connection with Christ. It's not just 41:44 prayer in the morning; it's not merely having your devotionals 41:47 in the morning. Listen - it's a continual connection with God 41:51 all day long, every waking moment, whether you're at work- 41:56 whatever you're doing, the secret to success is continual, 42:00 constant connection to the living Christ! [Amen!] 42:07 And it's that same living Christ who will take us to the close 42:11 of probation. Let me just go down to Paul's 'punchline,' if 42:18 you please, in verse 27. "To them, God willed to make known 42:25 what are the riches of the glory of this mystery." What is 42:29 this mystery? What are the riches of this glory? Of this 42:34 mystery? "Among the Gentiles," and here it is, "which is Christ 42:42 in You - the hope of glory." Now, let me make something 42:47 really, really clear. For sake of time. If you- God the Father, 42:57 God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There are three 43:02 distinct, unique persons. Three. But they're one. 43:10 Don't try to explain it, because if you do, you'll get into 43:13 territory you have no business being in. And that's where a 43:17 lot of people get messed up. They try to explain something 43:20 and then they start denying the very Revelation of God 43:22 Himself. 43:26 But that means that if the Holy Spirit comes into my heart, 43:31 He brings in, to me, the living Christ. [Amen.] Please don't 43:39 misunderstand. You and I are not saved by theory of truth. 43:52 We are not saved by mere intellectual ascent, saying, 43:57 "Yes, that's true." 44:02 Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Doctrine is 44:08 important because if you go to 2 John- I think it's verse 9- 44:12 he says, "If you don't have the doctrine of Christ, you do not 44:16 have God." Pretty strong. So truth is absolutely 44:21 important, but truth - the theory of truth - then 44:25 intellectual understanding of truth alone CAN NOT save you! 44:31 You can only be saved by the living Christ in you. And that's 44:38 a reality. Yes, Jesus stands at the right hand of God; yes, 44:42 He's in the heavenly sanctuary, but He actually comes, and the 44:45 early church understood this. That's why they were so on fire. 44:50 They understood that the living Christ actually had taken up 44:57 residence in their affections and in their minds. This is the 45:01 reality, brothers and sisters. This is a reality. The reality 45:06 of our salvation is the living Christ in us! And to stay 45:12 connected with Him so that His residence is always with us. 45:21 Verse 20. 45:27 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we all so 45:31 eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." 45:36 Isn't that the second coming? 45:40 Oh, I read the wrong one. I was back in Philippians. 45:47 It's alright. It gets better than that. 45:51 Alright. "Which is Christ in you the hope of glory?" Colossians 45:55 chapter 1 verse 28. "Him we preach, warning every man and 46:00 teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present 46:03 every man perfect in Christ Jesus." I'm not talking about 46:09 perfectionism. I'm describin' some of that. 46:11 I'm talkin' 'bout not having any rebellion in your heart. 46:17 Now, I know that Jesus covers our sins. I know that the only 46:20 way I can be saved is because of the righteous sacrifice of the 46:26 Lord Jesus who paid for my sins- Jesus paid it all. I do not 46:31 serve a dead Christ in a tomb- I serve a living Christ. And 46:35 because of that, I'm covered by His grace. But Jesus not only 46:41 wants to do a work outside of me; Jesus also wants to do a 46:45 work IN me. And so when He doesn't work outside of me and I 46:51 accept that by His grace and He forgives my sins, then He 46:54 starts to work IN me. And this is what He calls it. "That we 47:00 may present every man," what? "perfect in Christ." You get a 47:04 bunch of Adventists together- or any bunch of Christians- 47:07 and say, "Anybody in this circle perfect?" Now I'd be right there 47:14 with you. You were worried for a moment. 47:22 Now, I still have a carnal nature. By the way, carnal 47:24 nature is not sin. It's temptation. And it's a problem. 47:29 It's gotta be dealt with, and hallelujah, Jesus is strong 47:33 enough to deal with it now, and He's strong enough to deal with 47:35 it after the close of probation. And He- when Jesus comes again, 47:39 He's going to take it away... forever. Hallelujah to that, 47:42 huh? [Amen!] So I won't be tempted by that thing anymore. 47:47 But what's wrong with 'perfect?' I like my car to start perfectly 47:52 every time, don't you? I mean, I don't want it not to start 47:55 ever. I don't want it to let me down ever. When I turn the 48:00 key, or whatever, I want it to start. What's wrong with 48:08 perfect? How many of you like perfect? 48:14 Well, what's wrong with saying to Lord Jesus, "Give me a 48:17 perfect heart"? "Give me a heart that doesn't have any rebellion 48:22 in it." 48:26 "Give me obedience to You... without rebellion." 48:31 What's wrong with that? Is that legalism? No! It's 48:36 faith. Do you trust Jesus, that He can 48:39 do that for you? [Amen.] Can the living Christ live out 48:43 His life in you? Can the living Christ transform you by His 48:47 mighty power? Is he able to do that? 48:52 I'm telling you. Jesus loves us. There's no reason not to be 48:58 ready for the close of probation! There, the reason 49:01 we're not ready for the close of probation is because we 49:03 whittled away the probationary time! And we've let rebellion 49:07 take root in our hearts again. 49:19 I'm going to go back to Revelation chapter 14. 49:26 Verse 17, "Then another angel came out of the temple which is 49:30 in heaven, having a sharp sickle. Another angel came out 49:35 from the altar who had power over fire." Fire, here, is 49:39 the cleansing- the final cleansing. God cleansed the 49:42 earth with water once; He's going to clean it eternally 49:46 with fire. "And he cried with a loud voice, a loud cry to him 49:52 who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in your sharp 49:56 sickle.'" By the way, the Word of God is like a sharp two-edge 50:00 sword. Gets down to the motives. Strike in your sickle. 50:08 So people picture God as not being very good - not being very 50:12 kind. "You know, how could Jesus do this?" "This is Jesus who 50:17 forgave Mary and healed the blind man and did all these 50:21 marvelous things. How could the same Jesus, now, the Son of 50:24 Man, sit in judgment?" Jesus is very clear in chapter 50:33 5, that the Father had given to Him judgment... And that 50:38 He was going to wake up all of the saints at the end of time. 50:42 The Son of Man is loaded because Jesus becomes the Son of Man 50:47 only when He becomes the second Adam. Hallelujah that Jesus 50:51 resisted every temptation, and because He resisted every 50:56 temptation, because He lives in you and in me, His power can 51:00 help us overcome every temptation. We- Jesus beat the 51:04 devil with both hands tied behind His back. And if He did 51:10 that, He can do it in your life. No matter what problem 51:14 you face, no matter what your genetic suitcase holds, Jesus 51:18 is able to help you overcome. We serve a very powerful, 51:22 powerful Jesus. He's the Son of Man. And when He became the 51:27 second Adam-... This is the Son of Man who was crowned not with 51:32 the crown of gold as He is here, but He was crowned with a crown 51:35 of thorns. This is the Son of Man that was flogged, almost 51:42 to death, if you please. This is the Son of Man who was taken to 51:47 Calvary's cross and crucified, for you and for me. This is the 51:52 Son of Man who gave His life for every human being. And the 51:57 reason Jesus' life can be for the whole- all of us who ever 52:02 have lived and whoever will live - is because He's the 52:04 Creator, and the Creator is always worth more than the 52:07 created! [Amen!] Jesus is worth more than all of us put 52:11 together. When He gives His life on Calvary's cross, He 52:14 gave it for all of us. This Son of Man has paid the price for 52:19 everybody who is lost, because He didn't want them to be lost. 52:24 God would've put this day off. 52:28 But He has to cleanse the universe. The universe cannot 52:31 exist with sin. We have to understand the awfulness of sin. 52:35 We live in it so much, I kind of take it for granted; but sin is 52:38 a mean and awful thing - let me ex- illustrate that. 52:42 There was a missionary couple... True story. Young couple. 52:46 And they were in a country- foreign country - that had a lot 52:51 of poisonous snakes. And they had a new baby, and I don't know 52:57 how old the baby was - 6 months, 8 months, I don't know.. - but 53:01 the baby had its own little room; little nursery there, and 53:04 it was in its crib. 53:07 Early one morning, Mama wakes up, the sun is up, and she goes 53:11 to the baby's room, and she lets out a curdling scream. 53:18 Her husband jumps up and runs just in time to see one of these 53:24 vicious poisonous snake crawl off the baby and into a crack 53:32 in the wall. They rush to the baby, but the baby had been 53:40 bitten... 53:43 ...and was dead. 53:52 Sin...is a terrible thing. 53:58 Now, I want to ask you men something. If you had seen, 54:01 men, that snake crawl into that baby's crib, or that baby's 54:07 room, what would you have done? [Killed it.] Yeah, thank you. 54:11 Got some men in here. That's good. [audience laughs] 54:15 Yeah, some, "Well, I don't know; I tried to catch it- I..." 54:19 Let me tell you. [laughter] You KILL that thing. 54:23 [more laughter] 54:30 A dead snake is not anymore a danger, you understand? 54:35 [Amen!] Thank you. [laughter] 54:42 No... A good father reaction is predictable. Yes or no? 54:51 [Yes.] And his reaction is based on his love. 55:02 His love for the baby. Listen - sin has crawled into 55:12 God's universe. And God's reaction is predictable... 55:25 ...and unpredictable. 55:29 Unpredictable that the God of heaven would send His only 55:35 begotten Son. I don't think even Satan could hardly believe 55:41 his eyes when Jesus shows up as a baby in Bethlehem's manger. 55:47 We have no idea of the glory of God. We have no idea how far 55:51 down Jesus came. I mean, Philippians 2 says that, you 55:55 know, that He took on the form of a servant. "That was- I'm not 55:59 going to be the servant." Jesus: "That's okay; I will be." 56:03 And became obedient. Why? Because He had faith in His 56:06 Father. Do you have faith in the Lord Jesus to take you to the 56:09 end of time? Do you have faith in Christ to take you through 56:11 all the difficulties that are coming? Faith in Him. 56:16 He sent His ONLY begotten Son; from God's love flows both His 56:20 justice and His mercy. God could have been just and destroyed the 56:25 world, spared His Son... 56:33 But God is not just just. God is also merciful. 56:38 [Amen!] And so He sent His ONLY begotten Son. 56:44 Dear brothers and sisters. We have nothing to be afraid of. 56:50 ...if... 56:56 ...we embrace the living Christ. [Amen.] For it's the 57:01 living Christ in us now. And at the close of probation, 57:07 that will make us ready to see Jesus...in all His glory. 57:15 There's nothing in this world; there's no temptation so 57:17 attractive to give up the living Christ. Is Christ IN you? 57:26 The hope of glory? [Amen!] |
Revised 2018-06-25