Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, Go therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to Go Teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through Australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Pastor Aymond Burdett.
I want you to imagine that you're 26 years of age. You just have a few hours to live. What would you do? What would be your last meal? Who would you like to visit you? What would you be doing those last few hours before you pass? And this is a tragic story of Sam Tannehill who was brought up in a broken home.
His mum and dad were separated by the time he was five years old. He was in trouble with the law by the age of 11 and then he was cast adrift amongst well meaning relatives who tried to care for him but his needs were ignored. He was starved of family affection.
He lived, Sam lived in 12 different homes by the time he was a teenager. Sadly, he was reunited with his dad in his early teens. But this was cut very short because his dad had passed away by the time he was 15 years old.
He had a brilliant mind, he was an intelligent young teenager, but because of insecurity, because he was constantly shifting from one home to another home, he never completed one year's education at the year since his education was finished. He never had any moral training, he never went to church, he never went inside a church like this. He had a long history of stealing, of fraud and of cashing bouncy checks.
By the age of 20 he did some serious jail time, but that did not help. One of the worst things about prison, as I worked in prison for 10 years as a chaplain, it becomes a training ground for many of those men who are trained up by hard and crims to be even better at their craft or trade. And so Sam comes out of jail like most, more determined not to get caught next time.
One night he decided to rob this 24 hour cafe that would have just one staff member, one lady manning the till. Sam pulled up in the very early hours of the morning, about 2, 3 o'clock in the morning. He holds her up with a gun, he empties out the till and he takes this lady in the car and is planning to take her right out of town and drop her off and get over the border before the police can be alerted.
And this is typical of Sam, who'd go from one US state to another US state to evade being caught. He was always on the Run. And he would rack up a lot of crime by the time the long arm of the law would catch up with him.
But this young lady was really bold. This young lady wasn't really wise because as they were driving along, she challenged him. And she said to him, I know who you are.
You're Sam Tannehill. And I know your sister. Of course, this rattled Sam.
He realised he'd now robbed the wrong cafe, the wrong place. And so the story goes that as they came to a stop, who began to drop her off and let her go? And there was a bit of a struggle. She challenged him, he fumbled his gun and he killed her.
You see, that was not the plan. That's the terrible thing about sin. One sin usually leads to another sin that's even worse.
Now he's not just a conman, a thief, but a murderer on the run. Five weeks later, he's caught, he's brought back to face justice. And while in jail, someone gave him not the full Bible, but just the New Testament.
He starts to read the New Testament. He's probably never read it in his entire life. As he was reading it, these two, yes, SDA evangelists or lay people came.
They heard about his story, the murder, in the paper. They came to visit him in prison. And as they were talking to him, these two SGA members, they were really drawn to what he was sharing.
He was highly intelligent. He was actually asking them some really deep spiritual questions. And on the way out, one of those church members said to the other, you know what? I believe Sam might even be saved out of all this.
So Sam went to court. He was convicted of murder, who was sentenced to death by the electric chair, who's now on death row. Right now, we're on the right side of the prison walls.
Amen. You know what it's like to go into prison and work in there all day, and by the time you leave, you have this sense of relief when you walk out those doors in the afternoon. But the boys, they stay there.
They're there next week, the next month, the next year. They're there for many years. Most of the time, in our mind, we think that we can be free.
But are we free from the cares of this world? Have we learned to be content in all things like the apostle Paul said? The Bible says that if we have the Son, if we have Jesus Christ, we are free indeed. Amen. Free on the inside and free on the outside.
Father, let's pray together. Say, father, we just want to thank you this morning, Lord, as we go over this old, powerful story. There's so many lessons that we learn as a people of God.
Lord, teach us how to pray. Teach us as our children and our grandchildren learn how to pray as well. And Lord, the disciples thought they knew how to pray until they heard Jesus praying to his heavenly father.
Teach us, Lord, to have that relationship. That prayer is just talking to a friend in heaven. Bless us, encourage us, fill us with your holy spirit.
Lord, teach us what you want to teach us this morning. That our hearts may be open to the word of God, to the story of Sam and what it done for him, that it may be our story as well, being transformed by the power of God. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. So Sam's in death row now. And in death row, particularly in America, it's right in the centre of the jail.
You go off a door, half a door, half a door, half a door, half a door. You're right there in the centre. He actually escaped for lock up.
So they made sure being on death row, you're not going to get out again. And while he's on death row, he begins to pray for a gun, for a gun to get out of death row. And he seems to be praying, but the prayers don't go above the prison cell.
He asks God for help, but he sort of like hanged onto the world with both hands. And for days he was the most miserable man upon the planet of earth. He was miserable.
On November 4, 1955, he prayed once more, but this time he got on his knees and he prayed and confessed all the sins that he could think of. He really poured out his heart to God and said, lord, please forgive me for all that I've done. And it was then, at this moment, after he had poured out his heart, he understood that the God of heaven, that Jesus Christ loved him.
That sort of like came into his mind. And God promises us from his word that if we would just confess our sins, that he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. One of my favourite verses.
That night, Sam slept soundly for the first time in many days. The next morning he got up and he testified to all the other inmates. Jesus Christ has saved me.
By his grace, he has saved me. And one of the prison officers heard him. He was a Christian prison officer and he said, sam, God has also saved me.
Keep telling your story, share your testimony. Sam said, I am in this prison cell on death row, but now I am more free than I ever was when I was on the streets. You see, we can think that we have freedom, but when we sin, we become slaves to sin.
We become all tangled up in it and we become in bondage to sin. And only Jesus Christ can set us free. Only Jesus can bound the strong man.
We've got to understand that we are born in sin. We are born bent, leaning towards sin. We gravitate towards it.
We are naturally pulled by gravity towards it. And John, the beloved, now an aged disciple, as he writes those little letters of John, he says if we say that we have no sin, that we deceive ourselves, we're liars. So we need to be sure that we are not lying to ourselves.
This morning we need to look into the mirror of God's law and we need to see the gospel of Jesus Christ and we need to allow the word of God. And we need to be born again saints. Amen.
We can't be the same as we walk into this church. There is a great need to stay in love with the Son of man. Amen.
And when that happens, the Bible says it is written that when we fall in love with Jesus Christ, that love, joy and peace will come into our souls. And that's what happened to Sam and that soul who was born again. In fact, they said that when he first started writing letters to people, it was all scribbly and scrawny and hard to read.
But after time, it was perfect, it was neat and it was powerful. His letters to people while he was in prison, as he read the word of God, there was a massive transformation in his life. The Bible says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old things have passed away. All things have become new. Jesus Christ has given us this ministry of reconciliation.
We can't keep this good news to ourselves. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not computing our sins against us, but giving us this ministry or this word of reconciliation. God wants us to be his ambassadors.
He wants us to be these ambassadors of grace. Amen. For by grace, you have been saved, not of yourself, but it's a gift from God.
It's a present that only God can give. And Sam wrote to his lawyer, sir, I no longer need you to represent me, because now I have been saved in Jesus Christ. He was resigned to to his fate.
No matter what that was. He told his lawyer, my life I have given to God. I have given up this world completely.
And all my life, he points out, I have strived for everything but for the one thing, and that is peace of mind. Amen. Do you like to have peace of mind.
Well, only Jesus Christ can give you that. And this I have found in Jesus was what he said, at long last, he says, under the shadow of death, I have found what I could not find for the last 26 years. God's holy Son has made an offer to all which I have gladly accepted.
I am amongst the saved. And he makes a really, really stunning point. He was highly intelligent.
He makes this point. I can't be amongst those who fight for their own rights. Even as Christians, sometimes we want to fight for our own rights.
We don't allow God to protect us or simply trust in God and all that his will will be done. And as Sam read God's word, he clearly saw that there were other men in the Bible who took something that they could not give back. He found that Cain took a life because he was jealous.
He saw that Moses took a life because of pity for his Hebrew people. He saw that King David took another life because of lusts. He saw that the Apostle Paul had consented for many to die because of bigotry and because of religious persecution.
He believed in what he was doing. So Sam saw this and he points out not one of these men had a good case. Nor do I.
And nor do we brothers and sisters. He pointed out to his mates on death row, men, we share the same fate. And he asked them all the question, have you found Jesus Christ? Is he your friend? We have all been bad men, and now all we have is a number and a date to die.
Could you imagine that? That's the two things you have left. You have a number of your cell. His number was a third cell.
And you have a date in which you will die. That's all they have left. He makes the point to his death row mates.
Men, it's not how we started life. It's not how we live life that counts. For us, we're on death row.
It's how we finish that counts. Amen. The main thing is how we end our lives.
And it's no different for us. I have walked amongst murderers, live in prison. I have talked with them face to face.
Some were there in prison here in this state, not just for one murder, but multiple murders. And one said to me, I could not look in the mirror for years because of what I'd done. Another said, he hardly sleeps because of his past deeds.
Every night he gets hardly no sleep. And then he feels. He felt.
He said to me, clearly, I feel that I can never be forgiven. Moriah just took my Bible. And I said, to him.
Brother, I disagree with you because I know that God's love you and I know that God is willing to forgive you. Can you imagine when Sam reads the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke and he finds another man that is just like him. He's a thief, he's a murderer and he's hanging on the cross right there beside Jesus.
He founds a man with the same story as himself. And just like Sam, he realises that he's receiving the rewards of his just deeds, of his unjust deeds, I should say he has nothing to offer. He has no chance to give back what he's taken off society.
There was only one thing that he could do and that was cast himself on Jesus Christ. Amen. He is broken, he is racked with guilt.
But the Holy Spirit, while he's nailed to that cross, the Holy Spirit convicts him that the Saviour is right there in the middle between him and his friend in crime. And the Holy Spirit convicts him with a perfect line to say to Christ. Not too much, not too little, but nine divine words he said to Jesus while he was hanging on there.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Can you imagine that? You've got nothing to offer. You're nothing.
Oh, man, it was just so heavenly for Jesus to hear those words. This was the worst day of his life. This was the hardest day.
This was the worst day for him. Enduring the loneliness of the cross, he's been rejected and despised by his own people. And here to hear a sinner, a thief, a murderer, dressing him as Lord.
You know that little song, Dear Lord, oh, dear Lord, oh do remember me. Remember me when you come into your glory, into your kingdom, Remember me. Notice, saints, all the focus is on Jesus Christ and him crucified.
It's all about our Lord and what he's done for you and for I, for all of us here. He had given his life for every single soul, whether we accept it or reject it. Imagine a beautiful voice saying assuredly, I say to you today, I promise you, today, saints, Jesus is saying that you will be with me in paradise.
Amen. Let's make a date with the Lord. Amen.
Let's plan to be there by the grace and the power of God. Sam's conversion was so complete, it was so powerful, that when his death row mates were about to go on to old Sparky the electric chair, they didn't want to see the prison chaplain. They wanted to talk to Sam before they sat on that chair.
That's how powerful his testimony was. That's how thorough his transformation was. He was a son of the living God there in death row.
There's no doubt that Sam learned how to pray on death row. And he was praying for his mother, he was praying for his stepfather, he was praying for friends. And his mother and stepfather came to visit him.
And they accepted Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, they accepted. After they saw what happened to Sam's life, they accepted Jesus Christ and realised that Jesus is coming.
Saints. He never left death row alone. He was just like that thief on the cross.
He was covered by the blood of the Lamb. His baptism was covered by the Lord himself. And his wretched, broken life was covered by the perfect life of Jesus Christ.
He was now perfect in Christ. His filthy rags were gone. He was now clothed in white raiment that only Christ can give.
Six dates were set for him to die. Five of them passed. So he had more time to witness for Jesus Christ.
More people were saved. He only had one year, just over one year. And finally his date was set for the 8pm on the 26th of November, 1956.
That's one of the chairs Old Sparky. Doesn't matter what prison or New York or Ohio, wherever you go, they call those electric chairs Old Sparky. Pastor William Fogel, an SGA pastor, went in to see Sam.
He knew him, he helped convert him and he went there to try and give some cheerful words to bless him as he's about to be electrified, crucified, lose his life. And he says that the pastor didn't bless Sam, but Sam bless the pastor. Amen.
Sam was the one that was ministering up to the last hours and he shared many of his verses that he memorised and loved. And he shared second Timothy chapter four, verse seven and eight with the one that he loved. I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day.
And one of the first things that break through to see is that God loves him. That God who knew, despite his life record, despite all his sins, his past, he understood that God loves him. Amen.
That's so important. No matter what we've done in life, we understand that God loves us. Amen.
Christ, describing his earthly mission, said that the Lord have anointed me. The Father has sent me. He is to preach good tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. He had sent me to preach deliverance to the captives he has set at liberty those who have been bruised and many people have been bruised in his life. Lord.
The Lord had mercy and compassion and it was revealed in every act of Jesus Christ's life. When we read the Gospel, his heart went out in tender pitiness to all people. He took on man's nature that he might reach us in our needs.
His life was one of self denial, thoughtful care for others. Every single soul was precious in his sight. He ever bore them with divine dignity.
Love paid the ransom price for our redemption. Amen. Not one, none but the Son of God could accomplish our redemption.
Behold John the disciple as an older man, as the last disciple said, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons and daughters of God. The matchless love of God for a world that did not love him like Sam. We need to know our great need.
When Sam read that Bible, as the Holy Spirit opened his mind to another world, the heavenly kingdom, he had only been in Satan's kingdom. He realised that there was another world out there, that he was a slave to that world and that only Jesus Christ could break that bondage. Only he would adopt him as a son and pay his debts and counsel his path.
Only Christ can do that for all of us. Because it's impossible of us. It's impossible for us of ourselves to escape the pit of sin.
This is the most defining word in the whole book of the steps of Christ. I want to repeat it to you. It is impossible for us of ourselves to escape the pit of sin which we are in.
It's a God thing that can only do it, in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil and we cannot change them. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing? Not one, says the Bible.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is indeed not subject to the law of God. Nor indeed can it be education, culture, willpower, human effort.
They all have their place. But here they are powerless when it comes to changing the heart. They may produce an outward correct behaviour.
We may act well when we come to church. But they cannot change the heart. They cannot purify the springs of life.
There must be a power that comes from heaven, that works within us, a new life from above before we can be changed from sin to holiness. And that's what we see in Sam's life. That power is Christ and Christ alone, his grace alone can liven up when we're dead spiritually and revive our souls.
Our Saviour said to Nicodemus, remember Except a man be born. From where? From above. Unless he receives a new heart, desires and motives, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
We need to be led to a new life. We need to make a decision to live that new life by the power and the grace of God. Otherwise we cannot see the kingdom of God.
It's not enough to perceive the love of God. It's not enough to know the benevolence of the Godhead. It's not enough to even understand the wisdom and the justice of God's law, to realise that it's founded upon the divine principles of his love.
The apostle Paul, he saw this when he talked about this. I consent that the law is good, that the law is holy, that the commandment is holy, that it's just and it's good. But he added, in his bitterness, in his brokenness, I am carnal.
Sold unto sin. He longed for the purity, the righteousness of which himself he was powerless to attain. He cried out, o wretched man that I am.
He knew, who's no better than Sam. Such is the cry that has gone up in all lands, in all ages, in all times. And there is only one answer, and that is Jesus Christ.
Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. When John the Baptist saw him, the Spirit convicted him. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The heart of God longs for his earthly children. You think you've got it Good. You think you're where you are, where you should be.
I'm telling you that God has a higher plan for you to be on, brothers and sisters. God is going to take you higher and holier until we're ready to meet Jesus Christ. Amen.
We need to be ready for Jesus Christ. We need to live like we've got three hours to live. God's love is stronger than death.
He has poured out all of heaven in one gift. And what is our response to him this morning? Have we been touched by the Master? Are we willing to lay everything at the feet of Jesus, surrendering everything to him? You know the song that used to really touch me when I came back to church time after time? He's waited before and now he's waited again. Often tears would come down my eyes, down my cheeks, when I heard that song.
Saints, let's open the door of our hearts even more to him this morning. May God bless you as you do this in every way. Let's go all the way and help people be ready for Jesus Christ.
May God bless you as we do this. This message was made available by the Victoria Park Seventh Day Adventist Church. For more for more resources like this, visit their YouTube page.
Vic Park SDA Church.This programme has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia Radio.
