HOME
HOME |
      |
|
Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 451 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Tony Talbert: I had a burden that came to me this morning there while I was praying. I agree--I believe the Lord is coming. You know, up until the point that the Lord comes there is hope for each individual that has never comes to faith. But when the Lord comes, that's it. You can do whatever you want to. You can go do like the Word speaks about. They said, "Lord, we've prophesied in your name, been in many wonderful works, been to Ramona Park Church, been to Midnight Cry Ministries, Bible Tabernacle." Ain't gonna do a hill of beans--no good, no good. It's something that...you may come and you may go through the form, but only God knows the heart. And it's such a serious thing. This scripture over in John 3, the Lord was talking to Nicodemus here and He says in verse 1, "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God." Let me mention one thing first. You know there has never been but one Spirit of God--one. Never been two, there's only one. It was significant that he had to come to Him through night. Obviously, the religious world was going in a different direction. They didn't have the Spirit of God. Let me go ahead and read now. It says, "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him...." Now, this is the first thing Jesus said to him. He didn't go over and agree with him and say, "Yeah, God's anointed Me." This is what He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Period. There ain't no ifs, ands or buts about it. We can come and we can partake of the blessings that God's people have as we come together here and not be ourselves saved. My burden is this. The Lord's coming. I'm concerned about those that don't know the Lord. Maybe you go through a form, you go through a ritual. You come and you meet with God's people. The word speaks over in Jude, I think, about spots in your feast, they're sporting themselves while they feast with you. They're able to come here and able to enjoy the same things that we enjoy, but they're not really one with us. My concern is not in a negative way to condemn you, but is rather as long as the Lord has not come, there is hope for salvation. But whenever He comes, that's it. You can play the harlot, you can go to any church you want to. I'll say this for all of them--it don't make no difference what church out here go to, if you don't have a personal relationship with Christ, if He has not come into your life and become the Ruler over your life, then you don't know Him and you ain't got no hope of salvation. -- Brother Dwight Rhodes: I was thinking, as--gosh, my mind has gone completely blank--as the brethren were speaking there, of my experience. I guess I want to give a testimony. I came for years and years and years. I was doing my own thing and thinking I was fine, and wanting everybody else to believe I was fine, but I wasn't. There was not a rest in my heart, in my spirit. I was disturbed at times. But I'd go on. I remember one time Brother Thomas came to me one time and said to me, Dwight, my assessment of you is that you can take it or you can leave it. I never forgot that. It didn't make me mad, it didn't upset me as far as that, but it never left me. I continued to hear and to come. But I started crying out to God. I said, "Lord I want You and I don't have You." I continued to cry out to Him for my need. I don't know when it happened, but it was two or three years ago. I couldn't see the Body of Christ. That was my problem. I had a hard time with that. I remember my brother got saved--I wasn't coming to church, we were working together. I said, I just don't like those people down there. They do things different. They're wanting you to be a part of a family and they ain't my family. I didn't like that and that was the problem that I had. You know God finally revealed to me the family of God, that this was it. It wasn't--I was fortunate in a way because we weren't raised to be real family-oriented or anything. My dad was, well he loved the Lord and that's all he cared about really. I didn't like that either, too much. But, I've come to appreciate it and love him for it. I'm so thankful that I was born into a family who loved the Lord. I'm so thankful. You know our kids, my kids, my wife, my son back there, I just hope that they can see, we all can see that we need God more than anything else. And if we're in a place like this, we ought to be thankful. We can sit here, like I did, for years and it go over here, or through here, but it's got to settle right here. And it's not because of what my dad done, it wasn't because of what my mom, my brother, it was because of what He did for me and that had to be revealed to me. It ain't what Daddy has done. It ain't what Mama's done, it's what God's done and that's got to be a revelation here. Tony quoted from a scripture and I'm going to read it, I can't preach on it or nothing, but I going to just read it. It's in Jude. I read this here not long ago, when some of these things were going on. It was open to this at the office. I read this whole chapter. It's a good chapter. I believe it'll go along. I hope that this is the Lord, I trust. I'm like Tony, you'll have to judge. "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error," starting in 11, "of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear." That's where I was. I was here; I was feeding; I was taking part. I was being--in my mind I was alright. But I was feasting and I didn't have an idea. "Carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." I'm just thankful that God opened my eyes and I have a rest that I've never had before, a peace. I want more of that. I need more of it. I'm just thankful. I believe that we have an opportunity, every one of us has an opportunity today, if we'll hear His voice to harden not our heart. -- Brother Brian McMillan: I have a scripture, it's kinda some sad words, but I'll read them anyhow. They were sad then, and I think there's gonna come a time when they'll be sad for a group of people that are living at this time. It's Jeremiah 8 verse 20. Don't need to go there cause I won't be long there. It said, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." You know there's gonna be a group of people at the end of this time that are gonna say the same thing? And right now, we all have a opportunity not to be in that group. And I'll read a parable also. It's different from what the other brethren read. In verse 24 it says, "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." See the barn is the church, and the fact that the tares and wheat are growing together, like Tony said, there is a mixed multitude in the church. The wheat and the tares are there together. There is definitely a gathering going on, and that's where the dividing comes in. Now I won't try to explain the parable, because the Lord explains it Himself later on in the chapter in verse 37. "He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world." That's gonna be the end of the tares. They're gonna be gathered and there...I believe the gathering is going on right now. I don't think we're in the harvest time. I think we're right there at the door. I think there's still an opportunity if you're not saved to get in with the wheat. -- Brother Michael Robbins: Praise God! I just felt the need to get up and share what's on my heart. I just want to give expression. When Brother Dwight got up my heart was sort of along those lines on, you know, I observed myself growing up in the church and everything and I remember Brother Thomas used to continually give that scripture, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" That used to really work on me. I just wanted to get up and share what's on my heart this morning. I just thank God that He caused me to feel my need, and it's a miracle of God if anybody would look inwardly and even consider this. 'Cause I know that if God doesn't do the work then we can't do it. It's certainly all in Him. It's a sobering time. I told Paul up there this morning I sensed such a seriousness even in the worship service. I just want to share with what Brother Dwight said. It's such a great thing to experience the new birth. I reached a point in my life...the scripture that Brother Enlow used about buying the treasure in the field. I got to the point in my life where all that mattered to me was finding that rest. That's all I wanted. I wanted that more than I wanted life itself. That's the only life there is. The scripture said if you have Christ you have life. If you don't have Christ, you basically don't have life. The thing is I knew, God knows, that's all that mattered to me was to find that. It wasn't to be something. I mean I turned over everything. I had to surrender everything--my own life. I just wanted to get up and give a testimony. If anybody, if you're trying to do something in this life or whatever...I thought of that scripture, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" And what Tony said, we've got a little time here. God knows how long we do have. It might be tonight. God knows. The thing is, I've often thought of this since the Lord has given me His spirit and His rest, that my God, if you live to be a hundred years old, if you don't bow the knee to Christ, you've just missed the whole thing. The thing is, the only thing that matters in life period, if you answer the Spirit of Christ when He works on your heart and it asks you to come forward. That's the only thing that matters in life. If you don't do that, you've missed the whole thing. You might not have much longer. ( congregational praise ). I just feel a burden. I didn't plan on getting up here this morning, but I sitting there and all this was on my heart. I was just thinking, my God, it's a late hour. It's just so great. I have a purpose. I have His Spirit. Christ has redeemed me. I'm saved, and I'm looking forward to spending eternity with the Lord and all of His saints. I was just thinking, earlier in my life, growing up in the church and stuff, thinking like Dwight said that I was all right and all of this. But I got real disturbed. I remember when I was in college I couldn't even function. I was out there and I just got real disturbed. I couldn't even hardly do anything--put one foot in front of the other. But I got to the point here all I wanted...I didn't want to think that I was all right and not be. This is no light matter. This is not some kind of...something we get together every Sunday and just talk about it and it's a social thing--you go to church, and all this. It's a serious thing. My God, who cares? Forget about your pride. Who cares? I don't care if you've been here for 50 years or whatever. But if God speaks to your heart, what does it matter--who gives a rip what somebody thinks? Does it matter? You're gonna think inwardly, well I've been a hypocrite. What are they gonna think? I've been looking like everything is great all these years. Who cares? It doesn't matter. You're gonna stand before God and worry about what somebody thought of you, you know, when you hear the word? My God, I don't know anything like I ought, but I just know God has redeemed me and I thank God for how he's done that. It's just so great to have life in Christ. It's just the difference in night and day. When Christ comes in, you just have this hope. I just want to describe it. Okay, I don't know how to describe it the way I ought to but it's just like you have a purpose. You know that you have His Spirit in you. You know whether or not Christ is in your heart. There's probably somebody sitting here listening to this--you know good and well if Christ is in your heart or not. I don't know...I pray to God the Lord is in this, but I just feel such an urgency to forget about everything. What in life matters? What are you trying to accomplish? Are you gonna be this great something? My God, we eat, you know, we go to work, we do all this. If we're not born again, it's just soon gonna be over. A day with the Lord is as a thousand years. When we're in eternity...like Brother Thomas says this all the time, even those that are in Christ, you're gonna look back. I feel my need to number each day. I've got plenty of needs. I repent every day cause I know how wicked my flesh is, but I know Christ is in me. He's in me and He's the hope of glory, so I'm not discouraged. I know that my flesh is rotten but Christ is in me. The thing is, I want to live my life, however long it is--I might die tomorrow--I want to live the rest of the day serving the Lord. The thing is it's a serious thing. I don't know how to say it, but you're talking about eternity. That's the whole thing. We're talking about eternity and if Christ comes in, then you'll be with the Lord for eternity. Don't leave here and make this just another service because it's not just another service. You might not have breath tomorrow. I might not have breath. My God, I heard someone recently--a local physician--passed away. He's about my dad's age and I went to school with his son. Anyway I was thinking about him this week. You never know. My God, kids die, teenagers die, old people die. We're all gonna die sooner or later unless the Lord comes first. I just felt such a burden this morning to give expression. My God, I don't know how to say anything like I ought. God knows I'm nothing, but I just wanted to give expression like Brother Dwight. Dwight really is a great encouragement and blessing to me and just what God has done for him and what God's done for me is just so great and so real. I just thank God for it. It's great to be born again. You can't imagine how good it is. You have no concept if you're not in Christ as to how wonderful that is. It's incomprehensible. You can't compare that with anything-just to have peace in your heart. I wanted to be right with God--that's what I wanted. I didn't do that. I didn't muster that up. It's impossible for me to do that. God drew me. He caused me to be disturbed. I feel like I was born again about three or four years ago. I was sitting here. I went forward time and time again and all I cared about was coming to that rest. That's all I cared about and I had to have that. If you don't have to have this, then my God I hope you will feel the need to have that. I just thank God. I want to praise God for the new birth and I just want to encourage anybody--just forget about everything. Your mind will play tricks on you--your carnal mind is the enemy of God. And the devil, he sure ain't for you. He wants to see all of us go to hell--that's what the devil wants. But Christ is here and the thing is all that matters is just responding to that. If you do anything of any worth in your whole entire life--if you live to be 200 years old, that's the greatest thing you'll ever do is to do what the Lord wants you to do--just to surrender to Him, give your life to Him. That's all that mattered to me and I thank God He gave me the grace to do that. But I just want to praise God this morning. God is here to help us. Amen! -- Brother Jerry Krummrich: I can't but think of what I read--just read something Brother Thomas wrote about light. It said, people that are awake can't stay in bed and keep sleeping when the light is shined. He said the only people that don't get up when light is shined are people that are drunk, drugged, dead, or in a coma. I think we're having light shined here this morning. It's being made real. It's time to get up. It's time to wake up. It's been said this morning that you know in your spirit if you have a rest. You know if you have a purpose. I believe that. I believe that. I believe that there are people that are asleep and don't here that--they don't hear the Lord talking to them. I believe there are people who sit here, like has been mentioned, and are deceived, who refuse to examine themselves because they just flat refuse--some of you. I'm not saying "they." I'm speaking practical to people, souls here. The ministry has been exercising itself lately on behalf of the Lord, not to be a Martha--to be concerned about details and wash things up. God speaking through the ministry is trying to get people saved from hell. This is a good time. There is light here this morning. -- Brother Jimmy Robbins: There's a great battle going on and really what there doing, they're having to give up their life. They're dying, dying. And I'll tell ya, dying to this world is a good thing. There's some others out there that's holding on, just holding on. What are you holding on to? The world can't save you. The world's gonna burn up and all that's in it, but the kingdom of God is forever. It's giving up those things that you cannot keep to gain those things that you cannot lose. The things that you see are temporal, but the things of God are eternal. Give it up. Turn it all over to the Lord. He loves you. He's calling you today. You have another opportunity. Come and just simply turn you life over to the Lord. You don't have to worry about what you're gonna have to do. You don't have to do anything. Just turn your life over. Just give it to Him. 
|