My Dad’s Testimony

Greetings! This is Rob Haymes; 15 Minutes with Jesus. Wherever two or more are gathered together in my name, Jesus said, there I am in the midst. I want to share with you a little bit about my Dad. I believe it would please God for me to honor my Dad before I go any farther with this program. My Dad’s name was Robert William Haymes. I’m Robert William Haymes Jr. I’m very thankful for my Dad. He was an extremely talented man. In his early days he was involved in singing with the big bands, back in the 1940’s; also involved in several movies. He was involved in show business and television. He also was in the Army. He was in the last mounted cavalry in the Army. He actually had an accident and injured his knee and was discharged honorably from the Army. My Dad, as I said, was very talented. He began writing songs in the 1950’s. He wrote some incredibly beautiful music. I had the privilege of growing up watching him and listening to him play piano and sing songs that he wrote, and other songs, tell stories. My Dad was a wonderful storyteller. I have memories of him at our house, telling stories with a cigar in his mouth. When my Dad would tell a story you would forget all about that he was telling the story; it was like you were in the story; he was such a good storyteller. My Dad was a gourmet cook. He was a man of excellence. Everything he did, he did with all his heart; he did excellent work; as a songwriter; also he had an audio visual production company in the 80’s. Everything he did he did very well, and he taught me that. That’s one of the things I’m very thankful for with my Dad: he taught me to do things in an excellent way. He taught me about quality, in music and the arts, in many things. Unfortunately I did not inherit my Dad’s ability for cooking; my Dad could cook! My parents were divorced when I was around 1 year old, which would have been 1951. My Dad lived in New York City, and my Mom and I and my sisters, and brother lived in Greenwich, CT with my step father. We lived in a big old colonial house in Greenwich, CT, and Dad used to come and pick me up in his MG TD 1953; many of you know what that was like. He’d pick me up in his sports car and take me to New York; my Dad used to have a radio show on NBC Radio, and I would go with him to the studio in Rockefeller Center, and he would do a show at night. Then we would drive out to Long Island. He had a little house on Long Island in Sag Harbor, which is in the northern part of Long Island. And we would spend the weekend, and in the summer, a week or two. My Dad had a little boat, which he restored. The name of the boat was Boat; he had it written on the stern. My Dad, as I said, was very talented; he could be very funny, he could tell wonderful stories. He took me out to wonderful restaurants in New York City, and out in Long Island. My Dad was a very famous and talented songwriter; he wrote a song called That’s All, which many of you may be familiar with. It’s in the American Song Book. The first person to record it was Nat King Cole, but also Frank Sinatra, and many other artists, including Michael Buble’, recorded that song. It’s a very famous song. My Dad wrote it with another man named Alan Brandt. So I grew up with my Dad; I’m very thankful for my Dad. I’ve always considered him to be a great man. He taught me many things; he taught me about manners. I can remember when I was young, he would say, now say thank you, say please, say you’re welcome. So I figured out if I said all three every time, I’d be covered; so I used to say, please, thank you, you’re welcome. LOL. Anyway, thank God for my Dad. 

He was born on March 29th 1923. He lived in White Plains, NY. As I said, He also lived in New York City for a long time. He died on January 28 1989 of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. One thing I want to say, before I go to my Dad’s testimony; this message is, number one, to honor my Dad, and number two, I want to give his testimony of how he came to know Jesus. Before I go to that, I want to say something about my Dad; he had many talents; he was a very talented songwriter, but he was also a talented writer; he was an artist. He used to put together these inter-corporate commercials, where he would produce the whole thing; he would write the score; he would put together music, photographs, and a monologue, and produce the whole program. He was very good at that. So, like I said, he had many talents. One of his talents was saving lives. I can remember one evening we came back from boating; he used to keep his boat in a little marina there in Sag Harbor, and he would always have me wash down the boat while he would visit with his friends, drink bloody marys, and eat shellfish, which is something I never acquired a taste for. So opposite from where his boat slip was, there was a boat house with the gas pumps, across the inlet for the marina. My Dad was talking with some friends, and I was standing there, and all of a sudden I heard a noise, and I looked, and I saw my Dad throwing off his watch, and running over and jumping in the water. What had happened was there was a couple talking to the marina owner at the gas pumps, who had two little children, and they weren’t paying attention to them, and their children had fallen into the water and they were drowning. My Dad rescued them and saved their lives. Another time we were driving in his MG on the highway, going about 60 mph, and on those old MG’s the doors opened the opposite way that car doors open now-a-days. They open the other way. So, when you open the door, it would catch the wind if you were driving. And there was a little chain hanging from the door handle, and I was just sitting there; I was about 11 years old; we were going 60 mph, and I was playing with that chain; I was holding on to that chain, and the door opened and I was looking down at the highway. This all happened in a matter of seconds; and my Dad immediately responded and grabbed me and jerked me back into the car. It may not seem like much, but this was all like in 3 seconds; you know, 1,2,3. He saved my life. I was sitting there and my heart was pumping out of my chest; it was amazing. So my Dad saved my life. I’ve heard other stories where he saved people’s lives. He was very aware of his surroundings. He was very astute, very alert about his surroundings. So, again, I’m very thankful for my Dad; he was very talented; he taught me alot. He was a perfectionist, and he taught me to be a perfectionist. I’ve been doing remodeling now since 1980. I’m retired now, but that’s one thing I’ve always strove to do in my work, is to do excellent work. And, I found out that’s something that God requires of His servants, is excellence; it’s called virtue in the Bible. 

Another thing I want to say about my Dad is that he was a sinner; like all of us, my Dad was a sinner. And, because of his sins, he experienced a lot of trouble in his life. But Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to save sinners. Jesus said, I didn’t come to save the righteous, but sinners. He said, I didn’t come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. Now I want to talk about how my Dad came to know Jesus. I got saved in 1976 in Estes Park, Colorado. I won’t go into my testimony, but I was saved. My wife and I had a baby boy, and we went on a tour around the Nation to show him off to our family members. We went to see my Dad in Florida and we were in his house; I had just gotten saved; I was a brand new Christian, and I talked to my Dad; I said, Hey Dad! I’d like to tell you about Jesus. And he looked at me with kind of a stern look, and he said, Oh, everybody has to have their crutch. That was it. I couldn’t talk to my Dad any more about Jesus at that time. He just shut me down. So, many years later, that was in 1977, probably; many years later, around 1988, my Dad went to China with his wife; they went to China. My Dad told me he was standing on the Great Wall of China, and something hit him in his chest. It wasn’t like a person hit him with a stick or something, he just felt like something hit him in his chest, and when he came home from that trip, he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. There is no cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease, even to this day; I don’t think they have a cure for it; so if you get it, you die. So my Dad was sick and I began to cry out to God. I knew that there was no cure for this disease, and I just began to cry out to God and pray for my Dad’s salvation. I was weeping; I was on my knees; I remember being on my knees in my garage alone; just pouring out my heart to God; crying out to God for my Dad to be saved; for God to save my Dad. My Dad at that time was living with his wife, in Greenville, SC, and there were some Christian ladies in the area that came to visit my Dad; I don’t know if they already knew him, but they came to my Dad’s house, and they led him to Jesus, and my Dad received Jesus at that time. And he began to follow Jesus. He began to seek to be healed of his disease. He had some very famous Christians come and pray for him, including Pastor Yonggi Cho from South Korea, and others prayed for him, but he was not healed. He worked with The Happy Hunters doing audio visual work for them; he traveled with them. And he was still able to play piano when my wife and I and children went to see him. We spent Christmas with him in Greenville, and we had some good times with my Dad and his wife. Then later on; that disease is very brutal, and he began to get to where he could no longer play piano. Eventually he was hospitalized, and I went to see him in the hospital, and the last time I saw my Dad in the hospital, he was lying in a bed; he was on a ventilator, so he had tubes going down in his throat and he couldn’t talk. Now, remember, as I explained earlier, my Dad was a very talented communicator; so he was lying there in the hospital bed; he couldn’t talk, but he was awake, and he looked at me; I was alone with him in the room; this was the last time I saw my Dad; he looked at me and he made sign language; he pointed to his heart, and then he put both his hands over his heart, and then he pointed to his left palm, and then he pointed to his right palm and extended his arms out, which is the deaf sign for Jesus Christ; so what he was saying was, I love Jesus. And then he pointed to himself, and put his hands over his heart, and he pointed to me, and he was saying, I love you. I’m telling you it was so powerful! That was the last time my Dad talked to me. And I’m also telling you that my Dad is with Jesus! And some day, in the not-too-distant-future, I’ll have a reunion with my Dad, because of the great love of Jesus; that He loves us so much, that He gave Himself for us, a living sacrifice on the Cross for our sins. He was tempted in every way as we are; every way; He was a man; He was tempted in every way as we are, yet He never sinned. That’s why He’s called the Spotless Lamb of God, and that’s why my Dad is in Heaven.

To conclude: After my Dad had passed away, we went to his funeral in Greenville, SC. We went to the grave site and buried my Dad. On the way to the grave site, the Mayor of Greenville had arranged to have a policeman on every corner, and as we passed by, they would salute. I’m telling you that was a moving experience! I really believe, to this day, that God had him do that to honor my Dad. We buried my Dad, and in the South they have a custom called a wake, where you go back to the house, and you have black-eyed peas; why they have black-eyed peas, I don’t know; there must be a reason. Many people were gathered at the house. Some women were coming up to me and saying how sorry they were for me that I had lost my Dad; at the time I appreciated their concern and their kindness, but that’s not what was in my heart; I was not sad; I was not sad, because I knew my Dad was with Jesus. And guess what! One of the women that had led my Dad to Jesus came up to me, and she shook my hand, very vigorously, with a big smile on her face, and she said, Isn’t it great that Bob’s with Jesus !!!  I was so happy !! I was saying, Yes!! Amen!! Thank you Sister !! It was such a wonderful, closing moment! But it’s not over. I will see my Dad again. He’s with Jesus, and I will ever be thankful that he is saved, and he’s with the Lord. God bless you all.

 A Holy Nation

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today we are speaking about A Holy Nation. Let’s turn to Heb 11:8-16, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Let’s turn to Rev 21:1-5, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. New Jerusalem is prepared for God’s Holy Nation. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. He said, If you continue in my Word, you will be my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. This glorious promise is for true disciples of Jesus Christ who are continuing in His Word, being washed, being cleansed, being purified by obeying His Words through the Spirit. 

Let’s turn to Titus 2:11-14, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself His own special people, zealous of good works; doing the will of His Father, truly led by the Spirit of God; sons and daughters of God.  1Pet 2:9, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. New Jerusalem is full of the light of the Lamb, and of the Glory of the Father. There is no darkness there; no night. This light is come into the world. This light is the light of men. This is the true light which lights every man that comes into the world. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Light is come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. They won’t come to the light lest their deeds be exposed, but those that love the truth and do the truth will come out of darkness and enter into His marvelous light. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, and if we will walk in the light we will have fellowship with God, and with one another.

God has given us His grace. God has given us His Son. Let’s turn to 1 Pet 1:13-23,  Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am Holy.  And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. In these verses the Apostle Peter describes the true grace of God. Because we have been redeemed with such a precious thing as the Blood of God’s only begotten Son, who was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin; because of all that He suffered for us on the Cross, we should conduct ourselves in the fear of God, seeking to be holy, even as He is Holy, in all obedience to His Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit as He leads us and guides us into all truth; not fashioning ourselves according to the former lusts in our ignorance; not continuing in sin; justifying ourselves with false doctrines of grace. God gave us His Son to make us a holy people, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that we should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We have been delivered from the domain of darkness, and have been translated into the Kingdom of God’s Dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His precious Blood; the forgiveness of sins. He died to take away our sins and cleanse us and make us a holy people, separated unto Him, to worship Him and serve Him in Spirit and in truth forever in His Kingdom, as lively stones, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God  by Jesus Christ. Carnal sacrifices made by carnal people in carnal houses are not acceptable unto God. God is a Spirit, Jesus said, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. He said, the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

If you are defiled with sin you cannot come into His Temple and offer a sacrifice of praise. You must be washed; you must be cleansed, through repentance and faith in the precious Blood of Jesus. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! He loved you, and washed you from your sins in His own Blood! He gave Himself to the suffering of the Cross, in obedience to the Father, for a purpose!; Not to make a way for people to remain filthy and go to Heaven. If you have not come to Him in repentance, and confessed all your sins to Him, your conscience is defiled, and so are you, and you cannot enter His Temple. But He came to make a holy people, a holy nation, cleansed from all their filthiness, to serve Him in righteousness, peace and joy forever in His Kingdom; as royal priests, offering pure worship to the King of Kings, and unto the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning, as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as servants and slaves of God; loving Him, serving Him, worshipping Him forever in His Glory. 

Be you holy, for He is Holy!  Holy; what does it mean to be holy? It means to be separated from this present evil world, unto God, to love Him and fear Him, and obey and serve Him. In 1 John 2:15-17, we read,  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. He also said, Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit is Holy, and He will lead you into holiness, and you will glorify Jesus. Let’s turn to 2 Cor 6:1&2, We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. Did you know you can receive the grace of God in vain? For He says, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you; behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation. Verse 14, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the Living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you; I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. He that has this hope in him; that Jesus is returning soon to receive unto Himself His own special people to dwell with Him forever in His Glory, should be all about purifying himself, even as He is pure; not about the former lusts, the ways of the world, the things of the world. Don’t believe the false grace, people! It will never work! If you are in any sin, come to Him, now! And repent with all your heart, that He may cleanse you of your filthiness, and lead you in His righteous, good way, to prepare you to be with Him forever; to be a part of His Holy Nation, His Royal Priesthood, His own special people. He said, if you will seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him.

Let’s turn to Isaiah 9:6&7, For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His Kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 

 Grace and Fear

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is about Grace and Fear. Let’s turn to Heb 12:28&29, Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. See how the grace of God is coupled with the fear of God? God is greatly to be feared; He is a consuming fire, and yet He, in His great love wherewith He loved us, has granted us grace through the gift of His beloved Son. The grace of God enables us to serve Him acceptably, which is with reverence and godly fear. Heb 10:26-31, For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who  rejected Moses' law died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, Vengeance is mine; I will repay says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! 

1 Pet 1:1- , Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s people scattered through out  Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am Holy. Verse 17-19, And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work;  the Lord has repeatedly promised that we are all going to be judged according to what we have done, and what we have said in this life,  conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;   the fear of the Lord is clean, it is His treasure; He has promised so many good things, without partiality, to those that fear Him,  knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. If we look in verse 22, we can see how we can cleanse ourselves. The Apostle Peter said, purify your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, in sincere love of the brethren. The Word of God is the truth. Jesus said, in John 17, when He was praying to the Father, He said, Father, sanctify them through thy truth; thy Word is truth. If we look in Eph 5: 25-27, it is written, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Let the Holy Spirit lead you in the Word of God, and wash you, and cleanse you from all your filthiness. 

You know it is written in the scriptures that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, and God has spoken to His people that He does not change; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. So God is the same. God does not change. We are going to read about something He did with the children of Israel in the wilderness. Let’s turn to Numbers 16:1-7, Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?  So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him. Do this: take censers, Korah and all your company; put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi! I don’t have time to read all these scriptures, but I’m going to read how God judged Korah, Dathan, and Abiram for their rebellion against the Lord. Verse 20-35, And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. Then they fell on their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation? So the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the congregation, saying, Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins. So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children. And Moses said: By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD. In the King James Version it says, they have provoked the Lord. Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also! And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense. 

Our God is a consuming fire. He has not changed. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He is greatly to be feared! It is truly a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. And there is no conflict between the love of God and the fear of God. God loves the Children of Israel. He was very long suffering with them for over 40 years in the wilderness. And through them He sent His Son, because He so loved us, and He desires to save us from His great wrath which is soon coming upon all the wicked. All the wicked will be as stubble, and the fire of God will consume them; those who sin willfully and reject the good counsel of God against themselves. Jesus willingly and lovingly gave Himself to suffer on the Cross for all our sins, and those who reject Him condemn themselves to eternal torment in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; day and night, forever and ever. God hates evil; He hates sin. Why? Because it destroys His people that He created; it ruins men and women. So He sent His Son, once to die, to put away sins, that those who have a heart to love Him and repent may receive forgiveness of sins, and enter into His Glorious Kingdom, to live forever with Him in His presence, where there is no more suffering and pain, no more sorrows. God Himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes; the former things will be forgotten. He loves people, all people, and He hates sin because it destroys people. People, therefore, that love sin, He will destroy, but He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He proved His love for us when He gave His beloved Son to die for us. And He raised Him from the dead to justify us from all sins, that we may overcome sin and all things that would destroy us, as He, our great High Priest, intercedes on our behalf at the right hand of the Father. Jesus said in Revelation, Those that I love I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent! 

Don’t be deceived by the many false prophets that are speaking in this hour. The grace of God and the fear of God go hand in hand. The fear of God and the love of God are in perfect harmony. When you fear Him, you will obey Him, and when you obey Him you are loving Him, and as you love him and keep His Words He will love you and grant you grace to overcome all the evil that would destroy you and your family, IF you will continue with Him, steadfast in the faith, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. That’s what we need: We need to know the grace of God in truth! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; the Seed of David, the Seed of Abraham; what the Father went through to bring Him forth!, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation: that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. In Heb 1:8&9 we read, But to the Son He says, Your throne o God is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.

Mal 4:1-3, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this, says the LORD of hosts. 

 The Name of Jesus

Acts 3:16, And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 

So, you are going to write and perform a beautiful song, or preach a lovely message, all about the good things which Jesus has done, and who He is, and you’re not even going to mention His name?! His name is Jesus! As the Apostle Peter said to the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple that day, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I to you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk! ...And he leaping up stood and walked, and entered with them into the Temple, walking and leaping, and praising God! 

Jesus said, And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 

He also said, Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. If you gather together and you’re ashamed to mention His name, you have no part with Him. He is not in your midst. When you are obeying Him, loving Him, keeping His Words, going where He wants you to go, speaking what He wants you to speak, doing what He leads you to do by His Holy Spirit, you are in His name. His name has great authority! Because He humbled Himself to the death of the Cross, that brutal Cross at Golgotha, to suffer and die for our sins, the Father has given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in Heaven, on the Earth, and under the Earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father, who raised Him from the dead by His mighty power, and set Him at His own right hand in the Heavenly places, far above all principality, power, and might, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.

The reason you won’t mention His name is because you are in rebellion and sin and you want to have all His blessings that are given you in Him, but you don’t want to obey Him and glorify the Father. His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth! King of Kings! Lord of Lords! Prince of peace! The Everlasting Father! He said everyone who is ashamed of Him and of His Words, He will be ashamed of them when He comes, He’s coming soon, in all the Glory of the Father, with all the Heavenly angels, to receive unto Himself His people, and those who love Him and are not ashamed of His Glorious Name will be with Him forever. Jesus said, How can you believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that comes from God only.

 John 3

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today we’re going to talk about John chapter 3.  John 3:1-21, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. 

Let’s look at verses 5&6, Jesus said to Nicodemus, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Born of water; I believe the Lord was talking about water baptism. Let’s look in Rom 6:1-11,  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. So, in water baptism, we are baptized into His death, burial, and His resurrection. We are born of water. And we are born of the Spirit. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Let’s turn to 2 Cor 5:14-17, For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. All things have become new; old things have passed away. Our old man is crucified with Christ through water baptism; we are buried with Him and we are raised in newness of life to serve Him with our spirit; we are born from above. Going back to John chapter 3, Jesus said in verse 3,  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And many, many times we’ve heard that expression: born again; and it does mean, in fact, born again. But  if you look up the Greek word, it really refers more to being born from above. So we are born from above, through receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and through water baptism. We were dead in trespasses and sins; now we are born from above; made alive in Christ, and He in us. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. Rom 6:22, But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 

This is the witness: That God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life, but he that has not the Son of God shall not see life.  Let’s go back to John chapter 3 again; in verse 36, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. We read in the Interlinear version, which is the original Greek, The one not obeying the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Many times we’ve read these verses, and it’s easier to think, oh, I believe in Jesus, so I’m ok. But that Word, He who does not believe the Son; it means He who is not obeying the Son. Are you obeying the Son? Are you really following Jesus? Or are you religious? Are you practicing religion, or are you really following Jesus? Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. How do we follow Him? How do we hear His voice? By the Holy Spirit. They that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. If we are not obeying Jesus, we don’t love Him, and the wrath of God is upon us. We must repent and return to Him. Jesus said, You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will send the Comforter that He may abide with you forever. Jesus told us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments, and He will not leave us alone, but He will send the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and help us to understand and obey His Words. Let’s go to 1 John 5:3, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 2:4-6, He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

If we don’t love Him, but rather, we love ourselves and our own pleasures, our own ways, that’s what makes it so hard to obey Him. So what can we do? We must understand and believe what happened to us when we were baptized in water; we were crucified with Him, buried with Him, raised again, justified from all selfishness and rebellion, to serve Him in His life and love. That’s the key: LOVE. If we love Him, we will overcome, and we will love others. If we don’t, we won’t. Faith works by love! Christian faith only works by love! God so loved us, that He gave us his Son to die for us and save us from our sins.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Light is come into the world, that’s Jesus, but men rejected Him. They hate Him; they hate the light, and they love darkness so they can continue doing their evil deeds, which they love, to their own destruction. God is saving and perfecting a people who love Him from their hearts, to live with Him forever in His Glorious Kingdom. Those who refuse to love Him condemn themselves to eternal damnation. God knows the heart. God looks on the heart, and He chooses those who He can work with and perfect their love. This is all about love! God is love!, and he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in Him! Jesus in you, and you in Jesus. 

Be honest with yourself, if you don’t love God, be honest with yourself, and with Him! Did you know you can come to Him, and come before him; humble yourself; if you have to get on your face out in the woods, or in your house, get on your face before God and say, Lord God, I cry out to you! I’m a hypocrite! I don’t love you! I go to church; I act like I love you, but I know I really don’t love you because I do what I want to do; I don’t do what you want me to do. I humble myself before you and I cry out to you and I ask for mercy; help me to love you! You know God will answer that prayer. He will answer you! He will help you! So I urge you, you that are reading this today: humble yourself before the Living God! And, if you want to, you can love Him! He will help you to love Him. The Bible says the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you need the Holy Spirit! Don’t let anyone lie to you any more! Amen! Let’s turn to John 17. God loves you. He loves you, my friend. I don’t know who you are, but I’m talking to somebody. God loves you, He loves you. He brought you into this world to be His servant and you’ve been rebellious all your life; this is your hour. I urge you now, come to Him! He loves you. He will help you. Draw near to Him, God says, draw near to me, and I will draw near to you. And, you know what, He’s not a respecter of persons. Any person that will humble themselves  before Him, He will grant them grace. God will help you! He’ll give you grace. And, don’t worry; the things that you will leave behind aren’t worth keeping! The things that God has for you are glorious! They are wonderful! John 17:23-26, Jesus was praying to the Father, and he said,  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one,  that’s what God wants to do with us,   and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Do we believe that? Do we believe that the Father loves us as He loves Jesus? That’s what Jesus said.  And Jesus wants the world to know that the Father loves us like He loves Jesus. He said, Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. 

 The Flesh and The Spirit Part 1

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This program is called 15 Minutes With Jesus. Let’s turn to Gen 2:15-17, Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. And then, chapter 3, verses 1-6, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. So we see here, that God, in the Garden of Eden, in the very beginning, He commanded Adam, even before He made Eve, not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and after Eve was created, the Devil came to Eve first. What Satan said to Eve is the main thing I want to talk about. He said to her, in chapter 3, verses 1-5 , Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. God commanded Adam not to eat of that tree, and He told Adam, In the day you eat thereof, you will die, and Satan came and told Eve, Oh, you won’t die. Go ahead. You’ll be wise. You’ll be like God. He tempted Eve, and she fell for it, and she went and ate of the fruit, and then she gave it to Adam, and he ate, and they both fell, and they died. They did not die physically, but they died spiritually; they no longer had eternal life. They died spiritually. Through sin, which is disobedience of God, they disobeyed His commandment and they sinned, and they were cursed because of it; the ground was cursed because of it, but the point I want to talk about is, God commanded not to eat of the tree; Satan came; he tempted Eve, and he told her, Oh, you won’t die, and he lied; that was a lie, because God said, you will die, and , of course, they did not die physically, but they died spiritually; they were cut off from eternal life. As we see in verse 19 of chapter 3, In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

Let’s turn to John 1:1-5 , In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Let’s go to verses 10-14, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the sons of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. In verse 4 it says, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. A son of God lives forever. A son of God, a daughter of God, has eternal life through Jesus Christ. John 3:14&15,  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus was lifted up upon the Cross; He was born of the virgin Mary; He became a man; He was conceived in her womb by the Holy Ghost. Jesus became a man. He was the Son of God, but He was also a man, and He was tempted in every way as we are, yet He never sinned. That’s why He’s called the spotless Lamb of God, and He willingly offered Himself, in obedience to the Father, on the Cross of Calvary for our sins; He died for our sins. He literally paid the entire full ransom for our sins on the Cross, not only for you and me, but for every human being that’s ever lived, or ever will live. He bore our sins in His body on the Cross. He also bore our sicknesses and our pains, and He died. The Bible says He loved us, and He washed us from our sins in His own Blood. That’s why Jesus came, and He gave unto us eternal life. When we receive Jesus; when we hear this; when we hear the Gospel; not only did He die for our sins, but He rose from the dead, and He justified all of us when He rose from the dead. The Father justified Him, and He justified all of us that have been baptized into Him. We’ve been baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection. We are crucified with Him; we are raised with Him; justified from all things that the Law of Moses could not justify us from. The Bible says, If any man be in Christ he is one spirit. So when you are born again, Jesus Christ comes to dwell in your heart. Gal 4:4-7, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. The Scripture says that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

Let’s turn to Rom 6:3-16 ,Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.   For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!   Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? The grace of God is the gift of His Son. God so loved us, John chapter 3, He so loved us, that He gave His Son, a living sacrifice for our sins. The Bible says that God made Him who knew no sin to become sin, to be made sin; Jesus was made sin; all the sin of the human race was put on Him when He was on the Cross. That’s when He cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? The Father had to forsake Him at that moment, when Jesus was made sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God, in Him. We are in Him; He is in us, and in Him is no sin. He bore our sins; He took away our sins. So when we repent of our sins and believe on Jesus Christ and believe in His sacrifice for our sins, we receive the grace of God, we receive the righteousness of God. The Bible says that God has given us a robe of righteousness; we receive His righteousness by faith, and we are justified, just as though we’ve never sinned; that is the grace of God. And then, if you look in the Book of Acts, they received the Holy Spirit after they were baptized in water. But sometimes they received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized in water. They received the Holy Spirit, either through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, or just the outpouring of the Spirit directly on people. Jesus told His disciples, shortly before He left, He said, I’m going to go back to the Father, but I’m not going to leave you alone; I’m going to send the Comforter, that He may be with you forever, and that’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost. But also remember, when Peter was sent by the Holy Spirit to go to Cornelius’ house, who was a Gentile centurion, he came to their house, and he started preaching the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit fell on the whole group of people; Cornelius, his wife and family, and his friends that were gathered there; the Holy Spirit just fell on them as they were hearing the Gospel, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. And when Peter and the other disciples that came with him saw that, they were amazed, and they said, we should get them baptized. So they did; they were baptized in water after they received the Holy Spirit.

Let’s turn to Rom 8:10-14, And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If we live after the flesh, we shall die, but if we through the Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body we shall live. This is the Christian experience. This is walking with Jesus. This is what we need to do; we need to come to Jesus; take His yoke upon us; learn of Him; walk with Him. How can you possibly walk with Him without the gift of the Holy Spirit? We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit; we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit so that we can be led by the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will always be leading us to follow Jesus. Jesus only does the will of the Father. Jesus is coming back to this Earth in the very near future, according to the Scriptures, and He’s going to set up His throne in Jerusalem, and the Kingdom of God will be established on the Earth. He’s going to rule and reign on this Earth for a thousand years, and those of us that remain faithful to Him will be with Him. We’ll have our glorified bodies; we’ll be with Him, ruling and reigning in the Earth at that time. 

Thank you very much for listening. This concludes Part 1 of the Flesh and the Spirit; Death and Life 

 The Flesh and The Spirit Part 2

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes; 15 Minutes With Jesus. This will be Part 2 of The Flesh and The Spirit, Death and Life. Let’s turn to Gal 5:5&6, For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. This all works by faith, working by love. Let’s turn to 1 Cor 13:1-3, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal, and though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. If we love God we will seek this to walk after Him, to do the will of the Father. If we love the world and the things of the flesh, we will not be able to do this, and we will perish. It is a lie of Satan that we can live after the flesh and not perish. He said it to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he says it to Christians today through lying preachers; his ministers, he says, you won’t die. As we said earlier in Rom 8:13, it says, if you live after the flesh you will die, and Satan, through lying preachers, says to Christians, you won’t die; you’re under grace; once saved, always saved; all your sins are forgiven, past, present, and future; that is a lie. We must learn to be led by the Spirit. We must walk in obedience to the Lord, in obedience to His Word, to continue in the faith. There are many “If”s in the Bible: If we continue in the faith, not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, not led astray. We must continue in the truth. Rom 8:5&6, those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. People want to live in the flesh and go to Heaven, so they follow the lies. We must die to ourselves, that we may live unto God.

Let’s go to Luke 11:9-13 , Jesus was talking about prayer and He said, So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! If you seek after the baptism in the Holy Spirit; if you seek God with all your heart; if you ask Him, He will answer, and He will not give you a serpent; He will not give you a demon, if you ask Him for the Holy Spirit. Let’s turn to Acts 1:4&5, And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Here we have a clear example of the difference; there’s two different baptisms here: water baptism, and baptism in the Spirit. John the Baptist said, I indeed baptize you with water, but there’s one coming after me whose shoes I am not worthy to loose. He said, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Also, if we look in verse 7, Jesus said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. The Bible says, the Gospel is not in Word only, but it’s in power. The Kingdom of God is in power, not in Word only. If we are truly sent by God, we will be speaking His Words, just like Jesus said, I only speak what I hear the Father saying; He said, I only do what I see the Father doing; He said, it’s the Father in Me doing the works. So we will be preaching the Gospel with power if we are truly sent by Him. That’s one of the main purposes of the baptism in the Holy Spirit; it’s that we shall receive power, and we can be witnesses. You go to a grocery store, and there’s a sick boy that you run into in that grocery store, and because you have the Holy Spirit, you can be led by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit says, I want you to lay hands on that boy and pray for him to be healed; and his mom is standing there and you say, would you mind if I pray for your son? And she says, ok, please do. You lay hands on that boy and you pray; because you’re obeying the Lord, because He told you to do it, He will manifest His power and that boy will be healed, according to your faith, either immediately, or over a period of time. That boy will be healed because the Lord told you to do it, and you’re obeying Him; you’re being led by the Spirit; and He will manifest His Kingdom. The apostles preached the Gospel, they preached the Word of God with signs following, and those signs confirmed the Words that God had them speak. As we are being led by the Spirit, in faith, the Word of God in our mouth will be confirmed by signs following; by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the will of the Father. So if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you can have the Holy Spirit. And when you receive the Holy Spirit, you will receive power. Power will be manifested in your life. If you believe that you have the Holy Spirit but there’s no power manifesting; nothing supernatural in your life, there’s no condemnation, but you have not received the Spirit. You were lied to; you were told, for example, that you got the Holy Spirit when you were baptized in water. That’s not the truth. When you were baptized in water you were baptized into the death of Jesus; you were seated with Him in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 

Let’s turn to Acts 8:12, But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Here you have faith in Jesus and water baptism; the baptism of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verses 14-17, Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them; fallen upon. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. He came upon them; that’s how it is. You are baptized into Jesus, but when you receive the Holy Spirit He comes upon you and He fills you; clearly two different experiences. We must continue in the Word and in the Spirit, being set free, learning to yield to the Spirit. The Spirit will never lead us contrary to the Word as He is Holy, and He is the Spirit of Truth. This is not too hard. Jesus said, Come to me, my yoke is easy. He is with us; He will help us. We need to deny ourselves, take up our cross, where we die, daily, and follow Him. And the only way you can really follow Him is to have the Holy Spirit and to be led by Him. Jesus said, I won’t leave you comfortless; I will come to you; I will send the comforter. Also we need to remember that the Scripture talks about how everything must be done decently and in order. Let’s turn to John 10:1-5,  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.   But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. How do we hear?; by the Holy Spirit. He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Let’s turn to Gal 5:16-26, I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. The latter part of verse 21...they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. 1 Cor 6:9-11,  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Remember, the Scripture says, if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, but, if we walk in the flesh, and we do these works, we will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, Jesus said, in John chapter 8, that those that do such things are of the Devil. Jesus’ sheep follow Him; they can hear His voice; He talks to us by the Holy Spirit. He leads us by the Holy Spirit and we follow Him. He only does the will of the Father. Many people refuse to die; to be baptized into Jesus’ death, deny themselves and take up their cross. So they continue in the flesh, and many fall away. They will not yield to the Spirit. They want to live in the flesh and go to Heaven, so they hire preachers to tell them it’s ok. It won’t work. They will die. The Devil lied to Eve, and he lies to Christians about Rom 8:13: you won’t die, you’re under grace. You have to want this; love God more than yourself and your pleasures, money, the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The only way this will work is to receive everything that God has for you, and give Him everything; give Him your whole life; surrender your whole life to Him, and receive everything that He has for you, including the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As you walk in the Holy Spirit, He will lead you in love, and the fruit of the Spirit will be manifesting in you, more and more. We must love God, and love one another. We will be pleasing the Father, doing His will. His will is that we love one another. Love does no ill to his neighbor. Faith works by love. The righteousness of the Law will be being fulfilled in us. We will be keeping Jesus’ commandments, walking in the truth; His Word is the truth; we will be being sanctified unto holiness, without which no man will see the Lord. This is not too hard. God will give us grace if we will ask Him. If we seek after righteousness, He promised we shall be filled. And, again, if we walk in the Spirit, we will fulfill the righteousness of the Law. Phil 3:3, For we are the circumcision, the people in covenant with God, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 

This concludes our broadcast on The Flesh and The Spirit, Death and Life. I urge you to choose life.

 John The Baptist

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is about John The Baptist. Let’s turn to Isa 40:3-5, The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Now let’s turn to Mal 3:1-4, Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness. Chapter 4, verses 1-6, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, Says the LORD of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this, Says the LORD of hosts. Remember the Law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. 

Let’s turn to Luke 3:1-22, Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and said to them, He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise. Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than what is appointed for you. Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, And what shall we do? So he said to them, Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages. Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,  John answered, saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased. 

Let’s turn to John 1:14-37, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.  And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the Prophet? And he answered, No. Then they said to him, Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord,  as the prophet Isaiah said. Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?  John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!   This is He of whom I said, After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.  I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. 

Matt 11:2-19, And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?   Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions,  and saying: We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! But wisdom is justified by her children. 

Matt 21;23-32, Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority? But Jesus answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven, He will say to us, Why then did you not believe him? But if we say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus and said, We do not know. And He said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go, work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not, but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said to Him, The first. Jesus said to them, Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him. 

John was sent by God to prepare the people to meet Jesus; that they might be cleansed of their sins; that their hearts might be prepared to receive Him, but most of the Pharisees and religious leaders rejected his baptism against themselves. They would not humble themselves and repent that they might enter into the Kingdom of God. The Law and the Prophets prophesied until John. Since that time, the Kingdom of God is preached and every man presses into it. John was the last prophet under the Old Covenant, and he prepared the people to receive their King. Those that would not submit to his baptism of repentance, and hardened their hearts, rejected the good counsel of God against themselves and entered not into the New Covenant.

You may think in your heart that because you are a Christian, you are ready to meet Jesus; some of you may be, but most of us are not, and the Lord, in His great mercy, if you will yield to Him, will begin to lead you in righteous paths to purge you and cleanse you and break you and purify your hearts, to make you ready; a people prepared for Him; prepared to enter into His Glory. In Matthew chapter 21, verse 42, Jesus said, Have you never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. He told the Pharisees, And whoever falls on this Stone will be broken, but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder. If you fall on this Stone, you will be broken, but that is so that you may be changed and cleansed and enter into the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 7 Jesus said, Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of God, but they that do the will of my Father. We don’t want to do the will of the Father. We want to do our own will. We are stubborn and stiff necked and we always resist the Holy Spirit, to our own destruction. So it is the mercy and grace of God to reveal His Son to us; His sacrifice on the Cross for our sins, that we may come to Him and fall on that Rock and be broken, that we may be made holy and acceptable to Him through His redemption and cleansing in His precious Blood, and that we may enter into His Kingdom and joy, and live forever in His Glory. Hallelujah! This is not a religious fairy tale! This is the truth! God’s Word is the truth! If you reject His truth, you will be ashes under the feet of His people whom the Father made righteous in the Blood of His Son, and with the washing of the water of His Word. Thank you Father, Amen, thank God.

Interpretation of a message in tongues:

I am God Almighty. My children, hearken unto the voice of my servant Rob as he speaks of my servant John the Baptist this day in your ears. Humble yourselves before the Great and Mighty God, that I may show you mercy in the time to come; that you may escape my judgement that is coming upon the Earth, says the Lord. Pray! Seek me with all your heart! Turn to me! For I will hear your prayers; I will hear from Heaven and I will heal your land, if you will turn to me with all your heart, says the Lord.