Thompsonville Worship Hour

Salvation

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. John Lomacang

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Series Code: TWH

Program Code: TWH000010A


00:32 I would like to begin
00:34 by reading our scripture this morning
00:35 John 17:3,
00:37 the word of the Lord reads as follows,
00:39 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You,
00:44 the only true God, and Jesus Christ
00:49 whom You have sent."
00:52 Let us pray.
00:54 Loving Father in heaven,
00:57 it is beautiful to know that we can find eternal life
01:03 in knowing the only true God
01:08 and the Jesus that You have sent.
01:11 And so Lord today, speak to our hearts
01:13 as we approach cautiously, humbly,
01:18 but with great confidence,
01:20 this table of grace set before us.
01:25 Gives us wisdom to know You, to trust You, to love You,
01:29 and hold on to the promise that yes, a cure for sin
01:35 has been found.
01:38 And we pray and thank You in Jesus' name.
01:41 Amen. Amen.
01:45 Thursday night I went to bed reading my Bible
01:49 in the Book of Joshua.
01:52 Thursday morning I woke up reading my Bible
01:56 in the Book of Exodus.
01:59 And for whatever reason
02:01 the Lord brought this thought to my mind
02:06 in the statement that Pharaoh made,
02:08 "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice,
02:13 for I do not know the Lord."
02:18 And that is where John 17:3 found its greatest foundation.
02:23 I gave the sermon information earlier in the week,
02:25 but the Lord let me down this path.
02:28 The Pharaoh said,
02:30 "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?
02:33 I do not know the Lord."
02:36 And what I came to discover
02:38 is one of the reasons why Pharaoh was locked
02:40 into the worship of Egyptians gods
02:43 is it is impossible to abandon your God
02:48 until you know the only true God.
02:51 It's impossible.
02:52 There will always be some substitute
02:54 for the true God.
02:56 You'll always be connected in some way to something
02:58 that never brings full fullness...
03:01 fulfillment or satisfaction.
03:04 You'll always have something that is a substitute
03:07 that never brings lasting joy.
03:10 But I thought about that,
03:12 how did God arrive at the position of God?
03:15 Who is God?
03:16 You see the point is, if God is God,
03:20 then why waste time looking for any other substitute
03:24 when God is God.
03:26 I mean think about it.
03:27 If God can do what God says He is capable of,
03:31 and if God really is the Creator
03:33 and the Redeemer and the Sustainer of all life,
03:37 who else do we need other than God.
03:41 I thought how did God arrived at being God.
03:44 And the Lord reminded me the position of God
03:46 was not devised by intellectual consensus.
03:49 No group got together and decided to make God, God,
03:53 God just is God.
03:57 And so when I think about the fact
03:58 that God is just God all by Himself
04:01 that He wasn't voted as God,
04:03 that He wasn't exalted as God to the position of God.
04:08 But this mystery of Godliness
04:10 is something that I cannot wait for eternity to find out about.
04:14 This question has, has sought answers
04:17 in the minds of so many,
04:18 how did God become God?
04:21 He did not arrive at being God by intellectual consensus,
04:26 no group of humanity, no group of any un-fallen world
04:30 got together and said,
04:31 "We need a God, let's make God, God."
04:33 God is God all by Himself.
04:40 God was not even formed
04:41 by the skillful stroke of architectural ingenuity.
04:45 God was not designed in the mind of someone.
04:49 Someone didn't sit down one day and said we need a God.
04:52 God was not fashioned like the golden calf
04:55 when Aaron led the Israelites into rebellion
04:59 in their journey.
05:00 God was not formed
05:02 by the devising of somebody's intellect.
05:04 God has no beginning and no end.
05:08 God is just God all by Himself.
05:12 And as I was writing this down,
05:14 more thoughts began to flood into my mind
05:16 and I tapped Angie on the shoulder and said,
05:18 listen to this, I tried to tell her the night before,
05:20 but she was in La La Land.
05:22 She's saying, hmm.
05:26 I said, "Honey, listen to the question
05:29 that Pharaoh asked."
05:32 "Okay, whatever."
05:33 And she woke up in the next morning, she said,
05:34 "What were you trying to tell me last night?"
05:36 I said, "Honey, let me tell you this,
05:38 God is God all by Himself."
05:45 God did not become God by intellectual consensus,
05:49 no architectural ingenuity.
05:52 God has no beginning and God has no end.
05:55 And here's the thing that really got me.
05:57 Here's the thing that really embraces me
05:59 is that one day we're going to see a God
06:03 who has no beginning and has no end
06:06 in the means by which
06:08 we will stand in the presence of an everlasting infinite.
06:15 Illimitable God is through the door of salvation.
06:20 One day, we're going to see God,
06:21 come on somebody. Amen.
06:23 We will see His face.
06:25 We are not going to see His shadow.
06:27 We're not going to hear His voice in the distance.
06:30 Sinners like us
06:32 will one day be able to see God.
06:36 God did not become God
06:38 through rigorous campaign persuasion.
06:42 God did not begin a campaign
06:44 and persuaded people to make Him God.
06:48 He just is God.
06:50 You can't vote Him out or vote Him in.
06:53 You can't take His place as Lucifer,
06:56 he tried.
06:57 He said, "I will be like the Most High."
06:59 We're in this mess because he'd made an attempt
07:01 to try to do something he couldn't do.
07:04 God is God all by Himself.
07:07 God was not constructed on the assembly line
07:10 of speculative conjecture.
07:13 Nobody got together
07:15 and decide to draw God on blueprint.
07:17 What else do we need to add to this blueprint
07:19 to come up with God?
07:20 God is God all by himself.
07:25 And you might say, "I got that."
07:29 If you really get it,
07:31 why do you worry when the week comes?
07:34 Why do you fret
07:36 when it seems like your prayers have been delayed?
07:39 If you really believe that God is God all by Himself.
07:43 He doesn't need a group of individuals
07:45 to answer His prayer, His knee mail.
07:51 God doesn't need a committee to answer His knee mail.
07:53 You pray, God answers that.
07:55 I got a call from a lady, two weeks in a row,
07:59 80 year old Filipino lady from California.
08:03 She said, "Pastor Lomacang."
08:06 I said, "Yes."
08:07 She says, "Has God predestined certain people
08:11 to answer their prayers and others not to?"
08:14 I said, "No, He hasn't."
08:17 "Then pastor, why have I been praying for 20 years
08:21 and the Lord would not answer my prayer?"
08:24 I said, "What have you been praying for?"
08:26 She said, "Pastor my church...
08:28 I'm messing the accent up by the way.
08:31 She said, "My church is in desperate need of money
08:35 for evangelism
08:36 and I've been praying for God to bless me financially.
08:40 He just wouldn't."
08:44 I said, "So, what's the question?"
08:47 "Well, how do I get that prayer answered."
08:49 I said, "You just pray it
08:51 and let God decide when and how to answer it."
08:56 She said, "But it doesn't seem
08:57 like He wants to answer that question."
09:01 So we spoke for 57 minutes.
09:04 And she called me again yesterday.
09:07 As we ended the phone call,
09:08 I said, "There must be something
09:10 that you may be doing
09:11 to block that prayer from being answered."
09:15 Well, I said, "Let me pray for you."
09:16 And I gave her some scriptures it says,
09:19 your phone call is timely,
09:21 I just finished a prayer seminar in Pennsylvania
09:24 so it's in my mind, your call is timely.
09:28 And I share with her some of the quotations
09:29 from the Bible.
09:31 And from Ellen White about importunate prayer,
09:34 importunate prayer.
09:36 Importunate prayer is the kind of prayer you pray
09:39 almost to the point of irritating God
09:42 like the woman who came to the unjust judge.
09:45 And it said, "This woman,
09:46 if she's going to keep on wearying me
09:48 so I'm going to answer her prayer
09:49 just so she could stop bothering me."
09:53 And she says, "Pastor, I've heard about importunate prayer
09:55 and I've been bugging God for a long time
09:56 and He still wouldn't answer."
09:58 I said, "Well, sister, is there something
10:00 that you're doing that's blocking God
10:02 from answering your prayer?"
10:03 She said, "I don't think so?"
10:05 We prayed.
10:08 And after the prayer she said, "I have one more question."
10:11 I said, "What is that?"
10:12 She says, "Is it okay to play the lottery?"
10:17 I said, "So let me ask you a question.
10:20 Have you been playing the lottery
10:22 to help God answer the prayer?"
10:24 "Pastor, yes."
10:26 "That's why He ain't answer to prayer."
10:30 He wants to answer it.
10:32 She said, "But didn't God say,
10:33 'He would give the wealth of the Gentiles
10:35 to the people of Israel."'
10:36 I said, "God said, 'He will give.
10:38 He didn't tell the Israelites to gamble."
10:41 I said, "Sister, stop gambling.
10:44 God will answer that prayer in His own time."
10:46 Amen. Amen.
10:47 So she called me yesterday, Pastor.
10:50 I said, "Hello is this sister?"
10:52 She said, "Yes, your sister from California,
10:56 your Pilipino sister."
10:57 I said, "Okay.
10:58 What's the question?"
11:00 "Pastor, I'm still praying."
11:03 I said, "But that was like
11:05 wasn't even a week ago, He hasn't answered?"
11:06 "No, he hasn't answered yet."
11:08 I said, "Let me tell you about
11:10 what happens when you irritate God."
11:13 She said, "What do you mean?"
11:14 I said, "I told you about importunate prayer,
11:17 but I didn't tell you about irritating God."
11:20 See the children of Israel irritated God,
11:23 when they kept on begging God for flesh
11:26 and God want to give them manna.
11:28 So God said, "Okay, you keep irritating me,
11:29 I'm going to give you what you want
11:31 not what I want to give you."
11:34 She said, "Pastor, I understand what happens
11:35 when you irritate God."
11:37 I said, "Well, tell me the story."
11:41 She said, "I prayed for 20 years
11:43 for God to send my sister from the Philippines
11:46 to come to live with me.
11:48 And he finally answered the prayer.
11:51 And I cried for a whole year
11:53 that I wish that prayer was never answered."
11:56 I said, "So you have experience with irritating God."
11:59 She said, "Yes, I do."
12:01 I said, "Let me ask you a question.
12:03 Do you believe that God is God?"
12:05 She said, "Pastor, yes.
12:07 I believe God is God.
12:08 I'm eighty and people say, 'I don't look it,
12:10 but I have a license to prove it."
12:14 Do you believe God is God? Yes.
12:16 So sis, let me say that, pray, trust God
12:20 and walk away from that prayer and don't even worry about it
12:23 and God will either answer it in your lifetime
12:27 or in the lifetime of someone else
12:29 and He will never leave His work in lack.
12:34 He will finish His work with or without your money.
12:37 Do you believe that sister?
12:38 "Yes, I believe that pastor, that's good enough for me."
12:42 And we prayed again and ended that phone call.
12:45 You see I share that story with you
12:47 because so many of us in the normal rounds of life,
12:50 we are falling in the same category as Pharaoh,
12:53 "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice,
12:55 I do not know about Lord."
12:58 The Pharaoh found out
12:59 in the hard way that God is God.
13:03 Nebuchadnezzar found out
13:05 in a difficult way that God is God.
13:08 He put these Hebrews in a fiery furnace
13:11 only to discover that only God could bring us out of a fire
13:15 that would have otherwise, consumed us.
13:19 He said when they made it through the fire.
13:25 He said, "Servants of the Most High God..."
13:29 We don't just serve God but let me say today,
13:31 we serve the Most High God.
13:35 And sometimes the fiery furnace
13:37 is not an instrument of disappointment,
13:40 sometimes it is an opportunity for us to meet God
13:44 in the extenuating circumstances of our lives.
13:47 When your life is in a furnace,
13:49 you know, I have to state that thought came to my mind
13:51 and I was sitting on the bed, saying amen by myself
13:55 until my wife caught on,
13:56 and we started saying amen together.
13:58 She said, "What do you say amen about?"
14:00 I said, "God just showed me something."
14:02 The reason why God didn't show up early
14:04 in the process to deliver the Hebrews
14:07 is because the furnace was not hot enough
14:08 for God to show up.
14:15 God does not hang out in lukewarm places.
14:18 Amen.
14:19 So He had to have the furnace heated seven times and hotter
14:23 so it could be comfortable enough for God to show up.
14:28 Our God is a consuming fire.
14:30 It wasn't hot enough for God to show up.
14:33 God does not show up in lukewarm places.
14:37 And so they heated that furnace seven times hotter
14:40 and what I came to discover is
14:44 sometimes God commissions your situation
14:47 to heat up seven times hotter.
14:51 So that He can remind you that those are the moments
14:54 that He will step into your life
14:56 and bring you through the fires
14:58 that otherwise would have consumed you.
15:01 God shows His salvation in moments when we believe
15:04 that we are at the point of being about to be consumed,
15:07 God reminds us that He is God all by Himself.
15:15 The fire of God's presence
15:19 will elude us until we are uncomfortable
15:22 with our surroundings.
15:24 The Hebrews couldn't find any place to kneel
15:27 on the plain of Dura,
15:28 they said, "There is no place for us to kneel.
15:30 This is just not the right place for us to kneel."
15:33 So they chose not to kneel.
15:37 They had to heat the furnace seven times hotter
15:40 for the Hebrews to find the place to find God.
15:42 And so this morning, this morning, I want to say,
15:47 I want to answer the question that Pharaoh asked,
15:49 "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice."
15:51 He is God all by Himself.
15:54 He can answer any prayer,
15:55 take us through any difficult situation or scenario.
15:59 And I want to tell you in my own experience,
16:01 in our own experience sometimes we've got to be in the fire
16:06 before we meet God.
16:09 So your life may be in the fire in some difficult way.
16:13 Your life may be heating up two or three
16:16 or four times hotter than you'd like it to be.
16:20 But I believe that God commissioned Nebuchadnezzar
16:24 to set the fire on the plain of Dura
16:27 to remind Nebuchadnezzar as he later proclaimed,
16:31 "Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
16:34 Meshach, and Abednego.
16:35 There is no other God that can deliver like this."
16:40 And then finally,
16:42 the Apostle Paul had his opportunity
16:45 as he traveled through, as he traveled
16:50 and he went from one city of Athens to the other
16:53 and Paul as he was traveling through Athens,
16:56 he came upon an inscription and he said,
17:00 in Act 17:23, "As I was passing through
17:05 and considering the objects of your worship,
17:10 I even found an altar with this inscription..."
17:13 What Paul brought out, he said to the men of Athens,
17:16 he says, "I perceive that in all things
17:19 you are very religious."
17:21 Hear me carefully.
17:23 "I perceive in all things you are very religious."
17:27 You're specific about your tithe,
17:29 about your diet,
17:31 about your observance of the Sabbath,
17:32 when the sun goes down, when it comes up,
17:34 I perceive you are very religious.
17:42 But then he said in verse 23,
17:45 "I even found an altar with this inscription
17:47 to the Unknown God..."
17:49 And he said, "Therefore, the One whom you worship
17:51 without knowing,
17:54 I proclaim Him to you."
17:57 Today let me encourage you,
17:59 if you believe that God is God all by Himself,
18:02 let us worship Him not without knowing Him,
18:06 but let us worship Him by knowing Him.
18:11 Because it's not worship that saves us,
18:13 it is knowing God
18:15 that bridges the gap between religion and salvation.
18:20 The Apostle Paul said to the men of Athens,
18:22 "I perceive you are very religious."
18:25 You don't have to look far to find religious people,
18:28 but sometimes it's hard to find those that know God.
18:33 So this morning the communion service
18:35 is a reminder that we know God,
18:38 we are not, we are not participating
18:40 in a communion service because we don't know God,
18:43 we are participating in this communion service
18:45 because it is a commission of God to know God.
18:49 We have come here to know God,
18:51 not to find God.
18:53 And so this morning in the communion service
18:56 there are some very important elements
18:58 of the communion service
18:59 that I would like to remind you of.
19:01 You see, communion reminds us that where we are weak,
19:04 we can be made strong through God.
19:08 Where we are discouraged, we can be made glad.
19:10 Where we are defeated, we can find victory.
19:13 And he made it very clear
19:15 that this victory that we can find
19:17 and be reminded of through the communion service
19:20 is the victory that's only found
19:22 in knowing God
19:24 and knowing Christ Jesus His Son.
19:30 So I don't want religion anymore.
19:32 I want to know, I want to know,
19:37 I want to know God.
19:39 I want this communion service to be my reintroduction
19:43 to the power in the broken body
19:47 and shed blood of Jesus.
19:50 And what many of you don't know is that following something
19:53 as sacred as a communion service,
19:55 you lay down your sin, you leave them,
19:57 they are washed away by the blood of the Lamb.
20:00 And you remember
20:02 that God demonstrated His love toward us
20:04 in that while we were yet sinners
20:07 Christ died for us,
20:10 sent His Son to die for us.
20:12 Following a communion service,
20:14 I never forgot I was sitting in the balcony there
20:17 at Oakwood College,
20:18 when I was a student at Oakwood and I could hear Elder Ward,
20:22 the pastor of the Oakwood Church,
20:23 it was such a solemn service.
20:27 And he said, as we were leaving he said,
20:29 "Do you know that after the community service today,
20:32 do you know that
20:33 if you are on your way home today
20:35 and your life was taken inadvertently
20:39 that you would be saved in God's Kingdom eternally
20:42 because this communion service,
20:44 when you have placed your heart in right relationship with God,
20:50 and you have placed your sin on the altar
20:51 where Jesus promises through His broken body
20:54 and His shed blood to cleanse you..."
20:58 He said, "You walk out of this church today
21:00 as if you have not even sinned."
21:05 And so remind yourself today
21:08 that the communion service is not just an opportunity
21:13 to get to know God
21:14 but the communion service is an opportunity to remind us,
21:19 that there is nobody like God.
21:22 This quotation in the book, Steps to Christ,
21:26 page 62, listen,
21:29 "When we give ourselves to Christ,
21:32 He forgives all of our past wrongs.
21:38 Christ's character stands in place of your character.
21:43 And you are accepted before God
21:46 just as if you had not sinned."
21:52 I am so glad that God is God all by Himself,
21:55 come on somebody.
21:57 God did not need a committee to make Him God,
22:00 God does not need a committee to make us children of God.
22:04 When He forgives us,
22:05 He accepts us into His fellowship
22:10 as though we have never even sinned.
22:18 When it is in the heart to obey God,
22:22 when efforts are put forth to this end
22:26 because some of you struggle and say, "Well, how...
22:28 What else do I need to do?
22:30 What else do I need to do
22:32 to make myself acceptable before God?"
22:34 Listen carefully,
22:35 Selected Messages book I, page 382,
22:38 I mean, book I, page 382, yes.
22:41 "When it is in the heart to obey God..."
22:44 To do what?
22:46 Obey God, "When efforts are put forth to this end,
22:50 that is to all obey God,
22:52 Jesus accepts this disposition
22:56 and efforts of man best service,
23:01 and He makes up for the deficiency
23:05 with His own divine merit."
23:09 So when you fall short and you call on Jesus,
23:12 you really don't fall short, you can't call on Jesus
23:15 and fall short.
23:17 Come on somebody.
23:18 So today what is salvation?
23:21 Salvation is the opportunity
23:22 to put ourselves right with God.
23:24 And the communion service is the opportunity
23:27 where we come to put ourselves at oneness with God.
23:32 Just before the communion service,
23:34 and let me encourage you on this point,
23:35 we have a foot washing service.
23:37 What is the foot washing service?
23:39 In John 13, if you have your Bibles,
23:41 turn there very quickly with me,
23:43 I want you to see this.
23:45 I want you to see this.
23:48 Why do we participate in the foot washing service?
23:53 It is called, the ordinance of humility.
23:56 Why do we need to be humble?
23:58 Oh, why do we need to be humble?
24:02 That's a rhetorical question.
24:03 We all need to be humble.
24:06 John 13 beginning with verse 4 down
24:12 and follow me.
24:15 Speaking of the fact that, "He rose from supper
24:18 and laid aside His garment,
24:21 took a towel and girded Himself."
24:24 When you go to the foot washing service,
24:26 you notice we have a towel.
24:31 After that verse 5,
24:33 "He poured water into a basin..."
24:36 We have basins, we pour water into.
24:39 "And began to wash the disciples' feet,
24:43 and to wipe them with a towel
24:46 with which He was girded."
24:48 He began to wipe their feet.
24:50 "Then He came to Simon Peter.
24:53 And Peter said to Him,
24:55 "Lord, are You washing my feet?"
24:58 Jesus answered and said to him,
25:00 "What I am doing you do not understand now,
25:03 but you will under, you will know after this."
25:07 And Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet!"
25:12 And Jesus answered him...
25:17 "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me."
25:22 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only,
25:27 as only Peter would say, "but also my hands
25:33 and my head!"
25:37 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed
25:40 needs only to wash his feet,
25:43 but is completely clean, and you are clean,
25:47 but not all of you."
25:50 Now when He said,
25:51 "You are clean, but not all of you."
25:53 He wasn't saying there were portions of Peter
25:55 that's not clean.
25:57 He was saying, "You are clean but not all of you are clean."
26:01 He knew in that room there was a man
26:03 that was waiting to betray Him."
26:05 So you're clean but not all of you.
26:08 He was talking about the consensus of the disciples,
26:10 not every one of you is right.
26:14 Verse 11, "For He knew who would betray Him,
26:17 therefore He said, "You are not all clean."
26:21 So when He had washed their feet,
26:23 taken His garments, and sat down again,
26:26 He said to them, "Do you know what I have done,
26:30 do you know what I have done to you?
26:34 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am."
26:38 One of the very few times
26:40 that Jesus admitted His divinity,
26:44 and here is the commission,
26:46 "If I then, your Lord
26:47 and Teacher, have washed your feet,
26:50 you also ought to wash one another's feet.
26:54 For I have given you an example,
26:56 that you should do as I have done to you.
27:01 Most assuredly, I say, verse 16, to you,
27:05 a servant is not greater than his master,
27:08 nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him."
27:15 In verse 17, let's read this together, are you ready?
27:17 Here we go, "If you know these things..."
27:20 What else?
27:21 "Blessed are you if you do them."
27:25 Another translation, "Happy are you if you do them."
27:30 After the participation in the foot washing service,
27:33 we invite everyone to participate,
27:34 but here's the point.
27:36 When we come back,
27:37 we partake of the Lord's Supper.
27:39 There is unfermented grape juice
27:42 referred to in the Bible as wine,
27:44 symbolizing the shed blood of Jesus.
27:47 You can't put alcohol and wine
27:49 and express that it is connected with Christ.
27:53 Then there is the unleavened bread,
27:56 the absence of yeast, the absence of sin.
27:59 When applied to our walk with Christ
28:02 partaking of His righteousness,
28:04 His broken body and His shed blood,
28:08 we are accepted before the Father,
28:12 like as if we had not even sinned.
28:16 I want to tell you today, I need that, what about you?
28:19 Let us pray.
28:20 Father in heaven,
28:21 take us now Lord to a humble place,
28:26 that we may serve each other with humble hearts,
28:30 that we won't focus on our sin.
28:32 This is not the purpose of the communion service
28:35 is not to recall our failures,
28:38 but to remember our Redeemer.
28:41 This is not the time to lament of how much we've lost,
28:46 but this is an opportunity
28:48 to remember how much we can gain.
28:51 This is not an opportunity to pick up our sins
28:53 and carry them.
28:56 But this is an occasion to lay our sins down
28:59 at the feet of Jesus.
29:01 So, Lord Jesus, thank You,
29:04 that as You said in Your Word,
29:05 "As often as you eat this bread
29:06 and drink this cup,
29:08 you proclaim the Lord's death
29:11 until He comes."
29:13 Come even, even so come Lord Jesus,
29:16 we long for the day that we can be free
29:19 from the power and the presence of sin.
29:21 We long for an environment where we can look in Your face
29:27 and thank You with our whole hearts.
29:30 So, Father, humble Your people today.
29:32 May there not be an individual in here that thinks himself
29:35 or herself unworthy,
29:37 for none of us is worthy.
29:41 We don't partake of communion because we are worthy
29:43 or because we are good,
29:45 but we partake of communion because we all need a savior.
29:51 And you've invited us to come.
29:54 Come unto me all you are weary and heavy laden
29:58 and I will give rest.
30:00 So we invite every one of you today to participate
30:04 and to come to oneness with your Lord
30:07 so that when He comes, you can meet Him in peace.
30:11 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
30:26 As the music is played softly,
30:29 the elders and deacons are going to kneel
30:32 to bless the ordinances of the Lord.
30:35 If you like to join us in kneeling,
30:36 I invite you to,
30:37 but if you'd like to bow your heads,
30:39 let's go before the Lord in prayer.
30:41 Let us kneel.
30:49 Our dear heavenly Father,
30:52 we humbly come before You
30:55 as we're on bended knees
30:56 at this holy communion service.
30:59 We thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son Jesus Christ
31:03 to walk among us on earth.
31:06 To show us the love and the mercy
31:08 and the healing and the power of Your mighty grace.
31:14 And as Jesus took His disciples at the upper room
31:17 so many years ago,
31:19 humbling Himself towards their feet
31:22 and then breaking the bread.
31:25 We ask that You will bless this bread,
31:28 this unleavened bread, a symbol of Your sinless
31:30 and unbroken and broken body
31:34 that we will take it in remembrance of you,
31:37 of your, the pain and the suffering
31:40 that You went through on this earth
31:41 to give us the opportunity to have eternal life.
31:47 We pray that we will take and be the servants
31:49 that you desire us to be humbly following
31:51 and to do Your will
31:54 and be with us through this entire communion service.
31:58 Amen.
32:03 Father in heaven,
32:06 as we gather here today in Your house,
32:09 fellowshipping with You, bringing You the praise
32:11 and the glory that You deserve.
32:14 We realize that You did lay down Your life for a friend,
32:18 all of us, each and every one.
32:21 You gave all You had to give the blood,
32:25 Your blood, Your love in that blood.
32:31 And it's true Lord,
32:33 there's power in that blood.
32:38 You came forth from that grave.
32:41 And the enemy knew he was beat.
32:45 You own life, You're the giver of life,
32:47 the lover of life, the restorer of life,
32:51 You are life.
32:52 And You've given it to us.
32:56 We need to contemplate Lord, how we got here,
32:59 where we came from, why we are conscious.
33:02 Thank You for this gift.
33:05 Now help us, Lord, through Your blood to realize.
33:09 You're only asking us to enjoy life more
33:12 by keeping Your commandments if we love You.
33:15 So help us now, Lord, to love You back.
33:20 And we thank You for the opportunity,
33:22 in Jesus' name we thank you, amen.
33:25 Amen.
35:08 Let us sing, break thou the bread of life.
35:18 Break Thou the bread of life
35:25 Dear Lord, to me
35:32 As Thou didst break the loaves
35:38 Beside the sea
35:46 Beyond the sacred page
35:53 I seek Thee, Lord
35:59 My spirit pants for Thee
36:06 O Living Word!
36:16 Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord
36:23 To me, to me
36:29 As Thou didst bless the bread
36:36 By Galilee
36:43 Then shall all bondage cease
36:50 All fetters fall
36:58 And I shall find my peace
37:05 Thine all in all
37:14 Thou art the bread of Life
37:21 O Lord, to me
37:28 Thy holy Word the truth
37:34 That saveth me
37:42 Give me to eat and live
37:48 With Thee above
37:56 Teach me to love Thy truth
38:03 For Thou art love
38:14 Spirit and life are they
38:20 Words Thou dost speak
38:27 I hasten to obey
38:34 But I am weak
38:41 Thou art my only help
38:49 Thou art my life
38:57 Heeding Thy holy Word
39:05 I win the strife.
40:38 "Therefore, just as through one man
40:43 sin entered the world...
40:48 and death through sin.
40:51 And thus death spread to all men
40:56 because all sinned."
41:01 It was the day that heaven wished never came,
41:07 the opening of the door to sin.
41:14 I believe that when we get an opportunity to ask Adam
41:17 about what it was like...
41:22 he'd be able to say, "I wish I never did it."
41:26 That's one decision I wish I could take back.
41:30 That has been our lives.
41:32 The one decision
41:34 that we've all made because of Adam
41:39 that we wish, we could take back.
41:45 But Jesus knowing...
41:50 that we couldn't take it back,
41:54 He had a plan.
41:59 He's so sovereign, He had this plan in place
42:03 before Adam had the thought in place.
42:07 He had the plan in place
42:09 before he thought was even a spark in the mind of Lucifer.
42:15 Before he even thought he could take the place
42:17 of the Most High God
42:20 God had a plan.
42:23 And the Apostle Paul,
42:27 after finding a new walk, a new journey, a new spark,
42:32 a new power beyond his own ability to do,
42:38 Paul had an encounter
42:43 with a God who had a plan.
42:47 That was a very sad verse I just read because,
42:50 "All have sinned, death spread to all man,
42:55 just as through one man
43:00 sin entered the world."
43:12 But the Bible didn't end there.
43:18 "For until the law..."
43:19 the Bible says, "Sin was in the world,
43:22 but sin is not imputed where there is no law."
43:26 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,
43:31 couldn't find a person, Joe,
43:34 between Adam and Moses to resolve the issue of sin,
43:38 couldn't find a person, death reigned.
43:41 The word there reigned meant unchecked
43:44 like a steamroller,
43:46 death leveled every family
43:51 that was ever born of the seed of Adam.
43:53 That's every one of us.
43:55 Death reigned from Adam to Moses.
43:59 Even over those who had not sinned
44:05 according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
44:08 meaning those who didn't even do it
44:10 Adam did still died
44:15 because as in Adam all die.
44:24 Romans 5:15.
44:34 "But the free gift is not like the offense.
44:38 For if by one man's offense many died,
44:44 much more the grace of God
44:47 and the gift by the grace of God
44:52 of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many."
44:57 Let me pause and say,
45:00 Adam affected everybody.
45:04 But Jesus much more affected everybody.
45:07 Amen.
45:08 See, Adam, you couldn't find anybody
45:10 from Adam to Moses to resolve this issue of sin.
45:12 And every day, a lamb, an innocent lamb
45:16 had his throat cut, his blood shed,
45:19 his body burned.
45:21 And that father, that high priest of the family,
45:23 that patriarch would go home,
45:25 spent to look at his family once again bound in sin.
45:31 He'd wake up in the morning and his children again,
45:34 he'd go to the market buy another lamb or a dove,
45:38 or whatever he could afford
45:40 and he'd go to the temple mindful of the fact
45:43 that somebody needs to find an answer,
45:47 so I could stop killing these innocent animals,
45:50 but he couldn't find one.
45:54 And Moses showed up.
46:01 God, God picked Moses,
46:04 saved him from the water,
46:06 gave him an Egyptian education.
46:11 Then He banished him to the life of a shepherd
46:14 to understand what it means to lead people.
46:17 And He brought him back with a mission.
46:20 And you think after 80 years Moses got it together.
46:23 You think after 80 years Moses got it together.
46:28 Moses shows up in Egypt.
46:31 And after 80 years he still stumbles
46:34 because of what Adam did
46:35 and he takes the life of an Egyptian.
46:44 And the lamb was there again
46:47 to take away the transgression of Moses.
46:51 Then he takes the children of Israel,
46:53 by God's strength and grace,
46:55 they are finally set free from Egypt.
46:59 And Moses in his anxiety
47:03 is told by God just talk to the rock.
47:08 And he beats the rock.
47:12 You'd think by now he got it.
47:20 Once again,
47:22 the lamb's blood is shed
47:25 and the transgression is forgiven.
47:30 Moses takes the children of Israel
47:34 and they are approaching the mountain of Sinai.
47:39 And a week before they get there,
47:40 they can't even keep the Sabbath holy.
47:47 Once again
47:50 the lamb's blood is shed
47:54 and the sin is forgiven.
48:00 You see sin is a horrible thing but...
48:05 the Word of the Lord says,
48:07 Adam's offense was horrible
48:09 and so was Moses and everyone
48:11 that came before and after him and us and every one of us.
48:18 But if Adam's sin could affect so many in such a negative way,
48:21 the blood of Jesus could affect every one of us,
48:25 much more than the sin of Adam affected every one of us.
48:29 See, I'm a sinner,
48:31 I don't pretend to even be anything
48:32 but that, but I'm by God's grace...
48:42 saved by the blood of the Lamb.
48:50 Paul continues to increase this thing.
48:55 He says, "The gift is not like that
48:57 which came through the one who sinned.
49:04 The gift is not like that
49:07 which came through the one who sinned."
49:11 What does he mean?
49:16 He said, "This gift that came from Jesus
49:18 is not on the same level as the sin that came from Adam,
49:22 or the gift that came from Jesus
49:24 is far greater than the sin there came from Adam."
49:29 In other words, Paul says, don't make the mistake
49:31 of comparing Adam's sin to the righteousness of Jesus
49:35 or the righteousness of Jesus
49:38 is far greater than the sin of Adam.
49:40 Amen.
49:44 "For the judgment which came from one offence
49:47 resulted in condemnation,
49:49 but the free gift which came from many offenses
49:55 resulted in justification."
49:58 Now, let get this.
50:00 It took one sin for everybody to be condemned,
50:03 but all the combination of everybody's sin
50:07 could not delineate nor weaken
50:11 the gift of the life of Jesus.
50:14 Amen.
50:15 See the writer is saying, one offense made it bad,
50:20 but the millions of offenses could never ever, ever weaken
50:25 the sacrifice of one man.
50:28 Praise Jesus.
50:29 I'm so glad to know today
50:31 that as we partake of the emblem
50:33 of the reminder of God's broken body and shed blood,
50:36 I'm so excited today to know
50:39 that all the combined sins of the world
50:42 are not strong enough
50:44 to weaken the power
50:46 of the redemption found in Jesus.
50:49 Amen.
50:54 "For if by one man's offense death reigned through one,
50:58 much more, much more
51:01 those who receive abundance of grace.
51:05 And of the gift of righteousness
51:08 will reign in life through the one
51:14 Jesus Christ."
51:15 Amen. Praise Jesus.
51:17 So today we're not here to
51:19 recommend another fundamental to you.
51:23 We're here to recommend Jesus.
51:24 Amen.
51:27 The broken body,
51:30 the broken body, the Apostle Paul,
51:37 reminds us of the sufficiency
51:40 and the beauty of the broken body of Jesus
51:43 and he says in 1 Corinthians 11:23-24,
51:49 he says, "For I receive from the Lord,
51:53 that which I also delivered to you."
51:56 That the Lord Jesus speaking of this gift
51:59 on the same night in which He was betrayed He took bread.
52:04 And when He had given thanks, He broke it and He said,
52:07 "Take eat, this is my body which is broken for you.
52:11 Do this in remembrance of me."
52:15 As we partake of this bread,
52:18 remember the gift that is still able today
52:23 to forgive every transgression,
52:26 every sin of every one who has ever lived.
52:31 Let us partake of this bread together.
52:42 There was something else that was added to the equation,
52:46 it was not just the broken body of Jesus.
52:47 For many,
52:49 a crucifixion broke the body of the crucified.
52:56 Many a men were crucified before Jesus,
53:01 but not one of them was crucified without sin.
53:08 It just seemed to have been the theme of the last two weeks
53:10 in every study that I've done at the school,
53:14 for the young people in the academy,
53:17 Wednesday night prayer meeting, one to one Bible study,
53:21 it just seem as though God has poured into my mind
53:24 this whole week
53:26 and then some just to study of what sin is.
53:32 You see sin is what Jesus came to save us from,
53:36 "He shall save His people from their sin,
53:40 from their sins."
53:43 The things we've done.
53:45 But if all Jesus came to do is save us
53:46 from the things we've done,
53:48 then we could just need saving every day
53:50 from the things we continue to do,
53:52 but he didn't come just to do that.
53:55 He came to take away the sin of the world.
53:57 Amen.
53:59 The enslaving,
54:02 empowering daily combat
54:07 with the power of sin
54:10 Jesus came to deliver us from that,
54:14 not just what we've done,
54:17 but from the daily power of sin.
54:20 So as we partake of the blood,
54:22 the symbol of the blood of Jesus,
54:24 remember this, we don't leave,
54:26 we don't leave here today with a pocket full of memories
54:30 of what we have done, He's come to take that away,
54:32 amen somebody.
54:33 Amen.
54:34 But I will leave here with the thought of,
54:36 oh, if I could only have done things differently
54:38 as far as the East is from the West,
54:40 so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
54:45 Amen.
54:47 If we confess our sins, He is faithful
54:48 and just to forgive us of our sins
54:51 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
54:54 Let us partake of the wine together.
55:09 Our heavenly Father,
55:13 our precious Lord.
55:18 Father, we can still see sand in front of us.
55:21 We are still in the wilderness.
55:26 But our ear of faith can hear the construction
55:30 that is still taking place in Your eternal kingdom.
55:36 We can see the angels busying themselves
55:39 to prepare for us a place to dwell
55:42 in the presence of our loving God.
55:47 We can see sins being thrown to the West
55:52 and sinners being pulled to the East today.
55:58 We can see the administrators in Your kingdom
56:01 stamping over every transgression
56:03 forgiven, forgiven, blotted out, forgiven.
56:09 And, Father, we can hear today, if it were such the case,
56:14 if such were the case
56:15 we can hear the sewing machines of heaven
56:18 pulling our garments together for that great celebration.
56:24 Father, help us to be just as filled with joy
56:28 about the coming of our Lord
56:30 as He is filled with joy to come to get His children.
56:37 But, Father, today we are not all free.
56:41 Ye there are many who still are bound in sin and shame,
56:45 and degradation, and heartache, and darkness.
56:48 But, Father, You've chosen us to go
56:50 and proclaim the praises of Him
56:53 who called us out of darkness into this marvelous light.
56:59 And, Father, today,
57:01 we thank You so much for this marvelous light.
57:12 We don't want to leave here, Lord,
57:13 and go back to the thought.
57:17 We want to leave here and walk with the Lord.
57:21 Strengthen Your people here in Thompsonville,
57:24 Your leaders, Your church, the members,
57:27 every one of us as Your children.
57:29 Father, come, speak to our hearts
57:31 and take us to a place that we need to find strength,
57:35 and security, and acceptance, and love, and forgiveness,
57:40 and the power not only to do what you've gifted us to do
57:43 but the power to live above the call of sin.
57:47 For the enemy is still roaring and he's still roaming,
57:52 and he's still angry,
57:54 and he has not yet been eternally handcuffed.
57:56 And so, Father, give us wisdom
57:57 to hear the voice of God every day,
58:00 to die to that call
58:03 that's so desirous to pull us back into darkness.
58:08 And so, Lord Jesus, we come today
58:10 to praise You and to thank You,
58:12 to give You the honor, the glory, the praise
58:13 that You alone are worthy of,
58:16 for none of us can free ourselves from sin.
58:20 So hear our prayer
58:22 as we thank You for Your forgiveness.
58:26 And we thank You in Jesus' holy and precious name.
58:31 And all of God's people said, amen.
58:36 And amen.


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Revised 2017-05-01