Understanding the Essence of Truth

The Power of Truth: A Transformative Sermon by C D Brooks

Estimated read time: 1:20

Summary

In this captivating sermon by C.D. Brooks, the transformative power of truth is explored within the context of spiritual and moral obligation. Brooks emphasizes the importance of living by the principles of truth, asserting that while truth may not always be popular, it is essential to the integrity and identity of those who follow God. Through engaging biblical anecdotes, the sermon challenges listeners to stand firm in their faith and ethical practices despite societal pressures, urging a return to foundational values that define true Christian character.

Highlights

Brooks discusses the transformative power of truth that defines a true believer. ✨
He uses biblical anecdotes to illustrate how truth should guide actions and decisions. 📜
Being a Christian means having the courage to be different and uphold truth. 🕊️
The sermon warns against the dangers of compromising one's beliefs for acceptance. 🚫
Emphasizes a return to foundational Christian principles, stressing the virtues of truthfulness and integrity. 🌱

Key Takeaways

Truth is essential to spiritual integrity and must be upheld, regardless of popularity. 🕊️
Compromise dilutes the essence of faith; stand firm and seek the truth. 🌟
Truth and morality go hand in hand for true Christian character. ✨
Being true to God often means standing against societal norms. ⚖️
Love for truth must surpass the fear of discomfort or disapproval. 💪

Overview

C.D. Brooks delivers a powerful sermon emphasizing the critical role of truth in the lives of believers. Through a lens of historical and biblical context, he explores how truth defines the identity and integrity of a community, arguing that it is a cornerstone of spiritual life. Throughout the sermon, Brooks calls upon compelling stories to showcase the courage required to uphold truth against societal currents.

Brooks argues against the tendency within some religious circles to undervalue essential doctrines for the sake of popularity or acceptance. By highlighting the potential danger of such compromises, he stresses the need for steadfast faith. This sermon serves as a reminder that standing for truth is not just a spiritual obligation, but a testimony to one's faith.

In engaging narratives and a captivating delivery, Brooks encourages his listeners to embrace their faith fully and to love truth as a divine gift. The sermon offers an invitation to all believers to deepen their commitment, fortifying their spiritual journey with principles of truth, righteousness, and godliness, thus inspiring a profound transformation in their personal and communal lives.

Chapters

00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Premonition of Truth The chapter 'Introduction and Premonition of Truth' begins with a reflective moment inspired by music and the observation of others. It emphasizes the blessing and distinctiveness of being part of the family of God, attributing this uniqueness to the precious truth delivered by grace. This truth sets believers apart among those who claim to be of God.
01:30 - 05:00: Jehoshaphat and Ahab's Consultation The chapter discusses the consultation between Jehoshaphat and Ahab. It starts with an expression of concern as the speaker talks about the burden of hearing members of their group disdaining the distinctive truths that define them.
05:00 - 11:30: Micaiah's Prophetic Courage The chapter titled 'Micaiah's Prophetic Courage' explores the idea of speaking truth with courage. It reflects on a statement from the Christian Century magazine, discussing the importance of silence when one does not possess the truth, and the responsibility to speak up when one does know the truth, despite human limitations.
11:30 - 19:00: Fall of Belshazzar and Daniel's Wisdom The chapter discusses the visit of King Jehoshaphat to King Ahab's realm, touching on themes of wisdom, power dynamics, and historical reflections. Dr. Loose's perspectives on these events are mentioned, suggesting their continued relevance today.
19:00 - 27:00: The Essence of Manliness and Responsibility The chapter explores the theme of manliness and responsibility through the interactions of Judah and Ahab, highlighting Ahab's efforts to impress Jehoshaphat. Ahab's motivations are driven by his desire for the attractive land of Ramoth Gilead, claimed for Israel. The narrative examines the display of power and the underlying intentions behind such gestures.
27:00 - 42:00: Truth in Adversity and Modern Relevance The chapter discusses a strategic decision by a leader who wishes to reclaim a territory but lacks the confidence or resources to do so alone. Therefore, he seeks an alliance with Jehoshaphat to bolster his probability of success. The narrative hints at the complex and competitive relationship between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, illustrated through a rivalry between their kings. This suggests a broader theme of political maneuvering and alliance-making in historical contexts.
42:00 - 57:00: Ahab's Defiance and the Inevitable Truth The chapter depicts a powerful scene where two kings, Ahab and Jehoshaphat, sit on their respective splendid thrones, symbolizing authority and power. Ahab's throne represents defiance, while Jehoshaphat's signifies wisdom and kindness. The chapter highlights a moment of diplomacy and decision-making, where a significant request is made to the kings, setting the stage for a narrative of political maneuvering and the unfolding of inevitable truths.
57:00 - 77:00: Call to Genuine Faith and Truthful Living In this chapter, the speaker expresses a desire to reclaim Gilead, which they believe rightfully belongs to them. To achieve this, they seek help from Jehoshaphat and his army, asking for their support in fighting to recapture the land. Despite being open to assisting, Jehoshaphat insists on seeking God's will before agreeing to go to battle, emphasizing the need for divine guidance and approval before taking action. This scenario illustrates a call to genuine faith and truthful living, highlighting the importance of aligning one's actions with spiritual and ethical principles.

The Power of Truth: A Transformative Sermon by C D Brooks Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 [Music] I was thinking as I sat listening to the songs and watching you how good it is to be a part of the family of God and the thing that makes us a distinctive people amongst all who claim to be his is this precious truth delivered unto us by his grace don't you thank God for the truth and yet alive
00:30 - 01:00 I have a burden from place to place and from time to time I am chagrined to hear men and women of our own group somehow disdaining the distinctive truths that have made us what we are and without bearing down too hard I
01:00 - 01:30 want to speak to that a bit this evening loose said in the Christian Century some time ago do you have the truth if not keep quiet but if you do have the truth with all due recognition of sin infinitude tell us exactly what it is and we will not be
01:30 - 02:00 bored this is what we in the church and out of the church want to know I believe that Dr loose was correct and that it is still correct to make that statement today as a background for our remarks consider a state visit to the realm of Ahab by Jehoshaphat king of
02:00 - 02:30 Judah Ahab really put on a show of ostentation and pum and Circumstance and he did everything in his power to make Jehoshaphat feel flattered and honored and good there was a reason for this Ahab thought of attractive land that he claimed for Israel ramoth Gilead
02:30 - 03:00 he wanted to go up and take it back but he did not feel strong enough to do it without an ally and so he extended an invitation to Jehoshaphat in the hope that he could somehow get him to join forces to take rth Gilead you can imagine the great rivalry that went on between the king of Judah and the king of Israel and one writer said that when one visited the other he
03:00 - 03:30 took his own Throne along with him so on this occasion two Splendid Thrones are on the Das in one is Ahab in the other is Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat is the subject of unusual kindness and then it comes this request oh King
03:30 - 04:00 I want to go up and take rth Gilead back it belongs to us I need your help will you go up with your soldiers and fight with me against them and help me to recapture this land well Jehoshaphat being affected by all that had happened was not averse to going but he wanted to know the will of God first I don't mind going with you but I must be sure it's in harmony with the
04:00 - 04:30 will of God now who can determine that ah said Ahab we all set for that and he smacked his hands together and the door flew open and in marched 400 preachers and Ahab said to them sir men of the cloth I am discussing here with the esteemed Jehosaphat whether I should go up and and take rth Gilead or not I want
04:30 - 05:00 to ask you now gentlemen should I go up or should I forbear the answer was immediate and unanimous go up oh King for the Lord shall give it thee but there was something about all these preachers that excited distrust in Jehoshaphat they seemed too eager to say the popular thing they were more interested in giving approbation than counsel
05:00 - 05:30 they seemed just completely obsessed with the idea of seeing what they knew Ahab wanted said and thus they impressed Jehoshaphat as being men of compromise and let us not be too hard on these preachers for we've come to a time when congregations are demanding that kind of ministry
05:30 - 06:00 pray tell us what we want to hear or as the Bible says the time will come when they would not endure sound Doctrine but would Heap unto themselves teachers having itching ears and these teachers will turn their hearts from the truth un fables but Jehosaphat saw something here he did not like he studied their faces and he did
06:00 - 06:30 not see that moral force that ought to be seen in a child of God and he asked a very very striking question he said to Ahab and this is in First Kings chapter 22 he said is there yet one man besides that we may inquire of him there are some words I want to play with here tonight
06:30 - 07:00 is there yet one man 400 are marched out here but he implies they're not men is there one man I don't need 400 is there one man besides besides what besides these that we may inquire of him and Ahab answered and said there is yet one man Micaiah the son of imla
07:00 - 07:30 but I hate him because he does not prophesy good concerning me but evil oh ladies and [Music] gentlemen I hate him because he doesn't say what I want to hear I don't like that fell he rubs me the wrong way he makes me uncomfortable I squir him on my Throne when he talks he calls us speed a sped and and
07:30 - 08:00 he is not delicate with me nor even diplomatic he is not tactful he just blurts out whatever God tells him to say I don't like him and yet he called him a man on that fateful night when belshazzar gathered with his Lords for banquet he had the dream of Babylon
08:00 - 08:30 thought he present for the festivities the governors the Statesmen the ambassadors the generals the captains all of his favorites were there and with them his rock and roll band his dancers everything for a big time and as they began to drink he got a
08:30 - 09:00 mischievous idea he called in his servants and sent for the vessels from Jerusalem the ones that Nebuchadnezzar have been too afraid to use I will use them I'm going to create headlines in Babylon go and get them and they brought them in and fill them with wine and they began to drink from them and to flirt over them leaving the paint of their lips and
09:00 - 09:30 the Slime of their throats on the vessels from God's house you know a person can go too far and having gone too far Bel shazar raised his eyes and saw a bloodless hand be to write on the wall meany meany tickle you forsen and fear gripped every heart in that Banquet Hall first there were shrieks of horror and Terror
09:30 - 10:00 the women fell back the dancers tried to cover themselves the band stopped its playing everybody stood on his feet and the king tried to shout above the den and the noise the cacaphony of Terror somebody come and tell me what that says but nobody could and ladies and gentlemen make no mistake about it only a child of God can understand the writing of God for Spiritual things are spiritually designed and so he sent for his
10:00 - 10:30 magicians and his astrologers and his Scholars and he brought them all in and he made a proposal and he said to them if you tell me what that says I'll make you third ruler in Babylon I'll put a Golden Chain about your neck I'll do things for you that have never been done before what a proposition third ruler he was not even number one he was vice Regent he was the mundale of Babylon I will make you third ruler and they all
10:30 - 11:00 came in they all looked and they all were filled with consternation and none could read the hand of God the Queen Mother heard the Uproar and rushed into the banquet hall what's going on and she saw there b Shazer with his knee smiting together and every face turned to pness what is wrong in here and they pointed to the writing there is no one here to tell us what it says and then she made an announcement and I want everybody here to get it tonight she said there is a man in
11:00 - 11:30 Babylon his name is Daniel when Bel shaza was making up his guest list he didn't think much of Daniel all he knew about his mental Acumen he knew that he was sharp and good he knew all of that but he didn't like his lifestyle and so he didn't think of him as a man and when the invitations were sent out they were careful to overlook Daniel I can imagine the Scribe saying to the king oh King
11:30 - 12:00 now a protocol would demand that we send Daniel an invitation even if we don't want him to come now what shall I do about this and I can imagine the king saying oh forget him Daniel is is is Daniel is like cold water on a fire you can't enjoy yourself in his presence if Daniel is there the women can't dance the way I want them to dance if if Daniel Daniel comes to the
12:00 - 12:30 banquet the B won't play with a Gusto that I want him to use if Daniel comes to the banquet will'll all be inhibited and restrained there'll be tension in the air Daniel is a square I I don't want to fool with Daniel and by the way that's the way a Christian ought to affect a worldly Gathering when you're with them they ought to be a fear and I'm not talking about fear
12:30 - 13:00 like being scared of you but I'm talking about an awe God told Israel he would put fear in the Nations roundabout as long as they were true to him for righteousness repels unrighteousness and when a Christian goes to a party it ought to affect the whole atmosphere and what people do and what people say as a matter of fact ladies and gentlemen they will either change the way they run their party I'll stop inviting
13:00 - 13:30 you if you get too many invitations maybe you ought to examine yourself I was at Walla Wala once and a young lady came in after hearing several sermons and her heart was touched and she said pastor I really would like to change she said but my biggest problem is what shall I do about all my worldly friends how can I give them up I said young lady that's no problem at all all you have to do is start living in harmony with the word of God and your friends will give give you
13:30 - 14:00 up so when the invitations went out Daniel was a square Daniel was a hick Daniel was an old stick in the mud but when a crisis came and Men trembled in fear and they stood before God in the Judgment they needed a man and the queen said there is a man in Babylon he was a man because he had the strength to be different he had the power to Buck the
14:00 - 14:30 crowd he didn't just go along with the flow I fly over this great nation and watch the Great Rivers and I read somewhere that a river is crooked because it follows the line of least resistance and that's why men are crooked too Daniel was a man he stood up against all the princes of Babylon and he stood for something and my brothers and my sisters if you don't stand for something you'll soon stand for anything and I'm to
14:30 - 15:00 nothing I like the fact that she called him a man and when Jehoshaphat said is there anybody else here that we may talk to even Ahab admitted there is yet one man there is a man here Micaiah the son of imla but I hate him because he does not prophesy good concerning me and if you don't mind I'd like to go a little further with this idea of being a man and I would like to to broaden the concept to its fullest
15:00 - 15:30 generic sense mankind woman and man man there comes a time when a boy by some marvelous inborn Instinct realizes that he's no longer a child he must think and judge and act for himself this real realization Dawns upon him he knows he's just spreading his canvas about to sail out into the harbor and that beyond the wild Seas but he knows he's to go because he is becoming a man and if he
15:30 - 16:00 is thinking clearly he knows that a man is one who accepts responsibility and if a man is a man he must be responsible for his body and when one is a man and is thus responsible he does not abuse and degrade that body that takes care of Health reform right there and if he is a man he is responsible for his mind what he feeds
16:00 - 16:30 it with what he allows on the Avenues of his soul if he is a man he must be responsible for his morals and for the morals of others Ellen White says of all the sins God will punish none is more Grievous in his sight than the sin of causing others to do wrong and if there's something Dreadful about adultery and fornication it is not that a man just crawls in the marck it is
16:30 - 17:00 that he crawls in with someone else and influences another soul to do dirt and God does not take it lightly when one becomes a man he must be responsible for his influence and every one of us has that talent and that gift no man sins alone as a matter of fact I've often made the statement that the devil is too good an evangelist to allow that
17:00 - 17:30 the devil has a share your faith program that works every day all day all the time I've gotten on airplanes and total strangers would offer me cigarettes sharing their faith had a man one day pull out a bottle of liquor and he kind of held it under his coat and he said hey buddy you want a drink he didn't even know me and liquor cost up to12 and $15 a fifth milk only costs about 54 cents a qut and nobody ever offered me a glass of milk but he was willing to give me
17:30 - 18:00 that's the way the devil works and all day long influences touching one another and we have an influence and it ought to speak for God what do you say out there and a man is a man when he realizes that he's not just floating around on his own how many times have I heard young people say well it's nobody else's business what I do as long as I can live with myself oh yes it is we're responsible for our influence even to the point where the Bible says we must
18:00 - 18:30 live so that our good is not evil spoken of and when a man is a man he is responsible for his soul the greatest work one can undertake is the work of surrendering the soul to Christ and working out his own salvation with fear and trembling and a man ought to think about that ladies and gentlemen it makes good sense and a man uses good sense and I conclude that everything that puts on CL is not a
18:30 - 19:00 man manliness involves steadfastness of will inconsistency and fickleness and play boyishness is immaturity one one is taken by this he is not a man for these things are out of place in man when men are flattered by the attention of others other than his own wife or their own husband this is immaturity we've not grown up even though we've grown
19:00 - 19:30 older manliness means strength and I don't mean strength of muscle necessarily I mean strength up here to say no and stand by a decision those were the men of Bible times there was a man sent from God whose name was John the Bible says and when that woman return from the well she said to the people of the Town come see a man and when pilate looked at Christ he proclaimed behold he's a
19:30 - 20:00 man Jesus was a man and I like to to emphasize that Christ was no nbe pambi insipid softy Jesus was a man he was strong and healthy and firm of muscle he was Sunan and robust and he smiled easily and when he walked he took long strides he was a man
20:00 - 20:30 what is ma of all the definitions I looked up one interested me V ver means man the etymologists say and from that word we get virtue virtue is the quality of a man since truthfulness is virtue and and man comes from that same term then it's manly to be truthful and honest and pure and and without deceit and duplicity whatever is not virtuous is not manly therefore it is not manly to
20:30 - 21:00 talk dirty talk or to watch dirty movies or to go to dirty places or to live a dirty life or to practice dirty illicit love even further since man was made in the image of God then manliness is in a sense godliness now God is true and pure and
21:00 - 21:30 just and forgiving and tender and all of those great qualities we ought to find in man but you didn't expect me to say tender did you ladies and gentlemen do you know there are people who go to church and keep the Sabbath after a fashion they pay their tithe they do all kinds of wonderful things but they're as mean as the devil God is tender and it is manly to be gentle and tender
21:30 - 22:00 and sweet especially with your wife Brethren your wives I got an amen out there on that I have seen wastes and ruins around the world I flown over the bomb pocked battlefield of Vietnam where defoliation had cleared the area and you look down on desolation but nothing is more
22:00 - 22:30 pathetic than a wasted man and a no good worn out woman God doesn't want any of that amongst his people Ahab didn't like Micaiah but he believed him that's why he felt uncomfortable when he came around I don't like him he doesn't prophesy good concerning me and ladies and gentlemen I want to say something tonight and I hope everybody will say Amen as a Christian I'd rather be respect Ed than
22:30 - 23:00 light we're not in some kind of popularity contest and there are people who don't like you but they respect you and if you don't live up to the truth you know you let them down and they are gravely disappointed even though they might not tell you now their folks can go to the movies but not you when you go they're hurt they respect you they don't like you necessarily all the time but they respect you Ahab didn't like this Prophet who told
23:00 - 23:30 the truth he preferred someone who would deceive him ladies and gentlemen I have come to the conclusion that people love to be deceived when I look at what's going on in the name of religion today I wonder why people bother and I conclude they enjoy being deceived now I don't want to offend anyone but I mentioned this man's name because it came right out of the newspaper the the moon Dr Moon and the Moonies and one of the editors of
23:30 - 24:00 Newsweek said that Reverend moon is the fault of Christian preachers and then he explained what he meant he said he is the fault of Christian preachers because they don't have the courage to preach the straight truth anymore and young people are desperate for anything that has about it an atmosphere of certitude and so whatever comes along long that seems to be sure based they
24:00 - 24:30 follow after what an indictment against us who believe and know the truth people love to be lied to people love to be deceived people love the flavor of compliments and while some pretend to recoil from them none recoil so far as to destroy that delicious flavor and the King was like that he
24:30 - 25:00 wanted someone who would strengthen his desire to do as he pleased how many times does my phone ring and I pick it up and someone says Pastor I've got a problem and I need your counsel and I'm ready and they said now here is the problem and before you can give any counsel they say here's what I think and they don't want counsel they want you to tell them go ahead you're all right and if you don't do that they won't call you anymore and the that's the way the King was and that's the way so many of us are
25:00 - 25:30 Ahab had already decided to go up to rth Gilead he just wanted these 400 fellas to tell him it was okay and he knew Micaiah wouldn't be bought like that he didn't want to talk to him either he preferred a prophet who told a lie rather than one who told the truth Elder Pearson was talking with me one day and his heart is burdened about this this tendency that we begin
25:30 - 26:00 to see amongst us where we don't want to hear our men talk about the straight doctrines anymore ladies and gentlemen that's the burden I'm talking about take away the doctrines if you take them away from the Seventh Day Adventist Church you take away its backbone and its muscle and you reduce it to an incipit lukewarm revolting aggregation of people who don't know what they are or where they're
26:00 - 26:30 going and some say obscure Doctrine don't take it away just Eclipse it with new light oh beloved I'm asking you tonight to love this truth and find it so precious that nothing can cause you to give it up anything that comes in amongst us claiming to be new light that divides the church and creates contention is not of God it is of the
26:30 - 27:00 devil now I believe in new light but it does not obscure or take away or extinguish the old Ellen White says woe unto him that moves a block or stirs a pen of these messages that have made us what we are and she says further it is as certain we have the truth as that God lives and yet there are people telling us to give up our truth when Philip wanted to subdue Athens he sent his men in and said to the
27:00 - 27:30 people of Athens if you will give up your orators we can be at peace the orators were those who stirred the hot blood of the Athenians and caused them to resist and when he came in with this Insidious idea that if you get rid of your orators we can have peace it was silver tonged demostenes who answered he said the Wolves said that to the Shepherds if you will give up your sheep dogs we will come in and light peaceably
27:30 - 28:00 amongst the Lambs and Delight ourselves with the Sheep if You' only get rid of those quarrelsome pugnacious dogs and there are those of us who say we can have peace amongst Christians if we give up our doctors ecumenism has produced eanc whatever it takes do it so that we can all be together it has never been God's design that we all be together the
28:00 - 28:30 message of the third Angel is come out of her my people deemphasize the truth don't dispute it just don't bring it up but when you bring it up you make our religion hard and inconvenient that's my burden so Ahab sent for Micaiah and I imagine the old servant went in
28:30 - 29:00 and said to him now all the other prophets have spoken good to the king why don't you do the same don't go in there and antagonize him because if you do that you're only going to make it hard on yourselves you've heard of Ridley and latima haven't you who were burned at stake in England Dr latima was preaching one day and King Henry VII was in his audience and you know the kind of life he lived there was something about the straight message of Dr LMA that offended King Hen Henry VII and he stormed out of the church in Anger then he sent a message to LMA
29:00 - 29:30 and he said I'm coming to your church next week and I want you to preach a sermon and not only preach one that pleases me but apologize for having offended the next week the whole town practically was gathered at laus's church and the King came in with his Entourage and sat in the front row Dr laimer stood up to preach and he began by calling his own name first and he said ladimer Dost thou know before whom Thou Art to
29:30 - 30:00 speak this day to the high and mighty Monarch the king's most excellent Majesty who can take away life if thou offended therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease but latima consider well Dost thou know from whence thou comest upon whose message Thou Art sent even by the great and mighty God who is all present and who
30:00 - 30:30 beholdeth all thy ways and who is able to cast thy Soul into hell therefore take care that thou deliver thy message faithfully and having so said Dr LMA preached the same sermon he had preached the week before well they said that to John the Baptist John the Baptist don't you know who you're fooling with that crowned degenerate is
30:30 - 31:00 King forget about his incestous life back off and shut up or you'll lose your head what I'm trying to say is beloved there is a desperate need of Truth today everywhere and a time when truth is most desperately needed it is most bitterly and behem resented people don't want want to hear it but they need
31:00 - 31:30 it God has made us so that we need the truth our first nature demands it when man fell it was because of a lie God became unhappy man has been miserable ever since God and man belong together and the truth brings us back together and God and man will not be happy until they are together again would you say Amen Out There Our nature
31:30 - 32:00 then demands the truth but men will not endure sound Doctrine it is not so much they will not endure it's that they simply won't but they need it like salt seeking out a sar and setting men to burning but truth heals and any man who shaves will tell you that shave lotion stinks but it does you
32:00 - 32:30 good a man who is accustomed to Darkness will feel pain in his eyes when the light comes but he must have light the world needs the truth today and that's what Dr loose was talking about when he said if you have it let's hear it if you don't be quiet we desperately need the truth in the church and out of the church because there's a devil abroad in the land he is busy and he does not keep s hours the devil does not just work on
32:30 - 33:00 weekends depravity is toiling all night long degenerate is debauching manhood 24 hours a day every day of the year and death is busy all year long men are in Desperate Straits and need the truth and my church we cannot take the offense with the truth without
33:00 - 33:30 offending so Ahab sent for Mah and the preacher came in he did not come in to abuse we're not to take the truth and beat people over the head with it we're to preach it in love and people can tell when you're humble you don't have to tell them that you are sometimes our proclamation of humility is the foulest pride wasn't it Shakespeare who spoke about about being proud of
33:30 - 34:00 humility when we tell the truth let's not picture ourselves as being way up here and everybody else way down here Moses walked in the wilderness with the children of Israel amongst them and when he pleaded for Mercy he pleaded for Mercy for himself let us not then be proud let us be great ful and humble we are not to
34:00 - 34:30 abuse others with the truth but the Bible does say rebuke that means if folk are living wrong tell them just find a nice way to tell them but tell them clearly and the Bible says if they need reproving reprove but do it nicely and in many cases do it privately and then there's another word the Bible says exhort you know you got to show people how far
34:30 - 35:00 they have to go but then you have to tell them they can make it through Christ exhort means Comfort ENC courage tell the sorest person you know there is a way and Christ is the way tell the worst sinner in your church he can be saved through Jesus exalt and we should not have to entertain the time has come you almost have to
35:00 - 35:30 stand on your head to keep people's attention I've had folks say to me you know Pastor I'm so sorry I went to sleep on your sermon and I tell them I'm not personally offended there was a time when St Paul was preaching and uus went to sleep fell out of the window and died Paul was a pretty fair preacher so I've got the notion it wasn't a preacher's fault it was something in unicus
35:30 - 36:00 the servant said Mah what will you do and this is his answers recorded in the Bible as the Lord God liveth what the Lord saith unto me that will I speak and he walked in before Ahab and told him plainly do not go if you go you're going to disaster and Ahab got angry and through Mah in jail ladies and gentlemen don't get angry with a preacher who tells you the truth he doesn't make F the truth he just tells
36:00 - 36:30 it they made Galileo take back and recant his Proclamation that the Earth went around the Sun but that didn't stop the Earth from weeding on its axis at 1038 mph and swinging around the Sun at an inconceivable velocity it went on anyhow making him recant didn't change the physical law it didn't change the truth they laughed
36:30 - 37:00 at Columbus when he said the Earth was round but someone had said long before Columbus I sit on the circle of the earth and people laugh when St Paul says you reap what you sow but the law of inevitability is taking its toll every day and ladies and gentlemen that doesn't mean you're going to be lost all the time even when you repent and change you still have to reap about 35 5 years ago my mother told me not to go swimming at night I went
37:00 - 37:30 anyhow I've had sinus trouble ever since I've repented and so he got angry with him people laughed when Ellen White said cancer was a virus they're not laughing now and they poo poo the there that tobacco was bad but it's on every pack of cigarettes now some of us walk around with our heads down embarrassed by the Bold truths of the spirit of Prophecy oh beloved I've come to the
37:30 - 38:00 conclusion like it or not you might as well get through it cuz it's coming to pass believe it with all my heart and so he came in and Ahab put him in jail he could not change the truth however and his act was as foolish as a man beating his car with a sledgehammer because he runs out of gas neamon fled from the presence of the prophet in a rage the Bible says but his
38:00 - 38:30 rage did not stop his flesh rottening leprosy eventually he had to come around to the truth in order to be clean so Ahab having put this man in jail listened to his false prophets once more and went off to battle and I want to tell you something a man can stand up and occupy the full time in a pet and even use beautiful Bible texts and not
38:30 - 39:00 tell the truth he may sit at the master's table and dip his hand in the bowl with Jesus but his name is Judas is kariat there are truths that are needed and Ellen White says they ought to be repeated often amongst our people she speaks of the cycle of Truth the Judgment the law the Sabbath these things ought to be preached regularly well we've got to get ready for the coming of the Lord so Ahab
39:00 - 39:30 climbed up into his Chariot and went Galloping off to War and the amazing thing to me is Jehoshaphat went too after all that he went Mrs White Says angels watch us and are amazed and I can imagine why when you can look and see the results of Disobedience and then you do it anyhow it's amazing isn't it anybody who will use dope with all the evidence of what dope does and how it ravages the system that's
39:30 - 40:00 amazing and Jehoshaphat went and both he and Ahab had the backing of 400 preachers but they were scared scared of what the truth where did it come from one man and ladies and gentlemen sometimes guilt and fear are God's last ministers trying to stop us before we go too far they're God's warnings God's last call but you know what warnings are always
40:00 - 40:30 despised and to many they are vacant Thunder there was an old preacher that I almost revered his name was JG Thomas he's dead but at 82 he stood up and preached like an intern with or without one of these JG Thomas baptized thousands and one day I was sitting literally at his feet to learn and he said to me Brooks he said when I was an evangelist he said we made it hard for people to join the church those old men in those days were men with iron
40:30 - 41:00 mouths they told the truth so hard you almost shivered in their presence but I tell you what they baptized folks anyhow because the work is done by the Holy Ghost you don't have to foot God gives power to the truth when it's delivered in love and the people who came in under men like that stayed and you don't wash them out with every little slight and insult these are folks who can go through a time of trouble now if we can't take anything
41:00 - 41:30 how are we going to make it if you run with the footman and they have weary thee how are you going to Contin with horses Brethren and sisters what I'm saying to you is a storm is coming and if it's easy for you to give up the truth now you haven't seen anything yet what you going to do when it's against the law together like this and when your president is in jail and all your pastors are locked up and when they've got the electric chair all heated up for those who preach the truth what you going to do then if you've not
41:30 - 42:00 learned to love it how on Earth do you expect to stand so afraid was Ahab that he connived an idea he called over one of his foot soldiers and he said take off your armor and he pulled off his kingly trappings and stepped down out of his goldplated Chariot and he put on the armor of a common foot soldier and then he climbed up into the Chariot of an ordinary man he thought if I disguise myself the awesome prophecy
42:00 - 42:30 of Micaiah will not come to pass but even as he rode into battle over on the other side a man pulled an arrow out of his quiver perhaps his last he put it into the bow and he tightened the string and he let it fly he was shooting at nothing in particular the Bible says he shot an arrow at a venture he was just trying to hit whatever he could but over on the other side a man grabbed his side and screamed like a woman and out through his fingers oozed life and the war doogs followed the battles in those
42:30 - 43:00 days to eat the Carnage and the Goa and they rushed under this Chariot as Crimson rivx drained down in Cascades through the floorboards of a cheap Chariot it was royal blood blue blood it was the blood of Ahab fulfilling not only the prophecy of Micaiah but another prophecy that dealt with his insensitivity towards
43:00 - 43:30 neighbor aha Beloved the time of judgment comes the day of Retribution comes the time comes when men will pay for their evil deeds and for despising the truth and for easily putting it aside it comes and I'd like you to sleep on this tonight Ellen White says Pro ation closes first for seventh day
43:30 - 44:00 adversary and anybody who has any kind of spiritual perception must know that the end is coming soon when I started to preach I used to read those prophecies about as it was in the days of lot and I knew about those days because I studied it rather intensely and I used to wonder without victorianism how can it happen in my lifetime now I believed it but I just didn't know how it could happen it's here there are things going on tonight
44:00 - 44:30 that will curl your hair and every conceivable filth receives Hospitality even from the pulpits of the land the first man to attack Anita Bryant when she was leading her Crusade against homosexuality being legalized in Dade County Florida was a clergyman we are there Christ is coming soon you could almost hear the pounding footsteps of an approaching God and before Jesus comes the time of trouble
44:30 - 45:00 will come and the final shaking will come worse in reality than in anticipation to shake out the husks the chaff and to refine the gold in The Crucible of fire we are there let us then love the truth for probation closes first for us Ellen White says Christ sees men coming who never heard before and he holds it open for
45:00 - 45:30 them while it is closed for those of us who know so buy the truth and sell it not go back and ReDiscover the principles that made you a seventh the Adventist in the first place and pray to God for the power to believe it with all your heart for it is verily the truth and when you take hold of Truth it is as no Christ swirls around in glory and says who touched me I felt virtue go out of me for when ever you take hold of Truth you take hold of Christ for he is
45:30 - 46:00 the truth and love it with all your heart and I might as well tell you beloved you're not going to be saved and I'm not going to be saved until we learn to hate sin and love the truth that's the experience we need and that's the experience we must have who shall be able to stand those fortified rooted and grounded in truth the storm is coming the howling Gale cleanses the wheat but
46:00 - 46:30 it will scatter the CH the Deep rooted Oak will stand but the dry leaves will become the sport of every gust who will be able to stand those who love the truth with all their hearts and souls who buy it and sell it not in closing what is most desperately needed amongst us a return to Jesus Christ with all our hearts no I'm a man who believes in doctrines I'm an evangelist like these men up
46:30 - 47:00 here but I attempt deliberately to preach Christ all the time for he is the means and proof of Salvation Ellen White says don't ever preach the law without Grace but don't ever preach Grace without a law would you say Amen out there they go together and we must begin with Christ that's the doctrine where you begin as a matter I saw something interesting the other day and very quickly I like to tell you what it said one scholar said the Book of Genesis
47:00 - 47:30 tells of man's fall the book of Exodus puts the blood on the doorpost and provides a Passover then he said the Book of Leviticus brings in ritual and worship The Book of Numbers deals with Israel's March or walk toward Canaan and the Book of Deuteronomy thoroughly reveals law and works and he said you got to start that way realize your fall gen reach by faith for the
47:30 - 48:00 blood Exodus then you will be willing to worship Leviticus you'll start your walk with the people of God numbers and only then are you ready for the Ten Commandments let's say Amen out there you don't begin with them you begin with Christ and when we love him enough as has been said up here tonight already then we will not only be willing to do but our Natures will be so affected that
48:00 - 48:30 desar ages says doing his will will be the carrying out of our own impulses oh that's what the Bible meant about Jesus when it said in Psalms 40 and: 8 I Delight to do thy will oh my God yay thy law is within my heart that was said of Christ and it must be said of every Christian he not only does God's will but he Delights in it it's what he enjoys he doesn't go to church because he has to he goes because he wants to he doesn't pay tithe because he's pressured
48:30 - 49:00 to he gives tithe because he loves to do it I Delight to do thy will that's what I want in my life I want to love this truth so that it's fun what do you say out de and you know if we loved it like that we'd look better we wouldn't carry these long faces with our chins dragging the ground all the time someone said if you're happy you ought to notify your face Ellen White said when we are unhappy as Christians we dishonor God for we make
49:00 - 49:30 the truth unattractive to the world I want to love the Lord and love the truth so much that it becomes fun in my life is that what you want I want to ask every one of you tonight and I'm talking to you as an individual now in the name of the Lord is that really what you want you want to be as the text says no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of dust I'm developing a sermon on that now and I heard the man read it tonight from the living Bible and I
49:30 - 50:00 decided I'm going to use that in my sermon I want to be that kind of person grown up in Christ a man for Jesus who loves the truth of God who loves Jesus so much that his truth a revelation of his personality is precious in my heart do you want it if you do I want you to stand right now and bow your heads and let us pray and tell God that's what we want
50:00 - 50:30 oh blessed Lord here are your people the object of your Supreme affection and Care the apple of your eye Your Darlings oh yes we're weak and we've got problems but it is the only thing upon which you bestore your Supreme regard these are your people there's some out there Lord who haven't been faithful but your people and I'm so glad you don't throw
50:30 - 51:00 us away every time we fail but you bring us to moments like this when by faith we may Begin Again with a oh blessed God we're standing to indicate a desire to do that and if there's anybody standing who doesn't mean it if there's anybody standing trifling with his Heaven Sent privilege if anybody's standing just because others did I'm praying for a Special Touch of thy Spirit on that heart first forgive and and cleanse and
51:00 - 51:30 have mercy now Lord all of us need to be different than we are we need to be better Christians and better Witnesses better representatives and that's why we're standing we want to love this truth and get back to first things to the foundational issues that have made us a distinctive people for what are we if we cast these away and what right have we to claim to be your
51:30 - 52:00 Remnant for the Bible says the remnant keep the Commandments of God and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ help us to be that way and Lord please please read our consciences of fanaticism for it is distasteful it is divisive it is demonic you told us particularly this church you
52:00 - 52:30 sent us the word through a prophet sent to this church that there is nothing fanatical or extreme about our message so help us not to feel we've got to do that kind of thing to be holy but help us to know that we may be holy as we will to be through Jesus with ease and pleasure for your yoke is in your burden is light thank you for hearing us
52:30 - 53:00 tonight please wash our sins away in the blood of Christ we claim only his merits we come begging all these things not because we're special but because Jesus is we come therefore in his name that name that is above all names and we ask these things for his sake now keep us through these Sabbath
53:00 - 53:30 evening hours blessed Lord help us not to talk too much to each other before we talk to thee may we be cognizant of the fact that these are special and sacred moments when thou art near may we tread softly bless in every room every tent every camper where thy people are gathered with the presence of the holy spirit in the name of our savior