Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: TOTE
Program Code: TOTE000021
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00:02 Can you believe it?
00:05 Can you build your faith on it? 00:08 The promises of God's Word are sure. 00:12 They do not fail. 00:17 This book has stood the test of time. 00:29 Our Father in heaven, we come to You tonight 00:34 thanking You for all the wonderful things 00:37 that You've done for us. You've been so good to us. 00:42 Lord, may we take note 00:45 of what Your Word says about Your blessings. 00:49 May we surrender our lives to You. 00:53 We ask that You will give us the wisdom, 00:56 the understanding that we need 00:58 that we might learn how to walk by faith 01:04 and to please You in all that we do. 01:08 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. 01:18 Have you ever had someone say to you 01:20 who, when you were talking about somebody else, and 01:23 they said: "Well, they have lived a blessed life? " 01:26 "They've been blessed in a special way. " 01:31 You see, I've found that in the scripture 01:33 God wants to bless you. 01:36 In fact, you're acquainted with texts where it says that 01:39 He's more willing to give you the Holy Spirit 01:41 than you are to give good gifts to your children. 01:44 It says that God cares about you. 01:47 He wants to bless you in a special way. 01:50 Promises that. 01:53 Well, if someone would have just shared with me 01:57 years ago when I was a young person 02:00 what I'm going to share with you tonight 02:03 it would have made a marked difference in my life. 02:07 I mean a very definite difference in my life. 02:11 And so I hope that each of you here tonight 02:13 will listen carefully and I hope that you are blessed. 02:16 And I hope that from this day on 02:19 it will make a marked difference in your life... 02:21 and particularly young people. 02:23 I hope this will be a great, great help to you 02:26 because God wants to bless you. He says this... 02:29 Ezekiel 34:26: 02:39 God says: "I'll make them and everything around 02:42 a blessing. " 02:44 And He promises that He will do that. 02:47 And as you read through the scripture 02:50 you can see where God made definite promises 02:53 and how He carried out those promises. 02:56 Joshua. Now folks, the children of Israel had 03:00 gone through 40 years in the wilderness. 03:03 They have now gone into the land of Canaan. 03:07 They have driven out the Canaanites and the 03:09 Perizzites and the Jebusites and all the Hittites 03:12 and all these people. 03:14 Joshua is old... it's come time for him to die. 03:20 I want you to listen to his words. 03:23 Joshua 23:14: 03:38 What? Now listen folks. 03:41 "Not one thing has failed. " 04:02 Of all the things that God promised the children of Israel 04:06 he's saying "Not one word of it has failed. " 04:10 Think about that. 04:12 Promised that He would care for them, look after them. 04:14 What He would give them. And everything that God 04:17 promised happened. 04:20 I mean, Nehemiah talks about this. 04:26 Talks about what happened to them as they were going 04:28 through the wilderness and how God cared for them. 04:31 Nehemiah the 9th chapter verse 21: 04:42 I mean, have you ever been out in the Sinai desert? 04:47 Huh? Have you ever been there? 04:49 Folks, it won't even grow a weed 04:53 let alone a cow. 04:55 I mean nothing there and yet it says 04:57 "You lacked nothing. " OK? 05:01 Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. 05:07 Nothing they lacked. 05:09 So here you're going down through time 05:11 and God promises and cared for them. 05:14 As Solomon is blessing the temple and he's talking to all 05:18 the children of Israel these are his words... 05:22 I Kings 8:56: 05:33 Do you know what the scripture says about the days of Solomon? 05:39 Do you know what it says about it? 05:41 It says that gold was like stones. 05:50 I mean, they were blessed beyond comprehension. 05:55 Very, very special way according to all that He promised. 05:59 Listen to what He promised: 06:08 'Cause he said everything that God promised... 06:10 everything happened. 06:13 So what I'm trying to get across to you 06:16 is if the Book here, folks, promises it 06:19 do you think it'll happen? 06:22 Huh? You're convinced of that? 06:26 The Bible says that if God promises it 06:29 it'll happen because the scripture says 06:32 God cannot lie. 06:36 Hebrews 6:17: 07:00 So what I'm telling you tonight 07:02 that God will not fail on His part. 07:06 OK? God will not fail on His part. 07:11 Promises certain things to you and me. 07:26 He said: "God promised it... Hang on; He can't lie. " 07:33 Back when Jesus was on earth 07:37 He sent the disciples out 07:40 and He weighed carefully the way He sent them. 07:43 'Cause this is the way He sent them here in Luke 22:35. 08:10 Didn't lack a thing. 08:13 God was more than capable of taking care of them. 08:17 Do you think He's capable of taking care of you tonight? 08:21 An old preacher was visiting one of his parishioners, 08:26 an old lady. When he got to the home 08:31 and he was visiting her he picked up her Bible. 08:34 As he picked up her Bible he began to page through it. 08:38 And he found certain texts that were underlined 08:42 and then underneath the text would be written the letters 08:45 T and P. 08:47 He thumbed through it and saw these all the way 08:50 through the scripture. Finally he said to her, he said: 08:53 "What are these texts that you have underlined here 08:56 in your Bible? " She said: "Oh, those are promises 08:58 of God... " She said: "those are all promises. " 09:02 He said: "Well that's fine," but he said "what do these letters 09:04 T and P mean? " 09:06 She said: "Oh, that means tried and proven. " 09:09 See... And it worked! Tried and proven. 09:13 The promises of God. 09:16 Now, what I am telling you tonight is all... 09:20 all the promises in this Book - 09:23 listen to me carefully - all the promises in this book 09:26 are conditional. 09:30 Don't think they're not. 09:33 All the promises in this book are conditional. 09:39 If you and I fill the conditions, 09:42 God will carry out His promise. 09:46 That's what you've got to understand in your head: 09:49 that if you fulfill the conditions 09:52 God will carry out His promise. 09:55 When I was a young person if somebody would have just 09:58 made that clear to me, what a difference it would have made 10:01 in my life. 10:03 Listen: this is what the scripture is saying... 10:05 what God promises to you and to me. 10:07 Deuteronomy 11:26: 10:17 A blessing and a curse. 10:19 That's what He's setting there before you. 10:21 All right. 10:30 He said: "Here's the blessing if you obey. " 10:34 That's the condition, right? 10:37 Yes, that's the condition. If you obey, going to bless you. 10:41 That's what He promises. 10:48 They're conditional... all of them are. 10:51 But they're marvelous promises. 10:53 And the conditions, folks, are not difficult. 10:56 They're not hard. 10:59 I have people say to me: "Well Brother Cox, 11:03 I don't know. " You listen. God promises this. 11:14 He said: "You do that, you're going to receive the curse. " 11:17 OK. You say: "Well I've lived a very, very bad life. " 11:24 I talk to people and they say: "Oh, the Lord could never 11:27 forgive me. Could never forgive me. I've done such bad things 11:32 that the Lord just couldn't forgive me. " 11:36 Well, you want to see what the condition is to be forgiven? 11:42 This is the condition. This is what the scripture says. 11:51 That's the condition. 11:56 If you have lived a very wicked life, 11:59 you have done a lot of bad things, 12:02 all that God asks you to do... the condition is 12:05 is to come to Him and confess our sins. 12:10 Confess your sins to Him. What will happen? 12:14 OK... here's the promise: 12:23 Dear friend, I don't care how bad you've been. 12:27 God's not interested in keeping you out of heaven. 12:30 God's interested in getting you in. 12:32 And so all He just says to you is "Come to Me. 12:35 Confess your sins. And if you'll confess them 12:39 I will forgive them. " 12:42 He is faithful. That means God is on duty 12:47 24 hours a day. OK? 12:51 He's faithful; He's just. 12:55 He'll forgive your sins. 12:57 That's the condition: all you've got to do is confess them. 13:02 OK. You say: "Well, 13:05 I'm not real sure that there's any hope for me. 13:11 Not... not real sure that I could be forgiven and that 13:14 I could be saved. 13:16 I'm not sure that there's really any hope for me. " 13:19 Well, what is the condition for salvation? 13:23 You know, what do I have to do to be saved? 13:27 What is the condition for being saved? 13:31 Well, let's look. 13:39 That's the condition. 13:42 If you want to be saved, you have to call on the name 13:46 of the Lord. That's what it says. 13:49 Come to Him; call on Him. Say: "Here I am, Lord. 13:53 I'm lost; I'm a sinner; I've done all these bad things. 13:56 My life is a wreck, Lord. I'm coming to You. " 13:59 And this is what the scripture says: 14:01 Promise: "shall be saved. " 14:06 Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14:12 Dear friend, don't tell me tonight 14:14 that you're too bad. 14:17 Don't tell me that you can't do all this. 14:20 Those are not the conditions. 14:22 The condition is that you call upon the name of the Lord. 14:26 Call on the name of the Lord "and you shall be saved. " 14:31 That's the promise He gives you. 14:34 Well you say: "What about baptism? 14:40 I really... What's the condition for baptism? " 14:45 I run onto people who say: "Well, do I really have to be 14:49 baptized? " Well, let's look and see what the scripture tells us. 14:55 Mark 16:16: 15:02 That person who believes - that's part of the steps - 15:06 and is baptized - let's see, that's the condition - 15:10 what's the promise? 15:14 So the scripture's very, very clear, folks. 15:17 All the promises here... all of them... 15:20 are based on conditions. All you and I have to do is 15:24 fulfill the condition. 15:26 The condition is if you want to be saved 15:28 call on the name of the Lord. 15:31 That's the condition. 15:33 If you want to be saved, then call on the name of the Lord, 15:36 accept Him as your Savior, and be baptized. 15:39 Those are the conditions. 15:42 How often we try to make our own. No. 15:48 All you've got to do is do what God asks. 15:52 Those are the conditions. 15:55 You say: "Well what about my daily needs? " 15:59 What about you know... what about such things as 16:03 food? Is that involved? 16:09 Does it involve what I eat? 16:12 Or what about such things as shelter? 16:15 Or what about such things as clothing? 16:20 Does that enter into the picture? 16:23 Well, let's look at the condition. 16:25 See what God has to say about it. 16:27 Matthew 6:33: 16:36 Now what did it say? 16:38 "Well I know this is what the Lord would like for me to do 16:44 but my work interferes with this. " 16:49 "I know this is what God wants me to do 16:52 but if I do that that's going to 16:57 affect my life too much. " 17:03 Seek what? "First the kingdom of God. " 17:08 In other words God says: "If you want to have food, 17:12 if you want to have shelter, 17:14 if you want to have clothing, 17:16 then seek first the kingdom of God. " 17:20 And if you do that, what's going to happen? 17:22 Let's look at the promise. The promise is: 17:31 Oh you say: "Well Brother Cox that doesn't mean food 17:34 and that doesn't mean shelter 17:35 and that doesn't mean clothing. " 17:37 Oh yes it does. 17:38 Oh yes it does... just read the text before it. 17:42 Listen to what it has to say. 17:44 Matthew 6:31: 17:54 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. 17:59 All these things... " right there... 18:01 "will be added to you. " 18:04 OK? So dear friends, let's get our priorities right tonight. 18:10 If you want to be blessed, 18:13 if you want a blessed life, 18:15 then put God first. 18:18 Doesn't come after everything else. 18:23 You know, don't get through with everything else and then 18:25 say: "Well if there's anything left for the Lord, OK. " 18:28 "But seek Him first and His righteousness 18:33 All these things will be added to you. " 18:36 Promises that. 18:38 Well say: 18:42 "Sure would like to have a child. " 18:46 Prayed for a child. 18:49 Does that have anything to do with my serving the Lord? 18:54 Whether He'll give me a child or whether He won't. 18:57 Does that enter into it? 18:59 Now folks, I'm talking to you about living it day by day 19:04 for the Lord Jesus Christ. 19:06 Have you been praying for a child and haven't had one? 19:11 You'd like to have a child. 19:13 Well, let's see what the conditions are. 19:26 So the Bible says if you fear the Lord 19:29 and you walk in His ways 19:32 let's see what the promises are that God says will happen. 19:42 OK, he said: "If you fear the Lord, 19:45 you walk in His ways, 19:47 when you sit down to eat you'll be happy 19:52 and it shall be well with you. " 19:56 Now listen, let's continue on because the promise hasn't 19:59 ended here. We're continuing in Psalm 128 verses 2 and 3: 20:14 You want children? 20:16 There's the promise. 20:19 Right there. All you have to do is fear God 20:23 and walk in His ways 20:26 and that's a promise that He gives. 20:29 You see, I'm trying to get across to you folks 20:31 not one word in that Book will fail. 20:37 Moses said: "You can't think of anything that God promised 20:40 that's failed. " And it won't fail for you 20:43 if you fulfill the conditions. 20:46 That's all God is asking of you is just fulfill the conditions. 20:51 So if you're concerned about having children, 20:54 then fear the Lord, walk in His ways. 20:57 Have you read in the Bible about a woman that did that? 21:00 Huh? Have you ever read in the Bible about a woman 21:03 who did that? "Behold, thus shall the man be... " What? 21:10 OK. Have you ever read about Hannah? 21:13 Hmmm? Didn't have any children. 21:18 Felt terrible 'cause she never had a child. 21:22 But she feared God; she walked in His ways 21:27 and she pled with the Lord and He gave her a child. 21:31 Remember that? 21:33 Named the child Samuel. Yes. 21:38 I Samuel 1:27: 21:50 She said: "For this child I prayed. 21:52 And God answered that prayer... gave me this child. " 21:56 And He'll do the same for you, folks. 22:01 Well you say: "Well I'd... I'd like to, 22:05 you know, live a long life. " 22:08 "I'd like to have the promise of a long life. " 22:13 Well, that's conditional. 22:15 Did you know that? 22:17 It's conditional. Let's see what the conditions are. 22:22 Deuteronomy 5:16: 22:28 That's the condition. 22:30 You want to live a long life? Honor your parents. 22:33 Young people particularly. 22:36 And I have some say: "Well my parents aren't very nice. " 22:39 Well that may be true 22:43 but you still have an obligation to honor them. 22:48 You don't have to agree with their ways if their ways are 22:51 wrong... but you still have to honor them. 22:54 That God expects. 22:56 If you want to live a long life, 22:57 honor your parents, young people. It has more to do 23:01 with you than you have any concept of. 23:05 Honor your parents. 23:07 This is what happens if you honor them. 23:09 Let's look at the promise. 23:19 Said: "If you want to live a long life, 23:22 if you want to have a happy life that it might be well with you, 23:26 then honor your parents. " 23:29 It's a promise given to you. 23:32 You see, no one ever bothered to explain all these things 23:36 to me when I was growing up. 23:40 No one ever told me of these wonderful promises. 23:44 That if I would just do those what God would do. 23:50 When I began to understand them 23:52 changed my life completely. 23:56 Changed it completely. 24:00 Financial help? You say: "Man, it's a struggle 24:04 all the time. Can't seem to get ahead. 24:11 Constantly working... I can't seem to get anywhere. " 24:15 Folks, don't misunderstand me. 24:17 I'm not trying to offer you God just for financial help 24:23 but I am trying to tell you 24:25 that if you will follow Him, if you will fulfill the conditions, 24:29 He will bless you. Promises that. 24:33 Now I'm going to share some things with you 24:36 that are probably going to be kind of shocking to you 24:39 as far as what it takes to be blessed financially. 24:43 But let me show you. 24:45 One thing that it says very clearly 24:47 that if you want to be blessed financially 24:50 is you have to give. 24:55 You say: "What do you mean give? 24:56 I don't have anything to give with. " 24:59 Well, let's look and see what God says. 25:03 Let's look at the conditions. 25:06 Luke 6:38: 25:16 That is a condition, folks. 25:19 In fact, giving is the law of heaven. 25:23 Did you know that? 25:24 Giving is the law of heaven. 25:27 And you never can get anywhere financially 25:30 if you don't give. 25:32 Won't work... sorry. 25:36 If you give, you want to see what the promise is? 25:39 This is what the scripture promises: 25:53 Huh. That's the promise: 25:57 that if you give God will bless you 26:01 and it will be given to you good measure, 26:03 pressed down, running over. 26:16 The very same measure that you use in giving to others 26:21 it will be given back to you. That's the promise. 26:26 So if you want to get ahead financially 26:30 give. Say: "That's crazy! " 26:36 I know it is but it's true... it works. 26:40 It works. 26:42 Now there's another thing that I want to tell you that works 26:46 concerning finances. 26:48 You may not have understood it but I can tell you right now... 26:51 And let me tell you something: I don't know very many things 26:55 that are good or I can say are really nice 27:00 about old age. 27:02 You know, I can't really enumerate a lot of things 27:06 that old age does for you. 27:08 But one thing it does do for you 27:11 is it gives you the ability to look back 27:14 and see how things have taken place. 27:18 You see, you can do that. 27:20 And I can tell you over the years 27:22 I have watched and I have seen this principle over and over. 27:26 And I've seen people struggle over it 27:28 and say: "Oh, I can't do that. " 27:30 And I've seen other people that said: "Oh, I don't 27:33 understand how this is going to work" and they did it anyhow 27:36 and how God abundantly blessed them. 27:40 Let me tell you what it is. 27:43 Sabbath. 27:46 If you want to be blessed financially, 27:50 keep the Sabbath. 27:53 I'm dead serious. 27:55 I've seen people say: "Oh, if I was to keep Sabbath 27:59 I'd lose my job. " 28:00 You might. 28:02 You might. 28:04 But let me tell you something: 28:06 if you do, God will bless you. 28:11 Now let me explain a principle to you. 28:14 God never asked you... God NEVER asked you 28:18 to do something that it cost you 28:21 that God in turn won't repay. 28:25 You remember the time when Jesus was speaking to the crowd 28:29 and there were so many of them 28:32 they had backed Him clear up to the shores of the Sea of Galilee 28:35 and they were right in His face, 28:38 so close to Him He couldn't talk. 28:40 And so He asked Peter if He could use his boat. 28:42 And He stepped in Peter's boat, 28:44 had Peter row back from the shore a little bit 28:47 and then Jesus spoke. He could see the crowd 28:49 and He spoke to them. 28:51 When He finished He said to Peter: 28:53 "Cast in your net. " 28:54 And Peter said: "What are You talking about Lord? 28:56 We just fished all night and didn't catch anything. " 28:59 Now folks, the Sea of Galilee is perfectly clear. 29:04 They only fish it at night. OK? 29:08 They had fished all night long. 29:09 "There's no fish there... You can look and see. " 29:13 And Peter said: "Nevertheless it's Your word 29:17 I'll throw in the net. " 29:18 And he threw in the net and they caught so many fish 29:21 that the nets were breaking. 29:22 Now do you understand what was happening here? 29:25 Do you understand what's happening here? 29:27 All Jesus is doing is paying Peter for using his boat. 29:34 See? That's what's happening here, folks. 29:37 And so you just... you need to understand 29:41 that when God simply says "Do this" 29:43 I don't care if it costs you, God will repay! 29:48 It says He is a rewarder 29:50 of those that diligently seek Him. 29:53 Amen. So if you keep the Sabbath, 29:56 what's He going to do for you? OK, look: 29:59 here's the condition. 30:04 That means don't trod it underfoot, 30:06 don't treat it with disrespect. 30:12 He said: 'If you stop doing what you want to do. " OK? 30:24 Those are the conditions: 30:25 you don't trod the Sabbath underfoot, 30:27 you don't do your own pleasure on His holy day, 30:30 on the Sabbath, you call the Sabbath a delight, 30:33 the holy day of the Lord and honor Him, OK, 30:42 He said: "This is not a day that you are to use 30:47 for yourself. " And let me get something clear. 30:50 I had someone tell me that they said: "Oh it doesn't 30:53 make any difference which day you keep. 30:56 You can keep any day. Whichever day you want to keep 30:59 for the Sabbath that's OK. " 31:01 Let me tell you something tonight: 31:03 that is OK... OK? provided you're the one 31:09 that calls the shots. 31:13 OK? Provided you're the one that's calling the shots. 31:17 But if God's the One that's calling the shots 31:20 then it makes a great, great difference. 31:22 See? Because it's His day. 31:25 OK. So He said: "If you'll quit walking on the Sabbath, 31:29 If you'll treat it with respect, if you'll honor Me 31:32 not doing your own ways... " 31:34 what's He going to do for you? Let's look at the promise. 31:41 You want to make the Lord happy? 32:01 Dear friends, if you want to get along financially, 32:05 then keep the Sabbath. 32:08 God won't fail. 32:12 OK, one other thing if you want to prosper financially. 32:17 Then the Bible says if you want to do that 32:20 then you need to return the tithe. 32:25 Scripture is very clear on that. 32:28 I can tell you right now I've had people say: 32:32 "Oh Brother Cox, what are you talking about? " 32:33 I've had young couples come to me and they say: 32:35 "Well Brother Cox, we're in terrible financial shape. 32:38 What can we do to get out of this condition we're in? " 32:42 And I say: "Return the tithe. " 32:45 And they say: "What do you mean 32:47 return the tithe? We don't have enough to live on now! " 32:50 If you want to get out of debt, return the tithe. Amen! 32:55 That's a promise. Let's look. 32:58 Here's the condition: 33:09 Folks, I mean here God's coming out and saying: 33:11 "OK, if you don't believe Me try Me... 33:13 Just try it if you don't believe Me. " 33:16 That's what He's saying. 33:18 That's the only promise I know in the scripture 33:20 where God uses those words and says: 33:23 "Try Me; try Me... see if it's right. " 33:27 OK, that's the condition. Let's see what the promise is. 33:42 Do you want to be blessed? 33:45 Then return the tithe to Him. 33:47 He says: "If you do that I'll pour out a blessing on you 33:50 that there won't even be room enough for you to receive it. " 33:55 That is a promise that He gives. 34:12 He says: "I'll bless you 34:13 in a very, very wonderful way. " 34:16 What does the scripture mean when it talks about a tithe? 34:20 The word tithe means a tenth... that's what it means. 34:24 One tenth. If I make a dollar, 34:28 then a tithe is 10 cents. 34:32 If I make ten dollars, a tithe is one dollar. 34:36 If I make a hundred dollars, a tithe is ten dollars. 34:40 A tenth. And I can tell you a little secret tonight: 34:46 nine tenths - mark my words - 34:50 nine tenths with God's blessing 34:55 will go farther than ten tenths with His curse. Amen! 35:00 In fact, I was talking to a fellow and he told me that 35:02 one night he was preaching on this subject and this fellow 35:06 came up to him and he said: "Ah... " he said, 35:08 "you don't have to pay tithe to be saved. " 35:12 My friend said to him: "How did you arrive at that? " 35:16 He said: "Well the thief on the cross never paid any tithe 35:19 and he'll be saved. " 35:21 And my friend said to him, said: 35:24 "Yeah... " he said, "that's true. " 35:26 He said: "That's very true. " He said: 35:28 "Just one difference between you and the thief 35:30 on the cross. " And he said: "What's that? " 35:33 And he said: "He was a dying thief and you're a living one. " 35:39 Great great difference there, you see. 35:42 So what I'm trying to say is just the promises of God 35:46 are given to you, folks. 35:48 And He just simply says: "Return a tithe unto Me 35:53 and I will bless you abundantly. " 36:07 When it says "it's holy to the Lord, " dear friend, 36:09 then that simply means it doesn't belong to you. 36:13 In fact you don't give tithe... you return tithe. Amen. 36:18 See, it's not yours. Never has been; never will be. 36:21 And what God says to you and me: 36:24 "If you're a good steward and you return the tithe, " 36:29 He says, "then I'm going to bless you. " 36:31 And He will, dear friends... abundantly! Abundantly. 36:36 I've given tithe - I've returned tithe - 36:42 when it took every cent that I had 36:46 and God has never failed. 36:50 Never. He won't fail at all. 36:54 There's marvelous stories in the Bible about it if you read them. 36:58 Did you ever read about Jacob? 37:02 Huh? You remember the time when he was fleeing from his 37:04 brother Esau and he gets out here on the plains of Bethel 37:07 and he lies down and he has this dream? 37:10 You remember that? 37:11 And in that dream he sees this stairway going up into heaven 37:15 and he sees angels going up and down on that stairway. 37:17 And when he woke up the next morning he said: "Oh, " 37:20 he said, "this place must be the house of God. " 37:22 And he set up an altar there and he worshiped the Lord. 37:25 And he said to the Lord this... 37:27 Listen... this is what he said to Him: 37:37 You remember that, don't you? 37:38 Said: "I'll return a tithe to You of everything You give me. " 37:42 And so he goes on down to his Uncle Laban's house. 37:45 Uncle Laban has two daughters: Rachel and Leah. 37:51 Rachel is beautiful; Leah is ugly. 37:58 And you know who Jacob fell in love with? 38:00 Rachel. 38:03 You know who he spent his life with? Leah. 38:07 OK. But nevertheless 38:09 he fell in love with Rachel. 38:11 And so he goes to Laban and he says: 38:14 "What do I have to do to have the hand of your daughter? " 38:17 And he said: "Oh... " he said: "not much. 38:20 Just work for me for 7 years. " 38:25 Jacob said: "OK. " 38:27 So he worked for him for seven years. 38:31 It came time and he said: "I've worked for you 7 years. 38:33 I want my bride. " 38:35 And so they had the wedding. But over in the Middle East 38:37 you know they wear veils. 38:39 And so they had the wedding and Jacob gets his bride home 38:43 and she takes off the veil and lo and behold 38:46 he has Leah not Rachel. 38:48 And he said: "I didn't work 7 years for you! " 38:51 Takes her by the arm and takes her back to her father 38:54 and says: "Listen, I worked seven years for Rachel. " 38:57 And he said: "Well sorry. There's a custom here in our 38:59 country the oldest daughter has to marry first. " 39:02 Said: "I'll tell you what: work for me for 7 more years 39:05 and I'll give you Rachel also. " 39:08 And Jacob says: "OK. " So now folks, he's worked 39:11 for 14 years. His total pay has been 2 women. 39:18 You know, I don't know how good a bargain that is. 39:23 But nevertheless Laban calls him in and he says: 39:28 "Well now Jacob, if you're going to stay here and if you're 39:30 going to work for me, I guess we need to work out some 39:32 financial arrangements and pay. " 39:35 And Jacob said: "OK. " 39:37 And Laban says: "I'll tell you what... " he said, 39:40 "I will give you all the spotted sheep, 39:44 all the spotted cattle, all the spotted donkeys. 39:48 Anything that's spotted I'm going to give to you. " 39:52 Jacob says: "Fine. " That is really generous 39:54 on the part of Laban since all his cattle are black angus. 39:59 There's not a spotted one in the bunch. 40:03 And so God said: "Jacob, 40:08 go out there and cut down this cane 40:11 and every place that the cattle drink - 40:14 in the ponds, the rivers, the troughs... 40:18 everywhere they drink - you lay that cane 40:21 and cross it and lay it in there. " 40:24 He went out and cut the cane down and laid it in there. 40:26 And when the cattle started calving the next spring 40:30 they were spotted. Spotted! 40:34 Laban came out and said: "What in the world's going on here? 40:37 This can't be. Fence is broke or something you know. " 40:41 Said: "This can't be. " 40:42 So he said: "Well you know, next spring it will be all right. " 40:46 The next spring they were spotted again. 40:48 Laban called Jacob in and he said: "Listen, I've been 40:52 thinking this thing over, " and he said, 40:53 "and I'll tell you what: 40:55 I've decided I'm going to take the spotted ones 40:56 and I'm going to give you the solid ones. " 40:59 And Jacob said: "OK. " 41:01 And God said: "Jacob, get that stuff out of the water. " 41:03 You can read it! 41:06 I mean, God promises there. 41:08 I can read you in the Word of God when he's talking to 41:11 his wife Rachel. He said: "Your father has changed my wages 41:17 ten times... " 41:20 That's what he said... "and God did not permit him to harm me. " 41:24 I can tell you: when he was changing his wages 41:26 he was not raising them... he was lowering them. OK? 41:30 And when he left Laban's house 41:33 he was an extremely wealthy man. Why? 41:36 'Cause he said: "Listen, of anything You give me 41:39 I'll give a tenth to You. " 41:41 And he honored God in that and God blessed him. 41:44 Friend, tonight He'll do the same for you. 41:48 Amen. If you and I are just faithful. 41:50 I'm just sharing with you bless- ings that God will give you. 41:54 If you fulfill the conditions, those are things that He says 41:58 He will do for you and for me 42:00 if we'll just follow the Lord in it. 42:02 Promises. 42:04 Jesus made it very clear that we were still to return 42:08 the tithe today. 42:10 Matthew 23:23... He's speaking to the Pharisees 42:13 and the scribes and so forth. He said: 42:22 Now folks, those were the smallest means of exchange 42:26 they had back then. 42:27 And so He said these scribes and Pharisees 42:30 they were very, very minute 42:34 about paying everything. OK? 42:37 But watch what He says: 42:43 He said: "Oh, you're faithful in paying your tithe 42:46 but you've neglected the weightier matters of the law 42:49 such as justice and mercy and faith. " 42:52 He said: "You forgot those. " But listen to the words of Jesus 43:04 Jesus made that just as clear as a bell 43:07 that you and I still are to return our tithe. 43:12 Blessings that God gives to you and to me. 43:16 Deuteronomy 28:2... listen carefully: 43:32 "All these blessings shall come upon you 43:36 and overtake you. " You want to live a blessed life? 43:41 There's the opportunity, folks. 43:44 All God is saying to you tonight is: 43:46 "Fulfill the conditions... I'll bless you... 43:50 I'll bless you in a marvelous way like you can't believe. " 43:54 If you and I will just follow what He says, 43:58 gonna bless you now... here, this life. 44:02 Promises it. 44:04 But above all that, fulfill those conditions, dear friends, 44:10 and you'll not only be blessed here 44:12 but you'll be blessed for eternity. Amen! 44:14 Marvelous! Matthew 25:34: 44:25 He said: "All you people that have walked with Me, 44:27 by faith you followed, come all you blessed of My Father, " 44:38 Promises that to you. 44:40 God won't let you down. 44:43 When I went to the seminary 44:48 I had stayed out of school for a year. 44:53 I had sold books all that year. 44:58 By selling books I had made enough money 45:00 to pay for my education. 45:03 I had enough to pay for my education. 45:06 My wife was going to work and she was going to make enough 45:11 to pay for our housing and our food and so forth. 45:14 That's how we intended to go to seminary. 45:16 We got to the seminary and everything was going along fine 45:21 but oh, it came December... 45:27 the month of December... 45:29 and we were out working with one of the churches. 45:33 And that night my wife got very, very cold 45:40 because we were outside helping them. 45:43 And when we got back home she got a sore throat. 45:49 We didn't think much about it. 45:52 Gave her medicine and stuff for it. 45:54 But she had strep throat, 45:58 and out of the strep throat she developed a very, very 46:04 serious condition and they had to put her in the hospital. 46:09 And the doctors came and told me that 46:15 the mitral valve in her heart had been damaged 46:20 and that she would be flat on her back 46:24 for six weeks. 46:26 And then when she came home she could not work 46:30 or do anything for another six weeks. 46:35 And so I went in and had a seat by her. 46:38 We talked. 46:40 And I said: "Honey, I'm going to drop out of school 46:45 and get a job so that we can continue to make it. 46:49 And when you're back on your feet well then I'll try to 46:52 finish up the seminary. " 46:54 And I'll never forget. She looked at me and she said: 46:57 "You know, we've been faithful. " 47:00 She said: "We've been faithful in returning our tithe. " 47:03 She said: "We've tried to do what God wants us to. 47:06 Why don't you take Him at His word? " 47:10 And I said: "What do you mean? " She said: "Why don't you just 47:12 stay in school? See what the Lord does. " 47:15 Well, you know, I have to admit 47:19 that's a little difficult for me. 47:21 I'm not... I don't know if you understand calorics by nature 47:25 but I'm caloric by nature. And finally I said to her: 47:30 "OK, I'll do that. But I'll tell you what... " 47:32 I said, "I'm going to go sell the car. " 47:34 And I said: "I'll walk to the seminary each day and back. 47:38 That's the least I can do. " 47:41 So I went out and sold the car. 47:43 And we lived on that for a while. 47:45 But soon that was gone. 47:47 And I expected any time, you know, to say: 47:49 "Well I've got to go back to work here. " 47:53 Folks, let me tell you: 47:56 I went down to the post office or to the mail box 48:00 day after day. 48:03 Here would be letters from all different places in the 48:07 United States - not one place but all over the United States. 48:13 No names on them; no letters in them... just money. 48:18 Just money. 48:20 I'd open it up and here'd be an envelope and in it would be 48:23 money. I didn't know who it came from at all. 48:27 I can't remember in that whole time 48:29 ever getting a letter that there was money in 48:33 that somebody put their name. 48:35 So I didn't know who it was coming from 48:37 or where, but it came from all over the United States. 48:39 I graduated from the seminary. 48:43 I graduated totally free of debt. 48:49 Hospital bill and everything. 48:51 Now you can't convince me 48:54 that God won't do what He says. 48:57 If you will just take Him at His word, believe Him, 49:01 He will bless you in a very, very wonderful way. 49:11 All you may need 49:15 He shall supply. 49:21 God will take care 49:26 of you. 49:32 Nothing you ask 49:37 will be 49:40 denied. 49:45 God will take care 49:49 of you. 49:57 First question says: 50:03 All the things that I have shared with you tonight 50:08 will not happen 50:10 if you haven't given your heart to Jesus Christ. 50:13 Totally impossible, folks, 50:16 unless you've surrendered your heart to Jesus Christ. 50:20 So tonight if you understand how much God loves you, 50:25 what He wants to do for you, 50:27 then won't you reach out in faith and accept Him 50:30 this evening? Give Him your life? 50:33 Second question says: 50:38 Absolutely conditional. 50:41 Conditions aren't difficult. 50:44 Oh they may go against your nature, don't misunderstand me. 50:48 If your nature is selfish, 50:51 gonna be a little hard to give, isn't it? 50:53 But if you surrender your heart 50:56 the Holy Spirit will change that. 50:59 See, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. He'll change you... 51:02 make you different. 51:03 "Give and it shall be given unto you. " 51:05 If you understand that the promises are conditional, 51:08 put a check by #2. 51:11 Third question: 51:16 Baptism is a public declaration 51:20 of your acceptance of Jesus Christ. 51:22 It's really you're saying publicly 51:25 "I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ 51:27 as my personal Savior. " 51:30 And as you're baptized it means 51:32 that all your sins have been buried... washed away 51:36 and in God's eyes you are perfectly clean. 51:40 What baptism does. 51:41 If you'd like to follow Him in baptism, 51:44 then put a check by #3. 51:46 Put your name, your address on it as Maddy sings. 51:50 God will 51:54 take care of you. 52:00 Through every day 52:05 o'er all the way. 52:11 He will 52:15 take care 52:19 of you... 52:25 God will take 52:29 care 52:32 of 52:36 you. 52:43 Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 52:45 Father, we thank you for Your Word. 52:49 Thankful for what Jesus does for each of us, 52:53 the promises that You give us. 52:55 Lord, may we just each one here tonight 52:59 humbly accept Your will... 53:04 Your desire in our lives. 53:07 May we walk with You in all that we do 53:10 and may we each enjoy the privilege that's given us 53:15 of walking in Your presence. |
Revised 2014-12-17