FROM D. JAMES KENNEDY MINISTRIES
THIS IS KENNEDY CLASSICS
♪
WELCOME TO KENNEDY CLASSICS
HELLO, I'M FRANK WRIGHT, PRESIDENT OF
D. JAMES KENNEDY MINISTRIES WHERE WE ARE STANDING FOR
TRUTH AND DEFENDING YOUR FREEDOM.
WELCOME TO KENNEDY CLASSICS.
BE SURE TO VISIT OUR MINISTRY WEBSITE, WHERE WE
HAVE A GREAT COLLECTION OF DIGITAL, AUDIO, VIDEO AND
PRINT RESOURCES.
IT'S ALL AVAILABLE ONLINE AT DJKM.ORG
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT HISTORY TENDS TO REPEAT
ITSELF.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN LATE JUNE DURING THE SUMMER OF 1812,
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE LED HIS ARMY WITH APPROXIMATELY
450,000 MEN INTO RUSSIA.
BUT, INSTEAD OF ENGAGING IN BATTLE, THE RUSSIANS
RETREATED, BURNING THEIR OWN VILLAGES, AND TOWNS,
AND THE CROPS AS THEY FLED.
AS THE COLD WEATHER SET IN DURING THE EARLY WINTER,
NAPOLEON BEGAN LOSING TROOPS BY THE THOUSANDS
DUE TO FREEZING TEMPERATURES AND
STARVATION.
NAPOLEON WAS FORCED TO RETREAT TO POLAND,
ARRIVING WITH A MERE 10,000 MEN AND SUFFERING
A DEVASTATING DEFEAT.
DO YOU KNOW WHO ELSE INVADED RUSSIA IN LATE
JUNE NEARLY 130 YEARS LATER?
IT WAS ADOLF HITLER.
BOTH INVASIONS STARTED TOO LATE IN THE SUMMER, AND
ENDED BECAUSE OF THE HARSH CONDITIONS OF RUSSIAN
WINTERS.
GEORGE SANTAYANA SURMISED THIS PHENOMENA WHEN HE
SAID, "THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN HISTORY ARE DOOMED
TO REPEAT IT."
AND THAT'S TRUE SPIRITUALLY AS WELL
ISN'T IT?
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, MANKIND HAS CONTINUALLY
FORGOTTEN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS:
GOD'S GRACE CANNOT BE BOUGHT AND CANNOT BE
EARNED, IT IS A FREE GIFT.
IN EACH ERA OF CHURCH HISTORY, THAT TRUTH HAS
BEEN THREATENED WITH OBSCURITY.
THAT'S WHY WE MUST KNOW OUR OWN CHURCH HISTORY, SO
THAT THE ERRORS THAT HAVE BEEN OVERCOME AT GREAT
COST IN THE PAST ARE NOT REPEATED AGAIN.
AS WE CELEBRATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
REFORMATION, LET'S LOOK AT THE MAN WHO TREMENDOUSLY
CHANGED THE TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE, RECAPTURING THE
BIBLICAL GOSPEL AND LAUNCHING A WORLD
TRANSFORMATION IN THE PROCESS.
HERE IS DR. D. JAMES KENNEDY WITH HIS SERMON,
"LUTHER 500 YEARS LATER."
OUR SCRIPTURE LESSON THIS MORNING IS FOUND IN THE
1ST CHAPTER OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
WE SHALL BEGIN OUR READING CHAPTER 1, VERSE 8.
MAY WE HEAR THE WORD OF GOD.
MAY GOD BY HIS SPIRIT WHO INSPIRED THESE WORDS
ILLUMINE THEM TO OUR HEARTS AND MINDS TODAY.
AMEN.
TODAY IS REFORMATION SUNDAY.
SO LET US SEE WHAT WE MIGHT LEARN FROM THIS
PERSPECTIVE OF 500 YEARS LATER CONCERNING MARTIN
LUTHER.
BEFORE WE LOOK AT HIS LIFE WE MIGHT CONSIDER THIS
THAT GOD PREACHED THE GOSPEL WE ARE TOLD IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT UNTO ABRAHAM.
THE GOSPEL OF GRACE WAS REVEALED UNTO HIM 1900
YEARS BEFORE CHRIST WAS BORN.
AND IN THOSE FOLLOWING 1900 YEARS WE SEE THAT THE
JEWS GRADUALLY LET SLIP THIS CONCEPT OF THE GRACE
OF GOD.
A CONCEPT WHICH IT SEEMS SO DIFFICULT FOR MANKIND
TO HOLD.
A CONCEPT THAT SALVATION IS FREE, THAT IT IS
GRATUITOUS, THAT IT IS GRACIOUSLY BESTOWED BY A
LOVING GOD IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY MERIT OR GOODNESS OR
STRIVING ON THE PART OF MEN.
THAT ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT A WAGE BUT A GIFT.
THIS, IT SEEMS, IS SOMETHING VERY DIFFICULT
FOR MAN TO HOLD TO.
AND SO BY THE TIME 1900 YEARS HAD PASSED AND
CHRIST HAD COME WE SEE THAT JUDAISM HAD
DEGENERATED INTO PHARASAISM AND THERE WAS A
MINUTE CODE OF DO'S AND DON'TS WHICH REGULATED THE
LIVES OF PEOPLE AND AFTER A VAIN STRIVING FOR
SALVATION BY HUMAN WORK.
BUT CHRIST CAME IN THE FULLNESS OF GOD'S TIME AND
ONCE MORE REVEALED THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL IN ITS
FULLEST MANIFESTATION.
CHRIST DIED AND ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD AND THIS NEW
MESSAGE OF LIFE THROUGH THE DEATH OF CHRIST, OF
SALVATION THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ANOTHER,
THIS MESSAGE SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE
ROMAN WORLD AND FINALLY IN LESS THAN 300 YEARS
OVERTHREW THE GREATEST PAGAN EMPIRE THE WORLD
HAD YET SEEN.
AND THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST HAD FREE SWAY.
AND YET, IT WASN'T TOO MANY CENTURIES AFTER THAT,
THAT THIS TOO WAS AGAIN LOST.
AND THE DARK AGES ENSUED AND THE GOSPEL WAS BURIED
UNDER A GREAT PILE OF DEBRIS.
THE CONCEPTS OF HUMAN MERIT AND HUMAN EARNINGS
AND HUMAN WORKINGS AGAIN CREPT IN UNTIL THEY MADE A
HUGE MOUNTAIN UNDER WHICH WAS BURIED THE PRECIOUS
JEWEL OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE.
AND BY THE TIME THAT LUTHER WAS BORN, THERE WAS
SCARCELY A PERSON IN A THOUSAND THAT HAD A CLUE
AS TO WHAT THE GOSPEL REALLY MEANT.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, LUTHER AND THE OTHER
REFORMERS BROUGHT IT TO LIGHT AGAIN.
AND THAT MESSAGE TRANSFORMED NATIONS,
INDEED, WE SEE THAT THE FATE OF NATIONS FOR THE
CENTURIES TO COME WAS GOING TO DEPEND TO A GREAT
EXTENT UPON THE ATTITUDE WHICH THEY HAD TOWARD THIS
NEW REVELATION OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE.
THOSE THAT ACCEPTED IT GREW TO GREAT PROVIDENCE.
THOSE THAT REJECTED IT RECEDED INTO THE BACKWASH
OF HISTORY.
BUT NOW 500 YEARS HAS PASSED AND WE SEE THIS,
THAT WE PROTESTANTS, SO-CALLED, HAVE VERY
LITTLE TO BE PROUD ABOUT.
IT TOOK THE JEWS 1900 YEARS TO LOSE IT.
IT TOOK THE CATHOLICS, 1500 YEARS TO LOSE IT.
IT TOOK US LESS THAN 500 YEARS TO LOSE IT.
AND TODAY, I AM CONFIDENT THAT NOT ONE PROTESTANT IN
FIVE HAS THE FOGGIEST NOTION OF WHAT LUTHER WAS
ALL ABOUT OR WHAT THE GREAT DOCTRINE OF
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IS ALL ABOUT.
MARTIN LUTHER WAS SENT TO STUDY LAW AT GREAT
SACRIFICE TO HIS PARENTS.
AND WHILE HE WAS AT THE UNIVERSITY BEGINNING TO
PREPARE HIMSELF TO BE A LAWYER, AS SO MANY OTHER
MEN GREATLY USED BY GOD HAD STARTED THEIR LIVES
TO BE A LAWYER.
IT WAS ONE DAY WHILE HE WAS WALKING WITH A FRIEND
OUT IN THE OPEN FIELDS AND THE SKY WAS DARK AND
OVERCAST AND THERE WAS THUNDERING AND LIGHTENING.
AS THEY ROSE UP OVER A SMALL HILL, WHEN THEY
REACHED THE TOP OF THE HILL SUDDENLY THERE WAS A
DEAFENING CRASH AND A BLINDING FLASH AND
LIGHTNING STRUCK LUTHER'S FRIEND RIGHT AT HIS SIDE,
KILLING HIM INSTANTLY, THROWING LUTHER ON TO HIS
FACE IN THE MUD.
AND TERRIFIED, HE LIFTED UP HIS FACE AND HIS HAND
AND SAID, "HELP, ST. ANNA, AND I WILL ENTER
A MONASTERY."
AND SO THAT BOLT OF LIGHTNING COMING RIGHT OUT
OF HEAVEN WAS THAT WHICH DIRECTED LUTHER TO A
COURSE WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY BRING HIM TO
UNDERSTAND, DISCOVER THE GREAT TRUTH OF
JUSTIFICATION.
SO HE ENTERED THE AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY.
AND, HE HAD BUT ONE THOUGHT AT THAT TIME AND
THAT WAS THAT HE MIGHT BECOME RIGHT WITH GOD,
THAT HE MIGHT BE ACCEPTED BY AN ALL-HOLY GOD.
BUT SINCE IN THOSE DARK DAYS OF LITTLE SPIRITUAL
UNDERSTANDING, IT WAS GENERALLY HELD THAT THIS
WOULD BE ATTAINED BY MAN'S OWN SPIRITUAL STRIVING.
BY HIS FASTING AND HIS PRAYERS AND HIS PENANCES
AND HIS EFFORTS OF ONE SORT OR ANOTHER THAT
LUTHER GAVE OF HIMSELF WITH A VEHEMENCE TO
ACCOMPLISHING THESE THINGS.
HE PRAYED ALMOST UNCEASINGLY.
ONE TIME HE PRAYED FOR 6 WEEKS WITHOUT EATING AND
PRACTICALLY WITHOUT SLEEPING, ONLY SLEEPING
EVERY 3 OR 4 DAYS FOR A FEW HOURS.
AND STILL HE FOUND NO PEACE WITH GOD.
AND THEN HE TRIED TO PUNISH HIS BODY IN ORDER
THAT HE MIGHT ATONE FOR HIS SINS AND SO TAKING A
WHIP HE WOULD FLAGELLATE HIMSELF UNTIL HE WOULD BE
FOUND UNCONSCIOUS IN HIS CELL BY HIS FELLOW MONKS
IN A POOL OF BLOOD IN THE MORNING.
AND STILL HE FOUND NO PEACE WITH GOD.
AND THEN HE DETERMINED TO GO OUT INTO THE DEEP SNOW
IN THE DEAD OF WINTER IN GERMANY AND THERE, NAKED,
SPEND THE ENTIRE NIGHT TRYING TO MAKE HIMSELF
PURE ENOUGH TO LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF A HOLY GOD.
STILL HE FOUND NO PEACE WITH GOD.
FINALLY, LUTHER WENT TO DR. STAUPITZ WHO WAS THE
HEAD OF HIS MONASTERY AND ONE OF THE MEN WHO IN
THOSE DAYS OF EXCEEDING SPIRITUAL GLOOM HELD SOME
LIGHT OF THE MEANING OF THE GOSPEL.
AND STAUPITZ SAID TO LUTHER, "LOOK TO THE
WOUNDS OF CHRIST AND NOT TO YOUR OWN
RIGHTEOUSNESS."
AND LUTHER WAS STUNNED BY THOSE WORDS.
AND THEY WERE TO HAUNT HIM HE DIDN'T FULLY UNDERSTOOD
WHAT THEY MEANT.
BUT HE BEGAN TO TEACH THE SCRIPTURES AND THERE CAME
THAT TIME WHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE HE
FOUND IN THE LIBRARY A COMPLETE BIBLE.
HE HAD ONLY SEEN THE PRAYER BOOK WITH THE SMALL
PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE THAT IT CONTAINED AND LIKE MOST
PEOPLE IN HIS DAY DID NOT EVEN KNOW THAT A BIBLE
EXISTED.
HE FELT THAT HE HAD FOUND A GREAT TREASURE HOUSE OF
DIVINE SCRIPTURE AND HE MEDITATED UPON THEM DAY
AFTER DAY.
THERE IS INDEED A PICTURE AT THE CONVENT OF ERFURT
OF LUTHER AS A YOUNG MAN, 24, EAGERLY READING A
BIBLE, AND IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY ON THAT BIBLE YOU
CAN SEE THOSE ELECTRIC WORDS THAT WERE TO CHANGE
HIS LIFE AND CHANGE THE WORLD, "THE JUST SHALL
LIVE BY FAITH."
HE READ THOSE AND HE PUZZLED OVER THEM AND HE
COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY MEANT.
"THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
WORDS THAT ARE INSCRIBED ON THE FRONT OF THIS
PULPIT AND WORDS THAT ONE DAY WERE TO BE INSCRIBED
ON THE VERY HEART OF MARTIN LUTHER.
BUT LUTHER DID NOT YET UNDERSTAND THOSE WORDS.
AND HE WAS SENT BY HIS MONASTERY TO ROME.
HE WAS EAGER TO GO BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THAT ROME MUST
BE A CITY OF SAINTS AND ANGELS.
BUT WHEN HE GOT THERE HE WAS TREMENDOUSLY
DISAPPOINTED.
HE HEARD IT SAID BY OTHER PRIESTS THAT IF THERE WERE
A HELL THEN SURELY ROME WAS BUILT UPON IT.
AND HE FOUND WHILE HE SAID ONE MASS THEY SAID THREE
OR FOUR.
BUT HE STILL RAN EAGERLY AS A PILGRIM FROM ONE
SHRINE TO ANOTHER SAYING HIS PRAYERS AND TRYING TO
EARN AS MANY INDULGENCES AS POSSIBLE.
FINALLY HE CAME TO THE LATERAN STAIRCASE, THE
SCALA SANCTA, AS IT'S CALLED, THE STAIRS UPON
WHICH JESUS STOOD IN JERUSALEM WHEN HE WAS
CONDEMNED BY PONTIUS PILATE WHICH HAD BEEN
BROUGHT TO THE CITY OF ROME.
AND THERE HE CRAWLED UP THOSE STAIRS ON HIS KNEES,
AS I MYSELF HAVE SEEN PEOPLE TO THIS DAY DOING.
AND RECITING HIS ROSARY, KISSING EACH STEP AS HE
WEPT.
BUT AS HE REACHED THE CENTER OF THAT LONG
STAIRCASE, FINALLY IT SEEMED TO COME BACK TO HIS
MIND AGAIN THAT TEXT WHICH HE HAD READ AND PUZZLED
ABOUT SO LONG, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
AND IT SEEMED THAT THOSE WORDS GREW AND EXPANDED
UNTIL THEY RESOUNDED THROUGHOUT HIS WHOLE SOUL,
MIND AND BEING, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
AND FINALLY IT SEEMED THAT THEY THUNDERED SO THAT THE
WHOLE CHURCH WAS FILLED WITH THE ECHO OF THE
WORDS, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
AND SUDDENLY, THE CURTAINS WERE DRAWN BACK FROM
LUTHER'S MIND AND HE SAW AND HE UNDERSTOOD THAT MEN
ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, THAT MEN ARE MADE JUST IN
THE SIGHT OF GOD, AND ACCEPTED BY GOD BY FAITH
IN JESUS CHRIST AND SUDDENLY HE LEAPED TO HIS
FEET AND LOOKED AROUND HIM, AS IF A MAN WAKING UP
FROM A DREAM AND HE WONDERED AT WHAT DEPTHS OF
SUPERSTITION ONE COULD DESCEND AND HE RAN DOWN
THE STAIRS AND RETURNED TO THE CITY OF WITTENBURG.
AND HE BEGAN TO TEACH THE SCRIPTURES, AND HE BEGAN
TO TEACH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
BUT OF COURSE THERE WAS A DOUBLE RESPONSE, THERE WAS
TREMENDOUS ENTHUSIASM ON THE PART OF MANY BUT THERE
WAS GROWING OPPOSITION SINCE HE WAS TEACHING AN
IDEA WHICH IN THE MIDDLE AGES WAS NOT ACCEPTED,
WHICH WAS CONSIDERED TO BE NEW AND HERETICAL.
AND THEN HE WAS TOLD TO COME TO WORMS, THE CITY OF
WORMS, AND THERE HE WAS TO MEET WITH THE IMPERIAL
DIET AND HE WAS TO ANSWER FOR HIS TEACHING.
HE WAS URGED NOT TO GO.
"REMEMBER JOHN HUSS," THEY SAID, WHO A HUNDRED YEARS
BEFORE FOR TEACHING VIRTUALLY THE SAME THING
HAD BEEN BURNED ALIVE AND GIVEN NO OPPORTUNITY
TO DEFEND HIS TEACHINGS.
HE SAID THOUGH THE DEVILS BE AS MANY AS THE TILES ON
THE ROOFTOP, "I WILL GO TO WORMS."
AND SO HE MADE HIS WAY SLOWLY ACROSS GERMANY
UNTIL HE CAME TO THE CITY OF WORMS WHICH WAS FILLED
TO OVERFLOWING WITH THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE WHO HAD COME.
AND FINALLY AFTER A LONG WAIT HE WAS USHERED INTO
THE GREAT HALL.
THERE BEFORE HIM WAS SEATED CHARLES V, EMPEROR
OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE AND BESIDE HIM THE
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE POPE, AND THEN THERE WERE
PRINCES OF GERMANY AND ALL OF THE STATES OF THE HOLY
ROMAN EMPIRE WERE GATHERED, A GREAT THRONG
OF PEOPLE ALL OF THE MOST NOBLE AND IMPORTANT AND
POWERFUL PEOPLE OF EUROPE WERE THERE.
AND LUTHER WAS ESCORTED TO THE CENTER OF THIS GREAT
ROOM, AND THERE IN THE CENTER THERE WAS A TABLE
AND ON THAT TABLE THERE WAS A LARGE NUMBER OF
BOOKS.
AND THEN, SPEAKING FOR THE EMPEROR SOMEONE SAID:
ARE THESE BOOKS YOURS?
HE LOOKED AT THEM QUICKLY AND THEN SAID,
"YES, THEY ARE MINE."
AND THEN CAME THE FEARED QUESTION: WILL YOU RECANT?
AND SUDDENLY THE PICTURE OF HUSS TIED TO A STAKE
SURROUNDED BY FLAMES LEAPED INTO HIS MIND.
NO OPPORTUNITY TO DEBATE.
LUTHER ASKED FOR SOME TIME TO CONSIDER HIS ANSWER.
HE WAS SO STUNNED THAT HIS KNEES GREW WEAK;
HE RETIRED FOR THE EVENING TO GIVE HIMSELF TO PRAYER
AND MEDITATION AND WROTE TO A FRIEND, THAT BY THE
GRACE OF GOD HE WOULD STAND FAST.
THE NEXT DAY THEY ASSEMBLED ONCE MORE.
AND HE SAID, IN SOME OF THESE BOOKS I HAVE WRITTEN
THINGS WHICH ALL CHRISTIANS EVERYWHERE OF
ALL PERSUASIONS AGREE SUCH AS BOOKS ON THE LORD'S
PRAYER, WOULD YOU HAVE ME TO RECANT THESE, I CANNOT
RECANT THOSE.
AND THEY SAID, "WE WANT AN ANSWER WITHOUT HORNS AND
WITHOUT HOOFS," AND SO, FINALLY, LUTHER, PRESSED,
SAID, "MY CONSCIENCE IS BOUND BY THE WORD OF GOD.
UNLESS I AM REFUTED AND CONVICTED BY THE HOLY
SCRIPTURES, I CANNOT AND I WILL NOT RECANT ANYTHING."
THE WHOLE ROOM WENT INTO AN UPROAR.
SHOUTS, "HERETIC!"
HE DECLARED THAT THE COUNSELS HAD ERRED.
"YOU CANNOT PROVE IT," THEY SHOUTED.
HE SAID, "I WILL IF YOU LET ME SPEAK."
CRIES WENT UP TO, "BURN HIM!"
FINALLY, LUTHER SPOKE AGAIN, I CAN DO NO OTHER
"HERE I STAND.
GOD HELP ME.
AMEN."
THIS SUMMER, I STOOD IN WORMS AND LOOKED DOWN AT A
PLAQUE ON THE GROUND WHICH SAID, IN GERMAN, "HERE
STOOD MARTIN LUTHER FOR GOD AND COUNTRY."
A VERY SIMPLE STATEMENT.
BUT SO TRUE.
A MAN WHO WAS WILLING TO GIVE HIS LIFE FOR THE
TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
HE WAS CONDEMNED TO BE TAKEN AND BURNED; HE WAS
GIVEN 20 DAYS TO RECANT AFTER WHICH HIS LIFE WAS
FORFEIT.
HE WAS, AS YOU KNOW, KIDNAPPED BY FRIENDS AND
HIDDEN OUT AT WARTBURG CASTLE IN THE THURINGIAN
MOUNTAINS WHERE HE TRANSLATED THE BIBLE
INTO GERMAN.
AND THEN CAME OUT AGAIN TO LEAD THE REFORMATION.
THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
THE SUMMARY OF ALL OF THE GREAT TRUTHS OF SCRIPTURE
CONCERNING MAN'S SALVATION, AN EPITOME OF
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST ITSELF, FOUND IN THAT
SIMPLE STRING OF MONOSYLLABLES, "THE JUST
SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
LATE IN HIS LIFE, HE WAS ASKED ABOUT THAT TEXT AND
HE SAID THAT IT WAS THE VERITABLE GATE INTO
PARADISE.
THAT IT WAS AN OPEN DOOR INTO THE VERY PARADISE OF
GOD.
THAT HAD BROUGHT AN ABUNDANCE OF PEACE AND JOY
AND HAPPINESS AND CONFIDENCE INTO HIS LIFE.
WHEN HE LEARNED TO CEASE TRUSTING IN HIMSELF AND
START TRUSTING IN THE PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF CHRIST.
IN THE PERFECT LIFE AND OBEDIENCE AND THE PERFECT
ATONING DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST.
"THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!"
I TRUST THAT THAT FAITH IS YOURS TODAY.
MAY WE PRAY.
FATHER WE PRAY THAT AFTER THESE 500 YEARS THAT GREAT
MESSAGE BROUGHT TO LIGHT ONCE MORE IN LUTHER'S DAY
MAY NOT BE LOST UPON US THAT WE MAY NOT DWELL IN
OUR OWN PERSONAL DARK AGE BUT THAT THE LIGHT OF
CHRIST MAY BURST UPON US.
AND THE GLORY OF CHRIST MAY FILL OUR HEARTS AS WE
TURN FROM OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS TO TRUST IN
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST AND REJOICE IN THEE
AS WE ENTER INTO THE VERY GATES OF PARADISE THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
AMEN.
MARTIN LUTHER WAS TRYING TO EARN HIS WAY TO HEAVEN
WHEN HE CAME UPON ROMANS, CHAPTER 1 VERSE 17 WHICH
SAYS, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
IT WAS THEN THAT HE REALIZED THAT HE WAS
TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON JESUS CHRIST AND HE
STOPPED HIS STRIVING TO BE GOOD ENOUGH TO GET INTO
HEAVEN AND PLACED HIS TRUST FIRMLY AND ONLY
IN JESUS CHRIST FOR HIS SALVATION.
DO YOU HAVE THAT ASSURANCE THAT YOU'LL BE WITH GOD IN
HEAVEN SOME DAY?
IF NOT, PRAY WITH ME THIS PRAYER, "LORD, JESUS CHRIST,
I KNOW THAT I AM A SINNER IN NEED OF A SAVIOR AND
TODAY, I PLACE MY TRUST IN YOU.
PLEASE FORGIVE ME OF MY SINS AND CLEANSE ME AND
MAKE ME BRAND NEW.
THANK YOU FOR THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.
IN YOUR NAME I PRAY, AMEN."
IF YOU JUST PRAYED THAT PRAYER, WE WANT TO SEND
YOU BEGINNING AGAIN WHICH IS PRECISELY WHAT YOU ARE
DOING.
INSIDE YOU'LL FIND HELPFUL TOOLS INCLUDING THE BOOK
OF JOHN FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT.
I RECOMMEND YOU READ A CHAPTER A DAY WHICH WILL
HELP YOU BEGIN TO GROW IN YOUR NEW FAITH.
TO RECEIVE YOUR COPY OF BEGINNING AGAIN, JUST
WRITE TO OUR ADDRESS OR CALL OUR TOLL-FREE NUMBER.
GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU DO.
DR. KENNEDY PERFECTLY PAINTS THE PICTURE OF THE
IMPORTANCE OF WHAT MARTIN LUTHER DID AND HOW IT IS
RELEVANT FOR US TODAY.
DR. KENNEDY BELIEVED IT WAS VITAL THAT CHRISTIANS
UNDERSTAND THE THEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
IMPLICATIONS OF BIBLICAL TRUTH, FOR THEM TO BE ABLE
TO BE SALT AND LIGHT IN THE WORLD.
WE'VE RECENTLY COMPILED A SERIES OF SOME OF HIS BEST
MESSAGES INTO THE BRAND-NEW KENNEDY
COLLECTION HARDCOVER BOOK TITLED, HOW I KNOW.
IN THIS BOOK, DR. KENNEDY COVERS SUCH TOPICS AS: HOW
I KNOW THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD, HOW I KNOW
JESUS IS GOD, AND HOW I KNOW CHRIST ROSE FROM THE
DEAD.
THESE ARE CENTRAL POINTS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH,
AND EVERY CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO KNOW THEM.
WE WANT TO SEND YOU THIS IMPORTANT BOOK AS OUR
THANKS FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATION TO THE ONGOING
WORK OF THIS MINISTRY.
THIS IS A RESOURCE YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS OUT ON.
SIMPLY WRITE TO US AT:
OR CALL TOLL FREE:
OR GO ONLINE TO:
EACH OF THE MESSAGES IN THIS BOOK DEALS WITH A
SUBJECT THAT SHOULD BE ESSENTIAL BIBLICAL
KNOWLEDGE FOR THOSE WHO PROFESS TO LOVE THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST, AS WELL AS FOR THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING
TO KNOW HIM.
THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD OR
AUDIO CD, WHERE YOU CAN HEAR DR. KENNEDY DELIVER
THEM IN THE CLEAR, POWERFUL WAY HE SPOKE
FROM THE PULPIT FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS.
WE'LL SEND YOU THE HARDCOVER BOOK AND THE
4-DVD OR 4-CD SET HOW I KNOW AS OUR THANKS FOR
YOUR GENEROUS DONATION OF $50 OR MORE.
SIMPLY WRITE TO US AT:
OR CALL TOLL FREE:
OR GO ONLINE TO:
AT D. JAMES KENNEDY MINISTRIES, WE ARE
STANDING FOR TRUTH AND DEFENDING YOUR
FREEDOM.
I'M FRANK WRIGHT.
THANKS FOR JOINING US FOR THIS EDITION OF KENNEDY
CLASSICS.
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.
TODAY'S PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE ON DVD
OR AUDIO CD FOR YOUR GIFT TO THIS MINISTRY
OF ANY AMOUNT.
PLEASE CALL, WRITE, OR LOG ON TO OUR WEBSITE TODAY.
THIS HAS BEEN A PRODUCTION OF
D. JAMES KENNEDY MINISTRIES
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