Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: 12POP
Program Code: 12POP000003
|
00:47 Hello, good evening, and we welcome you to hour #3.
00:51 And time really goes fast when you're having fun! 00:54 And time goes fast when you are among friends 00:57 and when you're worshiping the Lord. 01:00 And we are truly doing all of that this evening. 01:02 We've had music; we've had a message; 01:05 we will more music and another message. 01:07 And then we get to do this again on tomorrow evening 01:10 and all day on Sabbath. What could be better than that? 01:15 Amen. Amen. We've got our friends from across the world. 01:17 I see the gang from Huntsville, Alabama is in the house 01:20 and people from all across the United States 01:23 and our audience from beyond the bounds of these United States 01:28 through the miracle of television and the Internet. 01:31 So we welcome you once again to hour #3. 01:33 It's going to be a good hour as they all will be 01:36 because we're talking about the things of God 01:38 and we are listening to the Word of God 01:41 and we are listening to the preaching of that Word. 01:44 And so we are excited to have you here 01:46 and we welcome you once again to this particular sitting. 01:50 We are going to call Allison Durham-Speer back 01:53 to sort of set the stage for the preaching of the Word 01:56 then we'll come back and do a formal introduction 01:58 of our speaker. But I think she's going to be singing 02:00 He Hideth My Soul, and she does that so beautifully. 02:04 God has given this woman quite a gift. 02:06 And you know what? This is a nice lady. 02:09 I like ability with humility and she has both. 02:13 Ability and humility, and that all comes from Jesus Christ. 02:17 So Allison, God bless you. Thank you. 02:18 Well you're so very kind and the feeling is very mutual. 02:22 Thank you so much. 02:43 A wonderful Savior 02:48 is Jesus my Lord, 02:53 A wonderful Savior 02:57 to me; 03:00 He hideth my soul 03:06 in the cleft of the rock, 03:12 where rivers of pleasure 03:18 I see. 03:21 He hideth my soul 03:26 in the cleft of the rock 03:30 That shadows this dry, 03:34 thirsty land; 03:39 He hideth my life 03:43 in the depths of His love, 03:49 And covers me there 03:53 with His hand, 03:58 And covers me there 04:04 with His hand. 04:12 When clothed in His brightness 04:17 transported I rise 04:21 To meet Him 04:23 in clouds of the sky, 04:29 His perfect salvation, 04:33 His wonderful love, 04:38 I'll shout with the millions 04:42 on high. 04:45 He hideth my soul 04:50 in the cleft of the rock 04:54 That shadows 04:57 this dry, thirsty land; 05:03 He hideth my life 05:08 in the depths 05:10 of His love, 05:16 And covers me there 05:21 with His hand, 05:26 He covers me 05:32 there 05:35 with His 05:40 hand. 06:01 Amen. 06:03 Thank you, C.A. Amen. 06:06 Several years ago I was in the worship auditorium at the 06:11 Southern University. And there were two people 06:15 sitting behind me. And they were trying to encourage me 06:19 to get their pastor on 3ABN. 06:21 And they just went on and on about this man. 06:25 And you know, even during the service they were telling me 06:27 about their pastor. Just wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo. 06:29 Wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo wo-wo-wo-wo. 06:31 And I said to myself: "Is he paying these people? " 06:35 You know, just on and on. Nobody can be as good 06:39 as these people are made... 06:41 They said: "You've got to hear our pastor. 06:42 You've got to get our pastor on 3ABN. The world is going to 06:45 love our pastor and you need to get him on 3ABN. " 06:48 And I actually began to develop 06:51 a little something against the pastor. You know, I just... 06:54 I'm thinking: "Nobody can be this good. " 06:56 And I said: "I've got to meet this guy. " 06:59 And just a few years later I had a chance to meet him 07:03 and to interview him, and every- thing they said about him 07:05 was true. First of all, he is a man of God. 07:08 He is a humble man. And my wife, Irma, says: 07:11 "He's real. " He is real. 07:14 John Bradshaw is now the Speaker Director for It Is Written. 07:18 He follows in the steps of some mighty men of God: 07:22 Vandeman, Finley, Boonstra. 07:25 But you know, God is no respecter of persons. 07:29 Comes the man; comes the hour. Comes the hour; comes the man. 07:34 And God called him, and he is doing a marvelous job. 07:38 And he had stepped in and taken that mantle 07:41 and God is using him in a marked and mighty way. 07:44 And we are so very, very pleased to have John Bradshaw 07:48 come and be with us. He had made a name for himself. 07:52 And I use that terminology... He had made a name for himself 07:56 as a preacher of righteousness, as a man of God, 08:00 as a straight shooter. 08:02 Again, great God-given ability 08:06 coupled with God-given humility. 08:09 That makes you a mighty weapon in the hand of God. 08:13 And he is proving that the Lord is using him 08:16 in a mighty way to win souls around the world. 08:19 We are pleased to present to you at this time 08:22 the Director of It Is Written but our friend 08:26 and our preacher for the hour John Bradshaw. 08:29 Thank you, sir. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 08:36 Wrecked it for me... secret's out. 08:41 I actually did pay those people. 08:47 Thanks. 08:52 Preachers want to hide some stuff. 08:54 Can't hide anything with C.A. around. 08:56 Good evening everyone. Good evening. 08:58 I am glad you are here or here, wherever here is for you. 09:01 Thank you for joining us. 09:02 I tell you what: I just love 3ABN Camp Meeting. 09:05 Can you say "Amen" to that? Amen. 09:06 This is great. You can run here but you cannot escape 09:10 the Holy Spirit at 3ABN Camp Meeting. 09:12 Even if you try to you cannot. 09:14 So the Lord is here, and I'm glad that the Lord led you here. 09:17 And I'm not glad, I'm... Well I am glad, I'm privileged, 09:21 privileged that the Lord has given me the opportunity 09:23 to be back here. I was here not too terribly long ago 09:26 for a Pillars weekend and that was fun. 09:29 And it's always a real blessing to come here and see old friends 09:32 and make new friends and to be in a place where the Spirit 09:35 of God habitually works... habitually works. 09:39 So I'm glad that you have been brought here this evening. 09:42 Now I could show you postcards and tell you stories 09:46 and show you pictures of my kids and all that... 09:48 Actually, that's probably a good idea! 09:50 But I've got to respect the clock. 09:54 You know I used to... Someone's laughing 09:57 when I talked about respecting the clock. 10:01 You must know those same church members C.A. was talking about. 10:04 I always tell my congregations 10:06 "Now if you need to leave just go right ahead, 10:10 but we're not finishing until the Holy Spirit is done. " 10:14 That's what I would tell them. 10:15 And some of them would leave but most people wouldn't. 10:21 The Holy Spirit's not on the clock. I tell people - 10:23 especially on Sabbath. You know, they start looking at 10:25 their watch about noon. "What are you in a hurry for? 10:28 You've got all day! Do you have a better offer? 10:31 You have an appointment? It's the Sabbath! " 10:35 Yeah. So I come to 3ABN. 10:38 I was going to stand up and say: "I'm going to preach till the 10:41 Holy Spirit tells me to stop. " 10:42 And they said: "You can keep on going but when it's time 10:45 to stop the cameras get turned off and... " 10:49 So you have to stop at quitting time around here... 10:52 which might be just as well. I am delighted. 10:55 We have a blessing tonight. I have the privilege, 10:58 the opportunity of talking about a subject dear to my heart: 11:01 the Bible. And our subject tonight is The Sure Word of God. 11:07 And if that's not a pillar, if that's not a foundation, 11:13 then nothing is. Can you say "Amen? " Amen! 11:16 The Word of God... we want to stand on it. 11:19 And let's stand on it tonight. 11:20 Let us pray and expect the blessing of God. 11:23 Please if you would bow your head with me as we pray. 11:27 Our Father and our God, we come to You tonight 11:29 in the name of Jesus grateful. 11:33 In the Psalms David asks a question: 11:35 "What is man that Thou art mindful of him? " 11:37 What a question. 11:40 What are we, Lord, that You would even bother? 11:43 That you would even think of us? 11:47 And yet we thank you that You do. 11:49 You so loved the world that You gave Your only begotten Son... 11:52 the science of which will be our study for all eternity. 11:56 Tonight bless us as we open the Bible. 11:59 We ask You, Lord, to be preciously close. 12:02 I pray that our life... that Your life 12:07 would collide tonight 12:09 and that when we go from here we will go in the 12:13 solemn assurance... no, no, wait, the joyous assurance 12:17 that we are Yours and You are ours. 12:20 We sense these are great days for the world, 12:23 for Your church, for us. 12:25 We sense that Jesus is soon to come. 12:29 And it's not just a sense but it is our studied observation. 12:32 And so let tonight be something that will prepare us even more 12:36 for that time. Grow our faith. 12:38 Own our hearts; keep our minds; 12:42 draw us and make us Yours. 12:45 We ask for Your blessing now... not selfishly but 12:48 that You would be glorified. And we pray 12:51 in Jesus' name... please join me in saying "Amen. " 13:00 I grew up very much interested 13:06 in sure things. 13:09 As a gambler, I was not very interested 13:14 if a horse had a chance of winning 13:17 or might win or could do well this week. 13:20 I started gambling at a very young age. 13:23 My earliest recollection of taking my own money 13:25 and betting it on a horse was when I was 6 years old. 13:28 I can't remember too much before then 13:30 so I might have started gambling before then, I don't know. 13:34 But when you're betting on horses, you want to bet on 13:36 something that you know is going to win. 13:39 Now of course it's not very easy to know 13:42 that something is going to win. 13:44 I could never get into some of this casino gambling 13:46 that people do today. You take a ball; 13:48 you flick it around a roulette wheel. 13:50 There's about 800 holes for the thing to stop, and to me 13:53 the odds are just too great. But a horse! 13:55 You can look at that thing and you can size it up. 13:58 And you can check its form and you know how it did last week. 14:01 And you know how good that jockey rides, 14:02 and you know whether it likes to run on a soft track 14:04 or a hard track. Oh, it's all coming back to me now! 14:12 You want a sure thing. 14:14 Not always easy to come by. If only there was a way 14:17 to know for sure. You know it's actually... speaking of gambling 14:21 I remember asking my wi... It wasn't my wife 14:25 but asking my fiancee or whatever it was she was 14:28 I remember asking her to marry me. 14:31 Speaking of sure things. 14:33 I was certain this was the surest thing in all of history. 14:40 I got ready to ask her and I felt like 14:43 Michael Jordan taking the last- second game-winning shot. 14:48 You know it wasn't for several years until I discovered that 14:52 Michael Jordan actually missed the last-second game-winning 14:55 shot twenty-six times. 14:59 I probably should have known that beforehand. 15:02 What I thought was going to be Reagan beating Mondale 15:05 turned out to be Dewey defeating Truman. 15:08 Remember the headlines? 15:10 Yeah. I just had the silly idea. I thought that 15:14 when you asked a woman to marry you she would know 15:15 what she wanted to say. I thought you said: 15:17 "Will you marry me? " and she would either say "yes" or "no. " 15:19 And if there's even a slight chance of it being a no 15:21 then you wouldn't ask, would you? 15:23 So I... 15:25 I asked. I did something I'd never done before. 15:28 I had never asked a woman to marry me, and so I asked Melissa 15:31 to marry me believing this was the surest... this was the 15:34 slam dunk. Have you ever seen these guys go for a slam dunk 15:36 and it bounces off the rim? 15:38 I thought this was a slam dunk: 15:41 "Will you marry me? " 15:43 And she paused. 15:48 In a moment my whole life flashed before my eyes. 15:54 Right then while she was pausing was I trying to... 15:56 I was coming up with reasons how I can explain this 15:59 to my friends. Well maybe I just won't tell them... 16:01 but she'll tell everybody. 16:04 What am I going to say to my family? My mother knew. 16:06 She was going to call me that day probably and say: 16:08 "Well how'd it go? " "Well... ha, ha... 16:11 didn't go to plan, Mom. " 16:14 What was I going to do? 16:16 I stood there... You know, later on she said: 16:19 "I was just so surprised. " 16:21 Which surprised me because I had... I had... on my forehead 16:25 were written the words I'm going to ask you 16:27 if you will marry me, and I'm going to do it today. 16:29 It was written right here and she couldn't not see it. 16:34 It seemed suddenly as though my sure thing 16:38 was turning into the Titanic. 16:41 Actually a few moments on the bottom of the ocean 16:43 would have gone down really well for me about then. 16:48 She did say "yes" eventually. 16:51 Thinking back I'm thinking she paused for about 14 minutes. 16:57 It was probably only seconds you know. 17:00 Probably only fractions of seconds actually. 17:02 But that... You know what? Thinking back that pause 17:06 still bothers me today. 17:09 I wonder about that pause sometimes. 17:14 Probably shouldn't think about it. 17:15 We like sure things. 17:17 August 2, 2007, 17:21 a British gambler... his name was Mark Bell... 17:24 was sitting in his office. 17:26 He has an office where he works. 17:28 He works as a gambler. He earns actually 2 million pounds 17:31 a year gambling. That's his income. 17:33 And in Britain they don't tax winnings on gambling. 17:36 So 2 million quid is 2 million quid, and he was... 17:38 he liked his job very much. 17:41 And he was watching his computer that day 17:42 looking for sports events on which he could bet... 17:47 where he could gamble. 17:48 And a tennis match caught his eye. 17:51 I was very surprised to learn that tennis is the 17:53 #3 rated sport for gambling in the United Kingdom 17:56 behind horse racing and soccer. 17:58 After that it's tennis, and there's a lot of gambling on 18:00 tennis evidently. He was watching his screen 18:03 and something caught his eye. He's always looking for a sure 18:05 thing. He would gamble on one sports event 18:08 more than most people earn in an entire year. 18:12 Typically... so he's looking for a sure thing. 18:15 And he's watching the computer and something flashes up. 18:19 I don't know whether someone alerted him or if he just 18:21 saw it... I don't know. 18:23 But there was a tennis match being played I think in Madrid. 18:27 Would that be right? 18:28 That would be a clay court. 18:30 The clay season's probably over by then. 18:32 I don't know where it was... it was somewhere in Europe. 18:34 And the #4 player in the world at the time, a Russian/Ukrainian 18:39 fellow named Nicolay Davydenko, 18:41 was playing against an Argentine 18:45 #87 in the world: Martin Arguello. 18:50 Now #4 vs. #87. 18:52 The result is a foregone conclusion. 18:54 Upsets can happen, but that would be the mother of all 18:56 upsets. But what he noticed 18:58 as he was just looking down at this game taking place 19:01 between #4 and #87 19:03 was that people were starting to bet massive amounts of money 19:07 on #87. 19:09 That's the 87th ranked player in the world 19:11 against the #4 ranked player in the world. 19:13 Lots of money... big money. 19:15 The game started, and in England evidently - this is 19:19 Internet gambling - you can bet on an event after it has begun. 19:23 Which strikes me as odd, but evidently you can. 19:25 And after the game began 19:28 Mr. Davydenko was holding serve and leading 19:31 in the first set, and big money was being bet on the other guy. 19:36 Davydenko won the first set. 19:39 More big money is being bet on the other guy. 19:42 Big money! I mean hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of 19:46 thousands of dollars. Maybe even millions of dollars. 19:49 Mr. Bell said: "Clearly somebody knows something I don't know. 19:55 This is a sure thing. " And he took $60,000 20:00 and bet on the #87 ranked tennis player in the world 20:05 to beat the #4 tennis player in the world. 20:07 Didn't make any sense, but he was watching something 20:09 that suggested to him the result is a foregone conclusion. 20:14 Now funnily enough, Mr. Davydenko lost the 2nd set. 20:18 But it's still #4 against #87. 20:21 Then he's down 2 games to 1 in the third set 20:25 and he sits down in his chair and he says: "My foot hurts. " 20:28 And he started to lift and he called the trainer 20:31 or the doctor and they massaged his foot. 20:32 And he winced with pain and he announced he could not 20:35 play on and he lost the game. 20:39 Betfair, a big betting agency in Great Britain, said: 20:42 "We don't believe the betting on that match was fair. " 20:46 The Association of Tennis Professionals investigated 20:48 the game for a year. They couldn't prove anything fishy, 20:54 but some people were convinced 20:56 that something fishy had gone on. 20:59 Funny, you know. He said he was in terrible pain. 21:01 He had a stress fracture. 21:03 Uh, the next week he beat the 30th ranked player in the world 21:07 and two weeks after that he made it to the semi-finals 21:10 at the U.S. Open. Seems pretty fishy to me. 21:14 But Mr. Bell saw a certainty. 21:18 When you're gambling you don't want to leave anything to 21:20 chance... you want a sure thing, not guesswork. 21:25 Now I'm not going to encourage you in the area of gambling. 21:28 You wouldn't be surprised to hear that. 21:30 But there's something that I want to encourage you in 21:32 tonight. If you are looking for a sure thing, 21:36 then I cannot recommend to you the stock market. 21:41 I mean people thought Facebook shares were a sure thing. 21:47 Not so sure. 21:49 Price of oil? Up and down. 21:52 Futures markets? They are dicey. 21:54 Money in the bank? Banks have been closing like you would 21:58 hardly believe. Thankfully that has slowed down a little bit. 22:01 But there is something that you can relate to 22:07 and lean on with confidence and certainty. 22:12 And I am going to tell you tonight that that 22:14 is the Word of God. Can you say "Amen? " Amen! 22:18 If you disagree with me, that would be your right. 22:21 But if you disagree with me that the Bible is sure, 22:24 if you say it is not sure, 22:26 I would hope that at least you would investigate. 22:28 I mean people get their hopes up over all kinds of things. 22:31 I was at a church... I must not tell you which church 22:35 because people would be embarrassed. 22:36 It was Sabbath morning. I arrived 22:38 and people were excited. I was a visitor at this church. 22:42 I was a visiting preacher. 22:43 And folks were excited. There was a hub-bub of activity 22:47 among the administrative staff. 22:49 "What's going on? " I said. 22:51 "Well, you wouldn't believe it. We just go this e-mail. " 22:54 "You did? " "Right here at the church. " 22:56 "Tell me more. " 22:57 "Well evidently somebody in Nigeria has got a whole lot of 23:01 money and they are looking to give some of that money to us. " 23:12 I said: "You don't look like you just came down in the 23:15 last shower of rain... but somebody thinks you did. " 23:18 "No, no. They contacted us. They said: "Because 23:21 you are a faith-based organization 23:23 and you do good work, we've got to get rid of this 23:26 money somehow. " And they were thinking: 23:28 "Well what do we do now? They want our e-mail add... " 23:31 No, they had the e-mail. "They want some bank account 23:32 numbers... " And aye-yi-yi yi-yi. 23:36 People will put their confidence in the strangest things. 23:43 And some of those people - thankfully not those people - 23:46 some of those very same people who will put their confidence 23:48 in the dumbest things will reject the Word of God 23:52 as being unbelievable. 23:54 Well tonight we are discussing The Sure Word of God. 23:57 A skeptic might say: "A preacher discussing the sure Word of God 24:02 is a put up job. " 24:05 It's like when the wine companies 24:08 pay somebody to investigate 24:10 whether or not red wine is good for you. 24:13 How reliable can that research be? 24:15 It was bought and paid for by the wine company... 24:17 you know what it's going to say. 24:19 But hold on a minute. Before you think we're a 24:22 wine company researcher in disguise, we're not... 24:25 Remember they used to say that tobacco was good for you 24:27 as well. An ad in 1966 for L and M cigarettes 24:32 described them as being "just what the doctor ordered. " 24:37 A certain amount of irony in that statement, isn't there? 24:39 Just what the undertaker ordered is more like it. 24:42 The point is, friends, when we make claims 24:44 they can be analyzed, verified, checked out. 24:47 And we can do that with the Bible. 24:50 We ought to be able to look at the Bible dispassionately 24:52 and deduce whether or not the Bible is believable 24:56 and the Word of God. 24:58 I believe we can. 24:59 You know, I did a little research. 25:01 I go: "What are the arguments that people have against 25:04 the Bible? Folks who say the Bible cannot be trusted? " 25:08 I mean I need to be able to look this in the eye 25:11 like a man and deal with whatever they dish out. 25:15 And so I looked at some of these arguments. 25:17 I was expecting good ones. Instead 25:19 I just found ticky-tacky stuff. 25:21 "In the Bible it says His name will be called Emmanuel 25:24 but they called Him Jesus. " 25:31 All right. Is there another good argument against believing 25:33 the Bible? "Well in one place it says 25:36 'this is My beloved Son' and in another place it says 25:39 'You are My beloved Son. ' " 25:42 Wow... I'm underwhelmed. 25:45 The point is: two different writers from two different 25:47 perspectives wrote about the same event and one said 25:50 "You" and one said "He. " I don't see any reason to 25:53 toss the Bible out. 25:54 And the Bible... One - I can't call him a scholar - 25:59 one person said: "God is a man of war" 26:01 and then "God is a God of love and peace. " 26:05 Come on, man. 26:07 You wouldn't quibble with a historian writing something like 26:10 that about Nero or Caesar or King George. 26:16 You'd say: "Different folks; different contexts. " 26:20 Right? Sure. You can understand that. 26:23 One person bellyached about the Bible saying the rooster 26:26 crowed once AND the rooster crowed twice. 26:30 Ladies and gentlemen, the point is the rooster crowed! 26:36 Now I would be interested if it says in one place 26:39 "the rooster crowed" and over here "the cow mooed. " 26:43 I'd be thinking: "Hey, how can you get that so messed up? " 26:46 But both writers talked about a rooster. 26:49 I don't know how many times the thing crowed. 26:51 I don't even care! 26:53 That's an important detail but it doesn't break the deal. 26:56 "Love your neighbor as much as yourself? " 27:00 And in another place: "Put the Bible ahead of yourself. " 27:03 And I read this stuff and I said: "Come on. 27:06 You've got to be able to do better than that surely. " 27:09 I want a problem with the virgin birth. 27:11 That's what I'm looking for. 27:12 I'm looking for someone telling me the resurrection never 27:14 happened or that Jesus didn't exist or there's no afterlife. 27:18 Come on. You've got to do better than a word here 27:21 or a word there. That's minor league stuff. 27:24 I'm looking for something heavy-weight champion 27:28 of the world. I want to take you with me in the Bible 27:30 to II Peter chapter 1 and find out 27:34 what the Bible writers thought 27:36 and why they thought what they thought. 27:40 You know you can listen to the critics about anything, 27:43 but the best thing to do is go to the source. 27:46 So enough of the critics; let's take a look at the source. 27:49 II Peter chapter 1 and we'll begin in verse 16. 27:52 And I love what Peter wrote. He wrote this... 27:55 II Peter 1 verse 16: 27:58 "We have not followed cunningly-devised... " What? 28:03 I always remember a friend of mine in high school 28:06 telling me he thought the Bible was just like the tooth fairy. 28:10 Now it's funny... he'd never read the Bible. 28:12 You ever heard that old line: "People are down on 28:16 what they're not up on? " And that's true about the Bible. 28:18 Some of the Bible's harshest critics are people who wouldn't 28:20 know Genesis from Revelation. 28:22 They've never even held the thing in their hand. 28:24 Peter said: "We have not followed cunningly-devised 28:26 fables when we made known to you the power and coming of 28:31 our Lord Jesus Christ. 28:33 But we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. " 28:37 Can you imagine that? 28:39 They walked with Jesus; they talked with Jesus. 28:42 They saw Him do what He did; they saw Him raise people 28:46 from the dead; they saw Him heal the blind 28:50 and heal the lame. They saw Him counseling with sinners 28:54 and spending time with publicans. 28:57 They were eyewitnesses. Why in the world would they 29:02 fabricate this? Writing this stuff was akin to signing their 29:05 own death warrants. Men setting themselves apart 29:07 as being followers of Jesus... 29:09 this was hardly a recommendation. 29:12 I want you to think about what Jesus did. 29:14 Jesus was there in Israel. 29:17 He was in a nation that was really a warring nation. 29:20 Now they weren't warring right then... they were an occupied 29:23 nation... but they had blood in their past. 29:25 A nation of warriors. 29:27 And Jesus commissioned twelve fellows - down to eleven - 29:32 to go to a nation of religious fanatics 29:36 and establish a new religion. 29:40 Why would you even do that 29:42 if you weren't convinced to the nth degree 29:48 that what you were saying was true? 29:50 These people were committed. 29:51 They had to be committed for a reason, and they were! 29:53 Because they had seen Jesus and they knew Jesus 29:57 and they had been eyewitnesses of His majesty 30:00 as the Bible says. Verse 17: 30:02 "For He received from God the Father honor and glory... " 30:05 listen to this: "when there came such a voice to Him 30:07 from the excellent glory: 'This is My beloved Son 30:11 in whom I am well pleased. ' 30:14 And this voice which came from heaven we heard 30:18 when we were with Him in the holy mount. " 30:21 That's the Mount of Transfiguration. 30:23 I want to say something to you. 30:24 I have never heard the voice of God. 30:27 I have sensed Jesus speaking to me. I will tell you 30:29 "I heard God say" but I don't mean I heard a voice. 30:32 Some of you all have probably heard a voice. 30:35 That's OK. I'd get a little worried about people hearing 30:37 voices all the time but people do hear a voice. 30:41 It's all right. I've never heard a voice. 30:44 But let me tell you something: if we were standing around here 30:48 and a voice thundered from heaven saying: 30:49 "This is My beloved Son" or something like that 30:53 I would never forget that. I would be moved; 30:55 I would be... Wow... that would be just... 30:58 that would be the most incredible thing. 30:59 Can you imagine anything more incredible? 31:01 I don't want to see something because you know my eyes 31:03 might deceive me. But you can hardly mistake it 31:06 when you hear it. 31:07 And Peter said: "We heard it! " 31:11 But then he said there's some- thing even more convincing 31:14 than that. What could be more convincing 31:19 than hearing the voice of God? 31:22 Peter tells us. "We have also a more sure 31:27 word of prophecy 31:29 whereunto you do well that you take heed 31:31 as unto a light that shines in a dark place 31:33 until the day dawns and the Daystar arise in your hearts. " 31:37 Can you imagine? They knew Jesus. 31:40 They saw Him; they heard Yahweh's voice. 31:44 And they said there's something even more convincing than that. 31:49 And what is that? The more sure Word of God. 31:53 Listen friends, you don't have to see an angel. 31:56 You don't have to hear the voice of God audibly 31:59 because you've got the voice of God right here 32:01 in the Holy Bible. This is the sure Word of God. 32:06 Can you say "Amen? " Amen. 32:07 "Knowing this first: that no prophecy of the scripture 32:10 is of any private interpretation. " 32:11 Folks didn't make this up; God breathed upon them. 32:15 "The prophecy came not in old times by the will of man 32:18 but holy men of God spoke as they were moved 32:21 by the Holy Ghost. " 32:24 God spoke... just think of that! 32:26 He spoke! The Sovereign of the Universe condescending 32:30 even to communicate with sinful human beings. 32:32 That's radical. 32:33 The very concept of divine revelation itself is awesome! 32:37 That the Deity, the One who hung the stars in space, 32:41 the One who put that red spot on the side of Jupiter, 32:43 wrapped the rings around Saturn. 32:45 The One who made bumblebees fly when some people say 32:48 they shouldn't even be able to fly. 32:49 The Lord who feeds the baby ravens and put that bow 32:53 in the sky. That One even speaking to us 32:57 as if He owes us anything. 33:00 He doesn't, and yet He speaks to us anyway. 33:03 You know, if you want to know that the Word of God is sure 33:06 I'm going to do this briefly because over this weekend 33:08 somebody else is going to deal with Daniel chapter 2 in depth. 33:11 But we tell people everywhere: "If you want to know 33:14 if the Word of God is sure go to Daniel chapter 2. " 33:16 So let's just talk about it for a minute. 33:18 In Daniel chapter 2 the king Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. 33:21 He was a Babylonian... a pagan king. 33:24 Has a dream. Dreams of... what was it now? 33:27 He doesn't remember. 33:28 In the morning he says to his counselors: 33:30 "Had a dream. Man, it was a dream! 33:33 I believe the gods were speaking to me. " 33:35 That's... they believed that back then. 33:37 "So counselors, wise men: tell me what I dreamed 33:41 and then tell me what it means. " 33:43 That was a tall order, wasn't it? 33:45 They said: "Whoa, hang on a minute. 33:47 How about you tell us what the dream was and then we'll just 33:51 make something up. " 33:54 "Uh-uh, I know you're just buying time. 33:57 You tell me what that dream was and tell me what it means. " 34:01 Well they couldn't do it. He said: "Kill them all. " 34:04 I don't know if you have stopped to realize that in the story 34:07 in Daniel 2 the executioner is actually on the way 34:12 for the wise men. He was on his way to Daniel's house 34:16 to pick up Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 34:18 because they were part of the cadre of wise men. 34:21 And they were... they were on their way out. 34:24 While the footsteps of the executioner could be heard 34:28 Daniel said: "Hold on. Would you mind giving us some time? " 34:31 He was given permission. They talked to God; 34:33 they prayed. God answered prayer. 34:35 God answers prayer, doesn't He? Amen. 34:38 God answers prayer. He answered their prayer. 34:40 Went to the king: "King, here's what you dreamed. " 34:43 "What did I dream young man? " "Well you dreamed of a big 34:45 statue. " "Well that makes sense... I worship statues. " 34:48 "You dreamed of a great big statue. 34:50 Head is made out of gold; chest and arms of silver; 34:52 belly and thighs of brass; legs made out of iron; 34:55 feet made out of iron and clay. " 34:56 "Wow! That's right! That's what I dreamed. " 35:00 "Well now let me tell you what it means. " 35:01 "Yes, do. " "You are the head of gold... Babylon. " "Cool! " 35:05 "Not so much because there's coming another kingdom. 35:09 Your days are numbered. " "Whoa, wait... 35:11 that's not so cool. " 35:13 "But let me tell you more: after that 35:15 there's another kingdom. " "There is? " 35:17 "Yes, and then a fourth one. " "What happens next? " 35:19 "The fourth one divides. " 35:21 This dream was given in around 600 BC. 35:24 Daniel's talking about stuff that doesn't happen for another 35:27 1,500 years. Wait... 2,000 years. 35:31 Long time! And you go to the Bible now looking back 35:35 and you go to history, and everything God said 35:40 would happen what? Happened. 35:43 Because when God speaks stuff happens. 35:46 When God utters, what God says comes to pass. 35:52 You've got to love that. 35:53 And this prophecy in Daniel chapter 2 has made believers 35:57 out of skeptics. The fourth kingdom is going to divide. 36:01 You add more information together from Daniel 7 and so on 36:03 you discover ten nations come out of Rome. 36:06 Fascinating... fascinating. 36:09 And then Daniel said: "They will mingle themselves with the seed 36:14 of men but they will not cleave one to another. " 36:18 There were repeated attempts to bring Europe back into 36:21 a revived Roman Empire. That's what Hitler was trying to do. 36:23 Failed! Kaiser Wilhelm; Louis XIV 36:26 to a lesser extent. Failed. 36:29 Napoleon. Man, you've heard preachers say this stuff 36:33 but until you go to France and see... 36:36 At a place called Les Invalides there's Napoleon's tomb. 36:39 The pictures don't do it justice. 36:41 Wow. I mean what do you have to do to get buried in something 36:44 like that? Be an emperor, I suppose. 36:48 Magnificent. And when you go to where he is buried 36:52 all around there are sculptures and art work. 36:54 This man looked at himself as a new Caesar. 36:59 There's no question. He was on a crusade 37:02 to revive the Roman Empire. 37:04 He was going to be the Caesar of the Roman Empire. 37:07 Napoleon couldn't do it because he was fighting against God. 37:10 They still can't reunite Europe. 37:12 Look at Europe now. 37:13 The Eurozone is a mess. 37:15 The Euro itself is in some jeopardy. 37:17 Now I'm not predicting what's going to happen tomorrow. 37:19 I'm simply telling you that today what God said then 37:23 is still believable and reliable. 37:26 He said: "They will not cleave one to another. " 37:29 As a matter of fact, Daniel 2:45 has Daniel saying 37:32 "The dream is certain and the interpretation is... " What? 37:36 "sure. " That's where Peter got his idea from: 37:39 the more sure word of prophecy. 37:42 Then you have Isaiah prophesying that a man named Cyrus 37:45 would conquer Babylon. He predicted that 37:48 in Isaiah 45... 150 years before Cyrus was born; 37:54 180 years before these things happened; 37:56 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile. 37:59 Isaiah was either incredibly lucky 38:04 OR you can trust the Word of God. What do you think? 38:08 Trust the Word of God. 38:10 I want you to turn with me in your Bible 38:12 to I Kings chapter 16. 38:14 I Kings chapter 16. 38:17 Just one verse... one little verse. 38:20 Hang on a minute. I Kings chapter 16. 38:23 Last verse of the chapter. 38:25 "In his days... " Actually before I tell you... read you 38:28 this... remember the story back in the book of Joshua? 38:31 The people of God marched around the city of Jericho. 38:36 I've often wondered about that. 38:38 It's one thing for Joshua to say: 38:40 "Here's what we're going to do: 38:41 we're going to go up there and march around the city 38:43 once a day and then on the seventh day seven times. " 38:45 "All right, well that's... that's unorthodox. 38:49 How long are we going to do this walking for? " 38:52 "Just keep doing it man because Joshua said. " 38:55 "Where's he getting this? I mean, we never... 38:57 who ever won a battle by doing this? " 38:59 "No, God told him. " "Are you sure? " 39:02 "I wonder if that guy's just not hearing things. " 39:04 "God told him to do this? " "Yes, just keep walking. " 39:07 "Oh man, my feet are hurting. I'd rather be at home. 39:11 I mean I haven't seen my kids in a week. 39:13 He's got me walking around a city. " 39:16 Have you ever thought how much faith it took for those fellows 39:18 just to... I know they were just doing what they were told. 39:21 But how much faith did it take them to walk around that... 39:23 And he goes: "OK, shout! " 39:30 "Hang on. What you're saying is we're just going to shout 39:34 and those walls are going to come down? 39:36 Is that what you're saying? " "Yeah. " 39:41 "No, no... wait a minute. You did say 'shout?' 39:45 We're just going to shout? I mean weaponry? 39:50 Do we have? Do we fire any? What do we do? " 39:52 "No, no, no. Just shout. Everything will be OK. " 39:57 You can imagine, all right? One, two, three... 40:00 "Naw, naw, naw... 40:03 you shout; I'm not shouting. 40:05 I don't want to look stupid. 40:06 What are they going to say? 'Stupid Israelites shouting. ' " 40:11 Took some faith, didn't it? Don't you think? 40:14 I think it took some faith. 40:16 You see they had faith in the Word of God. 40:20 I don't know if there's anybody out there 40:23 kicking against the pricks or not. 40:25 I don't imagine so... I'm sure they had great faith. 40:27 When Joshua said "Shout! " they shouted. 40:31 Walls came down. What happened next? 40:33 They saved Rahab and her family. 40:36 They gathered up all the valuables - all the precious 40:39 metals - and then they burned the place. 40:42 And Joshua said: "If anybody builds this place 40:44 or attempts to build the place they'll pay for it. 40:46 They will die and their children will die too. " 40:48 Years later... 500 years later 40:51 I Kings chapter 16: "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite 40:56 build Jericho. " Now look at this: 41:00 "He laid the foundation thereof at the cost of Abiram, 41:02 his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof at the cost of 41:04 his youngest son Segub, 41:06 according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Joshua 41:10 the son of Nun. " 41:12 See friend, the Word of God is sure. 41:15 It's certain. 41:18 And if the Word of God is that sure, if it is demonstrated 41:21 again and again and again and again, it's believable. 41:24 That helps us with the big questions. 41:26 The Bible starts with probably the most famous words 41:29 in literature: "In the beginning God... " 41:32 "In the beginning God... " What? Next word please... 41:35 "created. " Created.. that's what He did. 41:37 "In the beginning God created... " 41:39 Now I wasn't raised to read the Bible but I was 41:43 raised to go to church. 41:45 And so for me to read those words I can believe them. 41:48 And if you're anything like me... 41:50 Maybe you're a "lifer. " 41:51 You might have been in the church all your life 41:53 or been a Christian for... But think about people who 41:56 are not. You know, there are many educated, talented, 42:01 intelligent-thinking people who don't believe there's a God. 42:04 They certainly don't believe that God created 42:06 in the beginning. 42:07 They don't believe in intelligent design. 42:10 They don't believe in a young earth. 42:12 They don't believe that there was a flood. 42:14 However, there are plenty of people who do believe those 42:18 things... and with good reason. 42:21 Not blind faith but studied certain faith. 42:25 I have seen God speak and then work in harmony with what He 42:28 says. When God has done all of these other things 42:31 why would I doubt that? It's like Abraham. 42:33 "Abraham, get out of there. " So he let Ur of the Chaldes. 42:36 "Abraham, turn to the left. " And he did. 42:38 "Turn to the right. " And he did. So when God said 42:41 "Take your son... " Abraham swallowed hard and said: 42:44 "OK, I'll do that because that's God speaking. " 42:46 We can believe something big like creation because we've seen 42:51 God work in so many other ways. 42:54 We got here somehow... this earth wasn't always here. 42:58 The Bible suggests that God made us purposely, 43:03 intentionally, so He could lavish His love upon us 43:05 and prepare the human family for an eternity of meaningfulness 43:09 and blessing and joy. 43:11 Just the other day I spoke to a physicist. 43:14 Bright fellow; he teaches at a European university 43:17 and lectures all over the world. 43:19 I said: "Tell me... how does physics explain the question of 43:23 origins? How does it do that? " 43:26 He said: "You know, to be honest with you, 43:29 science has not adequately reconciled in his opinion 43:34 the question of the Big Bang. " 43:37 I said: "Because you know the scientists say that there 43:39 was nothing and now there's everything. 43:40 And everything came out of nothing which I mean to me 43:43 that just seems a stretch that you could have nothing... " 43:47 And I don't know if we can actually imagine nothing. 43:50 But when they say "nothing" they mean nothing. 43:53 And out of nothing comes everything. 43:57 All right. I'm not much of a scientist 44:01 so maybe that's my problem but I said: 44:02 "That's a stretch to me. " 44:04 And he said... not a question, not a Bible apologist, 44:07 not a creationist... he said that there are real struggles 44:10 in his mind and in the scientific community 44:12 over how we got here. 44:15 I said: "No struggle. Genesis 1 verse 1... 44:17 let me help you with this. " 44:22 You know, one Harvard professor said: "Materialism is absolute. 44:26 We cannot allow a divine foot in the door. " 44:29 I wonder if there's a little bit of that going on today. 44:33 We might believe it but we are hell-bent on keeping God 44:36 out of the question. 44:37 You can look at a house and say: "Wow, who designed that? " 44:40 You can look at a padlock and say: "That's clever. " 44:42 Look at a rug or a children's toy. You say: "Man, that 44:46 was designed. Who designed that? " 44:48 You look at anything that Apple makes. You say: 44:51 "Wow! The designers thought about that. " 44:53 Everything is designed except evidently from nature. 44:57 I don't know about that. 44:59 I understand why people kick. 45:00 If there was a designer, then there's a God. 45:02 If there's a God, then we're answerable to that God 45:04 and maybe we have to think like the funny Christians. 45:08 So an elaborate idea is concocted to explain away 45:12 really a very simple thought 45:14 found in history's best-selling book: 45:17 "In the beginning God created. " 45:19 I want to read to you something I read 45:21 yesterday I think... two days ago... 45:24 on Twitter. A Twitter post... some guy posted this. 45:28 It was a photograph. This is longer than 140 characters. 45:32 "When NASA first started sending up astronauts 45:35 they quickly discovered the ballpoint pens would not 45:38 work in zero gravity. 45:39 To combat the problem NASA scientists spent a decade 45:42 and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, 45:46 upside down, under water, on almost any surface 45:49 including glass and at temperatures ranging from 45:51 below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. " 45:53 And then it says: "The Russians used a pencil. " 46:02 Now that's a great story. 46:03 There's a little problem with it, though. 46:04 It's not actually true. 46:06 That's one of these urban legends. 46:09 I hope somebody watching the tape didn't just turn it off 46:12 right then and said: "That flake! 46:14 Doesn't he know that's not true? 46:15 I'll never bother with those Christians again. " 46:18 But I share the story to make a point. 46:20 Big problem and sometimes the solution is right under 46:23 your nose. They did develop a pen, actually - not NASA. 46:26 A fellow named Paul Fisher who said he spent thousands 46:29 of hours and millions of dollars developing that very pen. 46:32 The pen is still used by astronauts today. 46:34 You can buy one from the company for $50 46:36 so there you go. 46:38 There's a simple answer to life's biggest question: 46:40 "In the beginning God. " 46:42 God made it; we messed it up. 46:44 Then God cleaned it up with a flood. 46:46 I tell you what. Last time I flew on a plane I looked 46:48 out the window and I said: "How else did that stuff 46:51 get there without... than with a flood? 46:53 How else did those formations get there? " 46:57 Now there was some stuff that was obviously pushed up 46:59 out of the ground. That was clear... clear. 47:02 Well maybe there are some other explanations that don't connote 47:05 a world-wide flood. But I look out there and say: 47:07 "The evidence suggests that what the Bible says is true. " 47:13 Ladies and gentlemen: there is plenty that you and I don't 47:15 understand about what we see out there. Plenty. 47:18 Scientists who don't believe creation aren't dummies. 47:21 People who believe evolution... we don't have to paint them out 47:25 as morons... paint them up to be morons. 47:27 They're not. Many of them are bright, bright, bright, sincere 47:29 people. But I look at the evidence and I see that 47:32 what the Bible says is true. 47:34 I can trust the sure Word of God. 47:37 And something to remember about the sure Word of God 47:39 is that it is an expression of God! Amen! 47:44 It's not a high school newspaper, man. 47:47 Here's what R.A. Torrey wrote. R.A. Torrey was a 47:50 preacher of the late 1900's early, early... No, no... 47:55 Late 1800's early 1900's. 47:57 Died and buried in Ashville, North Carolina. 48:00 He said this. He said: "It is clear that there must be 48:03 difficulty for us in a revelation such as the Bible. 48:07 If someone were to hand me a book that was as simple to me 48:10 as the multiplication table and say "this is the Word of God. 48:13 In it He has revealed His whole will and wisdom, " 48:16 I would shake my head and I would say: 48:18 "I cannot believe it. 48:19 That is too easy to be a perfect revelation of infinite wisdom. " 48:23 And I thought the same thing when I read 48:25 The Late Great Planet Earth. 48:26 I was searching but I said: "Ah, too simple. 48:29 Too neat and tidy. I don't buy it. " 48:31 There must be in any complete revelation of God's mind 48:35 and will and character and being things hard for the beginner 48:38 to understand. And the wisest and best of us 48:41 are but beginners. " And I say "Amen" to that. 48:45 I'm not bothered by difficulties in the Bible. 48:49 Now I don't say that as a cop-out. 48:51 But this represents the mind of God, and if God 48:54 isn't just at least a little bit mysterious 48:56 then He fails to be God. 48:59 If I can explain God too neatly then He's too small a God 49:03 to be able to do me much good. 49:05 There are some things we can't understand. 49:07 There are all kinds of things. 49:08 I've got a cellphone I don't understand. 49:11 How does that work? Huh? 49:14 Maybe it's the cellphone company I really don't 49:17 understand, but I don't know... 49:18 I've got a microwave... Do I have a microwave? 49:21 I don't know if I... I had one once. 49:24 I don't understand them things. 49:28 I don't know... it's just me. I don't know how my car works. 49:31 But it works. I turn the key I expect it to go. 49:34 I don't have to understand everything about the Bible. 49:37 I'm not saying that we can wander through this 49:38 in ignorance. Don't stretch what I'm saying too far. 49:41 But if there's something mysterious in the Word of God 49:43 I'm not bothered by that. 49:44 You know, man, there's plenty in the Word of God you can 49:46 understand. If all you had was 49:49 "Love God... heart, soul, mind, and strength 49:52 and your neighbor as yourself... " 49:53 that would probably be enough right there. 49:55 "Here is the patience of the saints. They keep the 49:58 commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. " 50:00 In all honesty, you don't need much more than that. 50:02 "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son 50:05 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish 50:07 but have everlasting life. " Come on now... 50:09 How much more do you need? Amen. 50:13 If all you had was the simple stuff, 50:16 you would have enough to keep you going for eternity. 50:20 And you'd be studying that and studying that and studying that. 50:25 And now friends, something I wanted to say. 50:27 I don't have much time to say this so I'll... listen quickly. 50:30 If it's true that the Bible is the Word of God, 50:33 if it is the sure Word of God, 50:36 what is that going to do to you? 50:39 Uh, if there's really a God, 50:43 if He really loves you, 50:47 if He really sent Jesus to die for you, 50:51 think of the ramifications of that. 50:53 I was in a church in Nashville 50:56 and during the song service we were singing that song 50:58 I Am So Glad That Jesus Loves Me. 51:01 Do you know that song? For some reason I turned around. 51:03 I don't know why I turned around, and I'll never forget 51:05 the name or the face of this man singing the song. 51:08 A wonderful man, a kind man... and he was beaming. 51:11 I knew when I sang that song I probably sang 51:14 I am so glad that Jesus loves me. 51:21 He was beaming. 51:22 I am so glad that... he was beaming. 51:27 Man, I looked at him. I'll never forget it. 51:28 I said: "He's glad... he's really glad! " 51:32 Why shouldn't he be? 51:33 Shouldn't you be glad if the Bible's really true? 51:36 This man was rejoicing. 51:38 Couple of Friday nights ago I was so fortunate. 51:41 I was at the Western Wall in Jerusalem 51:43 and it was magnificent. 51:45 And you know what? I didn't know what to expect. 51:48 I was there earlier in the week. We were doing some little... 51:50 filming some little vignettes for some upcoming It Is Written 51:53 television programs. And so man, we had to be down there. 51:56 And the crowd was enormous. 52:00 And then I hear the singing. Uuph! 52:02 The only thing I can relate it to 52:05 was like singing I had heard in a previous life 52:08 at soccer games when I lived in England briefly. 52:12 I went to two professional soccer games, and the singing... 52:15 boomh... it was boomh. 52:18 And I heard this singing. I looked and here came these 52:20 guys walking down a ramp. 52:21 And they're being led by a man with a long gray beard. 52:24 And he stops every now and then and he's smiling. 52:26 And boomh... and they sing again. 52:28 And they make their way down to the wall, 52:30 and I just tagged right along with them. 52:32 I'm enjoying this! 52:35 And they're singing. 52:37 And over there this other group's singing. 52:39 There's all these groups of rabbinical students singing. 52:43 And then they start some of this and they start this 52:47 and... and then they grab me. "Whoa... wait. " 52:52 I was never much of a dancer, man, but... 52:54 there's no way out. 52:57 And I'm standing with these guys and we're doing this. 53:00 Hey, da-da-da-da-da-da; hey; da-da-da-da-da-da. 53:02 You can tell them the It Is Written guy was dancing 53:07 last Friday night. Ba-ba-ba-ba, yeah, yeah. 53:10 They went bump and then they're doing this 53:12 and they're making circles. 53:13 And they don't care who they push out of the way! 53:15 And they're dancing and I said... I got talking to 53:18 a kid from New York City. He goes: 53:20 "We are celebrating the Sabbath. " 53:24 Amen. 53:26 I said: "Oh, you probably don't want to be a Christian then 53:31 'cause all we do is KEEP the Sabbath. " 53:35 They all celebrate and they are dancing. Man! 53:41 And they are singing and they've got... 53:44 And he's telling me - he's translating for me. 53:46 "Here's what we're singing. " "Wait, that's the 96th Psalm. " 53:48 "Yeah, we're singing it. It's a song you know. " 53:50 And then they're singing Isaiah 60 and they're singing... 53:53 they're singing! Amen! 53:55 I tell you what: I don't mean any disrespect. 53:57 We've got more to sing about than Jewish folks do. 53:59 I don't mean any disrespect. 54:01 We've got more to dance about than Jewish folk. Now, now. 54:03 Hang on. I'm not advocating we go back to our churches 54:06 and get a little bit of this going. 54:11 I'm not advocating that. 54:15 At one time... At one time, man, they all turned around. 54:21 The sun was setting, and they had their backs to the sun. 54:23 They turned around. He said: 54:25 "We are welcoming queen Sabbath. " 54:29 Wow; wow. 54:32 They were jubilant. 54:34 I'm just making a point. 54:36 Friend, if this book is true... 54:39 if this book is true you can afford to smile. 54:43 Amen. You can afford to be happy. 54:44 You can afford to be confident. 54:46 You can afford to celebrate. That's not a bad word... 54:48 I mean it in a good way. You can be... 54:50 you can be exuberant. 54:52 There's a God in heaven. The Bible tells me so. 54:55 I'm not the result of a cosmic accident. 54:58 I am not here to languish forever. 55:00 My body's not going to molder in a grave 55:03 forever and ever and ever and ever. 55:05 Jesus is coming back soon. 55:07 I believe it because I have the more sure Word of God. 55:10 We can believe it. And if this is true 55:13 what about the rest of the Bible? 55:14 "My God shall supply all your need. " 55:16 Is it true or not? Yes! 55:18 It's the truth. 55:20 "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just 55:23 to forgive... " Hallelujah! 55:26 I don't have to carry guilt around with me. 55:29 I am so glad about that. 55:31 "I will never leave you nor forsake you. " 55:34 "He is with me" the Bible says 55:38 and my experience has borne that out. Amen. 55:41 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. " 55:44 "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace. " 55:47 We're going to find us some mercy and grace to help 55:49 in time of need. Oh wow! 55:51 Can you imagine? There's power in this Book. 55:53 Amen. I'll tell you the greatest thing about 55:55 this Book is it changes lives. 55:57 I'll tell you about a man whose name is Joshua Blahyi. 56:02 He's from Liberia in West Africa. 56:06 In 1982 Joshua Blahyi was a high priest. 56:11 Hate to say this to you... we've got kids here. 56:14 OK, I'll sanitize this. 56:20 When he was 11 years old he was involved in a ritual of human 56:23 sacrifice... doing the sacrificing. 56:26 Eleven years old. 56:28 He became one of West Africa's most feared war lords. 56:31 Killed - he says - 20,000 people. 56:32 Some agree; some disagree. 56:34 He traded diamonds for cocaine and guns. 56:37 He fed cocaine to his soldiers, some of them as young as 56:39 9 years old. He described the way he killed people. 56:43 I mean I'm not even going to tell you about that. 56:46 Joshua Blahyi. True story... absolutely true. 56:52 Preacher went to him one day and said: "What you're doing 56:54 is wrong. What you're doing is sin. " 56:57 He stopped. Over the next few days they studied the Bible. 57:01 I've read where he said that he got a divine revelation. 57:04 Want to tell you something about Joshua Blahyi today. 57:07 Today he is a pastor. Amen! 57:11 Married with three children. Traveling around West Africa 57:14 apologizing to people for what he has done. 57:18 More sure Word of God. We've got the prophecy 57:20 but friends, we know what it can do in a person's life. 57:23 You can afford to embrace the Bible 57:27 and let it do in your life what God wants it to do 57:30 in your life. |
Revised 2014-12-17