Participants: Sikuhululekile Hlatshwayo
Series Code: 13GYC
Program Code: 13GYC000015
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00:24 Come, Thou Fount of every blessing
00:28 Tune my heart to sing Thy grace 00:32 Streams of mercy, never ceasing 00:36 Call for songs of loudest praise 00:40 Teach me ever to adore Thee 00:44 May I still Thy goodness prove 00:49 While the hope of endless glory 00:53 Fills my heart with joy and love 00:58 Here I raise my Ebenezer 01:02 Hither by Thy help I've come 01:05 And I hope by Thy good pleasure 01:09 Safely to arrive at home 01:13 Jesus sought me when a stranger 01:17 Wandering from the fold of God 01:21 He to rescue me from danger 01:25 Interposed His precious blood 01:29 O, to grace how great a debtor 01:34 Daily I'm constrained to be! 01:38 Let Thy goodness, like a fetter 01:42 Bind me closer still to Thee 01:45 Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it 01:49 Prone to leave the God I love 01:54 Here's my heart O, take and seal it 01:59 Seal it for Thy courts above 02:06 Nice time to sing our theme song, 02:08 "The Stage." 02:09 Please stand as we sing it. 02:24 The stage has been set 02:27 All creation looks on 02:30 Two kingdoms are warring between right and wrong 02:35 The choices you make have a very high cost 02:41 Eternity's won or eternity's lost 02:47 Before men and angels 02:50 Which side will you choose? 02:52 The Savior is waiting, there's no time to lose 02:58 Before men and angels, each soul plays a part 03:04 For you are the world 03:06 And the stage is your heart 03:12 Invisible forces are vying to win 03:17 Is God in your heart, or is darkness and sin? 03:23 For greater than angels, above God's own voice 03:28 The power that's strongest of all is your choice 03:34 Before men and angels, which side will you choose? 03:40 The Savior is waiting, there's no time to lose 03:46 Before men and angels, each soul plays a part 03:51 For you are the world 03:54 And the stage is your heart 03:59 It's God's reputation in question today 04:05 It's His vindication for which you should pray 04:10 His glory is shown through the universe wide 04:15 When you let Him into your heart to reside 04:22 Before men and angels, which side will you choose? 04:28 The Savior is waiting, there's no time to lose 04:34 Before men and angels, each soul plays a part 04:40 For you are the world 04:43 And the stage is your heart 04:51 You may be seated. 04:57 Good morning, GYC. 04:59 Good morning. 05:00 Have you been blessed by the theme song this year? 05:04 I really, really like it, the words, the music everything 05:07 really kind of I hope is going to help us 05:10 take this theme on for the rest of the year. 05:13 Anyhow I would like to welcome you today 05:15 to morning devotions, morning devotional program. 05:19 I really want to ask you that you join me 05:22 as we pray for our speaker this morning. 05:25 She has been feeling a little bit ill with her voice 05:28 but she has a passion and a desire 05:30 to share a word of God with you. 05:32 So if you just join me as we pray for her 05:34 and pray for our hearts as well 05:35 that we'll be open and receptive 05:37 to the message this morning. 05:39 Let us pray. 05:41 Heavenly Father, we thank You so much 05:42 because You love us unconditionally. 05:44 You loved us first, Father. 05:46 And we just want to pray at this point 05:48 that You will please open our hearts 05:50 that you would bless the word, Father, 05:52 that is going to be spoken 05:53 and I pray that You would come into this place 05:57 and allow us an encounter with You. 06:00 We pray for blessing Father in Your son's name, amen. 06:24 Now and for always it is written 06:28 Penned by the loving hand of God 06:31 My people perish without vision 06:35 They go astray 06:38 And when a man makes it his mission 06:42 To go where others have not trod 06:45 Into the Valley of Decision 06:49 To show the way 06:52 Of him they'll say 06:57 Hallelujah! 07:01 Blessed is the Man with a vision 07:05 Hallelujah! 07:08 One who delights in God's Word 07:12 Hallelujah! 07:15 He is a lover of Jesus 07:19 Hallelujah! 07:22 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord 07:33 And in the midst of tribulation 07:36 He will stand steadfast and secure 07:40 Gracious is he who shows compassion in all his ways 07:47 And when his hands are filled with riches 07:50 They're still extended to the poor 07:54 This one will bless his generation 07:58 All of his days 08:01 And they'll say 08:05 They'll say 08:06 Hallelujah! 08:09 Blessed is the Man with a vision 08:13 Hallelujah! 08:16 One who delights in God's Word 08:20 Hallelujah! 08:24 He is a lover of Jesus 08:27 Hallelujah! 08:31 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord 08:44 And in a world turned cold and heartless 08:51 And at a time we've lost our way 08:59 He is a beacon in the darkness 09:06 And all who hear of him will say 09:15 They'll say 09:17 Hallelujah! 09:21 Blessed is the Man with a vision 09:24 Hallelujah! 09:28 One who delights in God's Word 09:31 Hallelujah! 09:35 He is a lover of Jesus 09:39 Hallelujah! 09:42 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord 09:49 Yes, blessed is the man who fears the Lord 10:18 Good morning, GYC. 10:22 The remnant. 10:28 Amen. 10:31 Many of you've been blessed this year. 10:33 Amen. 10:35 I've been uniquely blessed. 10:38 This has been a very different GYC experience for me. 10:43 But especially getting to see the Great Controversy 10:47 working out in my own life. 10:51 You know, I was talking with the friend of mine 10:53 and she said I'm praying for you. 10:55 And I'm praying that as you prepare 10:58 that God would make the Great Controversy 11:00 a reality in your life. 11:01 And I said why? 11:04 Why you praying that for me? 11:06 I don't want that but it's a blessing 11:10 to represent God in our lives. 11:12 It's a blessing to be an argument 11:17 in this controversy 11:18 and argument in favor of God to say that 11:20 God is worthy of our trust 11:23 and because we trust Him, we obey Him, amen. 11:27 That's a blessing and the privilege that we have. 11:30 This morning, our message is-- 11:34 I guess a combination of the messages that 11:37 we've been sharing together in the mornings. 11:39 So let's bow our heads 11:41 and we'll get started this morning. 11:45 Loving Father, we're thankful 11:49 that You call us 11:54 to be an argument in Your favor. 11:57 Lord, we pray that the way we live our lives 12:00 would be the way that Christ lived His life. 12:03 We thank You that Jesus came to be an example for us 12:07 and that because of His example 12:09 and because He triumphed in our behalf, 12:11 we can also have the victory. 12:14 We pray that as we open Your word this morning, 12:17 the Holy Spirit would be our teacher 12:20 that You'd be the one to speak 12:21 to our hearts and to our minds. 12:23 We pray these things in the name of Jesus, amen. 12:26 Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings 19, 12:31 1 Kings 19. 12:37 Israel had been in apostasy, the worst king ever Ahab 12:44 and he had led the nation into apostate state. 12:51 You see he had married Jezebel who was the daughter 12:56 of the priest of another God who is not their God. 13:03 And this decision that he made 13:05 to marry this woman who was not of Israel, 13:08 who was not one of God's people 13:11 had a huge impact on the children of Israel, 13:13 huge. 13:15 Jezebel came in 13:16 and she had all of God's prophets killed 13:18 and she instated her own prophets. 13:22 Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, 13:27 so that the decisions that we make 13:29 when it comes to that very important decision 13:33 the marital union, 13:35 have huge impact on our ministry 13:39 and our ability to reach people, 13:41 and our ability to have an impact 13:42 in the world for Christ. 13:44 And Ahab had made this decision 13:47 and it had brought the children of Israel 13:50 into a terrible state. 13:55 But then shows up Elijah, 13:58 the prophet of God, mighty man of God. 14:02 And he came and he told Ahab 14:05 that there was gonna be famine in the land 14:08 for three years. 14:10 And thereafter God did something, 14:15 He told Ahab and He told Elijah 14:18 to call all those prophets together onto that mountain 14:22 and they were gonna try to see whose God was the real God? 14:29 And they brought their sacrifices 14:31 and all those prophets of Baal, all those priests, 14:35 they came and he said, 14:37 we want to see the God who will answer by fire. 14:42 And so they started begging their God 14:46 to bring fire down to burn the sacrifice 14:50 and no fire came. 14:54 And the day wore on and they kept 14:55 trying and trying, 14:57 they started cutting themselves. 14:59 And you know, it's-- I love the Bible, 15:01 I think the Bible is so real, yeah? 15:04 Because it tells us that 15:06 Elijah started making fun of them. 15:08 He said, "Oh, cry a little louder, 15:11 maybe your God is sleeping." 15:15 And so they cried a little louder. 15:21 Finally when they gave up, Elijah comes. 15:25 He makes the situation even more impossible 15:27 than it had been before. 15:29 Pouring water over the altar, 15:30 over the sacrifice and then they pray, 15:33 he prays and God answers by fire. 15:37 Consumes the sacrifice, the altar everything around it, 15:40 licks up all the water. 15:43 Elijah, mighty man of God. 15:49 But thereafter the devil doesn't let up. 15:57 He is tired. 15:59 After that God gives him supernatural energy 16:02 to run ahead of the king's chariot 16:05 as the rain comes down and... 16:11 he goes and he sleeps outside of the palace 16:13 and Jezebel hears what just happened. 16:16 She is not happy and so she threatens Elijah 16:20 and he knows that these are not empty threats 16:22 so he get scared and he runs away. 16:27 But you know what, 16:28 Elijah was saying as he ran away he said, 16:31 "I am the only one left, I am the only one left. 16:35 I've tried so hard to obey God. 16:38 I've tried to do all these things 16:40 and nobody else is following God and it's just me. 16:46 There is no one else trying to do the right thing, 16:48 it's just me." 16:51 And he felt sad and he felt alone. 16:58 And you know sometimes, 16:59 I know I have this experience when I was in college, 17:02 going to non-Adventist college and you're there in campus 17:06 and sometimes it feels like you are the only one there. 17:09 The only one who cares about spiritual things. 17:12 The only one whose got a burden 17:14 to share the Three Angels Messages 17:15 on your campus and it can feel very lonely. 17:19 And this is the experience that Elijah was having 17:23 or in a workplace, in a corporate office 17:25 and there is-- it seems like 17:27 there is no one else that you are the only one. 17:33 But you remember what God said to Elijah in response to that, 17:39 He said, I have me, how many? 17:42 Seven thousand who have not bow the knee, amen. 17:49 So that even in those moments 17:50 when it feels like you are the only one God says, 17:53 I know you can't see it right now 17:55 but I have 7,000 who haven't bowed the knee. 18:00 I have me 7,000. 18:04 And so our story for this morning 18:09 actually starts after Elijah is up there, 18:14 you know, praying and hears that still small voice 18:17 and then God speaks to him 18:20 and he gives him such an instructions. 18:24 So in 1 Kings 19:15, 18:32 the Lord said unto Elijah, 18:35 "Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: 18:39 and when thou comest, 18:40 anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, 18:43 And Jehu the son of Nimshi 18:45 shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: 18:48 and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah 18:54 shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 18:57 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth 19:00 the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: 19:03 and him that escapeth 19:04 from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 19:07 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, 19:10 all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, 19:13 and every mouth which hath not kissed him." 19:16 And so he left from there and he went to find Elisha. 19:24 Now Elisha was in the fields working with his father 19:29 and you know how God had said 19:33 I have me 7,000 who haven't bowed the knee. 19:37 Elisha's family was actually 19:39 one of the families of those who had not bowed the knee. 19:43 You see, even though it seemed like 19:46 everybody was in apostasy, 19:48 there were some-- there were people who were not 19:50 and so God says, 19:51 I want you to go find this guy Elisha 19:54 and Elisha and his family have been faithful. 19:58 They have been faithful 20:00 in everything that they've been doing. 20:04 And so he goes and he finds Elisha 20:05 and Elisha is plowing the fields. 20:08 Now when you think about someone that God calls, 20:14 a lot of times you think about people who are doing 20:17 huge great amazing things, 20:19 like they are out there like preaching... 20:28 evangelistic series. 20:29 And you think like, yeah, 20:30 that's the kind of person that God would pick. 20:34 But Elisha was in the fields, plowing the fields. 20:39 So that Elisha for when he got called 20:44 is because he was being faithful in the little things. 20:49 He was being faithful in the things that in the-- 20:52 in the work that was closest to him. 20:55 He was being faithful in doing his homework. 21:01 He was being faithful in doing his assignments 21:03 and studying for his exams. 21:07 He was being faithful in his relationship with his siblings. 21:13 He was being faithful in the small things 21:16 that sometimes we think are insignificant. 21:21 And yet if we want to do great things for God, 21:25 it starts with faithfulness in little things. 21:29 It starts with faithfulness in the small things 21:31 that are closest to us. 21:34 That's where great things for God begin. 21:39 And that's the problem that we have, 21:41 is we want to do these huge amazing things 21:44 and God is saying, 21:45 I just want you to be faithful where you are. 21:52 I would like for your life in your-- 21:54 in your current experience to be an argument in my favor 21:58 because you treat people kindly, 22:06 faithfulness in small things. 22:11 So my challenge, my first challenge, 22:15 we're going back home soon. 22:21 It's for us to be faithful in the small things. 22:27 In taking our exams, in the way we do our homework. 22:33 In the way we interact with our classmates. 22:37 Faithfulness in the small things. 22:39 In our relationships. The way we treat people. 22:44 Faithfulness in the small things. 22:46 That is gonna be the first and greatest challenge 22:49 as we leave this place. 22:52 But Elisha was there and he was working in the fields-- 22:55 Oh, by the way you know, when we're faithful in small things 22:59 you know, I heard the story once. 23:02 There was a young lady, who-- she was taking history class 23:07 and she was faithful in her class work. 23:12 She did all her homework. 23:14 She handed her assignments on time. 23:17 She paid attention in class, participated. 23:19 And at the end of the semester-- 23:21 she was attending a secular university. 23:23 At the end of semester she went up to her professor 23:26 and she handed him the Great Controversy. 23:29 And she said, Professor X, 23:32 this book has been a blessing in my life. 23:36 And I think that you'll appreciate 23:39 the contents of this book. 23:43 And what do you think? 23:44 Do you think he took the book or he did not take the book? 23:48 He took it. 23:51 He took the book and he said, Student X 23:56 because it's you who is giving me this book, 23:59 I'm likely to read it. Amen. 24:04 You see, it's an evangelistic tool. 24:08 It's an opportunity for people to look at you and say well, 24:12 this student is not stupid 24:19 so there must be something to what they say, 24:21 there must be something to them, to their life 24:25 because they see its fruit working out in your life 24:27 and in the small things you're putting God first 24:30 and doing well in your classes 24:31 and they say there is something to this. 24:36 And I think it's part of what Jeff Hew had been taking about, 24:39 you know, so for the nations to come tugging at our sleeves 24:44 saying I want to know what you have. 24:47 You know and they come to you and they say, you know, 24:50 I don't know how it is that you do well in this class 24:52 but I want to know what you have 24:56 and I had that experience once, 24:57 I thought I was super lost in my physics class, 25:00 sitting there just lost in the sauce, you know. 25:04 And several classmates came to me and they said, 25:06 "Sikhu, Could we study with you?" 25:10 And I said, "Oh, yeah, okay." 25:13 Like yeah, you just, 25:14 you just looks like you have it together. 25:18 I thought, man, I'm lost in the sauce. 25:23 But it becomes an opportunity to share the God that we have. 25:28 And you see, you know what? 25:30 Even when I don't understand, 25:31 I pray that God would give me understanding. 25:34 And you see before I study every single time 25:36 before I crack a book open to study, 25:39 I pray that God would giving me wisdom because, 25:41 because God is the source of all wisdom. 25:44 And if anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask from God 25:46 who give it liberally and he appraise it not. 25:50 And you tell them that 25:53 faithfulness in the small things. 25:58 And so Elisha was 19, "The son of Shaphat, 26:04 who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, 26:08 and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed him by, 26:12 and cast his mantle upon him." 26:16 And in that action of Elisha casting his mantle upon him 26:20 after that you read that Elisha went running after Elijah, 26:24 he recognized something significant in that act 26:28 of Elijah casting his mantle upon him. 26:30 And you know, if it sounds like 26:32 that this doesn't make sense but why? 26:35 Why would he run after the prophet because he heard-- 26:39 he saw him casting his mantle upon him? 26:45 But Elisha recognized the call of God in that action. 26:53 And how is that possible? 26:56 I don't know any other story in the Bible before this where 26:59 you know, someone goes and cast their mantle upon-- 27:01 upon the individual and that represents the call, 27:03 I mean, how did he know? 27:07 Except to say that Elisha had learned 27:10 how to understand the voice of God. 27:14 He had learned what the voice of God sounded like. 27:19 And it's our privilege to learn the voice of God 27:22 so that when we hear the voice of God, 27:25 we will understand that it's God calling us. 27:31 You know, when... 27:36 I was in my senior year in college, 27:42 I sense that God was calling me to take a year 27:48 and get trained in campus ministry. 27:52 Because I'd seen the potential 27:55 and I thought if I were better trained, 27:58 maybe I could be more effective if I were better trained. 28:02 But this was in congruent with the plan of my life 28:10 and I struggled with this decision 28:14 until I finally came to a point 28:15 where I knew that if I didn't do this, 28:19 it would be blatant disregard of God's will 28:23 for me at that time, I knew it. 28:27 And so finally I gave up I said, okay, you know, 28:31 let go off the dream job 28:33 and do this campus ministry training thing. 28:40 But it wasn't easy because 28:44 my family also had plans for me, good plans. 28:49 I remember talking to my sister and she said, 28:53 "You know, I don't know what it is that God's calling you to." 28:59 She said, "You know, sometimes when God calls you, 29:03 you're the only one who'll understand 29:05 what he's calling you to. 29:07 Because he's not talking to everybody, 29:09 he's talking to you." 29:12 Look at Moses. 29:14 Moses had every advantage, anyone could ever want. 29:20 He belonged to the people of God 29:22 and yet he had been trained in the best schools 29:24 so while the people of God were in bondage, 29:26 he was in the palace. 29:29 He had every advantage, he had every protection 29:31 because his mother was the daughter of pharaoh, 29:34 well his adopted mother 29:35 and in spite of all these things 29:38 it says that Moses decided that it was better 29:41 to suffer affliction with the people of God 29:45 than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a Caesar. 29:48 Do you think the people around him 29:49 understood what he was doing? 29:52 Do you think they looked at him and said, 29:53 that makes a lot of sense. 29:56 No, it made no sense. 29:59 But Moses knew what God was calling him to. 30:02 And Elisha knew what God was calling him to. 30:06 And in that act he recognized the voice of God and he obeyed. 30:14 So the challenge becomes 30:17 that we need to learn the voice of God 30:19 and that doesn't happen in an instant. 30:22 That happens on a day to day basis, 30:25 spending time in His word, 30:27 those morning and evening devotions, 30:29 and then throughout the day spending time in prayer. 30:34 Elisha recognized the voice of God and he followed. 30:38 And so he tells us that in verse 20. 30:44 "He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, 30:49 Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, 30:52 and then I will follow thee. 30:54 And he said unto him, Go back again: 30:55 for what have I done to thee?" 30:57 And in the statement Elijah was saying, you know, 30:59 I'm not gonna force you to come with me. 31:02 I'm not gonna-- it's up to you if you want to follow this, 31:05 if you want to do this. 31:07 And so he went back, in verse 21, 31:10 "And he took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, 31:12 and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, 31:15 and gave unto the people, and they did eat." 31:17 He went back, he slew the oxen he said 31:19 I'm done with this life, no turning back, 31:25 I have set my face like a flint and I'm not turning back. 31:30 I have made my decision that I'm gonna follow God 31:33 and I'm not turning back, no turning back. 31:39 And we have too few examples of this in the world. 31:43 What 20-- 50% marriages ending in divorce in the church. 31:52 We don't even know what commitment is anymore. 31:56 It's just words. 32:01 And so we say we'll do something 32:02 and we don't do it. 32:07 But Elisha committed, he made a decision 32:14 and he wasn't gonna turn back on that decision. 32:17 And that is gonna be the hard part, 32:20 the decisions that we've made here at GYC. 32:23 The decisions that God has called us to. 32:26 The hard part is do we set our faces like a flint 32:30 and we say no turning back, I have decided to follow Jesus, 32:36 and I'm not turning back, even when the going gets tough, 32:40 I'm not turning back. 32:44 No turning back, Elisha made that decision. 32:54 Then it says, "He arose and went after Elijah." 33:00 Elisha, when he left to go with Elijah, 33:06 he didn't leave behind bad things, you follow? 33:13 See, his parents were godly parents. 33:17 Even when the entire nation of Israel 33:20 seemed to be in apostasy, his parents remained faithful. 33:23 They were part of that 7,000. 33:27 And so what Elisha was leaving behind was not bad things. 33:34 And sometimes we think that to follow God, 33:36 we have to be leaving bad things. 33:41 Isn't it possible that sometimes God calls us 33:43 to leave things that are even good? 33:47 Look at Jesus. 33:51 Jesus came down to this earth and in John 1 He tells us that 33:56 the light came into the world 33:57 and darkness comprehended it not. 34:02 Jesus came to this earth and He was unappreciated. 34:06 That He was on this earth 34:09 and it seemed like nobody liked Him even. 34:13 You know, one minute they're following, 34:14 the next minute they're not and the multitude is so fickle. 34:20 But what did Jesus leave in heaven? 34:24 He left adoring angels who would do anything for Him. 34:31 He left the love of His Father 34:34 with whom He had always been they had never been apart. 34:39 When Christ came to this earth, 34:43 He didn't give up bad things, He gave up good things. 34:49 So yes, we must give up the bad things, amen. 34:55 But sometimes maybe God calls us 34:58 to give up even the good things to follow Him wholeheartedly. 35:07 You look at the life of Abraham. 35:11 Abraham had the son of promise 35:15 of whom it was said that in Isaac 35:17 shall thy seed be blessed. 35:23 And then God tells him, 35:24 "Abraham I want you to take your son, your only son Isaac 35:28 and I want you to sacrifice him to Me." 35:33 And so we'll argue with God and say, 35:34 no, it doesn't make any sense, these things are good. 35:41 But God calls us sometimes to give up the things 35:44 that are even good because you know why? 35:49 Because we love Him supremely, and that's why Jesus came, 35:53 He came because He loved us so much that even-- 35:58 He was even willing to give up those things that were good 36:00 so that we could have a shot at salvation. 36:03 Are we willing to do that for others? 36:10 And I'm fearful saying this 36:11 because I realized that it's true 36:15 that maybe some of us need to give up 36:16 that really good job, 36:19 because we know 36:20 God is calling us to something else. 36:25 And the problem that we have with it 36:26 is God, this is a good thing, 36:27 I prayed for this job, You gave me this job. 36:31 And then God says, since you know that I'm the one 36:33 who gave you that job, give it back to Me. 36:38 Since you know that 36:39 I'm the giver of all good gifts, 36:43 give it back to Me. 36:47 And it becomes this thing where 36:48 we're not just giving 10% of our income. 36:53 But God says, what if you give more 37:01 and for some of us and this-- this goes for a knowledge of-- 37:07 like I said this is about knowing God's voice, 37:10 like you hear His voice, 37:11 you understand that is Him speaking. 37:13 And once we know that, we have to follow. 37:16 And what I'm trying to say is, 37:19 it is possible that it is His voice, 37:22 that is asking you to let go of something 37:25 that you know is a good thing. 37:29 That relationship that you know isn't awesome thing 37:33 and He says, maybe I need it to give that up right now 37:38 for the sake of the cause. 37:42 It is possible is what I'm saying. 37:49 And so Elisha, he follows, he runs after Elijah 37:57 and the Bible says that he ministered unto him. 38:03 Oh, firstly when I thought about, you know, 38:06 Elisha going after Elijah, I thought, you know, 38:11 he probably went and then you know, 38:12 he became like the assistant prophet 38:19 or like associate prophet kind of thing, 38:22 where he got to do some miracles too 38:27 and like all this cool crazy stuff. 38:33 But the Bible says that Elisha followed 38:35 and he ministered unto Elijah. 38:40 He went and he was Elijah's personal assistant 38:47 which means like, you know, 38:49 back in the day they walk in the dust 38:50 and they get to a place 38:51 and they have to wash their feet, 38:52 he'd be the one washing his feet. 38:56 So that Elisha's work wasn't some glamorous, 39:02 wow, he is just so awesome thing. 39:07 Elisha he went from plowing fields 39:10 being faithful in the small things, to doing small things. 39:18 And he was willing to let go of being, you know, 39:22 he was, you know, he's the son of his father, 39:25 so everything the father has is his essentially. 39:28 He left all of that to go do small things. 39:35 And this is what I struggled with for years in my ministry. 39:41 I went to a good enough school, 39:43 that when you graduate there are certain expectations 39:46 of what you're gonna do with your life. 39:48 And I hated going to reunion's type stuff, 39:51 you know, like, when a friend gets married 39:53 and you have to go and meet everybody. 39:55 I hated it. Why? 39:57 Because every time people will say, oh, so what are you doing? 40:01 And I'll be like oh, yeah, I worked for the church 40:08 and they are like, oh, cool, like, are you like bishop? 40:17 And I'll say, oh, no, we don't have bishops in my church. 40:21 I'm a secretary and they'll look at me like, 40:27 all that education to be a secretary. 40:30 Why did you study biochemistry? 40:32 I was so embarrassed. 40:35 And my friends would like, oh, you know, I'm just, 40:38 you know, finishing up on the PhD part of my MD-PhD 40:41 and then I'm applying for residencies in like cardiology. 40:46 I'm thinking, oh, man. 40:52 Because it felt to me like I left 40:54 what could potentially have been these amazing things 40:58 at least as the world sees amazing 41:01 to be measly, is that a word? 41:06 Yeah, okay. Secretary. 41:11 But does God need secretaries? 41:14 Amen. 41:17 And it took me years to get to the point where I realized, 41:21 I realized what that test means when it says, 41:23 better is one day in your courts 41:27 than a thousand elsewhere, 41:28 that I would rather be where God wants me to be. 41:33 And even I'm sweeper in God's kingdom, 41:36 I want to be there. 41:40 And we still have this idea of what greatness is 41:45 and we view greatness the way the world views greatness. 41:50 And because of that we won't do what God is calling us to do. 41:56 One thing that would frustrated me. 41:59 A friend of mine told me how at seminary X 42:04 which is not Andrew's Seminary 42:07 but, you know, different part of the world. 42:10 He said that, you know 42:11 who goes to the seminary to become a pastor? 42:16 Is those people who failed at everything else. 42:22 As a matter of fact one of my friends went to the seminary 42:24 because he couldn't get into his accounting program. 42:29 Makes me so mad, God's work is the last resort. 42:40 Oh, I want to do great things with my life 42:42 and that's too small, small for me. 42:48 But God wants people with engineering brains, 42:53 with history brains, with biology brains, 42:56 He wants people who are diligent in their work, 43:02 in His ministry, I'm not saying that 43:05 everybody needs to go fulltime ministry you understand. 43:08 I'm not saying that. 43:11 But I'm saying that why is God's work 43:14 of lesser value in our eyes than every other work? 43:21 Why is that when we think of pastoral ministry 43:23 or we you think about you know, a person who is a secretary 43:26 in a conference office, so we think about this or that, 43:28 we're like, oh, well, you know, that's what you're doing, 43:30 you can't do anything else, why is that? 43:36 We have a problem. Our value system is off. 43:46 Because God's work is the highest order of work. 43:55 This means that the secretary 44:00 who is not a secretary in the conference office 44:02 I mean, just the secretary or the accountant 44:05 or whomever that ultimately 44:09 it better be about God's work in your workplace, 44:14 that regardless of where we're working, 44:15 regardless of what circumstance we're in, 44:18 that number one thing for us is to do God's work, 44:22 that is what we've been called to do. 44:27 So that if He calls us to do anything more we will obey. 44:36 And there are some people in here 44:39 whom maybe God is calling to fulltime ministry. 44:47 But because of our skewed value system, 44:53 you're thinking well, I haven't failed 44:54 at anything or everything else. 45:01 And praise God sometimes you know, 45:03 He does permit that we'll fail at everything else 45:07 so that He can call us to do that thing 45:09 that He wants us to call us to, 45:11 but why does it have to go that far? 45:14 Well, we just trust Him and we hear His voice, obey. 45:21 And so Elisha comes and he ministers to Elijah, 45:28 until finally Elijah was called up to go to heaven 45:30 and he saw him ascend in that chariot. 45:40 Now God wants something from us, 45:48 and I've talked already about 45:51 faithfulness in the small things 45:54 I've talked about hearing His voice and obeying, 46:01 even if it sounds contrary to logic, 46:06 but God want something more from us. 46:10 God wants all of us. 46:14 Yes, all of us but all of us, the whole of you. 46:21 He wants all of you. 46:25 He wants for your whole life to be surrendered to Him 46:29 as a sacrifice that is living. 46:34 That's what God wants from us. 46:37 Story about a little boy, 46:42 who brought everything that he had to Jesus. 46:49 And they were there and there were 5,000 people plus 46:56 and the people were hungry, Jesus needed to feed them 47:00 and they said, we don't have anything. 47:02 And so Jesus asked what do you have in your hands 47:11 like, nobody has nothing 47:12 and he say, well, there is a little boy 47:13 and he has his own sack lunch 47:19 and said, he said, bring it to me 47:21 and this little boy brigs his lunch to Jesus, 47:28 thinking what is this little thing among so many? 47:34 What does it help, this small sacrifice that I have? 47:40 What's my little life compared 47:46 to the needs that I see in the world? 47:50 I remember driving on Storrow Drive in Boston 47:54 and it was a Friday evening and I was looking around me 47:58 and all these people and I thought, 48:02 Lord, do they even know that it's Sabbath today? 48:07 And I felt so small but what can I do, 48:12 I'm just me and there is a whole city here 48:16 full of people who have no clue, no idea. 48:23 And I felt so insignificant. 48:32 But even though we are small, 48:36 when we bring our little lunches to Jesus 48:39 and we give Him all, He takes that and blesses it. 48:43 And then when He blesses it, it multiplies. 48:49 And as it multiplies it becomes 48:51 a blessing to so many more people 48:53 but what He needs from us, is that we would bring all. 48:59 Is that we would give Him all, 49:00 that we would commit ourselves we would say, you know, what, 49:04 it seems like nothing and I feel so small 49:09 and what does it matter 49:10 what little decision that I make 49:12 and even if I commit my life and I say, okay, 49:15 I hear Your voice calling me, Lord, 49:16 and I know there is a decision I have to make 49:18 but what difference does it make 49:20 in the grand scheme of things 49:21 and that's how we may feel but God says, 49:23 I just want you to bring all, 49:26 just give me all of you, give me all of you. 49:34 And if we would just give Him all of us, 49:38 maybe He could bless and multiply. 49:43 Maybe our lives could be a blessing to somebody else. 49:50 I'd like to invite us to make some decision this morning. 50:00 And I would like for them to be premeditated decisions, 50:04 so these are the kind of decisions 50:05 you've been thinking about this, 50:06 God is speaking to your heart, 50:08 you recognize His voice, you want to obey Him. 50:11 It may seem illogical but you know that it is God calling you 50:15 and you want to commit your life to those decisions 50:18 that you know God is calling you to. 50:20 I would like to invite us to make-- to take a stand 50:25 in saying, God, I want to make that commitment. 50:31 When I leave here, 50:34 I'm gonna be faithful in the small things. 50:37 When I leave here, I want You to use me. 50:44 I feel like I'm small and insignificant 50:48 but on that huge campus I want You to use me. 50:51 Maybe one person will be snatched 50:54 from the arms of the enemy. 50:57 But I want You to use me. 51:04 I'm not inviting you to come forward, 51:06 I'm inviting you to stand where you are 51:09 as my friend Naomi sings a song. 51:13 I'm gonna invite you to stand where you are 51:15 and as she sings this song, 51:19 the commitment that we're making in our heart, 51:22 that it get solidified by the words of this music. 51:29 And so as you listed to the words 51:31 that this commitment that we are making 51:35 will be solidified by the words we're hearing. 51:56 He heard the preacher say A single dime can feed 52:02 A hungry boy or girl With nothing to eat 52:08 So he pulled a dollar From the pocket of his jeans 52:15 And he asked his mama How many will this feed? 52:21 She just smiled And when she told him ten 52:28 He reached back again 52:34 What if I give all I have? 52:41 What's will that gift do? 52:47 My child, a gift like that Could change the world 52:53 It could feed a multitude 52:59 He didn't close his eyes And turn away 53:06 I can see him Standing tall 53:12 He saw the need And I can hear him say 53:18 What if I give all? 53:27 Three birthday dollars Could have bought a special toy 53:34 But he reminds me Of another little boy 53:40 Who gave to Jesus A gift of fish and bread 53:47 I wonder if he said 53:53 What if I gave all I have? 53:59 What's will that gift do? 54:05 My child, a gift like that Could change the world 54:11 It could feed a multitude 54:17 He didn't close his eyes And turn away 54:23 I can see him Standing tall 54:29 He saw the need And I can hear him say 54:35 What if I give all? 54:42 And long ago a Father and a Son 54:48 Saw the children lost in sin 54:54 Can you see the tears In the Father's eyes 55:00 As Jesus says to him 55:07 What if I gave all I have? 55:13 What's will that gift do? 55:19 My Son, that gift Will change the world 55:27 It will free The multitudes 55:33 What if I gave all I have? 55:39 What's will that gift do? 55:44 My child a gift like that Could change the world 55:51 It could feed A multitude 55:57 We cannot close our eyes And turn away 56:03 When we hear His Spirit call We see the need 56:10 Now let Him hear us say 56:15 What if I give all? 56:21 What if I give all? |
Revised 2015-01-07