Anchors of Truth

Courage For The Crisis

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Jim Gilley

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000019


00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Thriving Faith In Difficult Times, with Jim Gilley.
00:23 Seventh-day Adventists have long been known
00:25 as people of the Book.
00:27 We're also called, people of the eschaton.
00:30 We are also called, people of the Sanctuary.
00:34 And though we believe in and teach and follow all of these
00:38 important Bible truths, one of the most repeated statements,
00:42 one of the most encouraged statements by Ellen White
00:46 is the idea, the notion, that we ought be a people of
00:49 what she calls, practical godliness.
00:52 That our religion ought to have feet on it.
00:56 That our religion ought to be real.
00:59 That along with the theological background and undergirding
01:02 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we ought to be
01:04 people who bring our religion into our everyday lives.
01:08 She calls that, practical godliness.
01:11 It is practical godliness that attracts people to the
01:15 Word of God and to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
01:16 And so during these meetings, Jim Gilley has been walking us
01:21 through what we call practical godliness.
01:24 What do you do when you've got fear, Danny?
01:26 What do you do when you worry, when you have worry
01:29 that you cannot control?
01:31 And on last night, he settled us into the faith.
01:35 He settled us down and walked us through what it means to
01:39 rest in the Lord and trust in the Lord.
01:41 Danny, these have been great meetings.
01:43 Well they are, and you know, I was just thinking.
01:45 Almost this November will be 27 years ago that I was impressed
01:49 the Lord wanted us to build a station to reach the world
01:53 with an undiluted three angels messages;
01:55 one that will counteract the counterfeit.
01:57 I didn't have names, titles, and programs but I knew
02:00 that God wanted 3ABN to give a message
02:03 to a lost and dying world.
02:05 A present truth, a message that literally will help people
02:09 make it to the kingdom.
02:10 And I'm always so encouraged.
02:12 And then when I see things, I'm amazed.
02:14 And even when I stay home and I turn on 3ABN and I see
02:17 programs like this, Anchors Of Truth,
02:19 I say, you know, this is exactly 27 years later and 3ABN,
02:24 thanks to all of you around the world, is still going.
02:26 And the administration here and all the folk that we have
02:30 putting together programming, C.A.,
02:32 that it is indeed reaching people.
02:33 How do we know?
02:34 Because people all around the world are contacting us
02:37 and saying, thanks to 3ABN; the Anchors Of Truth series,
02:41 it might be any number of the other hundreds of series,
02:44 some that you've done, Harvest, and John Lomacang's,
02:47 all of these, people are saying, "This is drawing me closer
02:50 to the Lord Jesus Christ."
02:52 So from 3ABN, I thank each and every one of you
02:54 for your love and your prayers and financial support.
02:57 That we can continue to keep bringing programming
03:01 that are anchors of truth.
03:03 Praise the Lord, we're so happy to have this opportunity.
03:06 We think about Ken Cox series, some of the other series that
03:09 were more theologically based.
03:10 But someone spoke with me just last night.
03:12 They're going into full time ministry.
03:14 They gave up a good accounting job, now they're just
03:16 trusting on the Lord.
03:18 And worry has set in.
03:20 And she said that Jim, the night before, said just the
03:22 right thing to sort of settle her down and trust in the Lord.
03:26 And these are the kinds of things, Danny, that
03:28 Christians go through.
03:29 We have these kinds of; we're not immune to fear,
03:32 we're not immune to worry, we're not immune to doubt.
03:35 In fact, Satan presses these things in.
03:37 So along with the theology, we need to talk about;
03:40 how do you deal with everyday problems that Christians face.
03:43 And that's what Jim has been doing during this series.
03:46 And what I found out in my own life, they say,
03:48 "Out of sight, out of mind."
03:50 With 3ABN, it's ever present.
03:52 When we're watching it and we are being brought these truths,
03:55 it keeps it in the front of our mind; there is hope.
03:58 There is hope for discouragement,
04:00 there is hope for pain, there is hope for all
04:02 of the problems that Satan is throwing at us.
04:04 We can be reminded constantly, "Greater is He that is in us
04:08 than he that is in the world."
04:10 And so I'm very thankful, not only for what's happening,
04:13 but for the leadership of Pastor Jim Gilley
04:16 and his wife Camille, since they have been here about four years.
04:19 And it's been amazing.
04:20 They're wonderful people, they love Jesus.
04:22 And Jim is an incredible person.
04:24 The one thing that he hasn't done very much that we need to
04:28 get him doing a little more, he's a guy with a lot of gifts,
04:30 I don't really see him out here singing much.
04:32 But Jim Gilley has a beautiful voice.
04:34 I was behind the stage a while ago before we came on,
04:37 and I heard him singing.
04:38 And I said, we have got to get Jim out here.
04:39 Not only can he... He's like Pastor Lomacang.
04:42 He can preach and he can sing.
04:44 Praise the Lord.
04:45 Now we need to get Melody out her, but before we do that
04:47 and she brings our music, would you have prayer for us please.
04:51 Heavenly Father, we thank You for another beautiful
04:54 Sabbath day to worship You.
04:56 We just thank You that we can be here today,
04:59 for this series, Anchors Of Truth.
05:01 And Lord, that You will anoint Pastor Jim Gilley,
05:04 that You will fill him with Your Holy Spirit,
05:07 that everything that he says will be words from on high.
05:12 And we pray for the music right now from Melody Dawn,
05:15 and You will continue to bless her.
05:16 And for all of our viewers right now, that we'll be able to
05:20 put aside everything that Satan is throwing at us,
05:22 to sit down and relax and just be open to the Word of God,
05:26 that we can be drawn closer to You.
05:28 In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
05:31 Would you introduce your daughter?
05:32 I will. Melody Dawn.
05:35 I'm so happy that Melody is here to sing for us this morning.
05:38 And, Melody, I love you with all my heart.
05:41 And I appreciate you, you're a wonderful daughter.
05:44 And I'll quickly say this, that she had a birthday
05:47 just a week or two ago.
05:49 I won't tell which one it is.
05:51 But I bought her this wonderful present.
05:55 I thought it was a wonderful present,
05:57 and then I got to thinking about it.
05:58 I said, because she's such a wonderful daughter.
06:00 And then I said, but since I'm the father,
06:02 maybe I should get the present.
06:04 It was a garden tiller.
06:05 So I gave her something else and kept the garden tiller.
06:10 I'm glad he did.
06:12 It was just an excuse to get a garden tiller.
06:14 We're glad that you're here, Melody.
06:28 I've just been with Jesus.
06:34 I've just seen His glory.
06:39 I've just felt His presence.
06:45 As I feel it now.
06:51 He is all I long for.
06:56 There's no one I desire more.
07:02 For I've just been with Jesus.
07:07 And I am with Him now.
07:13 Here in this place, my soul is satisfied.
07:22 You have erased the wounds I've tried
07:29 so hard to hide.
07:33 I'm learning how to abandon all my fears
07:42 each time I meet you here.
07:47 I've just been with Jesus.
07:53 I've just seen His glory.
07:58 I've just felt His presence.
08:04 As I feel it now.
08:10 He is all I long for.
08:15 There's no one I desire more.
08:20 For I've just been with Jesus.
08:26 And I am with Him now.
08:38 Nothing but You, that's all my eyes can see.
08:46 Finally I found the place my heart
08:54 has longed to be.
08:57 My own desires, they don't matter anymore.
09:07 My will, my life, is Yours.
09:12 I've just been with Jesus.
09:17 I've just seen His glory.
09:23 I've just felt His presence.
09:29 As I feel it now.
09:34 He is all I long for.
09:40 There's no one I desire more.
09:45 For I've just been with Jesus.
09:51 And I am with Him now.
10:03 I've just been with Jesus.
10:08 And I am with Him now.
10:28 Thank you so much, Melody.
10:30 I appreciate that.
10:32 It's good to be here this morning.
10:34 And I've invited the pastor of this church, who is my pastor
10:39 because I'm a member here now, and I've invited him to come
10:44 and to have an added word of prayer this morning
10:46 as we seek the Holy Spirit to be with us in our presence.
10:52 Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow our hearts
10:55 before You this morning.
10:57 Lord, whenever we come to the fountain, we know
11:00 that it will be filled.
11:03 When we come to the table, we know that bread will be
11:05 placed there for our strength and our nourishment.
11:09 And Lord, this morning we pray a blessing on Pastor Gilley
11:12 as he unfolds to us which You have imparted to him.
11:16 In these uncertain times, it's good to know that
11:19 we have a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
11:23 And we pray an anointing on this bread that's about to be broken.
11:29 As we partake of it, we pray that our thirst and our hunger
11:33 for righteousness and for security will be provided today.
11:37 Help us to go forth in an unstable world,
11:39 standing on the solid Rock.
11:42 And may this message deliver to us, Lord, all that we need
11:45 to hear for this hour.
11:47 As we receive, we also pray a blessing on the messenger.
11:51 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
11:55 Thank you, Brother John.
11:56 We appreciate you. We really do.
11:59 John and Angie are dedicated to the Lord.
12:02 And very much a part, even though they're also part of the
12:06 Illinois Conference and pastor of this church
12:09 that meets here at the 3ABN Worship Center,
12:12 they are also very much a part of 3ABN.
12:15 And they travel a great deal for 3ABN.
12:19 They are world wide ambassadors for us
12:22 and we appreciate them so very much.
12:25 If you have your Bibles, I'm going to invite you to turn to
12:27 Joshua the 1st chapter and beginning with verse 5.
12:32 Now this tells us about a situation that Joshua is facing.
12:39 You see, Moses has just died and Joshua is afraid.
12:45 He has been right to the edge of the Promise Land before.
12:49 He was a young man then.
12:51 He had the courage, he and Caleb, and they were
12:53 ready to go across.
12:54 But the people were not ready to go across.
12:58 And so they were delayed by 40 years.
13:02 And now they are there again.
13:04 But fear has gripped his heart,
13:07 this man of courage,
13:09 and God is speaking to him.
13:12 You know, God does speak to us through His Word.
13:16 And I want to tell you something.
13:17 This is the God who gives us warnings.
13:20 There are warnings all through the Bible.
13:23 There are prophecies in the Word.
13:25 There are severe statements.
13:28 But this is also the God that talks about courage
13:33 and talks about encouragement.
13:35 And He wants you to be lifted up.
13:38 He wants you to have courage to face the world.
13:43 And here, He's talking about this.
13:45 And this very text that He gives to Joshua
13:47 is meant for you today.
13:51 And here it is in the 1st chapter of Joshua
13:54 beginning with verse 5.
13:55 "No man shall be able to stand before you
13:58 all the days of your life; as I was with Moses,
14:02 so I will be with you.
14:05 I will never leave you nor forsake you."
14:09 We have read that text a number of times in this series.
14:12 Because that is the assurance.
14:15 You read it over in Hebrews.
14:16 It's the assurance that...
14:18 Hebrews, by the way, is quoting Deuteronomy 31
14:22 and Joshua 1.
14:23 Because this is the very word of God.
14:26 "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you."
14:32 Have you ever felt forsaken?
14:34 Of course you have.
14:36 Everybody has.
14:38 But I will tell you, from the promise of God,
14:41 that he says He will not forsake.
14:43 Verse 6, "Be strong and of good courage, for to this people
14:49 you shall divide as an inheritance the land
14:52 which I swore to their fathers to give them."
14:54 "Only be strong," verse 7 says, "and very courageous,
14:59 that you may observe to do all according to the law."
15:04 Verse 8, "The Book of the Law shall not depart from
15:08 your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night."
15:11 That scripture; the law, including the Ten Commandments
15:15 and all of God's Word, He says you need to meditate on it.
15:19 And these are the words of God.
15:21 This is not even a prophet speaking.
15:23 This is God speaking to Joshua.
15:26 And He says, "You must meditate on the Word."
15:30 You want strength for the times in which we're living?
15:33 You've got to open the Word.
15:36 There is strength in the Word.
15:38 Meditate upon it. Spend time in it.
15:42 Because this is where God speaks to each one of us.
15:49 And then it continues.
15:50 He says, "Do according to all that is written.
15:54 For then you will make your way prosperous,
15:59 and then you will have good success."
16:03 You want to have success in your life?
16:06 And I'm not talking about piling up money.
16:08 I'm talking about being effective for God.
16:12 He says if you want that, then meditate upon the Word
16:17 and study the Word of God.
16:19 Verse 9, "Have I not commanded you?
16:22 Be strong and of good courage."
16:25 God repeats it five times.
16:28 Be strong, be of good courage.
16:32 You know, sometimes people will ask you, "How is your courage?"
16:37 Now there's a lot of different ways to answer that.
16:41 And courage is a word that we sometimes don't
16:45 really and truly understand.
16:46 Confidence might be a little more something
16:50 that we would understand.
16:51 And the word confidence comes from two Latin words;
16:56 "con" means all together,
16:59 and "fidere" means trust or faith.
17:03 Confidence
17:06 Do we have all together faith and trust?
17:11 You see, our confidence must not be in ourselves,
17:14 but we must have confidence.
17:15 It has to come from God, not something we build up.
17:19 You see, this is where all the positive thinking people
17:22 get it all messed up.
17:24 They have the confidence being in you.
17:27 No, the confidence is not in you.
17:30 That will cause a lot of problems, believe me.
17:34 The confidence must be in God.
17:39 But you know, the old devil, he's got it really worked up.
17:42 See, he will get the people of the world off on the wrong side.
17:47 He will have the counterfeit there.
17:49 The counterfeit is this positive living type concept
17:54 that you see in the world today.
17:56 That is where people build up faith in themselves.
18:01 That's not what God is talking about.
18:03 He didn't tell Joshua, "Build up faith in yourself."
18:06 He didn't say that.
18:07 He said, "Trust in Me. Go to the Word."
18:10 You get your confidence, you get your courage from the Word.
18:14 You don't get it by self.
18:16 That's not where it comes from.
18:18 But you see, that's what the world teaches.
18:20 Now as Christians, we see that and so we say,
18:24 "Oh, I don't want to have anything to do with that."
18:27 So we miss out on the genuine.
18:31 Now listen, there's counterfeit money out there, isn't there.
18:35 Just because there is counterfeit money out there
18:39 does not mean that you don't accept your money every week
18:42 when you get through working, right?
18:44 You don't say, "Oh no, I don't want that stuff.
18:46 There's counterfeit money all over the place.
18:49 Mine might be counterfeit, I don't want to touch that."
18:52 You see, the devil will try to get you to give up
18:56 that which is good because of that which is bad.
19:01 Same with the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit.
19:04 We see the counterfeit.
19:06 And we get so afraid of the counterfeit that we are
19:09 afraid to avail ourselves of the genuine.
19:14 You know what I'm saying?
19:17 I see you nodding so I know you do.
19:20 I know you're there.
19:21 I can hear you breathing.
19:23 But otherwise, you know, every once in a while...
19:27 I never do ask for amen's. I never get them either.
19:30 But I don't ask for them all that often.
19:32 I remember one time in Arlington Texas,
19:35 I thought I got an amen.
19:36 But it was actually a baby crying.
19:38 And I use to tell them, I said, "Whatever you do,
19:44 don't amen because I couldn't handle it.
19:46 It would break my rhythm."
19:47 And they didn't, they didn't.
19:50 So I never had to worry about my rhythm being broken.
19:54 But I will say this, my friend.
19:56 That we should not miss the genuine because the
20:00 counterfeit is there.
20:03 God wants to build your faith right now.
20:07 Jeremiah the 12th chapter verse 5, "If you have run
20:12 with the footmen and they have wearied you,
20:17 then how can you contend with horses?"
20:21 That text; if you can't even run with the footmen,
20:25 forget about the horses.
20:27 You see, right now we're running with the footmen.
20:29 We are facing crisis after crisis in our own lives.
20:33 Some physical crisis, emotional crisis, financial crisis,
20:37 family crisis, over and over in our own lives.
20:42 My friend, if we can't handle those now, how can we
20:46 handle the big crisis which we know is going to come.
20:50 We're feeling a little bit of it in our country with the economy,
20:53 with all these different things that are happening,
20:56 earthquakes around the world, and all of these things.
20:59 We're starting to see a little of what it's going to be like
21:05 just before Christ returns.
21:08 We want to be ready to go through that period
21:13 strong, with courage.
21:18 And the only way we can do it, is linking up with Jesus.
21:23 Getting our confidence on a moment by moment basis from Him.
21:29 You see, if we can't make decisions that require
21:32 courage right now,
21:36 then are we going to make decisions later?
21:40 I was holding an evangelistic meeting one time and I saw
21:44 two situations in that particular meeting
21:47 that I have never forgotten.
21:50 I went to the house of a lady.
21:52 Her husband was not a member of the church, not a Christian.
21:55 Never had given his heart to the Lord.
21:56 Had been coming to the meetings and he had made a commitment.
22:02 And I went to visit with him and I said, "Now we're going to have
22:05 a baptism on Sabbath and I'm inviting you to
22:09 become a part of it.
22:11 Would you like to become a part of it?"
22:12 He said, "Yes, I would.
22:14 I want to be baptized, I want to be a part of
22:16 God's remnant church."
22:18 And his wife looked at him.
22:20 Now she was a church member.
22:22 She was an officer in the church.
22:25 She was, I believe, the church clerk.
22:28 And she looked at him and she said, "Well then, how are
22:31 we going to make it?
22:33 Because you know if you become a Seventh-day Adventist,
22:39 you won't be able to work on Saturday any more,
22:41 and you get time and a half on Saturday."
22:43 Now this is the Adventist talking.
22:45 This is a Christian lady talking.
22:49 And bless his heart, it took the wind right out of his sails.
22:54 Yes, it was going to hit them in the matter of their economy
22:58 if they did that.
22:59 It was going to change their budget.
23:01 But he was looking for her to say, "Honey, I'm standing
23:04 with you no matter what."
23:06 She did not have the courage to try to make it
23:10 without that overtime.
23:12 If we can't make it without overtime, folks, how do we
23:15 expect to make it in the future with all the things that are
23:18 coming on this world.
23:20 You see, we've got to make decisions right now.
23:23 Some of you that are watching, you've been thinking about
23:26 starting to keep the Sabbath.
23:29 But you're afraid.
23:31 Oh my friend, you've got to make that decision now.
23:35 Because if you can't make that decision now,
23:38 how can we run with the horses if we're not able
23:46 to run with the footmen?
23:48 You see, if we can't do it now, make decisions now
23:51 that require some courage.
23:54 But nothing like the courage they will require in the future.
23:57 But if we think we're going to have courage in the future,
24:01 we must make courageous decisions right now.
24:06 The same meeting, I went to another place
24:10 and visited with this man.
24:12 They had a nice home.
24:14 They had a beautiful boat, ski boat, out there in the yard.
24:19 They had a nice pickup truck, they had a nice car.
24:22 And I said to him, "Wow, you must be rich."
24:28 He said, "I owe on everything out here."
24:32 He said, "I have to make those monthly payments."
24:35 He said, "If I missed a month, I wouldn't have this house,
24:37 I wouldn't have that pickup, I wouldn't have that car,
24:40 I wouldn't have that boat."
24:41 And he had a Ski-Doo, but he also had a jet ski...
24:48 I mean a...
24:49 That they use in the snow, whatever that is, you know.
24:53 Because he lived in a place where there was plenty of snow.
24:59 And he said, "Every one of those things, I've got payments on."
25:03 He had a good job, he made a lot of money.
25:07 But he worked for somebody.
25:09 I talked to him about the Sabbath.
25:11 He said, "Jim, I'm convicted.
25:13 My wife and my family, we've been coming
25:16 and we're convicted."
25:17 "But," he said, "I can't.
25:19 If I do that, I'm losing, losing my job.
25:25 If I lose my job, do you realize everything here will go back.
25:31 I will lose everything I have.
25:33 I won't even have a house to live in if I lose my job."
25:37 He said, "You just can't go out and get a job like I've got."
25:41 He was the foreman of a pretty big plant.
25:44 He said, "I have to be there on Sabbath.
25:47 I have to be there regardless.
25:51 I have no other, there's no option.
25:53 The minute if I were to say I'm going to become
25:56 a Sabbath keeper," he said, "then I'm going to lose my job."
26:01 I'll never forget it.
26:03 During that evangelistic meeting, we were giving a call
26:08 and I saw him struggling with that decision in the back.
26:13 And then, I saw him get up.
26:19 And I saw his wife get up.
26:21 And I saw his kids get up.
26:23 And they walked to the front.
26:27 And I knew what it was costing him.
26:29 I knew it was going to cost him that job.
26:32 I was praying, "Lord, please somehow help that job,
26:35 help him not to lose it."
26:37 But when I saw him on Monday, I said, "How's did it go?"
26:40 He said, "They fired me.
26:43 I've lost my job."
26:47 He made the decision regardless.
26:51 And we left town, but he had said, "I'm going
26:55 all the way with Jesus."
26:56 A few years later, I saw him at a camp meeting.
26:59 I'd lost complete contact with him.
27:00 You know, evangelists, we're hit and run preachers.
27:04 Sometimes, we're just drive by preachers.
27:06 I mean, you know.
27:08 We just hit them and then we're gone.
27:10 But every once in a while, you run into those folks somewhere.
27:13 And I ran into him at a camp meeting.
27:15 And there he was, this was just a few years later.
27:19 He was already holding an office in that church.
27:25 He had come to camp meeting.
27:26 They brought their whole family.
27:28 And I said to him, "I hate to ask you this,
27:33 but did you lose your house?"
27:35 I didn't worry about the boat, maybe even the pickup.
27:39 But did you lose your house?
27:41 He said, "Jim, we never lost one thing."
27:46 He said, "I was two weeks without any kind of work
27:51 and I was really sweating it.
27:54 And then the Lord brought an idea to me;
27:57 to start my own business."
28:00 He said, "That way, I can't get fired
28:03 for not working on the Sabbath.
28:06 Because I'd have to fire myself, and I'm not going to do that."
28:10 And he said, "I have an area, a specialty.
28:13 And so I went and got one good client."
28:19 And he said, "That good client gave me enough money
28:24 starting out to where I was able to start my business.
28:28 I've added other clients since then,
28:31 my business has continued to grow.
28:33 I'm making two or three times as much money as I did
28:37 back when I thought I had it all made
28:39 as foreman of that big plant."
28:42 He said, "God is faithful."
28:46 You see, when Joshua went into the Promise Land,
28:49 the Lord did not pull the rug out from under him.
28:52 The Lord was with him all the way.
28:54 When you step out and you follow Jesus, I promise you
29:02 that He will stand with you.
29:05 He will be with you.
29:06 You may be tested.
29:08 There are times that you're tested.
29:10 But the Lord is so powerful, He can do so much.
29:14 He can change so many people.
29:17 And there are some things that we have to realize.
29:20 That we can only do these things through the Lord Jesus Christ.
29:25 Self confidence is obnoxious.
29:29 Confidence in Jesus is drawing, it's appealing.
29:37 It's something that touches the heart and draws people to Jesus.
29:43 If our confidence is built upon Him, then we will not be afraid.
29:49 But it's not an arrogance.
29:51 It's something that's built on us.
29:53 You know, today, we see a lot of athlete's.
29:56 And very rarely do we see an athlete come along
29:59 that genuinely praises the Lord.
30:02 I've been reading a book about one this week that
30:05 I really believe loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
30:08 Somebody gave it to me for Father's Day.
30:11 And I have just in a few minutes that I had a chance,
30:16 because the whole thing is his testimony
30:18 about how much he loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
30:22 But you know, so many athletes, they're whole confidence
30:24 is built on self.
30:27 I remember one time, I was flying from Washington DC
30:30 all the way to Los Angeles.
30:34 I've made that flight many, many times.
30:36 I wrote several books riding on those flights.
30:40 And what I would do is sit back in coach,
30:42 I'd try to find a place where I could sit in a middle seat,
30:46 and I would lay down three different places there,
30:52 you know, three tables and make it like a desk,
30:56 and I'd start working.
30:57 I'd pile one stuff over here and pile some books over there.
31:00 And I'd be writing on the one in the middle.
31:03 And it was a great place to study.
31:06 And usually, you can.
31:07 But sometimes, people behind you become so loud.
31:13 You know, people on planes can really be obnoxious.
31:16 I mean, totally obnoxious.
31:18 I've had some horrible experiences on planes
31:21 trying to study when I had to have a message,
31:24 had to be ready to preach when I got to wherever I was going.
31:29 And I was studying like everything to try to get ready.
31:32 And this time, I was studying.
31:35 And there were three men sitting behind me.
31:38 In the middle was a major league baseball player.
31:42 On either side of him were attorneys.
31:45 And they were on their way to Los Angeles
31:48 to re-negotiate, or go into arbitration, I think it was
31:52 actually arbitration, his contract.
31:56 He had all of his stats,
31:58 everything that he had ever done.
32:00 And he continually was telling those guys how good he was.
32:08 And I was so sick and tired of hearing it.
32:11 You know after a while hearing somebody brag about how good
32:14 they are, it really starts to wear on you after a little bit.
32:18 It didn't take much from him because I didn't think
32:21 he was that good.
32:22 I knew who he was.
32:24 I knew who he played for.
32:27 And I was not that, never had been that impressed
32:31 with his ability.
32:32 I know a little bit about baseball and I had just
32:35 never been that impressed with him.
32:38 Well, he was drinking a lot of coffee.
32:41 I know he kept getting refills.
32:43 And so pretty soon, he had to go back to the men's room.
32:47 And that's what I guess that will do to you.
32:50 So when he left, the one attorney said to the other,
32:55 "I will be so glad when this trip is over."
32:59 He said, "I am sick and tired of hearing him brag on himself."
33:05 And I'm sorry, but I turned around and said, "I am too."
33:12 And you know something, that kind of confidence is obnoxious.
33:18 That kind of confidence will end up eventually
33:21 being defeated.
33:24 Because it is placed in self.
33:26 And self confidence is not God's way.
33:30 We're not meant to live in our own realm.
33:33 We are meant to live with a connection,
33:35 a vital connection, to our Lord.
33:39 That must be where our confidence is; in Him.
33:44 Not in ourselves, but in Him.
33:47 Philippians the 4th chapter and verse 13 says,
33:50 "I can do all things..."
33:52 And you know something?
33:53 The positive living people stop it right there,
33:56 "I can do all things."
33:58 But if you continue, it says, "...through Christ
34:02 who strengthens me."
34:05 Through Christ who strengthens me.
34:08 I can't do anything on my own.
34:11 Shouldn't.
34:12 It won't be worth anything if I do.
34:15 The Bible says in Hebrews the 11th chapter verse 25,
34:18 "Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost
34:24 those who come to God through Him,
34:27 since He always lives to make intersession for them."
34:32 It says, "He is able," not an "I am able."
34:38 He is able.
34:40 And we must continually, continually,
34:44 claim that promise.
34:47 So we'll look at a number of things that
34:49 I believe are very important.
34:50 First, you need to discover God's true estimate of you.
34:57 You know something, God has not made us all alike.
35:00 We are not all alike.
35:03 Danny was talking about my singing.
35:07 I know I'm not a singer, and I really do.
35:10 And I accept that.
35:14 You know, I can't sing like Danny.
35:16 I can't play the guitar.
35:18 I took piano lessons and flunked.
35:22 And I couldn't, that's just not what the Lord has
35:29 given me to do.
35:30 I use to sing just to help out.
35:33 But I've got a recorder, I've heard myself.
35:38 Of course, if I went by that, I wouldn't be preaching either.
35:41 But I mean, I've heard that too and I wasn't all that
35:45 excited about that either.
35:47 But you see, God gives different people different talents,
35:51 He given them different abilities.
35:53 He gives them things to work.
35:54 We've got to find out what it is that He has given to us to do.
36:00 You know when we say, "What's in your hand?"
36:03 That may not only mean looking around for some silver and gold
36:08 and diamonds, or whatever you have, that you can give.
36:11 It also means, what is your ability?
36:15 What is your ability?
36:17 What has God given you to do?
36:19 This ministry is run by people who have specific
36:24 talents and abilities that God has given to them.
36:29 And I look around this audience.
36:31 If I started naming them, I would never be able to stop.
36:35 Those who are electronically inclined and they can
36:38 put things together that some of us would never even dream
36:42 that we could do.
36:44 And God brings a team like this together, to work together.
36:52 He is able.
36:55 So we need to discover His true estimates in each one of us.
37:01 Because, my friend, He is going to be the one
37:05 that will help us totally.
37:09 We need to look for His special calling
37:16 that He has given to each one of us
37:19 and have confidence in Him.
37:21 Philippians the 1st chapter verse 6 says,
37:23 "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun
37:27 a good work in you will complete it until the
37:32 day of Jesus Christ."
37:37 He that has begun a good work in you,
37:39 He's going to complete it.
37:42 But make sure that you are in connection with Him.
37:46 I love the Joseph principle.
37:48 You know, people say, "I don't know what God wants me to do."
37:53 Well, I can tell you the principle is very clear.
37:55 It's laid out in the spirit of prophecy.
37:58 And that is, do what you're doing to the
38:01 best of your ability.
38:04 And that's what Joseph did.
38:06 When he was working for Potiphar, he was the very
38:10 best servant that he could possibly be.
38:13 And he didn't keep saying, "I want to be
38:15 Prime Minister of Egypt.
38:16 I want to be... I should be..."
38:18 That wasn't what he did.
38:19 He did what he did as faithfully as he could.
38:28 Then he gets into trouble.
38:29 Not any problem of his, but he is falsely accused.
38:35 Let me tell you, those of you that are involved with
38:37 prison ministry, you know there are many people in prison
38:42 who have been falsely accused.
38:45 And there are many people that are just as
38:47 guilt as they can be.
38:48 And they may even be watching on television today.
38:51 They may be sitting at home.
38:52 They may be in our audience.
38:55 I started to say they may be on the platform,
38:57 but I don't want to narrow it down that much.
39:02 You see, God wants us to take that situation that we
39:09 find ourselves in and do the very best with it that we can.
39:15 He went to prison.
39:17 He became the very best prisoner that he could be.
39:20 Very best, and pretty soon he was in charge
39:23 of things in the prison.
39:25 And then he helped some people in the prison.
39:27 When you help other people, you and I both know
39:32 that God blesses you as you're helping others.
39:36 Danny says, the blessing is on the go.
39:38 And He's right, the blessing is on the go.
39:42 The blessing is as we reach out to help other people.
39:48 And then step by step, Joseph, God had prepared him
39:53 through hardship.
39:54 You want me to tell you something?
39:55 Those hardships prepared him.
39:57 Joseph, he found favor, the Bible says, in God's eyes.
40:03 But if he had gone right from being with his brother's
40:06 to be Prime Minister, I believe he would have failed.
40:11 God knew that he needed those experiences of being a servant,
40:18 being falsely accused.
40:21 Even the prison experience had allowed him to develop the
40:27 character that God wanted to develop in him.
40:30 So many times, you and I, and I put myself there,
40:34 we look at situations that happen to us along the way
40:37 and we bemoan them.
40:39 We say, "Lord, why in the world has this happened to me?"
40:45 But you know something?
40:47 The Lord is using those things to prepare us.
40:53 You see, the Lord can take something that is very, very bad
40:57 and turn it into something that is very good.
41:00 Romans 8:28, we all know it.
41:04 It says, "We know that all things work together for good
41:12 to those who love God, to those who are the called
41:18 according to His purpose."
41:20 And you are called according to His purpose.
41:23 You are called to receive life eternal and to be used to
41:28 spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
41:30 Everyone single one of us, in one way or another,
41:33 we are part of this.
41:35 And God's ability to turn things around,
41:38 to take something that is absolutely awful
41:43 and turn it into something beautiful.
41:47 And I've seen him do it so many times, folks.
41:50 I have seen Him so many times.
41:53 You know, we look at some people that are right here
41:55 in this audience and part of 3ABN.
42:00 The motto of 3ABN that Danny chose so many years ago is,
42:03 "Mending Broken People."
42:07 Mending broken people, not just those that are on television,
42:12 but those that work here.
42:15 And I will tell you that I don't know a single one of us
42:20 who has not been a broken person at one time in their lives.
42:27 There are people, and I've heard some of their stories,
42:30 that have arrived at this place in horrible condition.
42:37 But they continued reaching out to the Lord Jesus Christ.
42:42 Oh, there have been some failures.
42:44 There have been sometimes...
42:45 When you're trying to help people, you're not going to
42:48 have 100% success.
42:50 You're going to have some people that will continue
42:55 in their sinful ways, they'll continue with their habits,
42:58 they'll continue with their problems.
43:00 And sometimes they'll go away and bad mouth you.
43:03 Sometimes that happens.
43:05 That's where you put yourself at risk.
43:07 You're going to help people?
43:08 You're going to take a risk.
43:10 It takes courage to help people.
43:14 It takes courage to reach out.
43:17 It takes the very kind of courage that God was talking
43:21 about here in Joshua, when you reach out
43:24 and you help individuals.
43:26 But you see, my friend, we need to think beyond today.
43:30 I was driving down the road in Oklahoma one day,
43:34 not too far from the University of Oklahoma.
43:37 And I saw a sign that I've never forgotten.
43:40 Just two words, "Think Eternity."
43:46 Think Eternity.
43:48 You know, so many times we're just thinking about today.
43:51 We're just thinking about next week.
43:52 We're just thinking about what we are facing.
43:55 No, think eternity.
43:58 How does this fit in to the eternal scheme of things?
44:03 How?
44:05 What will this mean in time?
44:09 Put your whole life and thoughts into a larger sphere
44:14 of thinking eternity.
44:18 And then third, you need to establish your faith solidly
44:23 in the Lord Jesus Christ.
44:26 Sometimes we get the idea that we are all alone.
44:30 But we're not.
44:31 I remember one time, I was at a meeting
44:34 and Billy Graham was there.
44:38 And one of the evangelists got up and he said,
44:42 "You know, you may think that you would love to be
44:46 friends with Billy Graham."
44:49 He said, "Billy Graham is not like what you see
44:54 when he gets to the pulpit."
44:57 He said, "He's an introvert.
44:59 He does not enjoy being around people.
45:03 He's a man who likes to study."
45:06 And later on, I had the opportunity to walk around
45:11 and golf with Billy Graham and with Bob Hope.
45:16 Bob Hope was this outgoing individual who
45:19 never met a stranger.
45:21 No money on him.
45:23 Every time he went to the concession stand,
45:25 he would turn around and ask me if I had something
45:27 to pay for his soft drink.
45:29 And I see how he gets by, he never carries any money.
45:33 He said, "I don't ever carry any money."
45:35 And I guess he doesn't have to, but the rest of us do.
45:38 But Billy Graham was like a sour puss.
45:44 Bless his heart.
45:45 Billy, if you're watching, please forgive me.
45:47 But I'm just telling it.
45:48 And I know you do watch.
45:49 Bev Shea, I understand you watch.
45:51 And we're glad you do.
45:54 Please don't misunderstand me.
45:56 But Billy, people would want to have a picture with him
46:00 and he didn't want to do it.
46:04 Bob Hope would grab him and he'd say,
46:06 "Come on Billy, let's do it."
46:08 And he'd line up with these old ladies there
46:10 and they'd take a picture with Billy.
46:12 And so Bob said to me, he said, "You know, it takes less time
46:17 to go ahead and take the picture than to tell them
46:19 why you don't want to do it."
46:21 That's what he was telling me.
46:22 But see, Bob Hope was a little more use to being around
46:25 that type of situation.
46:28 This evangelist said, he said, "Billy Graham
46:33 is a stick in the mud,
46:36 he is a flat tire,
46:41 until he gets on the platform and the Holy Spirit
46:44 comes upon him."
46:46 Boy I tell you, that's what I pray for.
46:51 That the Holy Spirit will come up on me when I'm speaking.
46:56 That I will become something.
46:58 You see, that is the way God works.
47:03 It's like a glove.
47:04 You take a glove, it's absolutely nothing.
47:06 It's lifeless.
47:08 But you stick your hand into it and now it comes alive.
47:12 It has life in it.
47:14 We are dull until the Holy Spirit comes.
47:20 Not our own self confidence.
47:23 Not our own talent. No.
47:27 That's the most... That's terrible.
47:30 But with the Lord Jesus, there is power and strength
47:36 in our preaching.
47:37 We were never created to be self confident.
47:42 Never.
47:44 We need to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ
47:47 and trust in Him.
47:49 A man by the name of Philo said, made a statement once.
47:53 He's an old philosopher.
47:56 He says, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is
48:00 fighting a hard battle."
48:02 I have known individuals who I did not want to be around
48:06 because they were so...
48:08 Well, just flat didn't want to be around them,
48:14 until they opened up their heart and you saw what
48:19 they were struggling with.
48:22 And then you thought to yourself, "I don't know
48:25 how they get out of bed every day when they're
48:27 struggling with that."
48:29 They were lucky to go through the motions.
48:32 You see, the Lord is the one that knows these things.
48:37 And He gives you and me the opportunity to show our kindness
48:44 and our love, His love, to them to help them through
48:51 these particular times.
48:53 Our Lord stands with us no matter what.
48:57 He walks us through if we will have the courage
49:02 to step out for him.
49:04 When I was in Arlington Texas, we had
49:08 a campaign to raise money.
49:10 It was a capital stewardship campaign,
49:11 a three year campaign, 156 weeks,
49:15 to try to build our church.
49:18 And it was very successful.
49:21 The Lord blessed it tremendously.
49:23 There was a young couple in the church.
49:26 And this young man, when we talked about what people
49:30 could give, one of the areas was 100 dollars a week.
49:36 Now over 156 weeks, that's 15,600 dollars.
49:45 This young couple, by faith, they had the courage
49:50 to say, "I'm going to do something by faith."
49:53 And they made a commitment for 15,600 dollars.
49:58 And then he came to me and he said, "Pastor, we're just
50:01 so thrilled about this.
50:02 We're going to cut some expenses and we just feel that we're
50:06 going to make $15,600.
50:09 Now I knew that they did not make a lot of money.
50:13 And I said, "Are you sure you can make this?"
50:16 "Oh, I'm positive that I can."
50:19 Now they had children.
50:20 And they had them in church school.
50:22 And they had a heavy budget.
50:24 I said, "You really believe the Lord is leading?"
50:27 "Yes, I do."
50:29 He said, "I want to give my testimony at our
50:31 training session this Tuesday night."
50:34 I said, "Alright."
50:36 He came to the training session and he was bawling.
50:41 And I said, "Jeff, what's wrong?"
50:45 He said, "I lost my job today."
50:48 I said, "Oh, let's hold off on that testimony."
50:51 You know, you make a commitment for 15,600 dollars
50:56 and then you lose your job?
50:59 That's not the way it's suppose to work.
51:02 He said, "No, I still want to give my testimony."
51:05 I said, "Jeff, why don't we wait until later."
51:07 "Pastor, I want to give my testimony."
51:10 I said, "Alright."
51:12 With tears flowing down his cheeks, he told them
51:15 how he'd lost his job.
51:17 And he said, "I don't know how I'm going to be able
51:21 to do that 100 dollars a week.
51:23 I didn't know how we were going to do it before.
51:27 But I believe.
51:29 I believe that God is going to help me to do it."
51:33 Less than a week later, he called me and he said,
51:38 "The next time we have our training
51:40 session, I want to talk."
51:41 I said, "What's happened?"
51:44 He said, "Just let me give my testimony and I'll tell you."
51:47 So we got him back up.
51:49 He said, "After I lost my job, I made some phone calls
51:55 to some other companies that did the same thing
51:58 that my company does.
52:01 And one of them said, 'Jeff, we've wanted you
52:03 for a long time.'"
52:05 And he said, "They gave me a job.
52:10 And Pastor, guess what else."
52:12 I said, "What?"
52:13 He said, "I'm being paid exactly 100 dollars a week more
52:19 than I was at the other job."
52:22 I said, "I cannot believe it."
52:23 That's how God is when you step out by faith.
52:28 He never stepped back even though his poor pastor,
52:33 who didn't have the faith he should have had,
52:36 was saying, "Why don't you hold off right now."
52:38 No, he didn't do it.
52:41 He didn't do it.
52:43 You see, my friend, when you're faithful to Him,
52:46 He'll see you through.
52:48 One of my favorite stories comes from E.E. Cleveland.
52:53 He told us this one time about a man named Lonnie
52:57 from Winston-Salem North Carolina, I believe it is.
53:01 And he worked for a lady named Bernice Kent,
53:04 of the tobacco company.
53:07 And one day she said to him, Lonnie was the chauffeur,
53:09 she said, "Lonnie, you don't work on Saturday's, but
53:13 some of the other employees, they want Saturday's off too.
53:16 So I've told them no and they said, 'Well, what about Lonnie?'
53:20 And so you're going to have to start working on Saturday's."
53:24 Now it takes courage when you've got a house full of kids,
53:28 and you're barely making it, and the economy is bad,
53:33 it takes courage to stand for that which is right.
53:37 Lonnie said, "Mrs. Kent, I don't get Sabbath off
53:41 so that I can go shopping.
53:44 I don't get it off to go fishing.
53:46 I get it off to go to church to worship my Lord.
53:50 And I believe..."
53:52 "Well," she said, "you can go to church on another day."
53:54 "No," he said, "I believe this is the day God has told me
53:58 to go to church."
53:59 And he reads the commandment to her.
54:01 She said, "Well, you make up your mind if you're
54:06 either going to work next Saturday.
54:07 Or on Friday when you come in to get your check,
54:10 you bring me the keys."
54:11 And that next Friday, he brought her the keys.
54:15 She said, "You're going to quit?"
54:17 He said, "Yes ma'am.
54:18 I don't want to quit, but..."
54:20 "Do you have another job?" "No, I don't."
54:22 "Do you know how hard jobs are to get today?"
54:24 "Yes."
54:25 "Don't you have a whole house full of kids?"
54:28 He said, "Yes."
54:30 "Don't you owe some money?" "Yes."
54:32 "How much money do you owe?"
54:34 And he gave her a list of something like
54:36 800 dollars that he owed.
54:39 "How are you going to pay that debt?"
54:40 "I don't know, but God has told me that I should honor
54:45 the seventh day Sabbath."
54:48 She said, "Just a minute."
54:49 She went in the other room, wrote out a check for
54:52 800 dollars, gave it to him, and said, "Go pay those debts off.
54:54 And you be here Monday morning, and don't be late."
54:59 Now he had his job back and his debts paid.
55:03 But Monday morning, he was late.
55:06 And she said, "Lonnie, why?"
55:08 He said, "My car broke down."
55:10 "Oh that old car," she said. "Well let's hurry."
55:12 And they jumped in the limousine that he chauffeured her in
55:16 and took her around town.
55:19 And then she said, "Take me by the Ford dealer."
55:22 She went by the Ford dealership and she picked out a car.
55:26 She said, "Would your family fit in that car?"
55:29 He said, "Oh, yes ma'am."
55:30 She said, "Well, give him the keys, send me the bill."
55:34 And now he had a car.
55:37 He had stood up for what was right.
55:38 A few weeks later he took her downtown,
55:42 let her out to do her shopping.
55:45 Later, he waited by the limousine for her to come back
55:48 and she didn't.
55:50 Word finally came that she had been hit by a car a block away.
55:54 They had taken her to the hospital.
55:56 They didn't know if she would live or not.
55:58 When she came to, her doctor was there and he said,
56:01 "You call your priest or you call your preacher."
56:03 She said, "I don't want either one."
56:06 She said, "I want my chauffeur."
56:09 And they brought Lonnie.
56:11 And she said, "Lonnie, I know that God hears your prayers.
56:15 I know it.
56:17 Please pray for me."
56:18 And Lonnie knelt by that bed and he prayed for her.
56:22 And just a few days later, they had told her those
56:25 internal injuries could not be healed,
56:28 a few days later, she walked out of that hospital
56:31 on her own power.
56:33 She asked Lonnie a few days after that,
56:36 "Get your car, I want to go to your house."
56:39 He said, "My house?" She said, "Yes."
56:40 And they drove by that little shotgun house.
56:45 And he said, "Would you like to come in?"
56:46 She said, "No, you live there with all those children?"
56:49 He said, "Yes."
56:50 And she gave him another address.
56:53 "Drive into this neighborhood."
56:56 They did.
56:58 And she said, "Lonnie, pick out a lot."
57:01 Now Lonnie is only human.
57:03 And he picked out the biggest lot.
57:07 And Elder Cleveland said that she built him a beautiful
57:12 brick home on that lot.
57:15 Stand up for Jesus,
57:17 have the courage of the convictions of God's word,
57:21 I assure you that He will stand with you
57:26 no matter what.


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Revised 2014-12-17