Please stand and join us
in singing our theme song.
00:00:33.16\00:00:36.26
Have you heard the story told
00:00:53.58\00:00:57.65
Of the Man whose heart was sold
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To save my dying soul?
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Oh, what love untold
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To the end He's always sought me
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To the end He's always loved me
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To the end I long to follow
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For He bore my cross of sorrow
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I will stay here in
the hollow of His care
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And I will go
anywhere, to the end
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This witness I
will bear To the end
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In the grove I heard Him say
00:01:47.34\00:01:50.97
"Oh my Father please just stay."
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Through broken hearted pain
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He did pave the way
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To the end His heart is faithful
00:02:02.12\00:02:05.95
To the end His hand is able
00:02:05.99\00:02:09.76
To the end I can now follow
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For He bore my cross of sorrow
00:02:13.50\00:02:17.30
I will stay here in
the hollow of His care
00:02:17.33\00:02:22.24
And I will go
anywhere, to the end
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This witness I
will bear To the end
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As they took Him off to die
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There His friendship I denied
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Forgiveness in His eyes
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He did not despise.
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To the end His
love constrains me
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To the end He has restored me
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To the end I will still follow
00:03:02.04\00:03:05.71
For He bore my cross of sorrow
00:03:05.75\00:03:09.42
I will stay here in
the hollow of His care
00:03:09.45\00:03:14.32
And I will go
anywhere, to the end
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This witness I will bear
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To the end
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Good morning.
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How many of you are awake?
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All right.
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We're about to
hear an amazing message,
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two amazing messages.
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One through song
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and one through the
breaking of the Word.
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Our scripture
reading for this morning,
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if you turn there with me,
00:04:00.80\00:04:03.91
it's found in 2
Corinthians 4:6-7.
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2 Corinthians 4:6-7.
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I'll be reading from
the New King James Version?
00:04:14.52\00:04:16.95
And it says,
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"For it is the God
who commanded light
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to shine out of darkness,
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who has shown in our hearts
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to give the
light of the knowledge
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of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.
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But we have this
treasure in the earthen vessels,
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that the excellence of the power
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may be of God and not of us."
00:04:40.38\00:04:42.68
I have fixed my
mind on another time
00:04:59.59\00:05:06.53
On another time
00:05:06.57\00:05:12.51
And here I mean to stand
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until God gives me more light
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And that is today, today
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Today until He comes
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I have fixed my
mind on another time
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On another time
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I have set my
course on the narrow way
00:05:53.42\00:05:59.42
On the narrow way
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For I know the
time is close at hand
00:06:04.26\00:06:09.96
For which I watch and pray
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And that is today, today
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Today until He comes
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I have set my
course on the narrow way
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On the narrow way
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Even so Lord come quickly
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This is my fervent prayer
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For I've caught
a Glimpse of glory
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And I'm longing to be there
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When shall the Son of Man appear
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The trumpet sound its blast
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And Christ
descend in glorious fire
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With all the saints amassed
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We'll rise with
those Who sleep no more
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To meet Him in the air
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When shall the Son of Man appear
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The Son of Man appear
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Even so Lord come quickly
00:08:02.51\00:08:07.98
This is my fervent prayer
00:08:08.02\00:08:13.42
For I've caught
a Glimpse of glory
00:08:13.46\00:08:19.13
And I'm longing to be there
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For I've caught
a Glimpse of glory
00:08:24.73\00:08:29.97
And I'm longing to be there
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I have fixed my
mind on another time
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On another time
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Thank you.
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After 66 books,
00:09:20.69\00:09:23.66
thousands of years of narrative,
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God ends the
sacred cannon of scripture
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with the cogent, unequivocal,
00:09:30.83\00:09:34.47
surely I come quickly.
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Amen.
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So let it be, Oh Father,
00:09:41.78\00:09:44.01
that in light of the words
we've just heard through music
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and reflection of that
final statement of scripture.
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May it be that today
our hearts are energized
00:09:52.62\00:09:56.86
through Your Word.
00:09:56.89\00:09:58.73
That we birth
within us is a confidence
00:09:58.76\00:10:01.93
and of boldness of the gospel.
00:10:01.96\00:10:06.67
Let it be, oh
God, you speak to us
00:10:06.70\00:10:09.10
when we live
changed having met with you,
00:10:09.14\00:10:13.51
in the name of Jesus, amen.
00:10:13.54\00:10:16.08
I'm going to
take a bit of a guess,
00:10:20.22\00:10:24.49
a leap that the
vast majority of us
00:10:24.52\00:10:29.12
in this room this morning
00:10:29.16\00:10:30.59
have not recently picked up
00:10:30.63\00:10:36.26
a cigarette pack.
00:10:36.30\00:10:40.47
If you have,
00:10:40.50\00:10:45.27
God strength to you,
00:10:45.31\00:10:47.51
your journey, no judgment here,
00:10:47.54\00:10:49.78
but I'm just going
to guess, you haven't.
00:10:49.81\00:10:51.91
However, I'm also going to guess
00:10:51.95\00:10:55.38
that the vast majority of us
00:10:55.42\00:10:57.02
even having not picked up
a cigarette pack recently.
00:10:57.05\00:11:01.39
No, exactly what is
stated in black and white
00:11:01.42\00:11:06.19
on every cigarette
pack in advertisement
00:11:06.23\00:11:10.30
in this country.
00:11:10.33\00:11:13.17
How does it start?
00:11:13.20\00:11:14.70
Surgeon general warning.
00:11:14.74\00:11:20.01
Smoking
00:11:20.04\00:11:22.98
causes lung cancer,
00:11:23.01\00:11:27.78
heart disease, and emphysema.
00:11:27.82\00:11:32.35
It's an absolute.
00:11:32.39\00:11:36.19
I don't know that it is possible
00:11:36.22\00:11:38.86
to smoke in this
country and not to know
00:11:38.89\00:11:44.83
whether it is a
good or bad idea.
00:11:44.87\00:11:48.50
I don't know that it's possible.
00:11:48.54\00:11:50.91
There's nobody.
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With all due respect
00:11:53.24\00:11:54.58
to those who have
struggled with this addiction,
00:11:54.61\00:11:56.71
there is no one out
on the corner going,
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"This actually
may be good for me."
00:12:00.38\00:12:05.32
It's known, it
is an absolute fact.
00:12:05.35\00:12:11.89
There is no uncertainty.
00:12:11.93\00:12:14.00
There is absolute
confidence we know.
00:12:14.03\00:12:18.93
In fact, we know that we know,
that we know, it's not good.
00:12:18.97\00:12:24.54
So grab your Bibles.
00:12:27.58\00:12:28.91
Turn to the Book of Acts.
00:12:34.38\00:12:38.45
But this time we're
going all the way to the back.
00:12:38.49\00:12:41.82
Acts Chapter 28.
00:12:41.86\00:12:43.93
Acts Chapter 28 is
the final chapter of this.
00:12:47.90\00:12:52.03
Sometimes refer to fifth gospel,
00:12:52.07\00:12:54.37
the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
00:12:54.40\00:12:56.64
The church has mobilized
this divine appointment.
00:12:56.67\00:13:02.51
The church, early
Christians are sent out.
00:13:02.54\00:13:06.61
Acts Chapter 28
and the final verses.
00:13:06.65\00:13:12.25
Verse 30, "Then Paul
dwelt two whole years
00:13:12.29\00:13:15.52
in his own rented house,
00:13:15.56\00:13:17.36
and received
all who came to him,
00:13:17.39\00:13:20.73
preaching the kingdom of God,
00:13:20.76\00:13:22.13
and teaching the things
00:13:22.16\00:13:23.50
which concern
the Lord Jesus Christ
00:13:23.53\00:13:25.20
with all confidence,
no one forbidding him."
00:13:25.23\00:13:29.90
If you're
reading in a NIV version,
00:13:29.94\00:13:34.64
it'll read that verse 31,
00:13:34.68\00:13:36.68
"He proclaimed
the kingdom of God
00:13:36.71\00:13:38.81
and taught about
the Lord Jesus Christ
00:13:38.85\00:13:40.92
with all boldness
and without hindrance!"
00:13:40.95\00:13:46.22
Boldness and without hindrance,
00:13:46.25\00:13:48.62
Paul knew that
he knew that he knew
00:13:48.66\00:13:53.43
that the Gospel of
Jesus Christ was absolute,
00:13:53.46\00:13:58.80
life giving, saving.
00:13:58.83\00:14:02.64
It wasn't a question for
Paul with all confidence,
00:14:02.67\00:14:05.37
there wasn't a line of doubt,
00:14:05.41\00:14:08.58
there wasn't a single
question in his mind, he knew.
00:14:08.61\00:14:15.52
And so without a
doubt, here today,
00:14:15.55\00:14:21.09
we can reflect back and know
00:14:21.12\00:14:23.22
that Satan on the other
hand did not leave Paul alone.
00:14:23.26\00:14:26.70
This wasn't as if...
00:14:26.73\00:14:28.06
Satan had said, "Well,
Paul is just such an apostle.
00:14:28.10\00:14:30.80
He's untouchable to me."
00:14:30.83\00:14:32.90
Satan never gives up.
00:14:32.93\00:14:34.27
He's going to fight
this thing to the end.
00:14:34.30\00:14:36.10
And so Paul must
have been assailed,
00:14:36.14\00:14:40.48
yet the Bible records
00:14:40.51\00:14:42.58
that he
delivered without a doubt,
00:14:42.61\00:14:46.21
with absolute,
with all confidence.
00:14:46.25\00:14:49.42
So wasn't that
Satan had given up.
00:14:49.45\00:14:52.52
It's that Paul knew
that he knew that he knew.
00:14:52.55\00:14:54.52
But it shouldn't surprise us.
00:14:59.13\00:15:02.53
This is the story of Acts.
00:15:02.56\00:15:07.94
When I look back
to the beginning,
00:15:10.11\00:15:11.44
Acts Chapter 4,
00:15:11.47\00:15:14.18
first few chapters
introduces to that Holy Spirit,
00:15:14.21\00:15:17.41
but now Acts 4:13,
00:15:17.45\00:15:21.42
they, the leaders
00:15:26.99\00:15:30.56
who had
previously seen the disciples
00:15:30.59\00:15:34.96
in their fear and
their trepidation.
00:15:35.00\00:15:38.27
"When they saw the
boldness of Peter and John,
00:15:38.30\00:15:42.84
and perceived that they
were uneducated and untrained,
00:15:42.87\00:15:46.41
they marveled."
00:15:46.44\00:15:49.71
Love it.
00:15:49.74\00:15:51.08
I've no problem with
education or training.
00:15:51.11\00:15:56.12
We ought to be
mobilized and trained
00:15:56.15\00:15:58.05
to the best of our abilities.
00:15:58.09\00:16:00.29
But I love the fact
that God uses the unexpected,
00:16:00.32\00:16:04.23
the underdog.
00:16:07.26\00:16:08.60
So was though,
00:16:12.10\00:16:13.44
when they saw the
boldness of Peter and John,
00:16:13.47\00:16:15.14
that's how this thing began.
00:16:15.17\00:16:17.97
It began Peter and John,
and a boldness for Jesus,
00:16:18.01\00:16:22.64
they knew that they knew,
00:16:22.68\00:16:25.01
that they knew
He was resurrected
00:16:25.05\00:16:26.95
and now at the right
hand of the throne of God.
00:16:26.98\00:16:28.98
Desire or Ages says that
they knew they had a friend
00:16:29.02\00:16:31.62
that now stood
beside the throne of God,
00:16:31.65\00:16:33.42
and so they reached
their hand higher and higher
00:16:33.46\00:16:35.99
by faith, take hold of His.
00:16:36.02\00:16:37.59
They knew that they
knew that they knew.
00:16:37.63\00:16:41.26
It started this way.
00:16:41.30\00:16:42.96
That's what the
Holy Spirit does.
00:16:43.00\00:16:47.14
It births within our hearts
00:16:47.17\00:16:50.41
a know that we
know that we know.
00:16:50.44\00:16:55.68
Let me take Paul as an example.
00:16:55.71\00:16:57.38
Peter and John obviously
would be good examples,
00:16:57.41\00:16:59.91
but Paul, let's
take Paul as an example.
00:16:59.95\00:17:02.98
I got four exhibits.
00:17:03.02\00:17:05.05
Exhibit A.
00:17:05.09\00:17:07.96
If you look the
back of your Bible
00:17:07.99\00:17:10.79
and many of our Bibles at least,
00:17:10.83\00:17:13.23
you'll find maps.
00:17:13.26\00:17:14.76
All right.
00:17:14.80\00:17:16.13
You go out of Revelation
00:17:16.16\00:17:17.50
and out of the
Concordance you go,
00:17:17.53\00:17:18.87
you get to your maps.
00:17:18.90\00:17:20.47
Several of your maps inevitably
will be titled Paul's first,
00:17:20.50\00:17:26.11
or second, or third, or fourth.
00:17:26.14\00:17:28.84
Paul's missionary journeys.
00:17:28.88\00:17:31.51
You look, it's just arrows
all, and he's a frequent flier
00:17:31.55\00:17:36.42
on whatever ship
line was available.
00:17:36.45\00:17:42.46
He went around his little world.
00:17:42.49\00:17:48.20
Either he was restless
and he couldn't sit still
00:17:48.23\00:17:51.27
or he had something that
the world needed to know.
00:17:51.30\00:17:55.74
I think it's beautiful,
00:17:55.77\00:17:57.11
I think it's something
that we should be proud of
00:17:57.14\00:17:59.61
that the Adventist Church,
00:17:59.64\00:18:01.18
the Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:18:01.21\00:18:03.14
is mobilized around our globe.
00:18:03.18\00:18:07.65
It speaks to the fact
that we have something to say.
00:18:07.68\00:18:11.95
Amen.
00:18:11.99\00:18:14.49
So does Paul's
missionary journeys.
00:18:14.52\00:18:16.22
Exhibit A.
00:18:16.26\00:18:18.56
He went, he spent every cell
00:18:18.59\00:18:21.23
in his body
travelling the world.
00:18:21.26\00:18:25.80
Exhibit B.
00:18:25.83\00:18:29.50
They couldn't
beat it out of him.
00:18:29.54\00:18:33.44
2 Corinthians Chapter 11.
00:18:33.48\00:18:37.95
2 Corinthians Chapter 11.
00:18:41.08\00:18:43.15
You read this, no doubt,
00:18:43.18\00:18:44.52
but let's read
it again, verse 24.
00:18:44.55\00:18:49.12
1 Corinthians won't
exactly say the same thing.
00:18:56.26\00:19:00.07
2 Corinthians 11:24,
00:19:00.10\00:19:06.17
"From the Jews,"
this is his testimony,
00:19:06.21\00:19:10.11
"five times I received
forty stripes minus one.
00:19:10.15\00:19:13.31
Three times I
was beaten with rods,
00:19:13.35\00:19:14.85
once I was stoned,
three times I was shipwrecked,
00:19:14.88\00:19:17.72
a night and a day I
have been in the deep,
00:19:17.75\00:19:19.95
in journeys often,
in perils of waters,
00:19:19.99\00:19:21.99
in perils of robbers, in
perils of my own countrymen,
00:19:22.02\00:19:24.53
in perils of the
Gentiles, in perils in the city,
00:19:24.56\00:19:26.53
in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea,
00:19:26.56\00:19:28.53
in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and toil,
00:19:28.56\00:19:31.43
in sleeplessness often,
00:19:31.47\00:19:32.80
in hunger and
thirst, in fastings often,
00:19:32.83\00:19:34.70
in cold and nakedness."
00:19:34.74\00:19:36.57
That was Paul's experience.
00:19:40.14\00:19:42.51
They couldn't
beat it out of him.
00:19:42.54\00:19:45.38
Exhibit A,
00:19:45.41\00:19:47.02
he travelled the
world with his message.
00:19:47.05\00:19:49.18
Exhibit B, you couldn't beat...
00:19:49.22\00:19:52.72
There were enough hardships
for Paul to give up on this.
00:19:52.75\00:19:58.53
He might have lost his job
00:19:58.56\00:19:59.89
for Sabbath observance,
00:19:59.93\00:20:02.23
lost his friends
for his radical devotion
00:20:02.26\00:20:04.73
to his Christ.
00:20:04.77\00:20:07.17
He was beaten physically.
He lost his financial packages,
00:20:07.20\00:20:13.88
but he would not give up.
00:20:13.91\00:20:17.01
Paul knew that
he knew that he knew
00:20:17.05\00:20:22.58
the gospel was so important.
00:20:22.62\00:20:28.42
Exhibit C,
00:20:28.46\00:20:32.23
back in Acts, now 25:11.
00:20:32.26\00:20:37.70
He's now an arrested man.
00:20:42.07\00:20:47.91
He says to those committed
00:20:47.94\00:20:54.18
to his keeping,
00:20:54.22\00:20:56.18
for if I'm an offender
00:20:56.22\00:20:57.55
or if I've committed
anything deserving of death,
00:20:57.59\00:20:59.39
I do not object to dying.
00:20:59.42\00:21:03.53
I appeal to Caesar.
00:21:03.56\00:21:09.53
You only take it that far.
00:21:09.56\00:21:12.40
You only take it to that high
00:21:12.43\00:21:15.80
when you know that
you know that you know.
00:21:15.84\00:21:21.38
You take your case
to the Supreme Court
00:21:21.41\00:21:26.15
when you believe
with all of your heart
00:21:26.18\00:21:29.28
that you know that
you know that you know
00:21:29.32\00:21:31.59
that you have a right.
00:21:31.62\00:21:34.69
You take it all the way up.
00:21:34.72\00:21:38.76
Paul, as a Roman citizen knew,
00:21:38.79\00:21:42.10
you don't show up before Caesar
with a little bit of a game.
00:21:42.13\00:21:48.20
You don't show up
without your stuff together.
00:21:48.24\00:21:52.07
You don't show
up without knowing
00:21:52.11\00:21:54.01
that you know that you know.
00:21:54.04\00:21:55.84
You don't show up
without confidence,
00:21:55.88\00:21:58.68
Caesar wouldn't
have time for it.
00:21:58.71\00:22:01.25
But Paul says,
00:22:01.28\00:22:02.78
"I know that I
know, take me to Caesar."
00:22:02.82\00:22:07.66
Exhibit C,
00:22:07.69\00:22:09.62
it's going to go all the way up.
00:22:09.66\00:22:13.03
Exhibit D, worth and final.
00:22:13.06\00:22:16.06
Paul as he stated in Acts 25:11,
00:22:19.97\00:22:23.54
I'm willing to die for this.
00:22:23.57\00:22:25.51
You can't beat it out of me,
you can't starve it out of me,
00:22:25.54\00:22:28.01
you cannot even
kill it out of me.
00:22:28.04\00:22:32.51
Acts of the Apostles now,
00:22:32.55\00:22:35.25
let me just reflect with you
00:22:35.28\00:22:37.95
on what she, Ellen
White says about his death.
00:22:37.99\00:22:43.36
Paul was taken
in a private manner
00:22:43.39\00:22:45.63
to the place of execution.
00:22:45.66\00:22:47.60
Few spectators were
allowed to be present,
00:22:47.63\00:22:50.17
for his persecutors,
00:22:50.20\00:22:51.53
alarmed at the
extent of his influence,
00:22:51.57\00:22:53.70
feared that converts
might be won to Christianity
00:22:53.74\00:22:56.37
by the scenes of his death.
00:22:56.40\00:23:00.48
But even the hardened
soldiers who attended him
00:23:00.51\00:23:03.24
listened to his
words with amazement
00:23:03.28\00:23:05.85
saw him cheerful and even joyous
00:23:05.88\00:23:08.98
in the prospect of death.
00:23:09.02\00:23:11.85
The apostles were
looking into the great beyond,
00:23:11.89\00:23:15.46
not with uncertainty or dread,
00:23:15.49\00:23:18.19
but with joyous hope
and longing expectation.
00:23:18.23\00:23:23.26
As he, Paul, stands at
the place of martyrdom,
00:23:23.30\00:23:25.60
he sees not the
sword of the executioner
00:23:25.63\00:23:28.10
or the earth so soon
to receive his blood.
00:23:28.14\00:23:31.44
He looks up through
the calm blue heaven
00:23:31.47\00:23:33.48
of that summer day to
the throne of the eternal.
00:23:33.51\00:23:38.91
Paul,
00:23:38.95\00:23:41.35
as the sword draws near,
00:23:41.38\00:23:46.22
is almost indifferent
00:23:46.25\00:23:49.42
because of the ace up
his sleeve as it were,
00:23:49.46\00:23:51.99
because of the
hope, because of the know,
00:23:52.03\00:23:54.30
that he knows, that he knows.
00:23:54.33\00:23:56.70
Jesus is resurrected
00:23:56.73\00:23:58.13
and that means there
is eternity just beyond.
00:23:58.17\00:24:02.80
That's the narrative of Acts.
00:24:09.21\00:24:14.68
Mosaic of men and
women came together
00:24:14.72\00:24:20.09
and then operated
by the Holy Spirit
00:24:20.12\00:24:24.76
became bold and confident
00:24:24.79\00:24:28.93
that what they
had was life saving,
00:24:28.96\00:24:34.64
and they had to share it.
00:24:34.67\00:24:37.74
There is no question.
00:24:37.77\00:24:39.97
There is no
question in their minds.
00:24:40.01\00:24:42.61
But beloved,
00:24:48.88\00:24:51.69
where do you find
yourself this morning?
00:24:51.72\00:24:54.46
In the darkness of the night,
00:24:54.49\00:24:57.23
as you kneel beside your bed,
00:24:57.26\00:25:01.56
do you wonder?
00:25:01.60\00:25:05.27
Could it be,
00:25:05.30\00:25:07.44
could it be that
we're just not sure?
00:25:07.47\00:25:11.24
The world isn't
sure, that's for sure.
00:25:14.61\00:25:16.64
The world
doesn't know what to do.
00:25:16.68\00:25:20.15
Grab my Time Magazine.
00:25:23.45\00:25:25.72
Yes, I still get magazines
00:25:25.75\00:25:29.02
and a newspaper
through the mail in driveway.
00:25:29.06\00:25:35.13
Lets you know what
the world is doing,
00:25:35.16\00:25:38.27
all your local events and news
00:25:38.30\00:25:41.10
is a web Time Magazine.
00:25:41.14\00:25:45.71
I want you to
listen to this, GYC.
00:25:45.74\00:25:50.68
The date on the magazine,
00:25:50.71\00:25:56.15
October 22.
00:25:56.18\00:26:00.26
What date was that?
00:26:00.29\00:26:03.69
I'm sorry, what date was that?
00:26:03.73\00:26:06.33
October 22.
00:26:06.36\00:26:10.20
Of course, 2018 was
the date of the magazine,
00:26:10.23\00:26:12.07
it just came this last fall.
00:26:12.10\00:26:15.50
It's an editorial
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.17
about the
catastrophe of the climate.
00:26:17.21\00:26:21.58
We're all concerned about
where is our planet going?
00:26:21.61\00:26:25.21
Is it gonna just self-destruct.
00:26:25.25\00:26:30.62
The subtitle on the editorial
was climate catastrophe,
00:26:30.65\00:26:35.39
climate catastrophe
seen just 12 years away.
00:26:35.42\00:26:42.13
These thinking minds
have come together and said,
00:26:42.16\00:26:46.60
"There is a catastrophe
coming to this planet
00:26:46.63\00:26:50.44
and we believe it's
in the next 12 years."
00:26:50.47\00:26:53.34
What day was it published?
00:26:53.38\00:26:56.24
October 22.
00:26:56.28\00:27:02.02
Just not sure
that everybody's got
00:27:02.05\00:27:03.39
the significance of
that, Seventh-day Adventist.
00:27:03.42\00:27:10.19
In the editorial, Mary Robinson,
00:27:10.23\00:27:12.39
former UN Special
Envoy on Climate Change,
00:27:12.43\00:27:14.66
also the previous President
of the Country of Ireland,
00:27:14.70\00:27:17.97
states.
00:27:18.00\00:27:20.17
In an editorial, on October 22,
00:27:20.20\00:27:26.24
she states,
00:27:26.27\00:27:28.74
"We need a plan to save us.
00:27:28.78\00:27:33.92
We have a short window of
time and a huge responsibility.
00:27:33.95\00:27:38.85
We need a plan."
00:27:38.89\00:27:41.22
She's, of course,
talking about climate.
00:27:41.26\00:27:46.53
But on October 22,
00:27:46.56\00:27:50.73
I think it means
a whole lot more.
00:27:50.77\00:27:56.20
2 Corinthians Chapter 4.
00:27:56.24\00:27:58.01
And we just read
it for us minutes ago.
00:27:58.04\00:27:59.74
"We have this
treasure in earthen vessels
00:27:59.77\00:28:02.21
that the excellence
of the power of God,
00:28:02.24\00:28:06.55
may be of God and not of us."
00:28:06.58\00:28:09.28
We have this treasure, beloved.
00:28:09.32\00:28:15.32
On October 22,
00:28:15.36\00:28:18.59
Time Magazine
says, "We need a plan,
00:28:18.63\00:28:20.70
we need somebody to stand
up and tell us what we can do."
00:28:20.73\00:28:25.23
The world is asking.
00:28:28.44\00:28:31.27
What can we do?
00:28:31.31\00:28:32.64
We have a short time left.
00:28:32.67\00:28:37.88
And if there is
anyone on this globe,
00:28:37.91\00:28:42.08
that has something
to say on October 22,
00:28:42.12\00:28:46.76
it's the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:28:46.79\00:28:51.49
We can tell them.
00:28:51.53\00:28:53.80
We're not going to
throw out 12 years.
00:28:53.83\00:28:57.23
We know our Bibles better now.
00:28:57.27\00:29:00.27
We're not going to
tell them, it's 12 years.
00:29:00.30\00:29:02.74
They're telling
us, it's 12 years.
00:29:02.77\00:29:08.18
But what we do know
00:29:08.21\00:29:09.54
that we know that we
know is we have a plan
00:29:09.58\00:29:13.35
that will in
fact save the world.
00:29:13.38\00:29:18.32
Climate change, we've
got the ultimate answer.
00:29:18.35\00:29:22.09
I, John saw
00:29:22.12\00:29:26.43
a new heavens and a new earth.
00:29:26.46\00:29:30.67
We know that we
know, that we know.
00:29:30.70\00:29:36.91
There's anyone
that should respond,
00:29:41.68\00:29:45.48
it should be us.
00:29:45.51\00:29:48.52
Paul, the same one,
00:29:48.55\00:29:50.39
you couldn't
travel it out of him,
00:29:50.42\00:29:51.75
you couldn't beat it out of him,
00:29:51.79\00:29:53.12
you couldn't
starve it out of him.
00:29:53.15\00:29:54.49
He appealed to Caesar
00:29:54.52\00:29:55.86
and you couldn't
kill it out of him.
00:29:55.89\00:29:57.23
Paul, that same Paul
speaks up in Romans 1:16.
00:29:57.26\00:30:03.83
Just a page away from
Acts 28, those final verses.
00:30:03.87\00:30:10.31
Romans 1:16,
00:30:10.34\00:30:13.01
we've memorized
this verse, beloved.
00:30:13.04\00:30:15.88
"For I am not ashamed,
00:30:15.91\00:30:21.65
I am not ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ,
00:30:21.68\00:30:25.05
for it is the power of God
00:30:25.09\00:30:27.72
to salvation for
everyone who believes."
00:30:27.76\00:30:32.19
We have an answer Mrs. Robinson,
00:30:32.23\00:30:38.80
UN Special Envoy
on Climate Change,
00:30:38.83\00:30:44.24
we've got an answer.
00:30:44.27\00:30:45.81
We've got an
answer for your heart,
00:30:45.84\00:30:48.11
we've also got
answer for our climate.
00:30:48.14\00:30:53.11
I'm not ashamed.
00:30:53.15\00:30:54.78
I know that I know, that I know.
00:30:54.82\00:30:59.89
And with
confidence and boldness,
00:30:59.92\00:31:01.49
Peter, and John, and Paul,
00:31:01.52\00:31:03.12
and the rest of
those early radicals.
00:31:03.16\00:31:06.53
The devil's
hijacked this terminology,
00:31:09.70\00:31:11.67
extremist, radicals.
00:31:11.70\00:31:14.97
Whenever those are on
the headlines of news,
00:31:15.00\00:31:17.17
you know
something bad has happened.
00:31:17.21\00:31:19.77
Satan has hijacked the words,
00:31:19.81\00:31:24.85
to mean something negative,
00:31:24.88\00:31:27.15
to be the pejorative,
but no, to be a radical,
00:31:27.18\00:31:30.19
to be an extremist is to be
in lined with the Book of Acts.
00:31:30.22\00:31:36.02
We know that, we
know, we've got something.
00:31:39.46\00:31:42.20
Acts Chapter 2.
00:31:42.23\00:31:43.57
Do you remember what
happened in Acts Chapter 2?
00:31:43.60\00:31:45.13
When they began to
preach this message,
00:31:45.17\00:31:47.04
when they began to preach
about this resurrected Christ
00:31:47.07\00:31:52.17
that could change
and save our heart.
00:31:52.21\00:31:57.18
You remember what happened?
00:31:57.21\00:31:58.81
"The people were
amazed," the Bible says,
00:31:58.85\00:32:04.39
"The people were amazed."
00:32:04.42\00:32:09.69
It's very much
part of the conversation
00:32:09.72\00:32:11.73
of the different languages,
00:32:11.76\00:32:13.09
but the word "amazed"
it goes way beyond that,
00:32:13.13\00:32:16.83
that's existemi in the Greek.
00:32:16.87\00:32:20.07
It doesn't mean a
curious amazed, like a...
00:32:20.10\00:32:24.31
Well, that's a
trick. Do it again.
00:32:24.34\00:32:27.98
It's so much more.
00:32:28.01\00:32:29.44
It means they were ecstatic,
00:32:29.48\00:32:31.01
that they were
actually out of their minds.
00:32:31.05\00:32:37.09
Where they had been?
00:32:37.12\00:32:39.19
Like amaze where you're lost.
00:32:39.22\00:32:43.29
They became amazed.
00:32:43.32\00:32:46.43
Where they had been,
they were now changed.
00:32:46.46\00:32:49.10
The Gospel of Jesus amazed them.
00:32:49.13\00:32:53.17
It changed who they were.
00:32:53.20\00:32:58.54
You know, we often
hold these treasures
00:33:02.88\00:33:09.52
as Corinthians refers it to us,
this power of God, we have it.
00:33:09.55\00:33:15.82
And then we fail to realize
the value of what we have,
00:33:15.86\00:33:21.66
or like the farmer.
00:33:21.70\00:33:24.50
Edmore, Michigan.
00:33:24.53\00:33:25.90
Some of you know
exactly where that's at.
00:33:25.93\00:33:29.20
It's right next to our academy,
Great Lakes Adventist Academy.
00:33:29.24\00:33:34.58
News broke this,
00:33:34.61\00:33:35.94
may be you saw
it pop on the news.
00:33:35.98\00:33:38.41
News broke.
00:33:38.45\00:33:40.42
Mount Pleasant,
Michigan there in Ed,
00:33:40.45\00:33:42.32
right next to Edmore.
00:33:42.35\00:33:43.69
The 1930s, a farmer found
00:33:43.72\00:33:46.86
a strangely heavy
metallic rock on his property.
00:33:46.89\00:33:49.69
He decided the object
would be useful as a doorstop.
00:33:49.72\00:33:52.69
So then in 1988, now
this is 50s, 8 years later,
00:33:52.73\00:33:55.73
he sells his farm, and says,
00:33:55.76\00:33:57.63
"Hey, just take everything
including the doorstop rock."
00:33:57.67\00:34:01.54
Leaves everything there.
00:34:01.57\00:34:03.44
The new owner
now, years, decades,
00:34:03.47\00:34:07.08
he bought the farm in 1988,
00:34:07.11\00:34:08.44
but now decades later,
00:34:08.48\00:34:10.11
he's had this
doorstop sitting there
00:34:10.15\00:34:12.48
and he's watching
this little feature
00:34:12.51\00:34:14.02
on television about meteoroids.
00:34:14.05\00:34:18.22
And he sees the
picture and he says,
00:34:18.25\00:34:19.65
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
00:34:19.69\00:34:21.02
that look a lot
like what's on my...
00:34:21.06\00:34:23.09
I've been using to keep
my door of my barn open."
00:34:23.12\00:34:28.23
So he picks up scoops
of that 23 pound rock,
00:34:28.26\00:34:31.73
takes it in, takes it into
Central Michigan University.
00:34:31.77\00:34:36.17
He was informed that the
object was in fact a meteoroid,
00:34:36.20\00:34:39.24
and could be worth a lot.
00:34:39.27\00:34:43.04
Chunk of iron and
nickel was later valued
00:34:43.08\00:34:45.35
at over $100,000
00:34:45.38\00:34:49.12
after Smithsonian
Institute verified what it was.
00:34:49.15\00:34:55.39
For decades,
00:34:55.42\00:34:58.99
this rock had been a
doorstop at in a barn.
00:34:59.03\00:35:05.53
And it valued at 100,000.
00:35:05.57\00:35:08.07
Now just a mere fact
00:35:08.10\00:35:09.44
that most of your
faces were unexpressive,
00:35:09.47\00:35:11.41
just totally flat line on that.
00:35:11.44\00:35:13.07
It means, you are in
totally different class
00:35:13.11\00:35:15.04
economically than I am.
00:35:15.08\00:35:17.78
But 100,000 doorstop, beloved.
00:35:17.81\00:35:22.48
Wherever you come from
is not where I come from.
00:35:22.52\00:35:24.82
We don't roar like that.
00:35:24.85\00:35:29.02
A $100,000 doorstop.
00:35:29.06\00:35:31.53
Could it be that
we hold something
00:35:35.96\00:35:38.73
that we don't realize its value?
00:35:38.77\00:35:45.37
Could it be
00:35:45.41\00:35:48.88
that while we know
it's the power of God?
00:35:48.91\00:35:52.91
We don't know that
we know, that we know
00:35:52.95\00:35:55.28
because you can't
really know it and not share,
00:35:55.32\00:36:00.16
pen to let them, the
magician and atheist.
00:36:00.19\00:36:02.99
He says, he's an
atheist, all right?
00:36:03.02\00:36:05.43
But he says, listen, let
me just be honest with you.
00:36:05.46\00:36:07.70
How much do you
have to hate somebody
00:36:07.73\00:36:09.63
to believe everlasting life
is possible and not tell them?
00:36:09.66\00:36:14.84
It doesn't make sense.
00:36:14.87\00:36:16.37
If we know that we know.
00:36:16.40\00:36:17.74
A story that has forever
lodged itself in my mind.
00:36:22.28\00:36:26.05
I read it out
of Reader's Digest.
00:36:26.08\00:36:27.42
I think, I was sitting
and laundering out one day
00:36:27.45\00:36:29.78
my clothes.
00:36:29.82\00:36:31.42
Pick up a Reader's
Digest, reading a story.
00:36:31.45\00:36:37.43
I've never been to Michigan,
00:36:37.46\00:36:38.79
but the story
happened in Michigan
00:36:38.83\00:36:40.26
at the time I read this.
00:36:40.30\00:36:41.96
Later, I moved
to Berrien Springs
00:36:42.00\00:36:43.87
and had the privilege
of passing the exact spot
00:36:43.90\00:36:48.84
hundreds of times probably
00:36:48.87\00:36:51.94
where the story happened.
00:36:51.97\00:36:54.24
Story of Bill, he's
a part-time paramedic.
00:36:54.28\00:36:57.48
But he drives the tour
buses from Detroit to Chicago,
00:36:57.51\00:37:01.58
down around the
bottom Lake Michigan back.
00:37:01.62\00:37:05.55
He's headed from Detroit down
on Interstate 94 headed down,
00:37:05.59\00:37:10.63
passed Berrien Springs,
00:37:10.66\00:37:11.99
but just a little
north now he's still,
00:37:12.03\00:37:14.26
and come across the CB,
the radio comes a cry for help.
00:37:14.30\00:37:19.37
We need somebody, somebody
that knows first-aid or CPR.
00:37:19.40\00:37:22.14
We need anybody, a doctor,
a nurse, paramedic somebody.
00:37:22.17\00:37:24.91
Is somebody out there?
00:37:24.94\00:37:26.27
We've got a car accident.
00:37:26.31\00:37:29.74
Bill checks his
watch and realizes
00:37:29.78\00:37:31.18
he's already a couple
of minutes behind schedule.
00:37:31.21\00:37:33.62
So he doesn't want
to pull the bus over
00:37:33.65\00:37:35.28
with his load of
passengers expecting
00:37:35.32\00:37:37.85
to get to Chicago on time.
00:37:37.89\00:37:39.62
Said can't do it, can't do it.
00:37:39.65\00:37:41.26
I'm just going to go by.
00:37:41.29\00:37:42.76
But then he gets
within about a mile
00:37:42.79\00:37:44.13
of the accident, the
call comes out again.
00:37:44.16\00:37:47.10
Is there anybody out there?
00:37:47.13\00:37:50.30
Bill's just at the last minute,
00:37:50.33\00:37:52.47
says, I can't let this go.
00:37:52.50\00:37:55.70
And so as he sees the stop cars
in the highway ahead of him,
00:37:55.74\00:37:59.01
he pulls the bus over
to the shoulder and stops
00:37:59.04\00:38:01.41
and let the passengers
know that he'll be right back
00:38:01.44\00:38:04.05
that there's just
an emergency here,
00:38:04.08\00:38:05.41
and he jumps off the
bus, runs up to the scene.
00:38:05.45\00:38:10.69
Standing on the shoulder now,
00:38:10.72\00:38:12.05
he's looking
down on the embankment
00:38:12.09\00:38:13.42
where the car had rolled.
00:38:13.46\00:38:15.32
A man coming up the embankment.
00:38:15.36\00:38:17.33
As Bill identifies
himself, "I'm a paramedic."
00:38:17.36\00:38:21.36
The man said,
"Thanks for stopping.
00:38:21.40\00:38:23.47
I don't think we need you.
00:38:23.50\00:38:25.83
I can't find any pulse."
00:38:25.87\00:38:27.47
Bill looks down,
00:38:27.50\00:38:28.84
the car is overturned
in a muddy, dirty, ditch,
00:38:28.87\00:38:32.61
and he sees the
arm of the victim
00:38:32.64\00:38:36.98
sticking out from
underneath the car.
00:38:37.01\00:38:40.98
Bill says, "Fair enough.
00:38:41.02\00:38:43.39
I'll head back to the bus."
00:38:43.42\00:38:45.59
As he turns around
though, another motorist
00:38:45.62\00:38:47.52
has now stopped and
standing behind him.
00:38:47.56\00:38:51.89
She says, "I recognize the car,
00:38:51.93\00:38:56.33
I recognize the car."
00:38:56.36\00:39:01.54
That's Melissa in,
she gave her last name.
00:39:01.57\00:39:03.87
Bill took a
second to just absorb
00:39:07.41\00:39:12.01
what she just said.
00:39:12.05\00:39:15.15
And then almost involuntarily
00:39:15.18\00:39:16.52
he shouted,
00:39:16.55\00:39:18.05
I need help, that's my sister.
00:39:18.09\00:39:23.73
Now he's running down
the bank, yelling at people,
00:39:23.76\00:39:26.80
get down here, get down here.
00:39:26.83\00:39:28.66
We can't just let.
00:39:28.70\00:39:30.10
That's my sister.
00:39:30.13\00:39:34.24
So with help, they
rolled the car over.
00:39:34.27\00:39:38.64
Bill pulled his
sister out the car
00:39:38.67\00:39:41.61
without a pulse.
00:39:41.64\00:39:44.15
She had been pressed down
into that muddy ditch water.
00:39:44.18\00:39:48.72
Bill, with the
help of few others
00:39:51.79\00:39:53.59
pulls her up to
the shore of the road,
00:39:53.62\00:39:55.49
and begins his
first-aid and CPR.
00:39:55.52\00:39:58.29
He saved her.
00:40:06.40\00:40:09.40
He saved her.
00:40:09.44\00:40:10.77
That's my sister.
00:40:20.12\00:40:21.45
And as I consider the quandary
of where we find ourselves,
00:40:25.29\00:40:31.13
is it that we don't
realize what we have?
00:40:31.16\00:40:35.03
Do we not
realize that this gospel
00:40:35.06\00:40:38.57
is eternal life to
the dying and hopeless.
00:40:38.60\00:40:45.44
Even the Mary
Robinsons at the United Nations,
00:40:45.47\00:40:49.91
presidents of
countries are saying,
00:40:49.94\00:40:52.21
"We have a short
time left. We need help."
00:40:52.25\00:40:58.52
Do we not realize
that we have the answer?
00:40:58.55\00:41:03.93
Or on the other
hand, is it possible
00:41:03.96\00:41:05.66
that we don't
realize who these people are?
00:41:05.69\00:41:10.77
Do we not realize
our brothers and sisters?
00:41:10.80\00:41:17.11
I have two sisters,
00:41:17.14\00:41:19.84
who live in the State of Oregon.
00:41:19.87\00:41:23.14
They walked away from God.
00:41:23.18\00:41:25.51
I plead, God, would
you send their neighbor?
00:41:31.62\00:41:37.36
Would you send one
of their coworkers?
00:41:37.39\00:41:40.03
Would you send
somebody into their life?
00:41:40.06\00:41:42.46
You know, how it is with family,
00:41:42.50\00:41:43.97
you can say a lot but
they don't hear a lot.
00:41:44.00\00:41:49.54
God, would you send somebody
to be in their lives, please?
00:41:49.57\00:41:53.81
Somebody they'll listen to,
00:41:53.84\00:41:55.18
somebody that can
reach them, a friend.
00:41:55.21\00:42:00.68
Would you send somebody?
00:42:00.72\00:42:03.85
You know what God
said to me, "I'll do it.
00:42:03.89\00:42:07.72
But just so you know,
00:42:07.76\00:42:09.12
somebody in Oregon is praying
for their sister in Colorado
00:42:09.16\00:42:12.53
and she lives right next to you.
00:42:12.56\00:42:16.13
Now go be the
answer to their prayer.
00:42:16.16\00:42:19.93
And I'll send somebody
00:42:19.97\00:42:21.67
to be the
answer to your prayer."
00:42:21.70\00:42:26.84
God did it. Beloved, God did it.
00:42:26.88\00:42:28.88
He hasn't answered
the prayer completely yet,
00:42:28.91\00:42:31.25
my sisters are
paramedic coincidentally.
00:42:31.28\00:42:33.25
She's working on the ambulance.
00:42:33.28\00:42:37.45
The department
shifts up partners.
00:42:37.49\00:42:41.12
They ride too in
ambulance obviously,
00:42:41.16\00:42:43.12
shifts up partners,
00:42:43.16\00:42:44.49
brings in a new
guy from California.
00:42:44.53\00:42:47.30
This new guy from California
00:42:47.33\00:42:48.96
now is assigned to
be my sister's partner.
00:42:49.00\00:42:51.63
They have to spend
an entire shift together
00:42:51.67\00:42:53.34
riding around there,
00:42:53.37\00:42:54.70
they're just
talking about everything.
00:42:54.74\00:42:58.44
This new partner,
00:42:58.47\00:43:01.08
this guy from California
00:43:01.11\00:43:02.94
randomly moves up
to Southern Oregon,
00:43:02.98\00:43:07.12
Seventh-day Adventist.
00:43:07.15\00:43:10.52
On their Sabbath shifts,
00:43:10.55\00:43:12.52
his choice, he
chose work on Sabbath.
00:43:12.55\00:43:15.62
They pull the
ambulance into the parking lot
00:43:15.66\00:43:17.43
of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:43:17.46\00:43:18.79
and stand in the back.
00:43:18.83\00:43:20.23
Amen.
00:43:20.26\00:43:24.87
You know how it works,
he doesn't flip the switch
00:43:24.90\00:43:26.57
and answer all the prayers.
00:43:26.60\00:43:31.57
But, I know God can do it.
00:43:31.61\00:43:34.51
But then God's
looking at me saying,
00:43:34.54\00:43:35.98
'What about that clerk,
00:43:36.01\00:43:38.41
what about that
neighbor of yours,
00:43:38.45\00:43:40.48
what about,
there's somebody's sister,
00:43:40.52\00:43:44.29
there's somebody's brother,
00:43:44.32\00:43:46.12
and you have what
even the United Nations
00:43:46.15\00:43:49.69
can't figure out, you
have hope for this planet,
00:43:49.72\00:43:53.09
and hope for their hearts.
00:43:53.13\00:43:56.20
Let's do this.
00:43:56.23\00:43:57.57
God will not give up on them,
He will go to the nth degree,
00:44:01.30\00:44:07.11
He will not give up on you,
00:44:07.14\00:44:09.14
He's not given up on anyone yet.
00:44:09.18\00:44:11.35
He's going to take this
to seek and save the lost.
00:44:11.38\00:44:15.28
God knows that He knows,
00:44:15.32\00:44:17.39
that He knows He has something
00:44:17.42\00:44:21.29
will save for eternity forever.
00:44:21.32\00:44:24.53
Philippians 1:6,
00:44:31.63\00:44:32.97
"Being confident
of this very thing,
00:44:33.00\00:44:36.34
that he who has
begun a good work in you
00:44:36.37\00:44:41.41
will complete it."
00:44:41.44\00:44:42.78
He's going to finish it.
00:44:50.29\00:44:51.75
He's not giving up on you,
00:44:51.79\00:44:53.29
and He hasn't
given up on your family,
00:44:53.32\00:44:54.89
He hasn't given
up on your neighbors,
00:44:54.92\00:44:56.52
but He needs you.
00:44:56.56\00:44:58.79
He needs you.
00:44:58.83\00:45:01.73
My father, early
on, in my childhood
00:45:01.76\00:45:07.24
got cancer behind his eye.
00:45:07.27\00:45:11.01
Became part of the
study for the government,
00:45:11.04\00:45:13.61
saying, "Hey, we
got to figure out
00:45:13.64\00:45:14.98
how to deal with
this particular cancer."
00:45:15.01\00:45:18.81
So they assigned
him to a group of...
00:45:18.85\00:45:21.18
He volunteered to
be part of the program,
00:45:21.22\00:45:22.82
they assigned him to a group
that would remove the cancer,
00:45:22.85\00:45:26.55
they take the tumor out.
00:45:26.59\00:45:29.32
They wouldn't try to treat it,
00:45:29.36\00:45:30.69
they would just
remove it, surgery.
00:45:30.73\00:45:32.66
So they took it out,
00:45:32.69\00:45:34.03
but slowly the
cancer had eaten away.
00:45:34.06\00:45:36.30
He didn't even realize,
00:45:36.33\00:45:38.37
he couldn't see
out of his left eye.
00:45:38.40\00:45:41.84
It had been so slow
and his body had adjusted.
00:45:41.87\00:45:45.64
He had no vision
out of his left eye.
00:45:45.67\00:45:47.14
So they took the
eye, gave him a glass eye.
00:45:47.18\00:45:51.91
That's a whole
strange world there.
00:45:51.95\00:45:56.25
Pop the eye out,
put in the glass,
00:45:56.28\00:46:00.02
but he does that
every once in a while,
00:46:00.06\00:46:01.62
he washes it,
puts it in a solution.
00:46:01.66\00:46:05.56
My parents live
in Southern Oregon,
00:46:05.59\00:46:08.63
live in an old farmhouse.
00:46:08.66\00:46:10.00
It's a beautiful,
beautiful acreage,
00:46:10.03\00:46:11.63
but it's an old farmhouse.
00:46:11.67\00:46:13.44
My father is in the bathroom,
00:46:13.47\00:46:17.34
rinsing off his
eye in the water.
00:46:17.37\00:46:21.91
The sink, it's an old
sink, doesn't have a stopper.
00:46:21.94\00:46:27.78
You're jumping
ahead, you're jumping ahead.
00:46:27.82\00:46:31.99
He drops the eye,
00:46:32.02\00:46:33.76
makes one circle
around the bottom of the sink,
00:46:33.79\00:46:36.89
and it's gone.
00:46:36.93\00:46:38.89
Well, you can't go in
public without that eye,
00:46:38.93\00:46:42.90
it's just empty socket.
00:46:42.93\00:46:44.27
So he said,
00:46:44.30\00:46:45.63
"All right. We're
going to find the eye."
00:46:45.67\00:46:47.27
Did it get caught in the trap?
00:46:47.30\00:46:48.64
No, there is no
trap, could you believe.
00:46:48.67\00:46:50.31
They weren't
thinking of that back then.
00:46:50.34\00:46:52.44
So he then goes on to the house
00:46:52.47\00:46:54.34
and cuts apart the piping
all the way into the house.
00:46:54.38\00:46:57.21
Where is the
eye? Where is the eye?
00:46:57.25\00:46:59.01
And then the pipe
goes under the ground,
00:46:59.05\00:47:00.42
out into the
yard, but as we see,
00:47:00.45\00:47:02.45
there was no
eye under the house.
00:47:02.48\00:47:04.02
He begins to dig up the piping
00:47:04.05\00:47:06.19
from the house all the way
across the yard in sections
00:47:06.22\00:47:09.99
and sections until he
gets to the sewer tank.
00:47:10.03\00:47:14.06
No eye.
00:47:14.10\00:47:15.66
He whispers a prayer,
00:47:15.70\00:47:17.03
please help it to
be floating on the top,
00:47:17.07\00:47:18.47
opens the lid
and it's not there.
00:47:18.50\00:47:22.20
He's got to have the eye.
00:47:22.24\00:47:24.21
Calls that company
out with the truck,
00:47:24.24\00:47:27.21
they begin to siphon
and suck that entire content
00:47:27.24\00:47:31.78
so that tank out.
00:47:31.81\00:47:35.15
And at the very
bottom, there was his eye.
00:47:35.18\00:47:41.39
Now he really had
something to wash, didn't he?
00:47:41.42\00:47:43.63
God's not given up on us.
00:47:51.63\00:47:54.20
He will chase
that price possession.
00:47:54.24\00:47:57.07
He will go as far and as long
00:47:57.11\00:47:59.31
to the very bottom of
the tank if He needs to
00:47:59.34\00:48:03.41
because He knows
He has the answer.
00:48:03.45\00:48:06.72
And all He needs, beloved,
00:48:06.75\00:48:10.09
is men and women on this planet
00:48:10.12\00:48:14.99
will take Him at His word
00:48:15.02\00:48:17.53
and know that they
know that they know.
00:48:17.56\00:48:20.16
And with boldness,
and with confidence,
00:48:20.20\00:48:21.83
no hindrance, no doubting,
00:48:21.86\00:48:24.20
move out into the
world to share the gospel.
00:48:24.23\00:48:27.40
How does it happen?
00:48:27.44\00:48:28.77
How can I know
that I know that I know
00:48:28.80\00:48:30.14
that He's got the answer?
00:48:30.17\00:48:31.61
How can I know?
00:48:31.64\00:48:34.44
Acts 4:13,
00:48:34.48\00:48:36.24
we'll finish reading
the verse we started.
00:48:36.28\00:48:38.28
This is how it began,
00:48:38.31\00:48:39.71
"When they saw the
boldness of Peter and John,
00:48:39.75\00:48:41.82
they perceived that
they were uneducated,
00:48:41.85\00:48:43.79
untrained men, they marveled..."
00:48:43.82\00:48:46.45
And then what?
00:48:46.49\00:48:47.82
"They realized
00:48:47.86\00:48:49.32
that they had been with Jesus."
00:48:49.36\00:48:55.43
How can it happen?
00:48:55.46\00:48:56.83
How can I know that
I know, that I know?
00:48:56.87\00:48:59.10
How can I have the
confidence of Peter?
00:48:59.13\00:49:00.74
How can I have the
confidence of Paul?
00:49:00.77\00:49:02.37
How can I have the know
that I know, that I know,
00:49:02.40\00:49:06.71
how can I have it?
00:49:06.74\00:49:08.38
Go, go be with Jesus.
00:49:08.41\00:49:11.58
In the morning when you rise,
00:49:11.61\00:49:14.75
when you take your lunch break
00:49:14.78\00:49:16.99
and before you
go to bed at night.
00:49:17.02\00:49:19.59
What if you call off work?
00:49:19.62\00:49:22.72
Not because you're
sick, but because you want
00:49:22.76\00:49:25.49
to take a 24-hour
retreat with Jesus.
00:49:25.53\00:49:31.73
You say, can it
happen any other way,
00:49:31.77\00:49:34.10
can it just be kind of download?
00:49:34.14\00:49:36.00
I read one of those
devotional scriptures
00:49:36.04\00:49:37.91
at the top two paragraphs,
00:49:37.94\00:49:39.27
little
illustration, and I'm good...
00:49:39.31\00:49:40.78
No, no, no, no, no, no, no...
00:49:40.81\00:49:42.68
They had been with Jesus.
00:49:42.71\00:49:46.75
They had not referred to Jesus,
they had not glanced to Jesus,
00:49:46.78\00:49:49.68
they had saturated
their lives with Jesus.
00:49:49.72\00:49:52.69
And that's how
birthed within them
00:49:52.72\00:49:55.92
was this confidence,
00:49:55.96\00:49:57.29
this know that they
know that they knew,
00:49:57.33\00:50:00.16
that they had the answer
00:50:00.20\00:50:02.26
to their own
hearts and to the world.
00:50:02.30\00:50:06.84
Acts is not only a
history of past events, beloved,
00:50:06.87\00:50:10.87
but it is a prophecy of future.
00:50:10.91\00:50:14.58
Those looking forward to
the second coming will note
00:50:14.61\00:50:18.08
with care that
the characteristics
00:50:18.11\00:50:19.61
of the early Christian movement
00:50:19.65\00:50:22.05
are to mark the work
of God at the end as well.
00:50:22.08\00:50:28.36
The Book of Acts is
a narrative prophecy,
00:50:28.39\00:50:31.66
not just a record of the past,
00:50:31.69\00:50:33.80
but it is a
prediction of the future.
00:50:33.83\00:50:36.13
There will be people
like Peter, and John, and Paul
00:50:36.16\00:50:41.74
who know that they
know that they know.
00:50:41.77\00:50:47.24
John start, let me
just give you his words.
00:50:47.28\00:50:49.18
Paul's preaching with
boldness and without hindrance,
00:50:49.21\00:50:52.45
symbolized a wide open door
00:50:52.48\00:50:54.42
through which we in
our day are to pass.
00:50:54.45\00:50:57.22
The acts of the
apostles have long ago finished,
00:50:57.25\00:51:01.16
but the acts of
the followers of Jesus
00:51:01.19\00:51:04.29
will continue
until the very end.
00:51:04.33\00:51:09.00
Come on, GYC.
00:51:09.03\00:51:10.90
Let's do it again.
00:51:10.93\00:51:15.80
Let's take up the
invitation from Acts,
00:51:15.84\00:51:21.11
not as just a
narrative of the past,
00:51:21.14\00:51:23.28
but a prediction of the
future of a story of our lives.
00:51:23.31\00:51:27.78
God is still writing
His story with men and women
00:51:27.82\00:51:34.59
that will move with
confidence and with boldness.
00:51:34.62\00:51:37.46
The Book of Acts
ends with the appeal,
00:51:37.49\00:51:39.96
"Will you join us
with all boldness?"
00:51:40.00\00:51:45.13
The final verses of this book
00:51:45.17\00:51:51.67
on invitation, beloved.
00:51:51.71\00:51:55.81
So how can we not answer?
00:51:55.84\00:51:58.75
And say to the end,
00:51:58.78\00:52:00.12
we will be the
final part of the story.
00:52:00.15\00:52:06.55
Is there one of you,
00:52:06.59\00:52:08.69
is there one of you
this morning that'd say,
00:52:08.72\00:52:10.39
"That's me.
00:52:10.43\00:52:11.76
I'll stand, I'll
stand, I'll stand."
00:52:11.79\00:52:17.00
Hallelujah.
00:52:22.90\00:52:24.54
Let's sing together.
00:52:24.57\00:52:26.11
This commitment to Him,
00:52:26.14\00:52:27.88
"Faith of our
Fathers is still alive."
00:52:27.91\00:52:33.31
Faith of our
fathers! living still
00:52:41.42\00:52:48.33
In spite of
dungeon, fire, and sword
00:52:48.36\00:52:52.60
O how our hearts
beat high with joy
00:52:55.74\00:52:59.14
Whene'er we hear
that glorious word
00:53:03.01\00:53:06.08
Faith of our fathers holy faith!
00:53:10.45\00:53:17.43
We will be true
to thee till death
00:53:17.46\00:53:22.13
Our fathers,
chained in prisons dark
00:53:25.93\00:53:32.71
Were still in
heart and conscience free
00:53:32.74\00:53:36.64
How sweet would be
their children's fate
00:53:40.25\00:53:43.45
If they, like
them, could die for thee!
00:53:47.39\00:53:50.83
Faith of our
fathers! holy faith!
00:54:40.01\00:54:43.35
We will be true
to thee till death
00:54:47.45\00:54:52.49
"And it shall come to pass
in the last days, says God,
00:55:00.30\00:55:04.33
I will pour out My
Spirit on all flesh,
00:55:04.37\00:55:06.67
your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy,
00:55:06.70\00:55:08.80
your young men
shall see visions,
00:55:08.84\00:55:10.61
your old men shall dream dreams.
00:55:10.64\00:55:12.84
And on my menservants,
and on my maidservants,
00:55:12.87\00:55:15.31
I will pour out My
Spirit in those days."
00:55:15.34\00:55:20.55
So let it be, oh,
God, in our generation.
00:55:20.58\00:55:24.15
Amen.
00:55:24.19\00:55:25.52