Now, today, 00:00:13.44\00:00:14.78 we're talking about The Search For Happiness. 00:00:14.81\00:00:18.78 And in the last program we discovered 00:00:18.81\00:00:20.48 that the human race got the problem. 00:00:20.52\00:00:22.75 It's not basically psychological 00:00:22.78\00:00:25.39 even though we certainly need psychologist and psychiatrist. 00:00:25.42\00:00:30.03 It's not our basic problem, 00:00:30.09\00:00:31.49 neither is it economic or political, 00:00:31.53\00:00:35.66 as Karl Mark said. 00:00:35.70\00:00:37.80 Our problem is basically a spiritual problem. 00:00:37.83\00:00:42.04 And the Bible tells us 00:00:42.07\00:00:43.44 that the root cause of our problem is, 00:00:43.47\00:00:46.74 listen, wait for this, it's alienation from God. 00:00:46.81\00:00:51.88 Is that we're alienated from God, 00:00:51.91\00:00:53.95 where we seem to be alone in the universe 00:00:53.98\00:00:56.95 and the Bible teaches that the problem is called sin. 00:00:57.02\00:01:01.56 And the solution is the true gospel of Christ. 00:01:01.59\00:01:06.90 Now I want you to come in the Bible over here 00:01:06.93\00:01:08.60 to Roman 5:6 and onwards. 00:01:08.63\00:01:12.37 And I'm so glad to see you folks here today. 00:01:12.40\00:01:14.54 Romans 5:6 and onwards, the Bible says, 00:01:14.57\00:01:19.81 "For when we were still without strength, 00:01:19.84\00:01:21.84 in due time Christ died for who? 00:01:21.88\00:01:25.55 The ungodly. 00:01:25.58\00:01:26.98 The scarcely for a righteous man 00:01:27.02\00:01:28.55 will one die; yet perhaps for a good man 00:01:28.58\00:01:31.12 someone would even dare to die. 00:01:31.15\00:01:33.52 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 00:01:33.56\00:01:36.79 in that while we were still sinners, 00:01:36.83\00:01:39.79 Christ died for us." 00:01:39.83\00:01:41.96 So the Bible teach us, 00:01:42.00\00:01:45.63 I want you to think about this, 00:01:45.67\00:01:47.00 in a way that most of us don't understand. 00:01:47.07\00:01:51.57 When Christ, 00:01:51.61\00:01:53.51 when God became a man in the person of Christ, 00:01:53.54\00:01:56.41 when He died on the cross, 00:01:56.44\00:01:57.85 somehow that would heal us of our problem. 00:01:57.88\00:02:02.98 It would serve 00:02:03.02\00:02:04.42 the greatest problem in the human raise, 00:02:04.45\00:02:06.22 the greatest problem in the universe, 00:02:06.25\00:02:07.76 which is the problem of sin. 00:02:07.89\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\00:02:13.19 some have said that this book is the most important book 00:02:13.23\00:02:15.80 that was ever written in the history 00:02:15.83\00:02:17.73 of the human rise. 00:02:17.77\00:02:19.10 John 1:1 says, 00:02:19.13\00:02:21.47 I want you to noticed these words 00:02:21.50\00:02:22.94 "In the beginning was the word, 00:02:22.97\00:02:25.51 and the word was with God, and the word was God". 00:02:25.54\00:02:30.91 Verse 3 says, "All things were made through Him, 00:02:30.95\00:02:34.18 without Him nothing was made that was made." 00:02:34.22\00:02:37.49 This is talking about Jesus Christ, 00:02:37.55\00:02:39.92 the word of God and it says, He made everything. 00:02:39.95\00:02:43.69 Verse 10 says, "He was in the world 00:02:43.73\00:02:46.46 and the world was made through Him, 00:02:46.49\00:02:48.63 and the world did not know Him." 00:02:48.66\00:02:51.67 I want you to think about this. 00:02:51.70\00:02:54.40 The Bible teaches that right at the very, very beginning. 00:02:54.44\00:03:00.08 We're talking about billions of years ago, 00:03:00.11\00:03:02.14 the Bible teaches there was the word. 00:03:02.18\00:03:05.85 Now the evolutionist like Dawkins says 00:03:05.88\00:03:08.25 the first thing you had chaos, 00:03:08.28\00:03:11.95 unintelligibility, randomness, 00:03:11.99\00:03:15.46 and then this bred the word, it bred intelligence. 00:03:15.49\00:03:20.53 But that's absolutely false, it's crazy. 00:03:20.60\00:03:24.03 The Bible teaches there were supreme intelligence 00:03:24.07\00:03:27.30 and the Bible talks about a person 00:03:27.34\00:03:29.47 and the Bible calls Him the word. 00:03:29.50\00:03:32.57 And that is Jesus Christ. 00:03:32.61\00:03:34.24 And the Bible says 00:03:34.28\00:03:35.84 that Jesus Christ made the universe. 00:03:35.88\00:03:41.88 Pretty hard for us, because we'll be done. 00:03:41.92\00:03:45.79 And I'm telling you, it's the truth, 00:03:45.82\00:03:47.16 we'll pretty done. 00:03:47.22\00:03:48.56 But the Bible teaches the Almighty God 00:03:48.59\00:03:50.69 who made all of this, all of this became incarnate. 00:03:50.73\00:03:54.50 In other words he became, look at this, 00:03:54.56\00:03:57.83 I mean, it's outstanding. 00:03:57.87\00:03:59.23 The God who made this who has called the word, 00:03:59.27\00:04:02.57 in the person of Jesus Christ became a man. 00:04:02.60\00:04:07.08 And Jesus Christ is not just a good man, 00:04:07.11\00:04:10.05 the Bible tells me 00:04:10.08\00:04:11.55 that Jesus Christ is the God-man. 00:04:11.58\00:04:14.55 So He's not half a God and half a man. 00:04:14.58\00:04:17.59 Some people say, well, he's half a God... 00:04:17.62\00:04:19.05 No, no, no, He's fully God and He is fully man, 00:04:19.09\00:04:23.36 He is the monogamous, He was the one 00:04:23.43\00:04:26.93 who is completely distinct and unique, the God-man. 00:04:27.00\00:04:32.13 And so the God-man comes down to this earth. 00:04:32.17\00:04:34.10 Now come over here 00:04:34.14\00:04:35.47 to the greatest text in the Bible, John 3:16. 00:04:35.50\00:04:39.57 John 3:16, 00:04:39.61\00:04:44.68 and the Bible says, "For God so loved the world." 00:04:44.71\00:04:49.62 He's not mad with the world. 00:04:49.65\00:04:51.92 "For God so loved the world 00:04:51.95\00:04:53.42 that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:04:53.46\00:04:57.19 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 00:04:57.23\00:05:00.53 but have everlasting life." 00:05:00.56\00:05:03.67 I'm dazed and amazed by this; 00:05:07.14\00:05:10.41 I didn't always understand this. 00:05:10.44\00:05:14.31 When I have studied astronomy, 00:05:14.34\00:05:16.98 I can understand why CS Lewis said, 00:05:17.05\00:05:19.65 your God is too small. 00:05:19.68\00:05:21.58 He's talking to people in the church, 00:05:21.62\00:05:23.25 your God is too small. 00:05:23.28\00:05:24.95 They got all the answers to everything. 00:05:24.99\00:05:27.36 They think they know how God made the universe. 00:05:27.39\00:05:30.03 They all really think they know how God made the world. 00:05:30.06\00:05:31.96 They've got all the answers. 00:05:31.99\00:05:33.70 When you meet a person who's got all the answers, 00:05:33.73\00:05:35.50 don't listen to him. 00:05:35.53\00:05:38.27 Most of this stuff we don't understand, 00:05:38.30\00:05:41.27 but the Bible teaches us, the Almighty God 00:05:41.30\00:05:43.67 who made all of this for nine months, 00:05:43.71\00:05:46.98 was cradled in the womb of a patient girl. 00:05:47.04\00:05:53.78 And when he was born with blood, 00:05:53.82\00:05:56.32 and pain, and crying, 00:05:56.35\00:06:00.19 and when Mary kissed the face of this little guy, 00:06:00.22\00:06:06.53 she kissed the face of God. 00:06:06.56\00:06:08.03 And the Bible says, 00:06:12.87\00:06:14.24 "He love the world so much 00:06:15.37\00:06:17.14 that God gave his only begotten Son 00:06:17.21\00:06:19.07 so that whoever believes in him should not perish 00:06:19.11\00:06:22.58 but have everlasting life." 00:06:22.61\00:06:26.01 This is the heart 00:06:26.05\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, 00:06:31.59\00:06:33.89 may be most folks who go to churches 00:06:33.96\00:06:35.39 don't understand the Gospel. 00:06:35.42\00:06:37.63 They think the Gospel is the religion of do, do, do, 00:06:37.66\00:06:40.93 cock a doodle doo. 00:06:40.96\00:06:43.83 You got to do this, you got to do that. 00:06:43.87\00:06:45.53 Oh, no, you're not doing enough. 00:06:45.57\00:06:48.24 No, no, you got to do, do, do, do, keep on the doing. 00:06:48.27\00:06:51.51 But you are not saved by your doing. 00:06:51.57\00:06:54.68 You are said about what He did. 00:06:54.71\00:06:56.91 Amen. Amen. 00:06:56.95\00:06:58.75 And so the Gospel is not about me, 00:06:58.78\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\00:07:07.39 that you will ever hear, 00:07:07.42\00:07:09.79 The Mysterious Transaction Of The Cross. 00:07:09.82\00:07:13.93 Jesus didn't have white hair. 00:07:17.27\00:07:19.77 He was a young man. 00:07:23.91\00:07:25.51 When He was around 35 years of age, 00:07:26.88\00:07:29.48 in the prime of manhood, 00:07:29.51\00:07:31.98 the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. 00:07:32.01\00:07:35.05 He was strong and sun tanned, not a woos. 00:07:35.08\00:07:41.92 You know what a woos is? 00:07:41.96\00:07:43.93 Well, He wasn't that anyhow. 00:07:43.96\00:07:47.30 A woos is a wimp, you know. 00:07:47.40\00:07:51.10 Some people think when you become to be a Christian 00:07:51.13\00:07:54.10 you got to be sort of whimpy, you know. 00:07:54.14\00:07:57.07 It's got nothing to do with Christianity. 00:07:57.11\00:07:59.61 Christianity is a blood red religion, 00:07:59.64\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. 00:08:06.95\00:08:08.28 Amen. 00:08:08.32\00:08:10.45 And don't you get carried away there, 00:08:10.52\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\00:08:17.26 The tide of popular opinion turned against Him, 00:08:17.29\00:08:19.86 He was betrayed by the leaders of organized religion. 00:08:19.89\00:08:26.67 Don't forget it. 00:08:26.74\00:08:29.60 The Jewish hierarchy, 00:08:29.64\00:08:32.07 they passed him over to the Romans, 00:08:32.11\00:08:34.58 and the Romans had Him crucified. 00:08:34.61\00:08:37.18 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\00:08:46.19 A man or a women was nailed 00:08:46.22\00:08:49.66 and tied to a cross. 00:08:49.69\00:08:53.90 It is not high and lifted up 30 feet in the air, 00:08:53.93\00:08:58.10 it was so placed that people going by 00:08:58.13\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. 00:09:20.69\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\00:09:30.07 A person could live on a cross for up to a week. 00:09:30.10\00:09:34.47 Oh. 00:09:34.94\00:09:36.27 Yes, yes. 00:09:36.30\00:09:39.87 But you say, Lord, have mercy, 00:09:39.91\00:09:41.24 but He never had mercy on Christ. 00:09:41.28\00:09:44.25 He never had mercy on Christ 00:09:44.28\00:09:46.18 because Christ had taken the place of us sinners 00:09:46.21\00:09:49.28 who don't deserve mercy. 00:09:49.32\00:09:50.99 The very act of breathing was reversed in a person 00:09:55.99\00:09:59.43 who was crucified. 00:09:59.46\00:10:02.00 So He had to reverse the cycle of breathing. 00:10:02.03\00:10:06.43 And after time, 00:10:06.47\00:10:07.80 the body became poison and the blood sank to the feet. 00:10:09.57\00:10:14.04 And the crows would come 00:10:14.08\00:10:15.41 and pick out the eyes of the victim. 00:10:15.44\00:10:18.08 But the person could not die, 00:10:18.11\00:10:21.58 that's why they broke their legs, 00:10:21.62\00:10:23.39 don't you understand? 00:10:23.45\00:10:25.49 So they couldn't get down. 00:10:25.52\00:10:27.06 It is quite likely they put up the thieves on Saturday night, 00:10:27.12\00:10:33.36 after the Sabbath. 00:10:33.40\00:10:36.13 The crucifixion was the worst type of torture 00:10:36.16\00:10:40.77 that a human being could go through, 00:10:40.80\00:10:45.37 and the person hanging on the cross was the God-man. 00:10:45.41\00:10:51.61 So this teaches a number of great truths 00:10:54.25\00:10:56.42 that sin is a filthy, rotten thing 00:10:56.45\00:10:59.69 because they put Him there. 00:10:59.72\00:11:02.36 And number two, 00:11:02.39\00:11:03.96 God is indescribably loving and kind. 00:11:04.03\00:11:09.16 There are two great truths that we need to learn. 00:11:09.20\00:11:13.00 But we don't want to learn it 00:11:13.03\00:11:14.37 because of the pride of our hearts. 00:11:14.40\00:11:16.20 Number one, man is much worst, 00:11:16.24\00:11:21.51 then he ever feared to think. 00:11:21.54\00:11:25.01 Number two, 00:11:28.15\00:11:29.62 God is much better than He ever dared to hope. 00:11:29.65\00:11:33.42 Now I want you to turn to a text in Mathew 00:11:36.46\00:11:38.89 that describes the last moments in the life of Christ, 00:11:38.93\00:11:44.00 Mathew 27:45, 46, 00:11:44.03\00:11:48.40 He died after being on the cross for six hours 00:11:50.34\00:11:53.31 but normally, He would have lived there 00:11:53.51\00:11:55.34 for about six days. 00:11:55.38\00:11:59.75 Mathew 27:45-46, 00:11:59.78\00:12:03.22 "Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour 00:12:03.25\00:12:05.32 there was darkness over all the land. 00:12:05.35\00:12:08.02 And then at the ninth hour at 3.00 in the afternoon, 00:12:08.06\00:12:10.76 Jesus cried out and says, My God, 00:12:10.83\00:12:13.19 My God why have you forsaken me?" 00:12:13.23\00:12:18.47 They never say that you would like to die as Christ died. 00:12:18.50\00:12:23.14 Never say He was the greatest Man 00:12:23.17\00:12:25.57 and the best Man 00:12:25.61\00:12:27.04 and therefore it would be wonderful 00:12:27.08\00:12:29.44 if I would get to die like Christ 00:12:29.48\00:12:31.48 because Christ did not die as a blessed Christian. 00:12:31.51\00:12:36.38 Can you understand this? 00:12:39.72\00:12:41.96 He did not die as a blessed Christian, 00:12:41.99\00:12:46.90 He died under the wrath of God. 00:12:46.96\00:12:50.43 And the Bible says, 00:12:50.50\00:12:52.97 He died as a prepetition. 00:12:53.00\00:12:58.44 And that's been taken out of some Bibles, 00:12:58.47\00:13:02.08 but it is the correct translation. 00:13:02.11\00:13:05.01 And the question we must ask again is, 00:13:05.05\00:13:07.62 who is this man who hangs on the cross 00:13:07.65\00:13:11.35 and in great pain and great sorrow, 00:13:11.39\00:13:15.82 he cries out to God? 00:13:15.86\00:13:17.96 Who was this Man? 00:13:17.99\00:13:19.33 He was the Man who made this. 00:13:19.36\00:13:21.20 Can you contemplate this for a movement, 00:13:22.56\00:13:24.57 and can your faith reach to believe this, 00:13:24.60\00:13:27.30 the man, the God 00:13:27.34\00:13:28.80 who made this is the man on the cross. 00:13:28.84\00:13:35.41 Have mercy. 00:13:35.44\00:13:37.21 And He cries out, 00:13:37.25\00:13:38.98 I hope when I die that I don't cry out and say, 00:13:39.01\00:13:41.72 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 00:13:41.75\00:13:46.32 That is the cry of a damned soul. 00:13:46.35\00:13:49.76 Now I want you to notice 00:13:53.46\00:13:55.76 The Mighty Transaction of the Cross, 00:13:55.80\00:13:57.70 we're going to put this on the screen 00:13:57.73\00:13:59.40 so you can see it. 00:13:59.43\00:14:01.07 Mighty Transaction of the Cross. 00:14:01.10\00:14:04.01 I want you to notice over here, here we have the human race. 00:14:04.04\00:14:08.34 And this is hard for us to understand and comprehend, 00:14:08.38\00:14:13.28 this is called as the scandal of the cross, 00:14:13.31\00:14:16.92 because sin makes us blind. 00:14:16.99\00:14:21.89 It also gives us a fair dose of stupidity 00:14:21.92\00:14:28.60 so that we cannot think straight 00:14:28.63\00:14:30.33 and we cannot see straight. 00:14:30.37\00:14:31.97 So we are born blind 00:14:32.00\00:14:36.60 and in need of the touch of God 00:14:36.67\00:14:38.77 so that we can see. 00:14:38.81\00:14:40.98 That is why we pray to the Holy Sprit 00:14:41.01\00:14:42.78 to come into our hearts. 00:14:42.81\00:14:44.55 The human race: sinful, guilty, unrighteous, 00:14:44.58\00:14:50.05 and deserving eternal death. 00:14:50.09\00:14:53.32 That is how I am without God. 00:14:53.36\00:14:57.49 I want you to think about it and ask God to give, 00:14:57.53\00:15:00.86 open your eyes and give you an understanding 00:15:00.93\00:15:04.33 of you condition, our condition. 00:15:04.37\00:15:06.33 And Nietzsche, 00:15:09.54\00:15:11.14 and all of these guys, Marx, Darwin, 00:15:11.17\00:15:14.31 you can go through all the philosophers, 00:15:14.34\00:15:16.18 I've read many of them. 00:15:16.21\00:15:19.35 None of them came to grips with this, 00:15:19.38\00:15:21.48 they said we have a problem 00:15:21.52\00:15:23.42 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\00:15:32.09 and I'm not saying that all their views were wrong. 00:15:32.13\00:15:35.20 And Marx said, Marx, the German Jew said, 00:15:35.23\00:15:39.53 "We need a new Gospel, 00:15:39.57\00:15:41.44 " said Marx, we need a new Gospel. 00:15:41.47\00:15:44.61 Because he said, the old Gospel is failed. 00:15:44.64\00:15:47.54 It failed because he rejected it. 00:15:47.58\00:15:51.11 But here it is sinful, guilty, unrighteous, eternal death. 00:15:51.15\00:15:54.52 But Christ over here, Christ was sinless, 00:15:54.55\00:15:59.95 never let anybody tell you that 00:16:00.09\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\00:16:09.13 and His destiny was eternal life. 00:16:09.16\00:16:14.24 But the Bible teaches that on the cross 00:16:14.27\00:16:18.74 the almighty created God came and stood over here. 00:16:18.77\00:16:23.78 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\00:16:31.49 He became sinful, guilty, unrighteous 00:16:31.52\00:16:34.42 and He tasted eternal death. 00:16:34.46\00:16:38.43 Now unless Jesus comes, 00:16:38.46\00:16:39.79 we are all going to taste death. 00:16:39.83\00:16:41.53 But God forbid that you should taste eternal death, 00:16:41.56\00:16:45.57 because eternal death is held with all it's terrors. 00:16:45.60\00:16:51.37 It is the separation of the soul from God. 00:16:51.41\00:16:55.91 And at the very last day, after Armageddon, 00:16:55.94\00:16:58.18 at the very end, the lost will cry out, 00:16:58.21\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\00:17:18.50 So that by his grace, 00:17:18.53\00:17:21.47 if I truly believe in Him with all my heart 00:17:21.50\00:17:24.94 I shall be accounted 00:17:24.97\00:17:28.94 sinless, guiltless, righteous 00:17:28.98\00:17:32.11 and be given eternal life, not because I deserve it 00:17:32.15\00:17:36.12 but because of His sheer mercy. 00:17:36.15\00:17:38.22 Amen. 00:17:38.25\00:17:39.62 That is called the Gospel. 00:17:39.65\00:17:43.19 There was a Russian nobleman, hopelessly in debts. 00:17:43.22\00:17:49.43 One day he wrote out the list of his debts, 00:17:49.46\00:17:52.77 then he wrote across the bottom, 00:17:52.80\00:17:54.40 'Who will pay all my debts?' 00:17:54.44\00:17:56.91 A true story. 00:17:56.97\00:17:58.64 Peter the great was his friend, 00:17:58.67\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\00:18:07.15 with depression, 00:18:07.18\00:18:08.52 he was unconscious when Peter came. 00:18:08.55\00:18:10.32 He didn't expect the czar of Russian to come. 00:18:10.35\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\00:18:22.83 And there was the list of all the debts. 00:18:22.86\00:18:25.50 And Peter picked up a pen and he scrolled across it, 00:18:25.53\00:18:28.87 "I, Peter the great will pay all your debts." 00:18:28.90\00:18:33.88 And Christ on the cross opened up his veins, 00:18:33.91\00:18:39.58 and He wrote over the scroll of a personal indebtedness, 00:18:39.61\00:18:45.22 'I, Christ will pay all your debts." 00:18:45.25\00:18:49.19 And He did, and that is the Gospel. 00:18:49.22\00:18:52.59 And look at Romans 5:1. 00:18:52.63\00:18:55.53 Now we talk about the search for happiness. 00:18:55.56\00:18:58.40 Romans 5:1, it says, 00:18:58.43\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. 00:19:20.49\00:19:22.32 Peace is what we want. 00:19:22.36\00:19:27.13 When it says 'justified', 00:19:27.13\00:19:29.56 it means 'declared righteous'. 00:19:29.60\00:19:34.94 This is what it means. 00:19:34.97\00:19:36.57 It doesn't mean, I want you to hear this, 00:19:36.60\00:19:39.34 it doesn't mean as our beloved friends 00:19:39.87\00:19:43.18 in the Council of Trent taught. 00:19:43.21\00:19:45.61 To make righteous, it means to declare righteous. 00:19:45.65\00:19:51.85 The good news of the Gospel, 00:19:51.89\00:19:54.16 that God would take a stinking sinner 00:19:54.19\00:19:58.73 covered with filth and shame, 00:19:58.76\00:20:02.03 and the movement he truly believes in Christ 00:20:02.06\00:20:06.27 he is declared righteous, 00:20:06.30\00:20:09.44 not because he is but because God is. 00:20:09.47\00:20:13.38 That's the Gospel, 00:20:13.44\00:20:15.54 and that is the source of happiness. 00:20:15.58\00:20:18.88 How can I accept this gift? 00:20:18.91\00:20:20.48 Come over here to John 3. Come over here. 00:20:20.52\00:20:24.35 Do you understand what I am saying? 00:20:24.39\00:20:26.35 John 3:14, look at this, 00:20:26.39\00:20:30.23 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 00:20:30.29\00:20:34.36 even so must the son of men be lifted up, 00:20:34.36\00:20:37.30 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 00:20:37.33\00:20:39.87 but have eternal life." 00:20:39.90\00:20:42.77 Then in the next verse goes on to say, 00:20:42.80\00:20:46.24 "For God so loved the world 00:20:46.27\00:20:47.61 that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:20:47.64\00:20:49.44 that whoever believes in Him should not perish 00:20:49.48\00:20:51.88 but have everlasting life." 00:20:51.91\00:20:56.42 And this is something many people 00:20:56.45\00:20:57.79 have never come to grips with and they don't understand it. 00:20:57.82\00:21:02.96 Why? 00:21:02.99\00:21:04.33 Tell me, why? 00:21:04.36\00:21:07.00 Would the Bible say, 00:21:07.03\00:21:09.00 that as the serpent that is lifted up in the wilderness, 00:21:09.03\00:21:12.47 even so must Christ be lifted up? 00:21:12.50\00:21:17.37 Would it not be more appropriate to say, 00:21:17.41\00:21:19.41 as a lamb was lifted up? 00:21:19.44\00:21:23.71 The serpent was filled with poison. 00:21:23.75\00:21:30.65 On the cross, 00:21:30.69\00:21:33.82 the poison of the serpent of sin 00:21:33.86\00:21:37.49 was placed on Christ. 00:21:37.53\00:21:41.10 He borrowed our sin and our guilt, 00:21:41.13\00:21:46.30 He took our place. 00:21:46.33\00:21:48.20 Now, I have a property in Australia 00:21:48.24\00:21:50.87 and I go out there on some occasions, 00:21:50.91\00:21:54.51 because I'm not often there 00:21:54.54\00:21:57.65 and there's a lot of bush there, 00:21:57.68\00:22:01.22 the snakes are there. 00:22:01.25\00:22:03.25 Normally, they would not be there. 00:22:03.28\00:22:05.72 Well, out in my property I have 00:22:05.75\00:22:07.49 what its called the Eastern Brown Snake, 00:22:07.56\00:22:11.76 there he is. 00:22:11.79\00:22:13.13 He is the second most venomous snake in the world, 00:22:13.73\00:22:17.77 don't mess with him. 00:22:17.80\00:22:21.34 Because if he bites you, you only got a very short time. 00:22:21.37\00:22:25.01 If a person is bitten by the Eastern Brown 00:22:28.61\00:22:32.81 he needs to take the medicine, not discuss it. 00:22:32.85\00:22:38.95 We've been bitten by the serpent of sin 00:22:38.99\00:22:42.59 and there is a fountain filled with blood, 00:22:42.62\00:22:45.23 drawn from Immanuel's fangs. 00:22:45.26\00:22:47.23 That is the medicine that cures the bite of the serpent, 00:22:47.30\00:22:52.47 and we need to do it now. 00:22:52.50\00:22:54.50 Now, listen, I'm not going to even give you this text, 00:22:54.54\00:22:57.24 I'm just going to tell you the story. 00:22:57.27\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\00:23:07.78 The breaking of our relationship 00:23:07.82\00:23:09.32 with God is the course of our malaise. 00:23:09.35\00:23:12.19 In the Bible, we're told the story of a boy 00:23:12.22\00:23:15.22 who runs away from home. 00:23:15.26\00:23:16.59 You know the story. 00:23:16.62\00:23:18.96 He's called the Prodigal, he runs away from home. 00:23:18.99\00:23:23.43 He's a selfish young waster. 00:23:23.47\00:23:25.07 'Give me, give me, give me, 00:23:25.10\00:23:26.43 ' that's the cry of the human heart. 00:23:26.47\00:23:27.80 'Give me, give me, give me, ' that's the cry of sin. 00:23:27.84\00:23:32.91 He commits to himself, 00:23:32.94\00:23:34.98 when he goes back his father is waiting for him, 00:23:35.01\00:23:37.65 down the road. 00:23:37.68\00:23:39.01 The old man runs to meet, took this, 00:23:39.05\00:23:42.52 pictures like this in Hermitage in St Petersburg by Rembrandt, 00:23:42.55\00:23:47.46 the Prodigal, are the most famous paintings. 00:23:47.52\00:23:50.03 The old man is waiting for the boy; 00:23:50.09\00:23:52.79 the old man does something 00:23:52.83\00:23:54.13 that an old man in those days would not do. 00:23:54.20\00:23:56.36 He runs to meet him. 00:23:56.40\00:23:58.90 Forgets his dignity. 00:23:58.93\00:24:00.47 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\00:24:06.68 Puts a robe over him, sandals on his feet, 00:24:06.71\00:24:09.78 and a ring on his finger. 00:24:09.81\00:24:12.68 He says, kill the fatten calf. 00:24:12.71\00:24:15.12 He says, my son was dead, he's alive again. 00:24:18.12\00:24:21.16 Amen. 00:24:21.19\00:24:22.99 Now this is a picture of the restoration 00:24:23.02\00:24:27.50 of a lost relationship. 00:24:27.50\00:24:31.50 This is the picture of restoration. 00:24:31.53\00:24:36.24 When you are justified and when you come to Christ, 00:24:36.27\00:24:40.34 He not only does something legally for you, 00:24:40.38\00:24:44.81 He takes you back in, 00:24:44.85\00:24:48.05 and He hugs you, 00:24:48.08\00:24:50.09 and He accepts you. 00:24:50.35\00:24:53.66 And when He accepts you, 00:24:53.72\00:24:57.59 you are immediately happy, 00:24:57.63\00:25:01.33 because you've come home. 00:25:01.36\00:25:05.90 That's the answer. 00:25:05.93\00:25:09.27 Therefore, believe. 00:25:09.30\00:25:13.38 Stop your unbelief, that's stupidity. 00:25:13.41\00:25:15.91 Believe, accept, accept. 00:25:15.94\00:25:22.05 Say, sorry. 00:25:22.08\00:25:25.09 That's something people find so hard to do, 00:25:25.12\00:25:27.26 that's why we got more attorneys 00:25:27.29\00:25:29.12 than any other country in the world. 00:25:29.16\00:25:31.06 Can't say sorry 00:25:31.09\00:25:32.76 because it strikes at our hearts, full of pride. 00:25:32.79\00:25:35.86 Say sorry and come home, 00:25:35.90\00:25:41.27 because when you come home the father takes you in. 00:25:41.30\00:25:47.38 And when you are in the presence of the father, 00:25:47.44\00:25:50.31 you've ended your search 00:25:54.48\00:25:57.45 and you have found happiness. 00:25:57.49\00:26:01.66 For a copy of today's program, 00:28:07.55\00:28:09.52 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900 Thousand Oaks, 00:28:09.55\00:28:13.99 California, 91358. 00:28:14.02\00:28:17.16 Or in Australia contact us at P.O. Box 861, 00:28:17.19\00:28:22.33 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 00:28:22.36\00:28:26.33 This program is made possible 00:28:26.60\00:28:28.30 through the generous support of viewers like you. 00:28:28.34\00:28:31.37 We thank you for your continued support. 00:28:31.41\00:28:34.41 May God richly bless you. 00:28:34.44\00:28:36.41