1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:02,280 Welcome to the From the Pulpit in Classic 2 00:00:02,280 --> 00:00:02,960 Sermon series. 3 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:05,060 Each week, we bring you a different message 4 00:00:05,060 --> 00:00:07,080 from some of history's greatest speakers in the 5 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,640 Christian faith, and powerful sermons from modern preachers, 6 00:00:09,780 --> 00:00:09,920 too. 7 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:12,660 This week, we have Parris Reathead with his 8 00:00:12,660 --> 00:00:15,140 message, So Great is Salvation, Awakening. 9 00:00:17,610 --> 00:00:22,450 On your turning, I'd like to exercise the 10 00:00:22,450 --> 00:00:27,070 right that my last birthday gave me to 11 00:00:27,070 --> 00:00:28,830 reminisce just a little. 12 00:00:28,830 --> 00:00:36,850 As I think back in 1954, when Leonard 13 00:00:36,850 --> 00:00:39,450 Ravenhill called me and said, I can't go 14 00:00:39,450 --> 00:00:43,530 to Bethany Fellowship because of some reason. 15 00:00:43,650 --> 00:00:45,590 I do not recall now what it was. 16 00:00:45,690 --> 00:00:46,410 Will you go? 17 00:00:47,310 --> 00:00:51,170 I had no idea what Bethany Fellowship was. 18 00:00:51,270 --> 00:00:53,210 I'd been reared in Minnesota, but when I 19 00:00:53,210 --> 00:00:55,310 left, there was no Bethany Fellowship. 20 00:00:55,950 --> 00:00:59,090 But I went, and I recall Duane Love's 21 00:00:59,090 --> 00:01:01,630 friend and his two then young men, sons, 22 00:01:02,030 --> 00:01:04,510 meeting me at the airport and telling me 23 00:01:04,510 --> 00:01:06,570 about Bethany Fellowship. 24 00:01:06,650 --> 00:01:08,650 We met in what I, last I knew, 25 00:01:08,750 --> 00:01:13,150 was the lounge, and we didn't have the 26 00:01:13,150 --> 00:01:15,130 wall covering on it yet. 27 00:01:15,250 --> 00:01:16,910 We had insulation on the wall. 28 00:01:17,930 --> 00:01:19,870 But you know, we had the presence of 29 00:01:19,870 --> 00:01:20,270 the Lord. 30 00:01:20,870 --> 00:01:23,370 And I recall it was a time of 31 00:01:23,370 --> 00:01:25,390 great spiritual blessing to me. 32 00:01:26,710 --> 00:01:29,290 Pastor Hagley took me downstairs to show me 33 00:01:29,290 --> 00:01:31,150 a room downstairs. 34 00:01:31,270 --> 00:01:31,930 He opened it. 35 00:01:32,110 --> 00:01:34,750 It was what I'd call a large-sized 36 00:01:34,750 --> 00:01:35,290 closet. 37 00:01:36,430 --> 00:01:39,110 And with something of a little apology, he 38 00:01:39,110 --> 00:01:41,650 said, Now this is our printing department. 39 00:01:42,670 --> 00:01:45,470 And there was a used multilith down there. 40 00:01:46,490 --> 00:01:48,670 And I don't know whether it was a 41 00:01:48,670 --> 00:01:54,270 vision or a dream or just boldness, but 42 00:01:54,270 --> 00:01:58,090 I said, Someday you're going to have five 43 00:01:58,090 --> 00:02:01,510 acres under roof, and will be one of 44 00:02:01,510 --> 00:02:04,050 the nation's largest printers of Christian literature. 45 00:02:04,510 --> 00:02:07,070 And I was looking at a used multilith 46 00:02:07,070 --> 00:02:10,250 in the basement when I said it. 47 00:02:10,250 --> 00:02:13,330 How I do thank God for Bethany Fellowship, 48 00:02:13,430 --> 00:02:15,770 for the blessing that it's been to me 49 00:02:15,770 --> 00:02:18,830 and to my family, and to the privilege 50 00:02:18,830 --> 00:02:21,850 of sharing with you in these days together. 51 00:02:23,030 --> 00:02:24,270 Let's bow in prayer. 52 00:02:24,890 --> 00:02:26,810 Father, we thank and praise thee that thou 53 00:02:26,810 --> 00:02:29,810 hast given to us this marvelous gift of 54 00:02:29,810 --> 00:02:30,250 life. 55 00:02:30,930 --> 00:02:33,370 We're grateful to have had that gift of 56 00:02:33,370 --> 00:02:37,090 life at any time, but to be alive 57 00:02:37,090 --> 00:02:43,430 now in this last decade or little more 58 00:02:43,430 --> 00:02:47,770 of this century, when we have so many 59 00:02:47,770 --> 00:02:50,850 tools with which to serve thee, so many 60 00:02:50,850 --> 00:02:53,750 privileges that have never been accorded to other 61 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:54,450 generations. 62 00:02:54,930 --> 00:02:58,150 We're asking, Father, that somehow because thou art 63 00:02:58,150 --> 00:03:01,010 here and we are here, that the tremendous 64 00:03:01,010 --> 00:03:04,130 investment that thou hast made in us through 65 00:03:04,130 --> 00:03:06,050 the poured out life of the Lord Jesus 66 00:03:06,050 --> 00:03:10,030 Christ will be brought in the fullest possible 67 00:03:10,030 --> 00:03:10,730 measure. 68 00:03:11,370 --> 00:03:14,630 O might it be, our God, that somehow 69 00:03:14,630 --> 00:03:18,210 because of this conference this summer, that there 70 00:03:18,210 --> 00:03:21,310 are decisions made in hearts and lives that 71 00:03:21,310 --> 00:03:23,590 are going to mean that the lamb that 72 00:03:23,590 --> 00:03:27,050 was slain will receive fuller measure of the 73 00:03:27,050 --> 00:03:29,110 reward of his suffering than the other my 74 00:03:29,110 --> 00:03:30,330 wives might have done. 75 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:33,350 And for this we'll give thee praise in 76 00:03:33,350 --> 00:03:36,110 the worthy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 77 00:03:36,530 --> 00:03:36,750 Amen. 78 00:03:38,610 --> 00:03:42,470 Some years ago in New York, God led 79 00:03:42,470 --> 00:03:45,090 me to bring a series of messages on 80 00:03:45,090 --> 00:03:47,750 what I then called sobering salvation. 81 00:03:49,290 --> 00:03:54,250 And I was here for a Victorious Life 82 00:03:54,250 --> 00:03:57,510 conference, and Pastor Hedgrey asked me if I 83 00:03:57,510 --> 00:04:02,610 would give something to the message of the 84 00:04:02,610 --> 00:04:03,070 cross. 85 00:04:03,330 --> 00:04:05,630 And all I could think of was this 86 00:04:05,630 --> 00:04:07,870 message, sobering salvation. 87 00:04:08,490 --> 00:04:11,090 And so the notes were sent, my secretary's 88 00:04:11,090 --> 00:04:14,850 notes and the transcript, and it was published 89 00:04:14,850 --> 00:04:17,450 under that little booklet which for many years 90 00:04:17,450 --> 00:04:19,089 was used. 91 00:04:20,450 --> 00:04:22,890 Recently the Spirit of God has been burdening 92 00:04:22,890 --> 00:04:25,630 me again, because I have found that so 93 00:04:25,630 --> 00:04:30,690 generally throughout the body of Christ, salvation is 94 00:04:30,690 --> 00:04:37,330 being reduced down to forgiveness for sin, for 95 00:04:37,330 --> 00:04:37,930 the new birth. 96 00:04:38,770 --> 00:04:42,170 And in so doing, if that is what 97 00:04:42,170 --> 00:04:45,910 we do with this marvelous provision of God's 98 00:04:45,910 --> 00:04:51,110 love in Christ, we rob ourselves of everything 99 00:04:51,110 --> 00:04:54,130 else that God intended to be ours, and 100 00:04:54,130 --> 00:04:58,670 we rob him of all that he intended 101 00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:01,630 to accomplish for us by his death. 102 00:05:02,070 --> 00:05:04,670 In fact, we could be accused of treading 103 00:05:04,670 --> 00:05:06,930 under the feet of our ignorance or our 104 00:05:06,930 --> 00:05:10,530 indifference, that which he purchased with his blood. 105 00:05:11,070 --> 00:05:12,750 And so I bring you back to Hebrews 106 00:05:12,750 --> 00:05:16,190 the second chapter and the third verse, but 107 00:05:16,190 --> 00:05:19,010 to get the significance of the third verse, 108 00:05:20,110 --> 00:05:23,090 I read verses one and two and ask 109 00:05:23,090 --> 00:05:24,990 you to read on your own the first 110 00:05:24,990 --> 00:05:25,490 chapter. 111 00:05:26,890 --> 00:05:28,970 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest 112 00:05:28,970 --> 00:05:31,770 heed to the things which we have heard, 113 00:05:32,150 --> 00:05:34,050 lest at any time we should let them 114 00:05:34,050 --> 00:05:34,470 slip. 115 00:05:35,190 --> 00:05:37,810 For if the word spoken by angels was 116 00:05:37,810 --> 00:05:43,650 steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a 117 00:05:43,650 --> 00:05:48,170 just recompense of reward, how shall we escape 118 00:05:48,170 --> 00:05:53,510 if we neglect so great salvation, which at 119 00:05:53,510 --> 00:05:55,630 the first began to be spoken by the 120 00:05:55,630 --> 00:06:00,050 Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them 121 00:06:00,050 --> 00:06:01,810 that heard him? 122 00:06:02,910 --> 00:06:05,150 So great salvation. 123 00:06:05,930 --> 00:06:08,830 In the middle of the 19th century, a 124 00:06:08,830 --> 00:06:11,410 conflict arose in Europe. 125 00:06:12,670 --> 00:06:15,070 Professors in some of the seminaries that had 126 00:06:15,070 --> 00:06:18,330 been influenced by Charles Darwin and by Nietzsche 127 00:06:18,330 --> 00:06:22,050 and others began to apply these principles of 128 00:06:22,050 --> 00:06:23,910 skepticism to the word of God. 129 00:06:24,550 --> 00:06:28,390 They questioned the process of, or the fact 130 00:06:28,390 --> 00:06:31,810 of, inspiration, and sought to apply an evolutionary 131 00:06:31,810 --> 00:06:35,090 process by which we'd receive the scripture. 132 00:06:36,010 --> 00:06:38,910 They questioned the virgin birth of Christ. 133 00:06:39,070 --> 00:06:40,170 It wasn't scientific. 134 00:06:40,750 --> 00:06:43,770 His sinless life, his atoning death, his bodily 135 00:06:43,770 --> 00:06:45,790 resurrection, his ascension. 136 00:06:46,230 --> 00:06:47,510 We called them modernists. 137 00:06:47,590 --> 00:06:48,910 We called them liberals. 138 00:06:49,690 --> 00:06:51,170 We called them skeptics. 139 00:06:52,190 --> 00:06:54,830 It was at that time that many of 140 00:06:54,830 --> 00:06:56,890 our men who were going to be professors 141 00:06:56,890 --> 00:06:59,230 in our American seminaries had to go to 142 00:06:59,230 --> 00:07:01,270 Europe in order to be Finnish. 143 00:07:01,630 --> 00:07:03,190 And some of them that did go were 144 00:07:03,190 --> 00:07:04,130 certainly Finnish. 145 00:07:04,630 --> 00:07:07,830 And they came back and corrupted the American 146 00:07:07,830 --> 00:07:08,790 seminarians. 147 00:07:10,070 --> 00:07:13,610 There was conflict, recognized as being an open 148 00:07:13,610 --> 00:07:15,630 warfare against the truth of God. 149 00:07:17,490 --> 00:07:20,190 One of the parishioners came to Charles Haddon 150 00:07:20,190 --> 00:07:23,430 Spurgeon and said, Pastor Spurgeon, you've got to 151 00:07:23,430 --> 00:07:28,070 do something about this terrible heresy that's being 152 00:07:28,070 --> 00:07:28,450 preached. 153 00:07:28,810 --> 00:07:30,530 You've got to defend the Bible. 154 00:07:30,930 --> 00:07:32,630 You've got to defend the gospel. 155 00:07:34,090 --> 00:07:38,650 And Pastor Spurgeon, with his characteristic insight, said, 156 00:07:39,410 --> 00:07:40,470 Oh no, I don't. 157 00:07:41,470 --> 00:07:43,690 The Bible is a lie and the gospel 158 00:07:43,690 --> 00:07:45,610 is a lie and just turn it loose. 159 00:07:45,870 --> 00:07:47,250 It'll take care of itself. 160 00:07:47,910 --> 00:07:50,510 Well, it didn't quite take care of itself. 161 00:07:50,510 --> 00:07:55,730 Because that penetration of our seminaries continued. 162 00:07:56,950 --> 00:07:59,850 But at the same time, among the people 163 00:07:59,850 --> 00:08:02,270 of God, we discovered that there were certain 164 00:08:02,270 --> 00:08:05,070 truths that we considered essential to the faith. 165 00:08:05,870 --> 00:08:08,550 And so these were called fundamental truths. 166 00:08:09,870 --> 00:08:12,650 The people that accepted this list of truths 167 00:08:12,650 --> 00:08:16,350 had been born of God, genuinely, wonderfully born 168 00:08:16,350 --> 00:08:17,010 of God. 169 00:08:17,890 --> 00:08:20,590 And they also had a list of truths 170 00:08:20,590 --> 00:08:23,270 that they considered essential to the faith. 171 00:08:24,370 --> 00:08:27,530 But it wasn't long until their children came 172 00:08:27,530 --> 00:08:27,970 along. 173 00:08:28,850 --> 00:08:32,590 And the children of these, many of them 174 00:08:32,590 --> 00:08:33,610 were born of God. 175 00:08:33,870 --> 00:08:36,510 But it was beginning to be thought of 176 00:08:36,510 --> 00:08:40,450 that if you believed in the fundamentals, you 177 00:08:40,450 --> 00:08:42,450 could assume that you were saved. 178 00:08:43,310 --> 00:08:46,050 Now, the third generation came on, and that's 179 00:08:46,050 --> 00:08:49,110 always the dangerous generation. 180 00:08:49,790 --> 00:08:52,310 The third generation came along and they said, 181 00:08:52,610 --> 00:08:55,450 If you subscribe to this list of truths, 182 00:08:55,730 --> 00:08:57,810 if you believe them to be true, that 183 00:08:57,810 --> 00:08:58,690 means you're a Christian. 184 00:09:00,150 --> 00:09:02,990 And the fourth generation, and the fifth, then 185 00:09:02,990 --> 00:09:06,530 getting up around where we are, said that 186 00:09:06,530 --> 00:09:08,910 if you'll say uh-huh to five questions, 187 00:09:08,910 --> 00:09:12,050 if you can walk and write, you are 188 00:09:12,050 --> 00:09:14,510 thereby declared saved. 189 00:09:15,290 --> 00:09:17,910 Until finally it got to the place that 190 00:09:17,910 --> 00:09:20,570 R.G. Lee, the pastor of the great 191 00:09:20,570 --> 00:09:25,290 Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, stated to 192 00:09:25,290 --> 00:09:31,070 the South Carolina Southern Baptist Convention in Spartanburg, 193 00:09:32,530 --> 00:09:39,230 South Carolina in 1950, that in his opinion, 194 00:09:39,550 --> 00:09:43,210 based on 40 years close and careful observation, 195 00:09:43,910 --> 00:09:46,230 probably no more than one out of ten 196 00:09:46,230 --> 00:09:49,950 of the Southern Baptists knew anything experientially about 197 00:09:49,950 --> 00:09:50,670 the new birth. 198 00:09:52,230 --> 00:09:54,850 When a few years later there was a 199 00:09:54,850 --> 00:09:57,410 book written that was edited by Andrew or 200 00:09:57,410 --> 00:10:02,930 by Carl F.H. Henry on contemporary evangelicalism, 201 00:10:02,930 --> 00:10:04,870 and there was a chapter in there by 202 00:10:04,870 --> 00:10:09,310 Andrew Blackwood, who declared that in his estimation, 203 00:10:09,530 --> 00:10:13,130 based on his observation, there were probably no 204 00:10:13,130 --> 00:10:14,950 more than one out of ten of the 205 00:10:14,950 --> 00:10:18,510 members of evangelical churches in America who knew 206 00:10:18,510 --> 00:10:20,730 anything experientially about the new birth. 207 00:10:21,490 --> 00:10:24,170 Many times when Dr. A.W. Tozer was 208 00:10:24,170 --> 00:10:26,230 with me at the tabernacle in New York 209 00:10:26,230 --> 00:10:29,010 City, I've heard him say that in his 210 00:10:29,010 --> 00:10:32,930 estimation, he considered that among the evangelical churches, 211 00:10:33,030 --> 00:10:35,970 and he would say, including the society of 212 00:10:35,970 --> 00:10:38,190 which I am a part, probably no more 213 00:10:38,190 --> 00:10:41,450 than one out of ten know anything experientially 214 00:10:41,450 --> 00:10:42,310 about the new birth. 215 00:10:42,910 --> 00:10:45,530 Now, it's not my intention, if you've heard 216 00:10:45,530 --> 00:10:48,170 me say this before or now, to try 217 00:10:48,170 --> 00:10:49,730 to prove them right or to prove them 218 00:10:49,730 --> 00:10:53,590 wrong, but I am saying that we have 219 00:10:53,590 --> 00:10:56,710 been living through decades of what is known 220 00:10:56,710 --> 00:10:58,750 as easy-believism. 221 00:10:59,230 --> 00:11:02,450 And the consequences is that the great many 222 00:11:02,450 --> 00:11:06,290 people in the churches of America, all-line 223 00:11:06,290 --> 00:11:10,050 denominational and evangelical and perhaps others in the 224 00:11:10,050 --> 00:11:13,770 more recent movements, have everything but light. 225 00:11:14,050 --> 00:11:17,490 They've got a beautiful plan, but it's built 226 00:11:17,490 --> 00:11:19,610 upon sand and not upon the rock. 227 00:11:19,610 --> 00:11:22,510 And our concern, therefore, if we're going to 228 00:11:22,510 --> 00:11:26,090 serve the Lord in these days that comprise 229 00:11:26,090 --> 00:11:28,530 the balance of this century and on into 230 00:11:28,530 --> 00:11:31,130 the next, and I'm intending to do it, 231 00:11:31,470 --> 00:11:34,890 recently I heard Willard Scott on the Today 232 00:11:34,890 --> 00:11:38,490 Show say that the fastest growing community in 233 00:11:38,490 --> 00:11:40,790 America are the people over a hundred years 234 00:11:40,790 --> 00:11:41,350 of age. 235 00:11:41,690 --> 00:11:43,610 And so when I heard that, I immediately 236 00:11:43,610 --> 00:11:47,450 put in my application and have asked the 237 00:11:47,450 --> 00:11:49,670 Lord to renew my youth like the eagle. 238 00:11:49,830 --> 00:11:52,250 Somebody looked at the brochure that we have 239 00:11:52,250 --> 00:11:55,330 for Bible teaching ministry and they claim it's 240 00:11:55,330 --> 00:11:57,030 my high school picture, but it wasn't. 241 00:11:57,150 --> 00:11:58,490 Second year in college, actually. 242 00:11:59,050 --> 00:12:01,910 And they said, we know the Lord is 243 00:12:01,910 --> 00:12:03,730 going to renew your youth, but isn't it 244 00:12:03,730 --> 00:12:06,030 a little presumptuous to put that picture in? 245 00:12:06,730 --> 00:12:07,990 Well, what can you do? 246 00:12:08,030 --> 00:12:09,550 I was too tight to get another one 247 00:12:09,550 --> 00:12:09,890 taken. 248 00:12:09,890 --> 00:12:15,690 Anyway, the fact of the matter is, the 249 00:12:15,690 --> 00:12:17,790 fact of the matter is that if we're 250 00:12:17,790 --> 00:12:19,850 going to serve the Lord today and in 251 00:12:19,850 --> 00:12:22,650 the days that lie ahead, we've got to 252 00:12:22,650 --> 00:12:27,190 recognize that the message that we give on 253 00:12:27,190 --> 00:12:30,010 the subject of salvation is not only one 254 00:12:30,010 --> 00:12:33,250 address to the world and those that are 255 00:12:33,250 --> 00:12:37,830 irreligious and not in attendance upon some church, 256 00:12:37,910 --> 00:12:39,950 but we've also got to address it to 257 00:12:39,950 --> 00:12:42,670 those that are members of churches. 258 00:12:42,990 --> 00:12:48,190 Because sometimes the greatest field for evangelism is 259 00:12:48,190 --> 00:12:49,470 in church membership. 260 00:12:49,750 --> 00:12:51,570 In the course of ministry through the years, 261 00:12:52,110 --> 00:12:53,970 I remember once a man who had been 262 00:12:53,970 --> 00:12:56,810 an elder in a reliance church for 11 263 00:12:56,810 --> 00:12:59,090 years was born of God. 264 00:12:59,750 --> 00:13:02,330 In another case, a woman who'd been the 265 00:13:02,330 --> 00:13:06,790 chairman of the Women's Mission Society of the 266 00:13:06,790 --> 00:13:09,570 Southern Baptist Convention was born of God. 267 00:13:10,370 --> 00:13:13,810 And a graduate student from the Kekoa Falls 268 00:13:13,810 --> 00:13:17,950 Bible Institute who had finished school and was 269 00:13:17,950 --> 00:13:21,370 in his ministry, the music ministry, was born 270 00:13:21,370 --> 00:13:21,910 of God. 271 00:13:22,830 --> 00:13:27,410 And so I'm realizing that many times you're 272 00:13:27,410 --> 00:13:28,850 going to be dealing with people and you 273 00:13:28,850 --> 00:13:32,350 need to know what God does in this 274 00:13:32,350 --> 00:13:34,810 matter of bringing people out of death into 275 00:13:34,810 --> 00:13:35,250 life. 276 00:13:35,590 --> 00:13:37,370 And so we're going to be talking to 277 00:13:37,370 --> 00:13:43,130 you about various phases of people being brought 278 00:13:43,130 --> 00:13:44,630 from death to life. 279 00:13:44,710 --> 00:13:47,370 But we're going to go on because everything 280 00:13:47,370 --> 00:13:50,410 in the Christian life that begins as a 281 00:13:50,410 --> 00:13:55,190 crisis is preceded by a process, is followed 282 00:13:55,190 --> 00:13:57,830 by a process, and in the Christian life, 283 00:13:58,250 --> 00:14:01,230 that process issues into the crisis of the 284 00:14:01,230 --> 00:14:04,370 new birth, followed by a process that issues 285 00:14:04,370 --> 00:14:06,850 into the crisis of the baptism of the 286 00:14:06,850 --> 00:14:09,470 Holy Spirit, and it's followed by a process 287 00:14:09,470 --> 00:14:11,430 of living and walking in the Spirit. 288 00:14:12,070 --> 00:14:14,910 And we need to understand that all of 289 00:14:14,910 --> 00:14:16,410 this is salvation. 290 00:14:17,590 --> 00:14:19,530 Salvation is a great word. 291 00:14:19,690 --> 00:14:22,950 In the Scripture, we have salvation used in 292 00:14:22,950 --> 00:14:23,790 this context. 293 00:14:23,790 --> 00:14:25,810 I have been saved. 294 00:14:26,450 --> 00:14:28,170 I was saved. 295 00:14:28,610 --> 00:14:30,150 I am being saved. 296 00:14:30,610 --> 00:14:31,970 I shall be saved. 297 00:14:33,110 --> 00:14:37,310 It reaches throughout into eternity fast, anchored there 298 00:14:37,310 --> 00:14:40,490 in the loving purpose of God, swoops down 299 00:14:40,490 --> 00:14:43,210 through time into eternity to come, and it's 300 00:14:43,210 --> 00:14:44,330 all called salvation. 301 00:14:44,650 --> 00:14:46,810 It was all purchased and procured for us 302 00:14:46,810 --> 00:14:49,430 by the cross work of Christ. 303 00:14:49,430 --> 00:14:54,130 You see, God purposed that the sacrifice of 304 00:14:54,130 --> 00:14:57,990 the Lord Jesus Christ should procure for us 305 00:14:57,990 --> 00:15:04,370 everything we need to be everything that he 306 00:15:04,370 --> 00:15:06,130 purposed for us to be. 307 00:15:07,490 --> 00:15:08,650 And we call it salvation. 308 00:15:08,970 --> 00:15:11,530 He said, so great salvation. 309 00:15:12,590 --> 00:15:15,510 Do you want to put the amplifiers on? 310 00:15:15,510 --> 00:15:17,690 Do you want so and great to bring 311 00:15:17,690 --> 00:15:18,530 it into meaning? 312 00:15:18,890 --> 00:15:20,970 With what I'm saying, that's all right with 313 00:15:20,970 --> 00:15:21,230 me. 314 00:15:21,550 --> 00:15:23,590 I call it so great salvation too. 315 00:15:24,670 --> 00:15:29,130 It begins with God's great loving purpose to 316 00:15:29,130 --> 00:15:31,150 bring people out of death into life. 317 00:15:31,510 --> 00:15:33,150 Now, I have found that there are three 318 00:15:33,150 --> 00:15:37,870 things that God does when he wants to 319 00:15:37,870 --> 00:15:40,810 bring someone out of death into life. 320 00:15:40,810 --> 00:15:43,630 The first thing he does is to bring 321 00:15:43,630 --> 00:15:46,950 somebody up next to that person dead in 322 00:15:46,950 --> 00:15:50,530 their trespasses and sin to be a sample 323 00:15:50,530 --> 00:15:52,130 of his grace. 324 00:15:52,790 --> 00:15:55,350 Did you know that to someone, you're the 325 00:15:55,350 --> 00:15:58,730 very best Christian that they know? 326 00:15:59,510 --> 00:16:01,030 And if they ever come to Christ, it's 327 00:16:01,030 --> 00:16:02,170 going to be because of you. 328 00:16:03,030 --> 00:16:06,030 To someone, you're a sample of God's grace. 329 00:16:07,470 --> 00:16:08,890 And that's what he does. 330 00:16:08,890 --> 00:16:11,370 He puts someone up next to them as 331 00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:12,790 a sample of what he can do. 332 00:16:13,570 --> 00:16:15,550 The second thing he does is to get 333 00:16:15,550 --> 00:16:18,950 that person or someone to intercede for them. 334 00:16:19,390 --> 00:16:20,950 We'll talk more about that later. 335 00:16:21,410 --> 00:16:26,130 But to understand that intercession is necessary if 336 00:16:26,130 --> 00:16:27,890 God's going to start working in a sinner's 337 00:16:27,890 --> 00:16:28,190 heart. 338 00:16:28,590 --> 00:16:30,170 You see, God gave sinners the right to 339 00:16:30,170 --> 00:16:30,750 go to hell. 340 00:16:31,910 --> 00:16:34,590 He said in the Old Testament, As I 341 00:16:34,590 --> 00:16:36,490 live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure 342 00:16:36,490 --> 00:16:38,370 in the death of the wicked, but that 343 00:16:38,370 --> 00:16:40,310 the wicked turn and live. 344 00:16:40,790 --> 00:16:43,370 Turn ye, turn ye, for why will you 345 00:16:43,370 --> 00:16:43,970 die? 346 00:16:44,650 --> 00:16:47,170 But he gives them the right to die. 347 00:16:47,890 --> 00:16:49,650 He gives them the right to go to 348 00:16:49,650 --> 00:16:49,930 hell. 349 00:16:50,350 --> 00:16:52,650 And they've made a decision that they're going 350 00:16:52,650 --> 00:16:54,570 to walk according to the course of this 351 00:16:54,570 --> 00:16:56,930 world, according to the prince and the power 352 00:16:56,930 --> 00:16:58,810 of the air, and they're going to serve 353 00:16:58,810 --> 00:17:00,550 him and his government. 354 00:17:00,750 --> 00:17:02,170 The prince and the power of the air 355 00:17:02,170 --> 00:17:04,490 is that they can be anarchists and they 356 00:17:04,490 --> 00:17:05,950 can do what they want to do. 357 00:17:06,589 --> 00:17:09,290 And that's the decision sinners have made. 358 00:17:09,750 --> 00:17:11,849 Now, God gives them a right to make 359 00:17:11,849 --> 00:17:14,130 the choice, and he respects the right and 360 00:17:14,130 --> 00:17:17,290 he doesn't interfere until either the sinner asks 361 00:17:17,290 --> 00:17:20,970 him to interfere or the sinner's representative asks 362 00:17:20,970 --> 00:17:21,849 him to interfere. 363 00:17:22,730 --> 00:17:26,050 Now, Revelation 1 and 5 we're told, Unto 364 00:17:26,050 --> 00:17:28,530 him who loved us, washed us in his 365 00:17:28,530 --> 00:17:30,950 blood, and made us to be kings and 366 00:17:30,950 --> 00:17:31,830 priests unto God. 367 00:17:31,990 --> 00:17:34,410 He didn't say, By the way, if you 368 00:17:34,410 --> 00:17:36,570 ever run out of interesting things to do, 369 00:17:36,730 --> 00:17:38,550 would you kind of give a little thought 370 00:17:38,550 --> 00:17:42,430 and attention to the possibility of being a 371 00:17:42,430 --> 00:17:44,410 priest and interceding for a sinner now and 372 00:17:44,410 --> 00:17:44,510 then? 373 00:17:44,570 --> 00:17:46,090 I don't want to burden you, but you... 374 00:17:46,090 --> 00:17:46,970 Oh, none of that. 375 00:17:47,490 --> 00:17:49,750 He's made us to be priests. 376 00:17:51,470 --> 00:17:53,010 He washed you in his blood. 377 00:17:53,110 --> 00:17:54,590 He made you to be a priest. 378 00:17:55,170 --> 00:17:57,830 And the priest has the responsibility to intercede. 379 00:17:58,210 --> 00:18:00,590 And an intercessor goes into the presence of 380 00:18:00,590 --> 00:18:03,870 God in behalf of the sinner, accepts the 381 00:18:03,870 --> 00:18:07,370 condemnation on the sinner, accepts the sinner's guilt, 382 00:18:08,850 --> 00:18:11,830 makes the confession the sinner ought to make, 383 00:18:11,890 --> 00:18:13,930 and then pleads with God to begin to 384 00:18:13,930 --> 00:18:14,870 work in the sinner's heart. 385 00:18:16,310 --> 00:18:20,470 You're the legally appointed, the court-appointed representative 386 00:18:20,470 --> 00:18:22,010 of the sinner. 387 00:18:23,290 --> 00:18:24,710 That's the second thing. 388 00:18:24,910 --> 00:18:28,190 Then he gets somebody to witness to the 389 00:18:28,190 --> 00:18:28,470 sinner. 390 00:18:29,890 --> 00:18:32,310 That's the third thing we can do for 391 00:18:32,310 --> 00:18:32,910 the unsaved. 392 00:18:33,030 --> 00:18:34,890 That's the third thing God does with the 393 00:18:34,890 --> 00:18:36,330 one he wants to see and would love 394 00:18:36,330 --> 00:18:37,930 to see come out of death into life. 395 00:18:38,090 --> 00:18:38,730 Come as a witness. 396 00:18:39,510 --> 00:18:41,790 Now, a witness is a person who tells 397 00:18:41,790 --> 00:18:43,790 what he has seen and heard and experienced 398 00:18:43,790 --> 00:18:45,350 and nothing more. 399 00:18:46,410 --> 00:18:48,250 If you go beyond that, you become a 400 00:18:48,250 --> 00:18:50,330 philosopher or a metaphysician. 401 00:18:50,730 --> 00:18:52,830 And he didn't say, You shall be philosophers 402 00:18:52,830 --> 00:18:55,250 unto me, or you shall be metaphysicians unto 403 00:18:55,250 --> 00:18:55,550 me. 404 00:18:55,610 --> 00:18:57,810 He said, You shall be witnesses unto me. 405 00:18:57,810 --> 00:18:59,970 And a witness can only tell what he 406 00:18:59,970 --> 00:19:01,810 has seen and heard and experienced. 407 00:19:02,410 --> 00:19:04,230 If he goes beyond that, it's hearsay and 408 00:19:04,230 --> 00:19:04,990 it's inadmissible. 409 00:19:05,690 --> 00:19:09,290 Have you ever heard God speak through his 410 00:19:09,290 --> 00:19:12,130 word concerning his holiness and righteousness? 411 00:19:12,410 --> 00:19:13,390 Thou shalt not. 412 00:19:14,510 --> 00:19:17,070 Have you ever seen your own heart? 413 00:19:18,510 --> 00:19:20,770 Seen yourself to be as God declares you 414 00:19:20,770 --> 00:19:22,750 to be, a traitor and a rebel and 415 00:19:22,750 --> 00:19:25,670 an anarchist and a transgressor and an enemy. 416 00:19:25,670 --> 00:19:26,970 Have you ever seen yourself? 417 00:19:28,090 --> 00:19:30,170 Have you ever heard him say, Come unto 418 00:19:30,170 --> 00:19:31,050 me and rest? 419 00:19:31,130 --> 00:19:31,790 Have you come? 420 00:19:32,270 --> 00:19:33,510 Did you find cleansing? 421 00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:34,870 Did you find forgiveness? 422 00:19:35,110 --> 00:19:37,630 Did you experience the new birth? 423 00:19:38,510 --> 00:19:40,550 Have you heard the spirit of God and 424 00:19:40,550 --> 00:19:43,090 the witness of the spirit enabling you to 425 00:19:43,090 --> 00:19:45,050 call almighty God Abba Father? 426 00:19:45,470 --> 00:19:46,050 You're a witness. 427 00:19:46,370 --> 00:19:48,290 Tell him what you've seen and heard and 428 00:19:48,290 --> 00:19:49,850 experienced and that's all. 429 00:19:50,970 --> 00:19:52,510 You don't know the answers to all the 430 00:19:52,510 --> 00:19:52,870 questions. 431 00:19:52,870 --> 00:19:55,050 You don't need to know the answers to 432 00:19:55,050 --> 00:19:55,810 all the questions. 433 00:19:57,350 --> 00:19:59,190 All you need to do is to tell 434 00:19:59,190 --> 00:20:00,970 him, Did you know that you're the world's 435 00:20:00,970 --> 00:20:02,330 greatest expert on you? 436 00:20:03,390 --> 00:20:05,530 There isn't anybody in the world that knows 437 00:20:05,530 --> 00:20:06,850 more about you than you. 438 00:20:07,450 --> 00:20:09,370 And there isn't anybody in the world that 439 00:20:09,370 --> 00:20:11,370 can contradict you. 440 00:20:12,670 --> 00:20:15,470 And if you've had an experience, if you've 441 00:20:15,470 --> 00:20:18,810 really experienced something, you're an authority on you. 442 00:20:19,470 --> 00:20:21,870 And you can speak it to anybody in 443 00:20:21,870 --> 00:20:22,310 the world. 444 00:20:22,310 --> 00:20:23,730 This is what I saw. 445 00:20:24,030 --> 00:20:25,390 This is what I heard. 446 00:20:25,870 --> 00:20:27,670 This is what I experienced. 447 00:20:28,790 --> 00:20:29,390 That's witness. 448 00:20:30,570 --> 00:20:33,470 But when you've done that, you've done all 449 00:20:33,470 --> 00:20:34,150 you can do. 450 00:20:34,830 --> 00:20:35,830 You can't do anymore. 451 00:20:36,450 --> 00:20:37,530 That's all you can do. 452 00:20:38,070 --> 00:20:39,410 Live Christ the foresinner. 453 00:20:39,870 --> 00:20:41,210 Intercede for sinners. 454 00:20:41,750 --> 00:20:42,710 A witness to. 455 00:20:43,430 --> 00:20:46,070 From that moment on, there's something God must 456 00:20:46,070 --> 00:20:46,430 do. 457 00:20:47,230 --> 00:20:50,410 And that is to awaken the sinner. 458 00:20:51,250 --> 00:20:53,670 The sinner tells us a little bit about, 459 00:20:54,310 --> 00:20:56,810 the scripture tells us a little bit about 460 00:20:56,810 --> 00:20:57,490 the sinner. 461 00:20:58,730 --> 00:21:01,670 We need to know we can learn most 462 00:21:01,670 --> 00:21:03,570 of it by remembering our own attitude. 463 00:21:04,630 --> 00:21:08,870 I've already mentioned to you the five things 464 00:21:08,870 --> 00:21:13,030 that we were, traitors and rebels and anarchists 465 00:21:13,030 --> 00:21:16,210 and transgressors and enemies. 466 00:21:16,970 --> 00:21:20,030 But the sinner, the scripture also tells us, 467 00:21:20,310 --> 00:21:24,570 that the God of this world, has blinded 468 00:21:24,570 --> 00:21:27,770 the minds of them which believe not. 469 00:21:28,950 --> 00:21:31,750 Lest the light of the glorious gospel of 470 00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:34,750 Christ, should shine unto them. 471 00:21:35,530 --> 00:21:37,430 Have you ever seen people that try to 472 00:21:37,430 --> 00:21:38,610 take a nap in the middle of the 473 00:21:38,610 --> 00:21:40,150 day, when they can't get the room dark, 474 00:21:40,230 --> 00:21:43,130 and they just put a blindfold on. 475 00:21:43,130 --> 00:21:46,030 Well that's what the God of this world 476 00:21:46,030 --> 00:21:49,730 seems to have done to the lost, and 477 00:21:49,730 --> 00:21:51,590 has blinded their mind. 478 00:21:51,770 --> 00:21:55,790 And it's been done deliberately, has been done 479 00:21:55,790 --> 00:21:57,190 very very effectively. 480 00:21:58,590 --> 00:22:01,570 And so we could say well, and be 481 00:22:01,570 --> 00:22:04,470 exact that the sinner is asleep. 482 00:22:05,190 --> 00:22:09,110 Again in Ephesians the second chapter, he says, 483 00:22:09,210 --> 00:22:12,330 and you who were dead in trespasses and 484 00:22:12,330 --> 00:22:14,950 sin, dead in sin. 485 00:22:15,670 --> 00:22:18,470 So it's not only a sleep, but it's 486 00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:22,890 dead in the sense that, no interest in 487 00:22:22,890 --> 00:22:25,690 the things of God, no sensitivity to the 488 00:22:25,690 --> 00:22:27,170 work and word of God. 489 00:22:28,310 --> 00:22:32,030 And they have to therefore be awakened. 490 00:22:33,030 --> 00:22:38,110 In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and 34 we 491 00:22:38,110 --> 00:22:40,770 are told, Awake to righteousness. 492 00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:46,530 And in Ephesians 5, 14, Awake thou that 493 00:22:46,530 --> 00:22:47,210 sleepest. 494 00:22:48,190 --> 00:22:50,370 I said you have to be witnesses. 495 00:22:51,950 --> 00:22:54,890 You know I talked with a surgeon this 496 00:22:54,890 --> 00:22:59,490 past weekend, and he was telling me that 497 00:22:59,490 --> 00:23:02,810 the most important person, other than the surgeon 498 00:23:02,810 --> 00:23:06,950 in the operating room, is the surgical nurse. 499 00:23:07,670 --> 00:23:10,090 The function of the surgical nurse is to 500 00:23:10,090 --> 00:23:14,110 know, not in the manner of doing everything, 501 00:23:14,410 --> 00:23:17,310 but know what is to be done, and 502 00:23:17,310 --> 00:23:21,250 what instrument is to be used for what 503 00:23:21,250 --> 00:23:22,290 needs to be done. 504 00:23:23,010 --> 00:23:25,430 The surgical nurse must be, so I'm told, 505 00:23:25,530 --> 00:23:26,610 I know nothing about it. 506 00:23:27,070 --> 00:23:29,250 Every time I've had anything done, they let 507 00:23:29,250 --> 00:23:31,050 me take a nap while they did it, 508 00:23:31,050 --> 00:23:34,890 so I haven't really any first-hand experience. 509 00:23:35,050 --> 00:23:36,710 But I've talked with nurses and I've talked 510 00:23:36,710 --> 00:23:39,330 with doctors, and they said that the surgical 511 00:23:39,330 --> 00:23:43,990 nurse has to know each instrument, and when 512 00:23:43,990 --> 00:23:46,050 it's needed, and how to pick it up 513 00:23:46,050 --> 00:23:48,030 and put it firmly in the hands of 514 00:23:48,030 --> 00:23:51,110 the surgeon, so that there's no fumbling or 515 00:23:51,110 --> 00:23:52,290 dropping of it. 516 00:23:53,530 --> 00:23:57,290 In a sense, you are a surgical nurse 517 00:23:57,290 --> 00:23:58,730 to God the Holy Spirit. 518 00:23:59,770 --> 00:24:04,010 The witness has to be effective. 519 00:24:04,750 --> 00:24:07,770 Now, if you find a sinner that is 520 00:24:07,770 --> 00:24:12,870 unawakened, do you know what of the scalpels 521 00:24:12,870 --> 00:24:19,630 of truth are needed in order to be 522 00:24:19,630 --> 00:24:21,610 effective in awakening that sinner? 523 00:24:21,970 --> 00:24:24,130 There's a class of scriptures that the Holy 524 00:24:24,130 --> 00:24:24,910 Ghost uses. 525 00:24:25,850 --> 00:24:27,790 I'll give you a few, but only as 526 00:24:27,790 --> 00:24:28,190 type. 527 00:24:28,330 --> 00:24:31,490 It's your responsibility to find others, and when 528 00:24:31,490 --> 00:24:33,830 you do, to memorize them, keep them handy, 529 00:24:34,170 --> 00:24:35,890 so that you can use them, because you're 530 00:24:35,890 --> 00:24:37,650 going to run into unawakened sinners. 531 00:24:38,870 --> 00:24:41,110 And you ought to know how to use 532 00:24:41,110 --> 00:24:43,190 the word, and what word to use. 533 00:24:44,150 --> 00:24:45,710 I'll tell you one you don't want to 534 00:24:45,710 --> 00:24:51,030 use, and that's John 3.16. Well, why? 535 00:24:51,990 --> 00:24:55,290 Because, you see, if you tell a sinner 536 00:24:55,290 --> 00:24:59,530 how to be saved, before they need to 537 00:24:59,530 --> 00:25:02,230 be saved, or know they need to be 538 00:25:02,230 --> 00:25:05,290 saved, what you have done is gospel-hardened 539 00:25:05,290 --> 00:25:05,550 them. 540 00:25:06,390 --> 00:25:09,050 I don't know what it was that Paul 541 00:25:09,050 --> 00:25:12,890 and Silas said in that Philippian jail, during 542 00:25:12,890 --> 00:25:14,770 those hours that they were there. 543 00:25:15,390 --> 00:25:17,590 There's no record of it given, and I've 544 00:25:17,590 --> 00:25:20,250 never had anyone explain it to me. 545 00:25:20,250 --> 00:25:23,390 I do know what they didn't say. 546 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,740 They did not tell the people in that 547 00:25:29,740 --> 00:25:31,300 prison how to be saved. 548 00:25:32,940 --> 00:25:36,400 They waited until at least one of that 549 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,180 number that was there when the angel opened 550 00:25:39,180 --> 00:25:42,740 the prison doors and locked all the shackles 551 00:25:42,740 --> 00:25:45,280 that held them, and then bound the people 552 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:46,900 so they wouldn't bolt and run. 553 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:55,540 Paul and Silas waited until the Philippian jailer 554 00:25:55,540 --> 00:25:57,120 gave the invitation. 555 00:25:58,700 --> 00:26:02,200 He was awakened, and he had some other 556 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,140 things, and then when he said, What must 557 00:26:06,140 --> 00:26:07,340 I do to be saved? 558 00:26:09,140 --> 00:26:11,780 Paul told him, Now, if I had my 559 00:26:11,780 --> 00:26:14,640 way, then probably it's a good thing I 560 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:15,060 don't. 561 00:26:16,220 --> 00:26:18,960 But if I did have my way, I 562 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:24,000 would declare a moratorium on the public preaching 563 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,620 of the plan of salvation in America for 564 00:26:27,620 --> 00:26:30,180 at least 12 months and probably 24 months, 565 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,360 and would call on everyone that has use 566 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:38,180 of the airwaves and pulpits to preach the 567 00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:41,920 holiness of God and the righteousness of God 568 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,280 and the law of God until such a 569 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,460 time as sinners began to cry out, What 570 00:26:49,460 --> 00:26:51,120 must we do to be saved? 571 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:52,640 And then I'd take them off in a 572 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,220 corner where no one is here and whisper 573 00:26:54,220 --> 00:26:55,340 the gospel to them. 574 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,380 Because what we have done is to gospel 575 00:26:59,380 --> 00:27:03,480 -harden a generation of sinners by telling them 576 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,060 how before they have any understanding why they 577 00:27:07,060 --> 00:27:07,900 need to be saved. 578 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,220 Well, do you have a class of scriptures 579 00:27:12,220 --> 00:27:15,420 that you can give when you meet someone 580 00:27:15,420 --> 00:27:16,440 that's unawakened? 581 00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:21,240 Perhaps you'd like to just turn to Psalm 582 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:22,960 73 and 18. 583 00:27:23,340 --> 00:27:26,120 It's worth turning to and it's worth underlining 584 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,200 and certainly worth memorizing. 585 00:27:29,540 --> 00:27:31,360 Psalm 73, 18. 586 00:27:31,580 --> 00:27:32,840 I'd like to have you see it. 587 00:27:35,410 --> 00:27:36,390 I hope you believe it. 588 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,120 He's talking about the wicked. 589 00:27:41,820 --> 00:27:47,120 Surely thou did set them in slippery places. 590 00:27:48,460 --> 00:27:52,820 Thou castest them down into destruction. 591 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:58,200 Do you think the sinners actually believe that 592 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,100 they're standing in slippery places? 593 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,180 But you know, if you could use that 594 00:28:04,180 --> 00:28:08,860 verse with someone that's unawakened and you could 595 00:28:08,860 --> 00:28:10,960 say, well, I know you said that you're 596 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,760 going to do something about God when you 597 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:14,440 get old. 598 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,020 But you don't have much confidence about getting 599 00:28:18,020 --> 00:28:18,900 old anymore. 600 00:28:19,540 --> 00:28:20,420 You never did. 601 00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:23,540 Look here, did you realize that in Psalm 602 00:28:23,540 --> 00:28:29,220 73 and 18 the psalmist says, God, thou 603 00:28:29,220 --> 00:28:33,220 did set them, sinners, in slippery places. 604 00:28:34,460 --> 00:28:37,800 You're standing on a side hill with clay 605 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:38,920 mud that's wet. 606 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,380 You think you're walking on a flat sidewalk, 607 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,700 but that's not what the scripture says. 608 00:28:45,260 --> 00:28:47,620 You're standing in slippery places. 609 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:50,920 Now don't you think it would be useful 610 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,480 to know that verse and have it on 611 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,380 your tray of scalpels to use with someone 612 00:28:58,380 --> 00:29:01,640 that's unawakened, doesn't know their needs. 613 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,280 And then if you turn to Jeremiah, the 614 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:09,760 23rd chapter and the 12th verse, this is 615 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:11,660 the prophet gives us something else about the 616 00:29:11,660 --> 00:29:12,380 same subject. 617 00:29:12,580 --> 00:29:13,820 I'd like to have you see that. 618 00:29:16,570 --> 00:29:18,330 Jeremiah 23, 12. 619 00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:24,180 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as 620 00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:27,100 slippery ways in the darkness. 621 00:29:29,850 --> 00:29:31,150 God has added to it. 622 00:29:31,230 --> 00:29:34,350 Not only standing in slippery places, but slippery 623 00:29:34,350 --> 00:29:35,970 ways in the darkness. 624 00:29:38,570 --> 00:29:41,270 They shall be driven on and fall therein 625 00:29:41,270 --> 00:29:43,650 for I will bring evil upon them even 626 00:29:43,650 --> 00:29:46,230 the year of their visitation says the law. 627 00:29:48,380 --> 00:29:50,400 Now that's the scripture verse that could have 628 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:56,160 the effect of causing someone complacent in their 629 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,240 sin and unawakened to have a little bit 630 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,840 of thought, take a little bit of care. 631 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,580 How about turning to Isaiah chapter 30? 632 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,280 Isaiah, back to Isaiah chapter 30. 633 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,780 And let the spirit of God speak through 634 00:30:12,780 --> 00:30:13,860 this to your heart. 635 00:30:14,580 --> 00:30:17,280 Verses 12 and 13. 636 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,100 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, 637 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:28,060 because you despise this word and trust in 638 00:30:28,060 --> 00:30:33,080 oppression and perverseness and stay thereon, therefore shall 639 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,340 this iniquity shall be to you as a 640 00:30:35,340 --> 00:30:39,200 breach ready to fall, swelling out in a 641 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,100 high wall which breaketh, coming suddenly at an 642 00:30:43,100 --> 00:30:43,520 instant. 643 00:30:45,820 --> 00:30:48,280 You see, if we can't get the saints 644 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,400 to be concerned about the lostness of the 645 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,760 lost, it's going to be just a little 646 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,980 bit hard to get the lost concerned about 647 00:30:56,980 --> 00:30:57,940 their own state. 648 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,200 And so I'm suggesting that you ought to 649 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:06,080 take these as very personally, as being describing 650 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,960 your friends, your loved ones, your neighbors, people 651 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:11,680 you know that you ought to be concerned 652 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:12,020 about. 653 00:31:13,260 --> 00:31:15,180 And this is their case. 654 00:31:16,620 --> 00:31:20,700 And in Isaiah 47 and verse 11, the 655 00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:22,640 spirit of God has something more to say 656 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:23,320 about it. 657 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:24,980 And I'd like to have you see that. 658 00:31:25,220 --> 00:31:27,260 I think you ought to memorize these scriptures. 659 00:31:27,460 --> 00:31:29,180 You ought to have them before you, at 660 00:31:29,180 --> 00:31:31,100 least where you can turn to them quickly. 661 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:34,280 Isaiah 47, 11. 662 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:39,460 Therefore shall evil come upon thee, thou shalt 663 00:31:39,460 --> 00:31:42,560 not know from whence it arises, and mischief 664 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:43,960 shall fall upon thee. 665 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:46,260 Thou shalt not be able to put it 666 00:31:46,260 --> 00:31:49,200 off, and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, 667 00:31:49,860 --> 00:31:51,180 which thou shalt not know. 668 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,660 Oh, you say these are all Old Testament 669 00:31:54,660 --> 00:31:55,280 scriptures. 670 00:31:56,580 --> 00:31:58,000 Yeah, you're right, they are. 671 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,260 I'll go to 1 Thessalonians 5, 3. 672 00:32:03,140 --> 00:32:05,020 That might give us a little bit of 673 00:32:05,020 --> 00:32:07,160 insight into what the New Testament had to 674 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:07,420 say. 675 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,820 1 Thessalonians 5, 3. 676 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,280 For when they shall say peace and safety, 677 00:32:20,700 --> 00:32:25,100 then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as prevail 678 00:32:25,100 --> 00:32:29,680 upon a woman, a child, and they shall 679 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:30,300 not escape. 680 00:32:32,460 --> 00:32:35,540 Somehow I think we've been brainwashed in the 681 00:32:35,540 --> 00:32:40,320 last few decades into believing that God's righteousness 682 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,960 and God's justice and God's holiness is a 683 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,380 blotch on the divine, a sketch in the 684 00:32:46,380 --> 00:32:48,180 blemish of the divine character. 685 00:32:49,380 --> 00:32:51,040 I don't believe that. 686 00:32:51,140 --> 00:32:53,120 I believe that the God of the Bible 687 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:54,620 is perfectly God. 688 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,480 He's the God of love as well as 689 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:57,060 righteousness. 690 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:03,800 And when it is declared that he is 691 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,760 angry with the wicked every day, if he 692 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,000 turn not he will wet his sword, he 693 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:10,480 will destroy them. 694 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,420 There is no conflict whatever with the fact 695 00:33:15,420 --> 00:33:17,560 that God loved the world and gave his 696 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:17,840 son. 697 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:25,780 You see, sin is not a congenital disease. 698 00:33:27,420 --> 00:33:33,960 Sin is a high treasonous crime against the 699 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:34,620 Godhead. 700 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:38,600 The only one big enough and wise enough 701 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:43,400 and just enough, righteous enough to rule and 702 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,080 govern one made in the image of God 703 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,820 is the God in whose image that one 704 00:33:48,820 --> 00:33:49,280 is made. 705 00:33:49,940 --> 00:33:53,760 And to turn to one's own way and 706 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:55,800 say I'm going to live as a moral 707 00:33:55,800 --> 00:34:00,360 anarchist in a moral universe is treason. 708 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:03,220 And it's not just an act of treason, 709 00:34:03,220 --> 00:34:04,980 it's a lifetime of rebellion. 710 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,880 And not just a lifetime of rebellion, but 711 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,219 it's the policy of anarchy. 712 00:34:12,510 --> 00:34:15,570 Now, these are the scriptures that God said. 713 00:34:15,630 --> 00:34:19,570 But you know, I find singularly little burden 714 00:34:19,570 --> 00:34:23,030 for the lost in the average church where 715 00:34:23,030 --> 00:34:24,510 I'm privileged to go and minister. 716 00:34:25,770 --> 00:34:28,710 I've been there for a whole week in 717 00:34:28,710 --> 00:34:31,429 some of our finalized churches in Bible conference 718 00:34:31,429 --> 00:34:35,230 and evangelistic meetings and no one brought one 719 00:34:35,230 --> 00:34:37,510 sinner in or took me out to meet 720 00:34:37,510 --> 00:34:38,770 one lost person. 721 00:34:39,969 --> 00:34:42,510 And I then checked in and found that 722 00:34:42,510 --> 00:34:46,030 most of them didn't even have a lost 723 00:34:46,030 --> 00:34:47,949 man or woman or boy or girl that 724 00:34:47,949 --> 00:34:49,010 they were praying for. 725 00:34:53,190 --> 00:34:57,010 No burden, no concern for the lost. 726 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:02,360 Come on, brother, God's got to get to 727 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:05,300 us and help us to understand what has 728 00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:05,860 to happen. 729 00:35:06,780 --> 00:35:08,380 What happened to us? 730 00:35:08,860 --> 00:35:09,980 What must happen to others? 731 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,900 So to focus on that, perhaps to bring 732 00:35:13,900 --> 00:35:16,760 it to your heart, turn to Proverbs 29, 733 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:17,920 verse one. 734 00:35:20,750 --> 00:35:26,450 Proverbs chapter 29, verse one. 735 00:35:28,450 --> 00:35:33,490 He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, 736 00:35:34,290 --> 00:35:40,550 shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. 737 00:35:42,130 --> 00:35:43,770 This is the word of God. 738 00:35:44,470 --> 00:35:45,930 This is what God is saying. 739 00:35:46,330 --> 00:35:49,570 These are scriptures that need to be used. 740 00:35:50,730 --> 00:35:53,730 Are the sinners around you, your family, your 741 00:35:53,730 --> 00:35:55,770 friends, the ones you meet and should be 742 00:35:55,770 --> 00:35:59,710 meeting if you're not, are they often reproved? 743 00:36:00,930 --> 00:36:01,570 Yes. 744 00:36:02,530 --> 00:36:03,070 When? 745 00:36:03,070 --> 00:36:05,710 Well, every time they pick up a newspaper 746 00:36:05,710 --> 00:36:08,330 and see an obituary page. 747 00:36:08,870 --> 00:36:10,150 That's a reproof. 748 00:36:10,510 --> 00:36:11,510 Life is short. 749 00:36:12,070 --> 00:36:12,950 Death is certain. 750 00:36:13,990 --> 00:36:14,950 And there's a reproof. 751 00:36:15,010 --> 00:36:17,750 Every time a sinner passes a church with 752 00:36:17,750 --> 00:36:20,170 a steeple and a cross on top, that's 753 00:36:20,170 --> 00:36:21,410 a reproof. 754 00:36:22,470 --> 00:36:25,650 Every time he signs a check and puts 755 00:36:25,650 --> 00:36:28,450 on a date, he's doing it from the 756 00:36:28,450 --> 00:36:31,930 birth of Jesus Christ from which we mark 757 00:36:31,930 --> 00:36:33,390 all our legal documents. 758 00:36:34,330 --> 00:36:35,190 That's a reproof. 759 00:36:36,830 --> 00:36:38,310 Every time of memory. 760 00:36:38,470 --> 00:36:42,010 Every time a gospel song is heard on 761 00:36:42,010 --> 00:36:44,150 the radio or heard through a window. 762 00:36:44,770 --> 00:36:47,690 Every time he flicks the switch on his 763 00:36:47,690 --> 00:36:51,290 television set and sees a gospel program underway 764 00:36:51,290 --> 00:36:54,430 or searches through his radio and hears a 765 00:36:54,430 --> 00:36:55,250 gospel program. 766 00:36:55,310 --> 00:36:56,230 That's a reproof. 767 00:36:57,350 --> 00:37:00,270 It doesn't require an angel to stand there 768 00:37:00,270 --> 00:37:02,250 and warn them to flee from the wrath 769 00:37:02,250 --> 00:37:03,970 to come or a sinner to do it. 770 00:37:04,130 --> 00:37:07,650 All of these things have the effect of 771 00:37:07,650 --> 00:37:08,330 being reproved. 772 00:37:08,410 --> 00:37:10,310 Every highway sign. 773 00:37:10,830 --> 00:37:12,510 Every track that's left. 774 00:37:13,670 --> 00:37:14,910 Anywhere that's seen. 775 00:37:15,010 --> 00:37:16,390 All of these are reproved. 776 00:37:17,190 --> 00:37:22,290 He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck. 777 00:37:22,990 --> 00:37:25,290 You have given, we have given to the 778 00:37:25,290 --> 00:37:27,570 unsaved the idea that they are right. 779 00:37:27,570 --> 00:37:31,770 They've got years and years and years before 780 00:37:31,770 --> 00:37:39,330 them in which they can decide whether or 781 00:37:39,330 --> 00:37:40,770 not they want to come to Christ. 782 00:37:41,070 --> 00:37:42,150 They don't. 783 00:37:42,350 --> 00:37:43,490 They don't have it. 784 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,180 When I was a young man, 21, I 785 00:37:50,180 --> 00:37:51,980 was called to the pastor of the First 786 00:37:51,980 --> 00:37:54,360 Baptist Church of Little Falls, Minnesota. 787 00:37:55,660 --> 00:37:58,960 I was there and ministered part of the 788 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:05,860 vow of 1941 and 42 and mostly 43. 789 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:10,600 And I was followed by the Reverend Victor 790 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:11,060 Ernest. 791 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,940 His wife was Alice, had been Alice Schmoltz 792 00:38:15,940 --> 00:38:16,540 from Anoka. 793 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,640 We didn't have buses when I was there. 794 00:38:19,740 --> 00:38:22,420 We had to board in town. 795 00:38:22,620 --> 00:38:25,040 And I stayed in the home of Schmoltz 796 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,400 and Alice, older daughter, graduate from Bethel College, 797 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:30,380 was home working. 798 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,400 And she was engaged at that time to 799 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:33,620 Victor. 800 00:38:33,740 --> 00:38:35,420 And they were married and went into ministry 801 00:38:35,420 --> 00:38:37,500 and then they came to Little Falls. 802 00:38:38,580 --> 00:38:42,480 And one occasion I heard Victor tell of 803 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:42,980 his experience. 804 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:47,560 He'd grown up in Bemidji, Minnesota and was 805 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:53,580 a rebellious young man living for himself, enjoying 806 00:38:53,580 --> 00:38:57,500 all the things that his crowd did, doing 807 00:38:57,500 --> 00:39:02,500 them with gusto and had a job, had 808 00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:04,420 sense enough when he got paid on Friday 809 00:39:04,420 --> 00:39:06,140 night to bring his money home and give 810 00:39:06,140 --> 00:39:07,880 it to his mother and take out a 811 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:11,840 little bit for the carousing of the weekend. 812 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:17,500 This particular time, Friday night, he'd gone through 813 00:39:17,500 --> 00:39:19,320 it all and he needed more. 814 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:23,240 But his mother had gone to evangelistic meeting 815 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:24,360 in the local church. 816 00:39:26,220 --> 00:39:28,220 And so Victor realized the only way he 817 00:39:28,220 --> 00:39:29,900 could get money or the fastest way or 818 00:39:29,900 --> 00:39:32,580 the best way was to go to the 819 00:39:32,580 --> 00:39:34,440 church and be there when his mother came 820 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:34,800 out. 821 00:39:34,980 --> 00:39:36,280 Then he could get some money because he 822 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:37,620 knew she carried it in her purse. 823 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,300 Well, he was there sitting on the running 824 00:39:41,300 --> 00:39:42,880 board of his car in the yard of 825 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:43,360 the church. 826 00:39:43,460 --> 00:39:45,420 The church door was open, it was warm. 827 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,260 And the preacher said, for some reason, I 828 00:39:50,260 --> 00:39:53,580 don't know why, I feel prompted of the 829 00:39:53,580 --> 00:39:58,040 Lord to stop the sermon I'm giving and 830 00:39:58,040 --> 00:39:59,460 to quote a verse of scripture. 831 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:04,520 And he quoted, He that being often reproved 832 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,500 hardness his neck shall suddenly be destroyed. 833 00:40:09,820 --> 00:40:10,920 That was our remedy. 834 00:40:12,820 --> 00:40:14,840 And he, I must give it again. 835 00:40:15,100 --> 00:40:16,320 And he gave it a second time. 836 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,320 He tried to turn to, I must give 837 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:20,500 it a third time. 838 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:22,880 I don't know why. 839 00:40:24,540 --> 00:40:28,720 At the giving of the third time, Victor 840 00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,640 Ernest slid in behind the wheel of the 841 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:34,960 car, started it and drove up to a 842 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,080 lonely place outside the city. 843 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:39,400 And he sat there. 844 00:40:41,570 --> 00:40:46,250 He realized God had spoken to his heart. 845 00:40:49,540 --> 00:40:51,000 And he said, I went over on the 846 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:51,880 other side of the car. 847 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:52,880 I opened the door. 848 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,760 I got down, used the running board as 849 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:56,200 an altar. 850 00:40:57,180 --> 00:40:59,400 And he said, I opened my heart to 851 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:00,260 Jesus Christ. 852 00:41:03,300 --> 00:41:05,660 And I went back to my mother, but 853 00:41:05,660 --> 00:41:08,240 not to take more money for booze, but 854 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,400 to tell her that I'd been born into 855 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:11,380 the family of God. 856 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:14,460 Spirit of God used the verse. 857 00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:17,420 The sword is spirit. 858 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:23,400 I was reading recently that when Jonathan Edwards 859 00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:33,090 was pastor in Massachusetts, that the town 860 00:41:33,090 --> 00:41:37,530 drunkard came to his study at nine o 861 00:41:37,530 --> 00:41:38,210 'clock in the morning. 862 00:41:39,050 --> 00:41:41,650 He said he'd had a dream, a terrible 863 00:41:41,650 --> 00:41:42,150 dream. 864 00:41:42,890 --> 00:41:45,210 In his dream, he had dreamt that he'd 865 00:41:45,210 --> 00:41:45,990 gone to hell. 866 00:41:46,650 --> 00:41:47,830 And he was in hell. 867 00:41:48,350 --> 00:41:50,410 And he was screaming that he could go 868 00:41:50,410 --> 00:41:52,110 back, that he could go back, let me 869 00:41:52,110 --> 00:41:53,770 go back, let me go back. 870 00:41:55,410 --> 00:41:58,010 And so he was released to go back 871 00:41:58,010 --> 00:42:00,490 out of hell on the condition in the 872 00:42:00,490 --> 00:42:02,510 dream, now mind you, it's a dream, that 873 00:42:02,510 --> 00:42:04,950 he could go back to earth, back again 874 00:42:04,950 --> 00:42:08,190 at the time on the condition that he 875 00:42:08,190 --> 00:42:12,190 would reform and that he would be, trust 876 00:42:12,190 --> 00:42:12,670 in Christ. 877 00:42:13,490 --> 00:42:16,130 So he came to Jonathan Edwards early in 878 00:42:16,130 --> 00:42:16,470 the morning. 879 00:42:16,950 --> 00:42:20,610 And he told this perspiration still bursting on 880 00:42:20,610 --> 00:42:24,250 his brow and the awfulness of that moment. 881 00:42:25,110 --> 00:42:27,250 And he said, I'm going to give up 882 00:42:27,250 --> 00:42:29,670 drinking, I'm going to, tell me what I 883 00:42:29,670 --> 00:42:31,070 need to do about God. 884 00:42:34,430 --> 00:42:38,910 And he made a profession of faith, gave 885 00:42:38,910 --> 00:42:44,380 up drinking, attended church, for about four months. 886 00:42:46,220 --> 00:42:48,200 And then somebody coaxed him to have one 887 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:48,580 drink. 888 00:42:49,620 --> 00:42:52,120 And inside of two more months, he was 889 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:53,620 right back being the town drunkard. 890 00:42:55,700 --> 00:42:59,440 One night he was in an upstairs room 891 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:03,740 and had an outside stairway and in his 892 00:43:03,740 --> 00:43:06,820 drunkenness he opened the door and he stumbled 893 00:43:07,530 --> 00:43:09,820 and he hit the railing and it broke 894 00:43:09,820 --> 00:43:12,720 and he fell from that second floor down 895 00:43:12,720 --> 00:43:16,080 and broke his neck and was dead. 896 00:43:17,660 --> 00:43:21,180 And Jonathan Edwards went to his journal and 897 00:43:21,180 --> 00:43:23,500 found it was one year to the day 898 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:28,120 from the time this man had come saying 899 00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:29,060 he'd had a dream. 900 00:43:32,140 --> 00:43:35,100 He that being often reproved heartless is said, 901 00:43:35,180 --> 00:43:36,580 do you care about the lost? 902 00:43:37,380 --> 00:43:39,000 Somebody cared about you. 903 00:43:39,780 --> 00:43:41,820 Somebody lived Christ before you. 904 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:43,760 Someone interceded for you. 905 00:43:44,420 --> 00:43:46,000 Someone witnessed to you. 906 00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:50,240 Are you equipped with those verses of scripture 907 00:43:50,240 --> 00:43:52,260 that you can use for the unawakened? 908 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,800 To cause them to realize the danger in 909 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:56,480 which they stand? 910 00:43:56,500 --> 00:43:58,440 Oh, don't you believe they stand in danger? 911 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:05,020 We've so twisted the love of God. 912 00:44:06,180 --> 00:44:08,460 We've almost made the God of the Bible 913 00:44:08,460 --> 00:44:11,320 turn into a senile old grandfather that was 914 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:13,880 very angry with his kids, but he puts 915 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:15,820 up with an awful lot of nonsense from 916 00:44:15,820 --> 00:44:17,000 his grandkids. 917 00:44:18,340 --> 00:44:20,620 I'll tell you, the God of the Bible 918 00:44:20,620 --> 00:44:21,480 doesn't change. 919 00:44:22,740 --> 00:44:24,680 And he is now as he's ever been. 920 00:44:26,100 --> 00:44:28,360 And the entreaty I press upon your heart 921 00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:30,460 today, first is the one that Paul made 922 00:44:30,460 --> 00:44:32,900 at the church, to the church of Florence 923 00:44:32,900 --> 00:44:35,420 in his second letter when he said, examine 924 00:44:35,420 --> 00:44:37,760 yourself whether you be in the faith, prove 925 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:38,640 your own self. 926 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:40,820 Oh, you know you're not your own self. 927 00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:43,460 How let Christ be in you except you 928 00:44:43,460 --> 00:44:44,280 be reprobate. 929 00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:46,180 You see, salvation is not a scheme, it's 930 00:44:46,180 --> 00:44:47,640 not a plan, it's not a decision. 931 00:44:48,500 --> 00:44:50,000 Salvation is a person. 932 00:44:51,060 --> 00:44:52,800 He that hath the Son of Life. 933 00:44:54,060 --> 00:44:55,600 And the second thing I want you to 934 00:44:55,600 --> 00:44:58,060 do is to ask God to forgive you 935 00:44:58,060 --> 00:45:00,480 if it's true that you've been unconcerned about 936 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:01,120 the loss. 937 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:03,440 There's no burden for them. 938 00:45:04,780 --> 00:45:08,320 And if you are unequipped with those verses 939 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:12,220 of scriptures that you could use, honed, honed 940 00:45:12,220 --> 00:45:15,900 in prayer, oiled in love, to use as 941 00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:17,880 the sword of the Spirit to the unawakened 942 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:18,220 sinner. 943 00:45:19,580 --> 00:45:21,580 We're going to go on from there in 944 00:45:21,580 --> 00:45:24,400 the next service, but right now let's open 945 00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:26,580 our hearts to the Lord in a little 946 00:45:26,580 --> 00:45:27,380 time of prayer. 947 00:45:30,670 --> 00:45:32,350 And you who know me know that I 948 00:45:32,350 --> 00:45:38,230 do not give extended invitations, but I never 949 00:45:38,230 --> 00:45:41,430 want to close a service without giving those 950 00:45:41,430 --> 00:45:43,570 who've been stirred of God an opportunity to 951 00:45:43,570 --> 00:45:44,150 mind God. 952 00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,860 And if today or prior to today or 953 00:45:49,860 --> 00:45:52,620 for any reason that you and God know, 954 00:45:52,780 --> 00:45:54,400 God has spoken to your heart and you 955 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:56,340 have a need, this altar is open and 956 00:45:56,340 --> 00:45:57,480 we invite you to come. 957 00:45:58,820 --> 00:46:03,000 If you're prepared to confess everything that God 958 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:04,880 has shown you and forsake all that you 959 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:08,780 confess, and believe that everything you confess He 960 00:46:08,780 --> 00:46:12,880 forgives and pardons, then we invite you to 961 00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:13,100 come. 962 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:17,020 So we're going to just continue in prayer 963 00:46:17,020 --> 00:46:18,720 and if you're here and the Spirit of 964 00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:20,380 God has spoken, you might be. 965 00:46:23,070 --> 00:46:27,170 Now our Father, we're asking that our minds 966 00:46:27,170 --> 00:46:29,890 may be open to all that Thou would 967 00:46:29,890 --> 00:46:31,790 say to us in these brief days we 968 00:46:31,790 --> 00:46:32,410 spend together. 969 00:46:32,930 --> 00:46:35,010 We thank Thee for what our brother Rocky 970 00:46:35,010 --> 00:46:38,390 has called to our hearts' attention concerning the 971 00:46:38,390 --> 00:46:42,510 sufficiency of Christ, our union with Him. 972 00:46:43,050 --> 00:46:45,790 We thank You for that ministry and now 973 00:46:45,790 --> 00:46:48,750 Lord we meld these ministries together and we're 974 00:46:48,750 --> 00:46:52,110 talking now in this first phase of the 975 00:46:52,110 --> 00:46:57,110 divine operation, the awakening of sinners to their 976 00:46:57,110 --> 00:46:57,870 lostness. 977 00:46:58,650 --> 00:47:01,330 Should there be one here Lord who does 978 00:47:01,330 --> 00:47:04,490 not know experientially Him whom to know is 979 00:47:04,490 --> 00:47:07,410 life, this is the best time in all 980 00:47:07,410 --> 00:47:09,490 their lives to do something about it. 981 00:47:10,430 --> 00:47:14,470 Father, for all that have been indifferent to 982 00:47:14,470 --> 00:47:17,110 the plight of the lost, the concern of 983 00:47:17,110 --> 00:47:20,290 the lost, O God of grace forgive us 984 00:47:21,390 --> 00:47:23,990 and cleanse us from this and give to 985 00:47:23,990 --> 00:47:27,590 us hearts of compassion, hearts of burden for 986 00:47:27,590 --> 00:47:30,450 the lost and a readiness and a willingness 987 00:47:31,110 --> 00:47:34,290 to witness to them as thou hast believed 988 00:47:34,290 --> 00:47:35,390 and as they have need. 989 00:47:35,950 --> 00:47:38,450 Teach us to be skilled in the use 990 00:47:38,450 --> 00:47:39,050 of the word. 991 00:47:39,810 --> 00:47:43,610 Why in applying the truth, the word to 992 00:47:43,610 --> 00:47:45,990 the hearts of men as they are in 993 00:47:45,990 --> 00:47:49,170 their need at the state of dealing with 994 00:47:49,170 --> 00:47:49,430 them. 995 00:47:50,550 --> 00:47:54,350 So to that end Father, seal the word 996 00:47:55,630 --> 00:47:58,030 as we together upon it. 997 00:47:58,310 --> 00:47:59,950 For Jesus our Lord. 998 00:48:01,350 --> 00:48:03,130 You've been listening to the From the Pulpit 999 00:48:03,130 --> 00:48:04,310 and Classic Sermon series. 1000 00:48:04,850 --> 00:48:07,190 This week you heard Parrish Reedhead with his 1001 00:48:07,190 --> 00:48:09,730 message So Great a Salvation Awakening. 1002 00:48:10,450 --> 00:48:11,770 Tune in next week to hear Jim Simbla 1003 00:48:11,770 --> 00:48:14,570 with some heart talk on revival on From 1004 00:48:14,570 --> 00:48:16,250 the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.