Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210008S
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, friends, and welcome to Friday Night Family Worship. 01:12 I'm Pastor John Lomacang. 01:14 And to my right is the blessing of my life, 01:16 my wife, Angela. 01:18 Good to have you here, Honey. 01:19 Honey, I am so happy to be here. 01:21 It's the Sabbath. 01:23 We can put everything aside, 01:25 the world aside and just focus on the Lord. 01:28 Not that we don't focus every day. 01:30 Okay. 01:31 But this is a special day, God's Sabbath. 01:33 And I'm happy to be here, aren't you? 01:34 That's right. 01:36 And we're talking about a topic 01:37 that I think will be of great interest to you. 01:38 We're talking about restoration 01:41 and you'll find out in just a moment 01:42 what that means. 01:44 Salvation is so beautiful to us, 01:45 but sometimes we don't understand 01:47 the steps of salvation. 01:48 Right. 01:50 Not that you're not saved the moment you come to Christ 01:52 and He forgives you and begins to redeem you. 01:55 But there's something about it that we often miss. 01:58 And we're gonna talk about that on this program, 02:00 but go ahead and introduce our guests today, Honey, 02:02 that's really part of our family. 02:03 This is family. 02:05 We had so much fun talking before the program, didn't we? 02:08 We were just reminiscing because we do go way back. 02:11 We're the older family and we have newer family. 02:14 Speak for yourself. 02:18 These are the young 'uns here. 02:19 I know, but I'm saying 02:20 even the young 'uns could go back 02:22 with us through history. 02:24 We have history and we were reminiscing. 02:26 It was so much fun, but we have Dee Hildebrand. 02:29 Hi, nice to be here. 02:30 Thank you for inviting me. I appreciate it. 02:32 I always loved doing worship with you. 02:33 I know. 02:34 So glad to have you here, Dee, 02:36 and we're just saying 02:37 how we can't do without our Dee. 02:40 Right, honey? That's right. 02:42 We call Dee for everything. 02:43 We've grown up together. 02:45 Practically and in front of me. 02:47 Beautiful couple Greg and Jill Morikone, welcome. 02:50 Thank you. 02:52 Glad to have you 02:53 and excited that you're part of our program today. 02:55 Yay! 02:57 This is your second time on 3ABN. 02:58 You're right. 02:59 Thank you very much. 03:01 It's a blessing to be a part of the 3ABN family of course, 03:04 and what a blessing. 03:06 I know the week's been busy, 03:07 so Jill and I always look forward to Friday night. 03:09 This is kinda like a really special time. 03:11 So it's a blessing to spend it with you all and of course, 03:13 to you at home. 03:14 But I think about God blessing the Sabbath day, 03:16 the seventh day, right? 03:18 That's right. 03:19 I like the preparation day, Friday, 03:21 and then going into sundown and this special time 03:22 opening the word. 03:23 Great topic too, Pastor. 03:25 Yes. Yes. 03:26 I've seen the Lord in so many ways. 03:28 This topic is real in all of our lives. 03:30 I mean, president, vice president, 03:32 you know, I've known you 03:34 through the different positions 03:35 and, Jill, you know, when you were piano teacher, 03:38 head deaconess 03:40 and working in different departments, 03:42 and now vice president and see head of programming 03:45 and a lot of other things. 03:47 I mean, I'm just, 03:48 I'm really messing it up right now, 03:49 but it's great. 03:51 Greg was your head elder one time. 03:52 Greg was my head elder. 03:54 Wonderful head elder. 03:55 We've worked together for many, many years 03:56 and it's been a privilege, 03:58 you know, really I realize, 03:59 you know, titles have different roles of responsibility, 04:00 but still we're all working for one common goal. 04:02 That's right. 04:03 It's a blessing to be of service for the Lord. 04:05 And you were talking about reminiscing. 04:06 It is fun. 04:07 You were talking about when some of the people 04:09 such as Caleb and others that are on camera right now 04:11 when they were not even born. 04:13 They were tiny toddlers. Yeah. Just yeah. 04:14 Oh, yeah not even born, yeah. 04:16 It's amazing though, what a privilege. 04:18 What a privilege to be family? 04:19 You know, I love that. 04:20 I love the gift of the Sabbath. 04:22 I love the gift of spending it with family. 04:24 And we just love you, 04:25 Angie and Pastor John and Dee 04:27 and the rest of our 3ABN family. 04:29 So just a privilege to open up God's Word 04:31 and study together. 04:33 Well, Honey, would you have prayer for us tonight? 04:35 We're gonna talk about something that's amazing. 04:37 And I know the Lord will bless 04:39 if we invite Him to be with us. 04:41 Okay, let's go to the Lord. 04:43 Our precious Lord in heaven, 04:44 we come to you in the name of Jesus, 04:46 giving You all the praise, the honor, and the glory 04:49 for You are worthy. 04:51 Thank You for this opportunity for us 04:53 coming before Your presence. 04:55 Thank You, Lord, 04:56 that we could reminisce and look back, 04:59 but, Lord, we have a future. 05:01 We have a wonderful future eternity in view, 05:05 help us to focus on what we can do 05:08 to help all others to make the kingdom. 05:10 Lord, there's others that need to be restored. 05:13 We ask that You... 05:15 This program will be a blessing to them. 05:17 We pray that Your Holy Spirit will come down upon us 05:21 and upon the viewers and listeners today, 05:24 and may each one receives a blessing. 05:26 And may we also be a blessing in Jesus' name. 05:30 Amen. Amen. 05:31 Thank you. Thank you for that, Honey. 05:36 The topics that the Lord puts on my heart are evolutionary 05:40 and what I mean by that is as I get older... 05:42 Is it evolutionary? Evolutionary. 05:44 Evolutionary, Ooh, I like that. 05:46 What I mean by that is our understanding 05:48 I believe in God's Word increases. 05:51 It shouldn't decrease. 05:53 The more we study God's Word, 05:54 I was telling my wife 05:56 and those who are on our zoom link sometimes that 05:58 I'm a lot... 05:59 I'm seeing a lot of Bible verses 06:01 with new eyes. 06:02 True. 06:03 And I think that that is true in Revelation 06:05 when it talks about anoint your eyes 06:06 with eye salve that you may see. 06:08 The Lord does in fact restore our vision 06:11 to give us a cleaner, 06:13 more beautiful picture of who we can be in Christ. 06:17 And up highway 55, 06:19 we live in Southern Illinois. 06:21 Most of you know that 06:22 that are watching a bit and part of the 3ABN family. 06:24 But sometimes when I'm going to the conference office, 06:26 'cause I worked with the conference, 06:28 I worked for the conference and 3ABN at the same time. 06:29 Yes. 06:31 And I'm going up to meetings. 06:32 There's on the right side of the road 06:34 before we get to Springfield, 06:36 there's massive yard of old cars. 06:38 Yes. 06:40 And I look to the right is old cars, 06:41 but I'm thinking, 06:43 why would anybody wanna hold on to all these old cars. 06:47 Right. 06:48 And some of them were many years old, 06:49 40, 50, 60 years old. 06:51 You could see they're long and with a big rounded fenders, 06:54 big headlights look like socialites. 06:56 Yes. 06:57 Why would he have over there? 06:59 And I... 07:00 And then I saw this channel on television 07:02 where they buy these old cars 07:04 and they completely restore them. 07:07 Yes. 07:08 And they are worth so much more 07:10 than they were worth originally. 07:12 And then the antique channels, sometimes traveling... 07:14 Oh, yeah. 07:17 Traveling antique show. Oh, yes. 07:19 And somebody brings something and says, 07:20 I've had this in my family for 50 years. 07:24 And it was in my garage. Well, how much is it worth? 07:25 And they say, well conservatively about 412,500. 07:29 Yes. Wow. 07:31 We watched a person going to a conniption. 07:34 That much? 07:36 That much it was in my garage. Wow. 07:37 It was one man's junk. 07:39 So in the eyes of the world, sometimes we are man's junk, 07:43 but God sees us as His treasure. 07:45 Beautiful. Yes. 07:47 So we're gonna talk about that today 07:48 because there are many of you that are watching this program 07:50 and maybe listening 07:51 that might say, I've gone too far. 07:54 I have too many miles of bad things in my life 07:58 to even be restored. 08:00 As I'm watching the program, 08:02 I think of all the things I did, 08:03 maybe even just this week 08:04 that are just really weighing on my heart. 08:06 And I can't even see the forest 08:08 because the trees are blocking it. 08:10 Tonight, we want to leave you encouraged 08:12 that God has a plan for creation, 08:14 but that plan is not just for the world. 08:17 It's for every one of us. 08:18 So let's dive into the Bible tonight. 08:20 Let's start in Revelation 21:5. 08:22 And let's look at that together. 08:24 Revelation 21:5 08:25 and God reveals His plan for salvation. 08:27 So let's kind of go around the table. 08:31 I'll start far away. Greg. 08:33 Let's look at God's plan 08:34 for that He did this for creation. 08:37 Revelation 21? Revelation 21:5. 08:40 Says, 08:41 "Then He who sat on the throne said, 08:44 'Behold, I make all things new. 08:47 'And He said to me, 08:48 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.'" 08:53 So when you read that verse, what does it say to you? 08:54 Wow, all things new, not some things are like, 08:58 I'm just gonna pick every other and that'll be new, all things. 09:01 That's right. 09:02 That's powerful because it goes back 09:04 to what you were talking about. 09:05 You know, some people can be in despair. 09:07 Yeah, I'm too bad. I've done too much. 09:09 There's no hope for me. 09:10 I'm just a rusted out old car. 09:12 As you were saying, sitting in somebody's yard, 09:14 collecting dust and rust. 09:16 I think sometimes... That's beautiful. 09:17 It is. 09:19 When we read this scripture, 09:20 when I was a new Christian or a young baby Christian, 09:23 I read the scripture. 09:25 And when it says all things, 09:26 I'm thinking the world and the animals. 09:29 And I didn't think about me 09:34 being new, recreating. 09:37 I make all things new. 09:39 That includes us. 09:43 Absolutely right. 09:44 I love that, Dee. 09:45 You know what I love about this scripture is the word new. 09:48 I make all things new. 09:49 If you look at it in the Greek Kainos, 09:50 it means new in quality, not in origin. 09:55 So in other words, this is us being renewed 09:58 or remade into the image of God. 10:02 So us as people were... 10:04 God's not saying, I'm done with you, 10:06 I'm putting you aside 10:08 and I'm going to make somebody new. 10:09 No, He's taking us with our issues 10:12 and our baggage and restoring 10:16 and renewing and making us like new. 10:19 That's right. I love that. 10:21 So helpful. Yeah. 10:22 And there are people that sometimes think to themselves. 10:27 Well, I could see my brother being a pastor, 10:29 but me, I mean I drank, I have no cash, 10:32 I got too much baggage. 10:33 There's no way that anybody could use me for anything good. 10:36 And, but we're saying tonight, 10:38 whoa, there's nothing that the Lord can't do 10:44 because He's the potter. 10:47 And even though the clay leaks in His hands, 10:50 He doesn't put down that jug. 10:52 He doesn't put down that jar. 10:54 He wants to make everything new. 10:56 But what else does He wanna make new? 10:57 Let's look at 2 Corinthians 5:17. 11:00 Sure. 11:01 What else does He want to make new? 11:04 Honey? Okay. 11:06 Therefore, that's that famous text which I love. 11:12 And this is, it gives hope. 11:14 Therefore, if anyone, that's all of us, is in Christ, 11:19 he or she is a new creation. 11:22 Old things where have they gone? 11:24 Passed away. 11:26 Behold, how many things? All things. 11:28 All things have become new. 11:30 Amen. 11:32 It gives me such hope. Doesn't it, Honey? 11:33 That's right and look at us. 11:34 I mean, we come from Brooklyn. 11:38 Not that things are bad in Brooklyn. 11:39 No. 11:41 But the thing about God is 11:45 He sees the end of the assembly line 11:48 before you are even a thought in the drafting room. 11:52 A designer says, here's what I have in mind. 11:56 Yeah. 11:57 Could you make it? 11:58 And then he gets together with the concept, draw artists. 12:03 They begin to form it and shape it and mold it. 12:06 And then the guys, I saw a video once 12:08 of how they shape cars. 12:11 And I never knew that 12:12 some guys literally have this look like a mound of clay 12:15 that they just take this exact on 12:17 and they're very sharp and they start 12:18 shaping and molding 12:19 and they use those to make molds, metal molds. 12:22 And they create all these pieces of the car 12:24 and they melt them all down. 12:26 They put them together and you think, 12:27 and the guy says, 12:28 that's what I saw four years ago. 12:31 And so... 12:33 That's the secret you just said four years ago. 12:35 When I first became a Christian 12:36 and I read scriptures like this. 12:38 Yeah. 12:39 I would become discouraged because I wasn't new. 12:44 I was supposed to be new. 12:45 I wanted... 12:47 I was in Christ 12:48 and I was supposed to be this new instant creation. 12:52 I was supposed to be perfect all the time 12:55 and I would let Christ down. 12:57 I would fail. I would fall. 12:59 And then you kind of, you try, you give up because you think, 13:02 well, this is, I'm supposed to be new. 13:04 What's wrong with me? 13:06 And you could see all the wrong things 13:07 wrong with you. 13:09 It's amazing, because as you grow, 13:12 you have a better conception of this. 13:15 That what's the word... 13:16 We're transforming all the time. 13:18 It's a work in progress all the time. 13:21 And the most amazing thing is 13:23 as you grow and you become a new creation in certain areas 13:27 and you're thinking, wow, I'm doing better here. 13:29 Then God reveals the next area. 13:35 So by the time you get up to my age, 13:38 you realize 13:40 there's always gonna be more to grow in, 13:43 which is wonderful 13:44 because you can look back and see how God has grown you. 13:47 And that gives you hope knowing He is... 13:51 You're going to keep growing. 13:52 So are you saying that the Lord put you through 13:53 in extreme makeover? 13:56 He'd still put me through an extreme makeover 13:58 because I needed an extreme makeover. 14:02 You know, I needed an extreme makeover 14:04 because I was so far. 14:07 I remember back before I was a Christian, 14:10 when I didn't try to be a Christian, 14:13 because I didn't see 14:15 how I could ever be good enough. 14:20 I just was too, too bad, 14:23 because I didn't understand restoration, 14:28 God's power. 14:29 What, Jill, that really rang with me 14:31 when you said, 14:32 He's gonna take me and renew me. 14:37 Not make a new better me. 14:40 He's working in me. 14:41 That's right. 14:43 That's right. 14:44 My wife has given me all these little hints over here, 14:46 but she's not saying them out loud. 14:47 You're talking about how does He restore us? 14:49 It's like an old house, one room at a time, 14:53 clean up that room. 14:55 Sometimes you have a junk room in your house, 14:56 which we have, 14:59 and you will whizz down to clean out that junk room. 15:02 And now it's starting to look nice. 15:04 I'm like, wow, there's hope for that room. 15:06 And that's how it is with us. Yes. 15:08 I love the hope that God gives us. 15:11 If I can throw in Isaiah 43? Sure. 15:13 Isaiah 43, let's go there. Yes. 15:15 Isaiah 43, this is verses 18 and 19. 15:18 This always gives me hope. 15:19 When I read it, it encourages me. 15:21 It says, 15:22 "Do not remember the former things, 15:24 nor consider the things of old." 15:25 We're thinking of the old being of sin 15:28 or the old woman of sin and that old creation. 15:31 And sometimes we dwell on it, we remember the past. 15:35 We remember those things who we used to be, 15:38 but the Word of God says, don't remember that, 15:40 don't remember your past. 15:41 Don't remember those mistakes. 15:43 And then it says, in verse 19, 15:45 "Behold, I will do a new thing. 15:48 Now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it? 15:51 I will even make a road in the wilderness 15:53 and rivers in the desert." 15:55 And so many times we feel like we are in a desert place, 15:59 or you might feel like I'm in the wilderness 16:02 and God there's no live... 16:03 There's nothing green. 16:05 There's nothing living. There's nothing fresh. 16:07 And yet God says, 16:08 I can renew the bareness in your life. 16:11 I love that. 16:12 No matter where we've been or how far you have gone, 16:17 Jesus says, I want to restore you. 16:19 And I want to pour My Spirit in you 16:21 and change you. 16:22 And that's the beautiful thing. 16:24 We can be new creation in Him, 16:27 no matter what our life looks like now. 16:29 That's right. 16:30 I like that, road in the wilderness. 16:33 Greg? 16:34 You know, Pastor, going back to what you were talking about, 16:35 like the designer, the master designer, 16:38 you know, thinking about God and thinking about restoration, 16:40 that's incredible love. 16:41 We were talking about this, Pastor, 16:43 before we went on the air here. 16:44 You know, that's a lot of love to restore something, 16:46 because God could say, okay, let's say this is that car 16:48 that's sitting out there. 16:49 This water bottle of water, 16:50 like you were talking about in the junkyard. 16:52 God could look at and say, okay, it's missing the label, 16:54 half full next, but He's not. 16:57 He says, okay, how can I put a label on that? 17:00 Or how can I take that old car? 17:01 I need to sand it down a little bit. 17:03 You know, that's the master designer. 17:05 But okay, we're talking about cars. 17:06 You think about us. 17:08 We're made in the image of who? 17:10 Of God. That's powerful. 17:11 So you've got a designer that's actually working right 17:14 on an image that's like that we're supposed to be like Him. 17:17 He created us in His image. 17:18 That's a lot of love 17:20 because it's easy just to see something that's kind of junky, 17:22 like you're talking about junk rooms 17:23 or whatever like, okay, yeah. 17:24 Don't want that, toss that and toss that. 17:26 But God says, you know what? 17:27 I see hope in every single person 17:29 on the entire planet... 17:30 That's right. 17:31 And you have the possibility of restoration. 17:33 That's phenomenal love. 17:34 It really is. Amen. 17:35 Nobody is too much work. No. 17:38 We look at ourselves, 17:40 we look at ourselves and say too much work. 17:42 And we look... 17:44 Well, Dee, that's our judgment. 17:45 See that's the thing, we get caught up in our own judgment. 17:46 We look at God and God says, you know what? 17:48 I wanna restore you. 17:49 I wanna put a label on that water bottle. 17:51 And I wanna fill you up. 17:52 We look at it and say, okay, I'm half empty. 17:54 I have no label. My lid here is on crooked. 17:57 I've got a little dent in the side. 17:59 That's what we judge ourselves, 18:00 but God doesn't judge about that. 18:02 We're not worth restoring. 18:04 Well, saints wants us to believe that. 18:05 Of course. 18:07 Or we judge other people that way. 18:08 But God's vision... 18:10 You guys are setting me up. 18:12 Sorry, Pastor. No, we love this. 18:13 I'm loving it because you're setting it up so beautifully. 18:16 We have a quote... God's vision. 18:17 In a little bit here. God's vision. 18:19 He has his vision for each individual. 18:20 Yeah. 18:22 And this is what we have to hold out 18:23 when we meet people. 18:25 We meet people sometimes 18:26 and it takes a lot for a person 18:28 to even want to have a meeting with the pastor. 18:30 Yeah. True. 18:33 Like today. 18:34 I had a meeting today with someone who said to me, 18:40 you know, I saw you at the gas station 18:42 and it's been many, many, many years 18:44 since I've seen you. 18:46 And the Lord said to him and me, right? 18:48 He said, the Lord said to me, 18:49 you got to talk to Pastor John. 18:51 Oh, wow. Had a beautiful meeting today. 18:52 Amen. 18:54 And I thought to myself... Wants to give his life. 18:56 Yeah, wants to give his life back to the Lord. 18:57 Amen. 18:59 And it's just so amazing and said, 19:01 "Oh, I've got so much history." 19:04 I said, "Paul did too." 19:06 That's why he said, forgetting those things behind. 19:07 That's right. 19:09 He said when we meet, he said, 19:10 we butt heads so much, didn't we? I said, 19:12 Paul said, 19:13 "Forget those things behind us." 19:14 Wow. Amen. 19:16 And he says, so what's the next step? 19:18 I said, this is in the Lord's hands. 19:20 God is powerful. 19:21 And you know, this is what reminds me. 19:24 And, Jill, haven't you read or Dee, was it Dee yet? 19:28 No. Jill hasn't read yet either. 19:29 Dee, Mark 9:12. 19:31 It's an author part there. 19:33 Yeah. 19:34 Jesus set the field ready because He was coming back. 19:39 But He sent John the Baptist ahead of Him, 19:41 and John the Baptist 19:42 was a representation of the work 19:45 of a famous prophet. 19:47 Read that for us. 19:49 Mark 9:12, 19:50 "And then He answered and told them, 19:52 'Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. 19:57 And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, 20:00 that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?'" 20:04 Okay. 20:06 Now remembering that, go to Malachi 4 now, Jill, 20:08 and read verse 5 and 6, 20:10 because he talked about John the Baptist, 20:13 then he talked about Elijah. 20:14 What kind of restoration 20:16 was John the Baptist representing 20:19 as it relates to the work of Elijah? 20:21 Verse 5 and 6, in Malachi 4. 20:22 Malachi 4:5-6, 20:24 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet 20:26 before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 20:30 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 20:33 and the hearts of the children to their fathers, 20:37 lest I come and strike the earth 20:38 with a curse." 20:40 What was the active? 20:41 I'm gonna ask you question and I'm gonna take... 20:43 I'm not gonna take too long to get the answer. 20:45 What is the transitional word in that paragraph, 20:49 in that verse? 20:51 Before? 20:52 There's a transitional word. Okay. 20:56 Since we're on air and the clock is ticking, 20:57 what's the transition? Turn. 20:59 Turn, of course. 21:02 Turn the hearts. 21:03 Turn. Turn... 21:04 He will turn. He will turn. 21:07 He will turn. 21:08 He will turn your weeping into mourning. 21:12 He will turn your sadness into joy. 21:14 He will give you beauty for ashes. 21:17 He will give you strength in place of fear. 21:20 This whole turn is what people in the world want. 21:24 And the unfortunate thing, 21:25 and the reason why this passage is, 21:27 the reason why this topic is so important to me is 21:28 because I've seen 21:29 what the world has gone through. 21:31 I mean, politically, emotionally, health wise, 21:35 so many lives 21:37 have been wrecked on the rocks of disappointed promises. 21:39 And even Christianity 21:41 has put out a horrible picture of Jesus 21:43 to the world. 21:45 And the world is saying, 21:47 if that's what Christianity means, 21:50 I'll keep drinking because I don't need to... 21:53 That's worse than what I've done. 21:55 We've got to give the right picture of Jesus. 21:57 And Jesus is the one 21:59 who can turn the worst into the best. 22:01 Amen. 22:02 He can turn the saddest into the most joyful. 22:05 He can make the night day, but it is a process. 22:08 And I look at what my wife does now. 22:12 I couldn't get her to think 22:15 when we were living in California. 22:16 If I said, wave file, wave file. 22:21 That was her definition of wave file. 22:23 See ya. 22:24 Now she's an audio editor. 22:26 Yeah. 22:28 Better one than I am. The Lord of the lord. 22:30 Right. 22:31 Say it again? The Lord. 22:32 I can do all things through Christ 22:34 who strengthens me 22:35 'cause I wasn't even thinking that way. 22:37 That's right. 22:39 He turns, He turns, but how does He do it? 22:41 Yes. 22:43 And this is where it all starts. 22:44 And after this, I'm gonna read that quote. 22:45 So I don't wait till the end of the program. 22:47 Oh, okay. 22:48 Because there's something that He wants to do for us. 22:51 Let's go to Psalm 51:10-12. 22:55 Greg, let's go back to you. Sure. 22:57 Can I jump in one sec? Yes. Yes. 22:58 Sure, I'd like you to do that. Absolutely. 22:59 What I like about this scripture is it 23:02 it's turning the hearts of the fathers to the children. 23:05 So to me, this shows a restoration in the family. 23:08 That's right. Oh, yes. 23:09 You know we've been talking about restoration 23:11 as individuals 23:12 and that is important, 23:14 but I believe in a special way, 23:15 especially at the end of time, God wants to restore families. 23:19 Amen. 23:20 He wants to turn the hearts of the parents 23:22 to the children or the spouses back toward each other. 23:24 That's right. 23:26 Part of restoring all things. Yes. 23:28 It's restoration in the family unit. 23:30 Here on earth. Yeah. 23:31 The family. 23:32 'Cause He started the family back in the Garden of Eden... 23:34 That's right. 23:36 He wants to restore marriage and restore families. 23:38 You mentioned it a moment ago, the prodigal son, 23:42 that's an example of that. 23:44 Restoring the family, so that's... 23:47 Thank you for bringing that out 23:48 because it's the hearts and it starts there. 23:51 So, Greg? 23:52 Steps, right? All right. 23:54 Psalm 51. Yeah. 23:55 This is how it's start. 23:56 Oh, I love that psalm. 23:58 Steps to restoration. All right. 23:59 So write this down Psalm 51:10-12. 24:03 Yes. 24:04 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, 24:07 and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 24:11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, 24:13 and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 24:16 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, 24:19 and uphold me with Your generous Spirit." 24:23 Wow. Amen. 24:24 Isn't that the little box here, hun? 24:25 Oh, that's beautiful. 24:27 I have a... I have to read something here. 24:29 Yeah, that's the one out there. 24:31 No, I wanna read this one. Okay. 24:32 This one's good. Read them both. 24:34 It's your choice, babe. Yeah, both. 24:36 In Christ's Object Lessons, 205, 206. 24:38 It says, 24:40 "Come to Christ for cleansing. 24:41 Do not listen to the enemy suggestion 24:44 to stay away from Christ 24:46 until you have made yourself better, 24:48 until you are good enough to come to God. 24:52 If you wait until then, you will never come." 24:55 That's right. 24:57 "When Satan points to your filthy garments, 25:01 repeat the promise of Jesus. 25:03 Him that commeth to me, I will," what? 25:06 In no wise... 25:07 "In no wise cast out." 25:09 John 6:37, 25:10 "Tell the enemy 25:12 that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin, 25:15 make the prayer of David your own." 25:18 Right, make the prayer of David your own. 25:19 Yes. 25:20 And so, look where it starts, this... 25:24 Because we call, we say new creation. 25:26 Yeah. 25:28 But where does that new creation start? 25:29 In the heart. In the heart. 25:31 Clean, that's the first. 25:33 'Cause when the Bible says 25:34 He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 25:36 we often think of, 25:37 well, you know, the car has been dirty, 25:39 we just wash the soap off. 25:40 Yeah. 25:41 But many people get their cars washed on the outside, 25:44 but it's a mess on the inside. 25:46 Yeah. 25:47 The Lord is talking about a deeper restoration. 25:50 I can see your wheels turning around. 25:53 When you're talking about that, I just jumped to Ezekiel 36. 25:56 It just made me think of that... 25:57 This is the Sabbath school connection right here. 26:00 I love it. 26:01 Ezekiel 36:25 talks about 26:03 the cleansing before the heart is restored. 26:06 It says... Ezekiel... 26:07 I'm sorry, Ezekiel 36? 26:08 Ezekiel 36:24? 26:11 25. Okay. 26:12 "I will sprinkle clean water on you 26:14 and you shall be clean. 26:16 I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 26:18 and from all your idols." 26:19 That cleansing happens first. 26:20 Then we see verse 26, 26:22 "I will give you a new heart and a new spirit within you. 26:26 I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh 26:28 and give you a heart of flesh." 26:29 To me, this is the same thing that happens in Psalm 51 26:33 that cleansing and that new heart experience. 26:37 Yeah. That's right. 26:39 I'm glad you brought that up because... 26:40 Go ahead, Greg. 26:42 So someone's gonna ask, okay. 26:43 So how do I get a new heart then? 26:45 So I know God wants to do that, how? 26:47 Well I... How will He do that? 26:49 Well, look at the text again. 26:50 I go clear back to Psalms 51. 26:53 The whole... I start... 26:54 I have this highlighted in my Bible. 26:56 I go to the whole thing 26:57 because it starts with 26:59 God having mercy and loving kindness 27:00 and blotting out through transition 27:02 and washing him. 27:03 It's that whole prayer 27:05 of walking through a new day... 27:07 Well, I like what Angie read. 27:09 I'm sorry. I just interrupted you. 27:10 I liked that what you read, Angie, 27:12 because we think we are the one 27:14 to somehow get the cleaning started. 27:15 We're in there trying to scrub, that's not gonna work. 27:17 It's surrender. 27:18 In order for God to give us a clean heart, 27:20 we got to surrender. 27:21 That is the key. Put your hand up and down. 27:23 Yeah. 27:24 Which is so against the normal, right? 27:25 How we think... It is. 27:27 Okay. I gotta do this. 27:28 I gotta do this. I gotta do this. 27:29 You know, just got to surrender. 27:31 Wow. 27:32 But that's hard for some people to surrender. 27:34 Well, that, to me, that's the step. 27:35 Right, that's the first step. But that first step. 27:36 The thing is, if we could ever get the vision 27:38 that God has for us, 27:39 when we surrender our wills mashed together 27:42 and His, our wills become the same. 27:45 So then surrendering is easy because all of a sudden, 27:48 God starts doing things that you love, that you want, 27:51 that makes you whole, that gives you joy. 27:54 And so then you find out, 27:55 well, surrender is more of a blending with the Lord... 27:59 Yes. Yes, it is. 28:00 And it, it raises you up. 28:02 I'm jumping back to Ezekiel 36 real quick. 28:04 What I love about this in verse 25, 28:07 we already read it. 28:08 I will sprinkle clean water on you. 28:09 So who cleans you? 28:11 I, God is the one who sprinkles the water. 28:13 Yes. 28:15 I will cleanse you from your filthiness. 28:16 Who cleanses you? 28:17 God cleanses you. 28:19 Verse 26, I will give you a new heart. 28:21 How do you get a new heart? 28:22 God gives it to you. Amen. 28:23 That's right. 28:25 Then it says, I will take out the heart of stone. 28:26 You don't have to get your hand in there 28:28 and try to yank it. 28:29 He pulls out the heart of stone. 28:30 That's right. 28:32 I will give you a heart of flesh. 28:33 He's the one who gives you a heart of flesh. 28:35 Verse 27. That's right. 28:36 "I will put My Spirit within you." 28:39 You don't have to somehow grab the Holy Spirit 28:41 and say, please, I want you. 28:43 He wants to give you His Holy Spirit. 28:46 I will cause you to walk in my statutes 28:48 and you will keep my judgments and do them." 28:50 I love that. God is the one. 28:52 He is extending and He reaches out and says, 28:55 "I will do this. I want to do it in your life." 28:56 That's right. 28:58 If that old 1936 whatever car says, 29:01 how's this gonna happen? 29:02 I'll do it. Yeah. 29:03 We don't have to do it. 29:05 And, Jill, you stopped short of verse 25. 29:07 I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. 29:12 I will call for the grain and multiply it 29:16 and bring no famine upon you. 29:17 Beautiful. 29:19 That's showing you 29:20 how God is going to completely restore it 29:21 in such a way that... 29:23 And the reason why this passage is so vitally important, 29:25 or this topic is important is because 29:26 we think it's something that we have to do. 29:28 Read that quote for us, Honey. 29:30 We have to let Him. 29:31 We have to let Him do it. Let God. 29:33 So many people have a hard time, 29:34 especially in this self-sufficient world, 29:37 you know, we have the phrase like self-made millionaire. 29:39 Oh, yeah. Self-Made whatever. 29:41 That's right. 29:42 We can't make ourselves. 29:44 You know, if you try to pull yourself up 29:46 by your bootstraps, 29:48 you'll be on your backside. 29:50 You'll flip yourself. 29:52 Don't do that. 29:53 Let the Lord pull you up, like he pulled up Peter. 29:55 Yeah. That's good. 29:57 Read that for us, Honey, 29:58 'cause you were showing that to me. 29:59 Oh, just the end of this, from Steps of Christ, 30:01 is that gift that the Lord gives us. 30:03 If somebody is gonna give me a gift, 30:05 we have to do. 30:07 Just accept it. 30:08 Put our hands out. Thank you. 30:10 It says our greatest need. 30:12 I'll just read the end of it. 30:14 You can never hope 30:15 by your own efforts to secure it. 30:18 Heaven's forgiveness and peace and love in the soul. 30:21 But God offers it to you as a gift. 30:25 It's yours. 30:26 If you will, but reach out your hand and grasp it. 30:32 You just take it. 30:33 It's so hard. 30:35 Why is it so hard for people to do that? 30:37 You remember when we did, 30:39 we had worshiped with a group on Zoom a few, 30:41 a few nights ago, 30:43 and somebody said to us, 30:46 "Pastor John, where has this message been? 30:50 I've been looking for all my life." 30:52 Wow. 30:54 "And I've just been hearing it from you 30:55 in the last four to five years, what's taken so long?" 30:58 And I said to them, 31:00 "When you are at an intersection with God, 31:03 then it becomes real to you. 31:06 When you're at a place 31:08 that you have a confrontation with God, 31:11 then it's no longer theological or intellectual 31:14 it's experiential. 31:15 Amen. 31:17 And people, you have to taste the meal 31:19 to tell somebody how good it is. 31:22 You can't look at it. 31:23 You can't talk about its ingredients. 31:25 And oftentimes we tend to people... 31:26 We tend to tell people 31:27 about all the ingredients in Christianity, 31:31 but the cook says just taste it. 31:34 Taste and see. Just tastes, just taste it. 31:38 We are a stubborn 31:39 and God's people are stubborn and stiff-necked. 31:43 It becomes a difficult task. 31:45 Let's catapult. 31:46 Let's go to, now, 31:48 the Bible talks about how this is gonna happen. 31:50 Angie, 1 Corinthians 15:49, how this is gonna happen? 31:55 Because there's a guarantee 31:56 that is there that we need to find. 31:58 Amen. 31:59 There's a guarantee, you know, when you buy a product, 32:00 it's a guarantee. 32:02 It will work, follow the instructions. 32:03 1 Corinthians 15:49. 32:05 Notice what the Bible tells us. 32:06 "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, 32:12 we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man." 32:17 Okay. That's Jesus. 32:18 So it says, you were like this, 32:20 but when I'm done, you're gonna be like this. 32:21 That's right. 32:23 As you have, you've been the man of dust, 32:24 you had the image of the man of dust for a long time, 32:28 but I'm gonna... 32:29 When I'm done, 32:30 you're gonna have the image of the heavenly man. 32:32 Isn't that encouraging? Yeah, it is. Amen. 32:34 Say it again. We're created from dust. 32:36 Right, and the dust let us down, 32:38 but the Creator never did. 32:40 Never. 32:41 So He says you've been like Adam for a long time, 32:42 but when I'm done, you're gonna be 32:44 just like your heavenly Father. 32:45 Wow. 32:46 We're gonna be back to the point of restoration. 32:48 But we have to believe that and accept it. 32:50 So many people don't. 32:51 It's hard to accept when you look at yourself 32:53 and see you as you think you are 32:55 and not through God's eyes. 32:57 It's good. 32:59 But now we're gonna make a turn. 33:00 Are you ready for the text, Jill? 33:01 Ready. Galatians 6:1. 33:03 Now, for those who are being... 33:04 Those who are experiencing 33:06 God's restoring grace in their lives, 33:09 we have a responsibility. 33:11 When we see people that are struggling, 33:14 when we see people that are broken, 33:17 we have a responsibility. 33:18 Yes. Here it is. 33:19 Galatians 6:1. 33:21 And you can add on to that, whatever you'd like. 33:24 "Brethren, if a man is overtaken 33:25 in any trespass, 33:27 you who are spiritual restore such a one 33:30 in a spirit of gentleness or a spirit of meekness, 33:34 considering yourself lest you also be tempted." 33:37 Can I read verse 2? Yeah. 33:38 It says, 33:40 "Bear one another's burdens, 33:42 and so fulfill the law of Christ." 33:46 So many times, 33:47 instead of bearing burdens, we add burdens. 33:52 You know, we look at other people 33:54 and we add burdens 33:56 that Jesus never even laid upon them. 33:58 Or we, we see them overtaken in a fault 34:01 and see them struggling. 34:02 And we say, okay, while you're down, 34:04 I'm gonna to whip you a bit or I'm going to criticize you, 34:07 or I'm going to judge you 34:09 instead of restoring such a one in a spirit of meekness. 34:15 Beautiful. It takes a risk. 34:16 It takes a person who's experienced God's grace 34:20 to be in that place. 34:22 Wow. 34:23 What were you thinking now say? 34:25 Oh, nothing, Honey. Keep going. 34:26 Now read the quote right after that, 34:27 Honey, this is a quote that is from the book 34:29 A Call to Stand Apart, page 59. 34:32 This is beautiful. Read that for us. 34:34 "Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world 34:36 as the unwary servant of man's necessity. 34:42 He took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses 34:47 that He might minister to every need of humanity." 34:53 Matthew 8:17. 34:55 "The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin, 34:58 He came to remove it. 35:01 It was His mission 35:03 to bring to men the complete restoration. 35:08 He came to give them health and peace 35:11 and perfection of character." 35:13 That's right. 35:15 What kind of restoration? 35:17 Complete. 35:19 Leaving out nothing, leaving out nothing. 35:23 In your character. 35:24 Even character. 35:26 It starts with the heart 35:27 that create in me a clean heart, 35:29 a right spirit. 35:31 I like the word right attitude. Yeah. 35:33 Because sometimes people are... 35:36 We were talking about this with somebody 35:38 who's from the West Indies who said sometimes culturally, 35:42 some people are very, very strong 35:43 and some people have this cultural rebuke. 35:46 You know, if they see something wrong in the church, 35:48 they'll really rebuke the young people, 35:49 they'll remind them, you're a rebellious kid. 35:55 Pull them by their ear like mother. 35:57 Get over there. 35:59 Whack him between church and Sabbath school. 36:02 Slap him from church to Sabbath school. 36:05 And they're not... 36:06 They don't remember, God has been gracious to them. 36:08 No. 36:09 I think that what this is talking about, 36:11 verse 7 that you just read. 36:12 I mean, Galatians 6:1-2 that you just read, Jill, 36:16 it talks about the spirit 36:17 that's needed to help somebody become stronger. 36:20 It talks about what each one of us is in need of. 36:23 And that quote you read about perfection, 36:26 but... 36:28 Perfection of character. 36:29 Perfection of character, health, and peace. 36:31 And a lot of people don't have it. 36:33 Yes, Dee. 36:35 I know that I've grown in Christ into a degree 36:38 because not too long ago, 36:40 it was like there was I and another person 36:42 that was just kind of doing well together 36:46 because he didn't treat me right. 36:48 But then I had to stop and think, 36:49 well, am I treating him right? 36:51 Who needs to change here? 36:53 So I decided to start treating him better. 36:58 And lo and behold, I got treated better. 37:02 And that comes from growth of saying, 37:04 wait a minute, 37:06 instead of pointing the other... 37:07 Instead of criticizing someone, 37:09 how about if we change and encourage them? 37:13 And I don't think I succeeded 100%, 37:16 but in church, 37:18 I really try to have a very good awareness 37:21 of how am I treating our children, 37:23 our young children. 37:24 if I see them run, or if I see them do this. 37:27 True. 37:28 Do not respond with that, grab and fight thing. 37:33 If I don't... If I do not. 37:36 That's right. 37:38 If I do not treat them 37:39 with Christ's Spirit right now... 37:40 Yes. 37:42 How are they gonna know Christ's Spirit later on 37:44 when they get older. 37:48 You can use love 37:51 and kind of joking of lightness, 37:53 like, are we running in the church children, 37:56 you know. 37:58 What is that you're doing right now? 38:00 With love... 38:02 And if you have the love in your voice, 38:03 it's how you do it. 38:05 It's like stop. 38:08 That's not the love of Christ. 38:10 And now you can say, I'd love to choke you 38:11 but I'm gonna just carry you to your parents. 38:16 Just growing to the point where we have an awareness... 38:19 Awareness. 38:20 How am I? 38:22 And I catch myself, you know, not... 38:24 You treat yourself every now and then, Dee? 38:26 Every now and then. 38:28 You know, we're all in a restoration process. 38:30 All of us. 38:32 Saints under construction. Yeah, exactly. 38:33 I love that, Pastor. That's fantastic. 38:36 I wanna say it's one of your new sayings, 38:37 but it is, okay. 38:39 You know, so I think in the process, 38:41 okay, we're being restored, 38:43 but we also have to realize 38:44 other people are being restored, 38:45 and to be restored is a painful process. 38:47 I am not one of those cars, 38:48 'cause I'm not made out of steel, 38:49 but you know, 38:51 when autobody guy's working on it, 38:52 he's sandblasting it, right, Pastor? 38:54 He's sanding the rust. 38:55 That's a little bit painful if the car had feelings, 38:57 I would think, it would be hit with all that breeze. 38:59 It's all the process of being coming to perfection, 39:01 so to speak. 39:03 So we're all in this process. It's kind of hard at times. 39:04 Dee, you know, you've been talking about the struggle. 39:06 All of us are going through those types of struggles. 39:08 I think it'd be interesting in the church 39:10 to actually have people testify so to speak of the process 39:13 and how things are going, because man, that's being real. 39:15 That's being vulnerable. 39:16 We're talking about those types of things like, 39:18 "Hey, you know what Dee? 39:19 This week I was really struggling with this." 39:21 You're like, "Hey Greg, you know, I was with this." 39:22 And I think that's actually building and edifying 39:25 the body of Christ 39:26 to be doing that versus like, always coming down. 39:28 Doesn't it say something about steel against steel... 39:30 Yes, iron sharpens iron. 39:32 So when the end sharpens the captain in seventh fret. 39:36 And there've been times 39:38 when I've looked at somebody and go, 39:39 oh, when I'm acting like that, that's what I look like, 39:41 boy, that's not what I wanna look. 39:44 So sometimes... 39:47 Saints under construction. I love that. 39:48 Saints under construction. 39:50 You could hear the Lord sandblasting us some days... 39:53 I like how you say that saints under construction. 39:55 Right, 'cause it's so long. 39:57 I love it. I've said this for so long. 39:59 You know, I love it. 40:00 When Paul made the statement and jumped out at me again, 40:03 he says, but God demonstrated His own love towards us 40:07 in that while we were yet sinners first. 40:11 Were... That's right. 40:12 So if you were sinner, 40:15 what happens after you accept Christ? 40:17 You become a saint, not perfection, 40:21 but you are a saint under construction, 40:24 because look at the next verse, Philippians 1:6. 40:27 Honey, read that for us. I can. 40:29 Yeah, there is Philippians 1:6. 40:30 I love, 40:32 "Being confident of this very thing, 40:34 that he who has begun a good work in me 40:38 will complete it 40:40 until the day of Jesus Christ." 40:41 Doesn't it talk about construction? 40:43 Yes, it is. Make him personal. 40:44 I claim that. 40:47 Somebody said that, the other day somebody said, 40:49 I'm living that right now. 40:50 Oh, yeah. 40:52 I'm living that right now. 40:54 And we need to assume that everyone else is too. 40:57 I've tried to bring that to my mind 40:59 that other people are trying 41:01 to be a Christian just like I am. 41:04 Give them a break. 41:07 I want mercy. 41:08 I need to give it to others. 41:10 That saint under construction. 41:12 I did have someone that was taking a... 41:14 It was a person that didn't quite have that understanding. 41:16 And I wasn't quite paying attention 41:18 and took a cane and just rap me in church across the my shin, 41:22 trying to get my attention, he did get my attention, 41:24 but not in the best way, right? 41:26 Sunny, Sunny, I'm trying to talk to you. 41:31 I got it. 41:33 So, you know, there is the rebuke. 41:34 We need to do it in Christlike manner, right? 41:36 Not whacking people across shins with the cane. 41:39 But we were raised in the age 41:40 where people really apply 41:42 the rod of rest you're writing from. 41:44 Mercy. 41:45 But he was grown. 41:47 I mean, this was not a child, 41:48 this was just a couple of years ago. 41:51 Oh, my word. 41:53 I was actually talking to someone else that... 41:55 I thought you were a little boy. 41:56 Well, I was actually talking to someone else in the group 41:58 and they wanted me to talk to them 42:00 or they want to talk to me. 42:01 And I wasn't. yeah. 42:03 That is hysterical. It's okay. 42:04 It's all right. 42:05 They waited their turn in line. 42:07 They weren't getting fast enough. 42:08 So they hit him across the knee, 42:09 pay attention to me. 42:11 But this is a childhood. 42:13 But I also had the ruler in as a child, yes. 42:17 We all have been there. 42:19 My parents believed in spare the rod 42:21 and spoil the child. 42:23 They didn't wanna spoil me. 42:25 Go ahead, Jill. 42:26 I was just gonna say Philippians 1:6 42:28 is one of my favorite scriptures 42:29 and the Lord used it in my life in a powerful way, 42:32 because I was very stressed when I first came to Jesus. 42:37 What I mean by that is somehow when I read the Word of God, 42:40 I'm supposed to be a new creature. 42:42 I'm supposed to look like Jesus. 42:44 I'm supposed to follow after Him. 42:45 Well, how was that accomplished? 42:47 How am I going to become more like Him? 42:49 And I used to think, okay, 42:51 well today I'm going to pray about patients. 42:52 So I would... 42:54 This is what I need to work on a day and I pray. 42:55 And the next day, 42:56 well, maybe today I need to pray about self-control. 42:58 And it became me trying to change myself. 43:02 And this scripture, God used in my life. 43:06 He, God's the one who began the work. 43:09 That's right. 43:10 He will carry it forward to completion. 43:12 So then I began to come to Him every morning 43:14 and say, God, you know the mess I'm in, 43:16 you know, the things in my life that need to be changed. 43:19 I'm done with telling You what you need to work on today. 43:22 You complete it. 43:24 You finished the work in me. 43:25 This scripture gave me a lot of freedom in Christ 43:28 because He's the one completing the work. 43:31 It's not on my shoulders to try to perfect that character. 43:35 My job is to surrender and let Him do the work in me. 43:41 There's a quote in Steps to Christ. 43:43 No, I have this one I wanna read. 43:45 I want you to read that one. 43:46 God will finish what he began from Philippians 1:6. 43:50 "He desires to restore you to Himself 43:55 to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. 44:01 And if you will, but yield yourself to Him, 44:04 He that hath begun a good work in you 44:08 will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. 44:11 Pray more fervently, believe more fully." 44:14 Right. 44:16 Pray more fervently, believe more fully. 44:18 I've been hearing 44:19 a lot of statements going around 44:21 how sometimes the frustration is there. 44:23 When I was few years ago in the Philippines 44:27 speaking to a large contingency 44:29 at the Adventist University of the Philippines. 44:31 We had two times a day we got together 44:33 and there were 2, 500 students in the morning in faculty 44:37 and 2, 500 students in the evening in faculty. 44:39 And the Lord brought this experience in my mind 44:41 in this quote I found in the book Evangelism. 44:45 And I made a suggestion about that on air. 44:47 I talked about it. 44:49 I said, and somebody wrote us an email. 44:51 Somebody... They wrote a letter. 44:53 Wrote a letter and said I've never heard that before. 44:56 And I don't... 44:58 I've never heard that before. 44:59 And that's not... It's too simple. 45:01 It's just too... 45:02 How could God just accept somebody 45:03 when they get tired of sin? 45:05 And I said, well, that's what you've been told 45:08 when you get weary of it. 45:09 So I wanna share this because it is, 45:12 this quote really revolutionized 45:14 the way I look at the way we deal with people. 45:17 Evangelism, page 286, paragraph 2, 45:21 it is entitled the experience of genuine conversion. 45:24 It's powerful. 45:27 I have been shown that many have confused ideas 45:30 in regard to conversion. 45:33 They have often heard the words 45:34 repeated from the pulpit. 45:36 You must be born again. 45:37 You must have a new heart. 45:39 These expressions have perplexed them. 45:43 They could not comprehend the plan of salvation. 45:45 These are new people that don't understand the lingo 45:47 that we often use. 45:50 Many have stumbled to ruin 45:52 because of the erroneous doctrine 45:54 taught by some ministers concerning, 45:57 and this is amazing, 45:59 the change that takes place at conversion. 46:02 Wow. Listen to this. 46:03 Some have lived in sadness for years, 46:06 waiting for some marked evidence 46:08 that they were accepted by God. 46:11 They have separated themselves 46:13 in the large measure from the world 46:14 and find pleasure 46:16 in associating with the people of God. 46:17 Yet they dare not profess Christ 46:20 because they fear it would be presumption 46:23 to say that they are children of God, 46:25 because they don't see the evidence yet. 46:27 They are waiting for that peculiar change 46:31 that they have been led to believe 46:33 is connected with conversion. 46:35 Now, this is really amazing 46:36 because I had somewhat the same concept. 46:38 If you're converted it should show. 46:40 Right. Listen to this though. 46:42 After a time, 46:43 some of these do receive 46:45 evidence of their acceptance with God 46:48 and are led to identify themselves 46:50 with this people. 46:52 And they date their conversion from that time. 46:54 In other words, when they say, I just gave up this, 46:57 they think that's conversion, watch this. 47:01 But I have been shown 47:03 that they were adopted into the family of God 47:06 before that time... 47:07 Amen. This is powerful. 47:09 God accept... 47:11 This is the crux of the whole quote. 47:12 Yes, this is it. 47:13 God accepted them when they became weary of sin. 47:18 Wow. 47:19 And having lost their desire for worldly pleasures 47:23 resolved to seek God earnestly. 47:26 Isn't that powerful? Yeah. That's a lot of hope. 47:28 What hope does that give us? Yeah, tremendous hope. 47:30 I'm tired of, and I've sung that song, 47:31 are you tired of sin and straying. 47:34 When they became tired and weary of sin, 47:37 boom, God accepted them, 47:39 but it doesn't end, it's powerful, 47:42 but failing to understand 47:44 the simplicity of the plan of salvation. 47:46 They lost many privileges and blessings, 47:48 which they might have claimed had they only believed. 47:52 And here's how it ends, 47:53 when they first turned to God that He accepted them. 47:58 That's right. 47:59 Isn't that powerful? No, that is powerful. 48:01 And then all of a sudden, 48:03 the Bible just started jumping out at me 48:05 like a whole zoo filled with frogs. 48:09 All these verses started jumping out 48:11 but here's one 2 Chronicles 7:14. 48:14 We could quote it by heart. Wow. 48:16 If my people who are called by My name 48:19 will humble themselves 48:21 and pray and seek my face and turn, turn..." 48:23 There we go. 48:25 "From their wicked ways." 48:26 What's the promise? 48:27 "Then I will hear from heaven, 48:29 forgive their sin and heal their land." 48:31 What do they do? Turn. 48:33 Turn. Here's one more. 48:35 Ezekiel 18:32, 48:37 "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies 48:39 says the Lord God, 48:41 therefore turn and live." 48:44 And we've heard that I told the people 48:46 and I'm kind of telling you guys 48:48 about a sermon that's on the way. 48:50 But I said, I assume it will be titled. 48:54 God allows U-turns. 48:56 And we've said this for years. 48:57 If your life has gone in the wrong direction... 48:59 Make a U-turn. Make a U-turn. 49:01 This has made it more real to me. 49:02 That's powerful, 'cause that's tremendous hope, Pastor, 49:04 because when you make a U-turn 49:05 you have not arrived at your destination. 49:07 You just started going. 49:08 But at that moment... 49:10 At that moment, when you got off the exit... 49:12 That's right. 49:13 God said, they're on their way. 49:15 Oh, my Lord. 49:17 Yes, and you're accepted then. Yes. 49:18 When you get off the exit, 49:20 God said they listened to the voice of the spirit. 49:23 They got off the exit. 49:24 I'm not even taking the exit. 49:26 I'm going through the median. 49:28 I'm not going for the exit. 49:29 All right, Greg. 49:30 Forget the exit. 49:32 Okay. 49:33 And there are those moments when you're driving, 49:35 you said enough of this. 49:36 Yeah. 49:38 What happens? 49:39 I'm getting off the exit. I'm tired of it. 49:41 Well, that's powerful, Pastor. 49:42 I've pulled over. I know that's me. 49:43 I pulled over on the road once, 49:45 when I was going through a challenge in my life one day, 49:47 'cause I was doing camp meeting many years ago. 49:51 And I remember saying to the people that got here, 49:53 came to 3ABN for camp meeting 49:55 and they were all these people 49:57 that are coming to camp meeting, 49:58 you know, was big prayer meeting 50:00 because everybody's at camp meeting, 50:01 'cause it started Thursday. 50:03 And I said, you have a feel like 50:04 on your way to church. 50:05 You want to just drive right by and not stop. 50:07 And I said to these people, 50:09 many of them probably watch us on 3ABN. 50:10 I said, 50:11 "That's how I feel right now. 50:13 I don't wanna be here today. 50:15 I need you to help me. I need you to pray for me." 50:16 And they got around me and gathered around me. 50:18 And I think one of the reasons 50:20 why that's a hard thing for people to do... 50:21 That is hard. 50:22 Is because people have this idea 50:25 that people are more ready to condemn them 50:28 than to help restore them. 50:30 And I'm seeing this, 50:32 this topic has become real to me. 50:33 And I'm talking a lot here, 50:34 but throw it back to us in a minute. 50:36 It's because we as Christians need to understand 50:39 the value that God places on us... 50:41 Yes. 50:43 That we should never place a lesser value on others. 50:45 Thank you. Never. 50:46 If God can do that for us, 50:49 who are we to say that God, 50:51 You are not deserving of God doing that for you. 50:54 It's just a terrible tragedy. 50:57 So in the meantime, 50:59 I wanna show you how deep this restoration goes. 51:02 Greg, look at number nine, Psalm 3:23. 51:05 How deep does this restoration go? 51:08 Yes, Psalm 23:3 says, 51:10 "He restores my soul. 51:11 He leads me in the paths of righteousness 51:14 for His namesake." 51:15 Okay. The beginning part again? 51:17 He restores my soul. 51:18 We have that in our house, on the wall. 51:21 You really? 51:22 Big plaque, He restores my soul. 51:24 We look at that periodically. 51:26 And Angie said, that's it. 51:28 That's it. When I saw it. 51:29 I said, I gotta buy it. 51:31 It goes deep. Yes. 51:32 Jill? I was thinking of Jeremiah 30. 51:35 Okay, yes. 51:36 Jeremiah 30:17, 51:38 God speaking to you and to me, He says, 51:41 "I will restore health to you. 51:44 And I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord 51:47 because they called you an outcast saying, 51:51 this is Zion, no one seeks her. 51:53 So we might feel like an outcast, 51:56 might feel that nobody seeks you. 51:58 And that you're cast aside and you're being condemned. 52:00 But God says I will restore health in you. 52:03 Amen. 52:04 And I will heal you of your wounds. 52:06 And to me that's spiritual, emotional, physical, 52:10 it's the whole thing, He restores us That's right. 52:13 I think there's a text that Greg asked about earlier, 52:16 before we started the program. 52:18 And I might force you to read it. 52:20 Okay. 52:21 Now I know I just had you read it, 52:22 but since you brought it up, 52:24 we talked about it before the program 52:25 and I think it'd be great that you read it, 52:27 Joel 2:25. 52:29 Oh, yeah. 52:30 Because Greg said, this is really, 52:31 I didn't know that before. 52:33 And then I'm gonna have you read 1 John 3. 52:35 Yeah. 52:37 Oh, yeah, Dee, that's right? 52:38 Joel 2:25, Greg. 52:40 Okay. 52:42 This is an interesting text here. 52:43 "So I will restore to you the years 52:46 that the swarming locust has eaten 52:48 the crawling locust, 52:50 the consuming locust and the chewing locust, 52:53 my great army, which I sent among you." 52:55 Okay. 52:57 So I restore you the years that the swarming locusts, 53:00 it's interesting, the swarming, the crawling, 53:01 the consuming, chewing. 53:03 That's what I asked, Pastor, I said, well, 53:04 I've never noticed that before the swarming locust, 53:05 the crawling locust, the consuming locust, 53:07 and the chewing locust. 53:08 Now, if all those locusts were coming towards your farm, 53:13 what are you gonna conclude? 53:14 They're gonna consume. Everything is gone. 53:15 You're going to be killed. You're gonna be consumed. 53:17 Everything is gone. They gonna consume me. 53:19 Okay. 53:21 Now let's make application in the time we have, 53:23 let's make application. 53:24 You may be the kind of individual 53:26 where everything you have, 53:29 not physically alone, but emotionally. 53:32 That's good. 53:34 Maritally, your children. 53:38 You don't know what happened, 53:40 somewhere in your life something broke. 53:43 And you look back on this quiet apartment. 53:48 You look back on this quiet setting 53:50 that you're in now and you think, 53:53 I know what it's like to be swarmed 53:55 and consumed and chewed up and crawled all over. 53:59 But don't forget, 54:00 that's the latter part of the verse. 54:02 Yeah. 54:03 The Lord says I will restore to the years. 54:07 And do you know, 54:09 I've met people that have sat in my office and said, 54:13 you know, how long has it been since I've been in a church? 54:16 You know how much it took for me to get her today? 54:18 I can't even believe 54:20 I'm sitting here talking to you. 54:21 Wow. God told me this morning. 54:22 I needed to come here and talk to you. 54:24 And I'm saying to those of you watching this family worship 54:27 that the Lord wants to do the very same thing for you. 54:31 All those years behind you 54:33 is nothing compared to how the Lord can restore it. 54:35 That's right. 54:36 He doubled Job's blessings. 54:38 Oh, yeah. 54:39 He'll do the same for you. 54:41 So don't sink in despair 54:44 and thinking that God can't fix it. 54:48 Look at the evidence that we have. 54:50 Dee, I want you to read our last text. 54:52 1 John 3? 54:53 1 John 3:1-2, 54:54 look at this is the reason 54:56 why I know he wants to do that for us. 54:58 "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us 55:03 that we should be called children of God. 55:06 Therefore, the world does not know us 55:09 because it did not know Him." 55:10 And look at this. 55:12 Beloved. When? 55:14 Mine says beloved. 55:15 At the beloved. Now. 55:17 When? Now. 55:19 When? Now. 55:20 We are children of God, not later 55:22 but right now we're children of God, 55:25 and it has not been revealed what we shall be. 55:29 But we know that when He is revealed, 55:32 we shall be like Him. 55:34 Thank you. For we shall see Him as He is. 55:38 Amen. 55:39 Because we will be completely say together. 55:42 Restored. 55:44 Amen. 55:45 Right now you may smell. 55:47 You may think that God is fumigating your house. 55:51 You're choking with all the purity 55:53 that's taken place. 55:54 You might hear the rafters being ripped out 55:56 from beneath your life, 55:58 but like extreme, we love the HT channel. 56:01 One of the reasons we love is it's the home channel. 56:03 Restore those houses, right? 56:05 I loved, yeah. 56:06 And they put their fingers out there and they say, 56:08 we bought this. 56:10 You know what it's like, how much did you pay for it? 56:11 $13,000. 56:13 And we look at each other, 56:14 I'll never pay $13, 000 for that, 56:15 but Angie says, and then at the very end we... 56:18 Just wait. Wow. 56:19 I know I don't look like him right now. 56:21 Yes. 56:23 But I grab on to this, Lord, I am your problem. 56:28 I'm not my own problem. 56:29 I'm your problem. 56:31 And You've promised me full restoration. 56:34 Jill, what's on your heart? Gonna look like Him. 56:36 I'm just so grateful tonight that God wants to restore. 56:39 He wants to restore your home 56:41 and He wants to restore your marriage 56:42 and He wants to restore your ministry 56:45 and He wants to restore your life. 56:47 So just give yourself into the hands of Jesus 56:50 and He will restore you. 56:52 Have we experienced that, Honey? 56:53 Absolutely. Is it that simple? 56:56 Yes, it is. 56:58 Because He who has begun a good work in you 57:02 will complete it. 57:04 I wanna just encourage you, 57:06 'cause I don't know where you are 57:07 in your walk with Christ. 57:08 You may be a long time third generation, 57:10 Seventh-day Adventist, 57:12 Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Presbyterian, 57:14 or just a person who just for the first time tonight 57:16 heard about Jesus. 57:17 I want you to know it's not what you heard about Jesus, 57:22 but what He can do for you. 57:24 He wants to completely take your life, 57:26 transform, rescue and restore you. 57:28 So give Him that opportunity. 57:30 You'll be amazed to see the end product 57:33 when Christ completely restores you. 57:35 God bless you. And... 57:37 Happy Sabbath. |
Revised 2021-04-12