Hello and welcome
to, Pillars of Faith.
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A word for today
in today's world.
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My name is C.A.
Murray and it is my privilege
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and pleasure to welcome
you to an hour of power packed
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preaching as we examine
the pillars of our faith;
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those truths for which we
stand and in which we stand
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as we seek to lift up the mighty
and matchless name of Jesus,
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and to take one
more step along the road
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that leads to glory.
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We thank you for joining
us for this every special time
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of preaching and of prayer.
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Our speaker today is one who
is no stranger to this pulpit.
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Some months ago he retired.
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And I put that in quotes because
as an Adventist preacher,
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you never really retire.
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You simply retread and retrace.
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And so he is back to be
with us for five presentations.
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That is our own pastor
and friend, Pastor Jim Gilley.
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For those who do not know him,
he was a pastor for many years,
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a conference president in the
Arkansas Louisiana Conference
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for many years, a vice-president
of the North American Division
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for a period of time.
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He returned to pastoring,
and then from pastoring
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he came to be the president of
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Three Angels
Broadcasting Network.
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And now he has
relocated to California,
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but we've called him back to
give us a word from the Lord.
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And we are quite sure that
God will bless him as he speaks
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from his heart to your
heart as we sit together
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for the next five sessions.
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Today's particular sermon
title is, Our Great High Priest.
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And we know that our
great High Priest is Jesus.
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And we know that Pastor
Jim Gilley has much to say
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on that particular subject.
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He is joined this
week by his wife, Camille.
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He is the father of
two boys and two girls,
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and a number of
grandchildren at this point,
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who he dearly loves.
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We're happy to call
Jim back to this pulpit,
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and we know that God is going
to bless him as he speaks to us.
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Would you join me
now in a word of prayer?
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After we shall have prayed,
the next voice you will hear
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will be that of our
friend, Pastor Jim Gilley.
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Hear ye him. Shall we pray.
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Father God, how we
praise You and thank You now
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for the privilege that is ours
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to listen to a
word from the Lord
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as we re-examine
these pillars of truth;
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these things that make
us what we are in Christ,
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that define who we are,
and how we are to live in You.
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We pray, dear Father, that
You would bless the speaker
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this time as You have blessed
him so many times in the past.
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Give him the words to say to us
that will be meat in due season
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to our thirsty souls.
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Bless him so that he
can be a blessing to us.
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Use him so that he
can speak words of truth
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that will give us hope
and courage and enlightenment
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as we seek to serve you.
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We surrender ourselves to You.
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We ask You to bless
the technical aspects of
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this program; the
cameramen, the audio,
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and all of the
technical aspects.
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But more than that, be
with the human instrument
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that You have chosen
to speak a word for You.
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And we thank You,
Father, for Your promise
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to hear and answer
the prayer of faith.
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In Jesus' name, amen and amen.
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Thank you, sir.
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Thank you, Pastor C.A.
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And it's good
to be back at 3ABN.
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It's good to be
back in this pulpit
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and back in this auditorium.
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Because this is a place
where my wife, Camille, and I
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spent almost eight years
in working with this ministry.
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There is no question in our
mind that this was the highlight
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of our ministry working here.
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I believe so much in 3ABN.
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I have seen even
more since we left here
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than when we were here
the results of this ministry.
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And I want to thank Danny
Shelton for the invitation
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to come back and to be here.
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And I hope that over the
years we'll be able to return
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from time to time, and be
able to come and be with you
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and to minister God's
word from this pulpit.
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I believe that the
Lord is coming soon.
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I want to be ready
for Him when He comes.
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And I believe that we
have a message to proclaim
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to the world that actually
3ABN is doing the greatest job
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of proclaiming of any
ministry anywhere in the world.
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I believe that
with all my heart.
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And I want you to know that
I fully support the outreach
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of this ministry and
of those that labor here,
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and Danny Shelton
and the entire team.
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Because I know that
spreading the gospel
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is number one on their hearts.
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I want to read to you a
text that we find in Hebrews 4
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beginning with verse 14.
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"Seeing then that we
have a great High Priest
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who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
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let us hold fast our confession.
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For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize
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with our weaknesses, but was
in all points tempted as we are,
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yet without sin.
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Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace,
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that we may obtain
mercy and find grace
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to help in time of need."
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And then it says
in Hebrews 2:17-18,
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"Therefore, in all things He had
to be made like His brethren,
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that He might be a merciful
and faithful High Priest
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in things pertaining to
God, to make propitiation
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for the sins of the people.
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For in that He Himself
has suffered, being tempted,
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He is able to aid
those who are tempted."
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Our High Priest, the
Bible says, is not a High Priest
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who is not
acquainted with what we face.
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When you look at the role of
the High Priest in Scripture,
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it begins with
Aaron, the brother of Moses.
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It passed down through the
Levites, the tribe of Levi.
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And it was a very
spiritual position.
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That is, until the time
that the Romans took over.
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Because the Romans
really ruled Israel
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at the time of Christ.
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Before and after the time
of Christ they were in control.
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The role of the high priest
had become a political position.
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It was a position that
people bought, so to speak,
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with money and with influence.
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And it was this type of
high priest that was in control
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when Jesus was
here on this earth.
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The high priest was corrupt.
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And it was the high priest
that was gaining the money
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from all of the sales of things
that were happening out there
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in the outer
court of the temple.
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Remember when Jesus came
and He cleansed the temple.
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He ran the money changers out.
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He was affecting the
income of the high priest.
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Now that had not been
true in years gone by,
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but the corruption that
was there at the time of Rome
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was something that
was just unbelievable.
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And Jesus, His righteous
indignation, was stirred.
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And He went into that place
and He cleansed that temple
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of all those money changers.
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But you see, that
brought about the wrath
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of that high priest upon Him.
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And it was that high
priest who was the influence,
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was the one that
caused Pilate to go ahead
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and to make that death decree.
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They were all in
cahoots together with Rome.
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But that's not the kind of
high priest that you and I have.
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The Bible says we have a
pure High Priest, Jesus Christ.
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The Bible says that
this High Priest is standing
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at the right hand of God.
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He has entered
into the Sanctuary,
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into the Most Holy Place.
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He has gone there to
minister for you and for me.
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But not only that,
this is a High Priest
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that understands you
and He understands me.
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The Bible says that He has
been tempted in all points,
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just as we were tempted.
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We go to Israel and we
often go down and visit a place
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that's very interesting.
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I do not believe that
the temple is ever going to
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be rebuilt in Israel.
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And in fact, we
are always asking them,
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"Well if they
rebuild the temple,
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are they going to
do animal sacrifices?"
00:10:11.24\00:10:14.01
You know what kind of a
problem that would bring
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today in today's world?
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And we asked them some questions
that they don't like to answer.
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But we listen to them as
they tell us what kind of
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high priest they
would be looking for.
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First of all, they say they're
looking for a high priest
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that is wealthy.
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Because they don't want
him to be able to be bribed.
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They're looking for a high
priest who is very handsome.
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Because they would not
want him to envy somebody else.
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And they go down
through this whole long list
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of what they're
looking for in a high priest.
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And I often stop and
think, "Wow, how misguided
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these poor souls are."
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We have a High Priest.
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Jesus Christ is our High Priest.
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And He has already done
that which was necessary
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by laying down His life.
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He was the Lamb of
God which takes away
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the sin of the world.
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And those are the
words that He heard when
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He came to John the
Baptist to be baptized.
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He said, "Behold, the
Lamb of God which taketh away
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the sin of the world."
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Now this was an amazing
thing that Jesus, when He comes
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to John, submits
Himself to baptism.
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Even John realized
that this should not be.
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If you understand baptism
from the standpoint of the Jew,
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you realize that
Jews were not baptized.
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They were not baptized normally.
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Prior to John the Baptist,
the only Jews that were baptized
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were proselytes or people
who were going to become a Jew.
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But the Jewish person was not.
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Seven days, one week after their
birth, they were circumcised.
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And that was
their becoming a Jew.
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Then at the age of twelve,
you remember that they became...
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They came to the
temple at that point when
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they came to the age of
responsibility, accountability.
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And they have now what
they have, the Bar Mitzvah.
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Something of that nature.
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The Bat Mitzvah for the girls,
the Bar Mitzvah for the men.
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And they become an actual Jew.
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But there was no baptism
involved except for those that
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came out of other
faiths and became a Jew.
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John the Baptist comes along.
00:13:02.28\00:13:04.15
John the Baptist
says we have all sinned,
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we have all come short.
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And he said we
need to all be baptized.
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And this is the first
real illustration of baptism
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taking place by
immersion on a wholesale basis
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anywhere in the Bible,
is by John the Baptist.
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And now Jesus comes.
00:13:29.47\00:13:31.21
And Jesus, who has been
accepted as a young Jewish boy,
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remember that He went to
the temple at the age of twelve.
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And He began there to teach.
00:13:41.85\00:13:44.75
And He was away from His
parents for days before they
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realized that He was missing.
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And they went
back and they got Him.
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And He said, "Wist ye
not that I might be about
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My Father's business?"
00:13:56.43\00:13:58.33
And so Jesus now
comes to be baptized.
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Why?
00:14:04.24\00:14:05.57
Jesus, who had no sin.
00:14:05.97\00:14:08.04
Why would He be baptized?
00:14:08.68\00:14:10.81
Why?
00:14:11.11\00:14:12.45
He said, "Suffer it to be so now
to fulfill all righteousness."
00:14:12.48\00:14:18.15
In other words, Jesus
was doing this as an example
00:14:18.95\00:14:23.79
for you and for me.
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My friend, if you
have not been baptized,
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you need to be making
that decision to be baptized.
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To give your
life totally to Jesus.
00:14:35.20\00:14:39.37
If Jesus, who knew no
sin, would be baptized
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in order to be an
example to you and to me,
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then we should not
hesitate to be baptized.
00:14:49.28\00:14:53.76
Over the years I've held
many evangelistic meetings
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as a preacher, as a
singer, and as an organizer,
00:14:57.66\00:15:01.86
something like over a
hundred evangelistic meetings.
00:15:01.90\00:15:04.90
I lost count a long time ago.
00:15:04.93\00:15:06.84
And so many times
we would find people...
00:15:08.14\00:15:10.84
I've had people tell me,
"I don't need to be baptized.
00:15:10.97\00:15:13.61
I'm not a sinner."
00:15:13.64\00:15:15.41
I said, "Look at
Jesus. He was baptized.
00:15:16.44\00:15:19.38
He was certainly not a sinner."
00:15:20.25\00:15:22.28
We, all of us have sinned,
the Bible says, and come short.
00:15:23.52\00:15:27.12
So we are all sinners.
00:15:27.22\00:15:29.06
But Jesus was not.
00:15:29.56\00:15:30.99
He was baptized as an example.
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I remember one time, and
I've told you this story before,
00:15:33.73\00:15:36.30
but I'm going to tell it again,
00:15:36.33\00:15:37.73
we were in
Taunton, Massachusetts.
00:15:38.03\00:15:39.53
And I was holding
an evangelistic meeting
00:15:39.57\00:15:41.44
with Pastor Bud Roberts.
00:15:41.54\00:15:43.41
There was a man
coming to the meetings.
00:15:44.31\00:15:46.47
You know, there's just
something at times you just
00:15:47.34\00:15:50.31
see people and you like them.
00:15:50.35\00:15:52.08
This man was not well dressed.
00:15:52.88\00:15:55.72
But there was
something about his personality
00:15:56.48\00:16:00.06
that just was shining through.
00:16:00.59\00:16:04.06
And so I began to
talk to him about the Lord.
00:16:05.19\00:16:08.06
We gave call after call in the
meetings, but he didn't respond.
00:16:08.20\00:16:12.27
I went to his home.
00:16:12.37\00:16:13.70
When I got to his
home to visit with him,
00:16:14.74\00:16:18.37
I realized that he was
someone who horded things.
00:16:18.91\00:16:24.15
You could barely
get into the house.
00:16:24.18\00:16:26.05
We made our way
down through the path,
00:16:26.78\00:16:28.95
walking actually on newspapers,
00:16:29.62\00:16:31.82
and finally found
a place to sit down.
00:16:32.25\00:16:34.89
And I said, "Brother,
you need to be baptized."
00:16:35.79\00:16:40.83
He said, "Brother
Jim, I'm afraid of water."
00:16:41.96\00:16:45.47
I said, "What do you mean?"
00:16:47.04\00:16:48.50
He said, "I'm so afraid of water
that I don't even drink water."
00:16:48.94\00:16:53.94
And I said, "What do you drink?"
00:16:54.94\00:16:57.01
He said, "I drink Pepsi."
00:16:57.58\00:16:59.35
I said, "What?"
00:17:00.55\00:17:02.05
He said, "That's
all I drink is Pepsi."
00:17:02.08\00:17:05.42
"You're not afraid of Pepsi?"
00:17:05.45\00:17:06.79
"No, I'm not afraid of Pepsi."
00:17:06.82\00:17:08.62
So I looked at him...
00:17:09.39\00:17:10.99
And you've got to remember,
I was a very young evangelist
00:17:11.39\00:17:13.56
at the time in my twenties.
00:17:13.60\00:17:15.63
I looked at him and I said,
00:17:16.16\00:17:17.63
"Brother, I'll
baptize you in Pepsi."
00:17:17.67\00:17:20.87
And the pastor looked
at me like, "What on earth
00:17:22.47\00:17:25.67
are you doing here?"
00:17:25.71\00:17:27.48
The man kind of
laughed and he said,
00:17:28.21\00:17:30.35
"Well, I don't think
I'm going to be baptized.
00:17:30.38\00:17:32.58
Maybe not right now."
00:17:33.28\00:17:34.78
I said, "Listen," I said, "I'm
afraid that one of these days
00:17:35.55\00:17:40.56
people are going to come
by here, they're going to say,
00:17:41.02\00:17:43.63
'Where's the old man?'
00:17:43.66\00:17:44.99
And they're
going to look for you.
00:17:46.23\00:17:47.63
And they're not
going to find you.
00:17:48.66\00:17:50.47
And then they're going to come
in here and they're going to
00:17:51.13\00:17:52.67
find you dead in this place.
00:17:52.70\00:17:55.90
And you will not have
given your life to Jesus."
00:17:56.27\00:17:58.91
Now I probably shouldn't
have been talking so direct,
00:17:59.81\00:18:01.91
but when you're in
your twenties, sometimes...
00:18:01.94\00:18:04.75
In fact, I'm beyond that
now and I'm still a little
00:18:05.11\00:18:07.65
too direct sometimes, but.
00:18:07.68\00:18:09.38
I said, "I'm just
afraid you're going to
00:18:09.48\00:18:14.92
wait until it's too late."
00:18:14.96\00:18:16.42
When I got out to the
car, Pastor Bud Roberts
00:18:17.39\00:18:20.23
looked at me and he
said, "How in the world
00:18:20.26\00:18:22.63
are you going to
baptize him in Pepsi?"
00:18:22.66\00:18:24.83
I said, "Well, you know,
we'll just go to the Pepsi place
00:18:25.70\00:18:30.67
and we'll get some of
the bottles of that syrup,
00:18:30.71\00:18:33.48
and we'll just pour
it in the baptistery.
00:18:33.51\00:18:35.64
It may not be carbonated
Pepsi, but it'll be Pepsi."
00:18:35.68\00:18:38.88
And he said, "You know, I've
worked for a lot of evangelists,
00:18:39.08\00:18:42.95
but you're the wildest
fellow I've ever worked with."
00:18:42.98\00:18:45.32
And we went on down the road.
00:18:45.35\00:18:47.09
But our friend didn't
do it. He wasn't baptized.
00:18:47.12\00:18:50.06
About a year later I
came back to the area.
00:18:51.33\00:18:55.56
In the
meantime, I heard a story.
00:18:56.40\00:18:58.30
A few months
after we were there,
00:18:59.73\00:19:01.67
they missed this gentleman.
00:19:02.67\00:19:04.47
They went into the
house and they found him.
00:19:05.37\00:19:09.54
He was alive.
00:19:10.08\00:19:11.51
They took him to the
hospital, he recovered.
00:19:12.28\00:19:15.05
They took him to a
nursing home to rehabilitate.
00:19:15.38\00:19:19.29
When he got there, those nurses
said, "You're taking a shower."
00:19:19.82\00:19:24.16
He said, "No,
I'm afraid of water."
00:19:24.89\00:19:26.93
They said, "You're
going to get over that."
00:19:26.96\00:19:29.26
And before long,
they had him bathing.
00:19:29.96\00:19:33.20
And then something happened
to him, his whole personality.
00:19:34.57\00:19:39.67
They found out he
could play the piano.
00:19:39.71\00:19:41.58
Then soon he was
entertaining all of the folks
00:19:42.08\00:19:44.91
there at the nursing
home by playing the piano.
00:19:44.95\00:19:48.52
And Pastor Bud
went by to see him.
00:19:48.82\00:19:51.12
Then the next thing you
know, Pastor Bud told me,
00:19:51.49\00:19:55.12
"You know, I was holding a
meeting near by," and he said,
00:19:56.02\00:19:58.46
"I'm going to bring
this gentleman over."
00:19:58.49\00:20:00.33
And he said, "We're
going to baptize him."
00:20:01.06\00:20:03.16
And we did.
00:20:03.97\00:20:05.30
We baptized him in water.
00:20:05.80\00:20:09.20
And he gave his life to Jesus.
00:20:10.07\00:20:12.31
Lived the rest of his
life as a positive influence
00:20:12.41\00:20:17.45
for the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:20:17.91\00:20:19.31
Baptism. So important.
00:20:19.35\00:20:21.75
Jesus, our
example, He was baptized,
00:20:21.92\00:20:24.99
though He had no sin of His own.
00:20:25.02\00:20:27.12
He was baptized as an
example for you and for me.
00:20:28.32\00:20:33.86
And when He came
up out of that water,
00:20:34.66\00:20:36.80
He heard a decree from heaven.
00:20:37.80\00:20:40.84
The silence of heaven was
broken and here were the words,
00:20:41.24\00:20:46.11
"This is My beloved Son."
00:20:46.14\00:20:49.44
Which was a
quote from Psalms 2:7.
00:20:50.08\00:20:54.95
And it's
considered a Messianic quote.
00:20:54.98\00:20:57.75
"This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased."
00:20:57.79\00:21:02.06
Which is a quote from Isaiah 42,
00:21:02.09\00:21:05.16
and I believe
it's about verse 7.
00:21:05.19\00:21:07.30
But it's in that area,
Isaiah 42, which leads on
00:21:07.33\00:21:11.50
to the suffering
Messiah in Isaiah 53.
00:21:11.63\00:21:15.47
"This is My beloved Son."
00:21:16.37\00:21:18.07
And these were the
words that came to Jesus,
00:21:18.11\00:21:24.51
signifying that He
was the Son of God.
00:21:25.25\00:21:32.12
Can you imagine, my
friend, what a day that was?
00:21:32.59\00:21:37.23
The people that heard that.
00:21:37.76\00:21:39.73
They hadn't heard God
speak from heaven since Sinai.
00:21:42.33\00:21:50.17
And now they're
hearing Him audibly speak,
00:21:50.71\00:21:55.08
"This is My beloved Son."
00:21:55.58\00:21:57.98
And Jesus, the Bible says
that He was led by the Spirit
00:21:58.81\00:22:05.69
into the place of temptation.
00:22:06.29\00:22:11.36
Led by the Spirit.
00:22:11.93\00:22:13.86
These words are in His
ears, "My beloved Son."
00:22:14.43\00:22:18.53
"My beloved Son."
00:22:19.27\00:22:21.20
But now, after this
great spiritual high,
00:22:22.44\00:22:26.41
there's to be a temptation.
00:22:27.04\00:22:29.11
I want to tell you something.
00:22:29.94\00:22:31.41
Almost after every spiritual
high, you have to be so careful.
00:22:32.78\00:22:37.85
Because the devil
will take the opportunity
00:22:38.55\00:22:43.02
after a spiritual high to
tempt you as perhaps you've
00:22:43.49\00:22:48.76
never been tempted before.
00:22:48.80\00:22:52.30
The temptations come right
after there has been something
00:22:53.07\00:22:58.54
very spiritual
that has come to you.
00:22:58.87\00:23:03.11
Now He had been led of
His own to be baptized,
00:23:03.14\00:23:06.51
but now He was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness.
00:23:06.55\00:23:10.55
You know, when I go to Israel,
I'm an interesting person
00:23:11.15\00:23:16.06
in some respects.
00:23:16.56\00:23:18.13
I don't really understand a
place until I've been there.
00:23:18.89\00:23:22.10
Until I had walked
along the fields of Gettysburg
00:23:23.30\00:23:28.10
I never had a feel for
the battle of Gettysburg.
00:23:28.20\00:23:32.81
Until I actually walked
up to the place where Lincoln
00:23:32.84\00:23:36.31
gave the Gettysburg
address, I just never had
00:23:36.34\00:23:40.75
quite a feel for that.
00:23:40.78\00:23:42.95
Until I had been down here
at Anna and walked out there
00:23:43.05\00:23:47.29
where there are two
monuments, you might say.
00:23:47.62\00:23:52.43
They're actually,
they've done some likenesses of
00:23:52.63\00:23:58.27
Lincoln and Douglas
where the Lincoln-Douglas
00:23:58.30\00:24:01.04
debates took place.
00:24:01.07\00:24:02.40
Until I was there and I
saw where that took place,
00:24:02.44\00:24:07.74
it did not seem real to me.
00:24:07.94\00:24:10.45
Until I went down to the
Texas School Book Depository,
00:24:11.68\00:24:16.55
even though I had
driven by there as a young man
00:24:16.58\00:24:18.89
many, many times, but
until after the assassination
00:24:18.92\00:24:22.32
and I had gone there
and looked at that spot,
00:24:22.36\00:24:25.93
and seen with my own eyes
what had taken place there
00:24:26.36\00:24:32.17
and how the assassination
took place in that area,
00:24:32.20\00:24:38.31
I never could really kind
of grasp that whole scene.
00:24:39.27\00:24:44.58
And when I go to
Israel, I like to go down by the
00:24:45.45\00:24:49.58
spring of Elisha
there in Jericho.
00:24:49.62\00:24:52.15
There's a little
place there called,
00:24:52.52\00:24:53.96
The Temptation Restaurant.
00:24:53.99\00:24:55.72
I like to go out there and...
00:24:55.82\00:24:57.56
And by the way, they have
some wonderful vegetarian foods
00:24:57.73\00:25:02.60
that are very
tempting in that place.
00:25:02.63\00:25:05.27
They've got fruits and
they've got all kinds of
00:25:05.30\00:25:09.14
different things that are
made that are so good and tasty
00:25:09.77\00:25:14.08
in that restaurant.
00:25:14.28\00:25:15.61
But when you go down there,
you can look up to what's called
00:25:15.64\00:25:18.71
the mount of temptation.
00:25:18.75\00:25:21.02
And you see that desert
area, just above Jericho.
00:25:21.05\00:25:26.19
That desert where
this temptation took place.
00:25:27.26\00:25:32.89
It's not a pretty place.
00:25:33.70\00:25:35.10
You know, when we go
for a retreat, we like to go
00:25:35.60\00:25:39.93
some place where
it's really pretty.
00:25:39.97\00:25:41.80
We like to go out to some
place where it's real nice.
00:25:42.40\00:25:46.68
But this was not
that kind of place.
00:25:47.64\00:25:50.25
But when you stand down
there not far from where the
00:25:50.55\00:25:53.15
walls of Jericho fell,
and you look up to where Jesus
00:25:53.18\00:25:57.52
was tempted, I've
been able to feel more
00:25:57.55\00:26:02.56
that experience
by having been there.
00:26:03.16\00:26:06.80
And it's why that...
00:26:07.50\00:26:09.16
I know that everybody doesn't
need to have those kind of
00:26:09.26\00:26:12.73
experiences to really have
the Bible come alive to them,
00:26:12.77\00:26:16.27
but I'm the kind
of person that does.
00:26:16.30\00:26:19.17
And I learn more every time
I go to that part of the world.
00:26:19.81\00:26:24.81
And you look up there
where Jesus was fasting
00:26:24.85\00:26:30.45
and where that
temptation took place.
00:26:31.12\00:26:33.59
You know, there was no
hesitation in His stride.
00:26:34.32\00:26:39.36
There was no doubt in Him
as He went forward to be alone.
00:26:39.39\00:26:44.93
There are times
you need to be alone.
00:26:44.97\00:26:46.80
This was a time when
Jesus needed to be alone.
00:26:47.87\00:26:51.71
He knew that He
was the Son of God.
00:26:52.44\00:26:56.04
And He also knew that
He had to go to the cross
00:26:56.08\00:26:59.31
and die on that cross.
00:26:59.98\00:27:03.02
And now He's going
into this place to fast
00:27:03.75\00:27:08.96
for forty days and forty nights.
00:27:09.16\00:27:13.90
I don't know if you've ever been
on a fast or not, but I have.
00:27:14.23\00:27:17.63
I sometimes speak to my friends
and tell them I'm a missionary
00:27:17.67\00:27:24.17
to those who have had
to battle with weight.
00:27:24.21\00:27:26.01
Because when I was a
kid, I was so skinny.
00:27:26.94\00:27:30.08
And people never would
have dreamed that I would ever
00:27:30.35\00:27:33.08
have a battle with weight.
00:27:33.11\00:27:34.88
I've told you many times the
stories of my different coaches
00:27:35.25\00:27:38.82
when I was playing ball
trying to just put another
00:27:38.85\00:27:41.52
twenty pounds on me.
00:27:41.56\00:27:43.19
They would give me all these
add weight drinks to drink,
00:27:43.29\00:27:47.16
and all this type of stuff.
00:27:47.20\00:27:49.00
And I would try to gain weight
and just could not gain weight.
00:27:49.10\00:27:53.13
And then when I hit my thirties,
and then eventually the forties,
00:27:54.14\00:27:59.64
I began to battle
with the gaining of weight.
00:28:00.28\00:28:05.11
And so I would try all
manner of things to not gain.
00:28:05.65\00:28:10.35
I cannot eat three meals a day.
00:28:10.39\00:28:12.65
I remember going on a trip
one time with a friend of mine.
00:28:13.15\00:28:15.89
And he was always giving me such
a hard time about being heavy.
00:28:15.92\00:28:21.03
So we went on a trip.
00:28:21.06\00:28:22.60
And on that trip the
meals were prescribed.
00:28:22.70\00:28:25.67
They were just set down.
They just give you a plate.
00:28:25.70\00:28:27.84
That's all you got.
00:28:27.87\00:28:29.20
The church we go to
now, we get nice buffets.
00:28:29.70\00:28:33.38
But in those days we didn't.
00:28:33.41\00:28:35.18
And he was
giving me a hard time.
00:28:35.91\00:28:38.01
And so I would sit with
him and eat as much as I could,
00:28:38.98\00:28:43.72
but I was running the trip so
I had to get up and run around.
00:28:43.75\00:28:46.15
So I never really
finished even my whole meal.
00:28:46.19\00:28:49.06
During the over two weeks
that we were out together,
00:28:50.33\00:28:53.70
I gained ten pounds
and he lost fifteen.
00:28:54.43\00:28:57.63
His metabolism was just a
whole lot different than mine.
00:28:58.73\00:29:03.37
He couldn't get enough
to eat with those plates,
00:29:03.97\00:29:06.57
I wasn't
finishing the whole plate.
00:29:06.88\00:29:09.41
It's just a battle
that some of us have.
00:29:09.91\00:29:11.91
And so I've been on
some of these fasts.
00:29:11.95\00:29:14.28
And I remember going
on a forty day fast once
00:29:14.85\00:29:18.25
from a liquid protein.
00:29:18.45\00:29:20.29
All you had was just
some liquid to drink.
00:29:20.32\00:29:23.56
That's it.
00:29:23.99\00:29:25.33
And you drank that, and
you did that three times a day.
00:29:25.93\00:29:29.60
And that was all you had.
00:29:29.63\00:29:32.50
You know something?
00:29:33.74\00:29:35.07
At the end of forty days,
I'd lost quite a bit of weight
00:29:36.07\00:29:40.94
on that particular diet.
00:29:40.98\00:29:42.34
If you can maintain
that, you will lose weight.
00:29:42.41\00:29:46.51
But I had lost so much strength.
00:29:47.35\00:29:49.38
And I was in a
board meeting down in the
00:29:50.35\00:29:52.12
Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
00:29:52.15\00:29:54.26
And I began to
just feel terrible.
00:29:55.02\00:29:57.96
I got up and I went
out of the board meeting,
00:29:58.06\00:30:01.90
and I sat down on a
bench outside there in
00:30:01.93\00:30:08.07
Weslaco, Texas at the academy.
00:30:08.10\00:30:10.17
And I sat
there, and I was dizzy.
00:30:11.24\00:30:15.01
And I hadn't felt this
bad throughout the whole
00:30:15.78\00:30:18.55
forty days of my fast.
00:30:18.75\00:30:20.95
And I said,
"I've got to end this.
00:30:22.28\00:30:25.12
I can't handle this."
00:30:25.52\00:30:27.36
And so I got hold of a
phone and I called a friend,
00:30:27.92\00:30:35.63
two friends of mine,
Larry and Patty Dittburner.
00:30:35.83\00:30:38.90
And I said, "You
know, I feel so weak.
00:30:39.43\00:30:42.77
I feel so much in
need of some food.
00:30:43.30\00:30:46.84
I think that some enchiladas
would probably be a great way
00:30:47.41\00:30:51.81
to end this fast."
00:30:51.85\00:30:53.52
And they said, "We'll be
right there to pick you up."
00:30:54.12\00:30:56.15
They took me over the border
to a place called, Arturo's.
00:30:56.45\00:31:00.06
And we enjoyed
ending my fast at Arturo's.
00:31:00.72\00:31:06.56
Forty days, forty nights.
00:31:07.16\00:31:09.10
I was about to die.
00:31:09.76\00:31:11.30
Jesus did not even
have a liquid protein drink.
00:31:11.57\00:31:16.94
Jesus was completely fasting
forty days, forty nights.
00:31:17.61\00:31:26.15
Another time I was
at Andrews University.
00:31:26.18\00:31:28.35
And I went on a one week diet.
00:31:28.55\00:31:30.82
And that was just strictly
you drank a little bit of juice
00:31:30.85\00:31:34.26
three times a day.
00:31:34.46\00:31:35.79
A prescribed amount of
juice three times a day.
00:31:35.82\00:31:38.63
At the end of that
week, in fact that weekend,
00:31:39.03\00:31:41.66
I went over to the
Wisconsin camp meeting.
00:31:41.70\00:31:44.00
A meeting in those
days at the old campground.
00:31:44.23\00:31:47.17
I've been there at
the old campground,
00:31:47.44\00:31:49.27
I've been to the new campground.
00:31:49.30\00:31:50.64
There's just nothing quite
like the Wisconsin camp meeting,
00:31:50.81\00:31:53.81
for those of you that go.
00:31:53.84\00:31:55.44
And you know what I mean.
00:31:55.48\00:31:56.91
It's a wonderful
place, a wonderful atmosphere.
00:31:57.01\00:31:59.91
I've been invited to go back
there and preach several times.
00:32:00.08\00:32:02.55
And I really have enjoyed it.
00:32:02.58\00:32:04.89
Going to enjoy
going again some day.
00:32:04.99\00:32:07.29
When we got to the
Wisconsin camp meeting,
00:32:07.96\00:32:10.53
Elder E.E.
Cleveland was speaking.
00:32:10.56\00:32:12.93
I just had met
him in those days.
00:32:13.93\00:32:17.73
And I went up to him
and was talking to him.
00:32:18.33\00:32:21.30
He said, "Come on, I want
you to go to lunch with me."
00:32:21.34\00:32:23.61
I said, "I'm not eating today."
00:32:23.64\00:32:25.34
But he said, "Just come on
and we'll fellowship together."
00:32:25.54\00:32:28.11
So we went over and
the people had invited him
00:32:28.14\00:32:31.18
under a great big tree.
00:32:31.41\00:32:33.05
And they had spread
out all of this wonderful
00:32:33.08\00:32:35.98
fresh food from Wisconsin.
00:32:36.02\00:32:38.49
All the corn, and tomatoes,
and all kinds of salads,
00:32:38.52\00:32:43.02
and everything that was so good.
00:32:43.06\00:32:45.09
And I wasn't eating.
00:32:45.19\00:32:46.56
And I want to tell you,
that was a very difficult time.
00:32:47.36\00:32:50.30
And Elder Cleveland
turned to me and he said,
00:32:50.33\00:32:52.83
"Brother Gilley, we want
you to have the blessing."
00:32:52.87\00:32:55.77
Now you're having the blessing
and you're not going to eat.
00:32:56.57\00:32:59.31
And I had the blessing.
00:33:00.18\00:33:01.51
And then I walked
out under the tree and
00:33:02.24\00:33:05.51
drank that little bit of juice
that I was suppose to drink.
00:33:05.55\00:33:09.38
And then later that
day I had the opportunity
00:33:10.45\00:33:13.66
to drive Elder Cleveland
down to the airport in Chicago.
00:33:13.69\00:33:18.86
It was during that drive
that we sealed our friendship.
00:33:19.06\00:33:21.90
We became lifelong friends.
00:33:22.43\00:33:25.40
Brother C.A. Murray and
I had the great opportunity
00:33:26.20\00:33:31.34
of interviewing him
for our Heritage series
00:33:31.81\00:33:35.64
and hearing his life story.
00:33:35.68\00:33:38.05
You'll want to get
a copy of that because
00:33:38.28\00:33:40.15
it's just tremendous.
00:33:40.18\00:33:41.95
On that particular series
they've got Elder Bradford,
00:33:42.55\00:33:46.15
they've got Elder
Brooks, and Elder Cleveland.
00:33:46.49\00:33:49.79
You'll want to
get a copy of that,
00:33:49.82\00:33:51.33
because it is worth
watching time and time again.
00:33:51.36\00:33:56.40
But then when I finished
letting him off at the airport,
00:33:57.10\00:34:00.84
I went back to Andrews.
00:34:00.87\00:34:02.60
The next day late in the day,
I was playing on a softball team
00:34:02.70\00:34:08.88
there during the summer,
and we had an opportunity
00:34:08.91\00:34:12.91
were just playing the game.
00:34:12.95\00:34:14.28
And on that day I hit
what's called, the cycle.
00:34:14.58\00:34:17.39
Which is a single, a double,
a triple, and a home run.
00:34:17.42\00:34:20.36
And I'll tell you something.
00:34:21.42\00:34:22.76
My fellow team
mates told me this.
00:34:22.79\00:34:25.33
They said, "You need to
quit eating all together."
00:34:25.36\00:34:27.30
They said, "You've
never played a better game
00:34:27.33\00:34:29.46
than you did today."
00:34:29.66\00:34:31.00
But I want to tell
you that during that week,
00:34:31.53\00:34:33.90
I don't think I lost a pound,
00:34:33.94\00:34:35.90
even though I was
eating nothing and fasting.
00:34:36.30\00:34:41.24
But Jesus was not
fasting for weight loss.
00:34:41.61\00:34:44.58
He was fasting because
the great task of bringing
00:34:44.98\00:34:49.48
life eternal to you
and to me was before Him.
00:34:49.52\00:34:53.32
The great task of saving us
was that which He was facing.
00:34:53.82\00:34:58.63
The great task of
knowing that He was going to
00:34:59.13\00:35:01.40
go to the cross, that He
was going to die on the cross,
00:35:01.43\00:35:04.87
that He was going to be tempted
not just these three temptations
00:35:04.97\00:35:08.44
that came to Him at this time.
00:35:08.47\00:35:10.67
Bu He was going to be
tempted and tempted and tempted
00:35:10.71\00:35:15.31
throughout Him ministry.
00:35:15.71\00:35:17.51
And He was preparing,
and He was submitting,
00:35:18.61\00:35:22.78
and He was giving Himself
totally to His heavenly Father.
00:35:23.69\00:35:28.59
And then it came
time for the fast to end.
00:35:30.09\00:35:33.70
They say that when you
fast without any food at all,
00:35:33.73\00:35:37.37
that at about six weeks
you either eat or you die.
00:35:38.13\00:35:42.40
Your body begins to die.
00:35:43.54\00:35:45.94
Christ was willing to die
rather than to end the fast
00:35:47.28\00:35:52.65
until His Father
said to end the fast.
00:35:52.68\00:35:56.92
I look at that scene, it was
probably early in the morning,
00:35:57.45\00:36:04.29
I see the scene
when the devil comes.
00:36:05.49\00:36:10.07
The devil says to Him...
00:36:10.97\00:36:12.63
It says that Jesus,
when He had fasted forty days
00:36:13.64\00:36:16.91
and forty nights,
afterwards He was hungry.
00:36:16.94\00:36:19.27
And then it says, this
is reading Matthew 4:3,
00:36:20.28\00:36:24.95
"Now when the
tempter came to him, he said,
00:36:25.38\00:36:28.02
'If You are the Son of
God, command that these
00:36:28.05\00:36:32.15
stones become bread.'"
00:36:32.19\00:36:34.52
Now Jesus had heard
the word from heaven,
00:36:35.46\00:36:37.96
"This is My beloved Son."
00:36:37.99\00:36:41.66
There was no "if" about it.
00:36:41.70\00:36:44.50
There was no question about it.
00:36:44.87\00:36:47.44
And He was now having this
angel of light that was coming
00:36:48.04\00:36:53.81
question, "If You
are the Son of God."
00:36:54.34\00:36:59.38
Now when He
looks at this bread...
00:36:59.41\00:37:01.08
You know when I was a
kid, I would read this story
00:37:01.12\00:37:04.02
and I would think
in terms of bread like,
00:37:04.55\00:37:08.52
you know, a loaf of bread.
00:37:09.42\00:37:10.76
Like your mother
would bake a loaf of bread.
00:37:10.79\00:37:13.06
Or you would
get it at the store.
00:37:13.09\00:37:15.76
You know how a
loaf of bread looks.
00:37:16.26\00:37:18.23
But that's now how bread
in the Middle East looks.
00:37:19.23\00:37:21.90
Not how it looked
then, not how it looks now.
00:37:22.10\00:37:24.77
If you look at the pita bread,
it's kind of flat and round.
00:37:25.27\00:37:28.48
And then there are other breads.
00:37:28.51\00:37:29.84
There's a bread that is
more like a flour tortilla.
00:37:29.88\00:37:34.48
A very thin bread.
00:37:34.72\00:37:36.05
They cook it over
a hot stone or rock.
00:37:36.32\00:37:41.66
They have the
fire under that rock.
00:37:41.82\00:37:44.73
Now they use other
methods today, but in those days
00:37:45.06\00:37:49.80
it was over a rock.
00:37:49.83\00:37:51.17
And I've seen people
even do it in recent years
00:37:51.20\00:37:53.67
over a hot rock.
00:37:53.70\00:37:55.67
And they put this
batter like substance over it.
00:37:55.90\00:37:59.04
Like a thin crepe or like
a pancake or something, see.
00:37:59.21\00:38:05.58
And then that cooks.
00:38:05.68\00:38:07.32
They flip that over
and it cooks completely.
00:38:07.35\00:38:11.05
And then they roll that up
in something like goat's cheese,
00:38:11.25\00:38:15.29
or something like that.
00:38:15.32\00:38:16.93
They roll that around
it, and it's delicious.
00:38:16.96\00:38:20.70
Absolutely delicious.
00:38:21.03\00:38:23.03
And Jesus, when
He saw these stones,
00:38:23.87\00:38:28.04
and the tempter says to Him,
"You can turn these into bread.
00:38:28.57\00:38:34.08
You can end this fast."
00:38:34.68\00:38:36.78
I would imagine
that Jesus thinks back
00:38:38.18\00:38:41.75
to His mother at home.
00:38:41.78\00:38:43.45
Probably early in the
morning and she's fixing
00:38:44.45\00:38:46.79
the bread for the day.
00:38:46.82\00:38:48.39
The mother rising
long before anybody else.
00:38:48.72\00:38:51.96
And here she's
fixing that bread.
00:38:52.46\00:38:54.96
And I would imagine that
He thought about that bread.
00:38:55.96\00:38:59.67
How good it would taste.
00:39:00.40\00:39:02.37
And He knew that all
He had to do was speak
00:39:03.00\00:39:07.44
and those rocks
could become bread.
00:39:08.48\00:39:11.01
That He could use His powers
to make bread out of anything,
00:39:11.98\00:39:17.65
or out of nothing.
00:39:17.69\00:39:19.12
You see, the devil was tempting
Him not only in appetite.
00:39:20.52\00:39:24.73
Because He'd gone for forty days
and forty nights without eating.
00:39:24.76\00:39:28.46
What's one more day?
00:39:28.50\00:39:29.86
But he's tempting Him
to use His own powers,
00:39:30.77\00:39:34.77
the powers that had been
given to Him, in a selfish way.
00:39:35.74\00:39:40.08
To use these powers in a manner
that would be self-serving.
00:39:40.11\00:39:46.55
To use His powers
to attract attention.
00:39:46.95\00:39:50.89
If He becomes the bread
king and He's making bread
00:39:50.92\00:39:53.86
not only for Himself,
but for everybody else...
00:39:53.89\00:39:56.19
You see only a couple of
times; the feeding of the 5000,
00:39:56.32\00:39:59.29
the feeding of the 4000,
He actually did make bread.
00:39:59.33\00:40:03.37
And He could have
become the bread king.
00:40:04.27\00:40:06.40
And everybody
would have followed Him.
00:40:07.44\00:40:09.24
But He would not have been doing
what God had called Him to do.
00:40:10.67\00:40:15.88
He would not have been using
the gifts that God had given Him
00:40:16.34\00:40:24.45
in a way that
He was supposed to.
00:40:25.15\00:40:28.39
That temptation.
00:40:29.02\00:40:30.69
He answers back, "Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:40:30.99\00:40:37.30
but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God."
00:40:38.00\00:40:46.17
You see, He said you're
not just to have bread to eat.
00:40:47.18\00:40:52.11
Not just to have it.
00:40:52.78\00:40:54.25
You're not just to live by
that bread, but by every word
00:40:55.18\00:41:01.62
that proceeds out
of the mouth of God.
00:41:01.99\00:41:07.46
Then the Bible says
that the angel took Him up
00:41:07.80\00:41:11.13
to a high place.
00:41:11.17\00:41:13.94
Takes Him to a
place that is called
00:41:14.54\00:41:18.57
the pinnacle of the temple.
00:41:18.61\00:41:20.18
There are two places
where this could have been.
00:41:21.11\00:41:23.41
And the one I believe
it was is the temple porch.
00:41:24.61\00:41:27.72
The temple porch was
high above the temple itself.
00:41:28.28\00:41:31.92
It was the place where the
priest would go with a horn
00:41:32.59\00:41:35.52
to call all of
Israel to worship.
00:41:35.89\00:41:38.36
Where they could look
out and they could see,
00:41:38.69\00:41:42.50
as the dawning of the day came,
00:41:43.06\00:41:45.80
that it was time to
begin worship of the Lord.
00:41:46.57\00:41:50.51
The priest would cast
it, would blow the trumpet.
00:41:51.24\00:41:53.54
Those great massive
temple gates would open.
00:41:54.28\00:41:57.25
And then the people
would come in to worship.
00:41:58.15\00:42:01.55
This was called the
pinnacle of the temple.
00:42:02.48\00:42:06.79
Now there's another
place that it could have been.
00:42:06.99\00:42:09.26
And that is off of the edge
of the great temple mount area.
00:42:09.29\00:42:16.93
I think it's the first.
00:42:17.63\00:42:19.47
Because both have been called
the pinnacle of the temple,
00:42:20.00\00:42:23.34
when you're studying it.
00:42:23.37\00:42:24.71
But I think it's
that temple porch.
00:42:25.17\00:42:26.81
Now I'll tell you why.
00:42:26.84\00:42:28.48
You see, there had
become a tradition.
00:42:29.04\00:42:31.88
And we'll look at that
tradition in just a moment.
00:42:32.81\00:42:35.55
But now we'll see
that the angel had come
00:42:36.02\00:42:43.02
and had taken
Jesus to this pinnacle.
00:42:43.53\00:42:48.56
And now he said, "Jump,
because the Bible says that
00:42:49.53\00:42:55.94
He shall give His
angels charge over Thee,
00:42:56.04\00:42:59.07
lest Thou dash Thy
foot upon a stone."
00:42:59.11\00:43:02.78
Now he says, "Jump."
00:43:03.95\00:43:06.18
You know, when I was a
young man, I would read this and
00:43:07.05\00:43:11.19
and I'd say, "Wow!"
00:43:11.22\00:43:12.79
I'm looking at these
temptations, and I'm saying,
00:43:13.56\00:43:16.99
the first one He's already
gone forty days without eating.
00:43:17.33\00:43:21.06
Is that a temptation
to go forty-one days?
00:43:21.10\00:43:23.93
To go one more day?
00:43:23.97\00:43:25.53
Is that a temptation?
00:43:25.90\00:43:27.27
And then I looked
at this and I said,
00:43:27.30\00:43:29.40
well now he's
tempting Him to jump.
00:43:29.50\00:43:31.77
Now I have been to
the Empire State Building.
00:43:32.47\00:43:35.48
I have been to the top
of the World Trade Center
00:43:36.14\00:43:38.65
before it came down.
00:43:38.68\00:43:41.32
I've been to the edge of
the canyon at Grand Canyon.
00:43:41.75\00:43:45.19
I've been in some
places that were so high.
00:43:45.72\00:43:48.76
And not once was
I tempted to jump.
00:43:49.49\00:43:51.76
Not once.
00:43:52.76\00:43:54.20
In fact, I was
tempted to back up and not get
00:43:54.73\00:43:57.70
too close to the edge.
00:43:57.73\00:43:59.13
And I'm saying, "What
kind of temptation is this?"
00:43:59.17\00:44:02.24
What I didn't realize
is, the devil had planted
00:44:03.24\00:44:09.04
a tradition that the Messiah
would announce His Messiah-ship
00:44:09.51\00:44:16.95
from the pinnacle of the
temple by casting Himself down.
00:44:17.65\00:44:24.66
And that the
angels would bear Him down
00:44:24.69\00:44:27.30
into the temple courtyard.
00:44:27.33\00:44:30.13
And from there He would
begin to be the Messiah.
00:44:30.17\00:44:37.17
And they would come to
Him, accept Him, worship Him.
00:44:37.41\00:44:41.58
And He would then be
the one, the accepted one.
00:44:42.11\00:44:48.68
Do you see now why
this was a temptation?
00:44:49.95\00:44:53.12
Because this was the tradition.
00:44:53.82\00:44:55.89
One of the reasons
they didn't accept Jesus
00:44:56.06\00:44:58.29
is they said, "He didn't
jump off the temple porch."
00:44:58.33\00:45:01.13
And there were all kinds
of people that had come along.
00:45:01.46\00:45:04.23
And they've got some of
the names of them in history,
00:45:04.27\00:45:06.84
you can find some of
their names, who thought that
00:45:06.87\00:45:09.47
they were the Messiah.
00:45:09.50\00:45:10.91
They would climb to the temple
porch and they would jump off,
00:45:10.94\00:45:14.74
and smack, hit that
floor down below and be dead.
00:45:15.14\00:45:21.38
In fact, it had come to the
place where they had to lock off
00:45:22.65\00:45:28.06
the stairway to
that temple porch
00:45:28.92\00:45:34.00
so that these people
could not get up there.
00:45:34.40\00:45:37.30
Because it was getting dangerous
to run around down below.
00:45:38.10\00:45:41.10
There may be somebody
thinking that he's the Messiah
00:45:41.47\00:45:43.97
and he's up there
getting ready to jump.
00:45:44.01\00:45:46.51
Oh my friend, you
see, we have no idea
00:45:47.64\00:45:53.25
the length to which the
devil would go to tempt Jesus.
00:45:54.02\00:45:59.65
He was tempting
Him to come the way
00:46:00.32\00:46:03.43
that they expect you to come.
00:46:03.63\00:46:05.43
"If You come the way
they expect You to come,
00:46:05.46\00:46:08.73
then they'll accept You.
00:46:09.53\00:46:12.47
You don't have
to go to the cross.
00:46:13.37\00:46:15.40
You can cut short the cross.
00:46:15.74\00:46:18.31
You don't have to do
what Isaiah says," Isaiah 53,
00:46:18.94\00:46:24.58
"that You're to suffer.
00:46:24.61\00:46:25.95
You don't have to suffer.
00:46:25.98\00:46:27.32
You can be accepted by
the people if You'll just come
00:46:28.05\00:46:35.49
the way they
expect you to come."
00:46:35.96\00:46:37.89
And Jesus said, "No."
00:46:39.16\00:46:40.80
He said, "You shall not
tempted the Lord your God.
00:46:41.33\00:46:48.14
You shall not tempt Him.
00:46:48.97\00:46:50.97
It is written, 'You shall
not tempt the Lord your God.'"
00:46:51.37\00:46:58.05
And then the devil, the Bible
says, to Him to an exceeding
00:46:58.61\00:47:01.15
high mountain, showed Him
all the kingdoms of the world
00:47:01.18\00:47:04.75
and their glory.
00:47:04.79\00:47:06.12
"And he said to Him, 'All
these things I'll give You
00:47:06.42\00:47:10.63
if You'll fall
down and worship me.'
00:47:11.26\00:47:16.43
And Jesus said,
'Away with you, Satan!
00:47:17.57\00:47:21.80
For it is written, "You
shall worship the Lord your God,
00:47:22.20\00:47:25.34
and Him only you shall serve."'"
00:47:25.97\00:47:32.88
In other words He's saying,
"This is My Father's house.
00:47:33.31\00:47:36.85
This is My Father's world.
00:47:37.69\00:47:39.99
You have stolen it, you
have taken it away from Adam,
00:47:40.66\00:47:46.09
who We made the guardian of it.
00:47:46.53\00:47:48.43
You have taken it.
00:47:48.46\00:47:49.80
But I have come to take it back.
00:47:50.47\00:47:53.03
You cannot give it back to Us.
00:47:54.20\00:47:56.24
My Father, He and I are one.
00:47:57.77\00:48:00.71
But I will take
it back at the cross.
00:48:01.41\00:48:05.25
I will go to the cross,
I will die on the cross.
00:48:05.85\00:48:10.12
I will give My all so that we
will once again have this world.
00:48:10.89\00:48:19.59
Bring an end to
sin and sadness."
00:48:20.53\00:48:22.30
You know, when Satan
takes Him up there and shows Him
00:48:22.33\00:48:25.00
the world, he shows Him
all the beauties of the world.
00:48:25.03\00:48:27.80
He shows Him all the
wonderful things of the world.
00:48:27.84\00:48:30.47
But he doesn't show Him
the sin, the dirt, the death.
00:48:30.51\00:48:39.18
The different things
that bring pain to people.
00:48:40.52\00:48:45.55
He doesn't show Him that.
00:48:46.39\00:48:48.19
He doesn't see all of that.
00:48:49.06\00:48:51.59
You see, Satan tries to
make the world look good.
00:48:53.60\00:48:59.17
Tries to make
the world look great.
00:48:59.77\00:49:02.24
But down underneath,
all of these things that
00:49:02.90\00:49:06.14
Satan has to offer,
there is sadness, there is sin,
00:49:06.41\00:49:13.52
there is degradation.
00:49:14.55\00:49:16.35
There are people who
cannot find anything,
00:49:17.29\00:49:23.43
anything to hold onto
except if they come to Jesus.
00:49:24.39\00:49:32.23
Years ago, I needed a haircut
and I went to the barber shop.
00:49:33.30\00:49:40.34
The barber there was a
very well-known person.
00:49:41.54\00:49:44.45
He knew everybody in town.
00:49:44.91\00:49:47.42
Knew all of the fellows
out at the school where I went.
00:49:48.32\00:49:51.15
And just about all of the guys
that ever got a haircut in town
00:49:51.72\00:49:56.46
would go to him.
00:49:56.49\00:49:57.83
Haircuts weren't
that expensive in town.
00:49:58.73\00:50:01.43
So if you had a chance,
and you wanted a good haircut,
00:50:01.46\00:50:04.77
you went there.
00:50:04.80\00:50:06.13
One day I was there with
him and he was cutting my hair.
00:50:06.63\00:50:13.21
And I looked out and
there was a lady, a woman,
00:50:14.24\00:50:19.41
and she had an
old tow sack with her.
00:50:20.22\00:50:23.69
And she was going through
the garbage cans out in front
00:50:24.12\00:50:27.76
of the barber shop.
00:50:28.76\00:50:30.43
She would dig out a few things.
00:50:31.16\00:50:33.29
She found an old cigarette butt
and she started smoking that,
00:50:33.73\00:50:37.40
that was on the street.
00:50:37.80\00:50:39.23
And then she coughed.
00:50:40.50\00:50:42.40
And I could tell that
she was very, very ill.
00:50:42.44\00:50:44.71
And I said, "Ernest,
tell me, who is this lady?
00:50:46.14\00:50:51.71
Why doesn't somebody help her?"
00:50:52.61\00:50:54.48
"Oh," he said, "let
me tell you about her."
00:50:55.08\00:50:57.69
He said, "People
have tried to help her."
00:50:57.72\00:50:59.92
He said she had one son.
00:51:00.79\00:51:02.62
Nobody knew who the father was.
00:51:02.66\00:51:04.69
She lived in a little shack
down by the railroad tracks
00:51:05.13\00:51:08.16
that didn't even have
anything but a dirt floor.
00:51:08.20\00:51:11.87
And he said people always
said that the little shack,
00:51:12.73\00:51:17.84
all the walls leaned
in, if they had leaned out
00:51:17.87\00:51:20.68
it would have
fallen long time before.
00:51:20.71\00:51:22.81
And she had one child.
00:51:24.01\00:51:27.38
And as I said, they had
no idea who the father was.
00:51:28.95\00:51:32.89
Some transient
that came through.
00:51:32.92\00:51:34.82
The boy began to grow.
00:51:36.62\00:51:38.49
He was small, would run around
with no shoes, half clothed.
00:51:39.93\00:51:47.37
But it was amazing that
he seemed to be very bright.
00:51:48.07\00:51:52.47
The truant officers
came when it came time
00:51:53.94\00:51:56.78
for him to go to
school, and they said,
00:51:56.81\00:51:58.41
"You know, he
needs to be in school."
00:51:58.51\00:52:00.62
And the mother
said, "Oh no, he's okay."
00:52:01.72\00:52:03.72
They said, "No, he's
going to go to school."
00:52:03.75\00:52:05.69
So they started
taking him to school.
00:52:06.29\00:52:09.12
He had no clothes.
00:52:09.16\00:52:10.49
Some of the teachers went out
and got him some decent clothes.
00:52:10.53\00:52:13.63
He got some hand-me-downs from
other children, and so forth.
00:52:13.66\00:52:18.17
And they gave him some clothing.
00:52:18.83\00:52:21.20
He was very quiet in his class.
00:52:21.97\00:52:26.37
They didn't know if he
was really very smart or not.
00:52:26.41\00:52:28.88
Then they found out
that he was very smart.
00:52:29.71\00:52:34.22
When he became a
little older he stared helping
00:52:35.08\00:52:38.29
the janitor there at the school.
00:52:38.32\00:52:40.02
And he would help that janitor.
00:52:40.46\00:52:42.46
Over and over again
help him with the tasks
00:52:43.06\00:52:46.09
that needed to be taking place.
00:52:46.13\00:52:47.73
He would dust the
boards and clean the erasers
00:52:47.76\00:52:52.43
and get everything ready
with the janitor for school.
00:52:52.47\00:52:55.47
When he got a little
older he was looking for a job.
00:52:55.94\00:52:59.67
He went around the
square there in that town and
00:52:59.71\00:53:02.51
he was looking for a job.
00:53:02.78\00:53:04.11
He couldn't find a job anywhere.
00:53:04.15\00:53:05.51
Finally, the last place
on the square was the bank.
00:53:05.55\00:53:08.75
And he thought, "I'm
certainly not qualified
00:53:08.78\00:53:11.19
to do anything here.
00:53:11.22\00:53:12.55
But I've got to have a job."
00:53:12.59\00:53:14.62
And he went in.
00:53:14.66\00:53:15.99
And the bank president
said, "What can you do?"
00:53:16.76\00:53:19.23
He said, "Well, I can clean,
because I've been doing that."
00:53:19.26\00:53:21.76
He said, "You know, we
need somebody to clean.
00:53:21.86\00:53:23.77
You come in after school."
00:53:23.80\00:53:25.40
And so he did.
00:53:25.50\00:53:26.84
All the way through
high school he cleaned.
00:53:27.14\00:53:29.54
He graduated with honors.
00:53:29.57\00:53:31.67
When he graduated,
the bank president said,
00:53:32.01\00:53:34.91
"What are you going to do now?"
00:53:34.94\00:53:36.28
He said, "Well, I want to
try to go to the university.
00:53:36.31\00:53:38.98
So I'm going to go
down and get a job and
00:53:39.01\00:53:41.58
see if I can
work my way through."
00:53:41.62\00:53:43.02
And the bank president
said, "I'll tell you what.
00:53:43.05\00:53:45.25
We'll pay your way
through if you'll come back here
00:53:45.29\00:53:48.62
and work in the summer.
00:53:48.66\00:53:49.99
And then if you will
do something else for us.
00:53:50.33\00:53:56.10
And that is, work
full-time when you graduate."
00:53:56.63\00:53:59.93
He said, "I'll be happy to."
00:54:00.40\00:54:01.74
So he finished up his
degree, came back to the bank,
00:54:01.77\00:54:06.37
became a teller.
00:54:06.41\00:54:08.81
And then he started working as
a vice-president for the bank.
00:54:08.84\00:54:12.75
And at the time that
I was told this story,
00:54:12.85\00:54:16.52
he was the executive
vice-president of the bank.
00:54:16.85\00:54:20.22
In fact, the bank was right
next door to that barber shop.
00:54:21.62\00:54:26.53
When his mother was
in the garbage cans,
00:54:27.36\00:54:32.10
she was only a few feet
from him through the brick wall
00:54:32.37\00:54:36.17
from where his office was
where he sat in a nice office.
00:54:36.27\00:54:39.94
And his mother was in the
garbage cans outside that place.
00:54:40.58\00:54:47.18
"Oh," I said, "why
doesn't he help her?"
00:54:48.25\00:54:51.65
"Oh," he said,
"Jim, he's tried."
00:54:52.32\00:54:54.32
When he first got his first job,
he would take food to his mom.
00:54:55.02\00:55:00.10
Because he had moved out.
00:55:00.30\00:55:01.63
He found some place to
live and he had moved out.
00:55:01.66\00:55:04.77
And he would
take food to her and
00:55:06.23\00:55:08.94
she would say, "Just leave it.
00:55:08.97\00:55:11.61
I don't want it,
but just leave it."
00:55:11.64\00:55:14.81
She wouldn't have
anything to do with him.
00:55:15.54\00:55:17.98
"This place isn't
good enough for you."
00:55:18.68\00:55:20.98
And then he
found clothing for her.
00:55:22.55\00:55:27.32
She actually, when he
brought her a dress one time,
00:55:27.82\00:55:30.09
she threw it out
in the front and said,
00:55:30.13\00:55:31.79
"I don't want anything from you.
00:55:31.83\00:55:33.33
I don't want anything from you."
00:55:34.00\00:55:35.56
And after he got working at
the bank, was making good money,
00:55:36.60\00:55:40.84
was out of college,
he found a little house.
00:55:40.87\00:55:44.84
Clean little place with a
white picket fence around it.
00:55:45.17\00:55:48.31
"Oh," he said, "that
would be just great for my mom."
00:55:48.48\00:55:51.31
And he went down and he said,
00:55:52.18\00:55:53.52
"Mother, I want to
move you into this place."
00:55:53.55\00:55:57.42
And she said,
"My home is my home.
00:55:58.99\00:56:02.79
It's good enough for me.
00:56:02.82\00:56:04.39
Not good enough for you,
but it's good enough for me."
00:56:04.79\00:56:08.16
And she wouldn't have
anything to do with it.
00:56:09.13\00:56:11.33
When I left the barber shop that
day, I walked across the street,
00:56:12.33\00:56:16.47
I'll never forget, I thought,
00:56:16.50\00:56:19.71
"Wow, that's the
way this world is."
00:56:19.74\00:56:23.95
Our Jesus, He
suffered all temptations.
00:56:24.71\00:56:29.55
He went to the cross and He
died to give us life eternal.
00:56:29.78\00:56:34.52
He comes to us and He says,
00:56:35.22\00:56:36.83
"I want to give
you the bread of life."
00:56:36.93\00:56:39.19
And we say, "Oh no, I'm going
to keep raiding the garbage cans
00:56:39.23\00:56:43.23
that Satan has to offer."
00:56:43.26\00:56:44.97
He comes to us and He says,
00:56:45.43\00:56:47.37
I want to give you a
room at the Father's house."
00:56:48.37\00:56:53.21
"Oh no, I'll just
stay with the shacks here."
00:56:53.58\00:56:57.21
He comes and says, "I
want to give you My robe
00:56:57.81\00:57:01.78
of righteousness."
00:57:01.98\00:57:03.65
And we hold on
to our filthy rags.
00:57:04.25\00:57:08.42
Today, give your life to Jesus.
00:57:09.32\00:57:14.20
Father, we thank You for
Jesus and for life eternal.
00:57:14.23\00:57:19.10
We thank You in
Jesus' name, amen.
00:57:19.73\00:57:24.21