Participants: Mark Fox
Series Code: AMP
Program Code: AMP000007A
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00:04 We are racing towards the global crisis at the close.
00:09 God is going to set up His kingdom on earth. 00:13 Preparation for the tribulation and the translation 00:18 is to develop a character like Jesus Christ 00:21 to reach every hamlet, every village, every man, 00:24 every child, every person in India, 00:27 every person in South America 00:28 must hear these three angles' messages. 00:34 These are stories that illustrate 00:36 the kind of fabric of character and perseverance 00:39 that we need to go through the tribulation 00:42 just as certainly as they did. 00:44 The Bible makes it very clear 00:45 we are living in an unusual hour. 00:48 The last grains of sand 00:49 are trickling through the hourglass of time 00:52 and the door probation is about the swing shut. 01:00 The message this morning is entitled 01:02 "You Can Have A Comeback." 01:04 You can have a comeback. 01:06 Psalms 102:13 is our theme scripture. 01:10 "You will arise and have mercy on Zion. 01:13 For the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come." 01:19 "God has a time for everything" Ecclesiastes 3:1. 01:26 God has a plan for everyone. 01:29 "I know the plans I have for you" Jeremiah 29:11. 01:33 God has His time, God has His plan, 01:36 and I believe this is your time. 01:38 And so I believe you can say categorically, 01:41 unequivocally without any hesitation, 01:44 tell your neighbor this is your time. 01:47 "Now it happened on a certain day, 01:50 as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees 01:53 and teachers of the law sitting by, 01:55 who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, 01:58 and Jerusalem." 02:00 And read this part with me. 02:02 "And the power of the Lord was present to heal." 02:07 The power of the Lord was present to heal. 02:11 The Pharisees didn't get the miracles. 02:15 The Pharisees missed their opportunity 02:18 but there were some in that house 02:20 that received a breakthrough, received a comeback. 02:24 How many want to be in this house with the Lord 02:27 and not miss your miracle? 02:29 Can you say, amen? 02:30 And so there is healing in this house. 02:33 So let's put the two points together. 02:36 This is your time and there is healing in this house. 02:38 Do you believe it? Do you receive it? 02:40 The Bible makes it very clear 02:42 we receive according to our faith, Matthew 9:29. 02:46 Jesus made it very clear 02:48 we receive according to our faith. 02:52 Some of you I believe we are gonna be filled overflowing 02:55 and you will go with a well of water 02:58 springing up onto everlasting life. 03:00 Some I pray will not go having missed their opportunity. 03:05 And so "Jacob went from running in exile for over 20 years 03:12 to a miraculous reconciliation with his brother Esau." 03:17 You can have a comeback. 03:18 "Elijah went from the cave of despair, 03:21 not wanting to live to ultimately 03:23 being taken to heaven." 03:25 You can have a comeback. 03:27 "The prodigal son went from the pig pent 03:29 to a homecoming celebration with his father." 03:32 You can have a comeback. 03:34 "Two demon possessed men went from cutting themselves 03:37 and being a terror to everyone 03:38 to being a mighty witness for Jesus!" 03:41 You can have a comeback. 03:43 The Apostle Paul was a man of dramatic comebacks! 03:47 Talk about he got nine lives, is it. 03:51 He was stoned and left for dead. 03:53 He was shipwrecked, whipped and beaten, imprisoned, 03:56 maligned, ridicule, persecuted 03:59 but the man just kept on coming back. 04:02 You can have a comeback. 04:04 "Jesus went from death to being resurrected 04:07 and ascending to the right hand of the Father!" 04:10 You have Your comeback. 04:13 "The 144,000 go from the tribulation 04:16 to the throne of God!" 04:18 Are you convinced? You can have a comeback. 04:21 In Revelation 2:4-5, I invite you to turn that with me. 04:25 The Book of Revelation, everybody say Revelation. 04:27 Revelation. 04:29 Revelation we have been sharpening the focus 04:32 night by night upon this prophetic symbolic 04:35 colorful book of Revelation and its twin companion volume 04:39 as it were the prophetic book of Daniel in the Old Testament. 04:43 These special books have relevance for us 04:47 living in the edge of eternity. 04:49 And so Revelation Chapter 2, 04:52 Revelation 2:4, 04:56 "Nevertheless I have this against you, 04:58 that you have left your" what? 05:00 "First love." 05:02 If you have ever loved the Lord more than you do right now 05:07 you have left your first love. 05:11 What do you do about that? 05:14 "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, 05:18 repent and do the first works, 05:20 or else I will come to you quickly 05:23 and remove your lampstand from its place 05:25 unless you repent." 05:27 Repent of what? 05:28 Repent that you lost that first glow. 05:32 You lost your honeymoon with Jesus. 05:34 You lost that fervency, that vibrancy, 05:39 you lost that radiance, you lost that joy of the Lord, 05:42 that peace that passive understanding, 05:44 you lost it. 05:46 But I'm here to tell you, you can get it back. 05:48 You can have a comeback, 05:50 you can get your first love back. 05:52 Is that resounding good news or what? 05:54 And so remember how do you get it back? 05:57 You got to remember what the Lord has done for you 06:01 and you got to remember your experience with Him 06:04 that that first love experience and as you reflect upon that 06:08 you can get it back through the help of the Holy Spirit. 06:11 "Remember from where you have fallen" 06:12 you got to acknowledge. 06:15 Are you lukewarm now and used to be on fire? 06:18 The Bible says repent, repent. 06:21 You say I had been in the church 06:23 but maybe lost that first love. 06:25 You know, you can be lost in the church. 06:28 "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, 06:30 repent and do the first works, 06:31 or else I will come to you quickly" 06:33 this is judgment. 06:34 How many believe "Judgment begins at the house of God," 06:37 1 John or rather 1 Peter 4:17 makes it very clear. 06:42 And so "Or else I will come to you quickly 06:44 and remove your lampstand from its place unless you" 06:47 what everyone? 06:48 "You repent." 06:49 How many are willing if you lost that first love 06:51 to repent and say, Lord, I want to get that back 06:54 more than anything in my life. 06:56 Can you say amen to Jesus? 07:00 Hosea 14:4 is a precious promise 07:04 for those who have backslid. 07:07 Hosea 14:4, let's read it together balcony included. 07:10 Here we go, "I will heal their backsliding, 07:13 I will love them freely," I will what? 07:17 "I will love them freely 07:19 for My anger has turned away from him." 07:21 Your backsliding can be healed, 07:24 yeah there is restoration in this house today. 07:28 And so do not "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy," 07:31 do we have an enemy? 07:34 Are you under attack? 07:36 Are you on the frontal assault of the enemy? 07:39 Let me tell you something the Lord impress a scripture 07:42 indelibly upon my mind that we fight 07:47 not against flesh and blood, we fight against principalities 07:51 and powers of darkness. 07:52 We are in and all out war against the host of darkness 07:57 and you and I cannot prevail without the blood of Jesus 08:02 and the help of Jesus 08:03 and the help of the Holy Spirit. 08:05 And so the Bible makes it very clear 08:07 if you call upon Jesus you shall be saved. 08:11 And the Bible says, "Do not rejoice over me, 08:13 my enemy," we do have an enemy. 08:15 "But when I fall," everybody together 08:18 "I will arise." 08:20 You can have a comeback. 08:21 I love these comeback scriptures. 08:23 I will arise, when I sit in darkness," 08:26 you can't see the future. 08:28 Things look bleak, 08:30 don't understand what's going on. 08:32 "When I sit in darkness, the Lord" is right there 08:36 "and the Lord will be a light to me" Micah 7:8. 08:39 And so once again in the Book of Revelation, 08:42 we read this together. 08:45 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb 08:48 and by the word of their testimony, 08:50 and they did not love their lives to the death." 08:52 Why? 08:54 Because they fell in love with Jesus who died for them. 08:57 So should we have a testimony? 08:59 Whatever your testimony is it is a special way 09:05 to witness and win souls to Christ. 09:07 "He that winneth souls is wise" Proverbs 11:30. 09:12 The testimony that I want to share with you 09:15 is how the part one of how God has helped me 09:18 to have a comeback. 09:19 All glory goes to Jesus. 09:21 The Bible says, 09:22 "If you are gonna boast you boast about the Lord." 09:24 And that's all I can boast about 09:26 but I'm here to tell you my testimony 09:29 is all about this scripture. 09:31 Jeremiah 31:3, "The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, 09:34 'Yes, I have loved you" I have loved you 09:39 "with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness 09:44 I have drawn you." 09:47 In 1975 I was 17-years-old 09:51 and my buddy Bob and I were aboard 09:53 his 1963 Harley-Davidson Sportster. 09:57 It was loud, it was fast, it got the girls attention. 10:01 So this high school dropout turned hippie 10:04 and I drop out after ninth grade. 10:05 My father a pastor so I was the PPK, 10:09 the pastor's prodigal kid 10:10 and I wanted nothing to do with boring sermons 10:13 and hypocritical church members. 10:15 I had a very negative attitude and so all I cared about 10:19 is when I got out of my workplace 10:21 I would take my meager paycheck and squander it 10:25 like the prodigal son did unrighteous living. 10:28 And so I would get together with my friend Paul 10:31 and I was riding on the backseat. 10:33 We were helmet protestors led in our long hippie hair 10:37 blowing the cool November breeze. 10:39 November 17 I will never forget that evening. 10:42 We were coming from Manchester bar 10:44 there on a way to anther bar. 10:46 Can I insert 10:48 that this is kind of the water down version 10:51 and you say well, oh, boy, 10:53 here we go with another testimony 10:55 this is about somebody who has been out there and done that. 10:58 Let me tell you something, Jesus gave enough details 11:04 about the before of the prodigal son 11:07 so that you could appreciate the homecoming. 11:10 And so as all I'm gonna do 11:11 is do what Jesus tells me to do, 11:13 just share enough details so that people can appreciate 11:17 the homecoming and the Father gets the glory. 11:20 And so I will tell you that we had no care 11:24 and thought on the world, we are on our way 11:26 to another bar and as we begin to approach 11:29 a curve up on the road there in East Hartford 11:33 all of a sudden a sudden uneasy premonition 11:37 swept over me about danger lurking ahead. 11:40 We were going 45 11:41 an opposed 35 mile an hour posted speed zone 11:44 and sure enough as we begin to ease out of that curve 11:47 all of a sudden a VW dotter cross our pathway 11:51 no lights on, no blinker on, cross the double yellow line. 11:54 My buddy Bob barely had time to even touch the breaks. 11:58 We slam head on into that VW. 12:00 When you are driving motorcycle you are the bumper 12:03 if you get on the road. 12:05 And so we were thrown like refuse 12:07 to the side of the road. 12:08 My buddy Bob landed around the welcome sign, 12:11 I landed around the thank you sign. 12:12 Terrible PR for that grocery store 12:14 but there were on the side of the road 12:17 and I couldn't breathe and I was scared to death. 12:22 And looked up at the starlet sky 12:25 and who do you think I thought about? 12:27 I thought about God. 12:29 I said in my mind, don't let me die. 12:32 I knew if I was to die 12:34 I will do down to a Christless grave. 12:37 And so God heard, God heard my feeble, 12:42 unworthy, broken prayer. 12:46 The Bible says, "He will regard the prayer of the destitute" 12:49 in Psalms 102, rather Psalms 103. 12:53 And so the Bible makes it very clear 12:56 "That Christ is longsuffering, 12:59 not willing that any should perish 13:01 but that all should come to repentance" 13:02 2 Peter 3:9. 13:05 And so I started breathing and with that came 13:08 an overwhelming sensation of excruciating pain 13:12 and I panicked and I tried to get up I couldn't get up 13:15 I panicked more. 13:17 I tried to get up. 13:18 A crowd quickly gathered and hovered over us 13:20 there at the scene of the accident 13:22 and they are asking me, "are you okay" 13:24 and I could just grunt and groan 13:26 and I'm looking over to my right 13:29 and there is my buddy Bob 13:31 he sprawled out on the pavement as well. 13:33 The side of the curve and he is asking 13:35 about his bike and everything 13:37 I'm like careless about your bike. 13:40 A real Harley-Davidson enthusiast. 13:44 And then he is asking me how am I doing as well. 13:48 His nose is bleeding, he blooded up 13:51 and bike is mangled and there we are. 13:55 The ambulance arrived and rushed us to the hospital 13:59 with the enquiry Mark, can you wiggle your toes? 14:02 Bob, can you wiggle your toes? 14:05 Well, I could wiggle my toes 14:06 so I thought okay, that's a good sign. 14:08 I guess I'm gonna, gonna survive this 14:10 and they rushed us to the hospital 14:12 and while I was behind white drawn curtains 14:18 there in the emergency room on that hard emergency board 14:24 crying out in agony for the doctors and nurses 14:28 to help me it seemed like an eternity 14:31 that I was there laying helpless without any attention. 14:35 And then my parents emerged and my mother, 14:40 my mother and I were left alone because my dad went 14:43 to go and check up on the medical status of Bob. 14:47 And so my mother and I were left alone there and I said, 14:51 mom, mom, am I okay. 14:54 Mom, take a look at me and she lifted up the sheet 14:57 and with a trembling hand and a crackling voice 14:59 she said, you are gonna be okay. 15:03 Thanks for that assurance, mom. 15:08 The next morning I woke up 15:10 and there bottles hanging over my head 15:12 and I looked directly across the room 15:13 and there is Bob all bandaged up nose 15:16 and he's got bottles hanging over his head as well. 15:18 I got tube up inserted in my nose 15:21 and I got tubes in my arms and so forth 15:23 and we kind of breathe a sigh of relief. 15:25 I wasn't going anywhere fast, 15:27 I had a three quarter fractured pelvis, 15:29 severely sprained back, cut up bruised and humbled. 15:34 The second night I was in the hospital 15:36 the doctors and nurses 15:38 literally came in around midnight 15:40 and literally were pounding on my chest. 15:44 I was groggy kind of heavily sedated, 15:47 kind of out of it but I do recall 15:49 that this was very intense. 15:52 They were trying to help me. 15:54 The next morning when my parents arrived to visit 15:57 their wayward son one of the church members 16:01 from the Hartford Connecticut Church confronted my parents 16:06 and said, she broke the news and say, she said, 16:09 we almost lost your son last night 16:13 because of blood clots. 16:16 And so my parents quickly hastened to my room 16:22 and they said, Mark, we are praying for you. 16:25 Mark, we have the church members praying for you. 16:27 Mark, we want you to give your heart to God. 16:31 Well, then my buddies and my friends, 16:33 the guys and the girls wanted to come in and visit me 16:36 and then they would offer me the drugs and drinking 16:39 and everything and so I started to resume that lifestyle 16:43 even before I got out. 16:45 And so then there was, what ensued was a conflict, 16:48 furious conflict between my friends and my parents 16:52 and, you know, of course my parents' estimation, 16:54 with friends like this who needs enemies 16:56 and so to the chagrin of my parents, 16:59 I said, "Mom, Dad, 17:00 could you just stop visiting me for a while?" 17:02 Because, you know, there was too much tension there 17:05 so I chose my friends above my parents. 17:08 My parents were devastated. My parents were broken hearted. 17:12 Can I fast forward, we are very close now? 17:14 Okay, rewind. 17:18 My parents were very patient, around this time 17:24 my father one night 17:29 around this time they were crying in the bedroom. 17:35 My dad was shaking and as they were praying 17:39 it just came to them 17:42 "Father, He is your son too 17:47 take care of him" and he was able to sleep. 17:52 So there I was in the hospital room 17:58 for ten days and then I was released with crutches 18:03 after a little bit of physical therapy 18:06 and a friend of mine took me home 18:09 and I planned to resume going up to my friend Paul's house 18:13 who was no better than Bob. 18:15 Paul was my best friend, he lived up the block 18:18 just a couple houses down the block 18:20 there in the East Hartford, Connecticut 18:22 and I was just ready to go, ready to have a party 18:26 and my mother said, Mark, wait a minute, sit down. 18:31 I thought, oh, boy, here comes a lecture. 18:33 She-- 18:34 I sat down, put my crutches aside 18:36 there in the living room and she said, Mark, 18:39 please do not go back to this lifestyle of yours. 18:44 Don't go back to this, Mark. 18:47 Then can't you see that God saved your life. 18:49 Give your heart to God, Mark. Give your heart to Jesus. 18:54 And all I could be thinking to myself is has she done yet? 18:59 I had a very hardened heart, very hardened heart. 19:02 I'm so glad the Bible says 19:04 that "He can take the heart of stone out 19:07 and give us a heart of flesh" Ezekiel 36:26, 27. 19:11 How many believe Jesus does do heart surgery? 19:16 And so I said, okay, mom, yeah, yeah, yeah. 19:18 So I resume, I hobbled my way 19:20 down the sidewalk to Paul's house. 19:23 But, you know, the Bible makes it very, very clear 19:26 that God is a God of amazing breakthroughs! 19:30 Motorcycle accident God saved my life. 19:35 The devil tried to take my life but God won the battle. 19:40 "For You have delivered my soul from death." 19:44 Hasn't the Lord really delivered us off 19:46 from eternal death? Psalms 56:13. 19:52 And so on another occasion my friend Paul said, 19:58 Mark, let's take some LSD together. 20:03 I said, there is no way I'm gonna take LSD. 20:08 I would do marijuana, et cetera, et cetera 20:11 but I knew LSD that's the big leagues, 20:14 that's more potent that I ever want to swallow. 20:18 No, I'm not gonna do that. Can I just say something? 20:23 There are millions and millions of young people 20:27 experimenting with drugs this weekend. 20:31 My heart, I have a burden for young people. 20:34 I have spoken with God's help to thousands of young people 20:37 and I have a burden that young people will realize 20:42 that drugs will not give them that peace, 20:45 that joy, that happiness but Jesus will. 20:48 And so I said, no way but he persisted. 20:53 He wouldn't let it go and there was a party 20:56 and the guys and girls were mingling and dancing. 20:59 The smoke was filling the room and the music was blasting, 21:03 everything was in the context of rock and roll, everything. 21:08 And so I said, all right, give me some other stuff. 21:12 He gave me what is known as four way blotter acid. 21:15 I know you, please, I hope you never remember that. 21:19 But anyway four way blotter acid, 21:21 you are supposed to take it in four intervals 21:25 and spread it out over like a weekend 21:27 never take it and at one time you never mix it with alcohol. 21:31 Give the devil an inch and he will take your mind. 21:35 I ended up taking the four way blotter acid 21:38 mixing it, mingling it with alcohol 21:42 and at first I thought wow, 21:43 this is so real, this is different. 21:45 I was hallucinating. 21:47 I was having out of the body experiences 21:49 and all sorts of strange sensations 21:52 and feelings and observations about what was going on 21:56 that was very distorted. 21:59 And then after a long time what seem like an eternity 22:03 finally the party was over and it came time to go home. 22:09 Well, I was in no shape and no mental framework 22:12 to go home so I said to buddy Paul, 22:14 Paul, I can't go home like this. 22:16 Can I stay overnight here? Sure, no problem. 22:18 So he went to his bedroom and I got in bed 22:22 and I laid down and I close my eyes to go to sleep. 22:29 No exaggeration, all of a sudden satanic, 22:32 horrific nightmarish images, graphic, colorful, 22:38 impressive, devastating images swirled in my days mind. 22:44 I leap from the bed and I said Paul, Paul, 22:47 when am I gonna come down? 22:49 When am I gonna come down? 22:50 He thought I was really hyping things up 22:53 and he said, don't worry about it, you will come down. 22:55 Turned out he didn't take it with me, 22:57 I was alone 23:00 that's why he could go to sleep. 23:05 I was not going to revisit that bed. 23:08 I did not want to go back and see those images again. 23:13 So what did I do? 23:14 All night, this 17-year-old hippie, proud hippie, man, 23:20 I was the DJ get my LPs out, laugh and joke around and party 23:25 but now I was scared to death and I paste the floor 23:32 watching my buddy, my best friend Paul 23:34 taught me into taking this stuff watching him snore 23:39 and I paste the floor back and forth 23:42 wondering if I would ever come down, 23:46 wondering if my mind would ever be normal again. 23:51 Wondering if I would get my sanity back 23:54 I knew I was losing it fast. 23:59 At the crack of dawn I was looking in the mirror 24:03 something teenagers like to do occasionally 24:05 and I was looking in the mirror 24:08 and I look like death warmed over 24:11 and I vigorously shook my buddy Paul, Paul, get up, get up. 24:15 Now there is something about this sort of lifestyle 24:17 you like to sleep in but I was rudely interrupting 24:20 his sleep and I said, come on, man, get up, get up. 24:24 I was scared. 24:25 I didn't want to be alone anymore. 24:28 And all that day I hallucinated. 24:30 All that day I had incredible paranoia sweep over me. 24:35 And then that evening 24:37 after what seemed to be an eternity in hell 24:41 that evening they threw another party. 24:45 Guys and girls mingling and the music blasting, 24:48 the smoke filling the room, laughter, joking 24:53 and then all of a sudden the attention shifted to me. 24:57 Hey, Fox, you still high man, you still hallucinating? 25:02 Hey, do you feel box them. 25:04 And I became the bud of the jokes. 25:06 They laughed at me. They thought it was funny. 25:11 I was thinking to myself if they don't be quiet 25:14 I'm gonna absolutely go crazy. 25:17 And so I talked to myself 25:18 they are not getting up, giving up. 25:19 How many agree sometimes friends can be 25:21 a little relentless in their cruelty. 25:25 And so I talked to myself I got to get out of here. 25:27 So I started thinking I'm gonna go home. 25:32 Sudden changes are about to catch the world by surprise. 25:36 Amazing Bible Prophecies are fast fulfilling. 25:39 Do ancient prophecies predict the sudden economic collapse? 25:43 Will the Middle East crisis erupt into World War III? 25:47 Are we living on the eve of Armageddon? 25:49 How will the final moves of the antichrist affect you? 25:52 What is the future of the United States of America? 25:56 How will natural disasters usher in the mark of the beast? 26:00 Now you can watch the entire Amazing Prophecy series 26:04 of 32 hopeful messages on DVD. 26:07 Don't guess about the future, know the future. 26:11 The complete set of DVDs 26:13 is available for a gift of $60 or more. 26:16 Call us at 1-855-336-FREE 26:20 or you can send a check or money order 26:22 to Forever Free Ministries, 2001 Munro Park, 26:26 Corinth, Texas, 76208. 26:29 You can also visit us online at foreverfreeministries.org. 26:36 Don't know what I'm gonna say, I got to think 26:37 about what I'm gonna say to my parents 26:39 and so I made a beeline for the door. 26:40 Hey, Fox, where do you think you are going, man? 26:43 Come on, man, you are not gonna go home. 26:46 I opened the door, 26:47 close the door behind me with them laughing. 26:50 I stumbled my way down the murky shadows of that night 26:53 and sidewalk and rehearsing my alibi. 26:57 Okay, what am I gonna say? All right, what am I gonna say? 26:59 I rang the doorbell. 27:01 Remember, this is just couple houses down the block. 27:03 Rang the doorbell, 27:04 I'm one of four boys, I'm number two 27:06 and my older brother Kevin answered the door. 27:10 What is going on with you? 27:12 Mom and dad are worried about you where-- 27:14 oh, don't worry about it. 27:16 Don't worry about it. 27:17 Didn't want be bothered by him 27:19 and so I made a beeline for my bedroom 27:21 and I thought all right, get your composure together. 27:25 Then my mother, I hear approaching footsteps 27:28 and I thought the enquiry, 27:30 the great inquest is about the comments. 27:34 Mark, where have been? Just up Paul's house. 27:37 Why didn't you call us? 27:39 I should have called you, I'm really sorry, mom. 27:41 What have you been doing? Oh, not much. 27:45 And then I started shaking, 27:46 she knew something was going on. 27:48 I started shaking and she said calmly, 27:52 sweet heart, tell me what's the matter. 27:54 What's the matter, what happened? 27:56 And I'm shaking and I started to cry 28:00 and my mother very calmly we sat down 28:04 at the edge of one of the twin beds 28:08 and my mother wrapped her arm around me 28:11 and she said, Honey, tell me what happened. 28:14 Mom, I've taken some LSD and I can't come down, mom. 28:20 And I held on to her tightly. Mom, please help me. 28:23 I can't come down, mom, please help me. 28:27 My dad emerged there in the doorway, 28:31 what's going on in here? 28:34 And my mother informed him. 28:37 My dad, my loving dad responded by calling the doctor. 28:43 Doc, you know, we don't know what to do. 28:45 Our son is hallucinating on LSD and, 28:49 you know, we don't what to do for him. 28:51 What do you suggest? 28:52 Well, if he becomes violent, you know, we can-- 28:56 you can bring him here and we'll put him 28:57 in a completely enclosed padded room 29:00 until he comes down. 29:03 My father pictured his claustrophobic son 29:07 in the claustrophobic padded room 29:10 and my dad responded thank God 29:13 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 29:16 Doc, no our son has not become violent 29:20 but, doc, we do believe in the power of prayer. 29:24 And my parents, my parents were praying for me 29:29 and my mother's intuition was in full gear. 29:32 By the way, I do believe that mother's intuition 29:35 is a gift from God and all the mothers had. 29:38 I believe that with all my heart. 29:41 And so my mother said, have you eaten anything? 29:44 No. 29:45 I could barely even smoke a cigarette 29:47 and said no, no, I haven't. 29:49 You need to eat something. I said, all right. 29:52 So she fed me a little bit and I believe that helped 29:56 to absorb some of this acid but that combined with 30:01 put my PJs on and I said, you got to go to bed now. 30:08 And I remember asking my mom, 30:13 mom, just think you can sleep 30:16 in the bedroom here with me tonight. 30:18 Now you got to keep in mind that this turbulent teenager 30:22 was known to shut his parents out, 30:25 lock the bedroom door and blast my, 30:28 so if you hear me say, huh, 30:29 you know, that was Led Zeppelin being pumped in there. 30:35 And so my mother said, yeah, I will sleep here 30:37 in the bedroom with you tonight. 30:38 I did not want to be alone to confront satanic images. 30:44 And so my parents knelt down by my bedside 30:47 clutched my hands and they prayed for me. 30:51 And while they were praying 30:53 here's what I calculated in my mind, 30:57 I know God is not gonna hear my prayer 31:00 but my only hope is if God hears their prayers. 31:07 Thank God, 31:09 for example that Job prayed for his friends, 31:15 I say this beloved, do you know someone 31:18 that needs Jesus pray for them. 31:21 Our God hears the effectual fervent prayer 31:26 of a righteous man avails much, James 5:16. 31:30 There is power in prayer. 31:32 I believe it with all my heart, there is power in prayer. 31:35 Say it with me, there is power in prayer. 31:37 Come on now, there is power in prayer. 31:40 So my parents prayed for me. 31:43 Later on they told me, 31:45 Mark, you had like a green complexion. 31:47 Don't know where that came from 31:48 but anyway I looked like death warmed over. 31:51 Then my dad went dejectedly 31:56 to his bedroom alone, 31:59 my mother got in the other twin bed, 32:02 the lights went out 32:05 and I thought okay, I'm gonna try. 32:07 And I close my eyes and those satanic images emerged again. 32:11 Mom, you there? 32:14 Honey, calm down, I'm here. 32:18 Mom, mom. Honey, I'm here. 32:25 You can go to sleep. 32:27 The Bible says in Isaiah, 32:29 take your Bible and turn with me. 32:33 Isaiah Chapter 66... 32:42 by the way I don't know if you realize 32:44 but Mother's Day is every day. 32:45 Okay, anyway, 32:48 Isaiah 66, so also with Father's Day. 32:54 Isaiah 66... 32:58 give you a moment to locate that. 33:01 Isaiah 66, beautiful, powerful, scripture 33:07 about how God will comfort those who need comfort 33:12 as a mother comforts her only children. 33:15 I want you to notice here for example in verse 2, 33:21 "'For all those things My hand has made, 33:24 and all those things exist,' says the Lord. 33:30 'But on this one will I look, on him who is poor 33:35 and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.'" 33:41 Let me tell you something, I was trembling 33:43 and I was feeling very, very humbled and contrite 33:47 and my mother was praying for me and I wondered, 33:50 I wondered is there any hope for me. 33:54 The Bible says that God will comfort you 33:56 as a mother comforts her child, her children. 34:00 And number one thoughts 34:01 swirling around in my crazed mind, 34:04 what I ever comedown because I knew, friends, 34:07 I knew, friends, that let's put it this way 34:10 their mind was permanently altered. 34:13 These mind altering drugs were so potent 34:16 that some would never be the same. 34:18 Some would be reduced to mere vegetable 34:22 or vegetating state of mind. 34:24 And so I lapsed into a much needed sleep 34:28 and the first thought in the morning 34:31 did God hear their prayer. 34:34 I was afraid to wake up. 34:36 I remembered the sun was shining brightly 34:38 through the window and I was underneath the pillow 34:41 and I just wanted to not wake up. 34:44 I just wanted to stay there because I was afraid 34:47 of what reality would bring. 34:50 I gradually moved the pillow aside, 34:54 I got out of the bed and of course 34:57 I made a beeline for the, for the mirror 34:59 and I'm thinking, am I okay. 35:03 All right, I think I'm okay. My mind was clear as a bell. 35:08 My mind was crystal clear. My mind no flashbacks. 35:13 Many people who take these kind of drugs 35:16 will have flashbacks for years. 35:19 No flashbacks, no withdrawal symptoms, I was delivered. 35:25 I race down the hallway and I declared to my mom and dad, 35:29 mom, dad, I'm okay. 35:31 I'm okay. What you think they said? 35:35 Mark, give your heart to Jesus. Give your heart to God. 35:40 Can't you see that God delivered you? 35:43 You know, the Bible says in Isaiah 61:1-3 35:46 and it's also quoted in Luke Chapter 4. 35:48 Go with me to Luke Chapter 4. Go with me to Luke Chapter 4. 35:57 Luke Chapter 4... 36:02 looking there at verse 18. 36:06 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, 36:08 because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel 36:10 to the poor, he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, 36:15 to proclaim" what everyone? 36:17 "Liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, 36:21 to set at liberty those who are oppressed." 36:23 Let me tell you some, 36:25 I was oppressed by these demonic drugs. 36:27 How many agree that these drugs are from the devil? 36:30 Now you say, Mark, I would never take 36:33 these kind of potent drugs in my life. 36:36 Did you know that sin is the most powerful drug? 36:39 Sin alters your mind. 36:41 Sin alters your perspective, your motivation, 36:45 your decrement, your reasoning, your judgment. 36:47 Would you agree we-- 36:49 our Bible says that a whole head is sick. 36:52 The Bible says, the heart is deceitful. 36:54 It will lie to you. 36:55 Let me tell you something, sin, 36:58 sin makes us unreasonable at time. 37:02 The Bible says that the prodigal son 37:04 when he came to his senses decided to go back home. 37:09 Another word sin will make you senseless. 37:12 Aren't you glad that Christ has delivered us from that drug? 37:15 Can you say amen? 37:17 And there is healing in this house 37:19 for these mind altering sins. 37:22 Thank God, you can be delivered. 37:24 I don't know what addiction you hold on to, 37:26 I don't what addicted thoughts you have, 37:29 what's your trainer thoughts but I'm here to tell you 37:31 Jesus delivers you and he delivers you now. 37:34 Do you believe it? Do you receive it? 37:36 And so I will tell you another episode. 37:38 My buddy's, we were six of us 37:41 in my 1966 Satellite Convertible 37:44 and I was driving. 37:45 We were passing around the jugs and somebody came up 37:47 with a crazy idea of breaking into somebody's home. 37:51 I was raised better. 37:53 I went to some Christian Adventist schools 37:56 until I dropped out and I knew better 38:00 but I had discovered it's not enough to know. 38:05 It's not enough. 38:06 Sometimes parents will tell me well, they know, they know. 38:09 It's not enough to know. 38:11 You need power of the Holy Spirit 38:13 to do what you know is right. 38:15 Would you agree we are powerless 38:17 apart from Christ? 38:18 Christ said, "Without Me you can do nothing," John 15:5. 38:22 But Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ 38:26 who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13. 38:28 And so I caved into the pressure. 38:32 How many have ever heard of a thing called peer pressure. 38:34 It's very strong among our young people. 38:38 Our young people are not going to make it through 38:41 without a lot of fasting and prayer 38:44 on the part of their parents. 38:46 Show me your prayer life and I will show you 38:48 whether you love your children or not because dad, 38:51 if you are not praying for your children 38:53 I have to ask you the question do you really love them 38:56 in the fullest sense of the word love. 38:58 Love comes from God and would you agree 39:01 the most important bond you can have with your children 39:03 is a spiritual connection. 39:05 Can you say amen to that? 39:07 And so I will tell you. 39:09 They went at a high, drove at a house, 39:11 they took these five guys, 39:13 I mean, idealness is the devils-- 39:15 you know, that here in Missouri, the devils worship. 39:18 And so then I find myself in this house 39:21 and my heart is outside of my chest 39:23 and I'm perspiring and my heart is pounding 39:26 and racing and they are gone after the jewelry 39:28 and going after the stereo, going after the TV, 39:32 and I felt like a fish out of water 39:34 and I'm thinking let's get out of here. 39:36 I'm having a panic attack and then we started evacuating. 39:41 We started leaving and they started heading out 39:43 with the jewelry and started heading out with the TV 39:46 and the stereo and I'm here like, 39:48 I don't want to look a damn or anything 39:50 and so I saw a nice little pillow 39:52 and saw a nice little rug so I took the pillow 39:54 and took the rug and out I went and I'm thinking to myself 39:57 I can't believe I did this. 40:00 I'm just telling you the truth. 40:01 And so I went to the trunk, opened the trunk, 40:04 they turn the-- 40:05 put in the stereo and the TV and the jewelry 40:08 and I threw in my rug and pillow 40:09 and I'm thinking this was not worth it. 40:13 Be sure your sin will find you out. 40:18 Thank God for forgiveness though. Can I add that? 40:21 And so two months later sure enough they came 40:26 to my workplace and they said, Mark Fox, that's me. 40:31 You come with us, you are under arrest 40:32 and they threw me in jail and at that time 40:36 my parents were in Austria at the General Conference 40:40 of Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 40:43 And so here I was the wayward son in jail. 40:47 Now just so happened that the person 40:49 who got me the job as a shipper and receiver 40:52 in a printing envelop company there in Hartford 40:55 her name Linda Martin 40:56 was a Seventh-day Adventist Christian 40:59 and she took pity upon the pastor's son. 41:01 She got me the job and many times 41:03 the boss should have fired me for coming in late 41:06 because of hangovers or missing work 41:08 but she helped me to hang on this job 41:11 about the only semblance of normalcy in my life. 41:14 And so she made a phone call 41:18 and got one of the church members. 41:20 I had no need for those church members. 41:22 I had negative attitude. All bunch of hypocrites. 41:25 Well, guess what, one of the hypocrites 41:27 came to bail me out. 41:30 I'll never forget, Brother Sam White 41:33 and he had a white beard and hair and short stocky man 41:37 resembled he had his white goatee 41:39 resembled Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame 41:41 but and anyway all I know is when he showed up 41:45 he never looked so good. 41:50 He bailed me out. 41:52 I was in jail for seven hours he bailed me out. 41:56 My parents came home and my mother escorted me 41:59 to my lawyers, executive suite in that skyscraper 42:04 of a building towering over Hartford 42:07 and we went up to his executive suite, 42:11 sat across that executive table from him. 42:15 He took off his glasses, he looked at me 42:17 with a penetrating gaze and he said, 42:19 Mark, I think you may have gone too far this time. 42:23 I felt a pity in my stomach. 42:26 He said, Mark, I think you could get 42:28 three to five years in jail. 42:32 When I boarded the elevator with my mother 42:35 I felt like I was gonna collapse. 42:37 As we came out 42:39 of that skyscraper overshadowing Hartford I-- 42:43 the yellow taxi cabs are going this way and that way. 42:46 The people are running this way and walking that way 42:48 and the buses and I'm thinking to myself I may go to jail. 42:55 Jail? Prison? Behind bars, me? 43:00 The court date arrived, my parents had mobilized 43:06 and encouraged church members to pray for me. 43:09 I was in desperate straits. 43:12 And so the church members banded together 43:14 and prayed for me. 43:17 And the court date arrived 43:18 and my mother escorted me to the court-- 43:21 my mother and father escorted to the court house 43:25 and I with a trembling hand stuff my cigarette 43:28 into the sand filled ashtray and entered the court room 43:31 with my parents. 43:33 We sat towards the back 43:35 and then the black robed judge emerged. 43:40 Everybody stood at attention and I'm sizing him up. 43:44 I'm looking him over and I'm thinking 43:46 that red face judge looks pretty mean to me, oh, boy. 43:53 And so when he sat we all sat in unison. 43:57 And it seemed like eternity. 44:00 Mark Fox echoed the court room and with my heart in my hand 44:06 I walked up before that red faced mean looking judge. 44:16 Cleared his throat and said, yeah. 44:21 I don't like what I'm about to do 44:24 but I see no other alternative 44:27 because the people have not come 44:29 to press charges against you, 44:30 you may leave this case is dismissed. 44:34 I turned around and floated out of the court room. 44:39 When I boarded the car with my parents 44:41 what do you think my parents said, 44:44 Mark, church members were praying for you. 44:50 They were praying for you, Mark, 44:52 the reason why you got off today 44:55 is because God has had mercy upon you. 44:58 Give your heart to Jesus, Mark. I heard my heart. 45:04 So the devil, the devil tried to take my life 45:10 in that motorcycle accident. 45:12 The devil tried to take my mind on that LSD. 45:16 The devil tried to take my freedom. 45:19 God saved me from going to jail for three to five years. 45:23 "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, 45:26 nor punished us according to our iniquities" 45:29 Psalms103:10. 45:31 That is sheer grace. 45:35 "I will contend with him who contends with you." 45:38 Jesus fights for you 45:40 and He fights for your children. 45:42 There is powered prayer. 45:43 When you pray for your children Jesus goes to fight for them. 45:47 Can you say amen tonight? 45:48 Those grandchildren you are praying for, 45:50 keep praying because there is a fight going on. 45:53 It's a fight to the finish, Isaiah 49:25. 45:57 God save my mind from drugs. 46:00 "To preach deliverance to the captives" Luke 4:18. 46:05 In 1975 that was the real infamous year, 46:10 a lot of these experiences. 46:12 And in 1975 while I was chain smoking 46:16 about two packs of cigarette smoke coming out of everywhere 46:21 and on drugs frequently, high school dropout, 46:26 almost went to jail, I almost lost my life, 46:29 hanging around the wrong people, 46:31 borderline alcoholic and at that time 46:34 when I was at my wore Mark Finley comes in town. 46:39 A colleague of my father's 46:42 and they hold an evangelistic series, 46:44 a Bible seminar like this one. 46:47 A Bible seminar entitled 46:49 or dubbed Radiant Living Seminars" 46:54 And Mark Finley and my parents sent Teenie Finley 46:59 they became very close. 47:00 They worked together for weeks and weeks. 47:03 Mark Finley's meetings would go 47:05 for longer than we are doing our seminar here. 47:09 And so they would confide in him. 47:14 Mark, pray for our son. 47:18 Teenie, pray for our son and they would give him 47:22 the update of what going on in my checkered lifestyle. 47:27 And what was going on in my experience. 47:30 And so, there they prayed. 47:33 They were continually be praying for me. 47:36 The radiant living evangelistic team 47:38 they would get their team together 47:40 and they would pray for me at my worst. 47:46 Well, then, I met surely on the dance floor 47:50 of a discotheque and I-- 47:53 we moved in together and we decided, 47:56 or I was the one who really decided 47:58 we are gonna get married. 48:00 She didn't feel the same way that I felt but I thought, 48:04 you know, with my good looks and my charms 48:08 I thought I'm gonna get her and it wasn't working 48:13 and I was humbled. 48:15 You see, I was a very proud teenager 48:19 but God knew how to humble me and she was breaking my heart. 48:25 She was breaking my heart and I tried the best I could, 48:30 try to dress just right, try to impress her 48:34 and she still had an old flame but we were living together 48:37 and my mother and my father and an associate pastor 48:41 that my dad had Dave Holden would keep bugging me. 48:44 Mark, you are living in sin. 48:45 If you want God to bless this relationship 48:48 you got to move back home and do things right. 48:50 I didn't want to hear about that 48:53 and so I thought okay, 48:54 I know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna quit-- 48:56 her name was Shirley and Shirley was a mistake 48:58 but I did right. 49:00 As you would feel the same way. 49:02 But anyway all he knows is I thought okay, 49:05 what can I do to salvage this relationship? 49:08 I want to go to the altar, I want to tie the knot, 49:10 what can I do. 49:12 And so I thought, okay, I'm gonna quit smoking. 49:14 I quit smoking, she didn't ask me to. She smoke. 49:17 I quit drinking, she didn't ask me too. 49:19 She drank. And I quit drugs. 49:21 Now that's one thing she didn't do too much off 49:23 but I equip all of those things for the relationship. 49:28 I quite cold turkey. 49:29 Don't tell me you can't quit with cold turkey. 49:32 I'm here to tell you, you can. And so I quit everything. 49:37 But as I look back 49:38 I know that although I didn't give my heart to Jesus 49:41 any good thing comes from Jesus. 49:44 I believe that He was working with me 49:47 before I had my home coming. 49:48 How many agree, Jesus has to go and chase you down. 49:52 Nobody comes to Jesus except the father 49:55 and Jesus and the Holy Spirit drawn them. 49:57 Can you say amen? 49:58 "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" 50:01 John 6:37. 50:02 So you know what happened? 50:03 What happened was yeah... 50:08 one week I was free and clear. 50:12 No talking, no smoking, no drinking, 50:16 no drug, no nothing. 50:18 Only I got shakes, I had to withdrawals and so forth 50:21 but I thought for the relationship 50:23 I will do it. 50:26 How many believe that when you start 50:29 to make a little progress the devil is calculating 50:32 and stargazing how to ensnare you again 50:34 and make you worse than you were before. 50:38 And so the devil has a plot in hell 50:42 and it worked. 50:45 She went for a weekend she said, I need time to think 50:52 and she went with her old boyfriend 50:54 for a weekend. 50:56 Can you say humble pie, I was divested. 51:02 I wanted to marry this woman 51:03 and she is now with her old flame 51:05 for a weekend and so I-- 51:08 what do you think I did? 51:09 I call my buddies went out in parties, 51:11 smoking, drinking, drugs and so forth. 51:14 Then I came back home she was still not there. 51:17 I had a broken heart 51:18 and now I was really not feeling too good. 51:21 Woke up in the morning-- 51:22 practically passed out. 51:23 Woke up in the morning and I had two problems now. 51:28 She was not there, I had a broken heart, 51:30 now I had a hangover 51:32 and I was not feeling good at all, understatement. 51:35 Making trips to the rest room and while I was feeling sick, 51:40 while I was at my worse and my mind literally, 51:44 the ceiling was literally spinning around. 51:47 I said to myself I'm sick and tired 51:51 of being sick and tired 51:53 and I have never touched those things ever since. 51:59 But now I had to focus on Shirley. 52:03 And so she came back home, back to the apartment. 52:08 I remember me seeing her car and keep looking out the window 52:11 and sure enough pulled up with her Pinto, her blue Pinto. 52:15 Remember Pintos? 52:18 And she pulled up and I went out 52:21 and she is crying and she saying 52:24 I'm sorry, made a mistake. 52:26 Yeah, tell me about it. 52:29 And I'm thinking to myself I'll never trust her again. 52:33 But I just had to make this relationship work. 52:37 Have you ever been in a relationship 52:39 which was self-destructive but you are staying anyway? 52:44 So I, I said okay. 52:49 What do I do now? 52:51 So we tried to patch things up, 52:53 try to put a band aid on things. 52:55 My heart was torn up. 52:57 Emotions all and then I started thinking, 53:03 maybe God can straighten her 53:06 and help her to be faithful to me 53:07 and we can get married and live happily ever after. 53:12 And so that was my quest, my new quest. 53:15 Now, I have given my heart to the Lord 53:18 but let me just have, just a few moments. 53:20 Listen carefully what happened. 53:23 Around this time my parents were telling me, 53:28 Dave Holden there my father's assistant 53:31 come on move back home 53:32 and I said, come on I'll move back home. 53:35 So he was ready and eager and Dave Holden, 53:37 Pastor Dave Holden, associate pastor he backed up 53:41 in his pickup there by my apartment 53:45 and I and he loaded up my meager belongings 53:49 and I remember Shirley came home, 53:51 what's going on at there. 53:53 I'm moving out and she is crying. 53:55 Don't move out, why you are moving out. 53:57 And I looked at her she got cigarette in one hand, 53:59 a beer can on the other and I said 54:01 we've got to have God in our relationship. 54:04 She really felt like he is really crazy. 54:09 But I thought well, it feels good. 54:10 Maybe have an upper hand in this. 54:13 And so around that time 54:15 moving back on was very different. 54:16 We started attending church together 54:18 and I'm thinking oh, I hope she gets converted. 54:19 I hadn't given my heart, Lord, 54:21 I have no prayer life, no study life 54:23 I was just focusing on God getting her converted. 54:30 Around this time we got a brochure, 54:32 my father got a brochure. 54:34 His friend Mark Finley, this was 1977, 54:39 his friend Mark Finely was holding 54:42 an evangelistic series of Radiant Living Prophecy Seminar 54:45 was holding it in Springfield, Massachusetts. 54:52 And that was a 45 minute drive from Hartford 54:56 and I told Shirley, Shirley, we are going, let's go. 55:01 And she agreed. We will go to these meetings. 55:04 And so faithfully night by night 55:07 we would travel in her Pinto and we would go 55:12 to these evangelistic meeting dubbed Radiant Living Seminars 55:16 by evangelist Mark Finley and his team 55:19 and his singing evangelist Mills, O.J. Mills and his wife. 55:23 And so night by night my heart was being touched 55:27 but I thought wait, let's first focus on her. 55:30 And so one night Mark Finley made an altar call. 55:34 If you would like to give your heart to Jesus 55:37 and you believe the truth you been listening to 55:39 in the seminar come forward. 55:41 And, man, I'm feeling the Holy Spirit 55:43 talk to my heart and so I said to her, 55:46 I said, let's go forward. 55:48 And she said I'm not going forward, you go forward. 55:52 I'm not going forward if you are not going forward, 55:55 didn't want to go ahead of her. 55:57 Around this time shaking hands at the door 56:00 Mark Finley, Mark Finley said, 56:03 Mark, can I talk to you afterwards? 56:06 Little old me, all right 56:07 evangelist has little time for me. 56:09 Sure, I'll talk to you, sure. 56:12 So after the people disburse we sat down 56:14 of the edge of the stage there in the auditorium 56:18 and he said, Mark, I know you've gone through a lot 56:22 and I have a Bible promise for you. 56:24 And the scripture he shared is Joel 2:25, 56:30 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming 56:33 locust has eaten, the crawling locust, 56:35 the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, 56:37 my great army which I sent among you." 56:39 Chewing locust and he said, Mark, let me explain. 56:42 He said, Mark, all those years you gave in the drugs 56:45 and drinking and partying. 56:47 If you give your heart to Jesus 56:49 He will restore you. 56:54 I was a dropout. I was going nowhere. 57:00 But He gave me that promise. 57:03 Sometime after that crusade 57:06 God in a series of incredible miracles 57:09 that I will share next Saturday morning, 57:12 God brought me to the foot of the cross 57:16 and I gave my heart for Jesus. 57:19 As we close you can have a comeback. 57:25 You can get your first love back. 57:28 You can find Jesus. He is your everything. 57:33 Your best friend. Your personal Savior. 57:39 Although sudden and alarming changes 57:41 are sweeping across the globe you and your family 57:44 can be prepared to face the future with confidence. 57:48 The complete set of Amazing Prophecies 57:50 on DVD are available for a gift of $60 or more. 57:55 Call us at 1-855-336-FREE 57:59 or send your check or money order 58:01 to Forever Free Ministries, 2001 Munro Park, 58:06 Corinth, Texas, 76208. 58:10 If you would like to have Mark Fox 58:11 hold an Amazing Prophecy seminar 58:14 or a marriage seminar weekend in your church 58:16 contact us today, 58:18 markfox @foreverfreeministries.org |
Revised 2015-11-16