It’s Just Like His Great Love - King’s Heralds Where Dreams All Come True - Del Delker Break Thou the Bread of Life - King’s Heralds Why Not Say Yes? - King’s Heralds

It’s Just Like His Great Love - King’s Heralds Where Dreams All Come True - Del Delker Break Thou the Bread of Life - King’s Heralds Why Not Say Yes? - King’s Heralds

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Voice Of Prophecy

H.M.S. Richards

The Man Who Was Almost a Christian


Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring, Jesus is coming again. Cheer up you pilgrims, be joyful and sing, Jesus is coming again. This is the voice of prophecy, a voice crying in the wilderness of these modern days. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming again.

From our Voice of Prophecy studios in Los Angeles, California, we welcome you to this half hour of inspiration and music with the King's Herald's Del Delker, Brad Braley, and the Voice of Prophecy speaker HMS Richards, a Seventh-day Adventist minister. A friend I have called Jesus Whose love is strong and true the Adventist minister. Never fails how it is tried, no matter what I do. I've sinned against this love of His, but when I knelt to pray, confessing all my guilt to Him. The sin clouds rolled away.

It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love. Oh, I could sing forever of Jesus' love divine, of Jesus love divine of all his care and tenderness for this poor life of mine His love is in and over all, and winds and waves obey, When Jesus whispers, Peace be still and rolls the clouds away.

It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love. Let us pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for a place in Thy service. Bless us today in this broadcast and everyone who listens. We pray Thee that Thy Word may bring consolation to us and conviction to us and lead us to put our trust in Jesus Christ. In his name we ask it. ♪ There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God, a place where sin cannot molest near to the heart of God.

O Jesus, blessed Redeemer, sent from the heart of God, Hold us who bow before thee, near to the heart of God. ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ I'm longing, dear Lord, for that haven where we shall be troubled no more like travelers out on the ocean who long for the who long for the home on the shore Where my dreams will come true. The joys that I lost in the shadows will be found where my dreams come true. And soon will the voyage be over, the heavenly port come in sight, and there I shall anchor forever, and dwell And dwell in that city of light where my dreams will come true. The joys that I lost in the shadows will be found where my dreams come true.

Just before today's message by H.M.S. Richards, the Voice of Prophecy speaker, won't you take your Bible, turn to the 25th chapter of Acts, and then join in this prayer with the King's heralds. Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me. ♪ Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, as Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea. See.

Beyond the sacred page I seek thee, Lord. My spirit plans for thee, O living Word. Bless thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me. As thou didst bless the bread by Galilee, Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall, I shall find in thee my all in all. Here now is HMS Richards, the Voice of Prophecy speaker, who's going to tell us about the man who is almost a Christian.

The Apostle Paul had gone on trial before Felix, the money-loving politician, And about 2 years later, before Festus, the just judge, he had uttered the words, ìI appeal unto Caesar.î As a Roman citizen, he had a right to do this. Porteous Festus had replied with the appropriate legal term, Thou hast appealed unto Caesar, and unto Caesar thou shalt go. We read all this in the 25th chapter of Acts. Now the apostle was awaiting transportation to the capital of the world, and Festus was entertaining King Agrippa II and Bernice. The whole story is here in Acts 25 and 26.

Notice those 2 words, and Bernice. They are repeated 3 times in the narrative. Bernice was Agrippa's own sister and also the sister of Drusilla, the wife of Felix. She had been married to her own uncle Herod but had abandoned him to marry Polemon. Both Jewish and Roman historians agree that she was now living with Agrippa in unnameable sin.

But who was Agrippa II? He was the last of the Herods. His great-great-grandfather was Herod who had murdered the innocents at the birth of Jesus. His granduncle had murdered John the Baptist and his father Agrippa I had executed the Apostle James and had tried to do the same for the Apostle Peter. Only 16 years before this day he had died a tragic death, smitten by the hand of God for his blasphemous assumption of divine honor.

Surely King Agrippa knew a great deal about the Christian faith. He had been trained in all the rites and ceremonies of the Hebrew people. He was well acquainted with the Hebrew scriptures. He was a guardian of the temple and appointed the high priest. Festus has told his guests about the captive Paul.

As a reader of human character and as a careful investigator, he is convinced that the charges against the apostle are false. Now what's the real charge against him? As Festus summed it up, it seemed that it concerned a man named Jesus who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. That's verse 19. Festus said to the king, And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters.

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. Tomorrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. And so on the next day the apostle answered for his faith before Festus, King Agrippa and Bernice, the woman who had no right to be there as the consort of the King, the heads of the military department, the Roman lictors and the leading men of the city. It was not a trial, it was a court function.

Paul's address before Agrippa falls into 3 parts. First, his introductory words to Agrippa, then his apology for his way of life, and last, a mighty appeal to the man Agrippa, in which the apostle forgets the king, the royal robes, the occasion, and pleads with a soul to surrender to Christ. What a sermon! What an audience! It was a pagan assembly, an hour of entertainment, but it turned into a mighty missionary meeting with a great evangelistic appeal.

Agrippa said, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. And the apostle did just that. He told the story of his life, showed that the whole course of God's revelation to man is revealed in Jesus, that the law and the prophets point forward to him and are completed in him. He proved that he was being true to all the principles of truth that he as a Pharisee had taught, and that every thinking man ought to come to the same conclusion. Then he told the story of his conversion on the Damascus road when Jesus appeared to him, of the change in his own life, the success of his ministry.

In relating this he said, As I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks, that is, like the ox goads. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.

Saul had been on the road to Damascus to apprehend the Christians and bring them bound to Jerusalem for punishment as apostates from the faith and commonwealth of Israel. The glory of that light blinded him. He heard a voice in the language he loved the best, calling him by name and tenderly pleading, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? His mind must have gone to that day when he assisted in the stoning of Stephen, Christ's first martyr, and heard that man with a face like an angel say, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

You'll find that in Acts 7 verse 60. Ever since that time, Saul had been like a refractory ox, kicking against the goads which were guiding him on toward faith. Now Jesus appears to him, and trembling and amazed, he cries out, Who art thou, Lord? The audible voice from heaven replies, I am Jesus whom thou persecuted. Acts 9 verse 5.

And that changed everything. This revelation of Jesus Christ was the beginning of a new life. And that's what conversion always is. But arise and stand upon thy feet, he was commanded, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and those things in which I will appear unto thee." That was Paul's ordination to the Christian ministry. For then and from then on he could say, Christ the Son of God has sent me through the midnight lands mine the mighty ordination of the pierced hands." To King Agrippa, Paul described his work as the apostle to the Gentiles in those far off countries and how it was all based on the undoubtable fact that Jesus was alive.

Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, and turn to God, and do their works meet for repentance. And he added that this was all in harmony with what the prophets and Moses did say should come. King Agrippa had given an uninterrupted hearing. He knew the background of Paul's argument. He knew it was in harmony with the law and the prophets.

But Festus, the skeptic, the rationalist, the Roman judge leaned forward and cried, Paul you're beside yourself, you're crazy. Much learning in the study of religious problems has unbalanced your wits. The apostle turned to him coolly and calmly and said, I am not mad most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness for the king knoweth of these things before whom I speak freely for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him for this thing was not done in a corner. The facts about Jesus were common knowledge and were spreading all over the world. People knew all about it in Palestine.

It was not hidden from the king. And now comes the great appeal to Agrippa himself. Looking him earnestly in the face, the Apostle bypasses the Roman judge and listening listeners and attentive military men, the lawyers, the socialites, and Bernice. He appeals to the king. King Agrippa, he says, believest thou the prophets?

You know the story of Jesus. You know the writings of the prophets, just put them together and reach the logical conclusion that He is the Son of God, He is the Savior of the world. The message I preach of the Christian way is the only hope. What do you say, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? He does not answer, but the apostle answers for him.

I know that thou believest. This man who had been successful, probably the most successful of all the Herods in winning the hearts of the people was naturally reasonable, but thoroughly worldly. He was deeply learned in the sacred scriptures, this man who had the religious fate of his people in his hands, as the appointer of the high priest, as keeper of the temple. Think of him, what a worker for God he would have made. What a preacher, what an evangelist, Yes, what an apostle.

There's a great silence in the room. The king forgets everyone but himself and God's man who stands before him. He leans forward and exclaims, almost, thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Look at them there, Agrippa in his purple robe, Bernice decked with her jewels, Festus in the scarlet of the Roman judge, the soldiers, the magistrates with all their dignity, the civil officers at their stations, and before them Paul in chains, in bonds, ready to be sent to Rome and possibly to death. Hear those words in the silence, Almost, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

Paul answers, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether as I am, except these bones. See he holds up those manacled hands, the chains rattle. This is what I wish for you Agrippa, Bernice, and all here today. I wish for you not almost, but altogether the joy and the happiness that is mine. I wish for you the same blessed hope that I have.

And that's what we wish for everyone who has not yet found the great salvation. What happened then? All we know is that soon the tension was gone. Agrippa arose from his throne, setting aside the conviction and the mighty appeal. The function was ended.

Festus, Agrippa, and Bernice began to chat. How did it all finally end with Agrippa? We are not told that. The Scripture draws the curtain and leaves him the almost Christian. What is not done today, friend, is never done.

What is almost done is never completed. The almost Christian is not a Christian. God's messenger may be a human being or he may speak to us through a great sorrow, a great loss. His message may come to us in pain or in some great disappointment, And our hearts may be moved deeply. We may be under tremendous conviction.

We may shed tears, be so deeply moved that we forget all else about us and cry out in the true language of the heart, Almost, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. We may do many things, but unless we make the final surrender, we are no nearer God than before. In fact, we are actually farther away. You know it's harder for God's Word to find our hearts again after we've once been deeply moved and rejected God's call. The voice of conscience becomes fainter and fainter and fainter until finally it is still almost persuaded now to believe almost persuaded Christ to receive Seems now some soul to say go spirit go thy way, some more convenient day, on thee I'll call.

Take warning radio friend, take warning from this almost Christian, And hear in your own heart today the appeal of the great apostle and come now and come today and give your heart to Christ in full consecration. We remember the song of Mr. Bliss, Almost Persuaded. Come, come today is the chorus, Almost persuaded, turn not away. Jesus invites you here, angels are lingering near, prayers rise from hearts so dear, O wanderer, come.

Oh, why not say yes to the Savior today? He's tenderly pleading with thee. So come to him now with thy sin-burdened heart, For pardon so full and so free. Why not say yes today? Why not say yes?

Why not? While He so gently, so tenderly pleads. Oh, accept Him today. Take Christ for your Savior, then all shall be well. The morrow let bring what it may.

His love shall protect you, His spirit shall guide, And safely keep you in His way. Why not say yes today? Why not, why not? While he so gently, so tenderly pleads. I hope that all who wish to respond to this appeal will join with me in this prayer.

Heavenly Father, we give our hearts to Thee. Make us, we pray, not almost, but altogether Christians. And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. And now this is Orville Iverson of the Voice of Prophecy with a word to old and young alike.

Jesus wants to be our closest friend. So then, let us look up to him and go forward in faith. Have faith in God. Hear now the Savior's call. Have faith in God to rise and not to fall.

Have faith in God is not almost, but all. Have faith, dear friend, in God. We trust this program has brought help to you. Listen for another broadcast brought to you by the voice of prophecy. The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. ♪♪

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The Man Who Was Almost a Christian

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