Participants: Charles E. Bradford
Series Code: 11HC
Program Code: 11HC000001
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00:48 Wow! Well, listen. Tonight Elder Charles Bradford
00:52 is our opening speaker. Amen. 00:55 And then we've got a music program planned 00:58 for an hour. This is a three hour... I don't want to 01:01 use the word extravaganza 01:03 but in a sense it really is. 01:06 A three hour program and then Mark Finley will be preaching 01:09 at 9 PM tonight. 01:11 So we want you to call your friends, 01:14 call your neighbors, anybody else... relatives 01:18 and what else. Enemies. 01:20 All right. That makes quite a list. That's right. 01:22 Yeah, that's what we need for sure. 01:23 And invite them to tune in for the Fall Camp Meeting 01:27 that is beginning right here in West Frankfort, Illinois - 01:31 that's right - in the Worship Center. 01:32 Center of the universe right here. It is for 3ABN 01:37 and for our family and for so many people that watch. 01:41 And did you know that Christopher, Illinois, which is 01:44 only about 10 miles from here 01:45 I read it's the center of population in the United States 01:48 of America. Is that right? Yeah, um-hmm. 01:50 That's true. So it's the very center of the population... 01:53 of the population of the United States of America 01:55 just about 10 miles over here. I think they made a mistake. 01:58 It's really right here. I think so too. 02:00 So what's the population of Christopher? 02:02 Well probably about 800 or 1000 or something. 02:05 I don't know... not very big. But it's still the center 02:07 of the population of our country. 02:10 So we feel like this is the center of the universe. 02:13 Brother Hal Steenson years ago 02:15 he and Mollie now, of course, the general manager 02:17 and Hal works in pastoral 02:18 told me years ago that he saw southern Illinois as the hub 02:21 of a wagon wheel with spokes reaching into all the world. 02:24 Yeah. And that was before it ever happened! 02:27 Yes. And so now when he talks I listen. 02:29 Yeah... well I do too 02:31 because Hal has some very good information to pass on. 02:35 And we love him, appreciate him 02:37 and we certainly love and appreciate Mollie. 02:40 They're a great part of the team. 02:41 And they were with you early on even though he was pastoring 02:45 another church - THEY were pastoring together 02:47 another congregation from another denomination 02:51 but they were encouraging you to begin 3ABN. 02:54 They were. And I was a carpenter at the time 02:56 so I would go help them and they had a large church. 02:59 And so every time we met 03:01 he would talk to me about speaking in tongues 03:03 and I would talk to him about the Sabbath. 03:05 Right. Who won? Well, I'll let him tell you. 03:08 They are members of our church by the way... 03:11 baptized. Yes they are... absolutely are. 03:14 And he has the most beautiful teaching on the Holy Spirit 03:19 that I've heard anywhere at any time. 03:23 And it's most requested on our program, and we have so many 03:28 people that ask for the entire set of DVDs that Hal presented. 03:33 So it's just a great thing to be together 03:37 for this Fall Camp Meeting. 03:39 I've looked forward to this Camp Meeting. 03:41 I have too. And we asked right before the program 03:44 this is not going to be our biggest crowd this weekend 03:46 but we said: "How many came here from a distance? " 03:49 and almost every hand went up. 03:51 Some of you are here from the local area, but you predicted 03:54 sunny weather today, you said, and then it rained on us. 03:56 And then it rained, yes. Well, that's OK. 03:58 What are you predicting tomorrow? 03:59 I'm predicting rain. And that's good... it'll be sunshiny. 04:05 When it comes to predictions I'm not always that good... 04:09 particularly with the weather, but... That's all right. 04:11 But, you know... Even the weather people 04:13 aren't good at that. Well sometimes they're not. 04:15 I'm amazed how... Partly cloudy with chances of thundershowers 04:21 and sunshine. Can't miss on that? No, no, 04:24 you're pretty well just covered all. 04:26 That's right. Could be good weather or it may not be. 04:29 It may not be. But it's going to have sunshine here. 04:32 Well listen, we have a theme- song for our... We do. 04:35 I'm going to ask C.A. Murray if he's back here. I don't know 04:37 if Pastor Lomacang is here. 04:39 And Bro. Tim Parton is going to be playing. 04:41 We're just going to do as a theme song for the Camp Meeting 04:44 When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. 04:47 And maybe the words will come up. We're just going to do 04:49 the first verse and chorus so you probably know it anyway. 04:52 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound... 04:54 is that the first verse? All right, let's do it. Tim... 05:00 If you want to stand, you can. 05:01 You're going to sit for a while so if you want to stand 05:04 it's all right. 05:43 Thank you; you can be seated. All right! 05:45 Well that sounded like real singing to me. 05:47 And I... Danny, I'm going to ask you if you would have prayer 05:52 for us right now to open. Would you do that? Sure. 05:55 Heavenly Father, we thank you for Your many wonderful 05:57 blessings. We thank you as always for life, 06:00 for health, for strength, for this opportunity 06:02 of being here... not only in this building but 06:05 for the viewers that are watching literally 06:06 from around the world. Thank you for 06:09 what You have done. Thank you for the tool 06:10 that You have provided with 3ABN that we literally can go to 06:14 every inhabited continent on planet earth. 06:16 Thank you for those that are watching, those who will be 06:19 watching. We pray for the speakers, 06:21 for the singers, the musicians - everyone taking part - 06:23 that we're asking, Father, that You lead, guide, and direct 06:27 in everything that's said and done. 06:28 For our viewers at home, for those that have needs, 06:31 we know there's all kinds of problems. 06:32 Satan is putting up smoke screens trying to discourage. 06:36 But Father, I just pray right now 06:37 that we can come apart from all of these problems 06:40 and look to You and realize that You are the only 06:43 answer for this world's problems today. 06:45 So thank you for hearing, for answering our prayers. 06:48 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Amen. 06:51 You know, Danny, so many times I have people say 06:53 to me: "It looks like you and Danny 06:57 and C.A. and John and the whole team really like each other. " 07:01 And it is true, folks. 07:04 We really do like each other; we love each other. 07:06 We enjoy working together. 07:09 It's a real thrill to work together, 07:11 and we just praise God for that opportunity. 07:15 And one of the things that I've enjoyed being around Danny 07:18 is to hear him sing. 07:21 And one of my favorite songs is one that he wrote. 07:25 And I'm going to ask him... you're going to change it on me? 07:29 Yeah, I'm going to change. I felt like the Lord 07:30 impressed me to do a different song tonight. All right. 07:33 Which one are you going to do? I asked Tim Parton 07:35 to play for me, and we only got to go through it once 07:38 so we're going to practice with you all if it's OK: 07:40 Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this Place. 07:43 OK. He did change on me 'cause that' not what's written here. 07:54 Surely the presence 07:58 of the Lord is in this place, 08:04 I can feel His mighty power 08:09 and His grace. 08:14 I can hear the brush 08:17 of angel's wings, 08:19 I see glory on each face; 08:26 Surely the presence 08:30 of the Lord is in this place. 08:39 In the midst of His children 08:44 the Lord said He would be. 08:49 It doesn't take very many... 08:54 it can be just 2 or 3. 08:59 And then I feel that same sweet Spirit 09:05 that I've felt oft times before. 09:12 Surely I can say 09:17 that I've been with my Lord. 09:23 Surely the presence 09:28 of the Lord is in this place, 09:33 I can feel His mighty power 09:38 and His grace. 09:43 I can hear the brush 09:46 of angel's wings, 09:49 I see glory on each face; 09:54 Surely the presence 09:59 of our Lord is in this place. 10:09 There's a holy hush around us, 10:13 as God's glory fills this place. 10:18 I touch the hem of His garment; 10:23 I can almost see His face. 10:28 And my heart is overflowing 10:34 with the fullness of His joy. 10:40 But I know without a doubt 10:45 that I've been with my Lord. 10:52 Surely the presence 10:56 of the Lord is in this place. 11:01 I can feel His mighty power 11:07 and His grace. 11:11 I can hear the brush 11:14 of angel's wings, 11:16 I see glory on each face; 11:22 Surely the presence... 11:27 surely the presence... 11:33 surely the presence 11:39 of the Lord 11:42 is in this 11:47 place. 11:59 Amen. Thank you, Danny. 12:02 All right! 12:07 Now that's what's called in the sports world 12:10 Danny called an audible in the line of scrimmage. 12:13 And... in other words, he changed the whole play on me 12:16 there. And it's all right 12:18 because we really feel the Holy Spirit was leading. 12:21 Wasn't that a beautiful song? Amen. 12:23 I do believe the Lord led him. 12:24 He's going to sing that other song which I like so much: 12:28 Heaven Means Home To Me. 12:29 He promised me he'll sing it before 12:33 the week's over and... weekend is over. 12:36 So we'll look forward to hearing that as well. 12:39 Our speaker tonight is know by people all around the world. 12:44 He's a man who was president of the North American Division 12:48 and is an able leader of people 12:54 and of ministers and of the church. 12:57 I first heard him speak... 12:59 I hate to tell you when it was, 13:01 but it was back in the 60's... 13:03 And I was a student at Andrews University, 13:06 and he came to preach. He was president of 13:11 the Lake Region Conference, 13:13 and he came to speak at Andrews University. 13:15 I immediately liked this man. 13:19 I liked him; I liked what he had to say; 13:22 I liked the way he said it; 13:23 and I felt a kinship to his personality. 13:27 And in addition, he reminded me of one of my favorite 13:31 baseball players: Roy Campanella. 13:35 And so afterwards I went up and told him. I said: 13:38 "Has anyone ever told you that you look like 13:40 Roy Campanella? " And he acknowledged that 13:44 they'd even stopped him on the streets of New York 13:46 and other places in those days 13:48 and thought that he was that great Brooklyn Dodger catcher. 13:53 I... I called him "Campy" for a number of years 13:59 just because of that. But then as I got to know him 14:05 I called him Elder Bradford 14:08 because he's a man who knows God, 14:11 loves God, and he's a man who God has used 14:16 in a very powerful way. 14:21 I love him. I appreciate him. 14:24 I believe in his ministry. 14:27 And I'm so happy that he can be with us tonight. 14:30 The title of his message is: 14:33 We Are Located In Time. 14:37 Pastor Charles Bradford. By the way, his wife Ethel 14:41 is with him. What a wonderful helpmeet Ethel is. 14:45 She's sitting here on the front row next to my wife Camille. 14:48 Ethel, we're so glad that you could come. 14:51 God bless you Elder Bradford. 14:53 Appreciate you, man. Thank you; thank you. Appreciate you. 14:56 You have talked enough. All right. God bless you. 15:00 Good evening, friends. Good evening. 15:03 We are delighted to be here in this place. 15:07 Surely the presence of the Lord is here as was sung. 15:11 We are well situated. The 3ABN administration 15:16 has taken care of us. 15:19 They even put make-up on us here tonight. 15:23 I tried to tell them I've been preaching against cosmetics... 15:27 but now I'm roped in myself. 15:31 But it is a pleasure - it's a blessing - 15:34 for my wife and me to be here. 15:37 We've looked forward to this for some time. 15:39 And I do hope that the Lord will bless us as we 15:43 work and pray and study together. 15:48 We want to open the Word of God. 15:52 I want to talk about - these several times 15:56 they've assigned me to talk - 15:57 I want to talk about a general theme 16:01 which is: God's End-Time People. 16:06 God's End-Time People. 16:09 If this is not the end time, I don't know what it is. 16:14 But we are talking about God's End-Time People. 16:19 We want to know what He has to say about us 16:23 and we want to know what He says to us 16:29 because we are His end-time people. 16:33 We are privileged to be here because this is a pioneer 16:37 institution. Dear Brother Shelton had a vision 16:43 and he stepped out on it. 16:47 Our children and grandchildren used to sing 16:50 "Father Abraham has many sons, " 16:53 and he is one of them. 16:56 And then my friend Elder Jim Gilley, 17:01 who talks too much about me, 17:03 I wanted... the least he says of me the better it is 17:07 with you because if he says too much 17:09 your expectations will be too high. 17:12 Is that right, Brother Finley? 17:14 Expectations too high. 17:17 But he and I have worked together, and I've been 17:20 privileged to serve him in his pastoral work 17:23 and as a conference president. 17:26 But enough of that, because if I keep on I will be 17:29 talking too long before getting into the Word of God. 17:33 God's End-Time People. 17:38 Now I am somewhat of a frustrated school teacher. 17:42 I didn't have an opportunity to do that for a living. 17:46 They said: "You'd better go out and preach, " 17:49 so that's what I did. 17:51 They didn't realize the Lord had told me before they said, 17:54 you know, to go and preach. 17:56 And so I would like to really get into the Word here. 18:00 Tonight I want to talk about the location 18:05 time... where we are. 18:08 The old Adventist preachers used to have a saying - 18:11 a little sentence they would ask: 18:13 "Where are we in the stream of time? " 18:18 Time is an ever-rolling stream, 18:24 but where are we? You see, Christian 18:27 idea... the Christian idea of time... 18:30 is not like Eastern religions which have time... 18:34 time is a cycle. It just keeps going around and around. 18:39 In fact, in one Eastern religion 18:43 the cycle is 30,000 years. 18:47 It just goes around. 18:49 But the Judeo-Christian idea 18:53 and concept of time is that it is a line. 18:57 It has a beginning point... 18:59 Come on and listen to me here... 19:01 It has a beginning point and an ending point. 19:04 It's linear. 19:06 So I'm asking the question: where are we 19:10 in the stream of time? I'm going to just read a verse 19:15 and then I'm going to have a little prayer. 19:17 Matthew. What book did I call? 19:20 Matthew. I told you I was trying to be a teacher. 19:24 Matthew 24 19:27 chapter 24 and we're going to look at verse 3. 19:33 "And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives 19:35 the disciples came unto Him privately saying: 19:38 'tell us... tell us 19:42 when shall these things be and what shall be 19:45 the sign of Thy coming 19:48 and of the end of the world? ' " 19:51 Tell us. The disciples were concerned about it. 19:55 Any Christian who loves his Lord 20:00 wants to know when He's going to come back. 20:03 And any inquiring mind wants to know 20:07 when will we get to the end of the journey. 20:11 Like my children used to say 20:13 when we were traveling, you know, going to camp meetings 20:15 and all these places, driving long... 150 and 200... 20:20 I just did 300 and some today. That's not much 20:23 but we just drove across country. 20:25 And they would always say: "Daddy! 20:28 Are we almost there? 20:31 Are we almost there? " 20:34 So the disciples wanted to know "When shall these things be 20:38 and what shall be the sign of Thy coming 20:41 and of the end of the world? " Shall we pray. 20:44 Father God, we are looking to You tonight to help us 20:48 just to unpack these words of Jesus. 20:52 We are over our heads in this. 20:55 We can't do it correctly. 20:58 We can only do it correctly in our spirit 21:01 and then You will have to add to it and open our eyes, 21:05 Lord, that we may see 21:08 these visions of truth You have for us tonight. 21:12 In Jesus' name, Amen. 21:14 Where are we in the stream of time? 21:16 That's Jesus' word to us. 21:18 And by the way, when we come to a certain point 21:22 in Jesus' life - His ministry - 21:24 He began, it seems to me now, 21:28 He begins to focus on this end time. 21:33 Do you see that as you read the Word of God? 21:36 He focuses on us! 21:38 That ought to make you feel pretty good: 21:41 Jesus focused on us. 21:44 Of all the people of all the generations He focuses 21:48 on us. And these words that He speaks in Matthew, 21:52 Mark, and Luke... in these chapters... 21:54 Matthew 24; Mark 13; 21:57 Luke 21 and so on... 21:59 He's talking to end-time Christians. 22:04 We are end-time people of God. And by the way, 22:08 please don't let anybody tell you that Jesus was not 22:12 a prophet. He just said nice words, you know. 22:16 All of this is wonderful and so forth 22:19 and carrying the people on. 22:20 No! Jesus pointed out those things that would happen 22:25 just before He returns. 22:28 He was precise! 22:30 He was focused in His ministry. 22:32 Oh, if I could only teach like He did. 22:35 "Never a man spoke like this Man. " 22:40 And so I can't get beside myself. I can't do it. 22:43 All I can do is ask Him to help us... 22:45 help us to understand what He says. 22:48 These are for us. These mean something to us! 22:52 Now you may want to take this down. 22:54 By the way, I am not preaching anything new. 22:59 I'm preaching what I began preaching more than 23:02 60 years ago. Yeah, I'm 86 now. 23:09 Now don't you come up looking at me like: 23:11 "Poor old Brother Bradford. " 23:13 Just come up and say: "Man, what's happening here? " 23:15 You know, talk to me in today's language. OK. 23:18 Now here I am preaching the same thing 23:21 all these years, and thank God 23:24 I still believe it's true. Amen! 23:27 I still believe that Jesus meant what He said 23:30 and I don't need to ask Him a lot of questions. 23:35 Nobody said "amen" then. 23:38 I don't need to ask Him a lot of questions. 23:41 He spoke. All I need to ask is: "Lord, help me to understand. " 23:44 Now He is the greatest of the prophets; 23:46 He outlines the future. 23:47 And there is a phrase that I picked up from some theologian - 23:52 I think his name was Oscar Cullman - 23:56 who coined the phrase "Between the already 24:01 and the not yet. " 24:04 And I said: "Well, I'm going to make an Adventist phrase 24:07 out of that. " 24:09 I've gotten to the place where I put an Adventist twist 24:12 on everything. Amen. 24:15 And I put... I don't want to use the wrong words, 24:18 but I put an Adventist spin on it. 24:21 We are living, my friends, between the already 24:27 and the not yet. I was reading here just today 24:32 in Revelation. Where are we going now? 24:34 We're in class. We're in class now... we're in class. 24:37 Revelation 6. Look at Revelation 6. 24:40 We're going to read this. 24:41 Look at what it says: Revelation 6 24:43 and we're going to begin at verse 12. 24:46 Revelation 6 verse 12. 24:48 "And I beheld... " 24:51 You know, John's always looking at something, isn't he? 24:54 "I beheld... I beheld... I saw it... I saw it. " 24:56 "I beheld, " he says, "when He had opened the 6th seal 25:00 and lo there was a great earthquake 25:03 and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair 25:07 and the moon became as blood. " 25:10 Now that ought to remind me of what Jesus said, 25:12 didn't He? Jesus said: "The sun shall be darkened, 25:15 the moon shall be red like blood. " 25:18 He said that, didn't He? 25:19 "Stars will fall from heaven. " 25:22 Every good Bible scholar ought to know 25:25 that in the... the Lisbon earthquake took place 25:29 in 1755. 25:33 There was a dark day that extended across this country - 25:36 especially the northeast - May 19, 1780. 25:43 Then there was the great falling of the stars 25:46 the greatest Leonid shower seen 25:52 took place November 13, 1833. 25:57 By the way, 25:59 I've been getting e-mails... 26:02 You know, you don't believe everything you get on e-mail. 26:05 But you can't erase all of them 'cause you may erase 26:09 something good. So you've got to glance at it anyway. 26:11 And I saw one that said: "earthquakes increasing. " 26:14 I wish I'd brought it here. 26:17 I can get it; maybe I can get it before we leave. 26:19 I think it has some merit to read it 26:22 how earthquakes are increasing, increasing, increasing... 26:25 exponentially until they're everywhere. 26:31 By the way, the United States of America 26:34 likes to think that we are insulated against 26:40 all these kinds of things that happen in Africa. 26:43 Big storms in South America. 26:46 In Inter-America. 26:49 But we are feeling a little heat - aren't we? - ourselves. 26:53 When my son called me he said: "Daddy, something 26:56 happened here. " He lives in Washington, D.C. 26:59 And he didn't know what he was talking about, but I know 27:02 what happens. The earth was shaking. 27:05 I remember when I was a little boy in Harlem, New York. 27:08 We had a church down on 123rd and Lennox Avenue. 27:11 A great church called Ephesus Church. 27:13 And on Friday night there was just a little tremor... 27:17 just a little shake. 27:19 But you know, Sabbath morning the church was packed! 27:24 Amen. Earthquakes in diverse places. 27:26 I don't want to digress too far now. 27:29 But here we are now. We have this all taking place 27:32 and everybody can see it. Isn't it marvelous that 27:36 when God gets ready to preach 27:39 He has the greatest screen in the world; 27:42 He has the greatest sound system in the world. 27:46 When God gets ready to preach, He can take the heavens: 27:51 shake them. Take the earth: shake it. 27:55 I read somewhere that the earth is getting old like a garment. 28:00 Wearing out. I don't buy many suits. 28:05 I'm too old to buy suits now. 28:07 But the ones... You know, I have bought this suit... 28:12 I hate to tell you. My wife is looking at me over there. 28:16 Please, ma'am, don't get me. 28:17 This... I don't know when I bought this suit. 28:21 But bye and bye... bye and bye... 28:26 Brother Bradford will have to get another suit. 28:30 Don't look too hard at me now. 28:32 You may think I ought to get one today, but this... 28:34 there it is. But the earth is growing old as a garment 28:39 that's wearing out... that's decaying. 28:42 Coming apart at the seams. 28:44 So that's why I wanted to preach... 28:47 the Holy Spirit is prompting me to preach 28:50 on God's end-time people... which you are! 28:53 Amen. God's end-time people. 28:57 Jesus brought us right down to the end. 29:00 He pointed to the signs that would take place. 29:04 They have all taken place. 29:07 I'm going to go back to Revelation now. 29:09 I want to get that between the already and the not yet. 29:12 6:12: "And the stars... " 29:17 verse 13: "of heaven fell unto the ground 29:20 on the earth even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs 29:25 when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 29:27 And... " Verse 14... I don't see many heads going down. 29:32 When I'm preaching like this I want every head down 29:35 looking in the Bible. 29:36 All right. "And the heaven departed as a scroll 29:39 when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island 29:44 were moved out of their places. " 29:46 Now I'm going to go to verse 13 again. 29:48 Yes. Stars fell... fig tree casteth figs... 29:53 shaken of a mighty wind. 29:54 And then verse 14 says what? 29:57 Come on. Verse 14 says: "And the heaven departed as a" 30:02 What? "scroll. " Now, stars have fallen. 30:05 Earthquake came. 30:07 Dark day came. 30:09 All those signs have been fulfilled. 30:11 But where are we now? 30:13 Well, look at... 14 says: "And the heaven 30:17 departed as a scroll. " 30:19 Has that happened yet? 30:21 Oh my dear children, 30:24 we are between the already and the not yet. 30:29 The stars falling already. 30:31 The earth shaking already. 30:33 The moon black and blood already. 30:37 But not yet... 30:38 The scroll of heaven has not departed yet. 30:43 Elder Snyder... one of my old great evangelists, man, 30:44 I'm glad to have known those brethren. 30:51 Bro. Snyder had an evangelistic sermon, and I used to preach 30:54 his sermons, you know. 30:56 We used to get sermons from the brethren that would print them. 30:59 And I'd get up and read them. Sometimes I'd be reading it 31:01 and it said "here in New York City" and I was preaching in 31:04 Jackson, Mississippi, you know. 31:07 But Bro. Snyder had one that he gave us. 31:10 He said: "My subject tomorrow night is 31:14 Heaven Split Wide Open. 31:18 It hasn't happened, has it? 31:19 Not yet. Heaven has not... 31:22 So where are we living? The old-time Adventist preachers 31:27 used to preach we are suspended. We are in suspended animation. 31:33 We are between verse 13 and verse 14. 31:39 That's where we are. 31:40 And we are living in the most dangerous period of earth's 31:43 history because there are no dates 31:47 that we have to reach. 31:49 There are no prophecies that we have to see 31:54 before Jesus comes. 31:56 Everything has happened except heaven departing 32:02 as a scroll. 32:05 This is a time... What do they call those things over there 32:10 in Iraq and the other places where they are now? 32:13 What's the other place where we are now? 32:15 We're trying to get out of there. What's the other place? 32:17 Huh? Afghanistan. 32:20 It's... You'd better be careful walking. 32:26 Something may jump out and bite you. 32:29 And if you hit the wrong thing... 32:31 Give me what they call those kind of... 32:35 Huh? Ah, you're so smart, folks. 32:39 I just love smart people... and it helps me. 32:42 But we are in an enchanted forest as it were 32:46 where the mines are all around about us. 32:51 I'm talking now to God's end-time people. 32:54 We've got to watch where we walk 32:57 because there may be a landmine over there! 33:01 And you know, the devil is setting his traps all the time. 33:04 They've got me on this time thing here. 33:09 I'm not a time preacher, brethren. 33:14 And don't cramp my little style, please, sir. 33:19 No, don't... But we've got to be careful. 33:23 You know, we may get hung up on little things that may 33:26 become a landmine to us. 33:31 I don't know what... You know, they tell me I'm 33:34 talking to people all around the world, so 33:36 I don't know. I'm just looking at you here. 33:39 Now I'm not going to preach to those people around the world. 33:41 I'm going to preach to you 'cause I see you. 33:46 Sometimes I have to be careful of myself. 33:49 What are the brethren doing? 33:52 Getting mighty quiet in here now. 33:54 What are those brethren doing at the General Conference? 33:58 What are they doing in the Union? 34:00 What are they doing in the local conference? 34:03 Now that's nice. I've already been talking tonight 34:06 with some of the brethren about things happening. 34:08 But you know, when we begin to surmising 34:11 we may begin to fabricating a little bit. 34:16 Are you listening to me? 34:18 When we become absorbed in these things... 34:21 The apostle Paul had to tell the people in his day 34:24 "Examine yourselves... not me. " 34:28 Let's go ahead around... And we are in a time 34:32 that Daniel... Let's go to Daniel. 34:33 We've got to go to Daniel. Adventists always 34:36 got to go to Daniel and Revelation. 34:38 There was a... I shouldn't tell these things... 34:40 You'll get me afterwards. But there was a certain town 34:44 where the Adventist evangelist was preaching, and everybody 34:46 got angry with him and the ministers met against him. 34:48 And so they said: "This book of Revelation 34:51 and Daniel... I'm so tired of those books. " 34:54 If we didn't have those books we wouldn't have to be 34:56 worried with these Adventists around here. 34:59 Well I'm glad the Lord left Daniel and the Revelation 35:01 in there. In the 12th chapter of Daniel... 35:04 You know I'm going there. 35:06 12th chapter of Daniel... look at verse 1. 35:08 "At that time Michael shall stand up 35:10 great Prince, stand before the children of Thy people. 35:14 There will be a time of trouble such as never was 35:16 since there was a nation even to that same time. 35:18 And at that time, Thy people shall be delivered... 35:21 everyone that shall be found written in the book. " 35:23 And we're going to go down to the four... Four says: 35:29 "But thou, oh Daniel, shut up the book. 35:32 The words... seal them... even to the time of the end. " 35:36 Aren't we God's end-time people? Amen. 35:39 So I say the book is open now. 35:41 Close up... now it's open. 35:45 Then he says: "Many shall run to and fro. 35:51 Knowledge shall be increased. " 35:54 We old-time preachers like to preach about transportation 35:57 and all the rest of that from the horse and carriage 36:00 to the automobile to the jet plane and all the rest of it. 36:05 Then even to the stars. I live in Huntsville, Alabama, 36:08 where all the rockets are made that go up. 36:10 But that isn't the end of that. 36:12 The end of that is, my friends, 36:15 that there will be some people who will go through 36:19 the Word of God searching the scriptures. 36:23 Reading the Word of God. 36:26 William Miller spending several years studying nothing 36:31 but the Word of God. Up there in New England, 36:34 poor farmers... not educated at Harvard and Yale... 36:38 but God spoke to them and the book was opened. 36:42 It was opened! It was opened 36:43 and they could read it and understand it. 36:45 The world did not understand it. 36:49 They laughed at these people. 36:51 They made fun of them. 36:54 Talking about Jesus' coming. 36:57 They were not thinking about Jesus' coming. 36:59 The religious world at that time was thinking about 37:02 betterment. Improvement. Things getting better. 37:06 The kingdom of God coming on earth. 37:08 All the bad people becoming good. 37:13 And they believed that foolishness. 37:17 I started to say junk, but I'm here at 3ABN. 37:20 They may not approve of those kinds of words. 37:22 But they believed that things were going to be so much better. 37:26 And when other... when these old Advent preachers 37:29 began to preach it's not going to get better 37:32 it's going to get worse! 37:34 Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. 37:38 In the latter days, evil times will come upon us. 37:42 It's chronicled there by the apostle Paul and others. 37:46 And do you know, they looked at us 37:49 and said: "You are fear mongers. " 37:52 "You're scaring the people to death. " 37:55 But World War I came 37:58 and they got a little quieter. 38:01 World War II came and they got mute. 38:03 And all the wars we are having today 38:08 has pushed them into obsolescence 38:13 because the Word of God stands true. 38:15 And we found out that this is the time Jesus spoke about: 38:20 the watching and the waiting time. 38:24 That's where we are living. 38:27 Watching... waiting. And God's true people are always 38:32 characterized by their looking for and hastening to 38:38 the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 38:43 Now don't let anybody rob you of that intelligence. 38:47 Don't let any smooth-talking devil come along 38:51 and say: "everything's going to be better now 38:55 and you join my political party 38:58 and we will make things better. " 39:00 Now I'm not against any political party. 39:02 But I'm going to tell you one thing: 39:04 in this life I'm not going to get tied into any one 39:08 political family. Amen. 39:16 I make my own decision on the basis of God's Word - Amen - 39:21 and I can't get too tight with anybody 39:26 who doesn't believe as I do. 39:28 You ought to be hearing me... One of these days you shall. 39:31 There is a warning that Paul gives us. 39:33 He talks about it in I Thessalonians. Where are we? 39:36 I Thessalonians. I want to go there. 39:39 I Thessalonians. Oh, I love the writings of Paul. 39:43 I Thessalonians 5. What does he say there? 39:47 Listen to this: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, 39:51 you have no need that I write to you 39:54 for yourselves know perfectly 39:57 that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. 40:02 For when they shall say peace and safety 40:05 then... " What? "sudden destruction cometh upon them 40:08 as travail upon a woman with child 40:11 and they shall not escape. 40:12 But ye, brethren... ye are not in darkness 40:15 that that day should overtake you as a thief. 40:18 Ye are all children of light. " 40:20 That's what you are. 40:21 You are children of light! 40:24 You shouldn't be looking at too much TV unless it's 3ABN! 40:29 You should be more into your Bible. 40:31 What about it, my brother? 40:33 The Word of God should take all of your... 40:36 you should be absorbed in it just looking at it. 40:39 Eating it. "Thy words are found and I did eat them. " 40:43 There's joy and rejoicing in my heart. 40:46 "Ye are children of the light, children of the day. 40:48 We are not of the night nor of darkness. 40:51 Therefore, don't sleep! 40:54 Watch and be sober! " 40:56 25th chapter of Matthew Jesus spoke it for us 40:59 virgins going along the way. 41:01 But you know He said... in the 25th chapter He said... 41:04 "they all slumbered and slept. " 41:07 All right, brother preacher. 41:11 I'd better be careful here because they hear me 41:13 in other places, but yeah, Brother General Conference 41:15 brethren. Oh, we've got one of them here tonight. 41:19 All of us slept. 41:23 The wise and the foolish virgins all slept. 41:28 A period of quiescence came 41:32 but thank God He did not forget His end-time children. 41:37 Amen. He sends them messages to wake them up - Amen! - 41:43 so that He doesn't come as a thief. 41:46 But what it means to me... I think what it means to me 41:49 I must always be in anticipation 41:54 of His coming and not take it for granted 42:00 that times will be better. 42:03 I just pulled this out of my little computer. 42:07 I am using a computer in writing my sermons. 42:10 I'm using a computer; I feel very proud of myself! 42:16 Writing... computer. My children and grandchildren: 42:19 "Granddaddy! " "Listen, don't bother me, I'm on my computer 42:22 writing my sermon. " 42:25 And look what He says in Matthew 24. 42:28 We go back right to where Jesus was. 42:30 It's for me: Matthew 24:48. He says: 42:33 "But and if that evil servant 42:36 shall say in his heart 42:39 'my Lord delayeth His coming... ' " 42:43 Please be aware that there will arise among us 42:48 people who will say: "It's not right now. " 42:52 Even if they don't say it with their words 42:55 they say it with their deeds and attitude: 42:58 "Oh, it couldn't be right now. " 43:00 You know, if it knew it was right now, 43:02 I couldn't mistreat you. 43:04 If I knew my Savior was coming tomorrow, 43:07 I couldn't mistreat you. In fact, I'd be running to you: 43:09 "Please forgive me for all those bad things 43:11 I've said about you. 43:13 I want to be right with you before He comes. " 43:17 They say: "My Lord delayeth His coming. " 43:19 What happens after this? 43:20 When they say "my Lord delayeth His coming, they shall begin 43:23 to smite his fellow servants, 43:25 eat and drink with the drunken. " 43:27 Isn't that something? 43:29 After hearing this wonderful message 43:32 after saying: "Lord, I believe. " 43:36 After going in the waters of baptism 43:38 taking on the habiliments of heaven 43:41 becoming identified with the end-time people of God, 43:46 the question comes: "What if that evil servant 43:51 shall say in his heart? " He begins to 43:55 eat and drink with the drunken. 43:57 He smites his fellow servants. 43:59 Jeremiah said that smiting is "with the tongue. " 44:03 With the tongue. And then he says: 44:05 "The Lord of that servant shall come in a day 44:08 when he looketh not for Him 44:12 in an hour when he is not aware of 44:16 and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion 44:20 with the hypocrites. 44:22 There shall be weeping and wailing 44:27 and gnashing of teeth. " 44:31 But I don't leave you with a sour lemon in your mouth. 44:37 I leave you here with a happy thought 44:40 because I look to Christ in His Word and what He says 44:44 to me. I look over in the book of Revelation. 44:48 And here are God's end-time children wrestling. 44:52 We are still wrestling, friends. 44:53 We are going to have to wrestle till the end. 44:56 We're His end-time children, 44:59 but we still must go through the blood bath. 45:03 The Daniel situation. 45:06 Time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation 45:10 is going to come. 45:11 But He always leaves us a ray of hope. 45:14 Not just a ray of hope. Sometimes a whole flood 45:18 of ray of hope comes to us to keep us. 45:21 Let us sing a song that will cheer us on our way. 45:25 Amen. "We're almost home! " That's what we must say. 45:29 In a little while we're going home. 45:32 So I go to the 19th chapter of Revelation. I read verse 7 45:35 where it says: "Let us be glad and rejoice 45:47 and give honor to Him 45:50 for the marriage of the Lamb has come. 45:53 His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted... " 45:56 that is us... you and me - 45:59 "to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen 46:03 clean and white. 46:04 For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. " 46:08 Amen! - "And he saith unto me: 'Write, 46:10 blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper 46:13 of the Lamb. ' And he saith unto me: 46:16 'These are the true sayings of God. ' " Amen! 46:21 That's a message I want to speak because I got it from His Word 46:25 to God's end-time children. 46:28 Yes, we are living between the already and the not yet. 46:33 But we have never let go 46:37 of the Man who can span both already and not yet. 46:42 Amen! He can handle any circumstance. 46:45 He's an on-time God. 46:48 May not come when you want Him but He always is on time. 46:52 Amen. Sometimes you have to say He shows up. 46:56 Things may get dark and discouraging. 47:01 Like my dear old... another old preacher friend of mine 47:04 I can't think of his name now used to preach and say: 47:07 "The outlook may be drear 47:10 but the up look is always clear. " 47:13 Just keep on looking up. 47:15 What do you say out there? Keep on looking up. 47:19 He never has forsaken us yet. 47:24 And don't become down in the mouth 47:27 because you don't have $250,000 and have to pay more tax on it. 47:32 Don't look down. No, no, no. 47:35 "Sufficient unto the day... " 47:37 He has given us more than we need. Amen. 47:40 Bread shall be given you; your water shall be sure. 47:44 May it is a blessing for me to have come 47:46 through the depression... the Great Depression. 47:51 I go in restaurants now... 47:53 On the highway I went in the restaurant this morning - 47:55 Country Garden or somewhere wherever it was. 47:57 I went there and had a little bite, and people were 48:01 streaming in there. Well, I remember the days in the 30's - 48:04 1930's - 48:08 when very few people could go into a restaurant. 48:12 Not down here in the South. 48:14 Is this the South or the North? 48:15 No, this is not the South; I live in the South. 48:17 You would be very incensed at me if I called this the South. 48:22 And the people in the South don't want to hear me say that 48:25 either. But there are a lot of times in the South 48:27 that I couldn't go in the restaurant if I had the money. 48:30 But those who could go couldn't get in 48:33 because they didn't have the money. 48:35 And we learned how to squeeze a nickel. Amen. 48:40 And so today people go: "terrible depression. " 48:43 What do you mean depression? I see you riding in big cars. 48:46 Well, I don't want to get on that. 48:48 I want to stay on my side where Jesus said: 48:52 "I will take care of you. " 48:55 Amen. When the great time of trouble comes 48:57 Michael, the archangel, the Son of the Living God, 49:02 He will stand up. Why does He stand up? 49:06 Because somebody's messing around with His people 49:09 and Michael has been put in charge of the end-time people. 49:14 Amen. They are His people. He must take care of His people! 49:18 As the kids say on the streets these days: 49:20 "I've got your back. " 49:22 Amen. He always has it. 49:24 He always is there and He knows, listen to me, 49:28 He will not allow the devil to go one hair beyond 49:33 what you can bear. Amen! 49:36 And so now I want to wind up. 49:40 I want to give you a little quote from Ellen G. White. 49:43 Sister White. 49:46 Some people are afraid to call Sister White. 49:50 "Oh, that's what Mrs. White... Ellen G. White. " 49:54 That's fine; I do the same thing. 49:56 When I'm in certain crowds I do the same thing. 49:58 But tonight I'm just going to say "Sister White says. " 50:05 Listen to what Sister White says. She says: 50:08 "The shortness of time... " 50:11 Listen to this now. This is for preachers and other sinners. 50:14 "The shortness of time is frequently urged us 50:19 as incentive for seeking righteousness 50:22 and making Christ our friend. " 50:25 We're going to scare the people. 50:26 Going to scare everybody. 50:29 Run to Jesus because it's... It's incentive for us 50:32 to scare you. "This should not be the great motive 50:37 with us. It savors of selfishness. 50:42 Is it necessary that the terrors of God should be held before us 50:48 that we may be compelled to right action through fear? 50:54 It ought not to be so. " 50:57 Don't come trying to scare me 51:00 because already I love Jesus. 51:04 Amen. 51:05 That's what she says here: "Jesus is attractive. 51:08 He's full of love, mercy, and compassion. 51:11 He proposes to be our friend. " 51:16 Isn't that wonderful? Amen! 51:19 I have people that I grew up with 51:21 and they became wealthy and famous. 51:25 Now they don't know me hardly. 51:27 "Oh, did we meet somewhere? " 51:29 But Jesus is my friend. 51:33 He doesn't deny me. He doesn't say "I don't know you. " 51:36 No... not unless He really doesn't know you. 51:39 "To walk with us through all the rough pathways of life. 51:43 He says to us: 'I am the Lord thy God. 51:45 Walk with Me; I'll fill your path with light. ' 51:47 Jesus - the majesty of heaven - proposes to elevate 51:51 to companionship with Him. " 51:54 You know, the British like to say 51:56 "the favor of your companionship. " 52:00 You know, I want to get friendly with you. 52:03 But Jesus says: "I want to be your friend; 52:06 I want to be your companion. " 52:09 "With Him and those who come to Him with their 52:13 burdens, their weaknesses, their cares 52:15 He counts them as children and finally He gives them 52:18 an inheritance of more value than the empires of kings: 52:22 a crown of glory richer than has ever decked the brow 52:28 of the most exalted monarch. " 52:31 Jesus is our friend. 52:35 Amen. So we are His end-time people. 52:37 Amen. He is our friend. 52:41 Sticketh closer than a brother. 52:44 Thinks about us all the time. 52:47 We're always on His mind. 52:50 When He was on the cross we were on His mind. 52:54 When He was in Gethsemane we were on His mind. 52:57 Wherever He was we were on His mind. 53:01 And in the eons of eternity past 53:06 when He saw the magnitude of that rebellion that came with 53:11 the little lump of pride... a lump, 53:16 a malignant lump of pride... He saw 53:19 the terrible sense of danger that brought to the universe 53:24 and He thought way back there 53:26 as the old black preachers of the South used to pray... 53:29 used to preach... Before there was a where or a when 53:33 or a there or a then, He was there thinking about us! 53:38 Amen. Ya'll don't understand what preaching is all about. 53:42 You're supposed to answer the preacher and urge him on. 53:45 Amen. 53:50 That's what He says. 53:53 He saw the emergency. 53:58 He laid the plans. 54:00 He executed them. 54:03 Finished it off on Calvary. 54:06 And He's coming back to take us to inherit 54:11 what He's gone to prepare for us. 54:14 Doesn't that make you happy? 54:16 Amen! Yes it does. 54:17 So now the rest of this week 54:20 I want to talk about... Tomorrow morning: 54:26 Good Man Lost and Bad Man Saved. 54:32 Hmmm? 54:33 Good Man Lost; Bad Man Saved. 54:35 I want to talk at 7 tomorrow evening: 54:39 We Are Identified. 54:42 They gave me... Just now they came and put this badge on me. 54:48 You see that? 54:49 That 3ABN badge. But I'm telling you, when the Lord grabs you 54:53 He puts a badge on you for the kingdom of God. 54:56 And then on Sabbath 55:00 I want to talk about Our Assignment. 55:03 He didn't call us here just to sit down and sing. 55:08 And then finally on Sabbath evening 55:11 I want to talk about Buy That Field. 55:16 Somebody took the property from our family 55:20 and somebody got to go and get it back. 55:24 Buy That Field. Oh Jesus, blessed Redeemer, 55:30 near to the heart of God. Hold us who wait before Thee 55:37 near to the heart of God. 55:43 Give us a song in our heart 55:45 and during these days, this time here together, 55:49 help us dear Lord to feast on Your Word. 55:53 Help us to come close to each other. 55:56 Then they that fear the Lord spake often one to another. 56:00 The Lord heard and He wrote all of that in a book. 56:03 So Father God, be with us tonight 56:07 and throughout our days. 56:12 Forgive our sins 56:15 and keep us to Yourself alone. 56:18 In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen! 56:23 Amen. I see I have a full 22 seconds left. 56:31 God bless you, Brother. 56:32 Amen. Thank you. 56:36 Didn't you appreciate this message tonight? Amen! 56:38 Amen. All right. 56:40 You know, that's what it's all about: Jesus is coming again! 56:43 He's coming soon - Amen - in the clouds of glory. 56:48 That's the whole message of 3ABN. 56:50 And this is a message that is going around the world. 56:54 It's been the message of our people since the 1840's 56:58 and it has continued to grow. 57:00 And as an official group since the 1860's. 57:04 And so we're excited to be a part of that message 57:09 going around the world. 57:12 Jesus is coming again. 57:16 We hear a lot of people talking about it. 57:18 Some people unfortunately setting dates about it 57:21 because that's exactly what Jesus said don't do. 57:24 But He said: "Be ready, for in such an hour 57:28 as you think not I will come back. " 57:34 And I believe that He's coming very, very soon. 57:39 Now those of you at home, be ready to join us again 57:42 in a few minutes for a beautiful music program. |
Revised 2014-12-17