Participants: CA Murray (Host), Jim Gilley (Host), Kenneth Cox
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY017028A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people. 01:07 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today Special Report. 01:10 My name is CA Murray. 01:12 Allow me to thank you once again 01:13 for your lovely prayers, 01:15 your support of this ministry, 01:17 thank you for partnering with us 01:19 as we seek to lift up the mighty 01:21 and matchless name of Jesus. 01:23 Now when you hear us put that Special Report tag 01:27 on the end of 3ABN, 01:28 you know that something a little different 01:30 is going to happen. 01:32 We use the designation Special Report 01:34 when we're going to do something 01:36 just a little out of the ordinary, 01:37 may be out of the studio, 01:39 some kind of out of the box type program, 01:42 perhaps we're gonna talk about a new project 01:44 or something that 3ABN is working on 01:47 or some current news 01:49 or the intersection of a religion and society, 01:54 something happening in the world 01:56 that impacts the church. 01:57 So the Special Report designation 01:59 allows us to do some different kinds of things 02:01 that we think are important to you, 02:03 important to the work of 3ABN, 02:05 important to the life of the church, 02:07 and important to us all 02:09 as we walk this road that leads to glory. 02:11 And so this Special Report is a very, very special program 02:16 if you can use that word twice 02:18 because we're gonna talk with two evangelists. 02:21 Two men who have served the Lord 02:24 many, many years in evangelism. 02:26 One is the immediate past president of 3ABN, 02:29 that is Pastor Jim Gilley 02:31 and the other is Pastor Kenneth Cox 02:33 who has spent his life evangelizing for the Lord. 02:37 Years ago at the Miami Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church, 02:41 I gotten a call from my mom, 02:44 and she was raving about this pastor 02:47 who would come in to hold an area wide meeting. 02:49 She didn't know the name. 02:51 She could not remember exactly where he was from. 02:54 You've got to understand, 02:55 my mother thought he was from Alabama or Florida 02:58 but my mother is a Canadian by birth, 03:01 grew up in Canada 03:02 so all accents sound the same to her. 03:05 She did not know that Pastor Cox's 03:07 particular accent is from the Plains State, 03:10 I think it's Oklahoma. 03:11 He spent some time in Chicago but she thought it was Alabama, 03:14 she thought it was Florida. 03:16 So I forgive her for that, 03:17 but she was so enthused about this pastor, 03:19 so enthused about the way he preached, 03:22 and the way he brought the message, 03:24 and the enthusiasm that he brought out in the crowds 03:26 that were coming each night there in Buffalo, New York. 03:29 And at the end, a number of people were baptized 03:32 and so I did not know Kenneth Cox personally 03:34 at that time. 03:35 I've since come to know him and love him. 03:38 He is an evangelist of great stature. 03:40 Lord's blessed me to hold 03:41 several dozen evangelistic crusades. 03:44 We're going to hear from two men 03:47 who have preached crusades in the hundreds. 03:51 Pastor Cox's at least 200 or more, 03:53 Jim Gilley well over 100. 03:56 These are men who have done much work in evangelism 03:58 and when they come together they have much to say. 04:01 Pastor Cox will be talking about some books 04:04 that he has written 04:06 that you may want to get a pen out 04:08 and take some note on or try to get those 04:11 because they are very, very good, 04:12 and he'll talk about that too. 04:14 Then he will talk about his work here at 3ABN. 04:17 He's one of the more seen and heard evangelist 04:20 who appears on our air 04:21 and has for many years preached on Daniel, 04:25 on Revelation, on any number of topics. 04:28 He's done just a fabulous job. 04:30 So he and Jim had a chance to come together 04:33 and speak on the things of the Lord, 04:35 to reminisce a little bit to talk about things 04:38 old and new, 04:40 things affecting the church and Pastor Cox's newest book 04:44 which is called "In The Master's Step" 04:48 which they will talk about also. 04:50 So you wanna give ear 04:52 because this is a very, very good presentation. 04:54 Two men, two evangelists, two dear friends 04:58 who are gonna talk about the things of the Lord, 04:59 and when the men of God get together and reminisce, 05:02 it is also blessing for us to watch and to hear. 05:05 This interview was taped at the LLBN, 05:08 the Loma Linda Broadcasting Network Studio sometime ago, 05:12 and it is our privilege to bring to you now 05:14 Pastor Jim Gilley interviewing Pastor Kenneth Cox. 05:19 Well, we welcome you to 3ABN Today 05:23 and I am a guest host in this capacity, 05:28 Danny Shelton was not able to be here today. 05:31 This is being actually taped at Loma Linda, California, 05:36 at Loma Linda Broadcasting, 05:38 and we thank them for the use of their facilities. 05:43 Danny called to see if I could fill in for him 05:46 and it's just a real pleasure to do so 05:49 because we're talking with Pastor Kenneth Cox 05:53 and, Pastor Cox, it's great to see you again. 05:57 Thank you, Jim, it's glad to be here. 05:58 Yeah, you know, on 3ABN 06:01 probably there is not another speaker 06:04 that has spoken more times on Three Angels Broadcasting 06:08 than Pastor Kenneth Cox. 06:11 In fact he came up with a concept 06:14 that in a different way we continued, 06:18 that was when you were covering a week on each topic. 06:21 Subject. How that come about, Kenneth? 06:24 Well, as you know, Jim, when you're holding meetings 06:29 and you preach one night on a particular subject, 06:32 you just don't get it all covered. 06:34 Yeah. 06:36 And I thought, 06:37 really the people would like to look at it 06:39 in a lot of different ways 06:41 and so we tried to pick a particular subject 06:45 and take five sermons to cover that subject 06:49 and hopefully it will give the people 06:52 a picture of the whole concept. 06:55 Now you would come into 3ABN 06:57 and we have a live audience every night, 07:00 you were at Wednesday night, 07:02 Thursday night, Friday night, then Sabbath morning, 07:04 and then Sabbath afternoon or evening. 07:06 Evening. 07:08 And you would cover those five subjects. 07:09 Right. How many of those did you do? 07:11 We did 12. All right. 07:14 That just one year? 07:16 I thought you did a second year. 07:17 Not on that way. 07:19 We did a second year on Revelation. 07:21 Okay. But not as many. 07:22 I see. 07:23 Yeah. All right. 07:25 But those are still being shown on 3ABN. 07:28 They were great productions 07:30 and they are so in dept in the teaching technique, 07:36 I find so many people that tell me, 07:38 "I've really learned a lot by watching Kenneth Cox 07:43 covering the subjects of prophecy. 07:44 Of course that's what we wanted. 07:46 Yes. 07:47 You know, we wanted them to look at it and see it 07:50 and understand it and have it become real to them. 07:55 So they said, 07:56 "Yeah, this is what the Bible teaches." 07:58 Yes, now out of that you developed a couple of books. 08:02 One was called Daniel Pure and Simple. 08:05 Yes. 08:06 And that covers the Book of Daniel, right? 08:08 Yeah, that's a verse by verse study of the Book of Daniel 08:13 just take you through the Book of Daniel 08:15 and people, we try to put it, 08:20 it's called Daniel Pure and Simple. 08:21 Yes. 08:23 And we try to put it that way, Jim, 08:24 because there's places I go in, 08:28 I pick up a book on Daniel and it's that thick. 08:31 Yes. 08:32 So people aren't gonna pour through that. 08:34 So we tried to keep it condensed 08:37 and yet get the meat of it there 08:39 and put it in a simple way 08:41 and that was the purpose of the series that we did. 08:45 You know, I've always been amazed 08:46 in your evangelistic meetings 08:48 that you were able to take a full music, 08:54 announcements, prayer, and the sermon 08:56 and do it in one hour or like 58:30 08:59 and I've been amazed 09:01 that you could cover the material that quickly. 09:05 Well, it takes a lot of prayer and a lot of repeat 09:11 and study to pull it down to condense it down to that. 09:15 But then the next book you did 09:16 was the Revelation Pure and Simple. 09:19 Right. So that covers the Book of Revelation. 09:21 Yes, and that goes through the Book of Revelation. 09:24 But not only did we do the book on Revelation 09:27 but we did a series for 3ABN on Revelation. 09:31 Right. 09:32 And that has been shown all over the world. 09:34 Even though you did them with 3ABN 09:37 and 3ABN has continued producing, 09:39 these are on many stations like in the Chicago area, 09:43 secular stations, and other stations. 09:46 We're on stations all across the United States. 09:49 All right. 09:50 So the ministry continues to have a wonderful impact. 09:54 The Lord has blessed it. 09:56 We thank the Lord for what we see. 09:58 Yeah. 09:59 I happen to be on your board, 10:02 and I thank you for that privilege, 10:04 been on there for long time so has Danny Shelton. 10:05 Yes. 10:07 He's been with you for a long time on the board. 10:10 There are lot of others that have been there, 10:12 Max Trevino and others, 10:14 and we do appreciate your ministry, 10:17 and we want you to know that. 10:19 Well, the board's been a great help. 10:21 They've been marvelous to work with and very supportive. 10:25 Yes. We're thankful for that. 10:27 You know, I have people ask me, "So what are you doing now?" 10:29 I say, "Well, one of the things 10:30 I'm doing is serving on the Kenneth Cox board, 10:34 another thing is, I'm always, 10:36 every year Lord willing take people to Israel 10:39 in the month of November usually." 10:41 Right. 10:42 Will you do other chips as well 10:44 but only Israel because they are biblical trips, 10:48 it's in order that the people would really understand 10:51 the Bible better, we do that, 10:53 and then I'm preaching around the country. 10:56 I was in Florida recently, 11:00 another appointment here in California 11:02 and different places where people ask maybe come 11:06 and so Camille and I go 11:08 and still preaching the gospel whenever we get the request. 11:12 That's great. Thanks for it. 11:13 But I don't have an organization like you do 11:17 which continues to build and you're adding personnel 11:20 and bringing in associated evangelists, 11:23 and maybe a different time have a full announcement 11:26 about who that is and what he'll be doing, 11:29 but it was exciting board meeting this week 11:33 to see some of the plans that you have for the future. 11:36 Well, we are thankful for what the Lord does 11:39 and we're thankful for the opportunity 11:42 for the ministry to continue to grow 11:44 as we have added new stations here in the United States, 11:48 and it just little by little keeps expanding, Jim, 11:52 and we get letters every week. 11:56 Lots of them in which people are stating, 12:00 "Thank you for the meetings, thank you for the program, 12:04 I've learned so much, 12:06 it's helped me in my relationship with Christ." 12:09 And it talks about their growth and their acceptance of Christ, 12:13 baptism, all these things that are wonderful 12:16 as the Holy Spirit works with them. 12:18 Sometime back John Carter and I 12:20 were talking about you and John told me, 12:25 he said, "You know, 12:26 I don't think there's anyone in our denomination 12:31 who has held more evangelistic series 12:35 than Kenneth Cox. 12:37 And I think that probably 12:40 that number would be a right around 200. 12:43 Would you think so? 12:44 I would say somewhere in that neighborhood, 12:46 I don't know exact count. 12:48 I've never tried to keep a count 12:50 but just looking over the years and stuff, 12:52 it will number at least 200. 12:53 Yeah. 12:54 I've held little over a 100 12:56 and I am sure that you've doubled me 13:01 for holding meetings. 13:03 But they have been a blessing, haven't they? 13:05 If I had to live my life over, Jim, 13:10 I'd do exactly what I've done. 13:12 Yeah. 13:13 Now, that's a wonderful thing for a person to realize 13:18 that God called you, God equipped you, 13:22 and He gave you the opportunity to present the gospel. 13:26 Amen. 13:28 You know, people who are called to the ministry, 13:30 it is not a job, it's a calling. 13:37 Yes. 13:38 But it's kind of like, you know, 13:40 I've heard somebody the other day say, 13:41 "Why don't you guys retire, some of you?" 13:44 You know, being a minister of the gospel 13:48 and called to do evangelism 13:50 is very much like being a Supreme Court justice. 13:54 It's an appointment for life. 13:56 As long as the Lord gives you the breath, 13:59 you continue to feel the calling 14:02 that one more soul... 14:04 Right. 14:05 One more soul might be in the kingdom 14:08 as a result of your presenting the gospel. 14:11 And not only is it they are calling, 14:13 but I think with the individual as you know it's a passion. 14:17 Yes. You know, I've got to do it. 14:20 Yeah. 14:22 It's just a passion and that's part of it. 14:24 It is. It really is. 14:27 Well, then the next book that you did 14:28 that I'm well acquainted with was "The Sanctuary" 14:32 and again you used the term Pure and Simple. 14:35 Right. 14:36 And you boiled down the sanctuary 14:38 and made it simple. 14:39 That's not easy to do for some people. 14:41 No. 14:44 Again, there's marvelous books on the sanctuary. 14:49 Yeah. 14:50 But you pick them up and that thick, you know, 14:54 and people won't wade in through all that, 14:58 and I wanted something that people could just pick up, 15:01 could read, and say, "Oh, that's one it's talking about." 15:05 That's how it fits together 15:07 and we just try to put it in a very simple way 15:11 yet get the massage across to them. 15:13 Well, I have loved each of your books. 15:17 I have each of them 15:18 and I have appreciated them so much. 15:21 They are great study guides. Thank you. 15:24 I mean, if a person is going through the Book of Daniel, 15:27 I think he wants to get that Daniel Pure and Simple 15:31 and study it right along using your Bible, 15:35 your book rather and your Bible. 15:36 We have lot of study groups across the United States 15:39 that do that. 15:41 Yes. 15:42 Get the Book of Daniel, get the one on Revelation, 15:44 use that as the study guide. 15:46 You know, that's a great idea for prayer meetings 15:48 and for Bible classes and so forth. 15:50 And there are lot of small groups 15:52 that get together and study, just study the word, 15:54 maybe on a Monday night or a Thursday night 15:56 or some other night during the week, 15:58 Friday night. 15:59 So those three books have really made an impact. 16:02 Now you have a new one. Yes. 16:04 And we're gonna find out about "The Master's Steps". 16:08 This is your newest book. 16:10 And by the way this is the first time 16:12 I've seen this book is today. 16:15 When we walked on the set I looked at it. 16:18 It's a beautiful cover and "The Master's Steps". 16:22 Tell me why did you write this and what's this about? 16:26 Well, we get quite a few people. 16:31 Probably I should say lot that write in, telephone in, 16:36 and they say, "What do you believe? 16:40 You have some that explains what you believe, 16:43 send it to us." 16:45 Well, you go over here 16:48 and again you can get the 28 fundamental beliefs, 16:53 that thick and you send that to a person 16:56 and they're just gonna go, "Huh," you know, and all. 17:00 Or you can go to other extreme, 17:02 what do you believe and you give a little tiny pamphlet 17:05 that explains it. 17:06 So I found when I started trying to find something, 17:10 there was two extremes 17:12 not on either side and so I thought, 17:16 well, we need to have something that they can read 17:20 and it gives the basic fundamental beliefs 17:24 and tries to make it so it's clear 17:27 and understandable for them. 17:29 And that's why I wrote "In the Master's Steps". 17:31 Wow. Well, it's a very good book. 17:35 Tell us a little bit more about it, would you? 17:37 Well, you know, the scripture says, 17:41 "That we're to walk as He walked." 17:43 Yeah. That's what it says we're to do. 17:46 Well, when it says, "We're to walk as He walked." 17:49 It's basically telling us that we are to follow 17:51 what He taught, you know, the teachings of Jesus. 17:55 And sorry to say 17:59 that many 18:02 of the Christian churches today 18:07 have forgotten what Jesus taught. 18:11 They have over the years handed down to one another, 18:18 the teachings, 18:19 and they've picked it up a little bit in scripture, 18:22 but there's whole parts in concerning 18:25 the teaching of Jesus that Christianity misses. 18:29 And so we tried to do what the Lord said, 18:32 to walk as He walked. 18:34 We tried to put it so that they can understand 18:37 and what He taught and to follow Him 18:40 and walk as He walked. 18:42 So this is basically the purpose of the book and so, 18:48 as people read it, 18:49 they can get an idea of what Christ believed 18:53 and what He taught. 18:54 And as He went from city to city and village to village, 18:57 what He told the people, and when He said, 19:00 "Walk as I walk," they understood. 19:02 This is the way, walk ye in it. 19:05 And that's the purpose of the book. 19:08 All right, and what are some of the subjects 19:11 that you covered? 19:13 Oh, we start out with one on prayer. 19:16 You can't walk as Christ walked 19:22 if you don't spend time in prayer. 19:25 And He made that very, very clear 19:28 that they were to follow Him and He taught them how to pray. 19:33 And so we start out in the book 19:36 talking about prayer and what it is and how to pray. 19:40 Lot of people don't even know how to pray. 19:43 And so when I am gonna follow Christ 19:45 and walk as He walked, 19:47 then I need to know how to talk to Him, 19:50 I need to know how to communicate, 19:52 I need to understand what I'm doing when I pray, 19:56 and so this is what we deal within that chapter. 20:00 The great, great blessings there is in prayer, 20:04 and then also in that chapter, 20:06 it takes the Lord's prayer and goes through it 20:09 and tries to explain 20:11 the different parts of the Lord's prayer 20:14 for the people. 20:15 And if a person will become a person of prayer, 20:21 that's a great, great step 20:24 because we can't walk with Christ 20:27 if we're not communicating. 20:29 In the Lord's Prayer there's a statement that, 20:32 "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, 20:35 or forgive us our sins as we forgive those 20:38 who sin against us and so forth." 20:40 Do you cover that pretty well? 20:42 Yes, we talk about that part. 20:44 Forgiven people and I think it's, 20:50 I've always said this, I think I believe it, Jim, 20:55 that it's harder or it's easier 20:58 to forgive someone else than to forgive ourselves. 21:03 That's probably true. 21:04 You know, but, but for me to get the monkey, 21:10 I always say the monkey off my back. 21:12 Yeah. 21:13 I've got to confess my sins, 21:15 I've got to forgive people that I cannot go around 21:21 and carry in my heart feelings against somebody else. 21:25 We can't do that and Christ made that very, very clear, 21:29 that was one of His main points 21:31 is that we didn't carry feelings 21:35 against somebody else. 21:37 In fact, it's always been difficult 21:40 in a way for me to understand 21:42 how He could take all the abuse that He took 21:46 and still not harbor 21:48 ill feelings towards those people. 21:49 Right, right, but He was able to do it. 21:52 Yeah. 21:53 You know, His example is something 21:56 that we each should really follow in that regard. 22:01 It's not, it's very unhealthy for us 22:06 to hold grudges against people and yet you, you know, 22:10 we have been around in ministry and churches and so forth, 22:14 and how many times you go to a church and various, 22:18 it doesn't take long before you realize 22:20 that one group sits one side of the church, 22:23 another sits on another and there's a leader involved 22:27 that they have fallen out with each other over 22:30 who knows the most simple thing sometimes. 22:33 Yeah. 22:34 We always use the illustration of the color of the carpet. 22:36 You'd be surprised how many people fallen out 22:39 over carpet in the church 22:40 and they don't forgive and go on. 22:43 Yeah. 22:44 And, yeah, we've kind of get the idea 22:47 that as long as we are involved 22:50 and we're clear on the doctrines and so forth 22:53 that we're okay, we can hold grudges. 22:55 God says, "We can't do it." 22:57 Right, I could remember when I went as an intern 23:00 working with HMS. 23:01 Richard Jr. in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, 23:04 where he pastored, and I could still remember 23:08 they had just put carpet in the church. 23:10 Yeah. 23:11 And we walked in that Sabbath morning 23:13 and I happen to be standing nearby 23:15 and this sister came up and upbraided him, 23:20 I mean terrible about the carpet 23:22 how she didn't like it and how terrible it was 23:25 on and on and on, 23:27 and I will never forget his answer, 23:30 he just looked at her and said, 23:31 "Well, I see you're walking on it." 23:37 That was there all there is. 23:40 He had a way of putting things right to the cord, didn't he? 23:43 Yeah. He really did. 23:44 I think he got that from his father 23:45 because his father can do that 23:47 but it's amazing how many times I've gone, 23:50 I went to a church one time 23:52 and the church was totally split over the organ. 23:56 The music people all wanted one brand of organ. 24:00 And I'm going to be honest with you, 24:02 I actually agree with them. 24:04 The pastor wanted 24:06 a whole different brand of organ 24:08 and the music people kept telling him no, 24:11 and he forced that through. 24:14 Blessed his heart, he's a wonderful guy 24:15 and a great pastor, 24:17 but he was hung up on this wrong thing. 24:19 And by the way that organ company 24:22 went out of business 24:23 and soon they couldn't even get parts for that organ. 24:27 But the amazing thing is that it had split that church 24:31 and people would not forgive each other over the organ. 24:35 Yeah. 24:37 So this forgiveness is so important. 24:40 If you want to live a life, as far as I'm concerned, 24:45 it puts spring in your step and enjoy it day by day. 24:49 Yeah. 24:50 Then make sure that you're not carrying 24:52 any other feelings. 24:53 That's right, you just can't do it 24:56 and there's not anyone who is alive 24:59 and is doing things 25:01 that's not going to be done wrong by someone. 25:03 Somebody is going to do you wrong, 25:05 somebody is going to misunderstand you, 25:07 they're going to falsely accuse you, 25:09 and, and it's difficult to say... 25:13 Yeah. 25:14 "I'm just not going to let that rule my life 25:19 and I'm going to follow the Lord 25:21 and forgive that individual." 25:23 Life is not fair. No. 25:25 Yeah, you've got to rise above it 25:28 and you rise above it by keeping it open 25:32 and no feelings against others. 25:34 Absolutely. 25:35 Now the chapter two is about faith. 25:38 What is faith, Kenneth? 25:40 Well, you can't walk with Christ 25:43 if you're not walking by faith. 25:45 You just can't do it. 25:48 That's what Christ taught. 25:50 He said, you know, have faith in me, 25:52 oh, you've little faith. 25:53 Yeah. 25:55 You know, over and over, he stressed this, 25:56 and this is where it's hard 26:00 for many people to walk 26:04 when sometimes you don't know where you're going. 26:07 Yes. And that's, that's faith. 26:10 You know, when I'm walking with the Lord 26:12 and I know that I am right with the Lord 26:15 and yet, I don't know where that's going 26:18 and I don't know where that's leaning, 26:21 and yet how to reach out 26:26 and not get the place that I'm shook up 26:31 or concerned about it 26:32 because I simply have faith in what Christ is doing. 26:37 And I've seen this so many times 26:42 in my own ministry. 26:44 Yes. 26:45 You know, where faith as far as I'm concerned, 26:48 faith is simply accepting 26:50 what He says or what He wants to be done 26:53 and doing rather I understand it 26:56 or rather I can see it or rather I can't. 26:58 One of the best illustrations I know is your children, 27:02 you know, with my children. 27:05 We might be talking about something 27:07 and I would say to them, 27:08 "Well, I'm going to get you a bike." 27:13 Man, as far as they're concerned 27:16 they have a bike. 27:17 Yeah. 27:19 It wasn't, I mean, that was it right in there 27:21 they have a bike. 27:22 Well, that's the same thing is faith is. 27:24 Faith is when I take the Lord for what He says, 27:28 and it's there, it's fact, it's faith. 27:30 Yes. Yeah. That's faith. 27:33 You know, the creation 27:36 is a big issue with some people. 27:38 Right. 27:39 And, but Jesus simply says that He is the creator 27:45 and the Bible says, that He is. 27:47 Yes. 27:48 And then in John 14:1-3, He says some words 27:54 that I just cling onto these in a lot of different ways, 27:59 but He will say, He said, "If it were not so, 28:03 I would have told you." 28:05 If He hadn't created the world He would have said, you know, 28:09 I know that Moses said this, 28:11 and I know that the Bible said this, 28:14 and other Bible writers say this 28:15 and I've even said it, but it's not true. 28:18 He would say it's not true 28:20 because He did this on so many things. 28:23 In fact, we'll look at some of those a little later on 28:25 that you discuss in your book, 28:28 "But if it were not so, I would have told you." 28:34 In my experience as far as I was concerned, 28:38 when I accepted 28:40 the first four words of the Bible, 28:45 I had to accept that by faith. 28:47 Yes. 28:48 And I had to decide, am I going to accept this as a reality, 28:55 as something that actually exist, 28:57 in the beginning God. 29:01 I accept Him totally and completely by faith. 29:05 Yes. 29:06 Oh, yes, there's evidences and all, 29:09 but there's lots of arguments against it. 29:12 Yes. 29:13 But I can reach out in faith and take hold of that and say, 29:16 I believe and God answers that request in what we do. 29:21 Now chapter 3, Jesus asks us to believe in Him. 29:25 How do you cover that? 29:27 Well, to me that is essential 29:32 is that I believe in Him, 29:34 I accept Him as my personal savior. 29:39 I understand that I might pick up the Bible 29:43 and I can read it and say, "Yeah, I believe this," 29:47 but if I don't by faith 29:50 accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior 29:55 and invite Him into my life 29:58 that I from that point on walk with Him 30:02 and follow Him in what I do. 30:05 I believe in Him and so He says, 30:07 "Believe in me," 30:09 and you and I follow the Lord and we do His bidding 30:15 because we believe in Him, 30:17 because He is our master if you please. 30:20 Now how do we fulfill all righteousness 30:23 or does He do that? 30:25 Well, Jesus Christ came here to this world 30:32 to establish that someone in human form 30:38 like mankind could come and live a life 30:43 in perfect agreement to the will of the Father. 30:48 Perfect agreement with the law, 30:50 perfect agreement in all that was taught, 30:53 perfect righteousness. 30:55 He came to demonstrate that to the world and He did, 30:59 He came and He lived a perfect life, 31:02 never even sinned so much, Jim, as in thought. 31:05 Right. 31:06 But He lived an absolute perfect life 31:08 all the way through. 31:12 When you and I by faith reach out and except Him, 31:18 then by the mere fact that He's done this for us, 31:22 He gives us His righteousness, 31:25 that He gives to us or imputes to us 31:29 His righteousness. 31:30 We don't deserve it, this is why it's called grace. 31:34 We don't deserve it. 31:35 It's not something we earned, 31:37 but it's something that He gives to us. 31:40 Won't do you any good whatsoever 31:45 if you don't accept His death in your behalf, 31:50 and so I not only have to accept His righteousness 31:54 into my life 31:55 but I have to accept His death. 31:57 In my behalf He paid the price that I rightfully owe. 32:03 He did that for me. 32:04 And this is what is involved when He says believe in me, 32:09 I'm believing that He has done for me 32:13 what I could not do for myself, 32:15 what I did not deserve in any way. 32:18 He has done that for me. 32:20 Yeah, okay. 32:22 Well, fulfill all righteousness. 32:25 And He did, didn't He? He did in every respect. 32:28 And He says then, "I came not to destroy." 32:32 You know, does this involve the destruction of the wicked 32:37 or what does this chapter involve? 32:39 Now, when it says He came not to destroy, Jim, 32:43 that's a chapter about the law. 32:45 Okay. 32:47 He said, "I came not to destroy the law but to fulfill." 32:50 Yes. 32:51 And that so often is one of the teachings 32:54 that Christianity has lost sight of 32:57 and you hear it misquoted, 32:59 you may hear it used the way 33:01 that Christ didn't use it at all. 33:03 They'll say, well, see He said, 33:04 He did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 33:07 So He did away with it. He did what? 33:10 He came not to destroy but He destroyed? 33:12 Yeah, right. No, it doesn't make sense. 33:14 No, it doesn't. 33:16 So we tried to put it in the right perspective 33:20 so you can see what He meant when He said, 33:22 He came to fulfill, 33:24 and when He came to fulfill that mean 33:26 He lived a life in absolute perfect agreement 33:29 with what the law taught. 33:31 Yeah. 33:32 You know, this is one of the areas the law, 33:34 the Sabbath, and so forth 33:36 that we find that certain groups, 33:39 particularly religious groups get so upset with us over, 33:44 and I think the reason is 33:47 because they cannot prove us wrong. 33:49 Right. We are very obviously right. 33:52 And, yet, through tradition they have followed this 33:55 going clear back to the time of Constantine, 33:58 so they have continued to follow 34:01 some of these teachings that are not biblical. 34:04 Right. 34:05 And, yet, they will stand up and say we follow the Bible 34:08 and the Bible only, and yet, they pass over some of these. 34:14 It's just amazing to hear how upset they get with us 34:19 when we just simply say, "Look, read the Bible." 34:22 Yes. And it's amazing to me. 34:25 It kind of amuses me. 34:27 Dona Klein that does works with us. 34:33 Lot of times when she's talking to people or some men, 34:37 they say, "Well, what is Pastor Cox's? 34:40 What does he believe in?" 34:42 And she'll say, "He's a Seventh-day Adventist." 34:45 And she will say, "Do you know why that is?" 34:48 And they say, "No." 34:50 She says, "Because that's what the Bible teaches." 34:52 Yeah, that's it, very simple, yeah. 34:54 That's what the Bible teaches. 34:56 All right, Lord of the Sabbath. 34:58 Tell me about that chapter? 35:01 Well, this is certainly one of the subjects 35:04 that has been lost sight of 35:07 and unfortunately, Jim, 35:11 tradition has such a strong, strong hold on all of us. 35:17 Yeah. 35:18 You know, we are born into a place 35:20 and we grow up there and we're taught this, 35:23 even though there may not be any basis for it, 35:26 we were taught it. 35:28 And so it just holds a great, great hold on us 35:34 that for many, many people it's very, very hard to break. 35:38 Yeah. 35:39 You know, but Christ all the way through 35:43 He never taught any other day 35:47 than the seventh day of the week, Saturday, 35:51 as the Sabbath 35:53 and what people miss so often in this, 35:57 is the Sabbath. 36:00 How should I put it? 36:02 Is not something that God gave it to you or to me, 36:08 He didn't give it to us, He said, 36:10 "My Sabbath, My holy day, 36:13 it's His day and it's not ours." 36:16 It's not for me to be able to do whatever I want to 36:20 with the Sabbath. 36:21 It's His Sabbath. 36:23 And so, our God calls upon me to walk 36:27 as He walked and keep the Sabbath, 36:30 but it's His Sabbath and always will be. 36:33 Yeah. 36:35 It is amazing. 36:37 The other question, the issues that came up with Christ 36:40 as the Sabbath was never about the day. 36:42 No. 36:44 They never, He was never saying, 36:46 "Oh, it should be another day." 36:47 No. Never. 36:48 It was the manner of keeping 36:51 and they had become so legalistic 36:54 that they wouldn't even help a sick person on the Sabbath, 36:57 and He was trying to say 36:59 it's lawful to do good on the Sabbath. 37:02 Correct. 37:03 This was the issue and never the day. 37:07 Right. 37:08 That was never even in question. 37:11 And to me the Sabbath has always been a time of, 37:15 how should I say, 37:17 a time of in a sense of celebration. 37:21 Yeah. 37:22 It's never been a time in which it was 37:25 a great, great burden for me to keep the Sabbath. 37:28 No. 37:30 It just, I'd always enjoy the Sabbath 37:32 and Christ wants us to enjoy the Sabbath. 37:35 He blessed it, He hallowed it, He sanctified it to help you 37:39 and I to learn the blessing there is 37:42 in the Sabbath. 37:43 Yes. 37:45 And so He gives me a day 37:47 that He blesses in a special way 37:50 and I can come into closed communion with Him 37:53 and enjoy all the blessings that He has for me. 37:58 And this is what Sabbath keeping is about. 38:02 It's not about being legalistic. 38:05 No. 38:07 God was never legalistic and Christ wasn't. 38:09 And that's what Christ opposed was the legalism. 38:12 Right. 38:13 When He went through the wheat field, they said, 38:17 he was breaking the Sabbath. 38:18 He says, "Absolutely not." Yeah. 38:21 And so we have to be careful today 38:24 that we don't become legalistic on keeping of the Sabbath. 38:27 And we have to be, you know, understand, 38:30 sure the Sabbath is the fourth commandment. 38:33 Yeah. 38:35 And He makes that very clear, "Remember the Sabbath day." 38:37 That's right. 38:38 Only one of the commandments that says, remember, 38:40 and God pointed that particularly, 38:43 and so He tells us that we're to keep it holy, 38:46 and He tells us through as He walk day by day, 38:51 place to place, 38:53 He showed how the Sabbath was to be kept in His life. 38:57 He performed more miracles on the Sabbath 39:00 than any other day of the week. 39:02 Right. 39:03 You know, and so He's showing that it's not wrong 39:06 to minister to others but, Jim, it's not right, 39:11 it's not right for me to take a day 39:15 that's His that He gave to me 39:19 and for me to forget Him and go and do what I wanna do. 39:24 Right. 39:25 And pay no attention to it, that's not right either. 39:27 No, He didn't give me the right to change it either. 39:29 No. 39:31 You know, He was crucified on Friday. 39:33 Right. 39:34 But that doesn't mean that we should keep Friday 39:38 as our day of rest. 39:39 No. 39:41 And He rose on Sunday, but that doesn't mean 39:43 that there are ways that we honor that 39:46 through baptism and through communion. 39:49 But He gave us the Sabbath, 39:53 that creation and has never rescinded it. 39:56 Never. 39:57 Not only has He not rescinded it, 39:59 He's made it clear in scripture in Isaiah 40:01 that's it's gonna be continuing on. 40:03 Exactly. It's not just over. 40:06 You know, what's so disappointing to me 40:08 is that there are great pastors, 40:11 I'll say great, there're honorable men 40:14 who are pastoring large churches 40:17 who know this to be true. 40:19 They know it to be true. 40:20 Some of us have visited with individually. 40:24 I visited an evangelist to his credentials 40:28 out of one of the large churches 40:30 in this nation. 40:32 And that pastor at that time, he's passed away since. 40:37 The evangelist and I studied together 40:39 and he came on the conviction 40:41 that the Sabbath was the seventh day 40:43 and still that it was still God Sabbath. 40:47 So he went to this pastor, and he said, 40:50 "Did you know this?" 40:51 And the pastor said, "Yes, I know it." 40:54 He said, "Then why don't you teach it?" 40:56 He said, "Well, I have been pastor of this church 40:58 for 46 years." 41:00 He says, "I want to make 50. 41:02 If I told them on Sunday morning 41:04 about the Sabbath, 41:06 by that evening I would no longer be the pastor." 41:10 And I have a relative who went to his pastor 41:15 in a larger church, a very large church. 41:20 And they, he mentioned to his pastor, 41:23 he started talking about this. 41:25 And the pastor says, "I know it's true." 41:28 And he said, "Why don't you keep it?" 41:30 He said, "Well, I can never convince the people 41:33 of the truth." 41:34 Because of tradition, they've read this tradition 41:36 that they've always gone. 41:38 And that particular pastor in many of these churches 41:43 they make a lot of money. 41:45 He was paid $365,000 a year. 41:50 So my brother told me later, he said, 41:53 "You know, he had 365 reasons not to keep the Sabbath. 41:59 That was a $1000 for each day 42:02 that he was paid to be their pastor." 42:04 Unfortunately, there's a back to the part 42:07 that we talked about faith. 42:09 Yeah. 42:10 You know, if this is what the Lord says, 42:13 then by faith I need to step out and do it. 42:16 But when they come face to face with this, unfortunately, 42:20 many times, all of a sudden their job... 42:23 Yeah. Their livelihood. 42:27 Lot of people thinking, 42:29 all of this come zooming up before them 42:31 and it's very hard for them to see 42:34 by faith what God will do for them 42:37 if they just give Him a chance. 42:38 Right. But this is what they run into. 42:42 And, of course, my heart goes out to them 42:44 because lot of those men are sincere... 42:47 Yes, they are. 42:48 Wonderful individuals, 42:50 but faith requires a bigger leap 42:55 if you want to put it, it's out there. 42:57 That's right. 43:00 You and I have an old friend who is now passed away 43:05 and sleeping and waiting for the resurrection, 43:07 but he was introduced to 43:11 one of the most well-known televangelist 43:14 who's still over on a television, 43:16 and they've studied for week after week, and, in fact, 43:19 this televangelist put him on his payroll. 43:23 He thought that much of our Adventist pastor 43:27 who was retired and was struggling financially, 43:30 and he put him on his payroll. 43:32 Paid, gave him the salary the rest of his life and, 43:37 but this gentleman convinced this televangelist 43:42 that the Sabbath was true and he totally believed him. 43:46 So for a while he was on everyday 43:49 and on Fridays he had before said, 43:53 "Go to church this Sunday." 43:55 Afterwards he said, "Go to church this week." 43:57 And then sometimes he would say, 43:59 "On Sabbath there were the Seventh-day Adventists, 44:01 they are good people are on Sunday." 44:04 He said that many, many times. 44:06 But he became convinced but he could not break away. 44:10 Now he called another televangelist 44:13 who happened to be a lady and he said to her, 44:17 "Do you realize that the Sabbath is still binding?" 44:20 She said, "Yes." 44:22 He said, "Then why don't we teach it?" 44:25 She said, "You do so 44:27 and you'll be off the air in six months. 44:29 Your money will dry up, and it will be off the air." 44:33 So there's too much of that involved. 44:35 Let me tell you, it does take courage 44:39 to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath. 44:41 You may have to give up a job, 44:43 you may have to give up some friends, 44:45 you may have to give up people, the friends, 44:49 that you never wanted to give up before, 44:52 but I assure you that in the long run 44:55 when you stand with Jesus some day 44:58 and He says to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 45:03 That you will know that any sacrifice you have made 45:07 is certainly going to be worth it. 45:10 Amen. 45:11 And I assure you that there will be blessings, 45:13 but there will also be sacrifices 45:15 that you've made if you do what God wants you to do 45:19 and you step out 45:20 and you keep the seventh day Sabbath. 45:22 And you know as well as I do, Jim, 45:25 I have seen hundreds 45:27 and I'm sure you probably have too... 45:29 Yeah. 45:30 Of people who by faith stepped out 45:35 to keep the Sabbath that lost their job. 45:37 Yeah. 45:39 I mean, they were fired over it. 45:40 I've seen them. 45:41 I've gone to the employers and talked to them. 45:43 I know firsthand they were fired 45:47 and all lost their livelihood, lost their income. 45:52 I do not know of one case 45:57 where that person didn't wind up 45:58 with as good a job 46:00 or the better than the one they had. 46:02 Always. 46:03 God always comes through, He doesn't fail. 46:06 But you must not, 46:09 I do not ever promise people that though... 46:11 No. 46:13 Because it takes the faith of saying, 46:15 I will lay it on the altar, I will lose it, 46:18 I will lose my house if I have to, 46:20 I will lose everything for him before he is able to do that. 46:24 Oh, yeah, you've got to make the sacrifice. 46:26 Right, exactly. 46:27 And, you know, and say I do this, 46:29 I don't care if I'm never employed, 46:30 I'm gonna do this, 46:32 yes. Then God... 46:33 Then He will. Operates. 46:35 Yeah, absolutely, but, 46:37 and I could just give you instance after instance 46:41 from the very beginning of my ministry 46:43 I saw this happen. 46:45 Time and time. Time and time again. 46:47 And far as I'm concerned, it doesn't make any difference. 46:52 The cost of the employment whether it's $10 or $100 46:56 or whether it's $10,000... 46:58 Yeah. 46:59 God is not limited in what He can do. 47:01 No, He isn't, absolutely, I agree with you. 47:04 Well, there are some more chapters here. 47:06 We're not gonna have time to go into all of them 47:09 but, Kenneth, summarize a little bit 47:11 those last four, five chapters? 47:13 Well, Jim, what I did is I took things 47:19 that Christ taught 47:20 as He went from village to village 47:23 and quotes the marvelous promise 47:26 that He gave of heaven, 47:29 marvelous promises that He gave of His coming back, 47:33 gathering all of His people, 47:35 promises that He gave to you and I of immortality in Christ, 47:41 all these things that He taught, 47:43 believed and these became the message 47:48 and this became the message that Christ wanted us 47:52 as individuals to share with other people. 47:56 So we wrote the book so that it might be something 48:00 that you can take 48:02 and share with your friend or your neighbor or somebody 48:05 and help them understand what Christ taught. 48:07 Yes. 48:09 And also to just make sure as you read through the book, 48:13 settle it in your own soul, 48:16 settle in your own soul and say, 48:19 "Okay, this is what I believe, 48:22 this is what He taught, I'm gonna walk with the Master, 48:26 this is what I'm gonna do 48:28 and settle that once and for all. 48:30 Yes. 48:31 And that's what we... There is... 48:35 I don't know how many, Jim, I didn't try to keep up 48:37 but there's hundreds of texts that teach these things. 48:42 Yes. 48:44 And it's not just one or two texts, 48:45 there's hundreds that teach us 48:47 and we hope that is clear to them 48:49 and they can see and understand word of His. 48:52 Yeah, you know, Kenneth, 48:54 the Lord has given you the opportunity 48:56 to present the gospel all over the many continents, 49:01 put it that way, 49:02 and you could go and do it on a personal basis 49:07 but never was there the impact 49:11 that has happened in your ministry 49:12 since you went on television. 49:14 Oh, no question about it. 49:15 And 3ABN was the base for your television ministry. 49:21 It was the network where you started. 49:23 Yeah. 49:25 And where so many others started, 49:26 like It is Written more or less started there. 49:29 Definitely Amazing Facts began 49:32 with our first television series. 49:34 There were radio ministries. Right. 49:37 And began there, 49:39 and so I know that you have a vision 49:45 for the future in your ministry 49:47 and I'm gonna ask you something. 49:49 How do you think that television fits in, 49:52 in the finishing of God's work 49:55 and giving this message around the world? 50:01 Jim, television fits in, no question, 50:03 because it helps spread the message. 50:05 It helps get it out there and where people can hear it, 50:09 understand what it says, but it does not have the impact 50:14 that internet is gonna have. 50:16 Yeah, you think that's gonna be great? 50:17 The internet is gonna change all of our perspective 50:21 in what's happening, 50:22 that doesn't mean television won't still be there 50:24 and it won't be a great affective tool, 50:26 but internet is a thing 50:28 that today is going to reach people 50:31 all over the world, no matter where's that, 50:34 they can pick it up and find it, 50:36 and that's where we need to be concentrating 50:39 and working to get the message out, 50:41 put it on the internet, 50:44 get it out there so people can see it. 50:45 Of course you know that internet 50:47 has to be televised so to speak. 50:49 Yes. 50:50 And when you look at the whole thing, 50:52 years ago that radio was the thing, 50:55 then television comes on and people say, 50:57 "Oh, radio is gone." 50:58 More people listen to the radio today 51:01 than they did before. 51:02 Yes, there's gonna be a great impact. 51:05 We must use the impact to the internet, 51:08 but, folks, let me tell you, there is never, 51:11 it's not gonna replace television. 51:12 No. 51:13 Television is still going to be there 51:15 and for the masses of people 51:18 and it's just amazing how God has used that 51:23 to reach a world that is, 51:26 that is hungry for truth, for biblical truth. 51:31 Well, listen, we're coming down here 51:32 to the last few minutes, seconds of our program. 51:37 Is there something you would like to share 51:38 with our audience, Kenneth? 51:40 Well, main thing I'd like to say 51:42 is just be strong in faith. 51:47 Reach out, take hold of the wonderful promises 51:50 of God's Word, 51:52 open up your heart, invite Christ into your life, 51:56 and as you do then watch, watch for His lenience 52:02 and as you understand the Word of God, 52:04 as you see His leadings in your life 52:06 walk with Him day by day, follow in His footsteps. 52:11 He will guide and direct you in a special way. 52:15 Well, the name of the book is In the Master's Steps. 52:19 And, Kenneth, how can we get a copy? 52:22 You can receive a copy by writing 52:25 to Kenneth Cox Ministries, 52:27 PO Box 1027, 52:30 Loma Linda, California 92354. 52:34 Or you can get one by calling 52:38 951-232-9822. 52:43 And also you can receive it 52:45 by calling 3ABN ordering from them 52:49 or you can get it by 52:51 or going through your local ABC Store, 52:54 they all carry them, 52:55 and I'm sure they will be glad to take care of you. 52:58 Are they sold on Amazon? 53:00 No, that particular book is not. 53:02 Okay. 53:03 It will be but it isn't yet. 53:05 It isn't, okay, should be able to get it there. 53:08 Well, listen, thank you for joining us and keep on, 53:12 keeping on with Jesus. |
Revised 2017-05-04