Welcome to the 3ABN
worship center here in beautiful
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downtown Thompsonville,
Illinois where 3ABN is
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broadcasting our
annual Week of Prayer.
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There may be a lot of you out
there that would like to send in
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prayer requests, because
this is a Week of Prayer.
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And you may also have questions.
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And we have an e-mail address.
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It's prayer@3abn. org.
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And you can send
those questions in.
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You can e-mail your prayer
requests, and we will respond
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to those at the Pastoral
Department as soon as possible.
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Also, we have a staff pastor at
the Production Center tonight.
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If you would like to call in for
prayer that pastor, Pastor Jim,
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will be there and he
will be glad to pray with you.
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The number is 627-4651.
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And when the recording comes on
just press 1, and it will take
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you directly to the Pastoral
Department, and a pastor
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will pray with you there.
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We have an exciting message
tonight; an exciting speaker.
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My friend, Pastor Elder Jim
Gilley, President of 3ABN is
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our speaker for tonight.
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And his sermon title is, Heart
and Soil, What Are You Made Of?
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But first Week of Prayer, what
would it be if we did not pray?
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So what I've been asked to pray
for here tonight is first the
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hurricane that's ravaged
the Caribbean, and also the
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northeast and also the northeast
United States; claiming so far
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at least 84 precious lives.
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Also prayer for the possibility
of a new storm, a nor'easter
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hitting the same northeastern
states this coming Wednesday.
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Next we want to pray for the
unity, and the leading of the
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Holy Spirit in
tomorrow's elections.
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Will you join me as I
pray, all over the world?
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Father, we pray for all those
who lost loved ones and family
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during this devastating
storm, and all that were
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injured as a result.
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Lord we ask for divine
intervention in their lives.
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We ask for electrical
power and gas services to be
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restored expediently.
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Sir, we ask that the result
of this natural storm will be a
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spiritual awakening
for all of us in America.
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Because Your word says in
Psalm 148:8, A storm of wind
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fulfilling His word.
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So Father, fulfill Your word
in every life as You watch over
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and protect Your people through
this upcoming nor'easter,
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and also the clean-up process.
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Now Father, we come
before Your throne in prayer for
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tomorrow's elections.
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We lay before You our country,
America, the land of the free,
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and the home of the brave.
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We thank You that
America is a Christian nation.
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And Your word
declares, Blessed is the nation
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whose God is the Lord.
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However, Father, there are
a lot of people that have not
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taken their responsibility
for this great nation
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of America seriously.
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And it is us, mostly
Christians, Your church.
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2 Chronicles 7:14 says, If
My people, who are called by My
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name, will humble themselves,
and pray, and seek My face,
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and turn from their wicked ways;
then I will hear from heaven,
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and will forgive their
sins, and heal their land.
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So many countless e-mail
jokes have been sent out when we
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could have been, and
should have been praying.
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Lord God please
hear from heaven.
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Please forgive us of our sins.
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Please forgive us
for a lack of prayer.
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And please heal America.
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In Jesus' name. And
everybody said, Amen.
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It's truly an honor to introduce
our president and my friend,
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Jim Gilley, tonight.
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I love to hear
Jim Gilley preach.
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One of the reasons is
because to me he's the
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Bob Ross of preachers.
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For those of you who
don't know who Bob Ross was,
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he was an American
landscape artist, painter.
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And Bob Ross had a thirty minute
television program called,
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The Joy of Painting.
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And in just thirty minutes
on that program he would paint
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the most beautiful pictures of
mountains, and trees, and lakes,
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and pictures of flowing streams,
and walk paths beside them.
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And many times he would paint
an old abandoned cabin sitting
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off somewhere in a meadow.
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But Bob Ross had
another God given gift
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he used as he painted.
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He talked to you
and told you stories.
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He made every
painting your own little world.
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Before you even knew
it, Bob Ross had painted you
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into the landscape.
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And in your minds eye you
were walking by that stream,
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or you were dangling your
feet in the cool mountain water
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in your own little world.
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You may have been sitting on
that old cabin porch, because he
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made that painting so real.
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Being an unashamed
Christian, he always ended his
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program with, God bless!
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Jim Gilley has that same gift.
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He's a painter. He doesn't paint
landscapes with oil or acrylics.
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He paints portraits.
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And like Bob Ross maybe he
should have a program called,
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The Joy of Preaching.
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Jim Gilley paints with the brush
of God's word, and his portrait
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is always the same portrait.
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It's always a picture of Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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As Jim paints that beautiful
picture he tells stories.
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I love Jim's stories of
Jesus, His love, His mercy,
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and His grace that will become
so real that as you listen
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that before you realize it
your heart has been painted
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into that image of Jesus Christ.
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And you find yourself
walking, and talking with Him
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in your own little
world; just you and your Lord,
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and your personal
Savior, Jesus Christ.
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So tonight all of you that are
watching, all of you that are
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here, all over the world, please
allow God to dip the brush of
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His word into your heart,
and paint you into that portrait
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of Jesus as Jim
Gilley ministers.
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Before Jim comes Melody
Firestone will bless us with a
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song from the 3ABN Pillars Hymns
project that was recorded live
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right here on this stage.
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And the title of her song
is, Near To The Heart Of God.
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God bless!
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Thank you, Melody.
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I really love that song, and
it's one that many of us have
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known through the years.
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If you ever listened to the
old Voice of Prophecy program,
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you would have heard
that song being sung,
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but mainly you would hear
H. M. S. Richards, Sr. as he
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would repeat those
words, Near To The Heart Of God,
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just before they
had their prayer.
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Often the prayer was brought by
his father, H. M. J. Richards,
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who was H. M. Richards father.
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And those were days when in
reaching out through the media
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was in its infancy.
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Elder Richards had, as a
young man, seen a crystal radio,
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and he had thought to himself,
This is the way to preach
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the gospel; to
get the gospel out.
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Later on there were a couple
of television programs that
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came into existence.
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But not until 1984 did
a real television network,
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Adventist network come
into existence, when God gave
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Danny Shelton the dream to move
forward and go around the world;
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planting this
seed of truth all over,
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to every continent of the world,
and reaching out into places
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where individuals cannot go
with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Oh what a wonderful day
we live in! What a time!
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And, you know, the
Lord is talking about this,
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in my way of thinking,
when He is talking about
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the parable of the sower.
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We read about it in the
13th chapter of Matthew,
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and beginning with verse
3, it says: Then He spoke many
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things to them in parables
saying, Behold, a sower went out
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to sow; and as he sowed,
some seed fell by the wayside,
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and the birds
came and devoured them.
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And some fell on stony places,
where they did not have much
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earth, and they immediately
sprang up, because they had no
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depth of earth, but when the
sun was up they were scorched;
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and because they had no
root they withered away.
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And some fell among thorns;
and the thorns sprang up,
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and choked them: but
others fell on good ground,
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and yielded a
crop, some a hundredfold,
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and some sixty, and some thirty.
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He who has an ear, let him hear.
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Now Jesus had not been speaking
a lot in parables before
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we get to this time.
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He had had some, but
mostly He had spoken directly.
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But all of a sudden He
begins to teach in parables.
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And the disciples say,
Why are you doing this?
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Now parables were
popular at that time.
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I did a study in a class once on
parables, and the parables were
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sort of like stage
plays for a lot of people.
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There were those Rabbi's
who traveled around who were not
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really necessarily religious,
but they were teachers who
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taught different ideas, and
they used parables in doing so.
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But Jesus was using the
parables for a different reason.
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Would He have been speaking
to directly, the Pharisees,
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and the spy's, and the Scribes,
and all those that were there
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trying to get
evidence against Him?
00:16:15.94\00:16:17.47
They were writing these
things down that He was saying.
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But now He decided to veil
these things with parables,
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so that those that the
Holy Spirit was leading might
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understand, but those that were
there to spy, their eyes were
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really closed to the
truths that Christ was teaching.
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The parable of the sower is
really a parable of the sower,
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but it's also the
parable of the soil.
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And last night Shelley
Quinn mentioned about the soil.
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And in this whole Week of
Prayer we're hoping to build on
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this spiritual idea.
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And this Week of Prayer is
something that we're working
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with the General Conference on.
00:17:04.22\00:17:05.69
And with Elder Ted
Wilson, who has been advocating,
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and promoting, and encouraging
revival and reformation.
00:17:10.69\00:17:14.86
Now the Devil is doing
everything he can to keep
00:17:14.90\00:17:17.50
that from happening.
00:17:17.53\00:17:18.87
He's trying to bring up
controversy on this subject,
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and controversy on
that subject, to divide us.
00:17:22.34\00:17:25.27
Because the Devil is really
upset that the church has been
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uniting in
revival and reformation.
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And he's going to do everything
he can to divide the church.
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Now I want to
tell you something.
00:17:37.52\00:17:39.55
Mission unites, but
oftentimes theology or
00:17:39.59\00:17:48.00
teachings will divide, and
particularly if they are not
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necessarily teachings that
the church has been following,
00:17:53.50\00:17:57.11
or the church has been
advocating, or that the church
00:17:57.14\00:18:00.21
has gone along with,
or that has been accepted
00:18:00.24\00:18:03.11
on a worldwide basis.
00:18:03.14\00:18:04.58
If ever there was a
time that we need to pray
00:18:04.61\00:18:09.38
for unity it is now, because
the Devil is trying to divide,
00:18:09.42\00:18:15.72
even on some good issues.
00:18:15.76\00:18:17.53
It's not that there's bad
issues, and other issues that
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are necessarily good,
they can be good issues.
00:18:21.83\00:18:25.07
But if we're divided, even over
good things, then we are not
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being able to be used by
the Lord for our mission:
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Go ye into all the world.
00:18:36.08\00:18:38.71
Go ye everywhere in the
world and proclaim the gospel.
00:18:38.75\00:18:43.35
And that is the mission
of 3ABN; to proclaim the
00:18:43.39\00:18:50.43
gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:18:50.46\00:18:52.39
Now I'm actually very
intrigued with farming.
00:18:52.43\00:18:57.50
I want you to know that.
00:18:57.53\00:18:59.17
I have been for
many, many years.
00:18:59.20\00:19:02.47
I have tremendous admiration
for the American farmer
00:19:02.50\00:19:06.98
who raises so much.
00:19:07.01\00:19:09.88
And the way they
handle the fields,
00:19:09.91\00:19:13.45
the way the whole thing is done.
00:19:13.48\00:19:15.38
I'm just amazed at some of the
new technology, where in the old
00:19:15.42\00:19:19.25
days they used to just plow up
those fields, and all that top
00:19:19.29\00:19:22.86
soil would blow all over the
place, and now it's very rare
00:19:22.89\00:19:27.50
that you see a field
that's actually plowed.
00:19:27.53\00:19:29.50
They come in and just scrape
the crop off, you might say,
00:19:29.53\00:19:33.40
and plant another
one right on top of it.
00:19:33.44\00:19:35.87
And it's just amazing.
00:19:35.90\00:19:37.44
But this way they're
not losing that precious
00:19:37.47\00:19:40.64
topsoil by doing that.
00:19:40.68\00:19:42.91
Now I bought some property from
Danny Shelton, who's sitting in
00:19:42.94\00:19:48.52
the back of this auditorium
right now, feeling guilty for
00:19:48.55\00:19:52.15
selling me this property.
00:19:52.19\00:19:53.52
That land is
not... It's poor soil.
00:19:55.49\00:20:02.33
Because it's been over grazed.
00:20:03.20\00:20:06.23
I asked Charlie Clark.
00:20:06.27\00:20:08.07
I said, Charlie, come
over and look at my property.
00:20:08.10\00:20:11.17
Charlie Clark
is a master farmer.
00:20:11.21\00:20:13.71
This is a man who has a
big farm up in Nebraska,
00:20:13.74\00:20:18.28
and northern
part of the country.
00:20:18.31\00:20:20.95
And this is a master farmer.
00:20:20.98\00:20:23.89
He knows farming. He knows soil.
00:20:23.92\00:20:27.46
And he looked at that soil.
00:20:27.49\00:20:29.62
And Charlie is a
man of few words.
00:20:30.66\00:20:33.53
But he said a
few words right then.
00:20:33.56\00:20:38.27
And he said, This
soil is totally depleted.
00:20:38.30\00:20:44.34
He said, You need to
take these horses off of it.
00:20:44.37\00:20:47.84
You need, and he began to
tell me all that it needed.
00:20:47.88\00:20:51.45
And he told me, he said,
It is depleted of nitrogen.
00:20:51.48\00:20:55.45
It needs nitrogen. And he
said, It is depleted of lime.
00:20:55.48\00:21:00.99
It needs some lime.
00:21:01.02\00:21:02.82
It needs some phosphoric acid.
00:21:02.86\00:21:05.13
It needs potash. It
needs everything, he said.
00:21:05.16\00:21:08.66
Because this soil is poor soil.
00:21:08.70\00:21:14.50
Now you see, the
Bible talks about soil.
00:21:14.54\00:21:17.87
It talks about the places where
the sower went, and some of that
00:21:17.91\00:21:24.21
seed ends up
out there in thorns.
00:21:24.25\00:21:27.38
It ends up out
there in the rocky spots.
00:21:27.42\00:21:29.65
It ends up in poor soil.
00:21:29.68\00:21:31.52
But then some of it
ends up in the good soil.
00:21:31.55\00:21:34.52
That's what's exciting
to me is the good soil.
00:21:35.96\00:21:40.83
And do you want me
to tell you something?
00:21:40.86\00:21:42.20
Now Charlie can look at soil
and tell if it's good or not,
00:21:42.23\00:21:45.80
but I can't, and
probably you can't.
00:21:45.83\00:21:51.17
And we cannot always tell
when God has good soil that
00:21:51.21\00:21:59.51
that seed's going into.
00:21:59.55\00:22:00.88
You know, when we hold
an evangelistic meeting
00:22:00.92\00:22:03.65
I've had so many people say,
The day of evangelism is over.
00:22:03.69\00:22:07.79
You can't hold
evangelistic meetings anymore.
00:22:07.82\00:22:10.36
And what are they saying?
00:22:10.39\00:22:11.73
And why are they saying this?
00:22:11.76\00:22:13.09
Because they don't
see massive crowds coming.
00:22:13.13\00:22:17.07
But you know something, when we
used to get massive crowds years
00:22:18.13\00:22:22.67
ago, way back in
evangelism; prior to my birth,
00:22:22.70\00:22:26.11
I can tell you that,
they had few decisions.
00:22:26.14\00:22:29.54
People just didn't have anything
else to do, so they would go out
00:22:29.58\00:22:31.98
and watch, but they did
not baptize, actually, as many
00:22:32.01\00:22:35.35
people as we baptize now.
00:22:35.38\00:22:36.85
And I can prove that
statistically by all of the
00:22:36.89\00:22:41.96
different stats from
the different conferences.
00:22:41.99\00:22:44.23
They're baptizing more
people now than they have
00:22:44.26\00:22:48.46
ever done in history.
00:22:48.50\00:22:50.90
And we say, Well, but the
day of evangelism is over.
00:22:52.03\00:22:55.64
And what do we emphasize?
00:22:55.67\00:22:58.01
What do we think about?
00:22:58.04\00:22:59.37
We think about the ones
that didn't make a decision.
00:22:59.41\00:23:03.71
We think about those that
didn't come to the meetings.
00:23:04.65\00:23:08.32
We think about that poor
ground, that stony ground,
00:23:08.35\00:23:13.59
that rocky ground.
00:23:13.62\00:23:15.32
We're looking at that!
00:23:15.36\00:23:16.69
We forget that
there's some good ground.
00:23:16.73\00:23:19.69
And when it hits the
good ground, the seed, Wow!
00:23:19.73\00:23:26.80
Look what it does!
00:23:26.84\00:23:28.17
You don't have to hit many
if you're going to hit something
00:23:28.20\00:23:30.61
like that because it
gives back a hundred fold,
00:23:30.64\00:23:33.68
and thirty fold, and sixty fold.
00:23:33.71\00:23:35.61
It gives back a lot
more than was planted.
00:23:35.64\00:23:39.88
You see, that is the secret
of the sower and the reaper.
00:23:39.91\00:23:46.59
The soil, you know,
again we talk about the soil.
00:23:46.62\00:23:51.03
How do you predict what
is good soil and what isn't?
00:23:51.06\00:23:54.10
Now you and I, who
have been born again,
00:23:54.13\00:23:57.17
we need to be building our soil.
00:23:57.20\00:23:58.93
No question about that.
00:23:58.97\00:24:01.50
We're in a different situation
than those who've never
00:24:01.54\00:24:05.07
accepted Christ before.
00:24:05.11\00:24:06.44
And we need to work on our soil.
00:24:06.47\00:24:08.74
We need to be studying the
word, we need to be watering it,
00:24:08.78\00:24:12.31
we need to be taking care
of those things that cause us
00:24:12.35\00:24:15.38
to grow spiritually.
00:24:15.42\00:24:17.12
But let's look
at the other soil.
00:24:17.15\00:24:19.79
Who would have thought
that a man living in a cave,
00:24:19.82\00:24:25.69
who, according to his book, was
using drugs, sometimes running
00:24:25.73\00:24:34.44
around naked,
eating out of garbage cans,
00:24:34.47\00:24:38.44
and living in a cave; who would
have thought that was good soil?
00:24:38.47\00:24:43.04
I wouldn't, would you?
00:24:44.31\00:24:47.78
But God did, and He
called Doug Batchelor out of
00:24:47.82\00:24:55.62
that kind of thing.
00:24:55.66\00:24:56.99
You see, we don't know.
00:24:57.03\00:24:58.36
We think we can judge soil.
00:24:58.39\00:25:00.10
We can't. God can judge soil.
00:25:00.13\00:25:03.43
But He wants us
putting that seed out there.
00:25:03.47\00:25:06.33
You see somebody
planted the seed.
00:25:06.37\00:25:09.70
And when that seed
was planted it took root.
00:25:09.74\00:25:16.75
I have seen this
over and over again.
00:25:16.78\00:25:20.22
And it is amazing to me, because
the way this sowing thing works.
00:25:20.25\00:25:24.45
It is so
unbelievable the multiplying
00:25:24.49\00:25:29.32
factor that takes place.
00:25:29.36\00:25:31.09
It's just amazing!
00:25:31.13\00:25:32.59
There's a man up in
Mount Vernon, right up here,
00:25:32.63\00:25:39.80
up the road, he shares the
gospel with a man named Olen.
00:25:39.83\00:25:46.71
Olen shares the gospel with a
lady named Goldie, a relative.
00:25:46.74\00:25:56.28
Goldie listens to it, but she
doesn't act on it for two years;
00:25:56.32\00:26:02.96
until she gets polio.
00:26:02.99\00:26:05.29
And then she promises the Lord,
You heal me and I'll follow You.
00:26:05.33\00:26:12.00
I'll give up singing in
country music nightclubs,
00:26:12.03\00:26:16.60
and I'll give my
whole life, talent,
00:26:16.64\00:26:19.81
and everything
I've got to Jesus.
00:26:19.84\00:26:21.44
And He heals her from polio.
00:26:21.48\00:26:24.01
Now she has some children.
00:26:24.05\00:26:26.85
One of those... And I
was just looking through a
00:26:28.15\00:26:30.55
picture today of a book.
00:26:30.59\00:26:33.05
It had a
picture of their family,
00:26:33.09\00:26:34.92
and I noticed three boys
that were pretty well behaved,
00:26:34.96\00:26:39.03
and one of them
that was cutting up.
00:26:39.06\00:26:40.40
She had her hand on top of
his head trying to control him
00:26:40.43\00:26:43.80
so they could take a picture.
00:26:43.83\00:26:45.53
And that one's name was Danny.
00:26:45.57\00:26:48.90
And the Lord gave him a dream
to begin a television ministry.
00:26:48.94\00:26:57.35
And my friend, you
see where that seed...
00:26:57.38\00:27:01.38
You see what happened?
00:27:01.42\00:27:02.78
One man up here in Mount
Vernon; the seed is planted.
00:27:02.82\00:27:08.32
He turns around and plants
that seed with another person,
00:27:08.36\00:27:12.89
and that person
plants it with Goldie.
00:27:12.93\00:27:17.00
She plants it with her children.
00:27:17.03\00:27:19.43
And one of those... All of
them are involved in ministry,
00:27:21.04\00:27:25.11
but one of them particularly.
00:27:25.14\00:27:27.18
One of them that God
uses him to proclaim this
00:27:27.21\00:27:34.35
message around the world.
00:27:34.38\00:27:36.38
Can you play that
back in your mind?
00:27:36.42\00:27:40.72
Back to the original
planting of that seed?
00:27:40.76\00:27:45.29
Can you see how delicate it
is sometime? the sowing and the
00:27:45.33\00:27:49.90
reaping, how close it is?
00:27:49.93\00:27:51.80
And you say to
yourself, What if?
00:27:51.83\00:27:54.50
And you don't even
want to think that way.
00:27:55.20\00:27:58.57
But then you see that when God
finds that soil, and He plants
00:27:58.61\00:28:06.41
that seed, the fruitage that
comes forward, the crops that
00:28:06.45\00:28:11.65
come forward, it's
unbelievable what God does!
00:28:11.69\00:28:16.42
And this is what excites me
about proclaiming the gospel,
00:28:16.46\00:28:20.43
because, you see, the Lord Jesus
has told us that He is the Word.
00:28:20.46\00:28:25.80
He says to us in John 5:24,
Most assuredly, I say to you,
00:28:25.83\00:28:32.64
he who hears My word, and
believes in Him who sent Me,
00:28:32.67\00:28:38.48
has everlasting life, and
shall not come unto judgment;
00:28:38.51\00:28:46.76
but has passed
from death unto life.
00:28:46.79\00:28:52.79
That's the
proclamation of the word.
00:28:52.83\00:28:55.53
This is the seed:
Christ Jesus Himself!
00:28:55.56\00:29:00.50
He's the sower,
but He's also the seed.
00:29:00.54\00:29:03.07
And He's asked us
to sow that same seed.
00:29:03.10\00:29:07.54
We go over to John 6:63.
00:29:07.58\00:29:09.98
It is the Spirit who gives life.
00:29:10.01\00:29:13.21
The flesh profits nothing.
00:29:13.25\00:29:16.02
The words, He said, that
I speak to you are Spirit,
00:29:16.05\00:29:20.56
and they are life.
00:29:20.59\00:29:23.59
And then we look at
chapter 7, and verse 37.
00:29:23.63\00:29:29.40
It says, If anyone thirst,
let him come to Me and drink.
00:29:29.43\00:29:33.57
And verse 8:38 says, He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture
00:29:33.60\00:29:39.17
has said, Out of his heart will
flow rivers of living waters:
00:29:39.21\00:29:46.28
Our Lord, Our Savior, Our God.
00:29:46.31\00:29:51.12
The seed planted, the
word planted, and what happens
00:29:51.15\00:29:57.93
as that word is
taken in to good soil?
00:29:57.96\00:30:03.73
You know, we've seen so many
times these meetings happen,
00:30:03.77\00:30:07.60
or something take
place, we see it and we say,
00:30:07.64\00:30:10.24
Well, how did that happen?
00:30:10.27\00:30:14.18
It happens because
the Holy Spirit is leading
00:30:15.58\00:30:19.48
in the sowing of the seed
00:30:19.51\00:30:22.32
I just recently, two weeks
ago, had the funeral of a man,
00:30:22.35\00:30:28.09
and in that funeral, I
had looked at his life story
00:30:28.12\00:30:34.16
prior to that funeral.
00:30:34.20\00:30:35.53
This was a man that when
he was very young his father
00:30:35.56\00:30:41.87
abandoned the entire family.
00:30:41.90\00:30:43.91
Now this was during the
depression. They had nothing.
00:30:43.94\00:30:47.44
They were left in Oklahoma
with absolutely nothing.
00:30:47.48\00:30:51.85
And then the mother,
who's been left alone gets sick.
00:30:51.88\00:30:56.38
And there's a nurse.
00:30:56.42\00:30:57.75
She can't afford a doctor.
00:30:57.79\00:30:59.19
But she hears about a nurse.
00:30:59.22\00:31:00.79
And she goes to
the house of the nurse.
00:31:00.82\00:31:03.69
And the nurse
helps her to get well.
00:31:03.73\00:31:09.20
The nurse also shares
with her some Biblical truth.
00:31:09.23\00:31:14.87
She shares with her the
truth about the Sabbath.
00:31:14.90\00:31:20.01
Now this lady was a
Catholic, and she loved
00:31:20.04\00:31:24.88
the Catholic Church.
00:31:24.91\00:31:26.25
She loved her priest.
00:31:26.28\00:31:27.62
And she started
studying about the Sabbath.
00:31:27.65\00:31:29.48
And one day she said, I've got
to know if this is true or not.
00:31:29.52\00:31:33.99
And she put all those kids in
a borrowed car, and got someone
00:31:34.02\00:31:37.99
to drive her to the church.
00:31:38.03\00:31:40.13
And she went in and she asked
the priest, Did the Catholic
00:31:40.16\00:31:47.64
Church change the day of
worship from Saturday to Sunday?
00:31:47.67\00:31:52.74
And he said, Yes. And she
said, Thank you very much.
00:31:52.77\00:31:57.91
She walked out, got into the
car, and announced in the car,
00:31:57.95\00:32:01.85
I'm going to become a
Seventh-day Adventist.
00:32:01.88\00:32:03.99
She did. Put those
three kids in church school.
00:32:04.02\00:32:08.06
They had a rough time, but
they were in that church school.
00:32:08.09\00:32:11.59
And then this man
committed his life.
00:32:11.63\00:32:15.76
He was one of the three, and he
committed his life to becoming
00:32:15.80\00:32:20.54
a minister of the gospel.
00:32:20.57\00:32:22.87
Now this, he was
a very talented guy.
00:32:22.90\00:32:24.77
After church school there was
no academy around, so he went
00:32:24.81\00:32:27.98
to high school, and he was
an All State baseball player.
00:32:28.01\00:32:31.81
He was offered a contract
with the major league team,
00:32:31.85\00:32:34.78
and then he was also offered a
scholarship to the University of
00:32:34.82\00:32:38.65
Oklahoma, but he decided at a
youth congress to give his life
00:32:38.69\00:32:44.33
fully to the ministry.
00:32:44.36\00:32:46.70
And he went to Southwestern
and became later a minister.
00:32:46.73\00:32:52.97
So this man's
name was Cyril Miller.
00:32:53.00\00:32:55.57
Now you say, Yes,
he became a minister.
00:32:55.60\00:32:58.64
So what? So he
became a minister.
00:32:58.67\00:33:01.11
But think about the progress
of how God used that seed.
00:33:01.14\00:33:05.51
I can tell you life
after life that he touched.
00:33:05.55\00:33:09.88
I'm one of those that he
encouraged and that he touched.
00:33:09.92\00:33:13.76
But also he had
an imaginative mind.
00:33:13.79\00:33:18.63
And he decided that even though
he loved the Voice of Prophecy,
00:33:18.66\00:33:22.83
he said, You know,
that's not for everybody.
00:33:22.86\00:33:25.03
There needs to be a
program that's hard-hitting,
00:33:25.07\00:33:27.90
that doesn't have music in
it, and doesn't necessarily even
00:33:27.94\00:33:31.91
begin with a prayer, doesn't
sound like a religious program.
00:33:31.94\00:33:35.28
It needs to sound more like a
hard-hitting type news program.
00:33:35.31\00:33:39.95
And so he came up with a
concept of Amazing Facts.
00:33:39.98\00:33:43.79
He didn't have a speaker.
00:33:43.82\00:33:45.55
He called Joe Crews,
and he knew Joe well.
00:33:45.59\00:33:50.16
Joe turned him down at first,
and then finally he kept after
00:33:50.19\00:33:53.90
Joe and Joe said,
I'll come for six months.
00:33:53.93\00:33:56.67
And after six months he was
still going, and he stayed with
00:33:56.70\00:34:03.81
Amazing Facts until
Joe went to sleep in Jesus.
00:34:03.84\00:34:09.34
And then remember this, that
Cyril, after that, is the one
00:34:09.38\00:34:13.31
that called Doug, or
suggested that Doug come.
00:34:13.35\00:34:16.38
Because he had started
Doug in ministry when he was in
00:34:16.42\00:34:19.29
the Texas
Conference; Doug Batchelor.
00:34:19.32\00:34:22.22
So you see how these things
begin to connect together.
00:34:22.26\00:34:26.86
The sowing of the
seed; it's amazing folks.
00:34:26.90\00:34:30.33
It's why we cannot stop sowing.
00:34:30.37\00:34:33.44
You see we can't! You're not
going to reap if you don't sow.
00:34:33.47\00:34:38.64
And if you're out there sowing,
it may not always turn out
00:34:38.67\00:34:43.55
the way you think
it's going to turn out.
00:34:43.58\00:34:45.15
You may have an evangelistic
meeting that appears
00:34:45.18\00:34:47.98
to be unsuccessful.
00:34:48.02\00:34:49.62
A friend of mine, Marion Kidder,
held a meeting like that.
00:34:49.65\00:34:53.69
He only baptized one
person in that meeting.
00:34:53.72\00:34:58.69
And I'm sure that the conference
looked at it and said, Wow!
00:34:58.73\00:35:04.17
We put a couple
thousand dollars into that.
00:35:04.20\00:35:07.97
They didn't put much,
but they put a little bit.
00:35:08.00\00:35:09.97
And he only baptized one!
00:35:10.01\00:35:11.81
But that one was Mark Finley.
00:35:11.84\00:35:15.54
And how God has used Mark!
00:35:17.45\00:35:19.91
There was a lady down in
Australia, and this lady went
00:35:19.95\00:35:24.82
to an evangelistic meeting.
00:35:24.85\00:35:26.19
And they didn't
baptize very many people.
00:35:26.22\00:35:28.26
But they baptized this lady, and
she drug her son along with her.
00:35:28.29\00:35:32.19
And eventually John
Carter became an evangelist.
00:35:32.23\00:35:39.90
Starting with a meeting
that people would have said
00:35:39.93\00:35:43.10
that was a
mediocre meeting at best.
00:35:43.14\00:35:44.71
It was not even
really all that successful.
00:35:45.97\00:35:49.01
And yet God reached out.
00:35:49.04\00:35:52.75
He saw some soil, and He
got that seed into that soil,
00:35:52.78\00:35:56.95
and how it has continued.
00:35:56.99\00:35:59.25
I'm giving you some stories
of people you know because,
00:35:59.29\00:36:04.19
my friend, you can
see that we must continue
00:36:04.23\00:36:07.73
proclaiming the gospel.
00:36:07.76\00:36:09.10
And the best way that I honestly
know of today to proclaim the
00:36:09.13\00:36:12.40
gospel is by television.
00:36:12.43\00:36:14.34
We are sowing
the seed constantly.
00:36:14.37\00:36:16.94
The other day Brother C.
A. Murray and I were talking
00:36:16.97\00:36:22.84
about New York City.
00:36:22.88\00:36:24.21
New York City, you know
there's so many people there
00:36:24.25\00:36:29.88
that even in public
evangelism you can get some out.
00:36:29.92\00:36:34.06
And you've got to keep
doing public evangelism.
00:36:34.09\00:36:35.99
You don't ever stop doing
it, even in New York City.
00:36:36.02\00:36:39.16
But when this day and
age, with the Lord coming soon,
00:36:39.93\00:36:45.67
television and radio are
the real ways to get back in,
00:36:45.70\00:36:50.41
to behind those
doors, in to those houses,
00:36:50.44\00:36:54.54
in to those
hearts. It's the way.
00:36:54.58\00:36:58.35
We must continue sowing
the seed, and allowing the Lord
00:36:58.38\00:37:05.32
to be the One that finds that
good soil that He puts it in.
00:37:05.35\00:37:11.39
I think of another
boy up there in Oklahoma.
00:37:11.43\00:37:14.56
There was a man by the
name of Henry Morris that liked
00:37:14.60\00:37:21.24
to go door to door.
00:37:21.27\00:37:22.60
And he would give out pamphlets,
and he would talk to people
00:37:22.64\00:37:28.28
about the Sabbath,
and about Bible truth.
00:37:28.31\00:37:33.45
Well, he went to a
lady's house named Mrs. Morgan.
00:37:33.48\00:37:36.75
Mrs. Morgan didn't
care a thing about him.
00:37:36.79\00:37:40.46
She took the pamphlet
just to get rid of him.
00:37:41.62\00:37:43.99
And she stuck it in the
Sears and Roebuck catalog.
00:37:44.03\00:37:47.96
And there was a
lady living close by.
00:37:50.27\00:37:53.00
Her name was Laura.
00:37:53.03\00:37:54.37
And she needed to order
something from the Sears and
00:37:55.34\00:37:58.57
Roebuck catalog,
but she didn't have one.
00:37:58.61\00:38:00.31
So she went next door and
said, Mrs. Morgan, do you have a
00:38:00.34\00:38:04.01
Sears and Roebuck catalog?
00:38:04.05\00:38:05.45
She said, Yes, I
do. Here, take it!
00:38:05.48\00:38:07.65
She said, Well,
I'll bring it back.
00:38:07.68\00:38:09.48
She said, Please
do; bring it back.
00:38:09.52\00:38:11.65
And so she took it.
00:38:11.69\00:38:13.36
When she opened it up
she found that pamphlet.
00:38:13.39\00:38:16.46
She started
reading that pamphlet.
00:38:16.49\00:38:19.29
Now remember,
you're planting the seed.
00:38:19.33\00:38:22.43
Henry Morris had
planted the seed.
00:38:22.46\00:38:26.70
And Miss Laura began
reading it, and she was amazed.
00:38:26.74\00:38:31.77
She ran out into the field
and she said to her husband,
00:38:31.81\00:38:35.51
Otto, Otto, let
me read this to you.
00:38:35.54\00:38:39.51
And she started
reading it to him.
00:38:39.55\00:38:41.98
And her son was standing there,
and he was listening to it,
00:38:42.02\00:38:45.62
and he was intrigued.
00:38:48.26\00:38:50.46
She took that pamphlet
back to Mrs. Morgan and said,
00:38:50.49\00:38:56.03
Here, this was in the book.
00:38:56.06\00:38:57.40
She said, Oh, you can have that.
00:38:57.43\00:38:58.77
I don't care a thing about it.
00:38:58.80\00:39:00.14
I've read it and I
don't care a thing about it.
00:39:00.17\00:39:02.17
Laura said, Oh, this
is the most exciting thing
00:39:02.20\00:39:04.97
that's happened to us.
00:39:05.01\00:39:06.34
Is there anybody
around that actually
00:39:06.37\00:39:08.11
teaches what this teaches?
00:39:08.14\00:39:10.85
She said, This man came by and
she described this gentleman.
00:39:10.88\00:39:14.92
She said, Well, if he comes back
tell him to come into our house.
00:39:14.98\00:39:18.55
We'd like to talk to him.
00:39:18.59\00:39:19.92
And he came back. And he began.
00:39:19.95\00:39:24.73
When he found out she
wanted to talk he went there,
00:39:24.76\00:39:27.93
and he started Bible studies.
00:39:27.96\00:39:30.03
And the little
boy was so interested.
00:39:30.07\00:39:35.40
And he sat and he
just hung on every word;
00:39:35.44\00:39:39.34
intrigued with the
Bible, even when he was young.
00:39:39.37\00:39:42.68
And Kenneth Cox
accepted the message.
00:39:42.71\00:39:48.78
And it happened by
somebody handing out a pamphlet.
00:39:48.82\00:39:55.02
You know, 375,000 pamphlets
were requested the other
00:39:55.06\00:40:06.57
night from that program.
00:40:06.60\00:40:07.94
And I think there will still be
a whole lot more that come in.
00:40:07.97\00:40:10.57
You see what a pamphlet
can do in spreading the seed,
00:40:10.61\00:40:16.54
putting the gospel out.
00:40:16.58\00:40:18.01
I tell you if you
will take those pamphlets,
00:40:18.05\00:40:21.58
After the Storm, and you
put them out, I guarantee you
00:40:21.62\00:40:26.82
there will be those in
the kingdom of God as a result
00:40:26.86\00:40:31.99
of their
reading those pamphlets.
00:40:32.06\00:40:35.60
Sowing the seed:
good ground, bad ground.
00:40:35.66\00:40:39.80
You see, the problem is we want
to emphasize the bad ground.
00:40:39.83\00:40:42.60
Oh, we held that
meeting and nobody came.
00:40:42.64\00:40:45.07
And we held that meeting
and only one person came.
00:40:45.14\00:40:47.54
Or we held that meeting
and it really wasn't all
00:40:47.58\00:40:49.98
that big a success.
00:40:50.01\00:40:51.35
You don't know
what a success is.
00:40:51.38\00:40:54.32
We'll never know
until after Christ comes.
00:40:54.38\00:40:58.09
I think during the millennium
we'll be able to look over
00:40:59.15\00:41:01.89
some of these things and be
able to say, This was a success.
00:41:01.92\00:41:07.46
We never knew that it was.
00:41:07.50\00:41:10.23
But it was God's way of
reaching a certain individual,
00:41:10.27\00:41:16.50
a certain person. You see, we
don't know what God's going to
00:41:16.54\00:41:23.98
do when we plant the seed.
00:41:24.01\00:41:26.05
I don't know how many of
you ever knew Henry Firerobbin.
00:41:26.08\00:41:29.72
He was an evangelist up
in Canada; wonderful man.
00:41:29.75\00:41:32.55
I got to know him.
00:41:32.59\00:41:33.92
In fact, the first time I met
Henry Firerobbin was in Jericho.
00:41:33.96\00:41:38.69
I was leading a group.
00:41:38.73\00:41:40.50
He was leading a group.
00:41:40.56\00:41:42.26
And when we were standing
there, I was with my group,
00:41:42.30\00:41:45.73
he was with his group.
00:41:45.77\00:41:47.10
And somebody said, one of the
guides said, You know, that's a
00:41:47.14\00:41:49.94
Seventh-day
Adventist group, too.
00:41:50.01\00:41:51.81
And so Henry and I got together.
00:41:51.84\00:41:53.61
And that's where I
met Henry Firerobbin.
00:41:53.64\00:41:56.21
By that time he was holding a
lot of meetings, and he was in
00:41:56.24\00:42:01.85
charge of It Is Written, Canada.
00:42:01.88\00:42:03.42
And so he was holding a meeting
in one city, and there was a
00:42:03.45\00:42:09.52
young man that came.
00:42:09.56\00:42:10.89
Now if you were to count up
the number of people that Henry
00:42:10.93\00:42:15.33
Firerobbin baptized in
that city, it was not all
00:42:15.36\00:42:19.20
that big a number.
00:42:19.23\00:42:20.90
But that young man was just,
he just loved this message.
00:42:20.94\00:42:27.94
The seed was planted, and Shawn
Boonstra gave his life to Jesus.
00:42:28.71\00:42:35.28
And how God has multiplied,
and multiplied his ministry.
00:42:35.32\00:42:39.99
In fact all of those...
I'm mentioning these because,
00:42:42.19\00:42:44.59
you see, in every single case
that has been almost a miracle
00:42:44.63\00:42:51.43
in the way that
God reached them.
00:42:51.47\00:42:54.24
But there was somebody out there
holding a meeting, somebody out
00:42:54.30\00:42:58.64
there putting out a pamphlet,
somebody out there encouraging
00:42:58.67\00:43:03.01
someone to watch a
television program,
00:43:03.04\00:43:05.45
or listen to a radio program.
00:43:05.48\00:43:07.75
They were planting the seed,
and they were sowing the word,
00:43:07.78\00:43:14.29
and God was reaching
through the Holy Spirit,
00:43:14.32\00:43:18.39
reaching out to their hearts.
00:43:18.43\00:43:21.60
It, to me, is such a
beautiful, beautiful thing.
00:43:21.63\00:43:26.80
Jesus talks about, and He gives
the explanation of the parable.
00:43:26.84\00:43:32.51
He says, Therefore hear
the parable of the sower.
00:43:32.54\00:43:35.14
When anyone hears the word
of the kingdom and does not
00:43:35.18\00:43:38.45
understand it, then the wicked
one comes and snatches away
00:43:38.48\00:43:42.88
that which was
sown in his heart.
00:43:42.92\00:43:45.72
And this is he who
receives seed by the wayside.
00:43:45.75\00:43:49.22
Remember He said that
some was by the wayside.
00:43:49.26\00:43:52.63
But he who received the seed
on stony places, this is he who
00:43:52.69\00:43:56.83
hears the word and immediately
receives it with joy.
00:43:56.87\00:44:00.60
Yet he has no root in himself,
but endures only for a while.
00:44:00.64\00:44:05.41
And for when tribulation, or
persecution arises because of
00:44:05.44\00:44:10.15
the word,
immediately he stumbles.
00:44:10.18\00:44:13.38
Now he who receives seed
among the thorns is he who hears
00:44:13.42\00:44:17.65
the word, and the cares of this
world, and the deceitfulness of
00:44:17.69\00:44:23.26
riches choke the word,
and he becomes unfruitful.
00:44:23.29\00:44:27.80
But he who receives seed on
the good ground is he who hears
00:44:27.83\00:44:34.70
the word, understands it, who
indeed bears fruit and produces
00:44:34.77\00:44:41.61
some a hundred fold,
some sixty, and some thirty.
00:44:41.64\00:44:47.35
It multiplies! You see,
that good ground is what,
00:44:47.38\00:44:53.05
to me, is so exciting.
00:44:53.12\00:44:55.22
We were talking
about New York City.
00:44:55.26\00:44:57.39
Years ago I was, a
friend of mine and I were
00:44:57.43\00:45:04.57
in Fort Worth, Texas.
00:45:04.60\00:45:06.03
And R. Allan Anderson, the great
old evangelist and head of the
00:45:06.07\00:45:12.71
ministerial department of
the General Conference was there
00:45:12.74\00:45:15.74
speaking at the camp meeting.
00:45:15.81\00:45:17.15
I knew the connection
that my friend had with him,
00:45:17.18\00:45:21.35
and so I encouraged him.
00:45:21.38\00:45:23.12
I said, Let's go down
and talk to R. Alan Anderson,
00:45:23.15\00:45:25.59
and you tell him your story.
00:45:25.62\00:45:27.82
And he said, Oh, he
won't want to hear it.
00:45:27.86\00:45:30.93
I said, Yes, he will.
00:45:30.96\00:45:32.76
Now R. Allan Anderson went to
New York City back in the 50's.
00:45:32.79\00:45:37.60
He held a big
crusade in Carnegie Hall.
00:45:37.63\00:45:41.44
It was the most expensive
crusade in the history of the
00:45:41.47\00:45:45.01
church at that time.
00:45:45.04\00:45:46.98
It was called a
complete failure.
00:45:47.01\00:45:52.58
There were, now there were
some people that were baptized,
00:45:52.61\00:45:57.15
because they were like children
that they'd been getting ready,
00:45:57.19\00:46:00.02
and so forth, that they
would have baptized anyway.
00:46:00.06\00:46:03.06
Some of those were baptized.
00:46:03.12\00:46:04.49
But they could only find two
actual new interests that came
00:46:04.53\00:46:11.57
from the advertising, and
were involved with that meeting.
00:46:11.60\00:46:14.14
I remembered hearing about
that meeting, because the music
00:46:14.17\00:46:18.37
director at the academy and
college where I went to school,
00:46:18.41\00:46:22.54
Harold Lickey, had
been singing with the
00:46:22.58\00:46:26.25
Faith For Today quartet.
00:46:26.28\00:46:27.62
And they were part
of the music for that.
00:46:27.65\00:46:30.69
And he had told me what a
difficult meeting that was
00:46:30.72\00:46:35.49
in New York City; a
very difficult place.
00:46:35.52\00:46:38.29
Two ladies, grandmothers,
gave their hearts to the Lord.
00:46:38.33\00:46:44.00
But you know something?
00:46:44.03\00:46:46.27
The General Conference, local
conferences, and all felt like
00:46:46.30\00:46:51.74
that meeting was
a complete failure.
00:46:51.77\00:46:53.61
All the money they spent;
they expected to crack open
00:46:53.64\00:46:57.38
New York City, but they didn't.
00:46:57.41\00:47:00.72
They felt, This
is a total failure.
00:47:00.75\00:47:03.15
So when we went to talk with
him, this friend of mine said
00:47:03.18\00:47:10.23
to him, You brought me into
the church in New York City.
00:47:10.26\00:47:15.23
Brother Anderson shook his head.
00:47:15.26\00:47:18.00
He said, No, I know who
we baptized in New York City.
00:47:18.73\00:47:24.01
And he said, We only
baptized two elderly ladies.
00:47:24.04\00:47:29.24
And this fellow smiled and
he said, But one of those ladies
00:47:29.28\00:47:34.02
went home and
she won her grandson.
00:47:34.05\00:47:36.95
Her grandson, His name was Jim.
00:47:38.45\00:47:41.96
He said, Jim came and
shared the gospel with me.
00:47:41.99\00:47:47.86
And we gave our hearts.
00:47:47.90\00:47:50.83
And both of us
went into the ministry.
00:47:50.87\00:47:53.77
Jim's name was Jim Londess.
00:47:53.80\00:47:55.90
And the person I was
with was Ron Halverson.
00:47:55.94\00:47:59.67
And, you know, how God
has blessed Ron's ministry.
00:47:59.71\00:48:08.35
Hundredfold, sixty fold,
and this is true with every one
00:48:08.38\00:48:13.52
of these that
we've talked about.
00:48:13.56\00:48:14.92
But if you've noticed,
every single one of them was
00:48:14.96\00:48:17.89
a miracle, a miracle!
00:48:18.26\00:48:21.30
A miracle of planting
the seed, sowing the seed.
00:48:21.36\00:48:28.07
Don't stop sowing the seed.
00:48:28.10\00:48:30.64
Remember when we
stop sowing the seed,
00:48:30.67\00:48:33.04
the soul we may have
missed could be another Ron,
00:48:33.07\00:48:40.38
another Danny, another Doug,
another Kenneth, another Mark,
00:48:40.42\00:48:46.15
another Shawn, another Cyril.
00:48:46.22\00:48:50.46
Cyril who was so creative.
00:48:50.49\00:48:54.66
I started to tell you
a little bit about him.
00:48:54.70\00:48:56.23
But he also started the
Revelation Seminar organization,
00:48:56.26\00:49:00.14
as well as getting
Amazing Facts started.
00:49:00.17\00:49:04.84
And over and over encouraging
people out into ministry.
00:49:04.87\00:49:09.24
You see how God uses
the seed, how it is planted,
00:49:09.31\00:49:16.48
and how it is used.
00:49:16.52\00:49:19.75
A young man with some friends,
goes into a health food store.
00:49:19.79\00:49:24.43
He's eating his sprouts. Amen!
00:49:24.46\00:49:29.76
And somehow the
subject of religion comes up.
00:49:31.53\00:49:34.64
He is not that interested in
religion, but he begins to talk,
00:49:34.67\00:49:40.08
based first of all on the
fact that he and his friends ate
00:49:40.11\00:49:45.45
at this place, and the
lady who ran it understood
00:49:45.48\00:49:49.62
the three angels' messages.
00:49:49.65\00:49:51.92
And David Asscherick
becomes a Seventh-day Adventist
00:49:51.95\00:49:58.69
Christian; starting in that
way, but continuing to study.
00:49:58.73\00:50:04.53
The seed planted. Camille and
I just got back from Ukraine,
00:50:04.57\00:50:09.90
and we were just amazed at some
of the things that have taken
00:50:09.94\00:50:15.21
place there over
the last few years.
00:50:15.24\00:50:18.31
We went there in 1991.
00:50:18.35\00:50:21.35
We went to a place
called Dnipropetrovsk.
00:50:21.38\00:50:25.85
There were thirty
Seventh-day Adventists meeting
00:50:25.89\00:50:31.23
in a converted house.
00:50:31.26\00:50:32.59
I'll never forget that
first night that we were there,
00:50:32.63\00:50:37.13
the first meal that we ate,
because they would eat there
00:50:37.17\00:50:41.67
then change things
around, change the seats around,
00:50:41.70\00:50:44.61
and that's
where they had church.
00:50:44.64\00:50:46.17
The Pastor lived in one room
in the back, and his family.
00:50:46.21\00:50:51.01
And this is, this
was it: thirty members,
00:50:51.05\00:50:54.72
two and a half
million people there.
00:50:54.75\00:50:56.89
We went there and
began to hold a meeting.
00:50:56.92\00:51:02.92
Now it was an amazing meeting.
00:51:02.96\00:51:07.66
We began to see people come.
00:51:07.70\00:51:12.33
Then we had to
go to two sessions.
00:51:12.37\00:51:14.44
And it began to grow, and the
interest was so big, so strong.
00:51:14.47\00:51:20.54
I remembered that when we
started I went over to the
00:51:20.58\00:51:23.68
auditorium on the Friday before
we started, and I was pointing
00:51:23.71\00:51:28.22
out to the manager
that some of the seats were
00:51:28.25\00:51:30.42
broken in the back.
00:51:30.45\00:51:31.79
And he said, You
won't need these.
00:51:31.82\00:51:33.76
I said, What do you mean?
00:51:34.66\00:51:35.99
He said, Nobody ever
has filled this place.
00:51:36.02\00:51:39.69
He said, You're
not going to fill this
00:51:39.76\00:51:41.36
with a
religious meeting. No way!
00:51:41.40\00:51:44.23
We won't need to fix these.
00:51:44.27\00:51:46.23
I said, Sir, I believe
that God's going to fill this.
00:51:46.27\00:51:50.21
And he looked at me and
he said, I'll tell you what.
00:51:51.01\00:51:53.31
If this place
fills, I will occupy one of
00:51:53.38\00:51:57.51
these seats myself.
00:51:57.55\00:51:58.88
That's how sure
I am it won't fill.
00:51:58.91\00:52:01.78
Not only was every seat
taken, every isle was full,
00:52:01.82\00:52:08.82
every wall was lined, every
available square foot somebody
00:52:08.86\00:52:16.36
was there on that
opening night and throughout.
00:52:16.40\00:52:20.20
We had to go to two sessions.
00:52:20.24\00:52:21.74
We got down to the end; we
were only there three weeks,
00:52:21.77\00:52:27.11
and we were very
selective in our baptisms.
00:52:27.14\00:52:31.28
We had a Bible class.
00:52:31.31\00:52:33.01
We had everything written
out in the Russian language.
00:52:33.05\00:52:35.85
We went through it; we
went over it several times,
00:52:35.88\00:52:38.45
so everybody understood
what they were going to do.
00:52:38.49\00:52:40.99
And it was a tradition there
in that country to even have the
00:52:41.02\00:52:45.16
baptisms on Sunday.
00:52:45.19\00:52:46.53
I wouldn't have
the baptism on Sunday.
00:52:46.56\00:52:48.53
I said, No, it's
going to be on Sabbath.
00:52:48.56\00:52:50.47
They said, Well, this is too
much work to do on the Sabbath.
00:52:50.53\00:52:54.37
I said, I believe this work
is acceptable for the Sabbath.
00:52:54.40\00:52:58.14
But I want everybody to know
they're being baptized in to
00:52:58.17\00:53:01.88
a Seventh-day Adventist church.
00:53:01.91\00:53:03.24
And we baptized
465 that first time.
00:53:03.28\00:53:08.42
That was the largest
baptism in the history of the
00:53:08.45\00:53:12.42
Ukraine at that time.
00:53:12.45\00:53:13.79
And it was
amazing what happened!
00:53:13.82\00:53:17.19
And when it was over, I
remember that Elder Perlinski,
00:53:17.23\00:53:22.56
who was the old
secretary of the Union,
00:53:22.60\00:53:26.17
he leaned over to a translator.
00:53:26.23\00:53:29.20
He said to me, Now the
dream has been fulfilled.
00:53:29.27\00:53:33.64
I said, What do
you mean the dream?
00:53:33.68\00:53:35.84
I felt there must be something
here I don't know about.
00:53:35.88\00:53:39.71
And then he began to tell me.
00:53:39.75\00:53:41.88
And the translator began to say,
I've heard this all my life.
00:53:41.92\00:53:45.72
He said that in 1946 they had
just about killed, 46 and 47,
00:53:45.75\00:53:55.43
just about destroyed and
killed every pastor of the
00:53:55.46\00:54:00.37
Seventh-day Adventist church,
or had sent them to Siberia.
00:54:00.40\00:54:03.30
They took sixty of them up
there at one time from Ukraine,
00:54:03.34\00:54:08.51
our pastors. They
never saw them again.
00:54:08.54\00:54:11.81
Into these hard
work camps in Siberia.
00:54:11.85\00:54:15.08
The membership of
that church was down now.
00:54:15.12\00:54:19.59
They'd taken
their building away.
00:54:19.62\00:54:21.72
But they were down
to six little members.
00:54:21.79\00:54:24.33
They would meet in each other's
little apartments, and whisper
00:54:25.09\00:54:32.43
those songs, and pray together,
knowing that this was just about
00:54:32.47\00:54:39.77
the end for the church.
00:54:39.81\00:54:41.81
Now Dnipropetrousk
was a closed city.
00:54:41.84\00:54:44.38
It was a place where the
intercontinental ballistic
00:54:44.41\00:54:47.08
missiles were manufactured.
00:54:47.12\00:54:48.45
And they still manufacture
this type of thing there.
00:54:48.48\00:54:51.42
This was a city that you could
not go into if you were not a
00:54:51.45\00:54:56.99
citizen of the Soviet Union.
00:54:57.03\00:54:58.49
If you were a citizen of the
Soviet Union, this is a gated
00:54:58.56\00:55:02.53
city; only three gates into it.
00:55:02.56\00:55:06.70
And if you were a citizen you
could only get a three day pass.
00:55:06.74\00:55:11.21
You could not
preach the gospel at all.
00:55:11.24\00:55:15.61
You could not baptize.
00:55:15.64\00:55:18.11
They would put you in
jail for baptizing somebody.
00:55:18.15\00:55:21.82
There was no
way that an American
00:55:21.88\00:55:25.12
could come there at all.
00:55:25.15\00:55:26.49
But one Sabbath morning a
lady by the name of Doria came
00:55:26.52\00:55:30.89
to that meeting and she
said, last night I had a dream.
00:55:30.93\00:55:34.76
I dreamed that someday a
man from America is going to
00:55:34.80\00:55:38.63
come here to our city.
00:55:38.67\00:55:40.00
He's going to
preach this message.
00:55:40.04\00:55:42.10
Thousands of
people are going to come,
00:55:42.14\00:55:44.41
and hundreds are
going to be baptized.
00:55:44.44\00:55:46.61
And while she's saying this,
another lady who actually had
00:55:46.68\00:55:49.98
the same name, the same first
name, a different last name,
00:55:50.05\00:55:53.31
her name was Doria as well.
00:55:53.35\00:55:54.85
She said, I had the same dream!
00:55:54.88\00:55:57.35
And as they compared notes they
said, This has to be from God!
00:55:57.39\00:56:02.02
It has to be from Him.
00:56:02.06\00:56:04.79
And so they encouraged
each other with that message.
00:56:04.86\00:56:10.57
And quietly they kept
sowing the seed, very quietly.
00:56:10.60\00:56:16.24
But the work in
Ukraine never stopped.
00:56:16.30\00:56:19.37
They kept sowing the seed.
00:56:19.41\00:56:21.38
So when we came we
didn't know that we were a
00:56:21.41\00:56:26.68
fulfillment of that prophecy.
00:56:26.72\00:56:28.35
We had no idea
that that was happening.
00:56:28.38\00:56:32.02
And this one
lady was still alive.
00:56:32.05\00:56:35.52
And every night they would take
her a recording on a recorder
00:56:35.56\00:56:40.70
that we had provided.
00:56:40.73\00:56:42.06
We brought some recorders.
00:56:42.10\00:56:43.43
Nobody had recorders there.
00:56:43.47\00:56:44.83
We were recording the message,
and they would take it home
00:56:44.87\00:56:48.04
and she would listen to it.
00:56:48.07\00:56:49.54
With the translator, I'd be
preaching, and the translator's
00:56:49.57\00:56:52.24
translating, and
she would hear it,
00:56:52.27\00:56:54.68
and tears
flowing down her cheeks.
00:56:54.71\00:56:57.08
But she knew that the
seed had been planted,
00:56:57.11\00:57:02.08
and the harvest was there.
00:57:02.12\00:57:05.05
And hundreds, because of the
faithfulness of those that had
00:57:05.09\00:57:09.52
continued to be there,
the harvest had come forward.
00:57:09.59\00:57:14.36
Someday Jesus is coming again.
00:57:14.40\00:57:17.03
There are going to be millions
of people waiting to see Him,
00:57:17.07\00:57:20.84
because you have
planted the seed.
00:57:20.87\00:57:25.97
Praise God for
His word! Praise God!
00:57:26.01\00:57:31.08