Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018027A
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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 00:39 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:11 Hello! Happy Sabbath, and welcome to 3ABN's 01:14 family worship. I'm Chris Shelton along 01:17 with my husband, Pastor Kenny Shelton, and 01:19 we're so thankful that you have chosen 01:21 to spend these wonderful hours with us here 01:24 this evening. - Amen. - Pastor Kenny, I'm 01:27 looking forward to a wonderful study. 01:29 It is entitled, "When Heaven Calls, 01:31 Don't Hesitate." You know, as I was studying 01:34 this, I was thinking about all the times 01:36 that we have been in churches and 01:39 ministering, or maybe doing an evangelistic 01:41 series, and you sense the Holy Spirit so 01:44 strong, and you just know that there are 01:48 people out there that are just fighting. It's 01:49 such a spiritual warfare. You 01:52 want them not to hesitate, but in that 01:55 battle, sometimes we've walked away and we've 01:57 seen a lot of hesitation. That's 01:59 those that really haven't come to 02:02 Christ, and even some that do know Christ. 02:04 We're going to talk about both groups 02:06 tonight. - We pray that the lesson will 02:09 be a blessing, because for those who are 02:11 hesitating, today is the day. So as we 02:14 talk about dozens and we have prayer here 02:16 in a little bit, we believe that there's- 02:18 people will make decisions even yet today, 02:20 because they've been putting it off. Probably 02:22 every one of us sitting here at one 02:24 time or the other, maybe in the beginning 02:26 stages, or even now, we put off things 02:28 that we know that God is impressing 02:30 our hearts to do, or to give our life 02:34 to Him. Whatever it might be, ministry 02:35 work or whatever, I'm just finding out the 02:38 older I get, today really is the day 02:40 we need to do what we have to do. Jesus 02:41 is coming. We need to be ready for that 02:44 wonderful day. We do know that our folks 02:46 really, really appreciate family worship. We 02:50 know that firsthand, because we get to 02:53 talk to so many a month. Seemed like 02:55 one of the first things they say. "Ooh, I love 02:57 family worship!" So, praise God. It's 03:00 just exciting as encouraging to keep 03:02 on keeping on because people are listening. 03:04 - Why, I think part of it's because it is 03:06 on the Sabbath, it is a special time, and 03:09 people are gathered around and they want 03:11 their focus to be heavenward, so we 03:13 pray that this will be something that 03:16 will touch your heart from heaven and move 03:17 you and motivate you to make some changes. 03:20 It has me, and I'm sure it did you. And 03:23 we have some wonderful guests; it's not just 03:25 Pastor Kenny and I. We have some wonderful 03:27 guests that we'd like to introduce. 03:29 To your right, Pastor, is brother Don Owen 03:33 and his lovely wife, Janelle. I would like- 03:37 brother Don, why don't you- you've 03:38 got a wonderful position here at 03:40 3ABN. Tell us about it. - Hmm. Well, where 03:42 do I start? What do I say? No, actually, 03:44 I'm just very blessed and privileged that 03:46 3ABN has asked me to be in their pastoral 03:48 department. I think like what Isaiah said, 03:51 "Who am I, Lord?" You know? "Why should 03:54 I be here and praying with folks?" It's just 03:56 been incredible, so I've been thankful 03:57 for that. The Lord has used Janelle 04:00 and I as we moved here- what, 5 years ago? 04:02 He's put us into an addiction recovery 04:04 ministry, so that's been a powerful 04:07 experience, seeing all kinds of- 04:10 - Challenging. - Yeah. Oh, my. 04:11 You want to talk about people 04:13 are just right on the cusp, and it just 04:14 go the opposite way and then it get pulled 04:16 into total darkness. We've seen a lot of 04:18 that, so this is a very big topic for 04:20 us today. - Amen. - We're very blessed. 04:22 - Well, one thing I love about you guys- 04:25 you are real, and you're very honest! 04:29 Good, bad, or ugly, you're very honest. 04:31 You hide nothing. We're all learning; 04:34 we're all climbing Jacob's ladder and 04:36 you let people know that. You don't have 04:38 to meet you very long and you see the love 04:41 of Jesus in both of your hearts. - Praise 04:43 the Lord. - And we love to have them 04:44 with us, all working together here, 04:46 because we sense that. You like to be around 04:50 people that love Jesus. Not elevating people; 04:52 it's just simply we've asked Jesus into 04:54 our heart, but we're going to challenge 04:55 our folks tonight to accept Jesus as 04:59 their Lord and Savior. Lives just change. 05:02 Your lives have all changed. Our lives 05:04 have all changed because we simply 05:06 met the challenge; we didn't hesitate. 05:09 We just accepted it. - Well, Pastor, would 05:11 you start our program by leading in a word 05:14 of prayer? - Absolutely, and we invite those 05:16 at home. Please pray with us. It's so 05:18 precious before we pray I can't hardly 05:19 help this- I just met at ASI a 90-year-old 05:24 lady who says what- every time, 'cause 05:28 here, it's a little difficult to get on 05:30 her knees. "When your program comes on and 05:32 you get on your knees, I get down on my knees, 05:35 too, and I pray, and I take down every 05:38 word that's said, and go back and study." 05:40 There are people- Bible students-out 05:42 there, whether young or old, that are 05:44 searching more to get a better handle 05:46 on their relationship with Christ. So, we 05:48 want to pray for you where you can pray 05:50 along with us. Please do. Let's bow as we 05:52 pray. Our kind, loving Heavenly Father, it 05:55 is a privilege we have to be able to 05:57 communicate with Thee. How awesome; what 06:00 an awesome thought that is- heaven came 06:02 down in glory; filled our souls. As we come 06:05 this Sabbath, we come asking special blessings. 06:09 Lord, special blessings- it's not things of this 06:12 earth; it's not what's going on even in the world 06:14 right now. It's just that we need more of 06:16 You. We invite Thy Holy Spirit presence 06:19 to be with us in our hearts and in our 06:21 lives as we open these beautiful pages 06:24 of the Word of God. Oh, speak to our 06:26 hearts; speak to every heart, every listener, 06:29 every watcher, and for those who are 06:31 struggling with whatever issue it might be 06:33 and may be hesitating, today is the day 06:36 as the Spirit works upon your heart. I 06:38 pray that they will hear that; they'll 06:41 understand it and they'll make that 06:43 decision and not hesitate. We just 06:45 thank You for the promise of Your 06:46 Word, "I am coming soon." Help us to 06:48 be ready- each one here- Holy Spirit, 06:51 abide in our hearts and in our minds 06:53 and our life. Sometimes it seems like just a 06:56 big mess we're getting ready to make. We 06:58 rely up on the Holy Spirit to take these 07:00 words and make sure that each one hears. Make 07:03 sure each one is comforted, and make 07:05 sure each one now makes that decision 07:07 for Jesus. Thank You for this privilege and 07:08 opportunity and for all of our viewers, Lord. 07:11 We love them and we appreciate them-3ABN. 07:13 In Jesus' name, amen. [Amen.] 07:16 - You know, our opening text is really 07:19 geared towards those that do know Jesus. 07:23 It's somewhat of a warning. It's found 07:26 in Revelation chapter 2 verses 4 and 5, 07:30 and it reads, "Nevertheless I have 07:32 this against you that you have left 07:35 your first love." When we commit 07:38 to Christ and we fall in love with Him, 07:41 we sense the Spirit of God working. Many 07:45 times, we don't continue on that 07:47 path and continue to grow our roots 07:49 deeper. The winds of strife begin to blow, 07:53 and we find ourselves on other paths that 07:55 we shouldn't be on. Jesus is saying here 07:57 that you have left your first love. 07:59 "Remember therefore from where you have 08:02 fallen. Repent and do the first works, 08:07 or else I will come quickly and remove your 08:11 lampstand." What is a lampstand? When 08:13 I read this, I thought, "He says He's going 08:14 to remove your lampstand." Most of 08:16 us wouldn't think of that if Christ was 08:18 talking to you; says, "Janelle, if you 08:20 don't remember your first love, I'm going 08:23 to come in and remove your lampstand." 08:24 What do you think that means? - You know, 08:26 as you say, you can't hide behind a bushel 08:28 or under a bed. You have to put on 08:30 a lampstand, and that lampstand is allowing 08:32 the light to shine. - Yeah, exactly. 08:34 I was thinking about the Holy Spirit; 08:35 allowing the Holy Spirit into our lives, 08:38 because that lamp is like a vessel or 08:41 container for the oil. So, that's what we 08:45 are. - I think that's the original wording- 08:48 King James, isn't it? It's 'lampstand-' 08:50 I mean 'candlestick;' not lampstand. So, 08:54 it just makes it a little more... 08:55 Again, it's talking about light, truth... 08:58 And it's interesting- at least, seems to 09:01 me-you have to have it. You have it on a 09:05 stand, it's going to shine brighter. Here, 09:07 what kind of made my heart sad is you look 09:10 at it here, because Jesus says, "I have 09:13 something against you." Now, what if He 09:17 looked at us today and said, "I've got 09:18 something against you," each one of us 09:20 would have ears to hear. "Lord, what is 09:23 it?" And I don't think any of us 09:25 would hesitate-part of our lesson here- 09:27 to get rid of that, by the grace of God. 09:29 - That's right. - Put it right there, 09:31 'cause He gotta have something against 09:32 you. He had something against the church. 09:35 The church was in the backslidden condition 09:37 at this passage. The apostate had come in. 09:40 The church was listening to air, 09:43 and they were accepting that air as truth. 09:46 Jesus comes in quickly and says, 09:48 "Look. That needs to cease; I got something 09:50 against you right here. And if you don't, 09:52 I'm going to give you an opportunity- I'd 09:54 love this to repent." We talk about being 09:57 redeemed this week. I've been redeemed 09:59 every day of my life by the blood of the 10:01 Lamb. If you think about this, He said, 10:04 "I'm going to give you an opportunity. 10:05 You're in bad shape;" we have a chance 10:08 to repent, and all is going to be well. 10:10 "But if you do not, then I'm going to take 10:12 the light that you have." And what 10:15 happens if the light's taken? Then, we're... 10:16 - Left in darkness. - I like this word here. 10:20 It says, "Repent and do the first works." 10:22 What are the first works? That's what 10:24 jumped out at me when I read that. "Do the 10:25 first works." I mean, if- like you say. 10:27 When you have that love and that- you'd 10:28 hit that song when you prayed earlier. 10:30 You said, "We're climbing Jacob's 10:31 ladder." It says in that last verse, "If 10:34 you love Him, why not serve Him?" 10:36 - It just shows you how much He loves us, 10:38 too, that He gives us another opportunity 10:41 before He removes the candlestick. He's given 10:44 us a warning. - And sometimes, another, 10:47 and another, and another... I always 10:52 hear someone say, "Oh, boy, am I glad we 10:53 serve a God of second chances," and I'm 10:55 lookin', "Ooh, a whole lot more than second 10:57 chances;" praise God. He gives us- 10:59 - But see, that's part of the problem is 11:01 we just presume that God's going to be 11:04 merciful, He's going to be forgiving, and 11:06 we just put it off, put it off, put it 11:09 off, and we think, "Maybe another time, 11:11 I'll do this; another time, I'll accept this. 11:14 Well, if I accept this part of scripture, 11:16 it's going to change my working, it's going to 11:18 change my whole family life; will I 11:20 accept that? Well, maybe in the future, 11:21 I'll do that." You see? We never know 11:24 when it's the last time that the Holy 11:27 Spirit will speak to our hearts. You 11:30 never know when it's the last time that 11:32 the Holy Spirit will speak to YOUR heart. 11:34 And then, we're left. Jesus is never going 11:37 to force us. What He's speaking about here, 11:40 you're getting into that Laodicean church. 11:43 And what did Jesus say? "I would rather 11:46 you be hot or cold, or I'm just going to 11:48 spew you out of my mouth!" That's how 11:50 important this is. This first little 11:53 part of it- paragraph, I'd like to read it 11:57 to us, 'cause it really points out 11:59 just how dangerous a ground this is. 12:02 It's going to talk about Sodom and 12:04 Gomorrah, and we think there could be no 12:06 more wickedness than Sodom and Gomorrah, 12:08 and yet, look what the prophet says 12:10 here. - With that boiled down for us 12:12 before she reads this, at least in my mind, 12:15 to simply say, "God has shed on us the 12:19 light of truth," or those who understand 12:22 what you understand as His truth. He 12:23 expects us, then- accountability, or 12:27 to walk in that light. If you don't walk 12:29 in that light, then darkness is going 12:32 to come. So we have to honor what is- 12:35 and again, don't hesitate; make a decision on 12:37 it, then walk in that, 'cause if you don't 12:39 walk in it, you don't make a decision for 12:41 Christ, we start getting off the path 12:43 and then darkness comes. - Precisely. 12:45 That's why this warning, I think, is so appropriate. 12:49 You can find this in Patriarchs and Prophets, 12:52 I believe - page 165. It reads, "The Redeemer 12:58 of the world declares that there are greater 13:01 sins than that for which Sodom and Gomorrah 13:04 would destroy it," and as I said a moment 13:06 ago... - That's a huge 13:07 statement. - Exactly! With laws that are 13:12 being passed in our country, I think, 13:13 "How can it get any worse?" And some of 13:16 the situations that we, unfortunately, 13:19 are privy to see, think, "How can it 13:22 get any worse?" But this is how God looks 13:24 at it. "Those who hear the gospel 13:27 invitation calling sinners to repentance." 13:30 Think about it. What separates us from 13:33 God? Sin! Self! So, our decisions, our choices... 13:40 We're going to get into that as we 13:41 study on. It's sin that separates us. 13:44 "And heed it not..." "When you hear the 13:48 voice of God calling, giving you an invitation 13:49 and you heed it not, are more guilty before 13:52 God; the more the dwellers in the Vale 13:56 of Siddim, and still greater sins is theirs 13:59 who profess to know and to keep His 14:02 commandments." Okay, that's talking to many 14:04 of you at home. You know who God is. You 14:08 profess to keep His commandments. In fact, 14:10 I know personally; it breaks my heart. 14:13 People, they'll stand up and say they 14:15 won't work on the Sabbath, they're 14:17 going to keep this commandment, going 14:18 to keep that commandment, but there's certain 14:20 commandments and certain living situations 14:22 that it's as if it doesn't matter. It 14:25 doesn't matter which commandment you 14:27 don't keep; it's still all 10. - If 14:30 you broke one, you broke it all. - Exactly. 14:32 And who denied Christ in their character and 14:34 in their daily life? Now, we want to 14:37 start out with a question here, and 14:39 that question is, "What does it mean 14:41 to deny Christ in our character or in our 14:45 daily lives?" - I was just thinking about 14:47 that question as we were preparing for 14:48 this study. I really think that, at least 14:53 for me personally, it's like, what areas in 14:55 my life am I not surrendering to Him? 14:58 I think sometimes, we only let Him 15:00 come into our lives so far. It's like, 15:03 you can take this and this and this 15:05 away, but no, this area's untouchable. 15:07 You know what I mean? So, it made me personally 15:11 reflect about which areas of my life am 15:14 I not surrendered in? So to me, that's 15:17 what it means. - I guess you're giving 15:19 the Lord complete permission. Something 15:21 really spoke to me. It was really- when 15:23 you started reading that, Chris, it was interesting. 15:25 It said, "Those who hear the gospel 15:27 invitation, calling sinners to repentance 15:29 and heed it not," that made me think of 15:31 blaspheming the Holy Spirit. - Precisely! 15:34 And which is the unpardonable sin! 15:37 - Yeah. - So, we can see why God feels 15:40 that this is top on the list of sins, 15:43 because it separates us, and pretty soon, 15:46 as you continue to deny the Holy Spirit, 15:48 then you stop hearing His call. 15:51 But I think, basically, it's not implementing 15:55 any of the beautiful character traits that 15:58 we read in scripture. God has inspired men 16:02 and women of old to teach and preach, 16:04 and many writers to write this beautiful 16:06 Book. A couple of chapters that I would 16:10 encourage you at home to read are 16:12 Ephesians chapter 4 and Psalms chapter 121, 16:16 because in there, you'll see a lot of 16:18 these beautiful things. God is wanting to 16:20 recreate in us, and we'll see that as we 16:23 go on, His image. - I was going to say, something- 16:26 we've been talking about this (and I 16:28 get a lot of ideas in my head all the time). 16:29 I was thinking about an image for people 16:31 to get an idea like this, and it 16:33 happens in our churches, too! We 16:35 tend to sweep things under the rug. I 16:37 said, "It'd be interesting- you do 16:40 like, a little- I don't know how you 16:42 put it together, but some little motion 16:43 thing you can show." All of a sudden, the 16:44 carpet keeps getting bigger and bigger, 16:46 and you're trying to look around it. You're 16:48 on the couch trying to see the TV, and 16:50 you just got this big mound and you're 16:52 just looking past it. - No, that's true. 16:56 - It's like, you're sweeping things 16:57 under the rug and you're not wanting 16:59 to deal with it. We really need to deal 17:01 with it. - You don't want to grieve the 17:03 Holy Spirit, because what was mentioned 17:04 here- you said read- encourage people 17:06 to Ephesians 4:30. That's exactly what 17:09 it says there. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit 17:12 of God, whereby ye are sealed into the 17:15 day of redemption." So, don't grieve it, 17:17 because when you grieve the Holy Spirit, 17:18 what chance do we have? The Holy Spirit 17:20 is the One that's awaking inside of us 17:23 the need for a Savior, convicting us of 17:26 sin, making sure we understand what 17:28 truth is; giving us power and victory in 17:30 our lives. So, more, we definitely need- 17:32 NOT hesitate, and certainly in these 17:34 areas. - That first sentence is very 17:36 powerful. It really just, like- whoa! 17:39 I had to reread that a few times. "The 17:40 Redeemer of the world declares that there 17:42 are greater sins than that for which 17:45 Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed." I 17:49 think, sometimes, our tendency is, we're 17:51 following Christ, we're in church, we're 17:55 serving in ministry, then we can sometimes 17:59 send a look down on people that are in 18:01 the world, doing what they're doing, 18:02 but what about our pride and our this 18:05 and our that? You know what I mean? So, there 18:08 are greater sins than- sometimes, 18:12 we just want to judge others, but it 18:14 says right there that, in that whole 18:17 paragraph, it talks about the things that 18:18 are greater sins. There's ones-that 18:21 last sentence-it says, "Greater sin is theirs 18:24 who profess to know God and keep His 18:25 commandments yet deny Christ." To God, 18:29 that's even greater than somebody that's 18:31 a drunkard or prostitute or whatever. 18:33 - When you said that, it spoke in my mind 18:36 when the commandment says, "Don't take 18:38 the Lord's name in vain." So, what are 18:40 we doing when we're pretending or we're 18:42 putting on a mask (or whatever it be) 18:45 and saying, "Yeah, we're Christians," 18:47 and you go along, go back home, and beat 18:49 your wife or whatever. You go back in church, 18:51 "Oh, yeah! I'm worshiping, I pay 18:52 my tithe; I do all the stuff." And right 18:54 behind closed doors, who knows what's 18:56 going on? That's huge. - I like some of 18:59 the things that she pointed out - pride. 19:01 Pride. "Pride cometh before a fall," 19:03 the Bible teaches. What about Lucifer 19:05 in heaven? He appeared to be holy, but he had 19:08 this pride and this envy and this jealousy. 19:11 You mentioned that it's worse than somebody 19:13 who may be drunk or beating up their wife; 19:16 but you know what? If they knew better, they 19:18 probably, possibly, would change. But if 19:23 you have that pride issue in your heart, 19:25 no matter what's on the outside, you're 19:28 still lost. So, we need- the beautiful 19:31 thing says- but go back to Revelation 19:33 12:5. The last part says, "Unless you 19:37 repent." So, we need to ask God, "Father, 19:40 what is it that's separating me from 19:42 You?" Ask Him, then confess that, then 19:45 repent of that and turn away from that. 19:49 - There's some words in there that- everybody's 19:50 pickin' a word here. It intrigued me 19:52 just a little bit where it talks about the Vale 19:55 of Siddon. I looked at 'vale,' and it simply 20:00 means, 'valley.' What happened in that 20:02 valley- right there, there was a war 20:04 that went on, but it was all full of 20:07 wells. Big, deep holes. So when they went 20:11 out into war, they had to be very careful. 20:13 As Christians, we're in a warfare. Sometimes, 20:16 we fall into these pits (they're called 20:18 slime pits is what they were). And when 20:21 you fall into one of those pits, you can't 20:23 get out. So, there are some times 20:25 you fall in the pit of sin, you cannot 20:27 get out unless the Spirit of the living 20:29 God lifts you out. [Amen.] You can't 20:32 climb on your own, you can't dig, you 20:34 can't carry on; the walls are too straight-up. 20:36 It's too difficult. The only way is to 20:38 repent and ask God to lift you out of that 20:40 pit. I thought it was very interesting. 20:42 There's a passage of scripture in Ecclesiastes 20:44 10:18? It says, "He that 20:47 diggeth a pit shall fall into it." So we 20:50 do what as Christians? Sometimes, we dig 20:52 our own pit, we fall in, and then I look 20:56 up and I say, "Don made me do it." I 20:59 wouldn't have dug this pit if Don hadn't- you know what 21:01 I mean. - Adam and Eve syndrome. - I 21:02 think that happens sometimes. We dig the 21:05 pit, we're going to fall into it. And then 21:07 Psalms, I think it's 9:15. It says, "The 21:11 heathen are sunk down into the pit that 21:15 they made." So as a heathen, we get away 21:18 from God. We're Christians, we let 21:19 God go, we hesitate, we don't make decisions, 21:22 we turn our back on light, darkness comes 21:25 in, we dig a pit, but we dug it. 21:28 - If I could just add to that, too, 21:30 that sometimes, it's not a direct 21:32 fall. Sometimes it's a slow progression. 21:33 That's really, I think, where Satan 21:37 can really trip us up, because it's not like 21:39 an all-of-a-sudden thing where we're 21:41 Christians one day and the next day, 21:43 we're not. Sometimes, it can be through, 21:46 maybe, music or entertainment, or 21:49 just going, "Oh, well, this doesn't 21:51 seem too bad." Then before you know it, 21:53 you're like, "How did I get here?" You 21:55 know what I mean? So, it could be a 21:56 slow progression by those daily choices, 21:58 too; going in the wrong direction. 22:00 - A little trifling here, but I remember 22:02 you guys telling me about- yeah, you're 22:04 hitting right on it. We talk about, in 22:07 our recovery groups, the first step is to 22:09 acknowledge and admit that you're powerless 22:13 and something has come over you. Then 22:14 this third step is that we made a 22:16 decision to turn our wills and our lives 22:19 over to the care of God, and that's the 22:20 big thing. When you spoke about the pits, 22:22 you made me think about that movie 22:24 we watched called Pilgrim's Progress; 22:27 they redid it in the 1990s. Christian 22:29 fell in that lake of despondency, and 22:31 Pliable said, "Uh, I'm done. I'm out of 22:34 here." He's burned with all this big sin on his 22:37 back-burdens-and it just made me think 22:39 about how we fall in those pits so 22:41 easily. We have to- we just talked about 22:43 our recovery group having a plumb line. 22:46 You have to have that plumb line in a 22:49 stander, and if you don't have that plumb 22:50 line, you're going to fall in those pits. 22:52 - And the fall there. It was kind of 22:54 interesting, talking about falling, then 22:55 you brought this into my mind too, because 22:57 the translation of that-the valley where 23:00 the pits were at-they were really called, 23:03 we mentioned, slime pits. Now, what it 23:05 is- yeah. Sometimes, they're beveled in 23:08 and you get a little too close to sin, 23:12 get a little close to the issue, it 23:14 gets a little slippery, and there you're trying 23:17 to backpedal a little bit, then you're down 23:19 on your backside and you just slide right 23:21 on into the pit. So that's what it 23:24 is-a slime pit. So sometimes, we don't 23:25 mean to get into the pit. - Well, it's 23:28 a good lesson for all of us. We don't even 23:30 get close. If you know it's wrong, just 23:33 stay away. A lot of us think, "Well, 23:35 maybe just a little bit this time." There 23:38 are some people in this world that we 23:40 live in. Just one drink is all it takes, and 23:43 they become an alcoholic. Just one 23:46 puff of a joint, and they can't get off 23:48 certain drugs like marijuana. - Or when a racy image comes 23:52 past you. - You gotta shut it down right then and right there. 23:58 If you can, you don't go where a 24:00 racy image would be, or you don't go 24:02 where they're drinking or they're 24:03 smoking, you know? It's our choice. It's 24:06 our daily choices. - It's interesting to 24:07 talk about, too, because the bottom line on all 24:09 these pits, you get into Revelation 9:1. 24:14 It had keys to the bottomless pit. You 24:17 see? Even the enemy digs himself a hole, 24:19 gets into the pit, he can't get out of 24:22 the pit until God allows him to come 24:24 out of the pit. - Actually, I want to 24:25 share something. We're talking about racy 24:26 images. About a few months ago, I had 24:29 a racy image pop up in my texts, and 24:31 I instantly, like, "Oh my goodness!" So I just, 24:33 "Ahh!" I saw Janelle was sitting next to 24:35 me, so I'm like- I turned my phone real 24:37 quick so she couldn't see it, and I'm like, 24:38 "What do I do, Lord?" She went to 24:40 the bathroom, and I'm like, "Delete it! 24:42 Delete it! Delete it!" Well, it did. Praise 24:44 the Lord that erased the-you know, whatever. 24:46 - Apparently, this is not an uncommon 24:48 thing for a lot of people to get these. 24:49 - But the thing is that, we try to 24:51 hide things. The shame and the guilt automatically 24:54 comes on us, and we have to turn to Jesus. 24:55 He can take that shame and guilt 24:57 away. This, I want to say, just happened 24:59 a couple days ago, and it's- "Ope, there's 25:01 another one. But this time, I'm going to show 25:03 her." I said, "Look. This is what's popping 25:04 on my phone. I want you to know. Just 25:06 look at this image, and I'm going to 25:08 delete it." So, it was getting out of 25:09 that slime pit. No more shame and no more 25:12 guilt; the Lord redeem you. - You 25:15 didn't ask for it; it came. - Since we're 25:17 on these pits, I might as well say 25:19 they're such a good example. As the 25:21 children of Israel are going across the desert- 25:23 Achan. When they went in and they- 25:26 I don't remember right now which battle it 25:28 was, but they were told, "You're not to 25:30 bring anything back," but he saw the gold; 25:33 he saw those things that were sparkling 25:34 and worth a lot of money, and what did 25:37 he do? He dug a pit in his tent and he 25:40 buried it-but it doesn't stay buried 25:43 from our Heavenly Father. Nothing 25:46 that we try to hide will ever escape 25:50 His view. So, he gave us a prime example. 25:53 Achan had time to share as you did, 25:56 your picture, with your wife, but he 25:58 chose not to. Every time, he would not 26:01 admit that it was him. His whole family 26:04 was lost because of the pit. - Wow. That's 26:08 big. - You made a comment earlier, Chris, 26:12 that I was just thinking about not going to 26:15 the places or the areas where we could be 26:18 tempted. I'm just learning more and more 26:23 that it's not necessarily that we do that because 26:27 we feel like- we don't go to these places 26:29 because it's not more that we are trying 26:34 to do it based on behavior, but because 26:37 we love God and we want to do what He 26:39 wants, and it's not that we're fighting 26:42 like, "We want to go to this place, 26:44 but we won't do it because we won't 26:45 be a good Christian," you know? It's not 26:47 that. It's more like, "I don't want to 26:48 hurt my Savior." - Amen. - And the beautiful 26:51 thing is that the closer we draw to 26:54 Him, the more we study, the more we 26:56 pray, the things that we used to love 26:57 and the places we used to want to get 27:00 close to, all of a sudden, we don't have 27:02 that desire, and it's because of what I see 27:04 in your eyes right now. It's because 27:06 of that love for Him that keeps us safe. 27:09 Isn't that beautiful? That's all He gives 27:11 us-His love, law for is to keep us safe; to make 27:15 us into His image so that we can 27:17 rightly go. He's not going to allow sin 27:21 to enter heaven again, so for us to be 27:23 fit, He's gotta recreate us, because 27:27 we have just been so bombarded with 27:29 the wrong things in this life. We think 27:33 that a lot of things are good which really 27:35 aren't. Let's go onto the next- 27:38 - There's a couple things that I think 27:39 is interesting, because when you pose a 27:42 question like this, it's dynamite, really, 27:44 to deny Christ in our character and in 27:49 our daily life. So, there's an article 27:51 here in 3 testimonies. I want to read it 27:53 just kind of as a bottom line, because 27:54 it gets down to nitty-gritty simplicity 27:57 of where we can deny Him when we think 27:59 sometimes that we're really not in denial. 28:01 But in scripture, you find several things 28:03 'denial.' You think of- I wrote one down 28:06 here when they talked to Peter. Remember? 28:09 Peter. "Are you His disciple?" "I don't 28:12 know Him!" he says. "I-" I think it's 28:16 in John 18:17. "I am not!" Man, you 28:20 talk about a denial. And when it came time 28:22 for Pilate, you really could find no fault 28:25 with him. He basically said,? 28:27 he's accountable, "I have power to 28:29 release you; I have power to put you on 28:30 the cross," you know; paraphrasing, but 28:32 he wanted to wash his hands in two 28:35 verses, I think it was; John 19:4. Pilate 28:41 looks at Jesus; he says, "I find no 28:42 fault in Him." Two verses down, he said, 28:46 "Crucify Him." You see this quick denial; 28:49 these things that go on. Deny Him in 28:52 character. And then I found this. I thought 28:54 so many- "There are many ways," if you 28:57 don't mind me reading just a paragraph 28:58 then we can all talk about it, because 29:00 this really hit home for me. It says, 29:03 "There are many ways wherein we may 29:05 acknowledge our Lord and many ways where 29:07 we may deny Him." This is in Testimonies 29:11 Volume 3, 332. "We may deny Him in our words 29:16 by speaking evil of others," listen to 29:20 THIS one, "by foolish talking, jesting and 29:24 joking, by idle or unkind words, speaking 29:29 contrary to the truth. In our words, we may 29:33 confess that Christ is not in us." Simply 29:37 as our words. Notice this. "In our character, 29:41 we may deny Him by loving our ease or 29:44 by shunning the duties and burdens of life 29:47 which someone else must do if we don't." 29:49 Put it off on somebody else. "And by loving 29:53 sinful pleasure. We may also deny Christ 29:56 by-" we mention over here, pride. This goes 29:59 on deeper. It says, "We deny Christ 30:01 by pride of dress and conformity to the world 30:05 or by uncourteous behavior. We may 30:09 deny Him by loving our own opinions and by 30:11 seeking," notice, "to maintain and justify 30:14 self. We may also deny Him in allowing 30:19 the mind to run in the channel of lovesick 30:21 sentimentalism and to brood over our 30:24 supposed hard lot and trials." I mean, there 30:28 are just hundreds, it seems, of different 30:30 ways that we deny Him that we say, 30:32 "I don't deny Jesus! I know He exists! 30:34 I know He sits on the throne." But look- 30:36 the things that we talk about... It's 30:37 so broad and so wide; we can deny him 30:39 in hundreds of different areas, so 30:41 we have to be careful; but it starts out 30:43 with one word. Words. Just words. - I was 30:45 going to say that when you spoke, what 30:47 popped in my mind... I do prison ministry, 30:49 actually, on Wednesday nights. One of the 30:52 gentlemen, he began sharing, and as he 30:54 did, his tone, even, it broadened the 30:57 spirit that was- I mean, the guys were 30:59 agitated; they're getting angry, like, 31:01 "You're preaching at us!" You know? This 31:02 kind of stuff, and it's getting ugly 31:04 in this room. I'm like, "Whoa, I've 31:05 gotta do something here." So I'm like, 31:07 "What do I do, Lord? This is like-" so I 31:08 had to control them. I said, "You know, 31:10 what's going on here is you're allowing 31:11 a satanic spirit in this room." I said, 31:13 "You can't have that. We're here to recover 31:15 together. We gotta work together." 31:16 Seeing that, that harshness, the tone, 31:19 the way you speak, what you say, it can 31:21 bring death or life. - Another thing, too, 31:23 that we can deny Christ- I was thinking 31:25 of the commandment is, "Do not take 31:28 the name of the Lord thy God in vain." 31:30 So, we take the name of Christ, and if 31:33 we don't live the way Christ would live, 31:35 then we're taking His name in vain, 31:37 and in a way, that's denying Him. - Yes. 31:40 - So, this moral character, the 31:42 character of God, character of Jesus 31:44 in us, is life and death issue. It 31:47 centers around our words and our actions 31:49 and our deeds. Review and Herald 6 and 10 31:52 of 1890. We've read this and we've heard it 31:54 many times, but it's just like it makes more 31:56 and more sense to me all the time. Some 31:59 people try to push it back a little bit; 32:01 push it underneath the rug. That rug 32:04 builds up so big, we can't really 32:05 see plain anymore. It says, "Unless the 32:08 moral image of God is seen in man," 32:14 right, "he can never enter in the city of 32:18 God as a conqueror." - There you go. - Unless 32:21 the moral image of God is seen in us-say all 32:25 we want, talk all we want, do all what we 32:27 want-unless the motives, the heart, is right, 32:30 unless we're really seeking to be like 32:31 Him, unless we really submit totally, 32:34 fully, and completely. Because the enemy's 32:36 going to take what's not. We will never 32:39 enter the city of God, and we think 32:42 we're going to slip by this, and this'll 32:44 be alright, and peek at this, and listen 32:46 to that... This is just heavy duty. 32:49 Moral image of God. That's talking about 32:52 perfection that only the Spirit of God 32:55 can give-the Holy Spirit- as we submit everything. 32:58 So, when we're holding onto things, 33:00 it's only because we want to hold onto 33:02 them. If we want victory, our Bible says, "It's 33:05 sure." When I fail, it's because I've 33:07 taken my eyes off of Christ. It's just that 33:10 simple. When I've got my eyes on 33:11 Christ and my hand in His hand, no such 33:14 thing as failure with God. - Well, that's 33:16 one reason the Bible teaches us to pray 33:18 without ceasing. And part of my answer, 33:21 of course- I did realize when I came up with 33:24 this question that it could be very, very 33:26 deep. Part of my answer was, our 33:28 wills, our actions, our reactions- a 33:31 lot. I cannot tell you how many times I've 33:33 heard somebody say, "Well, YOU made me 33:35 do it." No one- Mrs. White, the Bible declares 33:38 no one can make you react. No one made that 33:42 man react when you were at the prison 33:44 that time that way, except the prompting 33:46 of the enemy. It was his choice. It was 33:49 our choice. Someone hurt you, someone 33:51 is mean to you- it is your choice. She 33:54 says, sometimes, that silence is golden. 33:57 It's our actions, our reactions; it's how 34:00 you speak, it's the way you talk to one 34:02 another. It will truly expose the character 34:06 that you possess. It's one or the other. 34:09 - See, it's almost like saying, "Here, 34:12 let's balance it," right? "I want to 34:13 balance it. Balance it here." It's always 34:15 the guy that's guilty of sin who responds 34:19 the wrong way. It's true, too. But let's 34:22 not forget the person that agitated you. 34:25 Let's not forget the person that called it 34:27 up in the wrong attitude of- 34:29 - That's the whole point. - I'm just 34:31 saying. It doesn't mean you respond 34:33 different ways, but you're still accountable, 34:35 right? The person who started it. Does that 34:39 make sense? - Well, God will work on both 34:41 hearts, but that's the whole point. If 34:43 someone is agitating you... - I need somebody 34:45 to say amen. [laughter] - But that's true. 34:48 Because if someone is agitating you, how 34:52 do you respond? It's between you and 34:55 your Savior. You're not accountable for 34:58 your wife, your husband, your- no one else. 35:00 They're accountable for themselves. - But the 35:03 agitator's in trouble, too. - If someone's 35:05 agitated- well, if it's me or somebody else, 35:07 it's still our responsibility to- 35:10 dart a prayer to heaven! If you can't- 35:15 - But I always hear- do you not always 35:16 hear this? "It's the way they responded. 35:18 They responded, and this is all wrong..." 35:21 Somebody say amen. - I just think that 35:23 the guilt can be on both sides. - Both 35:27 parties are guilty. - I was just thinking 35:29 as you're saying that, we've talked before 35:30 about when we first came to the Lord. 35:33 It's tempting sometimes to look at the other 35:37 person and think that they're always the 35:38 problem or they're always the one that- 35:40 "See, they're the one that needs to change, 35:41 but you're okay." We talk to people 35:45 sometimes in recoveries if it's couples we're 35:48 working with. Maybe one looks at the 35:50 other and says, "Well, do something to help 35:53 that person, 'cause they're hopeless," or 35:55 whatever. And it's like, "Wait a minute. 35:57 There's a couple situation here, so what could you 36:01 do a little different that would help that 36:02 person? You can make new choices together 36:06 instead of pointing the finger at that 36:08 other person all the time." That just 36:10 doesn't go anywhere. - It doesn't! It's 36:12 the same thing that happened in the garden. 36:14 "She made me do it." - "Well, God..." 36:17 - "You made the woman." - Precisely! 36:21 See, God makes it very clear that we 36:24 cannot throw that back. It's your respo- it 36:28 was Adam's responsibility. Did he take the fruit? 36:31 How did he handle it? - I was going to say 36:33 something when you mentioned something. What came 36:36 to my mind- this is going back to prison. 36:37 One night, we talked about this, and it 36:39 was idea of forgiveness. It kind of touched on it 36:42 a little bit. We need to forgive one another, 36:43 and- I think it was a gentleman by the 36:45 name of Dennis Smith. He wrote one of his 36:47 books-40 Days, I think it was-he 36:49 wrote in there if we don't forgive, 36:50 that it opens a door for Satan to cause 36:53 demonic oppression. - It does! - Absolutely. 36:57 - And the beautiful thing- Cheri Peters. 37:01 I was watching one of her programs one 37:02 time, and many of you viewers-you've 37:05 watched her program, and you realize how 37:07 she has been abused since an infant. Part 37:12 of that abuse came from her father. On 37:15 his dying bed, she heard the Lord tell 37:18 her, "You have to forgive him." She 37:21 was arguing. "But God, he never said he's 37:23 sorry. He hasn't changed one bit." And 37:27 the thought came to her mind and she thought 37:30 it was God. What really has helped me is 37:32 that forgiveness is not always fair. But 37:39 when you forgive, then that sets YOU 37:42 free. It's not always fair. You can forgive 37:47 that person that's agitating you, that's 37:49 hard to work with- whatever it might be. 37:53 You lift them up in prayer. But 37:55 because you're able to forgive, you're 37:57 the one that's displaying the character of Christ. 38:01 - How is that so important? It's 38:04 really- isn't it a life-and-death issue? 38:07 Forgiveness? Even though someone doesn't 38:08 ask you? [Mhm.] What does the Bible 38:11 say? - "Forgive and you shall be forgiven." 38:13 - Right. "Forgive others" is how Christ 38:15 will forgive us. If you want to be 38:17 forgiven of your sins,? 38:19 shortcomings? I have to be willing 38:21 to forgive those who, we said, trespass, 38:22 use you, abuse you, step on you, wipe 38:27 on you- right? You know? All those things 38:29 that go on, we have to be willing to 38:31 overlook and go on. What comes to my mind 38:34 is if Christ is living in the heart, they 38:36 would never have said or never really 38:37 would have done that. - One of the gentlemen 38:42 in there said, "If I can't forgive myself, 38:44 how can I forgive others?" I thought, 38:46 "Wow, that's a very powerful statement." 38:48 I mean, we have to be able to forgive 38:49 ourselves. There's a lot of things that we 38:53 do. We've been talking about this- beating 38:54 ourselves up. We tend to do that, and I think 38:56 Satan can hold swear of us if we're not keeping 39:00 in line with Christ and His commandments 39:02 the way He's given us, we can look to 39:03 self too much. - And one of the biggest, 39:06 probably the strongest, the most motivating 39:08 examples is Christ laying on the cross, 39:14 and they're nailing the nails through 39:17 His hands. And what does He say? "Father, 39:21 forgive them." They didn't say, "We're 39:23 sorry we have to do this." And He's 39:30 already been beaten and He's had the 39:32 crown of thorns pressed upon His 39:35 head. He did nothing wrong; He was an 39:38 innocent lamb led to the slaughter. And 39:42 yet, He was able to say, "Father, forgive 39:45 them." It came from His heart, as well. 39:48 - So many of the martyrs that followed, that so 39:52 closely related to Jesus Christ, they let Christ 39:55 so live in Him- it was no longer I, 39:58 but Christ, and they would set fire to, 40:00 or stoning of Paul or Stephen. And we're, 40:04 "Father, forgive them." First thing out of 40:06 their mouth is, "Father, forgive 40:07 them. They just don't know what they're 40:08 doing." I think it helps us to realize 40:12 when people say and do things and are 40:14 nasty and ugly, sometimes-bless 40:16 their heart-they don't have Christ within. 40:19 - One of my friends was telling me- I 40:21 guess someone had told them, and it's 40:23 just good advice. It's the idea that 40:26 if we knew someone's whole story, we couldn't 40:28 help but love them. [Mhm!] You know? 40:31 Sometimes, we make quick judgments based 40:34 on something we see, and it's just an idea 40:38 that, you know, if we knew what that 40:40 person was going through, what they 40:41 had just been through that morning, or 40:43 whatever, we could have more mercy and sympathy 40:46 for them. That's what God sees - the whole 40:52 picture from the beginning to the end, 40:55 and that's why He has that unconditional 40:59 love and that's where our faith and trust 41:01 should come in. To know that He loves 41:03 that person so, then why can't we? - I was 41:06 going to say, when you're talking about 41:07 that, what came to mind: the last, we 41:09 did a 14-week program in the prison for 41:11 addiction recovery. One of the guards 41:12 there, he said, "What are you doing here?" 41:14 - I said, "Well, I'm doing addiction 41:15 recovery here." He says, "Oh, you're 41:17 wasting your time. It's not worth it. 41:20 These guys are just pretending." I walked 41:23 in that chapel, I started talking, I 41:25 asked the guys-it was the last day-the 41:28 guy, he said, "You know, I've been coming 41:30 to your group for 9 years, the Adventist 41:33 group here, and I have been hesitating to 41:35 make the decision to be baptized." He said, 41:37 "But because you came in, you're 41:39 starting us in recovery," he said, "it gave me 41:41 the courage to say I want to be baptized." 41:42 - Praise God. - Hesitating for 9 41:46 years. It can take time. Sometimes, 41:48 it takes time, and we want results now. 41:51 Sometimes, because of hesitating and 41:54 not wanting to give up? things 41:57 of the world, but the time will come. 41:59 A word in due season, a prayer prayed at 42:01 the right time can just break a heart, 42:05 which is part of this lesson it's talking 42:07 about is how we gain these things. It's 42:08 simply by beholding Jesus; letting Him 42:12 into our hearts and life. That's sort 42:13 of farther down the lesson, but ooh! 42:15 - Accepting the power of the Holy 42:17 Spirit, because it's the power of the 42:19 Holy Spirit, that gift, that comforter that 42:21 Christ sent to us after He left that 42:24 enables us to forgive, even when it's not 42:27 fair, that enables you to be quiet 42:30 when your body all of a sudden- your 42:32 first reaction would've been- or, you know, 42:34 years ago, your first reaction would've been- 42:36 the nice thing is- and I can honestly say 42:39 this: I have changed over the years, 42:42 because my first reaction would've 42:43 been to just fight right back. - Thatta 42:45 girl. Look at her. - But there's a 42:47 lot of times that I have learned to 42:49 hold my tongue, to be silent. - That's our 42:52 natural tendency, what she just said. 42:54 Fight back. - When that guy spoke 42:55 to me like that, I just kind of turned 42:57 around and said, "Pbbt, that was 42:58 Satan. Okay, I know where it's coming from." 43:00 I've seen it. - How do martyrs go to the 43:04 stake singing? How did they go to the 43:07 stake praying? You see, there's healing 43:11 in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and when 43:14 God's people cannot take the pain anymore, 43:18 He takes it. I've had that happen 43:21 firsthand. I had it happen, actually, 43:24 during childbirth; my first child. Back 43:27 then, they would teach you-Lamaze classes- 43:29 they'd say, "Keep your eyes open. 43:31 Focus on a little dot." This was 43:33 interesting how the Lord taught me. 43:36 I didn't keep my eyes open; I actually 43:40 closed them, and I was picturing Christ in 43:42 the Holy of Holies? The whole time, 43:45 I was singing. I was singing hymns. 43:48 Well, this went on for several hours- 43:50 about 18 hours. It was a long time, and 43:54 all of a sudden, I got so weak and 43:56 the pain was so great. I remember 43:58 saying, "Lord, I can't see your face anymore. 44:02 I can't concentrate. I can't sing anymore." 44:05 No one knew. My mother was right 44:07 next to me. She had no idea what had 44:09 been happening all those hours. The 44:11 moment I told Him I couldn't do it, 44:14 she began to sing. - Wow. - She just 44:16 began to sing. I fell asleep for 10 44:20 minutes. I woke up and I told the nurses. 44:23 I said, "The baby's here." "Oh, no, 44:26 honey. You're just now going into 44:27 transition. Oh, no, no." The baby was 44:30 there. It was something, because when I 44:37 couldn't take the pain anymore, God 44:40 came in and He took it and I fell asleep. 44:42 That has been a lesson as I've studied over 44:45 the years to understand how those martyrs- 44:48 'cause you think, "How in the world 44:50 could we ever do that knowing that- 44:53 maybe our babies would be ripped apart, or 44:55 our bodies would be ripped apart. How do 44:57 we go to a death like that?" It's 45:00 because when you're so filled with the 45:02 Holy Spirit, he's going to strengthen you. 45:05 When you can't take it, he's going to 45:06 take it. Praise God. By His stripes-His 45:10 stripes-we are healed. They may 45:12 be hitting us, but they're touching Him. 45:14 Beautiful. - I had a young lady call 45:17 into our pastoral department a while 45:19 back, and she told me she's been struggling 45:20 with the idea of suicide for 10 45:22 years. You just feel a heaviness over the 45:25 phone, so I started sharing with her 45:26 Zechariah 3. I love that story and 45:29 showing people how Jesus Christ values 45:31 your life, as a daughter or son of 45:34 God; whatever it may be. I started 45:36 sharing it with her, and then the Lord 45:37 impressed me the following week to 45:39 call her back, and I started speaking 45:41 to her. I spoke something specific 45:43 to her, and it said something to me. 45:45 It prompted me; the Holy Spirit said, 45:47 "There's a demonic possession here." 45:49 She had said, "I've heard a voice, and 45:51 I'm told that I'm not to proclaim the 45:53 blood of Jesus over me." - Oh my. - And I 45:56 said, "Whoa, okay." As soon as she 45:57 started getting agitated on the phone, 45:59 and she said, "You're obligating me! You're 46:00 making me feel obligated!" She hung 46:02 up. I saw her call back, and the Lord 46:03 says, "She is fighting right now. You need 46:05 to call her back." So I did. I called 46:07 her back and I prayed with her. I talked to 46:09 her, and after we got done praying- again, 46:11 fighting- she said, "Well, okay. If I 46:14 commit suicide..." I said, "No... You 46:17 know in your heart..." I told her, "You know 46:20 in your heart what the right answer is. 46:21 You are the only you. You are the only 46:23 one with that eye color, that hair color, 46:24 those fingerprints... That means you're 46:26 special to God! That means you're special." 46:28 Then she started saying, "Well, I am thankful." 46:31 I said, "You are? What are you thankful 46:32 for?" She said, "I'm thankful I've got a 46:33 roof over my head, I've got food on the 46:35 table, and I'm alive today." - Started 46:38 changing. There you go. - That evil spirit was 46:40 cast out. - Amen. - Praise the Lord. We 46:44 wrestle not with flesh and bones, and we 46:47 realize that it's the enemy. It's definitely 46:51 a warfare for our minds and our hearts 46:54 and our souls. - We encourage the people- 46:56 the story you related is, when you're going 46:59 through very painful situations and you 47:00 just seem like you can't go on anymore, 47:04 for those who at least have accepted 47:06 Jesus, and others- we say shouldn't- we want you to 47:09 accept Christ. But when He comes to you 47:12 in the middle of the night, when He comes 47:14 to you when you're just maybe so weak, 47:17 you can't go on, you don't feel like 47:18 breathing, you don't feel like going on 47:20 'cause everything's fallen apart... If a 47:23 person can start quoting scripture 47:24 to themselves, they can start singing 47:27 songs and trying to remember all the 47:29 verses that you used to sing 20 and 30 47:32 years ago. It's a whole attitude. 47:37 You can't sleep; sleep won't come. But the 47:39 more that you begin to sing to Him, the 47:41 more you quote Bible passages, I'm tellin' 47:43 you, there is a power, and you 47:46 just start to rest in Him.? 47:50 He takes the pain. 47:52 He takes that. I experienced that in 47:54 the hospital. That when I couldn't breathe 47:57 and I stopped breathing, He would say every 47:59 time, "Kenny, breathe," 'cause I'd just 48:02 drop off and just quit breathing. And 48:06 He'd say, "Kenny, breathe. Kenny, 48:09 breathe." They think, "Well, he's not going 48:12 to make it." But then the Holy Spirit said, 48:16 "Kenny, you shall not die, but live 48:19 to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ." 48:22 - Amen. - Now, that was encouraging. But 48:23 for somebody who couldn't move and 48:25 couldn't get out of bed-had been there 48:26 for weeks. By faith, just accept it. 48:29 There's many going all through it; I'm 48:31 not just talking about myself. Hundreds and 48:32 thousands are going through that, but I 48:34 tell you, I know where your help is at. 48:35 You just have to reach out by faith 48:37 and claim it. - Well, it's these testimonies 48:40 that we've been talking about- they 48:42 give strength; they give hope- they 48:45 give hope to those of you at home who are 48:47 studying with us, because you can hold 48:49 onto these. There's real power in the 48:52 presence of God. There's real power in the 48:55 Holy Spirit. It's just such a blessing to 48:58 hear these stories, to realize that once 49:01 we submit and commit and we don't hesitate 49:04 when heaven calls, then He gives us that 49:07 gift. That's a gift He wants to give 49:10 us. He wants to. For those of you at home, 49:12 we actually had 8 questions. We've got 49:15 through one. I'm going to propose that this 49:21 is going to be part one, and we're going 49:23 to come back as a group. Let's do it 49:26 as long as the Holy Spirit leads and 49:29 guides and directs. They are important, 49:32 and as he was mentioning about singing and praising 49:36 God through scripture, I read, one time, 49:39 many years ago-I was probably in my 20s- 49:42 maybe early 30s-that there's power when 49:44 you sing in the name of Jesus. I remember, 49:47 my oldest daughter- she had a fever of 49:50 105+ and I kept calling the doctor. 49:53 They said, "Well, any other symptoms?" 49:54 "No, no, no." So I was giving her 49:56 a lukewarm bath. She was crying; she was 49:58 miserable. This went on for hours. I'm 50:01 sitting in the bed, trying to console her 50:04 about 2 o'clock in the morning; the fever's 50:06 still raging, and all of a sudden, after 50:09 several hours, I heard the Holy 50:11 Spirit say, "Sing in the name of Jesus." 50:15 And I began to sing. Within 30 seconds, I 50:20 kid you not, 30 seconds, she stopped 50:22 crying, the fever was gone; everything 50:26 was back to normal. There's power. 50:31 - Computers can be healed, too. We 50:33 know that. We told that story a few 50:35 times. Just sing to it. By faith, 50:38 just sing. That's right. Sing about Jesus. 50:40 - I was thinking about the idea of hesitation 50:42 and how early on in my walk with Christ... 50:44 Actually, God called Don out first, then 50:49 I saw those changes in him; but I wasn't 50:51 ready to give up the things that I 50:54 was doing at that time. Slowly but 50:57 surely, though, the Holy Spirit was kind 50:59 of chipping away there. So, the biggest 51:02 impact, though, for me was the changes 51:04 I saw in Don and the things that he had 51:06 wanted to quit that he couldn't. So at 51:10 that time, when I was seeing the changes 51:12 in him, I was still kind of- I was 51:14 paying attention to what was going on 51:15 with him, but I still wasn't ready. I was 51:19 hesitating, but because of our relationship 51:23 and what I wanted for our relationship, I 51:28 think that was, at that time, my 51:29 motivation. Now, of course, I know that 51:32 God should be first in a marriage and at home so that 51:35 spouse should be second. But at that time, 51:38 that was the hesitation- this selfishness 51:41 that I didn't want to give up. I wanted 51:43 HIM to change, but I didn't want to change 51:45 what I was doing. So, I think that was 51:47 what kind of held me back at that 51:49 time. But praise the Lord He doesn't 51:52 give up on us. - I want to say just 51:55 in reflecting on that, I'm just so thankful 51:57 that God pulls a mirror up to us 51:59 individually, and people- God is not a God 52:02 of force, and I'm very thankful for 52:03 that. God has been very gracious to both 52:06 of us and pulling us out of stupidity- 52:09 slime pits, if you want. He's got a 52:13 strong arm. - Oh, yes He does. - Praise the 52:15 Lord He's got a strong arm. Just so 52:17 thankful. I think about being in pastoral, 52:20 I'm like, "Lord, how- 10 years ago, even 52:24 when I was in prison that night- we 52:26 celebrated our 10-year anniversary just a 52:27 little while back, and I told the guys- 52:29 it was a Wednesday night; I remember- 52:31 they said, "What are you doing here?" 52:32 I said, "Well, I wouldn't be anywhere 52:33 else. I want to be here." I just said, 52:35 "If you saw me 10 years ago, I would not 52:37 be standing in front of you." I would not 52:40 be, 'cause I was such a mess, and 52:42 the Lord came and changed me. That 52:43 hesitation- we think, "I can control this; 52:46 I've got this under control." I actually 52:48 was writing a book called All Bottled 52:50 Up-a poetry book a long time ago. I 52:51 used to write poetry. The idea is that 52:53 we tend to bottle things, we hold 52:55 onto it, and go, "No, Lord. No, God. 52:57 I'm under control. I've got it. Don't 52:59 worry," and you're like, [inhales sharply] 53:00 inside, you're just welling up; you're 53:02 getting bigger and bigger, and you're about 53:03 ready to just blow up if you keep 53:05 hesitating. - And sometimes, we don't 53:07 even know we're in the slime pit until 53:08 God comes along and tells us we are. 53:10 Sometimes, we think we're okay in the 53:11 slime pit. - That's right. That's so true. And 53:16 we've been talking about His mercy on our 53:18 hesitation. I want to reiterate - 53:21 we don't know about tomorrow. It is your 53:24 choice, for Jesus could be right now. 53:26 We're not promised tomorrow. The Bible 53:29 says that today is the day of salvation. 53:31 We make our decisions as we hear the Holy 53:34 Spirit speaking to our heart. So for those 53:37 of you at home, for those of us here, 53:39 we're learning not to hesitate; right? We're 53:42 learning to just accept and follow. 53:44 What a wonderful, loving, strong Savior 53:48 that we have to be able to pull us out 53:50 of those slime pits. I would love for 53:52 you to bring some of those poems 53:54 with you next time. - Well, some of them 53:56 are...okay... That was the past. There's some in there that 54:00 aren't so nice. - May have to do a little editing. - Yeah, 54:03 yeah. Just a little cleaning up. - I 54:05 guess I misunderstood. - That was the bottle-up 54:07 days. - Okay, okay. - What I was going to 54:09 say- something that- and you were talking 54:11 about the idea of hesitation. We talked 54:12 about this. I used to work at a place - 54:14 Save-A-Lot food stores, back in Indiana. This 54:18 young man- I don't want to go into great 54:19 detail about this story, but anyway, 54:21 he would do some things that were very 54:22 flirtatious toward me. It was very- it just 54:26 felt dirty, and I said, "Lord, there's- 54:27 I can't handle this. This is disgusting. 54:29 I don't want to deal with this." 54:30 So, I said, "I'm going to give him 54:32 this book, Steps to Christ. I want to 54:33 give this book to him." I said, "I just 54:35 don't know what else to do, Lord, but when 54:37 he gets alone, I'm going to give him this 54:38 book." Sure enough, he went around the 54:39 corner this one day, and I said, "This is the 54:41 time I'm going to do it, Lord. So give me 54:42 that opportunity." I went. I said, "Here. 54:44 I want you to have this book. I care for 54:45 you, and I just want you to-" I can't 54:47 remember all of it, but something like 54:48 that. "I care for you; here's the book." 54:49 He's like, "That's interesting." Well, 54:51 4 months later- 3 or 4 months later- 54:53 he comes back and he's clean-cut. He 54:55 looks at me and he says, "I want to 54:56 tell you something. I read that book 54:58 3 or 4 times over. I'm now going to 54:59 church." He said, "By the way, my 55:01 name is..." You know, and he shook my hand. 55:03 I was like, "Whoa, man. This is incredible." 55:06 What was my enemy at one time is now 55:08 my friend. That's what I like about the 55:10 gospel. That's what I like about turning 55:11 our lives over to Him is now we're 55:13 creating brothers and sisters in heaven 55:15 that are going to say, one day, "I'm here 55:18 because of you." - No more denying 55:21 the character of Christ in our minds and 55:24 in our hearts." - Amen. That is beautiful. 55:26 - And overcoming those barriers, sometimes 55:28 we meet people, sometimes Satan 55:30 will immediately throw a barrier there to keep 55:32 us from reaching out to that person. I 55:34 think that's important, too-recognizing; 55:36 having that spiritual discernment when 55:38 Satan's trying to create that barrier. 55:39 - Yeah. Don't we ask the question sometimes, 55:41 "Should I give them a piece of literature? 55:43 Should I tell them about Jesus?" It's 55:45 in the gospel. It's exactly what we should 55:48 be doing. We hesitate because we might be 55:50 a little weak-a little vacillating- 55:52 we don't know how the outcome's going 55:53 to be, but we've already been commissioned 55:55 to go into the world giving gospel, giving 55:57 printed pages, telling them about Jesus, so 55:59 we can feel assured that if we do that, 56:02 the blessings of the Holy Spirit will 56:03 accompany us, and some good things 56:05 will develop (as you've seen in your life). 56:07 - It's beautiful. In some of the cities, 56:09 you see a lot of these homeless people, 56:11 and that's what we like to do is get a Steps 56:13 to Christ, maybe stick a little bit of 56:15 money, but there's been more than once 56:17 that they've come back and said, "You 56:19 know, thank you for the book." They just 56:22 bypass them and you- "Thank you. I need 56:24 this book." - We pass by the same 56:27 ones quite a bit; series of meetings. 56:29 - It's beautiful. I can't believe we're 56:32 down to a minute! Our time is about 56:34 gone! It's about gone. Praise God for His 56:39 working in and through and speaking, and I 56:42 pray that He has spoken to everyone 56:44 at home. Pastor, will you just have 56:45 a real quick closing prayer? - Mhm; yes. 56:48 Merciful Father in heaven, again, we 56:50 thank You for the privilege to study 56:51 Your Word. As we've looked into the Word, 56:54 You have revealed Yourself-Holy, High, 56:57 and lifted up from this earth. Father, 56:59 we thank You for revealing Your 57:00 character, revealing the steps that we 57:03 need to be taking, and the effort that 57:05 needs to be put forward that we 57:06 may be like You, that we want to be in 57:08 character in deed, in action, in word 57:11 like Jesus. We need Your help and the 57:14 grace of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord, for 57:16 our precious watchers and those who view, 57:18 those who listen- we pray decisions, right 57:20 now, have been made. Not for just today, 57:22 but for eternity. No hesitating; accept 57:25 Jesus now as your Lord and Savior. In 57:27 Jesus' name we pray, amen. - Until next 57:30 time, may our precious Lord and Savior 57:32 continue to richly bless you and yours. |
Revised 2018-10-29