A Time For Holiness

and enjoy company with our loved ones. But I am glad that you came here this evening. I'm also really happy to see those that I happen to, some of the, or the Shank families here, they're almost like family to me.

My, our son married into that family and here they are. He told me yesterday, he said, you're going to see some of the Shanks there. I said, thank you for warning me.

You know, so I'm glad that they are here this very first day. Another thing, yes, please move up here. I won't bite.

No, I better not say that. I might, but I won't make it so hard on you, okay? So come front and make yourself at home. I was introduced already and people are wondering, some of you are wondering what nationality I am.

I am Puerto Rican. I'm full-blooded Puerto Rican. I was born in Puerto Rico.

Maybe sometime I'll give you a little more about that. But I had to learn English and it might sound like it sometime. So if I switch to Spanish, that means I didn't know how to say it in English, so you better know, right? I have my wife here who knows very good Spanish and I met at least two people that talk to me a little bit in Spanish.

Happy to be here. And I trust that we can be open with each other. One of the things about preaching is the preacher can say what he wants, right? No.

I can't say what I want. I'm going to say what God wants me to say, all right? And I trust you'll bear with me because the Lord has given us the word. And the word is real.

And I wanted to do something here. That one song that we sang, what was it? 170 that he picked, right? 170. We need to learn a few things as Anabaptist people and that is this.

It's the song says, oh, Jesus, how long? How long? Ere we shout the glad song. What's the glad song? What is it? What did you miss it? Christ returneth. Hallelujah.

You know, and we're not, I know as Puerto Ricans, a little charismatic and I don't apologize for that, by the way. But I think we need to show the world that we mean business with God and we're not afraid to show it. But they said shout, Christ returneth, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Now, I want us to say that. I'm not going to sing it. I want you to say it that way.

Christ returneth, hallelujah, hallelujah, amen. All right, just say it. Hallelujah, amen.

Amen, amen, hallelujah, amen, it ends. Christ returneth. You know, the Lord is coming soon.

I've met a lot of people in the last while that, you know, they said what's going on in the world? We're going to be talking about that just a little bit in the message this evening. But it's interesting. What's going on? What's going on? All right, let's, let me start because it will get dark earlier, right? What time is it? What time is it? 725.

What's that? 625. Then what time is it? Huh? Now. Now.

What do you mean by now? I don't know who said it. I don't want to put you in a spot. But yeah, now.

Now, what time is it? It's now. What time is it? Did you ever ask yourself that question? We were in Guatemala for a number of years. And Guatemalan people are dear to us.

You got children born in Guatemala. But it was always interesting to me if I would step out of the house and walk along the road, the dirt road, it was so interesting to watch people come to Brother Rene. And they'll say, Brother Rene, what time is it? So I look at my watch and I would tell them what time it was.

And, but I also would say this. I said, it's time you know the Lord. It's time you know the Lord.

Then I would say, no, no, it's past time. It's past time. And this evening, I'd like for us to answer that question in your heart.

What time is it? If you're here this evening and you're at the age of accountability and you know right from wrong, dear ones, what time is it? What time is it? I hear a lot of things about this is a terrible world. Is it? Yes, it is. It is terrible.

And why? Because what time is it? As we read through the Bible, we soon find out, yes, that this world is in a bad way. What time is it? Yes. Thank you.

Now we can see. Yes. We, you know, I hear that everywhere I go.

Preacher, what do you say how our condition is? The Bible said, Jesus said, behold the fig tree. Look at it. And then it says all trees, all trees.

Look at him. Why? He wants us to learn a lesson. And God is sending a lot of things to the country called United States of America.

Lots of things. Been in most of the Central and South American countries, preached in them. And I see it there as well.

But more so in this country, people have become complacent and Christians have become complacent. And dear ones, that can't be. That can't be that we do that.

I hope you bear with me a little bit. I only started getting hoarse when I was singing here. Thank you.

I appreciate that. Let me have a. Thank you. I'd like to tell you a story.

A certain preacher had often went to a banker in New York to talk with him. This preacher went and he would again and again implore that banker who was a very well to do man. But that while he had all the world's good, he didn't have one thing.

He didn't have Jesus Christ. And this preacher would plead, would plead, look, you know, you have to give your life over to Jesus Christ. You're going to have to understand that the way you're living is not approved of God.

Again and again. And he lived also in New York state. So he had a couple of hours to come down into the big city of New York City.

But he would do that. They became close friends. And the it was before the time of telephone.

But the preacher wire down a message for him. And this man would wire back to him. That's how they kept contact.

One day, one day this preacher woke up in the morning and the Lord was talking to him. And the Lord told him, go down to that man, go down to that man. But that preacher had a very busy time.

And that preacher said, today of all days, I have a long, God came back, go, go. And he just felt he had to go. He got up and told his wife he's going to go.

And she was, he said, God told me to go and I better go. So he went. It took him a couple hours to get there, like I had said earlier, because it was a distance.

He hurried up into New York City. He ran all the way to the back from the train station, all the way to the office of this man. And the man was at the door.

And he was anticipating him. And when he saw the preacher, they both embraced. And he said, did you get my message? Did you get my telegram? No, he said.

I didn't receive any telegram. Oh, I wired you one yesterday. He said, I didn't get it.

But I got a message from above. He said, I got a message from God. What did he say? He said, come down and talk with you.

And he said, oh, let's not hesitate. They went into this man's office. And for a number of hours, they were there together.

And the preacher just opened up his heart and pled with the man. And the man cried. The preacher cried.

And the preacher said, would you accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior and Lord of your life? And he said, yes, yes, I want to do that. That's why I wanted you to come. There's something in my heart that doesn't let me rest.

There's something that it seems like the Holy Spirit that you talked about before, he keeps knocking. He keeps knocking at the door. And he's saying, why don't you surrender all to Jesus Christ? Well, he did.

He did, and they had a tremendous time in the office of that rich banker and that preacher because he did that. And they got up after a while, and they embraced. Now, not as two strangers.

Now, they were brothers. And the banker said, now you're my brother. Now we're close.

And they gave each other a hug. And both of them could hardly stop crying of the joy that they felt, especially that preacher. And as that preacher is standing by his friend, who is now brother, who is now brother, something happened.

All of a sudden, he gave a gasp, and he fell dead. He fell dead. Time.

I'm looking at time. What time is it? That man was feeling that, the heartbeat that God was telling him, it's time you get right with me. Yes, it's time.

It's time you look at your life. It's time you bring it all out in the open. The man did so.

And there the preacher was. He cried, of course he cried. But what would have happened if that preacher would have just delayed one more minute, one more minute? It would have been way too late.

God's timing is always perfect, right? Yes, it is. God's timing is perfect. It's perfect.

But it's our timing. It's us as human beings. We don't look at timing as so important.

I remember I sat where you sat. Yes, I did, like in the book of Ezekiel. Yes, I sat where you sat.

And there I was. I didn't know much about Jesus Christ, because it was just a swear word to me. But there was something that the Lord had worked in my heart.

I heard a number of times the messages that came from the Mennonite pulpits. And that message was the same almost every time, Nathan. And it was about the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And I can still see that preacher. He comes over there. And I was sitting about, something about to lay out here.

I was sitting over there. This preacher would say, and he wants you. He wants you.

Well, I don't like nobody pointing to me. I'm pretty fussy. Yes, the Lord's telling you to get up.

The Lord is saying he loves you. And off he went. He would look the other way.

And he'd do the same thing. But he'd quickly come back over here like he was picking on me. Yes, the Lord is saying you today, you today.

The timing is perfect. And I don't know how this all was supposed to be. But I didn't care then at that time.

All of a sudden, all I knew is that something told me to get up and go to the front. And I got up and went to the front. Yes.

And the preacher said something to the, you know, you're going to have to, we'll talk later. You can confess your sins to the Lord. I was ready to do that then.

So I went up to the podium that they had. And it had one of these in it. And I said, I'm going to tell them.

And I told them all my sins. At least that I could remember. And let me tell you, it was not a beautiful story.

But it was time for Rene to do that, see. Because I lived a life where Rene gave order. Rene didn't take order.

See, I was a gang leader for many years. So I gave him. I didn't take him.

So I kept pushing Jesus back. When that call would come, I kept pushing him back. Now, I don't want this.

Not now. Not now. I remember when there was a gentleman in church that took a lichen to me and I to him.

I wanted his grandpa. He was in the 80s already. And he would say, when you die in here, whoo, my guards went right up.

Now, wait a minute. Don't talk to death to Rene. When you die in here, you give up.

And you do what God tells you to do. Because Rene has to die. Rene has to die.

Of course, I didn't understand what he was saying. But it didn't take me long. It didn't take me long.

Because after I became a Christian, it was just so wonderful. Wonderful. I was ready not just proclaim it on the house stop.

I was willing to go and do it anywhere and everywhere. I was in school at that time. And I don't know.

It's like this midnight telephone. Y'all have a system that if one minute night knows it, nine chance out of 10 in the vicinity, everybody's going to know it, right? Well, I became a Christian. And when I became a Christian, the next day I went to school.

And guess what? There was about 15, 20 boys waiting for me. Oh, so you're a holy roller, huh? So you're now a holy roller. I had no idea what they were talking about.

A holy roller. I said, I don't know what you're talking about. I said, but I am a Christian.

Oh, you are. They all surrounded me. And they talked about giving me a beating and something like that.

And Rene wasn't really beatable. But that's what they wanted to tell us. Yeah.

Give me a beating. And I had books in my hand. And I said, no, wait a minute.

I put my books down. And they said, OK. So they backed off a little bit, because they knew how I was.

They knew I was a karate expert. Plus, I was lifting weights. I looked a little rough.

Oh, no, it wasn't rough. My wife says they look like beasts. OK.

So yeah, she didn't want to marry a beast, she says. OK, so I stopped that. Now I have it in the middle.

And it's her fault? No, it's not. I'm just, praise the Lord for the wife you gave me. But there I was.

And all these young men. And you know what I did? I just put my hands in my pocket. OK, what do you want to do? I said, I heard that someone said about a beating.

They backed out. And it wasn't very long until they took switchblades out. And they came up to me, and they went across my face.

I could have disarmed all of them in a hurry. I didn't. I just stood there.

I just stood there. I didn't know what to do or what to say. I wanted to say something to them.

I could have said, go to hell. Well, that wouldn't sound right. Not at that moment.

You're all going to go to hell now. They finally realized I wasn't going to react. I wasn't going to react.

Why? Because it was Jesus who was making the difference in my heart. And let me tell you something. You're going to get after me after a while.

Because I like to use expressions that I hear in English. Can I do that here tonight too? I hear this. I ask people, when you grew up, how did you grow up? Oh, I grew up Mennonite.

And I go, no, you didn't. Oh, yeah, I grew up Mennonite. I come from a Mennonite home.

I don't care, but you didn't grow up Mennonite. Am I right? Right. Because it is time we understand it's not about who I am.

It's about my relationship with God. It's time we wake up. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes 3. This is the time, time, time.

Time is wonderful, and time is essential. But time is short. Yes, time is short.

And one thing, let's not forget to say it. Satan knows his time is short. He knows that.

And that's why we come. Even so, we cry out, even so, Lord Jesus, come. I would like to read just a few verses in this chapter here.

Starting in verse 1, we'll read a couple verses here. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. Verse 6, a time to give, and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to cast away, a time to run, and a time to sow, a time to keep silent, and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace.

That word, hate, there, it doesn't mean what we think, that, uh-huh, if I can't get along with you, I can hate you. That's not what it's saying there. That word, love, in the Hebrew, has the idea of loving less, because we put God in the forefront.

God is first in our life. But did you get all that? Time, time, time. We can read some more here in Ecclesiastes, but I'm not going to do that.

A time, a time, a time to live, and a time to die. I'm going to tell you about, I can't, we live, I've lived almost most of my life in the city until I met my wife. Then we moved out to the country where her parents live.

But in the city, I had a friend. Before I was married, I had a friend. John was a neighbor to us.

And John would say to me, John would say to me, our houses were right up against the row house, what we call a row house, and their porch was against our porch. And he'd sit out there in the summertime, and I'd go out there to talk to John. And I, a number of times, I remember the first time I said to him, John, are you, what is your relationship between you and God? And he looked at me, and he kind of laughed a little bit.

He said, you sure have spunk for a young man. Spunk. I'm not sure where he said that.

Spunk. Yeah. He said, you, I see you going up and down, you talk to people at your age, you know, some people are, some young men are doing something else.

And I told him, well, I have done other things. And those other things were not good. I'm done with all of that.

Oh. And he said, but what about you, John? And here, I was a man that was in the upper 80s already, and he looked at me, and he laughed, and he said, well, Rene, this is, I'm not a bad man. I'm not a bad man.

I don't smoke. I don't drink. I don't use drugs.

I'm not a womanizer. I don't go to questionable places. And I'm, you know, I'm a good moral man.

He said, now, don't you think that's a pretty good list? Yeah, but you didn't tell me the most important. I said to him, and I was getting a little excited, and he would say, they're going to hear it in the other block. I said, well, I don't care.

I said to him, you forgot the most important thing is, but what about your relationship with Jesus Christ? Oh, he knows I do all those good things, and he's going to just receive me onto heaven, right? John, no! No, that's not what it is. But yeah, we have some people like that. And we have some plain people that think the same way.

As long as I can do some good things, I'm all right. Brethren and sisters, what time is it? It's time we open our hearts and open our eyes before God, because the Christian life is more than all of that. It's more than all of that.

And this evening, are you, as a human being, realizing that, and that the time is short? The time is short. Let me go back to John. Anyhow, I kept talking to John about every week.

I mean, we were neighbors. Good morning. Well, John, yeah, I know what you're going to say.

What am I going to say? Did I get right with God? Yes. Did you? No, not yet, not yet. And this went on for a while.

And then one day, I come home from work, and my mother, who was with us at that time, says to me, you got a call from the neighbor that she wants you to call a number. And she gave me the number. Here, I recognize the telephone number.

I said, that's the hospital. She says, well, I wondered, because there was an ambulance today. Oh.

So I called, and I asked for her, his wife, Dolly, was her name. Yeah, she's here. And she answered the phone.

She says, Renee, please come up, and John is dying. John is dying. I said, well, I just saw him yesterday.

Yeah, but he's not good at all. They didn't know that he was so sick. So I hurriedly went to the hospital.

Shower went. When I got there, she was waiting for me in the waiting room. And she said, come quickly.

He doesn't have a lot of time. I thought, well, this is something. So we went there, went to the room, and the nurse was right there putting cold compresses on his head and also on his feet.

I says, well, what's wrong? He said, he's dying. He's dying. So I quickly ran up to the side of the bed.

I took both his hands, and I said, John, how are you feeling? That's a dumb question I even asked. I said, the man was sick. He said, I'm dying.

Renee, I'm dying. I'm dying. And I said, I prayed with him, John, it's not too late.

He said, I'm dying. I'm dying. I said, John, it's still not too late.

You're still talking. You're still breathing. The Lord wants you to be in His fold, John.

It's not too late. And all the time, the nurse was trying to dip a washcloth in cold water, ice water, and putting it on his feet. And then he says, I'm dying.

He said, please. He said, put some cold compresses on me. Well, the nurse was doing that faithfully.

He says, I feel hot. Renee, I feel hot. Do something, he said.

Do something. What was I going to do? I said, John, I want to pray for you, and I want you to really think, are you ready to meet your Maker? John, the Lord has given you time to say, yes, I'm coming. I'm going to do this.

I'm going to serve the Lord. John, you know what he said? I'm a good man, Renee. I didn't change.

No, I said, you need the Lord. You need the Lord. And he's hanging on very hard in my hands.

And then he kept saying, I'm burning. I'm burning. I'm burning.

And he started yelling it, the top of his voice. I'm burning. I'm burning.

You don't have to burn. I said, there's still time. I'm burning.

Can't you feel it? Well, I can feel his hands. He was hot. He was hot.

I'm pleading with him and helping him all the time. The nurse is down there at his feet, trying to cool his feet. The last words I heard John say was, All of a sudden, there was a scream, and it was the nurse.

She ran out of there, out of that room. She said, the moment you came in, I felt that there was a battle in that room. And I couldn't see what it was, but I sure could feel it.

She says, well, he said he's burning. Whatever happened? I said, that happens because he has been numerous of times told about giving his heart to Jesus, and he won't do it. When we delay, there comes a time that we will meet our maker.

The question is, are you ready? Am I ready? And you say, well, I'm a good Christian. I'm part of this church here. All my preachers have talked real good about me.

I'm not asking. That's not important to me. What does God say to you? What does that God say? Right? That's the most important thing in life.

And you know what? Dear ones, we keep putting it off. Again, and again, and again. When the Bible says, it is high time to do something.

High time. When the Bible says, again, again. Don't sleep.

Don't sleep. But people can't wake up, it seems. In 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 6, says, therefore, let us not sleep, as do others.

What was wrong with John? John fell asleep, and he couldn't wake up from his, how do I want to say this? From the fact that the devil had him bound. He couldn't let go. And he was asleep.

Let us not sleep, as others. It's time to wake up. Right? It's time to wake up.

It's time to say, Lord, hear my. It's time to be able to see that our time is running out. What time is it today? It's time to examine our life.

You know, we often read, at least in communion services that I have, I like to read Psalms, what is it? 139 verse 23 and 24 has these words. Listen to the words. The words are, search me.

The words are, try me. Lead me. Lead me.

What are we doing? We're seeing the fact that it's time that we do something between our relationship and God. Dear ones this evening, what time is it? It's time to get close to God and his word. Turn with me to James chapter 4. James chapter 4. There's a lot of questions that, or a lot of scripture references that have come to my mind.

I like to share some of these with you. James chapter 4. I like to read verse 8. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

Right? Yes. Draw nigh. Come close.

Come close. And when you come close, the Lord will meet you. Yes, there's a sense where he will meet you if you come to him.

He's going to do that. You know, when I got converted and I was sitting over there, like I said, I had no idea what I was supposed to do or not do. But all of a sudden it's like something pushed me to get up and go up there.

The preacher wasn't even giving an invitation. He wasn't giving an invitation not right that moment. But I decided to give up and go forward.

You know, that's the time we have to move. That is when we do come to him. Yes, cleanse your hands.

Why? Our hands are dirty. Right? Our hands are dirty. We can go into a lot of examples of these.

Purify your hearts. Purify. Make them pure.

Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. People wonder if I do anything for a living. I do. I don't work with my hands very much at all.

I use my mouth and my mind. I am a counselor. I have a counseling office Rock and Refuge Ministry.

It's calm. I have a lot of people come in there every day. We have people sit down because they have problems.

You know one of the greatest problems and a lot of these are Anabaptist people. I'm not picking on you this evening. I'm telling you facts.

I'm telling you facts. I have had some that are not. Let me tell you something.

You know what the problem is? 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Yes, it is 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Verse 1 Furthermore then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more. But ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus for this is the will of God. What is it? What's God's will for my life? What is God's will for your life? If you want to meet him face to face and I hope that you do.

This is what you got to do. It says even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor not in the lust of concupiscence even as a Gentile which know not God. Why is there so much problem today people our people having to go to jail and court I also work with people that do go to jail try to help them and try to help them understand what they have done is wrong and now there's consequences with those wrong.

But there is a God that says if you really mean business with him he will clean you in and out. I believe that. There's nothing impossible for Jesus and for God.

There is nothing. We are to walk in sanctification and honor. Verse 7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness Holiness Holiness Now one thing I look at this audience, where are your halos? Did you let them at home? Did you let them at home today? But you know we have something more than a halo to show forth, right? We have a whole life.

I would like to show the world my life. And there are times that I flop up just like everybody else. I have to go and apologize to my wife.

Yeah. Because of the way I may have answered or whatever it may be. Brethren and sisters, what time is it? It's time to live in holiness and sanctification.

Be holy for I am holy. And let me tell you something that holiness didn't just start in the New Testament. It went all the way back to Leviticus chapter 11 when God told the Israelites Be holy Be holy God is saying that to the world today.

God is telling America that today. God is telling you and me that today to walk in holiness. Leaving away the things of the flesh the filth of the flesh Yes, it feels good.

But let me tell you what you're going to be in hell and if you keep on this and it's not going to feel good because that's going to haunt you for the rest of your time and eternity in hell and that will be forever and ever and ever. Dear ones, tonight what time is it? It is time to be real and the salt of the sinful world. Are you? Is your light shining? Does your salt have that strong salty taste? We think of that we're talking about perservation Good salt at times it's not so good in Guatemala we went down to the ocean and they have places there where they dig the salt out it's so interesting you're on the side of the world I remember one man asked me he finally said Who are you? Who are you? He'd seen me before I said I'm salt He looked at me I asked you Who are you? I said I'm salt I'm salt We are to be the salt of the world and I finally looked at him and I said I am a Christian So I told him I'm a salt and I'm a light I had to come to the light What about you? Ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 says something like this For ye were sometimes darkness So we go back to John chapter 3 and it says that man loved darkness Why? Because Because their deeds were evil Because their deeds were evil So let's be the right salt in this world Let's be the right light in this world What time is it? It's time that we become a real praying person A real genuine praying person If we want victory in our lives that's the only way to do it Ephesians 6 It talks about what? Armor Yes What does it say there? What are you supposed to do with it? Put it on It does no good if you put it in a pile there and you decide when you see the end of it you're going to go put it on It may be too late Put on that armor It is time to put on that whole armor that God has given to us Because Satan desires to have us Jesus told that to Peter remember Jesus said Peter Satan desires to have you And who am I? And who are you? Who are we? We need to remember what time it is What time is it? It is time that we say no to the world It's time that we say no to the world First John 2 Will you turn to that with me please? First John 2 And I'm going to stop But I want you to see something here First John chapter 2 Maybe we know even know these verses by heart here First John chapter 2 I like if I'm just going to start reading in verse 15 Verse 15 I want you to read with me verse 15 All together All those that can read First John 2 verse 15 Ready? Love not the world Neither the things that are in the world If any man loves the world The love of the Father Is not in him Get it Get it I think we kind of smooth that over smooth mother over however you want to say it If you love the world The love of the world The love of the Father Is not in you What does it take for God to help us to understand that What does it take The next verse 16 says For all that is in the world The lust of the flesh And the lust of the eyes And the pride of life Is not of the Father But is of the world God doesn't have pride And we're not supposed to have pride either right Verse 16 For all that is in the world Let me read that again For all that is in the world The lust of the flesh And the lust of the eyes And the pride of life Is not of the Father But is of the world 17 And the world Passeth away And the lust thereof But he that doeth the will of God Abideth forever I was teaching a young man That was in the depths of sin He was a nice young man But he couldn't I'm quoting him He couldn't help himself So he would fulfill his lustful desires That he had And guess who he did it He did it with one of his siblings Yeah And this just got out of hand And all of a sudden Guess who came knocking at the door Authority Authority Somebody in the neighborhood Saw what had happened And came Told the authority The authority came to the House And that young man was in real trouble Why? He says well I couldn't help myself I couldn't help myself Good excuse I asked him Did you ever read those verses He said yeah I read them But they never meant too much for me But now I can see That I should have paid more attention Right Dear ones this evening If you're saying no To God And his word If you're saying no to Jesus Christ The one who died for you The one who went all the way The one that God the Father Gave his only son His only son To come to this world And die for you And for me I couldn't understand that when I heard these preachers Preaching about Jesus Christ You know what I told a couple of preachers I said that was his problem That's not my problem No you had the problem that's why he wanted to die I didn't ask him to No But your deeds Showed that you needed help But you know We find excuse after excuse To reject that son And I believe that That Father God in heaven Looked all over Heaven To find someone That can go down And save the human race And there stood Gabriel Yeah the messenger He thought well he'll make a good one To go down and Die for the world But then he thought No no no he's not good enough So I'll send Michael the Archangel You know he was Mr. Tough Yeah he was Mr. Tough I'll send him down And no he wasn't good enough either And yet they had all those cherubims That were Study them I think the study of the angels is a very interesting subject You know they were We call it super super powerful Yes But God said It's not enough And there by his side was his son He looked at the son And he said son I want to send you to earth Son We're going to have to do something to help The human race They keep rejecting They keep saying no They keep just doing more And more sin Son I don't think the Lord I don't think God Asked his son if he wanted to go His son his father said Go But I want you to understand something son This is probably The hardest thing that God the father did It says I want you to go But I want you to understand something I believe Yes that Jesus Looked at the father He said son You will die Now I know that's just A little story No I believe in my small Finite mind I believe something like that Happened in heaven And Jesus stood Father I will go I will go I will go to die for that That human race So they can come To be up here With us So then we have Satan On one side Jesus I'm going to get you I'm going to get you But he forgot Jesus wasn't gettable Finally went to the cross And there Jesus was Between heaven and earth He was And he finally said You know the story well It is finished Why? Because when Jesus was up there On that cross he had pain just like you and I The father told him he was going to feel it He was bleeding He was all there But let me tell you something Jesus finally said It is finished What was finished? The great plan of salvation And you know why? You know why dear ones this evening? Because you were there You were there And I was there And I believe that is what helped me to understand The love of Jesus Christ For me I can only see that And when they were talking about the beautiful Blood of Jesus I said these Mennonites had the most Bloody religion that I ever saw But they do We do I am not ashamed of it But he did it for me And he did it for you The blood of Jesus Christ What was finished? The plan of salvation was finished For each and every one of us You know it is so interesting We have a multiplicity of people here English Spanish Pennsylvania Dutch Right? Pennsylvania Dutch Canadians Some came from Canada We can all come To the altar We can all come To the foot of Jesus Christ And all be blessed We can And dear ones this evening If there is anyone in the sound of my voice That has not been able To look at themselves And take the time To reckon with the fact That if you are not saved You are not going to make it to heaven Today is the day of salvation Hebrews says Not tomorrow Today it is Will you come to Jesus Christ Today Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer Father in heaven we come before you This moment We thank thee Father for being here in our presence We thank you for giving us the strength To carry out our responsibility This evening We thank you Father for giving us such a beautiful evening And we pray dear Father That as your word has come forth That it might Not come unto you Void We especially pray for those individuals Father that have not Taken the time to Examine their life before you Help them to do so before it is too late We pray dear Father That we might also realize The time is short The time is of essence And it's important And Father we know that the trumpet Is going to sound And Father are we going to be part Of those that will Lift their hands up In the air and say Even so Lord Jesus come If there is anyone here Father that would like to make that decision We pray That you might give them the strength While we're praying I'd like to give an invitation Is there anyone here That would like to come to the Lord Just stand to your feet I'm not going to be I'm not going to be pushy but I do want To give the opportunity Anyone here this evening Yeah but you don't understand My mother's here my father's here Or A young man That I like or a young lady That I like is here It's time For you to Do what God Wants you to do Is there anyone