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Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 669 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Thomas: God works with the heart. And then that heart reaches the place...it's an awful thing to be under deep conviction and to know that you can die and not be saved. Did you know that? I visited an old man one time who was eighty-something years old. He was an atheist. They warned me and told me about what he was. I went on in to see him anyway. And he told me this story. He said, way back there...I don't know how many years before, forty or fifty years...he was walking along the road and he found a booklet. He picked it up and took it home with him. And he said, that booklet explained why there was no salvation. Somehow he wanted to believe that and he did believe it. That was the end of his quest. He never had any more desire to believe the Gospel. And I suppose he died like he was. But what I am trying to do is get you to see there's hope. And it's not hope tomorrow, it's today. ( congregational amens ). That Scripture does not say tomorrow if you will hear his voice, it says, today if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. And he means that. Until whatever you're desiring becomes today, you just as well forget it. I pray to God that you'll understand what I'm trying to say. I pray to God that I'll meet you on the other side. I pray to God...and it's a matter of you coming to Jesus Christ. Jesus says, "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 talk about rest. The most terrible thing in this world is to be lost and know it. Know it good and well. And then the Lord comes in. Boy, you can lay down and go to sleep then if you don't rejoice all night--you might rejoice all night to know that you have everlasting life. Praise God! ( congregational amens ). Praise God! I remember whenever I come to the Lord. We lived in a little old house, and I felt like ten tons had been lifted off my heart. I went in that night and I said, Lord...frankly I was kind of had some fear of God in me. Frankly, I dreaded the thought that the Lord might come and me not be ready. He is gonna come one day when many people are not ready. He's gonna catch many of 'em unprepared. And they don't want him to come. But I do, because I don't have anything to fear. And I went in that night and I said to the Lord--I said, Lord, it's all right if you want to come now. I'm ready. I hate to see anybody lost. But did you know that many people are gonna be lost no matter how I feel? They're gonna be lost. I don't care what you do, nor what you say, nor how much you pray. I hate to think of my children being lost. Some of them may be lost, and you can't get 'em saved. No matter what you do, nor what you say, nor how much you pray. Praise God! The Lord is the only one that can save 'em. If you can't rest your case in God's hand, you're in trouble. Here's what Paul says in Romans chapter 10. "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Then he says, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." Religious zeal don't mean a thing. I've seen many out on the streets with little magazines, tracts, whatever it is. I've seen 'em going from house to house. That don't mean they're saved. I know of people that's tried to be good. They try their best to be good enough. You'll never get good enough. ( congregational amens ). I don't care how good you get. Salvation is not a matter of getting good. It's not a matter of doing good. It's a matter of receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior, as your Lord, confessing Him before the world. Going on over there in Romans, Paul says, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Then he refers to Moses. He says, "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." Now what's he mean by that? If you're gonna be saved by what you do, or how well you keep the law, then you got to keep every bit of it. Don't ever fail on one jot or tittle. But you can't do that. Praise God, if you're not saved by faith, you won't be saved. And so, that's what he's coming to grips with here. "...Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)" Then he says, "But what saith it?" Not a matter of those things he suggested--bringing Him down or lifting Him up. He said, "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee..." It's nigh you. It's nigh you. It's close to you...the Word that God saves you by. It's not how you feel. It's not a thing in the world to do with what you want, unless it's salvation. "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Listen to this now. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." You know what it really is talking about? Taking Jesus Christ before the world and being willing to confess Him as your Savior. That makes a vast difference. I'll tell you, there's something about this old flesh that don't want to do that. But, you have to walk out and be willing to confess it. They usually do it in front of a church and then go from there. But, "For with the heart..." Now we're getting back to what he's talking about. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." Let me ask you this--there was two thieves, one on each side of Jesus. One of the thieves didn't believe in Him. He said to Jesus, if you be the Christ come down off that cross, save yourself and save us. The other thief, he spoke to him and reprimanded him. He said, we deserve what we're getting. We're getting it justly. "...This man hath done nothing...." Then Jesus said to the Lord, on the cross...he couldn't be baptized. He couldn't go forward in a revival service. He couldn't go to church. But he said this to Jesus, "Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom." I'm gonna tell you something, that was one shot. If he didn't get through to Jesus there, he never would. And it's a matter of believing with your heart. ( congregational amens ). Not if you say, I'll put it off until then. No sir. Procrastination...I don't feel too good about that, 'cause you'll do it all the time. "...There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" Now that's a verse of scripture there that should be important to us. "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." That means to believe it and rejoice in it. Thank God for it. In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13, Paul says, "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning..."--Think about this now. That seems to, well, seems to make everything go awry that I've been preaching, but it's still true--"...God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." You know I heard an illustration many years ago, and I believe it's true. You can't save yourself. But in your ignorance, you come up to the kingdom of God and the door. There it is, Kingdom of God. And you survey that thing. It says, 'whosoever believeth.' You say, well, praise God, that means me. I believe. I'm gonna walk through. He walks through that door, and he turns around like this and he looks over the door, and there he sees the words, 'chosen in Him from the foundation of the world.' ( congregational amens ). Now, I don't know whether some of you stood up because you were ashamed not to. I didn't want...I don't deliberately like to put people to shame, but you may have. And I'll tell you this. You're not going to slip in without God knowing it. You have to come to the place where you're willing for Him to know it, and you're not ashamed to call Him Lord. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! You're not ashamed. Are you saved? That's the thing. Be honest. Are you saved? Do you doubt? If the Lord were to come now, right this moment, or if you were to die tonight, would you be ready? Would you be ready? My God. My God. My God. Lord, help us, I pray. Lord, help us. These poor people, they're teetering on the bank of eternity, and God, they need You--they need You. They can't die without You. It's all right if you die, if you know that He's gonna gather you. Angels are gonna take you into His presence...that you've got an angel, ministering angel, that takes you when you leave that sick bed, and he takes you to the most beautiful place you have ever seen or ever will see. And you get there. He goes to the gate with you, and that gate is opened, and there's streets of gold. They lead down the way. He comes with you. Thank God for this. It's yours. I heard a story about a fellow one time. He knowed he was gonna die, so he packed his suitcase with gold. ( laughter ). And he got up there and some angel says, what in the world are you doing with all this pavement in your suitcase? ( laughter ). He said, the streets are paved with it up here. We don't need anymore, just stub your toe on 'em. Praise God! ( congregational amens ). Praise God! It'll be so common up there, 'til they won't care that much about it. You think you'll want gold? You won't want gold, no more than you want concrete right now. ( laughter ). But God wants to save your soul. ( congregational amens ). If you're not saved, He wants to save your soul. And He's got me here pleading with you. He's got me here trying to help you reason, make you realize you need Christ. "...What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" What would you have, if you gained the whole world and lost your soul? What would you have? Young people, what would you have? Had you rather have the Lord Jesus and the unsearchable riches of Christ, than all the gold in the world? ( congregational amens ). It won't hurt you to say yes. Praise God! Hallelujah! ( congregational amens ). Yes, Hallelujah! Now this is the last service and of course, this is the last invitation...I didn't even given an invitation at this meeting, that I know of. But I'm thinking about somebody here that needs to confess Christ. You're gonna go away from here without any rest in your spirit. And if you will confess Christ...I don't mean something you just do because you're coerced into it. I mean, you're unashamedly willing to say yes, He's my Lord. You're willing to come to Him before everybody here. Come to Him as a token--evident token, that you are receiving this Christ as your Savior. That's what I'm talking about. Now while the men come up here to sing and the musicians, I want you to be thinking about it. Do you mind standing? I know we've got a big crowd here and got folks sitting in the aisle. While we stand and sing--while we sing, you folks sing, and you who are here, if you feel a need, you know it. You know exactly if you feel a need in your heart, regardless of who you are. Regardless, man, woman, boy, girl, black, white, it don't make any difference. If you feel your need of Christ, you'd better thank God. ( congregational amens ). There's some people don't feel no need. I thank God when He can cause you to. And while these men sing, the invitation is to you, and to you, and to you, and to you. Every person in this building has an invitation to come to Jesus Christ. All right. THERE'S A CITY OF LIGHT, WHERE COMETH NO NIGHT I'M BOUND FOR THAT CITY, GOD'S HOLY, WHITE CITY,
OH YES I AM -- Brother Thomas: Listen, right now decisions are being made. I know this, if you're making a decision for Christ, it's the most important decision you'll ever make. Nothing will excel this--absolutely nothing. And if you don't and you feel drawn, it's the greatest mistake you've ever made. But I'm offering you, the best I know how, Jesus Christ as your Savior--One who paid your sin debt, One who rose again after three days in the tomb. I'm offering Him to you, by faith. By faith is the way you...and He'll come in. I'll guarantee it. If you cast yourself upon Him, He'll come in. Go ahead and sing. ( congregational praise ). Go ahead and sing. LITTLE CHILDREN WILL PLAY, AND THEIR HEARTS WILL BE GAY I'M BOUND FOR THAT CITY, GOD'S HOLY, WHITE CITY,
OH YES I AM I'M BOUND FOR THAT CITY, GOD'S HOLY, WHITE CITY,
OH YES I AM |
