Participants: Dwight K Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP170610A
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00:03 ♪♪ 00:08 >> Would you stand with me as we sing "Indescribable"? 00:19 [ Congregation sings ] 03:27 Isn't He good? ♪♪ 03:39 [ Congregation sings ] 04:14 "Our God." 04:39 Let's sing it again. How does He help us? 04:46 And "out of the ashes." 04:53 None like Him. 05:51 Tell Him. 05:56 Do you believe it? 07:06 Our God. Our God is so great, and He's so wonderful. 07:11 And as we continue to sing "Breathe," as we remember that God is the one that we seek, 07:17 that is the one that we seek desperately, and as we continue to be an example for our sisters 07:23 and them seeking Him desperately and searching for Him each and every day, it's a blessing to 07:29 have God. ♪♪ 08:09 [ Congregation sings ] 10:00 God's very word. 10:06 Spoken. Do we not need Him? 10:12 Are we not desperate for Him? 11:02 This is the time that if you would like to give your petitions to the Lord that you 11:08 come forward, come before the throne and let Him hear those things that are on your heart 11:13 and let Him feel His holy presence with your body, His temple. 11:18 So now's the time. Come forward. Lay your burdens down before the Lord. 11:23 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 11:37 ♪ Jesus ♪ 12:22 Oh, Lord. [ Congregation sings ] 13:39 >> Well, good morning, boys and girls. Happy Sabbath on this June... 13:44 >> 10th. >> 10 -- Thank you. Nice to see you out. 13:48 Summer's coming at last, and you're looking very summery. Glad to have you here. 13:55 Oh, just the perfect story! Anybody heard about Bodega Bay? There's a place in California 14:06 called Bodega Bay. And one morning early just a few weeks ago, one morning early, 14:13 the fishermen got on their boat. They said, "Okay, today's the day. 14:16 We're gonna catch crab." So they're crab fishermen. They're gonna drop their little 14:21 traps down into the ocean, grab those little crabs -- tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch! 14:25 So they got in their boat, the Legacy. Let's see if we've got the boat 14:29 Legacyhere. Oh, there it is. That's quite a fishing boat. 14:32 So the skipper -- that would be the captain -- he's up there in this area. 14:36 He has the till in his hand. He's gonna steer this boat -- tch, tch, tch, tch. 14:41 [ Imitates engine ] ...out into the harbor of Bodega Bay. 14:48 There they go. Three fishermen, including the skipper. 14:52 They're riding out. Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch. 14:54 "Oh, I wonder what we're gonna catch today. I wonder what we're gonna catch 14:57 today." When all of a sudden, the skipper came on the P.A. 15:00 "Hey, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys. Off on the starboard side, look, 15:02 look, look, look, look, look. You see that over there?" They all looked over there. 15:07 "Yeah, I see some old crab traps floating on the water, but..." "No, no, no, no, guys. 15:12 I'm gonna bring us just a little closer. Come on. Look carefully. 15:16 Can you see what those traps are woven around? They're caught on something." 15:22 The boat -- tch, tch, tch, tch, tch -- here comes theLegacy. Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch, tch. 15:25 Just a little closer. [ Gasps ] "Stand back! 15:28 Skipper, quick, pull back! Pull back!" Because wrapped in those crab 15:34 traps was a huge whale. A whale. "Oh, skipper, don't get close. 15:43 Hey, skipper, skipper, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo! Don't forget they got a tail!" 15:46 Pkt, pkt, pkt! "Guys, I'm gonna -- Guys, I'm gonna pull over just a little 15:51 closer. I want you to take a look at this. 15:53 See what you see." And as they pulled beside the whale who's now beginning to 15:58 tremble, he knows somebody's near -- let's see a picture of that whale, by the way. 16:02 As they pull beside the whale -- Oh, there they are. Let's put it on the big screens, 16:07 too, guys. Thank you. There they are. 16:09 There are the traps wrapped around the whale. You see those crab floating 16:15 traps? Oh, oh, oh. "All right, guys, I'm gonna keep 16:20 the boat right here. Grab the boat hooks. I want you to pull those ropes 16:23 up." And so they reached in with their boat hooks, and they begin 16:27 to pull the lines up that were tied to the traps that were stuck on the whale. 16:31 "Okay, guys, get your knives." Knives came out. Tch! Tch! Tch! Tch! 16:37 "Oh, skipper, there are all kinds of tangled lines!" "Keep cutting!" 16:41 Tch! Tch! Tch! The whale finally realized somebody was here to help him. 16:48 And you know what that whale did? He said, "Okay, okay, okay." 16:51 The whale said in his own little language, "I'm gonna roll over," and he rolled over. 16:55 He said, "Look at all this stuck on my bottom." "Oh, good night. 16:58 Look at all the traps. Cut down there." Tch! Tch! Tch! Tch! 17:05 When they finally had cut the last trap off, do you know what that whale did? 17:10 He must have been trying to say thank you, because he began to circle 'round and 'round the 17:16 boat. And as the boat began to chug off, the whale was right there 17:19 beside them. "You saved my life. The sharks would have eaten me. 17:23 You saved my life." Aww. Let me see the picture of the 17:29 whale now. Ooh. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 17:35 Look at what whale underwater now. He's free. 17:38 Oh, my, oh, my. When I saw that story, I said, "Look at that. 17:42 God took three men" -- Shhh. God took three men to save one whale. 17:49 We're about to share a story where God took one whale to save one man. 17:54 God is in the business of saving. That's what He does. 17:58 He just loves to save. Aren't you glad Jesus is a savior? 18:02 How many want to say thank you, Jesus? Thank you for getting close to 18:06 us and cutting all the ties that are holding us down. Thank you for snip, snip, snip. 18:11 Thank you for dying for us. I had a young lady who prayed in prayer service. 18:17 Do we have a young man to pray in second service? Sir, I saw your hand come up. 18:21 You bet. You make your way down there without stepping on anybody's 18:25 hands. Oh, this could be embarrassing. Oh, you got it. Good. 18:29 Let me get a microphone for you. Is this the microphone here? Is it on? 18:33 All right, thank you. All right, let's close our eyes and fold our hands. 18:37 What's your first name? >> Daniel. >> What? 18:40 >> Daniel. >> Daniel. That's a great name. All right, so let's close our 18:44 eyes, fold our hands. Daniel's gonna thank God for being our savior. 18:48 I'll hold it. Okay. >> Dear heavenly father, thank you for this wonderful day and 18:53 thank you that today's your Sabbath. Thank you that Jesus saved us. 18:56 In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. >> Amen. Beautiful prayer, Daniel. 18:59 Thank you. And thank you, boys and girls, as you go quietly and reverently 19:03 back to your seats. You can say what Daniel just said. 19:06 Thank you, Jesus, for being my savior. Happy Sabbath to you. 19:13 [ Organ plays ] 19:41 >> Speaking of fishing, have you ever heard the idiom, "You've 19:45 got to either fish or cut bait"? Ever heard that? 19:47 Fish or cut bait? Now, in the nomenclature of this 19:53 land, when you say you either got to fish or cut bait, what 19:56 you're really saying is either proceed with this activity or 19:59 just knock it off. 20:01 Just quit. You got to either fish or cut bait. 20:03 You can't be wandering back and forth, "Shall I, shall I not, shall I not?" 20:06 Either evangelize the lost or abandon them. Either evangelize our cities in 20:11 this nation or abandon them. You got to either fish or cut bait. 20:16 So what should we do? Well, I'll tell you what. Don't ask God. 20:21 Don't ask God, because He has a very uncomfortable way of making Himself very clear. 20:28 Just ask Jonah. Open your Bible with me, please, to Jonah 1:1. 20:33 Jonah, the first line of Jonah. Jonah 1:1. 20:36 We'll put the website on the screen for you, those who are 20:38 watching right now maybe on a television. 20:40 If you're live streaming, you already know where the website 20:43 is. There is a study guide today. 20:44 You may take the study guide if you wish, ushers. 20:46 It's not a fill in the blanks, but you're gonna like the 20:49 quotations that are there. So grab your study guide. 20:53 Jonah Chapter 1. Jonah 1:1. 20:56 Oh, it's a tough book to find. Almost need a page number for 21:00 it, but if you don't have a Bible, grab the pew Bible. 21:03 It would be page 623. I'm in the New International 21:07 Version. Whatever you have, it's fine by 21:09 me. Just keep your hands up. 21:11 They'll find you. Jonah 1:1. 21:13 The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai." 21:16 Verse 2 -- "'Go to the great city of Nineveh.'" 21:19 Hit the pause button right there. 21:22 What's the big deal about cities? Do you know what it is? 21:25 Listen, the reason God is so big on cities is because cities are the largest human containers on 21:32 Earth that contain lost people. The biggest container on Earth that contains lost people. 21:39 That would be a city. Do we have cities? Are you kidding? 21:43 I got a list right here. So I went to Google. I said, "Okay, Google, find me 21:47 the top 10 biggest cities in the United States." I bet you you know them. 21:51 Number one. What do you suppose number one is? 21:54 New York. You got it right. Number two. L.A. 21:58 Number three. We're very close. Chicago. And then it goes Houston, 22:03 Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose. 22:07 Is it "Jo-say" or "Ho-say"? "Ho-say." Okay. San Jose. 22:12 [ Chuckles ] Those are just the top 10. Detroit's number 23, by the way. 22:16 The only city that's had this kind of a drop -- 5.67% since last year. 22:20 They're just kind of leaving Detroit. Oh, by the way, not only in the 22:26 U.S. of A, guess what the largest urban sprawls are on this planet bar none? 22:33 Hmm? The largest. The largest on the planet. 10 of them. 22:36 Hmm? Got them right here. The land, the city where I was born, Tokyo/Yokohama. 22:41 It's continuous city. 37.9 million human beings in that nonstop city, the largest 22:48 on Earth. Number 2, Jakarta. Number 3, Delhi. 22:51 Number 4, Manila. Number 5, Seoul. Number 6, Karachi. 22:55 Number 7, Shanghai. Number 8, Mumbai. India's got two. 22:59 Number 9, New York. And number 10, Sao Paolo, those of you from Brazil. 23:05 Yeah. What's God's big deal about cities? 23:07 They are the largest Earth container filled with lost people. 23:13 Listen, if they were your children and they had run away from home, wouldn't you be 23:17 staying up all night long worrying, fretting about them, "How can I save them?" 23:24 By the year 2050, if time should last, by the year 2050, according to the United Nations, 23:28 2/3 of the human race will be packed into one of those containers called a city on the 23:35 planet. God is huge on cities. Of course. 23:40 All right, so God comes -- Let's pick it up again in verse 2. God says to Jonah... 23:53 What did Jonah do? "Adios. I'm out of here." 24:00 Instead of going east, he goes west. 24:14 Stop it right there. I got to ask you. Do you really think that Jonah 24:18 thinks, believes, that he can get away from the physical presence of God? 24:22 True or false -- Do you think he believes it? [ Chuckles ] Are you kidding? 24:26 Jonah knows he can't get away from God. But you know what Jonah's 24:28 running from? He's running away from God's "go for Me, boy" command. 24:35 Jonah has no interest in fishing, no fishing at all. Zero, nada, nothing. 24:40 "I don't fish. I'm not worried about lost people. 24:44 I live with the saved, and that's all I need to do." [ Scoffs ] 24:48 Apparently Jonah thinks with the hot breath of the divine hound of heaven on his neck, racing up 24:57 that gangplank into the ship, down into the belly of the ship, Jonah thinks that God will take 25:06 no for an answer. You never take no for an answer if He's asking you to fish. 25:13 Never, never, never. So what happens? Well, verse 4. 25:19 Ooh, boy. 25:37 [ Scoffs ] Only two people I know that have ever slept in the middle of a 25:41 storm. That would be Jesus and Jonah. Deep sleep. 25:47 And the captain. 25:48 The captain -- verse 6 -- went to him and said, "Yo!" 25:51 Of course, by now we got pyrotechnics. 25:54 We got exploding lightning and thunder, and the ship -- this 25:57 little Phoenician fishing skiff -- is just being tossed 26:01 from crest to crest like they're playing badminton back and 26:05 forth. The captain was obviously 26:09 yelling at the top of his lungs to Jonah. 26:19 The boat is going down in a cyclone of a storm, and Jonah is sound asleep. 26:26 You can't believe it. Which, by the way, only goes to show that when you're disobeying 26:35 the will of God, sometimes you can still sleep like a baby. [ Chuckles ] 26:41 Haddon Robinson in the book "Preaching to a Shifting Culture" makes this very astute 26:45 observation about Jonah. Put the words on the screen for you. 26:48 If you get the study guide, you have all these quotes. 27:32 Are you at peace right now in your life about saying no to something you know is God's will 27:37 for your life? That peace is not a sign you made the right decision at all. 27:43 Jonah staggers up top. He has not made a godly decision. 27:53 And by the way, may I remind you, he just now has been served. 27:56 He missed it totally. He has been served one of those "knock it out of the park" home 28:00 run pitches as an evangelist. Because this would be the perfect moment for Jonah to look 28:04 in the face of that Pagan captain, say, "All right. You pray to your God. 28:08 Then I'm gonna pray to my God. The God that stops this storm is 28:11 the God we ought to worship." He could have done it. 28:14 Elijah did it. But Jonah has quieted his 28:18 conscience. He's not of much use right now. 28:26 Verse 7. Oh, we know the story so well. 28:28 "Then the sailors said to each other" -- They're yelling at the 28:31 top of their lungs, you understand this. 28:32 "'Come, let's cast lots to find out who is responsible for this 28:35 calamity.' They cast lots," and bingo, it's 28:37 you, sir. What's your name? 28:38 Here they go. A series of five questions. 28:52 When they'd stopped to breathe, yelling above the fury of the gale, Jonah announces to them... 29:06 "That's who I am." By the way, Jonah has just quoted the fourth commandment. 29:10 For in six days, the Lord God made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. 29:16 He doesn't know it, but Jonah has just quoted the first angel's message. 29:20 Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is now, and worship Him who made 29:25 heaven, the earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters." Wow. 29:32 "I am a God-loving, creator-worshiping Sabbatarian who's running away from what he 29:40 knows he is supposed to be doing." Well, at least we're in good 29:44 company, right? Verse 10. 30:14 Jonah said... 30:27 It's called mea culpa. "It's my fault." You got to hand it to Jonah. 30:31 He has a whole basket full of traits we don't admire, but you have to hand it to him here. 30:40 He's right there. And by the way, he has the chutzpah to one day tell the 30:45 story on himself. No P.R. firm to varnish over with some kind of slick veneer 30:50 that nobody knows except your very best traits. No, he tells the story on 30:55 himself. And because he does, there's something for you and me here. 31:01 We know what happens next. Drop down to verse 15. So they did. 31:05 They took Jonah, one, two, three, heave! [ Imitates throw, impact ] 31:10 Because this is a movie. And then when the camera drops beneath the surface of the 31:14 water, the moment it goes beneath the surface of the water, it's quiet. 31:19 There's no sound down there. Just [gurgling]... As Jonah's going down. 31:26 And then the camera pans away from Jonah in that quiet, and it looks down. 31:30 And out of the black bosom of the Mediterranean come two eyes glowing, and a massive monster 31:38 with his mouth open. Kkrt! Wow. 31:48 And the raging sea grew calm the moment he hits the water. The raging sea -- shwoom! -- 31:54 smooth as glass. [ Gasps ] These Pagan sailors are so awed. 31:59 You're not gonna believe what you're about to read. The very next verse, verse 16, 32:02 is in the Bible. "And at this, the Pagan men greatly feared the Lord, and 32:11 they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and" -- get this. They didn't just offer a 32:17 sacrifice. They made vows. "I will worship you. 32:19 I will follow you. I will live for you forever and ever. 32:22 Amen." That's how profound that impact. One supernatural act of God. 32:29 Can you believe this? And the Pagan sailors become believers in the most high 32:33 creator God of the universe. Could it be -- Hey, listen, listen, listen, listen. 32:37 Could it be that we've made this trying to reach seculars a whole lot harder than God thinks it 32:43 is? We have house of prayer 7:00 in the morning, 7:00 at night. 32:50 I meet with a prayer partner every Wednesday night, after the evening, in my office. 32:55 So my friend was telling me just a few days ago, he said, "You know something, Dwight? 33:00 The problem is, the root problem of what we need is inside our souls. 33:07 It's this ego thing. It's this self-promotion thing. It's this self-dependence thing. 33:14 Academia thrives on it. We're in control." I know. 33:19 The world thrives on it. Every heart here thrives on it. But my friend said, "Look, 33:24 Dwight, what would happen if God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, could get into our 33:29 hearts and just push ego and pride and self-dependence, just push it right out and fill the 33:34 vacuum with Himself?" Because the Bible says, quoting God, "I will share my glory with 33:42 no one." And now that Jonah is swallowed by a whale, God says, "Let me 33:46 show you something. Ever seen this before?" Shhh! 33:52 "I just did that." Wow! And Pagans bow down and worship 33:58 Him. The Book of Acts is replete with what they call signs and 34:02 wonders. Why? Because God says, "You just let 34:05 Me be front and center. You let Me be, and the dead are raised, the sick are healed, men 34:14 are reading people's minds and getting it right." What would happen if we just 34:23 pushed the Holy Spirit, just push it out? Apparently it's not so hard as 34:28 we thought in reaching Pagan seculars, because they're still awed by the supernatural. 34:35 Something just happens. What was that? 34:47 And Jonah -- kklooom! -- ...was in the belly of a whale. And at the very end of his 34:55 prayer in the belly of that dark, dark whale, Jonah prays the theme to the entire Book of 35:03 Jonah. It's one line. I want you to read the last line 35:05 of his prayer. It's verse 9, Chapter 2, verse 9. 35:08 From the belly of the whale, "But I" -- Jonah crying out to 35:11 God... 35:21 Let's put that on the screen. "Salvation comes from the Lord." 35:26 "We've heard a joyful sound." ♪ Jesus saves, Jesus saves ♪ 35:31 ♪ Spread the gladness all around ♪ 35:34 ♪ Jesus saves, Jesus saves ♪ 35:37 That's it. That's the whole theme of the Book of Jonah. 35:41 You think about what God has just done. The Pagan sailors get saved. 35:44 The Sabbatarian prophet gets saved. The Pagan city of Nineveh gets 35:48 saved. In fact, in this entire narrative, there's only one 35:51 person that doesn't get saved. There's only one creation of God that does not get saved. 35:58 Bet you can't guess it. Yep. When Jonah trudges through 36:05 Nineveh and cries out, "40 days and you're gonna be toast, nuked by the God of the universe," 36:14 when Jonah preaches judgment, guess what? The only thing that dies, 36:20 because from the highest king to the lowest slave, the entire city repents. 36:24 The entire city. One measly, little runaway 'fraidy cat, and God saves an 36:31 entire city. 36:33 [ Scoffs ] The only one that doesn't 36:36 survive is a little leafy gourd. You remember that? 36:41 'Cause Jonah goes up on the hillside, says, "Okay, God. 36:44 You may change your mind. Show me the fireworks. 36:46 I'm here." And the hot Assyrian sun is 36:48 burning down on him, and God says, "Poor Jonah. 36:51 I have mercy on Jonah. Little plant, grow." Pbbbbbt! 36:55 Boy, that was a fast grow. How'd You do that? And now Jonah says, "Oh, thank 37:01 you, God. Oh, I needed that shade." Next morning, wake up, God puts 37:05 a little worm in that plant. Tch, tch, tch, poof! Tkkkkt! 37:09 And Jonah now is ticked to high heavens again. The plant is the only thing that 37:18 dies in this story. God even saves the worm! Did you know that? 37:25 He saved the worm. You say, "Oh, Dwight, that's too trite." 37:28 No, it's not too trite. Look at God. Look at what God says right 37:30 here. 37:31 The last line of the book, Chapter 4, verse 10. 37:45 Now here comes the last verse. The book ends with a question 37:48 mark. 38:01 Little, tiny creatures. "Shouldn't I be concerned?" Apparently saving the worm was 38:07 not an aberration. He wanted to save them all. Man. 38:13 We really missed the truth about Him, haven't we? He'll save anybody. 38:19 You breathe -- "You breathing, boy? Let Me save you. 38:23 You want Me?" Wow. Incidentally, scholars, by the 38:29 way, who have been having a little trouble with this -- 120,000 people. 38:33 Can anybody figure out what 120,000 people are about? Scholars now believe, many of 38:37 them, anyway, that what God is describing when He says people don't know their right hand from 38:42 their left hand, God is describing two years old and under. 38:44 'Cause if I got a little 2-year-old standing up here who wanted into the children's 38:47 story, and I said, "Honey, show me your left hand," she would not know which one. 38:50 She'd go, "Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm." So you have 120,000 children. 38:57 Then you have kids. Then you have teens. Then you have young adults. 39:00 Then you have adults. Then you have middle-aged adults. 39:03 Then you have senior citizens. Some scholars now believe that the population of Nineveh was 39:07 between 600,000 and 2 million human beings. And one runaway messenger was 39:17 God's instrument for saving that Pagan citadel. I can't believe it. 39:23 "Should I not be concerned for that great city?" And in one glorious moment, He 39:30 saves them all, everybody. The end. ♪ We have heard a joyful sound ♪ 39:36 ♪ Jesus saves, Jesus saves ♪ The end. That's it. So what's this mean for you and 39:42 me? Friend of mine named Cheryl Logan, she would be the 39:48 wife of the minister of music. Four weeks ago, gave me a book. She says, "My mother found this 39:52 working down in Neighbor to Neighbor," which is a community service center here in town. 39:57 "She found it in an old box full of used books. She pulled it out. 40:00 She gave it to me. I'm giving it to you." And oh, my. 40:04 I will be grateful forever for that act of kindness. Title of the book, by the way, 40:10 is "God in the Garden: The Amazing Story of Billy Graham's First New York Crusade." 40:16 That's Madison Square Garden. All you sports buffs know where that place is. 40:23 16 unforgettable weeks from May 15 through September 1, 1957. 40:28 Do the arithmetic. So this is 2017. Right now, how many years ago 40:32 right now -- '57 to now, '57 to now. I'll save you the arithmetic. 40:36 60 years. 60 years ago, this very second, it was in the evening Saturday 40:41 nights, and maybe Monday and Wednesday or something like that, Friday. 40:47 60 years ago. You know what? Billy Graham had been warned by 40:51 all the naysayers. "Oh, let me tell you something about New York City. 40:54 It is the graveyard of Christian effort. Incalcitrant, secular city, 41:00 won't be touched, can't be reached." Billy Graham said, "Let's try 41:06 anyway." And bathed with thousands of prayers, literally globally 41:11 thousands upon thousands of little Christians on this planet saying, "The man's going in. 41:17 Let's cover him." With hundreds and thousands of volunteers, the stats that came 41:21 out of that series absolutely blow your mind. Here they are. 41:25 Let me run a few of them by you. More than 2 million people heard Billy Graham preach in the 41:30 Madison Square Garden and at outside rallies. More than 2 million. 41:34 More than 56,000 made decisions for Christ, of whom 20,000 were teenagers. 41:39 20,000 teenagers came to Christ. Hmm. An estimated -- Because ABC 41:44 television said, "We'll carry you Saturday nights." For six weeks they carried him. 41:47 96 million people saw the meetings coming out of Madison Square Garden. 41:53 Unbelievable. By the way, they were gonna quit at the end of June. 41:56 So many people were coming. They said, "Well, let's just go just to the end of the July. 41:59 Then we'll cut it off." End of July, they're still coming. 42:01 They decided to go all the way to September 1 when 125,000 people crowded into Times Square 42:08 to hear Billy Graham's final sermon. A secular Pagan bastion that is 42:14 no place for God to work. "Excuse me? Excuse me? 42:23 Do I love cities? Are these My children?" Yeah. 42:30 Wow. Anyway, one fascinating -- I want you to get this. 42:33 One fascinating diary entry -- because he gave -- Billy Graham gave to the author here -- the 42:42 author of the book is Curtis Mitchell -- he gave to him his diary that was written 42:47 during the crusade itself. He said, "Take these and see if they're any help." 42:50 One night he's come back exhausted, sweaty from a fishing expedition in 42:55 Madison Square Garden. He collapses into his bed and writes into his diary these 42:58 words. 42:59 I'll put them on the screen for you. 43:06 Preachers know exactly what he's describing. 43:35 What were God's instructions to Jonah? "Don't tell them about My love 43:38 and these touchy, feely, fuzzy moments. You just tell them, 'You got 40 43:41 days and it's over. Do you understand that? You're toast.'" 43:46 Apparently Pagan seculars don't have to be wooed and pampered to maybe giving God a passing 43:54 fancy. Maybe God can connect with even America, the cities of this 44:01 nation. Maybe Billy is right. What did God say to Jonah? 44:09 What did he say here? "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because 44:13 its wickedness has come up before Me." Could it be our cities? 44:17 Could it be our nations are rife for God's saving grace? According to Ralph Moore in his 44:21 book, "How to Grow Your Church," "How to Multiply Your Church," rather, listen to this line. 44:28 More than 25 million people in the United States today have never heard the Gospel. 44:33 25 million in this Christian country. "Christian." 44:38 And how about the millions and millions who grew up as kids hearing a little bit about 44:43 "Jesus loves me, this I know." But it's long since banished any notion of that and are now 44:48 walking the streets of our cities today. How about them? 44:54 "We've heard a joyful sound. Jesus saves, Jesus saves." Ellen White, in that book 45:01 "Prophets and Kings," telling the story of Jonah and Nineveh. 45:05 Put these words on the screen for you. 45:08 Boy, if you had your study guide out right now, man, circle it. 45:27 Many now. Every city. "We've heard a joyful sound. Spread the gladness all around." 45:35 So what should we do? I'm talking about you and me now. 45:38 Forget Jonah. Forget Billy Graham. By the way, the world will wake 45:40 up one day soon perhaps, and it'll be announced to us by the news media that 45:45 Reverend Billy Graham died overnight. And it will be a great loss for 45:53 this nation. The preachers that have followed in his wake are fine people, I'm 45:58 sure. But somehow not the heart, not the soul and the passion of 46:05 Billy Graham. It'll be a sad day. But this isn't about 46:10 Billy Graham now. This is about you and me living in our professional careers and 46:15 still trying to go to school and raise a little family and what about us? 46:20 Ralph Moore again. His words on the screen. "How to Multiply Your Church." 46:24 Here we go. 47:25 Think about that line -- you and I need to become fishers of people on a much broader scale. 47:34 Say, "What are you talking about, Dwight?" I'm talking about this. 47:37 Maybe you and I have settled for this little hook on a line. Maybe God -- I'll catch a fish 47:44 at this point in my life. Maybe I'll go another 20 years. I'll catch another fish for you, 47:47 Jesus. Maybe what we're dreaming of has no segue or interface with the 47:56 dream God has for you. What if God's dream for you is not one -- no, no, no, no, no. 48:00 Not one. I need 10 from you. I need 10 from you here, and then when you go over here, I'm 48:05 gonna get 50 from you. And when you go over here, I'm gonna get 100 from you. 48:08 Remember, one little runaway believer in God turned around became God's instrument to bring 48:17 down an entire Pagan bastion and save the entire city from the king to the slave. 48:21 Just one. Just one. Maybe we ought to quit selling 48:28 ourselves so short. Well, maybe I'll get one from a class I teach. 48:31 Man, I'll spend a few years, but I did get one. I do remember. 48:34 I said, "Glory. Hallelujah. Thank you, God." Maybe instead of one here and 48:38 one then there, what if we started asking God -- what if we started asking God, "Didn't 48:43 Jesus say, 'Cast your net on the other side'? He didn't say cast your hook. 48:47 He didn't say cast your line. He said cast your net. Why? Because a net catches a lot of 48:52 fish. That's why." What if we started asking God 48:54 for nets full, nets full of lost men, women, and children for the God who died to save them? 49:06 What if we asked for more? What are you asking for? One? You want just one in your life? 49:11 What if you started asking God, "Give me a hundred. Give me a hundred of these. 49:16 I need them for You." It's not about me. 49:19 But if You can use little wimpy Jonah, You surely could use me. 49:23 You see, this isn't about Billy Graham. 49:27 This isn't about clergy, by the way. "Well, Dwight, I'm sure glad 49:29 you're preaching this sermon, 'cause I hope you get the point." 49:33 This is not about clergy. This is about the God who says, "If you follow me, I'll make you 49:38 a fisher of people. You just come on, girl. Come on. 49:42 Get that net ready. We're moving out of the deep waters." 49:45 Speaking of deep waters, I want you to read these words from Oswald Chambers. 49:49 Put them on the screen, please, from his classic "My Utmost For His Highest." 49:53 Wow. "If you do not cut the 49:55 moorings" -- That's old Scottish 'cause he was a Scotsman -- 49:58 "If you do not cut the moorings, the ropes that tie you to the 50:01 shore," your little fishing skiff in the harbor" -- 50:06 If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them by 50:09 a" -- what? By a what? 50:11 "By a storm." By the way, God can get your 50:14 attention and mine, and He can mobilize us, but I sure wouldn't 50:18 want to wait till the storm for it. 50:20 It'll work, perhaps, but even Jonah slept through it. 50:47 Go out and do some deep-sea fishing. 50:50 Don't take a line. Take a net. Take a net. 50:58 I'm that desperate. I am that passionate with a capital P. 51:03 I am that passionate. Take a net. I'll catch the fish. 51:07 You take the net. Go for me. Just go for me. 51:14 There may be a massive Nineveh that God has your name, yellow post-it noted -- tch! 51:23 "That's where I want her to go. Hey, Gabriel, look at that. That's where I want her to go. 51:28 Look at her. She has a heart for me. She knows 'I will put my trust 51:32 in Him.' It's the seven-word creed to live by. 51:35 She knows that. Look at her. She doesn't know I put her name on that city, but I've chosen 51:39 her for that city." You may be the one. He has a city for you. 51:47 He has a city for you if you're willing. It's fun to live in a little 51:54 village where nothing happens, but Taco Bell changing its menu every eight weeks. 52:01 But there has to be more to life than that. 52:09 The Pharisees once asked Jesus, "Yo, you! Prove to us you are who you are. 52:16 Give us a sign." Jesus looked back into those haughty faces. 52:19 He said, "I'll give you a sign. I'll give you the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of a 52:26 whale three days and three nights, I, the Son of Man, will be in the belly of the Earth 52:30 three days and three nights. But I, when I am lifted up, I will draw all people to me. 52:37 So go. As the Father has sent me, I'm sending you. 52:41 You go. Go." Who will go for us? Who will go for us? 52:51 And a little voice on the last pew of a long church, a little voice, "Here I am. 53:03 Send me." And that's all it takes. He'll do the rest. 53:11 He will do the rest. Here am I. Please. 53:20 I'll go. Send me. 53:28 Dear God, wow. Jonah was always about Jonah, and Billy Graham and all, you 53:35 know, the people that got to do this for a living, but it's rather -- it's rather daunting 53:43 to think that little, old us -- are you serious, for the cities? Dear Father, whatever you're 53:52 saying to a heart that's listening to You right now, on television, online, who knows 53:58 where, but whatever You're saying, be loud. Be clear. 54:05 May she hear the call. May he hear the call. Back row, little finger up, 54:12 "Here am I. Send me." We've heard a joyful sound. Jesus saves. 54:21 Help us to spread the gladness all around. I humbly pray in our Lord's 54:27 name. Amen. [ Organ plays ] 54:47 [ Congregation sings ] 56:35 Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the 56:41 Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. [ Organ plays ] 56:57 I'd like to take one more moment with you here at the end of our 57:00 program to offer you something I think is really special. 57:02 I want to send to you this little book called 57:05 "Story of Hope." 57:06 In this sweeping look at the story of the Bible, you're gonna journey from the dawn of the 57:10 human race in the Garden of Eden through the stunning narratives of the ancient patriarchs and 57:14 prophets and kings straight to the breathtaking story of our Lord Jesus. 57:18 And then beyond the New Testament, the prophetic story of how life on this planet 57:22 ends and then begins again. With my team of leaders, we are reading through this book every 57:28 Monday afternoon, and I promise you, you're gonna get blessed. I want to make sure you get this 57:32 book. No charge to you. 57:34 So grab your phone and dial our toll-free number, 877 and then 57:38 the two words "his will." That's 877-HIS-WILL. 57:44 Just give one of our friendly operators your name and mailing 57:47 address, and the book will be in the mail. 57:49 So be blessed. And until the next time we meet, 57:52 may the peace of our Lord Jesus go with you. 57:57 ♪♪ |
Revised 2017-06-15