HOME
HOME |
      |
|
Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 446 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Thomas: This is in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28-30. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." That's a very familiar passage of scripture. And that's our resource. That's our place of help. That's our place of refuge. And as we go through life we're gonna find the need for a place of refuge. You may not today or tomorrow, but it's coming. Your day for a place of refuge is coming. It's just a matter of time. If the Lord tarries, you'll come face to face with something that's too difficult for you, and then you'll need to turn to the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul. And He's invited us to. Isn't that wonderful? Now He didn't tell us to do this and not intend to give us help. Not intend to give us...rescue us, deliver us, lift us up. And it's a fact that you are going to go on like you are unless God brings you down to that low place. You know it's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance? ( congregational amens ). And if you don't, by the mercy and the grace of God, be brought to that place where you bow the knee to Him in genuine repentance, it'll be the goodness of God if you don't...if you don't do it. You just...it means everything. It means life. It means someone to look after you, someone to watch over you, somebody--the Lord. Not only Him, but...Eddie was singing that song a while ago about ten thousand angels. God's got ten thousand. I don't know how many He has here. If the Lord could open our eyes tonight, we might be amazed at the angels that are right here. ( congregational praise ). They're here watching over us and when you leave this building tonight, you may not know it but there's angels that'll go with you. I heard a story I may have told ... some of you may have heard this but I want to tell it again. There's a preacher that was holding a revival. And he lived about five or six hundred miles from where he held the revival. And his last night came, which was on a Sunday night, and he wanted to get to his next appointment by the next night. So he left right out as soon as the service was over this Sunday night. And he was so tired. He was so tired he just couldn't hardly stay awake. And before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep. And he slept a good 35 or 40 minutes. And he woke up and there was a man there driving--steering his car. And he was over here in the passenger side. And he looked over at him--the man under the wheel--and smiled. Then he took and slipped him back under the wheel. ( congregational praise ). An angel of God. Now I don't recommend that we try that. ( laughter ). But things like that happen. And they can happen. And it's the goodness of God He's watching over you. I'm glad we have angels aren't you? You probably had angels before you ever come to the Lord to keep you from getting your brains bashed out someplace. We ought to want to please the Lord, folks. We ought to want to please God more than anything in the world. I do, don't you? ( congregational amens ). And I know I didn't know a thing about the Lord or His ways, didn't know much about the Bible. The Lord saved me but I started a vigil--a prayer life, and that went on every day. I would go out alone. I especially liked the wilderness or the woods out in the country. I don't know, there's something about it that...it just...I don't know just drew me. And I'd go out there and just walk and pray. Sometimes I'd cry. The Lord is a good Lord. ( congregational amens ). He'd walk with me. And the Lord is here tonight. He's here tonight. We need every one of us to have a prayer life. What I mean by that is there needs to be a time when you go to pray. And when problems come up, you need to make a note of them. Pray about it because God answers prayer. The Lord wants you to recognize him. "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden,..." Note that says "ye that labour and are heavy laden." That's not just anybody. And when...you're not going to come as long as you are getting along well. We're just made like that. But the Lord is going to bring these places and times upon us when we are going to need Him, more than we do now. That's going to come and the purpose of that is to draw you to Him, cause you to pray. He's a good God. ( congregational amens ). His Son, Jesus Christ--the first born, He came down here and took a human body and lived among men. People don't know this, but He never healed a person and never did anything until He was thirty years old. And then He went out ministering. He lived as an ordinary man. But He knew that He was going to come. And so that day was coming, fast approaching when He went out and it ended up with Him going to the cross. Your salvation was paid for. Your salvation was purchased with His blood. ( congregational praise ). "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." You know, I'm glad the Lord isn't as legalistic as some people would make Him. I'm glad that He's merciful, that He's kind, long-suffering to us, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." That's His sheep. They'll never perish, "neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand." The Lord has plans for us. He has plans for every one of us. You will, according to your call and His purpose for you, you'll fit in nicely. I will. That's not bragging, that's just saying it's what God's doing. Every one of us. And this is just the most temporary existence. It may seem like at times, when you consider these things, a long time, but it's not. Before you know it, we're gonna be on the other side. We're gonna be on the other side and we're gonna to look back and say, "My, it was short. My, it didn't last long." This may be the last meeting I'll ever have here. I've had a many one here. May be the last one that you'll ever have. I know this, every meeting we have here, there's somebody that don't come back. They don't come back. That's their last meeting. Who knows who you are? I don't. Only God does. That's why you need to give your heart to Christ, if you have the grace of God to do it. And you don't need to wait until tomorrow. You need to do it tonight. ( congregational praise ). Now Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest." Why shouldn't I say that? Do you have His yoke? Do you have His yoke? I don't plan what I want to do. It's not a matter of what I want. It's a matter of what He wants. It should be that way with all of us. Our life is not our own. We're bought with a price. We're His. Then we could learn a lot more about the Lord if we had His yoke on us. I'm going to read some scripture here in Romans chapter 8. You know this. It's very familiar. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." That's those who love God. "To them who are the called according to his purpose." According to his purpose. "For whom he did fore-know, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." See that's all in the past tense. God has already done that in His mind, and in His thinking it's not a matter of tomorrow. The machinery is already set in motion. The angels'll take charge of all this. They know what they have to do. When your time comes, the door will open and you'll go in, receive your just due. "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,..." Listen to this now. "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ( congregational praise ). That ought to make you shout. ( congregational praise ). That's security. I believe in that, don't you? I believe in it. You know a seal is used, not only in the Bible but in other places in life, as a completed transaction. You know, you work in some place where they make machinery or something, and when they get through with it and it passes the last person that contributes to its manufacture, they put a stamp of approval there on it, and then it is ready to go--go out on the assembly line. And when God saves a person--I'm talking about when ever Jesus comes into your heart. When He comes into your heart, He seals it. That's why the scripture says, "And grieve not the holy spirit of God whereby ye are sealed..." How long? "...the day of redemption." That's how long. That's how long it'll last. That seals is permanent. Lynn, I see you back there. I'm not trying to make you conspicuous or point you out but, you know she just come to the Lord not too long ago. But hide this thing in your heart. Don't let anything or anybody discourage you. Don't pay any attention--I don't care who it is, if it's your brother, you go on with the Lord. That's the greatest thing you've ever done. And you know...and by you remaining true yourself, you may cause that person to turn his or her head. You sure can't help them by go falling aside like they do. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Now that's in Galatians. That's Galatians chapter 3 verse 26, 27, 28 and 29. And here's your status now when you put on Christ. That means you're accounted--you're absolutely placed in the same position that Christ is. God saves you by His grace and you're become a Christian. And he says and then, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one..." 
|