Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM190002A
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00:39 Previously on Law of Love & Liberty:
00:43 Anybody here that came over 500 miles 00:47 to be here? All right. Wow! Look at all the hands. 00:50 There is something special. Thompsonville is maybe a dot 00:54 on the map but we know that God is here. 00:58 We are standing 01:02 in His presence 01:06 on holy ground. 01:10 This gospel is going to the world. Praise God! 01:12 All around the world as we're standing here 01:14 people are being gathered into the kingdom. 01:16 Beautiful name it is: 01:19 the name of Jesus. 01:25 Jesus. 01:29 We are standing on holy ground! 01:31 I think about the children of Israel as they were camped 01:34 outside of Mt. Sinai. But then I think about 3ABN. 01:37 It's not holy ground because we make it holy - that's right - 01:40 because Jesus Christ is the One that makes it holy. 01:43 We are standing 01:46 in His presence 01:50 on holy... 01:53 on holy 01:56 ground. 02:02 We are standing on holy ground. 02:09 Hello and welcome to 3ABN 2019 02:13 Spring Camp Meeting. 02:15 I don't know about you but I am super excited to be here. 02:19 This is the first sermon in our Law of Love & Liberty series 02:23 on the Ten Commandments. And so whether you're here 02:27 in our audience or in our viewing audience at home 02:30 we're blessed to be able to come together 02:32 to receive a special word from the Lord. 02:35 Our speaker this evening is my dear brother and friend 02:39 Pastor James Rafferty. 02:41 Pastor Rafferty, Pastor Ivor Myers, 02:44 my son Jason Bradley and I 02:47 have the privilege of being a part of Salvation in Symbols 02:51 and Signs. It's a study on the book of Revelation 02:54 and one of our most popular programs on 3ABN 02:58 and Dare to Dream. We just recently began 03:02 our latest study on the book of Daniel. 03:04 So make sure that you tune in to that as well. 03:07 We haven't completed it yet, but when we do 03:10 we'll announce it. Pastor James Rafferty 03:13 is also co-director and co-founder of Light Bearers 03:17 ministry and an associate pastor in Fall Creek, Oregon. 03:21 Over 34 years ago he followed God's call 03:25 to leave his secular employment 03:27 and preach the everlasting gospel. 03:30 The Holy Spirit has blessed his work 03:33 leading many people to accept Jesus Christ 03:35 as their personal Savior. 03:37 Pastor Rafferty and his wife Rise have two adult children: 03:42 Jeiel, 26, and Kierra, 21. 03:45 Pastor Rafferty has been gifted with a deep, deep understanding 03:50 of God's Word. Our musical selection 03:53 is going to be brought to us by one of my all-time favorite 03:58 musicians. He is so anointed as a singer and pianist: 04:02 Tim Parton. After he blesses us 04:06 the next voice you will hear 04:07 will be that of Pastor James Rafferty, 04:12 so hear ye him. 04:25 It's an honor to speak 04:29 the name of Jesus, 04:35 a pleasure to proclaim 04:39 His holiness. 04:44 It's no sacrifice to make Him 04:50 Lord of everything... 04:56 an honor just to live 05:00 for my King. 05:08 Jesus is life 05:14 to me. 05:19 Jesus is life 05:24 to me. 05:28 He's the heartbeat inside; 05:34 He's the air that I breathe... 05:41 Jesus 05:43 is life 05:47 to me. 05:52 He's the music 05:55 I can't keep from singing, 06:00 the joy that carries me 06:03 through every storm. 06:08 He's the peace 06:11 that passes all 06:13 understanding. 06:17 He's the grace 06:19 that won't stop holding 06:22 my hand. 06:28 Jesus is life 06:34 to me. 06:39 Jesus is life 06:44 to me. 06:49 He's the heartbeat inside; 06:54 the air that 06:57 I breathe... 07:01 Jesus is life 07:07 to me... 07:14 Jesus 07:17 is life 07:20 to 07:23 me. 07:34 Amen! Amen! 07:36 Thank you, Tim. 07:38 I've really appreciated Tim's musical gifts over the years 07:43 as I've watched him with the Gaithers. 07:45 And it's just a blessing to have him here. 07:48 Good evening 3ABN Camp Meeting people! 07:50 Good evening! How are you this evening? 07:52 Good. It is good to see you all here. 07:55 Praise God! Our topic tonight... 07:58 I get to start our series for our Camp Meeting 08:01 this year on the Ten Commandments. 08:03 And tonight we're going to be talking about 08:05 the finger of God. The title is: With His Own Finger. 08:08 And I was kind of given this topic. 08:11 What I mean by that is I got the list 08:14 for Camp Meeting early and I got to choose what I wanted, 08:17 and I chose the meeting I'll give tomorrow. 08:19 But the person who was supposed to give this meeting, 08:22 Ivor Myers, couldn't make it last minute. 08:24 And last year... I don't know if you know this 08:27 but last year I was supposed to be here and I didn't make it. 08:30 I was flat on my back and so John Bradshaw 08:33 stepped in for me. So I thought: "Well, 08:35 one good turn deserves another 08:36 so I'll step in for Ivor this year. " 08:38 So I've been given this topic in addition to the one I chose. 08:42 And I don't know... I started studying this and I thought 08:45 "Wow, this is a great topic! " 08:47 "This is a powerful topic - 08:48 With His Own Finger - because 08:52 it's talking about the finger of God 08:55 in relation to the Ten Commandments 08:58 but as I started studying this topic I started to realize 09:01 it's much bigger than that. 09:03 So we're going to be looking at some Old Testament verses: 09:05 Exodus 20, Exodus 31 and verse 18. 09:08 That's actually where the phrase "the finger of God" 09:12 comes from. But we're also going to look at a New Testament 09:14 passage in Luke chapter 11. 09:17 So if you want to write those down, take notes there, 09:19 you've got Exodus 20, Exodus 31:18, 09:21 and Luke chapter 11 starting with verse 14 through verse 26. 09:27 And of course, we're going to begin with a word of prayer 09:31 and just ask that the Holy Spirit will be here 09:33 to guide our study together in the Word of God. Let's pray. 09:37 Father in heaven, thank you again this evening 09:39 for the privilege of just being here in Your presence. 09:42 Thank you for this 3ABN Camp Meeting. 09:44 Thank you for the special music from Tim. 09:47 Thank you for each of the people, the staff, 09:50 the production crew, and each of those who come here 09:53 just to lay aside this time and to gather together 09:56 to seek Your blessing, to seek Your guidance, 10:00 to seek Your power, to seek Your Spirit. 10:03 Father, You've given us the promise of Your Spirit. 10:05 It's a promise that comes to us with no conditions except 10:09 that we ask. It's a promise that comes to us 10:11 to cleanse us from sin. 10:13 It's a promise that comes to us to comfort our hearts, 10:16 to convict our hearts, to lead us into 10:20 truth and righteousness. It's a promise that comes to us 10:24 to allow us to be Your ambassadors to this world. 10:28 So we claim that promise tonight. 10:30 We claim it not because of our goodness 10:32 or our merit... we don't have any. But we claim it 10:34 in the name of Jesus Christ. And let everyone say: "Amen. " 10:39 Amen! OK! So... 10:41 just to give a little bit of an overview 10:43 before we get into our topic tonight 10:46 Exodus chapter 20 is where God, you know, 10:50 delivers to Moses the Ten Commandments. 10:52 And they're written in these tables of stone 10:54 with God's finger. 10:56 And those Ten Commandments are actually a commemoration 11:01 if you will of God to the people for the deliverance 11:05 that God brought them through delivering them from Egypt. 11:08 In other words, God is saying: "What I've done for you 11:11 in bringing you out of bondage out of the house of Egypt 11:13 is now going to be commem- orated by these Ten Commandments 11:16 that I'm going to etch in stone. " 11:18 And He delivers them to Moses 11:20 and Moses delivers them to the people. 11:22 And the people respond by basically saying: 11:26 "All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. " 11:30 That's a basic summary of kind of like the Old Covenant 11:33 that God made with His people. 11:36 God actually led them into this covenant. 11:37 It was ratified with the blood of animals, etc. 11:40 That's the first place we really see the finger of God 11:43 being mentioned: writing in those tables of stone 11:46 as a commemoration of God's deliverance out of Egypt. 11:49 We're going to go to the New Testament 11:51 and we're in Luke chapter 11 verses 14 and onward. 11:54 I just want to read a few verses here 'cause they're... 11:56 it's just interesting. 11:58 And we'll get a perspective on this as we go through this. 12:01 Luke chapter 11 verse 14. It's talking about Jesus. 12:04 Now just before verse 14 12:07 Jesus says: "If you then, being evil, 12:10 know how to give good gifts unto your children, 12:13 how much more shall your heavenly Father 12:15 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. " 12:18 Do you believe that this evening? 12:20 Do you believe God is willing to give us the Holy Spirit 12:23 if we ask Him? OK, so Jesus is emphasizing 12:26 this as He prepares to share something powerful 12:30 in His ministry. So verse 14, He's casting out 12:33 devils out of someone who is dumb. 12:35 "And it came to pass when the devil was gone out 12:38 that the dumb spake and the people wondered. " 12:40 They were amazed. Here's a person that can't speak 12:42 and Jesus comes to him after promising the gift 12:46 of the Holy Spirit. Casts out the devil, this evil spirit 12:49 out of him and this man begins to speak. 12:51 Now I don't know if you've ever had that experience. 12:53 Probably most of you here tonight can talk... 12:57 but can you talk? Like talking just talk 13:01 is what we naturally do. 13:03 But talking through the Holy Spirit, 13:06 through the power of the Holy Spirit. 13:07 Talking about Jesus; talking about salvation; 13:10 talking about God; talking about spiritual things. 13:12 Not talking about sports or talking about life 13:15 or talking about politics or talking about all the things 13:17 that are happening in the world. But talking about God. 13:22 Can you talk? Are you talkers tonight or are you dumb? 13:26 You communicate when you go by the way, 13:30 when you're about your business when you're outside of 3ABN 13:33 Camp Meeting? You communicate? Or are you dumb? 13:37 Because God is saying to us tonight... He's saying: 13:39 "I don't want to just cast out that evil spirit 13:41 out of this person right here. 13:43 I want to cast out that dumb spirit, I want to cast that out 13:46 of all of you tonight. " He wants to fill us 13:49 with His Spirit so that we are living for Him, talking for Him, 13:52 praising God all of the time. 13:56 Now this is the picture we have of Jesus 13:58 as He begins this ministry, this work with this person 14:03 who couldn't speak, and He intimates 14:06 that that's the work that He wants to do with us tonight. 14:07 Then verse 15 says: "Some of them said... " verse 15 14:12 "He casts out devils through Beelzebub, 14:16 the chief of the devils. " 14:18 Can you imagine that? 14:20 Have you ever had anyone say something to you 14:23 that was disrespectful? That you didn't like? 14:26 Maybe you were witnessing about Jesus; 14:28 maybe you were talking about God. 14:29 Maybe you were just being a Christian 14:31 and someone said something really nasty. 14:34 You know, you come across people who just aren't into Christ 14:38 and they're a little bit offen- ded by Christians let's say. 14:42 Because Jesus Christ is actually the Son of God. 14:45 He's God in the flesh. 14:47 He's perfect; He's holy; He's sinless. 14:50 Everything about Him is good. 14:53 And the religious leaders of His day 14:56 say that He's a devil. 15:00 Have you ever had someone say anything bad about you 15:02 and you're kind of like: "Maybe they're right? " 15:07 I mean, there are times when we can be inpatient. 15:10 There are times when we can be unChristlike. 15:11 There are times when we're not exactly what we should be, 15:14 right? And people may take note of that 15:16 and they may say something about that. 15:19 And we can't always argue with them... but this is Jesus. 15:22 This is Jesus. 15:24 And when I look at this little passage here in Scripture 15:27 and I realize that they called Jesus a devil 15:29 it gives me a lot of comfort... it really does. 15:32 Because it helps me to realize that Wow, if they're going to 15:35 say this about Christ who is perfect 15:38 of course I'm going to have to receive a lot of that myself. 15:42 I'm imperfect... right? 15:44 So just relax... just "chillax. " Don't worry about 15:48 what people are saying about you. 15:50 Some of it may stick... some of it may not. 15:52 But just keep on doing what God wants you to do 15:54 in the spirit. And here it goes. So Jesus responds, 15:59 others are tempting Him. Verse 16: 16:01 "And they sought of Him a sign from heaven 16:03 but He, knowing their very thoughts, 16:07 said unto them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself 16:11 is brought to desolation 16:13 and a house divided against a house falls. 16:16 If Satan also be divided against himself, 16:20 how shall his kingdom stand? 16:22 Because you say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub 16:26 and if I by Beelzebub cast out devils 16:29 by whom do your sons cast them out? 16:32 Therefore they shall be your judges. 16:36 But... ' verse 20... 'If I... ' here it is... 16:41 Are you ready for this? 16:42 'with the finger of God cast out devils 16:46 no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto you. ' " 16:50 So our title tonight - our message tonight - is 16:53 With The Finger of God. 16:55 It's the finger of God. 16:57 And I can't think of a more appropriate verse in the entire 17:01 Bible to describe what the finger of God is 17:05 than this verse that we have just read 17:07 in Luke chapter 11 17:11 and verse 20. 17:14 What is the finger of God? 17:16 The finger of God according to this verse 17:18 is the power of God. 17:20 It's the power of God to cast devils out of people. 17:24 It's the power of God to remove sin from our lives! 17:27 It's the power of God to completely eradicate the devil 17:32 and remove every vestige of him from our hearts. 17:36 The finger of God... Jesus said: "If I, by the finger of God 17:41 cast out devils... " By the finger of God! 17:44 In other words, when you look at Exodus chapter 20, 17:47 when you look at Exodus chapter 31 verse 18, 17:50 when you look and compare that with Luke chapter 11... 17:53 especially when you look at Luke chapter 11 17:56 and verse 20 you realize that God is not about 18:01 etching laws in stone 18:05 as much as He's about etching His character 18:09 in our hearts. Amen! 18:10 That's what it's really all about. 18:13 We go back now to the Old Testament. 18:16 Just take a little bit of time to look at this 18:21 because... and I'm just going to share this as a summary... 18:24 the summary for our meeting tonight is to realize that 18:28 the miracle-working power of God is going to deliver us 18:31 from the bondage of slavery and write His law of love 18:35 in our hearts casting out the enemy of souls, 18:40 sweeping the house clean, 18:42 and then filling it with His Holy Spirit, the finger of God, 18:46 the power of God, 18:48 who alone will seal us in the gospel of salvation... 18:52 the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ 18:54 which is the manifestation of God's love. 18:57 That's a summary of what we're going to be talking about 18:58 tonight. Just wanted to put that out there ahead of time 19:01 so that if you get lost you can come back to that. 19:03 And we'll go back to that again. 19:05 Now back to Exodus 19:07 because again, the foundation of our Camp Meeting here - 19:09 3ABN Camp Meeting this year - is the Ten Commandments. 19:12 And this is an introduction to those Ten Commandments. 19:15 And I want us to just look at this in the context 19:17 of what's taking place in the Old Testament. 19:20 God delivers the commandments to Moses: Exodus chapter 20. 19:24 The people are afraid... they all back up. 19:26 Moses comes down and he begins to deliver to them 19:29 everything that God has delivered to him. 19:31 And before the people can even really think about it 19:34 they simply say: "All the Lord has said we will do and be 19:37 obedient. " And God allowed them to enter into that 19:41 "agreement, " that covenant, ratified it by the blood 19:44 of animals, and then some 40 days later 19:48 they're all dancing around the golden calf: 19:51 a clear manifestation that there's no way 19:55 that we can do all that the Lord has said. 20:01 We cannot. We are not able to fulfill 20:05 God's law in and of ourselves. 20:08 We are not promise keepers. 20:10 And so basically what we see here 20:13 is God allowing His Old Testament people 20:16 to enter into this covenant to lead them to something better... 20:20 which is what we call the "New Covenant. " 20:22 And that's found in the book of Hebrews 20:24 chapter 8. We're just going to look there for a second 20:28 and summarize this 20:29 beautiful picture that we have in Hebrews chapter 8. 20:32 Actually there's two places in Hebrews: 20:33 Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 10. 20:35 We're going to look at Hebrews 8 starting with verse 6. 20:37 This is the most magnificent promise in all of Scripture. 20:41 Now let's see if we can grab ahold of this. 20:43 It's so beautiful; so powerful! 20:46 Hebrews chapter 8 beginning with verse 6. 20:50 "But now hath He... " God... "obtained a more excellent 20:55 ministry... " That is, Jesus Christ... "by how much also 20:58 He is the mediator of a better covenant 21:00 which is established upon better promises. " 21:03 Hmm... so the old covenant 21:09 was established on promises 21:14 that were not as good as the covenant 21:19 that is being described here in Hebrews chapter 6. 21:23 This covenant that God is about to describe here 21:25 is established on better promises. 21:27 So there were some bad promises 21:30 that established the Old Covenant. 21:32 You with me so far? 21:34 All right. Continuing reading: 21:36 "For... " verse 7... "if the 1st covenant had been faultless 21:41 there should no place have been sought for the second. " 21:43 OK, so now there's a fault, there's a problem, 21:47 there's some difficulty with the first covenant. 21:51 Got that so far? 21:52 There's some bad promises... or at least they're not as good 21:54 as these promises and there's some fault 21:56 with the Old Covenant. Now verse 8 is the clincher. 22:01 And this is where we really need to make this very very clear. 22:05 Verse 8: "For finding fault with them 22:10 He said: 'Behold the day is coming says the Lord 22:13 when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel 22:15 and the house of Judah. Not according... ' verse 9... 22:17 'to the covenant that I made with their fathers 22:19 in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out 22:21 of the land of Egypt because they continued not 22:22 in My covenant and I regarded them not says the Lord. ' " 22:26 What was the problem with the Old Covenant? 22:29 Was it the law? Was the law the problem? 22:31 When Paul says "finding fault with them" 22:33 is he talking about the law? "Finding fault with them... " 22:35 The law? The 10 Commandments? 22:37 Finding fault with the Ten Commandments? 22:38 Like the people couldn't keep the Ten Commandments 22:40 so the Ten Commandments just weren't part of that? 22:42 Like they shouldn't have been there? 22:43 Is that what He's saying? No! What was the fault 22:47 in the Old Covenant? What was the "them? " 22:50 Who was He referring to? 22:51 The people! Us... the people. 22:55 What did we do? What was so faulty about what we did? 22:57 What did we do? We made promises 23:00 that we couldn't keep. 23:02 We made promises: "All the Lord has said 23:04 we will do and be obedient. " 23:05 "We'll do it. God said it; we'll do it. 23:08 That's it. " And so God is saying here: "I can't 23:13 make this kind of a covenant 23:16 with My people in the New Testament. " 23:20 "Because they continued not in My covenant 23:22 I regarded them not says the Lord. 23:24 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house 23:26 of Israel after those days says the Lord... " verse 10... 23:29 "I will put My law into their mind. 23:31 I will write them in their hearts. " 23:34 Now listen to this: "I will... " What? 23:37 What do you need in order to write? 23:40 Well, nowadays with these iPhones you don't need anything, 23:42 right? You can just dictate; just need a voice. 23:45 But Old Testament times, 23:48 Bible times and even some of us today 23:51 what do you need to write? 23:53 You need a pen or a pencil in your hands, right? 23:56 And you need to grab it with your fingers so that you can 23:59 write out. See? God here is implying 24:03 that He's going to write with His fingers. 24:05 But where is He going to write this time? 24:07 In stone? In hearts! 24:09 He's going to write with His fingers in our hearts. 24:13 He's going to write His law of love in our heart. 24:16 He's going to cast out the devil and by His finger - 24:19 the power of God - He's going to write in our hearts 24:22 His law of love. That's what we see taking place here. 24:25 This is a promise that we see taking place here 24:27 in Hebrews chapter 8 verses 6 through 10. 24:32 Do you believe in the New Covenant? 24:34 Do you believe that you are a New Covenant Christian 24:40 even though you keep the commandments of God? 24:42 Do you believe you're a New Covenant Christian? 24:45 That's kind of shocking for some people 24:47 'cause there's a lot of people out there that feel like 24:49 if you're keeping the law you're not a New Covenant person. 24:52 They feel like the law is Old Covenant. 24:54 But from what I'm reading here in the New Testament 24:57 in the book of Hebrews it's not the law that was faulty 25:00 it was the people that were faulty. 25:02 And I think that that is a characteristic 25:05 not just of those people but of these people... like us! 25:08 Let's look at this a little bit more closely. 25:10 So God promises: "I'm going to do it. 25:13 I'm going to write My laws in their hearts. " 25:15 How crazy is that? 25:17 "I'm going to do it; I'm the One that's going to do it. " 25:19 Now recently I saw a sign in St. Louis. 25:23 I was here a couple months ago. 25:25 We were doing a shooting for Salvation Symbols & Signs 25:29 and we're getting ready now to do Daniel. 25:32 So we've done Revelation... 72 presentations. 25:35 Ivor, myself, Yvonne and Jason. 25:38 And we started the book of Daniel; we did 23 meetings. 25:41 And it was really fun. It's a great experience 25:44 just sitting at the table just talking about the Bible, 25:46 talking about the prophecies and moving through them 25:49 together. And as I left 3ABN and started driving back 25:54 to the airport I saw this sign. 25:56 Just black and white... just a plain sign. 25:58 And it was lifted high above the houses and businesses 26:02 right next to a busy freeway for all to see. 26:04 And the billboard sign said this: 26:10 Love God. By the way, on my way here 26:13 I saw a similar sign going the other way 26:16 and it said: TRUST JESUS... REPENT. 26:19 LOVE GOD... REPENT; TRUST JESUS... REPENT. 26:22 And as I began thinking about that message on that sign 26:25 I realized: that's Old Covenant. 26:30 That's Old Covenant. 26:32 Isn't it? That's Old Covenant. 26:35 As if our response should be: "All that the sign has said 26:39 we will do and be obedient. " 26:40 Right? Love God and repent. OK! 26:43 Whatever the sign... I'll love God and I'll repent. 26:46 I mean if anything is Old Covenant that is. 26:51 Hello 3ABN Camp Meeting. 26:54 If anything is Old Covenant, that is. 26:56 But here it is sitting on this billboard 27:00 on the side of this busy freeway right in St. Louis 27:03 in southern... in the South, in the Bible belt: 27:07 Love God and repent. 27:11 So I'm suggesting to you that the Old Covenant is alive 27:14 and well today. Right now... right among us... 27:16 it's alive and well today. Now I don't know who put that sign up. 27:19 Some well-meaning Christians... a group or a church... 27:22 and I'm sure that they meant well. 27:25 And then again, so did the Hebrews when they said: 27:28 "All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. " 27:30 They meant well! They wanted to do! 27:33 But they proved - as we do today - that we can't 27:38 actually be obedient to God. 27:40 We can't actually repent and love God. 27:43 We need Him to do that in us. 27:47 Come on.. we need Him to do that in us! 27:51 He has to do that work... that's His promise. 27:53 That's His promise here in Hebrews chapter 8. 27:55 He says: "I'm going to put My law 27:57 in their hearts and their minds. " 27:58 "I'm going to write them there. " 28:00 "I'm going to do that. " 28:03 You remember the verse? Let's read it again. 28:06 Hebrews 8 verse 10: 28:07 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house 28:09 of Israel after those days says the Lord: 28:11 'I will put My law into their minds; 28:13 I will write them in their hearts. 28:15 I will be to them a God and they shall be to Me 28:18 a people. ' " 28:19 Isn't that powerful? 28:21 Now back to the billboard. 28:23 It's a revelation really of how we think 28:27 as Christians. 28:29 Love God... something you can't do without Him first loving you. 28:34 And repent. Now who's going to repent without God? 28:42 It's a gift after all... repentance is a gift. 28:46 It means basically to turn around. 28:50 To turn 180 degrees. 28:52 To go in a different direction than the direction you're 28:54 going in. It was 1984 when I repented. 28:58 When God grabbed my heart and turned me completely 29:01 around. And it wasn't something that I did. 29:03 It was something that God did. 29:05 I got on my knees and I asked Jesus to come into my heart 29:08 and He completely changed me from the inside out. 29:12 Turned me completely around. 29:16 We were walking in sin. We were walking in transgression 29:19 of God's law. To repent means to walk in the opposite direction 29:23 to keep God's law. 29:24 Sometimes repentance is nebulous. 29:26 Like repent... what does that mean? 29:28 It means to actually have the law of God written in our hearts 29:31 and that's not something that we can do. 29:33 So the only way that we can actually repent 29:36 is by seeing the goodness of God. 29:38 Romans 2 verse 4 says that. 29:39 It's the goodness of God that does what? 29:42 Leads us to repentance. 29:44 So we don't repent by loving God. 29:48 We repent when we begin to realize 29:52 just how much God loves us. 29:56 Do you know God loves you? 29:58 More than you can even imagine. 30:01 I John chapter 4 verse 19 tells us 30:04 that "we love Him because He first loved us. " 30:10 So I think we should redo the sign. 30:17 I think we should redo the sign. 30:18 Shall we? I mean if we were going to give 30:22 that sign a makeover - a New Covenant makeover - 30:25 a New Covenant 3ABN Camp Meeting makeover - 30:28 OK? how would you change it? 30:32 What would it say? 30:34 Instead of saying "Love God - repent" 30:38 how about "Let God's love turn you around. " 30:45 Let God's love turn you around 30:47 'cause that's what it means to repent, means to turn around. 30:49 Let... let recognizes free will. 30:53 We have a choice in the matter. 30:55 God isn't going to step into our hearts 30:59 without us giving Him permission to do so. 31:02 That's what I did when I got on my knees 35 years ago. 31:05 I said: "God I give You permission to come in. " 31:07 He was outside knocking, knocking, knocking. 31:09 Said: "I want to come in; I want to come in. 31:11 Would you open the door? Would you let Me in? " 31:13 And I gave Him permission to come in. And when He came in 31:16 everything changed. When He came in 31:18 my life was turned around! 31:20 It was a miracle! Only something that God can do. 31:25 Let God's love turn you around. 31:29 So let's recognize this free will. God's love... that's the 31:32 source of the change. It's not us. 31:35 It's not our will; it's not our education; 31:37 it's not our position; it's not our talent. 31:41 It's not us. I don't care if you're a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 31:45 5th generation Christian, believer. 31:47 I don't care how many pastors you have in your family tree 31:52 you are as lost as anyone else on planet earth 31:57 without Jesus Christ. 31:58 There's no pedigree; there's no inheritance; 32:00 there's nothing good that comes to you outside of Jesus. 32:07 So the source of the change 32:10 is God's unconditional love 32:13 known to us as grace or unmerited favor. 32:19 You heard of that? Unmerited favor? 32:22 And that's going to turn you around. 32:24 God's love is what turns us around. 32:27 And to turn around is the literal meaning of repent. 32:30 The literal meaning of repent is to turn around. 32:37 So here's this billboard in St. Louis 32:40 that we're going to give a New Testament, everlasting gospel 32:44 three angels' messages New Covenant make-over. 32:47 Instead of saying "Love God and repent" 32:51 it's going to say: "Let God's love turn you around. " 32:57 You like that, church? I like that. Don't you like that? 33:00 Let God's love turn you around. 33:02 Let God's love turn you around. 33:04 I think that should be a theme that we have in our brains 33:08 for this entire Camp Meeting. 33:10 Just keep saying that... just keep saying that. 33:14 In fact, I'm indebted... we're indebted 33:16 to that billboard sign because that billboard sign has 33:19 caused us to think: "OK... how does this actually work? " 33:23 "What is it that God is wanting to do with His finger? " 33:26 "What is this power of God that He wants to work in us? " 33:28 "How does He want to transform us? How does He want to write 33:32 His law today? " Not on tables of stone 33:36 but in our hearts. How does He want to do this? 33:38 He wants us to let His love turn us around. 33:45 Praise God! I love that. 33:48 Someone needs to write a song about that. 33:51 Let God's love turn you inside out; 33:52 let God's love turn you all around; 33:54 let God's love turn you upside down. 33:56 Let God's love stop you from where you were going 34:00 and turn you around to the very thing you were 34:03 walking away from. This is just some of the lyric to the song. 34:07 Hope Danny's listening. 34:08 Let the love of God stop you from walking in sin 34:11 and transgression and iniquity. 34:12 Let the love of God turn you around and lead you to walk 34:14 in love, obedience, and commandment keeping. 34:17 Let God's love turn you around. 34:21 So then what do we need? 34:22 If we're actually believing that this is New Covenant truth, 34:26 then what do we need a lot of? 34:29 The love of God... we need a lot of love! 34:32 We need a lot of love 'cause we've got a lot of 34:34 turning around to do. 34:36 We've got some major turning to do... 34:39 some of us more than others. 34:41 I mean, God is leading. God is blessing, right? 34:44 And He's given us a lot of turn around, 34:47 a lot of turn around, a lot of turn around. 34:49 But as we're driving down that road... I don't know if 34:51 you ever use those MapQuest things. You're driving down 34:53 that road and you forget to make that turn. 34:55 You know, God says: "Take that right turn. " You forget. 34:58 The MapQuest says: "Redirecting... redirecting. " 35:01 Right? 35:05 We're doing really good so far. Like our Christian walk 35:08 is really doing well but there's a turn that we've gotta make 35:11 here and another turn we've got to make there. 35:13 There's another idol that God is bringing to our attention; 35:15 there's another direction we need to take. 35:17 Sometimes we just want to stay on the same old road, 35:19 but we've got... we've got... heaven is our destiny - Amen! 35:23 and sometimes we need to make a few turns. 35:25 And some of us old guys... we don't want to make those turns. 35:28 We think we're OK right here. 35:30 We've been OK right here all along 35:31 but no, it's time to make a turn. 35:33 And if you don't make the turn God says: "Redirecting... 35:35 redirecting. Let's turn it around; let's turn it around. " 35:40 And it's hard for us to think that we missed the turn. 35:42 Oh, back before we had MapQuest... oh man! 35:45 I was just like... My wife was like: "Honey, 35:48 can't you just pull over into that gas station and ask 35:50 for directions? Please? " 35:55 "Couldn't you just? " "NO! 35:58 I will find our destination. " 36:03 Three hours later pulls into the Chevron station: 36:07 "Excuse me... I was just kind of wondering... " 36:09 "Oh, that's about two hours down the road. " 36:12 I don't... None of us should be in that position. 36:16 Pride keeps us from following God's directions 36:20 and turning around. We think we're gonna find it 36:23 by ourselves. 36:25 That's our problem... that's the big problem 36:28 of humanity. And Christians? We are not exempt. 36:34 All of us have that same problem. 36:38 So you think God's love can do that? 36:39 Do you think God's love can turn us around? 36:41 God's New Covenant promise says He can. 36:45 He certainly isn't asking us to do it. 36:48 We tried that... we tried that! 36:49 Some of us are still trying it. 36:51 But it doesn't work because we are powerless. 36:55 We can't love God, we can't repent, 36:59 only God can do that in us. That's the finger of God. 37:02 That's the finger of God. 37:05 Repentance is a gift from God, 37:07 and we can let Him lead us to repentance. 37:10 We can stop resisting Him. 37:13 We can open the door of our hearts and ask Him 37:16 to come in. Verse 11 of that New Covenant promise 37:20 in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 11 says: 37:24 "And they shall not teach every man his neighbor 37:26 and every man his brother saying: 'Know the Lord. ' 37:28 For all will know Me from the least to the greatest. " 37:31 Did you know that? 37:32 You don't even need me to teach you this. 37:35 I'm not up here to teach you anything. 37:37 I'm just kind of a director of the choir. 37:39 Basically what God is saying in His Word 37:42 is that you all have an anointing of the Holy Spirit. 37:46 All of you do. 37:47 God is anointing you with His Holy Spirit. 37:49 You can read that in I John. I John chapter 2 verses 18 37:52 and onward. You have the anointing of the Holy Spirit 37:55 and you know all things 'cause the Holy Spirit knows all things 37:58 and He's anointed you. 37:59 And so when you come to 3ABN Camp Meeting 38:01 and you're listening to these people preach: 38:03 you're listening to James preach and John preach 38:05 and Ty preach and a couple other guys... 38:09 Shelley... when you listen to these guys preach 38:14 what you're hearing is simply confirmation 38:18 of what God has been teaching you in His Word. 38:21 And if there's something new there, what you're going to do 38:23 is you're simply going to go to the Word and say: "Oh, 38:25 yeah, that's right there! " 38:28 We're just choir directors. We're just directing you 38:32 to the truths of God's Word. You don't need us to teach you. 38:35 Not in the sense that the New Covenant is talking about here. 38:41 You're not dependent on us. 38:42 Actually, we're dependent on each other to direct each other 38:45 to the Word of God, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit 38:47 to the Word of God. That's what the New Covenant promise is! 38:50 You won't teach every man his neighbor and every man 38:52 his brother saying: "Know the Lord. " You're all going to 38:53 know Him from to the greatest. 38:55 And this is the problem that we have... 38:56 this is the secondary problem that we have. 38:58 The first problem is this self-sufficiency: 39:00 "I can do it; I've got the power; I've got the strength. " 39:01 The second problem is is that we rely on other people 39:05 to feed us. We rely on the pastor, 39:08 you know, and the elder and 3ABN. 39:11 This is evident... Whenever someone comes to me and says: 39:16 "You know what? I go to church 39:19 but my pastor doesn't feed me. " 39:21 "I don't get fed at church and I'm really struggling. 39:25 My Christian experience is struggling 'cause I'm just not 39:27 getting fed at church. " I'm like: "Well, what does 39:29 a 30-minute sermon once a week have to do with your 39:31 spiritual experience? What is that? " 39:35 The pastor is not responsible for your connection with Jesus! 39:42 You can take him or you can... If he's good, that's great. 39:45 If he ain't... so what? So what? 39:49 God has a message for you in His Word 39:54 every day of every week of every month of every year 39:58 He wants to connect with you personally. 40:00 He wants to write with His finger on your heart. 40:05 He has a verse, He has a promise... 40:07 He has a word of correction for you every single day. 40:11 He wants to speak into your hearts; He wants to talk to you! 40:16 And it may be that the same thing that He shares with you 40:19 is going to be the same thing that He shares with the pastor. 40:21 There might be a coincidence there and you go like: "Wow! 40:23 God is really speaking through the pastor this week! 40:26 Whoo! That's the same thing He showed me! " 40:28 And then other times it might be: "Whoa, the pastor must be 40:30 going through a hard time. I need to pray for him 40:32 'cause his messages are just like empty, like there's nothing 40:35 there. I need to pray for that man. 40:36 I need to pray for God to just touch him. 40:40 And maybe I can touch him too; maybe I can encourage him. " 40:43 Give him a word; give him some encouragement. 40:45 Pastors need encouragement. 40:47 We need to encourage one another. 40:48 But we shouldn't depend on them. 40:50 And then he goes on here and he says in verse 12 40:53 of Hebrews chapter 8: 40:55 "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins 40:59 and their iniquities will I remember no more. " 41:03 What do you think about that? 41:05 I love that kind of amnesia that God has. 41:08 I love that. 41:10 Like I think we are more inclined to remember 41:13 our sins and iniquities than God is. 41:14 That's right! You know, like we just overwhelm ourselves. 41:17 Hey! Today is a new day. 41:19 Yesterday is gone. 41:21 Those sins are buried in the sea. 41:23 And some of us want to go deep sea diving, don't we? 41:28 And God is saying: "Don't even go there! 41:30 Don't even think about it... it's gone! " 41:33 What is that? That is beautiful; that is powerful! 41:36 That is what God is promising us in the New Covenant: 41:42 perfect holiness; 41:47 perfect record of Christ's life and death 41:51 given to us as a gift. 41:53 'Cause that's what it's going to take. You know that. 41:55 None of us are getting into heaven any other way. 41:58 Jesus says: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. " 42:00 And sometimes we misunderstand and say: 42:02 "The only way to get to heaven is to be a Christian... 42:04 maybe even an Adventist. " 42:06 No, that's not what it's saying. 42:07 Jesus is saying: "The only way to get to heaven 42:09 is Me 'cause in order to get to heaven 42:11 you've got to have an unblemished perfect record 42:15 and no human being has that. 42:17 I'm the only One that has that. " 42:18 "I lived a perfect life... PERFECT... 42:21 and I died for your sins... every one of them. 42:25 And that is a gift for you. 42:27 That's what qualifies you for heaven. 42:29 That's your title and your fitness to heaven, 42:30 and nothing you ever do is going to replace that gift. " 42:35 Now everything that you do in your life is important because 42:39 it testifies of that gift. 42:42 The works... And by the way, I've been learning recently - 42:45 and you can just do a little study on this... 42:48 Maybe some of you the Holy Spirit's been teaching you this 42:50 already, but if not, just do a little study on this. 42:53 I've been learning recently that one of the greatest works... 42:57 You know, Ephesians chapter 2 says: "For it's by grace 43:00 you've been saved through faith. 43:01 Not of yourselves... it's a gift of God. 43:03 Not of works lest any man should boast. 43:04 We are His workmanship created unto good works. " 43:06 One of the greatest works that God is calling us to do - 43:11 get this - is to praise Him. 43:16 Yet we're so quiet... aren't we? 43:20 We're so quiet! 43:22 Like if we're watching the NBA basketball finals, you know, 43:26 right? "Whoa! Yeah! Three-pointer! Whoo-hoo-hoo! " 43:30 We just get excited. We walk into church and we're like... 43:38 What is that? What IS that? 43:41 It's like the world has paralyzed us. 43:43 You know, like we're excited about the things of the world 43:45 but about God, about salvation, about Jesus, about everything 43:48 else you're so quiet. 43:49 But I'm going to tell you right now 43:51 you can go through the Bible. You to go the end of Hebrews 43:54 chapter 13 says that we are to give "the sacrifice of praise 43:57 continually. " You go to the book of Revelation... 44:00 you move through the book of Revelation... it starts in 44:01 chapter 4. The angels are praising God day and night. 44:04 They're not stopping. But you get to Revelation 19 44:07 you've got: "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 44:09 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! " 44:10 Four times with a praise added in... that's five times! 44:13 The whole point, the summation of the whole Bible, 44:16 is to praise God. And it's not just for us. 44:21 It's not just for us. 44:24 God's throne is established upon the praise of His creation. 44:30 His throne is established upon our praise. 44:32 It's POWERFUL to praise God! 44:36 It destroys the enemy to praise God. 44:38 "You're not having anything of mine... 44:40 I'm praising God right now. " 44:42 You remember when Paul and Silas were beaten 44:44 and thrown into the inner prison you know? And they're shackled 44:46 in there. And they're just bleeding and they're in pain 44:49 and they're suffering in this uncomfortable position. 44:52 What do they start doing? 44:53 PRAISING THE LORD! 44:55 And that wasn't something they thought: "Well how? 44:57 We should praise God. Maybe we should praise God right now. " 44:59 NO! This was something they were habitually used to doing 45:02 and they just naturally tended to do that. 45:04 Naturally tended to just praise God. 45:06 I know some of us don't naturally tend to do that 45:08 because, you know, maybe it's not our culture, 45:10 it's not our background. But we need to learn to do that! 45:13 We need to learn to do that. Yes! 45:15 Because it's powerful. Don't be looking over there. 45:17 WE need to praise God, right? 45:20 Who's that over there praising God? 45:22 No... we need to praise God right here! 45:25 Us! 45:35 It is about time because when we get on the other side 45:40 of this whole great controversy 45:42 we're going to be spending a lot of time praising God. 45:44 Amen! Let's get in shape. 45:48 Let's get ready... let's do this. 45:54 So Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13: 45:58 "In that He saith a New Covenant 46:00 He's made the first old. 46:03 Now that which decays and waxes old 46:08 is ready to vanish away. " 46:11 Is it? Is it ready to vanish away 46:15 or are we still like "Love God and repent? " 46:18 "Trust Jesus and repent. " 46:20 Is the Old Covenant ready to vanish away or not? 46:29 Vanish away in our experience. 46:31 That's what we're talking about here. 46:33 To vanish away from our lives. We need to talk New Covenant. 46:37 We need to think New Covenant. 46:38 We need to toss the Old Covenant. 46:40 We need to throw out all of those actions and all those 46:43 feelings that betray us. 46:45 We need to know what the New Covenant looks like. 46:47 God's law written in our hearts; written with the finger of God. 46:49 Just like it was written on those tables of stone 46:51 but now it's written in our hearts. 46:54 This time God's the One doing the work... not us. 47:01 God is the One doing the work. 47:03 He's writing it with His finger on our hearts 47:05 so that we will not want to covet, lie, deceive, 47:09 practice sexual immorality, 47:11 kill, steal, dishonor our parents, 47:13 take God's name in vain, worship idols, 47:15 put other gods before Him, forget the Sabbath. 47:18 Do our own thing... live our own lives. 47:21 God is causing us to hate what we once loved 47:25 and to love what we once hated. 47:29 He puts enmity in our hearts: Genesis 3:15. 47:31 He's putting enmity in our hearts towards sin. 47:33 That's what God does. That's what God promises to do. 47:37 This is the New Covenant promise. 47:38 We let Jesus in. He writes God's law in our hearts 47:42 with His own finger. He cleans the house. 47:44 He sweeps it out. He gets rid of one idol 47:47 after another after another after another. 47:50 There's another idol He's getting rid of right now: 47:53 that idol that causes us to be 47:59 too embarrassed to praise God. 48:02 That's an idol... that's an idol He wants to get rid of. 48:06 I was walking through Denver airport today. 48:10 You know, had a little time. My plane was delayed 48:13 so I'm walking laps, walking laps, walking laps, 48:16 walking laps. This one lady says: "Yeah, you've been 48:18 walking laps. Good for you! " 48:19 And in all of that walking and looking and looking and looking 48:22 and looking I saw one guy with a Jesus T-shirt on. 48:26 Just one guy... older guy. 48:28 Maybe in his 60's, 70's... one guy. 48:30 That was it. I'm thinking: "There's gotta be more 48:33 Christians in this place than just him and me. " 48:37 There's gotta be... 48:40 but I'm not sure we're ready to praise God. 48:47 Kind of embarrassing sometimes, isn't it? 48:51 But the point is is that the praise of God 48:55 is where the power of God is. Amen! 48:58 You know, there's a Bible verse in the Old Testament. 49:03 It's in... 49:08 it's in Isaiah 53. 49:12 No, it's not Isaiah 53. 49:15 I'll deliver it to you tomorrow. 49:16 I'll find it... I'll look it up. 49:20 But basically what it says is 49:23 those who praise God prepare the way for God 49:28 to show them His salvation. 49:32 Because the salvation of God is in praising God. 49:36 And this is what happens as we move into 49:40 Exodus chapter 20. 49:42 Before we get to Exodus chapter 20 49:44 we have the deliverance of God's people from Egypt 49:46 which culminates in a final deliverance through the Red Sea 49:49 where all of Pharaoh's army is drowned. 49:53 And in Exodus chapter 15 49:55 Miriam leads out in the psalm of praise. 49:58 We call it the song of Moses and the Lamb. 50:01 Song of Moses. And she gets this timbrel 50:04 and the people get together and they start dancing. 50:08 Whoops! I'm just quoting the Bible. 50:10 They start dancing... 50:12 I think Satan has counterfeited all that. You know what I mean? 50:16 I think Satan's counterfeited music and he's counterfeiting 50:18 praise and he's counterfeit- ing... So when you're in sports 50:21 and when you're looking at the groupies with their music 50:25 and when you're looking at movies or whatever it is 50:27 and we're all: "Yeah! Wow! " We're all excited. 50:30 That's a counterfeit. 50:32 But it doesn't mean God doesn't want us to get excited 50:34 about what He's doing in our lives. 50:36 About His salvation; about His work; about His blessings. 50:41 And so Miriam led the children of Israel 50:45 and they got excited. They were excited about 50:47 what they just saw God do. 50:48 And I think that's one of the reasons why we're so quiet 50:51 and we sit so still and we just don't move 50:53 because we're not excited about anything. 50:55 Like God hasn't really parted any Red Seas in our lives. 50:57 He hasn't really destroyed any armies. 50:59 Like He hasn't really decimated any enemies. 51:01 We're just kind of doing this drudgery, this round, 51:04 this kind of formalism, you know? 51:09 But we are told when the church is awake 51:12 there's going to be powerful amens and praising 51:16 of God when His Word is spoken. 51:18 You don't need to praise the preacher, 51:20 but the Word of God and the truth of God... 51:24 that's what we need to praise. 51:26 God says that that which is old is vanishing away. 51:31 Yes or no? Yes! 51:33 AMEN! God says: "I want to write My law 51:37 in your hearts. " Yes or no? Yes! Amen. 51:42 See, this is the point... this is the point: 51:45 to sit here and say nothing when the Word of God is spoken 51:49 is one of our greatest problems. 51:52 It's one of the reasons why we don't enter into 51:53 a New Covenant. Because what we're doing is we're watching 51:57 somebody else engage with God 52:01 in worship and study 52:04 as though we were just like observers. 52:07 That's not worship. God is calling us to participate. 52:11 That's what happened in the Old Covenant when 52:14 Moses... when the people said: "Moses, you go up there 52:17 and you come back and you tell us 52:18 and we'll just sit here. " 52:20 God says: "No, no, no... I want to engage with all the people. " 52:22 "I want to engage with you. " 52:24 God wants to engage with us. 52:26 So the New Covenant promise says 52:29 that He can. He certainly isn't asking us to do it. 52:31 We've tried that... it doesn't work. 52:33 We can't love God; we can't repent. 52:35 Only God can do that in us, but we need to let Him. 52:37 We need to stop resisting... we need to surrender. 52:40 You know, in war time 52:42 when two armies are fighting 52:44 if one army gains the victory the other army surrenders. 52:48 You know what they do? 52:49 They come out with their hands up. 52:54 Hand up... I surrender. 52:56 See, and that's another thing we've lost as Christians. 52:58 Like: "Well, we don't want to be Pentecostal. " 53:01 Well, do we want to be Biblical? 53:04 Do we want to be Biblical? 53:06 'Cause the Bible says we should lift up our hands 53:09 and praise God in His sanctuary. 53:11 The Bible says that. 53:13 The Bible says that when they were fighting Moses lifted up 53:17 his hands. And when his hands were raised up 53:19 God's people had victory. 53:21 The Bible says we should pray with hands raised up. 53:26 That's New Testament by the way. 53:30 I think that there's something about lifting our hands 53:34 that says to God: "I surrender. " 53:37 "I surrender everything to You. " 53:40 "I give up. You're the victor. 53:42 You're the One that's conquered. I give up; I give it to You. " 53:47 We need to step out a little bit. 53:49 I mean, we baptize by immersion. That doesn't make us Baptists. 53:53 We have a world-wide church... doesn't make us Catholic. 53:55 Catholic means worldwide. 53:58 So we believe in door-to-door witness... 54:01 that doesn't make us Jehovah's Witnesses. 54:04 And we can praise God in His sanctuary 54:08 and raise up our hands in prayer 54:09 without thinking we're Pentecostal! We can do that! 54:12 Amen! It's OK to do that. 54:14 We need more life in the church. 54:18 It's not a cultural thing it's a Biblical thing. 54:21 And this is what God is saying to us. 54:22 God is saying basically: "It's not just about the day; 54:25 it's also about the way. " 54:27 Worship's not just about the day. It's also about the way. 54:30 You have been given the victory. 54:34 God's people in the Old Testa- ment were given the victory. 54:36 It was theirs. They didn't need to say: 54:39 "All the Lord has said we will do. " 54:40 God already did it! 54:41 They just needed to say: "Thank you, Lord. " 54:43 "Praise God! " They lost sight of that. 54:46 And God is saying: "OK, I'm going to re-do this 54:48 with that example in the Old Testament so that 54:50 you guys all know today that's not the way it works. 54:53 I'm going to re-do this; I'm making new promises now. 54:56 New Covenant... better promises. 54:58 I want you to look at that example and say: 55:00 'Op, that's not going to work. ' 55:02 Don't misunderstand. I'm not doing away with My law. 55:04 I'm doing away with the promises. 55:05 Not the law... the promises. 55:06 That's not going to work, but here's how it is going to work: 55:10 I'm going to write My law in your hearts and minds. 55:12 I'm going to remember your sins and iniquities no more. 55:15 I'm going to cast them into the sea. 55:17 I'm going to be your God; you're going to be My people. 55:19 I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit. 55:20 You don't need anyone to teach you anything. 55:21 I'm going to teach you all things. " 55:23 And what's our job? PRAISE GOD! 55:26 That's our job. 55:28 Amen! Hallelujah! I believe that! Thank you! 55:31 I accept that, 'cause when you get to the New Testament... 55:33 when you get to the end of the book of Revelation 55:35 it's "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! " 55:39 Let's just look at that for a second... just for a second. 55:41 This is so powerful. 55:43 Revelation chapter 19. 55:47 There's four of them there. 55:49 I don't think you find four Hallelujahs! anywhere else 55:52 in the Bible. You know what Hallelujah! means, don't you? 55:55 Praise the Lord! 55:58 Praise the Lord! 56:00 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! 56:02 Here it is... we're going to close with this. 56:03 We're running out of time so we're going to close with this. 56:04 Here it is, Revelation chapter 19 verse 1: 56:08 "And after these things I heard a great voice 56:10 of much people in heaven saying: 56:12 'Hallelujah! ' " I guess that's in heaven 56:16 so it doesn't count for here, right? 56:19 "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor 56:21 and power unto the Lord our God. 56:24 For true and righteous are His judgments; 56:26 for He has judged the great whore 56:28 which did corrupt the earth with her fornication 56:30 and avenged the blood of His servants. 56:32 And again they said... " verse 3... "Hallelujah! 56:35 her smoke arose up forever and ever. 56:38 And the four and twenty elders... " verse 4... 56:40 "and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God 56:42 with seven thrones saying: 'Hallelujah! ' 56:46 And a voice came out of the throne saying... " 56:49 verse 5... "Praise our God all ye servants 56:52 and ye that fear Him small and great. 56:54 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, 56:57 the voice of many waters, the voice of mighty thundering, 57:00 saying: 'Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns. ' " 57:05 There it is. See, that's our work. 57:07 God is saying: "I created you for good works 57:10 and here's what it is: it's the sacrifice of praise. " 57:12 I want you to praise God. When you get to the end 57:14 of the book of Revelation past those who keep the commandments 57:16 and have the faith of Jesus, when you get to the end 57:17 of the book of Revelation you've got this call 57:19 to Hallelujah! praise. 57:21 Can we enter into that? 57:24 As SDA Christians can we enter into that? 57:26 'Cause that's New Covenant right there. 57:28 We say Hallelujah! because God has done for us 57:30 what we couldn't do for ourselves. Amen? |
Revised 2019-10-14