[0:00] I talked this morning about the invisible man. If the invisible man were in this room, we would not see him because he's invisible. Tonight, I'm going to talk to you about the most invisible man in the Bible.
[0:15] An invisible man is somebody that you can see, but when you look, you can't see him. And the best illustration I give of that, I don't know if they still make these. You remember the Where's Waldo books?
[0:27] I thought those were cool. Okay. And you're looking at a whole, you know, like something like this big book. You look at this thing and it's all people. He's in there, correct? But you don't see him.
[0:39] He's not invisible, but he's invisible. I'm going to talk to you about this guy because he did something that I think most Christians would like to do. I don't know.
[0:49] I don't know what turns your head. By turning your head, I mean like you're standing on a parking lot talking to the preacher and you hear something. I'll tell you what turns my head. The sound of a V8 lighting up.
[1:00] I'm talking about one with a good exhaust system. And if I'm walking across the parking lot, if I'm outside and somebody lights up and goes, whoa, what's that? That turns my head.
[1:12] I don't know what turns your head. This man, his name is only found one time in the Bible. I can't even find him in the Chronicles. But I find him one time in the Bible.
[1:24] Now, we're going to look at some places that we know he was there. Just like we're looking at the Where's Waldo books. We know he was there. But he's invisible.
[1:35] We don't see him. And then when he shows up and God talks to us about him, whatever he did, guys, turned God's head. Could you imagine doing something if God is in heaven and he goes, whoa, whoa.
[1:51] Did you see what one of my children just did? That would be amazing. Would it not? I want you to go to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4.
[2:12] And there's a couple of things, guys. I really, I think we ought to watch how we talk. I think there's some things we should not say. Have you ever heard anybody say, oh, man, I'd die for that.
[2:25] I don't know what you'd die for. You don't know what you'd die for. Okay. Didn't Peter say to the Lord, I'll die for you? And 10 chapters later, he was jumping bushes to keep from doing what he said he was going to do.
[2:37] And so, you know, I don't know what I would die for. I got a whole list of things that I'd like to tell you I'd die for. If you ever thought about that, if you've got a list, you can only die for one of them. Everything else after that, nobody ever know.
[2:48] But I would like to think I would die for my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my God, the book, the country.
[3:00] I think I'd like to think I would die for those. Pizza. That's up there a ways. But what I'm saying is we don't know what we'd die for. I really don't like this one.
[3:13] Oh, man, I'd kill for that. I don't think you'll say that. I mean, think about that. What would you kill for? No, what I'd like to think is I'd like to think I'd kill for the same things that I would die for.
[3:24] Okay. I've had guys say, oh, man, my wife makes chocolate chip cookies to kill for. Well, I like chocolate chip cookies, guys, but I don't think I'm going to kill anybody for one. All right. But if there's only one left and you go for it, you know, we may find out.
[3:38] But somewhere, we don't know when, but somewhere prior to his 40th, Moses was talking to God.
[3:48] God was talking to Moses and he said, I'm going to use you to free Israel. You're going to lead all of the Jews out of Egypt. Man, would that not be exciting? And when he was 40 years old, he wanted it so bad, he would kill for it.
[4:04] Right? And because, you know, sometimes you think you're ready and God isn't. And so then he ends up out in the desert. Now, guys, if you are, I don't know, I don't know, you know, what's your thing.
[4:18] If you are musical, I'm not musical, but if you are musical, I think you ought to be impressed with our God. Now, he gave us only seven notes and we have not run out of combinations of them.
[4:31] I don't even like some of the combinations. Okay. But the fact is that only seven. And yet we're still finding new ways to combine them. Is that not true? And so if you're musical, I don't know if you ever thought about this, but did God not write the song of every bird on the planet?
[4:47] Pretty good. And so if you're musical, you ought to appreciate God the musician. If you are artistic, you've got to appreciate God the artist. Like, look at this. Is this not something?
[4:59] You know what's amazing? Everything you see is nothing more than three colors and some combination thereof. He gave us red, yellow, and blue and nothing else. You say, what about green? That's blue and yellow.
[5:09] What about orange? That's yellow and red. What about purple? That's red and blue. I mean, and everything is a combination of a combination of a combination. And look outside. Look at that beauty. That is all God.
[5:20] In fact, think about this. What would you do if you came to your church today and one of the church members said, oh man, I can't wait till tomorrow. Why? Because we bought a brand new car yesterday and we get to pick it up tomorrow.
[5:31] Really? What color? Green with a blue top. Is there anybody here interested in buying a green car with a blue top?
[5:42] Could you find one? And if you found it, I mean, really, if you bought it, you'd be taking it off the guy's hands. But you have a God that can put green grass together with a blue sky and it flips our switch.
[5:57] Well, I'm a writer. I like God the writer. This God, he has some stuff. He has some ways to write. In Acts chapter 18, when we were first introduced to Paulus or Paulus was first introduced to us, he's not saved.
[6:12] He's out preaching the wrong gospel. Get baptized with John's baptism. Hey guys, baptism never fireproofed anybody. Not John's, nobody's. And so, but it says that Aquila, Priscilla, it said, when they heard him, they expounded at him the way of God more perfectly.
[6:30] They led him to Christ. But isn't that a cool way to say it? And here, Moses. Now, you guys, being in California, this beautiful state, but you got desert pretty close.
[6:42] We're really not desert in Boise. We're really prairie. And prairie is the desert plus three blades of grass. But, guys, if you spent 40 years on the backside, and that's what it was.
[6:55] He didn't say he was in the desert. He's on the backside of the desert. I mean, like, what's worse than the desert? The backside. Like, stop them. You know what they're going to do to me? What? They're going to send me to the moon.
[7:07] Oh, what could be worse? The dark side. I mean, that's where he was. If you spent 40 years on the backside of the desert, you would be talking to burning bushes, too, looking for God. That day, he had probably talked to an iguana, maybe a tumbleweed.
[7:20] Burning bush, give it a shot. This guy is on the backside of the desert. When he's 40 years old, he is so convinced, I'm going to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, that he would kill for it.
[7:33] Forty years later, the one thing he is convinced of is, somebody's going to do it, but I'm not the guy. I am not the guy. And it says this in verse 10.
[7:46] And Moses said unto the Lord, Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent neither heretofore, nor since I was spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow speech and of a slow tongue.
[7:57] I don't know if you ever thought about this, guys. Did you ever think how history would be written differently if Moses had won that argument? If Moses, if God said, okay, Mo, you know, I'll get somebody else.
[8:10] But he didn't. And so Moses is called of God here. Now it is the time. And starting with chapter 4 to chapter 14 in the book of Exodus, we have the famous 10 plagues over Egypt.
[8:24] And it's the lice and the boils and the frogs and the flies and the Democrats.
[8:36] No, no, because the plague, those plagues left. That one never left. But really, I mean, and don't you think it was something, I think probably when Moses and Aaron, they first came in there and said, hey, we're going to get you guys free.
[8:50] We're going to lead you out of Egypt. Yeah, you go tell them. And so what happens? Then they got grief. I don't know if you ever did this. If you ever worked a job and somebody referred to some senior man as he's the straw boss.
[9:02] You know where that straw boss comes from? They made bricks and they needed straw. And it says the guy that was over the straw, the straw boss quit giving him straw. And so they thought they're going to get free.
[9:15] Well, they get grief. They get beaten because they're not making enough bricks. And after a while, they're going, hey, Moses, listen, would you just let the guy alone? You really haven't helped us at all. And then after a while, the plagues no longer fall on Israel.
[9:29] They fall on Egypt, not on Israel. And suddenly I think the Jews were high stepping again. Yeah, go, go tell them, buddy. Show them. Well, our guy is in there. I mean, he witnessed all of those plagues.
[9:42] I don't know what he did. We don't have any idea what he did. He's not pointed out to us. But he is here in these 10 chapters. He is there from the time Moses showed up and threw down the stick and it became a snake.
[9:53] And the water turned into blood. And all of those plagues that plagued the people of Israel, when Moses did that, our invisible man is in there.
[10:06] He witnessed it all. I want you to look, if you will, to chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12. And I'll show you one of the magnificent writing techniques of this great God.
[10:21] In Exodus chapter 12, we have the first Passover. You know the story. The Lord is going to pass over Egypt, kill all the firstborn. Egyptians and Jews, anybody's firstborn, even the cattle.
[10:33] And God says this. Look at verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
[10:44] Now you might say, well, wait a minute. Wait, Passover is in April and January is the first month of the year. No, not even. It wasn't back then. In fact, it was like, here, hang on a second.
[10:54] I don't know why I don't commit this to memory. Until September 2nd, 1852, the world used the Julian calendar.
[11:10] And the Julian calendar starts the year in April. And in September 2nd, 1752, the world switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Don't ask me why.
[11:20] I wasn't there. I'm not that old. And so they started the year in January instead of April. In fact, if you ever thought about the book you're in your hands, that King James Bible, when it was published, 1611, they were still starting the year in April.
[11:36] I was over in England a few years ago, and I was talking to a guy. He took me to one of the rooms that one of the translators worked in, and he said the first documented sale of a King James Bible was in May of 1611, which would have meant, it would be like February, second month.
[11:58] Guys, our 1611 was almost the old 1610. Okay? Okay? But, and here's what happened. When they switched over to the Gregorian calendar, you know there's going to be somebody that's going to go, well, we're not changing.
[12:13] We're just going to start the year in April anyway. And the world loves unity, meaning do what I tell you or we'll kill you. And so what they did to put pressure on them, the people that started the year on January 1st, when April 1st came around, they started playing tricks on those people.
[12:32] And they called them April Fools. And that is where April Fools' Day comes from. So here is Moses, and this is the first month of the year.
[12:43] Look what it says in verse 3. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying in the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.
[12:58] And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man, according to his eating, shall make your count for the lamb.
[13:10] Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. You shall take it out of the sheep or from the goat. Out from the sheep or from the goat. Verse 3, 4, and 5 are marvelous.
[13:25] All right, let me ask you a question, guys. A Jew needed a lamb, correct? Look at verse 3. Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying in the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb.
[13:40] They needed a lamb, correct? You needed a lamb too, didn't you? Okay, so you think you can go get a lamb if you're lost? Some guy is lost, and he goes and gets a lamb and does everything in this chapter with it.
[13:53] Do you think he's going to get to heaven? Come on. No. You know why? Because of the next verse. And if the household be too little for it ain't a lamb, now it's the lamb.
[14:08] And John the Baptist identified the lamb as behold, the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. So we need a lamb, but Jesus is the lamb, correct? And that is totally useless unless you go to verse 5.
[14:24] Your lamb. You're not here tonight because Jesus Christ is the lamb. You're here tonight because you took the lamb and made him your lamb. Amen. And that doesn't show up in modern translations.
[14:36] He's a writer. Did you ever think what it must have been like the first night of the Passover? You know, and look, you know, I'm not Catholic anymore, but I really do believe there was a cross because you got this blood on a hyssop and you put it at the top of the door and it drips down and then you put it on both sides and you go, that'll do.
[15:03] But how would you like to be the firstborn kid in the household? Hey, hey, Pop, I'm looking at this blood. You didn't put a whole lot on here.
[15:14] I mean, really. If you were first born, wouldn't you be a little nervous? And could you imagine what it would be like as the minutes ticked up to 12 o'clock?
[15:27] There's only one. We get a lot of holidays in our country. There's only one that we count the time up to midnight. And that's New Year's night. And sometimes, you know, my wife and I, we'll be praying in the new year and we will get down and we will pray.
[15:41] And while we're praying, we can tell midnight's there. Anybody know why? Yeah, fireworks. I'm praying, you're praying, and all of a sudden you're, right?
[15:53] These guys were wondering, I wonder if my dad put enough blood on the door. I wonder if our guy was a firstborn. I don't know. Maybe he was a father and his son was worried that he didn't do the firstborn right.
[16:05] But they're all, that firstborn is wondering. And they're watching, they're not watching a clock, you understand? There was no really easy way to know that it was 1158, 1159, 12 o'clock, 1201.
[16:20] But at midnight, the famous statement, the midnight cry. And it was all quiet in Egypt, and all of a sudden, all of Egypt, the night was broken with the wails of mothers as they went in and found their firstborn dead.
[16:34] Maybe the mother herself was the firstborn and she died. And that was a horrible night for the Egyptians. And I am telling you that our guy was there.
[16:46] He was there. I don't know what he did. He lived through it. Okay, so he got through that. I want you to look at Exodus chapter 15.
[16:58] And I was telling you, talking to you about reading the Bible. And let me tell you, the greatest problem you have with reading the Bible, and it's not time, and it's not, you know, you don't understand something.
[17:14] No, no. It's something maybe you've never thought about. You know what our greatest disadvantage is when we read our Bible? Well, we know the end at the beginning.
[17:26] If we went to see a play about the life of Jesus Christ, and one by one, the apostles came out. You know, Peter's introduced, and John is introduced. And one by one, the apostles come out.
[17:38] When Judas comes out, we'd all go, Boo! Right? Why? Why? Well, he's a traitor. Everybody knows that. Those guys didn't.
[17:49] The 11 guys that ate with him, the 11 guys that worked with him, not one of them thought he was the traitor. When the Lord said, one of you's a traitor, not one of them, is it me? None of them knew it. In fact, I think Judas was probably the most outstanding guy amongst the 12.
[18:05] Oh, why would you say that? They had to trust somebody with the money. I would have liked to have been there when they're making the decision on who's going to hold the bag. Somebody's got to hold the money, guys.
[18:16] What do you think? Well, you know Matthew, he was a publican. He knows money. I've given enough money to Matthew. Well, how about Peter?
[18:27] Peter says, yeah, man, give me the money. I'll invest. I've got a company named Enron. And we will invest your money. And our money will make us some money. No. Whatever went on, all I know is that when the decision came down, they only trusted Judas.
[18:42] And Judas said the things that sounded so good. John chapter 6, the alabaster box is broken, and Mary washes the Lord's feet with her hair. And you're impressed with that.
[18:53] They weren't. Judas said, what a waste. That could have been sold for 300 pence. Are you ready for this? He didn't want it. No, no, no. He cared about the poor. Which tells me something.
[19:04] When somebody gets up and talks about their burden for the poor, they are following the script that Judas wrote. Would you just keep that in mind? But when he said it, what happened to the other apostles?
[19:18] They joined in. Oh, that Judas, man. He's always thinking about others. That Judas, he always says the right thing. So nobody knows. And our problem is that when you read something, you read about a funeral, and this lady, she's already a widow.
[19:36] Her husband's died. You understand if a man died in the Bible, his wife was probably going to be poor the rest of her life. There's no retirement. He worked at the steel mill or the aircraft factory, so he's going to get a pension.
[19:48] There's no pension. There's no monthly check. But if she has a son, he is going to take care of her. And here comes a funeral.
[20:00] And it's a tragedy, because not only is this woman's husband dead, but her son is dead. And really, guys, I think there are probably some folks that didn't like Jesus Christ. It had nothing to do with spiritual. They just didn't like him.
[20:11] Oh, that Jesus guy. Every place he is, he's got to be the center of attention. He's always got... He'd be standing in the street, and all of a sudden, he starts, you know, preaching like he's God himself. And could you imagine this?
[20:22] Could you imagine you're watching a funeral, and it's a tragedy? Oh, yeah, didn't you hear? Oh, her husband died three years ago, and she was doing good. Now her son died. That's him right there. He died. And she's headed for the poorhouse.
[20:35] And while you're looking across the street, Jesus and the apostles show up. You go, man, I bet he hates the thought that all the eyes aren't on him. Yeah, look at... Yeah, what's he doing? He's stepping on the street, and he's stopping the funeral.
[20:47] Why is he stopping the funeral? Oh, that's smart. He's talking to the body. That's something the body just sat up. And the body is hugging its mother. And the body and its mother are walking home.
[21:01] Now, I want you to know something, guys. If that ever happened, the next thing you say wouldn't be, okay, well, listen, we ought to get to Walmart before it closes. I mean, we would have our cameras out.
[21:14] We would be selling the pictures to Fox News and CNN. If you saw that, you would be on your phone texting every single person you ever knew. Isn't that true?
[21:26] But see, we know the end at the beginning. So when we see the funeral, oh, don't worry about the funeral. He'll raise them from the dead. Here's what I think. Israel, they're running from Egypt. They've been running for three days. They're running for the Egyptian army.
[21:38] The Egyptian army is so close. They're not looking back. It doesn't say they saw the dust from them. It said they saw the army itself. I mean, these guys aren't too far away. Maybe a mile.
[21:50] And you come over, arise, and there's the Red Sea. And I mean, you're not getting across it, and you're not getting around it.
[22:03] And you know what I picture? See, here's your problem. I see this. I see this young dad holding the hand of maybe his eight or nine-year-old son.
[22:15] And this boy's holding his dad's hand. He's looking at the Red Sea. And he's looking back at the Egyptians. He goes, Daddy, what are we going to do now?
[22:26] Now, you know what you think you do? I just say, son, don't worry. God's probably going to part it. We'll cross on dry ground. You wouldn't say that. You know how you know you wouldn't say that? Go back to the last crisis you had in your life, and look how frantic you were.
[22:41] You had a crisis, and you didn't say, I'm not worried about it. The Lord will take care of it. It's all low. You know what I think? I think that guy said this. What are we going to do?
[22:53] We're going to die, son. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Moses said he was going to free us. I wouldn't be a slave anymore. He said, I can have my own farm, and I brought you and your mom and your brothers and sisters.
[23:07] But we're not getting across that, son. We're not getting around it. We're not getting away from them. I am so sorry. And if somehow you could sleep that night, could you imagine going to bed, waiting to hear the sounds of the Egyptian army in the camp and the screams of the dying, and instead you wake up, and the Red Sea has gotten out of your way, and the ground is dry.
[23:31] And I always say it this way, guys. Now, you can do anything you want. But if that was me, I would put my conviction against dancing on hold for 24 hours. Because give me a tambourine, pal.
[23:42] I'm going to be high-stepping all the way across there, okay? I really am. I mean, I would just be picking them up. You would be dancing naturally. Can you believe this? Can you believe this? Look at this. Now, I've always thought about this.
[23:53] The Bible says it was congealed like jello. Could you imagine, like you had a four- or five-year-old kid, and you're right at the edge, like here's, you know, that's the edge. And your kid, you see it.
[24:03] I mean, the kid, you know, that puts the hairpin in the plug. Don't touch that. We don't want to put a hole in it.
[24:16] And then you get across. You go, man, that's good. Oh, no. The Egyptians are coming through too. And then the Lord lets that sea get back in place and wipes everybody out.
[24:27] See, our problem is we know the end at the beginning. And so we act like we're spiritual. We're not spiritual. But our guy was there.
[24:40] Our guy. Our invisible man. He crossed the Red Sea with the rest of them. He left in the midnight cry. He came out of there. He was there. He might have had his kids. I don't know.
[24:50] I don't know. We don't know exactly. I think he was rather a young man, maybe in his 30s. But I have no, that's just a wild guess. But he was there. And he crossed the Red Sea with all the rest of the Jews.
[25:03] Look at, well, here, you know, but Exodus chapter 16, that is the manna. I think manna is way too underrated. Amen. Amen.
[25:14] The miracle of the manna was a miracle all day long, every day. Could you imagine seeing a miracle every day?
[25:25] They saw one every morning. No, because it only came six days and didn't come the seventh. That's what I mean. That's a miracle. It came every six days. Seventh day it didn't come. Six days, seventh. Isn't that miraculous?
[25:37] And if they got too much, it rotted. And if they didn't get enough, it was enough. And if they got it on Friday and didn't mess with it on Saturday, it didn't rot. And then he put a bowl full of it in the ark and it stood around somewhere today and it never rotted.
[25:51] I mean, if you saw a miracle every day, do you think you would be ungodly? These people were. But this guy saw that miracle.
[26:02] This guy saw the miracle every day. He saw the manna. Look at Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32 is where Moses is up on the mountain.
[26:20] He's receiving the Ten Commandments from God. Have you ever heard anybody say, you guys, you can't change guys. You believe in double inspiration. And they say that like you're Nazi.
[26:32] That's, that's, really that's the non-Bible believer's Nazi. You know, like, is there someplace in the Bible that says you believe in double inspiration? Imagine that ranks, that's worse than child molesting or homosexuality.
[26:43] I mean, oh yeah, you know, my friend here, he's just homosexual and he molests children. But you believe in double inspiration. I knew a preacher. This guy didn't believe the book. He had, he had some children that were living immorally.
[26:59] And one of his girls who wasn't, never lived immorally, she started dating a guy that believed the King James Bible. She didn't believe the King James Bible. But she started dating this guy and this guy showed her the error of her ways and she got straightened out in the King James Bible.
[27:16] And this guy mistreated her and her husband because the guy saved, he was a pastor, but he hated the King James Bible. And the, her husband, his son-in-law said, you've got children who are living ungodly out in the world and your daughter has never lived ungodly, but she believes the King James Bible and you act like believing the King James Bible is worse than living immorally.
[27:41] And he said, it is. That's how much you can hate the book, guys. So they go, well you believe in double inspiration.
[27:52] You hear that? You know what I say? Well you better. Every one of you, everybody who believes the Bible better believe in double inspiration. Let's, let's, let's find out.
[28:04] Do you, do you believe Exodus chapter 20 is where they're listed, the Ten Commandments. Do you believe the Ten Commandments came from God? Well the original was broken. In fact, Moses is the only man in history who is known to have broken all Ten Commandments on the same day.
[28:22] that list in Exodus 20 isn't from the ones that he brought down from the mountain. That's the double inspired version. Because what did God do when Moses broke the Ten Commandments?
[28:35] He wrote them again. Are you going to tell me the second round wasn't inspired? So, this guy comes down. Moses comes down.
[28:47] And here's the children of Israel. Now I'm going to tell you guys something. I'm going to tell you a little bit about how I pray for our country. And, and, and you know guys, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not this much anti-Semitic.
[28:59] Our country is far from God today. Right? Our country is just, you know, I could round it. Our country is basically 250 years old. Didn't God bless this country?
[29:13] You know, everybody thinks, if you went to public school, you think this. When I was in public school, they told me this was the greatest thing that Patrick Henry ever said. He said, give me liberty or give me death. That's a classy quote, isn't it?
[29:25] That is not the greatest thing Patrick Henry ever said. That is the second greatest thing that Patrick Henry ever said. The greatest thing that Patrick Henry ever said was this. It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians.
[29:41] Not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. So all those Bible-believing Christians who think America wasn't founded on the Bible, everybody that was there when it happened, isn't there a song, some kind of a song, I was there when it happened so I don't know.
[29:56] Well, wouldn't you think the founding fathers might be a little closer to the founding? And they say it was founded on the book? And some bozo today who hates America because he's a Baptist and preaches like a Muslim, he hates America and he says it wasn't?
[30:13] You know Patrick Henry might argue with him? Samuel Adams might argue with him? George Washington might argue with him? And so, here he comes down and here's what I want to tell you.
[30:27] when this, these 13 colonies, I don't even thought about this. This nation has now been run presidentially twice by rank communists who did everything in their power to destroy the nation.
[30:46] Didn't Obama do that for eight years? Didn't whoever's run the country during the Biden administration do that? Yeah. Do you understand the strength of our Constitution?
[30:56] that when it was nothing but 13 states lighting the East Coast, they wrote a Constitution that 250 years later ranked communists who were the number one man in the country, the president of the United States and he still couldn't get that thing out of the way?
[31:13] Our Constitution is amazing. It really is. But, here's what I think. God blessed these 13 colonies into states and I, don't get me wrong, I'm not being ugly and I know God is listening when I tell you this.
[31:32] But, did the devil say this? I asked God one time, I said, I said, God, did the devil play you? Did he play you? Did he ever get played? Did you ever get somebody they said, you better do this or don't do this and then you went and you found out they were just, they were, they were, you know, they were maneuvering you?
[31:50] Let me get out of this. Okay. And I asked God, I said, did the devil play you? You blessed this country and the devil said, watch, I'll get him so mad at this country, he will destroy it.
[32:03] He's got it close. I used to think, Romans chapter 11, verse 25, until the fullness of the Gentiles. You know what I thought the fullness of the Gentiles was?
[32:15] I used to think the fullness of the Gentiles was a date somewhere in the future. Like a birthday coming up and that every day we get closer to that day and one day the clock is going to tick around and it's going, it's going, bing, this is the day of the fullness of the Gentiles.
[32:29] I don't believe that anymore. I don't believe that anymore. And I'll tell you what made me look at Romans chapter 11, verse 25 differently. Genesis chapter 16, verse 15.
[32:40] And I have no idea, guys, I have no idea who made the big deal about the Canaanites because it was the Amorites. It was the land of the Amorites. God, check it out.
[32:52] Check out the Amorites. Do your little thing on your computer and look how many times God talks about the Amorites. And he's telling, in Genesis 16, he's telling Abraham, I'm going to give you this land someday, but not yet because the wickedness of the Amorites is not yet full.
[33:13] And suddenly, I had another definition for the fullness of Gentiles. I mean, guys, if you think about every horrible, diabolical, evil thing in this world going on, is going on, it's coming from the Gentiles.
[33:24] I used to think homosexuality was like, this is a wall. And you couldn't, you hit homosexuality, you just couldn't get more depraved than that. And then somebody knocked a hole in the wall and the transgenders popped through.
[33:36] And child molesters, right? Don't call them pedophiles. Why would you call them? I'll tell you what you'd call them that because CNN calls them that and you have to worship at their altar. They got you in trouble when you quit calling queers gays because that was their word.
[33:51] I love my son and he's gay. No, he's a queer. He's a pervert. You ought to call them what they are. Don't you ever say a pedophile. You say a child molester. But it took him 200 years to get this far and it's all the Gentiles and maybe, maybe the day is coming, not a day on the calendar, but God is going to look at all the evil that's going on in this country and he's going to go, I'm up to here with the Gentiles.
[34:19] I'm full. The sin, the wickedness of the Amorites is full. The wickedness of the Gentiles is full. But now, here's why I said that. It has taken 250 years of the liberals and the communists and the atheists taking over our public schools, right?
[34:36] Right? It has taken 250 years to bring this country this far from God. Israel wasn't out of Egypt two weeks and they, it wasn't an 11-day trip and they managed to squeeze it into 40 years because inside of two weeks they already made a golden calf.
[35:01] So, well, it was a mixed multitude. Oh, I don't think it was a mixed multitude. Come on, man, you're telling me that they no sooner got out of Egypt than all the Egyptians that were with them, got them convinced that they should have odd gods, weird gods? Brother, Israel turned from them like that.
[35:14] You know how I pray for this country? I said, Lord, and I believe the Jews are God's chosen people. I told you that this morning. I said, your chosen people turn from you that fast. I said, us, Americans, we have hung on to some form of the truth for 250 years.
[35:31] I was, I said, Gary, today, before service, did anybody in here ever think we would have a president that didn't drink? This guy didn't drink or smoke, never has.
[35:43] I really, I sat one day and I thought, we will never have that because there's got to be, every guy's got to be at least a drinker. This guy's never drink. It's amazing. And the first time he's president, somebody said, now you're the most important person in the world, aren't you?
[35:56] And he said, oh no, Jesus Christ is. And he's got some kind of an office of religious stuff, you know, and I know those, I know he includes everybody, but come on guys, he's giving God some stuff, isn't he?
[36:09] And here's what I pray. All right, now I'm going to, maybe this will help you pray. I don't know. I'm going to ask you a question. Can the devil destroy? He's called the destroyer.
[36:22] Okay. Can God destroy? I mean, I mean, if the devil can destroy, God can destroy in spades. The devil says, I'll kill 100,000 people.
[36:33] God says, I'll kill everybody on the planet but eight. That's pretty good. That's kind of a record. Oh, let me ask you this. can, can, can every, every bad thing, every destructive act that the devil can do, can't God do it like a hundred times more?
[36:52] If the devil has a tank, God's got 100,000. Right? What does God have that the devil has a warehouse full of air?
[37:05] Because he doesn't have it. It's not his destructive power. He might not have as much destructive power as God, but he can destroy. I mean, if God says, I'm getting a tank, the devil says, okay, let's go to the armory, get the tanks, we'll give it our best shot.
[37:21] Do you know what God can do that the devil cannot do? He has never, ever, this has never, ever been attributed to Satan. God is merciful. What I tell you about mercy, mercy is not getting the bad you deserve.
[37:36] So you know what I tell God? Now, you got to think, guys, did you ever stop and think that the angels in heaven have a free will? You say, no, they don't.
[37:48] Oh, really? Then how did one third of them choose to follow Satan? John Calvin made them do it. They chose. Which means, they are, they're not exactly a neutral or a captive audience.
[38:05] They could decide against God. When they see God do some great thing, they're impressed, is impressed with him as we are. So, what if God did this? Our country does not deserve his blessing.
[38:18] It does not reserve his, we don't deserve his redemption. We don't deserve his mercy. But what if he did that? I said, God, what if you saved us by your mercy?
[38:32] I mean, the angels in heaven, not just down here, but the angels in heaven would go, whoa, did you see that? This is our God that did that. You know, there's times when the devil's crowd has to admit that God's doing something.
[38:47] I told you, 2014, Kathy and I went over to Israel. At that time, that's when they were firing missiles from Gaza into Israel. And they fired some missiles at the Tel Aviv airport and they were not intercepted by the Iron Dome.
[39:03] They're going to hit the airport. And a wind came out of the east and blew them into the Mediterranean. And the headline the next day in the Palestinian newspaper was, this, I read, I read it, their God is changing the course of our missiles.
[39:24] Even the Palestinians knew God did that. Guys, even the people that hate God know that God turned Trump's head just in time.
[39:37] Even they know that. If God, if God saved our country by His mercy, all of the world would know it. All of the universe would know it.
[39:48] Man, I think that would be good. So I asked Him, I asked Him, I said, save us by your mercy. Impress them all. Could you imagine, they come to the devil. God's bringing, He's bringing machine guns.
[40:00] Okay, guys, get the machine guns. Well, God's bringing tanks. Get the tanks. Get the tanks. God's using mercy. And they run to the warehouse and they open it up. It's empty. Because the devil is totally unarmed when it comes to mercy.
[40:15] And wouldn't it be something for the entire universe? I'm serious. It would be beyond our borders. It would be beyond the bounds of earth that God would get glory. Now, I will tell you this.
[40:28] I just don't, I don't, I don't just ask Him to save us. I ask Him to revive us. Numbers chapter 14, verse 12. God says to Moses, He said, He got so mad at Israel, He said, I am going to kill them all and make you a greater nation.
[40:44] And I've often, I've often thought Moses, when God says, I'm going to kill them all. And Moses went, no, no, and make you a greater nation. No kidding. Could you imagine going to work?
[40:57] And the boss comes, says, hey, I fired your supervisor. He's a good friend. You like him. I fired your supervisor. Oh, no. Yeah. Oh, no. Yeah. I'm going to make you the supervisor.
[41:08] No kidding. And you know what God said? He said in Numbers chapter 12, 14, verse 12, God said, I'm going to kill them all and make you a greater nation. In Numbers chapter 14, verse 19, do you know what Moses said?
[41:23] He said, they're everything you said they are. Will you pardon them? And it wasn't done with an auto pen, but they were guilty. And one of the most amazing statements in the Bible, how many times guys, when you read your Bible, how many times did God tell Isaiah to do something?
[41:42] Tell Jeremiah to do something? Tell some, some prophet to do something. And after they did it, they came back to God and said, I did what you told me. Right? In Numbers chapter 14, verse 19, Moses said, will you pardon them?
[41:56] And in Numbers chapter 14, verse 20, one of the most astounding statements in the Bible, the creator says to one of the dirt balls, I did what you told me. Why?
[42:10] Why are we talking today about the nation of Israel? Why are we not talking about the nation of Moses? And you know what you think? Oh, excuse me.
[42:24] You know what you think? You think it'd take replacing the entire school system and the teachers and everything. It only took one man. Ezekiel chapter 22, verse 30 says, I sought for a man.
[42:38] They might stand a hedge in the gap for the people. And how does it end? But I found none. Right? Read that whole thing again.
[42:51] Without the first N. But I found one. It only takes one. And I'm going to speak to the man.
[43:01] You ladies, you're really getting off light on this. I'm serious. If God destroys this country, He will destroy it after He's looked at him and him and him and him and him.
[43:13] Every man in this room. He will look at whoever you think is the greatest Christian you ever knew, a man. If God destroys this country, He will look, man, at every one of us and said, You're no Moses.
[43:27] I'm killing him. It will be an indictment against us. You ladies get off on that. You ought to thank God. And so, here's Israel. And Moses goes up there and gets the Ten Commandments and they make a golden calf.
[43:44] And he comes down and he tells, he says, Who's on the Lord's side? And the Levites stepped up. He said, Go kill everyone of your brethren that worshiped that golden calf.
[43:58] You think guys didn't kill their childhood friends? Some of them maybe killed. I mean, this is, you know, you hear about the stuff that went on in the Civil War in our country. Fathers against brothers, sons and brothers against brothers.
[44:11] And brothers, it was like that. That's the first time that kind of thing ever happened. Our guy was there. Now, we know one thing. He wasn't a worshiper of the calf because he didn't get killed.
[44:24] We don't see him. We can't pick him out. I'm just telling you, I know he was there. Okay? So how to know? Because he shows up later. And he had been, he had to come through all this.
[44:37] Take a look at, look at Numbers chapter 16. In Numbers chapter 16, I always refer to this as the first deacons meeting.
[44:52] I saw the coolest picture. Two pictures. A pastor in Montana had these two pictures. They're in sequence. And you got a big mountain ram standing here.
[45:06] And coming up over the rise, you can see another one, like from here up. He's coming up the hill. So one is standing up here, and the other one is just coming up. And in the next picture, they're going head to head.
[45:17] And I always wanted to label the first one where the guy's coming up the hill. Pastor, I'd like to talk to you for a second. So these guys show up. And look at Numbers chapter 16, verse 1.
[45:29] Now, Kor, the son of Israel, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan, and Byron, the sons of Iliam, and On, the son of Peleth. Sons of Reuben took men, and they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown.
[45:50] You see the part, 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. If we're going to do a modern translation, we would say, we're a bunch of movie stars and football players.
[46:03] Men of renown. Isn't that who they run to when they want to, they want to, man, do you think I care what a stinking movie star thinks? This guy doesn't even know what a Walmart's like.
[46:16] Right? You know what's wrong with our Congress? We have a Congress that's never been to Walmart. Because they've never had to be there. You have to be there, don't you? What did that one guy, he was from, I think, Wisconsin or Minnesota, he's out of the Senate now, and they said, what do you do about gas prices?
[46:33] And he said, I just tell my chauffeur to look for the cheapest prices. I wish I'd have thought of that. And they go up to Moses, and here's what they say.
[46:46] Verse 3. And they gave themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, You take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them.
[46:59] Wherefore, then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. So these guys take Moses and Aaron to task. We know what happened, don't we? But he just showed up.
[47:13] Guys, we just saw our invisible man. The guy that was in the crowd, and in the crowd, and in the crowd, and in the crowd, and we just found Waldo.
[47:29] We just found this guy who was at all these things I talked to you about. And God just, he just showed him to you. Look at verse 1 again.
[47:42] And, even if you went to public school, I think you can count with me. Now, Korah 1. The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan 2, and Abiram 3, the son of Eliab, and An 4, the son of Pel, the son of Reuben.
[48:05] Don't we always talk about Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? You don't ever hear about Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and on. But it wasn't three guys. It was four.
[48:17] Four guys rose up against Moses. It was four guys that got together and said, I've had enough of this guy. Let's go take this in hand. Get the 250. We got 250 guys on our side. These are big.
[48:27] These are big guys. These are important people. And we're going to take a stand. And it was four, wasn't three? Verse one. So what happened to these guys?
[48:40] Well, we know what happened to these guys except for Ahn. Because look at verse 24. Verse 23. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
[48:59] Wait a minute. Didn't we see four? In verse one, there's four. And in verse 24, there's three. Correct? Something changed between Genesis, or between verse one, Numbers chapter 16, verse one, and Numbers chapter 16, verse 24.
[49:21] Now, I don't know what the particulars are. I don't know how this transpired, but I do know what happened. You know what it was? Unrepentant.
[49:34] I don't know if I have it back there. I think we do. It's a little light blue book. It's a, it's a, it's a thinner book than this. I know, it's about something like this. And it's on repentance.
[49:45] And I love you. I love to talk to brethren and go, talk, ask, ask a preacher. What's repentance? Turn it from your sin. Bless God. Really? Because the first time the word is used in the Bible, it's, it's attributed to God.
[49:59] And God, time and time and time again, it is said he repented. Did he turn from his sins? He didn't have any sins to turn from. But he did turn. And that's all repentance is.
[50:10] See, here's our problem. We have mistaken remorse for repentance. Somebody comes down to the altar and they're crying and weeping. And we go, boy, look at them. They repented.
[50:20] No, they have remorse. You can repent or you can have remorse and still not get what you're after. Esau found that out. He said, I sought repentance with tears, but I never got my, my, my birthright back.
[50:36] Guys, once it's gone, it's gone. All repentance is, is a U-turn. And God said in Genesis chapter 6, it repenteth me that I have made man.
[50:49] He made a U-turn. He didn't turn from his sins. God repented when he said he was going to kill Israel. I told you in Numbers chapter 14. You know what's, you know what's going to be interesting?
[51:01] You know, I think, was it last night? I was talking about, actually after 16, it was today, that jailer, he's about to kill himself and put himself in hell.
[51:13] He didn't realize that he was that close to hell. Wouldn't it be something if we get to heaven and God shows how many times he just had it with you? And he pulls out his pistol and he pulls the hammer back and he said, I have, I have had it with this guy.
[51:32] And he levels down. I'm just, I can't take this anymore. Gordon. I'll give him another chance.
[51:51] Wouldn't it be something to get to heaven and find out how many times God was that close to killing you? But he repented. I repented. I repented. See, when I say that, you say, what sin did you turn from?
[52:02] It wasn't a sin. Repentance is, I'm going this direction. I'll tell you what you, you know those guys that say you have to repent and turn from your sin to get saved? No, you don't. I didn't quit drinking when I was at the altar.
[52:14] I quit drinking weeks later. I didn't quit smoking. I didn't quit my, my, my life the way it was. I didn't come forward to do that. I came forward and got saved. But you know what I did repent? Because we all do repent. You know what I did repent? Hebrews chapter six, I repented of dead works.
[52:31] I was following the dead works of the Catholic Church. And on June 14th, 1970, I made a U-turn and went to the cross. And that's what you did.
[52:44] You didn't turn from your drinking and you didn't turn from your, your, your, your wicked ways. Maybe you did, but that isn't what got you saved. That wasn't repentance God was looking for. We turned around. Let me tell you what happened. This was the first rig.
[52:56] We had a one ton Ford van. We're pulling the second trailer we had is a 35 foot trailer. We're on I-81 in Tennessee. And, and you know, those big signs out on the freeway that say, you know, this city, this many miles, this city, this many miles.
[53:11] And so, you know, I'm, I'm looking at, I'm checking them out. And finally, something rung a bell. And I said, Kathy, I said, we're getting closer to Bristol, Tennessee.
[53:23] She said, yes, we are. I said, Bristol, Tennessee is supposed to be behind us. Yes. While we were driving innocently, someone had picked up Bristol, Tennessee and diabolically put it out in front of us.
[53:41] No, man, I was on the right highway. I was going the wrong direction. Buddy, did I repent? I mean, I didn't wait for an off ramp. I am allowed to make U-turns in the median strip.
[53:52] Say what? It says AV only. I'm an authorized version. That's my, I'm the guy. Buddy, that truck and trailer, boom, boom, we went down that median strip. We headed the other direction. I started driving miles an hour.
[54:04] We call that driving by grace, not by law. I repented. I turned it around. And there's four guys and they're standing against God's man.
[54:16] We don't know what happened, but somewhere these four guys had a conversation. and on said something like this. Guys, I've been thinking, I've been thinking about what we did.
[54:34] And you know, Moses is God's man. And I don't think I can take a stand against him. Come on, on. Come on. Don't turn your name around to no. How about this?
[54:49] Maybe somebody said this. We better hang together or we'll hang alone. Nah. Count me out, guys. Yeah, I knew you didn't have the backbone for it, pal.
[54:59] I knew. I'll tell you something, though, on when we take over. You had a place. You won't have a place. Because by verse 24, on is no longer with that crowd.
[55:12] Look what happens. Verse 28. And Moses said, Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works.
[55:24] For I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, and all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick live, quick into the pit, hell.
[55:47] Then you shall understand that these men provoked the Lord. And it came to pass as he made an end of speaking these words that the ground came asunder that was under them.
[55:58] And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. They and all that appertained unto them went down live into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from other congregations.
[56:17] Now, I know one of these messages, I told you this when you read, get out of your chair, get out of your room, get out of your house, and enter the scene. Can you see these guys? Can you see kind of like maybe no more than the width of this building?
[56:33] But here's Moses, here's Israel, and there's Korah, Daphon, and Abiram, and all that appertaineth unto them. And they are facing off. And I wonder, is Moses is standing right here, about two feet away from him, is a guy named On, son of Peleth.
[56:55] And he's looking across this gap. And probably Korah is just looking at him, yeah, pal, yeah, you backed out, watch what happens now.
[57:07] and the earth opened up and everybody of Korah, Nathan Byron died. What do you think On thought of that? You think, I mean, come on guys, did you ever make a decision and you still pondered if you'd done the right thing?
[57:22] If he was pondering that I might do the right thing, right there, in that verse, he knew. Right? When the earth opened up and then closed back up on him. And now, here's Israel and there's nothing but an empty, empty lot.
[57:37] And on the look at that going, that would have been me. But oh, more than that, it would have been all that appertained unto him. Here's what I'm telling you.
[57:49] There are eight billion people on this planet and there is not one walking this earth of the household of Korah or of Dathan or of Abarat because they all went live into the pit.
[58:03] And somewhere on this planet, we can't identify them, we can't count them, we wouldn't know them to look at them. But somewhere, you go back and back and back and back and back and back.
[58:15] They are great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, how many it has to be, grandchildren of On. There are people alive today because the great, great, great, great grandfather repented.
[58:31] And here is God watching these guys. Can you see it in verse 1, verse 2? And they are saying, the four of them, and they got 250 guys behind them and they're going, man, Moses, we have had enough of you, pal, we're taking over from here.
[58:45] And then that conversation where On backs out. God may be talking to an angel and goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. It turned God's head. You know what turns God's head?
[58:56] I don't know what turns your head. Repentance. Repentance turns God's head. God is looking this direction and he goes, look at that.
[59:08] Look at that. I didn't have to do anything to any of them. And On got right with me. And today there are people alive because of On.
[59:19] Because he repented. He changed the direction. Years ago, I was at Bible College. We had a revenge. His name was Phil Shuler. His father was Bob Shuler.
[59:32] Now, not the guy with the crystal tabernacle. This was, his dad was an old Methodist preacher. He was known as Fighting Bob Shuler. And he was, I mean, he was a hellfire damnation preacher for as long as he had his salvation because he was Methodist.
[59:47] But, Shuler said this. He said, he's preaching a meeting and he said, he said, my dad is a preacher. I'm a preacher. And my dad is a preacher. And he said, my grandfather is a preacher.
[59:59] And he said, I thought, that's pretty good. He said, I looked into it and my great grandfather is a preacher. He said, I went back farther, five generations, my great, great grandfather was a preacher.
[60:13] Now, I don't know what your lineage is, but I'm here to tell you that my lineage is a bunch of Romanian hillbillies. And I am the sole beginning of Christianity in the Gipp family.
[60:25] There's no grandfather, father, nothing. Now, my dad got saved, but he thought, I'm going to look into this, five generations, preachers. He said, he said, I went back, six generations, preacher.
[60:37] Seven, eight, preacher, preacher. Nine generations, preacher. preacher. He thought, man, could you imagine being the 10th generation, preachers?
[60:48] He said, he said, nine generations, preachers. He said, I went back to the 10th grandfather. Hung as a horse thief. He said, but it must have made an impression on the family.
[61:03] They got out of the family business. They said, oh, let's quit stealing horses. Let's preach. He hung as a horse thief. But it sure changed the line, didn't it? I think repentance is a good thing.
[61:17] Now, I told you, and I'd like to get a through to, because you can't get, you can't, you can't, if I can use the word, you can't divorce the word repentance from the word sin.
[61:30] But a lot of Christians need to repent. Not from sin. Oh, it may be sin. A lot of them just need to, like, they used to pass tracts, and now they don't.
[61:43] They need to repent. Like Ephesus, the church of Ephesus, go back and do your first works. Maybe I'm talking to somebody who used to read your Bible. Now you don't. You need to repent.
[61:55] I don't know what it is. I'm going to tell you something. When I say this, I think people think that I'm the most horrible person. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. If anyone in this room, you have a secret sin.
[62:11] Now here's what I'm supposed to say. If you have a secret sin, I hope you get exposed. I hope everybody finds out about your wickedness. If you have a secret sin, I hope you're never exposed.
[62:24] I hope you're never found out. I just want you to quit. I mean, isn't that what you want? Isn't that what God wants?
[62:36] Did you ever stop and think that repentance after exposure is always suspect? I mean, when a guy gets caught in sin, what's he do first thing? I repent. Let me tell you about a preacher. This preacher is a good man.
[62:48] And somehow, he got into an illicit conversation with a lady in his church. And they started passing letters back and forth that were graphic, not in such a good way.
[63:04] He never committed adultery. Never did. I don't even think he touched her. But it was certainly headed that direction. You understand? And then he said, I can't keep doing this.
[63:15] It's wrong. And he repented. Hadn't been caught. Nobody knew. He just said, this isn't right. Isn't that real repentance?
[63:28] Oh, it wasn't exposed until a year later. A year after he quit. But the fact is, when you repent and nobody knows, you did it for God. Do you know what he told me?
[63:39] He said, do you know why I had to quit doing that? I said, why? He said, because I was reading 10 pages of my Bible every day. And one day I'm reading my Bible and I thought, I've got to quit the letters or I've got to quit reading this book.
[63:56] And he repented. If you have a secret sin, if you have something in your life that is not on the upside for God, I don't want the whole church to find out. I don't want you destroyed.
[64:07] I really don't. But I want you to quit. I don't care if we get to heaven and find out that you quit and nobody ever knew.
[64:19] But isn't that the way it's supposed to be? See, we like the gossip and we like the vengeance. We like somebody getting judged. We always like somebody that's done something more wrong than me.
[64:32] And we like them being exposed and it being publicized. But really, you just got to repent. I don't know. Maybe you used to teach Sunday school, but no, you don't do that anymore. You used to pass gospel tracks, you know, and no, you don't do that anymore.
[64:47] You used to be a soul winner. No, you don't do that anymore. You know what you need to do? Repent. Just make a U-turn. You know how big that is? It turns God's head.
[65:01] It isn't how good you sing. You could get up here and do a solo and everybody is impressed. But God knows the truth. But then you get down on your knees one time and say, God, what I've been doing is wrong.
[65:13] Or I haven't been doing what's right. And I'm turning around right here. And he could be talking to an angel and go, wait, hold on, hold on. Oh man, look at that.
[65:26] Man, for me, that's like a big V8 just lit up. And for God, he sees those who repent. On, he's only mentioned by name.
[65:36] He's there. I can't find him in Chronicles. But he's there. He's through all that stuff. We didn't see him. The only time we saw him is when it counted the most. And today, there are people who are alive because way back there, he made the right decision.
[65:52] What I am telling you, and you have to remember, is that your posterity may benefit or may be harmed by what your decision is.
[66:04] And don't sit there now and go, oh, it doesn't matter. We're going to be out here in two or three years. That's what we've been saying for 50. And I think we're going to be out here in two or three years, but I thought that 10 years ago. I thought that 50 years ago.
[66:17] I mean, in 1970, I almost didn't go to Bible college because I thought, I told the guy, I said, I think God wants me to go to Bible college. I'm not going. I wasn't fighting God. He said, why not? I said, because he's going to come back before 73.
[66:28] Before I get out, I just want to go out and start doing something. You know what the guy told me? He said, if God wants you to Bible college, that better be where you are when he finds you. That better be where he finds you when he shows up. Best advice I ever got.
[66:42] And 50 years later, I'm thanking that guy for that advice. You know what? We don't start anything that's going to take five or six years for God because he's going to come in the next two. Maybe you just need to repent and quit sitting on your hands.
[66:56] Repent of doing nothing. All I know, guys, it isn't the sin. It isn't the horror of whatever you're doing or the error. It is that act of turning around.
[67:10] And it got God's attention because he put his name there so that you would know that there were not three, there were four. And we didn't know what he did up to that point.
[67:23] We don't know what he did that he got right, but somewhere, this guy turned it around and he became visible for one verse in the Bible. He was visible and he did one of the greatest things that a man can do.
[67:38] He repented. I'd like you to stand with your heads bowed. Does God put a premium on repentance?
[67:50] Oh, man, does he ever. Before the piano plays, I want to talk to you about something. I'm going to tell you, this, this, what I'm about to tell you is one of the things that gives me hope for my country.
[68:01] I have said something. I know it's not actually accurate when I say it, but I still say it. I've often said that Jonah's message to Nineveh is the shortest sermon in the Bible.
[68:14] Eight words, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Actually, that's not true. Oh, it's eight words, but it's not a sermon because preaching always ends with giving you an opportunity to make a change.
[68:31] That was not a sermon. There was no yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown unless you guys get right with God. This is, that wasn't a sermon.
[68:43] That was a proclamation like you would go down to death row and you walk into a guy's cell and in five minutes they're going to strap him on the gurney and put a needle in his arm and take his life and you're going to say, hey, the state of California has found you guilty of murder and you're going to die.
[68:57] There's no hope there. So, he goes into Nineveh and he says, you guys are dead meat in 40 days and the king of Nineveh repented and he told the whole city, he said, quit that wickedness, stop that evil.
[69:17] He put on sackcloth and ashes. He put it on the animals. You ever seen a Jew put a repentant animal and you know what he says? You remember when Nebuchadnezzar told three Hebrew children, worship my image or I'll throw you in the fiery furnace and he says this, and who's the God that can save you?
[69:38] Are you what they said? Oh, king, we're not careful. We're not careful about this. Our God can save us. We just don't know if he will. But we're still not bound to your, if you don't save us, we're still not bound to your statue.
[69:51] See, our problem, guys, we know God can deliver us from all of our problems. We just don't know if he will. And you know what the king of Nineveh said? He told everybody, repent, turn from your wicked ways. And then he says this in verse nine, and we're probably going to hell anyway.
[70:06] He said, who knows if God will see. So, he's saying for the next 40 days, we're going to do right and then probably go to hell anyway.
[70:18] And there are three words in Jonah chapter three, verse 10. It's the first three words when all this went on. And you know what it says? And God saw.
[70:32] Nineveh turned God's head by repenting. On turned God's head by repenting. You can go paint a picture of the cross and might, man might look at it and say it's one of the greatest pictures of the cross ever made.
[70:50] God may not be impressed, may not turn, may not turn God's head. And you may write a song and you may sing it and perform it very well. And God may not turn when you sing it. But I know this, you repent and that gets God's attention.
[71:05] And I'm going to say it again. Repentance doesn't mean you have to be turning from some evil. Do you ever stop thinking that if you were a soul winner, you're no longer a soul winner? Who went to hell while you've been in retirement?
[71:19] Time to repent. Father, thank you for your goodness. Thank you, God. Thanks for showing us this invisible man. Thank you for telling us about On.
[71:30] He is up there with you. Boy, he is so glad for that decision. And Corda, Nathan and Byron are still in hell. And there are people walking our planet, God, who are generations removed, but they are still relatives of On.
[71:47] And they don't know that they're alive because of a decision their great, great, great, great grandfather made. God, who knows? I don't think you're going to tarry four or five more years, but you may tarry another 50.
[71:59] You've already stayed longer, tarried longer than I thought you would. And all of our calendars, everything that we said you had to come, come back by this date, they've all passed.
[72:10] So you can do anything you want. But God, I'd like to know, I'd like to think that somebody in this room turns your head with the decision they made.
[72:22] Maybe somebody got away from door knocking, witnessing, winning people to Christ, reading their Bible, passing gospel tracts. Maybe tonight they'll just say, yeah, I ain't been living wickedly, but I need to get back to living for God.
[72:40] And that turns your head. So Lord, I pray that you are pleased by what these people do tonight. I pray that somebody is as brave as on.
[72:54] I pray they've got what he had. Because he stood against 250 men of renown. He stood against three very loud guys. But he just said, I gotta do right.
[73:09] And that's what I pray we all do. In Jesus Christ's name, I pray. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed as the piano plays, if you need to talk to the Lord, now is the time.