09 - “Persisting For His Presence” - Doug Batchelor - 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2019

[Music] welcome to three AVN's fall camp beating homecoming 2019 featuring inspired messages from your 3abn family and special guest speaker doug batchelor all to prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord good evening and welcome happy Sabbath so glad that you have joined us here for a three Abyan fall homecoming 2019 and so glad that you have joined us at home as well my soul has been fed and nourished by the music we just heard and tonight our speaker needs no introduction pastor Doug Batchelor has been apart and has spoken and partnered with the Ministry of 3abn for many many years in fact when we go out and we travel and we speak we meet people all over the world who say they came to a knowledge of truth they accepted the seventh-day Sabbath or something found in God's Word because of the Ministry of pastor doug batchelor he is the president of amazing facts ministries and also the senior pastor of the Granite Bay seventh-day Adventist Church in California and we are so glad to have he and his wife Karen with us here this weekend his message for the hour is titled persisting for his presence when he opens up the Word of God it always feeds my soul and I know it will yours tonight as well before he comes to present the Word of God we're gonna hear from Riyad day he will be singing a song he looked beyond my fault and saw my need Tim Parton will accompany him on the piano and after they shall sing the next voice you will hear is that of our pastor and friend Doug Batchelor [Music] amazing shall always be my son for it was crazy that balls my Liberty I do not know just why to love me so he looked beyond my fault and saw mine [Music] lift my eyes to come to me where Jesus died for me Oh the grace that called my falling soul [Music] he looked beyond my fault and saw my knee if not for grace my soul would be Archer if teacher with no safe harbor from the angry way but Calvary's cross shines brightly through the dark a star and just hint [Music] scuse me ah [Music] my night to cow to verse where Jesus [Music] Oh he looked my fault and so [Music] amen thank you so much Tim and Ryan you know Ryan was an amazing fax evangelist I remember when he showed up at a camp meeting said I want to preach and he and his brother both and they both became amazing facts evangelist and we're out then he's not only got a gift for music you know I taught him everything he knows about saying somehow you don't believe that but anyway it's good to see the way the Lord is blessing their gifts and using them in his service we're so glad to be with you we'll be with you through the rest of the camp-meeting this weekend I hope sometime tomorrow you come by the table and visit with Karen and I will be hanging out off and on over there we have a couple of gifts for those of you who came in person those of you who are not here in person well you're gonna have to go to our website but those these are free so you come back we have our two newest sharing magazines one is on the sanctuary we've been wanting to put that out talks about salvation in the sanctuary the meaning of the sanctuary what the sanctuary says about salvation and in prophecy and your body and it's just an amazing magazine for witnessing and the final events of prophecy was a DVD it's a magazine now we have those for you as long as they last one per family we'll just meet us at the table little later or sometime tomorrow and we're just very thankful to be with you it's been fun to visit and just have a wonderful spirit here at the camp meeting talking about how to live above the crowd last night we shared a little bit from the story as yukia's climbing the tree of life and the way that you get taller we're all we're all stunted because of sin I had asked Tina today I said you weren't offended at all you know Tina Tina you wanna wave hi folks we've known Tina for years but we're all stunted by sin and we get taller by climbing the tree of life which is the cross taking up our cross and following Jesus amen and tonight we're gonna talk about persisting for his presence and as I always do I like to take a story in the Bible and help elaborate on on so if you have your Bibles please turn with me to the second chapter of mark mark chapter 2 and this story can also be found in Luke and in Matthew it's an amazing account that's going to be summarized in about twelve verses and again he entered Capernaum and after some days it was heard that he was in the house and immediately many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them no not even near the door and he preached the word to them and then they came to him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four and when they could not come near him because of the crowd they uncovered the roof where he was so when they had broken through they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven you and some of the scribes were sitting there and were reasoning in their hearts why does this man speak blasphemies like this who can forgive sins but God alone and immediately when Jesus perceived in a spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves he said to them why do you reason about these things in your heart which is easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven or to say arise and take up your bed and walk but that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins he said to the paralytic I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house and immediately he arose he took up the bed and he went out in the presence of them all so they were all amazed and they glorified God saying we never saw anything like this now there is an amazing fact now the disciples were deeply impressed by this story as I mentioned the synoptic Gospels all refer to it it's something they could not forget first point and it just give you the background Jesus did most of his ministry he was born in Bethlehem grew up in Nazareth but he ministered around the Sea of Galilee and he would hang out frequently at the house of Simon Peter Jesus did not have his own house a certain scribe we believe was Judas once said Lord I'll follow you wherever you go he says foxes have their holes and the birds of the air have their nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head Jesus didn't even have his own house the only personal property of Christ that is mentioned in the Bible is his clothes that they took away at the crucifixion and they gambled for them so he had to depend on the hospitality of others in Bethlehem he'd go to Bethany and stay with Lazarus and Martha and when he was around Galilee he stayed probably at the house of Simon Peter on one occasion that tells us that he came into the house after a preaching tour Peters mother was sick with a fever and his mother-in-law and jesus healed her and she got up in and began to continue serving so here after he's gone through another one of his preaching tours around the coast of Galilee in the cities there sometimes the only way Jesus could escape the crowd was he tell the disciples look I need to borrow your boat once he said take your boat and push it out so I could preach because they were pushing him right off into the water another time he sent the crowd away they're ready to make him King and he had to actually walk on water to get away from the crowd frequently when when jesus healed someone he did one of these astounding miracles where he would like heal a man who was full of leprosy and he'd say don't tell anybody and you probably wonder why did Jesus tell so many of them don't tell anybody it's not that he didn't want them to glorify God he just knew that his principle work was preaching the word the physical healing was very important but it is secondary as our story is going to bring out and if his healing created so much commotion and so much opposition from his enemies that he couldn't continue with his preaching he didn't want them to advertise it but they could never I mean how do you keep it to yourself when you go through a miracle like that as soon as he told them don't tell anybody they went and told everybody maybe that's the key for getting Adventist to do evangelism start preaching don't tell anybody but did you know then they'll tell everybody now we tell him tell everybody they don't tell anybody so says again he entered Capernaum and after some days they heard the crowd that he was in the house house of Simon Peter and immediately many gathered together so there was no longer room to receive them no not even near the door and he preached the word to them now did Jesus preach the word because many were gathered or were many gathered because he preached the word or maybe both no I I kind of know how Jesus felt that when there were many gathered you'd want to preach the word you know the Apostle Paul they would like arrest him and as he's being drugged up the steps of the temple he told the guard can I talk to the crowd there just got done trying to tear him limb from limb but he said let's not waste a good crowd let me preach to them isn't that right when you're an evangelist oh you just want to preach it's all I can do to restrain myself when we're on the airplane about to take off and the flight attendant has the microphone I think when you're done could I say a few words I've always whenever the microphone I want to say something yeah I hope it's because I want to just glorify the Lord and to bring people to Jesus but the Lord knows my heart I'm jealous sometimes I see all these people come out forty thousand to watch a baseball or a football game and I wish they'd let me do the national anthem and say a few words I just so yeah I just I want to preach when I see a crown and the funny thing is that I once lived in a cave because I couldn't stand to be around people the Lord really changes he doesn't he so and I think there was a crowd because he preached the word when we first went to Sacramento 25 years ago Karen I came from a church where we had 100 members a little church country church a great deal lovely people and Don Schneider talked about going and pastoring the Central Church in the capital of California I don't know if I can do that and here it was a very big church church where Karen grew up he was baptized there and we were married there before she was baptized know right after you're baptized now let's get that right and and unfortunately sometimes these big city churches as the city sprawl grows around them and all the families move out to the outskirts it starts the family stopped attending attendance started to drop and I told the conference president I said I don't know if I've got the experience to handle a church like this and I people said he has no pastoral training what are you putting him in a church like that with all these professionals are gonna eat him alive and Don Schneider said they don't need a pastor they need an evangelist and I was an evangelist in Northern California as well as the little church and so I talked to the youth pastor and he said that let me give you some advice and youth pastor was older than me and so let me give you some advice he says I've been here pastor he had been there 16 years youth pastor said I've seen pastors come and go and they have all these programs and all these seminars and all these machines and methods mechanics and campaigns to raise money he said in a city this size if you just preach the word they will come and so I kind of took that I said that's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna open the Bible and I'm gonna preach the word and you know the Lord bless it went from like a hundred and to 300 and 400 500 it just kept growing and finally we realized when we got you know over a thousand we said we're gonna have to plant another Church which is how we ended up at granted bait Granite Bay is a plant of Sacramento Central and ultimately you know the plan was I would move out to Granite Bay Pastor Chris buttery our associate is now the senior pastor essential he's doing a great job but the idea is just preach the word the world is hungry for the word and everyone's wondering what the secret formula is to do evangelism in these last days it has never changed Jesus wants us to preach the word there's power in the word the proclamation of the word the foolishness of preaching it still changes hearts I was at a a national religious broadcasters convention a couple of years ago in Orlando and I I'm on what they call the President's Council we've been part of NRB we do that to protect the freedom to broadcast and so I was at this meeting and a gentleman came in and he's the pastor of the largest Christian Church in the world used to be in South Korea that's no longer true now the largest Christian Church in the world and the fastest growing is in India a Hindu country and the man's name is dr. Satish Kumar and so he walked in the room and everyone wanted to visit he was sort of the guest speaker for the religious broadcasters and he walked in I see him he sees me and he stops and he stares at me I thought oh that was that very clear recognition I thought what I do wrong sometimes people see me like oh there's that you know cult leader or something I don't know what they're thinking and and sometimes it's positive and he I can went out and shook my his hand he said Doug Batchelor amazing facts said I watch your programs I thought praise the Lord the next day he was preaching and I thought well I'll come and listen he's talking to this roomful of evangelical ministers and broadcasters I know Danny's been to NRB and Moses they know what I'm talking about and during this sermon he stops he says I see our brother pastor bachelor is here with amazing facts I thought if you think that's gonna help you in this crowd is probably not true buddy anybody said that and he said dumb he starts then talking about the second coming and the Sabbath and he said you know there's 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham 2,000 years from Abraham to Jesus 2,000 years from Jesus to where we're living today and then we spend a thousand years Sabbath with the Lord everyone's going hallelujah honest so I went up to him afterward I said we've got a training school in India if I go visit our school we'd like to come see you he said well I hope you do so we did we went to India to meet with our evangelism training school over there and and went to visit dr. Kumar Church has a hundred ninety thousand members and in just on the outskirts of Hyderabad India and while we were there he said you know maybe you'd like to share for us tonight he said of course our services are in Telugu so we can't have you do the main services on Sunday but we're having a Friday night prayer meeting we do an all-night prayer meeting and and maybe 10 o'clock tonight you'd like to talk he said we'll probably have about 25 here now I had just flown in to India no that's a long flight and I thought you know I love the Lord and I like the ability I could wake up early and preach in there and I'm supposed to preacher the conference that same day and and I'm thinking about and John Ross is there with us he elbows me and he says he's talking about thousand so what he said 25,000 I said I'll be there I told you about how I feel about a crowd we came that night had we spoke earlier that day at the conference office then later that night we got there heaven they pray all night I would they stayed till 5:00 in the morning because the people didn't have to go eat and go to work trying to talk about commitment and he stays there with them all night he's not like one of those passes you'll have an all-night per service I'm going home and so we got off in the other men are sitting on one side they seat 18,000 in the main room and they and he built that thing in like 52 days how come it takes us so long in California and then they had another room with like 10,000 overflow it would see that and he has five services on Sunday anyway I'll tell you it was a pretty exciting to be able to get up and share with them and I just shared my testimony and we stayed in touch he just texted me a few days ago we went to see their church on Sunday and it gave us the VIP tour and and I thought why is this church exploding there just he stands up there and he opens the Bible and he goes through the Bible and he does expository preaching of the word and the people there are hungry for it and it's just exploding all over India and he he texted me not long ago so please pray for me we're getting opposition from the government and from other pastors because the church is growing so much and so we have just been so excited to see the power of the word around the world and I better not show you another time I will sometime he preaches immediately many were gathered together there was no longer room to receive them no not even near the door I I went on a church building project with Maranatha and we built some we built amazing backs on our team built 70 churches in India and and we went to one church dedication where there were so many people the very day you dedicated the church that there was no room you could barely breathe it had no air-conditioning and the doors were full of people staring in the doors the windows the windows were blocked with people staring in the windows the people inside were all just totally squashed together and when I stood up to preach that morning I wasn't sure what I was going to say and this sermon is what came to my mind because it was really that way and I'm thinking oh the Lord send those days again where people will hunger for the word of God right now there's so many distractions everyone's got their their phone people walking around bumping into walls and getting run over because I can't stop texting never the car wrecks are constantly everybody's watching some device or they're sitting at the computer they don't talk to each other anymore and I texted Karen from my office to her office how many of you have done that before you from one end of your house you text someone on the other come on so you let me see the hands confess we need need to get back to preaching the word reading the word not even near the door and then they came to him bringing a paralytic now this man could not help himself he's paralyzed there's no way he can get to Jesus if you read in the book desire of Ages his paralysis there is directly connected with a personal sin and the thing he's longing for more than anything is that he might hear the Lord say you're forgiven he just feel separated by God and so many of the religious leaders back then if you were suffering from some terrible malady they said well you're being punished for your sins this is something you deserve you know one time the disciples saw a man that was born blindness and Lord how is it that he's born blind was it his sins or his parents in other words did God know he was going to send so he's punishing him in advance or was it the sins of his parents and and so these to think anybody suffering they're getting what they deserve and so he just always felt like he was so such an outcast and so isolated from his own people so cut off but he had some friends and they said we will bring you to the house where Jesus is preaching the word it's good to have friends like that I've not done the count myself but I heard someone say once that nearly 50% of the people that were healed by Jesus or either brought to Jesus or someone interceded in their behalf there's a lot of people that need forgiveness and they need healing and they're never going to get to Jesus without the help of others now these four friends that takes commitment they gotta carry em they're not rolling them you know some of the most important people in a war are called the stretcher bearers and I was very privileged to be friends with Desmond Doss you know his his second wife Dorothy was a member of our church in Northern California so we'd see him periodically and just a wonderful man he was famous because he put his life on the line so many times to carry people off the field of battle so they might be healed and those are some of the most important people in a war and you know we're in a war in this world between good and evil and God needs stretcher bearers that are not just gonna care about getting themself saved in heal but caring about the others that are wounded around them and so they committed to bring their friend to Jesus I remember reading a story I like doing amazing facts this guy Ivan Frederick's I know he's better known as Russian Jack he and a buddy were doing gold mining in Halls Creek Western Australia I don't know if you know where that is but it is the end of the world it is out you know by the great sandy desert and I I've been all the way out to Western Australia Perth and Darby broomed these towns to speak to a few Aborigines that we're watching our programs out there and it boy I tell you can drive and see a whole lot of nothing I flew five hours and though there was no clouds I looked out the window the landscape did not change in five hours I had no idea it was so big it was just red dirt so these guys are out there gold mining they ran out of food I tried to shoot a kangaroo and when one of them was going to fetch it I've been Frederick's buddy he slipped and broke his leg on the middle of nowhere so I haven't said well the nearest clinic is a hundred miles away and all he had was an old heavy wooden wheel barrel they used for mining he put his friend in the wheel barrel and pushed him a hundred miles that's a friend I don't know if I have any friends that are that good but can you imagine how tired your armors would be and when he finally wheeled into the town there in Windham where there was a clinic and the people all came running out they saw him coming down the road and he said you just pushed him in a wheelbarrow a hundred miles from halls Creek he said yeah and his friend and the wheelbarrow said and he didn't miss a single Rock on the way either that's a friend so these friends brought their friend to Jesus but there's a problem the problem is the crowd once again was too tall now wait a second this is the crowd at the house where Jesus is preaching the word that's called the church and they were keeping people from getting in because he's paralyzed and I suppose as they brought their friends by the way I know what their names were before Matthew Mark Luke and John they're the ones who typically bring others to Jesus isn't that right I didn't made that up but there is a spiritual point there and so they get to the door and they can't get him they can't get anywhere near the door and they maybe tap on someone's shoulder and say we got a fellow who's really needs to be in the presence of Jesus and they said we got here first do you you know first come first serve you snooze you lose this is our place you know I actually know some people members in our churches I won't say what church that they got their pew and if they get to church and some visitor has the audacity to sit in their spot they will give them a piece of their mind and they'll say how many of you know who I'm talking about and they'll say excuse me that's our spot and they're gone sighs first time here I didn't know all right well let it go this time and so here they're trying to bring someone crippled to Jesus and the crowd hearing the word won't let them in so they can't get through the door and if the crowd has no sympathy for this man who obviously needs it more than they do so they try the window one window can't get in they said stop pushing we got here first and you know it's a little harder when you're carrying a stretcher to bring your friend and takes a little more room they go to another window and they do everything began they can't get anywhere near it so the man in the stretcher he says to his buddies I really appreciate it guys thank you so much for trying maybe another day and they said not on your life we carried you here you're walking home they didn't give up can you say men there were plenty of obstacles but they were gonna make sure that they got their friend into the presence of Jesus you know that's where the miracles happen if we can get people connected with the proclamation of the word that's where our battle is now the word does it may Bible tells us the Word of God descends from heaven like the rain it will not return void but it will accomplish the thing that I've ordained and if we continue you go around you give people DVDs does anyone do that anymore some people yeah you give a DVD or now you have to give a link to somebody you send them a link but whatever you can do to get them to listen to the word or to watch the word and there's power in that they said well it's not good enough that they bring their friend to the house where Jesus is preaching the word cuz houses don't save anybody they needed to get their friend into the presence of Jesus preaching the word indeed Jesus is the word incarnate isn't that right the word became flesh and dwelt among us and so they would not give up until they got him connected with the word he had to be in the presence of Christ and you know all of us ultimately we need to come to Jesus and have a personal relationship we all need a personal encounter to Jesus it's amazing how many people were surrounding the house where Jesus was but they didn't experience a miracle this man experienced because his friends persisted in getting him into the place where Jesus was now we all have loved ones that we care about we all have friends we'd like to see save that maybe don't know the Lord one of the most common questions that I get is what can I do to reach most of time the thing is my son my daughter my grandkids my spouse my friends my work associates family member Doug what I do and they think that maybe I've got some secret formula it's three things I learned this from CD Brooks and I never found a better answer three things you can do for the people that you want to reach there's only three things but they're very powerful things well this three and a half one if they're open share information with them give them a book a magazine and if they don't have a Bible get them a Bible you know find some way to give them a tape I see stills a tape does anyone have a tape player anymore how many still have a cassette player look at that I knew in this group I could ask that question and so you give them you know a DVD or set magazines some to give them the word and if they listen to the word or if they'll take a Bible study from you give them a Bible study take them through the amazing facts Bible studies or something so information if they'll listen to information that's one thing second thing is pray for them but some people think well all I can do is pray and they always feel like that's sort of a cop-out like it's the it's not powerful but if you really praying and you know one time the disciples tried to cast out a devil mark chapter 9 and they couldn't do it they said Lord how come you could cast them out we couldn't Jesus this he said this kind does not come forth except by prayer and fasting so you may even fast and pray for them and you may do it more than once and then third thing is be a good example you can be a stretcher bearer and bring people to Jesus by doing those things and then the fourth thing I told you is three and a half do those things patiently and persistently so once you figure out what it is you're doing continue to be a good witness if they're open share information if they don't want information don't push and you'll drive them away I know some dear loving parents and they want to reach your kids and they just keep raining things on them and the kids feel like you're always preaching to me and it just drives them away you got to know when to back off it's hard I know and and keep in mind that man that is brought into the presence of Jesus is not brought into the presence of Jesus by one person it's for people so often when someone is saved it's not the work of any one person even Paul said one person might so another person reeve someone cultivates it's like we all work together I used to think I'd stop and pick up hitchhikers and I'd witness to them because that's one of the things that happened to me you may have heard my testimony i i prayed in this christian picked me up and he took me 2,000 miles and he talked about the lord in the bible the whole way and and i just had to listen to him or jump out of the car so i always thought that's a great idea you got a captive audience so i'd pick up hitchhikers and i pick him up at point a and then i think how far before they're getting off and i think i got to do a gospel presentation I've only got six miles and I always felt like I would maybe not pick him up if I didn't have long enough to do a gospel presentation and the Lord Blair I'm sorry to tell you that I admit it's true once I said oh you know it's like I'm turning off just in two miles up here is that I how much can I share in that time and I drove by them and one day the Lord convict me said Doug what makes you think you're the only part of the gospel they're ever gonna hear so maybe you could share a little bit maybe you just give them a ride cuz you're a Christian and they need a ride they don't need you to preach to them they need a ride it's like some of us will give a person to track but we won't give them bread when they're hungry you know so I realized Lord I don't have to do it all myself and when I pray for people I love I say Lord I pray you'll send people into their lives not just one person send people into their lives let's get four stretcher bearers you know Jesus said he'll send His angels to the four corners of the earth that's north south east and west it's a symbol for something universal for angels holding back the four winds of strife let's talk about something Universal God is going to bring people from all different parts of their life all corners to reach them so remember that he has his ways be a good example share information and pray for them and do those things persistently so they said we're not giving up and then at that point instead of looking horizontally they said we got to look above the crown that's our theme for this week they finally decided you know we've been trying to go in through the door and through the window maybe we're not thinking about this right instead of looking this way we got to look this way now really there's both involved in being a Christian there's the horizontal and there's the vertical very simple the gospel is were sanal in vertical great invitation Matthew 11 come unto me this is the vertical relationship Jesus has come unto me and I'll give you rest you come to Christ then you've got the horizontal Matthew 28 go and tell the whole world what are the two Commandments love the Lord there's a vertical love your neighbor as yourself and so the whole gospel is summarized into coming to Jesus and going for Jesus so they had done their best to do the horizontal and one of them said well maybe we had a lookout and so they took their friend around back the crowd was a little thinner there and just so you know in the Bible and especially down by the Sea of Galilee Cara and I were there about a year and a half ago yeah and it's very hot down by Tiberias and Capernaum and the houses are built there so that you know they didn't have gas ranges or electric ranges a head of fire and in the summertime they'd even in the winter they had a little place in the roof that they had opened up they'd pull aside some tiles and some of the covering and the air would come in from the doors and the windows and the convection would cause it to naturally go out the chimney up and they used to build their homes back then where they actually would go out on the roof you remember Peters up on the roof praying as he's waiting for dinner and you read about Moses said you're to build a little railing on the roof of your house so when your friends up there if he falls off you're not account for his blood to protect him and and David was walking out on the roof of course he got in trouble for doing that so they would go up on the roof it wasn't uncommon there was a place on the roof and so these guys thought well let's take him up on the roof and let's pull aside the tiles for that they use for the chimney and oldest if they're not gonna let us in we're not giving up you know the story when Peter got out of prison he went to the church you know that story Peter gets out of prison he goes to the Upper Room where the church is praying for him they're all up there praying for him Bible says they were praying for Peter without ceasing and he knocks and then won't open the door and he keeps knocking the finally girl comes to the door she said who's there Peter can't help you we're having a prayer meeting for Peter right now I said who's there Peter Peter Peter she runs and she tells them they're having a prayer meeting she said excuse me not not for praying lord help your servant Peter please bring him bring him out do something wonderfully so Peters at the door you're crazy that's what they said here you got the church praying for a Peter to be delivered and these computers at the door and Peter's still out there Roman soldiers are swarming the streets looking for him and it said Peter continued knocking don't give up if you go to the church in the crowd I mean even those disciples back in Peter's day that had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit weren't even letting the church elder back in the church isn't that something here is a preacher of Pentecost and they won't open the door for him but Peter wouldn't be discouraged if you've tried to bring people to the church and the church gets in the way don't be discouraged you know why Jesus was in that house in spite of the problems with the crowd all through this story the crowd is a problem but Jesus was in the house it's like a preacher once said during the flood probably one of the last places in the world you would want to be in the arc can you imagine the seasickness that would be compounded by the smell of the animals and the awful sounds that were made but it was better than being on the outside of the arc and with all of its failings with all of its flaws the books Acts of the Apostles tells us this is the eg white for commentary on that that in spite of its failures and flaws the church is the object on earth upon which he bestows his supreme regard it's the apple of his eye and yes the problem with the church is there are people in the church and I know there are hypocrites in the church and the crowd sometimes is an obstacle to Jesus don't let that keep you from coming because there are hypocrites so there's one faster said there's always room for one more you should join anyway someone says you know it's just so hard to come to the church they don't seem very loving have you ever heard someone say I don't go to that church it doesn't seem very loving that is the best church to go to because you need to learn to love and if everyone's loving you don't learn anything it's like if you want patience don't pray for patience if you're an impatient person because God will send you delay isn't that right and if you say lord give me a loving heart what do you think he's gonna do surround he was loving people if you say Lord give me a loving heart to say okay brace for impact I'm gonna send you people that are gonna stretch your love muscles and you're gonna find out what I see every day is what God says but God loves us while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so they go up on the roof and they start pulling the tiles aside and and also in his lights comes streaming through Jesus is in there and he's surrounded by you know the people he's got the Apostles in there they're all crowded in there with Peter and the other apostles and scribes and Pharisees one of the best seats here we've sought out the chief seats Jesus said so they're all squashed around there's probably some spies in there and people all craning their necks in the doors and the windows there listening to every word that he said some of them are sincere believers some of them are just curiosity seekers some of them go wherever there's a crowd they get in line they just they follow the bandwagon wherever it goes I don't even know why they're there so he had all kinds searches sometimes have all those kinds too so he's teaching they start pulling aside the tiles and in the streams of sunlight the dust starts to fall down the year the clutter and the clatter up on the roof and some of the religious leaders are thinking oh man these crude people in this town you know you come up here by Galilee and they just have no breeding it's like it's like Thompson gel or something like that this country folks that's really what they were thinking I don't mean the Thompson go part I mean the religious leaders that's what they said they're Galilean is what do they know they thought that they were just so rude and so crude and they had an accent they talk funny and and you're gonna forgive me Danny about the Thompson Bell part yeah I just kidding they're hurt it's a joke mostly notice Jesus get upset how many of you like to be interrupted when you're giving a Bible study I mean you know right when you're getting ready to make your appeal some devil pinches a baby or the kids on the front row started passing their phones back and forth and snickering they're not paying any attention I get distracted I want to know what they're laughing at because I've got a DD and so you know one wants to be distracted in their sermon but how does Jesus respond when Jesus saw their faith he was happy they let him down on his bed and he saw their faith he said to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven you now wait a second why did Jesus start there I would think that you know if he's known as a healer and this man who was obviously physically handicapped is lowered down into the presence of Jesus that Jesus Cigna say oh he's paralyzed this his problem is obvious and he'd go right to the sickness why did Jesus start with the sin please always remember that every physical healing that Jesus ever performed was only temporary even Lazarus who is resurrected is now dead you know that but the reason that jesus healed physically is to show his love and better empower people to seek after the real priority which is the spiritual healing now I believe in the health message and I think it's very important but the most important thing if I've got to choose this person can have physical healing or they can have spiritual healing which feeling is gonna last forever and sometimes people come to us as pastors and they say we'd like to have an anointing and we want to be healed there's a physical problem and we believe in that we've seen miracles we really have visible healings miracles and but first thing I say when I pray with him so let's first talk about the sin because you know the Bible tells us in James chapter 5 and if he or she has committed sins they'll be forgiven because that's the real issue Jesus came to save us from our sins what is the biggest contribution of Christianity in the world do you ask the people in the world at large what does Christianity do for the world and some might say well you know they teach good values and they teach morality and and there's benefit in the health message and and you know people say all kinds of things about Christianity in general but I'll tell you what the big thing is is we are all perishing we are gonna die the loss are gonna be judged they're gonna go to the lake of fire and pay for their sins the penalty for sin is death and we are dying because of sin the most important thing that Christianity does for the world is it offers through Christ forgiveness for sin that's the priority because if your sins are forgiven no matter what else might happen in your life with your circumstances when you die you have everlasting life in a world where there is no more physical suffering or problems or sorrow or pain or death and so what could be more important than saying your sins are forgiven then when Jesus comes you've got your ticket everything else we pray for it so many people they it's like the guy in jail I said Lord this this jail is miserable no heating no air will you please help us get some central heating and air in this jail it is so hot in the summer and it's so cold in the winter Lord the bed is so hard could you please make the bed more comfortable Lord it is so loud with the prisoners be more quiet and it's like a prisoner praying Lord can I have carpet from my prison cell and the Lord is saying why don't you ask that I get you out of jail we typically pray that God will make us more comfortable in our prison that's right our prayers are that God will bless us why we continue with a life of sin that's not what he wants to do he wants to save you from your sin because that's really the source of all our misery and our ultimate deliverance from any physical or environmental problem will be forgiveness of sin if your sins are forgiven then you got everything my grandfather used to say if you've got your health Dougy you're a rich man and I've come to believe that though that is very important I say if you've got your forgiveness you are a rich man or rich woman if you know your sins are forgiven then you've got eternal life he said son your sins are forgiven now some of the scribes were sitting there their reasoning in their hearts why does this man speak blasphemies like this who can forgive sins but God alone they were right that's what the Scriptures teach only God could forgive sin now they needed to make a decision was Jesus God or was he a blasphemer to prove then that he was God it says he reads the thoughts of their hearts immediately Jesus perceived in his spirit they reasoned thus within themselves who can forgive sins only God was Jesus God the Bible says God and God only knows the thoughts of our hearts John chapter 2 says Jesus knew what was in man Jesus fills all of the definitions of God in the beginning God created the Bible says all things that were made were made by Christ is that right it says he is the word the word became flesh Bible says there is one Savior well it says that Jesus was Savior he's the only name given among men whereby we must be saved Jesus must be God Bible says only God should be worshipped when he rose from the dead Thomas said my Lord and my god and the other disciples fell down and worshiped him even angel said don't worship Me worship God Jesus mitts meets the definitions and they said only God can forgive sin he said that's my point why do you reason these things he's reading their hearts which is easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven or you guys want evidence that I'm God what's easier say your sins be forgiven as they arise take up your bed and walk but that you might know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins he said to the sick of the palsy ice and you arise take up your bed and go to your house now that man he was already happy when he heard Jesus say your sins are forgiven his face was just flushed with peace and with joy because that's the most important thing that he wanted in the book desire of Ages 268 now in words had felt like music on the sufferers ear the Savior said son be of good cheer your sins are forgiven the burden of despair rolls from the sick man's soul the peace of forgiveness rests upon his spirit and shines out on his countenance his physical pain is gone his whole being is transformed the helpless paralytic is healed the guilty sinner is pardoned in simple faith he accepts the words of Jesus as the boon of new life he urged no further requests but he lays in blissful silence too happy for words he doesn't even know that he can get up and walk now he says my sins are forgiven he's laying in there in blissful silence the light of heaven irradiated his countenance and the people looked upon the scene with all everyone saw something had happened to him a piece comes over him but now Jesus says you don't think that I'm God he says the man arise take up your bed and in obedience to the word he gets up and he probably isn't shocked himself he rolls up his stretcher that bed that carried him around sick and now he carries it out and the Bible says they were all amazed they said they'd never seen anything like that before this was one of the most important points jesus said to his friends when he saw their faith didn't say his face when he saw their faith this man is healed at least in part because of the faith and persistence of his friends that persisted to bring him into the presence of Christ don't give up for your loved ones and friends all things are possible with God amen the other important point is that man came to Christ carried by his bed you know all of us as humans we've got these two natures at war you got the spirit and the flesh Riaan Romans chapter six and seven and eight there's a war that goes on even after you're saved you feel the war because you've got this spiritual desire but you get the the flesh did selfishness and all the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life and we all have it before that man came to Jesus he was a slave to the bed he went where the bed took him after he met Jesus does he still have the bed but who's carrying who the Bible says when you're saved sin shall no longer have dominion over you sin no longer reigns you still have that carnal nature but now Christ is on the throne in your life and you're not led by the flesh you are led by the Spirit amen how does that happen we come into the presence of Christ and we hear him say son you know what he called him - son you're adopted your sins are forgiven he accepts that by faith and all of a sudden the miracle takes place and he can walk in a new walk and a new life that man went outside with the whole package he's got the inner healing and he's got the outer healing I'd like both - don't you you wonderful Jesus through the power of his word he can do both for you and as we close tonight for those here and those who may be watching you'd like to say Lord I want that experience I want to be in your presence and be completely healed and forgiven praise God we're gonna pray as we close out the program and ask him [Music]

Channel: Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

Views: 31,771

Keywords: 3ABN, Three Angels Broadcasting Network, yt:quality=high, Doug Batchelor, Persisting into God's presence, Don't give up on God, the faith of friends, how to win someone to Christ, How to bring someone to Jesus, 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2019, Living Above the Crowd

Id: 2IjbYxHSX8k

Length: 58min 0sec (3480 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 28 2019