Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO210037S
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00:26 Hello, and welcome to the 3ABN Worship Hour.
00:30 We want to thank you for joining us. 00:32 And we want to encourage you to follow along 00:35 as we read and study God's Word together. 00:39 The title for the message today is 00:42 "Jesus Offers Us, Offers You His Righteousness," 00:47 Jesus offers you His righteousness. 00:50 This is really a very important message 00:52 because every single person in the world 00:55 needs the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 00:59 And we're gonna talk about that today. 01:00 So I hope you get yourself ready 01:02 with Bible and something to write with, 01:04 so that you can continue this study, 01:06 which is of great benefit 01:09 to all who dedicate time to study this topic. 01:12 Before we begin, 01:14 I would like to invite you to pray. 01:16 I'm going to kneel, 01:17 and I would like to invite you to pray for me as well, 01:20 for God to bless each and every one of us, 01:22 because we need His blessing. 01:24 Let us pray. 01:27 Our loving Heavenly Father, we want to thank You, Lord, 01:30 because the door of mercy is still open today. 01:34 We want to thank You that 01:35 we can come to you with confidence, 01:38 because You will not shut the door. 01:41 You will not cast us away. 01:43 But You are open to hearing us, 01:46 You have an open door for us. 01:49 And, Lord, we ask at this time, 01:52 that You will bless us with an understanding 01:54 of the message You have for us. 01:57 I place myself in Your hands, Lord. 01:59 And I ask that You will bless me 02:01 with Your Holy Spirit, 02:02 that you will speak to Your children, 02:04 and that everyone will be blessed 02:06 according to their need. 02:08 And I ask You for these blessings 02:09 in the holy and blessed name of Jesus. 02:12 Amen, and amen. 02:16 When you begin to read the Bible, 02:18 in the Book of Genesis, 02:19 you will discover that 02:20 God created the heavens and the earth in six days. 02:24 Not only that He created 02:25 the heavens and earth in six days, 02:27 He created everything that you can see, 02:32 that is not manmade. 02:34 And everything that you cannot see, 02:35 because there are things that are so tiny, 02:39 they are microscopic. 02:41 Were it not for microscopes, 02:43 you could not see these wonderful things 02:46 that God has made. 02:48 In Genesis 1:31. 02:51 This is what the Bible tells us, 02:53 "Then God saw everything that He had made. 02:56 And indeed, it was very good. 03:00 So the evening and the morning, 03:02 were the sixth day." 03:04 And you will notice that 03:06 after He created the world in six days, 03:09 He rested on the seventh day, 03:11 because He had done all the work of the creation 03:15 of this world. 03:17 One of the things He created that is like 03:20 the crowning work of creation is human beings. 03:23 And He created Adam and Eve. 03:27 As time went on, 03:29 you begin, continue reading 03:30 in the Book of Genesis Chapter 3, 03:31 you will notice that 03:33 Genesis Chapter 3 reveals that Adam and Eve sinned. 03:38 Unfortunately, 03:39 this has brought misery and suffering upon this world. 03:43 And I would like to read to you from Genesis Chapter 6, 03:46 I'm gonna read verse 5 and 6. 03:50 And this is what the Bible tells us. 03:52 "Then the Lord saw 03:53 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, 03:57 and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart 04:02 was only evil continually. 04:04 And the Lord was sorry 04:06 that He had made man on the earth, 04:08 and He was grieved in His heart." 04:12 So we see here, 04:13 that the Lord looking all over the world, 04:19 the only thing that He saw was evil continually, 04:21 even in the minds of the people, 04:25 not only their words and their actions, 04:26 but even in their minds was only evil. 04:29 What next horrible thing can I do 04:32 was in the thoughts of people. 04:36 As you continue reading, 04:37 you will notice that, of course, 04:39 God had to make a drastic decision 04:40 and that is to destroy the earth 04:43 and the inhabitants with a flood. 04:46 It is a known story, "Noah and the flood." 04:51 And it is because 04:52 Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, 04:55 that humanity could continue. 04:57 In other words, 04:58 God extended mercy to the human race 05:02 through Noah and his family. 05:04 In essence, we are all related, 05:07 even going down, going back as far as Adam 05:10 or going back as far as Noah. 05:13 Now today, 05:14 the situation is according to the way it is described 05:18 in Romans 3:23. 05:23 In Romans 3:23, we have a very clear and short message, 05:29 but it speaks of the reality of this human life on earth. 05:36 Romans 3:23, 05:37 "For all have sinned, 05:40 and fall short of the glory of God." 05:44 All have sinned, 05:45 and fall short of the glory of God. 05:47 You might ask yourself, well, how do you define sin? 05:50 How do you know what sin is? 05:53 And without this, you will not know what sin is? 05:58 Let us head to 1 John Chapter 3, 06:01 and we're gonna verse 4. 06:04 1 John 3:4, 06:05 In 1 John 3:4, 06:09 we have the following words. 06:13 It is written, 06:15 "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, 06:20 and sin is lawlessness." 06:22 In other words, 06:23 disobeying the law. 06:25 What law? The law of God. 06:28 But you see, 06:30 the Bible tells us something powerful 06:33 that we need to understand, 06:34 every human being needs to understand 06:38 the message that is written in Romans 6:23. 06:41 Now, I am only going to read 06:43 the first part of Romans Chapter 6 this time. 06:46 And the first part of Romans 6:23, 06:48 the Bible says, 06:50 "For the wages of sin is death." 06:54 That's what it is. 06:56 So if everyone has sinned in this world, 07:00 everyone is subject to death. 07:03 And because of this, everyone needs a savior. 07:07 You see, we cannot save ourselves. 07:10 Let us say you only commit one sin 07:13 in all of your lifetime, 07:14 whether you live 101 year or whether you live 1000 years, 07:18 or 10,000 years, 07:19 you only commit one sin, 07:21 the fact still remains that the wages of sin is death. 07:25 So what can you do 07:27 to escape this penalty for committing sin? 07:32 You can do, 07:34 you can spend the rest of your life 07:36 doing good deeds, 07:38 giving money to the poor, feeding the hungry, 07:42 building houses for people that don't have homes, 07:45 the homeless. 07:47 Whatever good deed you could do could not change the fact 07:51 that you committed that one sin 07:53 because no amount of good things 07:55 cancel out the sin itself. 07:58 So this is why the next part of Romans Chapter 6 08:02 is of great importance as well. 08:05 Let's begin, Romans Chapter 6 in the first part, 08:08 and let's read the second part as well. 08:10 Romans 6:23, says, 08:14 "For the wages of sin is death, 08:17 but the gift of God is eternal life." 08:21 How do you get it? 08:23 "In Christ Jesus our Lord." 08:26 So this is the gift of God, eternal life. 08:30 So the only way to regain what was lost 08:34 is through Jesus Christ. 08:36 And see, Romans Chapter 5 reveals to us 08:41 the wonderful love of God. 08:43 Notice what Romans 5:8 says, 08:47 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 08:52 in that while we were still sinners, 08:56 Christ died for us." 08:59 Yes, while you were still a sinner, 09:02 Christ died for you. 09:04 This means that God has extended mercy to you. 09:08 Every single person in the world 09:11 has the opportunity to have salvation 09:14 through Jesus Christ. 09:15 No one in this world is born, to have to die for their sins. 09:22 Because Jesus Christ died to save the whole human race 09:27 from the first one till the last one 09:30 Jesus Christ died for their sins, 09:32 so that all could have the opportunity of eternal life 09:35 through Jesus Christ. 09:37 But what must you do? 09:38 How do you get this eternal life? 09:40 Please pay close attention 09:42 so that you may learn 09:43 what the Bible says concerning this. 09:46 Now, here are the facts. 09:47 The reality is 09:49 that without Jesus, you are completely lost. 09:52 And there's absolutely nothing you can do 09:55 without Jesus to save yourself. 09:57 Let's look at Isaiah 64:6. 10:01 In Isaiah 64:6, the Bible tells us these words, 10:08 "But we are all like an unclean thing. 10:14 And all our righteousness are like filthy rags. 10:19 We all fade as a leaf 10:21 and all our iniquities like the wind 10:24 have taken us away." 10:27 That is the condition of every single human being. 10:32 You see, even the very best you could possibly do 10:36 is not good enough to save you. 10:40 And all our righteousness, 10:42 the very best you can do are like filthy rags. 10:45 So in trying to explain the idea of filthy rags, 10:51 I've come to the conclusion that 10:54 this is the best way I can present it. 10:55 You see, in the time of Jesus, 10:58 there was a disease that was a dreaded disease. 11:01 It was highly contagious. 11:03 Anyone that would get it, 11:04 whether father, mother or children 11:06 had to be separated from their families. 11:08 And these people lived outside of the city in caves 11:11 away from all the rest of society. 11:14 Why? 11:15 Because even the very breath contaminated the air. 11:21 And so these people were separate, 11:22 even kings have to step down from the throne, 11:25 and go live in the wilderness, go live in caves. 11:29 And the people would wrap their hands 11:32 and their limbs 11:34 with clothing or rags, 11:40 so that they would try to keep their limbs together. 11:45 And people would even have these rags on their hand. 11:48 And only to discover that as they unwrapped, 11:52 the flesh was rotting, 11:53 a finger had fallen off or part of a finger. 11:56 And there was a lot of stench, it just smelled horrible 12:00 because of the blood and rotting flesh. 12:03 And you see, 12:04 this is the best description I can find 12:06 to tell you that all our righteousness, 12:08 the very best we can do are like filthy rags. 12:11 Perhaps in your mind, 12:13 you can, you know of another rag 12:15 that you can say, well, that's a filthy rag. 12:18 Some mechanics may be able to say, 12:19 "Well, that's a filthy rag," 12:21 because of all the grease and all the stuff 12:22 and the grime from the vehicles. 12:24 But all our righteousness, 12:26 the very best thing we can do are like filthy rags, 12:29 they cannot do anything to save us. 12:32 As a matter of fact, 12:34 I want to bring to you what Job 14:4 says. 12:39 Job 14:4 says, 12:42 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? 12:45 No one," 12:47 says the Bible, 12:48 "No one can bring a clean thing out of an unclean 12:51 and we are all unclean." 12:53 That's what we read in Isaiah 64:6, 12:57 "But we are all like an unclean thing." 13:01 So when we go to Isaiah 64:12, 13:05 in Isaiah 64:12, we have the following words. 13:10 In Isaiah 64:12, it says, 13:16 "I will declare your righteousness 13:20 and your worth, for they will not profit, " 13:25 I will declare your righteousness and your worth, 13:29 for they will not profit you. 13:32 And this is a message that we have in the Bible 13:37 concerning our righteousness. 13:39 Our righteousness cannot save us at all. 13:42 We need a savior, we need Jesus Christ. 13:48 Please consider Jeremiah 13:23. 13:53 In Jeremiah 13:23, 13:56 the Bible tells us that we cannot change ourselves. 14:02 Notice what it says in verse 23. 14:04 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin 14:07 or the leopard its spots, 14:10 then you may also do good 14:14 who are accustomed to do evil." 14:18 In other words, 14:19 the person that has not given his or her heart to the Lord 14:24 cannot change themselves, 14:26 or they may make some outward reforms 14:30 because they are losing respect. 14:35 People don't want to be around them. 14:36 They may make some behavioral changes, 14:38 but inside they are still evil and wicked. 14:42 The first opportunity to do wrong, 14:43 they will do wrong. 14:45 So the person that has not given 14:46 his or her heart to the Lord 14:48 cannot change at all. 14:51 So what can we do? 14:53 How can we change? 14:55 The solution, the answer is Jesus. 14:58 Notice what it says in Romans Chapter 3, 15:01 I'm gonna read verse beginning in verse 10. 15:05 Romans Chapter 3, actually, verse 10 and 11. 15:09 This is what the Bible says, 15:11 "As it is written, 15:12 there is none righteous, no, not one." 15:17 How many are righteous? 15:18 No, not one. 15:20 Verse 11, 15:21 "There's none who understand, 15:23 there's none who seeks after God." 15:27 You see, it's not that we search for God, 15:31 is that we respond to God drawing us. 15:35 And how is it that God draws us? 15:37 Does He force us? No. 15:39 He draws us with His love, He draws us with His mercy, 15:43 because it is by the grace of God 15:45 that we are saved. 15:46 And I want to ask you to consider 15:49 perhaps you have heard 15:51 of the parable of the lost sheep. 15:54 Jesus tells a parable about the lost sheep, 15:57 that a shepherd has 100 sheep, and he counts all the sheep. 16:03 And he knows them by name, 16:04 and he realizes he's missing one. 16:07 When he realizes he's missing one, 16:08 he leaves 99 safe, 16:11 and goes out to find that lost sheep. 16:14 This is a picture of what God does for us. 16:17 This is a picture of what Jesus came to do for us, 16:20 because the Bible says that God so loved the world, 16:23 that He gave His only begotten Son, 16:25 that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, 16:28 but have everlasting life. 16:30 And I want to point you to the Book of Ezekiel 16:34 that brings to us the message just as described. 16:39 Ezekiel 34:11-12. 16:41 Notice the words here. 16:44 "For thus says the Lord God: 16:46 'Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep 16:51 and seek them out. 16:53 As a shepherd seeks out his flock 16:55 on the day he is among his scattered sheep, 16:57 so will I seek out My sheep 17:00 and deliver them 17:02 from all the places where they have scattered, 17:05 where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day." 17:08 Yes, please understand that 17:12 Jesus has been searching for you, seeking for you. 17:15 And when I say "searching" 17:17 means that He's trying to get you to respond 17:20 to the offer of salvation. 17:24 Jesus has been in different ways 17:28 and in different situations, 17:31 through people, through circumstances, 17:32 trying to help you understand 17:35 that you are not happy with the way your life is. 17:39 He's trying to help you 17:40 see that without Him, there is no real happiness. 17:44 Without Jesus, there is no real peace. 17:46 Throughout your life, 17:48 He has been sending these messages, 17:50 bringing you these messages, 17:51 boarding people in your way 17:53 to help you understand, you are not happy, 17:56 unless you give your heart to Jesus. 17:59 So I want to encourage you to let Jesus find you. 18:03 Because when you let Jesus find you, 18:07 your joy and happiness will begin. 18:10 And it will continue to grow 18:12 as you get closer and closer to Jesus. 18:15 And I want to encourage you 18:16 to give your heart fully to Him. 18:18 Notice what the Bible says in the Book of Romans 2:4, 18:23 "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness 18:27 and forbearance and long suffering, 18:29 that is patience and mercy, 18:31 not knowing that the goodness of God 18:35 leads you to repentance?" 18:36 You see, God is the one that takes the first step, 18:41 and the next step, and the next step, 18:42 and the next step 18:43 to try to lead you to repentance. 18:45 Well, what is repentance? 18:46 Repentance is sorrow for sin, 18:50 and a desire to turn away from that sin 18:54 from doing that evil. 18:55 In other words, 18:57 you don't want to do that anymore, 18:58 you prefer to do what is good. 19:01 This is repentance. 19:02 And it is something 19:03 that God initiates in our hearts, 19:06 so that we can desire to do better, to speak better, 19:11 to treat others better, and to follow Him. 19:14 The goodness of God leads us to repentance. 19:17 God is the one 19:18 that has been leading you to repentance. 19:21 And I encourage you to take heed, 19:24 listen to Jesus. 19:26 Because you see, there is a warning 19:28 that I need to give you. 19:30 We already read one, "The wages of sin is death." 19:33 Notice what the Bible tells us in Romans Chapter 2. 19:36 I'm going to read verses 5 through 8. 19:38 Romans 2:5-8, 19:40 "But in accordance with your hardness 19:43 and your impenitent heart 19:45 you are treasuring up for yourself 19:47 wrath in the day of wrath 19:49 and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 19:54 who 'will render to each one according to his deeds': 19:59 eternal life 20:00 to those who by patient continuance in doing good 20:05 seek for glory, honor, and immortality, 20:09 but to those who are self-seeking 20:12 and who do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, 20:16 indignation and wrath." 20:18 That's what is waiting for those 20:20 that choose to follow a course of evil. 20:23 And remember, we read that the wages of sin is death. 20:28 But don't take that for yourself, 20:30 accept the second part, the gift of God is eternal life 20:34 through His Son, Jesus Christ. 20:36 And now, I invite you to go with me 20:39 to Ephesians Chapter 2. 20:42 Let's go to verse 8, 20:44 a very well known verse among Christians, 20:47 "For by grace, you are saved through faith, 20:51 and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." 20:58 Praise the Lord, that it is a gift. 21:00 If it would cost us any money, some of us could not pay it. 21:06 Because when you're talking about eternal life, 21:08 that has infinite value. 21:11 Eternal life cannot even be purchased 21:14 by the richest among us, 21:17 not even all the rich people in the world can get together 21:21 to buy eternal life. 21:23 It cannot be purchased. 21:25 It is a gift from God, 21:27 and all who are willing, 21:29 can receive eternal life, because it is a gift from God. 21:34 What will you do? 21:36 What will you do? 21:38 Will you realize that God loves you? 21:41 What will you do? 21:42 When will you take the decision? 21:44 Will you make the decision to give your heart to Jesus? 21:47 And I'm gonna talk now to some people 21:50 that are here listening, watching, 21:53 you were a Christian, 21:55 you read the Bible in the past, 21:56 you follow Jesus for a while, but something led you astray. 22:00 Maybe someone led you astray. 22:03 And by my voice, the Lord is telling you, 22:06 "Come back, come back." 22:09 Remember the joy you had in following Jesus. 22:13 And I encourage you to accept the love of the Lord, 22:18 to accept the forgiveness of the Lord, 22:20 to accept the mercy of the Lord. 22:23 And His mercy 22:24 is as high as the heaven is from the earth. 22:26 His mercy is as far as the east is from the west, 22:30 and He's extending that mercy to you today. 22:32 Come back to the Lord. 22:33 And if you never have given your heart to the Lord, 22:35 come to Jesus. 22:37 Discover the blessing of knowing Jesus, 22:40 the happiness of knowing Jesus, 22:42 and not only the happiness in this world, 22:44 but in the world to come. 22:46 When there will be no more pain nor suffering, 22:49 no sickness or death, 22:50 a world without suffering. 22:52 That is what God has for us, accept the gift of Jesus. 22:57 When you give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, 23:00 when you by faith say "Yes, I accept Jesus, " 23:04 the promises of God become yours. 23:07 And God will forgive you for your sins, 23:09 give you a brand new start, 23:11 the Bible says you become a new creation. 23:14 All of the things you have done in the past 23:19 is like beginning a new. 23:21 Nothing that you have done in the past 23:24 will matter to the Lord 23:25 because now you have become His son, His daughter, 23:28 give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. 23:31 But please understand, 23:33 the Lord doesn't save you 23:34 so that you can continue in sin. 23:36 Notice what the Bible says in Romans 6:4. 23:39 Romans 6:4, 23:41 "Therefore we were buried with Him 23:43 through baptism into death." 23:45 When you give your heart to the Lord 23:47 and you're baptized, 23:48 you are buried under the water. 23:51 And then you are brought back up 23:52 like you're coming from, you're arising from the dead, 23:57 you are being born again. 23:59 Reading again. 24:00 "Therefore we were buried with Him 24:02 through baptism into death, 24:03 that just as Christ was raised from the dead 24:07 by the glory of the Father, 24:08 even so, we also should walk in newness of life." 24:14 So when we are born again, 24:16 we must walk in newness of life. 24:20 A newness of life means that you're not going to work 24:24 according to what you used to do in the past. 24:26 You're not going to talk the way 24:28 you used to talk in the past 24:29 with all the bad language and cursing people 24:32 and condemning people. 24:34 God will be transforming you, changing you. 24:38 I want to read to you from a book called 24:40 Acts of the Apostles, 24:41 written by Ellen G. White, page 482. 24:44 Notice the words described here, 24:46 the experience of salvation. 24:48 "The work of gaining salvation is one of copartnership, 24:53 joint, a joint operation. 24:55 There is to be cooperation 24:57 between God and the repentant sinner. 25:00 This is necessary 25:01 for the formation of right principles 25:04 in the character. 25:06 Man is to make earnest efforts to overcome that 25:09 which hinders him and her from attaining to perfection. 25:14 But he is wholly dependent upon God for success." 25:19 Only through Jesus can we have success. 25:22 Notice how it continues, 25:23 "Human effort of itself is not sufficient. 25:28 Resistance of temptation must come from man, 25:32 who must draw his power from God." 25:36 See, because without Jesus, we can do nothing. 25:39 And it finishes by these words. 25:41 "On the one side there is infinite wisdom, 25:44 compassion, and power, 25:47 on the other, the side of evil, 25:50 weakness, sinfulness, absolute helplessness." 25:54 We are literally helpless without Jesus. 25:57 So I encourage you, let Jesus in, 26:01 so that He can give you victory and make you brand new. 26:08 I'm going to read to you from a book called Revelation. 26:12 And I'm going to Revelation Chapter 3. 26:15 And if you follow me along, we are going to read verse 5, 26:19 Revelation 3:5, 26:22 this is what the Bible says, notice, 26:25 "He who overcomes 26:27 shall be clothed in white garments. 26:31 And I will not blot out his name 26:34 from the Book of Life, 26:36 but I will confess his name before my Father, 26:41 and before His angels." 26:43 So what did we read here? 26:46 The person who overcomes 26:49 will be clothed in white garments. 26:51 What are white garments? 26:53 The white garments 26:54 are talking about the robe of righteousness, 26:57 a robe of holiness, 26:58 that God will give to all who come to Jesus, 27:02 just as they are. 27:04 But it says here, 27:06 he who overcomes will be given this. 27:08 So we must cooperate with the Lord Jesus, 27:12 to receive this white garment. 27:15 What happens if you don't? 27:17 What happens if you don't cooperate? 27:18 What happens if you don't overcome? 27:20 Well, the opposite of this is true. 27:22 Notice again, 27:23 "He who overcomes 27:25 shall be clothed in white garments." 27:26 What happens if you don't overcome? 27:27 He who does not overcome 27:29 will not be clothed in white garments. 27:31 And what will happen? 27:33 The one who overcomes according to this, 27:36 his name will not be blotted out 27:38 of the Book of Life. 27:39 What happens to the one that does not overcome? 27:42 His name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. 27:45 So I encourage you, 27:46 allow Jesus to give you victory, 27:49 because it is through Jesus, 27:51 that we can be victorious 27:52 and cooperating with Jesus, we cannot fail. 27:57 Because with Jesus, all things are possible. 28:01 Praise the Lord. 28:02 In Hebrews 2:14. 28:04 Hebrews 2:14, the Bible tells us, 28:08 "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, 28:12 without which no one will see the Lord." 28:15 So we need to pursue peace with all people. 28:18 Now, some people will not want peace. 28:21 So we must walk away. 28:23 And it says here 28:24 "Pursue holiness, 28:26 and without holiness, we will not see the Lord." 28:29 So how do we do this? 28:31 By coming to Jesus, 28:33 by allowing Him to transform us, 28:36 and our part is to trust in Him, 28:39 depend on Him to give us the power. 28:42 This is why Paul was able to say, 28:44 "I can do all things through Christ 28:46 who strengthens me." 28:48 We can do all things through Christ. 28:50 Now please understand 28:52 that when we come to Christ, He wants to change us. 28:57 Without Christ, we cannot be changed. 28:59 So I want to encourage you, daily give your heart to Jesus, 29:05 daily say to Jesus, come in, 29:07 take complete control, lead my life. 29:10 As we cooperate with Jesus, 29:13 we will see that we will have the peace 29:15 that passes all understanding. 29:19 Let's go now to Hebrews 5:9. 29:23 Hebrews 5:9. 29:25 In Hebrews 5:9, we have this message, 29:29 "And having been perfected, 29:31 he became the author of eternal salvation 29:34 to all who obey Him." 29:37 This is talking about Jesus. 29:39 Having been perfected, 29:40 He became the author of eternal salvation 29:42 to all who obey Him. 29:44 You see, those that choose to obey. 29:46 Those who choose to cooperate with Jesus 29:49 are the ones that are going to have salvation. 29:53 Because if you choose not to cooperate with Jesus, 29:55 that means you want to continue doing 29:57 whatever evil you desire to do. 30:00 Those who choose to cooperate with Jesus 30:03 are the ones that have victory 30:04 because He will give us power to overcome. 30:09 And the Bible says in 1 John 2:1, it says, 30:14 "My little children, these things write I unto you, 30:18 that ye sin not." 30:19 And if any man sin, 30:21 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, 30:25 the righteous. 30:27 1 John 2:1. 30:29 This means that if we happen to fail, 30:32 we have an advocate, 30:35 we have a Savior, Jesus Christ in the holy place, 30:39 most holy place in heaven. 30:41 He, through His blood 30:43 will give us forgiveness for our sins. 30:46 So what must we do? 30:51 We must open the heart to Jesus, 30:53 so that He can change us. 30:54 And this can only happen if we allow Jesus in. 30:58 I'm reading to you now from Colossians 1:27. 31:02 In Colossians 1:27, 31:04 the Bible tells us the following. 31:08 "To them, God willed to make known 31:11 what are the riches of the glory 31:14 of this mystery among the Gentiles, 31:16 which is Christ in you the hope of glory." 31:21 You see, without Christ in you, there is no hope of glory. 31:24 So to have hope of glory, we must let Jesus in. 31:29 And when you let Jesus in, you have all power from heaven. 31:34 Notice what it says in Hebrews 4:14-15. 31:39 Hebrews 4:14-15. 31:42 "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, 31:46 who has passed through the heavens, 31:48 Jesus, the Son of God, 31:50 let us hold fast our confession, 31:54 for we did not have a high priest 31:55 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 31:58 but was in all points tempted, as we are yet without sin." 32:04 Now I encourage you to consider Jesus, 32:07 consider Jesus, He came to this world, 32:11 lived 33 and a half years, lived a perfect life, 32:16 a life without sin. 32:18 That's what He's talking about here. 32:19 He was tempted in all points, like as we are, 32:22 yet without sin. 32:23 And because He lived without sin, 32:26 this life, He puts for our record. 32:31 In other words, He takes away our sinful life, 32:36 and gives us His life of holiness and perfection. 32:40 This is the robe of righteousness 32:42 that Jesus wants to give you. 32:44 This is what Jesus offers you, 32:46 His robe of righteousness takes away your sin. 32:51 This is what John said, in John 1:29. 32:55 "Behold, the Lamb of God 32:57 that takes away the sin of the world." 32:59 And if you allow Him, He will take away all your sin, 33:03 not only will He take away your sin, 33:04 but He will take away that desire to sin." 33:08 Praise God. God is so good. 33:11 So we must consider Jesus lived a perfect life. 33:17 So that it that can be on your account. 33:20 Let's go to the Book of 1 Peter 2:22. 33:26 Notice what it says here, something similar. 33:28 1 Peter 2:22. 33:31 Speaking about Jesus, it says, 33:33 "Who committed no sin, 33:35 nor was deceit found in His mouth." 33:40 So let's back up a little bit. 33:43 The Bible tells us in Genesis Chapter 6, 33:48 that God was able to look upon the earth, 33:50 and saw that the thoughts and intents of people's hearts 33:53 was only evil continually. 33:55 When Jesus was upon the earth, living as a man, 33:58 God could take a look at Jesus, 34:00 and see that the thoughts and intents of His heart 34:03 was only good continually and continued living that way, 34:08 lived a perfect life, 34:09 so that He could die as a perfect sacrifice for us, 34:13 so that that perfect sacrifice can count in our behalf. 34:18 And we could be forgiven. 34:19 Not only that, 34:21 give us the opportunity 34:22 to become sons and daughters of God. 34:26 Praise the Lord. 34:29 I'm going to read to you from Matthew Chapter 17. 34:33 In Matthew Chapter 17, 34:35 and we're talking about 34:36 the white robe of righteousness of Jesus, 34:40 and for a moment, 34:42 for a moment 34:43 there was kind of a glimpse of that 34:45 in Matthew 17:1-2. 34:47 Notice what it says there 34:49 because this is what the people call, 34:50 "the Mount of Transfiguration." 34:52 It says here, 34:53 "Now after six days 34:55 Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, 34:58 led them up on a high mountain by themselves," 35:01 and it says, 35:02 "and He was transfigured before them. 35:05 His face shone like the sun, 35:07 and His clothes became as white as the light." 35:12 In other words, pure. 35:14 In another part of the gospels, it says, that, it says, 35:20 "As no fuller on earth can lighten 35:23 his clothing was so white and bright, 35:25 because it had no spots of sin upon it." 35:29 And that spotless robe of righteousness 35:33 is what Jesus wants to give you. 35:36 Will you accept it? Will you take it? 35:39 Jesus wants to give you this robe. 35:42 Notice what it says in Revelation 3:14-18. 35:47 Revelation 3:14-18. 35:50 There is described, 35:51 even people that are said to be lukewarm. 35:56 And I'm gonna read Revelation 3:14-18. 36:01 Here, this is what the Bible says, notice, 36:05 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 36:09 'These things says the Amen, 36:11 the Faithful and True Witness, 36:13 the Beginning of the creation of God: 36:16 'I know your works, 36:17 that you are neither cold nor hot. 36:19 I could wish you were cold or hot. 36:22 So then, because you are lukewarm, 36:24 and neither cold nor hot, 36:26 I will vomit you out of My mouth. 36:28 Because you say, 36:29 'I am rich, have become wealthy, 36:32 and have need of nothing,' 36:33 and do not know that you are wretched, 36:36 miserable, poor, blind, and naked." 36:39 And that's the way we are. 36:41 When we consider our righteousness, 36:44 we are poor, miserable, blind and naked. 36:48 All our righteousness are as filthy rags. 36:50 These people considered lukewarm, 36:53 they said they felt they had no need, 36:56 no need of anything, 36:57 they felt they had all they needed. 37:00 And they were lacking Jesus in their lives. 37:03 And this is what the Bible says in verse 18, 37:07 "I counsel you 37:09 to buy from me gold refined in the fire, 37:14 that you may be clothed, 37:15 that the shame of your nakedness 37:16 may not be revealed, 37:18 and anoint your eyes with eye salve 37:20 that you may see." 37:23 I'm gonna read verse 19 as well. 37:25 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, 37:28 therefore be zealous and repent." 37:32 So I encourage you to consider the words of Jesus. 37:36 If your condition is like this, 37:39 you feel like you don't need anything. 37:40 You feel like you don't need Jesus, 37:42 you are completely wrong and you do need Jesus. 37:45 Every one of us needs Jesus Christ. 37:49 If you have riches, and you don't have Jesus, 37:54 you have nothing, 37:56 because riches can end in a matter of moments. 37:59 This has happened to people, 38:01 they have become bankrupt in seconds, 38:04 and they have nothing. 38:06 Some of them commit suicide as a result of this. 38:09 But when you have Jesus, you have everything. 38:13 Because when you have Jesus, 38:14 you become a co-inheritor with Jesus. 38:21 You can become a child of God, a son and a daughter of God, 38:25 and you are counted as part of the family of God. 38:30 And you will have riches beyond your imagination. 38:34 And this is what we want to focus on now. 38:37 This verse made reference to gold tried in the fire. 38:40 What is that gold tried in the fire? 38:42 Why does Jesus counsel us to get gold tried in the fire? 38:45 It's not talking about physical gold, 38:48 it's talking about faith. 38:50 This is what He's talking about here. 38:52 Gold tried in the fire is faith. 38:55 Faith that is tried and comes out untarnished, 38:59 gold tried in the fire, white raiment, 39:01 the white raiment is a symbol of righteousness. 39:04 This is what the Bible describes to us 39:06 in the Book of Revelation 19:8. 39:09 Chapter 19, verse 8. 39:10 Revelation 19:8, says, 39:12 "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, 39:16 clean and bright, 39:17 for the fine linen 39:18 is the righteous acts of the saints." 39:22 You see this fine linen, this righteousness, 39:25 remember that Jesus says, Buy of me, what? 39:29 White raiment. 39:31 To buy of Jesus? 39:33 Can you afford to buy of Jesus? 39:36 And you say, "Well, I have nothing." 39:38 I have good news for you. 39:39 When Jesus says buy of me, white raiment, 39:43 He offers it to you 39:44 at a price that you can afford, 39:46 because it is free. 39:48 You see, by grace are we saved through faith 39:51 and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. 39:53 In the same way, 39:55 the white robe of righteousness is free. 39:58 Praise the Lord. 40:00 Notice, this is described in these words in Isaiah 55:1, 40:06 Ho, it says there 40:08 "Everyone who thirst come to the waters, 40:11 and you who have no money come buy and eat." 40:16 Yes, come buy wine and milk 40:18 without money and without price. 40:19 In the same way, God says to you, 40:22 take the white robe of righteousness, 40:25 it is offered to you freely 40:27 without money and without price, 40:30 in the sense to you 40:31 is without money, without price, it is free, 40:33 but it cost an infinite price to Jesus, 40:37 it cost the very life of Jesus. 40:40 So even though it is offered to you freely, 40:45 it costs an infinite price. 40:47 So it is of infinite value. 40:48 I'm reading to you from a book called Gospel Workers, 40:51 page 161. 40:53 Notice what the Bible says here, 40:55 what it says here in this book, Gospel Workers. 40:58 "The thought 40:59 that the righteousness of Christ 41:01 is imputed to us 41:03 not because of any merit on our part, 41:05 but as a free gift from God is a precious thought. 41:09 The enemy of God and man is not willing, 41:12 that this truth should be made, 41:14 should be clearly presented, 41:15 for he knows that if the people receive it fully, 41:19 his power will be broken. 41:22 If he can control minds, 41:25 so that doubt and unbelief and darkness 41:27 shall compose the experience of those 41:30 who claim to be the children of God, 41:32 he can overcome them with temptation." 41:36 The simple faith which takes God at His word 41:40 should be encouraged. 41:41 And I want to encourage you to take God at His word, 41:45 the spotless white robe of righteousness of Jesus, 41:51 He offers to you. 41:54 It is free. 41:56 You can have that robe 41:57 and have eternal life through Jesus Christ. 42:01 It is offered to you free. 42:04 And I am going to read to you from a book, 42:10 Christ Object Lessons 42:12 that says this. 42:14 "This robe, woven in the loom of heaven 42:18 has in it not one thread," 42:21 how many threads did I say? 42:23 "Not one thread of human devising. 42:26 Christ in His humanity 42:27 wrought out a perfect character, 42:30 and this character He offers to impart to us, 42:34 all our righteousness are as filthy rags," 42:37 Isaiah 64:6. 42:39 "Everything that we of ourselves can do 42:41 is defiled by sin, 42:43 but the Son of God was manifested 42:45 to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin." 42:49 Praise the Lord. 42:52 Now as I read this to you, 42:54 I want to define a word 42:56 because we read that 42:58 the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. 43:00 This is not a word we use every day "imputed." 43:03 What does it really mean? 43:05 In Merriam Webster, 43:06 it means to credit 43:08 or ascribe to a person or cause. 43:10 In other words, 43:13 consider your account your record of sin 43:18 and the righteousness of Christ, 43:20 it is credited to you 43:22 and all your sins are wiped out and forgiven, 43:25 and you are credited 43:27 with the righteousness of Christ. 43:28 This is what it means to have 43:29 the righteousness of Christ imputed to you. 43:32 You are given this freely. 43:36 Praise the Lord for that. 43:37 Romans 5:17. 43:40 Romans 5:17. 43:41 Notice how it talks 43:43 about the righteousness of Christ here. 43:45 "For if by the one man's offense death 43:47 reigned through the one, 43:49 much more those who receive abundance of grace 43:54 and of the gift of righteousness 43:56 will reign in life through the One, 43:59 Jesus Christ. 44:00 The righteousness of Jesus Christ is free, 44:04 and He offers it to you." 44:07 Take the righteousness of Christ, 44:08 accept Jesus Christ into your heart, 44:11 that you may live 44:12 and enjoy the blessings of salvation through Jesus. 44:17 You know, I heard of a story 44:21 presented by Pastor Alejandro Bullon 44:23 that I'd like to share with you. 44:25 And in this story, Pastor Alejandro Bullon, 44:28 who had a television program in Brazil, 44:30 he was written a letter. 44:31 And in this letter, a man said, 44:34 "I would like to meet with you. 44:37 Please accept my invitation to dinner." 44:40 So Pastor Alejandro Bullon accepted his invitation. 44:43 The man said he watched the programs 44:45 and he was very interested in talking to him 44:47 about the things talking to him. 44:50 So Pastor Bullon arrives at this restaurant. 44:53 It was a very expensive restaurant. 44:56 This man was rich. 44:58 And he sat the opposite of Pastor Alejandro Bullon, 45:02 he's an evangelist, 45:03 Seventh-day Adventist evangelist. 45:05 And he said to him, 45:06 "You know, I watch your program, 45:07 you seem so sincere, so honest, 45:10 and you seem to have something I don't have." 45:13 He says, 45:14 "I want to know how I can get it. 45:16 But I do have some ground rules. 45:20 I don't want you to talk to me about Jesus. 45:23 I don't want you to talk to me about the Bible. 45:25 Just tell me how you got that which I don't have. 45:28 You see, I'm a rich man. 45:31 I can buy anything I want. 45:33 Anything I desire in this world I could have. 45:37 But I don't have what you have. 45:40 There seems to be peace in your heart. 45:41 And I don't have that. 45:43 Tell me how I can get this." 45:45 Pastor Alejandro Bullon answered wisely. 45:48 He says, 45:50 "Look, I can talk to you about the stocks and bonds. 45:55 I can talk to you about sports. 45:58 But none of these things are going to give you 46:01 what you are missing. 46:03 These really are of no value, to reach what you want, 46:07 the peace in your heart. 46:09 If you really want that peace, 46:11 I have to talk to you about Jesus." 46:15 And you see, 46:17 I don't know how your life is right now. 46:20 If you're feeling empty, depressed, unhappy, 46:24 I want to tell you, 46:26 that happiness and peace is found in Jesus. 46:30 And right now, 46:32 Jesus is opening a door so that you can come in. 46:35 You see, Jesus offers you complete peace and happiness, 46:39 forgiveness of your sins. 46:40 You see, in 2 Corinthians 5:21, 46:44 the Bible tells us something remarkable. 46:47 It says this, 46:50 "For He made Him who knew no sin, 46:55 to be sin for us." 46:57 Who is this? 46:59 God made Jesus to be sin for us. 47:02 Jesus on the cross took our sins upon Him. 47:07 He took our sins so that He could die for them 47:09 so that you don't have to. 47:12 And He offers you righteousness, His holiness, 47:16 He offers it so that you can have a right 47:20 to enter into heaven, 47:21 unafraid, with confidence, 47:25 knowing that you will be accepted, 47:26 knowing that you are part of the family. 47:28 And no one can say to you, "You don't belong here." 47:33 Why? 47:34 Because when you are forgiven, you are completely forgiven. 47:37 In this world 47:39 it could be that if you went to prison for something 47:41 that will follow you, 47:42 the record will follow you wherever you go. 47:44 Now there are public records on the internet, 47:46 and people can find out things about your past, 47:48 whether you were a person that did not pay child support, 47:51 whether you committed some crimes, 47:53 these things can be found out. 47:55 But you see, 47:57 God wants to wipe away all of your record, 48:00 all of your past 48:01 and bless you with forgiveness, 48:03 so that none of this will be mentioned unto you, 48:06 and you can have the righteousness of Christ. 48:09 Notice how I finish this. 48:10 I'm gonna read 2 Corinthians 5:21, 48:13 and finish reading the last part, 48:14 "For He made Him who knew no sin 48:16 to be sin for us, 48:17 that we might become 48:20 the righteousness of God in Him." 48:25 You see, God wants to completely transform you. 48:28 God wants you to be completely clean, 48:31 completely spotless, 48:33 and this can only be found in Jesus Christ. 48:37 Will you accept the gift of salvation, 48:40 the gift of righteousness of Jesus Christ? 48:43 And when you began this journey, 48:46 you cooperate with Him, 48:47 so that you can be transformed into His likeness, 48:50 so that you here on earth can begin to live in 48:54 what heaven will be like. 48:57 While you consider these things, 48:59 I want to invite our Brother Tim Parton, 49:02 to join us and to sing a beautiful hymn. 49:06 Please consider the words 49:07 as you consider also the message you have heard. 49:19 All I once held dear, 49:23 Built my life upon 49:27 All this world reveres, 49:32 And wars to own 49:37 All I once thought gain 49:41 I have counted loss 49:45 Spent and worthless now, 49:50 Compared to this 49:55 Knowing You, Jesus 50:02 Knowing You 50:05 There is no 50:08 Greater thing 50:12 You're my all, You're the best 50:16 You're my joy, my righteousness 50:21 And I love You, Lord 50:31 Now my heart's desire 50:35 Is to know You more 50:39 To be found in You 50:44 And known as Yours 50:49 To possess by faith 50:52 What I could not earn 50:56 All-surpassing gift 51:01 Of righteousness 51:06 Knowing You, Jesus 51:12 Knowing You 51:15 There is no 51:18 Greater thing 51:23 You're my all, You're the best 51:27 You're my joy, my righteousness 51:31 You're my all, You're the best 51:35 You're my joy, my righteousness 51:40 And I love You, Lord 51:50 I love You, Lord 52:06 Amen and amen. 52:09 I encourage you, 52:11 that this may be the song in your heart 52:13 that Jesus will be your righteousness. 52:18 You see, the door of mercy is still open today. 52:22 And right now you can accept the gift of Jesus. 52:28 If you have been living your life 52:29 as though you were trying to earn salvation. 52:33 Give that idea up 52:36 and allow Jesus to save you by His grace through faith. 52:42 I'm reading to you 52:43 from the Book of Revelation 22:14, 52:49 it says, 52:50 "Blessed are those that do His commandments, 52:54 that they may have a right to the tree of life 52:57 and may enter in 52:58 through the gates into the city." 53:00 They do His commandments because Jesus has sent them. 53:03 Remember, 53:05 we must cooperate with Jesus. 53:07 And as we cooperate with Jesus, 53:09 this can be a reality in our lives. 53:13 I want to read now Revelation 22:14, 53:17 because I said 53:18 the door of mercy is still open today. 53:20 But someday, that door will be closed. 53:25 And Revelation 22:11, these words will be pronounced. 53:30 "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still, 53:35 he who is filthy, let him be filthy still, 53:40 He who is righteous, let him be righteous still, 53:44 he who is holy, let him be holy still." 53:49 You see, the only way you can escape being unjust, 53:55 escape being unrighteous 53:57 is by giving your heart to Jesus Christ. 54:00 The only way you can be righteous, 54:01 the only way you can be holy 54:03 is if Jesus lives in your heart. 54:08 So when these words are pronounced, 54:11 if Jesus is in your heart, 54:13 you will be righteous still, you'll be holy still, 54:16 and you will walk with Jesus. 54:20 I want to encourage you to join me in prayer. 54:24 As we ask the Lord to make a change in our lives, 54:28 as we ask the Lord to forgive us for our sins. 54:33 As a matter of fact, I'm gonna kneel right now. 54:35 And if you can kneel with me. 54:37 Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 54:44 Our loving Heavenly Father, 54:46 we come to You once again in Jesus' name. 54:50 And, Lord, we pray, we ask 54:53 that Your promise will be fulfilled 54:54 in 1 John 1:9, 54:57 that if we confess our sins, 55:00 You are faithful 55:01 and just to forgive us for our sins, 55:05 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 55:08 Oh, Lord, there are people all over this world 55:11 that are taking advantage of this opportunity. 55:15 And they're presenting their sins before You. 55:18 And, Lord, if they are inspired to continue praying, 55:21 even after I say, "Amen," 55:23 continue to be with them. 55:25 And Heavenly Father, 55:27 we pray for that to be fulfilled 55:28 in a reality in the lives 55:30 of all who have taken this opportunity. 55:33 Forgive sins, take away iniquity, 55:37 and give us a brand new start. 55:40 We ask You for these blessings, 55:41 in the holy and blessed name of Jesus. 55:44 Amen, and amen. 55:47 I'm gonna read one final scripture 55:51 that is found in John 1:11, 12, 13. 55:57 Notice what the Bible says, 55:59 "He came to His own, 56:02 and His own did not receive him. 56:04 But as many as received Him, 56:08 to them gave He the right to become children of God, 56:13 to those who believe in His name." 56:15 And before I continue, 56:17 some people are worried 56:19 that the Lord is not going to receive them. 56:21 But here it says, 56:22 "As many as received Him, " 56:24 Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart 56:25 so that you may receive Him. 56:29 And if you come to Him, He will receive you. 56:32 Notice how it ends, 56:34 "Who were born not of blood, 56:38 nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 56:41 but of God." 56:44 I encourage you to do this. 56:46 If you give your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, 56:49 you will be received, you will be forgiven. 56:52 And I encourage you to do so even after we end this program. 56:56 Talk to the Lord from your heart. 56:58 Talk to Him as a friend. 57:00 If you have given your heart to the Lord, 57:03 and you want to share that testimony with us, 57:06 we encourage you to write at mail@3abn.org. 57:11 We want to encourage you to follow Jesus 57:14 with all your heart. 57:16 He wants your complete heart, not part of it. 57:18 Give Him all your heart, 57:20 so that He can make you all new. 57:23 Thank you for joining us. 57:24 God bless you until next time. |
Revised 2021-03-12