Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: GMTB
Program Code: GMTB000048
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00:19 Hello and welcome again to the
00:21 Give Me The Bible series 00:23 with Pastor Kenneth Cox 00:25 and the Kenneth Cox Ministries. 00:26 We are coming to you live 00:28 from 3ABN Worship Center, 00:30 and we're so grateful that you've joined us 00:32 from wherever you are around the world. 00:35 And so thankful for everyone who is here this morning. 00:39 It's a beautiful Sabbath day here in southern Illinois. 00:41 And we are having an exciting time, aren't we? 00:45 The series this month is The Elijah Message. 00:50 And we are on our third presentation today. 00:54 We've already heard about the coming of Elijah 00:56 and how he's going to turn the hearts of the fathers 01:00 to their children and the hearts of the children 01:02 to their fathers. And then last night we heard 01:04 about Abraham's altar. 01:06 And the practice of Abraham 01:08 was to have morning and evening worship 01:11 with his family and all of his household. 01:14 And that was very instrumental in the salvation of his family, 01:18 was it not? Today we're going to hear 01:21 a wonderful message about the absolutely 01:27 unconditional love of God 01:29 but the conditions of His promises. 01:31 And it's called Bless This House. 01:33 Before Kenneth comes to speak to us 01:36 we're going to have a song by Dona Klein 01:39 who's been with the Kenneth Cox Ministries for nearly 24 years. 01:42 And she is going to play on the organ Bless This House. 01:45 But she said to me: "You know, it's just not right 01:49 that the people can't hear the words. 01:50 So let me share the words of this, so that as she plays 01:54 you will know what this song's message is all about. 01:57 It says: 01:58 Bless this house, oh Lord, we pray. 02:01 Make it safe by night and day. 02:04 Bless these walls, so firm and stout... 02:07 keeping want and trouble out. 02:10 Bless the roof and chimney tall, 02:13 let Thy peace be over all. 02:16 Bless this door that it may prove 02:19 ever open to joy and love. 02:22 Bless these windows, shining bright, 02:25 letting in God's heavenly light. 02:27 Bless the hearth ablazing there 02:30 with smoke ascending like a prayer. 02:33 Bless the folk who dwell within. 02:36 Keep them pure and free from sin. 02:40 Bless us all that we may be 02:43 fit, oh Lord, to dwell with Thee. 02:46 Bless us all that one day we 02:49 may dwell, oh Lord, with Thee. 05:33 Thank you Dona Klein. 05:35 Did you enjoy that? 05:37 Bless This House. 05:39 Well, welcome. Glad to welcome each of you today. 05:42 Appreciate you being here. 05:44 Those of you that are joining us by television 05:47 or listening to it on the radio, 05:50 we welcome you. 05:51 This series that we're doing 05:54 is on The Elijah Message. 05:56 What says the Bible, 05:57 the blessed Bible? 05:59 This my only question be. 06:02 The Elijah Message will give us guidance. 06:06 What says the book of God to me? 06:09 That's what we want to find out. 06:10 And we started off the first presentation 06:14 talking about The Elijah Message and what was involved in it. 06:18 And we found out that it had to do with the home. 06:20 God is talking about how it would turn the hearts of the 06:24 fathers to the children and the children to their fathers. 06:27 And we took a look at husbands, fathers, 06:31 and their responsibility in what God was wanting them to do: 06:35 step up to the plate and be what God had called them to be. 06:40 And then our next presentation was entitled 06:43 Abraham's Altar 06:44 and we dealt with the question of family worship 06:47 and how important it is for the salvation of your children 06:53 to have family worship. 06:55 We dealt with that and talked about it. 06:58 But we found out that when you bring your life and your home 07:03 into the will of God, then the blessings of God 07:09 begin to be poured out upon your home like morning dew. 07:13 That's what we're talking about in this presentation 07:16 is Bless This House. 07:18 The blessings of God, and we'll take a look at those. 07:21 The Bible tells us that Elijah 07:24 was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot 07:28 and that is his home. And so our next presentation is titled 07:33 entitled Heaven Is My Home. 07:36 And in reality, this old earth is not our home. 07:41 As the song says: This earth is not my home... 07:45 I'm just a passin' through. 07:47 And that's basically true: HEAVEN is our home. 07:51 And oh how glad I'll be when that day comes. 07:54 And that's what we're going to look at 07:56 in the next presentation is Heaven Is My Home. 08:00 And then the final presentation is entitled 08:03 The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord. 08:06 We're going to talk about... It says the Elijah message 08:10 was to be proclaimed until the great and dreadful day 08:14 of the Lord. So that'll be our final presentation 08:17 in this series on The Elijah Message. 08:20 And we appreciate you being here 08:22 and following it as we study God's Word together. 08:25 We have enjoyed so much having the Micheff sisters with us 08:30 in this series and singing for us. 08:33 And Linda, Brenda, Cinda are going to sing for us 08:38 a song entitled Without Him. 08:53 Without Him 08:55 I could do nothing, 09:01 Without Him 09:04 I'd surely fail; 09:09 Without Him 09:12 I would be drifting 09:17 like a ship 09:19 without a sail. 09:27 Jesus, 09:30 O Jesus! 09:34 Do you know Him today? 09:39 You can't turn Him away; 09:43 O Jesus, 09:47 my Jesus! 09:52 Without Him 09:54 how lost I would be. 10:01 Without Him 10:03 I would be dying, 10:09 Without Him 10:12 I'd be enslaved; 10:17 Without Him 10:20 life would be hopeless... 10:26 But with Jesus, 10:28 thank God, I'm saved. 10:35 Jesus, 10:38 O Jesus! 10:43 Do you know Him today? 10:47 You can't turn Him away; 10:51 O Jesus, 10:55 my Jesus! 11:00 Without Him 11:02 how lost I would be. 11:09 Jesus, 11:12 my Jesus! 11:19 Without Him 11:22 how lost I would be. 11:47 Our Heavenly Father, 11:50 Thank you, Lord, for loving us. 11:54 Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings that You give us. 12:00 Help us Lord that we might each 12:03 understand Your will. 12:06 That we might bring our lives into conformity 12:10 to Your desire and Your will. 12:14 We pray that we might stand firm 12:19 for what Your Word says 12:21 and to follow it and walk with You in all that we do. 12:25 Bless us today as we take a look 12:29 at what it says about the promises of God 12:32 and that our hearts and our minds may be open 12:36 to Your blessing. We pray in Christ's name, Amen. 12:47 God desires... God wants to 12:52 bless you. 12:54 There is no question 12:57 that God wants to give you a blessing. 13:03 In fact, it says this: 13:15 He wants to give you a blessing. 13:23 So God says clearly He wants to bless us. 13:27 There is nothing in this book 13:31 that God has promised to you and to me 13:37 that will not be fulfilled if we will do what He asks. 13:43 There's no blessing that He's promised that won't be fulfilled 13:48 if we will just do what He asks. 13:51 The children of Israel have left Egypt. 13:54 They've spent 40 years in the wilderness. 13:57 They have moved into the land of Canaan. 14:00 They've been there for quite a number of years now... 14:04 long enough that Joshua has grown old 14:09 and he realizes that his days are numbered 14:12 and he's now talking to the children of Israel. 14:15 Listen to what he says to them: 14:21 He said: "The time's come. 14:25 I'm going to pass away. " 14:38 Not one thing has failed... 14:47 He said: "All the things that God promised you... 14:52 every one of those have been fulfilled; 14:55 not one has failed. " 14:58 And Nehemiah as he was talking to the children of Israel 15:03 he called back... called them back to the time 15:06 that they spent in the wilderness - the 40 years there. 15:09 And he said this to them: 15:16 Now that's quite a statement! 15:18 Here they are out in the desert 15:21 and he said they lacked nothing. 15:26 I don't know that you ladies would like that. 15:33 But here they spent 40 years in the wilderness. 15:37 Clothes didn't wear out, their feet didn't swell. 15:39 God cared for them in a very, very special way. 15:45 Enough so that when Solomon 15:49 was dedicating the temple to God 15:53 he had this to say: 15:59 Here they are in the land of Canaan. 16:01 God has poured out blessing upon blessing upon blessing 16:05 on them until it says that silver is like stones 16:10 in the land of Israel. 16:12 OK? 16:23 He said: "Here you are in the land of Israel. 16:25 God has carried out everything that He said. " 16:30 Now what I'm trying to get across to you today 16:34 is He'll do that for you. 16:37 He'll do that for you and for me. 16:41 Not one thing will fail. 16:44 This is what it says here in Hebrews: 17:07 "Impossible for God to lie. " 17:09 If He promises, He will perform. 17:13 No question about that. 17:22 So God promises... He says it will happen, 17:26 it will take place. 17:28 And as Jesus spoke to the disciples 17:32 He said - they had just come back from a missionary journey, 17:35 they had been out preaching - 17:48 So God is more than capable 17:52 of taking care of each one of us. 17:56 We... we don't need to be concerned about that. 18:00 But, the blessings of God are special. 18:04 They carry a special blessing with them. 18:07 A pastor was visiting one of his parishioners. 18:12 And as he was sitting there in her home visiting her 18:16 he happened to look on the stand beside the chair there 18:19 and there was her Bible. 18:20 And he picked up her Bible 18:23 and just simply began to page through it. 18:26 And as he paged through it 18:28 he had come across texts that were highlighted. 18:31 And as he looked at them closely 18:33 he noticed there was the letter T and P 18:36 under some of those texts. 18:39 Looked through it and he said to her... he said: 18:41 "what are these scriptures that you've got 18:44 T and P written under? " 18:46 She said: "Oh, that just means tried and proven. " See? 18:50 And that it's true... very, very true. 18:53 You see, all the promises of God - every last one of them - 18:58 are based on conditions. 19:08 Not... there's not one that isn't. 19:10 They're based on conditions. 19:12 If you and I fulfill the conditions, 19:15 I guarantee you God will fulfill His part. 19:21 OK? You and I fulfill the conditions. 19:24 So He just simply says this: 19:34 OK. The promises of God - the blessings... 19:38 there's a blessing, there's a curse. 19:41 See what it goes on and says: 19:50 He says: "You want the blessing, what do you do? " 19:54 You do the things that God said. 19:57 Said: "Do this; I will bless you. " 20:07 Said: "If you don't obey the commandments, 20:10 then the curse will be there. " 20:12 So it's just that simple, folks. 20:14 Not difficult. If you want God's blessing, 20:18 do what He says. 20:21 Very, very simple. 20:23 And you'll find as you go through the blessings 20:25 they're all based on condition 20:30 that you and I fulfill the condition. 20:33 Let's take a look at some of the blessings 20:36 that God has promised to all of us. 20:41 Does He promise forgiveness? 20:44 Absolutely! And by the way, folks, 20:47 there may be promises that God says 20:49 "Do this, I'll do this. " 20:51 And sometimes it may take time for that to happen, but that 20:56 never, never, never happens when it comes to forgiveness. 21:01 When you ask for forgiveness, it's given to you immediately. 21:07 OK? So let's look at... let's look at the conditions. 21:12 This is the condition: 21:18 You want to be forgiven? 21:20 What's the condition? 21:21 You've got to confess your sin. 21:24 What is the promise? 21:26 "If we confess our sins... " 21:35 That's the promise. 21:36 God said: "OK, the condition is you confess your sins" - 21:40 PROMISE - "I will forgive you of your sins. " 21:45 That's the promise. 21:46 You see, they're based on simple conditions. 21:51 It's the same thing... based on... 21:53 Salvation... the condition is simply this: 22:04 That's the condition. 22:06 You want to be saved? Then what do you need to do? 22:11 Call on the name of the Lord. 22:13 You need to go to Him and call on Him. 22:15 Call on the name of the Lord... that's the condition. 22:18 What's the promise? 22:19 Can you complete the text? 22:29 That's the promise. 22:30 See? Very, very simple: you've got the condition... 22:34 If I fulfill it, God will honor the promise. 22:40 Same thing. 22:45 That's the condition. 22:46 Finish the text. 22:51 See? That's the promise. 22:53 So God simply puts them there. Tells us if we do this, 22:57 He will bless us and we will be saved. 23:01 What about daily needs? 23:05 Do you think that enters into it? 23:07 What about such things as food? 23:10 Does that have anything to do with my everyday life? 23:15 That I can come to the Lord and ask 23:18 and He promises that He will provide such things? 23:22 What about shelter? 23:25 House. What about clothing? 23:32 Well, I want to share with you one of the promises of God 23:37 that I consider probably the greatest one of all of them. 23:41 And that simply says this... 23:44 This is the condition if you want food, 23:48 if you want shelter, 23:50 if you want clothing... 23:52 By the way, it's not based... now listen to me... 23:56 It's not based on whether you have a job. 24:02 Let me come back to that. 24:04 Whether you have food or whether you have shelter 24:08 or whether you have clothing 24:11 is not based on whether you have a job. 24:17 It's based on this: 24:25 That's the condition. 24:27 You want food on your table? 24:29 You want clothes on your back? 24:32 You want a house to live in? 24:35 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness... " 24:40 What's the promise? 24:48 "All these things shall be added unto you. " 24:52 Not based on whether you have a job 24:54 but based on the fact that you seek first the kingdom of God 24:58 and His righteousness. 24:59 And you say: "Oh, Brother Cox, 25:01 that's not talking about whether you have food on your table 25:04 or whether you have clothing. 25:06 That's not talking about that. 25:08 That's talking about God spiritually blessing you. " 25:10 No it's not. 25:12 It's actually talking about 25:14 whether you have food on the table. 25:16 How do I know that? 25:17 Well that's found in Matthew 6 where? 25:20 Matthew 6:31. 25:23 Look at this: 25:26 Matthew 6:31, OK? 25:31 This is what it says: 25:37 I don't have a job. 25:43 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. 25:48 All these things shall be added unto you. " 25:53 OK? So you see, it makes a great, great difference. 25:58 If I put things in their right priority 26:02 and I seek God first, 26:04 He says "then I'll add all these things to you. 26:07 You'll have them. " 26:09 God wants to bless you. 26:13 He definitely does. 26:16 What about children? 26:19 Does that enter into it? Sure it does. 26:22 God says to seek Him. 26:24 Do you remember the case in scripture of Hannah? 26:28 Remember she didn't have any children? 26:32 Remember she was so distraught she went down to the 26:36 tabernacle there and was praying and Eli thought she was 26:41 drunk. 26:43 And he rebuked her for drinking. 26:48 And she said: "No, I'm not drunk. " 26:50 She said: "I'm distraught. " 26:53 And she told him, and he said: "Go back home; 26:58 God will give you a child. " 27:00 And you remember? She gave birth to Samuel. 27:05 And she said this about it: 27:15 God gave her a child. 27:18 So what I'm trying to say, folks, is 27:22 we look too often for human means 27:26 to solve our situation 27:29 rather than going to God and asking Him 27:32 to show us and to bring our lives into His will 27:37 and His desire. And He said "If you'll do this, 27:40 I will bless you. " God loves to bless! 27:45 That's what He wants to do. 27:47 He's waiting for you and for me 27:51 to bring our lives into conformity to His will. 27:55 Well, longevity. 27:58 Young people, you want to live a long life? 28:05 You know, what could you ask for more than this 28:09 than to live a long life and to be blessed of God 28:13 all your life? 28:15 Huh? 28:17 But He says this, promises us: 28:27 That is the condition: if you want to live a long life, 28:31 you want to blessed of God, 28:33 then honor your parents. 28:35 That's a promise. 28:37 What is the promise that He gives us? 28:52 He says: "If you'll honor your parents, 28:54 then your life will be long and I will bless you. " 29:00 So think about it. 29:03 Think about it very carefully 29:06 when you may be tempted not to honor your parents 29:12 because it makes a great, great difference. 29:16 Well, let's talk about financial help. 29:21 We live in an age - a time - 29:24 where right now that is very, very critical. 29:27 And I just got through telling you the blessing of God 29:31 is not dependent on whether you have a job. 29:35 The blessing of God is dependent on you and I doing His will 29:41 in what we do. 29:42 But what about financial help? 29:44 Well, to begin with God will not bless you 29:49 unless... 29:55 God will not bless you 29:59 unless - and I'm talking about financially... 30:02 unless you are willing to give. 30:07 Now don't think for a moment 30:10 that God is going to bless you and give you financial help 30:15 and all this for you to hoard it 30:17 and to spend it on yourself 30:20 and to spend it on selfish reasons. 30:23 God is not going to do that. 30:26 God will bless you if you give. 30:32 And... and maybe that's hard for you to understand, 30:35 but that's what the scripture says. 30:36 Let's look at the condition. 30:44 That's the condition. 30:46 If you want to get along well financially, 30:50 then dear friend, my advice to you is 30:53 give. Be generous. 30:56 Don't be stingy. 30:59 You can't be selfish and God bless you. 31:03 That won't work. 31:04 All right. Let's look at what the promise is. 31:07 How much will He bless you if you give? 31:27 Simple! If you want to be blessed of God, 31:33 then dear friend... Not long till Thanksgiving. 31:41 Instead of inviting all the family in, 31:44 you might ought to invite some people in 31:46 that don't have anything to eat. 31:52 Hmmm? 31:55 You might just ought to be willing to give. 32:01 Because the Lord Himself said if you invite your friends in 32:06 and you invite your family in, 32:09 you've been thanked. You don't need anything. 32:13 But He said if you invite the people that don't have 32:18 anything in, they can't repay you. 32:21 Therefore, your Father in Heaven will repay you. 32:25 See? 32:27 So be willing to share. You've got to give. 32:31 If you want God to bless you, absolutely vital 32:37 to receive the blessing of God. 32:39 Well, what other things do I need to do 32:43 if I want to be blessed financially? 32:45 Well, the other thing you need to do is 32:48 keep the Sabbath. 32:52 I run on lots of people who say: "Oh, Brother Cox, 32:54 I can't keep the Sabbath. 32:56 Why if I was to keep the Sabbath I'd lose my job. " 33:01 You might! 33:03 Like I told you, it's not dependent on whether 33:06 you have a job. 33:08 God's not dependent on whether you have a job! 33:11 He said: "I'll give you food for your table. 33:13 I'll put clothes on your back. 33:15 I'll give you shelter to live in 33:16 if you seek first the kingdom of God. " 33:19 So it's not dependent on work. 33:24 It's dependent on doing God's will. 33:28 And when it comes to the Sabbath 33:31 what does He promise to you and me? 33:33 What are the conditions? 33:35 Well, this is the condition: 34:01 That's simply saying that if you and I do not 34:04 tread on the Sabbath - that means not keep it, 34:08 doing our own thing, going about our own pleasures, 34:11 speaking our own words - 34:12 doing all these things that are not in accordance 34:15 with the will of God. 34:17 And dear friend, I want to emphasize that. 34:20 We need to STOP the things that we're doing 34:24 on God's Sabbath. 34:28 We need to stop treating it like any other day of the week. 34:33 We need to do what He says here. 34:37 We need to honor it, 34:39 and we need to keep it as He expects us to keep it. 34:42 And you're not... I just want to tell you right up front... 34:47 you're not going to receive the blessing of God 34:50 if you don't. 34:54 So, you know, stop treating it just as any other day. 35:00 We are to keep the Sabbath; it is holy, special. 35:05 If you and I will obey the conditions, 35:10 what's the promise? 35:12 Then, if you do these things: 35:32 There's nothing any clearer in God's Word than that. 35:36 Says: "If you do these things that I have told you, 35:41 I will bless you. 35:43 I'll cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth. 35:47 Feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. 35:50 For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. " 35:55 See, it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that 36:02 you might be fired if you keep the Sabbath. 36:07 That... God didn't say that. 36:10 God said: "Keep it. 36:13 And if you do, I will bless you. " 36:17 And folks, like I've said before, 36:20 there's not very many things that I would recommend to you 36:25 about old age. 36:27 See? 36:29 But one thing old age does: 36:33 it gives you the ability to look back 36:36 and you can see what God has done. 36:40 And I can look back and see case after case after case 36:47 of people who were struggling, having a hard time, 36:52 that even under adverse circumstances and a hard time 36:57 stepped out by faith and kept the Sabbath 37:01 and even lost their job. 37:05 Those same families today have been blessed by God 37:11 unbelievable. 37:14 And at the same time I can look back and see those families 37:18 that they stood there and they struggled about 37:20 over the Sabbath, and they were unwilling to take the step 37:24 and they continued to break the Sabbath and didn't keep it 37:27 and today they're still having the same struggles 37:31 they had back then. 37:33 No, dear friend. If you want to be blessed by God, 37:38 then follow Him. Do what He says. 37:42 He'll bless you wonderfully if you'll do it. 37:46 My own life... I look back 37:50 I can see how God has so wonderfully blessed 37:57 where individuals I grew up with 38:02 have never taken God into their life 38:05 and they have had terrible lives. 38:08 And some of them - when I say that - 38:12 have done OK financially but they still have had 38:15 horrible lives. 38:16 Dear friend, you and I have the opportunity 38:22 of having the blessing of God 38:25 if we're willing to walk with Him. 38:28 You see, it says clearly in God's Word... 38:34 it says that you "are His people. " 38:39 And He said: "I will be your God. " 38:44 Do you understand the implications of that 38:47 when He says: "I'll be your God, you're My people? " 38:50 If He can say "Well these are My people, " 38:54 then what's He going to do? 38:56 He's going to bless you. 38:58 He's going to say: "These are My people. 39:01 I care for them. " 39:02 He blesses you; He'll give you all kinds... 39:04 He says: "It will be well with you" 39:07 because you are His people. 39:11 Promises that... that He'll bless us 39:15 if we just are willing to follow Him. 39:19 Well... so if you want to get along financially, 39:23 then keep the Sabbath. 39:26 Very, very vital that you do. 39:30 Thirdly is your tithe. 39:35 If you want to be blessed financially, 39:39 return the tithe to the Lord. 39:44 Don't... don't - how should I say? - begrudge it. 39:51 Give it willingly. In fact, give it joyfully... 39:55 because He will bless you if you do. 40:00 Let's look at it. 40:01 Here's the condition: 40:12 Folks, I mean, not only is He saying this is the condition, 40:16 He said: "Well, just try it. " 40:17 OK? 40:19 "Try Me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts. " 40:22 Now, what is the promise? 40:25 Here's the promise: 40:35 He said: "If you just do this, 40:37 I'll pour out on you a blessing 40:40 that there won't be room enough to receive it. " 40:44 What are you asking for? 40:46 You know? You come down to the point where you say: 40:51 "OK, if I pay the tithe, 40:55 I don't have anything left. 41:01 Don't have anything left if I pay tithe. " 41:05 What are you going to do? 41:06 Say "Well, I'll just keep it? " 41:16 Now you can make that decision: 41:19 "I'll just keep it. " 41:20 But let me tell you something, that's all you got. 41:26 I would much rather say: "Well, I'll give my tithe 41:32 and then I have the Lord's blessing 41:37 to the place that there won't be room enough to receive it. 41:41 That's a great, great difference. 41:43 I don't know about you but I can tell you right now 41:46 the odds are much better over here than they are over there. 41:49 See? I would rather walk with the Lord 41:55 and do what He says than to not turn my tithe in. 42:00 The tithe is just simply a tenth. 42:06 That simply means if I make a dollar 42:11 the tithe on it is 10 cents. 42:14 If I make ten dollars, tithe is a dollar. 42:18 If I make a hundred dollars, tithe is ten dollars. 42:21 That's simply what it is. 42:24 And it just simply says that I am to return this 42:28 to the Lord and He will bless. 42:44 Now folks, that text said two definite things. 42:47 It said "it is the Lord's. " 42:51 So, I mean, there's no ifs, buts about it. 42:56 It's NOT YOUR'S. 42:58 It's the Lord's. 43:01 OK? It is HOLY to the Lord. 43:06 So that means that you and I cannot keep it. 43:11 It doesn't belong to us. 43:12 To be real honest about it, 43:15 you don't really GIVE tithe... you RETURN it 43:20 because it's the Lord's... belongs to Him. 43:23 I have a friend that was preaching on this. 43:27 When he got through this fellow came up to him after the sermon 43:30 and said to him, said: 43:31 "You don't have to give tithe to be saved. " 43:36 And my friend said: "How did you arrive at that? " 43:40 He said: "Well the thief on the cross never gave any tithe 43:44 and he'll be saved. " 43:46 And my friend said: "Well, you're right. " 43:49 He said: "There's just one difference between you 43:52 and the thief on the cross: 43:53 he was a dying thief and you're a living one. " 43:56 See? There's considerable difference there, you see. 44:00 That I am NOT to take from the Lord. 44:04 That's His... holy to the Lord. 44:08 But let me assure you that if you and I 44:11 will do what God asks us to do He will bless in a special way. 44:17 You remember Jacob? 44:18 You remember he was fleeing from his brother Esau 44:21 and got out in the plains of Bethel and I guess 44:25 he was... gave out. He had run all day. 44:27 And he laid down there and went to sleep. 44:29 Took a rock for a pillow - I've never understood that - 44:32 and went to sleep. 44:35 Anyhow, during the night he saw this... he had this dream 44:38 where these angels were coming up and down the staircase. 44:40 Next morning he woke up and said: 44:42 "This is the house of God. " 44:44 And he said: "Lord, if You'll just bless me. " 44:49 And he made a commitment to God right there 44:52 and he said to Him: 45:06 He said: "Now, whatever You give me 45:09 I'll give a tenth to You. " 45:11 Well you remember he went on down to Laban's house. 45:15 And you remember Laban had two daughters: 45:18 Rachel and Leah. 45:20 And the Bible says that Rachel was beautiful and Leah was ugly, 45:24 and it says that he fell in love with Rachel. 45:29 Anyhow, he married Rachel 45:33 and he... well, he went to Laban and said: 45:39 "I want to marry your daughter. " 45:41 Said: "What have I got to do? " And he said: "Well, 45:43 work for me for seven years. " 45:47 Said: "OK. " 45:49 Now you've got to think about this, folks. 45:52 He's going to work for seven years and his only pay 45:54 is going to be this one woman. See? 45:57 And you remember when he had done that 45:59 well then they had the wedding and he got her home... 46:03 and, of course, over there they wear veils. 46:05 Took the veil off and lo and behold he had Leah - 46:09 not Rachel - as you remember the story. 46:11 And he got her by the arm and took her back to her father 46:14 and he said: "What have you done to me? " 46:15 Said: "I worked seven years for Rachel. " 46:17 Said: "Oh, I'm sorry. It's a custom here in the country 46:19 the oldest daughter has to marry first. " 46:21 He said: "I'll tell you what. Work for me for seven more years 46:24 and I'll give you Rachel also. " 46:26 Which Jacob agreed to. 46:28 I don't know that was a bargain. 46:30 I mean, fourteen years for two women? 46:32 That... anyhow, he worked for him for fourteen years. 46:37 His only wage has been two wives. 46:40 And then Laban called him in and said: 46:42 "I guess if you're going to stay here 46:44 I need to pay you something. " 46:46 Said: "OK. " 46:48 He said: "I'll tell you what, " he said, 46:50 I'll give you all the spotted calves. I'll give you all 46:54 the spotted sheep. I'll give you all the spotted goats. 46:57 I'll give you anything that's spotted. " 46:59 Now that was really generous of Laban 47:01 since everything he had was black Angus. 47:04 He didn't have a spotted one in the bunch. 47:06 But anyhow, God said: "OK, Jacob. " 47:10 Said: "Whatever place these cows and sheep and all drink 47:15 I want you to go out there and cut down the cane 47:18 and you lay it in the pond and in the troughs 47:22 and in the creek and in the river. 47:24 Every place they drink lay it in there 47:26 and lay it crosswise. " 47:28 He went out and did it. 47:30 That spring when they started calving, having... 47:34 they were spotted. 47:36 All of them were spotted. 47:38 Laban said: "What's going on here? " 47:40 "What's happening here? " 47:42 Dear friend, the scripture says that Laban 47:44 changed his wages ten times. 47:49 And he wasn't raising them... he was lowering them. 47:51 And when Jacob left there he was an extremely wealthy man. 47:56 Why? Because God blessed him. 48:00 God gave those things to him, blessed him in a special way. 48:05 Just simply tells you and I that we are to return to Him 48:10 the tithe. Jesus said: 48:29 He tells us that we are to be responsible; 48:32 we are to return the tithe to the Lord. 48:35 Now if you return the tithe and you don't have any mercy 48:40 and you don't have any faith and you're unjust, 48:43 won't do you any good. 48:44 OK? 48:47 But He said we ought to do both: 48:49 we ought to return the tithe and we ought to be merciful 48:52 in what we do. Very important. 49:06 Said: "All these blessings will come upon you 49:09 if you just obey the voice of the Lord your God. " 49:13 Folks, I'm talking about the home. 49:15 I'm talking about what God wants your home to be. 49:19 Don't be weak in faith. 49:22 Take God for what He says. 49:25 Believe Him. 49:27 And He says: "I will bless you. " 49:32 When you're going through school 49:36 you... it's pretty rough some times. 49:43 If you're working your way through like I was, 49:48 was married... 49:51 we were as poor as church mice. 49:55 I mean, we didn't have a nickel to our name. 50:00 But we were going to school. 50:03 I was at the Seminary. 50:06 I had sold books all summer, 50:11 and I had made enough money to pay for my education. 50:17 I had made enough... scholarship. 50:19 I had enough money to pay for my education. 50:22 My wife... she was going to work 50:27 and make enough to pay for our house - 50:32 our apartment that we lived in - 50:34 and provide the food for us to eat and so forth. 50:37 We had been assigned a church 50:41 in Annapolis, Maryland, to help. 50:45 And at Christmas time they would go out 50:48 and they would sing carols in the community. 50:51 And we went out and sang carols with them. 50:55 And the next morning when my wife got up 50:59 she had a sore throat. 51:01 The sore throat got worse. 51:04 And I took her to the doctor and he treated her. 51:08 Sent her back home, but her sore throat just continued 51:11 to get worse. She became ill... more and more. 51:17 And I took her back to the doctor and they examined her 51:19 and they said: "Your wife has rheumatic fever. " 51:22 Said: "We're going to have to put her in the hospital. " 51:26 Said: "She'll be in the hospital for six weeks, 51:29 then you're going to take her home and she'll be 51:32 flat on her back for six weeks. " 51:34 Her parents came and got their daughter. 51:38 Took her home with them. 51:41 And I went in and sat down on her bed and said: 51:44 "Honey, I think I'd better drop out of school 51:48 and get myself a job and work at it 51:51 until you get your health back 51:53 and then I'll go back to school. " 51:55 And she said to me, she said: 51:58 "Why don't you just take God for what He says? " 52:03 I said: "I don't know what you're talking about. " 52:07 She said: "We've been faithful. " 52:11 She said: "We've tried to serve the Lord. 52:14 We've paid our tithe. " 52:16 She said: "Why don't you just step out in faith 52:18 and take Him for what He says? " 52:21 I said: "Well that's very difficult for me. " 52:24 She said: "Well try it. " 52:26 I said: "OK, I'll go home and sell the car" 52:29 and I said: "I'll walk to the Seminary and back. " 52:33 And I did... but we didn't have much of a car. 52:35 It was gone very quickly. 52:37 Then something began to happen - 52:41 something I still have trouble with to this day - 52:45 because I'd go down to the mailbox 52:48 and here'd be an envelope - no letter in it, 52:52 nothing else - but $20 in it. 52:55 And there'd be another envelope, and it'd have $25 in it. 53:01 And these letters were postmarked, folks, 53:07 from all over the United States. 53:09 And day after day I'd go down there and here'd be 53:13 letters with money in it like that. 53:15 That went on the whole time we were there 53:19 so that I graduated from the Seminary... 53:22 I didn't owe a doctor bill. 53:24 I didn't owe the hospital anything. 53:26 I owed nothing... God had completely cared for us. 53:30 You know, it just... God promises 53:34 He will not fail if you and I 53:38 will just do what He asks us to do. 53:41 As it simply says: 53:50 These are people that He blessed. 53:58 God wants to bless you. 54:02 Wants to pour out His blessings. 54:05 Dear friend, won't you and I just simply open up our hearts 54:10 and say: "Yes, Lord? " Walk with Him and follow Him? 54:15 Let's pray. 54:17 Father in Heaven, 54:19 we ask that You will help us, Lord, that we might 54:24 not be weak in faith. 54:25 That we will follow You... 54:29 do Your will in all that we do. 54:32 We thank you for the promises of Your Word... 54:36 for the assurance that You're coming back. 54:40 We pray that all of us may have a place in Your kingdom. 54:44 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. 54:48 Well our next presentation 54:51 is entitled Heaven Is My Home. 54:56 I hope you're planning on going there. 54:58 I... don't get so settled in this old earth 55:04 that you miss heaven. 55:06 So we look forward to all of you being with us 55:09 as we talk about Heaven Is My Home. 55:11 God bless you. 55:13 Although they're small and seemingly insignificant, 55:17 soybean pods fill the farm fields of the United States. 55:21 What a treasure they are for the farmer at harvest time. 55:25 Nearly all soybeans in this country 55:28 are processed for their oil which is then refined for 55:32 cooking or sold for biodiesel production 55:35 as well as for many other industrial uses. 55:38 Because of the high demand for soybeans, 55:41 a farmer must be able to harvest large quantities 55:44 in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. 55:48 One of the best ways to do this 55:50 is to use a combine harvester. 55:53 These massive machines give the farmer 55:55 the ability to quickly harvest and haul 55:58 the beans at an incredible rate. 56:01 Have you ever considered what one farmer can do today 56:04 with the help of modern tools? 56:06 The farmer of the past could hardly imagine it. 56:09 Within hours, one man and a machine can harvest 56:13 and deliver untold bushels of soybeans to the market. 56:17 His goal is to obtain the largest yield possible 56:20 at harvest time. 56:22 Like the farmer today, we must do the same. 56:26 In Luke 10 and verse 2 56:28 Jesus said: "The harvest truly is great 56:31 but the laborers are few. " 56:33 And in John 4:35 He looked over the wheat fields 56:36 and said to His disciples: 56:38 "Lift up your eyes and look at the fields 56:41 for they are already white for harvest. " 56:44 In both passages, Jesus referred to men and women 56:48 of this world as He proclaimed that the harvest is here 56:51 and the work must be done. 56:54 When I was a boy, 56:55 the corn harvest was all done by hand. 56:58 We literally had a horse-drawn wagon, 57:01 and we would walk along beside it and pull the corn 57:04 off the stalk and throw it onto the wagon. 57:07 But folks, the time is short, 57:10 so the Lord has provided the most marvelous technology 57:13 to enable us to harvest more souls through television, 57:17 radio, and other media. 57:19 Today we can take the message 57:21 to the multitudes around the world at the speed of light. 57:25 Such ability was far beyond the imagination 57:29 of the evangelists of the past. 57:32 The harvest is here, but we can't do it without you. 57:37 Won't you help us? 57:39 Please consider what you can do 57:40 for those who still don't know about Jesus. 57:43 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:45 please send your tax-deductible gifts to: 57:59 Thank you for helping us spread the light of God's Word 58:02 through television and radio. 58:03 Your gifts help bring the blessed hope of salvation 58:06 to millions around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17