Participants: Pr. Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP040106
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03:52 The Splendor of the King 06:39 Okay we're going to split you guys up all the way down. This 06:43 side you guys are my side. This side over here you're Debbie and 06:48 Heidi's side. You guys are going to just keep singing Live above 06:52 all names, that part. And then you guys, because we have a 06:57 better memory over here you're going to sing with us, How great 07:02 is our God, sing with me how great is our God, All will sing 07:06 how great, how great is out God. 07:08 Are you guys ready. Let's try it. Ready? 12:21 (Pipe organ comes in) 14:04 Shall kneel as we pray. (Organ plays softly in the background) 14:27 Our Father and our God. How indeed great thou art, how 14:31 indeed great is your faithfulness, your mercy, your 14:36 love and your compassion. We come before you this morning 14:42 as unique individuals and as a family, the body of Christ. We 14:47 are a diverse family and yet with the one voice we count it 14:53 a privilege that we have been able to respond to your 14:55 faithfulness today with songs of praise, with reading of your 15:00 word, with giving and with affirming and encouraging each 15:05 other in fellowship. You have promised that those who are 15:10 weary and burdened may come to you and you will give rest and 15:15 so we have come. Today we wait at your feet, our bruises, our 15:22 scars, our remorse, our hurts. As we review this week we know 15:28 that we have allowed selfishness to rule our lives. We have 15:34 grieved you, we have hurt others and we have hurt ourselves and 15:40 so Father we ask for your forgiveness, for your help in 15:44 getting our priorities straight, in choosing eternal life instead 15:49 of living for the here and the now. We pray for your cleansing 15:54 today and for the power to overcome. We also pray for a 16:00 forgiving spirit for we know that you cannot forgive us if we 16:05 have not forgiven others. We thank you, our Lord, for the 16:09 protection and safe return of our students from spring break, 16:13 from the seminarians, the university, the academy, the 16:18 elementary students. We ask for all of them a special blessing 16:23 as they complete this school year. They are precious in your 16:27 sight and they also are precious in our sight. Some have asked us 16:32 to pray today for specific needs financial, help for classes, 16:37 important decisions regarding their futures. Please, Father, 16:42 honor these requests according to your will. In the last few 16:47 days our spirits have been renewed by the signs of spring, 16:52 the warming sunshine, the greening grass and the tiny 16:56 yellow purple flowers peeping through the softening soil. 16:59 Thank you, Father, for all these evidences of your love. We are 17:04 indeed privileged to live in a beautiful world and yet it is a 17:09 frightening world, a world where war is a daily headline, a world 17:14 where sickness and death rob us of the companionship of our 17:20 friends and family. Today we pray for strength and healing 17:25 according to your will. In this large congregation and in our 17:29 viewing and listening audiences we realize there are many needs 17:33 some that have been shared, others that are hidden in the 17:37 secret places of our hearts and so we lay these before you now 17:41 as we pause for a moment of silent prayer. 17:51 What a privilege we have today to hear a message from your word 17:54 We ask for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pastor Dwight as 17:58 he serves as your spokesperson and as we listen may we 18:04 recognize your special message for each one of us. When we 18:10 leave this place may it be with a desire to serve you completely 18:16 This is our prayer in the name of Jesus our Savior who taught 18:22 us to pray Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 18:27 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in 18:33 heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our 18:39 debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation 18:44 but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the 18:50 power and the glory forever, Amen. 18:55 (Orchestra response) 19:09 As we continue worshipping today our choir is going to sing an 19:13 anthem based on a traditional medley from Kenya. The Swahili 19:18 words translate as follows: 19:49 ¤ ¤ 22:24 (Applause). 22:30 Let's pray together. Holy Father in the thick of worship as we 22:35 are right now we have one simple and humble request: Through Holy 22:39 Scripture would you teach us? Make the teaching clear for the 22:44 glory and honor of Jesus. We pray in his name, Amen. 22:47 So here's the question: Will we speak Chinese in heaven? Huh? 22:53 We just returned from preaching in China, for me at least, that 22:59 is a fair and reasonable query. For example, did you know that 23:05 one out of every five inhabitants of this earth 23:09 lives in China? Did you know that? One point three billion 23:16 human beings speak Chinese. Now take a look at these pictures. 23:23 China... and these are not professionals, professionally 23:26 shot. Karen and I put our little slides together here. But it is 23:32 a land of incredible contrast. I mean, you have these massive 23:36 towering sky scrapers and then on the street you have a fruit 23:41 vender. Let us see the next... You see the great wall there? 23:44 I tell you what, I could spend an hour on that great wall. 23:48 It is everything you've heard. And, by the way, it's 5,000 km 23:51 long, the longest human construction on earth. There's 23:54 Hong Kong at night. There's a Buddhist temple in China. Now 23:57 take a look, look at this. Up in the right corner. Can you see 23:59 a Starbuck's shop beneath a pagoda? That is the stunning 24:04 contrast of China. Oh, by the way, down in the bottom left 24:08 corner we're looking out our hotel window. One point three 24:12 billion people crowded into that nation. Let's go to the next one 24:17 Up in the upper left hand corner is a hospital. Have you ever 24:21 heard of the China doctor, Dr. Harry Miller? I met him as a kid 24:24 when we lived in Japan. That's the hospital he raised. I saw 24:28 the cornerstone. January 1927 that cornerstone was laid. My 24:32 mother, at the age of 10, 11 and 12 used to go to that hospital. 24:35 She went to school in Shanghai, that's in Shanghai. People, 24:39 people, people everywhere in China, 1.3 billion. So I came 24:43 back from China and I've learned some Chinese. In fact, in 24:47 Mandarin this is how you say thank you. You say shesh sha. 24:50 Say that with me, shesh sha. That's a beautiful word isn't 24:53 it? Shesh sha. In fact, I was telling the staff on Monday I've 24:56 learned how to sing a song in Chinese and I'm going to sing it 24:59 for you right now. If you know you can sing it with me. 25:01 Shesh sha Lord for saving me soul. Sing it with me. Shesh sha 25:11 Lord for making me whole. Shesh sha Lord for giving to me, your 25:21 great salvation so rich and free Hallelujah. I tell you what 25:27 ladies and gentlemen, if God saves China, we will be speaking 25:34 Chinese in heaven one day because there are more Chinese 25:37 on this planet than anybody else But, and here's the question: 25:42 Will God save China? I found a verse in the Bible that may 25:47 surprise you with an answer and I'd like us to read it together. 25:50 Take your Bible out right now with me and we've got to cut to 25:52 the chase because this is live television and you can't go a 25:55 second beyond. So find your Bible. Open it to the Bible's 25:59 last book the Apocalypse, Revelation chapter 7. I'm going 26:02 be in the New King James Version today and if you didn't bring a 26:06 Bible you've got to see this picture. It's a snapshot 26:08 straight out of heaven, so grab the pew Bible in front of you. 26:11 We'll be in the same translation and if you grab that Bible it 26:15 will be page 827. Revelation chapter 7 verse 9: Old man John 26:19 incarcerated on that penal rocky outcropping called Patmos in the 26:24 Aegean Sea. He's writing here, This is verse 9. 26:46 Ladies and gentlemen, did you catch that? A great multitude 26:50 which no one could number. So here's the question: How many 26:54 is that? I want to crunch the numbers with you. I realize it 26:58 says nobody can do it but I want to do the arithmetic with some 27:02 numbers and let's see if we can find out. In fact, I wish you'd 27:06 jot these numbers down. Grab the study guide that's in your 27:09 worship bulletin today, will you Pull it out. 27:11 Write these numbers down. Thank 27:13 you ushers. Right now hold your hand up if you don't have a 27:16 study guide. Just hold it up. All the way to the back in the 27:18 balcony. We'll make sure you get it and while you're getting it 27:21 I want to say to those of you who are watching on television 27:24 you can get this study guide right now if you go to our 27:27 website. Let me put a web address on the screen for you. 27:30 See it right there. That's the Pioneer Memorial Church. That's 27:36 our website. Click onto this present series of teachings 27:39 called Eternity's Edge: We're living at the edge of eternity. 27:43 And then you want to click on to the teaching Will We Speak 27:47 Chinese in Heaven? When you do that you'll see a little logo 27:50 study guide. Click that study guide logo and you'll have the 27:54 identical piece that we have here. By the way if I go too 27:57 fast at times, because I'm kicking up into high gear, 28:00 and you miss an 28:01 answer, at the bottom of our web study guides you'll have all 28:05 those answers posted there. Okay. Number 1: Fill it in 28:08 please. I saw a great multitude which no one could, write it in, 28:12 no one could number. Write it in please. Nobody could number. 28:17 Actually the word that the elderly John uses here to 28:21 describe that numbering: There it is in the Greek: Arithmesai. 28:25 Folks it doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to 28:29 picture an English word. Look at that Greek word. Now try to 28:32 picture an English word that comes out of it. What's the word 28:36 Call it out. Arithmetic. You got it right. So would you write it 28:39 down please the Greek for arithmesai actually means to do 28:44 the arithmetic; i. e. John writes I was shown a vision of heaven 28:49 one day and I saw a great multitude from earth, a huge 28:52 crowd so large that nobody could do the arithmetic on the number. 28:57 Wow! So how many is that. Well it certainly would have to be 29:01 more than the biggest number John has come up with in the 29:05 apocalypse. And you know what the biggest number is? It is a 29:08 humongous number. Keep you pen moving. Take a look at this. 29:12 Turn back one page or two pages depending on your Bible to 29:15 Revelation chapter 5. This is the biggest number in the whole 29:19 Bible and John's already given it. He's done the arithmetic on 29:24 this one. Revelation chapter 5 verse 11: 29:41 Okay we got a lot of mathematicians here. 29:43 So how big a number is that. Let's put the first little 29:46 equation up there, 10,000 times 10,000. What's that 29:50 number? Now did your mother teach you that when you're 29:54 multiplying with multiples of 10 you just do what? You count the 29:57 zeroes. How many zeroes are up there? There are eight zeroes. 30:01 So that Number would be one with eight zeroes, write it down, 30:06 one hundred million. That a hundred million. Oh plus he said 30:10 plus thousands of thousands. So let's put that little formula 30:15 up and there's the answer. That would be millions. So you could 30:19 total number of angels as John would record it would be a 30:23 hundred million plus millions more which is the biggest 30:26 number John can think of and by the way, Daniel, when he counts 30:30 the angels comes up with the identical number. So what's all 30:35 this mean. Come on now, think. When John is granted a vision of 30:38 the saved of the human race at the end of time he writes that 30:41 the number is so great that you can't even do the arithmetic. 30:45 I can do the arithmetic on the number of angels, but I cannot 30:48 do the arithmetic on the number of the saved because it is, 30:52 write it down, this number is even greater than the number 30:56 of angels. He just writes and I saw a picture of heaven. It was 31:01 filled with so many people I couldn't even count them. Now 31:04 what do you say to that? I couldn't even count them. That's 31:07 why, verse 9, turn back, of chapter 7 reads the way it does 31:25 What's the point? Write it down when God does salvation, this is 31:29 the key, folks, the key word there is salvation. When God 31:34 does salvation arithmetic you can't even count, you can't 31:38 even count his numbers, write it down. That's how many sinners 31:43 God plans on saving. What do you say to that? No wonder the saved 31:50 sinners are set on singing the same song, same song right here. 31:57 Look at verse 10. No wonder saved sinners sing this song. 31:58 Loot at verse 10. And they, this innumerable throng... 31:59 By the way in the Greek loud voice is megalephone, 32:06 Pastor John isn't that right? That's megalephone from whence 32:08 comes our English word megaphone So this is no whimper here. This 32:12 is a shout. They cry out. What do they cry out? Verse 10: 32:16 Salvation belongs to our God. Danny, I want you to get this 32:19 clear. Salvation does not belong to satellites. It doesn't does 32:23 it? Salvation does not belong to congregations, it doesn't belong 32:26 to universities, it doesn't belong to denominations, 32:29 salvation belongs to our God, our God who sits on the throne, 32:35 and to the, to the Lamb. Code word. The victor of Calvary. 32:39 That's where salvation comes from. No question in heaven 32:43 where it's all come from and there's no question down here. 32:47 I know. So. The question is; here's the question: Will they 32:51 be singing those words in Chinese one day. The Bible 32:55 doesn't say. Is God big enough to save 1.3 billion Chinese. 33:00 you do the arithmetic for yourself. Years ago an English 33:05 author wrote a book with this title... 33:13 J. B. Philips. I read that book as a teenager. Do you suppose 33:17 that's our problem as well? Do you suppose our God is too small 33:22 to handle big numbers. In fact, we're not comfortable with him 33:25 handling big numbers. By the way, that was Jonah's problem, 33:29 wasn't it? Jonah had a hard time with big numbers. Have you ever 33:34 crunched the numbers on Nineveh? Just a few weeks ago, remember, 33:38 we were studying the book of Jonah and we discovered it is 33:41 a book of questions, 13 questions all the way through 33:44 Jonah and the book ends with question number 13, the very 33:48 last line of the book and that question is raised by God. I 33:53 I want to put that verse right up here on the screen. 33:54 Now this is God speaking. This is the last line. 34:15 Shouldn't I be concerned. A hundred and twenty thousand 34:20 people who can't tell their right hand from their left hand. 34:23 Some scholars believe that in fact is what God is describing 34:26 there are the children of Nineveh. Have you ever walked 34:29 up to a two year old, ever walked up to a two year old and 34:33 said honey show me your hands. Show me your left hand? Do we 34:36 have a two year old sitting anywhere near the front here? 34:41 Anybody here two? When you walk up to a two year old... That 34:45 little boy is two? Okay. We're going to try this out folks. 34:48 Let's just try this to see if it's true. Now we probably got 34:52 a child prodigy here so be ready I know Grandpa Skip thinks we 34:57 do. All right, what's your name young man? Yep, that's a great 35:01 name. What is it Grandpa. Ashton. Ashton show me your left 35:05 hand. Can you put your left hand out? Can you put your left hand 35:12 out? Is that something defective with Ashton? Not at all. A child 35:16 Thank you Ashton. You're going to be a preacher one day. There 35:21 is nothing wrong with a child of two years of age because a 35:24 child of two years of age says left hand right hand here are my 35:28 two hands. And that's what God is saying. I have 120,000 35:31 children under two in Nineveh. Now you got to add the children 35:35 up to 10 and then you've got to add young adults and then you've 35:39 got to add moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas and 35:41 everybody else and so some scholars, write this down 35:44 please, some scholars have concluded that in fact the 35:47 population of Nineveh was somewhere between 600,000 and 35:50 2,000,000 human beings. Should I not be concerned about that 35:57 great city asked the God who 24/7 is looking for an excuse to 36:05 save anyone. And in one glorious instant he saves 2,000,000 at 36:10 one time. I know you're going to say, ah come one Dwight, he 36:15 didn't save them, he just spared them. Ah picky, picky, picky. 36:21 If you spare somebody you save somebody. Point: When God does 36:27 salvation arithmetic you can't even count the numbers. That's 36:32 what Revelation 7 is trying to tell us. After these things I 36:38 looked and... 36:52 Question: Will we speak Chinese in heaven? It reminds me of the 36:57 story Jesus told once upon a time about an employer who 36:59 was hiring illegal 37:01 aliens. Have you been following the news lately coming out of 37:04 the congress. I mean, folks, let me tell you right now the 37:08 hottest political issue in the United States is what do we do 37:12 with illegal immigrants? What shall we do? There are some who 37:16 say well we ought to declare them all felons, deport them, 37:19 build a wall so huge like the wall of China. They'll never be 37:23 able to get in again. Then there are others that say, hey, wait a 37:26 minute. We ought to find a way to slowly integrate them into 37:29 eventual citizenship in this nation or the solutions are 37:32 somewhere in between. I'm not wanting to simplify a very 37:36 complex answer, but this much I know. I was talking with an 37:40 illegal alien this week who may be right here right now. Her 37:44 visa has expired. She's supposed to be deported. I talked this 37:49 week with her attorney in Washington, the nation's capital 37:53 This much I know, I'm going to do everything I can to help that 37:56 woman stay right here. They want to make it a felony, make it a 38:00 felony. Churches ought to be a safe place. Churches ought to be 38:04 a refuge for people. Anyway Jesus tells this story about a 38:11 farmer who 38:13 needed day laborers to help him harvest this sprawling vineyard. 38:17 Today's the day. I've got to have them today. So he jumps 38:21 into that rusty old bucket of bolts, his pickup and he drives 38:24 down to the corner in his town just like in Virginia, just like 38:27 in Michigan, just like in California. You can do it today. 38:29 There are all migrant workers hoping somebody will hire them. 38:32 Say hey fellows, you want to work today. I'll pay you 38:34 minimum wage. I'll take good care of you. I need you for 12 38:38 hours. Jump in and boy that pickup fills up, cloud of dust 38:41 back to the old vineyard and they go to work in the heat of 38:45 the day. Three hours later the farmers doing the mental 38:48 arithmetic and crunching numbers and he said there's no way we 38:51 can do this with this kind of help. I've got to get more. He 38:54 drives back into town. Hey fellows. Another pickup load 38:57 full back to the vineyard. Three hours later he does the 39:00 arithmetic again. I can't do this. We'll never get it done. 39:04 Back into town. Another pickup load full. Finally at 5 o'clock 39:08 I've got one hour left, one hour of daylight and we've got to get 39:11 the grapes in. I need more. Back to town and there are still 39:15 migrant workers hanging around because nobody has hired them. 39:19 I'll tell you what, I'll pay you what's fair. Get in this pickup. 39:23 Let's go. Boom and in one hour they finish the harvest. The 39:28 landowner instructs his accountant: Start with the 39:32 fellows who came last and you can see their eyes about pop out 39:38 when they receive 12 hours' worth of pay for the one little hour 39:43 they put into work. And the migrants who came first, Whoa 39:47 they're crunching numbers. Can you imagine what we're going to 39:50 get paid when it's our turn and when they get up to the cash box 39:56 they get the same amount and the place erupts in angry voices 40:00 and let's let Jesus pick up the story right here, the gospel of 40:05 St. Matthew chapter 20: Matthew chapter 20... 40:23 And the landowner speaks back... 40:46 Write that down. God asks the question of us... 40:55 Is that our problem. Come to me God says in the last hour of 40:59 life and I'll give you the same gift that I give to the people 41:03 who have walked with me all their lives. Pastor John, you 41:06 were telling the story about your dad last night, a moving 41:09 story. Your dad was a jazz trumpet. He played with the 41:11 greats in jazz music in New York You prayed for your dad all your 41:18 life but you have no idea, he just died a week ago. Did dad 41:20 die saved. I want to tell you something, Pastor John. God is 41:23 like a divine auctioneer. He just needs one little finger 41:26 just one little raise of the brow. I'll take it, I'll take it 41:30 Boom he says sold. You get it, you get it, boy, you get it from 41:34 me. You get my whole kingdom. I saw your finger move. I'll 41:38 tell you what the problem is some of us have a God, I'm 41:41 embarrassed with the God we have We don't have a God who's 41:45 looking 24/7 for an excuse to save anybody. We have a God 41:48 who's looking 24/7 for an excuse to lose another one. Let me 41:50 condemn that one. Let me lose that whole group over there. 41:53 Gone, good riddance of bad rubbish. Isn't it sad. Isn't it 41:57 sad. I like to think of when your dad in his heart just a 42:01 little flicker of his finger. I'll take the Lord of my Son. 42:05 Boom, sold. You can have it, you can have it. Write it down 42:10 folks... 42:14 And by the way, he keeps going back. Is anybody else left? 42:18 Anybody else. Anybody. He keeps going back looking for lost 42:22 people, which is why I repeat... 42:29 Oh, so shall we pout and grump like Jonah and the first-of-the- 42:33 day laborers and wave our little spiritual fists in God's 42:37 face, not fair, not fair. You can't do that. I tell you what. 42:40 Let me just say this because we're running out of time. I'm 42:43 going to just say this: I don't understand Adventists, I don't 42:47 understand Christians who pray this prayer, Oh Jesus come right 42:49 now. I don't care if it's just me and the kids saved, Jesus, 42:52 but you have to come right now. That has to be the most selfish 42:56 prayer in the universe. You know why, you know what you're saying 42:59 Forget the 1.3 billion in China. Just save my wife and me and our 43:03 kids, will you. That'll be good enough. Just the four of us in 43:05 heaven. I'm going to tell you something. If that's the prayer 43:08 you're praying, Oh Jesus come soon, please, please come soon. 43:11 If you're praying that prayer and not lifting a little pinky 43:14 to help God increase the population of heaven, you don't 43:17 have the heart of a father and you won't be going anyway. 43:20 You won't be going. He's only bringing people who are like him 43:24 home who have his heart. Maybe our God really is too small. Do 43:28 you suppose that's it. Our God is too small. He can't handle 43:31 big numbers... 43:47 There it is ladies and gentlemen I leave it with you the portrait 43:50 of a very, very, very generous God who as he generously saved 43:54 2,000,000 Ninevites could just as generously save 1.3 billion 43:59 Chinese if he wants to. Or to put it another way, would it 44:03 bother you if he did?... 44:13 Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious, Hallelujah, 44:20 all are precious in his site. Jesus loves the little children 44:25 of the world, which by the way, which surely include Benton 44:30 Harbor, that inner city 12 miles up the road from where we're 44:35 worshipping right now. I got an e- mail this last week from one 44:41 of our Andrews University students, I've got to read this 44:45 to you, in, of all places, Moscow, Russia. So she's writing 44:49 Dear Pastor Nelson, I had the privilege of listening to your 44:52 sermon, When God's Last Question Becomes Our First, that was the 44:55 study on Jonah, I listened today on the internet. Even though I 44:58 live right next door to the church I normally attend I 45:01 felt like listening to some English sermons instead. That's 45:05 why our website is 24/7 around the world. Now she says, I live 45:09 in Moscow at the moment. I was a freshman at Andrews last year. 45:12 You made a call for evangelism and missionary work one Sabbath. 45:16 Now listen. Last year I was on the verge of giving up 45:22 Christianity. I felt like I was being a half-way Christian and I 45:27 would rather be all nonChristian than a hypocritical Christian. 45:33 And so I came to church. God had other plans for her life. I've 45:40 been in Moscow for almost a year. You were talking of 45:42 reaching the cities and I smiled as you said, we don't have to go 45:45 to Moscow. Remember we did say that didn't we. Or some other 45:50 place. We can start in the states. Sometimes it's 45:52 frustrating and difficult to work with people and meet their 45:54 needs. For one, I don't know Russian fluently so I don't know 45:57 how to talk to them, but your sermon reminded me that I can 45:59 still do more. Thank you for taking the time to reach out to 46:02 remind people that we need to care like Christ cares. Okay, 46:05 now here's the ending to the e- mail, now listen to this. Have 46:08 a wonderful and blessed Sabbath. I hope to return to Andrews next 46:11 fall and hopefully start attending the Benton Harbor 46:15 church. I guess I'll have to listen to your sermons online 46:18 after that. God bless. Sincerely Nadine Dewick. Isn't that great? 46:23 Look, if all this number crunching is true and God is 46:30 really very big on saving sinners, then does it not 46:37 follow that the children of God like you and me and Nadine, does 46:42 it not follow that we would be just as big on saving sinners 46:48 as he is. Huh? Bruce Wilkinson of the mega best seller, Prayer 46:53 of Jabez fame wrote a follow-up book which I have in my library 46:57 as well. It's called Beyond Jabez and in this book he refers 47:01 to this moment in Revelation 7 verse 9. Take a look at your 47:05 study guide, you have the quotation right there, I tell 47:08 you what. I've written these words into the margin of my 47:11 Bible because they've really cut me to the heart... And here are 47:21 questions that hold me like a white knuckled grip around my 47:28 throat. Here are two questions he asks... Oh just save me and 47:34 my children. What part of that throng will be there because of 47:39 you and here's the follow-up... 47:45 Look at this guys. Watch these two hands. You have a destiny 47:49 God has a dream. The great object of life is to align our 47:54 destinies with God's dream. It doesn't matter what major you're 48:01 pursuing here at Andrews. It doesn't matter what career 48:02 you're looking forward to or what occupation you've already 48:05 chosen or mine. What matters is we have a destiny, every one of 48:08 us and the object of life it to align our destinies with God's 48:12 dream. And by the way, what do you suppose God's dream is? 48:15 To save every human being he can possibly save. Wilkinson goes on 48:25 I like this... 48:36 You want a prayer to start praying. Circle these words, 48:39 take it back to your dormitory room, back to your house in the 48:43 community. Imaging what would happen if you started to pray 48:46 let me accomplish more for you. That's not a self-centered 48:49 prayer. That's the most unselfish prayer you can pray. 48:52 Just let me do more for you Jesus, please just let me do 48:56 more for you. Whatever it is, help me. And then I love this 48:59 closer. With His... 49:08 You can end up as an Andrews University student in the heart 49:11 of Moscow and not speak a word of Russian and be building the 49:14 kingdom of Christ over there. Man, he can do anything with 49:19 your availability. You say, ah come on. That's just a best 49:23 selling author writing. Okay. Take a look at these words 49:31 written a century ago, put them on the screen please... 49:40 Now are you satisfied. Let's close with a quiz, two-question 49:45 quiz. You answer. It's right there in your study guide. 49:47 Question number one... 49:53 Put a check mark by the yes. Of course you do. Is there 49:55 anybody here who doesn't want to go to heaven. Not on your 49:58 life. Anybody watching? Nobody. Nobody. Okay question number 50:01 two. Please answer this as well... 50:08 What's your answer? Put a check by the yes. Can you imagine 50:11 somebody here saying No, I don't want to help. I don't want to 50:19 help, I just want to get there myself. Are you crazy? As we 50:24 traveled in mainland China, our host the Hong Kong pastor, 50:30 Doug Martin, a great 50:31 great guy. Doug was our host and gave each of us two 50:37 Chinese Bibles to put in our luggage. The reason you've got 50:39 to do that is because you can't take a whole suitcase, even from 50:42 Hong Kong, which is communist China, across the border into 50:45 mainland China with a suitcase of Bibles, you're out of here. 50:48 So he divided out Bibles up so we each are carrying two in our 50:51 luggage. Then when we got in and Doug was with us, he was leading 50:54 our group of about seven of us, we went to Beijing and Shanghai 50:57 and Shenzhen. Doug would keep pulling Bibles out and finding 51:01 people that he felt were open to receiving the Bible. One 51:04 night we were checking into a hotel and Doug arranged 51:07 with the desk 51:08 clerk to get a Bible to our driver who had taken us all 51:10 through the city. Then he looked at her and he said, in Chinese, 51:16 as he handed her this book, he said and I also have one of 51:20 these for you. And she said no, no, no, no, no because it just 51:24 looked like a regular book. She says no, no, no, no. Then she 51:28 opened the cover and realized she was holding a Bible and I 51:32 tell you the truth, her face lighted up as she clutched that 51:36 book to her heart and she said may I really keep this? Hey guys 51:40 we're not talking heroics here. We're talking one Bible at a 51:45 time. Just one Bible at a time. Three weeks from today, Danny, 51:51 we're running buses to take this little book, actually a 51:55 condensation of this little book right here. You helped write 51:59 this book. The 10 Commandments Twice Removed. For the first 52:04 time in American history this nation is celebrating, in a few 52:08 weeks, is celebrating the 10 commandments. I don't know about 52:11 you but my feeling is we ought to be at the front of that 52:14 celebration. Huh? We ought to be at the front. So we're going 52:17 to take this book, thousands of them, and we're going to hand 52:21 one out to every house in Benton Harbor. And we're going to take 52:24 buses aren't we, Pastor Pat. We're going up to Holland. We're 52:26 going to take left over students and we're going up to Holland. 52:30 So faculty, students, community members. Why? Because God needs 52:33 all the help he can get and we want to go out. It's a no 52:40 brainer. 3ABN, 3ABN exists for one solitary passion and that is 52:45 to grow the number of that throng in heaven. I want to tell 52:49 you something, Danny. Andrews University exists for one 52:53 solitary passion and that is to grow the number of that throng 52:57 in heaven, sending out our brightest and best young adults 53:01 into every strata of society, into every nation of earth. 53:05 We're in partnership together. You're among friends here. We're 53:10 in partnership together to reach China and Russia and Kenya and 53:15 America, Benton Harbor. How did Wilkinson put it? By the way, 53:20 let me see you three Sabbaths from today, that's when it's 53:25 going to be, three Sabbaths from today. Mark it on your calendar. 53:29 We've got to be together three Sabbaths from today. We'll take 53:32 the whole campus up there. What's that closer from 53:36 Wilkinson? I've got it here somewhere. Oh here it is. Put 53:39 in on the screen... 53:49 All he needs is our willing availability. Let's pray. 53:54 Oh God, oh my. We see the dream. You shot a snapshot of the 54:01 future. You have put it in Revelation. There's no way to do 54:07 your numbers, so we can't count them. But knowing your dream, 54:11 Holy Father, you've got to know our hearts. Two things: One we 54:16 want to be there. Please. You see our picture in that snapshot 54:19 don't you? We're there aren't we? By the grace of the Lord 54:23 Jesus, God, we're there. But oh God we don't want to go alone. 54:28 No, we cannot, 1.3 billion in China, nearly 300,000 in this 54:32 nation. We have got to go to these others. So please, dear 54:37 God, do whatever it takes, but equip us into modern day 54:42 missionaries like the Lord Jesus and grow the numbers, grow that 54:48 throng because we share your dream. In Jesus' name we pray, 54:55 Amen. I want you to stand to your feet with me and sing just 55:01 this great Adventist hymn - We Have This Hope. Sing it with all 55:07 your heart as this service concludes. 56:43 Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably abundantly more 56:49 than all you can ask or imagine, Unto God through Jesus Christ 56:54 our Lord, be dominion and power, majesty and honor, both now and 57:00 forever, Amen. 57:04 I wanted to take an extra moment and let you know how grateful I 57:07 am you joined us in worship today. I hear from viewers like 57:10 you all across this nation and literally around the world and 57:13 I'm thankful. If you'd like to explore further what we just 57:16 shared, I hope you'll visit our website. It's easy to remember. 57:20 www. pmchurch, we're the Pioneer Memorial Church here on the 57:24 campus of Andrews University. www.pmchurch.tv. Click onto that 57:28 website and you'll be able to listen to a pod cast of this 57:31 material or download my presentation for your MP3 57:34 player, or print out the study guide for further study. You may 57:37 have a special prayer need that you wish to share with our 57:39 prayer partners. You may have an observation you wish to write 57:42 to me. Or you may want to partner with us through a 57:44 personal donation to help us reach this generation with the 57:47 everlasting gospel. Let me hear from you. You can write to me at 57:50 www. pmchurch. tv or if you'd rather talk with someone, call 57:55 one of our friendly operators at 1-877-HIS-WILL. In the meantime 58:00 may the grace and peace of Jesus be yours every step of the way. |
Revised 2016-04-21