3ABN On the Road

It Is Finished

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pastor Mark Finley

Home

Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000676


01:01 Welcome to South East Youth Conference
01:03 and we especially welcome
01:04 those watching via satellite.
01:06 Our first song this evening
01:08 will be "Jesus is coming again"
01:10 lift up the trumpet for Jesus is coming again,
01:13 amen. Amen.
01:57 Lift up the trumpet, and loud let it ring
02:02 Jesus is coming again!
02:06 Cheer up, ye pilgrims, be joyful and sing
02:13 Jesus is coming again!
02:17 Coming again, Coming again
02:22 Jesus is coming again!
02:27 Echo it, hilltops; proclaim it, ye plains
02:32 Jesus is coming again!
02:36 Coming in glory, the Lamb that
02:43 was slain Jesus is coming again!
02:47 Coming again, Coming again
02:52 Jesus is coming again!
02:58 Nations are angry by this we do know
03:03 Jesus is coming again!
03:08 Knowledge increases, men run to and fro
03:14 Jesus is coming again!
03:19 Coming again, Coming again
03:23 Jesus is coming again!
03:34 Our next song, next hymn,
03:38 "When the roll is called up yonder."
03:59 When the trumpet of the Lord
04:01 shall sound, and time shall be no more
04:03 And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair
04:07 When the saved of earth
04:09 shall gather over on the other shore
04:12 And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there
04:17 When the roll is called up yonder
04:21 When the roll is called up yonder
04:25 When the roll is called up yonder
04:31 When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there
04:37 On that bright and cloudless morning
04:39 when the dead in Christ shall rise
04:42 And the glory of his resurrection share
04:46 When his chosen ones shall gather
04:49 to their home beyond the skies
04:50 And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there
04:55 When the roll is called up yonder
05:00 When the roll is called up yonder
05:04 When the roll is called up yonder
05:11 When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there
05:16 Let us labor for the Master
05:19 from the dawn till setting sun
05:21 Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care
05:25 Then when all of life is over,
05:28 and our work on earth is done
05:30 And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there
05:34 When the roll is called up yonder
05:39 When the roll is called up yonder
05:43 When the roll is called up yonder
05:49 When the roll is called up yonder I'll be there
06:01 "Oh! When shall I see Jesus"
06:03 it's our next hymn.
06:17 O when shall I see Jesus,
06:22 And reign with him above,
06:23 And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning.
06:29 And from the flowing fountain,
06:32 Drink everlasting love,
06:34 And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning.
06:40 O, shout, glory!
06:42 For I shall mount above the skies
06:45 When I hear the trumpet sound in that morning
06:53 Gird on the gospel armor of faith and hope and love
06:58 and you'll hear the trumpet sound in that morning
07:03 And when the combat's ended He'll carry you above
07:09 and you'll hear the trumpet sound in that morning
07:15 O, shout, glory! For I shall mount above the skies,
07:20 When I hear the trumpet sound in that morning
07:27 Our ears shall hear with transport
07:31 the host of heaven sing
07:33 And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning
07:39 Our tongues shall chant the glories of our immortal King
07:44 And shall hear the trumpet sound in that morning
07:49 O, shout, glory! For I shall mount above the skies,
07:55 When I hear the trumpet sound in that morning
08:06 Our next hymn
08:08 "My hope is built on nothing less."
08:34 My hope is built on nothing less
08:38 Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
08:43 I dare not trust the sweetest frame
08:46 But wholly lean on Jesus' Name
08:51 On Christ the solid Rock I stand
08:56 All other ground is sinking sand
09:00 All other ground is sinking sand
09:06 When darkness seems to hide His face
09:10 I rest on His unchanging grace
09:14 In every high and stormy gale
09:18 My anchor holds within the veil
09:23 On Christ, the solid Rock I stand
09:28 All other ground is sinking sand
09:32 All other ground is sinking sand
09:38 When He shall come with trumpet sound
09:43 Oh may I then in Him be found
09:47 Clad in His righteousness alone
09:52 Faultless to stand before the throne.
09:56 On Christ, the solid Rock I stand
10:02 All other ground is sinking sand
10:07 All other ground is sinking sand.
10:21 Our next hymn, next hymn it's our theme song
10:25 "Watch ye saints."
10:27 Let's rise as we sing, let's rise as we sing.
10:55 Watch, ye saints, with eyelids waking
10:59 Lo! The powers of heaven are shaking
11:02 Keep your lamps all trimmed and burning
11:05 Ready for your Lord's returning
11:08 Lo! He comes, lo! Jesus comes
11:15 Lo! He comes, He comes all glorious!
11:19 Jesus comes to reign victorious
11:22 Lo! He comes, yes, Jesus comes.
11:30 Kingdoms at their base are crumbling;
11:34 Hark! His chariot wheels are rumbling
11:37 Tell, O tell of grace abounding
11:40 While the seventh trump is sounding
11:43 Lo! He comes, lo! Jesus comes
11:50 Lo! He comes, He comes all glorious!
11:53 Jesus comes to reign victorious
11:56 Lo! He comes, yes, Jesus comes.
12:04 Nations wane, though proud and stately
12:08 Christ His kingdom has hasteneth greatly
12:11 Earth her latest pangs is summing
12:15 Shout, ye saints, your Lord is coming.
12:18 Lo! He comes, lo! Jesus comes
12:25 Lo! He comes, He comes all glorious!
12:28 Jesus comes to reign victorious
12:31 Lo! He comes, yes, Jesus comes
12:39 Sinners, come, while Christ is pleading
12:43 Now for you He's interceding
12:46 Haste, ere grace and time diminished
12:50 Shall proclaim the mystery finished
12:53 Lo! He comes, lo! Jesus comes
13:00 Lo! He comes, He comes all glorious!
13:03 Jesus comes to reign victorious
13:06 Lo! He comes, yes, Jesus comes.
13:14 I was born in India
13:17 and I lived there for 13 years.
13:21 My parents didn't own a TV so I never watched much TV.
13:29 So the only place I could watch TV
13:31 was at my neighbor's house.
13:34 The two programs that I watched
13:36 was cricket and Pastor Finley.
13:41 By the way cricket is a sport and not a insect,
13:49 even though Pastor Finley's program
13:52 would air during the time of my neighbor's afternoon nap
13:55 they would gladly forsake their nap
13:58 and join us to watch Pastor Finley speak.
14:02 I was impressed with his enthusiasm
14:07 and passion for Jesus Christ.
14:10 I've heard Pastor Finley speak
14:11 many times since after being introduced to him in India.
14:16 At the General Youth Conference
14:17 in 2004 in Sacramento, California.
14:21 He inspired me to make a renewed commitment
14:24 to be a medical missionary.
14:28 I believe he will motive you as he did me to be,
14:33 an active soul winner for Jesus Christ.
14:36 No matter what your major or a occupation maybe.
14:42 If there is one thing in Pastor Finley's ministry
14:46 that stands out above the rest,
14:48 it's his passion for winning souls
14:51 for Jesus Christ.
14:53 Good evening, I'm delighted to be with you this evening.
14:56 You know, I think this is probably
14:58 the second largest group of young people
15:00 I've ever spoken to.
15:02 The largest group was in Hungary one night
15:04 when they thought they were coming to a Rock Concert,
15:06 they heard me come to preach.
15:08 I need to tell you about that story,
15:10 I have an evangelistic series in Hungary
15:12 after 40 years of communism.
15:15 And the same night that I had my evangelistic meeting
15:19 in that large auditorium the most famous rock band
15:24 in Hungary was having a rock concert
15:27 starting at 9 O'clock that evening.
15:29 I started my meetings at 7,
15:32 but young people began lining up
15:34 for the rock concert at about 4 O'clock in the afternoon
15:37 and there were hundreds and hundreds
15:39 and hundreds of them outside.
15:40 I came to the auditorium and I was really excited,
15:42 because I thought these kids have come to hear me
15:44 preach that night.
15:46 When the auditorium doors were opened
15:49 these young people rushed in and surrounded the stage,
15:53 they surround, they were in the back of the stage.
15:55 They were scores of young people on the stage
15:57 and when I walked out to preach
15:59 I was not the most popular person that evening.
16:03 I preach that night
16:05 and there was a large ruckus in the crowd,
16:07 there was a lot of snickering in the crowd,
16:09 and I came home that night
16:11 and felt really badly about it.
16:13 I said, Lord, we waited 40 years
16:16 to have an evangelistic meeting
16:17 this was just at the fall of communism, it was 1989.
16:21 In fact when I was in Hungary,
16:23 the Berlin Wall fell,
16:24 a hundred thousand people marched in the street
16:27 and I was on my bed that night,
16:28 2 O'clock in the morning,
16:29 3 O'clock in the morning praying,
16:30 and I'm saying, God,
16:32 why did you allow this to happen?
16:33 You know, it was confusing,
16:35 I didn't make the message clear,
16:37 it was a real major a problem tonight.
16:40 I went back there next night and I noted
16:42 that many of those young people
16:44 some standing fore deep in the balcony
16:46 waiting for the rock concert to start putting up
16:49 with this American preacher.
16:50 I noticed that many of them
16:51 were scattered through the audience.
16:53 I notice particularly down in the front row
16:54 there were four young women, came down and talked to them,
16:56 one young woman by the name of Erica,
16:59 another by the name of Aneko.
17:00 I said, glad to have you here tonight.
17:02 One girl said, yeah,
17:03 I'm a student of Karl Marx University.
17:05 A student in the communist philosophy of economics,
17:08 I came last night to a rock concert,
17:09 I was standing fore deep in the balcony,
17:12 but when you open the Bible and began to speak,
17:14 something touched my heart, something changed my life
17:17 and I'm here tonight.
17:19 Just last week at the General Conference
17:21 I was talking to a friend of mine from Hungary.
17:24 Now those two girls were baptized
17:25 in that evangelistic series and I asked about them,
17:27 I remembered their name from 1989, 15, 16 years ago
17:31 and I said what about Aneko, is she still faithful to Jesus?
17:35 So what about Erica, is she still faithful to Jesus
17:37 and this Pastor said to me, Pastor Mark,
17:40 both of those young woman were baptized 15 years ago,
17:44 they now have married Seventh-day Adventist
17:46 Pastors young theology students.
17:49 These young man have been in the ministry 15 years,
17:51 they're some of the most powerful soul winners
17:53 in all of the nation of Hungary.
17:55 God brought those young women to that meeting,
17:58 that night, and that one night
18:00 their life was changed.
18:01 Now I don't know what your motive
18:02 is of being here tonight, but I have absolute confidence
18:05 that God is gonna speak to your heart.
18:07 I have absolute confidence that as we open God's book
18:10 that His spirit is going to speak,
18:12 we are living too late in human history
18:14 to come for common meeting and ordinary meetings.
18:16 God's spirit is gonna come down,
18:18 he's gonna touch your heart,
18:20 something's gonna happen in your life
18:21 that you may not be aware of right now.
18:23 But God is gonna touch somebody here tonight
18:25 and I invite you to bow your head with me
18:27 as we pray, as we open God's word.
18:29 Father in heaven, tonight
18:31 we pray that the spirit would come,
18:33 that it would touch our lives in unique ways,
18:36 that you would give us the hope
18:37 and the encouragement, and the confidence
18:39 that it can only come from knowing Christ.
18:41 So as we open your book,
18:43 may the spirit that inspire the book inspire our hearts.
18:46 May the spirit that transformed
18:48 lives in ages past,
18:49 who is still doing that today,
18:51 may he come and transform our lives tonight,
18:54 we pray thee, in Jesus name, Amen.
18:58 A few years ago, my wife was holding evangelistic meeting
19:01 in Apopka, Florida.
19:03 And I was there giving some support
19:05 to those meetings and assisting in them.
19:08 We stayed in the same hotel for about five weeks.
19:11 We got to know the front desk clerks at the hotel,
19:14 and the maids that cleaned our rooms.
19:17 And I noted there was a young university
19:19 student who was the front, one of the front desk clerks,
19:22 and so I struck up a conversation with him
19:24 and after about three week he knew I was a preacher.
19:27 So one day I was coming into the hotel
19:28 and he said, hey preacher.
19:29 I said, yeah.
19:30 He said, I'm an atheist.
19:32 I don't know why he said that I thought he,
19:34 he may wanted to engage this preacher
19:37 in a little debate or argument.
19:39 And he said, hey preacher, I'm an atheist
19:41 and I looked at him and I said,
19:42 well if I had enough faith I might be an atheist too.
19:44 But because I have more reason than faith,
19:48 I believe in God but if you can teach
19:50 how to have enough faith
19:51 I might become an atheist, I'll see you later.
19:54 And I was walking across the hotel lobby,
19:56 he looked at me and said, hey preacher,
19:57 come back here, I wanna talk to you.
19:59 He said what are you talking about?
20:01 You have to have enough faith to be an atheist.
20:03 I said, well, you know what I think you have to have
20:04 more faith to be an atheist
20:06 than you have to be a believe in God.
20:08 He said, what do you mean?
20:09 I said, didn't you ever take biology 101.
20:11 He said, yeah I took biology 101.
20:12 I said, well didn't your professor tell you,
20:14 that learned professor in that distinguish university
20:16 you went to, didn't he tell you
20:17 in biology 101 that Life begets life.
20:21 That's a fundamental principle of biology,
20:23 non-living things don't produce living things,
20:26 but you as an evolutionist have faith
20:28 that if enough time goes by non-living things
20:30 will produce living things.
20:31 Oh! I'm sorry, but I don't have that faith,
20:33 I just believe biology 101, life produces life.
20:36 Secondly, in biology 101, when I took it,
20:39 they were teaching life produced life.
20:41 But you say, if you just have enough time
20:43 there will be aberrations, you call them mutations,
20:45 and life will not produce life.
20:47 But I don't know, it's tough for me
20:49 and I learned about the,
20:51 about the laws of thermodyanmics one of them
20:53 said that from chaos you can't produce water,
20:56 but from water you can produce chaos.
20:57 Will you believe that there was chaos
20:59 in that produced water, so to me,
21:02 you need to have a lot more faith,
21:04 young man, than I do.
21:08 And he said, you know what,
21:10 I like to talk to you a little more sometime.
21:12 I have time now, but I will talk to you a little more,
21:13 you know, you don't give them everything all at once.
21:17 And you beat them a little bit
21:19 until the spirit creates an interest
21:21 and so we developed a relationship,
21:23 my brother-in-law is a pastor in Orlando.
21:27 So one day I called Eric, I said, Eric, come on over,
21:29 I've got a young man I want you to meet
21:31 and they began a series of Bible studies
21:33 where this young man began to probe God's word.
21:36 I am profoundly convinced
21:39 that if you don't understand the origins at creation,
21:42 you don't understand the purpose of your life
21:45 and you don't understand your destiny.
21:47 And tonight I want to talk you about three words
21:49 that summarize the entire Bible.
21:52 From Genesis to Revelation in three words.
21:55 These three words talk about a Garden called Eden,
21:58 they talk about a hill called Calvary,
22:01 and they talk about a land called heaven.
22:03 These three words talk about our origin,
22:06 they talk about our purpose
22:07 and they talk about our destiny.
22:09 These three words summarize the entire Bible,
22:12 and if you have your Bible
22:13 I invite you to take it tonight
22:14 and turn to Genesis, the second Chapter,
22:16 three words, these three words are used
22:19 in four places in the Bible, 'it is finished.'
22:24 It is finished at creation, it is finished at the cross,
22:29 it is finished at the close of probation,
22:31 and it is finished when Jesus comes again.
22:34 Three words, 'it is finished.'
22:36 I would like you to take your Bible
22:37 and turn to Genesis the second Chapter.
22:40 These three words speak of why we exist,
22:44 these three words speak of where we come from.
22:46 These three words speak of our ultimate fate.
22:49 And if you don't understand the beginning
22:51 it's a difficult thing for you
22:52 to understand the ending.
22:54 And if you want to understand the beginning and the ending,
22:56 you don't understand what's in the middle.
22:57 Genesis Chapter 2, we will look there
23:00 Genesis 2 and verse 1,
23:03 "Thus the heavens and the earth
23:05 and all the host of them were finished".
23:07 God said, it is finished, creation week is done.
23:11 I've created the daffodils and daisies,
23:13 and the day lilies.
23:15 I've created the parrots and the peacocks,
23:17 I have created the pansies.
23:19 God said, it is done, God said it is finished,
23:22 he spoke and it was done.
23:24 He spoke and green grass appeared,
23:26 he spoke and fruit trees gave off
23:29 their marvelous fruit.
23:31 He spoke and flowers bloomed, he spoke and bird sang,
23:35 he spoke and human beings were created.
23:38 God said, Genesis 2 verse 1,
23:40 "Thus the heavens and the earth
23:42 and all the host of them were finished", it's done.
23:44 Verse 2, And on the seventh day
23:46 God ended His work, which He had done.
23:50 And He rested on the seventh day
23:52 from all His work which He had done.
23:54 Those two verses indicate the creation
23:57 is something that God had done.
24:00 We did not evolve,
24:02 we are not simply products of fortuitous chance.
24:05 We're not simply skin covering bones,
24:08 we're not simply a genetic biological accident.
24:11 The Bible says in Genesis Chapter 2 verse 1,
24:15 this is something that God has done,
24:19 God created us, God fashioned us,
24:21 God made us.
24:22 And if that is true and is that God created us.
24:25 It means we are not simply a cosmic speck of dust.
24:30 We're not simply like a dented Pepsi can
24:33 run over by a tractor trailer truck out on I-75,
24:37 that is discarded worth nothing.
24:40 God doesn't make junk and when God fashioned you,
24:43 when God created you, when God need you
24:46 he is through away the pattern.
24:48 You can lift your head with dignity,
24:50 you're not some biological accident,
24:52 you are a son or a daughter
24:54 of the King of the Universe.
24:56 You have royal blood running through your veins.
24:59 The King of the Universe fashioned you,
25:01 he made you, he created you.
25:04 Isaiah Chapter 43 verse 1
25:07 tonight if you're discouraged,
25:08 tonight if you're disappointed,
25:10 tonight if you're down-hearted,
25:12 tonight if you're wondering
25:14 what is the purpose of my life?
25:17 God has created you, and the God that named
25:21 the stars has not forgotten your name.
25:24 He knows about the struggles
25:26 you have to get through school.
25:28 He understands the difficulty
25:30 in financing an education in this day and age.
25:33 God knows that, God knows about the struggles you face
25:37 with your boyfriend, your girlfriend.
25:39 God knows all about that.
25:41 God knows the struggles you are facing at home
25:43 and the smile you're putting on tonight
25:45 is not really the smile at all.
25:47 But your parents are going through
25:49 the trauma of a divorce
25:50 and there is somebody sitting here tonight
25:52 that has that problem at home.
25:54 God knows that mother
25:56 that's has been diagnosed with cancer,
25:58 God knows about the problems your dad is facing,
26:01 God knows about your brother
26:02 that's strung out on drugs tonight
26:04 and your heart is broken for him.
26:06 God understands all that
26:08 because you're not cosmic junk,
26:10 God created you, God fashioned you,
26:12 God cares for you.
26:13 God knows your name.
26:14 Isaiah Chapter 43.
26:17 Isaiah the 43 Chapter.
26:19 See creation makes all the difference,
26:21 if I am just a biological accident,
26:23 if I am jus skin covering bone.
26:26 If I am just an intelligent animal
26:28 just a little more intelligent than a dog,
26:30 a cat or an ape.
26:32 Then I wonder through life with little meaning,
26:34 with little purpose, but if God created me
26:37 and God shaped me,
26:38 if the all wise God of the universe
26:40 and the all powerful God of the universe has created me.
26:43 I can put my life in his hand and trust him.
26:46 Isaiah the 43 Chapter we look there.
26:49 Isaiah 43 verse 1, the scripture says,
26:56 But now, thus saith the Lord,
26:57 who created you O Jacob, And who formed you, O Israel,
27:02 Fear not for have redeemed you,
27:04 I have called you by your name, you are Mine.
27:08 When you pass through the waters,
27:09 I will be with you, and through the rivers
27:11 they will not overflow you.
27:12 When you walk through the fire
27:13 you will not be burned,
27:14 nor shall the flame scorch you.
27:16 For I am the Lord, your God,
27:18 the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
27:20 I have Egypt for your ransom,
27:22 Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
27:24 Since you are precious in My sight,
27:26 you've been honored, and I've loved you.
27:27 God says you're precious.
27:28 God says, I've honored you, God says I've loved you.
27:30 You do say come on, preacher,
27:32 what are you talking about.
27:33 There are some six billion people
27:34 on the face of planet earth, how can God care for me?
27:39 How can God be interested in me.
27:42 I mean, come on now, if I am lost
27:43 it's not gonna make any difference in the world.
27:45 Because God has another billion,
27:50 two billion, three billion, five billion people.
27:52 They're gonna be saved anyway.
27:53 How could I make that difference to God.
27:55 I mean, and then if I'm lost,
27:57 come on now, he's got the cherubims,
27:58 the seraphims, and all the angels.
28:00 Are you trying to suggest
28:02 or even think we indicate
28:05 that there is a place in God's heart only for me.
28:10 And then if for some reason I am lost,
28:13 the creator of the universe will be lonely for me
28:19 through the ceaseless ages of eternity.
28:22 You know, I may not be fully able to illustrate it,
28:24 but let's suppose I am walking over here and,
28:26 let's suppose this is a porcelain vase
28:29 and I am little careless tonight
28:30 and I kicked the vase.
28:31 And the thing goes falling down on the flour
28:34 and as it falls, it crashes and breaks
28:36 and so I'll go to the president
28:37 of the college after, and I've looked
28:39 at the porcelain vase.
28:40 And I say now, Dr. Beats, I was a little careless,
28:43 I was kind of not watching where I was going
28:45 and I tripped and fell over the vase
28:47 and knocked it on the floor.
28:49 And I'm looking and I realized that
28:51 I got my allowance this month and so I've got about $15.
28:55 And I say, you know what?
28:57 I will pay you $15
28:59 that's about what that vase is worth.
29:01 Now I notice Dr. Beats' mouth drops,
29:05 and his eyes get bigger and bigger,
29:07 and he said, could you please come in to my office.
29:10 And so I go to the president of the college office
29:13 and we sit down.
29:14 He said, now Mark, I have got to explain something to you.
29:17 Southern Adventist University got that vase
29:20 and it was donated by a benefactor
29:23 and there is only one like it in the world one other,
29:27 and it's been in an antic store in New York City.
29:30 You see that was a Persian Vase
29:33 and it dates more than 2,500 years old.
29:39 And for your program tonight
29:40 since you were tapping on 3ABN
29:42 we wanted to put our vase there
29:47 and it's worth $250,000.
29:52 And there is only one like it in the world.
29:55 What made the vase so valuable?
29:58 Its uniqueness made it value.
30:01 That which cannot be replaced,
30:04 that which is irreplaceable become of immense value.
30:10 Suppose here is a woman, she has five children
30:13 and one of those children playing football,
30:17 running out for a pass, 10-year-old boy, front lawn.
30:20 Runs out for the pass, looks over the shoulder,
30:22 runs out into the road,
30:24 a car comes down the road 30-40 miles an hour,
30:27 the man can't stop, hits the brakes, skids,
30:29 hits the boy, kills him.
30:32 A pastor friend of mine are on our way
30:34 to counsel the woman, and I say,
30:37 don't worry about this, I've got this one covered,
30:39 I'll counsel her.
30:40 You sit back, don't worry about it,
30:42 let me handle this.
30:43 So we go into the house and she is living over here
30:46 in Collegedale and I sit down.
30:47 And she said, oh Pastor Finley,
30:48 it's so good to see you.
30:50 I said, now, we're gonna pray with you
30:51 and I wanted to talk a little bit about your boy,
30:53 I was thinking about it a little bit.
30:55 You know, I want you to think positively about this.
30:59 Because when you actually analyze it,
31:02 now you don't have to send five kids through academy.
31:06 Elementary, school, academy, and college,
31:08 I want you to figure out the money
31:09 you're gonna save just on this one boy.
31:11 I mean, think of that money.
31:13 Second thing I want you to think about is this,
31:16 did you ever pick up after him in the house,
31:17 you don't have to do that anymore.
31:19 And the other thing I want you to think about is this,
31:21 you've got four kids, you know, my wife
31:23 and I have three and,
31:24 you know, that takes us time and,
31:26 you know, but you've got four.
31:28 So what difference does it make
31:30 if you lost one, if you got four.
31:32 Is that the way I'd counsel some Southern woman.
31:36 Do Southern woman have rolling pins
31:38 they hit crazy preachers over the head with.
31:41 What would she say to me,
31:43 she would say, nobody can replace Billy.
31:46 You know, I can have Johnny,
31:47 I can have Pete, I can have Mary,
31:48 and I can have Sally,
31:49 but nobody is gonna replace Billy.
31:50 Nobody replaces his smile,
31:53 there is a place in my heart only for him,
31:56 and you can tell me about all my other kids,
31:59 but I'm lonely for my boy that I don't have.
32:02 There is a God in heaven
32:05 that has the infinite capacity to love
32:08 and he loves you more than you can ever recognize.
32:11 And when He had created you,
32:13 he broke the mold and through over the pattern
32:15 and there is nobody else like you in the Universe.
32:18 This God created you,
32:20 you want an amazing text in the Bible?
32:22 Psalms, Chapter 33, just like a mother
32:27 has an individual love for every child
32:30 and if she has three, she doesn't split her love,
32:33 one third, one third, one third among the three.
32:37 If she has 10 she doesn't give
32:39 everyone 10% of her love.
32:42 She gives everyone all of her love.
32:46 All of her love.
32:48 Psalms 33, and we're looking there
32:51 at verse 13, 14, and 15.
32:54 The Lord looks from heaven, He sees all the sons of men.
32:58 From the place of His habitation He looks.
33:03 On all the inhabitants of the earth,
33:05 He fashions their hearts individually,
33:08 He considers all their works.
33:09 The scripture says, what, what does God do?
33:12 He fashions their hearts individually, God knows you.
33:16 He knows your joys, He knows your sorrows,
33:19 He knows your heartache, He knows your disappointment.
33:21 God knows you, He knows your ups
33:24 and you knows your downs.
33:25 Walk through life with dignity,
33:27 walk through life with your head up,
33:29 walk through life with a smile on your face,
33:32 walk through life with a sense of purpose,
33:34 a sense of meaning.
33:35 Walk through life with a sense
33:36 that the God of all the universe created you.
33:41 You are precious to Him, you mean something to Him
33:46 and if you are lost,
33:49 and where ever you are watching today,
33:53 this broadcast around the world,
33:55 if you are lost there will be an emptiness
33:58 in God's heart forever.
34:02 Because He longs for you, it is finished at creation.
34:08 Creation is something God did.
34:12 I noticed, the Berkeley Student Newspaper,
34:14 in Berkeley, California this week.
34:18 Student Newspaper advertising
34:22 Ten to thirty five thousand dollars
34:25 for female student's eggs.
34:28 Ten to thirty five thousand.
34:30 now you have to have a SAT score over 1300
34:33 and you have to be have a model like figure.
34:37 Model like figure.
34:39 Why do geneticists want those eggs?
34:45 Obviously to sell them off to highest bidders,
34:49 to try to produce some kind of super child.
34:55 God has already produced a super person in you,
34:58 he's already produced a super person in you.
35:01 When the genes and chromosomes
35:03 came together for the unique biological structure,
35:05 your personality,
35:08 God said, this one is special,
35:11 this one is special.
35:13 God said I've created you, creation it is finished.
35:16 The second time it is finished
35:18 is used in Bible is John 19,
35:20 take your Bible and turn.
35:21 It is finished in the garden,
35:24 it is finished on a hill called Calvary,
35:28 and it is finished at the end in the book of Revelation.
35:31 John Chapter 19, it is finished
35:33 in the Garden speaks of works,
35:36 it is finished on the hill called Calvary,
35:39 speaks of freedom from guilt,
35:41 it speaks of freedom from the bondage of sin.
35:44 It speaks of freedom from the fear of death.
35:47 John the 19th Chapter.
35:49 We look there at John Chapter 19,
35:50 verse 30 leading up to that verse Jesus has taken out
35:54 and he climbs Golgotha's mountain.
35:58 And there, nails are driven through Jesus hands,
36:00 there a crown of thorns is placed upon his head,
36:03 their blood is running down his face.
36:06 There he hangs between heaven and earth,
36:08 Jesus is dying, Peter has denied Him,
36:12 Judas has forsaken Him.
36:15 The disciples have turned their backs on Him,
36:19 the Jews have cried out, crucified Him
36:22 and the Romans have driven nails through his hands.
36:24 It is Friday, dark, dark, Friday.
36:27 The clouds roll in that Friday,
36:30 the thunder rolls that Friday,
36:32 the lightening flashes that Friday, it is dark,
36:35 dark Friday and the son of God
36:37 with blood running down his face.
36:39 And sweat tinged on his brow
36:42 hangs between heaven and earth.
36:44 Who is this man with bloody,
36:47 with blood running down in his hands?
36:49 Who is this man with such a agony in His eyes,
36:52 who is this man with such a sorrowful look on his face?
36:55 Who is this man that hangs
36:57 His head in the rain and dies?
36:58 He is Jesus.
37:00 The divine son of God,
37:01 He is the one worshiped by millions of angels,
37:04 He is the one at whose very name angels
37:06 wing their way to worlds afar,
37:08 and sang holy, holy, holy.
37:10 He is the one that Cherubims
37:12 and Seraphims worship and sing hosanna.
37:16 He is the one that spoke
37:17 and the worlds came into existence.
37:19 He is the one that commanded and it stood fast.
37:22 He is the one that brought forth worlds and stars
37:26 and planets and set all of creation in motion.
37:30 But now on a cross he hangs his head and dies,
37:33 and He says, it, verse 30.
37:37 John 19, verse 30,
37:38 so when Jesus had received the sour wine,
37:41 he said, "It is finished."
37:43 Now notice it does not say He is finished,
37:45 it was finished, but He was not finished.
37:49 It was finished, but he was not finished.
37:51 And scripture doesn't say he was finished.
37:53 'Cause you don't finish you off with nails
37:55 the divine son of God.
37:58 Jesus rested in the tomb and three days later,
38:01 he came out in all his glory.
38:03 It is finished, now,
38:04 what does he mean when he says, it is finished?
38:07 Those words, "it is finished,"
38:08 echo and reecho down the centuries
38:11 and they speak to us
38:12 at Southern Adventist University tonight.
38:15 What is the significance of those words
38:19 "it is finished," how does it relate to,
38:22 how do they relate to a junior biology major?
38:26 How do the words, "it is finished"
38:27 on the cross related a chemistry major,
38:30 theology major, business major, nursing major.
38:34 How are those words cracking through my life,
38:38 living 2000 years plus after the event?
38:42 I like to probe them for a little while with you,
38:44 I like to look at their relevance.
38:47 To me there are three aspects
38:49 of significance in these words, "it is finished."
38:53 First, what is finished?
38:57 When Jesus died on the cross,
39:00 the guilt of sin is gone.
39:03 There is no condemnation to those
39:05 that live in Christ Jesus.
39:08 No matter how much you have failed this week
39:11 or this month, there is somebody
39:13 sitting here tonight thinking, you know,
39:18 I've really failed, I've really blown it in my life.
39:23 I haven't lived the way I wanted to live.
39:26 And I wonder is there any hope for me?
39:29 Echoing and reechoing from a cross,
39:32 Jesus speaks to you, it is finished.
39:35 All of that guilt, all of that shame,
39:38 all of those Saturday night's excursions,
39:42 you know what I'm talking about,
39:44 somebody here tonight.
39:45 All of those Saturday night forays in Chattanooga.
39:50 You know, God says to you,
39:53 bring all that guilt and all that shame to me.
39:56 I wanna make you a new man,
39:58 I wanna make you a new woman.
39:59 I wanna change your life.
40:02 It is finished.
40:04 The guilt that that we bear in our lives
40:08 need no longer crush out our joy.
40:13 That guilt at the cross is finished,
40:15 because on that cross,
40:16 Jesus bore the condemnation of your sin,
40:19 and Jesus bore the condemnation of my sin.
40:22 He bore the shame of it all.
40:25 "It is finished."
40:26 Now, there is a second thing that was finished
40:28 when Jesus said, it is finished on the cross.
40:30 Second thing, it's this.
40:33 Satan threw at Jesus throughout His life,
40:36 all of his temptations,
40:39 he threw at Jesus all of his life,
40:42 all of his temptations,
40:46 everything that you can throw at him.
40:49 But what happened?
40:51 Jesus facing those temptations
40:53 was an over comer.
40:55 The bondage of sin was broken at the cross
41:00 because even rejection, ridicule, physical, mental,
41:05 emotional, psychological pain
41:08 could not get Jesus to yield.
41:11 And because Jesus was an over comer,
41:14 His grace not only pardons our past,
41:17 but it gives us strength to live in the present.
41:23 Grace, is grace that is sufficient to deal
41:27 with my past guilt, but it is grace
41:30 that is sufficient to empower me
41:33 to be a new man, new woman in Christ.
41:37 Sometime ago, in fact it was just a couple of months ago,
41:40 my wife and I were visiting on behalf
41:42 of the general conference in a country
41:47 that does not have religious freedom.
41:50 We're visiting Adventist believers.
41:53 I was scheduled to preach in that particular country,
41:56 but the government after reading my sermon,
41:59 and knowing who I was,
42:01 refused me the opportunity to preach.
42:04 But I was allowed to go
42:05 and visit with our believers.
42:07 While I was in that particular country,
42:09 I came to one church and the pastor said,
42:12 "Pastor Mark, we wanted to give greetings."
42:15 I said, "fine, how long should my greetings be?
42:17 He said, my sermon will be 7 minutes,
42:19 your greetings should be one hour."
42:22 You cannot preach, but need to give greetings.
42:25 So I came to the prophet and I said,
42:28 I wanna give you greetings from the Apostle John,
42:32 he lived 2000 years ago,
42:35 he can't be here to talk to you tonight.
42:38 Soon I like to bring greetings from him
42:40 and I would like to say what he would say
42:42 if he could be here.
42:43 He wrote a book, and I wanna talk to you
42:46 about that book.
42:50 I cannot preach to you,
42:52 but I can give you greetings from John.
42:54 So I gave them greetings from John
42:57 and a few of the other apostles,
42:59 some of the prophets in the Old Testament.
43:02 They were giving him greetings.
43:04 After the sermon, the pastor
43:07 and two of his associates said to my wife and I,
43:12 we wanna talk to you.
43:13 So we came into a little room privately
43:16 and as we talked, we talked about faith
43:18 in that particular country,
43:19 we talked about what God was doing?
43:21 How God was moving there
43:23 in spite of the difficulties and hasn't told me
43:26 about yourselves, that you always been
43:28 Seventh-day Adventists?
43:30 And the senior pastor said,
43:31 well I will start the story
43:34 and then my associate will finish it.
43:36 He said, now you're aware that
43:37 in this particular country it is not possible
43:42 to print Christian literature.
43:46 And he said, in one of our unnamed,
43:50 unmentioned presses, if you understand,
43:54 we were printing Desire of Ages
43:56 and other books by Ellen White.
43:58 With one of the elders of the church, he said,
44:01 I brought these books to a train station
44:05 to deliver them to our believers.
44:06 We're gonna go on a train and deliver them.
44:08 On the way, I was stopped by the police
44:10 and arrested for bringing these books.
44:13 The elder and I went into prison
44:15 and the preacher said,
44:17 they only keep me for 24 hours,
44:18 but keep the elder for 14 days.
44:21 All those of you thinking about
44:22 going into the ministry.
44:24 You know, the preacher was only there
44:26 for 24 hours, the elder for,
44:27 the lay person for 14 days.
44:29 If that doesn't motivate you to go
44:30 into the ministry, you missed it.
44:32 You have to let your girlfriend explain it to you.
44:34 Okay, so,
44:39 Preacher said, I was there for 24 hours,
44:42 but the elder stayed 14 days.
44:44 Then he said, when the elder was in prison
44:47 for the first 48 hours,
44:50 he was beaten up two or three times.
44:53 What happens is, as your initiation
44:55 to that particular prison,
44:57 the toughest guys in prison,
44:58 and I mean they're tough,
45:00 they beat you to a pulp.
45:02 Black in your eyes, blood in your nose,
45:05 and the elder had come to the cross.
45:11 He knew that in Christ, his guilt was gone,
45:14 he knew that in Christ,
45:15 the bondage of sin in his life was broken
45:20 and he resisted any retaliation.
45:24 For two days he was beaten.
45:26 A thief, a rebel rouser standing in the corner,
45:30 saw this man and he saw the way
45:34 that in the cross of Christ he gloried.
45:38 And this man said, my Jesus had nails
45:40 through his hands and he did not retaliate.
45:43 My Jesus had a crown of thorns upon his head
45:45 and he did not retaliate.
45:47 My Jesus said, Father,
45:48 forgive them for they don't know
45:49 what they are doing and I want to reach out
45:51 to forgive you because you don't know
45:52 what you're doing either.
45:54 The young rebel rouser thief in the corner
45:56 seeing the beating that the elder took,
46:02 said to him, I wanna talk to you
46:03 about this Christ of the cross.
46:05 This Christ that forgives,
46:07 this Christ that breaks the bondage,
46:08 this Christ that enables you
46:10 not even to fear death, see when Jesus said
46:12 that it is finished on the cross, he meant,
46:14 guilt is finished, shame is finished,
46:16 condemnation is finished.
46:17 He meant secondly that the bondage
46:19 and shackles of sin are finished.
46:20 He meant thirdly, the fear of the death is finished,
46:22 because Jesus went into the grave and came out.
46:26 That young thief and the elder took,
46:29 had Bible studies in prison.
46:31 When the thief got out of prison,
46:33 three years later he came to the Adventist church.
46:35 And today, years later,
46:37 the thief who saw the elder beaten in prison
46:41 is the associate pastor of that church
46:43 in that unnamed country.
46:46 Because the power of Jesus is still available
46:52 to enable men and women to have their sins forgiven
46:56 and the bondage of sin broken in their lives.
46:59 It is finished at creation says,
47:01 you have worth in God's sight.
47:03 It is finished on a hill called Calvary says,
47:05 all the shame and guilt can be gone,
47:07 you need don't to bear that guilt and shame
47:09 in your life anymore.
47:10 It is finished all that condemnation.
47:13 All that pains of conscience when you violate
47:16 those inner moral convictions
47:18 that the spirit has placed in your heart,
47:20 at the cross all that is finished.
47:22 At the cross, the bondage of sin,
47:24 the falling, again and again on the same point
47:27 that's broken and at the cross
47:28 the fear of death is gone,
47:29 because Jesus went into the grave and came out.
47:32 When you come to the book of Revelation
47:33 you have the last two expressions.
47:34 "It is finished" Revelation Chapter 16.
47:37 Revelation the 16th Chapter,
47:40 it is finished at creation, speaks of our origin,
47:43 it speaks of our worth.
47:44 It is finished on Calvary's hill,
47:46 speaks of redemption that is in Christ.
47:49 And it is finished in Revelation Chapter 16,
47:53 Church and state unite,
47:56 universal death degree is enforced,
47:59 no man can buy or sell.
48:01 When every human being has made
48:02 their final irrevocable decision,
48:06 plagues report out.
48:07 Revelation Chapter 16,
48:10 Revelation Chapter 16 verse 17.
48:14 Then the seventh angel
48:15 poured out his bowl upon the air,
48:17 and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven
48:20 from the throne, saying, "It is done."
48:22 In other words, it is finished.
48:24 What is finished?
48:25 What is it talking about in Revelation 16?
48:27 Every man, every woman, every boy,
48:29 every girl has made their final irrevocable decision
48:33 for or against Christ.
48:35 It is done, probation does not close in heaven
48:40 merely because of an arbitrary act
48:43 on the part of God.
48:44 It is not that God is run out of mercy,
48:46 it's not that God is run out of love.
48:48 This idea that probation may have closed already
48:51 and you maybe lost.
48:52 It's not biblical, it's not biblical.
48:56 When scripture says it is done in heaven,
48:59 when it talks about the close of probation,
49:02 it is revealing the eternal truth,
49:06 that one day every human being will fully make
49:09 their decision for or against Christ.
49:12 Every seed will go to harvest.
49:15 It's not that if God waited another two years,
49:18 three years, two months, three months,
49:20 a thousand more people would be saved.
49:22 There comes a point in the divine drama of destiny.
49:26 There comes a point in the panorama
49:28 of the controversy between good and evil.
49:30 That issues are so clear
49:32 that everybody makes their decision,
49:34 and it's at that point that probation closes.
49:37 If God waited another week, another month,
49:40 another two years, another five years,
49:42 another hundred years, nobody else will be saved
49:45 because they have sealed their decision for eternity.
49:48 Kind of reminds me a little bit of years ago,
49:53 traveling up to Alaska.
49:54 The Alaskan highway was a muddy road of ruts,
49:59 and there was a sign
50:00 at the beginning of that road went 500 miles.
50:03 Sign at the beginning of the Alaskan highway
50:04 that said this, "choose your rut carefully,
50:09 you will begin it for the next 500 miles."
50:12 There comes a point, based on the decisions
50:16 that we make everyday that shapes
50:19 and molds our characters.
50:22 Today, in the decisions you make,
50:25 you're settling your destiny.
50:28 And it's never too late to begin
50:30 to make good decisions, never too late
50:34 to begin to make good decisions.
50:35 It is finished, probation is closed,
50:38 decisions have been made.
50:40 The door of mercy is open tonight,
50:43 and may be you've been going one way
50:45 with the decisions you've been making and God said,
50:49 soon, every human being will make
50:52 their final irrevocable decision
50:55 for or against Christ.
50:56 Soon, every human being will make decisions
51:02 either for heaven or for hell,
51:06 for eternity and salvation or for eternal loss.
51:10 And Jesus says to you and to me tonight,
51:13 my heart longs to save you.
51:16 I'll be lonely forever if you are lost.
51:20 I died for you.
51:22 All the shame and guilt and accusation can be gone.
51:26 The power of sin can be broken.
51:28 The fear of death can be gone.
51:31 Jesus has come, come to me.
51:35 Revelation Chapter 21, Last time in the Bible,
51:40 it is finished at creation,
51:43 it is finished on a hill called Calvary,
51:46 it is finished at the close of probation.
51:48 Revelation Chapter 21,
51:51 and we look there starting with verse 3,
51:53 Revelation 21, verse 3.
51:55 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying,
51:57 Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
52:00 and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
52:03 and God himself shall be with them,
52:05 and be their God.
52:06 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
52:09 and there will be no more sorrow,
52:11 nor death, nor crying.
52:13 There will be no more pain for the former things
52:14 are passed away.
52:16 Verse 5, And he that sat upon the throne said,
52:18 Behold, I make all things new.
52:20 And he said to me,
52:21 write for these words are true and faithful.
52:23 And he said to me, it is done,
52:24 it is finished, it is finished.
52:27 Disease and disaster and death are over,
52:30 it is finished, war and worry
52:32 and want are over, it is finished.
52:36 Pollution and poverty and pestilence are over,
52:39 it is finished.
52:40 Hurricanes and horror are over, it is finished.
52:44 One day the earth will shake,
52:47 one day the sky will be illuminated
52:49 with the glory of God.
52:51 One day Jesus will come
52:53 with 10,000 times 10,000 angels.
52:57 No more distended bellies for children crying out
53:01 because their mothers milk is dried up.
53:04 One day there will be no more bombs
53:06 that drop that blow off innocent
53:08 children's hands and legs.
53:11 One day there will be no more drug shot
53:15 in back alleys in the great cities of America.
53:19 One day no more drunken men coming home
53:22 to blacken their wives eyes.
53:24 One day no more tears, no more sorrow,
53:28 no more cancer, no more heartache,
53:30 no more death.
53:31 One day, one pulse of gladness
53:35 and harmony will be throughout the vast creation.
53:37 And all things that God has created
53:40 will declare God is love.
53:43 History is not some circular evolutionary cycle.
53:47 Seventh-day Adventists are Seventh-day Adventists
53:50 because they're Adventists.
53:52 They believe that God created the world
53:55 at a moment in time.
53:56 They believe that Christ broke through history
53:58 at a moment in time, and died on the cross.
54:01 And they believed that history will not go
54:03 round and round and round.
54:05 There is hope for a really war torn world.
54:07 There is hope for a poverty stricken polluted planet.
54:10 There is hope to the world that's in deep trouble.
54:13 When the sociologists and the psychologists
54:16 and the political scientists
54:18 and the great political leaders
54:19 cannot solve the problems of our world,
54:21 Jesus Christ can.
54:24 If there is ever a time for young people
54:26 to stand up, it's today.
54:28 If there is ever a time that God needs
54:30 young people to give a message of hope to a world
54:33 that's in deep trouble, it is today.
54:36 This is our hour, this is our time.
54:40 This is the time for a group
54:41 of Adventist young people to say,
54:44 we live to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus.
54:49 Whatever God has called you to do as a profession,
54:54 something beyond your profession is a calling.
54:58 You may be a computer scientist,
55:01 you may be a chemist, you may be a biologist,
55:06 you may be an engineer, you may be a teacher,
55:10 you may be a nurse.
55:11 That is your profession, or your occupation.
55:15 God has called you to be a witness for him.
55:21 In the last generation, would you like today
55:24 to say "I wanna stand for you."
55:27 I wanna stand for you. I love that song.
55:30 Stand up, stand up for who? For Jesus.
55:33 We're going to sing it from the screen,
55:34 you wanna stand right now for me?
55:36 Let's stand together, we're going to sing.
55:38 This song was written by Dudley Ting in,
55:42 actually by George Duffield,
55:44 Dudley Ting was a preacher, Great Revival,
55:48 Great Revival in the City of Philadelphia,
55:50 5000 people coming out to Dudley Ting's meetings,
55:53 he was 28 years old.
55:54 At the end of one of the meetings,
55:55 he left, got in an accident, was killed instantly.
56:00 But as he was lying there, his last words,
56:04 this 28 year preacher, last words,
56:09 he had just had a thousand come forward
56:11 in an alter call,
56:14 Dudley Ting looked at George Duffield.
56:17 Duffield was holding Ting in his arms,
56:20 Dudley Ting said,
56:24 "Pastor George, tell my people to stand up,
56:29 stand up for Jesus."
56:31 George Duffield preached that weekend
56:33 and he went home, wrote the song,
56:35 "stand up, stand up for Jesus."
56:37 If there ever is a group,
56:41 if God ever had a need for a group of young people
56:43 to stand up for Jesus, it's today.
56:45 We're going to sing the first verse of this song,
56:46 let's sing together.
56:57 Stand up, stand up For Jesus!
57:01 Ye soldiers of the cross Lift high His royal banner,
57:11 It must not suffer loss.
57:16 From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
57:25 Till every foe is vanquished,
57:30 And Christ is Lord indeed.
57:35 We're going to pray.
57:37 Oh my Father,
57:40 we come tonight and stand before you,
57:43 believing that you created us,
57:46 believing that we were fashioned
57:48 and shaped by a loving God.
57:51 And Father, we know that the one
57:53 that created has not forgotten us.
57:55 If there is somebody here in this auditorium tonight
57:57 bearing a great burden, lift that burden,
58:00 help them to know that the God that created them
58:04 loves them with immense love.
58:07 Father, there is somebody watching this program tonight
58:10 that needs your loving touch.
58:12 The warmth of your arms around them,
58:14 they may feel that presence of God right now.
58:17 And Father, we sense that at the cross,
58:20 all of our guilt and all of our shame
58:23 and all of our weakness and all of our powerlessness,
58:26 and all of our fear of death, all that is gone.
58:30 Oh Father, if Jesus came to die for us,
58:35 the least we can do is live for him.
58:38 And we hear the call in the final generation,
58:41 that one day the suffering and sorrow,
58:44 and heartache and horror
58:45 and disappointment of the world,
58:47 with all of its sickness and all of its war,
58:48 all of its famine, and all of its emptiness
58:52 and shallowness and superficiality will be gone.
58:55 Oh Father, may we be that generation.


Home

Revised 2014-12-17