Hello, my name is Frank Fournier
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and I'm here to welcome
you to Heaven's Point of View.
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As you know, we've been studying
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the Parable of the
Prodigal Son together.
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And I hope that you'll
get your Bible right now,
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come and join us for
Heaven's Point of View.
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Welcome again.
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Like to invite you to turn
your Bibles to Luke Chapter 15.
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We're studying the
Parable of the Prodigal Son.
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Now in the meantime,
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the Prodigal Son
is in the pig pen
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and we might equate
that to the pig pen of sin.
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He finally takes different
steps to get himself back
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to where he should be.
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Steps to
salvation if you please.
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Now if I was to ask
you, how many steps are there
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to salvation, would you know?
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But when I ask this question,
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most people will say
there are one step to salvation.
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Well, do you know
what, that's true.
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Whosoever calls upon the
name of the Lord shall be what?
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Saved. How many steps is that?
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Well, we know
that's just one step.
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However, should you
read the little book
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called Steps to Christ.
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Don't you know that
there are 13 chapters there?
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And for sure, there
are more than one steps
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if you have to take in
all that could be taken in.
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Some people will say
there are seven steps,
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but if you study the
Parable of the Prodigal Son,
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I want to challenge
you, go through the Parable,
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find out what the young man did
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in order to find
salvation for himself.
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And you'll notice
that he took three steps.
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In verse 17, it says
that he came to his senses.
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Now what does that mean?
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Actually, that's not
what it says, there it says,
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he came to himself which
means he came to his senses.
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Well, can a man be saved if
he never comes to his senses
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about his relationship
with his Heavenly Father,
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about his spiritual condition?
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Well, I don't
think so, God says,
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I, if I be lifted up
will draw all men on to me
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and so we're born cornel
and Jesus Christ is reaching out
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through His Holy Spirit
to every single individual
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in the world
drawing, drawing, drawing,
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at a certain point in time, that
individual comes to Himself.
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He comes to his senses
about his Christian experience,
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about his relationship to God.
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You understand.
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The second step
is found in verse 20,
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it says that he
comes to his Father.
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Can an individual be
saved if he never comes to God?
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Why, no.
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The Bible says in
John 6:37, it says,
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"If any man will come to me I
will in no wise cast him out."
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Come to me he says.
And I will give you rest.
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And there is none that can
find salvation, Jesus says,
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"I am the way no man
comes to the Father but by me."
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We need come to Jesus Christ.
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Then the third step
starts with the letter C,
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also the three C's of salvation
come, come and confess.
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We're going to be studying
confession in the next study.
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Okay, but those are
the three C's to salvation,
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these are the steps
that the young man took.
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Now I want to study
something with you that is,
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that may well be the most
important thing that we hear
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during the time that we study
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this Parable
together, altogether.
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I would have you turn
with me to Luke Chapter 15,
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we're looking at verse 18.
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Notice there, the
first three words in verse 18
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and it says
there, "I will arise."
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I want you to notice
the first three words
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in verse 20 and it
says there, "And he arose."
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Did you know?
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Are you old enough to know
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that somethings are
easier said than done?
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Have you had that
experience in life?
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How hard must it have been
for the young man to decide,
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I will arise and finally,
actually make the move to go.
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Do you know the insult
that he had given his father,
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the humiliation that
he had caused the family,
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the embarrassment that he was.
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He knew what he had done
and now the idea of going back,
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he wanted to go back.
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I will arise.
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But to actually do it,
this is very, very difficult.
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You can
understand why because maybe
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you have been in a
similar situation in the past.
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There is another saying
that we have here in America,
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as matter of fact, this
saying goes well anywhere
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that I use it
in the whole world.
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It says this, "The road
to hell is paved with what?
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With good intentions."
What does that mean?
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Well, it means that
there are lot of people
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who are going to find themselves
in hell, figuratively,
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a lot of people are
going to find themselves there
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all the time
having good intentions
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to change course, but they
never get to change course.
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Why not?
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And so here is the
question that I need to ask.
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What does it take
with our good intentions
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that we can get to the place
where we will change course?
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What's missing with
our good intentions?
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What is it that little faculty
that God has created in us
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that we can use
so that we can put
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our good intentions
into gear, so that we can put
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our good intentions into action.
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Do you know what it is?
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Well, it's a little
thing called willpower.
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Do you have willpower?
Well, everybody has willpower.
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And all that that means is
that's the decision power in us.
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We can't be decisive of,
but there is a problem here,
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some people are not decisive,
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some people will
let everybody else
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make their decisions for
them, some people actually have
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their willpower atrophied
because they never use it.
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You know, the
desire to do right and good
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is good as far as it goes.
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But if we stop
there, it's not good enough,
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it will amount to nothing.
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The Prodigal Son had a
desire to get up and go,
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but he had to do something
more than wish and desire,
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he had to put his
will on the side of action,
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he had to put his
will on the side of faith,
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he had to put his will
on the side of getting up
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and going back to his father
and he may will have been lost
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while hoping and
desiring to be saved.
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Have you turned with
me to 1 Kings Chapter 18.
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We're looking at
1 Kings Chapter 18.
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This is the story of Elijah,
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you've heard of
Elijah in the Bible.
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1 Kings Chapter 18.
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Now I suppose we don't
know a lot about Elijah,
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he is called
Elijah the tishbite,
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he comes out of
the mountains somewhere
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and he is very close to God.
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But Elijah lives at a time
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when the children of
Israel are in apostasy.
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As a matter of
fact, the king over Israel
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is a man named Ahab, I think,
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yeah Ahab and his
wife is named Jezebel.
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Ahab is a Jew, he's an Israelite
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and Jezebel
whoever she is in any case,
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she is a Baal worshipper
but she is not an Israelite.
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She is one powerful woman.
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As a matter of fact, how
many of you have ever named
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one of your daughters Jezebel,
is there anybody like that?
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I don't suppose there are,
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because she has
such a reputation.
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She was powerful,
so powerful in fact
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that she could
influence her husband
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to do as she wanted and
he being the king of course
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influenced all of Israel
to become Baal worshippers.
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So practically, all of
Israel except for 7, 000 people
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were told in the
Bible were Baal worshippers.
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Well, this was a problem to God
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and this was a problem to
our friend Elijah as well.
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God and Elijah
got together one time
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and they said what are we going
to do to get through to Israel.
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And I don't know who
came up with the idea,
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but I suppose it was
God and He said to Elijah,
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supposing now, it doesn't
rain for three and half years.
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Do you suppose we
could get their attention?
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Well, I assume
that Elijah said yes
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and so God says to
Elijah, "Go to King Ahab,
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tell him no dew, no rain
for three and half years."
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And so that's what happens.
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Elijah makes his
way to the palace,
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he gets past security,
gets right into Ahab's face
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and he says no dew, no
rain for three and half years,
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turns around
walks out of the palace.
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And by the time, Ahab
gets his senses together,
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Elijah is gone
and he can't find him,
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he organizes
people to go look for him,
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but he is not found
for three and half years.
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For three and half
years, there has been no rain,
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not even any dew,
the ground has parched,
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animals are
dying, people are dying
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and at the end of
three and half years,
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God says to
Elijah, "What do you think?
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Have we got
their attention yet?"
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Well, Elijah
says, "I suppose so."
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God says "Okay, go see Ahab,
tell him it's showdown time."
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And Elijah goes
back to Ahab and he says,
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"I want you meet me,
bring all of Israel."
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The 850 priests and prophets
of Baal bring them all up there
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to the top of Mount Carmel and
we're going to have a showdown.
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Well, here we are,
we're in 1 Kings Chapter 18,
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we're looking at verse 21 now.
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It's showdown time.
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Okay, look at verse 21
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because Elijah put his
finger right on the problem.
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Verse 21 "And Elijah
came unto all the people,
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and said how long halt
you between two opinions?
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If the Lord is God follow him,
but if Baal, then follow him.
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And the people
answered him not a word."
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Now, why do you suppose
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the people did
not answer him a word?
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Well, it says
right here in the text.
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It says that they were
halt between two opinions.
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In other words,
they were undecided,
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they were sitting on the fence,
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they didn't know on
which side to get off.
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Now God has something
to say to these people
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and He wanted to
say it through Elijah.
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Did you know that there are
three Elijah's in the Bible?
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Now this is the original
Elijah that we're looking at.
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One time, Jesus
was with His disciples
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and He said to them, "Do
you see that man over there?"
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He was pointing
to John the Baptist.
00:10:48.31\00:10:50.16
He said, "This is the
Elijah that is to come."
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The first Elijah came
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when Israel was at
a low ebb spiritually.
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And God sent Elijah to bring
revival among the Israelites
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and a reformation
that was His work.
00:11:03.99\00:11:06.90
Well, John the Baptist
was sent very similarly,
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he came at a time
when the Israelites
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were at a low ebb spiritually
and God sent John the Baptist
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to prepare the way
for the coming Messiah.
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But do you know that there
is a third Elijah in the Bible.
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You could find him
in the book of Malachi
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in Chapter 4, it says there,
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"That he will turn the hearts
of the children to their fathers
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and he will turn the hearts of
the fathers to their children."
00:11:30.65\00:11:34.49
Now I wonder who this Elijah is.
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Because he is supposed
to come in the last days.
00:11:37.79\00:11:40.28
Well, if you turn with me
to the book of Revelation,
00:11:40.31\00:11:42.65
we're going to go back to
the book of Revelation Chapter 3
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and we're going to look
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at the seven
churches of Revelation.
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We're gonna go
to the last church
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just like we did
in another study.
00:11:52.31\00:11:54.25
We're in Revelation Chapter 3,
00:11:54.28\00:11:56.80
we're looking at
verses 15 and on.
00:11:56.83\00:12:00.43
And we've seen this before,
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look at 15,
Revelation Chapters 3,
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"I know thy works."
00:12:04.61\00:12:06.48
Jesus said He is
called here the true witness.
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"I know your works, that
you are neither cold nor hot",
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I wish you were cold or hot.
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So then because
"thou art Lukewarm,
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neither cold nor hot, I
will vomit you out of my mouth."
00:12:18.58\00:12:22.41
Here we find the people
who have one foot in the world,
00:12:22.44\00:12:25.36
one foot in the church.
00:12:25.39\00:12:26.78
They're not on fire for God
and they are not cold either,
00:12:26.81\00:12:29.78
they don't want
to leave the church
00:12:29.81\00:12:30.93
because if they leave the
church, they might be lost,
00:12:30.96\00:12:32.90
they don't want
to leave the world
00:12:32.93\00:12:33.96
because they don't want
to miss out on anything.
00:12:33.99\00:12:36.77
As a matter of fact
they're neither hot nor cold,
00:12:36.80\00:12:39.44
they are lukewarm,
they are on the fence
00:12:39.47\00:12:42.75
not knowing on
which side to get off,
00:12:42.78\00:12:44.84
they're halted
between two opinions.
00:12:44.87\00:12:47.55
And so God sent this message
just like He sent a message
00:12:47.58\00:12:50.66
through Elijah
to tell these people
00:12:50.69\00:12:53.49
that they are
undecided, indecisive.
00:12:53.52\00:12:58.34
Ah, I wonder are you decisive
00:12:58.37\00:13:03.73
or do you have other people
making your decisions for you?
00:13:03.76\00:13:07.90
You know there was a
time when I had to make a--
00:13:07.93\00:13:13.02
how should I say, a
life and death decision.
00:13:13.05\00:13:16.47
I was 25 years old,
it was the first time
00:13:16.50\00:13:19.24
that I had ever opened a Bible,
00:13:19.27\00:13:20.57
I'd never had my hand
on a Bible before then.
00:13:20.60\00:13:23.29
I got hold of the
Bible and I began to read.
00:13:23.32\00:13:26.20
My intentions were to read
the Bible from cover to cover
00:13:26.23\00:13:29.78
and then to make a
decision as to whether
00:13:29.81\00:13:32.61
the Bible was
what it claimed to be.
00:13:32.64\00:13:35.93
Well, it didn't take very long,
00:13:35.96\00:13:37.44
within a couple of weeks I
knew that this was God's word,
00:13:37.47\00:13:41.32
but then I had to come to
the point of making a decision.
00:13:41.35\00:13:45.87
So one day, I got on
my knees and I told God,
00:13:45.90\00:13:48.34
I says, you know, I
believe the Word of God,
00:13:48.37\00:13:50.53
I believe that the
Bible is what it claims to be
00:13:50.56\00:13:53.27
and I want
salvation, I want to be saved,
00:13:53.30\00:13:55.92
I want to do all of that,
but I am only 25 years old.
00:13:55.95\00:13:59.65
After all, there's
lots of life to live yet,
00:13:59.68\00:14:02.71
so call on me some other day.
00:14:02.74\00:14:06.01
Do you know, you know,
I'd hate to make it sound
00:14:06.04\00:14:09.46
like God speaks to me like
He doesn't speak to other people
00:14:09.49\00:14:12.66
but do you know
that God speaks to me,
00:14:12.69\00:14:14.11
I can probably count on 40
years of being a Christian,
00:14:14.14\00:14:17.71
I can probably
count on one hand when God
00:14:17.74\00:14:19.96
specifically had to
speak to me as an individual
00:14:19.99\00:14:22.79
and that I could hear his voice.
00:14:22.82\00:14:24.67
He spoke to me
that one more time,
00:14:24.70\00:14:26.54
and He said to me, you
will not have another chance.
00:14:26.57\00:14:31.41
Now, wait a
minute, how can that be,
00:14:31.44\00:14:33.23
I'm only 25 years old,
00:14:33.26\00:14:34.87
surely, I can live
till 60 or 70 or 80
00:14:34.90\00:14:37.79
or whatever it might be.
00:14:37.82\00:14:39.09
I've got lots of time Lord,
let me live life a little more,
00:14:39.12\00:14:42.98
then I'll come back.
00:14:43.01\00:14:44.10
And God said, no, you
will not have another chance.
00:14:44.13\00:14:49.55
And I just couldn't
grasp why He was saying that.
00:14:49.58\00:14:52.44
But I could grasp
that He was saying it,
00:14:52.47\00:14:55.08
and I knew it was God's voice.
00:14:55.11\00:14:56.98
I didn't originate those
words. Where did they come from?
00:14:57.01\00:14:59.92
I knew that God was telling me
00:14:59.95\00:15:01.96
"I would not
have another chance."
00:15:01.99\00:15:04.82
And so here I was,
having to make a decision.
00:15:04.85\00:15:09.12
Would I follow the Lord,
00:15:09.15\00:15:10.19
would I give Him my
heart or would I not.
00:15:10.22\00:15:12.43
It was obvious that
this was my one opportunity
00:15:12.46\00:15:16.15
and so if it was going
to be my only opportunity
00:15:16.18\00:15:18.99
then I better make
the right decision.
00:15:19.02\00:15:20.83
And I chose to
follow Jesus Christ.
00:15:20.86\00:15:23.29
I gave my heart
to Him, to follow Him
00:15:23.32\00:15:25.66
and do you know that I
have never turned back.
00:15:25.69\00:15:30.07
I have followed Him for the rest
of my life up until this point.
00:15:30.10\00:15:33.54
I have given my heart
fully to Jesus Christ.
00:15:33.57\00:15:37.08
Now, I need to
tell you what happened.
00:15:37.11\00:15:40.56
As you know or
maybe you don't know,
00:15:40.59\00:15:42.72
but I worked in the
nickel and copper mines
00:15:42.75\00:15:45.26
for nine and half years.
00:15:45.29\00:15:48.09
This was probably at
year 7 something like this.
00:15:48.12\00:15:52.30
And my partner and I
were drilling a tunnel,
00:15:52.33\00:15:55.87
we called that a
drift in those days.
00:15:55.90\00:15:58.36
Well, he and I were
drilling this drift,
00:15:58.39\00:16:00.61
it was 9 feet by 9
feet in hard rock granite
00:16:00.64\00:16:05.58
and we were taking
this tunnel to an ore body.
00:16:05.61\00:16:08.63
When we got to the ore body,
we would cross the ore body,
00:16:08.66\00:16:11.30
the full width of it,
which this one happened to be,
00:16:11.33\00:16:13.75
this vein happened
to be 40 feet wide,
00:16:13.78\00:16:17.02
so we went 40 feet across and
then we went 14 1/2 feet high,
00:16:17.05\00:16:21.25
then we would follow
the vein as far as we could,
00:16:21.28\00:16:23.61
thousands of feet probably and
it would be 14 1/2 feet high,
00:16:23.64\00:16:28.61
40 feet wide
all the way through.
00:16:28.64\00:16:31.01
Then whoever would can be
in with long hole machines
00:16:31.04\00:16:34.39
and they would drill 2 1/2
250 feet up, 250 feet down,
00:16:34.42\00:16:39.00
blast the whole thing
and mine it from underneath.
00:16:39.03\00:16:43.29
This is how we were
doing it in those days
00:16:43.32\00:16:45.96
but it just so happened in this
00:16:45.99\00:16:48.27
what they
called the silstop now,
00:16:48.30\00:16:50.12
it just so happened that the
ground was very, very dangerous
00:16:50.15\00:16:53.74
because there was
soapstone mixed in with the ore.
00:16:53.77\00:16:57.40
Now you may not know but
soapstone doesn't come in
00:16:57.43\00:16:59.79
like a granite
does, like a whole.
00:16:59.82\00:17:02.91
You know, just
everything is granite,
00:17:02.94\00:17:05.39
soapstone always
comes in as a boulder
00:17:05.42\00:17:08.06
and it's always
covered with a layer of mud,
00:17:08.09\00:17:10.12
one, two, two and half
inches of mud all around.
00:17:10.15\00:17:13.12
So that if you would
happen to drill more then
00:17:13.15\00:17:15.87
or past a half way
mark in a boulder and blast
00:17:15.90\00:17:20.16
then there is nothing holding
00:17:20.19\00:17:21.50
the rest of the
boulder up because it's mud
00:17:21.53\00:17:23.55
and that makes it very
dangerous you understand.
00:17:23.58\00:17:26.16
So here we were
putting extra long bolts,
00:17:26.19\00:17:29.05
we were putting
expanded metal in the back,
00:17:29.08\00:17:32.14
we were trying to keep
this place from caving in
00:17:32.17\00:17:34.61
on our heads and so where
it was meant to be 40 feet,
00:17:34.64\00:17:37.84
it could be 50 and 55 and
60 and where it was meant to be
00:17:37.87\00:17:41.28
14 1/2 feet, it could
be 16 and 20 and 25 feet
00:17:41.31\00:17:45.30
and it was all
like this everywhere,
00:17:45.33\00:17:47.22
there is nothing as
it should have been.
00:17:47.25\00:17:49.82
Very, very dangerous.
00:17:49.85\00:17:51.29
Well, finally we came,
my partner and I remember
00:17:51.32\00:17:55.25
drilling the last cut
and we went from the ore body
00:17:55.28\00:17:59.69
back into the granite, that
would be the last of it all.
00:17:59.72\00:18:03.23
And so we blasted and went home,
00:18:03.26\00:18:05.39
the cross shift came
in, they saw the mess
00:18:05.42\00:18:08.14
that was there and they decided
that they were not going to work
00:18:08.17\00:18:11.69
under such dangerous conditions.
00:18:11.72\00:18:14.25
So when we came in the next day,
00:18:14.28\00:18:15.87
we saw this situation and oh my!
00:18:15.90\00:18:20.17
How dangerous it was.
00:18:20.20\00:18:23.04
We walked up on the muck pile,
00:18:23.07\00:18:24.90
we looked the situation
over and we said to ourselves,
00:18:24.93\00:18:28.51
what in the world
are we going to do?
00:18:28.54\00:18:30.59
How are we going to fix
it? This is so dangerous.
00:18:30.62\00:18:34.94
At this time, my
partner said, "Do you know what,
00:18:34.97\00:18:38.16
I think they
cheated us last month."
00:18:38.19\00:18:39.80
We had a computer print of--
00:18:39.83\00:18:43.21
boy, can you imagine there
were computers 40 years ago.
00:18:43.24\00:18:46.07
Well anyways there
were computers 40 years ago
00:18:46.10\00:18:48.27
and they gave us a computer
printout of all the work
00:18:48.30\00:18:52.30
we had done the month
before and my partner felt like
00:18:52.33\00:18:54.96
they had cheated us
last-- the month before,
00:18:54.99\00:18:57.98
they hadn't paid us for
enough bolts that we had put in.
00:18:58.01\00:19:00.94
So we went down
off the muck pile,
00:19:00.97\00:19:02.73
we counted all the
bolts that we had put in,
00:19:02.76\00:19:05.15
we ended up on the
far side of the slope
00:19:05.18\00:19:07.25
and there we stood talking about
00:19:07.28\00:19:10.58
the second
coming of Jesus Christ.
00:19:10.61\00:19:13.37
You see, I'd become
a brand new Christian
00:19:13.40\00:19:15.66
and I was excited
about what I was learning
00:19:15.69\00:19:18.05
so here we were standing and
I was telling him about Jesus,
00:19:18.08\00:19:21.25
about the second coming
and as we are standing there,
00:19:21.28\00:19:24.29
a huge rock, the
size of a Volkswagen
00:19:24.32\00:19:27.15
came down right where we had
been standing on the muck pile
00:19:27.18\00:19:31.73
and we just looked at each
other and kind of shrugged like
00:19:31.76\00:19:34.32
well, this happens,
I'm glad we weren't there.
00:19:34.35\00:19:37.09
We certainly were
glad that we weren't there
00:19:37.12\00:19:39.29
and so my partner who had
presence of mind said to me,
00:19:39.32\00:19:44.84
"Listen, if it begins to rain
rocks in here, we'd got to go."
00:19:44.87\00:19:50.12
And he no sooner said
that, that a little rock fell
00:19:50.15\00:19:53.01
right beside him
and another one there
00:19:53.04\00:19:54.87
and another one
there and another one there
00:19:54.90\00:19:56.55
and he began to run
and because he was running,
00:19:56.58\00:19:59.23
I was running and
we were both running
00:19:59.26\00:20:01.38
trying to get in
to that little tunnel
00:20:01.41\00:20:03.01
that we had
come in with and we--
00:20:03.04\00:20:05.60
I remember
turning back and looking
00:20:05.63\00:20:07.76
and I could remember
seeing the whole thing
00:20:07.79\00:20:10.70
was beginning to come down
like a ribbon, you understand.
00:20:10.73\00:20:13.33
And it was starting at
the front, at the face,
00:20:13.36\00:20:16.05
what we would
call the face back then
00:20:16.08\00:20:17.89
and we were running
and I remember all the dust
00:20:17.92\00:20:20.39
and everything
was flying past me
00:20:20.42\00:20:22.29
and I thought,
I'll never make it.
00:20:22.32\00:20:25.29
Well, guess what, I
did, and you can tell, right?
00:20:25.32\00:20:29.33
Got into that
little 9 by 9 tunnel
00:20:29.36\00:20:31.67
and when we got there,
the whole thing folded in
00:20:31.70\00:20:34.57
and here is the question.
00:20:34.60\00:20:38.03
Where would I be today had
I forfeited God's protection
00:20:38.06\00:20:43.15
just a few months earlier?
00:20:43.18\00:20:44.78
Where do you think I would be?
00:20:44.81\00:20:45.93
Well friends, I can't
prove it because I am here,
00:20:45.96\00:20:49.03
there is no way to prove it.
00:20:49.06\00:20:50.18
But I can tell
you that God said,
00:20:50.21\00:20:52.62
you will not have another chance
00:20:52.65\00:20:56.26
and if I had told God
to go jump in the lake,
00:20:56.29\00:20:59.34
If I had told God,
I am not ready now,
00:20:59.37\00:21:01.37
I am gonna come back some
other time and He said to me,
00:21:01.40\00:21:03.70
"No you won't, because you
will not have another chance",
00:21:03.73\00:21:07.10
then there is a
great possibility
00:21:07.13\00:21:10.24
that my wife would have
been a widow at 25 years old.
00:21:10.27\00:21:15.98
Ah, the whole
thing, can you see it,
00:21:16.01\00:21:18.06
the whole thing was
based on a decision.
00:21:18.09\00:21:22.09
Is it important
the decisions you make,
00:21:22.12\00:21:24.30
ah friends,
don't set that aside,
00:21:24.33\00:21:26.31
don't think you
can flow through life
00:21:26.34\00:21:28.38
and never make a decision.
00:21:28.41\00:21:29.77
God doesn't take
decisions away from you,
00:21:29.80\00:21:32.15
He allows you to make decision
00:21:32.18\00:21:34.16
and if you make no decision,
let me tell you something,
00:21:34.19\00:21:37.54
that's the wrong decision.
00:21:37.57\00:21:39.46
Read the
scriptures for yourself,
00:21:39.49\00:21:41.09
understand what God
is trying to say to you
00:21:41.12\00:21:43.13
and make a decision based
on what God is telling you
00:21:43.16\00:21:46.46
and not what the whole
world around you is telling you,
00:21:46.49\00:21:49.60
otherwise, you might well
end up like the Israelites
00:21:49.63\00:21:51.78
of all in the days of
Elijah worshipping Baal
00:21:51.81\00:21:54.79
and not probably
even realizing it.
00:21:54.82\00:21:58.55
In Philippians
4:13, it says there,
00:21:58.58\00:22:02.88
"I can do all things to
Christ that strengthens me."
00:22:02.91\00:22:06.10
Is that what it says?
00:22:06.13\00:22:07.99
"Well, do you know
that that's not a question,
00:22:08.02\00:22:09.91
that's a statement."
00:22:09.94\00:22:11.48
He doesn't, all that
it says is, is you can.
00:22:11.51\00:22:14.71
Ah-ha, it's not
asking you if you can,
00:22:14.74\00:22:17.45
the Bible says you can,
the question is, will you?
00:22:17.48\00:22:21.72
That's the question.
00:22:21.75\00:22:22.78
Oh, I can quit
smoking any time I want to,
00:22:22.81\00:22:25.99
well, no problem, lot of
people have quit smoking before.
00:22:26.02\00:22:30.40
It's not a question of
whether you can quit smoking,
00:22:30.43\00:22:32.70
I suppose you can,
the question is, will you?
00:22:32.73\00:22:38.67
And for us who are Christians,
00:22:38.70\00:22:41.01
have you ever heard someone say,
00:22:41.04\00:22:43.32
I've always wanted
to be a missionary.
00:22:43.35\00:22:46.45
Really?
00:22:46.48\00:22:47.65
Well, isn't every
Christian a missionary?
00:22:47.68\00:22:52.63
The question is not,
can you be a missionary?
00:22:52.66\00:22:55.34
The question is will
you ever make the decision
00:22:55.37\00:22:58.26
to go ahead and
work like a missionary?
00:22:58.29\00:23:02.07
That's the question.
00:23:02.10\00:23:03.75
If you sin, did the
devil make you do it?
00:23:03.78\00:23:07.21
No.
00:23:07.24\00:23:08.53
The devil's work is to tempt you
00:23:08.56\00:23:10.74
and he is very good at it
but he can't make you do it,
00:23:10.77\00:23:13.96
if you sin, it's because
00:23:13.99\00:23:15.53
you finally make
a decision to do it.
00:23:15.56\00:23:19.08
If you do well, is it because
00:23:19.11\00:23:21.32
God has forced you to do well?
00:23:21.35\00:23:22.99
Oh, no.
00:23:23.02\00:23:24.05
God will give you grace,
God will give you encouragement,
00:23:24.08\00:23:26.64
God will give you
whatever it takes,
00:23:26.67\00:23:28.63
He wants you to do
well, but if you do well,
00:23:28.66\00:23:31.78
it's because you've
made the decision to do it.
00:23:31.81\00:23:35.69
Turn with me to
the book of Joel.
00:23:35.72\00:23:38.25
I want to read some quotations,
00:23:38.28\00:23:41.44
we're gonna start
with the book of Joel,
00:23:41.47\00:23:43.19
I wish I had just
a little more time,
00:23:43.22\00:23:44.82
this is getting exciting
00:23:44.85\00:23:46.59
and I have lot of
things to share with you.
00:23:46.62\00:23:49.06
Book of Joel,
we're going to Chapter 3.
00:23:49.09\00:23:51.05
Do you know
that the book of Joel
00:23:51.08\00:23:52.37
is a book of prophecy?
00:23:52.40\00:23:54.59
And it's about the Holy Spirit
00:23:54.62\00:23:56.32
being poured out
in the last days,
00:23:56.35\00:23:57.83
every chapter
mentions the last days,
00:23:57.86\00:23:59.92
this is aimed at our
time and notice what it says
00:23:59.95\00:24:03.51
in Chapter 3, we're
looking at verse 14,
00:24:03.54\00:24:06.50
"Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision,
00:24:06.53\00:24:09.34
for the day of the Lord is
near in the valley of" What?
00:24:09.37\00:24:12.89
"the valley of decisions."
00:24:12.92\00:24:14.07
Looking to the end of
time, I suppose if we went
00:24:14.10\00:24:16.99
to the book of
Revelation Chapter 13
00:24:17.02\00:24:18.84
and we saw the beast
and the mark of the beast
00:24:18.87\00:24:20.67
and the image of the
beast and the number of his name
00:24:20.70\00:24:24.39
and six, six, six.
00:24:24.42\00:24:26.03
Well, don't you
know that at that time,
00:24:26.06\00:24:28.35
the whole world
will be brought to me,
00:24:28.38\00:24:30.39
will be brought
to make a decision.
00:24:30.42\00:24:32.58
You'll be asked, you
have to make a decision,
00:24:32.61\00:24:35.19
the only problem is some
people don't make decisions,
00:24:35.22\00:24:38.14
they'll allow other people
to make decisions for them,
00:24:38.17\00:24:40.95
how dangerous that is.
00:24:40.98\00:24:42.74
Well you can understand.
00:24:42.77\00:24:45.58
Supposing something
goes wrong in your church,
00:24:45.61\00:24:48.72
there is a crisis, so you
go to the Pastor and you say,
00:24:48.75\00:24:52.06
Pastor, what are you gonna do?
00:24:52.09\00:24:54.10
If he says, I am going
left. What do you gonna do?
00:24:54.13\00:24:56.75
I'll go left too if you don't
know how to make a decision.
00:24:56.78\00:25:00.61
But friends, the
Pastor could be wrong.
00:25:00.64\00:25:04.40
Ah, friends, read the
Bible, read the Bible.
00:25:04.43\00:25:09.12
Know what God
says to you personally
00:25:09.15\00:25:12.35
and then make your decisions
based on what God says.
00:25:12.38\00:25:17.23
Let me read three
quotations for you.
00:25:17.26\00:25:19.76
This is volume 4 of
the testimonies 454,
00:25:19.79\00:25:22.95
"Without decision,
an individual is fickle,
00:25:22.98\00:25:25.96
unstable as water and can
never be truly successful."
00:25:25.99\00:25:30.48
Would you like to be successful?
00:25:30.51\00:25:33.07
Ah, somebody will say but I
don't want to make a mistake,
00:25:33.10\00:25:36.52
I really don't
want to make a mistake.
00:25:36.55\00:25:38.49
Well friends, if you
don't make a decision,
00:25:38.52\00:25:40.92
you are making a mistake.
00:25:40.95\00:25:44.27
The second quotation I'd
like to share with you says,
00:25:44.30\00:25:46.74
this is volume
4, 344 paragraph 0,
00:25:46.77\00:25:50.85
"Indecision
soon becomes decision
00:25:50.88\00:25:53.91
in the wrong direction."
00:25:53.94\00:25:55.74
What is it?
00:25:55.77\00:25:56.80
Indecision soon becomes decision
00:25:56.83\00:26:00.51
in the wrong direction.
00:26:00.54\00:26:03.03
Finally, last
quotation 3 testimonies 497
00:26:03.06\00:26:07.81
paragraph 3 says, "Long
delays tire the angels."
00:26:07.84\00:26:13.67
It is even more excusable to
make a wrong decision sometimes
00:26:13.70\00:26:17.27
than to be
continually in a wrong position.
00:26:17.30\00:26:20.87
God is not afraid of
you making a mistake.
00:26:20.90\00:26:23.86
As a matter of fact,
everybody makes mistakes.
00:26:23.89\00:26:25.85
Do you know we probably learned
more from the mistakes we make
00:26:25.88\00:26:30.18
than from doing
everything just right
00:26:30.21\00:26:32.22
all the time it seems like.
00:26:32.25\00:26:33.88
Oh, yes.
00:26:33.91\00:26:34.94
God is not afraid of
the mistakes you make.
00:26:34.97\00:26:38.07