Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW190002A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:08 Hello, happy Sabbath, 01:10 and welcome to 3ABN's Family Worship. 01:12 I'm Chris Shelton along with my husband 01:14 Pastor Kenny Shelton. 01:16 We're so thankful that you have chosen to join us 01:19 to welcoming the Sabbath. 01:20 And we have some wonderful 3ABN family around us 01:25 here at the table, and I'm so excited. 01:27 I know the Lord's going to do great things 01:29 during this hour of worship. 01:31 Absolutely. 01:32 Pastor, to our right, 01:34 you've got some real talent over here. 01:36 Yes. Tim Parton. 01:37 That's right. 01:39 Brother Tim, you are going to start a new... 01:41 Well, In fact, it's already launched, right? 01:42 Right, right. 01:43 The Praise Him Music Network has launched, 01:45 we're on the air, 01:46 and excited to be serving the Lord through music. 01:49 Yes. 01:51 And you've got a wonderful cohort now 01:53 that works with you, 01:54 Ryan Day. Right. Ryan Day. 01:55 That's exciting. I love listening to you guys. 01:57 You guys... 01:58 You blend so well together, you help one another. 02:00 It's great. 02:01 We have a great time and we've been actually 02:02 going out and doing some concerts 02:04 and promoting the Praise Him Network. 02:08 We love singing together, and he's a blast, 02:11 he's my bodyguard when we go out. 02:13 Oh, wow! 02:14 Well, you know, I feel a little bit slighted 02:16 'cause I've only heard it on TV or either on the radio, 02:19 so I didn't... 02:20 Well, I'll let you know when we're going to be 02:21 doing a concert so you can come and see us. 02:23 All right. Yeah, that's awesome. 02:24 It's good time. 02:25 And Brother Jason Bergmann, 02:27 brother, how do you like it here? 02:28 You've been here a short time at 3ABN, 02:30 but I know you feel like family already. 02:32 What's your thought? 02:33 Well, you know, 02:34 I can't say enough how much I enjoy being here, 02:38 enjoying each one, the treasury team, all of you, 02:42 you've made it just a wonderful experience for me. 02:46 And it seem like I've been here a long time. 02:49 So it's really nice. 02:51 So praise the Lord. I know. It does feel like that. 02:54 I mean, really, the first time 02:56 you meet him and his wife, you feel like family. 02:58 It's like you've been here forever. 02:59 So the Lord knows 03:01 how to put things together, doesn't He? 03:02 Absolutely. He's still working on us. 03:04 I know that. Absolutely. 03:05 Oh, mercy, yes. 03:07 Some days, we feel like we're put together, 03:08 and the other days, "Not." 03:10 Not quite, need some help. 03:11 Now over to my left, I'm a little partial with this. 03:17 This is my sister-in-law, Sister Yvonne Lewis, 03:20 which I know all of you know already 03:22 and her wonderful husband, 03:23 my brother-in-law, Danny Shelton. 03:25 So we have some, you know, church family 03:29 and some biological family going on at this table. 03:31 So it's awesome. 03:33 You guys want to tell us your jobs at 3ABN? 03:37 What do you do, Sister Yvonne? 03:38 What do I do? 03:40 Well, I am the... 03:42 I'm now the consultant for the Dare to Dream Network. 03:45 I was the general manager, but as of September, 03:50 Jason Bradley, my son, who was my assistant, 03:54 stepped in that position, 03:56 and it's been an amazing blessing. 03:58 Amen. 03:59 He is doing such a tremendous job. 04:00 He is. 04:02 I'm so proud of him 04:03 and so thankful to have him in that spot, 04:04 you know, because, it's a very important position, 04:08 and so I'm really thankful. 04:09 And we love Dare to Dream. 04:10 Praise the Lord. 04:12 You know, I hope it continues to grow 04:13 and get back on some of the other channels that, 04:16 you know, regular TV channels. 04:18 I know it's on the Internet. 04:20 How else can people get Dare to Dream? 04:22 We have a YouTube channel. 04:25 Well, if you go to the website, D2DNetwork.tv, 04:31 you can do Roku, MySDATV box. 04:34 Yeah. Yeah. 04:36 I mean, yeah, your phone, your iPad, 04:39 just download the free 3ABN app, 04:41 24/7, Dare to Dream, 04:44 Praise Him, our parent network. 04:46 I mean, we're all... 04:48 And you're on, 04:49 Behold the Lamb is on Dare to Dream. 04:50 I know, I know. 04:52 That's what I was going to tell you because... 04:53 The only reason I said regular TV 04:55 because whenever it was taken off some of those, 04:57 we had calls like, 04:58 "Why are they doing that? 05:00 Why are you guys going off?" 05:01 I mean, we had so many calls, 05:03 and people that would stay home on Sabbath morning 05:05 to watch Dare to Dream, you know? 05:08 We had a lot of Dare to Dream followers. 05:11 Well, the good thing is that it's accessible to everyone. 05:14 Yes. Amen. 05:15 And even though it might not still be on satellite, 05:19 it's still 24/7 accessible. 05:22 Any time you want to watch, you can. 05:23 That's good. Yeah. 05:24 And most people have the Internet. 05:26 Yeah, that's true. 05:27 So if you have the Internet, you can watch Dare to Dream. 05:28 Amen. Amen. 05:30 Brother Danny. I love my job. 05:32 My job is I've gotten older, 05:34 it has changed a little, it's evolved. 05:37 And right now, I just try to stay out of people's way 05:40 because God has brought in a good young team of folk 05:43 that, you know, Greg, and Jill, 05:45 and Jason, and Jason Bradley, 05:48 Tim, I mean, Ryan, 05:49 you know, I can go down the list of 05:51 all these young folk that are coming in 05:53 and have a burden for the Three Angels' Messages 05:56 to get, what we call, the Bible message to the world. 05:59 That's right. Amen. 06:01 And that gives me great peace, actually, knowing that. 06:05 And some months ago... 06:07 It's been about five months ago, 06:09 I had a surgery. 06:10 And when I was getting prepared for that, 06:12 you think of all sorts of things 06:14 and you say, "This open-heart surgery, 06:16 a lot of folk don't come out of this." 06:19 And I actually can say that I had a peace about 3ABN 06:23 'cause there was nothing in me that said, 06:25 "Oh, boy, I need to live because I need to be..." 06:28 It's like, "This isn't about me. 06:30 This is God's ministry. 06:32 He uses anybody that's willing to be used. 06:35 I'm there for a short time. 06:36 He's willing to use somebody else for a time." 06:39 And so I just think it's a blessing. 06:41 So now I try to stay out of people's way. 06:44 And I'm involved, but it's like, 06:47 you know, it's great to see the vision 06:49 caught by so many people. 06:51 Amen. Amen. 06:52 We're getting into an era of younger people. 06:56 A lot of people are not watching television. 06:59 Young people today aren't watching television. 07:01 That's true. 07:02 They're watching through all sources, 07:04 many sources, whether you go to FaceTime, 07:07 they got Twitter, they got the YouTube, 07:09 they've got... 07:11 I can't even name all of them. You all can. 07:13 But there are so many. 07:14 So 3ABN is making sure we're available on all of those ways, 07:18 including the app of course because like our own kids, 07:22 they tell us, "Well, we don't really watch TV anymore." 07:25 So we're figuring out how to reach the young. 07:28 And yet some of us older folks 07:30 will probably watch TV till we die. 07:32 But I'm also glad to hear the other day, 07:35 someone just told me, 07:36 "Hey, I've dropped cable in the area. 07:39 It was just too expensive. 07:40 And now I get all the 3ABN channels, 07:43 like, this is neat, just the antenna. 07:46 I would have done this before." 07:47 And they said, "This is great, you know? 07:49 And why buy a cable when you can get all these channels?" 07:51 Right. 07:52 We got like eight 3ABN channels on, you know? 07:54 So they were all excited about it. 07:57 We've had people walk into our church 07:59 because they, 08:01 you know, had disconnected their cable or their satellite, 08:03 they couldn't afford it anymore. 08:05 And then they were able to get all the 3ABN channels, 08:08 and that spoke to their heart 08:09 and convicted and converted them. 08:11 So you know, sometimes, it's better, 08:13 it's absolutely better. 08:15 And I love having like the 3ABN app. 08:18 I've got this little Android device. 08:20 It looks like a little TV. And you can unplug it. 08:22 I take it into my room when my grandbabies are over, 08:25 and I turn on Kids Time, and they just love it. 08:28 "Oh, grandma, we don't have this at our house." 08:30 I say, "Yes, you do. 08:31 Tell your mom and dad you want it. 08:33 Yes, you do." 08:34 That's right. 08:36 Turn it on for your grandkids, it is there 24/7, 08:40 it is absolutely wonderful. 08:41 I love all the science and everything 08:44 that they're doing on there. 08:45 And it helps to balance our kids 08:46 because they are bombarded with things of this world 08:49 that totally turned them away 08:51 from scripture and from the Bible. 08:52 And of course, 3ABN Radio all around the world. 08:55 Yes. 08:56 Many, many folk are reached by that. 08:58 Yes, amen. Amen. 09:00 Okay. 09:01 Well, Brother Tim, I think you're going to... 09:04 As soon as we have a prayer, 09:05 we're going to sing a song, right, "Blessed Assurance"? 09:06 Amen. 09:08 Pastor, would you lead us in the prayer? 09:09 Sure, absolutely. 09:10 We invite you at home to pray with us. 09:12 Well, you just bow your heads if it's possible, 09:13 let's just pray. 09:15 Merciful Father in heaven, truly it is a blessing 09:17 as we come to You on this nice Sabbath day. 09:19 We thank You most of all for Your love 09:21 that You have for us. 09:22 We thank you for Calvary. 09:24 We thank you for the many blessings 09:25 of life and health and strength. 09:27 Thank you for leading, guiding, and directing. 09:29 Lord, we ask in this special way, 09:30 You come near to Your people. 09:32 Each and every one right now has taken time, 09:34 maybe just sat in front of the television, 09:36 maybe just to listen, but they're opening the pages 09:38 of the beautiful book called the Bible. 09:40 And it's going to speak words of life and encouragement 09:43 and cheer to each and every one who does. 09:44 So we pray You'll give heavenly wisdom 09:47 to each and every one of Your children today. 09:48 We come not because we know anything, 09:50 but because we know Jesus Christ, 09:52 our Lord and our Savior. 09:53 You've promised to speak to Your people, 09:55 You've promised to give them what they need to hear 09:57 that will change their heart and life, 09:59 not just for now but for eternity. 10:01 Amen. Amen. 10:02 Bless now, we pray, have Your will and Your way. 10:04 May any thought that comes in our mind 10:06 that does not need to be there 10:07 that may be put our study a little bit out of kilter, 10:10 and we pray that You and by guidance 10:12 of Thy Holy Spirit keep it together, 10:14 keep it where we can understand it, 10:16 and impress our hearts and lives. 10:18 Most of all would be ready when Jesus shall come. 10:20 And thank you, Lord, 10:21 for this precious, precious opportunity 10:24 and privilege to be part of the family of God. 10:26 Thank You for the viewers, every precious soul right now. 10:29 In Jesus' name, amen. 10:30 Amen. Amen. 10:39 Blessed assurance 10:43 Jesus is mine 10:47 O what a foretaste of glory divine 10:54 Heir of salvation, 10:58 Purchase of God 11:01 Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood 11:08 This is my story 11:12 This is my song 11:16 Praising my Savior all the day-long 11:23 This is my story 11:27 This is my song 11:30 Praising my Savior all the day-long 11:38 Perfect submission 11:41 Perfect delight 11:45 Visions of rapture now burst on my sight 11:53 Angels descending, bring from above 12:00 Echoes of mercy, whispers of love 12:08 This is my story 12:11 This is my song 12:15 Praising my Savior all the day-long 12:22 This is my story 12:26 This is my song 12:30 Praising my Savior all the day-long 12:39 Perfect submission, all is at rest 12:46 I, in my Savior, am happy and blest 12:53 Watching and waiting, looking above 13:01 Filled with His goodness, lost in His love 13:08 This is my story 13:11 This is my song 13:15 Praising my Savior all the day-long 13:22 This is my story 13:26 This is my song 13:30 Praising my Savior 13:34 All the day-long 13:39 Amen. Amen. 13:41 Amen. 13:43 I hope you enjoyed that at home 13:44 as much as we did here. 13:46 That was beautiful. 13:47 Thank you, Brother Jim. 13:49 Thank you, guys, around the table. 13:50 "Blessed Assurance." Oh, that was good. 13:52 The title of our lesson tonight 13:55 is When Heaven Calls, Don't Hesitate. 13:58 And it's part four, Pastor Kenny, part four. 14:01 Yeah. 14:02 But somehow, we couldn't wrap these questions 14:03 that fast enough. 14:05 I don't think we would have been dragging to that, have we? 14:06 I don't think so. No, I don't think. 14:07 There's just so much in God's Word that's so good. 14:09 It is. 14:10 And we get started on it 14:12 and then Holy Spirit begins to work 14:13 and gives people thoughts, and it'll bring them together. 14:15 And I believe it's just the way God would have it to be. 14:18 It has been a tremendous blessing. 14:20 And I think times 14:22 when the Holy Spirit has touched our heart 14:23 and just brought out wonderful things 14:26 that maybe we hadn't thought so much about before. 14:28 You know, there was a passage that we read out. 14:30 Well, it wasn't a passage, 14:32 but a part that we read out of Spirit of Prophecy 14:34 where it talks about, 14:35 you know, that it's God seeking us, 14:37 not seeking Him. 14:38 You know, we tend to think that 14:40 we're seeking Him for salvation, 14:42 but it's really God seeking us. 14:43 Amen. 14:44 We're the lost sheep, 14:46 and we're going to talk about that even more today. 14:48 But you know, I don't know about the rest of you, 14:49 but have you ever felt you just were unworthy? 14:54 You know? Every day. 14:55 You may have sensed God's calling, 14:57 but you totally felt you were unworthy 15:00 and you just couldn't answer. 15:02 We're going to kind of start with that thought 15:04 and lead into a question. 15:06 Question number seven, I believe it is today. 15:09 And this is from Spirit of Prophecy. 15:10 We've been so blessed with Spirit of Prophecy, the Bible, 15:13 and wonderful testimonies during these series. 15:16 It says, "When some..." 15:18 And I'm just going to start reading. 15:19 If you guys want to follow along, on page three. 15:21 "When some who have wandered far in sin 15:24 seek to return to God, 15:26 they will encounter criticism and distress." 15:29 And I know, I know, especially when we have fallen 15:33 or maybe we've been a Christian and we've fallen 15:35 and we come back, and we see that criticism, 15:38 we see that distress. 15:39 I know. I've experienced it. 15:41 And it's hurtful, you know? 15:43 And it's difficult to get through that. 15:46 And you think, "Well, maybe, I really shouldn't be doing 15:49 what I'm doing", you know? 15:51 "There are those who doubt 15:55 whether their repentance is genuine, or will whisper, 15:58 'They have no stability. 16:00 I do not believe that they will hold out.'" 16:02 In other words, they're not going to continue 16:03 on this course, 16:05 they're going to fall again. 16:06 "These persons are doing not the work of God." 16:09 Listen to this very carefully. 16:11 When you are saying these things about someone else 16:14 that has fallen and coming back to Christ 16:16 or maybe they've never been a Christian before, 16:19 maybe they've been a drug addict. 16:20 We don't know, or lived a life of ill repute, we don't know. 16:24 And people don't trust when they come to Jesus. 16:27 "These persons," Spirit of Prophecy says, 16:29 "These persons are not... 16:32 They're not doing the work of God 16:34 but the work of Satan, who is," what, 16:37 "the accuser of the brethren." 16:39 We seem to forget that for some reason, 16:42 and the Bible makes it so clear. 16:44 "Through their criticisms, the wicked one hopes 16:49 to discourage these souls and to drive them still farther 16:52 from the hope and from God, from hope and from God. 16:55 Let the repenting sinners 16:57 contemplate the rejoicing in heaven 16:59 over the return of one that was lost." 17:03 All of heaven is rejoicing. Amen. 17:06 And somehow, we need to share that with those around us. 17:08 So when they're coming and they feel discouraged, 17:10 which I know I have, you know? 17:12 If we could somehow just give them that hope 17:14 that all of heaven is rejoicing with them, 17:16 it's beautiful. 17:18 "Let them rest in the love of God, 17:20 and in no case be disheartened 17:23 by the scorn and suspicion of the Pharisees." 17:26 The question number seven, 17:29 "Share promises of hope that we may hold onto 17:33 and gain strength through faith." 17:36 You know, maybe before we even share those promises, 17:39 and I'm sure there's lot of them 17:40 that everyone has, 17:42 that to me is very heavy duty as individuals, 17:45 and even in the church, 17:47 we have this because you notice what you were reading there, 17:50 it says that these people were wanting to come back. 17:54 They made a mistake, they failed. 17:57 You know, willfully or maybe unwilling, 17:59 something happened in their life and they were... 18:01 You know, the call was to come back 18:02 and that's what it's all about. 18:04 Right. 18:05 And then all of a sudden, some people... 18:07 And it says here... 18:08 Whatever it might be, in church, 18:09 we've all been through some of these things. 18:11 You know, experienced it or whatever, 18:13 been on boards or whatever. 18:14 But why is it... 18:16 Each one may ask. 18:17 Why is it that we have that critical spirit of somebody? 18:21 Because they fell short of the glory of God, 18:25 which we all have. 18:27 And they want to come back. 18:29 Why would any of us 18:31 begin to criticize or condemn or say, 18:34 "Well, they've failed several times before, 18:36 and I know they're not going to be right this time?" 18:38 Who are we that we set in judgment 18:40 of any individual who said, 18:42 "I've made things right with God?" 18:44 What you read here was, and I think that's just what 18:47 I need to learn to go by is that 18:49 that angels rejoice. 18:52 "Whoo!" All of heaven... Think about it. 18:55 All of heaven is rejoicing when one sinner returns back. 18:59 They're getting their implements of music. 19:01 They're getting ready to sound a chord together. 19:04 Now would heaven know 19:07 if that person might fall again? 19:13 Are you following me here? 19:15 They don't go that far with it at that moment. 19:17 At that moment, 19:19 that person was sincere, repented. 19:22 They came back in. 19:24 If Heaven can rejoice 19:25 and not try to look to the future, 19:26 we look to the future sometimes and say, "Ha!" 19:28 What do you think about it, Brother Danny? 19:29 You think about it... 19:31 I mean, have you been in those situations, 19:32 maybe in churches in times past 19:34 where sometime we've become very critical of someone 19:36 who's failed and have come back a dozen times? 19:39 Absolutely, and I don't mean this disrespectful, 19:41 but this is a time like, we don't... 19:44 We heard what the Spirit of Prophecy said, 19:45 but we don't really even need it 19:47 'cause she's just echoing the Bible. 19:49 Right. That's exactly right. 19:51 We should have the spiritual sense to understand exactly 19:54 what she said and go along with her 19:56 because what happens is 19:58 we as individuals want to judge everybody else 20:02 and make them like ourselves. 20:04 That's right. And if we don't... 20:05 If people come into our midst and they don't look like us, 20:08 they don't act like us, they don't dress like us, 20:11 and we're quick to condemn that person which is, 20:15 all of course, not of God, and that's what's so beautiful. 20:18 As you said, no matter what we did 20:20 or how many times we fail, 20:23 we can understand that God is willing to forgive us. 20:26 That's right. 20:27 If He's willing to forgive us, 20:28 now we should say that's enough. 20:30 But as human beings who've failed, 20:33 you want to come back to a family with open arms 20:36 who says, "We forgive you." 20:38 But then the church, so many times 20:40 where he failed because just as was said here, 20:43 "Well, you know, this is his fourth time already, 20:47 and he's done this in the last two years, and so..." 20:51 Kenny and I know a person 20:53 who had failed two or three times, 20:56 and he wanted to give his heart to the Lord again, 20:59 and he said to his brother sincerely, 21:04 "Would you come to my baptism? 21:05 I'm re-giving my heart to the Lord." 21:08 And their answer was 21:10 "Oh, that's okay. We're busy this time. 21:12 We'll catch the next." 21:14 Yeah. Like, whoa! 21:16 And it just really took him back. 21:18 He's like, "I know I messed up but I'm really sincere." 21:22 But instead of them encouraging him, it was like, 21:24 "Oh, well, we'll catch your next one." 21:26 I mean, what did that do for him? 21:27 You know? 21:29 He can go look somewhere else or go somewhere else. 21:31 So we have to be... 21:32 On that same occasion, Danny, that you mentioned, 21:35 another individual said, part of the family said, 21:39 "Oh, he's been saved again?" 21:40 He said, 21:41 "Well, he has more saves than Al Hrabosky." 21:43 Yeah, Al Hrabosky. 21:44 There's a cardinal picture. 21:46 I mean, he was making fun. 21:47 We're using it as an illustration. 21:48 They actually said that about, you know, their own family. 21:51 And I thought, "How sad that is." 21:54 Sometimes, we step in that position 21:56 that we should never, never step in. 21:58 Yeah. 21:59 That was kind of the situation with Jonah except... 22:03 In a way, 22:04 the whole idea of going to Nineveh, because... 22:09 Why didn't he want to see the people 22:12 give their life to Christ? 22:13 In their case, it may have been the first time 22:15 or may have been... 22:16 We don't know. 22:17 It doesn't say that that was their first or second time, 22:19 but they were sinful people. 22:21 But what is it in our nature that denies... 22:25 I mean, 22:26 we should want to join the angels in rejoicing 22:29 in anticipating salvation of a lost sheep. 22:33 Come on. 22:34 But there's something in our nature 22:36 that just goes contradicts that. 22:40 Now I know, in my life, I've had several jobs. 22:43 I've had... 22:45 It's been in the same topic, 22:49 but I've played for several groups. 22:51 Go on. 22:52 So I would play for a group for five years, 22:55 and then I went with one for like, two and a half years, 22:58 then I went with one for about four months, 23:00 then I went with one for another five years. 23:03 As I began to go along, 23:05 whenever I would try out for a group, 23:07 the boss would say, 23:09 "Well, now how long are you going 23:11 to anticipate being with us?" 23:16 But hopefully, my ability... 23:19 And you know what, 23:22 I always blame my ADD, you know? 23:26 As a musician, you know, 23:27 if it stops getting challenging, 23:29 well, I kind of lose interest. 23:31 Now in this case, we're talking about salvation. 23:34 So the fact is that if people are looking at you, 23:39 if you have a record of, 23:40 you know, baptisms and being saved multiple times, 23:45 people will begin to look at you and say, 23:46 "Well, how long are you going to stick with it this time?" 23:49 But I think, I mean, 23:51 being gracious and realizing that, 23:53 you know, life is full of... 23:58 Well, it's full of life and, you know, challenges, 24:02 and not everybody has the power to stick with something. 24:06 Thank God that He is faithful 24:08 and just to forgive us our sins every time. 24:11 1 John 1:8-9, what does that say? 24:16 It says, 24:17 "If we admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, 24:19 He is faithful and true and will forgive our sins, 24:22 cleanses from all unrighteousness." 24:23 Period. 24:25 Doesn't say how many times. 24:27 I mean, I believe, He has forgiven us. 24:30 And I think, 24:31 our readjusting and getting back on track says, 24:38 "You know, God, here we are again. 24:40 Let's try this." 24:41 And as you said, to begin with, 24:43 you know, we feel unworthy as it is, 24:46 and so we certainly don't need criticism and judgment 24:50 from our brothers. 24:51 Didn't the disciples asked that question, 24:54 "How many times"? 24:55 Yeah. Seventy times seven. 25:00 I'm not trying to judge them. 25:02 I think, they're honest in heart. 25:03 They won't know, maybe 'cause they were so legalistic, 25:05 "How many times," and what was Jesus' answer? 25:08 Seventy times seven. 25:10 Well, how many will that be? 25:12 Four hundred and ninety. 25:14 It'd be 490. 25:16 And there are probably people who got their paper out. 25:20 They're tracking it, right? 25:21 In other words, they can get the point. 25:23 That's right. 25:24 That doesn't make any difference 25:25 of how many times, you know, as you do it. 25:27 But I think what we're talking about here 25:29 is more unconverted church. 25:31 So really, instead of condemning 25:34 that person who is now come to Christ, 25:36 their record in the sight of heaven is better than ours 25:39 for setting back, and we say, 25:42 "Okay, he's not going last this. 25:44 I bet you, you know, this doesn't." 25:45 So really it sounds like 25:47 it's a big problem within the church. 25:49 We both touched on it 25:50 because pride cometh before the fall. 25:53 And see, you said earlier, 25:55 "They don't look like us, they don't act like us, 25:57 they don't eat like us, they don't talk like us." 25:59 It is. True. 26:01 But I really think that, you know, it comes from study. 26:05 We are not grounding ourselves in the Word of God 26:07 because when we begin to do that, 26:09 we find out that our very best effort 26:13 is as a filthy rag, a filthy... 26:15 I mean, how many of you would take a bath 26:18 with a filthy dirty rag? 26:20 Maybe you've been cleaning your carburetor out with it, 26:22 you know? 26:23 That's your very best work. 26:25 So really, we need to examine ourselves. 26:27 That's why she says and the Bible says, 26:29 "We're doing the work of the enemy." 26:32 And sometimes, 26:33 we do the work of the enemy and it's not even the truth, 26:37 it's on a tale or a rumor. 26:41 You see, it's not even the truth. 26:43 She says, "Even if it is the truth, 26:45 we're not to repeat it." 26:46 It hurts someone's character. 26:48 It will hurt their character, 26:49 and should they try to come back to Christ? 26:53 This may prevent them 26:54 from actually making that final decision. 26:57 Go ahead. 26:58 I think, sometimes, we try to be the Holy Spirit, 27:00 and we try to do the Holy Spirit's job. 27:02 That's right. 27:03 You know, we try to force people into submission, 27:07 whereas that's not our job. 27:10 God is perfectly capable of doing what He does. 27:13 Amen. All we need to do is... 27:16 We are to love people. 27:18 Now that doesn't mean that we accept sinful behavior, 27:22 but we also don't stand in judgment 27:25 because when we look at ourselves 27:27 and take that plank out of our own eyes, 27:31 then we see that we are such sinners, 27:36 whether it's overt sin, you know, that everybody sees, 27:40 or whether it's internal that nobody really sees, 27:42 God sees it. 27:43 So we have no right 27:45 to stand in judgment of anybody. 27:46 So we are indeed doing the work of Satan. 27:48 And when you look at it 27:49 from The Great Controversy perspective, 27:54 you know, the enemy doesn't want that person 27:56 to come back to church. 27:58 So the enemy is going to do everything 28:00 he can do to pull them out. 28:01 That's right. 28:03 And one of the biggest reasons 28:04 for people leaving is other people. 28:07 Oh, yes. 28:08 We are some of the biggest reasons for losing, 28:11 for lack of attention in the church. 28:14 That's true. 28:15 One quick story is, years ago, 28:17 Brother Kenny was doing Revelation seminars, 28:20 a woman in Canada had been praying for truth. 28:23 And she heard him preaching and it offended her. 28:26 She'd been agnostic for years 28:28 and became catholic for many years. 28:31 But suddenly, she joined a Pentecostal Church, 28:35 given her heart to the Lord, and was saying, 28:37 "Lord, I just feel like 28:38 we're not keeping Sunday holy the way we should. 28:41 I'm reading the Bible 28:43 and, you know, You got to teach me the truth." 28:45 So she says, "At 11 o'clock, my husband is an engineer, 28:48 and he was working on his computer. 28:50 And about 11 o'clock, 28:51 I turned on, Brother Kenny was preaching." 28:53 And she said, "He hit the Sabbath 28:55 and all these things," and she said, 28:57 "It really made me angry. I was like, 28:59 'Well, you know, 29:00 why would he preach this stuff?'" 29:01 So she said, "I just turned it off. 29:04 I said, 'Well, I don't want to hear that. 29:05 We know Sunday is the Sabbath.' 29:07 So she says, 29:08 "After that, I went to bed and yet I was convicted. 29:12 So I said, 'Lord, if there's really any truth to this, 29:14 you know, You have to help me. 29:16 The next morning,' she said, 29:17 'I opened my front door to get my newspaper, 29:20 and there was a book.'" 29:21 Somebody had put on a Seventh-day Sabbath. 29:23 So she said, "I looked at that. 29:25 And finally said, 'Okay, Lord, 29:27 maybe You're trying to tell me something. 29:29 I'm going to turn on that channel again. 29:31 And if they're talking about the Sabbath and God's law, 29:35 then I'm going to listen 29:36 'cause I'm going to know it's You.'" 29:38 She said, "As I turned it on, you, Danny, were sitting there, 29:41 and you said, 'Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Today. 29:45 We're doing a special two-hour program 29:47 on the Seventh-day Sabbath.'" 29:49 Oh, wow. 29:50 So she was listening to it, 29:53 she became so excited, she couldn't wait. 29:55 And after about six or eight weeks, 29:57 she got her husband involved, told her two children, 30:00 "We're going to go visit an Adventist church. 30:02 We're going to this church." 30:03 So she did what any good Christian would do. 30:07 She said, "I'm dressed up 30:08 because I was a teacher and a real estate agent, 30:11 and, you know, 30:12 and I wanted to look the best for God that I've ever looked. 30:15 So I went to my jewelry box," 30:17 Tim, she said, "I got my best diamond rings. 30:19 I got my best diamond necklace." 30:22 She said, "I put my..." and said, 30:23 "I want to present myself to God 30:26 in the best way that I've ever looked." 30:28 So she said, "I really decorated myself 30:30 and went to church." 30:32 Said then we noticed the front rows were empty, 30:36 and so I said, "Maybe we can go down there." 30:39 "And my husband said, 'Oh, that must be reserved for, 30:41 you know, somebody in the choir.'" 30:43 But she said, "I asked." 30:44 And they said, "Do you want to sit on the front? 30:46 Go ahead." 30:47 So she said, "All during the sermon, 30:48 the preacher was preaching. 30:50 He was saying these beautiful things 30:51 from the Word of God, things never heard of." 30:53 And I said, "Praise the Lord, glory, hallelujah." 30:56 I said, "I never heard a peep." 30:59 She said, "I asked my husband, 31:01 'Is everybody else still here?'" 31:04 He said, "Yeah." 31:05 She said, "Why aren't they praising the Lord?" 31:07 So she said, 31:08 "At the end of service, I got up. 31:10 I want to go talk to the pastor and tell him, 31:13 'This is the first time I've been to a church. 31:14 It's so great.'" 31:16 She said, "Two little ladies come, 31:17 older ladies come down the hallway. 31:20 One of them said, 31:22 'Excuse me, ma'am, 31:23 are you going to come back to church anymore here?'" 31:26 And she said, "Oh, yes. Praise the Lord." 31:29 She said, 31:30 "We don't wear jewelry in our church." 31:31 So she said, 31:33 "You need to know that if you are coming back..." 31:35 And she said that, 31:37 "I just looked at her 31:38 'cause I thought I was doing the best for God." 31:41 And she said, the other lady said, 31:44 "Oh, don't listen to her." 31:47 She said, "Don't listen to her." 31:48 She said, 31:50 "And as far as you raised your hands and all that," 31:52 she said, "We don't praise God in this church." 31:56 It's not what she meant we don't praise God like that, 31:59 but the things she said, the truth, 32:00 we will praise God in this church. 32:02 So as she was walking away, the lady said, 32:06 the two couples, one said, 32:07 "You shouldn't have been so hard on her 32:09 'cause don't worry about her. 32:11 After she's here a while, she'll be like the rest of us." 32:14 And the lady said, 32:15 "I thought to myself, I hope not. 32:17 I hope not." 32:19 Years later, she's still going to church, 32:21 still praising, raising hands, and still praising the Lord. 32:24 Amen. That's good. 32:25 And, you know, but that's how we are sometimes. 32:27 Well, sadly, 32:29 that's how many of us were raised in churches 32:31 that were basically spiritually dead, you know? 32:34 I can remember sitting there many times 32:36 and saying amen and wanting raise my hand, 32:39 I feel the Holy Spirit, you'd want to... 32:41 but you'd be afraid you'd be the only one doing it. 32:43 You know, and it wasn't till years later, 32:45 I'm reading, God inhabits our praises, 32:48 you know? 32:49 And when it comes from a heart, 32:51 a heart that's being moved by the Spirit of God, 32:54 it's real, it's not a put on. 32:56 I know that we have places 32:58 where they learn to do some of these things 33:00 to try to get the people excited. 33:02 But when it's real, God loves it. 33:04 And we need not hold back. 33:07 Some of the most beautiful meetings 33:08 that we've ever had or where people were coming hungering 33:11 and thirsting for righteousness, 33:13 and they're crying out, and they're raising, 33:15 they're wanting to somehow grab God's hand as it were. 33:20 You know, and you see the Holy Spirit 33:22 really working those areas. 33:24 And I'm so thankful. 33:26 But they were doing the work of the enemy, 33:29 just exactly what we read. 33:30 You had an experience... 33:32 I don't know if you both were there 33:33 when your cousin came in 33:35 after she'd been gone for a long time, 33:36 and she came in 33:38 with a bunch of stuff in the local church. 33:39 Been out in the world a long time and decided... 33:43 Her one big question was, 33:46 "Have I offended the Holy Spirit? 33:48 Have I rejected the Holy Spirit?" 33:50 'Cause she heard about that in her younger years 33:52 and been gone for so long. 33:53 And so, anyway, 33:55 she was still troubled about it, 33:56 so she wanted to come and ask the question that, 33:58 "Wait, 33:59 is it possible I've committed the unpardonable sin?" 34:02 So anyhow, 34:04 she got all dressed up and want to look good, 34:06 came in the last doors, just open the doors, 34:09 and one of the deacons were standing there, 34:11 and she had a lot of jewelry, lot of things on. 34:14 And he looked and he said, 34:15 "Well, I'm glad to see that you're here today." 34:17 He said, "I hope you don't fall in the creek, 34:18 you'll ground with all that stuff on." 34:21 She turned right around, 34:23 walked out the door as far as I know 34:25 and is never been back again. 34:26 This is what we don't want to do, 34:28 we want to rejoice. 34:29 Jesus says, "Come as you are." 34:31 That's right. Praise the Lord. 34:33 You got something on your heart I can just feel a little here. 34:35 You've been awful quiet, but I know that it's there. 34:38 Let us have it. 34:40 So one of the stories that I thought about 34:45 and it talked about the prodigal son. 34:47 Go on. 34:48 And you look, you consider that story how, 34:52 you know, 34:54 we've all been in a place where we go down a road 34:57 and we find out that this is not the best road. 35:00 So we turn around, and we come back, 35:03 but then we have people judging us. 35:05 And, you know, 35:07 this is our experience with the Lord 35:09 that people don't understand 35:10 and they assume and they say things. 35:13 But what's interesting is 35:15 the brother who is seeing his brother come back 35:19 and the party going on, you know, 35:21 I sometimes see our churches or even our family, 35:26 they feel like, why be happy, you know, it's... 35:33 They did this, 35:34 they're almost as jealous that they did these things. 35:37 But when we should be really happy 35:39 that they have come back to Jesus 35:41 and the relationship has grown to another level. 35:45 But sometimes, we look at other things 35:48 instead of what is the real reason. 35:51 We are here to encourage others, 35:54 to build God's kingdom, 35:56 to increase heaven, and praise the Lord. 36:00 And sometimes, 36:02 I think these other things we kind of get wrapped up in, 36:06 but, you know, praise the Lord 36:08 that He's willing to forgive us 36:10 even though we've gone places we shouldn't have 36:12 or done things we shouldn't have, 36:14 but there is hope that Jesus accepts us 36:18 and that we're able to go to that next level. 36:21 I look at it, 36:22 it's kind of like climbing a ladder. 36:25 You know, a ladder has lots of rungs. 36:27 And as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, 36:30 we go and climb. 36:32 But every once in a while, we trip, but we fall. 36:35 But as long as we hold on 36:37 and go to that next level and focus on Jesus... 36:40 Amen. Amen. 36:42 We'll get to that where the Lord wants us to be. 36:45 So I praise the Lord. That's right. 36:47 Get back on the mark. Amen. 36:48 That's exciting. It is exciting. 36:49 That's why it's important 36:51 we learn to develop a relationship with Jesus 36:53 so that we're not so distracted by what people think about us. 36:57 So we want people to... 36:59 When you come back to the Lord to you do your own study, 37:02 you do your own prayer, 37:04 and, you know, God will lead you. 37:07 He brought you, He was seeking after you, 37:09 He found you, you find Him. 37:11 You got an open heart. 37:12 So now it's between you and God. 37:14 And that way, 37:16 we can't blame when you go to heaven though, 37:18 we can't really say, 37:19 "Well, Lord, I would have done, 37:20 but these people in church treated me badly." 37:23 It's still the choice. That's right. 37:25 But when you're young in the Lord 37:27 and you're young there, 37:29 I think those of us will be responsible 37:32 who are discouraging others here, 37:35 that's gonna be something we have to answer to. 37:37 But each one, 37:38 as we develop our own relationship with the Lord, 37:41 then I'm gonna say 37:43 your skin gets tougher, gets harder, 37:46 so darts begin to throw. 37:47 And when you're in ministry, every one of you are, 37:50 there's not one of you 37:51 that hasn't had darts throwing at you 37:54 that you think is unfair. 37:56 And one time, I had something written about me. 37:58 In fact, just this week on the internet, 38:01 somebody was saying... 38:03 They made out this cry to Danny Shelton 38:07 and challenged something I said. 38:08 They agreed with it, 38:10 but said, "Well, others in your church don't. 38:12 What's going on?" 38:14 I'm like, "Why somebody... 38:15 Why didn't you just write me? 38:16 You know, what are you doing?" 38:18 So they're throwing these stones. 38:19 And one time, somebody was... 38:21 and written some things that were not true. 38:24 I was afraid it would hurt the ministry, so I said, 38:26 "I'm gonna write a letter and put in our newsletter 38:29 that this is not true. 38:31 Someone had said, 38:32 "Well, 3ABN is no longer giving the Three Angel's Messages. 38:36 They're giving now that conference, 38:38 they've gone under control of the church, 38:41 which in our case, 38:42 we're not talking good or bad. 38:44 We're just saying the Lord had called us, 38:45 but we hadn't done that. 38:47 We hadn't signed anything 38:49 to give the ministry to the church. 38:51 So I said, "All right, I need to really write this 38:53 'cause this is... people will misunderstand." 38:56 So I was really writing away to get it in the newsletter, 39:00 couldn't get there fast enough, right, 39:03 to straighten all this out 'cause I said, 39:05 "Lord, this is just not true, 39:06 and then they accuse me of some things that wasn't true." 39:08 I said, "I'm not guilty." 39:10 And the Lord said something really shocked me, 39:13 I was impressed, "Yes, you are." 39:15 And I said, "No, but I'm not." I didn't... 39:17 I'm like, 39:19 "Where did that thought come from? 39:20 I'm not guilty. 39:22 I didn't do any of those things that they said. 39:24 This isn't true. I'm not guilty." 39:28 And again, the Lord said, "Yes, you are. 39:31 You may not be guilty of that, 39:32 but you're guilty of being a center. 39:34 And you say you trust Me to be your judge, 39:38 to be your brother, to be your advocate, 39:41 but you only do it when you think that is necessary, 39:44 then really, I'm not your advocate, 39:46 I'm not your brother. 39:47 You really don't depend on Me. 39:48 If you're depending on Me, 39:50 if I'm your defender, 39:52 then you're a sinner saved by grace." 39:55 So it doesn't make any difference what it is. 39:58 We sometimes will say, 39:59 "Thank you, Lord, 40:01 for You took care of this problem." 40:02 Another one comes up, we say, 40:04 "Okay, I've had it with that. I'm gonna really, you know..." 40:07 So the Lord was telling me, 40:08 "You know what, don't worry about that." 40:11 Exodus 14:14, "Let me fight Your battle." 40:13 So I backed away from it, 40:15 literally waded the paper up and threw it in, 40:18 and the Lord took care of it. 40:20 And here we are years later, 40:21 3ABN still going forward, still growing, 40:24 but it's a learning process for sure. 40:25 It is. It is. 40:27 That we are all guilty, 40:28 so how can we judge others who are coming in 40:31 because sometimes seasoned Christians church goers, 40:34 I should say, 40:35 I don't know if I want to use the word Christians, 40:37 we're just better at hiding our sins 40:39 than maybe someone new coming in. 40:41 And so we want to sit and judge because somebody doesn't see, 40:45 you know, us, 40:47 but we think we have a right to judge others 40:48 which distracts from us to them. 40:51 But God knows. Amen. 40:52 You know, that's so important what he just said 40:55 'cause sometimes the babies 40:58 are really more spiritually grounded 41:00 than those of us that may have been in the church 41:03 for many years are. 41:04 And I know, I was thinking of a story of a man 41:06 that you both know and have worked with. 41:09 And before he came to Christ, he was part of Hell's Angels. 41:13 I know some of you... 41:15 I think they're still around, that motor cycle group, 41:17 but I mean, back, what, in the '80s, 41:19 they were really making headline news 41:21 because they were doing horrible, horrible things. 41:24 And you came across this man, and long story short, 41:29 he worked here for many years after he was converted. 41:31 But long story short, 41:33 he was in prayer meeting one night, 41:34 and I've just got this second-handed, 41:36 you may want to jump in at any time and help me here. 41:39 You're doing good. 41:40 But he was testifying 41:42 and saying something in the church, 41:44 and another church member stood up and said, 41:47 "You have no right to speak like that. 41:49 Look at all of the things that you've done. 41:51 You should not even be here." 41:53 and he stood up and he said, 41:55 "I have no idea what you're talking about. 41:56 I was just born..." what was it? 41:58 Six months. Six months. 41:59 He said, "I'm just six-month-old baby, 42:01 how could I've done all of those things?" 42:03 That's right. 42:05 Put him to fight, 42:06 put the enemy to flight with all of that. 42:08 No one could say anything else, he just simply said, 42:10 "I'm only six months old in Christ. 42:12 How could a six-month-old baby have done all these things?" 42:15 Behold, all things are made new. 42:16 That is powerful, powerful. 42:19 I know we started the new year with... 42:22 Yeah, the Lord's Supper, and it's just so wonderful 42:25 that you can partake of His body. 42:27 You can go back and partake of His, 42:30 you know, a symbol of His blood 42:32 and know that His blood is covering us. 42:34 We're born again. We're born anew. 42:36 It's so beautiful. 42:38 We're just bathed 42:39 and we really need to be bathed every day, right? 42:41 Really, when we wake up, 42:42 we need to be a fresh baby every day. 42:46 We shouldn't miss the point that 42:47 that doesn't always happen. 42:49 No. 42:51 We got some wonderful churches, wonderful groups. 42:52 And if people come in and every day 42:54 we get these great reports of people 42:56 watching or listening to 3ABN, going into churches, 42:59 and the people loving them in. 43:01 We're just talking about in general 43:03 for those of us that claim to be God's church 43:07 that we really should, 43:09 first of all, we need to submit 43:11 and commit our own lives to the Lord, 43:13 and then understand that 43:14 that soul is a soul that Jesus died for, 43:18 no matter what they look like. 43:19 And I love it. 43:21 It was Larry that said it and he came. 43:24 And the first time he came to church, 43:26 it's interesting, empty seats. 43:27 How many of your churches, the first rows are empty. 43:31 But he came in and then pretty good sized guy, 43:34 had his jeans, his boots, and his wallet with the chain, 43:37 you know, the whole suit to match, 43:39 the big beard, long hair and the ponytail, 43:43 you know, walking like this, and guess where he came, 43:45 he went right in, sat right down the front row, 43:48 right there and listened. 43:49 And people are like, "Who is he?" 43:51 I doubt a lot of people could tell you 43:54 what the sermon is about 'cause they were just like, 43:57 "What's this guy doing here at our church?" 43:59 As rough as he looked, you know, what's he doing? 44:00 But, you know, 44:02 how we praise the Lord for that, 44:03 not that we're just good Christian... 44:05 At that time, we saw it and saw someone coming in 44:07 that was searching for Jesus, 44:10 and that's what you were reading there 44:12 in the Book of Luke while ago, 44:13 there's just three quick examples. 44:15 This is how we should do. 44:16 We've talked about it, 44:18 we've experienced 44:19 some of these things with individuals, 44:21 you know, in our own lives. 44:22 Maybe we've been guilty at one time or the other. 44:24 But here's what the Bible says about how we should respond 44:28 to someone coming in to the fold 44:31 or maybe has left the fold, 44:32 and is coming back to the fold. 44:34 And first one is in Luke 15, the lost sheep 44:37 that you're talking about a while ago. 44:39 The lost sheep, just two verses knows what it says. 44:42 It says... 44:43 I'm gonna put on my glasses on if you don't care. 44:44 Sure. Maybe I can see for a change. 44:47 Pray for me. You look good. 44:49 Thank you. 44:51 It makes me look almost like, 44:52 "Well, I don't know, Brother Tim put his on." 44:54 Like we don't... It's just to see. 44:57 Yvonne put hers on now. 44:59 Bless her well. I wish I had so. 45:01 I think I also want to prepare, two of you left. 45:04 I know it's only a dollar, 45:05 I get them at like a dollar again, 45:07 I want to put them on too 45:08 just because I want to be part of the group. 45:10 Mine was $1.50, 45:11 and I put in my pocket another pair 45:13 and I tried to pull them out of my pocket. 45:15 I couldn't get them with my hand, 45:16 so I tore leg off of it. 45:19 So I picked up the next one 45:21 and it's where it's $2.75 rather than $1.25. 45:25 So I still see a little funny. Be careful. 45:27 Just listen to the words of God. 45:28 Somebody help me if I mispronounce. 45:30 Okay. See a little bit better. 45:31 Verse 6 and 7, the Bible says here, 45:33 notice about the lost sheep. 45:35 Remember, this is how we handle it, 45:36 not how the church handles it, not how individual... 45:39 We want it done or how we think it ought to be. 45:41 Here's what happened, verse 6. 45:43 "And when he cometh home," 45:44 I like that start with the lost sheep. 45:47 "He calleth together his friends and his neighbor 45:50 saying unto them, "Rejoice with me, 45:52 for I have found my sheep which was lost." 45:55 We know, that's what... Think about it. 45:57 When you come home, 45:58 he just didn't rejoice by himself. 45:59 He said, he wanted the family, he wanted the friends, 46:01 he wanted the neighbors. 46:03 Everybody have a get-together and we're gonna rejoice, 46:05 because I found this one lost sheep. 46:07 Notice, "I say unto you, that likewise shall joy." 46:11 Notice this. 46:12 "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth 46:16 more than over the 90 and 9 just persons? 46:19 which need no repentance." 46:20 So I look at this one. 46:22 I say, "God, help me to be like this. 46:23 I need help a bit because sometime, I'm quick. 46:26 Sometime I'll look at something." 46:27 You make a judgment real quick, but just there's... 46:30 Heaven rejoices. 46:32 Heaven knows the outcome of what that person 46:34 we mentioned while ago in the future may do. 46:38 But they're not saying, "Well, ten years down the road, 46:40 they're going to pull this thing. 46:41 Didn't say, they rejoice right then and right there 46:44 over that one sinner that came back. 46:46 The lost coin follows that up. 46:48 There's two verses there that says what we need to do. 46:50 Now notice Luke 15:9 and 10. 46:54 "And when she had found it," hat? 46:56 "The lost coin, 46:57 she called her friends again and her," what? 46:59 "Her neighbors together, saying, rejoice with me, 47:03 for I have found the piece which I had lost." 47:06 Rejoice 47:08 "Likewise, I say unto you, there's joy," where? 47:10 "In the presence of the angels of God 47:13 over one sinner that repenteth." 47:15 So over and over, even in different parables here, 47:18 the bottom line is, we had something, 47:20 we lost it, now it's found, call the family, 47:24 call the friends, call the preacher, 47:26 call the piano player, call the musician, 47:28 call the singers, call somebody to make lunch. 47:31 Yeah, get the cater set up the meal 47:33 because we are going to have some good time, 47:35 we're gonna rejoice. 47:37 We may eat, we may sing, we may cry, 47:39 but we're going to rejoice 47:41 because that's what heaven says. 47:42 Do rather say, "Well, I don't know 47:43 if you could really do that." 47:45 And then you did so well on the prodigal son. 47:46 I just want to read one verse, that's 32, 47:49 if what happened to prodigal son, it said, 47:51 "It was meet that we should make merry 47:54 and be glad. 47:56 For this night, brother was," whoo, 47:58 "was dead and he's," what? 48:00 "He's alive again. He was lost and he's found." 48:04 You couldn't get any deeper and dirtier 48:06 than this guy had been. 48:08 And it says, "But this is good that you'd be merry." 48:10 This is good that you're glad. I'm glad you're happy. 48:12 I'm glad you're setting up that table. 48:14 I'm glad you're inviting the friends 48:16 because, what? 48:18 This brother was there. 48:19 Well, I don't know about that brother. 48:20 He's had a lot of saves. 48:22 That's not what the Bible said. 48:23 The Bible said the brother was dead. 48:25 He was dead in what? In trespasses and sins. 48:29 His life was in total mess until he found Jesus. 48:32 He found Jesus and he said, "Now, he's alive again." 48:36 Praise God. 48:37 May I encourage you quickly as you're studying, 48:39 and I know you're rejoicing with us here 48:41 because I sense that your table's rejoicing, 48:44 we're rejoicing 48:45 because we either been in that position, 48:47 or we know people that's been in that 48:49 and maybe many times, that when you're found 48:51 and you realize you have life again 48:53 that you were dead as a mackerel. 48:54 Yes. There you go. 48:56 All right. There's no life in you. 48:57 You're a fish out of water, 48:59 that Jesus came back into your heart. 49:00 Somebody may have just done this. 49:04 That's all that it took. 49:05 It's just a pat on the back or sometime, nod. 49:07 Somebody be sweet to you, somebody just nod and say, 49:10 "We're praying for you, brother." 49:11 It's all that would take. And now he was like, 49:13 "He was lost but he's found." 49:15 Now he's found. 49:16 To me, this what this lesson is all about 49:18 is he's found because... 49:19 What's the title of it? 49:20 When heaven calls, what? 49:22 Don't hesitate. Don't hesitate. 49:24 Heaven call, you got to make that decision right now. 49:27 It's got to be made right now. 49:29 I see better if I take them off at a distance, 49:31 I couldn't even see on there. 49:33 But you know, the beautiful thing, 49:35 there's not one person here, 49:36 there's not one person listening at home 49:39 that has not been that lost sheep. 49:41 We have all been lost. 49:42 And I love this next part in our lesson today 49:46 because it talks about, "By the lost sheep, 49:49 Christ represents? not only the individual sinner 49:52 but the one world that has apostatized 49:56 and has been ruined by sin. 49:58 This whole world was his one lost sheep, 50:02 his one lost sheep. 50:03 This world, listen to this, this was so powerful 50:07 when I really dug into this and thought about it. 50:10 This world is but an atom, and the vast demands 50:15 over which God presides, yet, 50:18 this little fallen world, 50:20 this one lost sheep is more precious, 50:23 more precious in His sight than are the 90 and 9 50:27 that went not astray from the world. 50:29 Now an atom, 50:31 have any of you ever seen an atom. 50:33 We've heard about the atom bomb. 50:35 An atom is so tiny. 50:38 It is one millionth the size of the largest human hair. 50:43 It's pretty small. Too small. 50:45 And we are but an atom 50:49 and God loved us so much 50:51 that He sent His Son down to this lost sheep. 50:57 All of heaven was emptied out. Amazing. 51:00 I mean, an atom, he could have just said goodbye 51:03 and no one would have ever missed us. 51:06 No one, we're just that small, that insignificant, 51:11 but in the sight of our heavenly Father, 51:13 we're everything. 51:15 He loves us with an everlasting love. 51:18 And when I thought about just even the size of an atom, 51:21 just how insignificant we are, and yet Christ said, 51:24 "If it wasn't just for one person, 51:27 I would have done everything. 51:28 I would have taken those stripes for Danny. 51:31 I would have allowed them to spit on me, to slap on me, 51:33 to put the thorns on my head 51:36 for Brother Tim, Jason, all of us, 51:40 every one of you at home. 51:42 That's how much heaven loves us. 51:44 You know, we've been talking about, 51:46 as it were the other brother, 51:49 because many times we find ourselves 51:50 as the other brother, "What about me?" 51:53 You know, what about me? Look at me. 51:55 Why don't I get a fatter cow? 51:57 You know, why don't I get the praise?" 51:59 Why don't I get the... But really, who are we? 52:03 That's right. 52:04 We need to recognize... 52:06 That song now you said, saying, 52:07 who am I that a King should bleed and die for? 52:11 Mercy. 52:12 Just studying might brings tears to your eyes and say, 52:14 "Who am I that a King would come down here 52:16 and bleed and die for someone like me?" 52:18 It's way beyond my thinking. 52:20 But on strive, and I think we should strive, 52:22 don't you, day by day to understand it better 52:26 by and by. 52:28 You know what that Hubble telescope 52:29 he was talking about here? 52:30 I looked at so I thought, how interesting 52:32 because we talk about galaxies, we talk about the universe, 52:34 we talk about all these things, and just quickly right here, 52:37 I thought how interesting it is. 52:39 Light travels at 186,262 miles a second. 52:46 That would mean that you could go 52:47 around this earth almost eight times in one second. 52:50 Mercy me. 52:52 That simply means that when it travels through space 52:55 or it's 670 million miles a second. 53:01 That's unbelievable when you think about it, 53:05 670 million, think about it. 53:07 I can't even... 53:09 My mind just doesn't know to comprehend that way. 53:12 And this is what the Hubble has picked up 53:13 some of these things so far out into space. 53:17 When I was mentioned that should have been light years, 53:20 I was talking about, you remember? 53:22 They judge it in light years and so we realize 53:24 how light travels for millions of years 53:27 before it ever gets here. 53:28 How big is God? 53:29 Yeah. Really. 53:31 You think about, how big is God? 53:32 Really, yes. 53:34 To think about how that light travels, 53:35 and if it travels that fast, you think about it 53:38 because there's galaxies that are what? 53:40 They're billions of light years. 53:43 So I didn't really have a computer or anything. 53:46 I think it go about billions 53:48 and times that times 186,200 seconds. 53:52 But think what that would be. 53:54 How interesting! That's big, God's big. 53:56 And how big is His love? Yeah. 53:59 Bigger than that. How big is His love? 54:00 Endless. 54:01 How big is God, how big and wide His vast domain 54:04 to try to tell this tongue can only, 54:07 what is it, start? 54:09 He's big enough to rule the mighty universe, 54:11 yet small enough to live within our hearts. 54:14 So one part, I would like to bring out quickly is, 54:17 that we as Christians should be, 54:20 when we represent Jesus, looking for that lost. 54:24 So I have to admit, they say, you know, 54:28 confession is good for the soul and hard on the reputation. 54:31 Brother Kenny, tell me when in the lumberyard, 54:33 we're building houses that he met this guy, 54:36 really rough guy and was witnessing 54:39 to the lumberyard managers. 54:41 When this guy was just in there doing drywall, 54:43 picking up some stuff, rough looking character. 54:47 He said, "You got to meet him." 54:49 I went in lumberyard week or two later, met the guy. 54:52 And I said, 54:53 "This guy I would not want to meet him in an alley." 54:56 He's Harley rider 54:57 and did all the things you would expect. 55:00 And then within weeks, 55:01 Kenny got him by saying something 55:03 about being a Christian 55:04 and he butted in the conversation and said, 55:06 "Well, if there's a God, 55:08 then why would he burn people forever? 55:10 Tell me why God burns?" Kenny said, 55:11 "Well, He doesn't. 55:13 You know, and he said, "What? He doesn't?" 55:15 Well, he was raised in a church, 55:16 he left when he was 12 years old, 55:18 never go back. 55:19 He said, "I wouldn't serve a God." 55:20 But the story is that Kenny invited him 55:24 to his home for Bible Studies, and he said to me, 55:26 "You don't invite him to you know... 55:28 Let's invite he and his wife 55:30 to my house or your house and I said, 55:32 "Let's do it your house." 55:35 I mean, really, if it had been up to me, 55:37 he may have never been reached 55:38 because I was looking on the outward appearance, 55:41 but Kenny said, "Oh, he can come to my house." 55:43 He was a man that I really believe 55:45 that God called in a very special way 55:48 because that day, 55:49 as he was standing there at the desk, 55:51 as you well know, where he was standing, 55:52 the way that he looked, I was going out the door, 55:55 the front door at that time, 55:56 not the side one, the front door. 55:58 And a voice, it's like almost clear as crystal, 56:00 said, "Go in there 56:01 and introduce yourself to this man." 56:03 And I said, "You haven't looked at his face evidently. 56:05 I'm not about to go and introduce myself." 56:08 And I shut the door and went out. 56:09 And it's like the Lord said, "You go back 56:11 and introduce yourself to the man." 56:13 I said, "Yes, Lord, I will." So I went back and do it. 56:15 And then... Well, sometime, you just kind of make it... 56:18 I won't say a fool of myself. 56:19 I won't say that, because you make a fool 56:21 of yourself because right quick, 56:22 I walked up to him and said, 56:24 "Hi, my name is Kenny Shelton." 56:25 And he just looked at me and said, "So what?" 56:27 And I thought, "I miss that one real quick." 56:29 And so I said, "Well, my name is Shelton. 56:31 What's yours?" He said Welch. 56:32 And I looked around, I said, 56:34 "Oh, you mean like grape juice? 56:38 That didn't work very well. I'm just... 56:40 So I can remember your name right. 56:42 Anyhow, Lord knows what He's doing. 56:44 Point is, you were willing to go ahead and look beyond 56:49 what was the end of the physical at him. 56:52 And if it had been for me, I may, you know, I was failing. 56:56 But praise the Lord. 56:57 Now joined right on in, that was a blessing. 56:58 And that's a beautiful thought as we're just about to close. 57:01 We need to look past the outward appearances, 57:04 see not where people are but where they could be, 57:08 where God wants them to be. 57:10 I want to just share Isaiah 41:10. 57:13 It says, "Fear thou not for I am with thee. 57:16 Be not dismayed for I am thy God. 57:18 I will strengthen thee, ye I will help thee. 57:21 I will uphold thee 57:23 with the right hand of My righteousness." 57:25 God is calling each and every one of you. 57:27 Don't hesitate when you hear Him call. 57:30 May our precious Lord continue to richly bless you and yours. 57:34 God bless each and every one. 57:35 Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2019-02-04