Telling The TRUTH
042713 Telling The Truth 28 Minute Program
[music] You're listening to "Telling the Truth" from Triple T. Christian Youth Ministries, "Telling the Truth to and Through Teenagers." Here is Triple T. Founder and President George Dumes. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, listen to some very pertinent promises." Genesis 13, verses 14 and 15 New King James Version says, "And the Lord said to Abram, 'After Lot had separated from him, 'Lift your eyes now and look over the place where you are.'" Northward, southward, eastward, and westward. "For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever." What a promise! What a God! And the day there are still struggles and people trying to take away that territory that God promised. Suffice it to say that the battles will rage, the wars will be fought, but God always will win. Don't ever try to go against God's promises, nor any of the other things in His Word that He tells us to follow. God's Word is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. So let's look at it, let's abide by it, and let's understand that God is the great, great giver. God wants to give you His gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. If you have not yet received it, you can. If you have, He would like for you to share it. That's what Jesus asks us to do. God makes promises and He keeps every promise He makes. Listen to Genesis 13, 16, 17, New King James. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you. God's promise to Abram and God's promise to us. He wants to give us things to you and to me. He wants to give you territory that is yours to conquer for His glory. By conquering territory, I mean taking the gospel to people who live around where God has placed you, where you are right now. Oh, you could move, you could go, you might not stay, but where you are, maintain a presentation of the gospel. Share Jesus, pray a lot, read God's Word, and believe it and get others to pray with you. And to read God's Word together with you and to fulfill the promises that God has given to us, we can read the Word of God together. God wants to make you usable and He wants to use you. I appeared to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name, Lord, I was not known to them. I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage in which they were strangers. Exodus 6, 3 and 4, New King James. God was patient, and He kept being there for Abraham, for Isaac, for Jacob, and He is there for you and for me today. If we will acknowledge Him as God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, the one who cares so much for us that He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus became sin for us. He knew no sin so that by believing on Him, we could have life forever and our sins forgiven. Territory is one thing, but eternity is far, far greater. God wants us to share His love, the gift of God as He turned a life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Tell people who Jesus is and why He came and why He died, why He was buried, and why He rose again. Our Savior is waiting. Will you tell someone about Him today? When you open the Bible and read what God has said, you can be assured that He is going to provide every promise that He has ever made. Exodus 6, verses 7 and 8, New King James says, I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord. When you hear those words, when you know that the great I am, God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, loves you and wants you to love Him back. Do you do it? He wants you to know that He created everything, but He did it for you. He did it for me, and He did it so that we can not only dwell on planet earth, but so that we could prepare for heaven. This world is not our home, we're just passing through. If we are believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, God sent His Son. He sent His Son to live perfectly, after being born of a virgin, to provide for us eternal life. How big a giver is God? Listen to what He wants to do for you. Psalm 37, 4 and 5, New King James, delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Isn't that fantastic? Isn't it unbelievable what God wants to do for you and for me? He tells us what to do first, to delight yourself also in the Lord. How do you do this? You get close to Him, you thank Him for all He has done for you. You determine to live for Him, you decide to worship Him with all of your heart, mind, body, and soul, and then you let Him speak to you through His Word. You talk with Him, friend to friend, because He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. God loves you, He sent Jesus so that you by believing on Him could live forever. When you delight yourself in Him, this is the promise. He will give you the desires of your heart. What does your heart desire? Someone has said, what if it's the wrong thing? Then let God change your wantor, and you will want the right things. You will desire the right things. And then the next thing that we are to do, putting it squarely back on our shoulders, is commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass. Are you ready to receive a fantastic blessing? Then read Romans 8. Listen now to verses 31 and 32 in the King James. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? As we have noted before, when that all things phrase appears, God is not talking about most things, almost all things. He says all things. That leaves nothing out. It is all inclusive. God wants to give you all things that would be good for you and good for Him. Are you ready? Are you willing to serve Him? Have you admitted you have sinned? Have you turned to Jesus from your sins? Have you really truly believed on the Lord Jesus? Are you in fellowship and having prayer times with other believers in Christ? And are you determining how to share your faith in Him with folk who don't yet know Him? But who could if you would share the Gospel with them one by one? You can, if you will. Someone is waiting. Are you willing to go? True light is available to you. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." He says, "I am the light of the world." Listen to Ephesians 5, 13, and 14 of King James. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light. For whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, He says, "Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." The light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to shine where people can see it. It's up to you and me to remove the Gospel from its hiding place, and to put it out where everyone can hear, can see, can learn to believe on the Lord Jesus. God has a plan for you and for me, and He's connecting us together today. For some reason He wanted you to listen and me to speak, and He wants us to follow His leadership. Will you be the light of the world? You said, "Jesus is." Yes, but you can reflect His light, like the moon reflects the sun. You can be a light shining in darkness wherever you go, taking the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to people who need to see His light. Will you shine? Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m. you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 North at Boomville in Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for ages 6 to 9 is available in a separate room. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. Once in a while, life does very, very special things for us. Life at its very best, written by Dave Breeze, has been a challenge for literally thousands of people and we've given hundreds and hundreds of copies to people that have said yes to Jesus. Dave Breeze was my best friend on planet Earth. We did a lot of things together. We met early on before I even went on staff of Youth for Christ International. We met actually at a very small group meeting and then that evening we were together. When we sat together brainstorming and talking about how to reach the maximum number of people with the gospel that we possibly could. And we made kind of a pact with each other that if I stayed in Bradenton, Florida, I would bring Dave down and we would do something together there. But if God led me to go to the Wheaton, Chicagoland area, then once a month I would be with Him at Chicagoland Youth for Christ. And so we agreed at that moment, though we had just met that day, that God had put us together and knitted our hearts in a very special fashion. Later, when we did make the decision to go and to move to Wheaton, Illinois, it was a privilege to get to know Dave and Carol Breeze very well. And Mary and I were guests in their home, didn't know it, but found out later that we were the first couple on the staff of Youth for Christ to be invited to the Breeze household. Why? Just because God put the chemistry together. And then we put together a program to reach kids with a magazine called Youth for Christ. We tried to put together some things that would really attract teenagers. And one of the things I was looking for was a model of a typical teenage girl. And I remember their little spur and Dave saying, "Boy, in our choir at the Chicagoland Youth for Christ happening, we can't find anybody that looks like what you're looking for." But the first time I was ever at Chicagoland Youth for Christ, someone was asked to lead in prayer and declined. He was the president of Youth for Christ International. So Dave Breeze ran back to me and he said, "George, will you pray?" I said, "Surely I will." So I opened that rally in prayer. It was the very first time I had been at Chicagoland Youth for Christ. I had heard so much about it. And after the rally that night, I had the privilege of being shown a young lady in the corral. And I was asked, "Is that the kind of a girl you're looking for?" I said, "Looks like it on the outside. Let's get acquainted with her." So I asked her a very pertinent question. I said, "Would you be willing to be a model for Youth for Christ magazine if nobody knows your name ever?" And secondly, if you will do that, can you represent Jesus Christ? Do you know him? Have you believed on the Lord Jesus? And she said, "Certainly I have." Well, we also said, "We don't want you to be perfect." So I need to ask you some questions. Are you a straight A student? And she said, "Oh, no. I made a B last semester." I said, "Oh, good." That means you're not perfect quite. And so we got acquainted and I met her parents, went to their apartment, asked them a question. I said, "Do you know much about Youth for Christ?" "Oh, yes we do. We knew about it before Chicago and Youth for Christ started." In fact, the guy who started it, Tori Johnson, used to deliver ice for us in our place on the lake in Wisconsin. We weren't there for the first Chicago and Youth for Christ rally on May 28, 1943, because that's the night our daughter was born. The destiny that was being unveiled and unfolded was unprecedented. God was certainly in charge and it was His thing. We had the privilege of having a photo shoot and did all kinds of things and were able to use this young lady's picture in Youth for Christ magazine just showing the back of her head. Nobody could see her face at first and then we finally revealed it on the cover of the April magazine that we call the decision issue. 3,000 copies of that were distributed all over Chicago land through Youth for Christ. 3,000 other copies in California at a Youth for Christ rally there and many, many other hundreds of copies all across America. It was a wonderful beginning of sharing the Lord in a special way in a communicative, creative way to teenagers. While Dave and Carol and Mary and I and Doran and Thirlo Spur got well acquainted, we were able to do a lot of things to pray together and we decided to meet every Monday evening in a Chicago restaurant to plan an event that would reach thousands of people in Chicago with the gospel. One night, as we had met at the Breeze house, we were going home and when we got to our house I called Thirlo and said, "I've got the word. I've got the name for the event." He said, "What is it?" I said, "Splendor of Sacred Song." That first night that I was at Chicago and Youth for Christ, they had presented a musical called Harvest of Sacred Song. I said, "Same amount of letters, let's call it Splendor." He said, "I'll buy it, call Breeze." So I called Dave and he said, "Yeah, that's it." And so Splendor of Sacred Song was born. We would stand in the shadows on the stage of McCormick Place, Arikron Theatre with not even the seats placed yet, but we would claim the privilege of packing the place for God's glory. And we did. God did it through us as we continued to meet every Monday, planning, and pursuing the dream. We invited people, some very well-known people, to come and be guests. Now, I'll always remember the time that Mary and I went to O'Harefield to pick up a very special guest, a special lady. Her name was Ethel Waters. And we had a little tempest convertible and we put her in the back seat. And she was a large lady and there was not room for anything except her and the suitcase that we put in the trunk as we drove into Chicago for the rehearsal time. It was a wonderful privilege to get to meet her and many, many others. Remember the night that we were supposed to have Stuart Hamlin come, the one who wrote "It is no secret." But Stuart called Dave and he said, "I've double booked. I've got to be in Toronto, Canada. But I've got a friend in Chicago who owes me a favor. And I'll call her if you'll let her be my substitute." Dave said, "Who is she?" And the name came back, Mahalia Jackson. Now, you may not know that name, but the names of Ethel Waters and Mahalia Jackson were two of the great, great voices in the city of Chicago. And so we had that opportunity. And then came the night when we decided we were going to have someone back home who used to live in Chicago, in fact still did, but was traveling all over the world with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He had joined the Graham Group way back in 1947 for the very first crusade that they put together in Charlotte, North Carolina. His name, George Beverly Shea. And it was my privilege to get to know Mr. Shea and to be able to be with him backstage before he went out to just wonderfully overwhelm the audience with his great voice and the gospel being presented in that manner. And so Dave and I had the privilege of knowing each other well and working together all kinds of places under all kinds of circumstances. And again, when he put this book together, I happened to be at his headquarters in Kansas. And he had a picture and he said, "What do you think about this for the cover?" I said, "I buy it." Like he bought Splendor of Sacred Song, I bought the cover, which is a hot air balloon, life at its very best. And so we have sent pictures with that on the cover. That picture is gone everywhere. And it was a very, very special thing. If you'll stay tuned, we're going to talk about Chapter 3 from Life at Its Very Best, The Plan. God has a plan. It's a plan ordained by the Holy Spirit. And we want you to know what that plan is. So don't go away. Stay tuned and we will present for you in a very personal way. God's Plan of Salvation. It's marvelous. It's wonderful. It's simple, but it's dynamic. So listen carefully to God's Plan for you. Listen carefully to the words of Dave Brace, The Plan. The greatest discovery that any of us will make in all of life is to learn that God has an exciting plan for each one of us, which he is working to fulfill in your life and mine. The name of that wonderfully designed arrangement is The Plan of Salvation. The Plan of Salvation is a wonderfully arranged design whereby the God of the universe has made it possible for each of us to know life. Life at its very best. Let me share with you the Plan of Salvation. A. Admit you've sinned. The Bible says everybody everywhere is a sinner, for all have sin and fall short of the glory of God. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. There you have it. Romans 3, 23. Romans 6, 23. That's our predicament. That's where we are right now. You are a sinner. I am a sinner. Everybody everywhere is a sinner. But Jesus did something about our sins. The wonderful thing that God did was he provided a way out. You see, in the Old Testament times, bulls and goats and sheep had to be sacrificed. And they had to be without spot or blemish before they could be the sacrificial lamb. And only once a year could the high priest go into the holy of holies and provide this spotless lamb sacrifice. But this is not what God did when he sent Jesus. He sent him once and for all. Not to be killed again and again and again, but only once. To die for our sins. Jesus was promised to be born of a virgin and it happened. His mother Mary went to Bethlehem with her engaged to be married to person Joseph. And it was there that the Holy Spirit was able to bring Jesus into the world. He had been her father, Jesus' father. And the goal of God was to provide a sacrifice that was pure without spot or blemish, without sin. Bible says, "Incented your mother conceive you, but not Jesus." He was conceived by God through a virgin called Mary. And he lived perfectly. He was tempted, but he never yielded the temptation. And then he taught for three years on planet earth. For about a thousand days he had a ministry. And he was introduced by John the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." God said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And on a very personal occasion, a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher, come from God." Jesus said to him, "Nicodemus, you must be born again." Nicodemus tried to argue and try to figure it out and try to rationalize this. But Jesus said, "Marvel not that I say to you, you must be born again." Well, how does this happen? When we admit we've sinned, when we turn to Jesus from our sins. Jesus then told Nicodemus, and the whole world has heard this now, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that her believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." That's what happens. Paul and Silas years later were in jail in Philippi, and an earthquake came and their chains were loose, and they were free, but they didn't go. And a jailer was about to commit suicide, but he cried out, "Sir, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved at all of your household." That's the plan of salvation. There's only one thing left to do. After turning to Jesus from your sins and my sins, we are to tell people. If you'll confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, and be saved with a heart when believes to righteousness, with the mouth confession is made to salvation. So there you have it. Admit your sin, believe on Christ, confess him publicly. And when we do this, we follow Jesus' command. After his death, his burial, his resurrection, 40 days and 40 nights he walked and talked on planet earth. He met with the disciples, and he said, "And you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit should come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and Judea, and summary unto the ends of the earth." And then he said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Christ through you can change the world." Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m., you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 north at Booneville near Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for ages 6 to 9 is available in a separate room. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. For your free copy of The Telling the Truth newsletter, call 812-867-2418 or write Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 north, Evansville, Indiana, 477-25. Tune in to Telling the Truth next week at this same time on This Same Station. [MUSIC] (upbeat music)