Participants: Frank Gonzalez
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000120
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:21 Well, we're just happy to have you here. 00:24 And happy to have you join us by television. 00:27 Because this is an exceptionally fine series. 00:32 Pastor Frank Gonzalez, who is the senior pastor of the 00:35 Avon Park Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:37 who is also the former speaker/director for 17 years 00:42 of The Voice of Hope, which is La Voz in the 00:47 Latino Voice of Prophecy, is our speaker. 00:51 And how God has been blessing us through his ministry. 00:57 He's been covering the seven words of hope. 00:59 These are the seven saying that took place from the cross 01:03 when Christ was being crucified. 01:05 Or the seven thoughts and ideas that came forward. 01:08 And this afternoon, he is covering two more. 01:12 This morning at the 11 o'clock hour he did 01:15 Delivered and Fulfilled. 01:17 And today again, two sermons; Saved and Accepted. 01:23 In between those two sermons, Tina and Michael Berry 01:27 are going to do for us; 01:29 Tina will be singing, Michael playing, 01:32 The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power. 01:36 We want to give all the time we can possibly give 01:39 to Pastor Frank Gonzalez. 01:41 And so Pastor Frank, the time is yours. 01:55 Welcome. 01:57 Thank you for coming. 01:58 And thank you for tuning in. 02:02 Heavenly Father, may the meditation of Your 02:05 servant's heart and the words of his mouth 02:10 be acceptable unto You and of help to somebody. 02:16 And we'll give You the honor, and the glory, and the praise. 02:21 And we'll do it in Jesus' name and for His sake, amen and amen. 02:29 We have been looking at the cross of Christ. 02:36 It's a good thing to look at the cross of Christ. 02:40 There's life in that look. 02:43 Do you know that the Bible is the only book that I know 02:47 that tells you that there's life in a look? 02:51 The Bible invites us to look. 02:55 Sometimes, dear, that's all you have the energy to do. 02:59 Life has beat you down and your energy is gone. 03:08 And all you can do is see. 03:11 If you can see and if you can listen, 03:14 there's hope for you today. 03:16 Because this is coming to you, not from this pulpit, 03:22 but from the universe's tallest pulpit; the cross of Christ. 03:28 Which is lifted up high so that we can see it clearly, 03:34 and so that we can get the life and the spirit 03:39 and the power that is only there, only there. 03:46 And we have been looking in a special way at these 03:49 seven short sermons that Christ preached from His cross. 03:56 Have you been blessed, those of you who have come? 04:00 I know I have. 04:03 We've come to the sixth of these words. 04:09 Now you know, it's a common idea that when Christ died, 04:14 He saved the church, or the good people in the church. 04:21 But it surprises us to learn that He accomplished far more. 04:27 He literally saved the world itself. 04:33 Realizing what this means lifts our hearts 04:36 as nothing else can do. 04:40 This marvelous feat that Christ accomplished on His cross 04:44 has been overlooked for many centuries. 04:47 Now the time has come that the whole world learns 04:51 what has been dimly understood for so long. 04:55 Why Jesus cried out with almost His last breath in a voice 05:01 that shook heaven and earth, "It is finished." 05:06 John 19 verse 30. 05:11 You know, even the physical energy required for a 05:14 dying man to shout indicates and maybe an angel 05:19 strengthened Him to make that utterance. 05:26 Now let me ask you this question. 05:29 What was it that He finished? 05:33 He said, "It is finished." 05:37 What did He finish? 05:39 Did He mean that now His sufferings were over 05:43 and He could rest? 05:45 That He paid the debt we owe? Yes. 05:48 That and far, far more. 05:52 Jesus told the people, in John 12 verse 47, 05:58 that the Father sent Him down here with a specific assignment. 06:03 A job description, if you will. 06:06 He was sent on a special mission. 06:09 And we read in chapter 17 of John verse 4 06:16 that the night before He died, in His prayer to His Father, 06:20 He claimed that He had done it. 06:24 He said, "I have glorified thee on the earth. 06:29 I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." 06:37 What did He say? 06:39 That He finished it. 06:41 This cry, "It is finished," is the sixth of the seven 06:46 words of hope that we have been looking at. 06:51 Now, this is good news. 06:56 The Bible says that this news one day is going to 06:59 enlighten the globe with the glory of God. 07:06 Now let's look at what this means. 07:10 You know, it wasn't the disciples and it wasn't 07:13 church people that understood this first. 07:16 You know who it was? 07:17 The Samaritans. 07:19 The Samaritans understood the truth more quickly 07:22 than the Jews. 07:24 In fact, more quickly than the twelve apostles. 07:27 After only one meeting with Jesus, they said of Him, 07:32 in John chapter 4 verse 42, "This is indeed the Savior 07:41 of the world." 07:44 Now Paul said something interesting in 07:47 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10. 07:51 And this is going to start helping us. 07:53 This is sort of a, oh someone would say, a hermeneutic key. 08:00 It just means, something to help you understand. 08:04 To unlock what does it mean that Jesus is 08:08 the Savior of the world. 08:11 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10, it says 08:15 that He "is the Savior of all men, 08:20 especially of those that believe." 08:24 Did you get that? 08:26 So Jesus is the Savior of all men, but specially 08:31 of those that believe. 08:34 So if He's said to be especially the Savior of those 08:40 that believe, there must be a sense, some sense, 08:45 in which He's also the Savior of people who do not 08:49 believe in Him. 08:50 You get that? 08:52 He's the Savior of the world, specially of those that believe. 08:58 This is actually very simple and clear. 09:01 There are two ways in which the word, "Savior," 09:04 is understood. 09:06 He saved us all now in our present physical life. 09:13 And for those who believe, He also saved them 09:16 unto eternal life. 09:19 You see, this is a truth that is not often shared. 09:24 But this world would not be around already if it were not 09:30 for the Savior of the world. 09:33 That cross has preserved the physical world, 09:37 this world. 09:39 And you know it's in bad shape, and getting worse. 09:42 But it wouldn't be around if it were not for the cross of Christ 09:49 where the Savior of the world died. 09:57 That's a new take on ecology. 10:03 Christ ecology. 10:06 You see, our very physical life was purchased for us 10:12 by the sacrifice of the Son of God. 10:15 One wise writer, she says that every meal that we eat 10:21 is in reality a sacrament that the cross of Christ, 10:27 she says, "is stamped on every loaf of bread. 10:33 Most people do not realize this, for they have never been told. 10:38 That means that they eat unworthily not discerning 10:42 the Lord's body." 10:43 She's quoting 1 Corinthians 11:27. 10:48 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." 10:50 John 6:48 10:52 "The bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven 10:56 and giveth life unto the world." 10:59 See that? 11:01 He gave life to the world itself. 11:08 Oh, people go their merry way and they don't realize. 11:12 They say, "Well you know, Jesus is for you guys. 11:15 Jesus is for you religious people. 11:18 Jesus is for the church people. 11:21 He's done nothing for me." 11:23 Excuse me? 11:25 Excuse me? 11:27 The very life you have... 11:29 Listen, stop a moment there and take a deep breath. 11:32 Let's all take a deep breath. 11:38 Now, you should give thanks to Jesus for that breath. 11:45 Because whether you deserved it or not... 11:49 And in fact, you didn't. And I didn't. 11:52 ...it is a gift that Christ has given you and me 11:57 as the Savior of the world. 12:00 But this isn't often communicated. 12:03 The world itself would have perished, 12:06 life on this planet would have ceased, 12:09 if the Son of God had not given Himself for us. 12:13 All of this is included in the truth of the cross of Christ. 12:17 See that? 12:20 We should be more grateful. 12:26 And there's still a larger sense in which Christ 12:29 accomplished a mighty feat on the cross. 12:33 You know one of the of the things He did? 12:35 He conquered Satan. 12:37 Praise God. 12:39 The enemy of God. 12:41 Do you know that Satan was at one point 12:44 the most beautiful of all the holy angels? 12:51 But he came up with a new invention. 12:55 All by his lonesome self. 12:58 You know what the invention is? 12:59 Sin, yes. 13:02 And when he refused to repent... 13:04 By the way, he had chances to repent. 13:07 When he refused to repent again and again and again, 13:10 he lost his character as Lucifer. 13:13 Meaning, the one who bears light; the light bearer. 13:18 And he rebelled. 13:20 And he decided he was going to defeat God 13:22 in this cosmic war of the ages and take over the throne of God 13:26 for himself. 13:28 God help us. 13:31 This is known as the great controversy 13:33 between Christ and Satan. 13:36 The war is fought in human hearts worldwide. 13:43 It's a war of either believing the truth of God 13:47 or believing Satan's lie. 13:50 And the cross is the means of Satan's defeat. 13:58 Whether in the great cosmic controversy 14:01 or in the battle with sin in yours and mine single 14:05 human heart, the key is the cross of Christ. 14:11 The controversy began in heaven. 14:16 We read it in Revelation 12. 14:20 You know, some people are fixated on heaven. 14:24 The only thing they care about is to go to heaven. 14:27 Now it's not a bad pursuit. 14:31 We all want to go to heaven. 14:36 But the safety, the hiding place, for the soul 14:43 is not heaven as such. 14:46 It is in heaven. 14:47 But it's not heaven, as such. 14:50 Because this began in heaven. 14:54 The problem began in heaven. 14:58 Our safety is not heaven. 15:01 Our safety is Jesus Christ. 15:07 We read in Revelation 12, "There was a war in heaven." 15:11 In heaven? 15:12 Yeah, there was a war in heaven. 15:15 "Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 15:19 and the dragon fought, and his angels, 15:21 and prevailed not. 15:23 Neither was their place found any more in heaven. 15:26 And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, 15:30 called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. 15:35 He was cast out into the earth, and his angels 15:39 were cast out with him." 15:42 Verses 7 through 9. 15:44 You know, Michael is one of the many names of Christ. 15:48 It means, one who is like God. 15:53 Our first parents, Adam and Eve, believed the lie 15:56 Satan had said. 15:59 And they welcomed him into their world and our world. 16:05 And now Satan's big argument is that he's invented something 16:10 so powerful, so strong, that not even God can defeat it. 16:18 See? 16:21 And that something that Satan claims is invincible 16:26 is sin in our sinful fallen flesh. 16:31 He says, "Good luck." 16:36 And it has seemed as though he's right. 16:39 It has seemed as though Satan would win the great controversy. 16:42 Because sin has taken root in our sinful nature 16:47 so deeply that the world is full of it. 16:52 Everybody has been a slave of sin. 16:55 Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned." 17:00 "And there is none righteous, no not one." 17:07 "One," with a lowercase. 17:12 But there is One, with a capital case, 17:16 who did in our common humanity. 17:22 He took on our common humanity. 17:25 He took on our dysfunctional humanity. 17:29 And in His own life He defeated, Christ, in the flesh. 17:37 According to Hebrews 4:15, it says that Jesus was, quote, 17:42 "in all points tempted like as we are..." 17:48 And there we pause, breathless. 17:51 And what happened? 17:53 He was tempted in all points. 17:56 What was the outcome? 17:58 The inspired words go on. 18:00 "...yet without sin." 18:02 Praise God. 18:03 For Him, the temptation to give into Satan 18:06 and go ahead and sin was so terribly strong, people, 18:12 that He sweated drops of blood. 18:18 We haven't done that yet. 18:20 It took every milligram of His soul energy to say no 18:25 to Satan's most alluring temptations. 18:30 But I've got news for you. 18:32 Oh, if it weren't that you're a little dizzy with what you ate, 18:40 I'd have you get up and shout. 18:42 Jesus said that He emerged victorious. 18:49 The Bible says that He, I'm quoting, 18:53 "condemned sin in the flesh." 18:59 Thus He gained the glorious victory. 19:02 And all who appreciate what He accomplished 19:04 will pray David's prayer, 19:06 "Create in me a clean heart, oh God." 19:10 Psalm 51:10 19:12 Now the Son of God has fought this great battle of the ages 19:17 in His own human heart. 19:19 As He has hung on His cross in the darkness 19:23 He has endured what no other human being in all of time 19:27 has had to endure; the total forsakenness of God. 19:35 He has endured total darkness of human spirit. 19:39 He has endured the wrath of God against sin, 19:42 for He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin. 19:48 There is nothing more than any lost person could endure 19:51 in the second death that will come to the lost 19:54 in the final judgment. 19:56 Paul says that there is a sting of death, which is sin. 20:01 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 20:06 Now, that sting has spent itself out in Christ. 20:14 He has beared His soul to endure its sting. 20:19 That is, it's total condemnation. 20:23 Glory of glories. 20:25 The throne of God is now secure for all eternity to come. 20:31 Aren't you happy? 20:34 And by faith, you and I can share the victory. 20:38 Now Christ has the right to trumpet His cry 20:42 throughout the universe of God to all the unfallen worlds, 20:46 to all the holy angels, to every nook and cranny of the world, 20:50 to every demon in hell, and say, "It is finished." 20:57 Satan and sin are forever vanquished. 21:03 Does your heart rejoice in this glorious victory? 21:07 Do you say amen? 21:09 Oh, people, the victory is won in Christ. 21:18 But I've got to say something. 21:21 Still as of today, the battle in your heart and my heart 21:26 remains to be finished in triumph over Satan and sin. 21:32 We've got to decide where we're going to stand. 21:34 We've got a choice to make. 21:37 Are we going to be with the enemy 21:38 or are we going to be on the side of Christ? 21:42 Now you and I can bring glory to Christ by demonstrating 21:47 that His gospel is the power of God unto salvation 21:53 here and now. 21:56 And we are exhibit A. 22:00 That's something worth living for. 22:02 The power of God. 22:04 God is going to give you His power. 22:07 But it comes from the gospel. 22:10 It comes from looking at Jesus, the Savior of the world. 22:14 It comes from, like Paul says, from comprehending 22:18 with all the saints the height, the depth, the width, 22:23 the breadth of the love of God. 22:27 That love of God is poured into your heart. 22:31 And it knows how to clean the heart. 22:35 You need an agape cleansing. 22:38 Nothing cleanses the heart like agape of God. 22:45 Oh, I've got a little time to tell a story. 22:49 Is it okay if I tell a story? 22:54 Evangelists have a few stories to tell. 22:58 I've got to tell you, it's almost a confession. 23:04 When Columbia was in the throws of that terrorism and, umm... 23:12 ...drug cartels and all of that, oh... 23:18 ...it wasn't exactly in my radar for evangelism. 23:23 I mean, I didn't put it out of the radar, 23:26 but I wasn't going to put it in there. 23:29 You know what I mean? 23:31 And even the General Conference at the time said, 23:35 "Oh no, don't go. Don't go." 23:38 But everything changes when God says, "Go." 23:44 Right? 23:46 Because the safest place in the world for you 23:50 is to be where God wants you to be. 23:54 And if you don't believe that, have a little conversation 23:57 with our friend, Jonah. 24:01 And see what he tells you. 24:03 Yeah. 24:05 The safest place is to be where God wants you to be. 24:08 And so God said go to Columbia. 24:12 And I went there, not only worried about the situation, 24:15 not so much that, but you know, because of all of 24:21 the rigamarole going on I didn't have the opportunity 24:25 to really prepare the field the way you normally do 24:29 with small groups, and do four or five visits before 24:32 you finally go a year later. 24:34 You know, all of that. 24:36 And so I didn't know what I was going to find. 24:38 But I got in my hotel room and the first good news; 24:42 I was going through the channels, boom, boom, boom, 24:45 boom... What? 24:47 That's 3ABN. 24:52 In open channel. 24:54 I said, "This is good." 24:59 The next thing, I go to a church Sabbath 25:03 and there are people there and they tell me, 25:09 "You know, we've been praying for you." 25:13 "And the 'we,'" she said, "are those of us..." 25:17 Because that particular city had gone through terrible, 25:20 terrible persecution. 25:21 She said, "Those of us who lived through that time 25:27 and we remember the martyrs, and the blood that was spilled 25:31 in the streets, and those of us who are remnant of those, 25:35 we are praying for you that God will bless you." 25:38 I said, "Wow," you know. "This is special." 25:42 And the third thing that encouraged me was, 25:45 you know, the city, the authorities, had told them 25:49 again and again and again that they couldn't use these 25:51 stadiums, you know, that the government owned. 25:55 So they built their own. 26:00 Where the church and the school were, they built 26:02 a 7000 seat stadium. 26:07 I said, "These people mean business. 26:10 These are a people of faith." 26:12 And there's no place better to be than with people of faith. 26:16 And so I felt good. 26:18 Well I've got to tell you this story. 26:21 Because I've got not a lot of time. 26:24 I'm standing there on the platform and we made the call. 26:29 Hundreds of people come forward, praise the Lord. 26:32 Hundreds and hundreds. 26:33 And I hear a voice, like coming from under my 26:37 feet, it seemed like. 26:38 From underneath the earth, it seemed like. 26:41 And the voice said, "Pastor Frank, help me. 26:44 I am a terrorist." 26:48 I started looking for him. 26:51 What? 26:52 I noticed what he said. 26:53 He didn't say, "I use to be a terrorist." 26:58 "I was a terrorism." 27:00 He said what? 27:01 "I am a terrorist. Please help me. 27:06 What do I do?" 27:08 Now, there was a platoon of soldiers that were there. 27:12 And they were assigned to us. 27:15 And they would wisp me out through the back, 27:17 and they would take me to my hotel each night 27:20 with a different direction, different, you know, route. 27:24 And they were beginning to pull me. 27:29 And I was having a conversation with this man 27:31 and they were pulling me away. 27:33 And so I had to scream. 27:36 He said, "What do I do? What do I do?" 27:38 I said, "Jesus, Jesus. 27:44 Give your heart to Jesus." 27:48 And I didn't see him again. 27:51 Every night, you know, people must have thought, 27:55 "You know, Pastor Frank wants to look at every 27:58 single one of us." 28:00 But I was trying to find my young man. 28:03 Is he there? 28:05 The nights went on. 28:07 And the next to last night of the meetings, 28:12 he did the same maneuver, you know, and came all the way 28:15 and put himself in the same exact place. 28:18 As if to jar my memory. 28:20 It didn't need any jarring. 28:24 And now he said, "Pastor Frank, I'm going to get baptized." 28:31 Praise the Lord. 28:34 And the next night, I saw him descend into the baptismal tank 28:42 and be baptized. 28:45 Wow. 28:48 Jesus is so powerful. 28:50 He can even save terrorists. 28:58 Sometimes we think there's nothing you can do 29:00 for these people except get rid of them. 29:04 But God can save them. 29:07 Because Jesus, praise His name, He is truly the Savior 29:15 of the world. 29:18 And yes, my friend, that means you. 29:22 You who are watching. 29:23 Whatever your background is, whatever your situation is. 29:27 You know, at lot of these terrorists in Latin America, 29:31 they're picked up in their homes when they're children 29:34 against their will, their will and the will of their parents. 29:36 They are taken away and then they are raised as terrorists. 29:41 That's what happens. 29:44 I don't know what has happened in your life. 29:47 Life has a way, forces and life have a way of shaping our lives. 29:51 But there's a bigger force. 29:54 It is the force of the cross of Christ. 29:56 It is the power that comes from Jesus dying for you 30:00 and saying, "It is finished. 30:02 I saved you. 30:04 Now come to me and I'll do the job." 30:08 Before we go to our next word, I want you to listen 30:14 to this very, very special musical selection 30:20 that we will present for the glory of God 30:23 and for the inspiration of all of us. 30:59 The blood that Jesus shed for me, 31:09 way back on Calvary; 31:14 the blood that gives me strength from day to day, 31:22 it will never lose its power. 31:30 It reaches to the highest mountain, 31:38 and it flows to the lowest valley; 31:46 the blood that gives me strength from day to day, 31:54 it will never lose its power. 32:02 It soothes my doubts and calms my fears, 32:12 and it dries all my tears; 32:17 yes, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, 32:25 it will never lose its power. 32:34 It reaches to the highest mountain, 32:41 and it flows to the lowest valley; 32:48 yes, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, 32:57 it will never lose its power. 33:04 It reaches to the highest mountain, 33:13 and it flows to the lowest valley; 33:20 yes, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, 33:30 it will never lose, it will never lose, 33:37 it will never lose 33:46 its power. 34:03 Amen. Thank you so very much. 34:08 Well, it's taken a little while, but we come to the final word. 34:15 And you don't want to miss this final word. 34:19 If you've just tuned in, we are looking at the words, 34:26 the little sermons that Jesus preached 34:30 while He was on His cross. 34:32 And hang on, because He said His words 34:36 are spirit and are life. 34:40 And there is nothing that has quite the spirit and the life 34:46 as what He did and what He said while He was on His cross 34:52 as the Savior of the world. 34:54 That includes you, that includes me. 34:57 And you know, it was on a Friday at noon, 35:02 according to Mark 15 verse 33, the Bible calls it the 35:09 sixth hour, that the sins of the whole world 35:13 were laid upon Jesus, the Savior of the world. 35:18 He felt they were His sins, you have to understand. 35:22 Although they were not. 35:24 He was totally sinless. 35:27 But this burden crushed His soul. 35:31 He felt as the lost will feel at last as they stand totally 35:36 and finally condemned before the great white throne. 35:42 Jesus was heartbroken, in despair. 35:47 And as we saw in one of our previous studies, 35:50 the fourth word from the cross, he was tasting death 35:54 for every man. 35:56 The real thing. 35:57 What the Bible calls, the second death. 36:01 You know, at Avon Park, we're kind of starting a movement. 36:08 And it's interesting that now I'm here and I have the 36:14 ability to present it to a lot of people. 36:19 We want to start the, "Friday Noon for Jesus," movement. 36:25 You know, we don't say, "Thank you," enough. 36:28 And here's what we're doing. 36:29 Friday at noon, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, 36:32 you stop and you say, "Thank You, Jesus. 36:37 Because it was on a Friday at noon that You took my sins 36:43 in a special way. 36:44 And I want to thank You for that." 36:46 And I've actually come up with a little formula 36:49 if you want to write it down. 36:51 It's, JC-G6-12. 37:00 I want to make t-shirts with that. 37:03 Not to sell or anything. 37:04 But you know, as something that will spark conversation. 37:10 JC-G6-12 37:17 What does it mean? 37:18 What do you think "JC" is? 37:20 Jesus Christ. 37:22 "G" is for gratitude. 37:26 Gratitude. 37:28 "6" is for Friday. 37:33 "12" is for twelve noon. 37:37 JC-G6-12 37:48 I hope that... 37:50 And at 3ABN, if somebody here wants to make those t-shirts 37:54 and get them out, or whatever, you don't have to 37:59 consult with me, please. 38:02 I presented this in church, and a sister in the church, Marilyn, 38:10 she presented me with a t- shirt that she had made. 38:16 And so when you go out, and people, you have that JC-G6-12, 38:22 they're going to say, "What is that? 38:24 Excuse me, what does that mean?" 38:27 And you have an opportunity to share the good news 38:32 of the cross of Christ. 38:36 Well, we've come to the seventh word from the cross. 38:40 And now Jesus' heart, finally, finally is at rest. 38:45 He has progressed from that cry of forsakenness 38:52 to a cry of total trust in His Father. 38:57 He's gained the victory. 39:00 He has seen no miracle performed. 39:03 He has heard no voice from heaven to speak to Him. 39:09 No one has spoken a word of encouragement to Him. 39:13 Not even His own disciples. 39:16 But by faith He has gained the victory. 39:21 He has remembered what He learned in His 39:25 study of the Bible. 39:27 Now the end is here. He prays. 39:31 Now He can say it. 39:32 He didn't say it before. 39:33 He said, "My God, My God." 39:37 He couldn't say Father. 39:39 Now He says it, "Father." 39:45 Now He hasn't seen the Father. 39:49 The situation hasn't changed. 39:51 He has changed. 39:55 He believes the Father is there with Him. 39:59 He can't see Him, can't sense Him. 40:03 But by faith He believes that the Father loves Him. 40:08 He understands He's the Savior of the world. 40:12 And now that He has finished... 40:17 The last word was, "It is finished." 40:21 ...now He can say, "Father, into Your hands 40:25 I commend My spirit." 40:27 This is in Luke chapter 23 verse 46. 40:32 These were the last words Jesus spoke before His death. 40:36 His seventh word from the cross. 40:39 Now He's ready to die. 40:42 His work is done. 40:44 He dies triumphant. 40:48 But we must note something very important here. 40:52 These last words were not His own words. 40:56 They were a direct quotation from the Bible. 41:00 I'm trying to tell you, people, He relied on the Bible. 41:06 "You mean Jesus..." 41:08 Yes, Jesus relied on Scripture. 41:12 On what He had studied. 41:15 It's the words of David's 31st Psalm. 41:21 These words were in His heart. 41:25 In verse 5 of that psalm, it says, 41:29 "Into your hand I commit my spirit. 41:34 You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." 41:42 All that Jesus knew, the man Jesus, 41:46 all that He knew of His Father while on earth He learned 41:51 from the Bible. 41:55 He truly became Emmanuel, God with us. 41:59 He laid aside all of His divine prerogatives. 42:05 He emptied Himself to become one of us. 42:09 He was a baby born in Bethlehem. 42:12 He had no conscious memory of His pre-existence. 42:16 He did not sit in Mary's lap and regale her with stories of the 42:20 wonderful place heaven is and of His former life adventures 42:25 with the angelic hosts. 42:27 No, He didn't do that. 42:29 He was a true human baby. 42:31 He had to learn to walk, to talk, everything. 42:36 Everything. 42:39 Now don't get it wrong. 42:40 He was also at the same time the Son of God. 42:46 But you can never know by looking at Him. 42:49 What was different about Him was that He had absorbed, 42:54 by faith, the Bible so much as His education 43:01 that He became the Word made flesh. 43:07 This is why in the last hour of His life 43:11 His mind was still saturated with what He had learned 43:17 in the Bible when He was a youth. 43:21 All that He had read was stored in His memory. 43:25 And now in His hour of greatest need, 43:28 there it was to comfort Him, to encourage Him. 43:32 He had lived by the Word, and now He could die by the Word 43:37 in perfect peace and happiness. 43:40 He said, "Man shall not live by..." What? 43:45 "...bread alone but by every word that proceedeth 43:51 out of the mouth of God," Matthew 4:4. 43:55 Listen people, when you feast upon this same bread of life, 44:01 the Word of God, those treasures of truth 44:06 will also become part of your permanent memory. 44:13 You know, I told you one of my heroes is H.M.S. Richards. 44:21 The man knew his Bible. 44:26 Del Decker would visit me often in my office. 44:30 Am I making you jealous? 44:34 Wayne Hooper would come around all the time. 44:38 Bob Edwards. 44:40 People like that. 44:42 And H.M.S. Richards Jr. 44:46 But it was the quartet that would tell me the story. 44:53 They'd say, "You know, Frankus, we were in this camp meeting 44:57 and we were behind H.M.S. 45:01 And he was 'reading' his Bible. 45:08 Because he didn't make a show of his learning, you know. 45:13 But he was reading his Bible. 45:16 Well, we looked and there was something wrong 45:18 about the Bible. 45:19 And we looked closer. 45:21 It was upside down, Frank. 45:26 It was upside down. 45:29 The man wasn't reading his Bible. 45:32 The Bible was in his mind and it was in his heart." 45:38 Now I'm not saying you've got to memorize the whole Bible, dear. 45:42 But you've got to treasure it. 45:43 Take a verse every morning, treasure it. 45:47 These truth's of the Bible, treasure them, learn them. 45:55 It'll give you life and spirit. 46:00 And Jesus promises, in John 14:26, 46:03 you know the promise, that He "will teach you all things, 46:08 and bring to your remembrance 46:11 all things that I said to you," He says. 46:14 Right? 46:16 The Holy Spirit is going to bring it back to you 46:18 when you need it. 46:20 Jesus needed it there, and it was there for Him. 46:25 In other words, when Satan tries to assail your mind, dear one, 46:30 and your heart, tempting you to doubt that Jesus is your friend 46:37 and your Savior, the Holy Spirit will flash into your mind 46:42 those Scriptures that you have read. 46:45 And fortified by the Word of God, you will command Satan, 46:50 "Get behind me Satan," Matthew 16:23. 46:57 We wonder why did Jesus quote that particular Psalm 31 47:01 in His last breath. 47:03 When we turn to read it, we discover why. 47:07 It describes His own experience. 47:09 He saw Himself in this psalm. 47:13 Look at verse 11. 47:16 "I am a reproach among all my enemies, 47:19 but especially among my neighbors, 47:22 and I am repulsive to my acquaintances. 47:25 Those who see me outside flee from me." 47:30 Verse 12, "I am forgotten like a dead man out of mind. 47:37 I am like a broken vessel." 47:40 Verse 13, "For I hear the slander of many. 47:44 Fear is on every side. 47:46 While they take counsel together against me, 47:49 they scheme to take away my life." 47:53 Verse 14, "But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord. 47:59 My times are in Your hands." 48:02 Verse 17, "Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord." 48:06 Verse 22, "For I said in my haste, I am cut off 48:10 from before Your eyes." 48:12 That's what He said at the beginning, remember? 48:16 The fourth word. 48:19 "You have forsaken Me, God. 48:21 Why have You forsaken Me?" 48:22 "In my haste, I said, I am cut off from before Your eyes. 48:27 Nevertheless, You heard the voice of my supplications 48:30 when I cried out to You." 48:34 Oh people, can you begin to see how real Jesus is? 48:42 How close to us He has become? 48:46 How He knows our experiences, our temptations? 48:50 How His heart is touched with our weaknesses? 48:56 Will the Father resurrect Jesus to new life? 49:00 Now in His last breath, Jesus resigns 49:04 all into His Father's hands. 49:08 "Resurrect Me or not," Jesus prays in effect, 49:11 "I commit My spirit, My life, My all, into Your hands." 49:17 The thought of reward was not in Jesus' mind. 49:21 He was like Moses who, you remember, 49:24 prayed long ago that if God could not forgive Israel, 49:27 "Blot me, I pray, out of Your book which You have written." 49:30 Exodus 32:32 49:33 It was a type of Christ. 49:36 It was a typological thing that looked forward 49:40 to what Christ went through. 49:44 No, what was uppermost in Christ's mind 49:47 as He drew His last breath was not a reward awaiting Him. 49:53 But He was thinking of the great reward that those who 49:57 believe in Him will inherit. 50:00 In other words, "Whatever happens to Me, 50:02 take My life and give it to them." 50:06 "Whatever happens, Father, I'm in Your hands. 50:10 But take My life, take My eternal life, 50:15 and give it to them. 50:18 And if I perish, I perish. 50:20 But save My precious," remember. 50:24 "Save My darling. 50:26 Save those that I came to save." 50:31 Oh wow. 50:34 Will you join me in giving thanks to Jesus, 50:40 and giving thanks to God? 50:45 Oh, I don't have a lot of time. 50:46 I wanted to tell you the story of my father in prison. 50:51 I've got six and a half minutes, I'm going to have to be brief. 50:54 You want to hear it? 50:57 I told you my father was an agnostic. 51:01 However, don't get it wrong, he admired people of faith. 51:06 I mean, he had to. 51:07 He married my mother. 51:10 And he respected it. 51:15 And he respected religious liberty. 51:19 And when he saw it taken away in our country, 51:23 it was one of the reasons he started conspiring against 51:27 the tyrannical regime that started being despotic, 51:31 and atheistic, and imposing their atheism on people. 51:38 Well, he ended up in prison. 51:41 I told you how a first cousin of my mother went to arrest him 51:48 with a platoon of soldiers. 51:51 Years went by. 51:52 When he came out in 1979, Jesse Jackson went to Cuba. 51:58 You might remember that. 52:00 And the government doesn't always like 52:04 for Jesse to do these things. 52:06 But once he's determined to do it, then they say, 52:10 "Okay, if you're going to do it, if you have to go, 52:13 here are the people that we want you to negotiate for." 52:17 And my father was in that list. 52:20 Because they know here what happens over there. 52:24 And anyway, my father came out at that time. 52:29 And it wasn't until 1992 that he told me this story. 52:32 He couldn't talk about his imprisonment 52:34 for all of that time. 52:36 At one time I was in Pennsylvania 52:41 working on a sermon, Thursday night. 52:44 He came down to the basement where I was 52:48 and asked me what I was doing. 52:50 I told him. 52:52 He said, "Well, what is the sermon about?" 52:54 I said, "Prayer." 52:56 And he said, "Prayer, oh? Hmmm." 52:59 And I could tell he wanted to tell me something. 53:02 My father the agnostic wanted to tell me something about prayer. 53:08 And I said, "Well, you have something to tell me?" 53:12 He said, "Yes, I do." 53:14 And I swiveled my chair, I said, "You've got my full attention." 53:19 And he told me what happened to him when they first 53:25 arrested him. 53:27 He said, "Frank, I was arrested and tortured 53:33 for 47 days." 53:38 And of course, he didn't know how many there would be, 53:41 and so forth. 53:42 He said, "I went through all those nights." 53:46 And I said, "But dad," I said, "how could you possibly 53:53 endure 47 days of torture?" 53:59 He said, "Well, I didn't know it was going to be that many. 54:01 You know, you just want to survive the next day." 54:05 And I said, "Well, why did you do it? 54:09 What was your method?" 54:11 He said, "Well, I thought of all the people 54:16 that would be arrested, all the men that would be arrested, 54:18 if I talked. 54:21 And I thought of their children. 54:23 And I had a child in my mind. 54:27 Little Mary, little Mary. 54:29 I went to the torture chamber thinking of little Mary. 54:31 This is for little Mary. This is for little Mary. 54:34 Oh God, this is for little Mary. 54:36 Little Mary, little Mary. 54:38 And then it was little Joseph. 54:42 And it was...you know. 54:43 It was somebody. 54:45 And that's," he said, "that's how I did it." 54:49 He said, "But Frank," he said, "I came to one night 54:51 where I knew my body was so frail. 54:55 I had taken so much." 54:57 He said, "I could not take any more. 54:59 And I told God, 'If they come the next morning 55:03 and take me to the torture chamber, 55:06 I'm going to tell them everything. 55:09 And it will be Your fault.'" 55:11 He said, "But I didn't know if I was talking to somebody." 55:13 He said, "I didn't believe... 55:15 I wasn't sure if He existed or not." 55:20 You know, that's what an agnostic is. 55:22 An atheist knows there's no God, you know. 55:25 But an agnostic, he doesn't know. 55:27 He said, "I didn't know if I was talking to the roof, or what. 55:31 But I said, 'If they come and get me, 55:33 I'm going to spill all the beans. 55:36 And the lives of those men will be in Your hands.'" 55:41 He wrestled with God. 55:43 He said, "The next morning, the same knock at the door. 55:46 Same two guys. 55:50 And I started talking to Him, you know. 55:52 You know, whispering. Talking to God. 55:54 And the guards said, 'Oh, you know, he's cuckoo.'" 55:57 You know, that would happen there. 55:59 He said, "Frank, they grabbed me. 56:03 We went down the hall. 56:04 But instead of turning left on the hallway 56:08 to take me to the torture chamber, 56:10 they put me on a jeep, took me straight to prison, 56:14 and never in 16 years, never touched me again." 56:24 And you know, he's kind of funny. 56:25 He's got a sense of humor. 56:26 And so he looked at me and said, "Put that in your sermon." 56:32 I said, "You better believe it." 56:36 And you know what? 56:38 My father is a believer in Christ. 56:42 Oh yes. 56:44 You know, maybe you are going, dear one, 56:47 you're listening, you're going through... 56:48 It may not be that dramatic, but you're going through something. 56:53 And you're wondering, "Is there really a God?" 56:58 And you know the proof? 56:59 You know what the proof is? 57:01 What the historical proof is of God? 57:04 What the historical proof is that God cares for you? 57:07 It's Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. 57:11 That's the proof. 57:13 He was dying for you that horrific death 57:16 so that He could be your Savior. 57:18 Open your heart and welcome Him in, 57:22 and He will accept you. 57:23 You are His precious. 57:25 He died for you. 57:27 Accept Him today. |
Revised 2014-12-17