Unforgivable SIN!

A young fellow in the church, April and I were functioning in a church in Hamilton, and I wasn’t the youth pastor, I was the other pastor. It was unbelievable, all the different things that were my responsibility. And there was a young fellow in that church, a whole bunch of young guys, they were called the Bethel boys, they were famous for the wrong reasons. 

And I tried not to be a Bethel boy, I tried to live above that and be a good pastor. I became good friends with them, I played football with them, and did whatever I needed to do. And there’s one of them today, by the way, I’ll finish this, today, he’s a pastor out west, and I’ll leave his name out in case you would, maybe somebody here would recognize the name, we’ll leave it alone. 

I got this, not a phone call, this guy shows up, and I’ll just call him Keith, he shows up at the door, and he says, he looks all nervous, and he’s perspiring, he said, I need to talk, we need to talk. I said, okay, he said, not here, not here. And the church had a basement, and it was all fully finished. 

And so we went down, and he led me into a classroom, and he said, close the door, close the door. And I thought, holy moly, where’s this going? Close the door. And I’m looking around, I’m wondering, well, what’s the worry? So he sat down, he’s almost in tears. 

I have to confess something. I said, okay. And he said, you know the movie, The Exorcist? I said, I’ve heard about it. 

He said, pastor, I went to it, and I’m so sorry. I said, I’m sure the Lord will forgive you. But pastor, I can hear the music in my head. 

He said, I wake up in the middle of the night. And he said, in school, and he said, I think I’m demon possessed. And so it was at that point, I wanted to, I really wanted to laugh, because his imagination had really run off with him. 

And I don’t know about you, but songs will get into my head, and I want to get rid of them. Anybody, has anyone here ever been caught in a merry-go-round sense in your head? You’ve been to Disney, and you can’t get, what is the song that’ll drive you nuts? It’s a small, small world. Some of you won’t hear anything else that I say now, because the music is rolling in your head, and it’ll drive you nuts.

And what is that? Well, I don’t know. But Keith was quite sure that this music that got into his head, it was the devil for sure. Well, I’m demon possessed. 

And he said, that means that I’ve committed the unforgivable sin. And I thought, my goodness, this guy’s got his own theology built around this now. And I remember, I really believe the Lord gave me an answer for him. 

He said, I’m demon possessed, and I’ve committed the unforgivable sin. I said, no, no, no, no, stop it, stop it. I said, you have not committed the unforgivable sin.

He said, how do you know that? I said, why did you come here to see me today? Well, because I’m concerned. I’m concerned about my soul. I said, do you know what the scripture says about that? No person can pursue God on their own. 

There’s nothing about us that’s righteous. No desire for righteousness. I said, we’re all bent the other way. 

It’s in our nature. I said, the very fact that you fear you’ve lost your salvation, the very fact that you’re concerned about all this, I said, that’s God, the Holy Spirit, he’s working on you. I said, you haven’t committed the unforgivable sin, you’re not demon possessed. 

I said, the Holy Spirit is trying to get your attention. And I said, it looks like he did. I said, it’s too bad it had to happen down here in this cave in the basement of Bethel Hamilton. 

But I said, he’s a pastor today. But how many people have, I’ve had more than one. He was just the first one, but I’ve had other people come and say, is it possible that I’ve committed the unforgivable sin? I said, what brought you here today? Why are you here? And the very fact that there’s intrigue and interest, if a person has committed the unforgivable sin and the Holy Spirit has left them, then there can be no desire whatsoever to seek out the things of God. 

So in case you’re wondering, no, you’re not demon possessed. Well, as far as we know. In the book of Genesis, the Lord God calls Abraham. 

And I want to remind all of us today, God did not seek out Abraham. No, Abraham did not seek out God. Abraham’s destiny was God’s idea.

And he said to him in Genesis 12, says, the Lord had said to Abraham, get out of your country and from your father’s house and follow me and I will give you a land. It’ll be yours. And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and you will become a blessing. 

That was a promise and it is today still a promise that had no conditions whatsoever. When God called upon Abraham to follow God, he was worshiping idols. It is believed by scholars that he was probably being trained to be a priest in some religion in that part of the world. 

It was either Iraq or Iran. It doesn’t matter which, probably Iraq. And so there was nothing about him that anybody could ever desire.

The Lord would know his heart. Maybe there was some facets of his person, his demeanor, his sense of determination, getting things. We don’t know, but God chose him because God chose him and God doesn’t answer to us as to why he does such a thing. 

And that promise, because God made it, is irrevocable. Now, I preached a camp out in Alberta some years ago. April will remember it well. 

A place was called Moose Lake Camp. There were no mooses, but it was a great place. It was very Ukrainian and I had a blast there, an absolute blast. 

And they saddled up with me for the morning teacher, a pastor I’d never met before, and we met in the dining hall and within 10 minutes, it was like we were welded. We were the best of friends. There was something about him, something about me. 

We just were welded and we became fast friends. With this one little departure, he was preaching, mentioning by times from the pulpit, God is done with Israel. Finished. 

He said these words, what people in the whole world are the most bent against Jesus? It’s the Jews. He said, there is the voice and the spirit of the antichrist. I never took him on with that because he was right and everybody else is always wrong.

And our friendship endured for quite a few years. I said, it did endure. Some other things kind of broke that relationship up. 

But God’s promise to Abraham is irrevocable. No matter what that nation does today, his promise is irrevocable. What God said he’s going to do, he’s going to do. 

And no Hamas or no army, no Gog, Magog, no Chinese guy, nobody, nobody, but nobody, not even our own prime minister who’s demanding that Israel does what he says and yield to the Palestinians. Nobody gets to tell God how this is going to end out. The last chapter is a glorious one.

And we get, we get to enjoy it as adopted children. We’ve been grafted in is the terminology in the scripture. Because you see, Paul makes it abundantly clear in the book of Romans that the gospel was to the Jew first. 

He was writing to the Romans who were Gentiles. And he’s celebrating the fact that the gospel has been given to them. And then he reminds them, by the way, the gospel was first to the Jew. 

And then happily, he said, and to the Greeks also, he meant everybody plus the Jews. So the gospel, the message, the kingdom, everything was with the Jewish people in mind. And this is not an accusation. 

It’s a reality. When you and I read the Bible, we tend to read it from a Gentile position. And that’s normal because that’s what we are. 

We’re Gentiles. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And from my infancy, you know, I saw the cradle, the little creche with the little cradle. 

And we did it all in our church and the little dramas. And in my heart, in my mind and in my heart, it was all about us. Oh, Jesus. 

And I sang, Jesus loves me. This I know. And that’s all accurate. 

It’s true. But I interpreted the word of God from David’s point of view. I went to a wonderful church. 

My pastor was wonderful. I thought his wife was angelic. Just the whole thing was absolutely wonderful.

And the gospel was all about us. Yes. It was first to the Jew. 

First, it was to the Jew. And when John the Baptist came and said, make way. He’s coming. 

He’s coming. That was a message to the Jews. John the Baptist did not preach that message in New York City or in Toronto. 

He preached it to the Jews, to the Jew first. And it might surprise you, but Jesus was a Jew. And those who hate Jews, I got a problem with them. 

The message was to the Jew first. And isn’t it interesting when John said, the kingdom is coming, the kingdom is coming. And then he said, therefore, repent. 

Repent. Because you see, God made a covenant with Abraham. And although the covenant, the promise was non-conditional, the fulfillment of the promise is conditional. 

If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land. I want to heal your land. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you under my wings. 

I’ve come for you first, but you would not have it. Jesus mentions in his preaching as well that the Gentiles are going to be blessed by this. But his message was first to the Jew. 

Jesus always went to the synagogues and taught them. He always referenced the scripture that were given from Genesis onward. He referenced those. 

It was God’s message to the Jew, for God had chosen them to be his voice and his model for the whole world. It was God’s purpose that Israel would be a model, a picture of what the Egyptians should be, of what all the Arabs should be, what all of the future world should be. They are to be the very personification of God on the world. 

And by the way, the Lord said, and the city of Jerusalem is going to be the capital of the world, and someday it will be to the Jew first. That promise is unrevocable, but the fulfillment of the promise is still waiting. So I wrestled with this little question in my mind, and I thought, how do I ask this? How do I propose this? So when Jesus came into the world, and I have said it, why did Jesus come into the world? And I have said, he came with one purpose, and that was to die for me, for my sins, and for you. 

You got the cart ahead of the horse, David. He came first for the Jew. And he came offering himself, saying, the kingdom of heaven is very near you, and the one who’s to bring it all together is standing before you right now. 

Who do you think you are, Jesus? You think you’re greater than Abraham? Before Abraham was, I am. And so the interesting fact is that he came first to the Jews, and when we’re reading in the gospels, he’s making a pitch, he’s inviting them, he’s endeavoring to embrace them, and there’s a beautiful layout. Somebody gave me a wonderful volume, and I got into it, and I never saw this before. 

So what I’m about to mention to you right now is not David’s wonderful academic prowess, it’s what I gleaned from the many, many books in my tiny library. I gave my library away to a young man that I trained, and I groomed him, and I turned the church in Vancouver over to him, and I left him my entire library. So I was without books forever, but I wasn’t going to be a preacher anymore. 

I was going to be this, and this, and this, and then I didn’t know about you people. I didn’t know you had plans, and so my library started coming together again, and so this book came my way, and I never saw this because I don’t have the kind of mind that works this way, and I assume most of you do not either. This fellow in his writing brought to my attention that the first 11, 12 chapters of Matthew, I’m going to cough, the first 12 chapters are Jesus coming and saying, I’m here for you, and I’m going to bring the kingdom, and they were looking for the kingdom to come, but they didn’t want this kind of a king, of course, and even his disciples in Acts chapter 1 were still in that frame of mind. 

Will you restore the kingdom now? They were all about the kingdom, and what they did was they didn’t know in Acts chapter 1 is the kingdom had already bypassed them, and it happened in Matthew chapter 12. It happened in Matthew chapter 12. I never saw this before. 

The first 12 chapters of Matthew are the stories of Jesus going from synagogue to synagogue, ministering to people under a tree, suffering little children to come unto me, all of these wonderful things, and doing miraculous things. He definitely wasn’t a Pentecostal. He turned water into wine.

I thought somebody would throw a Tim Donut my way at that. He did wonderful things until Matthew chapter 12. In Matthew chapter 12, the first 13 verses record for us that Jesus is with his disciples, and it’s the Lord’s day, it’s the Sabbath, and they wander into the fields and start. 

It was a given, and it was an okay to go into a field. If you were hungry, you could go into a farmer’s field, and you can’t do this in Vineland, don’t try it, but you could go into their field and pick an apple or whatever you needed to do, because Israel, we’re one big happy family anyhow, but it’s the Sabbath, and you can’t work on the Sabbath. So, the disciples go into a field and start plucking corn, and the Pharisees came against Jesus and said, your followers are not following the Sabbath properly. 

And so, Jesus dealt with that, of course, and said, if your sheep falls down in the ditch on the Sabbath, you’re surely going to rescue it. How much more important is a person’s belly when they’re hungry than a sheep down in the ditch? The Sabbath is for the people, not the other way around. They did not like that.

Who does he think he is? And so, in verse 14, it says, this is important, I just said God’s promise, his covenant is irrevocable. Something happened in verse 14, Matthew 12, then the Pharisees went out and held a council, they had a committee meeting. You know how we got a camel, right? It’s a committee’s idea of a horse. 

Committees can be a really messy place. The Pharisees went out and held a committee meeting against Jesus. How can we destroy him? But when Jesus knew it, when did he know it? Instantaneously. 

He withdrew himself from there. He wasn’t like Rocky Gilboa, Bilboa, with his gloves, and he wasn’t like that famous western guy with his gun strapped on, go ahead and make my day. He left. 

It was not time to deal with them. He withdrew himself, and a great multitude followed him. So, leaving the place did not work very well. 

He knew that, but he went. And as they followed him, he kept on turning around and healing them. And it says at the end of verse 15, he healed them all. 

Every disease. But then he charged them, don’t go blabbing this all over the place. He was not ready to do business with the Pharisees. 

He said, don’t make it known so that it would be fulfilled, which Isaiah the prophet had said, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul was well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him and show judgment to the Gentiles. There’s a key word right there. The promise is irrevocable, but its fulfillment can be stalled.

Jesus said, don’t blab it all over. And he withdrew himself so that it would be fulfilled. Look at my servant, Isaiah tells us, whom I have chosen. 

I’ve chosen him. He’s not been elected. I chose him. 

He’s my beloved. Thou art my beloved son in whom I’m well pleased. This verse is loading up who Jesus is. 

He’s God’s choice. And at the river Jordan, when Jesus came up out of the water, the spirit of God descended on him and stayed with him. And John the Baptist knew when he saw that. 

So this is the Messiah. And he’s my cousin. I had no idea. 

So the spirit of God came on him on that day. And it seems, depending on which gospel you read, it seems that the audience got in on the voice of the Lord saying, you are my beloved son. And with you, I’m well pleased. 

In another gospel, it says, as though he’s not talking directly to Jesus, he’s talking to the crowd. It says, this is my beloved son. I haven’t gone into the original Greek. 

My Greek isn’t that good to figure out which one is correct. In one of the gospels, he said, that is my son. And another one, he says, you are my beloved. 

I like the you are my beloved son. It’s much more personal. But this verse is stacking it up. 

Who is this Jesus? A few verses ago, the Pharisees, who do you think you are? Well, then it might be fulfilled. You’re the one whom my soul is pleased with. I put my spirit upon him, and he will show judgment to the Gentiles. 

Jews aren’t even mentioned because the gospel comes first to them. He will not strive, and he won’t cry out. Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

He’s not going to be a wild man in the streets. John the Baptist was the wild man, but he did his preaching out in the wilderness. A bruised reed shall he not break.

A smoking flax he’ll not quench, till he send forth judgment to victory. And in his name, the Gentiles will trust. 22, the verse. 

Then was brought to him one possessed with a devil. Oh, there is a person possessed. Blind and dumb. 

And it just says simply, Jesus healed him. And the Pharisees went crazy. I always wondered why. 

So, it’s good that you have books that you can read and you find people that have Jewish history. They have their doctorate. They’ve studied in the University of Jerusalem. 

Born and raised in Russia. Emigrated to Israel. Knows the book backwards, forwards, and upside down. 

And he brings out this concept I’d never heard of it. The people were accustomed to demon possession. And we read that in the Gospels.

But they, their custom or their understanding was based on this. How’s this going to be taken care of? I’ve got into some readings, some of those people who have tried to say, this is how it worked. My question has always been, was Jesus the first person to deal with demons? And the answer is no. 

In the Gospels, there were others. And it becomes blazingly clear right here that Jesus dealt with this person who had a demon possession. And it was evident by his being deaf and dumb. 

And that doesn’t mean a person who cannot speak and can’t hear is demonic. Get that out of your head. I know it wasn’t there anyhow. 

But the people who were listening became riveted by this and the Pharisees were outraged. Because it’s not folklore. There’s evidence. 

And this happened in different countries. Like there were people who were demon possessed and acted out certain things in certain ways, demonic ways. And the Egyptians had their way of doing it. 

Some countries, some cultures had medicine and some worked black magic. And somebody danced around the fire with their bare feet on the hot coals and pronounced this and that and the other thing. And they were always trying to get rid of the evil spirits. 

And remember, Jesus gets in the boat, goes across the lake. When he gets the other side, a man comes running to him, totally deranged. And the word says that the elders of that community had tried to deal with him. 

But they were at which end? How to deal with this guy? There was nobody in that community that somehow had some kind of a, do I use the word gift, of exercising. Couldn’t control the fellow. Jesus dealt with him.

But in this case, the man was deaf and he was dumb. And so the rendering that comes out of historians is this. That in Israel, there were those who would exercise or try to deal with demons. 

And the first thing they would do is they’d get the person that they assumed was possessed of a devil. And they’d get that person to speak the name of the demon that was within them. And of course, I think you understand this. 

It’s not something we want to know a whole lot about. But in such a case, the devil overtakes the vocal cords and the person speaks. By the way, I have faced the same in South Africa. 

Do I dare get into that story? It’ll take us an hour. I faced a man who knew no English. His own language was Shongan. 

He was a total nutcase. He had a murdering history because of his derangement. He was held up in some kind of an institution, barred from getting out. 

I was the preacher preaching at a camp meeting, an outdoor tent meeting. And they brought this guy to me. And I have to shorten the story, but they got him out of the car and he was going wild. 

And I just kept on saying the name of Jesus. And suddenly he went quiet and he laughed in my face. And these are the words. 

I’m getting the hair standing up on the back of my neck right now. He said he knew no English and he’d been living in an institution for how long? And he says, David, no power. I preached and fainted right there on the spot. 

I have been confronted by such things. I don’t have to go on with the story. Yes. 

He was delivered that very night. And the next day he was a totally free man. He proved to the whole institution and everything Jesus had salvaged his life. 

Great. I never saw him again. He had to get back to his family. 

He’d been locked away from his family for years. So I have faced it. This is not folklore. 

This kind of thing happens. And I met it up with down in the Caribbean. I faced this all over the world.

So it happens. It happens. And in the case of being deaf and dumb, if the passage is that the exorcist has to get this person to, the vocal cords have to say the name of the demon, then you see you would speak to that demon by its name and give it some kind of course of action. 

Whether it worked, we don’t know. But this man was deaf and he could not speak. So everybody’s watching and they bring this deaf, dumb person who everybody believes is demon-possessed, and the whole audience is thinking, well, there’s no chance of anything here. 

Like the guy can’t speak his name, so, but Jesus heals him. And the interesting thing is the people who are standing there, the people who are standing there begin to ask a question. And it intrigues me, they said, could it be that this is the Messiah, the son of David? It would be like being a person who’s looking for truth and being a student at York University. 

York University, you don’t ask a question about the reality of God. If you’re a teacher, you’re dismissed. And if you’re a student, you’re laughed upon. 

So if you want to ask anything at York University about God, you’ve got to ask it in kind of a funny way. Kind of like, of course, I don’t believe such things myself, but is it possible? So these people were saying, is it possible? But they were pronouncing it in sort of a negative way because the Pharisees were stroking their beards. And they’re saying, what are we going to do about this? This man obviously suddenly starts to speak and you can hear. 

And the Pharisees are saying, we got a problem here. And these people are afraid to say, I think Jesus is the Messiah. They ask in sort of a negative question.

Could it possibly be? A decision has to be made. By what power did Jesus exercise this demonic spirit? Isaiah, I chose him, my beloved, in whom my soul is pleased. I put my spirit in him. 

Read it, Pharisee, for yourself. The Messiah will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. By what spirit did this Jesus do this? All the people are amazed. 

Isn’t this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, this fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub. I looked that up. I heard about this terminology years ago. 

I think it’s a fictitious book or something. I never read it, and I don’t want to. The book is called Lord of the Flies. 

I just don’t even like the term. Beelzebub means Lord of the Flies. It means first or second cousin of the devil himself.

The prince of devils. That makes it Satan. By what power did Jesus heal this man? The crowd is saying, well, what if he’s the son of David? What if he’s the Messiah? So the question has been posed by Jesus for the first 12 chapters.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Choose you this day. I’m here, Jerusalem. 

I’m here, my family. I’m here for you. Can I put it this way? There didn’t have to be a crucifixion. 

Say, pastor, pastor. No, you’re getting all mixed up. God knew, God knew. 

Yes, he did, but you got to separate those two stories for the moment to get clarity. He came to the Jew first, and it’s not until Matthew 12 that the Jews spoke. The Pharisees spoke. 

The people said, well, is it possible? Is it possible that this could be the Messiah we’re looking for? And they looked to the Pharisees who were the leaders, and they said, he’s driven and empowered. This man, Jesus, is demon-possessed himself. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

If the Pharisees had said of Jesus, I don’t like him, they would have been forgiven. If they’d said, we think Jesus is a sinner. We think Jesus is a fake.

They could have said anything about Jesus, but they crossed a line. By what power is he doing these things? And they said, he’s demon-possessed. They just blasphemed the Holy Spirit. 

And what was the result? Judgment fell on a whole generation. Jesus is not offering the kingdom after Matthew 12. The judgment that Jesus pronounces on them that very day, it also was irrevocable. 

You say, now, pastor, wait a minute. You already used that word irrevocable. The promise is irrevocable. 

It is. But so is a curse given by God. You cross the line, and you’re condemned. 

And that is irrevocable. Does that mean all of Israel is lost? As of today, as of today, the Pharisees made their decision that day. And you know how it went on from there. 

They saw to it that he was betrayed by Judas for a few loonies or toonies. Crucify him. Crucify him. 

Why? The Pharisees would say, he’s demon-possessed. Get rid of him. How would somebody verify from the Pharisees he’s demon-possessed? Well, he casts out demons. 

And he’s sure not no king of ours. He’s got to be a fake. He’s a phony. 

And he’s got the spirit of the Lord of the flies in him. Crucify him. Get rid of him. 

And we don’t want his blood in the streets. So crucify him outside the city. And get him down off the cross before it’s too late. 

Because tomorrow is a great Jewish festival. And we don’t want the remains. Get him down. 

Get him buried. Get him out of the way. He came to his own, Isaiah 53. 

And his own received him not. It’s interesting. Jesus goes on and explains to the people. 

But he’s talking to the Pharisees. And I’ve got a minute to read this. I want to do it. 

Jesus replies, if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. Or how can one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first binds the strong man, and then he’ll spoil his house? He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven. 

You see, this is Jesus’ response. By what power, Jesus says, let me tell you about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. 

And the spirit descended upon him and rested upon him. Jesus miracles everything that he did. He did by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

You say, well, he was God in the flesh. He could do anything. He was God in the flesh. 

And he could do anything. But he relied on the Holy Spirit, which is a beautiful model for you and I. We don’t have to be deity to exercise spiritual authority. We don’t have to be deity. 

We don’t have to be God the Son to do the exploits of the things of the Lord. We rely on the Holy Spirit. So Jesus was a model of how to function under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

And of course, these guys said, he’s not under the Holy Spirit. He’s a devil. Whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. 

That’s verse 32. You say something about me, that’s okay. But whoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. 

Are you sitting down to the next words? Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it not be forgiven him, not in this world, nor in the world to come. These people will not be forgiven now in this world, but in another world, they will not be forgiven. What world is that? Well, in Ezekiel 35, the Lord through the prophet says to the children of Israel, you will rise again. 

Your bodies will come forth out of the grave. You and I, you know, the gospel is all about us. We’re going to go up in the first resurrection, the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the Lord. 

The resurrection was first of all planned for the Jew. We’re grafted in. We’re grafted in. 

We’ve been added on. Ezekiel 35, I’ll put my spirit in you. I’ll open the graves and you will live in your land. 

Do they have any land? Well, the UN is trying to take it away from them and turn it into a Palestinian state. Will that happen? Dave’s not a prophet. There’s so many things in the Bible about Gaza. 

It’s not an unknown. Someday Gaza is going to be a pasture in a glorious time when Jesus is looking after things. Gaza is going to be a pasture. 

It doesn’t look like one now, but he’s the God of miracles. And the Lord said in Ezekiel 37, did I say 35? It’s Ezekiel 37. And he says, when I do those things, then you will know I am the Lord. 

You see, the Jewish people died not responding and not following hard after the Lord and the Lord was forgiving them. And when they rise again from the dead, they will look upon him whom they pierced and they will say Jesus loves us and they’ll be forgiven. How can that be? The blood of the cross answers to the promise by Abraham. 

Even though they fail God, he will redeem them. There’s a redemptive purpose. Paul the apostle said, Romans 1 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, but to the first. 

God’s not done with the Jews. So the worst, the message was John the Baptist, repent and prepare for him. He said, make it a nice clear place for Jesus to travel.

We just finished a building program in London, 1970, what? And it had been such a huge day, three services that day. It was a dedication service. The general superintendent came.

Everything was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. And I had gone just on nerves the entire day. It was a day of excitement. 

And the superintendent is left and there’s still about a hundred people left in the auditorium. And I’m standing to a group of people and all of a sudden I woke up in my office and they’re fanning me and they’ve got a wet cloth on my head and they said, do you want a drink? And I said, what are we, what’s going on here? I had fainted right there. I just had wasted all my energy, I guess. 

And I hit the ground and I woke up in my office. A fellow shows up and he says, you got to go up to my dad’s cottage up in the Bruce Peninsula. You’ll find the key under a rock. 

If you’re going to hide a key, don’t put it under your rock. Everybody does that. You’ll come home. 

Have the thieves been trying to get in? Well, the rocks in your garden all turned over that they were here. And so we went, we found the key and we went in and it was wonderful. And we woke up in the morning. 

There was no power. There’d been a storm had gone through in the night. We slept through the whole thing. 

And we were on this gravel road. It was up at a beautiful lake, but we were, we were trapped. I went for a walk to see the devastation from the wind. 

There was a huge tree down over here. Oh, it couldn’t get out that way. Don’t worry. 

There’s a way down here to the lake. Can you get her? I went, there was a tree down. We were locked in. 

We couldn’t get out. We were there for days without power. There was a little Creek running outside. 

I just banged the ice through and got some water. I put some fire on and we drank. I don’t know what we do. 

We had no food. We just drank tea. We lived on love in order for us to get out. 

Somebody had to come out and clear out the rubble. The storms of yesterday, John the Baptist comes and says, trees are down. There’s rocks on the road. 

The road’s impassable. Your sins, your neglect of the word. The way you’ve been living. 

If you want Jesus to come and bless you, he’s coming. Couldn’t name him. He didn’t know his name, but he said, he’s coming. 

He’s coming. He’s coming. I’m the voice in the wilderness. 

He’s coming for goodness sake. Repent now. So that when he arrives, you are a candidate for the blessing of God. 

The majority did not do so because they had it fixated in their mind. We want a king, but he’s got to look like how we want him to look like. He can’t suffer on a cross.

He can’t ride on a donkey. This is not the model we’re looking for. And Israel is in that place today. 

But the day is coming when they look upon him whom they pierced. I’ll tell you this last. I don’t have any proof. 

I don’t have anything to quote for you, but all kinds of information is coming out of Israel. Young people in Israel are turning to God. And you know another country where more people are turning to God than even in Israel? Iran. 

They’re shutting down the mosques. Nobody’s going. There’s a revival breaking out in universities all over the US of A. Young people coming to God.

And the woke people are outraged. And they shot. This week, the hero of those thousands of young people, they shot him. 

And you know what that’s going to do? That’s going to put vinegar in those young people. I tell you, a revival is on the way. And Israel’s going to hear about it.

And I believe a revival will break out in the University of Jerusalem. Is that possible? You bet your green apples. I think wonderful days are upon us. 

But the timepiece is Israel. Stay focused. Stay tuned. 

The answer’s in this book. It’s all laid out like a beautiful map. I’m terrible. 

I’m a typical man. I always, you know, you buy a barbecue when you’re supposed to assemble it. I assemble it when I get all done. 

I got this pile of bolts. And then I look at the manual on how to put it together. And I, where’s that bolt going? I always end up with, I got boxes of bolts at home. 

They all came in packages I was supposed to put together. Do you know when I consult a map? When I’m thoroughly lost. Because I know the way. 

Don’t get clever. This is the map. Normally I’d say, be the man. 

In this case, I’d say, listen to your wife and open this book. I didn’t say that guys. I’m not against you. 

Isn’t Jesus wonderful? What an opportunity. What a day to be alive. There’s little kids down the hall. 

And this thought has occurred to moms and dads all over the country. What about my kids going forward? Jesus loves the little children. And he hasn’t changed his mind about them. 

And they are not appointed unto wrath and trouble. But what about the tribulation? Forget it. You’re not going through it. 

We’re going up. I don’t believe in that. Fine. 

Stay here. I’m going up. I’m going to leave the keys out for the antichrist and say, look, I’ve got a little pop cooler in my fridge. 

You can help yourself to whatever’s in there. I’m going up. How about you? In the moment, in the twinkling of an eye, it’ll be all over. 

No warning. You better be ready to go. Amen. 

Make the path straight. Get rid of the fallen trees. Move the rocks. 

Make a way for the Lord. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. And thank you for people who have earnestly dug into the theological matters, have consulted history, have consulted the prophets like Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zechariah. 

And they help us to come to an understanding. So we thank you for everyone and their place in the current kingdom. We’re so pleased to be a part of all of it.

Now, grant your blessing upon everyone in this place. There might be some people in this room right now who feel lowly, burdened down, crushed. I invite you, Lord, kneel down where they are, hold them in your own arms, and encourage them by your Holy Spirit. 

Amen and amen. Have a wonderful day.