The escalation of global terrorism, crime, immorality 00:00:09.34\00:00:12.82 and natural disasters, seems to indicate our world 00:00:12.85\00:00:15.60 is spiraling towards its ultimate hour with destiny. 00:00:15.63\00:00:18.56 Who, if anyone, will survive Earth's final events? 00:00:18.59\00:00:21.60 Discover what Bible prophecy reveals about the rapture, 00:00:21.63\00:00:24.46 the mark of the beast, and Armageddon. 00:00:24.49\00:00:26.74 Though shrouded in mystery for centuries, 00:00:26.77\00:00:28.80 the book of Revelation can be understood today. 00:00:28.83\00:00:32.65 Peer into the future, and see what wonderful things 00:00:32.68\00:00:35.40 God has planned for His people. 00:00:35.43\00:00:38.32 And now, Pastor Brian McMahon presents the powerful 00:00:38.35\00:00:41.48 Bible seminar "Revelation Speaks Hope". 00:00:41.51\00:00:46.13 Our subject for this evening is entitled: [text on screen] 00:00:47.40\00:00:50.61 I have met people who have committed sins in their life, 00:00:50.77\00:00:55.05 and those sins are so burdensome to them that they feel that they 00:00:55.08\00:00:59.93 have committed a sin that is unpardonable before heaven. 00:00:59.96\00:01:03.88 For some, they think that sin is murder, they think 00:01:03.91\00:01:06.34 "Well, I've committed murder, certainly God couldn't accept" 00:01:06.37\00:01:08.77 "me", but we know that murder is not the unpardonable sin. 00:01:08.80\00:01:11.97 Why? Because we see great people 00:01:12.00\00:01:14.65 in the Bible, such as Moses, and even David, who 00:01:14.68\00:01:17.29 committed murder, and yet God forgave them, didn't He? 00:01:17.32\00:01:19.75 In fact, they went on to become great leaders for the Lord. 00:01:19.78\00:01:22.74 Some would say "Well, perhaps it would be denying Christ," 00:01:22.77\00:01:26.16 "it would be denying Him to His face, as it were, with great" 00:01:26.19\00:01:30.34 "swearing and cursing", as some have done, but even then we know 00:01:30.37\00:01:34.14 that that is not unpardonable because Peter did that very 00:01:34.17\00:01:36.94 thing, did he not? And the Lord forgave him, 00:01:36.97\00:01:39.63 and he became a great leader in the Christian faith, 00:01:39.66\00:01:43.00 in the early church. Some say suicide is 00:01:43.03\00:01:45.40 the unpardonable sin. Well, certainly, suicide would 00:01:45.43\00:01:48.18 be a very undesirable way to leave this world, but even 00:01:48.21\00:01:51.73 suicide is not what the Bible calls "the unpardonable" sin. 00:01:51.76\00:01:56.01 God alone is the judge as to who will be saved and who 00:01:56.04\00:01:58.77 will be lost. And God alone will judge 00:01:58.80\00:02:01.47 the condition of that person's mind and heart as they left 00:02:01.50\00:02:03.97 this world, but what exactly is the unpardonable sin, 00:02:04.00\00:02:07.61 and why are we talking about it tonight? 00:02:07.64\00:02:10.12 Well, one reason we're talking about it is because Jesus 00:02:10.15\00:02:12.88 talks about it, and if Jesus talks about it, it must be 00:02:12.91\00:02:15.49 important for you and for me, wouldn't you think so? 00:02:15.52\00:02:18.00 There must be a reason. I will tell you this though, 00:02:18.03\00:02:20.78 and I hope you'll find this as good news, we're not talking 00:02:20.81\00:02:23.38 about the unpardonable sin because we think that anybody 00:02:23.41\00:02:26.15 in this room has committed it. Had you committed 00:02:26.18\00:02:28.72 the unpardonable sin, the chances are you certainly 00:02:28.75\00:02:31.47 would not be here tonight. So why are we talking about it? 00:02:31.50\00:02:34.01 We're talking about it because as we learned the steps 00:02:34.04\00:02:36.67 that lead up to the unpardonable sin, then we'll make 00:02:36.70\00:02:39.27 the decision in our hearts that we don't want to take 00:02:39.30\00:02:41.94 any of those steps. So let's go take a look 00:02:41.97\00:02:44.61 at Matthew 12:30, He says: [text on screen] 00:02:44.64\00:02:48.78 What we're seeing here is that Jesus is taking away 00:02:53.34\00:02:55.65 all neutral ground, He's saying "You're either with Me," 00:02:55.68\00:02:58.36 "or against Me", there's not sitting on the fence, you can't 00:02:58.39\00:03:01.16 just say "Well, I'm not going to make a decision" 00:03:01.19\00:03:03.82 "and somehow I'm going to slip through", no. 00:03:03.85\00:03:06.53 Jesus' is saying "there is only one of 2 sides and you have" 00:03:06.56\00:03:09.13 "to be on My side totally", and then He goes on and talks 00:03:09.16\00:03:12.00 about the one and only sin He can't forgive. 00:03:12.03\00:03:14.70 In verse 31 He says: [text on screen] 00:03:14.73\00:03:17.94 So here the Bible says all manner of sin shall be 00:03:37.93\00:03:41.47 forgiven, what's another word for "manner"? 00:03:41.50\00:03:44.86 Another word for "manner" would be "kind" of sin. 00:03:44.89\00:03:47.23 So any kind of sin, or any type of sin, the Lord says 00:03:47.26\00:03:52.42 it shall be forgiven, isn't that good? 00:03:52.45\00:03:55.55 Don't we serve a wonderful God? We read these verses in John 1:9 00:03:55.58\00:04:00.80 where it says: [text on screen] 00:04:00.83\00:04:04.28 So we may be great sinners, but don't we have a wonderful 00:04:07.02\00:04:09.44 Saviour; no matter what kind of sin you can name, 00:04:09.47\00:04:12.57 whether it be murder, or lying, or stealing, or committing 00:04:12.60\00:04:15.44 adultery, that's a kind of sin, Jesus says that can be forgiven. 00:04:15.47\00:04:18.43 So we know that we don't have to walk around with a great 00:04:18.46\00:04:21.21 burden of guilt on us, we can come to Jesus, we can lay 00:04:21.24\00:04:24.01 that burden down and He says "that can be forgiven", 00:04:24.04\00:04:26.55 we just have to claim His promises, but what about this 00:04:26.58\00:04:29.45 sin that is so unpardonable that it can't be forgiven, 00:04:29.48\00:04:32.63 the Lord says "in this world, or in the next". 00:04:32.66\00:04:35.21 Well, in order to understand the unpardonable sin we have 00:04:35.24\00:04:38.22 to understand the delicate way that the Holy Spirit speaks 00:04:38.25\00:04:40.73 to the human mind. To start doing that, let's go 00:04:40.76\00:04:43.28 to John 16:7, the Bible says: [text on screen] 00:04:43.31\00:04:49.60 "expedient" - which means "necessary", [continues to read] 00:04:50.55\00:04:53.78 Some people think the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force, 00:05:00.70\00:05:03.94 but friends, the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is one of 00:05:03.97\00:05:06.72 the Godhead, the third member of the Godhead, it has 00:05:06.75\00:05:09.27 personality, you can wound the Spirit, you can grieve 00:05:09.30\00:05:12.13 the Spirit, you can resist the Spirit, so let's go on 00:05:12.16\00:05:14.83 to verse 8, where it says: [text on screen] 00:05:14.86\00:05:18.73 Sin, of course, because the Holy Spirit will convict us 00:05:27.00\00:05:29.86 of what is right and what is wrong, the Holy Spirit 00:05:29.89\00:05:32.06 also of righteousness, to lead us to want to do what is right, 00:05:32.09\00:05:34.86 and of judgment to come, to lead us to an understanding 00:05:34.89\00:05:37.79 that we are accountable to our Creator, but this is all 00:05:37.82\00:05:40.71 the works of the Spirit in our life. 00:05:40.74\00:05:43.26 So we know that forgiveness is a gift of God, but did you 00:05:43.29\00:05:46.54 know repentance is a gift of God as well? 00:05:46.57\00:05:49.37 ...that God gives repentance unto people. 00:05:49.40\00:05:51.97 "So is it possible", we ask, "that rather than say 'yes' " 00:05:52.00\00:05:57.30 "to God as God speaks to us, we say 'no' to God?" 00:05:57.33\00:06:01.97 Well, it is possible. Every time we say "no" to God, 00:06:02.00\00:06:05.51 Who is trying to speak to us and say "change your life" 00:06:05.54\00:06:08.35 "here, resist doing this or that evil", "stop doing this" 00:06:08.38\00:06:11.97 "mistake, give your heart to Jesus", every time the Holy 00:06:12.00\00:06:16.39 Spirit is speaking those kinds of words to us, if we resist 00:06:16.42\00:06:20.39 that voice and say "no, I don't want that" in my life, it's as 00:06:20.42\00:06:24.20 if you take a step away from that voice, and you harden your 00:06:24.23\00:06:27.04 heart and that voice is not as clear the second time because 00:06:27.07\00:06:29.64 you've resisted the conscience. So the Holy Spirit again speaks 00:06:29.67\00:06:32.76 to us and says "Come back to Me", and you take another 00:06:32.79\00:06:35.32 step away by saying "no". And every time you say "no" 00:06:35.35\00:06:38.26 it's like putting bricks in a wall between you and God. 00:06:38.29\00:06:41.35 The interesting thing about this "brick in the wall" analogy, 00:06:41.38\00:06:44.98 when you start putting bricks in the wall by saying "no" 00:06:45.01\00:06:47.82 to the voice of God, it becomes easier to say "no" again, 00:06:47.85\00:06:50.37 and pretty soon you're putting in more brings, and more bricks. 00:06:50.40\00:06:54.57 The unpardonable sin is not when a person starts putting bricks 00:06:54.60\00:06:58.97 in the wall, it's when a person has put so many bricks 00:06:59.00\00:07:01.79 in the wall, you've said "no" so many times to that voice 00:07:01.82\00:07:05.59 that you've shut off that voice entirely, and don't 00:07:05.62\00:07:07.35 hear it anymore. It's not that God stops calling 00:07:07.38\00:07:10.30 us, but we're losing our ability to hear. 00:07:10.33\00:07:14.90 To have the Holy Spirit in our life means: [text on screen] 00:07:14.93\00:07:18.29 But what about those who know what God's will is and continue 00:07:25.83\00:07:28.61 to resist and not do it? That's deliberate. 00:07:28.64\00:07:31.07 Well, Jesus said in John 14:15, and you know this from coming 00:07:31.10\00:07:35.42 to the seminar, He says: [text on screen] 00:07:35.45\00:07:38.88 We read that verse a number of times, but what often people 00:07:38.92\00:07:41.76 don't read is what comes after that, because in John 14:16,17 00:07:41.79\00:07:46.04 here's what we read, after telling us to obey Him, He says: 00:07:46.07\00:07:49.07 [text on screen] 00:07:49.11\00:07:51.37 In Acts 5:32, this is another verse that we have seen 00:08:07.20\00:08:10.16 previously, the disciples said: [text on screen] 00:08:10.19\00:08:13.97 So once again, God gives the Holy Spirit to those who desire 00:08:23.77\00:08:30.19 to obey Him. Here's another question for us: 00:08:30.22\00:08:32.69 What is the main reason that God pours out His Spirit 00:08:32.72\00:08:35.88 upon His people? Well, in Acts 1:8, 00:08:35.91\00:08:39.44 this is what we read, the Bible says: [text on screen] 00:08:39.47\00:08:41.39 So the Lord says "When I pour out My Spirit, My sons and" 00:08:53.88\00:08:59.02 "daughters will be witnesses unto Me." 00:08:59.05\00:09:02.01 This is, again, one of the main reasons God desires to fill us 00:09:02.04\00:09:04.84 with His power. Another verse, Acts 4:31, 00:09:04.87\00:09:07.69 the Bible says: [text on screen] 00:09:07.72\00:09:10.52 So the result of being filled with the Holy Ghost is not 00:09:17.31\00:09:19.99 that they could speak in tongues necessarily, there are some 00:09:20.03\00:09:23.03 times in the Bible where it tells us they were given 00:09:23.06\00:09:25.75 that gift, but that is not primarily the reason God poured 00:09:25.79\00:09:28.40 out His Spirit. God poured out His Spirit 00:09:28.43\00:09:30.57 that the gospel will be carried to all the ends of the earth 00:09:30.60\00:09:33.34 with a boldness that they did not have previously. 00:09:33.37\00:09:36.09 Let's go back to John 16:13, the Bible says this: 00:09:36.12\00:09:41.76 [text on screen] 00:09:41.79\00:09:43.91 This is telling us about another work of the Holy Spirit, 00:09:56.75\00:09:59.83 and that is that the Holy Spirit is sent to us to be a teacher, 00:09:59.86\00:10:04.60 and therefore, to resist any teaching of the Bible is not 00:10:04.63\00:10:10.32 simply to resist a teaching, per se, but is to be resisting 00:10:10.35\00:10:13.51 the Holy Spirit that is meant to guide us into that teaching. 00:10:13.54\00:10:16.43 The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 00:10:16.46\00:10:19.40 today and forever, Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6 said "I'm the Lord," 00:10:19.43\00:10:23.61 "I change not." Think about this with me, 00:10:23.64\00:10:25.96 the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible writers 00:10:25.99\00:10:30.94 to write down the words so many years ago that we now 00:10:30.97\00:10:34.40 call "Holy Scripture", that exact same Holy Spirit is 00:10:34.43\00:10:38.28 present here with us tonight to speak to our heart, 00:10:38.31\00:10:42.22 to lead us to understand what those words have to say. 00:10:42.25\00:10:45.54 It's the same Holy Spirit that never changes. 00:10:45.57\00:10:48.11 So when the Holy Spirit is here tonight, the Holy Spirit is 00:10:48.14\00:10:51.39 the same Holy Spirit that caused these words to be written, 00:10:51.42\00:10:54.42 no change. Therefore, if I study the Bible 00:10:54.45\00:10:58.54 and I find out what the Bible says on death, for example, 00:10:58.57\00:11:01.86 and because of my past background, because of my 00:11:01.89\00:11:04.64 past cultural upbringing, I desire not to listen to what 00:11:04.67\00:11:09.14 the Bible has to say, but I insist on clinging to what I 00:11:09.17\00:11:12.18 used to believe, I'm not just resisting a teaching, per se, 00:11:12.21\00:11:17.56 I'm resisting the Holy Spirit that desires to lead me into 00:11:17.59\00:11:20.07 the truth of that teaching. In the day when the Millennium 00:11:20.10\00:11:22.49 is over, and the second resurrection takes place 00:11:22.52\00:11:25.42 and multitude upon multitude raise up in the second 00:11:25.45\00:11:28.30 resurrection, the forever lost, there is going to be 00:11:28.33\00:11:31.18 the greatest feeling of conviction that there has ever 00:11:31.21\00:11:33.85 been, but it's going to be too late. 00:11:33.88\00:11:36.17 At that time they're going to realize when the Bible says 00:11:36.20\00:11:38.84 [text on screen] 00:11:38.87\00:11:40.09 "...that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter" 00:11:40.12\00:11:43.03 "in through the gates into the city", God said what He meant 00:11:43.06\00:11:46.28 and meant what He said. 00:11:46.31\00:11:49.03 At that time they're going to realize they should have 00:11:49.06\00:11:51.53 listened to what the Word had to say. 00:11:51.56\00:11:53.89 Once again, the Bible tells us in Revelation 19:15, speaking 00:11:53.92\00:11:56.58 of the second coming of Jesus, it says: [text on screen] 00:11:56.61\00:11:59.42 What is this sword? Well, Hebrews 4:12 says 00:12:00.63\00:12:03.36 "The Word of God is a sharp sword", so the Word of God 00:12:03.39\00:12:06.07 is pictured coming out of the Lord's mouth and smiting 00:12:06.10\00:12:09.81 the nations, why are they smitten with the Word? 00:12:09.84\00:12:12.84 Because they have not obeyed the Word, the Word was there, 00:12:12.87\00:12:15.81 they could have obeyed it, this goes right along with 00:12:15.84\00:12:18.56 John 3:19, we've covered this on a previous night. 00:12:18.59\00:12:21.27 In John 3:19 the Bible says "And this is the condemnation", 00:12:21.30\00:12:24.14 which is another way of saying "this is why people will be" 00:12:24.17\00:12:26.85 "condemned", [continues to read] 00:12:26.88\00:12:29.62 Being a committed Christian is not just living up to 00:12:34.73\00:12:38.18 the truth that you do know, it's having our minds open 00:12:38.21\00:12:41.22 to the truths that God wants to share with us that we 00:12:41.25\00:12:43.73 don't know. It's living up to what we do 00:12:43.76\00:12:46.51 know, but it's also being open to what the Bible has to say 00:12:46.54\00:12:49.71 about what we don't know, because, again, God wants 00:12:49.74\00:12:52.42 to always lead us onward. In John 7:43, here's what 00:12:52.45\00:12:57.11 we read, it says: [text on screen] 00:12:57.14\00:12:59.77 In other words, what they were saying was: 00:13:09.76\00:13:12.65 "we are convicted, this is different than what we've" 00:13:12.68\00:13:15.39 "heard, we feel that this could be right, never have we heard" 00:13:15.42\00:13:18.21 "things that have come from this man." 00:13:18.24\00:13:20.85 Okay, so then listen what they said back: [text on screen] 00:13:20.88\00:13:23.70 Can you see what they're saying? They're saying "Hey listen," 00:13:28.76\00:13:32.21 "until the popular people have believed it, then you don't" 00:13:32.24\00:13:34.90 "have to believe it, until the popular ministers believe it," 00:13:34.93\00:13:39.11 "then you don't have to believe it", it' no different today. 00:13:39.14\00:13:43.27 Let's go to 2 Thessalonians 2:9, Paul says: [text on screen] 00:13:43.30\00:13:48.26 So you see, it is Satan that depends upon the wonders 00:13:54.28\00:13:57.79 and the signs, because he can deceive people by it. 00:13:57.82\00:14:00.64 Let's read on: [text on screen] 00:14:00.67\00:14:03.35 The insincere person tries to change the Word to fit 00:14:08.83\00:14:12.80 his desires, the sincere person says "Lord, change my desires" 00:14:12.84\00:14:16.51 "to fit Your Word." Let's keep reading, it says: 00:14:16.54\00:14:19.74 [text on screen] 00:14:19.77\00:14:21.98 It's not that God sends a lie necessarily, but if you turn 00:14:32.97\00:14:35.65 away from truth, that's all there's left is lies, 00:14:35.68\00:14:38.56 you shut off the light, there's darkness, why? 00:14:38.59\00:14:41.21 Because you only have the 2. 00:14:41.24\00:14:43.63 When you turn away from truth, you're going to accept a lie 00:14:43.66\00:14:46.74 somehow, someway, Satan will provide it. 00:14:46.77\00:14:49.43 If I am going to believe with all my heart, and all my soul, 00:14:49.46\00:14:52.18 that my beloved grandmother is up in heaven right now, 00:14:52.21\00:14:55.17 is it going to make it so? No, because the Bible says 00:14:55.20\00:14:57.90 "the dead know not anything". The Bible says the dead are 00:14:57.93\00:15:01.22 asleep awaiting the call of the life giver, Jesus, in 00:15:01.25\00:15:04.23 the resurrection. So I might want to believe it, 00:15:04.26\00:15:07.76 I might be sincere in believing it, it's not going to make 00:15:07.79\00:15:10.62 it so though. Be careful of excuses friends, 00:15:10.65\00:15:15.56 because people can use excuses when they don't want to 00:15:15.59\00:15:18.66 really follow what God has to say. 00:15:18.69\00:15:21.68 There's a story in the Old Testament that I want to share 00:15:21.71\00:15:24.35 with you, and that is the story of King Saul. 00:15:24.38\00:15:27.49 King Saul started good, and then he started going his own thing 00:15:27.52\00:15:31.22 he wasn't listening to God as closely as the Lord wanted 00:15:31.25\00:15:34.21 him to, and finally the Lord was going to give him a test, 00:15:34.24\00:15:37.03 and said "King Saul, you go down among the Amalekites, they are" 00:15:37.06\00:15:39.87 "so wicked they've passed the time of their probation", 00:15:39.90\00:15:42.77 and I'm paraphrasing some here, but He said "I want you" 00:15:42.80\00:15:45.67 "to go down with your army and slay everything, EVERYTHING," 00:15:45.70\00:15:49.42 "I don't want nothing left." King Saul said "Okay," 00:15:49.45\00:15:52.29 "I'm going to do it." So there's King Saul, he takes 00:15:52.32\00:15:54.93 his army down among the Amalekites, and he slays 00:15:54.96\00:15:58.09 everything, but...here's the "but", remember what the goats 00:15:58.12\00:16:01.30 are known for? "Butting". 00:16:01.33\00:16:04.64 ...but he leaves the king alive and some of their animals, 00:16:04.67\00:16:08.11 because "Hey, why slay our animals in sacrifice, why not" 00:16:08.14\00:16:10.78 "use their animals and keep ours alive?" 00:16:10.81\00:16:13.31 So he rationalizes this out. He comes back from the victory, 00:16:13.34\00:16:17.84 and who does he meet coming along the way, but the prophet 00:16:17.87\00:16:20.78 Samuel, isn't it interesting that the prophet always comes 00:16:20.81\00:16:23.63 along at just the right time? God's timing is perfect. 00:16:23.66\00:16:26.93 So the prophet Samuel comes marching down the road 00:16:26.96\00:16:30.66 and King Saul says "I've obeyed the commandment of the Lord." 00:16:30.69\00:16:37.58 And Samuel just cuts right through that and says 00:16:37.61\00:16:40.42 "Oh, is that right? Why do I hear this bleating" 00:16:40.45\00:16:43.13 "of sheep in my ears if you've obeyed God?" 00:16:43.16\00:16:45.90 "In other words, if you've obeyed God, I would not" 00:16:45.93\00:16:48.81 "be hearing the sounds of animals." 00:16:48.84\00:16:51.52 Then Samuel says this to King Saul, which is so pertinent 00:16:51.55\00:16:54.38 to our subject tonight. It says in 1 Samuel 15:22: 00:16:54.41\00:16:57.70 [text on screen] 00:16:57.73\00:16:59.86 Friends, you can do all kinds of things in the name of worship, 00:17:11.77\00:17:14.75 all kinds of things as a pretense of obeying God, 00:17:14.78\00:17:17.96 but unless you really are obeying God, the Lord says 00:17:17.99\00:17:21.58 "It means nothing", to obey is better than sacrifice, 00:17:21.61\00:17:25.57 better than the pretense of worship. 00:17:25.60\00:17:29.37 Friends, that's what God was looking for then, He's looking 00:17:29.40\00:17:31.86 for that also tonight, isn't He? Remember, if we're not 00:17:31.89\00:17:36.00 the hearers of the law, or just before God, but the doers" 00:17:36.03\00:17:39.11 "of the law shall be justified." So once again, be careful 00:17:39.14\00:17:42.01 of excuses because if we start getting down the path 00:17:42.04\00:17:45.39 of excuses, the Devil will give us 100 excuses, if not 1000, 00:17:45.42\00:17:49.09 as to why we don't have to really follow the will of God. 00:17:49.12\00:17:53.66 You can follow an excuse if you want, but you'll still be held 00:17:53.69\00:17:56.24 accountable. 00:17:56.27\00:17:58.98 I've shown some people things that in the Bible that are so 00:17:59.74\00:18:02.47 plain, so clear, you couldn't deny it, and yet they'll just 00:18:02.50\00:18:07.06 say "Well, I don't think it's that important." 00:18:07.09\00:18:10.05 What would God think of that, if you say "Well I just don't" 00:18:10.08\00:18:13.02 "think that is important." In other words, "Lord," 00:18:13.05\00:18:15.64 "You wrote that it in there, but I guess it was just" 00:18:15.67\00:18:18.27 "to fill up space." That's playing the Holy Spirit 00:18:18.30\00:18:21.05 if we think that we'll decide what's important and what's 00:18:21.08\00:18:23.80 not important. Some insist on saying 00:18:23.83\00:18:26.40 "Well, that's just the way we've always done it." 00:18:26.43\00:18:29.03 "Yes, the Bible says a different thing, but we've just always" 00:18:29.06\00:18:31.94 "done it that way, my father did, my grandfather did it," 00:18:31.97\00:18:34.77 "so I guess I'll have to do it." What that person is really 00:18:34.80\00:18:37.61 saying is "God I've already made up my mind what I'm going" 00:18:37.64\00:18:40.45 "to believe, so what You have to say really doesn't matter." 00:18:40.48\00:18:43.30 Let's just say it the way it really is. 00:18:43.33\00:18:45.99 Friends, know this: that God does not reveal all of His will 00:18:46.02\00:18:48.60 to us at any one time. He does that out of love for us, 00:18:48.63\00:18:51.29 you knew that, didn't you? Because if He did it would 00:18:51.32\00:18:54.09 overwhelm us, but what they don't realize is that because 00:18:54.12\00:18:56.81 you have been a good Christian, because you have been living 00:18:56.84\00:18:59.68 up to the light that you knew, God is blessing you 00:18:59.71\00:19:02.29 with more light, it's not to be a burden in your life, 00:19:02.32\00:19:05.01 it's a blessing to you, it's actually a reward to you 00:19:05.04\00:19:07.97 for your faithfulness. So don't think that you can't 00:19:08.00\00:19:12.76 see new light just because you've been a Christian 00:19:12.79\00:19:15.37 for past years and have not seen it before. 00:19:15.40\00:19:17.99 In other words, Jesus says "Walk while you have the light" 00:19:18.02\00:19:20.79 "lest that light turn into darkness", so the light can only 00:19:20.82\00:19:23.53 be with us a period of time. Proverbs 4:18 says: 00:19:23.56\00:19:26.93 [text on screen] 00:19:26.96\00:19:28.97 If we are not willing to continue in growth then 00:19:33.07\00:19:35.67 that verse can't possibly be fulfilled in our life; 00:19:35.70\00:19:38.50 to shine more and more unto the perfect day, as God 00:19:38.53\00:19:41.56 desires it to happen in our life. 00:19:41.59\00:19:43.76 If someone says "My church follows something differently", 00:19:43.79\00:19:46.56 we have to say to our self "What is going to be the final" 00:19:46.59\00:19:49.32 "authority in our life? Is it going to be God's Word," 00:19:49.35\00:19:52.00 "or is it going to be the church we happen to attend?" 00:19:52.03\00:19:54.83 In Acts 18:24 the Bible says [text on screen] 00:19:54.86\00:19:57.78 "eloquent man" - there's the first nice thing the Bible 00:19:58.60\00:20:01.30 has to say about this man, "and mighty in the Scripture", 00:20:01.33\00:20:04.15 there's the second nice thing, [text on screen] 00:20:04.18\00:20:07.11 "synagogue" - let's stop there. This man was eloquent, 00:20:21.69\00:20:25.42 this man was instructed in the way of the Lord, 00:20:25.45\00:20:28.20 this man was fervent in the Spirit, this man was bold 00:20:28.23\00:20:31.02 in his preaching, this man... 00:20:31.05\00:20:33.81 well, let's face it, everyone would love to have him 00:20:33.84\00:20:36.90 as a pastor in their church. You look at all those 00:20:36.94\00:20:39.69 qualifications, does that mean he couldn't be taught anything? 00:20:39.72\00:20:42.72 Does that mean he couldn't grow? Let's look what it says next: 00:20:42.75\00:20:46.24 [text on screen] 00:20:46.27\00:20:48.39 Could he learn? Yes, it doesn't matter friends 00:20:57.91\00:21:02.35 how eloquent a person is, how bold, how fervent, 00:21:02.38\00:21:05.92 how instructed, they always could be taught more. 00:21:05.95\00:21:09.68 They took him and said "You, with all of your gifts," 00:21:09.71\00:21:12.62 "can know the way of God more perfectly still." 00:21:12.65\00:21:15.50 So it is today. There are many who insist 00:21:15.53\00:21:19.43 on running to their pastors, priests or rabbis, they'll say 00:21:19.46\00:21:21.79 "Pastor, Priest or Rabbi, whatever you say is okay" 00:21:21.82\00:21:24.70 "with me, I've got a question: I learned an issue down" 00:21:24.73\00:21:27.56 "at the seminar, and I'm not really sure about it, I mean," 00:21:27.59\00:21:30.32 "it's what the Bible says, but we teach differently on it," 00:21:30.35\00:21:33.04 "so I'm going to throw it over to you, and whatever you say," 00:21:33.07\00:21:35.73 "that's okay with me". Do you know, now listen 00:21:35.76\00:21:38.35 carefully lest you misunderstand these next words, 00:21:38.38\00:21:41.16 that is a cult mentality? I'm not saying they're in 00:21:41.19\00:21:43.69 a cult, but I'm saying it's a cult mentality to simply say 00:21:43.72\00:21:46.13 "Here's our leader, and whatever our leader has to say", 00:21:46.16\00:21:48.64 it's talking about a human leader, "then that's what" 00:21:48.67\00:21:51.39 "we're going to do", that's one of the characteristics 00:21:51.42\00:21:54.14 of a cult. Friends, it's like tossing your 00:21:54.17\00:21:56.87 eternal life over to someone and saying "here, you handle" 00:21:56.90\00:21:59.51 "it for me, I can't figure it out, so you take care of it." 00:21:59.54\00:22:02.30 How dangerous is that? You see, I don't mind 00:22:02.33\00:22:04.97 if people come to me and ask me questions, in fact, I quite 00:22:05.00\00:22:07.79 enjoy it, I enjoy a good discussion in God's Word, 00:22:07.82\00:22:10.54 but even though I enjoy that, and I'm willing to give as good 00:22:10.57\00:22:13.23 answers as I know how, I don't want anyone putting their 00:22:13.26\00:22:15.92 final trust me because I'm a fallible human being. 00:22:15.95\00:22:18.66 So I will always say: put your final trust in the Bible 00:22:18.69\00:22:21.41 and follow the Bible because that's what we want to do. 00:22:21.44\00:22:24.13 So we don't want to be gullible and go down that road 00:22:24.16\00:22:26.77 and say "Well, whatever my pastor says, I'm just going" 00:22:26.80\00:22:29.42 "to take that and throw out what I've learnt." 00:22:29.45\00:22:31.84 Some will say "Well, I can't follow what I've learned." 00:22:31.87\00:22:34.66 I'll say "Why not?" "Well, others would make" 00:22:34.69\00:22:37.37 "fun of me." 00:22:37.40\00:22:40.39 What did Jesus say? "Blessed are you" 00:22:41.33\00:22:44.36 "when men shall revile you, persecute you and say" 00:22:44.39\00:22:47.74 "all manner of evil against you falsely for My name's sake," 00:22:47.77\00:22:50.64 "rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward" 00:22:50.67\00:22:56.67 "in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were" 00:22:56.70\00:22:58.94 "before you." So we can't think that we will 00:22:58.97\00:23:04.11 never ever face opposition because we know truth. 00:23:04.14\00:23:07.97 If someone makes fun of us for being a Christian, is that 00:23:08.00\00:23:11.71 the worst thing that can come to us? 00:23:11.74\00:23:14.66 When millions of people have laid down their life to follow 00:23:14.69\00:23:17.53 Jesus in the past? Why, as I shared with you, 00:23:17.56\00:23:20.30 I think it was a week ago, when someone makes fun 00:23:20.33\00:23:23.13 of us friends, God is giving us an opportunity to build strong 00:23:23.16\00:23:25.76 spiritual muscles. We are building the spiritual 00:23:25.79\00:23:29.47 muscles that are necessary to take us through to the end. 00:23:29.50\00:23:32.25 So rather than be glum and despondent about it, 00:23:32.28\00:23:35.22 rejoice in it, as Jesus says, and says "Listen, you have" 00:23:35.25\00:23:38.03 "a reward for following truth," but any experience like that 00:23:38.23\00:23:41.21 that comes to us is a necessary experience, did you know that? 00:23:41.24\00:23:44.28 I'm going to tell you tomorrow morning about my personal 00:23:44.31\00:23:46.96 testimony, as much as I can fit in the time that we have, 00:23:46.99\00:23:49.64 and I will share with you how I went through a lot of these 00:23:49.67\00:23:52.55 very same things, but I'm so glad now I went through them, 00:23:52.58\00:23:55.34 it wasn't enjoyable at the time, I don't think I jumped up 00:23:55.37\00:23:58.05 and was exceeding glad at the time, but I will tell you now 00:23:58.08\00:24:00.91 as I look back on it, I am glad God put me through. 00:24:00.94\00:24:04.92 There'll be those that'll come up to me and they'll say 00:24:06.67\00:24:09.40 "Well, Pastor Brian, I went to your seminar and I learned" 00:24:09.43\00:24:12.34 "the things that you shared, and I couldn't help but seeing" 00:24:12.37\00:24:14.96 "that it was in the Bible, but I went home and talked to my" 00:24:14.99\00:24:17.76 "brother-in-law and he disagrees with you" 00:24:17.79\00:24:20.47 "Pastor Brian, and furthermore, he has got a Ph.D." 00:24:20.50\00:24:24.72 I'll say "Really?" First of all, he didn't say what 00:24:26.19\00:24:28.83 he had a PhD in, it could be a PhD in Entomology, 00:24:28.86\00:24:32.77 the study of insects, we don't know. [Audience laughs] 00:24:32.80\00:24:36.37 What could it be? It might not be necessarily 00:24:36.40\00:24:39.07 Theology, furthermore, every church has PhDs. 00:24:39.10\00:24:41.94 Now, I'm not against higher education, as long as it 00:24:41.97\00:24:44.68 doesn't mix us up in the Bible, but I'm not against higher 00:24:44.71\00:24:47.45 education at all, but friends, every church has PhDs, 00:24:47.48\00:24:50.16 the Catholic church has PhDs, and the Baptist church has PhDs 00:24:50.19\00:24:52.79 and the Seventh Day Adventist church has PhDs, and there are 00:24:52.82\00:24:55.39 differences in beliefs, so PhDs are not an 00:24:55.42\00:24:58.05 assurance of having a proper understanding in the Bible. 00:24:58.08\00:25:00.61 But I like to share it this way, I say "Listen, there's no one" 00:25:00.64\00:25:03.96 "with a PhD that's going to stand beside you in" 00:25:03.99\00:25:06.65 "the judgment and answer for you." 00:25:06.68\00:25:09.15 That's number 1, number 2, the only degree we really need 00:25:09.18\00:25:12.88 to go through is what I call a TBA, we're all going 00:25:12.91\00:25:17.02 to need that, and you know why? Because that stands 00:25:17.05\00:25:19.86 for "Truly Born Again", [Audience] Amen. 00:25:19.89\00:25:22.68 ...Jesus said "unless you're born again you shall not" 00:25:22.71\00:25:25.41 "see the kingdom of heaven", so we all need a TBA, 00:25:25.44\00:25:28.15 and you know what, truly born again people will follow 00:25:28.18\00:25:30.79 the Word of God for what it says, so we don't have to 00:25:30.82\00:25:33.58 worry about that. Someone will say 00:25:33.61\00:25:36.28 "But Pastor Brian, my pastor sees differently than you do", 00:25:36.31\00:25:42.36 I like to say "Well no, it's not what I say, it's what the Bible" 00:25:42.39\00:25:45.25 "says", but nevertheless they'll say "My pastor sees differently" 00:25:45.28\00:25:48.05 "than that, and furthermore, he is so sincere." 00:25:48.08\00:25:52.90 I get this one almost as much as anything, they'll say 00:25:53.73\00:25:56.71 "He is such a sincere man, how can he be wrong when" 00:25:56.74\00:26:00.86 "he just oozes sincerity?" So how can he be wrong? 00:26:00.89\00:26:06.24 My wife and I, when we're not in seminars, we travel a lot, 00:26:06.27\00:26:08.88 we do a lot of driving, so we're going down the road 00:26:08.91\00:26:11.74 and I don't know what it is, when we're traveling together, 00:26:11.77\00:26:15.09 my wife and I, I like to be the one behind the wheel, 00:26:15.12\00:26:19.01 you know, men, what I'm talking about? 00:26:19.04\00:26:21.57 I could sit over in the passenger seat, but I don't 00:26:21.60\00:26:24.23 like it over there, I want to be the one behind the wheel, 00:26:24.26\00:26:26.92 it's a man thing. I guess it's a control thing, 00:26:26.95\00:26:29.44 I don't know, but I've got to have the wheel, I've got 00:26:29.47\00:26:32.20 to be in charge of the wheel. Then she sits over in 00:26:32.23\00:26:35.03 the passenger side there and I give her the map, and I think 00:26:35.06\00:26:38.63 "I'll let her think that she's the navigator, but who do I" 00:26:38.66\00:26:47.11 "really think is the navigator?" I think I'm the navigator, 00:26:47.14\00:26:50.18 but I'll let her play that part. So we're going down the road 00:26:50.21\00:26:54.74 and she will say to me, she'll say "honey, we need to turn" 00:26:54.77\00:26:58.48 "over here", now I think "no we don't, it's up here." 00:26:58.51\00:27:03.14 So I drive a little bit, I drive past the exit and I go up 00:27:03.17\00:27:06.28 and I'll say "no, I know where I'm going" and I'm driving 00:27:06.31\00:27:11.05 up here, right? I don't see the exit and I 00:27:11.08\00:27:14.02 think "Hmmmm...?" And I drive a little bit further 00:27:14.05\00:27:16.87 and sweat starts coming down, she says "you know, we really" 00:27:16.90\00:27:19.43 "should have turned back there", "No, it's up here, I know" 00:27:19.46\00:27:23.25 "it's up here", more sweat, [Audience laughs] 00:27:23.28\00:27:27.25 because I don't like being wrong on this. 00:27:27.28\00:27:29.63 Pretty soon I realize... I'm sincere, it's not that I 00:27:29.66\00:27:33.63 like driving 20 miles by the exit, I don't like doing that, 00:27:33.66\00:27:37.55 I don't like wasting time, but there are times when I'm 00:27:37.58\00:27:40.11 really sincere about thinking I know where I'm going. 00:27:40.14\00:27:44.98 Then what do I do? Swallow down, humble myself, 00:27:45.01\00:27:47.74 turn around, head back to where she said she should exit 00:27:47.77\00:27:51.37 because she was right, as usual. 00:27:51.40\00:27:53.54 So you see, my point being, you can be sincere, you can 00:27:53.57\00:27:57.43 still be sincerely wrong. That's why the conscience 00:27:57.46\00:28:01.21 needs to be educated with the Word. 00:28:01.24\00:28:03.75 There are people over there on the other side of the world, 00:28:03.78\00:28:06.27 and even right here in the US who will do all kinds of 00:28:06.30\00:28:09.06 incredibly brutal and horrible acts thinking that it's 00:28:09.09\00:28:11.76 the right thing because their consciences are not educated 00:28:11.79\00:28:14.68 according to the Word of God. So what is the end result? 00:28:14.71\00:28:17.62 I can't depend on feeling, I can't depend on tradition, 00:28:17.65\00:28:21.17 I can't depend on habit, all of those things can be wrong, 00:28:21.20\00:28:25.27 I can't depend even on sincerity. 00:28:25.30\00:28:27.67 God wants us to be sincere. The only thing I can do is come 00:28:27.70\00:28:32.55 to the Lord with an open heart and an open Bible and say 00:28:32.58\00:28:35.19 "Dear Lord, You show me what is right and that's what I'm" 00:28:35.22\00:28:37.90 "going to do", once again, the Spirit will lead us. 00:28:37.93\00:28:42.10 Some people "Well, I am going to do it, I'm just not" 00:28:42.13\00:28:45.30 "going to do it now." Okay, I'm going to see if you've 00:28:45.33\00:28:48.67 been paying attention now. 00:28:48.70\00:28:51.80 3 frogs are sitting on a log on a pond, and one of them 00:28:53.31\00:28:57.75 decided to jump off, so how many is left? [Audience] 2. 00:28:57.78\00:29:01.33 Most of you didn't get it, so I'm going to have to say 00:29:01.36\00:29:03.28 it again, only this time I'll emphasize the key word 00:29:03.31\00:29:07.48 and then you're going to get it: 3 frogs are sitting on a log 00:29:07.51\00:29:12.33 on a pond. One of them decides to jump off, 00:29:12.36\00:29:16.87 so how many are left? [Audience] Three. 00:29:16.90\00:29:19.45 Three, you got it now. Why? 00:29:19.48\00:29:22.19 Because deciding to is not the same as doing it. 00:29:22.22\00:29:25.51 You can sit there all day long and say "I'm going to do it," 00:29:25.54\00:29:28.20 "I'm going to do it," Friends, when you really 00:29:28.23\00:29:31.03 want to do something, you're going to do it right now. 00:29:31.06\00:29:33.90 Can I say I am going to quit smoking after I smoke this pack 00:29:33.93\00:29:37.28 and this pack, and this carton, am I really sincere? 00:29:37.31\00:29:40.63 Can I say "Yes, you know, I've got a shoplifting habit," 00:29:40.66\00:29:43.44 "and I am going to quit stealing, yes I'm going" 00:29:43.47\00:29:46.15 "to quit stealing, I just want to hit this store, and that" 00:29:46.18\00:29:48.76 "store, and hit that store over there"? [Audience laughs] 00:29:48.79\00:29:51.69 When you really are sincere you're going to quit right now, 00:29:51.72\00:29:54.59 you're going to do it right now, that's what it really means. 00:29:54.62\00:29:57.27 Turn with me to Psalm 51, the Bible says: "If I regard" 00:29:57.30\00:30:02.24 "iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." 00:30:02.27\00:30:05.90 Well, why is that? Because you're planning to do wrong. 00:30:05.93\00:30:08.67 You can't fully repent, at the same time plan to do what's 00:30:08.70\00:30:12.40 wrong. David, of course, did something 00:30:12.43\00:30:15.61 that was very, very wrong. When he did his horrible sin 00:30:15.64\00:30:19.68 with Bathsheba, he thought that he might have gotten away 00:30:19.71\00:30:22.65 with something, but God sent the prophet Nathan up to David 00:30:22.68\00:30:25.87 and in essence he said "David, you know when you did that," 00:30:25.90\00:30:28.58 "God wasn't sleeping. God wasn't off in some corner" 00:30:28.61\00:30:31.88 "somewhere and didn't watch it. God knew all that you did." 00:30:31.91\00:30:34.92 The wonderful thing about David is that David is a man that knew 00:30:34.95\00:30:38.87 how to repent, didn't he? He could do some things 00:30:38.90\00:30:41.70 wrong at times, but boy, could this man repent, 00:30:41.73\00:30:44.22 And that might be what sets David above some of us 00:30:44.25\00:30:47.31 sometimes, but Psalm 51, here's a beautiful passage here, 00:30:47.34\00:30:51.22 we can't read it all through, I hope that you will if you 00:30:51.25\00:30:53.97 haven't already. Let's go down to verse 10, 00:30:54.00\00:30:56.33 put your name right in there: [text on screen] 00:30:56.36\00:30:59.07 Verse 11 is the vital verse: [text on screen] 00:31:05.03\00:31:07.44 Why did David pray "Lord, don't take your Holy Spirit from me"? 00:31:14.27\00:31:17.33 Because David knew that if God took the Holy Spirit from him, 00:31:17.36\00:31:21.01 he would remain in his sins, because it's only the Holy 00:31:21.04\00:31:24.32 Spirit that leads him to want to repent. 00:31:24.35\00:31:27.46 David said in Psalm 19:13, David said: [text on screen] 00:31:27.49\00:31:31.28 "Presumptuous sins", David said "Don't let me commit those," 00:31:40.68\00:31:44.68 "those are sins, when you go into it knowing what you're" 00:31:44.71\00:31:47.81 "doing, but you're going to do it anyway." 00:31:47.84\00:31:51.27 So here's the question folks: what is the sin against 00:31:51.30\00:31:54.03 the Holy Spirit? What is the 1 sin that can't be forgiven? 00:31:54.06\00:31:56.54 Let me try and say it in as simply a language as I know how: 00:31:56.57\00:31:59.00 the sin that God does not forgive is when you know 00:31:59.03\00:32:02.53 something is wrong, but you persistently continue to do that 00:32:02.56\00:32:08.15 thing which is wrong, and you refuse to do that which is right 00:32:08.18\00:32:11.76 and finally, you don't hear God's voice anymore calling 00:32:11.79\00:32:14.83 you to want to repent. 00:32:14.86\00:32:17.13 There's a wall of resistance that's been built up in 00:32:17.76\00:32:20.42 the mind, there's a callousness that's gone there, 00:32:20.45\00:32:23.68 that's what Paul means when he says to Timothy 00:32:23.71\00:32:26.31 that the conscience is seared with a hot iron, remember 00:32:26.34\00:32:29.27 reading that? That's what he's talking about, 00:32:29.30\00:32:32.04 there's a callousness there that all of a sudden, it's not 00:32:32.07\00:32:34.90 that that person can't be forgiven, God could forgive it, 00:32:34.93\00:32:38.26 any type of sin can be forgiven, the unpardonable sin is not 00:32:38.29\00:32:41.67 murder per se, an adultery per se, or lying, or stealing 00:32:41.70\00:32:44.41 per se, God can forgive all of those things, can't He? 00:32:44.44\00:32:47.98 It might be what might be considered a little thing, 00:32:48.01\00:32:50.81 but that person consistently cherishes it, and holds on to 00:32:50.84\00:32:53.85 it, and won't let it go, it's not that God wouldn't forgive 00:32:53.88\00:32:57.14 it, but that person doesn't want it to be forgiven, 00:32:57.17\00:33:00.39 so they don't give it over to God, they don't let God 00:33:00.42\00:33:03.20 forgive it. [text on screen] 00:33:03.23\00:33:05.85 Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into this world, we read in John 16, 00:33:16.62\00:33:21.10 to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment, and to lead us 00:33:21.13\00:33:26.74 into all truth. So if we refuse to allow 00:33:26.77\00:33:30.95 the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, we're refusing 00:33:30.98\00:33:33.68 the Holy Spirit to do the work that He was sent into this world 00:33:33.71\00:33:36.47 to do. When the Bible says that 00:33:36.50\00:33:38.79 the Holy Spirit was sent to convict of sin, remember 00:33:38.82\00:33:41.55 what we learnt what sin was? Sin is the transgression 00:33:41.58\00:33:46.18 of the law. So that means that the Holy 00:33:46.21\00:33:49.44 Spirit is going to convict us of where we are 00:33:49.47\00:33:52.67 transgressing God's law. It might be that we're 00:33:52.70\00:33:55.87 committing adultery. When someone might first 00:33:55.90\00:33:58.47 commit adultery they might be convicted about it, 00:33:58.50\00:34:01.28 but you can do something and be convicted about it, 00:34:01.31\00:34:04.22 but then remain in it, and keep doing it, 00:34:04.25\00:34:07.31 and doing it, and pretty soon they don't feel 00:34:07.34\00:34:10.16 anything wrong with it, "No big deal" they'll say. 00:34:10.19\00:34:12.51 What have they done? They've pushed the Holy 00:34:12.54\00:34:14.90 Spirit's voice away. I'm going to share with you 00:34:14.93\00:34:17.88 my personal testimony tomorrow morning, but I will tell you 00:34:17.91\00:34:20.66 this, there was a time in my life when God was convicting 00:34:20.69\00:34:23.58 me about His law, and there was finally a time when it built up 00:34:23.61\00:34:26.45 in my mind to such a degree I said "I can no longer" 00:34:26.48\00:34:29.21 "continue to do this and sin against God." 00:34:29.24\00:34:31.84 That's what conviction is, that's what conscience is, 00:34:31.87\00:34:34.59 God wants us to have our spiritual antenna up on high 00:34:34.62\00:34:37.60 so that we will easily, continually, receive those 00:34:37.63\00:34:41.67 messages from the Holy Spirit. Sin in our life is a slow 00:34:41.70\00:34:48.55 strangulation of the spiritual nature. 00:34:48.58\00:34:53.95 Some people will say to me, they'll say "Well, I can't" 00:34:53.98\00:34:56.73 "keep the Sabbath", I'll say "Why can't you keep" 00:34:56.76\00:34:59.50 "the Sabbath?" They'll say "Well, if I keep" 00:34:59.53\00:35:03.56 "the Sabbath I can't make the kind of money I'm making now." 00:35:03.59\00:35:06.80 "And because I've been working on that day, I've been able" 00:35:06.83\00:35:09.51 "to not only get a bigger house, I've been able to get 2" 00:35:09.54\00:35:12.38 "of the most late models cars, I've been able to get" 00:35:12.41\00:35:15.12 "a ranch in the High Desert, I've got a lot of things" 00:35:15.15\00:35:20.38 "because I worked on that time." When that person raises 00:35:20.41\00:35:26.68 up in the second resurrection and they're outside of the walls 00:35:26.71\00:35:31.67 of the New Jerusalem, which we've talked about on the night 00:35:31.70\00:35:34.66 of the Millennium, and they're saying "Lord, Lord, why?" 00:35:34.69\00:35:37.84 "Why am I not in, why am I outside and not inside" 00:35:37.87\00:35:40.48 "those walls?" And Jesus says "You did not" 00:35:40.51\00:35:44.92 "show yourself a faithful steward, you did not show" 00:35:44.95\00:35:47.52 "yourself desirous of keeping the laws of heaven," 00:35:47.55\00:35:50.96 "and because I couldn't trust you there, I can't trust you" 00:35:50.99\00:35:54.03 "here". And that person will say 00:35:54.06\00:35:56.56 "But Lord, look what I've been able to accumulate." 00:35:56.59\00:36:00.05 "I worked on the Sabbath, sure I did, but I got a lot of stuff" 00:36:00.08\00:36:03.60 "from it." The Lord is going to say 00:36:03.63\00:36:06.55 "Well where's those things now? What good are all those things" 00:36:06.58\00:36:10.03 "to you now?" I don't know all Jesus would 00:36:10.06\00:36:13.09 say to that, but He might say something like this: He might 00:36:13.12\00:36:15.75 turn to the New Jerusalem and say "Well you know what?" 00:36:15.78\00:36:20.96 "We own it all here, we own everything here." 00:36:20.99\00:36:26.92 "And all of this glory could have been given to you" 00:36:26.95\00:36:29.95 "for free for eternity, but you did not choose to be faithful" 00:36:29.98\00:36:37.89 "on earth, I can't trust you here." 00:36:37.92\00:36:40.67 Friends, when light comes, we need to see it as a 00:36:40.70\00:36:43.39 precious thing. Don't say to yourself: 00:36:43.42\00:36:47.45 "One day I'll quit smoking, let me smoke this carton first." 00:36:47.48\00:36:50.69 Or don't say "One day I'll keep the Sabbath, let me make a few" 00:36:50.72\00:36:53.21 "more dollars first." Or don't say "I'm going to soon get" 00:36:53.24\00:36:56.53 "my anger under control, let me get rid of my spouse first" 00:36:56.56\00:37:00.14 [Audience laughs] Don't say that friends. 00:37:00.17\00:37:02.77 The problem is not the Sabbath, and the problem is not your 00:37:02.80\00:37:05.80 spouse, the problem is we need new hearts, and if we get 00:37:05.83\00:37:10.01 a new heart it'll solve these issues, and when God has 00:37:10.04\00:37:13.27 people that have new hearts, and God has people that want 00:37:13.30\00:37:16.25 to serve Him, and the Holy Spirit writes His law in their 00:37:16.28\00:37:19.65 heart, that they want to do all that God says, but then 00:37:19.68\00:37:22.68 what does God do with these precious people? 00:37:22.71\00:37:25.38 Well the Bible has an answer to that in 1 Corinthians 12:13 00:37:25.41\00:37:28.74 it says: [text on screen] 00:37:28.77\00:37:33.09 In other words, what we're told here is that God will then 00:37:43.91\00:37:46.84 take these precious people that desire to follow all that 00:37:46.87\00:37:49.96 the Bible says, and He baptizes them into that 1 body. 00:37:49.99\00:37:54.10 What body is that? Friends, that's the body that 00:37:54.13\00:37:56.52 we've been covering about here in these last nights 00:37:56.55\00:37:59.08 of the seminar, the one that the Bible calls "God's remnant". 00:37:59.11\00:38:02.03 God's remnant people are those people that God is using 00:38:02.06\00:38:06.15 to give a message of truth around this world. 00:38:06.18\00:38:09.08 In Acts 2:41, remember that the Scripture says: [text on screen] 00:38:09.11\00:38:12.99 Are you glad to receive His word out there tonight? 00:38:15.73\00:38:18.36 [Audience] Yes. Friends, some of you have 00:38:18.39\00:38:21.05 been baptized, I know, and some of you are planning on it 00:38:21.08\00:38:23.77 as well, and we praise God for that, but then it says 00:38:23.80\00:38:26.52 "And the same day there were added onto them", "them" being 00:38:26.55\00:38:29.24 the church, "about 3000 souls". So did God just let them be 00:38:29.27\00:38:31.98 baptized and wonder out into the world without putting 00:38:32.01\00:38:34.72 them to work? No, He says "I've got a body" 00:38:34.75\00:38:37.32 "for you to join" and He added them unto God's church. 00:38:37.35\00:38:39.98 Verse 47 says: [text on screen] 00:38:40.01\00:38:42.50 How does God add people to His church? 00:38:46.34\00:38:48.78 How does He awaken people to a knowledge that they need 00:38:48.81\00:38:51.69 to be added to His church? He does it by sending a 00:38:51.72\00:38:54.32 message around the world, did you know that? 00:38:54.35\00:38:56.75 In Revelation 14, and we've read this a number of nights, 00:38:56.78\00:38:59.52 it says: [text on screen] 00:38:59.55\00:39:01.80 Friends, why a loud voice? Because the soft voice you won't 00:39:09.04\00:39:12.52 pay attention to, the soft voice you won't think is important. 00:39:12.55\00:39:16.57 What the Bible is telling us by giving us this passage 00:39:16.60\00:39:20.03 is that in the last days, the Lord is going to shout a 00:39:20.06\00:39:23.18 message to the world "Babylon is fallen, is fallen; it's not" 00:39:23.21\00:39:27.84 "coming back, there's truth to follow. There's a message" 00:39:27.87\00:39:32.53 "to listen to, don't stay in Babylon", this is the loud 00:39:32.56\00:39:35.12 voice. In other words, urgent times 00:39:35.15\00:39:39.09 demand an urgent message. We're not living in pleasure 00:39:39.12\00:39:44.06 as usual, business as usual type of times. 00:39:44.09\00:39:47.44 God says "I've got a message, I've got a people to give" 00:39:47.47\00:39:50.72 "that message", and Revelation only gives 2 groups folks, 00:39:50.75\00:39:54.44 it gives Babylon and the remnant, those are the only 00:39:54.47\00:39:57.21 2 choices we have, in all of the book of Revelation is says 00:39:57.24\00:40:00.02 there is Babylon, and all the world is wondering after 00:40:00.05\00:40:02.86 the beast, and all that goes with that, and then there's 00:40:02.89\00:40:05.73 the remnant. Friends, as the old cliché says 00:40:05.76\00:40:08.50 "Either we are part of the problem, or part" 00:40:08.53\00:40:11.26 "of the solution." 00:40:11.29\00:40:13.59 those are the only 2 sides. Jesus says "You are for Me," 00:40:13.62\00:40:16.35 "or you are against Me." We've looked at all 00:40:16.38\00:40:18.77 the wonderful characteristics of God's remnant church, 00:40:18.80\00:40:21.48 we studied that this last week, I hope that you were here 00:40:21.51\00:40:24.23 and if you weren't I pray you'll get the information on this. 00:40:24.26\00:40:26.94 Friends, God has a people that's giving that very message, 00:40:26.97\00:40:29.61 and He says He will do it before Jesus comes back. 00:40:29.64\00:40:32.37 Are we living in the last days? [Audience] Amen. 00:40:32.40\00:40:35.03 Can you say it louder than that for me? 00:40:35.06\00:40:37.57 [Audience says louder] Amen. Did God say He's going to have 00:40:37.60\00:40:40.33 a message go all the way around the world before Jesus comes 00:40:40.36\00:40:43.04 back. [Audience] Amen. 00:40:43.07\00:40:45.44 Did He says it's going to be every nation, kindred, tongue 00:40:45.47\00:40:47.81 and people? Yes. 00:40:47.84\00:40:50.13 Then we should be able to see that message tonight, 00:40:50.16\00:40:52.78 and we do, and that message is found in the church 00:40:52.81\00:40:55.36 that happens to be bringing you this seminar, 00:40:55.39\00:40:57.87 the Seventh Day Adventist church, and not because those 00:40:57.90\00:41:00.59 people are anything more special or sanctified, but here is 00:41:00.62\00:41:03.33 a group that God is calling and adding to daily, such as should 00:41:03.36\00:41:05.90 be saved and friends, it is our privilege to know this message. 00:41:05.93\00:41:08.59 Would you please turn with me to Matthew 10, Jesus says 00:41:08.62\00:41:11.28 regarding message "If any man has ears to hear, let him hear". 00:41:11.31\00:41:13.89 Friends, I hope you've got big ears tonight, I've hope 00:41:13.92\00:41:16.50 that you've got ears that are listening to what God 00:41:16.53\00:41:19.24 has to say, Matthew 10:32-39, kind of a long passage, 00:41:19.27\00:41:22.13 but you might be sitting there saying "Well you know Pastor," 00:41:22.16\00:41:25.05 "I'm getting a lot of heat at home, I've got a spouse that's" 00:41:25.08\00:41:28.44 "giving me a terrible problem", and I'm sorry to hear that, 00:41:28.47\00:41:31.26 but it's often the truth. Sometimes those who are closest 00:41:31.29\00:41:33.96 to us are most outspoken against us when we want 00:41:33.99\00:41:36.79 to follow truth, it's just a sad thing, but Jesus even speaks 00:41:36.82\00:41:39.67 to this issue, and in Matthew 10:32 the Bible says: 00:41:39.70\00:41:43.62 [text on screen] 00:41:43.65\00:41:45.79 Let me interject something here, Jesus came to bring 00:41:59.92\00:42:03.82 peace within, but outside there could be a sword of trial 00:42:03.85\00:42:07.80 and difficulty at times, let's keep reading: [text on screen] 00:42:07.83\00:42:11.55 "and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me" 00:42:27.71\00:42:30.34 "is not worthy of Me, and he that taketh not his cross," 00:42:30.37\00:42:33.83 "and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me". 00:42:33.86\00:42:38.23 Jesus tells us that sometimes those that are persecuting us 00:42:40.95\00:42:46.10 can be those that are closest to us. 00:42:46.13\00:42:48.61 Have you ever noticed that sometimes you can have 00:42:48.64\00:42:51.31 nobody really pay attention to you, you can be out 00:42:51.34\00:42:54.23 in the world as I was, living for self, and for foolish pride, 00:42:54.26\00:43:01.65 and nobody bothers you, and then all of a sudden you want to come 00:43:01.68\00:43:04.16 to a prophecy seminar and do what's right, and you've got 00:43:04.19\00:43:06.82 more counselors than you know what to do with. 00:43:06.85\00:43:09.51 Isn't that right? And people are coming up to you 00:43:09.54\00:43:12.33 out of nowhere calling you from across the country at times 00:43:12.36\00:43:15.14 saying "Oh, hang on a second, are you really sure you want" 00:43:15.17\00:43:17.93 "to do that?", and all you want to do is follow the Bible. 00:43:17.96\00:43:20.76 And they say "Oh, don't go so fast, that would be fanatical", 00:43:20.79\00:43:23.50 or "don't do that, that'd be legalism", and they've got 00:43:23.53\00:43:26.28 all these ways of trying to talk you out of doing what is 00:43:26.31\00:43:28.96 the Christian life. Isn't it amazing? 00:43:28.99\00:43:31.28 They didn't care about you when you were out in the world, 00:43:31.31\00:43:34.16 but then you want to get your act together and straighten out 00:43:34.19\00:43:36.82 and walk according to the ways of Jesus, and they want to give 00:43:36.85\00:43:39.71 you all this counsel; friends, don't be fooled by it. 00:43:39.74\00:43:42.13 Many people want to keep you back from following the Word 00:43:42.16\00:43:45.08 of God because if what you're doing is right, that is 00:43:45.11\00:43:47.49 convicting to them that what they're doing is wrong, 00:43:47.52\00:43:50.02 and the old saying is "Misery loves company", and often 00:43:50.05\00:43:52.83 they would rather hold you back than follow what the Word says 00:43:52.86\00:43:55.53 them self, that's just the basic facts of the matter, 00:43:55.56\00:43:59.46 and I know you've gone through it. 00:43:59.49\00:44:02.34 I love it when people say "I'm willing to change my" 00:44:02.37\00:44:05.48 "understanding of Scripture." "Why?" 00:44:05.51\00:44:08.12 "Because I'm getting ready for heaven." 00:44:08.15\00:44:10.87 And some people, because you've come to this seminar, 00:44:10.90\00:44:13.44 you're saying "I'm changing my diet", "Why?" 00:44:13.47\00:44:16.16 "Because I'm getting ready for heaven, I want heaven's diet." 00:44:16.19\00:44:18.90 Some of you are saying "I'm changing my dress", "Why?" 00:44:18.93\00:44:21.78 "Because I'm getting ready for heaven". 00:44:21.81\00:44:24.21 Some of you are saying "I'm changing my day of worship." 00:44:24.24\00:44:26.86 "Why?" "Because I want to get on" 00:44:26.89\00:44:29.28 "heaven's schedule." I'll tell you, that's why we're 00:44:29.31\00:44:31.89 doing it, we're not doing it for any other reason other than 00:44:31.92\00:44:34.53 we love Jesus and we're getting ready for eternity here, 00:44:34.56\00:44:37.13 that's what it's all about. That's the price 00:44:37.16\00:44:39.56 of discipleship. I know that some of these 00:44:39.59\00:44:42.09 decisions that you've been making are difficult now, 00:44:42.12\00:44:44.81 and I could have, if I wanted to, and some of these other 00:44:44.84\00:44:47.51 pastors that are present here, if they wanted to, 00:44:47.54\00:44:50.24 they could get up here and preach smooth things, 00:44:50.27\00:44:52.76 but the Bible says "Don't preach smooth things, preach" 00:44:52.79\00:44:55.45 "the straight truth", and they'll say "Pastor, you know," 00:44:55.48\00:44:58.22 "you preach straight, and this church is straight." 00:44:58.25\00:45:00.87 Let me tell you something, I thank God it's straight. 00:45:00.90\00:45:03.46 The Bible doesn't talk about going the broad road, it says 00:45:03.49\00:45:06.21 we should go the straight and narrow way; 00:45:06.24\00:45:08.72 that's the way we want to go in. Night by night I could have 00:45:08.75\00:45:11.39 stood up here and preached the smooth things if I thought 00:45:11.42\00:45:14.27 I wanted to get a larger audience at times, but God says 00:45:14.30\00:45:16.90 "Don't do that, love the people enough to tell them the truth", 00:45:16.93\00:45:19.57 and I do love you enough, by God's grace, to want to share 00:45:19.60\00:45:22.18 truth with you, and as I said one other night, I'd rather 00:45:22.21\00:45:24.56 preach the truth to 1 person sitting here tonight 00:45:24.59\00:45:27.10 and have a clear conscience about it, then compromise 00:45:27.13\00:45:29.92 and get an audience of 10,000, I can't do that by God's grace. 00:45:29.95\00:45:32.71 There might be others willing to do that, but I'm not going 00:45:32.74\00:45:35.52 to do it, and you don't want me to do it, amen? 00:45:35.55\00:45:38.19 [Audience] Amen. I know it. 00:45:38.22\00:45:40.51 I thank God for all the decisions that have been made 00:45:40.54\00:45:43.09 in this seminar, but I know there's going to be some more 00:45:43.12\00:45:45.79 made tonight, by God's grace, and I hope that you'll just be 00:45:45.82\00:45:48.53 sitting there saying "Lord, whatever passes me, I'm going" 00:45:48.56\00:45:51.33 "to move ahead, and I'm going to follow what I know is right." 00:45:51.36\00:45:54.06 Tonight I want to encourage you, and I want to please with you, 00:45:54.09\00:45:56.85 if you hear a conviction in your heart, if you feel it, 00:45:56.88\00:45:59.47 then God is trying to move you ahead. 00:45:59.50\00:46:02.14 There was a time when I was 14 years old and I got the most 00:46:02.17\00:46:04.87 amazing present as a Christmas present. 00:46:04.90\00:46:08.18 Are you ready for this? This was hot on the market, 00:46:08.21\00:46:11.90 newest technology, just out. I opened up this gift and my 00:46:11.93\00:46:18.23 eyes about popped out because there in front of my very eyes 00:46:18.26\00:46:22.21 and in my hands was a radio alarm clock. 00:46:22.24\00:46:26.91 They took a radio and they took an alarm clock, and they managed 00:46:26.94\00:46:30.08 to put it together in 1 package, isn't technology 00:46:30.11\00:46:33.26 amazing? Am I old or what? 00:46:33.29\00:46:35.89 [Audience laughs] So we had not seen this before, 00:46:35.92\00:46:41.62 and it was one of those alarm clock where as the numbers come 00:46:41.65\00:46:45.76 over, they were like little flaps, it would turn and fall, 00:46:45.79\00:46:50.73 anybody have one? [Audience laughs] 00:46:50.76\00:46:53.56 You get mesmerized by it, you watch it because you think 00:46:53.59\00:46:56.39 "It's about to turn, it's about to turn, there it went." 00:46:56.42\00:46:59.10 [Audience laughs] Ahh, we didn't have much 00:46:59.13\00:47:01.76 to do back then, [Audience laughs] 00:47:01.79\00:47:04.80 but it had something else. On the top of it was a big 00:47:04.83\00:47:09.99 wide rectangular bar, and it said "Snooze Button" on the top. 00:47:10.02\00:47:15.36 So what I did was, I said this was new technology too, 00:47:15.39\00:47:18.17 I thought, so what I did was I put my bed, and here's my little 00:47:18.20\00:47:20.99 night table, and I put that radio alarm clock just an arms 00:47:21.31\00:47:23.99 length where the snooze button was, so that if I woke up 00:47:24.02\00:47:27.40 my hand could just turn over, and whack, right on that white 00:47:27.43\00:47:30.36 button, 5 more minutes, and then I could even do it 00:47:30.39\00:47:33.03 this way, whack...and you get to be really good at it, 00:47:33.06\00:47:36.28 I could hit that thing. I learned something by hitting 00:47:36.31\00:47:39.00 the snooze button, if you hit that snooze button too 00:47:39.03\00:47:41.70 many times, each time the alarm is going off and you shut 00:47:41.73\00:47:45.02 it off, and the alarm goes off and you shut it off, 00:47:45.05\00:47:47.82 pretty soon you can snooze right through that alarm. 00:47:47.85\00:47:50.60 I used to be a real estate agent, I'll tell you a little 00:47:50.63\00:47:53.47 bit about that tomorrow morning, but when I was a real estate 00:47:53.50\00:47:56.27 agent we would ask people who were living right near 00:47:56.30\00:47:59.00 a railroad track how many trains came by, because we knew whoever 00:47:59.03\00:48:01.70 wanted to buy the house would ask the same question, 00:48:01.73\00:48:04.31 so we'd say "Well, you're living right here by the railroad" 00:48:04.34\00:48:07.11 "tracks, how many trains come by?", and they'd say 00:48:07.14\00:48:09.76 "What trains?" We'd say "The trains that come" 00:48:09.79\00:48:12.36 "by here in the day, how many?" "I don't know, I heard them" 00:48:12.39\00:48:15.14 "when we first moved here, but we've lived here so long" 00:48:15.17\00:48:18.02 "I don't hear them anymore, I couldn't tell you if there's" 00:48:18.05\00:48:20.64 "1 train, 5 trains, I don't know, we just ignore them," 00:48:20.67\00:48:23.32 "we tune it out." That's why the Bible says 00:48:23.35\00:48:25.82 "Saying with a loud voice", because God is saying 00:48:25.85\00:48:28.55 "don't tune it out, tune it in, don't snooze while the message" 00:48:28.58\00:48:32.91 "is being preached around the world, calling people to come" 00:48:32.94\00:48:36.68 "into God's remnant fold." Friends listen, don't tune 00:48:36.71\00:48:40.51 the Spirit out tonight either. In Romans 8:14 we read 00:48:40.54\00:48:44.48 these words: [text on screen] 00:48:44.51\00:48:47.89 So God's children might say "Lord, I might be 15 years" 00:48:51.33\00:48:55.08 "of age and starting out in life", or "I might be 85 years" 00:48:55.11\00:48:58.02 "of age, grey haired, and I don't know how many years" 00:48:58.05\00:49:01.00 "I've got left, but I still want to follow Your Spirit." 00:49:01.03\00:49:03.82 Whatever it is, we tune God in because we're sons 00:49:03.85\00:49:06.54 and daughters of God, and those who desire to be led, they are 00:49:06.57\00:49:09.30 the true family of God. I want to know if God is 00:49:09.33\00:49:12.94 pleading with you tonight friends. 00:49:12.97\00:49:15.35 So often people say "Well Pastor Brian, I sense God is leading" 00:49:15.38\00:49:18.46 "me, I feel His Spirit convicting me, and I know" 00:49:18.49\00:49:22.41 "that I should make changes in my life, I'm just not going" 00:49:22.44\00:49:25.92 "to do it now." It reminds me of the man 00:49:25.95\00:49:29.68 who wanted to have a sidewalk. So he made the forms for his 00:49:29.71\00:49:32.86 sidewalk, and then he went out and he mixed up the cement 00:49:32.90\00:49:35.62 mixture, the concrete mixture, and he came with his machine 00:49:35.65\00:49:39.00 and he poured it out, then after pouring it out he said 00:49:39.03\00:49:43.61 "Ahh, kind of hungry, I think I'll go to lunch", 00:49:43.64\00:49:47.50 any contractors here? Any sidewalk makers here? 00:49:47.53\00:49:51.28 Friends, when you pour it out you don't go to lunch, 00:49:51.31\00:49:55.11 that's not the time to go to lunch, why? 00:49:55.14\00:49:57.58 Because there's a period of time when that mixture is 00:49:57.61\00:50:01.77 pliable, workable, movable, but if you go lunch and you come 00:50:01.80\00:50:06.72 back, that mixture, which was once so soft, is now hard 00:50:06.75\00:50:10.31 as concrete. In the same way, the human 00:50:10.34\00:50:13.97 heart is like that. We could have hearts that are 00:50:14.00\00:50:16.73 moved by God's Spirit, and want to do God's will, and we 00:50:16.76\00:50:20.48 may want to move forward, but you don't know how the Devil 00:50:20.51\00:50:23.00 is going to attack you in days to come, and if you tell 00:50:23.03\00:50:25.63 the Devil "I'm not going to do it now, I'll do it 3 months" 00:50:25.66\00:50:28.36 "from now, 6 months from now, someday...", friends, do you 00:50:28.39\00:50:30.97 know what the Devil's favorite word is? 00:50:31.00\00:50:33.29 "Tomorrow", because as long as the Devil can get you to say 00:50:33.32\00:50:36.08 "tomorrow", tomorrow he'll say what? "Tomorrow". 00:50:36.11\00:50:38.83 The next day, and the next week, the Devil will still 00:50:38.86\00:50:41.69 come to you and say "don't do it now, just do it tomorrow." 00:50:41.72\00:50:44.35 Pretty soon you run out of tomorrows, and that's exactly 00:50:44.38\00:50:47.19 what the Devil's hoping for. So don't say tomorrow, 00:50:47.22\00:50:49.95 say "Lord, by your grace, I'm going to make a decision today." 00:50:49.98\00:50:53.64 "Today is the day of salvation", so says the Word of God. 00:50:53.67\00:50:57.31 I know that many of you might be sitting there tonight saying 00:50:57.34\00:51:00.74 "Pastor Brian, since I've been coming to this seminar" 00:51:00.77\00:51:03.49 "I have been going through such turmoil in my mind." 00:51:03.52\00:51:07.69 "I have been having fitful sleeps", I can relate, I went 00:51:07.72\00:51:13.43 through this, "I have been waking up in a sweat," 00:51:13.46\00:51:17.81 "I have been going through a spiritual tug of war", 00:51:17.84\00:51:21.06 and that's exactly what it is. You're saying "What is going" 00:51:21.09\00:51:24.82 "on in my mind?", I'll tell you what's going on 00:51:24.85\00:51:27.39 dear friends. There's a battle called 00:51:27.42\00:51:30.17 "The Great Controversy" between good and evil, between Christ 00:51:30.20\00:51:32.87 and Satan, there are armies on both sides, and both are 00:51:32.90\00:51:35.82 vying for our loyalty. In your mind you're making 00:51:35.85\00:51:39.09 a decision for God, or not. When the Devil knows that 00:51:39.12\00:51:44.73 you are right in that valley of decision, that moment 00:51:44.76\00:51:47.71 of decision, the Devil is going to try as hard as he can 00:51:47.74\00:51:50.21 to hold you back. God isn't going to just let 00:51:50.24\00:51:52.91 you go without a fight friends, God is going to fight 00:51:52.94\00:51:55.73 as hard as He possibly can, as hard as you will let Him 00:51:55.76\00:51:58.53 fight, He will fight for you, and for me. 00:51:58.56\00:52:01.05 So what you have is a spiritual tug of war, it's the Spirit 00:52:01.08\00:52:04.01 of God fighting against the Spirit of Satan, both sides 00:52:04.04\00:52:06.78 desiring to have your allegiance, and here's the good 00:52:06.81\00:52:09.55 news, when you say "Lord, I'm going to follow what's" 00:52:09.58\00:52:12.21 "right, Lord, I am going to do what the Bible says," 00:52:12.24\00:52:15.09 the Lords says to Satan: "Get thee behind this person" 00:52:15.12\00:52:17.89 "because they are giving Me permission to work in their" 00:52:17.92\00:52:20.59 "life", God steps in and all of a sudden, what was so fitful 00:52:20.62\00:52:23.30 a sleep, now all of a sudden you can sleep like a baby 00:52:23.33\00:52:25.99 because the best pillow in the world is a peaceful conscience. 00:52:26.02\00:52:32.83 You, all of a sudden, will be able to sleep so well 00:52:33.83\00:52:36.71 because you know you really did what is right. 00:52:36.74\00:52:39.45 I want to share a verse with you before we go home tonight, 00:52:39.48\00:52:42.18 it's found in Isaiah 41:10. God weeps over those who 00:52:42.21\00:52:54.40 turn away, but even though He weeps over those who turn 00:52:54.43\00:52:59.34 away, God will not change what the Word has to say. 00:52:59.37\00:53:05.97 In the days of Noah God said "If 8 are getting in the Ark" 00:53:06.00\00:53:09.47 "then 8 all that I will take." 00:53:09.50\00:53:11.82 The Lord is no different tonight. 00:53:11.85\00:53:14.44 In the story of the rich young ruler, the rich young ruler 00:53:14.47\00:53:17.88 came to Jesus and said "Lord, what must I do to have" 00:53:17.91\00:53:21.45 "eternal life?" Jesus says "If thou will enter into life," 00:53:21.48\00:53:24.06 "keep the commandments", and he said "all these things" 00:53:24.09\00:53:26.98 "have I done from my youth, what yet I lack?" 00:53:27.01\00:53:29.65 Jesus saw the point in his life where he was covetous, 00:53:29.68\00:53:34.48 He put His finger right on that soft spot, and He said 00:53:34.51\00:53:37.15 "This is your problem", and He named it, He says 00:53:37.18\00:53:40.04 "Go and sell what you have and give it to the poor, and come" 00:53:40.07\00:53:42.86 "follow Me." Friends, that man counted 00:53:42.89\00:53:45.54 the cost, he thought the cost was too high, he turned 00:53:45.57\00:53:50.31 around and walked away. The part that impressed me 00:53:50.34\00:53:54.80 so much when I read that story is not just tragically that he 00:53:54.83\00:53:59.75 turned away, but that Jesus did not compromise His principles 00:53:59.78\00:54:05.48 for that man. He loved that man, He longed 00:54:05.51\00:54:09.28 for that man in His kingdom, but Jesus didn't run after 00:54:09.31\00:54:11.89 that man and say "Oh, wait, wait, now hold it a second," 00:54:11.92\00:54:14.80 "ahhh, let me reconsider, you're walking away, okay," 00:54:14.83\00:54:17.57 "meet Me half way, sell half of what you have." 00:54:17.60\00:54:21.19 "I'll give a little, you give a little." 00:54:21.22\00:54:23.90 Did Jesus do that? No, Jesus laid out the terms 00:54:23.93\00:54:26.78 and He said "this is what it's going to take." 00:54:26.81\00:54:29.54 You see, dear friends, for some of you it's going to mean 00:54:29.57\00:54:32.38 giving up worldly friendships, walking away from peers 00:54:32.41\00:54:37.06 that don't want to follow the Word of God. 00:54:37.09\00:54:39.65 For some of you it might be sacrificing some finances 00:54:39.68\00:54:42.81 because you won't work on God's Sabbath, I don't know 00:54:42.84\00:54:45.60 what it's going to be for you, but whatever it is, God is there 00:54:45.63\00:54:49.40 to see you through, greater is He that is with us, than he 00:54:49.43\00:54:52.92 that is against us. Isaiah 41:10 us a promise 00:54:52.95\00:54:59.33 for all of us, and I would like to ask you if you would 00:54:59.36\00:55:02.10 read this out loud with me together, okay? 00:55:02.13\00:55:05.44 Let's go, together Isaiah 41:10, here we go: [text on screen] 00:55:05.47\00:55:09.55 "I will strengthen thee", [text on screen] 00:55:15.45\00:55:18.65 Friends, that's a promise to all of you tonight. 00:55:23.83\00:55:26.36 God isn't going to leave you, God isn't going to forsake you 00:55:26.39\00:55:29.87 when you want to do right. If God was with you 00:55:29.90\00:55:32.60 when you did things wrong in ignorance, how much more 00:55:32.63\00:55:35.45 is God going to want to be with you when you want to do 00:55:35.48\00:55:38.02 what's right? Don't think that God isn't 00:55:38.05\00:55:40.59 striving with you, the very fact that you are still here 00:55:40.62\00:55:45.37 after 20 nights is the sign that God is striving with you 00:55:45.40\00:55:50.52 and that you are willing to hold on and still come. 00:55:50.55\00:55:54.27 That's a great sign. That should encourage you 00:55:54.30\00:55:57.91 that God is with you, and God is working in you because you are 00:55:57.94\00:56:02.28 here after all of these nights. In Psalm 29:11 it says this: 00:56:02.31\00:56:07.91 [text on screen] 00:56:07.94\00:56:10.10 Many of our relatives did not know the things that we've 00:56:13.88\00:56:17.98 learned in this seminar, our fathers, mothers perhaps, 00:56:18.01\00:56:20.83 grandfathers, great grandfathers maybe even more so, 00:56:20.86\00:56:24.63 maybe they didn't know the truth of the clean and unclean foods, 00:56:24.66\00:56:27.14 maybe they didn't know the truth of the Sabbath, 00:56:27.17\00:56:29.76 maybe they didn't know the truth of the state of the dead, 00:56:29.79\00:56:32.45 but God is calling people around this world to understand 00:56:32.48\00:56:35.18 what the Bible says, so that He could have a people 00:56:35.21\00:56:37.95 ready for Jesus. Shall we stand tonight 00:56:37.98\00:56:40.65 as we close with a prayer. Father in heaven, I thank You 00:56:40.68\00:56:43.50 again that we can come tonight, open Your word, and realize that 00:56:43.53\00:56:49.40 You are leading Your people, some ever so gently, 00:56:49.43\00:56:52.76 some with great conviction, but Lord, you are leading 00:56:52.79\00:56:55.59 as a good shepherd will, the sheep of Your pasture. 00:56:55.62\00:56:58.72 You will speak, and Your sheep will hear Your voice and follow. 00:56:58.75\00:57:02.30 So may all of us have the kind of hearts that long to be 00:57:02.33\00:57:06.00 molded, filled with Your Spirit, and lead by the heavenly 00:57:06.03\00:57:10.94 Shepherd. So guide us now we pray tonight, 00:57:10.97\00:57:14.20 continue to bless tonight, and tomorrow night, and each 00:57:14.23\00:57:18.41 night that we come together, that all these things 00:57:18.44\00:57:21.34 that we have learnt can be part of our faith, the Christian 00:57:21.37\00:57:23.85 faith, the faith of Jesus. Bless us now, and send us 00:57:23.88\00:57:27.38 from this place, but Lord, not from Your presence ever, 00:57:27.41\00:57:30.28 and bring us back again we pray, tomorrow morning. 00:57:30.31\00:57:32.94 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:57:32.97\00:57:35.58