Participants:
Series Code: DPM
Program Code: DPM000005A
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00:10 It was April of 1994
00:14 and a great controversy was brewing 00:16 in a small African nation. 00:19 Its name was Rwanda. 00:23 For many years, two people groups 00:25 had dominated the landscape of that country. 00:28 They were the Hutus and the Tutsis. 00:31 For years they had learned to coexist together peacefully. 00:36 They worked together, they played together, 00:39 they even went to church together 00:42 but all that changed one terrible day in 1994, 00:47 when the Hutu president boarded his plane 00:49 in order to go on an international trip, 00:52 but minutes after takeoff, 00:54 his plane was shot down. 00:57 He was murdered and assassinated in cold blood. 01:01 Nobody knew who did it or why. 01:04 Immediately the Hutus and the government 01:07 blamed the rival Tutsis. 01:09 And through a series of brainwashing and propaganda, 01:12 they put the word out that the Tutsis were to blame, 01:16 that they are the enemies of this country 01:18 and that in order for this country to survive, 01:21 all Tutsis must be exterminated. 01:24 And so for the next few weeks, 01:27 when the sun went down at night, 01:29 Hutus would arm themselves 01:32 with machetes and clubs and other weapons, 01:36 they would begin to scour their villages 01:38 in their neighborhoods, 01:39 they would burst into the homes of their Hutu neighbors, 01:43 raped the women 01:45 and butchered the men and the children. 01:47 And in about 100 days, 01:50 800,000 people lost their lives 01:55 in that bloodstained nation. 01:58 And all the while the United States said nothing, 02:02 the United Nations did nothing, 02:05 the world turned a blind eye to the massacre. 02:10 It was the worst conflict that ever hit the African soil. 02:15 Perhaps some of you may remember that. 02:18 But, you know, Revelation talks about 02:20 another great controversy, 02:23 one that is far worse than the Rwandan genocide, 02:27 one that surpasses any World War put together 02:31 on the face of the earth. 02:32 Revelation calls it 02:34 the controversy between good and evil 02:37 or this conflict between Jesus Christ and Satan. 02:41 Because the Bible tells us that it was Satan 02:43 who first brought woe and sin and sorrow to this planet. 02:48 That he has been working to try to pull mankind away from God 02:53 and since that time, 02:55 Jesus has been working against him. 02:58 The devil has been trying to destroy us, 03:00 Jesus wants to save us and to bring us back to God. 03:05 And so as we study this controversy 03:08 in the Book of Revelation, 03:09 we're going to find out 03:10 that this earth is the playing field. 03:13 And more specifically, every decision that we make 03:17 in our heart and our mind 03:18 is another playing field for that great controversy. 03:23 In fact, tonight, 03:24 we're going to answer these three questions. 03:26 Number one, 03:27 how did this great controversy begin? 03:31 Secondly, how did sin come into our world anyway? 03:35 Where did the devil come from? 03:36 And third, what is the solution? 03:40 And I'm happy to say 03:41 that Revelation gives some clear answers 03:43 to all three of those questions. 03:46 So I want you to take your Bibles 03:48 and turn with me to Revelation Chapter 12. 03:52 And we're going to begin in verse 7, 03:54 "And war broke out," where? 03:58 "In heaven, 03:59 Michael and his angels fought with the dragon 04:02 and the dragon and his angels fought, 04:05 but they did not prevail, 04:08 nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 04:12 So that great dragon was cast out, 04:16 that serpent of old 04:17 who is called the devil and Satan, 04:20 who deceives the whole world, 04:22 he was cast to the," where? 04:25 "Earth and his angels were cast out with him." 04:30 Now we're going to stop there for a second. 04:32 Right here, Revelation gives us the picture 04:35 of a great controversy. 04:38 It gives us a picture of this conflict 04:41 where it says that Michael and his angels 04:43 fought against the dragon and his angels. 04:47 And what Revelation is telling us 04:49 is really the shocking truth that at one point, 04:52 Satan was a faithful angel in the courts of heaven. 04:56 Do you realize that? 04:58 Revelation tells us 04:59 that he was once a mighty cherubim 05:02 who loved God, who honored God, 05:05 who was willing to follow the principles of God. 05:09 But the Bible also tells us 05:10 that at some point in his existence, 05:13 Satan lost his love for his creator. 05:18 It came to the point 05:20 where he began to plant insidious seeds 05:23 in the minds of the other angels 05:25 that God is not love, 05:27 that God cannot be trusted, 05:30 that holy angels 05:32 should not have to follow God's principles, 05:34 they should not be subject to God's laws, 05:36 holy angels should be able to rule themselves 05:40 and over a period of time 05:41 which the Bible does not say how much time, 05:44 he continued to plant the seeds of deception 05:47 until it eventually broke out in a full scale rebellion 05:52 that a portion of the angels actually sided with Satan 05:56 and tried to take over the throne of God. 06:00 And when that happened, Revelation tells us 06:03 that God was basically forced 06:05 to cast out Satan and his angels, 06:09 and he became a fallen angel and he was cast where? 06:14 To this earth. 06:17 You see, it's actually a sad story to realize 06:20 that sin came into existence 06:23 because one loving angel 06:26 or rather one unfaithful angel 06:28 rebelled against his loving creator. 06:33 But when you think about it, 06:34 the same rebellion that he instigated 06:37 in the courts of heaven, 06:38 he has now brought to this earth 06:40 because he plants the same insidious seeds 06:44 in our minds, 06:45 in mankind that God is not love, 06:48 that God cannot be trusted, 06:51 that mankind is too sophisticated. 06:53 We need not be subject to the principles 06:56 and the commandments of God. 06:58 And as a result, 06:59 we have all kinds of woe, and heartache, 07:02 and sorrow right here on this earth. 07:04 Because think about it, 07:06 when some of the angels in heaven 07:08 pulled away from the principles of God's Word, 07:10 did it bring pain, yes or no? 07:13 Indeed. 07:15 And so here on this earth, 07:17 the more the devil pulls us away 07:19 from the principles of happiness 07:21 contained in the scriptures, 07:23 the more suffering we begin to see 07:25 on the face of the earth. 07:28 That is the great controversy, 07:29 which Revelation begins to talk about. 07:32 But, you know, 07:34 Revelation is not the only book in the Bible 07:36 that gives us a glimpse into this rebellion. 07:40 I want to go all the way back to the Old Testament, 07:43 because God gave some of His Old Testament prophets, 07:47 a bigger window into this controversy. 07:51 Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah Chapter 14, 07:55 and I want to start reading in verse 12. 07:58 You want to go to Isaiah Chapter 14 08:02 and what you're going to read here 08:03 is actually rather interesting. 08:06 God actually gave Isaiah 08:10 a picture into what was going on 08:14 in the heart of Satan when he rebelled. 08:17 The Bible was actually going to reveal 08:20 his innermost thoughts. 08:23 Isaiah 14:12. 08:27 The Bible says, 08:30 "How you are fallen from," where? 08:33 "Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, 08:37 how you are cut down 08:39 to the ground you who weaken the nations. 08:42 For you have said in your heart, 08:44 'I will ascend into heaven. 08:47 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. 08:51 I will also sit on the mount of the congregation 08:55 on the farthest sides of the north. 08:57 I will ascend above the heights of the cloud. 09:01 I will be like," who? 09:03 "The most high.'" 09:06 I'm gonna pause here for a second. 09:08 Here in Isaiah, 09:10 we are told that the devil's name in heaven 09:13 was actually what? 09:15 Lucifer. 09:17 Now see, Lucifer simply means day star, 09:20 which indicates to us that he was a glorious, 09:24 that he was a beautiful and a mighty angel, 09:27 that God had actually given him power and authority 09:31 over a portion of the angels. 09:33 But you see, 09:35 Lucifer has now become synonymous with evil, 09:39 because Lucifer is a fallen angel. 09:42 And really that influences our world even today, 09:44 because when you think about it, 09:45 if you've ever watched one of those, 09:47 you know, science fiction movies, 09:49 many times what name do they tend to give 09:52 the most villainous character in the film, 09:55 what do you think? 09:56 Yeah, they call him Lucifer. 09:59 I mean, when is the last time you saw a mother 10:01 who has just given birth to a baby, 10:04 laid that baby on her bosom 10:05 and looked to the nurse and say, 10:07 "You know, I'm going to call him Lucifer." 10:11 That never happens. 10:12 I'm sure it's happened somewhere 10:13 but it's very rare because even today, 10:16 Lucifer is synonymous with evil. 10:19 In fact, I'll give you another example 10:20 how the Bible influences the modern world. 10:23 Let's take a girl's name. 10:24 What girl's name that comes from the Bible 10:27 do mothers never name their daughters? 10:30 You got it, Jezebel, 10:31 because that has become synonymous with evil as well. 10:35 So here you have Lucifer, 10:37 now a fallen being 10:40 leading a rebellion against his creator. 10:43 And Isaiah shows us 10:44 what he was thinking in his heart, 10:47 that he will ascend into heaven, 10:51 that he will exalt his throne above God's 10:55 and that he says I will be like the most high. 11:01 And he was willing to do anything 11:03 to get the throne of heaven. 11:05 And that included instigating 11:07 a full scale rebellion against God. 11:13 That's a very sad story 11:14 when you think about it, an angel, Lucifer, 11:19 who was given probably everything 11:22 an angel could want, honor and glory, 11:26 living in perfect paradise in the courts of heaven, 11:29 and for whatever reason, it just wasn't enough. 11:34 And when he rebelled, he was cast out of heaven, 11:38 along with those angels, who chose to follow him. 11:43 And he continues to bring that same rebellion upon this planet 11:47 because what does he say to mankind? 11:49 He convinces us that we can be our own God, 11:55 that we don't have to be subject 11:57 to a higher authority or to a creator 12:00 and as he continues to lead us away from God, 12:03 we become separated from Him 12:05 because sin separates us from God, 12:08 just as sin separated the fallen angels 12:12 who decided to follow Lucifer. 12:16 But, you know, Isaiah 12:18 is not the only Old Testament prophet 12:20 that was given a glimpse into this conflict. 12:23 I want to take you somewhere else, 12:25 you'll find that Revelation actually takes us 12:27 all throughout the different books of the Bible. 12:29 I want us to go to the Book of Ezekiel. 12:31 Now this one, 12:33 I already have written on the screen for you, 12:35 because it brings up some very important points here. 12:38 It's Ezekiel Chapter 28, 12:40 and we're beginning in verse 13. 12:43 Because this is going to answer the question, 12:46 did God create the devil? 12:50 Ezekiel 28:13, the Bible says, 12:55 and this is God speaking to Lucifer. 12:58 "You were the anointed cherub who covers..." 13:02 A cherub is a mighty angel. 13:04 "I established you, 13:06 you were on the holy mountain of God..." 13:09 That's speaking of heaven. 13:11 "You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 13:15 You were perfect in all your ways 13:18 from the day you were created, 13:20 until iniquity was found in you. 13:23 By the abundance of your trading, 13:25 you became filled with violence from within, 13:29 and you sinned, 13:30 therefore I cast you as a profane thing 13:33 out of the mountain of God." 13:38 Now I'm going to go back to something that's written 13:40 right in the middle of that passage. 13:42 Notice the Bible says of Lucifer, 13:45 that he was a created being, 13:49 and that when he was created, 13:51 he was what in all his ways, what does the Bible say? 13:54 "Perfect in all his ways, 13:57 until iniquity was found in him." 14:01 You see, it's important to understand, 14:03 God did not create the devil. 14:07 God did not create evil to be on the face of the earth, 14:11 that was not part of His original plan. 14:14 What God did is He created a perfect loyal angel 14:19 who used his freedom of choice 14:21 to rebel against God 14:23 and iniquity was found inside him 14:26 because truthfully, where does sin begin? 14:30 In the heart, 14:32 and then from the heart, we act out on it. 14:34 And clearly Ezekiel says 14:36 that violence was found in Lucifer from within, 14:39 and eventually he acted out on it 14:42 in a full scale rebellion. 14:45 And when that happened, 14:46 God cast him out of heaven and into this earth. 14:53 But that leads us to a question that many people ask. 14:59 Does God know the future? 15:01 Yes or no? 15:03 Does He know the end from the beginning? 15:05 Indeed He does. 15:07 So many wonder if God knew 15:10 that Lucifer was going to turn evil, 15:13 if he knew that Lucifer would rebel 15:15 and cause all of this heartache, 15:18 why did God create him to begin with? 15:22 How many people think that's a good question, 15:24 can I see your hands? 15:25 Sure, it is. 15:26 Anybody who maybe is reading the Bible 15:28 for the first time would be very apt 15:30 to answer that question or ask that question. 15:34 And so this is where we have to understand 15:36 the concept of free will. 15:39 You see, God did not create His angels, 15:42 nor does He create us as robots 15:45 who are forced and programmed to follow Him. 15:48 We have a choice because you cannot develop 15:53 a love relationship with a robot. 15:56 In order to develop a love relationship 15:59 with the beings that you create, 16:01 they must have the freedom to choose to love you back. 16:06 Let me give you an example. 16:07 Let's take a husband and wife relationship. 16:09 Now it may be that there are some wives here 16:11 who may be thinking, 16:13 "You know, if I could just open my husband's head 16:17 and program his brain to think exactly like I do, 16:21 and do exactly what I wanted him to do, 16:24 we would have the perfect relationship." 16:27 Amen somebody said. 16:29 And conversely I suppose some men would also say, 16:32 "You know, if I could just program my wife 16:34 to think like me and do what I want, 16:36 then yes, life would be perfect." 16:39 On the outside... Now the men are saying amen. 16:42 On the outside that might seem logical, 16:45 but let me ask you a question. 16:47 Could you truly fall in love with each other? 16:52 You could not because in order 16:55 for a love relationship to develop, 16:58 two people must have the freedom 17:00 to love each other back. 17:02 If you are forced to do it, it is not love. 17:07 And when someone has the freedom to choose, 17:10 there is always the risk 17:12 that they may not choose to love you back. 17:16 Probably all of us have faced that pain in our life, 17:19 whether it's a dating relationship 17:20 that broke up, or maybe unfortunately, 17:22 a marriage that broke up 17:24 and that is a very, very painful experience. 17:27 See, God knew 17:29 that if He creates us with the freedom to choose, 17:32 there is the risk that we might cause Him pain 17:36 by choosing not to love Him back. 17:41 But God takes that risk, 17:43 because He loves us enough to give us liberty 17:46 and the ability to choose. 17:48 All of us are created with the desire 17:51 for freedom and liberty. 17:53 In fact, there are many citizens 17:55 of countries around this world 17:57 who are crying out for that same liberty, 17:59 even our forefathers wrote 18:02 that liberty is an inalienable right, 18:05 something that God put inside of us 18:07 and they were right about that. 18:09 God gives us a free will. 18:14 But we can go farther than that. 18:17 You say, "Well, I can understand 18:20 why God gave him the freedom to choose 18:22 but what about this question, 18:25 a question that somebody is bound to ask. 18:27 Once Satan was given the freedom to choose 18:30 whether or not he rebelled, 18:31 once he made that choice, 18:33 why didn't God just destroy him when he rebelled?" 18:37 Couldn't you see someone reading the Bible 18:39 when in Revelation it says 18:40 that Lucifer rebelled against God 18:42 and he was cast out of heaven, and where was he cast? 18:45 To this earth. 18:47 Could you see someone asking the question, 18:49 "God, why did You send him down here? 18:53 Why did You give him a chance to come and bring woe to this 18:56 or why don't you just destroy him? 18:59 Why don't you just give him a lightning bolt, 19:01 blot him out of existence." 19:04 You know, and according to human thinking, 19:06 that would sound like a logical idea. 19:09 But there is two reasons at least 19:11 that God did not do that. 19:14 One has to do with fear. 19:17 Now think about it, 19:19 I want you to picture the angels here. 19:21 Lucifer has told them 19:24 that his way is better than God's. 19:26 So as soon as Lucifer questions God 19:29 and steps out of line, boom, 19:31 God kills him and blots him out of existence. 19:34 Imagine in your mind the conversations 19:36 the other angels would have had. 19:38 "Boy, did you see what happened to Lucifer? 19:40 Oh, as soon as he stepped out of line, God killed him. 19:43 Boy, we better toe the line or God may kill us too." 19:48 And the angels would have begun to serve God out of fear, 19:53 because they were afraid not to. 19:57 And you see when you have a relationship of fear, 20:00 that is not something God wants with His created beings. 20:05 See, the Bible says perfect love casts out what? 20:09 All fear. 20:10 So to have a love relationship, fear cannot be involved. 20:15 See on this earth we would call a relationship of fear 20:18 a dysfunctional relationship. 20:20 You know, it's a psychological term. 20:22 I'll give you an illustration. 20:24 Unfortunately, all of us have probably seen 20:28 perhaps or heard about a woman 20:30 who has been abused by a husband, 20:34 and for whatever reason, 20:35 continues to go back over and over and over again 20:40 because she's afraid. 20:42 She's afraid that if she leaves that he will do worse to her 20:47 or that he may find her children 20:49 and so she stays with him 20:52 not because she's in love with the man 20:54 but because it's an enslaving relationship of fear, 20:59 we would call that dysfunctional. 21:01 That's not the kind of relationship God wants 21:04 with His angelic beings 21:06 or with the human beings that He created. 21:09 He wants free choice, 21:11 He wants a relationship of love, 21:14 and so that the angels would not fear Him, 21:16 He did not destroy Satan on the spot. 21:21 Second reason, think this through. 21:25 Satan claimed that his program was better than God's. 21:29 Did the angels know what Satan's program was? 21:32 Had they ever seen the program of sin carried out anywhere? 21:36 Not really. 21:38 All they had known was the perfect paradise 21:41 that God had given them, 21:43 surrounded with unutterable love. 21:46 And then that should have been enough for them. 21:49 But in order to be fair, 21:51 this is basically what God does. 21:53 He says, "All right. 21:55 I will give Lucifer a chance. 21:57 I will send you down to the earth 21:59 and if and only if the people allow you, 22:03 I will allow you to carry out your program, 22:06 I will allow human beings in the universe 22:08 to see what sin is 22:10 and when time is all said and done, 22:13 I'll let them choose who they want to follow." 22:17 But see, there's a catch to that. 22:19 The only way Lucifer, the only way Satan 22:22 will be allowed to carry out his program on this earth is 22:25 if human beings open the door. 22:29 Human beings had to choose to follow Satan's way 22:33 and to see his program. 22:35 And so now when you go back to the Book of Genesis, 22:38 you begin to see the fall of Adam and Eve, 22:42 which opened the window for Satan 22:45 to bring his rebellion to this planet. 22:48 Let's go back, now we started in Revelation 22:50 so where are we going right now? 22:52 Yeah, Genesis, we started in the last book of the Bible, 22:55 now we're in the first book of the Bible 22:58 because the great controversy is changing playing fields now. 23:03 It started in the courts of heaven, 23:05 now it is coming down to planet earth 23:09 and into our hearts and minds. 23:11 So let's go back to Genesis 3. 23:13 And let's notice how sin came to this planet. 23:19 Genesis Chapter 3. 23:22 And I'm just going to go and read verses 1 through 6, 23:26 straight through Genesis 3:1-6. 23:32 Verse 1, the Bible says, 23:35 "Now the serpent was more cunning 23:37 than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. 23:42 And he said to the woman, has God indeed said, 23:46 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' 23:49 And the woman said to the serpent, 23:51 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 23:55 but of the fruit of the tree 23:56 which is in the midst of the garden, 23:58 God has said 'You shall not eat it, 24:01 nor shall you touch it lest you do,'" what? 24:04 "Die." 24:06 Now, was God pretty clear there? 24:08 Was there any mistake in what He said? 24:11 Don't eat it, don't touch it or you will die. 24:14 Verse 4, 24:16 "Then the serpent said to the woman, 24:18 you will not surely die." 24:22 The first lie ever told on the face of the earth, 24:24 for God knows that in the day you eat of it, 24:27 your eyes will be opened. 24:31 And you will be like," what? 24:34 "God, knowing good and evil. 24:38 So when the woman saw 24:40 that the tree was good for food, 24:42 that it was pleasant to the eyes 24:43 and a tree desirable to make one wise, 24:46 she took of its fruit and ate 24:49 and she also gave to her husband with her 24:52 and he ate." 24:55 Now we have to stop right here. 24:57 There are so many lessons pictured in that passage 25:01 that we often skip over them too fast. 25:05 Here now the devil apparently changes himself 25:09 into the form of a serpent. 25:12 And he plants himself 25:14 right beside the tree of knowledge of good and evil, 25:17 the one tree that God said they should not go near. 25:21 Now there is a principle there. 25:23 Notice, God did not allow him to go roaming 25:26 around all the other parts of the garden 25:29 trying to find Adam and Eve. 25:31 He was apparently limited to that one area 25:35 where God had told Adam and Eve 25:37 they are not supposed to go. 25:40 See how fair and just God is. 25:41 He didn't just take Satan 25:43 and throw him down to Adam and Eve. 25:46 He was restricted to that part of the garden. 25:49 And Genesis leads us to believe 25:51 that somehow Eve finds herself near 25:55 that forbidden tree and as she nears it, 26:00 she notices the serpent in its branches, 26:03 and the serpent begins to talk to her. 26:07 Now I gotta stop right there, I can tell you, 26:10 that would not have worked with my wife. 26:12 Because as soon as she would have seen that snake, 26:15 she'd have been out the door, 26:16 you know, running down the path, 26:17 she would've not even waited for the thing to speak. 26:20 So they would've... 26:21 He would've to tempt her a different way. 26:22 Am I right, honey? Yes or no? 26:24 Absolutely. 26:26 Now, if it was me, of course, 26:27 I guess none of us know what we would do. 26:29 But I can tell you if I saw a snake, 26:32 and that thing started speaking to me. 26:33 I wouldn't be waiting around to see what it said. 26:36 But Eve listened. 26:38 And he says to her, 26:40 "Has God said, you can't eat of any of the trees." 26:44 Now, did God say that? He did not. 26:47 God didn't say you can't eat of any of the trees. 26:50 He said you can have all of them except 26:53 the one that's in the middle. 26:55 You see how the devil was already trying 26:58 to twist God's word and confused Eve. 27:02 And then finally, Eve says to him, 27:05 and this was her mistake, 27:06 she stood there and had a conversation 27:08 with the devil. 27:09 When temptation comes our way God says, 27:13 "Run, pray, get away from it, 27:16 don't even put ourselves in a position 27:18 where we can be tempted." 27:21 Now there are some times 27:22 we may not have control over that, 27:24 when things happen at work, that's where we work, 27:26 we can't stop what people do. 27:28 But when it's within our power, 27:30 God tells us not to purposely put ourself in a position 27:35 where we know the weak human nature 27:37 is going to be tempted. 27:40 Now, she begins to reason with the devil, 27:43 which is always a very bad idea. 27:45 And she says, 27:47 "Oh, no, God says that we can eat of all the trees, 27:49 just not the one in the middle. 27:51 God says when we eat of it, we will die. 27:53 It will bring death into this world." 27:56 And the devil comes right back and he blatantly says, 27:59 "You will not surely die." 28:03 And then I want you to notice what he says next 28:05 because it's very important. 28:07 There's something here that is directly tied 28:09 to the Book of Revelation and the Book of Isaiah. 28:13 Notice what the devil says in verse 5. 28:16 He says to her, 28:18 "God knows, in the day you eat of this fruit, 28:23 your eyes will be opened." 28:26 You will have special knowledge, 28:29 "You will be like God." 28:33 In other words, he's insinuating. 28:36 God is withholding something good from you. 28:40 Why this tree, the fruit in this tree, 28:43 it's something that's good. 28:44 It's something that's desirable. 28:46 If you eat of it, you'll know good and evil, 28:48 you'll have a higher knowledge than you have now. 28:52 You will be like God. 28:55 Who was it that Isaiah said wanted to be like God? 28:59 Lucifer. 29:00 And he's now putting the same thought 29:03 in the minds of human beings. 29:07 And when Eve took of that fruit and ate it, 29:11 and gave it to her husband, that opened the door, 29:15 that gave permission to Satan 29:18 to begin to carry out his program of sin 29:22 on this earth. 29:24 And from that moment on, 29:27 every person that was born into this world 29:30 after Adam and Eve 29:33 is born with sin already in them. 29:38 Do you understand that? 29:40 You see, traditionally we think 29:42 sin is only bad things that you do. 29:44 Well, that's part of it. 29:46 But sin is like a disease we are born with. 29:49 It's like a cancer inside of us. 29:52 You see, that sin means we are born 29:55 with a tendency already to do what's wrong. 29:58 It's easier for me to do wrong than it is for me to do right 30:03 when I am left on my own, that's the sinful human nature. 30:08 Let me give an example of that, I'm always safe to use myself. 30:11 Let's suppose that I'm putting siding on my house, 30:14 and I'm outside, you know, I'm nailing it together, etc. 30:18 And lo and behold, I'm not paying attention, 30:20 and all of a sudden the hammer slips, boom, 30:22 I hit myself on the finger, 30:24 and automatically in less than half a second, 30:27 maybe something comes out of my mouth 30:29 that shouldn't come out of the mouth of a Christian. 30:32 The curse word flies, and I'm mortified. 30:35 I can't believe that I said that 30:38 because I actually have to think about doing right. 30:42 The word came out quickly and naturally, 30:45 because it's part of my nature. 30:47 It's easier for us to do wrong 30:50 than it is to do right. 30:53 I'll give you another example. 30:55 We could even use children for this actually, 30:57 I'm gonna use my two little girls. 30:59 I have two little girls nine and six, 31:01 sweetest, cutest things you'd ever imagine. 31:02 But let me ask you a question. 31:04 Do you think I have to teach my two girls 31:07 how to fight with each other? 31:10 I don't have to teach them that. 31:12 They do it automatically. 31:14 It's in their nature 31:16 and not just my children, all children 31:18 because they have the same human nature. 31:20 I actually have to teach them how not to fight. 31:25 Do you think you have to teach your children 31:27 how to be selfish and hoard their toys? 31:29 Do you have to teach them that? 31:32 Oh, come on now you're not being honest. 31:33 Do you have to teach them that? 31:35 No, they do that automatically. 31:38 It's part of this tendency towards evil 31:41 that we were born with 31:43 ever since sin came into this world. 31:47 You can read about this. 31:48 It's actually in the Book of Romans. 31:50 Romans 3:23 says, 31:54 "For all have sinned 31:57 and fall short of the glory of God." 32:01 Now how many people here believe the Bible? 32:02 Can I see your hands? 32:04 How many people does it say sinned? 32:06 All. 32:07 Does that leave anyone out? 32:09 No human being. 32:10 All of us are already born with sin inside of us. 32:16 But then it gets worse. 32:19 The wages of sin according to Romans 6:23, is what? 32:23 It is death. 32:25 Now let's just think this through for a second. 32:27 So far, do those two verses give us good news, yes or no? 32:31 That's not good news. 32:33 Okay, if all of us are born with sin, 32:35 we already have sin inside of us 32:37 that we will eventually act out on. 32:40 And the Bible says the resort of sin is death 32:42 because that's what sin does, it separates us from God. 32:45 It means eventually we will die eternal death 32:48 and be eternally separated from Him. 32:52 That is not good. 32:54 That means from the time of Adam and Eve, 32:56 every human being would be hopeless 32:58 and unable to be saved. 33:03 But that's not what God wants. 33:06 Now picture God's dilemma. 33:09 Man has just sinned. 33:12 Opened the door to Satan's program. 33:17 God's law says, "The wages of sin is death." 33:21 The sinner must eventually die 33:23 or sin would exist forever. 33:27 But God created man. 33:31 God loves man. 33:33 God doesn't want man to have to die. 33:38 So how does God get rid of sin 33:43 but save man who is a sinner at the same time? 33:48 That's God's dilemma. 33:50 And that's where prophecy introduces to us, 33:54 what the Bible calls the glorious plan of salvation. 34:00 I want you to read with me, John 3:16, if you would. 34:03 The Bible says, say it with me. 34:05 "For God so loved the world 34:08 that He gave His only begotten Son, 34:11 that whosoever believeth in Him 34:14 should not perish but have everlasting life." 34:20 See what God did is that Jesus Christ 34:24 took the form of a human being, 34:27 that He would leave the perfection of heaven, 34:31 a place where all angels bowed down to Him in adoration, 34:36 that He would come down here and take our nature, 34:40 that He would walk this earth for 33.5 years, 34:45 this chaotic sin ridden earth, 34:47 that He would allow Himself to be nailed to a cross, 34:51 that He would pay that death penalty for us. 34:54 And when we accept Him as Savior, 34:56 He would allow His righteous life 34:58 to count for you and for me. 35:02 See, that's what the Bible calls the plan of salvation, 35:05 which had been formulated 35:06 from the foundation of the world. 35:10 Do you realize, 35:12 the Bible tells us that God the Father, 35:14 and God the Son, and really God the Holy Spirit, 35:18 they had already formed the plan of salvation 35:21 before Lucifer ever rebelled? 35:25 They had a plan already made in their minds 35:28 that if men or if angels would use their free will 35:32 to rebel against Him, 35:35 that Jesus would be the one 35:37 who would come and pay the death penalty for us 35:41 because God can't change His law. 35:43 God will not change that the wages of sin is death. 35:46 So God Himself comes in the form of Jesus 35:50 to pay that death penalty. 35:52 So you realize what that means. 35:54 That means Jesus is the answer. 35:56 Can you say amen? 35:58 He took the blame for our sin. 36:01 He is the one that offers forgiveness, 36:03 He allows His perfect life to count for us 36:07 so that when someone accepts Christ as their Savior, 36:10 their unrighteous life, 36:12 their filthy rags, as the Bible says, 36:15 was laid on Jesus on the cross, 36:17 that He was stricken because of our sins, smitten 36:21 because of our transgressions, He took the blame. 36:26 I want you to think something through. 36:28 How many of you have ever experienced guilt 36:31 when you know you did something wrong? 36:33 Can I see your hands? 36:34 How does guilt feel? 36:37 Feels pretty lousy, doesn't it? 36:39 Let me ask you something. 36:41 Some people can barely handle their own guilt 36:44 in this world for wrong choices that they've made. 36:48 Do you realize 36:51 when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, 36:55 He was bearing the guilt and the responsibility 37:01 of every single sin 37:05 that would ever be committed on the face of this earth 37:08 for thousands of years, 37:10 by billions and billions of people. 37:15 He felt as though He was the one 37:18 that committed all the sins, the murders, the robberies. 37:22 See, Jesus didn't just simply die, 37:25 because He hung on a cross, that's part of it. 37:27 That's what the Bible alludes to the fact 37:28 that He died from a broken heart, 37:30 He felt that separation from God 37:33 because He was bearing the guilt of the world, 37:36 an awful feeling of guilt 37:38 we can't even begin to understand. 37:41 That's why in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, 37:43 "Father, if possible, let this cup pass from Me." 37:48 He was already feeling that guilt. 37:50 Jesus did that for you. 37:53 He took your guilt, 37:55 so that you could take His righteousness 37:58 and that you could be saved. 38:01 Can you say amen? 38:02 So here's what I want to do 38:04 on our time that remains tonight. 38:06 We understand the great controversy. 38:10 We understand the war between good and evil. 38:12 We understand how sin came to this world, 38:15 which by the way, 38:16 this is also why God does not stop 38:18 every bad thing from happening. 38:21 See, we sometimes wonder, "God, it's not fair. 38:24 Good things happen to bad people, 38:27 and bad things happen to good people, why God?" 38:32 It's part of the great controversy. 38:34 If God stopped every evil thing from happening in this world, 38:40 we would never get a true picture 38:42 of what sin really is. 38:44 We would never get a true picture 38:47 of how much we need salvation 38:49 and how much we need Christ crucified. 38:53 So even though it breaks God's heart, 38:57 to see the tragedies and atrocities 38:59 that happen on this earth, the majority of the time, 39:02 God does not stop it from happening. 39:06 But He does promise that in the end when He come, 39:09 all wrongs will be made right. 39:12 He's allowing us to see what sin is, 39:15 so that we will choose to follow Him 39:18 and to gain eternal life. 39:22 And so now here's the question. 39:25 How do I accept Jesus as my Savior? 39:29 You say, 39:30 "Why should you cover this in a prophecy seminar?" 39:33 Sometimes we think this is not a prophetic subject. 39:36 But I want to ask you a question. 39:38 What's the purpose of the Book of Revelation? 39:42 Is the purpose of Revelation to educate us about antichrist 39:45 and the mark of the beast? 39:47 Or we might say that's a secondary purpose. 39:50 But what is the main purpose? 39:53 To lead us to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, 39:58 that's what all prophecies meant to do, 40:01 to point us to Jesus, not to antichrist, 40:05 not to mark of the beast. 40:06 Yes, we'll study those things, 40:08 but prophecy points us to the cross. 40:11 So for me, I feel that it would be unconscionable for me 40:15 to spend a few weeks 40:16 going through 20 some topics in Revelation 40:20 or in other parts of the Bible, 40:21 and never once explain, 40:23 how do I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior? 40:29 That's what I want to do in our time that remains. 40:31 You see, because many people ask the question 40:36 "What do I do to accept Jesus? 40:39 Am I supposed to say a few magic words? 40:43 If I just go to church and sit in a pew, 40:44 does that mean He's my Savior? 40:47 Do I have to come forward 40:48 in an altar call and do something? 40:50 How do I accept Him as my Savior? 40:53 You will be amazed how many people 40:55 do not know the answer to that question. 40:57 And just assume because they sit in a pew 41:00 and they listen to sermons that they have accepted Him. 41:04 So what I'd like to do 41:05 is to take you through the three steps 41:07 of what it means 41:09 to accept Christ as your Savior. 41:12 Because in every meeting I've done almost always 41:15 there is at least one person who realizes, 41:17 I've never accepted Him as my Savior 41:19 and chooses to do so on that night. 41:23 For some, this may be a review 41:24 to help us recommit our life to Jesus. 41:27 But I don't feel I can go any further in Revelation 41:30 until we talk about 41:31 how do I invite Jesus into my life. 41:36 So I'd like to share with you the three steps. 41:39 Step number one is repentance. 41:43 Now, the order is not what's important. 41:45 There may be a different order in these three steps. 41:47 God works with people in different ways. 41:49 But you see, repentance 41:51 is when I start to experience a sorrow for sin. 41:55 You know, that, that I'm desiring something 41:57 better than what I have now, 41:59 we talked about this 42:00 in our question and answer period, 42:03 that I'm going down a path 42:04 where I'm not following God, 42:06 His principles aren't in my life. 42:09 And so those choices 42:10 are bringing me pain and heartache 42:13 and I want something better than what I have now. 42:17 That is God's Holy Spirit trying to reach us, 42:21 and to give us the gift of repentance. 42:24 Notice what it says in John 6:44, 42:26 it's printed on the screen for you. 42:28 Jesus spoke these words. 42:30 He said, "No one can come to Me 42:34 unless the Father who sent Me," does what? 42:38 "Draws him." 42:40 And this reminds me of a story. 42:43 There was once a man 42:44 who was going to a set of revival meetings, 42:47 much like this one. 42:49 And he went to the preacher because one night the preacher 42:52 used this very verse that talks about the Father drawing people 42:56 and the man was intrigued by it. 42:58 So he went to the preacher after the meeting and he said, 43:00 "Preacher, you read that verse from John 6:44, 43:03 let me ask you a question. 43:05 When I come home from work each night, 43:08 I'm just so dog tired. 43:11 I just want to sit in my easy chair, 43:13 order a pizza, and rest and relax, 43:15 and just watch TV the rest of the night. 43:17 I don't want to go out anywhere. 43:20 But there's just something deep inside of me that says, 43:24 'You ought to go to that meeting tonight. 43:27 There's something good waiting for you there. 43:29 You need to go and open up the Word of God' 43:31 and even though I'm just so utterly exhausted, 43:34 something just pulls me out of that chair, 43:36 to come to the meeting. 43:38 Preacher, is that like what Jesus said? 43:41 Is that God drawing me?" 43:43 And the preacher said, "Yes, sir, it is. 43:45 That's God trying to draw you to something better." 43:51 See, I believe that's what's happening 43:52 to everybody who's here tonight. 43:54 God is drawing you. 43:56 I mean, I'm no fool, let's be honest, 43:57 it's Friday night. 43:59 It's not like there's nothing else 44:00 you could be doing in this world, right? 44:02 I mean, you could be going to a restaurant, 44:04 you could be home watching TV, 44:06 you could be cleaning the house. 44:07 So I don't know anybody 44:08 particularly likes cleaning the house. 44:10 But there's a 100 other things you could be doing. 44:12 It's not like you're not busy but for some reason, 44:16 the Holy Spirit has drawn you 44:18 and you have responded to dedicate an hour 44:21 or an hour and a half of your time to come 44:23 and open up the Word of God 44:25 because you want something better. 44:28 Believe me, it's not your human nature 44:30 that's drawing you here tonight, 44:32 that is God's Holy Spirit, drawing you to Jesus, 44:36 wanting to give you that something better. 44:39 Can you say amen? 44:40 So when you begin to experience that, 44:42 that's God already trying to reach a person. 44:46 But then comes step number two, because not everybody responds 44:51 to the desire for something better. 44:54 Step number two is then, confession. 44:58 This is where I admit that I am a sinner. 45:02 I recognize I have sin in my life and I need a Savior 45:06 and I actually take the step of in prayer, 45:10 asking Jesus Christ into my life to forgive me, 45:13 cleanse me of sin and become my Savior. 45:17 I can't just sit there and assume it. 45:20 I must ask Him and give Him permission to do so. 45:24 Jesus will not force His way into our lives. 45:29 That's what the Bible compares our relationship with God 45:32 as marrying Him, think about it. 45:35 When I met Marquita, 45:37 and I asked her to marry me in Collegedale, Tennessee, 45:41 or actually technically we were in Chattanooga. 45:44 It was Thanksgiving time, 45:46 this was a year after we had graduated, 45:47 and we were going down 45:49 to visit her family for Thanksgiving. 45:51 And we had gone to one of the special parks 45:53 that we had gone to that it 45:55 had a pier over one of the lakes, 45:57 we've gone there many, many times. 46:00 And in fact, I can remember that, 46:01 I had actually decided in my mind 46:04 long before we ever left home. 46:06 I was going to ask her to marry me over Thanksgiving. 46:10 Somebody ought to say amen to that. 46:12 All right. 46:13 And so we were sitting there, standing there on the pier. 46:15 Now, my wife has a different version of the story, 46:18 but she's not speaking right now. 46:20 So you're going to hear my version of the story. 46:22 You can ask her about hers later. 46:24 She says that I just pussyfooted around 46:28 before I would ever asked the question 46:30 and took about an hour before 46:31 I'd get the words out of my mouth. 46:32 I don't quite remember it that way, 46:34 maybe that's what happened. 46:35 But eventually, I got down on my knees and I said, 46:39 Marquita, I love you. 46:42 Would you marry me? 46:44 Do you think it would have been a good idea for me to go ahead 46:47 and rent a hall and send out invitations 46:50 before I ever asked her to marry me? 46:53 Would that be a good idea? 46:55 Probably not. 46:56 I could have gone on faith. 46:57 I'm pretty sure that she would have said yes, 46:59 but you ought to ask the person first. 47:02 It's the same with Jesus. 47:04 I must ask Him to be my Savior. 47:07 He already wants to, but I've got to invite Him in. 47:12 In fact, in 1 John 1:9, He gives us this promise. 47:17 1 John 1:9, the Bible says, 47:20 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just 47:25 to forgive us our sins and," to do what? 47:28 "Cleanse us from," how much unrighteousness? 47:31 "All unrighteousness." 47:32 Think about the promise that says. 47:35 He is guaranteeing us 47:38 that if we ask Him to be our Savior, 47:40 if we confess that we are a sinner 47:42 who needs forgiveness, it says 47:44 He is faithful, He will wipe our slate clean, 47:48 He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 47:51 because He takes the unrighteousness away 47:53 from our record book 47:55 and He gives us His righteousness. 48:00 Now I have to tell you a story that's connected to this. 48:04 I have a preacher friend. 48:06 And he was once invited to go to a Christian school 48:11 and speak for their week of prayer, 48:13 the week of prayer's kind of like 48:15 when they have chapel services 48:16 during a special, you know, spiritual week of emphasis. 48:20 And so while he was at that school, 48:21 the officials came to him and said, 48:23 "Listen, you know, 48:24 we have one of the troublemakers 48:25 in this school, you know, 48:27 one of the bad boys. 48:28 We wondered, would you have a counseling session with him?" 48:30 And so my preacher friend said, "Oh, I would love to. 48:33 I love bad boys, 48:34 because I used to be one of them." 48:36 And so they put him in this room. 48:38 And this kid just walks in the room 48:40 and you could see attitude written all over his face, 48:43 big chip on his shoulder and so he goes, 48:47 and he asked the preacher, he says, 48:48 "Let me ask you a question. 48:51 Does God see and hear everything we do?" 48:54 Now, the preacher knew this was a trick question, 48:56 he was being led into something 48:58 but he had to answer it honestly. 49:00 And what's the answer? 49:01 Does God see and hear everything we do, yes or no? 49:03 Indeed He does. So my friend had to say yes. 49:06 And so the kid says back to him, 49:08 "In chapel today, you said, 49:10 'We gotta go confess our sins to God.' 49:12 Well, if God sees and hears everything we do, 49:14 why do I gotta go tell him about it, 49:16 if He already knows it?" 49:18 You think that's a good question? 49:20 I do. 49:21 You know, you ever think about the answer to that? 49:25 If God does see and hear everything we do, 49:28 if He already knows that we're a sinner, 49:30 why do I have to go and confess my sins 49:32 which He already knows about? 49:36 Let's illustrate it this way. 49:39 Let's suppose... I'm going to use Mark 49:41 since he's sitting on the front row. 49:43 Let's suppose after the meeting tonight, 49:45 I'm standing out there in the lobby, 49:46 just shaking hands and greeting people. 49:48 And as Mark walks by, 49:50 the devil puts a dirty thought in my mind, 49:52 and I decide to just stick out my foot and trip him. 49:55 And he falls on the ground flat on his face 49:57 and I laugh at him and say, 49:59 "Oh, Mark is such a dunce, 50:00 he can't even balance himself and stay on his feet, 50:02 ha-ha, ha-ha." 50:05 And Mark being the good Christian that he is, 50:06 is just going to get up and dust himself off, 50:08 turn the other cheek and walk away. 50:12 Later that night before I go to bed, 50:15 Marquita gets a hold of me. 50:17 And she says David, and you know 50:19 when your wife says it that way, 50:21 you're in trouble. 50:22 "David, why did you do that to Mark? 50:25 You tripped him, 50:27 you made fun of him, you embarrassed him, 50:29 that was an awful thing for you to do. 50:32 And now I'm feeling what? 50:34 Guilty. 50:36 And I think, "Oh, honey, you're so right. 50:37 I can't believe I did that in front of all those people. 50:40 What kind of an example am I. 50:42 Oh, what a horrible thing. 50:43 And that night I can't sleep. 50:45 The next morning I can't eat my breakfast. 50:47 I can't wait to go to the meeting the next night 50:50 and go to Mark and as soon as I see Mark, 50:52 I go up to him, I say 50:54 "Mark I'm so sorry, you know, the other night I tripped you. 50:57 You fell on your face. 50:58 I laughed at you and I made fun of you. 51:00 Mark, would you please forgive me?" 51:04 Mark, you're gonna forgive me. 51:06 He's holding a grudge. 51:08 Now, let me ask you a question. 51:11 When I go to Mark and I tell him, 51:12 you tripped me and I made you fall 51:14 or I tripped you and I made you fall on your face, 51:16 am I telling Mark something he doesn't already know. 51:19 If anybody knows what I did, it's Mark. 51:23 But I'm confessing it 51:25 because it's restoring my relationship with Mark. 51:29 And it's relieving me of my load of guilt. 51:33 That's why we confess our sins to God. 51:36 It's restoring our relationship with Him. 51:39 It's allowing Jesus to take that load 51:42 of guilt off of our backs, 51:44 that's why confession is important. 51:47 It's not telling God what He doesn't know, 51:50 He already knows that. 51:51 It allows us to reconnect with Him. 51:55 And God tells me, 51:56 I can go directly to Jesus to confess my sins, 52:01 according to 1 John 1:9. 52:05 But then there's a third step. 52:07 See, many times we stop after the first two. 52:11 And we have the impression, "Oh, well, I just, you know, 52:13 speak a few words and now I'm just going to go 52:15 and continue to live like the devil. 52:18 But God wants more for us than that. 52:21 He doesn't want to leave us alone 52:23 at the moment we accept Christ as our Savior. 52:26 He wants to move on to the third step 52:28 which is conversion. 52:30 Can you say amen? 52:31 Where the Holy Spirit now begins to change us... 52:34 The Holy Spirit wants 52:35 to take the bad that's in my life 52:37 and to turn it into something good. 52:40 Change the way I think, change the way I speak. 52:44 And truthfully, 52:45 that doesn't happen in a day, does it? 52:47 Now we can be saved in a moment. 52:49 We can accept Jesus as our Savior in one moment, 52:52 genuinely and truly, 52:54 but being changed and converted happens over time, doesn't it? 52:59 See, when I give my life over to Jesus 53:01 does that automatically mean 53:02 that right away my nature is changed 53:04 or that I'll never be tempted 53:05 or that I will never fall again. 53:07 In fact, it's quite likely the devil 53:09 will work harder on you than he ever has before. 53:12 And so now the Holy Spirit wants to do a work 53:14 of conversion and transformation. 53:18 That's why Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, 53:21 and these are eternally important words, 53:23 He said, "Watch and pray, 53:28 lest you enter into temptation. 53:31 For the spirit indeed is willing, 53:33 but the flesh is weak." 53:37 You know what those two words watch and pray, 53:39 just simply translating, you know what they really mean? 53:42 It's basically talking about spending time with Jesus 53:45 in Bible study and prayer, 53:47 watching or paying attention to one's spiritual life. 53:54 You see the best way 53:55 I can open my heart to the Holy Spirit, 53:58 to do this work of transformation 54:00 is by spending time in the Bible every single day. 54:05 Setting aside those 30 minutes 54:07 where I read God's love letter to me, 54:09 I let His principles be immersed into my heart, 54:13 into my soul to the point 54:15 where it begins to change who I am. 54:18 And then through prayer, I share my life with God. 54:23 One Christian writer said, 54:25 "Prayer is like opening your heart to God 54:28 as you would to a friend." 54:30 It's not about fancy and special words, 54:33 it's just being who you are and speaking to God. 54:36 Does God care about 54:38 the little insignificant things in your life, yes or no? 54:41 Indeed He does. 54:42 If He cares about the sparrow that falls to the ground, 54:45 He cares about you and me. 54:48 I can talk to Him 54:50 about the things I talk to a friend about, 54:52 because God is my best friend. 54:55 You see, in the Bible, God speaks to me, 54:58 in prayer I can speak to God. 55:02 And as I spend that time in Bible study 55:04 and prayer every day, after a while, 55:07 the change that I could never make in myself, 55:11 the Holy Spirit begins to make in me, 55:15 and He converts me 55:16 to be more like Jesus as time passes. 55:21 You say how fast does that happen? 55:24 Well, I guess it depends on how completely 55:27 we're willing to submit and surrender to God. 55:31 You see, we all have low points in our Christian experience. 55:34 We all go through valleys, sometimes we grow faster, 55:37 other times we have setbacks and we grow slower 55:39 but the wonderful thing is, Jesus says, 55:42 "I'll never leave you. 55:44 I will never forsake you." 55:47 In fact, He gives us this promise. 55:50 "The one who comes to Me, 55:53 I will by no means cast out." 55:57 Maybe there's someone here tonight, 55:58 and you're thinking, 56:00 "I need to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. 56:03 I've never actually prayed that prayer, 56:06 just confessing my sin 56:08 and inviting Him to come into my life." 56:11 There may be people here tonight 56:12 who want to say, 56:13 "You know, I just need to rededicate my life 56:15 to the Lord Jesus Christ." 56:17 I want to invite you 56:19 to take out your response cards. 56:20 You notice that these are different 56:23 than the ones that we had been using night by night. 56:25 This is a special one for tonight. 56:27 And it says Revelation's King, there are some in English, 56:31 there are some in Russian 56:33 because we have some Russian speaking folks 56:34 that are with us in this seminar. 56:37 Now if you do not have this card 56:38 that says Revelation's King, 56:40 I'd invite you just to briefly raise your hand 56:43 and one of the ushers 56:44 will be happy to get you that card. 56:46 I'm going to briefly go over it with you. 56:49 The first box says, 56:52 "I believe that Jesus loves me 56:55 and died on the cross for my sins. 56:58 If you have the assurance and you can say, 57:00 'Pastor, I know that God loves me. 57:02 I know I'm not perfect, 57:04 but I know that He loves me and He has died for my sins.'" 57:07 If you have that assurance, 57:09 I'd like to invite you to check that box tonight. 57:13 The second one says, "Today, I am accepting Jesus 57:18 as my personal Savior for the first time." 57:22 Maybe you've never actually taken that step 57:25 and invited Him into your life. 57:27 And if you'd like to do that for the first time tonight, 57:30 I'd like you to check that box. 57:32 Because later this weekend, 57:34 I'd like to find a special gift to give to you privately, 57:38 to just help you remember this special time 57:41 when you gave your heart to Jesus. 57:44 And box number three, 57:46 "I would like to request prayer for something in my life." 57:49 Maybe there's just something you'd like to ask 57:51 a prayer team to pray over. 57:53 I'd invite you to check that box 57:55 and whatever it is, 57:56 whatever you want to share 57:58 you can write that on the back of the card 58:00 and we will share this with a prayer team 58:02 who will lift your request up to the throne of heaven. 58:06 And then lastly number four, 58:08 "I'd like to talk with a pastor." |
Revised 2019-08-22