Participants: Frank Fournier
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000747
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01:00 I want to introduce to you Chelsea Jordan.
01:03 She was our site coordinator 01:04 for the Hurst Seventh-Day Adventist Church. 01:07 Now you have to understand that 01:08 Hurst Seventh-Day Adventist Church 01:10 has about 60 members attending. 01:12 But, Chelsea, when you did your first training class, 01:15 how many people showed up? 01:18 You know, we're always talking about 01:19 how we want to get church members involved. 01:21 Tell us how many of those 60 members showed up? 01:24 Well, we actually had over 70. 01:26 So we had to do two training classes, 01:28 one in the morning and one in the afternoon, 01:29 so praise the Lord. 01:32 Now we don't know we are the 70. 01:33 Well, actually there was another church 01:35 about 5 minutes away that sent 14 of their members. 01:38 But if you do your math, 01:40 over 90% of the Hurst's Church members 01:42 participated in the training program. 01:44 Amen? Amen. 01:46 Now we all are members of some church. 01:50 And when these events happen in our church, 01:54 this is a... 01:56 Well, inspiration, I guess for us to make sure 02:00 that we attend those training classes. 02:02 Now with Chelsea is Kathy Bell. 02:06 And they're going to share their testimony. 02:11 Right. I have with me Kathy Bell. 02:13 And, Kathy, why don't you tell me 02:15 a little bit about how we met? 02:16 Why don't you explain how we met? 02:17 Okay. 02:19 About eight months ago, you came to the sister church 02:21 that I was a part 02:22 or that I was visiting, actually. 02:24 And it was potluck, and I was sitting alone, 02:26 eating because it was towards the end of the meal. 02:28 And you had already made 02:29 all your introductions to the members, 02:31 and you came and sat down with me. 02:33 And I immediately began pumping you for information, 02:36 and you were just there trying to get people to sign up 02:38 for your training. 02:39 I did. Okay. 02:41 So let me describe what she's saying here. 02:43 Kathy signed up for the training class. 02:45 Now, Kathy, were you a member 02:47 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the time? 02:48 No. No. 02:50 So here I had a non-member signing up to come, 02:52 learn how to give Bible studies to non-members. 02:55 So it's very interesting. 02:57 So, Kathy, 02:58 tell me what did you find from the training class 03:01 that you told me was different from what you had seen before? 03:05 Well, obviously I realized I didn't know 03:07 what I was doing there, right away. 03:10 But over the 28 years that I had been a Christian, 03:13 I have been in and out of different denominations. 03:16 And I realized over the course of the training 03:18 that there was a missing link and that you had it. 03:22 You go in, you go door to door and you don't intimidate, 03:27 it's not intrusive, 03:28 you just get to the heart of the message 03:30 and you present the Bible and the truth so simplistic 03:34 that is impressive. 03:35 Amen. 03:36 Well, Kathy jumped right in and she helped us 03:38 with our health expo to reach the community 03:40 and then she came to the evangelistic series. 03:43 Kathy, tell me what impacted your life 03:45 as you came to this series? 03:47 Well, I'll just backup. 03:49 I thought I was there on behalf of my children 03:50 that I had taken, 03:52 but somewhere through the meetings 03:53 I realized a call on my life. 03:55 There was a revelation from God that it was for me, 04:01 I was there, now suddenly for me. 04:03 And one of the speakers spoke and he said, 04:06 "How can I expect my family members to go forth 04:09 if I don't take a step?" 04:11 And he spoke clearly to me. 04:13 I needed to do that. 04:14 So Kathy made that step 04:16 and on Tuesday night she was baptized and became 04:18 a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:19 Amen? Amen. 04:21 Yes. Amen. Praise God. 04:25 So from there, Kathy, 04:28 tell me what you found? 04:29 As you've joined the Seventh-day 04:31 Adventist Church, you told me 04:32 something about truth and love that really spoke to me, 04:34 would you share that with us? 04:36 Well, I had been visiting that other church 04:38 for two and a half years, 04:39 doing Bible studies and studying on my own 04:41 all the topics that were in this seminar. 04:44 But what kept me going right from the very beginning 04:47 was the love of the people. 04:49 And now through the seminar and through your training 04:52 and through my own study, and now as a member, 04:55 I realize it's the truth, the simple truth of the gospel, 04:58 the love that is in this church is simply the Bible, Jesus. 05:03 Amen. 05:04 So the love is in the truth. 05:06 The love is in the truth. Thank you, Kathy. 05:08 And welcome to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 05:09 Thank you. 05:11 Praise God. 05:18 Now we can share with you many more testimonies 05:21 of how we impact the community. 05:24 But I would like to introduce you to... 05:26 This is Philip Mulvaney, 05:29 who has a degree in doctor of divinity 05:33 and also a PhD in philosophy of religion. 05:37 Now, how is it... 05:38 And you're also an ordained minister, 05:39 is that correct? 05:41 That's correct. 05:42 And also you were studying to be a priest 05:44 in the Catholic Church. 05:45 That's correct. 05:47 Now, you would what 05:48 we would consider an expert or a professional. 05:53 So what made you decide to come to a Bible seminar 05:57 that was being held by a bunch of kids? 06:00 Well, through all my study, 06:02 I've been studying for over 13 years. 06:04 And everything that you study 06:08 and learn in a school, 06:11 university is basically taught to you by man. 06:15 And everything that I learned, my PhD is by man. 06:19 And when I got the letter, to come into a seminar 06:23 that children or youth that are ministering. 06:28 To me it felt, 06:30 anybody can teach anybody that is willing to learn. 06:33 I'm always open to learn from anybody 06:35 that has anything to say when it comes to our Lord God. 06:39 Then the schools I learned in my mind, 06:43 the philosophy about 06:45 the different types of religions, 06:47 what makes religion what it is, but it was always in my head. 06:52 Coming to the seminar over that the youth were giving 06:55 took it from my head and put it into my heart. 07:06 Now, you had an unusual testimony 07:10 about the day that you decide to come to the meeting. 07:13 Could you share with us about that? 07:16 Well, I got up that morning 07:18 and for about four or five days, 07:21 my wife and I had been disagreeing 07:23 about several things like couples usually do. 07:26 And I went off to work. 07:29 And I was praying to the Lord and I kept talking to the Lord 07:31 all through the day about what was going on 07:35 in the household between my wife and myself. 07:38 And I couldn't get into my studies 07:40 the way I needed to. 07:42 I was feeling like there's a separation 07:44 between me and the Lord. 07:45 And I'd asked the Lord, I says, I need your help. 07:48 Somewhere along the line, 07:49 I got to cross over one way or the other. 07:52 So I went on to work, did my thing at work, 07:55 stopped off at the P.O box, 07:56 picked up my mail, came to the house. 07:59 And when I walked through the door, 08:01 I noticed something was not right about the house. 08:04 And I looked where I would have put the mail on this table 08:07 and it was gone. 08:09 Well, that table 08:10 is the one thing that my wife's treasure. 08:12 So that being gone made me feel like, 08:15 okay, something's not right. 08:17 So first thing I did is, I went to the closet 08:19 and her clothes were gone. 08:20 So my wife had left me and I was sitting at the couch 08:25 and I looked over at where the mail was 08:27 and I went ahead and picked up the mail. 08:30 On top was an envelope 08:31 that just said "Grand Prairie, Texas." 08:34 And it had my name on it, addressed to me. 08:37 And so I went ahead and opened it. 08:39 And inside of it was an invitation 08:42 to the Revelation of Hope seminar 08:45 that was given by the youth. 08:48 I've been watching Amazing Facts for three years, 08:52 watching Doug Batchelor on TV, 08:54 getting a little bit about 08:56 what was going on in keeping the Sabbath. 09:00 So I prayed a little bit about it to the Lord, 09:02 and He revealed to me that I needed to go. 09:05 And I kind of tried to find an excuse why I shouldn't go. 09:08 But I've been actually praying for this for quite a while. 09:12 So I went, and by doing so, God has healed just not myself, 09:18 but He also brought my wife back to where we're talking. 09:22 And I'm sharing with her what I learned from the seminar 09:25 and everything is coming together. 09:29 God has a purpose for everything. 09:30 Amen. 09:32 Amen. 09:37 And tell us what happened this last past Tuesday evening? 09:43 Well, this past Tuesday evening, 09:44 I went ahead and took the big step. 09:47 And went ahead and I was baptized 09:49 along with 3,000 other people 09:51 that had attended the Revelation of Hope seminar. 09:55 Thank you so much. Charles. 10:02 As you can see, 10:04 this youth program is not just for the youth, 10:07 but it's for the church, it's for the community, 10:10 and it's for the communities 10:11 all over where the youth come from. 10:13 And I just wanted to tell you that we had 41 youth 10:16 from 14 states and 5 countries, representing 5 countries. 10:21 And so it's an international effort. 10:23 And all this is possible 10:24 because you as an ASI family believe in your youth, 10:28 you believe that they're not the church of tomorrow, 10:31 they are an integral part of church of today 10:34 that they are important in the finishing of this work. 10:38 And so... 10:42 And I just want to give you a report 10:46 on the results of these meetings. 10:50 With the 9 sites, 10:51 thus far we have had 111 baptisms. 10:57 There is another 21 scheduled 11:00 for tomorrow's services at the various churches. 11:04 And there are several dozen more 11:08 who are being cleared to be baptized. 11:12 There, you know, there's always the issues 11:13 about marriage and addictions 11:16 and things like that we have to go through. 11:17 And one interesting thing is at one of the Spanish sites, 11:21 a pastor was taking a whole van load of people 11:24 to the courthouse, so that they can be married, 11:27 so they can be baptized. 11:29 And... 11:34 So we do everything through Jesus. 11:37 In fact, one couple at a church wanted to have a wedding. 11:41 They didn't want to just go down to the courthouse, 11:44 but they wanted to be baptized Tuesday night very badly. 11:47 And so we threw them a wedding. 11:48 And it was with a four-hour notice and, 11:53 you know, God can do miracles. 11:58 Now, one thing that I wanted 12:01 to really challenge you with as ASI church family, 12:07 in your communities, in your churches, 12:09 there are so many youth. 12:11 And we keep talking about 12:13 how we can keep the youth engaged, 12:15 how we can keep the youth motivated, 12:18 how we can get the youth excited about this message. 12:22 And I just want to tell you the simple gospel message 12:26 of Jesus Christ is what they need. 12:29 They don't need rock music, they don't need entertainment, 12:35 they need to be put to work, 12:38 so I just want to encourage you. 12:48 You know, our motto at ASI Youth for Jesus 12:50 is what you win people with is what you win people to. 12:55 So if you win people 12:57 with the simple message of the gospel 12:58 of the prophecies found in the Bible, 13:00 what they need to do to prepare, 13:03 presented by youth 13:05 who study and who become inspired by the Holy Spirit. 13:10 They can convince people with PhDs 13:13 that this is God's remnant church. 13:17 And so I just want to challenge you 13:19 to go back to your communities and your churches, 13:23 and use your youth. 13:25 They want to be used. 13:27 It's not that they can't do it, 13:29 they want to do it and they can do it 13:31 as you have seen tonight. 13:32 And so I just want to thank you for supporting this project 13:36 and for supporting your ASI youth. 13:38 And we just hope that you continue to support it. 13:42 And tomorrow morning, 13:44 I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit, 13:46 but tomorrow morning, part of the offering 13:48 for tomorrow morning is for ASI Youth for Jesus. 13:50 And this is the result of your generosity. 13:53 And I just want to thank you so much from all the youth 13:55 from the churches, from the community. 13:58 Thank you very much. 14:08 The song that we're gonna sing today 14:10 is entitled to "Jehovah, Lord of Heavens." 14:12 And it just about, it says, "Your name is glorious, 14:14 King of the Universe, and Redeemer of man, 14:18 the rain that falls through the trees 14:19 and the rushing sound of angel's wings, 14:21 proclaim of your beauties and your glories, 14:24 and your riches. 14:26 I am weak Lord and blind 14:27 way down with iniquity and sinful desires." 14:31 And basically it talks about how we want His help 14:36 because only with Him we can be redeemed, right? 18:07 Edwin and Maribel Martin have become a part 18:12 or are a part of that generation 18:15 that is generally understood as the greatest generation, 18:18 the generation that went through 18:20 the Great Depression and World War II. 18:25 Their lives have been lives 18:27 that have been filled with service. 18:30 Edwin was born into a Seventh-day Adventist 18:33 ministerial family pioneers in self-supporting work, 18:38 involved in the foundation and starting up of Wildwood. 18:43 Edwin made that his life goal in his life work. 18:47 Maribel was a nurse trained at Madison 18:53 and they served for years in a self-supporting work 18:58 in during poverty 18:59 and all the sacrifice that that involves. 19:03 There came a time when they went into business. 19:07 And then going into business, they prospered and did well. 19:11 And at one time, he was honored 19:14 as the National Nursing Home Administrator 19:19 in all of the United States. 19:22 Edwin and Maribel have seen poverty 19:25 and they have seen prosperity. 19:27 They never forgot where they came from. 19:30 And they have been tireless helpers, 19:33 encouragers, and servants of this organization. 19:41 One of the most exciting parts about ASI 19:44 is meeting friends and family, 19:47 and I say that because ASI becomes a family. 19:51 And one of the most dear couples 19:52 that I've ever had the privilege 19:54 of getting to know has been Edwin and Maribel. 19:57 We have traveled around the world. 19:59 We have been involved in board meetings and meetings 20:02 and learning from Edwin, like, I could tell you many stories. 20:07 But Edwin, I can't tell you enough to thank you enough 20:12 for all that you have taught us 20:14 and the privilege that I have of working with you 20:16 these last 18 years. 20:19 And I just want to let you all know 20:21 that we are very deeply blessed to know you. 20:25 And only when we get to heaven 20:27 will we know the results of your efforts. 20:30 There's a lot of people 20:33 who only do good works if it can be counted. 20:38 Edwin and Maribel do good works 20:41 in such extraordinary ways 20:44 without many people ever knowing. 20:47 And one of the recognitions that this organization has 20:52 for Edwin and Maribel Martin is they have been voted 20:55 by your board to be honorary members. 20:59 And this doesn't happen often. 21:02 No, it doesn't. 21:04 Edwin and Maribel, we'd like to present you 21:06 with this small token of our appreciation 21:09 for the years of dedication to the ASI family. 21:28 I'm gonna have a hard time saying what I'd like to say. 21:33 Maribel and I were married 21:35 about 100 miles from here in 1944. 21:40 After I got out of the army, 21:41 we went back and started to work with my parents, 21:44 who ran one of the little units of Madison. 21:47 And over 50 years ago, we started going to ASI. 21:54 What a blessing it's been to us. 21:59 We have made so many friends 22:01 and Lord has been so good to us. 22:04 And we want to thank all of you 22:05 all for being here tonight and for this 22:08 privilege of having standing up here before you. 22:11 God bless you. 22:27 Our speaker this evening was a hard rock 22:32 deep underground miner in Canada for nine years. 22:38 Reared a Roman Catholic, 22:41 but was a searcher. 22:43 His search took about two years and he was baptized 22:47 into the Seventh-day Adventist Church 22:50 and then terminated his mining career 22:57 at a time of personal prosperity, 22:59 owning a nice home three years from being paid for a new car, 23:03 three children, 23:06 but he had the call of God to come into ministry. 23:11 He went to Woodland Park. 23:15 He went to Fountainview and taught Bible for two years. 23:21 And then he went to Africa and lead out in the program 23:26 at Riverside Farm in Africa for a long time. 23:30 In fact, their son is still there. 23:33 And his wife operates 23:36 marvelous service for AIDS 23:40 surviving children in Tanzania now. 23:45 Frank Fournier, he came back from Africa about 10 years ago 23:49 and served as the vice president 23:50 of Outpost Centers. 23:52 And three years ago has become the president 23:56 of Eden Valley Institute in Colorado. 24:01 He's a student of the Word. 24:04 He's a capable administrator, and a friend, and counselor. 24:09 And may God bless what he says to us this evening. 24:13 Thank you. 24:24 Good evening, everyone. 24:27 I feel a little shy coming up here. 24:31 I came here a few days ago with a sermon all ready to go 24:36 and prepared and when I began to look at it in preparation 24:40 for this evening, I threw it away. 24:42 It just wasn't jelling. 24:45 So then I prepared another one and after I was all done 24:48 with that one I threw it away. 24:50 And I prepared another one and about 10 minutes ago, 24:53 if I had had a chance, I would have thrown it away. 24:59 Sometimes it happens that way. I'm going to... 25:02 And because of this, 25:03 I'm going to invite you to bow your heads with me, 25:06 I really do need to pray. 25:09 Heavenly Father, we're grateful to be here. 25:11 And to me, it's a tremendous honor 25:13 to be standing before these people. 25:15 It's a blessing, but, Father, 25:16 it's pointless unless You have something to say. 25:19 And so we're going to ask You now by Your Holy Spirit 25:22 to open my mind and heart 25:24 and to open the hearts and minds 25:26 of all those who are here listening. 25:28 We've got to hear from You. 25:30 And I've never been in this position before, 25:32 but I thank You for the experience knowing 25:34 that You have something to say, 25:36 and we thank You for it in Jesus' name. 25:39 Amen. 25:41 I'm going to invite you to turn with me 25:43 to 2 Corinthians Chapter 5. 25:46 I promise that I will talk to you 25:48 if you looked at your bulletin, 25:49 you know that the topic 25:51 is going to be conflicting realities. 25:55 It occurred to me a few years ago 25:58 that we have the power to create our own reality. 26:02 Now isn't that a wonderful thing? 26:05 If you had the power to create your own reality, 26:07 what kind of reality would you create? 26:10 Well, there's a lot of us, I think that would be changing 26:12 our present reality anyway. 26:14 There's no doubt in my mind. 26:16 But I think also that 26:18 if we were really given that opportunity, 26:22 we probably would make a lot of mistakes. 26:24 And so God, Jesus Himself has decided 26:27 that He would create a reality for us. 26:31 As you know, Jesus entered into the Most Holy place 26:35 more than 160 years ago. 26:37 Do you know what Jesus is doing 26:39 in the Most Holy place of the sanctuary? 26:42 Now I suppose and I don't know, maybe there's someone here 26:45 who haven't even heard 26:46 that there is such a thing as a sanctuary to heaven. 26:48 And I know that there are some controversies 26:50 over this issue. 26:51 Some people even teach that it isn't so, 26:54 ah, but friends it is so. 26:57 It's in the scriptures, it's in the Bible. 27:00 And when Jesus entered into the Most Holy place, 27:02 He went in there with a great intention. 27:04 He knew what He was doing. 27:06 He was going to purify to Himself at people. 27:10 And once His people were purified, 27:13 then He could pour out upon them 27:14 His Holy Spirit in latter rain power, 27:17 and then He could send them 27:19 to give a loud cry in this world, 27:21 the very last warning 27:22 that's supposed to be given to this world. 27:28 Hundred and sixty years ago... 27:34 and God's people have not believed 27:37 that this could happen. 27:40 I began teaching not very long ago at Eden Valley, 27:43 where I'm president, 27:45 a series of meetings on the Book of Revelation. 27:48 And I centered in on what I believed 27:50 was the central issue of the Book of Revelation 27:53 and that to me is the ceiling message. 27:56 Do you know that God cannot pour out upon us? 27:59 Well, in Revelation Chapter 7 there, 28:02 it says that the four angels are holding back 28:05 the four winds of strife 28:06 until God's people are sealed in their foreheads 28:08 with the Seal of the Living God. 28:14 Do you know that God is holding 28:16 more than just the four winds of strife? 28:20 Do you know that everything else is on hold 28:23 because God's people are not being sealed? 28:26 We're waiting for the latter rain. 28:27 I think as a people, we haven't prayed 28:29 for anything more than 28:30 we've prayed for the latter rain. 28:32 We want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 28:34 We'd love to have power. 28:35 We'd love to be able to work miracles, wouldn't we? 28:41 But Jesus can't do it. 28:43 He can't pour out upon us His Holy Spirit 28:46 until we are sealed with a Seal of the Living God. 28:49 We wish because we see 28:51 that the verses in Revelation 18:1 28:54 that the whole world will be lightened 28:56 with the glory of God's character. 28:59 And we wish that that time would come. 29:01 Do you know that God can't give us that power 29:05 because we haven't received His character? 29:07 That's what this ceiling is all about. 29:09 If you go to Revelation Chapter 14, 29:11 it talks about taking the name of the Father in our foreheads, 29:15 receiving the character of God 29:17 until He can present us faultless 29:20 before the throne of His glory. 29:22 And when that time should come, 29:25 then we're going to be used by heaven 29:28 to enlighten the whole world with the glory of God. 29:31 What a blessed time that will be. 29:33 But it's on hold. 29:36 It's on hold because we haven't believed 29:38 what Jesus is doing 29:40 or we don't know what Jesus is doing in the Most Holy place 29:43 of the sanctuary. 29:45 Ellen White says it very, very clearly 29:48 that we cannot exercise all right faith 29:51 until we know what He's doing there 29:53 and understand what He's doing there 29:55 in the investigative judgment. 30:01 We can't warn Babylon. 30:03 We can't give the last warning. 30:06 We can't say come out of her, my people, 30:08 until we ourselves have come out. 30:12 Or until Babylon has been taken out of us. 30:15 Do we understand that? 30:17 Oh, friends, it's so true. 30:19 And this is the reality that Jesus would like to create 30:23 for you and me. 30:25 Wouldn't it be a blessed reality? 30:27 Wouldn't you like to live in that reality? 30:31 But, friends, we can 30:32 and we might have done it a long time ago 30:34 if by faith we had laid hold on what Jesus has promised to do. 30:40 If we believe the Word of God 30:42 and if we cooperated with what it says, 30:44 we would have gone home long air this. 30:50 There's an illustration in the Bible. 30:54 It's a classic illustration of two realities in conflict. 31:00 When Moses got to the borders of Canaan land the first time, 31:05 God had said that he should go in there and take the land. 31:10 Now they decided and... 31:12 I haven't read the passage just lately, 31:17 but they decided that they should send 31:18 12 spies to look, 31:20 to evaluate the land before they decide to go in. 31:23 Now I can't imagine 31:25 why in the world they would send 12 spies? 31:27 The Word of God, Jesus, God Himself said to Moses, 31:30 "Go in and take the land." 31:32 Why send 12 spies? 31:33 But I kind of think that the Bible says, 31:34 it's God who decided 31:36 that they should send 12 spies in there. 31:37 Do you know why? 31:39 He needed to test their faith. 31:42 I think He knew His people. 31:44 And so He sent them a test. 31:46 And if they pass the test, they go in, you see. 31:48 So the 12 spies went into the land of Canaan, 31:51 they spent 40 days and then they came out. 31:54 And the passage says that 10 of the 12 spies 31:58 gave an evil report. 32:01 Now it'd be interesting to me to look at this word evil 32:05 and to study it for a while 32:06 because you wonder sometimes just exactly 32:08 what the Bible means by this word evil. 32:12 The 10 spies when they came back 32:14 and gave a report were to some degree anyway, 32:17 fairly honest in what they were saying. 32:22 When they were there, they said that 32:23 they saw giants in the land. 32:25 Did they see giants in the land? 32:28 Oh, yeah, there were giants in the land. 32:29 That was reality for them. 32:32 When they were there, they saw Jericho and they saw 32:34 that the walls were exceeding high 32:35 and they were very thick. 32:37 And they were wondering to themselves, 32:39 how in the world are we going to scale these walls? 32:43 How in the world are we going to take these walls down? 32:47 So they reported high walls. 32:49 It was a reality, wasn't it? 32:54 And then they said, 32:55 these guys have chariots with advanced technology. 32:59 They're iron chariots. 33:00 Were there iron chariots there? 33:02 Oh, yeah, there were iron chariots. 33:04 And so when it was all said and done 33:06 and they compared themselves with what they were facing, 33:09 they saw themselves as grasshoppers in their sight. 33:15 Now all that was a present reality 33:17 to those folks. 33:19 And, friends, accepting that reality 33:22 it led them to have to accept another reality. 33:25 And that was that it was impossible 33:27 for them in any ways to take that land. 33:31 If they only went by their senses 33:35 and so they had to look at these things and say, 33:37 are we going to send grasshoppers 33:39 against giants with iron chariots? 33:42 It doesn't make any sense 33:44 and they were only being realistic. 33:49 Now at the same time, 33:50 we know that there were two other men there 33:52 by the name of Caleb and Joshua, 33:54 and they saw another reality. 33:56 Now it's amazing to me 33:58 because they went in with the 12... 34:00 As part of the 12 spies also, 34:02 they saw all the same things that the other 10 guys saw. 34:07 And they came back with a report that said, 34:10 we are well able to take the land. 34:15 Now, friends, did they see the same things? 34:18 Yeah, they saw the same things. 34:20 How is it that they could say to themselves, 34:23 we are well able to take the land 34:25 while 10 of them thought 34:26 that they were not able to take the land? 34:31 And on what did they base their conclusion? 34:33 Now we're in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5, 34:36 and I would like to invite you now to look at verse 7, 34:39 because we're looking at two realities here. 34:43 In verse 7, it says, "For we, that is Christians, 34:46 Christians walk by faith and not by," what? 34:52 "By sight." 34:53 Now what's wrong with sight? 34:56 Friends, I'd hate to lose my sight, wouldn't you? 34:59 And God never intended that we should lose our eyes. 35:02 He would like us to use our eyes and to see 35:04 what is there to be seen, 35:06 but He means something by what He says here. 35:08 And we can see the explanation of it 35:11 in 2 Corinthians Chapter 4, 35:14 you just look at the previous chapter 35:16 in verse 18. 35:17 And if you start with the third word 35:19 at least in the King James Version, 35:22 it says, "Look not at the things that are seen." 35:25 Amazing thing. 35:26 God has given us eyes. 35:29 And then He says, I don't want you to look 35:30 at this stuff you can see. 35:33 Amazing, huh? 35:35 "Look not at the things that are seen, 35:37 but at the things that are not seen." 35:39 Why? 35:40 "Because the things that are seen are temporal, 35:42 but the things that are not seen 35:44 these things are eternal." 35:50 Now if you look back at verse 7 of Chapter 5, 35:52 it says, walk not by faith... 35:54 "Walk by faith, but not by sight." 35:57 You know, this word sight 35:58 could be translated senses also. 36:01 He just used the sight as one of them. 36:05 In Isaiah 11:3 it's talking about Jesus there. 36:10 And it says 36:11 that He did not judge by the seeing of the eyes 36:13 nor did He judged by the hearing of the ears, 36:15 but He judged righteously. 36:18 Do you know why He was able to judge righteously 36:21 and that He did not use His eyes or His ears? 36:24 Because as a human being, He was just like us. 36:28 We can be deceived. 36:31 And so by faith, 36:32 He was able to lay hold upon His Father. 36:35 And His Father was able to direct Him step by step, 36:38 point by point in His life. 36:40 And it's amazing to me. 36:42 And I wish that I had that experience, wouldn't you? 36:45 Oh, what a blessing it would be. 36:48 When we come into some problems with different individuals, 36:53 and all that we've got is what we've heard, 36:55 and all that we've got is what we can see. 36:57 And we could send up a prayer and Jesus and God 37:01 would just communicate with us and say, "This is the reality." 37:05 What a blessing it would be to be able to deal with reality 37:08 in a case like... 37:09 And that's how it was with Jesus. 37:11 He was so connected with His Father. 37:16 That in every circumstance His Father could tell Him 37:19 just what reality was. 37:20 He did not lean on His hearing, He did not lean on His sight, 37:24 He did not lean on His senses, He walked by faith. 37:31 And that's a different reality than we know today, 37:34 you and I probably. 37:40 The Bible doesn't say 37:42 that the things that we see are not real. 37:46 But the Bible says that the things that we see 37:48 are temporary, they're short lived, 37:50 they're limited in this present evil world. 37:53 But when God says something, it's eternal. 37:57 Even though it might be invisible, 37:59 it's eternal. 38:02 And Jesus is in the Most Holy place. 38:04 And He's trying to speak to each one of us. 38:06 He's trying to say, here's what I'm doing, 38:08 and I want you to cooperate with Me, 38:10 and I am able to save you to the uttermost. 38:13 Do you know how much saving that is? 38:16 What does the word uttermost means? 38:20 He can do it. 38:21 He can keep us from falling. 38:23 What an experience we would have 38:25 if we would believe the Word of God? 38:27 What an experience we might have? 38:30 You know, the Bible says in Hebrews Chapter 11 38:34 that Moses endured seeing him who is invisible. 38:40 Now did Moses have to endure very much? 38:44 Friends, he lived in the world just like we have to live in. 38:47 Only he had opportunities that many, 38:49 most of, all of us probably will never be subject to, 38:53 will never be have the opportunity that he had. 38:57 He could have been the king of Egypt, 38:58 the Pharaoh of Egypt. 39:00 And he rejected all of that, refusing all of that, 39:02 so that he could be part with God's children. 39:06 And then he had to endure, 39:07 not only the loss of all this wealth, 39:09 and of all this prestige, and of all this power, 39:13 but then he had to deal with 39:14 a million or 2 million people 39:16 who were stiff necked according to the Bible. 39:19 And he endured a lot of things. 39:21 But the reason that he endured 39:22 is because he saw him that is invisible. 39:28 There's a visible reality 39:31 and there is an invisible reality. 39:35 And the Bible says that Christian live 39:37 in the invisible reality rather than in the visible. 39:42 And if we were able to live there, 39:44 oh, what power we would have? 39:46 Yeah. 39:47 So have you seen Jesus though He's invisible? 39:52 Two of the 12 spies saw Jesus, they saw Him. 39:57 They saw all the obstacles too. 40:01 But they refused to credit their eyes, 40:06 they refused to credit their ears, 40:10 they refused to take in all other senses we're saying 40:15 and to accept that what Jesus says is true, 40:18 and they decided to go with that. 40:20 Now what about you and me? 40:22 Are we able to credit the Bible? 40:26 Are we able to take God's word for what it says 40:29 and decide that we're going to run? 40:30 We're going to go with it, 40:32 even though there is obstacles in every direction. 40:38 My wife went to Africa some three years ago. 40:44 We had some friends who had told us about Africa. 40:46 Well, one place in Africa, we spent 10 years in Africa 40:49 and we had a friend there. 40:51 And he was a fairly old man and he had gone away 40:54 from his village some 30 years or so. 40:56 And he was anxious that someone would go work in his village 41:00 because the Adventist Church wasn't established there yet. 41:04 So he after much coaxing, he got my wife 41:08 and I to go to his village with him 41:10 and to see what was going on there. 41:12 And we were impressed to some degree that the need 41:14 was there and we would give him some money 41:16 to do an evangelistic series, 41:18 to hire Bible worker this kind of thing, 41:20 and we would come back home. 41:22 And he would continue to hound us. 41:23 And at one point, he began to tell us 41:25 that there were at that time he said, 41:27 there were 26,000 orphans in this area. 41:31 Now I don't know where in the world 41:32 he got his statistics. 41:34 But today, they're saying they're 40,000 orphans 41:36 in that area. 41:38 And it began to touch my wife's heart, 41:40 and she began to feel like 41:42 she needed to go to Africa to do something. 41:45 My friends, I want to tell you, 41:46 she faced all kinds of obstacles 41:49 going to Africa to do something. 41:52 The obstacles were amazing. 41:54 She couldn't even get a foothold, 41:55 a toll into Tanzania to be able to stay there herself. 41:59 She could go in as a visitor, but there is no way 42:02 that she could get a work visa 42:04 because she was sponsored by no one. 42:07 But we knew some folks at the division, 42:08 so we went to the division and they said, 42:10 "Yes, we will help you." 42:11 But they didn't. They couldn't. 42:14 So we went to the union. 42:15 And they said, "Yes, we'll help you." 42:17 But they didn't. 42:19 They couldn't. 42:20 They began to look at the liability issues. 42:23 And, ah, this is a big risk, and we can't do that. 42:25 So we talked to ADRA about it and they wanted too, 42:28 but they couldn't either. 42:29 And we have our own work there and they were skeptical. 42:32 They were wondering whether it would be the right thing to do 42:35 or if something happened in the project, 42:37 they might be saddled with something 42:39 that they didn't want, and they were afraid to do it. 42:42 And she just couldn't get anywhere. 42:47 She got to get a work permit, 42:48 she had to form a non-governmental organization, 42:52 she had to get all her tax exemptions, 42:54 she had to deal with all kinds of corruption 42:57 at every stage of the game. 43:00 And I remember, she would come back to America, 43:02 she'd come back to Eden Valley. 43:04 And when she'd come back, I'd have her speak to, 43:06 you know, to the family, and tell us, 43:08 give us a report on how things are going. 43:10 And she could just list 43:11 all the obstacles she was facing. 43:13 And it was taking months and months. 43:15 It actually took two years to get a lot of this done. 43:19 But she would come and she would list 43:20 all of this and then she would say, 43:22 all of this is just paper dragons. 43:24 They're lions without teeth. 43:29 God wants me to do this and He's going to open the way 43:32 and I'm not afraid of this thing. 43:34 And she would go back in and she would just go forward. 43:38 Now tell me something, were these obstacles 43:41 that she was facing were they real 43:44 or were they just there in appearance? 43:47 Friends, now listen, they were real. 43:51 They were real. 43:53 Turn with me to Hebrews Chapter 11. 43:58 Hebrews Chapter 11. 44:04 And we look at verse 3, 44:08 "Through faith we understand 44:10 that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, 44:14 so that things which are seen 44:16 were not made of things which do appear." 44:19 Do you see many things today? 44:22 What were they made of? 44:24 My friends, they were made of nothing. 44:27 And do you know that if you had a clock 44:29 and you could turn it back in time, 44:31 and you could go with the clock 44:33 that as you turn the clock backwards 44:35 everything would begin to disappear around you? 44:38 Until you could come to the place 44:40 where there would be absolutely nothing left. 44:42 It would all be gone because it was all made of nothing. 44:44 And do you know that in the future 44:46 there comes a time when God is going to burn everything up 44:49 and there will be nothing left 44:50 of that which you can see today? 44:53 That's the truth. 44:54 There's going to be a new heaven 44:55 and there's going to be a new earth. 44:58 And we're living here in the reality 45:00 that is here only in appearance though it's real. 45:05 Yeah. Now look at verse 1. 45:09 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 45:13 the evidence of things not seen." 45:17 There's something interesting about that verse. 45:19 As a matter of fact, 45:20 it's not translated just correctly quite. 45:24 The word substance here is passive in the verse, 45:28 but it was never passive in the Greek. 45:31 It's an active word. 45:32 It's the verb in this passage, 45:36 so it should read this way. 45:37 Now faith substantiates the things hoped for, 45:43 it substantiates the things not seen. 45:45 Do you know what it means to substantiate something? 45:51 Faith makes real. 45:53 Faith makes tangible a thing that you cannot see. 45:58 Now that's what I want... 46:00 really. 46:03 In Prophets and Kings, 46:06 page 594, paragraph 3. 46:10 It says, "Throughout the history of God's people, 46:13 great mountains of difficulty, 46:16 apparently insurmountable have loomed up 46:19 before those who were trying to carry out 46:21 the purposes of heaven." 46:23 Now listen, how often does this happen? 46:25 Well, the quotation here says, 46:29 throughout history it has happened. 46:31 Now what do you think 46:33 it's going to be like in the future? 46:35 If throughout history 46:37 God's people who have attempted to do anything 46:39 have been accosted with nothing but obstacles, 46:42 I cannot believe for a moment 46:44 that we will have anything different in the future. 46:46 It's going to be that way. 46:49 Have you tried to do something for Jesus? 46:53 Have you tried to do something for the Lord 46:55 and you've had no obstacles 46:56 to face the thing just opens up? 46:58 Why friends, it doesn't happen. 47:00 And if it happens, it isn't probably from God. 47:06 Now watch, 47:07 this is the rest of the quotation. 47:10 Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord. 47:14 Notice, who permits them? 47:16 "Such obstacles are permitted 47:18 by the Lord as a test of faith." 47:24 There is nothing that can make you grow faster. 47:28 There is nothing to help us in our spiritual walk 47:32 than for us to get involved in doing something 47:34 for the Lord right from the beginning. 47:37 Now if you didn't start at the beginning, start now. 47:39 Let's make today the beginning. 47:43 You want to grow spiritually, go to work for Jesus. 47:47 But, friends, Jesus has this thing in His control. 47:51 And as soon as you go to work for Him, 47:53 He's going to allow enough obstacles to be 47:56 in your path so that your faith can grow. 47:59 But you'll not be tested above that which you are able. 48:02 That's the blessing of the whole thing. 48:05 Nothing shall by any means hurt you, 48:07 have you ever read that verse? 48:08 That's in Luke 10:19. 48:11 "Nothing shall by any means hurt you. 48:13 All things work together for good to them 48:15 that love the Lord." 48:16 Do you love the Lord? 48:18 Do you love Him enough to go to work for Him, 48:21 to do something on His behalf? 48:24 Well, if you do, I can promise you today 48:28 because the promise is not mine, it's His. 48:30 Nothing shall by any means hurt you. 48:33 What a tremendous blessing that is. 48:37 And we can believe it, 48:39 but there are going to be obstacles. 48:41 Now I'm reading. I'm supposed to be... 48:42 I just almost shot off into another sermon. 48:46 Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord as a test of faith, 48:49 we need that. 48:51 It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power. 48:54 Oh, friends, 48:57 Jesus wants us to be a conquering power. 49:00 Don't sit at home doing nothing. 49:02 I don't care who you are. 49:05 Tell the world, tell them now. 49:08 You see? 49:11 It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power 49:14 before the demand of faith the obstacles placed by Satan 49:19 across the pathway of the Christian 49:21 will disappear. 49:25 Have you ever seen real things disappear? 49:29 But that's the promise. 49:32 Because they're made of nothing. 49:38 Lions without teeth, 49:40 dragons without fire, you see. 49:45 And that's the promise. 49:46 And then it says, 49:47 "Nothing shall be impossible on to you." 49:52 Wow! 49:54 Did you know that nothing was impossible to you? 49:59 If you really believe 50:00 that nothing was impossible to you. 50:02 That's what it says. 50:04 That's Matthew 17:20 by the way. 50:07 If you knew that nothing was impossible to you, 50:09 what would you attempt? 50:11 Would you attempt nothing? 50:15 Friends, you can create your own reality. 50:19 You can have a life of usefulness. 50:23 You can have spiritual growth unprecedented, 50:28 especially in the realm of reflecting Jesus' character. 50:32 Oh, nothing is more important to us. 50:36 The Bible says, Matthew 19:26, 50:38 "With God, all things are possible." 50:43 Do you know that in Mark 9:23, it says, 50:46 "All things are possible to them that believe." 50:50 Friends, we need to have faith. 50:53 But faith doesn't do anything. 50:55 Faith only lays hold upon what God can do 50:58 and God can do the impossible. 51:00 And He says, nothing is impossible to you 51:03 because I give Myself to you. 51:06 "All power in heaven and earth is given unto Me," 51:08 Jesus said, Matthew 28:18. 51:12 And he said that as our representative, 51:15 we have the right to go out there and do whatever 51:18 the Lord puts on our hearts to do. 51:21 And we will not fail though the obstacles be overwhelming. 51:26 Now, did all the obstacles disappear for my wife? 51:29 I was telling you a little story a minute ago. 51:31 Friends, they did all disappear. 51:34 She's got her work permit, she created an NGO, 51:36 she got all her tax exemption, 51:38 she's taking care of 800 orphans today. 51:42 She has a sewing school, she has a carpentry school, 51:44 she has a language school, she has a nursery school. 51:47 She has several Bible workers working for her. 51:50 And this year, about seven Americans 51:51 including two doctors joined her 51:53 to help her in reaching out to all of these people. 51:56 They're doing a tremendous work out there. 52:00 There was a time we thought 52:01 it would never even get off the ground. 52:05 If the Lord put something on your heart, go for it. 52:09 Now the thing that He needs to put on your heart, however 52:15 is that you reflect the image of Jesus fully. 52:19 That's the thing that we need. 52:21 You know, we can do a lot of power, a lot of work. 52:24 We can accomplish a lot of things. 52:26 But, friends, if we don't have the character of Jesus Christ, 52:29 we're going to accomplish a lot of things 52:31 and people are going to look at us 52:32 and they're going to well, 52:34 you know, go tell them it says. 52:39 It says, "Go tell them now." 52:41 And I really appreciate that. 52:43 ASI has been able to inject into this thing, 52:46 a feeling of urgency. 52:48 It's time to go tell them now. 52:49 But I'd like to ask you a question. 52:51 Go tell them what? 52:55 We have a gospel that is more powerful 52:59 than any other gospel that's being preached 53:01 in the whole world. 53:04 We have a gospel in the light 53:06 of the sanctuary 53:07 and of the work that Jesus is doing 53:09 in the Most Holy place of the sanctuary. 53:12 And so we can go down the street 53:13 and we can preach the gospel. 53:15 But, friends, the people are going to look at us and say, 53:17 how can you preach a gospel? 53:19 How can you tell me 53:20 that we need more than the justifying righteousness 53:25 of Jesus Christ that we need to be sanctified fully? 53:27 We want to see this in your life. 53:34 Do they see it in our lives? 53:37 They need to see it in our lives. 53:40 I would like to be able 53:41 to go out there and tell the world. 53:46 But, friends, I want to be able to tell them the full gospel. 53:50 And in order to be able to tell them the full gospel, 53:52 I need to be able to adopt the full gospel in my own life. 53:55 They need to be able to say that the gospel 53:57 that I'm preaching to them is the gospel 54:00 that will give them the power 54:02 that they need also to reflect the image of Jesus fully. 54:05 This is what's going to happen. 54:08 Can you believe that? 54:10 Friends, we need to believe it. 54:12 The time is so short. 54:15 The time is so short. 54:20 And I don't know, 54:22 you know, we have quite a crowd here this evening. 54:25 I don't know how many of you, how many of us, 54:28 the Lord is going to be able to pick out and say, 54:31 "I'm going to seal that individual. 54:33 I'm going to settle him to the truth, 54:35 both intellectually and spiritually. 54:37 I'm going to be able to pour out 54:39 my Holy Spirit upon him." 54:41 No doubt there are some of us here, don't you think so? 54:44 Oh, friends, as Pastor Pippin said the other night, 54:47 this is the cream of the crop, 54:49 la creme de la creme we would say in Canada. 54:51 Yeah, the best. 54:53 Well, friends, if this is the best 54:56 that we can expect 54:58 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, can't we? 55:02 But it will be only 55:06 if we will believe in the Word of God. 55:11 It will be only as we take the Word of God to our hearts. 55:16 It will be only as we walk in harmony 55:19 with what is written therein. 55:21 As we create this reality by simply receiving God's Word 55:26 or by unbelief we can create another reality, 55:29 like the 12 spies did. 55:32 And so we can take our time and say, 55:34 "Well, what you're asking is too much. 55:36 They're giants in the land." 55:39 My sins are bigger than I can understand, 55:41 and I can't deal with them. 55:42 It's true, friends. 55:44 You can't deal with them, but Jesus can deal with them. 55:47 And He has promised to save us to the uttermost. 55:53 He can do it. 55:55 Believe Him. 55:57 Don't look at the things that are seen, 55:59 but look at the things that are not seen, 56:02 the things that are eternal. 56:05 This is what we want. 56:06 This is why we come together, isn't it? 56:09 Oh, yes. 56:10 How many of you would like to be able to say to Jesus, 56:13 "Lord, I want to participate in this." 56:15 Can I see your hands? 56:17 Just raise your hand where you are. 56:18 Thank you for so doing. 56:20 God bless you. 56:22 And may the Lord follow you wherever you go. 56:24 May He bless, continue to bless the rest of this little time 56:28 that we have together, 56:29 but take into consideration the greater reality. 56:33 Thank you. 56:44 I'd like to invite you to stand with me 56:46 as we close in prayer. 56:53 Dear Lord, I want to thank You for sending Your Spirit 56:56 to be with us this evening. 56:58 Thank You for the beautiful stories 57:00 and testimonies we heard from the youth. 57:02 It was very heartwarming, Dear Lord, 57:04 but I pray that it will be more than 57:07 just heartwarming to us that it will change our lives. 57:11 Lord, I thank You for Frank 57:14 and the words that You spoke through him this evening. 57:17 Please, Lord, come into our hearts. 57:19 Help us to be able to see You 57:23 as we continue through this Sabbath day. 57:26 We just thank You, Lord, we praise You for Your love. 57:30 This is our prayer in Thy name. 57:31 Amen. |
Revised 2020-02-10