Now, today, 00:00:13.48\00:00:14.81 we're talking about The Search For Happiness. 00:00:14.84\00:00:18.85 And in the last program we discovered 00:00:18.88\00:00:20.52 that the human race got the problem. 00:00:20.55\00:00:22.82 It's not basically psychological 00:00:22.85\00:00:25.45 even though we certainly need psychologist and psychiatrist. 00:00:25.49\00:00:30.09 It's not our basic problem, 00:00:30.13\00:00:31.56 neither is it economic or political, 00:00:31.59\00:00:35.76 as Karl Mark said. 00:00:35.80\00:00:37.90 Our problem is basically a spiritual problem. 00:00:37.93\00:00:42.14 And the Bible tells us 00:00:42.17\00:00:43.51 that the root cause of our problem is, 00:00:43.54\00:00:46.84 listen, wait for this, it's alienation from God. 00:00:46.88\00:00:51.98 Is that we're alienated from God, 00:00:52.01\00:00:54.05 where we seem to be alone in the universe 00:00:54.08\00:00:57.05 and the Bible teaches that the problem is called sin. 00:00:57.09\00:01:01.59 And the solution is the true gospel of Christ. 00:01:01.62\00:01:06.90 Now I want you to come in the Bible over here 00:01:06.93\00:01:08.66 to Roman 5:6 and onwards. 00:01:08.70\00:01:12.43 And I'm so glad to see you folks here today. 00:01:12.47\00:01:14.60 Romans 5:6 and onwards, the Bible says, 00:01:14.64\00:01:19.87 "For when we were still without strength, 00:01:19.91\00:01:21.91 in due time Christ died for who? 00:01:21.94\00:01:25.61 The ungodly. 00:01:25.65\00:01:27.02 The scarcely for a righteous man 00:01:27.05\00:01:28.62 will one die; yet perhaps for a good man 00:01:28.65\00:01:31.19 someone would even dare to die. 00:01:31.22\00:01:33.56 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 00:01:33.59\00:01:36.83 in that while we were still sinners, 00:01:36.86\00:01:39.86 Christ died for us." 00:01:39.89\00:01:42.06 So the Bible teach us, 00:01:42.10\00:01:45.73 I want you to think about this, 00:01:45.77\00:01:47.10 in a way that most of us don't understand. 00:01:47.14\00:01:51.67 When Christ, 00:01:51.71\00:01:53.61 when God became a man in the person of Christ, 00:01:53.64\00:01:56.51 when He died on the cross, 00:01:56.54\00:01:57.95 somehow that would heal us of our problem. 00:01:57.98\00:02:03.02 It would serve 00:02:03.05\00:02:04.45 the greatest problem in the human raise, 00:02:04.49\00:02:06.25 the greatest problem in the universe, 00:02:06.29\00:02:07.79 which is the problem of sin. 00:02:07.92\00:02:10.23 I want you to come over now 00:02:10.26\00:02:11.59 to the gospel according to John, 00:02:11.63\00:02:13.23 some have said that this book is the most important book 00:02:13.26\00:02:15.86 that was ever written in the history 00:02:15.90\00:02:17.80 of the human rise. 00:02:17.83\00:02:19.17 John 1:1 says, 00:02:19.20\00:02:21.54 I want you to noticed these words 00:02:21.57\00:02:23.00 "In the beginning was the word, 00:02:23.04\00:02:25.57 and the word was with God, and the word was God". 00:02:25.61\00:02:30.98 Verse 3 says, "All things were made through Him, 00:02:31.01\00:02:34.22 without Him nothing was made that was made." 00:02:34.25\00:02:37.55 This is talking about Jesus Christ, 00:02:37.59\00:02:39.99 the word of God and it says, He made everything. 00:02:40.02\00:02:43.76 Verse 10 says, "He was in the world 00:02:43.79\00:02:46.53 and the world was made through Him, 00:02:46.56\00:02:48.73 and the world did not know Him." 00:02:48.76\00:02:51.77 I want you to think about this. 00:02:51.80\00:02:54.50 The Bible teaches that right at the very, very beginning. 00:02:54.54\00:03:00.08 We're talking about billions of years ago, 00:03:00.11\00:03:02.18 the Bible teaches there was the word. 00:03:02.21\00:03:05.88 Now the evolutionist like Dawkins says 00:03:05.91\00:03:08.28 the first thing you had chaos, 00:03:08.32\00:03:11.99 unintelligibility, randomness, 00:03:12.02\00:03:15.49 and then this bred the word, it bred intelligence. 00:03:15.52\00:03:20.56 But that's absolutely false, it's crazy. 00:03:20.60\00:03:24.07 The Bible teaches there were supreme intelligence 00:03:24.10\00:03:27.34 and the Bible talks about a person 00:03:27.37\00:03:29.54 and the Bible calls Him the word. 00:03:29.57\00:03:32.64 And that is Jesus Christ. 00:03:32.67\00:03:34.31 And the Bible says 00:03:34.34\00:03:35.91 that Jesus Christ made the universe. 00:03:35.94\00:03:41.95 Pretty hard for us, because we'll be done. 00:03:41.98\00:03:45.85 And I'm telling you, it's the truth, 00:03:45.89\00:03:47.22 we'll pretty done. 00:03:47.26\00:03:48.59 But the Bible teaches the Almighty God 00:03:48.62\00:03:50.73 who made all of this, all of this became incarnate. 00:03:50.76\00:03:54.60 In other words he became, look at this, 00:03:54.63\00:03:57.93 I mean, it's outstanding. 00:03:57.97\00:03:59.33 The God who made this who has called the word, 00:03:59.37\00:04:02.60 in the person of Jesus Christ became a man. 00:04:02.64\00:04:07.08 And Jesus Christ is not just a good man, 00:04:07.11\00:04:10.08 the Bible tells me 00:04:10.11\00:04:11.58 that Jesus Christ is the God-man. 00:04:11.61\00:04:14.58 So He's not half a God and half a man. 00:04:14.62\00:04:17.62 Some people say, well, he's half a God... 00:04:17.65\00:04:19.09 No, no, no, He's fully God and He is fully man, 00:04:19.12\00:04:23.39 He is the monogamous, He was the one 00:04:23.43\00:04:26.96 who is completely distinct and unique, the God-man. 00:04:27.00\00:04:32.20 And so the God-man comes down to this earth. 00:04:32.23\00:04:34.17 Now come over here 00:04:34.20\00:04:35.54 to the greatest text in the Bible, John 3:16. 00:04:35.57\00:04:39.64 John 3:16, 00:04:39.67\00:04:44.75 and the Bible says, "For God so loved the world." 00:04:44.78\00:04:49.68 He's not mad with the world. 00:04:49.72\00:04:51.99 "For God so loved the world 00:04:52.02\00:04:53.46 that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:04:53.49\00:04:57.26 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 00:04:57.29\00:05:00.53 but have everlasting life." 00:05:00.56\00:05:03.67 I'm dazed and amazed by this; 00:05:07.17\00:05:10.41 I didn't always understand this. 00:05:10.44\00:05:14.34 When I have studied astronomy, 00:05:14.38\00:05:17.01 I can understand why CS Lewis said, 00:05:17.05\00:05:19.68 your God is too small. 00:05:19.71\00:05:21.62 He's talking to people in the church, 00:05:21.65\00:05:23.28 your God is too small. 00:05:23.32\00:05:24.99 They got all the answers to everything. 00:05:25.02\00:05:27.39 They think they know how God made the universe. 00:05:27.42\00:05:30.06 They all really think they know how God made the world. 00:05:30.09\00:05:31.99 They've got all the answers. 00:05:32.03\00:05:33.73 When you meet a person who's got all the answers, 00:05:33.76\00:05:35.56 don't listen to him. 00:05:35.60\00:05:38.33 Most of this stuff we don't understand, 00:05:38.37\00:05:41.34 but the Bible teaches us, the Almighty God 00:05:41.37\00:05:43.74 who made all of this for nine months, 00:05:43.77\00:05:47.04 was cradled in the womb of a patient girl. 00:05:47.08\00:05:53.82 And when he was born with blood, 00:05:53.85\00:05:56.38 and pain, and crying, 00:05:56.42\00:06:00.16 and when Mary kissed the face of this little guy, 00:06:00.19\00:06:06.53 she kissed the face of God. 00:06:06.56\00:06:08.06 And the Bible says, 00:06:12.90\00:06:14.24 "He love the world so much 00:06:15.40\00:06:17.17 that God gave his only begotten Son 00:06:17.21\00:06:19.11 so that whoever believes in him should not perish 00:06:19.14\00:06:22.61 but have everlasting life." 00:06:22.64\00:06:26.05 This is the heart 00:06:26.08\00:06:27.62 of what the Bible calls the Gospel. 00:06:27.65\00:06:30.09 I seem to think that many folks who go to church, 00:06:31.62\00:06:33.92 may be most folks who go to churches 00:06:33.96\00:06:35.42 don't understand the Gospel. 00:06:35.46\00:06:37.66 They think the Gospel is the religion of do, do, do, 00:06:37.69\00:06:40.96 cock a doodle doo. 00:06:41.00\00:06:43.90 You got to do this, you got to do that. 00:06:43.93\00:06:45.60 Oh, no, you're not doing enough. 00:06:45.63\00:06:48.30 No, no, you got to do, do, do, do, keep on the doing. 00:06:48.34\00:06:51.57 But you are not saved by your doing. 00:06:51.64\00:06:54.74 You are said about what He did. 00:06:54.78\00:06:56.95 Amen. Amen. 00:06:56.98\00:06:58.81 And so the Gospel is not about me, 00:06:58.85\00:07:01.78 the Gospel is about God. 00:07:01.82\00:07:04.42 Now let me talk to you now 00:07:04.45\00:07:05.89 about the most important subjects 00:07:05.92\00:07:07.36 that you will ever hear, 00:07:07.39\00:07:09.79 The Mysterious Transaction Of The Cross. 00:07:09.82\00:07:13.90 Jesus didn't have white hair. 00:07:17.30\00:07:19.80 He was a young man. 00:07:23.94\00:07:25.54 When He was around 35 years of age, 00:07:26.91\00:07:29.51 in the prime of manhood, 00:07:29.54\00:07:32.01 the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. 00:07:32.05\00:07:35.08 He was strong and sun tanned, not a woos. 00:07:35.12\00:07:41.96 You know what a woos is? 00:07:41.99\00:07:43.93 Well, He wasn't that anyhow. 00:07:43.96\00:07:47.36 A woos is a wimp, you know. 00:07:47.40\00:07:51.17 Some people think when you become to be a Christian 00:07:51.20\00:07:54.14 you got to be sort of whimpy, you know. 00:07:54.17\00:07:57.11 It's got nothing to do with Christianity. 00:07:57.14\00:07:59.67 Christianity is a blood red religion, 00:07:59.71\00:08:03.68 it's made for revolution. 00:08:03.71\00:08:05.51 Yes, sir. 00:08:05.55\00:08:06.88 You see. 00:08:06.92\00:08:08.25 Amen. 00:08:08.28\00:08:10.45 And don't you get carried away there, 00:08:10.49\00:08:11.95 just because you're wearing that hat. 00:08:11.99\00:08:14.56 Okay, okay. 00:08:14.59\00:08:17.23 The tide of popular opinion turned against Him, 00:08:17.26\00:08:19.86 He was betrayed by the leaders of organized religion. 00:08:19.89\00:08:26.70 Don't forget it. 00:08:26.74\00:08:29.64 The Jewish hierarchy, 00:08:29.67\00:08:32.11 they passed him over to the Romans, 00:08:32.14\00:08:34.61 and the Romans had Him crucified. 00:08:34.64\00:08:37.21 Now what you got and understand is this, 00:08:37.25\00:08:40.22 there's nothing glorious about crucifixion. 00:08:40.25\00:08:46.22 A man or a women was nailed 00:08:46.25\00:08:49.69 and tied to a cross. 00:08:49.72\00:08:53.90 It is not high and lifted up 30 feet in the air, 00:08:53.93\00:08:58.17 it was so placed that people going by 00:08:58.20\00:09:01.24 could abuse the victims and spit in their faces. 00:09:01.27\00:09:07.21 And usually, they were nailed to the cross stuck necked. 00:09:07.24\00:09:10.98 The Bible says 00:09:14.08\00:09:15.62 "Curse it is everyone who hangs on a tree." 00:09:15.65\00:09:20.62 Think that's true sometimes. 00:09:20.66\00:09:22.52 Curse it is everyone who hangs on a tree, 00:09:22.56\00:09:25.96 that is a teaching of scripture. 00:09:25.99\00:09:30.10 A person could live on a cross for up to a week. 00:09:30.13\00:09:34.50 Oh. 00:09:34.97\00:09:36.30 Yes, yes. 00:09:36.34\00:09:39.91 But you say, Lord, have mercy, 00:09:39.94\00:09:41.28 but He never had mercy on Christ. 00:09:41.31\00:09:44.25 He never had mercy on Christ 00:09:44.28\00:09:46.21 because Christ had taken the place of us sinners 00:09:46.25\00:09:49.32 who don't deserve mercy. 00:09:49.35\00:09:50.99 The very act of breathing was reversed in a person 00:09:56.02\00:09:59.46 who was crucified. 00:09:59.49\00:10:02.06 So He had to reverse the cycle of breathing. 00:10:02.10\00:10:06.50 And after time, 00:10:06.53\00:10:07.87 the body became poison and the blood sank to the feet. 00:10:09.64\00:10:14.11 And the crows would come 00:10:14.14\00:10:15.48 and pick out the eyes of the victim. 00:10:15.51\00:10:18.15 But the person could not die, 00:10:18.18\00:10:21.65 that's why they broke their legs, 00:10:21.68\00:10:23.45 don't you understand? 00:10:23.49\00:10:25.55 So they couldn't get down. 00:10:25.59\00:10:27.12 It is quite likely they put up the thieves on Saturday night, 00:10:27.16\00:10:33.40 after the Sabbath. 00:10:33.43\00:10:36.23 The crucifixion was the worst type of torture 00:10:36.26\00:10:40.84 that a human being could go through, 00:10:40.87\00:10:45.47 and the person hanging on the cross was the God-man. 00:10:45.51\00:10:51.71 So this teaches a number of great truths 00:10:54.35\00:10:56.52 that sin is a filthy, rotten thing 00:10:56.55\00:10:59.79 because they put Him there. 00:10:59.82\00:11:02.39 And number two, 00:11:02.42\00:11:03.99 God is indescribably loving and kind. 00:11:04.03\00:11:09.23 There are two great truths that we need to learn. 00:11:09.26\00:11:13.07 But we don't want to learn it 00:11:13.10\00:11:14.44 because of the pride of our hearts. 00:11:14.47\00:11:16.27 Number one, man is much worst, 00:11:16.30\00:11:21.58 then he ever feared to think. 00:11:21.61\00:11:25.08 Number two, 00:11:28.22\00:11:29.68 God is much better than He ever dared to hope. 00:11:29.72\00:11:33.49 Now I want you to turn to a text in Mathew 00:11:36.52\00:11:38.96 that describes the last moments in the life of Christ, 00:11:38.99\00:11:44.10 Mathew 27:45, 46, 00:11:44.13\00:11:48.50 He died after being on the cross for six hours 00:11:50.44\00:11:53.41 but normally, He would have lived there 00:11:53.58\00:11:55.44 for about six days. 00:11:55.48\00:11:59.85 Mathew 27:45-46, 00:11:59.88\00:12:03.25 "Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour 00:12:03.28\00:12:05.35 there was darkness over all the land. 00:12:05.39\00:12:08.06 And then at the ninth hour at 3.00 in the afternoon, 00:12:08.09\00:12:10.79 Jesus cried out and says, My God, 00:12:10.83\00:12:13.23 My God why have you forsaken me?" 00:12:13.26\00:12:18.53 They never say that you would like to die as Christ died. 00:12:18.57\00:12:23.20 Never say He was the greatest Man 00:12:23.24\00:12:25.64 and the best Man 00:12:25.67\00:12:27.11 and therefore it would be wonderful 00:12:27.14\00:12:29.51 if I would get to die like Christ 00:12:29.54\00:12:31.55 because Christ did not die as a blessed Christian. 00:12:31.58\00:12:36.45 Can you understand this? 00:12:39.79\00:12:42.02 He did not die as a blessed Christian, 00:12:42.06\00:12:46.96 He died under the wrath of God. 00:12:47.00\00:12:50.53 And the Bible says, 00:12:50.57\00:12:53.07 He died as a prepetition. 00:12:53.10\00:12:58.54 And that's been taken out of some Bibles, 00:12:58.57\00:13:02.11 but it is the correct translation. 00:13:02.14\00:13:05.05 And the question we must ask again is, 00:13:05.08\00:13:07.62 who is this man who hangs on the cross 00:13:07.65\00:13:11.39 and in great pain and great sorrow, 00:13:11.42\00:13:15.86 he cries out to God? 00:13:15.89\00:13:17.99 Who was this Man? 00:13:18.03\00:13:19.36 He was the Man who made this. 00:13:19.39\00:13:21.26 Can you contemplate this for a movement, 00:13:22.63\00:13:24.63 and can your faith reach to believe this, 00:13:24.67\00:13:27.37 the man, the God 00:13:27.40\00:13:28.87 who made this is the man on the cross. 00:13:28.90\00:13:35.48 Have mercy. 00:13:35.51\00:13:37.28 And He cries out, 00:13:37.31\00:13:39.05 I hope when I die that I don't cry out and say, 00:13:39.08\00:13:41.78 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 00:13:41.82\00:13:46.39 That is the cry of a damned soul. 00:13:46.42\00:13:49.82 Now I want you to notice 00:13:53.50\00:13:55.86 The Mighty Transaction of the Cross, 00:13:55.90\00:13:57.80 we're going to put this on the screen 00:13:57.83\00:13:59.50 so you can see it. 00:13:59.53\00:14:01.10 Mighty Transaction of the Cross. 00:14:01.14\00:14:04.01 I want you to notice over here, here we have the human race. 00:14:04.04\00:14:08.38 And this is hard for us to understand and comprehend, 00:14:08.41\00:14:13.31 this is called as the scandal of the cross, 00:14:13.35\00:14:16.95 because sin makes us blind. 00:14:16.99\00:14:21.92 It also gives us a fair dose of stupidity 00:14:21.96\00:14:28.66 so that we cannot think straight 00:14:28.70\00:14:30.40 and we cannot see straight. 00:14:30.43\00:14:32.03 So we are born blind 00:14:32.07\00:14:36.67 and in need of the touch of God 00:14:36.71\00:14:38.84 so that we can see. 00:14:38.87\00:14:41.04 That is why we pray to the Holy Sprit 00:14:41.08\00:14:42.84 to come into our hearts. 00:14:42.88\00:14:44.61 The human race: sinful, guilty, unrighteous, 00:14:44.65\00:14:50.12 and deserving eternal death. 00:14:50.15\00:14:53.39 That is how I am without God. 00:14:53.42\00:14:57.56 I want you to think about it and ask God to give, 00:14:57.59\00:15:00.86 open your eyes and give you an understanding 00:15:00.90\00:15:04.37 of you condition, our condition. 00:15:04.40\00:15:06.37 And Nietzsche, 00:15:09.57\00:15:11.17 and all of these guys, Marx, Darwin, 00:15:11.21\00:15:14.34 you can go through all the philosophers, 00:15:14.38\00:15:16.21 I've read many of them. 00:15:16.24\00:15:19.38 None of them came to grips with this, 00:15:19.41\00:15:21.52 they said we have a problem 00:15:21.55\00:15:23.45 and therefore cycle analysis to give... 00:15:23.49\00:15:27.66 a sexual drives. 00:15:27.69\00:15:29.02 So we could only understand this... 00:15:29.06\00:15:32.13 and I'm not saying that all their views were wrong. 00:15:32.16\00:15:35.26 And Marx said, Marx, the German Jew said, 00:15:35.30\00:15:39.60 "We need a new Gospel, 00:15:39.63\00:15:41.50 " said Marx, we need a new Gospel. 00:15:41.54\00:15:44.67 Because he said, the old Gospel is failed. 00:15:44.71\00:15:47.61 It failed because he rejected it. 00:15:47.64\00:15:51.18 But here it is sinful, guilty, unrighteous, eternal death. 00:15:51.21\00:15:54.58 But Christ over here, Christ was sinless, 00:15:54.62\00:16:00.02 never let anybody tell you that 00:16:00.06\00:16:01.92 He was some how treated with sin. 00:16:01.96\00:16:05.66 He was sinless, guiltless, He was righteous 00:16:05.69\00:16:09.16 and His destiny was eternal life. 00:16:09.20\00:16:14.24 But the Bible teaches that on the cross 00:16:14.27\00:16:18.77 the almighty created God came and stood over here. 00:16:18.81\00:16:23.81 This is where He stood. 00:16:23.85\00:16:27.42 And in the sight of a righteous God, 00:16:27.45\00:16:31.52 He became sinful, guilty, unrighteous 00:16:31.55\00:16:34.46 and He tasted eternal death. 00:16:34.49\00:16:38.46 Now unless Jesus comes, 00:16:38.49\00:16:39.83 we are all going to taste death. 00:16:39.86\00:16:41.60 But God forbid that you should taste eternal death, 00:16:41.63\00:16:45.63 because eternal death is held with all it's terrors. 00:16:45.67\00:16:51.44 It is the separation of the soul from God. 00:16:51.47\00:16:55.98 And at the very last day, after Armageddon, 00:16:56.01\00:16:58.25 at the very end, the lost will cry out, 00:16:58.28\00:17:01.35 "My God, my God, why you have forsaken me?" 00:17:01.38\00:17:05.45 That will be the cry of the lost world. 00:17:05.49\00:17:09.22 But Christ on the cross cried out, "My God, my God, 00:17:09.26\00:17:12.59 " because He took this, He assumed this. 00:17:12.63\00:17:18.53 So that by his grace, 00:17:18.57\00:17:21.50 if I truly believe in Him with all my heart 00:17:21.54\00:17:24.97 I shall be accounted 00:17:25.01\00:17:28.98 sinless, guiltless, righteous 00:17:29.01\00:17:32.15 and be given eternal life, not because I deserve it 00:17:32.18\00:17:36.15 but because of His sheer mercy. 00:17:36.18\00:17:38.25 Amen. 00:17:38.29\00:17:39.65 That is called the Gospel. 00:17:39.69\00:17:43.22 There was a Russian nobleman, hopelessly in debts. 00:17:43.26\00:17:49.50 One day he wrote out the list of his debts, 00:17:49.53\00:17:52.83 then he wrote across the bottom, 00:17:52.87\00:17:54.47 'Who will pay all my debts?' 00:17:54.50\00:17:56.97 A true story. 00:17:57.01\00:17:58.71 Peter the great was his friend, 00:17:58.74\00:18:01.11 and Peter the great came visiting. 00:18:01.14\00:18:04.78 The man had fallen into a restless sleep 00:18:04.81\00:18:07.12 with depression, 00:18:07.15\00:18:08.48 he was unconscious when Peter came. 00:18:08.52\00:18:10.29 He didn't expect the czar of Russian to come. 00:18:10.32\00:18:13.02 When Peter came, he walked into his room, 00:18:13.05\00:18:15.76 he saw his friend sprawl across the table 00:18:15.86\00:18:18.76 and he saw there the words, 'Who will pay all my debts?' 00:18:18.79\00:18:22.86 And there was the list of all the debts. 00:18:22.90\00:18:25.53 And Peter picked up a pen and he scrolled across it, 00:18:25.57\00:18:28.90 "I, Peter the great will pay all your debts." 00:18:28.94\00:18:33.88 And Christ on the cross opened up his veins, 00:18:33.91\00:18:39.61 and He wrote over the scroll of a personal indebtedness, 00:18:39.65\00:18:45.25 'I, Christ will pay all your debts." 00:18:45.29\00:18:49.22 And He did, and that is the Gospel. 00:18:49.26\00:18:52.63 And look at Romans 5:1. 00:18:52.66\00:18:55.60 Now we talk about the search for happiness. 00:18:55.63\00:18:58.47 Romans 5:1, it says, 00:18:58.50\00:19:03.64 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, 00:19:03.67\00:19:09.01 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 00:19:09.04\00:19:14.82 When you are justified you have peace with God, 00:19:14.85\00:19:20.42 listen carefully. 00:19:20.46\00:19:22.32 Peace is what we want. 00:19:22.36\00:19:27.10 When it says 'justified', 00:19:27.13\00:19:29.60 it means 'declared righteous'. 00:19:29.63\00:19:34.97 This is what it means. 00:19:35.00\00:19:36.60 It doesn't mean, I want you to hear this, 00:19:36.64\00:19:39.37 it doesn't mean as our beloved friends 00:19:39.91\00:19:43.21 in the Council of Trent taught. 00:19:43.24\00:19:45.65 To make righteous, it means to declare righteous. 00:19:45.68\00:19:51.89 The good news of the Gospel, 00:19:51.92\00:19:54.16 that God would take a stinking sinner 00:19:54.19\00:19:58.76 covered with filth and shame, 00:19:58.79\00:20:02.10 and the movement he truly believes in Christ 00:20:02.13\00:20:06.33 he is declared righteous, 00:20:06.37\00:20:09.50 not because he is but because God is. 00:20:09.54\00:20:13.44 That's the Gospel, 00:20:13.48\00:20:15.61 and that is the source of happiness. 00:20:15.64\00:20:18.95 How can I accept this gift? 00:20:18.98\00:20:20.52 Come over here to John 3. Come over here. 00:20:20.55\00:20:24.42 Do you understand what I am saying? 00:20:24.45\00:20:26.42 John 3:14, look at this, 00:20:26.45\00:20:30.29 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 00:20:30.33\00:20:34.43 even so must the son of men be lifted up, 00:20:34.46\00:20:37.40 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 00:20:37.43\00:20:39.97 but have eternal life." 00:20:40.00\00:20:42.87 Then in the next verse goes on to say, 00:20:42.90\00:20:46.34 "For God so loved the world 00:20:46.37\00:20:47.71 that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:20:47.74\00:20:49.54 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 00:20:49.58\00:20:51.98 but have everlasting life." 00:20:52.01\00:20:56.52 And this is something many people 00:20:56.55\00:20:57.89 have never come to grips with and they don't understand it. 00:20:57.92\00:21:02.99 Why? 00:21:03.02\00:21:04.36 Tell me, why? 00:21:04.39\00:21:07.03 Would the Bible say, 00:21:07.06\00:21:09.06 that as the serpent that is lifted up in the wilderness, 00:21:09.10\00:21:12.53 even so must Christ be lifted up? 00:21:12.57\00:21:17.44 Would it not be more appropriate to say, 00:21:17.47\00:21:19.47 as a lamb was lifted up? 00:21:19.51\00:21:23.78 The serpent was filled with poison. 00:21:23.81\00:21:30.72 On the cross, 00:21:30.75\00:21:33.86 the poison of the serpent of sin 00:21:33.89\00:21:37.56 was placed on Christ. 00:21:37.59\00:21:41.20 He borrowed our sin and our guilt, 00:21:41.23\00:21:46.40 He took our place. 00:21:46.43\00:21:48.30 Now, I have a property in Australia 00:21:48.34\00:21:50.97 and I go out there on some occasions, 00:21:51.01\00:21:54.61 because I'm not often there 00:21:54.64\00:21:57.75 and there's a lot of bush there, 00:21:57.78\00:22:01.25 the snakes are there. 00:22:01.28\00:22:03.28 Normally, they would not be there. 00:22:03.32\00:22:05.75 Well, out in my property I have 00:22:05.79\00:22:07.52 what its called the Eastern Brown Snake, 00:22:07.56\00:22:11.79 there he is. 00:22:11.83\00:22:13.16 He is the second most venomous snake in the world, 00:22:13.76\00:22:17.83 don't mess with him. 00:22:17.87\00:22:21.40 Because if he bites you, you only got a very short time. 00:22:21.44\00:22:25.07 If a person is bitten by the Eastern Brown 00:22:28.68\00:22:32.88 he needs to take the medicine, not discuss it. 00:22:32.91\00:22:39.02 We've been bitten by the serpent of sin 00:22:39.05\00:22:42.66 and there is a fountain filled with blood, 00:22:42.69\00:22:45.29 drawn from Immanuel's fangs. 00:22:45.33\00:22:47.30 That is the medicine that cures the bite of the serpent, 00:22:47.33\00:22:52.57 and we need to do it now. 00:22:52.60\00:22:54.60 Now, listen, I'm not going to even give you this text, 00:22:54.64\00:22:57.34 I'm just going to tell you the story. 00:22:57.37\00:23:00.38 Sin has ruptured a legal status 00:23:00.41\00:23:03.45 and it has also ruptured our relationship with God. 00:23:03.48\00:23:07.82 The breaking of our relationship 00:23:07.85\00:23:09.35 with God is the course of our malaise. 00:23:09.38\00:23:12.22 In the Bible, we're told the story of a boy 00:23:12.25\00:23:15.26 who runs away from home. 00:23:15.29\00:23:16.62 You know the story. 00:23:16.66\00:23:18.99 He's called the Prodigal, he runs away from home. 00:23:19.03\00:23:23.50 He's a selfish young waster. 00:23:23.53\00:23:25.13 'Give me, give me, give me, 00:23:25.17\00:23:26.50 ' that's the cry of the human heart. 00:23:26.53\00:23:27.87 'Give me, give me, give me, ' that's the cry of sin. 00:23:27.90\00:23:32.97 He commits to himself, 00:23:33.01\00:23:35.04 when he goes back his father is waiting for him, 00:23:35.08\00:23:37.71 down the road. 00:23:37.75\00:23:39.08 The old man runs to meet, took this, 00:23:39.11\00:23:42.58 pictures like this in Hermitage in St Petersburg by Rembrandt, 00:23:42.62\00:23:47.52 the Prodigal, are the most famous paintings. 00:23:47.56\00:23:50.09 The old man is waiting for the boy; 00:23:50.13\00:23:52.86 the old man does something 00:23:52.89\00:23:54.23 that an old man in those days would not do. 00:23:54.26\00:23:56.46 He runs to meet him. 00:23:56.50\00:23:59.00 Forgets his dignity. 00:23:59.03\00:24:00.50 He grabs the boy, he hugs him, 00:24:00.54\00:24:03.61 doesn't kick him, he kisses him. 00:24:03.64\00:24:06.71 Puts a robe over him, sandals on his feet, 00:24:06.74\00:24:09.81 and a ring on his finger. 00:24:09.84\00:24:12.71 He says, kill the fatten calf. 00:24:12.75\00:24:15.15 He says, my son was dead, he's alive again. 00:24:18.15\00:24:21.19 Amen. 00:24:21.22\00:24:23.02 Now this is a picture of the restoration 00:24:23.06\00:24:27.50 of a lost relationship. 00:24:27.53\00:24:31.57 This is the picture of restoration. 00:24:31.60\00:24:36.30 When you are justified and when you come to Christ, 00:24:36.34\00:24:40.38 He not only does something legally for you, 00:24:40.41\00:24:44.88 He takes you back in, 00:24:44.91\00:24:48.12 and He hugs you, 00:24:48.15\00:24:50.15 and He accepts you. 00:24:50.39\00:24:53.72 And when He accepts you, 00:24:53.76\00:24:57.66 you are immediately happy, 00:24:57.69\00:25:01.36 because you've come home. 00:25:01.40\00:25:05.93 That's the answer. 00:25:05.97\00:25:09.30 Therefore, believe. 00:25:09.34\00:25:13.38 Stop your unbelief, that's stupidity. 00:25:13.41\00:25:15.94 Believe, accept, accept. 00:25:15.98\00:25:22.08 Say, sorry. 00:25:22.12\00:25:25.12 That's something people find so hard to do, 00:25:25.15\00:25:27.26 that's why we got more attorneys 00:25:27.29\00:25:29.16 than any other country in the world. 00:25:29.19\00:25:31.09 Can't say sorry 00:25:31.13\00:25:32.79 because it strikes at our hearts, full of pride. 00:25:32.83\00:25:35.93 Say sorry and come home, 00:25:35.96\00:25:41.34 because when you come home the father takes you in. 00:25:41.37\00:25:47.44 And when you are in the presence of the father, 00:25:47.48\00:25:50.35 you've ended your search 00:25:54.55\00:25:57.52 and you have found happiness. 00:25:57.55\00:26:01.66 For a copy of today's program, 00:28:07.52\00:28:09.52 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900 Thousand Oaks, 00:28:09.55\00:28:13.96 California, 91358. 00:28:13.99\00:28:17.13 Or in Australia contact us at P.O. Box 861, 00:28:17.16\00:28:22.36 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 00:28:22.40\00:28:26.37 This program is made possible 00:28:26.63\00:28:28.34 through the generous support of viewers like you. 00:28:28.37\00:28:31.41 We thank you for your continued support. 00:28:31.44\00:28:34.44 May God richly bless you. 00:28:34.48\00:28:36.44