Participants: Frank Fournier
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000104
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Get Ready, Get Ready, Get Ready, with Frank Fournier. 00:23 Well we really are having a blessed time here 00:27 during this series with Pastor Frank Fournier. 00:30 Now I call him, "pastor," though I don't think 00:33 he pastors a church. 00:34 But he has demonstrated God's gift of pastoral ministry. 00:40 And he is the president of 00:42 Adventist-laymen's Services & Industries, 00:46 which is the organization that brings all of our 00:50 self-supported institutions and those who are involved in 00:56 business together in presenting Christ in the marketplace. 01:01 It's an exciting organization. 01:03 They have a national convention every year. 01:07 This year it's going to be in Florida, I think. 01:11 No, it's going to be in Grand Rapids, Michigan 01:14 this next year. 01:16 So it is an exciting place. 01:18 It was in Florida last year. 01:20 And it's sometimes hard for me to remember 01:22 exactly where these things are going to take place. 01:25 If you're not a member of ASI and you are involved in 01:31 business or in some type of an organization, 01:34 you have a doctor's office, a dentist office, 01:37 or some type of self-supporting ministry of any kind, 01:40 we would love to invite you to become a part of ASI. 01:46 3ABN has been a part of ASI since our beginning. 01:50 And it was at a place, in 1985 I believe it was, 01:54 out in Montana when Danny Shelton was able to 02:00 talk to those at ASI and suddenly began to get support 02:06 from the members of that group. 02:08 And as they say, the rest is history. 02:11 Because ASI and 3ABN have been partners ever since. 02:18 Well our speaker, Frank Fournier, has had 02:20 a wide range of experience. 02:22 He has headed a number of organizations that have 02:26 reached out in the mission field. 02:28 He and his wife are both in, in fact their entire family, 02:32 their son Jason as well, are involved in mission work. 02:37 And he is the president of the Eden Valley Institute. 02:42 And he has been bringing us this series called, 02:45 Get Ready, Get Ready, Get Ready. 02:48 And tonight, his sermon is going to be entitled, 02:52 The Loud Cry. 02:54 Now we're excited and we're ready to listen to that. 02:59 But before he comes, I'm going to invite Pastor John Lomacang 03:04 to come and sing a song that was done in the Pillars 2 album. 03:08 It's an old Adventist song. 03:11 It's about the second coming of Jesus Christ. 03:15 And I really love this. 03:16 In fact, my wife Camille says this is one of 03:19 her very favorites. 03:21 "Don't You See My Jesus Coming" 03:44 Don't you see my Jesus coming, 03:49 don't you see Him come in yonder clouds? 03:56 With ten thousand angels round Him, 04:02 see how they my Jesus crowd. 04:09 I am bound for the kingdom, 04:15 will you go to glory with me? 04:21 Hallelujah, O praise ye the Lord. 04:31 Don't you see the saints ascending, 04:36 hear them shouting through the air? 04:42 Jesus smiling, trumpets sounding; 04:47 now His glory they will share. 04:53 For I am bound for the kingdom, 04:58 will you go to glory with me? 05:04 Hallelujah, O praise ye the Lord. 05:11 Hallelujah, hallelujah. 05:16 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. 05:24 Don't you see the heavens open, 05:30 and the saints in glory there? 05:37 Shouts of triumph bursting 'round them, 05:42 glory, glory everywhere. 05:53 I am bound for the kingdom, 05:57 will you go to glory with me? 06:03 Hallelujah, O praise ye the Lord. 06:09 Hallelujah, O praise ye the Lord. 06:37 Good evening, everyone. 06:40 Again, it's a blessing to be here. 06:42 A wonderful opportunity for me. 06:44 A tremendous honor to be asked to share with you here at 3ABN. 06:50 I would like to invite you to turn with me to 06:52 Deuteronomy chapter 6, Deuteronomy chapter 6. 06:57 I quoted a specific quotation earlier on today. 07:04 And I would like to share that with you one more time. 07:06 Third Selected Messages, 202, it says this, 07:09 "Our sanctification is God's object in all 07:14 His dealings with us." 07:15 Jesus; God wants us to be like Him. 07:19 God want us to be like Jesus. 07:22 But the question we need to ask ourselves now is, 07:24 what is God like? 07:26 Well I had you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6. 07:29 And of course, this isn't going to describe 07:31 all that God is like. 07:33 But it is one verse that says one thing here. 07:36 We're in Deuteronomy chapter 6, we're looking at verse 4. 07:40 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." 07:44 And if you read that correctly, it is, "The Lord, He is one." 07:48 Now the Jews and the Muslims and some anti-Trinitarians 07:53 would like to take this word, "one," and make it singular. 07:57 Well obviously, in the English language, it is singular. 08:00 And yet we know that there is something more to this issue 08:04 than what meets the eye. 08:05 I'll have you turn to John chapter 10 and verse 30. 08:10 John chapter 10 and verse 30. 08:13 You can turn there, I'm going to read more than one verse. 08:16 John chapter 10 verse 30. 08:18 We'll look at what Jesus is saying. 08:21 And He says, "I and my Father are one." 08:26 Now obviously, or not obviously, but Jesus either 08:29 doesn't know how to count or He's giving this word, "one," 08:33 a deeper meaning. 08:35 We're in John chapter 10. 08:37 Now usually when you and I as Christians 08:41 speak about oneness, we're talking about unity. 08:45 We're talking about being in agreement. 08:46 We're talking about having the same purpose, 08:48 the same vision, and the same goals. 08:50 But Jesus here is thinking about something much deeper. 08:54 And the Jews within His hearing, the Jews are knowing what 08:59 He is trying to say and they don't like it. 09:02 As a matter of fact, in verse 31, they pick up 09:04 stones to throw at Him. 09:06 We're going to read that in verse 31. 09:08 "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him." 09:11 So the question is, why? 09:13 All that He said is, "I and my Father are one." 09:18 Now if you and I said, "I am one with God," 09:22 people would understand that we're saying we're one in unity, 09:25 we're one in spirit, we're going in the same direction. 09:28 And I kind of doubt that in those days if Jesus had 09:32 said that, or anyone else had said that, they would have said, 09:36 "Well, he's saying that we're in unity." 09:38 But they understood what He was saying here. 09:41 They picked up stones. 09:42 Why did they pick up stones? 09:44 We're looking at verse 32 and we're looking at verse 33 09:49 in John chapter 10. 09:51 "Jesus answered them, 'Many good works have I showed you 09:55 from my Father. 09:56 For which of those works do you stone me?' 09:59 And the Jews answered him, saying, 'For a good work 10:02 we stone thee not; but for blasphemy. 10:06 And because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.'" 10:11 Now humanly speaking, this would be a pretty wild claim, 10:15 I think, if a human being would come along and call himself God. 10:19 And you have to put yourself in the shoes of the Jews. 10:22 Here is Jesus. 10:24 They know His father, they know His mother, 10:27 they know His brothers, they know His sisters. 10:30 He's human as far as they can tell. 10:32 When He walks the dusty roads, His clothes become soiled 10:35 like anybody else's. 10:37 And now He is announcing that He is God. 10:40 And they're having to make... 10:43 They're having to think this through. 10:45 And as far as they're concerned, this is blasphemy. 10:48 And they pick up stones to throw at Him. 10:51 Now we can see the same thing happen in John chapter 8 10:56 looking at verses 56 through 58. 11:00 "'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. 11:03 And he saw it, and was glad.' 11:06 Then said the Jews unto him, 'Thou art not yet 11:09 fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?'" 11:12 "You're not making sense here." 11:14 "And Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, 11:18 before Abraham was, I am.'" 11:22 Now that's an amazing saying. 11:25 Jesus is actually saying, "I am the eternal One. 11:29 I am ever present. 11:30 Before Abraham was, I existed. 11:33 As a matter of fact, I exist there right now." 11:36 Jesus exists at all times all the time. 11:39 And they understood what He was saying. 11:41 And again, of course, in verse 59, 11:44 "They took up stones to cast at him. 11:46 But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, 11:50 going through the midst of them, and so passed by." 11:54 So what would you have thought? 11:56 What would you have said, being one of them? 11:59 Well friends, I don't believe that Jesus expected 12:03 everyone to take Him just at His word just because 12:06 He made the claim. 12:08 I believe with all my heart that He would have wanted them to 12:12 take this claim and measure it against the fruit that He bore; 12:15 against the work that He did. 12:19 If you turn to John chapter 14, we can see that. 12:22 In John chapter 14, we're looking at verse 11. 12:26 And we can see how Jesus is thinking. 12:28 John chapter 14, we're looking at verse 11. 12:32 Jesus speaking says, "Believe me, I am 12:36 in the Father, the Father is in me. 12:39 Or else believe me for the very works' sake." 12:44 "Believe me for the fruit that I bear. 12:46 Believe me for the things that you see that I can do 12:49 and the words that I say." 12:51 Now if you were there to see the works of Jesus, 12:54 you would have seen some marvelous things. 12:56 Jesus, of course, He performed all kinds of miracles. 13:01 But miracles were something that came through 13:03 the whole Old Testament. 13:07 And people had performed, prophets had performed miracles. 13:10 God had performed miracles through other people before. 13:13 And so to them, this was not conclusive. 13:15 But they should have studied His life more closely. 13:18 The holiness of His life, and the beauty of His life, 13:21 and the love that He expressed, and the tenderness with which 13:24 He dealt with people. 13:26 His self-denial, His humility, His holiness; all of this 13:30 should have been seen by these people as pointing to 13:34 something more than special. 13:37 As a matter of fact, as He's dying at the cross of Calvary, 13:40 there was a centurion there. 13:42 And you remember, the centurion being a pagan 13:46 Roman soldier recognized who Jesus was. 13:49 And he said, "Surely, this is the Son of God." 13:56 Well now friends, I would like to transfer our reasoning 13:59 to ourselves; Seventh-day Adventists. 14:02 Do we make any claims? 14:04 Do we claim to be God's chosen people? 14:07 Do we claim to be God's true church? 14:10 Do we claim to worship God on the right day 14:13 as opposed to others? 14:15 Out of whom do we say comes the remnant people? 14:18 Out of whom do we say comes the 144,000? 14:22 Are we really the repairers of the breach? 14:25 Are we really the restorers of paths to dwell in? 14:28 Are these claims true or are we just being arrogant? 14:33 Ah friends, listen. 14:35 These claims that we make as Seventh-day Adventists 14:38 would be outlandish unless we act like God's people 14:42 are suppose to act. 14:43 Unless we love as Jesus loved. 14:45 Unless we sacrifice as Jesus sacrificed. 14:49 Unless we are self denying as He was. 14:51 Unless we serve as He served. 14:54 Does that make sense to you? 14:56 Because it makes sense to me. 14:58 But friends, we will act that way. 15:02 We will do as Jesus did. 15:05 We're still in John chapter 14, look at verse 12 here. 15:09 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, 15:14 the works that I do shall he do also. 15:17 And greater works than these shall he do; 15:19 because I go to my Father." 15:21 Every time I read this verse, I am reminded of what it 15:25 means to have faith. 15:26 Can you imagine having faith in this word, 15:29 in this Bible text, in this verse, 15:31 in this wonderful promise? 15:33 It is saying here that if we had faith in every word that 15:36 proceeds out of the mouth of God, we would act 15:39 just like Jesus and we could do the works of Jesus. 15:42 And greater works than these would we do. 15:44 That's what the Bible promises. 15:46 Can you believe it? 15:48 Do you operate that way? 15:50 Have you gone forward to serve as Jesus serves? 15:54 Ah friends, we need to serve as Jesus serves. 15:56 We're here in this world. 15:58 I believe that we quoted another verse earlier. 16:00 Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, "Seek ye first the kingdom 16:04 of God," that is, to enlarge His kingdom, 16:06 "and His righteousness," that is, to become just like Jesus, 16:10 "and all the rest shall be added on to you." 16:12 I believe that we have the privilege today to live like 16:15 Jesus lived, to do as Jesus did. 16:18 And the claims that we make as to who we are 16:21 will be ratified in our example and in our good works. 16:26 You believe it? 16:28 I believe it with all my heart. 16:30 Now what kind of works am I talking about here? 16:33 Am I talking about walking on water, multiplying bread, 16:36 or raising the dead, or calling fire down from heaven? 16:39 Why no, friends. 16:40 We know that in the last days, miracles are not going to 16:43 be that upon which we can base our credibility. 16:48 We know that the two beasts, the two great beasts of 16:51 Revelation chapter 13, deceive the whole world by the 16:55 means of those miracles that they are able to do. 16:59 Oh, that doesn't mean that you and I will not work miracles. 17:02 As a matter of fact, the Lord works miracles on my 17:04 behalf all the time. 17:05 It's amazing, I wish I had time to tell you 17:08 story after story of what the Lord has done for me. 17:11 Ah, but miracles are not what the people are going to see 17:17 and be able to determine whether this is God's true people 17:20 or whether it is a false people. 17:24 You know, I run a lifestyle center at Eden Valley. 17:27 And we have all kinds of people coming to the lifestyle center. 17:30 And because we have been so successful at dealing with 17:33 cancer, more and more and more people come to Eden Valley 17:37 with cancer in the hope of finding healing. 17:40 Now every time I see them coming, my heart goes out 17:43 to these wonderful people. 17:45 How I wish that I had the power to work a miracle 17:48 so that every one of them would go home healed. 17:51 What a blessing that would be to me. 17:53 Wouldn't it be something? 17:55 As soon as they walk through the door I could say that, 17:58 "In the name of Jesus be healed," 18:00 and they would be healed and go home. 18:02 Well how many people do think would come to Eden Valley 18:05 if I had the power to do that? 18:07 You see, this is not how God works anymore. 18:09 It wouldn't be any benefit to God if I could heal people 18:13 just by speaking a few words. 18:16 Friends, I would have a list of people, I would have a 18:20 line of people right from the lifestyle center all to the 18:23 city of Loveland not far away. 18:25 And these people would come and we would be so rich 18:27 it wouldn't even be funny. 18:29 But this is not God's way. 18:32 What would be the point of healing everyone that comes 18:35 with cancer if all of these people go back to their homes 18:38 only to live as they have always lived before? 18:41 There's no way of glorifying God and living like a worldling 18:45 and doing things that dishonor God. 18:48 And so God sends these people to the lifestyle center 18:51 where we have an opportunity to preach the gospel of 18:53 Jesus Christ and where we have an opportunity to use 18:57 those methods that we find from the spirit of prophecy 19:00 and from the Bible by which God would bring 19:02 healing to the people. 19:04 And then God's name is glorified and honored. 19:08 And what a blessing it is. 19:09 So this is how God operates. 19:11 I'll have you turn to Luke chapter 7. 19:14 Go to Luke chapter 7, we're going to read verse 19 19:17 in Luke chapter 7. 19:21 Verse 19, "And John, calling unto him two of his disciples, 19:27 sent them to Jesus, saying, 'Art thou he that should come? 19:34 Or look we for another?'" 19:36 Now you know that John is in the dungeon. 19:38 He is going to lose his head. 19:40 He doesn't know that, probably, already. 19:42 But he is confused. 19:44 He doesn't know what's going on. 19:47 "Who are we anyway," he's saying to himself. 19:49 "Am I on the right team?" 19:51 If you'll look at verse 20, now, to verse 23. 19:54 "When the men were come unto him, they said, 19:58 'John Baptist has sent us unto you, saying, 20:00 "Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another?"' 20:05 And in that same hour Jesus cured many of their infirmities 20:08 and plagues and of evil spirits. 20:11 And unto many that were blind he gave sight. 20:14 Then Jesus answering said unto them, 'Go your way, 20:17 and tell John what things you have seen, 20:20 what things I have demonstrated, and what things you have heard; 20:26 how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, 20:30 and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, 20:32 to the poor the gospel is preached.'" 20:35 Now watch, verse 23. 20:38 "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." 20:44 Now why did Jesus say that? 20:48 "Blessed is he that shall not be offended in Me." 20:51 Ah friends, it's because John the Baptist was offended. 20:55 Yeah. 20:56 He's thinking to himself, "What's the deal here? 21:00 Is this really the Messiah? 21:03 Why isn't He conquering the Romans? 21:06 Why isn't He rescuing me? 21:09 Why, in the very least, has He not come to 21:11 visit me in the dungeon?" 21:13 Ah friends, listen. 21:15 John the Baptist was a human being. 21:17 John the Baptist was a sinner like you and I. 21:20 Oh, he had a very special beginning in life 21:24 and God used him in a mighty way. 21:25 But he was still human. 21:27 And to one degree or another, he had bought into the 21:30 false expectations of the Jews. 21:32 He had really expected Jesus that He would conquer, 21:35 the Messiah, that He would conquer the Romans 21:37 when He came. 21:39 He expected the Messiah to lead the Jewish race to be 21:43 the head and not the tail, to rule the world, 21:45 to fill their coffers, to bolster their pride. 21:49 But the Messiah that the Jews got had no interest 21:52 in any of this. 21:55 He was not interested in gaining anything for Himself. 21:58 He was not interested in gaining anything 22:00 for His followers either. 22:02 This world is not our home. 22:05 And it's not the home of Jesus either. 22:08 He wanted us to follow Him in His ministry. 22:11 The one thing that Jesus wanted to gain was souls. 22:14 And that should be our desire as well as His. 22:18 And by the way, who was John the Baptist anyway? 22:22 Shall we turn to Matthew chapter 11. 22:24 It's an amazing verse and I turn to it all the time 22:28 because it has so much to say to me. 22:30 I believe that if we could be as is demonstrated 22:33 in the verse we're about to read, that we would 22:36 be ready for heaven. 22:38 We're in Matthew chapter 11, and we're looking at verse 11 22:43 in chapter 11. 22:45 Jesus speaking says, "Verily I say unto you, 22:49 among them that are born of women there hath not risen 22:53 a greater than John the Baptist." 22:55 Now who is the greatest man ever born of a woman? 23:00 Jesus said it is John the Baptist. 23:03 Who said that? It's Jesus. 23:05 Does Jesus know what He's saying? 23:07 Well what in the world did John the Baptist do 23:10 in order to be accounted the greatest man that ever lived? 23:13 It's amazing, but he overthrew no government. 23:15 He never wrote a book in the Bible. 23:17 I don't know that he ever performed a miracle. 23:19 I never heard that John the Baptist was used of heaven 23:22 to perform miracles. 23:23 He was sent of God to prepare the way for Jesus. 23:26 There's no doubt about it. 23:27 That's what it says in the Scriptures. 23:29 And how many people received that? 23:33 You know, it's questionable how successful he was. 23:36 I suppose he was as successful as God wanted him to be. 23:39 But humanly speaking, you look at it and you wonder, 23:41 what is it that makes John the Baptist the greatest man 23:46 ever born of a woman? 23:48 Do you know that the answer to that question 23:50 is in the second half of that Bible verse? 23:53 Let's read it. 23:54 But I'm telling you, you're going to have to put 23:55 your thinking cap on. 23:56 You're going to have to put your spiritual discernment cap on. 24:00 Because it's not that easy to see. 24:02 And I'm hoping that I can share it with you. 24:05 So in the second half of verse 11, Matthew 11. 24:08 "Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven 24:14 is greater than John the Baptist." 24:16 What is it saying? 24:18 Ah friends, if you look at it carefully, 24:20 you can see that it is saying that John the Baptist 24:24 esteemed himself least than anyone else. 24:27 He was so humble, he was so self-abnegating, 24:31 that he esteemed everyone else greater than himself. 24:35 And if you could be more humble than John the Baptist, 24:38 you would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 24:40 Let me read it to you from the spirit of prophecy, if I can. 24:44 This is from Last Day Events, 296, paragraph 3. 24:48 "The greatest there," that is, the greatest in heaven, 24:51 "is the least in self-esteem, and the least is the greatest 24:55 in his gratitude and wealth of love." 24:58 If you and I get to the kingdom of heaven, 25:00 we will be so grateful. 25:02 We will be happy for any position in heaven, 25:05 it'll be so fantastic. 25:06 And we're going to esteem everyone else 25:09 greater than ourselves. 25:10 This is a commandment from God. 25:12 You know that it says so in Philippians chapter 2. 25:16 I'm going to go there. 25:17 You can follow me if you'd like. 25:19 Philippians chapter 2 verse 3, watch. 25:22 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; 25:25 but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others 25:29 better than themselves." 25:31 That's a commandment from God. 25:32 And friends... 25:36 ...that's what heaven is going to be like. 25:40 That's how it's going to be like. 25:42 Shouldn't it be that way in this world? 25:44 Ah it should, but it isn't. 25:46 Can you imagine being in heaven and you're walking 25:49 down one of those proverbial streets of gold. 25:54 And way down there, you can see a man coming. 25:57 And because you have such good eyesight in heaven, 25:59 you've determined that it's Moses. 26:02 Now you've been there, well you haven't met Moses yet. 26:04 And you begin to feel a little nervous, because after all 26:08 this is Moses and you look up to him. 26:11 But the closer and closer you come to Moses, 26:15 the more you recognize that he's having the same feelings 26:18 and he's looking up to you. 26:20 And you ask him, "Well, why in the world? 26:22 This doesn't make any sense. 26:23 You're Moses; the greatest human leader this world has ever seen. 26:27 How is it that you're looking up to me?" 26:29 And Moses would say, "Well listen, it's one thing to be 26:32 living way back then. 26:34 Ah, but to go through the last days and to go through 26:37 what you've been through and to find your way to 26:40 the kingdom of heaven, you have all the admiration 26:42 from me that I can muster." 26:45 Friends, that's how it's going to be in heaven. 26:47 Everyone's going to look up to everyone else. 26:50 Ah, praise God. 26:52 It's not that way in this world. 26:54 Ah, but at least it's that way in this church, isn't it? 26:57 Oh, I hope so. 26:59 I hope so. 27:00 That's how it ought to be, anyway. 27:02 And I say, friends, if we could have that experience 27:07 we would be ready to be translated. 27:10 We would be ready for the kingdom of heaven. 27:14 Now, we're suppose to be like Jesus. 27:16 And we're not like Jesus unless we serve as He served. 27:20 If you'll turn with me to Acts chapter 10. 27:23 We're going to read verse 38 in Acts chapter 10. 27:28 This is Acts 10 verse 38. 27:31 "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the 27:34 Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good 27:39 and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; 27:42 for God was with him." 27:45 Yes. 27:46 And there's a commentary on that from the pen of inspiration 27:49 that says, "From His earliest years, He was possessed, 27:54 He was possessed with one purpose; 27:58 He lived to bless others." 28:01 I would like to be possessed. Wouldn't you? 28:03 Ah, with the Spirit, I would like to be possessed. 28:07 In Acts Of The Apostles, 551, it says, 28:10 "The completeness of the Christian character is obtained 28:14 when the impulse to help and bless others springs 28:16 constantly from within." 28:18 That's what I want. 28:20 I want an impulse in my heart that springs 28:22 constantly from within. 28:24 I want to be a blessing to everyone with whom 28:27 I have anything to do. 28:28 Anything; that's what I want. 28:30 Now it's easy enough to look at Jesus and see 28:32 that it was so in His life. 28:34 He was meek, and He was mild, and He was gracious, 28:37 and He was good. 28:38 And He went about ministering to every need that He saw. 28:41 But when we look at ourselves, we think it's hard. 28:43 But as a matter of fact, it's hard to believe that 28:45 we could be like Jesus. 28:47 After all, we are only human. Aren't we? 28:50 Ah friends, I have news for you. 28:53 If you are only human, you are not Christian. 28:57 Because a Christian is a partaker of God's divine nature. 29:02 And if you're a Christian, the works that Jesus did 29:05 you will do also, "and greater works than these shall you do." 29:09 We dare not limit ourselves with words that say, 29:13 "I can't do it because I am only human." 29:16 Ah friends, no, no. 29:18 We're not dependent on ourselves to do any works. 29:21 We're dependent on what God can do for us. 29:24 When Jesus came to this world, He came to live 29:27 as we have to live. 29:28 With the very same equipment. 29:30 And He said, "I can of Myself do nothing." 29:34 Now for sure to a lot of people that doesn't 29:35 make any sense at all. 29:37 But it makes sense to me. 29:39 Because it is Jesus that said, "Without Me you can do nothing." 29:44 And friends, if I can do nothing without God's help, 29:47 then it's the same thing for Jesus. 29:49 He came here to live as I have to live. 29:51 He came here to live by faith. 29:53 And so He said, "I can of Myself do nothing." 29:56 And yet, did He do great works? 29:59 Did He perform mighty miracles? 30:01 Yes, but remember, He said, "The Father that dwells in Me, 30:06 He doeth the works." 30:08 And friends, God is willing to work through you also. 30:15 God is willing to work through me also. 30:18 And we must not limit God by a faith that is stunted. 30:23 Because there is a God in heaven who is willing to work for us. 30:26 Turn with me to Luke chapter 10. 30:29 We're looking at Luke chapter 10. 30:37 We're going to read verses 31 and... 30:40 Well, we'll start with verse 30 in Luke chapter 10. 30:43 "And Jesus answering said, 'A certain man went down from 30:48 Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, 30:51 which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, 30:54 and departed, leaving him half dead.'" 30:57 Now you recognize that we're going to read a few verses 31:02 in the story of the good Samaritan here. 31:04 The next verse, the first three words in verse 31 says, 31:09 "And by chance..." 31:10 Now that's an interesting word. 31:12 Does anything actually happen by chance? 31:15 I don't think so. 31:17 As a matter of fact, I can read that to you 31:19 in Desire Of Ages, page 500. 31:21 "God in His providence has brought the priest and the 31:24 Levite along the road where the wounded sufferer lay, 31:29 that he might see his need of mercy and of help." 31:33 Was it by chance? No. 31:35 God allowed these two men; the Levite and the Pharisee... 31:39 What was it? The Levite and the... 31:42 Whatever it was. 31:43 They came there. 31:44 So here it is, verse 31, "By chance..." 31:47 It was not by chance. 31:49 God led these two men to see what was happening here. 31:53 "By chance there came down a certain priest that way. 31:57 And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32:00 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, 32:03 came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side." 32:10 By chance? 32:12 Oh no. 32:13 God had organized it so that these men could see 32:16 someone who had a need of help; the help that they could offer 32:20 and the mercy that they could give him. 32:22 In the book, Christ Object Lessons, 32:25 page 388, paragraph 0, watch. 32:27 "Never..." 32:28 That's not very often, is it? 32:30 "Never should we pass by one suffering soul 32:35 without seeking to impart to him the comfort wherewith 32:38 we are comforted of God." 32:40 Never. 32:42 When you see someone has a need, you are obligated by the 32:46 love of God in your soul. 32:48 You are obligated to do whatever you can do to bring healing, 32:52 to bring help, to bring something to that soul. 32:55 And some of us are going to say, "Well, I don't... 32:57 You know, what do I know. 32:59 I've got no education. 33:00 I don't know what to do in all circumstances." 33:03 We all don't know what to do in every circumstance. 33:06 Ah but friends, we know how to smile. 33:09 We know how to speak a word of comfort. 33:11 We know how to give a lifting hand. 33:13 And then sometimes, the Lord will help us to do more than 33:16 we think we can do. 33:17 If we will only place ourselves in the situation. 33:20 If we only had faith that God is willing to use us. 33:24 Is God willing to use us? 33:26 Ah friends, the Lord is willing to use us. 33:29 We need to put ourselves, you know. 33:31 We don't need to go looking for trouble. 33:35 But God is going to organize circumstances in our lives 33:39 that we will be in connection with people who 33:42 have need of help. 33:43 And He says, never should we allow a suffering soul 33:46 go forward or go wherever without our help, 33:50 without our doing something. 33:51 I'll turn now to Isaiah 58, Isaiah 58. 33:56 A wonderful chapter. 33:58 It ought to be read, I think, every day. 34:00 Isaiah 58. 34:02 And before I read anything in Isaiah 58, I do want to 34:05 read a couple of quotations. 34:07 This is Christian Service, 161. 34:10 "He has a plan for us individually." 34:13 God has. 34:15 "To all who serve Him, He has appointed a work. 34:18 He bids us to interest ourselves in every case of suffering 34:23 or need that shall come to our knowledge." 34:26 How many cases? 34:27 Every case. 34:28 If a case of suffering comes to your mind, 34:31 if God, by His providence, allows you to know that 34:35 someone is suffering, then God is telling you, 34:39 "I want you to participate in helping that individual." 34:42 This is what it's saying. 34:44 Desire Of Ages, 87. 34:46 "Jesus worked to relieve every case of suffering that He saw." 34:51 Every single one, He attempted to do something to bring relief 34:55 to that individual. 34:58 Now we're in Isaiah 58. 35:00 And I don't know if you know, but Ellen White spoke 35:04 or wrote about Isaiah 58 more than on any other chapter 35:08 in the Scriptures. 35:09 Did you ever wonder why? 35:11 Why was that so important to her? 35:13 Well this is what we want to try to investigate here 35:17 this afternoon. 35:20 Isaiah 58, we're going to look at verse 1. 35:23 The first two words in Isaiah 58. 35:25 "Cry aloud..." 35:28 Now what do you think would happen if we would 35:30 take those two words and switch them, invert them? 35:34 It would say, "Loud cry." 35:38 Now as Seventh-day Adventists, we've studied the loud cry 35:42 for a long, long time; all our lives. 35:44 And when we talk about the loud cry, usually we're talking about 35:47 Revelation chapter 18 verse 1, all the way to verse 5. 35:52 And we see an angel coming down having great power 35:55 to enlighten the whole world with the glory of 35:58 God's character. 35:59 And he has a final warning for the rest of the world, 36:02 "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. 36:04 Come out of her My people." 36:07 This is what we usually think of, of course. 36:10 But do you know that Isaiah 58 is addressed squarely 36:15 at Seventh-day Adventists? 36:20 And do you know that we have a hope in our hearts 36:25 that we can be instrumental in God's hand in bringing 36:29 the loud cry, the last warning, to this world. 36:32 Well friends, doesn't it make sense that if you and I are 36:36 going to be instrumental in giving the loud cry 36:39 to the world, that we're going to have, first, to receive 36:43 the loud cry to our own hearts? 36:45 And I am here to suggest today that Isaiah 58 is God's loud cry 36:53 to His children in preparation, in preparing them, 36:57 so that they can enlighten the whole world 37:00 with the glory of God's character. 37:01 Take note of that word, "light," because we're going to see it 37:05 more and more and more. 37:06 You and I need to study this chapter in preparation 37:10 to be used by God to give the last warning to this world. 37:15 Okay, we're in Isaiah 58. 37:18 We're going to begin with verse 2. 37:20 And this is talking about God's people. 37:23 It's a description of God's people. 37:25 And it is not a flattering description. 37:27 Even though it looks like it in verse 2. 37:31 And it's God speaking now. 37:34 And He's speaking to God's people. 37:36 "Yet they seek me daily..." 37:38 Isn't that good? 37:40 That's what it says. 37:41 "They seek me daily." 37:43 I wish that everyone of us, every Christian in the world, 37:46 every Seventh-day Adventist would be seeking God daily. 37:50 Because it says in the Scriptures that whoever 37:52 seeks Him with all his heart will be found, 37:55 He will be found of them. 37:56 "They seek me daily, and they delight to know my ways, 38:00 as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not 38:04 the ordinance of their God. 38:05 They ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight 38:10 in approaching to God." 38:11 Wow, what a wonderful people. 38:13 What a beautiful people. 38:15 But the people are confused. 38:16 You'll see that in the next verse. 38:18 Here they are, they're spending time in their devotions. 38:21 They're fasting, they're spending time with God. 38:23 They want to know His ways and all the rest 38:25 so that they can do it. 38:27 Now we know we're talking about the Jewish people, 38:29 and we know that they were very legalistic in their 38:31 approach to religion. 38:32 And so this was all self motivated. 38:37 Verse 3, they ask a question. 38:39 "Wherefore," that is, why, "'have we fasted,' 38:43 say they, 'and thou seest not? 38:46 Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?'" 38:50 "Something is wrong with this picture," 38:52 is what they're saying. 38:53 "We are so religious. 38:56 And we want to know Your ways so that we can do it, 38:58 albeit in our own strength. 39:00 How is it that when we fast and pray, 39:02 You don't answer our questions?" 39:06 And then God answers, we're still in verse 3, 39:08 "Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, 39:11 and exact all your labours." 39:14 "In the day of your fast it's against somebody else. 39:17 To your advantage. 39:19 This is what the problem is." 39:21 If you look at verse 5, God asks the question, 39:25 "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? 39:28 A day for a man to afflict his soul? 39:30 Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread 39:34 sackcloth and ashes under him? 39:36 Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?" 39:40 You know, when we think of fasting, we think of 39:43 doing without food. 39:44 Denying ourselves food for a meal, or for two meals, 39:47 or three, or a day or so many days. 39:50 That's what we think in terms of fasting. 39:52 But if you read Isaiah 58, you're going to see that 39:55 God has a different idea of what fasting is all about. 39:59 He's saying it's denial alright. 40:01 You don't have to deny yourself food to be fasting. 40:04 You need to deny your "self." 40:07 Deny your time; deny yourself the time that you want. 40:11 You need to go out of your way to sacrifice 40:14 to help somebody else. 40:15 That's the kind of fast that God believes in. 40:17 This is the kind of fast that we're talking about here 40:20 in Isaiah 58. 40:23 We're going to see that looking from verse 6 and on. 40:27 God again speaking, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? 40:31 To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the 40:33 heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, 40:35 and that you break every yoke? 40:37 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, 40:40 and that you bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? 40:43 When thou seest the naked, that you cover him; 40:45 and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" 40:48 "This is the fast that I have chosen. 40:50 Deny yourself all the pleasures and the comforts and the time 40:54 and the energy, and go and help somebody." 40:58 This is what God is asking. 40:59 And notice the next word. 41:01 The next word is, "then." At that point. 41:03 When you've come to the place when you are like Jesus, 41:06 serving as Jesus served. 41:08 At that point. Watch. 41:09 "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, 41:13 and thine health shall spring forth speedily. 41:17 Then shall thy righteousness go before thee; 41:19 and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward." 41:22 At that point, when God's people have adopted this program 41:26 then shall the earth be enlightened with the 41:29 glory of God's character. 41:31 We read on, verse 9. 41:34 "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer your prayers; 41:39 Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, 'Here I am.' 41:41 If you take away from the midst of thee the yoke, 41:44 the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 41:47 and if you draw out thy soul to the hungry, 41:50 and satisfy the afflicted; then shall thy light 41:53 rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day." 41:57 Can you see how many times we're talking about light here? 41:59 I see a direct connection with Revelation chapter 18; 42:03 when the whole world is lightened with the 42:05 glory of God's character. 42:06 This is the preparation in order to be used of heaven 42:10 to do that work. 42:12 If I skip over two chapters to chapter 60 of Isaiah... 42:17 By the way, chapter 60 of Isaiah is a parallel passage of 42:21 Revelation chapter 18. 42:23 And the first two words are, "arise," and "shine." 42:29 "For thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord 42:32 is risen upon thee." 42:33 When did the light come? 42:35 Ah friends, listen. 42:38 We've got the Word of God. 42:40 We've got the spirit of prophecy. 42:42 We've got Isaiah 58. 42:44 We've got the information that we need. 42:46 God is telling us that if we would be converted, 42:50 if we could become like Jesus, if we had the love of Jesus 42:53 and the faith of Jesus, and if we had the desire in our hearts 42:57 to serve as He served, we would go out and meet 43:00 every need that comes our way. 43:02 God is going to arrange the appointments. 43:04 He's telling us never to let an individual who's suffering 43:08 go by you and you not deal with it. 43:12 And as we grow in service, dealing more and more and more 43:16 with the needs of others around us, then shall our light arise. 43:20 And then shall we arise. 43:22 "Arise and shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the 43:24 the Lord is come upon thee." 43:26 And it goes on to say, "For, behold, the darkness shall 43:29 cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. 43:31 But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall 43:34 be seen in thee." 43:35 Because Jesus will be in us. 43:38 And we will have the character of Jesus in us. 43:41 "Then the Gentiles shall come to thy light, 43:45 and kings to the brightness of thy rising." 43:48 All kinds of promises are made to us; 43:50 that our children shall return to us, and all the rest. 43:53 Verse 5, "Then shalt they see, and flow together, 43:56 and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; 43:58 because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, 44:02 and the forces of the Gentiles shall come to thee." 44:06 What a glorious time. 44:09 What an amazing thing is yet coming to this world. 44:13 I can see it, it's going to come. 44:15 There must be a people in this world that is preparing 44:17 to do this in the name of Jesus Christ. 44:20 There's a people who are preparing their hearts 44:23 by receiving His love and going out and sharing 44:26 that love with people. 44:27 There are people receiving the loud cry aimed at God's people 44:32 so that they can give the loud cry aimed at the world. 44:37 In Welfare Ministries, page 32, it says this, 44:40 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 44:44 That's a Bible verse. 44:46 Comment, "As a people, we must take hold of this work. 44:50 Love revealed for suffering humanity gives significance 44:54 and power to the truth." 44:57 Did you hear what I just said? 44:59 "Love revealed for suffering humanity gives significance 45:04 and power to the truth." 45:06 Friends, not very long ago, as a matter of fact it was about 45:08 a year ago, I did an evangelistic series. 45:11 And do you know that not one person was baptized. 45:15 We made up these beautiful flyers. 45:18 We sent thousands of flyers out into the community. 45:21 Some people came, but none of them, none of them 45:25 made a commitment to be baptized for Jesus Christ. 45:28 So here's the question. 45:31 Do you think that a little bit of significance and power 45:34 injected into that situation would have made a difference? 45:37 I think so. I think so. 45:40 Oh somebody might say, "But wait, wait. 45:41 When we're doing an evangelistic series, it's for the purpose 45:45 of helping people to see our distinctive doctrines. 45:48 They need to learn about the Sabbath. 45:49 They need to learn about the Sanctuary and the 45:51 state of the dead and salvation, and all these things. 45:54 Ah friends, it's all true. 45:56 But watch, watch. 45:57 Another quotation, Manuscript Release 5, page 33. 46:01 Watch. 46:02 "We cannot keep the Sabbath holy unless we serve the Lord 46:08 in the manner brought to view in the Scriptures." 46:11 Well what Scriptures are we talking about? 46:13 Let me read it again. 46:14 "We cannot keep the Sabbath holy unless we serve 46:18 the Lord in the manner brought to view in the Scriptures." 46:21 What Scriptures? 46:22 Then she quotes Isaiah 58. 46:25 Deal thy bread to the hungry, bring the outcast to thy house, 46:30 clothe the naked, visit the sick and the imprisoned, 46:33 take care of the widows and the fatherless, 46:35 loose the bands of wickedness, relieve the heavy burdened, 46:39 set free the oppressed, break every yoke. 46:42 Mow the lawn if you have to, paint their fences. 46:44 Do something to help people where they have a need. 46:48 Can you see it? 46:50 Ah friends, I would hope that everyone within my voice 46:56 can see what I'm trying to say here. 46:58 The truth on the Sabbath, the truth about tithing, 47:03 the truth about the 2300 days, the spirit of prophecy, 47:06 or health, any other truth that we would like to preach 47:09 in an evangelistic series, all will lose their significance 47:13 and power if we don't love our neighbors enough 47:16 to go out there and help them when they have a need. 47:19 Personal, practical, and hands on help. 47:23 This is the highest form of Christian standards 47:26 that can be reached. 47:27 This is what Jesus is hoping that He can have in His people. 47:31 Then God can use us to call His people out of Babylon. 47:39 Are you willing? 47:41 You know, friends, I sincerely believe that God would have 47:46 far more missionaries. 47:48 Oh I'm not saying that these missionaries would travel 47:52 to foreign lands. 47:54 We can be a missionary right where we are. 47:57 Ah, but I sincerely believe that God's people would 48:01 interest themselves in the work of God more and more and more, 48:05 and we would interest ourselves less and less and less 48:08 in secular jobs. 48:10 Not that there's anything wrong with secular jobs. 48:13 Hey, there's got to be God's people everywhere. 48:16 But every single individual should be imbued with this, 48:19 should be possessed with the spirit of Jesus Christ, 48:22 to be a blessing to every single soul that we meet 48:26 so that our desire is to see everyone saved in 48:30 the kingdom of heaven. 48:31 And especially those who are suffering and we can 48:33 see their suffering. 48:34 Because there is nothing that reveals that we are Christians 48:40 than that we are willing to deny ourselves to be a blessing 48:43 to those people who have need of our help. 48:46 Ah friends, there's not that many people in the world 48:50 who are willing to go that far to be a Christian. 48:54 Just a little story in ending. 49:00 My wife and I spent ten years in Africa. 49:03 I brought my son to Africa when he was fourteen. 49:05 He's my baby. 49:07 He's 40 years old. 49:08 And he's still in Africa. 49:10 He's still a missionary in Africa. 49:12 I have two daughters. 49:13 One is a missionary in the Yukon Territory north of Canada. 49:17 And I have a daughter in Washington state. 49:20 And she's in charge of all these choirs that she 49:23 does for her church. 49:24 My whole family is involved in serving in the church. 49:29 We came home, my wife and I. 49:31 And after we had been home for some time, 49:34 we began receiving emails saying that there were 49:38 28 thousand orphans in the Makete District of Tanzania. 49:43 And we thought to ourselves, "That can't be possible. 49:46 That can't be right. 49:48 How can there be 28 thousand orphans 49:52 and nobody is doing anything?" 49:54 And so my wife and I decided that we would go over there 49:57 to investigate. 49:58 We made a trip to Tanzania. 50:01 We got over there and we began to search. 50:03 We would go from village to village and we would go to the 50:05 local public schools in these villages. 50:09 And it was true. 50:11 35 to 50 percent of the students in these schools 50:16 were indeed orphans. 50:17 They were orphans. 50:20 It began to work on my wife's heart. 50:24 She couldn't leave the thing like that. 50:29 There was no one else doing anything there. 50:32 And so we decided ten years ago, seeing that I am the 50:35 president of Eden Valley Institute, that she would 50:38 go and live in Africa in order to take care of some of 50:42 these people to do all that she can. 50:44 Do you know, she went over there with nothing. 50:47 Nothing in her pocket. 50:49 She went over there and rented. 50:51 The first house she rented for $20 a month; that was the rent. 50:54 That was the biggest house in town, by the way. 50:57 Twenty dollars a month. 50:58 She rented it and she lived there. 51:00 It was the coldest most miserable house 51:02 I've ever been in my life. 51:03 There was no ceiling, it was all cement blocks. 51:06 And it's cold there because it's at 7500 feet elevation. 51:12 And it's, you know, very wet and humid, and all the rest. 51:15 And it was, oh it was miserable. 51:17 She stayed there. By the way, it's been ten years. 51:19 She's not still in that house, though I can 51:20 tell you more in a minute. 51:22 No, but she went over there with nothing. 51:25 And what was she to do? 51:26 All that she could do is mix with the people, 51:30 go around the villages from hut to hut, from house to house, 51:33 to see if anyone of these people had any kind of need. 51:36 And she would help to meet their needs. 51:39 If the students needed school uniforms, she saw to it 51:43 that they had school uniforms. 51:44 If these people needed food, she helped them to find food. 51:47 If they needed a ride somewhere, she would give them a ride. 51:50 By the way, she has the only hearse in town. 51:53 It's just a pickup, but everyone comes to her when someone dies 51:56 and they need to go somewhere. 51:57 She has the ambulance. 51:58 It's still only a pickup, but it's the ambulance in town. 52:01 Yeah. 52:02 And she began to take pictures of those people 52:05 she was helping. 52:06 Epileptics who would fall in the fire and get burned; 52:09 she would nurture, she would do the wound care. 52:12 She would do everything she could do in order to 52:14 meet their needs. 52:17 She began to take pictures and she would come home 52:20 to America and she would go from church to church 52:23 and show these pictures. 52:24 And people began to throw money at her from every direction. 52:28 Do you know that ten years later, ten years later, 52:31 she has, by the help of God and local people, 52:35 and a lot of people who have volunteered to help her 52:38 from the United States and other places, 52:40 she has built up a whole school. 52:42 She has all these buildings, like 15 new buildings. 52:45 Not small buildings either. 52:47 She has a cafeteria, she has dormitories, 52:50 she has schools, and she has houses, and she built a church. 52:54 And she has 50 students at a time. 52:57 They're learning all kinds of things. 53:00 Sewing and advanced sewing, carpentry and advanced 53:03 carpentry, and gardening, and all kinds of things 53:07 she's teaching these people. 53:08 Because she could not stand to go into the little village 53:12 where there was just a little store and see 53:14 all these young people. 53:15 Do you know that over there, if a young person fails 53:19 grade seven, he is through with school forever. 53:23 He does not get a second chance. 53:25 Every young person goes to school to grade seven. 53:28 And if they fail grade seven they cannot go back to school. 53:31 Well friends, it touched my wife's heart. 53:34 It really did. 53:36 And she began to think, these young people; 53:38 they hang around smoking and drinking, 53:40 and there's aids everywhere. 53:42 Because that's why there's so many orphans. 53:44 And they're all getting into trouble and they're dying young. 53:47 What can she do for them? 53:49 And so she conceived the idea of having a school. 53:52 And now she is able to minister not only to all 53:55 the orphans around. 53:56 By the way, there were 800 of them in seven villages 53:59 that she was overseeing. 54:02 And today, ten years later, there's only 500 and some; 54:05 because of prolonged life medicine and people are not 54:09 dying as quickly, and the young orphans are now older orphans. 54:13 They're ten years older. 54:14 And there are fewer, fewer people dying. 54:16 And my wife is still there ministering. 54:20 Friends, this is what God wants. 54:24 He wants a people who will see a need and who will go. 54:28 She didn't have any special, how should I say... 54:32 It's not because she went to school. 54:33 She has a grade ten education. 54:35 Oh she's a very practical individual. 54:38 She knows how to work. 54:39 And when she sees a problem, she knows how to 54:41 approach the problem. 54:42 The Lord has given her that gift. 54:44 But friends, she's only one lone woman. 54:47 Four foot eleven, by the way. 54:50 And she's out there. 54:52 She went with nothing and God has blessed her 54:55 in raising a whole institution by herself, single handedly; 54:59 by the help of God and the people that God would send. 55:03 Could you do something like that? 55:06 Yes you could. 55:08 Friends, read Isaiah 58. 55:12 It says there, "Cry aloud." 55:14 It's the loud cry to God's people 55:18 in preparation to give the loud cry warning to the world. 55:22 This is the preparation. 55:24 And may everyone of you be willing to see and jump in, 55:28 both feet, and begin to serve as God would have you to serve. 55:32 What do you say? 55:34 Can you do it? 55:35 Yeah. 55:37 I would like to invite you to bow your heads with me. 55:40 We're going to ask God to organize this for us 55:43 in each one of our lives. 55:45 Ask God to show you what it is that He wants you to do. 55:49 And it's easy, friends. It's easy. 55:50 All He's going to have to show you is someone that has a need. 55:55 And He's going to say, "Start here, start here." 55:59 You don't have to have big bucks. 56:00 You don't have to have anything but a smile to begin. 56:03 And God will use it. 56:04 Shall we bow. 56:06 Heavenly Father, Lord thank You. 56:09 Thank You for helping us to see what it is that You 56:12 want for Thy people. 56:14 Ah, Lord, it seems like we have so far to go 56:20 and it seems like we're so small. 56:22 And it seems like we're so unprepared. 56:25 But we don't need the preparation so much as 56:27 we need to be working with God. 56:30 We need to ask You to come into our lives. 56:32 We need to ask You to point us in the direction 56:35 You would have us to go. 56:36 Help us to see the individual that needs the help we can give. 56:39 Give us the power, give us the energy, 56:42 give us the time, give us whatever it takes 56:44 that we might deal with these people 56:47 in the way that You would do it. 56:48 That we might bring a blessing to these people 56:51 so that they can say, "There must be something 56:53 special in that individual. 56:55 Why does he go out of his way, her way, to help me?" 56:59 Father, help us to be Christians like Jesus was, 57:02 in the fullest sense of the word, 57:03 so that Jesus can come. 57:05 When it's time for Him to come, He will find a people 57:09 at work blessing others. 57:11 And we thank You for hearing our prayer. 57:13 In the name of Jesus, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17