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Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 799 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text Brother Thomas: If God don't draw you, you're a goner. And for me to try to get you saved just by explaining this to you won't do you a bit of good. See, people are not gonna...it's like old Brother Barnard said one time, you're not going to come to God if you can help it. There's nothing in you, naturally, that wants God. Everything that's in you naturally wants the world. Everything that's in you naturally wants the flesh, wants to please the flesh. You don't want God. If you do it's because God's working with your heart. ( congregational amens ). You couldn't be saved without that, no matter how hard you try. God must...anymore than you'd have a baby without a conception. You couldn't. God has to work in your heart. In Jeremiah chapter 7, I mean in John, chapter 7, and verse 17. Now note this word. Jesus said this, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine..."--That doctrine word means teaching--"...whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." And I'll say this to you, if you will to do His will--that's in here. If that's so, God has worked in you 'cause you ain't gonna naturally will to do His will. You're gonna will to do your own will or do your own thing and not be bothered. Go on like you are. But if you will to do His will, you'll know of this teaching whether it's of God or whether it's just me talking. ( congregational amens ). Now God don't have any time for you unless you mean business. Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13. The scripture says. "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Is that right? ( congregational amens ). And the preacher has to be sent of God--not by the Methodist, the Baptist, Pentecostal, Mormons or anybody else. Has to be sent of God. ( congregational amens ). You don't like that. That's what the Word says. You'd be just like Hananiah. Jeremiah said, "...Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie." That's in Jeremiah chapter 28, and verse 15. People don't know what they're doing. I'll tell you one thing, God does not leave us without a witness. That's what the Lord said to Moses. He asked the Lord, Lord, now you say you've sent me. How am I gonna know that you're with me? The Lord said, "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." You know what the greatest witness there is? Somebody says, well I want to see something. It's here. Remember it's with the heart man believes unto righteousness. And when God sees that belief, He gives you the witness. Hallelujah! Let's go over to Hebrews. You know, I've noticed here, once again, verse 7, Hebrews 3. "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith..."--Not as C. Parker Thomas saith--"...(as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice...." Now God can't speak except through his voice. That's why the Bible speaks of John as the voice in the wilderness--cried out, prepare ye the way of the Lord. That was God's voice--God's voice down here has to come through man. Somebody says, oh I'll read the Bible. Read it, you'll get in about as much trouble as most of these people are in. See, you got to first...God's got to work with you here. You got to seek Him, want Him, and he'll bring you in contact with a voice. ( congregational amens ). I noticed in studying the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve sinned, and they hid themselves. They covered up their nakedness. And it says, the voice of the Lord came walking in the garden. I was astounded when I saw that. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 3. "...To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" He's talking about the wilderness from Egypt into the wilderness. "When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways." Now you can go to some churches and they'll give you a nice little invitation, to get you forward, get you enrolled in Sunday school. All you gotta do is just come to church, put your money in the plate, and they don't care whether you do anything else or not. God's called every one of us to something. Most of the greatest things I know of in the churches is people who pray, who can't do anything else. But pray, you can do that. ( congregational amens ). Now He said, "...They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways." God wants you to learn something about Him. He says, "...If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."--See?--"...Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you..."--and you know not whither you go. God intends...when God works with you He intends for you to obey--He intends. ( congregational amens ). Now, God sware in his wrath because they did always err in their hearts. He said, "So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)" Now that's another thing. Do you have peace? Can you go to bed tonight and relax because you're not worried about your soul? When the Lord came into my heart, that's exactly what I did. I lay down that night. I said, Lord, it's all right now. If you wanna come, I said, I've made my peace. I wasn't worried anymore. I'll tell you before then though, I had been in bed and something happened, scare me, I jump up and stand up in the bed. ( laughing ). I didn't have no rest then. "peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you..." "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." That's what He's doing right now. Praise God! ( congregational amens ). "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you..."--Watch this now--"... an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Now what causes people to depart? -- Brother Jimmy Robbins: Unbelief. -- Brother Thomas: Unbelief. Let's just go on in this chapter. "But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end." But see, this is why you have to have Jesus. He don't give up. He holds out. He never forsakes. He said, "...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." If you trust Him, that's the greatest thing you've ever done or ever will do this side of eternity. ( congregational amens ). God honors that--trusting in Him, believing in the Word, believing what He says, that Jesus paid your sin debt when He went to that cross. Your sins were laid upon Him. He "...who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! There's no excuse--no excuse. If you desire salvation--that means Christ. He's the way, He's the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by Him. Hallelujah! He's a door. "...If any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." Praise God! ( congregational amens ). "While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." He repeats that. "For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses." That's what he's talking about. "But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?" Now listen. "And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that..."--backslide and lost it. Don't say that? What does it say?--"...But to them that believed not?"--Listen--"So we see that they could not enter in because of..."--what? -- Congregation: Unbelief. -- Brother Thomas: "...Unbelief." I could not, not believe in God. It's not a matter of me believing, I just can't do anything else. Praise God! ( congregational amens ). I don't believe anybody could ever enter into a state of relationship with God and not believe. I think some people can join a church, then fall out with somebody, and leave. It won't amount to a hill of beans, but not have Christ in 'em. It's Christ in you the hope of glory. ( congregational amens ). And you don't have any hope of glory unless you have Him. If you have Him, you have everlasting life. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! Then in chapter 4 of Hebrews, He says, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." You need this rest. That takes care of everything. Praise God! I'm ready to die anytime God wants to take me. But for your sake it might be better for me to stay a while longer. Praise God! ( congregational amens ). Verse 2, Hebrews 4, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them..." Why? That's the whole thing. It keeps you out. That locks the door. The door's locked between you and the kingdom of God. Believing in Him is like learning to swim. You'll never learn to swim if you don't give yourself to the water. You'll never know that God can save you unless you give yourself to Him. If I had ten thousand...if I was ten thousand people, I'd give all of 'em to Him. Praise God! I love Him. That ain't all, He loves me. ( congregational amens ). You love Him? He loves you too. Praise God! It's wonderful isn't it? ( congregational amens ). I wish you could share my joy. Hallelujah! "For we which have believed do enter into rest..."--That's the seal right there. That's why in Ephesians 4:30 it says, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God...." Now you can grieve the Holy Spirit but you can't lose it. "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto..."--How long? -- Congregation: "...The day of redemption." -- Brother Thomas: "...The day of redemption." Now I want to give you something else here now. This is Galatians, chapter 1. The reason I'm giving this to you is because I want you to see. Paul was very religious--the apostle Paul. You know the story of Paul. He was going around catching Christians, persecuting 'em, and he held the clothes of those that stoned Stephen to death. He thought they were enemies. He wanted to do away with 'em--the apostle Paul did. And one day he's on this road with some others and he thinks he's going to Damascus. But suddenly he's blinded. He can't see a thing, almost like this does here, but a little worse. ( laughter ). He fell to the ground. He couldn't see nothing. And a voice spoke, said "...Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" He heard it. I don't know if the other men heard it or not, but he did. "And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." And it was us--members of his body, the church that he was persecuting. But Jesus took it personally. Said, you're persecuting me. Did you know that we...Christ in us is the hope of glory, but it's also the hope of this world--every single one of us that has Christ in us. ( congregational amens ). Praise God! You don't just come to a man. You come to Christ. Hallelujah! All right let's go on now back to Galatians. I want you to see this. It's very good. Now this is Paul's epistle to the churches of Galatia, see. And verse 6, he says, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ...." Let me pause right here. I want to emphasize the grace of Christ. Have you ever heard grace explained? What does it mean? It means unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor. You can't buy it. You can't earn it. You can't get good enough. If you could be the best person in the world, which you can't, you'd never earn God's favor. ( congregational amens ). It's "...by grace...through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Now you want to know where works come from? Listen to this 10th verse, Ephesians chapter 2. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." If your works are not a result of being made a new creature in Christ Jesus, you forget it. If you're going to church and giving your money and anything else that you're doing, and you think it's good, and it's not because you love Christ, forget it. You're not gonna get any place. He says, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ..." And one other thing about the definition of this word, 'grace'. Some people look at that and say, well it's up to us. No, no, my brother, my sister, if God doesn't start the work in you, you'd never come. He not only is the author, He's the author and finisher of our faith. "...Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." He's the author and the finisher. Praise God! ( congregational amens ). Now he refers here to another gospel and in verse 7, "Which is not another..." You got all kinds of gospels here--over 2000 of 'em in the world, maybe more than that. You got whole continents just about it where they believe in heathenism. They bow down and kiss the ground, all kinds of shenanigans. But there's only one gospel. It's the gospel of the grace of God. You don't start it and you don't end it. He's the author and the finisher. Verse 8 says, "But though we, or an angel from heaven..."--Even an angel--"Preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." You got all kind of gospel being preached. Think of it. I didn't say this. "As we said before, so say I now again..."--He repeats it--"...If any man preach any other gospel unto you than ye have received, let him be accursed." Why? Here's why. "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men?...." Most preachers are men pleasers. That's it, they're men pleasers. You won't find one in a thousand that really wants to please God. You know why? How many churches do you think I could go in and preach what I believe? Not a one. They wouldn't have me. You know what they'd brand me? They'd brand me a heretic. They'd say I was a heretic. Praise God! If having the truth revealed to you is a heretic, I'm guilty. Look what he says there now. "...Do I seek to please men: for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." I am. Do you know what that word servant there is? Slave--that's right. It just means that's what I am. I'm a slave, but I'm a happy slave. ( congregational amens ). I've refuse to go out. I've worked my sixth year and ordered to let me go. I said I don't want to. Put the hole in my ear. ( congregational amens ). So I'm a slave. I'm a bond slave. When they saw that man with a hole in his ear, they knew what he was. He had given up his right to ever go out. That's what it is if you come to Christ. That's what salvation is about. ( congregational amens ). Don't think that God would ever turn you down. If you're concerned--if you're concerned if God's drawing you. You just say, yes to Him. Say, Lord...like the song we use to sing "In my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling." Hallelujah! When He cried on that cross, "...It is finished..." your salvation was paid for. That satisfied the law that condemned you. That's all the law can do, is condemn you. But grace saves you. Grace not only saves you but it keeps you. Grace presents you one day before all heaven. I'm looking forward, not only in going but I'm looking forward to meeting some people. I want to. I've heard of 'em. I've read about 'em, studied about 'em. Some I've known here in the flesh, but I mean characters in the Bible--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph--great Christians. Praise God, I'm looking forward to meeting 'em. That will be a wonderful time. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! Are you looking forward to meeting somebody? ( congregational amens ). Well this is the way. This is the way. You men or somebody come up here and let's sing. I'm going to give an invitation this morning. Be praying. Be prayerful while we wait. Maybe I shouldn't have sprung this on you, but I just felt like I need to. "How to Be Saved"--that's what we're talking about. I want you to come without any gimmicks, any tricks, just because you want the Savior, because you got to have Him. You can't make it without Him. The future here is hopeless. This is the last verse. WHEN HE SHALL COME WITH TRUMPET SOUND, -- Brother Thomas: Keep singing. The Lord is keeping it open. He's keeping it open for somebody. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! I'm not keeping it open. The Lord is. You can't come except He draw you. If He's drawing you, the least you can do is respond. ( congregational amens ). Go ahead. MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS WHEN HE SHALL COME WITH TRUMPET SOUND, ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND. -- Brother Thomas: That's God moving on hearts. When God moves on your heart, He wants to do something for you that needs to be done. God don't make any mistakes. While we sing, somebody else now. God's keeping this thing open. JESUS CHRIST IS MADE TO ME WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND POWER, JESUS IS MY ALL IN ALL, WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND POWER, |
