In this sermon, the preacher reflects on the familiar scripture of John 3:16, emphasizing God's love for the world and His sacrifice for our benefit. The preacher shares a personal experience of sitting in a courtroom and draws spiritual parallels between the judge, the accused, and the accuser. The sermon focuses on the importance of living in a way that demonstrates our reconciliation with God and the need to share the gospel with others. The preacher references various Bible verses, including 2 Corinthians 5:14, Philippians 2:15, and Mark 16, highlighting the Great Commission and the power of preaching the word of reconciliation.

Hello, welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Greetings this morning in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's good to be here. It's good to be among you again this morning. You've been such a blessing to me the last 13 years. I want to thank you for that. This morning, I have nothing new, just a little more of Jesus. We need to do it again and again. But as I was meditating and praying, I felt the Lord lead in my heart to preach here what I preached at home not long ago. The title of the message this morning is Our Reconciliation to God. So this morning, I do want to encourage and build up the believer and the follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to encourage and strengthen the Christian. You know, sad but true, not everyone that goes to church, not everyone that grew up in church is a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a pure religion that we read here in the Scriptures that is undefiled. But there's a difference in being religious or being born again. Just a testimony before I get into the message experience I had, which prompted me to preach this message at home, is when we moved to North Carolina 13 years ago, I went to the local town to get my insurance for our vehicles. An insurance agent's name is Doug Jones. He's a southerner. He's always friendly. You know, I was not just another customer of his. We became friends over the years. We talked a lot about the Lord. He took an interest in missions. Whenever I came back from a mission trip, next time I went in, he asked about it. And he said, next time you go to Africa, I want to send some money along for those pastors over there for bicycles, so they can reach more villages. He had an interest in this. Talked about this and that. Today, he's 52 years old. And I heard this past winter that Doug Jones is sick. He has cancer. And he's in the hospital. So, when I went in the last time, he lost probably 50 pounds. Pale, white-complected. He said, come on back here, I want to talk to you. He said, man, I need to share something with you. He said, I grew up in church. I'm the fifth generation, this certain denomination, in the Bible Belt. He said, I did everything right. I went to church. Supported the church. Supported missions. Was active in church activities. He said, you know, but I was a businessman. He said, if I could write $2 here or $5 here, a little above, for my clients. He said, that's okay, because everybody else does it. Never 50, that's too obvious. He said, I'd look at women and flirt in my heart. Everybody else does it. He said, I was fully convinced that if I would die, I'd go to heaven. Because I'm doing everything right. Going to church. Grew up in church. He said, but I have cancer on the brain. He said, they took me to the hospital. And I don't know, some kind of treatment they gave. That they kept them halfway between life and death for 48 hours. He said, I met God. God showed me I'm a sinner. I'm on my way to hell. I never had a changed life. I was never born again. I did all the right things. I supported missions. But he said, God showed me I'm on my way to hell. He said, Manny, back in November of 2009, for the first time in my life, I personalized who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He said, I personalized salvation and repentance. And he said, I got born again in that 48 hour span. And I'm reconciled to Jesus Christ. I'm reconciled to God. He said, I would have went to hell. He said, back here in this office, you know, on hall back through there, main desk over here, go back to hall, offices on each side of the hall. And the very back end to the right was his big office with fancy furniture and everything there. And that's where he wanted to be. The only special people could see me. But he said, since God got a hold of my heart and changed my life, now he's right up front, right behind the first office. And he opens the blinds that he can see the street people, the loners. And he said, I want, I go out and I testify. And I preach to them. And I tell, give my testimony and tell them, it's time to amend your life. Because Jesus is coming back. He said, I'm a dying man. He said, money doesn't mean anything to me. I'm still this business. I'm still a businessman. I want my son Chris to take this business on. But he said, I'm a dying man. But I've got nothing to lose because I'm reconciled to Jesus Christ. He said, I've got nothing to lose. He said, the rest of my dying days, I want to be a witness for Jesus Christ. He said, these city people, street people come up. They stand out there, no place to go. He said, I go out in the street. I want them to find Jesus the way I did. So this morning, I'm preaching, I want to preach to the Doug Joneses. But if you're not a Doug Jones, this message is also for you. Because to be reconciled to God is beautiful and it's exciting. Reconciliation is a big word. But one that should have great meaning to every human being on earth. Why? Because of what sin did to all of us. What sin did to all of us. Isaiah 59, the first two verses, tell us, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your and my iniquities have separated between you and your God, me and my God, and your sins have hid His face from you that, what's the rest of the verse? That He will not hear. Thank you. That's what sin does to mankind. Romans 5, 12 tells us, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. So death passed among all men, for all have sinned. Romans 3, 23, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Colossians 1, 21 And you and I that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. Reconciled, according to Webster, Reconciled means to restore to friendship, to restore to favor after estrangement. Every sinner person that is reconciled has been brought back to fellowship and favor with God. Let's read 2 Corinthians 5, starting in verse 17. I have a lot of scriptures today that I want to look at. If you want to turn to them, you can. If not, just hear or write them down and look at them later, the references. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 That verse is a very precious verse to me. That verse should excite every believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, my own testimony back in 1974, in the mass of confusion, God saw my heart. God knew the desires of my heart. I could take you to within 5 or 10 feet of where this happened. In fact, the last time we were in Junieta County, my whole family was together a few years back. I told them, I want to take you down and show you where your dad met the Lord Jesus Christ. I went down where we were doing construction work. We went down this country road and I knew it's the next farm on the right. And we renovated a two-story house and put new windows in it, added, put some steps on it. And I drove in and I looked. I wanted to show my children the tree where I was standing beside. The tree was gone and there's a two-car garage attached to the house. I said, the tree is no longer there, but it was inside that garage before it was. I knew that something happened in my life. I knew the peace. I knew that just the free, but come to Bible knowledge, I was just, I didn't know. I didn't know. I knew God did a work. I knew I'm free. But I didn't know about this scripture and that scripture. I just didn't. Shame on me. I was an adult. I was married. I was a father. But let me tell you. A month or two later, my brother-in-law, his wife came to our house for a meal. When they walked in, he saw what is different about my brother-in-law. That was his thought. We were sitting there. He said, tell me, what happened? I couldn't talk. I just started crying. He said, tell me what happened. Something happened. He said, do you have a Bible? I said, yes. I got my Bible. And where did he open it up to? 2 Corinthians 5.17. Praise God. He said, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. I said, yes. That's it. My heart, it was just a witness. It was just connected. And I hit that scripture in my heart ever since. And I feed upon it every day. It was just yes. My old desires, I was sick of sin. I had desires that I never had before. And this verse just made sense. It just connected to me. Ist jemand in Christo. He's a new creature. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, has given us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, because of that reconciliation, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he, God, who made Jesus to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Let's look at what the Bible teaches us about our reconciliation to God. If time allows, I have five points, or five steps, that I would like to bring out about our reconciliation to God. Number one, the basis of our reconciliation to God is the death of Jesus Christ. The prophet Ezekiel wrote long ago that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18.20 Many years later, the apostle Paul echoes the same thought in Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is, but, yes, thank you, when God put Adam and Eve into the garden, he warned them in Genesis 2.17. You get ready, because whenever I do this, I expect a response. He warned them in Genesis 2.17, but of the tree, of the knowledge of good and evil, keep going, keep going, yes, and die they did, and kept right on living. That was a spiritual death, not a physical death. He said, the day you do it, you're going to die. They ate and died, and kept right on living, physically. Spiritual death is, that's circumstance, that's not consequence. Spiritual death is the consequence of sin. James 1.15 Then when lust hath ceased, it bringeth forth, and when sin is full grown, it bringeth forth death. Can you imagine a monster of sin full grown? When it is finished, it's full grown. It brings forth spiritual death. We cannot save ourselves from sin. Yet, it is sin that separated us from God. I read that in Isaiah 59. How then can we come back to God and be reconciled? Jesus Christ left heaven, walked on earth as a man, doing good and suffering for it. Finally, He was crucified. Hebrews 2.19 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. What man could not do for himself to be reconciled to God was made possible through Christ's death. John 3.16 A very familiar scripture. For God so loved the world that He gave His life for our benefit. The penalty was due to us, but it was and is paid in full. It was and is paid in full. You know, my mind, I'm going to just say since Thursday, my mind has been just full and traveling. John and Ann and my wife and I were in a hire on Thursday to the hearing sentencing a good friend of ours. And I'm sure many of you have sat in courtrooms already. But boy, if you sit in a courtroom, the emotions are high. I mean, I'm not here to try to get into that, but just what God showed me. I was sitting there and up there was the church. Let's just spiritualize this as I'm going through this. Up there was the judge. And here our brother was standing in front with a mediator. Over to the side was a prosecuting attorney, which is the accuser of our brother. I'm going to say that. You know, he has a job. The prosecuting attorney and his job is to make the criminal that committed the crime as black as he can make him. But you know, the emotions were so high you could taste it. The presence of God was real. There is between 60 and 70 Christians in that courtroom praying for our brother. But when that moment came, it was so tense. There was a judge. There was a mediator. There was the accuser. Yes, I saw myself at David's place. I'm not the victim. I'm the criminal. I committed the crime. But it's paid in full. It's paid in full. I do not have to serve time because it's not paid in part. It's paid in full because of our reconciliation to God. And you know what? The time comes. The judge got the final word. But there is therefore now for who? But, hey, I'm not the victim. You're not the victim. You are the criminal. We're all criminals. We were. But the price is paid not in part but in full because of our reconciliation to God. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That's what the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians. But, brother, we don't have to fear and quake under tremendous stress and anxiety because the price is paid. Stretch forth your withered hand. Stretch forth your withered hand and say, I'm not the victim, but I'm the criminal. The death of Jesus Christ is the only basis upon which we can come back to God. And that is by Jesus Christ. Point two. I want to move on. The effect of our reconciliation to God is a new creature and a new beginning. As sinners being reconciled to God, we look for new beginnings and a chance for a new start. A fresh start. Leaving those things which are behind but going forward. That is exactly what Christ offers to us. 2 Corinthians 5.17. I just quoted that. I'll keep going. Being reconciled to God means that we live according to new directions. We live according to a new way. New goals. A new vision. A new life. And a changed destiny. You know, some men choose their life and then accept the destiny. Other men choose their destiny and accept the life. Matthew 16.24. First, let me read something in Corinthians before I go there. 2 Corinthians 5.14-15 For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then were all dead. And that he died for all, that they which should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. That's the new direction. That's the new vision. And that's the new life. We don't live for ourselves, but we live for him who died and gave his life for us. That is our reconciliation. Matthew 16.24. If any man come after me, let him and a man. That's for all of us. Living in the world as worldly people, doing worldly things. But when we are reconciled to God, our goals and our taste buds change. If your goals, your visions, and your taste buds don't change, you are not reconciled to God. God gives us a new life. A new vision. He gives us a vision. The Bible tells us in Proverbs, where there is no vision, the people perish. German brethren, wo kann weiß sagen ist, sind die Leute wild und wicht. Where there be no prophesying, the people become wild and wicked. Word for word translated. Where there be no prophesying, the people become wild and wicked. Where there be no prophesying, the people become wild and wicked. Being reconciled to God gives us a new vision, a new goal, a new life with a destiny that's out of this world. Colossians chapter 3. Verse 1 to 3. Somebody start quoting that before I even get to it. Keep going. Where Christ sits on the right hand of God, set your affections for. Brother, that's as good as it gets before we get home. I mean, look at that. That's as good as it gets before we get home. And brother, we're not home yet. You know, sometimes, you know, church difficulties have a tendency to rob us from who we are in Christ. Am I right? They have a tendency to rob us. A little over a year ago, we were visiting a Mennonite church for the weekend. The pastor there just this morning, I preached there. We had a good time together praying and he just asked me, Brother, how are things going in Cleveland, North Carolina? I said, sometimes the waters get muddy. And he just said, good. That means you're getting a lot of rain. I said, wow. Boy, that was the nugget of the day. I needed that. Because it took me from the negative and just put me right over in the positive. Yes, Lord, I'm not home yet. There's two ways to look at this one thing, isn't it? Okay, we quoted the first three verses of Colossians chapter 3. Now, 9 and 10. Lying not one to another, seeing that we have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. The new creature in Christ seeks the things of God, not the things of the world. The effects of being reconciled to God is that he is a new creature in Christ. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his light. Right. Not light, but marvelous light. What does the Bible say that light is? Christ himself said, I am the light of the world. So, ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into Jesus Christ. Would that be a right interpretation? The marvelous light is no less than Jesus Christ. Which in time past were not a people, but are now the which had not obtained mercy. But now, are you reconciled to God? It's yours. That's all yours. If you're reconciled to God, that's all yours. Ephesians 2, 19. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. That's all possible and that is all ours because of our reconciliation to God. The effects of our reconciliation is being a new creature in Christ Jesus. Point three, the place or location, a lot of the same, but yet some different. The place and the location of our reconciliation to God is in Jesus Christ. We're reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Our reconciliation to God is in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can save us from our sins. Acts chapter 4, starting in verse 10, Then be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nathareth, whom ye have crucified, whom God has raised from the dead, even by Him thus this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any... Keep going. That's right. Beautiful Scriptures, beautiful promises for the Duck Joneses. Beautiful promises for those that are not, because reconciliation is still available for those that have never been reconciled to Jesus Christ. If you're not a Duck Jones, brother and sister, you can become a Duck Jones. John 14, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. That's what Jesus Christ said. I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. He went to the cross to shed the blood that was necessary to bring us back to the Father. How much blood did that take? It doesn't matter. It took blood, and that brought reconciliation. Colossians 1.20, and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, by Him I say whether there be things in earth or things in heaven. Romans chapter 5, But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. The means of being reconciled is alone in Jesus Christ. Through God, but in Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In the Bible, the blood of Christ is a powerful thing. But do you know there is no place in the New Testament that we read about the power of the blood. We read about the power of the cross. But I don't think the Bible has to tell us about the power of the blood. But for everyone that's reconciled knows the blood has to be powerful to reconcile a criminal like me. But the Bible doesn't talk about the power of the blood. But it is powerful. We read about the power of the cross. The cross needs to be preached. But you know what else needs to be preached? The resurrection. The resurrection needs to be preached. You know why? Read 1 Corinthians 15. The Bible tells us if Jesus would have suffered. I'm just paraphrasing it. If He'd have suffered and He'd have died and shed His blood and was buried. If He wouldn't have resurrected from the first fruits of them that slept. If He wouldn't have resurrected. Brother Aaron. Brother Lester. Brother Manny. Your faith would be vain. Your preaching would be vain. And we would be yet in our sins. Let's not bypass the power of the cross. Let's not bypass the blood. But let's not stop at that. Let's go to the end and bring out that we may know Him and of His resurrection. There is power that's available to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You know, we may know Him. God has reconciled believers, those that have repented of their sins. We are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. And Jesus rose from the dead. That we may know Him and the power of His resurrection. You know, today we live in a sad condition, a spiritual condition of the church of America. But that sad condition has nothing to do with our reconciliation to God. We're still reconciled to God. But in the church, there's way too many people that know Jesus, like all of us in here know Obama. If I were to ask you, do you know Obama, our president? Everyone that's an adult would say yes. I saw pictures of him. You see a picture every day of him someplace. Then I'll ask you, have you ever met him? Does anybody in here ever met him? Raise your hand if you did. Not one hand goes up. Nobody in here knows Obama. We just know of Obama. But we don't know him because we never met him. We never fellowshiped with him. We never talked to him. We just know of him. But we don't know him. But brother, sister, God wants us to do more than that to Jesus Christ. He wants us to know him and the power of his resurrection. That's what brings a changed life. That's what brings a new vision. That's what brings a new direction. Yes, the church is apostasy. We don't have to be part of it. We don't have to be part of that apostasy. We don't have to be part of that carnality. Because of what Jesus Christ has done and is doing for us, we are more than conquerors. My question, do you know Jesus Christ or do you know of him? Point four, the result of our reconciliation to God is a life of righteousness and holiness. Many people in the church today, When I say the church, because there is only one church. There is only one body. It's universal. It goes all the way across the globe. But I'm talking to us Americans. Many will claim that man cannot live righteously. That righteous living has nothing to do with our standing with God. Is that scriptural? Is that consistent with scripture? Absolutely not. Are we saved by works? Absolutely not. The Bible tells us. What does the Bible teach us on this? The Bible teaches us much on this. Romans 1.17, the just shall live by faith. There I go again. The righteous, the just will live out his Christian life. The just shall live by faith. Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Just powerful scriptures. Just forever settled in heaven. It will endure forever. For the grace of God. Titus 2.11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men. Teaching us. If you are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Then the grace of God will teach man and woman. Son and daughter. To deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly, righteously and godly in the life to come. In this present world. Looking for that blessed hope. And the glories appearing of the great God, our Savior Jesus Christ. Who gave Himself for us. That He might redeem us from some iniquity. All iniquity. And purify unto Himself a peculiar people. Soldiers of good works. He will, brethren, sisters, sinner friends. It doesn't matter what your background is. It doesn't matter what your life was. I'll say what your lifestyle was. Jesus Christ. You can be reconciled to Jesus Christ. You know, when we look at that. We say, yes, He died for the adulterers. He died for the fornicators. He died for the prostitutes. He died for those people. He did. But you know what? If that was your background, that was your life. Perverted sin. Perverted immorality. You can be reconciled to Jesus Christ. You can be reconciled to God. Another group of people that can be reconciled to God. That's those that are covetous. And greed for gain. And money is one of their main things. That dictates us through life. That's also a class of people that God will reach out. You know, but those are harder to find. Those are harder to be reached with reconciliation. Than those that know they're in the gutter of sin. There's only one way to go and that's through Jesus Christ. Yes, if we're guilty of covetousness. We're guilty of easy gain. We're guilty of that dollar. The abuse of that dollar. We can repent and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodly and to live holy. That's part of Christianity. And there's no detour. There's no way to get around that. It's not a have-to. It's a get-to. It's a get-to. When we are in Christ, having fellowship with God, let's just see the blessings that are ours. Not to come, but to have. 1 John 1.7 If we walk as we... Who is that one with another? The Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit. Let's go on. And, do you believe that? Absolutely, I believe that. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship, one with another. One with another. The blood of Jesus Christ. His Son cleanses us from all sin. You know, He doesn't cover. The Old Testament blood covered. Praise God, in the New Testament, it does more than cover. It washes away. You know, like that right there is from cards. Those cards are covered. But they still exist. They still exist, right? In the New Testament, it's washed away. I can take my hand off. I can take the covering off. It doesn't exist. It's washed. It's washed. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we walk in the light as He is in the light. You know, there is something, a beautiful mystery that is unfolding. That by walking in the light as He is in the light, we fellowship, we communicate, we talk to God through the Holy Spirit. We talk to the Holy Spirit. And right in the midst of that, there is a purging and a cleansing that's continual. Oh, beautiful. Beautiful. You know, we live in a sin-tested world. It's iniquity is abounding. Sin, we're in the presence of evil and sin. The summertime, it's not almost, you should become a hermit in the summertime. You know, billboards, or magazine racks, nudity on the streets and the sidewalks. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and there's a continual cleansing just in my soul. Just a continual cleansing. You know, sometimes I look at it driving down the road, and it starts to rain, and it's enough raining that we put the windshield wipers on. There's a continual bombarding of rain against the windshield, but there's a continual cleansing. John 1-7. Let's do it every day, brother. Walk in the light as He is in the light. Have contact with Him, hearing Him. Yes, we also have fellowship one with another, but I don't believe that's really talking about me having fellowship with Brother Ben or Brother Freeman. We have fellowship. It's talking about my connection, the fruit of my reconciliation is having fellowship with the Holy Ghost. It just cleanses us. It cleanses our soul. It cleanses our heart like soap cleanses our hands. It washes us. Because we are in Christ living for Him. Romans 8-1. There is therefore... I went through that, so you know that verse. Keep remembering that verse. It is in Christ. There is therefore no condemnation for those that are in Christ. Not in a church denomination. Not in a certain religion. Not in a certain movement. But in Christ. Christ only. And it's universal. It's not different for another culture, another people group. It is Christ. Here's a beautiful scripture in Romans chapter 4. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. What does impute mean? We have the imputed righteousness of Christ, don't we? Of God. Are you a blessed man this morning? Amen. Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not impute sin. We have no righteousness of our own. We have no righteousness that we can muster up, that we can just offer to God on a platter. He says, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. No. It's His righteousness imputed to us. And we live out His righteousness. In our daily lives, in this human flesh, we live out the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imputed unto us. Imputed... I'm sure most of you, all of you know what imputed means. But if I give Brother Aaron a $500 check, that check is no good to him, no value to him, till he takes it to the bank and transfers it from my account to his account. That is... That $500 would have been imputed from my account to your account. And bless God that Christ's righteousness is transferred to our account. And He will not transfer our sins to our account. He took them upon Himself and He cleansed them and forgave them through the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. That's our reconciliation. That is our reconciliation. The result of being reconciled to God is a life of righteousness and holiness lived out in human shoe leather. The last one, the means of our reconciliation to God is the gospel of Christ. Jesus sent the apostles to preach the word of reconciliation. Paul had much to tell the church at Corinth about it. Christ gave the great commission in Matthew 28, 18-20. Verse 18. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Because of that all power go ye. Therefore, keep going. Lo, I'm with you till the end of the week. No. The world hasn't come to an end yet. So, we're still commissioned to take the gospel and preach it to all the world. Teaching them to observe all things to what He has commanded us. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And He will be with us till He comes back again. Praise God. Mark 16. Another beautiful Scripture. Let me just turn to that. Mark 16. Almost the same. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, and they shall take up serpents, and if any drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. That's for us today, isn't it? Do you know why we Americans seldom experience... Yes, I just heard this weekend that I think maybe Brother Wes had a broken foot and people prayed and God healed. Bless God for that. But you know, it should happen more often than it does. But I believe the reason it doesn't happen in America, God withholds those miracles because He knows who would get the glory. And He's not going to share His glory with no man. Whenever He sees a people that will give all glory to God, He will show Himself according to the Scriptures. You know, I'll just share We have a sister in our community. I think I shared it with some from here. In fact, I called Emmanuel about it. She was diagnosed with cancer three different places in her body. And it did not look good. The doctor said he was a specialist for over 20 years. Got cancer on three spots. A lot of pain. And she wanted to be anointed. It was Wednesday evening, so one of the other churches there, Brother Dan, called me and said, I would like for you to contact some people and have your church starting to pray. Quarter after nine, we're going to start anointing. The anointing service for Sister Patty. And it just gripped me. That was our cell group evening. But I contacted 12 different churches from coast to coast. Wednesday, start praying at quarter after nine. She was anointed. She went to the doctor. And the doctor said, I've been at this for over 20 years. Never saw anything like it. It's all clear. It's all clear. You know, God does that. You know, missionaries in other countries experience that more often than we do here. Three and a half years ago, I was in Pakistan working under Can. We had a brother. He didn't drink something deadly, but he ate something that was very poisonous to his body. He was allergic. He is allergic to iodine salt. And he ate a lot of iodine salt the evening before. The next morning, everything was intense. Way up in the northern Pakistan, the foothills of the Himalayas. So far back in, you know. The next morning, I said, what is wrong with him? I mean, his eyes were starting to swell up. His throat was swelling up. We were having breakfast. And he said, you know, if I'd be at home, this sometimes comes on me at home, and I have to go to the hospital at home. Because I swell up, and I would choke. And there he was. And I tell you, just the way he was sitting there, we just got done eating breakfast, and just the way... I said, what's wrong, David? He said, it's swelling up inside. It's closing up. His eyes were puffed up. He was just swelled up. And I said, God, if you don't intervene, somebody's going to die. There's only, you know, we did not have cell phones. We did not have 911, EMT, doctors, hospitals. Just one thing we had. One thing we had. He didn't eat something deadly. He didn't drink something, but he ate something. We told him, we're going to pray for you. I'm not sure if he was in a chair, or on his knees, but three or four of us got around, and we laid, we said, lay hands on them. We laid hands on him, and we prayed. I don't know if anybody here was in that work project in Pakistan. Was anybody in here was in that project in Pakistan? Everything was out of tents. The eating tent, the sleeping tent, this tent here, that tent, probably 200, maybe as far as 150, 200, between 200 and 300 feet up in the hill was the men's portable outhouse. We laid hands on him, and prayed over him. And he got out, and this is nothing, and this happened. And he was going to the sleeping tent to get some clothing, and all of a sudden, I saw him run towards the outhouse. And he went up there and opened that door, and he started puking. He puked, and puked, and agonized, and groaned, and everybody was, the whole compound heard him. You could hear it 100 yards away. And he just puked, and puked. And when he came out, both of his hands were in the air. He said, I'm healed. I'm healed. He said, God healed me. For five minutes, he couldn't bring those hands down. God came, and he puked all that poison right out of his system. And he just, he said, I'm healed. Do you think we gave man glory? We gave God the glory that is due to him. But you know, God wants to do those things among us. When we're sick, I'm not sick every time. I have ringing ears. Yesterday at the wedding, yesterday at the wedding, the singing, I could hear my ears ring above the singing. That's what I'm facing the last four or five years. I was anointed for the healing of my ears. I still trust God. But, let me tell you, God wants to show himself strong on those that are reconciled to him. But, let's never take the glory to man. And I think that's why he holds us back. Because he wants the glory. But America is cultured to take it upon themselves. Well, I had the thing with my nephew a couple of weeks ago from Montana to New York to a wedding in Toledo, Ohio. He stopped. He thought something was wrong with his tire. So he pulled into a rest area. He got out. Went down on his knees like that. Had his foot stuck out like that. Was looking at the tire. He had a diesel truck and he was running. And a woman backed out. It was a SUV. Ran out. And right over his foot, over his ankle, right down on the blacktop. Just twisted the foot, that 45 degrees. And just the back tire went over that angle. And he screamed with pain. And he pulled, quick pulled the foot in, so she panicked and pulled forward again. Just missed the foot the second time. It just started swelling up. It just felt like a bag, he said, like a bag of ice cubes down there. An officer came, an ambulance came on the way to the hospital. He called his mother in Montana. Told her what happened. Prayed for me. My sister quick put on a chain call. Prayed. Took to the emergency room. Doctor came in. Said, your foot is broken. But we have to check to see how many places and where all. Went in and took all the tests they could take. And came out. No broken bones. Glory. That's the blessings that we can experience in this life. If we're reconciled to God. Jason told me, my foot was broke. In more than one place. He said, but God decided to intervene. Because he knew he was going to get a lot of glory. The purpose of, the purpose, the means of our reconciliation is the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ. Christ gave the great commission in Matthew 28. Again in Mark 16. The word of reconciliation has to be preached. So lost society can be shown their state of separation from God. And come back to him. That's one purpose of preaching the gospel. That's not the only purpose. But the gospel needs to be preached to all nations. To all people groups. Showing them, that through Jesus Christ, they can be reconciled, reinstated back to their maker and their creator. Coming back to, coming back to God is what reconciliation is. Coming back to God. Acts 4.20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Woe unto us if we preach not the gospel. That's singular, but I just made it plural. Woe unto us if we preach not the gospel. For I am not ashamed of Why? For who? Believers. For everyone that believes. We must recognize today the power which the word has to change people and bring them to their Savior. James 1.21 Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness, superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with neatness the engrafted word which is able to save our souls. The engrafted word which is able to save our souls. The word of reconciliation retains its power and endures forever. 1 Peter 1 But the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. Though the world rejects it, the word of reconciliation is still powerful powerful to bring people back to God. This is still the message and cry for today. 2 Corinthians 5.20 We pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God. The Apostle Paul has much to say about our reconciliation to God in 2 Corinthians 5. I read those verses. I tried to bring out five points. The basis of it, 2 Corinthians 5.14 The effect of it in verse 17. The place, location of it in verse 18. The result of it in verse 19. And the means of it in verse 20. Let us so live our let us live so our reconciliation to God is evident to those among us. The Bible does not say to make your light shine. The Bible says to let your light shine. If we are reconciled to God we won't make our light shine. It will shine. It will shine. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to ring the alarm and wake up the sleevy workforce. The church has slept till past noon. The day is getting on. The harvest is ready. In closing, Philippians 2.15 Let me start in verse 13. Philippians 2.13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Verse 15 That ye you and I, we us ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. It is God's purpose to reconcile us to His Son that we can live a harmless, we can live in a perverted, crooked evil world reconciled and our of the darker society gets, the brighter will the redeemed light of Christ shine. May the Lord bless. Amen. God has spoken that ministry of reconciliation for all those who are reconciled. That is our calling. Amen. Thank you Brother Manny for sharing with us the word of the Lord. We want to give opportunity for anyone to share a testimony or a word of confession or blessing as the spirit of God leads that the congregation may be edified together. So someone who has something on their heart that they'd like to share, raise your hand and then the usher will get a microphone to you. Both brother and our sisters for the west. Amen. Yeah, I want to confess my need and also confess the Lord's kindness and personalness. I, last night and early this morning, I was just crying out to the Lord for a new work of God in my life and I felt like this morning I wasn't even exactly sure what I was praying for. The Bible speaks of the spirit praying with us and for us. Groaning with words that can't be uttered, but I was only in the building here about 25 minutes before I just felt the Lord come and sit beside me and start speaking and I was very blessed. Thank you brother Freeman for obeying the Lord. Your words spoke deeply to my own heart and I purpose to go home and talk to the Lord more about it and learn more and I'm just very glad to have been here and very humbled by the Lord's personal interest. If brother Freeman came up from Virginia just for me, then that could be the case. It felt that personal and I praise the Lord. Praise God. Amen. Just to comment on that, Wes, brother Freeman came up for me too because when he was preaching I was like, oh, this is for me. I don't know if I'm the only one who this is for because that is so me. I let the circumstances and even my own sin, it just when it passes through the heart and it does, it brings you down to that prison and everything so that was a real blessing for me and like Wes said, I look forward to going home and just to working that out and everything and just to encourage all the young people who if that's where you find yourself, we do have a God who when Paul and Silas praised the Lord in prison, he broke down those walls and he can do that in our hearts and if you find yourself just in the beginning of that, you know, and just even if it's sin in your life or you know, just get it right later, you know, that's so easy to do because, you know, God's grace and but that's just stop there and say, no, I can't go that far. It's not where I want to go because it is, it's such a prison and I've been there and I still am there and you don't want to go there. So, thank you Brother Freeman for that. Amen. Anyone else? Just would like to share that I feel I was touched by this insurance man that Brother Manny spoke about and I'm a dying man just like all of us are dying men. Could be 8 weeks, could be 80 years, but we're dying men and we have nothing to lose but everything to gain in Christ and just, I was through the message, I just had to remember that all the time, that I'm a dying man. Not because I'm aware of anything right now, but we still are. And Christ, God, Christ has given us one purpose in life. He allows us to, all of us, He gives every one of us a different He calls us to work that calling out in a different way, but we all have one reason here to live on this earth and to glorify Him. Be a witness unto His name. And just to remember that again, that I'm a dying man, that was very, very much spoke to me. I thought of the ministry of reconciliation, Brother Manny and Brother Freeman. The ministry of reconciliation in the body of Christ. The scriptures say, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such in one in the spirit of meekness and considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Is there not a need for a ministry of reconciliation in the body of Christ, that as we face circumstances in life and sometimes like sea billows rolling over us and we get swept up by the current. And what a blessing when a brother or a sister that is walking with God comes along and sees our dilemma and our distress right here at this point. And instead of going down, they help us to see and to gain hope and faith in Christ. And instead of going down, we go up. Oh, Lord God, I thank God for that ministry where men and brethren have invested in my life. And I believe that's a very valuable ministry. You know, when we think of reconciliation, Brother Manny, we so often think of the Jones out there. But I think you touched on it a little bit. What about in the brotherhood? What about when there's hurts and difficulties and pains and we need to bear one with another and suffer one with another? I'll share this, Brother Manny shared this with me personally, that someone visiting in a home said, there's just such a beautiful spirit of peace here. What is your secret? And he said, well, there's two bears living in this home. The one is forebear. And what was the other one? We bear with one another and we forebear with one another. Two bears. Oh, I thought that was a blessing. Amen. There's a sister that would like to share. Go ahead. Yeah, I don't know. I had wanted to share, but I wasn't sure how I could put it into words. This past week I've been down for three days laying flat on my bed because I was dizzy and whenever I didn't turn my head, it would make me nauseous. But during that time, the Lord used that circumstance to speak to my heart and to renew my mind in Christ liveth in me and working through how he uses how the God of peace will sanctify us wholly and it's how he uses circumstances in our lives to bring us to those points where we see the splash of the water. We see what's inside coming out and it's when we confess our faults at that point when we see the splash of the something inside us that God is wanting to change. If we confess our faults to one another, then our brothers can lift us up and God can do that sanctifying work that I not get down at that point and be under the devil's condemnation the accuser of the brethren, but to look up in faith that God is sanctifying me. Christ lives in me and he is doing a sanctifying work to make me into the image of Christ through the pressures of life that come and push my heart and Satan wants to use it to put me in prison and bring me in bondage, but Christ means it to set me free at liberty. Amen. Underneath of the everlasting arms. Amen. Thank you, sister. Thank you all for sharing. Maybe we could sing that little chorus on the new creation. I'm a brand new man. But we have another brother who wants to share. Is that right? OK. Yeah, I was extremely blessed this morning just being here. Both sermons I thought were very good. And I saw a quote here a couple of days ago. I don't know if I can quote it word for word, but it was here was kind of a gist of it. Difficulties are the doorway to miracles. And when I read the quote, I was like, wow, that is so good. It's so true. Because so many times I have found in my own life when I face difficulties that I take this downward route. And I know I'm learning otherwise, but I'm not at the point where I want to be yet. But yesterday I was I was sitting on a while I went to a park somewhere just spend some time reading, spending with the Lord. And I was there reading a couple of books out on the table. And a guy came along and said, hey, are you a college student? I was like, well, no, but I do like to study. So anyway, we were just talking and I just share with him that I'm not studying necessarily just to study, but I'm reading because I want to go somewhere with my life. And so he he kind of launched into this testimony, I could say, of how he has been a trucker for, I think he said, 35 years and how one day he was driving down the road and while he previously he said how many times he would just have to have this smoke and he'd be there doing nothing. So he would just smoke. He had to have something to do. He was addicted. Now one day he was driving down the road and God showed him, you know, you need to stop this. And he had a difficult time with it, but he eventually came to the point where he ever came in. I was just so blessed by hearing that that, you know, this man, he overcame the circumstances and went on. Thank you, Elam.