Sunday Message - Dr. Yan Venter (October 02, 2016) | Life Bible Church

Luke chapter 16, well -known portion of Scripture

Luke 16 · chapter mention

that I just want to dwell on this morning. The

Holy Spirit laid that on my heart. And in Luke

16, Jesus is telling a story. Now, whenever He

tells the story, it's really worth listening

to. You know, if He speaks, you know, we could

still doubt somebody else speaking, but when

the Master speaks and when He spoke, it's worth

listening to. The second thing I want to mention

here is this. You know, I think the greatest,

the greatest asset that we have as human beings

is the ability to hear the voice of God. I mean,

if you cannot hear the voice of God, then you

really should be very concerned. If God doesn't

speak to you in one way or another, if you sit

here this morning and it's been a while since

you've heard God speak to you, then you really

ought to become very, very concerned because

the only way you could find yourself through

the morass of this confusion that we're living

in today is to be led by His voice. And so when

He speaks, you understand, our destiny is one

of two places. Our eternal destiny is one of

two places. I know many people want to... you

know, place doubt on that. But, you know, be

it as it may, we'll find out at the end. I believe

the Word. The Word of God says that you make

a choice. It's either heaven or it's hell. You

understand? And I want to speak to you this morning.

Jesus told this story in Luke 16 and verse 19

that there was a certain rich man which was clothed

in purple and fine linen. And fared sumptuously

every day. But there was a certain beggar named

Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores.

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which

fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the

dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to

pass that the beggar died and was carried by

the angels unto Abraham's bosom. The rich man

also died and was buried. And in hell he lifted

up his eyes being in torments. And seeing Abraham

afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, he cried and

said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And he

sent Lazarus, oh please send Lazarus that he

may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool

my tongue. For I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, son, remember that thou in

thy lifetime receives. Received your good things.

And because Lazarus evil things. Now he is comforted.

And thou art tormented. Later on he asked. Please

send somebody to go and warn my brethren. But

Abraham replied in verse 29. He said unto him.

They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear

them. Let them listen to them. Very important

that you ask God, please, Lord, speak to my heart.

Let me hear in the name of Jesus. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I pray that something will happen

here this morning. That you will push a probe,

Lord, into our minds, into our spirits. Conviction

of the Holy Spirit. Either of sin. Or of righteousness.

But Lord that we may. Leave here today with peace

in our hearts in Jesus' name. Every now and again,

you know, when I speak and when I do something,

you know, the Holy Spirit will interject. And

I always tell God, you know, it's okay for me

for you to do that. There's a man sitting right

there in the back, there against the wall, black

guy. Can you wave at me? Can you come over here

quickly, please? Amen. I just feel while I'm

praying, you know, just boom, boom, boom, and

just, you know. Ricochets between me and you.

And I didn't notice you because you're black.

I think there's some other black people here

too. Because, you know, I'm from Africa too.

That makes me a fellow African American. Okay.

Now, let me tell you something. I saw a vision

while I'm praying. God shows me a vision. Stephen,

right? Your name's Stephen? And so God shows

me a vision. of a water heater that needs to

be, the water needs to be warmed. It's very cold

in the water heater, but they push this element

into the water heater. And God says, Stephen,

I must tell you that you are the element that

God is going to use in your family. God is pushing

you into your family. And he is going to connect

you to the energy source that is going to cause

this element of yours to become extremely hot.

And it's going to turn the influence of your

family into a hot situation. Just raise your

hands and just praise God. Take it right now.

Raise your hands and just take it right now in

the name of Jesus. Glory to God. Glory to God.

Oh, my goodness. Amen. Amen. Amen. You may be

seated. Thank you. Praise God. You know, as we

journey along life's way, that's the one thing

that is easy to understand. You live for God,

you go to heaven. You don't live for God, you're

not going to go to heaven. In this time when

things seem to be so politically correct and

uncorrect, it just seems like more and more people

don't want to talk about heaven. I mean, they

don't want to talk about hell. They want to almost

make and pretend as if hell is not real. But

you understand, hell is as real as the person

sitting next to you. The Bible over and over,

54 times in fact in the Bible, talks about hell.

Now, you must understand, hell is not a place

that you can look forward to. I hear people that

talks about hell as if, you know, it's going

to be nothing. They pretend like they're so...

so macho they're so uh non -caring it's nothing

that they will be bothered about but let me tell

you something right now ladies and gentlemen

that is something you do not want to experience

you know according to the bible that's one place

you don't want to end up in it's a place where

the torment will last for eternity it's something

that will never end and here's the good news

god does not want any of us to go to hell. He

does not want any individual to end up in that

place. He has done so much for mankind to keep

you and I from ending up in a place like that.

I mean, we just have to look at Calvary and see

what He's done for us at Calvary. But you have

to understand, God gave His only... Come on,

give him a hand clap of praise. Glory to God.

That's the plan of God. Now you understand that

God is placing, and as you go along in life,

you will find out that God is placing all sorts

of barricades. And a way of man to stop you from

going to hell. I always tell people it's easier.

It's easier for a person to go to heaven than

what it is to hell. God made it almost impossible

for you to go to hell. You have to literally

step over all the barricades. He places all sorts

of barricades in front of you and I. And to cause

this thing to absolutely stop our stubborn ways

from pursuing the ways that seems right unto

man. But it's the ways that goes to hell. Give

me the next slide. The first barricade that I

find that God places there. As God places the

Bible right there square in front of you. You

have to literally ignore the Bible. The best

printed volume in all of mankind. Found in every

place, everywhere, all around the globe. When

you go into a hotel, it's right there. When you

drive your car, there's scriptures on the side

of the road. The Bible speaks today very clearly.

The Bible stands like a pillar above water. And

it's saying to you, come now. Tell you that are

heavy laden and I will give you rest. God does

not want you to go to hell. Come on, give him

a hand clap of praise. The second barricade that

he places in front of man to stop you and prevent

you from going is your conscience. As you sit

here today, God works with your conscience. When

you go to bed at night, I mean, you may ignore

every voice of God. But when you go to bed at

night, your conscience speaks to you. You may

be able to silence His voice in this service

today. But you have to understand, when you go

to bed tonight or when you become quiet, there's

a voice inside that no one can silence. It's

the voice of your conscience that tells you,

you cannot afford to take a chance with your

eternal destiny. You cannot wait one more day

to fix it up. You've got to fix it up today.

Today, when you hear his voice, you must not

harden your heart. Go ahead, praise him again,

will you please? It's the voice of God. The next

barricade that he places in front of man is the

church. He places it square right there in the

way of man. There's almost not a place in our

cities and in our towns where there is not a

church tower or a church building. That's almost

on every street corner. The bells, you know,

in Africa and other nations, they still ring

the church bells in the mornings. And those church

bells, they sound out. The tone. That there is

still time. There is still the old rugged cross

that cleanses us from all sin. There's still

time for the blood of Jesus to reach the vilest

of sinners. So that you also can see, amazing

grace, how sweet the sound that saved a sinner

like me. Go ahead and give me the next one. Praise

God. You understand. God does not want you to

go to hell. Boy, he'll place all sorts of intercessions

in your way. I heard a man one time testify,

and he said, I backslid. And I backslid so bad

that eventually I was on the prayer list of our

church. Boy, aren't you glad somebody mentions

your name? Aren't you glad that somebody calls

your name out? Aren't you glad that you are no

longer at a place where no one cares for you?

Normally the prayers of a mother, you know, when

nobody else prays for you. You know, I thank

God for mothers. I believe that mothers have

a special place in the heart of God. Because

when nobody else cares to pray, a mother will

always be on her knees calling out the name of

a son or of a daughter. In the meetings last

night, I had no less than about 10 mothers that

came to me and prayed and cried, mentioning the

names of their children. Please pray for my children.

Please pray for a son or a daughter. You know,

there's nothing like the love and the passion

of a mother. But let me tell you something. Even

when there's no mother praying for you, God is

going to quicken in the heart of someone to intercede

for you and to intercede your name. I'll tell

you something right now that you may believe

or not believe. But the week that Elvis Presley

died, and I was not a big Elvis Presley fan.

John was an Elvis Presley fan. But the week that

Elvis Presley died, for some reason, I didn't

know that he was in trouble. I didn't follow

his career. I was in South Africa. But for some

reason. God placed him as a burden on my heart.

And I prayed for him every day that week. I told

Basie, I don't know what's going on. But God

has placed Elvis Presley on my heart. And at

the end of the week or whenever, I found out

that he had committed suicide. I mean, or he

had died or whatever way he died. But let me

tell you something. At that 11th hour, until

the very last moment, God will do everything

possible to try and turn. you away from destruction.

Yeah, go ahead and give the Lord another praise

offering. Glory to God. You know, I tell you

what, I don't think there's any barricade that

stands more prominently in the way of a sinner

than the cross of Calvary. I mean, you know,

you may not even meet a Christian. But you may

stand next to somebody that have a chain around

their neck and the symbol of the cross. that

bears witness of the mercy of God that is extended

towards you and me. And I don't know about you,

but the message of the cross rings clear in my

heart. What a sacrifice was made. What a sacrifice

was paid. And it's all so that you and I can

have mercy and that we can have eternal life.

Now here this morning, God is once again reminding

you. It's not about this or that. It's about

your salvation. It's not about anything else.

It's not about dollars. It's not about prosperity.

It's not about fortune and fame. It's all about

your salvation. You may chase all sorts of avenues.

But at the end of the day, the only thing that

matters is your salvation. I stood next to the

bed of a very wealthy man one time. Very, very

wealthy man. Hundreds and hundreds of millions

of dollars. Stood there next to his bed and they

had called me in to pray. But I was unable to

reach him. He told me, he said, I don't feel

anything. His house was just one of the nicest

I've ever been in. Outside was several boats,

big boats. He had like five motor cars. Very

expensive motor cars were standing outside. They

couldn't get them in the garage. But when he

died, he left it all behind. Cannot go with you.

See, as you sit here today, you have to remember

that. That our life does not consist out of the

abundancy of our possessions. Our life consists

of where are you going to spend eternal life.

Now you understand, the next barricade that stands

in your way is the voice of God. See the voice

of God that tells you, you're on the road to

nowhere. Where are you going? Why are you heading

this way? What do you think is going to be the

reward at the end of the road? Really? I want

to sound like Donald Trump when he said, what

do you have to lose? Honestly, what do you have

to lose? What do you have to lose to say here

in a service like this morning, I'm going to

listen. God doesn't want to take fame from you.

He doesn't want to take fortune from you. He

doesn't want to steal anything from you. He doesn't

want to take anything that is important away

from you. All he wants to take away from you

is misery. His fear. His anxiety. He wants to

replace it with joy unspeakable. With peace that

passes understanding. With eternal life that

will go on. Even though you die. Yet will you

live. Come on give him another praise offering.

That's what he wants to give you. You understand.

That man can so easily. Ignore. That voice that

speaks inside. You know, Job says, God speaks

to us in all sorts of ways. He says, in deep

slumberings in the bed, in visions of the night,

dreams. When you fall asleep, God will speak

to you in dreams. You know, it's that God will

do everything possible. Job says, to keep man's

life from the pit. God made it possible. For

you not to make it into hell. Let me close by

this. Give me one more. The final one is the

voice of the Holy Ghost. No one can silence it.

He's the one that comes and knocks on the door.

And he says, if you will open up, I'll come in.

All you have to do is just open up. You might

sit here today and you have backslid. Go ahead,

turn the slides off. You've backslid. You've

grown cold. Once upon a time, you were absolutely

on fire for God. But now, it's all gone. You've

somehow allowed other things to replace it. I

remember years ago when somebody Some lady offered

me an opportunity. And I told her, I said, you're

just not worth it. You understand, you're just

not worth it. What shall we replace it with?

Come on, can I have an amen? What shall we replace

it with? You know, you may have an opportunity

to do this or to do that. But in order to do

it, you're going to have to, you know. Give in

from your salvation. I heard T .D. Jakes one

time preached. The best the enemy can offer you

is 20%. Maximum. On the scale from 1 to 100.

But to take the 20%. You have to say no. Or turn

your back on 80%. There's so much to give up.

To go ahead and just listen to the voice of the

enemy. The voice of temptation. The voice of

the liar. The voice of the murderer. And he wants

to bring you to a place of immediate destruction.

You know, I've wondered many times when the Bible

speaks of the second death. You know, death is

your biggest enemy. It's standing right in front

of you. That's one thing we cannot ignore. I

mean, you are going to die. Look at the person

next to you and say, you're going to die. You

are going to die. You may die sooner than what

you think. I may die sooner than what I think.

We are going to die. You know, that horrible

shadow that looms over all of us. Nobody is looking

forward to it, you know, because you don't know

what it's going to feel like. But I think the

worst thing is to have death in front of you

and to have the doubt, will I make it to heaven?

You cannot go on hope. You cannot go and say,

I hope for the best. No. If there's ever something

you've got to be 100 % sure of, then it's your

salvation. You say, how can I be sure? Christ

paid the price. You have to accept that into

your life. Now, here's the thing. If you die

and you're like the rich man we read about that

ends up in a place of torment forever, how long?

And you where that rich man was. And that said

to Abraham. Please warn my people not to get

here. But Abraham says. They've got Jan. They've

got Brad. They've got other pastors. Evangelists.

Ministers. Mothers. Voice of God. Let them listen

to them. And your torment goes on. The fire.

However it is. And then. At the end of Revelation.

The Bible says. That death was taken up. Out

of. Where it is. Hades. And then brought before

God. Now I want you to see this. For a short

time. For a short interval. You stand on the

streets of gold. You'll witness the pomp and

the glory. You'll see the throne just like it

says in the Bible. You'll witness the many that

have taken the right decision. And here you'll

stand and for a brief moment, torment will be

taken away from you. So that you can go and stand

and receive your judgment. And then to be cast

into the lake of fire. which is the second death.

Just for a brief moment, you experience relief

and then eternity. I was going to show you a

video this morning. My wife woke me up in the

middle of the night and she said, Jan, it's too

intense. You cannot show that. I was going to

show you a little video that I thought that could

vaguely give you a resemblance of what hell could

be like. I don't think man can even conjure up

any image of what it really will be like, but

we can form some sort of an idea and say, I don't

want to go there. I don't want to go there. I

told her, I said, well, I'll cut it out of my

sermon this morning. I said, man, I didn't want

to get the wrath of pastor upon me when I watch

kids run out of the place. My wife will say,

I told you, I told you. She's always right. I

hate it, but she's always right. God is speaking

to you here this morning. God says you don't

have to go to hell. Will you stand with me, please?

All over the place, just stand with me. God is

speaking to you. God is telling you, don't take

a chance on your salvation. In just a moment,

you know, I'm going to... I'm going to close

and it's time for us to go home. But you know,

here's the thing. Just listen, listen, listen.

Don't lose me now. Don't lose me now. Just a

little softer. You don't want to waste the next

10 minutes. 10 minutes. I'm going to keep you

for another 10 minutes. Now you can decide to

walk out and leave. And then you would have made

a decision not to do it. Either way, you're going

to make a decision here today. Or you can decide

not to respond to the altar call. And listen

then, you've still made a decision not to heed

the call of God. Either way, you're going to

make a decision. Why not spend the next 10 minutes

very wisely? Why not just say, I don't care what

people say. I don't care what people think of

me. I want my peace back. I want the joy of my

salvation to flow back in. I want to extend my

appreciation to Calvary and to heaven itself

and say, Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you

for your son. In just a few moments, I'm going

to ask you, if you feel like you need prayer

all over this audience, then I'm going to ask

you in a few moments to just walk out and come

stand here. I'm not going to ask you to raise

a hand first and lure you into the second step

and so on. Foo you with all that nonsense. It's

your salvation. It's not mine. You decide. Is

it hell or is it heaven? And in a little moment,

all you got to do is just come with all your

heart and with all your desires. Lord, I want

my forgiveness back. And God will do it. Are

you ready? Just in simple obedience, you are

going to respond to the voice that is above my

voice inside you. God is speaking. Today, when

you hear my voice, don't harden your heart. God

has put all these barricades in front of you.

This morning, it's the voice of the Holy Spirit

that is speaking to you. If you are ready, then

quickly, all over the audience, will you come

and come and stand here? Clap hands for them

as they come right now. Just come. Come. All

over. Just come. Come. All over. Come. Come.

Let them come. always tell people, you know what

is my biggest fear? Pastor, you know what is

my biggest fear? Is that one day I'll come to

heaven and God will say, Jan, you remember that

day when you were there or there or there at

Harrisburg? You closed that altar call just too

quick. They were on the balance. But you know,

time pushes us on. I mean, time is the one that

hurries me on. So I want to do one more thing.

Just to put peace in my heart. Will you help

me? Will you help me? Will you turn to the person

next to you? Even if it's your husband, your

father, your mother. I don't care who's standing

next to you. Will you ask that person just one

question? Do you need prayer also? And if they

say yes, walk them out. Will you do that now?

Go ahead, ask them. Do you need prayer? And if

they say yes, then walk them out also. Clap hands,

they're still coming. these faces, tears, all

over the cheeks of people, old and young. Here's

the good news. He never says no. Hold my hand,

baby. He never says no. Look. Is this your husband?

Your brother? Your friend? Your fiance? You look

so much the same. You look like brothers. You

should get married. Look, this is going to be

a day that you'll never forget again in your

entire life. God is about to change everything

for you just because you said yes to Jesus. Now,

will you put your hand on your heart like this?

If you walked out with somebody, would you stand

behind that person and put your hands on the

shoulders just so I know who is what? Hallelujah.

Now look at me, please, if you don't mind. Just

look at me. You know, when I counsel married

couples, I always tell them when they have problems.

Do you remember how you courted your wife at

the beginning? And it worked. Go and do it again.

Just go and do the same again. You remember how...

You accepted Jesus the first time? Let's do it

today as if it's the first time you've ever done

it. Do it like these people with tears flowing

over your cheeks and just saying, Master, I have

sinned. And when you say it, ask forgiveness.

Just mean it and watch what God is going to do.

Hey, I'm so happy you came. I'm so happy. Glory

to God. Put your hand on your heart. Let's pray.

Can I have the music quiet right now? Just total

quietness. Come on, church. Stretch your hands

out to these. They've been struggling. Let's

pray. Everybody pray with him. You follow the

prayer that I'm going to lead. Everybody pray

with him. Say, Lord Jesus. I've sinned against

you. And I'm so deeply sorry. Please forgive

me. Wash me in your blood. And cleanse me. Remove

the stain from sin from my life. Take away this

nagging fear. And replace it with your peace

today. Put both your hands up towards him right

now. Say, Lord Jesus, I receive you as my Savior.

I receive my forgiveness right now. In the name

of Jesus. I give you my heart. I give you my

life. In Jesus' name. Everybody clap hands for

them, will you please? You taking them in there?

Yeah, man, that's the way to clap hands, buddy.

Do that again. Show them how to clap hands. Man,

that means it's done. Glory to God. Wow. Pastor

Brad, Pastor Brad will give you instructions.

Please remain here. Please remain. Thank you,

Pastor. Amen. For those of you that came, we're

going to allow you to go back here just shortly,

but we'd like to just make sure we can talk with

you about the decision that you've made and that

process of just following the Lord briefly. If

you just move right to your left, my right, right

through that door, Pastor Kelly and Pastor David

will meet you there. Would you just follow right

through there? Just go right through there. Church,

would you give them a big hand? Tell them we're

proud of them. Right through that door. Thank

you. Right through that door. Right into the...

I want to talk with you just a little bit. Thank

you. Hallelujah. Come on, why don't we stretch

our hands toward heaven? Lord, there's no greater

miracle than salvation. There's no greater assurance

than to know that you have paid for our sin,

that not only are we clean before you, but Lord,

not just set apart as an object that's clean,

but set apart, clean, loved, accepted, and valued

by our Father. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

for, Lord, a message that begins to move on the

hearts of people. Thank you for the word of God.

Lord, I pray even now that as they prayed that

prayer, Lord, wherever they were in their journey,

backslidden, prodigal, first -time salvation,

Lord, there would be an encounter even now. That

decision sealed, not just because of words, but

because of a connection, heart to your heart.

In Jesus' name. Lord, we seal that. Seal them

now. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God

bless you, church. Thank you for being a great

church. We're going to have people. Our healing

team ministry is coming even right now to my

left, your right, to begin to pray for people.

If you have not received or you need a touch

of healing in your body, please come see them.

They're praying for you. Have a wonderful afternoon.

Don't forget the book table. And don't forget

Cosmo, popcorn, Kenny's favorite deal, two bags

for one price. God bless you. Have a wonderful

week. If you are interested in hearing other

podcasts or contacting Life Bible Church, go

to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at 541

-995 -8282.