HOME
HOME |
      |
|
Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 555 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Thomas: Verse 9 of chapter 4 says, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." You see, if you're not trusting God, you can't have that rest. If you're trying to be saved, it means you're not saved. Because salvation comes whenever you commit your soul to the Lord. ( congregational amens ). You turn that over to God. You quit trying to be saved. You realize you can't save yourself. You can't get good enough to save, so you completely surrender your will, your life, your future. You surrender it to God, who has never yet turned down the first one. ( congregational praises ). That's why He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And He will. He'll give you rest. That's the most blessed thing I know of, is that rest. That's where you cease from your own labors and you enter into His rest--that's enter into faith. You cease from trying. You cease from struggling. If you're trying to be saved, it just means you haven't come to faith. You don't try to be saved. You trust God, and He saves you. ( congregational amens ). You can't save yourself anyway. "...The elder shall serve the younger." That's in the 12th verse. "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." You see, God...I know that sounds strange to a man. We like to think in terms of what we consider being just, you know and right, and so forth. But God, looks at you before you're ever born. ( congregational amens ). And He can see your whole life, from the time you're conceived in your mother's womb, until you die and leave this world. That's God. That's because He is God. And He knows every weakness. He knows every virtue, if you have any. And He knows all about you. And according to what He sees, He undertakes. If you're kind of a hardheaded fellow, He'll get a strong angel to watch out after you. Every now and then, He'll jerk you by the coattail if you don't straighten up and fly right. God watches over us and He keeps us because we're His children. You see, when you're born of God, you're born of the Spirit that God is. That's His Spirit. And you're His child. ( congregational amens ). Let me ask you this. How many of you have children? Go on and raise your hand. When they do a little something wrong, do you throw 'em out the window? ( laughter ). No, you don't throw 'em away. Now if it's bad enough, you chastise 'em don't you? That's what the Bible says about our God. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth...what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement...then are ye bastards, and not sons." And there's multitudes of church people today that don't know the Lord. They just belong to a church. I suppose that some of 'em been buttered up, been told that they're all right, and they have what I call easy believism. "...Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." ( congregational amens ). "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." So it looks to me like we're dependent on God. ( congregational amens ). If God moves upon our heart, we ought to be thankful. ( congregational amens ). We ought to be praising God. ( congregational praises ). If God works with us, we ought to thank God, 'cause there's multitudes out here that don't want to know a thing about Him. There's multitudes that's heard messages like this, that went right on exactly like they are. They never thought about it. And many people say, well if there's something to it , I'll do it later. How do you know you will? ( congregational amens ). How do you know you will? How do you know you'll even be living? Don't presume upon the grace of God. "...it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." That means it's not your will. If God doesn't draw you, how can you come? Esau...he was rejected whenever he decided he wanted to get saved. Yeah, he was rejected. In Ephesians chapter 1, the scripture says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him..." when we repented and turned from our sins. Is that what it says? -- Congregation: No. -- Brother Thomas: "According as he hath chosen us in him..." When? -- Congregation: "...Before the foundation of the world." -- Brother Thomas: "...Before the foundation of the world." Did you know that if you're a Christian that God chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world? ( congregational praises ). That's a long time. Did you know that God knew you then? And God didn't wait until you repented. He had angels watching out after you even then. ( congregational amens ). He had plans for you. He knew you. He knew your name. He knew all about you. I'm glad we've got that kind of a God. Aren't you? ( congregational amens ). "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Do you believe in God? ( congregational amens ). Well that's talking about Him. "...counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed..." Now I want you to listen to this. "...ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise...." ( congregational amens ). Now let me ask you. Do you know anything about that seal? What does it mean? What's the significance? You know, they used to seal things. It had to be done by some authority that knew about it and he knew the purpose of it. It was sealed because he didn't want anybody else to mess with it. He didn't want it to be violated. That seal was its protection. That was something that said, hands off, this is somebody else's property. ( congregational amens ). What do you think about God's seal? Is there anybody any greater than God that can seal anything? -- Congregation: No! -- Brother Thomas: None. "...after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise..." Ain't that wonderful? ( congregational amens ). That seal is your guarantee. ( congregational amens ). You say, well what if I do this or do that? You're basing your loss of salvation upon what you do. I'm basing our hope of salvation, not upon what we do or what we don't do, but upon what Christ did. ( congregational amens ). It's not what you did, or what you will do. It's what Christ did! ( congregational praises ). When He went to that cross, He went to that cross and He paid your sin debt. You didn't pay for it. You just come as a penitent sinner. You just bow the knee. You just say, Lord I accept you as my Savior, live, swim, sink or drown. I cast myself upon Your mercy. ( congregational praises ). He's never turned the first one away, and He never will. ( congregational amens ). Yeah, we were dead in trespasses and sins. Now a dead man can't do anything. He can't understand anything. If God begins to deal with you, He begins to reveal things to you. You begin to see things that you've never seen before. One of the main things you begin to come to grips with is that you're lost. Without Christ you have no hope for the future. ( congregational amens ). Without Christ, if you die, there's only one place you can go and it's not very...well it's just not very air-conditioned there. ( laughter ). And with Christ, you have everything that God has for you. ( congregational amens ). For Christ is God's Son. That's why the Lord said, when He was baptized, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." Whatever He did was right! He was the manifestation of His Father in this earth. People wonder who Jesus was. He was God incarnate--God in the flesh. ( congregational amens ). He came to this earth as a man to help us who are men. And "...by grace are ye saved through faith...." Grace is unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor--something we cannot earn, we cannot buy. Not only that, we were dead in trespasses and sins and God, Himself, drew us with cords of love to Himself. Amen. He drew us. Don't ask me why. It's His business. He says here in John chapter 6, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Then He says in the 44th verse, " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day...Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Isn't that wonderful? ( congregational amens ). I'm glad we don't have to work for it. I've done a little bit of everything and I know I couldn't earn my salvation. I got a job one time digging stumps and I didn't hardly dig one stump. ( laughter ). Praise God! Now, let me ask you this. How many of you here really know you're saved--you know you are? That's good. I'm not trying to single you out or trying to see who couldn't raise your hand. I just...it's good to be able to...Paul said he knew whom he believed and was "...persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." And we need to know, too. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! I know whom I've believed. I know the day and the hour when I bowed the knee. I'll never forget the next morning at breakfast...something had happened to me. I went to the breakfast table. My wife had grits and eggs. And the tears rolled down my cheeks...dropped in my plate. I couldn't stop 'em. God had done something wonderful for me. It was so wonderful that I couldn't hold back the tears. ( congregational praises ). And I began to witness to people. I'm not trying to put you on the spot and say you need to do like I did, 'cause I don't know what you need to do. God alone does. And some people are not expected to do exactly like others anyway. We're all different and some of us are those that God used to preach the Word, some of those that He uses to send here and send there, and He uses others to back 'em up--to support 'em. You will, just as sure are we're here tonight, if you have supported this ministry, you will receive your reward. ( congregational amens ). Because you're flowing with us and you deserve it. You will receive your reward and God knows all about it. This is the last service. I don't believe in just pulling people. But, if you're not sure--if you have any doubts about your salvation, if you're not sure, I ask you to step out and come down to the front here. Join the rest of the people that know the Lord. Alright, go ahead fellas. JESUS CHRIST IS MADE TO ME, WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND POWER, HE WILL NOT HIS SERVANT LEAVE, WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND POWER, HE'S THE TREASURE OF MY SOUL, WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND POWER, HE REDEEMED ME WHEN HE DIED. WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND POWER, -- Brother Thomas: I'm thankful for this young lady here and this young man. I'm thankful they said yes. ( congregational praises ). And I'm aware of the fact there's a battle that goes on in hearts. When an invitation to come to Christ is given, a lot of people have to battle. They know they need something. But that old flesh...it doesn't ever surrender. It's just a Christ-hating flesh. That's it. And you have to overcome it by your own will. ( congregational amens ). I'm asking you tonight who want to be saved...tonight. Step out and come down while they sing. ( congregational amens ). God bless you. GLORY, GLORY TO THE LAMB. WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND POWER, JESUS CHRIST IS MADE TO ME, WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND POWER, -- Brother Thomas: He wants to go to heaven. There's another one that wants to go to heaven. ( congregational praises ). Praise God! There must be somebody else here that wants to go to heaven. The Lord saves little children too, you know. ( congregational amens ). He don't save just big 'uns. He saves us all, if we come to Him. "...Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." ( congregational amens ). I'm asking you to come to Christ tonight. This is our last service. And you can tell people the Lord met you in the last service. Think about it. Suppose I was to die tomorrow. You'd hate it that you didn't come forward, wouldn't you? I'm not gonna rush it up, but.... ( laughter ). I'm not expecting to, but I don't know. I know this, if you don't know the Lord, you need Him. ( congregational amens ). You need Him more than you need life. ( congregational amens ). 'Cause this life is gonna leave you anyway. 
|