Welcome to 3ABN's Fall Camp Meeting 00:00:24.80\00:00:27.83 Homecoming 2009. Featuring inspired messages 00:00:27.83\00:00:33.80 from your 3ABN family, along with uplifting Christian music 00:00:33.80\00:00:41.36 all to prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord. 00:00:41.36\00:00:45.13 I'm so excited about, it's what we're gonna hear tonight 00:00:45.13\00:00:48.76 because we are going to be listening to our pastor, 00:00:48.76\00:00:51.30 Pastor John Lomacang, a name we get to hear 00:00:51.83\00:00:54.93 quite often who not only is pastor of the 00:00:54.93\00:00:57.73 Thompsonville Seventh-Day Adventist church 00:00:57.73\00:00:59.80 but he is worldwide ambassador for Three Angels 00:01:00.06\00:01:04.83 Broadcasting Network. He has been to such places 00:01:04.83\00:01:08.10 as the Philippines in the last year 00:01:08.10\00:01:10.76 and Australia and all over. I'll tell you it's just a 00:01:10.76\00:01:17.63 tremendous asset to have John and Angie 00:01:17.63\00:01:21.16 as a part of this ministry 00:01:21.16\00:01:22.76 we love them, and John not only is a 00:01:22.76\00:01:25.80 fantastic preacher, but he is a fantastic singer. 00:01:25.80\00:01:29.16 And I'll tell you that we're gonna enjoy 00:01:29.96\00:01:32.93 hearing him sing tonight as well at the close 00:01:32.93\00:01:35.33 of his sermon, but before John comes 00:01:35.33\00:01:38.20 and brings us this message, we are going to hear 00:01:38.20\00:01:41.60 from Emily Felts Jones and she is going to be 00:01:41.60\00:01:45.10 singing. He Cries. 00:01:45.10\00:01:47.43 You know we often only think of Jesus is a baby 00:01:48.60\00:01:51.60 at Christmas time, but his birth should be spoken 00:01:51.60\00:01:56.23 of and sung about all year. 00:01:56.23\00:01:58.36 For, he was our savior and redeemer even then, 00:02:00.16\00:02:03.23 and I've often thought that when the baby Jesus cried 00:02:04.60\00:02:08.60 he wasn't crying for his own needs as other 00:02:08.60\00:02:11.46 babies do. He was crying for a lost and dying world. 00:02:11.46\00:02:15.90 And his Heavenly Father watched in enjoy and 00:02:16.50\00:02:19.56 unspeakable sadness because he knew 00:02:19.56\00:02:22.70 his son was born to die. And as he lay cradled 00:02:22.70\00:02:27.40 in his mother's arms he thought of us, 00:02:27.40\00:02:30.30 each one of us And he cried. 00:02:31.10\00:02:34.93 Star light, star bright, star shining in the night. 00:02:49.10\00:02:56.36 Angels we, voices see and prays of baby he, 00:02:56.36\00:03:03.53 but that little baby just won't talk to see it, 00:03:03.53\00:03:09.40 'coz he can't start counting sheep, tonight. 00:03:10.53\00:03:16.40 He cries, for the children who will never know his name. 00:03:18.03\00:03:25.03 He cries for the dying soul who didn't know he came. 00:03:25.03\00:03:31.93 And he cries for his mother as she holds his 00:03:31.93\00:03:37.63 tiny hand and his Father understands and He cries. 00:03:37.63\00:03:47.20 Hohoooo... Hmmmm... 00:03:51.23\00:03:58.93 Divine, sweet son, loves them for the design, 00:03:58.93\00:04:05.73 sacred one that have called the baby of God is born. 00:04:05.73\00:04:12.80 But, that little baby just who won't close his eyes. 00:04:13.66\00:04:19.20 He can't hear those love of bytes tonight. 00:04:20.30\00:04:26.40 'Coz he cries for the children who will never know his name, 00:04:27.43\00:04:34.93 he cries for the dying soul who didn't know he came 00:04:34.93\00:04:42.20 and he cries for his mother while she holds his tiny hand, 00:04:42.20\00:04:49.36 and his Father understands and He cries. 00:04:49.36\00:04:56.60 Heavens heart is breaking with every falling tear 00:04:59.40\00:05:05.36 and the sun goes around the universe 00:05:05.36\00:05:09.63 and all creation he is for when he cries 00:05:09.63\00:05:14.93 for the children who will never know his name, 00:05:14.93\00:05:19.46 he cries for the dying soul who didn't know he came 00:05:19.46\00:05:26.76 and he cries for his mother while she holds his tiny hand 00:05:26.76\00:05:34.10 and his Father understands and He cries. 00:05:34.10\00:05:41.43 Yes, His father understands and He cries. Ohoo, Hmmm. 00:05:43.13\00:06:05.93 Can we say Amen again? Amen. I really, really appreciate 00:06:16.53\00:06:20.96 Emily Felts Jones style of singing different. 00:06:20.96\00:06:24.73 You can't find that everywhere. 00:06:24.73\00:06:26.63 Because she doesn't just sing, she interprets 00:06:27.10\00:06:29.53 whatever she sings. Thank you again for that 00:06:29.53\00:06:33.43 message. Tonight is a beautiful evening 00:06:33.43\00:06:37.80 it's the Sabbath. The Lord has promised that 00:06:37.80\00:06:41.13 whenever we get together for the Sabbath and 00:06:41.13\00:06:43.80 anytime we gather, where two or more are there, 00:06:43.80\00:06:47.13 the Lord is in our presence and tonight 00:06:47.73\00:06:50.36 as we go to the Lord before we open his word. 00:06:51.06\00:06:53.30 I always like to ask for divine direction and divine 00:06:53.30\00:06:58.40 guidance. For I've been around long enough to 00:06:58.40\00:07:01.66 know that I don't have anything to say 00:07:01.66\00:07:03.50 outside of Jesus. And so tonight 00:07:03.50\00:07:06.10 I would like to invite you to bow your heads 00:07:06.10\00:07:07.90 with me as I ask for the Lord to turn the power on. 00:07:07.90\00:07:11.90 Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you 00:07:13.23\00:07:15.96 are able to form clay into a living being. 00:07:16.70\00:07:21.53 You are able to breath life into a vessel 00:07:23.06\00:07:26.66 that knows no such thing. Lord, this evening as I 00:07:27.70\00:07:32.66 submit myself to you, I pray that your spirit 00:07:32.66\00:07:35.26 will speak to me and through me. 00:07:35.26\00:07:38.76 That you may be glorified, in Jesus name I pray. Amen. 00:07:38.76\00:07:43.06 The message is entitled By Night. 00:07:44.00\00:07:46.40 What did I say? By Night. Good message to preach at night. 00:07:46.73\00:07:51.33 But it has a far more reaching application than 00:07:52.93\00:07:57.06 just the hour of the day. More specifically the hour 00:07:57.06\00:08:00.90 of earth's history. We are living in one of the 00:08:00.90\00:08:02.90 darkest times in our earth's history, I believe that. 00:08:02.90\00:08:05.63 And so we are going to begin with one of my 00:08:06.90\00:08:08.80 favorite books. The Book of John, 00:08:08.80\00:08:10.90 I'd like you to open your Bibles 00:08:12.53\00:08:14.00 if you have it with you tonight, 00:08:14.00\00:08:15.40 if you don't then share with your neighbor. 00:08:15.40\00:08:18.23 Because really it's God's word. 00:08:20.56\00:08:22.50 John's book, I did some research on the book 00:08:22.50\00:08:25.16 of John. I always like to know something about 00:08:25.16\00:08:26.90 the Bible writers. If you look at the 00:08:26.90\00:08:30.10 writer John, John is not only the one 00:08:30.10\00:08:32.26 that the Bible says whom Jesus loved. 00:08:32.26\00:08:34.33 But John was one of those disciples that 00:08:35.20\00:08:38.16 wanted to make it abundantly clear 00:08:38.16\00:08:40.06 about the divinity of Jesus. John is like the second 00:08:41.03\00:08:46.53 book of Genesis, as a matter of fact John 00:08:46.53\00:08:49.56 goes farther back then Genesis. Genesis says 00:08:49.56\00:08:52.23 in the beginning God created the heavens 00:08:52.23\00:08:54.26 and the earth. But John says in the beginning 00:08:54.26\00:08:57.10 was the word. Long before the world was 00:08:57.10\00:09:00.93 created, John says the word was there, 00:09:00.93\00:09:03.26 can you say Amen to that? Amen. And if there is going to 00:09:03.26\00:09:06.23 be any life in our beginnings, we need 00:09:06.23\00:09:08.36 to find Jesus there. John is one of those 00:09:08.36\00:09:11.96 Gospel writers that focuses on the perfect side of 00:09:11.96\00:09:16.20 Jesus. Now that seems to be a oxymoron because 00:09:16.20\00:09:18.53 there is nothing about Jesus that's not perfect. 00:09:18.53\00:09:20.43 But, he only talks about 7 miracles of Jesus. 00:09:21.76\00:09:25.03 And only 7 I am statements about Jesus. 00:09:25.40\00:09:29.23 But, he also points out that if there is going to be any 00:09:30.06\00:09:32.93 power in following Jesus. We've got to begin by 00:09:32.93\00:09:36.36 concluding that Jesus is divine. 00:09:36.36\00:09:39.90 That's a message that's being lost even in the 00:09:41.00\00:09:43.30 churches today. Jesus' divinity is under question 00:09:43.30\00:09:46.40 whether or not he is God or whether or not he can 00:09:46.40\00:09:48.73 create, that message is the message being questioned 00:09:48.73\00:09:52.36 today even in our churches. 00:09:52.36\00:09:54.86 So, in the beginning was the word, 00:09:55.93\00:09:57.43 we can begin there and so the anxious bystander 00:09:57.43\00:10:01.20 with John says John, if you can see what's happening 00:10:01.20\00:10:03.40 tell us what the future holds? And all you got to do 00:10:03.40\00:10:08.70 is listen to the news. There are a lot of people 00:10:08.70\00:10:10.16 that live in Thompsonville, that don't have televisions, 00:10:10.16\00:10:12.80 well I'm not one of them. I like to know what's 00:10:13.40\00:10:16.33 happening in the world around me to get ready 00:10:16.33\00:10:18.16 for the things that are coming, what do you say? 00:10:18.16\00:10:19.93 Now not to get enamored by the two, but to know 00:10:20.73\00:10:23.10 that what Jesus has said is going to take place as 00:10:23.10\00:10:27.26 he said it is. News agencies are closing 00:10:27.26\00:10:31.56 their doors, for the first time some on, 00:10:31.56\00:10:33.60 more than a 100 years are publishing their last 00:10:33.90\00:10:36.86 newspapers or their last magazines. 00:10:36.86\00:10:39.46 Real estate is on the landslide, car manufacturers 00:10:40.30\00:10:43.23 on the brink of bankruptcy. Banks are on the verge of 00:10:43.23\00:10:47.60 either collapse or merging to sustain themselves. 00:10:47.60\00:10:50.56 Insurance companies are on the threshold of failure 00:10:51.53\00:10:54.36 and no wonder when you think of all the disasters 00:10:54.36\00:10:56.63 in our world. How could they possibly 00:10:56.63\00:10:59.10 sustain all the natural disasters taking 00:10:59.10\00:11:02.16 place around us. But, it's an indication 00:11:02.16\00:11:04.63 that Jesus is soon to come, can you say, Amen. 00:11:04.63\00:11:07.06 He said you will hear wars and rumors of wars. 00:11:07.50\00:11:10.36 You don't need wars to bankrupt our country, 00:11:11.86\00:11:14.93 all you need is one more disaster on the heels 00:11:14.93\00:11:17.26 of another and right now even in the state of 00:11:17.26\00:11:19.86 Georgia. They are trying find an answer to their flood 00:11:19.86\00:11:22.20 in the major cities. In California, when one 00:11:22.90\00:11:25.50 fire ends, another begins. The only problem we 00:11:25.50\00:11:29.33 have here in Southern Illinois is bugs. 00:11:29.33\00:11:32.06 That's somewhat of a natural disaster, if you live here. 00:11:33.53\00:11:36.80 We fight that all the hours of the day. 00:11:38.10\00:11:40.26 Can you say, Amen if you're from Southern Illinois? 00:11:40.26\00:11:42.60 But, the world is on the border of financial 00:11:43.56\00:11:46.86 meltdown and when you listen the Dow 00:11:46.86\00:11:49.10 ends up one day, down the other. 00:11:49.10\00:11:51.46 And the fact of the matter is not even the White 00:11:51.46\00:11:54.10 House has an answer for the crisis on the financial 00:11:54.10\00:11:57.73 front of our world. And the Pope does his best 00:11:57.73\00:12:02.50 to try to find an answer. But, I would suggest 00:12:03.56\00:12:06.13 even the Pope needs Jesus. What do you say? 00:12:06.13\00:12:08.16 Amen! The world is on the 00:12:08.16\00:12:11.53 verge of one of the darkest hours. 00:12:11.53\00:12:13.63 Lights are going out on the job market. 00:12:14.10\00:12:16.13 Hope is growing dim on the real estate 00:12:16.83\00:12:18.63 market, faith is growing dark on the 00:12:18.63\00:12:21.56 stock market and we are quickly being 00:12:21.56\00:12:23.90 polarized into two groups. Those who have and 00:12:23.90\00:12:27.20 those who don't have. Those who are employed 00:12:27.20\00:12:30.36 and those who are not employed. 00:12:30.36\00:12:32.36 That's why if you work here at 3ABN you've 00:12:32.36\00:12:34.86 got to know that God is down here. 00:12:34.86\00:12:36.73 You missed the chance to say, Amen. 00:12:38.06\00:12:39.66 We are not rich, but we are sustained by 00:12:41.63\00:12:44.33 the grace and provision of Jesus. What do you say? 00:12:44.33\00:12:46.60 I mean how else can you explain that no one 00:12:47.16\00:12:49.00 had to be laid off and fired to sustain this economic 00:12:49.00\00:12:52.23 hit, it is only by God's grace, our bread and our water 00:12:52.23\00:12:56.06 shall be sure and by the way when the time of 00:12:56.06\00:12:58.93 trouble comes that's all you're gonna need, Amen. 00:12:58.93\00:13:00.80 But, God is sustaining this ministry, 00:13:01.83\00:13:03.36 God is sustaining his people and we've 00:13:03.36\00:13:05.36 got to see as John saw that the only hope 00:13:05.36\00:13:07.73 we have is in the divine one and his name is Jesus. 00:13:07.73\00:13:12.13 By the way there are only two groups that really 00:13:13.16\00:13:14.93 matter, those who know Jesus and those who 00:13:14.93\00:13:17.60 do not know Jesus. And you've got to 00:13:17.60\00:13:20.93 decide, which group is going to be your group 00:13:20.93\00:13:23.00 because there are only two seats at the 00:13:23.00\00:13:24.66 end of this journey. You've heard me say 00:13:24.66\00:13:25.83 this before, one seat is smoking, 00:13:25.83\00:13:28.26 one seat is non-smoking. I'll plan on being in the 00:13:28.26\00:13:31.66 non-smoking seat. What do you say? 00:13:31.66\00:13:33.50 Amen. When it comes to eternal life everything 00:13:34.30\00:13:38.60 natural falls short of acquiring it. 00:13:38.60\00:13:41.16 And by the way if eternal life were acquired by 00:13:42.00\00:13:43.86 money, wealth would be the aim 00:13:43.86\00:13:45.50 or by education or by degrees. 00:13:45.50\00:13:49.40 We would see colleges, but we need to see 00:13:50.16\00:13:52.10 Jesus because our colleges need Jesus. 00:13:52.10\00:13:55.00 Amen! Whether they're Adventists or 00:13:55.00\00:13:57.60 not they need Jesus. Can you say, Amen. 00:13:57.60\00:13:59.50 We are living at an hour where wealth and possessions 00:14:00.76\00:14:03.00 are becoming feudal at their best. 00:14:03.00\00:14:05.56 On the passing of some of the greatest names 00:14:05.56\00:14:07.73 that we know in our secular society. 00:14:07.73\00:14:09.76 Michael Jackson, they put a crown 00:14:10.63\00:14:16.10 on his coffin, not to be insensitive, 00:14:16.10\00:14:18.40 but I am looking forward to the day and I hope 00:14:19.56\00:14:22.26 that when Jesus comes he can put a crown on 00:14:22.26\00:14:24.60 Michael Jackson's head. I'm praying for that one, 00:14:24.60\00:14:28.06 because it's hard to live a life, 00:14:28.83\00:14:30.46 that does not exalt Jesus, and be coined another 00:14:31.50\00:14:35.16 king. There are so many kings on the earth. 00:14:35.16\00:14:36.73 But, there is only king that really matters. 00:14:36.73\00:14:38.50 What do you say? Amen! That's King Jesus. 00:14:38.50\00:14:40.76 So, you cannot determine who is king outside of 00:14:40.76\00:14:43.50 Jesus. John makes it very, very clear that the only 00:14:43.50\00:14:47.00 two categories that really matter are those 00:14:47.00\00:14:50.30 who are locked in sin or those who are 00:14:50.30\00:14:52.26 locked in Jesus. For the wages of 00:14:52.26\00:14:54.16 sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Amen! 00:14:54.16\00:14:57.80 And, I was raised in a family by the way that 00:14:58.43\00:15:00.20 really enjoyed flashlights. My father would walk 00:15:00.40\00:15:02.63 around the house during the day with a flashlight. 00:15:02.63\00:15:04.70 And even to this very day when I travel I carry 00:15:07.50\00:15:09.50 flashlights, I lost one in England because 00:15:09.50\00:15:11.50 I carried three, couldn't keep track of them all. 00:15:11.50\00:15:14.00 But, he taught me never to get caught on 00:15:15.83\00:15:17.36 the dark without a flashlight. I have one 00:15:17.36\00:15:19.80 in my bag in the back, if it gets dark I'll go get 00:15:19.80\00:15:21.80 my flashlight. Brethren, what I have 00:15:21.80\00:15:24.70 also discovered is that light is best appreciated 00:15:24.70\00:15:28.76 when our circumstances are the darkest. 00:15:29.00\00:15:31.76 What we need in these last days is to do what 00:15:32.90\00:15:35.50 Nicodemus did at the darkest hour of his life. 00:15:35.50\00:15:40.06 Nicodemus found Jesus. John chapter 3 in verse 1 00:15:40.43\00:15:44.33 made it very clear, how feudal personal 00:15:44.33\00:15:46.66 achievements and position and fame and fortune are, 00:15:46.66\00:15:49.86 because the only goal is really Jesus. 00:15:51.20\00:15:53.76 The Bible says there was a man of the 00:15:54.83\00:15:56.43 Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 00:15:56.43\00:16:00.83 And I could spend the rest of the night carrying 00:16:01.36\00:16:03.40 on taking about rulers. When you talk about 00:16:03.40\00:16:07.06 rulers you have a problem at the very beginning. 00:16:07.06\00:16:09.66 And so I won't even give any any attention to the rulers, 00:16:11.70\00:16:13.76 but Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin 00:16:13.76\00:16:16.96 National Council. He feared coming to 00:16:16.96\00:16:19.60 Jesus by day and so the Bible said that Nicodemus 00:16:19.60\00:16:22.70 came to Jesus by night. You may fault him 00:16:22.70\00:16:26.56 for that, but I say this it's better to come to 00:16:26.56\00:16:29.00 Jesus by night, then not come at all. 00:16:29.00\00:16:30.70 Can you say Amen? Amen! 00:16:30.70\00:16:32.50 Choose your hour of the day, but come to Jesus 00:16:34.73\00:16:37.70 whatever hour that maybe. Nicodemus came to Jesus 00:16:37.70\00:16:41.86 by night and I've also discovered that there are 00:16:41.86\00:16:43.70 certain things that we should not attempt 00:16:43.70\00:16:45.80 to do at night. Number of years ago 00:16:45.80\00:16:48.50 I was in North Carolina, driving around 00:16:48.50\00:16:50.30 one of the army bases I don't mention, 00:16:50.30\00:16:52.13 which one it is, but I turn my headlights off 00:16:52.13\00:16:54.80 just to experiment. In a matter of few seconds, 00:16:54.80\00:16:59.33 I was surrounded by MP police. 00:16:59.33\00:17:01.60 And with their guns drawn they locked me in on both 00:17:03.13\00:17:06.50 ends just like that. And they said to me 00:17:06.50\00:17:10.40 what's wrong with you. And I said I'm just 00:17:10.40\00:17:12.16 experimenting. Brethren, it's not 00:17:12.16\00:17:16.50 good to turn your lights off at night to experiment. 00:17:16.50\00:17:19.20 What do you say? It's not safe to drive at 00:17:19.20\00:17:22.20 night with your headlights off. 00:17:22.20\00:17:24.00 Because the road that was safe with your lights on 00:17:24.50\00:17:27.20 is now impossible to follow. The landmarks are 00:17:27.20\00:17:31.80 no longer distinct. And the signs are not as 00:17:31.80\00:17:34.76 clear as they are when the lights are on. 00:17:34.76\00:17:36.90 And Ellen White tells us in Medical Ministry page 87 00:17:37.80\00:17:41.40 that scientific theories are coming in as a 00:17:41.40\00:17:45.00 thief in the night. Stealing away the landmarks 00:17:45.00\00:17:48.66 and undermining the pillars of our faith. 00:17:48.66\00:17:50.40 We've got to be careful what we allow to 00:17:50.80\00:17:53.33 come into our church. Can you say Amen? 00:17:53.33\00:17:55.13 Amen! We've got to be careful 00:17:55.13\00:17:56.76 what we allow to come in to our schools. 00:17:56.76\00:17:58.93 Because people are turning their lights off and 00:18:00.06\00:18:01.93 all they are saying is we're experimenting. 00:18:01.93\00:18:04.26 And you know somebody is driving with their 00:18:05.50\00:18:07.06 lights off when they think that the Sabbath is 00:18:07.06\00:18:08.73 no longer relevant to Jesus. Somebody is driving with 00:18:08.73\00:18:12.20 their lights off when they think that the 00:18:12.20\00:18:13.66 answer to lethargy is a change in our worship style. 00:18:13.66\00:18:16.86 The answer is only Jesus. What do you say? 00:18:16.86\00:18:18.83 Amen! Somebody's got their 00:18:18.83\00:18:21.06 headlights off when they think they are throwing out 00:18:21.06\00:18:22.80 the writings of Ellen White are necessary. 00:18:22.80\00:18:25.43 I could have said my favorite writer or the 00:18:26.43\00:18:28.50 prophetic inspiration, but I wanted to be clear. 00:18:28.50\00:18:31.43 Somebody say Amen. Amen! 00:18:32.70\00:18:34.60 We often put her on the side you know my 00:18:34.60\00:18:36.80 favorite writer. Who is that? 00:18:36.80\00:18:38.83 That could be Shakespeare. One of my favorite 00:18:39.10\00:18:43.33 writers outside of the Bible is Ellen White. 00:18:43.33\00:18:45.53 What do you say? Amen! If you wanted to know what's 00:18:45.53\00:18:47.93 gonna be in the newspaper tomorrow open up the 00:18:47.93\00:18:49.86 great controversy. Amen! People have thrown them in 00:18:49.86\00:18:53.36 the garbage you better find that where they are 00:18:53.36\00:18:55.23 throwing it and go get it to read it. Amen! 00:18:55.23\00:18:57.10 Because there is nobody who has been inspired 00:18:57.60\00:19:00.13 and filled by God's spirit like that third grade 00:19:00.40\00:19:05.10 educated lady by the name of Ellen White. 00:19:05.10\00:19:08.16 And some people say that she only had a third 00:19:09.53\00:19:11.93 grade education. She did not understand 00:19:11.93\00:19:13.76 Greek and Hebrew. God understands 00:19:13.76\00:19:15.33 Greek and Hebrew. That's all that matters. 00:19:15.33\00:19:17.60 Can you say Amen? Amen! 00:19:17.60\00:19:18.80 Somebody once came to me said well now I don't wanna 00:19:18.80\00:19:20.86 get you to so discouraged that you may leave the 00:19:20.86\00:19:23.16 church. I said there is nothing you can tell me to 00:19:23.16\00:19:25.20 get me to leave the church and so they sat me down 00:19:25.20\00:19:27.60 and gave me pages and pages of what they thought 00:19:27.60\00:19:30.50 were apparent contradictions by Ellen White. 00:19:32.23\00:19:34.86 And they hit me with one that I had known about 00:19:35.83\00:19:37.50 before, but I tell you what, whenever you need help 00:19:37.50\00:19:40.10 call on Jesus. Amen! And so being raised in 00:19:40.10\00:19:43.76 New York City, I was once a target of the shepherd's rod, 00:19:43.76\00:19:46.70 which drove me back to studying what Ellen White had 00:19:47.10\00:19:49.46 said and so when they came to me with that 00:19:49.46\00:19:52.00 I call it ecclesiastical foolishness. 00:19:52.73\00:19:56.20 They thought I was not prepared, so I said well 00:19:57.43\00:19:59.33 tell me what you have to say about Ellen White. 00:19:59.33\00:20:00.80 They said well, Ellen White did not like bicycles. 00:20:00.80\00:20:02.86 I said no she liked bicycles. 00:20:02.86\00:20:04.63 She just told a man who was wasting money on a bike. 00:20:05.06\00:20:07.53 That, that was not God's will. Amen. Amen! 00:20:08.23\00:20:10.70 Well, Ellen White did not, she contradicted the Bible. 00:20:10.70\00:20:13.60 The Bible says the fig tree, she says the sycamore tree. 00:20:13.60\00:20:16.23 Well the Greek word is Ficus Sycomorus they are 00:20:16.93\00:20:18.90 both right. Can you say, Amen? We got to get back to the 00:20:18.90\00:20:25.66 place where we treasure, what makes us a 00:20:25.66\00:20:27.76 distinct people. Amen! 00:20:27.76\00:20:29.80 Reading everybody else' books because it is 00:20:30.36\00:20:32.56 on the New York Times best sellers list. 00:20:32.56\00:20:34.63 Well if it's not on God's list it doesn't 00:20:35.26\00:20:37.20 belong in our list. Getting back to the 00:20:37.20\00:20:40.03 landmarks that God has given to us, but some 00:20:40.03\00:20:42.40 people say that, you know I'm riding on the road 00:20:42.40\00:20:45.23 and even though my headlights are off. 00:20:45.23\00:20:47.10 It feels like the same road. Well Brethren, whether 00:20:47.10\00:20:50.70 you know it or not. The feeling maybe the same 00:20:50.70\00:20:53.03 but the circumstances make your traveling deceptive, 00:20:53.03\00:20:55.60 because if you don't have any lights on you cannot 00:20:55.60\00:20:57.70 see and feeling is not reliable. 00:20:57.70\00:21:00.06 Because it feels better does not mean it's better. 00:21:01.10\00:21:03.23 Because it feels right does not mean it's right. 00:21:03.23\00:21:05.66 Because it feels good does not mean it's good. 00:21:05.66\00:21:08.60 Because it feels safe does not mean it's safe. 00:21:08.60\00:21:13.43 As a matter of fact it's neither the road nor the 00:21:14.16\00:21:17.13 vehicle, it's the driver that's why we need to say like 00:21:17.13\00:21:21.10 that song writer Jesus, take the wheel. 00:21:21.10\00:21:24.10 You didn't hear that song. That's alright, if you didn't 00:21:25.80\00:21:28.80 hear it that's okay. As long as you know Jesus. 00:21:28.80\00:21:31.13 There is a fourth thing that we ought not try to 00:21:32.66\00:21:34.80 do at night time. You see when you drive 00:21:34.80\00:21:37.63 with your lights off you may cross the line 00:21:37.63\00:21:40.36 and not know it. When preachers are and 00:21:40.36\00:21:45.36 leaders are turning off the light, they are crossing 00:21:45.36\00:21:48.30 the line and they don't even know it. 00:21:48.30\00:21:50.50 And I hate to say it, but some of our schools 00:21:51.36\00:21:53.10 are turning off the light, crossing the line and not 00:21:53.10\00:21:56.43 even knowing it. But, let me just say this 00:21:56.43\00:21:58.70 very clearly, if Motel 6 is committed 00:21:58.70\00:22:01.80 to keep the light on, we ought to be committed 00:22:02.40\00:22:04.43 to the same thing. What do you say? 00:22:04.43\00:22:05.93 Amen! They're just giving you a bed 00:22:05.93\00:22:08.16 for the night, Jesus is getting us a kingdom 00:22:08.16\00:22:10.10 for eternity, what do you say? Amen! 00:22:10.10\00:22:11.80 Keep the light on. So, Nicodemus had everything 00:22:12.06\00:22:16.96 except common sense. He came to Jesus, 00:22:17.70\00:22:20.76 he had wealth, he had position, 00:22:20.76\00:22:22.80 he had influence, he had power, 00:22:22.80\00:22:24.60 he had education. He was a man who was 00:22:24.60\00:22:27.63 influential and his voice had power in every circle, 00:22:27.63\00:22:30.73 but Nicodemus did not have courage because 00:22:30.73\00:22:33.30 he cared about what people thought rather than 00:22:33.50\00:22:36.13 what Jesus thought. Look at verse 2. 00:22:36.13\00:22:40.50 This is amazing insight to me and I prayed 00:22:41.80\00:22:43.63 about this verse. Nicodemus said to him Rabbi, we know 00:22:43.63\00:22:46.70 that you are a teacher come from God. 00:22:46.70\00:22:49.30 For no one can do these things that you do 00:22:49.80\00:22:51.70 unless God is with you. Now that may sound 00:22:51.70\00:22:56.33 like a complement, but Nicodemus actually 00:22:56.33\00:22:58.83 insulted Jesus. He called him a teacher 00:22:58.83\00:23:02.26 from God, he lowered Jesus from the son of God 00:23:02.26\00:23:05.63 to a teacher from God. Now, Brethren there is a 00:23:05.63\00:23:09.36 difference between a teacher from God and the Son of God. 00:23:09.36\00:23:11.73 Let me just say what the difference is, 00:23:11.73\00:23:13.43 when you begin to teach evolution you are lowering 00:23:14.60\00:23:17.50 Jesus to just a teacher from God. 00:23:17.50\00:23:20.20 When you teach that the literal seven day week 00:23:21.03\00:23:24.53 did not occur, then Jesus is no longer the creator. 00:23:24.53\00:23:29.30 He is just a teacher from God, we've got 00:23:29.30\00:23:31.16 to pray that we get back to the creation message. 00:23:31.16\00:23:34.13 What do you say? Amen! 00:23:34.13\00:23:35.73 Without the creation message, we have no Sabbath. 00:23:35.73\00:23:38.06 That's why Satan is experimenting in our schools 00:23:38.40\00:23:40.53 to try to get people to. Say, well it was not really 00:23:40.53\00:23:42.76 seven days. Some people say it was 7000 years. 00:23:42.76\00:23:45.73 Brethren, a thousand years I'm so glad that 24 hours 00:23:45.96\00:23:49.00 is not a seven thousand year period. 00:23:49.00\00:23:50.83 Can you say Amen? Amen! 00:23:50.83\00:23:52.36 The word is and the evening and the morning were 00:23:52.36\00:23:55.23 the first day, not just the day. 00:23:55.23\00:23:57.60 I would like to see a plant that could last for 00:23:58.36\00:23:59.90 3500 years with no life. That's the reason why 00:23:59.90\00:24:06.76 our churches are dying. And people losing their way 00:24:06.76\00:24:09.83 instead of holding Jesus up we are keeping Jesus down. 00:24:10.20\00:24:14.03 Notice what John says in John 12 in verse 32. 00:24:14.03\00:24:17.33 Jesus says if I be lifted up, I will draw all 00:24:17.63\00:24:22.13 men unto myself. People are bringing Jesus 00:24:22.13\00:24:25.06 down instead of lifting him up. 00:24:25.06\00:24:26.83 We've got to lift Jesus up. What do you say? 00:24:26.83\00:24:29.10 Amen! Because it doesn't matter 00:24:29.10\00:24:30.70 what you believe because Nicodemus had all the 00:24:30.70\00:24:32.83 right habits. We would otherwise says about him 00:24:32.83\00:24:35.86 Nicodemus studied the prophecies 00:24:35.86\00:24:37.80 about the Messiah. Nicodemus was in the crowd 00:24:37.80\00:24:42.10 when John the Baptist introduced Jesus. 00:24:42.10\00:24:44.46 Being in the crowd is not enough, understanding 00:24:44.80\00:24:49.56 the prophecies are not enough. 00:24:49.56\00:24:51.40 Nicodemus kept track of Jesus for three years. 00:24:51.86\00:24:54.90 Nicodemus was impressed by the teachings and the 00:24:55.20\00:24:57.83 authority of Jesus. Nicodemus heard the 00:24:57.83\00:25:01.10 people discussing the divinity of Jesus. 00:25:01.10\00:25:04.86 But, let me say this having the facts about Jesus 00:25:05.20\00:25:07.70 is not conversion. We got lot of facts about 00:25:07.70\00:25:12.40 Jesus, but some of us still need to be converted 00:25:12.40\00:25:14.40 come on and say Amen? Amen! 00:25:14.40\00:25:16.33 When you come to church on Sabbath morning and 00:25:16.86\00:25:18.33 one beat each other up, you need to be converted. 00:25:18.33\00:25:20.50 You think that down hill, we don't have our wars. 00:25:21.80\00:25:23.76 We have our wars. The devil camps out in 00:25:23.76\00:25:27.40 Southern Illinois and why not? Because the world 00:25:27.40\00:25:31.33 is effected by what happens down here. 00:25:31.33\00:25:33.00 Wouldn't you camp down here if you were the devil? 00:25:33.00\00:25:35.26 Don't say Amen!. Nicodemus had all the 00:25:36.00\00:25:42.30 facts about Jesus and by the way a good Bible 00:25:42.30\00:25:45.00 study habit is not conversion. 00:25:45.00\00:25:46.80 Hanging out with religious people is not conversion. 00:25:47.20\00:25:49.46 Keeping track of Jesus in not conversion, being 00:25:49.70\00:25:52.03 impressed by Jesus is not conversion. 00:25:52.03\00:25:54.46 Knowing that Jesus is divine is not even conversion. 00:25:54.46\00:25:58.60 The new birth experience calls us to abandon 00:25:59.83\00:26:02.16 who we are and accept who Jesus is. Amen! 00:26:02.16\00:26:05.10 I remember when I was in the New York City. 00:26:05.60\00:26:06.63 I tried to find a church that will allow me to be 00:26:06.63\00:26:08.63 a disc jockey and still be saved. 00:26:08.63\00:26:10.93 Pastor Seay could tell you about that. 00:26:12.13\00:26:13.70 I'd wake up when he preached on Sabbath 00:26:14.90\00:26:16.60 mornings in our youth church their in Brooklyn, New York. 00:26:16.60\00:26:19.16 Came to church and almost broke my neck nodding 00:26:19.93\00:26:22.53 through the sermon. Now I get on peoples 00:26:22.53\00:26:24.23 case for nodding during my sermons. 00:26:24.23\00:26:26.03 I need to give you a break because I don't know 00:26:27.63\00:26:29.10 where you are with Jesus. 00:26:29.10\00:26:30.30 But, I would say that I would rather you nod in 00:26:33.03\00:26:35.00 church then stay awake out of church. 00:26:35.00\00:26:37.60 Amen! Because one day through the 00:26:37.60\00:26:39.86 preaching of Elder E. T. Mims the Lord broke through. 00:26:39.86\00:26:42.60 I could have said Pastor Seay there but it was through Elder 00:26:42.60\00:26:45.60 E. T. Mims when he discontinued our 00:26:45.60\00:26:47.96 youth church, remember that? Made us all come down 00:26:47.96\00:26:50.73 stairs in the church together, large 1200 member 00:26:50.73\00:26:53.00 church coming there Sabbath after Sabbath 00:26:53.00\00:26:55.36 because my girlfriend, who is now my wife 00:26:55.36\00:26:57.60 and by the way, who is still my girlfriend. 00:26:57.83\00:26:59.30 Can you say Amen? Amen! 00:26:59.30\00:27:01.30 Kept bringing me to church every Sabbath 00:27:01.30\00:27:04.30 I just got home from partying. 00:27:04.30\00:27:06.20 And she would come and throw pebbles at my window 00:27:08.16\00:27:10.30 to wake me up and go get my clothes ready as my 00:27:10.30\00:27:13.23 dad made me go take a shower and she sure 00:27:13.23\00:27:15.03 I was in church every Sabbath because I was 00:27:15.03\00:27:17.03 living by night and she was trying to lead me 00:27:17.03\00:27:19.50 back to the day, would to God that we had the same 00:27:19.50\00:27:22.26 passion to reach people for Jesus. 00:27:22.26\00:27:24.16 Amen! Some of the young people 00:27:24.16\00:27:25.76 say there is nobody in the church to marry 00:27:25.76\00:27:27.20 Well you are not looking long enough. 00:27:27.20\00:27:28.90 You got to look a little more, if not in your church, go 00:27:30.73\00:27:32.80 to another Adventist church, exhaust all the 00:27:32.80\00:27:36.10 Adventist churches before you got on the world. 00:27:36.10\00:27:37.90 Amen somebody? Amen! 00:27:37.90\00:27:39.66 You know, we look at some people in church look like 00:27:39.66\00:27:42.06 you know some of the young girls say, Well he 00:27:42.06\00:27:43.76 don't look like marrying material. 00:27:43.76\00:27:45.93 Give him sometime, I didn't look like marrying 00:27:46.46\00:27:48.23 material either. My wife tells me now, she 00:27:48.23\00:27:51.30 says when we were dating you used to wear same 00:27:51.30\00:27:53.13 thing for three days. I say, well I have changed now 00:27:53.13\00:27:57.53 can you say Amen. I don't wear the same thing 00:27:57.53\00:28:01.50 and I look at, I've looked back at some of those 00:28:01.50\00:28:03.40 pictures in the 70s, you know what I am 00:28:03.40\00:28:04.80 talking about. When we did not know a thing 00:28:04.80\00:28:06.90 about matching clothes, we were plaid with stripes 00:28:06.90\00:28:11.53 and I remember one day driving to somebody's house 00:28:11.53\00:28:14.23 in Southern California I had on stripe, 00:28:14.23\00:28:16.53 I had on plaid shorts and stripe socks and they 00:28:16.53\00:28:20.30 looked at me says, what's your problem. 00:28:20.30\00:28:22.13 It's amazing what the Lord can do when he comes 00:28:23.70\00:28:25.43 into your life. Amen. You can even look different. 00:28:25.43\00:28:28.46 What a change can be made in our lives. 00:28:30.56\00:28:32.80 Knowing all the facts about Jesus is not all that 00:28:32.80\00:28:35.10 it takes to become a Christian. 00:28:35.10\00:28:37.60 When we are born again we've got to 00:28:38.66\00:28:40.00 accept the truth about ourselves. 00:28:40.00\00:28:41.53 Let's look at the truth about ourselves. 00:28:41.53\00:28:42.86 Go with me to Jeremiah chapter 17, let's see the 00:28:42.86\00:28:45.46 truth about ourselves tonight. 00:28:45.46\00:28:47.30 I like God's word, it's very clear, but I tell you what? 00:28:47.66\00:28:50.56 When the doctor gives you a diagnosis it better be 00:28:50.56\00:28:53.00 clear, so that the medicine really makes a difference. 00:28:53.00\00:28:58.30 Jesus gives us a spiritual diagnosis, in this text 00:28:58.73\00:29:02.10 sometimes it is difficult for us, when I first saw 00:29:02.10\00:29:05.03 the text I didn't think it was true about me. 00:29:05.03\00:29:06.73 Because you know sometimes we look at what Jesus 00:29:06.73\00:29:09.46 says about us and we look at people around us 00:29:09.46\00:29:11.60 rather than look at ourselves. 00:29:11.60\00:29:13.03 But, notice what the Bible says about the true 00:29:13.70\00:29:15.70 condition of those who are not yet born 00:29:15.70\00:29:19.26 again and I must say that this is sometimes 00:29:19.26\00:29:22.76 still true even after you are born again because 00:29:22.76\00:29:25.03 you still don't know your heart. 00:29:25.03\00:29:26.26 Notice what the Bible says Jeremiah 17 verse 9, 00:29:26.96\00:29:29.06 the Bible says the heart is what brethren, 00:29:29.06\00:29:31.60 deceitful above all things and desperately wicked 00:29:32.20\00:29:36.50 who can know it? We had a church member one 00:29:36.50\00:29:39.73 Sabbath came to church with a baseball bat. 00:29:39.73\00:29:42.76 New convert that needed to be converted. 00:29:44.20\00:29:47.96 Came to church with a baseball bat to beat 00:29:49.73\00:29:51.43 up one of the Deacons. Big Deacon. 00:29:51.43\00:29:55.56 I want to make the picture really clear, it was a, well 00:29:56.23\00:29:59.86 let me just be very kind, it was a deacon 00:29:59.86\00:30:02.36 and a lady, now let me to say this, women may not 00:30:02.36\00:30:06.66 say whole a lot, but they mean what they say. 00:30:06.66\00:30:08.80 And she came to church and I am glad that 00:30:09.86\00:30:11.96 she had the decency to notify the pastor 00:30:11.96\00:30:14.00 before she attacked the deacon. 00:30:14.00\00:30:15.43 Showed me her small Louisville slugger 00:30:16.00\00:30:18.33 and she said pastor I'm gonna beat up the deacon 00:30:18.33\00:30:20.60 and we got and surrounded that deacon 00:30:20.80\00:30:23.00 that deacon was about 240 pounds, but he needed 00:30:23.00\00:30:25.40 protection, some people come to church 00:30:25.40\00:30:28.20 on Sabbath morning, they maybe in the right building, 00:30:28.20\00:30:31.00 but they are not in the right frame of mind. 00:30:31.00\00:30:32.83 And the reason is because the heart is deceitful above 00:30:33.70\00:30:36.76 all things and desperately wicked. 00:30:36.76\00:30:39.10 And sometimes even in church while you're praying 00:30:39.10\00:30:41.16 your mind is somewhere else. Amen. 00:30:41.16\00:30:43.10 Notice the difference when Jesus comes into your life, 00:30:44.03\00:30:46.40 Ezekiel chapter 36, go there with me, 00:30:46.40\00:30:48.43 verse 26 and verse 27. Lord makes it very clear 00:30:48.43\00:30:53.30 and I do believe that when you have Jesus in your life 00:30:53.30\00:30:57.03 there should be a difference between who you were 00:30:57.03\00:30:59.26 and who you are? 00:30:59.26\00:31:00.23 and I do believe that Jesus can give you victory over 00:31:06.80\00:31:09.46 anything. Even cigarettes. 00:31:09.46\00:31:13.10 Can I say Amen! Even cigarettes. 00:31:14.33\00:31:18.60 My mother when she got converted 00:31:18.60\00:31:20.46 you some of you read the story. 00:31:20.46\00:31:21.80 My mother was a three pack a day cigarette smoker. 00:31:21.80\00:31:26.26 When I met her, she was about 94 pounds dripping wet, 00:31:27.13\00:31:30.93 out of her mind, did not know which way was up. 00:31:30.93\00:31:37.10 you could see confusion in her face. I kept writing 00:31:38.33\00:31:42.60 to her to say, mom you need to give your life to Jesus. 00:31:42.60\00:31:44.43 Mom you need to turn your life over to Lord. 00:31:44.43\00:31:45.86 Mom, go to a church and have somebody pray for you 00:31:45.86\00:31:48.66 to you be delivered and one day she took me seriously and 00:31:48.66\00:31:50.76 found a pastor down there in the Virgin Islands 00:31:50.76\00:31:53.00 and went to ask him to pray for her to be delivered 00:31:53.00\00:31:55.80 and I do believe that when you reach out in faith 00:31:55.80\00:31:57.96 God honors true faith. Amen! 00:31:57.96\00:31:59.63 They got together that afternoon 00:32:00.40\00:32:02.33 and by the way I want to say this, it doesn't 00:32:02.33\00:32:04.10 have to be an Adventist pastor if they know Jesus 00:32:04.10\00:32:06.33 they can pray for deliverance too. Amen! 00:32:06.33\00:32:07.93 This pastor got together with her 00:32:10.00\00:32:11.80 wasn't an Adventist pastor and he prayed for her to be 00:32:11.80\00:32:15.33 delivered and I got a call from my mother one day 00:32:15.33\00:32:17.90 her voice sounded light. I said Mom, 00:32:17.90\00:32:22.23 are you okay? She said well I just got 00:32:22.23\00:32:24.03 some good news to tell you. I haven't smoked in the last 00:32:24.03\00:32:25.93 three months. Amen! The Lord delivered her from alcohol 00:32:25.93\00:32:30.23 and cigarettes at the same moment 00:32:30.23\00:32:32.50 and for the rest of her life, didn't need a patch, 00:32:32.50\00:32:37.66 didn't need to wean her way off her alcohol and 00:32:39.56\00:32:41.66 cigarettes. Jesus still has the power to deliver. Amen! 00:32:41.66\00:32:44.76 He says in Ezekiel, I will give you a new heart 00:32:44.96\00:32:49.43 chapter 36 in verse 26. I will give you what kind 00:32:49.43\00:32:52.10 of a heart? A new heart and put a what 00:32:52.10\00:32:55.10 new spirit within you. I will take the heart 00:32:55.10\00:32:58.50 of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 00:32:58.50\00:33:02.10 I will put my spirit within you and cause you 00:33:03.70\00:33:07.96 to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments 00:33:07.96\00:33:12.76 and do them. And by the way 00:33:12.76\00:33:14.10 you can't even keep the commandments of God 00:33:14.10\00:33:16.80 without the Holy Spirit. 00:33:16.80\00:33:18.26 And you know you can even eat right without the Holy Spirit. 00:33:19.46\00:33:21.93 Now, get what I'm saying you may eat right, 00:33:21.93\00:33:25.60 but ain't right while you're eating. 00:33:25.60\00:33:27.56 You didn't get that. 00:33:29.60\00:33:30.63 Nicodemus had a pig free diet. He wouldn't even 00:33:31.96\00:33:37.36 catch the swine flu, he stayed so far from pigs. 00:33:37.36\00:33:40.16 But his heart wasn't right and the Lord is concerned 00:33:41.13\00:33:43.70 about our diet. Praise God for the health message. 00:33:43.70\00:33:46.36 Widely important message, you got to be healthy 00:33:46.36\00:33:48.30 to carry the Gospel, but if that's all you have 00:33:48.30\00:33:51.46 you need somebody else in that equation. 00:33:51.46\00:33:54.10 You need Jesus. 00:33:54.10\00:33:55.06 The Lord says, I will put, I will give you the strength 00:33:56.50\00:33:59.30 to walk in my statues. When I met my mother 00:33:59.30\00:34:02.60 she called me one day and she says, Oh! By the way 00:34:02.60\00:34:04.60 I am not only not smoking, but I found a new love. 00:34:04.60\00:34:07.43 I like to eat. 00:34:07.43\00:34:08.40 She was 55 or 57 years old and she said now, 00:34:11.46\00:34:15.20 I hope you don't mind when you met me 00:34:15.20\00:34:16.50 I was a size zero, I am a size 10 now, 00:34:16.50\00:34:18.63 is that okay. If the Lord has to add some weight to you 00:34:18.63\00:34:22.90 to save you, that's okay. Amen! 00:34:22.90\00:34:26.46 And don't get so enamored by your shape. 00:34:26.93\00:34:28.80 You're gonna look different when you get to heaven 00:34:28.80\00:34:30.30 anyway. Can you say Amen. Amen! 00:34:30.30\00:34:31.53 Somebody trying to beat health, 00:34:31.53\00:34:33.83 so beat the way you look. 00:34:33.83\00:34:35.16 I told you, I gave up the battle 00:34:35.16\00:34:37.06 I get tempted every now and then 00:34:37.06\00:34:38.56 to get me some just for men. 00:34:38.56\00:34:40.56 And every now and then, my wife will put her hand through 00:34:43.63\00:34:45.40 my hair after I wash it because you know right now 00:34:45.40\00:34:47.66 it's hard as a helmet. 00:34:47.66\00:34:48.63 And she say honey, I just like the way your hair 00:34:49.50\00:34:52.06 looks, that's silver gray, and I thought you know what. 00:34:52.06\00:34:54.73 The Bible says the honor of an old man is his gray hair. 00:34:54.73\00:34:58.46 Amen! Come on you gray hair people say Amen! 00:34:58.46\00:35:00.56 So, I said you know what my church members gave me 00:35:00.56\00:35:03.70 gray hair, I need to let them know that, 00:35:03.70\00:35:05.76 but it also says that as you get older, 00:35:06.73\00:35:08.23 you get wiser and that wisdom 00:35:08.23\00:35:10.56 is what we don't have naturally. 00:35:10.56\00:35:13.13 It's what God allows us to acquire through 00:35:15.60\00:35:18.06 our experiences. 00:35:18.06\00:35:19.53 But you know what you can even have 00:35:21.00\00:35:22.30 gray hair, if you don't have Jesus that's not enough. 00:35:22.30\00:35:24.63 And some people are getting nipped here and tucked there 00:35:26.43\00:35:28.56 and augmented here and lifted there. 00:35:28.56\00:35:30.56 Brethren, we all on the way to the grave, no matter 00:35:30.56\00:35:32.40 what you look like. 00:35:32.40\00:35:34.36 You can have a complete make over, 00:35:35.70\00:35:37.00 but your DNA will remind you how you really looked. 00:35:37.50\00:35:40.40 Some people have kids, that look completely different 00:35:41.83\00:35:43.70 from them. 00:35:43.70\00:35:44.73 Because they been so plasticized that when their 00:35:44.73\00:35:46.93 kids come out they remember what they used to look like? 00:35:46.93\00:35:49.50 Leave it to Jesus. Can you say Amen! 00:35:50.46\00:35:52.26 Let the Lord give you the real birth, the new birth, 00:35:52.26\00:35:55.33 that's why he looked at Nicodemus 00:35:55.33\00:35:56.60 and said you must be born again. 00:35:56.60\00:36:00.80 You know, you need more sermons like that. Sometimes, 00:36:01.56\00:36:04.26 we go to the Pope and we would like to philosophize 00:36:04.26\00:36:06.10 and try to intellectually stimulate individuals. 00:36:06.10\00:36:09.00 People say I like intellectual stimulation. 00:36:09.00\00:36:11.03 Jesus doesn't mind that, but remember there is nobody 00:36:11.03\00:36:14.10 more intellectual than Jesus. Amen! 00:36:14.10\00:36:15.63 And Jesus says you must be born again, 00:36:17.00\00:36:19.00 anybody in the fifth grade could understand that. 00:36:19.00\00:36:21.40 You must be born again and the new birth experience there's 00:36:21.40\00:36:25.00 something else for us. It gives us the eyes of Jesus. 00:36:25.00\00:36:28.00 You know why because Paul says the natural man 00:36:28.00\00:36:30.50 does not receive the things of the spirit of God 00:36:30.50\00:36:32.76 for they are foolishness to him. 00:36:32.76\00:36:34.86 He can't see them, he cannot know them 00:36:34.86\00:36:36.73 for they are spiritually discerned. 00:36:36.73\00:36:39.86 So, to be born again means to understand, to detect 00:36:39.86\00:36:42.83 to tell the difference. Brethren, when people say 00:36:42.83\00:36:44.70 I don't see anything wrong with, 00:36:44.70\00:36:48.16 that's an indication that they are not born again. Now, 00:36:48.16\00:36:50.40 could I be plain, because I may not get the preacher on 00:36:50.93\00:36:53.30 Friday for another 10 years. Can I be plain. 00:36:53.30\00:36:56.53 Can you give me an Amen. Amen! 00:36:56.53\00:36:57.60 Brethren when you say that you can't see anything wrong 00:36:58.80\00:37:01.20 with putting on the world, whether it is in the way 00:37:01.20\00:37:05.63 you dress or the way you ornament yourself. 00:37:05.63\00:37:08.16 You are not born again. Amen! 00:37:08.16\00:37:09.33 Now, that's not a personal attack 00:37:09.33\00:37:12.86 that's the word of Jesus. Because Jesus, 00:37:12.86\00:37:16.26 the only thing we put on when we put on Jesus, 00:37:16.26\00:37:19.03 is we put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:19.03\00:37:21.06 That's not a very popular message by the way, 00:37:21.06\00:37:24.66 but you know what, when I get to heaven, I rather walk 00:37:24.66\00:37:28.80 on gold than wear gold. Amen! And if your a threat to 00:37:29.10\00:37:33.20 heaven, you ain't gonna be going to heaven, breaking up 00:37:33.20\00:37:34.16 the streets. 00:37:35.20\00:37:36.16 Can you imagine somebody trying to snatch 00:37:37.93\00:37:39.80 your gate of pearl to wear it. 00:37:39.80\00:37:41.80 You got to have an awfully large head to do that, 00:37:41.80\00:37:44.36 so get that issue squared away down here. 00:37:45.53\00:37:47.46 Somebody ought to say Amen to that. Amen! 00:37:47.46\00:37:49.00 So, you got to see when you look at God's word 00:37:49.00\00:37:52.70 it opens your eyes. I always say to people 00:37:52.70\00:37:54.90 if something that God's word offends you 00:37:54.90\00:37:56.46 then you need to get on your knees and pray. 00:37:56.46\00:37:58.00 Because if I open my map and it gets me upset 00:37:58.00\00:38:01.20 I don't need to be on the road, am I clear. 00:38:01.20\00:38:06.23 Is that a little bit of apostasy 00:38:07.20\00:38:09.16 ecclesiastical, a bit of dictum, is that what call it. 00:38:09.16\00:38:11.63 If your map upsets you then you need 00:38:13.26\00:38:15.90 to know the one who wrote that map. 00:38:15.90\00:38:17.33 And by the way the map, God's word is reliable. 00:38:17.33\00:38:19.43 I've had to do a whole lot of things 00:38:19.43\00:38:21.33 differently when I open up the map. 00:38:21.33\00:38:23.60 And every now and then those things 00:38:24.33\00:38:26.00 try to creep back into your life, you know what I am 00:38:26.00\00:38:27.83 talking about. 00:38:27.83\00:38:28.80 Oh! Yeah, you put that music down many years ago and 00:38:29.40\00:38:31.70 all of a sudden you hear it on the radio 00:38:31.70\00:38:32.86 and you just, that rhythm comes back. 00:38:32.86\00:38:34.63 Depends on what era you're from, if it is the 40s, 00:38:35.63\00:38:38.20 you know what I am talking about. 00:38:38.20\00:38:39.20 Now, all of a sudden they tell you that 00:38:40.80\00:38:42.06 well you know the golden collection 00:38:42.06\00:38:44.20 all of Elvis favorite hits and look at your wife 00:38:44.20\00:38:47.63 and says honey we don't have that, 00:38:47.63\00:38:49.00 we need to keep that even though we are not gonna play. 00:38:49.00\00:38:50.66 Let's get the notes for posterity and before you know 00:38:50.66\00:38:54.20 it, it ain't posterity you have the problem. 00:38:54.20\00:38:56.03 Well I know what I'm talking about sometimes 00:38:56.56\00:38:58.40 you know XM satellite radio we got all these new frankel 00:38:58.40\00:39:00.93 motions, but I am thinking what I am learning 00:39:00.93\00:39:02.83 is, the devil is trying to find new ways to get in. 00:39:02.83\00:39:05.56 He got us so electronically connected 00:39:06.73\00:39:09.26 that we are really, we are really 00:39:09.26\00:39:11.63 in the, what do they call it, the world wide web. 00:39:11.63\00:39:15.00 Spinning it all around us, getting at us all 00:39:17.50\00:39:20.53 webbed in there. 00:39:20.53\00:39:21.66 Filling our minds with things that don't matter and 00:39:21.66\00:39:24.10 every now and then you know I, I must confess. 00:39:24.10\00:39:26.80 You ought to say you confess too. 00:39:30.03\00:39:32.16 Don't look at me like you don't know 00:39:33.46\00:39:34.46 what I am talking about. 00:39:34.46\00:39:35.43 Some of you forgot to change the station, go on that car 00:39:36.46\00:39:38.93 and now turn on, you see what I am talking about. 00:39:38.93\00:39:40.70 Every now and then that old stuff comes back 00:39:41.63\00:39:43.80 and you begin to reminist, 00:39:44.73\00:39:46.23 what you used to be when you heard it. 00:39:46.23\00:39:47.90 You know, what I am talking about. 00:39:47.90\00:39:48.86 Remember that, remember that honey 00:39:48.86\00:39:50.16 we were are, you know you go back 25, 40 years 00:39:50.16\00:39:52.70 and all of sudden the Lord taps on you 00:39:52.70\00:39:55.46 when somebody beeps their car horn when 00:39:55.46\00:39:57.16 you almost run off the road, 00:39:57.16\00:39:58.30 listen to that stuff, you shouldn't listen to. 00:39:58.30\00:40:00.33 That's why Nicodemus needed to be born again. 00:40:03.86\00:40:06.43 He came to Jesus in an awful condition 00:40:06.43\00:40:09.26 and by the way because we look good 00:40:09.26\00:40:11.50 does not say a whole lot about our spiritual condition 00:40:11.50\00:40:14.13 because God is not impressed by the outside. 00:40:14.13\00:40:16.36 God looks on the heart. Can you say, Amen! 00:40:16.36\00:40:19.03 And let me add something to those people 00:40:19.53\00:40:21.10 that still be struggling in some areas. 00:40:21.10\00:40:22.36 You may not have worn a stitched Jewelry, 00:40:22.36\00:40:25.10 but that does not mean you don't need to be converted. 00:40:25.10\00:40:27.46 Oh! That's a real quite subject. 00:40:33.53\00:40:35.63 When Nicodemus met Jesus he asked the most ridiculous 00:40:37.53\00:40:41.90 question. How can a man be born when he is old. 00:40:41.90\00:40:45.20 I am glad that we can be born again at any age. Amen. 00:40:45.20\00:40:48.30 On Sabbath, two older people came 00:40:49.03\00:40:50.56 here and they're now members of our church. 00:40:50.56\00:40:52.20 They're not here tonight, I'm not gonna mention their 00:40:52.80\00:40:54.73 names, but I remember they were well in their 70's. 00:40:54.73\00:40:57.40 I don't know if they are in their 80's, but I would 00:40:57.40\00:40:59.50 just give them the 70s, but he said, he said to me 00:40:59.50\00:41:01.50 how old is too old to be baptized, and I said 00:41:01.50\00:41:03.50 you can ask me the question you are not too old. 00:41:03.50\00:41:05.66 And they're baptized members here now, 00:41:07.03\00:41:09.10 Amen. If you need Jesus, it's never too late. 00:41:09.10\00:41:12.33 If you can move and think you can be baptized. 00:41:12.33\00:41:16.53 Nicodemus asked a ridiculous question 00:41:16.53\00:41:19.50 and you notice that Nicodemus must have failed 00:41:19.50\00:41:21.43 biology because he says can a man enter a second time. 00:41:21.43\00:41:24.93 Not only was he ridiculous, but 00:41:26.86\00:41:28.60 Jesus didn't fall for that bay, 00:41:28.60\00:41:31.00 which was a lesson to me. You know sometimes, 00:41:31.00\00:41:32.03 we get caught up in those conversations 00:41:32.03\00:41:34.50 that don't amount to a hell beans, 00:41:34.50\00:41:36.50 and I have discovered truly there are 00:41:36.50\00:41:38.90 some foolish questions. 00:41:38.90\00:41:40.10 You know what we always say there is no stupid question, 00:41:40.10\00:41:42.13 there are some ridiculous questions because 00:41:42.13\00:41:43.60 this was ridiculous and Jesus did not get drawn 00:41:43.60\00:41:46.90 in by it Jesus didn't answer it. 00:41:46.90\00:41:49.40 Can a man be born again when he is old, can he enter 00:41:49.40\00:41:52.50 a second time, Jesus ignored 00:41:52.50\00:41:55.00 the question and by the way there are some people 00:41:55.00\00:41:56.50 that have some ridiculous questions on house calls. 00:41:56.50\00:41:58.80 John and I know that, we get some crazy questions 00:41:58.80\00:42:01.90 like for example. 00:42:01.90\00:42:03.00 What was the color of Adam, I say multicolor, Amen! 00:42:03.00\00:42:10.06 No matter what color you are. I mean look at all of us, 00:42:10.06\00:42:12.96 we got the same dad. Come on say Amen family. 00:42:12.96\00:42:16.10 Then they asked did Abel marry his sister? Maybe, 00:42:17.33\00:42:20.43 but he better not marry yours. 00:42:20.43\00:42:21.73 He said, what color was Jesus? Divine. 00:42:23.23\00:42:26.60 So, we got steps to cry for the black Jesus 00:42:26.60\00:42:29.50 and a white Jesus and they got a Filipino Jesus 00:42:29.50\00:42:32.03 in the Philippines and a German Jesus in Germany. 00:42:32.03\00:42:35.20 Brothers, this is the same Jesus. Amen. 00:42:35.20\00:42:38.40 Stressing about all that 00:42:38.40\00:42:39.66 race relation stuff, get off your high horse. 00:42:39.66\00:42:42.10 Jesus loves you no matter what country you're from, 00:42:42.90\00:42:45.10 because you are not going back to that country. 00:42:45.10\00:42:46.96 You are going to a heavenly country. Amen! 00:42:46.96\00:42:49.06 And somebody else asked, how many wise men were there? 00:42:49.93\00:42:52.66 I would say enough. 00:42:52.66\00:42:53.66 And was Jesus in the tomb 72 hours? Now all that matters 00:42:55.90\00:42:59.03 is he is not there now. Can you say, Amen! 00:42:59.03\00:43:01.20 All that stuff don't make a difference. 00:43:01.20\00:43:03.56 See human diversion is the enemy of divine 00:43:03.56\00:43:07.03 conversion, intellectual satisfaction is 00:43:07.03\00:43:10.53 DNA of heart sanctification. 00:43:10.53\00:43:12.16 God wants to get to the heart, he wants to convert 00:43:12.16\00:43:14.66 us, but we want to spend all that time 00:43:14.66\00:43:16.16 asking questions that don't mean anything. 00:43:16.16\00:43:19.06 That's why Jesus told a religious man, 00:43:20.83\00:43:22.76 he told the law keeping clean meat eating Pharisee 00:43:22.76\00:43:26.70 that he couldn't see. How insulting? 00:43:26.70\00:43:30.90 And by the way, Jesus has the right to insult us. 00:43:30.90\00:43:34.66 That's why he said Nicodemus again do not marvel, 00:43:36.76\00:43:39.23 he didn't say it once, he said it twice, 00:43:39.23\00:43:41.83 don't be surprised, you got to be born again. 00:43:41.83\00:43:44.56 Some folks are trying to make it to the kingdom 00:43:44.56\00:43:46.53 by just church membership, no it is not church membership. 00:43:46.53\00:43:48.96 You got to be born again. 00:43:48.96\00:43:50.50 I never forget one of my ministerial directors, 00:43:52.33\00:43:54.26 I won't tell you which one, but he said to me 00:43:54.26\00:43:55.56 when he was doing a evangelistic series 00:43:55.56\00:43:57.23 after being a pastor for seven years, 00:43:57.23\00:43:58.73 he got converted. 00:43:58.73\00:44:00.16 So, because you are in church don't necessarily 00:44:02.16\00:44:04.56 mean you've converted. 00:44:04.56\00:44:05.53 You can know the message inside out, 00:44:05.96\00:44:07.50 you are still need to be converted. Amen. 00:44:07.50\00:44:09.40 That's just intellectual knowledge. 00:44:09.40\00:44:11.46 And that's what when Nicodemus got to Jesus 00:44:11.46\00:44:13.60 as intellectual as he was he met somebody 00:44:13.60\00:44:16.30 who was more than his match. 00:44:16.30\00:44:17.73 Isaiah said my thoughts are not your thoughts, 00:44:18.36\00:44:20.73 my ways are not your ways, as high as the heavens 00:44:20.73\00:44:23.90 are above the earth, so are my ways 00:44:23.90\00:44:26.50 above your ways and my thoughts 00:44:26.50\00:44:27.83 above your thoughts. Don't try to match wits with Jesus 00:44:27.83\00:44:30.30 and by the way don't try to make 00:44:30.30\00:44:32.13 deals with Jesus either. 00:44:32.13\00:44:33.76 Some people say Lord, if you do then 00:44:34.30\00:44:35.96 I will. You got to own something to negotiate 00:44:35.96\00:44:39.50 with Jesus, you know what I'm saying, what do you own? 00:44:39.50\00:44:42.33 If you want to see what you own, see 00:44:42.33\00:44:43.90 what do you brought into the world when you came into it. 00:44:43.90\00:44:45.86 See what you take out when you leave. 00:44:46.66\00:44:48.80 You may get married or buried with your bank book, 00:44:48.80\00:44:51.66 but you are not gonna spend any money anywhere. 00:44:51.66\00:44:53.70 I just heard of a man who went to funeral 00:44:53.70\00:44:56.10 one day and he passed by the coffin 00:44:56.10\00:44:58.83 and there was a guy in their very, very wealthy, 00:44:58.83\00:45:00.93 all of this money was around him and he paused 00:45:00.93\00:45:03.63 at the coffin longer than anybody else. 00:45:03.63\00:45:05.33 He looked down, he took out his checkbook 00:45:07.50\00:45:09.50 and wrote a check and put the check 00:45:09.50\00:45:11.40 and then took the cash. 00:45:11.40\00:45:12.53 He said when you get to where you're 00:45:14.76\00:45:16.36 going. My check is good. 00:45:16.36\00:45:17.33 You got to use it now for Jesus. 00:45:19.60\00:45:21.26 You are not taking it with you. Can you say, Amen. 00:45:21.26\00:45:23.23 Amen! You know, that's why you have to try 00:45:23.23\00:45:26.40 to get this thing clear. You see researchers are 00:45:26.40\00:45:29.20 still trying to figure out how the world was made. 00:45:29.20\00:45:32.20 I got the answer, Jesus. Can you say, Amen. 00:45:32.20\00:45:34.50 Doctors are still trying to understand how 00:45:35.16\00:45:37.00 disease can disappear, the answer is simple Jesus. 00:45:37.00\00:45:41.30 Some are still trying to figure out how nine tens 00:45:41.50\00:45:44.66 can go further then ten tens, Jesus. 00:45:44.66\00:45:48.10 You got to buy into the plan by the way 00:45:48.10\00:45:50.96 and some people don't know how 00:45:50.96\00:45:52.46 red people, yellow people, black people, 00:45:52.46\00:45:54.40 and white people can work together down here 00:45:54.40\00:45:56.16 in Southern Illinois and not kill each other. Jesus. 00:45:56.16\00:45:59.40 Amen! If we can get along down here, 00:46:00.30\00:46:02.53 we can get along everywhere, by the way 00:46:02.53\00:46:04.56 can we all just get alone. Amen! 00:46:04.56\00:46:06.76 Some are trying to understand how a ministry 00:46:08.23\00:46:10.36 with almost no money in the bank 00:46:10.36\00:46:12.60 could wrap the globe in more than 11 satellites 00:46:13.70\00:46:16.36 and survive for 25 years. I got the answer 00:46:16.36\00:46:18.83 Jesus. What you say, Amen! 00:46:18.83\00:46:20.56 And no offense to any, but some 00:46:20.56\00:46:21.83 people are still trying to figure out 00:46:21.83\00:46:23.03 how a man who can only be a carpenter has 00:46:23.03\00:46:25.00 one blind eye could do all this. 00:46:25.00\00:46:27.03 Jesus. What do you say. Amen. 00:46:28.13\00:46:30.30 When God has people that are walking by 00:46:31.06\00:46:33.40 faith and not by sight he can do anything. 00:46:33.40\00:46:37.76 Don't look at yourself as incapable, that's 00:46:38.83\00:46:40.70 what Nicodemus thought, he had it all, 00:46:40.70\00:46:42.30 but by the way he found that he didn't have 00:46:42.30\00:46:44.33 what Jesus wanted to give to him. 00:46:44.33\00:46:46.10 That's why sometimes we got to 00:46:46.10\00:46:48.56 be pruned before we can grow. 00:46:48.56\00:46:50.43 We got to be cut down before we can stand up. 00:46:50.43\00:46:53.13 God has to cleanse the stream before the water is pure. 00:46:53.13\00:46:55.76 He has got to close our mouths 00:46:56.23\00:46:57.70 sometimes to teach us what to say Amen! 00:46:57.70\00:46:59.96 Amen! When he finally got through to Nicodemus 00:47:00.76\00:47:02.70 by the way, I would have loved to 00:47:02.70\00:47:04.30 have been Nicodemus because the Lord revealed 00:47:04.30\00:47:07.10 to Nicodemus all of our favorite Bible verse. 00:47:07.10\00:47:10.20 It was Nicodemus that God, the God of the Universe 00:47:11.06\00:47:15.13 burst that verse, for God so loved the world. 00:47:15.13\00:47:18.00 It was Nicodemus who had that privilege of hearing 00:47:18.00\00:47:20.16 that verse for the first time. 00:47:20.16\00:47:22.20 That God so loved the world. Nicodemus is in all our lives. 00:47:23.20\00:47:26.36 We just did not know it was him. 00:47:26.36\00:47:27.60 That God so loved the world, he said to Nicodemus 00:47:28.20\00:47:30.26 that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever 00:47:30.26\00:47:32.50 and even you Nicodemus, you Pharisee. 00:47:32.50\00:47:35.43 Even you can saved if you love the Lord. 00:47:35.43\00:47:38.13 Whosoever, I am a whosoever what about you. 00:47:38.13\00:47:41.73 Amen! That whosoever believeth in 00:47:41.73\00:47:43.80 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 00:47:43.80\00:47:48.30 That's why salvation is not even doing the right thing, 00:47:48.30\00:47:52.00 but doing the right thing can only happen if 00:47:52.00\00:47:54.80 you're in a saving relationship with Jesus. 00:47:54.80\00:47:57.00 Tonight, Brethren don't get caught off guard by what's 00:47:58.10\00:48:01.03 happening in the world. 00:48:01.03\00:48:02.06 Don't get discouraged about the terrorist 00:48:03.30\00:48:05.50 scares and all that stuff. 00:48:05.50\00:48:06.66 You know what Jesus is not going to allow us 00:48:06.66\00:48:09.40 to destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons. 00:48:09.40\00:48:11.50 Can you say Amen. Amen! The Gospel is going to go 00:48:11.50\00:48:15.06 to the entire world, you know, why? Jesus said that. 00:48:15.06\00:48:17.83 Amen! One day Nicodemus along with us is going 00:48:19.60\00:48:22.30 to meet the Jesus that he didn't believe could 00:48:22.30\00:48:24.53 do anything, but I want to say tonight 00:48:24.53\00:48:26.10 with Jesus all things are possible. 00:48:26.10\00:48:28.00 When Nicodemus get in front of Jesus 00:48:28.00\00:48:30.13 one day he is gonna finally see that 00:48:30.13\00:48:31.13 Jesus can deliver like he said, 00:48:31.13\00:48:33.90 he could and by the way 00:48:33.90\00:48:34.90 this is what's gonna happen on that day. 00:48:34.90\00:48:36.33 Sin is going to be eradicated, death, 00:48:36.33\00:48:38.36 will be terminated, Satan will be annihilated. 00:48:38.36\00:48:41.06 Politics will be eliminated, world will be assassinated, 00:48:41.06\00:48:44.40 hate will be obliterated, sorrow will be terminated, 00:48:44.40\00:48:47.86 sinners will be extricated 00:48:47.86\00:48:49.43 and Jesus will be vindicated. Can you say, Amen! 00:48:49.43\00:48:51.70 Amen! On that day, the Lord is gonna show 00:48:52.20\00:48:54.26 Nicodemus really whose incharge 00:48:54.26\00:48:56.30 because some of us think that we are just like 00:48:57.13\00:48:59.10 that young man. 00:48:59.10\00:49:00.10 I have come to the place where 00:49:00.10\00:49:01.90 I'm getting older and getting smarter, that's a good thing. 00:49:01.90\00:49:05.33 What you say. Amen. 00:49:05.33\00:49:06.70 It'd be sad to get older and get more foolish, 00:49:06.70\00:49:09.16 but I am getting older and I am getting wiser 00:49:10.43\00:49:12.06 and I have discovered that it's no longer 00:49:12.06\00:49:14.23 about me it's about Jesus. Amen! 00:49:14.23\00:49:15.90 And so, when you get to that place 00:49:16.96\00:49:18.36 when you discover somebody who can do all that he 00:49:18.36\00:49:20.50 says he can do for you even trials don't make a 00:49:20.50\00:49:23.33 whole lot of difference to me any longer 00:49:23.33\00:49:24.83 and by the way you know what 00:49:24.83\00:49:26.56 if you're in a trail make sure that Jesus 00:49:26.56\00:49:29.33 is in that trial with you. Amen! 00:49:29.33\00:49:30.73 Because we have one of the darkest hours 00:49:31.16\00:49:33.50 of our earth's history and it's only going to get darker 00:49:33.50\00:49:36.43 by the moment. So, is there a Nicodemus 00:49:36.43\00:49:40.76 here tonight, need to born again. 00:49:41.06\00:49:44.93 You don't even know that. 00:49:44.93\00:49:46.10 Unless the Holy Spirit convicts your heart 00:49:46.10\00:49:48.10 of that, but I want to give you the answer 00:49:48.10\00:49:50.73 to the question, you know, all over the world its night. 00:49:50.73\00:49:53.43 This is hour that we need to continue 00:49:53.43\00:49:56.96 proclaiming that Jesus is coming again. 00:49:56.96\00:50:00.23 Don't get distracted by the conference, 00:50:01.06\00:50:03.40 by the union, by the schools, by the churches, 00:50:03.40\00:50:06.50 by the pastor, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. 00:50:06.50\00:50:09.60 Amen. The author and finisher of your faith. 00:50:09.60\00:50:12.63 Fix it there and when you fix it there 00:50:12.63\00:50:15.23 what happens around you really 00:50:15.23\00:50:17.26 wouldn't make a difference. 00:50:17.26\00:50:19.16 I heard the story of a man who 00:50:19.16\00:50:20.60 was one day going to be sentenced to death. 00:50:20.60\00:50:22.56 He only had one chance to have himself 00:50:22.56\00:50:25.46 vindicated and released and so the king said to him. 00:50:25.46\00:50:28.66 If you can walk from here to the gallows 00:50:28.66\00:50:30.80 without spilling a drop of milk from that cup 00:50:30.80\00:50:33.50 you will be set free. And so he began his journey, 00:50:33.50\00:50:37.26 a two mile journey from the castle to the gallows. 00:50:37.80\00:50:40.73 If he drop one drop of milk he would have been condemned. 00:50:42.83\00:50:45.83 I want you to know for the first time in his life 00:50:48.50\00:50:50.23 he took his eyes off of the people around him. 00:50:50.23\00:50:52.06 We need to have our eyes fixed on Jesus like 00:50:56.80\00:50:59.33 that man had his eyes fixed on that milk. 00:50:59.33\00:51:02.40 When he made it all the way to that gallows 00:51:03.40\00:51:06.56 he looked up and realized 00:51:06.56\00:51:08.20 that because he didn't drop a single drop 00:51:08.20\00:51:11.60 he was going to be vindicated. Well, tonight 00:51:11.60\00:51:14.00 friends our salvation is not on a drop of milk, 00:51:14.00\00:51:16.66 it's in a drop of blood. What do you say, Amen! 00:51:16.66\00:51:19.20 I believe tonight as I sing the song 00:51:19.20\00:51:21.36 I believe that the difference is all because 00:51:21.36\00:51:23.90 what happened on the cross. I want to encourage you 00:51:23.90\00:51:26.60 that Jesus is soon to come, I want to encourage you 00:51:26.60\00:51:29.13 to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus 00:51:29.13\00:51:30.60 because what he did on that cross 00:51:30.60\00:51:32.13 made all the difference to the end of our story. 00:51:33.73\00:51:37.13 Listen to this song. 00:51:37.13\00:51:38.13 I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary, Amen, and 00:51:50.30\00:52:01.93 I believe whatever the cost And when time has surrendered 00:52:01.93\00:52:19.03 And this all earth is no more 00:52:19.03\00:52:23.53 I'll still cling to that old rugged, yet, cross 00:52:23.53\00:52:36.03 I believe that this life with its great mysteries 00:52:36.03\00:52:46.80 Surely someday will come to an end 00:52:47.50\00:52:56.33 oh, but faith will conquer all the darkness and death 00:52:56.33\00:53:09.40 And will lead at last to my friend 00:53:09.96\00:53:20.23 yes, I believe that the Christ Who was slain on that cross 00:53:20.23\00:53:33.16 Has the power to change the lives today 00:53:33.16\00:53:41.63 For He changed me completely and a new life is mine 00:53:42.80\00:53:55.50 And that is why by the cross I will stay 00:53:55.50\00:54:05.40 and yes I believe in that hill called Mount Calvary 00:54:05.40\00:54:16.13 can you say that my brothers, and I believe in whatever 00:54:16.13\00:54:24.26 the cost and time has surrendered 00:54:24.80\00:54:35.83 And this whole earth is no more, I'll still cling to that 00:54:35.83\00:54:45.03 old rugged-end of Cross. Amen. 00:54:45.03\00:55:02.90 Tonight, I want to pray that the message 00:55:09.33\00:55:14.06 of the cross is not lost on us. 00:55:14.06\00:55:16.43 It was until not Nicodemus stood at the cross 00:55:19.56\00:55:22.06 that he realized what Jesus was saying that 00:55:22.06\00:55:24.50 night, you must be born again. 00:55:24.50\00:55:26.90 He was born again at the foot of the cross. 00:55:28.66\00:55:30.46 He was the man that the Lord 00:55:31.13\00:55:33.73 used to finance most of the evangelistic 00:55:33.73\00:55:36.70 outreach for the new testament church. 00:55:36.70\00:55:39.06 Did God have a plan for his life? 00:55:39.06\00:55:40.80 God has a plan for our lives tonight. 00:55:41.60\00:55:44.06 We are not wasted on the message of the cross. 00:55:45.40\00:55:47.63 Jesus did not waste his blood and when he comes again 00:55:47.63\00:55:50.06 we are going to see the efficacy of the blood 00:55:50.33\00:55:52.83 that Jesus shed, but tonight I want to pray 00:55:52.83\00:55:54.63 that if there is a Nicodemus in us. 00:55:55.50\00:55:58.06 We can find the new birth before Jesus comes 00:55:58.06\00:56:00.56 again. Would you bow your heads with me. 00:56:00.56\00:56:02.06 Our Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, 00:56:02.06\00:56:04.90 that tonight the blood that was available 00:56:04.90\00:56:09.93 to Nicodemus on that lonely evening there 00:56:09.93\00:56:13.13 in the audience of the divine one. 00:56:13.73\00:56:16.33 Father, if he had only known that he was speaking 00:56:16.33\00:56:20.30 to the one who spoke him into existence. 00:56:20.30\00:56:22.20 If he had only known the power resident in 00:56:22.20\00:56:26.30 that conversation, he would not have asked what he did. 00:56:26.30\00:56:29.60 So, Father tonight we pray 00:56:29.60\00:56:32.16 for those of us who may be religious and may be 00:56:32.16\00:56:34.80 even convicted and have a set of beliefs that are all 00:56:34.80\00:56:39.60 together correct. We pray that we can find 00:56:39.60\00:56:43.03 Jesus more than we can know what we 00:56:43.03\00:56:45.36 believe. We pray Father at this dark hour 00:56:45.36\00:56:49.56 of earth's history that you will find your people 00:56:49.56\00:56:53.10 again where they are and get them ready 00:56:53.10\00:56:55.13 for where you are preparing for us. 00:56:55.13\00:56:58.50 That this message of conversion and Holy Spirit's 00:56:58.50\00:57:02.83 power can grip as never before. 00:57:02.83\00:57:06.03 So, speak to our hearts, find us where we are 00:57:06.70\00:57:08.86 and when the moment of decision comes 00:57:08.86\00:57:12.16 may we choose to follow the savior 00:57:12.16\00:57:14.10 the one who is waiting to fellowship with us. 00:57:14.10\00:57:16.66 Thank you for the promise and thank you for the 00:57:17.60\00:57:19.93 power that you make available to us. 00:57:19.93\00:57:22.56 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 00:57:22.56\00:57:26.36 May the Lord continue to bless you 00:57:26.36\00:57:29.16 and direct you and be with you 00:57:29.83\00:57:33.13 until we meet you again. May the Lord guide you 00:57:33.13\00:57:36.56 and direct you that we can meet you on that eternal day. 00:57:36.56\00:57:39.63 God bless you until we see you again. 00:57:39.63\00:57:42.06