Participants: Anil Kanda
Series Code: 13GYC
Program Code: 13GYC000016
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00:13 Have you been blessed this GYC?
00:15 Amen. 00:16 I have been tremendously blessed. 00:19 I've been to several different GYCs. 00:21 I actually went to the very first GYC, year 2002 00:27 and I decided that during some of the seminars 00:30 I was going to skip them 00:32 and go hang out with my friends. 00:36 So me and my friend decided 00:37 after one particular speaker was continuing with his sermon, 00:41 we decided that we're gonna go outside and take a walk. 00:44 We had enough. 00:46 Our minds could not last more than 10 minutes 00:48 during the sermon. 00:50 So we went for a walk. 00:51 This was down in Pine Springs Ranch. 00:54 And let me tell you, we almost died. 00:57 What happened is, we were walking around the trails 01:00 and there we saw this fenced off area 01:03 that said, "Do not trespass." 01:05 And you know what we did? 01:08 Yeah, you know it. 01:10 We jumped over the fence and we decided to take a walk. 01:13 We went walking for miles, like sheep without a shepherd. 01:17 I mean we just went out for miles. 01:19 We were going further and further, 01:21 we were looking at some of the hills 01:23 and we were watching all these things 01:25 and we were just like, nature is so beautiful. 01:28 And as we continued to walk 01:30 all of a sudden, a snow storm came in. 01:34 And this snow storm just really poured out so much snow, 01:38 it was crazy. 01:39 I never forgot that like, 01:41 we couldn't even see anymore any of the buildings, 01:44 nothing manmade and we got lost. 01:47 In fact, what was so funny, I though to myself, 01:49 I'm not going to die out here? 01:51 Indian people do not die in the snow. 01:58 Spelling bees, yes, but snow, no. 02:03 And so we were out there and we were just, 02:05 we were getting very irritated with each other 02:07 and there we were and we were just thinking to ourselves, 02:09 "All right, wish we never skipped the seminars." 02:12 Ladies and gentlemen, you skip a seminar 02:14 and maybe at the pay of your own life, 02:18 especially on the one on "apologetics." 02:22 The other thing I learned is, God got us back 02:25 but we kept walking in the direction. 02:27 I mean we had no idea where we were going 02:29 and we began to pray, 02:30 "Lord, please show us where we should go." 02:32 And we just continued walking and walking and walking 02:35 and it just seemed like for miles we were walking. 02:38 And finally we saw those buildings and we went in there 02:41 and we were so happy to see everybody at GYC again. 02:45 But I learned the powerful lesson 02:46 and just thought about this lesson 02:48 when I was back stage and that is this, 02:51 you skip those seminars, 02:52 God may have you up here presenting a sermon. 02:58 Better watch out, 02:59 the Holy Spirit is watching you. 03:02 Amen. Amen. 03:04 Why don't we start with the word of prayer 03:05 and let's ask Jesus to bless us with the Holy Spirit. 03:09 Father in Heaven, we thank You so much for this time 03:12 and we pray and ask that You would bless us, 03:15 God that you would invigorate us 03:17 as we are preparing to head home. 03:20 Lord, we pray 03:21 that You would end in just a powerful way this conference. 03:25 Thank You, for all your blessings. 03:26 In Jesus name we pray, amen 03:29 All right everybody take your Bibles. 03:33 Your iPhones whatever it is. 03:35 Take your Bibles 03:36 we are gonna be looking at a very important verse. 03:38 Take your Bibles, go to 1 Peter Chapter 1, 03:41 1 Peter Chapter 1. 03:47 1 Peter Chapter 1 is a very beautiful chapter. 03:51 You are gonna be learning about a very special group of beings. 03:56 1 Peter Chapter 1 04:01 and if you're there go on and say amen. 04:03 Amen. 04:04 All right, 1 Peter Chapter 1:10. 04:09 Look what the Bible says right here, 04:11 "Of this salvation," 04:14 Peter here is talking about the gospel 04:16 and he is talking about the grace of God. 04:17 So he says, "Of this salvation," 04:19 Look what he says next, 04:21 "The prophets have inquired and searched carefully, 04:24 who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 04:27 searching what, or what manner of time, 04:29 the Spirit of Christ who was in them 04:31 was indicating when He testified beforehand 04:34 the sufferings of Christ 04:36 and the glories that would follow. 04:38 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, 04:41 but to us they were ministering the things 04:43 which now have been reported to you through those 04:45 who have preached the gospel to you 04:46 by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven," 04:49 now watch this caveat he adds at the end, 04:51 "things which angels desire to look into." 04:56 Peter says something so remarkable about the Gospel. 04:59 He says this is something 05:00 that unfallen angels love to look into. 05:03 In fact, Hebrew says 05:05 that they love to spread the gospel as well. 05:08 So here we hear about entity one, 05:10 entity one loves to preach the gospel, 05:12 they love to give the gospel, 05:14 they love to look deeper into the gospel. 05:16 But now let me introduce you to another entity. 05:18 Take your Bible and let's go to 2 Corinthians Chapter 4. 05:34 Look what the Scriptures are saying, 05:36 chapter 4 starting with verse 3, 05:38 "But even if our," what? 05:41 "Gospel is veiled, 05:42 it is veiled to those who are," what? 05:45 "Perishing" now watch verse 4, 05:46 "whose minds the god of this age has," what? 05:50 "Blinded, who do not believe, 05:52 lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, 05:55 who is the image of God, should shine on them." 05:57 Now notice this, the Bible then introduces us to another entity 06:01 and this entity is purposed to make sure 06:04 that the gospel should never be known. 06:08 So you have one group 06:10 that is determined to see that the gospel go forward, 06:12 you have another group 06:13 that is determined to see that the gospel is never given. 06:17 And the reason why ladies and gentlemen, 06:19 is because when the gospel goes to the entire world 06:22 the end will come, Satan's end will come. 06:27 And he knows it. 06:29 If you take one country 06:30 and they're warring with another country 06:32 and that country develops a weapon 06:33 that will end the world, ladies and gentlemen. 06:36 The other country is gonna do whatever it takes to see 06:39 that that country never transport that weapon, 06:45 or at least they stored it. 06:48 Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the midst of this war 06:51 and when the gospel goes to the entire world 06:54 the war is over. 06:56 He wants us to spread this message in a very powerful way. 06:59 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 07:01 Now I love what Jeffery said, 07:02 if you take your Bible go to Ephesians Chapter 3, 07:04 he talked about a very powerful verse, 07:06 Ephesians Chapter 3. 07:12 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 07:16 General Electric Power Company. 07:20 Think I'm trying to figure 07:21 with an Indian rendition of that, I can't. 07:24 Okay, Ephesians Chapter 3, are we all there? 07:28 You are gonna see something very powerful. 07:30 Let's start with verse 8, 07:31 Paul here is speaking about the gospel. 07:33 He says something extraordinary. 07:35 "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, 07:38 this grace was given, 07:40 that I should preach among the," who? 07:42 "Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 07:45 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, 07:48 which from the beginning of ages 07:50 has been hidden in God 07:52 who created all things through Jesus Christ." 07:54 Now watch verse 10 because it's very important. 07:56 "To the intent" in other words, 07:58 for this reason Paul says the gospel was given to him. 08:01 Now watch this, 08:02 "to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God 08:06 might be made known by the," who? 08:09 "Church." 08:10 He says the Gospel was given to me, 08:13 so I could preach it to the church, 08:15 but watch he doesn't end the point there. 08:16 Look what he says next, 08:20 "might be made known by the church 08:21 to the principalities and powers 08:24 in the heavenly places," 08:25 and Jeffery touched on this. 08:27 The gospel was given to Paul 08:28 so that he could preach the gospel to the church 08:31 that they could preach the gospel to the universe, 08:35 to the universe. 08:37 Now you just think about that ladies and gentlemen, 08:40 God is actually using the church 08:42 to preach the gospel to countless unfallen beings. 08:48 And we've so much about this powerful meta-narrative. 08:51 This idea that there is a bigger world out there 08:54 and if you miss that, you go to Ellen White in UFOs 08:57 and you'll find out more 08:58 about this huge universe that we live in. 09:01 And there are no aliens that visit our world, 09:02 just letting you know. 09:05 But that's super important, this huge meta-narrative. 09:09 We live in a much bigger world, a much bigger universe 09:12 and our existence somehow matters knowing this. 09:17 But now ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to introduce you 09:19 to something much bigger than this meta-narrative, 09:23 an ultra-narrative. 09:25 Now you're thinking to yourself 09:26 what in the world is an ultra-narrative? 09:28 It is something that is much bigger than a meta-narrative. 09:36 Amen. Amen. 09:39 Now go to Ephesians Chapter 2, 09:40 I'm about to introduce you to this ultra-narrative. 09:45 You're thinking to yourself well, 09:46 what could be much bigger than the universe? 09:49 I'm about to show you. 09:51 Ephesians 2:4. Are we all there? 09:57 "But God, who is rich in mercy, 10:00 because of His great love with which He loved us, 10:03 even when while we were dead in trespasses, 10:05 made us alive together with Christ 10:07 by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together," 10:11 now watch this, 10:12 "and made us sit in the heavenly places 10:14 in Christ Jesus, 10:15 that in the ages to come 10:20 He might show the exceeding riches of His grace 10:23 in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." 10:25 Ladies and gentlemen, 10:26 ages to come is not a reference to your grandchildren, 10:31 ages to come refers to eternity. 10:37 In other words the ultra-narrative 10:38 has to do with eternity, ladies and gentlemen. 10:43 And God is dealing with you 10:44 with this perspective of eternity in His mind. 10:48 Can you imagine the calculations? 10:52 Eternity is a perspective in which God runs your life 10:59 and this whole great controversy 11:01 plays out throughout all the entire universe. 11:04 God is doing things here now 11:06 because for all of eternity it somehow matters. 11:12 Eternity is the ultra-narrative. 11:15 And God has given the Gospel to Seventh-day Adventist, 11:18 but if you read the three angels message, 11:20 the pledge of allegiance for Seventh-day Adventist 11:23 you will find it starts with the everlasting, what? 11:27 And normally we think, the ever lasting gospel 11:29 that just applies to eternity passed. 11:32 Wrong, it not only applies to eternity passed 11:35 but ladies and gentlemen, 11:36 there's something we're missing, 11:37 it applies to eternity future. 11:42 There is a perspective in which God is working our lives, 11:45 with that powerful insight, eternity, eternity. 11:53 Now that being said, 11:59 Paul says the Gospel was given to us that in ages to come. 12:04 He might show the exceeding kindness of God. 12:10 In other words, there are things 12:11 that are going to be real trillions of years from now 12:15 that are going to say so much about God. 12:18 And somehow it was because of things 12:20 that were taking place today, today. 12:26 Some conversation that you had with somebody else 12:28 about spiritual things somehow in a million years from now 12:31 it's gonna matter in some powerful way 12:35 and it just blows your mind. 12:38 Ladies and gentlemen, there is something 12:39 that God is trying to reveal to us 12:40 about the everlasting gospel 12:42 that He has entrusted to Seventh-day Adventist. 12:45 It doesn't just apply to eternity passed, 12:47 there is something we need to understand 12:49 about eternity future. 12:53 Now Christianity is about a race, 12:56 can you say amen to that? 12:58 You know, there is this fad 13:00 and I just want to address this fad 13:01 and rebuke these people. 13:03 I've a lot of friends that like to run. 13:08 I don't like to run, that's why we have cars. 13:15 I have sometimes friends that call me up 13:17 and they'll say, hey, Anil we're gonna be doing a 5K, 13:20 you want to join us? 13:21 And I said, no. 13:25 I'll do the March of Dimes but I'm not running in some 5K. 13:28 I've other friends that said, 13:29 "Hey we are going to go training for half a marathon, 13:31 do you want to join us?" 13:32 No. 13:34 "Oh brother, we are going to be doing tough mudder, 13:36 do you want to join us and get some training in? 13:38 Nope, not for me, I like exercise. 13:42 I like going in some hole in the wall gym 13:44 and working out and bench pressing. 13:46 I don't like running. 13:48 Indian people were not made for running. 13:54 We calculate who the winner is. 14:07 I'm the only one who can say those kinds of things. 14:12 Anybody else, I would feel uncomfortable. 14:16 But I've lot of these friends 14:18 and they're fad and I'm not really addressing all 14:20 I'm simply saying ladies and gentlemen, 14:21 is that this is a craze right now, 14:23 a lot of people like to run. 14:25 In fact, how many people went on the 5K? 14:29 Amen. Three of you. 14:34 Amen. 14:36 In fact, when I was walking through the registration booth 14:38 they were like, "Hey, do you want to sign up for the 5K?" 14:40 And I was like, "aw." 14:43 And they said, "Please sign up." 14:44 And so somehow I signed up. 14:47 I paid $30 but I never ran. 14:51 And whoever you are, who guided me to that decision, 14:54 I'll pay you back later. 14:57 But ladies and gentlemen, life is a race. 15:00 Can you say amen to that? 15:01 And this morning I was really impressed 15:03 with this concept about race, 15:05 like we are running a race in Christianity. 15:07 Amen. Paul takes about that. 15:09 Now the cool thing about Paul, he wasn't a runner, 15:12 but he was a spectator like me, we watch the races, right. 15:15 We don't participate. 15:16 But he pulled out so many different analogies 15:19 and illustrations about people who are running. 15:22 In fact, I never forgot, one morning I woke up 15:24 and it was sometime last year. 15:26 I heard this whacked outside. 15:28 And I got up real wild-eyed and I came outside. 15:31 And I normally don't have a smile on my face, 15:33 default is frown. 15:34 And so I walked outside 15:36 and there was a marathon right outside my house, 15:40 right outside my house. 15:42 It's like they couldn't find somewhere else, 15:43 just go in front of Anil's house. 15:45 But this was the thing, 15:46 I started thinking about that Christianity is a race. 15:52 It's about running in this journey. 15:54 And many times many of us just sort of back way, 15:57 halfway in the journey many people fall 15:59 and they never get back up, 16:01 others start going backwards 16:03 but God wants us to keep moving forward. 16:06 Can you say amen to that? 16:08 And it's a race, now get this, for holiness. 16:13 God is wanting us to reflect the Creator's glory. 16:17 To share more about Him. 16:19 To love Him and make Him known to this entire universe, 16:22 but for all the eternity. 16:24 Can you say amen to that? 16:26 And that's powerful. 16:27 I never forgot, one day I had this Sikh man, 16:29 you know what Sikhs are? 16:30 The ones with the turbans, right. 16:33 I didn't say sick, I said Sikh, Sikh man. 16:36 He was working on my neck, 16:37 I had neck problems and he was working on my neck. 16:40 And always unusual questions come up 16:44 when another Indian is talking to another Indian 16:46 and it goes like this, "What do you do for a living?" 16:50 And its usually uncomfortable because when I say pastor, 16:54 all of a sudden there is just this-- why? 17:00 And it happens all the time. 17:02 So when he asked that question, "What do you do for a living?" 17:04 I said, "I am a pastor." 17:08 There was the silence, awkward silence 17:10 and then he said, "Why?" 17:12 And I said, "Well, here are certain reasons," 17:14 and I begin to give my description of Daniel Chapter 7 17:18 and talking about the antichrist beast 17:20 and he was like, at the very end of it, 17:22 he is like, "So, I think all religions are pretty similar. 17:27 They all have very similar ideals and actions 17:30 and all these things." 17:31 He said this, "At the core of it, it's all the same." 17:36 And the Lord impressed me with that moment, 17:38 just to say something to him. 17:39 I said, "Brother, its not about it, 17:42 it's about Him and discovering who He is, 17:46 the one who existed before all things." 17:48 I said, "Life is a journey about finding who He is 17:53 and then making His glory known to this world." 17:55 Can you say amen to that? 17:57 I never forgot he was just-- 17:58 the Spirit was really working on this man's heart. 18:01 And that's what life is all about, ladies and gentlemen. 18:04 It's about running in this race of holiness. 18:07 Now when I say holiness, 18:09 I'm not just referring to well learning not to sin, 18:11 or learning how to keep the law perfectly. 18:13 I'm referring to becoming more and more like our Maker. 18:17 Can you amen to that? 18:19 And I believe those other things are part of it 18:20 but ladies and gentlemen, if we focus on those things 18:23 we are gonna miss the most important part, 18:25 which is becoming like Jesus. 18:28 Amen. 18:29 And so we need to take a good look 18:31 at somebody who was in this race. 18:34 His name was Joshua. 18:35 Take your Bible and let's go to Zechariah Chapter 3. 18:39 Zechariah was seeing this powerful vision 18:42 of the high priest Joshua. 18:46 And I love Bible passages about angels. 18:49 Amen. 18:53 Joshua chapter, excuse me, Zechariah Chapter 3. 19:05 We all there? Amen. 19:07 Zechariah 3:1, "Then he showed me," who? 19:12 "Joshua the high priest standing before," who? 19:15 "The angel of the Lord." 19:16 As we are going through this passage 19:17 I want you to mark certain things, ladies and gentlemen. 19:19 There are certain repetitious phrases 19:21 that keep appearing over and over and over again, 19:23 because God is communication a point. 19:25 Zechariah 3:1, 19:27 "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest 19:29 standing before," who? 19:31 "The angel of the Lord 19:32 and Satan standing at his right hand to," what? 19:35 "Oppose Him." 19:36 Zechariah sees this beautiful vision 19:37 and in this vision he sees God on His throne 19:40 and he sees the angel of the Lord standing nearby 19:42 and he sees Joshua there 19:44 and then he sees Satan accusing Him. 19:47 In fact, the word accusing, you know what it means? 19:49 It's the word Satan. 19:51 Satan was Satan him. 19:54 It's not only a noun it's a verb. 19:57 That's what it says in Hebrew. 20:00 The word Satan means to resist or oppose or accuse 20:06 and Satan was doing what Satan does. 20:09 And was Satan lying about Joshua's sin? 20:12 Absolutely not, he don't need to lie. 20:15 Those sins are there. 20:17 And here he is, he is standing and he is accusing Joshua 20:21 and he is saying, "This guy does not deserve 20:23 a right to Your kingdom." 20:25 Watch what happens next. Let's keep going. 20:29 Verse 3, "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, 20:32 and was," what? Was what? 20:36 "Standing before the Angel of the Lord." 20:37 Let's keep going. 20:38 Verse 4, "He answered and spoke to those 20:41 who stood before Him, saying, 20:42 'Take away the filthy garments from him.' 20:45 And He said to him, 20:46 'See, I have removed your iniquity from you, 20:48 and I will clothe you with rich robes.'" 20:50 And I like verse 5 because you can give this 20:52 to a Bible study to an Indian person. 20:55 "And I said, 'Let them put a clean turban on his head.'" 20:59 Imagine giving that to a Sikh person, right. 21:02 He is gonna smile and he says, "Very good." 21:08 Zechariah actually joins in to what's taken place. 21:13 The Lord rebuked Satan and here Joshua is 21:15 standing before the High Priest or before God 21:17 and all of a sudden the angels begin to clothe him 21:20 and Zechariah gets so 21:22 just blown away by what's happening, 21:23 he is like and he just sort of speaks, 21:25 "put a clean turban on his head too." 21:28 He joins in when he sees others in the ministry. 21:32 And that excites you, 21:33 doesn't it, ladies and gentlemen? 21:34 When you see a lot of people on fire, 21:36 you catch on fire yourself. 21:38 And that's why ministry is so important in groups too. 21:41 Let's keep going. 21:42 Let's find out what happens next. 21:46 "So they put a clean turban on his head, 21:47 and they put the clothes on him." 21:49 Now watch that next phrase, ladies and gentlemen. 21:51 What's that next phrase? 21:52 "And the" what? 21:54 "Angel of the Lord" what? "Stood by." 21:58 That's very important. 21:59 Verse 6, 22:00 "Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, 22:02 saying him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts,'" 22:05 and he begins to give him this little mini sermon. 22:07 But I want you to see something ladies and gentlemen, 22:10 in Joshua's walk. 22:12 He was somebody, who was attempting to come before God 22:15 and you know who showed up? 22:16 The devil himself. 22:18 But you know who else was there? 22:20 The angel of the Lord. 22:21 And then when the devil is gone 22:23 Joshua is recognizing his filthiness. 22:26 And you know who is standing by him? 22:27 Not the devil. 22:29 The angel of the Lord. 22:30 And then when Joshua gets brand new clothes, 22:33 you know who is still standing by him? 22:35 The angel of the Lord. 22:36 Ladies and gentlemen, 22:37 God is trying to help us understand something 22:39 and that is this, 22:40 in our journey of sanctification 22:43 God is with us at that point 22:45 when the devil is wanting to destroy us. 22:47 God is with us at that point 22:50 when we are recognizing, I'm a sinner 22:52 and God is still with us when we are overcoming. 22:54 Can you say amen to that? 22:56 Those angels also never abandon us during that time 23:00 as long as we are heading in that right direction 23:02 ladies and gentlemen, 23:03 God will continue to keep working. 23:05 Amen. 23:07 And this is so powerful. 23:09 Many times in my life I've felt like 23:11 I was at that place where the devil was saying, 23:13 "Look at his sins, look what he has done." 23:17 And he was accusing me before God. 23:20 But God did not abandon me. 23:22 And there were parts of my life where I was experiencing, 23:25 "Lord, I am a guilty sinner and I can't overcome." 23:28 And I was recognizing what was wrong with me. 23:31 And God was saying, "I am still by your side." 23:35 And then there were times in my life 23:36 where I was overcoming certain things 23:38 and God was saying to me, "I am right here still." 23:41 Can you say amen to that? 23:42 And that's powerful. 23:43 The angels of God never abandon us during our sanctification. 23:48 So while you may be at the letter "A," 23:50 even atheist ladies and gentlemen, 23:51 the fact that you are here 23:52 is because God's spirit is working with you. 23:55 And you may be in another part of your experience, 23:57 what you are recognizing, 23:58 "God I am filthy but I don't know what to do." 24:01 God is saying to you, "I am right here with you." 24:04 And you may begin to experience victory 24:06 and praise the Lord and God is still saying to you, 24:08 "I have not left your side." 24:10 In the process of sanctification, 24:12 in the journey of holiness, 24:14 in the race of life ladies and gentlemen, 24:16 to reflect God's character and His beauty to the Lord, 24:19 He never abandons us. 24:22 Amen. 24:23 And that's what so beautiful about the gospel. 24:26 But you know, what is so beautiful? 24:27 Is watch what the angel says to him, 24:31 when Joshua experiences 24:33 the peace of God's righteousness, 24:36 "Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, 24:38 and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, 24:41 "If you will walk in My ways, if you will keep My command, 24:43 Then you shall also,'" What? 24:45 "Judge My house, 24:46 and likewise have charge of My courts" 24:49 now watch this last part, 24:50 "and I will give you places to walk 24:52 among these who stand here." 24:54 Ladies and gentlemen, who was standing around Joshua? 24:58 Angels. 25:00 And God was saying to him, 25:01 "If you are faithful, you will walk with angels, 25:06 they will be your companions, 25:07 and wherever you go they will be." 25:11 And I know there's been a lot of angels 25:13 that have come to this GYC. 25:16 They could be sitting next to you, ladies and gentlemen. 25:19 I hear they are about 10 feet tall, 25:21 their faces are shining and they look like colporteurs, 25:23 that's what I've been told. 25:27 But God wants us to recognize something 25:30 that the angelic ministry is all about humanity. 25:34 Amen. 25:35 And whatever we are at in this march to holiness, 25:38 in this race of life, 25:39 in this marathon of spirituality, 25:41 God is with us every step. 25:43 And like I said before, 25:44 we must never forget this beautiful story 25:47 because you may be at one part of your life experience 25:50 or you may be at another part, 25:51 but God is giving you the same understanding 25:53 and that is keep moving forward, I am still with you, 25:57 even when you took a step back, 25:59 but keep moving forward in your spiritual growth. 26:03 And as I said before, 26:04 there have been times that I have utterly fallen. 26:07 I mean, I have just been destroyed by Satan himself 26:10 but God was still preserving me during those times. 26:13 When I looked at my own sins and I realized, 26:15 "God, I can't overcome." 26:18 There has been times I have looked at my own circumstances 26:20 and things weren't working out right 26:21 and I said, "God, I'm so discouraged." 26:23 Other times the church itself discouraged me, 26:27 and I wanted to abandon things. 26:30 And the zeal began to just lag a little bit 26:33 and I was getting tired and I said, 26:34 "God, I don't know if I can keep going." 26:38 But then this beautiful picture of the cross appeared, 26:41 ladies and gentlemen. 26:43 And whenever I see the cross, my strength comes right back. 26:47 And many times to myself, I just look at the cross 26:49 and I'm like, "God, I feel better now, I can keep moving." 26:53 Another times when I'm so weak and I'm just crawling, 26:56 you know, trying to make it through this marathon 26:58 God says, "Look at the cross again." 27:00 And I look at that cross 27:01 and I'm empowered again to keep going. 27:04 There are times that I feel like 27:05 I have just fainted spiritually 27:07 and I can't keep moving on, 27:08 and God says, "Look up to the cross." 27:10 And I saw that cross ladies and gentlemen, 27:13 and it empowered me again. 27:14 Amen. 27:16 Ladies and gentlemen, 27:17 the cross becomes more and more of our experience. 27:21 And I believe, towards these end times 27:23 the cross is gonna take more 27:25 of our front position in our church. 27:28 Now I believe, in many of the beautiful teachings, 27:31 I believe all of them. 27:32 I believe God has blessed our church 27:34 and I appreciate what Jeffery was saying about weirdness. 27:41 I never forgot, one day I talked to one individual 27:44 and he was like, "Yeah, we just believe in weird things." 27:49 He said, "The church is so weird." 27:52 I go, "What is so weird about it?" 27:54 He was like, "Well, everybody goes to church on Sunday 27:57 and we go on Saturday." 27:59 All right brother, you need to get baptized, 28:00 that's what I was thinking in my mind. 28:05 But then as we were talking, I was thinking to myself 28:06 and then I said something to him. 28:09 I said, 28:10 "Do you know the difference between something that is weird 28:12 and something that is unique?" 28:14 And he said, "What?" 28:15 "Something that is weird is an attribute or characteristic 28:18 that makes people feel uncomfortable." 28:20 You know what I mean? 28:21 And then I said, "Something that is unique 28:23 is an attribute that actually attracts." 28:26 And I said to him and I looked him straight in the eyes 28:28 and I said, "Our beliefs are unique. 28:31 It's people who are weird." 28:36 And he knows that's the truth. 28:38 God has blessed us with such a beautiful truth 28:40 and they are attractive. 28:42 They are so attractive. 28:44 I know we always speak so much about 28:46 over correcting these teachings in the communication, 28:48 and that is important. 28:49 But ladies and gentlemen, our teachings are beautiful 28:52 and they attract. 28:53 In fact, what is so interesting about our health message, 28:55 I shared this in one of our seminars, 28:57 do you remember that story 28:58 when Jacob was brought before the great pharaoh. 29:01 And do you know what Jacob did? 29:03 He blessed the pharaoh. 29:05 Ellen White says in conscience superiority 29:07 he placed his hand on the mighty pharaoh. 29:10 Can you imagine this? 29:11 This old man and this pharaoh whom people can't even look at, 29:15 Jacob places his hand upon him and the pharaoh bows his head 29:19 and he is thinking, wow, no one touches me. 29:24 And Jacob prays a blessing upon him. 29:27 What is so remarkable is what he says after that. 29:29 Remember what the pharaoh said? 29:31 He looked at him and he said, "How old are you?" 29:35 You want to know why? 29:36 Because Egyptian never lived that long. 29:40 They never lived that long and they saw this old man 29:42 and they were just like, "How old are you, man?" 29:46 But Jacob was reaping 29:48 the fruits of the health message. 29:50 And I know about another group of people 29:52 who live a decade longer than others. 29:56 And when people see the longevity 29:58 ladies and gentlemen, it's attractive. 30:00 I never forgot we are poised to have 30:01 these things for a health fair 30:04 and we are passing all these flyers out and stuff like that. 30:06 I met some lady at Jamba Juice, 30:08 I love Jamba Juice its delicious. 30:10 And so we were there and I've pastored 30:12 and she just came from exercising. 30:14 And so here I said, "Check this out." 30:16 And she is like, "Well, I don't know if I want to go to this. 30:18 What's this about?" 30:19 And I said, "It's a health fair." 30:20 And she is like, "Really?" 30:21 And I said, "Do you want to meet 30:23 the longest living people on the earth?" 30:26 And she said, "Yes." 30:28 "Come to this health fair." 30:32 It works, amen. 30:34 The Egyptians should be saying, 30:35 "Wait a minute, how old are you? 30:39 Why are you living this long?" 30:41 And it was designed to attract to the beautiful laws 30:44 that God has setup, to the dynamics of existence 30:47 that God has given to us, amen. 30:49 I never forgot actually 30:50 when I was flying on the plane here 30:52 and I flew from Oakland to Chicago 30:56 and then from Chicago to Florida. 30:58 The first part of my trip, 30:59 I was surrounded by non Adventist, 31:01 second part there was Adventist everywhere. 31:04 But the first part of my trip, 31:06 I was sitting next to this professional couple. 31:10 She was a neurologist and he was a software engineer. 31:14 Although they were not Indian, 31:15 those are two things that Indians generally a part of. 31:19 But I was sitting there and I was thinking to myself, 31:21 "Okay, I need to be a powerful witness right now." 31:23 And when I'm flying I don't like to witness, 31:25 I just like to sleep. 31:27 And so I was there and I was like, 31:28 "Okay, God, I want to witness to them." 31:31 And so I was praying 31:32 and I was like all of a sudden like, 31:33 "Okay God, I have courage, I have courage." 31:36 And I said, "Excuse me, hi." 31:38 And they said, "We have to go to the bathroom right now." 31:41 And I was like, I dropped that ball right here. 31:43 So I waited again and I was like, 31:45 "Jesus take the wheel." 31:47 Okay and so it was like, "Hi, how are you guys doing? 31:50 Where are you guys going?" 31:52 And they said, "We are going to Chicago." 31:54 And they were sharing with me about their trip. 31:55 But what was so interesting, as we continued talking, 31:58 she shared with me that they were of the Baha'i faith. 32:03 They also had a background in Zoroastrianism. 32:06 Those are two things 32:07 that are part of India's culture as well. 32:11 Now they were not Indian, but I said to them, 32:14 I said, that's interesting. 32:15 I said I, when I went to India to do some speaking, 32:17 I actually toured a Baha'i temple. 32:19 I saw it over there they have this big lotus temple. 32:22 And she was just really impressed 32:24 that I took an interest and I wasn't attacking it. 32:28 And then she is-- then I said to her, I said, 32:30 "When I was actually doing some work in Royal Grandeur, 32:33 I actually studied with the couple of people 32:35 who were believers in Zoroastrianism. 32:37 Now that's a dying religion 32:39 because I really believe what it is. 32:40 They are actually-- they are not allowed to proselytize. 32:43 So either you are born into it or you marry into it 32:46 and it just shrinks more and more. 32:48 And so I was sharing with them I said 32:49 that that was a lovely couple, I studied the Bible with. 32:52 And she just-- her eyes were binding up 32:54 that I had respect for her and her culture. 32:57 Then I said this to her, I said, "You want to know 32:59 what is so interesting about the Baha'i faith?" 33:01 And she said, "Yes, tell me." 33:03 And I said this, 33:05 "Did you know that the Baha'i faith started around the 1800?" 33:08 She said, "Yes, I did know that." 33:10 Now what is really interesting, 33:11 if you go onto the Baha'i website, 33:13 they actually started during 1800, specifically 1844. 33:18 And the reason why is because 33:20 they had similar calculations to us. 33:23 If you look on the website, they are similar calculations 33:25 that are used in the Book of Daniel to come to 1844. 33:28 However their conclusions about what happened 1844 is wrong. 33:33 And so I was explaining this her and she said, 33:35 "Yes, I am aware of all these things." 33:37 And I said, "So you are aware 33:38 that the founder of the Baha'i faith 33:40 declared himself to be the messiah in 1844?" 33:43 She said, "Yes, I am aware of that." 33:44 And then I said, "Did you know about the rest of Christendom 33:47 that were studying up the same prophesy?" 33:48 And she said, "Yes, I am very well aware of that 33:51 and it didn't happen." 33:52 And I said, "You are correct." 33:54 But I said to her, 33:55 "There was another group of people 33:59 who came to understand something about 1844." 34:03 And she said, "Who are they?" 34:06 And I smiled, I said, "Seventh-day Adventist." 34:14 And she is like, "What about them? 34:16 What was their conclusion about 1844?" 34:19 And then I did a quick Bible study with my hands 34:23 about the sanctuary and she says, 34:24 "I have never heard that before." 34:27 Now what was so remarkable, 34:28 she was asking about my diet all of a sudden, 34:30 and she is like that is amazing 34:32 that you guys have this special diet. 34:34 And I was so blown away because you know 34:36 you have 6 foot tall hairy Indian 34:38 talking to people on plane-- 34:40 you know, you always got to be careful of that. 34:43 And I was right by the exit door too. 34:50 Some of you don't know my struggle. 34:53 But God gave me grace as I was talking to her 34:56 and I was so blown away 34:57 because how quickly she was attracted to this 35:00 and she wanted to know more. 35:01 I got their information, 35:02 I am gonna be inviting them to some seminar in San Francisco. 35:06 But I was so blown away ladies and gentlemen, 35:08 our teachings are attractive. 35:09 Amen. 35:10 And as we share them God will bring people 35:13 whose hearts have already been touched. 35:14 And by the way, whenever you want to witness 35:16 to a person always remember this, 35:17 "God has already met that person before you did." 35:20 Amen. 35:21 But what is so awesome about all our teachings 35:23 ladies and gentlemen, as this, is that the Cross 35:26 as we nearing closer to the end time 35:28 becomes more and more central. 35:31 It becomes the greatest of all our teachings 35:34 and it takes the forefront. 35:35 It takes the stage. 35:37 And as we exalt the Cross more and more, 35:39 it will be such a 35:40 beautiful picture of Adventism to this world. 35:43 When I was a Hindu and people would always say it to me, 35:45 "Hey, did you know Jesus died for you?" 35:47 I would say, "So what, Gandhi died for me." 35:49 They would say, "Jesus died for you." 35:51 I would say, "Martin Luther King Jr. 35:52 took a bullet for me, 35:53 that's why I can be in this country." 35:56 But when I began to learn all the various dynamics 35:59 about the Cross, about the law, about the Sabbath, 36:01 about the state of the dead, about the sanctuary, 36:03 all of a sudden the Cross took on a beautiful picture, 36:07 I had never seen before. 36:10 And that's why these teachings are super important 36:12 because they exalt the Cross, 36:14 they are not separate from the Cross, 36:15 they exalt the Cross. 36:17 The pinnacle moment where God forever secured this universe 36:23 took place 2,000 years ago. 36:25 And many times in my life as I said before, 36:27 when I am struggling in my spiritual walk, 36:29 God reminds me, "Look at the Cross." 36:31 And I love reading Desire of Ages, 36:33 and specifically a certain quote that gives me power. 36:36 Let's show that quote right now. 36:42 There you go. 36:43 This is so beautiful ladies and gentlemen, 36:45 and if you can memorize this, 36:46 this is the most powerful quote out of all her writings. 36:49 When she is talking about the second death 36:51 that Jesus was experiencing. 36:52 "The Savior could not see through the," what? 36:55 "Portals of the tomb. 36:56 Hope did not present to Him 36:58 His coming forth from the grave a conqueror 37:00 and tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. 37:02 He feared sin was so offensive to God 37:05 that their separation was to be eternal." 37:07 Watch this, "Faith and hope trembled in him-- 37:12 in his expiring agonies of Christ 37:14 because God had removed the," what? 37:17 Ladies and gentlemen, 37:18 Jesus didn't have assurance on the Cross. 37:22 "He had heretofore given His beloved Son 37:25 of His approbation and acceptance. 37:27 Denied even bright hope and confidence in the triumph 37:30 which will be His in the future, 37:32 He cries with a loud voice, 37:34 'Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit.'" 37:37 Take a good look at this ladies and gentlemen, 37:38 when Jesus was dying on that Cross, 37:40 He did not experience assurance, 37:42 He had no hope of the future 37:44 and He had no sense of His Father's presence. 37:46 These three things is what the wicked 37:48 are going to experience at the end of time. 37:51 He was going through the experience of a lost man. 37:56 Saved men don't cry out, my God why have You forsaken me? 37:59 Lost men do. 38:02 And as He was going through that experience, 38:04 every time I behold the Cross and I look at those words 38:07 my heart is such gripped so much. 38:10 And what's so beautiful ladies and gentlemen, 38:12 is this powerful point-- 38:14 The very things He was denied or the very things I get 38:20 when I look at the Cross, denied assurance. 38:24 When I look at the Cross ladies and gentlemen, 38:25 I find assurance. 38:28 Denied bright hope of the future. 38:30 When I look at the Cross ladies and gentlemen, 38:32 I feel like God says, "I still got your future." 38:36 And even when I don't sense the Father's presence, 38:38 I look at the Cross and all of a sudden 38:39 I begin to sense the Father's love again. 38:42 The very things, 38:43 He was denied ladies and gentlemen, on the Cross 38:45 are the very things we get when we behold it. 38:49 And this is why angels marvel at the Cross 38:52 because of how beautiful He is. 38:54 You see, as I said at one of my seminars, 38:56 they have an understanding of the condescension, we don't. 38:59 We just think Jesus came from the sky, and we look at it. 39:03 Oh, we look at pictures and we say, 39:05 "Well, I think Orion's Belt is right here," 39:09 but angels who have traveled the vast universe 39:11 see the length of the condescension. 39:15 They know what Jesus went through 39:17 and one day when we get to the center of this universe, 39:21 we are gonna say to these angels, 39:22 "Hey, by the way, where is earth?" 39:26 And there are gonna say, 39:27 "All right, get the star maps out, 39:30 get the star maps out, you see this dot right here?" 39:32 "Yes" "That's not earth. 39:34 It is actually much smaller than that dot." 39:36 "Okay where is it?" 39:38 "We have a special map for that one." 39:41 And they show us this special map and they say, 39:44 "Even the angels get lost because it's so distant." 39:48 And it will dawn us, dawn on us ladies and gentlemen, 39:51 that when Jesus became a man 39:54 the condescension was far greater 39:55 than we had ever imagined, 39:57 when we are brought to the center of the universe. 39:59 And we behold all that God had created. 40:02 And as we see His infinite greatness more and more 40:05 the condescension becomes greater and greater 40:07 and we realize as I use in one particular analogy, 40:10 a bungee jumping. 40:12 You know when people are bungee jumping, 40:14 they may say to you, 40:15 "I jumped from a 150 foot bridge," 40:18 and you may say, "That's impressive." 40:20 What if they say to you, 40:22 "I jumped from a 300 foot bridge." 40:24 You would say, "Well that's more impressive." 40:26 But then they say to you, 40:27 "I jumped from a 500 foot bridge. 40:29 You would say, "That's really impressive." 40:30 A 1,000 foot bridge. 40:31 And then they say to you a 2,000 foot bridge, 40:33 you would be blown away more and more 40:35 because you realizing the distance was greater. 40:38 And as we behold the greatness of God 40:40 more and more throughout all of eternity, 40:42 we'll realize the distance 40:43 of the condescension was far greater 40:47 then we had ever imagined before. 40:49 And it will blow our minds away. 40:52 It'll utterly blow our minds away. 40:54 The Cross is everything to us ladies and gentlemen, 40:57 and more and more 40:58 I am starting to recognize this in my experience. 41:00 If I don't daily come to the Cross, 41:02 I'm not going to be empowered 41:04 to keep going forward in this race. 41:06 Speaking of race, 41:08 my friend has a book called "Born to Run." 41:09 You ever heard of that book before? 41:12 Good, I like surprising people. 41:14 It's a book about the Tarahumara tribe. 41:21 They are different kinds of Indians. 41:22 Not my kind, different kind. 41:24 And they live in North Mexico in Copper Canyon. 41:28 The hard thing is researchers 41:30 have a difficult time trying to find them 41:32 because they are what's called a running tribe. 41:34 They like to run everywhere. 41:38 I would never join them. 41:40 They like to run everywhere 41:41 and as the researchers finally tracked them down 41:45 what they discovered blows their mind. 41:47 This tribe actually can run almost 500 miles in two days. 41:54 They tested marathon runners against this tribe 41:57 and they blow the marathon runners away. 42:00 They have even tested them against ultra marathon runners 42:03 and they blow them away. 42:06 Now they have a plant based diet. 42:08 Unfortunately they also do tobacco, they drink. 42:12 But somehow they keep beating these ultra marathon runners. 42:15 And they don't know why. 42:19 Some more study into that group found out 42:22 that they like running without shoes. 42:26 They get what they use is actually a sandal 42:28 that they make out of tire that they find. 42:32 One time somebody gave them a bunch of Nike shoes, 42:34 and they found all the Nike shoes 42:36 stashed in a bush later on. 42:40 They didn't like it. 42:41 They wanting that natural feel may start running 42:43 and they run and they run. 42:45 And they run in groups. 42:47 They don't like running individually. 42:49 They are family based clan. 42:51 In fact, what is also so interesting about this 42:53 is that they are so united in their running 42:58 that the women only run 40 to 50 miles a day. 43:03 Unfortunately they are left behind. 43:05 But they're so united the males are in running 43:09 that some researchers tried to find out 43:11 how athletic they were. 43:13 They call them super humans. 43:14 They took a Tarahumara tribe from like many miles away 43:17 and said, "We are going to put you together. 43:20 And what they discovered is that there is this comradery 43:23 that immediately develop that they thought 43:25 that the competition would be able to distance them 43:27 and they'll find out who was the winner. 43:29 And what they found is 43:30 they were all crossing the line together. 43:37 Their goal is not to win. 43:40 You know, what's so amazing about this tribe? 43:41 Their goal is to win together as a group. 43:46 And when somebody starts lagging behind, 43:48 you know what they do? 43:49 They all start slowing down and one comes up behind them 43:52 and they like get them encouraged and get the-- 43:54 I shouldn't be running on stage. 43:55 But they get him up here. 43:57 And here they are and they get him caught up 43:59 and they continue running all together. 44:02 And they love winning as groups. 44:05 It's part of their family culture. 44:07 They don't like to win individually 44:10 and that's what's so amazing about this group, 44:12 ladies and gentlemen. 44:13 But here we begin to understand, 44:14 God has given us a church 44:16 so that we can encourage one another, amen. 44:19 And we are not to abandon the church. 44:21 We need to keep going forward 44:23 because this moving will make it towards the end of time. 44:25 Amen. 44:26 And as we continue on this journey together 44:28 as a church ladies and gentlemen, 44:30 more and more we're going to discover 44:33 that we have greater strength than if we did it individually. 44:37 God wants us to come together more. 44:40 And those who attempt to divide this Church 44:42 ladies and gentlemen, they will fail 44:44 because God's spirit is behind this church, right? 44:47 And that won't stop. 44:48 The church may even look like it's about to fall 44:51 but it will not fall, it will make it to the end of time. 44:55 And that's what's so powerful. 44:57 I praise God ladies and gentlemen, 44:58 for the church that we are part of 45:00 that has this beautiful message of the Cross. 45:03 But what is even more crazier ladies and gentlemen, 45:05 as I said to you earlier, 45:09 we are not the only ones in this race. 45:12 There actually is others who we will join. 45:18 You know, I originally titled this message 45:20 called "Saving Angels." 45:22 This morning I changed it to Racing Angels. 45:25 I'll tell you why. 45:26 Can we show that powerful quote? 45:30 "In His instruction to His disciples 45:32 Christ dwelt upon the great gift of the Sprit, 45:34 declaring that nothing was too great to be expected 45:36 from the coming of the divine Spirit. 45:38 He longed to quicken and enlarge 45:40 the conception of His disciples 45:41 by communicating to them 45:43 His own complete appreciation of God's love 45:47 that they might be able to comprehend 45:48 the value of the gift of all gifts, 45:50 given by God with the giving of His beloved Son, 45:52 the gift of the Holy Spirit. 45:54 On all who love and serve God this gift has been bestowed." 45:57 Watch this. This is powerful. 45:59 "Christ has made provision for all to receive His Spirit, 46:02 for He desires to see human nature 46:04 released from the bondage of sin, 46:06 and, by the power which God gives, 46:08 renewed, restored, 46:09 raised to a holy rivalry with the angels." 46:15 Many of you are shocked right now 46:16 because you are thinking to yourself, 46:18 "What in the world is holy rivalry with the angels?" 46:24 It's not talking about a football game 46:25 we are gonna have in heaven, ladies and gentlemen. 46:29 It's referring to something so beautiful 46:32 that for all eternity, us and these angels 46:35 are gonna be heading down the same path. 46:38 Right now we are walking behind these angels, 46:41 but these angels are trying to us caught up. 46:43 And as we go on this race of life through all of eternity 46:47 to reflect more and more of God's unselfish love, 46:50 to try to outdo one another in good works 46:53 and helping others be exalted above ourselves. 46:55 As we're on this race for eternity ladies and gentlemen, 46:58 angels and humans, angels and humans, 47:00 angels and humans reflecting more and more 47:03 of God's glory and His greatness. 47:05 It will be a holy rivalry and are you ready for it? 47:11 Are you ready for it? 47:13 Do you want to keep moving forward in this race of life? 47:16 Last verse and we are finished. Hebrews 12:1. 47:22 We are making a very special appeal. 47:25 Hebrews 12:1. 47:35 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by 47:39 so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, 47:44 and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 47:47 and let us run with," what? 47:51 "Endurance." 47:52 Well, how do we run with endurance? 47:54 "The race that is set before us, 47:56 looking unto Jesus, the author and," what? 48:00 "Finisher of our," what? 48:02 "Faith" 48:05 Ladies and gentlemen, the only way 48:06 we got to keep going in this walk, 48:07 in this race, in this marathon 48:09 is by beholding Jesus more and more, 48:11 by seeing that beautiful Cross that will energize us, 48:14 that will empower us to get back up 48:16 and keep heading towards the end. 48:20 But it's not the end though when we get to heaven, 48:23 it's the beginning of a whole new race, 48:27 another marathon. 48:29 But there will be so much joy, ladies and gentlemen. 48:32 God wants us to keep moving forward, onward, upward. 48:36 He doesn't want us to stay in the same place. 48:39 Higher than the highest thought, 48:40 its God's ideal for His children. 48:43 God says, "Don't stay where you are at, movement is life." 48:47 Movement is life. Don't stay where you are at. 48:50 Desire more of holiness, more of change, 48:53 more of God's power, more of grace, 48:55 more of His spirit. 48:56 Keep desiring more of God 48:58 because He has so much to give you. 49:01 When you take a good look at the Old Testament 49:02 ladies and gentlemen, you find out 49:04 that angels are called sons of God 49:07 and men are called servants. 49:08 But there is a switching 49:10 that starts happening in the New Testament. 49:12 You find out that men are called sons of God 49:16 and there's references to angels being called servants. 49:20 Why? Because God is trying to show us what's in store. 49:29 God says, "Keep moving on this race don't stop, don't stop. 49:35 Keep taking steps." 49:36 Many of you have been convicted by the things 49:38 that you've heard today 49:39 and throughout this whole weekend 49:40 and God is saying, "Keep moving forward. 49:42 Don't stay where you are at. 49:43 I brought you to this conference 49:45 so you can take the next step." 49:47 You may be tested right now, ladies and gentlemen. 49:49 You may have burdens. 49:51 You may have sins in your life that you can overcome. 49:54 God brought you here because He is telling you 49:56 He is gonna help you take that next step. 49:58 You may be somebody who is struggling with Him 50:00 and He is saying to you, 50:01 "I brought you here so you can take the next step." 50:04 But the place where that starts ladies and gentlemen, 50:08 is with the choice. 50:11 I am an evangelist, I make appeals. 50:13 I notice that there wasn't a baptismal appeal yet. 50:17 Ladies and gentlemen, 50:18 if the Spirit of God is working in your life 50:20 and you feel the need that God has been calling you 50:22 to baptized or re-baptized, 50:24 please come to the front ladies and gentlemen, 50:25 we are making an appeal today. 50:27 If you feel that desire and you feel like 50:29 God has been convicting my heart, 50:31 I want to make that decision, you come to the front. 50:34 There is plenty of room in heaven, amen. 50:36 Many times we talk about these, the size of heaven 50:39 and we compare it to a few states and many people say, 50:42 "That's all the New Jerusalem is?" 50:44 The promise ladies and gentlemen, 50:46 there will still be room. 50:48 There still be plenty of room in New Jerusalem. 50:50 If God is calling you to make that decision to be baptized, 50:53 please come up to the front. 50:54 Don't delay. 50:55 These are the times that His spirit is calling people 50:58 to keep moving forward, amen, 51:02 to keep beholding the Cross of Calvary. 51:05 These are those times that the Spirit of God 51:08 is striving with men, striving with them, 51:11 trying to get them back in the race, 51:13 ladies and gentlemen. 51:14 He is trying to get you back up and keep you going forward. 51:18 If the Spirit of God is working in your life 51:19 and you sense that conviction, please come up to the front. 51:23 There is no time to delay. 51:26 The other appeal is very simple but so powerful, life changing. 51:33 If you are somebody that has a burden on your heart, 51:36 it may be the burden of sins, something you can overcome. 51:40 Specifically something you are struggling. 51:42 I'm not here to tell you how to overcome. 51:47 I'm simply gonna tell you, 51:48 how it's gonna start by you coming to the Cross of Calvary. 51:53 Ladies and gentlemen, is there sin in your life? 51:55 Is there burden on your heart? 51:56 Something in your own life and idol 51:58 that you are struggling with? 52:00 I want you to come up to the front ladies and gentlemen, 52:02 and say, "I want to make this decision. 52:04 I'm not even saying to anybody else. 52:06 I want to bring this to the Cross of Calvary." 52:08 And that is the first step of victory. 52:11 That is the first step of victory. 52:12 If that's you and your life ladies and gentlemen, 52:15 God is calling you to bring that to the Cross, 52:19 to bring your burden to Him. 52:21 You may be somebody in your life that feels 52:24 like God has failed you in the plans of your life. 52:26 Ladies and gentlemen, God is calling you back 52:28 to the foot of the Cross. 52:30 And as you come to the foot of the Cross 52:32 angels behold what you are doing. 52:35 You become a spectacle throughout the universe, 52:38 but not just throughout the universe 52:39 but for this ultra-narrative throughout all of eternity. 52:43 Somehow the decisions you make today 52:45 affect all of eternity, all of eternity. 52:53 There is something in your life ladies and gentlemen, 52:55 that God is calling you. 52:58 And I'm human, I know what that's like. 53:01 I know what the struggle's all about. 53:05 God is calling you to the first step to come to the Cross. 53:11 And you may be somebody in your life today 53:13 ladies and gentlemen, that have felt 53:14 you needed spiritual renewal in your life. 53:17 The first step is coming to the Cross 53:20 and God will empower you. 53:21 You might have fallen down in this marathon of life 53:23 and God is saying, "Come to the Cross 53:25 and I will energize you again. 53:27 I will energize your spirituality." 53:29 Ladies and gentlemen, 53:30 God is calling you to the foot of the cross 53:32 and as you come angels behold it. 53:35 You know we talk about heaven and how heaven rejoices 53:38 when one sinner turns from the way, 53:39 and we say it during the baptism. 53:41 But ladies and gentlemen, 53:42 repentance is a life long process 53:44 and every advance you make angels rejoice, angels rejoice. 53:50 There is one who rejoices even more than the angels, 53:54 the Father. 53:57 I invite our music team to come on out. 54:02 We have gonna be singing a very special song, 54:05 a medley of hymns about the Cross of Calvary. 54:09 And as we say it, keep your heart open 54:13 to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you today 54:16 this moment. 54:30 On a hill far away 54:33 Join us. 54:35 Stood an old rugged cross 54:40 The emblem of suffering and shame 54:48 And I love that old cross 54:53 Where the dearest and best 54:57 For a world of lost sinners was slain 55:07 So I'll cherish the old rugged cross 55:16 Till my trophies at last I lay down 55:26 I will cling to the old rugged cross 55:35 And exchange it someday for a crown 55:43 Jesus, keep me near the cross 55:52 There a precious fountain 56:00 Free to all, a healing stream 56:09 Flows from Calvary's mountain 56:17 Sing it out. 56:18 In the cross, in the cross 56:27 Be my glory ever 56:37 Till my raptured soul shall find 56:47 Rest beyond the river 56:56 Alas! And did my Savior bleed 57:03 And did my Sovereign die? 57:10 Would He devote that sacred head 57:17 For sinners such as I? 57:24 At the cross, at the cross 57:27 where I first saw the light 57:31 And the burden of my heart rolled away 57:38 It was there by faith I received my sight 57:45 And now I am happy all the day! 57:53 There is a name I love to hear 57:58 I love to sing its worth 58:03 It sounds like music in mine ear 58:08 The sweetest name on earth 58:13 Oh, how I love Jesus 58:18 Oh, how I love Jesus 58:23 Oh, how I love Jesus 58:28 Because He first loved me! 58:33 It tells me of a Savior's love 58:38 Who died to set me free 58:43 It tells me of His precious blood 58:48 The sinner's perfect plea 58:53 Oh, how I love Jesus 58:58 Oh, how I love Jesus 59:04 Oh, how I love Jesus 59:08 Because He first loved me! |
Revised 2015-05-14